Chapter Two: Bloody Pasts and Futures
Duo had been quite surprised, when he'd arrived in the docking bay. Even though it had barely been a standard day since he'd woken up on board the strange warship, and had been bracing himself for what he would see once he got there, nothing could have prepared him for the surprise that awaited him there.
"Whoa……Somebody put in a helluva lot of overtime on you, old buddy." Duo muttered, as he approached his Gundam, and put a hand to the metal casing on one of the legs. In fact, so much work had been done on the Deathscythe Hell that he couldn't even tell that it had even been through an explosion!
"Better be glad you'd woken up when you did, kid, since the junkers that'd repaired it actually wanted to buy it!" Murdoch laughed, from his seat on one of the other Gundams' shoulders.
"Then I would've taken this ship over and hunted 'em to the ends of the universe to get my partner back! You don't mess with the God of Death and get away with it!" Duo jokingly replied.
"God of Death? Is that what you call yourself, kid?" Mu asked, from the cockpit of his Moebius Zero.
"Yeah. It makes sense, since Deathscythe looks the way he does." Duo said, as he approached the hatch of his mobile suit and opened the cockpit; whistling in appreciation at the workmanship in the overhauled cockpit.
"Sorry for not taking the time to recalibrate the OS for you, since things have been busy around here." Kira apologized from across the hangar, when he'd seen Duo settle into his seat at the controls, and turn on the computers.
"No prob. I'll have 'im ready for flight in a few minutes! Don't wait around for me!" Duo answered, then got right to work; eagerly punching in his personal stats so he could get his Gundam fully functioning again. Kira could only sigh and shake his head in wonder at the other teen's eagerness; was being a mobile suit pilot really as great as Duo was making it look?
"The way he acts makes me wonder……What was the After Colony Era really like? I know that the colonies in his day were persecuted as well…..But how much, exactly?" Kira wondered; jumping when Badgiruel's voice startled him back into reality again.
"Wake up and get ready for launch, Ensign Yamato!" Badgiruel commanded, her no-nonsense tone getting a rather interesting reaction from Duo in response.
"Looks like Noin, yet acts like Lady Une……Who shoved a stick up her ass?" Duo mumbled; his words getting a barely stifled laugh from Mu, and a startled 'Huh?!' from Kira.
"What was that?!" Badgiruel snapped, a bit angrily; having heard every word, and becoming even more perturbed when a few more of the crew on the bridge laughed softly at Duo's comment.
"Better get launched, kid, before she comes after you." Mu warned, jokingly.
"Right….." Duo replied; not sounding in the least bit worried about what the woman would say or do when he got back to the ship.
"Mu la Flaga of Moebius Zero, launching!" Mu announced, before rocketing off out of the hangar.
"You sure about this, Duo?" Kira asked, as he gazed uncertainly back at the black Gundam through the Strike's 'eyes'.
"Don't worry so much, Kira! If I wasn't sure about this, then I'd be 'running and hiding' remember?" Duo asked, with a grin, as his face appeared on one of the monitors in the Strike's cockpit.
"If you say so….." Kira murmured, then said, "Kira Yamato in Gundam Strike, lifting off!" When Kira had cleared the hangar door, Duo could only wonder what awaited him in space now; his eyes sobering slightly as his thoughts returned to his fellow pilots from Operation Meteor. Were they really all that remained from that mission? Had he and the other two survived all those years in slumber alone? And what had become of the girls they had left behind? Did they go on with their lives, after the war? Or had the war resumed then, and killed them as well?
"Guess I'll never know……" Duo mused, then sighed and gazed strongly forward, "Duo Maxwell in Gundam Deathscythe Hell, ready!" In the back of his mind, Duo knew that he was in for a long learning curve, and that future events could soon prove that he didn't have very much time to take in all of the changes that had occurred during his long sleep…..But it wouldn't stop him from trying to find his place in this strange time, and live on in the memory of his comrades and loved ones.
"I just hope it's enough." Duo thought, a bit sadly, as he flew out and waited alongside Kira for the salvage units to emerge from the ship, and begin the process of salvaging some parts from the debris around them.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
The pain was what brought him around. For a few, confused moments, he lay where he was and tried to get his fragmented mind into some form of order. He could sense the confusion and tension of those standing near him very clearly, yet didn't quite understand why.
"The war is over, isn't it? Then why do they feel so lost and confused?" he wondered, as he struggled to open his eyes, and look around. At first, he could have sworn that he was on the Peacemillion again, yet, when his vision cleared, it was plain to see that this wasn't that ship at all.
"Good to see that you've woken up. We were beginning to worry." A woman's voice said, as its' owner appeared at his side, and smiled gently at him.
"Where…..?" he managed to ask; wincing at how scratchy his throat felt.
"You're on board an Earth Forces ship called the Archangel. One of the crew found you and two others drifting out there in some mobile suits." The woman replied; reaching out and carefully helping him sit up so she could give him the glass of water she'd brought him.
"I see…..Thank you." He whispered, gratefully.
"No problem. Now, do you feel up to eating something? You'd lost quite a bit of blood, a while ago." She said, once she'd gotten him into a seated position.
"Not really…..I'm more thirsty than anything else." He answered, his voice still soft, yet a little louder than before.
"That's all right." The woman said, comfortingly, as she handed him the glass, and made sure he didn't drink too fast.
"Has one of the other two woken up already?" another woman's voice asked, as its' owner briskly walked into the sickbay and peered carefully around the partition at them.
"This one has." The nurse replied, as she motioned to him for added emphasis. At this, the newcomer smiled and approached his bedside.
"So I see…..It's good to see that you've woken up, kid. I'm Captain Murrue Ramius, of the Archangel." The second woman said, introducing herself to him as she held out a hand in greeting and smiled warmly.
"I'm Quatre Raberba Winner. It's good to meet you, Ramius-san." He replied, with equal warmth, and shook her hand gently; aquamarine eyes showing both women just what sort of soul lay behind them.
"Such a gentle and fragile-looking kid…..How could he have possibly piloted that mobile suit?" Murrue wondered, as she took a seat beside Quatre's bed; uncertain about what to say to him next, and exactly how to say it, "And how will he take the news that he's been in suspended animation for a little over one hundred years?"
"Something's troubling you, Ramius-san……What is it?" Quatre asked, his intuition startling her somewhat, yet she forced herself to remain calm, and then gave him a worried look.
"I…..don't exactly know how I can explain this to you…..without doing further harm….." Murrue murmured, uncertainly.
"Something's different…..This isn't my original time, is it?" Quatre asked, as realization dawned on him as to why things felt so unsettled around him, and as shock appeared on Murrue's and the nurse's faces at this.
"No, it isn't……How could you tell? Is there anything in here that's different from what you were used to?" Murrue questioned, gently. She watched as the teen slowly shook his head, and gave her an almost haunted look.
"No…..It's because…..I can sense that things have changed greatly…..and I can no longer feel……my loved ones' presences. They're all gone….and I'm the only one left." Quatre replied, somberly, as sorrow began to cloud his aquamarine eyes.
"Then you don't know a pilot going by the name of 'Duo', do you?" Murrue again asked; feeling some hope take root when the teen perked up and looked directly at her in shock.
"Duo's here?! He's alive?!" Quatre asked, anxiously. At this, Murrue again smiled.
"Glad to say that he is, even though he'd insulted one of the officers on deck before going out with our pilots on a guard mission." Murrue replied; snickering slightly when she remembered Duo's remark about Badgiruel, and how the officer's hackles had been raised by it.
"Sounds like Duo, all right." Quatre said, with a chuckle and a rueful shake of his head for added emphasis.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
Kira jumped, when he heard a loud sneeze over his intercom.
"Somebody talkin' about you, kid?" Mu asked, rhetorically, as they all watched the crew work from their positions in front of the ship.
"Must be. Probably that hard-nosed lady from before……Badger-something-or-other." Duo muttered in response. This comment got a longsuffering sigh from Kira, and a snicker from Mu.
"You'd better hope that she isn't listening in on this conversation, kid. Otherwise, she might find a way to keelhaul you after lights out." Mu warned, goodnaturedly.
"I'm more afraid of an old friend's threats than the worst that lady has to offer! Heero could get downright scary when he wanted to be!" Duo replied, with a laugh; showing that he wasn't in the least bit concerned about what the woman would say or do once he was back on board the ship, yet then turned his gaze questioningly to the dead colony nearby.
"I can't believe that we're doing this…..even if we are at war." Kira murmured; the distress in his tone easily heard by Duo, as they stood guard over the Archangel's salvaging crew.
"What exactly is that thing over there, Kira?" Duo asked, curiously.
"That's the reason we're at war now…..It's the remains of the Junius Seven colony." Mu said, before Kira could even think of a response.
"Damn……Must've been one hell of a blast, to have done that amount of damage." Duo muttered, as a faint trace of anger emerged in his voice…..he could guess what had happened, and who had pulled off the attack.
"Things really haven't changed that much, at all." Duo inwardly growled; startled from his thoughts again when the equipment in his cockpit alerted him to the presence of an enemy mobile suit.
"Where? Where is it?" Kira murmured, as he glanced around, trying to locate the source of the signals the Strike was just now picking up…..and freezing when he finally saw them, "A civilian ship? What's it doing out here?"
"Dunno….but it looks like it's seen some action….." Duo said, proving that he'd also seen the ship and mobile suit; and was keeping his attention on the latter, in case it turned around and attacked, then asked, "Any idea what that suit near it is, Kira?"
"It's a long-range reconnaissance Ginn." Kira replied, then thought, "The Archangel is immobile….If it's discovered now, and reinforcements are called…..I don't think Duo and I will be able to hold them off for long." And yet, Kira was shaken from his thoughts, when one of the crew suddenly came from behind one of the larger pieces of debris; allowing his jaw to drop, when Duo reacted to the threat the enemy mobile suit represented, activating his scythe and slicing it in half, before any of them could even blink.
"Whoa……" Kira thought, almost too stunned to think of anything else, aside from that.
"That was amazing!" they both heard Mu say, having seen what had happened from a distance, and commending Duo for it.
"Guess being a 'Coordinator' is gonna take some gettin' used to….." Duo muttered; proving that he was just as surprised as they were, by this development.
"Guess so……" Kira agreed, even though he could still feel some grief over the death of the Ginn's pilot…..
"Heads up, Kira. Looks like there's a survivor, after all." Duo said, bringing Kira's attention back to the space in front of them. There, despite the intense explosion that had destroyed the Ginn and ship, a lifepod now floated.
"Duo, would you mind staying here, while I get this back to the Archangel?" Kira asked, his spirits buoyed by the thought of a life that had been spared. From the other Gundam pilot, he got a grin and a slight salute.
"No prob." Duo replied, as he watched Kira move towards the lifepod; now only wondering just what was inside.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
Within the space of two hours, the mission to collect the supplies they needed to continue had ended, and Kira had returned to the Archangel with the lifepod in tow. As he set it down on the hangar's floor, he could only smile when he heard Duo arrive behind him; chuckling when he heard some rather interesting comments being exchanged between him and Badgiruel.
"Things are about to get ugly, between those two…..Wonder if Captain Ramius has the patience for it?" Kira wondered, as he got out of the Strike's cockpit, descended to the floor, and watched as Murdoch got to work on getting the pod's door open.
"Damn. The fact that a Ginn had come this far to search for the lifepod…..there must be an important ZAFT personage on board." Mu muttered, not liking this situation, in the slightest, as he walked over from where he'd docked, and looked uneasily at the pod.
"Yes." Badgiruel agreed, then glanced at Kira, "You and your lifepods...This is starting to become a habit."
"Up yours'." Duo growled; having caught the disgusted tone in Badgiruel's voice, and allowing his hackles to rise slightly, in response.
"Opening." Murdoch said, calling their attention back to the pod, as the door finally opened with a hiss, and the person inside stood…..and something flew out to greet them.
"Haro!" a small, mechanical voice squeaked, in greeting, as it floated to each member of the crew and seemed to bow politely to them.
"Um…..Hello….." Duo mumbled, discomfited by this, to say the least.
"Thank you so much for your assistance!" a girl's voice then said, cheerfully, as the owner of it finally emerged; not bothered in the slightest by the surprised looks she was getting.
"A girl?" Badgiruel muttered, as she took in the girl's appearance; soft, waist-length pink hair glistened in the docking bay's lights, and bright blue eyes hinted at a kind soul. Then, Kira asked the fateful question…..
"Who are you?" Kira asked, curiously; getting an abashed smile from the girl, and then a polite bow.
"Please forgive me for being so rude! I am Lacus Clyne! It's a pleasure to meet you!" the girl said, pleasantly; her words promptly flooring all of the crew around her…..with the exception of just one. Only Duo seemed truly unfazed by this, since he was still trying to catch up with what was going on around him, now.
"Looks like you've brought another helluva gal aboard, Kira….." Mu said, as he gave the teenager a look that told all of them that he wasn't quite sure he knew what to make of this situation….and that the feeling was shared by his crewmates.
"Seems like things are really about to get interesting around here……Wonder what else the future has in store?" Duo mused, as he watched the rest of the crew gather around the girl and begin asking her some questions; his mind taking him back to the days when Operation Meteor had just been beginning, and how shaky things had been then…..Seeing some of that uncertainty now, in the events that were unfolding before him.
Author's Note!
This may have been a pretty dull chapter, compared to what I have done before, but I'm trying to pace myself a bit more, than before. Hopefully there will be some more action in the next chapter (and that I can manage a few more surprises, in the meantime!). Hope this was 'all right' otherwise!
Gemini14