Chapter Four: Into Confusion
Within moments, all three pilots were ready to fly. And yet, before they could leave the locker room and make their way to the hangar, Flay rushed in; her eyes filled with panic.
"Kira! Sai's just told me that my father's on that flagship! You've got to save him! Please!" Flay cried, with genuine fear for her father in her voice, as she spoke.
"I….I promise he'll be all right, Flay." Kira stammered; startled by this bit of news, and even moreso by what Duo said next.
"Don't make promises you might not be able to keep, Kira. Even though, from what I've seen so far, Coordinators are incredible pilots, we're still….you're still….only human." Duo grimly said, then looked directly at Flay, "We'll do the best we can, but there's no guarantees."
"Just do what you can!!" Flay nearly shouted; her eyes lighting up with some anger, at the braided boy's words.
"And with that said, kid, let's get out there!" Mu said, breaking up the potential shouting match before it could really get started, and urging both teens to hurry and follow him into the waiting battle.
"Right behind ya!" Duo agreed, as they all started running. With a swiftness neither of them knew they had, Kira and Duo both found themselves in their Gundams' cockpits, readying themselves for the fight ahead.
"What Duo had said makes a lot of sense…..But still….I'd like to believe that I've got the strength to protect….and that I'll be able to save Flay's father…." Kira thought, even though he could tell that previous experience haunted his newfound friend like a ghost.
"Okay, Kira, you're clear for launch!" Miriallia said, over the comm-link.
"Right! Kira Yamato in Strike Gundam! Taking off!" Kira shouted, in response, before making his way out.
"Duo! You're next!" Miriallia then said, and got a grin from the Eve War veteran.
"This Shinigami's ready, Miri!" Duo replied, then added, "Duo Maxwell in Gundam Deathscythe Hell, heading out!"
"Shinigami….." Badgiruel muttered, under her breath, as she shook her head in bewilderment. She would probably never understand Duo…..and that was how he preferred things.
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Meanwhile, at the battle that was already under-way, Athrun could only wonder just what the commander was thinking. Not only were they participating in a battle that seemed to be wasting their time, he and his comrades had a new pilot fighting alongside them for the first time.
"You sure you're all right over there, Trowa?" Athrun heard Nikol ask, almost echoing Athrun's concern, exactly.
"No need to worry about me. I can handle this much, at least." The other pilot replied, calmly. And so far, he was. Despite having been recovered from space just a standard day or so ago, (as well as having been awake for only half of that time) he and his mobile suit, Gundam Heavyarms, were already taking down their fair share of enemy fighters.
"At this rate, Yzak, he's gonna top your kill rate in no time!" Dearka jokingly said; getting a scathing glare from his comrade, in response.
"Though I still find it strange, that he'd agreed to this….and with almost no questions on his part….Was the Eve War really as similar to this war, as that?" Athrun wondered, before he gave the Aegis the command to transform, and prepare to fire it's Scylla.
"Cut the chatter over there, men! Take down those ships!" Rau's voice commanded.
"Yessir." Trowa answered, readily, and the rest of the pilots responded as well.
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"Damn! Shot down by our own weapons! Embarrassing!" Flay's father growled, angrily, when he saw the fiery death of one of the escort ships, thanks to Athrun's shot, then commanded, "Shoot the Aegis down! Do whatever it takes to take it down!"
"Sir! Vice-Minister Allster! You must get to a lifepod at once!" the captain of the Montgomery yelped, when he saw what the high-ranking official had missed; one of the mobile suits was heading their way…..but it was one none of them had ever seen before.
"Nonsense! I can't leave now, especially under these circumstances!" the vice-minister stubbornly replied…..before the worst finally came to pass. The unknown mobile suit forced its' way through their last line of defense, opened its' chest plates…..and opened fire; tearing the command deck of the ship to shreds, as it did so.
"Flay…..please forgive me….." the vice-minister silently thought, before the inevitable explosion ripped through him and the rest of those on deck; silencing him forever.
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For the first time while on board the Earth Forces ship, Lacus was feeling fear. Not for herself, mind you; far from it…..Her fear was for the boy known to her as Quatre. Up until just moments before, he'd been sleeping quietly, if a bit fitfully, on the bed before her. Now, he was writhing in agony; crying out in pain, as he gripped his chest…..Tears flowing freely down his cheeks, from underneath tightly closed eyelids.
"Quatre-san! Quatre-san, wake up! Please, wake up!" Lacus pleaded, as she struggled to calm the pain-wracked teen before her. She could only feel a hint of relief sneak its way into her heart, when she heard the door open behind her, and when another girl suddenly appeared beside her.
"What is wrong with him?! What's happening?!" the other girl asked, as fear emerged in her eyes about what she was seeing, and the state Quatre was in now. His whole body was soaked in sweat, and his skin was almost burning hot to the touch. Blood stained the bandages over his stomach, a subtle hint that his wound had reopened again.
"I don't know! He was calm until just moments ago!" Lacus replied, as she then stood, rushed to the intercom, and tried to call for help.
"H-hurts…..This pain…..my body…..and soul….." Quatre sobbed; shuddering as another onslaught wracked his slender frame, and forced the other girl to reach out and try to console him.
"Shh, calm down. Take it easy." She said, soothingly, as she brushed one hand against Quatre's fevered brow; starting somewhat when he turned his face towards her, opened his eyes, and gave her an unbelievably sad look, through the pain he was evidently feeling, both physically and spiritually.
"I'm sorry…..so sorry….." Quatre whispered, sorrowfully, as more tears began to form in his eyes, when he saw her, and seemed to realize who she was.
"'Sorry'? Sorry for what? What do you have to be sorry for?" the girl heard herself ask; taken aback by this sudden, unexpected apology.
"Y-your father…..Kira-kun, Duo, and that other man…..They couldn't…..fly fast enough…." Quatre replied, painfully.
"No….." the girl before him muttered, before leaping to her feet and racing out of the room.
"Wait!" Lacus shouted, yet was prevented from following her, when Quatre called out to her.
"W-we must…..follow her…..Please help me…." Quatre gasped, as he forced himself to sit up; grimacing from the effort of doing so, seconds later.
"Right….." Lacus agreed, as she reluctantly helped him get to his feet; inwardly reminded of another stubborn boy she knew so well, as she did so.
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The first thing he'd felt had been confusion. Where the hell was he?
"I know I'm not in my mobile suit anymore…..and from the sounds of things, I'm in a ship's sickbay…..But I can't tell who this ship belongs to. Is this an Alliance battleship? Or does it belong to OZ in some way?" he wondered, as he slowly opened his eyes; wincing when the light shown into them.
"Well, it seems you've decided to remain with us, after all. Commander Creuset has been hoping you would." An unfamiliar voice said, from close by; prompting him to look in that direction, and give the stranger a questioning look. The man before him seemed to be the sickbay's chief medical officer, from what he was able to tell, just from the man's uniform alone…..But the uniform itself was vastly different from what he had been used to seeing, before.
"W-where…..?" he started to whisper, yet stopped when pain lanced across his chest; giving him the subtle hint that most of his injuries were centered there….and he had no idea how serious they were.
"All will be explained in time, Lightning Count. For now, just rest. Commander Creuset will explain everything later." The medical officer reassured him, before consciousness began to fade from around him again.
"At least they seem to know who I am….but something doesn't feel right about it. What's going on here?" Zechs Merquise wondered, before he finally relinquished his hold on awareness, and slipped into the painless darkness again. He therefore didn't feel it, when the medical officer took a sample of his blood, and sealed it in a tube…..and didn't realize just what this would do to his already questionable future…..
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"Wh-what is this?!" Kira heard himself mutter, when he, Mu, and Duo arrived on the scene.
"What a massacre." Duo mumbled, as he glared at the destroyed ships floating there before them, then silently added, "And if I didn't know any better, I'd say that some of this looks like his handiwork….."
"Got that right…..Kira, Duo, go ahead and pull back. Tighten the defenses around the Archangel." Mu said, yet bit back a curse, when the Strike suddenly flew off on its' own; ignoring his orders completely.
"Kira! Get back here, you dumb-ass! Don't go it alone! Hey!" Duo shouted, in aggravation, before beginning his pursuit of the younger pilot, "This is no time to try and be a hero!"
"Damn…..Why did I get stuck with trying to keep these two out of trouble?" Mu growled, as he also rocketed off after them; almost sensing Duo's irritation at this situation, as he did so, "I'm nothing more than an over-glorified babysitter, at this point!"
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He'd 'felt' them before he saw them; reacting instantly, when a familiar presence crossed his senses, and that it was following an unfamiliar presence onto the battlefield.
"Duo?" Trowa wondered, bewilderingly, as he looked up and around, and then dodged just in time to avoid a shot from a beam cannon.
"The Strike…..and….what the hell?!" Athrun yelped, over the comm-link, when the two mobile suits in question appeared before him, and he'd spotted the unfamiliar suit, as well.
"'Hell' being a literal term for the second one, Athrun." Trowa murmured, then tried calling out to the black mobile suit in front of him, "Deathscythe Hell, do you read me? Over!"
"Trowa, I thought it was you! Didn't know you were still alive as well, man!" Duo's voice replied, after a few moments, before his face appeared on the Heavyarms' viewscreen; his eyes filling with relief and some uncertainty, when he saw his old comrade again for the first time in one hundred years.
"I would say the same of you, yet it seems that your luck has always held through thick and thin." Trowa said, dryly, then asked, "What are you doing out here, and why are you involving yourself in this war?"
"I was wantin' to ask you the same thing. Why're you fightin' with these 'ZAFT' people, anyway?" Duo questioned; knowing without even looking, that his and Trowa's conversation had brought the other mobile suits (including those of Kira and Athrun) to a standstill; all of them curious about where this conversation was heading.
"Do you really need a reason? Everything we had fought for before is long gone, Duo. We're nothing more than redundant soldiers, searching for a suitable battlefield to die on. That's all." Trowa murmured, grimly, yet seemed surprised when Duo glared at him.
"That may be, but I'm not ready to give up yet. I'll find my place in this time, no matter what." Duo growled, stubbornly; barely even looking aside, when the battle between the Strike and Aegis began again in earnest, yet activating his beam-scythe and holding it at ready, when the Blitz, Buster, and Duel began to close in around him and Trowa.
"Count on him to be so stubborn….but I guess it'll take quite a bit of stubbornness, in order to survive in this era." Trowa mused, as he gazed at the Deathscythe Hell, thoughtfully; wondering just how far Duo's strong will would carry him, this time…..
Author's Note!
Okay, not sure if this chapter had made any sense, but I'm trying to get back into writing in this story again! Hopefully this was 'all right'!
Gemini14