Heart of the Storm

Chapter Six

Zechs and Noin sat quietly watching the battle from their shuttle. They were standing by, ready to pull survivors aboard. That's if the Storm left any. It was a storm, indeed, out in space. The scattering debris and smoke looked almost like storm clouds being pulled around by their fast suits, like a hurricane in space. Explosions from within looked almost like lightning through the clouds, and Noin swore she could hear the thunder in them.

"Makes you kind of glad things happened the way they did during the war," she said softly. "Things would have turned out much differently if they had been what they were supposed to have been."

Zechs didn't respond for several moments, watching the storm as if he could see straight through it, following every movement of the three suits creating the phenomenon. "If anything had happened the way it was supposed to have, things would have been different. Every one of us knew, even Treize, the gundams were the best hope we had of ending the war and keeping the peace after. It's just that no one was expecting how things developed. On the other side, had things not proceeded as they did, none of us would have learned the things we learned. I guarantee if it weren't for the pilots, or the girls for that matter, I would have followed Treize to whatever end he was looking for."

"We all made mistakes back then, even Treize. I don't think any of us really knew what we were doing. I certainly don't think anyone realized the pilots… just kids… would make the difference that they did." Noin sat back, looking at him. "It wasn't the gundams, they were just a symbol of what humanity would become if we stayed on the path we were."

"Humanity is still on that path," he didn't look at her, shaking his head, continuing to watch the storm. "Else we wouldn't need the gundams, still, or the Storm."

"The boys can't even keep up with them… It doesn't look like we'll have many survivors…" She sighed, glancing back to the battle. "When will people learn…?"

"When there's nothing left to fight for… As long as there are people like Barton, as I'm sure there are, there will be more people sacrificing their lives needlessly. And we must rely on the gundams to rectify their mistakes."

"That sounds familiar…" She paused for a moment, looking back to him. "Do you think this was the future Treize had in mind?"

"No… But he knew humanity's basic nature. He knew that we would never see true peace. At least, not in our lifetime." His eyes narrowed at the battle outside. "What the…?" He sat forward as the clouds began to clear. The Storm's attack came to a halt. Maelstrom seemed frozen. "Something is wrong. Tempest, report… Trinity…?" His questions answered only with static. Trinity…

Trin, why have you stopped? She vaguely heard the inquiry from her counterparts, watching her display screen go black. It was something she had expected. Sarris would have covered all his grounds if something went wrong. She counted on it, and thought she had taken the necessary caution to protect herself and her suit if he did.

"Maelstrom…?" She blinked in surprise, repeatedly feeding manual overriding commands, receiving nothing in return. Nothing was working. She couldn't even get a mental connection re-established. "Damn it…Sarris, you were a thorough bastard…" I've been sabotaged… Maelstrom is completely unresponsive…

She unstrapped herself so that she could reach the access panel to Maelstrom's computer, having some difficulty with the barrage her suit was now receiving. Keep fighting, girls. These guys are making it kind of hard to concentrate. When the battle resumed outside, she pulled open the panel, trying every trick she knew to get her suit operational again.

A moment later, she gave a small smile as the cockpit lit up. She barely had time to slide back into her seat when a warning came to the back of her mind as she reconnected mentally to Maelstrom. "Son of a bitch…" She nearly screamed a final command to the other pilots. "Self-detonation has been activated! Get your asses clear!" She made double-sure the order went out, mentally broadcasting it to the other pilots as she attempted to open the cockpit hatch, controls still unresponsive to her.

She gave a sigh, sitting back into the seat, a grim expression on her face. "I'll see you in Hell, Sarris…," she whispered, staring blankly at the black display screen. "My place there is already reserved…" She closed her eyes, sensing Maelstrom slowly charging its detonator, giving out this long whining sound as if it were an apology to her. It's alright, my dear friend, she thought. It's a good day to die… I have no regrets…

That was a lie. In the corner of her mind, there was one thing she regretted. It was something she had avoided at all cost to acknowledge, knowing the cost of the friendship it would contradict. She opened her eyes, watching the controls in front of her vanish in a bright electrical explosion. Zechs… I love you… Then her mind quieted.

Zechs' eyes never blinked as the light that could have blinded a man came from Maelstrom, burning the image into his mind as her final mental words to him faded. Everything around him seemed to disappear as he continued to watch the cascade of explosions erupted outward from where it originated, claiming a large number of remaining enemy suits. He had a faint recollection of seeing something similar when he sat in the cockpit of Wing Zero for the first time. The ZERO system had shown him a lot of things, including the destruction of someone he treasured. Though, at the time, he didn't understand that particular image, now he knew.

He came out of his trance, abruptly as he felt Noin's hand on his shoulder. He looked over to her, her eyes reflecting his pain.

"Zechs…," she began, having difficulty putting the words together.

He blinked a few times, clearing his thoughts as he turned back to his computer consol, completely ignoring situation for the moment. There was still work to be done. "Illumination and Thundershock have sustained heavy damage. They were still too close to Maelstrom when it detonated." His voice betrayed no emotion as he concentrated on the reports coming in.

Noin fell back into her chair, blinking away tears that were falling freely. "Duo and Quatre are towing them in…," she said, quietly, her voice quivering. "Iz and Kal aren't responding. They're probably in shock…" She paused a moment to take in a deep breath, holding it for a long while before slowly exhaling, composing herself. "A portion of the enemy suits have escaped. Wufei is going after them."

"Tell him not to bother… Survivors?" he asked, looking back to his screen at the image of Wing Zero, just frozen in space, its buster rifle still aimed towards where Maelstrom had been. Heero must have thought of something that could have helped save Trinity, but Zechs couldn't recall Zero having fired the shot.

"Not many…," she said in a soft voice. "Most of those that survived the battle were caught in Maelstrom's explosion. The rest of them look like… mobile dolls...?"

He nodded, just staring at the screen as Zero finally lowered its rifle, remaining motionless. His eyes traced the battlefield. "…This was meaningless…"

"I've got Tempest, but she's in bad shape." Trowa's voice came across the speakers as Heavyarms slowly made its way to board the transport behind Deathscyth, Sandrock, and their sisters' gundams. "She's the only survivor I've found…"

Noin blinked at his response as Zechs stood and, with a nod of acknowledgement, made his way to the bridge door. "How in the world can you gundam pilots keep surviving the destructions of your suits?" She glanced out the window just as Zero transformed into flight mode and disappeared in a streak of light, hearing the door shut behind her.

"Our gundams have hearts all their own," replied Quatre. "If they are able, they'll find a way for us to survive. They'll sacrifice themselves long before they'll sacrifice us."