Chapter 10
Duo brooded against the brightness of the afternoon sun, its rays reflecting off the outdoor pool. But despite the beautiful day, the dark cloud looming over him couldn't possibly be shattered.
Quatre sat in front of the laptop, his elbows propped on the patio table and his fingers interlocked, his teal gaze hard. Lista stood behind him, unaware of the ghost-white of her knuckles as she clutched the back of his chair. She and Quatre stared unblinking at the news bulletin while Duo stared off in a random direction, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against a pillar.
"Forces of the former Alliance Military unjustly stationed in the Colonies have been forced to surrender. With the new and powerful OZ mobile suits, operations have commenced for removal of space mines. This'll mean communication is reestablished between the Colonies."
A silence fell over the threesome as Quatre closed the lid of his laptop, sighing deeply through his nose. Lista looked at Duo, his gaze hard and averted from the computer. She lowered her head in a sigh, feeling the tension sweeping over them.
"I thought OZ wanted to take over the Colonies no matter what it took for them to do it," Duo finally spoke up, his voice strained against his growing frustration.
"They do," Quatre said, turning over his shoulder to face Duo and Lista. "And they're using the dirtiest method. If OZ used force, the Colonies would prepare to retaliate. But they'd be accepted if they used the guise of assistance."
Duo scoffed. "Most people in outer space are easygoing. I doubt if anyone will question OZ's plans."
Shaking her head with a furrowed frown, Lista waved her hand emphatically. "They won't. OZ is pretty with words. They're telling them everything the colonists want to hear."
Quatre paused in thought for a moment. "I think it's time for us to return to space with our Gundams." Duo and Lista turned their attention to him in curiosity. "The Gundams were built for the people of the Colonies. Only we can save the people from OZ's plotting."
Duo pushed himself off of the pillar, moving to the table with a nod. "You're right. But how do we get into space? It's important that we don't get noticed."
Quatre shook his head. "No, we want to get noticed. If OZ is falsely promoting peace to get at the Colonies, then they can't threaten the Colonies to get to us."
Lista moved to Quatre's side. "You're right. OZ has been using the Colonies as their shield so they could move forward without interference from the Gundams. But now that they've made this move, they can't possibly use the Colonies as an excuse anymore. They've lost their trump card in that regard."
Duo unfolded his arms and propped his fists on his waist. "Yeah, but what if OZ gives up their facade?"
"That'd mean revealing their identity to the colonists," Quatre replied. "The present OZ wouldn't see that as wise."
Duo's face spread into a smirk, his eyes brightening. "Which means we can still fight them!"
Quatre pushed himself from his chair, turning to his friends with a deep resolve. "It's time to return to space."
"And it's about damn time!" Duo shouted, throwing his arms up in the air. "We've done more than enough sitting around and doing nothing."
Quatre nodded in agreement. "We should make a plan. We'll need to do what we can to get up to space as cleanly as possible." He looked to Lista, who had been silent and pensive. "Lista, are you all right? I know there are some implications to you by coming out of hiding."
Lista blinked, shaking her head. "No, I'm fine." Lie. "I was just thinking how long it's been since I've been home. But you're both right. It's time to make a move. We can't let OZ take advantage of the Colonies. We've been waiting for the time when we could make our move. This is it."
Duo moved up to her, patting his hand on her shoulder. "Did you decide if you're gonna find your family and let them know you're not dead?"
Quatre stepped in, interjecting before she could answer. "It would probably be best for us not to arrive in space together, just for precautionary purposes, and then reconvene once it's safe to do so." He turned to Lista. "You would have the opportunity to let your family know that you're alive and well."
Lista nodded, rubbing her fingers against her temple. "Yeah, I thought about it. I figured it would probably be a good idea for me to face the music. I'll just have to come up with a cover story for why I haven't revealed myself until now. They'll be mad for a good while, but hopefully they'll buy anything I'm selling." She folded her arms over her chest. "I can't let them know yet that I'm helping you, especially because of my father. He can't know I betrayed the Alliance for you guys. Not yet, anyway."
"I'm sure he will be more concerned with the fact that you did not die in the battle at Operation Daybreak," Quatre offered with a comforting smile.
Lista couldn't help but scoff. She wasn't so sure her father's first item of business would be her survival, but that she supposedly abandoned her mission to see that the Gundams fall.
She did not look forward to the reunion with Lorenzo Di Nevella.
After lunch, Lista excused herself to freshen up a bit before she, Duo, and Quatre met in the study to discuss their plan of action on their return to space. She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail on top of her head as she moved towards the study.
As she came around the corner, she came to a stop at the door, hung ajar. Duo's and Quatre's voices bled quietly out into the hallway.
"It's the best option overall," Quatre said.
Lista heard Duo scoff loudly as she pressed her hand against the wall, leaning closer to listen. "Yeah, maybe, but she's not gonna like it, man. You know she's not gonna agree to it."
There was a pause. "I know," Quatre replied, the hesitation evident in his voice.
Lista curled her hand into a fist at her side. Were they planning on leaving her behind?
Her feet carried her into the room before she realized it, and as the two men turned their heads to face her, she put on a smile and shut the door behind her. "So, have you guys started making plans for how we're going to go about this? There's a lot to figure out if we want this to go off without a hitch."
She moved over to the couch, sitting down next to Duo. Quatre nodded, turning his open laptop in her direction. "The closest space base that will suit our needs is the Singapore Space Port. It looks as though they'll have the carriers we need, and they should already have most of the pre-flight work completed so we can save some time."
Nodding, Lista leaned forward, resting her arms across her legs, as she studied the information Quatre had accumulated. "Did you pull up the schematics for the base? We can plan a strategy to get to the HLVs as efficiently as possible."
Quatre nodded. "Yes, but unfortunately, there's no real way for us to sneak up on them. It's out in the open, so any chance of a preemptive strike is out of the question. We're simply going to have to strike and try to keep the advantage on our side."
"We've never had a problem with advantages," Duo said with a smirk. "With the two of us, we should have no problem taking care of them."
Lista stiffened at his words, turning to look at him. "You mean three. I'll be there to back you both up." The frown melted onto her face when she saw Duo and Quatre exchange a silent look. She straightened up, folding her hands together to hide her instant irritation. "What? What's going on?"
Duo cleared his throat nervously and placed his hand on her shoulder. She snapped her head in his direction, her eyes biting through him. "Look, Lissy, Quatre and I already talked it over, and we think it's probably gonna be best if you hide out while we take care of the troops and stuff."
Eyes flaring in anger, she turned to Quatre, who gave her a look of sympathy. "It's for the best, Lista. It'll ensure you'll be kept safe."
Pushing herself to her feet, Lista paced over to the windows, spinning around to face them. "You're joking, right? I'm not hiding. I've been doing that enough. I decided to help all of you, and that means putting myself in the line of fire. I'm not some damsel who needs to be saved or protected."
Duo sighed and moved to his feet, walking around the back of the couch to close the distance between them. "Look, Lissy, we're not saying you can't look out for yourself. But there's gonna be some heavy fire coming our way when we show up. They're gonna know we're trying to get to space, and they're gonna do everything they can to stop us. And when they see you shooting at them instead of us, they're gonna know you're allied with us and they'll mow you down in seconds."
Lista folded her arms over her chest in a huff. "What makes you think I can't evade oncoming bullets?"
Duo threw his arms up in the air with an exasperated sigh. "We're not saying you can't! But damn it, Lista, a Leo's armor is nothing compared to a Gundam's. We can handle the heat, but your Leo can't. It's that simple. If you catch so much as a stray bullet, God knows what it'll do to you. They could take you down like it's nothing."
Seeing the unconvinced look on her face, he turned to Quatre, who remained seated and silent. Duo shoved his finger in her direction. "Tell her, Quatre."
Lista watched Quatre come to his feet and calmly move up to them as Duo planted his fists on his waist. "Duo's right, Lista. We're not calling into question your piloting ability. It's the fact that your Leo doesn't have the same armor capabilities as gundanium. You know that as well as we do."
She opened her mouth to retort and closed her mouth again. She sighed and nodded in defeat, knowing he was right. "Okay, so what's your proposition? I stand around in my Leo while you two do all the work? Because I'm not okay with that."
Quatre shook his head and smiled. "Of course not. Our purpose, for once, is to attract attention. We want the others to find out what we're doing, which means our aim is to get into the media. If the others follow suit, I'm sure they'll also make headlines, as well. You can act as our eye. I'm sure once Duo and I arrive, all available troops will be out to stop us, so it would give us more of an advantage for you to be our eyes and ears."
Lista tapped her foot, angling her head. "So you're not going to make me stay down here?"
"Hell no," Duo spoke up, leaning to her side to catch her attention. "We need you, Lissy. Once we get up to space, we're gonna need all the help we can get to take down OZ."
Lista couldn't help but smile and patted her hand on his shoulder. She turned back to Quatre. "So, speaking of which, once we clear a path to the HLVs, what then? What's our best option?"
"I think it would be wise for us to arrive on separate colonies just in case we're tracked," Quatre replied. "It'll make it more difficult for them to gather us in the worst-case scenario if we all disappear once we arrive in space and then reconvene later."
"I like that idea," Duo said with a firm nod. "Make OZ go around in circles trying to find us. That oughta keep them preoccupied for a while."
"Our best bet is to attack in the cover of darkness," Quatre spoke up. He looked at his watch. "If we leave within the hour, we'll arrive after nightfall." He exchanged glances with both Duo and Lista. "Does that work for the two of you?"
Duo nodded, slamming his fist into his palm. "Hell, it works for me. I've been going stir crazy for a while now. I'm ready to take out some OZ soldiers and get back to space. We need to show these guys they don't know who they're messing with."
"I can be ready by then," Lista concurred with a nod. "I just need to gather a few things and double-check my Leo to make sure it's battle ready." Quatre and Duo looked at one another in alarm. She smiled and placed a hand on their shoulders. "It doesn't hurt to be prepared. We don't know what we're going to find when we get there."
She drew in a deep sigh, giving their shoulders a quick squeeze. "It's time to go home."
Lady Une sat comfortably in a chair at a mirror while one of her female superiors brushed her long, soft locks of brown hair. She placed the brush down on the polished wood surface and began tightly braiding her hair. The telephone on the vanity beeped with an incoming transmission. She leaned forward and pressed the button, saying nothing.
"Colonel Une!" A male soldier's voice echoed into the room. "In 13087 of Colony D, we've found a Gundam manufacturing factory and arrested an engineer!"
Lady Une opened her eyes as she felt both buns of braided hair now firmly pinned to the side of her head. She picked up her glasses, placed them back on her face, and stood. "Well done. I'm returning to the command tower."
As the transmission ended, Lady Une made no attempt to hide her victorious smirk.
Lista walked out of her bedroom, pulling the zipper up halfway on her red vest, snug over her fitted gray and yellow shirt. Her emotions were a mish-mash of nervousness, excitement, and anxiety as she moved down towards the hangar, where Duo and Quatre were likely prepping their Gundams to be loaded onto the carrier for transport to the Singapore base.
She released a heavy, shaky sigh on her way down the elevator and walked onto the platform. Deathscythe and Sandrock were both already loaded up, leaving her Leo standing on its own. She stood below it, staring up at it, wondering what would be ahead for them, for her. She pulled out her cable gun and propelled herself up to the cockpit. Quatre's face immediately popped up on one of her screens.
"Lista, Duo will be waiting outside the carrier to help you load your Leo, and we'll head for Singapore right away," he said.
She nodded and said nothing, flipping switches and pressing buttons, listening to the familiar rev of her verniers as they roared to life. He watched her carefully, studying what he could see in her expression, the lines in her forehead, the wrinkles in the corners of her mouth. "Lista, are you all right?"
Lista looked up from her control panel and began moving out of the hangar, the double doors now wide open. "I'm fine, Quatre. There's just a lot riding on this to succeed. It's a little nerve-wracking, I guess."
Quatre nodded, able to appreciate her anxiety. He felt it, too. "I know."
Lista flew behind the estate, moving towards nearby cliffs, trees, and shrubs at the edge of the desert. She could see the beacon light from the carrier hidden in the trees. Duo was standing outside the shuttle with a mobile suit truck, waving her down.
She landed her Leo and ended the transmission with Quatre without saying another word. She took a deep sigh, knowing this was everything she had been waiting for, everything she had been wanting to do to help the Gundams stop OZ.
And although she still held the conviction that what she was doing was the right thing, she couldn't shake the unerring sense of terror gripping her blood like ice.
The two soldiers on duty bowed to Lady Une as she came to the outside of the cell, pressing the button to open the door. As it slid open, she moved inside, finding two soldiers standing behind a man seated with his hands bound behind him. She studied him for a moment, intrigued by the slight curl of a smirk on his face.
"Is this the engineer?" she asked, propping her hands on her hips.
The gray-haired, scarred man looked up at her, his smirk widening ever so slightly. "So, I finally get to meet the commander."
Lady Une ignored him and turned to the soldiers. "He was trying to destroy an underground military equipment factory for manufacturing suits," one of them informed.
She looked down upon the older man again, frowning. "Destroying evidence?"
The soldier nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately, he'd destroyed it already."
Reaching inside her uniform jacket, she pulled out a pistol and pressed it against the center of the man's forehead. He looked up at her, giving away nothing, not flickering an ounce of panic. "Were you the one who built the Gundams?"
He scoffed. "What a stupid way to ask a question!"
Lady Une felt her patience thinning. "Just answer my question! I think you're heavily involved with those five Gundams!"
He shook his head against the pistol. "Nope. Not with the other four."
Lady Une scowled and pressed the pistol harder against his forehead. "What do you mean?"
His smirk returned. "I designed the best Gundam I possibly could. Why would I make four other variations of it?"
"Are you saying you only made one of those Gundams?" Lady Une asked, her hand unwavering and unmoving on the pistol.
He nodded, his voice steady. "Yes. A masterpiece I call the Gundam Deathscythe. The others are a merely a coincidence. The Alliance prohibited travel and communication between the Colonies. I made only one Gundam."
Lady Une finally lowered her pistol, her scowl deepening. "So it was a coincidence? A coincidence that the others were made at the same time?"
Before she could press him further, the door to the cell opened. Another soldier appeared, saluting her. "Transmission from Earth, Colonel Une. Gundams 02 and 04 are attacking the Singapore Space Port Base."
Lady Une spun around, eyes wide. "What?!"
Professor G's mouth spread into a wide, satisfied smirk. "So, they're coming home as expected."
Deathscythe and Sandrock stood in the middle of the landing field, the Tragos and Leos of OZ firing a flurry of unrelenting bullets in their direction. They had nowhere to seek refuge, no clear avenue for escape.
Duo clenched his teeth, feeling each bullet slam against his suit. "This OZ base isn't like their others! I can't get any closer!" he shouted.
Quatre could feel the pressure slamming down against them. "Let's go for the HLV ready for mobile suit delivery!" He pressed a couple of buttons. "Lista, how is everything looking?"
Lista's face popped up on his screen, frowning hard. "Everything is clear over here. But, Quatre, you two are pinned down. I need to help clear a path!"
"No, Lista," Quatre said quickly, shaking his head. "OZ's forces can't know that you're helping us. You're safer staying where you can't be seen. Just let us know if you notice anything we need to know about."
Lista shook her head, biting back a retort, when Sandrock took a hit from a Tragos' beam cannon, slamming it into the ground. She and Duo both yelled for him as the bullets continued to careen into Sandrock's back. Deathscythe moved to his side and sliced through a Leo before it could take a kill shot.
Duo looked down at Sandrock as it began to come to its feet. "Don't overdo it, Quatre!"
Quatre wiped the sweat from his brow, his fingers tightening over the controls against the wave of bullets still ricocheting off of Sandrock's armor. "It's okay. We have to fight so the other pilots will figure it out! They'll see us battling like this and realize that they need to go to outer space, that outer space is waiting for us!"
Sandrock pulled out its heat shotels and flung them towards two enemy Leos, melting down through them. His brows furrowed into his eyes. "To outer space, every one of us!
In her Leo, Lista kept her eyes cemented on the battle, watching for any new influx of enemy mobile suits. She felt her throat constricting, her chest tight, as she watched Duo and Quatre barely making a dent in the OZ forces. She fought the urge to go against their wishes and come out to give them aid and flipped some switches, scanning through the media.
To her relief, she found live footage streaming of Deathscythe and Sandrock attacking the base. She opened the lines of communication with Duo and Quatre. "So, you guys got what you wanted. I'm sending you news footage. It looks like you've made it around the world."
As she clicked a few buttons, her eyes shifted over what appeared to be a press conference in the Colonies. She clicked on the footage and turned up the volume. She felt the color and heat leave her face, sickness beginning to churn in the pit of her stomach.
"Guys," she rasped, fighting against the rising emotion in her throat. "There's something you need to see."
Duo and Quatre turned their attention to the footage now appearing on their screens. It was of a suited man in the Colonies. "We wish to publicly announce a decision made by Space Colony Area D. Mobile suits known as Gundams are currently destroying OZ's facilities. These Gundams have nothing to do with Colony Area D. We declare that if the Gundams consider OZ an enemy, then we'll consider the Gundams ours. OZ has been fair to us, and we have worked out our misunderstandings. We hope that the Gundams are defeated in this battle. We further hope that other colonies will follow our example set with this declaration."
Duo gritted his teeth, his eyes unblinking, and he cut off the video in disgust. "I expected this. But even so, it's still hard to swallow!"
"It's all right, Duo," Quatre's soft voice cut through. He was somber, head lowered, as Duo turned his attention to his friend. "We came down to Earth all alone. It's okay if the Colonies don't understand right away. I'm just happy the others are fighting for the same cause. That's enough."
Another beam severed through the air and slammed into Sandrock, Quatre shouting as he was flung backwards into the ground. He heard Duo and Lista shout his name, and Lista watched in horror as Deathscythe was also felled by a cannon beam. Both Gundams were now at the mercy of the troops closing in, weapons trained on them.
"Come on, Sandrock, stand up! It's too early to be defeated!" Quatre shouted, brows furrowed, a trickle of blood beginning to streak its way down his head. He struggled to bring Sandrock to its feet, but it refused to respond against the wave of bullets still beating against its back.
Lista gripped her hands over her controls, clenching her teeth and wincing as she watched both Deathscythe and Sandrock being pummeled by bullets. "I'm not standing here and watching you both get totaled! I'm coming out there to give you some cover, a distraction, anything!"
"No, Lista!" Quatre exclaimed with a bite, his eyes connecting with hers once her face appeared in his cockpit. "You'll be massacred if you come out in the middle of this! Your Leo can't withstand the firepower!"
Duo said nothing in response, his face smashed against his screens. He made no attempt to right himself or Deathscythe. "Damn it. At this rate, we're not gonna make it. I still think what we're doing is a good thing. So why do we have to die in a place like this?!"
Lista and Quatre looked at each other heatedly upon hearing Duo's words, and as Lista once again prepared to insist to help, a familiar voice cut through their communication lines. "Because we're doing the right thing! We are right!"
The three of them turned their attention towards the edge of the runway, finding the Gundam Shenlong walking towards them with its dragon fang detracted and prepared to launch an offensive.
"It's that guy!" Duo shouted.
They watched as Shenlong took down several Leos in its path, leaving a trail of fire and mangled titanium alloy in its wake. "The ones who are right have to be strong! If this is your limit, then so be it. The rest of us will take over from here," Wufei said.
Duo scowled, willing Deathscythe to its feet. "The rest of you will take over?!"
Wufei couldn't suppress his satisfied smirk. "That's more like it! You'd have a hard time explaining to your comrades if you were defeated now!"
Lista was scanning through footage, her heart lifting when she saw Wing and Heavyarms attacking separate bases. She released a heavy sigh mixed with a laugh and flipped her communication switch, prepared to announce the good news, when she heard Duo speak up first, his voice light and jubilated. "They figured out we need help!"
"They all understood our message," Quatre concurred, his tired eyes brightening.
"We can celebrate later," Lista said as Shenlong approached her position and took down another set of Leos. "Your path to the HLV shuttles has been cleared. You two need to get here now so we can go before backup troops arrive."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Duo said. "I'm ready to get the hell outta Dodge." Deathscythe flew through a few more Leos, slicing through them with ease as he moved towards the ground entrance. Flying through the open doors, he found Wufei and Lista both loading their suits onto their respective shuttles.
"We should have a few minutes before any soldiers arrive!" Lista shouted as Wufei zipped himself into a space suit and Duo jumped out of Deathscythe in front of one of the shuttles. "Most of them are probably out on the landing strip, so we have a little bit of time!"
Duo bit back a curse and looked up through the ground entrance, seeing Sandrock standing there, unmoving, with its shotels unsheathed from its back. "Hurry up, Quatre!"
Quatre's voice echoed through the shuttle bay. "Those suits will try to shoot us down when we start to lift off."
Duo finished loading Deathscythe into the shuttle pod and ran to the entrance before coming to a quick halt, snapping his head up with furrowed brows. "Quatre, hurry up!" he shouted, his voice laced with desperation.
Sandrock took another hit from a barrage of bullets, quaking the cockpit. "Don't worry about me. I'll back you three up until you lift off!"
Inside her shuttle, Lista, eyes wide after hearing Quatre's intention, flipped open her visual communications with Sandrock, staring him down as he kept his gaze forward, unblinking, concentrative. "What are you talking about, Quatre?! Get down here now!"
"It's all right, Lista," he answered, shaking his head. "Someone needs to cover you or none of us will make it space. At least the three of you can get up there safely."
Duo shook his head hard. "Have you lost your mind or something?! We all have to make it to space!"
"I know," Quatre replied. "That's why I have to back you up, to make sure that at least you guys make it!"
Duo clenched his hands into aching fists and shouted at him through gritted teeth. "Quatre!"
Lista slammed her fists against her control panel. "Quatre, you're being a stupid martyr! Now get down here! We need you!"
Sandrock took a hard hit from a beam, knocking it off kilter. She heard Quatre grunt in response and saw the blood now trailing down his nose from his forehead. He wiped the blood away with his sleeve, his face wrinkled in a frown. "Go! I can't take this much longer!"
Wufei clipped his helmet into place and nodded once, settling into the pilot's seat of his shuttle. "I'm grateful. The only way to show my appreciation is to make it safely into space and do what needs to be done."
Duo felt a scream rising up in his throat as Sandrock continued to be slammed with bullets, seeing there was nothing he could say or do to convince him otherwise. "You fool!" As much as he didn't want to, he willed himself into his shuttle, biting back a slew of curses along the way.
Lista felt tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. She shook her head and sniffled against her coming sobs as Wufei's and Duo's shuttles revved to life. "Quatre, you listen to me, damn you," she said, her voice cracking. He looked up at her tiredly. "I'm not going anywhere until you get down here! I will unload my Leo right now and come up there! Don't think I won't!"
She was unnerved when he flashed a calm smile at her. "Lista, you need to go. Please. Your family needs you."
"This won't mean anything if you don't survive this!" she shouted with a quick shake of her head. "We all need you! The Colonies need you!"
"It's okay, Lista," he said, his voice even. "I want you to go. I need to know you make it up there safely."
Lista hissed out a strangled sob and shakily activated her engines. "Quatre, I'm telling you right now, you better survive this. You better make it to space. Because if you don't, I will kill you myself. You understand? You survive this."
Quatre said nothing, only nodding once with a warm smile at the passion in her voice, and cut off his communications. He could feel the rumble of the three shuttle pods as they began to take off.
It was the moment of truth.
"And now, the last remaining choice is to self-detonate." He lowered his head and opened the box to the switch. And, with no hesitation, he flipped it, alarms and red lights blaring in the cockpit. And he smiled against his pain and the knowledge that he was going to die.
But, to his surprise, the cockpit doors opened and Sandrock's shield blocked the array of bullets still flying at him. "What's this? You're telling me to get off, Sandrock?"
Sandrock began moving forward slowly of its own volition, and Quatre unbuckled his harnesses, cabling himself down to the ground. He watched for a moment as his Gundam continued to move towards the line of OZ mobile suits protecting the base.
He lowered his head. "Thank you, my dear Sandrock." He grabbed his midsection with a cringe, turned around, and walked away towards the entrance to the shuttle bay.
Sandrock came to a stop a reasonable distance from the shuttle hangar, and Wufei, Duo, and Lista's HLVs roared out of the ground just as Sandrock flickered and glowed a luminous red. And in a flash of light and a loud boom, Sandrock was swallowed by grand bursts of fire, wiping out the nearby Leos, as the three shuttles disappeared into the night sky and a fourth emerged from the ground.
When the light died down, carnage was left in its wake, and Sandrock was no more, the night consumed with an eerie silence.