"Two more hours. Everything okay over there?" Duo called through the speaker, watching for the screen to pop up. It did promptly, and Quatre's face filled the square.
"Hai, 70 hours and 2 minutes. This mission shift is almost over." He looked off to the side at some dials on his panel, then looked forward again. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary over here."
It was just as well, that there was nothing amiss. Duo didn't know whether he liked being this deathly bored or being a milimeter away from a swordpoint that would blot out his guilt-ridden life forever. Yes, he decided, the swordpoint was much preferred.
Quatre's screen had blinked out immediately after transmission, so Duo put on his radar. The only objects that were foreign in the area was Deathscythe Hell [custom] and Sandrock Kai [custom], plus a radar satellite and a scope orbiting the colony in a wide ring.
The seconds ticked by. One....two....three....four......six...Six? Was he so bored he couldn't even count any more? Or was something controlling his thoughts? He felt a strange shadow pass by, but could still see nothing on the radar. He turned around twice, seeking out his enemy. Then he realized the enemy was within himself, in his mind. Something or someone really was playing with his thoughts, manipulating him, and it was irritating him.
There was a loud crash behind him, an explosion. Nothing seemed wrong with it, for it had seemed to be two space objects, perhaps large meteors, crashing together. But what would create an explosion, like that of an explosive device or bomb?
It was then that he realized the truth too late. Sandrock Kai [custom], along with Quatre, had disappeared! Duo moved along an orbiting route to where Sandrock Kai [custom] had been stationed, and to his great dismay there was nothing to be seen except scattered rock and debris. Then, on his radar, appeared two unidentifiable objects coming at great speeds, and towards the spot he had been in only a few minutes prior. One laser beam and a string of scorching flames warned him that his life had been at stake, and his own friends were turned against him. Who had manipulated his path, then? Who had the power to do something like that? But there were no bullets, nor machine gun products. Then where was Trowa? So many questions...
There was no time to think about them. Already he could see that the two fellow Gundams were approaching, and approaching quickly. If he didn't move now, he would have to fight them, one against two of equal ability. The odds were not good.
A thought popped into his mind. This time he was certain it wasn't his own idea. He slipped back into the shadows, becoming invisible to the naked eye. Radar couldn't catch him, his invisibility technique bested technology. But would it fool a Gundam, like himself? He highly doubted it. And besides, both Heero and Wufei knew how to seek him out of his invisibility. It was not safe.
But what to do? He quickly looked around him, searching for something he could use in his aide. His eyes glanced upon a small opening in the orbiting satellite dish, one that would house a great cannon beam or laser of some sort. It was directly underneath the receiving piece, which was even stranger than the fact of having such a large aperture to begin with. Then he had an idea. If he could just get both of them directly in line with the laser...
Another loud boom interrupted his thoughts. He quickly typed in coordinates and swung his view around. They were approaching the sector directly to his left, but were blocked by something, or someone. He turned his Gundam and peered through. It was Trowa, with Heavyarms Kai [cutsom]!
"How did he come to be here?" Duo wondered aloud. He didn't attempt to contact Trowa, lest it created some sort of signal that would be picked up by the other two. Trowa was helping him, in his own way, or at least that was what it seemed. But how could Duo know, for sure? He had once thought that Heero and Wufei were trustworthy, at least to an extent. But Heero idid/i always have that reputation for being a turncoat. Duo remembered saving Heero and then getting parts stolen...how he hated Heero at the moment. He had sworn never to forgive him, but things didn't turn out that way. Teamwork was a difficult thing to manage as it was, and when Heero was involved it became an impossible mission.
It occurred to him that the crash from before may have caused Quatre's Gundam to dissipate, but it probabaly would have annihilated not only Quatre's Gundam, which in itself was very unlikely, but the colony, himself, and above all the other three Gundams and their pilots. Was it the laser cannon in the satellite? Whatever it was, Quatre was most definitely gone and was most likely dead, for all he knew.
Another crash. This time, the sheer force flung him back against the meteor he was hiding behind. He tried to hug its shadow as best he could, but he knew sometime they would see him. He hoped that the orbit the meteor was cycling on would not change course, for it would then be his responsibility to make sure its path would not cross with any colonies or inhabited planets and if it did to alter its course to a safer route. That would also sentence his early death, for it would reveal his exact location and make him vunerable to a direct attack from perhaps all three Gundams.
He didn't know, he needed to know. Was Trowa helping him? Another blow shook the meteor, and he saw Heavyarms Kai [custom] fly into the scope orbiting the colony. He wondered how long this would last, especially if the damage on Heavyarms Kai [custom] was as bad as it looked. If Trowa was holding them off, and he didn't know where Duo nor Quatre were, who or what was he defending? The colony? No, that wasn't possible. He must've known Quatre had been gone, and Duo was in hiding. It was safe to assume he was on their side. No. His side. Quatre could no longer be counted hereon out.
Then the shock he had been dreading came. The great explosion on the meteor itself threw him off completely, sending Deathscythe Hell [custom] spinning out into space. It was all Duo could to to keep himself from joining the extra debris on its rondevous around the giant orbit.
Unfortunately for him, all three pilots spotted the Gundam.
Heero calculated his location. "So that's where he was," he muttered to himself, at the same time scolding his ineficiency. All four needed to be killed, and killed soon. "One down, three to go."
Meanwhile, Wufei was battling Trowa. He had him pinned to the scope, and Trowa was out of specific bullets. He dropped the heaviest machine gun, lightening the weight on his shield-arm allowing maneuverability to increase greatly. It spun out of control, plummeting out into space. He barely dodged a death-blow, and somehow freed himself from the scope's arms.
"Duo! Do you read?! Duo!!!"
Duo fumbled with the speaker headphone. It had been shut down in his attempt to draw enough energy to throw off his spin and keep in stabilized.
"Yes! Yes, I read you! Are you okay?!" he shouted back, wondering what caused this mess. Trowa certainly did not look like he was in a good situation, but Duo knew he wouldn't get an answer despite any major problems he could be having over there.
Trowa again dodged a blow, and came up behind the radar loop, which was nearing the satellite dish. Soon he would be cornered between the two and something had to be done. "You need to find the self-destruct program and activate it! Do you read me!?"
Duo became exasperated. What was the guy doing? First off he didn't answer whether he was okay or not. Duo had known quite well he wouldn't answer, and brushed it off. But the self-destruct program? Was he trying to get them all killed at the same time, or what? Finally he replied. "Fine. But you will owe me a major explanation!" Then he shook his head. Neither of them would be alive by the time this was over.
Trowa gave a slight nod. He knew, too. Then his face disappeared from the screen, and Duo was left to find a system whose location was not revealed to him. He groaned. It would take major searching to find this system, a very dangerous and extremely well-hidden item.
Duo watched as Trowa attempted to block his opponent's blows. Both were skilled, and it would be a mental battle. He could do nothing about it, and slipped behind another meteor as it went past him. He was hoping aloud, hoping that Heero did not see him.
The satellite's orbit was coming up, as well as the radar. The scope, which was supposed to pass in front of the meteor and possibly come in contact with it, had been destroyed and thrown off course by Trowa in the battle. Duo frantically tried to keep himself hidden while flying behind the radar. It crossed with the meteor, though he was exposed for a few seconds. And he immediately realized Heero had been watching the entire time, waiting for a good shot. And here was one opputunity. The radar exploded, and Deathscythe Hell [custom] was jolted backwards.
Duo looked up. He was shaken, but not hurt other than bruises and scrapes. His Gundam seemed to be in decent shape, and he searched the radar. Heero had come up behind him, and wasn't in close-combat range. That gave him approximately--he quickly calculated--eight seconds to locate the button and activate the system. He had found that the satellite served as a base for the self-destruct system, and was shieled from any blows it might receive. It would be difficult to break that barrier, let alone get the job done in the few seconds he had.
As Duo closed in on the satellite, there was a large crash. Wufei had lashed out towards Trowa, and rammed him against the radar just to the left of Duo. Well he has a repetitive tactic, Duo commented silently. It wasn't a usual thing, but if something could be sacrificed to use the technique it was usually done without question. Then he spotted a figure walking along the side of the satellite. He looked again, and it was gone. He was stunned. It had looked like Quatre, but it couldn't have been. He was gone. Then he understood. It was a message. He had to leave his Gundam in order to access the button.
A direct shot threw him violently out of his reverie. He glanced back. Heero was waiting to see what he would do, so he could stop him. But if he could kill him first, Duo noticed, Heero would do it without a second thought.
"K'so. Damn that Heero!" Duo cursed loudly. He quickly scanned the satellite for places to land. He desperately needed a diversion. Heero was watching him far too closely.
There again, was the loud, crashing boom, and the shock that jarred him almost unconscious. But it was very close this time. Trowa had managed to evade Wufei's swing, and forced both Heero and Wufei to move out of their current positions to avoid hitting one another. It was a brilliant plan, and Duo thanked Trowa silently, beginning to see the pattern in Trowa's ways and did not attempt verbal thanks.
"Time to get to business," he said, hopping out of his Gundam and onto a space rock, taking care to hug its shadow. He spun around, floating in the gravity-free space. He tried to hop every few steps as often as he could to keep from drifting completely off track, and finally he managed to land on the satellite. He walked along [or hopped, rather] the narrow passage behind the satellite, and came to the door. There was no button, no code to punch in. It was hidden between seams, but it glowed faintly when Duo felt around the edges for a handle.
"Now why didn't he tell me what the password was?" he protested aloud to himself. Then something strange happened. The glowing edges were actually words, that spelled out:
"To the innocent ones I loved and still love"
There was no name, no signature. But Duo knew whose words they were, and finally wailed, partly out of frustration and partly of pure compassion, "Quatre! Damn it! Where are you?!!?" And to his surprise the door shot up, granting his passage for a short three seconds before quickly slamming down.
Once inside, Duo closed his eyes and muttered, "Where ever you are, Quatre, I thank you for being loyal to the end." To himself he added, "And I mean that honestly, this time."
He looked around. It was pitch black, except for a little slanted, milky light shimmering in and out behind winding turbines at the end of the hallway, dashing shadows this way and that. It provided the perfect dead end. But Duo knew better. Walking up to it, he quickly scanned the walls for clues. He didn't have much time, for upon his entrance he was informed by an electronic voice that he would have approximately two minutes to find it and get out, for the door would open for three seconds, allow another minute for him to evacuate, then blast the satellite. The main reactor was found on the colony itself, he was told, as he listened while he searched. The colony was actually uninhabited, and had a hostile evironment not suitable for anything but scientific testing and other useful studies.
Then he saw it. At first he thought it a piece of unnecessary rubbish, but as he glimpsed it a second, third, fourth time, as the metal plates of the turbines wound around and around, he caught it in his fingers and pulled it out. It was a letter.
Left turbine. Three plate, black line. Damn. Love. Death.
What the hell? Duo quickly memorized it carefully, then slowly let it drift into the turbine, and watched as it became tiny scraps of unidentifiable fibers of paper. It had been written in Quatre's hand, and now Duo was suspicious about the entire ordeal. How had he escaped, if he had at all, and how had he known beforehand? Or had he known the inevitable and went ahead and planned for Duo's and Trowa's escape from the other two pilots? The questions were piling up, and none were being answered.
He hurriedly went through with the instructions. Button to the left of the turbine. Push three times, pull out the plate aligned with the black mark on the wall. Push button, replace turbine blade, push first button once more, and get out, fast.
The door opened as predicted, and he tried to conceal his exit. No luck. Heero saw him, as well as Wufei and Trowa, for they were battling practically on top of the satellite. As the meteor brushed past, Duo tried to catch hold of Deathscythe Hell [custom]'s head adornment, and missed. As he frantically grasped at empty space, Heero fired a shot directly at Deathscythe, attempting to throw him off. Out of sheer luck, or maybe intent, he didn't know, the meteor was blown off course and he crashed into Deathscythe Hell [custom]'s head, getting the wind knocked out of him. As he gasped in his space suit, Heero prepared to fire another shot.
It wasn't going to happen. As Wufei and Trowa battled, Trowa had been drawing it towards Heero. With a blow, he managed to shove Wufei into Heero's pathway. If Heero attempted to fire, he would miss Duo completely and get his supposed ally instead. With a complete change of plans, he aimed directly at the not-moving Trowa, who was already battered badly by his one-on-one space battle with Wufei.
"Trowa! Get out of here! The mission is over! Damn you!" Duo yelled into the screen, hoping the transmission would send and Trowa was conscious to receive it and had the sense to leave. He was slightly relieved when Noin sent another transmission granting his request to get Trowa out of the mess when he did escape and give him medical attention. Duo knew that was what Quatre would have done, had he still been alive. But Trowa wouldn't listen. Duo instinctively understood the stubbornness, but it was irritating, anyway.
He watched as Trowa backed down onto the colony. Wufei let him go, and disappeared behind a broken piece of space rock. Heero turned, and dropped out of the viewscreen, going downwards. Duo breathed in sharply and held it. They were coming.
Suddenly they were upon him. Wing Zero took the first move, while Wufei maneuvered Shenlong around to the side to guard. Heero thrust his laser beam cannon up against Duo's shield, causing a great clash. Then Duo jumped up and back, then brought his scythe down upon the cannon. Heero was forced to move backwards to remove the cannon from its position and aim it towards Duo.
"Wufei!" Heero called. Nothing happened. "WUFEI!!!"
Altron's great trident-beam spun and raised, then lowered. The front hatch opened, and the pilot stepped out onto the platform, posture stiff and proper. "I will no longer participate in such a dishonorable battle. It brings shame upon Nataku, and also to myself. Justice will not be found in this way. We were created to protect the colonies, not to fight for peace." With that, he closed the hatch and boarded a carrier-craft nearby that was hidden under an icy ridge on the colony. Heero cursed under his breath for his folly, the carrier-craft being his only way out in disguise. He would have to fly back...with no energy left whatsoever.
The laser from Deathscythe Hell's shield found its mark directly in the upper part of Wing Zero's head, creating a deadlock. Heero had neglected his battle while being caught up in the betrayal, and found himself without his laser cannon activant. He would not be able to use the cannon, so he flew into range of the planet, drawing Duo with him. He let the cannon fall onto the icy tundra of the colony's surface, and a large flurry of icy pieces flew up and blinded both of them. He cursed, long and loud. How could he have forgotten he was facing an opponent? So unlike him. But a strange feeling hung over his head, a feeling of utter defeat, betrayal.
No time for anyone to think. What the hell was going on? Duo didn't know what had happened to cause all this, and he was sure he wasn't going to live to find out. If Heero took his saber out, he could already pronounce himself dead, being in the position he was in. How did he get himself into a deadlock, anyway? It was the most uncomfortable position to be in and psychologically bad for the mind. What did he care, if he was going to die? He sighed as a feeling of utter helplessness flooded over him, and waited.
"Hai, 70 hours and 2 minutes. This mission shift is almost over." He looked off to the side at some dials on his panel, then looked forward again. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary over here."
It was just as well, that there was nothing amiss. Duo didn't know whether he liked being this deathly bored or being a milimeter away from a swordpoint that would blot out his guilt-ridden life forever. Yes, he decided, the swordpoint was much preferred.
Quatre's screen had blinked out immediately after transmission, so Duo put on his radar. The only objects that were foreign in the area was Deathscythe Hell [custom] and Sandrock Kai [custom], plus a radar satellite and a scope orbiting the colony in a wide ring.
The seconds ticked by. One....two....three....four......six...Six? Was he so bored he couldn't even count any more? Or was something controlling his thoughts? He felt a strange shadow pass by, but could still see nothing on the radar. He turned around twice, seeking out his enemy. Then he realized the enemy was within himself, in his mind. Something or someone really was playing with his thoughts, manipulating him, and it was irritating him.
There was a loud crash behind him, an explosion. Nothing seemed wrong with it, for it had seemed to be two space objects, perhaps large meteors, crashing together. But what would create an explosion, like that of an explosive device or bomb?
It was then that he realized the truth too late. Sandrock Kai [custom], along with Quatre, had disappeared! Duo moved along an orbiting route to where Sandrock Kai [custom] had been stationed, and to his great dismay there was nothing to be seen except scattered rock and debris. Then, on his radar, appeared two unidentifiable objects coming at great speeds, and towards the spot he had been in only a few minutes prior. One laser beam and a string of scorching flames warned him that his life had been at stake, and his own friends were turned against him. Who had manipulated his path, then? Who had the power to do something like that? But there were no bullets, nor machine gun products. Then where was Trowa? So many questions...
There was no time to think about them. Already he could see that the two fellow Gundams were approaching, and approaching quickly. If he didn't move now, he would have to fight them, one against two of equal ability. The odds were not good.
A thought popped into his mind. This time he was certain it wasn't his own idea. He slipped back into the shadows, becoming invisible to the naked eye. Radar couldn't catch him, his invisibility technique bested technology. But would it fool a Gundam, like himself? He highly doubted it. And besides, both Heero and Wufei knew how to seek him out of his invisibility. It was not safe.
But what to do? He quickly looked around him, searching for something he could use in his aide. His eyes glanced upon a small opening in the orbiting satellite dish, one that would house a great cannon beam or laser of some sort. It was directly underneath the receiving piece, which was even stranger than the fact of having such a large aperture to begin with. Then he had an idea. If he could just get both of them directly in line with the laser...
Another loud boom interrupted his thoughts. He quickly typed in coordinates and swung his view around. They were approaching the sector directly to his left, but were blocked by something, or someone. He turned his Gundam and peered through. It was Trowa, with Heavyarms Kai [cutsom]!
"How did he come to be here?" Duo wondered aloud. He didn't attempt to contact Trowa, lest it created some sort of signal that would be picked up by the other two. Trowa was helping him, in his own way, or at least that was what it seemed. But how could Duo know, for sure? He had once thought that Heero and Wufei were trustworthy, at least to an extent. But Heero idid/i always have that reputation for being a turncoat. Duo remembered saving Heero and then getting parts stolen...how he hated Heero at the moment. He had sworn never to forgive him, but things didn't turn out that way. Teamwork was a difficult thing to manage as it was, and when Heero was involved it became an impossible mission.
It occurred to him that the crash from before may have caused Quatre's Gundam to dissipate, but it probabaly would have annihilated not only Quatre's Gundam, which in itself was very unlikely, but the colony, himself, and above all the other three Gundams and their pilots. Was it the laser cannon in the satellite? Whatever it was, Quatre was most definitely gone and was most likely dead, for all he knew.
Another crash. This time, the sheer force flung him back against the meteor he was hiding behind. He tried to hug its shadow as best he could, but he knew sometime they would see him. He hoped that the orbit the meteor was cycling on would not change course, for it would then be his responsibility to make sure its path would not cross with any colonies or inhabited planets and if it did to alter its course to a safer route. That would also sentence his early death, for it would reveal his exact location and make him vunerable to a direct attack from perhaps all three Gundams.
He didn't know, he needed to know. Was Trowa helping him? Another blow shook the meteor, and he saw Heavyarms Kai [custom] fly into the scope orbiting the colony. He wondered how long this would last, especially if the damage on Heavyarms Kai [custom] was as bad as it looked. If Trowa was holding them off, and he didn't know where Duo nor Quatre were, who or what was he defending? The colony? No, that wasn't possible. He must've known Quatre had been gone, and Duo was in hiding. It was safe to assume he was on their side. No. His side. Quatre could no longer be counted hereon out.
Then the shock he had been dreading came. The great explosion on the meteor itself threw him off completely, sending Deathscythe Hell [custom] spinning out into space. It was all Duo could to to keep himself from joining the extra debris on its rondevous around the giant orbit.
Unfortunately for him, all three pilots spotted the Gundam.
Heero calculated his location. "So that's where he was," he muttered to himself, at the same time scolding his ineficiency. All four needed to be killed, and killed soon. "One down, three to go."
Meanwhile, Wufei was battling Trowa. He had him pinned to the scope, and Trowa was out of specific bullets. He dropped the heaviest machine gun, lightening the weight on his shield-arm allowing maneuverability to increase greatly. It spun out of control, plummeting out into space. He barely dodged a death-blow, and somehow freed himself from the scope's arms.
"Duo! Do you read?! Duo!!!"
Duo fumbled with the speaker headphone. It had been shut down in his attempt to draw enough energy to throw off his spin and keep in stabilized.
"Yes! Yes, I read you! Are you okay?!" he shouted back, wondering what caused this mess. Trowa certainly did not look like he was in a good situation, but Duo knew he wouldn't get an answer despite any major problems he could be having over there.
Trowa again dodged a blow, and came up behind the radar loop, which was nearing the satellite dish. Soon he would be cornered between the two and something had to be done. "You need to find the self-destruct program and activate it! Do you read me!?"
Duo became exasperated. What was the guy doing? First off he didn't answer whether he was okay or not. Duo had known quite well he wouldn't answer, and brushed it off. But the self-destruct program? Was he trying to get them all killed at the same time, or what? Finally he replied. "Fine. But you will owe me a major explanation!" Then he shook his head. Neither of them would be alive by the time this was over.
Trowa gave a slight nod. He knew, too. Then his face disappeared from the screen, and Duo was left to find a system whose location was not revealed to him. He groaned. It would take major searching to find this system, a very dangerous and extremely well-hidden item.
Duo watched as Trowa attempted to block his opponent's blows. Both were skilled, and it would be a mental battle. He could do nothing about it, and slipped behind another meteor as it went past him. He was hoping aloud, hoping that Heero did not see him.
The satellite's orbit was coming up, as well as the radar. The scope, which was supposed to pass in front of the meteor and possibly come in contact with it, had been destroyed and thrown off course by Trowa in the battle. Duo frantically tried to keep himself hidden while flying behind the radar. It crossed with the meteor, though he was exposed for a few seconds. And he immediately realized Heero had been watching the entire time, waiting for a good shot. And here was one opputunity. The radar exploded, and Deathscythe Hell [custom] was jolted backwards.
Duo looked up. He was shaken, but not hurt other than bruises and scrapes. His Gundam seemed to be in decent shape, and he searched the radar. Heero had come up behind him, and wasn't in close-combat range. That gave him approximately--he quickly calculated--eight seconds to locate the button and activate the system. He had found that the satellite served as a base for the self-destruct system, and was shieled from any blows it might receive. It would be difficult to break that barrier, let alone get the job done in the few seconds he had.
As Duo closed in on the satellite, there was a large crash. Wufei had lashed out towards Trowa, and rammed him against the radar just to the left of Duo. Well he has a repetitive tactic, Duo commented silently. It wasn't a usual thing, but if something could be sacrificed to use the technique it was usually done without question. Then he spotted a figure walking along the side of the satellite. He looked again, and it was gone. He was stunned. It had looked like Quatre, but it couldn't have been. He was gone. Then he understood. It was a message. He had to leave his Gundam in order to access the button.
A direct shot threw him violently out of his reverie. He glanced back. Heero was waiting to see what he would do, so he could stop him. But if he could kill him first, Duo noticed, Heero would do it without a second thought.
"K'so. Damn that Heero!" Duo cursed loudly. He quickly scanned the satellite for places to land. He desperately needed a diversion. Heero was watching him far too closely.
There again, was the loud, crashing boom, and the shock that jarred him almost unconscious. But it was very close this time. Trowa had managed to evade Wufei's swing, and forced both Heero and Wufei to move out of their current positions to avoid hitting one another. It was a brilliant plan, and Duo thanked Trowa silently, beginning to see the pattern in Trowa's ways and did not attempt verbal thanks.
"Time to get to business," he said, hopping out of his Gundam and onto a space rock, taking care to hug its shadow. He spun around, floating in the gravity-free space. He tried to hop every few steps as often as he could to keep from drifting completely off track, and finally he managed to land on the satellite. He walked along [or hopped, rather] the narrow passage behind the satellite, and came to the door. There was no button, no code to punch in. It was hidden between seams, but it glowed faintly when Duo felt around the edges for a handle.
"Now why didn't he tell me what the password was?" he protested aloud to himself. Then something strange happened. The glowing edges were actually words, that spelled out:
"To the innocent ones I loved and still love"
There was no name, no signature. But Duo knew whose words they were, and finally wailed, partly out of frustration and partly of pure compassion, "Quatre! Damn it! Where are you?!!?" And to his surprise the door shot up, granting his passage for a short three seconds before quickly slamming down.
Once inside, Duo closed his eyes and muttered, "Where ever you are, Quatre, I thank you for being loyal to the end." To himself he added, "And I mean that honestly, this time."
He looked around. It was pitch black, except for a little slanted, milky light shimmering in and out behind winding turbines at the end of the hallway, dashing shadows this way and that. It provided the perfect dead end. But Duo knew better. Walking up to it, he quickly scanned the walls for clues. He didn't have much time, for upon his entrance he was informed by an electronic voice that he would have approximately two minutes to find it and get out, for the door would open for three seconds, allow another minute for him to evacuate, then blast the satellite. The main reactor was found on the colony itself, he was told, as he listened while he searched. The colony was actually uninhabited, and had a hostile evironment not suitable for anything but scientific testing and other useful studies.
Then he saw it. At first he thought it a piece of unnecessary rubbish, but as he glimpsed it a second, third, fourth time, as the metal plates of the turbines wound around and around, he caught it in his fingers and pulled it out. It was a letter.
Left turbine. Three plate, black line. Damn. Love. Death.
What the hell? Duo quickly memorized it carefully, then slowly let it drift into the turbine, and watched as it became tiny scraps of unidentifiable fibers of paper. It had been written in Quatre's hand, and now Duo was suspicious about the entire ordeal. How had he escaped, if he had at all, and how had he known beforehand? Or had he known the inevitable and went ahead and planned for Duo's and Trowa's escape from the other two pilots? The questions were piling up, and none were being answered.
He hurriedly went through with the instructions. Button to the left of the turbine. Push three times, pull out the plate aligned with the black mark on the wall. Push button, replace turbine blade, push first button once more, and get out, fast.
The door opened as predicted, and he tried to conceal his exit. No luck. Heero saw him, as well as Wufei and Trowa, for they were battling practically on top of the satellite. As the meteor brushed past, Duo tried to catch hold of Deathscythe Hell [custom]'s head adornment, and missed. As he frantically grasped at empty space, Heero fired a shot directly at Deathscythe, attempting to throw him off. Out of sheer luck, or maybe intent, he didn't know, the meteor was blown off course and he crashed into Deathscythe Hell [custom]'s head, getting the wind knocked out of him. As he gasped in his space suit, Heero prepared to fire another shot.
It wasn't going to happen. As Wufei and Trowa battled, Trowa had been drawing it towards Heero. With a blow, he managed to shove Wufei into Heero's pathway. If Heero attempted to fire, he would miss Duo completely and get his supposed ally instead. With a complete change of plans, he aimed directly at the not-moving Trowa, who was already battered badly by his one-on-one space battle with Wufei.
"Trowa! Get out of here! The mission is over! Damn you!" Duo yelled into the screen, hoping the transmission would send and Trowa was conscious to receive it and had the sense to leave. He was slightly relieved when Noin sent another transmission granting his request to get Trowa out of the mess when he did escape and give him medical attention. Duo knew that was what Quatre would have done, had he still been alive. But Trowa wouldn't listen. Duo instinctively understood the stubbornness, but it was irritating, anyway.
He watched as Trowa backed down onto the colony. Wufei let him go, and disappeared behind a broken piece of space rock. Heero turned, and dropped out of the viewscreen, going downwards. Duo breathed in sharply and held it. They were coming.
Suddenly they were upon him. Wing Zero took the first move, while Wufei maneuvered Shenlong around to the side to guard. Heero thrust his laser beam cannon up against Duo's shield, causing a great clash. Then Duo jumped up and back, then brought his scythe down upon the cannon. Heero was forced to move backwards to remove the cannon from its position and aim it towards Duo.
"Wufei!" Heero called. Nothing happened. "WUFEI!!!"
Altron's great trident-beam spun and raised, then lowered. The front hatch opened, and the pilot stepped out onto the platform, posture stiff and proper. "I will no longer participate in such a dishonorable battle. It brings shame upon Nataku, and also to myself. Justice will not be found in this way. We were created to protect the colonies, not to fight for peace." With that, he closed the hatch and boarded a carrier-craft nearby that was hidden under an icy ridge on the colony. Heero cursed under his breath for his folly, the carrier-craft being his only way out in disguise. He would have to fly back...with no energy left whatsoever.
The laser from Deathscythe Hell's shield found its mark directly in the upper part of Wing Zero's head, creating a deadlock. Heero had neglected his battle while being caught up in the betrayal, and found himself without his laser cannon activant. He would not be able to use the cannon, so he flew into range of the planet, drawing Duo with him. He let the cannon fall onto the icy tundra of the colony's surface, and a large flurry of icy pieces flew up and blinded both of them. He cursed, long and loud. How could he have forgotten he was facing an opponent? So unlike him. But a strange feeling hung over his head, a feeling of utter defeat, betrayal.
No time for anyone to think. What the hell was going on? Duo didn't know what had happened to cause all this, and he was sure he wasn't going to live to find out. If Heero took his saber out, he could already pronounce himself dead, being in the position he was in. How did he get himself into a deadlock, anyway? It was the most uncomfortable position to be in and psychologically bad for the mind. What did he care, if he was going to die? He sighed as a feeling of utter helplessness flooded over him, and waited.