DISCLAIMER: With the exception of Kumi and Sette, none of the Gundam Wing characters are mine.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: We're nearing the half-way point! I hope that everyone's been following everything that's happening because you never know what's going to pop up again later...I've been meaning to make a note of that before. ::ducks and hides:: Gomen! I forgot to mention that before. But it wouldn't be fun if I said what you needed to remember! That would take out all the fun! Well, I hope you like this! As always, to my girls, Snodin, Tracy, Sam, Stormy, Sky and Beekay, thanks for everything! Enjoy! Lots of Love, SkyLark
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 21: Blind Faith
by SkyLark
with help from Snodin, Traci, Stormy, Sam, Sky and Beekay
On a Preventer craft not far from Colony R58, Trowa Barton would be leaving to complete his mission within three hours. Not thinking of anything but the task at hand, the tall pilot sat in one of the ship's lounges. Looking to the stars, he notices a strange, silver streak moving across the sky. Whatever was causing the streak was moving too slowly to be a Gundam or any other mobile suit. And it definitely wasn't a shooting star.
With a look of confusion and curiosity, Trowa walked to the window to have a better look. As he peered out, a voice came from the doorway and said, "Casualty Capsule." Trowa's head turned to see the commander of the ship, Commander Price, walking to him. The Gundam pilot repeated, "Casualty Capsule?"
The Preventer nodded and stood beside the young man as they looked to the streak. He explained, "You'll only see them when you're as far in space as we are. Nearly every ship of OZ and the Preventers are too far from Colonies to bury those who die from natural causes onboard. The Casualty Capsules are only built for one body, so they're thin, long and don't provide oxygen. Then, they're sent to the nearest Colony where they will be picked up and buried."
Trowa nodded, "I do remember flying past a few of those capsules on my way here. I wasn't aware as to what they were until now." Looking back to Price, he asked, "If OZ and the Preventers have them, isn't there a threat that the enemy would destroy the capsule of their enemy's dead before it reached a Colony?"
The Commander shook his head, "Every Capsule looks the same, whether it came from OZ or the Preventers. It was purposely done so nobody would know who's side the dead soldier sided with, until the capsule is opened when it reaches it's destination. Only then, the soldier is identified and returned to their family."
With an even deeper, more serious tone, the commander continued, "Nobody messes with the dead, not even OZ. Out of respect for the deceased, no one is to fire upon a Casualty Capsule, since inside of them is a soldier who died in honor. To destroy one of those is more than barbaric. Even OZ is aware of that."
The young pilot couldn't help but gave a small, sharp laugh at this as he shook his head. Looking back to the streak caused by the Casualty Capsule, Trowa sighed deeply, "At least they have respect for something." The commander smiled and nodded, "The irony of it all." There was a brief pause of silence as the soldiers watched the pod disappear into the stars. The eerie atmosphere of watching a dead body being shot through space sent shivers up the Gundam pilot's back. He shuddered inwardly and looked away from the window.
The Commander looked to Trowa's back as he headed to the door quietly. "You all right, kid?" he called to him. Trowa stopped and turned back to the Price with an empty expression. The older man said with a bit of concern in his voice, "You have a lot on your shoulders, you and your friends." The tall pilot gave a half-smile and shrugged, "It's nothing we're not used to." Price sighed deeply and quietly said to himself, "Yea." Trowa turned to face the door again. "I'll be in the hanger getting ready." The Preventer watched him as he walked off.
Looking back out the window, Price lowered his head and said gravely, "God help us all for creating wars like this these last seven years...Sending young children like them to die." The silence in the dimly lit lounge was soon too much for the commander as he, too felt a shiver go up his back. He left the room before long.
* * * * * *
Sally Poe had been flying for more than a day now. She looked to her monitors, seeing if there was anything that could have been spotted by now. Seeing that there was no change in the area her radars could pick up, she sat back in her seat and sighed deeply. "He has to be here somewhere," Sally told herself with concern.
Noin's image appeared on the screen and she did not look too happy as she gazed to her friend. Sally's eyes widened as she gave a small gasp. "I'm surprised it took so long for you to check up," Water stated. Noin frowned in disappointment, "I was hoping you would have come to your senses and returned to Pulsar by now." With frustration in her voice, Fire growled, "It's bad enough that Novem took off on her own...You realize that you're too far to be reached by any Preventer crafts if anything goes wrong."
Water crossed her arms and her eyes narrowed as she replied sternly, "I know that Wufei needs help. I'm not going to let him down and stay on that ship waiting any longer. You would be doing the same if Milliardo was in Wufei's place right now." Fire sighed deeply as he eyes closed. Finally, she looked back to her friend and answered with a gentle tone and glance again, "You're right...I'm sorry." Sally nodded and calmed down as well.
Fire gave a small smirk and chuckled deeply as she shook her head. "I know that you can take care of yourself out there. Just be careful, anyway." Sally laughed then nodded, "Sure thing, Mom." Nion laughed and the sound of something beeping came over the monitors of Sally's ship. The Preventers' eyes widened as they heard this. Sally looked to her comrade and said quickly, "I have to go." Fire nodded and replied, "Watch yourself." The signal was then cut off. Sally looked more closely to her monitors and flew off towards the unidentified object.
* * * * * *
Trowa was walking to the hanger of the Preventer craft. When he entered the large room, he looked to Heavy Arms and gave a small smile. He was so close to being able to return to his friends...his family. For someone who never had a name until he volunteered to be a Gundam pilot, Trowa never thought that he would ever belong anywhere.
The fact that Trowa never had a name before then was upsetting. Then, he met the other Gundam pilots and a certain braided comrade taught him that names didn't mean much...The most important thing was having a place to consider home. It wasn't until that time when Trowa understood that he belonged and was home when he was with the other pilots and Catherine.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
The Gundams were destroyed with the press of the detonation device in Duo's hand. The American, Quatre and Trowa looked to the site from a tall hill overhead. As the smoke rose from the destroyed suits, Trowa said quietly, "Once again, I'm nameless." Quatre smiled, "I like the name Trowa. You should keep it." Duo smiled and closed his eyes, "Names are things other people give you. What matters most is that we have a place to call home." Trowa never took that into consideration. His heart warmed at his friend's words and he smiled, "Yea...You're right Duo."
(End flashback)
@ 2 @ @ @ @
First things were first. Trowa needed to complete his mission and go after Kumi before returning to Pulsar. While there were good reasons to feel confident that the mission would be successful, the Gundam pilot knew that he needed to remain on his toes for anything. Commander Price walked to the tall pilot and smiled, "Ready?" Trowa nodded, "Yea."
The crew of Preventers who would be aiding the Gundam pilot were all running to their mobile suits as they prepared for the fight ahead. Since it was now known that OZ was aware the pilots were being sent, they needed all the help that they could get. Trowa was not complaining since there was no way of being certain just what he would flying into.
The tall pilot climbed into Heavy Arms's cockpit and was secured as he the hatch closed. The fleet was about to take off as Price watched from the observation tower. When the hanger doors opened to Space, Trowa led the flight with the string of Preventers right behind him.
When the hatch doors closed behind the last soldier, the commander ran into the control room. The rest of his crew began working even more tightly to see that everything went well with the mission. Looking to one of the soldiers who was typing away, he asked, "Any sign of the destination Trowa needs to reach?" The young woman nodded, "There is a large fleet of nearly a hundred OZ soldiers not far from where he needs to go."
Price nodded, "Any signs of those OZ Gundams or anything other than the mobile suits there?" The young woman shook her head, "No, sir. It's only mobile suits...But there is a large number of them spread out around the colony." The commander asked, "Have you passed that information to Trowa?" The soldier replied, "Yes. He's aware that he needs to watch himself, along with the soldiers that are with him." Satisfied that they had taken every step needed up to now, Price stated, "Good. There are two more fleets not far from where we are waiting in the wings to help when they're needed. The rest is up to Barton. All we can do now is wait."
Trowa soon reached the colony's surface and saw the soldiers expecting them below. He radioed to the others, "I'll head to the Colony's heart the moment I know that I won't be followed." One of the soldiers replied over his transmitter, "We'll let you know the moment you have a break for it." The Gundam pilot nodded, "All right. Let's bring another victory home." The Preventers shouted their agreement as they fell from the skies towards the OZ soldiers.
The battle began in the blink of an eye. Trowa took out a few soldiers as he swooped down, shooting the whole way. There were still a good number of soldiers that needed to be worried about, even with all of the Preventers that came with him.
With the OZ soldiers that were stationed throughout the colony, Trowa knew that the longer they stayed here, the more time they would have to join the fight. He looked to the numbers of OZ soldiers as he battled with a Leo. Stabbing the suit with the blade in his suit's right hand, Trowa spun quickly and knocked out several Aires with bullets that threatened to shoot him as they flew towards him.
The Preventers around him, also were fighting well as they knocked out OZ soldiers left and right. Still, they were working against the clock. After fifteen minutes, one of the Preventers cheered, "We've cut their forces in half!"
Trowa was about to take this as his time to go, but when he looked to the monitors, he saw three large armies making their way to the battlefield. Looking up, he could see the OZ troops that he detected coming from three edges, and closing in fast. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he growled deeply, "This is going to be a long fight."
* * * * * *
Sally was nearing the source of the signal that she had picked up. For a safety precaution, she armed the ship's lasers in case she needed to open fire upon the object. Far ahead of her, something glittered in the sunlight. It was because of this glimmer that Sally knew she was not looking to a star. The monitors also verified that it was the same thing that the ship had picked up and led her to this place. The Preventer's eyes narrowed as she strained to get a better look.
It was not long before Water was close enough to just make out that she had found. Her eyes widened as she gasped. "Wufei," she whispered to herself. Sure enough, Nataku was floating lifelessly before her. Sally's heart stopped for a moment when she realized how motionless the Gundam was. Fearing the worst, she cried loudly with concern and terror in her expression, "WUFEI!?!"
In his suit, the Chinese pilot was stirred from his sleep. He sat up with a start and turned his head in a few directions frantically. It took a moment for Wufei to realize that he really was awake, since he could not see any longer. With a deep sigh, he then remembered that despite his efforts to see anything, he would remain blind. The pilot sat back in his seat, certain that he had been dreaming. If his vision had not been robbed of him, he would have seen that Sally's ship was hovering just before his Gundam.
Sally had waited this time to see if there would be any response to her cry. When there was one, she tried again, "Wufei?" Now, the Gundam pilot knew for certain that he had heard Sally's voice as a loud gasp left him. "S-Sally?" he asked, timidly and disbelieving. The Preventer smiled warmly as she sighed in relief, "Wufei. Thank God you're all right." As much as she was wanting to believe that there wasn't anything wrong, Water somehow had a bad feeling that not everything was fine with Wufei right now. There was another long pause after she made the last remark.
Wufei shook his head to himself and lowered his head in sorrow. He whispered, "I must be dreaming...Even in my dreams I'm blind." Sally was taken back by this quiet statement and asked gently after a pause of shock, "What do you mean you're blind, Wufei?" The Chinese pilot ignored the voice, certain that he really was just dreaming.
Sally was becoming even becoming even more worried than before as she shouted, "Wufei, what happened to you!?!" With everything that had been happening to him, the Gundam pilot was too overwhelmed not to allow a few tears to fall. He whispered in a choked sob, "When with this end?" Feeling the cold drops on his cheek, he wiped them away.
Water's heart broke. It wasn't until then that she realized that Wufei really couldn't see her. The young pilot continued to choke back sobs that could be heard over her transmitted. The young man had folded into himself and began to shake from emotion. Sally bit her lip as she felt tears building into her eyes. She whispered, "Wufei...It's really me, love." Wufei sat back up and dried his tears again. He replied, "You can't be. Sally was killed along with everyone on Peace Million."
The Preventer dried a few tears from her face and realized that she needed to prove that she was alive. Her eyes widened when she thought back to one of their first conversations together. Sally smiled warmly and said gently, "Remember what I told you about faith not long after we first met?" Wufei caught his breath and the unshed tears in his eyes stayed there, bottled for a moment. "W-What?" he asked, breathlessly with hope in his face and voice.
Sally continued, "When you fight with a pure heart, you have to have faith in what you fight for. You and the other pilots have the purest heart's I've ever seen. You have faith in each other and the causes that we struggle for. But, there's more to faith than that. Faith is believing in something that we can't see." Wufei's sightless eyes blinked, though the pilot never noticed. "S-Sally...It really is you," he whispered in awe. Water breathed a sigh of relief and nodded as she felt another tear roll down her cheek.
"You believe that I'll help you right?" Water asked. The Gundam pilot smiled and nodded, "Always." Sally smiled and opened the base of the ship to scoop Nataku into the hanger there. All Wufei could do was remain calm as he couldn't tell what was happening around him. When the doors to the bottom of the ship closed again, there was a loud thud. He remained silent as he sat in cockpit.
The doors to the personal hanger opened as the ship's pilot entered quickly. The lights turned on instantly the moment she arrived. Sally ran to Nataku as it lied on its back. Once she climbed to the top of the suit, she opened the cockpit. Wufei heard the hatch opening as he worked himself from the harness. Sally looked down to him with relief mixed with sadness. She saw his Wufei's eyes were narrowed, since he couldn't tell whether they were opened or not.
The Gundam pilot knew that she was there as he smiled up to her. Sally couldn't help but have a smile on her face from the reassuring one that he gave her. Wufei stood once he was free from the harness with a little difficulty, keeping his hands against the sides of the cocoon to keep from falling. Water reached down and took his hands into hers. With her help, Wufei was soon out of the Gundam.
The two soldiers hugged tightly once they were both kneeling on top of Nataku. They just held each other tightly, fighting more tears as they stayed like that for a moment. Wufei smiled as they pulled back a moment. Placing a hand on her cheek, the Chinese pilot whispered, "Sally." The Preventer bit her lip then leaned in and kissed Wufei's lips. The kiss went from gentle to deep.
When the kiss broke, they rested their foreheads against the other's, with a soft embrace between the two of them the whole time. "Let's get back to Pulsar," Water suggested. Wufei asked with uncertainty, "Is there anything that can help my sight?" His girlfriend replied, "I can perform surgery when we get back. We'll see what we can do then." Wufei smiled and nodded, hoping that everything would turnout all right. Sally helped him to the ground and took his arm to lead him out of the hanger.
* * * * * *
Back on R58, the battle continued to rage even more violently than before. Trowa and the Preventers were growing tired, having been at this for a good hour by now. This army of OZ soldiers was one of the most skilled that they had come up against in a while. It took a lot more effort to knock them down. And as always, there were more soldiers waiting in the wings ready to take the place of those that were killed.
Trowa was sweating badly as he spun his suit and continued to spray the OZ troops with bullets. Looking to his supply, he hissed, "Damn it! I'm running low on bullets!" He continued to use what he had, nonetheless. The pilot focused on slicing through the soldiers closest to him and saved what he had for the soldiers Heavy Arms couldn't reach without shooting them down. It still wasn't long before every bullet was used up.
One of the Preventers aiding the Gundam pilot came to his aid in a daring rush to his side. "Here!" he announced as his Virgo tossed a large clip to the suit made just for the Gundam. Trowa managed to work Heavy Arms in time to catch the device. He sighed deeply and waved, "Thanks!" Locking the clip into the suit's side, he was now reloaded. The soldier who dared to help was shot several times as his suit exploded with the pilot screaming in agony.
Heavy Arms took to destroying the suits responsible for the young soldier's death as Trowa caused the top half of his Gundam to spin with it's blade slicing through the soldiers above him. Using the bullets that he was able to retrieve, Trowa continued to shoot down any and every soldier that was anywhere near him. As the battle continued, another Preventer looked to the sky and she shouted in terror, "LOOK OUT!" Just as these words left her, a flare sphere crashed into her Aires, causing an explosion that took out not only her suit, but a large number of suits near her.
"WHAT!?!" Trowa shouted as he looked up. Flare spheres were falling from every direction, destroying Preventers as well as OZ soldiers in their paths. The Gundam pilot and the soldiers below did what they could to avoid the spheres as they rained down. None of the OZ soldiers saw this coming as they were in just as much peril as their opponents.
In his Aires, one OZ soldier shouted over his transmitted, "SIR, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?!" Quinze's image appeared on the screen as he smiled, "I'm sorry, my friend, but since none of the Gundams we have will reach the colony in time to stop the pilot in time, we have to use other methods to stop him." The soldier was besides himself as he screamed, "BUT SIR, WE'LL ALL DIE AT THIS RATE!" Quinze still smiled and shrugged, "And you will all be recognized as soldiers who sacrificed themselves for our great victory in this war." With a wave, the head of OZ said, "Farewell." The screen went black again as the soldier cried, "NO!" His frantic eyes looked up as another sphere was prepared to crash into him. Without a moment to react, the soldier was killed along with those close to him.
Below, everything was being pelted badly as soldier scrambled to evacuate and flee with their lives. Very few would actually be able to use make it out into the heavens safely. Those that did make it were not to survive much longer as they went on to fight their opponents in space, as if unaffected by the ordeal they had just been through.
Meanwhile, Trowa gasped for air as he quickly tried to take advantage of this time. He flew off, careful to dodge the Flare Spheres, as he made his way to where he would need to enter and reach the heart. Being wounded in the left shoulder that was now scratched up badly, he ignored the pain and focused on the mission at hand.
Finally, the Gundam pilot reached the lake that he needed to use as his entrance. Not thinking twice, Trowa shot under the water until he reached the bottom of the deep manmade lake. Using his blade and spinning top half again, he made his way below the dirt. As he had been informed, the moment that Trowa entered the ground, it covered itself up again behind him.
Trowa took a moment to pant heavily, as he struggled to get his breath back. Wiping sweat from his brow roughly, he looked to his monitors and looked to his surroundings. His frantic eyes calmed just a bit along with his breathing as he knew now that he was where he needed to be.
Heavy Arms was in the tubing of one of the shoots that led to and from the Colony's heart. When any of the tubing of the Colonies' hearts were cut through or damaged, they closed over themselves right away to prevent flooding or fire from entering. Now finally able to have a clearer mind again, Trowa's eyes narrowed as he growled deeply. Shooting at great speed, he flew through the shoot.
There was a great deal of twists and turns as Heavy Arms soared through the tubes. Trowa managed to pilot through the obstacle course. After a good ride through the hidden construction, the opening to the heart was before the Gundam. Looking to the lit entrance, Trowa undid his harness and opened the hatch. Using his ripcord, he jumped from the suit and ran into the entrance the moment his feet touched the ground.
As he ran into the heart, Trowa ran straight to the main computer and worked away at the keyboard. Sweat continued to roll down his face as he typed as quickly as he could. The clicking of the keys was the only sound for the longest time. With his hands flying over the computer, Trowa made sure that there wasn't anything left out, talking in barely audible whispers to himself as he went through the steps.
When everything was nearly complete, there was one last command that needed to be typed in. Pausing just a moment, the pilot closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Please let this work," he whispered to himself. Hitting the last key that was required, the monitor accepted the new program. Trowa's face relaxed a bit as he took some deep breaths. The mission had been completed and everything went back as if nothing had changed.
A large smile spread across Trowa's face as he lowered his head and sighed deeply, falling to his knees before the computer from exhaustion and relief. Allowing this brief moment to get himself together, the Gundam pilot chuckled deeply to himself as he covered his face with his hands. Looking back to the monitor, he smiled and said quietly, "Only three more...Please, just three more."
* * * * * *
On Pulsar, Relena, Brian, Derek and Catherine were in the cafeteria along with many of the soldiers of the crew since it was lunchtime. The pilots were speaking amongst themselves as they sat together and enjoyed one of their few moments to relax. A young soldier ran into the cafe and announced loudly with an elated expression, "TROWA BARTON COMPLETED HIS MISSION! WE HAVE FOUR OF THE SEVEN CONNECTIONS UP NOW!"
Everyone in the room jumped to their feet as this word sunk in. Many cheered and clapped loudly while others were too shocked to do any of this. Relena and Catherine were instantly running to the control room along with the king and Derek right behind them. Catherine cheered, "I knew Trowa would come through!" Relena smiled brightly and nodded, "It'll be great to have him back again!"
The control room was crazy with soldiers shouting and celebrating. There was all kinds of stuff flying, papers and anything that was safe to throw in the air. On the large, wide monitor ahead of the room, the image of the galaxy was shown. As always, this was the way of knowing what the Preventers had been able to accomplish through the completed missions. The colored rings showed the spans of space that they could easily connect with whenever they wanted now.
The rings of dark blue from Wufei, gold from Quatre and light blue from Sette were added with another. Beyond the white ring indicating the Milky Way, there was a thick red ring to indicate where the newest connection reached. It fell from the end of the Milky Way to the mid-point between Jupiter and Saturn.
Lady Une noticed the pilots as they entered. She ran to Delapan with a warm smile and took her hand. With no explanation, she led her like that to one of the computers in the front of the large room. The redhead just followed as the head of the Preventers got them through the crowd of soldiers there as they continued to celebrate.
When they reached a the empty computer, Lady Une sat Catherine down and placed a set of headphones over her ears. Delapan looked to her in confusion as she did this. The head of the Preventers explained with a warm smile, "Someone wants to say hello to you." At this, she stepped back a bit to allow the young pilot some privacy.
Catherine spoke into the small microphone, "This is Delapan." A familiar voice replied in a sharp laugh, "I thought you hated that name!" The redhead instantly felt relieved tears in her eyes as she shouted with a huge smile, "Trowa!"
Her brother replied, "Lady Une told me that you're piloting again...I knew you'd be back." The young woman asked with concern, "Are you all right? You can come back now, right?" Trowa answered, "I have to help Kumi first. She's in a lot of trouble." His sister nodded in understanding, "Okay. Just be careful."
Trowa nodded back, "I will. And I'll be back with Kumi soon." Delapan smiled, "All right. I love you." Her brother replied the same, "I love you, too." After saying good bye, the connection was cut off.
* * * * * *
Back in the heart of the Colony, Trowa smiled as he turned off the connection. There would be other chances to catch up with his sister and his friends. Right now, he needed to get out of the Colony. Running through the entrance, Trowa climbed back into his suit's cockpit and strapped himself in.
Once everything was in order, the Gundam pilot shot off through the tubes again. Soon, he was out of the lake that led to the softest entrance to the shoots. Once he was in the air, Trowa noticed that the sky was no longer raining Flare Spheres. Seeing this, he took off to see what had happened to the soldiers back at the battlefield.
When he returned to where he was fighting with the Preventers, Trowa'a eyes and mouth fell wide open as he looked to the destruction. There were countless craters all around along with miles of debris. Some of the debris were parts of the suits as well as the pilots within them. The sickening sight caused Trowa's eyes to slam shut for a moment, too appalled by the gruesome sight.
Opening his eyes slowly again, the tall pilot looked back to the site. In one of the craters not far from him, Trowa noticed a shell that must have belonged to one of the Flare Spheres that had fallen from nowhere. Taking the shell into his Gundam's hands, he examined the metal in his monitors. "We might be able to use this," he thought aloud. Commander Price's voice came through the monitor as he announced in a horrified voice, "TROWA, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" The Gundam pilot gasped loudly as he looked up. There was a Holocaust now making its way to the Colony's surface, just a few miles over him.
"SHIT!" Trowa screamed as he instantly got Heavy Arms to take off. With a deep growl and shouting, the Gundam pilot forced his suit forward as quickly as he could, pushing on his controls with everything that he had. The Holocaust impacted just as soon as he entered Space again, causing a bright light that could be seen even from as high as he was by now.
Looking below, the sight of the haze of chemicals from the deadly weapon was spotted. Everything living, all of the forests and animals around were killed. The chemicals were then blown through out the cities and towns everywhere on R58. Trowa asked hesitantly, with concern and fear in his voice, "Did anyone on the Colony get out of there before the Holocaust hit?" Price answered, "Most of the people that lived there got out during the fight. There was about a hundred still on the Colony." With a saddened face and a heavy heard, Trowa lowered his head with his eyes closed.
After a pause of silence, Price asked, "Are you all right, kid?" Trowa nodded, "Yea. I'm fine." Looking to the shell that he managed to keep a hold of in his suit's hands, he informed the commander, "I have something that may help in the future." At this, he flew back to Preventer ship.
* * * * * *
The celebration on Pulsar had just ended as everyone on board was getting back to their duties and what they were doing prior to the accomplished mission. Catherine rejoined Relena, who was also with her Brian, Milliardo, Noin who was holding Mirando, Lady Une and Derek. They all smiled to the relieved young woman as her own face had one of the biggest smiles that she ever showed in some time. She looked to them and shrugged, "Trowa's fine. He has to go take care of Kumi before they come back." The others nodded at this news.
Noin kissed her son's head as he laughed. She chuckled deeply "You know Uncle Trowa and Aunt Kumi will be back soon, don't you?" Little Mirando cooed in her arms and his parents smiled to him, lovingly. Relena sighed deeply as she leaned back against the wall, "I can't wait for the others to get back. It's hard not to worry about them." Brian nodded, "I agree. But, Quatre and Sette will back soon." Derek added, "Hopefully, Sally and Wufei will be back soon, too. They should be back before anyone, if everything's all right."
Lady Une looked back to the monitor that showed the galaxy with the indicated territories that they now had. She informed the others, "Heero, Duo and Kumi are all that we have to worry about yet. Once their missions are over, we'll all be breathing a lot more easily."
Relena then asked Delapan, "Did Trowa say why Kumi needed help by any chance?" The redhead shook her head, "No. He just said he had to help her before they could come back." The young queen said quietly, in concern, "I hope that he doesn't think anything's wrong with her." Her friend smiled, "If I know my brother, she'll be just fine when he meets up with her." Zes smiled then and nodded, not arguing that statement.
* * * * * *
Trowa and Commander Price walked into the hanger of the Preventer craft and looked to Heavy Arms. "Thank you for your help in repairing Heavy Arms, Commander." The soldier laughed and replied, "You can call me Danny." Trowa nodded, "Danny."
The pilot lowered his head sadly and said quietly, "I'm sorry you lost so many of your soldiers in that fight." Price nodded, with a sad look on his own face. "We'll be sending the bodies that we were able to retrieve in Casualty Capsules. Most of them came from Colonies a ways from here." Trowa took a deep breath and sighed, "Please let everyone here know that I appreciate everything that they've done for me." Price replied, "I'll do that."
The Gundam pilot asked, "Do you think that we'll be able to learn more about those Flare Spheres with the shell that I brought back? I know there wasn't much of what I was able to find before the Holocaust came." Danny answered, "Even that little bit will be a huge help. I have an excellent staff of scientists and weapon experts here that are working on experiments on that right now."
The brunette nodded back and shrugged, "I guess that's it, then. I have to head to M29 now. Kumi will be there before too long and I have to reach her before that happens." Price sighed deeply and smiled, "It's been a pleasure working with you, Trowa. We'll all be pulling for you pilots to get out of this war in one piece."
The two shook hands firmly. "It's been a pleasure working with you as well, Danny. Thank you," Trowa said sincerely. He then climbed back into his cockpit, zipping up his space suit and locking on his helmet.
Once he was strapped in his seat, Trowa waver to the Commander, who was now in the observation tower as the hatch to his cockpit closed. Price smiled and waved back as he watched the suit take off. "God speed, Gundam pilots," he said quietly as there was soon nothing left of Heavy Arms.
As he flew through the stars, Trowa looked through his helmet's blue visor to his monitors. There were several Casualty Capsules flying from Price's ship. Most of them floated not far from Heavy Arms as he headed towards M29. He looked sadly to the thin, long pods as they took the dead soldiers inside home to rest.
There was about fifty silver streaks from the capsules all around. The Gundam pilot closed his eyes and breathed, "Let's hope for everyone's sake that their deaths weren't in vain." Shooting off past the streaks, he went off to reach Kumi before it was too late.
* * * * * *
Two days later, Wufei was led out of the hanger of Pulsar by Sally. It was just in the pilot's best interest that he go into the medical branch of the ship right away, without anyone knowing that he had returned. Water soon brought him into an examination room where three young doctors were waiting for their arrival as they prepared themselves for the surgery. Commander Wilcox was also there on the small room.
Sally smiled to the man and looked to the Chinese pilot. "Wufei, this is Commander Wilcox," she introduced. Wufei gave a small nod, not knowing where to turn his head. Wilcox looked to the blind pilot and smiled as he took his right hand and shook it firmly. "It's a pleasure, Wufei."
The pilot smiled then and returned the shake, "Thank you for all of your help, sir...Do the others know I'm here?" The commander shook his head, "No, I kept my word and kept your arrival a secret until we know how the surgery goes." Wufei breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "Thank you. I didn't want them to see me...like this." Wicox frowned and replied, "I understand."
Sally took Wufei by the arm, now in her blue medical gown and gloves. She said gently, "We're ready when you are." Wufei nodded and replied, "I'm ready." The Chinese pilot was placed on a chair in the center of the room, where a large laser was waiting. Once he was strapped around the waist into the seat, Sally and the other examiners turned on several bright lights and used microscopes to look at how badly the irises had been affected.
After they all had an extensive look, the doctors turned to each other and gave a gesture such as a nod or another form of affirmative that they could restore the Gundam pilot's sight. Sally squeezed Wufei's hand and whispered, "We have a chance to save your sight. We have to use the laser while you're awake. It won't hurt, but you won't know what is happening for a long time."
Wufei sighed deeply, filled with relief and fear, at this news. He squeezed Sally's hand and said in assurance, "I'll be okay." Holding her breath, Water nodded and let the others know that they were prepared for the next step. The laser was handled carefully as it was wheeled in front of the pilot, pointing directly to his eyes. Once everything was in place, the laser was turned on, bringing a thin red beam into the eyes of the Chinese pilot.
* * * * * *
After an hour, Wufei felt the hospital mattress below him. His eyes were bandaged closed by medical tape that wrapped around his head. Sally slowly cut away at the wrapping and removed it carefully. The two thick gauds that covered either eye were then taken away gently. The Chinese pilot's eyes were closed. Sally took a deep breath which she released slowly. "All right, Wufei. Just open them slowly," she told him. Wufei did just that.
Blinking a few times, Wufei watched as the image of Sally before him soon came into focus. She was looking to him with great concern and fear. He smiled warmly, "Just the person I wanted to see." Sally let out a relieved laugh with him as they hugged tightly. They kissed deeply and smiled to each other lovingly when it was broken.
Sally bit her lip and smiled, "You have some visitors." Wufei looked to the door in anticipation as his girlfriend walked to it. Once the door was opened, Relena, Catherine, Milliardo, Noin and all of his friends ran in as they cheered, "WUFEI!" and "THERE HE IS!" Relena and Catherine tackled him as he lied on the bed and were soon in their lying with him, at either side as they hugged him tightly. The others all stayed at the edge of the bed as they looked to their friend who had been gone for so long.
Wufei felt tears filling in his eyes as he looked to the smiling faces of all of them. He kissed Relena and Catherine's heads as they continued to embrace like that. Noin kissed his cheek and he shook hands firmly with Milliardo. Brian and Derek did the same. Lady Une hugged and kissed his cheek. He was happy to return the gesture. When they were all finished, Relena and Catherine continued to lie in the bed with Wufei as he looked to all of them with eyes filling quickly. "You have no idea how good it is to see all of you right now," he whispered as a few tears left his eyes.
The others all smiled and the girls were soon filling with tears, themselves at this. Sally sat beside him and they kissed each other's lips gently. "How are the others?" the Chinese pilot asked. Milliardo answered, "They'll be back before long. Right now, you just need to worry about recovering." The Chinese pilot smirked, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Noin brought her son to the young pilot. Wufei gasped as the baby was placed in his arms. Noin smiled as she stood straight again, "His name is Mirando." Wufei looked to the sleeping baby in his embrace and whispered, "He's beautiful." The baby's blue eyes opened and looked up to the Gundam pilot. He smiled and giggled. Wufei gave him his index finger to hold onto and the child put it in his mouth. He smiled and kissed the baby's head. Wufei then handed the child back to his mother. Looking to Mirando's parents and said, "Congratulations." The pair smiled and thanked him.
There was a light knock on the door and Commander Wilcox peeked inside. Everyone greeted him and allowed him to enter. He smiled to the pilot, "How are you feeling?" Wufei nodded back, "Much better. Thanks." Lady Une informed the Chinese pilot, "We have something that we think you'll like to see." Hearing this, Wufei's eyes lit up for a moment. He nodded and the two young ladies that were in bed with him got up so he could get to his feet. Together, they walked off to the control room.
When they entered the room, Wufei's eyes widened as he looked to the monitor in the front of the room that showed the galaxy and colored bands. "I-Is that what I think it is?" he asked quietly, almost disbelieving. Lady Une nodded, "It's the way we can see what channels we can connect with." Wufei blinked and smiled, "We're almost there."
Noin smiled, "It won't be much longer. And Quatre and Sette will be here before we know it." The Chinese pilot sighed deeply and lowered his head. "It'll be good to see all of them again," he said faintly. Sally hugged him from behind and he folded his arms around hers. Together, everyone there looked to the monitor as their reassurance that they still had a chance at winning this war.
* * * * * *
On a small private ship that floated alone in the span of stars, the hanger was filled with a few mobile suits meant for the Preventers along with Gundam Unit 09, Rampage. Novem smiled as she looked up to her Gundam. "It won't be long before we're on Pulsar now," she told her friend. "We've done well...And I'm sure the others will understand that this was something that I couldn't pass up," she said with certainty. Saying 'Good night,' she walked out of the hanger.
Since there wasn't much to the ship other than the hanger, it was not a long walk for Dorothy to reach the cockpit. Once in there, she turned the autopilot of the ship off and took to piloting again. The doors behind her opened and the person entering said, "Thank you again for all your help, Novem. I know that you went out of your way to find me." The blonde pilot turned her head back and smiled, "No trouble at all. Actually, I have to thank you. I was hoping that I would get to have a nice adventure with Rampage again."
The person that entered chuckled, "You don't think that the others will be mad that you just took off the way that you did?" Novem shook her head, "It's not something that I'm worried about." Looking to her monitors the pilot informed, "We'll be reaching Pulsar in just a few hours now. You should get some rest. I'll get us there safely." The girl in the wheelchair nodded, "All right. Good night, Novem." The Gundam pilot smiled, "Good night, Marimaya."
TBC
AUTHOR'S NOTE: We're nearing the half-way point! I hope that everyone's been following everything that's happening because you never know what's going to pop up again later...I've been meaning to make a note of that before. ::ducks and hides:: Gomen! I forgot to mention that before. But it wouldn't be fun if I said what you needed to remember! That would take out all the fun! Well, I hope you like this! As always, to my girls, Snodin, Tracy, Sam, Stormy, Sky and Beekay, thanks for everything! Enjoy! Lots of Love, SkyLark
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 21: Blind Faith
by SkyLark
with help from Snodin, Traci, Stormy, Sam, Sky and Beekay
On a Preventer craft not far from Colony R58, Trowa Barton would be leaving to complete his mission within three hours. Not thinking of anything but the task at hand, the tall pilot sat in one of the ship's lounges. Looking to the stars, he notices a strange, silver streak moving across the sky. Whatever was causing the streak was moving too slowly to be a Gundam or any other mobile suit. And it definitely wasn't a shooting star.
With a look of confusion and curiosity, Trowa walked to the window to have a better look. As he peered out, a voice came from the doorway and said, "Casualty Capsule." Trowa's head turned to see the commander of the ship, Commander Price, walking to him. The Gundam pilot repeated, "Casualty Capsule?"
The Preventer nodded and stood beside the young man as they looked to the streak. He explained, "You'll only see them when you're as far in space as we are. Nearly every ship of OZ and the Preventers are too far from Colonies to bury those who die from natural causes onboard. The Casualty Capsules are only built for one body, so they're thin, long and don't provide oxygen. Then, they're sent to the nearest Colony where they will be picked up and buried."
Trowa nodded, "I do remember flying past a few of those capsules on my way here. I wasn't aware as to what they were until now." Looking back to Price, he asked, "If OZ and the Preventers have them, isn't there a threat that the enemy would destroy the capsule of their enemy's dead before it reached a Colony?"
The Commander shook his head, "Every Capsule looks the same, whether it came from OZ or the Preventers. It was purposely done so nobody would know who's side the dead soldier sided with, until the capsule is opened when it reaches it's destination. Only then, the soldier is identified and returned to their family."
With an even deeper, more serious tone, the commander continued, "Nobody messes with the dead, not even OZ. Out of respect for the deceased, no one is to fire upon a Casualty Capsule, since inside of them is a soldier who died in honor. To destroy one of those is more than barbaric. Even OZ is aware of that."
The young pilot couldn't help but gave a small, sharp laugh at this as he shook his head. Looking back to the streak caused by the Casualty Capsule, Trowa sighed deeply, "At least they have respect for something." The commander smiled and nodded, "The irony of it all." There was a brief pause of silence as the soldiers watched the pod disappear into the stars. The eerie atmosphere of watching a dead body being shot through space sent shivers up the Gundam pilot's back. He shuddered inwardly and looked away from the window.
The Commander looked to Trowa's back as he headed to the door quietly. "You all right, kid?" he called to him. Trowa stopped and turned back to the Price with an empty expression. The older man said with a bit of concern in his voice, "You have a lot on your shoulders, you and your friends." The tall pilot gave a half-smile and shrugged, "It's nothing we're not used to." Price sighed deeply and quietly said to himself, "Yea." Trowa turned to face the door again. "I'll be in the hanger getting ready." The Preventer watched him as he walked off.
Looking back out the window, Price lowered his head and said gravely, "God help us all for creating wars like this these last seven years...Sending young children like them to die." The silence in the dimly lit lounge was soon too much for the commander as he, too felt a shiver go up his back. He left the room before long.
* * * * * *
Sally Poe had been flying for more than a day now. She looked to her monitors, seeing if there was anything that could have been spotted by now. Seeing that there was no change in the area her radars could pick up, she sat back in her seat and sighed deeply. "He has to be here somewhere," Sally told herself with concern.
Noin's image appeared on the screen and she did not look too happy as she gazed to her friend. Sally's eyes widened as she gave a small gasp. "I'm surprised it took so long for you to check up," Water stated. Noin frowned in disappointment, "I was hoping you would have come to your senses and returned to Pulsar by now." With frustration in her voice, Fire growled, "It's bad enough that Novem took off on her own...You realize that you're too far to be reached by any Preventer crafts if anything goes wrong."
Water crossed her arms and her eyes narrowed as she replied sternly, "I know that Wufei needs help. I'm not going to let him down and stay on that ship waiting any longer. You would be doing the same if Milliardo was in Wufei's place right now." Fire sighed deeply as he eyes closed. Finally, she looked back to her friend and answered with a gentle tone and glance again, "You're right...I'm sorry." Sally nodded and calmed down as well.
Fire gave a small smirk and chuckled deeply as she shook her head. "I know that you can take care of yourself out there. Just be careful, anyway." Sally laughed then nodded, "Sure thing, Mom." Nion laughed and the sound of something beeping came over the monitors of Sally's ship. The Preventers' eyes widened as they heard this. Sally looked to her comrade and said quickly, "I have to go." Fire nodded and replied, "Watch yourself." The signal was then cut off. Sally looked more closely to her monitors and flew off towards the unidentified object.
* * * * * *
Trowa was walking to the hanger of the Preventer craft. When he entered the large room, he looked to Heavy Arms and gave a small smile. He was so close to being able to return to his friends...his family. For someone who never had a name until he volunteered to be a Gundam pilot, Trowa never thought that he would ever belong anywhere.
The fact that Trowa never had a name before then was upsetting. Then, he met the other Gundam pilots and a certain braided comrade taught him that names didn't mean much...The most important thing was having a place to consider home. It wasn't until that time when Trowa understood that he belonged and was home when he was with the other pilots and Catherine.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
The Gundams were destroyed with the press of the detonation device in Duo's hand. The American, Quatre and Trowa looked to the site from a tall hill overhead. As the smoke rose from the destroyed suits, Trowa said quietly, "Once again, I'm nameless." Quatre smiled, "I like the name Trowa. You should keep it." Duo smiled and closed his eyes, "Names are things other people give you. What matters most is that we have a place to call home." Trowa never took that into consideration. His heart warmed at his friend's words and he smiled, "Yea...You're right Duo."
(End flashback)
@ 2 @ @ @ @
First things were first. Trowa needed to complete his mission and go after Kumi before returning to Pulsar. While there were good reasons to feel confident that the mission would be successful, the Gundam pilot knew that he needed to remain on his toes for anything. Commander Price walked to the tall pilot and smiled, "Ready?" Trowa nodded, "Yea."
The crew of Preventers who would be aiding the Gundam pilot were all running to their mobile suits as they prepared for the fight ahead. Since it was now known that OZ was aware the pilots were being sent, they needed all the help that they could get. Trowa was not complaining since there was no way of being certain just what he would flying into.
The tall pilot climbed into Heavy Arms's cockpit and was secured as he the hatch closed. The fleet was about to take off as Price watched from the observation tower. When the hanger doors opened to Space, Trowa led the flight with the string of Preventers right behind him.
When the hatch doors closed behind the last soldier, the commander ran into the control room. The rest of his crew began working even more tightly to see that everything went well with the mission. Looking to one of the soldiers who was typing away, he asked, "Any sign of the destination Trowa needs to reach?" The young woman nodded, "There is a large fleet of nearly a hundred OZ soldiers not far from where he needs to go."
Price nodded, "Any signs of those OZ Gundams or anything other than the mobile suits there?" The young woman shook her head, "No, sir. It's only mobile suits...But there is a large number of them spread out around the colony." The commander asked, "Have you passed that information to Trowa?" The soldier replied, "Yes. He's aware that he needs to watch himself, along with the soldiers that are with him." Satisfied that they had taken every step needed up to now, Price stated, "Good. There are two more fleets not far from where we are waiting in the wings to help when they're needed. The rest is up to Barton. All we can do now is wait."
Trowa soon reached the colony's surface and saw the soldiers expecting them below. He radioed to the others, "I'll head to the Colony's heart the moment I know that I won't be followed." One of the soldiers replied over his transmitter, "We'll let you know the moment you have a break for it." The Gundam pilot nodded, "All right. Let's bring another victory home." The Preventers shouted their agreement as they fell from the skies towards the OZ soldiers.
The battle began in the blink of an eye. Trowa took out a few soldiers as he swooped down, shooting the whole way. There were still a good number of soldiers that needed to be worried about, even with all of the Preventers that came with him.
With the OZ soldiers that were stationed throughout the colony, Trowa knew that the longer they stayed here, the more time they would have to join the fight. He looked to the numbers of OZ soldiers as he battled with a Leo. Stabbing the suit with the blade in his suit's right hand, Trowa spun quickly and knocked out several Aires with bullets that threatened to shoot him as they flew towards him.
The Preventers around him, also were fighting well as they knocked out OZ soldiers left and right. Still, they were working against the clock. After fifteen minutes, one of the Preventers cheered, "We've cut their forces in half!"
Trowa was about to take this as his time to go, but when he looked to the monitors, he saw three large armies making their way to the battlefield. Looking up, he could see the OZ troops that he detected coming from three edges, and closing in fast. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he growled deeply, "This is going to be a long fight."
* * * * * *
Sally was nearing the source of the signal that she had picked up. For a safety precaution, she armed the ship's lasers in case she needed to open fire upon the object. Far ahead of her, something glittered in the sunlight. It was because of this glimmer that Sally knew she was not looking to a star. The monitors also verified that it was the same thing that the ship had picked up and led her to this place. The Preventer's eyes narrowed as she strained to get a better look.
It was not long before Water was close enough to just make out that she had found. Her eyes widened as she gasped. "Wufei," she whispered to herself. Sure enough, Nataku was floating lifelessly before her. Sally's heart stopped for a moment when she realized how motionless the Gundam was. Fearing the worst, she cried loudly with concern and terror in her expression, "WUFEI!?!"
In his suit, the Chinese pilot was stirred from his sleep. He sat up with a start and turned his head in a few directions frantically. It took a moment for Wufei to realize that he really was awake, since he could not see any longer. With a deep sigh, he then remembered that despite his efforts to see anything, he would remain blind. The pilot sat back in his seat, certain that he had been dreaming. If his vision had not been robbed of him, he would have seen that Sally's ship was hovering just before his Gundam.
Sally had waited this time to see if there would be any response to her cry. When there was one, she tried again, "Wufei?" Now, the Gundam pilot knew for certain that he had heard Sally's voice as a loud gasp left him. "S-Sally?" he asked, timidly and disbelieving. The Preventer smiled warmly as she sighed in relief, "Wufei. Thank God you're all right." As much as she was wanting to believe that there wasn't anything wrong, Water somehow had a bad feeling that not everything was fine with Wufei right now. There was another long pause after she made the last remark.
Wufei shook his head to himself and lowered his head in sorrow. He whispered, "I must be dreaming...Even in my dreams I'm blind." Sally was taken back by this quiet statement and asked gently after a pause of shock, "What do you mean you're blind, Wufei?" The Chinese pilot ignored the voice, certain that he really was just dreaming.
Sally was becoming even becoming even more worried than before as she shouted, "Wufei, what happened to you!?!" With everything that had been happening to him, the Gundam pilot was too overwhelmed not to allow a few tears to fall. He whispered in a choked sob, "When with this end?" Feeling the cold drops on his cheek, he wiped them away.
Water's heart broke. It wasn't until then that she realized that Wufei really couldn't see her. The young pilot continued to choke back sobs that could be heard over her transmitted. The young man had folded into himself and began to shake from emotion. Sally bit her lip as she felt tears building into her eyes. She whispered, "Wufei...It's really me, love." Wufei sat back up and dried his tears again. He replied, "You can't be. Sally was killed along with everyone on Peace Million."
The Preventer dried a few tears from her face and realized that she needed to prove that she was alive. Her eyes widened when she thought back to one of their first conversations together. Sally smiled warmly and said gently, "Remember what I told you about faith not long after we first met?" Wufei caught his breath and the unshed tears in his eyes stayed there, bottled for a moment. "W-What?" he asked, breathlessly with hope in his face and voice.
Sally continued, "When you fight with a pure heart, you have to have faith in what you fight for. You and the other pilots have the purest heart's I've ever seen. You have faith in each other and the causes that we struggle for. But, there's more to faith than that. Faith is believing in something that we can't see." Wufei's sightless eyes blinked, though the pilot never noticed. "S-Sally...It really is you," he whispered in awe. Water breathed a sigh of relief and nodded as she felt another tear roll down her cheek.
"You believe that I'll help you right?" Water asked. The Gundam pilot smiled and nodded, "Always." Sally smiled and opened the base of the ship to scoop Nataku into the hanger there. All Wufei could do was remain calm as he couldn't tell what was happening around him. When the doors to the bottom of the ship closed again, there was a loud thud. He remained silent as he sat in cockpit.
The doors to the personal hanger opened as the ship's pilot entered quickly. The lights turned on instantly the moment she arrived. Sally ran to Nataku as it lied on its back. Once she climbed to the top of the suit, she opened the cockpit. Wufei heard the hatch opening as he worked himself from the harness. Sally looked down to him with relief mixed with sadness. She saw his Wufei's eyes were narrowed, since he couldn't tell whether they were opened or not.
The Gundam pilot knew that she was there as he smiled up to her. Sally couldn't help but have a smile on her face from the reassuring one that he gave her. Wufei stood once he was free from the harness with a little difficulty, keeping his hands against the sides of the cocoon to keep from falling. Water reached down and took his hands into hers. With her help, Wufei was soon out of the Gundam.
The two soldiers hugged tightly once they were both kneeling on top of Nataku. They just held each other tightly, fighting more tears as they stayed like that for a moment. Wufei smiled as they pulled back a moment. Placing a hand on her cheek, the Chinese pilot whispered, "Sally." The Preventer bit her lip then leaned in and kissed Wufei's lips. The kiss went from gentle to deep.
When the kiss broke, they rested their foreheads against the other's, with a soft embrace between the two of them the whole time. "Let's get back to Pulsar," Water suggested. Wufei asked with uncertainty, "Is there anything that can help my sight?" His girlfriend replied, "I can perform surgery when we get back. We'll see what we can do then." Wufei smiled and nodded, hoping that everything would turnout all right. Sally helped him to the ground and took his arm to lead him out of the hanger.
* * * * * *
Back on R58, the battle continued to rage even more violently than before. Trowa and the Preventers were growing tired, having been at this for a good hour by now. This army of OZ soldiers was one of the most skilled that they had come up against in a while. It took a lot more effort to knock them down. And as always, there were more soldiers waiting in the wings ready to take the place of those that were killed.
Trowa was sweating badly as he spun his suit and continued to spray the OZ troops with bullets. Looking to his supply, he hissed, "Damn it! I'm running low on bullets!" He continued to use what he had, nonetheless. The pilot focused on slicing through the soldiers closest to him and saved what he had for the soldiers Heavy Arms couldn't reach without shooting them down. It still wasn't long before every bullet was used up.
One of the Preventers aiding the Gundam pilot came to his aid in a daring rush to his side. "Here!" he announced as his Virgo tossed a large clip to the suit made just for the Gundam. Trowa managed to work Heavy Arms in time to catch the device. He sighed deeply and waved, "Thanks!" Locking the clip into the suit's side, he was now reloaded. The soldier who dared to help was shot several times as his suit exploded with the pilot screaming in agony.
Heavy Arms took to destroying the suits responsible for the young soldier's death as Trowa caused the top half of his Gundam to spin with it's blade slicing through the soldiers above him. Using the bullets that he was able to retrieve, Trowa continued to shoot down any and every soldier that was anywhere near him. As the battle continued, another Preventer looked to the sky and she shouted in terror, "LOOK OUT!" Just as these words left her, a flare sphere crashed into her Aires, causing an explosion that took out not only her suit, but a large number of suits near her.
"WHAT!?!" Trowa shouted as he looked up. Flare spheres were falling from every direction, destroying Preventers as well as OZ soldiers in their paths. The Gundam pilot and the soldiers below did what they could to avoid the spheres as they rained down. None of the OZ soldiers saw this coming as they were in just as much peril as their opponents.
In his Aires, one OZ soldier shouted over his transmitted, "SIR, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?!" Quinze's image appeared on the screen as he smiled, "I'm sorry, my friend, but since none of the Gundams we have will reach the colony in time to stop the pilot in time, we have to use other methods to stop him." The soldier was besides himself as he screamed, "BUT SIR, WE'LL ALL DIE AT THIS RATE!" Quinze still smiled and shrugged, "And you will all be recognized as soldiers who sacrificed themselves for our great victory in this war." With a wave, the head of OZ said, "Farewell." The screen went black again as the soldier cried, "NO!" His frantic eyes looked up as another sphere was prepared to crash into him. Without a moment to react, the soldier was killed along with those close to him.
Below, everything was being pelted badly as soldier scrambled to evacuate and flee with their lives. Very few would actually be able to use make it out into the heavens safely. Those that did make it were not to survive much longer as they went on to fight their opponents in space, as if unaffected by the ordeal they had just been through.
Meanwhile, Trowa gasped for air as he quickly tried to take advantage of this time. He flew off, careful to dodge the Flare Spheres, as he made his way to where he would need to enter and reach the heart. Being wounded in the left shoulder that was now scratched up badly, he ignored the pain and focused on the mission at hand.
Finally, the Gundam pilot reached the lake that he needed to use as his entrance. Not thinking twice, Trowa shot under the water until he reached the bottom of the deep manmade lake. Using his blade and spinning top half again, he made his way below the dirt. As he had been informed, the moment that Trowa entered the ground, it covered itself up again behind him.
Trowa took a moment to pant heavily, as he struggled to get his breath back. Wiping sweat from his brow roughly, he looked to his monitors and looked to his surroundings. His frantic eyes calmed just a bit along with his breathing as he knew now that he was where he needed to be.
Heavy Arms was in the tubing of one of the shoots that led to and from the Colony's heart. When any of the tubing of the Colonies' hearts were cut through or damaged, they closed over themselves right away to prevent flooding or fire from entering. Now finally able to have a clearer mind again, Trowa's eyes narrowed as he growled deeply. Shooting at great speed, he flew through the shoot.
There was a great deal of twists and turns as Heavy Arms soared through the tubes. Trowa managed to pilot through the obstacle course. After a good ride through the hidden construction, the opening to the heart was before the Gundam. Looking to the lit entrance, Trowa undid his harness and opened the hatch. Using his ripcord, he jumped from the suit and ran into the entrance the moment his feet touched the ground.
As he ran into the heart, Trowa ran straight to the main computer and worked away at the keyboard. Sweat continued to roll down his face as he typed as quickly as he could. The clicking of the keys was the only sound for the longest time. With his hands flying over the computer, Trowa made sure that there wasn't anything left out, talking in barely audible whispers to himself as he went through the steps.
When everything was nearly complete, there was one last command that needed to be typed in. Pausing just a moment, the pilot closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Please let this work," he whispered to himself. Hitting the last key that was required, the monitor accepted the new program. Trowa's face relaxed a bit as he took some deep breaths. The mission had been completed and everything went back as if nothing had changed.
A large smile spread across Trowa's face as he lowered his head and sighed deeply, falling to his knees before the computer from exhaustion and relief. Allowing this brief moment to get himself together, the Gundam pilot chuckled deeply to himself as he covered his face with his hands. Looking back to the monitor, he smiled and said quietly, "Only three more...Please, just three more."
* * * * * *
On Pulsar, Relena, Brian, Derek and Catherine were in the cafeteria along with many of the soldiers of the crew since it was lunchtime. The pilots were speaking amongst themselves as they sat together and enjoyed one of their few moments to relax. A young soldier ran into the cafe and announced loudly with an elated expression, "TROWA BARTON COMPLETED HIS MISSION! WE HAVE FOUR OF THE SEVEN CONNECTIONS UP NOW!"
Everyone in the room jumped to their feet as this word sunk in. Many cheered and clapped loudly while others were too shocked to do any of this. Relena and Catherine were instantly running to the control room along with the king and Derek right behind them. Catherine cheered, "I knew Trowa would come through!" Relena smiled brightly and nodded, "It'll be great to have him back again!"
The control room was crazy with soldiers shouting and celebrating. There was all kinds of stuff flying, papers and anything that was safe to throw in the air. On the large, wide monitor ahead of the room, the image of the galaxy was shown. As always, this was the way of knowing what the Preventers had been able to accomplish through the completed missions. The colored rings showed the spans of space that they could easily connect with whenever they wanted now.
The rings of dark blue from Wufei, gold from Quatre and light blue from Sette were added with another. Beyond the white ring indicating the Milky Way, there was a thick red ring to indicate where the newest connection reached. It fell from the end of the Milky Way to the mid-point between Jupiter and Saturn.
Lady Une noticed the pilots as they entered. She ran to Delapan with a warm smile and took her hand. With no explanation, she led her like that to one of the computers in the front of the large room. The redhead just followed as the head of the Preventers got them through the crowd of soldiers there as they continued to celebrate.
When they reached a the empty computer, Lady Une sat Catherine down and placed a set of headphones over her ears. Delapan looked to her in confusion as she did this. The head of the Preventers explained with a warm smile, "Someone wants to say hello to you." At this, she stepped back a bit to allow the young pilot some privacy.
Catherine spoke into the small microphone, "This is Delapan." A familiar voice replied in a sharp laugh, "I thought you hated that name!" The redhead instantly felt relieved tears in her eyes as she shouted with a huge smile, "Trowa!"
Her brother replied, "Lady Une told me that you're piloting again...I knew you'd be back." The young woman asked with concern, "Are you all right? You can come back now, right?" Trowa answered, "I have to help Kumi first. She's in a lot of trouble." His sister nodded in understanding, "Okay. Just be careful."
Trowa nodded back, "I will. And I'll be back with Kumi soon." Delapan smiled, "All right. I love you." Her brother replied the same, "I love you, too." After saying good bye, the connection was cut off.
* * * * * *
Back in the heart of the Colony, Trowa smiled as he turned off the connection. There would be other chances to catch up with his sister and his friends. Right now, he needed to get out of the Colony. Running through the entrance, Trowa climbed back into his suit's cockpit and strapped himself in.
Once everything was in order, the Gundam pilot shot off through the tubes again. Soon, he was out of the lake that led to the softest entrance to the shoots. Once he was in the air, Trowa noticed that the sky was no longer raining Flare Spheres. Seeing this, he took off to see what had happened to the soldiers back at the battlefield.
When he returned to where he was fighting with the Preventers, Trowa'a eyes and mouth fell wide open as he looked to the destruction. There were countless craters all around along with miles of debris. Some of the debris were parts of the suits as well as the pilots within them. The sickening sight caused Trowa's eyes to slam shut for a moment, too appalled by the gruesome sight.
Opening his eyes slowly again, the tall pilot looked back to the site. In one of the craters not far from him, Trowa noticed a shell that must have belonged to one of the Flare Spheres that had fallen from nowhere. Taking the shell into his Gundam's hands, he examined the metal in his monitors. "We might be able to use this," he thought aloud. Commander Price's voice came through the monitor as he announced in a horrified voice, "TROWA, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" The Gundam pilot gasped loudly as he looked up. There was a Holocaust now making its way to the Colony's surface, just a few miles over him.
"SHIT!" Trowa screamed as he instantly got Heavy Arms to take off. With a deep growl and shouting, the Gundam pilot forced his suit forward as quickly as he could, pushing on his controls with everything that he had. The Holocaust impacted just as soon as he entered Space again, causing a bright light that could be seen even from as high as he was by now.
Looking below, the sight of the haze of chemicals from the deadly weapon was spotted. Everything living, all of the forests and animals around were killed. The chemicals were then blown through out the cities and towns everywhere on R58. Trowa asked hesitantly, with concern and fear in his voice, "Did anyone on the Colony get out of there before the Holocaust hit?" Price answered, "Most of the people that lived there got out during the fight. There was about a hundred still on the Colony." With a saddened face and a heavy heard, Trowa lowered his head with his eyes closed.
After a pause of silence, Price asked, "Are you all right, kid?" Trowa nodded, "Yea. I'm fine." Looking to the shell that he managed to keep a hold of in his suit's hands, he informed the commander, "I have something that may help in the future." At this, he flew back to Preventer ship.
* * * * * *
The celebration on Pulsar had just ended as everyone on board was getting back to their duties and what they were doing prior to the accomplished mission. Catherine rejoined Relena, who was also with her Brian, Milliardo, Noin who was holding Mirando, Lady Une and Derek. They all smiled to the relieved young woman as her own face had one of the biggest smiles that she ever showed in some time. She looked to them and shrugged, "Trowa's fine. He has to go take care of Kumi before they come back." The others nodded at this news.
Noin kissed her son's head as he laughed. She chuckled deeply "You know Uncle Trowa and Aunt Kumi will be back soon, don't you?" Little Mirando cooed in her arms and his parents smiled to him, lovingly. Relena sighed deeply as she leaned back against the wall, "I can't wait for the others to get back. It's hard not to worry about them." Brian nodded, "I agree. But, Quatre and Sette will back soon." Derek added, "Hopefully, Sally and Wufei will be back soon, too. They should be back before anyone, if everything's all right."
Lady Une looked back to the monitor that showed the galaxy with the indicated territories that they now had. She informed the others, "Heero, Duo and Kumi are all that we have to worry about yet. Once their missions are over, we'll all be breathing a lot more easily."
Relena then asked Delapan, "Did Trowa say why Kumi needed help by any chance?" The redhead shook her head, "No. He just said he had to help her before they could come back." The young queen said quietly, in concern, "I hope that he doesn't think anything's wrong with her." Her friend smiled, "If I know my brother, she'll be just fine when he meets up with her." Zes smiled then and nodded, not arguing that statement.
* * * * * *
Trowa and Commander Price walked into the hanger of the Preventer craft and looked to Heavy Arms. "Thank you for your help in repairing Heavy Arms, Commander." The soldier laughed and replied, "You can call me Danny." Trowa nodded, "Danny."
The pilot lowered his head sadly and said quietly, "I'm sorry you lost so many of your soldiers in that fight." Price nodded, with a sad look on his own face. "We'll be sending the bodies that we were able to retrieve in Casualty Capsules. Most of them came from Colonies a ways from here." Trowa took a deep breath and sighed, "Please let everyone here know that I appreciate everything that they've done for me." Price replied, "I'll do that."
The Gundam pilot asked, "Do you think that we'll be able to learn more about those Flare Spheres with the shell that I brought back? I know there wasn't much of what I was able to find before the Holocaust came." Danny answered, "Even that little bit will be a huge help. I have an excellent staff of scientists and weapon experts here that are working on experiments on that right now."
The brunette nodded back and shrugged, "I guess that's it, then. I have to head to M29 now. Kumi will be there before too long and I have to reach her before that happens." Price sighed deeply and smiled, "It's been a pleasure working with you, Trowa. We'll all be pulling for you pilots to get out of this war in one piece."
The two shook hands firmly. "It's been a pleasure working with you as well, Danny. Thank you," Trowa said sincerely. He then climbed back into his cockpit, zipping up his space suit and locking on his helmet.
Once he was strapped in his seat, Trowa waver to the Commander, who was now in the observation tower as the hatch to his cockpit closed. Price smiled and waved back as he watched the suit take off. "God speed, Gundam pilots," he said quietly as there was soon nothing left of Heavy Arms.
As he flew through the stars, Trowa looked through his helmet's blue visor to his monitors. There were several Casualty Capsules flying from Price's ship. Most of them floated not far from Heavy Arms as he headed towards M29. He looked sadly to the thin, long pods as they took the dead soldiers inside home to rest.
There was about fifty silver streaks from the capsules all around. The Gundam pilot closed his eyes and breathed, "Let's hope for everyone's sake that their deaths weren't in vain." Shooting off past the streaks, he went off to reach Kumi before it was too late.
* * * * * *
Two days later, Wufei was led out of the hanger of Pulsar by Sally. It was just in the pilot's best interest that he go into the medical branch of the ship right away, without anyone knowing that he had returned. Water soon brought him into an examination room where three young doctors were waiting for their arrival as they prepared themselves for the surgery. Commander Wilcox was also there on the small room.
Sally smiled to the man and looked to the Chinese pilot. "Wufei, this is Commander Wilcox," she introduced. Wufei gave a small nod, not knowing where to turn his head. Wilcox looked to the blind pilot and smiled as he took his right hand and shook it firmly. "It's a pleasure, Wufei."
The pilot smiled then and returned the shake, "Thank you for all of your help, sir...Do the others know I'm here?" The commander shook his head, "No, I kept my word and kept your arrival a secret until we know how the surgery goes." Wufei breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "Thank you. I didn't want them to see me...like this." Wicox frowned and replied, "I understand."
Sally took Wufei by the arm, now in her blue medical gown and gloves. She said gently, "We're ready when you are." Wufei nodded and replied, "I'm ready." The Chinese pilot was placed on a chair in the center of the room, where a large laser was waiting. Once he was strapped around the waist into the seat, Sally and the other examiners turned on several bright lights and used microscopes to look at how badly the irises had been affected.
After they all had an extensive look, the doctors turned to each other and gave a gesture such as a nod or another form of affirmative that they could restore the Gundam pilot's sight. Sally squeezed Wufei's hand and whispered, "We have a chance to save your sight. We have to use the laser while you're awake. It won't hurt, but you won't know what is happening for a long time."
Wufei sighed deeply, filled with relief and fear, at this news. He squeezed Sally's hand and said in assurance, "I'll be okay." Holding her breath, Water nodded and let the others know that they were prepared for the next step. The laser was handled carefully as it was wheeled in front of the pilot, pointing directly to his eyes. Once everything was in place, the laser was turned on, bringing a thin red beam into the eyes of the Chinese pilot.
* * * * * *
After an hour, Wufei felt the hospital mattress below him. His eyes were bandaged closed by medical tape that wrapped around his head. Sally slowly cut away at the wrapping and removed it carefully. The two thick gauds that covered either eye were then taken away gently. The Chinese pilot's eyes were closed. Sally took a deep breath which she released slowly. "All right, Wufei. Just open them slowly," she told him. Wufei did just that.
Blinking a few times, Wufei watched as the image of Sally before him soon came into focus. She was looking to him with great concern and fear. He smiled warmly, "Just the person I wanted to see." Sally let out a relieved laugh with him as they hugged tightly. They kissed deeply and smiled to each other lovingly when it was broken.
Sally bit her lip and smiled, "You have some visitors." Wufei looked to the door in anticipation as his girlfriend walked to it. Once the door was opened, Relena, Catherine, Milliardo, Noin and all of his friends ran in as they cheered, "WUFEI!" and "THERE HE IS!" Relena and Catherine tackled him as he lied on the bed and were soon in their lying with him, at either side as they hugged him tightly. The others all stayed at the edge of the bed as they looked to their friend who had been gone for so long.
Wufei felt tears filling in his eyes as he looked to the smiling faces of all of them. He kissed Relena and Catherine's heads as they continued to embrace like that. Noin kissed his cheek and he shook hands firmly with Milliardo. Brian and Derek did the same. Lady Une hugged and kissed his cheek. He was happy to return the gesture. When they were all finished, Relena and Catherine continued to lie in the bed with Wufei as he looked to all of them with eyes filling quickly. "You have no idea how good it is to see all of you right now," he whispered as a few tears left his eyes.
The others all smiled and the girls were soon filling with tears, themselves at this. Sally sat beside him and they kissed each other's lips gently. "How are the others?" the Chinese pilot asked. Milliardo answered, "They'll be back before long. Right now, you just need to worry about recovering." The Chinese pilot smirked, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Noin brought her son to the young pilot. Wufei gasped as the baby was placed in his arms. Noin smiled as she stood straight again, "His name is Mirando." Wufei looked to the sleeping baby in his embrace and whispered, "He's beautiful." The baby's blue eyes opened and looked up to the Gundam pilot. He smiled and giggled. Wufei gave him his index finger to hold onto and the child put it in his mouth. He smiled and kissed the baby's head. Wufei then handed the child back to his mother. Looking to Mirando's parents and said, "Congratulations." The pair smiled and thanked him.
There was a light knock on the door and Commander Wilcox peeked inside. Everyone greeted him and allowed him to enter. He smiled to the pilot, "How are you feeling?" Wufei nodded back, "Much better. Thanks." Lady Une informed the Chinese pilot, "We have something that we think you'll like to see." Hearing this, Wufei's eyes lit up for a moment. He nodded and the two young ladies that were in bed with him got up so he could get to his feet. Together, they walked off to the control room.
When they entered the room, Wufei's eyes widened as he looked to the monitor in the front of the room that showed the galaxy and colored bands. "I-Is that what I think it is?" he asked quietly, almost disbelieving. Lady Une nodded, "It's the way we can see what channels we can connect with." Wufei blinked and smiled, "We're almost there."
Noin smiled, "It won't be much longer. And Quatre and Sette will be here before we know it." The Chinese pilot sighed deeply and lowered his head. "It'll be good to see all of them again," he said faintly. Sally hugged him from behind and he folded his arms around hers. Together, everyone there looked to the monitor as their reassurance that they still had a chance at winning this war.
* * * * * *
On a small private ship that floated alone in the span of stars, the hanger was filled with a few mobile suits meant for the Preventers along with Gundam Unit 09, Rampage. Novem smiled as she looked up to her Gundam. "It won't be long before we're on Pulsar now," she told her friend. "We've done well...And I'm sure the others will understand that this was something that I couldn't pass up," she said with certainty. Saying 'Good night,' she walked out of the hanger.
Since there wasn't much to the ship other than the hanger, it was not a long walk for Dorothy to reach the cockpit. Once in there, she turned the autopilot of the ship off and took to piloting again. The doors behind her opened and the person entering said, "Thank you again for all your help, Novem. I know that you went out of your way to find me." The blonde pilot turned her head back and smiled, "No trouble at all. Actually, I have to thank you. I was hoping that I would get to have a nice adventure with Rampage again."
The person that entered chuckled, "You don't think that the others will be mad that you just took off the way that you did?" Novem shook her head, "It's not something that I'm worried about." Looking to her monitors the pilot informed, "We'll be reaching Pulsar in just a few hours now. You should get some rest. I'll get us there safely." The girl in the wheelchair nodded, "All right. Good night, Novem." The Gundam pilot smiled, "Good night, Marimaya."
TBC