Disclaimer: Hey! It's fanfiction! If you sue me, I'll attack with my lazy-eyed, apocalyptic, blue plastic cow of despair!
Disconnect - Part 4
By Zero's Wings
The fires finally died down late in the afternoon. No one in the village could douse those flames; their supply of water was simply too limited and precious. The village elders had a team of the strongest, most able-bodied men to go about the village to help the victims and their families. Quatre stayed and spoke with the elders, who looked truly concerned and afraid. Eventually one of the men returned and spoke to the multi-lingual leader of the village. He seemed to age ten years upon hearing the man's message. He told the others in Afrikaans, then spoke to Quatre in English.
"The demons claimed the lives of four people today."
"No!" Quatre yelled, unable to stop the tears from rolling down his face. Haven't these people suffered enough, god?
"This is unusual. The demons have never taken lives before. We must have done something to upset them."
"It's not your fault!" Quatre cried indignantly. "It's those stupid pilots in their mobile suits! They think they can come right in and do as they please!"
"Don't be upset, young one. There is nothing that any of us can do. Just accept it. It's a natural part of life, and we must not waste our energy when those poor souls would only want us to keep on living."
"It's not natural," Quatre protested through gritted teeth. "It's the fault of that damned mobile suit, and whatever idiot was piloting it."
Quatre left the hut and ran toward the curling, black towers of smoke. When he arrived, he saw awful things that would be imprinted upon his memory for the rest of his life. People burned by the flames, others, their families crying as their bodies still smoldered. Quatre felt hatred welling up inside him. He gritted his teeth and squinted his bloodshot eyes until the world was awash in crimson. Whoever did this, he would find them and kill them. The thought scared him; he had never seriously wanted to kill another person ever before, but even that horror could not distract him from his rage for long.
"I'll make things right...I promise," he said in a whisper, although he was actually addressing the entire village, and all the people beyond it who had been wronged unjustly.
*****
Quatre powered up his Gundam as he wiped tears from his face. He wrapped Rasid's flight goggles around his head and pulled back the throttle. He would destroy that cursed thing, that nightmare that was lurking in the desert. The Gundam's eyes flashed green and it began rushing through the desert in great leaps and bounds. Quatre saw everything from that center console, every displaced grain of sand, every wilted bit of brush or grass.
The Gundam halted when it came to a series of odd-looking craters in the middle of the desert. They looked almost like they had been dug out of the ground by a living animal, but they were far too big for that to be possible. Quatre leaned the massive suit as far over the hole as he possibly could without losing his center of balance, and had the Gundam's weapons system ready a signal flare. A missile shot out of the Gundam's right shoulder port and its casing exploded open. A phosphorescent, pink flare shot out and traveled into the hole, but was quickly swallowed up by darkness. Quatre looked down into the hole, confused, and then shot another flare into it. This time, the flare was visibly extinguished by a massive wave of earth. It blasted up out of the abyss with a tremendous, roaring sound.
When the dust clouds parted, the young pilot was confronted by the most horrifying thing he had ever seen. It was difficult to tell whether what he was looking at was alive or artificial, but Quatre knew that it could only be a mobile suit because of its immense size. It had glistening, black armor and a multitude of spidery arms, each armed with a different weapon, and all of them equally wicked looking. Its weapons included: an incredibly sharp, double-edged saw blade, a rotating missile cannon, a huge Dobergun with a grenade attachment, and a half dozen pincers tucked under its lower thorax. Not to mention, it was as tall as Quatre's Gundam in a crouching position.
You can do this, you can do this, you can do this, Quatre chanted in his mind. Besides, you can't turn back now. He gathered up his courage, swallowed his nerves, and his Gundam gracefully pulled two curved, heat shotals from its backpack.
The spider monster reared its head back, stretching up to its full height and towering over Quatre. But Quatre was quick, and his Gundam landed the first blow, which nearly cut off the arm holding the suit's Dobergun. The monstrosity fell back and opened fire with its missile cannon, and amidst the flashes of fire and energy, it came at Quatre like a whirlwind. Its arms lashed and blades glinted in the hot sun as they cut into the Gundam's armor. Quatre fought valiantly, and managed to cut off one of the attackers rotating cannon arms, but at last neither he nor his Gundam could stand the vicious onslaught. Quatre lost control and the great, armored suit tumbled down to the ground.
The hideous machine was soon on top of Quatre, and he watched, helpless, as the monster's belly swiveled up and released the set of nasty pincers from their clasped position under its thorax. The pincers moved back and forth more and more quickly, gathering up speed until they shredded apart the very air between the two suits. Then, the pincers attached themselves to the Gundam's cockpit and began ripping away the armor plating. Quatre yelled in surprise as a huge metal claw punctured the airlock seal in his cockpit. If I stay here, I'll be fishbait in a few seconds, Quatre thought with equal parts terror and urgency.
Quatre turned a red switch on his central console. The cockpit door exploded open and was thrown toward the huge, spidery mobile suit with several tons of air pressure right behind it. Quatre leapt down from his Gundam, and the massive, whirling pincer blades missed his head by mere inches. When Quatre landed, he looked up just in time to see the enemy mobile suit tear through his Gundam's cockpit. The suit now seemed so large and black that it blotted out the sun. Quatre looked desperately for some weapon he could use against it, and then his eyes traveled down to the rotating cannon arm that had been cut off. Quatre ran to it, meaning to use it only as a shield against the suit's attacks, as he knew that he was a dead man on an open field with no cover. However, once he reached the twenty-foot long arm, he saw that it was still partially operational. A few lights were still flickering, and Quatre saw that the mechanics were very similar to that of his Gundam, H was familiar with its workings, of course, after crawling around in its steel and aluminum innards for hours at a time. Quatre recognized that this arm had independent lift-off capabilities. Suddenly, an idea sparked in his head. He grabbed two of the junctioning wires on the main circuit and tied them together. A red laser beam appeared. The beam would have to reflect off a glass surface to reach the power pack, and therefore cause the arm to take off. He looked around frantically for some piece of glass, but he knew that his search was futile. He was completely surrounded by desert, and had no supplies on his person.
The main circuit on the arm shot forth a few sparks and Quatre ducked so that his hair would not be set on fire. As he dropped, the goggles that Rasid had given him fell off his head and onto the sand in front of him. Of course! The goggles! He pulled one of the lenses out of the goggles and shoved it in front of the laser. The beam bounced off at a perfect angle and shot into the thirsty power pack. Quatre dove for the ground as the arm's rockets engaged and it took off toward its owner.
The spidery monster turned up from shredding apart the Gundam too late. Its own arm flew through the air and collided with it, firing off its built-in missile launchers. There was a shriek of metal grinding against metal, or perhaps it was a pitiful cry from a creature in its death throes, then the monster promptly exploded.
Quatre stood up again when the burning chunks of metal stopped falling. He raised his hands to the sky and yelled at the top of his lungs, declaring his triumph to the earth and the heavens above. He rescued his battered Gundam and it limped back to the village.
Quatre was greeted there as a hero. There was cheering and celebration, and he felt like he was back with the Maguanacs again. The elder approached Quatre with pride in his eyes. It was the first time that Quatre had ever seen the man leave his sitting position in that small hut.
"You are a diamond amongst the rocks of the desert, my son." Quatre smiled at all of his friends.
"No, I'm just an ordinary rock," he said with a trace of laughter.
"Then you are a greatest rock in all the deserts sands." Quatre laughed at this, but accepted the comment, flattered.
"I'm sorry there is nothing else I can do for you, though," Quatre said. At that moment, his Gundam's eyes flashed green with intensity. Two compartments on the sides of its legs opened up, and boxes fell out. They were filled with packaged food and bottled water, marked as fragile provisions. Quatre passed them out eagerly, and thanked his Gundam as he stared up at its metal plated face. But there was even more in those boxes than he thought at first. There was clothing, farming tools, and one box even had a small electric generator inside. Some of the people cried and hugged him, and Quatre felt a new sense of euphoria spreading over him. The people begged him to stay, but Quatre knew it was not meant to be. As he climbed into his Gundam's cockpit, he noticed a small plaque on the door hinge that said it was designed as a sand/rock type. Isn't that ironic, he thought. "Well, looks like I have a name for you, friend," he said to his Gundam.
Quatre had made up his mind. He would keep on traveling, reunite with the Maguanacs in Baghdad, and then journey past that, helping the needy, the helpless, and the lonely. He couldn't solve all the world's problems, but he'd be damned if he weren't at least going to try. Even speaking with his father again, and filling in that deep, emotional scar seemed possible now. In fact, it seemed inevitable, because that was one cord that was too strong to ever break. He could never disconnect himself from that lifeline.
~ End ~
Please review! All of you who have enjoyed my fics but haven't written in with your opinion should do so now! Which did you like better? Why? Do you like my writing in general? I want to know and I love feedback!! ^_^
Disconnect - Part 4
By Zero's Wings
The fires finally died down late in the afternoon. No one in the village could douse those flames; their supply of water was simply too limited and precious. The village elders had a team of the strongest, most able-bodied men to go about the village to help the victims and their families. Quatre stayed and spoke with the elders, who looked truly concerned and afraid. Eventually one of the men returned and spoke to the multi-lingual leader of the village. He seemed to age ten years upon hearing the man's message. He told the others in Afrikaans, then spoke to Quatre in English.
"The demons claimed the lives of four people today."
"No!" Quatre yelled, unable to stop the tears from rolling down his face. Haven't these people suffered enough, god?
"This is unusual. The demons have never taken lives before. We must have done something to upset them."
"It's not your fault!" Quatre cried indignantly. "It's those stupid pilots in their mobile suits! They think they can come right in and do as they please!"
"Don't be upset, young one. There is nothing that any of us can do. Just accept it. It's a natural part of life, and we must not waste our energy when those poor souls would only want us to keep on living."
"It's not natural," Quatre protested through gritted teeth. "It's the fault of that damned mobile suit, and whatever idiot was piloting it."
Quatre left the hut and ran toward the curling, black towers of smoke. When he arrived, he saw awful things that would be imprinted upon his memory for the rest of his life. People burned by the flames, others, their families crying as their bodies still smoldered. Quatre felt hatred welling up inside him. He gritted his teeth and squinted his bloodshot eyes until the world was awash in crimson. Whoever did this, he would find them and kill them. The thought scared him; he had never seriously wanted to kill another person ever before, but even that horror could not distract him from his rage for long.
"I'll make things right...I promise," he said in a whisper, although he was actually addressing the entire village, and all the people beyond it who had been wronged unjustly.
*****
Quatre powered up his Gundam as he wiped tears from his face. He wrapped Rasid's flight goggles around his head and pulled back the throttle. He would destroy that cursed thing, that nightmare that was lurking in the desert. The Gundam's eyes flashed green and it began rushing through the desert in great leaps and bounds. Quatre saw everything from that center console, every displaced grain of sand, every wilted bit of brush or grass.
The Gundam halted when it came to a series of odd-looking craters in the middle of the desert. They looked almost like they had been dug out of the ground by a living animal, but they were far too big for that to be possible. Quatre leaned the massive suit as far over the hole as he possibly could without losing his center of balance, and had the Gundam's weapons system ready a signal flare. A missile shot out of the Gundam's right shoulder port and its casing exploded open. A phosphorescent, pink flare shot out and traveled into the hole, but was quickly swallowed up by darkness. Quatre looked down into the hole, confused, and then shot another flare into it. This time, the flare was visibly extinguished by a massive wave of earth. It blasted up out of the abyss with a tremendous, roaring sound.
When the dust clouds parted, the young pilot was confronted by the most horrifying thing he had ever seen. It was difficult to tell whether what he was looking at was alive or artificial, but Quatre knew that it could only be a mobile suit because of its immense size. It had glistening, black armor and a multitude of spidery arms, each armed with a different weapon, and all of them equally wicked looking. Its weapons included: an incredibly sharp, double-edged saw blade, a rotating missile cannon, a huge Dobergun with a grenade attachment, and a half dozen pincers tucked under its lower thorax. Not to mention, it was as tall as Quatre's Gundam in a crouching position.
You can do this, you can do this, you can do this, Quatre chanted in his mind. Besides, you can't turn back now. He gathered up his courage, swallowed his nerves, and his Gundam gracefully pulled two curved, heat shotals from its backpack.
The spider monster reared its head back, stretching up to its full height and towering over Quatre. But Quatre was quick, and his Gundam landed the first blow, which nearly cut off the arm holding the suit's Dobergun. The monstrosity fell back and opened fire with its missile cannon, and amidst the flashes of fire and energy, it came at Quatre like a whirlwind. Its arms lashed and blades glinted in the hot sun as they cut into the Gundam's armor. Quatre fought valiantly, and managed to cut off one of the attackers rotating cannon arms, but at last neither he nor his Gundam could stand the vicious onslaught. Quatre lost control and the great, armored suit tumbled down to the ground.
The hideous machine was soon on top of Quatre, and he watched, helpless, as the monster's belly swiveled up and released the set of nasty pincers from their clasped position under its thorax. The pincers moved back and forth more and more quickly, gathering up speed until they shredded apart the very air between the two suits. Then, the pincers attached themselves to the Gundam's cockpit and began ripping away the armor plating. Quatre yelled in surprise as a huge metal claw punctured the airlock seal in his cockpit. If I stay here, I'll be fishbait in a few seconds, Quatre thought with equal parts terror and urgency.
Quatre turned a red switch on his central console. The cockpit door exploded open and was thrown toward the huge, spidery mobile suit with several tons of air pressure right behind it. Quatre leapt down from his Gundam, and the massive, whirling pincer blades missed his head by mere inches. When Quatre landed, he looked up just in time to see the enemy mobile suit tear through his Gundam's cockpit. The suit now seemed so large and black that it blotted out the sun. Quatre looked desperately for some weapon he could use against it, and then his eyes traveled down to the rotating cannon arm that had been cut off. Quatre ran to it, meaning to use it only as a shield against the suit's attacks, as he knew that he was a dead man on an open field with no cover. However, once he reached the twenty-foot long arm, he saw that it was still partially operational. A few lights were still flickering, and Quatre saw that the mechanics were very similar to that of his Gundam, H was familiar with its workings, of course, after crawling around in its steel and aluminum innards for hours at a time. Quatre recognized that this arm had independent lift-off capabilities. Suddenly, an idea sparked in his head. He grabbed two of the junctioning wires on the main circuit and tied them together. A red laser beam appeared. The beam would have to reflect off a glass surface to reach the power pack, and therefore cause the arm to take off. He looked around frantically for some piece of glass, but he knew that his search was futile. He was completely surrounded by desert, and had no supplies on his person.
The main circuit on the arm shot forth a few sparks and Quatre ducked so that his hair would not be set on fire. As he dropped, the goggles that Rasid had given him fell off his head and onto the sand in front of him. Of course! The goggles! He pulled one of the lenses out of the goggles and shoved it in front of the laser. The beam bounced off at a perfect angle and shot into the thirsty power pack. Quatre dove for the ground as the arm's rockets engaged and it took off toward its owner.
The spidery monster turned up from shredding apart the Gundam too late. Its own arm flew through the air and collided with it, firing off its built-in missile launchers. There was a shriek of metal grinding against metal, or perhaps it was a pitiful cry from a creature in its death throes, then the monster promptly exploded.
Quatre stood up again when the burning chunks of metal stopped falling. He raised his hands to the sky and yelled at the top of his lungs, declaring his triumph to the earth and the heavens above. He rescued his battered Gundam and it limped back to the village.
Quatre was greeted there as a hero. There was cheering and celebration, and he felt like he was back with the Maguanacs again. The elder approached Quatre with pride in his eyes. It was the first time that Quatre had ever seen the man leave his sitting position in that small hut.
"You are a diamond amongst the rocks of the desert, my son." Quatre smiled at all of his friends.
"No, I'm just an ordinary rock," he said with a trace of laughter.
"Then you are a greatest rock in all the deserts sands." Quatre laughed at this, but accepted the comment, flattered.
"I'm sorry there is nothing else I can do for you, though," Quatre said. At that moment, his Gundam's eyes flashed green with intensity. Two compartments on the sides of its legs opened up, and boxes fell out. They were filled with packaged food and bottled water, marked as fragile provisions. Quatre passed them out eagerly, and thanked his Gundam as he stared up at its metal plated face. But there was even more in those boxes than he thought at first. There was clothing, farming tools, and one box even had a small electric generator inside. Some of the people cried and hugged him, and Quatre felt a new sense of euphoria spreading over him. The people begged him to stay, but Quatre knew it was not meant to be. As he climbed into his Gundam's cockpit, he noticed a small plaque on the door hinge that said it was designed as a sand/rock type. Isn't that ironic, he thought. "Well, looks like I have a name for you, friend," he said to his Gundam.
Quatre had made up his mind. He would keep on traveling, reunite with the Maguanacs in Baghdad, and then journey past that, helping the needy, the helpless, and the lonely. He couldn't solve all the world's problems, but he'd be damned if he weren't at least going to try. Even speaking with his father again, and filling in that deep, emotional scar seemed possible now. In fact, it seemed inevitable, because that was one cord that was too strong to ever break. He could never disconnect himself from that lifeline.
~ End ~
Please review! All of you who have enjoyed my fics but haven't written in with your opinion should do so now! Which did you like better? Why? Do you like my writing in general? I want to know and I love feedback!! ^_^