Pheonix Rising
Pheonix Rising
by Ratha
Part One: Mission...Botched
"The mission is to
destroy the OZ base and obtain the data fields about the secret soldier
known as the Pheonix," Heero announced.
"Of course," Duo nodded.
The two pilots were seated in their gundams, awaiting the signal for takeoff.
The image of Heero on Duo's vid-link was slightly fuzzy, but acceptable.
Eager to be off, Duo was practically bouncing in his seat. "Since we know
what to do, can't we go now?"
"Not until Quatre gives
the thumbs up," was the vaguely reprimanding reply.
Duo blew a raspberry
at him. "Picky, picky, picky. You are a royal pain in the ass, you know
that?"
"So are you," was Heero's
deadpan response.
Quatre's laughter came
over the audio link. "Okay, you two! You've got a hole in satellite coverage
now. It'll last 8 minutes, so get moving. Radio in at 500 hours tomorrow."
"Gotcha. Woohoo! The
Shinigami rides again!" Duo gunned the thrusters and shot up into the air,
briefly relaying the message as Heero followed him toward space. "Let's
go kick some Leo ass!"
"Hn," was Heero's only
reply before they entered the blackout stage of takeoff and Heero's image
vanished from the screen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There are two of
them coming, Lieutenant," said a slightly amused, vaguely distant voice.
"I can sense them."
"Which two, Pheonix?"
asked the lieutenant, a man with a commanding presence.
"Now, Lieutenant, that
would take all the work out of it. Not to mention the fun," laughed the
voice. "Besides I can't tell which two. They're still too far away."
"I see. Very well.
Are you sure your plan will work?"
"If one of the pilots
is who I think he is, he'll never suspect me until it's too late."
"Good. Get to your
station and be ready to set your plan in motion."
"Yes, Lieutenant."
The Pheonix laughed and unnaturally blue-green eyes glowed in the darkness
of the shadows hiding the Pheonix. *It just won't be the plan you expect,
Lieutenant.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what's the fuss
about this Pheonix, Heero?" Duo asked as they stealthily flew toward the
base.
"It's rumored the Pheonix
is both the ultimate warrior and the ultimate weapon."
"I thought that was
you."
"No, the Pheonix is
much
worse. A telepath, the most powerful in the known universe."
"Tele-what?"
"Telepath. Psychic.
Mind reader. Get the picture?"
"Bright and clear.
Man, and OZ has that kinda power on their side? We're dead if we don't
take out the Pheonix!" Duo spotted a Leo suit heading their way. "Forget
stealth! If what you said's true, they already know we're coming!"
There was silence from
Heero's side.
"Ya never considered
that, didja?"
"No."
"Heh. Some Perfect
Soldier." Duo turned to face the approaching mobile suit. "I'm the God
of Death! Anyone who sees me has got a date with his maker!"
"God of Idiots, you
mean."
"Look who's talking,
Heero! Yahoo!" He shot toward the Leo, beam scythe blazing as he laughed
maniacally. After destroying the Leo, Duo continued for the base.
Heero appeared on the
screen. "There will be havoc around here soon. You know what to do."
Duo saluted with a
cocky smirk. "Sure do, Heero. Just keep 'em busy for a while."
Heero remained expressionless
and Duo wondered if Heero's gundam would be more responsive. "You have
twenty minutes, or I will assume you dead or captured."
"Thanks for the vote
of confidence," Duo muttered as he jetted away. "On the flip side, then."
He briefly noted a collection of Leos converging on Heero, but ignoring
himself. Strange...He shrugged and headed toward the base.
He expected his main
problem to be docking, but to his shock, he found a docking bay open, almost
as if waiting for him.
"Either it's my lucky
night or someone set a trap for us." He scanned the area and found nothing
unusual. "Huh. Some poor soldier's gonna be blamed for this, but ya take
what you can get." He grinned and docked the Deathscythe.
The necessary supplies
for the mission were scattered in the few spare places in the cockpit.
He set to casting about, locating his gun, several ZIP disks, a package
of explosives, and naturally his black cap, which he pulled down onto his
head and over his eyes with a vigorous tug. He checked his watch: 14 minutes,
38 seconds before he was "dead or captured." Duo smirked. A cinch. Then
he was suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness so severe he had to lean against
the door of the cockpit.
"Aw, man. I better
not be getting sick or something now."
When it passed, he
rushed down the halls, holding his gun in a loose grip, ready to raise
it in an instant. He soon found himself in front of Lab 476-B. Now to get
in. He picked the lock and he prepared to fire his gun as the door slid
open.
"Huh?" he said, staring
in baffled shock at the empty room, his gun lowering. "What gives? Where's
everyone?"
No time for that now.
He had to get the Pheonix data. He moved to the computer and began typing
furiously. He soon found the information, getting through the firewall
and the other security programs. Downloading the data, he looked at his
watch again. 6 minutes and 20 seconds left. Still plenty of time. All he
had to do now was-
"Uhhnnn..." a
voice moaned.
Duo jumped and looked
for the source of the unexpected noise. His jaw dropped nearly to his knees
at what he saw.
Bound to one of the
tables was a young woman who looked no older than himself. She had long
black hair framing her pale face, which was covered with purplish bruises.
A thin white tanktop and shorts were all that covered her, bruises and
cuts were visible on her arms and legs. She was a pitiful sight.
Duo hesitated. He wanted
to help her, but something urged him not to. He glanced at the time again.
5 minutes, 40 seconds. Screw common sense. He moved to the table and pulled
out a knife, slicing through her bonds. Lucky she was unconscious. He looked
around and grabbed a spare lab coat, then wrapped it around her and lifted
her off the table.
"Hold it right there!"
barked a voice from the doorway.
"Oops." Duo eyed the
burly-looking OZ soldier who was aiming a gun at him. "Uh...Can you tell
me where your superior is?"
The soldier looked
baffled, giving Duo time to shoot him.
"Are all OZ soldiers
that stupid?" Duo chuckled and carried the girl into the hall. "Now to
get outta here! I dunno who you are, Miss, but I guess I'm stuck with you
now. Hang on, 'cause it's gonna be a bumpy ride!"
He ran down the halls
toward the docking bay, pausing only long enough to set the explosives.
He reached his gundam and ran into a problem. How was he going to get the
mysterious girl into the cockpit?
It was that moment
she chose to regain consciousness. "Ohhh," she moaned, her eyes blinking
open. "Who...what...?" She looked up at him in confusion and fear. "Who
are you? What's going on?"
"Later, babe. We gotta
get outta here before OZ finds us. Can you walk?"
"I-I think so. Are
you an enemy of OZ?"
"Yup. Come on." He
set her on her feet and helped her climb into the cockpit. "Buckle up in
that spare seat and get ready to rock! We're blasting outta here!"
She quickly obeyed
and let out a startled shriek of laughter as the gundam leapt into motion.
Duo grinned and zeroed
in on a huge pack of Leo suits heading their way. "ORE WA SHINIGAMI!"
he
laughed maniacally and blasted toward the approaching Leos. The screen
erupted with green light as the God of Death sliced his way through the
defenseless Leos and away from the base. "Here, babe! You do the honors!"
He tossed the detonation device over his shoulder to the girl. "Push the
button to turn the base into a big hole in the ground!"
There was a brief silence,
then the click of the button being pushed.
Immediately the sky
blossomed in red, yellow, and orange bursts as the huge OZ base exploded
in brilliant colors. Duo grinned and pushed the "Comm01" button to contact
Heero.
"Yo, Heero! Let's jet!"
There was no reply.
Only static and snowy spots reigned where there should have been an image
of Heero.