Arctic Blaze

By Dolfinz

Chapter 8

"Duo…she's only my friend…I--I thought she was dead…I…" Andraya found herself stuttering, making herself seem even more suspicious.

"You know as well as I do that every damn frequency in this room isn't listed anywhere OZ could manage to look." Duo was still glaring at her from the doorway.

"I don't know how she got the frequency! She said she had to dig--"

"She didn't have to dig! The only possibility is that you contacted her!"

"You have that little trust in me to think I'd actually do a thing like that?!" Andraya was completely taken aback. She had proved her loyalty to the Gundams so many times already!

"As I said, I really trusted you." Duo said, his face hardening with every word. "Before you contacted that OZ girl."

"Even if I did, it wouldn't have caused any harm!"

"She could know our coordinates! You know how easy it is to trace a vid-screen connection!" Duo was screaming at her now, anger Andraya had never known him to possess boiling to the surface.

Andraya opened her mouth to protest once again, but was cut off by the room suddenly shaking violently. Warning lights began their shrill alarm, bathing the room in a bright red light.

"Wouldn't cause any harm, huh?" Duo said sternly, eyes drilling into Andraya's. With one last glare, he turned and ran back into the hangar, ready to defend his base.

"Duo…" Andraya whispered. Snapping back into reality, she hurried to the hangar, ready to win back the respect that Duo had given her right from the start.

+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

It pained Andraya to see her new home once again being attacked. There were Leos and Aries marked with the OZ insignia swarming around the hangar like bees around their nest. The 3 other Gundams that were present at the base were already eliminating them, though it was a slow process. OZ had the advantage of numbers, but the Gundams had more skill on their side.

No one noticed Andraya helping to attack the OZ mobile suits in the frenzy of the battle. Had Duo noticed that she was in her Gundam, he might have ignored the OZ suits and started attacking her. Andraya sighed at the thought. Then again, it does look as if this is my fault after all… She shook her head. No, she wouldn't betray me!

Eventually, the 4 Gundams wiped out all of the visible OZ suits attacking the base.

"I still have one more on radar," Wufei said over the intercom.

"I see the blip…but where's the suit?" Duo now spoke, and Deathscythe began scanning the horizon.

"It's not that far out. Probably underwater," Heero said.

"I'll get it." Andraya's face was molded into a look of sheer determination. She knew who she'd find underwater. She thrusted Arcticblaze into a sharp dive, straight for the spot indicated on the radar as the enemy. Suddenly, a vid-screen opened in her cockpit, making Andraya pull up short, mere meters from the ocean's surface.

"Hello, Andraya," Zia said, a sly look coming over her face. "Surprise."

"Zia." Andraya said the name for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, only this time, it was with contempt.

"Hmph. So surprised to see me now? You must have known I was up to something more…"

"No Zia, I didn't. You were the first person I trusted." Andraya spoke in short sentences through her clenched teeth.

"Ah, now you see once again what happens when you place too much trust in someone. Hmm, thought you would have learned that by now, 'Draya. I thought you were smarter than that…"

"Zia…." Andraya couldn't think of anything to say to this girl on the screen whom she thought she knew so well. The girl who she had trusted. This girl who betrayed her.

"Aw, no comeback, 'Draya?" Zia sneered.

"I will destroy you!!!!" Andraya screamed, plunging her Gundam into the water. She dove to the bottom, the immense weight of the suit helping her sink. She walked along the ocean floor, crushing coral with every step. Finally, she found the modified Pisces hovering in the water. This is going to be a piece of cake, Andraya thought, seeing the weak suit she was up against.

"Don't underestimate me, Andraya," Zia said, as if she could read Andraya's thoughts. "I'm better than you think."

That's it, Andraya thought, reaching for her freeze rifle. Just as she grabbed it, Zia revealed two hidden cannons in her suit and fired on Andraya. The match would be a close one.

+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

Above the water, Duo only saw the geyser of water explode from the ocean, then fall back with an enormous splash. Who was hit?! he thought as he furiously tried to establish a connection with Arcticblaze. Red lights lit up across the comm board, and Duo fell back in his seat with a groan of frustration.

"Why can't this thing ever work right?!" he cried, pounding on the panel. Suddenly, there was a burst of water from the ocean as a mobile suit rose from it.

Arcticblaze.

With a sigh of relief, Duo turned to head back for the hangar when he heard the sound of a Gundam taking off behind him. What the hell?! he thought, spinning back around to look.

"Andraya?!" he exclaimed, watching her Gundam fly off into the horizon. He started his engines to follow, but at that moment his comm system decided to get back online.

"She probably just needs some time alone, Duo. Just wait until she comes back," Heero said, already back in the hangar.

"But…I…" Duo was torn between his two options. He knew he should go back to the base and wait for Andraya's to return, but something was nagging at him to follow her anyhow.

"I'm sorry, Heero, but I can't do that," Duo decided, taking off in the direction he had seen Arcticblaze disappear towards.

Back in the hangar, Heero only shook his head in a kind of reluctant understanding, then leaped to the catwalk and headed for his dorm.