MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!
Demona, here's a Christmas fic for you. I'm done and I beat your putting out chapter 18. You have so gotta hurry up. But still, have as merry of a Christmas as you can
Lirpa, thank you so much for all your support in this endevour. I so couldn't have done it without you. Merry Christmas, may it be filled with joy. ~*~*Angel123292*~*~ , thanks so much. It was so wonderful to hear that someone thought that my writing was good enough to knock them off their chair. I'm sorry but this is coming out all in one part. Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. thundagwa, thanks for the kind words. This is the last chapter, but one day I may write another story with the characters, especially my pilots, if that's of any interest to you. Merry Christmas!!!!!
Chapter 16 Meteor II: The Planning Process
Everyone looked at the map spread out on the table surrounded by pilots.
"It's impossible!! We can't just attack head on, we'd never survive it."
"I agree, we need to attack from the inside aswell. That is if we hope to come out of this alive."
"The only way to destroy the base from the inside is to send Deula and Trowa back undercover in that base. When they're undercover anything could happen to them. we cannot afford to lose such important members of our team. They are vital." Wufei pointed out.
"We must cpmplete the mission," Heero stated in a monotone.
"Yet, we must also think of the missions that follow this mission," Wufei snapped.
"We have to put them back undercover, Wufei, however, before we do that we will work out a series of codes and bring their Gundams close enough that they can reach them, in case of emergency. I can't see any other way I'm afraid." Quatre told the assembled pilots. "Treize has agreed to help with the plan. He will contribute his knowledge, some of it inside, because not all of their inner workings can have changed in the period of time they had to asssemble. Trieze will provide us wil knowlegde on Oz and the Alliance, and Zechs has knowlegde of Whitefang that he has agreed to share his knowledge. We should be able to form a cohesive attack plan that won't get us killed."
"So, now all we have to do is get Deula und Trowa back undercover, maybe someone else." Heero voiced his concerns.
"I'm out," una murmured, causing everyone to look at her. "What? I am, I simply look to much like Deula. It wouldn't work."
"Since, Wufei, doubts us so much, let him come with us and back us up." Deula challenged.
"Fine, onna. i do not fear this mission, I simply don't trust all the plans. Far too much could go wrong."
"True, our planning still has some holes in it, but that is why we're all here. We need to form a plan that's agreeable all involved in the battle," Zechs ceeded diplomatically.
"Once, we do that we can begin the preperations to take the battle to our enemies. It is my hope that a good plan will or eradicate the lose of life, for both sides" Madeliene's voice whispered from her place between Wufei and Heero.
"That still leaves the question of how we're going to attack the base," Heero pointed out, recieving a glare from Una.
"Well," Quatre said, looking at the faces around the table, "I think that we should attack in three groups. The ones on the inside of the base, which happens to be Trowa, Deula, and Wufei, is one. That leaves nine pilots to attack the base from outside positions. The rest of us will be spilt into two more groups, because the best launch positions ae two islands. They're close to the base, but not so close that we'll be discovered.
"That's cool, Quatre!" Duo exclaimed, and looked at the map. "But what about retreat, those islands look kinda far away for that." Everyone turned to Duo, then, most , gathered around the table and looked suprized that Fuo was right. The Dragoness, however, wasted no time looking suprized and went straight to looking smug.
"The baka raises a good point," Heero ground out. "Retreat under these conditions would be difficult. We need to plan a retreat."
Silence studied the map, her eyes narrowing, "What about," she paused uncertainly, and then plowed ahead, "if retreated into the ocen itself. We can hide there until the patrols cease, and they start to rebuild the base, or abandon it."
Una cocked her head, "But if they do rebuild the stupid thing we'll be right back where we started."
"I don't think so. You see next week, the leaders of the OZ/Whietfang Alliance will be at the base. Attacking when they're present increases our chances of eliminating, or at least disgracing them, and spreading their mistakes throughout the officer core. Which should cause this war machine to lose a few wheels." Trowa's idea ghosted from his lips.
"That would make an impact" Quatre mused.
"The arrival of our enemies to brass means that we have to base our schedule around, if not on, theirs. If they make and last minutes changes, to put it bluntly,we're screwed. I don't like how vulenerable that makes," the Dragoness said, all hints of humour gone from her mocha eyes.
"true, my friend," Madeleine replied, "but, we don't really have any choice in the matter. Our plans should cut down on the time we're open to an attack."
Deula looked at Heero and Una, "You two are going tp create Wufei an identity and a reason for being in taht base or we're not going to be able to pull this plan off." Heero grunted and Una nodded.
"The best course of action is for us all to get some sleep, we'll be able to make a more efficient plans tomorrow morning," Zechs stated, drawing the attention of those assembled to just how late it was. Tramping of to their beds the weary pilots fell asleep, and dreamed of the battles to come.
The next morning...
Stumbling down the stairs, Silence looked around before heading to the kitchen. The coffee machine was producing something that looked like coffee, and hopefully wasn't sludge. "Coffee," she breathed in awe, "must have coffee." Duo's bad luck has him enter the kitchen just then and interrupt one very determined young lady's path to the life giving caffine that the coffee contained. Growling at Duo, Silence pushed him out of her way, which sent him spilling onto his ass. Getting up of the floor, Duo beat a hasty retreat from the kitchen, looking at Wufei, who was entering the kitchen, as he left.
Heero looked around, and pronounced, "She's an absolute crazy!"
"A coffee driven crazy to make matters worse," Madeleine commented, as Silence exited the kitchen with her morning dose of caffine. Silence turned, looking queerly at them, "Don't we have a battle to plan?" With that reminder they all took themselves to what Dragoness had dubbed "the planning room." Because she said, "it's a room where we plan. What else do you call it?"
Slowly the paricipatents fiilled the room, and they found Una, Deula and Zechs leaning over the map, the map spread out in the center of the table, which was in the center of the room.
"That might work, but Deula will have to be careful," Una pointed out.
"What might work?" Madeleine querried.
"Having Deula block the communications frequencies so they can't call for reinforcements."
"Reinforcements, damn!! I knew I forgot something, but I didn't think it would be something that important!" Madeleine swore.
"Yeah," Duo agreed, earning a sharp look from Wufei, "but ya ain't Wonderwoman and they seem to have this base covered from top to bottom. Come on, you can only do so much."
Wufei, covertly, grabbed Madeliene's hand and gave it a small squeeze, a small gesture of comfort that she seemed to draw strength from. And was unseen by most of the pilots, and those who did notice it didn't mention it.
"All right," una announced, after everyone had arrived, "there have been some changes to the plan." The pilots talked and argued over the revised plan for hours, making several other revisements.
Looking at the clock Trowa signalled to Deula that it was time for them to leave,and put the plan into operation. A second later, everyone's eyes were anchored to the clock aswell.
"Wufei's idenity?" Deula asked.
"In place and he even knows who he is."
"OK, people, it's time to begin phase one of the final steps to complete this mission." The three undercover agents left the room to a corus of "Good luck's."
Chapter 17 Meteor II: First Strike
Wufei was exhausted, being an undercover agent was tough. The worst was never letting your true identity slip out. It was altogether a taxing experience, and not one he was to experience again anytime soon. Deula and Trowa took to this sort of mission like ducks to water, however, which just added to Wufei's annoyance. It was incredibly annevering to se them not having any problems with this work. It would be up to them to light the fuse to this power keg, and wufei was wondering if they'd left enough line to safely escape, or, if they'd get caught and killed in their own trap. And, finally, Wufei was afraid to do or say something that would endanger the mission, and let his new clan down.
Deula smiled. She was busy working with the OZ/Whitefang Alliance computers, though not as skilled as Heero and Una, she was still a decent computer tech, well above normal standards, which was she was working on eliminating a virus. The irony was that the virus had originated in her army, as a way to knock out enemy communications. It worked very well. As far was Deula knew everything ws still going according to plan. The generals abd other top leaders were still visiting when they'd planned to, the attck was still on schedule, her companions were still safely undercover, and their means of escape had been transported to the agreed upon location. Soon, the Earth based threat would be elinimated, and she could go home, back to space. She knew it would be a jump for the boys, who had been on Earth since Dermail's little rebellion, but they'd adjust, they'd adapt. They were Gundamn pilots and Gundamn pilots were like every other creature: they adapted or they died. With no plans for dying in the foreseeable future, adapting was the only choice left.
This part of the mission was the opening shot. It was fired, silenced, but fired. Now, it was time to make sure that nothing went wrong.
2 days later...
Trowa stood at attention, waiting for the ewnemy generals to disembark and leave the landing pad. It would be 30 hours from the moment that they entered the complex that the mission would commence.
The door slammed shut. "They're in, " he whispered into the audio transmitter. The clock had started. There was less than 30 hours to doomsday for the men who wished to take freedom from the peoples of the colonies and Earth. Not after they had fought so hard for it.
Quatre listened to Trowa's transmission. In the background he could hear the other pilots scrambling to make sure their Gundamns were in the best shape possible. The OZ/Whitefang Alliance would be fighting with mobile dolls so speed was especailly important. No advantage was to be overlooked, just one may be the difference between victory and defeat.
Deula looked at her watch. It was time to destroy the communications center. Reinforcements would be devasting if they were to appear during the course of the battle. This whole plan hinged on nothing going wrong, but when didn't they. She sat down at a computer terminal, looking like she belonged abd proceeded to access a program that would shut down the entier communications grid in the area, except the Gundamn systems. When the screen turned black she was care ful to react as everyone else. In the noise, no one heard her murmur, "Phase one is complete." Trowa, Wufei, and the base that contained the other pilots did though. And it was time to begin the war.
Gundams blasted off, Sandrock and Shooting Star leaving last. The pilots heard Madeleine's warning, the one they's been hearing all day, "Remember to fly low to avoid radar."
Deula raced along the coridirs behind Trowa and Wufei. Panic rukled inside the base, so they weren't noticed. They slipped out, one at a time, the others standing guard. Wufei was glad it was just battle now. He was much better at those, this undercover work just wasn't for him. Their wasn't any honour in it. Running across the tarmac landing pad was gut wrenching. An open area like the landing pad could spell doom for one or more of the pilots. relieft flooded through all three when the reached their machines.
"Let's hope that they checked everything over and it all works, " Deula muttered, as her radio crackled to life.
"Deula?" Wufei's voice was strained.
"I'm in Waterfall, and I'm fine. Let's get the party started."
"Trowa?" Wufei called. Trowa reported and they all lifted off in a wedge formation.
"Have we been spotted yet?" Wufei asked.
"Relax Wu-man, your nevres are showing." Duo's voice came to life on the audio, and he appeared on the vid screen. And for once, no one considered him to be an annoyance.
"I've told you not to call me that, Maxwell."
"Just get to the meeting point," Heero's monotone interrupted Duo's teasing.
The three undercover agents, a.k.a spies, moved towards the meeting point.
"I have visual." Trowa reported. They all flew faster hoping to get there with minutes to spare so that they could catch their breath.
Five minutes later the Gundamns were in a large V, like the kind that ducks fly in, and facing towards the base.
"I disabled the communications system, and they know something is wrong. They don't know what, so we should have time, but it's chaos down there."
"All right, let's light this baby up!" Dragoness roared.
The Gundamns took off towards the base, flying low, so as not to give the defenders any warning. The more mobile dolls they destroyed while they were stationary, the fewer they had to worry about when the fighting started.
"The dolls are in the last three hangers. The rest of the builings are for personnel." Troaw informed them. The pilots digested this and readied themselves for what was about to happen, to them, and their enemeies.
They apprpached the base from the North. It was going to be hell on Earth in just a few moments. "Five, four, three, two, one, let's go people." The Gundamns moved into attack position, getting to ready destroy the hangers. The stage was set, the battle was begun, and the players were now committed.
Chapter 18 Meteor II: Battle's End
The Gundamns broke into groups of two. Trowa and Heero broke off to deal with the last three warehouses, the location of the mahority of the mobile doll defenses for the base. They had to be dealt with first, if the mission had any chnace of success. Other units of mobile dolls were flooding the battlefield, the y didn't come from the warehouses that Heayarms Custom and Wing Zero were steadily destroying. Quickly taking stock of the situation the remaining nine pilots broke off into groups of two from the large group they had been in. Zech piloted his Mech over to assist Heero and Trowa in destroying the warehouses, and, therefore, the dolls that were still off- line. Not that there were many of those because the dolls from the second warehouse were assembling in the air above the building. A few dolls from the other two warehouses were joining them. Not many, but still enough, it was time for the Gundamn pilots to prove their mettle, the true battle was about to begin.
Duo sent his sythe threw three dolls and the Dragoness snapped her energy whip through another four, before recoiling, and recharging it, to snap it again. Quatre's simataurs caught a doll between them, and squeezed until it exploded. The Gundamn pilots were trapping the quicker dools, forcing them into a confined area of sky and worrying their flanks. It was a tiring process.
"Behind you, Una," Wufei's voice intoned.
Dragon rage whirled around to bump into the doll behind it, destroying the target lock. Powering up the eye lasers, that were Dragon Rage's main offensive weapon, Una shot and the doll thatnearly brought about her downfall, was destroyed, as well as the one behind it.
"You must pay moe attention to the battle ground, my friend. Otherwise you will find yourself in an early grave."
"I know, Silence. I know."
Across the feild Deula was wreaking havoc. Her missiles were destroying clusters of enemies. Wufei and Madeleine stood back to back. Her energy staff laying about, destroying any enemy that she could reach. Wufei, however, had a more conservative approach. He'd wait until a few dolls were moved away from the others by the mastermind, then he'd destroy the dolls one by one, using the energy spear (you know, that three pronged blade like thingie of Altron's) or the firethrower he'd added in Nanku's memory.
Heero, Trowa, and Zechs were not fairing so well, as they were almost completely surrounded by Hostiles. they were in very deep trouble, and the main attack force was still busy dealing with the other dolls. Trowa was swaeting, he was nearly out of bullets. This situation was going from bad to worse.
"I'm nearly out of bullets," He announced into his comm link.
"Okay, Quatre and I will join you in about one moment." Deula acknowleged.
The moble dolls continued to drop form the sky. the only pilots in any life threatening danger were Heero, Trowa and Zechs, so the team moved to reinforce them,
"All right. Now, I'm out of bullets."
"We'll cover you then."
"Afterall, we are a team, " Quatre added in.
The two new arrivals began to work at destroying the enemy while their controller had the facing the Gundamns that they'd trapped. It turned out to be a costly mistake for the contoller.
Madeline turned leaving wufei to guard her back and trustin silence to her left to tell her if there was any danger.
"Yo, you've got one coming up on your left. I'll try to nail it." Dragoness' voice came over the comm.
'You'll try to destroy it?" Madeleine quipped.
"I try not to liem but ya know, that happens sometimes. It life afterall, " came the reply.
"Can we please cut the irrelavent chatter." Wufei sounded waspish.
"You got it!" Dragoness said, nonchalantly in the background Wufei could hear the expolsion of the doll that she'd been stalking.
Una's voice crackled over the comm link. " My area is clear. Moving to assit in clearing of other hositles from the warehouse area. Requesting back up."
"You got it solider girl, "Dragoness afrimed cheerfully.
And so the battle progressed with Una and the Dragoness searching the outer perimeter and between the warehouses, and Duo moving to help clear the last stronghold of moble dolls. The stronghold in which the other three Gundamns were trapped.
"Trowa, buddy, how ya doing?" Duo inquired.
"I'm fine, Duo. Bur I won't be for much longer."
"We'll have you out of there in a jiffy." Duo then let this sythe talk for him, destroying more dolls.
"We're almost in, just one more moment. We've got an opening. Haul ass, boys. We don't know how much longer we can keep this hole open," Deula snarled. "What's still out there?"
"I've got about five over here." Silence reported.
"We're clear," Dragoness' reported in.
"Then help Silence."
Tem minutes later it was all over and the Gundamn were moving towards their hiding places in the various valeys in the sea floor.
"We did it everyone," Madeleine exhaled over the comm link.
"We won this round, Madeleine. We haven't won the war, not yet." quatre informed. "We still have to worry about the Space Force."
"Spoil-sport, " came the teasing reply.
"Shut up people. I'm tired and I want to sleep," Una grumped.
"The sleep and quit your bitching," Deula replied.
"Can't you tell they're sisters?" Someone commented as they all settled in for the wait before they could make they're next move.
Chapter 19 Meteor II: Promise Ring
*~ indicates the stuff inside is part of a song, which I'm just borrowing and make no claims to. It actually belongs to *shudders* Ricky Martin.
The Sun gelistened, and the hair of the people standing in it shone. Thw ind blew and the people were quiet. A moment of reflection was needed to ground the victors back in reality. And to remind them what they had been fighting for in the first place. Above and beyond the lives and freedom of the people of the Earth and the colonies. A time to remember that as good as things looked the battle wasn't over yet. In fact, it had barely begun.
Death hung over the assembly, but none took notice of it. Death was an old and faithful friend to all that stood. It had shadowed them all their lives and the shadows had only begun to deepen now that they were finding each other. Some again and some for the first time, they were finding peace in each other. Now they had more to fight for. Now they had each other.
*~Every endless night has a dawning day Every darkest sky has a shining ray And it shines on you baby can't you see You're the only one who can shine for me
It's a private emotion that fills you tonight And a silence falls between us As the shadows steal the light And wherever you may find it Wherever it may lead Let your private emotion come to me Come to me*~
Four people stood away from the others, in groups of two. They were all very different, yet they were together in more than one way or they wanted to be. One pair was a brunette and a blonde and the other was comprised of another brunette and a black haired man. All were silent, they didn't need words to comunicate. They had a soul bond, and an understandinf of each other. They were complete around each other; the other was all they needed to be happy.
To be happy, yes, but each deserved to be more than happy. And that would take words.
Wufei looked at the woman standing beside him. She was queitly abosrbing that she had helped bring to them He had been a scholar, so why was is suddenly so hard to find the right words to express himself? It shouldn't be so hard. The words shouldn't be so hard to say.
"Madeleine, I think..." he started.
"Yeah," she replied, "I feel it too."
"So, we're going to give it a try?"
"Of course, life's to short for us not too. We care for each other and as soliders of the peace we have not guarantee that we'll live to regret it!"
"Regret it?"
"Of course, Wufei. We are only human after all. No matter what you think, we're just as vulnerable as any one else. What do we have to lose if we try?"
"Nothing, expect maybe our lives."
"We could lose those at any time." She brushed the arguement aside. "Now, what do we have to gain?"
"I don't know!!"
"Love, each other, and maybe peace for a little while."
"Oh, then I guess we should."
"I'm glad that you agree."
*~ When your soul is tired and your heart is weak Do you think of love as a one way street Well, it runs both ways, open up your eyes. Can't you see me here, how can you deny*~
Mean while...
"I'm glad that you're alright. I was worried when you were isolated."
"Deula, I may not be a tough-as-nails mercenary army general, but it'll take more than the likes of them to remove me from your side."
"And Noin?"
"We're friends, like we've always been. Let the others think what they like, we both have people we love, and they just happen to be each other."
"You love me?"
"Always and forever!"
"Don't make promises that you can't keep, Zechs."
"I'm not. With this ring, " Zechs withdrew a simple ring, " I promise to be around to marry you, in front of all that we both hold dear, and on a planet that's at peace."
Silent tears streamed down Deula's face.
"What? The great mercenary genral crying because I made her a promise?"
"Do you intend to keep it?" she whispered, almost fearfully.
"Of couse, I do. I love you more than anything else on Earth or in the colonies and more than anyone else on either too."
"But, not as much as I love you."
Both crying , they embraced tightly, like they never wanted to let each other go.
*~ It's a private emotion that fills you tonight And a silence falls between us As shadows steal the light And wherever you may find it Wherever it may lead Let you private emotion come to me Come to me*~
Standing with the others, and her boyfriend, Una looked at her sister's happiness, looked at Heero's quiet joy, and she knew all was right in her world.
Wufei looked at Madeleine. "How do they do that?" he asked.
"They have more pratice at it then we do. Don't worry we'll get better." And Silence listened and was happy for her friends. Happy that they had one, and for once the media was silent.
Slightly apart, but still in the sphere of conversation, Quatre looked at Trowa.
"Do you think a discreet little push might help things a long?"
"No, koibito. I don't think that would be a very good move to make."
"Why not? It worked for Heero and Duo!"
"They work differently on the inside; we don't know them well enough. Besides it looks like they're already well on the path to being happy and together."
"That's good. Wufei deserves to be happy."
"And Zechs and the girls?"
"Oh, them too, of course. Especially your song bird. Are you sure that a little puch wouldn't work?"
"Yesm quite sure."
"Oh, darn."
*~ Every endless night has a dawning day Every drakest sky has a shining ray It takes a lot to laugh as your tears go by. But you can find me here til your tears run dry.
It's a private emotion that fills you tonight And a silence falls between us As the shadows steal the light And wherever you may find it wherever it may lead Let your private emotioncome to me*~
Chapter 20 Meteor II: Group Dicussions
Heero looked at Duo, "We should get the others and move on. We need to get back to the safehouse."
"I'll get the others, but only if you get those crazy girls that you call sisters.
Heero nodded.
Duo made his way over to Quatre and Trowa. They talked for a minute, and then they made their way back to the center of the clearing. Duo waved to Madeleine and Wufei, and they ambled over. Heero returned with Una, Deula, Zechs and Una's boyfriend. Silence entered from the same general direction that Madeleine and Wufei had come from.
"We have to decide what we're going to do. Where are we going to go now?" Even though it was a question Heero managed to make it a statement.
"Into space. Home, I guess." Madeleine replied.
"All of us?" Heero shot back.
"Any eho want to go!" Una voiced.
"I'm going," Deula commented. "Most of my army is out in space. They're between colonies. I need to get back to them before they get out of control. They are able to brow beat the officers into doing what they want if I leave them long enough."
Trowa chuckled.
Quatre looked up. "I can help any who want to go get there," he commented.
"Aren't you going?" Wufei asked.
"I'm going, of course. And so is Trowa, at least I think that he is." Quatre looked at his lover.
'I'm going too. this is injustice."
"I think it's safe to say that everyone's going to go," Zechs said.
"Probably, "Duo replied. "I mean it's time for these bastards to meet the God od Death. Shinigami's going to be sending lots of them to hell."
Dragoness chuckled. "Let's go raise some hell!"
"Hear, hear," Una called.
"First lets get back to the safe house and complete the repairs to the Gundamns and mechs."
"Let's go," Silence whispered. "This feels to open. We are not in a very good defensive postion here," she pointed out.
"Let's go! Silence is right, and the spot between my shoulder blades is itching." Deula mused.
And, so, the pilots got into their suits, and those that could fly, flew low to the ground, looking out for the others. Forunately, they got back to thweir safehouse with no mishaps. No enemies appeared, probably because they were racing to what was left of their main land bound base.
'Welcome back." Trieze said from the doorrway. (For why Trieze is alive see a previous chapter.)
"We need to repair and plan some more." Zechs told his friend.
Trieze looked at the rather beat up Gundams. "I can see that, but why more planning?"
"We're going to fight in space," Una said in Heero's monotone. And everyone chuckled, and if they had to explain it, tehy'd write it off to stress.
"So, are we all launching from the same space port?" Trowa asked.
"No, that'd be dangerous," Wufei commented. With Une looking for us because of our long absence, we'd better do this quietly."
"'Fei's right," Madeleine commented.
"We're too noticeable," Quatre continued.
"That's just freaky!" Dragoness interrupted.
"What?" Madeleine asked.
"It's like you all think the same thought. That's just plain freaky."
The group laughed again, and then got back down to business.
"So, if we launch from points all over the world, we need a meeting point." Quatre reminded everyone.
"How about Deula's army. That's pretty hard to miss!" Duo volunteered.
"If you want to fly through a meteor belt," Deula exclaimed.
Duo's eyes lit up, "That would be so cool!!!"
"Yikes," Deula groaned. "You're nuts, you do know that?"
"No more that you," Duo shot back.
"Ouch, that hurt, "Deula said clutching her chest.
"Enough you two!" Heero said. "We have..."
"A mission," they both finished for him.
"Exactly!" Heero murmured.
"but what is there to plan? The posts are pretty irrelevant when it actually comes down to it."
"True, " Quatre commented. Looking at the couples, he got a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Anything you'd like to share?" he asked innocently.
"I don't think so," Zechs said dryly.
"Not that I know of," Deula said lightly.
The other four quickly nodded their agreement.
"Oh?" Una quiered, getting in on the fun.
"No!" Deula snapped back.
"I see," Una replied.
"Do you?"
"Yes. I wish you many happy days in the future."
Deula blushed.
Everyone, including Deula, laughed. And if they were caught, they blame it all on tension and stress. And, of course, fear that they'd lose theor loved ones in what they were about to do.
Chapter 21 Meteor II: The First Step to Freedom
Duo looked up at the launchpad. All the gundams, or large mechs, were on the launchpad. All the pilots were present, expect for Trieze who was staying behind to coordinate, and keep track of the Earth based enemy activity. Though the OZ-Whitefang Allaince had taken a huge blow to Earth based operations, but they weren't out of the game yet. And so, the pilots were going to space. All together, the launchbase would send up a Gundam every 45 minutes, which meant that this would be a lengthy procedure, what with 12 Gundams, or Mechs, to launch. They had drawn straws, and Duo was the first to go, followed by Una, Zechs, Dragoness, Madeleine, Jason, Heero, Silence, Wufei, Quatre, Deula, and, finally, Trowa.
"I'm scared, Heero..." he said, Duo that is. "Where leaving Trieze all alone down here."
"Don't worry, koi. Deula is leaving a solider of hers, who is a pilot of an advanced mech, to keep him company. And, there's Une and the otehr Preventers. I should have known that he was behind that," Heero berated himself.
"S'okay, love," the five minute warning chimed. "I guess that's my cue to get my rear in gear."
"Duo?"
"Yeah, Heero?"
"I love you."
"I love you more." With that Duo raced towards Shinigami. A few minutes later, he blasted into space.
Slowly all those with good-byes to say, said them, ending with a cheerful, "but we'll be together in space in just a little bit, and then everything will be better."
"What do you think, Songbird? Will we win?" Trowa asked.
"I think so. If we do this right we con, but nothing is garunteed. This is a war afterall."
"But we have a chance?"
"We always have a chance, but fighting together makes it a damn good chance."
Trowa nodded and moved off to talk to Quatre. So much death, destruction, and suffering that had happened quietly out of the public spotlight would be stopped by this. Trowa would hazard a guess that Relens didn't even know what was going on, which was for the best.
40 minutes later...
Trowa watched as Deula blasted off into space, to face the battle ahead. They were all going to meet in the meteor field that shielded Deula's army. An army that had agreed to help with the fight in space. Trowa removde anysign of their presence from the base and moved towards Heavyarms Custon. There was no sense lingering on Earth. One day he'd be back, but for now his future, his family, his love, and his very reason for living were in space. And now he'd follow and they'd end this once and for all, as a team, as it always should have been.
Flying through a meteor field was not Wufei's idea of fun. Though through the undercover mission he'd learned to respect the onna who always wore blue, he did not always agree with her choice. Like stationing her army in a meteor field, no matter how good, or how much, cover it provided. It was hell to fly through.
As Deula set Waterfall down on the huge meteor that was her base, she smiled. This was home to her, and it was good to be home. And better to be home with those she loved, and all her new friends. The meteor was set up as a very small colony would be, and the pilots fit right in, her soliders doing their best to welcome their fellow warriors. Deula wondered if she was wrong to be mad at the "Mad Five" for stopping them from getting involed and allowing the situation to fester. Well, if it was wrong, she still couldn't help herself because that was what she was feeling.
Duo bounced up to her, Dragoness and Heero in tow. "How do you keep this place secret?" he quiered.
"I don't have to, the meteor field does that for me."
Duo nodded. "I though so," he murmured.
Quatre approached. "I've been in contact with Trieze and Trowa. When Trowa gets here we'll plan. Una says that the technology here will allow us to add Trieze to the meeting as well."
Jason and Silence groaned.
Trowa set Heavyarms Custon down, got out, and was rushed into a session of planning. After an hour and a half they had a choice between two plans with a high chance of sucess. Deula, Madeline, and Quatre would hone them later. With input from everyone else, of course. They all had areas of expertise. So absorbed was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice the others exit the room he had left ten minutes ago, and come to stand with him.
They all stared quietly at the stars, visable even through the protective blanket of meteors. Thinking of what they had to lose... and gain.
"It's so beautiful up here, sometimes, I forget just how beautiful." Quatre whispered.
"Yeah, but we're here to continue the fight for freedon, to accomplish the mission. Right Una? " Dragoness teased
"No, Dragoness, we're here to make that small step that puts on the road to lasting peace."
"The first step to freedom..." Heeor intoned.
"To peace and freedom," they all echoed, and those echos were heard in the hearts, and souls, of brave people all over. "To peace and freedom."
One small step at a time.
The end, for now.
There may be a sequel. I'm still thinking on it.
Demona, here's a Christmas fic for you. I'm done and I beat your putting out chapter 18. You have so gotta hurry up. But still, have as merry of a Christmas as you can
Lirpa, thank you so much for all your support in this endevour. I so couldn't have done it without you. Merry Christmas, may it be filled with joy. ~*~*Angel123292*~*~ , thanks so much. It was so wonderful to hear that someone thought that my writing was good enough to knock them off their chair. I'm sorry but this is coming out all in one part. Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. thundagwa, thanks for the kind words. This is the last chapter, but one day I may write another story with the characters, especially my pilots, if that's of any interest to you. Merry Christmas!!!!!
Chapter 16 Meteor II: The Planning Process
Everyone looked at the map spread out on the table surrounded by pilots.
"It's impossible!! We can't just attack head on, we'd never survive it."
"I agree, we need to attack from the inside aswell. That is if we hope to come out of this alive."
"The only way to destroy the base from the inside is to send Deula and Trowa back undercover in that base. When they're undercover anything could happen to them. we cannot afford to lose such important members of our team. They are vital." Wufei pointed out.
"We must cpmplete the mission," Heero stated in a monotone.
"Yet, we must also think of the missions that follow this mission," Wufei snapped.
"We have to put them back undercover, Wufei, however, before we do that we will work out a series of codes and bring their Gundams close enough that they can reach them, in case of emergency. I can't see any other way I'm afraid." Quatre told the assembled pilots. "Treize has agreed to help with the plan. He will contribute his knowledge, some of it inside, because not all of their inner workings can have changed in the period of time they had to asssemble. Trieze will provide us wil knowlegde on Oz and the Alliance, and Zechs has knowlegde of Whitefang that he has agreed to share his knowledge. We should be able to form a cohesive attack plan that won't get us killed."
"So, now all we have to do is get Deula und Trowa back undercover, maybe someone else." Heero voiced his concerns.
"I'm out," una murmured, causing everyone to look at her. "What? I am, I simply look to much like Deula. It wouldn't work."
"Since, Wufei, doubts us so much, let him come with us and back us up." Deula challenged.
"Fine, onna. i do not fear this mission, I simply don't trust all the plans. Far too much could go wrong."
"True, our planning still has some holes in it, but that is why we're all here. We need to form a plan that's agreeable all involved in the battle," Zechs ceeded diplomatically.
"Once, we do that we can begin the preperations to take the battle to our enemies. It is my hope that a good plan will or eradicate the lose of life, for both sides" Madeliene's voice whispered from her place between Wufei and Heero.
"That still leaves the question of how we're going to attack the base," Heero pointed out, recieving a glare from Una.
"Well," Quatre said, looking at the faces around the table, "I think that we should attack in three groups. The ones on the inside of the base, which happens to be Trowa, Deula, and Wufei, is one. That leaves nine pilots to attack the base from outside positions. The rest of us will be spilt into two more groups, because the best launch positions ae two islands. They're close to the base, but not so close that we'll be discovered.
"That's cool, Quatre!" Duo exclaimed, and looked at the map. "But what about retreat, those islands look kinda far away for that." Everyone turned to Duo, then, most , gathered around the table and looked suprized that Fuo was right. The Dragoness, however, wasted no time looking suprized and went straight to looking smug.
"The baka raises a good point," Heero ground out. "Retreat under these conditions would be difficult. We need to plan a retreat."
Silence studied the map, her eyes narrowing, "What about," she paused uncertainly, and then plowed ahead, "if retreated into the ocen itself. We can hide there until the patrols cease, and they start to rebuild the base, or abandon it."
Una cocked her head, "But if they do rebuild the stupid thing we'll be right back where we started."
"I don't think so. You see next week, the leaders of the OZ/Whietfang Alliance will be at the base. Attacking when they're present increases our chances of eliminating, or at least disgracing them, and spreading their mistakes throughout the officer core. Which should cause this war machine to lose a few wheels." Trowa's idea ghosted from his lips.
"That would make an impact" Quatre mused.
"The arrival of our enemies to brass means that we have to base our schedule around, if not on, theirs. If they make and last minutes changes, to put it bluntly,we're screwed. I don't like how vulenerable that makes," the Dragoness said, all hints of humour gone from her mocha eyes.
"true, my friend," Madeleine replied, "but, we don't really have any choice in the matter. Our plans should cut down on the time we're open to an attack."
Deula looked at Heero and Una, "You two are going tp create Wufei an identity and a reason for being in taht base or we're not going to be able to pull this plan off." Heero grunted and Una nodded.
"The best course of action is for us all to get some sleep, we'll be able to make a more efficient plans tomorrow morning," Zechs stated, drawing the attention of those assembled to just how late it was. Tramping of to their beds the weary pilots fell asleep, and dreamed of the battles to come.
The next morning...
Stumbling down the stairs, Silence looked around before heading to the kitchen. The coffee machine was producing something that looked like coffee, and hopefully wasn't sludge. "Coffee," she breathed in awe, "must have coffee." Duo's bad luck has him enter the kitchen just then and interrupt one very determined young lady's path to the life giving caffine that the coffee contained. Growling at Duo, Silence pushed him out of her way, which sent him spilling onto his ass. Getting up of the floor, Duo beat a hasty retreat from the kitchen, looking at Wufei, who was entering the kitchen, as he left.
Heero looked around, and pronounced, "She's an absolute crazy!"
"A coffee driven crazy to make matters worse," Madeleine commented, as Silence exited the kitchen with her morning dose of caffine. Silence turned, looking queerly at them, "Don't we have a battle to plan?" With that reminder they all took themselves to what Dragoness had dubbed "the planning room." Because she said, "it's a room where we plan. What else do you call it?"
Slowly the paricipatents fiilled the room, and they found Una, Deula and Zechs leaning over the map, the map spread out in the center of the table, which was in the center of the room.
"That might work, but Deula will have to be careful," Una pointed out.
"What might work?" Madeleine querried.
"Having Deula block the communications frequencies so they can't call for reinforcements."
"Reinforcements, damn!! I knew I forgot something, but I didn't think it would be something that important!" Madeleine swore.
"Yeah," Duo agreed, earning a sharp look from Wufei, "but ya ain't Wonderwoman and they seem to have this base covered from top to bottom. Come on, you can only do so much."
Wufei, covertly, grabbed Madeliene's hand and gave it a small squeeze, a small gesture of comfort that she seemed to draw strength from. And was unseen by most of the pilots, and those who did notice it didn't mention it.
"All right," una announced, after everyone had arrived, "there have been some changes to the plan." The pilots talked and argued over the revised plan for hours, making several other revisements.
Looking at the clock Trowa signalled to Deula that it was time for them to leave,and put the plan into operation. A second later, everyone's eyes were anchored to the clock aswell.
"Wufei's idenity?" Deula asked.
"In place and he even knows who he is."
"OK, people, it's time to begin phase one of the final steps to complete this mission." The three undercover agents left the room to a corus of "Good luck's."
Chapter 17 Meteor II: First Strike
Wufei was exhausted, being an undercover agent was tough. The worst was never letting your true identity slip out. It was altogether a taxing experience, and not one he was to experience again anytime soon. Deula and Trowa took to this sort of mission like ducks to water, however, which just added to Wufei's annoyance. It was incredibly annevering to se them not having any problems with this work. It would be up to them to light the fuse to this power keg, and wufei was wondering if they'd left enough line to safely escape, or, if they'd get caught and killed in their own trap. And, finally, Wufei was afraid to do or say something that would endanger the mission, and let his new clan down.
Deula smiled. She was busy working with the OZ/Whitefang Alliance computers, though not as skilled as Heero and Una, she was still a decent computer tech, well above normal standards, which was she was working on eliminating a virus. The irony was that the virus had originated in her army, as a way to knock out enemy communications. It worked very well. As far was Deula knew everything ws still going according to plan. The generals abd other top leaders were still visiting when they'd planned to, the attck was still on schedule, her companions were still safely undercover, and their means of escape had been transported to the agreed upon location. Soon, the Earth based threat would be elinimated, and she could go home, back to space. She knew it would be a jump for the boys, who had been on Earth since Dermail's little rebellion, but they'd adjust, they'd adapt. They were Gundamn pilots and Gundamn pilots were like every other creature: they adapted or they died. With no plans for dying in the foreseeable future, adapting was the only choice left.
This part of the mission was the opening shot. It was fired, silenced, but fired. Now, it was time to make sure that nothing went wrong.
2 days later...
Trowa stood at attention, waiting for the ewnemy generals to disembark and leave the landing pad. It would be 30 hours from the moment that they entered the complex that the mission would commence.
The door slammed shut. "They're in, " he whispered into the audio transmitter. The clock had started. There was less than 30 hours to doomsday for the men who wished to take freedom from the peoples of the colonies and Earth. Not after they had fought so hard for it.
Quatre listened to Trowa's transmission. In the background he could hear the other pilots scrambling to make sure their Gundamns were in the best shape possible. The OZ/Whitefang Alliance would be fighting with mobile dolls so speed was especailly important. No advantage was to be overlooked, just one may be the difference between victory and defeat.
Deula looked at her watch. It was time to destroy the communications center. Reinforcements would be devasting if they were to appear during the course of the battle. This whole plan hinged on nothing going wrong, but when didn't they. She sat down at a computer terminal, looking like she belonged abd proceeded to access a program that would shut down the entier communications grid in the area, except the Gundamn systems. When the screen turned black she was care ful to react as everyone else. In the noise, no one heard her murmur, "Phase one is complete." Trowa, Wufei, and the base that contained the other pilots did though. And it was time to begin the war.
Gundams blasted off, Sandrock and Shooting Star leaving last. The pilots heard Madeleine's warning, the one they's been hearing all day, "Remember to fly low to avoid radar."
Deula raced along the coridirs behind Trowa and Wufei. Panic rukled inside the base, so they weren't noticed. They slipped out, one at a time, the others standing guard. Wufei was glad it was just battle now. He was much better at those, this undercover work just wasn't for him. Their wasn't any honour in it. Running across the tarmac landing pad was gut wrenching. An open area like the landing pad could spell doom for one or more of the pilots. relieft flooded through all three when the reached their machines.
"Let's hope that they checked everything over and it all works, " Deula muttered, as her radio crackled to life.
"Deula?" Wufei's voice was strained.
"I'm in Waterfall, and I'm fine. Let's get the party started."
"Trowa?" Wufei called. Trowa reported and they all lifted off in a wedge formation.
"Have we been spotted yet?" Wufei asked.
"Relax Wu-man, your nevres are showing." Duo's voice came to life on the audio, and he appeared on the vid screen. And for once, no one considered him to be an annoyance.
"I've told you not to call me that, Maxwell."
"Just get to the meeting point," Heero's monotone interrupted Duo's teasing.
The three undercover agents, a.k.a spies, moved towards the meeting point.
"I have visual." Trowa reported. They all flew faster hoping to get there with minutes to spare so that they could catch their breath.
Five minutes later the Gundamns were in a large V, like the kind that ducks fly in, and facing towards the base.
"I disabled the communications system, and they know something is wrong. They don't know what, so we should have time, but it's chaos down there."
"All right, let's light this baby up!" Dragoness roared.
The Gundamns took off towards the base, flying low, so as not to give the defenders any warning. The more mobile dolls they destroyed while they were stationary, the fewer they had to worry about when the fighting started.
"The dolls are in the last three hangers. The rest of the builings are for personnel." Troaw informed them. The pilots digested this and readied themselves for what was about to happen, to them, and their enemeies.
They apprpached the base from the North. It was going to be hell on Earth in just a few moments. "Five, four, three, two, one, let's go people." The Gundamns moved into attack position, getting to ready destroy the hangers. The stage was set, the battle was begun, and the players were now committed.
Chapter 18 Meteor II: Battle's End
The Gundamns broke into groups of two. Trowa and Heero broke off to deal with the last three warehouses, the location of the mahority of the mobile doll defenses for the base. They had to be dealt with first, if the mission had any chnace of success. Other units of mobile dolls were flooding the battlefield, the y didn't come from the warehouses that Heayarms Custom and Wing Zero were steadily destroying. Quickly taking stock of the situation the remaining nine pilots broke off into groups of two from the large group they had been in. Zech piloted his Mech over to assist Heero and Trowa in destroying the warehouses, and, therefore, the dolls that were still off- line. Not that there were many of those because the dolls from the second warehouse were assembling in the air above the building. A few dolls from the other two warehouses were joining them. Not many, but still enough, it was time for the Gundamn pilots to prove their mettle, the true battle was about to begin.
Duo sent his sythe threw three dolls and the Dragoness snapped her energy whip through another four, before recoiling, and recharging it, to snap it again. Quatre's simataurs caught a doll between them, and squeezed until it exploded. The Gundamn pilots were trapping the quicker dools, forcing them into a confined area of sky and worrying their flanks. It was a tiring process.
"Behind you, Una," Wufei's voice intoned.
Dragon rage whirled around to bump into the doll behind it, destroying the target lock. Powering up the eye lasers, that were Dragon Rage's main offensive weapon, Una shot and the doll thatnearly brought about her downfall, was destroyed, as well as the one behind it.
"You must pay moe attention to the battle ground, my friend. Otherwise you will find yourself in an early grave."
"I know, Silence. I know."
Across the feild Deula was wreaking havoc. Her missiles were destroying clusters of enemies. Wufei and Madeleine stood back to back. Her energy staff laying about, destroying any enemy that she could reach. Wufei, however, had a more conservative approach. He'd wait until a few dolls were moved away from the others by the mastermind, then he'd destroy the dolls one by one, using the energy spear (you know, that three pronged blade like thingie of Altron's) or the firethrower he'd added in Nanku's memory.
Heero, Trowa, and Zechs were not fairing so well, as they were almost completely surrounded by Hostiles. they were in very deep trouble, and the main attack force was still busy dealing with the other dolls. Trowa was swaeting, he was nearly out of bullets. This situation was going from bad to worse.
"I'm nearly out of bullets," He announced into his comm link.
"Okay, Quatre and I will join you in about one moment." Deula acknowleged.
The moble dolls continued to drop form the sky. the only pilots in any life threatening danger were Heero, Trowa and Zechs, so the team moved to reinforce them,
"All right. Now, I'm out of bullets."
"We'll cover you then."
"Afterall, we are a team, " Quatre added in.
The two new arrivals began to work at destroying the enemy while their controller had the facing the Gundamns that they'd trapped. It turned out to be a costly mistake for the contoller.
Madeline turned leaving wufei to guard her back and trustin silence to her left to tell her if there was any danger.
"Yo, you've got one coming up on your left. I'll try to nail it." Dragoness' voice came over the comm.
'You'll try to destroy it?" Madeleine quipped.
"I try not to liem but ya know, that happens sometimes. It life afterall, " came the reply.
"Can we please cut the irrelavent chatter." Wufei sounded waspish.
"You got it!" Dragoness said, nonchalantly in the background Wufei could hear the expolsion of the doll that she'd been stalking.
Una's voice crackled over the comm link. " My area is clear. Moving to assit in clearing of other hositles from the warehouse area. Requesting back up."
"You got it solider girl, "Dragoness afrimed cheerfully.
And so the battle progressed with Una and the Dragoness searching the outer perimeter and between the warehouses, and Duo moving to help clear the last stronghold of moble dolls. The stronghold in which the other three Gundamns were trapped.
"Trowa, buddy, how ya doing?" Duo inquired.
"I'm fine, Duo. Bur I won't be for much longer."
"We'll have you out of there in a jiffy." Duo then let this sythe talk for him, destroying more dolls.
"We're almost in, just one more moment. We've got an opening. Haul ass, boys. We don't know how much longer we can keep this hole open," Deula snarled. "What's still out there?"
"I've got about five over here." Silence reported.
"We're clear," Dragoness' reported in.
"Then help Silence."
Tem minutes later it was all over and the Gundamn were moving towards their hiding places in the various valeys in the sea floor.
"We did it everyone," Madeleine exhaled over the comm link.
"We won this round, Madeleine. We haven't won the war, not yet." quatre informed. "We still have to worry about the Space Force."
"Spoil-sport, " came the teasing reply.
"Shut up people. I'm tired and I want to sleep," Una grumped.
"The sleep and quit your bitching," Deula replied.
"Can't you tell they're sisters?" Someone commented as they all settled in for the wait before they could make they're next move.
Chapter 19 Meteor II: Promise Ring
*~ indicates the stuff inside is part of a song, which I'm just borrowing and make no claims to. It actually belongs to *shudders* Ricky Martin.
The Sun gelistened, and the hair of the people standing in it shone. Thw ind blew and the people were quiet. A moment of reflection was needed to ground the victors back in reality. And to remind them what they had been fighting for in the first place. Above and beyond the lives and freedom of the people of the Earth and the colonies. A time to remember that as good as things looked the battle wasn't over yet. In fact, it had barely begun.
Death hung over the assembly, but none took notice of it. Death was an old and faithful friend to all that stood. It had shadowed them all their lives and the shadows had only begun to deepen now that they were finding each other. Some again and some for the first time, they were finding peace in each other. Now they had more to fight for. Now they had each other.
*~Every endless night has a dawning day Every darkest sky has a shining ray And it shines on you baby can't you see You're the only one who can shine for me
It's a private emotion that fills you tonight And a silence falls between us As the shadows steal the light And wherever you may find it Wherever it may lead Let your private emotion come to me Come to me*~
Four people stood away from the others, in groups of two. They were all very different, yet they were together in more than one way or they wanted to be. One pair was a brunette and a blonde and the other was comprised of another brunette and a black haired man. All were silent, they didn't need words to comunicate. They had a soul bond, and an understandinf of each other. They were complete around each other; the other was all they needed to be happy.
To be happy, yes, but each deserved to be more than happy. And that would take words.
Wufei looked at the woman standing beside him. She was queitly abosrbing that she had helped bring to them He had been a scholar, so why was is suddenly so hard to find the right words to express himself? It shouldn't be so hard. The words shouldn't be so hard to say.
"Madeleine, I think..." he started.
"Yeah," she replied, "I feel it too."
"So, we're going to give it a try?"
"Of course, life's to short for us not too. We care for each other and as soliders of the peace we have not guarantee that we'll live to regret it!"
"Regret it?"
"Of course, Wufei. We are only human after all. No matter what you think, we're just as vulnerable as any one else. What do we have to lose if we try?"
"Nothing, expect maybe our lives."
"We could lose those at any time." She brushed the arguement aside. "Now, what do we have to gain?"
"I don't know!!"
"Love, each other, and maybe peace for a little while."
"Oh, then I guess we should."
"I'm glad that you agree."
*~ When your soul is tired and your heart is weak Do you think of love as a one way street Well, it runs both ways, open up your eyes. Can't you see me here, how can you deny*~
Mean while...
"I'm glad that you're alright. I was worried when you were isolated."
"Deula, I may not be a tough-as-nails mercenary army general, but it'll take more than the likes of them to remove me from your side."
"And Noin?"
"We're friends, like we've always been. Let the others think what they like, we both have people we love, and they just happen to be each other."
"You love me?"
"Always and forever!"
"Don't make promises that you can't keep, Zechs."
"I'm not. With this ring, " Zechs withdrew a simple ring, " I promise to be around to marry you, in front of all that we both hold dear, and on a planet that's at peace."
Silent tears streamed down Deula's face.
"What? The great mercenary genral crying because I made her a promise?"
"Do you intend to keep it?" she whispered, almost fearfully.
"Of couse, I do. I love you more than anything else on Earth or in the colonies and more than anyone else on either too."
"But, not as much as I love you."
Both crying , they embraced tightly, like they never wanted to let each other go.
*~ It's a private emotion that fills you tonight And a silence falls between us As shadows steal the light And wherever you may find it Wherever it may lead Let you private emotion come to me Come to me*~
Standing with the others, and her boyfriend, Una looked at her sister's happiness, looked at Heero's quiet joy, and she knew all was right in her world.
Wufei looked at Madeleine. "How do they do that?" he asked.
"They have more pratice at it then we do. Don't worry we'll get better." And Silence listened and was happy for her friends. Happy that they had one, and for once the media was silent.
Slightly apart, but still in the sphere of conversation, Quatre looked at Trowa.
"Do you think a discreet little push might help things a long?"
"No, koibito. I don't think that would be a very good move to make."
"Why not? It worked for Heero and Duo!"
"They work differently on the inside; we don't know them well enough. Besides it looks like they're already well on the path to being happy and together."
"That's good. Wufei deserves to be happy."
"And Zechs and the girls?"
"Oh, them too, of course. Especially your song bird. Are you sure that a little puch wouldn't work?"
"Yesm quite sure."
"Oh, darn."
*~ Every endless night has a dawning day Every drakest sky has a shining ray It takes a lot to laugh as your tears go by. But you can find me here til your tears run dry.
It's a private emotion that fills you tonight And a silence falls between us As the shadows steal the light And wherever you may find it wherever it may lead Let your private emotioncome to me*~
Chapter 20 Meteor II: Group Dicussions
Heero looked at Duo, "We should get the others and move on. We need to get back to the safehouse."
"I'll get the others, but only if you get those crazy girls that you call sisters.
Heero nodded.
Duo made his way over to Quatre and Trowa. They talked for a minute, and then they made their way back to the center of the clearing. Duo waved to Madeleine and Wufei, and they ambled over. Heero returned with Una, Deula, Zechs and Una's boyfriend. Silence entered from the same general direction that Madeleine and Wufei had come from.
"We have to decide what we're going to do. Where are we going to go now?" Even though it was a question Heero managed to make it a statement.
"Into space. Home, I guess." Madeleine replied.
"All of us?" Heero shot back.
"Any eho want to go!" Una voiced.
"I'm going," Deula commented. "Most of my army is out in space. They're between colonies. I need to get back to them before they get out of control. They are able to brow beat the officers into doing what they want if I leave them long enough."
Trowa chuckled.
Quatre looked up. "I can help any who want to go get there," he commented.
"Aren't you going?" Wufei asked.
"I'm going, of course. And so is Trowa, at least I think that he is." Quatre looked at his lover.
'I'm going too. this is injustice."
"I think it's safe to say that everyone's going to go," Zechs said.
"Probably, "Duo replied. "I mean it's time for these bastards to meet the God od Death. Shinigami's going to be sending lots of them to hell."
Dragoness chuckled. "Let's go raise some hell!"
"Hear, hear," Una called.
"First lets get back to the safe house and complete the repairs to the Gundamns and mechs."
"Let's go," Silence whispered. "This feels to open. We are not in a very good defensive postion here," she pointed out.
"Let's go! Silence is right, and the spot between my shoulder blades is itching." Deula mused.
And, so, the pilots got into their suits, and those that could fly, flew low to the ground, looking out for the others. Forunately, they got back to thweir safehouse with no mishaps. No enemies appeared, probably because they were racing to what was left of their main land bound base.
'Welcome back." Trieze said from the doorrway. (For why Trieze is alive see a previous chapter.)
"We need to repair and plan some more." Zechs told his friend.
Trieze looked at the rather beat up Gundams. "I can see that, but why more planning?"
"We're going to fight in space," Una said in Heero's monotone. And everyone chuckled, and if they had to explain it, tehy'd write it off to stress.
"So, are we all launching from the same space port?" Trowa asked.
"No, that'd be dangerous," Wufei commented. With Une looking for us because of our long absence, we'd better do this quietly."
"'Fei's right," Madeleine commented.
"We're too noticeable," Quatre continued.
"That's just freaky!" Dragoness interrupted.
"What?" Madeleine asked.
"It's like you all think the same thought. That's just plain freaky."
The group laughed again, and then got back down to business.
"So, if we launch from points all over the world, we need a meeting point." Quatre reminded everyone.
"How about Deula's army. That's pretty hard to miss!" Duo volunteered.
"If you want to fly through a meteor belt," Deula exclaimed.
Duo's eyes lit up, "That would be so cool!!!"
"Yikes," Deula groaned. "You're nuts, you do know that?"
"No more that you," Duo shot back.
"Ouch, that hurt, "Deula said clutching her chest.
"Enough you two!" Heero said. "We have..."
"A mission," they both finished for him.
"Exactly!" Heero murmured.
"but what is there to plan? The posts are pretty irrelevant when it actually comes down to it."
"True, " Quatre commented. Looking at the couples, he got a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Anything you'd like to share?" he asked innocently.
"I don't think so," Zechs said dryly.
"Not that I know of," Deula said lightly.
The other four quickly nodded their agreement.
"Oh?" Una quiered, getting in on the fun.
"No!" Deula snapped back.
"I see," Una replied.
"Do you?"
"Yes. I wish you many happy days in the future."
Deula blushed.
Everyone, including Deula, laughed. And if they were caught, they blame it all on tension and stress. And, of course, fear that they'd lose theor loved ones in what they were about to do.
Chapter 21 Meteor II: The First Step to Freedom
Duo looked up at the launchpad. All the gundams, or large mechs, were on the launchpad. All the pilots were present, expect for Trieze who was staying behind to coordinate, and keep track of the Earth based enemy activity. Though the OZ-Whitefang Allaince had taken a huge blow to Earth based operations, but they weren't out of the game yet. And so, the pilots were going to space. All together, the launchbase would send up a Gundam every 45 minutes, which meant that this would be a lengthy procedure, what with 12 Gundams, or Mechs, to launch. They had drawn straws, and Duo was the first to go, followed by Una, Zechs, Dragoness, Madeleine, Jason, Heero, Silence, Wufei, Quatre, Deula, and, finally, Trowa.
"I'm scared, Heero..." he said, Duo that is. "Where leaving Trieze all alone down here."
"Don't worry, koi. Deula is leaving a solider of hers, who is a pilot of an advanced mech, to keep him company. And, there's Une and the otehr Preventers. I should have known that he was behind that," Heero berated himself.
"S'okay, love," the five minute warning chimed. "I guess that's my cue to get my rear in gear."
"Duo?"
"Yeah, Heero?"
"I love you."
"I love you more." With that Duo raced towards Shinigami. A few minutes later, he blasted into space.
Slowly all those with good-byes to say, said them, ending with a cheerful, "but we'll be together in space in just a little bit, and then everything will be better."
"What do you think, Songbird? Will we win?" Trowa asked.
"I think so. If we do this right we con, but nothing is garunteed. This is a war afterall."
"But we have a chance?"
"We always have a chance, but fighting together makes it a damn good chance."
Trowa nodded and moved off to talk to Quatre. So much death, destruction, and suffering that had happened quietly out of the public spotlight would be stopped by this. Trowa would hazard a guess that Relens didn't even know what was going on, which was for the best.
40 minutes later...
Trowa watched as Deula blasted off into space, to face the battle ahead. They were all going to meet in the meteor field that shielded Deula's army. An army that had agreed to help with the fight in space. Trowa removde anysign of their presence from the base and moved towards Heavyarms Custon. There was no sense lingering on Earth. One day he'd be back, but for now his future, his family, his love, and his very reason for living were in space. And now he'd follow and they'd end this once and for all, as a team, as it always should have been.
Flying through a meteor field was not Wufei's idea of fun. Though through the undercover mission he'd learned to respect the onna who always wore blue, he did not always agree with her choice. Like stationing her army in a meteor field, no matter how good, or how much, cover it provided. It was hell to fly through.
As Deula set Waterfall down on the huge meteor that was her base, she smiled. This was home to her, and it was good to be home. And better to be home with those she loved, and all her new friends. The meteor was set up as a very small colony would be, and the pilots fit right in, her soliders doing their best to welcome their fellow warriors. Deula wondered if she was wrong to be mad at the "Mad Five" for stopping them from getting involed and allowing the situation to fester. Well, if it was wrong, she still couldn't help herself because that was what she was feeling.
Duo bounced up to her, Dragoness and Heero in tow. "How do you keep this place secret?" he quiered.
"I don't have to, the meteor field does that for me."
Duo nodded. "I though so," he murmured.
Quatre approached. "I've been in contact with Trieze and Trowa. When Trowa gets here we'll plan. Una says that the technology here will allow us to add Trieze to the meeting as well."
Jason and Silence groaned.
Trowa set Heavyarms Custon down, got out, and was rushed into a session of planning. After an hour and a half they had a choice between two plans with a high chance of sucess. Deula, Madeline, and Quatre would hone them later. With input from everyone else, of course. They all had areas of expertise. So absorbed was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice the others exit the room he had left ten minutes ago, and come to stand with him.
They all stared quietly at the stars, visable even through the protective blanket of meteors. Thinking of what they had to lose... and gain.
"It's so beautiful up here, sometimes, I forget just how beautiful." Quatre whispered.
"Yeah, but we're here to continue the fight for freedon, to accomplish the mission. Right Una? " Dragoness teased
"No, Dragoness, we're here to make that small step that puts on the road to lasting peace."
"The first step to freedom..." Heeor intoned.
"To peace and freedom," they all echoed, and those echos were heard in the hearts, and souls, of brave people all over. "To peace and freedom."
One small step at a time.
The end, for now.
There may be a sequel. I'm still thinking on it.