Chapter 14
It was a large room, the ceiling being at least fourteen feet from the floor. The walls were painted a light blue, though I'm not sure why, it didn't fit the soldiers standing around with guns pointed at Jet, Nickolas and me. Zechs stood near Mathew, casually dressed in black. V was next to him, wearing an Oz polo shirt and standard slacks. Neither were looking terribly interested in the scene around them. Zechs was clearly armed, and didn't seam to care who knew. My guess was he was with Oz again, though he hadn't turned me in when he had the chance. That at least was usually a good sign.
Mathew was looking tickled, dressed in full military gear and literally looking ready to kill. He'd discovered and captured all the 'bad guys' and had them laid out in front of him, ready to be dealt with. The only person missing with Ashley, but she'd supposedly gotten away from the base and was hiding out somewhere in the colony. Of course, about five hours from now it wouldn't make much of a difference.
"Alex Yuy, we meet again," Mathew said all too cheerfully.
I smiled and nodded. "Much too soon for my liking, but hey, I'm not in charge of the nice men with guns who dragged me down here."
"True," Mathew agreed, not letting me ruin his mood, "but I thought you might cool down your attitude a bit."
I shrugged. "You know, I probably would if it wasn't for the fact that I know you're going to kill me whether or not I act overly annoying. So I might as well be an ass as long as I can. Tomorrow I might not be here to tick you off."
Mathew laughed, which made me feel crappy. Usually when I was sarcastic he got annoyed. He just wasn't letting me get to him. Damn. He began walking around me as he talked. "No. I'm not going to kill you, even if I'd take great pleasure in doing so. You can serve a much greater use for me. Unfortunately they can't." he motioned to Nickolas and Jet without stopping his circling. "So I'm just going to get rid of them." He pulled out his gun, and without even looking fired two shots, killing both of them as he past me once again. Involuntarily I flinched. If he'd shot me I would deal with it, but he'd killed someone else. The worst part was I would have done the exact same thing if the situation were reverse.
"Damn," I muttered, "I'm starting to wish I wasn't so useful, then at least I'd have a swift death." Mathew wasn't listening to me.
Mathew stopped walking to my right side, still grinning. "You see," he whispered. "There are two people in this room that I'm not sure of. I know you're working with the enemy, and I know Nickolas and Jet were working for Milliardo just as I know that these soldiers are working for me." I turned to face him, staring into his very serious eyes. "What I don't know, "He continued as he turned to Zechs and V, "is whether those two," he pointed to them, "are loyal to me. Both have helped you, but both have reason to turn against you. So I've devised a test." He turned back to me. "The first one to kill you lives, the other shares your fate."
V blinked in surprise, taking a step back. His face held a note of panic for just a second before he calmed down and started to think. For Zechs things seamed painfully obvious. He drew his gun and held it at his side like a wait he didn't feel like lifting. One might think he didn't want to kill me. That was a very, very good thing.
"Vince doesn't have a gun," Zechs said softly.
Mathew nodded. "That gives you the advantage, doesn't it? Just shoot her!" he demanded.
Zechs nodded before answering, "Just making sure you don't mind." Slowly he lifted his gun, pointing it steadily at me head. I clinched my eyes as I took a deep breath, willing Zechs not to pull the trigger, not to be the one to kill me, yet wanting him to do it just as much, more so that he wouldn't be killed himself. I bowed my head in defeat for just a moment, not wanting to give in. After a few seconds without anything happening I looked up. Zechs had dropped his arm and looked away. "I can't kill her," four words that made my heart sing.
Mathew shook his head, obviously disappointed. "Well then, obviously you can't be trusted." He turned his gaze to V.
Zechs held out his gun to V, who took it casually. He didn't even pause to think as he took the clip out, tossing it back to Zechs as dropping the gun. "I'm not killing her, and you knew better than to ask."
Mathew sighed, "I'm sorry then. You'll both have to die, and they'll kill her anyway." If I hadn't known that we were all going to die I would be very happy with the situation, but with five soldiers aiming for us my mood was a little on the downside.
I didn't turn to see the soldiers aiming, but Mathew did, which was the only reason he missed V drawing a gun from behind him. Zechs seamed to get the same idea, and soon they were both firing. I did the best thing I could think of. I ducked. Unfortunately Zechs's gun had about three bullets in it, and he was only able to kill off one person, and V's was knocked out of his hand.
I jumped for the gun that was now rolling across the floor, but Mathew saw me. He jumped too, knocking me to the ground, just inches from the gun. I didn't have time to see what was going on, but I knew that the soldiers were trying to shoot me, but couldn't get a clear shot with Mathew on top of me, and he was having a hard time keeping me away from the gun. I grabbed it, and Mathew grabbed my hand, reaching with his other one for his other gun.
I didn't have much time to think, but enough time to look around the room. Two soldiers were trying to kill me, though Mathew would beat them to it. Zechs was crouched over V, who was bleeding, but I couldn't see how badly. V looked up at me, and I knew, he was hurt bad.
Mathew had his gun out, but he was doing the stupid thing and savoring the moment. I closed my eyes, feeling the rage creeping up inside me, and feeling a wall that Lynn had put there to stop it. I felt my power fighting it, and knew I had to break the wall. If not I wouldn't be the only one dead. V needed help and no one was being too nice with Zechs.
I could see the room, staring at Mathew struggling to keep me under control. V was clutching his chest and Zechs was trying to keep pressure on it. The soldiers weren't sure what to do, but they were ignoring Zechs and V. I could see the blue light surrounding V. I could see it fading away. I knew I had to do something, but there was nothing I could do.
I drew a deep breath and opened my eyes, releasing the air as I did so, and with it my power. It plowed through the wall as if it was nothing. The anger came out so suddenly, in such a large amount.
Heat surrounded me, pressing against my flesh as it tried to escape from my mind. I let it flow out, let it attack someone else. Mathew's eyes were wide as he tried to pull back, but not quick enough to escape the flames. His hands pulled away from the gun as he screamed. I didn't pay attention to the fire consuming him, I knew it wouldn't burn me. Instead I turned to the remaining soldiers with the gun. Two quick shots killed them, then I threw the gun away once I finished. I pushed Mathew off of me, having stood the heat for about as long as I could. It might not burn but it still hurt.
Crawling away from what was left of Mathew I slowly and uncertainly got to my feet. His flesh was black, and the smell was close to unbearable, but I couldn't waste time staring at him. I turned to Zechs and V and I unsteadily ran towards them, my mind not quite back to the real world yet, and because of that gap I could still see V with the blue light around him. It was fading, and fast. He looked pale and lay with his eyes closed barely breathing.
When I reached him I dropped to my knees, helping Zechs try to stop the bleeding in his stomach. V's eyes fluttered open and he gave a weak smile. "I knew you wouldn't let yourself be killed."
"Yeah," I muttered, "you get shot instead of me. That makes things so much better." I couldn't help being just a little sarcastic. Plus a lot annoyed. V wasn't going to die. I wasn't going to let him. "There's got to be something we can do…" I looked around the room.
"I don't think there is," Zechs murmured softly. My eyes shot daggers at him but I didn't interrupt as he continued. "I tried to heal him… but my powers didn't work, it's too serious. And there is no way we could move him out of here without professional help. Maybe if we had a doctor, but we don't, and even if we did there is no guarantee that he would live."
I shook my head. "It's not fair…"
"Forget about fair," V said, his voice gaining strength as he continued to talk. "If you don't get out of here now you're going to die anyway. They have other soldiers around here, and they're going to figure out something is wrong. I didn't get myself shot just so you could be stupid and hang around crying over me." The words were harsh, but his voice wasn't. He sounded soft and sad, but still hopeful.
"I'm not crying," I muttered, knowing it wasn't exactly true. I was crying a little, but only a little. "We've got to at least try to take you with us."
V sighed and shook his head. "Just leave. I'll only slow you down and I'm going to die anyway. How would you get me off of the Colony? And what doctor would treat me sense I went against Oz?"
"The scientists working on the virus might… but I don't even know who they are," I murmured.
V blinked in confusion. "What virus?" he asked.
I smiled softly, "Nothing, don't worry about it. It's already being taken care of." Zechs shot me a questioning glance, but didn't say anything. There would be time for questions later.
"I'm going to make sure no one's in the hallway, Come out in a couple of minutes," Zechs said. He stood up and grabbed a machine gun from one of the dead soldiers. I wondered if that's actually why he left the room or if he was just giving me time alone with V. Knowing Zechs it was probably both.
"V. . ." I said. He stared at me a moment, smiling. I picked up his hand, no longer caring whether or not the bleeding stopped, it was too late anyway. Slowly his eyes seamed to fade, to grow darker. Whatever it was that made us living left him. I knelt over him and gently kissed his forehead, right before he died. Then clinching my jaw so I wouldn't cry I stood up. I couldn't cry yet, not until I got off this colony.
I got to my feet, not giving V a second glance. If I looked back at him I wasn't sure I could hold back tears. Instead I walked to the nearest corpse, cleaned the blood off my hands, and picked up his gun. Opening the door I saw Zechs exchanging a gun with one of the many bodies now lining the ground. I guess there had been people out here. He nodded to me and we were off.
Suddenly lights began flashing red, showing an alert. "All pilots to your docking bays, enemy attack!" an announcement called.
I normally would've grinned. It was the perfect opportunity to get off the colony. No one would be looking for Zechs or me so we would easily be able to grab a mobile suit and leave. And I knew my way to the docks, so neither of us would get lost.
"Let's head for dock two," Zechs said, having the same idea as me. "We can get Virgo IIs there." I nodded agreement, and we turned down a different hall.
The base was in chaos. Soldiers and pilots were running everywhere. Zechs and I joined the crowd of pilots waiting to get into the Virgo IIs. No one noticed us. I don't think anyone really cared. They were all either waiting to get into a suit or trying to organize things.
"Find me out in space, I'll try to get a private communication system up with you," Zechs said as he moved off to a different suit.
I nodded my understanding. "Be quick about it," I called back. Then we were both getting into suits.
Then we were out in space and surrounded by the rest of the Oz pilots. Those in front were getting slowly hacked away by the gundams fighting back. I shot up and out of formation as I searched for Zechs who was supposed to be doing the same thing. The gundams were quite a way from me, and their ship even farther. But I'd get there sooner or later. Then Julia in her gundam, Armageddon, was flying towards me, or towards the other suits waiting to join the battle.
With some quick commands I had a communication link between us. "Julia!" I called through it.
She hesitated attacking for a moment, then resumed. Through the com she asked me, "Where are you?"
"Away from the group, but not far from you, Zechs is out here somewhere too, but he hasn't separated from the rest yet. Tell the other pilots I'm heading for the hanger," I asked.
"No problem," Julia replied somewhat cheerfully as she slashed through several more suits.
And again I was off, this time heading for the hanger. I saw a Virgo II shoot up not far from me.
"Hey Alex, is that you?" I heard Zechs ask.
I told him back, "Yeah, just follow me."
We easily dodged the Oz pilots, and avoided any battles that may have been happening, especially with the gundam pilots. No one from Oz noticed, and everyone on our side were watching out for us. Before long we were outside of the hanger, waiting for them to let us in.
"Hey, it's Alex, let us in," I asked, and, of course, they did.
The moment I got out of the Virgo I saw my dad waiting for me. I flinched a little from his glare, but other then that I was okay. He didn't say anything, he didn't really have to, and I knew what he was thinking. He thought I never should have gone, that I only created problems. But he was probably thinking something else, too. Probably happy I was back. Either way it didn't matter. I couldn't stay long. I had to do something fast.
"Alex," Heero said.
I bowed my head for a second before answering. "I'm sorry dad, but I've got to do something. Where's RedZero?" I peeked up to see what he was doing.
Funny thing was he was smiling ever so slightly, which was more confusing then good. "It's ready and waiting, be quick though, we need to talk."
I blinked. Surprised wasn't exactly covering things at the moment, but it was the closest word I could think of that explained what I felt. I didn't really have time to think much, though. I had to get my gundam. Dad hadn't been lying. It was ready to go the moment I stepped inside. Quickly I turned things on, and just as quickly I was out of the ship and heading to the battle.
I felt the Zero system on the edge of my mind, and Synz inside of it. I knew Synz wouldn't be helping me this fight, and I knew I didn't need it. I wasn't even sure if Synz would stay with me, now that I had the Zero system back. But still it didn't matter. I had come to do one thing, and I didn't need either of their help for it.
"Alex, what are you doing out here?" Poe asked, "We've almost finished this fight."
"Not quite," I whispered in reply, "there's one thing you haven't, and won't, do."
I didn't know whether he heard me, but he didn't reply. Quickly I shot through the battlefield, destroying several dolls as I did so. I passed Tarmine and Zero fighting, but didn't stop to help them. I didn't stop until no one stood between the colony and me, and then I stopped abruptly. I stared for a moment, before taking out my beam cannon. I knew people on the colony, people who didn't deserve to die. People like the soldiers dying out here, who were just trying to do what was right. And I knew I was going to kill them, and that nothing was going to stop me. I carefully aimed at the colony, not wanting to make a mistake. Then I fired.
The blast pushed me back hard, but I held the trigger until the colony started to explode, piece by piece. I watched it as the base was destroyed, and with it the virus. Even if it lived through the explosion space would kill it. There'd be no oxygen for it to live off of.
And then I flew back to the hanger, ignoring my friend's questions as they continued to fight of the now panicking Oz pilots. I didn't want to talk to them quite yet, I didn't want to answer the questions, and I wasn't sure what all I would say.
I entered the hanger before the others got back. My dad wasn't there, but Zechs was. I took one look at him and knew I had some explaining to do. He wouldn't ask anything, just look at me in that one way which just bugs you. It didn't matter, I had to talk to him too. We had to figure out what story we were going to tell, and how much of it everyone needed to know.
"Follow me," I said, and he did. We were both silent as we walked. I led him to my room, not wanting to be in the hanger when the others got back. "So…"
"Yeah, that about says it all," Zechs murmured, only half joking. "So… what now? What do we say? And why on Earth, or off of it in this case, did you do that?"
"What now? I don't know. What do we say? The facts, but no more then we need to. Why did I destroy the colony?" I paused there, wondering exactly how I should word things. "They were going to die anyway. And it would be horrible and painful, and terrifying. Mathew was working on a bio-weapon, a virus. I don't know what its name was, but I know it was bad. It could kill people quickly and it took very little to do so. But it fed on Oxygen, and can't live without it. I don't know specifics, but I know that there was a bomb in the lab where the virus was being made. It was set to go off a few hours from now. It would destroy part of the virus, and the rest would be left for the colony. We'd die, all the people would die, and they would see friends and family die. There was no time to get them off the colony, no other option. The virus is dead by now. No risk of it getting to earth or another colony."
Zechs didn't look surprised. More like understanding. He didn't say anything for awhile, thinking things through first. Finally he spoke up, "You don't want them to know much, do you?" I shook my head. "And we're only saying what they need to know?" I nodded. He sighed, "I agree with that, but it makes things a little complicated."
I smiled at that, though it was a very weak smile. "Yeah, but that's life. Very complicated."
"True," Zechs said. "You should probably go see your friends, they're probably very confused."
I shrugged. "That's okay, for now. I'll explain latter, I don't want to deal with questions at them moment." I looked away then, not wanting him to see that tears were coming back, following thoughts of the colony and V.
I think Zechs noticed me trying to hide them. "I can talk to them for you, I'll just say that Cat isn't feeling well and make up something else to go with it."
I grinned then, happy that he was trying to be nice. I didn't even glare at him for calling me Cat. "If you can get them to believe you, be my guest."
Zechs soon left, and I stood staring at the door. I debated whether or not I should lock it. If someone wanted to come in they would probably knock. But if Julia or Dad or just someone else was angry, they may not. I played it safe and locked it, still not sure if I should cry, I didn't know whether or not I'd be able to stop.
........... all coments will be set at the end of the epilogue.
It was a large room, the ceiling being at least fourteen feet from the floor. The walls were painted a light blue, though I'm not sure why, it didn't fit the soldiers standing around with guns pointed at Jet, Nickolas and me. Zechs stood near Mathew, casually dressed in black. V was next to him, wearing an Oz polo shirt and standard slacks. Neither were looking terribly interested in the scene around them. Zechs was clearly armed, and didn't seam to care who knew. My guess was he was with Oz again, though he hadn't turned me in when he had the chance. That at least was usually a good sign.
Mathew was looking tickled, dressed in full military gear and literally looking ready to kill. He'd discovered and captured all the 'bad guys' and had them laid out in front of him, ready to be dealt with. The only person missing with Ashley, but she'd supposedly gotten away from the base and was hiding out somewhere in the colony. Of course, about five hours from now it wouldn't make much of a difference.
"Alex Yuy, we meet again," Mathew said all too cheerfully.
I smiled and nodded. "Much too soon for my liking, but hey, I'm not in charge of the nice men with guns who dragged me down here."
"True," Mathew agreed, not letting me ruin his mood, "but I thought you might cool down your attitude a bit."
I shrugged. "You know, I probably would if it wasn't for the fact that I know you're going to kill me whether or not I act overly annoying. So I might as well be an ass as long as I can. Tomorrow I might not be here to tick you off."
Mathew laughed, which made me feel crappy. Usually when I was sarcastic he got annoyed. He just wasn't letting me get to him. Damn. He began walking around me as he talked. "No. I'm not going to kill you, even if I'd take great pleasure in doing so. You can serve a much greater use for me. Unfortunately they can't." he motioned to Nickolas and Jet without stopping his circling. "So I'm just going to get rid of them." He pulled out his gun, and without even looking fired two shots, killing both of them as he past me once again. Involuntarily I flinched. If he'd shot me I would deal with it, but he'd killed someone else. The worst part was I would have done the exact same thing if the situation were reverse.
"Damn," I muttered, "I'm starting to wish I wasn't so useful, then at least I'd have a swift death." Mathew wasn't listening to me.
Mathew stopped walking to my right side, still grinning. "You see," he whispered. "There are two people in this room that I'm not sure of. I know you're working with the enemy, and I know Nickolas and Jet were working for Milliardo just as I know that these soldiers are working for me." I turned to face him, staring into his very serious eyes. "What I don't know, "He continued as he turned to Zechs and V, "is whether those two," he pointed to them, "are loyal to me. Both have helped you, but both have reason to turn against you. So I've devised a test." He turned back to me. "The first one to kill you lives, the other shares your fate."
V blinked in surprise, taking a step back. His face held a note of panic for just a second before he calmed down and started to think. For Zechs things seamed painfully obvious. He drew his gun and held it at his side like a wait he didn't feel like lifting. One might think he didn't want to kill me. That was a very, very good thing.
"Vince doesn't have a gun," Zechs said softly.
Mathew nodded. "That gives you the advantage, doesn't it? Just shoot her!" he demanded.
Zechs nodded before answering, "Just making sure you don't mind." Slowly he lifted his gun, pointing it steadily at me head. I clinched my eyes as I took a deep breath, willing Zechs not to pull the trigger, not to be the one to kill me, yet wanting him to do it just as much, more so that he wouldn't be killed himself. I bowed my head in defeat for just a moment, not wanting to give in. After a few seconds without anything happening I looked up. Zechs had dropped his arm and looked away. "I can't kill her," four words that made my heart sing.
Mathew shook his head, obviously disappointed. "Well then, obviously you can't be trusted." He turned his gaze to V.
Zechs held out his gun to V, who took it casually. He didn't even pause to think as he took the clip out, tossing it back to Zechs as dropping the gun. "I'm not killing her, and you knew better than to ask."
Mathew sighed, "I'm sorry then. You'll both have to die, and they'll kill her anyway." If I hadn't known that we were all going to die I would be very happy with the situation, but with five soldiers aiming for us my mood was a little on the downside.
I didn't turn to see the soldiers aiming, but Mathew did, which was the only reason he missed V drawing a gun from behind him. Zechs seamed to get the same idea, and soon they were both firing. I did the best thing I could think of. I ducked. Unfortunately Zechs's gun had about three bullets in it, and he was only able to kill off one person, and V's was knocked out of his hand.
I jumped for the gun that was now rolling across the floor, but Mathew saw me. He jumped too, knocking me to the ground, just inches from the gun. I didn't have time to see what was going on, but I knew that the soldiers were trying to shoot me, but couldn't get a clear shot with Mathew on top of me, and he was having a hard time keeping me away from the gun. I grabbed it, and Mathew grabbed my hand, reaching with his other one for his other gun.
I didn't have much time to think, but enough time to look around the room. Two soldiers were trying to kill me, though Mathew would beat them to it. Zechs was crouched over V, who was bleeding, but I couldn't see how badly. V looked up at me, and I knew, he was hurt bad.
Mathew had his gun out, but he was doing the stupid thing and savoring the moment. I closed my eyes, feeling the rage creeping up inside me, and feeling a wall that Lynn had put there to stop it. I felt my power fighting it, and knew I had to break the wall. If not I wouldn't be the only one dead. V needed help and no one was being too nice with Zechs.
I could see the room, staring at Mathew struggling to keep me under control. V was clutching his chest and Zechs was trying to keep pressure on it. The soldiers weren't sure what to do, but they were ignoring Zechs and V. I could see the blue light surrounding V. I could see it fading away. I knew I had to do something, but there was nothing I could do.
I drew a deep breath and opened my eyes, releasing the air as I did so, and with it my power. It plowed through the wall as if it was nothing. The anger came out so suddenly, in such a large amount.
Heat surrounded me, pressing against my flesh as it tried to escape from my mind. I let it flow out, let it attack someone else. Mathew's eyes were wide as he tried to pull back, but not quick enough to escape the flames. His hands pulled away from the gun as he screamed. I didn't pay attention to the fire consuming him, I knew it wouldn't burn me. Instead I turned to the remaining soldiers with the gun. Two quick shots killed them, then I threw the gun away once I finished. I pushed Mathew off of me, having stood the heat for about as long as I could. It might not burn but it still hurt.
Crawling away from what was left of Mathew I slowly and uncertainly got to my feet. His flesh was black, and the smell was close to unbearable, but I couldn't waste time staring at him. I turned to Zechs and V and I unsteadily ran towards them, my mind not quite back to the real world yet, and because of that gap I could still see V with the blue light around him. It was fading, and fast. He looked pale and lay with his eyes closed barely breathing.
When I reached him I dropped to my knees, helping Zechs try to stop the bleeding in his stomach. V's eyes fluttered open and he gave a weak smile. "I knew you wouldn't let yourself be killed."
"Yeah," I muttered, "you get shot instead of me. That makes things so much better." I couldn't help being just a little sarcastic. Plus a lot annoyed. V wasn't going to die. I wasn't going to let him. "There's got to be something we can do…" I looked around the room.
"I don't think there is," Zechs murmured softly. My eyes shot daggers at him but I didn't interrupt as he continued. "I tried to heal him… but my powers didn't work, it's too serious. And there is no way we could move him out of here without professional help. Maybe if we had a doctor, but we don't, and even if we did there is no guarantee that he would live."
I shook my head. "It's not fair…"
"Forget about fair," V said, his voice gaining strength as he continued to talk. "If you don't get out of here now you're going to die anyway. They have other soldiers around here, and they're going to figure out something is wrong. I didn't get myself shot just so you could be stupid and hang around crying over me." The words were harsh, but his voice wasn't. He sounded soft and sad, but still hopeful.
"I'm not crying," I muttered, knowing it wasn't exactly true. I was crying a little, but only a little. "We've got to at least try to take you with us."
V sighed and shook his head. "Just leave. I'll only slow you down and I'm going to die anyway. How would you get me off of the Colony? And what doctor would treat me sense I went against Oz?"
"The scientists working on the virus might… but I don't even know who they are," I murmured.
V blinked in confusion. "What virus?" he asked.
I smiled softly, "Nothing, don't worry about it. It's already being taken care of." Zechs shot me a questioning glance, but didn't say anything. There would be time for questions later.
"I'm going to make sure no one's in the hallway, Come out in a couple of minutes," Zechs said. He stood up and grabbed a machine gun from one of the dead soldiers. I wondered if that's actually why he left the room or if he was just giving me time alone with V. Knowing Zechs it was probably both.
"V. . ." I said. He stared at me a moment, smiling. I picked up his hand, no longer caring whether or not the bleeding stopped, it was too late anyway. Slowly his eyes seamed to fade, to grow darker. Whatever it was that made us living left him. I knelt over him and gently kissed his forehead, right before he died. Then clinching my jaw so I wouldn't cry I stood up. I couldn't cry yet, not until I got off this colony.
I got to my feet, not giving V a second glance. If I looked back at him I wasn't sure I could hold back tears. Instead I walked to the nearest corpse, cleaned the blood off my hands, and picked up his gun. Opening the door I saw Zechs exchanging a gun with one of the many bodies now lining the ground. I guess there had been people out here. He nodded to me and we were off.
Suddenly lights began flashing red, showing an alert. "All pilots to your docking bays, enemy attack!" an announcement called.
I normally would've grinned. It was the perfect opportunity to get off the colony. No one would be looking for Zechs or me so we would easily be able to grab a mobile suit and leave. And I knew my way to the docks, so neither of us would get lost.
"Let's head for dock two," Zechs said, having the same idea as me. "We can get Virgo IIs there." I nodded agreement, and we turned down a different hall.
The base was in chaos. Soldiers and pilots were running everywhere. Zechs and I joined the crowd of pilots waiting to get into the Virgo IIs. No one noticed us. I don't think anyone really cared. They were all either waiting to get into a suit or trying to organize things.
"Find me out in space, I'll try to get a private communication system up with you," Zechs said as he moved off to a different suit.
I nodded my understanding. "Be quick about it," I called back. Then we were both getting into suits.
Then we were out in space and surrounded by the rest of the Oz pilots. Those in front were getting slowly hacked away by the gundams fighting back. I shot up and out of formation as I searched for Zechs who was supposed to be doing the same thing. The gundams were quite a way from me, and their ship even farther. But I'd get there sooner or later. Then Julia in her gundam, Armageddon, was flying towards me, or towards the other suits waiting to join the battle.
With some quick commands I had a communication link between us. "Julia!" I called through it.
She hesitated attacking for a moment, then resumed. Through the com she asked me, "Where are you?"
"Away from the group, but not far from you, Zechs is out here somewhere too, but he hasn't separated from the rest yet. Tell the other pilots I'm heading for the hanger," I asked.
"No problem," Julia replied somewhat cheerfully as she slashed through several more suits.
And again I was off, this time heading for the hanger. I saw a Virgo II shoot up not far from me.
"Hey Alex, is that you?" I heard Zechs ask.
I told him back, "Yeah, just follow me."
We easily dodged the Oz pilots, and avoided any battles that may have been happening, especially with the gundam pilots. No one from Oz noticed, and everyone on our side were watching out for us. Before long we were outside of the hanger, waiting for them to let us in.
"Hey, it's Alex, let us in," I asked, and, of course, they did.
The moment I got out of the Virgo I saw my dad waiting for me. I flinched a little from his glare, but other then that I was okay. He didn't say anything, he didn't really have to, and I knew what he was thinking. He thought I never should have gone, that I only created problems. But he was probably thinking something else, too. Probably happy I was back. Either way it didn't matter. I couldn't stay long. I had to do something fast.
"Alex," Heero said.
I bowed my head for a second before answering. "I'm sorry dad, but I've got to do something. Where's RedZero?" I peeked up to see what he was doing.
Funny thing was he was smiling ever so slightly, which was more confusing then good. "It's ready and waiting, be quick though, we need to talk."
I blinked. Surprised wasn't exactly covering things at the moment, but it was the closest word I could think of that explained what I felt. I didn't really have time to think much, though. I had to get my gundam. Dad hadn't been lying. It was ready to go the moment I stepped inside. Quickly I turned things on, and just as quickly I was out of the ship and heading to the battle.
I felt the Zero system on the edge of my mind, and Synz inside of it. I knew Synz wouldn't be helping me this fight, and I knew I didn't need it. I wasn't even sure if Synz would stay with me, now that I had the Zero system back. But still it didn't matter. I had come to do one thing, and I didn't need either of their help for it.
"Alex, what are you doing out here?" Poe asked, "We've almost finished this fight."
"Not quite," I whispered in reply, "there's one thing you haven't, and won't, do."
I didn't know whether he heard me, but he didn't reply. Quickly I shot through the battlefield, destroying several dolls as I did so. I passed Tarmine and Zero fighting, but didn't stop to help them. I didn't stop until no one stood between the colony and me, and then I stopped abruptly. I stared for a moment, before taking out my beam cannon. I knew people on the colony, people who didn't deserve to die. People like the soldiers dying out here, who were just trying to do what was right. And I knew I was going to kill them, and that nothing was going to stop me. I carefully aimed at the colony, not wanting to make a mistake. Then I fired.
The blast pushed me back hard, but I held the trigger until the colony started to explode, piece by piece. I watched it as the base was destroyed, and with it the virus. Even if it lived through the explosion space would kill it. There'd be no oxygen for it to live off of.
And then I flew back to the hanger, ignoring my friend's questions as they continued to fight of the now panicking Oz pilots. I didn't want to talk to them quite yet, I didn't want to answer the questions, and I wasn't sure what all I would say.
I entered the hanger before the others got back. My dad wasn't there, but Zechs was. I took one look at him and knew I had some explaining to do. He wouldn't ask anything, just look at me in that one way which just bugs you. It didn't matter, I had to talk to him too. We had to figure out what story we were going to tell, and how much of it everyone needed to know.
"Follow me," I said, and he did. We were both silent as we walked. I led him to my room, not wanting to be in the hanger when the others got back. "So…"
"Yeah, that about says it all," Zechs murmured, only half joking. "So… what now? What do we say? And why on Earth, or off of it in this case, did you do that?"
"What now? I don't know. What do we say? The facts, but no more then we need to. Why did I destroy the colony?" I paused there, wondering exactly how I should word things. "They were going to die anyway. And it would be horrible and painful, and terrifying. Mathew was working on a bio-weapon, a virus. I don't know what its name was, but I know it was bad. It could kill people quickly and it took very little to do so. But it fed on Oxygen, and can't live without it. I don't know specifics, but I know that there was a bomb in the lab where the virus was being made. It was set to go off a few hours from now. It would destroy part of the virus, and the rest would be left for the colony. We'd die, all the people would die, and they would see friends and family die. There was no time to get them off the colony, no other option. The virus is dead by now. No risk of it getting to earth or another colony."
Zechs didn't look surprised. More like understanding. He didn't say anything for awhile, thinking things through first. Finally he spoke up, "You don't want them to know much, do you?" I shook my head. "And we're only saying what they need to know?" I nodded. He sighed, "I agree with that, but it makes things a little complicated."
I smiled at that, though it was a very weak smile. "Yeah, but that's life. Very complicated."
"True," Zechs said. "You should probably go see your friends, they're probably very confused."
I shrugged. "That's okay, for now. I'll explain latter, I don't want to deal with questions at them moment." I looked away then, not wanting him to see that tears were coming back, following thoughts of the colony and V.
I think Zechs noticed me trying to hide them. "I can talk to them for you, I'll just say that Cat isn't feeling well and make up something else to go with it."
I grinned then, happy that he was trying to be nice. I didn't even glare at him for calling me Cat. "If you can get them to believe you, be my guest."
Zechs soon left, and I stood staring at the door. I debated whether or not I should lock it. If someone wanted to come in they would probably knock. But if Julia or Dad or just someone else was angry, they may not. I played it safe and locked it, still not sure if I should cry, I didn't know whether or not I'd be able to stop.
........... all coments will be set at the end of the epilogue.