Chapter 6
"There they are." Wufei said, slightly electronically. Heero's brow creased even more. All four Gundams had got to the city and had been waiting ten minutes for whatever these things were.
"Sir," he asked. Zechs, the nearest, turned to him. "What are motion dolls?"
"Gundams with no pilots." He said, and turned back to the desk. Heero frowned more. That gave them an advantage of not worrying about a pilot, but the disadvantage of not being piloted. What were the odds? He didn't know, but, looking at one of the screens, he saw them. They were just as big, but not so ornate as these Gundams, and there were six.
"Um, guys? No offence, but you can't count!" Duo cried. The five in the control room said nothing. Heero was, he had to admit, worried. They were as big or bigger than the Gundams and as bulky, with weapons as fierce, and there was something about that sixth doll that worried him. It was different somehow.
"Something's not right with that doll." Treize said, looking at the screen that showed them.
"It has no arms." Heero muttered. They turned to him, and than back at the Gundam.
"What the hell is that thing?" an electronic Duo asked, and Heero couldn't help the knot of foreboding as they approached.
"I don't like this." Trowa said. "They're not acting like they should."
"Be prepared for anything." Wufei told them.
"No…holy shit!" Duo yelled, as the things suddenly seemed to disappear. Heero realised that they had sped off to surround the Gundams. "Go!" Duo yelled, and the battle started. The five in the control room could only see snap shots of it. They heard Trowa's yell of battle as he shot round after round of heavy ammunition into a doll with that massive machine gun of his before a plate over Heavyarm's left foot sprung open, and a large, long brown shape flew out with a burst of flame. The rocket flew into the doll's chest, exploding, and they watched as the half blown up robot fell to the floor with a smash.
They could see the long staff of Shenlong whipping to and fro, but the doll was matching it with its own staff. Their hearts flew to their mouths as they heard Wufei yell, the doll's staff slamming down on Shenlong's head. They heard a shrill cry, and then Sandrock appeared out of nowhere, landing on the dolls back. The great black hands of the robot held the doll's arms at bay while Shenlong plunged its staff deep into the monster's chest. There was a creaking sound, and Sandrock slammed its hand down on the head.
"Get down!" Quatre yelled, and Shenlong and Sandrock threw themselves to the floor, as the detonator set in the head of the doll erupted into a fireball. The doll staggered around without a head for a few moments before Shenlong slammed the staff into its chest once more, and it toppled over backwards into a building, knocking half of it down.
"Uh oh." Trowa muttered. There was a gasp from Quatre and a mutter from Wufei.
"GET UP OFF THE FLOOR WITH YOUR HANDS UP." Came a metallic voice, and Shenlong and Sandrock stood up.
"What's going on?" Zechs answered, urgently.
"The three remaining have got some sort of force field." Wufei answered. "They have us trapped."
"Where's Duo?" Trowa asked, suddenly. Heero's eyes flicked to Duo's screen. The boy was gritting his teeth, yelling every now and again.
"Maxwell! What are you doing? Where are you?" Zechs called.
"Fighting…freak...with no arms. Can't…really, talk right now." Duo said through gritted teeth and looking like he was struggling.
"Can we get a picture?" Treize asked.
"No." Noin answered.
"He's on the harbour." Une said.
"We have no cameras there." Noin answered. They jumped as there was a yell from Duo.
"Shit! This guy's got more ammo than the whole of us combined! Back up would be nice!" Duo yelled.
"We can't get to you!" Trowa shouted to him, and Heero flinched as Duo's face grew scared.
"What? I'm gonna die, guys!" He yelled, and the camera flashed out for a second before coming back on.
"He is." Heero muttered, and found out, part of him horrified, that his mind was already made up. He turned, and started walking out of the control room.
"Yuy, where are you going?" Treize asked. Heero turned.
"Duo and the rest are in trouble, I have to help them." Heero replied, calmly.
"No. That is an order!" he yelled, as Heero's mouth opened, "You don't disobey orders, especially not directly!"
"Then court marshal me." Heero hissed, menacingly, and stepped into the lift, making it descend to the hanger floor. He could hear Treize's frantic yells but ignored them, sprinting over to the ladder up to Gundam. He sped up, quicker than any boy should be able to, and opened the hatch manually. He slipped into the cabin and closed and locked the hatch. He was in a large chair, with joysticks, buttons and levers all over the place. He pressed the massive green button in the centre and felt the shudder of the great monster waking up. Then, the visor opened, and he gasped. He was sticking out of the front, about ninety feet above the ground. He gulped, and put the headphones on, leaning back into the chair, his arms on the armrests, where two joysticks were.
"Yuy, what the hell are you doing?!" Zechs yelled down the phone.
"My job." Heero replied, stoically.
"Heero?" he heard Trowa ask. He heard muffled voice that sounded like they came from the control room, and his stomach jolted as the hanger doors started closing. They were locking him in.
"No!" he muttered, gritting his teeth, and pressed the joystick forward to take the massive robot out of the dock. There was only about a meter left, he would get trapped inside. Suddenly, the robot shot its left arm up, and rammed its shield in between in the doors, stopping them from opening. With a grating of metal being moved against its will, the doors were rammed back open again.
How am I doing? Came a voice. Heero frowned. Did he hear that, or not? The voice was deep, rasping, and metallic. I thought I'd better help out a little. Heero frowned even more. The voice was in his head.
Who is this? He thought, to himself and to the voice.
My name is Wing. Came the reply. Heero's mouth turned up in a half smile. I believe we are going to be working together for a while.
Then let's go Heero said, and then pressed a joystick. Wing flew out of the hanger, with just enough time so that the hanger doors slammed, just as Wing's foot left them. He turned, and sped toward the city, flying only a few feet over the ground.
"Yuy, get back here!" he heard Treize yell, and ignored him.
"Heero?" came Duo's voice, strained, but there. "What are you doing?"
"Disobeying orders!" came Trowa's delighted cry, and Heero half smiled again. This was where he really belonged.
It took Wing and Heero a minute to get to the city where it had taken the others ten. He landed softly behind a building, and turned Wing's engine off.
"I'm behind Fall Place, by the square." He said.
"We're in the square." Trowa replied. Suddenly, there was a yell from Duo.
"Help!" he yelled.
"Go!" Wufei ordered, and Heero wasted no time. Wing immediately fired up his engine, and they propelled themselves up over the building. The dolls saw them, but were too busy holding the three Gundams to do anything about it. Heero looked up, he could see Duo. Two laser arms had come out of the no-armed doll, and they were now burning into Deathscythe's metal ones.
"Heero!" Duo cried, making Heero's heart leap. Heero yelled in battle rage, and propelled himself into the doll. He was jolted about, but Wing snapped on his seat belts and he was safe. Wing's shield now rested on the chest of the doll. "Don't let him touch you!" Duo yelled, and Heero didn't need to be told twice. His lightning mind worked out what to do.
Great, now just tell me how to do it. Wing said, and Heero made a mental note to marvel at how the thing read his thoughts later. He had to get it just right.
The others watched s Heero raised Wing's arm, and chopped it down.
"Jesus!" Trowa breathed, as Heero got it accurate to a millimetre, which was about how much he had to miss. The very end of the shoulder came flying off, and the arm faded. He did exactly the same with the other arm, getting cheers from the others. But then, the doll seemed to wake up. It threw Wing off, making Heero cry out as he landed. In the split second it took to get his bearings, Wing had flipped back up again, and the two robots faced off.
"Oh shit!" Duo cried, as two metallic arms from inside the beast came out. "He has extras."
"Oh well." Heero muttered, and then he and Wing surged forward. It was a breathtaking hand-to-hand fight. Wing himself had no idea what to do at this, but Heero did, and moved him lightning fast, arrow accurate and as deadly as only he could be. The beast found itself losing a battle. Then, at exactly the right time, Heero gave the order to Wing, and his right arm shot up, the beam gun letting out a ray of brilliant red light, that hit the beast in its head.
It staggered about, dangerously close to the injured Deathscythe. All the pilots willed the beast to move away, but it didn't. As it fell, creaking into the sea, its hand grabbed the scythe that the robot held. It was too quick for Duo, and he yelled as Deathscythe toppled down with the beast.
"Heero!" he yelled, before the line went dead.
"Duo! Duo!" Heero yelled, but there was no reply.
"Oh god!" Quatre breathed, his voice cracking.
"What? What happened?" Zechs asked, urgently. There was a long silence.
"Gundam 02 is gone, sir." Trowa muttered, officially, his voice blank.
"What do you mean, gone?" Zechs yelled.
"He fell off the harbour wall, sir." Wufei said.
"How deep is it?" Quatre asked.
"Too deep. It's the one place on the coast that the water goes for three hundred feet down." Zechs said, his voice desolate. "He's gone."
"Isn't there some way..?" Quatre began.
"No." Zechs answered. "You know that we haven't experimented with Gundams underwater yet. If they're running, they could easily blow up, killing you. We can't afford to take that risk. He's gone." There was silence.
"Will he be dead?" Quatre asked.
"No." Zechs replied. "He'll only die when he runs out of oxygen."
"When will that be?"
"…Seven hours."
There was even longer, even more awful silence. None of them wanted to think about what it must be like down there, knowing you were going to die for seven hours before suffocating to death at the bottom of the sea. Heero couldn't move. It was his fault Duo was going to die, this was what happens when you disobeyed orders. Because of him, Duo was going to die a horrible death.
No, Heero. He heard Wing say. He would have died anyway.
But quicker. Heero replied. He wouldn't have to suffer.
Don't beat yourself up. Wing told him, sternly, Just take it out on those goons who are holding the others.
I can't. Heero said.
Why?
What if I kill another one?
Where's my promised perfect soldier? Wing asked, sounding angry now, Are you going to let one death stop you from helping your friends, the world, the solar system? If you are, then I no longer want you piloting me.
Heero looked up at the other three, standing there.
"You're right." He said, and the others didn't need to ask who he was talking to. His eye blazed, his body tensed.
Thank you. He added, calmly, and quietly, before sending Wing surging forward.
One of the dolls registered his coming; the others didn't have the time. On Heero's command, Wing's shoulder pads folded back, revealing two huge guns. One arm held the shield up in front of him, and the other wielded the massive ray gun, which had now been swapped for a sharp sword. Heero's face contorted with emotion, the two flung themselves at the nearest doll. It was crushed, its head snapped off and bullets fired into its chest, causing a large explosion, before it knew what was happening. The chain was broken, and the others were free, but, as an unspoken decision, they all hastily retreated, waiting for Heero to kill the rest. It was a magnificent sight to see. Now they knew why Wing had been chosen for the leader, and why Heero had been chosen for Wing. They were the perfect partners, Wing doing all he could to the slightest of Heero's thoughts and movements. Together, they totally demolished the two remaining dolls, piling them up on top of each other before turning to the other three.
They could all just about see each other, four small boys in the large humanoid robots. They walked in closer, into a circle, and saw each other properly.
"You did the right thing, Heero." Trowa said, after a while, and Heero looked up at him. The pain in his stomach was almost unbearable, Wing was right. Where was the perfect soldier, why did he suddenly freak after someone was killed in the battle?
Because you feel responsible. Wing told him.
That doesn't make a difference. Heero answered him.
Yes it does. Came a new voice. It was still metallic, but even deep and more full throated than Wing. The boys looked around and saw that the Gundams were all touching each other's arms. What's going on? Heero heard Quatre ask.
We are joined. Wing answered. When we are joined, our minds and yours can be heard over the whole system.
Can the control room hear us? Trowa asked.
No. Wing replied.
Good. Heero? Trowa asked.
Yes?
Ignore Treize, ok? Trowa told him. All four Gundams and three other pilots felt Heero's jolt of foreboding as it settled in his stomach. He didn't want to see him.
Take heed to him, Pilot 01 A light, rasping voice said.
Which one are you? Quatre asked.
Well, its not Heavyarms, he told Heero it made no difference, his voice doesn't sound like that. Trowa said.
It's Nataku. Wufei said. There was another silence.
I think we should get this over and done with. Came a different voice that had to be Sandrock's. It was even lighter than Shenlong's voice, and hoarser.
Let's move. Heero said, and the Gundams let go of each other, all feeling the lines broken. They stamped through the city, Wing leading, followed by Trowa, Quatre and the Wufei behind him. When they had got out of it, Trowa cam up beside Wing, and the other stayed behind them. Heero didn't want to see Treize, and found himself wanting to stay with Wing.
I wish I could, Heero. Wing said, reading his mind, Out of all the things I want, I want to stay with you, but I cannot. You must do this on your own.
I'm good at that. Heero said, and they trudged off back to the hanger. They came across the open doors, and gently lowered themselves in, neither the Gundams or the pilots letting themselves look at the awful space under the number 2 sign.
Goodbye and good luck. Wing said, and then Heero turned him off, and all was silent for a minute. Dreading what it was going to bring, he hauled himself up and out of the cabin, and lowered himself down the ladder. The other three joined him, Trowa staying near him, but Heero didn't notice. They all got into the lift up to the control room, and the doors opened on the four in there. Zechs was sitting, leaning on the side, his head in his hands. Treize was standing, looking at the Gundams, a far away expression on his face. The girls had pulled their chairs together, and Noin's eyes were slightly pink, like she had been crying. A single tear dropped down Une's face, but her expression was as frosty as ever. Heero wanted to die.
"Noin, give us Heavyarm's account of the battle." Treize said, after they had come in and the doors had closed behind them. "I take it you got the best view." He said to Trowa, who nodded. Heero made himself look at the screen showing him fighting the beast, but all he could hear was Duo's terrified scream as he fell over the harbour, and his own name being yelled just before the line went dead. As the relived Wing destroying the rest of the dolls, there were a few impressed gasps from the women, but Treize and Zechs stayed vigilantly silent. Finally, they got to the part where the Gundams had joined, and found that Heavyarms had turned the camera off, as had the others if they had bothered to look.
There was a deathly silence before Treize spoke. Very, very slowly, he turned to Heero, and his sky blue eyes were cold and angry.
"You deliberately and directly disobeyed my orders, Yuy." He said, his voice low and full of contempt.
"Yes, sir." Heero replied.
"You took a Gundam out into a battle you had no understanding, training or ability for. You destroyed a multi-million pound piece of equipment with your reckless behaviour!" he said, his voice rising a little. "And, even worse." He added, his voice once again, low, "You have killed a fellow member of the organisation."
"I…" Heero started, but couldn't finish.
"You have something to say to redeem yourself, Yuy?" Treize asked.
"No, sir." Heero replied, looking at the floor.
"Duo has been with us for quite some time now, Yuy. I do not think I need to punish you for your behaviour, as the blood of your friend I'm sure will prove quite enough as it is on your hands alone. Even so, if anything happens like this ever again you will be court marshalled without trail, do you understand me? Let us just hope that Duo was killed in the impact, and so will not be suffering for the six and a half hours he has left before he dies. Dismissed."
Heero immediately turned and went down the lift. He heard Trowa bang on the door and calling him as he went down, but ignored him. As he walked over the hanger he heard the lift going back up again. He was half way along the balcony in the large room when Trowa caught up with him.
"Heero..." he said, putting hand on Heero's shoulder. Heero shrugged it off roughly.
"Get away from me." He mumbled, menacingly, and walked off, leaving Trowa to stand, his hand out to him on the balcony. He didn't care. He had to sort himself out before he did any more damage.