AN: Chapter 27. Get ready for lots and lots of action and a killer climax. Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.
Meanwhile…
They were locked in battle with the Gundam Gehenna and the rest of the enemy fleet. However, things were not to their favor. Gehenna was slaughtering the Preventers mobile suits. The remaining pilots struggled as it lashed out at them with full force.
"This guy really knows his stuff!" cried Quatre as he dodged a blow from the massive machine.
"He is highly advanced in his skills," said Trowa. "It is evident of his use of the zero system too. He has been practicing for years. Whoever taught him taught him well."
"Well there's four of us and one of him! We'll get him somehow. He will taste Shignami whether he wants to or not!" shouted Duo and as the God of Death charged forward towards Gehenna, scythe upraised. He lashed out and struck the enemy Gundam. In return Gehenna struck back with a force so great that it sent Duo backwards.
Trowa jumped in with Heavyarms and began to open fire. He protected Duo as he recovered from the blow. He also managed to inflict some damage into the large machine. However, it did not seem to make it slow down.
"All we need is one good hit to get this guy!" exclaimed Quatre. He charged in with Sandrock and began attacking left and right. Yet despite, his efforts the Gundam always managed to ward off his blows. Suddenly the Gundam flung Sandrock across the way.
"Quatre, are you okay!" cried Trowa.
For a moment there was no answer. Then Quatre's voice came over the communicator,
"I'm fine. This guy is too good though. We need to combine our efforts not just attack him individually. It shall get us no where."
Wufei snorted,
"He plays with us right now like we are his toys. We must show him what we are really made of!"
"Here! Here! Wu-man!" cried Duo.
"All right," said Quatre. "Rashid, I want you and all of the remaining Manguacs and Preventers to keep fighting the smaller mobile suits and cover for us."
"Understood Master Quatre," replied the Arabian man.
"All right everyone," continued Quatre, "we need to find a way to surround this guy. Then we attack him with full force."
"Right!" cried Duo.
"Let's go!"
Inside of Gehenna…
Bret Mavica smiled fiercely at the efforts of the Preventers army. There were only four Gundam pilots though. He never saw the Wing Zero piloted by the great Heero Yuy. It troubled him greatly. A panicked voice came over his communicator,
"Sir, Commander Pentane is dead! And Relena Darlian has escaped!"
"What?" cried Mavica.
"It was a Gundam pilot, sir; he landed in our open hanger and rescued the girl!"
"Well find them and destroy them! They must not escape! Make sure his Gundam is heavily guarded. I am on my way back to the base right now!"
"Yes sir!"
Bret Mavica smirked. So the old man was finally dead. Heero Yuy had done him a favor. Now he was in control of the organization. All he had to do now was complete the task he was sent out to do. He would return to the base and kill Heero Yuy and Relena Darlian.
"This is Commander Mavica to base," he said over the communicator.
"Yes sir?" answered the operator.
"Prepare yourselves. I want to destroy the Preventers space port. You know what I mean. Make ready the machine and I will return shortly."
"Yes sir."
Bret Mavica turned his Gundam around and prepared to head back to the base. Once he got there no one could stop him. Not even the Gundam pilots.
Meanwhile…
"Where the hell does he think he's going?" exclaimed Duo as they watched Gehenna change its course.
Quatre paused for a moment. Realization hit him hard,
"He knows that Heero is inside! Something is amiss! We can not let him return there! Hurry we must destroy him! It's now or never!"
With that the pilots surrounded the Gundam Gehenna and began firing at him with full force. Gehenna lashed out at them and fought back. Trowa fired at the Gundam trying to weaken its defenses while Wufei and Duo moved in for combat. Quatre made sure that none of the other enemy suits would stand in their way.
Gehenna unleashed a beam saber and struck at Wufei and Shenlong. Wufei retaliated with his beam lance with as much force as he could muster. He was quick and agile as he avoided Gehenna's sharp blows. Unfortunately, he could not avoid all of them. Wufei staggered back.
Trowa stepped in and began to fire Heavyarms' rapid artillery. He hit his target and managed to inflict some damage. For a moment the giant Gundam was still. Trowa was about to move in to finish him off when Gehenna came back to life. Taking its beam saber, it slashed at Trowa's Gundam, taking off its left arm. The cockpit shook. Trowa struggled to control the machine. He was spinning now barley avoiding hitting some of his own companions. The cockpit shook again and Trowa felt as if he couldn't breathe. He blacked out and knew nothing more.
"Trowa!" screamed Quatre. "Trowa, can you hear me!"
There was no reply. Quatre looked to see the giant Gundam simply floating in space. With a cry of rage, Quatre began and onslaught of attacks against Gehenna. He unleashed his twin scythes and began to hack and slash at his attacker. But his fury blinded his ideals and Gehenna threw him aside.
Duo cried out and began to attack in Deathscythe Hell. Swinging his scythe his matched the Gundam Gehenna with his beam saber. Duo swiped at Gehenna and inflicted a mighty blow.
"How does it feel you S.O.B.?" screamed Duo. Tell me how does it feel?"
The Gundam Gehenna staggered back. Inside the cockpit, Bret Mavica was fed up,
"I have had enough!" he cried. "They have delayed me long enough. Time to just let it all go!"
He punched several controls and buttons. He would destroy them once and for all.
Duo watched as Gehenna returned its beam saber and pulled out its new line of defense: A giant beam cannon. Duo stared at the weapon and saw his death written in the Gundam. Death by way of a Gundam. Duo smiled sadly to himself. He had walked the Earth as Shignami for long enough. Now it was coming for him. He let Deathscythe stand still as Gehenna took aim. Tears began to slide down his cheeks,
"Take me please!" Duo sobbed. "Kill me now! Please… don't make me wait for death any longer!"
"Duo!" cried Quatre.
"Get out of their," cried Wufei. "Move, do anything! Don't just stand there!"
But Duo did not reply. He simply watched as the tears slid down his cheeks as Gehenna raised the beam cannon and took aim.
"I'll see you soon…" whispered the pilot of Deathscythe, the God of Death. He closed his eyes and waited for the final blow. He heard the explosion. He heard the fire. But he felt nothing at all. Opening his eyes, Duo saw that the beam cannon had exploded and was on fire. Quatre and Wufei were now moving in and attacking the Gundam Gehenna with everything they had.
A female voice came over the Duo's communicator,
"I'm sorry, Maxwell, but you will have to die another day."
Duo's heart nearly leapt out of his chest.
"Hilde!" he cried with joy.
"Yea it's me," she replied weakly.
Duo looked to see a mobile suit standing right in front of him. Sure enough inside the cockpit was his blue-haired angel. She was alive and breathing and well.
"Hilde, I thought you were going to leave me."
Hilde sighed as she looked at Duo's Gundam,
"You were the reason I came back…" she said softly. She gasped and struggled to catch her breath. She was still very weak from days of inactivity.
"Hilde?" asked Duo in a worried tone. He could hear her raspy breaths over the communicator. Something was wrong.
Hilde felt as if she was suffocating. He head began to spin and she slowly began to close her eyes. The last thing she remembered was Duo calling her name. She felt faint and slowly her surroundings became very dark.
"Hilde!" cried Duo. She was not answering him.
Meanwhile, Quatre and Wufei were continuing the battle with the now weakened Gundam. They were taking the upper hand now. They were just about to finish it off when a voice came over the communicator,
"I would appreciate it if you would allow me the honor to finish this assailant."
"Trowa!" exclaimed Quatre happily.
Sure enough, Trowa Barton had risen Heavyarms up. Although, his left arm was missing, his right arm was ready and fully operational. He raised it up, took aim, and fired several missiles at Gehenna.
Inside the cockpit, Bret Mavica cried out loud. The zero system was beginning to get to his head. He saw himself burning up inside of the Gundam. He felt the cockpit shake, and his body tremble. Screaming out loud, he realized that dream would soon be a reality. Panicking, he scrambled to the back of the cockpit holding his head like a child. He pressed a large red button. He had an escape capsule installed for such purposes. A hatch opened allowing him to enter the capsule. Just as he was about to climb in the cockpit shook again as another missile was fired at him. Mavica lost his footing and fell, hitting his head sharply. Crying out, he held his head and numbly climbed to his feet while blood dripped all over his body. He climbed into the capsule and set off back towards the base. Inside the capsule he held a detonator,
"I will not give them the pleasure of destroying my Gundam," he said as he pushed the button.
The blast was phenomenal. The four Gundam pilots shielded their eyes and their cockpits trembled.
"He self-destructed!" cried Quatre.
"Weakling. We shall see him no more," said Wufei. He added, "Justice has been served to those who dealt out death and judgment."
"Look at that over there!" said Quatre pointing to a small object flying back towards the base.
"He's escaped," said Trowa.
"Not for long," replied Wufei as he shuffled his Gundam forward.
"Let him go," cried Trowa. "He can no longer harm us. He is nothing now without his Gundam."
Wufei gritted his teeth but held firm as they watched the object fly away.
At the sight of Gehenna exploding, all the other enemy suits seemed to panic and give up. They were now all fighting for their lives. But the Manguacs and remaining Preventers overtook them. Victory was in their hands. They had seized the day!
"We need to return to the base immediately!" cried Duo. "Hilde is hurt!"
"Not only that," added Wufei, "but we need to get out of here before Yuy decides to set off that bomb. It could be any moment for all we know."
"We can only pray that he makes it in time," said Quatre. "Duo, are you able to carry Hilde's suit back to the space port?"
"Yes," replied Duo heavily.
"Trowa will you make it back all right?"
"So far I think I can manage," replied Trowa grimly.
"All right," said Quatre. "Let's get out of here."
Enemy base…
Heero slid down the pile of laundry to Relena's still form. He picked up her body and held her.
"Relena," he said calling her name.
Her eyes slowly fluttered open. She looked at Heero and then slowly sat up dazed and confused. Heero lifted her to her feet.
"Come on," he said. "We are almost there."
Grabbing her hand they began to run down the path that Howard had told them to take. They crawled by the hanger seeing that it was heavily guarded on the inside. Heero cursed in his mind. He had planned on dropping off Relena at Wing Zero for her own safety. But that was out of the question now. It was too risky and he didn't have the time to clear an entire hanger full of twenty or so men. They pushed on towards the central control panel.
They were running down the hallway when a shot rang out from behind them. It just missed Relena and hit the wall beside her as they turned a corner. Relena screamed slightly and Heero pushed her in front of him. He fired back and took out three men.
"Run!" he ordered to the young woman. Relena took off with Heero at her heels firing back behind them. Relena occasionally had to duck her head as bullets hit the walls beside her.
"Go left!" Heero ordered once more. He followed Relena as she obeyed his words. He then saw her make an immediate right, just as Howard had said in the last part of his directions.
They were now in front of the door to the control panel. It was a massive steel framed door with laser lights surrounded the frame. A key pad sat on the wall. Heero took the opportunity to change the clip in his gun. After doing so, he fired away and fended off their remaining attackers.
Moving Relena aside, Heero walked up to the keypad and entered the code. He stood back and the massive steel doors opened. He heard Relena gasp in surprise.
Before them, was the large pillar. Heero walked inside, Relena following him slowly with fearful eyes. She wanted to leave this place; she felt that something was wrong, terribly wrong. Still she trudged on. The pillar was surrounded by what looked like a dark bottomless pit. Looking down, Relena could not even begin to guess the depth of it. She watched as Heero unslung the pack from his back and began to pull out what he needed. Relena watched him work quickly. She suddenly realized what he was putting together.
"Heero, do you plan to blow this place up?"
"Yes, Relena," he answered simply. "This pillar gives power and controls nearly everything in this station. It is also the very center of it. Should we destroy it, we would be able to destroy this whole station as well."
Relena nodded her head in understanding. She had one more question in mind though,
"Heero how will you attach it to the pillar. There is no way to get to it."
"You'll see," he replied coldly.
Heero was ready. He picked up the bomb. Spotting another keypad he walked over to it. Punching in the second code that he learned he waited. Sure enough, as the plans had foretold, a bridge formed and made its way across the pit to a platform that surrounded the pillar. Heero motioned for Relena to follow him. Cautiously, they made their way over to the platform.
Relena shuddered and forced herself not to look down. She followed Heero who had begun to mantle the bomb. He worked carefully all the while explaining to her what would happen,
"After it is set, we will have approximately seven minutes to get out of here. However in that time, several smaller explosions shall proceed prior to the final blast."
Relena nodded her head in understanding. It would give them just enough time to get out of there. Heero was just about finished. He clipped the final wires.
"Let's get…" he stopped short as a shot rang out. Heero grunted and fell grabbing his left arm. Relena knelt down beside him. Heero's blood was covering the floor. He lifted himself up and looked at his attacker.
Bret Mavica stood over them with a crazed look on his face. He pointed the gun straight at them.
"Get up," he ordered. He grabbed Relena roughly and shoved her to the bridge. Heero narrowed his eyes into an icy glare but obeyed. He held his arm and walked across the bridge, Mavica following behind him with the barrel of his gun at Heero's back.
Little did Mavica know that the clock was ticking.
AN: What did you think?! Let me know.
Email: WildRose1404earthlink.net