DISCLAIMER:
I am blatantly stealing characters, dialogue and situations from books, TV shows and movies, and I don't care, and neither should their posh lawyers, because I'm not doing this for profit, just for fun. Pleasepleaseplease don't sue. I have nothing to pay you with other than the £14.5 in my pocket at this point.
AUTHORS NOTE: Enjoy, my loyal fans.
CHAPTER SIX. THROUGH FIRE AND ICE.
He could sense his prey, feel it hiding beneath the thick ice. Soon it would be time, to hunt, to kill. Soon. Very soon.
*
"Alien robots from outer space!"
Duo was ranting like a maniac, but a strange fire burned in his eyes. The same light shone in the others too.
"Beyond robots Duo, beyond Mobile Suits, beyond the Gundams, beyond our wildest imaginations."
Quatre was whispering to himself.
"An entire artificial civilisation, with cultures, religious beliefs, and not only artificial intelligence, but emotion. The ability to feel, and sense, and love."
"And now they're here."
"They've been here for over 4 Million years. That's when they left their home planet, this...Cybertron."
"And know we've woken one up. And we may have restarted a war that has raged for millennia."
"We never seem to get a break! First we're branded as terrorists, harassed by that pink stalker of yours Heero, we fight against rebellion after rebellion and are nearly outwitted by a seven year old, and now, when we finally have peace, we're thrown into a war between two robotic armies that have power like we've never believed possible and are likely to be hostile to all of humanity."
"Only one of those armies you mean."
"What!" Duo rounded on the calm and cool Trowa. Noin stepped in.
"How well did you read that file Duo? From what Rook gleaned from their memories, only one of these armies had hostile intent. These, Decepticons believe in plundering other worlds in order to fuel their own war effort."
"The other army, the Autobots seem to be protectors, fighting for those oppressed by the Decepticons."
"Well, whatever faction, we've found our errant 'Grumman.'" Howard held up a piece of paper, a photo of the machine Zechs had taken off in clipped to the front.
"This Rook did full profiles done for each machine, using data pulled from their data banks. Here this one;
TRANSFORMER UNIT CON002
IDENTIFICATION: STARSCREAM
FUNCTION: SUB-COMMANDER
TRANSFORM: AIRCRAFT (RED/SILVER F-15 FIGHTER)
PROFILE:
Loathed and despised by many of the Decepticon military, this former scientist turned warrior still commands a great deal of respect from many of his higher comrades. He possesses a unique split personality, born out of a harrowing personal experience, which also severed a particularly close friendship with unit CON001 with whom he now maintains a bitter rivalry.
A skilled ariel combatant, Starscream is extremely vain and arrogant, and like his leader will stop at no means to accomplish his ends."
Everyone nodded slightly.
"Odd," Trowa was rubbing his chin, "in a few regards, that profile would suit Zechs."
"Pardon?"
"Former civilian turned soldier. Skilled warrior. Fiercely driven to succeed. Loathed and simultaneously respected. And, he once had a close friendship with his leader, which went sour."
Duo nodded.
"Zechs has mellowed a bit over the years, but that's a dead ringer for when he led the White Fang and tried to destroy Earth. He was Treize's enemy then, but they'd been close friends..." He trailed off.
Quatre looked up.
"And he was mentally split at that time, if mildly. There was Zechs Marquise, warrior, fiercely disciplined to a code of honour, and Miliardo Peacecraft, who was willing to go to any ends to achieve what he called peace, and threw aside all traces of his humanity in order to do it..."
A heavy silence fell. It lingered, before Wufei, who it seemed had been ignoring the previous discussion while rifling through his file, spoke up.
"That's not the only uncanny thing."
He held up a page.
"This 'Decepticon' leader...Megatron, also rings a few bells."
Everyone read his or her own files in silence.
TRANSFORMER UNIT CON001
IDENTIFICATION: MEGATRON
FUNCTION: COMMANDER
TRANSFORM: HANDGUN (WALTHER P-38 SPECIAL)
PROFILE:
A powerful and charismatic leader, Megatron is very strong in his beliefs, that his army (the decepticons) are destined to be the supreme rulers of Cybertron and that under a peace maintained by force the populace will benefit from his rule in which he will make use of their wasted potential. Beneath his hard exterior he also has a great deal of pride and occasionally affection for his forces although this is masked by a brutal image he maintains in order to maintain their respect. This has backfired in earning their fear as well as respect. Despite these qualities, he is often a brutal and ruthless warmonger, who delights in battle, in which he is merciless. His arch nemesis is unit BOT001 who he both loathes and respects.
Wufei looked up, "Sound like anyone we knew?"
*
'It's time.'
*
Noin looked up, her face showing a mix of dismay and surprise.
"Treize Kushrenada."
"You're right Wufei," Quatre rubbed his face, "it is somewhat unnerv..."
BOOM!
Genesis rocked abruptly, and a number of displays in the control room began to flash alarmingly. The group of preventers clung to a number of pieces of machinery, Duo hanging from the handles of the periscope.
"Shit! We've been hit!" Howard scrambled to the console. "And we're taking water in the missile bay!"
"WHAT!" Duo amazed everyone, including Howard by scrambling to the console, "can the pumps keep up? How fast is the rate of water intake? Should we trim out the bow?"
Howard spun. "You know subs?"
"My dad drove a nuke like this one."
"Right! You're in charge. With the most of the crew cut off from us by the flooding I'll have to take control in the engineering spaces. You lot have combat experience so you can run her from here."
"Combat experience. Why would we need that?"
Duo spun on the questioning Wufei.
"Damage this severe can only have come from a missile!"
*
It was the Genesis' antiquated design that saved her from the missile that hid her amidships. The explosion had happened on the outer hull, a skin of light steel rather than the titanium used on modern submarines. Inside it was a water-filled ballast tank, in actuality a maze of separate compartments seven feet across. Located inside the tank were the flasks which stored her supply of high-pressure air, needed to blow her tanks when underwater. Then came the Genesis' battery banks and inner pressure hull, the last line of defense for the crew, an inch-thick layer of steel.
The missile had impacted in the centre of a hull plate on the outer hull, several feet from any weld joints. The force had torn a hole twelve feet across, shredded several ballast tank comparments and ruptured a half-dozen air flasks, which absorbed most of the blast and the concussion wave of water. The final damage was done to a bank of the massive nickel-cadium battery cells which layered the inner hull. The Soviet engineers who built her had placed these here knowing that such a placemnt would make them difficult to maintain and recharge, and would likely contaminate them with seawater, but had ignored these factors in their decision to use the batteries as further armour for the inner pressure hull.
Had it not been for these batteries, the force of the explosion would have ruptured her inner hull and the seawater pressure would have crushed her like an egg. The only damage was a crack in the inner hull, which was spraying water into the pressure hull and trapping the off-duty cew in the bow, but she was otherwise secure and in no danger of sinking. It could have been much, much worse.
Duo made a mental note that if they survived, he would visit each of those designer's graves personally and thank them, but first there was action to be taken.
"Heero, you trained on the cancer undersea suits, you take sonar. Wufei, get on the navigation. DON'T ARGUE! Quatre, get in the pilot's seat. Look it's NOT HARD! Just like a plane-you pull back to go up, push forward to go down. Left and right to go left and right." He paused to take a breath. Everyone had scrambled to their stations with barely a word. He leaned on the scope.
The weight of the water in the missile room was beginning to drag the sub down at the nose. Even with Quatre pulling back on the hydroplanes the depth gauge was spinning alarmingly towards the sub's crush depth.
"Trowa, there's a group of valves on your left. The right ones are the bow trim tanks, the middle ones control the main ballast tanks and the rest are for the stern. Spin the bow valves counter clockwise. We need to lighten the bow to compensate. Let some water into the stern as well but not too much."
Trowa spun the valves. With an alarming noise like a million toilets flushing water left the bow and entered the stern tanks. Gradually, the room levelled up, just above the crush depth of 400M.
"Quatre, take her up!"
Heero had the sonar headset on, working the controls gradually.
"I've got something. Thruster engines, Super Verniers most likely. It sounds like that robot, Starscream?"
A crackling voice came in over the radio. It was the same high-pitched scream Heero had heard before.
"Congratulations 'Gundam pilots'. It seems your pathetic vessel is stronger than it seems. Nevertheless, you shall not escape the wrath of Starscream the Magnificent! AHAHAHAHA!"
As the manic laughter stopped echoing through the sub, Noin put her head to the bulkhead of the reactor chamber, wiping away tears.
"Zechs, what's happening? This isn't you."
Howard and Latta looked on with sympathy, but could not afford to turn from the pump controls. Back in the control room, Duo laughed to himself.
"Man, this guy has a God complex. But he's about to go up against another god." his tone turned hard, "Me. The God of Death!"
Even the stoic Heero and Trowa looked on apprehensively as Duo spun the periscope, looking for their aggressor, while carrying on a conversation with Howard over the intercom.
"This is a ballistic Missile sub and you're telling me you have no weapons on board! Not even countermeasures like chaff or sonar decoys."
Howard gulped slightly. "There is something we can use..."
Duo listened for a second. "You're kidding!"
Heero suddenly broke the tense silence.
"Two targets, coming in at over 80 knots. Both have a strong sonar lock on us!"
"How long till they hit!?"
"Thirty seconds."
"Heero, ghost em. Quatre, when I say so, push her down, hard."
"We're in a submarine with a hole in it and you want to go DOWN!?"
"Yes."
Heero had his finger on the trigger of the sonar pulse generator, firing concentrated sound energy at the missiles at precisely timed intervals. It was a tricky job for even an operator with many hours on the equipment but Heero...
"YES!"
Staring through the periscope Duo saw one of the two missiles fly off at a tangent, confused by Heero's sonar pulses. But the second kept on coming.
Duo leapt to the panel, which formerly fired the missiles and put his finger on a switch.
"Heero, how long till impact?"
"Twenty seconds, eighteen, sixteen, fourteen..."
"Now Quatre!"
Quatre literally stood on his control as he rammed it down. Simultaneously Duo flipped the switch. The sub rumbled and jolted alarmingly. Heero frowned.
"I have another contact, large, slow moving. The missile's locked onto it. Impact in three, two, one." He threw the sonar headset from his ears and covered them.
KAAABOOOOOOOM!
As the missile struck the mystery target a massive concussion wave of compressed water impacted on the descending submarine and forced it down. Primary power failed and the red emergency lights glowed dully. Pipes split and water gushed from the fractures. Those nearest scrambled to close the valves. Gradually, the Genesis pulled up from her headlong plunged and soared up. Duo wiped the sweat from his face as the others looked at him in what bordered on awe. In his black overalls and cap, he looked the part of a submarine captain. Wufei spoke up.
"What in the name of God did that missile hit Maxwell?"
Duo breathed out slowly, a look of deep regret on his face.
"Deathscythe," he cast his eyes heavenwards, "sorry old buddy."
"You sacrificed your Gundam to save our lives?" The near love affair Duo had for his mecha was well known. Such a sacrifice commanded respect, even for the braided baka.
"Howard has all five Gundams fastened to the top deck. I freed Deathscythe and the missile homed in on the slower target. I might have saved our lives, but that guy up there still has a lot of missiles and I can't keep avoiding them till he runs out."
Heero stood up.
"Then I'll take him out."
"What!"
"You said that Wing Zero's fastened to the missile deck. Stop the sub and I'll swim to it and take him out."
"Do you know what you're saying? It's several degrees below freezing out there. We have no artic diving equipment. You'd last less than ten minutes wearing a diving suit, let alone your spandex."
"No diving gear. It'll take too long to get suited up. I'm going like this."
"You idiot! Aren't you hearing me? You can hold your breath underwater for less than three minutes. It will take thirty seconds to get out of the sub, thirty seconds to get into wing zero. In between you'll have something like a minute and a half to swim over three hundred feet, underwater, and in sub zero temperatures. Even if you do you've got a 75% probability of getting hypothermia and frostbite. Not even you can do it!"
"If I don't try this we're all dead."
Duo stared at him, before relenting.
"Right, but you've got to give me a few minutes to evade him. Wufei! How far are we from the coast."
"Five miles."
"Great. I can loose this guy under the icecap. When I've lost him, you can try. Good luck."
Heero gave him a firm handshake before climbing up the ladder towards the sail escape hatch. Duo ran to the radio.
"Howard! How much speed can you squeeze from this thing?"
"25 knots if we push the engines."
"Do that! And I want 200% power on the reactor."
"Are you mad! You'll melt the core."
"I want 35 knots at least!" Duo bellowed, before his tone softened. "She can take it. This girl's old, but she's got heart." He spun.
"Wufei, call up the camera views!"
Wufei flicked a switch on his terminal and a number of monitors relayed images from cameras on the hull. Duo could see the four remaining Gundams tied to the hull. Beyond the bow, was an awe-inspiring scene.
The Genesis was entering the thickest area of the icecap, and here the ice bulged down below the water level like an upside-down mountain chain. Vast ice keels like mountains turned on their ends dominated the view, gleaming like blue fire. Duo smiled. Here, in the canyons and ridges, he could loose the missiles. But it would be hard.
The sonar, which Heero had left on automatic, suddenly began to ping loudly. Trowa leapt to it.
One torpedo, it's bigger than the missiles but slower.
Duo cursed. Howard had to fit the damn robot with torpedoes didn't he? They were slower than the missiles but better suited to underwater combat. This was going to be harder than he thought. He grabbed the radio.
"Howard, make that 250% on the reactor."
Beneath their feet the Genesis began to thrum alarmingly as the engines tried to leap from their mountings. Her two massive bronze propellers thrashed the water relentlessly, pushing the massive sub at near 40 knots, twice the speed that she had been built for. The reactor began to steam alarmingly but the advanced refrigeration units Howard had built kept it below dangerous levels.
Duo stared at the monitors. They needed a place to hide, but where?
"There!" He jabbed his finger at a shape that loomed out of the darkness. A massive ice keel that bulged down far enough for the base to be out of sight. Duo wasn't sure but he estimated it was at least 200ft deep, but it was near a mile away.
"Trowa! How long till impact!"
"Two minutes."
It would be close. 40 knots translated to just over 30 mph. They would need that two minutes to get to the massive ice keel. And then?
"Come on girl, move." He stared intensely at the relay which displayed the speed of the submariner, as if glaring at it would entice more speed out of the sub. Incredibly, the red digits continued to increase slowly. 42, 45, 47, 49. The readout shifted up another value, flickered, and held. 50 knots. Amazing. Genesis, a 300 year old sub, was now the fastest underwater vessel in the world. Duo breathed out. The old girl had brought him some time.
The seconds passed slowly. Duo was now staring through the periscope, alternating between checking their progress to the keel, and the distance to the torpedo, which was now just visible.
"Trowa, set the sonar to active. Ping that sonuvab***h hard!"
"You want me to confuse it like Heero did?"
"No, it's too risky. Instead, I want the torpedo to have as strong a lock on us as possible!"
Trowa stared at him for a few seconds but complied.
"Quatre, when I say, bring her hard right. Howard, at the same time, go to full speed astern on the starboard shaft. I'm leaving the radio open so you'll be able to hear us up here."
"Roger!"
Trowa spoke up.
"Thirty seconds to impact!"
The Genesis' bow nosed past the keel, which began to pass on the right. Duo was mumbling calculations to himself.
"Fifteen seconds to impact."
The stern passed the keel. The torpedo's propeller could now be heard over the roar of the turbines.
"QUATRE! HOWARD! NOW!"
Quatre twisted his wheel to the stops. The sound of the engines dimmed somewhat, then came back with a vengeance. As the starboard propeller began to spin in reverse, the sound of cavitation echoed through the subs hull, which rolled to the right alarmingly, all the while shuddering and gyrating drastically.
Like 'Akula', her Russian namesake, the Genesis gracefully banked behind the massive keel.
"Five seconds."
The torpedo was blind, it could not see the ice keel, only hear the sub. As it's target banked, it adjusted its course to strike it amidships...
...and drove right into the heart of the keel!
Like the impact on the Deathscythe, the sub was abruptly buffeted by the concussion wave. As the centre portion of the keel exploded, the thousand- foot lower half sank gently into the depths, breaking up as it fell, creating a massive amount of sound.
*
Starscream screamed in rage as he hovered over the ice field.
"Argh! Once again they survived."
He calmed.
"A clever plan. I can't use the torpedoes or missiles as this noise will confuse them. So now, we wait."
*
"Howard, all stop!"
As the sounds of the engines dimmed, Duo yelled up the ladder.
"Heero, it's up to you now."
Heero had already had the door to the escape hatch open, waiting for Duo's call. Quickly he scrambled in, sealing it shut behind him. He threw the required valves, and gasped in shock as a spray of icy cold water drenched him. He took a last, deep gulp of air.
Duo turned to the outer hull camera. As the outer hatch opened Heero emerged, his eyes fixed on the distant wing zero. If the cold was bothering him, he was not showing any signs of him. Quickly, he began swimming with powerful breaststrokes towards the Gundam.
"God's speed Heero Yuy."
*
Heero was in agony. The cold was stinging him like thousands of them stabbing him all over his thinly clad bodies. Chunks of ice from the keel often blocked his path and he had to swim round, wasting time.
*
Duo checked his watch. Two minutes gone.
*
Heero's vision was beginning to grow dim. He was touching the upright mobile suits, leg, pulling himself up the superstructure arm over arm. But he was getting weak. His progress was becoming slower. As he reached the cockpit hatch, his strength failed him, and he hovered on the cusp of total blackout.
*
"Thirty seconds, he's out of time."
*
Heero knew he was dying. As he drifted, a sudden image swum in his eyes. A radiant angel.
'Relena.'
No! He couldn't let her and his friends down. Not after the peace they had suffered to earn had finally come about.
'I WILL SURVIVE!'
With a sudden burst of strength that came from somewhere unknown, he opened the hatch and scrambled into the air lock. His lungs screamed for air, and his every fibre of being was on fire, but he was staying alive by sheer willpower. But even that would not be enough to keep him going for much longer.
*
Duo turned off the monitor and rubbed his face, blinking back tears. Everyone was dumbfounded. Heero, the perfect soldier who had overcome all odds, had finally failed while trying to save their lives, and he had paid for that failure with his life.
Quatre was unashamedly crying, "He's gone. I can't believe it. He's gone!"
"Don't write me off yet!"
Duo spun with relief etched on his features. The monitor blinked on and an image appeared of a sodden, shivering Heero sitting in the cockpit. Duo slapped the monitor as if the pain would somehow be conveyed to Heero.
"You bastard, you damn' lucky bastard! Don't you every do that again, you hear me." But he was laughing with joy, and the others were all showing their relief in someway, including Howard and his team who had joined them.
"Right!" Duo was back into his commander persona. "Trowa, can you pinpoint Zech's location. Heero's got a better chance of succeeding if we can get the, er...drop, on him. Howard, get back to engineering quick."
With the same skill as Heero, Trowa gradually worked the controls, gradually filtering out the sounds of ice, until he could hear something, it was faint, but it was there.
"He's right above us!"
"What!"
"Listen..."
Trowa flicked a few switches and a faint conversation came in over the speakers.
*
"We can destroy them now! They are weak, they cannot defend themselves!"
"No, I can't condone it!"
"Condone it? They are our ENEMIES! They deserve to die!"
"I can't destroy an enemy who is weaker than myself, it is a coward's fight."
"This is WAR! Not a duel."
"I know war, and you are NOT a warrior!"
"Coward!"
*
Noin sighed with relief, "he's hanging on in there."
"Trowa, you say he's directly above us? How thick is the ice."
"About two feet."
"Perfect. Heero, brace yourself, this is going to be rough."
"Roger that."
"Oh, and Heero. Zech's is still hanging on in there, no fatal shots."
*
Wing Zero crouched down on the foredeck, bracing itself for the impact. Inside, Heero braced himself, before suddenly noticing a pair of silver objects outside, tied down to the deck of the sub. Smirking, he picked one up, before clipping it to Wing Zero's hip.
'Howard or Wufei must have recovered this.'
He flicked on his comlink.
"Ready Duo."
*
"Full speed ahead, emergency blow on all tanks! Full up on the hydroplanes."
Everyone leapt into action. Quatre pulled back on his stick, Trowa, Wufei and Noin spun the tank valves and Howard and Latta gunned the engines to the maximum.
With a roar of released energy, Genesis pulled up and shot towards the surface. The control room tilted at a forty-five angle and everyone slipped and rolled into a pile against the rear bulkhead, Duo still clutching the radio mike in his hands.
This time, Genesis not only broke the ice, it obliterated it. Breaking through, she soared more than two-thirds her length out of the water, black paint gleaming in the pale light. Starscream spun.
"WHAT!"
*
"Now Heero!"
*
As the mighty submarine reached the peak of her soar, the Wing Zero, wings battered from the impact with the ice, thundered into the sky. Beneath, Genesis collapsed onto the ice, which briefly supported her before it crumbled beneath the weight of 48,000 tons of metal. Slowly, she slipped beneath the surface, retreating to the depths from whence she came.
"Give it up Starscream."
"Never. I was born to fight! I know no other way!"
Starscream spun on his axis.
"AND I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL!"
Heero realised what he was going to do.
"Wait!"
The volley of missiles struck the hole left by Genesis and disappeared. Then, with a mighty roar, the patch of water erupted in a boiling, seething mass.
Above the steaming ocean, Starscream cackled in victory.
"I WIN! I WIN! AHAHAHAHAHA...UGH!"
He reeled back, clutching his head.
"YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED HER!"
Screaming, Starscream began to tumble. Zech's voice called out one more time.
"Heero, Do it. Take us now!"
Wing Zero brought its mighty buster rifle to bear. Instead of delivering the blinding blast that would grant Zech's oblivion, he tossed it aside, and produced a small, silver weapon. Starscream's optics went wide.
"My Null Ray! You have it!" He overcame Zech's fight, and rocketed towards Heero.
"GIVE IT TO ME!"
"You want it. Have it."
Heero calmly pulled the trigger on the weapon. It struck the enraged robot dead in the head, and, optics wide, his systems failed.
"Damn it!"
As his thrusters failed, Starscream hovered in the air for a brief second, before dropping like a stone into the broiling sea. It but a few seconds, he was gone, and Zechs was gone with him.
Heero deflated in his seat, and for the first in a long time, felt a deep rush of emotion with him. Grief.
"Dead. They're all...dead?"
He sank back into his seat.
"Once again, I'm alone."
Tears began to prick the corners of his eyes, "my friends."
He gave up any semblance of non-caring and howled in misery.
"I FAILED THEM! WHAT THE..!"
A plume of steam that suddenly rose from the ocean shook him from his catatonic state. "It can be..."
Triumphant, Genesis burst to the surface. Her sleek surface was riddled with pockmarks from missile impacts and a deep slash was torn in her port ballast tank, but she still floated. Sprawled unconscious on the foredeck beside the Gundams, was Starscream. The conning tower hatch popped open, and a figure climbed out, regardless of the biting chill.
"He did it. Duo did it!" Heero continued to cry, but with happiness as the familiar wisecracking voice crackled over his speakers.
"Well, well, well. The perfect soldier does have human feelings after all. Glad to see you can recognise pure talent when you see it. Hey, Wufei!"
"Cut the wisecrack's Maxwell. Yuy! Get Zechs out of that metal beast before it wakes up!"
"Roger that Chang!" Heero slipped back into his usual stoic persona.
Wing Zero landed gently on the missile deck. Heero quickly scrambled to the red mech despite the cold that was penetrating his soaked body and pulled the unconscious Zechs from the seat.
Suddenly, Starscream began to stir.
"I...feel...wrong. Something's...changed."
Before the psychotic robot could fully stand up, Heero quickly activated the bypass Howard had mentioned on the Decepticon's brain.
With a final gasp, Starscream settled back on the deck.
Heero lay in the unfamiliar cockpit for a long time, before a face appeared over the rim. Duo.
"Well buddy. It's over."
"No," Heero gasped. "it's only just begun." And with that, he succumbed to the fatigue.
AUTHOR NOTES
Do ya' like it? Because I do.
CHAPTER NOTES:
Personally, I love these little trains of thought for Starscream.
These profiles were a bit hard to write. In them I am trying to express my own feelings for the two most popular Decepticons, who are both complex characters. My beliefs about them are a mix of facts from the comics and TV show, and a few fanfics and my own gut feelings. Sorry to those who don't like them. Anyone interested can rest assured that in the next two chapters I will delve a bit deeper into both of their psyches.
I lifted the damage Genesis took and the reason she is not destroyed by the missile impact straight from the novel of Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy.
From what I've seen in the GW TV series, missiles can be used both above and underwater, as fast and agile weapons. Torpedoes are slower, but bigger and more powerful and better suited to underwater warfare.
Heero can work every mobile suit ever built and that involves the Cancer and Aquarius, which are essentially submarines and must be fitted with sonar. Since the equipment involved is very complex Heero is thus best suited to operate it on the Genesis.
I've worked out a rather long backstory on why Duo's interested in subs and how his father captained one but Duo managed to be born and raised in space. If anyone's interested in this feel free to e-mail for the full story.
This is pretty much how many people in a sub's control room to run it, because most controls are dedicated to working the weapons, and Genesis is, of course, unarmed. The US Navy has a nuclear research sub called the NR-1 which has a crew of less than twenty and is piloted by just two men, pilot (captain) and co-pilot.
'Ghosting' a weapon fitted with sonar involves firing sonar pulses at it at the same second its pulse hit you. Its navigation receives back multiple or 'Ghost' targets and it often locks onto the wrong one. It's an incredibly skilled art, rather than science and of all the Gundam boys, I expect Heero is the only one capable.
Some will argue that the missile could not have hit Deathscythe because Gundamium does not show up on Radar. This is because of its non-electro conductive properties, like the materials on stealth jets. However, Sonar is a difference system. The Gundanium would absorb the sonar pulses, and would thus appear as a massive blank patch in a sea of sound (ice cracking, colliding, the propellers of the Genesis) and the torpedo would identify such a blank spot as a target trying to hide. In a clam, warm sea, which would be very quiet in comparison, the missile might well miss it.
'Akula' is the Soviet designation for Typhoon-class submarines. It means 'Shark'. Fitting, no?
The use of Ice Keels (upside-down, underwater mountains of ice) as means of avoiding targets and fighting a submarine war, was inspired by the novel 'Raise the Red Dawn,' another good Cold War-novel by Bart Davis. I know, I know. Red Dawn, Red October. Those Soviets had such original and varied names for their subs don't they?
Heero's feat is undoubtedly superhuman, especially in polar conditions, but he is just that.
The fact that the Gundams can operate underwater suggests that they are fitted with air locks in case of an emergency while underwater or possibly in space.
The description of Relena as a 'radiant vision' sickens even me, the guy who wrote this tripe, but that is how she might appear to Heero on the verge of death, and possibly such a thing would galvanise him to power on, to do the impossible.
Once again, Zechs and Starscream are talking to each other. If you've seen 'The Lord of the Rings; The Two Towers' this might remind you of the Gollum/Smeagol conversations, especially with Zechs fighting Starscream's influence.
A beautiful mental image; the mighty Genesis, flying into the sky, with Wing Zero leaping off her bow in mid air. The reason I go for big, dramatic actions like this is because I think like a director, everything I write or read, I envision on the silver screen. This would look good I think.
Zechs briefly manages to seize control of Starscream's body in a moment of extreme passion. Does any hard-core TF fan know if this is possible in a binary bonding relationship.
Shot in the head with his own weapon. How ironic.
Trying to write Heero showing any kind of emotion is hard, but I think this moment of grief came across well. The perfect soldier is still there however, and Heero easily slips back into that cold, calm persona, but we now know he can feel deep emotion at times, like that time in Endless Waltz where we see him laughing happily, not maniacally, during his flashback..
Starscream feels that something's changed within him. This is a by-product of installing the Zero System to him and will be explained in the next chapter.
Speaking of that, I'd better call it quits now as it's half ten in the evening. Thankyou all my dedicated readers, and I hope you like this latest offering.
TILL ALL ARE ONE!
I am blatantly stealing characters, dialogue and situations from books, TV shows and movies, and I don't care, and neither should their posh lawyers, because I'm not doing this for profit, just for fun. Pleasepleaseplease don't sue. I have nothing to pay you with other than the £14.5 in my pocket at this point.
AUTHORS NOTE: Enjoy, my loyal fans.
CHAPTER SIX. THROUGH FIRE AND ICE.
He could sense his prey, feel it hiding beneath the thick ice. Soon it would be time, to hunt, to kill. Soon. Very soon.
*
"Alien robots from outer space!"
Duo was ranting like a maniac, but a strange fire burned in his eyes. The same light shone in the others too.
"Beyond robots Duo, beyond Mobile Suits, beyond the Gundams, beyond our wildest imaginations."
Quatre was whispering to himself.
"An entire artificial civilisation, with cultures, religious beliefs, and not only artificial intelligence, but emotion. The ability to feel, and sense, and love."
"And now they're here."
"They've been here for over 4 Million years. That's when they left their home planet, this...Cybertron."
"And know we've woken one up. And we may have restarted a war that has raged for millennia."
"We never seem to get a break! First we're branded as terrorists, harassed by that pink stalker of yours Heero, we fight against rebellion after rebellion and are nearly outwitted by a seven year old, and now, when we finally have peace, we're thrown into a war between two robotic armies that have power like we've never believed possible and are likely to be hostile to all of humanity."
"Only one of those armies you mean."
"What!" Duo rounded on the calm and cool Trowa. Noin stepped in.
"How well did you read that file Duo? From what Rook gleaned from their memories, only one of these armies had hostile intent. These, Decepticons believe in plundering other worlds in order to fuel their own war effort."
"The other army, the Autobots seem to be protectors, fighting for those oppressed by the Decepticons."
"Well, whatever faction, we've found our errant 'Grumman.'" Howard held up a piece of paper, a photo of the machine Zechs had taken off in clipped to the front.
"This Rook did full profiles done for each machine, using data pulled from their data banks. Here this one;
TRANSFORMER UNIT CON002
IDENTIFICATION: STARSCREAM
FUNCTION: SUB-COMMANDER
TRANSFORM: AIRCRAFT (RED/SILVER F-15 FIGHTER)
PROFILE:
Loathed and despised by many of the Decepticon military, this former scientist turned warrior still commands a great deal of respect from many of his higher comrades. He possesses a unique split personality, born out of a harrowing personal experience, which also severed a particularly close friendship with unit CON001 with whom he now maintains a bitter rivalry.
A skilled ariel combatant, Starscream is extremely vain and arrogant, and like his leader will stop at no means to accomplish his ends."
Everyone nodded slightly.
"Odd," Trowa was rubbing his chin, "in a few regards, that profile would suit Zechs."
"Pardon?"
"Former civilian turned soldier. Skilled warrior. Fiercely driven to succeed. Loathed and simultaneously respected. And, he once had a close friendship with his leader, which went sour."
Duo nodded.
"Zechs has mellowed a bit over the years, but that's a dead ringer for when he led the White Fang and tried to destroy Earth. He was Treize's enemy then, but they'd been close friends..." He trailed off.
Quatre looked up.
"And he was mentally split at that time, if mildly. There was Zechs Marquise, warrior, fiercely disciplined to a code of honour, and Miliardo Peacecraft, who was willing to go to any ends to achieve what he called peace, and threw aside all traces of his humanity in order to do it..."
A heavy silence fell. It lingered, before Wufei, who it seemed had been ignoring the previous discussion while rifling through his file, spoke up.
"That's not the only uncanny thing."
He held up a page.
"This 'Decepticon' leader...Megatron, also rings a few bells."
Everyone read his or her own files in silence.
TRANSFORMER UNIT CON001
IDENTIFICATION: MEGATRON
FUNCTION: COMMANDER
TRANSFORM: HANDGUN (WALTHER P-38 SPECIAL)
PROFILE:
A powerful and charismatic leader, Megatron is very strong in his beliefs, that his army (the decepticons) are destined to be the supreme rulers of Cybertron and that under a peace maintained by force the populace will benefit from his rule in which he will make use of their wasted potential. Beneath his hard exterior he also has a great deal of pride and occasionally affection for his forces although this is masked by a brutal image he maintains in order to maintain their respect. This has backfired in earning their fear as well as respect. Despite these qualities, he is often a brutal and ruthless warmonger, who delights in battle, in which he is merciless. His arch nemesis is unit BOT001 who he both loathes and respects.
Wufei looked up, "Sound like anyone we knew?"
*
'It's time.'
*
Noin looked up, her face showing a mix of dismay and surprise.
"Treize Kushrenada."
"You're right Wufei," Quatre rubbed his face, "it is somewhat unnerv..."
BOOM!
Genesis rocked abruptly, and a number of displays in the control room began to flash alarmingly. The group of preventers clung to a number of pieces of machinery, Duo hanging from the handles of the periscope.
"Shit! We've been hit!" Howard scrambled to the console. "And we're taking water in the missile bay!"
"WHAT!" Duo amazed everyone, including Howard by scrambling to the console, "can the pumps keep up? How fast is the rate of water intake? Should we trim out the bow?"
Howard spun. "You know subs?"
"My dad drove a nuke like this one."
"Right! You're in charge. With the most of the crew cut off from us by the flooding I'll have to take control in the engineering spaces. You lot have combat experience so you can run her from here."
"Combat experience. Why would we need that?"
Duo spun on the questioning Wufei.
"Damage this severe can only have come from a missile!"
*
It was the Genesis' antiquated design that saved her from the missile that hid her amidships. The explosion had happened on the outer hull, a skin of light steel rather than the titanium used on modern submarines. Inside it was a water-filled ballast tank, in actuality a maze of separate compartments seven feet across. Located inside the tank were the flasks which stored her supply of high-pressure air, needed to blow her tanks when underwater. Then came the Genesis' battery banks and inner pressure hull, the last line of defense for the crew, an inch-thick layer of steel.
The missile had impacted in the centre of a hull plate on the outer hull, several feet from any weld joints. The force had torn a hole twelve feet across, shredded several ballast tank comparments and ruptured a half-dozen air flasks, which absorbed most of the blast and the concussion wave of water. The final damage was done to a bank of the massive nickel-cadium battery cells which layered the inner hull. The Soviet engineers who built her had placed these here knowing that such a placemnt would make them difficult to maintain and recharge, and would likely contaminate them with seawater, but had ignored these factors in their decision to use the batteries as further armour for the inner pressure hull.
Had it not been for these batteries, the force of the explosion would have ruptured her inner hull and the seawater pressure would have crushed her like an egg. The only damage was a crack in the inner hull, which was spraying water into the pressure hull and trapping the off-duty cew in the bow, but she was otherwise secure and in no danger of sinking. It could have been much, much worse.
Duo made a mental note that if they survived, he would visit each of those designer's graves personally and thank them, but first there was action to be taken.
"Heero, you trained on the cancer undersea suits, you take sonar. Wufei, get on the navigation. DON'T ARGUE! Quatre, get in the pilot's seat. Look it's NOT HARD! Just like a plane-you pull back to go up, push forward to go down. Left and right to go left and right." He paused to take a breath. Everyone had scrambled to their stations with barely a word. He leaned on the scope.
The weight of the water in the missile room was beginning to drag the sub down at the nose. Even with Quatre pulling back on the hydroplanes the depth gauge was spinning alarmingly towards the sub's crush depth.
"Trowa, there's a group of valves on your left. The right ones are the bow trim tanks, the middle ones control the main ballast tanks and the rest are for the stern. Spin the bow valves counter clockwise. We need to lighten the bow to compensate. Let some water into the stern as well but not too much."
Trowa spun the valves. With an alarming noise like a million toilets flushing water left the bow and entered the stern tanks. Gradually, the room levelled up, just above the crush depth of 400M.
"Quatre, take her up!"
Heero had the sonar headset on, working the controls gradually.
"I've got something. Thruster engines, Super Verniers most likely. It sounds like that robot, Starscream?"
A crackling voice came in over the radio. It was the same high-pitched scream Heero had heard before.
"Congratulations 'Gundam pilots'. It seems your pathetic vessel is stronger than it seems. Nevertheless, you shall not escape the wrath of Starscream the Magnificent! AHAHAHAHA!"
As the manic laughter stopped echoing through the sub, Noin put her head to the bulkhead of the reactor chamber, wiping away tears.
"Zechs, what's happening? This isn't you."
Howard and Latta looked on with sympathy, but could not afford to turn from the pump controls. Back in the control room, Duo laughed to himself.
"Man, this guy has a God complex. But he's about to go up against another god." his tone turned hard, "Me. The God of Death!"
Even the stoic Heero and Trowa looked on apprehensively as Duo spun the periscope, looking for their aggressor, while carrying on a conversation with Howard over the intercom.
"This is a ballistic Missile sub and you're telling me you have no weapons on board! Not even countermeasures like chaff or sonar decoys."
Howard gulped slightly. "There is something we can use..."
Duo listened for a second. "You're kidding!"
Heero suddenly broke the tense silence.
"Two targets, coming in at over 80 knots. Both have a strong sonar lock on us!"
"How long till they hit!?"
"Thirty seconds."
"Heero, ghost em. Quatre, when I say so, push her down, hard."
"We're in a submarine with a hole in it and you want to go DOWN!?"
"Yes."
Heero had his finger on the trigger of the sonar pulse generator, firing concentrated sound energy at the missiles at precisely timed intervals. It was a tricky job for even an operator with many hours on the equipment but Heero...
"YES!"
Staring through the periscope Duo saw one of the two missiles fly off at a tangent, confused by Heero's sonar pulses. But the second kept on coming.
Duo leapt to the panel, which formerly fired the missiles and put his finger on a switch.
"Heero, how long till impact?"
"Twenty seconds, eighteen, sixteen, fourteen..."
"Now Quatre!"
Quatre literally stood on his control as he rammed it down. Simultaneously Duo flipped the switch. The sub rumbled and jolted alarmingly. Heero frowned.
"I have another contact, large, slow moving. The missile's locked onto it. Impact in three, two, one." He threw the sonar headset from his ears and covered them.
KAAABOOOOOOOM!
As the missile struck the mystery target a massive concussion wave of compressed water impacted on the descending submarine and forced it down. Primary power failed and the red emergency lights glowed dully. Pipes split and water gushed from the fractures. Those nearest scrambled to close the valves. Gradually, the Genesis pulled up from her headlong plunged and soared up. Duo wiped the sweat from his face as the others looked at him in what bordered on awe. In his black overalls and cap, he looked the part of a submarine captain. Wufei spoke up.
"What in the name of God did that missile hit Maxwell?"
Duo breathed out slowly, a look of deep regret on his face.
"Deathscythe," he cast his eyes heavenwards, "sorry old buddy."
"You sacrificed your Gundam to save our lives?" The near love affair Duo had for his mecha was well known. Such a sacrifice commanded respect, even for the braided baka.
"Howard has all five Gundams fastened to the top deck. I freed Deathscythe and the missile homed in on the slower target. I might have saved our lives, but that guy up there still has a lot of missiles and I can't keep avoiding them till he runs out."
Heero stood up.
"Then I'll take him out."
"What!"
"You said that Wing Zero's fastened to the missile deck. Stop the sub and I'll swim to it and take him out."
"Do you know what you're saying? It's several degrees below freezing out there. We have no artic diving equipment. You'd last less than ten minutes wearing a diving suit, let alone your spandex."
"No diving gear. It'll take too long to get suited up. I'm going like this."
"You idiot! Aren't you hearing me? You can hold your breath underwater for less than three minutes. It will take thirty seconds to get out of the sub, thirty seconds to get into wing zero. In between you'll have something like a minute and a half to swim over three hundred feet, underwater, and in sub zero temperatures. Even if you do you've got a 75% probability of getting hypothermia and frostbite. Not even you can do it!"
"If I don't try this we're all dead."
Duo stared at him, before relenting.
"Right, but you've got to give me a few minutes to evade him. Wufei! How far are we from the coast."
"Five miles."
"Great. I can loose this guy under the icecap. When I've lost him, you can try. Good luck."
Heero gave him a firm handshake before climbing up the ladder towards the sail escape hatch. Duo ran to the radio.
"Howard! How much speed can you squeeze from this thing?"
"25 knots if we push the engines."
"Do that! And I want 200% power on the reactor."
"Are you mad! You'll melt the core."
"I want 35 knots at least!" Duo bellowed, before his tone softened. "She can take it. This girl's old, but she's got heart." He spun.
"Wufei, call up the camera views!"
Wufei flicked a switch on his terminal and a number of monitors relayed images from cameras on the hull. Duo could see the four remaining Gundams tied to the hull. Beyond the bow, was an awe-inspiring scene.
The Genesis was entering the thickest area of the icecap, and here the ice bulged down below the water level like an upside-down mountain chain. Vast ice keels like mountains turned on their ends dominated the view, gleaming like blue fire. Duo smiled. Here, in the canyons and ridges, he could loose the missiles. But it would be hard.
The sonar, which Heero had left on automatic, suddenly began to ping loudly. Trowa leapt to it.
One torpedo, it's bigger than the missiles but slower.
Duo cursed. Howard had to fit the damn robot with torpedoes didn't he? They were slower than the missiles but better suited to underwater combat. This was going to be harder than he thought. He grabbed the radio.
"Howard, make that 250% on the reactor."
Beneath their feet the Genesis began to thrum alarmingly as the engines tried to leap from their mountings. Her two massive bronze propellers thrashed the water relentlessly, pushing the massive sub at near 40 knots, twice the speed that she had been built for. The reactor began to steam alarmingly but the advanced refrigeration units Howard had built kept it below dangerous levels.
Duo stared at the monitors. They needed a place to hide, but where?
"There!" He jabbed his finger at a shape that loomed out of the darkness. A massive ice keel that bulged down far enough for the base to be out of sight. Duo wasn't sure but he estimated it was at least 200ft deep, but it was near a mile away.
"Trowa! How long till impact!"
"Two minutes."
It would be close. 40 knots translated to just over 30 mph. They would need that two minutes to get to the massive ice keel. And then?
"Come on girl, move." He stared intensely at the relay which displayed the speed of the submariner, as if glaring at it would entice more speed out of the sub. Incredibly, the red digits continued to increase slowly. 42, 45, 47, 49. The readout shifted up another value, flickered, and held. 50 knots. Amazing. Genesis, a 300 year old sub, was now the fastest underwater vessel in the world. Duo breathed out. The old girl had brought him some time.
The seconds passed slowly. Duo was now staring through the periscope, alternating between checking their progress to the keel, and the distance to the torpedo, which was now just visible.
"Trowa, set the sonar to active. Ping that sonuvab***h hard!"
"You want me to confuse it like Heero did?"
"No, it's too risky. Instead, I want the torpedo to have as strong a lock on us as possible!"
Trowa stared at him for a few seconds but complied.
"Quatre, when I say, bring her hard right. Howard, at the same time, go to full speed astern on the starboard shaft. I'm leaving the radio open so you'll be able to hear us up here."
"Roger!"
Trowa spoke up.
"Thirty seconds to impact!"
The Genesis' bow nosed past the keel, which began to pass on the right. Duo was mumbling calculations to himself.
"Fifteen seconds to impact."
The stern passed the keel. The torpedo's propeller could now be heard over the roar of the turbines.
"QUATRE! HOWARD! NOW!"
Quatre twisted his wheel to the stops. The sound of the engines dimmed somewhat, then came back with a vengeance. As the starboard propeller began to spin in reverse, the sound of cavitation echoed through the subs hull, which rolled to the right alarmingly, all the while shuddering and gyrating drastically.
Like 'Akula', her Russian namesake, the Genesis gracefully banked behind the massive keel.
"Five seconds."
The torpedo was blind, it could not see the ice keel, only hear the sub. As it's target banked, it adjusted its course to strike it amidships...
...and drove right into the heart of the keel!
Like the impact on the Deathscythe, the sub was abruptly buffeted by the concussion wave. As the centre portion of the keel exploded, the thousand- foot lower half sank gently into the depths, breaking up as it fell, creating a massive amount of sound.
*
Starscream screamed in rage as he hovered over the ice field.
"Argh! Once again they survived."
He calmed.
"A clever plan. I can't use the torpedoes or missiles as this noise will confuse them. So now, we wait."
*
"Howard, all stop!"
As the sounds of the engines dimmed, Duo yelled up the ladder.
"Heero, it's up to you now."
Heero had already had the door to the escape hatch open, waiting for Duo's call. Quickly he scrambled in, sealing it shut behind him. He threw the required valves, and gasped in shock as a spray of icy cold water drenched him. He took a last, deep gulp of air.
Duo turned to the outer hull camera. As the outer hatch opened Heero emerged, his eyes fixed on the distant wing zero. If the cold was bothering him, he was not showing any signs of him. Quickly, he began swimming with powerful breaststrokes towards the Gundam.
"God's speed Heero Yuy."
*
Heero was in agony. The cold was stinging him like thousands of them stabbing him all over his thinly clad bodies. Chunks of ice from the keel often blocked his path and he had to swim round, wasting time.
*
Duo checked his watch. Two minutes gone.
*
Heero's vision was beginning to grow dim. He was touching the upright mobile suits, leg, pulling himself up the superstructure arm over arm. But he was getting weak. His progress was becoming slower. As he reached the cockpit hatch, his strength failed him, and he hovered on the cusp of total blackout.
*
"Thirty seconds, he's out of time."
*
Heero knew he was dying. As he drifted, a sudden image swum in his eyes. A radiant angel.
'Relena.'
No! He couldn't let her and his friends down. Not after the peace they had suffered to earn had finally come about.
'I WILL SURVIVE!'
With a sudden burst of strength that came from somewhere unknown, he opened the hatch and scrambled into the air lock. His lungs screamed for air, and his every fibre of being was on fire, but he was staying alive by sheer willpower. But even that would not be enough to keep him going for much longer.
*
Duo turned off the monitor and rubbed his face, blinking back tears. Everyone was dumbfounded. Heero, the perfect soldier who had overcome all odds, had finally failed while trying to save their lives, and he had paid for that failure with his life.
Quatre was unashamedly crying, "He's gone. I can't believe it. He's gone!"
"Don't write me off yet!"
Duo spun with relief etched on his features. The monitor blinked on and an image appeared of a sodden, shivering Heero sitting in the cockpit. Duo slapped the monitor as if the pain would somehow be conveyed to Heero.
"You bastard, you damn' lucky bastard! Don't you every do that again, you hear me." But he was laughing with joy, and the others were all showing their relief in someway, including Howard and his team who had joined them.
"Right!" Duo was back into his commander persona. "Trowa, can you pinpoint Zech's location. Heero's got a better chance of succeeding if we can get the, er...drop, on him. Howard, get back to engineering quick."
With the same skill as Heero, Trowa gradually worked the controls, gradually filtering out the sounds of ice, until he could hear something, it was faint, but it was there.
"He's right above us!"
"What!"
"Listen..."
Trowa flicked a few switches and a faint conversation came in over the speakers.
*
"We can destroy them now! They are weak, they cannot defend themselves!"
"No, I can't condone it!"
"Condone it? They are our ENEMIES! They deserve to die!"
"I can't destroy an enemy who is weaker than myself, it is a coward's fight."
"This is WAR! Not a duel."
"I know war, and you are NOT a warrior!"
"Coward!"
*
Noin sighed with relief, "he's hanging on in there."
"Trowa, you say he's directly above us? How thick is the ice."
"About two feet."
"Perfect. Heero, brace yourself, this is going to be rough."
"Roger that."
"Oh, and Heero. Zech's is still hanging on in there, no fatal shots."
*
Wing Zero crouched down on the foredeck, bracing itself for the impact. Inside, Heero braced himself, before suddenly noticing a pair of silver objects outside, tied down to the deck of the sub. Smirking, he picked one up, before clipping it to Wing Zero's hip.
'Howard or Wufei must have recovered this.'
He flicked on his comlink.
"Ready Duo."
*
"Full speed ahead, emergency blow on all tanks! Full up on the hydroplanes."
Everyone leapt into action. Quatre pulled back on his stick, Trowa, Wufei and Noin spun the tank valves and Howard and Latta gunned the engines to the maximum.
With a roar of released energy, Genesis pulled up and shot towards the surface. The control room tilted at a forty-five angle and everyone slipped and rolled into a pile against the rear bulkhead, Duo still clutching the radio mike in his hands.
This time, Genesis not only broke the ice, it obliterated it. Breaking through, she soared more than two-thirds her length out of the water, black paint gleaming in the pale light. Starscream spun.
"WHAT!"
*
"Now Heero!"
*
As the mighty submarine reached the peak of her soar, the Wing Zero, wings battered from the impact with the ice, thundered into the sky. Beneath, Genesis collapsed onto the ice, which briefly supported her before it crumbled beneath the weight of 48,000 tons of metal. Slowly, she slipped beneath the surface, retreating to the depths from whence she came.
"Give it up Starscream."
"Never. I was born to fight! I know no other way!"
Starscream spun on his axis.
"AND I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL!"
Heero realised what he was going to do.
"Wait!"
The volley of missiles struck the hole left by Genesis and disappeared. Then, with a mighty roar, the patch of water erupted in a boiling, seething mass.
Above the steaming ocean, Starscream cackled in victory.
"I WIN! I WIN! AHAHAHAHAHA...UGH!"
He reeled back, clutching his head.
"YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED HER!"
Screaming, Starscream began to tumble. Zech's voice called out one more time.
"Heero, Do it. Take us now!"
Wing Zero brought its mighty buster rifle to bear. Instead of delivering the blinding blast that would grant Zech's oblivion, he tossed it aside, and produced a small, silver weapon. Starscream's optics went wide.
"My Null Ray! You have it!" He overcame Zech's fight, and rocketed towards Heero.
"GIVE IT TO ME!"
"You want it. Have it."
Heero calmly pulled the trigger on the weapon. It struck the enraged robot dead in the head, and, optics wide, his systems failed.
"Damn it!"
As his thrusters failed, Starscream hovered in the air for a brief second, before dropping like a stone into the broiling sea. It but a few seconds, he was gone, and Zechs was gone with him.
Heero deflated in his seat, and for the first in a long time, felt a deep rush of emotion with him. Grief.
"Dead. They're all...dead?"
He sank back into his seat.
"Once again, I'm alone."
Tears began to prick the corners of his eyes, "my friends."
He gave up any semblance of non-caring and howled in misery.
"I FAILED THEM! WHAT THE..!"
A plume of steam that suddenly rose from the ocean shook him from his catatonic state. "It can be..."
Triumphant, Genesis burst to the surface. Her sleek surface was riddled with pockmarks from missile impacts and a deep slash was torn in her port ballast tank, but she still floated. Sprawled unconscious on the foredeck beside the Gundams, was Starscream. The conning tower hatch popped open, and a figure climbed out, regardless of the biting chill.
"He did it. Duo did it!" Heero continued to cry, but with happiness as the familiar wisecracking voice crackled over his speakers.
"Well, well, well. The perfect soldier does have human feelings after all. Glad to see you can recognise pure talent when you see it. Hey, Wufei!"
"Cut the wisecrack's Maxwell. Yuy! Get Zechs out of that metal beast before it wakes up!"
"Roger that Chang!" Heero slipped back into his usual stoic persona.
Wing Zero landed gently on the missile deck. Heero quickly scrambled to the red mech despite the cold that was penetrating his soaked body and pulled the unconscious Zechs from the seat.
Suddenly, Starscream began to stir.
"I...feel...wrong. Something's...changed."
Before the psychotic robot could fully stand up, Heero quickly activated the bypass Howard had mentioned on the Decepticon's brain.
With a final gasp, Starscream settled back on the deck.
Heero lay in the unfamiliar cockpit for a long time, before a face appeared over the rim. Duo.
"Well buddy. It's over."
"No," Heero gasped. "it's only just begun." And with that, he succumbed to the fatigue.
AUTHOR NOTES
Do ya' like it? Because I do.
CHAPTER NOTES:
Personally, I love these little trains of thought for Starscream.
These profiles were a bit hard to write. In them I am trying to express my own feelings for the two most popular Decepticons, who are both complex characters. My beliefs about them are a mix of facts from the comics and TV show, and a few fanfics and my own gut feelings. Sorry to those who don't like them. Anyone interested can rest assured that in the next two chapters I will delve a bit deeper into both of their psyches.
I lifted the damage Genesis took and the reason she is not destroyed by the missile impact straight from the novel of Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy.
From what I've seen in the GW TV series, missiles can be used both above and underwater, as fast and agile weapons. Torpedoes are slower, but bigger and more powerful and better suited to underwater warfare.
Heero can work every mobile suit ever built and that involves the Cancer and Aquarius, which are essentially submarines and must be fitted with sonar. Since the equipment involved is very complex Heero is thus best suited to operate it on the Genesis.
I've worked out a rather long backstory on why Duo's interested in subs and how his father captained one but Duo managed to be born and raised in space. If anyone's interested in this feel free to e-mail for the full story.
This is pretty much how many people in a sub's control room to run it, because most controls are dedicated to working the weapons, and Genesis is, of course, unarmed. The US Navy has a nuclear research sub called the NR-1 which has a crew of less than twenty and is piloted by just two men, pilot (captain) and co-pilot.
'Ghosting' a weapon fitted with sonar involves firing sonar pulses at it at the same second its pulse hit you. Its navigation receives back multiple or 'Ghost' targets and it often locks onto the wrong one. It's an incredibly skilled art, rather than science and of all the Gundam boys, I expect Heero is the only one capable.
Some will argue that the missile could not have hit Deathscythe because Gundamium does not show up on Radar. This is because of its non-electro conductive properties, like the materials on stealth jets. However, Sonar is a difference system. The Gundanium would absorb the sonar pulses, and would thus appear as a massive blank patch in a sea of sound (ice cracking, colliding, the propellers of the Genesis) and the torpedo would identify such a blank spot as a target trying to hide. In a clam, warm sea, which would be very quiet in comparison, the missile might well miss it.
'Akula' is the Soviet designation for Typhoon-class submarines. It means 'Shark'. Fitting, no?
The use of Ice Keels (upside-down, underwater mountains of ice) as means of avoiding targets and fighting a submarine war, was inspired by the novel 'Raise the Red Dawn,' another good Cold War-novel by Bart Davis. I know, I know. Red Dawn, Red October. Those Soviets had such original and varied names for their subs don't they?
Heero's feat is undoubtedly superhuman, especially in polar conditions, but he is just that.
The fact that the Gundams can operate underwater suggests that they are fitted with air locks in case of an emergency while underwater or possibly in space.
The description of Relena as a 'radiant vision' sickens even me, the guy who wrote this tripe, but that is how she might appear to Heero on the verge of death, and possibly such a thing would galvanise him to power on, to do the impossible.
Once again, Zechs and Starscream are talking to each other. If you've seen 'The Lord of the Rings; The Two Towers' this might remind you of the Gollum/Smeagol conversations, especially with Zechs fighting Starscream's influence.
A beautiful mental image; the mighty Genesis, flying into the sky, with Wing Zero leaping off her bow in mid air. The reason I go for big, dramatic actions like this is because I think like a director, everything I write or read, I envision on the silver screen. This would look good I think.
Zechs briefly manages to seize control of Starscream's body in a moment of extreme passion. Does any hard-core TF fan know if this is possible in a binary bonding relationship.
Shot in the head with his own weapon. How ironic.
Trying to write Heero showing any kind of emotion is hard, but I think this moment of grief came across well. The perfect soldier is still there however, and Heero easily slips back into that cold, calm persona, but we now know he can feel deep emotion at times, like that time in Endless Waltz where we see him laughing happily, not maniacally, during his flashback..
Starscream feels that something's changed within him. This is a by-product of installing the Zero System to him and will be explained in the next chapter.
Speaking of that, I'd better call it quits now as it's half ten in the evening. Thankyou all my dedicated readers, and I hope you like this latest offering.
TILL ALL ARE ONE!