The standard disclaimer STILL applies. =)
Chapter 19
"Anything At All"
The skies above the Cinq capital where in complete pandemonium. The
remaining Gundam pilots had their work cut out from them as they streaked
through the sky trying to make their way through the chaos. Mobile suits
littered the air, firing and shooting thermal energy at them as debris exploded
and rained down on the ground below.
Though no mobile doll was spared, the defending Gundams had received their
own fare share of damages. Tallgeese had suffered the most; it had taken a
major hit to one of its main verniers, with no choice to rely on Sandrock Kai
and Andromeda to keep it airborne. One of Shenlong's dragonheads had
been dented beyond recognition, forcing Wufei to rely mostly on the other
as a main defense. Trowa's Gatling guns had long since run out of bullets
and still there had been no word from Arch Angel.
"Where could she be?" Milliardo ground his teeth in frustration.
"Her systems are still operatin'," Duo replied, plowing his way through
another Scorpio doll with the help of his thermal scythe. "She's just not
answering any of my calls." He grinned in satisfaction as the doll
disappeared within a fireball. "All right! The Great Shinigami sends yet
another enemy to Jingoku!"
Shenlong appeared beside him, its pilot appearing on his monitor with an
impatient look on his face. "Don't you ever get tired of spouting that
ridiculous crap?" he asked.
The American pilot only laughed. "Do you ever get bored of going on and on
about justice and integrity?" The Asian pilot appeared scandalized. "Guess
not."
Wufei muttered something under his breath that sounded remotely like an
insult.
Quatre's face soon appeared next to his. "What's the current enemy count,
guys?" he asked, his eyes constantly flitting to his monitor. "We're gonna
get swamped if we don't keep track of what's coming at us!"
Trowa slashed through a mobile doll aiming for Sandrock Kai and Andromeda,
who had been supporting the damaged Tallgeese III. "So far, I've taken out
21." he answered. "Duo?"
"Shinigami has eliminated 17 enemies from this plane." Duo replied with a
smug grin. "Howzabout you, Justice Man?"
Wufei's eyebrow twitched slightly before he answered with, "23."
"Damn!"
"Noin and I have managed to take out 15." Quatre responded. "Not bad,
considering."
"Yeah, but we're easy targets," Noin pointed out. "We can't risk them
attacking us like this."
"You two shouldn't worry about me," Milliardo replied with a frown. "I'll only
slow you down."
"No way, Zechs," she countered, firing at a doll with her head vulcans. "No
one's getting left behind. We'll take you back to base where Howard can
make a few repairs. You'll be back in the air in no time." She checked
her scope. "So far, we've all managed to take out 70 mobile suits. That's
only half a squadron."
Duo looked around to find the skies empty save for him and his
companions. "Well, where's the rest of them?" A blast hit him from behind,
sending his Gundam ramming into the ground.
"Duo!" Quatre called out.
"I'm okay--!" The ground was suddenly being strafed with shots. Death-
scythe maneuvered out of the way, quickly joining the others back in the
sky. Looking into the horizon, he was met with a startling sight.
"I suppose that answers the question about the rest of the squadron…" Noin
remarked.
At least 200 dolls were headed in their direction, beam cannons firing a
nonstop stream of blasts at them. Quick to react, the Gundams scattered,
positioning themselves to attack.
Wufei shot Duo a level glare. "You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?"
"Aw, come on, Wu-man," Duo replied. "They would've come whether I said
anything or not."
"There's too many of them!" Noin exclaimed, firing her beam cannon in a rapid
succession with one arm. "They'll overtake us!"
"She's right." Trowa replied. "We're outnumbered… we're no match for them
in this state."
"Crap! We can't give up yet!" Duo exclaimed. "The people are countin' on
us!" 'Hell… Hilde and Sally are countin' on us…' The German girl suddenly
came to mind, only to be squashed back down again. 'Not now, Duo… ya
gotta keep focused!'
"Duo, behind you!" Deathscythe activated its scythe, slicing the head off of a
Scorpio doll that had sneaked up from behind. Unfortunately, the shock wave
from the blast knocked the scythe away leaving him unarmed.
"Crap!" Duo took off after the scythe, catching it mid-air. Coming out of
his nosedive, he looked up to see five more dolls coming towards him.
"What is this, Pick on Duo Day?"
"Just leave them to me."
"What?" Duo blinked. "That voice…" No way; it couldn't be!
Wufei seemed just as startled as he was, pausing to look for the person who had
spoken. "Could it…?"
Quatre's eyes lit up in surprise. "It is!"
All eyes went to the west, where bathed in the dim light of the setting sun they
saw it. Buster rifle in hand, eyes gleaming, was Wing Gundam.
"I don't believe it!" Milliardo exclaimed.
The Scorpios in the area paused, assessing the presence of the new
Gundam before converging upon it, weapons raised. However, the Gundam
merely charged up its rifle and fired, sending them into oblivion.
The others were completely stunned.
After taking out another three suits with its beam saber, Heero appeared on
their monitors, looking every bit like the Perfect Soldier he'd always been.
However, there was a gleam in his eye that hadn't been seen before, a
spark of humanity.
"Where's the rest of the squadron?" he asked.
Aside from Duo made a gawking sound, no one made any move to reply.
Heero smirked lightly.
"Heero, what are you doing?" Quatre finally exclaimed. "You shouldn't be
fighting in your condition!"
"Don't worry, Quatre," he replied, though being mindful to keep his voice in
the same dull monotone lest he give one of the other pilots a heart attack.
"I'm fine."
"Then is your memory fully restored, Heero?" Noin asked hopefully.
"As good as it's going to be."
"Well, that's good to hear," Duo replied with a chuckle. "Seeing you as a
vegetable was startin' to really freak me out." He maneuvered Deathscythe
over towards Wing Zero, touching down beside it. Soon the others followed
suit. "So, now all that's left to do is settle that bit about the 100 credits that
exchanged hands between us not too long ago-"
CLANG! Shenlongs' dented dragon fang found its way over the back of
Deathscythe's head.
"Itaaii!! Wufei… what the hell…?"
"Baka!" Wufei exclaimed as he appeared on his monitor, a small vein
popping out on the side of his forehead. "How can you think of money at
a time like this!"
"Oi, Wu-man… I'm a businessman; a guy's gotta keep record of his funds
y'know…?"
"Actually," Both pilots turned their attention back to Wing Zero. "If you add
up all the interest that's accrued, you now owe me 200 credits."
Duo blinked incredulously. "Say what?" Heero was smirking again. "Don't
tell me this is a new thing for you? Sheesh… busted on twice in one
lifetime? It's the freakin' end of the world!"
Wufei couldn't help but laugh. "It appears justice has been served." He
tossed a nod to Heero. "It's good to have you back, Yuy."
Heero nodded back in return. He didn't have to tell them how good it felt… to
be whole again. But he was different this time - deep down he knew it; he
was definitely a changed man. How long would it take them to notice?
Wings took out its buster rifle, splitting it apart into two separate weapons.
It then charged them up to fire and obliterate a considerable amount of dolls.
"How is everyone holding up?" Heero asked.
"We're fine." Quatre responded. "But the main Scorpio is still out there
somewhere."
"Where?"
"In the center of the capital," Milliardo answered. "Relena is fighting against
her; we have to stop her."
Heero did well to hide his surprise. Relena was fighting? As in fighting in a
mobile suit, against the Gundam that had defeated him so easily? "Can you
guys finish up here?" he asked, his verniers already charging to take off.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Noin exclaimed. "What are you going to do?"
"We can handle things here, Heero," Trowa replied calmly. "Go to her."
Heero nodded and took off into the sky like that.
"Well, there he goes." said Quatre, a relieved smile on his face. "And to
think, that's all it took to get him back."
"He's different now," Trowa replied softly. "He's finally acting on his
emotions."
"It's no surprise, really," Duo replied offhandedly.
Wufei shot him a dubious look. "Oh really,"
"Oh, c'mon, Wu-man," 02 smirked at him knowingly. "You should know
what I'm talking about - it's like I've been saying for the longest… Anything
at all for the one you love."
Surprisingly enough - to the American pilot anyway - Wufei could think of
no response to that, his mind straying to his Preventer partner. 'Onna…
Sally… be safe… and wait for my return…'
Elsewhere, Heero flew on towards the main palace, Duo's words echoing
through his head.
~ Anything at all for the one you love… ~
~End of Chapter 19
Author's Notes -
Hello all! Thank you so much for all your reviews thus far! I've enjoyed
writing this fic (all though I did take somewhat of a *hiatus*..ahem...) and
I'm also pleased that you all have enjoyed it as well. I know some few
chapters back, I have no idea which one, tho, I said that I was three
chapters to the end.
Wufei - That was obviously a lie.
Quite right. However, I can assure you now that we are coming very close to reaching
the conclusion of "Heart of Space, Dove of Peace" (tho I don't know exactly
how many chapters are left... so... let's just say 4... maybe... for now) But,
until then, keep reading, writing, and reviewing! Ja ne! =)
Chapter 19
"Anything At All"
The skies above the Cinq capital where in complete pandemonium. The
remaining Gundam pilots had their work cut out from them as they streaked
through the sky trying to make their way through the chaos. Mobile suits
littered the air, firing and shooting thermal energy at them as debris exploded
and rained down on the ground below.
Though no mobile doll was spared, the defending Gundams had received their
own fare share of damages. Tallgeese had suffered the most; it had taken a
major hit to one of its main verniers, with no choice to rely on Sandrock Kai
and Andromeda to keep it airborne. One of Shenlong's dragonheads had
been dented beyond recognition, forcing Wufei to rely mostly on the other
as a main defense. Trowa's Gatling guns had long since run out of bullets
and still there had been no word from Arch Angel.
"Where could she be?" Milliardo ground his teeth in frustration.
"Her systems are still operatin'," Duo replied, plowing his way through
another Scorpio doll with the help of his thermal scythe. "She's just not
answering any of my calls." He grinned in satisfaction as the doll
disappeared within a fireball. "All right! The Great Shinigami sends yet
another enemy to Jingoku!"
Shenlong appeared beside him, its pilot appearing on his monitor with an
impatient look on his face. "Don't you ever get tired of spouting that
ridiculous crap?" he asked.
The American pilot only laughed. "Do you ever get bored of going on and on
about justice and integrity?" The Asian pilot appeared scandalized. "Guess
not."
Wufei muttered something under his breath that sounded remotely like an
insult.
Quatre's face soon appeared next to his. "What's the current enemy count,
guys?" he asked, his eyes constantly flitting to his monitor. "We're gonna
get swamped if we don't keep track of what's coming at us!"
Trowa slashed through a mobile doll aiming for Sandrock Kai and Andromeda,
who had been supporting the damaged Tallgeese III. "So far, I've taken out
21." he answered. "Duo?"
"Shinigami has eliminated 17 enemies from this plane." Duo replied with a
smug grin. "Howzabout you, Justice Man?"
Wufei's eyebrow twitched slightly before he answered with, "23."
"Damn!"
"Noin and I have managed to take out 15." Quatre responded. "Not bad,
considering."
"Yeah, but we're easy targets," Noin pointed out. "We can't risk them
attacking us like this."
"You two shouldn't worry about me," Milliardo replied with a frown. "I'll only
slow you down."
"No way, Zechs," she countered, firing at a doll with her head vulcans. "No
one's getting left behind. We'll take you back to base where Howard can
make a few repairs. You'll be back in the air in no time." She checked
her scope. "So far, we've all managed to take out 70 mobile suits. That's
only half a squadron."
Duo looked around to find the skies empty save for him and his
companions. "Well, where's the rest of them?" A blast hit him from behind,
sending his Gundam ramming into the ground.
"Duo!" Quatre called out.
"I'm okay--!" The ground was suddenly being strafed with shots. Death-
scythe maneuvered out of the way, quickly joining the others back in the
sky. Looking into the horizon, he was met with a startling sight.
"I suppose that answers the question about the rest of the squadron…" Noin
remarked.
At least 200 dolls were headed in their direction, beam cannons firing a
nonstop stream of blasts at them. Quick to react, the Gundams scattered,
positioning themselves to attack.
Wufei shot Duo a level glare. "You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?"
"Aw, come on, Wu-man," Duo replied. "They would've come whether I said
anything or not."
"There's too many of them!" Noin exclaimed, firing her beam cannon in a rapid
succession with one arm. "They'll overtake us!"
"She's right." Trowa replied. "We're outnumbered… we're no match for them
in this state."
"Crap! We can't give up yet!" Duo exclaimed. "The people are countin' on
us!" 'Hell… Hilde and Sally are countin' on us…' The German girl suddenly
came to mind, only to be squashed back down again. 'Not now, Duo… ya
gotta keep focused!'
"Duo, behind you!" Deathscythe activated its scythe, slicing the head off of a
Scorpio doll that had sneaked up from behind. Unfortunately, the shock wave
from the blast knocked the scythe away leaving him unarmed.
"Crap!" Duo took off after the scythe, catching it mid-air. Coming out of
his nosedive, he looked up to see five more dolls coming towards him.
"What is this, Pick on Duo Day?"
"Just leave them to me."
"What?" Duo blinked. "That voice…" No way; it couldn't be!
Wufei seemed just as startled as he was, pausing to look for the person who had
spoken. "Could it…?"
Quatre's eyes lit up in surprise. "It is!"
All eyes went to the west, where bathed in the dim light of the setting sun they
saw it. Buster rifle in hand, eyes gleaming, was Wing Gundam.
"I don't believe it!" Milliardo exclaimed.
The Scorpios in the area paused, assessing the presence of the new
Gundam before converging upon it, weapons raised. However, the Gundam
merely charged up its rifle and fired, sending them into oblivion.
The others were completely stunned.
After taking out another three suits with its beam saber, Heero appeared on
their monitors, looking every bit like the Perfect Soldier he'd always been.
However, there was a gleam in his eye that hadn't been seen before, a
spark of humanity.
"Where's the rest of the squadron?" he asked.
Aside from Duo made a gawking sound, no one made any move to reply.
Heero smirked lightly.
"Heero, what are you doing?" Quatre finally exclaimed. "You shouldn't be
fighting in your condition!"
"Don't worry, Quatre," he replied, though being mindful to keep his voice in
the same dull monotone lest he give one of the other pilots a heart attack.
"I'm fine."
"Then is your memory fully restored, Heero?" Noin asked hopefully.
"As good as it's going to be."
"Well, that's good to hear," Duo replied with a chuckle. "Seeing you as a
vegetable was startin' to really freak me out." He maneuvered Deathscythe
over towards Wing Zero, touching down beside it. Soon the others followed
suit. "So, now all that's left to do is settle that bit about the 100 credits that
exchanged hands between us not too long ago-"
CLANG! Shenlongs' dented dragon fang found its way over the back of
Deathscythe's head.
"Itaaii!! Wufei… what the hell…?"
"Baka!" Wufei exclaimed as he appeared on his monitor, a small vein
popping out on the side of his forehead. "How can you think of money at
a time like this!"
"Oi, Wu-man… I'm a businessman; a guy's gotta keep record of his funds
y'know…?"
"Actually," Both pilots turned their attention back to Wing Zero. "If you add
up all the interest that's accrued, you now owe me 200 credits."
Duo blinked incredulously. "Say what?" Heero was smirking again. "Don't
tell me this is a new thing for you? Sheesh… busted on twice in one
lifetime? It's the freakin' end of the world!"
Wufei couldn't help but laugh. "It appears justice has been served." He
tossed a nod to Heero. "It's good to have you back, Yuy."
Heero nodded back in return. He didn't have to tell them how good it felt… to
be whole again. But he was different this time - deep down he knew it; he
was definitely a changed man. How long would it take them to notice?
Wings took out its buster rifle, splitting it apart into two separate weapons.
It then charged them up to fire and obliterate a considerable amount of dolls.
"How is everyone holding up?" Heero asked.
"We're fine." Quatre responded. "But the main Scorpio is still out there
somewhere."
"Where?"
"In the center of the capital," Milliardo answered. "Relena is fighting against
her; we have to stop her."
Heero did well to hide his surprise. Relena was fighting? As in fighting in a
mobile suit, against the Gundam that had defeated him so easily? "Can you
guys finish up here?" he asked, his verniers already charging to take off.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Noin exclaimed. "What are you going to do?"
"We can handle things here, Heero," Trowa replied calmly. "Go to her."
Heero nodded and took off into the sky like that.
"Well, there he goes." said Quatre, a relieved smile on his face. "And to
think, that's all it took to get him back."
"He's different now," Trowa replied softly. "He's finally acting on his
emotions."
"It's no surprise, really," Duo replied offhandedly.
Wufei shot him a dubious look. "Oh really,"
"Oh, c'mon, Wu-man," 02 smirked at him knowingly. "You should know
what I'm talking about - it's like I've been saying for the longest… Anything
at all for the one you love."
Surprisingly enough - to the American pilot anyway - Wufei could think of
no response to that, his mind straying to his Preventer partner. 'Onna…
Sally… be safe… and wait for my return…'
Elsewhere, Heero flew on towards the main palace, Duo's words echoing
through his head.
~ Anything at all for the one you love… ~
~End of Chapter 19
Author's Notes -
Hello all! Thank you so much for all your reviews thus far! I've enjoyed
writing this fic (all though I did take somewhat of a *hiatus*..ahem...) and
I'm also pleased that you all have enjoyed it as well. I know some few
chapters back, I have no idea which one, tho, I said that I was three
chapters to the end.
Wufei - That was obviously a lie.
Quite right. However, I can assure you now that we are coming very close to reaching
the conclusion of "Heart of Space, Dove of Peace" (tho I don't know exactly
how many chapters are left... so... let's just say 4... maybe... for now) But,
until then, keep reading, writing, and reviewing! Ja ne! =)