If Braids Could Kill... Chapter 4

As the days turned into weeks, I learned more about Operation Meteor - as Dekim Barton planned. A colony located in the L5 sector would be put out of balance - sending it careening towards the Earth. In theory, the colony would... er... land around the northern hemisphere. And, while the impact would not be enough to cause all life to cease, the colony would be enough to kill about a third of the world's population, allowing me and the other four Gundams to take the over the planet... all in the name of revenge.

As I said before, there was no way in hell I was gonna take part in that. As I saw it, I had about three options:

One? I steal Deathscythe - hard enough to do, considering that (aside from myself and Professor G), there were about 50 or so workers helping out with the fine-adjustments on my Gundam. Anyway, after I steal 'my' Gundam, I 'd head off to the headquarters of the Barton Foundation myself - colony L3 X-18999 - and finish this nonsense at the source.

Two? I steal Deathscythe and stop the colony from falling in the first place somehow - even during re-entry if possible.

Three? I steal Deathscythe, and... What? I like stealing. Anyway, worst case scenario? I'd ride my Gundam down after the colony impact and kill the other pilots, if necessary. If they had the same opinions as me, I guess we'd join up.

I may not have said this before, but I suck at planning.

And I like to steal.

Aside from that, there wasn't much I could think up. The days turned into weeks - the day of Operation Meteor was inching closer...

...and I still had no clue how to carry out any of those three ideas. Until, one day, a different idea finally came to me.

It turns out that there was a shipment of plastique explosives that hadn't been utilized in any way, shape or form. Within a day, I figured a way to use them: destroy Deathscythe. Ok, ok, so it wasn't quite as good as the other ideas, but there was no way I could figure out how I could actually use those other plans. And besides, if I took out the entire base, it just might throw Dekim's plans off enough for him to fail.

Besides, it's not like Professor G would just let me take Deathscythe, anyway.

---

Finally, the night before Operation Meteor arrived.

I wish I could say I was resolved to my apparently imminent death, but I wasn't. To be completely honest, I was shaking in my shoes and my heart banged against my ribcage.

After everyone went home for the night, I stayed to put the final preparations on my plan to finish off Deathscythe.

Walking out of the garage holding Deathscythe, I made my way over to the holding unit that had those explosives I mentioned – locked away in a closet of that unit. As I opened the door, I found that the explosives were just as I'd left them.

Within the half-hour, everything was ready. I figured placing the plastique about Deathscythe's body equally would set off the nuclear core powering the Mobile Suit, destroying everything in this base, if not the military colony we were based on. My job completed, I scampered off to 'hide.' Granted, there wasn't a place to hide if the explosives went off, but it made me feel safer.

"So..." my thoughts exited my mouth, as if to leave some form of lasting impression on the world, "This'll end everything, will it?"

I pressed the button on the detonator.

Nothing happened. I was shocked - what the hell happened?

"Why won't you explode?" Frustrated, I hit the detonation button repeatedly, as if that might help.

"Duo..."

Professor G? Whirling about, I saw Professor G - mushroom head and all - standing there, holding the detonator pins for the plastique. He let them fall to the floor, continuing, "Deathscythe is a piece of art... I'm not about to let you blow it up."

I remember standing my ground, "I won't let my buddy here," I paused to jerk a thumb in the direction of Deathscythe, "be used as a pawn for mass murder."

Without asking, the old guy reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the other item I'd brought along with me - a pistol. He grinned grimly, "You were gonna kill me if this didn't work?"

I must have looked resigned to my fate - I knew something bad was gonna happen to me in one form or another... "If Operation Meteor gets carried out, it'll be the end of peace for everyone - if I can stop that, or even slow it down, I'd gladly be the God of Death any day."

A smile snuck up the elderly man's face as he said something that shocked me completely: "Then why don't you outsmart me, Duo? Why don't you steal Deathscythe?" He tossed my pistol back at me - I caught it and pocketed it, "Forget Operation Meteor - go to Earth on your own. Of course, go as the God of Death."

I smiled as I walked back to the Deathscythe to remove the explosives from his armor, "God of Death sounds a hell of a lot better than 'Mass Murderer.'"

---

I climbed into the cockpit of Deathscythe - and there was a note waiting for me on the console. I read:

"Duo, you may not be a part of Operation Meteor anymore, but I have one last mission for you: Destroy the main motor in the Alliance's North American Weapons Factory. Beware, though. Not all the Alliance is 'evil' - your main target is the sub-division named Oz. They alone are responsible for most, if not all, of the problems in space. Get them before they get you.

Also, when you finish that 'mission,' there's a man named Howard living near Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. Find him, and he'll take care of you and Deathscythe.

Good luck."

Grinning wide, strapped myself in, "Look out Earth, here comes the God of Death!"

I flipped the three switches that started up Deathscythe's core, and it felt comfortable hearing the steady hum in the background as I saw lights turn on and systems activate.

I think I should tell you folks out there what the control scheme for Deathscythe is right now. Basically, there's two foot pedals - left foot and right foot; pressing hard on them makes 'him' run, pushing softly walks. On either side of my 'command chair' there are two joysticks. Those allow me to do things like use the scythe, fire off my projectile shield-thing, or anything else I can think of. Also, there are random buttons on control consoles in the cockpit - some for radio contact, one for activating those radar-jamming 'Hyper Jammers,' and even a Self-detonation device in case I'm captured by the enemy.

Of course, I don't wanna use that button right away - I don't plan on dying anytime soon.

Pushing the foot pedals forward, I made Deathscythe stand up, making one last system check. All green.

I turned on the external P.A. system with the flick of a switch, saying one last goodbye, "Thanks, Professor G!"

With that, I moved Deathscythe over towards the re-entry capsule that would take me to Earth.

This capsule wasn't like those escape pods you see in sci-fi movies - it was large. And it kinda looked like those eggs that pantyhose comes in... Anyway, the hatch on the side of the egg-thing was open, and Deathscythe slid inside perfectly.

Pressing three buttons on me right made the hatch close, and the launch countdown began. I quickly input the coordinates of the Alliance base I was to attack and sat back as the computer did the rest.

As the egg rumbled to life, I couldn't help but wonder: Would those other Gundam pilots rebel against Operation Meteor like I am? Would Dekim go through with that insane plan? Hell, would I even make it through the atmosphere?

The pod slid out into open space, and adjusted itself for Earth. I sat back in my seat and slowly drifted off to sleep as the rockets fired - sending me and the machines to the blue and green planet below.