ESCAPADE
By Zeionia a.k.a. Disturbed
Three months after the Mariemaia Incident, a new and horrible age dawned on the lives of man. A bullet in the head ended the president's life—killer unknown. The United Earth Sphere was thrown headfirst into chaos.
The government, wishing to show strength in the face of adversity, invented a war crimes tribunal. The tribunal began trying former soldiers in the name of peace. The families of these men and women protested violently. The tribunal switched directions. It pardoned the common soldiers who committed war crimes and focused its attentions on the infamous gundam pilots.
As a result, a series of controversial cases concerning the actions of the five teenage terrorists during Operation Meteor and the Mariemaia Incident came to life. These hearings were nick-named the Gundam Trials. Despite the noble efforts of Minister of Defense Lady Une and Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian to stop the prejudiced suits the Gundam Trials proceeded.
The eve of the Gundam Trials brought an unexpected delay. An explosion in the prison housing the five gundam pilots resulted in their disappearance. The tribunal was prepared to continue the trials without them. The public rioted; such an action directly violated the constitution laid down by the new government.
In attempt to mend relations to the public, the tribunal agreed to delay the trials for one year. The Gundam Trials would recommence immediately if any of the pilots were found before that time. The extra year gave Minister Une and Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian time they needed to work on the pilots' case.
The Preventer Agency found Wufei first—two days before the deadline ended. His capture threw a wrench in the works, postponing the trial until a suitable courtroom and toughened guards were found. In the following two weeks, both Quatre and Trowa miraculously appeared in Preventer sights. It was never determined if the gundam pilots placed themselves in positions to be found or if Minister Une and her agents hid the presence of the pilots. Yet again, a bigger courtroom and more guards were needed.
The ruckus once again drew public eye to the matter. The government now had to deal with interfering media, protesters and supporters. During these few chaotic months preventers captured Duo, causing even more setbacks and delays.
Seventeen months later than planned, the Gundam Trials officially restarted. A panel of thirteen judges listened to the arguments behind close doors. The final vote was close, 8 to 5, but they hadn't reached a decision on the punishment. The pilots were jailed indefinitely.
The prison was a block of steel 125 meters by 125 meters and roughly one story tall. Beneath the six feet of steel was a layer of granite 60 meters deep. Impossible to break out of from any direction. The hallway leading into the middle of the complex a straight shot except for three doors. One door closed the inside to the outside world. The second door, thirty meters in, had six guards posted around it. The third and final door was guarded by a single soldier—the one with the worst luck apparently—who sat on the opposite side from the cells.
In the very center of the complex were five cells, four of them occupied by people and one by strange and disturbing machinery. A winch system embedded around each cell lifted the heavy gundanium bars. The dim lighting that never switched off, the lack of windows, and the forbiddance of all electronics, including watches, gave the place a surreal sense of time.
"Hey guess what?" said Michael. Michael was the youngest guard for the gundam pilots and the most humane. The four captives humored his belief that they were kind people.
"What?" inquired Quatre dutifully. The blonde remained his kind self—in front of Michael. The other guards wished they were so lucky.
"My superiors informed me of 01's capture," the young boy said excitedly. "They're bringing him in this afternoon!" Stony silence filled the prison. "Is something the matter?" Michael asked hesitantly.
"We're fine," said Duo. "So they finally got Heero, eh? I'm surprised."
Michael looked into Duo's cell and nodded. "Yeah, me too. See that whole deal with the wires over there," Michael pointed at the fifth cell and continued, "it was especially designed by Dr. J to keep him in there."
"How awful," commented Quatre.
Michael seemed confused. "What's so bad about that?"
"That cell is Dr. J's design." Wufei explained, "J betrayed Heero by telling the new government how to build that cell."
"Oh."
"People are coming Michael. You should return to your post," said Trowa quietly.
"Really?" Michael looked around. "How do you know?"
"We can hear the footsteps," explained Quatre. "Hurry or they will ask questions."
Michael looked at the L4 pilot about to speak. Quatre motioned him onward, and the guard walked back down the hall to his seat beside the second door. A few moments later, the metal door slid open and five soldiers walked in with a white something floating between them. The gundam pilots couldn't see down the dimly lit, fifty meters to the door. "What is that?" they heard Michael ask.
The captain looked at him. "That is this containment unit built for the transport of 01."
Michael knocked on the containment unit. It looked like a floating coffin. "So he's in that thing? Can I see him?"
One of the other soldiers snorted. "You'll get to see him when we plug him into his cell."
"Plug?" inquired Michael. "That sounds wrong."
The captain pulled Michael aside and said softly, "I would never condone what we are about to do. It's as wrong as it sounds."
The voices were getting louder, Duo determined, so that meant the group was getting closer. Finally, they came into view. The captain put a number into the keypad and the bars slid open. The gundam pilots looked on in silence as the unit holding Heero floated past them. The containment unit was clearly made of gundanium alloy.
"Is everything ready?" asked the captain.
"Sir, all of the equipment is functioning properly."
"Open the casket."
The four pilots stood and leaned against their cell bars to watch the soldiers. Michael was standing on tip toe to catch a glimpse of the pilot 01 over the men who were placing the terrorist in his cell.
A man screamed and fell to the floor. The man was cradling a bloody stump where his hand once was. One of the soldiers put the bleeding man on the unit and started floating him down the hall. The captain punched in a code and the bars in front of Heero's cell closed.
"Where's the nearest medical team?" the captain demanded.
"At the training base," said Michael.
"Good lord," Duo said weakly. The other gundam pilots, who had been watching the dark corridor, directed their attention to Heero. Wufei gasped in shock and slumped against the wall. Heero was encased in metal. Both his hands and both his feet were covered in gundanium shells that had been snapped shut; one of the cases had a bloody streak on it, testament to how the soldier had lost his hand. There was a metal strap around his torso and something similar to a muzzle covering Heero's nose, mouth and part of his neck. A few minutes later Michael walked down the hall.
"Ew," said the guard. "That's disgusting."
"What's all the stuff for?" asked Trowa.
Michael looked at a clipboard he was carrying. "It's got a full life support system that will keep him alive indefinitely and it's got an electric shock system that will…keep him in a coma indefinitely. That's horrible."
"A shock system?" asked Duo.
"It delivers an electric shock every few days that basically kills him. It's like being trapped in stasis, forever."
"That's it," said Quatre. "That was the decision of the trials we'll stay in here until we die. That simple."
"I'm sorry," said Michael.
"Oh it's not your fault," said Duo. "But I think I'd rather die than stay here forever."
"You can't," whispered Michael. "Part of our duties are to prevent suicide attempts."
"We'll just wait and die," said Wufei. "Nothing else for it. Michael what day is it?"
"January 22nd AC198."
The gundam pilots stared at him. "Trowa and I have been here for nearly a year," Quatre murmured. "Just a few more days."
"I'm sorry," Michael said again. He retreated down the hall leaving the five gundam pilots to think about their future in the gloom.
Heero stirred. There was something different now. But he couldn't tell what it was. Electricity coursed through him and blackness swallowed him again.
Duo looked up. "Did you guys see that?" he asked.
"Don't tell me you've gone insane Maxwell," said Wufei.
Trowa snorted. "He's already insane."
"I could've sworn I saw Heero move," the braided boy protested.
Quatre laughed bitterly. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed it before."
The other pilots looked in the blonde boy's cell. Maybe it was Quatre who was going insane. "He's moved slightly before the last five shocks."
"Why didn't you say anything before?" demanded Duo. "If he wakes up…."
"If I told you, you would get excited and blab. These new guards are definitely not like Michael."
The corridor grew silent again. They hadn't seen Michael in ages. None of them were quite sure why. But then again, none of them knew how long it had been since the only kind guard had stopped coming.
There it was, that strange feeling. Heero struggled toward it. It was something other than blackness. Something he hadn't known in a long time. He ignored the shock that tried to put him to sleep, he had seen something. The second the computer realized he hadn't fallen unconscious it sent a second stronger shock. Heero's heart stopped and he fell into darkness once more.
"I saw that," said Wufei. Heero had just gone through a major convulsion. Once Duo and Quatre showed Trowa and the Chinese pilot that Heero did move the group of four had taken turns watching him. So far, there had been seventy noticeable occurrences where 01 fidgeted.
"Do you think he's waking up more often?" asked Duo. "Cause if he is that means he might wake up all the way."
"We won't know until he becomes fully conscious," said Trowa softly.
He could hear someone, possibly Duo, speaking softly. The other boy was cursing. If they were here too then maybe, he would be allowed to wake up. The shocks came and went and came again. But he would not give up. That was when the zero system, deeply embedded in the recesses of his mind, took over. It translated the shocks into information and energy. Then the electricity stopped coming and the systems fell into dormancy.
"Look it stopped," he heard Duo say. "I guess Heero's out of it again."
No! He was alive! The life support system backed up. He was drowning in air. The mask would have to be pulled off, but he was stuck in gundanium. He strained against the gundanium trapping his arms. There, it was broken. He reached up, tore the mask off and gasped for air.
"Heero?" Duo called to him.
Slowly 01 opened his eyes. The others were there. "What?" His voice was harsh as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.
"He's alive, he's awake, he's real!" yelled Duo. "Heero! You have to stop the bleeding."
Heero blinked at the other pilot then looked at his arms. His hands, wrists, and forearms were covered in blood, but the bleeding stopped as soon as he called his attention to it.
"How did you do that?" Trowa asked softly.
"I didn't," Heero's voice grated against his own ears. He started to fiddle with the metal band that held him upright. "Where are we?" There was no way to get it off he would have to break it too.
"No clue," said Duo. "In a containment prison in the middle of nowhere I guess."
Heero grunted. Wufei narrowed his eyes. "You aren't going to break out of that too, are you?"
Heero ignored the question and braced his hands against the wall. The gundanium chest plate began to creak, as did the wraps on his legs. 'If I'm going to get rid of it,' he told himself, 'I might as well get rid of it all.' The metal exploded outward in shards and all four gundam pilots dived to the back of their cells.
Quatre opened his eyes. "That solved the problem of the bars," he muttered. Quatre squeezed out of the hole the gundanium shrapnel had made.
"That was so cool!" said Duo.
"Heero, are you alright?" asked Trowa.
He groaned and pushed himself up. The holes and cuts on his chest and legs sealed. "I'm fine."
Wufei looked at Duo. "When we get outside I'll pay you your fifty dollars."
"Fifty dollars?" Heero inquired.
"Hey what are you five doing out of your cells?" The guard on duty demanded. "Wait, there should only be four-
That was as far as he got before Quatre broke his neck. "I'll take those." He bent over, picked up the keys, and turned to the others. Heero looked mildly surprised. "These guards have been tormenting us for who knows how long, killing him was not upsetting in the least," said Quatre.
Heero shrugged, "Lead the way."
Heero typed away at the laptop in the jeep. "We'll need to get in touch with Une, Zechs or Relena before we do anything," he said.
"Great, we'll just waltz into the Preventer Building and ask to meet with Une. We're wanted criminals," said Duo.
"At this point we're imprisoned terrorists actually," Trowa pointed out.
Duo wrinkled his nose and Heero continued. "According to these files Une is retired. We can just go to her house in Jeb."
"In Jeb?" Wufei inquired. "Just how do you plan to get us there?"
Heero looked at him. "Not that hard to hot-wire a car is it?"
Quatre reached out and pressed the doorbell. Lady Une's house was actually a small mansion. A maid opened the door. "Yes?" The girl inquired. "Who is it?"
"We're boy scouts, selling popcorn," said Duo. "Can we speak to the owner of the house, er, mansion?"
The girl blinked at them. "Let me ask, stay there please." The girl closed the door.
"Selling popcorn?" asked Trowa.
Duo shrugged. "Had to say something."
The door opened and the girl gestured for them to enter. "Lady Une has company," she said. "But she'd love to buy some popcorn, come on in. This way please."
The maid led them through the house to the back parlor. When they saw the company Lady Une had Duo piped up, "This makes everything so much easier."
Noin fainted into Zechs' arms. Lady Une said weakly, "Hilary, you may leave."
Startled, the maid glanced at Une and walked out of the room. Relena, Sally, Dorothy and Mariemaia stared in shock at the five gundam pilots- Zechs was too busy trying to revive Noin to stare.
"No offense," said Duo. "But you guys look, well, old."
Sally walked over and poked Wufei's shoulder. "They're real," she said.
Heero looked at them suspiciously. "How long have we been in that prison?"
"On this day… you were," Relena seemed to choke. "It's been … It's been fifty years."
The gundam pilots stared at her, then at the other people in the room.
"Wow," said Trowa. "Didn't seem like it."
Alright, some notes on this story.
This was originally going to be a long and involved thing like most of my stories but it kind of died. I had written about this much before I lost my inspiration, so I transformed it to the best of my abilities and tolerance. This escapade of my imagination became a one-shot. (Probably the only one-shot I will ever write.)
The End. Good-bye.