Chapter 2 / 37
Written by Jessi Maxwell - send C&C to Megami_no_Remon@hotmail.com
"Hey Mission, this is 02, ya read me?"
"Loud and clear. What's your status?"
"Ah, shit, you wouldn't believe what's going on out here, man. This base is hopping like you wouldn't believe."
"...Idiot. That doesn't tell me anything."
Duo smirked before pushing the button on his com. "What, jealous that you couldn't come out to play, 05? Not MY fault you got chopped up by a pack of marauding Leos and are down for repairs."
"Just give me your damn report."
"Yeah, yeah...the place is swarming with soldiers and things are...really weird. The power systems keep failing. I had to set my Shinigami down for a nap, he kept shutting down on me for no particular reason. And you should see the sky, man...There's this...his...cloud lookin' thing. It's black. It looks kinda like...a scar or something. OZ seems to be having power trouble too, and there are mobile suits EVERYWHERE...something's got them all up on their toes and for once it wasn't us."
Wufei paused to consider the news as he looked at some of the images Duo was sending over. Duo was right - the jagged black smoky line in the sky DID look something like a scar on a poorly healing wound. He made a mental note of several books and web sites he wanted to check to try and identify what it was. And Duo was right about the guard at the base - it looked as if every Mobile Suit OZ owned was barricading the place.
"Alright, 02...I'll look into the...anomaly in the sky. What are YOU doing?"
Wufei could almost hear Duo's happily maniacal grin. "I'm going inside to take a look, see what else happened."
"Don't be an idiot, you'll get yourself killed. Get out of there. They're on too high of alert."
"Pfft, yeah, for a normal person. You forget who I am. I'll call ya back if I find something. 02 out!"
"Hey! Wait!...02!...02, come in...do you copy?...dammit..." Wufei punched off his com unit angrily. Leave it to Duo to run off and do something stupid. // Braided baka, he'll get himself killed. //
~ * ^ * ~
Duo grinned as he slid through the shadows, silent as a ghost. Sneaking past the perimeter of mobile suits had been easier than he expected, and getting into the base was pretty easy too. Especially when he learned that half the surveillance cameras seemed to have been fried. // Some sort of freak electrical storm or something I guess. Ah, well. Let's have a look around, shall we? Knock knock, Shinigami's come to visit...! //
With another grin Duo crept down the hallway. His grin widened even further - if that were possible - when he noted a lone guard striding down the hallway. A few moments later Duo was striding much more confidently down the middle of the hall in a 'borrowed' OZ uniform, his braid tucked under his shirt. With all the activity in the base, no one seemed to pay him much attention.
Duo rounded the corner and head into the repair bay. He barely withheld a gasp as he registered exactly what the torn pile of crimson scrap metal had to be. "Holy shit..." he mumbled weakly.
"Excuse me?"
Duo whirled in alarm and barely refrained from poking his gun into the newcomer's face. The man was obviously one of the technicians working in the repair bay, judging from his outfit and the pile of bolts he was carrying. "Er...I just...hadn't seen it for myself yet. What happened to Epyon?"
The tech shrugged a bit. "No one knows, the investigation is confidential. But something shredded it apart and the rest was done when it crash landed."
Duo whistled softly. "Man...that's nuts...what has that kind of power?"
"Eh. I don't know. The chiefs are keeping this under lock and key."
Duo had a sudden thought, one that disturbed him on several levels. "What about Zechs?"
The tech shrugged. "Last I heard he was still in critical condition, but they think he's going to make it. He got out before the big crash at the end."
Duo nodded absently. "Uh...thanks for your time." Before the tech could say much else, he had slipped off down the hallway. He went into a side room that appeared unoccupied and closed the door, leaning back against the wall. // Holy shit... something is out there that took out ZECHS...he's one of the best pilots I know. *I* wouldn't even want to fight him if I could avoid it...he'd probably kick my ass. And he's supposedly here in a hospital bed maybe dyin'?...Shit. What are we up against? ....Eh. At least it's attacking OZ and not us. For now. //
Duo paused in his internal dialogue and sat, musing for a moment, before his grin spread back across his face. // Well, I suppose I could always sneak in and ask th' old Lightning Count himself what happened. It's not like he can do much to me if he's in traction. //
His course of action decided, Duo made his way back down the hall. After a bit of nosing around, he was able to locate a computer terminal and find himself a map of the base. Soon he was on his way again, though he was more cautious now. This far inside the base, things seemed to be running much more smoothly, and he didn't want to have to fight his way out.
// What am I doing? Wufei is right. I probably AM an idiot. If someone catches on to me, I'll never get out of here alive...eh. I'm in too deep now anyways. Might as well press on. No guts, no glory! //
Spurred on by his mental pep talk, Duo continued along into the base's medical wing. Despite all the activity, the wing seemed largely empty. Apparently, whatever had attacked hadn't damaged much of anything else except Epyon.
Duo had to wait patiently, hidden behind a large cart of medical supplies, as the nurses meandered in and out of Zechs' room. He was beginning to get tired of waiting and a cramp was biting at his thigh when he finally heard what he had wanted to from one of the nurses.
"...and he should be sleeping peacefully for a while. We can take a break; he's in no immediate danger."
Duo waited another few moments before he slipped into Zechs' room. He quietly locked the door behind him. Then he turned to take a good look at Zechs.
"Aw, man..." he mumbled to himself. Somehow, the sight of Zechs Merquise lying so broken and near death tugged at Duo's heart. Zechs may be the enemy, but he'd treated them all with respect. It was hard to really even call him an enemy, given all that had happened. //And its such a shame to see something that good lookin' so fucked up...// Duo lamented as he slid against the wall to a computer monitor. It was the work of a few seconds to make sure the camera in the room was feeding a loop of Zechs sleeping peacefully. //Oh well, business first. //
~ * ^ * ~
Zechs felt himself being slowly forced towards consciousness. A sharp pain pounded incessantly inside of his skull, and his entire body hurt. He noticed a cool, unfamiliar pressure against his temple and blearily opened his good eye. Clarity flooded into him abruptly and his body tensed, realizing that the cool metal was a silencer...attached to a gun...attached to Duo Maxwell.
"Good mornin', Zechsy, you an' me are gonna have a lil chat."