10-Jun-2003
Back to 'Sidestory: North Star'
Heero clutched the compass to his chest as he sat trembling in his seat. He entered the new information he had received from Duo into the computer and punched in the coordinates to the L5 resource satellite into his navcom unit before sitting back in his chair. He felt slightly stupefied at what had just happened. It was dreamlike the way Duo floated into the hanger, his helmet tucked under his arm, and his braid swirling around him as if controlled by invisible strings. It was as if the past had never happened and they were simply back at the same point where he had first realized how much Duo meant to him. And it had taken every fiber of his being to control the impulse to reach out to Duo and crush him to him. He could still feel the trembling in his arms from where he had been tensing his fists while they spoke.
The simple truth was no matter what had happened in the past between them and no matter how hard he tried to move past it, he would never love anyone the way he loved Duo.
He brought up the music files stored in Wing's database and hit a random choice. He wasn't one to listen to music while he flew but he had the overwhelming urge to drown out the thoughts racing through his head. Some soothing Mozart or Bach was just what he needed to cool his heated blood after seeing Duo in that old jump post hanger. But unfortunately what he got instead, was another song that screamed with memories from his past with Duo. He could only half-heartedly curse himself for ever allowing Duo access to Wing's hard-drive in the first place. [1]
He let the song play as he went over the details from his original mission plan and sent word to J that he had teamed up with Duo to retrieve some mecha parts for a third party sympathizer. He didn't really care if J was against it or not. He was basing the change on the most sensible reason; to help their side win.
Or was it to do anything he possible could to keep Duo nearby? He cursed again and slammed off the music.
~*~
"Christ kid, where have you been, you're twenty minutes late reporting in!"
Duo rolled his eyes as he watched Howard shoo the rest of the guys out of his office aboard Peacemillion. "Hey Howie, yeah... I know, but Heero took a little more convincing than just a please do this for me."
"But he agreed?"
"Of course."
Howard laughed as he spun around in his leather chair and straightened his sunglasses. "I knew you had it in ya, kid. So you two back together then?"
Duo frowned and looked away from the vid screen. "Howard, he's been through a lot and so have I. At this point I'm lucky I didn't get shot on site. So get off my back, k?"
"But you do remember." Howard leaned forward and let the shades slip down the bridge of his nose. "Don't you."
Duo quirked a small smile and closed his eyes, remembering the way Heero looked in the hanger just moments earlier. "No I don't remember anything more than I did before. But I listened to my heart anyway. So now, you prying old buzzard, get off my case." Before Howard could protest, he clicked off the connection and set his course to meet up with Heero at the resource satellite.
Wufei watched as the information scrolled across his screen and set a course right away. As soon as it was laid in, he sent an urgent message to both Quatre and Trowa. Heero was walking right into a deathtrap and he figured that Duo would be right behind him, despite what he had said about going his own way.
Fifteen minutes later his communications screen blinked and he flicked on his vid; seeing Quatre's serious face. "Winner, you got my message then."
"Yes, but Trowa and I are still earthside and despite our preparation, Heavyarms took a hit and is down for repairs in the Magunacs hidden base for at least twenty-four hours."
"Is Barton all right?"
"Yes. He's pretty ticked off, but not hurt."
Wufei quirked a tiny smile at that. "Good. I will continue to try to raise them, but I have been encountering some strong magnetic currents, which are blocking out my attempts of hailing them. Neither Heero, nor Duo, are aware that the so called abandoned resource satellite is actually crawling with Oz troops from the L5 colony quadrant."
"How did this happen?"
"Apparently the Intel that was received was not from a verified source. I have eliminated that issue." Wufei scowled as he clicked on his long-range scanners. "The only thing I was able to get out of the traitor was that both Heero and Duo were on route to L5, somewhere near L5-8572."
"Have you contacted G or J?"
Wufei frowned and had to bite his tongue to keep himself from cursing at the mention of the mad doctors. "No. But I have heard from Howard. That is how I know Duo is on route there. Apparently Howard thought that by getting Heero and Duo to work together on this that somehow they could sort out their... personal differences."
"It was a nice thought."
"Meddling fool."
Quatre smiled. Wufei wanted things to work out for them as well. They all did, but also knew it had to happen in it's own time. "Wufei, I feel like I should have gone with him. I've almost lost him twice. [2] He paused taking a deep, shuttering breath then turned back to Wufei's unwavering composure. "So just what are they walking into out there?"
Wufei shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know. I will contact you as soon as I heard from them. 05 out."
Duo tapped at the controls. He was getting some strange read out and assumed it was because of the magnetic properties of the resource satellite he was heading to. He clicked off the worst of them and turned the communications unit on, scanning for Heero's frequency. When all he got was earsplitting static, he tried the IM. But after several long minutes of watching the cursor blink, he gave up and shut that off too.
"Well buddy. Let's hope Wing's as good in the dark as you and I are." He switched to infrared and doubled checked his co-ordinates for a soft spot to land. He still had a little time and was trying to make up his mind about what to do next. He could do the mission and avoid getting into it with Heero or take destiny for a wild ride and pounce him when they got there.
"Sir, we have incoming."
"What? No one knows we're here! That's impossible."
"We picked him up on our long range scanners Sir. We believe it could be a Gundam, Sir. What do you want us to do?"
Rourke glanced up to the monitors above his head in the control room to check on the progress of his men's drilling. They were so close to retrieving the ore they needed to complete their newest weapon. The thick, red powder billowed up around the equipment while sprays of water cooled the spinning drill as it dug down into the rocky surface of the satellite. "Damn red rock. It shouldn't have taken this long. If we could just break through the last bit of rock to the ore we could abandon this godforsaken rock and head back to civilization."
"We don't have enough to fill the quota, Sir. And if we mix it with the other chemicals in the wrong amounts, well the wrong balance and the whole thing could... "
"I know the risks, ensign. You need not remind of the volatile nature of the blasted concoction we're making. Whoever thought this would aid us in our battles against the colony rebels was either insane, or ignorant, or both. But it would be a most devastating weapon to threaten the colonies into submission."
"And the Gundam that's approaching?"
"Let him come. We have time still. As soon as we get what we need from here, we'll arrange for a little surprise to meet him on his arrival. He won't even know what hit him."
"Do you think that's wise? We haven't finished the testing of the chemical's affects; it could go terribly wrong. I recommend... "
Rourke turned a scathing glare on the young ensign cutting him short. "Thank you, but I am confident in my decision. This Gundam will be our test."
"Yes Sir. I'll order the evacuation of the non-essential personnel."
"Good. Start mixing the other chemicals. We'll add the ore just as we take off. He'll be so distracted with us that he'll never see the danger before it explodes. The blast will destroy even a Gundam, I'm quite sure of it."
He walked to the small round window with his hands neatly clasped behind his back and peered out at the glowing moon in the dark. "Yes, by God, there will be a red moon tonight, that I'm most certain of. And it will strike fear in the heart of even a Gundam."
End Part 9
Back to 'Sidestory: North Star'
Notes:
[1] Lonestar - by Nora Jones
[2] Refers to DTP Arc.
(:./ebony/red9)
