Stormfront

[Author's Note: Language warning, again. Still taking place between eps 11 and 17]

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep. Duo stumbled out of sleep and blearily fought for coherency, trying to remember what the alarm meant. His back hurt an awful lot, too...obviously falling asleep inside a mobile suit was not the greatest of ideas. He had been modifying the old Maganac suit just for the heck of it, and had needed to transfer data from Deathscythe -- a boring task, for he had managed to doze off in the process. He glanced at the download window on the left screen. Finished half an hour ago. Oh well. But there was still that beeping...
Realization almost made him fall out of his seat. A mission notice! He hastily turned to the right-hand screen. An image appeared of an older man with a mushroomcap-style of gray hair on his head and a nose half the length of his arm. The man wore a white lab coat and an impatient scowl. "It's about time. I was almost starting to worry that Deathscythe had been destroyed."
"Sorry, Prof," Duo replied sheepishly. "By the way, Shinigami isn't ready to give up yet."
"It's good to know you and your ego are in perfect health." Professor G rolled his eyes, then became serious again. "This isn't exactly a mission. There are some strange reports from south-eastern Africa and I would like you to investigate -- preferably without Deathscythe, but that risk is up to you. Go as soon as is safely possible."
"Roger."
"G, out."
The image closed. Duo brought up a map that had been included in the message. It outlined the region related to the reports -- jungle areas around the Congo and also near the perimeters of open grasslands. Well, this looks like an adventure, he mused to himself. Then he yawned. And 'as soon as safely possible' can wait until daylight. He climbed down from Deathscythe and sleepily made his way up the stairs toward his room.

Sunlight played in and out as clouds flowed capriciously across the sky beyond the window of Quatre's computer room. The boy sitting at the desk heeded the ebbing light with little concern. I wish it would rain, but I know very well it won't. He typed a command into the computer and didn't get the response he wanted from it. He sighed and rose, leaving the screen as was, protesting the command. Something....something to suit my mood... He took his violin from the side table he had last abandoned it on and tuned it slightly. He only managed a short, slow melody before lowering the instrument; his heart just wasn't in the music this time.
As he set it back on the table belated clapping came from the doorway. He glanced over at Duo with a half-frown, which the other boy ignored as he strolled over to the compter. "Still haven't been able to find them, huh?" Duo commented as he glanced at the screen. He already knew of several failed attempts to contact the other gundam pilots.
"Not a trace...They've simply vanished." Quatre sank down on the chair and closed the search windows.
Duo yawned. "Nothin' else come up?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing, nevermind." The braided boy yawned again and stretched. "Look, I've got an errand to run -- but I'll be coming back here afterward if you don't mind me imposing on your hospitality some more. I'll be going with Deathscythe, so you can keep that carrier. Don't worry about me, okay?" Duo grinned broadly. "Okay! I'm leaving tonight but I have a few adjustments to make before then so you won't see much of me anyway. Just so you know!" He made his way to the door as he was rambling and spoke the last words as he disappeared into the hall.
Quatre blinked, trying to digest all the words that had been flung at him. He then stood to swiftly follow after Duo. "Wait a minute! Don't you think it's too dangerous to go in the gundam? OZ is on the lookout for us and they now know the specifics for our individual suits...Duo!"
The braided pilot was already halfway down the steps to the hangar. He called back, "I told you, don't worry! Shinigami can take care of himself!" Quatre stopped at the top of the stairwell, ending his protests. He frowned then sighed and turned back to his room.

As promised he didn't see Duo again for the rest of the day...and soon to be longer. Around sunset an alert sounded from his desk indicating the hangar gate had been opened. He looked out the window in time to see Deathscythe scudding across a dune in a cloud of sand -- likely using the swirling dust as cover, imitating a small sandstorm. Quatre merely sighed. Well, he would have some peace and quiet for a while...Although...after a while the silence could drive one insane...
He turned to his computer and brought up the latest news report: OZ establishing communication with the space colonies while it took out the controlling Alliance groups. Quatre narrowed his eyes. Are the colonies completely unaware that OZ was prepared to destroy them if the gundams hadn't surrendered? Doesn't anyone there realize that OZ is using them in their power game? That OZ is not interested in their well-being? His hands clenched into fists on top of the desk. What was the purpose of the gundams?? We didn't actually accomplish anything, and now we're all helpless to do a thing except stand by and watch our homes be destroyed from within...

Duo had to force himself to stay awake and pay attention to piloting. It was a long trip by mobile suit, but he had decided it was easier to take cover this way -- and easier to fight if he had to. Still slow going, though. Too bad Deathscythe doesn't have a bird mode like Wing, he mused to himself as he steered toward a line of trees. Bat mode. He chuckled and carefully made his way through the trees, which were tall enough to just pass above Deathscythe's crown. "The marked area should be on the other side of this grove..." he murmured. As much as they provided cover, it was tough going through dense areas without ruining the foliage. Open spaces might not have had much cover but with few settlements there was less chance of military patrols! Except...except that as he cleared the treeline he saw bright explosions coming from the other side of the next grove of trees. Duo sighed, then took out the beamscythe and headed to check out the battle. There was no such thing as a quick, covert search mission when he was involved.
Deathscythe peered out from the dense foliage to judge sides first. Duo gaped when he saw the odds. Possibly twenty Aries and a dozen or so Leos were all attacking one suit -- or something that might have been one. He wasn't too sure. "What in Hell is that thing?! It's a freak of mechanical nature!" The red-violet suit had foreshortened arms close to the middle of its round torso while the sides sported six long appendages that waved about doing various damage -- all at the same time he witnessed one Aries sliced by a beam dagger, another impaled on a spike, and a Leo blasted apart by a missile. It was impressive, but unnerving all the same.
Then he noticed that the suit wasn't manuevering too well, as it took numerous hits from the Leos smart enough to stay out of range of the missiles. He smirked. He could take care of those...since the strange suit was obviously against OZ. He snuck around the battle completely unnoticed and mirthfully went about dicing up Leos.
Within the red-violet suit the pilot, a girl with dark skin wearing lightweight cotton shirt and pants and black hair bound in a colorful handkerchief, smiled wryly and muttered aloud in a soft alto, "These things are quite idiotic. They'd be better off with real pilots inside. Of course...that would make my job pointless." She spiked another Aries; since she was unaware that her comm system was disabled she never heard the scream that preceded the doomed suit's explosion. "Hum. The Leos stopped firing. I guess I finally got them all." Clickclick. "Out of missiles?" She frowned but continued directing the remaining beam daggers and heat spikes toward the last of the foolish Aries. Ten minutes more and all was done.
"What a mess," the girl sighed, staring at the pieces of mobile suits littering the ground. "The biggest problem with this is cleanup duty." She started hitting switches when an alert went off over the main screen. She rotated her suit's head to look. It was one hundred-eighty degrees before the cause came into view; a black suit about as tall as hers, holding a beam weapon at its side and looking somewhat like a lot sturdier than an OZ doll. "No! No way! I won't be intimidated by a new model!" She flicked a few last switches. Her suit swung around to match the direction of its head and the arms came up. From the left wrist a type of cable shot out, expanding into a net. It settled over the new suit, which didn't even try to avoid it.
"Too easy..." the girl murmured warily. Her hand hovered over a certain button. She hesitated, waiting for the other suit to move. What was it waiting for? Was it just a decoy? But there was nothing else registering on the sensors. Come to think of it, why hadn't the new suit been picked up sooner? In frustration she slammed her fist down on the button. An intense electrical current raced out along the cable and embraced the other suit via the net.
Duo winced as electricity crackled throughout Deathscythe. It apparently wasn't the full force of the odd suit's power -- thank God for gundanium. He didn't want to seem a threat but the scythe started to move as if by reflex. The voltage didn't lessen any after two full minutes. Goddamnit that hurts!! He uttered a frustrated growl and swung out with the scythe. The net stayed intact, although he succeeeded in disrupting the current.
The other suit's right hand grasped the cable and pulled, causing the net to retract into the left arm. Two missile launcher- and one beam dagger- wielding appendages swayed forward. Duo pondered the situation. The thing could get him at close and long range, so he should probably not provoke it. He lowered the scythe. Then on impulse he opened the cockpit door and scrambled out, shouting, "Hey, cut it out! We're on the same side!"
Within the other suit the girl could only stare at the image of the long-haired, pale boy who had emerged from the barely-harmed suit. "Th-there was a person in there..." Without thinking she opened the hatch to her suit and stepped out to numbly look around at everything she had destroyed.
Duo's eyebrows went up. Another chick, huh? Local girl, too, judging by her clothes and coloring. She also didn't look too well at the moment... "Hey, you all right?"
He heard her murmur, "Th-they lied to me..." She began to sway unsteadily. Duo leapt back inside Deathscythe and swung the free hand up to catch her just in case she fell. She didn't, instead sinking down just before the edge of the platform. Duo now used the extended arm as a bridge to the other suit.
"You all right?" he asked again. He glanced up at her suit's helmet and immediately stepped back, intrigued by the four eye cameras below a pincer-like crown. "Hey -- uh --?"
The girl was staring out at the battlefield, oblivious to his presence. "They lied to me...They said I could destroy those suits because they were controlled from far away...They said I wouldn't actually be killing anyone!!" She turned her head sharply, flinging a teardrop away. "Not...supposed to...kill..."
Duo's eyebrows went up again. Someone has been living a sheltered life...He crouched beside her. "Don't worry about it so much. They've killed plenty of people. We're only returning the favor. That is, I assume this thing you pilot is a gundam..?" Brown eyes met violet in a pained gaze. Please, God, deliver me from the guilt-ridden terrorists. I can't escape them! He kept the sentiment to himself as he helped the girl stand.
"It's called Ananse," the girl replied indignantly, wiping away her remaining tears.
"Deathscythe -- er, Duo Maxwell." He put out his hand in an effort to cover up the offense.
She accepted the handshake. "Imena Tribeshope. Welcome to the Congo."

Quatre was dreaming about shadows. They darted in and out of his line of vision while he could only stand frozen and watch.Most were blurry. Sometimes he thought he saw shades of the four gundam pilots -- although Heero's was quite blurred. He saw an older version of himself playing the violin, an indistinct shade behind it, watching. He saw his father clearly next, angry and unforgiving; a tug in his heart indicated that this was an important shade. But it faded as the others had, leaving just swirling confusion for an indeterminate time. He felt like falling into the darkness and forgetting all sense of life.
Then two shadows resolved themselves into crystal clarity. One was Duo, given away by the braid. Looming above him was an enormous six-armed shadow. When it shifted just so, it appeared to have eight arms...Spider?
The word sent Quatre bolting upright in bed, eyes widening. Is it the one Alexa meant? Is Duo in danger from it? With a short cry of frustration he rose and hastily dressed for travel. There had to be a way to find Duo.
He was on the way down to the hangar where Sandrock waited when a rain of sand fell through cracks in the ceiling in about six different places...which really wasn't a very good sign. He doubled his stride, anxious about what might be awaiting him outside but also having a feeling he knew what it was.
He used the second exit he hadn't even told Duo about; it let out near the front of the estate, and was sorely underused -- he had to fight an avalanche of sand to get out, but Sandrock's shield proved it could double as an effective plow. Quatre piloted low to the ground, stirring up a dustcloud around him as he headed away from the manor in a wide circuit to get around whatever was planning to ambush him. As he came back toward the disturbance, being as stealthy as possible, he was not surprised to see an in-perfect-working-order Shockwave perched near the cliff overlooking the oasis where the carrier was hidden.
The Russian gundam plunged its shield into the ground and sent a tremor out into the oasis. From where he was, Quatre could see the tail end of the carrier rise out of the treeline. He changed course and made a beeline for Shockwave. If Dimitri destroyed the carrier, he'd be stranded here. He wasn't about to risk traveling long distances in a mobile suit. He launched one shoulder missile to get the troublesome pilot's attention. He succeeded in knocking Shockwave off balance. Swallowing hard, he continued at top speed and rammed into the other gundam.
An image of a snarling Dimitri came up on the left-hand screen. "I know who is who now, you treacherous bastard! You would have let me kill someone else in your place just so you could live on to ruin more lives!"
Guilt stabbed at Quatre but was immediately replaced by anger. He increased the vernier output, keeping Shockwave pinned to the ground. "Listen to me, Dimitri! I didn't kill your sister. It was something none of us could help, not me, not you. She died protecting you, and you've let it all go to waste because here you are using time we need -- she had the colonies in mind along with you, so why don't you at least carry on the mission?" He added bitterly, "The gundams are for suicide missions, anyway, so just hold onto the thought that I'll probably die during the course of this war. All the knowledge I need is that I tried to protect my home as best I could."
A growl was the only answer from the image of a closed-eyed, seething Dimitri -- until he lifted his head, uttering an enraged battle yell. At the same time his image disappeared from the screen. Shockwave's shield came up and scraped along Sandrock's torso, attempting to find a weak spot and possibly stab into the cockpit. Quatre drew back a bit, forcing the serpent's fangs of his own shield between the spikes and Sandrock. Dimitri snarled again and set off the sonic emitter. At the first tremble Sandrock leapt back. With no anchor its shield caused Shockwave itself to convulse, giving Quatre the time he needed to draw the heat shorters before Dimitri could recover. Within moments Shockwave was rising and shakily holding out a beam cutlass in each hand.
"You're not going to sway me, Quatre. I want to kill you. Someone has to pay for her death. There's nothing left of her to punish for taking her life like that."
Quatre was taken aback. So Dimitri wasn't blaming him anymore? Was he just frustrated beyond control because a cure had come too late? "Dimitri," Quatre spoke in a tone so calm and soft he even surprised himself, "Wouldn't you like to speak some last words at her grave?"
"What?"
"It might help. You might understand better."
"Shut up, you--"
Quatre grimaced at the display of foul names that followed, then frowned, disheartened. There had to be some way to stop this. He gripped the control with resolve and charged Shockwave, heat shorters out. Dimitri wasn't so distracted with insults that he missed the move -- the cutlasses met the blades and for a moment almost overpowered Sandrock through the sheer fury of the pilot. The two gundams remained locked in position, arms raised and weapons unyielding, crackling above their heads.
Quatre desperately wanted to wipe away the sweat forming on his brow but he didn't dare let his attention waver from the controls for an instant. "What do I have to say to get you to stop this pointless fight?!"
"A deathrattle will do."

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(c) 2000-2004 Autumn Loweck. This work may not be copied, distributed, or reprinted without the author's permission. Characters of Dimitri, Alexa, Imena and mechs Shockwave and Ananse are property of Autumn Loweck (aka Shiri) and may not be "borrowed" or mentioned in other works without notifying the author first. Characters of Quatre R. Winner, Duo Maxwell, and OZ belong to the creators of the GundamWing series, Sotsu Agency, Sunrise, Bandai, and whoever else in Japan involved in this most cool anime.