"That's not enough," Heero stated coldly at the same time Wufei yelled: "Yuy! You are not seriously considering this?"
"Not enough?" The amused undertone in Zechs' voice was infuriating. "Here I am, offering myself to your mercy, and you tell me that it's 'not enough'?"
"Duo," Heero gritted through his teeth. "I want his location. I want to know if he's all right! I want to know where he is!"
"My my, something has really happened to you, hasn't it, 001?"
"Stop playing games, 006," Heero answered.
"You're not in a position to make any demands, and you know that. But if you want to, we can up the ante. If you win, I'll turn myself in, with the knowledge of your Duo's whereabouts, and the mobile doll command center. If I win, I'll release the mobile dolls... and I want all the equipment you removed to dismantle Barge."
"You can't reinstall the cannon!"
"Of course I can! What does Earth even mean to me? Nothing! It's the center of all trouble, and I will destroy it! The colonies are better off with self-governance than Earth's stifling rule!"
"You're insane," Heero said. "Lucrezia loves you! She wouldn't want you to-"
"Don't think those standard tactics work on me," Zechs' voice came through the communication link. "You never did well with negotiations, Heero. It's not my problem that you've all been too blind to see what was really going on. For heaven's sake, I was right there in front of your eyes! But you were so busy playing the perfect soldier in Une's service, that you never noticed. Now fight, or run!"
Heero's fingers were at the controls. His eyes were glued to the external camera feed, locked on Epyon. The other Gundam didn't move yet...
"Yuy, we have to leave," Wufei interrupted his train of thoughts. "This man is clearly insane. We better search for Maxwell."
"You leave," Heero said. "I'll stay."
"What?"
"I have no choice. If I leave, he'll unleash the mobile dolls for sure. Leave now, Chang!"
"I will not..."
"Don't even think about it," Heero said curtly. "You know all about honor, Chang. Don't stand in the midst of a duel." He didn't need to change the frequency of the communication link, so he immediately followed up with: "Zechs! I accept!"
"I thought you would." Zechs sounded smug.
"Yuy!"
"Chang, leave," Heero repeated. "Go find Duo. Go now!"
Altron Gundam finally moved, turning around to leave. Hovering for one last moment, as if its pilot was contemplating the next course of action, the engines suddenly flared to life and the majestic mobile suit sped away. Heero's stomach tied itself in knots. He'd love to have Wufei around, but he didn't have any choice in this matter. This was between him and Zechs. Concentrated, he watched Epyon. The suit hadn't budged an inch, but the whip-like chain, attached to the small shield on its left arm, dangled menacingly.
He would have to avoid getting entangled at all costs. Was the chain Epyon's primary weapon? No, it had to be the beam sword, which Zechs had used to combat Duo. Heero had already discarded pulling out Wing's buster rifle. After the first blast, it would need time to recharge, and he was sure that Zechs wasn't going to give him that time. Besides, the impact of the blast could hit MO-II, and until he had confirmed the satellite wasn't occupied by humans, Heero didn't want to take the risk. He engaged Wing's other weapon, the beam saber, at exactly the same time as Epyon drew its beam sword.
His hands moved at their own accord. When Trent had been training him, the man had praised him on several occasions on his intelligence and quick, adaptive mind. Piloting a Gundam had come as easy to Heero as driving his Bentley. Sure, he had extensive training as an agent in a vast array of competences and qualities; but if he hadn't had the natural talent for it, all that training would've been wasted. But was his meager Gundam training sufficient enough, compared to Zechs' proficiency? Heero shoved the levers forward, and Wing picked up speed. He was right there. How could the secret service have not noticed the rotten apple in their midst? It was true, though: he, Heero, had been so busy with the missions, so busy with his work, that he had failed to notice anything about Zechs. Or about himself.
The proximity meter screamed at the rapidly closing distance. Heero ignored the wailing sound, staring straight at the camera feed, as Epyon raced at him with the beam sword in its hand. It described a circle, and Heero recognized the movement: Zechs aimed for his left side. Yanking at the lever, Heero forced Wing to evade to the right and immediately followed up with a swing to Epyon's left side. The demonic red suit easily avoided his attack and sped past Wing at an extreme close range. Slightly confused, Heero started to turn Wing around when he realized his mistake. He'd been so focused on Epyon's right arm swinging at him, that he forgot about the danger of the left arm, and now he was paying dearly for it. Epyon's chain trailed all over the upper body of Wing, tearing through the gundanium alloy. The chest hatch was missed by a hair's breadth, leaving Heero shaking in his seat.
"Fuck!" What a rookie mistake! His old trainers would've scoffed at him, and rightfully so - he had left his entire right side open when he avoided Epyon's first attack. Focus! He couldn't afford to lose here! Heero engaged the Vulcan guns and opened fire at Epyon to forcefully create distance between them. Despite the bullets not doing much damage, Zechs moved out of the way nonetheless.
"Too slow." Zechs sounded... disappointed. Heero growled. It was amazing how fast and agile both suits were, despite their bulk. To be called slow..! Heero tried to get himself under control. Duo. Forget about him, just for this moment. Don't get distracted. Focus. Focus! He quickly scanned the rightmost camera for a damage report. Aside from the outer alloy, the chain hadn't damaged any vital point. Still... if that chain was capable of tearing through gundanium as easily as this, it proved to be even more dangerous than Heero thought. Zechs was toying with him, he was sure of it.
He didn't deign Zechs with an answer. Instead, he went full throttle and Wing sped forward, all but lunging at Epyon with the beam saber in his hand. Zechs was fast to react and brought up his beam sword, blocking Heero's attack. The clash of both weapons created a massive light spectacle, all but blinding the camera feeds. Zechs had to endure the same, as he jumped away, creating distance again. With the same movement, Eypon's chain hurled itself towards Wing. Heero dodged it, using the beam saber to alter the course, misdirecting the chain's path of destruction. He brought up Wing's other arm, taking his chances to pull out the large buster rifle. If he was lucky, he could get one shot at Epyon before the weapon needed to recharge.
Epyon retreated, the chain returning to its left arm. Heero assumed that Zechs knew the full specifications of Wing; he probably feared the impact of the buster rifle. Unfortunately, Heero didn't know all of Epyon's specs; Wufei had only been able to show him the designs. With both the rifle and the beam saber out, Wing's shield automatically shifted onto its arm, as to make room for the weapons. It was a weakness; without the shield in his hand, he couldn't defend himself against Epyon. It came down to a few seconds - fragments of seconds - who was faster: Wing firing the buster rifle or Epyon, once again sending out the chain, like a creepy claw, reaching for him.
"Come on, come on...!" His thumb slipped from the fire button and he hissed. The entire palm of his hand was sweaty, and he couldn't spare the precious seconds to wipe it off. Pressing the button, the buster rifle fired straight at Epyon, but the agile suit avoided the blast. Too slow! Heero immediately reacted with the beam saber, as Epyon went for his defenseless side; again the weapons clashed, creating intense, bright lightning arcs of pure energy. Epyon was so close that he was almost hugging him. Engaging the Vulcan guns, Heero fired straight at Epyon's head, and was more than relieved that Zechs disentangled himself again. Not deterred, Zechs followed up with an all-out attack with the beam sword, which Heero was barely able to counter.
His eyes darted back and forth between the cameras and the control panels. Sweat dripped all over his face, and the intensity of the fight put strain all over his body. His throat ran dry, and his fingers were curled around the levers so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Too slow. Too slow to reach Duo when he was fighting off Zechs. Too slow to defeat Zechs. Too slow to have noticed the great danger brewing from within. Too slow to win... he shivered. He had made a promise to Duo, and he would keep himself to it. For his own sake, for Duo's sake.
"I see you have skipped your fencing classes as of late," came the disdainful voice over the communication link. "It's not like to you to be this sloppy, 001. What's the matter? You miss your handy Walther PPK?"
"Tell me one thing, Zechs," Heero said, striking at Epyon's beam sword, "what are you going to do once you've destroyed Earth?"
"There are plenty of things I can do," Zechs answered, almost dumbfounded. "What does it matter to you?"
"Do you think you're going to be a hero or something? A hero of the colonies, for wiping out six billion lives?" He thrusted with his beam saber, landing a scratch on Epyon's armor. Zechs wasn't impressed, as the suit merely brushed the damage off.
"I don't care what I'm going to be." A stab with the beam sword, and Heero took it, wincing as if he could feel it physically instead of Wing. "Earth has to go! Everyone will be better off without that convoluting pool of war and violence!"
A tug on the levers. Heero killed Wing's left engine, and the mobile suit swayed abruptly, avoiding another clash with the chain. He immediately engaged the engine again, stabilizing the suit and aiming the buster rifle for the second shot. The gauge indicated the recharge was completed, and Heero didn't hesitate.
"Zechs, you're wrong!" He fired. Epyon took the blast full-force, and the suit recoiled from the impact. It was thrown backwards and off-balance, sprawling through space. With all his force, Heero pushed the levers forward and Wing's engines hurled the suit forward at an incredible speed. The beam saber didn't waver as he controlled every movement, every motion, as if he had become one with the suit, one with the weapon. He wasn't a God of Death, but he was more than willing to become one to save Duo. "You're wrong!"
He couldn't land the hit. The right arm refused to move further. As a moment frozen in time, both suits were completely motionless; Wing's beam saber just a few meters away from Epyon's head, but Epyon's chain firmly wrapped around Wing's arm.
"Tell me why I'm wrong." A slight erratic breath. "Tell me why I'm wrong, 001!"
"Maybe the rebels will see you as a hero," Heero said, "because you destroyed the pinnacle of all problems. But what do you really believe, Zechs? That once Earth is gone, everything is peaceful and bliss? You can't allow a few people to dictate what you believe! What about those who wish for peace?"
"There's no one left to wish for peace." Zechs snorted. Epyon's chain tightened its grip. "You're wrong, Heero. You surprise me. You would take anyone out in the name of 'peace', and now that I'm trying to establish peace, you're going against me with everything you've got."
"This isn't 'establishing peace', this is mass murder!"
"True. Seven billion lives. I'll be the face of this war, Heero, and not some nameless, faceless mobile doll. If people want to put the blame on someone for all of this, they can put it on me!"
Heero yanked at the levers for Wing's arm. To his horror, he noticed Epyon's chain starting to heat up. "Stop being a martyr, 006! It doesn't suit you!"
"It doesn't? Well, that's too bad, then."
"Stop this fight right now! It's not too late!"
"It is, it's far too late!"
"Zechs!" Heero shifted the position of his fingers. He knew his suit inside and out, as Howard had explained to him every detail and every function of Wing. His heart skipped a beat as a surge of pain went through him. Forgive me. I have to do this! Epyon, fully concentrated on cutting off the arm, the chain overheating to put strain on the gundanium alloy, lost its balance once more when Wing's arm suddenly came off. Heero rammed Wing's left arm forward, using the buster shield to swipe at Epyon's neck. The tip of the shield bored itself into the other suit's neck, wrecking the joint. The demon-like suit seemed to flinch, as pieces of the armor came loose; the raw, brute force of the buster shield penetrating the alloy.
"Heero!" Now Zechs was the one to growl - he couldn't engage Epyon's chain, as it was still entangled with Wing's detached arm. He made a brusque movement to free the chain, but Heero lunged himself at Epyon's left side, blocking the arm.
"Enough! This fight is over!"
"You're deluded!" Zechs's voice was a mixture of strained laughter and frustration. "You have lost an arm, you can't use your rifle as it's recharging, and you have only your shield left. Do you want to be the martyr, Heero?"
"This isn't necessary," Heero said. "You were... are an agent of peace! Look at everything you have accomplished! Yes, mankind is foolish - but not everyone is a maniacal tyrant, looking to start a war! We have to save-"
Zechs howled. "I couldn't even save my own sister!" Epyon shoved Wing away and shook the detached arm off, freeing up the chain.
"Sister..?" Heero raised his shield, lamenting the loss of the beam saber. The buster rifle was recharging and it was awkward to hold both the rifle and the shield in one arm, which left him wide open for attack; and Zechs needed little time to deduce the same thing. Epyon charged like a bull, right at Wing. It crashed itself against Wing, debris scattering, both suits shaking from the severe impact.
"You don't get it at all, do you?" Epyon used its main power to propel both suits downward. Heero's proximity meter screamed again, but this time not because of Epyon; MO-II was approaching rapidly.
"Jesus fuck, Zechs!"
"Too slow, Yuy!" In a bizarre embrace, Epyon and Wing slammed into MO-II, the brittle rock of the hollow mine satellite vaporizing at the same moment as the mobile suits hit its surface. The combined bulk of Epyon and Wing went straight through the outer layer, destroying everything around them. Wing landed on its back, Epyon right on top of it, sliding through the gigantic corridor. Heero could do nothing but to hold on to his seat and absorb the shock, rattling his entire body. He didn't know if he was screaming or not, when the deafening sounds of destruction all around him ravaged his entire being.
Finally, the suits came to a halt. Heero trembled. He'd lost his major camera feed, every alarm was ringing, every red light flickering like crazy, but the definitive blow wasn't dealt.
"Zechs..?" Heero turned his head around. One of the cameras to the left was still working. It showed him Wing's right arm, bent at the elbow. The buster rifle pointed upward, and the tip of the shield was mere centimeters away from the eyes of Epyon's head. The crimson red suit didn't move, despite holding the beam sword a few inches close to Wing's chest hatch. Heero took in a deep breath. His heart pounded against his ribcage, and his body hurt all over. He couldn't stop trembling. Very slowly, he started to unbuckle himself. The cockpit hadn't lost pressure, but if he wanted to get out of Wing, he had to put on his spacesuit and helmet. After a few attempts, he managed to get the spacesuit on, while keeping his eye on Epyon. No movement at all.
Wing's chest hatch opened and Heero made his way over to Epyon, avoiding the scorching heat of the beam sword. The Gundam designs were primarily based on the same principles, and he figured Epyon didn't differ much from the general structure of the cockpit and the chest hatch. Heero could hear his own breathing echoing in his ears. The adrenaline rushing through his body still made him tremble, his muscles strained and painful. He urged himself to hurry up. If the pressure in Epyon's cockpit had dropped, then Zechs was probably suffocating, very slowly. Why else had the suit stopped moving? The pilot had to be incapacitated, and Heero needed Zechs. Hurriedly, he patted the outline of the suit's chest to find the release latches. His fingers found the fastenings and he manually unfastened them, not noticing how he was repeating both Duo's and Zechs' names. The chest hatch opened, revealing Zechs, hanging limply from the buckles of his seat, apparently unconscious. A large, thick streak of blood marred his face, trickling from a nasty cut on his brow.
"Zechs. Zechs!" Now that the chest hatch was open, there was no time to lose. The cold temperature froze over the blood on Zechs' face and his breathing was barely audible. The pressure gauge inside Epyon's cockpit was broken, and the only thing saving Zechs' life was the relative 'normal' pressure inside MO-II; normal for humans. That didn't mean Heero had plenty of time. MO-II's outer layer had been demolished when the two mobile suits broke through it, and both the temperature and the pressure was dropping rapidly. He found a space suit and helmet behind the pilot's seat. Fortunately, Zechs had come prepared.
"Put on the helmet," Heero said, wondering why he was talking out loud. He helped his rival into the suit and attached the helmet to it. As soon as the helmet was fixed into place, fresh oxygen was pumped into the small space. Zechs didn't respond. Heero kept repeating Zechs' name, and poked against his shoulder, before he resorted to shaking him violently. It took ages for Heero to get a response out of him; a low moan, followed by his body jerking as he inhaled the oxygen, his eyes wide open as he gasped.
"You're alive, Zechs," Heero stated and didn't bother to hide his relief. "It's over. Tell me Duo's location."
"You saved me," he said. A hint of a smile tugged at his lips, albeit a watery smile. He took deep gulps of breath, reveling in the oxygen, inhaling and exhaling slowly. "You're the true hero of the day."
"Duo's location," Heero repeated. He could unplug the oxygen supply just as easily as he had attached it. His hands were at Zechs' shoulders, it would only take a simple movement...
"I'm not the only one," Zechs said at long last, averting Heero's eyes. He stared blankly in front of him, as if he didn't realize he was there, and he certainly didn't pay attention to Heero's hands. "There are others."
"Duo," Heero said. "Where is he?"
"Are you not curious about the others?"
"I'll deal with them later," Heero snapped at him. "We had an agreement, Merquise. Now tell me where he is!"
"Lunar Base," Zechs said tonelessly. "He's at the Lunar Base. Where the others are."
Heero immediately let go of him and turned around to leave. Zechs grabbed his arm and pulled him back forcefully. "You're going alone?"
"Let go of me!" Heero shot him an angry look. "It's over, Zechs!"
Zechs didn't release his grip. "My sister," he said. "I never told you about her. Do you remember Sanq Kingdom?"
"It went under before my time, a victim of war," Heero answered, automatically. It was a well-known historical fact. "What about it?"
"It was my homeland," Zechs said. "Yet I couldn't save it. What makes you think you can save Duo, and end a war all by yourself?"
"It's my mission," Heero answered, but it wasn't completely true. His mind was treating it like a mission, but his heart was beating for Duo and to get him back. Zechs scoffed at him.
"My mission was to save my homeland and my sister. I failed both."
Heero frowned. "I didn't even know you had a sister."
"Oh, but you know her," he said and chuckled, as if telling a good joke. "You know her all too well. It's Relena."
Chapter 13 | Chapter 15