Alternate Gundam Wing Universe:

Gundam Apocalypse

by Maria Rocket

Chapter Four

***

"What do you mean we don't have clearance? Do you have any idea who we are?" Milliardo snapped impatiently at the guard at the Luna Prime shuttle dock. Since arriving on the moon, Heero and Milliardo had found nothing but obstacles as they attempted to reach the coordinates Quatre had given them.

"I don't care if you're royalty or somethin', that area is privately owned! No one goes in or out of that section without special clearance!" The guard snapped back.

The blonde prince glowered at the guard. He began to advance on the stupidly oblivious guard, but Heero quickly blocked him with his outstretched arm.

"Civilian shuttles aren't the only way to get around," Heero said quietly.

Milliardo looked down at his brother-in-law and swallowed his anger with a nod. "Right."

***

At first, Solo thought he was only dreaming when he felt someone stroking his hair. He had often had dreams of his mother running her hands through his hair, as she had when he was young, so it didn't strike him as anything out of the ordinary. The soft reassuring voice didn't really register either, even though it sounded nothing like his mother. It wasn't until he felt the real warmth against his cheek that his ice blue eyes flashed open. At first he couldn't focus clearly in the dark, but his vision adjusted quickly.

Zara was sitting next to his bed, looking very concerned. She withdrew her hand as Solo startled and jumped away from her to sit on the far side on the bed. The boy's braid had unraveled in his sleep, and the long raven black hair fell about him like a dark cloak. His face was angry, and it looked as if he wanted to say something to her, but he just turned away to wipe away the tears on his face with the back of his hand.

"Why do you cry in your sleep?"

Casting a look of annoyance onto the girl, Solo tucked his black hair behind one ear. "I wasn't crying."

"Yes, you were." Zara's searching emerald eyes darted from one blue eye to the other. As she did so, a sadness seeped into her features. "You always cry, don't you?"

"I told you," Solo snapped, "I wasn't crying!"

"It's okay." Zara's eyebrows lifted and she smiled gently. "I cry sometimes too."

Solo narrowed his eyes a bit. "What do you have to cry about?"

"Oh, things." Zara dropped her gaze and clasped her hands together. She was quiet for a moment. Then she looked back up at Solo. "I mean, at least you know who your parents were. You even knew one of them. I don't know where I come from. I've lived my entire life in the Project's labs. None of those scientists ever cared about me though." She watched a hint of surprise appear in Solo's blue eyes.

"You grew up in a lab?" Solo felt his chest tighten. "That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with why you can pilot a mobile suit, would it?"

"Yeah." Zara forced a smile at Solo's questioning stare. "Don't worry, I'm completely human."

"Then what were you doing in a lab?"

"I was never really able find out. But I'm sure it had something to do with the eventual takeover. All I really know about myself is my name. My last name's Winner, and the most I was able to discover is that there's some kinda big corporation by the same name..."

"Winner?" Solo's brows came together in concentration. "I know I've heard that name before..."

At that moment, there was an explosion of gunfire from the front of their hideout. Even as the two stood in shock, the frightening shadows of Scorpio suits slunk into view.

***

A low flying shuttle skimmed through the rocky outskirts of the moon's light side. Not too far away was the remote lunar base. In a billowy cloud of dust, the shuttle descended quietly among the rocks. There was no sound obviously, and no reaction from the base. A few minutes later, two forms in spacesuits exited the shuttle. Without hesitation, they made their way towards the lunar base.

***

"Scorpios!" Zara cried as she stepped back in fright.

"How did they find this place!?" Solo glared an accusingly at Zara.

"I..." Zara gasped and her green eyes widened. "I didn't check my suit! Blast it, they must have trackers too! How could I have been so stupid!?"

"GAH! Just move!" Solo yelped as the Scorpios opened fire in their direction. He grabbed her by the hand and ran. Unfortunately, there wasn't anywhere to hide.

***

Back on Earth, Quatre suddenly felt very claustrophobic. He turned towards one of the windows in Relena's hospital room and put his hand to the cold surface. 'Why am I shaking?'

'Solo!' It was a female voice, one that he did not recognize. Quatre spun around expecting to see perhaps a nurse. But there was no one there. Relena still slept on the bed, and Duo was watching television. Quatre frowned down at the floor in concern, wondering if he'd really heard the voice at all. It had seemed familiar somehow.

"Quatre!" It was the same tone of voice, but this time it was male. And Quatre recognized who was calling this time. He looked up at who was standing at the opened door with a relieved smile.

"Trowa!"

Little Duo looked up from the floor as well with a wide smile. "Uncle Trowa!" Laughing, he ran up and hugged onto Trowa's leg. Nearly being knocked over by the charging child, Trowa quickly caught himself on the doorframe.

"Hello kid," Trowa smiled. Then he managed to pry the little platinum urchin from his leg and pick him up in his arms. He made a little strangled noise as Duo reclaimed his deathgrip, this time around his neck.

Quatre tried his best not to laugh, but didn't succeed very well. "Affectionate, isn't he?"

Turning slightly blue, Trowa nodded. Finally, he managed to pull the ever cheerful Duo away a bit. His eyes showed a shine of concern at the ugly bruise on the boy's cheek, but decided not to mention it. "So, I see you're doing well, Duo. You've been brave, haven't you."

Duo blinked. "What?"

Trowa and Quatre exchanged a look, seeing if the other knew how to handle the question. However, they both looked somewhat uncertain. When Trowa looked back at Duo, he got a chill. A strange sudden change had come over the boy. Duo wasn't looking at anything in particular anymore, and there was a somewhat detached expression in his eyes. As if something had brushed away the child inside. When Trowa usually looked at Duo, he saw a little version of Heero. Normally it was just cute, but the way the boy's eyes were now, it was more disturbing to him than anything else.

"You mean Solo, right, Uncle Trowa?" Duo looked up at Trowa. "Did you bring him with you?"

This really startled Trowa. He shot Quatre a questioning look. The blonde shrugged, with an equally surprised expression. "No..." Trowa answered. "I don't know where Solo is." Wanting to scatter the look in the child's eyes, he smiled and sat him down on the edge of Relena's bed. "Hey, let's not worry about that though. I'm sure everything's fine. I know, want some ice cream?"

Like a magic switch, Duo's eyes lit up and shadows were chased away. "Yeah!" He squealed happily, bouncing slightly on the bed.

Quatre grinned and ruffled the little boy's hair. "Uncle Trowa and I will go get you some then. Stay here and and be good, okay?"

"Yup!"

***

"Getting in was a little too easy. I don't like this."

Even through the tinted visor of his suit's helmet, Heero could see the unsettled look on Milliardo's face. He turned the corner of another corridor and looked around. "This place is deserted. Maybe they're expecting us."

"We should split up. It'd be foolish to be caught together in one swoop." Milliardo pointed towards the next corridor. It was still brightly lit, which somehow made it even more eerie than it would be if it were dark. "You go that way, and I'll check this way."

Heero nodded. "Right. Radio only if you find Solo."

"Solo...black braid, right?"

"Yeah."

As they turned to go their separate ways, Milliardo paused. He turned towards Heero's departing back. "Heero, about Solo."

Heero stopped and looked back curiously at the strange sound of Milliardo's voice. It was unnerving him. The last thing he needed was Milliardo having some kind of break down in their sensitive situation. He wondered what could possibly be bothering him. 'But he was responsible for the Libra's destruction as well,' Heero thought to himself. 'Is it possible he feels guilty about Duo's death too?' Heero turned his shoulder towards Milliardo. "What about him?"

Refusing to meet his eyes at first, Milliardo finally looked up at him with a haunted expression. "I think I've made a terrible mistake."

Heero frowned. "What do you mean?" Before Milliardo could reply, a dull roar resounded through the building. The ground began to shake them about. Heero shook his head. "No time for talk! Move!"

They rushed away from each other down the separate corridors. The base was still shaking, and it sounded as if whatever was causing it would be approaching them very soon.

***

Cowering behind the huge frame of Apocalypse, Solo and Zara could do nothing as the Scorpio suits came ever closer, firing their machine guns. They gave off bursts of heat from their whip-like tails that sounded like the hissing of cobras. Zara narrowed her eyes.

"Solo, get in your suit."

"There's no way... Hey!" Solo shouted as Zara suddenly bolted away and went running. She was fast, but it was clearly a suicidal move. The Scorpios locked onto her movement immediately and fired after her. Though shocked for a moment, Solo quickly took the opportunity to get into the Apocalypse.

Adrenaline running through him, he had the systems switched on in record time. Taking the direct approach, Solo literally threw the black gundam into the Scorpios line of fire. It stopped the shooting, but instantly the Scorpios were whipping their tails all about the Apocalypse, binding its limbs tightly. Solo struggled with the controls as the burning coils squeezed the gundam to the floor, the metal screaming. He whipped his head around at the display, throwing his bangs out of the way, trying to find Zara.

'At least there isn't a body...maybe she got away somehow...' Solo turned his attention back towards the Scorpios swarming all over him. "Damn you! Get off!" He struggled to keep himself steady as the gundam threatened to shake apart around him. The deathwave switch caught his eye, but he quickly looked away. 'No, I can't. That'd be worse than selfdestructing inside the colony.' The memory of the last time he'd used that switch flickered within him. 'All those people destroyed... NO!'

With a cry of rage, he kicked on Apocalypse's boosters, sending the suit and the attached Scorpios flying across the floor in a roar of spitting light and metal. It crashed hard into the wall, smashing the Scorpio behind it into bits. However, the others were still firmly attached, and threatening to melt or crush Apocalypse and its pilot, whichever came first.

Within the cockpit, the systems were erupting into sparks around Solo. The violent shaking was taking its toll on him, and he felt as though he might be jolted to death. He gripped the controls, his teeth gritted, trying to hold together by sheer will.

"You BASTARDS!" He screamed angrily. "Apocalypse, HOLD ON!!!"

The gundam moved violently once more against the wall, but the Scorpios still weren't coming off. Then there was a spinning flash of silver light, and one of the Scorpios exploded in a burst that rocked the Apocalypse so hard that the impact nearly knocked Solo unconscious. He turned to look into the darkness.

"What in the..!?" His blue eyes widened in shock as he saw the purple and black gundam he'd known almost all his life move for the first time. Gundam Persephone stood crouched and poised, almost like some ancient amazon. A curving device extended from its forearm, and it flung its arm out again. Within, something glowed anew. 'Heat Chakrams,' Solo suddenly remembered. Another spinning hoop of light went flying at the Scorpios, sending the coiling monsters up into shards of light.

"How...?" Solo croaked before the resulting explosions knocked him back into his seat, and into darkness. He slumped over against the seat harness as the Apocalypse collapsed like creaking deadweight to the floor.

***

Once alone in the hall, Quatre fell into Trowa's arms. Holding onto him tightly, he was surprised to find that he was crying. Just as surprised, Trowa held onto the shuddering blonde. He buried his face against his hair and rubbed his back.

"Shhh... Is it really that bad?" Trowa whispered.

"Trowa, why did this have to happen?" Quatre sobbed. He could feel all the stress and fear he'd built up over the past days releasing against Trowa. In those arms, in that presence, he felt secure, and everything he'd held in for everyone else's sake came pouring out, like cleansing waters over unwashed wounds. "You saw the look on Duo's face. He's keeping it in, whatever happened to him out there, like what gave him that bruise. He's refused to talk about it, other than to ask about Solo. He seems fine, but everytime I see that look on his face...part of that little boy's gone, Trowa." He cringed. "And it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault," Trowa tightened his arms around Quatre. "That's just life. I know you did all you could. You can't keep blaming yourself. As for Duo...he's clearly dealing with his experience in his own way. All we can do now is make sure that there are no worse experiences in his future."

Unknown to them, two big blue eyes in a small face were watching them quietly from a crack in the doorway. Beneath wild platinum bangs, those eyes hooded slightly. 'Was it so bad? Was it really so bad? It wasn't fun...at first...but I feel different somehow. I feel braver. I would do it again, if I could see Solo again. He was neat...interesting. He had a big robot, just like my dad used to tell me about. All those exciting stories...I wish Solo would come back.' Duo found himself slinking down in the doorway with a strange, dark little smile. 'Fun.'

"I guess..." Quatre sighed, "I was hoping Duo would never have to experience anything like the rest of us did. The peace we fought for, was so little ones like him wouldn't have to suffer, and just live a normal life. It's just unfair."

Trowa nodded. "We need to make sure it never gets that far ever again. That's why we need to go help Heero and Milliardo on the moon."

"What?" Quatre looked up in surprise. "But I can't just leave Relena and Duo alone!"

"Given what you've told me, Solo was the only one currently targeting them. And since Solo has since been captured, there's no reason to think that they're in any more immediate danger. But if Heero and Milliardo encounter more than they can handle on the lunar base, they may need our help. If someone's building mobile suits up there, there's no room for failure." He caressed Quatre's cheek gently, rubbing away his tears.

"Yeah...I see your point. It'd be good to make a real difference again." Quatre finally smiled. "Let's go to the moon."

"First, we get Duo's ice cream," Trowa smiled to see Quatre's mood lifted. Then he leaned in for a quick loving kiss. They didn't notice the boy giggling at them behind the door.

***

Running through the corridor, Milliardo tried not to trip as the building continued to rumble. He wondered if it was some kind of earthquake, and often glanced up to make sure the roof wasn't about to come down on him. As he went, he checked each door, but he hadn't found any sign of a holding cell. In fact, the entire place seemed to be empty. Or so he thought until he opened the door at the end of the hall. There was an eerie blue light within the darkness.

Behind a desk, a middle aged man looked sharply up at the intruder. Then recognition registered on his face, and he smiled in a way that made Milliardo feel ill. He aimed his weapon at the man.

"Who are you?" He demanded gruffly.

Prof. Falkner just laughed. Then he walked out from behind the desk. "People around here have taken to calling me Falkner. But I doubt any of you could even pronounce my true name. You're Milliardo Peacecraft, aren't you? What a nice coincidence...this makes my job just a little easier."

Prof. Falkner was still approaching, and something about his eyes was frightening him. Milliardo backed off, keeping his gun raised. He switched on his radio. "Where's Solo?"

Suddenly Prof. Falkner stopped and frowned. "You know Solo?" He paused for a moment. "No matter. You'll all be dead soon enough. Solo isn't here any longer. But I assure you, when I find him, he'll be joining you." He raised a hand towards the man in the spacesuit.

Not too far away, Heero listened in as Milliardo suddenly screamed, and the transmission broke off in a crash of static. Eyes wide, he whirled around and ran down towards the other corridor. He almost fell over as the building shook even harder than before. Behind him, the corridor exploded in a balloon of flames. He glanced back, finally realizing why everything was shaking so much. Staying near the wall, he ran even faster.

As he was running down the next corridor, he skid to a stop when he saw Milliardo's form lying still by an open doorway. He hurried over, but checked inside the open room first. There was no one there, only shadows. 'There was someone here talking with Milliardo,' Heero thought with a slight grimace. 'Where is he?'

Several loud explosions nearby snapped Heero back out of his thoughts. There was no more reason to stay, especially with the building going up. He checked on Milliardo, and found that he was still breathing, though very shallow. After failing to revive him, Heero hefted Milliardo over his shoulder and ran. This time he didn't bother trying to hide, concerning himself only with the quickest way out. Once outside, he couldn't go very fast on the moon's surface, but even carrying Milliardo, he traveled quickly. Taking another look at the complex erupting behind him, he continued going past their shuttle. He didn't stop until they reached the safety of a line of large boulders.

Just as Heero set Milliardo down, the shuttle was caught in the expanding explosion of the destructing lunar base, shattering into burning wreckage. Heero's steel blue eyes narrowed, watching the base collapse into a massive moon crater beneath it. Whoever had been here had just abandoned their base. The possible reasons for that upset Heero greatly.

His mouth actually fell open in shock as his worst fears were confirmed. Suddenly, like a swarm of red locusts, thousands of Scorpios went flying out from the dark pit of what was once the lunar base. They nearly filled the black sky, before slithering out into space. Heero gripped the rock he hid behind, and looked down at the still unconscious form of his brother-in-law.

For the first time, he noticed a strange blue glow surrounding Milliardo. Cautiously, he shook the larger man. "Hey. Wake up." He frowned when there was still no response. Putting a hand to Milliardo's chest, Heero could feel his heart beating. He glanced out into space, then back again. "Milliardo, we've got major trouble, so you'd better snap out of it soon." The man with the platinum blonde hair didn't open his eyes, so Heero just sat there in the shadow of the rock with his hands on his knees.

"Everything's going to hell," he muttered.

***

Everything was dark. Normally Solo would have found that frightening, but this time a warmth surrounded him, and he didn't feel alone. Then suddenly it wasn't so dark anymore. He held on tighter to the warmth surrounding him, and he saw that it was a golden light.

"Mom?"

There was a girlish giggle.

Solo struggled to focus his eyes further. The light faded into two green eyes and a sweet smile framed by amber hair. Solo blinked. "Zara?"

"Still alive? That's a good thing," she grinned.

"Barely..." Solo groaned, feeling pain as he tried to move his head. "Feels like every bone in my body's been shaken loose...it's a wonder my head's still attached. You weren't kiddin' about those suits..." Wincing as he tried to move, he realized exactly where he was. Zara had him cradled against her where she sat on the hatch of Apocalypse's cockpit. Apparently she had retrieved his green jacket, and had it wrapped around him. And somehow he'd ended up with his arms tight around her torso. He felt the heat rising to his cheeks, and he attempted to pull away.

"Careful!" Zara scolded him as he only succeeded in falling to his hands and knees as pain shot through him. "You're just going to hurt yourself worse!" She put an arm around his back and helped him get up.

Giving in to the fact that he couldn't stand without her support, Solo allowed her to help. "I guess we can't stay here anymore." He looked depressed for a moment before swallowing it. "We'd better go before more of those things arrive."

Zara nodded. "I'm sorry about this...it was all my fault."

"Yeah." Solo glanced over at her. "But I guess you didn't know. Thanks for...saving me..." He seemed uncomfortable. 'Why did you save me?' Solo thought to himself. 'I don't understand...' And what he didn't understand made him uneasy.

Zara blinked curiously.

"Help me back in Apocalypse." He quickly changed the subject. He frowned and looked over at the roughed up gundam. "If I'm lucky, it may still be able to fly at least. You might as well take the Persephone, since you seem to know how to pilot her."

"Took me a few minutes to figure her out," Zara slid his jacket back around him, then carefully set Solo back into Apocalypse's cockpit. "You're just lucky I discovered the right controls when I did." She helped him with the seat harness, and looked him over nervously. "Are you sure you're up to flying this thing?"

"Well, it's that or stay and die," Solo's shaking hands went dancing over the systems panels. His face lit up a little. "Thank God...the suit isn't critical yet. It'll fly, but we'd better not run into anymore Scorpios."

Zara nodded. "I'll back you up if you need it. Let's hurry though." She jumped down and ran over to the Persephone. Solo's eyes darted over for a moment, watching her go, then glanced back at his systems screen before the Apocalypse's cockpit hatch closed. The suit rumbled to life with a few creaks, but soon staggered to its feet.

"Easy..." Solo gripped the controls and took a deep breath. A screen flashed onto his display. It was Zara, looking worried.

"I REALLY hope that thing isn't going to fall apart on you."

Solo shook his head at her, tucking his loose black hair behind his ears. He made a note to rebraid it as soon as he got an opportunity. "Hey, it's just a little jittery. But if I can take it, so can Apocalypse."

"Well, then I hope you don't go and fall apart," Zara said with a wicked little grin. Then she glanced down at what Solo assumed was her own control display. "Speaking of which, this suit is in pretty good condition considering how long it must've been sitting around."

"In my spare time, I did maintenence on it," Solo explained. "Helped me learn gundam systems. It should still perform as well as it did when my mother flew it. Just take it easy until you've really gotten the hang of it."

"Gotcha."

Apocalypse took a few shakey steps forward, then with a leap, its boosters roared, and it took to the air. It cleared the opening the Scorpios had blown in the ceiling and soared free into the colony. With a few quick movements, Persephone darted into the sky after it. Within mere moments, they escaped the confines of the colony and ascended into deep space.

Meanwhile, deep within the cavern they had departed, the wreckage of one of the Scorpios flared with crimson light. The machine attempted to move many times with a whirring sound. When it failed, it buzzed once, twice, thrice...

Suddenly, Persephone stopped and whirled around. Zara gasped as if in pain and leaned forward towards the screen. She took her hands from the controls and touched the image of the colony. "Solo...!" She cried. "Something's wrong!"

"What?" Solo turned his gundam and glanced towards the colony and Persephone in confusion. "Zara?"

In the darkness, the Scorpio wreckage flared with a hellish light as something screamed within it. Then it blasted outward, consuming everything around it in a blinding white light. The sound was deafening, while it lasted.

"Oh my God..." Zara's fingertips jolted away from the screen in shock. The L2 colony they had left behind was lighting up section by section from within. It almost seemed to expand for a moment before bursting in a tremendous blast, breaking the colony into nothing more than a floating nebula of debris.

"No..." Solo whispered, shaking his head slowly in disbelief as the only home he'd ever known died before his eyes. "No..."

He raked his hands back through his black hair, the horror growing within his bright blue eyes as pieces of the colony continued to explode to bits. The anguish rose in his chest, strangling his attempts to speak, until it burst from his lips in a loud tortured scream of grief.

----

(Author's Notes: Yes, I know it sucks. ^^;; But I was just wayyy overdue for another installment of this. This is for tha two of ya out there who are actually still reading this series (Thank ye folks!), and tha rest o' ya are probably majorly confused. Sorry ^^;; Peace!)