"We're in." Heero let out a sigh of relief as the airlock closed behind them, leaving then in the relative safety of the inner corridor. "Which way?"
"To our right." Trowa motioned past him, his movements jerky in the dim light. The only illumination came from the wristlights they were wearing, and shadows rippled across the walls as they moved. "Turn left at the next junction. There should be an emergency hatch about 30 meters down that hall."
"Let's move." Wufei muttered, striding in the direction indicated. "Have you guys noticed... there's a breach somewhere. No air here."
They didn't speak, though Heero privately found the silence unnerving. Something about this entire place felt-odd; though at the same time, it looked very familiar.
"Does anyone else get the feeling we've been here before?" Wufei asked, at almost the same moment the thought crossed his mind.
"It looks just like L2-V08895," Trowa shrugged, slowing as he slipped in the ice.
"No, he's right." Heero admitted reluctantly. "I've...seen this before. Or something really damn similar."
"Huh. Déjà vu?" Trowa turned his head to look at Heero.
"Something like that." Shaking his head a little, Heero forced the weird feeling down. "What happens when we find this hatch?"
"We'll have a twelve foot drop into the control room. Apparently they weren't taking any chances on someone getting to the control rooms this way unless they came prepared and knew what to expect."
"So if you're right, and someone has been sabotaging the control rooms, how are they getting in?" Wufei asked the question that had been bothering Trowa since he'd left the control room on L2-V08895."
"There has to be another way in" Heero sighed. "Besides, only the L2 Colonies were paranoid enough to actually seal off the exterior airlocks and mine the controls."
"They had good reason," Trowa muttered. "Hm. Maybe that was it?"
"What?"
"What if the saboteur didn't know about the mines. They could have set off the charges trying to get to the control rooms."
"Yeah- but this is the only colony that they didn't make it then. And that would mean team four started into the core while they were still there."
"Possible." Wufei didn't sound convinced. "But it doesn't feel right. Besides...there was no sign of damage to the main airlock when we passed. Whatever happened was inside the core."
"Nothing about this whole damn situation feels right."
"There it is." Trowa moved ahead, crouching down next to the hatch and scraping ice away with one glove. "Shit."
"What?"
"The hatch is warped. Looks like the explosion was in the control room. We'll have to cut it after all." He straightened. "Howard...."
/"Barton. What's your status?"/
"We're at the hatch, but it was warped in the explosion. What were the fire suppressant systems like on this colony?"
/"This is L2. What do you think?"/ The old man growled. /"But the control rooms were self contained systems. Odds are good that any fire would have consumed the available oxygen supply there two hours ago. Assuming that your missing team hadn't already opened the door."/
"Great." Wufei pulled the cutting torch off his shoulder harness and knelt on the floor where Trowa had been. "Here goes nothing."
Trowa backed up a few paces to give him room to work. Heero could hear him trying the com channels again, though he knew neither of them was holding out much hope that the team was still alive. They would have been at the control room when the explosion happened, unless something had gone seriously wrong on their trip through the core.
"Cryswell- can you read me?"
For the first time in hours, that call was answered by something other than dead silence. Static flared through his comm unit, followed by a staccato burst of words.
/"...fucking piece... shit..."/
"Team four, do you read us?" Trowa met Heero's eyes over Wufei's head.
/"...Captain...rton...?"/
"Cryswell?"
/"...Frost! Sarge...it's...'tain Barton!"/
/"Shut the fuck... Frost...Barton?....need evac...man down..."/ The words cut out again, then were followed by what sounded like the radio was being slammed repeatedly against a wall. /"Do you read me?"/
"Where the hell is your team?" Heero growled.
/"Outside... control room. We...had some trouble getting here."/ The words were clearer now, though still interrupted by bursts of static. /"...kind of shockwave... us... damn... good thing we had...helmets on. Looks like there was...an explosion... No telling what the structural damage...the door..."/ There was a pause, before Cryswell continued. /"...running low on air...need evac...go back through the...to the ring... blocked..."/
In the background, they could hear Frost talking. /"This colony...'s a fucking deathtrap... how the fuck...stays in orbit..."/
/"Don't touch the door!"/ A new voice cut through the static. Heero barely recognized it as Dorothy Catalonia's. The three Gundam Pilots froze, staring at each other for a moment. /"Get down! There's going to be a second explosion!"/
/"Holy fuck... Sarge!"/
Heero had a split second to see Wufei drop the cutting torch, before he slammed into the Chinese man and sent them rolling into Trowa. There wasn't time to get up-to run-before the floor tilted and slammed them farther down the corridor. He tried to raise his head, only to be shoved flat by Trowa's arm as the hatch flew past his helmet to ricochet off the wall. And then the shockwave hit, and all the lights went out.
"Sir."
The man didn't turn away from his view of the stars, though he waved one hand for the speaker to continue.
"The first reports from L2 are in."
"And what do they have to say?" He prompted impatiently.
"L2-v08997 is being evacuated. Every Sweeper and Preventer ship in the quadrant is there or on its way there."
The man laughed softly. "Good. I wish them luck."
"The second set of charges should have detonated by now. They still might be able to stabilize the colony, but it's not likely."
"No matter. L2-v08997 has fulfilled its usefulness to me, and is no longer of any concern. What of the next phase?"
"On schedule, Sir."
"Good." The hand waved again, this time in dismissal. "Carry on then..."
"Yes sir."
Dorothy stared at Epyon blankly, hearing the frantic voices of Quatre and Une calling to Yuy's team. There was no answer, and she found herself twisting the heavy bracelet on her left arm in numb disbelief. How could they- after all the warnings- fail to stop this? The words echoed around in her head, and she wanted to weep, but all of her tears had already been shed for this.
"Doro..." Zechs crouched down in front of her, catching her hands and holding them still in her lap. "This was not your fault."
"I should have stopped them. I should have realized that there were two explosions in my dream. Should have known- that-"
"We tried, Doro. That's all we can do."
"But..." Her eyes slid past him to Duo, who was sitting silently with his head in his hands. "God... Duo."
"Shhh. Dorothy." Ignoring the presence of both Une and Sally, he leaned forward to kiss her forehead gently. "Don't." After a moment, she nodded, and he moved away to put an arm around Duo. The younger man flinched, but didn't pull away, and after a brief hesitation, he leaned into Zechs with a muffled groan.
"No. Quatre, you can't go after them," Une was speaking softly. "There's no point. And the Senator..."
/"Do not make me the excuse for leaving good men behind."/ Relena's voice sounded strained, but firm. Dorothy couldn't help feeling a rush of pride that the naïve girl had grown into a strong woman. /"We're bringing them out if I have to go in to that hole after them by myself."/
"Relena..." Une began, only to be cut off by a hoarse cough through the comm.
/"That's- a nice-sentiment. But I don't think it's going to be necessary."/
"Yuy?"
/"Yeah."/
"...fucking Terminator..." Duo whispered as he raised his head, staring at Zechs in disbelief. "Tro...?"
"Are Barton and Chang alright?"
/"We're a little banged up. Thanks for the warning, by the way."/ Trowa's voice answered this time, and Duo sagged against Zechs in relief. /"Cryswell? Frost? Do you copy?"/
/"Cap..ain...?"/
/"Status?"/ Heero's voice was steadier this time, though still threaded with pain.
/"Frost and Ivanovich are down...and I have... part of the control room door resting on my legs."/
/"Suit breach?"/
/"Don't...think so..."/ The man chuckled. /"Or I'd be dead... there's no atmosphere down here anymore."/
/"How's your air?"/
/"We have maybe... two hours."/
/"Hold on. We're coming after you. We're approximately 10 meters from you, one level up."/
/"Thanks...sir..."/ There was silence for a moment. /"And thanks... whoever yelled that warning...saved our...asses."/
"You're welcome," Dorothy whispered, as she felt the first tears of relief spill down her face.
/"'Fei...?"/ Quatre asked, his voice shaking. /"Why isn't he talking, Heero?"/
There was a tired chuckled. /"I took out his radio when I tackled him. He's fine, Quat."/
/"Hey, Howard..."/ Trowa sounded somewhere between amused and shell-shocked. /"You were right- the fire suppressant system here sucks, man. Guess it's a good thing that all the oxygen was used up in the first explosion. There's a hole in the control room now you could drive a car through."/
/"I didn't design it, kid."/ The sweeper sounded grim. /"And we can see the hole from here. Not all the air was gone by the time it blew... but damn near. Lucky you guys didn't get sucked out too."/
/"Not enough air left...what the hell are you doing, Tro?"/
/"Going down there. Hold this."/
/"Are you out of your mind?"/ Quatre asked angrily. /"If there's another explosion..."/
/"Then I'd better make it fast. Cause if that isn't one of Cryswell's men, who the hell is it?"/ Trowa sighed. /"Besides... through the control room is the fastest way to Cryswell's team now. We don't even have to open the door."
/"True,"/ Heero agreed grudgingly. /"Especially since we lost Wufei's cutting torch."/
/"It would take too long to cut through the floor anyway."/
"Yuy?" Une asked after a moment, when there was no other conversation. "What the hell is happening?"
/"Trowa's in the control room, heading for where the door used to be. I'm not sure we are going be able to fix this, Howard. There is a lot of damage down there. The sweepers are gonna have to keep evacuating the colony."/
/"Figured as much, Yuy."/
Trowa edged around the smoldering remains of what had been the main drive console; now it was so much twisted metal. Conscious of the hazards of razor sharp metal to his suit, he cautiously nudged what remained of the suited body lying behind it. There wasn't much left, since the suit had caught quite a lot of the shrapnel and force from the explosion, and the last rush of air escaping from the breach had apparently taken the parts that hadn't been pinned down by the remains of the secondary console.
He caught a glimpse of frosted skin through the shattered faceplate, and blood from the single bullet hole in the man's forehead. He blinked, then realized that the man had to have been dead long before the explosion. The body had been on the floor, sheltered from the initial blast, or there would have been nothing left of it at all.
/"Trowa?"/ Heero's voice snapped him out of his daze. /"We're coming down."/
"I'm okay. Stay there. I'd rather have both of you up there to pull us up if we have to make a fast exit.
/"You going to be able to deal with three wounded by yourself?"/ Heero sounded amused, for Heero. /"Besides, we're not going back out the airlock."/
"Oh- yeah." He glanced over at the gaping hole out into space where the outer wall of the control room had been. "That would be kind of pointless." Leaving the body parts where they lay, he picked his way around the secondary drive console and finally reached the doorway. "Cryswell?"
"Still...here..." The man was laying half pinned by the buckled metal door, though he stirred when Trowa crouched near his head.
"Good to know." Trowa glanced past him to see one of the other suited forms stir slightly. "Frost?"
"Holy...mother...sonovabitch..."
"Frost is apparently fine..." Cryswell managed a faint chuckle, only to groan as Trowa tried to shift the door. "Oh...fuck...sorry Captain."
"That's alright. Talk to me Cryswell. What hurts?"
"Knee..." the man gasped hoarsely. "Not gonna be able to walk."
"Sarge...?" Frost crawled over to his teammate, unsteady but moving on his own. "Ivan's still out...are you okay?"
"Messed up... pretty bad."
"Give me a hand, Heero." Trowa gripped the edge of the door, and between the two of them they finally lifted it carefully off of Cryswell.
"Okay," Trowa paused for a breath, a little startled at how exhausted he was until he remembered that he had been up for at least eighteen hours, and running on adrenaline for the last six alone.
"I'll get him." Heero nudged him aside. "You and Wufei get Ivanovich."
"Right." Leaving Cryswell to Heero, he nudged Frost out of the way and moved over to where the third man lay still and unmoving. Together they got him on his feet, though Trowa found himself taking most of the unconscious man's weight.
It wasn't that Frost wasn't trying, he realized as the man staggered sideways unsteadily, then caught himself; but his equilibrium was not good. He wondered if one of the two shockwaves had affected his eardrums. Maybe that was why Frost kept yelling into the radio. A moment later Wufei pushed Frost out of the way and took his place, leaving the wounded but still mobile man to move on his own.
"How...much farther?" Cryswell asked behind him. "You can't... carry me... whole damn way...back to the ring...."
"The ring's not our destination."
"Sarge... I don't think... one bottle's enough for this..."
"Keep walking Frost. I'll get you a damn... case of Tequila. Just keep moving."
It felt like hours as they maneuvered the unconscious man through the labyrinth of razor sharp metal to the hole in the colony.
"Chang, you and Frost go first. Tro, take Ivanovich once they're at the shuttle airlock." Heero moved up behind them, Cryswell draped over his shoulder in an awkward fireman carry. Lowering Cryswell to his one good leg and leaving him leaning on the wall, Heero turned to Trowa.
"Tro, keep an eye on them. I'm going to see what the damage was to the life support module. We may not be able to sustain gravity for long, but if we can keep the life-support going we might still get the rest of the colonists off."
He nodded, taking part of Cryswell's weight on his own shoulder.
"Howard, what's the status on the ring?"
/"Not good. They felt that second explosion, and it seems to have worked to scare a lot of people out of hiding. They're swarming the docks though. We're gonna need a lot more ships if we're gonna get everybody."/ There was a pause. /"And that explosion wasn't just at the control room. The main force of it was in the engines."/
"So? We were losing them anyway..."
/"It ripped a hole through Quadrant Four. Section seals came down, so the rest of the colony has air still, but we lost nine Sweeper teams, sixteen Preventers and God only knows how many colonists."/
"Any ships?"
There was silence for a moment. /"Two. One was hit by debris as the atmosphere vented, it looked like a bus took out their main engines. The second-didn't get undocked, and we think they might have been caught in the explosion. Another one has a seriously damaged umbilical and docking tube. They're actually headed for earth now, can't do the repairs in space. Three others took minor damage, but managed to disconnect in time. They only lost crew. Most of that hanger had been cleared already. Hangers One and Two are taking the main brunt of evacuation."/
"Shit..." Trowa swayed, realizing then just how close they had come. The control room was not far from the engines. Quadrant four had been directly above them.
/"Yeah. You boys get the hell out of there. You aren't going to be able to fix things enough for it to be worth the risk. And I am not telling Duo I let you get dead."/
/"He's right,"/ Une spoke up. /"Get those men out of there. I want all of you out of that room."/
"Working on it," He sighed, grabbing the rope from his belt and using it to link Ivanovich's suit to his. "I want the hell out of here too. Believe me."
Tbc