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2019-05-10
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2023-01-05
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12/?
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Burn to a Cinder

Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Notes:

I didn’t abandon this story. The past year I really thought the plot through and I think I now have a solid base to continue this story! Updates will still be slow, but let’s hope it won’t take me another year to post the next chapter! LOL.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing, its characters, or you.

Chapter Text

Burn to a Cinder
Chapter 11

“Fellow comrades, only warriors exist in this world.” Treize’s voice rang clear through the communication link. From the camera footage transmitted by several of the carriers around the troops, you knew that the Tallgeese was among the enormous sea of Leos making its way to Libra. “That purity is what makes this battlefield so beautiful. Let us finish the final battle of mankind and keep the horrors of war away from our home.”

The powerful boosters of the Tallgeese came to life and Treize’s take-off into the battle field was met with war cries from his soldiers, who were quick to follow him. All too soon, the sounds of explosions and gunfire filled the room.

You stood with wildly beating heart. In front of the monitors, Lady Une stood regally, utterly calm. “This battle is a crucial moment in our history,” she said, her voice just as calm as her stance. “It must be something that people will talk about for generations to come.”

You had no idea how she had made her way onto MO-II after Treize had given the command to destroy Libra. Less than a half hour later, she had stepped into the command center, her hair streaming down her back, loose from her usual updo. She had looked… different. And now you realized she sounded it too.

“For that reason,” she continued. “Many warriors here will end up having to sacrifice their lives.”

You swallowed thickly at her words. You realized damn well that she was right. The battle would be fought, one party would claim victory, and afterwards… death and mourning would have their place. How many of the soldiers you had seen on MO-II would get to return to their families? And how many wouldn’t?

“Four Gundams approaching the battleground from Peacemillion!” a soldier announced.

“The Epyon has left Libra!”

Your breath rushed out. So Zechs was showing his face after all. His appearance send the soldiers behind the monitors into a frenzy, as he engaged the Gundams in battle.

“Contact His Excellency!” Lady Une ordered.

“Ma’am.”

She stepped forward and waited for the connection to the Tallgeese II to establish. “Your Excellency, the Gundams have entered the battle with Epyon.”

“Seems that Zechs is truly hated by those Gundams,” Treize said, and almost sounded amused. “I would gladly thank them for their help, but the fact is they are not necessarily fighting for my sake.”

“Please, be careful.” Lady Une’s tone softened.

“Thank you,” Treize told her. “But our objectives are the same. Libra must go down, that’s for certain.”

It felt entirely too intimate to witness their exchange. You were glad when Treize focused on the battle again and continued destroying White Fang’s mobile dolls. Explosions lit up screens. And then Libra started moving. Your eyes widened with horror when you realized it was moving towards MO-II. What were they planning? Were they directly attacking the resource satellite?

“Peacemillion is asking us to take in evacuees.”

“Granted!”

The flurry of activity increased as Peacemillion started moving as well, in Libra’s direction.

“They… They’re gonna do it.”

Do what? The people around you continued shouting updates. Epyon changed course to set after Peacemillion, then changed course again and stopped fighting altogether. Was Zechs… not stopping Peacemillion’s attack? Why?

Peacemillion increased speed, and Libra opened fire, but it was to no avail. You watched with wide eyes as the battleship plowed right into Libra’s main canon, stopping the ship’s assault.

“All units, keep fighting!” Treize’s command was sharp and he sounded determined as he continued slashing and shooting his way through mobile doll after mobile doll.

And so, Earth’s forces continued on. The Gundams approached Libra and entered the ship, except for Gundam 05. He took off towards the battlefield. Peacemillion sought contact with MO-II and asked for the final evacuees from the ship to be taken in. There was so much going on at once you had trouble keeping track of it all. But Lady Une, she stood in the middle of it all and directed like an experienced conductor. Yet, she didn’t seem as cold and calculating as she once had been. You could hear the compassion in her tone as she took note of the number of deaths, the wounded, the lost mobile suits.

And then Treize engaged the approaching Gundam 05 in battle. You clutched your hands in front of you, gnawing on your bottom lip in fear. Treize… what are you doing? You had known about his previous encounter with the Gundam Pilot, a young boy he had described as determined and filled with honor.

“Bring up the footage of the Tallgeese,” Lady Une commanded.

One of the screens above you went blank for a moment and then displayed the Tallgeese and the Gundam engaged in battle. The soldier sitting underneath it, was rapidly pushing buttons, and then the sounds of the battle filled the room as well.

“Gotta do better. I’m over here,” Treize taunted.

“Silence you!” The voice of the Gundam Pilot sounded young, and filled with anger.

“There was a time when battles could be won and lost by the mere push of a button. These mobile dolls are the absolute root of that detestable and hateful spirit. And their extension is that Libra ship over there.” Even now, in a situation like this, Treize was reminiscing. “When wars are dehumanized, both victory and defeat become miserable and God no longer lends a helping hand.”

“Enough with the fancy speeches!” The Gundam Pilot attacked the Tallgeese again. “Too many people have died for nothing because of you and the battles you fought!”

You swallowed thickly at the boy’s biting words. Lady Une glanced at you over her shoulder. For a moment her gaze met yours, and the both of you shared a telling look. This was Treize’s ultimate battle.

And it seemed the Gundam Pilot agreed with that. “If you’re gonna fight, then fight me and none else.”

“You’re absolutely right.” The Tallgeese dropped its gun and reached for its beam saber.

“Are you prepared for the worst, Treize?” the young pilot questioned.

“Of course I am.” Treize sounded confident and jovial, as if he was actually having fun. “But this time I won’t go easy on you.”

“Enough talk!” The Gundam shot forward to attack.

They engaged in battle, exchanging blow after blow. Around them Earth’s forces and White Fang continued to attack each other. Explosions rocked around them, lit up the screens, and sounded over the intercom. The battle was intensifying, you realized. Neither side was giving up.

“Treize…” you whispered. “Please… be safe.”

You lost track of time, had no idea how many minutes passed. Or was it hours?

“What’s wrong?” Treize asked the Gundam Pilot as he made the Tallgeese pull back. “How come you don’t use you dragon?”

“Because I wanna fight you fair and square, Treize,” the pilot answered. “That’s how come.”

“That’s not like you,” Treize countered. “Why the hesitation?”

You balled your hands into fists. Why taunt the pilot like that?

“Look who’s talking! Why didn’t you kill me back there?”

“Well, I just couldn’t kill one of the few people who understood me, that’s all.”

“You loser!” Treize’s words obviously ticked the Gundam Pilot off and the Gundam attacked again. “I can’t stand the sight of you!”

“Then come and get me now.”

More blows were exchanged and the suits broke apart again.

“You are only capable of looking down on people like this! You’re only fighting to satisfy your ego. How many people have died for you? Huh?” The pilot’s bitter accusations rang clear through the room.

“Do you really want to know?” Treize asked. “As of yesterday… 99,822 people.”

“What?!” The utter shock and disgust was clear in the Gundam Pilot’s voice.

You stared at the screen with wide eyes as the number registered. You had always known that people had died for Treize. Had always known that wars couldn’t be fought without casualties. But to hear Treize state the number so blatantly… You took a deep breath, exhaled again. You had closed your eyes to this. You had allowed yourself to be blind. Guilt washed over you. How many more people would have to die? How many people would have to die before he and Zechs stopped this madness?

“Lady, how many have died today?” Treize’s face appeared on the screen as he directly addressed Lady Une.

“So far we have received confirmation of the deaths of eighty-two White Fang soldiers and one hundred-five of our own soldiers.”

Treize closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his forehead. “I see… Give me their names later on today.”

“Yes, Sir. I will.”

“Damn you!” The Gundam Pilot sounded way beyond rage now.

“I remember everyone who sacrificed their life in battle,” Treize said. “How could I forget them? Noventa, Septem, Ventei, Darlian, Walker, Otto, Bundt… Their names are all etched into my heart.”

He sounded so honest, so wracked with guilt, you had no choice but to believe him.

“How could you be such a…”

“I can only grieve over the lives lost by those who fought. But…” Treize lowered his hand away from his face. “At least try to understand this… not one of those people have died in vain…”

Time seemed to slow down… Tallgeese powered up, and with a might battle cry from Treize, it shot forward. The beam saber came down to attack the Gundam. The Gundam countered, and it’s spear shot out, impaling the Tallgeese with one swift move. You clasped your hands in front of your mouth in horror, a strangled sound escaping you.

“That was beautiful, Wufei…”

“No! Treize, how could you?!” The pilot sounded just as horrified as you felt and made the Gundam pull back.

Tallgeese drifted away from it, no longer working. The communication line crackled as the suit groaned.

“Bye Wufei… my eternal friend… I’m honored I could fight with you pilots.”

You sagged against the wall, muffled sobs escaping you. No! This couldn’t be! It couldn’t end like this! “Treize… No…”

“Milliardo… I’ll be waiting on the other side…”

The wailing threatened to escape your throat, but you managed to swallow it back. In front of you, Lady Une stood, rigid with tension as she silently gazed up at the screen. It had gone black and only the crackling sounds from the Tallgeese’s cockpit could be heard. The screen came back to life, showing footage from the Leo’s around the Tallgeese. You had a clear view of it for only one second, as the next the screen lit up, and with a brilliant and blinding flash, the Tallgeese exploded.

Your breath stuttered out. Realization didn’t dawn. Not yet.

Lady Une leaned forward and pressed her hands against the panel in front of her. Her hands balled into fists as her shoulders shook. But she didn’t permit herself to make a sound.

“Colonel Une? Your orders?” one of the soldiers behind her questioned tentatively.

She straightened and turned around slowly. You greatly admired her composure as you watched her through eyes blurred with tears. Hers were dry as she addressed the soldier.

“You must get in touch with the White Fang. Tell them, as of this moment The World Nation declares its defeat.” Despite looking calm and composed, her voice shook with grief.

“Huh?” the soldier was utterly baffled. “Colonel?”

“This is humiliating!” Une’s eyes narrowed and her tone sharpened. “Don’t make me repeat myself, send them the message!”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Mister Treize… You were splendid.”

You met her eyes for a moment, saw your own pain reflected there. You swallowed thickly and took a trembling breath. You straightened your shoulders and reached up to wipe your cheeks. Treize… Treize would have wanted for you to be strong. As strong as Lady Une was right now.

But even as the Wold Nation declared its defeat and pulled back their soldiers from the field, White Fang didn’t stop their attack. Messages reached the control room that they were planning to crash Libra, and the Peacemillion still stuck in its main canon, onto Earth.

“All hope is on the Gundams now,” a soldier on your right side declared.

“What about Epyon?” someone asked.

“It’s not yet engaging in battle.”

Zechs was still waiting. And for what? Why did he have to continue this? He had already won! You bit your lip and thought frantically. What could you do? What could you do to stop Zechs? And then you remembered. Your eyes widened as you remembered Treize telling you he had contacted Zechs before. Treize had build the Epyon! Surely there had to be a way to get into contact with Zechs!

“Lady Une!” you stepped forward. “Contact the Epyon.”

“What?” she turned towards you and you swallowed uncomfortably when you realized that all eyes in the room now rested on you.

“His Excellency build the Epyon,” you said. “I’m sure that there is a way to get in touch with it.”

“We’ve been blocked from all of its communication lines,” one of the soldiers said.

“Try His Excellency’s private line. I’m pretty sure that can’t be blocked.”

“How…” Une shook herself out of her stupor and mentioned you over. “How do you know?”

“Treize told me himself that he had contact Zechs when he attacked Space Fortress Barge,” you said. “Please, Lady Une… let me talk to him.”

“Why would he listen to you?”

“I…” You shook your head and briskly stepped in front of her. “This has gone on long enough, don’t you think? Please, let me try.”

“Okay…” Une turned around. “Try His Excellency’s emergency code.”

The soldiers got to work, and within seconds Zechs’s face flashed on the screen. Immediately longing flooded you. You wanted to bury yourself in his arms and let him soothe your fears, but you knew that was impossible.

The shock on his face when he saw you, made fresh tears pool in your eyes. “-Y/N-.”

“Zechs… Please, listen to me…” You managed to get out around the lump in your throat. You were all too aware that talking to Zechs would reveal everything. None would look at you the same again. But that was okay. If you didn’t try this, you’d never forgive yourself. “I’ve just lost Treize. I can’t loose you too.”

Your words made all heads turn in your direction. Behind you, the soldiers broke out in whispers.

“I have to do this.” His tone hardened.

“Do you?” you asked. “What use is there when you have already won? Why crash Libra on Earth? I thought you took Epyon to change your destiny.”

“I am changing my destiny.”

“You made me a promise.” You wiped at your cheeks, embarrassed at the show of emotion. Tears were a weakness you couldn’t afford while trying to reason with a madman. “If you die out there, how will you keep it?”

For a moment his gaze softened, but his words remained much the same. “I have to end this.”

You shook your head, unwilling to believe that he wouldn’t see reason. “I should have tried harder.”

“It wouldn’t have changed a thing. Goodbye -Y/N-.”

The screen went black and you blinked at it in disbelief. “No… No, Zechs!”

You felt a hand land on your shoulder as you sobbed helplessly. “-Y/N-.” It was Lady Une.

The tears rolled down your cheeks as you looked at her. There was no accusation, no anger in her gaze. But neither was there compassion.

“It wasn’t enough…” you whispered, while reaching up to wipe your cheeks.

“But you’ve tried,” she said.

You shook your head and retreated to your place by the wall. Une turned back to her soldiers.

“How is the troop evacuation coming along?” she asked.

“Eighty percent of our soldiers have returned safely, but there is substantial damage to our mobile suit force. It appears that sixty-seven percent of them have been destroyed.”

Lady Une crossed her arms in front of her. “Then destroy our remaining mobile suits as soon as they are retrieved.”

“What?” the man reporting to her looked up at her in shock.

She looked at him. “It’s important that we rid ourselves of all weapons left on the Earth. Those are His Excellency’s orders.”

“Hmm…”

Une turned around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. The woman that had stepped through the doors on your left was tall, dressed in army greens, and carried her blond hair in loose braids. She was flanked by an old many dressed in a floral shirt, and a young girl. You froze with shock. Relena Peacecraft…

“I understand now,” the woman said. “So Treize Khushrenada’s objective was total pacifism as well, huh?”

A young soldier on Une’s left side jumped up from his seat. “Who are you?”

Une looked at him and gestured with her arm for him to stand down, then stepped forward herself.

“I welcome you, Your Majesty,” she addressed Relena.

The soldiers surrounding you suddenly seemed to notice who was in the room with them and broke out in frenzied whispers.

Relena took a step forward. “I really wish you wouldn’t refer to me that way any longer.”

Une allowed a small smile to form on her face, and moved in on the young girl. She pulled a gun from her holster and held it out to Relena. Relena could only stare at it in confusion.

“I am like a body that has lost its soul,” Une told her, and caused you to realize how deep her grief ran. Une had lived to do Treize’s bidding. And now Treize was gone. “Now is your chance to take revenge for your father’s death.”

Relena moved forward and reached out, placing both her hands on top of Une’s to push the gun down. “Let’s put an end to all of this. The revenge and the battles.”

Une’s mouth fell open in surprise. A small smile formed on your face. The girl was so brave. Her heart was so big. To forgive one’s father’s killer to ensure that peace would reign was a big and meaningful gesture. Une was needed to lead the troops. Without her, who would direct the soldiers surrounding you?

Une gave a nod. “Yes.”

The old man moved in an walked over to one of the soldiers. “Now… What can we do about Libra and Peacemillion?”

The soldier hurried to explain that an evacuation order on Earth had been given, but the old man clearly thought it wasn’t enough. You listened with growing horror as he explained that if Libra and Peacemillion were to crash on Earth, the damage would hit the entire planet.

“That’s terrible,” Relena exclaimed.

“And people won’t be able to live on the Earth any longer,” the blond woman said.

“The only way to avoid this is to change their orbit or blow them up in space,” the old man said. “Both are next to impossible.”

“No,” Une said. “We still have hope. There’s a Gundam close to Peacemillion’s main power supply.”

“Is it Heero?” You didn’t miss the hopeful note in Relena’s voice.

“No, I think it’s 02.”

You listened on as they discussed the situation and tried to determine where the other Gundams were located. You grew restless and started pacing up and down along the wall you had been leaning against. You felt so useless. All these people knew more of the situation than you did, knew people on the battlefield and tried to find a solution to stop the White Fang’s plans. And you? What had you been able to do? You had exposed yourself and Zechs hadn’t even listened to you!

“Try to get a hold of Lieutenant Noin!” Lady Une commanded. “She will be out there on the battlefield somewhere.”

The soldiers got to work.

“How come you are trying to reach Lieutenant Noin?” the blond woman asked.

Une turned towards her. “You’ll know soon enough,” she said. “The real question is whether the times have changed even more than I expected.”

“Colonel! We’ve got her!”

The screen lit up and displayed the face of Lucrezia Noin. You had heard of her, but had no idea what she looked like. The woman that had been Zechs’ shadow in the academy, Treize had once told you. Her dark hair fell over her forehead, and her eyes gazed calmly at you from the screen. Her hand was raised to her face in a salute.

“It’s good to see you well, Colonel,” she said.

“Noin, are you monitoring the battle between Zechs and Heero?” Une asked.

“Yes.”

“Relay those images to our line right away.”

“I’m not with OZ any longer,” Noin said. “I won’t take your orders.”

“This isn’t an order,” Une’s tone warmed. “It’s a favor, as a fellow believer of peace.”

“Very well then…”

The screen shifted and you halted to look at the footage of the battling Gundams.

“Heero…” Relena said softly.

“Zechs…” You pressed your fingers to your lips.

Lady Une gave the command to send the footage to all of Earth and Space. She grabbed hold of a transmitter and raised it to her mouth as the vicious battle between Epyon and Wing Zero continued.

“The battle you are witnessing has no significance to either Earth or the Space colonies, but it’s necessary just the same. Because in reality it’s a fight to save the Colonies. This year, in After Colony 195 the history of battle is finally about to come to an end. Unless these two continue to fight, peace will never be achieved. Can you feel it? Can you feel the misery of this combat? And can you see the peace that awaits us? This battle is making each one of us look for a solution to secure peace.”

“Peacemillion’s engines have started up and halted Libra’s course!”

Une blinked, then gave a small smile. “There is still hope.”

“Peacemillion and Libra are moving away from Earth.”

The people in the command center cheered.

“Wait a second! A section of Libra is falling towards Earth!”

“What?” the blond woman exclaimed.

“The Colony Delegation is making an official statement.”

You clasped your hands over your arms as you listened to the Colony Delegation as they renounced White Fang and declared their desire to co-exist with the World Nation. Was hoping for Zechs’ surrender foolish? Maybe. He had just shown you that he wouldn’t budge. He was planning to take this to the very end. For reasons only he himself understood.

The Gundams hurried to intercept the block still falling towards Earth. Relena was quick to realize that it was the same section of Libra that Zechs and the Gundam Pilot named Heero were fighting at.

“They are not going to quit ‘till it’s all over.” Lady Une confirmed your suspicions.

So you would lose Zechs. Your heart broke at the thought. And as Relena wailed her denial, so did your heart.

- End chapter 11 -