Rising Earth
Delighted to be given the signal that all was ready for the start of Operation Meteor,
Duo Maxwell jumped on the metal ladder that lead to Deathscythe's cockpit. For a moment
he balanced on one foot, his left hand grasping the rung in front of him, his right
giving the hangar techs a huge wave and a goofy grin. His long, chestnut braid swung
out from his slim figure as he called one last taunt to the men who had harassed him
on his way in just hours before.
"Oi, baka! Looky, looky! The girly boy's going to save the universe!"
One of the offended mechanics hefted a large can of lubricant and was about to throw
it straight at the cheeky boy when he disappeared inside the gundam. "Little bastard!",
someone breathed, but the sound of warming engines began to drown out everything else
and the men were moving back to the protected area at the hangar's end.
The shuttle takeoff had been uneventful - well, as uneventful as anything involving
Duo could be. Now came the business of preparing for the drop from the shuttle into
the freefall of space and the switch to the gundam's control systems. It would be
fast, furious, and fun and Duo was finding it hard sitting quietly in his seat and
waiting for it all to happen. Deathscythe's pilot had managed to keep his chatter
down to a minimum during takeoff itself, but once in space the urge to talk was
just too strong.
"Hey Bravo-Six-Niner!" he called to one of the navigators on the shuttle's bridge,
"Isn't this the coolest machine you ever saw? Can you imagine what we're gonna do
to those Earth idiots! Oooo, man, they don't know mecha and they don't know me -
yes indeed, the ol' Maxwell charm is at it's best when it comes with a thermal scythe,
hee hee hee!! Oi, friends, I'm gonna fall out this shuttle and head towards Earth,
screamin' all the way - whooo-ee!, admit it man, you are so wanting to be me!"
A brief moment of silence, then,
"Pilot 02, this is Bravo-Six-Niner, we need radio silence, do you copy?"
The long-haired boy in the gray space suit blinked.
" 'kay..." he muttered, and pouted at the radio speaker.
It was a look he had always had. It came naturally to him, no practice necessary,
and it had been extremely effective at various times in his short life. Today,
however, the famous Maxwell pout was in vain. The only ones to see the big eyes
and the adorably crumpled lower lip were a blank video screen and the Sacred Heart
medallion from Sister Helen that Duo had put up between the cockpit's readout panels.
The pout never lasted long, of course. A minute later it had been replaced by a
cute little smirk and Duo's natural optimism carried him over the brief moment
of injured pride.
"Wakarimasu," Duo voiced to the empty cockpit, "He's just jealous, man! There's
only one God of Death, Death of Darkness, and it's not him, oooh nooo, it's me,
Duo Maxwell...Bwahahahahaha!"
Duo was in the middle of a little victory dance, done in his seat with all
restraining belts in place, when the word came in on an obscure radio channel.
"Pilot 02, this is Alpha-One-Niner, start your ignition sequence. We are
opening the the cargo bay doors."
The small pilot stopped, mid-dance, brought two fists down to his side and
hissed, "Yes!"
Before he knew it, the bay doors were gone with nothing but space and stars
in front of him. He edged Deathscythe towards the edge of forever and then
felt the unmistakable shiver of free fall. In a second it was as if the shuttle
had never existed and he was alone in all of space - just he and the titan he
commanded. He was counting out the seconds of freefall, his fingers positioned
over the rocket thruster controls, ready to bring the giant machine fully to
life, when he saw it.
He had been facing away from the planet, looking through lightyears at the
farthest reaches of space and now, as Deathscythe turned it's stern face
through 180 degrees of rotation, Earth rose up before him. For the first
time in his young life Duo Maxwell was speechless. He had a Colonist's
ambivalence towards the Mother Planet - a deep sense of attachment coupled
with the irritation that comes from chafing against a restraint for too long.
Always the Earth had been there, just above his head - a hazy ball glimpsed
through the artificial sky of L2 Colony, something not quite real. But now
it demanded his attention, huge and blue and luminous. History was waiting
down there; it was something momentous that his young mind couldn't quite
grasp but sensed nevertheless.
Can't go back now, he thought. I'm hanging between space and the Earth and
once I get down there nothing will ever be the same, ever. My life will be
changed forever by that place...
His mental alarm was going off.
"Kuso! , he cursed.
He had nearly missed the moment of optimum trajectory when the thrusters
had to be engaged. Wouldn't that be sweet, he grinned at himself. Go off
claiming to save the universe and end up spinning yourself to death in space
'cause you missed the thruster point. Stop daydreaming, Maxwell, there's
work to be done, yes-sir-ee...
He completed the sequence to gain thruster control for the descent and
spoke outloud for the first time since leaving the shuttle.
"So that's Earth, eh? It looks so peaceful from up here, all blue and
white...but that's a beautiful lie, folks. Ya see, I know your kind," he
said softly, pointing a finger at the planet on the cockpit viewscreen. I've
seen what Earth people do to folks they don't agree with. And what would they
say if they saw little ol' me, eh ? I betcha you'll be pretty cocky about
takin' me out quickly. But you people have never met Duo Maxwell."
Here he put on an expression of shock, pretending to choke on such news.
"Never met Duo Maxwell?? Never you say?? Oh, baby, say it ain't so! Well,
it's time, man, it is completely time, so here...I...come!"
Long slim fingers engaged the final thrusters and Deathscythe, known to it's
small human master as Shinigami, the God of Death, rocketed though the blue
glow of space, towards an outwardly peaceful and unsuspecting Earth.
xoxox owari xoxox
to the fics page
