Strike Force Five Part 17
Ascension into Hell
Duo staggered backward, wildly cursing his body for its failure to cooperate. With a singularly focused effort he reached the rent railing where his SCAT had disappeared. Daring to lean into the smoke-laced currents Duo held on tightly not wanting to copy his bike's tumble over the edge. A relapse of dizziness drove him back before he could see anything to let him know what was happening with his teammate.
But Duo could not afford to dwell on Heero's situation for too long. Once more the tower shuddered and Duo knew that the time to act was growing shorter by the moment. Again he wiped away the stubborn flow of sweat and oozing blood tingling above his eyebrow. His sprained hand's sluggishness only hardened his resolve to finish the job.
With an obsessive, clearly defined convergence of mind and body and soul Duo made his way to the ladder leading to the platform. Pulling the rifle's strap over one shoulder and bringing it under his opposite arm the weapon hung at an angle against his back.
Drying he wet hands on his pants Duo reached two rungs overhead, planted his boots on the lowest rung and began to climb. It didn't take long before Duo found out how badly his dislodgement from his SCAT and his subsequent rude introduction to the tower's rigid framework had shaken him.
Twice he stopped to regulate painful heaving that had reduced his inhalations to fits of compressed panting. The combination of bruised ribs and the dense concentration of airborne irritants that were sucked in with each labored breath made the arduous journey frustratingly slow. Several times his footing slipped. Tension cramped hands fought to hold on.
Winded and hurting Duo's whole body struggled with each pull of the climb. And Duo knew there would be no compromise in his condition, no "second wind" to aid his ascent.
The original plan had been to ride the ramp until it ended then have a short climb. Duo had also intended to be in better shape. The yawning cavity in his SCAT's path and the adverse effect it had on his ride had certainly not been part of his besieging tactics. Now the lengthier haul, while not insurmountable, was one more added stress to overcome. He draped his tired arms over the rung above his head. His sweat-moist forehead felt cold as he rested it against the ladder's smooth metal surface.
Duo had never been particularly fond of heights preferring to keep both feet on the ground whenever possible. He had always felt a twinge of fear when flying but when Wufei had questioned the paradoxical contradiction concerning Duo's elevation phobia and his willingness to fly anyway Duo could not give him a definitive answer to his perplexing confusion.
In the Lone Dragon with the enclosed passenger compartment sealed around him Duo had no real sense of height or speed. But now as he hung on the ladder's crosspieces, the smoke-drenched haze whipped on the wind and the tower quivered from the cannon's power, now was not the time or place for Duo to form any hypotheses as to his incongruous aversion to high places verses his fear of flying.
No, Duo just knew better than to look down or from side to side for that matter. He closed his eyes taking in shallow, catching gasps then opened them setting his sight on the platform's bottom and started climbing again.
Two more spaces to the cannon. Duo fought through the tightness running down both arms and coiling about his chest. Gazing up through gritty eyes he could just make out a square access plate set flush in the platform's floor.
A thin seam line was attached on one side by duel hinges. On the other side an interlocking offset told Duo that was where the door was secured from the inside. Folding his leg over the top rung Duo let go with one hand lifting the rifle over his head and letting it hang from his shoulder.
The cannon discharged another burst. Unlike the lower lever shudder, although quite substantial, Duo's position directly under the turret's epicenter jerked with such fierce fluctuations that the jolt ripped at his grip. Overly stretched muscles tore as they fought the disjunction of Duo's body from the ladder.
"DAMN!" he swore gritting his teeth against the pain.
Something along his collarbone popped. Duo prayed that only a ligament had been wretched and that a full dislocation was not causing the hot throbs running down his arm. The shockwaves, just for good measure, also bounced his head off the ladder's upright support opening up a second, deeper, gash just below his hairline.
All Duo could do was cling to the metal rungs and hope that his rapidly fading fortitude would not totally forsake him. "What do you think you are doing?" Duo muttered the rhetorical question. His answer was a winded sigh and a negative shaking of his head. "What I have to do."
Duo slowly pushed back favoring the raw ache tormenting his entire torso. He raised his weakened arm wiping salty perspiration from his eyes. The same sluggish arm lowered until his hand stiffly closed around his pistol. Clammy fingers barely felt the weapon's cold steel in their tenuous grasp. Again Duo reached above his head. Again his shoulder burned.
Duo ducked, turning his face away from the door. A single shot broke the latch free and sent tiny metal filings sprinkling over his bowed head. Once more Duo asked his overstressed muscles for one last push. The access door moaned then detached with a snap.
Replacing his pistol Duo transferred the SR42 to his free hand. Forcing a smile through his pain he took what small victory he could from his situation. "It's good that those OZ idiots decided to keep these unstable rifles." he told himself bracing his body as best he could on the vibrating ladder.
Rotating a dial set in the SR42's side stock Duo felt it switch on. Moving the dial further the weapon began to pulsate in his hand. An ever-increasing whine could be heard as Duo set the power in the "red zone" well beyond the overload setting.
Pushing up the door just enough to shove the rifle over the edge Duo slid the intensely humming "bomb" inside and let the door slam shut. Even if the cannon's operators heard the door's closing they, most likely, would take no notice of the slim rifle's presence.
When the power cell blew its released energy, trapped in the cannon's reinforced steel cage, should cause enough damage to send the OZ hirelings to their just reward. Even if the blast was not sufficient to totally destroy the tower it would at least shut down the cannon.
Duo had no way of estimating how long the rifle's overload would take to reach the detonation point and he certainly wasn't going to hang around to find out. Unfortunately he didn't have his SCAT to carry him quickly away. No motorized help to outrun the "wild beast" that was devouring each fleeting moment to the fatal end.
Easing his cramped grip on the ladder he let his boots slide along the crosspieces. Duo skipped over the rungs hurling his body down at a dangerous rate. All the while he held an apprehensive breath wondering how much safety margin he would achieve before the platform and the massive weapon it supported came undone.
A deafening boom reverberated from above. A quaking more intense than the cannon's report rolled up and down at the same time. The rifle's explosion must have either carried more punch than expected or its discharge triggered a chain reaction in the cannon's power core.
The resulting split and splintering of the tower's vertex unleashed a fireball and a hail of shredded metal. Whipping cables lashed out like giant scorpion tails. Crossbeam spanners and a latticework of smaller bracing bans tore loose flinging out their connection bolts in a venomous circular spray.
Duo realized all too late that any distance short of ground level or maybe even the forest's edge would not give adequate protection from the violently hurling projectiles. This time fear-contracted muscles locked Duo's grip and his self-preservation instincts took over as he shut his eyes and pressed his body tightly to the ladder.
Two consecutive explosions, each as powerful as the next, rocked from the tower's top to its foundation. Backlash rippling ran down every column and crosscut girder. The pounding vibrations coursed over the terrified rebel. Showers of combusted material pelted from above. The falling wreckage battered Duo as he drew up trying to become as small a target as possible.
Rivets that attached the ladder to the main column groaned. Duo didn't feel the wobble amidst the tower's trembling as the fastener's shanks sheared in two. He didn't hear, above the thunderous clamor, the keen cracks as they tore through. Their disintegrating warped the vertical support. Three rungs below his feet the tearing completely severed the connections allowing the twisted frame to swing freely in the hellish void.
The abrupt "coming apart" jolted every never-ending sending queasy waves thrashing around in Duo's insides. Panic-stricken alarm overrode his acrophobia. Redirecting his eyes he dared to look down. With each sway of his precariously suspended perch the ground, far below, pitched and flowed in wavy oscillations.
Full-blown fright took over effectively shutting down his entire thought process. Fear-borne hysteria paralyzed every part of Duo's being rendering mind and body utterly useless.
Now all he could do was hold fast and try to somehow reestablish a measure of control. If he couldn't overcome his fear, if some restoration of his senses was not attained, then Duo's exposure to the rain of fiery debris would soon end his mortal terror and send him to the Afterlife's peaceful realm.
*There is no one to help you but yourself.* Duo's inner voice sternly declared hoping to rouse his stunned sensory system before its inertness killed him.
Hanging in limbo, submerged in the desensitized void, Duo grappled with the temporal frailty of his species. But as feeble as the humanistic organism could sometimes be the creature called man processed a persistent willpower, an inherent perseverance to endure and survive. Duo had to find that steadfastness, that tenacious inborn spirit inside his soul and discover how to harness its knowledge and mortal force.
Duo closed his eyes reaching deep within himself to centralize his concentration. Withdrawing outside of the dread he let go of his trepidation. Pulling himself from panic's sucking vortex he visualized sitting in the secure confines of the Lone Dragon. Instead of fear's murky veil clear blue sky surrounded his senses. A soft rush of air soothed his hearing that was impaired by the blaring explosions.
Feeling the domination of the Lone Dragon's powerful thrust Duo let its force have command. He was suddenly secure, enclosed in golden light. As the sun's warmth radiated through the helicopter it melted away his disquietude until all that remained was himself and the Dragon in a perfect harmony of peace.
*You will survive.* his quiet inner voice confirmed the peaceful sensations.
With a victorious exhalation Duo opened his eyes, set his sight on the ramp above him and began to climb. However each rung he crossed put the pressure of his added weight on the already strained brackets binding the ladder to the ramp's side. Each step bore the increased heaviness with loud and prolonged grating and scraping.
Duo let the Lone Dragon's illusory imagery block out the encroaching sights and sounds. Almost to the top. Almost. "FOCUS!" Duo ordered with a hard puff.
Sturdier vibrations, more deeply rooted than any of their predecessors, told Duo that the foundation undermining, the ruinous subversion that he and Heero had failed to accomplish was finally coming about.
Directly overhead something emitted a smart CRACK. Without warning the column sustaining the rickety ladder began to split. The division started beneath the ramp picking up speed as the fissure raced downward straight at Duo.
*********
The tower's shearing apart expelled all manner of dislodged objects and combustibles. The broad dispersion threw ejected substances so high that they seemed to slam against the zenith of the horizon. Then, true to the law of gravity, the injurious elements fell in an extensive shower sparing no area below.
The mighty outburst knocked Heero backwards. The explosion's flashpoint stabbed at his eyes. Falling debris drove him to seek shelter behind the scattered storage units. Although brief in its dangerous down falling, the pelting leftovers managed to get in a few good stinging wraps. Not only did Heero suffer but his SCAT was also the recipient of many dents and scratches.
This marring of paint and polish brought forth a bout of bilingual swearing from the Japanese man. His scathing rebuke, launched at the entire turn of events, left no one or nothing untouched by his all-inclusive profanity.
But Heero's most vigorous denunciations were aimed at himself and his desperation as the tower's destruction cut him off from Duo. His last glimpse of his comrade had been of Duo climbing up an outside column then vanishing into the thick smog enshrouding the platform.
Now the spot where Duo was last seen no longer existed. The only thing that Heero could see was smoke and fire and the crumbling tangle of beams and bracing as the structure collapsed in on itself. Heero's body sagged heavily against the units. His head bowed with weighted care. Stringy hair curtained his face as if trying to hide his despair from the world's prying eyes.
"We wanted to bring it...down," he sighed the words coming haltingly in a grief-stricken whisper. "but dammit not like this."
Inside his anguish-numbed mind Heero's inner council was joined by a multitude of voices. *This is not over yet. We won't let it be.*
An uneasy silence followed the forceful decree. Heero's slumped posture and his ragged breathing made the voices wonder if he had heard anything that they said.
This lack of response seethed up in an angry reaction. *DID YOU HEAR US?* the phantom voices screamed giving Heero a verbal stove strong enough to stir him from his despondent stupor. Then as quickly as the impatient temper boiled up, it subsided with such draining withdrawal that it took Heero's breath away.
In his heart he united with the disembodied voices that belonged to each spirit that had been sacrificed for freedom. In his soul he felt their power, the very essence of what it meant to be human and drew from that will to survive.
Sharply Heero raised he head shaking back his tangled mane from his damp cheeks. Steadily he raised an acidic glare aiming it squarely at the tower. His darkened pupil's enkindled furor never lessened as they centered on the dense vapors enveloping the tower's apex.
"Duo is alive and I am going to find a way to reach him!" he hissed through clenched teeth. "With your help I will reach him." he humbly asked for the spirits aide as he sought their wise guidance.
Without another word Heero slid his helmet from the SCAT's handle grip. Holding it in trembling hands his incensed sight bore down on the Crossed Swords insignia then his determined gaze returned upwards to the tangled tower.
He pulled on his helmet, cinched up the chinstrap and straddled his bi-wheeled beast. "Hold on Duo I'm coming." he promised as he slapped down the face shield.
The SCAT roared to life and, in a streak of dust, it and its Strike Force rider sped toward the tower.
*********
Duo stretched, distending his reach well beyond what he thought his burning shoulder muscles would allow. Awkwardly his right hand closed around the railing post's base. A feverish pang grabbed in his upper arm. Numbing sensations threatened his already unstable grip.
Duo's perceptions of his surroundings spun dazzled and confused. A heat flush surged over him seconds before a cold sweat shivered through making his entire body damp and chilled. He gritted his teeth fighting the overpowering faintness that his temperature's rapid fluctuations produced.
His moist hand began to slip on the pole's smooth exterior. Pushing off the ladder Duo fastened his left hand above his right easing the tautness in his shoulder's torn tendons. With great effort his chest gradually began to rise along the ramp's edge. Ignoring the weakness and the cramped spasms, he dragged his top-heavy torso over the rough rim.
A second push proved worthless. The ladder's stressed bolts let out a final mournful whine and gave way. The ladder rang out in a clanging clatter as it struck the next level then silently dropped away as its twisted, distorted outline dissolved into the murky currents.
One painful, overextended tug hoisted Duo's dangling hips onto the ramp's questionable stability. Limply he laid on his stomach shivering as a thoroughly exhausted feebleness shrouded him completely. At that moment Duo didn't feel like he could move even if his life depended on it but unfortunately, in his present environment, the dependence of his very existence hinged heavily on his mobility.
A clammy hand was all that kept Duo's aching head from the dusty, pitted ramp. That same sprinkling of fine ash and pulverized building materials were drawn into his lungs with each laborious breath but his system was too overloaded to cough out the foul air or irritating elements. Instead a congested wheeze struggled to clear his clogged lungs.
An attempt to swallow, to wash down the dry abrasive obstruction in his parched throat, did nothing but worsen the condition. Salty tasting blood from his cracked lips mixed with stringy saliva to form a phlegmy wad that refused to go down.
Finally Duo sucked in a single shallow breath that dislodged the phlegm. The stubborn mass caught in his esophagus triggering his gagging reflexes. With a stomach-churning heave Duo spewed up the rankled mixture. Raising his head high enough to spit out the expelled mucus Duo trembled as a nauseating wave crashed over him. The retching, while unpleasant, did clear his airway but did little to lessen the tightness in his chest.
Resisting his weary sense's urging to lay down his head, close his eyes and give into his drowsy lethargy, Duo's inner voice again reminded him of his solitary state...that his living or dying was solely up to him. *No one but yourself.*
Duo bent his knees and turned on his side curving his slumberous body into a modified fetal curl. He only allowed his overtaxed system's languor to linger but an instant before he pushed its sleepy interposal aside. A deep disentangling breath overrode the stupefied cobwebs clouding his brain and with renewed tenacity Duo set his mind on doing whatever he needed to do to insure his life's continuation.
A grinding quiver shifted the tower off-center causing Duo's grit slick windsuit to slide on the grainy particles. The "scooting" sent him down the ramp's banking towards the outside edge. Duo extended his legs planting his boots on the bottom horizontal rail to haul his slipping. Powdery grit, caught in the updraft funneling over the side, added another sooty layer to his already begrimed skin and clothing.
Holding onto the middle rail with one hand, the top rail with the other, he set his feet and slowly stood up. The tower's listing set the ramp's slope on an even steeper angular grade making Duo's boots continue their skidding on the pulverized film.
Hand over hand along the top railing Duo carefully eased his way down the acute incline. His progress was exasperatingly slow but given his unreliable footings the moderate shuffle was as fast as he dared to go. The railing vibrated as wave after fluctuating wave coursed over the crippling tremors.
"At this rate," Duo mumbled under his breath, "I'll never get down." Still his arduous descent was much preferred to a freefall and its unhealthy slamming into the ground.
*********
On ground level huge chunks of soft soil were ejected as the tower's right side buttresses kicked up from the gapping hole. The tipping set the uppermost sections critically off-balance. The radical pitch fretted the already brittle braces and crossties.
Duo did not see the thin line appear in the ramp's surface. He didn't take notice of its crinkled slit as the severed seam began to push apart.
The uprooted base rose higher its tottering escalating the dividing. Lending an additional slant to the vertical alignment the oblique angle buckled the crack. Opposing forces widened the breach. A large chasm replaced the bulge as the ruptured ramp caved in and an entire portion tore away. Steel reinforcing rods spiked up, their protruding ends offering a perfect place for a distasteful impaling.
The awry shifting produced a wobbly sway upsetting Duo's tenuous balance just before the ramp and everything on it began its deadly downhill sinking. Duo's boots dug into the glassy surface in a vain attempt to stop his inevitable tumble over the edge. But just short of his inescapable plunge an intense tremble completely shattered what permanence remained.
The entire section under Duo's feet dropped straight down. He grabbed onto a center post but it, too, ripped free. Among the dissected segments, while the heavens crumbled above him and the portals of hell gaped wide beneath, Duo suddenly lost all sense of falling. There was no up or down, nothing pointing the way to get back or move forward.
The giddy buoyancy created a sensation of false floating. This lulling relaxation made Duo's body feel light. His drooping eyelids were heavy with oxygen depleted somnolence. His mind drifted into tranquil obscurity then mercifully Duo blacked out just before he and the pummeling ruins hit the next level.
TBC...
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