Dream 07.
His Trans-Am time has run out, and Setsuna knows the Exia's particle reserve is running close to empty. He should stop, give the machine time to recharge, because to face Ali Al-Saachez - with a stolen Throne, no less - at anything less than full strength would be all but suicide. But the only driving thought that runs through the boy's mind is that he has to get there. He has to get to where Lockon's Dynames was battling the Throne Zwei, he has to get there because the elder Gundam Meister is hardly in prime fighting condition himself, he has to--
The Exia's instruments pick up a sudden surge of energy, and for a moment Setsuna feels his heart freeze - but it doesn't look like an explosion, and he lets himself begin to breathe slowly. He lets himself hope.
Setsuna is here, now, but he can't see the Dynames or the Throne Zwei anywhere. All that pops up on his sensors is wreckage: wreckage of UN carriers, other Mobile Suits, but nothing that resembles a Gundam - any Gundam - anywhere. He manually scans the area even as he knows it's futile, because his instruments will always do the job faster and more accurately.
--the scope beeps, and Setsuna's eyes widen as it zooms in on a particular piece of wreckage that he recognizes. "The GN Arms...!" If the Arms was destroyed, then what about Dynames...?!
Another beep, and the monitor moves slightly to the right, zooming in again to focus on a figure floating upside-down in space clad in a green flight suit. Setsuna feels something tighten in his chest - for a moment, he thinks he sees the figure move, it could just be a trick of the light but he knows that Lockon Stratos is alive, he has to be alive. "...Lockon Stratos!"
Exia...! Please! Every last drop of remaining power is channeled into his Gundam's propulsion systems, and the young pilot silently begs the machine to go even faster, willing it to go faster. Lockon is so close - if he can just get there in time, if he can retrieve him, then he'll bring him back to the Ptolemaios where he can get the best medical care possible and he'll be okay, and ...
The only warning is a brief spark of light, a puff of blue smoke from the GN Arms' reactor core - and then the weapon explodes in a brilliant flash, spewing glittering green GN particles out into space in its death throes, and the blast consumes the lonely green figure.
Something twists inside his chest, and then breaks. "LOCKON!"
No.
No, it isn't true. Setsuna wills it not to be true, because it can't be true. Somehow, he had to have seen it wrong. The explosion must have missed him. But as the Exia floats amidst the remains of the weapon, scanning for life signs and not finding any - the scanners have to be wrong ... Setsuna slams his fist against the cockpit wall, hard enough so that the pain shoots up his arm but he almost doesn't feel it. He's shaking.
It isn't true. It isn't true.
And then, over the regular communication channels comes a lone, plaintive electronic voice. "Lockon, Lockon! Lockon, Lockon! Lockon, Lockon!"
If Haro is saying it, then...
.....then...
"Lockon... Stratos..." His shoulders are quaking and for a moment Setsuna feels like every nerve in his body has just flared up and died. He can't stop shaking, no matter what he does.
At last, tears finally pour from his eyes, sparkling inside his helmet in the zero-gravity, and the boy lets out a desperate, wordless scream.
His breathing is ragged, almost gasping. "W... why...?"
The Exia's instruments pick up a sudden surge of energy, and for a moment Setsuna feels his heart freeze - but it doesn't look like an explosion, and he lets himself begin to breathe slowly. He lets himself hope.
Setsuna is here, now, but he can't see the Dynames or the Throne Zwei anywhere. All that pops up on his sensors is wreckage: wreckage of UN carriers, other Mobile Suits, but nothing that resembles a Gundam - any Gundam - anywhere. He manually scans the area even as he knows it's futile, because his instruments will always do the job faster and more accurately.
--the scope beeps, and Setsuna's eyes widen as it zooms in on a particular piece of wreckage that he recognizes. "The GN Arms...!" If the Arms was destroyed, then what about Dynames...?!
Another beep, and the monitor moves slightly to the right, zooming in again to focus on a figure floating upside-down in space clad in a green flight suit. Setsuna feels something tighten in his chest - for a moment, he thinks he sees the figure move, it could just be a trick of the light but he knows that Lockon Stratos is alive, he has to be alive. "...Lockon Stratos!"
Exia...! Please! Every last drop of remaining power is channeled into his Gundam's propulsion systems, and the young pilot silently begs the machine to go even faster, willing it to go faster. Lockon is so close - if he can just get there in time, if he can retrieve him, then he'll bring him back to the Ptolemaios where he can get the best medical care possible and he'll be okay, and ...
The only warning is a brief spark of light, a puff of blue smoke from the GN Arms' reactor core - and then the weapon explodes in a brilliant flash, spewing glittering green GN particles out into space in its death throes, and the blast consumes the lonely green figure.
Something twists inside his chest, and then breaks. "LOCKON!"
No.
No, it isn't true. Setsuna wills it not to be true, because it can't be true. Somehow, he had to have seen it wrong. The explosion must have missed him. But as the Exia floats amidst the remains of the weapon, scanning for life signs and not finding any - the scanners have to be wrong ... Setsuna slams his fist against the cockpit wall, hard enough so that the pain shoots up his arm but he almost doesn't feel it. He's shaking.
It isn't true. It isn't true.
And then, over the regular communication channels comes a lone, plaintive electronic voice. "Lockon, Lockon! Lockon, Lockon! Lockon, Lockon!"
If Haro is saying it, then...
.....then...
"Lockon... Stratos..." His shoulders are quaking and for a moment Setsuna feels like every nerve in his body has just flared up and died. He can't stop shaking, no matter what he does.
At last, tears finally pour from his eyes, sparkling inside his helmet in the zero-gravity, and the boy lets out a desperate, wordless scream.
His breathing is ragged, almost gasping. "W... why...?"