A Note Regarding Third Beat: The reader of Third Beat should be made aware that in the course of this storyline, I assume the canonical occurence of the G-Unit side-stories, the Battlefield of Pacifists story, and the resulting interpretation of Endless Waltz, all of which are manga drawn by Koichi Tokita. For those of you who are not already familiar with this material, I recommend hunting them down, as they a) will increase your comprehension of some of what the hell I'm talking about in the series, b) will show you what Roche Nattono, Aretha Walker, Odin Bernett, Odel Bernett, Dick Hidasaki, & Lucille Aisely look like, c) will give you some general background info beyond what I've already mentioned, and d) are pretty enjoyable pieces of work in their own right. Also, I own no part of Gundam Wing. I do own the original characters and original mobile suit designs that I have used in this fanfiction, and others may not use them without my permission.

Thank you from the creator of Third Beat,

Taurus II

Episode 1: Trouble's Beginnings

The year is After Colony 204. Two years ago, a nihilist cult calling themselves the Peaceful Dead took up terrorist tactics and revealed themselves to a blissfully unaware Earth Sphere Unified Nation by blowing up the outermost colony, MO-V. The survivors fled to the developing Mars colony, and the Preventers systematically rooted out the menacing cult, which soon came to be called "The Black Death" by the media. President Relena Darlian capitalized on the successful elimination of the group during her re-election tour, and after completing the tour, headed back to Earth….

Heero wrenched the control stick to one side just in time to dodge a beam blast. Increasing engine output, he glanced over at Relena, who was trying to find a way to punch through the static transmitted by the Virgos. Heero punched the throttle, sending the shuttle zooming out of the pirate formation. Unfortunately, they were still well within overtake and shooting range. As the acceleration pressed him back in his chair, Heero was suddenly reminded of another time acceleration was pressing on him while dodging beam blasts…

He and Duo were in a shuttle. Ahead, colony L3-X18999 loomed, surrounded by Tauruses. The space MS began firing, but Duo avoided the beams with ease.

"How's this for some shuttle maneuvering?"

Heero smiled grimly at the memory, his reply coming to the surface of his mind. "I was counting on those skills right from the beginning."

Relena found a channel. "Anyone out there, this is the Presidential Shuttle. We are under attack by pirates and are requesting assistance."

A voice crackled over the speaker. "Presidential Shuttle, this is Winner Corporation Convoy 113. We're sending you 8 units to escort you. Keep in contact."

"Roger that. We're Earth-bound; how 'bout you?" Heero broke into the conversation, jerking the shuttle to the left to avoid another beam.

"The same, so we'll be able to keep you company the entire way." Several specks began to grow out side the window. A new voice came out of the speaker, "Okay, we've made visual contact. Maneuvering to intercept your pursuers."

By now the specks had resolved into Maguanacs.

"Pirates, stand down, or we will open fire," said the voice.

"We'll waste you," a rough voice sneered. "Vultures, prepare to attack!"

"Maguanacs, engage!" The tan and brown suits zoomed toward the Virgos. Heero watched as the two forces clashed. One of the Maguanacs was obliterated in concentrated fire from 4 Virgos, but they were destroyed in close combat by another of the Maguanacs. Of the remaining 5 pirates, 4 were fighting losing battles against the Maguanac pilots' superior skills, and the fifth was fleeing at top speed.

"Just you wait, Maguanacs!" the rough voice from before shouts. "I'll have my revenge!"

"We'll see you later then," the Maguanac commander growled. "Now then, Ms. President, would you like to join our convoy?"

Relena glanced at Heero, who nodded. "Yes, thank you," she said.

"No problem," the Maguanac replied as the suits and the shuttle zoomed off together.

The reporters clustered around the shuttleport terminal retreated slightly as Heero came out.

"Go away." He glared at them. They shrunk a little, but held their ground and retaliated by shoving a microphone and camera into his face.

"Mr. Yuy, why was the shuttle late? Has anything happened to President Darlian?"

Heero silenced them by pulling out his pistol. "Go away," he repeated.

An exasperated sigh from behind Heero indicated that Relena had just disembarked. "Heero, I know you don't like reporters, but that's no reason to be so rude to them."

"Ms. President!" the reporters eagerly turned to her in hopes that she would be, as usual, more forthcoming. "What caused the delay in your return to Earth?"

"The shuttle was attacked by a band of pirates; however, there was a Winner Corp. shipping convoy in the area that was able to render assistance. That's all," Relena smiled at the journalists. "Now if you could excuse us, please…?" The reporters departed, and Relena looked sideways at Heero. "You know, they've realized by now that you won't actually shoot someone unless they shoot at me first, so pulling your gun out has lost most of its intimidation value."

Heero scowled in reply.

Lady Une sighed as she got off the phone with Relena. This is the tenth report in three months I've gotten about this Viginti character and his Vulkanus Virgos. She sighed again. That was another thing. Though she had acted quickly to ensure that pirates and terrorists would not be able to acquire any of the advanced MDs, they and other lowlifes had, as usual, managed to sneak out a number of the Mobile Doll Virgos. The majority of the remainder had been refitted to hold human pilots and formed the Preventers' elite emergency team, intended to defend against incidents like the Mariemaia Coup.

Lady Une's reverie was broken by the sound of the opening door. Mariemaia walked in and sat down in the chair across the desk. "Hello, Mariemaia," Lady Une said. "Have a nice day?"

"Yeah," Mariemaia replied. "So, what's my assignment today?" she asked, for she had recently gotten a part-time job in the Preventer Corps.

"Ummm…" Lady Une said pensively, "Let me see… You could start by researching the number of Virgos that were missing from Vulkanus when we seized it, compensating, of course, for the ones destroyed during the Gundam pilots' battle with P3, and comparing that result with the number of Virgos that are suspected to be held by the pirate captain Jiovanni Viginti. I want low- and high-end estimates."

"Can I get you a five-course meal with that, Aunt Une?"

"Only after the rest of it. Now get on it."

"Roger that, Commander," Mariemaia snapped a salute and walked to the nearest computer workstation.

Mariemaia scowled at her computer screen. These numbers can't be correct. But they have to be, and Aunt Une isn't gonna be happy. My most conservative estimate puts Viginti in possession of over 50 suits, with half again that number unaccounted for. Grimacing, Mariemaia pushed the print button and prepared for the end of the world.

"Are you sure about these numbers, Mariemaia?" Lady Une said in a hard and emotionless voice.

Mariemaia flinched. "Yes, ma'am. I double- and triple-checked them."

"Very well," Lady Une said, her voice less hard but still flat. She picked up the phone on her desk and dialed in a number as Mariemaia fled the office.

"What's up, Trowa?" Heero asked his friend, sitting down in front of the videophone. "Where are you calling from?"

"Mars. We've been performing here for a week or so, and I've been hearing some unsettling conversations during off-time."

"Like what?" Heero looked more grim than usual.

"…It's kind of involved. Do you have a few minutes?"

"Barring an assassination attempt on Relena, I have as much time as it takes."

"Good. You remember about two years ago, when the Black Death terrorists revealed themselves by blowing up MO-V?"

"…Yeah…"

"And how the survivors fled to Mars, where they still make up a sizable portion of the population?"

Heero nodded.

"Alright. Ever hear of an MO-V survivor named Mikol Esroni?"

This time, Heero shook his head. "Should I have?"

"No, not really. Anyway, Esroni is 37, brilliant at pretty much anything he puts his mind to, and both legs were paralyzed from the attack. One year ago, he started preaching secession. For most of this and the last year, his arguments have pretty much been in the lunatic fringe. Lately, however, something has changed, and he's now influencing people on the street as well."

"That's bad," Heero agreed, looking grimmer still.

"Which is why I called. I assume Relena was listening?"

"Yes," replied Relena, coming within range of the audio and visual pickups. "Thank you for informing us, Trowa."

"No problem," Trowa said, and disconnected.

Lady Une drummed her fingers on her desk impatiently as she waited for Relena's phone line to clear. Finally, it did. Heero answered.

"Yes?"

"Is Relena there? I have information that you might find interesting."

"She's right here," Heero informed her.

"I did some research on the pirate group Relena mentioned, the Vultures. Their leader's name is Jiovanni Viginti; he's probably the one who escaped. At any rate, I asked Mariemaia to put together some estimates on how many Virgos he has, based on the number of Virgos that we know were missing, how many we've recovered, and how many of his have been destroyed," Lady Une explained. Then, she grimaced.

"Her low-end estimate puts Viginti in possession of approximately fifty Virgos."

"That's bad," Heero agreed. "Very bad."

"Yes," Lady Une said soberly. "The good news is that he apparently can't find enough people to convert and pilot them all. He can't use the AI because in piracy, the goal is to disable and intimidate, not to destroy."

Heero nodded, but Relena had a question. "If he was able to get that many Virgos off Vulkanus, why doesn't he have enough people to pilot them?"

"Several MD transports were also missing from Vulkanus. Using those, it would only have taken a few people to do," Lady Une told her.

"I see," said Relena. "Thank you, Lady Une. Is that all...?"

"Yes, Relena."

"Goodbye," Heero said, and ended the call.

"Blast! Darlian's still leading us by 40 points, and we're running out of time," cursed William Preston, one of the few people running against Relena. "If only that fool Viginti had been able to finish her off, I could have capitalized on the public outrage and gained the lead."

"Sir, there is another way to eliminate her as a threat to your campaign. If we could accuse her of something scandalous, it would severely damage her public standing, even if completely untrue," suggested one of his lackeys.

"I know that, but the damn woman always keeps her hands so damn clean! She's practically a saint, to hear the media talk about her."

"I know, sir, that is a problem. But as I just pointed out, it doesn't have to necessarily be true—"

"But it does have to sound plausible, you dolt, or the only people who'll buy it will be the nutcases," Preston explained with an exaggerated calm that served to underscore how angry he was.

"…We do have one other option," said the third man present.

"Yes? What option would that be?" Preston turned irritably to face him.

"Assassination," came the reply.

Later that evening, Evelyn Peseta received a phone call. She picked up the handset and said into it, "Hello, who is this please?"

"That does not matter. I have a special job that needs completing. Should you accomplish this task, you will become very wealthy."

Evelyn's interest was piqued. "I'm listening…"

Continued In Episode 2: Dangers at Home