The year is after colony 203. With peaceful relations successfully established between the earth and the space colonies, the Preventers, the military branch of the ESUN composed of elite ex-soldiers, is tasked with negotiating the systematic abolition of mobile suits and all other weapons of war. However, several earth nations have grown disenchanted with the new world government. With popular support of their people, the aspirations of these nations threaten to undermine the legitimacy of the ESUN, and the fragile state of peace that was so hard won.
For a moment, screams and gasps were all she could hear, and without opening her eyes Relena knew exactly who tackled her to the ground. She raised her head and assessed the situation, two meters from her, Heero had the guy pinned down in a painful wrist lock, the messenger bag lay in the doorway on the other side of the press hall, where Heero had flung it, undetonated.
The crowd, being journalists, snapped out of the stuper and cameras flashed angrily around the spectacle, casting strange shadows across Heero's face. Relena wanted to pause and take in the changes in his features since she'd last seen him, but this was hardly the appropriate time.
The man twisted his neck to face his captor, and ground out venomously, "Murderer...I'm taking you with me..." Heero frowned and held him down tighter, the captive grunted in pain, bit down hard on something in his mouth, and began to laugh.
"Shit!" Heero clamped a hand over the man's mouth and pinched the nostrils shut. "Call the Bio-Haz team!" He hissed into the comm at his collar and heard the agent scramble to obey at the other end of the line. The man pinned on the ground was convulsing, after a beat, he gave a final jerk of the body, and ceased all movement. Heero kept his hands firmly over the dead man's jaws, and glanced up to face a sea of flashing cameras.
"We caught one in the underground garage trying to plant a car bomb beneath the convoy driver's seat." Sally perched on the arm of the sofa in the Preventers office. "Shot herself in the mouth before we could I.D. her. You've got my body cam footage, she looked barely eighteen..."
Wufei growled, "Our target was so pathetic he didn't even know how to properly load the sniper rifle." It was as if he was personally insulted by the display of incompetence. "He jumped that roof in a hurry though, bastard was eager to die."
"They were clearly diversions from the main event inside the press hall. We're dealing with a group willing to kill their own people. Keep a tight lid on this until we know more." Une's voice crackled over the vidcom, encryption for their secure lines always made the transmissions low quality. "Heero, you'll be assigned to Ms. Darlian, we'll handle security for the State Minister."
"I don't work for you."
"Yes, but it lends you some credibility to the public if the Preventers can account for your presence." Une smiled diplomatically, she was obviously used to dealing with his type by now.
"Understood."
"Three attacks were thwarted by the Preventers this afternoon as Vice Foreign Minister Darlian made her diplomatic visit to the capital of Moldova. The Preventers spokesperson issued a statement following the incidents: [All three suspects died during apprehension. Their motives are unclear, and we have yet to determine whether the incidents are connected. So far no organization has taken credit.] We'll be following the investigation as more information is revealed..."
Vice Foreign Minister Darlian was not amused. She wore her spare set of business attire, as the clothing she chose this morning were still being decontaminated. Her trip to Moldova was supposed to ease tensions between the Nationalist Independence Movement and the ESUN, but these incidents have exasperated the already volatile situation. She scrunched her brows and reread a section of the security report, all threats neutralized prior to activation. There was something that bothered her about these attacks, aside from the timing...
"They were sacrifices."
She wasn't surprised at his sudden arrivals anymore, he always materialized when her world became turbulent. "Makes sense, our security resources are very limited here." She reasoned, they've done away with greetings long ago.
"The real threat was the chemical attack targeting you, the other two were just diversions to lull us into a false assumption that these were simple bomb threats." Heero walked around to her side of the desk, his voice was just as she remembered, commanding and low with that barely detectable tremor she loved so well. "The explosives in that bag were not wired to go off, preliminary report suggests the others were carrying duds, too."
He paused to let her mind work, and she appreciated his respect for her intellect. "But why suicide? What was the purpose of..." she trailed off with a shiver, "There's something we're not seeing, perhaps a contingency plan in case the chemical attack fails..."
"Correct." Heero touched her shoulder lightly, as if to reward her for reaching the right conclusion. "A cursory examination of their online social profiles link them to the Independence Movement."
"But you have doubts."
She became sharper over the years. Heero nodded affirmative. "The accounts were all recently created, dating back no older than two months, each with only a handful of affiliates. Furthermore, the alleged sniper had a troubling history of mental illness."
Relena frowned, "We can't stigmatize them like that..." She said reflexively.
"He was cognitively deficient, Relena, he failed every aptitude test for employment, with no living relatives, the only thing he qualified for was government assisted living."
"It's impossible for a man like that to be a sniper!"
"Exactly." That was crude, but she needed a shock to the system.
"...You think someone groomed this poor man to fake an assassination, and then commit suicide?" She felt a headache looming behind her occipital bones. "This is far out conspiracy theory territory."
Of course, a Gundam pilot was no stranger to conspiracies.
"Isn't it possible," she tried to reason, "that he simply was someone who genuinely believed in the Independence cause...and just happened to be mentally deficient?"
"The rifle wasn't loaded, and he carried no ammo. He was wearing a headset, someone gave him the order to jump." Heero tapped a finger on her copy of the report. "Trowa's checking the car-bomb girl, but I'd wager she was also mentally disturbed, socially vulnerable, and won't be missed if she disappeared."
"That's terrible..." she sunk into her chair, her countenance sullen but for the spark of anger in her eyes. "What could be the purpose of such cruelty?"
"We don't know yet, but for the time being, I'm on guard duty." He gestured to his Preventers style buzz-cut, standard to all loaned out security personnel.
"Is that a good idea? The public perception of the Gundams aren't overly favourable right now..."
Heero's lips quirked at that, this girl always had more concern for him, even when she was the one being targeted.
There was one still unaccounted for, "What about the man you took down?"
"Nicolae Russu, he was a true-believer, but not a nationalist." Heero squinted at the memory, "It was more personal somehow..."
There was a distinct pattern to recent events that intrigued her, the tides were bringing in a new era and a Catalonia heiress must never be caught unawares during such a sea change.
Dorothy was not a woman easily distracted by petty politics, the pseudo-dramatics were a terrible bore. But Astro-turfing was an unexplored field of science, and this "Peace By Any Means" organization fascinated her. There was something incongruous about a group dedicated to peace, repeatedly committing acts of violence in the streets.
In the war-peace-revolution cycle, a constant pressure was present at every step—corruption. She could see the rot in the post-centennial peace, an over-ripe fruit ready to drop from the tree. Preparations must be made for a soft landing or the world would again fracture into warring pieces. For now, there was no need for her to jump into the arena, she'll be invited soon enough.
"Vice Foreign Minister, please understand! We are a peaceful nation, our people hold the philosophy of the Sanc Kingdom in the highest regard." The Prime Minister of Moldova was a short, balding man with cunning eyes and a compassionate voice that reminded Relena of her father.
"Nevertheless, the recent terror attacks-"
"How can your death be of any benefit to us? Think, Miss Darlian, should anything befall ESUN delegates on our soil, let alone the beloved Former Queen, what would become of my small nation?"
Relena winced, the world would be out for blood. Moldova would face heavy economic sanctions, skyrocketing inflation, food and medicine would become unaffordable for the common people, and in all likelihood bankruptcy of the financial system which would lead to total loss of its sovereignty. Perhaps forced repatriation of the diaspora as well. That is, if they're not outright razed to the ground.
"We may be a country of peasants, but we are not stupid." The old man was getting worked up, "The entire country was designated as an agricultural region by the Alliance, and the ESUN changed nothing when it inherited the whole system. Our young people routinely emigrate to the colonies for better employment, leaving their little ones to be raised by grandparents. When these children grow up, they will leave, too." He looked across the conference table with shining eyes, "This is our last chance to preserve our nation. Our people will dwindle into nothing but a diaspora unless we can industrialize."
"Surely your booming ecological and cultural tourism is a net benefit to your GDP." Relena was grasping at straws and she could feel his indignation bubble up as she rushed to finish her statement. "The culture of this country is protected by several internationally recognized historical sites, not to mention the fifteen re-enactment villages and towns funded directly by ESUN grants."
She hit a nerve, the Prime Minister's mustache twitched with anger. "It's a disgrace to our people, that for money, we dress up and act like performing monkeys at the pleasure of tourists." He took a deep breath, "Let us live with dignity, and modernize to compete with the rest of the world."
The room fell quiet as Relena weighed the options. "The process to change an ecological-zoning designation can take years in the ESUN bureaucracy, and success can't be guaranteed."
"Then, Vice Foreign Minister, we the people of Moldova wish to begin official negotiations for secession from the Earth Sphere Unified Nation."
The motorcade was disguised as a taxicab with tinted windows, sandwiched between motorbikes. The streets of Chișinău were quiet for a capital city, curious children chased after them, grey heads of the elderly peeked warily from half closed windows.
These scenes have become familiar to Relena over the course of this tour, it was the same look of desperation she saw in Mongolia, in New South Yemen, in Caledonia... She swallowed a lump, and tried to imagine her own childhood without the strength of her father and the comfort of her mother.
"The cost of living can be prohibitive to raising a family in the colonies," Heero offered softly, "Most of these kids are better off here."
"A whole generation of children who can barely remember what a hug feels like from their mom and dad..." she tore her gaze away from the window. She would've broke down over this a few years ago, but the job required a clear head unclouded by emotions. "I should start on my report." She dug out her work mobile from her clutch.
Heero felt his own mobile buzz in its holster against his hip, pulled it out and slid it open in one fluid motion. A message from Trowa blinked at him, [leak, expect media smear, go under.]
This wasn't good, he could pass unnoticed as one of her rotation guards with his short hair and coloured lenses, but if he was singled out, there'd be many from his past who could put a name to his face. Then all they had to do was connect the dots until he was outed as a Gundam pilot.
"What is it?" Relena's hand hovered above her own device, temporarily forgotten.
He skimmed the rest of the message, the corners of his eyes tightened with tension. Heero turned his screen for her to see.
"He killed my father with his bare hands. The photos, see for yourself! My poor old tata...he was all I had, and this monster took him away from me." The petite brunette wiped her tears as cameras flashed and reporters swarmed her podium, a black-suit security guy pushed them back. The news footage ended, replaced by the text "Yasmin Russu seeks justice for father brutally killed by ESUN thug." Mournful piano slowed to a stop as the video faded to black.
The girl was a very sympathetic character, yes, Relena could feel the emotional tug of this media narrative. Which meant..."Heero, they want to eliminate you."
Tbc...