Mysidia, Africa
The Raid on Mysidia
The air reeked of sulfur. Sulfur, laced with something more sinister. The sulfur was the more pleasant smell. Behind it was the sweet smell of the battle field. Whether Mobile Suits, Arm Slaves, Knightmares or Magitek, they always smelled the same when downed. That wretched burning smell of steel eggs with their gooey human center. If one could not cope with the smell of burning flesh, one was not suited to see battle.
And what a battle! The field was strewn with the wreckage of buildings and mecha as far as the eye could see. The streets ran red and black, fuselage and blood flowing freely, impeded only by the casings of bullets expended with a speed proportionate to the lives they snuffed out. Flames danced so high they threatened to burn the moons, and smoke rose like trees in a forest. The battle had begun ten minutes ago. In ten minutes, the enemy defense force, comprised entirely of working-class mecha, had been destroyed, and with them much of their city.
Mysidia, a city-state in sub-Saharan Africa, had the esteemed honor of being the door through which the hounds of war were unleashed. An array of alliances and treaties which had preserved peace for a century of prosperity and recovery throughout much of the Earth Sphere and her colonies was now crumbling to pieces to the sound of tin soldiers, marching through city streets.
The unit, the First Imperial Magitek Corps, of the Royal Baronian Air Force, known as the Red Wings, had been deployed at the behest of Emperor Charles Gestahl Baronia III, emperor of Baronia, an empire which covered roughly a fifth of the world, though much of this was in island-states. Mysidia, as all of Africa and most of Western Europe, belonged to the mighty European Union. The other major players on the board where the Empire of China, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. Together, the Big Five formed the Earth Federation. Emperor Baronia's deployment of the Red Wings was in clear violation of this treaty.
The bullets would be heard round the world; for the blow came almost simultaneously with the declaration of independence by the Space Colonies, now calling themselves the Principality of Zeon. For a century the Colonies, who had prospered while the Earth struggled to recover following the devastating effects of its First Impact, had been kept in the Union by permitting a series of war-games to continue, but it was clear that Degwin Zabi and his son, Patrick Ghiren Zabi, the Chairman of these Colonies, had no intention of being so easily sated now that the Earth Sphere was ripe again.
There was so much else caught up in this battle, yet not a facet of its import was lost on the commander of the ground troops. Lord Captain Cecil L. Harvey of the Baronian Red Wings was not entirely comfortable with his orders. As he scanned the monitor before him, the sight the external cameras displayed turned his stomach.
Such carnage had not been seen in Cecil's time. The Mars Colony had reported something like this when the Jovian Lizards attacked, but nothing like this. These were humans, innocents, and the order to attack had come at the hour they had all been praying toward Mecca. Nothing about this was right. But Emperor Charles had raised him like a son, and he knew where his loyalties lie. He was the sword of the King, and he would not falter. Not now.
"My Lord," came the voice of Lieutenant Biggs, "The Tower of Prayer has fallen."
"Understood," Cecil answered, understanding as far from his mind as could be. The Mysidian Elder was in this Tower of Prayer, and not in the city Mosque, as had been originally believed. "We'll leave the Magitek Armor here."
"Is that wise, Milord? There may be a trap inside."
"Look around, Lieutenant. I am not even certain that the Mysidians have the weapons to set a trap, let alone the will to do it."
A display appeared on the monitor just then. A red box with black letters, and a simple warning message: WARNING, UNIT MTK-T1 IS BEYOND ESTABLISHED MISSION PERIMETER. After that, a command prompt appeared: DETONATE UNIT MTK-T1? Y/N? Cecil shook his head. It was so like the engineering department to install a detonation command on his unit for their experiment.
Unit MTK-T1 was a horned, red Magitek Armor, whose pilot Lord Captain Harvey had only "met" recently. She was a young woman, likely in her late teens or early twenties, but definitely younger than him by at least two years. She had long, green hair, the color of mint leaves. She was always dressed in the same Imperial Armor as any Infantryman, save that her uniform was red. About her head she always wore a silver circlet. She was undoubtedly a part of the Imperial Engineering Corps' experiment, along with the MTK-T1, and yet it was not Count Cidolfas who introduced her to the Emperor at Court, but Royal Vizier Kefka Palazzo.
"Pilot Six, you have passed beyond permitted boundaries. Rendezvous at Mission Point Four. Do you copy?" When she did not answer he remembered the briefing and, groaning, said, "Pilot Six, heel. Come."
After a moment of com silence, her voice was heard, "Affirmative. I will rendezvous in one minute."
A large explosion at her designated location was seen ten seconds later. By the time the smoke had cleared she had arrived. Unit MTK-T1 had no weapons in hand, and fuel and blood all over its fists. Cecil shuddered as he gazed upon it, then gave the order for all to dismount.
The assault party consisted of four: Lord Captain Harvey, his trusted Lieutenants Biggs and Wedge, and Pilot Six. Where the three Knights had their swords and rifles, Pilot Six carried only one long knife. Ignoring the quizzical looks from his Knights, the Lord Captain motioned them in.
The sanctuary was abandoned. Unusual for a place of Islamic worship, though, was that the building held depictions of humans, rather than the usual geometrical designs used for decoration along the walls. As they advanced, Cecil wondered if this was in fact a place of worship at all.
At the end of a long corridor, they found him. The Elder of Mysidia, accompanied by four priests. None were armed, but two stepped forward to bar the way. Biggs and Wedge pushed them aside and Pilot Six followed behind Cecil to where the Elder sat. Before him was a small table, covered with a white cloth. On it rested a gemstone the size of a man's fist.
"Welcome, friends," the Elder said. "How fare our allies today?"
"The Alliance is over." Cecil informed the Elder.
"How terrible. Well, it certainly is kind of the Emperor to inform us before things get too drastic, now, isn't it?"
"I have no comment on that."
"Don't you? Come a little closer, my son, and let me see your face."
"I have no reason to do that."
"Is it not polite to see a man face to face before you kill him?"
"I showed my face to none I killed today."
"I see, I see. What a pity. I trust, however, the Emperor did not lay waste to my people simply to send this message, did he? Surely there were more strategic places to strike if he intends to have a war?"
"Like?"
"I am sure I would not know. I am but a simple clergyman. Still, surely Orb, or America, or China? Indeed, from its base in Area Eleven, I believe the Empire could effectively strike any of these targets, couldn't it? So tell me, why have the Red Wings descended upon Mysidia of all places?"
"The Magicite Crystal."
"Ah, this? The Crystal of Water. Tell me, do you have any idea what this is, my young Dark Knight?"
"I do not need to answer that."
"And I do not think that you could if you needed to. Am I wrong? I am not. Do you know why I am called the Elder?"
"I don't-,"
"You see, I lied a moment ago when I said I was a clergyman. I am not. I am called the Elder of Mysidia because I have been alive for a very, very long time. I was born no more than a decade after the First Impact. Those were a horrible time indeed, when only those in the Colonies were spared the Hell that Earth was for a small time. It was in that era that a man came to this village and entrusted it with this gem. I knew him, for a time."
"And?"
"And that is why I know what this stone is, and you do not. Take it. I cannot stop you from doing so. Let it be a gift, then. Tell the Emperor Mysidia gave it to him in appreciation of his honoring the treaty."
"The treaty will not be honored henceforth."
"Tell him it anyway."
Cecil took the stone and rose. He motioned for the others to follow. When he reached the end of the chamber, the Elder called out to him one last time.
"The world is wrong, Dark Knight. Are you the one who will fix it?"
