Disclaimer: I do not own Gunslinger Girl or its characters, which were taken from the manga series of the same name, all of which are the property of their creator, Yu Aida.
Prologue
Chapter 1: Ancient History
History has proved many times over that even the greatest, most powerful empires and kingdoms can be defeated, simply because of an excess of ambition. The French failed to take permanent hold on Algeria in the 1800's, the brutal, vicious Mongols of Central Asia fell short of absorbing Japan into its empire not once, but twice, and Sweden in the Great Northern War could not wrest control over the Baltic Sea in its Tug-o'-War with Russia.
However, this is not a story that would likely be written into the history books, for the factions involved operate as secretly as possible, getting as little public attention as they can. This is especially true of the Social Welfare Agency of Italy. For years, they worked under the guise of a company that gives disabled children new lives, and in a way that is what they do. However, these new lives are oftentimes not what anyone would expect. Many of the more tragic stories in the Agency are offered up to Section Two, which augment the strength, speed, reflexes, and combat ability of the children, the majority of which are young girls. These cyborgs are chosen by older men with military backgrounds, forming a Fratello which is deployed across Italy combating terrorism.
For quite a while, the Agency has focused most of its energy on a single terrorist faction. The Republican Faction. Padania. These right-wing radicals have fought, bribed, and threatened their way to establishing independence in the North. Their wealthy backers fund their projects, whether they are bombings or assassinations.
For some time, the SWA has remained a step ahead of Padania, oftentimes intercepting their forces and assassinating them. This is in great part due to the Fratelli. Great men with great experiences training what slowly became considered the ultimate killing machines, their cyborgs. The girls could be tailored in an infinite number of ways to function flawlessly in combat situations, and the augmentations given to them ensure absolute focus and control. In fact, it is because of the success of Section Two that the Agency thrives, earning funders and supporters through performing contract killings for prominent Italian politicians. With this wealth, the Agency expands their cyborg development techniques, improving on their designs, making the already deadly girls faster and more efficient. Eventually, they were even able to eliminate the deteriorating effects of the implants on the girls. These successes saved some of the older, more experienced cyborgs, such as Angelica, Triela, Henrietta, and Rico, however at the expense of Claes who, of course, was the guinea pig for these newly developed augmentations.
Despite their success, however, something was bound to change, and this change was first seen in the death of the Beatrice-Bernardo Fratello. The pair had been dispatched by the Agency to eliminate a very wealthy and very prominent funder of the Padania Faction. Upon arriving at their destination, however, their hotel was bombed while they were away scouting out their mission area. Spooked at how quickly the Republican Faction had found them, Bernardo called into HQ, aborting the mission. On their way home, they were intercepted by a hit squad, presumably deployed by Padania. The Fratello fought bravely, but were ultimately killed by superior weaponry. Bernardo was shot through the heart, and his loyal Beatrice killed by shots to the head.
In the following months, the SWA received blow after blow, losing Fratelli in the field. Some were killed in bombings, others by firefights with assassins. Near the end of the final two months, several Fratelli were even murdered in close combat, a feat considered by everyone to be nearly impossible. Everyone save for Triela of course, who had had a certain experience many years ago. However, with their new implants and upgrades, Triela and the other senior cyborgs began to feel increasingly apprehensive about how easily the Fratelli were being killed. It wouldn't be long, they thought, until they would have to prove themselves against this new threat, whatever it may be. And sure enough, the first put to the test was the Tunisian Princess herself. Triela the Golden Girl…
