Chapter 9: A Reason to Fight

When you're aching for the fire and begging for your sin

When there's nothing left inside, there's still a reason

When the demon that's inside you is ready to begin

And it feels like it's a battle that you will never win

When you're aching for the fire and begging for your sin

When there's nothing left inside, there's still a reason to fight

I'll be your reason to fight

Give you a reason to fight

-A Reason to Fight by Distrubed

Relena paced back and forth in her temporary office in the Presidential Manor. After Dorothy's announcement, Relena had been furious, feeling betrayed. First, Dorothy asks for her help, then betrays her trust by revealing that Dorothy had manned mobile suits all along. What was Relena supposed to do now? Tell the young population of the world to not join the Armed Legion Exo-Suit program? She'd never be able to stop the hungry from fighting. She learned that during the Eve Wars. It was then that Relena had learned that if people wanted peace, they had to fight for it themselves.

Something clicked into place in her mind. That was Dorothy's plan. She knew Relena would do the work for her, to make the young join the fight. It was what she did in a moment of fear and determination, so many years ago. Could she do it again?

Dorothy had been right, after all. There was no longer a weapons ban. It had been a temporary act to keep people from continuing the wars, so they could create the peace they had held for many years. It had worked, but even if there was a weapons ban, it wouldn't have stopped insurgents from creating their own weapons. At least now they had something to fight back with.

Relena stopped pacing and sighed. This is what Dorothy was banking on.

Fine, then. Relena could play the game.

Her phone buzzed on her desk. She picked it up and checked her notifications. A text from Heero.

DJ joined the Armed Legion. He changed his age on his public profile.

Oh, no.

Hilde was going to be pissed.

"Shit," Relena muttered.

She looked up from her phone when she heard a knock at the door. It opened, revealing Quatre.

"Quatre," Relena muttered.

"I just finished talking to Dorothy. She's not going to stop her Operation White Rabbit," Quatre said.

"I know. She expects me to tell people to rise to the fight," Relena said.

"But we don't even know what we're fighting," Quatre said.

"I know. But I did it once. I could do it again," she said. "It just makes me sick. So many children…"

Quatre crossed the room and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I don't like it any more than you do, but sometimes we have to make those sacrifices for the good to the world."

"Did you hear what DJ did?" Relena asked, ignoring his last comment.

"There's no telling."

"He changed his age and joined the Armed Legion," Relena said. "What's to stop our children from doing the same? They're our children, after all."

"I can't see them doing that, except for the twins. They are of age, after all."

"Milliardo won't allow them, I know it," Relena siad. "But I guess technically we can't stop them."

Quatre sighed. "I don't have the answers, Relena. We can only hope that they are as lucky as we were."

Relena felt something in her chest release. Marina was sure to find a way into this battle. Was letting her go the right thing to do? Or should she try to protect her only child?

True to form, Duo had done it. He'd managed to find out enough about the enemy to relay to the team. But his work was in vain when the television signals around the Earth and colonies were taken over by blackness.

Heero stared up at the screens, standing with his fellow Preventers, watching. A man appeared on the screen, sitting in front of a set of large windows, overlooking a large city below. A glass of amber liquid stood in front of him, but otherwise, the desk he sat behind was bare. He took a sip of the amber liquid, set it down, folded his hands together, and began to speak.

"I'm sure you all were waiting for this moment," he said, smiling a wicked smile. "The moment where we would respond to the President of the ESUN's declaration of war. We're the ones you're fighting. We are ODIN. We are separatists from the ESUN. The world government is failing. Boundaries between countries should be re-established, to give more control to the local governments. A single man, or woman, cannot keep a handle on the entire world. We're here to oppose the ESUN government and bring our own government to this plant. We accept President Catalonia's declaration of war, and we embrace it. For you will lose."

The screen cut to a warehouse of what looked like Dorothy's exo suits. There were rows and rows of them, extending well beyond the camera's view. Heero clenched his fists. He didn't know the extent of Dorothy's exo suits, but he hoped that it was enough to match this army.

"You will lose," The man continued. "That is certain."

The video feed cut off, leaving a stunned looking anchor of the nightly news. Eventually, the producer cut it away to commercial.

Duo turned to the others.

"They're located in Moscow," he said, looking between the rest of the former Gundam pilots. Une stepped forward.

"Then I think you know what to do," she said. Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei all nodded once.

Night fell once more, or at least, Marina assumed it was night. There were no windows in the underground bunker. Marina lay awake, holding her phone, waiting for a buzz. So far, DJ had been silent. She was desperate for some communication from him, now that he was on Earth.

Marina heard whispers coming from Milou and Naina. They rose from their inflatable mattresses and huddled together near the wall, but spoke too quietly for Marina to hear.

Finally, her phone buzzed.

It's done. All of you are eighteen.

All of them? Kat and Katherine, too? Marina jumped up from the couch, startling Milou and Naina.

"What are you doing awake?" Milou whispered at her.

"DJ did it!" she cried eagerly, trying to keep her voice low. Kat and Katherine both stirred.

"Did what?" Kat asked, rubbing her eyes.

"We're all eighteen," Marina said. "We can go fight."

"Aunt Relena would kill you," Milou said.

"There's nothing she can do about it," Marina said. "I'm eighteen in the eyes of the law."

There was silence. No one knew what to do or say.

"Come on, they can't stop all of us," Marina said, gesturing towards the door. The others exchanged glances, but finally, Milou nodded.

"Let's go," he said. They all formed a pod and walked to the door to the bunker. Milou did something in the darkness that Marina couldn't see. Either way, the door opened, and the five of them escaped the bunker. As quietly as possible, they traversed the hidden hallways of the bunker, until they reached the exit that led to the outside. The exit door revealed the gardens of the manor house, which was easy enough to get out of. The moon was bright in the sky, giving them ample light to escape.

Milou led the way to the walls of the manor gardens, where a hidden door was set into the stone wall. He picked the lock, which surprised Marina, and soon, the five of them were on the streets of Brussels. They dashed off into the shadows towards the nearest government outpost.

-SE