Disclaimer: I do not own or have any title, interest or right in either Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. This fanfiction is not being used for commercial purposes. I own all other rights (to the extent legally permissible) in connection with this writing.

Chapter 2: JUSTIFICATION FOR WAR

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"No government admits any more that it keeps an army to satisfy occasionally the desire for conquest. Rather the army is supposed to serve for defense, and one invokes the morality that approves of self-defense. But this implies one's own morality and the neighbor's immorality..." - Freidrich Neitzsche (Human, All Too Human, 1879)

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Colony: L1; March 16; 8:30 am

"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Usagi questioned in a skeptical voice. The young, blond reporter was standing nervously in a military hanger for the L1 Colony. Her soft, blue eyes were studying a spacecraft that resembled a small escape pod.

"Don't worry, babe," Duo reassured her. "You'll be safe with me!"

Usagi frowned. "What happens if this thing breaks up in space? What can you do to save us?"

Duo winked at her. "Well, I'll make sure to get you as much oxygen as possible!"

Usagi blinked in confusion. "How could you do that?"

"Mouth to mouth, of course!" Duo laughed. As if to emphasis his point, Duo opened his mouth wide and threatened to make a demonstration.

"Ahem!" someone coughed from behind. Duo clamped his mouth shut and whirled around.

A tall, handsome woman with short, purple hair was standing behind them. She was dressed in an officer's uniform. There was a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

"Pardon me for interrupting," she smiled pleasantly. "I am Captain Lucrezia Noin, the public relations liaison officer for the 12th Marine Division. I will be accompanying you on your flight to the 3rd Fleet."

"Hello, my name is Usagi Tsukino, reporter for SNN," Usagi greeted the other woman.

"Duo Maxwell, at your service," Duo grinned. "I'm the best war correspondent that SNN has."

Usagi punched his arm in protest.

"Ow!" Duo yelped, rubbing his arm in an exaggerated fashion.

"Well, let me explain how we're going to get to the front lines," Captain Noin told them. "The spaceship that you see here is the ST-29B military transport vehicle. It can carry a crew of up to 12 persons. The ship comes equipped with four standard 20 mm recoilless plasma cannons. It has 9,900,000 pounds of thrust in a vacuum. At its maximum speed of 135,500 miles per hour, it will get us to the 3rd Fleet in fifteen days."

"That seems awfully fast for something so small," Usagi observed in a worried voice.

Captain Noin smiled. "Most of its speed comes from the initial launch. The ST-29B is shot out of a special magnetic launch tube that..."

"Excuse me! Did you say 'shot out' of a tube?" Usagi exclaimed, her blue eyes widened in alarm.

Captain Noin nodded. "Yes, we will be shot out of a tube. The concept is very similar to how a bullet is shot out of a barrel of a gun."

Usagi was beginning to feel somewhat ill. She tuned out the rest of Captain Noin's lecture, afraid to learn anything more about the ST-29B.

The informative lecture was boring Duo Maxwell, who had resorted to chewing absently at the end of his long, chestnut braid. His eyes roamed around the hanger. It was bustling with activity as soldiers and mechanics were preparing several large vessels for launch. He hoped that her lecture would end soon.

"Ahem, so do you both understand?" Captain Noin asked them, after finishing with her small monologue.

"Of course!" Duo replied. Usagi nodded numbly in agreement.

"Why don't we get onboard the ST-29B," Captain Noin suggested. "I can explain the space avionics and safety features inside. On our fifteen day flight, I will indoctrinate you on all the military protocols you will be expected to follow..."

The two young reporters let out a quiet groan and followed the captain to their transport vehicle. It looks as if this was going to be a very, very long flight.

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Earth: ESUN Headquarters; March 16; 9:50 am

ESUN Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian clenched her jaw tightly. The young, sandy-haired woman resisted the urge to scream at the ambassador from the L1 Colony. She forced herself to maintain an outwardly calm composure.

"...so we can clearly see that the Barton Foundation is a threat to peace throughout all of space," concluded Ambassador Ail Genga. The brown haired young man was staring at her with intense eyes.

Relena nodded slowly. "I understand your position, Ambassador Ginga. I also agree that the Barton Foundation should be condemned for its actions. But it bothers me that your colony seems intent on mobilizing its forces without gathering multilateral support."

"We are trying to get multilateral support," Ail insisted. "But we can't allow the Barton Foundation to consolidate its power. Who knows which colony will be their next target? We must act now!"

"Why can't you wait another few months and give our diplomatic efforts a chance to work? The military force of Colony X18999 is not powerful enough to threaten any of its neighbors. In fact, the L1 Colony is one of the furthest colonies from X18999. I would think that your colony would be one of the last to be threatened by them."

"The policy of appeasement has never worked in human history," Ail pointed out to her. "We must make a clear statement that dictators will not be tolerated. Dekim Barton is an evil man and he must be stopped. Do you have any idea what kind of terrible crimes he has committed against the people of Colony X18999?"

"No. Our field reports are still coming in," Relena admitted.

"Once you read the reports, you will understand. The L1 Colony also hopes to liberate the people of X18999 from the cruel oppression of the Barton Foundation. These are all reasons enough to justify a war against the Barton Foundation."

"I agree that Dekim Barton is a ruthless man," Relena acknowledged. "But are we willing to accept the deaths thousands of innocent civilians just to remove that man from power?"

"If we don't remove him, hundreds of thousands...perhaps millions could die," Ail replied coldly.

"But why can't your colony wait just another few months to let us attempt to resolve this diplomatically? There still isn't any clear evidence that his ambitions go beyond X18999," Relena protested.

"His actions are evidence enough," Ail retorted hotly. "And the L1 Colony will act against this evil...with our without your organization's blessing."

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Colony: L4; March 16; 11:00 am

The small military base on the L4 Colony was buzzing with activity. Large transport carriers were being loaded with supplies and equipment. The peaceful colony did not maintain a large military force. The constitutional charter of the L4 Colony only authorized the creation of the L4 Self Defense Force (SDF). The SDF was technically not permitted to wage an offensive war, but they had been used many times in support roles for various conflicts.

Captain Quatre Raberba Winner was standing over a table, reviewing the supply logistics. He possessed an innocent face that seemed out of place among the stern-faced warriors that surrounded him. It was also quite unexpected that the captain of the SDF's 7th Cavalry was such a young man.

"Captain, we were denied the additional request for long-range artillery," Lieutenant Rashid Malik announced. "Did you want me to send another request."

Quatre sighed. "I suspected as much. Do not trouble yourself with making another request. I'll try to see if they will at least let us upgrade some of the anti-missile units we'll be bringing in."

"I also wanted to let you know that the MASH personnel have just arrived," Rashid informed him.

Quatre nodded absently. The L4 Colony was the only other colony to pledge its support to the L1 Colony's military actions. As a sign of cooperation, the L4 Colony offered the services of its 2nd Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) Unit. Captain Winner's 7th Cavalry was responsible for protecting the 2nd MASH Unit against any attacks.

"So we're here to baby-sit a bunch of doctors?" Sergeant Judas al-Majid complained.

Quatre glared at him. "Don't take our responsibility lightly. The 2nd MASH Unit is one of the most decorated units in the SDF. They have risked their lives to save countless lives on the battlefield. We should feel honored that we have been given such a duty."

"Well, hopefully, we won't be too close to the front lines," remarked Sergeant Ahmed al-Attiyah with a grin.

Several doctors began filing into a nearby transport vehicle. Quatre noted that many of the doctors had just come off their shifts, because they were still wearing their surgical outfits and medical coats.

Quatre's eyes were suddenly mesmerized by a beautiful vision that entered the hanger. She was a delicate woman with gentle features. Her short, dark hair shone with a deep, blue tinge that matched her eyes. She was dressed in a surgical outfit, indicating that she was a doctor. The young woman was busily reviewing some papers on a clipboard as she walked towards the transport vehicle.

Once she disappeared into the transparent, Quatre exhaled quietly. He hadn't realized that he had been holding his breath the entire time he watched her.

But the other soldiers around him had clearly noticed this.

"Do you feel sick, Captain?" smirked Ahmed. "Maybe you should go see that cute doctor and she can make you feel all better!"

Quatre blushed as the men around him laughed heartily.

After a few moments, Rashid cleared his voice. "All right, boys, you've had your fun. Get back to work before I kick your butts to the other side of the colony."

The other soldiers quickly dispersed.

Rashid turned to regard the young captain.

"But I have to admit, she is quite attractive," Rashid grinned.

"Not you too!" Quatre complained.

Rashid patted Quatre on the back. "Don't worry, Captain. Your secret is safe with the 7th Cavalry."

"That's what I was afraid of," Quatre groaned.

* * * * *

Earth: ESUN Humanitarian Affairs Agency; March 16; 2:00 pm

Makoto Kino was anxiously tapping her pen on the table. The tall, brunette woman was sitting impatiently at a large table in the conference room of the ESUN Humanitarian Affairs Agency.

"Calm down, Mako-chan," Rei Hino said in a quiet voice. The young Japanese woman had gorgeous, long midnight hair that came down to her waist. Her deep, violet eyes continued to review the statistics concerning Colony X18999.

"What's taking the commission so long?" Makoto fumed. "Don't they realize that its going to be a crisis out there if we don't get moving?"

Rei glanced up for a moment. "I think they understand. But we do have a limited budget and we can't simply pour all of our resources into the X18999 problem. What happens if another disaster strikes?"

Makoto folded her arms and grumbled underneath her breath.

After a few more minutes, the door quietly slid open to allow another woman to step inside. The woman was sharply dressed and had greenish hair. She sat down at the table.

"The commission just authorized an operation and budget for Colony X18999," the woman told them. She handed Rei a disk and a sheaf of papers. "You'll be in charge of handling the humanitarian mission on X18999."

"How come you're not going, Michiru?" Rei asked in astonishment.

"I can't," Michiru replied in a sad voice. "ESUN procedures won't let me go on this mission. A conflict-of-interest that has come up."

"What kind of conflict-of-interest?" Makoto queried, a puzzled expression on her face.

Michiru drew in a ragged breath. "The commission is afraid this operation will be too personal for me. You see, my adopted daughter, Hotaru, is currently on Colony X18999."

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Responses/Comments/Notes to Reviewers:

Venus of love - Thanks for being the first to review this fanfiction. I'm glad you like the fanfic so far. Hmmm...I'll have to think about Heero/Minako, it has certain possibilities...

Serenity-Olus - Thanks for the review. Minako is definitely one of my favorite senshi. I had not initially planned on making this Heero/Minako, but I suppose if I get enough interest from my reviewers, I can work something out.

Faith-Chan A.K.A. Myst Lady - I'm always so happy to get reviews from you! Yes, the world has gone somewhat haywire, but we can only do our best in these times. I'm glad you like the touch of realism, and I'll try to keep it throughout the story.

transcendent - Thanks! I will try to update as quickly as my schedule allows.

Jade Stellar - I guess this could be Heero/Minako. The couples aren't set in stone right now...though, a Heero/Minako/Trowa triangle could be very interesting (assuming I can find a way to fit it into the storyline).

Zpan Sven - Thanks for your kind words. So far, everyone on fanfiction.net has been very nice and I have not received any insults for my dedication to the troops (I appreciate your support!). I will definitely consider Heero/Minako, especially since there seems to be such an interest in the couple.