[A/N: I know the Duo/Wufei scene here is a little sketchy, but hopefully they'll get better again as the focus returns to them. Also, I doubt mentioned this on the initial warnings for this fic (although I think the text has hinted at it in the last couple of chapters) but there may be one death in this piece (ouch, I know, I just lost all remaining readers, lol). But just remember context and I think in the end it will be okay. Er, anyway, all comments, criticism, etc. is appreciated. Thanks for reading.]
Part Eleven
The plan went through as Une ordered it. Even within the Strasbourg city limits, two miles away from the site of the explosions, flames could be seen glowing hot against the night sky. For the first time in years, smoke caused by battle obscured the stars.
Sally squinted out across the wreckage, fanning her face uselessly against the dry heat. "I wish it hadn't come to this," she murmured, glancing over at Zechs who stood beside her. His eyes were turned to the road, watching as the last armored truck drove away towards the Preventers' headquarters with a mix of captured rebels and the odd survivor of the bombing. Sally used his distraction to take the opportunity to blot a few stray tears from her eyes. "I'm going to join the search teams. Tell Une if she asks."
She had only gotten a few paces away before Zechs called her back. Sighing, she asked, "What is it?"
"I think we did the right thing."
Sally let her eyes wander back to where she wanted to join the rescue effort. People are dead! she wanted to scream at him. But didn't. "I always fought with the belief that the end was in sight…but I'm not so sure now. It just keeps getting pushed further away every time we get close." Wufei, Duo, and the other Gundam pilots had time and again managed to guide her to the right path with their battles, but now two of the people she had trusted most in the world had turned their backs on her and what they had all believed in. How could what any of them were doing be the right thing now?
"As part of OZ I used to tell my men to fight for the soldiers of tomorrow," Zechs replied somberly to match her bitterness. "So that future generations would never even have need of soldiers. I still believe in that philosophy -- if we fight for what we know is right one day humanity will reach it. You and I might not live to see it, but it will be because of people like us that true peace will finally be achieved."
The words tugged back a distant memory of a distraught fifteen year old boy. "Everyone has their own sense of justice, Wufei." Sally clenched her teeth. Maybe that was the problem. With so many different opinions in the world, could people force themselves to find the balance of true peace within a single world nation? She had to believe they could…even if she doubted it. She began walking towards the rubble again, muttering to herself, "If only they'd come out…"
Relena stormed to Une's office when she heard. Disregarding Paul and his protests that the Commander was in the middle of a conference call, the Vice Foreign Minister flung open the door, marched straight to the desk, and demanded, "How dare you make a decision like this without even consulting me?!"
Une glanced up at her, then quietly made her apologies to whoever was on the other end of the telephone. Hanging up, she turned her attention back to Relena and said, "I was acting in accordance with the President's wishes."
"The President?" Relena sputtered, "What about the colonies?! You need to worry about their wishes right now if you want to maintain peace! Don't you understand that we need to keep the loyalty of the colonists to suppress this rebellion?"
Une spoke softly but tersely: "Relena, this is the biggest threat to peace we've experienced in six years, perhaps the biggest ever. We've gone two weeks without any headway, and that's a good way to lose loyalty as well."
"I've just been to the medical wards and fifteen people are dead because of those bombs. The people of the colonies are going to see this as an underhanded move, which frankly I don't blame them for, and they're the people you need to worry about right now! Why didn't you tell me what you were planning? I have a right to know -- more than that, it's necessary for me to know these things."
"It had to be done," Une insisted.
"That's insane," Relena retorted. "It should have been discussed. I'm flying to the colonies tomorrow to address the people and the delegates of L-2 personally to try and clear up this mess."
"What?! Do you realize how dangerous that will be right now? Relena, I've got to protest, this is much too delicate a time --"
"Exactly! This is a delicate time! The people need to see a friendly face. I'm sorry, Commander, but my mind is made up. I don't believe anyone is trying to kill me, and hiding behind closed doors is no way to make a peace. You're more than welcome to join me if you feel there's a need for me to be accompanied, but I'm going whether you do or not."
"There are times when you're still no more mature than a teenager," Une sighed, but made no further move to convince Relena not to go. In fact, she went to inform Paul of her plans to take Relena up on her offer and accompany her on the trip.
"The people need to see a united front, Une," Relena said as she followed her out to the foyer. "Let's try and make sure we can preserve one."
Une forced a smile as she looked back to the Vice Foreign Minister. Then to Paul she said, "And if you can get in touch with Fire and 01, tell them to come to the meeting with the delegates as well. Hopefully they'll be a little more helpful in person than they've been over the phone."
Relena hovered in the doorway, having frozen there at Une's words. "01?" she echoed uncertainly, and Une shot her an appraising look.
"Yes. 01. I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, Vice Foreign Minister, but having our agents present at the meeting will not only provide for your safety but hopefully give them a leg up in their search for the rebels. We know they're somewhere in L-2 but don't know precisely where."
The deliberate words broke Relena from her momentary spell; she blushed and nodded, embarrassed by her uncustomary lapse. "Do what you think is best. Excuse me, I'm going to get a few hours' sleep before the shuttle leaves."
"What time is departure?"
"Oh… If we leave here by 3 AM, we should be right on time. Excuse me; goodnight." Relena left hurriedly; Une shook her head and turned her thoughts back to her plans.
"Have you found them yet?" she asked of Paul, who nodded, and twisted the small video communicator so that Une could see the screen as well. After informing the two agents of the small change in their schedule, Une proceeded to contact the chief L-2 delegate, the man with whom she had been exchanging desperate conversations for the past several weeks, since the very beginning of the mess.
He was still a fairly young man, only in his early forties, with a disarming similarity to Relena's father, the previous Vice Foreign Minister, in his slightly lined face and closely-trimmed brown beard. "Hello Une," he said in faint surprise and clear concern, rubbing at his beard. "What's the cause of your contact at this time of day?"
"Good evening, Mr. Julian. I'm calling to let you know of my intention to accompany the Vice Foreign Minister on her trip to see you tomorrow. I also thought it would be the polite thing to inform you that two other Preventer agents will be joining the meeting."
"I see." The twitching fingers didn't leave Julian's chin, and though he didn't seem surprised by the news, he was clearly not pleased by it. "You don't seem to have much faith in our security, Commander."
"I simply feel that a personal visit may be the most effective route to gaining some of the information the Preventers need in this case," Une replied diplomatically. "We've been having some difficulties in that area recently. This is also my chance to assess the situation in the colonies personally, which is something I do not often get the chance to do these days."
"Indeed. Tied to the desk, eh?" Julian's frown did not quite match the humor in his voice. "It must be quite a change for you since the wars in 195."
"There have been a great many changes for me since that time. I hope you won't forget that."
"Certainly not!" Julian scoffed, his face finally breaking into a friendly smile. "I look forward to our meeting tomorrow, Commander. Do get some rest before then, won't you?"
"The same goes for you," Une replied, smiling as well, as they ended the call. Turning to Paul, she said, "I do think tomorrow will be quite interesting. Perhaps we'll finally be able to motivate the colonies to do their share in catching the rebels."
"Do you really think they're not doing all they can, Commander?" he asked respectfully. "They were the most concerned group when that Maxwell character first escaped, after all."
"Well, we shall certainly see tomorrow, won't we?" Une replied as she reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Glancing at the wall clock, she added, "I'm going to follow Julian's advice and try and get some sleep before the shuttle is due to depart."
"I'll wake you at 2:30, ma'am."
Duo drew in a sharp breath as he watched the panning view on the television screen of the leaping flames and black smoke that were once the Vice Foreign Minister's offices. His voice was locked deep in his throat as he murmured, "God damn them, those sneaky bastards, how could they do this?"
From behind him, watching the same scene of destruction with remorse tightening his chest, Wufei answered sadly but honestly, "We pushed them to it. The logical thing would've been to destroy the building right away before we could have access to any of its information."
"That bitch Une, she's just the same as she always was," Duo replied, as if he hadn't heard what Wufei had had to say. He leaned in closer to the television, then flipped it off, erasing the picture from the screen. "She's gone too damn far. We're going to get her for this. I bet she's so proud of herself for taking down those colony citizens. Well not for long. It's time to take her down a notch."
Before settling down for her two-hour nap, Une had called and left a simple message for Mariemaia saying that as she was leaving for the colonies that morning she would not be home for a day or two. She didn't know whether Mariemaia would even bother listening to what she had to say; after all, Une had not managed to make it home for more than a few hours at a time the rest of the week either.
Now she and Relena were being shuttled quickly through space towards the L-2 colony cluster, due to arrive in approximately twelve more minutes. In the final arrangements for the trip, Une had demanded that the twelve colonial delegates meet them not on one of the colonies but in space itself, on a private shuttle. Relena insisted on going onto Colony U3462 to make her statement to the public, however, despite the security difficulties that would impose. She continued to insist that she did not feel threatened by the rebels and believed no one would try to harm her, and there was nothing Une could find to say to convince her otherwise.
The shuttle finally began to slow, and then halt as the delegates' shuttle appeared through the tiny window on Une's right. She placed a hand on Relena's wrist to gently wake her, saying, "We've arrived, Vice Foreign Minister." The same was announced moments later over the shuttle's intercom.
Relena opened her eyes and calmly began collecting her briefcase from the overhead compartment. Within a few minutes, she and Une had crossed the connecting tube into the L-2 representatives' shuttle, and were moving slowly around the circle of men, shaking hands and exchanging polite greetings. A few minutes later, the two other Preventer agents arrived.
Relena noticed them out of the corner of one eye as she finished her brief chat with the twelfth delegate, Representative Harrison, and turned quickly for a better look. Why, he hasn't changed at all, she realized as she watched Heero cross quietly to Une. He didn't spare her a glance, but Relena was hardly surprised; he never had before, after all. Still, even after six years there was something about him that made her heart speed up.
I must be out of my mind, she thought.
Clearing her throat, she said aloud, "Now that everyone has arrived, shall we move this meeting to the conference room?"
"An excellent idea, Vice Foreign Minister," Representative Julian replied. "There's certainly a great deal we have to discuss, and we cannot forget your public address later this afternoon. Do follow me, everyone, and have a seat. It's been quite a while, am I correct Vice Foreign Minister?, since your last trip to the colonies."
"I'm afraid it has been a long time," Relena admitted. "One of many things I'd like to apologize for today."
Being that they were on a shuttle, the meeting room was very small and plain, the table and chairs bolted to the floor from necessity. Relena took her place at the head of the table, Une and the delegates arranging themselves around her. Heero and Noin did not seat themselves but remained standing by the doors, as if not wanting to intrude. Relena smiled at them and gestured towards the extra chairs at the table, but only Noin accepted the offer.
Relena turned serious as she opened the meeting. "I'm sure you all would like to begin by discussing the bombing yesterday," she said, crossing her hands in front of her on the table. It was a subject she was uncomfortable with, not least because of its certain sensitivity.
"That's right, we would," Julian stated. "As you should know, Vice Foreign Minister, we all respect you very deeply here in the colonies, but frankly we cannot see why such an action like yesterday's slaughter was in the least bit necessary. And the fact that you took such actions without informing us is really quite offensive."
Without meaning to, Relena found herself looking at Une as those words were being said. Shaking herself back to her senses, she turned back to the colonial delegates, and apologized for the unwelcome stance. "What was done yesterday is very clearly a mistake. At the time the decision was made, it seemed the best course available, but the Earth government realizes in the face of this aftermath that the action was foolish and rash. We truly hope that this incident will not stand in the way of peace."
One of the delegates rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly and let out a nervous chuckle. "At this point, Vice Foreign Minister, it's not really peace with us you have to worry about."
"I understand that the rebels are acting without your authority, if that's what you mean."
"No, no, it's not exactly that. You see, Miss Dorlian, it's become ever clearer over the past several days that we're not the voice of the colonies right now -- we're the voice of the colonies five years ago. Our elections are coming up in three weeks' time, and public opinion has suffered a radical change. My colleagues and I aren't the leaders of the majority anymore… we, uh, may be up for a rather dramatic defeat, in fact. If I may be frank, Vice Foreign Minister, it's becoming quite a struggle -- on my colony, U3425, at least -- to keep the peace. If we lose control of the L-2 cluster, you people on Earth may not be facing just a rebel insurgency but an official -- and fully legal -- declaration of war."
Relena felt her stomach and heart suddenly plummet in horror. "Are you serious?" she gasped faintly. "For heaven's sake, why didn't you tell us things were this bad? Une -- Une, did you have any idea…?"
"No, Vice Foreign Minister," Une replied, glaring around the room, "I was unaware."
"How on Earth did Duo Maxwell gain so much influence so quickly?" Relena demanded. "I don't understand. What do the colonists have against us so suddenly?"
The delegates looked as helpless as Relena herself felt.
She remained very quiet for the rest of the meeting, barely able to even listen as Une took over with her own agenda. The questions she was fielding, about why the colonies were not doing their share against the rebels -- making arrests and conducting searches for Duo Maxwell -- now seemed useless. The colonists were getting beyond the government's control. Relena was desperate now only to think of a way to avert war.
She had not planned on being the one to make the advance, but the meeting with the colonial delegates had so thrown her that she was desperate for a piece of Heero's determined stolidity. She approached him tentatively, drawing him aside as her group exited the delegates' shuttle. "Heero, do you… Do you think I should resign?"
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Resign?" he repeated, apparently not understanding although Relena was certain he did.
"Yes. In the light of what the delegates told us about L-2's sentiments. Perhaps it would be best to…to capitulate and avoid war."
"You mean in another Queen of the World sort of move?"
"Well, no, not exactly. I would hardly be becoming the figurehead of the rebels, would I?"
"You didn't resign during Mariemaia's rebellion."
"Those were very different circumstances," Relena retorted. "For one thing, they had kidnapped me, if you recall. Where was I that I could resign? For another, that rebellion did not come from the people, it came from one family's selfish desire to rule and conquer!"
Heero shrugged. "This rebellion is only coming from one group of people. There are other colonies. There are the people of the Earth. And those people don't believe in Duo Maxwell's fight. You'd be abandoning them if you chose to resign now."
Relena nodded. "Thank you, Heero," she murmured, "that was just what I needed to hear." She walked ahead of him to catch up with Une and Noin, thinking he would prefer being left to himself, unable to see the strange half-frown he wore as he watched her go.
The shuttle ride to the colony was brief, a little less than half an hour. Relena did not see Une during that time; the woman remained in the rear of the shuttle, where she was radioing back to the Preventers headquarters. But she walked protectively beside Relena on the route to the hall where she was set to make her speech. Crowds had gathered to watch and listen, and Relena was well aware of the looks that the people gave her and Une. She wanted to stop and address the people then and there, wanted to talk to that gray-haired woman or that little boy and listen to what they had to say, but with Une at her elbow it was difficult to do anything but move steadily forward.
In the end, it felt as though Relena had been moved to the stage and the podium without taking a single step of her own accord. She stared out at the sea of people in front of her, and opened her mouth to address them with the opening words of the speech she had prepared last night. But nothing came out. It was almost laughable -- she couldn't bring herself to say the words. A small ripple of confusion ran through the room.
"I don't know what to say," she admitted suddenly with an embarrassed laugh. "Everything I wrote for today seems so meaningless now that I'm standing here." She could see the people looking back and forth at each other, some amused at her paralysis, others seeming strangely hurt and offended by it. "Today," she continued hesitantly, "Today I was told that the people of L-2 are looking for a new future. This was the first time that I understood that the acts of a small number of people represented the hearts of many more -- that the coup d'état that a woman sitting the Preventers' prison threatened me with could become a reality."
Suddenly, from outside, the loud, low boom of an explosion shook the hall. Relena was knocked sideways, but grabbed onto the podium to steady herself, determined to continue. As pandemonium began to break out before her, she shouted, "But I don't understand why the path the colony is choosing is one of violence!" The microphone screamed in protest at the close range the words had been yelled, and for a moment silence fell again as attention was thrust back towards her.
Heero and Noin ran outside to investigate, Relena could see them weaving their way through the crowd and was relieved. Her words weren't meant for them, they were for the colonists. Une came forward and tried to pull her away. But Relena wouldn't budge. She couldn't stop now, even if no one was listening, even if the rebels were attacking. She had always said she'd die for peace.
"I understand the desire for a new direction -- I know that the Earth has oppressed the colonies in the past. And I know that in these past few years since the wars have ended that we on the Earth have made mistakes! But we've done good, too! The colonies have never had more independence than they do today --" Another echoing rumble from outside. Relena continued. "Two hundred years ago they were launched as extensions of power for the nations on Earth. And as the nations dissolved and the Alliance and then OZ took over, the colonies' subservient role was preserved and perfected until the Gundams, and even the White Fang, fought to free you. Now you are left to manage your own affairs, and I am the sole Earth representative whose job directly involves the colonies. And so I don't understand what you're fighting for.
"My father often brought me to the colonies with him, and I was always struck by how peace-oriented the colonists were. This fight contradicts all reason! No one has presented me with a reasonable excuse for this rebellion. We are willing to change, we are willing to listen -- I don't even know what your complaints are! For six years, in conjunction with your governments I have been trying to help you rebuild and give guidance when you needed it to help you recreate yourselves, to fulfill your goals and dreams. But now it seems as though your only dream is to destroy everything we've both worked so hard for! Why don't you stop this senselessness before it's too late? Why are you listening to the propaganda that Duo Maxwell is trying to sell you? It is not impossible to resolve your concerns peacefully -- but how would you know without trying? Fighting will only bring about more fighting, isn't this a lesson we have learned already?"
Relena was aware that her reasoning was flying all over the place as she tried to cram all her thoughts together and hold the attention of the people even as they panicked in the wake of the nearby explosions. She was desperate to have them hear her, but the flow towards the doors seemed unstoppable.
"I'm sorry!" she screamed at them. "I'm sorry that we're not perfect! I'm sorry that we killed your kinsmen yesterday. It was a mistake and I swear to you all that I will do everything I can to ensure nothing like that ever happens again. But I can't stop a war without your cooperation! Maybe we deserve to be thrown out of office because of what we've done, but how many people do you think have to die before that will happen if you keep thinking like this?"
She wanted an answer. She wanted someone down on the floor to turn around and scream their opinions back at her. But no one answered. It was like she was talking to air. "Listen to me," she begged, her voice weakening. No one was even looking her way now, as sirens began wailing closer and the panic grew.
"Are you finished?" Une asked tersely from her side. "You really ought to move somewhere safer."
Feeling wrung out, like an old rag doll, Relena nodded and allowed herself to finally be led away.