Episode 3: The Secrets of Mars
The year is After Colony 205. Relena is starting her second term as President of ESUN. On Mars, Mikol Esroni, survivor of the Black Death terrorist attack, is preaching secession, and more and more people are listening. Tensions are rising, and conflict of some sort is sure to erupt soon…
Mariemaia entered the school building and spotted Zhacque standing against the wall, eyes closed. She went up to him.
"Hi!" she said. "Have a good Christmas?"
Zhacque opened his eyes. God she's beautiful, he thought. What he said was, "Yeah, thanks. You?"
"Pretty good. You know I'm in the Preventers, right?"
Zhacque nodded.
"I got a promotion," she grinned.
"That reminds me," Zhacque said, "I got you something."
"You didn't have to do that," Mariemaia blushed slightly.
"I know, but I wanted to," Zhacque pressed a small box into her hand.
Mariemaia carefully unwrapped the box and opened it up. Nestled inside was a pair of earrings, each one a small ruby in gold settings with the stylized letter "M" she had used as her symbol 8 years ago engraved on the gem's largest facet and inlaid with gold leaf.
"They're beautiful, Zhacque," she said, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Zhacque replied, fighting down a blush.
Just then, the bell rang, indicating that classes were about to begin. "Well, I'll see you later then," Mariemaia said.
On Mars, Relena, Zechs, Noin, and Heero were riding through Onrinj, the capital city of Mars. The area in and around the city was completely terraformed, but here and there the red soil poked through. Other than that, it was remarkably Earth-like.
"So how're things going for you, Milliardo?" Relena asked.
"Pretty well, all things considered," Zechs replied. He had long since given up trying to convince Relena to call him Zechs, although, as she had pointed out, he technically went by Milliardo these days.
"Trowa called us and told us about Esroni. How is that situation?" Heero changed the subject.
"Heero, we were trying to have a nice conversation without bringing politics into it. It's tiring to think about nothing else," Relena rebuked him.
"It's all right, Relena," Zechs said apologetically. "I was about to bring it up anyway. Esroni has amassed himself quite a faction here on Mars. He hasn't tried a coup yet, but I think it's only a matter of time. Sometime next month, I estimate." He paused. "With that out of the way, why don't we head to the Governor's Estate for dinner? You can start your official visit tomorrow, Relena."
"Dinner would be lovely," Relena said.
" - Then he said that the Preventer detachment was receiving too much of the budget, and insinuated that it was because of my relationship with Noin. If it hadn't been for your impending arrival, I'd probably - what was that?" Zechs paused in midsentence. A loud thumping noise could be heard from the hall, then a crash, as if the door had been bashed down. Damn, Zechs thought. There's only one entrance to the dining room, and it has no door, so we can't barricade ourselves in. We're sitting ducks.
A grenade flew into the room and exploded, sending clouds of smoke into the air. Coughing, Heero pulled out his pistol, but eight troopers armed with submachine guns had already entered the room and were covering them. Heero scowled and dropped his pistol.
One of the soldiers said, "Governor, you're coming with us, to hand over your position to Mikol Esroni. As for you others, you'll be taken to your rooms, where you will stay, under guard, at all times, except for meals and trips to the bathroom." Then the group of soldiers escorted Heero and Relena to one room and Noin to hers. Zechs was then taken outside to a waiting car.
"Well this is a lovely state of affairs, isn't it?" Relena remarked sarcastically to Heero. Out of the window she could see the silhouette of a Virgo against the backdrop of the sun's last rays. Then the light faded, and all was dark.
A few weeks later, Mikol Esroni summoned Relena to his office.
"Welcome, Ms. President. I am grateful for your good behavior. I was afraid that your bodyguard might attempt some mischief."
Relena glowered at him.
Mikol Esroni ignored her glower, "I need you to understand that I didn't want it to come to this. I tried warning them from inside the system, but it didn't work."
"Warning whom? And of what?" Relena asked, curiosity overcoming her anger.
"Warning the ESUN that the Black Death terrorists are still out there, waiting."
"But the Black Death were shattered by the Preventers two years ago!"
"Shattered, yes," Esroni agreed, "but not annihilated. I met some of them, on MO-V, when they were rigging the fusion generator to explode. I was a low-level administrator at the time, and tried to stop them. That's how I became paralyzed," he said. "One of them shot me. The security people who pulled me out didn't think I'd live, but I did. They're fanatics, Ms. President. They believe that the only way to permanently solve mankind's problems is to destroy humanity," Esroni shuddered. "If you'd been there, you'd understand. 'What you're doing is wrong,' I said to one. He replied, 'No. Right and wrong are illusions, imposed by foolish humans upon their environs. What I'm doing simply is.' The burning passion in his eyes... They've reorganized, Ms. President, trust me."
Horror-struck, Relena whispered, "How in God's name could someone think that way?"
"The strange thing is, while most genocidal groups have believed God was on their side, I don't think it's the case with them. Their founders seemed to be motivated out of a sort of desperately misguided altruism and twisted humanitarianism. I've read some of their material, you know, from before they were forced to go underground because of those murders. They do not believe that humanity will ever learn not to cause each other pain and suffering. In order to end humanity's suffering, they intend to wipe us, and themselves, from existence."
"I'm sorry, but I can't try to convince the Earth of that. They'd never believe it. They'd rather," Relena continued, horrified at the inhumanly cold logic, "sit safe and complacent in their belief that the peace is forever and all-pervasive." Her voice became bitter.
"Then I'm afraid Mars will have to secede from the World Nation. And conquer it, if that is what it will take. I only hope," he said, "that we can avoid this conflict becoming an endless cycle of violence."
"As do I," Relena replied quietly.
"Thank you for your time, Ms. President. Your guards will take you back to the estate."
When Relena entered the room she shared with Heero, it was to find that he had, apparently, hidden a backup pistol in her luggage, as said luggage was strewn around the floor.
"I figured they wouldn't search your stuff," he told her smugly.
That night, Heero forced open the window and jumped out. As he had suspected, they were mainly expecting an attack from inside, not outside. The sole guard at the outer door was knocked unconscious by a blow to the back of his head. Heero put on the uniform and grabbed the machine gun, heading for his and Relena's room. As he neared the door, he saw two guards standing outside. He pulled a knockout gas grenade from his belt and threw it at the guards since they had their masks up.
"Huh? Oh shi-" One got out before he fell to the floor, unconscious. Opening the door, Heero saw Relena do a double take. He raised the faceplate.
"C'mon," he said, kneeling and grabbing the soldiers' magazines and grenades. The knockout grenades he handed to Relena. "You'd probably better put on one of the uniforms." Hurriedly, Relena put the lightly armored uniformed suit on. "And grab one of those machine guns."
"Right," Relena said. They set off down the stairs.
Outside, they walked down the driveway and found a car waiting for them. "Get in. The Governor wants two more guards at the site for Project Hercules."
"Roger," Heero replied, getting in with Relena. The car sped off, stopping at a large, nondescript building that just screamed 'top-secret government project'.
"Just screams 'top-secret government project', doesn't it?" remarked the driver.
"Yeah," Heero said. He and Relena exited the car and walked up to the door. Heero examined the keypad, then the glove of the uniform he was wearing. He then proceeded to punch the keypad as hard as he could.
The door opened, revealing what were, unmistakably, Gundams, in various stages of completion. At the far end of the hangar, already finished, was Wing Gundam Zero Custom.
Turning, Heero sent a long burst into the nearest guard. Another guard, behind Heero, put three rounds into the back of Heero's knee. Blood spurted from the wound. Relena clubbed him with her machine gun and grabbed Heero under the shoulder, pulling him with her deeper into the cavernous hangar. "Get to Wing Zero," Heero said. Amazingly, the two of them made it to Wing Zero without meeting any other guards. Relena pushed the button that summoned the elevator to take them to the cockpit. It descended, and she half-lifted, half-dragged Heero into it.
In Zero's cockpit, Heero sat in the chair while Relena looked in the medical kit that she had found somewhere. After she staunched the flow of blood, she looked up at Heero's face and said, "You look pale."
"Blood loss. I'll probably black out soon. When I do, take the controls and stay calm. Focus on the goal of escaping to Earth." Heero powered up Wing Zero, and the orb display in the center lit up.
Wing Gundam Zero raised its twin buster rifle, pointed it at the ceiling, and fired. When the 3-meter thick titanium plates had been reduced to so much slag, Zero blasted out of the building and into the night sky.
"Governor, Relena Darlian and her bodyguard have escaped!"
"Governor, Wing Zero just took off!"
"Damn," said Mikol Esroni mildly. "We have to assume that Earth will soon learn of Project Hercules. Which is just fine, given that we had already stopped work on the Gundams in favor of mass-produced units."
"Should we pursue Wing Zero?"
"Yes. It's too powerful to let fall into Earth's hands without a fight, though I doubt it will do much good. Send a squadron of Vulturises."
Relena sat nervously down in the pilot chair. Stop, she told herself. Remember what Heero told you: Calm down and focus. Closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, she let the breath out slowly and gripped the control joysticks. I must escape to Earth.
Immediately her eyes snapped open. She saw, somehow, 10 MS to her rear. They would overtake her unless she destroyed them. A strange sense of unreality came over her, and she began to act even as her mind detached to observe with almost dreamlike clarity. She swung the twin buster rifle around and fired, sending two to fiery oblivion. The other eight scattered, firing their gatling guns at her. She broke the twin buster rifle apart and fired both halves, destroying six more. The remaining two vanished. Suddenly they were in front of her at point-blank range. Whipping out her beam sabre, she sliced through them in a single stroke.
Relena abruptly came back to herself with a splitting headache. Looking around, she saw drifts of rubble and debris. She noticed that she was breathing hard, and sweat was blurring her vision. Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she hunted for the autopilot. She had just set it to go to Earth when a wave of exhaustion swept over her. She closed her eyes, telling herself she would only rest for a minute…
Continued In Episode 4: The Gathering Storm