Chapter 15: The Gathering
Several days later, an announcement was made that sent ripples of shock throughout the Earth Sphere: the Gundam pilots had been declared dead.
Relena had finally bowed to the pressure of the rest of the ESUN government.
Fear and concern began to spread before another announcement was made: preparations for replacements were already underway. Fear was replaced with relief, but concern still held strong. Could the new pilots and Gundams live up to the standards set by the original pilots? Then the details began to emerge. Six nations and the three major colony clusters had been selected to choose a candidate they felt suitable to be pilots. Nine new pilots with nine new Gundams would be tasked with protecting the peace within the Earth Sphere.
Snide remarks slowly began to replace the concern once it was learned that it would require nine people to do the same job that only five could handle before. However, nobody could to do anything about it, so the hunt for the nine candidates began… The question was: could they handle the pressure of trying to live up to the legends the other pilots had made?
A plane bearing the ESUN symbol flew into European airspace, heading for the British Isles.
Relena and the Defence Council had taken it upon themselves to gather up the candidates that the selected nations had chosen.
"Should we really trust such an important task to the bumbling politicians that represent each nation?" Milliardo asked in concern.
"We have little choice. Don't worry, the best fighters that were involved in the Eve Wars are really in charge of the selection process, the politicians are simply taking the credit for the pilot's selections." Une said reassuringly as she looked over her notes.
"Do we know who is still selecting candidates?" Relena asked as she fought off a yawn. She had been working almost non-stop since the announcement that the original pilots were considered to be dead had gone out.
"Currently we still have yet to hear from Africa, Australia, and the colonies." Une replied. She was in charge of everything to do with the candidates until they were all gathered.
Noin sighed as she looked at Relena. "Get some rest while we're travelling. You're going to burn yourself out."
Relena shook her head. "I'm fine. So long as my judgement doesn't get hampered, I'll keep going."
"Do we have to physically force you to sleep?" Sally asked in exasperation.
"I'm fine!" Relena insisted.
"You're a public figure, Relena. If you look exhausted and drained, people will notice. And it won't go well for you if people who are looking for a chance to bring you down realize you're exhausted. They'll take advantage of it. We're already in a compromised position without the threat of the Gundams to keep your enemies at bay…" Milliardo growled in warning.
"We're beginning our descent now." The pilot warned.
"Once we take off, you had better get some rest. We mean it." Noin ordered sternly.
Relena waved off the order as the plane's descent began to become steeper, before making contact with the runway.
"Stubborn girl…" Noin muttered.
As they disembarked, they were met by the ambassador who was eagerly waiting to take them to the embassy to meet the European candidate.
As soon as the pilot candidate had been handed over to their custody, the Defence Council and Relena were back on the plane and heading for the United States.
The pilot candidate was in a separate section of the plane to avoid him overhearing important information that wasn't relevant to him. Despite their outward attitude, the Defence Council was worried that one of the ambassadors could be a spy or a leader for any of the terrorist organizations that had been springing up, so all the candidates were under suspicion until they could prove otherwise.
"We'll head back to the Sanc Kingdom and begin preparations for the creation of the new Gundams while we wait for the other nations to decide." Milliardo said as he examined Une's notes before passing them back to her.
"Relena… we'll be in the air for quite some time, so get some rest!" Noin said with a fair amount of irritation in her tone.
Relena sighed, knowing it was no good to argue with the entire Defence Council as they stared at her. "All right! You win. But wake me up when we land in the US."
The others nodded in agreement as she closed her eyes. However, her thoughts kept her from sleeping as she listened to the Defence Council's conversation.
"What are we going to do with these pilots should Heero and the others reappear?" Une asked in concern.
"I don't have a clue… although the odds of their return at this point are very, very slim…" Milliardo said sadly.
"I had a feeling you hadn't given up hope, despite being the one who made the decision to have them declared dead." Noin said wryly.
"Of course I haven't given up… Heero and the others are unpredictable. They always have been… although my hope is fading fast…" Milliardo said with a shake of his head.
Sally nodded. "The only one of us whose hope is still strong is Relena…"
"I find her unwavering loyalty to them a bit disturbing. It could hamper her judgement in a crisis." Milliardo said in concern.
"That's why we're here: to steer her the right way if she should become confused or on the verge of making a wrong decision." Noin said reassuringly.
"I'm going to go check on the pilot candidate." Une said before leaving.
Talk turned to other matters the Defence Council had to deal with and Relena finally drifted off into a restless sleep.
When she awoke, she felt the plane taking off. She looked around, trying to find the Defence Council to question them, but they were nowhere to be seen. She looked out the window and was surprised: it wasn't the United States that was dropping quickly out of sight.
"I see you're awake. We were getting worried about you." Noin said as she stood beside Relena.
"Lucrezia! Don't sneak up on me like that."
"Are we off duty, then?" Noin asked in amusement.
"What do you mean?" Relena asked in confusion.
"You typically only call me by my first name when we're off duty, even though I've asked you repeatedly to just call me 'Noin' even when we're off duty."
Relena moaned in exhaustion. "No, we're not off duty… how long have I been asleep?"
"You've been asleep for quite some time now. We just took off from South America."
Relena jumped up in shock. "What?! I told you to wake me once we reached the United States!"
Noin shrugged. "Take it up with your brother. He's the one who said we shouldn't wake you." Noin said with a sly smile. She knew Relena wouldn't say anything to Milliardo, no matter how angry she was with him, at least when it came to personal matters.
Relena sighed in defeat as she slumped back into her seat. "Where is everyone?"
"They're currently talking with the candidates." She raised her hand as Relena went to stand. "You'll be able to meet them once we've gotten them all gathered, at least the ones that have been decided."
Relena shook her head in annoyance.
"It's basically some simple introductions and making sure they know who's in charge. They certainly are an overconfident bunch, one of them even tried to push Milliardo around."
Relena winced at the thought of what Milliardo probably did to that candidate.
"The ambassadors must've filled their heads with a bunch of promises we may not be able to keep." Noin explained with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"That sounds like them." Relena sighed
"The ambassadors may need to be replaced soon, they're getting a bit too full of themselves and it could cause the ESUN problems in the future."
Relena nodded in understanding. "I'll see what I can do once we're finished with this matter first."
Noin nodded as the rest of the Defence Council returned.
"I'm glad to see you're awake. You slept quite soundly." Milliardo said while trying to hide the fact that he was rubbing a slightly red hand.
Relena sighed in exasperation. "What'd you do, Milliardo?"
"I did nothing. That way you'll have plausible deniability if the brat complains to his ambassador." He said coolly, forcing Relena to roll her eyes as the plane made its way back to the Sanc Kingdom.
A week later saw the very same plane taking off again. "So Africa and Australia have finally picked?" Sally asked in surprise.
Une nodded. "They decided just yesterday. The other candidates are on board so they can all get to know each other. Knowing each other will make it easier for them to work together. I hope." She said in concern.
They had kept the other pilots separate from each other after the first plane ride because some differences in opinion had appeared and the resulting arguments had forced them all to be isolated in order to avoid physical injury to them.
"Indeed. All I know is that once we have these two, we'll be heading to the space port in Australia and then it's off to the colonies. The selected candidates from the colonies will come to us on L2 Y1958. We can't waste any more time going to collect them individually." Une said as she looked over her notebook again.
"Will the scientists meet us there?" Noin asked in curiosity.
"They're already waiting for us on the colony." Une replied.
"Impatient, aren't they?" Noin said with a shake of her head.
"It seems that way. I have a feeling they're going to chew us out for our 'mistake'." Sally said with an exasperated sigh.
"Ugh. Don't remind me… does anyone have earplugs? I really don't feel like listening to that." Relena moaned.
The others chuckled in amusement.
"We just have to hope they'll be too busy beginning the planning stages for the new Gundams to chew us out." Milliardo said as he stared out the window.
The others nodded in agreement as the plane left Sanc Kingdom's airspace.
Author's Note: I know these chapters are short, but I just wanted to get through this as fast as possible. I may consider shifting back to once a week since my wrists seem to be able to handle the stresses of running of dungeons in World of Warcraft, so it should be able to handle uploading it.