Gundam Seed: Killer's Realm
Phase 21: Politics
Temporary Negotiation Site, Orb, February 18, 71 CE
"If they didn't check you for weapons and lock you up if they found any, I'd have brought a knife to kill myself." Jack grumbled, tailing Kira and Liene into the building. For this particular meeting, it had been decided to use an unknown facility, an out-of-the-way place. Mainly because the content of the meeting would be of particular interest to any OMNI Enforcer Intelligence agents, or any Blue Cosmos sympathizers, and Orb SpecOpsIntel was making its paranoia clear.
The three friends walked through the halls, past a few dozen armed and armored Orb MPs, before emerging into a large round room. Aside from the lowest, circular part, wherein a large circular table capable of seating twenty max was placed, the room was seperated into three sections, one marked with the ZAFT flag above it, the other with the Orb flag, and the last unmarked.
They filed into the Orb section, of course, and were joined by Karl and several of the higher politicians from Orb. They kept away from them. Orb was far better in many cases than many of the now-defunct A.D.-era nations, but it still had to suffer through that most revolting of things, politics. In the ZAFT section, Rau, Athrun, and the rest of Le Creuset team sat, along with the majority of Lacus' bodyguards. In the unmarked sections was most of the 'unaffiliated', namely the former OMNI crew, counting among their number Mu, Murrue, Natarle, and the rest of the bridge crew, along with Murdoch.
Then their attention switched over to the central round section, as Uzumi and Andrew followed by the four other Noble families took their seats. Jack saved a very unpleasant grin for Unato Ema Seiran, while Liene and and Rondo Ghina Sahaku exchanged looks.
On the other side of the table, Lacus sat down, flanked by Miguel and John. Considering the delicacy of the situation, both global and orbital, this was probably going to be one of the first diplomatic negotiations to be conducted like this in centuries. The advent of near-instantaneous communications had rendered the status of diplomat little more than an honorific, whereas before a diplomat was pretty much considered to be the country he or she was representing.
Considering the fact that any wireless communication between ZAFT and Orb was bound to be intercepted by OMNI orbital assets, it was too risky to talk about the current subject in such a manner, and shipping the actual heads of state in either direction was so far out of the question that no one had even mentioned it.
If anyone had any doubts about the seriousness of these talks, they were dispelled when a total of four power-armor-equipped Orb SpecOpsIntel teams took up positions around the doors. Kira nodded at the team guarding the door to the Orb section, all five of them either the skull-helmeted team-mates of Gary, or Gary himself.
"If we may get started." Uzumi said, nodding to Lacus. She nodded, smiled, and stood up, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Thank you, Chief Representative." She began. "As you know, the PLANTS has been at war with the Earth Alliance since...." She went on to describe the continuous damages and difficulties experienced by not just the PLANTS, but even the Earth Alliance itself, and the mounting casualties in the conflict. "And thus, the PLANTS would like to ask the Orb Union for an alliance."
Needless to say, it wasn't really all that well received by some of the Orb people. It took a few entreaties from Uzumi to get them calmed down (and a few pointed stares from Andrew) before they could continue.
"We understand your situation Miss Clyne." Uzumi started. "But as you know, it is a principle of Orb not to attack another nation, or intervene in the conflicts of other nations."
"I understand and respect that Chief Representative Athha." Lacus replied, bowing slightly. "However, this conflict is already one in which Orb is involved in."
"What do you mean?" Uzumi asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Despite the fact that Orb has not actually taken real action in the war, the support of some of its more influential leaders-" A pointed glance at the Sahakus. "-Has led to the image that Orb has in fact taken a side by helping the Alliance in developing its mobile suits. And then there are the actions of Kira Yamato, who is well-affiliated with Orb, in coercing the crew of the Barachiel to defect. By any means, it would seem that Orb has gotten itself very involved."
A good number of the Orb politicians sitting at the table turned to glare at Kira. Upon meeting the bloodthirsty gaze of a Chimamare-influenced Jack and the space-cold stare of Kira, they turned back with their knees turned to jelly.
"You make a good point Miss Clyne." Andrew said, taking the stage from Uzumi. "Miss Clyne may ask of you just how many people died in the Nuclear attack on Junius 7?" Lacus looked at him, slightly confused by the out of the blue question but answers nonetheless.
"Exactly 243,721 people died during the Junius 7 tragedy Mr. Payne. But surely you know this?" Andrew set a grim look to his features.
"I do Ms. Clyne. But would you agree that ZAFT's retaliatory actions of dropping Neutron Jammers all over the Earth during the April Fools Crisis was justified and above all else… Humane?" Lacus, Miguel, John, and the Le Creuset team with the exclusion of Rau himself, seemed slightly uncomfortable by the intensity of his question
"Well yes Mr. Payne I think it was given the circumstances, though I personally would have preferred if it had not have happened." Andrew at this point seemed perfectly calm but in the room everyone felt a sort of ominous sensation.
"Ms. Clyne would you care to make an educated guess at how many civilians on Earth have died as a direct result of the April Fools Crisis?"
"I can't say that I honestly can Mr. Payne"
"Would you like for me to give you an estimate based on conclusive facts?" Lacus simply nodded her head in a slightly disturbed affirmative. "Since April 1st C.E. 65 till now my intelligence division has gathered enough information to come up with a reasonably accurate figure. Current estimates and reports would indicate that the death tolls in the vast majority of earth metropolises and urban areas are now over 95 Percent, some of them in hospitals and due to the shutdown of crucial medical equipment from the power outages. Others are due to the failure of high-speed public transportation systems. Other causes include the spread of sickness and disease due to the failure of waste-disposal systems, Optimistically speaking this means that a mere 2,769,530,000 civilians died as a direct result of ZAFT's drop of N-Jammers upon that day." Lacus and the rest of the ZAFT and PLANT representatives had looks of horrified shock on their faces. Andrew proceeded with a very cold tone to his voice "Tell me Ms. Clyne how does the destruction of Junius 7 and it's inhabitants humanely justify that number of deaths. Orb can not ever ally it's self with ZAFT officially, making some deals under the table is fine but realistically I should have you, your entourage, and every member of ZAFT within Orb arrested and handed over to the Earth Alliance as a peace offering." Everyone tensed then, the SpecOpsIntel teams in the center stepping slightly forward as Miguel and John reached for their side-arms. "The only reasons I don't is because you did help to protect many Orb refugees and Orb property, as well as the simple fact that the Earth Alliance and OMNI Enforcer will still legitimize a seizure of Orb's Sovereignty anyways. My own personal rules also mean I'm loath to betray you and your people in such a manner but an official alliance between Orb and the PLANTs can not and will not happen so long as I have the power to stop it. Am I clear?"
"But......Minister Zala....he said that there would be few casualties....and that only the OMNI Enforcer military would be affected in any meaningful way...."Lacus muttered, coming to terms with the new information.
"Then I would suggest that you contact the PLANT Supreme Council for clarification." Andrew said coldly. "Until then, I would suggest that we adjourn for a break." Everyone filed out then, and all took notice of the two powered-armored soldiers looking after the PLANT and ZAFT members.
- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? -
7 Minutes into Break
"You wanted to see me sir?" Gary asked, coming to attention before Andrew. His helmet was tucked under his arm, and his rifle holstered on the right shoulder hardpoint of his armor.
"Yes Captain." The SpecOpsIntel head replied. Nominally, Kira, as the Prince of Orb, had total command over all military and intelligence agencies, ranging from the Air and Space Forces to the Marines. In practice however, he generally followed the lead of those who had fought and risen in their respective services. Essentially, Kira was a figurehead, albeit a very effective one. "I want you to prepare your team for a space operation." Gary's eyes gleamed at that. Most of his service had been done on the ground, and he'd had few experiences with space.
"Where to sir?"
"Calm down. You might not have to go at all. But to answer, you'll be taking a Dojin-class troop cruiser to the PLANTs."
"A Dojin-class? I thought they were still in the testing phase."
"And so they are. If you go, it'll be a live-fire 'exercise'." That was the only question Gary asked before he saluted and turned smartly on his heel, marching to meet up with the remainder of his squad.
"Malakhov, gather the team. We're going for a trip."
"Da Captain. Where to?" Gary grinned, the cybernetic eyes in his skull flaring a bright green as he placed his helmet back on his head.
- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? -
"WHAT!?" Siegel Clyne barked, rather astonished at the out-of-the-blue accusation thrown out at one of his close friends and colleagues.
"I know. Are you sure Mr. Zala was speaking the truth?" Lacus asked urgently. If he hadn't....neither Clyne would be happy with him.
"I don't think he was Lacus." The pop star jumped slightly and turned to find the ace mobile suit pilot and son of the person in question, Athrun Zala standing blankly behind her.
"Athrun!"
"You know, after Junius Seven.....I don't think that he was really in his right mind." Athrun continued, his mind working over every time he'd seen his father since that Bloody Valentine....since his mother died.
"And what do you suggest we do?" Siegel asked, not without some sympathy.
"I'd suggest you get out of there." They all looked to see Kira standing nearby, Jack and Liene flanking him. "If Patrick Zala has managed to keep the actual casualty figures a secret from everyone on the Supreme Council and those affiliated with them, that means he has the support of much of ZAFT and the media."
"And that means," Liene continued, "That if any of you started asking 'questions' then there will probably be a few 'disappearances', so to speak."
"So I think you'd better bug the fuck out right now." Jack stated, openly and bluntly as was his nature.
"I....I suppose that would be the most prudent course of action..." Siegel agreed, nodding. "Very well. But where are we going to run to, and how?"
"There's a colony at Lagrange 4." Kira supplied. "It's rather run down, especially since it was attacked by Blue Cosmos, but we managed to restore most of it. It's large enough to hold all of what you'll have. You should probably start by contacting all the ZAFT units that you know can be trusted, and smuggle your families out through "
"Thank you Mr. Yamato."
"It's my pleasure."
Lacus said good-bye to her father and closed the line. She gave Kira a thankful look, before turning to glance concernedly at Athrun. The ZAFT Red pilot was leaning against the wall, looking suitably shell-shocked for someone who's learned their father may be one of the worst mass-murderers of all time. Kira wordlessly walked over and leaned against the wall next to him
"Hey....Remember that time in 4th grade, when we reprogrammed the cafeteria robots?" Kira asked, drawing a snort and a chuckle from Athrun.
"They went nuts and started splattering everyone with mashed potatoes and gravy." He snorted, drawing Kira with him into a short, shared laugh.
"And that time, when we hacked the teacher's in-school messaging programs and started sending around bogus messages." Kira managed to blurt out through the guffaws.
"They thought there was a week-long holiday!" Athrun wheezed, drawing the two into further spirals of hilarity as more incidents were remembered.
That was when everyone else in the immediate vicinity joined in, Lacus telling Kira about some of Athrun's successes during their five-year long separation, Jack informing them of some of the more embarrassing aspects of Kira's life since then, and Liene regaling them with some of his technological exploits.
- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? -
21 Minutes Later
They all reconvened about thirty minutes after Andrew called for a break, with some noticeable exceptions. Rau was missing from the ZAFT section, while Liene had gone to work on the Tetsujins and 'other projects', saying that the outcome had been decided. Miguel and John were now seated in the ZAFT section, and the Orb SpecOpsIntel team in the center section had likewise been redeployed to guard the Orb section, while Gary's Shoki team had disappeared somewhere.
"Miss Clyne, would you like to start?" Uzumi asked, leaning forward, elbows on the table and hands intermingled in front of him.
"Yes Mr. Athha." Lacus said, rising from her seat. "After communicating with Chairman Clyne, and select members of the PLANT Supreme Council, it has been determined that Minister Zala and others of the Supreme Council, as well as some of ZAFT's high-ranking personnel, have deceived us and the PLANTs. Thus, it is determined that Patrick Zala and his supporters are war criminals of the highest order, and shall be arrested and turned over to Orb personnel, to be turned over to the Earth Alliance."
"Heh, politics." Jack muttered to Kira.
"I have to say, this seems to be a rather important scapegoat." Andrew said slowly.
"Not at all." Lacus denied. "After viewing the current evidence of his initial deception over the effects of the Neutron Jammers, it has been judged that Zala and his supporters cannot be trusted any longer."
"You do realize that arresting him is unlikely in the extreme? Considering that, by your own word, he has managed to subvert the majority of ZAFT HighCom to his side, it would mean that even speaking to him of it is more likely to get you killed and your family imprisoned, at best." Andrew pointed out, still resting in his chair.
"Chairman Clyne and the rest of the loyal Supreme Council members are aware of this." Lacus said. "However, Minister Zala must be made to answer for his crimes." Andrew nodded at this.
"In that case, I would like to make a request." Lacus waited. "If you could agree to allowing a team of Orb personnel to be present, as an act of goodwill...."
"Of course."
No one had made any mention of fleeing. Nor of the fact that the team of Orb personnel would be armed and armored as though for war. Or of the fact that, at that moment, Siegel Clyne was sending out orders that sent loyal ZAFT personnel scrambling all over the PLANTs, prepping Nazca and Laurasia-class ships for launch, downloading codeword -classified data onto portable hard drives, and escorting the families of certain higher-up politicians to some of the ships.
- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? -
"Alright guys," Gary started, "Here's the situation. The PLANTs want us to become bosom-buddies. However, the Neutron Jammers and the resulting civvie death toll have tweaked the tail of our august leader, Andrew, and so they've offered us a scapegoat in the form of Minister of Defense Patrick Zala."
"I hear a 'but' in your voice Gary." Boris, the teams second-in-command and heavy weapons specialist said.
"Yeah, 'but'. BUT, Zala's got most of ZAFT eating out of his hand, and a good part of the Supreme Council on his side. So they're anticipating a blow-up."
"Mission Objectives?" Lilou, their infiltrator and only woman, asked.
"Well, it'd be nice if we could get Zala to come along peacefully." Gary said, scratching at his chin. "But, if the shit hits the fan, we GTFO with the Chairman and the rest of the loyal Supreme Council members."
"So, what are we going in?" John, Rapid Assault. Gary grinned at this, cybernetic eyes glowing even brighter.
"Mobile Uniform and Izanagi." Everyone was happy with that.
- Quis est a Iuguolo nisi a Iuguolo? -
A/N: Things are amping up. OMNI is on the anti-Orb warpath, ZAFT is splitting at the seams, and even the peaceable and neutral Orb is gearing up for war.
If you can guess just what the Mobile Uniform is, I applaud you.
("MMPHP!!")
Hmm? What's that? I can't hear you with the shredded towel stuffed in your vocalization unit.
("GHRAGHAFE")
You can't move you say? Maybe you should take off those tight and restraining chains off of your limbs. Anyway.....
00virtuezero: It most certainly is. Oh, and Jack's definitely not going to like Michael.
: thanks. I was just thinking about that myself. At this point, Lena is pretty much like the CAG on an aircraft carrier, she has overall control over the mobile suits on the ship.
nequam-tenshi: Your eyes are really gonna bleed when I get around to the Tetsujin Tech Chapter.
Knightmare Gundam Of Ni