Last Resistance to Peace
Chapter 8
by Scarlet Eve
A.C. 204
Mid-July
It was well past two in the morning when Relena finally settled down enough to try and sleep. Between making plans to deal with Romefeller and OZ, running the country, and keeping her military a secret, Relena's mind was constantly abuzz.
She knew, as she tried to calm her mind enough to sleep, that she needed some kind of relief. With Milliardo locked away, Relena had picked up the duties he'd always taken care of. She'd forgotten how much he did that took away stress from herself. Minister Darlian always took on more work than he could handle as well, and Relena knew she couldn't keep pushing work onto him. It was a possibility that Relena could hire someone to help her, but who could she trust? Exhaustion finally let her slid into sleep.
Two sounds jerked Relena from her sleep.
The first was the wail of the civil defense alarm, blasting at full volume from the speakers placed all over the country. The second was an explosion and subsequent aftershock, which shook the entire Sanc Kingdom palace down to its foundation stones.
Relena threw herself from her bed and ran to the window of her bedroom. The alarms continued to wail, and would do so until Sally gave the order to cease. Outside, she could see the assembly building, only a few miles away, engulfed in flames. Hovering above the building were several mobile suits, all OZ Leos. Mobile suit carrier planes crisscrossed the night sky, the blinking lights giving them away. The Leos landed nearby, their massive weight cracked the ground beneath them and sent up dirt and dust into roiling clouds.
Relena pressed one hand to her chest and clutched the fabric of her pajamas. "No…" she whispered.
Someone pounded on the door to her bedroom. Relena whirled around just as the door opened, revealing one of the female security guards who watched her room at night. "Your highness, you need to be evacuated."
In a daze, Relena nodded. She grabbed a thin robe and pulled it on over her pajamas and slipped a pair of moccasin style slippers on her feet. She hurried from the room, snatching up her phone and tablet as she went. The security guard remained close to Relena as they followed the hidden passageways through the palace, down to the control room. She knew that Noin and Sally would be waiting for her to give the orders.
Halfway down to the control room, another explosion rocked the palace. Relena squeezed her eyes closed, wondering which building took the hit. She hastened down the hall and burst through the door into the control room, the security guard trotting to keep up.
Sally and Noin were already present, both wearing loose shorts and a standard issue t-shirt from the military uniforms. Relena assumed they must have just pulled on boots and rushed over from the officer's quarters. Sleepy-looking technicians sat at their positions around the command center, furiously downing coffee and pulling up video and stills from cameras positions around the country. The large radar beeped with each passing, showing more and more mobile suits as they dropped from the carriers.
"Queen Relena," Sally said, turning to acknowledge her arrival. "I need to know your decision."
About the mobile suits. Relena bit her lip and watched the screens streaming footage from outside the palace. Now both the assembly building and the Newport City clock tower were up in flames. The burning of the clock tower was a poignant reminder that time was running out.
"Has anyone tried to contact us yes?" Relena asked. The technicians shook their heads.
"Do you want to deploy the mobile suits?" Sally asked, trying to not to sound urgent. Relena could tell she was anxious, however, by the way she kept shifting from one foot to the other. Relena hesitated for a moment, still watching the feed. More and more mobile suits dropped from the sky, landing among buildings and homes, knocking down bits of buildings in the process.
"Oh!" one of the technicians cried out. "We're getting an incoming call from an OZ private jet." Relena rushed to the vid-phone, nearly knocking the technician from her chair. She pressed a button to accept the connection, and Treize's face appeared. Just behind his shoulder, Relena could see Une standing at attention.
"Good morning, your highness," Treize said, hailing her. She scowled at him.
"Stop these attacks!"
Treize smirked. "I'd love to, Queen Relena, but I'm afraid both OZ and Romefeller are tired of your opposition to progress."
"Opposition to progress? You're enslaving the countries of the planet! How is that 'progress'?" she cried out. She could feel the heat rising in her face, and her hands gripped the technician's chair so tightly that Relena's knuckles turned white.
"We'll have to disagree on that point," Treize replied. "So far, none of these countries have been forced to perform work without pay." He paused a moment, then continued. "Even if we left you to your own devices, Queen Relena, you would suffer when the Colony Alliance attacks Earth. As a pacifist nation, you have no way to defend yourselves."
Behind her, Relena could hear the protests of anger coming from Noin and Sally, along with the few gathered soldiers and technicians. She knew that an entire group of highly-trained soldiers were waiting for the signal to board their mobile suits and retaliate against OZ.
But now was not the time. Relena clenched her fists tightly around the chair back.
"Your highness, please don't do it," Sally whispered behind her. Relena glanced back at her Major, then back to Treize's face on the vid-phone. There was an appropriate time to show one's hand, and this was not it.
"Alright, Treize," Relena said. "I will become a member of Romefeller. Just call off these attacks."
Relena watched on the screen as Treize turned and said something to Colonel Une, who nodded and disappeared from the frame of the vid-phone. Treize turned back, a smile on his face.
"Now that wasn't so difficult," he said. "We'll take these suits home with us, then. We wouldn't want to sully the good image of the Sanc Kingdom." Relena had no reply for this. She simply continued to glare at Treize through the screen. He waved once. "We'll be summoning you to Brussels in a few days."
Without a goodbye, Treize signed off. The screen went dark.
Relena released a long sigh, feeling the gazes of the half-dozen people in the room. It was time to explain herself.
A.C. 204
Late July
Dispatched from Brussels with a mission, Dorothy Catalonia sped along the highway towards the capital of the Sanc Kingdom. After her grandfather and Treize decided to attack, forcing the Queen to accept membership into the foundation, they'd given her a few days to calm down before sending Dorothy out to smooth things over. Typically this was not done, but Dorothy sensed that Treize and her grandfather had some fear of Queen Relena Peacecraft. OZ might have the Gundams, but they'd never be as powerful as the Queen.
As her golden limo neared the city center, Dorothy could see large metal cranes sticking up from between the historical buildings. It was a strange juxtaposition. She knew that a few buildings had either been destroyed or damaged in the attack. It appeared that Queen Relena was wasting no time to make repairs.
Dorothy reduced her speed and crawled along the damaged roadways. She passed along a large building that was now missing a roof, over which stood the cranes she'd seen from a distance. Standing near the construction site was Queen Relena. Dorothy slammed on her brakes, her car squealing to a halt, and jumped out of her car.
"Queen Relena!" she called out, waving an arm over her head as she trotted to where the Queen was standing with a large group of people circled around her. Though the Queen was wearing a bright yellow hard hat, there was no mistaking the long blonde hair hanging down her back.
The Queen turned to glance over her shoulder, and Dorothy saw her eyes widen. "Miss Catalonia?" Dorothy strode towards the Queen, passing by a construction worker on her way. She grabbed the hard hat off his head and popped it on her own head. The women standing close to the Queen looked annoyed.
"Your highness," Dorothy said, dropping into a sweeping curtsy.
"Miss Catalonia, what are you doing here?" Queen Relena asked.
"Please, just call me Dorothy," she replied. "I was sent as an emissary of the Romefeller Foundation." Dorothy noted the slight confusion in the Queen's eyes. "Romefeller and OZ acknowledge that we did some damage to your country," she went on, nodding her head towards the building under construction. "I'm here to assist you in any way."
Queen Relena turned away. "That won't be necessary."
"My grandfather is personally offering financial assistance to rebuild," Dorothy added. Her grandfather had told her to use that offer only as a last resort, but he did, after all, send the mobile suits to attack. It had the intended effect. Queen Relena turned back to Dorothy. One of her advisors leaned over and whispered something in her ear, and the Queen nodded.
"Alright, Dorothy. I'll have a room set up for you at the palace," Queen Relena said. Dorothy swept into another curtsy and smiled at the Queen.
"Oh," Dorothy said, turning back to the Queen. "I also have the papers that will need to be signed to fully acknowledge your support and membership of the Romefeller Foundation." The expression that soured the Queen's face was not unexpected. Dorothy turned back to her car and climbed inside.
Dorothy was directed to a set of rooms in the westernmost section of the palace, an area, she was informed, was mainly comprised of guest rooms. The royal family maintained their rooms in the east wing, thereby ensuring that Dorothy was placed as far away as possible.
She didn't mind. Her suite contained a sitting room, a bedroom, and a private bathroom, all decorated with antique furnishings. The porter had brought up her bags from her car, and a valet had taken her keys and parked the gold limo in the garage, among the other royal family vehicles. As Dorothy unpacked her suitcase, she wondered if the Queen knew how to drive a car.
Relena called Dorothy to the public receiving room just before dinner, with the request to bring the documents from Romefeller. Dorothy grabbed her leather portfolio and was escorted down to the receiving room by an older gentleman by the name of Pagan. Dorothy got a vibe from this gentleman that he didn't trust her in the least. She supposed she couldn't blame him.
Pagan led Dorothy to an office that had to be reached through the old throne room. Dorothy looked around at the grand room with wide eyes, feeling the history that must have taken place over the years. The two throne chairs on the dais were aged and did not appear to be used anymore. She thought this was a shame. She could picture Queen Relena ruling her country from that chair, dressed in a flowing white gown.
"This way, Miss Catalonia," Pagan said, gesturing towards a door. Dorothy pulled her eyes from the throne and followed Pagan to the door. Inside, Queen Relena was already sitting on the other side of the desk, a few stacks of folders on one corner and tea service on the other. Dorothy curtsied to the Queen and sat down in the vacant chair.
"Thank you for coming, Miss Catalonia," Queen Relena said. "I'd like to get this messy business over with."
"Of course, your highness," Dorothy said. She opened her leather folio and removed a stack of papers. She placed it in front of Relena on the desk. "These are the same documents signed by all members of Romefeller after agreeing to join the foundation."
Queen Relena flipped up the first page and began to scan the document. Dorothy watched her with a slight smile.
"Have you ever read this document?" Relena asked, glancing up at Dorothy as she neared the last page.
"Certainly. Many times, actually. I read this one just before I left Belgium, to make sure everything was in order," Dorothy replied. The Queen said nothing and returned her attention to the document. At the end, she picked up a shining silver pen and signed her name at the bottom. She pushed it back to Dorothy, who signed as an authorized witness.
"May I ask you something, Miss Catalonia?" Relena asked.
"Please, call me Dorothy. And yes, anything," Dorothy replied.
"Do you truly believe in what Romefeller and OZ are doing? You agree with their ideals?" Relena asked. Dorothy smiled and pressed her fingers together in front of her face.
"I do, your highness, in that I believe in the strategy that my cousin Treize has built," she said.
"Strategy?"
"I'm afraid I cannot say anything more about it, your highness. Classified information to OZ. But that is why I follow him," Dorothy explained. She could tell that this information was upsetting and irritating to the Queen, as her scowl deepened across her face. Dorothy picked up the papers and slipped them back into the leather folio. Pagan reappeared, gently knocking at the door before sticking his head inside.
"Dinner is ready, your highness."
-SE