Last Resistance to Peace
Chapter 25

by Scarlet Eve

AC 205

April 7

Heero's glass dropped to the ground and smashed against the smooth tile floor. He ran, his legs taking him faster than he ever thought he could run. He launched himself forward, his arms wrapping around her waist and dragged her to the ground, the fabric of her dress rustling in his ears.

The heat from the explosion passed by him, and he turned his face towards the ground, hoping she was doing the same. When he lifted his head, he saw Queen Relena staring at him with surprise.

"What's going on?" she asked, before another explosion rocked the building. Heero shifted to move her under his body.

What am I doing? Why am I protecting her?

"It's an attack!"

The screams filled his ears. Heero rose and looked around, trying to make sense of the chaos. A corner of the room was collapsed, and he had a sudden remembrance of the last time this happened. Queen Relena had a target on her back.

Relena's minions appeared at Heero's side. Sally Po grabbed the Queen from the ground and hoisted her to her feet, anxiously asking if the Queen was alright. The brother, too, skid to a halt beside them, his blue eyes fierce and angry as they stared at Heero.

"What did your people do this time?" he asked, so much fury in his voice that Heero had to suppress a wince.

"I don't know-"

Before he could finished speaking, Relena was whisked away, leaving Heero to stare after them. He shook himself. He did know what was happening. It was another plot by Lady Une, and he was the only other one who did know.

Relena was carried along by her brother, Noin, and Sally, away from the ballroom and down a long corridor, part of a larger network of emergency evacuation tunnels.

"I need intel! What is going on out there?" Sally screamed into her communication device.

Relena couldn't hear the response, but Sally filled in the blanks.

"What? The Colony Alliance?" Sally replied. Relena frowned. She thought the Colony Alliance was behind her. "What do they want?" There was a brief pause before Sally spoke again. "Well, find out!"

Relena wanted to close her eyes and think, but she was still being jostled around, all but carried down to the secure fall-out shelter below. A heavy weight of despair settled over her shoulders.

Duo found Heero in the crowd, looking a little stunned. Duo waved a hand in his face. "Come on! We need to stop those mobile suits!"

Heero shook his head. "No, we don't."

"What are you talking about? We have to protect the kingdom!" Duo shouted. Of course they were there to keep an eye on the Queen, but there was no reason to let them be destroyed by mobile suits.

"It's a hoax," Heero said, but was interrupted when Colonel Une appeared.

"What are you waiting for? Destroy those mobile suits!" she shouted. Duo saw Heero hesitate. A hoax? What did he mean? Duo thought they merely had intel that the Colony Alliance was going to attack.

"Those are OZ soldiers," Heero said. Colonel Une slapped him on the cheek.

"Don't be a fool. Get to your Gundams and stop these attacks!"

Heero glared at Colonel Une for a moment, then turned and grabbed Duo by the arm.

"Let's go."

Duo followed along with him. They left the building and headed towards the storage area for their Gundams.

"What's going on, Heero?" Duo asked while they ran.

"You heard. The Colony Alliance is attacking the Sanc Kingdom."

"You and I both know that's bullshit," Duo said. "Why is Une doing this?"

"Why else?" Heero asked, his eyes meeting Duo's for a moment before looking away. "For war."

Milliardo didn't want to leave his sister's side, because he knew that as soon as he did, he would not be able to return to the Sanc Kingdom. And he just wasn't ready to take himself on the run.

Epyon would have to sit by and watch this battle for the Sanc Kingdom, even though he knew that Treize and Une would know for sure that Milliardo was the pilot. His only consolation was that Eypon wasn't even in the country, and that no one would ever find him.

It was a less than ideal situation.

"What's happening?" Relena asked him, her hair falling around her face from the elaborate up-do it had been in only minutes before. Milliardo shook his head.

"I don't know. Sounds like the Colony Alliance is attacking."

"That doesn't make sense," Relena said. "Hilde said she spoke with someone from the Colony Alliance, and they said they stand with us."

"Maybe they changed their mind once you were forced to join Romefeller," Milliardo suggested. Relena's face darkened, and she shook her head, but spoke no more.

It was just the two of them in the fall-out shelter. Noin, Sally, and Hilde had all left to join the battle with the few mobile suits they still had, and damn the repercussions from Romefeller for their use of the suits. Milliardo was anxious to be with them, but he knew he needed to stay with his sister.

"Milliardo…"

He looked back to his sister. There were tears brimming in her eyes. He reached out to her and pulled her into his chest.

"What is it?"

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," she said. "These attacks. The pressure from Romefeller and OZ. I can't make any moves. I've lost. Check mate."

"Don't say that, Relena," Milliardo said, squeezing his sister into a hug. "You've always believed in hope."

"I find that my belief is wavering," she said. "I'm trapped from every side. I cannot defend myself. I cannot defend the country."

Milliardo watched as tears floated down her cheeks. He wiped a few away with his finger. His resolve strengthened. He would have to leave the Sanc Kingdom with Epyon. He would be on the run until the war was over, and when that would be, he had no idea.

He released a sigh and kept Relena close to him, saying his goodbyes to her in his mind, should they not cross paths again in the future.

Sally watched the battle from a series of screens in the command room beneath the Sanc Kingdom palace. Their remaining few mobile suits were deployed in an attempt to bring the attacks under control. Sally knew Relena would come under fire for the possession and use of the mobile suits, but this was a special circumstance.

"The Gundams are joining the battle," a soldier remarked, pointing to one of the screens. Sally watched for a moment as the hangar door opened, revealing the two Gundams. She wondered whose side they would be on in this battle.

The thought made her cringe, but to her surprise, the Gundams went after the Colony Alliance mobile suits. Of course, if the Gundams protected the Sanc Kingdom, then OZ could justify keeping them around, in case of future attacks. Sally growled low in her throat.

The battle began with thirty mobile suits, and soon dwindled down to less than ten. The remaining surrendered, and Sally sent Noin out to take care of the soldiers inside the mobile suits.

Except there was a problem. There were so soldiers in the mobile suits.

"What is going on?" Noin asked via communicator. Sally shook her head.

"I don't know. They must be… unmanned mobile suits."

"Being controlled from outer space?" Noin asked.

"It would seem that way."

Even the two Gundam pilots seemed confused, but they said nothing as they returned their Gundams to the hangar.

Dorothy had joined a group of party guests who were evacuated to a lower level of the building, beneath the ballroom. She stood in a corner, feeling a little sullen, which was quite unlike her.

She didn't like how this war was playing out. Or perhaps it was Colonel Une that Dorothy did not like. She knew this attack was formulated by OZ, even though the mobile suits appeared to have come from the Colony Alliance. It would be easy to create some space mobile suits and slap the Colony Alliance logo on the breastplate.

But the strangest thing was the rumors circulating the room that the mobile suits that attacked were unmanned. Did OZ already have that technology, that they would not need soldiers to fight their battles any longer?

And what would happen to the Sanc Kingdom now? Dorothy could imagine that Queen Relena would be feeling an excessive amount of pressure now.

Dorothy knew she'd have to do something. What that something was, she didn't quite know, but something needed to be done. In spite of her love of war, the Queen of Peace could not be killed in the process. Relena would have to survive this war to bring the Earth and Colonies into peace once the fighting had ended. In this, Dorothy truly believed.

-SE