The Spirit Hotel, Phi Colony, May 5th, CE 78
As one of the multitude of freelance correspondents tasked to cover the colony voting referendum, Miriallia Haww was excited to finally be at Mars and see the sights, after her job. Travel since the beginning of the Cosmic Era from Earth to Mars was a lot faster than the turn of the 21st century, but it still required at least a month from Earth to travel to the Martian Sphere. Four years after the Valentine Wars, Miriallia couldn't still believe how things have turned out since then. Earth at a tenuous peace, reconnecting with Mars, and the PLANTs rebuilding, the entire situation was a far cry from events just a few years prior. The Bloody Valentine Wars were the worst conflicts of the Cosmic Era, and she was there, right at the forefront of those battles as a CIC, changing the destiny of the world with her actions… in a way.
She sighed, as she tried to forget reminiscing about the past, and took a look at the streets outside her hotel room's window. Phi Colony was one of the newer colonies established during the interim, established by the larger Martian colonies instead of their Earth and PLANT sponsors. Mars being left to its devices for the past 20 years allowed the colonies to establish themselves further, and they have diverged quite a bit from their Earth and PLANTbased colonies. However, when the Valentine Wars ended, and the reconstruction of the different countries that sponsored the Martian colonies began, the Atlantic Federation, Republic of East Asia, and the Eurasian Federation, all with the biggest investment in Mars, demanded free goods and support from their Martian colonies. The Martians, initially in an act of goodwill, gave their support for the Earth Sphere, but gradually, as trade and commerce began to progress between the two, Mars was now seen as the junior partner between them, with tariffs of goods shipped to Mars larger than goods shipped to Earth, all in the name of "supporting Earth's rehabilitation." Naturally, this stirred up resentment between the Martian merchants and their Earth Sphere counterparts, exacerbated further by the formation of the USCS.
The TV in her hotel room blared a news segment on screen. "In other news, the delegates from Zeta Colony have arrived in the Phi Colony Congress Hall, the last delegation to arrive in preparation for the Martian Congress' vote regarding the USCS referendum. Armin Vesser, the head of the Ares party and part of the councilors of Zeta Colony, is with them as well. This will mark a large turning point in Earth Sphere and Martian politics for years to come..." Miriallia frowned. Zeta Colony was stirring so much trouble in the Martian colonies, with its blatant militarization, courtesy of the Ares Party and Armin Vesser, its head. Demonstrations all over the Martian colonies have begun, with mixed opinions on the USCS itself, fearing the formation of the USCS, the brainchild of someone in the Earth Sphere, may cause further marginalization of the Martian people. The Earth Sphere, on the other hand, received the referendum with near universal acclaim, glad for a return to the United Nations of old and a way to avoid further conflicts. It was all becoming a dark reprise of the old Valentine Wars, and Miriallia was uncomfortable with how things were progressing.
A knock on the door distracted Miriallia from her musings. "Enter," Miriallia said, and in came her cameraman, a part of her team. "Ms. Haww. Our van is ready. We can proceed to the protest grounds and start our coverage," the cameraman said, carrying a duffel bag with all their gear.
"Let's go." Miriallia nodded, and went out of their hotel room. Hopefully the protests go well.
Phi Colony Militia Hanger 3, Phi Colony, May 5th, CE 78.
An exciting day at Phi Colony, mused Zian Phelps, as he ran up the streets of Phi Colony to Colony Hanger 3, one of the five colony hangers housing mobile suits. With the scheduled protest starting during the monthly Colony Meeting, the Phi Colony Militia brigade was on high alert, and all enlisted militia were called to come in and report for duty. Normally, things didn't escalate as much as they did in their small colony, but with the League of Hephatat gaining traction, and the USCS charter voting about to begin, tensions were at an all-time high. This was one of the many protests done in each of the colonies against the USCS referendum.
Stopping at a large building, Zian entered the small gate. Colony hangers, like the one at Phi Colony, were little more than repurposed warehouses, organized into makeshift hangers and mustering points for the storage of mobile suits. Militias in the Martian colonies ended up using surplus weapons, equipment, and the like, and made do with what was available in the colony budget. No formal military was yet to be established by Phi Colony, though Zeta Colony, one of the bigger and more influential colonies in Mars, was starting to increase their expenditure on arms and equipment, in an ironic echo from before the Valentine Wars. The hangar Zian entered contained a mix of Daggers, GINNs, DINNs, and even the occasional ZAKU and Windam, all mobile suit surplus sold by their respective militaries as a way to cut costs.
"You're late, Zian!" the captain, an older pilot with graying hair, called out to Zian as he rushed into the hangar. He scowled, staring at Zian's panting and slowness. "It's an Orange Alert, you have to come in on time!"
"Sorry sir. Been fighting with my brother, Corey about the riots. Kids these days, jumping into all these protests just because these are the 'in' thing." Zian shrugged, as he got to the locker room and keyed his biometrics in. "I'll get dressed, then catch up to the briefing, sir."
The captain nodded. "Get on it now. We have a lot of ground to cover, it's the beginning of a shitshow out there. The protesters are still getting their act together, so we have time to form a safe perimeter. The briefing will have to be in your mobile suits, no time for a sitdown." He then left, moving on ahead of Zian to the mobile suit hanger.
As Zian went into the locker room, a janitor with blue coveralls was busy cleaning the shared locker room, with a large mobile trash receptacle nearby. He noticed the rushing Zian, panicking and fumbling with changing clothes. A keycard fell from his wallet, hitting the floor with a clatter.
"Buddy, I think you dropped that," the janitor said as he pointed at Zian's feet.
"What?" Zian looked down while he was changing, and saw his keycard. "Oh shit," he replied, bending down to pick it up, when suddenly the janitor went up behind him and looped a wire along his neck, crushing his windpipe and depriving him of oxygen. Zian tried to struggle, but since the garrote crushed his neck, he couldn't even scream or breathe, much less fight. His last thoughts as his life ebbed away in the changing room were of his estranged brother, now in the Colony Square, amongst the rioters.
As the janitor finished killing Zian, he pressed the side of his ear. "Darter Lead, this is Darter 2. Assigned pilot taken out, we have access to one of the Phi Colony mobile suits. I'll take the pilot's place and launch in the suit as planned. For the League." The janitor was talking to himself, as he took Zian's card and his pilot suit and helmet, the suit being a little snug to the janitor's body. He then stepped out, heading to Zian's assigned mobile suit, an old refurbished Dagger with a beam rifle and an ablative shield. "Get a move on, Zian!" the older pilot from earlier shouted, seeing Darter 2 climb up the mobile suit and into the cockpit quickly.
Once inside, Darter 2 activated the machine, its cockpit systems and screens coming to life without any hiccup. "HG 3, ready to deploy," Darter 2 intoned into the colony comms, sending the machine out of the hangar and into the colony proper. His other comms began playing at him, with the six other members of the infiltration team acknowledging their presence. "Darter team, you have your orders. For the League," Darter 1 replied through his other comms, his GINN moving first into the colony square. The six other mobile suits followed suit with Darter 2.
"For the League," Darter 2 replied, pushing his mobile suit forward to the government district.
Phi Colony Government Square, May 5th, CE 78
"HG team, this is Phi Control, sitrep," the smooth voice of the controller rang inside the cockpit.
"This is HG-03, area secure. Protesters are still in position," the confident voice of Darter 2 replied. "Nothing out of the ordinary on my end," he added.
"HG-01 reporting, area secure. No suspicious activity coming from the protest group. It's all peaceful as far as we can see." HG-01, the older pilot that chewed out Darter 2, and the leader of the squad, replied to Phi Control's query. His ZAKU was monitoring the crowd, the monoeye whizzing from left to right every few minutes.
"HG-02 reporting, lots of movement into the government district, from the left." Another reply, this time by Darter 1, in a GINN. A pause, then he added, "Nothing too drastic though, they're just moving into position. No rioting or looting has happened so far. We'll keep you posted, and keep our eyes on the mess."
"I sure hope not. Good work. Keep monitoring, we don't know how bad things can get." Phi Control replied,
Darter 2 opened their private comms with the rest of the Darter Team, and joined in. Darter 1 was briefing the team. "Once they begin their voting, and the principal has left the Congress Hall, we can proceed with the mission. Destroy the Congress Hall."
"Eliminate the protesters and militia with extreme prejudice." Darter 3, in a ZAKU, called in. "Incite the war."
"For the League." Darter 2 added.
"For the League." The other pilots replied, their mantra echoing at Darter 2's cockpit.
Phi Colony Congress Hall, May 5th, CE 78
"And this is why, gentlemen, we have to vote for Martian independence! The USCS does not represent our interests, and the format of their government will not in any way give us enough representation! We've lived our lives here on Mars, some of our fellow councilors here have been born here, and we're just going to agree to this… joke from the Earth Sphere?!" Armin Vesser, Ares Party head and one of the councilors, shouted down from his dais in the auditorium. Beside him, several councilors were nodding in agreement at his statements, which made sense. With the Earth Sphere being a burden more than a help, the Ares Party believed in cutting ties with Earth. Permanently.
"With all due respect, Mr. Vesser, this is a great opportunity for us," Frank Brahe, Australialis Colony's councilor, and head of a more moderate faction in the Martian Congress, replied. "I know how much of an impact the Bloody Valentine War was on your family back in the PLANTs, but this is why we need to rejoin the Earth Sphere."
"Mr. Vesser does have a good point. We have been fine for decades without the Earth Sphere, they haven't supported us during our initial buildup, and now look at us. We have built the Martian landscape and cultivated it for our own benefit, and now the Earth wants a piece of that pie. For free, I may add," another councilor rebutted, a firm supporter of Vesser's views.
"See? People want this-" Armin Vesser began once more, but was interrupted by shouts by the other moderate members of the council. His supporters, in turn, began yelling at their counterparts, until a hand from the floor caught everyone's attention.
"SILENCE! Gentlemen, this discussion is getting us nowhere. Mr. Vesser, your points are valid, but we're here to vote on our decision if we're going to join the USCS or not. Your filibustering is not in any way productive to our discussion. Now if you would be so kind as to sit down, then we can proceed with the vote," the head speaker of the Martian Congress, Baro Lernsher, interrupted.
"Hear, hear," a councilor agreed heartily, one from the moderate faction. This was what the moderates wanted, to go with the voting, since they had a bigger majority compared to the Ares Party and everyone aligned. Armin threw up his hands in annoyance of everything going on.
"If this is how things will go, I refuse to partake in this discussion. I want my voice heard. I want the voice of the Martian people heard, loud and clear." Armin Vesser stood up, and left the auditorium, with his supporters and half the councilors in uproar.
As he stormed out of the auditorium, an aide whispered in his ear, and Armin nodded, picking up his pace. A storm was brewing, and things were set in motion. The Congress will rue the day...
Phi Colony Government Square, May 5th, CE 78
"Mars for Martians! Vote for Independence!" The shouts of Corey Phelps, one of the protesters, rang far and wide from the raised platform the Ares party placed before the Congress Hall. It was all initially a ploy to impress the pretty young political science major at Phi Central College, but being an activist meant doing something, anything, to get your voice heard. From a simple rallyist, Corey went up the ranks to become one of the more influential members of their group, and it showed. This rally was one of the biggest rallies they have hosted, and there were almost a million people in the streets. Zian didn't see the point, as always, being part of the Colony militia, but he'd turn. The USCS was the beginnings of Martian tyranny, the members of the Ares Party said. After this protest, Corey was going to go home and tell Zian he was going to move to Zeta Colony. They were recruiting people for their new army.
"Mars for Martians! Vote for Independence!" The rest of the protesters chanted, their cries ringing out to the Congress Hall. Corey could not help but smile fiercely with the turnout. Time to make his voice heard, he thought, as he readied his megaphone once more to start the rally. "Vote fo-" he began, but a hand stopped him.
"Look at that.." a protester beside him pointed at the Congress Hall.
"What in the blazes..." he breathed, seeing one of the militia Daggers move forward to the crowd with no signs of stopping. The crowds stopped in their cheers, wary of the moving mobile suit, but they kept their position. The mobile suit began picking up speed, however, and its thrusters flared up, bringing it above the crowd, the thrusters sending posters and signs flying. Finally, the Dagger stopped midair, its looming shadow over the crowd. For a minute, the crowd and the media were silent, finally noticing this giant totem of war standing over their heads. The Dagger's speakers came to life, with the most terrifying words any self-respecting Coordinator who witnessed the end of George Glenn and the persecution of Coordinators all over the world would recognize. "For the Preservation of the Blue and Pure World," the Dagger pilot intoned, the speakers carrying his words to the air.
"BLUE COSMOS!" a man, a Coordinator, screamed at the top of his lungs as the mobile suit dropped to the ground, crushing him and several other bystanders. The sickening crunch of flesh, bone, and offal being mushed into a paste by 55 tons of steel was enough to send the entire crowd into a panic. Men and women trampled, tripped, and fell all over themselves to get away from the podium, all the while the Dagger was busy moving forward to take out the protesters. The rest of the guard team were frozen into shock, while the other members of the Darter team began to bring up weapons, with GINNs discreetly raising weapons.
"HG-03, STAND DOWN! ZIAN, YOU MADMAN, LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS!" HG Lead went onto the offensive, sending his Dagger moving up to HG-03's machine, beam saber ignited and at the ready. Darter 2 immediately sidestepped HG Lead's machine, pulling out a beam saber and bisecting HG Lead's Dagger at the torso, sending the machine, and HG Lead, tumbling into a pile of news vans. A GINN moved to intercept Darter 2's advance, but was taken down by accurate beam fire from another mobile suit, this time a DINN, sending the GINN down to the ground in a heap of scrap. The other members of the Darter team fired into the crowd, their cover as guards thrown out the window, as they began to douse the people with heavy weaponry. Heavy autocannon shells hit the street, sending bodies and cars flying. Beam blasts melted cars, pavement, and human beings, and carved giant superheated trenches in the streets.
A shell hit the Congress Hall, smack dab into the auditorium, the round caving into several councilors before going to rest before Brahe. "What in the…" was all that he could say, then the shell exploded, vaporizing Brahe and the remaining councilors and creating a fireball gushing out of the Congress Hall.
"Oh my god!" Miriallia shrieked, bearing witness to a mobile suit crushing a gaggle of protesters with its landing. Movies have tried to capture it, books have tried to describe it, but it never compared the real thing; the sickening wet crunch of metal squishing against flesh and bone. It was like someone took a hydraulic press to meat! The mobile suit's foot was stained with red, distinct against the black and white color scheme of the Phi Colony militia. Blood. Protesters' blood.
"Ms. Miriallia, let's go!" the cameraman yelled, pulling Miriallia away as soon as the rogue Dagger proceeded to open fire on the crowd. This was bad. The mobile suit was actually attacking innocent protesters, and from the look of things, it was a Blue Cosmos setup. Intellectually, she knew Blue Cosmos was dead, their leadership reduced to ashes by Durandal's attack on Logos. Regardless, Blue Cosmos was here, and they were assaulting the Congress.
Seeing the stampede of people moving her way, and with the mobile suits firing into the crowd, Miriallia and the cameraman ran away from the Congress Hall, taking several detours and bumping into people running and screaming all the way. A mobile suit, a GINN, began to walk in their direction, all its weapons trained and firing into the crowd, causing mass panic and a stampede of protesters running for their lives. CIWS and beam fire carved holes in the street behind the pair, the munitions carving a bloody path alongside the protesters.
Pulling her aside to a side street, her cameraman lifted and shoved her into a nearby dumpster in the alley, trusting that the trash receptacle would keep her safe. "You have to live, Miss," the cameraman shouted, as he was shredded by CIWS fire, the giant rounds carving massive holes in his abdomen. Inside the dumpster, Miriallia could feel the multiple impacts of 57mm CIWS rounds hitting her surroundings, accompanied with the footfalls of a mobile suit. A piece of shrapnel almost pierced the dumpster, sending Miriallia into a panic and freaking out, but her instincts from the Valentine Wars came back to her, forcing her to stay put. The dumpster is not, contrary to popular belief, a target that earns a bullet from most action movies, which was lucky for Miriallia, since a stray 57mm CIWS could puncture through the light plastic.
Miriallia was about to peek out once she was shoved in when the blast wave from a rocket sent the dumpster flying, jostling her and the dumpster's contents. A broken toaster was knocked free from the bottom of the dumpster and was sent flying to Miriallia's head, and the last thing she remembered was that toaster clunking her, right in the skull.
Beam blasts carved the surface of other streets, sending plasma blasts into innocent bystanders and coring their torsos. The smell of burning meat, plasma fire, and gunpowder permeated the air, with the sounds of screams, bullet and beam fire, and cries of anguish serving as a backdrop to what may be the worst terrorist event in history.
"HG-03, drop your weapons!" "Blue Cosmos goons, stand down!" "Earth scum! How could you!" The multitude of transmissions Darter 2 meant the jig was up, and the entirety of Phi Colony was coming up on them. The rest of Phi Colony's militia, alongside members of Zeta Colony's military, surrounded the team, with a mix of ZAKUs and Windams landing in front of the team. One of the Darter team's mobile suits, a GINN, was taken down by a beam from the sky, the beam rifle melting through to the mobile suit core and detonating the hydrogen core. A second member of the Darter team, in a Windam, turned to open fire on the incoming reinforcements with his beam rifles and rocket pods, but he was easily dispatched by railgun fire from another Windam, cleaving his mobile suit in two. Darter Lead himself was parrying one of the ZAKU's beam axes with his own beam saber, but the ZAKU proved too much for the GINN, powering through Darter Lead's parries and chopping off an arm. The other members of the Darter team were fending off the other new arrivals, with varying success.
"Orders, sir?" Darter 5, one of the remaining members of the team, chimed in. Darter 2 sighed. He knew what they had done, and either way, there was only one way this could end. In death. He gripped his controls, and turned on the comms.
"We've done what we came for. There's no jail cell and court for us here. We knew what we were signing up for," Darter 2 replied, opening a computer bank and enabling the self-destruct device of the Dagger. He sent the Dagger tumbling down to the Congress Hall, little more than a smoking ruin, to wipe out the moderates as ordered. "FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE BLUE AND PURE WORLD!" He then set his machine to self-destruct, overloading the hydrogen battery and causing it to explode. The explosion was big enough to wipe out parts of the Congress Hall, sending shrapnel, protesters, and vehicles flying in all directions. The remaining members of Darter team, seeing themselves surrounded by multiple members of the Phi Colony militia, opted to go down guns blazing, their weapons firing at anything in their range. The militia made short work of the remaining terrorists, but the damage was done. The Phi Colony government district was a ruin. The Congress Hall was barely standing. Thousands of protesters, councilors, and civilians lay dead in the government district. What started out as a peaceful protest turned out to be a charnel house the likes of which the Cosmic Era has never seen. A declaration of war.
When she woke up inside the dumpster, Miriallia was seeing stars and bright lights from the lid. Shaking her head, she tried to orient herself, and with some success, she tried to free herself from the pieces of junk. With her hands free, she popped her head out of the dumpster and took a peek, and what she saw couldn't believe her eyes. What was supposed to be a peaceful protest turned into one of the deadliest terror attacks in history. Bodies were lying everywhere, cries of pain and help could be heard all over the place, and the smoldering wrecks of mobile suits could be seen. The administrative building was caved in, with multiple fires starting within the building itself. A mobile suit charging into a crowd, then broadcasting one of the most terrifying words any Coordinator could hear, a literal ghost from the past coming back to haunt the living. Unfortunately, with such an event, and with most of the moderate members of the Martian government inside, Miriallia could not help but think this was the beginning of something far darker.
"Oh no..." Miriallia shuddered, as she gingerly pulled herself out of the dumpster, throwing a stray banana peel that stuck to her shirt. She had to find a phone, get back to a safehouse, and report back to Terminal. Kira, Lacus, Athrun, and Cagalli needed to know…
*Codex: World Situation, Cosmic Era 78*
The three years after the Second Bloody Valentine War and the Foundation Conflict were marked by a period of rebuilding, shifting, and consolidation. With the death of major figures in politics, such as Joseph Copeland, Uzumi Nara Attha, Yuna Roma Seiran, and Gilbert Durandal, the geopolitical landscape changed drastically. Nations declared independence, a power bloc disintegrated into its components, and an entire swathe of land was still a contentious warzone, where stability was a luxury.
The Atlantic Federation lost influence over the years, with Joseph Copeland dead and being the instigator of the Valentine Wars damaging its prestige. With Washington DC a pile of rubble, the entire Atlantic Federation entered a state of unrest. Thanks to the timely intervention of the United States of South America, the Atlantic Federation still stands, but as a shell of its former self and a junior partner to the USSA. Meanwhile the Eurasian Federation, scarred and decapitated due to the actions of the Foundation Conflict, and Moscow little more than a radioactive crater, has all but dissolved into several squabbling states, each jockeying to be the successor to the Federation.
With the death of Gilbert Durandal and his actions with the Destiny Plan, Australia and ZAFT-held Africa declared their interests as non-aligned with the PLANTs, and seceded from their jurisdiction, deciding to join instead the Equatorial and African Union, respectively. This has, in turn, impacted on the PLANTs, with Supreme Councilwoman Ezalia Joule calling the events "unfortunate, but a process of democracy.". As a consequence, the PLANTs have begun distancing themselves from the Earth more, with further expansions in space, creating more colonies in their Lagrange points. They were the first to reestablish diplomatic ties with the Martian colonists, and some consider them as the "lost brothers and sisters" of the PLANTs.
Orb has gone into a period of growth since the Second Valentine War, with Cagalli Yula Attha at its helm. With the Kaguya mass driver rebuilt once more, and undersea and space colonies now at the initial building stages, Orb has achieved prosperity under the Atthas once more, and its tolerance for both Naturals and Coordinators helped its rebirth.
Mars, colonized in Cosmic Era 50, has, over the past 28 years, expanded from a single colony, the multinationally funded Australialis, into multiple colonies. Accepting refugees from both the Earth and PLANTs, mostly Coordinators, they have turned the Martian wasteland into a profitable venture, with a lot of people turning to mining and resource extraction for rare metals and the like. Contact with the rest of the Earth was reestablished formally in CE 75, though under the charter, Mars was asked to "contribute" to the recovery of the Earth Sphere, with raw materials from Mars flowing through to the PLANTs, and their finished goods being shipped all over the Earth Sphere. This has met with harsh criticisms from the Martian members, most of which claim that they "do not owe anything to the Earthians who squandered their own homeworld carelessly.", and serves as one of the premier arguments against integration to the USCS.