Chapter 2.1 (1/2)

reize File 2

Through the viewing window of the frozen capsule [cryogenic chamber] I could clearly confirm the boy's face and was at something of a loss. I had seen him before somewhere. Suddenly, I realized were. He bore a remarkable resemblance to the boy going by the name ”Duo Maxwell” from the 'AC 195 Autumn' file Master Chang had me prepare. Perhaps he didn't just look like him, on the contrary, in all liklihood, it was the very same boy. To avoid any confusion, I knew I had to confirm with Master Chang.

”I heard Princess Aurora was Heero Yuy (but)...”

”It's Heero Yuy.”

”But in the video [feed] I saw just now...”

”It's (not unthinkable) that you'd get confused,” said Father Maxwell with knitted brows. ”When this guy transferred to the Colony Gymnasium, he [took it upon himself to] use my name.”

[Curiouser and curiouser].

”By 'this guy' you mean Heero Yuy?”

That would mean...

”Father, you're Duo Maxwell? The Gundam pilot?”

”Yup. Didn't I tell you?... By the way, so was Master Chang.”

”Keep your big trap shut.”

”No [way]!”

”A long time ago, he used to boldly introduce himself like this: My name is Chang Wufei.”

I stared wide eyed [and slack jawed], too stunned to speak. Three of the Gundam pilots from the sealed records from the Earth Sphere were standing right here, right now. I was trying to make sense of the sight before me. The boy in the capsule whom we were trying to waken was Heero Yuy. The strangely affable middle aged priest was Duo Maxwell. His saucy kid with the braid was also Duo Maxwell. And my forever grumpy superior, head of the Preventers Mars branch Master Chang, was Chang Wufei.

”Master Chang, why didn't you tell me?”

”It wasn't necessary,” he said. His sour expression just got all the more sour. ”I would have let you know if and when the time came.”

”Even so...”

”By the way,” Father Maxwell said [again], bringing his face close and whispering, ”he spoke just like that when he was an ankle biter, too.”

I desperately [tried to] withstand this mind-blowing news. Even now, using that (cold/distant) manner of speaking was [all well and good] but that he should have been the same in his youth, he must have seemed overbearing. [basically, Kathy seems to be wondering what it must have been like working with Wufei when he was a kid- with an att.i.tude problem] What kind of connection did my mother, Sally, have with Master Chang when she was working with him at the Preventers? I couldn't even imagine. Anyway, a young Master Chang probably makes an appearance in the these files. There was a glimpse of the current Earth Sphere president Dorothy T. Catalonia, a.k.a. Neo-t.i.tanium Girl, at two years old.

”Lt. Cathy, have you finished (your examination of) those files?”

”No, not yet.”

”Hurry up... you know too little. At this rate, we'll have to take you off the team,” Master Chang pointed out (rightly). For the sake of executing Operation Mythos, I needed to know at least as much as the Aurora Princess [was going to]. I hurried to put on the virtual visor and continued viewing the files. Just a few seconds of watching history as a bystander was [more than] enough. The [data] (movie) that loaded after 'ZERO' appeared on the screen was from AC 185, two years after where the first file left off. Treize Khushrenada would be 14 years old.

AC 185 AUTUMN

Treize had a marvelous (school) record at military school. Strategic and tactical theory, as well as battle and combat techniques that would put mobile suits on the front lines, were mastered by Treize to the extent that he surpa.s.sed even Brigadier General Chilia ((he was promoted from Colonel the previous year)) when he [Chilia] was an instructor. In just two and a half years, he complete the entire course of study offered by the Alliance and he received top marks on the instructor qualification exam, garnering him teaching credentials. Brigadier General Chilia entrusted Treize with [managing] the newly established OZ training school situated at the Lake Victoria base in the heart of Africa. (However) this wasn't a demotion. In Europe, the old war veterans in the Alliance still threw their weight around as if they owned the place, so an instructor barely 14 years of age would only beget hostility. It is thought that Chilia predicted that result. Treize was a.s.signed the first teaching post [available/offered] at Lake Victoria and there, he successfully demonstrated his brilliance. Selected students were taught the high skills and knowledge necessary to carry OZ's future. Their grades were [more than a cut] above the rest [of the students'] and they ranked among the highest echelons of the inteligentista cla.s.s. Of course, their military resourcefulness couldn't be inferred from their academic [prowess] (power) or marks, but thereafter, if you look at the number of students [cadets] taught by Treize that went on to become excellent mobile suit pilots in the OZ Specials, it is clear that Treize was an excellent instructor. However, his elder contemporaries regarded Treize with suspicion; after all, what could the young and practically inexperienced Treize possibly know about war? People said that being brilliant was all well and good, but would it [translate in the ability to] kill people? They sneered that even if he mastered tabletop drills with excellent performances, it did not mean he pa.s.ses the muster. That was blatantly obvious. You cannot evaluate a thing if one does not have actual results. Particularly in the military discipline which had a strict hierarchy where there was abhorance towards young officers that borders on jealousy. Consequently, Brigadier General Chilia Catalonia was the only one who could evaluate Treize at that point in time.

”Treize is a war genius,” said five year old Dorothy.

”In the battle field, he is beautifully elegant. It seems almost like a dance- a waltz perhaps- and he goes on to gracefully defeat his foes.”

That was the norm for all of Treize's evaluations.

”Really?” said Dorothy with stars in her eyes.

”Yes, really.”

”Wonderful! I want to see Mr. Treize fighting.”

”No, Dorothy... the battlefield is no place for a chil.”

”But... isn't Mr. Treize still a child?”

”Yes, but [that's different].” Chilia was hard pressed to answer. Around that time, Dorothy started making remarks that cut to the chase and had [developed] a characteristic [habit] of giving people a hard time.

”Dorothy, you really like Treize, don't you?”

”Yes! Very much! But you must keep it a secret from grandpa. It shall be our little secret,” she said with her typical charming smile.

At Lake Victoria, Treize was testing his trademark mobile suits with drills in efficient deployment used in actual battle.

A mobile suit's characteristic was it's mobile performance and efficiency. At the time, however, the Alliance only made use of them as backing for foot soldiers and defense of their stationary bases.

Let us now look back at the history of those mobile weapons made in man's image which we call mobile suits.

Originally, a mobile suit was a manned apparatus intended to perform large scale construction work on s.p.a.ce stations and for colony construction. They were excellent machines due to their interchangeable tools that allowed just one mobile suit to perform almost any construction task. It was the Anti-Alliance resistance, not the Alliance, who thought of converting the useful suits for use in the battlefield. The Alliance had oppressive weaponry that the Resistance had no hope of duplicating on a military level, so instead they were rather successful fighting [back] with the mobile suits' interchangeable drills, wrenches, and hammers. From then on, the man-shaped machines were called mobile suits and the Alliance, Especially the OZ technical officers, embarked on earnest development of them.

It was AC 175 when the project came to a halt when the five technicians responsible for the development of the Tall Geese fled. However, Chief Engineer Seis Clark picked up where they left off and finished the base construction of the Tall Geese and successfully developed the Leo for ma.s.s production. At the same time, he also developed the Aries, a suit modified for flight and succeeded the Tall Geese's mobility. It is safe to say that this arrangement of abilities and care towards the mobile suits called for a particularly unique talent. Seis youngest brother Trant had [a] unique attachment, a tenacity, for the ”ZERO” system on board the Wing 0 gundam in AC 195. Apparently, ”unique” runs in the veins of all technicians. Meanwhile, Engineer Tsubarov was excited by the ”gun tower” and armaments of the Tall Geese and he developed the Tragos.

At the beginning of production, it was best to give each of the three types of mobile suits their own division.

[Despite their producing mobile suits,] the Alliance executives of the day thought nothing of how to practically employ the suits. They could not deviate from the previous century's military ideal of land-sea-air weaponry; each division and each unit to which mobile suits were a.s.signed only ever served in the capacity of providing a.s.sistance. For this reason, people were inclined to look at mobile suits as useless things. Providing maintenance and defense on the front as their primary function did not in the least reflect what Seis, Tsubarov and the other developers intended for the suits in the least. However, the thoughts and ideas of the aging Alliance executives were resolutely unchanging and [the Alliance stagnated] (they had entered a time of stalled thought). As such, a kind of estrangement between the planned intent and the actual outcome began to occur.

Still, the ”heavy equipment” Leo was used in multiple ways. The Tragos, which was used for indirect bombardment support, was only recognized as a moveable battery or portable gun. In reality, [the Tragos' ease of movement made it difficult for immobile enemies to land a hit.] Ergo, these highly mobile tanks were ipso facto better. Hence, the Tragos went to the front lines to see how they would fare as a tank would.

Obviously, [they only needed a single test to know it was as dangerous as a nest of angry hornets.] The new mobile suit Aries was incorporated into the airborne troops and were almost entirely devoted to diversionary tactics. Using them in the airborne troops time honored surprise attacks [was difficult] because the Aries' vast size made them stand out [terribly.]

Treize came to the conclusion that all of these uses were wrong. If one was to make tactical, strategic use of mobile suits, then he thought it was best to group Leos and Aries and Tragos in the same corps. This lead to the establishment of the so-called Mobile Suit Corps.

The first [stage] of combat was sending the Aries for reconnaissance and a.n.a.lysis, and surprise attacks. They would unsettle the enemy's front line. The second [stage] of combat was giving the Aries' data to the Tragos and have them lay down protective fire for the Leos, which were the main [attacking] force, to charge. The third [stage] of battle was to focus all fire power upon the enemy's main forces and to keep firing until the enemy was surrounded. Doing so would ensure victory. This was the basic combat system for the newly designed MS Corps.

It is generally known that Napoleon Bonaparte, the hero of the Revolution, composed his cavalry of three types of fighters: light hors.e.m.e.n, heavy hors.e.m.e.n, and dragoons. With that strategy, he successfully overran several European countries. Similarly, the mad dictator Adolph Hitler established a tank corps modified to have improved mobility as an armored division that proved so effective, it made the very Earth quake. It could be interpreted that Treize [borrowed] these various methods and applied them to the MS Corps, but in that age, there was absolutely no one who put stock in that notion. It should be a.s.sumed that Treize devised the mixed corps by himself. Further, this strategy would allow a single MS Corps to have all three abilities possessed b the Tall Geese. A mixed corps was the obvious choice. There was no question that Treize hit upon that idea after seeing the Tall Geese at the Corsica base. However, for a mobile suit to survive a battle against the Tall Geese would have been difficult because of the Tall Geese's extreme efficiency. To demonstrate the full extent of its performance would require vast amounts of s.p.a.ce.

Of course, there was the open sea, the planes of Malaysia, and the Sahara desert that could provide virtually unlimited open s.p.a.ces, but with all the terrorism and revolts, most of the world was embroiled in some kind of local dispute. War, naval battles, decisive battles, they had all become the antiquated ideal of a long since pa.s.sed era. Needless to say, disputes continued with organizations outside the countries after the Cold War had continued unbroken ever since the second half of the twentieth century and brought the Alliance elite's mentality to a standstill. [I have no idea :DDD] The real problem was that there hadn't been absolute war since that time. In other words, in modern war where the idea that 'war' was an extension of a 'duel' was wholly refuted; rather than put importance upon hardware like new weaponry, a theory was established whereby software that use of a portable system was just as essential [as the hardware]. The reason Treize was called a genius was due to his having taken the dissimilar concept of war from the old days and successfully mes.h.i.+ng it with the modern systematic theory [Didn't they just tell us that Hitler and Bonaparte, who we are lead to believe are from before the 'modern systematic theory', used diversification in their ranks to win battles?] And the incident that proved that occurred early the following year.

AC 186 WINTER

There was a revolt in the city of Mogadishu which lied in the eastern part of the African continent. The Earth Sphere Alliance had, at the time, trouble with European disputes and hence could not spare a single unit of its main forces - its land and air forces that is - to go (immediately) to Mogadishu. There was only their fleet of battles.h.i.+ps in the Indian Ocean, but a blockade was the best they could do and that would not suffice to gain control of the rebellion's military power in the city. However, if they did not intervene, then it would allow the rebels to cede from the union as an independent ent.i.ty and form a provisional government.

The leaders of the Alliance Unification Headquarters held an urgent meeting and worried over [how to] handle the situation.

”If it's Lake Victoria, we can head out immediately,” Brigadier General Chilia Catalonia started. ”The Specials with their state-of-the-art mobile suits are at the base there.”

”Don't be stupid. What can those children do?” Commander Venti voiced his opposition; he was the supreme commander of the ground forces.

”Children?” Said the boy who had been sent to the meeting to observe as proxy for Duke Dermail of the Romefeller foundation. ”Commander Venti, did you just say those children are powerless?”

”I didn't mean you, Master Van Khushrenada.”

”Of course,” Van just nodded. At the time, he was only 13 years old. However, the people around him acknowledged his superiority as the next representative of the Romefeller Foundation and it was said his statements were both clear [i.e. to the point] and apt and razor sharp.

”Those whom you call 'children' [here] are called 'soldiers' on the battlefield. That is obvious even if you look at the condition of the European Anti-Alliance forces.”

”That may be...”

”And isn't it the reason the Alliance land forces cannot move, because of those 'soldiers' you call 'children' are being held up [by the rebels]?”

Commander Venti kept his mouth shut. Anything else he might say would expose his incompetence.

”But Master Van, there are only trainees at Lake Victoria and all of them have absolutely no experience in actual battle,” Venti admonished Van and Chilia with that polite objection. ”This [situation in Mogadishu] will not be taken care of with mere play,” Venit added without thinking.

Van chuckled and said, ”I take it that by 'play' you mean 'sports'? In the later part of the Anno Dominae history, the war historian Krefeld wrote in The Changes of War that war is not an extension of the government or politics, but rather more closely a kind of sport.”

Like Treize, Van also was well versed in the history of war and theoretical strategy.

”Of course, you may protest me, but if you are in agreement with Krefeld, then you have no grounds for objection.” He looked at Venti who was coughing and looking for all the world as if he had no intention of addressing Van again; he [Van] turned his attention to Noventa.

”No soldier starts his career with actual war experience by default..... General Noventa, even you must have had a first battle,” said Van. He was pus.h.i.+ng for his esteemed brother to be permitted to take his very first campaign. ”By sending the Specials to Mogadishu, the potential of the mobile suit corps be ascertained and I believe we could not hope for a more appropriate venue for doing so.”

”I second Mr. Van's opinion. He is my most excellent pupil and if it's Special Commander Treize Khushrenada, he will surely accomplish the task.”

”If you say so, then we shall permit the OZ Specials to attack (sally)... however,”

Van interrupted Noventa, ”There is no need to fear, myself and uncle Chilia shall a.s.sume full responsibility.”

From then on, Van was not merely an observe, he became one of the main speakers at the Alliance Unity Military meetings.

”Fine, let's see what (this corps of toys) can do,” Venti said sarcastically.

”Let us then show you what these 'toys' can do,” said Van as he looked fearlessly at a general decades older than himself as if he could pierce him through with just his eyes. He was a child prodigy who could be described in speech, knoweldge, and manner as being diabolical. They immediately gave Treize at Lake Victoria the order to attack.

”Affirmative,” Treize said with this face full of confidnece. Chilia's worried face appeared on the monitor and he spoke his heart, ”Treize, be carefull.”

”I am not educating my students to over do it. We shall obtain victory by taking the proper action.”

”For the time being, I've told the Alliance Marina to prepare for [your potential] request for a.s.sistance.”

”Please inform them that that will not be necessary... we can manage everything on our own.”

”Brother,” Van stepped up to the monitor, ”The dignitaries here have (ridiculed) the mobile suit corps as being a corps of toys.”

”Really? That's. .h.i.tting a little below the belt.”

”Please show them what kind of results are typical of your corps.”

”Van Khushrenada, we'll put up a good fight [in order to] live up to your (high)expectations.”