Chapter 19 - Back in the Day
By HeeroYuy135
Location: Hollangrad, Babblstan
For Prime Minister Relena Darlian, it was just a normal day for her. Wake up, get briefed, go to work, do what she needs to do, then go home, rest, go to sleep, and get ready for tomorrow. But on this day, it’s a major milestone to what she had to endure. 14 years ago, she was elected as the Babblstan PM, and she had a vision to turn the country around from a 2nd rate country to a mighty superpower. The country lacked the technology of its neighbors, mostly Actonia by about 20-30 years, but the majority of Babblstan were loyal to their country willing to help out to the cause.
And she thought the first 100 days were hard.
One year into her five year term, General Ozzal of Actonia invaded Babblstan in hopes of leveling the country and to pave the way for the expansion of Actonia. Since there was a gap in technology, the advanced weapons of Actonia were no match for the basic rifles and artillery that Babblstan had. Within a year, Ozzal had reached the outskirts of Hollangrad and was ready to bomb the capitol with Howitzers and rail cannons. But Ozzal never reached the capitol, not even the city limits.
And there was one man who led the counterattack: Heero Yuy. A tall, handsome man, with black short hair, brown eyes, and a body that many women drool over. Seriously, you would think he’d be in a magazine posing and flexing his power instead of fighting in a war.
With manpower and determination on his side, he led his troops and pushed them back out. For another 10 months, the two sides fought on the plains and hills of Babblstan. What was once known as the “Great Plains” turned back and cold, with trenches dug deep and wide and skirmishes occurring every day. When Ozzal pushed hard, Heero pushed back, leaving a stalemate at hand.
Heero was key in taking out key members of the Actonia military as his sniper skills were put to the rest, and even had a chance of taking out Ozzal but was interrupted by mortar fire. Rumor has it that Heero alone has over 1,000+ kills, all with his trusty Kar98k sniper rifle.
Ozzal, after much frustration, made her final push and reached the city within a month with no trouble. As she paraded onto the steps of the capitol building, she thought she and her country were the victors. But Heero had other plans…he waited as he mounted one massive counterattack in the shadows of Ozzal and the Actonia military.
On the national holiday that celebrated Babblstan’s independence, the Babblstan army surprised them with massive amounts of artillery, napalm, and small arms fire in hopes of them driving out of the city. At this point, they didn’t care of they flattened the city themselves; they wanted them out, and they wanted them out NOW. That day saw the bloodiest battle of the war, with casualties reaching in the millions on both sides.
After two years of fighting, the war was over. In the end, there was no clear winner, but each side thought they were victorious. A month later, Darlian and the Actonia PM, R. Parsons, met at the border to sign a peace treaty. During the signing, Parsons condemned Ozzal for foolishly starting a war without proper intelligence and against the advice of other military commanders. She was sentenced to two years in jail for her actions in the war.
Back in Babblstan, Heero was hailed as a hero and was given the Medal Of Honor during the V-Day Celebration by Darlian herself. She pledged to rebuild the country and make it stronger than before, and everyone pitched in the effort.
Heero also had something else to take care of.
During the 2nd Battle of Hollangrad, he had found a Actonia sniper lying unconscious but not injured. Despite all the publicity Heero got after the war, he was able to nurse her back to full health in the dark, despite her being the enemy…that is, if she remembered it. When she woke up, Heero asked her what her name was.
“Riza Hawkeye,” she responded.
“Do you know where you are?” he asked her.
“No,” she said.
After a couple of questions, Heero had figured out that an explosion by a pipe bomb knocked her unconscious, and that she had Lacunar amnesia – the loss of memory about one specific event (but in this case, events). She did not know that she was part of the Actonia military (and thus she forgot about Roy Mustang and his marriage proposal, as that event weird one day before the uprising attack) or that she was part of the war, but she knew just about everything else – her birthdate, childhood, and her sniping skills – something that Heero himself knows.
Eventually, the public found out about Riza, but no one knew that she was enemy – or that she had amnesia. It took them awhile though to fall in love, but when it happened the country followed their every step. A couple of years later they finally tied the knot (some people had bets on when they would finally get married) and they moved out to the countryside.
They lived peacefully until 3 men decided to crash their ranch in hopes of assassinating Heero. The two responded quickly to the threat, taking all three of them out without using a single bullet. The two found out that they were sent by the Actonia government (via intelligence documents sent to them the next day by a person named “Anon” ) by the same person who Heero had fought before – Ozzal. By the time the incident weird, she was already on top the government after overthrowing Parsons. But unlike the first time, she didn’t immediately try to take out Babblstan again. Instead, she plotted this assassination attempt.
After thinking about what had happened, they decided to take matters into their own hands – they became freelance snipers with the goal of taking down Ozzal and the Actonia government. And the general public never knew about this – they didn’t even know about their disappearance, since everyone decided to let them be after they moved. They went back and fourth between Babblstan and Actonia, taking job after job after job and inching themselves closer to their prize.
* *
“Miss Darlian?”
“Miss Darlian?”
“Hello?”
“Oops, sorry, must of dozed off,” Relena said. She sighed as she thought to herself, “16 years, 16 years. I never thought the country would be up and running again after 5 years.”
“Well, you might want to listen to what I have here…” her secretary said as she started to cry a little bit. “The Actonia government is reporting that…Heero Yuy is dead.”
“WHAT?”
“He’s dead ma’am. They’re also reporting that Riza Yuy is also dead.”
“You have to be kidding me.”
“The report says he hit by a car and died instantly. It also says that the night of his death, Riza committed suicide, according to the coroner’s report.”
“We must get this out today.”
“Too late, it’s all over the morning headlines.”
That day, she held a press conference announcing their deaths to the masses. Everyone who was involved in the war and in the rebuilding effort mourned the death of their national hero and his wife. That evening, she received a phone call from a representative of the Actonia government sending their condolences to the country and the Babblstan government. The representative said that the bodies will be sent back to Babblstan as soon as the clearance papers go through and the investigation was complete. She quickly made plans for a memorial service once the bodies were returned to its native country.
* *
Meanwhile, at the Preventer Agency HQ (Babblstan’s CIA and FBI), someone else knew a different story…into the death of Heero and Riza. Quatre Winner, a novice Intelligence Officer, was the first one to sense that their deaths were not accidental. He dug through the archives and found a document dating a burglary at the Yuy Ranch. After hours of document gathering, he found out what only a handful of people knew – that the burglary was actually an assassination attempt on the two (well, just him). He continued his search, pulling an all-nighter to gather information on everything related to this potential case.
When Duo Maxwell, one of Quatre’s co-workers and a close friend of his, came in for the morning, he found him sleep on top of mountain of documents.
“Yo dude, wake up man,” Duo said.
“Man…how long has it been?” Quatre asked.
“I wouldn’t know. I just got here about 10 minutes ago. Hey, what’s up with all these documents?” Duo said, looking around, up and down.
“OK…listen to this. It may sound crazy, but I think I’m on to something. You remember how they announced the deaths of Heero and Riza yesterday?” Quatre started. Duo just nodded.
“Well, I think it wasn’t a accidental hit-and-run. It was a successful assassination,” Quatre proclaimed. “And I think this ‘hit-and-run’ never happened because something else weird.”
“You’re **bleep**ting me, right?” Duo responded.
“I think not…I got all the evidence.” Quatre said as he showed all the documents.
“I think you are onto something my friend,” Duo said in amazement, especially for something that was done in one night. “But do you think anyone would believe us?”
“If we continue to work on this case and figure out what really happened, we can present this to the chief,” Quatre said.
“Well, let’s get working on it,” Duo said.
* *
After hours of scanning documents, Duo found something very interesting.
“Hey Quatre, come over here, I have to show you this,” he said.
“What is it?” Quatre asked.
“Riza may have been the enemy in the Great War,” Duo stated.
“Give me that!” Quatre exclaimed as he yanked the papers to see for himself. “My god…she was part of the Actonia military stationed at the border. She was sent to the frontlines once the war started. She was last reported in Hollangrad KIA. But that doesn’t explain any reason why they didn’t react when they saw the wedding…”
“Maybe they got rid of her files once she was KIA. I heard that many people in the Actonia military just disappeared when reported KIA – no paper trail, no trace, nothing. It’s like they vanished into thin air. If this is the case, then they wouldn’t know who she is anymore,” Duo explained.
“But that doesn’t show why she switched sides,” Quatre said.
“Keep digging, we’re getting closer. I feel it,” Duo said as he got back to work.
* *
Characters:
Relena Darlian (PM of Babblstan) from Gundam Wing
Qutare Winner (a novice Intelligence Officer for the Preventer Agency) from Gundam Wing
Duo Maxwell (a novice Intelligence Officer for the Preventer Agency and a close friend of Quatre) from Gundam Wing
References:
Babblstan is modeled after the Soviet Union, but without the communism.
Hollangrad and the Battle of Hollangrad – Stalingrad in Russia/Soviet Union. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most fiercest battles of WWII, and it also was a key battle in turning the tide of the war on the eastern front. It also a reference to Holland, one of the characters from Eureka udok.
R. Parsons (former PM of Actonia) – Richard D. Parsons, Chairman/CEO of Time Warner Inc.
Quatre Winner’s character is modeled after novice FBI agent Nick Memphis (Michael Pena) in the movie Shooter. In the movie, Memphis founds out independently that Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) may have been framed for the assassination of the President of the United States. In the fic, Quatre finds out independently that the deaths of Heero and Riza might have been an assassination attempt and not a accidental hit-and-run. Both of them face an uphill battle since both are out of their ranks to conduct an investigation of this caliber, and face possible immediate termination of their jobs.
“Anon” – short for Anonymous. Often used on 4chan.
Location: Hollangrad, Babblstan
For Prime Minister Relena Darlian, it was just a normal day for her. Wake up, get briefed, go to work, do what she needs to do, then go home, rest, go to sleep, and get ready for tomorrow. But on this day, it’s a major milestone to what she had to endure. 14 years ago, she was elected as the Babblstan PM, and she had a vision to turn the country around from a 2nd rate country to a mighty superpower. The country lacked the technology of its neighbors, mostly Actonia by about 20-30 years, but the majority of Babblstan were loyal to their country willing to help out to the cause.
And she thought the first 100 days were hard.
One year into her five year term, General Ozzal of Actonia invaded Babblstan in hopes of leveling the country and to pave the way for the expansion of Actonia. Since there was a gap in technology, the advanced weapons of Actonia were no match for the basic rifles and artillery that Babblstan had. Within a year, Ozzal had reached the outskirts of Hollangrad and was ready to bomb the capitol with Howitzers and rail cannons. But Ozzal never reached the capitol, not even the city limits.
And there was one man who led the counterattack: Heero Yuy. A tall, handsome man, with black short hair, brown eyes, and a body that many women drool over. Seriously, you would think he’d be in a magazine posing and flexing his power instead of fighting in a war.
With manpower and determination on his side, he led his troops and pushed them back out. For another 10 months, the two sides fought on the plains and hills of Babblstan. What was once known as the “Great Plains” turned back and cold, with trenches dug deep and wide and skirmishes occurring every day. When Ozzal pushed hard, Heero pushed back, leaving a stalemate at hand.
Heero was key in taking out key members of the Actonia military as his sniper skills were put to the rest, and even had a chance of taking out Ozzal but was interrupted by mortar fire. Rumor has it that Heero alone has over 1,000+ kills, all with his trusty Kar98k sniper rifle.
Ozzal, after much frustration, made her final push and reached the city within a month with no trouble. As she paraded onto the steps of the capitol building, she thought she and her country were the victors. But Heero had other plans…he waited as he mounted one massive counterattack in the shadows of Ozzal and the Actonia military.
On the national holiday that celebrated Babblstan’s independence, the Babblstan army surprised them with massive amounts of artillery, napalm, and small arms fire in hopes of them driving out of the city. At this point, they didn’t care of they flattened the city themselves; they wanted them out, and they wanted them out NOW. That day saw the bloodiest battle of the war, with casualties reaching in the millions on both sides.
After two years of fighting, the war was over. In the end, there was no clear winner, but each side thought they were victorious. A month later, Darlian and the Actonia PM, R. Parsons, met at the border to sign a peace treaty. During the signing, Parsons condemned Ozzal for foolishly starting a war without proper intelligence and against the advice of other military commanders. She was sentenced to two years in jail for her actions in the war.
Back in Babblstan, Heero was hailed as a hero and was given the Medal Of Honor during the V-Day Celebration by Darlian herself. She pledged to rebuild the country and make it stronger than before, and everyone pitched in the effort.
Heero also had something else to take care of.
During the 2nd Battle of Hollangrad, he had found a Actonia sniper lying unconscious but not injured. Despite all the publicity Heero got after the war, he was able to nurse her back to full health in the dark, despite her being the enemy…that is, if she remembered it. When she woke up, Heero asked her what her name was.
“Riza Hawkeye,” she responded.
“Do you know where you are?” he asked her.
“No,” she said.
After a couple of questions, Heero had figured out that an explosion by a pipe bomb knocked her unconscious, and that she had Lacunar amnesia – the loss of memory about one specific event (but in this case, events). She did not know that she was part of the Actonia military (and thus she forgot about Roy Mustang and his marriage proposal, as that event weird one day before the uprising attack) or that she was part of the war, but she knew just about everything else – her birthdate, childhood, and her sniping skills – something that Heero himself knows.
Eventually, the public found out about Riza, but no one knew that she was enemy – or that she had amnesia. It took them awhile though to fall in love, but when it happened the country followed their every step. A couple of years later they finally tied the knot (some people had bets on when they would finally get married) and they moved out to the countryside.
They lived peacefully until 3 men decided to crash their ranch in hopes of assassinating Heero. The two responded quickly to the threat, taking all three of them out without using a single bullet. The two found out that they were sent by the Actonia government (via intelligence documents sent to them the next day by a person named “Anon” ) by the same person who Heero had fought before – Ozzal. By the time the incident weird, she was already on top the government after overthrowing Parsons. But unlike the first time, she didn’t immediately try to take out Babblstan again. Instead, she plotted this assassination attempt.
After thinking about what had happened, they decided to take matters into their own hands – they became freelance snipers with the goal of taking down Ozzal and the Actonia government. And the general public never knew about this – they didn’t even know about their disappearance, since everyone decided to let them be after they moved. They went back and fourth between Babblstan and Actonia, taking job after job after job and inching themselves closer to their prize.
* *
“Miss Darlian?”
“Miss Darlian?”
“Hello?”
“Oops, sorry, must of dozed off,” Relena said. She sighed as she thought to herself, “16 years, 16 years. I never thought the country would be up and running again after 5 years.”
“Well, you might want to listen to what I have here…” her secretary said as she started to cry a little bit. “The Actonia government is reporting that…Heero Yuy is dead.”
“WHAT?”
“He’s dead ma’am. They’re also reporting that Riza Yuy is also dead.”
“You have to be kidding me.”
“The report says he hit by a car and died instantly. It also says that the night of his death, Riza committed suicide, according to the coroner’s report.”
“We must get this out today.”
“Too late, it’s all over the morning headlines.”
That day, she held a press conference announcing their deaths to the masses. Everyone who was involved in the war and in the rebuilding effort mourned the death of their national hero and his wife. That evening, she received a phone call from a representative of the Actonia government sending their condolences to the country and the Babblstan government. The representative said that the bodies will be sent back to Babblstan as soon as the clearance papers go through and the investigation was complete. She quickly made plans for a memorial service once the bodies were returned to its native country.
* *
Meanwhile, at the Preventer Agency HQ (Babblstan’s CIA and FBI), someone else knew a different story…into the death of Heero and Riza. Quatre Winner, a novice Intelligence Officer, was the first one to sense that their deaths were not accidental. He dug through the archives and found a document dating a burglary at the Yuy Ranch. After hours of document gathering, he found out what only a handful of people knew – that the burglary was actually an assassination attempt on the two (well, just him). He continued his search, pulling an all-nighter to gather information on everything related to this potential case.
When Duo Maxwell, one of Quatre’s co-workers and a close friend of his, came in for the morning, he found him sleep on top of mountain of documents.
“Yo dude, wake up man,” Duo said.
“Man…how long has it been?” Quatre asked.
“I wouldn’t know. I just got here about 10 minutes ago. Hey, what’s up with all these documents?” Duo said, looking around, up and down.
“OK…listen to this. It may sound crazy, but I think I’m on to something. You remember how they announced the deaths of Heero and Riza yesterday?” Quatre started. Duo just nodded.
“Well, I think it wasn’t a accidental hit-and-run. It was a successful assassination,” Quatre proclaimed. “And I think this ‘hit-and-run’ never happened because something else weird.”
“You’re **bleep**ting me, right?” Duo responded.
“I think not…I got all the evidence.” Quatre said as he showed all the documents.
“I think you are onto something my friend,” Duo said in amazement, especially for something that was done in one night. “But do you think anyone would believe us?”
“If we continue to work on this case and figure out what really happened, we can present this to the chief,” Quatre said.
“Well, let’s get working on it,” Duo said.
* *
After hours of scanning documents, Duo found something very interesting.
“Hey Quatre, come over here, I have to show you this,” he said.
“What is it?” Quatre asked.
“Riza may have been the enemy in the Great War,” Duo stated.
“Give me that!” Quatre exclaimed as he yanked the papers to see for himself. “My god…she was part of the Actonia military stationed at the border. She was sent to the frontlines once the war started. She was last reported in Hollangrad KIA. But that doesn’t explain any reason why they didn’t react when they saw the wedding…”
“Maybe they got rid of her files once she was KIA. I heard that many people in the Actonia military just disappeared when reported KIA – no paper trail, no trace, nothing. It’s like they vanished into thin air. If this is the case, then they wouldn’t know who she is anymore,” Duo explained.
“But that doesn’t show why she switched sides,” Quatre said.
“Keep digging, we’re getting closer. I feel it,” Duo said as he got back to work.
* *
Characters:
Relena Darlian (PM of Babblstan) from Gundam Wing
Qutare Winner (a novice Intelligence Officer for the Preventer Agency) from Gundam Wing
Duo Maxwell (a novice Intelligence Officer for the Preventer Agency and a close friend of Quatre) from Gundam Wing
References:
Babblstan is modeled after the Soviet Union, but without the communism.
Hollangrad and the Battle of Hollangrad – Stalingrad in Russia/Soviet Union. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most fiercest battles of WWII, and it also was a key battle in turning the tide of the war on the eastern front. It also a reference to Holland, one of the characters from Eureka udok.
R. Parsons (former PM of Actonia) – Richard D. Parsons, Chairman/CEO of Time Warner Inc.
Quatre Winner’s character is modeled after novice FBI agent Nick Memphis (Michael Pena) in the movie Shooter. In the movie, Memphis founds out independently that Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) may have been framed for the assassination of the President of the United States. In the fic, Quatre finds out independently that the deaths of Heero and Riza might have been an assassination attempt and not a accidental hit-and-run. Both of them face an uphill battle since both are out of their ranks to conduct an investigation of this caliber, and face possible immediate termination of their jobs.
“Anon” – short for Anonymous. Often used on 4chan.