Releena Peacecraft smiled grimly as she thought about the upcoming meeting while she finished her preperations, the brown haired young woman carefully tying her long hair into a braid. A simple suit hugged her slim but athletic form, the white fabric gleaming with carefully placed gold highlights. 'A bit much,' Releena adjusted her gold tie, 'but I guess it'll do.' With that Releena left the quarters she shared with Arisugawa Kuri and headed down the hall, her aide falling into place beside her. Sylvia Noventa was a recent arrival, and oddly the daughter of a Earth general. However, his betrayal by his own superiors coupled with her own disillusionment lead her to the colonies. Sylvia's dyed red hair flowed in the gentle breeze as she said, "The representatives of the current Earth United government and the neutral nations are waiting in meeting room one, ma'am." She hesitated, "You should know..." "My brother is there?" Releena guessed as they went through a passage into a lower gravity region, the two floating until they left the area. "Yes, ma'am," Sylvia agreed. "Is that going to be a problem?" "I should be fine," Releena said as they reached a new door, two ceremonial guards waiting there. "Ambassador Releena Peacecraft and guest," she announced them, passing over her identification. The guard scanned it, his military cap shading his eyes then handed them back as he crisply said, "All clear, Miss Peacecraft." "Thank you," Releena tucked the papers away as the door hissed open. The guards and papers were a compromise the colonies hammered out with the Earth forces. While not a Embassy, exactly, the rooms they would be meeting in would be treated a neutral territory, allowing for hopefully frank discussions between various parties. 'Of course,' Releena thought as she scanned the room, 'the attack by the mystery Gundam suit two days ago isn't helping encourage honesty in any of us.' Sitting in chairs around the table were three men, each one about as far apart politically as you could get. Milliardo Peacecraft was there representing the former kingdom of Sanc and other still independant nations, a pale blond haired warrior who ironically represented pacifist ideals. Trinoi Levinski was there as a representative of the OZ organization, presumedly chosen because he was both well respected yet also expendable. Finally Marquis Weridge represented the newly formed World Government, a attempt by the Romafeller foundation to unify the world. "Gentlemen," Releena nodded as she took her seat and asked politely, "I believe you asked to see me?" "Representative," Trinoi started, the old soldier leaning forward, "what the hell are you people doing, unleashing a new Gundam?" "We aren't doing anything," Releena answered him mildly, "in fact, I believe this may be a internal OZ matter." "What do you mean?" Weridge asked, the nobleman looking at her sharply. "We intercepted certain communications transmitted from Fortress Barge before it was destroyed," Releena started. "How dare you..." Trinoi tried to sound offended, but there was a certain respect now showing in the older man's eyes. "We are in a state of open conflict," Releena reminded him, "besides, the Barge was broadcasting their message on emergency bands." "So what did you pick up?" Milliardo calmly brought then back on topic, his blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "It appears the mystery Gundam is being piloted by a OZ officer," Releena revealed as her assistant passed her a print out of the broadcast, "a Colonel Une." There was a moment of dead silence as they processed that. "I presume you knew this?" Weridge asked the OZ officer flatly. "We are still trying to determine if Une was some kind of colony plant," Trinoi answered them a bit defensively. "Don't make me laugh," Milliardo said dryly to his former comrade in arms, "you and I know better than that." Releena had to nod, "I had my differences with Une, but in my experience she seemed fiercely loyal to OZ." Shaking herself she addressed the group, "So as long as the mystery suit only attacks OZ targets, it's not the colony's problem." "The question being, will she continue to just attack OZ facilities in space, or does she have a larger agenda in mind?" Weridge wondered aloud. "A very good question," Releena hid a smile, knowing that her family's old friend clearly had a point. 'But until Une does do something more, the colonies can't act,' she mused. "Now," Milliardo smiled, "I was wondering if the involved parties had reviewed the Sanc kingdom's latest peace proposal?" "Preposterous," Trinoi scoffed, "Oz admit to committing war crimes? Responsible officers surrendering to face trial at the international court? It's a joke." "Not to the dead of the Sanc kingdom," Milliardo reminded them, "or any of the other innocents trampled on in OZ's persuit of power and control." "Politically, we couldn't get behind such a motion," Weridge said a bit uncomfortably. 'Because Romafeller sponsored or profited from much of that illegal activity,' Releena thought, 'and your World Government is heavily tied to them.' Aloud she said, "While the colonies would not dream of interfering with the internal matters of a sovereign nation, the Sanc representative has a point." "You would side with him, considering," Trinoi grumbled. "There is no love lost between me and Milliardo, sir," Releena speared him with a frosty gaze, "if you had dome your research you would know that." Trinoi met her gaze a moment, then nodded choppily, "My apologies." "Thank you," Releena tried to relax a bit, aware of how stiff her surge of anger made her. "More importantly," she continued in more normal tones, "If there is to be peace between the colonies and Earth, we would also demand similar conditions to the Sanc proposal." "First, the colonies would be expected to cease hostilities," Weridge said firmly. "Ask OZ to do that first," Releena answered him dryly, "all the colonies have done so far is actively protect ourselves from their attacks." Weridge adjusted his tie, his black suit likely uncomfortable in the warm lights as he said, "The presence of a military force in space is provocative, until you disarm we cannot be certain of our own safety." "Your damn Operation Meteor proved that," Trinoi added. "Operation Meteor targeted OZ instilations rather than the civilian targets you've traditionally hit," Releena noted. She smiled, "But getting back on topic, we colonies cannot feel safe or secure with OZ ready to take over at a moments notice." "Stalemate," Milliardo noted after a moment, "until one or both of you are willing to make a gesture of good faith, we won't be going anywhere." "Do you have a suggestion?" Weridge asked curiously. "As we are all aware, Colonel Catalonia has been operating in orbit, launching assaults against the Colonies," Milliardo said smoothly. "Why not command her to cease hostilities for the time being, to show your commitment to the peace process?" Trinoi looked at him a moment, "I'll pass that suggestion on to my superiors." He looked around, "I think we're done for today, excuse me." With that he collected his aide and was gone out the door. "He doesn't have the authority to do that," Weridge noted after a moment, "and I doubt Catalonia would acknowledge such a order anyway." "She's that out of control?" Releena noted in surprise. "She had powerful patrons in Romafeller when I was still Zechs," Milliardo noted, "I doubt that's changed now." "Exactly," Weridge noted with a sigh.
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