[translation] Frozen Teardrop, Nocturne of Sorrow V
black&white
NOT REALLY EDITED because I"m going to be gone for two weeks and I don"t want this hanging over my head on top of everything else. I think all the super wrong typos are okay, but there"s probably more than a few words that are words, but not the words I meant so spell check doesn"t catch them. Eh.
Anyway,
MC File 4 (last part)
We who were a.s.signed "Operation Mythos" aimed to bring the chronic war and disputes plaging Mars to an end. Not just the AC era Earth Sphere, but the MC era Mars also couldn"t make "total pacifism" happen no matter how much they called for it. Certainly, everyone and their brother"s uncle was becoming unhappy. It was caused by the existence of the Mars Federal Government"s second president Relena Peacecraft and the "P.P.P." function. The trouble with this "total pacifism" is that, more than promoting demilitarization and nonviolence, it extols freedom and independence. Further, it"s a problem that all exceptions aren"t addressed because it is "total" [pacifism]. If it weren"t for Preventer, the Earth Sphere"s peace would likely be impossible. Only war can end war. Maintaining the peace after the fighting takes either control by a huge power or controlling revolutions that would secretly steam weapons. Preventer services are the latter. Desiring peace may have been Relena Peacecraft"s bag 447/1/2-3, but at present, doing that robs the people of their freedom and independence. The majority of people aren"t armed and they"re the ones who"ll be killed. And the worst case scenario--if the "P.P.P." is activated--of the two billion people that make up the whole of the Mars population, about half, i.e. one billion, would die. Mixed into the vaccine required to immigrate to Mars are several nanomachines and those are connected to the "P.P.P." It"s unknown who or when or why this program was discovered or completed. However, it"s known who spread the nanomachines. It was Mars Federal Government"s first president, Dix Neuf Neuenheim, alias Miliardo. He schemed to take complete control by compelling [compliance via the tread of the P.P.P.] by having Relena in hand and the means to initiate [the P.P.P.] at any time. The structure of the P.P.P. is exceedingly simple. It spread via internet and it"s possible for "P.P.P." to order the nanomachines from any (terminal monitor) or ch.e.l.l phone. Light conveys the order, or high frequency sound waves, simple vibrations. The order is one word: set. The nanomachines ma.s.s at one place within a person"s blood vessles. That is its only function, but it causes thrombosis. That results in hardening of the arteries all over the body and causes brain and mycordial infarctions. Another problem is that this response (resonates) with other nanomachines, ones intended for medicinal purposes. In other words, it won"t stop at just Mars beause there are people in the Earth Sphere who have been given medical nanomachines. in a matter of hours, a chain reaction would begin that would kill unsuspecting people regardless of their being on [Mars], Earth, or the colonies. It would lead to the genocide of roughly three billion people. It was AC 197, April 9th when this [reality] came to be known. It was the day after Relena Peacecraft"s seventeenth birthday. It was discovered when the militant group calling itself "次の政府エピオン・ド・トロス" occupied the Cinq Kingdom castle. I didn"t think I"ll discuss the events of that day here. I"m not in a position to talk about anything that happened that day. From that da until the present, the "P.P.P." is programmed to run and the order to "set" will be given at the time of Relena Peacecraft"s death. Neither suicide nor an unexpected accident can circ.u.mvent the programming. All she can do is to live forever. There is no way to release her from the program. There is an extremely difficult pa.s.sword [on the system]. The solitary exception is that Relena apparently dies peacefully 447/3/2-3<. a="" ac="" accursed="" after="" all="" and="" animation="" as="" asked="" attested="" aurora.="" awoke.="" be="" beauty="" became="" been="" but="" by="" bypa.s.s="" capsule="" case="" catalonia="" could="" decades="" determined="" did="" die.="" dies="" digits--no="" do="" done="" dorothy="" earth="" emergency.="" entered="" follow="" for="" foreboding="" frozen="" have="" having="" he="" heero="" her="" her.="" herself="" hibernation="" him="" hopes="" hoping="" if="" in="" inside="" is="" it="" later--mc22="" less="" little="" long="" luck.="" maybe="" nations="" next="" not="" of="" only="" own="" pacifism="" peacefully="" possibility="" prince="" princess="" probability="" program="" pure="" quibble="" relena="" she="" single="" sleep.="" sleeping="" slight="" sphere="" spring="" state="" superficial="" t.="" terminated.="" that="" that.="" the="" there="" to="" too="" total="" united="" unknown="" used="" volition="" was="" way="" what="" while="" who="" will="" willingly="" wishes="" woke="" would="" yuy="">
Operation Mythos. That was a careless war. Heero Yuy was deforsted and will (be made to) murder Relena Peacecraft. Relena wishes for that, too. [The chances of it working] are low, but it"s worth a shot. Suppose it doesn"t matter one whit if it"s a "peaceful death." Ultimately, the plan is to put the remaining half of the Mars population under the rule of Earth once more.
There is no justice for us.
We have no ambition to conquer Mars.
We don"t have the heart to make people happy.
I know there is nothing beyond this victory.
Neverhteless, all I can do if fight.
At present--the fighting wasn"t over. The Worst Night Dance continued. We had the "Chouxhook 2" surface in the midnight ocean and made rounds of the battlefield that was the volcanic island. And then we stopped when we reached a position from which Prometheus was directly in front of us. our ship had no more useable weaponry remaining. Two missiles were left, but as the hanger hatch was still out of order, the couldn"t be fired.
"What did you plan to do?" Catherine asked at my back.
"......" I couldn"t answer immediately. I folded my arms and decided to wait and see for the time being.
In the center of the volcanic island, Prometheus with it"s huge cross-shaped heavy artillery slung over its right shoulder suddenly stood up. It was held with east. It seemed as though Katrine was also waiting for something.
Ten minutes ago, Duo"s {Warlock} went down in the ocean along with the homing missile Prometheus had fired. I had a feeling that guy was okay since there wasn"t an explosion nor did he immediately surface. However, the four Eights of the "Revolution" were still there in the ocean. Now, they were probably dukeing it out even as they were getting tossed around by the jet current. The beam scythe could also be used in the water. It would be great if he showed his abilities, reading the current, feeling the enemy"s movements, and having no regrets. There"s no question he would win if he tried to screw driver with the two scythes. But all that only applied if he has the skills for submersed fighting. If he doesn"t have that experience......Oh well. Flounder, struggling, and bending over backwards suited that guy. Like his father, he had an awkward coolness [to him]. That would be just about good enough.
Prometheus still hadn"t moved. Katrine was probably probing the "s.p.a.ce heart." You could say that was her weak point. That one point was our only advantage. We were going to completely succeed 499/1/10. The Prometheus, like the one in the myths, is probably best described as a symbol of {betrayal}. However, this is the case if viewing from the Go"s side, from man"s point of view, he was a "culture hero" and it wouldn"t be incorrect to say that he was an idealist pursuing freedom. It was the t.i.tan who gave mankind fire. From that time on, mankind flourished. Zeus, kind of the Olympus G.o.ds, was angry over the betrayal and treason. He had [Prometheus] chained to Mt. Caucasus and made him suffer by having eagles ((some sources say it was condors)) eat his organs. But, was it really right to have given man fire? Was the snake really evil for having given Eve the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden?
Was Prometheus, now an enemy standing before us, a traitor to Earth or the savor who wouls free Mars? Or was it that beautiful, ephemeral soldier?
Prometheus moved. Katrine appeared on the monitor.
"This is Katrine Oud [#1] Winner......Doktor T, are you prepared?" She asked as she had the heavy cross-shaped canon"s aim fixed on our ship.
"I"m not resigned to anything......" Thinking about it, that was probalby my intent from the very beginning. Again. "Since we"ve lost." Like always, the six letters that spelled "defeat" matched us perfectly. "Hurry up and fire......Neither msyelf nor Catherine will run or hide."
"Are you going to surrender?"
Through the monitor, I caught glimpses of the admiration on Katrine"s face.
"That"s what I meant to say."
"Understood......then lay down your arms and surrender. I don"t want to hurt you."
"No," I said without hesitance.
"Huh?"
"I"ll surrender but I won"t lay down arms......"
"I don"t know what you mean."
"I"ll say it again: I surrender. But I will not give you {Snow White} or {Scheherazade}."
"What are you up to?"
I snorted, "Impressive......you "s.p.a.ce heart.""
The color drained from Katrine"s face. Professor W"s voice rang through the ship.
"{シーベンツバーク・赤} {Shiibentsu baaku [#2] rood [#3] furudoroo}......fire!"
A second later, a red arrow enveloped in red-hot flames shot from the deck of Chouxhook 2. That red flash of light moved with incredible speed and mid-flight became a {fire bird} with beating wings that plowed through Prometheus. Instantaneously, Katrine laid down a barrage of gatling fire. The {fire bird} then scattered. As it was dispersed, however, sparks went flying and landed on Prometheus" cloak. Little stains spread across the deep green material.
"{七つの矮星・青} {Seven Waisei - Blue}, knocking......set up......drawing."
Again, the sound of a voice setting up the next arrow came from the {Snow White} c.o.c.kpit. He"d somehow managed to make it in time. Professor W had cracked Heero"s biolock and was piloting {Snow White}. I was relieved. Also, I regretted that I had doubted him, even for a second. But, the Professor"s mind control was excellent--good enough to make even me doubt him. No doubt it had been the Professor who had prepared that deep green cloak. If he hadn"t gone to such lengths, he wouldn"t have fooled either me or Katrine--who could read his "s.p.a.ce heart."
"It"s Quatre in {Snow White}!......my brother, Quatre?" Katrine"s question was laced with disbelief. She"d been attacked by the person she"d believed was her "partner in betrayal." She"d want to hear/aask again. Regarding that point, the Professor confirmed from a different direction:
"I asked you before, didn"t I......are you living as you want to?"
Once KAtrine heard that voice, she seemed resigned.
"Yes--"
The blue eyes behind the goggled brimmed with fear.
"--(that time), you said [you] might die pursuing the answer to that."
I was there when those siblings had had that conversation. It was at that small hospital--the wood-crafted, bird house-like "Winner Hospital." It was run by a female doctor named Iria.
Professor W spoke coldly, "And I believe I said [you"d] surely find the answer if [you] lived." I felt that he was more displeased than usual. The "ZERO system" (loaded into) {Snow White} wouldn"t/couldn"t have anything to do with that. That man"s (expiation consciousness) drowned out his "filial love" and "considerateness" more than was strictly necessary. On top of that, he denied asking for forgiveness (with tears and apologies). That man"s tears were already frozen.
Katrine cried out, "But I!" It was certainly a (cry of the heart) close to a shriek. "I want everyone to be happier than I"ve ever been!"
That was the conclusion gentle Katrine espoused. It seemed we [i.e. Trowa and his partners] were included in that "everyone." She wished for the happiness of the one-time comrades she had betrayed. It"s possible that her tears were also frozen. How wad this girl was. It appeared that Professor W, confirming his volition, decided to take cool-headed action.
"Furudoroo......release!"
Once again, an arrow of light shot from the deck. It was a {Blue Bird} clad in wings of sub-zero ice. In the midst of its...o...b..t, the blue light deployed in four directions, stretching out in a cross that bore a close resemblance to the Cygnus. Stories remain saying that the cygnus is the incarnation of Zeus. Obviously that G.o.d had no intention of forgiving this t.i.tan. The glittering constellation widened over Prometheus" head; it was definitely pushing [out] air (that was close to freezing cold). Suddenly, the sparks staining the deep green cloak underwent a chemical change. Pale flames shot up. The nanodefensors cloak was burned up by that flame. I could see Prometheus within that pillar of white flame. It stood as if tortured by defeat and guilt. The unarmoured parts ([I"d been] in the process of developing) openly exposed the inner structure. It was a mad suit. Half the face was covered with a clown mask. You wouldn"t be far off the mark to call that suit a {Gundam}. I didn"t care about names. Prometheus was, for the time being, in a state of immobility. The attack used the ultimate temperature differences [caused by the] {Red Bird} and {Blue Bird} to make it hard [for Prometheus] to move.
"This is {Snow White}......mission accomplished." The Professor reported in an emotionally pressed monotone. A rather difficult role had been foisted upon him. It"s okay to come back, Quatre. You should be your usual, gentle self.
"Roger......we"ll handle the rest." There was no response from the Professor. Through the commlink, I could just hear the sound of his breathing as he slept. Professor W probably pa.s.sed out in the c.o.c.kpit. That was the result that followed such a mental state: between last night and now, the Professor had intentionally, constantly kept his heart closed. He broke off [his connection with his] "s.p.a.ce heart"--even a second"s worth of carelessness would immediately synchronized his [heart] with his sister"s and allow them to share thoughts--right up until now. That is to say it was similar to a battle between "ZERO systems" continuing for one whole day. Controlling that, surpa.s.sing it, he caught an overwhelming victory. It was only normal to faint, wasn"t it?
Turning around, I told Catherine, "Take {Scheherazade} out." It would be possible for her to take out that Prometheus only now that the nanodefensors were out of the equation. The incomplete Scheherazade was more than sufficient.
"Will you pilot?"
"Yes......looks like I"m a match for the battlefield after all." That"s the role of a clown like me.
That"s when it happened.
The plaintive tones of a violin rang out. it was Revel"s "Pavane of a Dead Princess." While it was a simple melody, the melody starting in major and finishing in minor flowed creatively and precariously and despairingly beautiful. This performer"s bowing was actually quite unique and I"d only heard it once before. When I heard it before, it was playing a waltz with a gypsy melody that (invited homesickness). It had been a song called "Endless Waltz."
"This is {Scheherazade}......I"m going to attack."
On the screen appeared my "doppelganger"--the violinist who wore a rag-like knit cap. That violin had long ago been owned by Professor W and then bequeathed to Katrine. That song may have been intended for Katrine. He was nothing if not an earnest man.
"Phobos?" Catherine asked in surprise.
"Where did you come from?"
"I"ve been on the ship all along."
I.E. he hadn"t gone with Master Chang on the "Voyage." n.o.body ever listened to what I said around here.
"You can"t! Disembark from {Scheherazade} immediately!"
"Miss Catherine, I believe your training will come in handy......flexibility is the key to this machine."
For certain, the Scheherazade held an Arabian style short sword and had streamlined shape like a belly dancer that leant the machine to skilled close quarters combat. Originally, in addition to the janbiya, {Scheherazade} was supposed to have a crescent shaped long knife called a shamshir [#4], but no matter what we tried, the grip power software kept having trouble and it was left in its current state: unable to hold [a swordy type weapon]. Dancing a.s.sa.s.sin--[it was] an insane humanoid weapon only specialized for close quarters combat. There was no doubt that Phobos with his (acc.u.mulated) training at nine times Mars" gravity, would pilot better than me. Close quarters combat--no, it could only be described as a crazy style of fighting where the closeness felt like a distance. Thanks to Catherine"s training, his knife handling also surpa.s.sed my own. I was better at being a target anyway. For just a second, I thought it might be a good idea to leave him to it. Yet I was somewhat uneasy. That guy didn"t have a "reason to fight."
I spoke to the pilot in {Scheherazade}: he was still playing his violin.
"Trowa Phobos......I do not give you permission to attack."
"You"ve got the wrong guy......I"m not Trowa Phobos anymore." He ended his violin performance and continued speaking. "I"m Nanashi......I"m giving up Phobos [#5]."
Did he think that was an interference with the importance of life? Was he returning again to the disposable [life] of the used rag?
"Kathy Po told me: the elderly and women are [even] more easily hurt than me."
The woman at the North Pole base? What an unlucky thing to say 453/1/11<>
"So, Doktor T, I will pilot {Scheherazade}."
There was his reluctance to be dealt with by an old man but much more so, he was thinking his heard was far stronger than my own. So that guy, now once again Nanashi, had eyes bright and clear.
"You mean to end the Nocturne?"
"I"m going to return the lady"s violin. Along with a little payback......"
Payback? I didn"t really know what he meant by that. Just then--Scheherazade flew off the deck of Chouxhook 2, leaving behind a glittering rainbow arc like the Aurora Borealis. The suit was wrapped in a translucent yet optically camouflaged hijab veil that was also a nanodefensor. That was what sparkled like the rainbow. Of course, that suit was also unfinished and the armor wasn"t finished in several places. As the hijab veil was transparent, if that optical camouflage didn"t move, the exposed machine parts looked strangely vulnerable. But that vulnerable outward appearance only served as proof of the real strength hidden within that only served to reject arrogant rea.s.surances. Obviously, it was a crazy, mad machine. Like that rugrat Duo said: those who fight in humanoid weapons fight with crazy emotions. The suit just might be a good match for him. Being unfinished fit him to a T.
If I were to add one more thing, it would be that I am an inexperienced doctor. I couldn"t be enlightened, couldn"t see far into the future, didn"t have a knack for things--about the same as that Nanashi. There was also a degree of awkwardness. That"s why I chose to fight, isn"t it? I was thinking I"d fight in place of all those people who couldn"t fight. I don"t hold hope for tomorrow. I don"t despair [what happened] yesterday. I was doing all I could to live in the here and now. Because my heart was empty. Because I couldn"t find the right words. If I had the emotions of an average person, I was supposed to be able to be a little more gentle, but I wasn"t very good at that. If I was a clown, a smile would come to someone"s face, right? I fI could just do that, it would be enough. That (guy now going by) Nanashi likely wouldn"t change his feelings, either.Right about now he was (killing) his heart, too, wasn"t he? Wasn"t he fighting just for the sake of making someone smile? All by himself? 453/3/10-11. He headed for the battle filed instead of me. I sent him off without so much as a word of advice. Even though he was me. Even though I was supposed to understand everything. Even though he needed a place to go home ti. I couldn"t forgive my unsympathetic self.
"Sorry, Nanashi......" I murmured in a voice quiet enough that Catherine wouldn"t hear. On the volcanic island, Prometheus still stood motionless. Around it whirled the rainbow-colored Aurora Borealis. Its movement was elegant and beautiful. That sublime tempo was the "Pavane." Over and over again in my head, I heard that performance from just now. A stream of fireworks sparkled in Prometheus"s giant cross-shaped heavy armament. Scheherazade"s janbiya was driving at taking [Prometheus"] most effective close-rrange weapon out of commission. If you just wanted to break the thing, I could do it, but the skill needed to cleanly cut the joints between armor and parts and to cut off the inner operation-type circuitry was no mean feat. While retaining its original form, only the weapon function, were destroyed. In that condition, it would be possible to fix it even aboard our ship(s garage. Seems like [Nanashi] was performing me a kindness: he was thinking of me, who would be the one to fix [Prometheus] after it was collected. The janpbiya fireworks next extended over the body of Prometheus. Small flashed of light glittered out. Scheherazade"s rainbow dance. Undulating just like a snake, like a snuggling wind, swiftly flowing, it twined around Prometheus, sticking strangely close. In my experience, I"d never seen a humanoid weapon attack like that. This certainly was a crazy battle. As a final [act of[] resistance, Katrine fired the missile from the still-exposed chest, but there was no way she could hit Scheherazade. The movement in Prometheus" left food slowed and soon, stopped moving. It appeared that the severing of the operative circuitry had been successful. They had reached an end [to the battle]. Dear Katrine, you probably haven"t slept a wink since last night. you must be considerably tired. The whole time, you"ve been trying to feel Quatre out with your "s.p.a.ce heart." You took on the insane, miraculous machines {Snow White}, {Warlock}, and {Scheherazade} all by yourself. You"ve gone far beyond your mental and physical limits. So go ahead and sleep. You"re a gentle girl. Like your brother, you"re too gentle. It is for you that Nanashi is dancing a lullaby [#6] 454/2/6-7. You should escape to your dreams. Morning will come sooner if you only sleep. And you can come be a volunteer with us again. You"re a good kid, please sleep. We"ll always accept you. Close that memory in Nanashi"s arms 454/3/2. Goodnight, Katrine.
"Take care of yourself......" Iria"s words resounded in my head. "Because you are the only Katrine Oud Winner in the wold." She murmured that with all the gentleness in the world.
I, on the other hand--. I was wondering about Duo, who was supposed to be fighting in the sea.
"I don"t think it"s really likely, but you don"t suppose he"s been done in, do you......"
"That boy?" Catherine asked in return. She sn.i.g.g.e.red and put a headphone to her ear. "From what I picked up via sonar, it wasn"t an easy win, but he did win."
"Oh. Then we"ll leave the rest to Nanashi and we"ll collect {Warlock}......" As soon as I said that, Duo contacted us via mid-ocean wire commlink.
"This is Duo! I got rid of the [Four Eights}! They were pretty good!"
"Good job......can you return to the ship [under your own power]?"
"Return? What about the Winner girl? Are you going to let Prometheus get away?"
"No, Nanashi just took care of it now."
"Ah, that Phobos guy......didn"t know he was such hot stuff--."
The commlink suddenly got truncated. I had a bad feeling [about that]. On the monitor, Milu Peacecraft"s face appeared.
"I won"t give up Katrine."
I didn"t change my expression.
"Hn, that famous piece just now......" Milu stayed quiet. ""Clare de Lune", wasn"t it?"
Milu spoke calmly with a cold voice, "......shut up, Old man." [#7]
"Watch your language......I"m not as nice as I appear." So saying, I checked the control stick and found it wasn"t working The propeller wasn"t going, either. At some point, we"d been skillfully cracked. Everything on the main computer had stopped. Just then, the ship"s internal lighting blacked out. Even the monitor blacked out and total darkness ruled. From the speaker, Milu"s voice was all that could be heard.
"You don"t know anything. You"re wrong, all of you." [ibid]
We"d been totally done in. We were being guided to the Federal-owned large hovercraft. A tiny bit of light filtered through the windows. It was mortifying but it appeared that the Chouxhood 2 itself had been seized. it had happened when Milu played "Clare de Lune." That was probably the beginning of the cracking. I completely failed to notice. The first move had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away again.
"Duo, Nanashi, run away!" I shouted at both of them. I didn"t know if the communicator was alive or not, but I prayed they heard. "Nee-san, you need to escape, too!"
"No way, I won"t be left behind."
Catherine seemed to have already figured out what I planned to do next. On this ship, there was only one apparatus that could be operated manually: the self-destruct switch. There was plenty of explosive to destroy the inner bridge. Additionally, there were still two missiles stored aboard Chouxhook 2 because the hangar hatch had malfunctioned. A well-set explosion would sink both this ship and {Snow White} and send them to the bottom of the sea. If it was just the Professor and {Snow White*, they probably could find a way out of that mess alone. Then, they"d collect the medical capsule and go rescue Nanashi and them, I"d think.
"Okay......if that"s what you"ve decided, I accept." It seemed to sound liek the Professor"s voice 455/3/3. It wasn"t like Catherine and me dying was a done deal. If we rushed out at the same time as the explosion, there was a chance we"d survive. It might hurt like h.e.l.l, but with our physical abilities, we might make a good recovery. But that didn"t change the fact that it was a dangerous gamble. However, to put that [idea] into action required mental preparedness and timing. I would really have to make it up to Catherine.
There was no justice for us.
We didn"t have the ambition to conquer Mars.
We didn"t have the gentleness to make people happy.
Our hearts were empty so we didn"t even have tears to shed.
We knew there was nothing beyond this victory. [#8]
Even to--.
I"d steeled myself.
"Shall we start, our last stage?" [#9] I put power into the finger that would hold the self-destruct switch. But there was a man seizing my hand.
"......Stop."
It was the one who was supposed to be sleeping in the medical capsule: Heero Yuy.
"Don"t resist any more than you already have."
"Are you saying to let them catch us?"
The weak light coming in from the windows put shadows on the contours of Heero"s face.
"That"s not a problem," he spoke without blinking. "They"ll catch us and take us to Elysium Island." Somehow, those eyes seemed wet to me. "......we"ll get close to Relena."
"......"
Catherine spoke, "Heero, can you really kill Relena Peacecraft?"
Heero"s voice was the same as ever, "That"s my duty......" It seemed like a single tear fell glitteringly from his face. "I will kill Relena--" Surely I"d seen wrong. "--I must kill her."
There was no way that that Heero Yuy would cry. But I did believe he had a heart. I couldn"t say that he was following his emotions. But of the lot of us, he was the only one whose tears had not been frozen.
...To Be Continued...