In the Gods' Name
Continuity note: This story is set just before the invasion of the Sanc
Kingdom when Dorothy, Heero and Quatre were staying at that school Relena
ran.
To the Greeks it was Aries. To the Babylonians it was Nergal. To the
Romans it was Mars. To the Aztecs it was Camaxtli. To the Hindus it was
Karttikeya. To the Christians it was the name of one of the Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse. But across all these cultures the key idea of the figure
remains the same; the ultimate embodiment of war.
War. Such a small word. But it is war that beats at the very heart
of human existence. Since man took that final step from ape to human there
has been war. The first war was man's conflict with that which had given him
life; nature itself.
I sometimes try to imagine what it must have been like all those
eons ago. A lone figure, naked, sitting against a tree somewhere in the
fertile plains of Africa. He gazes up in wonder at the stars while keeping a
watchful ear for any hungry lions that might be in the area. How arrogant
we are now. Man looks at his fine clothes, great cities and powerful
machines and smiles, secure in the fact that he is nature's greatest work.
But it was not always so. Back on those starlit nights on the
African plain man was little more than another beast concerned only with
finding its next meal. But the gods smiled on this small, weak and naked
creature called Man. And so Man was given an ability no other beast held;
the ability to make war.
So Man went to war with nature. The lions that had killed Man and
stolen Man's food were killed or driven from the land. Man was now the King
of Beasts. And as would any good warrior-king Man set out to build an
Empire. An Empire that was to be called Civilization.
Ah, Empire. Another word I like. It sounds so large, so grand and
noble. Like war. All across the world, all across time armies have marched
in the name of Empire and in the name of the gods of the Empire.
The more cynical among us, dear Ms. Relena among them, would say
that those wars lead to nothing but pain, suffering, rape, looting, slavery
and many other distasteful activities. Poor Ms. Relena. I wonder if she
considers herself a cynic. But a cynic she is. While those things did happen
they obscure the grander, more noble picture.
In ancient times conquerors often brought knowledge and order to
primitive lands ruled by equally primitive peoples. I wonder if Ms. Relena
has ever stopped to wonder what the world would be like if not for, say, the
Roman Empire. As everyone knows the Romans practiced slavery, held brutal
gladiatorial games and dreamed of ruling the world. And yet they made
breakthroughs in law, science, architecture, art and countless other areas
which affect the lives of every living person to this day. And all of these
wonders, in one way or another, were done to glorify the Empire. As
a child my maternal grandfather, Duke Dermail, took a personal interest in
the education of my cousin Treize and I. He wanted to be assured that when
the time came we would both be wise enough to take our places among the
world's true leaders in the Romafeller Foundation. That education included
thorough training in the ways of war.
I recall how grandfather would take Treize and I to study out in the
garden of his estate. There, at a table by a beautiful fountain, he would
read to us great books on war by men who knew the art well. One thing he
read to us over and over was a passage from The Aeneid by the ancient poet
Virgil. If I close my eyes I can her grandfather's voice speaking to me.
"Roman, remember your strength to rule Earth's peoples-- for your
arts are to be these: to pacify, to impose the rule of law, to spare the
conquered, battle down the proud."
Grandfather would have made an exemplary Roman.
But the fact that so many of man's wonders were created to drive
forth the cause of war is not what truly interests me. What I love is the
human drama of war. For it is an ageless story, nation verses nation, army
verses army, general verses general and solider verses solider. To see these
men fight, for their gods, for their Empire, for their loved one and indeed
for their own lives, I can think of nothing more beautiful. Or more human.
Oh father, I wish I could have seen you in your last moments on that
battlefield. I'm sure you were magnificent.
The history of war on the Earth is like some glorious never-ending
dance. Like an endless waltz. Soon the Sanc Kingdom will become the ballroom
on which this waltz will unfold. I can barely wait.
Since I was a child I've watched films and read books on war. They have
served only to feed my desire to know war firsthand. To step and twirl in
time to the gunfire and laugh as the world burns down around me.
Yes, do hurry up and start a war.
Poor Ms. Relena. When her kingdom is gone I shall pity her. But her
dream of absolute pacifism is just that, a dream. And like all dreams it
will disappear when the dreamer wakes to reality. Can you hear reality
knocking at your door, Ms. Relena? Knock knock! Reality is coming for a
visit and it's bringing the dogs of war with it.
Indeed war will come to the Sanc Kingdom as it will the rest of the
Earth and the colonies. For war is man's way. In the end Ms. Relena will be
swept away by history's tide, remember only as a martyr to a doomed and
hopeless cause. And those like myself will have our wars. Such is
inevitable. For the gods are on our side.
The End
Author's Notes: Well here you have it, my second Gundam Wing fic. Originally
I was planning to have my second GW be about Wufei, but Dorothy is my
favorite GW character so once I got this idea in my head I just couldn't let
it go.
The question I'm sure some of you are asking is "Why is *Dorothy*
your favorite character?" You got me. She just is. Okay, I admit, eyebrows
aside, she's pretty hot. I also guess I liked just how evil and psycho she
seemed when we first met her. Of course, in the last few episodes we learned
that grief over the death of her father was responsible for some of that
attitude. Some, but in my opinion, not all. Let's face it, with guys like
Duke Dermail and Treize as relatives your childhood is going to be weird.
That's why I think Dorothy's feelings about war may have been ingrained in
her at an early age and that it was the death of her father that later
turned those feelings into an obsession.
At least that's my take on things. Personally, as nice a character
touch as the death of her father was, I really enjoy writing Dorothy as the
war-loving whack job she came across when we first met her. Bad guys who do
bad things and really enjoy it are the best type of villains in my book.
Anyway, thanks for reading this and stay tuned. I've got more GW fic
ideas that I will get around to writing sooner or later. :p