Chapter 188: Milliardo
Zechs felt that the long-range attacker, Vayeate, posed a greater threat. He immediately turned his cannons toward it and fired a series of Dober Gun shells.
However, Heero reacted even faster—he maneuvered five reflective magnetic drums to form a circle in front of Vayeate, creating an electromagnetic shield to protect it.
Then, he directed three more drums to block in front of Mercurius, charged toward Tallgeese, and swung his beam saber again.
Zechs quickly piloted Tallgeese closer to engage Mercurius once more, but his attacks were all deflected by the electromagnetic shields generated by the magnetic drums.
Helpless, he gave up the assault and pulled back. But before he could get far, he was forced to dodge frantically as Mercurius fired beam rifle shots in rapid succession.
After several evasive maneuvers, Zechs adjusted his response timing and fired more Dober Gun shells at Heero—yet once again, they were intercepted by the electromagnetic shields.
From a distance, Trowa controlled Vayeate and took aim at Tallgeese, firing a powerful beam cannon that swept back and forth. But instead of hitting Tallgeese, his sweeping fire cleverly destroyed three unmanned Taurus units.
Realizing the situation was turning strange, Zechs discarded his Dober Gun altogether and drew his beam saber, clashing directly with Heero's beam saber in close combat.
Their fight carried them near the remaining three Taurus drones. Trowa coordinated perfectly, firing another beam cannon shot from Vayeate.
Seeing the blast incoming, Tallgeese and Mercurius immediately split apart to dodge, and Trowa's shot once again neatly took out the three Taurus units.
Heero, now among two other Taurus drones, spun around and sliced both apart in a single sweeping motion.
Watching their actions, Zechs was completely baffled. Finally, he spoke through the comm line to Trowa and Heero: "I don't have time to play around with you two. You might as well arrest me already."
Then he opened his cockpit, raised his hands, and stepped out. Trowa followed suit, opening his cockpit and saying,
"I'm Lieutenant Trowa Barton. Hello, Zechs Marquise—or rather, it should be our first time meeting."
At that moment, Heero also exited his cockpit and jumped onto Tallgeese's shoulder, aiming his gun straight at Zechs.
Zechs looked at Heero and, with a helpless smile, said,
"I forgot to introduce myself properly. My real name is Milliardo Peacecraft."
He straightened his posture and continued,
"I've come as an envoy of Earth, visiting outer space as a goodwill ambassador to OZ."
…
Meanwhile, Quatre had just returned home—only to be sternly scolded by his father. His father rebuked him, saying that even if his intentions in battle were right, fighting itself could never bring about anything truly good.
Within the resource satellite colony, however, the Winner family faced mounting pressure. Because they refused to help OZ produce weapons—believing instead in contributing to peace and prosperity—they were ostracized by OZ's forces.
Manipulated by OZ's propaganda, the ignorant citizens also began opposing the Winner family, their voices growing louder and more hostile.
Still resisting, the head of the Winner family—Quatre's father—was deceived into traveling to one of the resource-gathering satellites where he worked. There, he was assassinated by OZ, who bombarded the satellite with a rain of beam cannon fire from an orbital weapon.
Inside a shuttle, Quatre watched his father die before his eyes. Even his sister Iria was injured trying to protect him. In that moment of despair, Quatre's eyes burned with fury and hatred…
Later, after Tallgeese was towed to the colony satellite by Vayeate and Mercurius, Lady Relena approached and came face-to-face with the Earth's goodwill ambassador—Milliardo.
Upon meeting, Milliardo said to her,
"Now that the space colonies have merged with OZ, their new system has greatly influenced Earth. I represent a nation, and I've come here to better understand this development."
Though Relena clearly recognized him as Zechs, he was now using another name and claiming to represent a nation—so she curiously asked,
"A nation?"
Milliardo smiled slightly.
"I forgot to introduce myself properly. I'm from the Sanc Kingdom—Milliardo Peacecraft."
"Oh, I see. That's the same Sanc Kingdom that Lord Treize had close ties with since childhood. I heard it was destroyed in the wars…"
Feeling her words might sound insensitive, she quickly corrected herself:
"I mean, I've heard the Sanc Kingdom is now being rebuilt, is that true?"
Milliardo nodded.
"Yes. I know full well what war brings. That's why I've come to the colonies—to offer counsel to those who seek to build military power."
"If one truly seeks peace, there are many ways to achieve it. If we can learn and grow together, surely we can find a better path forward."
"I'd be very glad to learn together," Milliardo replied warmly. "So, may I ask that you permit me to move freely within the colonies?"
Hearing that, Relena grew emotional. She clasped Milliardo's hands tightly and said with conviction,
"Of course you may!"
Milliardo smiled back at her.
"Perhaps this is indeed the start of a better path. Thank you, Relena Darlian."
From afar, Nichol watched them holding hands and muttered jealously,
"Milliardo Peacecraft? Please, he's just that OZ traitor Zechs Marquise. How shameless."
Tolle looked at him wryly and teased,
"Maybe that's actually his real name, and Zechs Marquise was the fake one all along. Or are you just jealous that he's holding Relena's hand?"
Caught off guard, Nichol stammered,
"N-no, I'm not! Don't talk nonsense!"
"Alright, alright, whatever you say. Anyway, I'm going to rest. Try not to bother me unless it's important."
Tolle sauntered off, leaving Nichol grinding his teeth as he kept glaring at Milliardo and Relena, who were still speaking pleasantly.
Later, as goodwill ambassador, Milliardo personally visited the United Earth Government's Space Force Headquarters on Colony D-120.
After his meeting with the high-ranking officers, both sides expressed their disapproval of OZ's intent to turn all the colonies into weapons factories.
Milliardo was even more direct—he stated that the space colonies didn't need weapons at all, echoing the ideals once championed by the colonies' past leader, Heero Yuy:
That the space colonies should not rely on violence—nor on armed power.