#milliardo peacecraft

[idrawprettyboys]

Zechs Merquise / Milliardo Peacecraft from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, done with glittery Sakura Koi watercolors

Patreon

Ko-Fi

[tasoiano]

Zechs and Noin | ノイン ゼクス ⚜️🥀

The couple of my heart and my fav Gundam characters 🌟

[tinyozlion]

Zechs Marquise / Milliardo Peacecraft:  A Heel Turn for the Greater Good

Zechs Merquise is the main character of Gundam Wing. 

Ah, you thought it was Heero, or maybe Relena, didn’t you? Well, judging by the first act of the series, this is clearly not the case!  

Zechs is the very first character we’re introduced to. He’s mysterious, handsome, ultra-competent. He shows concern for civilian safety and the safety of his men. He takes personal risks, fights on the front lines. He demonstrates right away that he has a strong ethical code that places great importance on the moral conduct of soldiers. His subordinates look up to him, his superiors value and respect him. We get all of this in act one of episode one.

Absolute hero material, so far! Hard to see why he's being framed like antagonist. Whatever, I'm sure he'll be on the winning team in no time! Just like Quattro Vegeta, or whatever.

By episode three, we’re introduced to the Tallgeese, a mobile suit that matches all the criteria for being the Big Damn Hero Machine that a protagonist would use: it’s ancient, it’s got a history, it’s the progenitor suit, it’s got no bells or whistles, it demands great strength and skill from the pilot but offers unmatched performance to those who can overcome its challenges. It’s the perfect suit for Zechs, and obviously the next step in his hero’s journey! This is the part of the story where he can finally meet the terrifying, so-far unbeatable enemy on equal footing. 

...But of course, OZ is also introduced in episode 3. So now we know that Zechs works for some faceless, secret military organization– but that’s fine, right? It’s the Alliance military that’s the Big Bad Guy, and Zechs seems to be part of some elite special unit that’s only for brave, self-sacrificing soldiers! OZ hasn’t done anything really bad yet, while on the other hand, the Gundam pilots have been a bunch of mercilessly violent loose cannons who’ll kill anyone who gets in their way.

In episode four, we meet Noin, an immediately likable and equally skilled OZ officer who has a deep personal connection with Zechs. Already this is a power couple we can get behind. We watch as Noin suffers a humiliating defeat and a barrage of misogyny from a Gundam pilot, who kills a bunch of young recruits in their sleep. Definitely not a good look for the Gundam Team! while Zechs and Noin (and Treize, in a more literal sense) come out of this episode smelling like roses. 

Just look at them! They’re going to make such a great team. I hope they give those homicidal Gundam kids what for!

It’s only when episode five rolls around that we finally see what OZ is really about: assassinations, covert schemes, foul play, political manipulation, and the ruthless accumulation of power. Uh oh! 

But surely, Lady Une is the real baddy here, and Treize is no more than a shadowy puppet master whose true motives remain mysterious. Zechs and Noin are still such obvious Good Guy candidates, they really ought to be the main protagonists of this show by now! The big scary OZ that the Colony rebels warned us about seems a far cry from the OZ we’ve seen so far. Even after the point where OZ becomes the new uncontested Bad Guy, Zechs and co. keep their noses pretty clean.

And then! Then Zechs reveals his tragic past, his double-identity, his secret Count of Monte Cristo/ Man in the Iron Mask plot to avenge the ruin of the Sanc Kingdom and the deaths of his family, the noble house of Peacecraft! How romantic, how dashing! His quest continues to best the Gundams, but this takes on the hue of personal enlightenment; Zechs wants to defeat the Gundam pilots to prove he is capable of being a “True Soldier”, worthy of the power he’s been given, worthy of what has been sacrificed to his cause. 

Boy, that’s some hero behavior! And it gets even better: Zechs and Noin leave OZ to begin championing the Sanc Kingdom and its policies of Total Pacifism. No one can say Zechs isn’t one of the good guys now, right? He even dresses up all spiffy in white and becomes an ambassador to promote peace in the colonies! 

–Or rather, he tries to. 

Because despite having gained a reporte with a few of the Gundam pilots, he still hasn’t managed to ally with them. They still view him as an enemy, no matter how hard or how desperately he tries to convince them that he’s turned over a new leaf. 

He can’t beat them, and he can’t join them. Why?

Pictured: the saddest boys in the universe.

The second act of Gundam Wing is a crucible where every character is forced to re-evaluate their place in the ongoing conflict. You can see and feel his frustration building as the future spirals out of control. 

What is the purpose of Zechs Merquise, or of Milliardo Peacecraft?

He has refused to be OZ’s mascot, the Lightning Count. He’s not capable of bringing peace to the colonies by himself. He can’t join the Gundams in their fight against OZ. He can’t even protect the Sanc Kingdom, because the very act of fighting in its name is used as an excuse to wipe it out. 

He bids a heartfelt adieu to his Big Damn Hero Machine, the Tallgeese, and finds himself in possession of its polar opposite: the Epyon, a machine made to scour its pilot and the world of hypocrisy. 

Finally, Zechs has his answer– the reason why his purpose eludes him, why all his best intentions go astray, why the harder he tries to align his moral compass to the Gundam pilots or embrace his pacifistic inheritance, the more lost he becomes: He is not the hero. 

He has been trying and failing to be a hero since episode one because this isn’t a story about noble, heroic, chivalrous warriors doing battle in order to gain personal clarity and strength.

It’s not about man-vs-man conflict resolving in a test of skill. If it were, Zechs would have been victorious and completed his hero’s journey by now, and the show would be over. 

But that was never the role he was meant to play. That’s not what the stage requires. The third act begins as he accepts a new mantle, and becomes the villain history needs in that moment to bring everything together.

“Zechs considers this place his grave. [...]He intends to pay for the sin of purging humanity, all by himself.”

–Not to purge humanity of “violent earthlings”, as his White Fang propaganda speech stated, but to purge the current generation of the means to wage mechanized warfare, and of the desire for combat and retribution itself, in order to finally bring the cycle of war between the earth and space to an end. 

…But of course, nothing ever really ends, does it? History dances forward, with or without you, and all the sacrifices and fail-safes in the world will not stop new challenges from arising. 

Nevertheless, if it is possible to choose, by means of noble principle, to be a villain for the sake of the greater good, in the full assurance of one’s own destruction and revilement, then surely that is also in some winding, definitionally tragic way, a path to heroism– and if this is so, then Zechs is strong (and disillusioned) enough to take it. 

I do not think that the series supports the idea that his actions or their consequences are justified– only that they achieve their immediate purpose: setting the stage for peace. For now.

...And Now, An Important Note on Gundam Meta:

Zechs is what is referred to in the parlance of the Gundam fandom as a “Char Archetype”, or “Char Clone”-- a term I think is of debatable accuracy. For a longer discussion on Char Aznable and his role in MS Gundam, please see the entry: The Char Aznable Problem.  But I want to make it clear that knowing about Char’s backstory IS NOT a necessary prerequisite to understanding Zechs’s story. 

Zechs and Char share a lot of DNA as characters, that’s unavoidable– a masked man in red who poses a threat to the main Gundam pilot is a staple of the genre; he’s deliberately an homage to Char, as much an expected feature of a Gundam series as... well, Gundams. That much is not in question. 

However: Char’s motivations only make sense in the context of the original Gundam series; if you try to apply the same logic within the structure of Gundam Wing, it becomes gibberish. But the gibberish is by design– If you don’t understand the context behind Zech’s late-series genocidal spiel on why “earthlings are the ultimate threat to peace so we must destroy earth, the source of all conflict yadda-yadda blah-blah”, then… yeah, you’re up to speed. No one else listening to White Fang’s broadcast understood it either. It’s MEANT to sound like the ramblings of an extremist madman who poses a catastrophic and unavoidable threat to both Earth AND the Space Colonies he claims to represent. That’s the basic nature of his Ozymandius Gambit: invent something scary enough that everyone has to band together to fight it.

So you don’t need to know about Char to understand Zechs– but knowing about Char does make Zech’s role (and Treize’s role!) in Gundam Wing that much more interesting.

Zechs is not a Char Clone, he is a conversation with the idea of Char, taking a theme and transposing it into a new composition.

--Anyway, it’s a little unfair to try and force a comparison between Zechs and Char, when Char had MS Gundam, Zeta Gundam, and Char’s Counterattack to do everything he did, and Zechs only had Wing. 

Now, I’m not a mathematician or anything, but I’d say that makes Zechs roughly…

Three times faster.

[iftadwascool]

Now, everybody in this bitch gettin' tipsy

[signofoz]

These arrived in the mail from Japan today. Going to frame them, they are so pretty. (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤

I ordered more, mostly UC cards, but they are still stuck in customs.

[keiko1183]

What if Sesshomaru was just zechs for all this time?

[universal-ren-kin]

I'm settling in to my painkiller and I wanna ask the current Gundam Wing fandom a question about a pairing I've gotten into.

Zechs and Heero.

In a scenario where everything is consensual, aged up to legal, and not forced by the writer, do you think it's possible for these two to shack up or not and why?

I'm pro 6x1 because, much like 5x6, they have a majoy thing in common and that's Treize. At one point they both tried to kill the man but also they both held a deep respect for him (seriously, Heero had to trust Treize even somewhat to get anywhere near the Epyon, otherwise he would have junked her as a trap, perfect weapon or not). On top of that, Zechs and Heero have fought each other numerous times under numerous circumstances with both emerging the victor depending on the scenario.

I could definitely see them getting to know each other better after the war and possibly developing a relationship.

Thoughts?

[theotherwesley]

Flight 👀

WIP from a multi-chapter Gundam Wing fic that I will be carrying on my back forever like Atlas... :'D (Rating: general, CW: none)

The little car was given a rigorous inspection, the remainder of its contents confiscated, and soon they were escorted down streets lined with barricades and soldiers, past rows of tanks, and beneath the long shadow of a mechanical giant that stood with its back to the sun. 

Then they were on an overpass, leaving the capital city of Havreneuf, of what was now the former Sanc Kingdom. 

The city looked the same as it always had, except unexpected parts of it were missing, as if a child had reached down with a clumsy fist and torn out sections of a model, knocking things flat that were in its way, and muddying the sunset with dirty fingers. 

The skyline was different now– there had been a palace up on that hill, backed by white cliffs. It had watched over the ships coming in from the western sea to port, and the squares of red-roofed houses, and the church steeples. Its garden had been full of tulips.

Milliardo watched it scroll past in the distance, smoke darkening the sky long after it left the frame of his window. Before Sanc disappeared from view completely, he saw it: hazy as a faraway windmill on a still day, passing so much slower than the nearby buildings, one of the bipedal metal dreadnaughts stood, bathed in the last long arms of daylight. It was motionless, its single eye reflecting brilliant, liquid gold, and nothing troubled it.

“Mobile suits here too, huh,” the man said warily, “no surprise, I guess. Must’ve learned how good they are at scaring people back in the Colonies.”

“Hey,” the woman turned in her seat and gave him a reassuring nod, one arm behind the driver’s headrest. “We did it. Everything’s going to be okay.”  

The man looked over his shoulder with his broad, American smile. “You did great, kid. You did everything right. We’re going to get you somewhere safe now, you’ve got some good people looking out for you.”

“--ill I s-- hhy s-hhist-r?” he tried to ask. He was handed a bottle of water. 

“Oh, sweetheart. No. I’m sorry,” the woman’s face creased, “not for a while. But she’s safe. She’s safe. We got word from Marena and Pagan. They made it out. We won’t be able to contact them again for a while, but she’s going to be alright, and so are you.”  

The sun disappeared over the horizon. Headlights switched on. 

“You can take the hair off now, if you want. It’s going to be a long drive– try to get some sleep.”

He slid the wig and hat off his head. How was he meant to sleep? He was a piano wire ready to snap. But he did anyway. He must have, because he did not remember anything else of that journey, only his arrival at their destination, several countries and a lifetime away.

[gundamzine]

@avaantares brings us some post-canon fic, featuring Zechs and Noin. 

Like what you see?  Sign up to get your free PDF copy of the 2023 Gundam Wing zine Battle Scars and Kitchen Cabinets by completing the form OVER HERE.  

ABOUT || SCHEDULE || FAQ || CONTACT US || CHARITY

@zineapps @zine-scene @zinefeed @zinesubmissions @fandomzines @zinefans

[idrawprettyboys]

The print of Zechs/ Milliardo from Gundam Wing is for sale! :)

[stoptellinglieslois]

Don't forget me 2.

Heero and Zechs are at the safe house and as they start to realise how real and significant this meeting is. As Amuro and Char consciousness is nudging them as they give clips of their memory as they open up more.

Amuro x Char and Zechs x Heero pairing.

Amuro

As I watched the giant screen in shock I had my friend Chan beside me. I couldn't do anything but be in a state of shock.

It went from bad to worse as Char announced. "I would like to request for Amuro Ray to make an appearance to save your earth this can save you earthlings or it may not." I started to run I didn't want to hear the rest.

I made my way to my car leaving Chan behind I drove crazed down the free way I yelled and screamed. As traffic started to slow down and I was trapped bumper to bumper. I wailed in my car and went crazy tears streaming my face snots oozed out of my nose.

Hitting the stirring wheel like a crazed man here I am in my car as my...husband want's to commit genocide on us I hoped this day would never come I wasn't expecting it to be like this and here I am facing the aftermath of my break up.

Kamille is calling me. I didn't answer it this was the boy that me and Char were a caregiver to when he was in a vegetated state.

I had no words to say to him I was paralyzed with all of the emotions in me that I couldn't come up with a words to give him.

I just kept hitting the stirring wheel over and over again.

I broke up with Char two years ago we didn't agree with our opinions about space.

I found out about certain things about Char but I never thought it would be this.

I wished I would have stayed with him this would have never had happened.

As I am leaving this memory I give this information to the young Heero and Zechs to have. I need them to stay solid because me and Casval never did after this.

I go down the stairs and find Duo and Quatre and greet them. "I can't leave right now guys I am still very much not ready to do anything." I lied I am willing to lie because of who I have tucked away in my closet.

"That's fine. You seem off." Quatre notice.

"....." I didn't want to attract any attention with these two they could pick up on things quick.

"Ok well what do we do here then." Duo with his arms crossed watching me. "We could stay and take care of you and get you ready." I didn't want that at all they needed to leave.

"I wish to stay here. It seems you walked here I need something more comfortable for me. Get a shuttle We will be out of here quick." Duo watched me like a hawk.

I needed to be more careful at this point. "Heero we need to leave here an enemy has been detected in this colony, we have to evacuate as soon as we can." Quatre replied softly. I knew he thought I am a ticking time bomb and I am I would go off at any moment.

"Ok then I will wait for both of you then." Duo sighed. "Uh huh well then we will be back. Get your things because we are leaving as soon as we get back." Duo started for the door Quatre gave one last look a smile on his face as he followed behind Duo.

I waited and looked out the window waiting for them to be completely out of view.

As much as I can I tried hurrying up the stairs to my room. "You could come out now." The door of the closet opened slowly and Zechs larger and taller frame came out of the closet.

"Let's go downstairs." I tell Zechs we quietly go down the stairs and into the living room.

"That was not what I was hoping would have happened today." Zechs deep voice trying to lighten the mood in the room which to my surprise is a bit nice on his behalf.

"I want to go with you." I knew I couldn't stay here not like this not after what I've just learned. "Take me with you right now Zechs." Zechs looked at me puzzled and astonishment adorned his incredibly handsome face.

"I would..hang on... Heero I could keep you. Take you with me but in my part it would have to be extremely tricky. Not that I won't take you if that is your wish but that would mean..."

"That I would leave everything behind."

"You would become a civilian."

"Yes."

"And that all of my past that I've done the blood in my hands everything Heero. You could look past this and look at me as Zechs and not look at me with disgust or hate." I knew what he is doing he is trying to test me.

It's not working.

"I could live past this because I have something I never had before."

"Which is."

"Tools I have Amuro and Char to guide me off the ledge." Zechs blue eyes widen in surprise as I said that.

"I want you to understand the enemy force is fully active here and if we leave now I would have to try my best to hide you if we leave I have to hide you from the world from here on out." I knew he meant Heero Yuy would have to vanish the name people go missing all the time so could I.

"If you don't take me I will go to the gundam and be forced to face you again wing zero will see you as my enemy and I would have no choice but to accept this time I won't think the way I used to. This won't be an option I need out please don't make me go back in it, It won't turn out well Zechs for me for you we could stop this we could do better." I never spoke so much in my life.

Amuro is working inside me.

And I have never been more alive then I ever been in my life.

"I get to keep you close to me not as my prisoner but as...."

"I don't know let's not do that right now the first step is to lead me out of here undetected." I knew we needed to leave I have my suspect they know I am here.

I hope they don't know to what degree Quatre and Duo aren't stupid either.

"Are you saying you are defecting Heero that's big." I love Zechs deep voice, His long blonde hair goes down his back I sit gingerly on the small sofa Zechs crouch down in front of me. "What are you staring at." Zechs eyes mesmerizing me as he says that. "You." I said simply.

He got closer to me. "We need to leave they know...." I say to him.

The door bursts open wood flies and the door frame and panel tumbles forward nails spray everywhere. "Hands up Merquise."

Char

I waited for Amuro in a small cafe we hid in plain site I stood and waited for him.

The sky was so blue and bright as I waited for him I dressed in very casual muted colours of beige, I wore sunglasses for the reason I did in the past not to be recognised.

I see him now wearing head toe all in light blue. Amuro wore sunglasses he is taller than the last time I saw him. He looked and had an aura about him that is basically glowing.

He is a man now we both are no longer the boy I wanted to keep by my side. I knew he was the one who would ruin my plans from the first moment I met him.

Here he is so beautiful the sun catching him picking up on his light as he walked.

I still have him I could do this I could have both do my plans and have Amuro.

I am in love with him I won't let this be my last chance.

As he approaches where I stood I greet him. "Hi." He says not in a good tone. He wore sunglasses that hid his chocolate brown eyes, He wasn't happy he ate his pride he is at my mercy right now.

"Hello young Amuro." I say. I put my arm around him he stiffen from my touch.

"At ease little soldiers it's me your prince." I whisper in his ear. "Let's eat and enjoy the day." Amuro says nothing to that.

We sit and eat in the cafe. "I see you're wearing our wedding ring that's promising." I smiled when he didn't take off his sunglasses and a grime frowned on Amuro face.

The waitress came to take our order.

I order for the both of us because Amuro was like a brick wall and is very silent.

"How have you been doing with yourself, I hope to see you sooner prior to today but you never called me back." I say hoping to bring him out of his mood.

He threw his sunglasses on the table aggressively clinking the glasses of water next to him. "I came here to save earth and nothing more I came here to save the people of earth." Amuro talked in a low voice he didn't want the other patron to here our conversation.

That's when I notice his eye colour and his eyes are this blue colour.

Blue eye contacts.

"Wow you changed your eye colour I liked your brown eyes though."

"Bright is pissed with me. Because of this bullshit you pulled, He quoted go ahead and "whore yourself for Aznable" do you have any idea what kind of shame and treatment I got from the people I love." Amuro hushed tone didn't bother the other people we are talking in such away no one seems to even notice Amuro truly grew up.

"You don't have to carry those thoughts with you I just want you back."

"This is not the way to get me back this is pure evil I can't explain anything to you right now I may explode."

The waitress comes with our order.

"Do you have something strong to drink." I requested this is not going to be a good get together.

"Yes sir we do." The waitress said. I made an order and she wrote my order and left.

When the waitress was clear from earshot Amuro continued.

"Putting me in a hostage situation to save them why don't you just kill me and get it over with." Amuro whispered a vexing tone as he spoke to me.

"Would you come on your own if I truly asked you to come."

"Yes I would have."

"Liar. You would have treated me like a leopard you have made me feel like a dangerous animal."

"You are a dangerous animal that needs to be put down." I didn't know what got over me but my hand slammed the table hard.

A few people look to our direction.

"It's getting late where do I go from here." I didn't get what he is saying.

"I am not understanding what you are saying." I asked.

"Where do you want to fuck me my place or yours." He didn't say it loud enough so everyone could hear but he wanted out of the cafe.

"Mine. You will stay with me for the time being." Amuro got up and walked to the door.

I threw a few bills on the table and followed after Amuro.

Later on that evening in my condo.

I sat on my single sofa with a light blue robe wrapped around me.

Amuro walked nude to the bar and this reminds me of us for the first time we tried to live on our own.

Except this is so not what it was back then the energy between us is tight and thick.

Amuro then felt so free with me here I knew he felt trapped in a situation he never called for.

"Why did you change your eye colour to blue." I asked him. A drink in my hand.

"I wear contact lenses because I know you love my real eye colour and I hate that. Because I hate myself for having sex with you I knew this would get ugly and it did since the moment I saw you on the screen in front of everyone it makes me sick to my stomach on what we've become." What he said made me want to leave my body.

I am a shame to make him feel this way.

"I can't set you free you know that." I told him. Getting up off the sofa I was discouraged from doing so a blade to my throat stopped me from continuing. "Don't get up." Amuro said. Holding the blade close to my throat.

"This is how I feel this is what you do to the people of earth a blade to their throat."

"Kill me. It's messy this way how will you hide my body when you're done."

"I would parade it down the street and celebrate it."

"I would still love you even if you kill me right now."

I close my eyes feeling the blade pierce me a little.

"Kill me Amuro or I will do worse to your loved ones."

The blade fell from his grasp and slid down my torso.

I shot up and grabbed him in an embrace. "You had your chance now come to bed." That day and onwards for three months we stayed together to keep the peace on earth.

I gave these memories to Zechs and Heero for them not to make the same mistakes as we did.

Duo and Quatre had guns in their hands pointing at my head.

I put my hands up as a sign of surrendering to the pilots.

I stay in my kneeling position by Heero. "Get up." Quatre said. In more calmer tone then Duo's.

When the door came crashing down and interrupted us.

I didn't want to make any sudden movements so as not to trigger the pilots. "Guys put the guns away." Heero voice from behind me where he sat.

"Why ? This is Zechs. Heero we need to leave here. Look we don't want any trouble Zechs if you pull anything I will kill you." Quatre said calmly.

"I am not going anywhere with you boys I am leaving here with Zechs." Heero said. I didn't turn to look at him I didn't dare make a move.

"I don't understand why." Quatre said. He watched me not breaking eye contact with me.

Duo neither.

"I want to leave with Zechs I am leaving cause I can't continue on." Heero sounded so sincere I don't know what to do from here I am really tied up with my own agenda, For me to leave it's almost impossible I have to kill much more to flee my situation.

"Heero come away from him slowly."

"You aren't listening to me."

"Yes we are little buddy just come to us slowly alright."

"No."

"Heero come away from this monster."

"May I.." Gun fire roared past me it didn't graze me a shot beside my head that was meant as a warning shot Duo made the first shot he meant what he meant.

"Don't move don't talk Merquise." Duo growled at me pointing the gun aiming to my head.

"No. All of you stop." Heero said. Walking in front of me put his hands out blocking them from firing me down.

"Heero are you touched don't answer what's gotten into you man. You can't be serious about this. What did Merquise do to you." Duo never breaking eye contact with me.

"Put the guns down or else."

"Or else what." I wasn't ready for this move that Heero pulled. A small pistol came out like a magic trick and he pointed it to his head. "Or else." Never more shocked and shouts that I have heard of protests I ever heard for human life in my life.

I knew what this meant they are not going to let me out of here alive. I couldn't grasp this type of an exit that Heero is displaying.

"Heero please buddy put that shit down."

"Ok look I am putting it down." Quatre putting the gun down slowly on the floor Duo following suit. "Please Heero don't do this." Quatre begged. I think he is pleading because he wasn't sure if I was holding him hostage of some type or he is simply pleading for his friend and I do believe they are all friends.

Something inside of me pinging like a pinging in my heart it was strong feeling.

"I don't want to repeat myself this is not up for debate."

"Ok we won't ask but my goodness what's going on."

"Heero why the heal turn."

"I made a mistake...." It is hard for heero to express his feelings or to explain about our new development of connection.

It's not easy to explain even if you aren't Heero Yuy.

"I don't.. I want this." Bless him trying to muster words together to convey to his comrades and explain to continue on down this road with them would be grave for all of us.

"May I say a few words to help this along."

"If it will help stop him pointing a gun to his head then yeah." Duo replied. I never had anyone care for me in the way that I see these young boys did for each other.

"Me and Heero....."

"Oh hell no."

"What I mean to say is that we are connected in a way that goes beyond war. I am willing to help Heero I am willing to aid him." I was cut off with peppered questions.

"Help him why will you help him you are the reason actually all of this is because of your whole group of organization terrorist and your wrong backwards reason is why Heero is in this position."

"Yeah that and you want to fuck my friend." I put my hands down on either side of me Duo's crassness halted me for a moment. "I could read the room." Duo said. "Put the gun down Heero ok were all ears now so you could put that shit down." Duo voice was calmer now but I knew any wrong move on my behalf and he would pull the trigger on me.

"Heero slowly pulled the gun away from his head and dismantle the gun letting the bullets fall to the grown.

"Me and Zechs aren't lovers." It is true but something inside me wanted that to change. /Easy big boy./ Char voice creep up inside of me.

I knew I needed to get out of here alive. "We had a past life together those people were also gundam pilots as well the severity of their past was grand. It took this lifetime for us to realise me and Heero are repeating the same road as they embarked which killed both of them weather it saved their situation or not is irrelevant, It only took one wrong agenda or wrong move and it didn't go well they both died." I explained.

I didn't want to explain so much for fear of being misunderstood from These two how am I going to get a point across.

It didn't matter I could explain more if they wanted.

"You're going to leave behind tallgeese white fang for Heero." Quatre dared a step forward he ignored what we are trying to tell him.

"The year was January fifth 0087." Heero said. Closing his eyes I watched him going into some sort of meditated state.

"I waited for Char to drive up to pick me up."

After the battle with Haman.

I waited for Char a few weeks later he told me he would vanish and that he wanted to meet me here.

In front of this old bus station somewhere in California.

It was tricky leaving everything behind after that fight it took a while for us to recover from that.

Char drove up and honked at me making a show of himself in the deserted bus station. "Hey my fiance out of town you wanna hook up."

"Eww."

I grimaced as he teased me and I got in the car top down as we drove down the open air of earth.

"It's hard to get away I didn't think I could get away."

"But you did I am glad you did. Where are we going anyway."

"To a small quiet cottage it needs tlc though we will stay there for a while."

"Ok. Char I left them I can't believe it what will I do I mean they think you're dead I didn't want to lie to them."

"It's easier this way we could hide live the way we want to without any reservation."

"I've never done this before with someone."

"Do it with me that's all I will need."

It was a long drive and we made it and Char is right the place was run down.

We spent the most part of our stay fixing it I never felt so good and free in my life.

We both had changed our identity I was Ray Falcon and Char was Cas Falcon. "It sounds so porn star can't we just fix it."

"It's too late for that. I like the names." Char threw weeds and twigs on the ground beside him we were fixing the front of our garden.

I was watching him while I sat on the dilapidated wooden steps I was lucky I didn't fall through them.

"Are you going to come and help me." Char complained.

"Yes." I lied. Char wasn't wearing a shirt and I eyed him as he was working hard.

I enjoyed my life here with him I didn't need to be in a killer machine I could just be Ray Falcon and live a life of solitude with him.

I didn't want to make my life extra ordinary war made me have my reservation about this type of life.

Chasing evil men around the galaxy and being forced to fight when you don't know how but the only way to survive is to fight or flight.

"Hey you're going to help me or are you going to stare at me all day long." Char said. Standing in front of me waving one hand in front of me trying to get my attention.

"Sorry." I say. "Do you day dream like this often." Char observe. "War kept me in a state of.... if I get the chance yes I will day dream."

"What were day dreaming about."

"How I am not chasing bad guys in the biggest mech known to man." I told him.

"Oh I thought you were thinking about me and my hot bod." Char smiled at me like a sly fox.

"That to."

"Oh. Do you day dream about me often."

"Yes."

"Tell me."

"No."

As Char teased me into telling my fantasies about him. I felt free even here even after all the anguish the fighting between each other and hiccuping throughout space. Me trying to dodge him when I was a kid.

I have no experience then and even living here in a cottage I have no experience.

I couldn't believe I was merging my life with my rival.

As Heero told our past in a trance eyes closed telling the two boys about a life that we wanted to have.

This sounded so nice a slice of freedom.

They had longevity at least they were together for as long as they wanted to be for the most part.

Heero opened his eyes and looked at the boys watching them a level stare and kept there gaze on them.

"Boys if I continue I will kill destroy myself and hurt innocent people this whole operation will continue, If we got together and team up like we did I feel I would ruin it for all you because of what I know." Heero spoke the most I heard from the short amount of time I've known him which is not much.

"Heero even if you want to escape this war your notorious. I want to know more about your past lives but we have to do it on the go." Quatre said.

"This is some crazy we gotta go though." Duo said. He had an edge of urgency as he looked at Quatre.

"Yes Heero we need to leave. I am not going to push anything here but on the safe side you need to leave with us and if Zechs slips out with us then ok but as long as we leave here." Quatre said.

"I can only go as far as I can." I told them I wanted them to be safe I would have to make a cover story.

"Lets move." We walked the snowy path down as we walked in silence.

I tower over them and I look over to Heero who seemed so cold. I took off my jacket and draped over his small frame he swam in it.

He said nothing to me no thank you came from him. He tightened the jacket closer to his body.

I loved that.

I didn't know why but him doing that made me feel good like he accepted my offer, A simple offer I didn't ask him I didn't want to use words I just wanted him to feel warm in my jacket suddenly my thoughts were interrupted.

"We need to move." Duo said. quietly and cautiously as we trek down the snowy woodland.

I didn't see anything or anyone that was alarming.

We made it to a black van parked by the side of the road.

We all climbed in and the drive to wherever the destination is, I was not sure where me and Heero sat in the back seat.

"Perhaps we could make a plan to get you to a nearby safe house a bit further away from the tension that's going on."

Heero turned his attention to me. "Yes..."

"There's no possible way we could do that now though I think we have someone tailing us ." Duo exclaimed.

"Fuck." Heero cursed.

"Great." Quatre sighed.

Heero kept staring at me. "If we separate for a while it will be ok." He said watching me.

"If it gets nasty I will make sure you're ok."

"But will you be ok with that."

"Yes Heero."

"they may know you're here in this car with us. How will that go down for you." Duo said. I turly don't see anyone tailing us.

"They may think you are being held hostage." I was a bit of a hostage but the threat wasn't as potent as it was when Duo and Quatre came to the house.

"They wouldn't be worried if I was one they knew I would be taking care of myself." I told them. I grazed Heero's hand with my finger tips it wasn't done on purpose. He stiffened and pulled his hand away quickly.

Heero had a blank stare no emotions showed.

Hmm.

"I am sorry."

"....."

"There is no need to feel awkward." Heero blushed this is rare and I liked this it is a wonder to see.

"Hn."

"The jacket will keep you warm but my touch can keep you warmer." I tried.

"....."

Still nothing he isn't even looking at me.

"May I." I reach for his hand once more he does not move away the tips of my fingers lightly touching his ice cold hand. "Your hands are like an ice cube frozen to the touch." I lightly skim the back of his hand.

"See I am not so bad." I whisper to him lightly.

A piercing of glass hitting sounds zing past me. "Oh Allah." Quatre hissed.

I looked behind and found three suv vans speeding down the road after us.

As I hear shots fire louder. "Ok boys looks like we need to lose em." Duo said. I did keep a gun on me at all times I had no intentions of using it on the pilots. I was hoping this would all go peacefully it doesn't look like peace would come in this meeting.

I rolled down the window swiftly as I shot a few rounds at the suv one of them swerved to the left and crashed on to the ditch.

One down.

As they saw thier fallen comrade had fallen onto the ditch they answer with rain of bullets hitting the back of the car as Duo dodging every hit.

We excelerate down the road.

As the two other vans were still firing at us Duo abruptly stopped the van stopping at an angle. "Hang in there boys." he went out of the van as his aim was no less than perfect as he tossed grenades and landed on the suv's they went up in flames.

Duo hopped back in the van and we floored it. "Boys we go on to the shuttle where we came from and from there we will exit this colony." Duo announced.

My problem got harder and harder I just had to go with them it wasn't good for me I had no other choice.

I am being tested.

As we got closer to the port I could feel something off with this as we made it to the port. "We made it." Quatre sighed.

"In one piece." Duo said happily.

We climbed out of the car and went into the space craft.

Heero got here in one piece he is fine it's what I wanted. I have to go though I can't go with them, In my part I wouldn't know how to explain to them about this whole ordeal.

"Heero be safe." I told him I turned as a voice stopped me.

"if you leave here right now I will understand but if you leave here knowing what just happened, How will you cope I will leave them to...all though broken but I will cope with being like this twisted and broken I have tools now I have them now." Heero said. His monotone voice kept me frozen in place my back still turned to him.

"We fought before you didn't comprehend defeat. This has stopped me in my tracks now I am hesitating to go inside of a gundam why would I do that and why would you knowing what we've just learned about ourself Zechs this will creep up inside of you every time your in a battle field." Heero's voice started to get emotional.

"My real name is Odin Lowe." Heero's voice sounded so raw and I really didn't even turn to face him I am shocked that he gave me his real name.

"What's yours." I wasn't ready for this today I wasn't ready for this type of deliverance.

A second past. "Milliardo Peacecraft."

"Peacecraft."

"My god."

"Your Relena's Brother....." Heero's voice is a quiet whisper.

I started walking to the exit and I felt something heavy drape over me it was my jacket.

"Until we meet again." Heero said.

A week later since I saw Heero I decided to go live and have a conference meeting and made it live so I could make my point across.

An assembly of politicians and world leaders and colony's officials gather around to hear what the leader of white fang has to say. And I feel like when it's about war is involved it's such a grand movement.

I was backstage preparing as I was ready to step on stage.

I walked on to the stage where all the lights are on me I never been so ready to deliver such news to the colony's and the world.

As I hit the podium applause came as I reached there and looked around.

There were so many people here it was so intense. "I would like to give my own judgement and what I want and I would....." I began and stopped mid-sentence my eyes had found Heero hiding in the assembly.

He is wearing a white fang uniform that couldn't be a good thing.

I watched him and I knew he was in disguise this is such a momentum thing I am witnessing.

I thought Heero left me I thought he ran off it looks like he's found me.

My plans for this announcement could be botched it won't be the announcement they would like to hear.

Heero watched me from the far back of the assembly.

"I am here to reveal to all of you that my name isn't really Zechs Merquise I am Milliardo Peacecraft the presumed dead prince of the Sanq kingdom." The up roar in the place was a sight to see.

This is not what I came here to say tonight I came here to deliver some bad news to earth.

Heero changed that as I saw him standing there with a white fang uniform.

That triggers something inside of me it's spontaneous for me to do this is not like me to be so open and honest.

/you only have one life to live./ Amuro whisper in my ear a sweet youthful sounding voice like a warm blanket that surrounded me like love wanted to in case me in it's embrace.

Shouts as politicians lose their mind as to what I just said.

"This can't be true."

And. "How would he survive that purge on Sanq." I stood there and took it.

"I refuse to back off or undo what I've said I will not take it back." More shouts thrown at the stage where I stood.

Heero walked down the aisle of outraged politicians to the stage as the crowd lost their composure.

Heero stood below the podium and saluted me. I needed for me and him to get out of here.

"This is madness." One white haired old diplomat rose to his feet in shocked.

I did so much damage just saying my origins all of this is because Heero made his presence known to me.

I back peddled my true intentions because of Heero.

I backed away from the mic. "Come with me." Heero climbed on the stage and came to me.

"Let's go." Heero said. A fight broke out and there was our sign to flee.

We left the chaos behind us as we flew off on a shuttle to earth because Zechs thought it was a bit safer for me. "I found out you are going to make an announcement so I followed you all the way here." I beat up a soldier wearing this uniform that I am wearing.

I also drugged him he will be out for a few days.

"You are bold Heero coming all the way here in enemy line to face me."

"To see you."

"Look at you dressed like a.."

"What were you going to say back there." I stood whereas Zechs sat down on a seat while the shuttled roar for take off.

"Does it matter."

"Yes."

"I was going to destroy earth that is my plan but back track when you showed up." Zechs is honest about his answer I made no judgement on his honesty.

"Where are you going now."

"I am taking you some where safe and away."

"And yourself I will stay with you for the time being."

I understood why he would stay with me the whole world at this point on their backs as Zechs declared who he truly was.

"Whatever you did back there you did that because of me didn't you." I asked.

"Yes." His deep voice sounded so truthful I liked that I saw a slither of him coming out like slits of light shining throughout him.

"What would you like me to call you then."

"Zechs is fine."

"We are in... trouble."

"I am in trouble you will be safe." Wow Zechs really pulled the trigger on them.

Good.

"So what do I do now." I knew I sounded lost and that's because I am.

"Sit with me." I sit next to him on the seat beside him.

I never knew what silence was because I never really talked but this is in a whole new category. I didn't want to fill in the silence with cheap talk what we are going through wasn't cheap.

Zechs took off his mask he is wearing and I stared at him I wasn't used to him like this all though I met him as a civilian before but this was different.

Somehow with him revealing himself to the world made this different.

"A phone call for you sir." Someone came with a phone and walked off quickly.

"My friend we have so much to catch up on that was something." Zechs put the phone on speaker I didn't know why.

"Treize I am not alone so please mince your words." Zechs looked at me.

"Oh I am sorry is it the young Heero Yuy with you." We both froze I wasn't expecting that.

".........I.." Zechs hesitated.

"There is no need to be that way with your old friend Zechs." I am shocked I wasn't ready for Treize finding me out.

"Your secret is safe with me Zechs I promise not to say anything to anyone. Well it was a great thing you did back there keep going." Treize is even encouraging him.

"My.... thank you." Whatever Zechs was going to say he dropped it.

I didn't get what was going on with the both of them.

"I supposed you would like a safe place to keep young Heero." Zechs was speechless.

"Yes." Zechs breathed exhaled through his nose.

"I have just the place for the both of you to lay low for a while till. Well you come up with another plan." I was nervous because this wasn't normal.

Well at least I didn't think so he was letting me stay somewhere safe with open arms.

Treize is letting me stay with Zechs this is crazy.

Should I say something I wouldn't thank him or anything just.....

"Just tell me one thing." Treize said in a very charming voice.

"What Treize." Zechs replied.

"Why did you change the course of your announcement why didn't you say it was because of your lover." Trieze asked. I didn't like what he assumed and I was quiet for all this time I made myself known.

"He isn't my lover he's...." Zechs looked at me I didn't mean to kill this type of moment.

"Well whatever Mr. Yuy I need to protect my friend do you understand me the world has no idea you marooned yourself from your little cause." Yes the pilots knew I had every intention of coming here tonight and doing this.

It helped prevent whatever debacle would happen tonight without killing.

"The only thing is that he stays safe." Mostly from himself Zechs isn't suicidal but could get himself in trouble or worse innocent people who get hurt because of him.

"Then this is a start we agree on something then." Trieze said.

"Hn."

As Treize went on with Zechs on the phone I got up and walked down the aisle of the shuttle.

And stood and watched out the window.

That this would be the last chance I would have saving myself from repeating itself again just in time.

I had Amuro and Char to thank for that.

End of part 2. of don't forget me.

[tinyozlion]

The Char Aznable Problem 

Here’s a take for the MS Gundam fans in the audience: Using the Zechs-as-Char analogy will actually hinder you in understanding the finale of Gundam Wing.

I know there are unavoidable reasons for the comparison! Zechs is a deliberate homage, that's not in question. But I’d like to argue that taking Zechs’s actions on their own terms is the only reasonable way to evaluate them. Understanding Char’s Counterattack will certainly make Zechs’s performance more nuanced and recognizable, but expecting him to be the same person with the same copy-pasted goals is to miss the purpose of his character. 

Neither of their goals make sense outside of their respective settings and character arcs, in the same way that MS Gundam and Gundam Wing are related thematically but are both telling very different kinds of stories in different ways.

Zechs doesn’t do a heel-turn and become a Char just because the hand of the franchise swooped in and forced him to; he does a heel turn and puts on a Char Costume (…mask?) because he is playing the villain, and the villain he is playing is Char. 

Why? Because Char from Char’s Counterattack has no place in the universe of Gundam Wing. Standing up and saying Char Stuff™ in After Colony 195 makes you sound like you got the space madness. 

White Fang Milliardo shows up out of nowhere with this new kind of racism he just invented and delivers a treatise about how humans from Space have become biologically superior to humans from Earth within a couple generations... in a setting where Newtypes aren’t a thing. There is no established precedent in AC 195 for declaring that space colonists are a super-evolved utopian master race OTHER than to blatantly manufacture conflict.

 And like... ding ding ding, that’s the point. 

Char from Char’s Counterattack is a complex, disillusioned, flawed man who is trying to make the earth uninhabitable for complex, flawed reasons that he genuinely plans on carrying out.  

Milliardo is a complex, disillusioned, flawed man pretending very hard to want to make the earth uninhabitable because it’s an Ozymandias Gambit intended to galvanize all remaining forces to take part in a war that will ultimately burn through all of their military resources.

 Char from Char’s Counterattack exists in a timeline where the earth is a polluted wasteland, and the space colonies are pristine, self-sustaining eutopias with ten billion people living in them. 

Gundam Wing is a timeline where the earth is pristine, and the space colonies are oppressed dystopian slums with marginal populations still largely dependent on earth’s resources. Staging the KPG 2.0 in this context would be a death sentence for the colonies as well as the people on earth.

Char believes it’s his destiny to punish the people of earth for their selfishness and their inability to change or allow future generations to evolve. Milliardo believes the only thing he’s good for is to rid the world of people like himself, SO that the future generation has a chance to change for the better.

I’ve found that the more I know about MS Gundam, the deeper an appreciation I have for what Wing chose to adapt and where it diverged; I think that some of Wing’s greatest achievements are born from the moments it purposefully broke from its predecessor, and some of its greatest flaws come from when it chose to adapt things that just don't make sense outside of their original context-- I don't necessarily think that Milliardo pretending to be Char is one of those moments.

On the whole, what Wing feels like to me is a poignant echo of the Universal Century, as if we are seeing the reflections, the shared rhythms, of people and struggles across time and reality. Zechs is like a variation of the Char leitmotif transposed into a new composition.

…And anyway, Zechs isn’t even the Char Clone of Gundam Wing. Zechs AND Treize are the Char Clone of Gundam Wing. 

The Red Comet is an ace pilot simultaneously admired and hated for his abilities and the respect he commands as a soldier. He has the luxury of being chivalrous on the battlefield because no one can compete with him, and because his ultimate goals differ from those of the ruthless organization that holds his reigns. He has the burden of a spotless reputation hiding a dark, secret purpose. He eventually turns coat and becomes Quattro, a mentor figure to the talented pilots who idolize him and walk the same path he does. The complexities of war erode his confidence and understanding of what is right, of what is actually worth fighting for in a world where the grind of battle never stops, and the same points have to be made over, and over, and over again, paid for in the blood of young people– people just like him, who he encouraged to fight, who had bright futures ahead of them– each and every time.

The glorious Neo Zeon leader is a wheeling and dealing homme-fatale who can play the game of politics, who knows how to put on an inspiring show for the adoring masses, all while getting what he wants through deceit, charm, treachery, abuse of his charisma, even his sensuality. He is willing to do anything for what he views as the best future for humanity– particularly for the humans he thinks are worthy of that better future, all while knowing he is not one of the chosen ones. He will always carry a seed of self-loathing and insecurity with him. He knows that the version of him that people idolize is only a mirage, but he is willing to use that mirage to steer the future where he believes it should go, sacrificing whoever he needs to for an end that justifies any means.

Zechs is the ace pilot. Treize is the glorious leader. They’re both variations on theme of Char.

Char’s story takes place over the course of his lifetime, spanning multiple series-- Zechs/Milliardo simply doesn’t have time to be everything Char was in the time frame of Wing. Instead his influence is played by two people, representing different eras of his life, existing simultaneously and in coordinated opposition to each other.

Nobody can really be Char except Char, and Char can't really be substituted for Zechs or Treize within their own universe. Even clones grow up differently when they're raised in different environments.

[bobo-is-tha-bomb]

Burn to a Cinder - Chapter 12

Your path had been laid out for you from an early age, allowing you to move into the higher circles of society and catch the attention of one of the most powerful men in the Earth Sphere.

As Treize’s mistress, you watch his rise to power and the disastrous war breaking out on Earth and in Space, putting your loyalty to the test. You are torn between your duty to His Excellency, and your unquellable lust for one of the top soldiers under his command. And when he rises to power in Outer Space, there is nothing you can do but stand back and watch them tear each other apart.

This is no game of hearts, but yours is at stake, and the consequences can be felt for years to come. Labeled as OZ’s whore, you struggle to find your way, only for things to fall apart around you again. But then there is still Zechs, and the undeniable way he makes you feel…

ZechsxReader, TreizexReader

[signofoz]

From Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers

Vol. 10 | Chapter 60

[gremoria411]

While I do agree with your points about suletta and miorine, particularly their contrasting arcs at the minute, I must confess I’m somewhat lost on your last point.

Maybe it’s just that I haven’t seen Gundam Wing in quite a while, but while Char and Zechs are quite different:

In Aesthetics

In personal connection to the main villains - Zechs and Treize being old friends vs. Char haveing been gunning for the Zabi family since essentially day one.

In the precise details of their nobility - Char being concerned primarily with revenge for the death of his father, whereas Zechs seems to have ambitions to restore the Sanc Kingdom to its former glory, he just thinks that he really isn’t the right guy for the job.

In their arcs- Char goes from Rival to Friend to Villain, whereas Zechs goes Rival to Villain to Friend.

They’re generally pretty similar other than that (A young man heir to a kingdom joins the military in disguise in order to avenge the deaths of his family, rivalling the Gundam pilot and meeting someone else he comes to truly care about in the process).

There’s probably a comparison to be made about Char taking control of Neo Zeon and perpetrating the axis drop, versus Zechs/Milliardo leading White Fang and heading up Barge, but for the life of me I can’t remember why Milliardo does that.

My point is, while Char and Zechs are different enough that the change is noticeable, I’m not really sure how the differences between them apply to Prospera.

I just don’t see what Zechs brings to the table that Char doesn’t.

(I should probably mention that when I talk about Char here, it’s primarily a mix of the cunning manipulator presented in the Original Series and the Origin, and the World-weary charisma machine from Char’s counterattack. While I do very much like Quattro Bajeena, I just don’t think he’s relevant here).

I’ve been wondering just who or what was going to be the Caliban of this show. It’ll be interesting to see just what will happen to Suletta now that she has to rely on her own skills as a pilot, and all the stress it entails. Permet scores and all.

It’s also in character for her to come to terms with who and what she is after all that has transpired. Which is a relieve because I would hate to see it dragged out. Miorine, on the other hand, needs her tanuki, ASAP. And a tomato in these trying times.

Prospera going full steam ahead on crimes is strangely artful. That whole scene with her activating Quiet Zero and annihilating the Assembly fleet gave me chills, and also reminded me of later parts of Gundam Wing. Forget Char, she’s more like Zechs.