Trowa Barton (bangmeboy) wrote in romefeller, @ 2009-07-03 01:10:00 |
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"Good evening. This is Brian Erichsen live in the studio in Cinq. We have preempted all other programming to report on the events unfolding in Cinq tonight. Only hours ago, a mobile suit landed near the palace in the capital city. The palace is now burning; all four members of the royal family are missing and believed to be dead at the hands of unknown assassins. Search and rescue dogs are standing by and will be sent in as soon as fire fighters can get the blaze under control. At the scene is Linda Wong, to update us with the latest..."
"This is Linda Wong reporting live in Cinq. There are several thousand people here helping fire fighters remove rubble so they can get into the collapsed portion where they believe most of the bodies will be found. They're bringing out bodies now...oh, God...there's a sheet over the body, but I'd recognize that blonde hair anywhere. They're bringing out Queen Katerina...I'm sorry, Brian. I thought I could do this, but this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do..."
"It's now day three of what's being called "The Fall of Cinq" and our worst fears have been confirmed. The bodies of Crown Prince Milliard and Princess Relena have been recovered and are being removed from the rubble. We can't see the actual bodies from here—as you can see, they're covered with sheets, but rescue workers on the scene have identified these children with the help of Vice Foreign Minister Darlian, who is aiding in the rescue efforts along with the rest of the surviving members of the King's cabinet."
"And there they are! The royal family is waving from the balcony! You can see King Haldør holding the crown prince, who's waving furiously to the crowds—ha ha!—isn't he precious! Just waving for all he's worth. He just celebrated his fifth birthday, and what an event that was! Everywhere else he is called "Prince Milliard," but in Cinq he's known as "Miri," and there's a cute little story to that. Apparently, Princess Relena can't pronounce her brother's name, so when she's asked who he is, she says, "Mee-ree-ard." And so "Miri" he's become. To the right of them is Queen Katerina holding Princess Relena, who, believe it or not, is sleeping through all this! Ahhh! There you see how in love the King and Queen are! They've just kissed, to the cheers of the crowd. They're a very demonstrative couple by European standards, and it's funny that so many thought this marriage wouldn't work because of the age difference. But they obviously adore each other, and are very popular. There are more than a million people here today...they waited for hours just to see the royal family wave from the balcony."
"That's right, Brian, but I think you'll find there are different ways to approach the same problem. Take Cinq, for instance. Centuries ago, Cinq addressed the population problem in Northern Europe through education and financial incentives. They reduced the population to carrying capacity and they've maintained it ever since. By keeping human numbers in line with available resources, they've eliminated poverty, crime and unemployment. The cost of living is high there, but the wage scale more than compensates. In short, Cinq is a country that can afford to be pacifist. They've eliminated all internal conflict."
"Brian, what you're seeing now is the traditional "Rain of Roses" that signals the end of every official ceremony in Cinq. Billions—if not trillions—of these white roses are dropped on the kingdom and flutter down for hours afterward, symbolizing the blessings of the King falling on the people of Cinq. It's considered good luck to catch the roses as they fall, and it's kind of funny to see the people of Cinq, who are all pacifists, you know, practically fighting with each other to collect those roses. And before you ask, Brian, the reason these roses don't hurt anyone on the way down is that the roses are pacifists, too. Ha ha! They have no thorns, as you can see from this one I'm holding. These roses were developed for the royal family centuries ago to symbolize the pacifism of the Cinq people. They have a light, sweet scent, not heavy like other roses. They're cut to about half their full length, and they're very light. Simply beautiful. This is one of the most beautiful customs in this land of beautiful traditions."
"Brian, this is quite accurately billed as "The World's Biggest Parade!" and for Cinq, that's saying something. Everything in this country is larger than life. This is probably the wealthiest nation in the galaxy, and the slogan here is, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it!" And I know that's true from some of the baubles I've bought while I've been here the last few days. Let me give you some of the statistics: there are more than 200 elephants here today because Crown Prince Miri loves elephants. There are close to 100 marching bands, 75 floats, 110 balloons, some 50 celebrity performers and even an entire circus in this parade! All of this to celebrate the second birthday of Her Royal Highness, Princess Relena...and here she is, sitting in her mother's lap, just loving this parade! In front of her you can see King Haldør with Prince Miri and Lord Treize Khushrenada, who turned 10 just last week."
Miri: Papa, play hide 'n seek with me!
Haldør: (only slightly irritated) Miri, you know you're not supposed to be in my office.
Miri: I won't tell anyone if you won't, Papa...
Haldør: (laughs)
Miri: Please, Papa...won't you play with me?
Haldør: (pushes papers on his desk) All right. You go in the closet, Miri, and start counting. I'll be out here, hiding.
Miri: (excitedly runs into the closet behind the desk) Okay, Papa. (begins counting)
Haldør: Wait! You're counting too fast! I'm an old man—I need time to hide. Count in...German.
Miri: (in closet) But, Papa! You know I can't count very well in German yet...
Haldør: (pleased) Perfect!
Miri: Ein...zwei...zwei...Papa, are you sure you're hiding? You don't sound like you're hiding...
Haldør: (smiling) I promise you, Miri, I'll be hidden by the time you get to 20.
Miri: 20? Oh...no...
Haldør: (laughs)
Miri: Ein...zwei...zwei...drei...um...hnnn...four...
Haldør: Ah, Miri! It sounds something like four, remember?
Miri: (thinks very seriously for a moment) Four...four...vier?
Haldør: Very good!
Miri: (pleased) Ein, zwei, drei, vier...fünf?
Haldør: Good boy! That was a hard one.
Miri: (counts on his fingers such as he can in the dark of the closet) Ein, zwei, drei, vier, fünf...fünf...six...
Haldør: (chuckling) Sounds a lot like six...but with a z...
Miri: (thinking) Six...zix...oh! Sechs?
Haldør: That's it!
Miri: Ah! Let's see...ein...zwei...drei...Papa, you still don't sound like you're hiding...
Haldør: I promise I am. I'm just signing some papers first. You keep counting.
Miri: Hmm...ein...zwei...drei...vier...fünf...sechs...
(a loud crash outside interrupts the game. The doomed king gestures behind his back as he rises from his seat.)
Miri: Papa?
Haldør: Stay in the closet, Miri! And keep silent!
(men in camouflage suits pour into the room)
Haldør: Who are you? What do you want?!
Man with gun: I want you dead. (pulls trigger, then flees the room as the King falls backward, a bullet in his brain)
Miri: (terrified) Papa?
"For those just joining us I'll try to bring you up to date on the unbelievable events of this afternoon. As you know, today was the celebration of the second birthday of Princess Relena Peacecraft. The royal family attended a parade, which ended around 4:00. Shortly after 4:30, a mobile suit landed near the palace, collapsing one of the towers on the west side. This side of the building is where the Queen and the royal children are believed to have been. Rescue workers are trying to dig through the rubble to reach them, but a fire is hindering their progress. As many as thirty servants are believed to have been gunned down by men in camouflage suits in the first five minutes of the attack. Linda Wong has been covering this story for us—she's on the roof of the building directly across the street from the palace. Linda?"
"Andrew, so few cars. Do you know if anyone else survived?"
"Possibly, Your Grace. I know that Darlian left in a car with some servants and a few other people, but we've had no contact with him since then."
"Quickly, Andrew! Do you have him?"
"We found him, Madame Khushrenada. I wish we could say the same of his sister."
"Oh, my god! Andrew, you could have changed his shirt!"
"He wouldn't let us, Madame."
"It's Papa's blood, Papa's blood!"
Oh, Miri. You've seen things no one should ever have to see.
"Please, Your Highness—let us change your shirt!"
"No! Papa's blood!"
"Miri," I pleaded, "if you keep wearing that shirt...you'll get stains on it...and your papa's blood will be ruined. Why don't you let me take your shirt? We'll keep it just as it is now...never wash it...and it will always have your papa's blood...okay? I promise! Please, Miri..."
"Good morning. This is Brian Erichsen at the news desk in Cinq on what is probably the saddest day in Cinq history. Today beginning at 10 am is the state funeral for the royal family, tragically killed in an attack on the Palace last Saturday. We will be preempting all other programming on most of these stations in order to cover the event."
"There are four carriages, each carved from black oak. These horses drawing the carriages are called "Shires," the largest horses in existence. All draped in black. The crystal carriages are not actually from Cinq; they're from the Kingdom of Sweden, brought here for this one event, and will be returned after the funeral. As you can see, they're called "crystal carriages" because of the beautifully carved glass. The King's body is in the first carriage, followed by Queen Katerina, then Prince Miri, then Princess Relena. And Brian, I think it's the sight of those last two carriages that's the hardest to take."
"The hearses are now en route while the cathedral fills and the children's choir sings the opening hymn. There are more than 100 celebrities here today, and Sonja Lund, Queen Katerina's favorite performer, came out of retirement to sing at this event."
"Just to update you on a side story we've been following...about a half-dozen people have been scaling the face of the Cathedral of St. Kyria where the Peacecrafts are to be buried. This cathedral is one of the tallest structures in the town, a little taller than Notre Dame. They've now unfurled an enormous banner, which reads "Remember the Peacecrafts" in letters about three meters tall—and the people below, several million now, are cheering them. And that pretty much is the sentiment here today, Brian...remember the Peacecrafts."
"Brian, it is now truly sunset for the King of Cinq. The cannons are still firing, and the sun is setting behind me as the carriages bearing the four coffins of the royal family head toward the Cathedral of St. Kyria in the Kebnekaise mountains. They're not going to be buried in the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the traditional resting place for the Peacecrafts, as it's believed that war is coming to Cinq for the first time in centuries. That cathedral is thousands of years old, and will probably not withstand an aerial attack, so the royal family will be cemented into the wall of St. Kyria's until after whatever comes to pass. In the background behind me I can still hear the bells of Pfaltz-Zweibrücken ringing, and they will continue ringing until midnight tonight. At the front of your screen, if we could turn the camera just a little—that's it—you can see the people of Cinq...literally millions of people dropping to one knee as the hearses go by. Oh, there it goes. What you're seeing now is quite probably the very last "Rain of Roses" you will ever see in your lifetime. Billions of Peacecraft roses are falling from the sky, the very last blessings of a beloved king falling on the people of Cinq. We've counted some 20 limousines following the hearses...the first one, of course, is the Khushrenadas', and we can now see the window of that car rolling down and the little hands of Dorothy Catalonia and Treize Khushrenada reaching out to catch some of those roses. The children's choir is in the cathedral, singing the national anthem, very slowly and very somberly. As mournful as this must look to you, it's even more so when you're actually here. I can hear crying, Brian, and we have reports here that at least two people have committed suicide in the past week. I doubt that the people of Cinq will forget this day any time soon. [muffled static] These are sad days, Brian. I'm sorry. I have tears in my eyes right now and I'm having trouble speak..."
"Take your time, Linda."
"Than...thank you, Brian. I'm sorry; this is so unprofessional of me. But I'll tell you something. I've been reporting news stories for years, many of them very tragic, but this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. I hope I never have to go through a week like this again. This is Linda Wong, signing off."