There are two epilogues for ANATEXIS, each of which explores a different ending.
Epilogue - Possibility A
WINTER HISTORY PRESENTATION: "Charismatic Characters of the War of Liberation"
Avoiding the tired old 20th Century World Wars and the troubles of AC 102-130, I've chosen as the focus of my assignment the War Of Liberation, AC 204 (World Nation Reckoning Year 8). Some might argue that such a recent conflict constitutes memory, not history, but I beg to differ. For my generation, the World Nation is a name only familiar from books and films, not personal experience. And yet it exerts its influence on our lives still. The system of government today, separate nations under Chairman Kevin Raleigh's umbrella Council, is something obviously inherited from the World Nation, when regional governments were controlled by the Dictator in Brussels. Even the regional boundaries have remained the same.
Dramatisations of the events of 25 years ago have been hugely popular. I confess I was like the average moviegoer, happily accepting the "World Nation bad, Unified Council good" view. But then I noticed that though all the films similarly featured a cast of thousands, the characters were two-dimensional, almost cartoon-like figures only differentiable by their outward appearances. We had Good vs Evil, with Good triumphing. Convinced that the movies had taken liberties with the true facts, I devoted myself to studying Quatre R. Winner's surprisingly frank account of the times, "Those Who Cried".
What emerges is the surprising background behind the 'Good Guys'. A notable example is former Chairwoman Sally Po, who was closely linked (some suspect romantically) with the accepted 'Bad Guy' of popular history, Chang Wufei. Respected Senior Council Member Relena Peacecraft Darlian was a close companion and adviser to Dictator Mariemaia Barton Khushrenada for seven years. In many ways, fact is so much more interesting than fiction. Few would have suspected that blonde heroine Dorothy Catalonia went on to feature in a controversial trial that stretched out over years - though acquitted, till this day no-one is absolutely sure that she did not murder her faithless husband Leroy Wescott.
But besides those who have taken luminous positions at the helm, many have gone missing. Duo Maxwell, the famed 'man who shot Chang Wufei' entered rehabilitation for six months before disappearing from the hospital. Not long after Heero Yuy's body (still in its suspension tank to recover from the massive injuries inflicted in the war that brought Mariemaia Khushrenada to power) also went missing. For Zechs Merquise and Lucrezia Noin, their whereabouts have been unknown for close to 20 years now. The media circus has recently latched onto two unlikely candidates living on the reconstructed former prison colony PK-23. Even if they are the real Zechs and Noin, heroes in their mid-fifties are decidedly unglamorous compared to their youthful onscreen counterparts.
One character has retained his glamour over a quarter century, and he is none other than the ill-fated Colonel Chang himself. The photographs and paintings don't do him justice. To truly get the feel of his physical presence, you have to go to the Brussels War Museum - he is perfectly preserved in his glass coffin there, down to the slightest hint of a frown on his face. His expression is not troubled, only serious.
The first visit to his last resting place was an unnerving one for me, because one is immediately struck by how alive he looks. Indeed that might be one reason why his remains were not desecrated, as might be expected for a villain of such proportions as the films portray him. He seems only to be sleeping, not dead, and it is shocking to learn how close he came to escaping death. According to archived records, Chang Wufei was still breathing at the moment of his arrival in Beijing (borne by Altron Gundam, under the remote control of Heero Yuy). This, despite damage to the aorta and the heart itself. A doubtful attempt was made at surgery, and it was on the operating table that he expired.
With him died an age. There are no excuses for the tyranny of the regime, but at the same time we must not let our minds be clouded by the fact that the Colonel was an extraordinary man, one of incredible ability and charisma, whose 1st Mobile Suit Division was not simply a gang of military jackals. Their motto was 'Honour and Justice', and within the loyalty to the World Nation, they kept it. He was a man who could well have seized rule for himself, but preferred to serve a cause.
Another hundred years might pass before we remove ourselves further from our biases. By then, Chang Wufei may be seen as the hero, not the villain. For it is characters such as the Colonel's which make battle glorious, a soldier made immortal at 24. Wars create fame. Peace creates obscurity.
8th February AC 229
Aleck Sands