The crew of the General Revil was called to the mess hall of the ship
shortly after Kai Shiden's spectacular desertion. Bright Noah was the last
to arrive, and the darkening bruise across the left side of his face made
it perfectly clear that the brass considered this his fault. He took his
place at the front of the room.
"I'll first confirm the rumour. Jion operatives got to Kai Shiden, who helped them escape with Sayla Mass, two GMs and the Gundam Amuro had just finished. A Zanzibar gave us the slip and presumably headed back for Side 3. As this was happening, a message came in from Queen Kishiria, saying that she considered the unlawful seizure of a member of the Royal Family to be an act of hostility upon the Kingdom of Jion, and that this attack on Side 7 was their retaliation. The Federation will, of course, be responding in kind. Our orders are to proceed to Kyonpei Island and wait for further instructions."
"Who's going to replace Kai as a pilot?" Amuro asked.
Bright looked to the blond and curly-haired tech. "Job John, you've flown a GM. Are you up to it?"
"Up to it?" Job's hangdog expression brightened a little, "Through the war, I've been a tech, a radar operator, a tail gunner and a pilot. Stand in for Kai? I could probably stand in for God if I had to."
"Well I'm not going anywhere," Bright responded dryly. "Glad to hear you're so confident. Now, Amuro. Those Jeeks took your Gundam. What backup do you have?"
"My plan B? Oh, they took that," Amuro said, smiling a little. "Plan A. is still safely bunkered underground. The Gundam they took was a good machine, and I'm proud of it, but I'd been done with that for weeks. It was supposed to be sent to Earth. After what happened the first time on Side 7 with the first three Gundam prototypes, I kept Columbia underground, away from any spy satellites."
"Columbia?"
"That's what I call this Gundam, after my home province of British Columbia."
"I hate to sound like Kai, but you can just pull those things out of your ass, can't you?" Hayato asked.
Amuro shrugged, smirking.
#####
Sayla slept fitfully for a good 24 hours. Kai stayed faithfully by her side, soothing her when she started to whimper in her sleep. She finally awakened, bathed, ate, and took an interest in her surroundings.
"To use one of your favourite phrases, holy crap!" Sayla looked at a bearskin that looked back at her. She put a t-shirt over the face.
"Yeah, our rescuer's quite the character. I think Jion's going to be a scream. Everybody seems to be trying to out-flash each other."
"How long till we arrive?"
"About five days. Maybe six, it depends on how much sneaking around this ship has to do as we near Earth, and I think it's going to be a lot. We'll move into our own cabin and take it easy for now. Pretend it's a really boring cruise or something. They have a pool table, and I've been wanting to teach you how to play."
Sayla looked alarmed. "You were working on a book! Kai, have you lost all that now?"
Kai picked up his uniform tunic and reached into a pocket. He showed her a diskette. "I never leave home without it. Especially since I seem to get grabbed and taken to unexpected places. Let me tell you, it's going to have one heck of a sequel."
They spent the next few days "vegetating" as he'd suggested; playing pool, reading, and making love. When they finally docked at Side 3, there was a familiar figure in red waiting for them.
"Casval!" Sayla let go of Kai's hand and raced into her brother's arms. Char hugged her closely, stroking her hair, telling her that the nightmare was over, that she was safe. Eventually she let go and pointed to her companion. "Casval...I mean, Char, this is Kai Shiden, my boyfriend."
Char looked him up and down and didn't seem pleased. Fortunately, Cima joined them just then and said, "General, having worked with this man, I can attest to his good character."
"Your intentions towards my sister are honourable?" Char asked.
"Char," Sayla interjected, "you're talking about someone who just gave up everything he had for me. Rather a high price for a fling, don't you think? Besides, I snared him, not the other way around."
Cima snickered behind them. Char looked distinctly uncomfortable and finally said, "There's an apartment waiting for you at the palace and then you can go looking for clothes. Kishiria's lending you her professional shopper."
"What about me?"
"You're a guy, aren't you? You don't want to be on that expedition." Char pulled out his wallet and gave him a sheaf of bills.
"Wow. That's quite a handful of dead Zabis."
Sayla looked at the money. "That's not a Zabi. That's my father." Kai found a new bill with that portrait on it and handed it to her.
"I'm impressed," Cima told Sayla. "You've been together what, eight weeks, and already you've trained him to hand you his money. Great work."
"Sayla, I have to go to a meeting now," Char told her. "I'll see you for dinner, all right?" They hugged again and he returned to his own car as a Zabi house limo arrived for them.
#####
An hour later, Char and Gato were at the front of a smaller auditorium as mobile suit pilots streamed in. "I have no idea who most of these people are," Gato whispered to his general.
"The last survivors of A Bao A Qu," Char said. "A good number of Earth Occupation veterans as well. We might not have many, but at least we know we have the best. Or the luckiest. Ah. There's my second wingman now. Captain Duarte!"
A compact, black-haired man whose bronze skin pointed to his Nahua roots came down the stairs. He was clad in a brown Earth Attack force uniform and saluted smartly. "Sir!"
"Commander Anavel Gato, I'd like you to meet Captain Octavio Duarte Gonzalez, commander of the Royal Cuauhtemocs. Originally from Neo-Aztlan, they stood between our North American holdings and South America until November."
"Three teams survive until today," Duarte said. "However, I understand you want me and Commander Gato here for your personal team?"
"That's right, and I will explain."
Gato was peering at Duarte. "Your group is the one that does that branding ritual as an initiation, right?"
"It's true, but I wish we were known for more than just that," Duarte complained. "We lost four pilots at A Bao A Qu. Four, out of 12. But one body modification and people focus on it instead."
"Both of you, take your seats," Char said. "Kishiria's coming."
One of Kishiria's personal guard stepped into the room. "Please rise in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Kishiria."
They did, and Char gave the order to salute. Kishiria entered, mask raised, helmet on. Cima Garahau was at her side.
"It's been eight months since our ignominious defeat at A Bao A Qu," Kishiria began. "Since then, we've been forced to retract what should be our rightful borders to the limits of the colonies remaining to us. That is now going to change. Solomon was the first of our sentry bases to fall to the Federation, and now we are going to take it back. We call the plan to do this 'Operation Maitres Chez Nous'. Masters of our Own House. General Garahau will explain."
The newly promoted Garahau went to the projector. She called up a map of Solomon, A Bao A Qu, and Side 3. "Here's Solomon today. It's functioning much the same way as it when we held it. The Federation moved in and pretty much left everything as it was. They didn't do any renovations, probably for lack of funds, and quite frankly, haven't been using the base up to its full potential. This is a fortunate thing for us, because if they had, they easily could have launched an attack directly on Side 3 by now. Our goal is that they never have that chance.
"With the help of an inside operative, we can soften up Solomon for an attack. The plan is this. A small strike force will move on the base. By that I mean three MS teams and the Princess Kishiria marines. We have to keep the size of the initial force small so that they can effectively sneak up on Solomon. What's going to make it possible for them to seize it are our operatives inside, who an hour before will have uploaded a script to seal up every computer-operated door on the base. It'll be necessary to blow the hangar doors open as a result, whereupon the marines will secure the area, allowing for our real fleet to appear. There shouldn't be much of a fight left. One of the reasons we've chosen to attack sooner rather than later is because our friends in the Federation have been stockpiling nerve gas. Isn't that nice? So we're going to turn it on them instead. With the doors locked and the base population unable to move freely towards their normal suits, a couple of canisters of that released into the air should quiet them down quickly. There will be survivors of course, but it's going to be much easier to subdue them and take the station."
Kishiria spoke up next. "This is why we've re-shuffled some of the teams, putting the three best pilots together into one, followed by the others. We want a strike led by men who we know can take down whole Federation battleships, and we want them to be there on Solomon first for when and if the counterattack happens. Personally, I fully expect one, but we could be surprised. From the information culled by Intelligence, it appears the Federation is in considerably worse financial shape than we are, so if we take Solomon it's possible they may just decide to let us have it. If so, wonderful. We could potentially just move from there to A Bao A Qu again, by force or possibly even diplomacy depending how bad things are on Earth." A lower officer began handing out binders containing the fine details of the plan. As he received his, Char looked up at Kishiria and sent the message, {Your Majesty? May I speak to you in private for a moment about this?}
Kishiria's eyes met his and she left the room, trailed a moment later by Char. Alone in the hallway, Char said, "I don't think we should use the poison gas, even if it is their own."
"Why not?"
"Because we want to keep the moral high ground. We lost it completely last year. We went from being revolutionaries who wanted their own country and nothing else to genocidal monsters. I think in the long run it's best to have a harder fight now and less moral repercussions later when we want people to trade with us and immigrate here."
Good job, Char, he thought to himself. That sounded plausible. Let's see if she bites.
"Who's to say we let out the gas? Accidents happen. Perhaps their upper officers decided to kill themselves and all their troops rather than face defeat at our hands again."
"Feddies don't think like that."
Kishiria always managed to look far more annoyed with her mask on than without. "While I can see your point, I don't know yet if it is worth a harder fight in the tight confines of a space station." She reached down for her cell phone and tapped in the number to page Cima. The new head of intelligence soon joined them.
"General Garahau, General Aznable suggests that perhaps you have your operatives not use the poison gas after all."
Garahau wasn't a New Type, but her thoughts hit Char like a freight train. A jumble of images, including running over to Char and kissing him, entered his mind. Also a fragment of nightmare about dying civilians. Finally, a less clear image of a Jion bloodbath inside Solomon. Nonetheless, her expression remained impassive.
"Personally, I'd rather we didn't. However, my...personal preferences aren't at issue here. If we don't kill the staff from inside, we face the possibility of having to take the battle corridor by corridor, room by room. That idea is much more fearsome to me than having more of a weight on my conscience than I already do."
So you do have a soul in there, Char thought to himself. He decided he'd keep that secret, for now.
"Could we come up with a compromise plan?" Char asked. "These operatives of yours. How did they get in? How well do they know the base computer systems? How can we use them best?"
Cima considered. "They're not actually mine, they were Giren's. That in itself is a concern, but from what I understand of these particular spies, I don't think it needs to top our list. He called them the Rockfish, because they just lie on the floor looking like part of the landscape until they bite. When Solomon was taken, they didn't have to return there because they never left. They melded into the Federation forces and stayed put. Sociopaths, each and every one, but ready to launch any number of hacker attacks at a moment's notice. Hence, the denial-of-service attack on the doors."
"But you think they're effective enough that they could lock in most of the Feddies, allowing for an easier invasion?"
"I believe so. Giren didn't hire idiots, just sociopaths. But again, it's going to make the invasion much, much bloodier. Do you want that on your head?"
Char raised his chin slightly. "I'll go in first. I'm sure Gato will agree without thinking about it. Duarte's more thoughtful, but his style of warfare is oriented more towards taking prisoners than killing the enemy anyway. I think he'll agree. Kishiria?"
Kishiria lowered her head, concealing her expression behind her mask and the visor of her helmet. When she looked up again, she said, "Very well. I'm not as sure about it as you two are, but I'll admit that footage on the news of unopened cans of Federation-owned nerve gas will be damning to our enemies. Perhaps there will be revolts on Earth. That'd be something."
Cima nodded. "Thank you, Kishiria."
The three re-entered the room. "There's been a change of plans."
#####
For the next week, Char, Gato, and Duarte trained together 12 hours a day, every day. Char came home exhausted each night to Kishiria, who wasn't doing much better. If she was in their rooms at all, she'd be surrounded by her entourage, occupied with work of her own with Ti-Cas in a cradle beside her.
The evening before Operation Maitres Chez Nous arrived. Duarte left with the Royal Cuauhtemocs, for their "usual ceremonies" he said. Char stayed around the mecha longer, as did Gato and Estenbach. When Char felt he'd reached the point of diminishing returns, he floated over to Gato's Zaku and said, "I'm going home. I suggest you two do the same. I want my wingman and his mechanic to be fresh in the morning."
"I don't need much sleep," Gato said.
"Tomorrow we leave for battle. Surely you'd like to spend a few hours doing something other than hanging around a Zaku."
"I know I'd like to," Iserina told him. "I'm not facing tomorrow without eating chocolate tonight."
"Well, if you want company..."
Char smiled. "You kids have fun. Be here at 0500 tomorrow. Me, I have a wife and baby to visit."
Some hours later, Char was tucked in bed, holding Kishiria in his arms. "As soon as you leave for Solomon, I'll be watching from the war room," Kishiria said, "I'll--"
Char pressed his fingertips against her lips. "No shop talk now."
Kishiria nodded. She cuddled against her husband for a moment, then said, "I want to try something."
"Okay."
"We're both New Types. I've heard about these New Type gestalts, where their minds meet. I want to try."
Char felt his heart freeze in his chest. "You want to be like Lalla Sun."
"What?"
Char realized that Kishiria had no idea what he was talking about. She had been asking in the most general way, completely unaware of the telepathic union that had formed between himself, Amuro Rey, and Lalla just before she had died. The memory was the most painful one in his life and he didn't want to go near it.
"Never mind. It's not something I want to do."
"Char, everything depends on this attack on Solomon. You could be killed. We could lose. If that happens, I'm sure to be executed by the Federation. Hamaan has orders to take Ti-Cas to Axis where he'll be safe, at least. I don't want to face that kind of tragedy without experiencing that kind of intimacy with you."
"In other words, you don't want to die a New Type virgin."
"You're my husband, Char. As far as I'm concerned, we've got a license to do this."
Perhaps this would overwhelm the tragic memory. "All right then. We don't need to be touching, but since we already are...."
Char gazed into the grey of Kishiria's eyes; she focused on the blue of his. It was hard for him to bring down the emotional barriers he'd so carefully structured during his life, but after a moment he could feel Kishiria struggling to do the same thing. They were getting somewhere.
Then they were standing in the open field in which Char had met his father. Char looked down at Kishiria and was startled by what he saw. The warrior queen of Jion was a fairy-tale princess in her own mind, dressed in a pink (PINK!) satin dress with a crown atop her loose-flowing red hair. At her hip, though, was a wicked-looking sword with a sweat-stained grip, encased in a well-oiled sheath. He could see black laced boots peeking from beneath the hem of her gown.
Through Kishiria's point of view, Char saw that he was in his red and black uniform as always, with slightly longer hair and a more youthful appearance.
"You are CUTE," Kishiria said to him. "Is this it?"
"This is it."
"I was expecting something more exotic."
"Well your dead brothers might come skipping from behind that hill."
"That'd be exotic," Kishiria agreed. "Disturbing, maybe. Although I'd certainly like to see Garma again."
"Kishiria." Char took her hands in his own. "You didn't do this just to have a look around, did you?"
"No. I knew that here, I wouldn't have to physically say the things I want to tell you before this battle. There are some things I just don't want to trust to my tongue, because I might say them wrongly."
Char nodded, urging her to continue.
Unable to squirm away from her thoughts or lie about them here, Kishiria began, "Thank you for being my husband. Thank you for giving me the child I've wanted since I was a teenager. Thank you for being the fellow soldier at my back during the day and the lover in my arms at night. I know you led my brother Garma into a confrontation with White Base, but I believe you when you say his death was his own choice. Impossible as it sounds, you've made it up to me. I'm sure I'd still be queen without you, but it'd be an emptier and colder reign. I love you, Char Aznable."
Char smiled widely. "I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that I didn't kill you. You've given me the home and family I didn't know I wanted. You're frustrating, fascinating, terrifying me one minute and cuddling up to me the next. If Solomon doesn't fall to us, I want you to go with Ti-Cas to Axis. The Federation must not have you." He squeezed her hands tightly. "Promise me that, Kishiria."
"I am a pragmatist," Kishiria said. "If we cannot take Solomon, I'm sure Side 3 will revert to being the Republic of Munzo. I will go to Axis with our son, Char. There might as well be a place for free Jions somewhere."
Char frowned. "Why am I suddenly so hungry?"
"That's not you. That's Ti-Cas. You're feeling his hunger through me. I'd better go feed him."
She concentrated on waking up, but Char said, "Wait. I'm not letting you leave without saying that I love you, too."
"I know." Kishiria smiled, and the next moment, they were sitting in their bed. Kishiria rose and walked naked down the hall to the nursery, then returned carrying the baby. She got back under the covers and Char had her lean back against him.
Six hours until he had to leave for Solomon. Char held his family in his arms and silently vowed that for their sake, he would not fail.
#####
Iserina and Gato sat in his one-bedroom apartment, finishing up a fast food dinner. "Good lord, you can put away a lot of food, woman," he commented to her.
Iserina, who had eaten dessert as her first course, finished off her double cheeseburger and continued to work on her shake. "If I'm going to die, I'm doing it with a stomach full of yummy food that's bad for me. It's not like I eat this kind of thing every day."
Gato was watching her intently. "So tell me. What are you fighting for?"
Iserina looked up. "Does it matter, as long as we're on the same side?"
"It does to me."
Iserina dabbed french fries in ketchup. "At first, I joined the Jion side to avenge Garma's death. Not against anyone concrete mind you. I just wanted to take my pain and my anger and throw them at the world in general."
"That makes for a lousy soldier."
"Maybe, but it didn't last long, you see. I fell in love again."
"Who was this second fellow?"
"Wasn't a fellow. I fell in love with mobile suits, although I've flown Garma's old Dopp and loved that too. That's why I took over Garma's Zaku. They needed a pilot for it, and I was happy to oblige. I think that Zaku saved my sanity. Thing is, I also came to really like the people I was fighting with, and they became my motivation. Frankly, I am pretty apolitical. I always have been, or I never would have been able to fall in love with Garma."
"So you feel nothing for the cause of Jion independence?"
"Oh, I do! Living under a monster father as I did, who wouldn't let me do so much as cut my hair," Iserina fluffed her short locks, "I identified with the cause very strongly. It lost a lot of my respect with Operation British, but then I met Garma, who had his own philosophies about Earth and the colonies living in a mutually advantageous situation."
"What a very strange man he must have been."
"He was weird, but I loved him and just about everyone else who met him did too. So what about you, Anavel?" One of Iserina's hands was slipping behind Gato's head.
Gato jumped slightly. No one ever called him by his first name.
"I believe in the cause of Jion independence. I was until recently under the sway of a man who believed that to achieve independence we had to follow Prince Giren. I decided that putting the political philosophies of a dead man ahead of the needs of our people was twisted. When I was invited back here, I accepted."
"Good call. It's always better to serve the living than the dead."
"What are you doing back there?"
"Untying the ribbon that's holding your ponytail. I want to see what you look like with your hair down." Iserina pulled her hand back, drawing the red ribbon along with it. Gato's hair parted naturally in the middle and fell down around his face. Iserina reached out to arrange it slightly.
"Just a second." Gato got up and walked down the hall. He came back carrying a hairbrush and wordlessly handed it to her. He sat on the floor in front of Iserina and she began brushing his mid-back-length mane. He'd washed his hair early the day before, she estimated, inhaling the scent of him as she drew the brush through the strands over his right ear. She moved above it, pulling the brush down again, apologizing when he grunted because the brush caught in a snarl. Iserina sank her fingers into the silky mass, holding his hair back as she brushed to the end. She stopped to massage Gato's scalp a little before starting on the hair over his left ear. Pulling the brush back turned his head towards her.
"Did you really ask me here to ask about my politics?" Iserina asked.
"Did you come over to talk about them?"
"No." Iserina drew the brush through Gato's hair one more time. Gato reached up to stroke her cheek, then kiss her. She felt afraid at first, but it passed in a second or two. When they broke apart, Iserina gazed into those cool hazel eyes and knew that if this man survived Solomon, it was time to start over.
The next morning, Iserina awakened to the smell of coffee and the sensation of its heat in her nose. She opened her eyes to find a cup being waved gently under her nostrils. Anavel was smiling down at her, his hair loose, clad in a bathrobe.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." He placed the cup on the nightstand.
"Morning." Iserina sat up, wearing a flannel shirt he'd loaned her. "We have to be on post in an hour."
"I know, and I made us some breakfast." He exited the bedroom and returned with some toasted bagels. He sat on the bed with her and they ate silently, aware of the passage of time. Afterwards, they took turns in the shower and dressed. Iserina watched as Gato brushed his hair back severely and tied it in his usual tail.
"How do you feel?" Iserina asked.
"Excited. I'm going back to Solomon and this time, I'm finishing the job." He grinned over his shoulder at her. "We're going to win, Iserina. Aznable's a good man and a great commander. The Feddies haven't got a chance."
Iserina didn't feel nearly as sure, but she decided not to mention it. Her expression must have given her away though, because Gato took her face in his hands and said, "I know Garma went into battle and never returned. I will. Don't worry."
"It's not only that. We were the last ground troops in the United States. It was hard and depressing and I guess it left me a little pessimistic."
"This is going to be different. You'll see." He took her hand. "We'd better go."
At the palace, Kishiria was wrapped in her dressing gown, watching Char dress. A knock came on the door, and Kishiria let Sayla in. She was in the turtleneck and slacks which had become her standard outfit. Char came over to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"I wanted to see you off," Sayla told him. "Kai and I will be watching the news. Is anyone using the captured Gundam?"
"No, it's being studied. I'll be the one in the red Gelgoog."
She nodded, her expression almost as worried as Kishiria's. Char went over to Ti-Cas's crib and picked him up. Kishiria and Sayla could "hear" him saying something telepathically to him, but it was for Ti-Cas's "ears" only. He put the baby back, then hugged Sayla warmly.
"Look after Kishiria for me, okay?"
"Okay." Sayla released him and Char went over to Kishiria for a longer embrace and passionate kiss. Something had changed their relationship, Sayla observed. There was certainly no ambiguity in their feelings for each other now. That made her glad, and she prayed desperately that her brother would not have finally built himself a home only to have his life snuffed out right after.
The first nine mobile suits were already loaded onto the two Zanzibar-class ships headed for Solomon. The personnel joined them and they moved out.
Many hours later, with Solomon becoming visible through a sea of war debris, Iserina hunkered down over the diagnostic computer for the Zaku. She realized she was as concerned for its well-being as its pilot's. She supervised closely as its weapons and ammo were loaded, finding security in her control over the procedure.
Iserina looked down as the pilots came streaming out from their briefing. General Aznable led the pack and she watched as he launched himself into his Gelgoog. Gato landed behind her.
"Everything all right?"
"This mobile suit could not be in better condition, Commander."
"I'll try to bring it back in the same shape as I'm finding it."
Gato was beaming happily as he fastened his helmet, He started to step into the cockpit, then turned towards her.
"Iserina, do you have a picture of Prince Garma with you?"
"Yes."
"May I bring it with me?"
"Why?"
"Because this is his mobile suit, and he should be flying it to victory. I would like the honour of helping him do it."
Iserina took out her wallet and removed a photo. Gato smiled when he saw that it showed her along with Garma. "Better still," he commented, and slid the picture into a secure corner of his console.
He took his seat and Iserina used fussing with his seatbelts as an excuse to get close enough to Gato to kiss him one last time. "Good luck, Anavel."
"Garma and I fight for your honour, milady."
She withdrew and he closed the cockpit. She slapped the door twice and backed her tech's platform away.
The mechanics and technicians stepped back so that the hangar doors could be opened to space. Char Aznable's suit led the way, followed by the other eight machines. They all watched in silence until the doors closed again behind the last mobile suit.
"Briefing in five, room three, for instructions on backup," said the Chief.
Iserina was the last straggler, gazing out towards space. "Take care of him, Garma", she pleaded to her lost love, and went to join the others.
"I'll first confirm the rumour. Jion operatives got to Kai Shiden, who helped them escape with Sayla Mass, two GMs and the Gundam Amuro had just finished. A Zanzibar gave us the slip and presumably headed back for Side 3. As this was happening, a message came in from Queen Kishiria, saying that she considered the unlawful seizure of a member of the Royal Family to be an act of hostility upon the Kingdom of Jion, and that this attack on Side 7 was their retaliation. The Federation will, of course, be responding in kind. Our orders are to proceed to Kyonpei Island and wait for further instructions."
"Who's going to replace Kai as a pilot?" Amuro asked.
Bright looked to the blond and curly-haired tech. "Job John, you've flown a GM. Are you up to it?"
"Up to it?" Job's hangdog expression brightened a little, "Through the war, I've been a tech, a radar operator, a tail gunner and a pilot. Stand in for Kai? I could probably stand in for God if I had to."
"Well I'm not going anywhere," Bright responded dryly. "Glad to hear you're so confident. Now, Amuro. Those Jeeks took your Gundam. What backup do you have?"
"My plan B? Oh, they took that," Amuro said, smiling a little. "Plan A. is still safely bunkered underground. The Gundam they took was a good machine, and I'm proud of it, but I'd been done with that for weeks. It was supposed to be sent to Earth. After what happened the first time on Side 7 with the first three Gundam prototypes, I kept Columbia underground, away from any spy satellites."
"Columbia?"
"That's what I call this Gundam, after my home province of British Columbia."
"I hate to sound like Kai, but you can just pull those things out of your ass, can't you?" Hayato asked.
Amuro shrugged, smirking.
#####
Sayla slept fitfully for a good 24 hours. Kai stayed faithfully by her side, soothing her when she started to whimper in her sleep. She finally awakened, bathed, ate, and took an interest in her surroundings.
"To use one of your favourite phrases, holy crap!" Sayla looked at a bearskin that looked back at her. She put a t-shirt over the face.
"Yeah, our rescuer's quite the character. I think Jion's going to be a scream. Everybody seems to be trying to out-flash each other."
"How long till we arrive?"
"About five days. Maybe six, it depends on how much sneaking around this ship has to do as we near Earth, and I think it's going to be a lot. We'll move into our own cabin and take it easy for now. Pretend it's a really boring cruise or something. They have a pool table, and I've been wanting to teach you how to play."
Sayla looked alarmed. "You were working on a book! Kai, have you lost all that now?"
Kai picked up his uniform tunic and reached into a pocket. He showed her a diskette. "I never leave home without it. Especially since I seem to get grabbed and taken to unexpected places. Let me tell you, it's going to have one heck of a sequel."
They spent the next few days "vegetating" as he'd suggested; playing pool, reading, and making love. When they finally docked at Side 3, there was a familiar figure in red waiting for them.
"Casval!" Sayla let go of Kai's hand and raced into her brother's arms. Char hugged her closely, stroking her hair, telling her that the nightmare was over, that she was safe. Eventually she let go and pointed to her companion. "Casval...I mean, Char, this is Kai Shiden, my boyfriend."
Char looked him up and down and didn't seem pleased. Fortunately, Cima joined them just then and said, "General, having worked with this man, I can attest to his good character."
"Your intentions towards my sister are honourable?" Char asked.
"Char," Sayla interjected, "you're talking about someone who just gave up everything he had for me. Rather a high price for a fling, don't you think? Besides, I snared him, not the other way around."
Cima snickered behind them. Char looked distinctly uncomfortable and finally said, "There's an apartment waiting for you at the palace and then you can go looking for clothes. Kishiria's lending you her professional shopper."
"What about me?"
"You're a guy, aren't you? You don't want to be on that expedition." Char pulled out his wallet and gave him a sheaf of bills.
"Wow. That's quite a handful of dead Zabis."
Sayla looked at the money. "That's not a Zabi. That's my father." Kai found a new bill with that portrait on it and handed it to her.
"I'm impressed," Cima told Sayla. "You've been together what, eight weeks, and already you've trained him to hand you his money. Great work."
"Sayla, I have to go to a meeting now," Char told her. "I'll see you for dinner, all right?" They hugged again and he returned to his own car as a Zabi house limo arrived for them.
#####
An hour later, Char and Gato were at the front of a smaller auditorium as mobile suit pilots streamed in. "I have no idea who most of these people are," Gato whispered to his general.
"The last survivors of A Bao A Qu," Char said. "A good number of Earth Occupation veterans as well. We might not have many, but at least we know we have the best. Or the luckiest. Ah. There's my second wingman now. Captain Duarte!"
A compact, black-haired man whose bronze skin pointed to his Nahua roots came down the stairs. He was clad in a brown Earth Attack force uniform and saluted smartly. "Sir!"
"Commander Anavel Gato, I'd like you to meet Captain Octavio Duarte Gonzalez, commander of the Royal Cuauhtemocs. Originally from Neo-Aztlan, they stood between our North American holdings and South America until November."
"Three teams survive until today," Duarte said. "However, I understand you want me and Commander Gato here for your personal team?"
"That's right, and I will explain."
Gato was peering at Duarte. "Your group is the one that does that branding ritual as an initiation, right?"
"It's true, but I wish we were known for more than just that," Duarte complained. "We lost four pilots at A Bao A Qu. Four, out of 12. But one body modification and people focus on it instead."
"Both of you, take your seats," Char said. "Kishiria's coming."
One of Kishiria's personal guard stepped into the room. "Please rise in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Kishiria."
They did, and Char gave the order to salute. Kishiria entered, mask raised, helmet on. Cima Garahau was at her side.
"It's been eight months since our ignominious defeat at A Bao A Qu," Kishiria began. "Since then, we've been forced to retract what should be our rightful borders to the limits of the colonies remaining to us. That is now going to change. Solomon was the first of our sentry bases to fall to the Federation, and now we are going to take it back. We call the plan to do this 'Operation Maitres Chez Nous'. Masters of our Own House. General Garahau will explain."
The newly promoted Garahau went to the projector. She called up a map of Solomon, A Bao A Qu, and Side 3. "Here's Solomon today. It's functioning much the same way as it when we held it. The Federation moved in and pretty much left everything as it was. They didn't do any renovations, probably for lack of funds, and quite frankly, haven't been using the base up to its full potential. This is a fortunate thing for us, because if they had, they easily could have launched an attack directly on Side 3 by now. Our goal is that they never have that chance.
"With the help of an inside operative, we can soften up Solomon for an attack. The plan is this. A small strike force will move on the base. By that I mean three MS teams and the Princess Kishiria marines. We have to keep the size of the initial force small so that they can effectively sneak up on Solomon. What's going to make it possible for them to seize it are our operatives inside, who an hour before will have uploaded a script to seal up every computer-operated door on the base. It'll be necessary to blow the hangar doors open as a result, whereupon the marines will secure the area, allowing for our real fleet to appear. There shouldn't be much of a fight left. One of the reasons we've chosen to attack sooner rather than later is because our friends in the Federation have been stockpiling nerve gas. Isn't that nice? So we're going to turn it on them instead. With the doors locked and the base population unable to move freely towards their normal suits, a couple of canisters of that released into the air should quiet them down quickly. There will be survivors of course, but it's going to be much easier to subdue them and take the station."
Kishiria spoke up next. "This is why we've re-shuffled some of the teams, putting the three best pilots together into one, followed by the others. We want a strike led by men who we know can take down whole Federation battleships, and we want them to be there on Solomon first for when and if the counterattack happens. Personally, I fully expect one, but we could be surprised. From the information culled by Intelligence, it appears the Federation is in considerably worse financial shape than we are, so if we take Solomon it's possible they may just decide to let us have it. If so, wonderful. We could potentially just move from there to A Bao A Qu again, by force or possibly even diplomacy depending how bad things are on Earth." A lower officer began handing out binders containing the fine details of the plan. As he received his, Char looked up at Kishiria and sent the message, {Your Majesty? May I speak to you in private for a moment about this?}
Kishiria's eyes met his and she left the room, trailed a moment later by Char. Alone in the hallway, Char said, "I don't think we should use the poison gas, even if it is their own."
"Why not?"
"Because we want to keep the moral high ground. We lost it completely last year. We went from being revolutionaries who wanted their own country and nothing else to genocidal monsters. I think in the long run it's best to have a harder fight now and less moral repercussions later when we want people to trade with us and immigrate here."
Good job, Char, he thought to himself. That sounded plausible. Let's see if she bites.
"Who's to say we let out the gas? Accidents happen. Perhaps their upper officers decided to kill themselves and all their troops rather than face defeat at our hands again."
"Feddies don't think like that."
Kishiria always managed to look far more annoyed with her mask on than without. "While I can see your point, I don't know yet if it is worth a harder fight in the tight confines of a space station." She reached down for her cell phone and tapped in the number to page Cima. The new head of intelligence soon joined them.
"General Garahau, General Aznable suggests that perhaps you have your operatives not use the poison gas after all."
Garahau wasn't a New Type, but her thoughts hit Char like a freight train. A jumble of images, including running over to Char and kissing him, entered his mind. Also a fragment of nightmare about dying civilians. Finally, a less clear image of a Jion bloodbath inside Solomon. Nonetheless, her expression remained impassive.
"Personally, I'd rather we didn't. However, my...personal preferences aren't at issue here. If we don't kill the staff from inside, we face the possibility of having to take the battle corridor by corridor, room by room. That idea is much more fearsome to me than having more of a weight on my conscience than I already do."
So you do have a soul in there, Char thought to himself. He decided he'd keep that secret, for now.
"Could we come up with a compromise plan?" Char asked. "These operatives of yours. How did they get in? How well do they know the base computer systems? How can we use them best?"
Cima considered. "They're not actually mine, they were Giren's. That in itself is a concern, but from what I understand of these particular spies, I don't think it needs to top our list. He called them the Rockfish, because they just lie on the floor looking like part of the landscape until they bite. When Solomon was taken, they didn't have to return there because they never left. They melded into the Federation forces and stayed put. Sociopaths, each and every one, but ready to launch any number of hacker attacks at a moment's notice. Hence, the denial-of-service attack on the doors."
"But you think they're effective enough that they could lock in most of the Feddies, allowing for an easier invasion?"
"I believe so. Giren didn't hire idiots, just sociopaths. But again, it's going to make the invasion much, much bloodier. Do you want that on your head?"
Char raised his chin slightly. "I'll go in first. I'm sure Gato will agree without thinking about it. Duarte's more thoughtful, but his style of warfare is oriented more towards taking prisoners than killing the enemy anyway. I think he'll agree. Kishiria?"
Kishiria lowered her head, concealing her expression behind her mask and the visor of her helmet. When she looked up again, she said, "Very well. I'm not as sure about it as you two are, but I'll admit that footage on the news of unopened cans of Federation-owned nerve gas will be damning to our enemies. Perhaps there will be revolts on Earth. That'd be something."
Cima nodded. "Thank you, Kishiria."
The three re-entered the room. "There's been a change of plans."
#####
For the next week, Char, Gato, and Duarte trained together 12 hours a day, every day. Char came home exhausted each night to Kishiria, who wasn't doing much better. If she was in their rooms at all, she'd be surrounded by her entourage, occupied with work of her own with Ti-Cas in a cradle beside her.
The evening before Operation Maitres Chez Nous arrived. Duarte left with the Royal Cuauhtemocs, for their "usual ceremonies" he said. Char stayed around the mecha longer, as did Gato and Estenbach. When Char felt he'd reached the point of diminishing returns, he floated over to Gato's Zaku and said, "I'm going home. I suggest you two do the same. I want my wingman and his mechanic to be fresh in the morning."
"I don't need much sleep," Gato said.
"Tomorrow we leave for battle. Surely you'd like to spend a few hours doing something other than hanging around a Zaku."
"I know I'd like to," Iserina told him. "I'm not facing tomorrow without eating chocolate tonight."
"Well, if you want company..."
Char smiled. "You kids have fun. Be here at 0500 tomorrow. Me, I have a wife and baby to visit."
Some hours later, Char was tucked in bed, holding Kishiria in his arms. "As soon as you leave for Solomon, I'll be watching from the war room," Kishiria said, "I'll--"
Char pressed his fingertips against her lips. "No shop talk now."
Kishiria nodded. She cuddled against her husband for a moment, then said, "I want to try something."
"Okay."
"We're both New Types. I've heard about these New Type gestalts, where their minds meet. I want to try."
Char felt his heart freeze in his chest. "You want to be like Lalla Sun."
"What?"
Char realized that Kishiria had no idea what he was talking about. She had been asking in the most general way, completely unaware of the telepathic union that had formed between himself, Amuro Rey, and Lalla just before she had died. The memory was the most painful one in his life and he didn't want to go near it.
"Never mind. It's not something I want to do."
"Char, everything depends on this attack on Solomon. You could be killed. We could lose. If that happens, I'm sure to be executed by the Federation. Hamaan has orders to take Ti-Cas to Axis where he'll be safe, at least. I don't want to face that kind of tragedy without experiencing that kind of intimacy with you."
"In other words, you don't want to die a New Type virgin."
"You're my husband, Char. As far as I'm concerned, we've got a license to do this."
Perhaps this would overwhelm the tragic memory. "All right then. We don't need to be touching, but since we already are...."
Char gazed into the grey of Kishiria's eyes; she focused on the blue of his. It was hard for him to bring down the emotional barriers he'd so carefully structured during his life, but after a moment he could feel Kishiria struggling to do the same thing. They were getting somewhere.
Then they were standing in the open field in which Char had met his father. Char looked down at Kishiria and was startled by what he saw. The warrior queen of Jion was a fairy-tale princess in her own mind, dressed in a pink (PINK!) satin dress with a crown atop her loose-flowing red hair. At her hip, though, was a wicked-looking sword with a sweat-stained grip, encased in a well-oiled sheath. He could see black laced boots peeking from beneath the hem of her gown.
Through Kishiria's point of view, Char saw that he was in his red and black uniform as always, with slightly longer hair and a more youthful appearance.
"You are CUTE," Kishiria said to him. "Is this it?"
"This is it."
"I was expecting something more exotic."
"Well your dead brothers might come skipping from behind that hill."
"That'd be exotic," Kishiria agreed. "Disturbing, maybe. Although I'd certainly like to see Garma again."
"Kishiria." Char took her hands in his own. "You didn't do this just to have a look around, did you?"
"No. I knew that here, I wouldn't have to physically say the things I want to tell you before this battle. There are some things I just don't want to trust to my tongue, because I might say them wrongly."
Char nodded, urging her to continue.
Unable to squirm away from her thoughts or lie about them here, Kishiria began, "Thank you for being my husband. Thank you for giving me the child I've wanted since I was a teenager. Thank you for being the fellow soldier at my back during the day and the lover in my arms at night. I know you led my brother Garma into a confrontation with White Base, but I believe you when you say his death was his own choice. Impossible as it sounds, you've made it up to me. I'm sure I'd still be queen without you, but it'd be an emptier and colder reign. I love you, Char Aznable."
Char smiled widely. "I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that I didn't kill you. You've given me the home and family I didn't know I wanted. You're frustrating, fascinating, terrifying me one minute and cuddling up to me the next. If Solomon doesn't fall to us, I want you to go with Ti-Cas to Axis. The Federation must not have you." He squeezed her hands tightly. "Promise me that, Kishiria."
"I am a pragmatist," Kishiria said. "If we cannot take Solomon, I'm sure Side 3 will revert to being the Republic of Munzo. I will go to Axis with our son, Char. There might as well be a place for free Jions somewhere."
Char frowned. "Why am I suddenly so hungry?"
"That's not you. That's Ti-Cas. You're feeling his hunger through me. I'd better go feed him."
She concentrated on waking up, but Char said, "Wait. I'm not letting you leave without saying that I love you, too."
"I know." Kishiria smiled, and the next moment, they were sitting in their bed. Kishiria rose and walked naked down the hall to the nursery, then returned carrying the baby. She got back under the covers and Char had her lean back against him.
Six hours until he had to leave for Solomon. Char held his family in his arms and silently vowed that for their sake, he would not fail.
#####
Iserina and Gato sat in his one-bedroom apartment, finishing up a fast food dinner. "Good lord, you can put away a lot of food, woman," he commented to her.
Iserina, who had eaten dessert as her first course, finished off her double cheeseburger and continued to work on her shake. "If I'm going to die, I'm doing it with a stomach full of yummy food that's bad for me. It's not like I eat this kind of thing every day."
Gato was watching her intently. "So tell me. What are you fighting for?"
Iserina looked up. "Does it matter, as long as we're on the same side?"
"It does to me."
Iserina dabbed french fries in ketchup. "At first, I joined the Jion side to avenge Garma's death. Not against anyone concrete mind you. I just wanted to take my pain and my anger and throw them at the world in general."
"That makes for a lousy soldier."
"Maybe, but it didn't last long, you see. I fell in love again."
"Who was this second fellow?"
"Wasn't a fellow. I fell in love with mobile suits, although I've flown Garma's old Dopp and loved that too. That's why I took over Garma's Zaku. They needed a pilot for it, and I was happy to oblige. I think that Zaku saved my sanity. Thing is, I also came to really like the people I was fighting with, and they became my motivation. Frankly, I am pretty apolitical. I always have been, or I never would have been able to fall in love with Garma."
"So you feel nothing for the cause of Jion independence?"
"Oh, I do! Living under a monster father as I did, who wouldn't let me do so much as cut my hair," Iserina fluffed her short locks, "I identified with the cause very strongly. It lost a lot of my respect with Operation British, but then I met Garma, who had his own philosophies about Earth and the colonies living in a mutually advantageous situation."
"What a very strange man he must have been."
"He was weird, but I loved him and just about everyone else who met him did too. So what about you, Anavel?" One of Iserina's hands was slipping behind Gato's head.
Gato jumped slightly. No one ever called him by his first name.
"I believe in the cause of Jion independence. I was until recently under the sway of a man who believed that to achieve independence we had to follow Prince Giren. I decided that putting the political philosophies of a dead man ahead of the needs of our people was twisted. When I was invited back here, I accepted."
"Good call. It's always better to serve the living than the dead."
"What are you doing back there?"
"Untying the ribbon that's holding your ponytail. I want to see what you look like with your hair down." Iserina pulled her hand back, drawing the red ribbon along with it. Gato's hair parted naturally in the middle and fell down around his face. Iserina reached out to arrange it slightly.
"Just a second." Gato got up and walked down the hall. He came back carrying a hairbrush and wordlessly handed it to her. He sat on the floor in front of Iserina and she began brushing his mid-back-length mane. He'd washed his hair early the day before, she estimated, inhaling the scent of him as she drew the brush through the strands over his right ear. She moved above it, pulling the brush down again, apologizing when he grunted because the brush caught in a snarl. Iserina sank her fingers into the silky mass, holding his hair back as she brushed to the end. She stopped to massage Gato's scalp a little before starting on the hair over his left ear. Pulling the brush back turned his head towards her.
"Did you really ask me here to ask about my politics?" Iserina asked.
"Did you come over to talk about them?"
"No." Iserina drew the brush through Gato's hair one more time. Gato reached up to stroke her cheek, then kiss her. She felt afraid at first, but it passed in a second or two. When they broke apart, Iserina gazed into those cool hazel eyes and knew that if this man survived Solomon, it was time to start over.
The next morning, Iserina awakened to the smell of coffee and the sensation of its heat in her nose. She opened her eyes to find a cup being waved gently under her nostrils. Anavel was smiling down at her, his hair loose, clad in a bathrobe.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." He placed the cup on the nightstand.
"Morning." Iserina sat up, wearing a flannel shirt he'd loaned her. "We have to be on post in an hour."
"I know, and I made us some breakfast." He exited the bedroom and returned with some toasted bagels. He sat on the bed with her and they ate silently, aware of the passage of time. Afterwards, they took turns in the shower and dressed. Iserina watched as Gato brushed his hair back severely and tied it in his usual tail.
"How do you feel?" Iserina asked.
"Excited. I'm going back to Solomon and this time, I'm finishing the job." He grinned over his shoulder at her. "We're going to win, Iserina. Aznable's a good man and a great commander. The Feddies haven't got a chance."
Iserina didn't feel nearly as sure, but she decided not to mention it. Her expression must have given her away though, because Gato took her face in his hands and said, "I know Garma went into battle and never returned. I will. Don't worry."
"It's not only that. We were the last ground troops in the United States. It was hard and depressing and I guess it left me a little pessimistic."
"This is going to be different. You'll see." He took her hand. "We'd better go."
At the palace, Kishiria was wrapped in her dressing gown, watching Char dress. A knock came on the door, and Kishiria let Sayla in. She was in the turtleneck and slacks which had become her standard outfit. Char came over to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"I wanted to see you off," Sayla told him. "Kai and I will be watching the news. Is anyone using the captured Gundam?"
"No, it's being studied. I'll be the one in the red Gelgoog."
She nodded, her expression almost as worried as Kishiria's. Char went over to Ti-Cas's crib and picked him up. Kishiria and Sayla could "hear" him saying something telepathically to him, but it was for Ti-Cas's "ears" only. He put the baby back, then hugged Sayla warmly.
"Look after Kishiria for me, okay?"
"Okay." Sayla released him and Char went over to Kishiria for a longer embrace and passionate kiss. Something had changed their relationship, Sayla observed. There was certainly no ambiguity in their feelings for each other now. That made her glad, and she prayed desperately that her brother would not have finally built himself a home only to have his life snuffed out right after.
The first nine mobile suits were already loaded onto the two Zanzibar-class ships headed for Solomon. The personnel joined them and they moved out.
Many hours later, with Solomon becoming visible through a sea of war debris, Iserina hunkered down over the diagnostic computer for the Zaku. She realized she was as concerned for its well-being as its pilot's. She supervised closely as its weapons and ammo were loaded, finding security in her control over the procedure.
Iserina looked down as the pilots came streaming out from their briefing. General Aznable led the pack and she watched as he launched himself into his Gelgoog. Gato landed behind her.
"Everything all right?"
"This mobile suit could not be in better condition, Commander."
"I'll try to bring it back in the same shape as I'm finding it."
Gato was beaming happily as he fastened his helmet, He started to step into the cockpit, then turned towards her.
"Iserina, do you have a picture of Prince Garma with you?"
"Yes."
"May I bring it with me?"
"Why?"
"Because this is his mobile suit, and he should be flying it to victory. I would like the honour of helping him do it."
Iserina took out her wallet and removed a photo. Gato smiled when he saw that it showed her along with Garma. "Better still," he commented, and slid the picture into a secure corner of his console.
He took his seat and Iserina used fussing with his seatbelts as an excuse to get close enough to Gato to kiss him one last time. "Good luck, Anavel."
"Garma and I fight for your honour, milady."
She withdrew and he closed the cockpit. She slapped the door twice and backed her tech's platform away.
The mechanics and technicians stepped back so that the hangar doors could be opened to space. Char Aznable's suit led the way, followed by the other eight machines. They all watched in silence until the doors closed again behind the last mobile suit.
"Briefing in five, room three, for instructions on backup," said the Chief.
Iserina was the last straggler, gazing out towards space. "Take care of him, Garma", she pleaded to her lost love, and went to join the others.