Chapter 6

CE 73, November 11th, Lohengrin Gate Entrance A-12, Gulnahan Ravine, Iran

Evening 21 21

Coniel and her group continued walking as Sheryl led them down the remainder of the path, to where the APCs were parked. Ray looked up as the group approached, and unslung his rifle, setting the gun on the floor.

Coniel watched the western-looking man warily as he approached them, with several soldiers following behind him. "I apologize for bringing you to us through such methods, but circumstances dictate action." The man held out his hand. "My name's Ray, and I believe we have some matters to discuss-"

Coniel slapped Ray's hand away. "We have nothing to talk about. Get out of this place!" She glared at Ray unflinchingly, not caring that the OMNI troopers behind her had their rifles ready in an instant. The townsmen moved around her, aiming to cover her from possible fire.

Ray turned back to the soldiers. "Stand down, troopers! That's an order." To Coniel, he said, "I'm not here to take back any territory. We're just passing by this area, and my soldiers need supplies and medical attention. I'll just take what is needed, and then we'll vacate this place."

"Take what you need?" Coniel exclaimed incredulously. "My neighbours and friends were forced to construct this… this monstrosity! What's in here is ours by right; you think you and your band of bullies are the only ones that need medical help? The townspeople have been driven from their homes, beaten, and shot for every little mistake or refusal they made while they were building this place without pay, without rest. We haven't even laid claim to anything, and yet you want to just waltz in and take what you want?!"

Ray held up both hands. "I understand what you're trying to say, but the fact remains that I have people that need medical attention. If you will leave us alone, then I give you my guarantee that no OMNI soldier here will bother-"

One of the men standing behind Coniel edged in front of Ray, spitting at him while doing so. "Leave us alone? You lying bastards! Your wounded can die for all I care; we have our own people to think-"

At the sound of boots on sand, Ray turned back to see one of the troopers hold out his arm, keeping another soldier from rushing forward. "If we let that guy have his way, Beckett's gonna die!" The soldier spat. "Why the hell do we have to beg for our own supplies?! We should just take what we need, to hell with these barbarians-"

Ray turned around and grabbed the soldier by his shoulders, his gaze locked with the man's own frenzied eyes. "Please".

The soldier's own glare hardened once, but at the look in Ray's eyes, he quietened down, and stepped back. "Sorry."

Nodding to another soldiers, Ray pointed at the entrance to the base. "Get him back to Mendez. I don't want anyone not capable of practicing restrain here."

As the two walked away, Ray turned back to the group. "I'm not going to threaten your group, but this is how badly we need the medical supplies. We have people who are critically injured, and right now they're at the end of their lifelines. If I can't be assured that you will leave us alone, then I will unfortunately have to resort to force in order to secure my people's safety."

He paused for a moment. "Were that to pass, you would not be able to step foot into this ravine until we're done." Ray paused, making a marked gesture of looking at the mobile suits behind the locals, watching the men follow his gaze to its intended destination. "And we won't be able to promise on refraining from first strikes, either, if that is what will preserve my men."

The same man spoke up again. "You're threatening us now? You Earth Alliance people are all the same. Get out. You fire on us here, ZAFT will come back, and then we'll see how you deal with them!"

Ray resisted the urge to say his mind. "That is the kind of thinking that will force my hand-"

Coniel had been watching the entire exchange go back and forth without any side giving an inch. "And I'm telling you, we're not giving any assurances!" she shouted, raising her voice to as loud as she could. "You march in, take people for whatever purposes you deem fit, and then now that you've been beaten, you want us to just let you go?" She clenched her fists. "What about us? We have people wounded by Alliance soldiers, who haven't received proper treatment; we have people still starving because you people took all our necessities in the name of "defence" when ZAFT came by! These supplies are ours!"

Coniel took a deep breath. "We're not giving you anything. I'm telling you to leave before the rest of the resistance comes by. We have weapons, and we're not afraid to use them. Even against mobile suits," She glared into Ray's eyes, willing her emotions to get the message across. "We're not going to accept you saving your people when they're the same as those that came to hurt us."

Sheryl swept her gaze across the locals, cutting in Ray's words with her own. "We're the same as those from the base?" She looked each of the men in the eye. "Are you stupid?"

The locals growled menacingly, some of them stepping forward. Ray raised his hand, barely keeping his own troops in check. "Don't you care if people die?" She looked each of the men in the eye. "Amongst those injured are people with families, with parents, with children… don't you care if they die?"

One of the men from Coniel's group stepped in front of her. "Care? Why us? Your forces didn't care if they killed us!" He said, his voice barely coherent from rage. "The Alliance took my son to build this place, and he hasn't come back since! And now you're telling us to take pity on his murderers… people like you!?"

Sheryl kept her glare steady. "We just arrived tonight. We had nothing to do with the forces at the Lohengrin Gate."

"Nothing?!" The man turned back and gestured. "Did I hear that right? She says that the massacre has nothing to do with her!" He turned to face Sheryl again. "The massacre has everything to do with you. The fact that you're wearing the same uniform is proof of that!"

Before Sheryl could say another word, Ray put his hand on her shoulder. "That's enough, Lieutenant! Back off." He pulled her backwards. "Mendez will probably need your help in organizing. Our work's not done yet."

Sheryl nodded wordlessly, and walked off, slinging her rifle behind her, head held high as she disappeared into one of the service hatches cut into the mountainside.

Ray turned back to the resistance fighters. "My offer stands. Leave us be, and you will face no OMNI attack from forces under my command. Refuse…" Ray folded his arms. "And if you do attack, we will retaliate." He nodded at the Dagger Ls behind them. "And trust me, we will be far more ruthless and efficient than the OMNI forces that were stationed here."

"So in the end, it all comes down to threatening us," Coniel balled her fists. "You're not going to pick anything you want from that base. If you do, I'm going to fight you," she stared at Ray. "And everyone in the resistance will see your true colours."

Ray turned to the right at the noise of the Sword Dagger L kneeling down, and Kaguya hopping off her machine.

"Kaguya-" Ray began.

"Sorry, sir." Kaguya said. "Let me have a shot at this one."

Ray was silent, watching Kaguya. With reluctance, he nodded once, and stepped backwards, allowing Kaguya to come face-to-face with the locals.

Turning to Coniel, Kaguya set herself in front of the resistance members. "Is that the best you can come up with?"

Coniel was taken aback at the sudden question. "What…?"

"About the uniform, I mean." Kaguya turned to face another person. "You? What's your name?"

The man was taken aback as well, but he answered. "Sared," he said.

"Well?" Kaguya gestured. "How about you? Did you lose your father, Sared? Your friends? Wife? Or was it your child?"

"Sakamoto, watch it," Ray reached out an arm, trying to hold Kaguya back. "You're not making things any better."

The man named Sared, however, didn't have the disadvantage of being restrained. "'The hell did you just say, bitch?" He snarled, stepping forward. "Does everyone in the Alliance have no respect for human life?"

Kaguya sidestepped Ray's arm and came face-to-face with Sared. "What I'm trying to tell you…" she looked the youth squarely in the eyes. "… is that OMNI is beaten here. Regardless of who they took from you, your chance for revenge is over." Kaguya continued her glare. "Get over it."

The entire area exploded into a storm of shouts and action as several men from Coniel's group tried to grab at Kaguya, only for an equal number of men to try and restrain them. Coniel herself tried to keep the men back, but her voice was drowned out in the din. The remaining soldiers behind Ray raised their rifles and backed away; the only thing preventing them from returning fire was their discipline, and Ray's outstretched arm.

"SAKAMOTO!" Ray shouted. Ignoring their equal rank, he pulled Kaguya back by the collar and confronted her directly, hands balled into fists, pulling her uniform so that their faces were mere centimeters apart. "Lieutenant, what the hell are you trying to do?!"

To Ray's surprise, Kaguya knocked his hand away. "You said that you wanted to get on their side, Lieutenant Feric, sir," she said, her face twisting into a mocking smile when she called Ray by rank. "To be frank, these people don't seem to be capable of listening," she turned to face the resistance fighters, and her voice grew louder. "Just like how the Earth Alliance does things."

If possible, the roars and shouts of anger got even louder.

Ray swore mentally, fighting down the urge to get violent himself. If Nain could see what was happening now-

He realized that Kaguya had shaken him off, and had returned to the front, staring down Coniel's group.

"By my understanding," Kaguya slowly said, "You executed several OMNI officers when the Minerva destroyed the base and local Alliance forces surrendered and retreated." Ray suddenly realized that Kaguya wasn't empty-handed; she was carrying what looked to be a scabbard hooked onto her uniform belt, cleverly concealed by both the night and her angle of approach when she disembarked from the mobile suit; Ray himself had only noticed just now. "If a military person did such a thing, it would be a war crime." She turned to face the men and Coniel in particular. "And if a civilian did such a thing, it would be a murder. Which is also a crime." Kaguya finished, slowly drawing out the sword from its sheath.

Ray was about to blast Kaguya for her insolence when a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder; turning, he saw Nain shaking her head. Ray opened his mouth to protest, but at Nain's look, he sighed, and simply turned back to the amazing spectacle unfolding before him, feeling his heart pound as though it would smash through his ribcage.

"And so?" Sared spoke up. "Your people murdered mine! You think we'll let them get away with it?"

Kaguya let her sword arm fall to her side, the katana's blade glistening from the weak light of the moon. "There are laws in this world, whether you acknowledge them or not." She raised the sword slightly; Sared instinctively took a step back. "You meted justice on those soldiers as a civilian, even after they have surrendered and pled for mercy; in that situation, it's called murder. And murder is punishable by death." She stepped forward, and Sared took another step back. "You are nowhere as guiltless as you think you are." She turned her piercing glare on all the locals present. "You all carry hands stained with the blood of those that have lost the will to fight." Her voice remained level, though her next works stung all the more. "What the Gulnahan forces did to you was a crime. What you did to them was a crime as well. Suffering? Please. After all that you did, you're two sides of the same coin."

For a full ten seconds, no one spoke nor moved.

Sighing, Kaguya sheathed her sword. "Well, that is what I wanted to say, but if we go on with this, we could be here talking all night." Ray watched, in slight amazement as Kaguya's entire demeanour softened. "What is your name, girl?" she turned to Coniel.

Coniel looked guardedly at Kaguya. Just a moment ago, the woman now had the aura of a killer; yet now, her voice had a warm quality to it. "Almeda," she said. "Coniel Almeda."

"Coniel," Kaguya repeated. "Well then, Coniel, think of it this way; do you and your friends always agree? Say, when you meet up with them for anything. Do disagreements sometimes arise?"

Coniel thought back, her mind full of questions at the sudden off-track manner the conversation was heading. "Well… I guess…"

"Then think of it this way," Kaguya said. "The Earth Alliance is made up of many people, and more often than not, they do not always agree, nor do they always know who's doing what." She turned her gaze to each of the men. "My group has just arrived today, with wounded and dying in tow, from a sneak attack by ZAFT commandos. They need medical attention, or they'll die; even then, they won't be fighting for a good while after this. They did not know what the forces at Gulnahan had done to you, nor had they participated in it. You yourselves have seen innocents being mistreated, and that is why you fought back. Will you deny innocents the right to live?"

Kaguya gestured at Ray, Nain and the people behind her. "They have nothing to do with the suffering that the Lohengrin Gate has inflicted upon you all." She positioned herself in between Ray and Coniel's group. "If you're going to demand for vengeance because we wear the same uniform as those that wronged you, then you might as well claim vengeance against the world; after all, even OMNI soldiers are human too."

For a minute, both sides settled into an uneasy silence. Coniel was the first to speak. "…Alright. We accept your terms, on a few conditions; the supplies are a shared resource, and your two Dagger L units are not to be activated for the duration that you're here. I demand that you allow us to keep watch on them instead. When you're leaving, ship them out by vehicle."

Ray turned to Nain, who nodded. "You have your deal, Miss Almeda, but only as long as it doesn't threaten the safety or well-being of my men."

Sared turned to Coniel. "Are you crazy?! We can't let them trample over us like that!"

Coniel turned back to face the man. "We could stand here and argue all night long, and it wouldn't make a difference." She turned away. "I know we all have something against this, but as much as I hate it, there isn't really much of a choice. We need those supplies, and it seems that these people are willing to compromise; they can crack this place faster and better than we can. At this point in time, it's going to take us much more if we have to fight them for it."

Sared stepped back, his expression aghast. "Coniel! You…"

Another man placed his hand on Sared's shoulder. "Coniel has a point. Right now, we need to fully clean up the aftermaths of the battle, and if anything, these people," he flicked a thumb at the OMNI soldiers, "don't seem to be interested in getting in our way. They just want us to leave them alone."

Sared gave a look of pure loathing to the man holding him back, and shrugged off his grip. "Have your way," he said. "But when those Alliance pigs go back on their word, I'll be prepared, and you'll not be."

Coniel closed her eyes for a brief moment. "Be that as may be," she turned to the man who held back Sared. "Sorry for making split-second decisions, Yosef."

Yosef nodded. "I understand," he said, giving Sared one last warning glare; the man returned the glare with his own, but otherwise kept silent. "I'll notify the other resistance forces and the town council about this... new development of events." He took out a comm unit and began talking into it.

Kaguya watched as the locals began to talk amongst themselves, some of them keeping an eye on the otherwise-motionless OMNI group, and smiled, despite herself... until she felt a hand clamp on her shoulder. An outstretched arm motioned. "Sword, please."

Kaguya unclipped the katana, scabbard and all, from her belt and handed it to Ray.

"That was stupid as hell, and we should all be thankful that it worked. " Ray said, eyeing her one last time –Anger at her selfish actions? Disgust for lack of discipline? Or was that a hint of approval behind his poker face? Kaguya couldn't tell. He motioned to the troopers behind him. "Isolation, 8 hours. Keep her in your sights." He turned to walk away, and then looked back. "Tomorrow is when we get to work. You'll serve the remainder if we get back to Sinai in one piece."

As Ray turned to supervise the remaining troopers, Kaguya caught Nain's sight for an instant; and almost imperceptibly, the intel officer nodded.

CE 73, November 12th, Lohengrin Gate Entrance A-12, Gulnahan Ravine, Iran

Morning 05 57

Kaguya awoke to the sound of people talking, her mind taking a brief moment to recollect yesterday's events. She had taken matters into her own hands in a gamble, and thankfully it had worked. She briefly wondered what happened if she had lost the gamble, and a nightmarish image of her raising her katana high up in the air appeared in her mind's eye. It wasn't like her to lose her cool, but she wasn't a new officer by any means; she had her own way of doing things, and watching them go back and forth had been grating as all hell.

Ridding herself of her delusions, she flexed her arms and moved her feet up and down, trying to stretch the last of her sleepiness out of her system. Stepping out of the APC that had been her makeshift brig cell for the past dozen hours, she nodded at the two soldiers keeping guard, and they nodded back.

Kaguya stretched her body, letting her lungs fill with the cool morning air, and looked around. Her Dagger L lay beside Guy's, and resistance force members were clustered around it.

"What a mess," Guy said as he approached Kaguya. "Coffee?" He held out a metal cup.

"Thanks," Kaguya said, sipping the thin-tasting but hot beverage carefully. "So what do they plan for today?"

Guy took one look at the throng of people stationed at the mobile suits. "The Major let them into the hangar as well, and managed to broker them into allowing us to take battery packs. Truth be told, all we need are the batteries; those guns and spare parts from the unused Dagger L units we found are considered as icing on the cake. The Major said they could take those if they wished."

"That should boost their own defensive capabilities somewhat," Kaguya said, nodding. "How about the soldiers?"

Guy smiled as he drained his own coffee cup. "Everything went better than expected. The medics have been working overnight, but those that can be saved are now back on track." He twirled the metal cup by its handle. "We got away good with this one."

Kaguya heard a voice call out from behind her. "Hey! Catch!" Sheryl's shout cut clear through the air.

Kaguya turned in time to see a long package spinning through the air and right at her head. Snatching the package out of the air one-handed, she unwrapped it, drawing out a katana in its scabbard.

Sheryl winked at her. "The Lieutenant's too busy to come by, so he told me to return this. He said you can keep it as long as you don't plan on doing live chopping practice anytime soon."

"Thanks," Kaguya said, watching the younger pilot walk off. She drew the katana from its handle, holding it up to the morning sun. "Good to have you back," she said, sheathing the blade.

"People are still talking about what happened last night," Guy said, snickering. "That was one hell of a way to get things done. Do you always have it with you?"

"Think of it as a lucky charm," Kaguya replied. "And... I just couldn't take it any more. Back and forth, and neither side was making any progress." Kaguya said. "But, in retrospect, that was incredibly idiotic." She closed her eyes. "One slight mistake, and it would be the end of us. We could be building gun positions outside this entrance and patrolling the interior in fireteams of four at this time instead of standing here and talking."

"Look on the bright side," Guy said, pointing to the people at the Dagger Ls. "At least your actions paid off." Kaguya saw that the resistance dressed in whatever they could, but some of them wore OMNI body armour over their clothes and brandished OMNI-issue firearms; definitely looted merchandise. Kaguya even noticed a couple of them holding RPG launchers; in the tight quarters of this section of the ravine, disabling a mobile suit would have been significantly easier for them. Kaguya was sure that any fight would be a close contest of attrition.

Kaguya turned back, only to see Major Nain walking in her direction.

The female intelligence officer nodded as Kaguya and Guy snapped off a salute. "At ease," Nain said, patting Kaguya on her shoulder. "By the way, good show last night. Although I'm not a fan of repeat performances like those."

"I aim to please," Kaguya said.

Nain smiled. "Don't let it inflate your head, Lieutenant." She pointed towards a small stand where OMNI soldiers were queuing up. "Go get something to eat. We have a long day ahead of us, and you have plenty of chances to work off your dues for that little stunt."

CE 73, November 11th, Lohengrin Gate Entrance A-12, Gulnahan Ravine, Iran

Afternoon 03 11

Kaguya sat down, breathing hard. The entire morning, she had been moving stuff up and down, and running around helping out with everything under the sun that could be done. As a sword practitioner both in and out of a mobile suit, she was by no means unfit, even by infantry standards, but OMNI's policies for pilots were "help yourself". She wasn't as hung-up on maintaining physical prowess as Mendez or his soldiers were.

Sheryl sat down beside her and offered her a bottle, which Kaguya gratefully accepted. "And to think that we're not even a quarter done…" Sheryl grumbled.

Kaguya gave her a look. "No? I was under the assumption that we were accomplishing a lot this time." She took a long drink, pausing only to take another breath before drinking again.

Sheryl watched a group of troopers haul parts only a truck and stared vacantly into the horizon as the men walked off. "We're only working with thirty people, maximum, and the medics can't help us much in this, if at all. It's going to take us another day to get things done."

Kaguya sighed as the set the empty bottle down. "I don't really want to stay here any longer than we need to…"

Kaguya's sentence was cut out by a shout from behind her. Turning, both women saw a local girl, who was leading a child, and also pulling a small cart, being confronted by two OMNI soldiers. Unfortunately, the other OMNI troopers and resistance fighters in the areas had started moving, and from what Kaguya could see, it wasn't looking pretty.

Sheryl nodded in the direction of the disturbance. "Up for playing hero again?" she said, a wry smile on her face.

Kaguya sighed. "I can get my sword from my mobile suit, but I must warn you that hitting someone with the scabbard on is no less painful."

"Leave it," Sheryl said. "People suspect less when it comes to unarmed combat."

As the two female officers approached, the argument became apparent.

"I need these for my family! Please, you have to let me have them!"

"I saw you stealing out of the supplies we had stacked there! Don't deny that!"

"You said that we were allowed free takings! You guys going back on your word now?! I knew we couldn't trust you Alliance pigs!"

"Your people in charge are the ones supposed to deliver to you! We have our own supplies to fall on!"

"'Supposed to deliver'? We haven't gotten what we need yet! And we don't even have the medical items we need!"

"That's not my business! My business is keeping you from stealing from us!"

"They didn't steal from you! You took our stuff first!"

"I'm warning you- step beyond that point, and we'll open fire!"

"You hear that?! He's going to shoot us! Hey, you! Blow the charges we set on the mobile suits!"

"You what?!"

"You heard me! I knew we couldn't trust you guys, so we rigged your Mobile Suits. And your commander allowed it, so don't try anything funny!"

"What the- drop that detonator! NOW!"

"Oh yeah? Why don't you drop your guns, you s-"

Kaguya and Sheryl stepped in-between the two groups. "Alright, that's enough!" Kaguya said, facing the resistance fighters. "Show's over, nothing to get worried about, just calm down and stand back." She held up both her hands. "We don't want any trouble here, some of us are just worried that our injured friends might need more medical help than expected…"

One of the men quickly moved the girl behind him and strode up to Kaguya, his muscular frame made all the more apparent by the OMNI combat vest he wore, which looked to be about a size smaller than what someone of his stature should have been wearing. "We're the ones who don't want any trouble here," he said, voice lowering into a deep rumble, "if you could just keep your own people in check! Don't forget that you're here only by virtue of Coniel's insistence that you're harmless."

"Harmless? Why you-" The soldier who spoke had his sentence cut short as Sheryl smacked his helmet, obstructing his vision. "Stow it," the pilot said, setting a hand on the soldier's rifle, pushing it to face the ground. "You have a death wish, you can take it to Feric, but not here."

Kaguya returned the man's gaze. "Take that as you want. Regardless, stealing is not acceptable." She crossed her arms, noting the man's eyes tracking her hand movement. "At the very least, I'll need to check with my superiors."

Kaguya continued watching as the resistance forces murmured amongst themselves. Before anyone else could speak, Ray and Coniel walked onto the scene.

"So, who tried to shoot who first?" Ray asked, arms akimbo. Kaguya noticed that Ray's pistol was latched onto his belt as far back as possible, as though it was to be hidden from sight.

"No one, sir," Sheryl said. "It was a misunderstanding."

"It was a theft, sir," the same soldier spoke up, trying his best to ignore the withering look Sheryl shot him with. "... We caught a local stealing out of the B-stash, and these people are covering for her."

Ray turned to Coniel. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I will need you to handle the resistance fighters' side," he said. "At this time, anything coming from me can be easily interpreted as something bad."

Coniel wordlessly nodded, and turned to the resistance members. "Is that true?" She asked, her voice level.

"No, it isn't," one of the men spoke up. "This was ours, those Alliance dogs there are making up-"

"I wasn't speaking to you, Torad. I'll hear the truth with my own ears," Coniel said, and squeezed her way past the crowd to the girl in question. Kneeling down, she noted the scared expression in the girl's eyes. Another boy at her side, most likely her younger brother, stared at all the people around him, unknowing of the situation happening in front of his eyes, but aware that something was due to happen at any moment.

"No one will hurt you," Coniel said. "I just want to know if it's true that you took something that you're not allowed to, so that I can tell them that it's just a mistake." Coniel stroked the girls' face, moving strands of hair aside. "Tell me your name."

The girl was silent for a while. "Shia," she finally said, her voice barely audible, as though if the OMNI troopers heard her voice they might start shooting everything in sight. "And… it's not a mistake."

Coniel frowned slightly despite willing herself to keep her face neutral. "Not a mistake? What do you mean?"

The girl shifted her gaze. "Today… was the first day they started giving out food and medicine… but…"

Coniel thought back to the arrangements. Certainly, after the trouble of splitting the supplies, they had only managed to deliver the first batch this morning, and they had to cut out some people from the list. Unless…

"… Mother gave her share of medicine to someone else who didn't get theirs… but then this afternoon she started coughing really badly," she girl took a deep breath before continuing. "She fell asleep, but I was worried that the coughing might come back, so I asked some people if they had medicine, and one of them told me that they got everything from here…"

Coniel sighed. "And you thought that the stacks of supplies were for everyone." She smiled and ruffled the girl's hair. "Next time, remember to ask the people here," she swept her gaze around the resistance fighters watching, some of whom adverted their eyes, "before you take something. Okay?"

The girl nodded.

"Some of these aren't right… You know what, let me help you." Coniel took the girl's hand. "Come with me. We're going to get proper medicine for your mother."

As Coniel led the girl away, Ray turned back and folded his arms. "Next time, at least have the decency to get a call to me or Nain first," he said.

"Aye sir," the trooper replied, sufficiently cowed.

Kaguya watched as the people gradually got back to their positions. "Ready to get back to work?" Sheryl asked from behind.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Kaguya said, stretching her arms. "Let's get this done as soon as we can…"

Afterword:

I both enjoyed and somewhat dreaded writing this. Exploring social consequences in SEED and SEED Destiny was largely my impetus for starting this project in the first place, but at the same time, I'm wary of the fact that I may have come off as to heavy-handed regarding some character interactions. Forcing a single POV is something I would have liked to avoid altogether, seeing as it's a major complaint I see with the TV series proper, but it's quite hard to implement major corrects when writing chapters in advance.