Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny.

A/N: I know I mentioned that I was going to update A Terrible beauty next, but I was inspired by General's previous chapter... And the ideas swirling inside my head are actually making me giggle(such mindless fun ahead). I can't wait to get this story done. It might just take a while though...

Generals : part 4 (Exile)

Day 3. Time 06:01. Girls' base/Advisor's office.

Team Archangels 25 kills (130pts / 4spies, 18privates, 3Sergeants).
Team Le Creuset 6 kills. (60pts / 6privates).

Cagalli, Flay, and Miriallia. Only three of them were called to the head office that morning. Fortunately, it was suppose to be nothing serious; everything about this war was nothing but a game after all— an animated exercise. But Cagalli couldn't help feel a little bad similar to Miriallia, who already looked like she was about to shrink away, convinced into thinking she was heavily at fault, when Ms. Badgiruel's pummeling words began reverberating throughout the room.

"Crude! Incompetent! Inefficient! Amateurs!"

"Natarle, take it easy on them, their just kids," said Ms. Ramius, smiling sympathetically while the more competitive adviser frowned furiously at all three of them.

"I'm disappointed in you three." Ms. Badgiruel declared finally, thrusting both of her palms flat on the projection table leaving the assumingly guilty to regrettably look at each other. "Athrun Zala, Yzak Joule, and Dearka Elsman." The woman continued by naming and lighting up the guys' picture on the digital screen. "Three out of five who've actually attended ZAFT's prestigious bootcamp and you let them get away!"

Nicol Amalfi and Rusty Mackenzie were the other two.

"And I'm especially disappointed at you, Ms. Haw. You are a spy. You had nothing to lose! Cowardly or not, you should have shot at least one of them in the back!" Ms. Badgiruel singled out causing Miriallia to lower her head even further.

"I'm sorry..." She replied.

Flay raised her hand. "We are still in the lead though, isn't that something?"

"Wrong. It's lazy mentally like that that would lead this team into ruin. The only thing that matters in this game is whether you win or you lose; so long as the war isn't over there will and always be a chance to turn the battle around." The woman scolded causing Flay, who was the most unaffected among the girls, to merely shrug. "Ms. Athha,"

Standing in-between her friends, "Yes, ma'am." Cagalli jerked.

"I've been made aware you were using Mr. Zala as a leeway."

Now that, in itself, made Cagalli blush. She could only hope Ms. Badgiruel wasn't aware of all the actual details. She wouldn't be able to live through the embarrassment.

"Yeah, and who would have taught our very own Cagalli could be such the little minx." Flay snickered.

Unnecessary details moved Cagalli to quickly stomp her heel on Flay's toes.

"Ouch! You didn't have to do that!" The redhead shouted.

"It's because you were teasing me!" Cagalli shouted back with a warm flushed face.

"Well it's true! You and Athrun were really get-"

"Shut up already!"

"In spite the small advantage; however!" Ms. Badgiruel interrupted with a shout, demanding both Cagalli and Flay's attention back to her.

"Sorry..." Both teens said in unison.

"You have snuck out from camp on your own, which has proven to be reckless and irresponsible! You are the General but behaved like a soldier. You could have been ambushed, killed!"

"Athrun wouldn't dare..." Cagalli muttered, avoiding the woman's hard gaze.

"Mr. Zala or not. Point is, Ms. Athha, you have soldiers to do the dirty work for you! There is no need to put your life in danger. You could have sent Ms. Haw here for example."

"... Shiho would have been a better leader." Cagalli mumbled next.

"Uh no!" Flay huffed, rolling her eyes. "Shiho didn't just sent me to look for you; she sent me out there to die! Really, that girl can get so personal at times..."

"As I was saying!"

"Sorry..." Both Cagalli and Flay said again.

"Now that the other team is aware of this case, Mr. Zala is no longer of any value to us. And it would have been in our best interest to have him eliminated immediately from the game. ... Well it's in the past now. Just try to avoid the same mistake twice. You are all dismissed." Ms. Badguriel ended, walking back to her desk.

The girls acknowledged this and headed for the door together until Ms. Ramius stopped them, her attention shifting from the girls to her colleague.

"Natarle, any last word of advice you would like to give them before they go?"

That made Cagalli, Flay, and Miriallia look back to their supervisor at the same time the words had pushed Ms. Badgiruel to knead the spot between her eyes, as to ease the gathering tension there.

"Fine." The woman sighed. It was part of her job after all. "Ms. Haw, try to earn as much points as you can and if necessary— as a last resort— get yourself killed by the opposition. Ms. Athha, the girls are all depending on you to lead them so stop acting recklessly on your own and be sure not to get yourself killed. And Ms. Allster,"

Having her name called for the first time, Flay looked up. "Yes?"

"You got lucky this time." Ms. Badgiruel admitted. "You may not hold a distinguished position but you are still worth 10 points so just try your best to stay alive."

00000

Day 3. Time 07:30. Boys' base.

The rest of the team followed closely behind their representative. Athrun, Dearka, and Yzak, who were made to wait in a corner to undergo judgment, turned their heads when everyone finally returned from their private emergency meeting.

"The guys and I have voted," Heine announced, walking-up to the center. "I'm sorry to say this but— Athrun, Dearka, and Yzak, you are now all hereby banished from base."

There was stark silence.

"Oh, and Nicol and Rusty, you guys are banished too." Heine added, placing a hand on his hip in a suavely manner.

Standing along the side of the innocents, "wait, what?" Nicol said, blinking with shock.

"Why us too?" Rusty too was confused.

"What kind of stupid decision is this!" Yzak snapped, bolting up from his time-out rock while Athrun and Dearka who were clearly guilty as charged just quietly accepted their undeniable fate.

"This is stupid, Heine, and you know it!" Yzak shouted, not giving-up. "You're all dingbats! You can't just throw us out! We're generals! I alone am worth 100 points!"

"You mean- you guys were before Athrun got all of our spies killed." Miguel pointed-out, authoritively emerging out from behind Heine with half-lidded eyes.

"Miguel..." Athrun frowned, looking up at the blond.

"Urgh. not you too Miguel!" Yzak gritted.

"Yzak, stop now before you embarrass yourself." Athrun sighed.

"Shut up! Unlike you, I was merely a victim of circumstance!" Yzak defended.

"Oh right, I forgot. You and Flay just happened to be caught hiding in bed together..." Athrun explained with bored sarcasm.

"Well, it's the truth!" Yzak shot back, glaring from Athrun to Dearka. The two didn't say anything while Shinn repudiated him with a snort. "I don't like you either!" Yzak pointed accusingly at the brat.

"Well, enough of that." Miguel interrupted, taking back center stage. "The thing is— since none of you can be official targets now, Heine and I have decided that you guys would be more beneficial to us on the frontline than in base. Here." The calm blond said then paused, pulling out the map that he kept at the back his belt and spreading it out on the ground for everyone to see. Athrun, Dearka, Nicol, Rusty, and Yzak slanted over.

"Here is where all five of you will be stationed." Miguel pointed, drawing a long horizontal line that split the playing field right across the middle. "You guys will act as our defensive wall. No girls should be allowed to pass this area. Shoot anyone who tries, got it? Athrun, you're in charge. I don't really care how you divide the tasks so long as you guys get the job done."

"Wait. So if we're the ones out there then... what are you guys going to do?" asked Dearka.

"We'll be handling the offensive of course." Heine answered as Miguel began rolling-up the map.

"So what's the plan?" asked Athrun to Heine.

"Oh right, another thing about being banished is that you don't get to know what the plan is." Heine explained causing Athrun and his new team to frown. "Your team's job is to simply set a boundary. Your teams is not to attack nor retreat. You report to us now so remember keep those communicators open for further orders."

"I still don't get it though." Rusty raised when the crowd around them began to disperse. "I'm a Colonel. Don't you guys still need me alive? If I remember correctly... It's capture the flag or earn 400points plus the Colonel, right?"

"Rusty, forget about them. They're just jealous were buddies." Dearka said, throwing an arm over his friend's shoulder.

"I feared as much." Rusty slumped with a sigh.

"Oh and one more thing before I forget," Heine said again, turning around. "If anyone of you even let one enemy into our territory then I guess that's the limit of your all so prestigious ZAFT training."

All five remained quiet for a while, diverse play of emotion escaping through their faces.

"Especially you." Heine swept passed Yzak, keeping his voice low so that others couldn't hear. "This is vengeance for being caught with my goddess." He hmph-ed, flipping a hand through his sleek bangs before leaving the banished soldiers to pack for themselves.

00000

Day 3. Time 10:03. Somewhere in the middle of the forest.

"I'm going to kill him! I swear I'll kill him!"

Tired of listening to his teammate yak throughout the travel, "give it a rest, Yzak. Heine isn't going to die even if you curse him to death." Athrun said, leading the way.

Yzak scowled at that. "Shut up. I don't need lecturing from someone who sold-out his team! And the hell- they made you leader again!"

Athrun closed his eyes briefly, a muscle tightened in his jaw. There just comes a time when enough was really enough. And this was enough. "Please, you're just envious of me because no one wants you as their leader." Athrun harshly remarked.

Coincidentally reaching their check point at the same time, the team stopped. Athrun dropped his baggage as did Yzak.

"Why you insolent bastard!" Yzak flinched.

"Hey, hey guys. Don't fight." Nicol intervened. "Rusty and I were only pulled into this mess but you don't see us complaining."

"Move out of the way, Nicol," Athrun said, his voice strange in everyone's ears.

"Athrun—"

"I said, move!" He roared.

Nicol backed up, evidently joining Dearka and Rusty on the side, staring in horror at two of their friends.

Athrun glared grimly at Yzak. "Hit me. It's what you want, right? I deserve it. I let you guys down."

Yzak looked stunned by the request.

"Do it," Athrun demanded. "Get it over with!"

The wind stilled, and the world beyond them turned silent as the two studied each other for a moment.

"Do it now. Make me pay!" Athrun insisted, but Yzak just stood there and his fist, eventually, slacked.

"Shit." The guy turned his head and pulled up his backpack from the dirt.

Athrun took a step forward. "Hey,"

"It's no fun when your just standing there asking for it." Yzak replied, and without lifting his head, he moved to leave. "Just split the section into five. I'll take the farthest east from here."

Athrun was quiet for a second until he sent Yzak another look, and his voice worn. "... Cagalli and I have been secretly dating for over two weeks... I was— really happy when she finally said yes..."

Yzak merely grunted. "Idiot, like I'd want to know that!" He snapped at him, squaring his backpack and striding away immediately with his head held high as if Athrun's apologetic reason meant nothing to him.

But the guys knew it hadn't meant nothing.

"Yeah, sorry." Athrun smiled lightly.

"I'll take the fourth column then. The one next to Yzak's," offered Dearka.

"I'll take the center." Rusty.

**To be continued? ... 10/13/2012

A/N: With all these unplanned drama... I'm starting to think Generals could have been written and plotted out better...