We'll be entering a familiar part of the Gundam SEED story soon, but under very different circumstances. Read on to find out what familiar part and how . . . and most importantly why.

GLad you guys are still enjoying the story despite all the time that has passed between chapter postings.


Chapter Thirty-Two: Smoke & Mirrors

The next day started with the first battle in nearly a week. I barely had any time in the morning to shower and dress before the alarms sounded. Hunger is something quickly forgotten in battle situations, I've noticed.

"There's four BuCUEs and a couple of squadrons of battle helicopters," Miriallia said to me right before I launched. "It looks like they're going to probe the southwest sector. Ashman's forces are going to join you, careful about friendly fire."

"You mean 'don't step on them'," I replied.

"Yeah, that."

Murrue Ramius. "Lieutenant-Commander La Flaga is going to ensure that there isn't a flanking manuever being made on us from other sector. Our anti-air will worry about the helicopters unless they get in your way. Just take out the BuCUEs, and let Ashman's forces engage any infantry or mechanized units until the BuCUEs are eliminated."

"Sounds good, Captain. Ensign Yamato, launching."

It was amazing how casual I made this all sound. Like I was ordering a sandwich.

As I took the Strike out and flew it towards the battle zone, I said "How much you want to be this is some kind of probing manuever?"

Natarle Badgiruel. "That's exactly what I think it is, unless it's setting up an ambush."

"I don't see how it could be an ambush, we have all of the cover, they just have sand."

Badgiruel's voice came in sounding more severe than ever. "You saw how fast that rebuilt Duel came at you, Ensign? I don't think that cover means anything with a GUNDAM that fast."

I knew she was right. It was scaring me how often I was finding her right these days. "I get it."

With the Archangel tailing behind me, I saw the battle zone, and Ashman's forces seemed to have jumped the gun. They were neck-deep in a fight against a few mechanized tank-like vehicles and a squadron of helicopters.

Badgiruel confirmed my thoughts a few seconds later. "Idiots! Don't they realize how difficult they've made it for us to engage now?"

"I'll clear a path for us," I said, and I aimed my gun at one of the helicopters. It was flying close enough to two others that I could eliminate a quarter of the squadron in just a few seconds. That would at least get the helicopters off of Ashman's back and force them to engage us, where they were at more of a disadvantage than picking on Ashman's fairly underequipped forces.

I aimed and fired, and then fired rapidly at the two others. They all exploded, and then I aimed at another helicopter and blew that up too. After that, the helicopters began to scatter and do far more random maneuvers. I had scattered them and made them panic, and that was enough for me.

"All right, where's the BuCUEs?" I asked. "They don't seem to be here."

"They're around here according to Ashman's communications," Miriallia said. "I think they're waiting for you."

"Lovely."

As I said that, I emerged from the rocky side where we had been hiding, and immediately my radar screen lit up.

So it was an ambush. Of me.

"They're right at the edge of the mountains! Don't come out!" I shouted as I quickly ditched my rifle and yanked out the beam sword. The Aile Pack's versatility really came in handy for situations like these.

One BuCUE attempted to charge me from the left, but I got the sword out in time to cleave it in half. Before I could even register the kill, another BuCUE tried the same thing from my right. I gave it a similar lethal punishment and then tried to reset myself.

The other pair of BuCUEs weren't going to make the same mistake their comrades had. They immediately blasted around the sand, one of them making an Ashman jeep flip wildly in the air after a collision, and they shot at me.

They were nuisance shots, but were going to add up if I kept taking the abuse for too long. I had landed, and despite Kira's modifications, the Strike was not as fast as the BuCUEs. It just was not mobile enough on the ground to be able to match the BuCUEs in speed, so I was just a walking titan, an easy target.

I immediately ran back to my rifle and snatched it up from the ground. The Strike was not a quick draw, but I got it up fast enough to blast one of the two remaining BuCUEs and left it with a big gaping hole in its left side, and it collapsed to the ground unceremoniously.

Miriallia. "Cagalli, the other squadron of helicopters is coming right for you."

"Keep them off of me while I fight the last BuCUE. It's the only one left."

Badgiruel. "We'll do what we can, but wipe out the last BuCUE quickly, our flak is not enough to keep them busy for very long."

"I won't need long." I accelerated the Strike then and charged right at the BuCUE, blasting away. At the same time, I tried to move it away from Ashman's forces, to prevent any other vehicles being crushed or flipped into the air, but despite my efforts another one was slammed into and it did about a half-dozen flips in the air before it crashed to the ground and exploded.

Why did Ashman's forces feel like they had to take the lead on this? They just didn't have the size or power to do much against ZAFT. We were by far the strongest element in their force, so why weren't we the centerpiece of the battle plan, instead of the support?

"The helicopters are making a beeline for you, Cagalli!" Miriallia yelled. "Hurry!"

"I'm trying! This last pilot is pretty good!"

I grazed the rear of the machine once, and the BuCUE did one last circle around me before it suddenly blasted away from me, and away from the battle. The pilot had clearly decided that one close call was enough.

I took aim at the fleeing BuCUE, and contemplated shooting it, but before I could make up my mind the BuCUE vanished behind a sand dune, and I relaxed a bit. Even now, after all this fighting, I still couldn't pull the trigger on a fleeing enemy. I guess that meant I hadn't gone full soldier yet, despite it all. I was still willing to show a tiny amount of leniency.

The helicopters, seven of them, came right at me then, but they didn't stand a chance. Not against me. Without much of a sweat, I shot them all down, and as the Archangel moved in, the remaining ZAFT vehicles withdrew, and things quieted down within minutes.

"That easy, huh?" I asked.

"Not easy at all," Murrue Ramius said, sounding solemn. "Take a look at what happened to that Ashman unit that engaged."

I did, and quickly realized there was a lot more dead and destroyed than anything else. The desert sands looked more like an unorganized scrapyard more than anything else, and if ten percent of that unit remained, that was a small miracle.

"Damn it," I hissed. Even though I had won an easy victory for myself, with my power level not even below seventy percent, I had still lost.

I still could not protect these people.


Ashman, of course, was furious. But not necessarily at us. "I knew he was too impulsive, but he had a charisma about him, he was a leader," he said of that unit commander. "But that's the last time I put somebody younger than twenty-five in that kind of position. He was way too confident in what his forces could do."

"What was his name?" I asked.

Ashman sighs. "He's dead. It honestly doesn't matter."

"The dead have names," I said. "I'd like to know his name."

Ashman gave me a look. "You do not dictate to me. If you wish to know his name, we will give a funeral service to him and all of the men who died in the battle as soon as we can, if you want to attend."

Murrue Ramius looked at me. "Ensign, please."

I was getting pissed off, and I couldn't figure out why. "I think the initial battle plan was too risky to begin with. I think all that's happening is that Ashman's forces are going to get killed no matter who's in charge. They just don't have the weaponry."

Ashman looked furious, but Ramius stepped in immediately. "Ensign, please don't make me ask you to leave. Be respectful."

Ashman sighed. "I actually have a plan to obtain the weaponry and supplies we need for more engagements. We're going to need to go out into the black market. It's booming right now, lots of sellers. A lot of pure terrorists and black operations going on against the Desert Tiger and they get their stuff from the sellers. I'm not proud of using these dishonorable people, but I know that us and you all need more supplies."

"We'll need to infiltrate the front lines in order to pull it off," Natarle Badgiruel says, surprisingly not arguing. "We'll need a distraction in the meantime so some of us can get into the cities Waltfeld has occupied."

"Let me guess, I'll be the distraction?" I asked.

"You're the best one we have," Badgiruel says. "I don't agree with this on a personal level, but I don't see another way. We expended a lot of ammunition on those helicopters."

Mu La Flaga sighed. "Not to mention that every couple of days or so we have some Earth Alliance soldier or two filter in from somewhere. That's cutting into the supplies little by little and it adds up."

Ashman frowned. "That's more potential Harkens."

"We're being much more thorough on the background checks," Ramius replied. "No more Hilda Harkens. Also, none of them have been pilots. Just special-ops types."

Ashman grunted, like he was skeptical of the notion, but he ultimately didn't say anything.

"Most were part of the unit sent to try to bring Ensign Yamato back to us, I've been able to vouch for their legitimacy," Badgiruel says. "I'm amazed they were able to survive the destruction of Tassill and work their way over here the way they have. There's no telling how many more of them could still be alive."

That fact shocked me. The truth was that I hadn't been paying any attention in regards to new faces popping up in the ship. Yet again, the Archangel was getting an even more diverse crew. Now, I guess, we were slowly getting an actual security force put together.

I wondered how many of those guards that I was starting to see walk around the ship were actual special-ops types. Maybe the two guards who had been protecting me from Hilda had been among those dropped onto Tassil.

"I guess I should really speak to them, huh," I said.

"We can arrange for that to happen if you want," Badgiruel says. "But for right now, we need to focus on the task at hand. We need supplies, and we need to figure out what our next move should be."

Badgiruel sighed. "And we have to consider the possibility that the battle may not have been an attempt to destroy the Archangel or the Strike, but to wipe out as much of your forces as possible, Sahib Ashman."

Ashman's eyes widened, and La Flaga threw in his two cents. "That's what I was thinking too. They only deployed the helicopters and BuCUE machines to keep the Strike and Archangel busy, I think. Despite all of the destruction, ultimately your forces took more casualties than ZAFT did."

Ashman punched his fist onto the closest console. "Damn it. That would be a strategy deployed by the Tiger."

Just as he said that, somebody charged onto the bridge. It was Ahmed, the teenaged soldier who had driven me here to the Archangel. "Sir! We have a messenger from the ZAFT forces who came under the white flag! They want to negotiate a prisoner swap!"

"What?" Natarle asked, stunned.

I think everyone else's reactions were precisely the same.


I followed everyone else outside, and quickly regretted it. The person at the head of the tiny delegation was the soldier who had tried to capture me at Tassil: the young man named DeCosta.

Seeing him made me freeze, and I knew he saw me as well. I thought about hiding, but as Murrue Ramius walked down the steps and towards DeCosta, I knew there was no way I could do that. Not at this point. Not when I had already blown his cover.

He did not address me, though. He faced Ramius first. "I am Colonel Martin DeCosta of the ZAFT forces in this sector. I believe you are the commander of the Earth Forces in this sector?"

Ramius seemed almost embarrassed. "Technically, Sahib Ashman is."

"Desert Dawn is its own entity," DeCosta replied. "They are a paramilitary unit at best, terrorists at worst. I'm describing official, ranked forces."

"I suppose by that standard that would be me. I am Captain Murrue Ramius," Ramius replied.

DeCosta sighed. "I am surprised you are letting Desert Dawn control the war effort for you. Then again, I am sure they threatened you with mutually assured destruction if you did not assist."

Ashman had been looking ready to boil over since DeCosta had started speaking, and now he finally had enough. "Get to your point, Colonel, before you are glad you will return back to your base in one piece."

DeCosta sighed again. "General Waltfeld wants a forty-eight hour ceasefire so we can negotiate a prisoner swap between our forces."

"You know we have Hilda Harken, then," Ramius replied.

"Yes. I see our suspicions are confirmed," DeCosta says with a sigh. "The city of Banadiya has not been damaged in this war. Waltfeld has a mansion by the city, he would like to meet with the commander of the Earth forces in this sector, i.e., you, Captain Ramius, along with one other representative. Desert Dawn is free to send a representative if they'd like as long as that representative is unarmed."

"You insult us," Ashman growled.

"We have no reason to trust you," DeCosta replied.

"Yet you trust the woman," Ashman replied.

"Not necessarily, but I believe she will follow military decorum," DeCosta replied.

"If this is about honor, I have not authorized any of the suicide bombings against your forces. Those are from unaffiliated groups," Ashman replied.

"So you say, but we have no reason to believe that either," DeCosta replied.

Murrue Ramius stepped in before Ashman could reply. "He's right. There's probably dozens of groups fighting him. Yours might be the strongest and you fight as guerrillas rather than as terrorists, but I have noted that some of the bombers claim to be from Desert Dawn."

"They are not. Not if they throw their lives away and kill our own civilians to kill the Tiger's forces," Ashman spat. "They're no better than the dog you're speaking to."

"Regardless, my commander has made up his mind on these terms," DeCosta says.

"What would be in it for us if we agreed to your cease-fire terms?" Ramius asked.

"You are free to move as you like for the forty-eight hours as long as there is no hostile action against our forces," DeCosta replied. "Resupply, rest, manuever around, so be it. But the moment anyone, including from Dawn, fires a shot against us, it's over."

DeCosta looked at Ashman. "Desert Dawn prisoners are also on the table here for Hilda Harken, so I would think twice about causing a disruption if you want any of those men and women back, Sahib Ashman."

Ashman growled again but ultimately said nothing. He knew he had little respect from DeCosta, or perhaps DeCosta was just pretending to have no respect to rile Ashman and Desert Dawn up a little.

All of this for one woman. Desert Dawn and Earth Forces alike. How important was Hilda Harken to them? Especially regarding she was just a Lieutenant? Though, just because she was a lieutenant in our forces didn't mean she wasn't of a higher rank in ZAFT's forces.

"What is the other representative that your commander officer wishes to meet?" Ramius asks.

DeCosta then eyed me, and my heart skipped a beat. I knew exactly what he was going to say. "General Waltfeld wishes to meet the pilot of the Strike."

Needless to say, that didn't go over very well.


"We are not putting Ensign Yamato in such obvious danger!" Natarle Badgiruel shouted.

"A two-day ceasefire would allow us to get supplies from those black market places Sahib Ashman spoke of," Murrue Ramius replied.

"You're considering this. I can't believe it," Badgiruel said, her eyes wide with shock and anger.

"I've been looking at the layout of Banadiya," Ramius replied, her voice surprisingly calm. "I think Desert Dawn has a decent chance of infiltrating the city. If something were to go down, they could get Ensign Yamato out of the city and out of harm's way quickly if we coordinate well enough."

"But what about you?" Badgiruel asked.

"Unlike Ensign Yamato," Ramius replied, "We have a capable backup for me. You are more than able to command this ship if something were to happen to me."

Badgiruel's eyes widened again, not from anger like before but total surprise. "R-Really?"

I had never seen Badgiruel flustered like this before. If the situation wasn't so serious I would have found it amusing, and wanted to take a picture.

"Yes," Ramius replied. "I believe you are more than capable of commanding a ship in the Earth Alliance, Lieutenant-Commander Badgiruel. As a result, Ensign Yamato will have higher priority than me if something is to happen."

Ramius fidgeted with the pistol at her side, a pistol I wasn't aware had been at her side this whole time. "I will give my life to make sure Ensign Yamato returns, if it comes to that. And I'll take as many of Waltfeld's forces with me as I can."

She sounded so sure of herself, and when she turned and smiled at me, I realized she meant every word. I gave me a funny feeling throughout my whole body to realize that I meant more to Murrue Ramius than her own life.

"T-Thank you, ma'am," I replied, not knowing what else to say.

"I guess there's no persuading you, is there?" Badgiruel replied, sighing.

"I guess I'm a trusting fool to the end, Lieutenant-Commander Badgiruel," Murrue said, a soft chuckle after her sentence.

Mu La Flaga simply sighed. "I noticed I'm not under consideration to take over the ship."

"You don't want the job," Ramius replied.

"It was a joke," La Flaga replied, his eyes looking away.

"Please," Ramius said to Badgiruel, "Inform Colonel DeCosta that we accept the terms of the cease-fire, and that we will meet with Waltfeld in Banadiya tomorrow afternoon, under the condition that we bring a small guard along to keep an eye on Harken during the negotiations."

"At least you're showing a tiny amount of reason," Badgiruel said, sighing. "Not much, but at least it's better than nothing."

"Again," Ramius said, "If I am taken as a fool, I will make sure Ensign Yamato returns to this ship."

"I'm surprised we're not considering the possibility that Waltfeld could order a strike on the Archangel while her captain and chief protector are away," La Flaga said.

"Remember that their commander is away too, and will be vulnerable. Either Ensign Yamato or I can kill Waltfeld if it becomes clear there's been a violation," Ramius replied.

"I suppose so," La Flaga sighed.

"Then it's settled. Let's make our arrangements so Hilda Harken can be brought to Banadiya with us. Lieutenant-Commander Badgiruel, you are in charge of the ship and the resupply operation while I am away. Do whatever it takes to make sure we have enough to face Waltfeld head-on. That will probably be what it takes to end this," Ramius said.

"I understand, ma'am," Badgiruel replied, shaking her head.

And I was left wondering about what my day was going to be like tomorrow.

"You meant every word you said, didn't you, Captain?" I asked her when we had a moment in private.

"Yes, Cagalli," Ramius said, surprisingly using my first name. "I dragged you into this war and it's my responsbility to make sure you live through it. You deserve to go home."

"Captain Ramius, I . . ."

"It's all right, Cagalli. And you can call me 'Murrue' in private, if you wish," Ramius replied.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really," Murrue replied, smiling warmly at me.

She hugged me then. "I feel like I have done so many cruel things to you. I know you've turned into a different person, especially after what you've been through in Tassil. But I hope enough of the old you is left to know that I sincerely care about you and that I will make sure you and all of your friends return to Orb, no matter what happens to me."

"I . . . thank you, Murrue," I managed, feeling like my throat was being choked shut. It took me a moment to realize that I was starting to cry.

Murrue smiled at me as she separated but kept her hands on my shoulders. "It's okay, Cagalli. Is there anything you need to say to me before we get ready for tomorrow?"

"No, I . . ." It was so hard to talk, or even think, at that moment. It felt like the words were at the tip of my tongue but the tip was refusing to respond. "I'm just glad that . . . you're the captain."

Murrue chuckled. "I'm glad you're the Strike's pilot. Now please, get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow, Cagalli."

Possibly my last one, seemed to be her unsaid conclusion.

"Yes, Captain . . . Murrue."

Murrue just chuckled again. "You'll get it right eventually. You're dismissed."

"Yes Ca . . . Murrue, ma'am." I felt like such a little girl in that instant.

"See you later." Murrue left the bridge then, and I was along, staring at the locked-down, half-active instruments, thinking about tomorrow.

Why? Why did Waltfeld want to meet me? Why was that a condition for a cease-fire and negotiating a prisoner swap? What was his plan?

Did he consider me a prisoner too? The thought literally popped into my mind, as Hilda's words about how rare I was came to mind. What if ZAFT considered me an Earth Alliance POW as well, like maybe I was being forced to fight against my will?

That didn't make sense. Not if they heard my conversations with Athrun, which I was sure they had at that point. But maybe someone or something had convinced them it was a ruse or something? Or was I just coming up with a crazy theory that had no basis in reality?

All I knew was that Waltfeld had to have some reason in wanting to see me. Whether it was using me as prisoner swap bait, or to encourage me to defect, or some kind of "honorable, worthy opponent" drivel, I was going to find out soon enough.

And I had a feeling Waltfeld was going to be more naunced than I was imagining him to be.

It just seemed to be the most accurate thing about him.