I know that this is probably the last thing you guys want to read, but the postings will be slowing down again pretty shortly. I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month once more when November rolls around, and that's going to be taking writing priority over this fanfiction. I will try to update every now and then in November if I'm doing really well, however. I also do not plan on taking a hiatus beyond November for this fic. We're more than halfway through, it's time to get this fic done. I want Bloodlines finished in 2014.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter below. More setup . . . but it's going to set up a pretty intense battle ahead pre-Spitbreak.
EDIT: I have fixed the rather embarrassing "Freedom/Justice" error. Thanks guys. XD
Chapter Fifty-Six: Sooner or Later
I had trouble sleeping that night in the Amalfi residence. It wasn't that I felt unsafe. Far from it. They tried to make me feel welcome, but it just felt strange to me. I just didn't feel like one of them.
I had my ZAFT uniform washed and wore my other one when I came downstairs that morning to see Nicol also wearing his ZAFT uniform. I couldn't help but notice that it looked older than mine, the colors had faded a bit in comparison to my own. It wasn't something I had noticed before that moment, how new I was in ZAFT.
Nicol's father, Yuri, was present along with Romina that morning. Yuri Amalfi smiled at me. "No pun intended, but you look natural in your uniform, Cagalli."
"Um, thank you, Mr. Amalfi," I said. I didn't know why people thought I looked good in the uniform, but it was embarrassing to be told so. It was like they were saying 'you belong to us', which probably wasn't their intention, but it still creeped me out a bit.
"I've read some of your battle records," Yuri Amalfi said. "It's a relief to know you're on our side now. Nicol told us about his battles against you."
Seems like everyone was talking about my battles except myself. I was going to have to change that in the future. "Yeah . . . I assume he's told you I'm pretty good, huh?"
"Yes," Yuri Amalfi said. "I hope you use the Justice well. I designed the Neutron Jammer Canceller myself."
"Your wife told me," I replied. "It sounds like one heck of a piece of equipment. I'll be able to use nuclear power, even on Earth where nuclear power is effectively useless."
"It will give you a clear advantage over every other opponent you'll face," Yuri Amalfi said. "Even if, theoretically, the Earth Alliance successfully manufactures their own Mobile Suits, you will still have the advantage of unlimited power. The Phase Shift will never fail you once it turns on . . . unless, of course, you choose to shut off the Justice in the middle of the battle, but I don't see you doing that."
"No, I don't see myself doing that either," I admitted.
Yuri Amalfi smiled. "I truly hope you can help end this war, 1st Lieutenant."
"Cagalli," I said. "Just call me 'Cagalli'. I don't need to be referred to as my rank in private like this."
Yuri Amalfi had been more difficult to convince than his wife with talking to me informally. I just wanted to be treated as a guest and a friend of Nicol's, not as a soldier. Being treated as a soldier was just making me feel uncomfortable.
"My sentiment remains the same," Yuri Amalfi said, his smile fading. "This war has gone on much too long. It is a necessary evil, and I hope that the power of your Mobile Suit will force the Earth Alliance to submit terms that will be acceptable to Patrick Zala. I know he rejected their previous offering because he felt that PLANT wasn't getting enough of a deal."
"Patrick Zala believes the Earth Alliance shouldn't submit peace terms," I said, not quite keeping the bitterness out of my voice. "He feels they should submit surrender terms. He pretty much said so in front of Siegel Clyne."
Yuri Amalfi sighed. His eyes looked vaguely sad in that moment, which caught me off guard. He seemed to be quite the melancholy man, unlike his more spirited and youthful wife. "I am not surprised. Patrick Zala is . . . more aggressive in his approach. However, I do hope that his more forceful approach will bring a close to this war."
"I agree with you that it has gone on too long, Mr. Amalfi," I said. "But I'm not sure if Chairman Zala's approach is truly the right thing to do. I think the Earth Alliance is being increasingly influenced by anti-Coordinator forces like Blue Cosmos. That peace offering may have been the last gasp by the doves in the Earth Alliance."
"I know," Yuri Amalfi said. "That's what I am afraid of as well. That's why I'm hoping that 'Spitbreak' and the Justice can end this war before the doves lose all of their influence in the Earth Alliance."
I saw Nicol enter the room then. He was wearing his military uniform, unlike the civilian wear he had worn the previous day. "Father, Cagalli and I will be departing soon. Where's Mother? I'd like to say goodbye to her and I'm sure Cagalli would like to as well."
"Ah, right. I believe she's out in the gardens right now," Yuri Amalfi said.
"Thank you, Father." Nicol looked fairly melancholy too. He only had a short time of R&R, I wasn't surprised that he looked dismayed. I think he'd prefer if his R&R with his family could have lasted forever.
"I'll be right with you," I said. "Don't go anywhere. You're my ride."
Nicol did smile at that. "I know. I'll see you outside, Cagalli."
Yuri and Nicol Amalfi traded their farewells with each other, and then Nicol vanished towards the left side of the house. Yuri Amalfi, for his part, turned to me and placed his hands on my shoulders.
That sent a chill up my spine. That meant that he was about to tell me something important.
"Please," he said, not with the reservation of someone on the Supreme Council, but with the melancholia of a father of a soldier, "Protect Nicol. He does not have . . . have the right temperment for battle. Keep him safe for me."
I remembered all of the promises I had made to protect people on the Archangel, some broken, some successful. I didn't want to make another promise. If you make too many promises odds are you're going to break them. But I knew there was no way out of this situation either.
"I will do my best, sir," I said, as if I was following an order. "But I can't make guarantees, especially if Nicol and I are separated. I'm sorry I can't promise anything more than that."
Yuri Amalfi sighed. "I understand. Battle is such a random thing, from what I've heard. It never ceases to amaze me how many casualties that we get from friendly fire, for example."
He removed his hands from my shoulders and looked away. "Then promise me you will use the power of the Justice properly, in the way it was intended."
"That I can promise, sir," I said. "The Earth Alliance will not get their hands on your technology and I will not abuse the power that's been given to me."
"Thank you," he said. "Farewell, Cagalli Yamato."
What was it with people in this country and their dramatic goodbye words? "Later, Mr. Amalfi," was all I said in reply, before I began walking in the direction Nicol went off to.
I quickly found them outside, and I saw Romina hugging Nicol. It was clear they were pretty close. It reminded me of my own relationship with my mother, before I screamed at her . . . before I ran away from her.
It just reminded me that I couldn't die. I couldn't let things end this way with my mother or father.
"Nicol, please, you need to be careful out there," Romina Amalfi said. "Your father's been talking about some aggressive offensives. I really want you to come back home."
"It's supposed to be the biggest offensive ever amounted by ZAFT," Nicol replied. "The point is, for the first time, we will outnumber them on the battlefield. That should make all of the difference in the world."
"I hope so," Romina Amalfi said, although she did not look particularly hopeful. She looked to me. "Ah, Cagalli."
"I'll be leaving with him," I said. "Thank you for your hospitality."
"It's no problem, Cagalli. Good luck to you as well out there."
"Thank you." To be honest, at that point, I just wanted to leave. All this was doing was reminding me about my own family. About how I was fighting for a cause I didn't believe in. How I shouldn't even be here to begin with. I belonged back in Orb.
But at the same time, Romina Amalfi was so kind. It was obvious she cared about me. There just wasn't a violent, angry bone in her body.
"Thank you very much, Mrs. Amalfi. I'll do the best I can."
"That's all that should be asked of you," she said. She turned to Nicol then. "Both of you."
"Thank you, Mom," Nicol said. He sighed then, and looked towards me. "I guess we should go now, huh?"
"Yeah." I tried to give Mrs. Amalfi a casual wave but it seemed to be half-hearted, at least to me. "See you later, Mrs. Amalfi."
"Goodbye," she said. "And bye to you as well, Nicol."
"Yeah. Bye, Mom." Nicol and Romina Amalfi gave each other one last hug, and then Nicol approached me. "Let's go."
"Okay." I turned and followed Nicol out of the grounds of his house. I wasn't sure whether I should say anything to Nicol or not, I couldn't quite figure out what he was feeling, and I didn't want to offend him. Unlike Asta, who even on her best days seemed prickly, Nicol at least seemed friendly enough. I didn't want to alienate him.
Finally, I thought I should say something and did. "Your family is nice. They're wonderful people."
"They do the best they can," Nicol said. "Neither one of them truly wanted this war, and Mom in particular didn't want me to join the Academy. But it didn't feel right to me to sit down and play the piano while others fight in my place. Dad's influence could have kept me from the service but I just couldn't do it."
"I understand," I said. Nicol clearly felt that it was his duty to fight, to suffer like everyone else his age, rather than use his parents' influence to stay out of the war.
I didn't know what to feel about that. Lacus Clyne was clearly old enough to be in ZAFT if Nicol and Athrun were, and yet she wasn't fighting. Was she simply too famous to send into battle? Or did she have her father pull strings for her? Or did Siegel Clyne pull the necessary strings of his own initiative to keep Lacus from going into combat?
I was going to have to ask one of these days.
Unfortunately, it didn't look like that was going to happen for a while.
After all, I was heading back to war.
Nicol dropped me off at the base and then went off towards his own rallying point. Much to my surprise, I saw Chairman Zala waiting for me the moment I entered inside the base.
"Chairman Zala!" I exclaimed, completely taken off guard. I even forgot to salute for a few seconds, but I finally did.
"1st Lieutenant," Zala said after I finally saluted, "Welcome back. I am here to witness the launch of the Justice . . . and hopefully the end of the war."
"Um, thank you, Mr. Chairman, sir," I finally said. What was he doing here? Was the launching of the Justice really so important? I was even beginning to think that the Chairman had spent all night and day here, waiting for me, like he was paranoid that someone would take his new toy before I got here.
"Please follow me to your Mobile Suit," Zala said, and he turned, followed by his bodyguards. I suddenly got an uncomfortable sense of being enclosed upon, and I saw that troopers were surrounding me on four corners. It was clear that in that moment my freedom was gone and that the only path for me was to become the Justice's pilot.
Patrick Zala clearly did not trust me. I must have passed whatever test he had given me by the slimmest of margins.
"Do we need so many armed guards?" I dared to ask. "We hardly had any yesterday."
"You don't need to know the answer to that question," Zala replied.
Yep. That pretty much confirmed it. I definitely was not trustworthy.
Did anyone tell him that I had associated with the Clynes the previous day? Probably Athrun, he had seen me there. And it wouldn't have been for a malicious reason. Athrun was Chairman Zala's son, after all.
But this was making me worried. Assuming that my thoughts were true, this meant there was a major paradigm shift. Siegel Clyne clearly still thought of himself as a friend of Patrick Zala, but I was getting worried that Zala wasn't returning the feelings. Perhaps Zala no longer considered himself Siegel Clyne's friend, but rather a foe, probably because of Siegel Clyne's increasingly dovish point of view. And if I was so willing to associate with Siegel Clyne, that meant I was a dove as well.
That was all conjecture, though. Assumptions. I didn't know for sure. I had a feeling I never would.
I looked at the various doors. "I assume some of these doors lead to the Freedom and Providence."
"Among other machines," Zala replied. "But they're not your business, 1st Lieutenant. The Justice is."
"I understand. I was just asking."
"You don't need to ask stupid questions you know you won't get your desired answers on, 1st Lieutenant."
Ouch. "I was just curious, that's all."
"Curiosity won't get you anywhere, 1st Lieutenant. Just following orders and doing what is necessary to end this war against the Naturals . . . end it in victory."
Zala seemed more . . . animated than he did the previous day. It was making me nervous. Why was he so excited? Did the prospect of the Justice finally taking off really thrill him so much? Or was it the possibility of what the Justice could do?
Either option was scary. Which one was scarier I didn't know yet.
"I understand, sir," I said.
"You can't just understand, 1st Lieutenant Yamato," Zala said. "You have to execute as well. I need this war won, and I am trusting in your ability in order to end it in our favor. We will have peace in our lifetimes if you crush the Naturals, 1st Lieutenant. The Justice has the power to pull that off."
The certainty in his words were even more frightening than the implications of his excitement.
"I'll beat them," I said, trying to show confidence but not the violence of Zala's intent. "I can guarantee that. With this Mobile Suit I won't lose."
"You better not," Zala said. "A lot is riding on you."
Gee, no pressure. Not.
"I won't lose," I promised again.
We walked through the door, and this time, the Justice's cockpit was open. A technician stepped out of the cockpit then and saluted Patrick Zala and I. "The O.S. is prepped and ready to go, Mr. Chairman. She's ready to fly."
"Excellent." Zala motioned to the cockpit. "Get in your pilot's uniform and get inside as soon as possible. The rest of your team has already departed for the Vesalius."
"Yes, Mr. Chairman, sir," I said.
I knew there was no way to say no.
After I got changed and my things packaged up, I re-emerged back onto the dock. There was no one there, but I immediately heard Patrick Zala speak over the intercom.
"1st Lieutenant Yamato, remember what I told you. Show the Naturals the ability you showed us for those two months we wasted chasing you from Heliopolis to Orb. I want those Naturals cowering in fear of you and the Justice. Make them learn who is superior once and for all."
I knew it would look really bad if I didn't at least meet Zala halfway. "I will win, Mr. Chairman. You will have victory over the Earth Alliance."
I had no idea if they could pick up my voice, but apparently they could. "Make it decisive."
Finally, rhetoric I could agree with wholeheartedly. "That I can do."
I threw my helmet on and stepped into the cockpit and sat down. The cockpit was roomier than the Strike's, and it seemed to have more functions and buttons, and it seemed to have a pretty well-equipped survival package if I were to get shot down. There was enough space for a full-fledged assault rifle to sit on my right, for one thing. And I could place my carrying case that was containing my dress uniforms down to my left without much difficulty.
I re-adjusted the seat for my size and got everything going. I saw a piece of paper with a code on it, and after a brief attempt to memorize it, I gave up and just entered the code as it was written. There would be time to memorize the unlocking code later, as long as I didn't lose this paper.
As I unlocked it, a compartment opened to my right, revealing a key. ZAFT was being really secure here. Just to get access to the key to turn this thing on I needed a password.
I put the key in and saw another code I would have to put in. The paper had this code listed as well and I plugged it in, and suddenly the machine came to life, all of the buttons and lights glowing like I was at some dance rave. It was fascinating. And it also reminded me I was going to have to take a look at the user's manual as well.
I looked around and could not find it. I looked at the piece of paper, and saw there was an unlocking code just to gain access to the manual.
Screw it, I thought.
The O.S. was similar enough to the Strike's for me to figure things out and get it booted up. I heard Chairman Zala's voice over the radio then. "Not even going to give the manual a look, 1st Lieutenant?"
"I've flown this type of machine before. It's basically the same. I'll look at the manual before I take her into combat," I said.
I completed the bootup sequence and saw a word sequence display across the screen: Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Module.
The GUNDAM abbreviation once again. Just spelled differently and in a slightly more coherent way than the Strike's.
I felt the machine come to life, ready to launch at a moment's notice. It felt powerful, lumbering, like a giant waking from a long slumber and it was ready to rush out into the world . . . or outer space, in this case.
"All right, this is 1st Lieutenant Cagalli Yamato, launching GUNDAM Justice! Let's do this!"
I powered the machines on and launched straight up, out of the hangar.
It seemed to be impossibly long at first but when I was ready to settle in I was suddenly out of the PLANT and in outer space.
So many stars. So many colonies.
And a burgeoning ZAFT fleet to my left. Undoubtedly either in reserve or preparing to depart for Operation 'Spitbreak'.
I wondered if I could set coordinates for the Vesalius. I plugged it in and realized through my trial and error that indeed the ship could find any ZAFT ship and its location. It was an intuitive, adaptive O.S., much more so than the Strike's even at the peak of its efficiency. Without much effort, I was able to put the Justice on autopilot and send it right for the Vesalius.
I was amazed at how easy it was.
I wondered if the combat would be easy in this thing as well.
Something told me probably not.
I made it to the Vesalius in under an hour and docked with the hangar. Like the chairman had predicted, the only Mobile Suits besides my own belonged to Athrun's team. The Aegis, the Duel, the Blitz, and the Buster were all here.
A technician greeted me when I got out of the cockpit. "Welcome to the Vesalius, ma'am. Get dressed and head for the bridge. There will be a mission briefing that will begin the moment you arrive."
'Ma'am'. I was being addressed as 'ma'am'. It was a heady feeling. "Thank you, um . . . Petty Officer."
Apparently my guess was right as the technician nodded. "No problem, ma'am."
It was weird to float around on the Vesalius. For the entire time the Archangel had been in outer space, theVesalius had haunted us, shadowed us, stalking us seemingly every waking moment. In one battle, they had even cornered us and would have destroyed us if Natarle Badgiruel had not used Lacus Clyne's presence to save our hides. This had to be a good ship with a good captain. At least, I hoped it was.
After getting changed and wandering around lost on the ship for a short while, I finally made it to the bridge, and saw Athrun's team waiting for me, along with who had to be the ship's captain.
"What took you so long?" Asta asked.
"I got lost," I replied.
Asta chuckled bitterly. "Figures. The one time I don't want you to get lost, you get lost."
"Stuff it," Athrun said. "We need to listen to the briefing. We're going into combat tomorrow if possible, so we need to take this in now."
Tomorrow? We were already going to begin fighting tomorrow? So soon? I didn't feel quite ready for that, I was only just beginning to understand the Justice!
I was going to have to pull an all-nighter just to learn how to fire everything.
"Right, good idea," said the captain, who had long, orange sideburns. He looked at me then, and then approached me and extended his hand. "You must be 1st Lieutenant Cagalli Yamato. I am Fredrik Ades, captain of the Vesalius. I am sure it must be strange for you to be onboard considering that you fought us for a period of time."
"Nice to meet you, sir," I said, shaking his hand. "And I'll get over whatever disorientation there is. I'm here now, so I'll do what I'm ordered to do."
"Excellent," Captain Ades said. He returned to his post. "All right, let's begin the briefing."
He turned on the holographic displays and I suddenly saw a picture of a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties or early thirties with long, sleek dark hair and eyes.
"This is Selena Hikowa," Ades said. "Atlantic Federation citizen but she was born in the Republic of East Asia. She is the one who has been harassing our preparations for 'Spitbreak' and we're going to take her out."
"She's been winning by outsmarting us," Athrun said. "She's basically a sanctioned space pirate. She preys on ZAFT military vessels and PLANT civilian vessels, disabling and plundering them and is always taking prisoners and shuttling them to the Earth Alliance. Our counterattacks have been fruitless because she employs an extremely loose battle plan that usually involves a lot of fighting retreats until she can get us caught in an ambush, usually in the Debris Belt, and destroy us."
"So we have to outsmart her," Nicol said.
"Or just overwhelm her with our power," Dearka said. "Remember that we have the most powerful Mobile Suits in the war right now, all on this ship."
"It's not that easy," Ades said. "She was once a true Earth Alliance soldier, but was discharged after the Battle of Endymion. Apparently she and her superiors did not get along and they dumped her because she disobeyed orders in that battle. But that's only part of the story. What makes her a true threat is the craft she flies."
I suddenly saw a picture of something I never thought I would see again.
"No way!" I couldn't keep the surprise out of my voice. "That's Mu La Flaga's Mobile Armor!"
"She was part of the same unit as La Flaga," Ades said. "She is the last known individual outside of La Flaga himself who flies the Moebius Zero. And that is why she needs to be eliminated. She and her small force are causing too many casualties and hardships for our civilians and military personnel, and we've been ordered to remove her from the equation once and for all."
I couldn't believe it. My first battle, and I had to go up against a Moebius Zero, of all things? A former companion of Mu La Flaga? They couldn't be serious!
No, they were serious. Too serious. This was real, this was really happening.
Damn it, I thought. The last thing I want is to kill one of Mu La Flaga's comrades.
But I knew that was what I was going to have to do. Those were my orders, and I had promised victory. This was war, and now I was on ZAFT's side. I had to pull myself together and do it.
"Understood," I said. "I guess I should volunteer to get her attention, then."
"That's what I was thinking," Athrun said. "We outsmart and overpower her. With you as bait and causing a lot of damage to her forces, she'll have no choice but to fight you personally. And then the rest of us surround her and take the Moebius Zero apart piece by piece until it's gone."
"That was the plan I was thinking of as well," Ades said. "It sounds like we are in agreement then. Loose battle plan to counter her own loose plan, and we cause chaos to draw her out and then shoot her down. We win."
They all seemed so certain about it. There was an air of confidence in this room that I never got onboard theArchangel. On the Archangel, we were more worried about survival than victory. Here? These were people who wanted to win the war, who thought they were winning the war. They believed in victory and that was creating a confident swell in the room that I couldn't shake. In fact, I almost wanted to be swept up in it.
"Understood, sir," I said with a salute. I wasn't anywhere near as confident as I was acting but I felt I had to show it too.
Ades nodded. "You'll do great, 1st Lieutenant. I'm looking forward to seeing how you do out there."
"Looking forward to victory, sir," I said, and I forced a smile.
The truth was, I wasn't so sure I wanted this victory. There was just something ruthless about the whole operation.
At the same time, these were my orders and it was brought up that this 'Selena Hikowa' was picking on civilians. I couldn't let that stand either, especially as someone who defended civilians for such a long time on the Archangel.
The only way to end it all was to win.
And I was the best person available to provide it.
So . . . I was going to win.
Irrevocably.
