Respect between Enemies – The BetanWerecat

Gundam Seed: "Descending Sword" and after. OCs with appearances by canon characters. The actions of Kira, Athrun, and the others have far reaching effects. Not all things that begin as acts of war must stay such. Rated T for language and openly acknowledged but off screen activity. (Reviews are welcomed but not required. This is written only for my own enjoyment. Flaming me will get you ignored.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed.

Lieutenant Kayla Grayhawk. Lance Thoms watched the recording from Ito's GINN for the fifth time. The boy had found himself quite a girl here. She was every bit as good a fighter as Ito said she was. She thought fast, took advantage of every opportunity offered, and got more out of that Zero than its designers had put into it. It was almost inspirational, watching someone this good. There was something oddly familiar about it too but he couldn't put his finger on it. He just filed it in the back of his mind. It would surface eventually.

Ito's performance was a beautiful thing to watch as well. He was getting better all the time. This could be the final report needed to put him over the bar and secure his advancement to the Elites. It was obvious from the very first that he was going for a prisoner, and by god, he got one. Holman getting himself shot down just made such a perfect contrast to Ito's skilled performance; he couldn't have helped his rival more if he'd planned it out. It would be just as well to keep this record private as far as the Team was concerned. Holman didn't need to see this and he didn't need the internal trouble it would cause with the Team if the man did.

Lance did hope the review board would miss a few things about this performance though. Ito was something of an idealistic idiot. He still believed in the concept of chivalry. He'd had at least three clean chances to kill her there towards the end of the chase and he'd passed them all up. Because he didn't want to do it. Because he respected this kind of enemy. Boy was going to get himself slaughtered some day letting the wrong one survive. It would be a good thing if the board didn't notice that.

He picked up the preliminary report from medical. Idealist or not, Ito had a good eye for fine genetics. Probably inherited that from his grandfather. Dr. Roland Ito was one of the top twenty geneticists in the Plants. His Plan, while not popular with the current powers that be, did have the backing of eighteen of the other top twenty. And his grandson had definitely found a leading candidate for it today.

Of course, they would only know for sure if she was actually as good as she looked when they got her up to Aprilius. The testing the medlab here could do was preliminary at best. But my, my, the numbers did look prime. Family had been doing some genetic cleanup on itself for a couple generations by the look of it. She definitely was a Natural but she had some very Coordinator characteristics already due to that work.

He understood her startling reflexes now and her striking turn of speed. She wasn't enhanced like a Coordinator but she was completely unhampered by any readily detectable genetic defects. She was the best a Natural could be, and that was surprisingly impressive.

Thoms wondered how many Naturals were very quietly doing this same kind of cleanup on their genetics. Even Blue Cosmos accepted genetic manipulation to cure disease or prevent physical defects. As long as nothing was being added, a family could actually improve themselves a lot just by editing out the damaged materials that had collected in their genome over the history of the human species. Lieutenant Grayhawk was a very pointed lesson for the Plants in just what the Naturals could become, yet remain truly Naturals.

She certainly made the gap between them a lot narrower than it was generally thought to be. If she did, so would any other Natural whose genes were similarly clean. The lead Coordinators held over the Naturals, the lead that let their much smaller population stand up to the Earth Forces in this war, that lead would vanish if there were enough Naturals like the Grayhawk girl.

Captain Thoms leaned back wearily. He really didn't need this right now. Not on top of the disaster "Operation Spit Break" had turned into. But the data on the girl and her potential now sat on his desk like an unexploded bomb. Someone was going to have to deal with it and do it soon. The Plants could not afford to be blindsided by this.

He sighed. He was putting off the inevitable for no useful reason. With so many lost, there was turmoil in the ranks above him. Communications were going directly between offices usually separated by several layers of command structure. He would never have a better chance to get this where it had to go to be seen and understood by the people who could do something about it.

He set about making several copies of the data and the combat log from Ito's GINN. Each set was packaged and mailed out as soon as it was finished. He wouldn't have the luxury of dozens of flights between the shrunken fleet and Carpentaria Base for very long; best make use of it while it lasted.

As the last one went out, he wondered what Council member Eileen Canaver was going to make of this unsolicited transmission from the front lines. He was presuming a great deal on his mother's friendship with the lady in sending it. Yet while the others he had sent would reach people of considerable academic weight, she was the only political figure he had even the faintest connection to. And this was going to involve politics even more than genetics before it was all said and done.


Adrian made his way wearily to the mess. His initial debriefing had gone better than he'd expected; largely, he suspected, because the Captain had already had a chance to see Lt. Grayhawk in action. There would be a more in depth meeting in the morning after Thoms had had a chance to review the combat record from the GINN and whatever preliminary data medical could send him on Grayhawk.

There had been a chance for a shower, a few hours worth of nap, and now he was hungry. He already knew the Team had been unbelievably lucky. Lon was the only fatality they had. To balance their luck, there was no other team assigned to the Ballard that had more than three survivors. Two were gone altogether. And word was they were going to be one of the two ships taking the wounded back to Carpentaria. He wondered who they'd offended to get that charming, if necessary, job.

The mess was a shock. Each team had their own table, with a small standard on it to mark it for any newcomer who was wandering around lost and various mementos of past accomplishments scattered on it. Well, that was how things had been before he'd left for the attack.

Now the tables were bare of all Team symbols. Somebody had gone through here and taken not only the standards but the table cloths, the various trophies, and the individual pilot's nameplates from their places. The room was suddenly starkly white with all the different Team colors removed.

For the first time the extent of their losses punched Adrian right in the face. He stared around, lost in what had been the most familiar space aboard the ship. In the unexpectedly enlarged space, the few people there all seemed to be huddled at the tables closest to the chow line. He recognized no one there, no one at all. Yet by the uniforms, they were mostly pilots and he knew every one based on the ship. The sense of disorientation deepened.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad."

Adrian turned to find Yuri Lubbek standing beside him. He'd never been so glad to see the younger pilot. Having Yuri there gave him a frame of reference again. The other Thoms flyer gave him a ghost of a smile.

"Captain said not to get you up earlier." Yuri told him. "So you missed what passed for lunch. Didn't miss much. The cooks were not at their best."

"I can imagine so." Adrian replied. "I'd be amazed if there is anyone on this ship who is. Oh, glad to see you got home safe too."

"Thanks. My GINN's going to be fixable too; the Shackelton will be bringing it back to Carpentaria for us. I thought it was bad luck getting hit like that but it turned out to be good luck after all. Shackelton was just outside the destruction zone. If I'd gone with Lon, I'd probably be dead."

"Yeah." He shook his head slowly. "Freedom's pilot did try to save Lon, it just didn't work out."

'Rin," his friend's intense blue eyes held concern. "There are some wild stories going around about you. They're saying you brought Lon back in an Earth Forces body bag and had one of them prisoner in your GINN. A stunner of a girl no less! What the hell happened after my suit got hit?"

"Well, will wonders never cease? Rumor has it right for once."

"What!" Yuri's eyes suddenly looked like blue fried eggs as they opened as wide as they could go. "Those things are true?"

"Yeah. It's a long story and I'm hungry. I'll tell you the whole thing over food."

"Oh, yeah, you sure will! 'Cause I'm not leaving until you do!"

The meal was very plain and there were only three choices offered instead of the usual dozen. Someone was using their head here, keeping things under control and making sure the food put out was as foolproof as possible. Uninspired it might be but by judicious taste testing he discovered it was actually good. He filled his plate with a generous hand.

Yuri led him to a table where he was surprised to discover about two thirds of the rest of the Thoms Team was already eating. They were right here and yet he hadn't recognized any of them from across the room. Still, he was going to have an audience. That was probably not a bad thing under the circumstances. The tables close around were also fairly full and there were many covert glances coming his way, not all friendly. An audience was definitely not a bad thing.

He started with soup and catching up to a Moebius Zero that had just downed a pair of DINN's that had been fools enough to let it get behind them. The peas disappeared about the same time the Zero crashed. He made bad sculptures out of the potatoes as he tried to illustrate the Freedom's attempt to save Lon Baki. The steak was in small shreds by the time he finished describing the encounter with the Archangel and retrieving Lon's body. He took questions for a while then and ate the rest of dinner while there was still some warmth in it. He got the GINN into the suit rack as he finished up the pie.

"So then Holman reaches in and grabs her." Adrian could feel his voice getting tired but this needed to be told too. "The stupid ass jerked her out onto the hatch and started feeling her up and being seriously crude. The Captain snapped at him but you know Trace, he ignored him. He had his hand up at the top of her inner thigh when she decided to get rid of him."

He shook his head. "She is fast, damn fast, for a Natural! She had her knees back to her chest before I knew it. Bent Holman's arm in an interesting way as she removed his hand from her leg doing it too. He never got a chance to react before she kicked him. If he hadn't slipped a bit, she'd have smashed the family jewels and I'm quite sure she was intending to. As it was, she almost kicked him off the gantry. The Captain caught him or he'd have gone over. And he called Trace stupid when he sent for a med team to get him to sick bay."

Adrian shook his head again. "Captain talked to her and they agreed on a truce. She gave him no trouble at all. Of course, the Captain treated her as the law demands. That did have something to do with it."

"And you brought her back alone in your GINN?" Yuri asked, a bit awed.

"I tied her up hand and foot while she was unconscious." Adrian pointed out carefully. "And I kept my hands on the controls. I'm pretty sure if I'd made any move on her, we'd both be drowned now. She made it quite plain that there are prices for survival she will not pay."

"Gonna be interesting when some luckless soul tells her just what she's been taken for."

Adrian didn't see who said that but there was a loud buzz of agreement from just about everyone. He wasn't looking forward to it. He'd brought her in, he would be the one who explained it. Given how she reacted so far, he would not push that off on anyone else.

"So where is she now?" Someone in the back wanted to know. "I'd like to see this girl."

"She's in isolation in Sick Bay." Everyone looked around in surprise as the Ballard's Captain spoke suddenly. "She is not an exhibit in a zoo and I will consider attempts at voyeurism a disciplinary offence. Do I make myself clear gentlemen?"

"Sir! Yes, sir!" Pilots and ships crew alike jumped to their feet and saluted. Captain Ponchard was generally fairly easy going but when he laid down the law, he meant it. The Earth Forces girl was off limits, absolutely and beyond question. The tone of voice moreover said anyone caught sneaking a peek would be in a lot more trouble than normal.

"Now, if I may have your attention for other, military matters please." The Captain looked around, managing as usual to give every man there the impression he was speaking to them alone. "It has been decided that we will retaliate for this mass murder today. We will strike Panama tomorrow. Special weapons will be arriving shortly along with the teams trained to use them. These weapons will make up for our inferior numbers. Any pilot with a serviceable machine may volunteer for this assault. The only exception is Lt. Ito. He is responsible for his prisoner and may not participate in any action until she has been safely delivered to the Project facility on Aprilius."

"Understand, by striking Panama we will trap the Earth Forces down here on the planet surface. We control all remaining mass drivers other than those at Panama and Aube. We will destroy the Panama driver. Aube will never permit the Atlantic Federation to use theirs. They will be unable to carry the battle back into space. Our homes will be safe. Theirs on the other hand, will be vulnerable to our every whim. Once we have them locked down here, we will be able to dictate terms to them and force them to accept. The war will end in our victory!"

The Captain suddenly smiled. "We have taken terrible losses, but I trust you to avenge them and bring triumph back to lay on their graves."

"FOR THE HONOR AND GLORY OF THE ZAFT!"

The shout was deafening in the too empty room. Adrian's head rang. He had shouted with the rest, this was not the time or place to do something unpatriotic, but his heart wasn't in it. It couldn't be this simple or easy. Someone was underestimating the Naturals again.

Within minutes he was practically alone. There were a few cook's helpers clearing tables. A half dozen people were bolting the last of their meals. Everyone else was gone, headed for their mobile suits or other duties to play their parts in tomorrow's attack.

Suddenly he was exhausted and he wasn't sure why. He stood indecisively for a few seconds, then made up his mind. He had no part in the battle tomorrow, Captain Ponchard had been very clear about that. So, damn it, he was free to just go back to bed if he wanted to. And he did. He wouldn't have to think about any of this if he was asleep. He was very, very unhappy with his own brain right now. It was questioning too many of the certainties of his life. He hated being suddenly uncertain about things he'd always believed to be the bedrocks of his worldview.

An image came unbidden. Two intense pools of green fire, poisoned by grief, loss, and betrayal. If Earth Command could betray its people like that at Josh-A, could his commanders do something similar to him? He realized he could no longer assume with assurance that they wouldn't. What was he fighting for? When would he know it was time for it to end? Ahhhhh! Why had he met those people? They forced him to question what he never wanted to! Adrian turned and stomped off to bed before the questions in his head could drive him mad.


Kayla welcomed the fresh air as she stood beside Lt. Ito on the dock at Carpentaria. She'd been cooped up in the tiny isolation room in Ballard's sick bay for three days now and she was heartily disgusted with it. It was barely long enough for the bed and clearance for medical staff to get around it at need. It was four steps to the door and two to the wall on other side. There were no decorations on the walls and the vidscreen was turned off. There was nothing to do and her captors supplied neither reading nor writing materials. Aside from some tests taken when she'd first been brought aboard, they'd ignored her except for meals. All efforts at conversation had been met with the information that she was 'off limits', they wouldn't say a word more or stay a second longer than it took to drop a meal tray off or pick the empty one up.

An hour ago that changed. The ship's Captain came by to inform her they were coming into Carpentaria. He ordered her to get cleaned up, as if she hadn't showered already, and said appropriate clothing would be provided. Kayla took the hint and disappeared into the bath for a bit. An extra shower was never a bad thing. Besides, this time she had permission to let the water run as long as she wanted. So she showered, washed her hair, dried it and only then emerged from this exile within exile he'd ordered her into.

She'd found a neatly folded stack of clothing set squarely in the middle of the now tautly made bed. The message was clear. She was not going to be sleeping here again.

The outfit itself was interesting. Every piece of it was a vivid light green, a completely saturated color that nearly glowed under the ship's standard lighting. She was going to be very visible, which was probably the whole point. Although why the underwear had to be the same intense shade eluded her.

It was only when she shook out the dress itself that she discovered it was a bit more than expected. It was styled very similarly to an Earth Forces woman's uniform except the skirt was noticeably longer and fuller. There was an Earth Forces patch on both arms and her correct rank insignia was pinned on shoulder and collar. There was also a legend stenciled on the right breast reading "POW/Ito Project". Now POW was prisoner of war and that was something it was legal to make her wear since she was one but what was this damned Ito Project?

She discovered it was a multi-size outfit when she opened it up to put it on. Apparently ZAFT was thrifty when it came to dressing their POW's. This would adjust to fit almost any woman from a size twelve to a size twenty four! A few moments of fiddling with it had it looking just fine on her size sixteen frame. A glance in the bath mirror showed her that the color was more becoming than she'd expected. So she wasn't going to be stuck in something that made her look half dead while trapped here.

She was putting on the slippers that came with the outfit when Lt. Ito arrived. He did not look overjoyed to be her escort; he looked like a man with a serious problem with his conscience in actual fact. Well, he'd warned her there was something wrong with all of this when she'd first come to in the GINN. Looked like whatever he knew was chewing holes in him. Kayla decided she didn't want to find out any sooner than absolutely necessary.

Ito brought a thin chain with a pair of manacles on it with him. She'd glared at it but kept her mouth shut. It was legal to secure prisoners of war using these. At least he hadn't had a set of hobbles with him as well. Ito wrapped the chain twice around her waist, putting it through loops on the side of the dress she hadn't paid any attention to earlier before he crossed one end under the doubled chain and fastened the attached manacle to her right wrist. He put the other on her left wrist, leaving her some freedom of movement but no chance of undoing the chain or slipping out of the handcuffs.

So now they were standing quietly on the dock in the light but cool breeze as the Ballard unloaded the wounded. Kayla watched in silence, careful to keep her face as neutral as possible. They wouldn't believe sympathy and she didn't feel any triumph over these people. Yes, they had been killing her people, but that was what they were expected to do, they were the enemy and there was a war going on. She'd been killing theirs. Now they were just broken, hurt bodies that could do her no harm. There was nothing to be triumphant about there. The cowards of Blue Cosmos and their Cyclops had seen to that!

"Enjoying this, Natural?" a bitter voice asked.

She looked over to see a young, pale blue haired boy in the red coat of ZAFT's elite staring at her with hate in his dark blue eyes. He sat in a power chair, his left leg heavily bandaged and splinted sticking straight out ahead. His left arm was in a sling and also splinted. The way he sat suggested heavy bandaging across the chest as well.

"Pain is not an entertainment factor." Kayla replied evenly. "Watching this reminds me too much of seeing friends in the same shape. No, this is not enjoyable. You have to be a little sick to enjoy anybody's pain."

"Lying bitch!"

"Think whatever you want to." She shrugged.

"You hate us! You nuked Junius Seven with no warning!"

"I wasn't on that mission. I had no particular opinion on you people back then. Coordinators didn't much affect the life of me or my family or our sheep business. We could ignore you and we did. You didn't matter to us until you sent the N-jammers slamming into the ground. Then we had to pay attention to you and to think about you. You'd be amazed how many people on Earth were just like my family. Blue Cosmos is a lot smaller group than the noise it makes would suggest."

"Oh, and what have you decided you think of us now?" the kid sneered.

She turned and looked him right in the eye. "That it's a crying shame we're stupid enough to be so damn jealous of our own greatest creation."

He stared at her, his mouth open but no words coming out.

"Or have you conveniently forgotten that we made you? That you don't exist or reproduce without a full medlab to make it happen. Your Zala says you're a new species but he's wrong. Biology says a species can reproduce itself unaided. You can't. Until you can, you are a marvel of technology and a crown jewel of human science, . . . . . . . . . . , and that's all you are."

"Shut up before someone shoots you!" Ito snapped.

"What for? Answering his question honestly?" Kayla snapped back. "You people are incredible but you aren't a species. Zala can't make you one just by declaring it from a podium either. The iron laws of biology won't bend for any politician! You are a next-to-unbelievable triumph of technology. Take away that technology and you are gone in a generation. That's not hate; it's just how the thing works. Pretending anything else it true is self-destruction for you! I don't know what your Zala is thinking of but the real universe isn't part of his vision; not if he believes the nonsense he spouts in public."

"And you can't wait to see us gone, can you?"

She looked up to see she'd managed to attract a small crowd. Oh brother, when would she learn? They were all pissed too. Well too bad! If they couldn't handle reality, that wasn't her problem. And she wasn't going to lie to them either. They'd spot that in a heartbeat now.

"I've never joined Blue Cosmos. They're all crazy."

"Oh, sure, yeah you really believe that."

The images from the GINN flooded her mind suddenly; her temper snapped.

"STUFF BLUE COSMOS! IT WAS THOSE BASTARDS THAT BETRAYED US! THEY PLANTED THEIR LITTLE 'TOY' AND RAN LIKE HELL, LEAVING THE REST OF US BEHIND AS NOTHING MORE THAN LIVE BAIT! DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME ONE OF THOSE SHIT COWARDS, YOU HEAR ME? YOU PUT A CORK IN IT ZAFT! YOU'VE NEVER BEEN BUTCHERED LIKE DOGS BY YOUR OWN COMMANDERS JUST TO GET A FEW OF THE ENEMY! YOU KNOW JACK SHIT ABOUT IT!"