With last month wasted, this month receives two updates. Sadly, this should have been done last week, but I delayed in the hopes of getting in some more writing beforehand. Unfortunately, I failed to get more than a paragraph done in that amount of time.

Pointless Disclaimer: I did not beat Char in that Zaku race. Gundam is not mine.

/**/

Sayla looked on from the bridge of the White Base as the shuttle was launched from the hangar of the Zanzibar, wondering if the operation would be as successful as her brother was clearly hoping. Casval had bet his credibility on the next few weeks, and as much as Lady Zenna's support could help him, it was clear that there was a limit at which M'Quve would happily ignore her as well as the captain that enjoyed her favor. In fact, Casval was as much in danger of losing that favor as he was in losing credibility amongst the ship commanders, considering that Zenna's support came to him only because she would not give it to M'Quve by any means; if she found Casval as useless to her as the colonel seemed to be, she might simply choose another commander to favor, or she could refuse to acknowledge any of them or contest Gihren's legitimacy in Zeon at all. In either case, Casval would be unable to sway M'Quve's decisions at all, and the group would fall under the complete control of the colonel.

To say that Sayla did not trust the colonel was an understatement of the highest degree. M'Quve's actions as he retreated from the Odessa mining facilities had made her question anyone that would willingly deal with him, but her real concerns were more family-oriented. The colonel had been one of Kycilia Zabi's staunchest supporters, placing him in direct opposition to Casval's efforts to restore the Deikun line. M'Quve also outranked every other officer in the group, and would not allow anyone else, especially the man he considered an insignificant upstart, to take command from him for any reason. As long as M'Quve was in the way, Casval had no means to lead a Deikun revival in Zeon; therefore, the less authority the colonel had, the better.

Of course, using the influence of a Zabi to keep his authority on par with that of the colonel was equally untenable, as Lady Zenna would be as likely to support Casval's rule in Zum City as M'Quve would. The lady was no friend to M'Quve, but at least he was willing to make her daughter his puppet, which was a good deal closer to the seat of power than Casval would place her. Until he was ready to stand alone, the captain would have to keep his identity well-hidden; and yet, as long as he did so, Lady Zenna would remain both his only crutch and his unwitting adversary.

Sayla sighed and turned away from the bridge window, only to see Bright watching her. "Sir?"

The commander's brows were furrowed in thought, and he did not immediately reply. After a moment, though, he turned to Mirai at the helm and said, "Take command for a moment, Mirai. I'll return in a moment." Turning back to Sayla he said, "Come with me, will you?"

Mirai turned in confusion at the orders, but Sayla nodded and floated after the commander as he made his way to the lift. As the door closed and the lift began to drop, Bright turned to the woman and said, "Of the twenty that I'm sending to the Zeon ships, I'm sending seven to the Zanzibar. Would you like to be one of them?"

Sayla's eyes widened. "You'd do that, sir?"

Bright nodded. "Your brother is sending his most trusted men to ensure that this mission is a success. I think it only fair that I send him some of mine in return, and it would be unnecessary for me to keep you here when you can serve in the Corebooster just as well on Char's ship. Even to me, it's obvious that you'd rather be there than here, so there's no reason to keep you caged here."

Sayla winced. "It's… It's not quite like that, sir," she began, but Bright shook his head.

"I know what you mean. I remember offering you the option of leaving the ship before; you refused then, because the White Base was your home. I know that your feelings have nothing to do with your opinion about us, or about the ship." Bright smiled. "It's good to keep your family close, Sayla. I won't begrudge you that."

The woman smiled brightly. "Thank you, sir."

The lift doors opened, and Sayla realized where Bright was leading her. Stepping out of the lift and floating down the corridor toward the hangar, she asked, "Are we leaving so soon?"

Bright nodded. "I don't dare to wait for Hazen to send his people first, or they'll never be sent at all. Beyond that, the Zeon commanders will want to be as fully staffed as possible during our return to L1, in case we run into anything unforeseen. By that same token, I hate to lose so many people, but the only ship in this group more heavily armored than we are is the Zanzibar, so we won't be as vulnerable as the Musais will be. The sooner the Zeon officers are replaced, the happier their commanders will be."

"And the more willing they'll be to listen to you," noted Sayla, raising her brow.

Bright chuckled mirthlessly. "Yes, there's that, too. Speaking of ulterior motives…" The commander let go of his handgrip and reached for the wall to slow himself, and Sayla followed suit if only to keep from running into him. "As long as we're part of this group, we're no longer Federation soldiers," he began. "We might as well be Zeon from this point on; rebels, yes, but Zeon nonetheless. I think you know this."

Sayla nodded. "I've known from the beginning that I wasn't going back to the Federation after this."

Bright finally stopped his forward momentum completely and turned to face his petty officer. "In that case, we have to choose where in Zeon we want to fall. I know that I can't choose for everyone, but personally, I don't want to fall on the side of Colonel M'Quve, the man who violated the Antarctic Treaty. You told me that your brother's been planning something for as long as he's been a Zeon officer, and if I've read our allies right, M'Quve and his men are in the way of that plan. So I want to ask a favor from you."

Sayla gazed at her commander warily. "What is it?" she asked.

"I need to know what Char's plan entails," Bright replied, his voice conveying his seriousness. "I want to know what I'm getting into if I side with him completely. I don't mean to insult you or your family, but I need to know that I'm not trading one monster for another."

Sayla glared at Bright. "You want me to spy on my brother, you mean," she growled.

Bright sighed. "You could call it that, I suppose, although I wasn't thinking of anything so drastic. I just want you to learn what the plan is, even if you have to ask him outright." The commander turned back toward the hangar and pushed off from the wall, floating forward again. "I don't think it's unnatural that I don't completely trust him, Sayla. He's tried to kill us more times than I care to remember."

"You mean you don't trust him because he's Zeon," Sayla replied, moving forward. "Considering the war, it's understandable. What isn't understandable is the fact that you still trust me." Bright turned his head over his shoulder as the woman added, "Even if I tell you I'll do this, what makes you think that I'll tell you the truth? For all you know, I'll tell him how to capture this ship out from under you, especially now that it's undermanned."

Bright shook his head as he turned his gaze ahead once again. "If you were going to do that, you wouldn't have planted the idea in my head first," he said. "More importantly, I trust you because I know that you wouldn't put your friends in harm's way. Encouraging Char to take over this ship would lead to a lot of deaths, and most of them would be of people you know."

Sayla sighed, defeated. "I know that," she said quietly. Then her voice took on an edge. "That still doesn't mean that I'll spy for you, you know."

"I don't want a spy, Sayla. I want someone to tell me if I'm doing the right thing."

At this, the woman couldn't help but laugh, which nearly killed her momentum in the zero-gravity. Bright turned his head again in surprise, but Sayla quickly composed herself and replied, "You're talking about politics, Commander. There's no such thing as 'the right thing.' The best you can do is to choose the lesser evil and hope that it doesn't kill you."

The commander gritted his teeth. "I'm not sure I care for that advice, but I'll take it nonetheless."

"Then you already know your path, don't you?"

"I suppose I do," answered Bright as he turned his eyes forward again. "As long as Char doesn't start a massacre, I'll have a lot fewer qualms about serving under him than under M'Quve."

Sayla remained quiet for a moment. Then she said, "As a friend, sir, I don't have a problem telling you that there is a third option."

"Gihren?" Bright scoffed, shaking his head.

"No," replied Sayla. "Zenna and Mineva. As far as the Zabi family is concerned, Mineva is the next in line after Gihren. M'Quve doesn't care about her or her mother as much as he cares about the memory of Kycilia, but he'll use them to his advantage until he can dispose of them. Casval is in a similar situation, since he can't reveal himself as a Deikun without coming into conflict with the Zabi family as a whole. Right now they're puppets, but if you are that unwilling to serve Casval, the option is there."

Bright turned toward Sayla in surprise. "Is there any chance of success?"

"That depends on Zenna's ability to outwit both M'Quve and Casval at the same time. I have a feeling that either of them will dispose of her and Mineva long before Mineva is old enough to take part in intrigue, unless Zenna gets rid of them first." Sayla shrugged. "Of course, the real challenge in your case will be getting into contact with her. She's on Casval's ship, after all."

The commander fell silent. Then he said, "To really side with Zenna, I would have to reveal the threats to her daughter's future. That would include your brother; and the moment that she learned that Char is really Casval Deikun, she'd reject him. M'Quve would win." Bright scowled as the two turned and entered the hangar. "Is there no way to keep myself on the right track?"

Sayla shook her head. "I already told you what I think about 'right' and 'wrong' in politics." More quietly she said, "If you're worried about choosing a side, you still have plenty of time to watch the situation develop. As you already said, Casval only has support from Zenna; if he acts too hastily, he'll lose everything."

The commander grasped the railing overlooking the mobile suits in the hangar, halting his momentum as he looked out at the hangar floor. "So I support the status quo for as long as I'm indecisive?" he asked, although this was mainly to himself. "How can I do that, when the one thing I do know is that I don't want our current commander to be in command?"

"It's your choice, Bright. I can't help you." Sayla halted beside the commander and, like him, gazed out at the floor, where several mechanics were discussing the prospects of the captured shuttle's new occupants. After a moment, she said, "I'll ask Casval what he plans to do. I'll be honest, sir: Sometimes I don't trust him either. But I'll take you at your word that you don't want a spy, because I won't be one for you."

"Fair enough," Bright replied, still not looking up from the group below. Then, after a long minute, he turned his eyes back to his companion. "You'd better get into your pilot suit. You'll be taking your machine out too, remember. We'll send supplies for the Corebooster and the Gundam at Char's request, so be sure to tell him when there are problems."

"Yes, si—Wait, the Gundam?"

Bright nodded, glancing at the mobile suit in question. "Char asked for Amuro specifically. Again, there's no reason to refuse, considering that our fighting strength will be the same no matter where the suits launch from. Still, I'm not looking forward to exercises that pit the White Base against Amuro."

Sayla furrowed her brow in irritation. "He'll spend half of his time talking to that Lalah woman, and the other half talking about her." Then, glancing back at the commander's questioning expression, she said hastily, "Don't mind me, sir. I'm a bit distracted." Turning from the hangar, she said, "I'll head to the prep room to change. I… I'll see you soon, I'm sure, sir."

Bright smiled. "Count on it, Petty Officer."

/**/

Mirai frowned as she sat in the commander's seat on the bridge. "No wonder he's always griping," she said to herself as she leaned back. "This seat is terrible!"

Fraw Bow snickered from the communications console. "I wonder if the Zeon ships have anything better. Maybe M'Quve will want to trade."

"If we trade with anyone, it certainly won't be him," Mirai replied, shaking her head. "After what he tried to do to us at Side 6? Absolutely not. I'm only willing to deal with him as much as we do because he's technically in charge, but there are so many fractures in this little group that I wonder if anyone's really in charge at all."

Fraw shrugged. "As long as there's a question of leadership, it means we have a voice in the decision-making process. As soon as the Zeon commanders solidify, we'll be in trouble. I think that's why Bright's so worried."

Mirai shook her head. "There's more to it than that. To stand a chance against Zeon, we have to have strong leadership from someone, and in the end Bright would rather fight against Zeon—or Gihren's Zeon, anyway—than against the commanders that are supposedly on his side. If we allow the power struggle to continue, Gihren will be able to destroy us all." The helmswoman sighed. "What he's worried about most is what happens when the power struggle begins in earnest. If we're on the wrong side, we'll be lucky if the winner lets us off with our lives, and very lucky if we're still kept in his crew, rather than being stuffed into the brig somewhere."

Fraw stared at the older woman. "That's a frightening thought," she muttered.

Mirai nodded. "I know."

Just then, the lift opened to reveal Commander Bright, who caught on to the mood in the bridge very quickly. "What's the matter?" he asked, glancing from Mirai's frown to Fraw's.

"We're just discussing the situation, sir," Fraw replied, shrugging. "There are aspects of it that we're not thrilled to notice."

Bright nodded as Mirai relinquished the commander's seat and floated to the helm once more. "I know exactly what you mean," he said. "At the moment, though, there's very little we can do about it." The commander reclaimed his seat, failing to see Mirai rolling her eyes at his inability to notice the discomfort. Reaching for the PA system, Bright switched to ship-wide and began to speak. "Hangar crew, ready a launch. Everyone else, listen closely! This is the list of crew that will be transferred to the former Zeon vessels in our fleet. If your name is called, report to the hangar with your possessions, unless you are to serve on either the Limel or the Good Hope; as you should be aware, they're not with us at the moment. If you are a pilot, you're taking your machine as well, so don't bother going to the launch." Bright briefly imagined what Kai's reaction to that last announcement must have been; no doubt the pilots had thought themselves exempt, due to their tight bond. "First, those going to the Zanzibar: Ensign Amuro Ray; Petty Officer Sayla Mass; Ensign…"

/**/

Amuro took a bite of his meal, heard his name, and nearly spit it back out again. "What was that?" he cried as soon as he could speak, jumping up from his seat and floating in the mess hall. Turning to a mechanic sitting behind him at the next table over, he asked, "What did he say?"

The man turned back with a grin. "He said you're going to the Zanzibar, Ensign. I'm sorry for you."

Amuro stared. "The Zanzibar?" he repeated stupidly. "That's Char's ship! What is Bright thinking?"

The mechanic shrugged. "You probably shouldn't keep him waiting. The fact that he decided to start the transfers so soon means that he's rushing for some reason or—Damn it, he called me too!"

Amuro barely heard that last part, having already pushed himself toward the door of the mess hall. Entering the corridor, he quickly grabbed a handgrip and floated toward the lift, wracking his mind for any reason behind the transfer.

He could think of several. Bright could have been trying to tell Char that he was trustworthy by giving him the White Base's ace. Conversely, he could be sending Amuro in order to keep an eye on Char; Bright knew that he could trust Amuro to report anything he knew that might put the White Base in danger. Possibly he was doing it as an affront to M'Quve, who would be irritated when he learned that the Gundam had been sent to Char rather than to him. But of all those reasons, Amuro wasn't sure if he found one he agreed with. None of them really justified the transfer of the White Base's most important and dangerous mobile suit to a ship that might still be an enemy.

Amuro wondered about these things as he entered, rode, and then exited the lift to reach the level on which both the hangar and the pilot prep room were. He was tempted to return to his quarters for a minute to look for anything he might need, but decided against it; he really had nothing to take that was not easily replaceable or necessary, considering that most of his belongings had been left behind on Side 7 after Char's attack in September. Instead of his quarters, then, Amuro continued onward to the pilot prep room, and entered to find Sayla just coming out. "Sayla?"

The other pilot smiled. "Hey, Amuro," she said. "I heard you were coming too."

"What do you mean, 'too'?" Amuro asked. "Were you transferred, too?"

Sayla chuckled. "You really didn't listen after he called your name, did you?" she asked. "I was the very next one on the list, but since he'd already asked whether or not I wanted to go, I was already in here." She crossed her arms and floated back into the room to let Amuro in. "We're both assigned to the Zanzibar, so I guess we can count that as luck. We're at least dealing with someone that we have some experience with."

Amuro scoffed, closing the door behind him before floating to his locker. "Of course you have experience with him, but I've only met the man twice. All the rest of my 'experience' was shooting at him." He shook his head as he pulled his pilot suit out of his locker and unzipped it. "The only one I really know from Zeon is Lalah."

"That's something I wanted to talk to you about before we get over there."

Amuro froze, immediately cursing himself for once again bringing up Lalah in front of Sayla. Glancing up at her, the boy became even more nervous when he saw her narrowed eyes. "I know that you can't help but be close; that's what Newtypes are, after all. I can't ask you to stop being friends, obviously, and up until now there hasn't been any reason to think that you'd be anything else. But now that we're going to be living on the same ship with her, I want to make something clear, Amuro Ray." The woman floated forward, bringing her face within inches of the victim of her glare. "Eyes only, Amuro. Not only would you make me angry if you tried anything more, but you'd also make Casval angry—and if you get in a fight with your commanding officer, don't expect me to clean you up when he beats you, because I'd be more likely to beat you up some more instead." Amuro's eyes were as wide as saucers as he nodded dumbly. Sayla's glare softened slightly with his quick compliance. "Just stick to that promise, and you won't have anything to worry about," she said with a smile that, if anything, made her all the more frightening. Leaning forward, she kissed Amuro on the cheek, then floated by. "Hurry up, or they'll launch without us."

Amuro swallowed nervously. "Uh… Yeah, sure. I'll… I'll be right out, sure." Sayla reached the door and glanced back, still smiling, before she opened it and grabbed a handgrip. Amuro waited until she closed the door again before turning back to his pilot suit, trying to control his breathing and his shaking hands as he clumsily put the suit on. "Damn it, Sayla. What do you want me to do?"

/**/

Jenna floated toward the hatch of her GM as quickly as she could accurately kick off from the floor of the Zanzibar's hangar, but she was still much slower to reach the cockpit of her suit than the Zeon pilots around her. The radio was already filled with the calls of the other members of the ship's mobile suit team, and Jenna's voice followed suit as she closed the hatch, "Heidfeld, ready!"

"Too slow, Heidfeld," Lieutenant Ramcha growled as the first Rick Dom boosted off into space. "The white suit is already halfway here. If he were attacking us, we'd be dead!"

"Sorry, sir," Jenna said, checking her gauges as she gripped the controls. As the launch indicators lit up, the ensign took her place at the edge of the hangar hatch and put her engines at full power. "GM, launching!"

It was much easier to find her teammates in the distance without the disorientation of a catapult launch, and Jenna had been very thankful to learn that no Zeon vessels had been equipped with such devices except for those used to shunt cargo out of the hangar more easily; Captain Char had apparently once ordered a Musai to use the cargo catapult to send him a Zaku while he was returning from a mission in a normal suit, but other than special circumstances of that nature, Zeon pilots saw nothing wrong with walking out of their hangars under their own power. The ensign had been more than happy to follow their example, especially when she had to quickly find and catch up to her team and could not afford to be distracted.

As it was, the lieutenant and the other Rick Dom in his team had already moved a good deal ahead to greet the incoming machines escorting the launch, and Jenna boosted forward to catch up with them before the Gundam could reach them. Behind the Gundam, the glow of another booster could be seen, and as Jenna turned to follow her superior she was able to make out the shape of the Corebooster coming forward to join the group. "Her too?" she asked herself as she glanced from the monitors to the computer terminal, where the relative speed of the fighter was displayed. "She's in a hurry, too."

As the group made the return to the Zanzibar, Jenna glanced at the Gundam and wondered why the commander felt the need to give the launch such a powerful escort. That one machine had made the 13th Autonomous Mobile Squadron the Federation's most successful squadron in the entire war. There was hardly a reason to give the launch that much protection, considering that there was no enemy to be found. Indeed, to send out any escort seemed unnecessary; to send out the Gundam, with the Corebooster as backup, made Jenna wonder if Commander Bright had decided to use the crew transfer as a ploy to sink the Zanzibar. And if that were the case… Jenna desperately told herself that it wasn't, and thrust the thought from her mind.

Turning her eyes back to the ship, the pilot narrowed her eyes and slowed her suit's approach. Her landings were by no means as disastrous as her launches, so she was not worried about the prospect of damaging her suit and possibly the ship during the attempt, but she chose to be safe rather than sorry; indeed, her last landing attempt prompted Lieutenant Ramcha to ask if she'd somehow managed to damage her accelerator during unarmed maneuvers. In this case, also, there was only one exit to the hangar, which was quickly taken up by the incoming mobile suits. The launch entered first, followed by Lieutenant Ramcha and his wingman. Jenna slowed down some more as she neared the hangar, eyeing the hatch—and was thrown back into her seat as the Gundam ran into the back of her GM. "What the hell?"

Apparently the Gundam's pilot thought the same thing. Grabbing the GM's arm to steady his suit at the cost of Jenna's remaining stability, Amuro demanded, "What are you doing? You're landing, right?"

"Of course I'm landing!" snarled Jenna, glaring at the viewscreen as she activated visual contact. "I want to know what you're doing! Get back to your ship!"

"This is my ship," growled Amuro. Jenna's eyes widened as he added, "Are you going to land now, or will I?"

The GM's pilot clenched her teeth. "Take the lead," she snapped. "I'll be awhile."

Amuro nodded curtly and cut the connection, and Jenna boosted away from the hatch to give him a clear run into the soon-to-be-filled hangar. As the Gundam made a perfect landing, Jenna growled to herself, "He'd better not take my spot. There's only so much room in there." Moving back to get a straight line into the hangar, the woman quickly saw another obstacle and slammed her fist against the side monitor. "What the hell is this? Come on, there's not enough room in there for you too, Sayla!"

She didn't bother to radio her feelings, knowing that she didn't have a say in the matter, but apparently her run-in with Amuro had already been reported to Lieutenant Ramcha. "Is there a problem with our new teammates, Ensign Heidfeld?" he radioed.

The pilot glumly activated her radio. "No, sir," she muttered. "Everything is perfectly fine."

/**/

Lalah sighed as she relinquished control of the Elmeth's manual controls and unstrapped herself. As soon as the launch of the Gundam had been confirmed, the Zanzibar had gone into a frenzy of activity, so much so that the launch of the Corebooster had nearly gone unnoticed. Char had allowed his "secondary" pilots—in other words, the three pilots that were not her—to launch first, to gauge the intentions of the approaching suits before putting himself and his most precious subordinate into danger. The Gundam proved to be friendly, however, and the Elmeth's launch was cancelled.

Exiting the Elmeth's cockpit, Lalah floated up to the hangar's observation deck and turned toward the nearest hatch as it admitted Lieutenant Ramcha's Rick Dom back to the hangar. Coolant was quickly applied as the machine stepped into its berth, making way for Ensign Bard's suit as it also landed. Lalah knew there wasn't much more to wait for; the former Federation pilot, Heidfeld, had proven to be the slowest of the lot in landing, and often took more than two minutes longer to set down in the hangar. Therefore, the ensign turned away, but suddenly snapped her gaze back to the hatch when she felt a spike of anger from a presence she knew very well indeed.

Soon thereafter, the Gundam entered the hangar, to the surprise of almost everyone that saw it. The crew reacted quickly as it stepped into the only spare dock, swarming the machine to service it—and no doubt to admire it, much to the chagrin of Lieutenant Ramcha, who leaned out of the cockpit of his own machine to shout at his mechanics to keep working instead of staring at the newcomer. Floating up to Lalah, the lieutenant asked, "What's he doing here?"

"He's been transferred," she answered immediately. "I don't know if the captain will put him in your team or keep him apart, but you should probably look forward to working with him."

Ramcha raised his brow. "Working with that monster?" he asked. "The mechanics might look forward to it, but I'm not sure about Bard. He lost a brother to the Gundam in Odessa."

The girl shrugged. "Considering how many people the Trojan Horse lost in Odessa, I'm not sure the ensign can complain." Ramcha's brow furrowed at this attitude, but Lalah was no longer paying attention. She had again turned her gaze toward the Gundam, as the cockpit hatch opened and Amuro climbed out, quickly moving toward one of the mechanics and motioning toward something on his suit. Lalah immediately understood what had happened, and grinned. Turning back to Ramcha, she teased, "Your other ensign is making life difficult again."

The lieutenant scowled. "What did she do this time?" Not bothering to wait for an answer, since he could already guess what had happened, Ramcha floated straight back to his Rick Dom. Quickly thereafter, his irritated voice filled the radio waves, at least as far as the Minovsky field would allow it to.

Lalah didn't bother to listen, as the Corebooster followed the Gundam into the hangar. With no place to dock, the fighter was forced to simply float as the Zanzibar's surprised technicians scurried to find a place to house the machine, even temporarily. Under the confusion, Lalah sensed a hint of exasperation from another group, and soon realized that a launch had landed before the suits had even started to enter the hangar; it was now stranded, as the passengers could not disembark while the hangar's hatch was open. Turning toward the hatch, she saw the outline of Ensign Heidfeld's GM against the moon, and shook her head. "Still as slow as ever," she muttered.

Apparently Amuro agreed; she felt his irritation as he sympathized with her. It was that, though, that triggered his realization that Lalah had been in the hangar the entire time, because he quickly turned to face her, nearly unbalancing himself as he did so. The girl chuckled at his expense, and Amuro's embarrassment filtered through. It was tinged with nervousness, though, and Lalah didn't have to pry in order to learn why. She couldn't help herself, and laughed outright. "Poor Amuro," she said aloud, although she didn't activate her radio; she knew he would feel the gist of what she wanted him to understand. "She didn't hurt you too badly, did she?"

Even though she didn't need to see his glare to feel his displeasure, Amuro was good enough to send one her way.

Before Lalah could tease her victim any more, she was aware of a sudden jolt of surprise from her captain, and glanced over at the Gelgoog's open cockpit as Char kicked off toward the still-floating Corebooster. Even as the technicians worked to secure the machine to the floor, using anything from cables to bungee cords, the cockpit canopy suddenly opened, allowing the pilot to leap out and float forward. 'Artesia,' Lalah thought, raising a brow. 'I wonder what she's doing here.'

The captain apparently wondered the same thing, as he reached her and began to speak. Lalah looked on at the discussion, even as she felt Amuro float up to her. She turned her eyes away when he put his helmet against hers. "That was not funny, Lalah."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she told him, still grinning.

"She'll kill me!"

"Only if you start trouble."

Amuro's eyes narrowed, but eventually he sighed and gave up. "Still not funny," he managed weakly.

It was at that point that Jenna Heidfeld finally managed to enter the hangar—at which point she was immediately ordered to vacate it again until room could be found or made for her GM. Needless to say, any Newtype in the vicinity could feel her temper spike yet again, but there was nothing she could do but follow orders. Soon, the hatch was finally closed, and the new crewmembers aboard the launch were at last allowed to disembark.

/**/

"Ensign! Round up as many people as you need to categorize the people we've just received! Take down names, ranks, specialties, and former occupations. Put them up in those quarters that were just vacated. Don't bother with the new pilots; I'll deal with them personally."

The ensign in question saluted. "Yes, sir!" he replied, quickly turning toward the launch as those that had been transferred to the Zanzibar disembarked. "You there! Give me that notepad!"

Char doffed his pilot suit's helmet as he turned toward Artesia once again. "I didn't expect Bright to act so quickly to transfer his men, so this will be a little haphazard until we figure out exactly what to do with the newcomers."

Artesia nodded. "Bright told me that he was rushing. There are a few reasons for it, but mainly he's trying to prove his trustworthiness."

"M'Quve wouldn't trust him no matter how useful he proved himself."

"He's less worried about what M'Quve thinks and more worried about your opinion." Char frowned as Artesia added, "He knows that you're not going to follow the colonel's lead forever."

Char shook his head. "He's assuming that I'm ambitious?"

Artesia glared at him. "He's assuming that you'll overthrow Gihren for the sake of the Deikun legacy."

"What?" Char hissed, glancing around to make sure that no one had overheard his sister's remark. Lowering his voice, he demanded, "Did you tell him?"

"I didn't have a choice, Casval," replied Artesia, her glare intensifying. "You left me a case full of gold. Bright was kind enough to ask for an explanation, rather than just opening the letter you left with it. So I was kind enough to give him the truth."

Char narrowed his eyes behind his mask. "If he reveals anything to M'Quve, we'll be dead before—"

"Bright trusts M'Quve about as much as you do," Artesia interrupted. "Considering what happened at Odessa, can you blame him?"

"So Bright sides with me, then?"

Artesia shook her head sadly. "He doesn't know who to side with, except that it's not M'Quve. He wants to know what you're planning before he gives you his full support."

Char nodded, but he was still somewhat confused. "Who else is there to side with?"

"I suggested that he side with Zenna if he wasn't sure he could trust you."

Char's brow rose, although his sister couldn't see it. "You must not trust me much either, if you're suggesting that he prop up a Zabi instead."

"I just want to help him. He's been good to me; I'll return the favor."

Char sighed and nodded. "As long as it's not M'Quve, I'm not worried about his loyalties," he said eventually. Turning his gaze toward the observation deck, he saw the Gundam pilot in conversation with Lalah, and couldn't help but scowl. "I wonder what those two are doing."

"Don't worry about them," Artesia advised in a low voice. "I've already warned Amuro what will happen if he goes any further than talk."

Char turned back to his sister in surprise. "I've barely spoken to you at all in several years! Now you're already involving yourself in my love life?"

The woman grinned. "Well, I wasn't thinking about it that way, but if you want to call it that, I won't argue. I was more worried about preserving my own."

"Oh, is that all?" The captain chuckled. Then his sister's words sank in. "Wait, what?" Artesia's grin grew as Char's stare fell on Amuro again. "You—with—Are you insane, Artesia? Was there no one else on that ship?"

"Well, there was Kai Shiden," answered Artesia easily. "Would you want me with him instead?"

Char glared. "He couldn't possibly have been a worse choice than this."

Artesia laughed again. "You'd be surprised," she said. By this time, the two had reached the observation deck, and the former Federation pilot grabbed the railing to vault over it. Char followed as she said, "You should be glad, Casval. If I wasn't there to keep Amuro in check, you know exactly who he'd look to for comfort."

Char clenched his teeth at this, glancing again at Lalah and Amuro. By this time, the two had noticed their arrival, and Amuro had already extended the distance between himself and Lalah to keep Artesia's wrath in check. Char was not amused, and even Lalah's laughter at his attitude did not dissuade him from considering what punishment he could be given for slaughtering the Gundam's pilot in cold blood. "Ensign Amuro Ray," he snapped, "what kind of landing was that? You ran into my ensign as though you couldn't even see her!"

Char felt a shift from nervousness to outrage—but that shift was tinged with understanding, and the Red Comet quickly realized that Amuro was a more powerful Newtype than he had thought. "Sir, I would far rather keep my mobile suit undamaged than have to keep your hangar crews busy on unnecessary repairs. Perhaps your ensign cannot say the same thing, considering her own landing."

"Bold words, Ensign," growled Char, although he personally admired the boy's reply. "That still doesn't excuse you from your carelessness. My ensign was quite right; this is her ship, and has been far longer than it has been yours. I expect you to show her precedence, Amuro Ray."

Amuro saluted sharply. "Sir. I will launch immediately."

"What?"

The boy's expression didn't change as he explained, "I'm taking up Ensign Heidfeld's docking space. I'll fix that immediately, sir."

"You're getting smart, Ensign. I'm not impressed." Char's irritation was increasing by the moment. "I'll tell you when to launch. Right now, you'll stay put." Turning to Lalah before the boy could reply, Char said, "Would you escort Petty Officer Mass to her quarters?"

Lalah frowned, but nodded. "Yes, Captain," she answered. Catching Artesia's eye, she said, "Let's go. We'll leave the boys to their game."

Artesia glared at Char, but didn't protest as Lalah laid a hand on her shoulder and led her away. Char returned his gaze to Amuro. "Follow me, Ensign."

"Sir," replied the pilot, following as Char turned around and kicked off toward the nearest corridor. The two passed through the airlock quickly, just as the hangar crew announced that the launch was free to return to space. Char remained silent as he led Amuro down the corridor for a short while, before suddenly reaching out to the wall to stop himself from floating farther. Amuro let go of his handgrip and waited as the masked man formulated what he wanted to say.

Eventually Char decided to blunt. "When I asked Commander Bright for some of his men, I specifically asked for you, Amuro Ray. I have fought you multiple times, and I wondered if I would be able to see what it was that made you so good." The captain turned toward his new ensign. "So do not make me regret that request. I'm sure you already know what I mean. I want you to keep your personal feelings off of this ship. That includes your feelings for Lalah." Char leaned forward. "And it certainly includes your feelings for my sister. I hope I am clear on this matter."

Amuro nodded. "Perfectly, Char."

The captain's eyes narrowed behind his mask at this lack of respect toward a superior, but he had learned enough about the White Base and those on board to know that military regulations rarely applied amongst the crew. He was also well aware that Amuro, who had only ever dealt with him as a pilot, did not view him as a superior, but as an equal—neither had managed to kill the other in three months' worth of battles, after all. Even so, the Zanzibar was not the White Base, and Char Aznable was not Bright Noa. The latter might have allowed insubordination; the former would not. "You mean, 'Perfectly, sir.'"

Amuro decided not to argue. "Yes, sir, I did."

'Well, he didn't put up much of a fight there,' Char thought to himself as he contemplated the other pilot. 'Perhaps I can deal with him after all.' Aloud he said, "I'll hold you to that, Ensign Amuro. The last thing I want on this ship is a confrontation that could have easily been avoided." Turning around once again, the captain added, "Keep up. Your quarters are a deck up, but I need to be on the bridge as soon as possible, so I'll be rushing."

"Yes, sir."