Her officer's cabin wasn't adorned with pictures of family, belongings, and military accolades; it was as spartan as it could be. Mu, or Commander Fllaga in front of everyone else, had commented that he had expected to see her room being decorated with a lot of memorabilia and therefore was surprised to find none. The man was correct in guessing her hobby of collecting military patches and coins from different military units and then framed them. She also had a picture of her family, the one that had her father and mother in uniforms, together with her and her siblings.

Unfortunately, most of her items were supposedly in transit to Archangel when it had to launch prematurely, and with all events that took place afterwards, she never had the time to put in a query.

There was a buzzing sound. "Come in,"

The door opened, revealing Mu, giving off an exaggeratedly tense salute. "Commander Flaga, reporting for duty, Ma'am," he said before entering the room.

If she was on the clock, in front of everyone else, she would have complained about his cavalier attitude since it was unheard of for a high-ranking officer to salute first. However, both were off duty, and it was a private joke between the two of them. "At ease,"

"Yes, Ma'am," Mu said as the door closed behind him. "Anything, Natarle?"

"Yes. I want to talk a bit, as well as to return to you this," she said as she handed something to him.

Mu gave the item a look over. "This is my shirt. What is it doing… wait, I recall the stitches on this part…" He raised his head to look at her. "Did you fix this?"

"Yes," Natarle replied as she turned away, blushing. "I had Miriallia teach me. The work is not that good, but I hope you wouldn't make a fuss,"

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Mu said as he touched the needlework with his fingers fondly. "If you just tossed it to my room without telling me, I would have thought that it fixed itself,"

"You jest,"

"I'm not. I barely see the difference between your and machine stitching. Heck, I can't complain since I can't stab a meatball with a fork correctly,"

Natarle laughed, recalling the incident. At that time, she was cross with him as the meatball flew and hit her uniform, staining its pristine white appearance. But she couldn't really remain angry with him when he apologized with that roguish smile of his.

"While I appreciate you returning my shirt, is there something else going on?"

At that question, Natarle fisted her hands, and then unclenched them, taking a deep breath. She then locked her eyes onto Mu's for a moment before she walked toward him with determination. Even before the man could say something, Natarle closed the distance between them in an instant, raised herself on her feet, and pressed her lips against his. Mu's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden kiss, but his eyes softened, and he leaned toward Natarle, putting his arms behind her back to support her.

The two of them kissed for deeply, with Mu let himself be led by the woman in his arm. Eventually, Natarle broke the kiss and pulled away but remained in his arms, her eyes sparkled with mischief and a small smile on her lips.

Mu smiled as well. "Wow… I didn't expect that, but still, I can't say I didn't like it. What's the occasion? My birthday is in another seven months,"

Natarle closed the distance and kissed him again. This time, when she pulled away, she moved out of his arms, her finger on her lips. "I've been wanting you to know that... I've had a crush on you. I don't know if the 'opposites attract' is true, but from the moment we met, something just clicked for me,"

Mu's eyebrows raised. "I had… no idea… I'm flattered, really, but…"

Natarle raised her hand to stop him. "Wait. That's my call, not yours. I just don't want to keep it bottled up anymore. I value our friendship, and I want to settle things between us before I transfer out,"

"What?"

"I've received an offer for a transfer before the start of Starlight Garden, and I decided to accept it after the conclusion of Starlight Picnic. The order is being transmitted to Captain Murrue, with a copy forwarded to me," Natarle said as she showed her copy to him. "The order is immediate, and my replacement will come onboard at the same time,"

Mu read the order. "But…,"

Natarle put on her cap and saluted him. "Thank you for all your guidance all this time, Commander,"

Even though Mu was frowning a bit, he saluted back in response. "You're welcome. I wish you well in your endeavor,"

It was something she had never done before, but in a rare display of coquettishness, Natarle tilted her head to the right a bit and smiled, all the while maintaining the salute. "You're a good man, Commander,"

Mu frowned. "I'm not," he answered seriously.

"I trust my judgment. But if you're sure you're not, then become one,"

A few days later found Natarle saluting Murrue as Colonel Jeremy stood nearby. "Thank you for everything, Ma'am,"

Murrue saluted back. "And thank you for all your hard work until now, Lieutenant Badgriuel,"

"You're welcome, Ma'am,"

"I hope we have the chance to meet again. Hopefully, not on the battlefield,"

"That's going to be difficult,"

"I guess so,"

Murrue turned toward Jeremy and saluted. "She is the best there is. Please take care of her, Colonel,"

"I will, Commander," Jeremy said as he saluted before the two started walking to the waiting helicopter.

As Natarle walked past Mu, she looked at him, nodded and turned her head a bit in the direction of Murrue. Mu nodded in response.

As the helicopter began to take off, Natarle waved goodbye to the Archangel, with Jeremy opting to remain quiet. After the helicopter was far away, Natarle finally broke her silence. "We used to call her Captain, because of her being in charge of the ship, even though…"

"Even though her rank was just a lieutenant? You and everyone else are not supposed to know, but Halberton held up her promotion her promotion twice, so that he can assign her to the G-Project,"

Natarle's eyes widened. "But why?"

"Engineering background, not compromised, and knows to keep her mouth shut; extremely valuable traits to have. Quite hard to transfer her to the project when she's out there, commanding her own Drake. So Halberton called in some favors. Different reason from why you're on the project, but still the same result, right?"

"G-Project is supposed to be safe, but I understand what you're saying. But why now?"

"Political, propaganda, and administrative moves on our side,"

"A ship like Archangel is supposed to be helmed by someone with the rank of Commander at the very least,"

"Jealous?"

Natarle shook her head. "She earns it,"

"If you say so. So on to the next matter. You could have remained, you know, and Command would reconsider,"

"Remaining is never an option,"

"Badgiruel-to-the-bone is a thing, it seems. I thought that it's a just meme cooked up by your family's detractors,"

"We do have a lot of jealous people," Natarle confirmed.

"You fit in the stereotypical description of your family. Straight forward and hard-headed to a fault, but very intelligent and adept at strategy. That's why I think it's a waste. Wouldn't you rethink?"

"No,"

"Reason?"

"I don't want be a monkey,"

"I really don't know what all of you from Atlantic Federation are smoking to be so randomly weird," Jeremy sighed as he took out a tablet. "Very well. Here's your discharge document. Just sign this and it's official,"

Without hesitation, Natarle signed the document.

The night was moonless. While it was dark, the sky was clear and, which, in Andrew's opinion, was in his favor. Holding the binoculars to look at the silhouette of the legged ship hiding in the dunes in front of them, he asked. "Connections?"

His aide, Martin Dacosta, was also holding binoculars of his own. "Okay,"

"Love the new gear they got us."

"Similar to Alliance's though,"

"What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. I don't care as long as it gets the job done. Illumination on Archangel?"

"Got it,"

"Tell them to fire,"

A few minutes later, the sky around the ship lit up as it engaged its CIWS system to intercept the missiles. "Hm... system's as good as promised, situational awareness better... Send in the helis,"

Martin nodded and grabbed the radio transceiver. "Air units, begin attack,"

As instructed, their helicopters popped up out of the surrounding dunes, fired a few missiles at the ship and then retreated before it could counterattack. As predicted, the missiles were quickly destroyed, but Andrew had expected that outcome. He watched as the ship deployed its linear catapults to launch a Skygrasper, and Aegis in its mobile armor mode. The ship's captain made a good call.

"Should we engage them?" Martin asked.

"Not yet. Let's see how good they are." Andrew would have preferred to use the helicopters, but he suspected they were no match for the two Alliance war machines. He wished his request for more DINNs were approved earlier, but at the very least, it was approved. "Fire the second barrage,"

A few more missiles attacked the ship, which quickly intercepted them. The two units then moved in the general direction where the missiles came from. "This is interesting. Tell Lesseps to fire two artillery barrages at the ship and prepare for aerial attack from those two. That will keep them busy,"

The team that had played a crucial role in the fall of Gibraltar certainly had the skills, but unfortunately, it didn't have enough experience in fighting on Earth. That was why the two mobile armors could easily be led away from the ship they were supposed to protect.

"Shots fired,"

"Tell Lesseps to activate the jammers for five minutes,"

"Roger."

"Send in the helicopters,"

Once again, the helicopter attacked Archangel from its stern side. Andrew could imagine that the captain would try to recall the mobile armors, but the jamming would prevent it from happening. The only course of action was to send out the remaining mobile suits, and he was not to be disappointed as the two mobile suits quickly launched.

"X-103 Buster and X-105 Strike have come out," Martin said.

"Let's see how they react," Andrew said, noting the equipments both were carrying. As expected, Buster carried its two main weapons akimbo, as mentioned in the dossier, forwarded to him. Meanwhile, Strike, which could change its weapon load outs, was equipped with a large beam rifle. "Tell them to retreat and move to other locations,"

To Andrew's surprise, the two belligerent mobile suits quickly blundered by landing on the sand instead of on the ship. Buster stumbled as its weight caused it to become destabilized and face first into the ground. While Strike was doing better, it was struggling to remain standing. If the situation was not serious, Andrew would have thought they were clowning around. Were the pilot idiots? No, that mustn't be the case, as Buster and Strike had just fought in the Gibraltar campaign; they had fought in space battles prior to that. The only explanation that made sense was they didn't have enough experience fighting in different terrains. Unfortunately for them, Andrew wasn't big on giving free lessons. "Send in the BeCUEs and tell them to target Buster,"

"Roger,"

Six BeCUEs moved in to engage the mobile suits as ordered, firing in turn to confuse them. Whenever possible, the six tried to hit the green mobile suit, which was in a kneeling position and trying to stand up. "Talk about hitting someone when he's down, but I'm not losing any sleep over it,"

"That's because you have too many cups, as Aisha would put it,"

"Are you reporting my daily consumption to her?" Andrew asked as he watched Strike trying to fire at the BeCUEs to draw their fire away from Buster.

"No. No one could miss those chemical sets," Martin replied as he watched the pandemonium. "Is it me or that Strike is adjusting itself?"

Andrew could see the point Martin was trying to make. The said mobile suit was becoming more stable even though it was in the middle of fending off the BeCUEs. The only thing that came to mind was the pilot somehow reprogrammed the mobile suit on the fly. "Get the helicopters to target around Strike's feet,"

A few well-placed missiles knocked Strike off its feet, but then it quickly engaged its back thrusters to hover. It then moved next to Buster and flipped the still kneeling mobile suit, so it ended up sitting on the ground. Strike then handed Buster's weapons to it and the two were back-to-back against Andrew's units, which were encircling the two. While the tactic was valid, that Buster couldn't move meant it was a burden in a fight, one that could be exploited easily.

Andrew's pilots seemed to realize that weakness and sought to capitalize on it by encircling both Strike and Buster, firing at any of them whenever a chance presented itself. While the tactic was a good one, it was disrupted when Archangel fired in their direction, forcing the BeCUEs to break formation a few times. "Relay to Lesseps to fire a barrage at Archangel."

"Commander, Maylam is breaking formation!"

Somehow, that was not unexpected as the said pilot was a hothead, not listening to orders very well. "Get that idiot back in line,"

After trying a few seconds, Martin replied, "He said he couldn't hear us. N-Jammer."

"That excuse is not going to fly, not when the signal booster is up and running."

Andrew watched as the BeCUE Maylam was piloting closed in on Buster and Striker. Unfortunately, in his haste to defeat the two, Maylam got too close. Buster shot its gun launcher at his BeCUE's left front leg, causing it to careen out of control. Strike then used that chance to aim and fire a shot at the cockpit, killing Maylam instantly. "Told him he would get himself killed one day. Tell others to follow orders and keep attacking them from the distance."

Another barrage arrived, forcing Archangel to focus on taking it down. A shot landed on the ship with almost no effect. While that was the case, Andrew knew simply having the shot connect would affect the ship's crew's morale, negatively impacting its effort to assist Buster and Strike. His prediction was spot on as the ship stopped moving toward the two. Andrew checked the small computer in his hand. "According to data, they'll run out power soon,"

One of his men hit a boxy contraption on Buster's left shoulder and it exploded. "The armor is down on Buster!" Da Costa exclaimed excitedly.

"Don't get all fired up. Phase Shift's coverage is not full around that part, and it's a lucky shot. Still, good job by Ted," From what Andrew recalled, the area hit was a missile launcher. Judging from the way the explosion moved upward, it was designed to minimize damage on Buster itself. It was a shame, since the explosion could have ripped off a huge chunk of energy powering the Phase Shift armor. Nevertheless, the discovery was an interesting find, since the dossier provided for him didn't mention anything about it. Before he could issue his next command, a missile hit one of the helicopters, causing it to careen out of control and crash on the ground. "MANDPADS?" Andrew said, expression furrowed. Few groups have access to the man-portable air-defense systems. One name came to mind.

"Desert Dawn," Martin said, confirming what Andrew had suspected, as multiple fast-moving vehicles arrived at the scene, providing covering fire to the mobile suits by attacking the helicopters. The vehicles circled around Buster and Strike before moving away. The two followed suit, using their thrusters to do a series of short hops. "Should we follow?"

"No. Even idiots could see that they're trying to lead us to a trap. They're leaving? No problem. Tell our units to attack Archangel." But before Martin could relay the order, the other two mobile armor returned to Archangel. It seemed they realized Andrew's ruse to get them away from the ship. Their return, however, forced him to reconsider his order. Fighting against three mobile suits, and a mobile armor was possible, but he didn't want to fight a battle of attrition if he could avoid it. "Tell them to retreat,"

"Commander?"

"No need to waste our time anymore. We have achieved our objectives for today,"

The order was relayed, and Andrew's units quickly broke off their formations and moved away from their opponents.

"They're not chasing us," Martin observed as the group moved away from Archangel, uncontested.

"See? That's why I said it was a trap. They were trying to get us to follow them. But when we retreated, they thought we were trying to do the same thing," Andrew got in the off-road vehicle. "That's good, since we don't have to look over our shoulders on the trip home."

Martin got into the driver's seat and drove the car back to their base. "The other pilots wouldn't be happy about this,"

"I told them earlier to follow orders, but Maylam thought he could do better; you see how it went," While having the initiative was something a soldier should have, the same thing applied to following order. While Andrew was happy to defeat his opponents if he had the chance to do so, it wasn't his primary objective. "The thing is, my responsibility is not to make all of you happy, except Aisha, of course, but to keep you out of trouble."

"I'll relay that to them afterwards."

"Good. Now is a good time to test the 80 percent of Kona, 5 percent of Mandheling and 15 percent of Tarrazu."

"Or I can just prepare an instant for you, sir,"

"Martin, insubordination, I can forgive, but remember not to test my patience with such a sacrilege."

"Roger."

The appearance of Desert Dawn was an annoying surprise, but that night's operation was a probing attack designed to determine how the Alliance's ship and its assets work together in the desert situation. The conclusion? Not very well, which was expected, since fighting in such an environment presented a unique challenge that even an experience unit would be hard-pressed to manage effectively. However, despite having an advantage, Andrew couldn't be sure he would prevail if he continued the attack. That was the reason he ordered the retreat. He needed more time to prepare, and more assets to bring to bear. The reinforcement would arrive soon, and with that, the battle can truly begin. The encroachment of Archangel on his turf was unwelcome. He didn't know why the Alliance thought it was a good idea to send the ship and its mobile suits there, but Andrew would give them the 'warmest' welcome he could give.

"I wish she's still around," Murrue said as she and Mu walked toward the elevator together with four armed personnel. She gave a last check to her at the personnel defense weapon she was holding. Satisfied that everything was in order, she let it hang by its strap on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. How's the new 'snowflake' holding up?"

"Not sure. But the files said he fragged someone, so at least we don't have to do another session."

"That's why he's being tossed to us? I'm worried,"

"Oh, he's from one of those sketchy Blue Cosmos vocational centers, and the one he's fragged was his direct supervisor, so we should be okay,"

"If you say so. That leads to the current issue. The surrounding area?""

"Clear,"

"Honestly, those guerillas are scarier than gorillas. I'm not good with dealing with these kinds of situations,"

Murrue smiled at Mu's attempt to lighten up the situation. The sudden attack by ZAFT just then had caught everyone by surprise, and thus affected their morale. Buster even suffered some kind of damage that would require further examination before it could be cleared for battle, which judging from the opposing force' actions, would happen soon. "Don't call them that, for starters," she said as the elevator's door began to open. "And Keith, hang your rifle and try don't look too tense,"

"Yes, Ma'am," the sentry named Keith transferred the weapon from his hands to his shoulder.

"Confident that it'll turned out alright?" Mu asked.

"We do have some advantages. Besides, even if we don't, the other side doesn't have to see us vulnerable, does it?"

"Right,"

"Stay sharp, everyone,"

The four guards went out first, and Mu and Murrue walked behind them. When the group was close to the guerilla fighters, the guards spread out to the left and the right, leaving the two of them to continue to be approaching what seemed to be the guerilla fighters' leader. The position they took was a standard one to allow maximum coverage in case the negotiation broke down and a firefight ensued. If that happened, Murrue also authorized Aegis, which was still on standby, to launch and provide covering fire.

Murrue looked at the leader in the eye and said, "I'm Commander Murrue Ramius of Eurasian Special Detachment. I thank you for the assistance you have provided,"

"Sahib Ashman, from the Desert Dawn. We're only there to fight our enemy, not to help you. No need to thank us,"

The name Desert Dawn corresponded with the information Murrue knew about the region. The ragtag band of guerilla soldiers was one of the few groups fighting against ZAFT's occupation led by Andrew Bartfeld.

"Still, no harm in us thanking you, is there?" Mu said.

"You seemed familiar, fly-boy,"

"Commander Mu La Flaga, and I can't say I've been around here before,"

"I never expected to see Hawk of Endymion here," Sahib said. "That explained Gibraltar's fall."

Mu shrugged. "Fell hook, line and sinker for the 'see the world' on the brochure,"

"Oh, and we're supposed to be happy the Archangel is on a world voyage and decided to pass through here? Maybe we can have, what do you people call it, a PASSEX?"

"That sounds good," Mu said before turning Murrue. "What do you think, Commander?"

Both Sahib and Mu were being sarcastic in their interactions. A PASSEX, or a passing exercise, was an exercise done between two navies to ensure that the navies were able to communicate during an operation. The fact that both Desert Dawn and her forces weren't navy; both Sahib and Mu knew no such exercise could be conducted. However, if the two expected her to play the game, they had another thing coming. "Sure. We certainly can plan for flashing light drills, electronic communications, and target acquisition. Would it be okay with your side, Mr. Sahib?"

Sahib and Mu stared at her, wide-eyed, before the former broke into an enormous grin and laughed. "You got us there." Sahib turned toward Strike and Buster, "Get the pilots from…"

"X-103 and X-105. X-303 is in the ship, probably on standby. Buster, Strike, and Aegis. They were the prototypes deployed in the orbital battle and the recently concluded campaign in Gibraltar," a young woman with short blonde hair said.

Sahib nodded at the woman. "Get Buster and Strike's pilots down and we can talk,"

Murrue considered the man's words and found no problem in accepting the term, since it would give at least show that she was negotiating in good faith. "Coffee Pod, Monarch, stand down and get down here,"

"Coffee Pod and Monarch?" one of the younger Desert Dawn members asked.

"They're callsigns, Ahmed. Pilots used them in place of their names," the blonde woman said.

"You got it right, lady," Mu said as the hatches of Strike and Buster opened. "We didn't seem to get your name,"

"I don't see the reason why I should tell you,"

"Princess Attha?" Sai uttered, as he and Kira approached them. "Why are you here?"

Mu and Murrue looked at him and then at the person he identified. "Princess Attha?" Murrue tested. "Cagalli Yula Attha? The daughter of the Uzumi Nara Attha?"

1

Author's Note.

1. Mangas to promote the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Tomo to Kimi to koko de Game Boy Advance game imply that Natarle may have some feeling for Mu. In the mangas, Natarle repaired Mu's damaged shirt after learning from Miriallia, implying she may have harbored some feelings for him.

2. Hiding the strike force far away inside the elevator is not very useful if a firefight breaks out. Makes more sense to have them standing in front of the potential hostiles in a ready manner instead.

3. Fragged is a slang for deliberate or attempted killing of a soldier, usually a superior, by a fellow soldier.