Phase 7: Judgement

Holding Cell 5, Main Building, ZAFT Headquarters, City of Aprilius One, PLANTs, 7 February CE 71, 1330 hrs

Three days later…

As she lies on the bed looking at the ceiling of the holding cell, Flay hoped that her upcoming trial would go well for her. Though Yzak cautioned her before that, Councilman Zala will never allow her to join ZAFT, Flay determines to convince him during the trial to let her join.

However, the door to her holding cell opens and Yzak walks in as he approaches her. "Miss Allster, it's time to leave for your trial." Yzak informs Flay. The red-haired Natural nods and stands up while carrying her personal bag as she is about to leave with Yzak. "Will everything be alright, Ensign Joule?"

"Everything will be fine if you follow what we discussed three days ago," Yzak says as he sighed. "Though it will be unlikely that they will allow you to join ZAFT." .

Flay is sad to hear this, but Yzak has a point. There are no records of Naturals joining ZAFT since the entire armed forces filled it with Coordinators only. If she becomes a mobile suit pilot for ZAFT, no Coordinator wants to fight side by side with her if they know she is a Natural. Also, Flay recalls experiencing Anti-Natural hatred from ZAFT Coordinators like Rusty back then. She even remembers Rusty telling her that Yzak wanted to kill her out of hate. Hence, she understands why ZAFT forces kill Naturals immediately upon capturing them during battles. It was all about hating Naturals for what Blue Cosmos did to them.

Troubled by both Coordinator's hatred against Naturals and her father's association with Blue Cosmos, Flay wants to enlist in ZAFT forces as a volunteer soldier. She hopes that by joining the Coordinators' army, she can convince both Coordinators and Naturals to end their hatred against each other and seek peace. That way, Blue Cosmos's ideology will become irrelevant and the war could end quickly.

"Ensign Joule, I'm aware they will not allow me to join the ZAFT forces just because I'm a Natural. But I will inform the Supreme Council of my decision and convince them to let me join ZAFT," Flay tells Yzak. At first, Yzak thought she was being stubborn and naïve, but hearing that she planned to convince the Supreme Council to let her join, he became worried about her. Knowing that Patrick Zala has a strong hatred against Natural, hearing Flay wanting to join ZAFT would lead him to sentence her to death immediately.

"Miss Allster!" Yzak calls out her middle name. "What you are doing is dangerous. What if they don't let you join but sentence you to death instead?"

"I will take my chance, Ensign. I'm fully prepared to accept the consequences." Flay informs him. "I'm joining ZAFT to put an end to hatred on both sides so that the war can end quickly." .

Yzak was speechless by what he heard. He thought it was all a ruse to fool him and the Supreme Council. He remembers when he first captured her; she was just a mindless Blue Cosmos supporting Natural when she called him a space monster. Now Flay is completely a different person by wanting to join ZAFT. 'What is she thinking?' Yzak thought as he wondered why Flay would want to help Coordinators despite being fearful of them in the past.

In the end, Yzak reluctantly allows Flay to convince the Supreme Council on the condition that she has to fully accept the outcome of the verdict once the trial ends and also, she will not back out during military training if they allow her to join ZAFT. Eventually, Flay accepts the conditions imposed by Yzak.

"Thank you, Ensign. For letting me convince the Supreme Council to let me join ZAFT." Flay thanks him with gratitude.

"Whatever, just ensure you don't regret the choice you choose." Yzak cautions her.

Flay nods in acknowledgement before both of them leave the cell as Yzak escorts her to the conference room to attend her trial.

Conference Room, Main Building, ZAFT Headquarters, City of Aprilius One, PLANTs, 7 February CE 71, 1400 hrs

As they walk into the conference room, Flay becomes fearful after seeing Patrick Zala sitting among the Supreme Council members, looking at her. However, Patrick's glare terrorizes her as his eyes look at her like a hawk. Flay could only hope that he wouldn't show his Anti-Natural bias towards her during the trial.

As she walks towards the table with Yzak, she discovers Ezalia Joule and other high-ranking ZAFT officials looking at her as well beside them. 'Remember Flay, Ezalia's here.' Flay reminds herself silently not to let Ezalia catch her lying during the trial.

"Alright Chairman Clyne, Miss Allster is here. We can begin her trial session." Ezalia informs Siegel that the court martial trial could start. Siegel nods and alerts the prosecuting ZAFT officer to begin his opening speech — "Alright, prosecuting officer. You may begin your opening speech." .

The ZAFT prosecutor acknowledges and stands up before he begins his opening speech. "Your honor. Today we are here to recommend to the top brass and the Supreme Council that Miss Allster poses an enormous security risk to the PLANTs and execute her immediately." .

"Based on our investigations, we found that not only makes Miss Allster indoctrinated with Blue Cosmos' ideology, she has undergone both military and pilot training at a young age." The ZAFT prosecutor tells the Supreme Council members before looking at Flay with a question: "Are you fully aware why they trained you under Blue Cosmos's programs at a very young age, Miss Allster?"

As Flay was about to answer the prosecutor's question, she recalls her father telling her it's for her own good and future when he brought her to a community center run by Blue Cosmos to be indoctrinated. "It's for your own good, Flay. One day, evil Coordinators from the PLANTs would invade Earth and enslave all of us, Naturals. It's your duty as a Natural to join Blue Cosmos and protect your family from these veiled space monsters." George told her in a flashback.

During that time, Flay was only 10 years old, and she did not have a single knowledge about Coordinators until her enrollment in the programs. All she does is to follow every order that comes from her father without question. "No sir. All I know is my father told me I have to join Blue Cosmos to protect my family. I only followed his orders without question and I was too young to question his motives at that moment." Flay replies.

However, the ZAFT prosecutor does not take Flay's reasoning lightly, as he thinks that she should have done more to speak out against Blue Cosmos and its hateful ideology. Hence, he asks Flay with this question: "Though you may be young, why didn't you speak up to your father that you do not agree with his views?"

Flay feels let down after hearing that, but she knows that the ZAFT prosecutor has a point. Just because she was a young child in the past doesn't mean she can turn a blind eye to her father's actions. In fact, she once called Yzak and Rusty space monsters out of fear. Hence, Flay felt guilty for not questioning Blue Cosmos's Anti-Coordinator ideology and rejecting their hateful teachings. Before Flay could answer, Yzak stands up and objects to the prosecutor's question. "Your honor, I disagree with the prosecutor's question. Most of Miss Allster's family have several connections with Blue Cosmos. It will be difficult for her to reject Blue Cosmos's teachings." .

"Ensign Joule, just following orders without questioning them is still not a good reason to excuse Miss Allster's actions," Patrick rebukes Yzak. "In fact, Ensign Mackenzie informed Commander Le Creuset that Miss Allster once called both of you space monsters." Patrick tells Yzak before looking at Flay, "So, Miss Allster, why did you call them space monsters?"

Flay feels reluctant to answer Patrick Zala's question, knowing her answer will make Patrick see her more than just a fanatic Blue Cosmos supporter. However, all Coordinators present in the conference room are all looking at her, awaiting her answer. Not answering his question would only fuel their suspicion that Flay is indeed a diehard supporter of Blue Cosmos and its hateful ideology. Hence, Flay thinks it's best to answer Patrick's question truthfully.

"Councilman Zala, I called them space monsters out of fear they would either kill me or do something evil to me. I know it is wrong to call them that, but years of indoctrination of Blue Cosmos's teachings made me see ZAFT Coordinators as evil beings. I regretted what I said and I would like to make up for it." Flay answers Patrick's question truthfully.

Despite catching off guard by Flay's answer, it does not convince Patrick that the red-haired Natural is sincerely enough to atone for her and her family's sins. What if Flay is feigning remorse? What if Blue Cosmos sends her here to infiltrate ZAFT forces? These doubts only add fear to Patrick's perception of Flay. To test her sincerity and not being a Blue Cosmos spy, Patrick asks Flay this question: "Why should I trust and believe you, Miss Allster." .

"I do not want to live in a world filled with hate and racism. After seeing the truth about Blue Cosmos, I want to help Coordinators living in the PLANTs to make peace with Naturals living on Earth." Flay replies. "Hence, I don't mind pleading guilty for me and my family's crimes. I just want to see the end of hatred on both sides." .

"You sound so convincing to others, but not to me. If you want to put an end to hatred between Naturals and Coordinators, why did you have to undergo both military and mobile suit pilot training in the past?" Patrick looks at Flay skeptically.

"They ordered me to take part in these training sessions and it would be difficult for me to say no to them. If I were to disagree with them, they would force me to a room and bombard me with more Blue Cosmos's Anti-Coordinator propaganda for the whole day." Flay explains why she has to undergo these training sessions.

This revelation rattles Patrick as he suspects Flay may be a sleeping agent sent by Blue Cosmos to infiltrate and destroy both the ZAFT forces and the PLANTs from within. "Did they bombard you with more extreme Anti-Coordinator propaganda when you defy their orders?" Patrick queries with a fearful look on his face.

"Yes, Councilman Zala. They did that to me once before and I hated it. Because of that, I developed a phobia of seeing Coordinators which I do not want at all." Flay answers with a tear coming out from her left eye.

Everyone in the room was shocked to hear what Flay had gone through. They couldn't believe that Blue Cosmos is so extreme enough to punish Naturals who do not want to follow their hateful ideology. Even a surprised Yzak has never heard Blue Cosmos willing to punish Naturals for disagreeing with their views. Now Yzak understands why almost all Naturals living on Earth hated Coordinators. Majority of them may accept their Blue Cosmos's ideology, but they are some Naturals feign hating Coordinators to avoid Blue Cosmos's wrath.

"Your honor. Based on what we heard, it is now clear that Miss Allster is potentially a sleeper spy for Blue Cosmos. I highly recommend the death sentence for her immediately to avoid endangering the PLANTs." The ZAFT Prosecutor persuades the Supreme Council to execute Flay.

"No, we can't send Miss Allster to the gallows quickly just because they have forced her to take part in these activities under the supervision of Blue Cosmos. Also, there's no evidence of her stating that she's a sleeper spy for Blue Cosmos as well." Siegel declines to sentence Flay to the death penalty. "If we execute her now, Blue Cosmos and George Allster will use her death as propaganda to convince all of Naturals to destroy all of PLANTs. For now, we can detain her until the war ends." .

"Chairman Clyne, I disagree with that. If we don't kill her now, she may turn against us in the future." Patrick warns. "Councilman Zala!" Siegel calls out Patrick's name in disagreement. "Miss Allster may have undergone military training in the past, but she did not commit any crime against the PLANTs recently. The most we can do is monitor her movements while detained in one of the ZAFT facilities." Siegel argues. "Also, Miss Allster just pleaded guilty and shown regret for associating with Blue Cosmos in the past. She doesn't deserve to die just because she comes from the Allster family." .

Concerned that Councilman Zala is hellbent on sending her to the gallows, Flay quietly informs Yzak to notify the Supreme Council that she intends to join ZAFT as a pilot to atone for her family's association with Blue Cosmos. Yzak reluctantly agrees, and he stands up to inform the Supreme Council members of Flay's willingness to join the Coordinators' army. "Your honor, Miss Allster would like to enlist in the ZAFT forces to atone for her family's sins." .

Everyone except for Flay and Yzak, were gobsmacked to hear Flay wanting to join ZAFT. They had never seen or heard a Natural wanting to join forces with ZAFT Coordinators in fighting against Blue Cosmos. "Ensign Joule, did I just hear from you that Miss Allster wants to join the ZAFT forces?" Siegel clarifies with Yzak.

"That's correct, Chairman Clyne." Yzak confirms to Siegel that Flay is keen to join the ZAFT forces. "You can check with her, she will tell you why she wants to join our army." .

"Is it true based on what Ensign Joule just said, Miss Allster?" Siegel looks at Flay to confirm Yzak's answer.

"That's correct, sir." Flay replies with confidence as she stands up to give her reply. "Let me explain why I want to join ZAFT, Chairman Clyne." .

Curious to know why Flay wanted to join the ZAFT forces despite being a Natural, Siegel permits her to explain her reasons before deciding the outcome. Will Flay successfully convince Chairman Clyne and Councilman Zala to allow her to join? We can only find out in the next chapter.

To be continued…

End of Phase 7

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