Crossover Fan Fiction / Gundam SEED Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Crossing Barriers ❯ Audacious Moves ( Chapter 4 )

Crossing Barriers

 

Gundam Wing and Gundam Seed are the sole property of their creators and distributing studios. I have no financial interest in either series. Nor am I receiving any financial gain from this fan fiction work. I do however own all plot elements not part of the original and all self-created characters. Thank you. Enjoy.

 

Special note: Yaoi (homosexual pairings) is a plot element of this story. There will be NO explicit material but there will be sections where it is reasonably clear that sex is happening or has happened.

 

Beta Reader: T'Amara

 

 

 

Audacious Moves

 

 

A small breeze flickered through the packed auditorium and teased his hair, setting his bangs to falling in his eyes again. He sighed silently. It would be so nice if, just once, his hair would behave itself for one of these public occasions. He glanced enviously at the perfect hair of his former rival. His eyes went back up to his own unruly bangs and he very carefully tried to unobtrusively blow them out of his vision. That effort got him a very fast and quite sharp elbow in the ribs.

 

“Stand up straight and at least look interested Yamato!” Joule hissed without moving his lips. “The cameras follow you whenever they leave Lacus. Now support her properly!”

 

He managed to avoid either rubbing his suddenly pained ribs or glaring at Yzak. Neither one would be helpful at the moment no matter how much better they might make him feel. Besides, Joule was right. He was here to support Lacus and failing to give the proper impression to the people of the PLANTs would not qualify as support.

 

The irony of the situation however was not helping him. He was standing to his lady's right, wearing the same blindingly white ZAFT Commander's uniform Yzak Joule wore. For someone who'd started out just over three years ago as a civilian on Heliopolis, become an Earth Alliance ensign, then an Aube Admiral and now to suddenly be a ZAFT Commander, well, it was all a bit much. He also knew it pissed off Joule and he couldn't blame the man. Yzak was proud of his uniform and his service. He didn't think promoting a former enemy officer over most of the rest of the ZAFT was either fair or appropriate. Kira agreed with him but was not in a position to tell him so; anymore that he'd been in a position to refuse the honor when it had been dumped on him. He was coming to really hate the `necessities' of politics.

 

There was a sudden burst of enthusiastic applause. Kira didn't have to have been paying any particular attention to know where Lacus was in her speech to get that response. He knew she'd just announced the general amnesty for all ZAFT personnel not charged with real offenses or part of the senior planning/command positions for the late Chairman Dullindal's Destiny Plan. He was glad she'd stuck to her guns and hadn't let anyone talk her out of this. He'd heard how things had been handled at the end of the last war and had no time or patience for anyone who wanted to blame the troops for having bad leaders. He did wonder though just how everyone was going to take the next part of her plans.

 

He watched her wait with smiling patience until the applause died down before she raised a hand to ask for silence so she could continue. When she got it, she graciously acknowledged the courtesy of her audience. Yes, Lacus was turning her pop idol's training easily into this new field of politics. Very privately, Kira mentally admitted just how he bitterly resented this necessity. He watched her smile on the huge monitor at the back of the auditorium that let those on the stage see themselves as the public was seeing of them.

 

“And now we must come to the matter of the unit known as FAITH.” Lacus said soberly. “It is beyond question that the majority of those entrusted with the vast power holding the FAITH badge gave them were men and women of the highest integrity who never abused that authority. Unfortunately, there were others who carried the badge solely to enable them to further a specific political agenda.”

 

She sighed quietly, the entire room waiting in absolute silence for her to continue. “Because of this failure of their personal responsibility, the trust the people of the PLANTs had in the membership of FAITH has been broken. Some have gone so far as to suggest arresting all who carry the badge and sorting them out by court-martial. This is an unnecessary extreme. The records are still available. It is possible to know who did and who did not betray their trust. But we of the Supreme Council also know that we can not continue with FAITH as it has always been.”

 

Kira watched her blue eyes become determined and earnest, a change that started to pull her audience along with her before she said another word. “We must remake FAITH. The concept, a small group with the authority to act as a developing situation demands without having to waste valuable time seeking permits or approval, is a very good one. However, it was a power handed out too freely and for the wrong reasons in the last years. Moreover, it was exclusively given to military personnel as it had been thought only they could use such powers effectively. Yet not all crisis situations are military in nature or require military solutions.”

 

He began to study the reactions of the audience on the large monitors. This was where they all knew Lacus was going to begin to make some serious enemies. There were people out here, members of the various individual PLANT councils, who had vested interests in the system as it currently stood and who were going to lose power and authority with these changes. They would not be happy about it and some few would not stop with just feeling hurt over it.

 

Lacus rolled on, not giving anyone time to react yet. “By making this change, FAITH will become responsive to the total needs of the PLANTs. The new FAITH will be limited in absolute numbers as well. No more than fifty individuals will hold the badge at any one time. The appointments will vary in duration. Formerly, once given a badge, a person was a member of FAITH until they retired or were relieved of the responsibility for some gross offense. From now on, that will not be universally true. Many members will serve for decades. Others will be temporarily appointed as the needs of our situation require. When their crisis is ended, they will step down from FAITH to resume their personal lives. Thus we will have the ability to call upon whatever skills the times demand without allowing the organization to grow to an unmanageable size again.”

 

“I spoke of FAITH as an organization. Yet it has not really been one to date. Members were appointed by the Supreme Council Chair and reported only to that office. No one member officially had more authority than any other. This has led to confusing situations where differences of opinion regarding how to handle a situation between individual FAITH members caused dangerous delays of action.” She looked around and very few would meet her eyes; they all knew of those, fortunately few, incidents where lives, property, or bare survival had been jeopardized by interpersonal infighting between members.

 

“We will therefore have a true structure for our new FAITH. The company will have a specific Commander, who will be responsible for watching over his people and keeping things flowing smoothly in times of stress or danger. Each member will have a place within the body of the company. Rank will be somewhat fluid as the individual with the most skills in a specific crisis will have to be the one in command but such situationally driven changes in rank will not be permanent.”

 

He watched the monitor as she continued to lay out the structure for the renewed organization. He saw a lot of uncertainty. He saw outright disapproval. But what surprised him was just how much positive response there was to her ideas. It outweighed the ambivalent uncertainty and the actual disapproval by a significant margin; a much bigger margin than he'd ever allowed himself to hope for really. Andy Waltfeld had been right again; the people of the PLANTs really did want to trust the people of FAITH. And Lacus was handing them a way to restore that trust on a shiny silver platter, with all the modifications and internal controls for the system a Coordinator could want.

 

Still, he took careful note of those who weren't so happy. Most would probably be won over in time. They weren't really all that upset. There were a handful though that he didn't think would ever forgive these changes. One or two were going to have to be watched. Even he could see their anger ran far below the surface.

 

“. . . . I would nevertheless chose a military officer to fill the office of Commander.” Lacus' words suddenly grabbed his attention again and he stiffened; had she listened to him or not?

 

“In many ways this will be a thankless task that I will be asking this brave man to take on. He will be charged with not only rebuilding the organization anew but restoring the public trust. He must do this while helping guard our homes from dangers within and without. Yet I firmly believe him more than capable of doing this.” She smiled, a sweet, winning smile that caught her audience like honey trapped flies.

 

“He is a veteran of both wars, a man of high courage whose judgment has steadily grown over time. He is experienced in the dangers of politics. He is a fine leader, an officer whose people look to him with complete confidence that he will lead them well. And while many will argue against his youth, I can only say that you have trusted me to lead the PLANTs and he is older than I.”

 

She turned and Kira relaxed as her twinkling eyes crossed his briefly; she had listened. “Commander Yzak Joule, will you accept the charge to lead the new FAITH?”

 

For a few moments, Kira thought Yzak might finally have met the surprise that floored him. But as shock faded, intense thoughtfulness followed it. Commander Yamato found himself nodding, a rather grim smile on his own face. No, this was not going to be a job anyone would want, not if they had brain one in their heads. But it was one that needed doing. And Joule was not thoughtlessly grabbing at fame any longer. The judgment Lacus had praised was showing in front of everyone right now as he considered the offer with the care and evaluation it deserved.

 

As he watched the former Duel pilot, he knew he would accept the challenge. Yzak could see too many opportunities to help the PLANTs to turn it down. He could see the potential pitfalls too, that showed in his eyes as well. But he'd accept those risks for the chance to make a difference. Yes, Yzak would do it, and he damn well do it right!

 

The blue eyes burned as Joule looked up at last. “Madam Chairman, are you sure I am your best choice?”

 

“Yes I am.” Lacus replied firmly. “Through two wars and the peace between them you have always sought to serve the PLANTs. You put your service and people ahead of your personal ambitions time and again. When the decisions became hard ones, you always chose for the PLANTs first and foremost. You did not count the cost to your career or even to your pride. You simply did what you had to do to preserve our homes and people. Even when it meant you had to relinquish your long planned revenge on a very personal enemy. I believe that strength and that judgment can now serve us best rebuilding one of our honored institutions. Will you accept?”

 

“Yamato?” Joule asked under his breath. “I expected her to name you.”

 

“I told her to appoint you.” Kira replied just as quietly. “I'm not a child of the PLANTs.”

 

Yzak went very still. “You what?”

 

“I told her to appoint you.” He repeated. “Because you can do the job. Because you belong to the PLANTs. Because your name is both clean and respected. And frankly, because I want to see it done right.”

 

“You trust me that much?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The quiet exchange had taken place too softly for the mikes to pick up the words. Care on both their parts had kept their mouths still enough to make lip-reading impossible. It wasn't anyone's business anyway. This was just between him and Joule. But it was something the other needed to know before he made up his mind. They had too much history to move this forward without clearing the air a bit.

 

Yzak blinked twice, then stepped forward slowly to salute Lacus with flawless precision. “Madam Chairman, I will do everything in my power to be worthy of this honor.”

 

Kira's smile was bright and honest as Lacus pinned the new FAITH badge onto Yzak's uniform. It was very similar to the old one but the center boss had been somewhat enlarged and a scroll and sword had been added to it. These symbolized the new emphasis on service to the PLANTs as a whole. The rolling thunder of applause was all he could have wished for. Yzak Joule was more popular than he knew himself.

 

When the applause ended, Lacus explained the duties and responsibilities of the new office as envisioned by the Supreme Council. Joule listened quite seriously, nodding at several significant points. But it was when she told him he was going to be allowed to select his own Deputy Commander that his eyes narrowed in some inner consideration. And the look was outright crafty by the time she'd finished laying out the few limits the Council had decided to put on his range of choice. Kira's own eyes narrowed. He knew that look. Yzak was getting ready to upset a lot of people and he wasn't going to apologize for doing it.

 

“Madam Chairman, is this requirement that the Deputy Commander be a citizen of the PLANTs a final decision?” Joule asked suddenly.

 

Lacus blinked. “Well, I suppose the Council could consider an individual who was simply a member of the ZAFT. Not all previous FAITH members have been PLANT citizens but they have all at least been in ZAFT.”

 

“Thank you. The man I have in mind is not a citizen but he does meet the second requirement. He also has a very wide range of experience outside of the PLANTs. FAITH will have to deal with external influences now. We will need someone with broader horizons than most available.”

 

“I see,” Lacus said slowly. “Just who are you considering?”

 

“I want Commander Kira Yamato.”

 

As what he'd said sank in, the entire auditorium fell silent. Kira stared at Yzak in shock. He could not have said that, he couldn't!

 

“Have you lost your mind?” Kira yelled before he could stop himself.

 

“Hardly.” Yzak replied coldly. “You were dragged into the Earth Forces in the first war and you stayed loyal to them until they betrayed your friends. Not until they betrayed you, you could accept that. But you could not accept the betrayal of those you swore to protect. You entered Aube's service with your ship and your friends. And you have served them just as loyally. You would still be an Aube Fleet Admiral if your sister, Chief Representative Athha, had asked you to stay. Instead, she released you to stand by Lacus Clyne. And so you entered the ZAFT, to serve Lacus. Your loyalty can not be bought and it is not for sale. Nor have you ever broken it. If you accept this office, I know I will be fully able to trust you. And that is one of the most important things that can be said of any officer of FAITH, that they can be trusted.”

 

He was staring Kira right in the eye now and it was Kira who was getting uncertain. “You have never been an enemy of the PLANTs themselves either. Oh, you fought ZAFT and you were no friend to two of our governments but you never even thought of destroying the PLANTs themselves. I was there at Second Jachin Due, Yamato. I watched your Freedom and Zala's Justice destroy the vast majority of the nukes the Earth Alliance fired at the PLANTs those two days. Two separate attacks and you met them both. While you were officially our enemy. Because you don't believe in genocide and you don't hate the people who live on the PLANTs. I know for a fact that the destruction of those PLANTs lost to the Requiem was something you felt deeply and bitterly. You would have destroyed it for that alone; the fact that it was being turned on Aube was simply an added incentive for you.”

 

Yzak stepped closer until his eyes were only inches from Kira's. “You chose to follow Lacus. You chose to accept an appointment in the ZAFT. Well Yamato, I say you're needed to bring that diverse experience of yours to the rebuilding of FAITH and the defense of the PLANTs. I believe in your loyalty and your integrity. I want you! Are you too chicken to accept?”

 

Kira lowered his head so the cameras couldn't follow his thoughts and considered the situation fiercely. Taking that badge wouldn't really make him any more of a target than he already was so that wasn't a problem. It would make him Yzak's subordinate though and that could be a huge issue. At the same time, the way Joule had set this up, he was going to lose a lot of his effectiveness if he refused. Could he afford to give up any of the ground he'd gained in the ZAFT that was allowing him to protect Lacus? Honest answer, no. And Yzak knew it. Neat trap.

 

When his head came back up, Kira knew his own gaze was as strong as Joule's. “You are absolutely sure you want to do this Commander?”

 

“Yes I am.” Yzak replied, steady as a rock.

 

“Then, pending the Supreme Council's approval, I accept.”

 

The vast room degenerated into an uproar. While people argued the pros and cons on the floor, Lacus went quietly to each Council member and asked for their vote. Kira could see from where he was standing that they felt as trapped by Yzak's move as he'd been. It was obvious, at least to him, which way the vote was going to go very early on.

 

When the vote was official, dead silence fell. Kira stepped forward, saluted Lacus, and stood firmly as she pinned that badge onto his uniform. But he surprised them all when he stepped back, turned, and formally saluted his new Commander as well. Yzak returned it, no trace of smile or triumph on his face at all. The buzz of talk that started up was not as hostile sounding as the first round had been. Maybe, just maybe, it said, Commander Joule had known what he was doing after all.

 

* * * * * * *

 

Tired but satisfied, Yzak slipped away from the party that followed Madam Chairman Clyne's address sometime after midnight. He'd stayed more than long enough to do the political schmoozing his new job required and now he had the headache such constant wariness and guarding of the tongue always gave him. It had gone well though.

 

He commandeered a ZAFT staff car and driver for a lift to the base. The officer they belonged to wasn't going to need them for the short time they would be off their post. Yzak knew exactly where the man was and who he was with. He'd be lucky to get out by dawn.

 

He settled in the back seat and smiled tightly. He had expected to be successful. He was Ezaria Joule's son after all, trained in the art of political maneuvering from birth. Of course he was going to sway the various members of the PLANT Councils. What he had not expected at all was to have Yamato stay with him all evening as a subordinate should, backing him all the way in his very quiet manner that never pushed anyone but that could have less give than a shot from his old Agni hyper-impulse cannon. Oh yes, Commander Joule had been very successful; and so had Deputy Commander Yamato. He was going to have to keep an eye on Kira. He was a lot smarter politically than he'd thought he'd be.

 

At the same time, he knew Yamato was not happy with him for putting him on the spot in the first place. He'd come to the PLANTs and accepted, very reluctantly, a Commanders slot in the ZAFT to protect Lacus. That was his focus, his only focus. While Kira Yamato wasn't an enemy of the people of the PLANTs he sure wasn't a friend of any PLANT government! And he had absolutely zero trust in any such government too. Yet when Lacus had agreed to accept the post of Chairman of the Supreme Council of the PLANTs, he'd elected to follow her to keep her safe. He had most definitely not intended to extend that to keeping the PLANTs themselves safe!

 

They were going to have to discuss this. And he was going to have to let Yamato have his full say on it no matter who was supposed to rank who. He was going to have to hold on to his temper too, no matter what came out of Yamato's mouth or this would fall apart very fast. There was too much negative history between them, they had to clear it.

 

Because he did want Strike-Freedom's pilot in FAITH. He did want him as his Deputy Commander. Kira Yamato had a range of experience inside enemy organizations that would be invaluable in defending the PLANTs through these days of weakness while they struggled to recover from their second war in almost as many years that had drained vast resources but returned no victory. He hadn't been lying when he'd praised the man's loyalty either. And that loyalty was given now to Lacus Clyne, Madam Chairman of the Supreme Council of the PLANTs. As long as they could stay out of conflict with Aube and his sister, Yamato would bend all his formidable talents to helping Lacus however he could. Those talents would see their widest possible use if he was a member of FAITH.

 

It could wait until tomorrow. Tonight he needed to see to one last thing before he could get some sleep. He had to make arrangements for the changeover in command of the Joule Team. He smiled wearily. Really, it was amazing what you could accomplish at a party if you knew what strings to pull. Still, if there hadn't been those promotions in the other Team and the people involved hadn't agreed it wouldn't have worked. But they had and he was going to be able to leave his people in damn good hands.

 

There were lights on in his office when he arrived and dismissed the driver to go back to wait for his own commander. He smiled, he'd expected this. Both Dearka and Shiho were probably still here. They would know about his new appointment of course; it had only gone out over every vid-cast there was. But he did not know how they were going to take the rest of the news he was bringing.

 

“I don't know Dearka,” Shiho's voice carried clearly in the empty corridor. “You still haven't convinced me. Why Yamato? And as Deputy Commander of all things! Even if you could set aside the fact that he fought on the other side in both wars, what does he know about ZAFT or the PLANTs?”

“You don't get it do you?” Dearka's voice was muffled enough to suggest he was in the inner office. “Yzak didn't pick him for what he knows about us. He picked him because Kira's hopelessly incorruptible. And everyone knows it. He's competent too. And that's no secret either. He's not afraid to admit it when he doesn't know something. Yeah, Cagalli made him the official Admiral of Aube's fleet there at the end but he wasn't stupid enough to think he could really do the job. He delegated the actual work to the surviving senior Aube commanders who had the experience to know what they were doing and he stuck to leading the mobile suit troops. That was the work he understood better than they did.”

 

“He was still an Earth Forces officer in the first war and an Aube officer in this one!” She argued. “Who but Yzak would think of making someone like that second in command of FAITH? And even if he is what you say he is, I still don't see why Yzak did it!”

 

“Because in its own way, it's politically smart.” Elsman told her cheerfully. “He's buying tons of points with Earth governments that really, really don't trust us but that do trust Kira Yamato. Yzak just made Yamato very powerful in the PLANTs and the ZAFT. He could just sit and play pick-up sticks in his office and it would improve our relations with everyone but the North Atlantic Federation.”

 

“It actually won't hurt there either.” Yzak told them as he stepped through the office door. “They may hate him but they do respect him. And everyone knows he's loyal to Lacus.”

 

“They know he's in love with her.” Dearka grinned.

 

“Yes, that too.” Joule agreed. “But what it means is there is no money that can buy him and it is unlikely they can find anything to threaten to bend him. And they know it too. No one wants Kira Yamato angry enough at them to come hunting. He's more dangerous than a tsunami during a typhoon while an earthquake is happening. He was bad enough the first war. He's gotten worse this last one. His abilities are outgrowing his mobile suit's capacities. We can all thank what ever gods we own that he's a genuine pacifist and devoted to another one!”

 

Dearka stepped thoughtfully out of the doorway to Yzak's private office to wander over and sit on the edge of Shiho's desk. “Yeah, he's grown a lot. I remember when we were part of the Le Creuset Team, chasing the Archangel all over space and the Earth. Every time we got into a fight with them, he'd come out in Strike and somehow hold us off. And he was better at it each time we fought. We should've known he was no Natural by the time he managed to survive that atmospheric entry after we blasted Halliburton's Eighth Fleet. I mean doing that damn near killed the two of us! No Natural could have made it. None of the G-weapons was set up with enough cooling systems to bring a Natural through that. But no, we kept thinking he was just some stupidly lucky Natural kid. I'm amazed we survived all those fights.”

 

“Nicol didn't.” Yzak said quietly.

 

“I know. But I've reviewed the footage we had from that fight and you know, Nicol made the first mistake. He popped out from under the mirage colloid too close to the Strike. Yamato didn't have the time to do anything but react. And by then, we'd taught him we were out to kill him. If he'd given Kira another second or twenty feet, I honestly think that sword would have gone under the cockpit instead of through it.”

 

Yzak glared, those memories were still tender and probably would be for the rest of his life. “Zala made the first mistake! He should have told us who Yamato was!”

 

“Oh, and we'd have been so very understanding back then.” Dearka drawled. “If you're gonna trip down memory lane, don't do it with blinders on. Saying you didn't like Athrun is kinda like saying the sun's warm, an understatement so bland it hides reality. And we won't go into what you thought of the Strike's pilot either.”

 

He opened his mouth to scream at Elsman but no sound came out. Memory and honesty throttled it. Temper battled with hard-won maturity - and lost. He closed his mouth and stared bleakly at the floor instead.

 

“Well, yes, I don't suppose either one could have missed how I felt then if they'd been blind, deaf, and autistic.”

 

“Not that Athrun or I happened to be any of those things, but, no, we didn't miss your opinion of us Joule.”

 

Yzak snapped around. Kira Yamato was leaning, arms folded, against the side of hallway door. The expression on his face was neutral, completely neutral.

 

“Would it help any to know that of all the things that I've done in two wars, I regret that one most? That I still hear Athrun screaming his name in my nightmares?” Yamato looked away. “I never wanted to kill any of you, not really. I just wanted you to leave us alone. I didn't understand war then even though I was fighting one. I knew I was killing people and I hated it. But I never knew who they were, understood any of them as individuals, until I heard Athrun. Not even when I thought I'd killed Commander Waltfeld did I feel that bad. I'd never heard loss like that before. I've only heard it a few times since.”

 

He looked up and Yzak was startled by the bleak emptiness in the amethyst eyes. “Shin asked me once why I was stupid enough to try to fight a war without killing my enemies. Nicol is why. I never want to be responsible for anyone else screaming like that again.”

 

The empty eyes focused on him and Yzak only barely managed not to shudder. “I fight when I have no other choice. I kill when I have to. But I take no pride in it Joule. I do it because I can, and so no one else has to. And I will not be anyone's tool to `get back' at someone. Do we understand each other?”

 

The Commander of FAITH studied his unwilling subordinate. This was a side of Yamato he'd never suspected was even there. He'd have laughed if anyone had told him the younger Coordinator carried the dead on his soul like an open wound; one the man had no intention of ever letting heal. He blinked slowly as he realized just how much Kira Yamato feared his own abilities. And what he could become if he ever let them go while rage ruled him. It changed what he'd intended to say drastically.

 

“I like to think I've grown up a bit since then. I also like to think that I act on reality.” Yzak said slowly. “Yes, I still have a temper and yes, it can get away from me sometimes. But I don't let it make my decisions any longer. And I've come to realize that everyone in the PLANTs isn't always right, or even in the right.”

 

He took a very deep breath and managed to force out words he'd never, ever, wanted to have to say out loud. “Naturals aren't always wrong either. Not even ones from the Alliance.”

 

“Why did you force this on me?” Kira asked in the brittle silence that followed that strained confession.

 

“Because you're the best there is in a mobile suit.” Yzak snarled. “Because you know how our enemies think. Because we're weak! Because we can't afford to get into another fight! I need a deterrent Yamato! One that can sit there and keep the Naturals off our backs without lifting a finger! And that's what you are!”

 

He glared into the still lavender eyes, unable to read them. “If there's another war, we'll die. Our resources are just too short now. We've lost too many people, especially those of combat age. We can field an army but we can't keep one going long. The Naturals can. We need peace, decades of it, to rebuild, to survive, damn it!”

 

“It isn't the Alliance you need to worry about.” Kira said quietly. “They've been nearly as shattered as the PLANTs economically and politically. There isn't a single planet based nation that is going to start another war anytime soon.”

 

“Unaffiliated radicals.” Dearka said grimly. “Ours and theirs, right? The guys who just won't live with not winning.”

 

Yamato nodded. “I've no idea how many little groups of them there are out there but I know there're a lot. Some have resources or supplies stashed. Others have backing, mostly private but there are a couple of governments that aren't watching a few of their agencies as well as they should be too.”

 

“I'm sure the Alliance has that `problem'.” Shiho said derisively.

 

“Believe it or not, they don't seem to be the main offender here.” Kira shook his head slowly. “It's Eurasia and the Union of South Africa that seem to have the money and the inclination to spend it unwisely. The real problems though may come from the space based quasi-pirate groups. They don't have much of an agenda beyond smashing everything that ever hurt them. And there is someone out there who seems to be starting to build a fleet out of them.”

 

“Where are you getting this information?” Yzak asked flatly.

 

“My sister.” He replied bluntly. “Aube wants peace. It's only going to last if the elements that want war can be stopped. Cagalli and Lacus are working together to stop them. So I have access to a lot of what Aube Intelligence is getting hold of. As one of the strongest forces left on the planet, Aube is in a position to do a lot to quell trouble down there. They need the ZAFT to be strong enough to deal with space threats because the Alliance isn't and won't be for a long time to come. And Cagalli seriously doesn't trust a lot of the senior officials of the Eurasian Federation. Ever since the Chinese came to dominate foreign policy last year, she's been getting very bad feelings about where they want to take the Federation.”

 

“And the Union of South Africa?” Yzak asked.

 

“No one seems to be sure what they're up to. Diamond money is going someplace though and it isn't into rebuilding the country's infrastructure.” Yamato turned a dark eye to Yzak. “I'll make you a bet that they aren't telling the PLANTs where it's going either. I would suggest finding someone qualified to look into it Commander, and putting them on it, fast.”

 

“Is that what you see FAITH as doing?” Dearka wondered.

 

“I see FAITH as defending the PLANTs. At the moment, one of the ways they need defending is in the area of serious intelligence gathering on groups and nations that might want to rekindle the fighting. I don't think we, FAITH, should be doing the actual work no, but I do think we should have someone looking over shoulders and kicking asses if they need it. Joule's right you know. The ZAFT is seriously weakened now. The trick for the next few years is going to be killing the snakes before they can bite. If it gets to outright war, well, the PLANTs will have a big problem on their hands.”

 

“Do you have any more questions about why I wanted you for FAITH Yamato?” Yzak asked quietly. “You've just come up with data I didn't have and a solid suggestion of what to do about it that I wouldn't have thought of. I'm a trained soldier and politician. Using a FAITH member as a nanny for our intelligence agencies would have struck me as a total waste of limited personnel. Deliberately selecting someone to have the qualifications for it is not how I envisioned using our people. I don't think that way. I've no idea what the hell you're trained to be but it sure seems to have wider horizons than I do. And I don't need to `get back' at anyone right now. I'll let you know if I do and you can decide for yourself if you want to help then. Is that good enough for you?”

 

“Computer engineering.” Kira said absently.

 

“What?” Yzak glared at him.

 

“That's what I was in tech school for on Heliopolis, computer engineering. You kinda wrecked my career track when you came for the Gundams that day. Everything else was just picked up along the way.” Yamato smiled slightly. “I'm pretty good at taking care of kids and changing diapers too if that's ever needed by the ZAFT. But I'm not much of a cook.”

 

“Don't worry, neither is he.” Shiho said calmly. “His stroganoff is good and his butterscotch pie is worth stealing but everything else should be taste-tested first. Sometimes things are great, others, not so great.”

 

“Don't let him heat rations for you either.” Dearka added.

 

“If you two would be good enough to shut up here, I'd like to get back to the point.” Yzak snarled.

 

“Oh, I think he's gotten the point he came for.” Shiho tuned steady eyes on Yamato. “Haven't you, Commander?”

 

“Depends. What do you think I was looking for Lieutenant?”

 

“You needed to be sure Commander Joule wasn't intending to use you as a conduit for influence on Miss Clyne of course. You had to be sure he wasn't going to be acting to undermine her programs.” She replied evenly.

 

“You're sharp.” Kira told her with a wry grin, then turned keen eyes on the flabbergasted Yzak. “Well, well, your girlfriend got it before you did. You need to do better or she's going to run the house, Commander.”

 

“Lieutenant Hahnenfuss is not my girlfriend!” Yzak yelled. “She's my aide and secretary and an exceptionally efficient soldier and that's all!”

 

“Really? I must have misunderstood what Lacus meant. My apologies.” Kira said politely.

 

Unfortunately for Yzak's temper, the amused twinkle in Yamato's eye was unmistakable. Damn it! Why did everyone keep insisting Hahnenfuss was his girlfriend? He didn't have a girlfriend! He didn't want a girlfriend! And he damn well didn't need one! No matter what his mother, and apparently Madam Chairman Clyne, thought about it!

 

Dearka stepped in before he could take his opinion on the subject of girlfriends and people who wanted to foist them off on him any further. “Yzak, with you taking command at FAITH, who's going to take over the Joule Team?”

 

Shiho stared at him. “What! Someone else take over our Team? Why?”

 

“Because I can't do two full time jobs at the same time.” Yzak said calmly. “Rebuilding FAITH is going to be a huge task. At the moment, there are only two members, me and that idiot in the doorway. We have to set up the entire organization from scratch. Make it accountable to the Council as a whole and effective at the same time. And we have to find the people to be the new membership. People who can handle emergencies ranging from food riots to nuclear attacks. Lacus called the job thankless and she knew what she was talking about.”

 

“Not to mention how many parties that will have to be attended and self-important people we'll have to make feel good about the whole business.” Yamato put in unhappily.

 

Yzak looked at him with interest. “They taught some interesting classes in computer engineering on Heliopolis.”

 

“Nah, learned that hanging around the Chief Representative of Aube.” Kira sighed. “I'm sort of considered a cadet member of the Athha family. Cagalli used to use me sometimes as a stand-in for her when she couldn't be at two parties at the same time. I don't envy Athrun getting stuck with that now. I just thank god no one's pinned a House title on me!”

 

“Do you have any more questions regarding why I want you as my Second?” Yzak asked bluntly.

 

“Not really.” Yamato told him evenly. “Now we'll have to see how it works out.”

 

“Right.”

 

“The Team?” Dearka asked.

 

“Will stay the Joule Team.” Yzak smiled. “There have been several promotions in the Thoms Team and I've taken advantage of one of them. My cousin Voril will be assuming command of my Team.”

 

“Commander Thoms agreed to that?” Dearka asked, shocked. “More to the point, did Captain Ito agree?”

 

“Commander Thoms has been promoted himself. He is going to be a Mobile Suit Team Coordinator with ten separate Teams under his command. And it will be the Ito Team now. Voril distinguished himself in the last battle over the Moon and has been jumped from Ito's wing to Commander. I requested him for my Team and they all agreed.”

 

“Did you have to promise not to hover over his shoulder?” Shiho asked, one eyebrow raised.

 

He gave her a filthy look and didn't dignify the question with an answer. “I did request permission to take a couple people with me to facilitate setting up my new office. I don't want to have to train staff and build the whole of FAITH at the same time. Voril was perfectly agreeable.”

 

Elsman just eyed him expectantly. “Yes Dearka, I'm taking you and Hahnenfuss.”

 

“It's going to be quite a change in leadership style for the Team.” Shiho said thoughtfully. “Voril is a great deal more laid back than you are.”

 

“Yes, although I expect he'll find being in charge will force him to change some of that. However he's very well trained. Lance Thoms is a superb teacher. He's also picked up a lot of experience in this war.” Yzak said thoughtfully. “Besides, there aren't any other junior officers in the whole of the ZAFT who've been to Earth as often as he has or who've had the chance to meet as many senior Earth Alliance officers as he has. Being Ito's Wing had some unusual advantages.”

 

“Isn't Captain, sorry, Commander Ito married to an Earth Natural?” Shiho frowned.

 

“Yes,” Kira replied before Yzak could. “Kayla Grayhawk Ito is also known as Tomahawk. She was a Zero pilot in the first war. They met at the disaster at Spit Break in Alaska. He shot her down and took her prisoner. Things went from there. At any rate, her oldest sister is General Maria Grayhawk, the Bronze Spider. Family visits between the wars, and the Grayhawks always invited Voril to come too, usually meant there was someone from the Alliance on hand. The Spider really wanted her people to get past all the stupid Blue Cosmos propaganda and recognize that Coordinators are human too.”

 

He stared thoughtfully into some middle distance at something only he saw. “I think she knew there would be a second war. I think she didn't expect it to be very long between them either. She didn't want us to be so badly underestimated a second time.”

 

“Us?” Yzak asked, surprised at his choice of words.

 

“Yes, us, Coordinators.” Yamato replied. “I am one you know.”

 

“I did figure that out.” Yzak said coolly. “I admit it took a while to get the idea past my prejudices but I did eventually let myself know a Coordinator could choose to work with Naturals without being forced into it. It took me a lot longer to understand why and even longer to accept it.”

 

“I kinda figured that out too.” Kira told him just as coolly. “The insistence on trying to blow my head off was a pretty good clue.”

 

“I'm not going to apologize for it.”

 

“I'm not going to ask you to. I'm not that stupid. And I really don't care about your attitude from two years plus ago. I only care about how you feel now.”

 

Yzak blinked, then settled back against the edge of Shiho's desk beside Dearka. “How I feel now? Well, I still have some reservations but none of them are serious or I wouldn't have demanded you for my Second. I don't really like you and I doubt I ever will. I have come to respect you though. You're honest, loyal, damn sharp, more than pull your own weight, and don't pretend to know everything. I'm not nearly so happy with your insistence on not killing any enemy, even if I now know where it came from. And I don't want you teaching that to the rest of FAITH as we get it set up.”

 

“You can't teach it Joule. It's either something you believe in or it isn't.” Yamato replied quietly. “And I'm not sure I like you either by the way. But I can admit you've become an able leader, gotten that rotten temper of yours under control, stand firmly for your convictions and never hide what you stand for. You're honest too. And you'd give your people your life in a heartbeat. I respect you and I can work with you. Just don't try to tell me what to believe in.”

 

Yzak stood and walked over to the other young man he'd drafted as his Second. Keen blue eyes met surprisingly strong amethyst ones. He held out his hand to a man he'd once sworn to kill.

 

“I won't tell you what to believe in Yamato but I will demand that you believe you can make a difference to Lacus Clyne's programs by serving as the Deputy Commander of FAITH. Because you won't be worth shit to me if you don't.”

 

Kira took his hand if a firm grip that did not challenge him for dominance. “If I hadn't understood that much, I'd have refused right there on the podium.”

 

It was going to work! Gods and devils, it was going to work! Kira Yamato was going to accept him as his commanding officer. This Natural-loving idiot Coordinator, the finest mobile suit pilot alive, had finally committed to his own kind!