Cosmic Era 75.
Two years after the end of the second war, the Earth and PLANTs seem to be in a state of peace. Although the two maintain their supply of mobile suits and other such weaponry, no large-scale war has been seen in almost a full year. Although as peaceful as the world may seem, the inevitable hostilities between the Naturals and Coordinators still remains. However, a terrorist group identifying themselves as Purity surfaced late in CE74, claiming to want to create a more peaceful world for all. Their methods… eradicate the Coordinators. With its growing army and political power, Purity casts the cold shadows of war across Earth and space once more…
-Space-
"Sir! Three suits incoming, they're Daggers!" the soldier in charge of the ship's radar called out.
"Earth forces?" the commander asked, walking to the screen and examining the three red blips.
"Unknown, could be Purity sir!" the green-clad soldier replied.
"Give the order for the pilots to launch, ready the railguns. Prepare to intercept!" the white-clad man called.
"All hands, level 1 battle stations! Pilots to your machines, prepare for immediate launch!" one of the other soldiers called across the ship's speaker system. An alarm rang out across the entire ship.
The three pilots of the ZAFT Nazca-class floated through the ship's corridors in their red pilot suits until they reached the hangar. Two of the pilots boarded green ZAKU Gunners and the third boarded a GINN. "Bridge, what's the enemy's fighting strength?" the pilot of the GINN asked through his radio.
"Three Dagger Ls. They're equipped with Jet Strikers for high mobility, be careful out there" a female voice spoke in return.
"Thanks Victoria, I'll be back in no time" the pilot replied. He quickly checked all of the systems for his suit as it was moved to the catapult. The ship was rocked several times when the guns of the Daggers connected with the hull. The GINN was equipped with its sword and machine gun and lowered down onto the catapult. "Garret Kross, GINN, soar!" the pilot called as his machine shot forth into space. The two ZAKUs soon followed, armed with their beam cannons. "Lucian, Marcel, watch it, they're equipped for high mobility" Garret warned his comrades.
"Yeah yeah, we heard Victoria" Lucian, one of the ZAKU pilots replied. Within seconds, the three ZAFT pilots were set upon by the Dagger Ls wielding their beam sabres. Garret quickly drew the GINN's sword and clashed it with one of the sabres. Sparks flew from the blades and Garret tried pushing the Dagger away.
"What the hell? Why didn't it cut?!" he heard the other pilot yelled through the communication link. The GINN's wrist flicked up, sending the Dagger's beam sabre spiralling through space. Garret quickly drew his machine gun with the GINN's free hand and fired six shots through his opponent's cockpit. He kicked the mobile suit away and watched as it exploded. The two ZAKUs fired their beam cannons at the same time but the two Daggers split off to the sides, avoiding the attacks.
"Dammit, they're too fast!" Lucian yelled, trying for another shot.
"Garret, we could use a hand here!" the other ZAKU pilot, Marcel called over the radio. The boosters of the GINN lit up and it soared towards the two Daggers, its sword and machine gun drawn. Garret fired off a few rounds from his gun, but the other suits dodged them as well.
"Bayonet, we need some covering fire!" Garret called to the ship behind the three ZAFT mobile suits. The Nazca-class fired off its railguns in reply, causing the Daggers to separate. "Lucian, Marcel, now!" Garret called. The two ZAKUs fired their weapons and the two beams pierced one of the Daggers, destroying it in seconds. Garret's GINN soared through the black space between himself and his opponent and began firing off his machine gun at the mobile suit's head. The Dagger raised its shield, blocking the bullets. Garret took the opportunity and hurled the GINN's sword like a javelin. The Dagger L lowered its shield and then saw the weapon coming. It tried to raise the shield again, but it was too late. The sword pierced the Dagger's cockpit and caused the suit to explode.
"Woo! Go Garret!" Marcel cheered. Garret sat in his cockpit, panting and trying to regain his breath as he released the controls for the GINN. "Nicely done as usual" Marcel commented.
"That was rough" Garret spoke to the console in the cockpit, placing his open palm on it. "Let's return to the ship" he spoke to his comrades and the three returned to the Bayonet. Garret's GINN was secured into place with the large clamps and Garret opened the cockpit. "Hey, Mr. Farris!" he called out to the chief mechanic. A burly man with a bald head wearing the standard green mechanic's uniform for ZAFT floated up to the GINN's open cockpit.
"What's up Garret?" he asked in his usual rough voice.
"I lost my sword in that battle; make sure you get another one ready for next time I have to head out.
"Roger that, I'll make sure it's ready" the mechanic replied.
"Thanks a lot" Garret said in reply and he floated out of his suit and towards the locker rooms. He pulled off his helmet and let his shoulder-length, blonde hair free. His silver eyes looked at the two ZAKUs piloted by Marcel and Lucian as he floated past. He arrived in the locker room to find the other two pilots waiting for him. Lucian was a tall young man with spiky, black hair and sapphire blue eyes that watched Garret enter the room. He wasn't overly skinny but he wasn't overweight either, he was an average build for his height. Lucian loved a good battle but he had a tendency to get carried away and put himself into dangerous situations. Marcel on the other hand was a smaller boy with brown hair that hung limp against his neck. His eyes were kind and the colour of emeralds. He seemed far to kind to be a soldier, but on the battlefield he changed into a completely different person.
"Nice flying out the Garret" Marcel commented, his voice quiet and kind.
"You're lucky that your GINN's sword has that special coating to resist beam sabres or you'd have been toast fighting that first one" Lucian stated. Garret quickly changed into the same red uniform that his comrades were wearing and joined them near the couches in the room. "We've been called up to see the Captain and the Commander, we shouldn't keep them waiting" Lucian explained and the three left the room. They travelled the corridors of the ship until they reached the bridge. There a tall man in a white ZAFT uniform with long, crimson hair and black eyes waited for them. Next to him was a slightly shorter and more rounded man in a black uniform with short, grey hair. The three pilots saluted their superiors and the gesture was returned.
"Well fought you three, the ship only suffered very minor damage which was caused before you all launched" the man in the black uniform stated. The man was Richard Phillips, the captain of the Bayonet.
"I must agree, you disposed of those suits quite well" the man in white stated. Commander Aston Falcon was the Bayonet's ace pilot and the highest ranking officer on board, being a member of the FAITH Special Forces.
"Thank you sir" Garret said in reply.
"Now, for the reason why you were called up here" Aston stated. "The Bayonet has been assigned a new mission. This mission involves us tracking down and destroying a transport ship that is believed to belong to the terrorist group, Purity" he explained.
"So we're finally going after those Purity bastards huh?" Lucian asked; a look of excitement on his face. Everyone from the PLANTs knew of Purity's desire for genocide against the Coordinators and any chance to fight against them was a welcome one.
"Yes, but we must proceed with extreme caution against this enemy. Reports indicate that the ship came in contact with a Coordinator space colony just the other day and eradicated the entire defence force stationed there as well as destroyed most of the colony with ease" the Commander explained.
"An entire colony? You're kidding right?" Marcel exclaimed, his jaw dropping.
"That's what the reports have told us. We have no idea what the actual fighting strength of this team is, we must act with extreme caution" Captain Phillips stated. "They're currently en route towards Earth, we are to intercept and eliminate them" he continued.
"We will probably catch up to them late tomorrow afternoon, get some rest and ready yourselves" Aston explained. The three soldiers saluted their commander and then departed from the bridge.
"What do you think Purity used to do that much damage to a colony?" Lucian asked, looking between his comrades.
"Maybe they just swarmed the place, caught the defence force off guard. If it was only a civilian colony the guard wouldn't have been overly large, overwhelming them wouldn't have been too hard" Garret pointed out.
"But still, the Captain said they did it with 'ease', do we really stand a chance against a group that even a colony defence force couldn't stop?" Marcel asked.
"Orders are orders; we don't have much choice but to fight. But I'm sure if the enemy is powerful like they say, Commander Falcon will be fighting with us too" Garret explained. "Well I'm gonna go get some rest, night guys" he continued, returning to his room. He slid his jacket off and let it float through the air. He sprawled himself out in the weightless room and closed his eyes. He quickly fell into a deep sleep and let his dreams take over his mind.
"Do you think that the rumours are true Aston? About Purity I mean" Captain Phillips asked the Commander. The crimson haired man rubbed his chin for a moment, deep in thought.
"You mean about what they're using to fight?" he asked in reply and the captain nodded. "Honestly I have no idea, perhaps the transport we're tracking may give us some answers" he said. "However, if the rumours are true… I'm not entirely sure how this coming battle will go" Aston said, his tone dark.