"What is this?"

It was a decently large box with quite the busy design, with most of it covered with the picture of a Graze and the rest covered by text boldly stating that this indeed was a Graze as well as some technical details that didn't catch Julieta's eye.

Why was Vidar handing her a box?

"We spoke before of how you require a hobby. You should not spend the entirety of your life and being just to serve another."

"Oh..."

That would explain the gift, but Julieta found herself still looking at this odd box. Why did it have Gjallarhorn's old standard suit on it? Was it some kind of container for something related to the Graze? Was there a manual of the useless suit inside the box? Or did he just use a box with a picture of a Graze on it to give her something else that was actually a hobby?

Did this man just like collecting boxes? No, that couldn't be it, since it felt like something was in the box...what then?

"Why is this Graze on a box though?"

Julieta felt that he was rolling his eyes at her for a moment before he responded by turning the box around in her hands to reveal another picture on one of the sides, showing a small scale replica of the Gjallarhorn machine that was the staple of their forces, "I hear some hobbyists enjoy building replicas of mobile suits. Unfortunately newer models are unavailable, so consider this predecessor to your suit my gift."

Now this had Julieta's attention. She honestly did have few things to do outside of her military duties, training, and eating, so the thought of having a new task to do was welcome to her...even if it meant essentially constructing what she saw as a toy.

He had brought this to her as she ate a small snack in an officer's lounge on the ship, a place for higher ranking members to gather without being on the bridge or their rooms.

That he suggested such a hobby however made Julieta realize that perhaps, once upon a time, instead of being stoic and detached this man was normal...or even eccentric, since apparently constructing toys was of interest to him.

She also realized that she was blushing a bit from embarrassment. She wasn't used to receiving gifts, and to get one from someone she didn't even know the face of...

Placing the box down on the room's central table, Julieta began to pick apart the packaging to open it while beckoning the gift's giver over to her, "Show me how it is done."

To her surprise however, he crossed his arms while shrugging his shoulders, not acceding to her command, "I am afraid I do not partake in the activity myself."

So he didn't make these himself, but he thought she might be interested? Had it been a whim of his then? Or maybe perhaps a reflection of what he thought of her that even in finding her a hobby he stuck to something Mobile Suit related? Or was he lying just now and in fact did have some history dealing with these? His words were ambiguous enough to perhaps imply that he did not currently do this as a hobby, but that he may have at a previous point.

Regardless, Julieta wanted him to stay for reasons beyond her own comprehension, and so she looked up at him as she finished taking her seat.

"Then now is a good time to start."

It took a moment, but Vidar did come to join her, coming to sit across from her as she finished opening the Graze model's box and laying its contents out on the table. There were sheets of plastic that contained on them small pieces that when removed would be able to be pieced together, Julieta could see, though many of them were not obvious for where they ought to go. For this there was a simple solution, the paper manual which explained step by step how to do this, but Julieta didn't pay any mind to it at first as she had no experience with this activity and thus did not know to look for said aid.

After seeing Julieta glare at the small pieces for a half minute aimlessly, Vidar handed her the manual wordlessly. She took it with some irritation, annoyed she couldn't just figure out how all these minuscule things went together, but she paused when she felt her hand brush against his glove.

Since he always covered his entire body to conceal his identity, she had never even seen his hand, and while it made sense to aid his deliberate anonymity it still sat wrong with her that she had no real clue just who he was. She felt that if she had a couple more pieces of information about him she could piece it all together to figure out just who would have such a massive grudge that they would dedicate their life to revenge against McGillis, but for now she was bereft of such information.

Perhaps less subtly than she hoped, Julieta tried to suggest he give away at least one piece of his identity, his hands, as he then went about removing some of the pieces they needed to use from their plastic container by twisting them off their plastic tree, "Those gloves may get in the way of your finesse."

"An unfortunate result of wearing them, yes."

Vidar's manner of just brushing aside what she was trying to say and get him to do brought Julieta to both smirk and raise a brow.

"Take them off then, since they're in the way."

"I am fine."

His quiet insistence gave Julieta really little recourse in trying to continue her attempt to get another piece of info out of him. Even just seeing his skin could help narrow down who he was, since she had quite the keen eye and could remember whatever sliver of skin he might reveal to then later compare with Gjallarhorn's databases.

Julieta then realized that such a pursuit might be near meaningless given his concealed nature: depending on how long he had been hiding under such clothing, he was almost certainly paler now than however he had looked before. Still, it would be something if she could just see any of his features that weren't just his height and muscular build.

Since Vidar did not have anything more to say and Julieta was trumped on what to follow up with after his small dismissal of her line of dialogue the two fell into silence as they each went about following the instructions to build the Graze model.

"So is this what it's like for the mechanics?"

It had been quite some time, but while looking down at the constructed torso and head of the plastic model Julieta's mind had wandered to thinking of how their mechanics often had to do things like what they were doing, only with actual machines and actually working parts that were far larger than these millimeter long bits of plastic.

Come to think of it, didn't Vidar also work on his suit near obsessively? Perhaps that was why the idea of constructing these was appealing to him if he was such a mobile suit techie.

"More or less, only they have thousands of more parts, and they have to do more than fit together."

Another round of silence fell between them, but it was one Julieta appreciated. Vidar didn't speak without meaning, unlike Iok who said too much whenever given the chance to open his mouth. As they continued for minutes in their silence building parts of the machine in quiet tandem, another thought crossed Julieta's mind as she began to observe more and more of the Graze's details, her mind then linking and comparing them to her suit's own features.

"I am fortunate to have my Reginlaze. These old useless Grazes couldn't even stand up to those children from Mars."

While soft-spoken, there was definitely a bit of an edge to Vidar's reply, "Perhaps it was more than the performance of the machines that dictated the results of those battles."

Sensing this seeming objection to her statement, Julieta reasoned that perhaps he had been one of those to fight Tekkadan in the previous conflict, "Oh? You sound as if you know personally."

He did not address her implication, but rather spoke to the information that was now common knowledge throughout Gjallarhorn, "It is well known that Tekkadan's child soldiers use technology known as the Alaya-Vijnana system to aid them in their battles, a system which vastly improves combat efficiency by linking a pilot to their mobile suit."

Julieta had to admit he had a point, for even in her Reginlaze she had not been able to match up to the main Tekkadan pilot, Mikazuki Augus...though she would like to think that had more to do with how he was using an upgraded Gundam, and while her Reginlaze was a powerful machine it could not completely compete with the ancient suits that had ended the Calamity War. If she, an ace in a powerful custom suit, could not defeat them, then she shouldn't completely look down on those who came before her and failed.

That one man though, Gaelio Bauduin, had used a Gundam against them and lost too...though records had it that the Kimaris Trooper had dealt with the Barbatos Gundam fine in their skirmish on Earth until a Grimgerde, the predecessor suit to the Graze made during the Calamity War, interrupted the skirmish and defeated the Kimaris. That was a mixed bag of success and failure, to be able to fight someone with three of the AV system surgeries but then to be defeated by a simple Grimgerde. Perhaps some other factor came into play in that skirmish for one of the Seven Stars to have fallen to some nameless ally of Tekkadan?

Bringing Julieta back to reality, Vidar spoke again of the AV system used by Tekkadan to overwhelm their foes in the previous conflicts, "To diminish such a factor is to diminish the skill of those who had to fight against such an inhuman foe."

Julieta quietly conceded his point, though she still believed that other Gjallarhorn pilots were beneath her for losing so handily to the enemy on so many occasions...the only ones on their records who had put up any even fight were McGillis himself, Gaelio once his Kimaris was reformatted into its Trooper form, a soldier by the name of Crank Zent from Mars, and that soldier who became that metal monstrosity at the climax of last year's conflict, Ein Dalton. Others like Carta Issue had been brutally beaten to death by the space rats who had come to Earth with little to show for it.

"At least McGillis doesn't have such a technological advantage. I hear he is quite skilled at combat, so he might be quite the challenge if he too possessed one."

Vidar began to say something, but someone entering the room and called Julieta's name.

"Juris! It seems like we are needed on the bridge, so make haste, Monkey."

Iok Kujan paused to look and see that Julieta was not alone as he had thought when his eye first caught her, but he wasn't exactly pleased by the company she kept: it was that weird man who for some reason Rustal was trusting with their plans despite hiding his identity.

"If it isn't mister iron mask himself. I take it I wasn't interrupting anything?"

Julieta dismissively pushed past Iok to exit the room, "You are, in fact, but I suppose your ignorance is to be excused if Master Rustal wishes for us to come to the bridge."

As Iok balked at the disrespect shown to him yet again, Vidar moved past him as well without even acknowledging his presence. With the two of them heading down the hallway to reach the bridge, Iok realized suddenly that he was going to be the last one there now, which could reflect poorly upon him.

"Hey, wait for me!"

"Should we be readying ourselves for deployment?"

Sitting back in the breakroom, Julieta and Vidar had resumed their construction of the Graze model. Julieta seemed slightly anxious, but this was not out of worry on Iok's behalf but rather worry that she was not the one out doing Rustal's bidding. Iok had requested to handle the mission and so he was going out with his loyal guards, but Julieta and Vidar had been left behind despite both of them having their reasons for wanting to confront McGillis as well.

It seemed that McGillis was going to meet with Tekkadan, who had unearthed a Mobile Armor, the giant threats that had wiped out a quarter of the Human race hundreds of years prior. The destruction of these machines had led to the system of Gjallarhorn where the Seven Stars led matters, their ancestors having been the ones to have destroyed these massive machines capable of genocide. The more a family had destroyed, the higher their prestige among the Seven Stars, and so McGillis was likely out to deal with this Mobile Armor to earn himself an even higher standing within Gjallarhorn.

Iok was going off to confront him, but Julieta couldn't shake the feeling that someone she didn't trust to spell his own name correctly was leading such an important mission without her or Vidar there to compensate for his lack of ability.

"Do you not have faith in Iok's ability to complete his objective?"

It was asked like a genuine question, but Julieta could feel his sarcasm dripping from his words even if they were quiet. It appeared Vidar was not quite pleased with this situation either, but until they were commanded to do anything else, which could be hours and hours, they had little to do but wait. Since both of them regularly maintained their suits, there wasn't even anything for them to do in the hangar, so they had just returned to where Iok had disrupted them to begin with.

"I have faith in his ability to cause trouble for others," Julieta sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do until either Iok returned or she was ordered to go save him from whatever mess he would undoubtedly cause.

She received a nod from Vidar, who was continuing to help her with the last pieces of the Graze model. While only a hundredth of the size of the actual thing, Julieta did admire the detail put into this replica, and she looked forward to finishing it. She supposed that once it was done she could put it up on a shelf

"Still, it's good to have some peace and quiet for once. We should send Iok out more by himself, or better yet leave him behind while we go out instead."

"Perhaps him being out of the way would benefit us."

Julieta was actually surprised with how such a simple statement could sound so ominous when said by someone whose voice was so quiet. Whether he meant to or not, it sounded like Vidar was suggesting they would be better off without Iok...specifically, him being alive. He could also have meant that they would just be better off with Iok not taking to the field and distracting his own allies, but Julieta couldn't decipher which he truly meant.

The whole situation though was a result of the Seven Stars and their political jousting, something which Julieta was surprised to learn that Vidar was quite knowledgeable of. It actually made her quite suspicious of him, since it would seem to imply he had some link to them, while also perhaps explaining his grudge against McGillis: if Vidar had worked with or known McGillis, he would likely know a fair deal about the Seven Stars just as Julieta knew from her time with Rustal. Such a possible relationship could be the source of his revenge, for with how manipulative McGillis could be there was a fair chance that he had done something to Vidar in their time together.

"How do you know so much about the Seven Stars? Is it your obsession with McGillis?"

This question into his inner workings actually seemed to be one Vidar was willing to answer, for it took him only a moment before nodding, "In a manner of speaking, yes. I did not have much of an interest in the Order until it became apparent that it holds great meaning to McGillis."

Julieta nodded back, though his implication that he only just recently came upon the knowledge or just really took an interest in it not too long ago did not help her theorizing about his identity, "I know what I do thanks to being around Master Rustal."

"He thinks highly of you."

Being reminded that she was the handpicked pilot who served Rustal Elion and carried out his will caused a swell of pride within her, one which Julieta was willing to express, "I am proud to hold Lord Elion's esteem. He does not grant his favor to just anyone."

"Then perhaps we are more alike than you think, for he has shown me the same grace you have received."

Julieta crossed her arms as she finished the piece she was working on, a smirk beginning to grow on her face as she looked up at her tall partner, "Then it is our duty to serve him and repay what we have been given. Unlike Iok, we know to appreciate what we have and be grateful to those who we owe it to."

This gave Vidar some more pause before he responded, though when he did it was with a sigh, "Some have to learn firsthand."

Cryptic as ever, but Julieta was beginning to find that it was an enticing rather than alienating quality. He would leave small hints bit by bit of who he was, all the while shrouding the answer by not giving enough for any of the hints to be meaningful. His seeming good nature helped feed into this, for she no longer felt like she was an inquisitor interrogating a possible threat but rather a friend seeking to know more about their companion. Even if Rustal wanted her to keep an eye on Vidar, she personally didn't see much reason for it.

Smirking still at him, Julieta decided to play a bit with the idea of him concealing his identity even though there were basic ways to unravel it without his approval, "You know, I bet a bit of your hair has slipped out somewhere. Maybe I could find it and narrow down who you are?"

Vidar held for the briefest of moments to his wrist a small knife they had been using to free the plastic parts from where they were bound to the plastic outlines, then removed the knife to go back to his work on the model, "Maybe if I bleed on you the search will be even narrower."

Julieta was partially tempted to just go the easy route and use mundane ways to discover who this was, like his height, approximate weight, a piece of hair, any kind of fingerprint...but she refrained from such easy solutions since it would not only kill the fun of discovering it all on her own, but also because it would feel like she was violating his privacy. He didn't want to have others know who he was, and she was respecting that...in a way.

"Do you shave your head? I bet your hair gets all messy under that mask."

This was a fun, relaxing little game to Julieta now, and she was definitely coming to appreciate being able to spend her free time with someone now. Rustal was often busy, and Iok was an idiot, so she had been quite lonely while assigned to the fleet, but now she had a companion who she could both tolerate and who in turn tolerated her own oddness. She did her best to hide it while she was on duty or in a professional setting, but even she would not make the argument that in a general sense she was a normal person.

"Or perhaps I have longer hair than you and this mask is thinner than you think."

"Just take it off and we can see for ourselves."

Vidar slowly shook his head side to side, "As enticing as that may sound, I am afraid I will remain the masked phantom of this ship for at least a little while longer."

That perked up Julieta's attention, since it sounded like he didn't intend to indefinitely hide his identity, "Oh? Is something going to change?"

"If McGillis is defeated, I will have no reason to hide."

It made enough sense...though if the current mission assigned by Rustal went according to plan, then McGillis would be arrested for planning rebellion by overthrowing the Order or something along those lines, and Vidar would be deprived of a true chance at vengeance.

Still, it would mean McGillis would be ruined...would that be enough for this man?

"Then if Iok does his job today you'll take your mask off?"

Vidar said nothing back, but Julieta got the feeling that yes, he would. The idea of finally discovering his identity, either through her own amateur sleuthing or through his own will was quite enticing, and it made Julieta think something contrary to her normal mindset that not only expected Iok to fail, but in a way was coming to enjoy it just because it highlighted her point that he was useless and in the way. Hopefully he would learn that sooner rather than later.

"For once, I'm hoping that fool comes back having accomplished something."

If Iok captured or killed McGillis, then perhaps Vidar wouldn't have to murder the man as Julieta was quite sure he intended to do...and she would get to see his face.

"Contact from Iok's advance team has ceased."

Of course it had. Because having Iok actually take care of a matter on his own was asking too much of the incompetent fool, particularly in this case where the mission was not only concerning a grave matter but would require Iok to act with some degree of intelligence above 'shoot wildly at the enemy and hope you hit them'. Apprehending McGillis was too complex for a mind as simple as Iok it would seem, since there was a fair chance in Julieta's mind that Iok and his men had allowed McGillis or his allies to somehow overwhelm them despite possessing the element of surprise.

"Have they been wiped out?" Julieta inquired, hoping to receive more information about the situation from Rustal who was speaking to them over a communication screen from his own bridge. Standing on Iok's bridge, Julieta and Vidar had come once again to learn about what was happening on Mars. It seemed that McGillis' hunting of the Mobile Armor had become a more complex matter now with Iok's team not responding anymore.

Rustal unfortunately could not confirm Julieta's hypoethesis, "I don't know. The Mars Branch knows nothing too."

Looking up, Julieta did her best to hide her displeasure at not knowing the situation's exact severity, "That's a problem."

Vidar spoke up next, his left hand on his hip while he came up with an alternative explanation for things, "We shouldn't jump to the conclusion that they've been annihilated. The Mars Branch is under Lord Fareed's command. It could be false information."

While this could be the case and it could just be McGillis obscuring the matter, Julieta did not care as much about that as she did the fact that like she expected Iok managed to bungle the operation and had ruined the quiet he had left in his wake upon departing for this mission, "We finally have some peace with him gone, but he has to stir up more trouble."

Rustal was less vocally critical of Iok, and so he did not comment upon Julieta's displeasure, "Anyway, we have to follow up on this Mobile Armor and Iok's team. I want reliable information. Can you do that for me?"

Julieta took no time in raising a hand to her chest to salute him, "Yes, sir."

"I'm counting on you."

With that the call ended, leaving Julieta and Vidar in silence just a brief moment until the captain of the ship spoke up to inform them of a development concerning the ships' heading.

"We are now entering Mars' gravitational field."

Vidar moved away from the screen Rustal had been on to go respond to the other man, "Captain. We'll launch before they detect us. Keep this ship in orbit and stand by."

This left Julieta behind as she stood in continued silence, though she came to have a smirk as she held her hand over her chest.

This is my chance. If I defeat this Mobile Armor I can win him an Order of the Seven Stars.

The captain continued to have his conversation with Vidar as Julieta stood alone, "What about resupplying?"

"We won't take long."

"You seem eager."

To meet up with her partner, Julieta slowed herself from her rapid pace down a hallway towards the hangar, Vidar having left right behind her after finishing arranging things with the captain for their departure. Only the two of them were launching at the moment, but that ought to be more than enough to recover Iok and his remaining guards should any of them still be alive, or to find and report their failure. It would not be arrogance on their part to believe that the two of them were more capable than the entire squad sent with Iok in charge, for Julieta had accomplished more than all of them in previous engagements, and Vidar had proven himself to be even more capable than her, so together they were leagues ahead of the team sent to apprehend Iok.

Why they hadn't been sent in the first place to just make sure Iok didn't ruin everything was a point of interest to Julieta, who felt almost let down that Rustal had not sent her too even though she was one of those he had originally tasked with protecting Iok. It almost felt like someone somewhere had decided they ought to lose and have this situation devolve in a terrible manner.

All the same, this deployment almost made up for the previous lack of assignment to the mission since it gave Julieta a chance to accomplish what she wanted more than anything else: to make herself indispensable to her superior, to whom she owed so much.

"The Order of the Seven Stars...if I defeat this foe, could it benefit Rustal?"

"Of course...from a certain perspective."

While normally she did not mind too much about his cryptic nature, this time Julieta had less tolerance for it since this was an important mission to not only her but to Rustal. This came out in her tone being slightly more snippy than usual as they continued to head towards the hangar at a swift pace, "I sense a caveat."

True to form, Vidar did not answer her question quite how she had hoped he would, "Your loyalty to Lord Elion is such that you would forsake your own benefit on his behalf?"

His perspective on the matter perplexed Julieta, who had not considered the issue outside of how it could benefit her by benefiting Rustal, "My own benefit?"

Vidar nodded once, his voice coming to have an assertive bent as he spoke more at once than Julieta thought she had ever heard him do before uninterrupted, "Yes. If you defeat the Mobile Armor, you could hypothetically join the ranks of the Seven Stars. With how things are looking, two houses are to disappear soon with McGillis taking the power from both the Issue and Baduin families in addition to the power usurped from his father. That leaves room for others to rise in their place, in this hypothetical scenario, others which could support other members of their choosing."

Was he telling her that she should...take this for herself? To become one of the leaders of Gjallarhorn and hold the power to oppose McGillis on more than just the battlefield? The idea was so out of Julieta's frame of mind that she did not know what to do with it, for her selfish desires concerning it had only gone as far as her duty to Rustal Elion. The thought that she too could possess such power...it was actually worrisome to Julieta. She wasn't much of a leader, she was a follower, and to subvert Rustal in any way such as by grabbing power for herself, even if it would be used on his behalf, would feel like betrayal.

Not quite done with the idea, Vidar spoke again with a parting thought on the issue, "Perhaps Rustal could use the feather in his cap, but this is not a matter to be taken lightly."

"I..."

Maybe he was right...maybe, as Vidar seemed to think, this could serve as a way to support Rustal. The masked man was seemingly quite familiar with the whole Seven Stars system, and so his advice on the matter was not to be taken lightly.

This still being said, Julieta wasn't sure about it. If she defeated the beast on behalf of Rustal, would it even transfer over to him, or would it just be counted as her own achievement? She would have to see how things played out though...it would all be moot if McGillis or one of those soldiers from Tekkadan took the credit, which she definitely did not intend to allow.

"Loyalty is an admirable trait for one to possess, but from what I have learned of your mentor Galan Mossa, he would say it is not the wicked or the traitors who die first, but those who are noble and mean well."

Vidar's words struck another chord in Julieta, her mouth letting out a small breath of surprise as she came to realize that perhaps this man did not just idly sit around all the time. He certainly seemed to be well connected with all he had said up until now...so who could he be that he could hunt down information like that? Perhaps he had just asked Rustal, but Julieta couldn't be sure he had since Vidar was often times vague or would deflect her questioning in some way.

Still, what he said was true...even though Galan Mossa had dedicated his own life to Rustal's cause, what would he think of this situation? What would he think of her having the chance to gain such power, or to instead give it away? He had been a practical man, so Julieta could see him arguing both sides of it for different reasons: giving the power to Rustal would both earn her favor with him and likely increase her prestige within his faction, with the drawback of not giving her the reach and depth of the power taking it for herself would give her. On the flip side, taking it for herself would increase her options and ability to serve Rustal, but would come at the cost of casting herself as a political entity just like him who would have to face down figures who would seek her power for their own, or would seek to vanquish it.

Grow powerful and gain enemies while carrying out a task she was not suited for, or pass up this opportunity and instead just give Rustal an increase in his own ranking? Both had their alluring qualities, but to consider the former would mean forsaking her blind loyalty to Rustal in some degree.

"Are you saying that I shouldn't dedicate my life to Master Elion?"

Vidar shook his head no, though his words would somewhat contradict this by adding nuance to the situation, "You can devote it to whatever cause or purpose you choose, but do not forget yourself or your own well being in doing so."

Julieta wanted to be angry at him for daring to bring into question or have her doubting her own loyalty to Rustal, but something about the way he said this made her think that this was said out of concern rather than some form of condemnation. But that would mean that Vidar cared about her well being, didn't it?

The idea that the cold man was beginning to warm up to her, be it his gift earlier as a result of their talk about hobbies or be it now his suggestion that she not play the part of zealot to Rustal, since the implication was that such a role could lead to her own detriment and danger.

"Do you trust me?"

Vidar looked down beside him to where Julieta was in turn looking up at him. Her question was curious to him, and there were many ways to answer it, since the concept of trust had many meanings to different people. Did she mean that he trusted her to perform well in combat? Then yes, he trusted her to pull her weight. But in regards to other forms of trust...

"How so?"

Julieta revealed the previous question to be a set-up for a more important one, "Do you believe that if I know who you are that I will tell anyone? That I may tell Master Elion?"

Vidar looked back towards where they were headed, "You presume he does not already know."

The implication that her leader already knew the identity of Vidar did not wholly catch Julieta off-guard, since she would be surprised if Rustal would just allow such a mysterious fellow to join them without reason or cause, but it still left her wondering if there was truth behind the idea, "Does he?"

"Perhaps."

Julieta narrowed her eyes at the unresponsive man, now a little annoyed that he wouldn't even tell her that. After a short while of him either not noticing or not caring that she was staring at him, Julieta softened her expression and came up with a new question.

"May I know then if I promise not to tell anyone? You seem to think I am loyal, and so I will not betray your trust."

"What will you gain by knowing who I am?" he asked of her not for the first time in their weeks together. It was a valid question though, one she had answered before with "trusting you" and similar statements, but which this time she had a new answer for, one which came naturally to her but still surprised her even as she said it.

"A friend."

Julieta could almost feel his muscles seize at her words, for their previously quick pace had gone from swift to nothing as he stood still in the hallway.

"I do not have friends...not anymore, at least."

Pain...pain and sorrow were the traces of emotion Julieta could feel in his voice. For him to have forsaken friendship itself...to have dedicated his life for vengeance...just what had been done to him to drive him to this point? What tragedy or series of tragedies had he suffered to become so hollow?

Not one to hide what she felt, Julieta openly showed her concern as they slowly began to pick up their pace again, "What did he do to you?"

Vidar did not bother to shake his head this time as he instead looked up towards the ceiling as they moved on through the ship, "I cannot answer that, but I can tell you of why he must be stopped. What do you know of Carta Issue?"

The question he asked was a simple one to Julieta, given her experiences serving one of the Seven Stars, "She was the heir of the Issue family who passed away last year in a battle against the organization Tekkadan, which now is believed to be working with McGillis. Her death left her family with no further heirs, leading their power to be passed to the Fareed family in the aftermath."

"Carta should not have confronted Tekkadan when and where she had engaged them in battle. Two previous engagements showed that she could not defeat them, and her authority only went so far."

Julieta nodded, not knowing why he was bringing up Carta when McGillis was the subject, but she was willing to hear him out on this since it apparently meant something to him.

"Do you know what convinced her to still fight when she had no chance? To try and regain her honor through an attempt to duel enemies to whom honor means nothing but a free opportunity to slaughter one's foes who possess it?"

That was not something Julieta was aware of actually, actually being quite perplexed by the Issue family's last heir and her actions at the time. Fortunately for her, Vidar was quick to filling her in so she did not have to voice her lack of knowledge on the subject.

"McGillis spoke to her with the intent of sending her off to her death. He told her to fight them, and she listened to him, because for years she had loved him. For years she had considered him close and dear to her heart, having been taken care of Iznario Fareed her legal guardian."

Julieta's eyes widened as she heard Vidar reveal information that likely only a select few people in the entire world knew...but given his seeming relationship to McGillis, perhaps it was not so strange at all. If he had worked with McGillis, the man may have very well told him this himself or Vidar could have otherwise learned of it by just being around him.

Further demonstrating just how much he had come to know about McGillis, Vidar continued to explain the failed Gjallarhorn mission to Julieta, "Carta Issue had men who superficially resembled McGillis form her forces, to give you an idea of how deep this attachment went. She would have done anything he asked of her, and so she let herself be fooled into causing her own death."

His left hand, still at his side, balled into a fist as Julieta watched it from that side of him. What he was saying...it sounded like it had something to do with what he spoke of before. So McGillis had used Carta's attachment to him to trick her into having herself killed off...the thought of someone manipulating someone else's trust and emotions like that left a bitter taste in Julieta's mouth, who was feeling her own urge to stop McGillis rising as Vidar spoke.

"McGillis sent a woman who loved him to die for his own benefit, who died thinking of and trying to talk to him. Now he has the power of the Issue family behind him, and no-one questions the circumstances of this unnecessary tragedy."

Unclenching his fist, Vidar stopped speaking to instead take a small breath. Once a moment had passed, he spoke again with a purposefully fake amusement replacing his previous hints of anger.

"Of course, the only witness to Carta's death is now dead, Gaelio Bauduin, so we cannot inquire further than what some have gleamed from the situation," his voice resumed its normal quiet, not revealing his emotions as he hid them just as he did his face, "But ask yourself, if McGillis would have someone who loved him killed for his ambition, what won't he do? What line would someone who does not feel loyalty, friendship, or love not cross?"

While Julieta couldn't tell just how he came across this information, the way he said it the situation made sense and felt true...and it damned McGillis completely, even if they could not truly pin such accusations to him with the lack of living sources for the information. So where then did Vidar come to have it? Was he one of Carta's soldiers who had been thought dead, and thus was seeking to take revenge for his deceased leader? It would explain his insight, as well as his build since it wasn't too far off from McGillis' own and that would make him a candidate for Carta's McGillis lookalike brigade...but would also likely require that he had blonde hair, of which Julieta could not confirm yet.

No matter who he was though, Julieta did at least feel like she understood him now a lot more than before...though her understanding came from now knowing better who it was he was seeking revenge against. By understanding who he despised and wished to see ruined, she could see in ways what kind of person Vidar was: a man for whom loyalty and friendship once meant a great deal, but who had neither now thanks to McGillis, who stood opposite of such traits by betraying a childhood friend in a way that had her killed.

To this same sentiment, Vidar identified himself not by who he was, but by who he opposed, "Who I am is the person who seeks not just to ruin the one known as McGillis Fareed, but to save the world from the danger he poses. Whatever else I may be behind this mask is an unnecessary distraction from that purpose."

"Vidar?"

The two had arrived at the hangar, where they would depart for Mars on their own in their Reginlaze and Vidar Gundam, but they both stopped at Julieta's mention of his name. With him waiting for her to follow it up with some actual statement or question, Vidar just looked down over to her.

Julieta silenced the anger she felt now at McGillis to instead put on a smiling face for Vidar, "I understand now. To take revenge against a man like McGillis...it is not an ugly thing. If he would have a friend killed for his own benefit, a member of the Seven Stars, then he would most certainly try to remove others who oppose him like Master Elion and even Iok."

Repeating her salute to Rustal from before, Julieta held her fist tightly over her chest.

"I cannot allow that to happen, and so if you would let me, I want to aid you when the time comes to bring him justice, be it now or at some other point."

He said nothing in response, but he did push off the docking bay to start heading towards his mobile suit: the sooner they reached Mars, the sooner they could apprehend McGillis after all.

Following after him, Julieta continued to speak, "You are a good man. I can tell, for if you weren't the actions of a man like McGillis would not matter to you like they obviously do...so may I ask something else of you?"

This got Vidar's attention again, with him turning around mid-flight to face her. With his focus on her again, Julieta spoke her second request.

"If you act like McGillis, you will be no better than him, so remember who you are and keep from being what you despise."

Vidar reached his Gundam while thinking over her words, his only verbal response being a quiet, "Who I am..."

While they were going to go to Mars to clean up Iok's mess, there stood a good chance that today would be the day that the masked man Julieta had grown to be fascinated by would have his justice, and would once and for all reveal his face.

Then, Julieta had no idea, but perhaps then they could actually eat together since he wouldn't have a mask in the way.

A/N: Special thanks to LockmanCapulet, ColdDecemberNight, and Riibas for your reviews last chapter, for they are most appreciated and helpful for me.

For any who may wonder, I am intentionally lagging a bit behind where the show is so that I can account for what twists and turns the show may go through.

Any thoughts you may have would be most welcome in the reviews below, and thank you for reading.