Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed

My next update, and the long awaited Gekido focus and perspective chapter, the first of a Multi-chapter arc that will cover the fleet battle over the Earth's atmosphere.

Introducing the new upgraded Purpose as well, which has become the new front cover.

I hope this chapter establishes some differences between Renew Gekido and the original, but still keep to the core of his character whilst making some needed improvements. Enjoy.

Gundam Seed Purpose Renew

Chapter 14: Renew Purpose

"Hello!"

The ragged boy looked up this time, seeing a little girl looking down at him. She smiled and jumped on the spot, bringing her hands together.

"Thank you so much," she said. "Do you have anywhere to go? What's your name? Are you hungry?"

"Kisagi enough, you'll overwhelm the poor boy, thank you for what you did back there. But the Seirans aren't enemies you want to make, my name is Yamato Kuzunagi, let me repay you for helping my daughter."

No home, no name, very hungry!

"He was on the streets Yisaka, I couldn't just leave him."

"I understand that dear, but you pass homeless people every day, what stood out with this one?"

"I help the homeless," Yamato said indignantly.

"And you invite them home?" Yisaka asked, raising her eyebrows sceptically.

"No, well you see, look at him, really look at him dear and you'll see that he was truly someone who needed help. I've never seen such malnutrition before, or such muscle weakness," Yamato explained.

"I know that helping people is important, but we need to protect our family too. This boy, he could be dangerous," Yisaka explained.

"Everything will be all right Yisaka I promise, I have a good feeling about this one."

Started training, learning, how to speak, how to eat. How to write, how to articulate properly. Spoke like animal for first few days, then I spoke like a person after that. Yamato tried to get me into engineering, but I always felt a call for combat. That was when Yisaka found me the position at Sensou.

"You're going to fight?" Tachi asked.

"Yeah," Gekido said.

He was putting on the Sensou jacket, flexing his fingers as he did.

"So soon after your surgery, you shouldn't push cybernetics like that," Tachi said. "Why do you want to fight anyway?"

"Leave him be Tachi," Yisaka said, stepping out of the corner of the corridor.

Her arms were crossed and she looked at Gekido with disapproval in her eyes. Tachi shook his head, running in the opposite direction. Gekido simply huffed as he walked past Yisaka, stopping as she cleared her throat.

"Your life is not your own Gekido," she said.

"The hell it isn't," Gekido snarled.

"If you die, Tachi and Kisagi would cry, so no Gekido, your life is not your own. Try not to get killed out there!"

What does she know? Was what I used to think. I left for space and I found a battle.

He looked through his visor, turning the rifle in his hand. Adjusting the scope and stock, Gekido strapped the rifle to his hip and then checked over the oxygen of his suit. He was wearing the Sensou deep space suit, an orange and black jumpsuit with a helmet that would fold into the neck when inactive. A green visor was on the helmet, protecting Gekido's eyes from sunlight. His squad was in a debris field, waiting for an Earth Alliance ship to pass. Biggs held up his hand, and the young troopers waited. With each threshold the alliance ship crossed, Biggs's finger count went lower. Three, and the soldiers prepared themselves. Two, Gekido did a final check of his oxygen and jump packs power. One, Biggs formed a fist, then pointed towards the ship.

Kicking off of their rocks, the squad members moved in a straight line. They had practiced the manoeuvres again and again, and though Gekido had failed a few times in simulations, he was one of the few to perform his moves perfectly on the field. He shot across space, preparing his magnetic pad and harness. When he struck the ship, he attached the pad and fixed himself onto the ship. One by one, each squad member managed to do the same. Slowly, they made their way to an airlock. Gekido kept hold of another squad member's support line as she began to remove a device from her bag. She magnetically placed the disc shaped device to the airlock, and began to twist it. Magnetically, it moved the inner latches on the door, opening it the same way one would have from the outside.

After breaching, they entered the ship, the boy behind Gekido checking his watch. A recent solar flare had interfered with the security systems aboard the ship, giving the squad an opening to infiltrate. The one managing the time had also handled the Intel, and it was flawless. Biggs handled planning, the rest was up to the rest of the squad. Gekido removed his rifle from his hip, holding it ready as Biggs gave hand signals for each squad member to split. Moving in a straight line, they patted one another's backs when each room they checked was clear. The woman from before had a heart beat sensor on the barrel of her rifle, and she led Gekido's group. She saw several heartbeats in a room. A nearby door opened, and without hesitation, Gekido drew his knife from his belt and slid it into the throat of the person stepping out.

It was the first time I really killed someone. I looked into the eyes of someone shorter than me, as young as Tachi. Age restrictions were a thing of the past in the military. For some kids the military was the best choice. I looked into the shocked and scared eyes of a kid whose life I had ended. If given the chance, he would have given my squad's position away and sent the mission to hell. But that was only the justification I came up with after the fact. I just killed him...and it didn't bother me. Later on that was what bothered me.

Placing the body on the floor, Gekido nodded to his team mate. She activated the device in her hand. Legs slid out of the object and the machine tried to move out of her hand. Gekido's second teammate, the time keeper looked over his watch and nodded his head. She let the spider drone go, letting it crawl into the crew canteen. There was an explosion that shook the ship, both Gekido and his team mates levelled their rifles at the doors on either side of the corridor. As alliance crew began coming out of the doors, they fired their rifles. With each shot, Gekido ended another life and sent another body floating across the corridor. The time keeper looked at his watch and then switched on his radio.

"Mission complete boys, bridge is clear," Biggs said.

"Engineering clear," said another group leader.

"Hanger cleared, there was barely anyone here!"

"Crew quarters clear," Gekido's time keeper said.

"Well done Kyusai, report to your positions!"

Gekido pushed a button on the side of his helmet, which then slid off his head. The time keeper did the same thing, revealing his short green hair, tanned complexion and red eyes.

Kyusai Deckard, intelligence, infiltration and heavy weapons expert. Every Sensou fighter has to be confident in CQC too, but there are certain specialisations. Kyusai's a coordinator, he was a street kid like me. And like me, he was adopted by someone who had the pull to get him where he wanted to go. A fight, that's what he needed, that's what we all needed.

Then the girl removed her helmet, undoing her long red hair, revealing her pink eyes and elongated canines.

Kettei Knox, she's all kinds of fucked up. The longer canines? Intimidation and a weapon if things get really nasty. They're actually false teeth, she was an orphan until she was taken in by the company. She specialised in electronic warfare, hacking and drone warfare. Give her a remote and a mobile armour, and she'll make the armour fly better than the pilot inside it can.

"Well, that was easy as always," she said.

"The job isn't over yet," Kyusai said.

"Yeah, now the real fun begins," Gekido smirked.

It wasn't the beginning of the mission I enjoyed. It was what we were there for. The EA was carrying out a test of an experimental mobile suit, one of their first attempts. The ship we attacked was delivering crew for the test. I got the short straw to pilot it.

Gekido was wearing a yellow Earth Alliance pilots uniform, grinning as he pushed the controls of the latest attempt by the Earth Alliance to create a mobile suit. It was a monstrosity, having thick arms and legs, its armour a mix of red, blue and whites, the head was round and had a blue face shield on it, its yellow eyes glowing through it. Gekido dragged the mobile suit's legs across the ground and tried to lift the machine off of the rocks. A test mobile armour was preparing to target the suit, when Gekido launched himself towards the armour.

"Wait, I thought the guy was supposed to be just targeting us," the pilot said.

He screamed before Gekido slammed the suit's thick legs on top of the mobile armour, crushing the pilot. Then he looked towards the operations bridge, where a group of Alliance officers and officials watched in horror as the mobile suit they built turned towards them. Gekido raised the suit's fist, swung it through the bridge, and then dragged it through the section that contained the officials and officers.

The mission had been one part infiltration, one part sabotage, another part theft, and finally assassination. It was the first time I killed a large group of people, the first time I had killed people who couldn't fight back. Once we got back to base I just didn't feel easy, I didn't feel like I could do that kind of mission anymore. Destroying a ship's bridge in combat was one thing, but crushing a load of people, half of them not even military personnel...I couldn't shake the sick feeling in my head. Don't get me wrong, I didn't feel sorry for those fat suits. War profiteers, bored billionaires that wanted their names to go down in history, patriots who thought they could change the course of history. They all saw war as a method to gain fame, or to make money. I'm making money, but that was never the big payoff for me.

"What do you mean you can't do it?" Biggs asked Gekido.

"You heard me damn it, find someone else to sabotage the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, I want a straight up fight," Gekido said.

"Straight up fight, only an idiot asks for that," Biggs huffed.

"Then I suppose we're idiots too," Kettei said, joining Gekido alongside Kyusai.

'Thick as thieves' they called us. We weren't looking for the 'easy' jobs, the jobs that would be carried out smartly. So they gave us the most dangerous contracts. Some of them didn't even pay that much, but we took them anyway. They gave us the Ardjets, called us idiots, and then sent us off.

"INCREDIBLE!" Gekido yelled.

He, Kyusai and Kettei flew their Ardjets through a huge battle between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. Alliance ships blew up around them, Ginn's were ripped apart by gunfire. The trio flew between beams, avoiding ships crashing into one another. Rounds nearly flew into their jets, and even cracked the glass on Gekido's cockpit. But still they fought, launching volleys of missiles into ZAFT ships. Gekido performed a 180 spin, firing the machine gun on the belly of his jet into the chest of a Ginn.

"The rush," Gekido muttered. "The Exhiliration, this!" he span the jet around, using the Ardjet's arms to punch a Ginn into the bridge of its own ship. "THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!"

Finally, a real fight, no sneaking around, no subterfuge, just me and the enemy in front of me. I finally felt alive, I finally felt like I was good for something. I fought, and fought, and fought, each battle despite the dangers was fun for me, they made me feel something beyond the curiosity of what I was. In battle, my lack of a past didn't matter, this, this fight is who I am.

The squadron of Gekido, Kyusai and Kettei flew into battle against the Earth Alliance. Other mercenaries, ZAFT, and even Orb at one point. Katrina laughed as she shot down enemy after enemy, Kyusai had complete focus in his eyes as he bombarded ships with missiles and his jet's twin gatling guns. And Gekido, he roared like an animal, charging alone into the enemy. When the battle was finished, and the trio were in the shelter of their ship, Kyusai punched Gekido in the face.

Yep, he did just that!

Gekido was thrown into one of the lockers, blood drawn from his mouth.

"You understand why I hit you don't you?" Kyusai asked, shaking his fist and stepping up to Gekido. "You nearly lost yourself out there today, you sounded like a wild animal, a feral dog...is that how you want people to see you?"

"It doesn't matter how people see me, we won today," Gekido said.

"But you were reckless, do you not care if you live or die?"

"Kyu, Geki, come on, let's not fight you two," Kettei said, floating between both of them, putting her arms around them. "Gekido's alright, we're all alright, together the three of us are unstoppable."

"But when does it end?" Kyusai asked.

"What?" Gekido raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"I'm saying when does it end? You and Kettei, you're both the results of the corruption present in the company, the lengths they're willing to go to in order to create better fighters. Do you really want other children to suffer that fate? To be like you?"

"To be like you too," Gekido retorted.

Kettei looked between Gekido and Kyusai, seeing the uneasiness between them. Again Kyusai's fist was shaking. But the fury Gekido had was different, it wasn't his loud outrage or his battle rage. His eyes were narrowed sternly, back set in a determined position. He wasn't frustrated, but insulted by Kyusai's actions and stance, including how he denied what he was. The accusation was what angered Kyusai, but Kettei could see the subtle shake of his head. But eventually, Kyusai set his head down and sighed in defeat.

"I can't do it anymore, I need to do something that can change things," he said.

"You really think you're going to be able to change anything?" Gekido asked.

"I can damn well try," Kyusai retorted.

The three of us split, Kettei wanted to stick around, but I just couldn't do it. It wasn't the same without Kyusai around. Part of me didn't believe him, but I suppose I also wanted to believe that Kyusai was right. That's why I turned to research, security mostly, I knew some things about science but mostly around how machines worked. Anyway it was a private company, but they had some funding from Orb so, an Orb military contract.

Gekido pulled uncomfortably on his collar. He had to wear the Orb uniform for his job with the company. It wasn't uncommon for even Sensou personnel to be required to wear official military uniforms with a white band and red Kanji on it. Gekido had worn the uniforms of all the major military powers. He walked alongside his team, to the lab area where the scientists were working. Gekido raised his head when he saw a dark haired girl of fifteen, she was wearing a grey uniform with a skirt. There was a swan shaped clip on the side knot on her hair, her blue eyes looked through the glass at Gekido and she smiled nervously.

Hanna Lockheart, fifteen years old, a child genius. Raised alongside her sister as scientists. Their upbringings were just as screwed up as the child soldier's. Parents deny them a childhood, study, study, study, it becomes their only real activity. They gain knowledge and experiment, all for their purpose, the reason they were born. Saving the world, and Hanna and her sister both had differing complexes. Hanna had a need to save others, to use her research for the betterment of people. Her opposite however, believed it was her right to change the world.

"It survived the endurance test?" asked the project head, a sixteen year old girl.

In some ways she looked like Hanna, having dark hair and pale skin. She however was taller, her lips were coated red, her body more mature and demeanour more commanding.

"It is Miss Lockheart, it absorbed the impact as well as the energy, but I believe it still has a limit," one of the scientists.

"Of course it has a limit, all things have limits, how soon until we can synthesise our own version of the alloy?" the young woman asked.

"Sister, that would be a mistake," Hanna said.

"How so?"

"Any attempt to duplicate the alloy would be imperfect, we're dealing with a substance that may as well be alien to us, its volatile," Hanna explained.

"But it may be the key to perpetual energy, the key to changing the world as we know it."

Katrina Lockheart, attractive, smart, confident and strong too. Kyusai's ex too, he talked about her sometimes. Referred to her as dangerous, but when I looked at her and her sister, I saw two people with utter devotion to their purpose. They had clarity, no doubt that what they were doing was the right path to take. I envied them that, they had certainty over their past and certainty in their future.

He laid on the grass, looking up at the sky, or at least the artificial sky. It was as close to nature as one could get on a colony, minus the green houses. Gekido stood up and looked across the park, seeing families playing, enjoying picnics.

All of these people have an uncertainty of their future, but they can still be happy. Is it because they know their past. Hell, do I even need a past to know what my future could be?

"Is this place taken?"

Gekido looked over his shoulder, seeing Hanna sitting underneath the tree. She had a nervous expression on her face and was holding some kind of paperback.

"Um, what I mean is, would it bother you if I sat here?" she asked.

"Do as you please," Gekido said.

He sat down and closed his eyes, hearing the flipping of the girl's pages. It grated at his patience, hearing them. But it was a much more pleasant sound than the laughs of the people ahead of him.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

"Josho Kikai War!" she said.

She continued reading, Gekido scratching his head and huffing as he looked over his shoulder at Hanna.

"What's it about?"

Hanna remained silent for a moment, though it wasn't long, it was enough for Gekido to turn away and focus on the people again. He widened his eyes in surprise as she sat next to him. It was then that Gekido saw the front of the book, it had a picture of a man in a hood, holding a massive sword and a school girl, though drawn in a way that made it obvious she was a robot.

"Josho Kikai War, machine rising war, is a Manga series."

"Man-ga," Gekido tested the word.

"We'll work on the pronunciation later," Hanna giggled. "This is the fourteenth volume, its set in a futuristic world where machines are considered a new species, somewhat, there are still struggles," Hanna explained.

"Robots?"

"Actually the term robot is never used once in the series, the mech characters are always referred to as 'machines' and that's kind of the point I guess. This is their identity, they are somewhat proud of it. But the war part of the series comes in two forms, the literal war between machines, man and in volume ten the dark reapers. Then there's the war underneath it all, the racial divide between humans and machines, whom are still sometimes thought as property by the humans, even though they're completely sentient."

"Sapient would be a more accurate term," Gekido said.

"Why's that?"

"Well a worm is sentient, a dog is sentient, if you're describing human level of understanding and emotions, then sapient is what you want to go for," Gekido explained.

"I always knew there was a nerd underneath the gruff nature."

"I'm still gruff, and nerd? That's rich coming from a girl reading stuff like this."

"I'm an Otaku, not a nerd, there's a big difference...although I am very smart too, if I don't say so myself," Hanna smirked.

"So whose this?" Gekido asked, pointing at the picture of the man.

"This is the main character Ikari, he starts out at Fifteen in Volume One, having been forced to undergo a cyborg conversion so that he can work for the imperial military, that's another theme that's explored, child...sol...diers!" Hanna stopped talking.

Gekido took the book from her, turning the pages, seeing the character interactions and battles. Shots of warriors performing overdone moves with giant dialogue bubbles of them yelling out their intent or attack names.

"He looks cool, but everything's black and white," Gekido said.

"Sometimes it's better to see things like that, to see the world clearly, to know what's right and wrong. When you're reading a Shonen Manga, you know who the good guy is and who the bad guys are. The heroes always strive to do the right thing, but that isn't to say they don't go through struggles."

"It's the struggle that makes the story worthwhile," Gekido said.

Hanna smiled as Gekido read the first few pages.

"Do you still have the first volume?" he asked.

"I do," Hanna said.

When I was with Hanna, outside of the lab, there was no past, no future. And that was all right, when you live in the moment you don't have to worry about the future, and your past doesn't matter. Katrina reminded me otherwise, every time we were together.

"This shipment is the most important one, don't mess up," Katrina told Gekido.

He was in an Orb flight suit, climbing into a grey Ginn. Katrina's face appeared on his main screen.

"Get that shipment to our lab in Heliopolis, and you can consider your job finished," she said.

"Any chance of future employment?" Gekido asked.

"Possibly, call me again if you succeed."

Gekido was nearly shocked by the smile on her face. He then noticed her contact details had been forwarded to his phone.

I know what you're thinking, I get on well with Hanna, why her sister. Well, let's just say that to at least have an understanding of relationships, you need to have been in one that failed. The job to escort the alloy to Heliopolis was faced with an obstacle, but not one I couldn't handle. After that, I sought out more contact with the group Hanna and Katrina were a part of. I...needed to see them again, I...yearned to see them.

"What are you writing about?" Hanna asked Gekido.

They were sitting in the park, Hanna read one of her manga paperbacks and Gekido was writing in a pad. He was using Japanese Kanji to write.

"Dreams I have," Gekido said.

"What are they about?"

" Battles, they give me such a rush," Gekido said and Hanna looked at him in shock. "I see hundreds of soldiers die, they gave the fights their all, but they still fell."

"Fell to what?" Hanna asked.

"It was weird, but I could see it clear as day, a one eyed dragon, I felt...kinship with it."

Gekido cast his eyes to the grass and shook his head. A depressed look crossed his face.

"You and Katrina are utterly convinced you can make the world better, well I want to be better too, being with you, makes me feel better," Gekido explained and Hanna blushed.

Hanna was a trooper, when it became clear that Katrina and I were going for the 'benefits' relationship, she didn't seem to mind.

Katrina pulled Gekido into her room, crashing her lips against his. His hands shook in hesitation before he grabbed her by her thighs and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around him and smiled at him, before kissing him again. Their clothes came off in a wild rush to Katrina's bed. She linked her fingers with his, tilting her head back as he kissed her neck. Her hand gripped his grey hair tightly and their eyes met. Slowly they kissed and...

M rating may be applied in the future, not right now though. Besides doesn't take a genius to figure it out. That was, my first time, hers too.

The only light in Katrina's room came from the holographic constellation a machine projected onto the ceiling. Gekido and Katrina lay side by side, only her bed sheet concealing their bodies. Katrina pointed up at one star.

"Here, and then here," she traced her hand across a path to another star. "So many people say that we originated from the Earth, and that we should preserve it. Others say that our future is in space, that Earth's burgeoning population should leave the planet. So many people see a world where Earth will either be a paradise for the elite, or a wasteland for the abandoned, but the truth is those aren't dreams, they're both realities," a sad look crossed Katrina's face as she spoke.

"What's the matter?" Gekido asked.

"All over the planet there are people who live in wastelands, all over the colonies, there are people who live in hell. I want to create a better world, a world everyone can share, where they can live by each other's happiness, not their suffering. My work is the key, a light that will shine and reach the human heart, but it isn't enough, there's only one way that it'll reach people though," she explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Before they used nuclear energy to power cities, they used it as a weapon," Katrina said, rolling onto Gekido's chest.

"Are you talking about making a weapon?" Gekido asked.

"There's a war going on, and sometimes drastic steps need to be taken to sway it, they thought Endymion would be that step. But what if there is something else that can be done, to end the final war and truly unite the human hearts? Would you help me with that Gekido?" she brought her lips towards his, expecting him to kiss her.

But he rolled off of the bed and picked up his clothes.

I still don't know whether I ran because I thought there was something off in how she spoke, or if I simply didn't stomach the thought of a world without conflict. After that I kept my distance for a while, out interactions were reduced to lingering glances. I still spoke with Hanna though, we still read the book, still discussed my dreams and how I could be better. A few weeks passed and I began to think of leaving Sensou, to join their organisation.

"No, you can't," Hanna said.

"What are you talking about Hanna, I thought you would be pleased," Gekido looked at her in confusion.

"Joining us, our company, it, it has a price Gekido and I...I don't want you to," she paused, gritting her teeth together as tears began to form.

"I'm just a security guard Hanna, this isn't..."

"It's because you're a fighter Gekido, because you're flawed, or at least they'll think you're flawed, they'll want to make you better," Hanna said.

"I want to be better anyway," Gekido huffed.

"Not like this you don't, my sister Gekido, she, she'll do whatever it takes to make the world better...the people above us will do whatever it takes to...to make," she nearly choked as the tears started to drop from her eyes.

"Whatever Hanna, I'll just go," Gekido said, turning to leave.

Suddenly, Hanna wrapped her arms around Gekido's waist, rooting herself to the ground and stopping him.

"Good and bad, they'll take everything Gekido, everything that makes you who you are, it isn't self improvement Gekido, its brainwashing...they'll turn you into a monster."

There was such fear in her voice, genuine fear. She was terrified of the thought of me joining her company, at the thought of me changing.

Hanna stood on her tiptoes, grabbed the sides of Gekido's face and kissed him. She stepped back, and she stretched her legs, closing her eyes and capturing his lips again. Gekido stood there frozen in place.

That kiss, it was so different from the ones Katrina gave me. This kiss, wasn't possessive as if she owned me, but it was sad and yearning. When it started it seemed that she didn't want to lose me. Then I realised as our lips separated, it was a goodbye kiss.

"If I mean anything to you, please go, please don't change, be who I know you are. Don't follow me, don't stay, seek out your own path, one that takes you as far from me as you can. Please, don't change who you are at this moment!" Hanna explained.

So I left, I left and I didn't look back. And that rage awakened in me again, I couldn't understand, I didn't want to understand. How could that bitch ask me to leave after all we had been through, after all we could be? I went to Heliopolis, I became a test pilot for the G-Weapon project and then one day I...

Gekido gasped, looking at Tachi. To his horror, he was holding his adopted brother's throat. He was in his bedroom, Tachi had his pyjamas on. As Tachi coughed to regain his air, Kisagi and Yamato rushed into the room. Gekido looked at his hands in shock.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he said.

These people, they put up with me, even when I've done something like that they put up with me. Even when I lash out and push them away, they stay with me.

Gekido walked alongside Tachi and Kisagi on their way to school. He looked up at the technical college and huffed.

"Enjoy school idiots, me, I'll actually be working," he said.

He stopped when Tachi and Kisagi took hold of his hands. Turning to them in annoyance, he snarled as they threw themselves at him. Their arms wrapped around his waist and neck.

"Thank you, big bro," they said together.

Gekido grudgingly patted their backs.

Their entry into the college, I...paid for it. It felt like something a family member would do.

"You think it's true, did that guy actually take money from Muruta Azrael?"

"If he did, what a jerk!"

"Jerk, that's the best word you can come up for it?"

"Fuck off!"

"There it is."

"Enough, I think he just told us that, Yamato hired him."

"The fact that he's taking money to do it doesn't concern any of you?"

I'm used to people thinking this about me. Used to people making assumptions, calling me dog of war, calling me an animal because of how I act. Calling me war profiteer because of the money I take. Platitudes like 'there are more important things than money' sometimes doesn't mean a lot to people who don't have it. 'Money makes the world go round' isn't worth shit if you haven't found some kind of happiness, or emotional tether.

Yamato paid me to protect the Archangel, Azrael offered a bounty for the preservation of the G-weapon project data. So I suppose they were right about me.

But...I had already decided...what I wanted to do, before I looked at the contracts.

Strength isn't everything, but you need to have it.

Money isn't everything, but you need to have it.

The past isn't everything, but you should know it.

The future isn't clear, but you need to have an idea for it.

"Congratulations!"

Gekido pulled out his phone, he had just gotten an email. It was from something called the VA.

"You (unknown) are our top donor, thank you for your contributions, please complete your online profile and provide us with an address and name. We appreciate your work and wishes to commend your donations."

Gekido simply deleted the message and put the phone back in his pocket. He looked up at the people working in the hanger. They were working on customised mobile armours. Even mobile suits. Gekido focused his gaze on an Earth Alliance pilot, his blonde haired, the scratch marks on his cheeks and the Sensou patch on the arm of his Alliance styled flight suit. He was floating in front of a weird mobile armour and mobile suit fusion. The mobile armour aspect had some parts of the Moebius, but with added rocket boosters and missile launchers. Then there was the mobile suit, it was white and had shoulder guards and a helmet design similar to the Strike's. But there was a green visor over where the eyes should be, it lacked a V-fin, the chest design had more vents on it and the arms were longer and lacked some armour. A pack was attached to the back of the suit, giving it something similar to the Buster's missile launchers and the Aegis's impulse cannon. The pilot turned and looked down at Gekido, saluting him with two fingers.

Vincent Rach, employed by Sensou's recruitment division but under permanent contract with the Earth Alliance. A test pilot, but just good enough to survive by a thread against experienced enemies. He yearns to fight like me, but he wants to fight out of his patriotic belief to protect the Earth. A good guy, I genuinely believe that the world could use more people like him. He's piloting the prototype mass production suit, the Proto-Dagger it's been nicknamed, but with the G-Weapon project it's likely that the project will be abandoned. I'm actually pretty jealous that he gets to pilot the only suit of its kind.

Gekido floated around the hanger, looking at other suits and mobile armours. A rare few caught his eye, a red Mono-eye suit was hanging off of the ceiling. It had a shoulder shield, the same kind as the one Gekido had put on the Purpose. Then there were spikes on its other shoulder. In front of the machine was a red haired man with scars on his face, including a horrific one on his neck.

Casvall Aznable, a former convict of a prison colony. Known to operate in space and on Earth primarily using red machines. A mute man, of exceptional skill. In the military circle, he and Thanos are regarded as the best mobile suit pilots in the Earth sphere.

Another mobile suit was at the far end, its armour was purple and though it had a helmet like a Gundam, it had a mono-eye type main camera. The suit's flight pack had jagged wings on it. A muscular man with side-cut hair smirked as he looked down at Gekido.

Mujihi Oxhotnik, Sensou veteran and a brutal close quarters weapons fighter. He's better than me, I'll admit that, if we were to fight honestly. His suit is Sensou's latest test type suit, the Sensou-Legionnaire, though he heavily upgraded it.

There was a grey mobile suit not far from Casvall's. Gekido couldn't see the pilot, the man was too busy prepping the weapon of the suit, a type of rail rifle.

I've never met the man, but I've heard the reputation of Sakon Date. A freelancer, like Casvall, makes his own rules and has been fighting since he was very young. His mobile suit is called the Dokuganryu.

There was a group of Sensou-Legionnaires lined up, all of them with grey armour. One had a horn on its head, that one was being looked over by a balding man.

Keegan Hagan, yep, he's Bentos's younger brother. His opposite of course, I don't think I've ever seen Keegan smile. He specialises in squad combat, working in conjunction with a group he's trained and assembled. So he's more a commander than a fighter.

Gekido put on his flight suit and floated towards his Purpose.

My Purpose, my Purpose, it feels weird thinking of it as that.

He noticed another machine being positioned alongside it. It was a pink fighter of some kind, with grey cannons attached to the sides. Shrugging as he continued floating along, Gekido made his way for the Purpose.

These mercenaries are all fighting to show the world the value of mercenaries in this war. They all hope to stay relevant, just as Admiral Halberton hopes to keep his G-Weapon project relevant. That's why, when the battle starts, he's going to throw everything he has at ZAFT to secure a line for the Archangel to take. But Dagger Thanos is no fool, he knows that if the Strike, hell if even the Archangel makes it to Alaska then the balance of power will shift. He knows that Project G, as pricey as it is, is just a step towards the Earth Alliance gaining their own, legitimate mobile suit force. Perhaps more of a threat than the private companies trying to stay relevant, are those trying to truly end the war, to keep the balance of power in ZAFT's favour. So they will assemble their forces, decimate the fleet and destroy the Archangel.

Dagger Thanos had his arms crossed, looking over the multiple ZAFT ships that had rendezvoused with him. One was a Black ship, titled 'The Maw' it carried back up for the Black Storm unit. The second black ship was called 'Proxima', also holding backup for the Black Storm.

They're the best of ZAFT, and half of them aren't even coordinators. Thanos has his Black Storm unit, but the 'True Storm' unit is what's truly to be feared.

On the bridge of the Maw stood a dark haired woman with red streaks in her hair. She had coated her lips and nails red and wore a black version of the ZAFT red coat uniform. There was a grey miniskirt on it though, and her uniform lacked sleeves. Next to her was a bald man with multiple scars on his head, including a vision one over his left eye. Behind them was a giant of a man with short red hair and brown eyes. Both of the men wore black and grey versions of the ZAFT red uniform.

Jessica Millenia, the mistress of psychological warfare and fast, merciless strikes. She climbed the ranks of both ZAFT's academy and the military itself as much as through subterfuge and tricks as she did genuine skill. I have no idea why Thanos recruited her, but she has apparently been responsible for quite a few victories on behalf of the Storm. Like any good spy, no one knows if she's infiltrated them or not, so people can only speculate. The scarred man is Lucas Giles, a former gang member and convict of one of ZAFT's prisons. Though a natural, he pilots a mobile suit the same way I do, disregards the computer assistance of an OS and just fights. He's tough, merciless and though ZAFT may deny it, he's endured torture from their best interrogators. The big guy is Cairo Niwa, expert on demolitions and heavy weapon warfare, likes build a bear apparently, though I don't know why that was brought up in intelligence.

On the Proxima were two other pilots. The man wore the black and grey uniform of the Storm unit. He stood closest to the glass of the bridge, his arms crossed. Locks of golden hair rested on his shoulders, his purple eyes narrowed at the Argus. Behind him, wearing a ZAFT red uniform was a brown haired woman with silver eyes.

The Silver eyed girl is the markswoman of the True Storm, not sniping, but being able to get a quick shot when the moment comes. Mid range, long range, close quarters, she's good when she used her Ion cannon. Michelle Witter is her name. Then there is Marcus Loussier, a natural but not many know where he came from. What is known is that he pilots a mobile suit and is known as 'Enduring Kamikaze' as he fights with a reckless abandon for the state of his mobile suit, almost as if he wants to die. But he survives every time.

It was on the Argus where Miguel stood, watching as engineers upgraded his Ginn. The 'Defrock' as it would come to be known as possessed the body of his original Ginn, with some additional layers of armour for protecting the Ginn's chest and waist. To replace its stolen arm, it now had an arm with a shoulder shield on. The shield had three spikes on it and the crossbones symbol that was Miguel's logo. He watched as a new wing pack was attached to the Ginn, upgraded rocket boosters from his previous flights, two bazookas and an ion cannon were attached to the back of the Ginn, alongside a long handled weapon and an upgraded rifle.

"I can see the determination in your eyes, you're feelings concerning this mission are different now aren't they?" a voice asked to Miguel's side.

The blonde youth turned, seeing a face he hadn't expected to see since the Plants.

"Joe," he said. "I thought you were staying at the Plants," he shook the older pilot's hand.

"So did I, but things change, I came in with the Hawkin's team," Joe said.

"But why?" Miguel asked.

"This battle, it will be the last chance for us to stop the Legged ship, you'll find the military isn't devoid of its politics, Earth for all its glory, is considered hell to some. To be stationed there is for some to be a lowly position, and despite what Zala says Earth is the most important front of the war. Our ability to hold territories on Earth will give us an advantage over the Earth Alliance when we demand their surrender," Joe explained.

"What do you mean what Zala says?"

"You didn't hear it from me but," Joe whispered, stepping a bit closer to Miguel. "Zala's been rushing the recruitment and training of personnel, specifically engineers, he's been focusing on the data from the Blitz's MC, and has been taking resources from a few of our border bases," he explained.

"What resources?"

"Alloys, personnel, apparently he's put together some kind of special project, he's even taken from some of the colonies too, and a few people aren't too happy about it. They're already giving a percentage of what they produce to ZAFT for our campaign against the EA, this special project has a lot of people on edge, but at the same time, people are hoping for a quick end to the war," Joe continued explaining, even as mechanics floated by him.

"Um Joe," Miguel looked at the mechanics.

"Oh, don't worry, these guys are loyal to Thanos, not Zala, in fact you'll find the entirety of Thanos's forces are loyal to him, not ZAFT or even the Plants," Joe said.

"That's insane," Miguel remarked.

"You'd be amazed by the charisma Dagger Thanos possesses, I was tempted once to join him, but I had my own goals."

"What goals?"

"Right now? A good fight," Joe grinned.

Miguel nodded his head, looking towards his Ginn again.

"Before I didn't understand that urge to fight, that rush, that need to win...now I know, I want to fight the White Devil, I want to defeat him," Miguel squeezed his hand into a fist and smiled.

It's weird, how sometimes we come to enjoy the fight. Like sports, we're putting everything on the line to win. But unlike sports, in war there's no real clearly defined winner. Depends on the point of view I suppose. If Azrael is allowed to succeed, then he'll have achieved his dream, as the victor he'll write that he'll have created a Pure Blue World devoid of genetic augmentation. If Zala and Clyne are allowed to succeed, then they'll have created their new era of the coordinator, the grand age of space travel and genetic augmentation. History is sometimes written by the victor.

But history hasn't been written yet.

I've served on both sides, I've seen behind the scenes of both sides. It didn't take much to know that Azrael was a piece of shit, a sad little man still sore because people stronger than him beat him up. He'd shatter those hourglasses to not be that little kid anymore. But Zala, I took one look at him and I knew, this guy isn't right. Insanity knows insanity after all!

Am I insane, I'm not certain, according to other people I am strange. Right now, the actions of both forces are leaving victims in their wake. I'm no hero, I'm no saviour, whatever both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT have planned, further down the line they may be considered deterrents, but every deterrent needs to be used at least once and like so many years ago it won't just be soldiers who suffer for it.

Gekido zipped up his flight suit and fastened the straps on his boots. He loaded his guns, sliding them into the holsters of his hips and back. Twirling his blade between his fingers, he slid it the compartment on his belt. He flipped open the screen of his computer, the payment for the Archangel's successful escort to the fleet had come through, minus a deduction for the time he had abandoned the Archangel. Clearly his performance had impressed someone, both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT had sent him job requests. One from Halberton, another from Thanos, and a letter from Lacus Clyne.

The Archangel, Kira, Mu, Mir, Sai, even Flay and all the others, it felt good to work with them. Those guys, they're going to get involved in the conflict even more. That's what my instincts tell me, the Archangel and all the people on it, aren't safe yet. The payment's gone through, but the job isn't done.

He slammed the computer shut and looked up at his Gundam. It was completed now, the right arm had been replaced with the arm he had taken from Miguel's Ginn. He had also placed the additional shield on it, but alongside that change Gekido had placed new layers of armour over the damaged alloy. Grey armour, a simple colour, for a man with a simple goal. Part of the circuitry and joints on the chest had been altered and exposed, making the frame more dexterous. Rocket boosters were placed on the feet of the Gundam, as well as the knees. Then there was the addition of the flight pack, with shield arms attached to it.

I have a job to do, we have a job to do.

My Purpose Renew.

Next Chapter 15: Their Decisions

Originally this was going to include the battle with the Fleet, but as I wrote about Gekido's background and past, the chapter just became dedicated to it. Anyway next time Gekido's monologue continues as he remembers everyone on the Archangel, whom after meeting with the fleet all come to their own decisions regarding their futures as the battle with ZAFT and the Black Storm begins.