Phase 2: The Zala Squadron

Onogoro Island, ORB Military Base

It was a fine day, as it was to be the entry for new recruits. All members of the Zala Squadron reported on time, took off in the newly produced, Gairay, which was still in its testing phrase. The opening ceremony proceeded with no flaws and finally, it was time for the arrivals of the recruits.

After the squad members introduced themselves, Athrun stepped forward and introduced himself, " You all should know who I am, but for those who don't, I am Athrun Zala, Commander for the Zala Squadron. Please step forward and introduce yourself one by one beginning from the left. "

The left most recruit stepped forward and reported his name, which was then followed by the one beside him and so on. Half-way through, Knasrijam spotted that standing on the far right of the line was the boy that they met yesterday at the arcade and beside him, the girl from yesterday was standing there. He nudged Xin, who was beside him and pointed to them. Xin noticed them and gave a small laugh. Fabian, who was standing directly in front of the boy, kept staring at him, for he knew that something of this boy that was familiar. Then, as Fabian was thinking, the girl beside the boy stood forward and introduced herself, " My name's Rei, I'm 18."

" Just Rei? " Athrun looked at her.

" Yes sir, I'm a orphan and my name was given to me by him." Rei said she looked at Gary. Gary, who was looking around the base did not noticed Rei looking at him and did not knew it was his turn until Rei nudged him.

" Oh, sorry, my name's Gary, Age 18, and I'm an orphan like her too. " Gary introduced as he pointed towards Rei, nothing of him shows that he is bothered by the fact that he was a orphan. Athrun did not asked about Gary name, knowing that this was the name that he gave himself.

An Orphan, with the name of Gary, he must be... no, he can't be him. Fabian thought for he himself was a orphan too.

" Both of you're orphans, we ourselves have one too. " Athrun said as he looked towards Fabian, who avoided his gaze. " Ok, so, welcome to the Zala Squadron, before we begin, I'm going to break up you all, there's only 6 new recruits but there's 9 of the old fellows."

Athrun began to look at both sides and started breaking them up, 2 new recruits to 3 of the members. In the end, Rei and Gary was " entrusted " to Xin, Knasrijam and Fabian.

" These group will be how you are going to train for the upcoming months, besides the usual training, we will also have to train for the Annual Alliance Meet, where the 3 different forces, ZAFT, EA and ORB, will have their best squad representing their own country showcasing their country's productions. " Athrun announced after the groupings. " So for now, red coats, please show the green coats around."

" Hey Gary, are you by any from Morphes Home." Fabian asked Gary as they walked below the group.

" How did you know? " Gary replied sounding shocked.

" Nothing, just a guess. " Fabian said and walked off ahead.

" Don't mind him. " Xin said. " It already good that he's speaking to you on the first meeting." Gary gave a confused look upon hearing Xin words. " Even to us, he rarely speaks." Gary gave a nod.

Xin, Knasrijam and Fabian took Rei and Gary around the area, showing them everything. Once, they had to armlock Gary out of their hangar to prevent Gary, who was trying to get into the cockpit of one the Gairays.

After about 2 month's training, Athrun announced that the Annual Alliance Meet was coming up in a month. " Only 6 of you will be representing our squad, these representatives can be any of you here, including the newcomers. " As athrun said these, a wave of excitement swept through the green coats who was standing at the front. " As I was saying, " Athrun continued, breaking the murmurs, " Only 6 of you will be chosen and after being chosen, we still have to be chosen among all the other squads before being able to represent ORB. So, when I calls your name, please step forward. Xin ", 'Expected' Xin said as he stepped forward. Athrun continued to announce the names, " Knarijam, Fabian, Ben, Rei and Gary ", each of them had a different reaction when stepping forward, Gary's reaction however, was the biggest.

Through the next few weeks, the 6 chosen pilots worked their hardest to maximize their skills. And finally, at the last week before the Annual Alliance Meet, the different squads were called to show their piloting skills and at long last, the squad hard work paid off, they were going to represent ORB.

At the last few days, the 6 of them worked even harder, and at long last, the Annual Alliance Meet was a night away.