"Hey! Turn on the T.V, the leader of Purity is going to make a speech!" a soldier called, floating into the cafeteria. The head chef clicked the power button on a remote and the T.V switched on showing the scene of a large conference. Standing behind a podium was a tall, thin man with his black hair tied in a ponytail. He wore a white suit and stared out at the audience before him. Garret noticed that one of his eyes was gold, the other silver.
"Naturals of Earth, I am Alastair Masamune" the man spoke, his voice smooth and easily projected out into the crowd. Its tone sent shivers down Garret's spine. It was smooth, but also cold. "As I'm sure all of you are aware, a large battle has just ended above our beautiful planet. A battle between Purity, those who wish to protect our people and bring about a warless world and on the other side were the combined forces of ZAFT and the Earth Forces! The Earth Forces who used to be so against the Coordinators now fight by their side, a traitor to its people, all of you! Clearly they forget the actions of Zala and Durandal and how the Coordinators cannot be trusted! I will not force you to fight for my cause as that is not my way, but should you choose to raise your hands to help create a free, warless world, then you shall be welcomed with open arms as brothers and sisters to all of humanity" Alastair spoke, never raising his voice to a yell once. He volume rose but his tone didn't change at all; it stayed that cold, smooth voice the whole time.
"Smart way to play things" Garret stated as they continued to watch.
"What do you mean?" Marcel asked. Both his and Victoria's eyes were on the blonde boy now.
"Notice how he never got angry once? He kept his cool the whole time while slandering us Coordinators. This way he's not seen as some war monger but more like some sort of visionary. The way he repeated 'a warless world', that's the desire of everyone, Natural and Coordinator alike; he's just yanking the heartstrings and manipulating them a bit to make us look like villains. Also, he's not forcing the people to join Purity, he's giving them the choice so he looks like more of a good guy" Garret explained.
"Wow, you got all that from just one little speech?" Victoria asked, rather impressed with her friend.
"Funny thing is, everything Garret said makes sense" Marcel commented.
"In public, he's the perfect leader. But behind the scenes, there must be something else going on…" Garret spoke. The three left the cafeteria as the speech carried on and they headed to the observation deck. There they all hovered, weightless, watching the stars fly by.
-Australia, Sydney-
Alastair stared out at the people before him, a smile on his lips as he listened to their chant "PU-RI-TY! PU-RI-TY!" He turned to see a tall young man and a young woman slightly shorter standing behind him. The young man was well built with rather pale skin. His head was covered by black hair that was cut short, stopping halfway down his neck. His black eyes were locked on Alastair. The young woman was slightly shorter than her companion and much thinner. Her deep purple hair hung near her waist and her sapphire eyes also watched the white-clad man.
"Ah, Allen, Hilde. It's good to see both of you doing well after that chaotic battle, I do apologise for summoning you here the second your ship landed. I do not however see Harrison, where is he?" Alastair asked, looking between the two.
"Dead. Some bastard ZAFT pilot killed him and stole his suit" the young man, Allen, replied.
"I see… an unfortunate turn of events. He was a good pilot. But alas we cannot let a single loss halt our movement, nor can we allow our feelings of hatred and revenge to cloud our minds. On a more pleasant note, I hear you two almost singlehandedly took down almost forty mobile suits and protected the Cherubim" he said, a smile on his face with the last comment. "Tell me, how are the Buster and Aegis handling? Does the OS work sufficiently for both of you?" he asked.
"Yeah, they fly fine" Allen replied.
"Yes sir, everything seems to be working exactly like it should" Hilde replied.
"Very good, I believe I will be asking you both to remain on Earth for the time being" Alastair explained, glancing at the still roaring crowd.
"Why is that sir?" Hilde asked the man, tilting her head slightly.
"I have heard some rather unpleasant rumours about ZAFT launching an attack to retake Australia. I need some of my best pilots here to defend our ground. Namely, you two" the black-haired man explained in reply. The two pilots nodded and then turned and walked away from their leader. Alastair too walked away from the rowdy mob and returned to the hotel he was staying at. He looked down from the twelfth-storey room and gazed upon the Cherubim docked in the harbour. "Soon…" he whispered to himself.
-Space-
Garret sat in the cockpit of his new Duel Gundam, typing away on the keyboard. "The OS on this thing is pretty impressive. But it's really only effective with a Natural pilot. I'll just rewrite it" he said to himself as he modified the systems. He had spent a few hours with Marcel and Victoria, watching the stars and reminiscing about the past, it had been nice. His hands flew back and forth across the keyboard as he worked, his eyes not even looking where his fingers were going. He then looked over to his GINN, the arm had been repaired and he stared at it sadly. "I'm sorry old buddy, but you won't quite cut it for the fights ahead, I'm worried for your safety" he whispered to the machine. His eyes lowered again and he began typing once more.
"I figured I'd find you here" a voice said from outside the mobile suit. Garret looked up and saw Victoria floating outside the cockpit.
"Oh hey Victoria, what's up?" Garret asked, sliding out of the seat and floating up to meet her.
"You're redoing the OS on that machine right?" she asked and Garret nodded in response. "Did you happen to make a backup copy of the one that was in there to begin with?" she asked. Garret gave her a puzzled look before replying.
"Yeah I did, why?" he asked in reply, curious to know where the questions were leading.
"I just signed up as an extra pilot for the ship, I was wondering if you could put it into another suit so I could get my skills up" Victoria said with a smile. Garret's eyes widened and he floated back in surprise.
"You enlisted as a pilot, but why?!" he exclaimed.
"You, Marcel and the Commander are always out there risking your lives for the ship while I just sit up on the bridge talking to you. I want to do more for the ship. Not to mention, everyone knows that our fighting strength went down significantly with Lucian getting transferred, I want to try and help restore it a bit" Victoria explained in reply.
"You don't even have a suit, what are you going to pilot?" Garret asked.
"Well, I was wondering; if you don't mind of course, could I please practice in your GINN until we get another suit transferred here?" Victoria pleaded. Garret had already expected the answer and he looked over to his old partner.
"That suit means a lot to me Victoria" Garret pointed out and the girl nodded.
"I know, and I promise I'll be super careful. I won't go into actual battle until I get my own suit. I just want to use your GINN to get used to piloting" she explained. Garret sighed and floated back into the Duel. "Is that a yes?" she asked him.
"Give me a minute" Garret said, typing away again. He put a disk into the console, hit several keys, waited and then grabbed the disk when it came back out again. "Come on" he said, floating free of the cockpit again and heading towards the GINN, Victoria following close behind. "So what suit are they transferring you?" Garret asked as they reached the GINN.
"Um, a GuAIZ R I think Captain Phillips said" Victoria replied. Garret opened the cockpit of the GINN and sat down in the seat. He slid the disk he had taken from the Duel into the console and let it load.
"Where exactly are you going to practice? We're in the middle of space after all, unless you want to start with space combat" Garret pointed out.
"Wow, you don't pay much attention when you're with a suit do you? We're nearing a colony where we can disembark, I was hoping you and I could practice with the suits there" Victoria explained.
"I see" Garret said as he type away on the GINN's keyboard. "Sorry to do this to you bud" he said, activating the OS from the Duel. "There, it's done" Garret said, exiting the mobile suit. "I suggesting getting in there now and getting a feel for the controls. If you need me, the comm. link is linked with my Duel" Garret explained, floating away. Victoria climbed in and did as she was instructed.
Garret finished modifying the Duel to his own personal settings just as the Bayonet docked at the colony it was heading for. "Garret" Captain Phillips' voice spoke, his face popping up on Garret's screen.
"Yes sir?" Garret asked in response.
"Victoria has probably already spoken to you but would you be able to use the training ground on the colony here to help her practice in a mobile suit? I would prefer she not get shot down in her first battle" the Captain explained.
"Roger that sir" Garret replied and he asked for his Duel to be freed from its restraints. Once it was free he walked the mobile suit to the catapult. "Garret Kross, Duel, soar!" he called as he was thrown out into a large, grassy area. Behind him he saw the Bayonet docked in a large, cube hangar with the front end pointing out to the plain where he stood now. He walked the suit to the side and waited for Victoria to emerge.
"Do you want to walk out or should we place you on the catapult?" Mr. Farris asked before the girl closed her cockpit.
"Um, can you please place me on the catapult this time?" Victoria asked in response. The mechanic nodded and the GINN was placed on the catapult. "Victoria Mays, GINN, um, mobilise!" she called, trying to match the other pilots with a custom little saying for when she launched. Garret smacked his hand against his forehead as he heard the phrase and sighed. The GINN flew from the ship and landed on the grass, stumbling to keep its balance. Garret walked over and straightened the suit up with his own.
"Get used to just moving around without falling over for now" Garret instructed and the girl acknowledged his instructions. After watching her slowly get used to walking around fluently, he moved her on to her next training. The same pattern followed for two days until the third, the day before the Bayonet would depart from the colony.
On the grass stood the Duel and GINN facing each other, a slight distance apart. Over near the Bayonet stood Marcel in his ZAKU and Aston in his GOUF. "Maybe some of this basic training could do us some good Marcel" Aston pointed out, his GOUF turning to face the green mobile suit.
"Are you sure Commander? Have you recovered properly yet?" Marcel asked worriedly, looking to his superior officer.
"I'm fine Marcel, now get a training sword" Aston ordered. Both the Duel and GINN were armed with simple wooden poles with a metal support shaft running through the centre the approximate size of the GINN's heavy blade and the Duel's beam sabre. The poles were bordered by rubber so that they were unable to cause physical damage to the mobile suit or its pilot. The ZAKU and GOUF were then armed with ones matching their own weapons.
"Are you ready for this Victoria?" Garret asked, looking at the girl from his screen. He had to admit, it was rather odd seeing her in the green pilot uniform.
"Yes" Victoria replied. Garret could tell she was concentrating.
"Begin" they both heard Richard say over the comm. link and Victoria charged forward, her sword held high. Garret smiled and began walking forward. As Victoria swung her weapon down, exactly as he knew she would, he jumped back and then thrust his own forward, striking the thigh of his old mobile suit.
"There goes your leg" Garret laughed. The two moved back to their starting positions and then began again on the captain's signal. This time Victoria stood still for a moment, taking in Garret's stance. He stood relaxed with the tip of his weapon on the ground. "Let's mix things up" Garret said quietly and he rushed forward, taking Victoria by surprise. But the girl remained calm, raising her blade and readying a parry. Garret swung his weapon horizontally and Victoria raised her own weapon in defence, stopping the attack. "Not bad" Garret commented, jumping back. He rushed in again and the two exchanged blows several times. The two leapt back and Garret could hear Victoria panting. He rushed forward one more time and moved his blade to the left. As he did, Victoria moved hers to counter but at the last moment, Garret changed his angle and struck the side of her torso from the right side.
"Dang it, a feint!" Victoria groaned, letting go of the controls.
"You did well, you've improved quite a bit since the other day. Just remember that your GuAIZ will be a primarily ranged suit, don't be overly worried about getting the melee combat perfect straight away" Garret explained and Victoria nodded in reply.
"Speaking of which Garret, that GuAIZ just arrived earlier today, it's in the hangar now" Aston spoke.
"Well, shall we go check out your suit?" Garret asked his friend.
"Yeah, I wanna see it" Victoria replied and the two returned their suits to the ship, followed closely by Marcel and Aston who had also been practice fighting, Aston had easily won. The four mobile suits were all secured into place and the pilots exited them. In a newly filled spot stood a brand new, GuAIZ R. "Wow, it's shiny" Victoria commented and again Garret's head fell to his hand as it had several times in the past days. The girl boarded the suit and began investigating it immediately. Garret uploaded the Purity OS into the new machine for the girl as he removed it from his old GINN and he left Victoria to explore her new machine for the rest of the day.