"Commander, I want to go out and do some scouting for a while" Marcel told Aston while they both stood in the Ceres' hangar. "We're pretty close to Sydney and we can't really risk any Purity forces getting too close" he said, glancing towards his ZAKU.
"But what will you do if you come across a Purity group? You can't expect to take down a whole group of their mobile suits with a single ZAKU" Aston said in reply, leaning against the leg of his GOUF, his arms folded.
"I know that, if I see any I'll get back here straight away. Please Commander, just sitting around doing nothing is driving me crazy, I need to get out there and clear my head" Marcel pleaded, staring into the eyes of his superior.
"Alright fine, an hour and then I want you back here" Aston stated. Marcel nodded and ran for his ZAKU. "Just be careful" Aston whispered to himself as he left the hangar. Marcel's mobile suit was loaded onto the catapult and the young pilot pulled the seatbelts over his jacket.
"Probably should've put my flight suit on... oh well" Marcel shrugged as he watched the lights brighten on the catapult. "ZAKU, launching" he spoke before the green mobile suit was shot onto the ground of the base. Marcel walked his machine away from the base into the surrounding plain, his rifle raised. The ZAKU wandered across the grassy plain, its lone eye sweeping the landscape for any sign of an enemy force.
"Garret, I'll fight this war for both of us. I'll shoot down every single one of those Purity bastard, I swear it!" Marcel said, his hands gripping the controls tight. He walked forward in his mobile suit and his eyes narrowed when he saw a lone DINN standing in the middle of the plains ahead of him. "The codes aren't ZAFT, that's a Purity DINN!" Marcel spoke loudly, looking around for any others. He took note that the eye of the mobile suit was off meaning it was inactive. "Maybe it's some sort of trap..." he said, bringing his gun level with the DINN's chest. As he did so, the red eye of the purple mobile suit lit up and the wings opened. Marcel fired off several rounds from his rifle but the Purity suit soared into the air, evading the shots.
"Not bad, let's see how you handle this!" Marcel said, taking a hand grenade from his waist and hurled it straight at the DINN. The Purity mobile suit swiftly pulled out its machine gun and took out the grenade in a few shots. The projectile exploded and the DINN flew forward through the smoke, approaching the ZAKU rapidly. "Shit!" Marcel roared, throwing his gun aside and taking the tomahawk from his shield. The DINN's legs flicked forward as it slid to a stop just in front of the ZAKU then it flew to the left, avoiding Marcel's vertical swing. "This guy's pretty good for a Natural" the ZAFT pilot commented, charging towards the flying mobile suit. The DINN shot forward, slowly descending until its feet touched the ground and it started running across the grass. Marcel struck out with another vertical strike when the Purity suit was close enough. The DINN took a step to the side and grabbed the green suit's arm.
"No! Let go!" Marcel roared, kicking the DINN in the lower leg. Marcel's eyes flicked down when he saw the cockpit of the DINN open when it staggered from the kick. "No way..." Marcel said quietly as he zoomed in on the pilot who walked out onto the open hatch. His hands slowly fell from the controls and Garret's face stared up at him. The ZAKU's cockpit opened and Marcel got out of his seat and stepped out onto the hatch. "Garret... is that really you?" Marcel called, watching the pilot of the DINN.
"I think so, last time I checked anyway" Garret called back. He rode down to the ground using his zip line and Marcel did the same.
"We... we all thought you were dead. The Commander said he saw your suit get destroyed by the Buster" Marcel said, staring into the silver eyes of his friend.
"I'll tell you what happened later. For now let's get back to the Ceres, chances are there might be a Purity squad after me" Garret said in reply and Marcel nodded.
"Hey wait a sec, why didn't you just say it was you in the suit in the first place?" Marcel asked as they both slid up towards their mobile suits on the zip lines.
"The communicator is switched off, I turned it off to save power but now it won't come back on" Garret explained, climbing into the cockpit of the DINN. Marcel climbed into his suit and the two closed the covers of their cockpits. Garret let go of the ZAKU and the two stood up straight. Marcel motioned for Garret to follow him and the three began walking towards the ZAFT base the Ceres was docked at. They travelled without resistance and reached the ZAFT base where several of the mobile suits standing guard raised their weapons at Garret's DINN. "Oh right... Purity codes, forgot about that" Garret said.
"Lower your weapons, he's with me. The pilot of that DINN is Garret Kross from the Ceres" Marcel spoke, the eye of the ZAKU flicking between the two BABIs before himself and Garret.
"Garret Kross has been reported KIA, it is impossible for him to be in that mobile suit" one of the BABI pilots spoke, his beam rifle pointed at the DINN. Garret opened the cockpit for the DINN and stood up in the seat, his hands up. "Get out of your mobile suit and then keep your hands up!" the pilot of the BABI called to Garret. The injured ZAFT pilot did as he was told, wincing slightly as he felt the pain in his shoulder and arm again.
"What are you doing? He's on our side!" Marcel snapped, looking at the two BABIs.
"If he really is Garret Kross I'm sure the Captain of the Ceres will be able to identify him. For now we'll take him to the holding cells" the pilot that had been talking before replied. Garret looked up at Marcel as he was escorted away by several armed ZAFT soldiers. Marcel turned his ZAKU and ran for the hangar where the Ceres was located.
"Really getting sick of being confined in small rooms" Garret muttered as he was pushed into a cell and the steel door was locked behind him. He sat on the small bed against the far wall, looking down at his injured arm. He unravelled part of the bandage and saw a small line of black stitches running along the upper side of his lower arm. "No wonder that hurts" he said, redoing the bandage where he had removed it. He put his hand to his right shoulder, feeling around it a bit. "Dislocated..." he muttered. He stared at the door for a few minutes until he heard it unlock and saw Captain Phillips walk in along with a soldier in a yellow uniform.
"Is he Garret Kross sir?" the solider asked Richard, looking at the black uniformed man.
"Yes he is" Richard spoke, approaching the young pilot.
"Captain" Garret said with a nod when the man stopped.
"Let's get you back to the Ceres, I have a feeling everyone will be happy to see you" Richard said, holding out a hand to Garret. The pilot took it with his good arm and got to his feet. The two left the prison building and began walking across the base to the hangar from which Garret could see the front end of the Ceres protruding, in the next hangar over he could see the same section of the Minerva.
"How did you survive? Aston said he saw your GINN explode right before him" Richard stated. Garret smiled grimly; twice he'd heard that now.
"I managed to eject just in time but I was thrown and knocked unconscious by the shockwave of the explosion. After that I was captured by Purity before I woke up and taken to Sydney" Garret explained, trying to remember the fuzzy details of the fight in Perth.
"Did Purity do anything to you? Did you manage to learn anything?" Richard asked.
"Apart from the fact their mobile suits fly like crap, not a thing" Garret replied. Richard sighed in response; he was hoping Garret had at least found out something about Purity's plans.
"Oh well, at least we have you back safe and sound" Richard side, patting the pilot's good shoulder as they walked into the Ceres' hangar. The two reached the ship and instantly Garret was bombarded by Marcel and Victoria. The female pilot ran forward and threw her arms around the injured young man.
"Hey there" Garret said, a weak smile on his face.
"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Victoria shouted, pounding her fist on his chest.
"Ow, yeah I won't. Just please don't hit me so hard" Garret said, wincing slightly as the shock of the impact reached his shoulder.
"You had me so worried" Victoria sobbed, tears falling down her cheeks.
"I know, I'm sorry" Garret said gently as the girl stepped back slightly. "Marcel, where is the Commander?" Garret asked, looking at the other male pilot. Garret pointed to the Commander's white GOUF where Garret could see the crimson haired pilot leaning against the leg, his arms folded. Garret placed his left hand on Victoria's shoulder then walked over to the white uniformed soldier.
"Aston…" Garret said quietly, looking at the man's closed eyes.
"You really like making people worry don't you?" Aston asked, his eyes opening.
"Haha yeah… I guess it's a skill" Garret said with a quiet laugh.
"I suppose that's what you get for hanging around Cecil so long" Aston sighed, a smile on his face. That was probably true, Garret thought. Cecil had always been one for taking unnecessary risks in battle and doing things without telling anyone first, Garret and Aston had constantly worried about him and he'd never learned, no matter how often the two lectured him for doing it.
"Hey I came back alive didn't I?" Garret said; a grin on his face. Aston closed his eyes and smiled again. The comment brought back memories; Cecil always said the same thing whenever he came back from a fight. "Could I get a run down on the situation?" Garret asked Commander Falcon but the crimson haired man shook his head in reply.
"Not a chance. For now I want you to go to the sick bay and get yourself looked at" Aston said sternly. Garret went to open his mouth but Aston spoke before his subordinate could. "Don't even say you're fine. I want you in that sick bay now. You're injured and who knows if Purity did anything to you, go get checked out... that's an order" the Commander spoke. Garret sighed and walked away from his old friend, Marcel and Victoria following behind.
Garret's two friends stood outside the door to the sick bay while Garret was looked at. "I'm so happy he's alive" Victoria said with a smile on her face.
"Yeah me too. I can't believe he could have easily kicked my ass in that Purity DINN even when he was injured" Marcel said with a laugh, leaning back against the wall. The two stood, waiting for the door to open so they could go see Garret. They didn't have to wait long for the doctor to walk out, a tall man with black hair and small oval glasses.
"Ten minutes" the doctor said, walking away down the corridor. Both of the pilots knew that meant they head ten minutes to see Garret before the doctor would come back and kick them out. The two quickly walked in and saw Garret sitting on the bed. The three began talking until the doctor returned and Marcel and Victoria were made to leave.