"Alright let them go, get over there and retrieve the mobile suits, have all medical personnel ready when we land!" Richard called. The Ceres turned and flew towards the wreckages of the three ZAFT mobile suits and landed just back from them. Aston having checked that Marcel apart from having fallen unconscious had suffered no severe injuries was crouched at the open cockpit of the Duel. Inside Garret sat, the visor of his helmet cracked, his arms hanging limp at the sides of his seat. His eyes stared blankly down at the console of the Gundam, his lips trembling.
"Garret..." Aston said quietly, looking down at the young pilot. He turned when he saw several of the Ceres' medical staff running towards the Duel. The three pilots were taken back to the medical bay off the Ceres where they were all examined for any internal injuries.
"It's a miracle none of you were badly injured, some small cuts and bruises and some minor concussions is all you got" the doctor said, adjusting his glasses as he looked at the three pilots sitting before him.
"He wasn't trying to kill us, if he had been we would be" Aston said, putting his forehead in his hand. "That Tyranny Gundam is something else... even though he's the enemy I have to admit, that pilot is damn good" the Commander sighed.
"If you fought the Tyranny, it's no wonder you lost" the three male pilots heard Hilde say from across the room. They all turned around and looked at the female pilot who sat up, readjusting her bandages.
"Gee thanks, maybe you should go out and fight that thing next time" Marcel said, looking at the purple haired young woman.
"The pilot of the Tyranny, Xero, has never lost a fight. I fought him once before he joined Purity. Allen, Harrison and I were all in M1 Astrays and Xero attacked us in a Strike Dagger. He took down two of us before I finally managed to hit him. Then he took me down before I could fire another shot. That guy is not a Natural, no way in hell" Hilde explained.
"You're kidding? How the hell do we beat someone like that?" Marcel asked; his eyes wide with disbelief of Hilde's story.
"I don't know if he's completely invincible, Garret was holding his own pretty well out there until his Duel
overloaded" Aston pointed out. "If we had some better suits, something on a better footing with that thing I think we'd have a chance" he continued. "I'll go up and see Captain Phillips, I'll see what we can work out. That thing needs to be destroyed" Aston said, slowly rising to his feet.
"I'm coming with you, I want to talk to your Captain" Hilde said.
"What do you want to talk to him about?" Aston asked.
"I might be able to help you, just let me talk to you and him in private" Hilde said. Aston could see in her eyes she was telling the truth so he nodded.
"Alright you can come up to the bridge with me. Garret, Marcel, out so she can get dressed" the Commander said walking outside with the two red pilots. "You two should go see Victoria, she's probably worried about both of you" Aston spoke, looking to his comrades.
"Right, come on Marcel" Garret said and the two walked in the opposite direction to the bridge. The two didn't have to go far until they found Victoria. The girl came running up to them and hugged them one at a time, having only one good arm to use.
"Are you both alright?" she asked, looking worriedly between them.
"We're both fine, no serious injuries. Cuts, bruises and broken pride, that's about it" Marcel said with a weak smile.
"That and trashed mobile suits" Garret said, looking at Marcel who nodded.
"You're lucky that guy didn't kill you, I saw the whole fight" the female pilot said. "Is the ship gonna be ok? I mean we have no mobile suits now, will we be ok if we get attacked?" she asked.
"Most of the ship's weapons are still functional aren't they?" Marcel asked and Victoria nodded in reply. "Then we'll be fine, Captain Phillips knows how to fight with a ship, I mean this thing took hardly any damage in that last fight even though the Buster is a heavy assault mobile suit" Marcel pointed out.
"I'm sure we'll be fine. Aston is up making plans with the Captain right now, they'll probably get us to the closest friendly base and have us rearmed" Garret explained.
"That Purity pilot is with them too, I wonder what she wants to talk with Captain Phillips about" Marcel said, rubbing his chin a little.
"Her name is Hilde" Victoria said, seeming annoyed when Marcel had called her 'that Purity pilot'. "Who knows what they're talking about, maybe Hilde is telling them what she knew about Purity's plans" Victoria said as the three began walking to the cafeteria.
"She told us that the pilot of the Tyranny has never been beaten..." Garret muttered, looking at the floor.
"Judging by what happened out there today, I can see why. That guy is freaking insane" Marcel commented in response. Victoria looked at her two friends, clenching the fist on her good hand.
"So that's it? You're just gonna give up because of something someone said and because he beat you once? That doesn't mean he's invincible! Look at Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala, they got beaten plenty of times when they were fighting, they're still regarded as two of the best pilots ever though!" Victoria said angrily. Her expression of anger turned to confusion when she saw her two friends smiling.
"Who said we were giving up?" Marcel asked; an eager expression on his face.
"Not a chance. Next time we fight that bastard, we're taking him down!" Garret said, looking to Marcel. Victoria could clearly see the determination in the eyes of the two pilots. "Oh, and for the record, pretty much the only people who beat Kira and Athrun were Kira and Athrun" Garret continued, poking his tongue out at the girl.
"Oh shut up, you knew where I was going" Victoria replied. "Sorry for saying all that, the way you two were talking I thought you were giving up on trying to beat that guy" she apologised, turning slightly red.
"Don't worry about it" Garret said, walking past her and patting his hand on the girl's shoulder. The three walked into the cafeteria and sat down to eat as they watched a music video of a popular new song on the TV.
Captain Phillips sat in the chair in his quarters while Aston and Hilde stood in front of his desk. "So Richard, what do you think of her idea?" Aston asked, looking at the Captain.
"It will be risky, but I think it could work. Not to mention it would be much faster than going to Queensland to get resupplied. Do you think it's worth taking the risk?" he asked Aston in response.
"Well if we do what Hilde here suggests, we'll definitely be on better footing when we come across the Tyranny again" Aston pointed out. "I think we should do it" he said.
"How long will it take to get to where we need to go?" Richard asked, looking to the purple haired young woman.
"About a day from where we are. Just be warned you'll have to land the ship a decent distance away and you'll have to be ready to go on very short notice" Hilde warned.
"We can handle that. We'll depart immediately, you'll need to come onto the bridge and tell us the coordinates" Captain Phillips said, getting to his feet. He walked out of the room with Hilde following close behind, the opened jacket of the green ZAFT uniform Victoria had given her fluttering just behind.
"I hope this works..." Aston said quietly, leaving the room himself. The Commander walked onto the bridge and pressed the button for the Ceres' intercom. "All pilots, report to the briefing room immediately" he spoke and then turned. "I'll need you to come too" he said to Hilde as she put the coordinates for the ship's destination into the computer.
"Right, let's go" Hilde said, leaving the bridge with the crimson haired man.
Garret, Marcel and Victoria sat in the briefing room, looking up at Aston and Hilde at the front of the room. On the screen was a map of the area of desert they were in. "Well, we have a new plan thanks to Hilde here. I'll let her explain the details to you" Aston spoke, motioning to the purple haired pilot.
"I'll get right to the point, we're going to steal some Gundams from Purity" Hilde spoke, watching the reactions of the three ZAFT pilots. To her surprise, they all had eager grins and she could see determination in their eyes. "There is a Purity manufacturing base close to here where a lot of Purity's mobile suits are stored. I know for a fact that there are also a number of Gundams there too" Hilde explained.
"So how is this going down? They're not exactly gonna let a bunch of ZAFT pilots in" Marcel pointed out.
"I know the person in charge of the base, I can get him to let you all in if I say you're all new recruits looking for a Gundam under the orders of Alastair" Hilde explained.
"What is he contacts Alastair to verify that?" Garret asked and Hilde smiled.
"By that point we'll be boarding the Gundams and making our grand escape. Also make sure you only wear casual clothes" the purple haired pilot commented.
"I have to know something first. You were so deadest on serving Purity, why are you helping us now? How do I know I can trust you?" Marcel asked, staring dead into Hilde's eyes.
"Marcel!" Victoria said loudly, glaring at her friend but Aston raised his hand to tell her to be quiet. He knew the question would come up and he too wanted to hear Hilde's response.
"It's true, for as long as I can remember I have served Purity. However, in that last battle where I was shot down by my own comrades, my eyes were opened. I will join you for one reason, I need to confront Alastair and find out the truth of what he wants to do with Purity" Hilde explained. "Well that's the short version anyway" she continued.
"I trust you Hilde" Victoria said with a smile, getting to her feet. Hilde thanked the girl and turned to Garret and Marcel.
"Me too" Garret said with a smile and a nod. Marcel also nodded and they all turned to Aston.
"Alright then, we move out around this time tomorrow, make sure you're all ready" the Commander spoke, leaving the room with Victoria and Hilde following behind.
"So when exactly did those two get so close?" Marcel asked Garret as they lingered in the briefing room.
"To be honest I'm not entirely sure. They were both staying in the sick bay at the same time so maybe something happened between them then" Garret said with a small shrug of his shoulders. The two left the room and returned to their quarters to rest until their mission.
Garret walked into his room and looked the door. He took off his jacket and fell backwards onto his bed. His head rolled over and he saw a photo on his desk on the other side of the room. He got back onto his feet and walked over to the photo on the desk. He looked down and stared at the three red-clad soldiers all smiling in front of mobile suits. He noted himself in the middle then Aston and Cecil on either side of him. "I'm going to end this war Cecil, no matter what" he spoke to his friend in the picture. "I'll take down Purity so you can rest in peace" he said quietly before returning to his bed. He took off his boots and laid down, closing his eyes.
"So what's the news with that DINN RAVEN, can we repair it?" Aston asked Richard as he sat down on the bridge. Richard shook his head in response.
"After we got the pilot's body out the mechanics looked at the systems, they were fried. He must have overloaded them before he shot himself" the Captain explained.
"Suicide is a pretty drastic measure to avoid being captured…" Aston said darkly. While Aston had been bringing the remains of the Purity mobile suit to the Ceres, the pilot had shot himself, leaving a rather nasty sight for the mechanics who went to investigate the cockpit.
"I guess that's what Purity tells them to do if they're captured. They must be desperate to not let any of their plans fall into enemy hands" Captain Phillips said. "So are you doing ok? You took a fair beating from the Tyranny out there" he continued.
"Yes, thankfully we're all fine. None of us suffered any severe injuries. I think all that defeat really did was strengthen Garret's and Marcel's resolve to beat that guy. I don't think he'll get away unscathed next time" Aston said, his eyes narrowing.
"I get the feeling you're determined to give that guy a beating too" Richard said, a faint grin reaching his lips.
"Ha. I can't exactly deny that one" Commander Falcon said with a small laugh.
"Do you think this mission is going to go exactly the way Hilde has planned it tomorrow?" Richard asked and Aston's expression turned serious.
"No mission ever goes perfect. We just have to hope nothing goes drastically wrong. But personally, I think we'll be fine" the Commander commented. "In any case I'm off to get some rest, my head is killing me" he said, rising to his feet and leaving the bridge.