Under Your Mask (Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans)

[Thunderscourge]

​

Under Your Mask
Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans

Description: To Julieta Juris, a man without a face is not to be trusted...but the more she finds out about the mysterious man named Vidar, the more she finds herself wanting to learn more about her enigmatic ally.

For Vidar, he finds himself questioning whether he should open up at all and dare bring her into his world of revenge.

(Julieta/Vidar, Julieta/Gaelio)​

______________________________________________________________________________​

"I trust that my performance was satisfactory."

Julieta was surprised that the man she was approaching was already aware of her presence, as he was sitting in his mobile suit's cockpit with his mask turned to look at some mechanical matter related to the suit's controls. A grey mask that was too dark to be considered a shining silver kept her from seeing where his attention actually was, though the black visor pieces were looking at least enough in her direction for her to guess he was seeing her just out of the corner of his eye.

Just how did he do that, anyways? Masks were horribly constricting on vision, and yet here he was a frighteningly skilled pilot despite wearing a mask that had a segment cutting off the space between his eyes and metal in the way of his peripheral vision...

Still, Julieta was indeed pleased by his piloting ability as he implied. In fact she had never seen something like it in her life, and it had frozen her when she was viewing it on the battlefield when she realized that this enigmatic man who rarely spoke and always kept a mask over his face was without a doubt the most skilled one she had ever seen.

"You hit something. That means you are already more useful than Iok."

He did not fight with the ruthless pragmatism she had learned from Galan Mossa, but rather he had transformed battle into a near dance of decisive blows. He disabled suits and spared their pilots by running their mobile suit's heads through with the fencing sword like lances his blue and black god of vengeance brought with it to the battlefield. Without taking one hit he disabled a larger force than Julieta had even gotten to engage by the time of his arrival, and he ended the conflict with the rebels swiftly and without any question as to who was in charge of the situation.

They wouldn't be disturbing order now, that was for sure: those who survived the battle would be able to tell the tale of the blue and black Vidar that tore them apart all on its own, impaling and dodging them as if it was a battle between a man and his personal punching bag.

The masked man who went by the name of Vidar, the same moniker as his mobile suit, finished doing what he was doing with the controls before turning his attention to his suit's displays. His voice was quiet as always as he accepted Julieta's compliment, "It is good to be useful."

His fellow Gjallarhorn pilot finished floating across the hangar to reach his suit, where she stopped herself outside the open cockpit with a hand. Once she steadied herself, and seeing that he wasn't about to be the one to speak, Julieta tried to think through what she came here for.

"About the battle..."

Her incomplete statement drew Vidar's attention to her again, "Yes?"

His gaze pierced her as she hovered before him, standing just in front of the cockpit while she thought of just what to say. Those black slits on his mask were paralyzing when he wasn't speaking, for they hid any look into his soul one could receive from looking at him. Why did she come here after all? It had something to do with that useless buffoon Iok...

Julieta's eyes widened for a moment as she remembered her purpose. Yes, that fool Iok had mocked her after the battle. Apparently he had overheard her communications with Vidar even though his bodyguards had removed him from the actual conflict. Being told by a useless idiot that she was apparently foolishly in love with an unknown man had rankled Julieta, her words about Vidar's style being "extremely beautiful" obviously misconstrued by Iok.

She didn't want this mysterious man getting the wrong idea either. She thought more of him than Iok of course, but she wanted to be sure he understood before Iok might run his mouth off down the road.

After clearing her throat she spoke up with a crisp, direct tone that showed that she was speaking seriously. She was not some lovesick schoolgirl like Iok tried to make it sound when he joked at her expense when they returned, and she did not want to show weakness, "When I said you were beautiful, I meant how you did combat. The finesse you displayed was beyond that of anything I have seen before. I wanted to make sure you did not mistake it for a compliment towards your personal features, for I do not even know what you look like."

Vidar paused for just a moment, as if contemplating her words in some context unknown to her, before turning his focus back to his work, "I understood. I would have been worried if you had been speaking of my face, as beautiful as it may be."

Julieta leant in to try and stare down her ally who she still knew so little about, baffled by the idea that he had just tried to crack a joke. Did he really just do that?

Of course, once she was partway into the cockpit, the hatch began to close and knocked her further inside. It did not slam shut, but rather was a gentle shove that struck her back. As Julieta drifted inside, she cast her gaze back towards the door that had just closed on its own, since Vidar hadn't touched any controls.

"What?"

Vidar seemed to be surprised as well, looking upwards for a moment as he contemplated the mobile suit essentially locking the two of them inside together, "You..."

Hovering now in the middle of the suit, Julieta stopped herself just over the controls as she remained mostly horizontal. Perhaps the suit had some automatic process to close the hatch under certain circumstances? After all, it was not as if the Vidar could make such decisions on its own. To reference the oddness of it, Julieta spoke with a smile as she looked back at the door, "It is almost as if it has a mind of its own."

"You can say that," Vidar looked down from the ceiling to Julieta, his voice still quiet, though traces of exasperation made their way into it, "My apologies. This suit is as eccentric as you or I."

Julieta gave him a scrutinizing look, not understanding what he meant by that. Was it just a special, unique mobile suit? It reminded her a bit of a Gundam, but she wasn't even sure if that was correct since her sensors hadn't been able to identify it as one during the battle. Just Gjallarhorn unit twenty one or something along those lines. Was it a newer model that had yet to be mass produced?

As she contemplated why the Vidar suit could be so special, the man who called himself Vidar gestured to open space on his right, "Here."

While she liked being able to "look him in the eye" even if a mask was in the way, Julieta decided to accept his offer to take a so called "seat" beside him in the oddly spacious cockpit. She felt fortunate that it was not a cramped suit, for she may have stumbled into Vidar himself when the hatch shut if she did not have so much space to right herself.

Ever inquisitive, Julieta decided to push further for information as Vidar went back to quietly ignoring her and working on his suit. It was if he did not care that she was essentially stuck in his suit, though she bet if she asked he could open the door...it just wasn't important at the moment, so she didn't ask about that when so much else was on her mind, "What is it that makes this mobile suit so special?"

"How much do you know of the Gundam frames?"

The simple return question got Julieta wondering how it worked into her suspicions. He just implied that this was a Gundam, even if it did not have the same signature as any known one, "I know that they played a role in what happened a year ago, and that they possess two reactors instead of one. I fought the one named Barbatos and held my own, though I intend to improve my skills so that I may best it next time."

Vidar turned his attention over to her, his voice now taking an apologetic tone, "Unfortunately you may not have the chance. Should the opportunity arise, the Barbatos will fall to my hand."

"This suit does not have the signature of a Gundam. Are you saying it is, even though it is not?" Julieta stared at him intently, hoping to get him to unveil some of the mountain of secrets he had behind him. She would keep mining away until she felt she needed nothing more to understand him completely.

The masked man brought a hand to the controls, gently gliding it over them as he thought in silence, "In a sense, yes."

That was not a complete admission, but it would have to do. So it was a Gundam, but not? That could mean that it was a normal suit modified to be like a Gundam, or a Gundam modified to be something more. If it was the latter, just who was this man that he could possess a Gundam of his own?

Having seen the Vidar in action however, Julieta was enthused by the sight of its controls...would she be as capable, as graceful, if she were to pilot it? Was it the man's own skills, or did he just possess a suit that was so far beyond the capabilities of their enemies that they had no chance even if they were against a novice or an Iok?

"Could I pilot this mobile suit?"

"I..."

That question actually seemed to strike Vidar, as he paused completely, not saying anything as he looked up at the ceiling again. After some contemplation however he finally returned to looking over at Julieta, though it was a sideways glance through his mask rather than a direct one like before.

"I do not know. That would be for the Vidar to determine. If he would let you, then yes."

His words brought a smug grin to Julieta's face. Did he really just call the mobile suit a man? Perhaps he was sillier than she thought, "He? And here I thought you to be above calling machines what they're not."

Another pause on his part, one that made Julieta wonder if she offended him by dismissing what he said, before he gave a verbal riposte for which Julieta had no true response.

"What is a Human being but a machine made of flesh and blood?"

Contemplating the differences and similarities between a Human being and a machine was not something Julieta had really done in the past, having just viewed them as machines to be used, but the way he said it made her wonder if Vidar had considered such a philosophical question himself at some point.

Unable to really tackle a question like that without proper research and thought prior, Julieta instead defaulted to repeating something she had said to him during the battle, "You still are weird. Even more than your mobile suit's readings."

"And yet you are here."

Julieta balked as she realized that she indeed had sought him out, and could not claim that it was a one-time thing since she had done so multiple times already. She really did like getting the chance to verbally probe him for whatever glimpses she could unveil about his identity. He was an enigma, a puzzle, and she wanted to solve it. This time she just had an excuse to seek him out, but she did understand the underpinning of what he meant.

She liked talking to him...whatever that meant. He had given her comfort that no-one else had when her father figure Galan Mossa had died thanks to Tekkadan,

Still, it was not as if she could just come out and say such a silly thing, so Julieta deflected with a finger pointed at the hatch she still hadn't ask to have opened, "Your mobile suit had a part in that."

"But not the whole part."

Julieta could not see his reaction, but she certainly felt like she was blushing. Why did he have to say it like that? It wasn't like she was stalking him or anything. After all, she only came by to see him every now and again...well, maybe sometimes multiple times on the same day, but could she be blamed for wanting to figure out just what his deal was? Why this man was seeking revenge on McGillis Fareed to the point that he dedicated his life and name to the pursuit?

Hoping to hide her face by leaving, Julieta moved in the zero gravity environment towards the hatch. She could always ask him more another time, when she wasn't being the one pressed, "Open the door."

Vidar tapped his control panel, but the door remained closed. He did so again before sighing as yet again nothing occurred, "I would if I could, but he does not seem to feel like doing so yet," as Julieta returned in a huff to his side, Vidar looked down to her with some interest of his own for once, "Why is it that you are so curious?"

"I..."

Saying she was interested in him and figuring out what made him tick would sound bad, and while she normally did not bite her tongue she did not feel like making a fool of herself. As such, she put on a serious face and shut her eyes, speaking a part of the truth behind her interest in him, "I do not like being surprised."

"You looked up to a man with no name. Is having no face so much worse?" Vidar asked as if he was amused, though his quiet tone kept it ambiguous.

Julieta looked back at him with a sideways glare, "Even if a man has no name, I can still read their face. But because of that special mask of yours, I can't even read your eyes."

"You must find clowns scary then."

She gaped at his odd statement. What did clowns have to do with this?

"What?"

"Face paint can mask a Human's ability to read the expression of the wearer," he explained plainly, as if it just was common knowledge that she ought to have known already.

Not about to let him continue to have this edge up on her, Julieta smirked at him and poked at his mask under where his eye would be, "So you are a clown?"

Her hand pulled back as he tilted his head as if in confusion, his voice lighter than its usual serious inflection, "Am I not funny?"

With her hand now back at her side, Julieta lifted it to tap her nose, "What is funny is that your vision should be clouded by a mask like that. How is it that you see?"

Vidar paused yet again, though this was not so much to think as it was to reach a breaking point of patience. His voice was still polite when he spoke again, but Julieta could see that her constant barrage of questions was actually beginning to eat at him.

Which, to her, meant that this whole Vidar thing wasn't who he truly was...deep down he was a normal Human being with regular emotions. He wasn't so stoic after all, even if he still had a polite bent to his voice.

"Not to be rude, but must everything be a question?"

He had obliged her questions in the past, so his reluctance to continue doing so now actually surprised Julieta. Sure, he never told her just who he was, but he hadn't tried shutting down her inquisition before, "Huh?"

Vidar brought a hand up to touch his metal mask, "The more I say, the less reason I have for wearing this mask."

"And the less reason you have for throwing away your name and taking your mobile suit's instead," Julieta reasoned, revealing the thought she had during the last battle when she thought about how he and his suit possessed the same name. He was trying to throw away his past and to dedicate his entire being to this new identity of his, which must be why he was so adamant about hiding who he was.

"My mobile suit's name..."

The way he said it, it almost felt like Vidar wasn't its true name...which made sense since there wasn't a Gundam named the Vidar. But just which Gundam was it then? There were so many that were still missing for one reason or another, so it was hard to really just guess. It had been so heavily modified that whatever Gundam it had been was merely a skeleton this new machine had been built off of, but that rose the question of why? Was a Gundam not enough? Why would one strip a Gundam apart and rebuild it from the ground up?

Vidar had gone silent again, now looking down at his controls as his mask hid any emotions that might have been playing across his face. He seemed like a nice man, someone who cared a lot, so when she learned that he was dedicated solely to making McGillis Fareed pay for some unknown reason Julieta had been surprised. Here he had been speaking to her in a way after Galan's death so as to divert her from a path of vengeance, and yet he was obsessed with it himself. Was he aware of the dangers of seeking revenge because of his own experiences? Was that why he talked her down from acting with anger and grief after her mentor's passing?

He also defied the idea of a man dedicated to revenge as she expected it to be like: instead of howling in anger, he was always centered and calm. Even in battle he had been stoic and had managed to defeat an entire force of enemies by himself without even showing a hint of his latent anger and desire for Fareed's downfall. He had been a beautiful sight of complete dignity as he swiftly dispatched his foes, not a rabid monster tearing up everything set before him and his goal.

This too gave Julieta an inkling of his true nature, for if he was a lesser man, a more common man, he would be like that. Instead he must have been quite the kind, good man to be acting in this way after whatever major slights he received from McGillis that would drive him to dedicate his life to his ruination.

"How is it that someone so quiet can be after something as repulsive as revenge?"

Drawn out of his thinking, Vidar looked back to Julieta, "How did it feel when you lost the nameless man?"

"I wanted to make them pay. I wanted to be there, so I could have helped him. You know that though," Julieta explained, her voice steady as she explained the feelings she had since locked down. As Vidar had said, thinking that her being there would solve everything diminished the man who died, "Galan Mossa" , and his own capabilities and Julieta would never dare dishonor his memory after he did so much for her.

With this feeling re-established, Vidar spoke again in a more wistful voice, "I too have lost those I cared for, thanks to Fareed. And what I did not lose to death, I lost in spirit."

Hearing perhaps the most personal admission Vidar had yet to give her caused Julieta to gawk briefly before reconstituting her neutral expression. McGillis had taken people from this man just like Tekkadan had stolen Galan from her...to lose multiple people who held such meaning was almost beyond Julieta's comprehension, for she only had Galan and Rustal, but just thinking of how she might feel if someone were to take both of them from her...she almost shivered at the thought of that.

So that was why Vidar was so willing to go to such lengths to bring McGillis to justice...had he been wronged as well, though? The way he said it, this was for those he cared for, but Julieta understood from Rustal's praise of Vidar that Vidar knew quite well about how McGillis operated and thought. So he had to know him personally to some degree, right? Then had McGillis harmed him as well?

Given her lack of verbal response, Vidar continued to talk to Julieta of his grudge, "So long as he lives, someone I care for is in danger. I will take revenge for those lost to his ambitions, and in doing so free another from the threat he poses."

Did McGillis have a hostage against the man known as Vidar? Julieta winced as she tried to think of how she would react to having Rustal or Galan in danger thanks to another...in a position she was helpless to aid them.

"A friend of yours?"

Another pause, as befitting his quiet nature, then he spoke in an even quieter voice while looking away from Julieta.

"Someone closer."

Thinking through his words though, Julieta felt some anger swell within her. Partially at McGillis for being such a seeming monster towards so many others and for seemingly ruining this man's life to the point he would cast aside his identity, but at Vidar for not having kicked down Fareed's door and killed the man for daring to hold someone he cared for against him. For not seeking direct revenge yet, instead hiding behind Rustal and directing him in ways to defeat Fareed by proxy. Why did this man not take the fight right to McGillis himself?

Julieta narrowed her eyes at her ally, "How can I trust a man who does not just go and protect someone that close to him? Who sulks for revenge, rather than fighting to save someone they care for?"

His response was quiet still, though it contained a bit of an edge to it as well, "I do not ask that you trust me. Nor do I want you to."

Already a little upset, this feeling deepened in Julieta as confusion also began to mingle with it, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"My friend we spoke of, who fought for his pride, trusted me. He trusted me with his life, and he paid for it with everything he had. I was not strong enough to repay the faith he gave to me."

With that, most of Julieta's anger shifted to pity. He had been speaking of someone who was either dead or not far off before...was their pain and possible death a result of McGillis too? Just how much had been taken from Vidar?

Still, Julieta had her pride too, and so she used the remaining traces of her anger to try and say something that wasn't wholly sympathetic. She didn't want to reveal the pity she was feeling towards him even as her face unveiled it for her.

"Why would he place his life in the hands of someone so...weird?"

"Why do you follow Rustal, or the nameless man?" came Vidar's simple response, answering a question with another question once again.

Julieta frowned as she thought of what he was trying to imply, "They took me in when no-one else would..."

Was this friend of Vidar's so much like her, as Vidar once implied? Did Vidar show him the kindness Rustal and Galan had given her all of this time?

Her thoughts would be soon answered as Vidar gripped the controls of his Gundam with seeming anger, losing his calm aura for once, "Others looked down upon him and tried to trample his pride. I saw him for the man he was, rather than what he was, and for that reason I am the one sitting in this seat and not him."

Someone else might know what to say, or know how to comfort him, but Julieta was at a complete loss. She was a horrible people-person, and so she lacked the learned behaviors for consoling others. It took her a moment, but she tried to think what Galan might do to someone in such pain...which was how she found herself placing a hand on his shoulder. Her mind had contemplated hugging him instead, but she quieted that voice given how unprofessional it would be to act that way around a comrade...particularly one she did not even know the face of. That was how she rationalized it to herself, but she wasn't even wholly convinced of it.

Vidar kept his head down as he thought of the failure he felt he had on his shoulders, the specifics still unknown to Julieta, "It is my fault, and I do not wish to drag any others with me into this abyss."

Still unsure of how to continue, Julieta decided that a course change was in order. Or rather, an unsubtle changing of the subject.

"You really are talkative today."

Vidar was quiet at first, as she expected, but when he did speak it sounded like he was amused by her unabashed switching of topics, "What should I do, ignore you? The hatch is locked."

Seeing his hands still tightly clenched on his suit's operating pieces, Julieta got an idea. She moved from her position beside him so that she was hovering just barely above his lap, swinging her thick legs around so that she could fit into the seat as well, now on top of him. This done, she put her hands by his and motioned for him to remove them.

"Show me how the controls work."

With her now on his lap, Vidar seemed baffled as to what to do next, but he still spoke to question what her intentions were, "For what purpose?"

"The more I know of this suit, the better I can fight alongside it. While you have your secrets, why hide those of a machine?" she reasoned, not seeing any reason for him to disagree.

While it was not comprehensive, Vidar did explain to her what some of the controls did indeed do. They were not all that different from a normal mobile suit, but there were some things he didn't bring up that she was going to have to ask him about another time. He was intentionally not speaking of what they did, so they just became new mysteries for her to unravel.

When he was finished with his cursory tour of the controls, Julieta turned to look up at his mask. Something had come across her mind as he obliged her request to learn about the mobile suit, and it was that she was indeed coming to enjoy their time together...but that her lack of knowledge on just who he was made her uneasy around him still.

More than that, she thought of how he had been repaid the last time someone trusted him...she doubted it was entirely his fault like he made it sound, but in her own way she tried to say something that might cheer him up.

"I don't trust you. So you don't have to worry about losing my life, okay? It is mine to use as I see fit."

His surprise came out in the manner of complete silence, Vidar not seeming to know what to say back to that.

She was saying that if she died, he shouldn't blame himself, just in less kind terms...she was sharp tongued as ever, but now she was saying something kind with it.

Since he wasn't speaking, Julieta did instead. She faced forward again and turned her nose up in the air arrogantly, "But when we do fight McGillis, I would not mind aiding you. He is opposing Master Rustal, and so he is an obstacle I must remove. Our interests align quite nicely."

It had obviously come to Vidar's mind that Julieta might confront McGillis, and he did not appear too worried about it, possibly because he intended to be there as well, "It would be best to keep from showing him your hand before you do fight."

"My hand?"

Vidar explained his metaphor to the socially inept woman, "How you fight, the cards you hold. He can analyze fighting styles and adapt as needed to counter them."

Turning on top of his lap, Julieta brought a hand to touch Vidar's chest, "Did he use your weaknesses against you when he hurt you?"

The touch seemed to unnerve Vidar, or at least unnerve him as much as anything could, and he looked away from her, "I think that is enough for now. Has your curiosity been sated?"

Julieta frowned up at him, not wanting to stop now, "No. And it will not until I know who it is I am fighting beside."

He did not budge, and she realized he was indeed intent on not revealing any more that day. Because of this she removed herself and moved towards the cockpit's entrance, which began to open now as if on its own since Vidar was not touching any of the controls.

Turning around to face Vidar as she drifted out to the entrance, Julieta had an idea which she thought would benefit them both, "I shouldn't let McGillis know my fighting style until the moment we battle, but would you mind sharing ours over a simulation battle? You can perhaps teach me some of your grace and beauty in piloting a mobile suit, and if you know how McGillis fights, then I would like to learn of that as well."

Some might call it an excuse to spend more time with him, but she would argue vehemently that it was just to improve their skills as pilots.

Vidar looked up again for reasons unbeknownst to his visitor, "If you please, but I will have to see how he thinks of it. A simulation battle may not be worthy of him."

So he was still acting like the maybe-Gundam was a person and calling it a he? Julieta smirked as she turned halfway around to leave, "Goodbye, weird man."

"Goodbye, monkey."

If she had not already kicked off from his suit to leave, Julieta would have stopped to confront him over him calling her that, "Did Iok tell you to say that?"

"I would not know. Just as I would not know what a butterfly tastes like."

While she drifted away Julieta sighed before smiling at the masked man who still continued to amuse her with each thing she learned about him, "Now I have more questions."

"We each have our idiosyncrasies others find weird."

As he spoke, she finished turning around and she returned to the railing and walkway to exit the hangar. As he watched her leave from behind, Vidar watch the powerful kicks of her legs and the force she threw behind her movements to pull herself out of the hangar's zero gravity environment. Just as she had not expected beauty from him, he did not expect such strength from her when they first met.

Looking back to his suit, Vidar mused, "If you are beauty, does that make me the beast?"

Unanswered, he watched the petite Gjallahorn officer named Julieta Juris leave. For the first time in a year, Vidar felt as if he had someone he could trust and talk to...even if she continued to say she did not trust him in return.

"Julieta..."

If someone were looking and there was not a mask obscuring it, they may have seen him smile.

______________________________________________________________________________​

​

A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. If you have any thoughts, please leave them in the comments below!​

 

[Thunderscourge]

While I work on more Gaelio-Vidar/Julieta content, I would like to share that there are others out there who are producing content for it as well.

Unfortunately I cannot read Japanese outside of a single symbol/word, so I can't exactly say much more than these images have Vidar and Julieta in them. If someone can read them, a translation would be much appreciated for the rest of us!







Source







Source









Source

I highly recommend going and checking out the artists on their site, Pixiv! It tends to be 99% Japanese from my experience, so some people might have trouble navigating it, but if you can find the search criteria you need (such as the Japanese name for a pairing, like I used to find this ヴィダジュリ ) you can still find pictures.

I'll be working on an update for here over the next few days, so I hope you will enjoy when it is complete. In the meantime, I hope that the above images can sate your appetite, and who knows, maybe if I find out what they mean even I can draw some inspiration from these great artists? I had a food scene in my bits and pieces I was thinking of working into a new chapter, and one of these images also has food in it, so perhaps something is there...we'll see I guess!

 

[Thunderscourge]

Chapter 2: Friends
______________________________________________________________________________​

"Off to see that man again?"

Julieta paused to turn and see that behind her was the dark skinned son of the Kujan family, Iok in all of his incompetent glory: he carried himself in a way that belied pride and confidence, but in all of her experience working with him Julieta had never been anything but irritated with how useless he was. If he were to come to any harm it would be as damaging as the losses of Carta Issue and Gaelio Baduin a year before, whose failures painted Julieta's opinion of this blueblood since the moment they met: he was just some noble family's kid who thought that because he was wealthy and came from a distinguished lineage that it meant that he too was somehow gifted. He likely thought of himself as some kind of hero of a story, when in fact he was just a valuable piece on the board that ought not to see any play with its tendency to put itself at undue risk.

She considered herself the opposite: Rustal and Galan Mossa had taken her from being nothing to where she was today thanks to her skills and the abilities she demonstrated each step of the way. Unlike Iok, she had to earn her keep, and he regularly got in the way of her further demonstrating her worth by requiring her to babysit him so that any random enemy soldier would not kill Iok and upset a great many people, who would likely pass the blame along to the people tasked with looking after him...up to and including her, and to have such a disgrace on her shoulders whether rightly earned or not would likely impact her ability to continue serving her master.

This irritation was ever present in her conversations with Iok, and feeling her tension rise made Julieta think...why couldn't Kujan be more like Vidar? Vidar was only here too thanks to Rustal, just like Julieta herself, and he was immensely skilled so he was well worth the special circumstances concerning his affiliation with Gjallarhorn.

Julieta turned her attention away from Iok as she continued to move on her way towards the hangar where her Reginlaze and Vidar's...Vidar were stationed to engage in simulation battles, "We are going to be doing mobile suit drills. I would say that you should join us to hone your abilities, but you have none so you would only be in our way."

Iok shook a fist at her as he yelled, "What was that!?"

"All you will do on the battlefield is die if you keep fighting with no talent, so you ought to leave combat to us," Julieta explained, not bothering to look back at him even as he began to follow her.

Iok's tone was a mixture of scathing and smug, "You think too highly of him. Anyone with a suit that has three reactors could outperform someone with one. If I used his mobile suit I would be the superior combatant surely, since I have not had to rely on such a machine."

Julieta finally turned around to look at him with both of her eyebrows raised, "You are amazing..."

The seeming compliment actually stopped Iok in his tracks, and after a moment of surprised gaping he spoke back with a smirk, "Oh, you think so?"

Dismissively turning back around, Julieta gave him the cold shoulder, "Yes. It takes a unique type of fool to think so highly of so little. Stay out of our way."

Incensed once again, Iok revitalized his complaints, "Do you really think you can trust someone who doesn't even tell us who he is? Who doesn't even show us his face? A coward like that won't spend a second abandoning his allies."

"Whether he is trustworthy or not, we share the same goal, and he has the skills to carry it out."

Unlike you were the words she left unspoken, but which Iok still felt as if they were a smack in the face.

If he wanted kinder words, he would have to earn them, just as Julieta had earned everything she had.

______________________________________________________________________________​

"McGillis has someone who you care for, right? So who are they?"

Vidar looked up and saw that once again he was being approached by Julieta, who finished floating over to his mobile suit before sitting herself down on the hatch of the cockpit. She doubted that it would malfunction again like before, so she paid it no mind as Vidar went back to working with the machines that would allow for its combat simulation.

Since he wasn't speaking, Julieta determined that he did not care to answer the question, causing her to ask another in its place.

"You're quieter than you usually are. Just how deeply do you care for this person?"

She figured that if she found out his motivations, she could not only figure out who he was, but also better understand this "revenge" of his. When he took to the battlefield it certainly did not feel like he was just a vengeance fueled monster, so just what was going on in that head of his? His mask might hide his face, but bit by bit his words revealed the man behind it.

Vidar sighed as he realized that just ignoring her questions was not going to get her to stop, "Perceptive, but, besides trying to figure out who I am, I do not see what purpose you have for knowing such information."

Not discouraged, Julieta leaned forward to look more closely at him as he worked on the mobile suit to ready it for their training. He insisted on handling so much of this machine's maintenance that it actually both impressed and confused Julieta: surely he could be spending his time more productively since they had a team of people for work such as this, but at the same time it showed a dedication and focus that was absent in many Gjallarhorn pilots.

"If you are fighting to protect someone you care for, you are a better man than someone just seeking blood."

The part of Julieta that drove her to continue inquiring about what made her fellow pilot tick also was seemingly trying to find evidence to combat her natural suspicion of him: it was not just that she was suspicious, but she was beginning to feel like she wanted to be proven wrong about how his enigmatic persona struck her and set off the many alarms she had grown to possess. A masked man with an agenda screamed 'threat', but Julieta felt that she wanted to know that he wasn't.

Following her words and her train of thought, Vidar examined them by pointing out the lack of stated ramifications, "And if I am a better man?"

"Then maybe I can trust you finally."

Julieta stood up and looked down at the man whose skintight outfit did little to hide how well built he was. Tall and quite muscular while remaining somewhat lean, Vidar was certainly atypical in his body type...perhaps a study of Gjallarhorn officers of certain proportions would be in order? It's not like everyone was over six feet tall and built like a...

She stopped herself when she realized she was not sure what she was about to fill into that blank, and also not sure if she wanted to know. So what if he was physically attractive? They were professional soldiers, of course he ought to possess a certain tone to his muscles.

Shaking these thoughts away, Julieta spoke again with determination: determination born both of conviction in her words as well as fervor born of not wanting to think about where her mind had gone moments before, "If you know who someone is inside, you don't need to see their face. Knowing your name would be knowing what you are, while knowing why you fight and for who you dedicate your life explains just who you are."

This was true for her, and she believed it would be true for him: she defined herself by her service to Rustal and it was the very core of her being because of the kindness the man had granted her, so finding out who the people Vidar revolved his life around and why would solve her puzzle in a way of just who he was...perhaps not his name, but his character and convictions.

Julieta paused as Vidar finally looked up to her again, the black visor pieces to his mask hiding his eyes from her piercing gaze. Even now as she grilled him for information that could lead to her unraveling his identity he remained calm, composed...he possessed in him an aura that Julieta felt conflict her own: while she could be unflappable in her appearance, it always came with a strong current of her attitude that would rise against anything that stood in the way of her goals in serving Rustal Elion. Vidar on the other hand seemed to rarely get agitated, rarely be stirred from his stoic facade. Entering battle did not rile him up like a life and death battle ought to have, it instead seemed to soothe him as if he was seeing an old friend for the first time in ages.

What would interest Julieta though is what would be more important to this man: his vengeance towards McGillis born of past grievances, or the protection of the person he cared for?

For Julieta, she was set on living her life now to serve Rustal, even if the bearded man who once went by the name of Galan Mossa was gone and his killers were still out there. She still had her master left, and so she would use what power she had to carry out his will rather than wasting it and disgracing the memory of her now deceased mentor.

Vidar's response was not actually to her words, but rather a statement of their present situation as he came to finish setting up the mysterious Gundam, "My suit is ready. We should get started."

Julieta smirked as she kicked off of his suit's hatch to begin floating towards her Reginlaze, "I won't go easy on you."

"That is fortunate, for I did not intend to let my own skills rust. It would defeat the purpose."

That it would, and Julieta would never have forgiven someone who just toyed with her.

______________________________________________________________________________​

"Again."

The battle simulations had been going on for over two hours when Vidar had decided to pause. Julieta though was not content with this, for she had not managed to overcome her companion and his nearly impossible to track mobile suit. It moved at such a speed that Julieta was shocked in their first few rounds as she tried to figure out a way to counter such agility, only to then spend the rest of their practice session failing to implement her reasonable plans to counteract his speed thanks to the performance in their machines just being that far apart.

His style was almost painfully simple, leaping towards his target with his sword used like a lance to run through his opponent faster than they could react. Fortunately for her, Julieta was no slouch and was able to try and react to these attacks, but so far she had failed to actually return any blows to Vidar as even the attacks she narrowly avoided or parried were then followed up with another would-be fatal strike in these mock battles.

In short, he had utterly trounced her and Julieta had been growing upset as she continued to realize their present skill gap as well as just the difference in their machines' performances. Her Reginlaze was a powerful machine, far better than those old Grazes, but even it could not keep up with the Vidar and its pilot of the same name.

Having sensed her growing frustration, Vidar stopped the simulation before she crossed the line from angry at herself to angry at him. Now out of his suit, he floated over to where Julieta was begrudgingly opening her cockpit, "Learning to admit defeat is an important part of battle. Forfeiting before you forfeit your life is something only some learn in time for when they are put in that situation."

With him hovering in front of her cockpit, Julieta felt indignant as she stared the other pilot down. Her amazement at seeing him fight was severely lessened when it was her on the receiving end, and even though he was offering her a hand to help her out of her cockpit Julieta did not feel like accepting it just yet, leaving her just looking out at him from her seat with a pouting face on, "You don't give up. You have spent every moment since whatever McGillis did to you plotting his downfall. Right?"

In truth, now that they stopped Julieta was beginning to feel aches in her body from the long combat session. She had been through longer, but nothing she could remember facing in any battle or drill compared to the utter humiliation she just suffered from the agile suit she struggled to just keep her suit's vision on.

Able to tell that her pride was going to leave her there in the cockpit not accepting his help, Vidar decided to retract his hand and instead use it to point to something else in the hangar, "There is another reason for us to leave things here for now. It seems you have duties to attend to."

Julieta looked and could see that an attendant for Rustal was standing around, seemingly waiting for her to finish without directly pressuring her to do so. That meant that Rustal wanted to speak to her, but that it would not be an urgent affair.

Her duty calling, Julieta exited her cockpit and narrowed her eyes at Vidar on her way out, not being the most gracious of losers since she despised the feeling of failure, "Don't think that this is over. Just because I lost now does not mean I always will be your inferior."

"It is unfortunate that our machines are not equal, but they are what we will be going into battle with, and so they are the tools we must acquaint ourselves with."

His words actually gave Julieta some comfort, as it felt like he was implying that if all things were equal with their mobile suits that it would be an actual competition. Her rising irritation stemmed, Julieta smirked to herself as she floated past some soldiers who had been watching Vidar with interest since he left his mobile suit.

"That guy is weird."

"Quite. He certainly is a char—"

She didn't bother to wait around and finish listening to them babble about Vidar being a 'character', since she honestly didn't care what their opinions were. Maybe if they would distinguish themselves and earn her notice she would pay their words mind. But, as things stood, she was fine even ignoring one of the Seven Stars so she was fine dismissing these soldiers as well. If they weren't Rustal or someone else she respected, why bother with them at all?

Rustal's attendant didn't need to guide Julieta to where his office was on their ship, but they did so anyways without a word. Once she arrived they left, with Julieta saluting her superior officer as she felt she should.

"Master Rustal."

Elion smiled at her as the door closed at the attendant's departure. He seemed calm, which helped confirm Julieta's suspicion that this wasn't an urgent issue, though it made her begin to wonder just what it could be.

"Thank you for coming. I am sorry if I interrupted your training."

Julieta didn't feel like talking about said exercises so she instead cut straight to the point, "Is there a new mission, Master Rustal?"

"Not yet. This meeting is to discuss a certain ally of ours," Rustal's smile turned into a wide grin as Julieta's face showed that she knew who he was talking about even without saying his name, because who else could he possibly mean? "The masked man who goes by the name Vidar has made quite a name for himself since our last battle after all. It only makes sense that we would speak of him as many others here are."

Not sure what to say or do just yet, for she knew he had something he wanted to bring up specifically or ask, Julieta kept quiet and let Rustal continue forward with his eventual query.

"What is your opinion of him?"

Standing straight at attention, Julieta's response took some thought but came out once she decided how she wished to convey him to her superior officer to whom she owed everything, "He is our most useful asset, sir. He is knowledgeable of our enemies' tactics, and he possesses combat skills beyond even my own."

This strong appraisal seemed to amuse Rustal, who gave Julieta a questioning eye even as he remaining grinning, "It is rare for you to seem so fond of another."

She might have been oblivious as to what he was implying in a joking tone if not for how Iok had mocked her over the idea of her 'liking' Vidar in a less than professional manner. If she was not tasked with protecting him, Iok might be in the infirmary for daring to suggest such a thing after the battle.

To further dispel what others seemed to be seeing that she herself was unaware of, Julieta shook her head and spoke plainly, "It is merely an assessment of his value, sir."

With that said, Rustal casually sailed straight into his actual reason for calling Julieta into his office, "Very well. You would not mind keeping an eye on him for me, would you?"

This simple request actually surprised Julieta, who until then had been pressuring Vidar for information with no other purpose but to suit her own curiosity and settle her unease with working alongside someone with no face. Now, the idea of being told to inspect Vidar...it felt wrong in some ways. Until now Vidar had given her information about himself that was obviously outside of the comfort zone he possessed on the subjects, meaning he at least respected her enough to tell her these things, while this would mean that she was investigating him for their superior officer...it felt like a breach of trust, the thought of which made her come to realize that she was indeed growing closer to Vidar. He was the only one outside of Rustal who she regularly interacted with now, but unlike Rustal she didn't owe him a debt of gratitude. Instead, she respected him while mistrusting him...an odd state to be in, but it was how she managed to tie together the fact that he was a superb pilot and combat partner with how secretive he was.

Just to be sure of what she was being asked, Julieta inquired further, "Do you mean you want me to spy on him?"

Her reaction almost caught Rustal by surprise, but he met it still with an amused smile, "Do you object?"

Hoping that there would be some justification behind this so that she could ease her conscience, Julieta dodged the question while asking one of her own, "Has he done something wrong?"

"I would just rather be appraised of his actions, motivations, and other information that might prove relevant if in this conflict we find ourselves at odds with one another. I do not currently foresee such a situation, but one must always be ready, and you are the only one who he seems to be spending time with."

Rustal had become serious, and it was obvious to them both what Julieta would next say now.

"Understood, Master. I will see to it that any information you would need is passed along."

"Very good. You are dismissed then. There are some things I would have you handle in the meantime, but I heard you were training with him before coming here. Go ahead and continue doing so. I want my two best pilots at their best for when we confront McGillis and that upstart group Tekkadan who he likes working with."

With that, Rustal dismissed a now troubled Julieta back into her day of pestering Vidar...only, now she was doing so under direct order.

______________________________________________________________________________​

"Something is on your mind."

Julieta frowned at Vidar as he looked over to her as they stood idly in the hangar, Vidar having been doing whatever it was that he did when she wasn't around, and Julieta now returning but not having directly approached him just yet.

"You usually do not hesitate to ask your newest question when you come to see me."

Her shake of her head was both to dismiss what was on her mind as well as to disagree with his premise, "I was thinking. That is all."

"Your voice is laced with regret," Vidar responded, having tuned in to the underpinnings of her tone.

Julieta realized that in her thoughtful trance after leaving Rustal's office that she had not used the same measure of control over her voice as she would normally, so she very well may have just accidentally let some of her inner conflict make its way out into her voice, not that she would admit it, "Oh? Why would I feel regretful over?"

Vidar leaned forward on the railing they stood by, his arms apart and his hands grabbing it as he took a casual stance of using it to support him, "That is what I want to know. Most likely though it has to do with the man you call your master, for I cannot think of someone else who would bring you pause."

Julieta's silence told Vidar what he needed to know, and so he turned the tables on her with their little game of question and answer, "This question game can go two ways it appears. So, what did Rustal ask of you that has left you thinking before you confront me?"

That he was so astute irritated Julieta, but she had to admit that if he could understand someone as scheming as McGillis, he probably could pick out a few things from other people too. As if to prove her point, even as Julieta averted her gaze from him, Vidar pierced through her defense born of pseudo ignorance.

"Of course, the only logical explanation is that you are uncomfortable with him asking you to keep an eye on me. And I understand. If I were him I would want to keep someone with the power of a Gundam under close surveillance too, for to have such a threat turn on you would be a fatal mistake."

That he picked her apart so quickly and found out her new mission...Julieta's eyes were wide with shock as she realized that during all this time she has been examining Vidar, he has likely been studying her as well. And since she hid far less than him, she had inadvertently let him inside her own head.

"I do not need to change my behavior or actions in any way to hide from this new circumstance, so you should go on like it never was even asked of you," Vidar stated, revealing that he did not hold this new development against her as well as that he did not feel as if it changed anything else either. While Julieta was reassured by this, she still felt a pang of regret that now whether he intended to or not he would be a bit less revealing since now everything was essentially a conversation between him, Julieta, and Rustal so long as he asked for information.

Unwilling to address the conversation, Julieta set her sights on something else: offense rather than defense.

"What do you do when you are not working on your mobile suit?"

She still was unsubtle with her subject changes, bringing a small piece of amusement to Vidar's voice as he spoke back, "What do you do in your time?"

Julieta turned her nose up haughtily, glad that he seemed to have taken the bait for the moment and glad to have moved away from talking about her spying mission.

Her duty was her life, and so it only made sense in her mind that things such as practicing her mobile suit skills would be her time-killers. After all, she did not gain the skills to combat someone like Mikazuki 'the devil' by just sitting on her laurels, she had to work each and every day for it. "Prepare for the moment Master Rustal needs of my skills, of course."

"You should find a hobby."

Julieta paled as she realized that her dedication to Rustal could perhaps be likened to how Vidar spent so much time with his suit, since they both would spend a great deal of time doing for seeming fun what others saw as a job, but Julieta would not concede this point since she did not want to verbally admit that perhaps she was as lonely and devoid of a life as this man who seemed to have nothing except his mission. While not one to strive to be normal, Julieta would still object to being defective in certain areas of life, "I spend my time productively. You are the one who should find a hobby."

"Perhaps."

Cryptic, but she had come to expect some answers like that now and again. Not phased by this, Julieta grinned over at the other pilot, "What did you do before you decided to play dress up and put on an odd mask?"

Julieta's smirk faded as she saw Vidar's hands grip the railing for a moment before slowly easing off until they were barely holding it. It wasn't that he was mad at her joke, she could tell that much, but something had struck him as he pondered her question.

Somewhat concerned, Julieta started to reach out towards him when Vidar spoke up suddenly, his voice a solemn note that was quieter than even his normally soft tone.

"I had friends to occupy my time."

His reaction, the pain shown and gone in an instant, left Julieta without a clue of what to say. This was obviously a hard topic for him, and it was not like one of those where he would just let things drift off and things would go unanswered. No, she had uncovered a wound on him that was still healing from whatever trauma inspired this.

It was then that Julieta realized that she pitied him. She pitied whatever this man had gone through, whatever he had suffered to come to this point where he would cast aside his name, cast aside what family and friends he had, all just for the sake of bringing another man to ruin. Whatever it was that McGillis had done, it had hurt this man not only in body but in soul.

"Was McGillis one of them?"

Her question was not meant to probe as much as it might have been had the tone of the conversation been different. No, this was seeking an answer to try and solve just what was going on with this companion of hers in all of his stoicism that seemingly originated from that man who dared to oppose Master Rustal.

Since she was going to receive no reply to the McGillis query, Julieta offered up another question, this one returning to the subject of Vidar's free time and the friends he spent it with, "Well, what did you do with them?"

"It feels like a lifetime ago..." was the response she received, Vidar now looking up as if lost in thought. It sounded as if he had forgotten or just had not thought of such things from his past, as if he had forgotten how to enjoy himself like an actual person...it made sense then to Julieta why he had been so happy when he had been able to take to the field in the recent battle, for it had given him an outlet of sorts. He was able to feel something then he had not felt in a long time.

He was lonely, and he seemed to have a deep attachment to his mobile suit...while his calling it a "he" made Julieta question the depth of his sanity, she still felt her pity welling up for this wounded soul beside her. She wasn't used to feeling this way, rendering her confused of how to deal with this outpouring of positive emotion.

So, to steel herself and not appear wishy-washy, Julieta crossed her arms and turned up her nose again, her mouth a large smirk as she spoke.

"If it keeps you from wallowing in self-pity idly, I suppose I could set aside more time to train with you."

Vidar looked over to her, but the only traces Julieta could get on his feelings were in his seemingly sardonic words back to her.

"Oh? You would do that for a man you do not trust?"

It was obvious bait for Julieta to admit that she had come to like him a bit more than she had stated on the battlefield, but she did not rise to it. Instead, she focused on the solution she had come up with.

"Of course. I only serve to benefit from sharpening my own partner's skills. If you perform well, I will have less to worry about. I already have one useless pilot to look after, I don't need two."

Accepting Julieta's hidden offer of companionship, Vidar turned back to looking forward at their mobile suits, "I hope you are not disappointed when I win again."

Nodding over at them, Julieta showed her dexterity as she swung off the platform using the railing in a way that had her sailing right towards her suit as it stood ready for more combat simulations, "You may have skill and a superior suit, but I won't make it easy."

She heard what sounded like a small yet notably amused exhalation. While floating away from him Julieta turned herself around to face him, and when she was sure he was looking at her she furrowed her brow at her companion.

"Do I amuse you?"

Her seeming irritation caused Vidar to press that button a bit further out of a seeming playfulness, "If that were true, perhaps I came here to laugh at you."

Dissatisfied with his answer, Julieta turned around again while Vidar himself pushed off the platform to head towards his own mobile suit. On the way he spoke again, seeking to clarify why he had become amused at Julieta's determination to be tough around him.

"No, I was just thinking that someone I knew would like you."

This eased her ego a bit, for him remembering someone and seeing them in her was better than him laughing at her for some reason, "Your prideful friend?"

"Another...someone else who wanted to prove herself better than me."

He said no more, but by then they were both at their mobile suits.

Julieta felt determined to crush him this time around, her pity be damned.

______________________________________________________________________________​

"I'm done for now. You win."

Unfortunately for Julieta, one cannot bridge such a large gap in a day. While she certainly was beginning to pick up on ways to combat her partner, he still bested her handily during their simulations.

Thinking that his words earlier had gotten to Julieta, Vidar opened his cockpit to stand up and stretch after this second multiple-hour training session, "Learning to admit defeat?"

A stomach growling gave Julieta's response before she did.

"I'm hungry."

She actually wanted to continue, but she was about to pass out from the hunger she realized after having ignored it all day in favor of dealing with this man she was finding herself more and more interested in the further she delved into what she believed to be his psyche.

Another stomach rumbling revealed that while he tried to hide it with a mask, Vidar was a human being as well.

"...I suppose I am too. I have not eaten yet today."

To his surprise, this earned Vidar a death glare from Julieta that he had not expected to receive.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"You beat me while starving. I have a long ways to catch up to you and that suit of yours."

She had at least eaten earlier, but it sounded like Vidar just was completely starved if what he said was true.

That being said...how did he consume food? He didn't eat with others, that was for sure, so did he eat in his room? After all that was likely the only place he could take his mask off safely without someone peeking in on him, and he needed to remove the mask to eat, right?

Well, she hoped the answer to that was yes.

"It makes sense though that you haven't eaten. It must be hard when you wear a mask all of the time."

She received no argument from the man who like her was starving, "Perhaps I should get something then to bring to my room."

Julieta shot him a cheeky grin from where she stood at the edge of her suit's cockpit, "Could I see your room?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

It was then that the two left the mobile suits behind in order to go find sustenance, which fortunately for them was not too far a distance away. The engineers had designed the ships to have cafeterias available near mobile suit hangars so pilots would not have to travel far between deployments in longer battles. However, while it was not a far distance away it still was enough for them to come across someone else who would actually talk to the two of them, as compared to the other soldiers on the way ignoring them outside a whisper or two about the mysterious Vidar.

"Done wasting time in the hangar?"

Julieta did not bat an eyelash as she continued on down the hallway past Iok.

"Vidar, I thought I heard something. Did you hear anything?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, going along with Julieta's mockery of Iok, "It must have been your imagination."

This was not well received by their comrade, who was infuriated by the lack of respect paid to him and his rank, "Hey! I am your superior! You two nobodies better show the respect due to your commanding officer and a member of the Seven Stars!"

Julieta continued on a bit before she realized that Vidar had stopped. While not outwardly showing much in the way of anger, she could with her experience with him tell that he was as close to angry as he got without showing it. Vidar turned back halfway to Iok, who seemed a bit taken aback by actually having received his attention.

"McGillis is a member of the Seven Stars, leading the Fareed family and one day perhaps the Bauduin family. To what do we owe him in terms of respect?"

Iok balked as his argument for respect was crippled, "Some street rat who was taken in does not command the same station and respect as an actual member of the Seven Stars. Perhaps if you knew of our noble lineage, you would understand why."

Vidar finished turning around, now giving a small incline of a bow in a seeming mockery of Iok's supposed intelligence and wisdom on the subject, "What is it that I am unaware of? Explain to me my ignorance."

The son of the Kujan family stumbled on his words as he tried to come up with some retort for his comrade, only to be cut off by Julieta who did not mince any words as she spoke to him.

"Iok, you should let it go. You're losing and we have more important matters to attend to," another growl of her pained stomach signaled that they needed tending to, "Specifically our stomachs.

Julieta speaking up seemed to actually give Iok the words he needed, as he flipped his nose up at her dismissively and spoke down to them both, "As if his little imp-monkey has any say on the matter of who is winning and not," he paused before realizing that he was being passed up for food, "And how dare you imply that satiating your hunger stands above the importance of speaking to your superior officer!"

By then though they had already left, and he had nobody else left to argue with to nurse his pride. While normally affable, Iok really disliked that girl in all of her eccentric nature, and now he was growing annoyed by that masked man now that he had shown Iok up in the last mission and defeated the entire enemy force by himself while Iok had been dragged off the battlefield. For that reason they were both rivals in his book, even if neither of them cared enough about him to stay and chat when they were instead hungry.

"What do you even eat?" Julieta asked as they stood in a line to receive food, others in the line giving them both odd looks though Vidar in particular was receiving the bulk of them.

"I would say food just like anyone else, but I do not have a taste for insects."

Julieta rolled her eyes at him as he again referenced how she ate a butterfly, "Neither do I. That was a failed experiment, not a habit."

When they were given meat for their trays in the cafeteria Vidar was met with an interesting sight: the meat on Julieta's plate disappearing in an instant as she basically inhaled it. He stopped moving in the line for a moment after this, so Julieta felt the need to question his sudden pause.

"What?"

"I suppose I just am used to someone waiting for their plate to be filled before they finish half of it."

Sensing that she was being judged, Julieta rationalized her consumption of the meat even before they had received the entirety of their meal, "Wasting time standing around doesn't do anything, so I eat as soon as I can."

"I should teach you proper etiquette sometime, for it appears others have failed to. Think of it as thanks for your company."

Julieta smirked as her partner revealed himself to be of a particular sort of people, her mind trying to imagine someone like Rustal or Iok under his mask now, "So you're one of those upper class snobs? No wonder you have a Gundam."

Vidar sounded a bit offended by the suggestion, though he did not fully deny it either, "One does not need to be Iok in order to know how to eat without discomforting everyone around them."

"Hmmmph. Fine," as they finished receiving their food, Julieta began to stuff it in her mouth and displaying table manners befitting of someone who would just randomly eat a butterfly, "But not today. I am too hungry to learn useless manners."

Once they were free from the line Julieta expected Vidar to just leave, but instead he was standing still again. What was it this time?

"Aren't you going to go back to your room? Why are you staring?"

"Nothing at all," he reassured her, only then to point to what had caught his attention: the bread portion Julieta had been given was completely gone now, leaving an empty space on her tray. The entire tray was almost empty and she had not even sat down yet, "You eat bread awfully fast."

Not seeing why he should care about her bread, Julieta tilted her head, "Did you want it?"

"I have lost my taste for it recently. Perhaps another time."

As he departed, taking with him his tray whether that was allowed or not, Julieta was left behind and thinking about what they just did.

She had gone to go get food with someone and actually had enjoyed his company, and she felt sad he was going off on his own.

Perhaps she could invite him to go get food other times as well? It was not as if she could just regularly eat with Rustal, but eating with someone would be better than sitting alone and getting weird looks from her fellow soldiers...though to be fair, she was sure Vidar would give her weird looks as well until she learned how to eat like a normal person. And he likely would be receiving them as well.

Still, the idea of eating with someone didn't feel as repulsive and as much of a waste of time as she would have deemed it not too long ago.

This thought stopped Julieta before she could finish polishing off her plate. Did this mean they friends now?

______________________________________________________________________________​

A/N: With this chapter I have decided to start taking things in a canon-divergent direction, though not too-too far so that I can still blend canon in as it becomes available. Just a heads up in case people were wondering about that. So consider it canon-compliant until conflicts arise, and we'll cross those bridges when we come to them.

Hopefully I will hear your thoughts this time around, and I do hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading!​

 

[Potato]

Great work.

The ship sails!

 

[Thunderscourge]

Great work.

The ship sails!

Click to shrink...

Thanks! I'm trying to do my part to get this ship off the ground.

 

[Baron Ouroboros]

Thanks! I'm trying to do my part to get this ship off the ground.

Click to shrink...

I'd like to see how this will diverge from canon. Anyway, I like it.

 

[Thunderscourge]

I'd like to see how this will diverge from canon. Anyway, I like it.

Click to shrink...

How it will diverge from canon will basically be if canon takes us in a direction I disagree with: killing off either character, killing the ship, etc. Also, if the show covers ideas I already covered here, things will have to be a bit different. Stuff like that.

Glad you're enjoying it though! Hope you'll continue to do so, and that I may be graced with your thoughts as we continue onward.

 

[Thunderscourge]

Chapter 3: Loyalty
______________________________________________________________________________​

"What is this?"

It was a decently large box with quite the busy design, with most of it covered with the picture of a Graze and the rest covered by text boldly stating that this indeed was a Graze as well as some technical details that didn't catch Julieta's eye.

Why was Vidar handing her a box?

"We spoke before of how you require a hobby. You should not spend the entirety of your life and being just to serve another."

"Oh..."

That would explain the gift, but Julieta found herself still looking at this odd box. Why did it have Gjallarhorn's old standard suit on it? Was it some kind of container for something related to the Graze? Was there a manual of the useless suit inside the box? Or did he just use a box with a picture of a Graze on it to give her something else that was actually a hobby?

Did this man just like collecting boxes? No, that couldn't be it, since it felt like something was in the box...what then?

"Why is this Graze on a box though?"

Julieta felt that he was rolling his eyes at her for a moment before he responded by turning the box around in her hands to reveal another picture on one of the sides, showing a small scale replica of the Gjallarhorn machine that was the staple of their forces, "I hear some hobbyists enjoy building replicas of mobile suits. Unfortunately newer models are unavailable, so consider this predecessor to your suit my gift."

Now this had Julieta's attention. She honestly did have few things to do outside of her military duties, training, and eating, so the thought of having a new task to do was welcome to her...even if it meant essentially constructing what she saw as a toy.

He had brought this to her as she ate a small snack in an officer's lounge on the ship, a place for higher ranking members to gather without being on the bridge or their rooms.

That he suggested such a hobby however made Julieta realize that perhaps, once upon a time, instead of being stoic and detached this man was normal...or even eccentric, since apparently constructing toys was of interest to him.

She also realized that she was blushing a bit from embarrassment. She wasn't used to receiving gifts, and to get one from someone she didn't even know the face of...

Placing the box down on the room's central table, Julieta began to pick apart the packaging to open it while beckoning the gift's giver over to her, "Show me how it is done."

To her surprise however, he crossed his arms while shrugging his shoulders, not acceding to her command, "I am afraid I do not partake in the activity myself."

So he didn't make these himself, but he thought she might be interested? Had it been a whim of his then? Or maybe perhaps a reflection of what he thought of her that even in finding her a hobby he stuck to something Mobile Suit related? Or was he lying just now and in fact did have some history dealing with these? His words were ambiguous enough to perhaps imply that he did not currently do this as a hobby, but that he may have at a previous point.

Regardless, Julieta wanted him to stay for reasons beyond her own comprehension, and so she looked up at him as she finished taking her seat.

"Then now is a good time to start."

It took a moment, but Vidar did come to join her, coming to sit across from her as she finished opening the Graze model's box and laying its contents out on the table. There were sheets of plastic that contained on them small pieces that when removed would be able to be pieced together, Julieta could see, though many of them were not obvious for where they ought to go. For this there was a simple solution, the paper manual which explained step by step how to do this, but Julieta didn't pay any mind to it at first as she had no experience with this activity and thus did not know to look for said aid.

After seeing Julieta glare at the small pieces for a half minute aimlessly, Vidar handed her the manual wordlessly. She took it with some irritation, annoyed she couldn't just figure out how all these minuscule things went together, but she paused when she felt her hand brush against his glove.

Since he always covered his entire body to conceal his identity, she had never even seen his hand, and while it made sense to aid his deliberate anonymity it still sat wrong with her that she had no real clue just who he was. She felt that if she had a couple more pieces of information about him she could piece it all together to figure out just who would have such a massive grudge that they would dedicate their life to revenge against McGillis, but for now she was bereft of such information.

Perhaps less subtly than she hoped, Julieta tried to suggest he give away at least one piece of his identity, his hands, as he then went about removing some of the pieces they needed to use from their plastic container by twisting them off their plastic tree, "Those gloves may get in the way of your finesse."

"An unfortunate result of wearing them, yes."

Vidar's manner of just brushing aside what she was trying to say and get him to do brought Julieta to both smirk and raise a brow.

"Take them off then, since they're in the way."

"I am fine."

His quiet insistence gave Julieta really little recourse in trying to continue her attempt to get another piece of info out of him. Even just seeing his skin could help narrow down who he was, since she had quite the keen eye and could remember whatever sliver of skin he might reveal to then later compare with Gjallarhorn's databases.

Julieta then realized that such a pursuit might be near meaningless given his concealed nature: depending on how long he had been hiding under such clothing, he was almost certainly paler now than however he had looked before. Still, it would be something if she could just see any of his features that weren't just his height and muscular build.

Since Vidar did not have anything more to say and Julieta was trumped on what to follow up with after his small dismissal of her line of dialogue the two fell into silence as they each went about following the instructions to build the Graze model.

"So is this what it's like for the mechanics?"

It had been quite some time, but while looking down at the constructed torso and head of the plastic model Julieta's mind had wandered to thinking of how their mechanics often had to do things like what they were doing, only with actual machines and actually working parts that were far larger than these millimeter long bits of plastic.

Come to think of it, didn't Vidar also work on his suit near obsessively? Perhaps that was why the idea of constructing these was appealing to him if he was such a mobile suit techie.

"More or less, only they have thousands of more parts, and they have to do more than fit together."

Another round of silence fell between them, but it was one Julieta appreciated. Vidar didn't speak without meaning, unlike Iok who said too much whenever given the chance to open his mouth. As they continued for minutes in their silence building parts of the machine in quiet tandem, another thought crossed Julieta's mind as she began to observe more and more of the Graze's details, her mind then linking and comparing them to her suit's own features.

"I am fortunate to have my Reginlaze. These old useless Grazes couldn't even stand up to those children from Mars."

While soft-spoken, there was definitely a bit of an edge to Vidar's reply, "Perhaps it was more than the performance of the machines that dictated the results of those battles."

Sensing this seeming objection to her statement, Julieta reasoned that perhaps he had been one of those to fight Tekkadan in the previous conflict, "Oh? You sound as if you know personally."

He did not address her implication, but rather spoke to the information that was now common knowledge throughout Gjallarhorn, "It is well known that Tekkadan's child soldiers use technology known as the Alaya-Vijnana system to aid them in their battles, a system which vastly improves combat efficiency by linking a pilot to their mobile suit."

Julieta had to admit he had a point, for even in her Reginlaze she had not been able to match up to the main Tekkadan pilot, Mikazuki Augus...though she would like to think that had more to do with how he was using an upgraded Gundam, and while her Reginlaze was a powerful machine it could not completely compete with the ancient suits that had ended the Calamity War. If she, an ace in a powerful custom suit, could not defeat them, then she shouldn't completely look down on those who came before her and failed.

That one man though, Gaelio Bauduin, had used a Gundam against them and lost too...though records had it that the Kimaris Trooper had dealt with the Barbatos Gundam fine in their skirmish on Earth until a Grimgerde, the predecessor suit to the Graze made during the Calamity War, interrupted the skirmish and defeated the Kimaris. That was a mixed bag of success and failure, to be able to fight someone with three of the AV system surgeries but then to be defeated by a simple Grimgerde. Perhaps some other factor came into play in that skirmish for one of the Seven Stars to have fallen to some nameless ally of Tekkadan?

Bringing Julieta back to reality, Vidar spoke again of the AV system used by Tekkadan to overwhelm their foes in the previous conflicts, "To diminish such a factor is to diminish the skill of those who had to fight against such an inhuman foe."

Julieta quietly conceded his point, though she still believed that other Gjallarhorn pilots were beneath her for losing so handily to the enemy on so many occasions...the only ones on their records who had put up any even fight were McGillis himself, Gaelio once his Kimaris was reformatted into its Trooper form, a soldier by the name of Crank Zent from Mars, and that soldier who became that metal monstrosity at the climax of last year's conflict, Ein Dalton. Others like Carta Issue had been brutally beaten to death by the space rats who had come to Earth with little to show for it.

"At least McGillis doesn't have such a technological advantage. I hear he is quite skilled at combat, so he might be quite the challenge if he too possessed one."

Vidar began to say something, but someone entering the room and called Julieta's name.

"Juris! It seems like we are needed on the bridge, so make haste, Monkey."

Iok Kujan paused to look and see that Julieta was not alone as he had thought when his eye first caught her, but he wasn't exactly pleased by the company she kept: it was that weird man who for some reason Rustal was trusting with their plans despite hiding his identity.

"If it isn't mister iron mask himself. I take it I wasn't interrupting anything?"

Julieta dismissively pushed past Iok to exit the room, "You are, in fact, but I suppose your ignorance is to be excused if Master Rustal wishes for us to come to the bridge."

As Iok balked at the disrespect shown to him yet again, Vidar moved past him as well without even acknowledging his presence. With the two of them heading down the hallway to reach the bridge, Iok realized suddenly that he was going to be the last one there now, which could reflect poorly upon him.

"Hey, wait for me!"

______________________________________________________________________________​

"Should we be readying ourselves for deployment?"

Sitting back in the breakroom, Julieta and Vidar had resumed their construction of the Graze model. Julieta seemed slightly anxious, but this was not out of worry on Iok's behalf but rather worry that she was not the one out doing Rustal's bidding. Iok had requested to handle the mission and so he was going out with his loyal guards, but Julieta and Vidar had been left behind despite both of them having their reasons for wanting to confront McGillis as well.

It seemed that McGillis was going to meet with Tekkadan, who had unearthed a Mobile Armor, the giant threats that had wiped out a quarter of the Human race hundreds of years prior. The destruction of these machines had led to the system of Gjallarhorn where the Seven Stars led matters, their ancestors having been the ones to have destroyed these massive machines capable of genocide. The more a family had destroyed, the higher their prestige among the Seven Stars, and so McGillis was likely out to deal with this Mobile Armor to earn himself an even higher standing within Gjallarhorn.

Iok was going off to confront him, but Julieta couldn't shake the feeling that someone she didn't trust to spell his own name correctly was leading such an important mission without her or Vidar there to compensate for his lack of ability.

"Do you not have faith in Iok's ability to complete his objective?"

It was asked like a genuine question, but Julieta could feel his sarcasm dripping from his words even if they were quiet. It appeared Vidar was not quite pleased with this situation either, but until they were commanded to do anything else, which could be hours and hours, they had little to do but wait. Since both of them regularly maintained their suits, there wasn't even anything for them to do in the hangar, so they had just returned to where Iok had disrupted them to begin with.

"I have faith in his ability to cause trouble for others," Julieta sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do until either Iok returned or she was ordered to go save him from whatever mess he would undoubtedly cause.

She received a nod from Vidar, who was continuing to help her with the last pieces of the Graze model. While only a hundredth of the size of the actual thing, Julieta did admire the detail put into this replica, and she looked forward to finishing it. She supposed that once it was done she could put it up on a shelf

"Still, it's good to have some peace and quiet for once. We should send Iok out more by himself, or better yet leave him behind while we go out instead."

"Perhaps him being out of the way would benefit us."

Julieta was actually surprised with how such a simple statement could sound so ominous when said by someone whose voice was so quiet. Whether he meant to or not, it sounded like Vidar was suggesting they would be better off without Iok...specifically, him being alive. He could also have meant that they would just be better off with Iok not taking to the field and distracting his own allies, but Julieta couldn't decipher which he truly meant.

The whole situation though was a result of the Seven Stars and their political jousting, something which Julieta was surprised to learn that Vidar was quite knowledgeable of. It actually made her quite suspicious of him, since it would seem to imply he had some link to them, while also perhaps explaining his grudge against McGillis: if Vidar had worked with or known McGillis, he would likely know a fair deal about the Seven Stars just as Julieta knew from her time with Rustal. Such a possible relationship could be the source of his revenge, for with how manipulative McGillis could be there was a fair chance that he had done something to Vidar in their time together.

"How do you know so much about the Seven Stars? Is it your obsession with McGillis?"

This question into his inner workings actually seemed to be one Vidar was willing to answer, for it took him only a moment before nodding, "In a manner of speaking, yes. I did not have much of an interest in the Order until it became apparent that it holds great meaning to McGillis."

Julieta nodded back, though his implication that he only just recently came upon the knowledge or just really took an interest in it not too long ago did not help her theorizing about his identity, "I know what I do thanks to being around Master Rustal."

"He thinks highly of you."

Being reminded that she was the handpicked pilot who served Rustal Elion and carried out his will caused a swell of pride within her, one which Julieta was willing to express, "I am proud to hold Lord Elion's esteem. He does not grant his favor to just anyone."

"Then perhaps we are more alike than you think, for he has shown me the same grace you have received."

Julieta crossed her arms as she finished the piece she was working on, a smirk beginning to grow on her face as she looked up at her tall partner, "Then it is our duty to serve him and repay what we have been given. Unlike Iok, we know to appreciate what we have and be grateful to those who we owe it to."

This gave Vidar some more pause before he responded, though when he did it was with a sigh, "Some have to learn firsthand."

Cryptic as ever, but Julieta was beginning to find that it was an enticing rather than alienating quality. He would leave small hints bit by bit of who he was, all the while shrouding the answer by not giving enough for any of the hints to be meaningful. His seeming good nature helped feed into this, for she no longer felt like she was an inquisitor interrogating a possible threat but rather a friend seeking to know more about their companion. Even if Rustal wanted her to keep an eye on Vidar, she personally didn't see much reason for it.

Smirking still at him, Julieta decided to play a bit with the idea of him concealing his identity even though there were basic ways to unravel it without his approval, "You know, I bet a bit of your hair has slipped out somewhere. Maybe I could find it and narrow down who you are?"

Vidar held for the briefest of moments to his wrist a small knife they had been using to free the plastic parts from where they were bound to the plastic outlines, then removed the knife to go back to his work on the model, "Maybe if I bleed on you the search will be even narrower."

Julieta was partially tempted to just go the easy route and use mundane ways to discover who this was, like his height, approximate weight, a piece of hair, any kind of fingerprint...but she refrained from such easy solutions since it would not only kill the fun of discovering it all on her own, but also because it would feel like she was violating his privacy. He didn't want to have others know who he was, and she was respecting that...in a way.

"Do you shave your head? I bet your hair gets all messy under that mask."

This was a fun, relaxing little game to Julieta now, and she was definitely coming to appreciate being able to spend her free time with someone now. Rustal was often busy, and Iok was an idiot, so she had been quite lonely while assigned to the fleet, but now she had a companion who she could both tolerate and who in turn tolerated her own oddness. She did her best to hide it while she was on duty or in a professional setting, but even she would not make the argument that in a general sense she was a normal person.

"Or perhaps I have longer hair than you and this mask is thinner than you think."

"Just take it off and we can see for ourselves."

Vidar slowly shook his head side to side, "As enticing as that may sound, I am afraid I will remain the masked phantom of this ship for at least a little while longer."

That perked up Julieta's attention, since it sounded like he didn't intend to indefinitely hide his identity, "Oh? Is something going to change?"

"If McGillis is defeated, I will have no reason to hide."

It made enough sense...though if the current mission assigned by Rustal went according to plan, then McGillis would be arrested for planning rebellion by overthrowing the Order or something along those lines, and Vidar would be deprived of a true chance at vengeance.

Still, it would mean McGillis would be ruined...would that be enough for this man?

"Then if Iok does his job today you'll take your mask off?"

Vidar said nothing back, but Julieta got the feeling that yes, he would. The idea of finally discovering his identity, either through her own amateur sleuthing or through his own will was quite enticing, and it made Julieta think something contrary to her normal mindset that not only expected Iok to fail, but in a way was coming to enjoy it just because it highlighted her point that he was useless and in the way. Hopefully he would learn that sooner rather than later.

"For once, I'm hoping that fool comes back having accomplished something."

If Iok captured or killed McGillis, then perhaps Vidar wouldn't have to murder the man as Julieta was quite sure he intended to do...and she would get to see his face.

______________________________________________________________________________​

"Contact from Iok's advance team has ceased."

Of course it had. Because having Iok actually take care of a matter on his own was asking too much of the incompetent fool, particularly in this case where the mission was not only concerning a grave matter but would require Iok to act with some degree of intelligence above 'shoot wildly at the enemy and hope you hit them'. Apprehending McGillis was too complex for a mind as simple as Iok it would seem, since there was a fair chance in Julieta's mind that Iok and his men had allowed McGillis or his allies to somehow overwhelm them despite possessing the element of surprise.

"Have they been wiped out?" Julieta inquired, hoping to receive more information about the situation from Rustal who was speaking to them over a communication screen from his own bridge. Standing on Iok's bridge, Julieta and Vidar had come once again to learn about what was happening on Mars. It seemed that McGillis' hunting of the Mobile Armor had become a more complex matter now with Iok's team not responding anymore.

Rustal unfortunately could not confirm Julieta's hypoethesis, "I don't know. The Mars Branch knows nothing too."

Looking up, Julieta did her best to hide her displeasure at not knowing the situation's exact severity, "That's a problem."

Vidar spoke up next, his left hand on his hip while he came up with an alternative explanation for things, "We shouldn't jump to the conclusion that they've been annihilated. The Mars Branch is under Lord Fareed's command. It could be false information."

While this could be the case and it could just be McGillis obscuring the matter, Julieta did not care as much about that as she did the fact that like she expected Iok managed to bungle the operation and had ruined the quiet he had left in his wake upon departing for this mission, "We finally have some peace with him gone, but he has to stir up more trouble."

Rustal was less vocally critical of Iok, and so he did not comment upon Julieta's displeasure, "Anyway, we have to follow up on this Mobile Armor and Iok's team. I want reliable information. Can you do that for me?"

Julieta took no time in raising a hand to her chest to salute him, "Yes, sir."

"I'm counting on you."

With that the call ended, leaving Julieta and Vidar in silence just a brief moment until the captain of the ship spoke up to inform them of a development concerning the ships' heading.

"We are now entering Mars' gravitational field."

Vidar moved away from the screen Rustal had been on to go respond to the other man, "Captain. We'll launch before they detect us. Keep this ship in orbit and stand by."

This left Julieta behind as she stood in continued silence, though she came to have a smirk as she held her hand over her chest.

This is my chance. If I defeat this Mobile Armor I can win him an Order of the Seven Stars.

The captain continued to have his conversation with Vidar as Julieta stood alone, "What about resupplying?"

"We won't take long."

______________________________________________________________________________​

"You seem eager."

To meet up with her partner, Julieta slowed herself from her rapid pace down a hallway towards the hangar, Vidar having left right behind her after finishing arranging things with the captain for their departure. Only the two of them were launching at the moment, but that ought to be more than enough to recover Iok and his remaining guards should any of them still be alive, or to find and report their failure. It would not be arrogance on their part to believe that the two of them were more capable than the entire squad sent with Iok in charge, for Julieta had accomplished more than all of them in previous engagements, and Vidar had proven himself to be even more capable than her, so together they were leagues ahead of the team sent to apprehend Iok.

Why they hadn't been sent in the first place to just make sure Iok didn't ruin everything was a point of interest to Julieta, who felt almost let down that Rustal had not sent her too even though she was one of those he had originally tasked with protecting Iok. It almost felt like someone somewhere had decided they ought to lose and have this situation devolve in a terrible manner.

All the same, this deployment almost made up for the previous lack of assignment to the mission since it gave Julieta a chance to accomplish what she wanted more than anything else: to make herself indispensable to her superior, to whom she owed so much.

"The Order of the Seven Stars...if I defeat this foe, could it benefit Rustal?"

"Of course...from a certain perspective."

While normally she did not mind too much about his cryptic nature, this time Julieta had less tolerance for it since this was an important mission to not only her but to Rustal. This came out in her tone being slightly more snippy than usual as they continued to head towards the hangar at a swift pace, "I sense a caveat."

True to form, Vidar did not answer her question quite how she had hoped he would, "Your loyalty to Lord Elion is such that you would forsake your own benefit on his behalf?"

His perspective on the matter perplexed Julieta, who had not considered the issue outside of how it could benefit her by benefiting Rustal, "My own benefit?"

Vidar nodded once, his voice coming to have an assertive bent as he spoke more at once than Julieta thought she had ever heard him do before uninterrupted, "Yes. If you defeat the Mobile Armor, you could hypothetically join the ranks of the Seven Stars. With how things are looking, two houses are to disappear soon with McGillis taking the power from both the Issue and Baduin families in addition to the power usurped from his father. That leaves room for others to rise in their place, in this hypothetical scenario, others which could support other members of their choosing."

Was he telling her that she should...take this for herself? To become one of the leaders of Gjallarhorn and hold the power to oppose McGillis on more than just the battlefield? The idea was so out of Julieta's frame of mind that she did not know what to do with it, for her selfish desires concerning it had only gone as far as her duty to Rustal Elion. The thought that she too could possess such power...it was actually worrisome to Julieta. She wasn't much of a leader, she was a follower, and to subvert Rustal in any way such as by grabbing power for herself, even if it would be used on his behalf, would feel like betrayal.

Not quite done with the idea, Vidar spoke again with a parting thought on the issue, "Perhaps Rustal could use the feather in his cap, but this is not a matter to be taken lightly."

"I..."

Maybe he was right...maybe, as Vidar seemed to think, this could serve as a way to support Rustal. The masked man was seemingly quite familiar with the whole Seven Stars system, and so his advice on the matter was not to be taken lightly.

This still being said, Julieta wasn't sure about it. If she defeated the beast on behalf of Rustal, would it even transfer over to him, or would it just be counted as her own achievement? She would have to see how things played out though...it would all be moot if McGillis or one of those soldiers from Tekkadan took the credit, which she definitely did not intend to allow.

"Loyalty is an admirable trait for one to possess, but from what I have learned of your mentor Galan Mossa, he would say it is not the wicked or the traitors who die first, but those who are noble and mean well."

Vidar's words struck another chord in Julieta, her mouth letting out a small breath of surprise as she came to realize that perhaps this man did not just idly sit around all the time. He certainly seemed to be well connected with all he had said up until now...so who could he be that he could hunt down information like that? Perhaps he had just asked Rustal, but Julieta couldn't be sure he had since Vidar was often times vague or would deflect her questioning in some way.

Still, what he said was true...even though Galan Mossa had dedicated his own life to Rustal's cause, what would he think of this situation? What would he think of her having the chance to gain such power, or to instead give it away? He had been a practical man, so Julieta could see him arguing both sides of it for different reasons: giving the power to Rustal would both earn her favor with him and likely increase her prestige within his faction, with the drawback of not giving her the reach and depth of the power taking it for herself would give her. On the flip side, taking it for herself would increase her options and ability to serve Rustal, but would come at the cost of casting herself as a political entity just like him who would have to face down figures who would seek her power for their own, or would seek to vanquish it.

Grow powerful and gain enemies while carrying out a task she was not suited for, or pass up this opportunity and instead just give Rustal an increase in his own ranking? Both had their alluring qualities, but to consider the former would mean forsaking her blind loyalty to Rustal in some degree.

"Are you saying that I shouldn't dedicate my life to Master Elion?"

Vidar shook his head no, though his words would somewhat contradict this by adding nuance to the situation, "You can devote it to whatever cause or purpose you choose, but do not forget yourself or your own well being in doing so."

Julieta wanted to be angry at him for daring to bring into question or have her doubting her own loyalty to Rustal, but something about the way he said this made her think that this was said out of concern rather than some form of condemnation. But that would mean that Vidar cared about her well being, didn't it?

The idea that the cold man was beginning to warm up to her, be it his gift earlier as a result of their talk about hobbies or be it now his suggestion that she not play the part of zealot to Rustal, since the implication was that such a role could lead to her own detriment and danger.

"Do you trust me?"

Vidar looked down beside him to where Julieta was in turn looking up at him. Her question was curious to him, and there were many ways to answer it, since the concept of trust had many meanings to different people. Did she mean that he trusted her to perform well in combat? Then yes, he trusted her to pull her weight. But in regards to other forms of trust...

"How so?"

Julieta revealed the previous question to be a set-up for a more important one, "Do you believe that if I know who you are that I will tell anyone? That I may tell Master Elion?"

Vidar looked back towards where they were headed, "You presume he does not already know."

The implication that her leader already knew the identity of Vidar did not wholly catch Julieta off-guard, since she would be surprised if Rustal would just allow such a mysterious fellow to join them without reason or cause, but it still left her wondering if there was truth behind the idea, "Does he?"

"Perhaps."

Julieta narrowed her eyes at the unresponsive man, now a little annoyed that he wouldn't even tell her that. After a short while of him either not noticing or not caring that she was staring at him, Julieta softened her expression and came up with a new question.

"May I know then if I promise not to tell anyone? You seem to think I am loyal, and so I will not betray your trust."

"What will you gain by knowing who I am?" he asked of her not for the first time in their weeks together. It was a valid question though, one she had answered before with "trusting you" and similar statements, but which this time she had a new answer for, one which came naturally to her but still surprised her even as she said it.

"A friend."

Julieta could almost feel his muscles seize at her words, for their previously quick pace had gone from swift to nothing as he stood still in the hallway.

"I do not have friends...not anymore, at least."

Pain...pain and sorrow were the traces of emotion Julieta could feel in his voice. For him to have forsaken friendship itself...to have dedicated his life for vengeance...just what had been done to him to drive him to this point? What tragedy or series of tragedies had he suffered to become so hollow?

Not one to hide what she felt, Julieta openly showed her concern as they slowly began to pick up their pace again, "What did he do to you?"

Vidar did not bother to shake his head this time as he instead looked up towards the ceiling as they moved on through the ship, "I cannot answer that, but I can tell you of why he must be stopped. What do you know of Carta Issue?"

The question he asked was a simple one to Julieta, given her experiences serving one of the Seven Stars, "She was the heir of the Issue family who passed away last year in a battle against the organization Tekkadan, which now is believed to be working with McGillis. Her death left her family with no further heirs, leading their power to be passed to the Fareed family in the aftermath."

"Carta should not have confronted Tekkadan when and where she had engaged them in battle. Two previous engagements showed that she could not defeat them, and her authority only went so far."

Julieta nodded, not knowing why he was bringing up Carta when McGillis was the subject, but she was willing to hear him out on this since it apparently meant something to him.

"Do you know what convinced her to still fight when she had no chance? To try and regain her honor through an attempt to duel enemies to whom honor means nothing but a free opportunity to slaughter one's foes who possess it?"

That was not something Julieta was aware of actually, actually being quite perplexed by the Issue family's last heir and her actions at the time. Fortunately for her, Vidar was quick to filling her in so she did not have to voice her lack of knowledge on the subject.

"McGillis spoke to her with the intent of sending her off to her death. He told her to fight them, and she listened to him, because for years she had loved him. For years she had considered him close and dear to her heart, having been taken care of Iznario Fareed her legal guardian."

Julieta's eyes widened as she heard Vidar reveal information that likely only a select few people in the entire world knew...but given his seeming relationship to McGillis, perhaps it was not so strange at all. If he had worked with McGillis, the man may have very well told him this himself or Vidar could have otherwise learned of it by just being around him.

Further demonstrating just how much he had come to know about McGillis, Vidar continued to explain the failed Gjallarhorn mission to Julieta, "Carta Issue had men who superficially resembled McGillis form her forces, to give you an idea of how deep this attachment went. She would have done anything he asked of her, and so she let herself be fooled into causing her own death."

His left hand, still at his side, balled into a fist as Julieta watched it from that side of him. What he was saying...it sounded like it had something to do with what he spoke of before. So McGillis had used Carta's attachment to him to trick her into having herself killed off...the thought of someone manipulating someone else's trust and emotions like that left a bitter taste in Julieta's mouth, who was feeling her own urge to stop McGillis rising as Vidar spoke.

"McGillis sent a woman who loved him to die for his own benefit, who died thinking of and trying to talk to him. Now he has the power of the Issue family behind him, and no-one questions the circumstances of this unnecessary tragedy."

Unclenching his fist, Vidar stopped speaking to instead take a small breath. Once a moment had passed, he spoke again with a purposefully fake amusement replacing his previous hints of anger.

"Of course, the only witness to Carta's death is now dead, Gaelio Bauduin, so we cannot inquire further than what some have gleamed from the situation," his voice resumed its normal quiet, not revealing his emotions as he hid them just as he did his face, "But ask yourself, if McGillis would have someone who loved him killed for his ambition, what won't he do? What line would someone who does not feel loyalty, friendship, or love not cross?"

While Julieta couldn't tell just how he came across this information, the way he said it the situation made sense and felt true...and it damned McGillis completely, even if they could not truly pin such accusations to him with the lack of living sources for the information. So where then did Vidar come to have it? Was he one of Carta's soldiers who had been thought dead, and thus was seeking to take revenge for his deceased leader? It would explain his insight, as well as his build since it wasn't too far off from McGillis' own and that would make him a candidate for Carta's McGillis lookalike brigade...but would also likely require that he had blonde hair, of which Julieta could not confirm yet.

No matter who he was though, Julieta did at least feel like she understood him now a lot more than before...though her understanding came from now knowing better who it was he was seeking revenge against. By understanding who he despised and wished to see ruined, she could see in ways what kind of person Vidar was: a man for whom loyalty and friendship once meant a great deal, but who had neither now thanks to McGillis, who stood opposite of such traits by betraying a childhood friend in a way that had her killed.

To this same sentiment, Vidar identified himself not by who he was, but by who he opposed, "Who I am is the person who seeks not just to ruin the one known as McGillis Fareed, but to save the world from the danger he poses. Whatever else I may be behind this mask is an unnecessary distraction from that purpose."

"Vidar?"

The two had arrived at the hangar, where they would depart for Mars on their own in their Reginlaze and Vidar Gundam, but they both stopped at Julieta's mention of his name. With him waiting for her to follow it up with some actual statement or question, Vidar just looked down over to her.

Julieta silenced the anger she felt now at McGillis to instead put on a smiling face for Vidar, "I understand now. To take revenge against a man like McGillis...it is not an ugly thing. If he would have a friend killed for his own benefit, a member of the Seven Stars, then he would most certainly try to remove others who oppose him like Master Elion and even Iok."

Repeating her salute to Rustal from before, Julieta held her fist tightly over her chest.

"I cannot allow that to happen, and so if you would let me, I want to aid you when the time comes to bring him justice, be it now or at some other point."

He said nothing in response, but he did push off the docking bay to start heading towards his mobile suit: the sooner they reached Mars, the sooner they could apprehend McGillis after all.

Following after him, Julieta continued to speak, "You are a good man. I can tell, for if you weren't the actions of a man like McGillis would not matter to you like they obviously do...so may I ask something else of you?"

This got Vidar's attention again, with him turning around mid-flight to face her. With his focus on her again, Julieta spoke her second request.

"If you act like McGillis, you will be no better than him, so remember who you are and keep from being what you despise."

Vidar reached his Gundam while thinking over her words, his only verbal response being a quiet, "Who I am..."

While they were going to go to Mars to clean up Iok's mess, there stood a good chance that today would be the day that the masked man Julieta had grown to be fascinated by would have his justice, and would once and for all reveal his face.

Then what might happen, Julieta had no idea, but perhaps then they could actually eat together since he wouldn't have a mask in the way.

______________________________________________________________________________​

A/N: Special thanks to k-gon, Baron Ouroboros, and Potato for your support last chapter, for it is most appreciated and helpful.

For any who may wonder, I am intentionally lagging a bit behind where the show is so that I can account for what twists and turns the show may go through.

Any thoughts you may have would be most welcome in the comments below, and thank you for reading.​

 

[Thunderscourge]

Chapter 4: Wrath
______________________________________________________________________________​

"A Gundam frame?"

Blue and black, the Gundam standing above McGillis Fareed and his ally Isurugi Camice was unlike any either had seen before, even though McGillis had indeed encountered it in the past. Such was the retooling done on the Gundam Kimaris that to see it now did not even evoke the thought that it was the same Gundam but rather a new one entirely.

"It doesn't correspond to anything on Gjallarhorn's matching list."

McGillis became quite wary of this suit that was staring down at them from their relatively small distance away, not yet knowing of its intent or why it would happen to be standing there on Mars despite possessing what was close to a Gjallarhorn signature.

"But its unique frequency signature is very close to Gjallarhorn's reactors."

It was not one of his own forces, which meant that it had to come from another group within Gjallarhorn...of which, McGillis could only think of one which would be intervening here.

"One of Rustal's soldiers?"

Moving to a defensive position in front of McGillis and his Graze Ritter, Isurugi prepared the massive blade of his Helmwige Reincar for combat. The sword, larger in height than the suit itself and possessing a wide frame, required for optimal use for the Helmwige to have special feet to balance out the weight of its own weapon, feet which spread apart to spread out the weight. While the sword was usable without this, it would be at a reduced effectiveness and a prolonged usage of the weapon might cause damage to the joints of the bulky Helmwige despite its power.

"Please stand back, General."

The air was tense down on mars as the black and blue Vidar stared silently down at the other two suits, its pilot at a loss of what to actually do as he came face to face with McGillis Fareed himself.

Isurugi Camice, thinking that they were being ignored, rose his voice as he shouted at this unknown suit looming over them, "Mobile Suit! State your rank and affiliation."

Vidar didn't speak over the communication channel back to the loyal servant of McGillis, but rather quietly inside his cockpit as if thinking to himself, "To think we'd meet again on Mars. This land where all of your betrayals began. Yet..."

His musing was cut short by an ally of his, Julieta Juris, who was on the other side of the ledge he stood atop of. He had suggested that they split up to search for Iok, but Julieta had countered that if Iok had run into some trouble that it may be dangerous to go alone. She benched her concern in being about the mission and how she did not want to lose track of yet another ally, but that the aloof woman cared at all revealed a more personal side to it.

"Vidar, what are you doing? We are supposed to be looking for Master Iok. Hurry up!"

Perhaps, Vidar wondered, was this her way of making sure someone else she knew did not die while she was away? While she acted tough, Vidar had a feeling that Galan Mossa's death still was having its way with her psyche.

However, the mission to find Iok was so distant to Vidar as he stared over towards McGillis in his Graze Ritter, just like what Carta piloted when she held the same position McGillis now did, "What lays before me may give us the answers we are looking for."

To leave now...to leave when the object of his hatred, the center of his revenge was right there...it was difficult to resist the urge to just fire upon him immediately now that the initial shock had worn off. So he offered an excuse to linger here, one which held truth in it as well: there was a good chance McGillis knew something about what happened with Iok after he disappeared on Mars.

Julieta tried to understand what Vidar meant, since he was quite quiet all of a sudden as compared to their small banter that they had been engaged in prior to just now, "Oh?"

Isurugi took Vidar's lack of response to him as a signal of malicious intentions.

"If you will not answer, we will take action!" he was about to say something else when he saw the dark green Reginlaze of Julieta join the unknown Gundam atop the ledge, "Another?"

"I don't understand."

The voice meant little to Isurugi, but McGillis was frozen as he heard Vidar finally communicate with them.

"Piloting the same model in which Carta Issue died crying out for your love...How can you do that?"

Now able to see the two Gjallarhorn mobile suits staring up at Vidar, Julietta began to see why they might be of interest and possible use as she recognized one of them.

"That mobile suit..."

"Answer, you two! Or we'll-"

Julieta cut him off as she looked over towards her partner, beginning to comprehend perhaps why he paused here and why he had stopped looking for Iok. It did not explain however why there was some fool communicating with them in a threatening manner, "Vidar, what is going on? Who is that idiot chattering on the radio?

Vidar's response was solely to her, cutting out Isurugi and McGillis so as to keep it private, "Isurugi Camice, an aide to McGillis Fareed, who as you can see is also present. The larger mobile suit is familiar to me as well. It is the one used to help Tekkadan against Gjallarhorn at Edmonton. Paint and armor do not change a suit's Ahab wave signature."

Now communicating solely to Vidar, Julieta scowled as she realized just what type of situation they had walked into: their enemy within Gjallarhorn stood before them, and if Vidar was true in his intentions to visit vengeance upon McGillis then this was not going to go well.

Still, what Vidar said of Isurugi's suit being that Grimgerde, the suit which aided Tekkadan a year ago, was a piece of damning evidence against him and seemingly a hint that he indeed was the horrible manipulator working against Gjallarhorn's interests Vidar had painted him to be, "So he is conspiring against Gjallarhorn..."

This all however was not what they were there for. When Master Rustal wanted them to fight McGillis, they would, but Julieta was not sure this was the time or place for this battle when there was other things they were supposed to be doing.

"Vidar, our mission is to locate Iok and to find out the situation with the Mobile Armor. I do not see how confronting McGillis now will aid with that."

"Do you think that perhaps McGillis, who Iok was confronting, might have had something to do with why we do not know where he is?"

Julieta saw his logic...it was wholly possible that McGillis, who was in a mobile suit, had dealt with Iok and slain him and his men. There was no way Iok would have just let him walk away in his Graze Ritter, not without a fight at least since Iok was supposedly confronting McGillis at a time McGillis would not be armed with a mobile weapon of some sort. He had headed straight for him after all with what information they had, and so the fact that McGillis stood here was a hint that some kind of battle had occurred.

With this in mind, Julieta steeled herself for possible conflict. If McGillis would not just tell them where Iok was, she would force him to so as to complete her mission. That way they would not have to wander about and try to locate whatever was left of Iok if there even was anything, since here was a possible map right to their objective, "They'll know."

As if he was thinking and gathering his thoughts, Vidar said nothing back and left Julieta to speak to the stunned McGillis and his aide, "McGillis Fareed, I, Julieta Juris of the Arianrhod Fleet request your knowledge of our colleague Iok Kujan. What are his whereabouts?"

Recovering from what Vidar said, McGillis shifted from looking and sounding like he had seen a ghost to his normal calm and formal tone as he spoke, "I-I apologize, but I do not presently know. He and his men awoke the Mobile Armor and it is currently rampaging across Mars. We were headed to combat it, with the aid of Tekkadan."

Julieta paused to think if she should even believe what he said, since they had come all the way here due to disbelieving him...it was possible that he was telling the truth, which was why she asked, but he had not bothered to explain yet what happened after Iok supposedly awoke the Mobile Armor.

As she thought about the issue, McGillis spoke up again with a question of his own, still shaken by the Gundam pilot's voice and how he thought he knew it.

"I did not know that The Arianrhod Fleet possessed a Gundam of this type however. May I ask who is piloting it? It may be of use in confronting the Mobile Armor."

Unsure actually of the answer herself, and not knowing what her partner wanted her to say on the issue, she spoke privately to the man who had taken the name of his Gundam for himself, "Vidar..."

Having received no answer, McGillis took another step forward in his questioning by addressing the quite quiet pilot of the unknown suit before him, "Gundam pilot, tell me, how did you come across that information you spoke of?" McGillis narrowed his eyes as he clenched his controls, "How could you know what my friend said in her dying breaths?"

Julieta had to admit she had been curious about that as well, but she had figured since their last conversation on the topic that he was a survivor of Carta Issue's group. Her guards from her last battle had been labeled as having been killed in action, but she doubted in some ways that that was true. After all, it wasn't like it could be Gaelio, the man who rescued her. He was cremated, and so who else could it be but one of Carta's guards?

Vidar, no longer casting any illusions or doubt on who he was, instantly undermined this conviction of hers as he moved forward in his suit to softly land with the aid of his thrusters on the ground below, to be on equal terrain with McGillis and his comrade only a couple hundred feet away.

"I had to comfort her by pretending to be you as she drifted away...as she died thanks to the betrayal of her 'friend', a man who she loved with all of her heart and would do anything to please."

McGillis paused as he tried to feel out how this was going to go now that he knew for certain who this was. That they had survived shocked him, but he had never bothered to truly check for himself...

Reaching down to its waist where its sword was stored, Vidar began to slowly draw the blade he felt was hungering for the blood of this man before him, "You continue to help those who killed her. You show them the friendship denied to those who showed it to you."

"Gaelio Bauduin..."

McGillis slowly came to smile as he confirmed his suspicion. So the son of the Bauduin family lived...his only friend was still alive, despite having his Gundam run through by the Grimgerde. Thinking back, McGillis pondered if perhaps his last strike had been too much to the left to actually even strike Gaelio...back then he had been so caught up with the moment and the thrill he received from revealing to Gaelio his master plan to have Carta killed, to kill Gaelio, and to marry Almiria that perhaps he had not been as thorough as he ought to have.

"So, you survived."

Vidar, or rather Gaelio Bauduin of the Seven Stars, stepped forward in his suit and began a slow approach towards both McGillis and Isurugi with his fencing sword drawn, "Yes. Unfortunately, they will not be able to say the same of you."

Still atop the ledge, Julieta was in shock as she listened to the confirmation of who her partner was...how was he alive? He had passed away and been cremated...

Her eyes widened as she realized that this was why Rustal supposedly knew who Gaelio was. A man who could hide the entire existence of someone like Galan Mossa could no doubt also falsify someone's death, so to hide Gaelio's survival of Edmonton would be likely very easy for the powerful Elion family. Having recovered the Kimaris Trooper as well and falsify records of returning it to the Bauduin family would also be simple, if the Bauduin family was not in on the whole matter to begin with.

Gaelio Bauduin had been ambushed by a suit belonging to McGillis...Julieta was not so foolish as to not realize what that meant. McGillis had betrayed him and sided with Tekkadan, and in that moment of betrayal he had likely revealed his part in Carta's death. A death Gaelio got to witness himself when he tried to save her from Tekkadan, the death of a close friend he had known for years.

"Ga...Gaelio?" Julieta whispered to herself as Vidar went off to fight, shocked by the knowledge she now possessed which made all the pieces fall into place as to who she had been working with all this time.

McGillis could tell by Gaelio's words that this was indeed going to become a battle, and he was still figuring out how he was going to handle it: there was no guaruntee that Gaelio's ally would actually fight with him, and two on one McGillis was fairly certain they could take down even a Gundam frame, though it would be dangerous.

"So you intend to kill me. Whatever for? What proof do you have of wrongdoing on my part? You would murder a fellow member of the Seven Stars over an unproven grudge?"

Vidar's voice did not raise even as he spoke to the man he hated more than any other, his tone measured at its low inflection as he continued his slow approach to which Isurugi was preparing for, "I would lay your dreams and aspirations to ruin for the sake of revenge, for those lost to your ambition. What others may think is up to them, and has no bearing on us now."

Not wanting to risk things unnecessarily, particularly since a past careless action now was coming to haunt him, McGillis spoke to Isurugi over the same channel, "Isurugi, we must get in contact with our forces and inform them that a rogue Gjallarhorn unit is attacking us and must be eliminated at any cost."

However...

"That is, Gaelio, unless you understand why I may have done what you claim I have."

If Gaelio was willing somehow to let past "differences" remain in the past, perhaps he could be quite the useful ally...McGillis knew of course that it was a longshot and almost entirely unlikely, but if he could both possibly gain an ally while perhaps stalling for time he would. Time favored him and not Gaelio, so he would chew up as much of it as he could.

Now standing only a hundred or so feet away from Isurugi, Vidar shook his head side to side slowly, "I understand that you are of the delusion that murdering your way to the top of Gjallarhorn will somehow enact the change you wish in the corrupt system. The corrupt system Gaelio Bauduin would have helped you fix once upon a time, had you not decided that murdering an ally who would have lent you his strength and power was a superior solution to working together."

Still searching for time, since he was sure they would be pounced the moment they communicated for help rather than focus on their adversary, McGillis continued to talk.

"You know how corrupt our system is, so why stand in my way to fixing it? You know that Rustal Elion manipulated an entire war for his own purposes using that man who worked with Tekkadan under the name of Galan Mossa. So long as tools exist to twist conflict for personal gain, how will the current order ever improve?" McGillis continued to try and see if he could now appeal to Gaelio's once noble intentions, "You've watched the slaughter of innocent protestors by their supposed protectors, Gjallarhorn. Change is needed, and it is not too late for you to help bring it."

"I have lost the will to change. A singular purpose drives my being, and that is to bring you what justice is owed to you for your sins."

McGillis scowled as he realized that indeed this was not going to work and that he would have to fight, only this time he was not as sure of the outcome given that the Graze Ritter's performance was lower than the Grimgerde's, a suit he had piloted knowing it could counter the Gundam Kimaris.

"So you are just another tool for Rustal's ambitions."

Listening to them, Julieta felt herself begin to grow conflicted as the idea of fighting a member of the Seven Stars felt like she would be betraying Gjallarhorn...but McGillis had already betrayed the, had betrayed Gaelio, and so did that make it right? She felt the urge to join Gaelio, but hesitation at how no matter if she joined the battle or not she would essentially be taking a side between two of the Seven Stars: if she fought with Gaelio, it would be for him of course, but if she stood aside then it would mean she wasn't helping him and McGillis might actually stand a chance...

"Vidar..."

Not having forgotten her, Vidar spoke back with a tinge of hesitation to his normal quietness, "Julieta, may I ask of you to aid me in my personal matter this one time? Or, failing that, that you stay out of our way?"

"What of our mission? We have to find Master Iok, and that Mobile Armor sounds dangerous!" Julieta complained, hoping to steer Gaelio away from indulging his wrath.

"Tekkadan is fighting it presently and can handle themselves. The Mobile Armor will be dealt with, but this..."

This was a chance to kill McGillis and stop the world from suffering whatever tragedies he would otherwise cause for the sake of his goals. This was an opportunity to stop a larger threat than a single Mobile Armor, destroying the cancer at its source rather than treat a cold.

The time for deterring the imminent conflict ceased as Isurugi used his suit's thrusters to propel forward and move to meet the Vidar on the wide open field of dirt that was quite representative of the planet's landscape much as how water covered most of the Earth.

"If you would attack Lord Fareed, you are an enemy to Gjallarhorn! I will not allow any harm to the General so long as I live!"

Watching Isurugi approach in his bulky suit at its slow speed almost brought a smirk to Gaelio's face beneath his mask, "You would serve McGillis despite knowing of his crimes. For that, you will be granted no mercy."

Julieta saw the light of the Vidar's reactors light up and she knew it was too late, but she still tried to call after him as he rushed forward to meet Isurugi in combat, "Vidar, wait!"

The Helmwige swung its sword as it charged to try and slice the Vidar in two with one hit, only to be completely avoided as the Vidar spun around it with tremendous speed and with the agility of a feral animal. Seeing this made Julieta sigh as she realized what she had to do now.

"Open warfare between Gjallarhorn..."

Now behind the Helmwige, Vidar kicked it on the back of its knee to disorientate it, blades inside of the Vidar's feet causing the strike to actually penetrate and damage the joint it struck. As it did this the Helmwige tried to stabilize itself from its attack, its pilot not having used such a heavy weapon before and completely shocked with the might behind his attack...but also by the complete uselessness of the weapon against a foe who could dance around it without any effort.

"Certain suits possess qualities that benefit them in one situation, but not another," Vidar spoke to his foe while swinging his own, far lighter, blade.

He stabbed through a piece of the Helmwige's thick armor by using the right momentum behind his strike gained by his spiralling dodge of the Helmwige's next attempt at attacking. Removing the blade from where he pierced the Helmwige, Gaelio dropped down low to avoid a swing aimed at his suit's midsection. With his position near the ground, he stabbed up to impale part of the abdomen, utilizing the fact that most mobile suits had poor defense in their lower torso above the waist to damage the heavier suit yet again.

This strike nearly went through the enemy suit's cockpit, and so Vidar broke off his blade while hurling his suit away with its many thrusters. Upon having the blade separate from its handle it exploded and took with it a chunk of the Helmwige's side, though it did not seem to have dealt too much damage to its center and cockpit given the way the explosion tore through the suit.

Taking another blade from one of his suit's sheaths at its side, Gaelio maneuvered behind the Helmwige to strike it again, "The Kimaris Trooper could do battle against the Barbatos with that inhuman filth piloting it, but against a more agile foe it could not succeed. That armor you have put over the suit that defeated Gaelio Bauduin will be its undoing."

Before he drove a blade through the other suit's beck, Vidar noticed that the other person he had been meaning to fight was actually fleeing. Looking at McGillis finally decide that this was not a battle worth fighting, Vidar pulled out a pistol from his suit and shot him from behind, "No-one said you were allowed to leave."

The shot disorientated the Graze Ritter, McGillis having put his entire focus on escaping at full speed forward with no consideration for dodging since he had not yet seen that the Vidar had ranged capabilities, particularly that it possessed pistols with enough punch to render him offbalance.

While Vidar left to go chase down the foe fleeing from him, Isurugi recovered enough to try and turn to chase after him in turn. This attempt was interrupted however as a powerful blow to the back of the Helmwige drew his attention. Isurugi swung his blade around to counterattack whoever just struck him, but his attack once again failed to find its mark as Julieta's Reginlaze revolved around the suit opposite of his blade to completely avoid the blade.

"Isurugi," Julieta announced as she again struck the Helmwige from behind, targeting where Vidar had already opened up a hole in its thick armor, "Your opponent will be me."

Wising up to his vulnerability from behind, Isurugi instead of taking the long time to turn around with his slow suit decided to propel himself backwards with his suit's thrusters to catch Julieta by surprise as she pummeled his backside with her own suit's pile bunkers.

Julieta responded to this change fast, but not fast enough to completely avoid the Helmwige's backwards charge. She had launched herself up into the air, only for the feet of her Reginlaze to be caught by the back of the Helmwige and for it to send her spiralling in mid-air so that she fell forward to where the Helmwige had been.

With her now prone in front of him, Isurugi tried using his weapon for a killing strike, "You are siding with this man who would dare attack one of the Seven Stars?"

Julieta growled as she launched forth from each of her Twin Piles attachment anchors. One wrapped around the Helmwige's weapon, while the other wrapped around its ankle: with a quick tug, she used the powerful Reginlaze to pull the Helmwige's leg out from under it while also messing up the aim of its sword.

With the same movement Julieta pulled her suit to its feet and punched swung around to punch the stumbling Helmwige across the face, breaking one of the blue and yellow suit's little 'ears' that hung off its head, "I am siding with the man rooting out a traitor in our ranks, and by your willing aid to McGillis I can only assume you share his convictions!"

Isurugi swung a fist out to punch Julieta, grazing the side of her mobile suit as he tried to fight back against his fast foe whose suit was meant for mobile suit combat.

Now yelling, Julieta released one anchor so she could swing around and punch her foe again with her personalized weapons, "Whether Vidar is or isn't Gaelio Bauduin , McGillis will be apprehended and stand trial for his crimes!"

______________________________________________________________________________​

"McGillis, you came all this way to rescue me, didn't you?"

McGillis scowled inside of his suit as he brought it to a halt, the Gundam having outsped him and stopped in front of him with its blade outstretched. The soft way Gaelio was speaking put him off, and the oddness of his statement put him off too.

Now knowing he had no way of outrunning his opponent, McGillis decided to make the most of his situation and see if he could once again defeat Gaelio in combat. The Kimaris had been damaged heavily, and this suit appeared lighter perhaps causing its insane speed, but that might also mean it was an inferior Gundam now if it had not been properly fixed. That gave McGillis a glimmer of hope, so he surged forward with the Graze Ritter's twin swords to try and slay Gaelio for real this time.

"I failed. I failed again, didn't I?"

McGillis' attack followed the lead of his foe's words and failed as Gaelio managed to dive under where the sword aimed to bisect the Vidar, leaving it in an ideal position to then smash the abdomen of the Ritter with a fist. That moment could have been a death blow had the Vidar's own weapon been used, but instead its pilot opted for sheer kinetic force to knock McGillis off-balance.

"Thank you, McGillis," Gaelio continued to speak in his off-putting tone.

With his suit's greater mobility Vidar easily parried McGillis' next attack and twisted his own sword to divert one of the Ritter's clunkier swords into the ground. As McGillis swung his other sword to strike the Vidar, he instead was met with a kick to the cockpit that once again sent him reeling back from the power the Gundam was capable of mustering.

"I figured you would want to hear her final words. They were meant for you, after all."

While falling back mainly by force, McGillis did put some effort to recover from this strike. McGillis tried to study the movements of the vastly modified Kimaris before him. He was quite capable of observing the small details in battle and making the most of them, but this was not an arena where careful study could win him the day. Rather, a sword shaped like an aristocratic fencing blade lodged itself in the left should of his Graze Ritter as he tried to analyze his situation.

He struggled to tear his suit away from where it was impaled, but this seemed to suit his foe just fine. As the Ritter used its thrusters to jet away from the Vidar, the fencing blade dislodged from its handle and the blade embedded in the Graze exploded and took with it the shoulder and left arm of the mobile suit while leaving a small amount of residual damage on the Ritter's left abdomen. While he escaped from the close quarters combat for the moment, it cost McGillis half of his offensive capabilities and half of his ability to parry.

"Gaelio, every second spent here is another that the Mobile Armor has to take lives. We can still intervene-"

This distance achieved by McGillis in his hasty retreat was trivial to the Vidar Gundam, the increase to the Kimaris Trooper's already notable speed allowing it to close their distance swiftly and to launch its next attack. It had twisted its path of approach in order to grab the Graze Ritter's fallen sword from its dismembered arm to now use and bear down on its own suit. McGillis parried it as one of his own blades clashed against his remaining one that he had to desperately throw up to save himself.

"What do I care if Tekkadan suffers losses? Letting others deal with your enemies is something I thought you would agree with," came Vidar's almost bored response over the communication line. He was unaware that it was intending to inflict massive civilian casualties, but that was moot given that it was entangled by the child soldiers who had become the organization named Tekkadan.

The limb difference between the Ritter and Vidar would become apparent as Gaelio used his suit's other hand, fencing sword still held, to punch the Graze in the face and send it scratching against the dirt beneath them. McGillis had tried to move out of the way of the approaching fist but the performance of his suit was just too little in comparison to what he was combating, and his own piloting skills only save him from a small fraction of the damage he would have suffered by the strike otherwise.

McGillis' Graze unlodged itself from the ground it had been knocked down into, metal slashing through the red-orange dirt to lift itself up to confront the Vidar in another clash of blades, the Ritter's own weapons being the instruments of battle as Vidar seemed to silently mock him for the loss of one arm and the weapon it held.

Despite his disadvantage, the fact that the sword was a new weapon for Vidar to wield in his suit detracted marginally from his combat ability giving McGillis a small reprieve...but this reprieve was only enough to let him parry a small series of strikes before his own remaining blade was bashed aside by the Vidar's superior strength and he was slammed in the front of his suit's abdomen right by the cockpit with his stolen sword.

McGillis dug his suit's feet in behind him at first to brace from the attack, but was forced to give up this stabilized position as another attack came in to strike him head on. He backpedaled with the use of his suit's thrusters, escaping what may have been a death blow by mere inches as he began to retreat once more. If he lasted long enough, help may come, but he could not afford to just try and run with the difference in his speed to the Vidar's.

All he could do is hope to bring Vidar back bit by bit to where other members of Gjallarhorn were...but this hope would be forlorn in the moments to come as the Vidar launched forward at full speed, all thrusters firing to make its next strike carry with it enough power to break and dislodge various parts within the Graze Ritter.

What seemed to be oil leaking down onto him covering one eye and blood streaming down the other from the wound on his head caused by slamming into part of his suit, McGillis came to realize with wide eyes that he might actually die here.

______________________________________________________________________________​

"General!"

Seeing the dire straits of his commanding officer distracted Isurugi from his fight with Julieta, and he tried to once again chase after McGillis and Vidar across Mars' flat, orange terrain.

This change in attention caused his large suit's vulnerable back to once again be turned to his current opponent, who took no time to abuse this fact and run after him and drive her Twin Piles into his suit's gradually cracking back, the thick armor having been struck time and time again to the point that it was now cracking.

Not above utilizing what she saw someone else do, Julieta then kicked the back of the Hilmwige's knee like Vidar had to destabilize it. This done, she slammed both of her Piles down on the head of the opposing suit while it fell down to the ground.

"Surrender now Isurugi, or I will show you the same mercy Vidar is giving your master!"

Isurugi flailed on the ground to try and rise, but it proved difficult with how Julieta was punching and beating down on him as he tried to do so, damaging his suit all over bit by bit as its armor just barely held off her powerful melee attacks, "You won't get away with this, traitors! When we make contact with our forces-"

Kicking his sword away from him, Julieta got one last punch in to the Helmwige's damaged side to both weaken it further and also to shake the pilot within with the impact, "You mean 'if'."

Isurugi tried to grab for his sword when another punch to his suit's head changed his momentum and caused him to miss his pickup. As he struggled to move back and grab it he was assulted again, Julieta having used the wires attached to her weapons to tangle up his legs and trip the heavy Helmwige, "Vidar is right, that mobile suit of yours is usless here. You can't keep up with either of us."

McGillis' right hand used a desperate move to try and turn the tables, grabbing for his suit's sword and hurling it as a spinning projectile from where his suit lay tangled on the ground, "I only need to hit you once!"

Despite the visual appeal to the attack, it flew by Julieta's Reginlaze from where she sidestepped it with ease. The Helmwige's attacks were so telegraphed that so long as he attacked as the suit was meant to that it was really little threat to the Reginlaze: maybe the older Graze would have more trouble with it, but its superior in just about every regard except cost was not to fall victim to it.

"Unfortunately for you, you never will, not even with attacks that look impressive," Julieta smirked as she twisted the wires to trip up the Grimgerde's supposed upgrade again as Isurugi tried to get up, "I have been training to beat those brats in Tekkadan since the last time we fought, but what have you done? Sat comfortably in a cumbersome mobile suit?"

Incensed by the audacity of these two fighting them, Isurugi growled at his counterpart, "You serve a man embodying corruption, and now are aiding a man seeking to commit murder who dares to claim himself to be the deceased Gaelio Bauduin. Do you have no shame?"

Julieta released her wires as she caught sight of her opponent trying to grab for them, sparing the thin wires from being broken by the Helmwige's strong grip. As the Helmwige aimed to tackle her with a quick burst of its jets she moved to the side to use her suit's rifle to fire at the wounded part of it, exposing its innards more as her heavier caliber weapon than the Graze's ripped already wounded and torn metal apart, "Is it murder when the person a murderer tried killing comes back to haunt them?"

While he knew of his master's treachery towards Gjallarhorn, Isurugi was not completely in the loop and had been doubting the nonsense their enemies were spewing out of loyalty to McGillis. This made him genuinely conflicted as he was coming to realize that perhaps there may be some truth to their claims, "What are you suggesting?"

Julieta parried a punch from the Helmwige and retaliated with one of her own, punching a hole through the thick nanolaminate protecting Isurugi using the sharp end of her Piles, "The Grimgerde was used to defeat Gaelio Bauduin, and now its upgraded form was given to you by McGillis, the man who Vidar seeks vengeance upon. An interesting coincidence, isn't it?"

"Official records say Gaelio was cremated after being recovered by ground forces, and it seems his Kimaris was recovered as well..." Julieta dodged out of the way of another attack to punch yet another hole through the rapidly decaying shell built over the Grimgerde, her face smirking devilishly as she mocked the rival of her superior Rustal Elion, "McGillis must be a fool to have let both slip through the cracks so easily."

With some of his controls sparking and no-longer functioning thanks to the damage he had incurred, Isurugi continued to try and press on forward and throw punch after punch at Julieta, with her avoiding most but one managing to slip past one of her own counterattacks to knock her back and away from him.

Now given time to regain his bearings, Isurugi looked around to try and find the sword he had hurled desperately before only to find that it was nowhere nearby. Perhaps he had thrown it farther than he had initially thought?

"Where did it go?"

______________________________________________________________________________​

A roundhouse kick with the power of a Gundam behind it knocked the Graze Ritter back and off of its feet, driving it down into the dirt as the Vidar paced elsewhere like someone taking a casual stroll. As he worked to bring his Graze to its feet, fighting against some of its now non-functioning controls in the damaged cockpit, McGillis felt himself begin to grow angry with how Gaelio, knowing all that he did, would dare try to stop him. His betrayal beside, didn't Gaelio understand that this was for everyone's good? That this was the only way forward, at least in McGillis' mind?

"Gaelio, would you truly blind yourself to the corruption of this world? A world where a war between nations would be sparked just to discredit a single person? Where is the pride you once held?"

"Pride..." Gaelio stopped his suit by what he had been approaching, still taking his time to interact with the object at his feet just as he had lounged about to arrive at it, "That died when I lost everything I thought I knew."

McGillis' eyes opened wide for a moment as he saw Vidar pick up Isurugi's discarded weapon, having been hurled some distance and Vidar now having traveled back what little distance he needed to grab it. Gaelio had been working on forcing McGillis back towards where the fight had begun, intent on not allowing him to escape, and so the weapon lay bare for his use.

"Today, McGillis, your plans will fall to ruin, your allies will crumble without you, and you will be forever remembered as the traitor who twisted the world to dance at his fingers, sacrificing the lives of comrades and friends both for your endless ambition."

The Ritter's controls finally jumped back into full operation after some more finessing by McGillis, allowing him to finally begin rising back up so as to continue his retreat, now with the hope that Vidar would make the mistake of trying to chase him while wielding that heavy weapon.

While the Gundam did begin to give chase with the new bulk in-tow, there was a reason for this rather than the simple act of running after McGillis, "There will always be time for change. When the Fareed family loses its only heir, you, now that you have disgraced your father, your family's power shall be untethered. The power of the Issue family you have usurped will be released as well from the grip of the Fareeds."

With a hefty throw from the Vidar, Isurugi's discarded blade was hurled at the Graze Ritter, knocking it off its feet and damaging the suit's upper abdomen heavily where it collided. A small but fast movement from McGillis had allowed him to avoid most of the damage it would have inflicted, but the blood trickling down his face from the damage inflicted to his cockpit showed that his subordinate's weapon had still left its mark.

Now suddenly next to the Ritter, the Vidar grabbed it and lifted it to its feet before punching it in the mono-eye it possessed, then released with a toss back as if he was allowing McGillis to defend himself once again and giving him another chance, "The closest relation your family will have is to my sister, Almiria, and so your would-be wife may be made the holder of the Fareed and Issue families with the way the fallout will go, if it is not granted to the Bauduin family entirely for your subversion and attempt to steal our power through murder and marriage."

McGillis was not going to squander this seeming grace given to him and so he rushed forward with his sword drawn, only for his efforts to be for naught as his own skills were hampered by his damaged suit. With the fencing blade parrying McGillis, Vidar slipped the Ritter's sword across the surface of its original wielder to strip away bits of armor and damage its joints with each swing. Now losing bit by bit, McGillis resumed his attempt to try and pull back from the Vidar, but he was not given a moment of respite to actually pull it off as he was continually put on the defensive and had to focus entirely on not dying in that moment.

"Do not worry, McGillis. I will take good care of Almiria."

While batting away McGillis' blade with the use of both of his own, Vidar twisted his suit around like an acrobat or trained gymnast to slam a foot into the Ritter's frame. Thanks to the blades possessed in the feet of, the kick left its mark on the other suit as they shredded its armor and tore through like a hot knife through melted butter.

"Gaelio..." still trying to put up a fight, McGillis rose his blade up to attack again in a way that would also protect him from another attack, but his now damaged and lumbering suit that was beginning to fall apart at the edges was even less capable of matching the Vidar than it had been at the battle's onset, "I will not let someone so foolish change the plans I have made! The possibility of Humanity shall not be stifled by foolish aristrocrats and their unworthy children!"

Another fencing blade lodged itself in his suit, now targeting his right shoulder and like that an explosion tore through the Ritter and blew off its other arm. The explosive sword nearly knocked the Ritter off its feet, only for a clever use of the suit's thrusters again by McGillis to prevent it from being left prone and instead propelling backwards away from the battle.

"Foolish?" Vidar chuckled to himself quietly inside his suit as he approached his prey, "I suppose I am the fool for trusting a friend. For thinking the man who I thought would help me change Gjallarhorn would be with me to achieve that goal, rather than sacrifice me to achieve a foolish perversion of that desire."

A chill ran down McGillis' spine as the Vidar casually kept pace with him. Why was Gaelio not going for the killing blows he likely could have from the beginning? Was this all just for his own satisfaction, McGillis wondered, to play with his enemy before actually finishing him off?

"You would destroy everything to accomplish your aspirations without knowing what the result would be. You wish to forge a new order from what you burn to the ground, but would destroy everything that exists for that desire, leaving you with nothing to build that dream. You presume that an organization founded upon deceit, murder, and betrayal would be aptly fit to replace one as flawed as the one that exists."

If McGillis had spent the time to learn how Carta came to die and had spent the past year broiling with evidence of the battle and of the battle of Edmonton he would have known that this battle was not simply one of messing around, but of direct mimicry. A year of hatred stewing over the betrayals McGillis perpetrated back then was being brought to the forefront as Vidar was left with free reign to beat him down.

Sparks flew from the Graze Ritter as it was torn apart during its failure at escaping, holes littered across its body in specific placements so as to not kill the pilot but rather to cripple the suit. Entire sections of its armor and frame had been torn off by its own swords, the Vidar having sheathed its own blade to attack McGillis now with his own blades.

With the Graze knocked over again from the sheer barrage it was being put under, Vidar stomped on the cockpit hard enough to crush some of it but not enough to actually kill its pilot. This pinned the struggling Graze down though even as it attempted to jet away, the weight placed upon it holding it down in place.

Looking down at the vulnerable mobile suit below him, Vidar felt a certain weightlessness as the exact moment he had been waiting for came to be. He had his revenge...McGillis would pay for his crimes and his machinations would be ended once and for all...

"You were one of my only friends, McGillis. Someone I thought I would spend my life with as my closest confidant, a man who I could one day entrust my sister with and call my brother."

One sword from the Ritter lodged itself right where McGillis had once used the Grimgerde's blades to impale the top of the Kimaris, while the other stabbed down into its torso where McGillis had thought he had slain Gaelio back at Edmonton. Its swords nailing it to the ground it lay upon, the Graze Ritter was now immobilized and completely at the mercy of Gaelio.

Drawing his own blade once again, Gaelio prepared to plunge it down into the mangled cockpit beneath him, "Now, for the sake of Carta, for Ein, and for all of the others you have betrayed, I sentence you to the death you condemned them to."

"Vidar, incoming enemies!"

Julieta's voice caught his attention and so he looked up to see that three Grazes were rapidly approaching, all of them bearing the markings of McGillis' forces and all of them preparing to open fire on the Gundam in sight.

As they opened fire to try and drive him back away from McGillis, Gaelio smirked at their attempt to aid their leader and shook his head at the unfortunate circumstance they found themselves in that they were loyally protecting a man who did not deserve nor inspired loyalty, "You belong to McGillis' forces. You do not know of the treachery your superior has wrought on the ranks of Gjallarhorn most likely, so I will spare you from the punishment he is suffering."

Some of the ammunition struck the Vidar harmlessly while other bullets connected instead with the downed Graze, wounding the suit stripped of armor more than the intended target. Still, it did draw Gaelio's attention away from McGillis and he moved to meet the incoming suits: while he meant them no ill will, they were about to attack him and he doubted they would just listen to him while in the heat of battle, so he would deal with them in a way that would allow him to explain later just how misguided they once were to loyally follow a man such as McGillis.

"Stay away from Lord Fareed!" the leader of the three Grazes yelled as they drew their axe to engage in melee combat, Vidar readying his own sword for the coming clash at his still relaxed pace from the previous engagement.

Seeing what Vidar was about to do from her position fighting Isurugi, Julieta feared that he might not actually spare them since Vidar had not spoken aloud his intentions, "Vidar, don't!"

The Graze wielding the axe found itself impaled upon the Vidar's sword, its face completely run through by the fencing blade as its own momentum met that of the Vidar's sudden rush forward, having gone from slow walk to rapid approach to both dodge the swing intended for it while also disabling the enemy suit.

This first one dealt with, he kicked it down and stomped on a weak point in the Graze's leg to cripple it. As the other two came to attack him in unison, he jumped up in the air to do a backwards flip using the multitude of thrusters on the Vidar. Now above them, he grabbed them both by their heads and smashed them together. Disorientated, they were easily picked apart by a rapid series of precision strikes that left their suits unable to battle but did no harm to their pilots.

Three Grazes almost piled on top of one another, Gaelio shook his head again as he communicated with them, "Remember that your lives were spared today."

A chorus of yells and shouts from the three pilots were silenced by Vidar as he cut off their transmissions, now focusing again on McGillis. The Graze Ritter had, with the aid of its thrusters, pulled itself from being pinned to the ground though without arms it had not been able to remove its blades. Barely holding together at all, it lumbered forward one pained step at a time heading towards Gaelio slowly before suddenly gaining a burst of speed with the aid of its sparking thrusters.

"Gaelio!"

Seeing this as the last attempt of a desperate man, Gaelio sighed as he prepared his sword again.

"Goodbye, McGillis. You truly were a good friend, for a time."

Impaled straight through the cockpit, the Graze Ritter made no further movement except for when a moment later the blade detonated.

______________________________________________________________________________​

"McGillis, want to play?"

"I'm busy, Gaelio. My apologies."

"If you stay inside reading books all day your eyes are going to go bad."

"Pleeaaaase?"

"Gaelio, we'll always have time to play later."

"You can always read later too! Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Exercise is befitting of a child of the Seven Stars."

"You two go on ahead. I'll be with you soon enough."

"Okay, but I get to have the cookies you could have had then!"

"How improper to not offer them to a lady."

"I need my cookies and milk so I can get big and strong, Carta! One day you're going to be small while I'm all big."

"As if! If anyone is going to be tall, it will be McGillis or I. Your father is average, but Lord Fareed is tall."

"Tag!"

"That's not fair Gaelio...Gaelio, wait for me!"

"Catch ya later McGillis! We're going to be out having fun!"

"Goodbye, Gaelio."

______________________________________________________________________________​

Seeing the death of his commander sent Isurugi into shock, the man pausing in place as he saw the Graze Ritter explode violently, no hope that its pilot had survived. Not even the reinforcements that had come were able to even stop this beast, and now it had managed to finally finish off its quarry.

"General Fareed!"

In anger he used his Helmwige Reincar to blitz at Julieta just as she moved to parry a punch, tackling her in the process. Just about done with carving through his protecting armor and having pounded the vulnerable waist of the Helmwige plenty, Julieta was on the edge of victory with only a couple more well placed strikes needed to fell it, but this sudden assault left her on the defensive.

"You will pay for this!"

While the Helmwige was powerful, it was not armed presently and so even though it tackled Julieta and drove her back into the small cropping of terrain she and Vidar had stood upon before. With her Reginlaze buried into its side, the Helmwige began to punch savagely down on its foe in a fury of an anguished man who lost his respected superior, his conflicted thoughts forgotten in the rage he felt.

Julieta moved her suit's arms up to brace herself and prepare a counterattack when suddenly the punches stopped halfway through a new volley. It took Julieta a moment to notice, but to the side of the Helmwige now stood the Vidar stabbing into the now gaping hole that it had first opened and which Julieta had reinforced.

The Helmwige collapsed down and Vidar used his suit's firearm to fire into the many cracks and holes left in it to make sure of its defeat, landing the killing blow after Julieta cracked its shell and paved the way for it.

Grateful that she was no longer being pummeled into a wall, Julieta let out a breath of relief to her partner, "Thank you, Vidar..."

Should she call him Vidar now, even though she knew who he was? He had chosen the name for a reason...did he want to be identified by it and abandon his past still, or did he wish to return to normalcy now that McGillis was defeated? Not knowing the answer to this, and not knowing how to broach the subject, Julieta lapsed into silence as Vidar stood still near her in his suit.

It took a few moments, but eventually Vidar was the one to resume the conversation, something now on his mind as he sat in his cockpit with his hands before him.

"Julieta."

Not knowing what to say or even do concerning the fact that they just wiped out their political enemy in a moment of opportunity, Julieta stammered as she tried to gather herself, "Y-yes?"

"Can I...may I ask you to testify to what happened here today?"

Realizing what he meant, Julieta closed her eyes and began to think about how what had happened, "When confronted by someone he had attempted to murder, McGillis Fareed and his ally Isurugi Camice attempted to silence Gaelio Bauduin. At one point, McGillis attempted to try and recruit him to his subversive cause that seeks to defeat Gjallarhorn. In response to the offer granted to him, Gaelio fought McGillis and in the end McGillis was slain during a final attack on Gaelio."

It was not the entire truth, but it did cover much of what happened: Isurugi had attacked first when they all had been talking, and McGillis had thrown the first punch in a way even earlier by trying to murder Gaelio much before.

The conversation may have delved deeper into what happened if not for a large stream of light breaking across the sky. The streak of energy was not without any fanfare however, as with it came a loud, inhuman scream, originating from another part of Mars.

Quite sure that something like that could only come from the ancient threat known as the Mobile Armor, Vidar thought that it was time to get back to what they had come here for.

"It appears that we have another foe to face."

Julieta sighed as she realized that something that menacing likely had something to do with this entire situation, particularly why Iok was missing, "Iok likely will be there, if he's alive. He is too stupid not to be."

In agreement for what they had to do next, they both set off towards where the light and noise had originated in another lapse of silence. Eventually however a thought came to mind that amused Vidar enough to mention it.

"I suppose you know my secret now."

"Now..." Julieta let out a sad breath. It was true, after all his little hints and his occasional revelations she had finally had the truth spelled out for her.

Vidar was Gaelio Bauduin, son of the Bauduin family and Gjallarhorn officer who worked to inspect the organization to root out corruption and inefficiency.

He had sought revenge on the vile McGillis Fareed who had tried murdering him, leaving himself as the heir to their family by being engaged to Gaelio's young sister, and gaining the power of the powerful Issue family for his own use following Carta's death...knowing about the Seven Stars and their inner politics did not particularly interest Julieta, but knowing that information as a member of Gjallarhorn and as a retainer of Rustal Elion felt like an obligation.

Julieta felt her hands grip her controls hard enough for her fingers to actually begin hurting.

What now?

He was not a peer to her like she had thought. He wasn't a man raised up by Rustal to become somebody like she had been, he was just like Rustal or Iok.

Did that change anything though? Despite being above her in station and having no obligation to interact with her at all, he had still been friendly to her. He still spent time with her, even giving her a gift.

But now...Gaelio Bauduin...

Julieta shook her head no, dispelling thoughts of the purple haired heir she had really only known by name, "Now's not the time. We'll talk more after the mission Master Rustal gave to us."

"Of course..."

As cathartic or however it may have felt to finally be rid of their shared enemy, there was still work to be done, and so the two departed to where the Mobile Armor and Tekkadan were engaged in brutal combat.

Julieta took a breath to calm herself, actually feeling a smile come to her face as she realized that Gaelio wasn't the only one who might get what he wanted that day: if Tekkadan was already fighting the Mobile Armor and it wasn't defeated yet, she still had a chance to slay it herself and earn its Order for the sake of Rustal.

Anything for him...anything to repay him for how he took care of her and Galan Mossa.

______________________________________________________________________________​

A/N: As you may have noticed, we're going off-canon now. That's going to be a thing. Closer Vidar/Julieta results in them not splitting up to find Iok, and things go differently without Julieta to call Vidar away (she still suggests it, but there's a difference between 'I found Iok come here now' and 'Let's go look for Iok'). Given the circumstance and the performances of both McGillis in the Graze Ritter and Isurugi in the Helmwige in comparison to how well Julieta did against the Mobile Armor, the first two were pretty unprepared for sudden Vidar/Julieta run-in.

Any thoughts you may have would be most welcome in the comments below, and thank you for reading.​