When Kartal offered a chance to train and YingJue requested a practice Gunpla Hedy agreed, "I do have an extra two Gunplas with me. Although they are only specialized ones that might take some getting used to." She recalled the way the Mythos worked in the match against the Canadian Champion and thought the racer and flyer might not be suited for what YingJue wanted to use.

Brian made his way to the observation lodge when he greeted the Brigade, "An easy match thus far. It would seem there is nothing now for us to do but wait for the next opportunity."
One of them agreed, "For real. You totally nailed them out there David!"
Brian raised his hand as if giving an order, "I want information gathered on my next opponents. Find the greatest threats I shall have and I will prepare for the best they have to offer." At that order he saw the Brazilian Champion meeting his gaze when Brian asked, "Ah. Hey there kid. I forgot to tell you a good match didn't I?"
"I'm not a kid. And I hope you don't plan on relying on cheap tactics like what you gave out there."
Thanks to the mask Brian was able to hide any signs of concern for his cover being blown. He managed to ask back in accusation, "Cheap tactics? You assume that I had something to do with your own losses?"
"It might as well be a warning. You should know that the Danish and German Champions aren't going to let themselves be overwhelmed so easily."
The matches that had been progressing gave him a reminder of what he would be up against. Those two faces were new but they were going to be a problem if he couldn't deceive them face to face. Brian brushed aside the Champion when he told him, "Hmph. Duly noted. Now out of my way I must prepare for the next match."

Hedy saw the Carozzo cosplayer make his way through the watching area when she observed, "Well I'm getting something from that guy now. He's definately an Aries."

Kartal had a look at the Gunpla rental corner, fortunately there with a small rental fee for the repairs needed. He had a look at what’s available. Remembering YingJue’s use of her Dragoons he’ll have to find a Newtype use Mobile Suit or something with the INCOM system. What he found was the Gundam Mk-V, one of the main Mobile Suits from Gundam Sentinel. With the INCOM system similar to the Dragoons he decided to pick it up and placed a thousand yen note at a counter with a boy who was busy repairing damaged kits (and reminded him of Kid Salsamille). He passed the blue-coloured Gundam to her. “This might be suiting for you.” He explained to her. “The Gundam Mk-V has the INCOM system, similar to your DRAGOON.” He activated the battlefield and placed his GP Base and Marmara Hyperion, waiting for her to begin.

The possible news of con-artist will force the PPSE to bolster security. The two commentators and other staff were called for a meeting to discuss those measure "So at some point we will have Astonage at the checkpoint to inspect models for fakes." Torres read on the plan. "There's reports on a possible con-artist and sponsors along with VIPs must have their ID cards visible."
Saegusa took a nod as he wrote some information down. "It's inconvenient for some people but it will have to go." He commented on it.
Astonage nodded. "We don't want to bother Meijin Kawaguchi during his world tour either." He agreed. "And we should try to solve this within ourselves before getting an international referee."

YingJue took the Gundam MkV gratefully and began messing with it, moving its joints, opening up panels, pretty much figuring out all its gimmicks in order to familiarize herself with it. "OK, I think I'm ready."

YingJue placed the Gundam MkV and her base as well. Controlling the Gundam, Yingjue made it move around a bit, trying out its weapons and releasing and retracting the INCOMs to test it. "What sort of training do you think I should focus on?"

"Hope the training goes well for your guys." Hedy waved to Kartal and YinJue preparing for their training when she turned to the city outside. She took out a "Right now I have some... Investigative work to do."
Hedy was outside the stadium when she observed the audience leaving for the matches held today and went over her findings. "Okay who have I seen today..." She looked through the list of characters who made an appearance so far and lamented, "Darn, out of all the characters the only Gundam 00 characters I've seen were in Honolulu. If that's the only spot I'm probably not even close to finding Tieria anywhere..."
"Finding other can be bothersome can it?" Hedy turned around and saw the French Champion show up behind her.
She probably didn't hear what Hedy was looking for but could tell from her observations across the city streets. Hedy nodded when she answered"Oh. Uh yes. A lot of people gather here after all."
"Are you looking for the New Zealand Champion at all?"
Hedy remembered what the others were probably hoping she would attempt to discover and agreed, "Uh... I was getting to that!"
"Well regardless we really should try to follow him. I have a feeling he didn't entirely rely on skill in that match."
"You have an idea that he probably didn't? I thought he had his beam saber in overdrive that last match."
"Even if it was there's no way Habib Bhanjee's gunpla would have self destructed like that."
"You're probably right. Before searching though I'd like to intduce ourselves."
The French Champion greeted stretching her hand, "I suppose it's a nice formality at least. I'm Genevieve. Fourneir of course."
Hedy decided to make the best of the situation when she shook Genevieve's hand asking, "And I'm Hedy McVey. Oh yeah, I'd like to know your birthdate also please."
The request was as odd as it seemed to anyone else the first time but Genevieve answered, "I was born on February 15..."
Hedy took a look through her small book and did her best to supress an excited observation of her starsign. "This should be a good sign. I'm a Gemini so we'll at least have a chance to work well together." She explained.
Genevieve agreed with the idea when she pointed to one end of the city, "I hope so. Just be sure to let me know if you see Holden headed anywhere. We have to find out who he is and if he's hiding anything under that mask."
Hedy saw her new friend walk off with the intent while she agreed, "Yeah uh... sure. I'll start my search." Hedy sighed as she seemed to be forced into an assignment on her time off. "And here I though the security would be enough..."

Brian remained in his trailer as he tried to overlook the situation at hand. The fake parts had been quickly spotted in the tournament as expected but he had to reform his strategy to look for an easy victory. "So they're going to be stepping up the security that much already. I'll have to find another way in if that's the case." He ruffled through the pieces and the weapons his case had when he decided there was only one way to distribute everything now. "Well profits aren't everything. I guess I'll just have to go with the kindly old act of buying into their eagerness."
Brian heard a few knocks on his door when someone outside reported, "Hey David. I got those addresses you requested."
"Good job. Slip them in."
"Really? Come on man it's not like you're-"
"I am making a secret plan. This has to be done by my accomplishments alone."
"Okay here you go..." The paper slipped below the door and Brian was quick to pick it up. Brian looked through the list of addresses the Champions were residing in and decided there was at least one way that he could attempt to meet them.
"So maybe I can't make direct contact with them but..." He looked over his Zssa and decided on the next phase of his information gathering. "Maybe just not as the Champion." Deciding to search through Brian Holden's regular wardrobe for something more casual he would be able to disguise himself well when he made his first visit with the German Champion.

Kartal tried to remember how YingJue's battle went to think of an effective way to train. He remembered how the Freedom Gundam of the Canadian champion managed to avoid all attacks. He had an idea and had the battlefield generate AI Victory Gundams as opponents. "Try to land a hit on the Victory Gundams." He instructed. "They're small and agile, ideal for training against a larger Stark Jegan or Freedom." He typed orders on the AI to move across the battlefield in space and left them on a passive state. "I chose the INCOM for one disadvantage: They need to be wire-guided so a non-newtype can use it." He explained the reason for selecting the Gunpla.

***

The German champion was reading through fansites of the tournament on the reviews of the battle in her room, having her Gunpla on the desk with her keffiyeh. With her beauty and skill in battle she found herself being considered one of the fan-favourites to win the tournament. Among the other favourites were the Danish, Thai, Japan 2nd block and Canadian champions. The Thai champion was last year's winner and she once dated the Danish champion to note. She found a profile on her at the site and decided to check on it for accuracy:

Lindemann was born in Berlin as an heiress to Lindemann Exports run by her father for at least three generations. She was introduced to Gundam when a dub of Gundam Wing was broadcasted in Germany and her interest escalated when Plavsky Particles were introduced to the world. Although she has been Gunpla battling within Germany for years she only joined the world tournament this year. She is known as the Sunbird, appropriate for her beauty and apparent 1/8th Palestinian heritage.
It is known that due to her wealth she makes use of limited edition Gunpla in Gunpla battle. Some Gunpla in her collection are Jegan D-Type, M'Quve's custom Gouf and Crossbone Gundam X-2. Her Gundam for the tournament, Gundam Sandesgeist Trabant may have some exclusive parts built into it. Sandesgeist derives from 'Ghost of the Sand' and Trabant for 'Satellite' as it was from a Gundam X.

"That's accurate I guess." She noted. She had a look at the ring she wore of a sunbird with an amethyst and opal. Her break ended briefly when she heard the doorbell. She wore her keffiyeh again before answring the door. She had a brief look at who's at the door and found a strange man. She opened the door to speak to him. "Hello, how am I able to help you?" She asked.

Hedy began searching through the city square and found the area the Char Clone Brigade had begun to celebrate its own mini events in celebration of the first day of matches. “Well I guess the best way to start is where he’s with his own.” She saw the cosplayers holding a variety of events from mini gunplay tournaments to trivia games. She found one of the cosplayers nearby and asked, “Hi could you tell me where the New Zealand Champion David Holden is?”
A cosplayer dressed as Glemmy Toto gestured, “Oh sure. He’s in his trailer waiting for the next match. You’re probably not going to get to see him any time soon though. He’s always locking himself up in there.”
Hedy decided to face the challenge when she made her way towards the trailer. “Well I guess I’ll have to see for myself.” She saw a guard dressed as Chronicle Asher when she asked, “Hi, is there anything I can do to meet with the New Zealand Champion?”
The guard didn’t move from his spot when he answered, “I’m afraid not. Mr. Holden will not meet with anyone until he says so otherwise.”
“Seriously? Not even to fellow competitors?”
“Like he said. No one.”
“Well that at least mean’s he’s in there right?”
“Haven’t seen him leave.”
“And I take it there’s still no getting past you.”
“You guessed right.”
Hedy decided to walk away from the dedicated guard when she waved, “Okay enjoy your day.” She decided she needed a new plan when she told herself, “Well it looks like I’ll have to find out another way in. I guess there will have to be some other way to find out what David is up to.”

Brain saw the door open and was able to conceal any signs that he might have been J.J. Martin at the stadium. He introduced himself, “Hi there Ms. Lindemann. I’m Chuck Herring with Pojo. I’m just wondering if you have any time for an interview?”

"OK, I'll give it a try," YingJue said. She piloted the Gundam Mk.V out and took a few shots with her beam rifle, which the Victory Gundams dodged easily. She sent out the only two INCOMs that the suit had in order to surround one of the AI suits, but they wouldn't allow themselves to be surrounded by the wired weapons. YingJue wished she had more INCOMs but proceeded; she tried shooting the Victory's with both the INCOM's and her beam rifle, but with only three beams coming out, they were easily dodged. Yingjue was used to completely inundating her opponents with beams so this was very frustrating. She tried firing repeatedly, alternating between the INCOMs and her rifle to throw the AI off, but it was no use. She fired simultaneously instead and noticed something that she probably should have noticed before. All three beams intersected at a single point. YingJue stopped for a moment. She always wanted all of her shots to hit the target, and she always shot at where the target was, not where they were going to be. If they were moving, she needed to lead the shot, but what if they weren't moving? What if, like these AI, they were just waiting for her to fire so they knew how to react? Shooting at the enemy from a variety of directions did no good unless she fired at a variety of potential locations. This time, she fired her beam rifle repeatedly at on gundam, causing it to move forward, then she fired her INCOM's simultaneously, one aimed in front of the gundam, one where the Gundam currently was, while the beam from her rifle continued to follow the target. This way, if the target continued, it would get shot, if it stopped, it would get shot, and if it reversed, it would get shot...

The Victory shot upwards. YingJue clenched her teeth. Of course, in space, all dimensions were maneuverable. She tried the same thing again, only this time, instead of lining up her three shots up in a straight line parallel to the flight path of the target, she fired in a triangle that was wide enough to catch the target, but small enough that it couldn't easily slip in between the shots. This was how anti-air flak cannons were designed, to shoot in a two-dimensional area rather than in a straight line to increase coverage and the chance to hit a fast-moving object. One beam grazed the foot of the victory as it attempted to dodge upward again, but it was still a hit. "I think I'm figuring something out," YingJue said, mostly to herself.

Smart shooting had never been something YingJue had to develop, as she had relied on volume and it had served her well up to this point. Yet she looked a the INCOMs floating there. As they were, they were nothing more than stationary turrets. Maybe it was time she learned how to fire while moving.

Kartal saw how YingJue was progressively improving in the training on how to use Psycommu weapons. It was now giving the Victory Gundams a hard time now with the INCOM. He hoped that this training at least will help her out, seeing himself as the best mentor she can get at the moment.

***

At the other side of the trailer was the voice of Heine. “So Mr. Holden is not available for a quick interview?” He asked.
The bouncer at that side, cosplaying Lancerow Dawell was as adamant as his counterpart at the door. “I’m afraid so.” He replied. “I’ll however let him know that you want an interview with him.”
Heine was about to leave the premise with Miguel carrying the camera with some disappointment but after seeing Hedy he realised that he can still get an interview from the American champion. “Excuse me, do you have time for an interview?” He asked. “I’m Heine, the image character of the tournament and the cameraman is my brother Miguel. We'll have to move elsewhere to have a proper interviewing environment if so."

***

Sanada took a smoke on one of the balconies in the hotel, having a look at Shizuoka city from there. He loved the ocean that he saw, shining from the reflection of the Sun. He lives in Yokosuka, where the Maritime Self Defence Force has it’s headquarters alongside a US Navy base close by. He loved seeing the ships from buildings in the city. He noticed there is also a gym in the hotel and workouts can be done with the ocean in sight. He found Brisker running on the treadmill there, training like a soldier.

***

Lindemann was convinced of Herring. “Sure.” She replied. “I need to get my room ready first.” She quickly returned to her room to give a quick clean of the room and close the curtains to allow an interview. She also returned her Gunpla into a sturdy case but left a blueprint of a new model under design on her laptop. She returned to open the door. “My room is prepared, please come in.” She opened the door wide enough for Herring to enter.

While Hedy continued to ponder a way in for the trailer she saw Heine and Miguel introduce themselves. She smiled at the opportunity for an interview when she answered, "Well anything to distract me I'm willing to take. Sure thing."

"Ah perfect. Thank you miss." Brian walked in and managed to find a few things that were to his advantage. The gunpla was put away but the blueprints on Lindemann's computer was something he could take opportunity of. He took out a notepad and began, "So here's what we have in store, we at pojo are getting ready to expand our business into the gunpla market and we're hoping to hear from some of the most top class champions on building and battling advice. You know for the new aspiring guys." He began the series of questions, "So for starters when you enter a battle do you tend to let others take the first strike to your advantage or do you prefer to prevent them from even getting a chance?" "Do you rely on anything to prevent being brought to a disadvantage?" "And of course is there any special timeframe you use to know your enemy before they have a chance to change the course of the battle?"

They moved to where the stadium can be seen for the interview. Heine signaled Miguel to stop and adjusted himself to fit in the camera. “Hello everyone!” He began. “This is Heine again! We ended the first period of the tournament and it seems that we already have some favourites! We have with us the USA champion Hedy McVey, who will answer some questions for us exclusively and some submitted by our very fans!” He got Hedy to the frame of the camera. “So Ms. McVey, what got you into Gunpla in the first place? Was it the models, anime, gunpla battle, favourite character?”

"It depends on who's against you." Lindemann replied. "You need to have knowledge on your opponent’s Mobile Suit first so you have a knowledge of it’s weakness to exploit." She continued with the answers. " Also you need to make sure that you have enough trick so your opponents won't be able to predict you. Sandesgeist has plenty and they are all a secret!" The blueprint looked like a new weapon set to supplement the Sandesgeist, able to hold beam sub-machine guns, grenade launchers beam sabers and a bazooka. It would be placed on the torso as it will be accessed easily and provide extra protection. It appears to be inspired by the Stutzer packs seen use by Zeon remnants in the Advance of Zeta manga series.

"Oh this will be fun!" Hedy took the time to answer the first question at hand, "What made me become a build fighter? Well it may fall under favorite character category but it's the hope to see that I one day win the affection of the great Tieria Erde! No matter how low or how high I have to set my sights I'll either impress him with my abilities or be humbled by his cool demeanor meant to temper me in his embrace..." Before she became lost in the fantasy she had just described Hedy moved closer to the camera lens when she emphasized her desire, "I've studied the astrological powers for many years. Me and him were both born under the perfect months and dates to be prepared for the most ideal love any two people could ever hope for. If you're out there Tieria, I'm here to progress this match for you!"

"Ah yes, it's always a good idea to keep ones best tactics a secret. Best tactics are always discovered through their own experiences though aren't they? Of course I'm talking common sense." Brian took the notes in as he fulfilled his role before he took out his cellphone while aiming for the right angle where he found the laptop screen when he asked, "It's been great interviewing you Ms. Lindemann. Now just for the article I'll need a quick update photo... Perfect." Brian managed to capture some of the Champion's image but found he was able to get the most important target, the blueprints on her computer. He stood up as soon as he had the image and parted, "Keep an eye out for my blog Ms. Lindemann. I'll have a good word out for you." Brian walked out of the entrance when he held his cell congratulating, "Hehe... One down."

The next thing YingJue tried was she let her both INCOMs go out as far as they could. Then she flew the Gundam Mk.V at top speed, firing at one of the AI drones. As it dodged around, she fired her INCOMs at it as well, but then she retracted her INCOMs as fast as she could so that as the INCOMs came swiftly back to the Gundam, their position changed drastically, and the direction from which they were firing also changed drastically. She also remembered to fire around the target rather than directly at it so that any adjustment it made to its course would cause it to get hit. With the INCOM's changing their position while firing, it became increasingly difficult for the AI to predict where the shots would come from next, allowing Yingjue to score more and more hits as she got used to it.

"Kartal, could you increase the AI's intelligence a bit? Maybe have them become a bit more aggressive, I need to sharpen my sense of combat awareness."

Kartal adjusted the AI difficulty as asked by YingJue. He saw that the Victory Gundams now began to open fire and actually using it’s transformation gimmicks in battle. “You’re doing good so far.” He praised while preparing to adjust the difficulty again upon further request. The next session can possibly work with a Moebius Zero if she can use the Mk-V effectively. The battle also got the attention of other people in the room and even Kid stopping his work to watch.

***

Heine paused with Hedy’s answer as he never interviewed someone that enthusiastic before and extreme passion for Tieria. Miguel could only give a shrug as he held the camera still. The interviewer was quick to recover and issued a new question selected from a social networking site. “Okay, we have a question by Mr. Alex Crocket from New York, USA: I watched the qualifiers on television! Congratulations! How do you think you will do in the tournament?” He expects another reply with enthusiasm and hoped when he interviews Holden it won't be like that.

***

Lindemann gave a wave. “I’ll check your blog.” She commented farewell. She was going to return to what she was going to do previously. She got her Gunpla out again, reflecting on how much time and premium parts she invested on perfecting it for the tournament. Her parents were fortunately open-minded with her hobby with her father realising how it might help with teaching her structural strength as should be known in the steel industry. She realised something that was forgotten due to the interview. “I need to tell Juri and Sulu when to meet for a night out!” She remembered. She returned to her laptop to begin typing messages to her friends on a social networking site.

Hedy answered the next question from her distant fan, "I want to start by saying Hi Alex. If you want to know where I think I'll end up, you could probably expect me to be in the finals. First, second, tentth? Whever Tieria wants to see his champion reach I'll be sure to make it there. No obstacle is going to stop me." Her anticipation was still visible and gave an idea of enthusiasm that some had obviously come to admire about the American Champion. It didn't seem that anyone recognized Brian's observation when he made his way through the alleyways.

Brian had a list of the champions and details within his grasp he managed to obtain in his disguise as the pojo blogger. Unfortunately there was now the issue of getting into his trailer because of Heine and Miguel's decision to interview Hedy so close. "Great. Just who I need to see. A big obstacle from getting to my hiding spot." He cursed. He curled the papers into his pocket when he assured himself, "Well as long as they don't get into the trailer at least I wont have to worry about my identity."

Heine found the next question on his phone. “Thank you Hedy for answering a fan’s question.” He concluded the first fan question. “We now have John Jobs from Sydney, Australia: Are you more of a modeler or a fighter? A lot of Gunpla builders tend to be filed into one of them with how one side make up for fighting skills with well-crafted models and others focus more on the combat.” Miguel signaled Heine that they’re becoming low on battery so this will have to be their last question.

Hedy tapped her chin when she answered, “Hi John. I think I’m more of a battler. Trust me it’s important to keep a well-built gunpla is the first important thing of staging a battle. When I have something built and ready to head out in though, then I’m really ready to rush in and show who’s boss. It’s probably the only way I managed to handle the TC’s four arms in such a short time. Obviously I managed to get the TC to pull it off though, and it’s just a question of trying to keep a decent model together.”

Brian observed the answer Hedy was giving when he tried to consider his next strategy. “Is that right?” He made a quick note when he heard the answer. “Well I guess I could take this as a bit of an indicator. It’ll be tough to get her apart from her gunpla though.”

Thankfully the reply to John’s question wasn’t as energetic. It was also a good time to wrap it up. “Right, thank you Hedy for sparing some time for the fans around the world.” He returned in. “That will be all the questions for the interview. We wish you good luck for tomorrow.”
The camera stopped recording as the interview was finished. Miguel made sure everything was recorded in the camera and gave a thumbs up. “It’s all recorded!” He informed him.
Heine gave a smile. “Great!” He replied and turned to Hedy. “Thank you for the interview. I’ll make sure it will be on tonight. Check TV Tokyo for it.” He walked away with his brother to get the tape to the studio, leaving Hedy alone.

With the Victory Gundams now on the Offensive, YingJue couldn't just concentrate on her own attacks, but if she focused too much on dodging, she would have a hard time taking them down. She decided first just to make sure her suit didn't get damaged by dodging. Of course, she knew how to dodge, and the AI wasn't particularly ruthless at this point yet, and she quickly got used to dodging the AI's attacks. She the nsent out her INCOMs to see if they were fired on. They weren't, so Yingjue fired a few shots from them to draw attention.

YingJue realized that her shots didn't always have to hit, sometimes she could just use her funnels as a distraction. She'd have to remember that for future use. As expected, the Victory Gundams started firing on her INCOMs as well. In her last battle, Several of her funnels had been gunned down, so now she practiced dodging attacks to her suit as well as her INCOMs. It wasn't as hard as keeping track of all her funnels, but it was a start. She quickly acclimated to that, and now she tried putting what she had learned about attacking in the previous session with her current dodging. She realized that like herself, the AI had difficulty dodging and attacking simultaneously, so any AI suit that seemed intent on trying to hit her were easier to take down. In this way she prioritized her targets, the ones that were attacking her were the greatest threat, and at the same time, the most likely to get hit. She was able to slowly but surely take out all the targets. She was a little exhilarated, not expecting to be able to do that well, having been slightly demoralized from her loss. She noticed that her little training session had gathered something of a crowd. YingJue blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed.

"I-I'm done for now...I guess..." She ran over to Kartal, "Thank you for training me, please let me pay for the rental of this Gundam, you already treated me to dinner the other day."

Heine and Miguel left while Hedy waved, "Bye. Enoy the rest of the show!" She decided to make her way down the streets when she found several gatherings at the stadium. "I guess if they couldn't find David we're probeably not going to have a lot of luck anywhere. Well I hope Genevieve got somewhere."

"Finally. Thought those guys would never leave." Brian made his way through the alley and found the window to his trailer. He managed to avoid being seen by the two Brigade guards when he slipped in and found his room the way he left it. He looked over the list of information he gathered when he observed, "Now I won't have anything to worry about and I can keep up the big time ace act. Especially when I know their every move."

The day was passing when Hedy found YingJue and Kartal at the gunpla practicing area. She greeted to them, "Hey guys. Training go alright?" She thought to herself on her own progress for the rest of the day, "Well at least they'll have gotten more accomplished today than I could have. At least there's still a few days to go right?"

The Plavsky particle dispersal in the battlefield ended and the Gundam Mk-V dropped to the floor. Kartal gave a nod with the improvements after training with the Victory Gundams. "Sure." He replied on paying for the rental. "It will be 1,000 yen." He reminded her.
Kid, distracted from the repairs he was focusing on gave a comment. "I'm blessed to work in a place where world level Gunpla-builders battle." He commented the battle he watched.
Kartal turned to find Hedy. "Hey Hedy, we just finished the training session." He greeted back. "We have seven more periods. There's still hope to make it to the finals." Their battle for the championship only begun. "I'm going to call it a day for Gunpla battles now. I'm going to work on my Hyperion's maintenance in my room now." He left the training room to return to his hotel room. He will just buy some packed meals at the convenience store for dinner and go to sleep.