The past week had been an interesting one for Corporal Price as he integrated into his new unit. Of course, as much as the Captain tried to make him feel welcome, which wasn't too hard when there were only two original members of the team left, Baxter hadn't really spent too much time around them or talked to them too much beyond when they were training together. He had defected from Zeon and joined the Federation with the desire to bring an end to the Zabi tyranny, yes; but that didn't mean that he felt any kinship with the Federation itself, or that he could find himself considering it a second home. Side 3 was his home, and it was just going through a rough patch right now. He appreciated that there were good people fighting for the sake of Earth, but he couldn't let himself be sucked into their ideology. The Principality was by far the greater of two evils, but the Federation still had some things to answer for when it came to the colonies.<br/><br/>But those were problems for after they defeated Zabi (if they defeated him), and he certainly wasn't about to share his nationality with his new teammates. Instead, he put all of his efforts into gathering whatever information he could about the enemy from those around base, especially equipment and known officers (if he happened to recognize the officer's name and have some intel of his own to fill in the blanks, all the better). His time in the simulation and in field training was mostly spent with his new Gundam's two beam swords. He made sure he could handle the 100mm, of course, but with two incredibly good marksmen at his back, he felt confident enough to focus on the up-close-and-personal. It helped his interest in melee combat that he had been a fencer growing up, though holding a real sword versus holding one with a mobile suit really was as different as walking on foot and driving a car. He would make it work, though.<br/><br/>Really, the what got him most was the quality of this new Gundam model: it was far smoother and packed more of a punch than anything he had ever piloted before, and rumor had it that it could take more hits than any other suit out there while dealing more damage. He would have the chance to find out himself when the new team was sent out on their first mission together, Baxter's unit equipped with two beam sabers, a "Gundam Hammer" he was only barely getting used to yet, and the new beam rifles, which he hadn't even practiced with yet, but at least it was just like any other gun. As the team moved in, making a lot of noise, Baxter held his rifle at the ready, planning to use it to clear a path for him to get in close. "If data was all they were sending back, you'd think they could find a smaller and faster ship than a Zanzibar to do it in..." Baxter wondered aloud to his teammates, suspicious of what Federation command could be hiding from them.