Victor Reise

Victor Reise is one of ZAFT's most well-known and infamous Ace Mobile Suit pilots, most easily recognisable from his nickname; 'The Viking'. As of the end of the Second Bloody Valentine War, his notoriety amongst his fellow soldiers is almost comparable to that of one of ZAFT's other famed Pilots, Athrun Zala.

Appearance & Personality
Befitting his nickname, Reise's appearance can best be described as unorthodox. His flaming red hair is cut short around the back and sides, and gelled so it stands up at an angle, pointing towards the front. His eyes are Dark Blue, and his skin is pale, unhumanly so to his peers. His flight suit is coloured deep black to match his Mobile Suit.

Despite his 'Viking' nickname, Victor is surprisingly warm and friendly when not in uniform, though that's not to say he changes much when he is. A compassionate and carefree individual, Victor is immensely loyal to his friends, going as far to abandon battle in order to save the life of his best friend - later Girlfriend - Zoey Skylar during the Second Battle of Jachin Due, though not before cementing his reputation as one of ZAFT's premier Mobile Suit Pilots. On the Battlefield, however, Victor's compassion retreats, giving rise to a ferocity worthy of his nickname. This blinding ferocity lends him much of his skill in combat, though it does tend to blind him to the battle around him. He is also something of a joker too, though isn't loud in any sense of the word. For these reasons, Reise is well-respected amongst his fellow soldiers for being dependable both on and off the Battlefield. He can also come across as a bit of an eccentric, often using old english words like 'thy' and 'Thine' in conversation to make a point.

Victor, for reasons known only to himself and a select few of his closest friends, prefers to refer to himself and his friends as warriors rather than soldiers. To him, a soldier is a shadow of what a warrior is meant to be, fighting for the ideals of the uniform he wears rather than his own beliefs, following the orders of his superiors without question. A warrior fights for his own ideals and beliefs whatever they may be, regardless of the uniform or the flag. Because of these beliefs, Victor has a history of questioning orders he doesn't agree with, most notably during the Second Bloody Valentine War. This obviously hasn't endeared himself to his superiors. When it comes to Leadership, Reise believes that a Leader should first take into consideration the wellbeing of the men under his command. Any objectives are a secondary concern. If a Leader fails to take care of his men, then he is failing in his duties as their commanding officer. This doesn't help him either. For this reason, you won't usually find Victor in a position of Command. Although, while they may not like him, his superiors can't deny his popularity amongst his fellow soldiers.

With the end of the Second Bloody Valentine War, both Victor and his beliefs have matured. His former ferocity has dimmed, and his staunch beliefs have changed to accommodate his new experience. After the final battle of the last war, Victor is forced to accept that under some circumstances, the objective must come before the wellbeing of the men or their Commanding Officer himself, and is more tolerative of his superior's orders. Reise also possesses a newfound dislike for politicians, thanks to the actions of Chairman Durandal.

Skills & Abilities
Upon attending the ZAFT Military Academy, Victor showed natural talent as a warrior, distinguishing himself among his peers as an exceptional hand-to-hand fighter and Mobile Suit Pilot, ranking first in his class in both respects. In combat he prefers close combat weapons over any ranged alternatives, going as far as to discard his GINN's 76mm Rifle before entering battle on numerous occasions. During the First Bloody Valentine War, Victor's Mobile Suit was the ZGMF-1017 GINN, as was standard issue for all ZAFT Pilots, favouring the GINN's MA-M3 Heavy Sword above all other weaponry in battle. It was with this weapon that he gained his nickname "The Viking" and cemented his reputation as a brutal close combat fighter.

For the short amount of time Victor did serve during the second war, he very briefly piloted a black ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom, but obtained a black ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited before he properly distinguished himself in the ZAKU. It was in the GOUF that Victor came into his own with its extensive close combat weaponry, most notably the MMI-558 "Tempest" Beam Sword.

History
Born on Earth, in the Norwegian Capitol of Oslo to a British Father and a Norwegian Mother, on November 1st C.E. 55, Victor's family didn't stay together for very long. His mother died shortly after giving birth, leaving his father to take care of the boy himself. As coordinators were not welcome in most nations on Earth, his father was forced to keep the fact that both he and his son were coordinators a secret until they finally reached the Orb Union in January C.E. 56. Victor spent four happy years in Orb with his father, before financial trouble meant that he could no longer care for his son. In March C.E. 61, young Victor was sent to live with relatives in the plants, where he remained until the beginning of the Bloody Valentine War. Reise enlisted almost as soon as he was able.

He graduated at the top of his class at the Academy as a ZAFT Red and went on to serve with distinction during the war, assigned to the Gotterman Team on the Velirian. During this time, he would meet fellow Mobile Suit Pilot and accomplished marksman Zoey Skylar, who was then assigned to the Auzenne Team, and would become best friends. Victor would participate in almost every major space battle of the war, only briefly venturing down to Earth for the Battle of Carpentaria and the Battle of Kaohsiung. Reise earned many medals and commendations during this time, but his finest hour came during the Second Battle of Jachin Due. Shortly before the beginning of the battle, Reise and Skylar would make the acquaintance of a young Heine Westenfluss, but would be forced to part ways before properly getting to know each other. In the closing stages of the battle, the Velirian would be cut off from all Mobile Suit support by an Earth Alliance Mobile Suit Squadron led by Alliance Ace Eduardo Gurra. Their only Mobile Suit would be in the form of Victor Reise's damaged GINN, which had returned shortly beforehand for repair and rearmament. While Skylar engaged Gurra's GAT-01A1 Dagger in close combat, Reise, against the orders of the Velirian's Captain, Sebastien Vierr, piloted his fully repaired GINN into battle with the Alliance Mobile Suits, armed with only his GINN Sword. Despite sustaining major damage to his Mobile Suit's chest and leg sections, he wiped out the Alliance Mobile Suits, as well as dispatching any further threats to the Velirian. Skylar proved no match for Gurra's skill, however, forcing Reise to come to her aid. Both he and Gurra would trade many blows before it became apparent that both were almost equal in every regard. However skilled he was, however, Gurra would perish with the second firing of Patrick Zala's GENESIS Superweapon. Upon returning to the Velirian with Skylar in tow, Captain Sebastien Vierr dubbed Reise "The Viking" for his exploits in wiping out the Alliance Mobile Suits that threatened the ship.

After the war, for reasons known only to Reise himself, Victor took a teaching position at the ZAFT Miliary Academy as a Mobile Suit Expert rather than continue to serve on the front line. The next two years would be spent here, teaching young pilots how to properly pilot a Mobile Suit.

The peace wouldn't last, however. With the outbreak of the Second Bloody Valentine War, ZAFT experienced an influx of new recruits, Cadets Akira Nakamura and Katt Hase among them. These two recruits in particular would find themselves under the tutelage of the Veteran Soldier and legendary Ace Pilot Victor Reise, becoming personally acquainted after Akira finds he has difficulty piloting Mobile Suits, and asks Victor for extra lessons after hours. The Veteran obliges, eventually including Katt in the lessons too as he molds them into excellent Pilots. During these lessons, the Cadets and the Veteran become good friends. Unfortunately, it would not be long until even this fragile peace was interrupted. With the revelation that someone was trying to drop the ruins of Junius Seven onto Earth, Chairman Gilbert Durandal personally requests that Reise take a ship and a Mobile Suit Team out to help break up the colony before it hit Earth. Despite his own uneasyness as to the mission, Reise does as he's told, as long as he can pick the ship and the Pilots. With Durandal's blessing, Victor picks the Velirian, and hand-picks Cadets Nakamura and Hase as two of his team members. Before he can decide on a fourth pilot, Zoey Skylar arrives at Reise's office, informing him that Durandal has had her assigned to the Velirian for as long as Reise deems it necessary. While unhappy at the Chairman's interference, Victor decides to confront him after the mission in complete, though not until after the Velirian recieves four brand new ZAKUs - one PHANTOM and three WARRIORs - fresh off the producton line, at Durandal's personal request.

The Veliran launches for Junius Seven as soon as the new Mobile Suits are deemed combat ready, but arrives too late to make a difference to the descending Colony. Before they can complain about having missed the battle, the Velirian is ambushed by more Zala Loyalists who were lying in wait for ZAFT reinforcements after Junius Seven hit Earth. Reise's newly christened "Viking Team" launches to meet the ambushers, and after a protracted, but not difficult, battle. the Velirian returns to the PLANTS to find Durandal waiting for them.

Upon their return, Victor and Zoey are summoned to the Chairman's office. Leaving the Cadets to make their way back to the Academy on their own, they head to Durandal's office immediately. When they arrive, they are ushered in almost immediately, where Durandal commends both pilots on their service to ZAFT and offers them both invitations to join the prestigious FAITH Special Forces Unit. Skylar jumps at the chance, but Victor declines, to the surprise of both his friend and the Chairman. The two friends leave, the girl bewildered at her friend's decision. When asked why at the Academy later that day by Akira, Reise explains that its because he doesn't want to put himself in Durandal's pocket.

After this, Reise, Akira and Katt return to the academy with Zoey now acting as Victor's teaching assistant. They stay there for the rest of the war, until the battle returns to space. By this point, both Akira and Katt have graduated as at the top of their class as ZAFT Reds, and have formally joined the Velirian's crew as members of the Reise Team. The Velirian dodges frontline duty until the Battle of the Messiah, where the ship is positioned on the second defensive line on the extreme right flank of the defense. For the coming battle, Victor is given a Black GOUF and Zoey a sky blue ZAKU by Durandal in preparation for the coming battle. Despite the more than ambiguous moral reasoning for the battle, Reise and his crew complies right up until battle is joined with Terminal forces led by the Archangel and the Eternal. Upon the beginning of the final battle, Victor decides that, as a warrior, he cannot participate in this battle, or at least not at Durandal's side. Luckily, the Reise team as well as the crew of the Velirian agree with him and - when ordered to fire on the Archangel and the Eternal - Reise refuses to follow through with his orders.

Unluckily, Durandal had positioned the Velirian's sister ship, the Garihan, in the line beside the Velirian for just such an occasion. Upon hearing Reise refuse to fight for Durandal, Captain Nolan Taylor, Captain of the Garihan and supporter of Durandal's Destiny Plan, accuse Reise and his crew of cowardice in the face of the enemy, the two ships eventually coming into conflict. While the rest of the line is concentrated on the Archangel and the Eternal, the Velirian and the Gari'han fight at the edge of the battle. Reise leads his Mobile Suits against Nolan's Mobile Suit team and their infamous commander, Dominik Haplor. The two ships fight for the duration of the battle, Skylar and Akira attacking the Garihan while Reise and Hase take on Haplor's Mobile Suits. Tragically, Haplor proves to be as skilled a pilot as Victor, dispatching Katt with ease. Upon witnessing the death of his former academy friend, Akira flies into a berserk rage, exposing himself to Haplor's ZGMF-1001/K ZAKU Phantom. With the deaths of both his former students, Reise finally snaps, leaving Skylar alone to deal with the Garihan and its remaining Mobile Suits.

After a protracted duel, an enraged Victor Reise finally destroys Haplor's ZAKU Phantom, killing the pilot in the process. Meanwhile, Zoey Skylar uses one of her ZAKU Phantom's Beam Tomahawks to destory the Garihan's bridge, killing Captain Nolan. With both its Ace Pilot and Captain dead, the crew of the Garihan surrenders. The Battle, and the Second Bloody Valentine War, end soon after.

After the war, their lives return to relative normality. After the battle with the Garihan, Captain of the Velirian, Sebastien Vierr, Victor Reise and Zoey Skylar are all tried for Assisting the Enemy and Mutiny in the face of the Enemy, but the trial is called off before a sentence can be carried out by a newly appointed Chairwoman of the Supreme Council, Lacus Clyne, who then goes on to declare all three innocent of all charges.

As of June C.E. 74, both Victor Reise and Zoey Skylar returned to the ZAFT Military Academy as Mobile Suit Instructors.