Armory One

October 2, CE 73

The shuttle doors opened, and several individuals stepped out and slowly walked down the ramp. The first to get down wore a red ZAFT uniform, with a sidearm on his belt. His brown hair shifted slightly as the wind passed through it. James Daurio looked up, grinning. "Come on, guys. Quit being so slow."

The second passenger craned his neck and stepped off. A blood red light flashed across the visor quickly as he came down. His combat armor shone as the light reflected off its gold plated surface.

"Did you have a good flight, Five?" James asked, smirking.

"It was decent," the former Earth Forces operative said. After the war, he'd voluntarily joined James as he returned to ZAFT.

"Armory One," James sighed. "Looks pretty nice. For a base." The two looked around as the last passengers came out. A young man stepped out, with blue hair. He wore a pair of large shades over his eyes, masking most of his face. "What do you think, Alex?"

Alex Dino shrugged. "Haven't been here in a while. Lot of memories."

"Can you move already?"

James smirked as Cagalli Yula Attha hurried her bodyguard along. It never failed to amuse him how the man took his job seriously, only to have the representative belittle him. Occasionally. He walked over to a parked jeep, flashing his ID to the two troops standing next to him.

"James Daurio, Captain of the Nazca class Zacynthus. We're here to escort Miss Attha to see Mister Durandal, as well as check on our deliveries," he explained. The troopers shared a glance at each other. "Is there a problem?"

"No, sir," one said, gulping. "We were told you'd be arriving a bit later."

James grinned. "Miss Attha felt that we should be here as soon as possible. Hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all, sir," flinching as he noticed Five staring at him. Or at least, his helmet was facing him directly.

"Good. I'll drive them over myself. Thank you," James finished. Five walked over to the passenger side and climbed him, taking the swords strapped to his back off and placing them by his feet. Cagalli and Alex got in the back. The jeep's engine rumbled and James slowly drove away.

"Well, that wasn't a bad start, though you didn't help much," James said, looking at Five. The operative slowly turned his head towards James. "You didn't ask me to," he replied. Alex smiled at that. When he'd first met Five after the war, the man seemed distant and cold. While he hadn't changed much, his loyalty was absolute.

"Is that the ship?" Cagalli asked, and the group looked to the left. A large, gray ship sat in the center of the harbor.

"Yes. The LHM-BB01. Designated Minerva," James said. The back half looks like a miniature version of Archangel."

Not too far away, a young pilot watched as the chairman's shuttle docked. Gilbert Durandal stepped out and smiled as Rey Za Burrel saluted. He walked down and shook the blonde pilot's hand. "Wonderful to see you again, Rey."

"You as well, Chairman."

An aide walked up to Durandal. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir. They've arrived."

"Have they? Ahead of schedule?" He smiled warmly. "Simply wonderful."

James parked the car and stepped out. He looked at Cagalli and shook his head.

"Couldn't you have worn a dress?" Alex asked, an annoyed expression on his face. Cagalli just scoffed.

"What's wrong with the suit?"

Athrun sighed and looked around, noticing three teenagers at a corner far down. Five stepped up next to him. "Something up?"

"No," Athrun muttered. "Probably not."

They got into an elevator and waited patiently as it moved down to Armory One's inhabited area. When they got to Durandal's office, the man stood up and smiled. "Thank you for coming, Chief Representative."

"Truth be told, your request for a meeting came before I could ask myself," Cagalli replied, smiling. "It's nice to meet you."

"I apologize for not being immediately courteous with your fellow bodyguards, but I must ask what it is that you want," he said.

"I'd like you to stop using Orb's technology and human resources for military applications," Cagalli said bluntly.

Stellar Lousier looked at the dresses through the glass, smiling. She spun once and backed away, now dancing slowly. She backed into someone, and began to fall over, but he wrapped his arms around her, preventing it. She looked behind her, noticing his black hair and crimson eyes. "You okay?" He asked. She broke away and walked off, not bothering to answer. "Lucky pervert," someone behind him said. "Come on, Shinn."

"I didn't plan that," he argued.

Five and James walked behind Cagalli and Athrun, looking at the new model mobile suits all around them.

"Despite the development of our new mobile suits, we're not looking to start a new war," Durandal explained. Alex looked around, noticing one of the new models in a hangar. The green machine bore a resemblance to the GINN, but was missing the top fin on the head, had smaller thrusters, and was green. It also had a shield on its left shoulder, and several grenades on its hip joints. He turned his attention back to Cagalli, listening.

"We want peace and freedom from aggression, but we need military power to achieve that," Durandal said.

"Having too much power is practically begging for a conflict," Cagalli replied hotly.

"Cagalli," Five said, earning a glare from her. "He's doing what Orb did two years ago."

"Because human conflict will never truly end, it will always be necessary to have power," Durandal explained.

Two ZAFT officers opened the door for three young teenagers, one of which was Stellar Lousier. They put a bag on the ground and opened it, revealing several weapons inside. Stellar reached in and pulled out a knife, looking at it. Sting Oakley grinned as he took out two submachine guns. The light blue haired Auel Neider took two machine guns as well. They looked at each other and nodded.

A minute later, they ran out, guns blazing. Most of the ZAFT personnel in the hangar were gunned down before they even knew what was happening. Sting ran towards the first mobile suit prototype and, seemingly without effort, got on top with three leaps. Auel and Stellar followed suit. They activated the machines, and slowly, the prototypes rose, the color schemes shifting from gray to green, blue and black. A badly wounded technician pulled himself up, and with his last breath, hit the alarm.

Gilbert, James, Athrun, Cagalli, and Five, all heard the alarm just as the hangar doors exploded. The shockwave shook the ground so badly they fell over. Five stood up and offered a hand to the chairman. "Are you all right, sir?"

"Yes, perfectly all right, thank you for-"

He stooped and watched as the ZGMF-X31S Abyss fired its multi-phase beam cannon at the hangar in front of it, the building falling to the ground in mere seconds.

"G-gundams?" Athrun asked, surprised. Five and James looked around, noticing that the packages they'd been sent to retrieve were indeed in the hangars. "Five," he said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I see it," Five said. "Go. I'll handle them on the ground."

Stellar transformed the ZGMF-X88S Gaia into its quadruped mode, which eerily reminded James of a BuCUE. He watched in morbid fascination as the machine destroyed a hangar with just one shot. He looked at Alex. "Get her out of here," he told him. Alex nodded and pulled Cagalli away. Five looked up and stared as GINNs, DINNs, and even GAZuOOTs slowly moved forward, trying to contain the stolen machines.

"You men go with the chief representative!" Durandal barked at his guards. "You, as well, Agent Five."

"Sorry, chairman. I have another problem to deal with," he said, pointing behind the chairman. Several Alliance troops were coming towards, automatic rifles in their hands.

"Very well, then. Good luck," the chairman said, following the men. Lunamaria Hawke and Rey za Burrel ran towards the hangar where their units were, but a shot from Gaia caused the building to collapse, sealing their units inside. Athrun and Cagalli followed James and Athrun climbed onto a ZAKU Warrior, pulling Cagalli up. James headed towards the damaged hangar, kicking debris out of his way as tried to get into the burning wreck that had been the hangar.

Five rushed forward and with a yell, jumped between the Alliance soldiers. He spun gracefully, smashing his elbow into one's face as he grabbed a rifle and adjusted its aim, the troop holding it pulling the trigger. Bullets ripped into his comrade in arms, and Five slammed his open hand into the man's elbow, breaking it. He then grabbed him by the shoulders and smashed his knee into the man's stomach before finishing with an elbow to the back. Five spun without thinking, performing a back flip kick so hard the man's neck broke.

Athrun grabbed Cagalli and jumped into the ZAKU Warrior. "Do you remember how to do this?" Cagalli asked.

"Unfortunately, it's like riding a bike," Athrun said. The ZAKU Warrior stood up, air flooding out of its chest vents.

On the Minerva, a small fighter jet, designated the Core Splendor, lifted off, followed by three support packs.

The ZAKU body slammed the Gaia, surprising Stellar. She looked to the right, noticing that her beam rifle had been dropped. She activated the beam saber, and Gaia lunged. Athrun pulled back, the ZAKU's beam axe in its hand. It blocked the Gaia's attack, Athrun struggling with the controls. He didn't notice the Chaos behind him, Sting grinning as he pulled out a beam saber as well. The ZAKU's arm fell to the ground, Chaos's saber smoking. The machine took a step towards the ZAKU, ready for the final kill.

"Time to die," Sting said, smiling. He turned his attention to the destroyed hangar as a warning came on. The walls exploded as two beams shot out, grazing Chaos's chest. "What the-"

Athrun stared in amazement as another prototype stepped out, dragging a white Blaze ZAKU Phantom and a red ZAKU Warrior by their heads. The machine resembled a Strike Dagger, with an identical chest and torso, though its visor was dead center in the head, with one antenna located on the left of the head. It was pure white, save the chest, which was red. A single beam saber was attached to its hip joint, and two beam turrets were mounted on its shoulder panels.

"Didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you?"

"James?" Athrun asked.

"Yup."

"What is that unit?"

"A little something Djarum and the others helped build. Say hello to the KGM-79 GM Cannon. GM standing for Gundam Mass produced."

Athrun shook his head in amazement. He had no idea Alex's friends had these kinds of resources. Cagalli couldn't believe it.

"New model or not, it won't save you," Sting said. The Chaos stepped forward. Sting's attitude changed as Chaos was rocked by explosions. Athrun watched as a tiny fighter flew past, followed by a boxy canister, and what appeared to be a pair of mobile suit legs. The fighter dropped its rockets and its wings folded in as its nose dipped down, the fighter slipping into the legs. The rectangular canister attached to it, and two arms swung out as a head popped out, a v-shaped fin on top. Finally, a small glider attached to its back, creating a thruster pack. The machine activated its phase shift as it came down, turning the chest and head into a bright red. The Sword Impulse stood up, its eyes flashing.

"Do you people want another war?!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Finished. Sorry for the wait. First chapter is done. Lemme know what you think. Hellshadow