The Ark and Archangel silently sat in a bay within Orb. Erica and Kira entered a gym, where Zero and Alex were sparring. Kira found it odd that after the two had been missing some time, their way of greeting each other was comprised of punches and kicks. Alex thrust his arm forward, but Zero stepped in close, twisted around, grabbed Alex ny the forearm and swiftly flipped him over his shoulder onto the mat.
"Boys," Erica said. Zero looked up and helped Alex up.
"Yamato," Zero said, nodding his head. "Nice to see you're still alive."
Kira smiled. "You, too. Why were you two fighting?"
Alex laughed. "Kira, we were training. Zero here knows quite a few hand to hand techniques. He'd be glad to teach you a few, if you want," Alex said, gesturing towards Zero.
"No, thanks," Kira said. "We've rebuilt the Strike, and we're going to test it out. Wanna come?"
Alex nodded and followed him, watching as Zero leaned in close to Kira. "He wasn't kidding. I can teach you a few disarming techniques. Think about it. But first-" he pulled Kira away and Erica looked back in surprise. "Go on ahead, Ms. Simmons. I just need to introduce him to someone."
Alex pulled Erica away, knowing already who Zero would take Kira to. Kira followed Zero into his room, surprised beyond words.
"Kira!" Flay knocked Kira down, hugging him tightly.
"Flay," Kira whispered. "How?"
"That would be me," Zero said. "I hacked Alliance and ZAFT computers. Apparently, during the Alaska attack, Miss Allster here disappeared, and I learned Creuset got her. I snuck onboard his ship and got her back."
"Didn't manage to kill the man, did you?" Alex asked.
"No. But I did manage to smack him around," Zero replied.
Alex nodded, content with the answer. Mu and Mazer walked in. "Well, will wonders never cease?" Mazer asked. Zero nodded at the man, and shook Mu's hand.
"Good to see you," Mu said, smiling. "Thought you were gone for sure."
"Good to be back."
Djarum ran into the room, then, a grin on his face. "I don't mean to break up the reunion, but you've got to see this!"
Alex eyed him carefully. "Have you been doing drugs?"
Djarum just smirked. "Yeah, but that's not the point. We've just finished our new prototype. Well, not really new, but, you know-"
"Djarum!" Mazer barked.
"Right. Come right this way, and I'll show you our new baby," he replied, running out the door.
Mazer sighed and rolled his eyes, following him out. The others followed suit. They entered the hangar, where the Freedom, Strike, Blaze Fenrir, and Baravar stood in a line. In the center of the hangar was Djarum's new project.
"Ta-da! As you can see, we salvaged what we could of the Linear and Blade. I also pulled up the Raptor's schematics and incorporated some of its features into this frame," Djarum said.
The unit was black, with Blade's head, wings and shoulder panels which were clearly derived from Raptor's features, and legs and arms from Linear. The optics burned deep red, while the sensor from which the V shaped antenna sprouted was deep blue.
"You built this?" Alex asked.
"Not to speak ill of the dead, but Danny and Anesti are gone. You've got the new suit, and it seemed a waste to just toss the remains," Djarum said carefully, knowing that Alex wasn't one to take death lightly.
"If anything, you've honored them," Kira said, surprising Alex. "I think they'd be happy about this."
"Just one problem," Steve said. "Who'll pilot it?"
Alex looked at Zero. "You worked on the project. You'd be the ideal choice."
Mu looked at Zero in surprise. "You worked on the G-weapons?"
"It…was a long time ago. The Alliance has been trying to create mobile suits for a long time now. ZAFT's mobile suit capabilities made them try harder. I…once helped them come up with designs. And later…there was another project entirely that resulted in my being in this armor. I don't wear it because I want to. I made some mistakes, and I vowed to myself I wouldn't take the helmet off until they've been set right," Zero said.
"So the armor's a physical representation of your burden," Alex said.
"My burden, pride…and cost."
"Oh, enough with the angst," Steven said. "Let's test the darn things out."
Zero nodded and walked towards his new unit.
"Does that thing have a name?" Alex asked him. Zero stopped and looked up at it.
"Not yet. But it will."
Alex got into the Blaze Fenrir and activated the comm. "Hey, what's with the phase shift on your unit? Doesn't it drain the energy?"
"It's a new technology. Trans phase shift armor. It activates only on point of contact, which means-"
"It lasts longer than traditional phase shift. Nice," Alex said. Blaze Fenrir turned on and faced Zero's new unit. Zero turned the program on and watched the setup screen come up. The instant the cameras activated, Zero thumbed both triggers. His machine launched itself forward, pulling out the Blade's distinctive swords and swinging them horizontally. Fenrir responded in a flash, the wings attaching to the arms, creating a shield. The swords clanged loudly against them, but caused no damage.
"Neat trick," Zero remarked.
"Not bad yourself," Alex responded, surprised at how well Zero's machine worked. Nearby, Mu and Kira also sparred, though Kira used only the shield, since fighting Mu with a beam saber would be unfair.
"You're better, Kid," Mu said, grinning. He pushed the sticks forward, and the Strike thrust the sword forward. Freedom angled the shield, and the blade was deflected to the right.
Mazer allowed himself a small smile as he watched. It's good we're this far, and that we've still got enough people. Maybe we can win this thing yet.
Sitting calmly in the room, and watching the various Alliance officials bicker amongst themselves, Muruta Azrael couldn't help but wonder how these people had gotten to where they were today. He stood up and cleared his throat.
"Most of the world is united against ZAFT. Orb should be obliged to help. If the leaders cooperate, we can secure Orb's mass driver," he said.
"And if they don't?" One of the men asked.
"Well," Azrael said, the door behind him opening, "then I might have to test our new prototypes."
Several figured walked in, all wearing similar armor to Zero's. In front was the man who faced Zero in the desert. The gold armor still showed sand residue from that time. "We'll take of it, sir."
"Ridiculous," Uzumi said, reading the ultimatum the Alliance had sent. "48 hours, or Orb will be viewed as a ZAFT supporter?!"
Athrun, meanwhile, had just landed on the very island where he and Kira had fought. He looked at the remains of the Aegis, and was surprised to see several children run away.
On the Archangel, Murrue, Mazer, and Alex stood in front of the combined crews of both ships. Mu leaned in close to Mazer. "You guys don't have a lot of people."
"We were rushed into this, remember? Most of the guys we were gonna have were going to come in to Heliopolis by shuttles. Now that there's no Heliopolis, we've got no way to contact them," Mazer explained.
"The Alliance is about to attack Orb because they won't back down on their neutrality. I am no longer your captain, so the choice is yours as to whether you stay or leave," Murrue said.
"I'm staying," Alex said to everyone from the Ark. "I'm done with running from ZAFT. Just like Zero's done running from the Alliance. We're taking the fight to them now. So let's get ready."
Kira and Cagalli were on the other side of the hangar, watching the meeting. "I can't believe Orb is about to become a battlefield."
"For what it's worth, I think Orb took the right path," Kira said, smiling as Flay walked up and hugged him.
Dearka sat up in surprise as the door to his cell opened. Miriallia and Pawel stood by it.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"What's it look like, moron?" Pawel asked.
"We're letting you go," Miriallia said. "We're about to fight the Alliance."
Dearka got up and stretched. "The Buster?"
"It was taken to Morgenroete," Miriallia said calmly.
"Are going to fight?"
"I'm a soldier, and Orb is my home country," Miriallia said and walked away.
"And you?" Dearka asked Pawel.
"I stick with Alex," he replied. "We've both lost friends. I just hope you don't make me lose anymore." With that, he turned and followed Miriallia.
Murrue stood on the bridge, wondering how things had gotten this bad. The door hissed and she turned around, surprised to see Mu. "Why did you come back?" She asked when he walked up to her. Mu just kissed her, surprising Murrue. "I hate mobile armor pilots," Murrue said.
"Good thing I'm a mobile suit pilot, then," Mu replied, grinning.
Athrun watched the news, surprised over the fact that Orb was seen as an enemy of the Alliance. "I can't believe it," he said. A young boy suddenly ran in and kicked Athrun in the leg. "I'm gonna destroy ZAFT when I grow up!" He said, glaring at Athrun. Father Malchio turned his head, listening as the boy ran away. "Apologies. His family was killed at Carpentaria."
The Strike Daggers landed and attacked mercilessly, destroying any Astray models they encountered. Kira flew over the battlefield, trying to pick his targets. He noticed three Astrays being forced into a corner by a large group of Daggers. Freedom dropped, activating its beam sabers. Kira snarled as the beams decapitated two units, then wrenched the controls, throwing Freedom into a spin, nailing the other units as well. Mu threw himself into the battle, firing his beam rifle at every enemy he could think of.
"Pace yourself, Hawk," Zero said. "I should thank you."
"Why?"
"I know what my unit is called now. Say hello to Falchion!"
The newly christened Falchion threw its arms out, two blades protruding from the forearms. The machine swung, embedding its weapons deep inside a Strike Dagger's chest plate. Another Strike Dagger attacked from behind, and Zero double clicked the secondary trigger. Falchion's wings shot out and opened, the beam crackling against them. "Rear shielding, moron."
Falchion swung around, its hip joint opening. Zero pulled the trigger, and Falchion fired its beam pistol into the center mass. "Courtesy of Linear."
Steve had been pretty well for himself up to now. Baravar dropped the head of the Strike Dagger. Just as he was about to hit the thrusters, Baravar was struck from behind several times. "What the-"
Baravar took a hit to the head, and the machine fell over.
"Sucks to be you!"
Steve saw the aqua colored machine, saw the chest cannon. The machine fired, only to be intercepted by the Judgment.
"You alright?!"
"Are you?" Steve asked.
"Just a flesh wound. I've got the guy."
Judgment fired its newly installed shoulder mounted multi-turrets. Green beams hurled themselves at the new G-unit. The machine hit its thrusters, getting clear just in time.
"CABAL, what is that thing?!"
CABAL had been wired through a neural network so it could interface with any of Alex's units.
"GAT-X131. Codename Calamity. The unit is an improved design of the GAT-X103 frame, with improved weaponry and armor," CABAL said while Pawel evaded everything it threw at him. "Can I beat it?"
"Unlikely. Judgment can withstand its assaults directly for no more than ten minutes. After that, phase shift will be rendered ineffective."
"Great," Pawel muttered, firing his arm gatlings.
"You are aware that physical rounds render no damage onto phase shift-"
"Shut up, damn it!" Pawel screeched, Judgment taking a hit to the arm.
Alex pulled his unit into the sky, dodging the other new arrivals. The X-370 Raider and X-252 Forbidden were proving to be quite irritating. Blaze Fenrir blocked the Raider's hammer with its own blade, Alex struggling to keep the new unit in control. Kira fired the Freedom's cannons at the Forbidden, only to see them get deflected.
The Archangel and Ark were taking heavy hits, and Murrue struggled to keep her composure.
"Missiles incoming!"
"This is it!" Mazer yelled from his seat. The missiles suddenly exploded well before they hit their intended targets. "Who the hell?"
"Buster! It destroyed the missiles," David said.
Kira and Alex continued to evade the attacks. Raider threw its hammer at Blaze Fenrir, only to have the machine catch it and throw it back into its face. "You bastard!" Clotho Buer screamed.
Shani Andras threw the Forbidden forward, swinging its scythe. Kira tried to evade, but there wasn't enough room, with Raider coming back. It fired its mouth cannon, only to be blocked by a crimson mobile suit. The machine pulled out a beam saber and fired, striking the Raider in the head.
"Are you all right, Kira Yamato?"
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Late. I know. Thanksgiving snuck up on me, and I haven't been feeling too well, either. The battle has begun, and Zero finally has a mobile suit. There will be more new units unveiled soon, though I have no names for them yet. I'll try to have them by next chapter. Until then, this is Hellshadow, signing off.