The Ark's sirens wailed as the ship entered combat phase. Mazer groaned and rubbed his forehead. "Any way we can at least turn the racket down?" He asked.

"Afraid not."

The door hissed shut, and the newcomer walked in front of Mazer. He had long, shriveled black hair, with a sharp nose and a scar on his face that covered his left eye.

"Djarum," Mazer said, nodding slowly.

The young man nodded, looking over his red ZAFT uniform. "Looks good on me huh?" He asked, grinning.

"The sirens, you putz," Mazer growled.

Djarum snapped his fingers and took a step back. "Oh, right! Yeah, I never fixed that glitch," he said, chuckling.

Mazer groaned and closed his eyes. "A combat situation, and the alarms are gonna continue till it ends. This is gonna do more wonders for my head."

Outside the ship, Kira worked the controls to keep the Strike afloat as the Blade slowly circled him, its pilot protecting the novice.

How did I get into this? Kira thought. Athrun...

"Kira."

Kira looked up at the small video screen. Alex shook his head.

"I don't think he's coming. At least, I hope not," he said, sadness in his voice. "Either way, we've got some help."

"What help? And what's your machine got on it?" Kira asked, confusion etched on his face.

"Howdy," another face appeared on the second screen. The pilot seemed to be shorter than Alex, with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He also seemed to be a bit chubby.

"Danny," Alex said. "Kira, meet Danny Geschke. He's flying the X-301 Raptor, as we've dubbed it. Think of it as the predecessor of the Aegis. As for the other part, this is the AirBlade. Designed for maneuverability and speed."

The Blade had a large backpack with four thrusters built on its sides, and six fins that could rotate in order to ensure quick turns and dodges.

"Well, we're glad for the assistance," Murrue said over the comm.

"No problem," Danny replied, smiling. "Actually, I'm the secondary pilot for this unit. Tony's helping in the munitions area, though, making sure our weapons are set, so I offered to fly."

"We're grateful that-"

"Two signals on radar, ma'am!" Tonomura interrupted.

The Raptor quickly tipped its nose up and cut its thrusters, pulling a vertical one eighty before righting itself and flying towards the new marks on its radar. Just as it passed the Blade, the side of Heliopolis exploded, leaving a massive hole through which debris began flying out of.

"What, they couldn't use the service tunnels in the south?" Danny muttered.

Two GINNs flew in, carrying large containers. Alex zoomed in on the units. "D-equipment?" He screeched, looking through the data screen.

"Inside the colony?" Kira asked. "Alex!"

"I know, Kira!" Alex yelled, activating his weapons. "Heavy bazookas, physical and beam type."

A red mobile suit entered from behind the GINNs.

"Oh, please, no..." Alex whispered.

"Confirmed! X-303 Aegis!"

The news drew several connected gasps and curses.

"Already on the field..." Murrue muttered.

"I took a look at its schematics. Hope it doesn't use mobile armor mode in here."

Murrue and Natarle stared in astonishment as they were connected to the Ark's bridge, revealing a beefy man with graying hair in an Earth Forces admiral uniform. He appeared to be in his fifties. "I take it you're surprised," the man said, his voice gruff. "I suppose you would be. Nicholas Mazer, formerly of the Atlantic Federation. I'm a natural, by the way," Mazer said, his blue eyes shining.

The screen shook violently as the Ark took a hit from a GINN.

Miguel Aiman, who Kira had already fought against, aimed his bazooka, and fired. The Strike dodged to the right, the beam hitting a shaft instead.

"Great, another itchy trigger finger," Alex muttered, watching the battle as he tried to strategize.

Danny groaned as he threw the Raptor into a spin, a swarm of rockets bearing down on him. He turned the unit and checked Raptor's active countermeasures. He selected one and activated it. A small compartment just behind the cockpit and on top of the wings opened, and numerous flares shot out, the rockets now locking on to them. Danny quickly threw the right stick down, Raptor flying at the ground. The rockets hit the flares and Danny howled as his unit got away from the explosions.

"Damn it, come on," Miguel muttered. The Strike was proving to be a nuisance, as it was somehow managing to dodge all his attacks. The GINN fired again, this time striking the Earth Forces machine. "Yes!"

His joy turned to surprise as an unharmed Strike flew right at him. A shield was attached to its shoulder, billowing smoke from the hit. Miguel hit his thrusters and boosted away just in time to avoid a deadly sword swing that would have cut it in half.

Meanwhile, Zero's mobile armor flew circles around the remaining GINNs. He checked his monitors, noticing that the Aegis was following the Strike, but not attacking.

Biding its time? Or maybe...

"Get behind it, Athrun!"

Athrun Zala complied, the Aegis moving around to the target area. The blue haired youth watched as the Earth Forces machine dodged Miguel's attacks. Athrun hit his thrusters, increasing his speed. The Aegis came in hard, and the Strike turned around, as planned.

"Got you!"

Kira gasped and pulled the right stick back while pressing down on the pedals. The Strike shot to the side, Miguel's attack nearly hitting Aegis instead. The Strike reached up and pulled the beam boomerang, throwing it at the ZAFT unit. The GINN quickly spun away and took aim again.

"Didn't even come close!" Miguel said, sure of his victory. The boomerang curved back and neatly severed the GINN's leg. "What?" Miguel cursed as warning lights came on.

With a wordless scream, Kira flew at the GINN, sword raised. It cut straight through the ZAFT model. The wreck exploded, Miguel screaming.

"MIGUEL!" Athrun cried.

The Raptor was beginning its vengeance run, now attacking the GINNs. Its beam rifles spat red beams at them, forcing the machines to break formation.

"Here we go," Danny said, taking a deep breath. "Work."

He grabbed an overhead handle and turned it ninety degrees before pushing it forward into a locking mechanism. The Raptor's mechanics whirred and moved, the unit beginning to transform. The wings shot out and Raptor's head tilted backwards, its shield now forming the nose the fighter. Danny grinned.

Suddenly every one of his screens turned red, and Danny did not like the word that was flying across each one.

MALFUNTION DETETCTED. TRANS SHIFT SEQUENCE FAILED.

"No...frikkin'...way," Danny muttered, trying to head towards the Ark. The Raptor, looking like a cross between plane and a hunched over man, wobbled towards its mother ship. The wings groaned as it turned, the resistance proving to be more than it was designed to handle. "Mazer, this is Raptor. I'm heading back. Got a major problem here."

Alex's unit took over, the AirBlade flying towards a group of GINNs that had just entered the colony. Before they could even get a good look at his machine, Alex pulled a beam saber out and the mobile suit swung, cutting off the lead GINN's head perfectly. Alex pulled on the left stick and hit the secondary trigger, unloading a barrage of CIWS rounds at the other two machines before firing with its beam rifle. The GINNs responded, trying to close the distance.

Alex sighed and shook his head. "Recommendation, CABAL?"

"Attack analysis concludes flanking and simultaneous assault as most probable outcome," the AI informed him.

Alex smiled. "Okay, then."

The Blade threw the shield at the GINN behind it before firing a shot at the one in front of him. The GINN took the shot and began falling as it exploded. Alex instantly turned his attention on the unit behind him, whose pilot was finally coming around.

"Damn you!" The man roared, aiming his rifle. The Blade's beam saber cut through the weapon and kept going, running through the arm before the tip of the weapon angled down and stabbed the cockpit directly.

"Przepraszam," Alex said as he pulled the weapon out. He deactivated the saber and flew down to grab the shield.

The Ark's Igellstellung CIWS barked, creating a hole for Raptor. The GINNs tried to take advantage of a malfunctioning unit, but the amount of firepower coming at them made them pull back. One GINN pilot tried to follow, firing wildly at the escaping suit. The machine gun rounds struck it, knocking its rifle out of its hands before delivering full body blows. The bullet riddled machine dropped out of the sky and crashed onto the empty street, its head and chest smashed in before exploding.

Kira and Athrun finally met face to face, the two machines staring at each other.

"What are you doing in that thing, Kira?" Athrun yelled, beam rifle pointed at the cockpit.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Kira replied, the Strike's sword raised. "Why did you attack Heliopolis?"

Athrun blinked. Kira, are you that naive?

"Because the Naturals built those things here, that's why!" Athrun answered.

"And that's reason to attack a neutral colony?"

Athrun froze again. "Alex?"

The AirBlade came up beside the Strike as the colony became more unstable.

Zero fired his energy cannons at the remaining GINN. The lasers tore through it, destroying it entirely, but not before the missiles it carried activated.

"Oh, no," Zero whispered. The rockets flew past his unit, hitting another shaft.

"The colony's coming apart!" Alex yelled. "Zero, Kira, get out of here!" He looked at the Aegis. "Athrun, we're not done here by a logn shot, but you've gotta go, too!"

"KIRA!" Athrun yelled, watching as the Strike pulled away from him, arms stretched out.

"Oh, damn it!" Alex yelled, his suit clutching the shield. His unit was yanked away by the wind velocity. Alex groaned and managed to get one final message out.

"Ark, Archangel, prepare for turbulence!"

AUHTOR'S NOTE: Failed again. Sorry for the lateness. Also: Przepraszam (pshe-prah-shaam) means sorry or I'm sorry.