Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED. Nor do I own the line from the poem "Charge of the Light Brigade" that Rusty quotes.

I do own the plot and my OCs so please don't use them without permission.

I would like to put out a plea for help. I'll probably need to find a beta because I have no clue how to write extended fight scenes and I also don't really know how to develop my mecha. Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Gundam SEED: Asha

Phase One: False Peace

"I've got a bad feeling…" said ZAFT redcoat Rusty Mackenzie to no one in particular as he zipped up his pilot suit.

"Quit being so paranoid and hurry up."

"I'd rather be paranoid than dead, Yzak." Rusty grabbed his helmet and slammed his locker shut.

Yzak scoffed and crossed his arms. "What's to worry about? This is going to go off without a hitch. They're just Naturals after all."

Rusty drew breath to reply but was cut off before he could. "That's enough, both of you. We've got a job to do."

"Sorry, Athrun." Rusty said, pulling his helmet on.

"Hmpph."

"Could the two of you at least try to get along for the duration of the mission? You can bicker all you want later." Athrun scolded.

"Does anyone else feel just a bit uneasy about the fact that we're attacking a neutral colony without the approval of the council?" Nicol asked, approaching the group.

"They're the ones at fault here. Building those things for the Earth Forces." Yzak snarled.

"There's always the chance that our information's faulty." Rusty tried to keep his tone reasonable but the words still sounded scolding. "For all we know this could be a hoax by the Earth Forces to get Orb on their side with this 'unprovoked attack by the evil Coordinators'."

"Still," Dearka said, "we have our orders."

"We're moving out." Athrun announced, effectively ending the possibility of argument and herding the rest of the team toward the hanger.

Rusty lingered for a moment, overcome by a feeling of dread. He shook his head and continued after the others, muttering under his breath. "Theirs not to reason why. Theirs but to do and die."

Kira Yamato sat at a picnic table under a pavilion in the park. His fingers flew over the keys of his laptop as he worked on the latest stack of, for lack of a better term, stuff that Professor Kato had dumped on him. Kira paused in his work for a moment, listening in to the news broadcast that his companion was watching.

"We are just miles from the fighting as ZAFT forces are launching an assault on Kaohsiung…"

"You know, Ray," Kira said, "you could help me since you're here anyway."

Ray glanced up at Kira, pausing the broadcast. He was lying on the ground, flat on his back with his feet propped up against the edge of the table top, his cap hung on top of them, and his computer set up on his stomach. His emerald eyes were half hidden by shaggy jet black hair but Kira could see the mischief in them. "I could but I'm on strict orders to take a break and do absolutely nothing mentally strenuous for at least another half-hour. A mandate which I am already disobeying by the way."

Kira sighed. It occasionally unnerved him a bit that the other boy, who could be no older than Kira himself, was a high ranking technician, evidenced by the black Morganroete uniform that Ray wore. Kira had gathered from a few brief, quickly cut short, conversations that Ray came from the Orb homeland to the Heliopolis colony to work on a project that he wasn't allowed to talk about. The two had first met when Ray's superiors had literally dragged him into the lab where Kira and his friends and fellow students had been working and demanded that he take a break and spend some time with people his own age. The situation had been strained at first; the first thing the students had learned about the young technician was that he was a terrible workaholic. Kira's friend Tolle had the brilliant idea to steal Ray's laptop in order to enforce his superiors' orders. An action that had led to a rather heated argument but eventually Ray had calmed down and relaxed. In the end, he didn't really take that break because he'd ended up helping Kira and company with their project.

"You're insufferable."

"That's what everyone tells me. And, personally, I think I've come to enjoy pissing people off." Ray shifted, crossing his legs. The action knocked his hat from its perch, sending fluttering to the ground. He reached for it but found it just beyond his grasp. "Hey, Kira?"

"You can get it perfectly fine yourself." Kira told him. "At the risk of sounding repetitive—"

"I'm insufferable, I know. Oh, fine, fine. Up I get." Ray shifted his laptop off his chest and sat up, crossing his legs. He grabbed his hat and dropped it onto his head off-kilter before grabbing his computer and moving to sit next to Kira at the table. Restarting the news broadcast, Ray watched the fighting in the background with and analytical eye that Kira knew he wasn't supposed to be using while he was supposed to be taking a break. But then again, Ray didn't know the meaning of break.

"Birdie!" Kira's robotic bird, Birdie, landed on his shoulder. When Kira's friend Athrun had left Copernicus City for the Plants he had given Birdie to Kira as a parting gift. As such, it was very valuable to him. Kira smiled at it but that smile faded when he saw Ray eyeing Birdie with a familiar glint in his eyes. "For the last time, no."

"I didn't even ask anything."

"You were going to."

"I'd put him back together."

"No."

"Hey Kira!" Before Ray could continue the debate that had been in progress since the day he and Kira met, two of Kira's friends from the university, Tolle and Miriallia, came up to them. Kira resisted the urge to sigh with relief, since the appearance of his friends distracted Ray from the never-ending dispute over the pros and cons of taking Birdie apart.

"Hey, guys."

"So, this is where you've been hiding." Tolle plopped down on the bench next to Kira and glanced at his computer screen. "How do you understand all that techno mumbo jumbo?" He asked, shaking his head.

"It's actually and pretty simple program. You see—"

"Don't even start."

"Professor Kato's been looking for you." Mirialia said.

"Don't tell me that he has more work to dump on me." Kira groaned, running his hand through his hair.

"She could but she'd probably be lying." Ray pulled his attention away from his computer long enough to acknowledge the existence of the newcomers. Miriallia's sheepish grin was all the answer that Kira needed.

"Seriously! I'm still not done with the last load he dumped on me."

"Couldn't you get mister smart-ass over there to help you out?" Tolle jerked his thumb at Ray.

"I do have my own project to work on, you know?" Ray rolled his eyes. "And right now I'm supposed to be relaxing and orders are orders."

"Sure." Tolle returned the eye roll. "You're supposed to be. You wouldn't know relaxation if it bit you in the ass."

"You probably wouldn't be relaxing either if something had just bit you in the ass."

Miriallia put her hands on her hips. "The one who's going to be biting will be Professor Kato. If we don't hurry he'll bite all our heads off. He asked us to bring Kira to him right away." She turned to Ray. "And you'll probably be able to go back to work soon without getting yelled at but— is that Taiwan?" She asked, catching sight of Ray's computer screen.

He nodded. "Footage from yesterday. ZAFT's probably after Kaohsiung's mass driver."

"If that's footage from yesterday they may have already taken over Kaohsiung by now. That's not far from Orb. Will the homeland be alright?"

"Orb is neutral, so it's unlikely that either ZAFT or the Earth Forces will try to pull anything at this point." Ray assured her, closing his laptop and stashing it in his messenger bag. "But this is a war. There are no guarantees."

"Well gee, aren't we mister positive." Said Tolle.

Ray stood and gave Tolle a half-sardonic half- wicked grin. "Of course, we do have a few, shall I say, nasty surprises for anyone who tries…" He let the statement hang in the air for a moment and, not for the first time, Kira wondered exactly what it was that Ray was working on. "Come on, we should get Kira to your Prof. before he has a stroke."

The le Creuset team paused briefly when they reached the secret hanger where the new Earth Forces warship was hidden. They split up, branching off throughout the hanger. Each pair placed a timed explosive device set for ten minutes and then quickly regrouped with the main group.

Rusty nodded to Athrun, signaling that everyone had returned and the team quickly made their way to the interior of Heliopolis.

Ensign Natarle Badgiruel got into the backseat of the car behind her guide from Morganroete. Her guide pulled the car from the curb and drove toward the factory district. Natarle glanced back over her shoulder at the kids on the sidewalk. She could tell that the boy in the black Morganroete uniform was still watching their car until they pulled out of view. "Who's that boy from Morganroete?"

"Hmm? Oh, him? He's some special technician they brought up from Orb for some special project. There's two more up here somewhere."

Natarle shook her head. "What could that kid be working on?"

Her guide shrugged. "Don't know. No one's actually confirmed it but we believe that they're Coordinators so our people have been pretty much avoiding them like the plague aside from trying to track their movements."

"You think they're ZAFT?"

"Personally, I doubt it. If they were, we'd have had big problems way back at the beginning of this project. Well, even bigger of a problem then they already caused."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, they've both got really high security clearance within Morganroete. As in, their ID cards can get them into our warehouse high. Shorty back there," The driver jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "stumbled in. It was nearly a disaster. We managed to calm him down enough to get him reasonably convinced that we were working for the Orb Defense Force. We didn't do a good enough job. He contacted his superiors and we ended having to deal with an official inquiry from the Orb Special Forces. Trust me, lying to a woman like Natalie River is not fun. Luckily our sponsor in the Orb government managed to get them off our back. Not only that but, once convinced, those technician kids actually helped us design one of the machines."

"Sounds like a foreign relations scandal in the making. What happens when they learn the truth?" Natarle was worried about the possible repercussions of tricking a trio of high ranking Morganroete technicians, kids or not, into working for the Earth Forces.

Her guide just brushed it off. "Don't know, don't care. We'll all be long out of here by then."

"Is Draka back yet?"

Michael stood abruptly and slammed his hands down on either side of his terminal's keyboard in agitation. "Roche, I swear if you don't shut up—"

"Yeah, yeah. Insert open ended threat here." Roche leaned his chair back and propped his feet up on the table. He readjusted his sketchpad and grabbed another pencil out of the case beside his chair. "You know? You've really got no place to be complaining about Draka's temper."

"I'm only losing my temper because you won't shut up." Michael sagged back into his chair with a sigh. "Could you at least do some work on our current project instead of designing things we won't get to for another three years."

Roche rolled his eyes and spun his pencil between his fingers. "Hey, all that's left on Harbinger is software stuff and that's you and Draka's area of expertise. World's dumbest Coordinator, that's me! I'm sure you remember what Draka did the last time I— Hey! Wait a minute. He's still got my hat doesn't he?"

Michael buried his face in his hands. "Yes, Roche, he does." Roche didn't respond and Michael sighed in contentment at the silence, returning to his program analysis.

"When's Draka gettin' back?"

"Roche!"

Sudden, violent tremors rocked through the colony. Michael braced himself against the terminal but Roche's chair was knocked off balance and he was thrown to the floor. "What the hell!"

"Damn it! That was not a meteoroid!" Michael quickly saved all his data onto his portable drive and tucked it into an inside pocket of his shirt in the same time that it took for Roche to stand up, clutching his sketchpad to his chest. Michael's phone only rang once before he answered. "What?"

"You and Roche alright?"

"Yeah, we're good. Please tell me you're nearby, Draka." Michael grabbed Roche's arm and dragged him toward the door. They took off running toward Harbinger's warehouse. "And that you've got some idea what's going on. And that you're in one piece."

"As much as I should be insulted by the fact that my safety is an afterthought, I don't have time. You need to—"

"Secure Harbinger, I know. You get your ass to the warehouse. You're the only one that can really pilot the thing."

"If I'm not there in ten minutes you and Roche need to—"

"You'll get there, Draka."

"I'll—Damn it! It's ZAFT!" The line suddenly went dead. Michael swore. He stashed the phone in his back pocket and focused on running.

"Bet Draka's in a peachy keen mood."

"Shove it, Roche." They both paused to navigate a partially collapsed hallway. "We have got to get to Harbinger."

"I know, I know, Mike." Roche paused as Michael doubled over to catch his breath. "Here, I can run faster. I'll go ahead and make sure that Draka's baby's locked up nice and cozy."

Roche ran off before Michael could even gather his breath to speak. "Damn it, Roche." The building shook violently, knocking Michael off his feet and into the wall. He lay on the floor for a moment, completely dazed, until he noticed the smoke drifting from the corridor that Roche had just sprinted down. "Roche!" Standing shakily, he leaned on the wall to support himself. The hall was almost completely collapsed. Michael coughed as his lungs filled with dust. He struggled over the debris, trying to reach the other end of the hall. Trying to find his best friend. "Roche!"

"Mike?"The response was weak, barely audible.

"Roche!" Only Roche's head and one of his arms were visible, the rest of his body was buried beneath the rubble of ceiling and wall. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and the side of his head. His sketchpad lay open several feet from his outstretched hand. Michael dropped to his knees at his friend's side, trying to think of a way out of this.

"You've got a… a bruise on… your face… the size of… my ego."

"Don't try to talk. This is no time to be joking around!"

"Don't think so. Roche Mallory, jokester 'til the end!"

"Shut up, damn it! I'm trying to think of a way to get you out of here."

"Don't thank s'gonna happen…" Roche coughed up blood and Michael fought back tears. "Can't even feel most of my body."

"Don't do this to me, man."

"You and Draka got to bring Harbinger and Asha home. You know what Aunt Nat says."

"They're the first step on the path to the future." Michael choked. He grasped Roche's outstretched hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "And that you were the greatest buffoon to ever grace her presence."

Roche grinned weakly and squeezed his hand back. "That's why you all love me. You better not die. If you do, you better be reincarnated as my brother so that I can kick your ass." Roche closed his eyes, his hand loosening its grip. "Tell Draka… he can keep… my hat."

Michael stood slowly as it sank in that the man who had been his brother for the past three years was dead. He picked up Roche's sketchpad and stared blankly down at the open page. He and Draka were sitting back to back. Michael sat at his usual terminal with one hand in his hair and looking over his shoulder with an irritated look. Draka sat at a worktable with his laptop on his lap and was staring at the screen with his usual nothing-else-exists-right-now manner. But his chair was tipped back on its rear legs because his feet kicked up on the table and Roche's hat sat sideways on his head. It was a perfect rendition of the overly serious yet frivolous behavior that was typical of Draka and had always confused the hell out of Michael and Roche.

Michael punched the wall. "Damn it… Roche."

There were three. Three machines left in the warehouse a part from the three that Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol were already commandeering out on the street. There were only supposed to be two. Rusty swore under his breath at the inaccuracy of their information and heard Athrun do the same. "We'll need a green-coat to take the last one." Athrun called as the warehouse workers, probably Earth Forces soldiers in disguise, opened fire. "If no one can, we destroy it on the way out."

"Roger!"

It wasn't going well, at least not for Rusty. He had taken a bullet to his right shoulder and another to the same elbow. He sighed with relief as the cockpit of the mobile suit closed, shielding him from more gunfire. His arm was seriously injured, Rusty knew that, but he was using it anyway. It would take too long to boot up the machine's systems with just one hand and Rusty needed to get back to the Vesalius fast.

System: ASHA
Disengaged

"Huh?" Rusty stared at the words that appeared across the screen, trying to grasp their meaning. The moment he blinked, they faded and the interface started up. "System: Asha?" He shook his head. Asha? What did that mean? The machine's interface was strange, that combined with Rusty's injured arm took him five minutes to get it up and running. Its eyes flashed blue and Rusty forced it to its feet. The battle was still in full swing on the ground; both of the other machines were still dormant. Athrun could handle it, Rusty told himself, that's why he was in charge. Pain shot through his arm as he maneuvered his machine from the warehouse. It was as if the machine didn't want to move.

System: Asha…

A sudden blaring alarm and a flashing red light shocked Rusty from his musing. He instinctively dodged out of the way of the beam rifle shots but the action strained his injured arm. He turned to face the direction the shots had originated from and the color drained from his face.

A pair of green eyes flashed.

Lieutenant Commander Raven Draka of the Orb Special Forces was pissed. No, he changed his mind, he was beyond pissed. The first thing he did when the explosions started was throw his shoulder bag over his head. The second thing he'd done was call Mike to ensure that the results of the Asha project were secure. Raven needed to get to the Harbinger's warehouse, now, and then needed to do something about Asha. He had a really bad feeling, and he was sure it had something to do with those machines they were told were being built by the Orb Defense Force. That uneasy feeling was exactly why he was running through the inner halls of Morganroete and had charged through three security doors without bothering to close them behind him. There were so many holes blown in the walls by now that it hardly mattered anyway.

Raven finally came to a stop outside the door to Harbinger's warehouse. When his ID card wouldn't open the door, Raven was torn between frustration because he couldn't get in and glee because it meant that Michael and Roche had gotten here and disabled the scanner. He pounded on the door as hard as he could.

"Who's there?"

"Open the damn door M&M!"

The door opened revealing a worn looking Michael. "Get your ass in here, LCD."

"Quit calling me that, Mike. I'm really not in the mood."

Michael slammed the door behind Raven and resealed it. "Trust me, Draka, nether am I." He thrust a sketchpad into Raven's arms and turned away. "Stick that in that omnipresent bag of yours for me, will you."

Raven stared blankly down at the sketchpad. "Where's Roche?"

"He's dead."

It took almost a full minute for that news to sink in. Raven carefully tucked the sketchpad into his shoulder bag then spun quickly on his heel and slammed his fist into the wall. "Damn it! How the hell did this happen?"

"Wall fell on him in an explosion." Michael said in an empty voice. "I feel hypocritical saying this but punching the wall's not going to help. He told us to bring Harbinger and Asha home… and said you could keep his hat."

Raven reached his hand up to said hat that sat on his head. He twisted it around backward and Michael actually took a step back from him when he saw the look of pure fury in Raven's jade eyes. "Well, we had better get on that then."

Michael gave him an almost sadistic smile. "You got it boss."

The pair climbed into the Harbinger's double cockpit, Michael taking the raised rear seat while Raven took the front seat closing the hatch behind him just before an explosion collapsed part of the warehouse roof. "Activating Harbinger, initiating emergency system start." A message flashed across the screens in front of Raven.

System: ASHA
Engaged

The Harbinger's eyes glowed green and the machine stood, seemingly with no direction from Raven. It picked up its rifle from the container beside it and made its way to the opening in the roof.

"It's eerie how you do that." Michael muttered as Raven maneuvered the Harbinger while barely touching the controls.

"Shut it, Mike. There're three active machines outside and I'm really not in the mood."

Wisely, Michael shut his mouth.

Raven closed his eyes as Harbinger's flight system started up for the first time, eight appendages unfolded from its flight park like a spider's legs. He bowed his head. "For Aunt Nat's path to the future and Roche's hope of tomorrow." His eyes snapped open. "Let's go, Harbinger."

The Harbinger leapt into the air through the gap in the warehouse roof, the flight pack carrying it into the air and allowing it to hover in place as Raven scoped out the situation. One of the GINNs spotted it and immediately opened fire. Raven easily dodged out of the way and returned fire, landing on the ground in front of the warehouse. The GINN jumped out of the way but Raven swore when he saw the machine that had been standing behind it evade the shots as well.

The blue and white Asha stood facing Harbinger; its wings still folded. That alone was a relief to Raven and Michael because it meant that the Asha system hadn't been activated.

"Draka…"

"I know!" Raven snapped back at Michael. "I am so much more pissed off than five minutes ago." He turned the radio onto a universal frequency. "This is Lieutenant Commander Raven Draka of the Orb Special Forces." Raven shouted into the radio as the Harbinger indicated that two more machines had activated within one of the warehouses. "Somebody, I don't give a damn who, tell me what the hell is going on!"

Whether Rusty lives or dies will be decided in the next chapter. Right now, I could swing either way, so if you have an opinion on the matter, speak up. I'll take my readers' thoughts on the matter into consideration. The same goes for Nicol and Tolle, though obviously that won't come up in the next chapter.

There are several places in this chapter that seem really rushed to me, so any advice (or hints to where I can find a good beta) will be much appreciated.

I also write reeeeally slow, so know that if I don't update for awhile I'm still working on it unless it has been moved to the "on hold" section of my profile.

Thanks for reading,

Ebony