Hey guys it's me again Nagato21. So after several months of writer's bloc, tedious job, a bad economy and being single (yes I know it's sad) I finally decided to get back in the game. I will try to update as regularly as possible but I make no promise because I am very busy in the real world.

I also would like to apologize to my fellow readers for being absent for so long but like I said before, the real world is a busy place. You should also know that Stargate Unbound my other fic is not dead, I will update it soon but not now. For now I am focusing on this new Gundam story but it will not be a regular occurance.

Just a quick note: In this story Kira is not the main focus and will be a secondary character. The main character is Alex Klein and his impact in the Cosmic Era. So if you don't like it please don't read it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed and any related Gundam franchise.

Now have fun and don't forget to review

Orb Colony of Heliopolis, Lagrange 3 Sector

January 12th CE 71

At a seemingly abandoned warehouse in the factory district of the neutral colony, a group of men dress in dark camo uniform, combat vest; balaclava on their heads and armed with pistols and submachine guns were busy working.

"Access to G-Weapon is complete, boss" says one man seating in front of a computer, another man behind him with blond hair and glasses nods. He extracts from his pocket a piece of paper and hands it to the subordinate.

"Get access to the G-Weapon data and begin the upload to these coordinates" he says

"You think they will bite?" asks another masked man, making the other smile evilly

"Normally I would say no but Azrael gave me some pretty good insurance" he says with a sinister chuckle "I didn't get the details but there seems to be a mole within their midst"

"How the hell did they get one inside the….?"

"Enough" the leader cuts him off "Its above our pay grade, what's important is the preservation of our blue and pure world." the subordinate nods and steps away.

"Upload complete" says the computer expert

"How do you define blue and pure when spilling the blood of countless innocent?" asks another approaching subordinate, his tone was frosty, causing the leader's instinct to draw his weapon.

Before he can asks for more clarification, the subordinate punches him in the guts, causing him to fall on his knees, then a swift karate chop on his neck renders him unconscious as he falls on the floor.

The other men look at the scene shocked and confused

"What the hell…?"asks the one seating next to the computer, but his words are cut by a bullet crashing in between his eyes.

The rest of the men raise their weapons and press the triggers only for them to click empty

"Rule number 8 of Covert Operation" the assailant speaks as he removes his mask, revealing a young tan skin face, with blue eyes and short cut red hair "Never let the rookie distribute the ammo before an OP". The red hair grins evilly and raises an SMG with laser targeting sights on each hand, aiming at the shocked crow and then presses the trigger.

From outside brief flashes of light reflects on the windows of the warehouse followed by muffled sounds and screams.

The blond hair man wakes up with a headache, as he tries to raise his hand to massage his head he suddenly realizes that he can't move, his body solidly tied into a chair by thick and sturdy ropes. Now fully awake he takes stock of his surrounding only for his eyes widen in shock upon seeing the fallen bodies of his men littering the ground floor around him.

"Good morning" a voice says he turns in its direction; seated on top of a table is a young man with tan skin, blue eyes, military length cut red hairs, he has a slight scar under his left cheek. On his right hand is a wicked curved knife.

"Who the fuck, are you?" the blonde man asks acidly, his answer comes swiftly in the form of the knife being thrown and plunging on his shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.

"I'll be the one asking the question if you don't mind" the young man says with a slight smile, causing the blonde man to feel a slight chill creeping on his spine. He screams once more as the boy removes the knife slowly and not before twisting it several times inside his flesh.

"You don't answer or if I don't like what you are telling me…." he stabs his left leg causing further pain to the prisoner putting his point across.

"Now start explaining to me why Blue Cosmos is tipping ZAFT about the G-Weapon Project?"

…..

A few hours later

Morning or what people considered morning in Heliopolis artificial environment had come and the streets and roads where once again becoming busy.

Inside an apartment at the residential district, Alex Klein sighed as he finished reading the last bit of data he had acquired from that Blue Cosmos warehouse a few hours ago.

'A fire erupted early this morning inside an abandoned warehouse at the industrial district' a female newscaster spoke on the TV which he had turned on to keep appraise of actualities. 'Heliopolis Police Department has yet to make a statement regarding if the act was criminal or an accident. On other news ZAFT forces continue their advances toward Kaohsiung…..'

Alex turned off the TV as he noticed on his comm. terminal was ringing, he got up from his sofa and approached the screen turning it on.

The face of a man with Asian features in his forties wearing the traditional blue and white uniform of the Orb Navy appeared on the screen.

"Admiral Parks" Alex greeted with a soft smile "Long time no see". The Orb Admiral smiled and nodded "Indeed Alex, how are you doing?"

The red head sighed "When you told me to pass my vacations here at Heliopolis you forgot to mention how boring this colony was."

Parks chuckled at the boy's comment before raising an eyebrow "What about the opportunity of hacking through Morganroete mainframes or the occasional spying of CIA cells spread across the colony?"

Alex snorted humorously "CIA is not what it used to be Admiral, unless they decided to outsource by employing Blue Cosmos"

Parks eyes narrowed, his face taking a serious expression "So it is true, Blue Cosmos works that closely with the Atlantic Federation."

Alex nodded "I confirmed it this morning when I infiltrated their hideout. But that's not the worst of it. They not only got access to the G-Weapons data but they have sent it to ZAFT."

A flash of surprise and anger coursed across the Orb Admiral's face "They want to set us up" It wasn't a question. Since the war began, the Earth Alliance or to be more precise the Atlantic Federation has been pressuring Orb to join them in their war against the PLANTS, understandable since Orb despite being a small in comparison to the other super states was the most technologically advance nation after the Coordinator Nation, its military despite not having mobile suits was dangerous enough to even hurt ZAFT, add the Morganroete Technological Firm which is the Orb's top weapon manufacturer, having Orb at their side would tip the scale of the conflict.

"It wasn't enough that the Seiran and Shahaku plotted to have Morganroete build mobile suits for them, but now they want to involve us directly." Parks says as he slams his fist on his desk.

"Aside from the upcoming political fallout we have bigger things to worry for now" Alex says "No doubt ZAFT will react swiftly to prevent the prototypes from reaching Alliance HQ and knowing Patrick Zala, he is bound to do something stupid like ordering the destruction of Heliopolis."

Parks nodded agreeing with the young man assessment "I will inform Lord Uzumi and dispatch reinforcements as soon as possible. For now I want you Alex to head back to Morganroete and extract all the data related to the G-Project including the Archangel and then forward it back to Copernicus."

"I'll get on it tomorrow"

"One more thing" Parks add "Is the Arbalest ready for deployment?"

"It is operational except for the OS but that isn't a problem for me" Alex explains with a slight smirk "By the way Admiral how is the Zodiac Project coming along?"

The Orb Admiral smiled "The test trials for the Aries and Tragos were very successful. They may not have the same technological advances as the Astray series but in terms of combat performance and speed they are superior to the GINNs and DINNs."

Alex chuckled "It also help that they are cheaper to produce and they don't require a complex OS to pilot them."

"Indeed, those were some of the reasons why we chose the Zodiac Series over the Astray. It is hard for conventional pilots to switch to 3D maneuvers, even mobile armor pilots, but the Aries per example is more of a jet fighter than a mobile suit and it will ease the learning curve when we begin fielding more powerful mobile suits." Explains the Admiral, to which Alex nodded in agreement. While he wasn't totally against the Astray project, the mobile suit was too technologically advance even for Orb's powerful economy to have it mass produce. With the war raging on between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, it was only a matter of time until the small nation becomes a target for both sides despites neutrality. Thus for the short term Orb needed a cheap but strong mobile suit force while Astray would be relegated as a Command unit or Special Operations until. Of course that decision had been met by hostility from the Shahaku who had spearheaded the Astray Project in the hopes of rising above the Atha family. While the Shahaku had a lot of influence within Orb's military, these same military people were not pleased that the noble family endangered their nation by wanting to play the EA and ZAFT. This was why Alex Klein had been sent to Heliopolis, to keep an eye on the G-Weapon Project, make sure the EA would respect their end of the deal by forwarding data of the prototypes and finally ensure that no third party would attempt to steal secrets from Morganroete.

"We have also begun testing the Cancer and Pisces and so far everything is going well but for now we will be focusing on producing the Aries and Tragos. The Joint Chiefs want to replace half of our aerial and ground assets with those two models by the middle of this year." Parks added causing Alex to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"Does that mean that Lord Uzumi gave his approval?" he asks, the Admiral nodded with a wicked grin "Lord Uzumi may be a pacifist but he isn't an idiot and don't forget that he used to be a veteran ace pilot, so he knows the requirements needed to protect our nation."

Alex nodded, remembering what he had read about the ruler of Orb. It wasn't widely known but Uzumi Nara Atha was once a fearsome ace fighter pilot during the 2nd Circum Pacific Conflict, a series of violent skirmishes which pitted Orb allied with the Oceanic Union and the Atlantic Federation against the East Asian Republics and Eurasian Federation some thirty years ago. While the conflict had been brief it was devastating but Orb came out as a nation to be feared and Uzumi one of the many war heroes to survive what was known as the greatest aerial-naval war in history.

"When you put it that way I guess it makes sense" chuckles Alex before adopting a serious expression "In the event that ZAFT attacks the colony, what are my orders?"

"Do whatever you can to prevent them from damaging the colony. Hopefully ZAFT will attack the Archangel once it is outside of our airspace, if that happens well it's not our problem anymore." Parks says with a slight sneer, evidence that he held both factions in contempt. He was a Coordinator as well but he despised the Alliance for their siding with Blue Cosmos and hypocritical stance; ZAFT he despised them even more than the Alliance because of their arrogance thinking they are superior to other humans. In his opinion both sides deserved to be annihilated but the result would be countless innocent lives lost in the process.

"Whatever happens Alex, I need you to survive and come back home in one piece got it?" Parks asks him "Otherwise Cynthia will tear me a new one if she learns that something bad happened to you."

Alex snorted at the mention of his ex-girlfriend, Cynthia Silverberg CEO of Morganroete and daughter of Robert Silverberg, the governor of Copernicus and President of Lunar Trade Guild.

"Well maybe if she kept a better eye on her companies activities I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place." the red hair replied sarcastically causing Parks to shake his head. He was well aware of the dissention between Alex and Cynthia. Born in an elitist Coordinator family, Cynthia while not racist saw Naturals as obsolete and narrow minded, but Alex was the exception to the norm. While he is a 100% Natural, he is has often demonstrated feats that only Coordinators were suppose to accomplish. Being such an oddity he became the target of Cynthia's obsession to pierce his secret, often landing him into complicated mess. If it wasn't enough Blue Cosmos was also after his hide, believing he was a Coordinator in disguise. At one point Alex entertained the thought of having a durable relationship with Cynthia but their ideological views were a major barrier despite having grown feelings for each other.

"Anyways, good luck Alex and keep safe" Parks says ending the discussion and signing off

Alex turned off his terminal and went to the kitchen, he opened the fridge and took out a can of beer, and then he went back to sit on his sofa, opening his drink and sipping it.

"It seems no matter what I do, war is always coming back toward me" he muses aloud with a deep sigh.

Alex couldn't help but be worried about the future. If the Alliance and Blue Cosmos were this eager to tip ZAFT about their secret mobile suit project it meant that something big was happening behind the scenes. It also meant that the G-Weapons at present were worthless in the eyes of the Alliance.

"Which means there is a separate development center" Alex thought "Probably deep inside the Atlantic Federation territory, but I bet they used the work here in Heliopolis to spearhead their own project. However I have a hard time picturing Admiral Halberton using such underhanded method. He is likely unaware of it which means someone the Atlantic Federation has bigger plans than simply developing mobile suits."

Since the war began, the Eurasian Federation had shouldered the brunt of conflict due to its numerical superiority and having control large deposits of resources in central Asia and Siberia. Not eager to see the Atlantic Federation leading the war, the East Asia Republics had also thrown its support to the Eurasian, relegating the Atlantic side to the position of number two. Surprisingly the Atlantic Federation had made no noise about being sidelined, instead opting for providing supplies and technology to its "allies". Alex like many others had been puzzled by the passive nature of the Atlantic Federation but now as to why.

"They are weakening the Eurasian and East Asian forces but the question is why?" he thought "So far America has yet to be touch by the conflict preserving their industrial base which has grown even bigger since the war began. The Eurasian despite suffering massive casualties are still a force to be reckoned. If the Atlantic Federation unveils the G-Weapons they will be in a position of leadership because they are the only one with the industry capable of supplying mobile suits so why the whole farce, why trying to setup Orb to join them?"

So many questions and yet little answers.

Not wanting to delve further into countless theories Alex finished his beer and went to take a shower. He had barely slept but it was alright, he was used to such things. For now he needed to prepare for the upcoming fallout.

…..

Three days later

Alex dress in black cargo pants, yellow t-shirt and black leather jacket, his long red hair arranged in a ponytail and his tan skin gave him an exotic look as enters the Morganroete Facility, he passed several security checkpoints where he had to constantly show his ID card and be searched for anything suspect. Of course they wouldn't find anything and even if they did, nothing would happen. As part of his cover, Alex was listed as an engineer and ironically he was also listed as a Coordinator.

Today however the security was higher than usual, probably because the G-Weapons were being shipped today.

"You are here early" spoke an Earth Alliance soldier disguised as a Morganroete Security Employee, Alex recognize him as one of the top officers in charge of the security of the G-Units.

"Hey Bob" Alex greeted with a sigh "That bastard Kato dumped me with even more work than usual; I swear it's like the man doesn't know the meaning of overwork."

Bob gave him a sympathetic smile "Can't be helped the prototypes are being loaded today onboard the Archangel and from what he heard Kato hasn't finished completing the OS, something about his computer being corrupted or some other bullshit excuse." grumbles the EA undercover agent.

Alex scowls in agreement but internally he was cackling evilly, since the Alliance was determined to screw Orb, he had introduced a virus inside Professor Kato's computer and Morganroete database, erasing all of their work on the Operating Systems for the G-Units.

"Payback's a bitch" he thought

"Have you guys loaded all the units onboard yet?" he asks curious, he had already finished data extraction on all the machines, for now he was just here to ensure that things ran smoothly.

"Not yet" Bob says with a frustrated sigh "Heliopolis governor wants us to wait until nightfall to move the prototypes so that we don't attract public attention."

"Make sense" Alex says, "Orb is still neutral, we can't afford the bad publicity"

Bob gave him a slight glare, as far as he knew Alex was a simple engineer but with military clearance "If you guys are able to build weapons like that, why the hell you guys aren't trying to make a difference in this war?"

Alex chuckled, Bob may be an EA agent but he had a valid point "Don't look at me Bob I am just a grunt like you."

"Sorry" apologizes the man "It's just I am tired of this war, I just hope these machines are worth it."

"So do I" Alex said, "Well I got to run, see you later"

"Sure"

Alex passed by the hangar where he saw several dull grey colored mobile suits laying on flatbed trucks.

The thought of the Alliance having access to such powerful weapons irked Alex, his time as a covert operative had given him a unique insight of the politics surrounding the nation members of the Alliance. Most of the public believe this war is due to hatred between Naturals and Coordinators, while it might have been the catalyst after Junius 7, the reasons where much simpler and at the same time more complex. The PLANTS where intended to become scientific and technological centers, unlike what popular beliefs made it out to be.

It wasn't made to isolate Coordinators; such reasoning was plain stupid and money wasting. Why build such technological marvel that cost trillions when you could put them inside cheaper colonies like Heliopolis. People often forget that many Naturals were part of the PLANTS construction or still live in it even after Junius 7. Coordinators are a majority in these colonies and their numbers swelled since the opening of the PLANTS prompting to call the place their homes and then came the political party known as ZAFT. The PLANTS helped revitalize the economy of many nations on Earth but due to Blue Cosmos constant attacks and the flow of Coordinator refugees to these colonies, Earth countries became too dependent of the PLANTS resources. Had they taken measures to protect Coordinators rights and dealt swiftly with Blue Cosmos, the PLANTS wouldn't have rebelled and when they did rebel, the nations of Earth realized how reliant they had become of the Coordinator space base products. Not wanting to lose such profits they attempted military force only to have ZAFT show up with mobile suits and kick asses thoroughly. Of course the PLANTS were also at fault, they realized how valuable they had become to their masters and in their arrogance they developed a politic of isolation which cultivated a belief that they were superior to Naturals, had they been more accommodating it might have prevented the war and cooler heads would've prevailed. Unfortunately a war that started for purely economic reasons transformed into a war between races after Junius 7 and the Neutron Jammer drop; both sides unwilling to negotiate and accept each other.

Alex arrived at Kato's office which also doubled as his. Opening the door he saw three occupants inside the lab, two were familiar but the third one was an unknown, evident by the cap on her head, but her blonde hair and orange eyes were somehow familiar to him.

"Where have I seen her before?" he wondered only to be interrupted in his musing by Sai Argyle speaking to him.

"Hey Alex, you are here early" spoke the young student

"Why do people keep saying that?" the red hair sighs, causing Sai and his other friend Kuzzey Bruzzwick to chuckle.

"Because you hate it when Professor Kato dumps his work on you" Kuzzey says

"Perhaps if you two slackers were more diligent I wouldn't have to work so much" Alex replies in a deadpan before glancing at the mysterious girl "Who is she?"

Sai leans toward his ear and whispers "She says she is a friend of Professor Kato and she is waiting for him."

Alex frowned, while it is true that Kato being a part time university professor allowed him to have student working for him, everyone that came here had to be given a thorough background check and vetoed not only by Morganroete Security but the Alliance. Alex having a backdoor to the security mainframe and a photographic memory knew each and everyone here but he didn't recall hearing of this girl being brought in.

"How the hell did she manage to evade security?" he thought, he was interrupted from thinking further when the door opened and three newcomers came in.

"Hey Kira, Tolle, Miri" Sai greeted

"Hey guys" Alex greeted as well, deciding to question the mystery girl later but he would keep an eye on her.

"Hi Alex" Kira shook hand with him "Haven't seen you in a while"

"That bastard Kato's been keeping me busy" Alex says

"Torii" a green mechanical bird sang and landed on Alex's shoulder, making the red hair smile "Hey little guy it's been a while."

"Yeah, Torii has been missing you" Kira remarked "I still haven't thanked you for repairing him"

Indeed, a month ago, Kira's robotic pet had short-circuited when it tangled with some electrical wires in a workshop at the university. Alex who happened to pass by saw what happened and offered to repair it. He also added new parts to reinforce Torii's frame and an evasion program to avoid similar incident.

"No sweat" Alex patted Kira's shoulder "Letting me repair and tweak it a bit gave me an opportunity to study it. I am thinking of building my own pet later on."

Kira chuckles at the enthusiasm of his friend and co-worker, he liked Alex despite finding him odd and mysterious. The man slightly older than him seemed full of secrets but it wasn't his place to ask or pry.

Alex also liked Kira despite finding the boy's naiveté to be a bit annoying but it was balanced by his kindness and computer talents. Of course Alex knew that Kira was a Coordinator but he wasn't biased by such factors. However he didn't like how Kato had involved the boy into the G-Project without his knowledge and was using him to complete his work on the OS. If the Alliance learned that Kira was responsible for their progress they would do everything to coerce him on their sides, thus Alex had gone to great length to keep Kira away from Kato as much as possible and hence one of the reasons why he sabotaged their work.

An hour passed as the group of students and Alex work and chatted amiably inside the lab without a care for the world. Tolle was once again up to his regular antics but Miri kept him in line; Sai was harassed about his relationship with a certain Flay Allster while Kuzzey being always shy stayed in the corner when questioned about his secret girlfriend. Kira laughed the stress of work and news about the war evaporated with the presence of his friends. Alex shared his feelings, seeing the joy and innocence of these young people made him forget about the realities outside of Heliopolis and for a moment he began to hope that the peace of this colony would not be disrupted.

A tremor shook the room, startling everyone inside

"What was that?" Miri asks slightly afraid

"A meteor shower perhaps" Sai said

Alex however was frowning as he recognize what it is

"So it begins" he thought grimly, his hands morphing into a fist as he realized that war had finally arrived at the once peaceful colony of Heliopolis.

"ZAFT is attacking" shouted someone in the hallways of Morganroete labs "Their mobile suits have entered the colony"

"ZAFT is here?" Kira asks in shock, his mind wandering to his childhood friend Athrun Zala who was the son of the Chairman of Defense of the PLANTS.

"Let head to the shelters" Sai proposed

"Good idea" Alex says as he opened a locker at the corner of the lab, revealing a duffel bag which he opened, extracting a holster containing a USB SOCOM pistol with laser sight. Amidst the shock looks of the students he attached the weapon behind his waist along with several pistol magazines before closing the bag and placing it on his shoulder.

"Alex what's going on?" Kira asks, shocked to see his friend carrying a weapon, but what shocked him more was the new demeanor in Alex's body language. His blue eyes were radiating something cold and fierce and his body stance seems akin to a lion ready to pounce on his prey.

"Morganroete has been developing weapons here, which means this place is a target for ZAFT" Alex explains "You guys head to the shelters and stay there until things calm down, alright?"

The students were shocked by such revelation but sensing Alex's tone leaving no argument for discussion they complied and joined the crowd outside with Alex closing behind them; suddenly he saw the mystery girl running toward the other end of the hallway, Kira having spotted her as well followed to stop her.

"Damn it" Alex scowls, these kids were throwing themselves to danger so he went after them.

"Let go of me!" the girl yelled back at Kira while moving her hand, her hat fell down, revealing her facial features.

"You…you are a girl?" Kira asks surprised

"What do you suppose I was?" growls the blonde

"Cagalli Yula Atha!" Alex screams, an angry scowl on his face that causes both teenagers to flinch "What the fuck are you doing here?" he asks, a loud explosion echoes from afar, interrupting their conversation. Knowing that time is of the essence, Alex punches Cagalli in the guts and grabs her before she falls as she is unconscious, then he and hands her over to a stunned Kira.

"She is the daughter of the leader of Orb" Alex explains "Take her to a shelter and both of you stay there until rescue comes."

"What about you?" the young Coordinator asks, visibly worried for his friend

"I have something to take care of, go on ahead" he tells him and pushes him on the back to move.

It is clear that Kira has a lot of question but knowing that the life of Cagalli was more important he obeys and carries her in his arms.

Alex watches the boy leave, he could've carried her to a shelter but he knew that he would waste precious time and ZAFT would beat him to the objective if he didn't hurry. The G-Units were not the only secrets here on Heliopolis and Alex needed to make sure ZAFT or the Alliance didn't find it.

….

Alex reached a hangar block located on the opposite side of the facility; from the outside the place look like any small time storage hangars that littered the Morganroete facility.

As he reached the entrance, he overheard some voices

"This is Dingo team; we have found what appears to be a sixth machine"

"Very well, we will proceed to bring it to the Vesalius, Dingo team out." The ZAFT green coat turned off his radio and gestured his men to open the hangar. In the middle of said hangar is a black and yellow machine covered by a thick black cloak.

Alex curses silently; he didn't expect ZAFT to find out about this place since it didn't exist on the blueprint. His guess was that they found it due to luck or coincidence.

"Either way I need to get rid of them" he thought, he opens his duffel bag, extracting a grenade belt which he then attaches around his waist.

"Time to roll" he mutters

….

"Looks like Intel botch the job, again" says a ZAFT green coat

"Sure thing mate but look at it this way, when we get back with this baby, Patrick Zala will make us Red Coats." chuckles another green coat

"Damn right he will promote us, I am sick and tired of…."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a rolling object landing on their feet and exploding into a brilliant flash of light.

Blinded by the flash bang grenade, the ZAFT soldiers were unable to see Alex storming the hangar, pistol with his two hands and firing.

His first victim was the squad leader of the Green Coats who was about to climb onto the mobile suit. The Coordinator died courtesy of one bullet in his neck and two more perforating his ribs, reducing his internal organs into a messy pulp.

Still dizzy from the flash bang effect, the ZAFT soldiers did not notice yet the death of their leader, allowing Alex to take out three more in their ranks by perforating their helmet and faces. The rest of the squad now stood awake and opened fire in his direction, prompting the red hair to take cover behind a metal crate. He picked a smoke grenade on his belt and lobbed it above the crate. The grenade exploded engulfing the room with dark smoke.

The shouts and cries of panic, confirmed Alex's theory since he threw the flash bang. These guys were not trained commandos or Special Forces but regular grunts. Had they been commandos their normal suits would feature reinforced armor plating, polarized visors, integrated HUD targeting system and thermal vision.

"Whoever is commanding this offensive must've jumped the gun" the red hair thoughts "True professionals would've performed extensive reconnaissance of the colony before attacking, failing that they would've waited outside Heliopolis airspace to launch an ambush. Then again Zala and his cronies have never been known to be subtle or like the delicate approach."

Alex had known that ZAFT would've attacked but not in this fashion; usually such delicate operation was handed to ZEOG (ZAFT Elite Operation Group) whose skills and reputation was on par with the infamous SAS, Delta Force and Spetnaz but Alex also knew that the deployment of ZEOG could only be done with the permission of the PLANTS Supreme Chairman.

"Which means this is either a knee jerk reaction to the G-Project or an unsanctioned Op" Alex thought as he fired twice in the darkness, having spotted an approaching silhouette.

"Bobby is down!"

"Toss a grenade, will take him out"

"Belay that. Regroup around me guys and keep your eyes sharp!" says a ZAFT soldier as he unleashes a short burst in the direction Alex took cover.

"What a bunch of amateurs" Alex thought as he exited his cover as stealthily as possible, making sure he didn't make any noise.

"That's what happens when you are too reliant on mobile suits and forgo conventional wisdom"

He had a mental map of the room down to the last detail, thus he knew where to go and what to avoid. Furthermore the voices of his enemies allowed him to guess their positions. Had they been true professionals, they would've stayed silent so as to minimize the chances of detection, caused a diversion to break his focus and establish a Killzone around his objective: the mobile suits. But having never been confronted to an invisible enemy and being too reliant on technology, the ZAFT soldiers were totally hopeless.

Swiftly and silently, Alex found his first target grabbed his neck and twisted it. He carefully put the dead body on the floor so as to not make any noise. He then picked a knife on fallen soldier and went to find his next victim, which he pierced the back of his skull. The last two who were hiding behind a crate were gun down from behind courtesy of an assault rifle Alex pilfered from their fallen comrades.

The smoke around the hangar dissipated and eight ZAFT soldiers now lay dead on the floor. Satisfied he had eliminated all intruders Alex didn't waste time and jumped onboard the mobile suit's cockpit. He pressed the start up activation sequence, the main screen displaying bright letters.

General

Unilateral

Nexus

Drive

Assault

Module

G.U.N.D.A.M Arbalest Synthesis OP v1.4

"Pff" scoffs Alex "What a mouthful" He then grabbed the controls and began to raise the mobile suit from its berth.

"Arbalest Gundam; taking off!"

…

War has finally reached the tranquil colony of Heliopolis. It is up to Alex to keep his friends safe from ZAFT's wrath. Unfortunately their exposure to the Alliance secret weapons makes them already a target. If that wasn't enough the Crucible of Yggdrasil, the infamous Rau LeCreuset decides to test the mettle of the Gundams personally.

Next time on Gundam Seed: The Raven: The Crucible arrives. Destroy those who stand in your path Arbalest!

Unit: GX-117 Arbalest

Unit type: Prototype Multi-General Purpose Mobile Suit

Manufacturer: Morgenroete

Operator(s):Alex Klein

Accommodation: Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso

Power plant: Classified, power output rating unknown

Dimensions:Height: 18.4 Meters; Weight: 67.7 Tons

Equipment and design features: G-Core (classified); ODS (Optical Detection System); Composite Laminated Armor; has hardpoints for accommodating Strike Packs.

Fixed Armaments: 2 x CIWS Iggelstellung, mounted on forehead fire link; 2 x Sigma Beam Sabers, mounted behind the waist; 2 x Pallas Beam Boomerangs, mounted on the shoulders; 1 x G-Blade, mounted on arm shield; 2 x Multi-purpose grenade launchers, hidden in the legs; 4 x Beam Blades, hidden in the elbows and toes.

Optional Fixed Armaments: 1 x Stiletto Launcher; 1 x Anti-Ship Beam Sword

Optional Armaments: Beam Assault Rifle; Plasma Shotgun; Electromagnetic Rifle; Missile Launchers

Technical & Historical Notes

As part of his payment to oversee the security of the G-Units, the Earth Alliance and Morganroete developed a mobile suit tailored specifically for the illusive mercenary Alexander Klein aka the Raven. At first glance the Arbalest seems to be a close combat oriented mobile suit but in reality it is design for guerilla warfare and like the Strike it can be modified with a variety of equipments for a variety of roles and missions. It can also be outfitted with the same weapon packs as the Strike. Unlike the other G-Units, the Arbalest doesn't use Phase Shift armor because Alex deemed it unreliable due to power requirements and its prohibitive cost, instead the frame is covered by a layer of Laminated Composite Armor, the same alloy use on the Archangel, making this mobile suit very difficult to destroy. While Morganroete built the suit and used EA technology, Alex was the one who designed and supervised the construction of the Arbalest in the first place, thus it contains a number of unknown features and technologies that not even the Alliance and ZAFT seems to be aware of.

Colors: Black and yellow

Author's note:

Appearance wise the Arbalest has the head and torso of the Exia, the legs of the Astray Frame series, the shoulders of the Strike and the arms of the Aegis. I like to think I created a badass mobile suit for a badass character. Like Alex, the Arbalest is design for fighting dirty and nasty, which means a lot of people in the story are either going to be pissed or running scared when they see what he can do with it.