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"Look out! Above you!" Purity cried. Aeon reacted without thinking, grabbing Anaplekte's rifle and firing upwards.

They'd been ambushed - they'd been ambushed real good. Aeon was pretty sure that anyone happening that way would have been ambushed, but he was a little annoyed that it had happened to them. Because yet again, it was just him and Purity and twenty guys trying to get to Mercado and the Hesperides.

"Thanks!" Aeon called back as he blocked a beam sword with his own. These were mostly Safphirs and Deamondes, at least. Anaplekte was stronger. Lachesis was stronger. It was good to have something going for them, because nothing else was.

Ten seconds later, Aeon had picked out the leader. Or at least the guy who was compensating the most. His Deamonde was heavily customized but still ugly and slow. Paint didn't make it any more powerful. And the worst part was, Aeon thought as he jammed his beam sword through the cockpit of the nearest Safphir, he wasn't helping his people.

Aeon didn't like killing them, but when it came down to kill or be killed, he liked being alive. He could handle this kind of fighting. And coming off a job out by Albira, which was already well known for having problems with pirates and small terrorist cells hiding in the debris fields of Dea Matrona, Aeon knew he should have expected this. They were flying a NIN-ANA ship with two of NIN-ANA's Gundams. Fine prizes, but no one was going to get them.

A Deamonde went for his legs but Purity was right there, shooting. Already, Aeon could see burns on Lachesis' paint. Purity had been hit.

"How many are left?" she asked.

"Still got a dozen," Mercado replied. "I've got some IFF heat-seekers ready to launch?"

"Do it," Aeon said quickly. Those would even the odds - he and Purity would just have to get clear of the explosions. Even though the missiles were Varuna's design and smart enough not to hit anything with a friendly IFF, getting caught in a detonation wouldn't be fun. Aeon did not want to have to sit on the sidelines for another few months while Anaplekte was completely rebuilt, again.

He wouldn't even have Rei to keep him company. Not that he was going to say that out loud. At least Purity and Mercado hadn't been as upset about that whole mission once it had been explained properly.

"Purity, drop!" Aeon called. While there was no up or down in space, 'drop' still meant 'get the hell clear'. The missiles hit a moment later, exploding around Aeon in silent fireworks.

"Four left," Purity called. Including that custom bastard.

"I want the leader," Aeon said firmly.

"You always get the leader. What if I want the leader?"

"You can sit on Mercado's lap on the way home."

"Hey, what if--" Mercado broke in. "Actually, that's okay. Co-ed naked lap-sitting?"

"Can we get this battle finished first?"

Aeon pushed Anaplekte forward, sword streaking along side of him. The custom Deamonde had its blade ready as well, bigger but with less overall output, Aeon noted. It would be easy to break. Besides, Aeon didn't really see any reason to play fair. No sooner had their swords met than he smashed a button to trigger one of Anaplekte's many new special features. Ashe had promised the tiny hip-mounted canons would come in handy and Aeon couldn't wait to tell her she'd been right.

The Deamonde exploded a moment later, pushing Anaplekte back and causing it to spin for a moment until Aeon brought it under control. The last pair of Safphirs made to retreat. Always, Aeon let them go. There was nothing good about picking on the losers.

"All good, Purity?"

"All good," she replied. "Let's go... wherever we're going."

"Esteos," Mercado said. "Weren't you listening to Aeon's lecture earlier? I think he read the entire colony history."

"But then we got talking about Consolation and whoever named a colony 'Consolation'," Purity pointed out.

"I wouldn't name a colony 'Consolation'," Mercado said.

Aeon switched off his headset mic and sighed. Honestly. Honestly...

But everything was good. He followed Purity back to the Hesperides and silently counted his blessings. Skill, a good team, a good machine.

They could move on to the next part of their mission. They'd done good. And that was the important part.