I get to Pilot my favourite mobile suits.

Arthur's POV

The cockpit of the Gelgoog Vertex pulsed with life, the panoramic display wrapping around me like a sphere of glowing chaos. Explosions painted the void in bursts of orange and blue, while debris and plasma trails crisscrossed the battlefield like tracer fire. I gripped the controls tightly, my focus cutting through the chaos like a blade.

"Haro, status report," I called out, keeping my voice steady even as the Gelgoog jolted from nearby blasts. "How long until the Alliance fleet is at optimal firing range?"

"Three minutes! Three minutes until optimal range!" Haro's chirpy voice almost made me laugh. Almost.

"Three minutes to make an impression, then." A smirk tugged at my lips. The fight had only just begun, but I already had seven ships to my name. Time to up the score.

C.C.'s voice crackled through the comms, sharp as ever. "Tell me this isn't your idea of 'strategy.' Boosting into the battlefield at full speed and disabling safety measures? Bold, even for you."

"I'd call it efficient," I shot back, snapping the Vertex into a barrel roll to dodge a plasma volley. "Seven ships down and counting. Admit it—you're impressed."

Her response was a scoff. "Entertained, maybe. Impressed? Not so much. You're like a one-man fireworks display, Arthur."

"Glad I can brighten your day," I quipped, twisting the Gelgoog through another barrage. A cruiser loomed ahead, bristling with turrets. Perfect. I used its bulk as cover, slipping beneath its firing arc as Geth anti-air fire tore through the space I'd just vacated.

Two frigates broke formation and moved to intercept me. I could almost hear their targeting systems whining as I twisted the Vertex into a roll, narrowly avoiding their combined fire. "Nice try," I muttered, snapping the beam rifle into position. I fired, the pink lance slicing clean through the first frigate's hull, its shields crumpling like wet paper.

"Not much armor on these guys," I mused aloud as the ship exploded, sending shards of metal spinning into its companion. The second frigate lurched, its trajectory disrupted. I felt a familiar tingle, that strange sixth sense guiding my hands. Adjusting my aim, I fired again. The beam found its mark, splitting the ship in two.

"Six frigates down," I said with a grin. "Not bad for a warm-up."

"Enemy fighters detected! Enemy fighters detected!" Haro chimed, highlighting the incoming swarm on the display.

I groaned. "Really? Krill-shaped fighters? Who designed these, anyway?"

The swarm approached in a tight, disciplined formation. Too disciplined. Perfect. I deployed the Vertex's dual beam cannons, their barrels glowing a menacing red and purple. "Let's see how they handle this," I muttered with a smirk. The satisfying hum of the cannons filled the cockpit as I aligned my shot. "Time to ruin their day."

Taking aim and firing. The twin beams lanced through the formation, vaporizing the center squadron in an instant. The fighters on the edges fared no better—those caught on the periphery were reduced to molten slag, their debris scattering in jagged arcs across the void. One beam nicked the tail end of a cruiser, triggering a chain reaction that tore through its engines. The resulting explosion was blinding, shattering the ship in a burst of shrapnel and fire.

"Arthur, you're skimming too close to that cruiser—" C.C.'s warning trailed off as one of another beam sliced through a frigate, its reactor core erupting and taking a nearby cruiser with it.

"That's what we call multitasking," I replied, grinning as I twisted the Gelgoog into a sharp dive. Plasma fire erupted around me, the blasts rattling the cockpit. The inertial dampeners groaned under the strain of my maneuvers, but they held.

"You're impossible," C.C. muttered. Was that amusement in her voice?

"Haro, let me know when the Alliance feels like joining the party."

"Two minutes remaining! Keep going, Arthur!" Haro chirped.

"Plenty of time," I said, The Geth were starting to adapt slowly. Their fleet began to spread out, breaking the tight formations I'd been exploiting. It was a double-edged sword: good because their scattered ships were now easier to target from long range, and the GN and Makovsky particles would disrupt their communications almost completely. Bad because it meant less cover for me, and their fighter screens were going to become a bigger pain to deal with.

I scanned the battlefield, my eyes narrowing as I spotted a chunk of their fleet still clustered together—one dreadnought, four cruisers, and eight frigates, with the dreadnought nestled at the center like a king on his throne. Taking them out would give the Alliance fleet a significant edge. My lips curled into a smirk. Time to make some noise.

Boosting toward the dreadnought and its escorts, I pushed the Gelgoog's thrusters into the red zone. This machine was built to be pushed to its limits, and I intended to do just that. C.C.'s voice crackled in my ear, sharp and reprimanding. "Arthur, you're pushing that suit too hard! Do you have a death wish, or are you just trying to annoy me?" she snapped. Her tone was more exasperated than worried, but I could hear the edge of genuine concern beneath it.

"Annoying you is just a bonus," I shot back with a smirk. "Relax, I've got this. Let me do what I do best."

"What you do best is make a mess and call it brilliance," she retorted. "Try not to get yourself killed proving it." Haro, on the other hand, was having the time of his life, flapping his side panels in excitement from his cradle.

This felt... familiar, like déjà vu wrapped in adrenaline. I should have been nervous, maybe even terrified, facing odds like these. Instead, I was reminded of the last time I faced such chaos—leading a desperate charge back when I thought survival was all I could hope for. The memory was vivid: the heart-pounding tension, the blur of instinct and precision, and that inexplicable calm that came when everything was on the line. Now, the same fire coursed through me, and a grin spread across my face. This was where I thrived.

The Geth noticed my approach, and their response was swift. A swarm of fighters broke off, moving into a loose formation as they angled toward me. My display highlighted at least fifty of them, their projected flight paths converging into an encircling maneuver. They were trying to surround me. A decent plan—if I were piloting a standard fighter with fixed forward-facing guns.

A missile lock warning blared, the sharp tone cutting through the hum of the cockpit. My grip on the controls tightened as I leaned forward, scanning the targeting overlay. Despite the alarm, I wasn't worried. "Typical," I muttered, a wry grin creeping onto my face.

C.C.'s voice came through the comm, sharp and unimpressed. "You're awfully calm for someone with a hundred missiles aimed at them."

"Oh, come on," I said, my tone light but confident. "You know me better than that, C.C. Worrying's not my style. Besides, once these missiles hit the GN and Makovsky interference, they'll be about as dangerous as fireworks."

Her scoff was barely audible over the sounds of the Gelgoog's thrusters adjusting to my maneuvers. "Fireworks can still burn you, idiot."

Haro chimed in with a cheerful, "Danger! Danger! Exciting!" flapping his side panels as though egging me on.

I glanced at the radar, watching the missile trajectories. "Here they come," I said, weaving the Gelgoog into a tighter defensive maneuver. The first few missiles streaked past harmlessly, veering off-course as their guidance systems succumbed to the particle interference. Still, I could feel C.C.'s silent judgment through the comm link.

"See? Told you," I added, my grin widening as I executed a sharp roll, slipping between two more missiles. "Easy. Just like threading a needle."

"You're insufferable," she replied dryly. "But at least you're consistent." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw C.C.'s glare, her expressionless face betraying just enough judgment to make her opinion clear. She thought I was an idiot. Fair. Not that I'd admit it to her—she'd never let me live it down.

The Geth launched their missiles—at least a hundred of them streaking through the void. I gripped the controls, weaving the Gelgoog through the barrage like a dancer on a stage. These missiles didn't have proximity fuses, which made them easier to evade. All I had to do was avoid direct hits.

As I maneuvered, I acquired my own missile locks on the incoming fighters. Their loose formation was perfect for what I had planned. "Let's see how you like this," I muttered, deploying sixteen missiles from the Gelgoog's twin pods. The projectiles streaked away, their thrusters glowing like miniature comets as they closed the gap.

I wasn't done. Bringing up the Gelgoog's beam rifle, I activated the shield's integrated beam gun, the dual weapons primed and ready. With a flick of a switch, I deployed the funnels stored in the binders. Six cylinders popped out—three from each binder. Panels opened from the underside to reveal the GN thrusters as they roared to life, pushing in the cylinder shape to reveal the beam guns they housed.

Space erupted into chaos, a violent symphony of light and sound. Explosions from missile impacts illuminated the void, their fiery bursts casting fleeting, erratic shadows across my cockpit. The brilliant flashes painted the battlespace in hues of orange, pink, and white, momentarily banishing the void's oppressive darkness. Pink beams from the funnels wove intricate arcs through the void, their trajectories intersecting in a deadly lattice. The Geth fighters scrambled like insects under a magnifying glass, their evasive rolls and sudden boosts no match for the pinpoint precision of my funnels. The sight of fighters disintegrating into brilliant cascades of sparks and flames filled my monitors, each explosion a visceral reminder of the stakes at play.

The combined firepower turned the battlespace into a hellscape of light and destruction. Funnels darted like vengeful wasps, their beams crisscrossing in deadly patterns. I focused on the larger clusters of fighters, picking them off with well-placed shots while weaving through incoming fire. The Gelgoog's thrusters roared, responding to my every command with near-instantaneous precision as I danced through the chaos.

One fighter veered directly into my line of fire, and I rewarded its boldness with a beam rifle shot that split it in two. Another tried to circle around, but the shield gun was already angled to intercept, the beam punching a molten hole through its fuselage. Each shot resonated through the Gelgoog's frame, the subtle vibrations grounding me amidst the chaos.

The Geth weren't passive, though. Their fighters swarmed like angry hornets, firing bursts of plasma and missiles in a desperate attempt to overwhelm me. The cockpit's warning tones blended into a discordant symphony as multiple missile locks pinged across my HUD. Twisting the controls, I sent the Gelgoog into a tight spiral, the thrusters flaring as I wove through the barrage.

The funnels, now fully unleashed, moved with a deadly grace that bordered on eerie. Each one acted independently yet in perfect synchronization, their beams carving through the formation like scalpels. The Geth fighters attempted to counter, deploying chaff and flares to confuse the targeting systems, but the funnels weren't fooled. Their relentless assault reduced entire squadrons to glowing debris fields.

C.C.'s voice cut through the comm, her tone both dry and unimpressed. "Are you going to save any targets for the rest of the fleet, or is this your personal fireworks show?"

I grinned, firing another shot that obliterated a fighter attempting to flank me. "Just clearing the way. Can't let them steal all the glory, can I?"

"Glory? You mean chaos," she shot back, though there was a hint of amusement in her voice. "At least try not to get yourself killed while you're busy showing off."

"Relax," I replied, boosting the Gelgoog forward to close the gap with the remaining fighters. "I've got this under control."

Another missile swarm streaked toward me, but the GN and Makovsky particles were doing their job, throwing their guidance systems into disarray. Most of the missiles veered off course, detonating harmlessly in the distance. The few that remained on target were easy to outmaneuver, the Gelgoog twisting and rolling with an agility that defied its size.

Amidst the chaos, one thought burned bright in my mind: this is where I belonged. The adrenaline, the challenge, the sheer intensity of it all—it was what I lived for. As the last of the nearby fighters disintegrated into a cascade of sparks and debris, I allowed myself a brief moment to savor the victory.

But there was no time to rest. The dreadnought and its escorts loomed ahead, their weapons already beginning to track me. This battle was far from over.

My comm crackled as C.C.'s voice cut in, dry and unimpressed. "Show-off. Are you trying to impress me or inflate your ego?"

"Why not both?" I quipped back, my grin widening as the last fighters in the immediate vicinity were obliterated in a cascade of sparks and flames. The void was momentarily silent, save for the faint hum of the funnels returning to their binders. The swarm disintegrated before my eyes, their formation shattered, their wreckage scattering like leaves in a storm.

"Not bad," I said to no one in particular, a grin tugging at my lips. But the fight was far from over.

Time to take out the Geth big gun.

The Geth dreadnought loomed like a fortress in the distance, its escorts adjusting their positions in a coordinated defense. Plasma cannons flared to life, filling the void with deadly arcs of energy that crisscrossed in front of me. Their movements were deliberate, almost calculating—this wasn't desperation. This was a trap.

"Arthur, I'm seeing movement on the flanks," C.C. warned, her tone sharp as she analyzed the sensor feed. "They're boxing you in."

"Good," I replied, my voice steady. "Let them. It'll save me the trouble of hunting them down."

"You're incorrigible," she muttered, though there was a trace of reluctant admiration in her voice.

The Gelgoog surged forward, thrusters roaring as I aimed straight for the dreadnought. The escorts formed a protective perimeter, their turrets swiveling to focus fire on me. Blue plasma bursts and red laser plus fired the converged, forcing me to juke and weave in a frantic display of precision piloting.

The Gelgoog's warning systems screamed as multiple locks registered on my HUD. Missile trails streaked toward me, leaving brilliant white contrails in their wake. I deployed countermeasures, flares, and chaff blooming in the void to confuse their guidance systems. The GN and Makovsky particles added to the chaos, causing several missiles to veer off wildly, but a handful remained on course.

"Funnels!" I commanded.

The six funnels sprang to life once more, darting away from the Gelgoog with an almost predatory grace. Their beams carved through the missile swarm, detonating warheads in spectacular bursts of light. One missile slipped through the net, but I was already prepared. A sharp roll and boost sent the Gelgoog skimming just past the explosion, the shockwave rattling my cockpit but leaving me unscathed.

"Arthur, you're not invincible," C.C. chided, her voice cutting through the comm.

"Never said I was," I shot back, targeting a frigate that had strayed too close to the dreadnought. "But I'll admit, I'm pretty damn good."

A burst from the beam rifle speared through the frigate's hull, splitting it in half. Secondary explosions rippled along its length as the reactor went critical, the ship disintegrating in a blinding flash. The dreadnought responded with a salvo of its own, massive plasma bolts hurtling toward me like meteorites.

"Alright, big guy, let's see what you've got," I muttered, adjusting my trajectory to close the distance.

The Gelgoog's beam shield flared to life, absorbing one of the plasma bolts with a flash of energy that rippled through the cockpit. I gritted my teeth against the impact, the force threatening to throw me off course. The funnels darted in, targeting the dreadnought's turrets and rendering its defensive fire sporadic at best.

"Arthur, you've got inbound fighters—six o'clock low," C.C. warned.

"I see them," I replied, twisting the Gelgoog into a downward spiral to meet the incoming threat. The beam rifle barked, each shot precise and devastating. Funnels flanked the fighters, their beams crossing paths to create a web of destruction that the Geth pilots couldn't escape.

"That's two more frigates down," C.C. reported, her voice calm but focused. "The dreadnought's shields are holding, but the cruisers are starting to spread out. They're trying to divide your attention."

"Let them try," I said, targeting one of the cruisers with a barrage of missiles. one more barrage of missiles left, until the missile pods are empty. The projectiles streaked toward their target, weaving through the incoming fire before some detonating against the cruiser's shields. The energy barrier flickered and collapsed, leaving the ship vulnerable to the remaining missile barrage.

I pressed the attack, closing in for the kill. The Gelgoog's beam sabers ignited, its pink blades of energy shimmered with deadly intent. Boosting forward, I slashed through the cruiser's hull, cutting deep into its hall. Must've cut something important because the ship was starting to explode outward as the ship broke apart, fragments scattering like shrapnel.

The dreadnought loomed closer, its remaining escorts rallying in a last-ditch effort to protect their flagship. My fingers tightened on the controls as I prepared for the final push.

"C.C., keep an eye on those fighters," I said, my voice firm. "I'll handle the dreadnought."

"Just don't bite off more than you can chew," she replied, her tone a mix of exasperation and concern.

"Wouldn't dream of it," I said, a grin tugging at my lips.

The Gelgoog surged forward, its thrusters blazing as I aimed for the heart of the enemy formation. The battle was far from over. Victory was within reach—if I could survive the next few minutes.

As I surged forward, weaving through the hail of plasma fire, an idea crystallized in my mind. The Geth ships, for all their mechanical precision, shared one critical flaw: their designs were predictable. The dreadnought was just a larger, scaled-up version of its escorts. Same structure, the same weaknesses.

"All units are built for efficiency, not innovation," I muttered to myself, my grip tightening on the Gelgoog's controls. "That'll be their downfall."

"Arthur, what are you planning now?" C.C.'s voice cut in, her tone laced with exasperation.

"Exploiting a design oversight," I replied, dodging a concentrated barrage from the escorts. "Going under the dreadnought. Most of their guns can't angle that far down."

"Risky," she said, a note of concern creeping into her voice. "Their escorts are still active. They won't make this easy."

"Since when has anything been easy?" I quipped, throttling the thrusters. The Gelgoog dove under the massive dreadnought, the dark shadow of its bulk filling my cockpit view screens. My funnels darted around me, picking off the remaining point-defense turrets with surgical precision.

"Funnels!" I commanded, watching the HUD as the Funnels eliminated turret after turret. Haro's cheerful tone cuts through the chaos.

"Funnels operational! Targeting complete, Target's Destroyed, Target's Destroyed!"

As the dreadnought's defenses faltered, I charged up the Gelgoog's twin beam cannons to maximum output. Red, white, and purple energy crackled and coalesced into a blinding beam. The cockpit trembled under the strain of the weapon's power.

"Let's see how well you hold up against this," I said, firing the cannons.

The multi-colored beam lanced through the void, striking the underside of the dreadnought. The energy pierced the ship's hull effortlessly, reducing layers of reinforced plating to molten slag and atoms. The beam emerged on the opposite side, searing through escort ships caught in its trajectory. Explosions blossomed across the dreadnought's surface, its internal systems failing catastrophically.

"Arthur, you're overloading the cannons!" C.C. warned as the Gelgoog's backpack vents hissed, expelling excessive heat from the weapons.

"Just a little longer," I muttered, adjusting the aim to maximize the destruction. The cannons finally powered down, their barrels glowing red-hot.

The dreadnought's demise was spectacular. White and yellow explosions rippled along its length as it began spewing pink and purple smoke—volatile energy from its core systems.

"Funnels, return!" I called, the Funnels zipping back and returning to their binders. I throttled away from the doomed ship. "We're about to have a fireworks show."

The Geth were sluggish to respond, their mechanical precision faltering in the face of such devastation. The dreadnought detonated, a massive shockwave radiating outward, obliterating the nearest escorts and sending shrapnel hurtling through space. Fragments struck ships farther out, crippling some and outright destroying others.

I watched as the once-formidable formation crumbled, my breathing heavy as the adrenaline subsided.

"Arthur, incoming debris—adjust course," C.C. said sharply.

"On it," I replied, maneuvering the Gelgoog through the chaos. The explosions gradually died down, leaving a field of wreckage where the fleet once stood.

"Alliance fleet in optimum range, optimum range!" Haro chirped. "Enemy formation compromised, enemy formation compromised!

"Perfect timing," I said, leaning back in my seat as the Gelgoog's systems cooled. "Let them have their chance in battle, I need a break."

"Yes, let them have their turn," C.C. responded. There was a pause before she added, softer this time, "Arthur, that was reckless. Effective, but reckless."

I chuckled, my voice tinged with exhaustion. "You expected anything less?"

"Haro, how are we doing with the energy reserves," I ask the ball of joy.

"Energy Levels at 67%, 67%." He repeated happily toward me.

Bringing up the navigation screen. "It will take us 10 min at cruising speed to catch up to the reaming of the Geth ships. By that time Energy levels should be 71% of power." I said looking at my left side to see C.C. think.

"That sounds like a good plan and it will give you time to rest for a bit, but if you go off speeding again I'm going to hit you," she said in a stern voice.

Raising my hands in mock surrender, I plastered on an exaggerated grin. "Yes ma'am, I surrender! Please, spare me your wrath. I'll be good—promise." 

Captain Shawn (POV)

The bridge was alive with activity, the hum of systems and the chatter of crew a constant backdrop as I stood at the center of it all, eyes locked on the main screen. The battle unfolding before us was nothing short of extraordinary. The unknown red mech—that lone, impossibly advanced machine—was tearing through the Geth fleet like a scythe through wheat. Each move was precise, each strike devastating. It was mesmerizing and utterly terrifying. 

It was a moving blur of red like a red comet, and our visual sensor was having a hard time keeping track of its movements. 

"Unbelievable…" I murmured, leaning forward in my chair. My eyes were glued to the screen as the mech darted through the chaos, its beam weapons carving through Geth ships as if their armor were made of paper.

"Captain Shawn," Lieutenant Alvarez called from the tactical station, breaking my reverie. "The red mech just neutralized the enemy dreadnought. It was destroyed by some type of energy beam."

"I can see that, Lieutenant," I replied, keeping my voice steady despite the awe I felt. "What's the status of the Geth formation?"

"In complete disarray," Alvarez confirmed, his fingers dancing over his console. "The explosion from the dreadnought took out several nearby ships, and the debris field has crippled others. They're trying to regroup, but…" He glanced at me, an incredulous smile breaking through his usual professionalism. "Sir, one machine did all that."

The murmurs on the bridge grew louder, the crew exchanging astonished looks. Ensign Yamada, manning the sensors, leaned back in her chair, her wide eyes reflecting the glowing screens.

"It's… it's like something out of a holovid," she whispered.

"Focus, everyone," I ordered, though I couldn't fault them for their reactions. "We're still in the middle of this fight. Lieutenant Alvarez, the status of the Geth fighters?"

"Almost completely neutralized, sir," he said. "The mech's drones are picking them off one by one. Our airspace is clear for now sir."

"Good." I nodded, my gaze drifting back to the screen where the mech was now cruising at a steady speed, heading toward the enemy's backline. "What do we know about it? Any IFF signal, markings, anything?"

"Nothing identifiable," Yamada replied. "Its energy signature is… off the charts. But I can tell you one thing it's not using any Element-Zero, it using something completely different and we can't get any scans of it, some are either interfering or blocking are an attempt to scan the red mech."

"That's impossible everyone knows you need EEZO to fly that fast in space." One of the crew members spoke up.

"Captain," Harver interrupted, his voice rising. "I'm picking up a power fluctuation from the mech, It's seem to be bleeding a lot of heat."

"Finally slowing down," I muttered. "After all that output, I'm surprised it hasn't burned itself out."

I mused aloud, folding my arms. "So they're using a different type of source of energy and it's the one who just shifted the odds in our favor."

Commander Briggs, my XO, stepped up beside me, his face a mix of curiosity and concern. "What do you make of it, Captain? Could it be Cerberus tech?"

I shook my head. "Unlikely. Cerberus would be broadcasting their involvement loud and clear, trying to intimidate us. Whoever's piloting that thing is playing a different ball game. But for now, they're helping us. That's what matters."

"Sir," Alvarez interrupted, his voice urgent. "Are ships are now within optimum firing range. Orders?"

I straightened, pushing aside my swirling thoughts. I stood, my hands gripping the edge of the console. "Comms, send a message to the fleet. All ships prepare to engage. The Geth are at optimal firing range. Let's not waste this opportunity."

"Yes, Captain!" Ensign Carter at the communications station sprang into action, relaying the orders.

The bridge crew moved with renewed purpose, but the awe in their expressions remained. I could hear snippets of whispered conversations.

"Did you see the way it took out that dreadnought? One shot, clean through."

"That thing's not Alliance tech. No way."

"Where did it come from? And who the hell is piloting it?"

"Enough chatter!" I barked, though I couldn't entirely suppress my own curiosity. "Focus on your stations. We still have a battle to win."

"Aye, Captain," Alvarez said, relaying the orders.

The ship vibrated slightly as our main guns powered up. The crew moved with practiced efficiency, their earlier awe now channeled into determination. On the screen, the Geth fleet's remnants scrambled to reform their lines, but the red mech's presence kept them in chaos. It was weaving through the battlefield with an almost casual grace, its speed steady as it approached the enemy's rear.

"Captain," Briggs said, his voice low, "if that mech makes it to their backlines, it's going to cause even more havoc."

"That's the idea," I replied, a small smile tugging at my lips. "And while they're busy with it, we'll finish the job."

I gave the command "All ships open fire."

"You heard the captain, all ships fire." My Exo repeating my orders

The bridge fell into an intense rhythm as the Alliance fleet opened fire, coordinated volleys striking the Geth ships. Hitting their shields some started to flicker and fail, soon some of their shields collapsed allowing for our slug to hit their hulls. Explosions dotted the battlespace, and the tide of the fight shifted decisively in our favor.

But it looks like the Geth are regrouping, it won't be too long before they start opening fire at us.

Still, my eyes kept drifting to the red mech.

"Captain," Yamada said hesitantly, "the mechs are at cruising speed, but it'll reach the enemy back lines in about ten minutes."

"Good," I said. "That gives us time to press the advantage here. And keep monitoring its movements. If it does anything unexpected, I want to know."

"Yes, sir," she replied.

Briggs leaned closer. "You think there's a chance they'll turn on us once the Geth are dealt with?"

I glanced at him, then back at the screen. The mech's pilot had shown incredible skill and judgment so far, targeting the Geth with ruthless efficiency, but we still haven't reviewed any contact from it we have been trying to get in contact with it but something is disrupting or blocking attempts to communicate with it. But Briggs's question wasn't without merit.

"It's always a possibility," I admitted. "But until they give us a reason to think otherwise, we'll treat them as an ally. Let's just hope we're not betting on the wrong side of this gamble."