A single sound causes Arsenio to turn around to see the man he had just insulted slump dead to the ground, a bullet wound in his head. In a flash, the hangar is in turmoil as the air is thick with machine gun fire. Without reservation, Arsenio slips behind the man, lifting his body up partway as a barrier to hide behind. Had the man been alive, Arsenio probably would have done the same. Arsenio scanned the environment to ascertain the direction of the enemy, and validate his guess that the enemy were ZAFT forces. It seems they had discovered the secret project. Arsenio wondered if they planned to destroy the Gundams when out of the corner of his eye he saw David get into the Aegis. Unfortunately, Arsenio didn't know who David was so he came to the conclusion that David was with ZAFT, and was attempting to steal the command Gundam.

"They're going to steal the Gundams!" Arsenio yelled, though not many could hear him in the din, "Over my dead body!" Arsenio stood up from the crouching position behind the dead OMNI soldier, simultaneously pulling the man's machine gun from his body and firing on the ZAFT forces. During a lull in the enemy's firing pattern, Arsenio leapt from one obstacle to the next, making sure to stay hidden behind something, occasionally offering up his own suppressive fire to force the enemy to take cover and allow himself time to continue moving. Survival, this was the ultimate test of who was gifted and who was not. This was what he was bred for. His survival was not guaranteed, after all, these were Coordinators, but survival had to be a struggle, a competition between the strong.

Fortunately, the Duel was deep in the hangar as Arsenio had just been testing it, making it the hardest to steal, and easiest for him to make his way to. Of course, Arsenio wasn't going to waste his time actually fighting these ZAFT soldiers, he also had no interest in saving the lives of his OMNI and ORB 'comrades', it was only fitting that they fought each other to a standstill, allowing him to make it to the Duel, which was his only priority. He attempted to make his way deeper into the hangar.