When the teams returned to base, they were immediately shuttled to Meteor’s barracks for a debriefing. They hadn’t yet heard about Aardvark’s demise, nor of the fact that the body couldn’t be retrieved. But everyone noticed the absence of one of Fifth Squad’s teammates.

When they entered the small building, Falcon took the lead for Fifth. He and Saber explained what happened, with Saber going first explaining that there was an old mine n the mountainside next to his team that went off, forcing them to act. He regaled to Meteor the skirmishes he dealt with on his end of the camp, throwing in clearly prideful moments of his own and occasionally shooting glances at Falcon.

When Falcon spoke, everyone was silent. He explained to Meteor how the majority f the enemy forces were on Fifth’s end, and how they had nearly been wiped out on the initial assault. He went on to explain how they handled the low visibility, and eventually, to the fight he had with the gryphons after they separated.

When Meteor asked where Aardvark was and why he wasn’t giving the briefing, it was clear he already knew why from the softness in his voice. Strat took over for that one, going into detail how the gryphon leader killed Aardvark without much trouble.

Meteor was silent for a minute, then, without warning, slammed his hoof on his desk.

“Dammit,” he said through clenched teeth. “Get out.” In solemn silence, the squads started to leave single file through the door. “But not you, Mustang and Stratofortress.”

Mustang and Strat looked back at Meteor, then to each other, and then moved to the sides to allow the others to leave. As Saber passed by Mustang, he looked sadly at him. Despite the ego he had shown minutes before, he appeared genuinely sad now.

He leaned down to Mustang. “I know he and I weren’t close, but… You lost a great leader today. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” Mustang replied. “You shouldn’t.” Saber took the hint and walked out after the rest f his squad. The rest of Fifth gave Mustang worried but approving looks as they filed out.

When the others were all gone, Meteor let himself fall back into his chair and rubbed his eyes.

“Son of a bitch,” he said. Strat and Mustang took spots before his desk. “This couldn’t have gone much worse, other than losing all of you.”

“We’ll get them next time, sir,” Strat said.

“That I don’t doubt,” Meteor said, leaning back forward. “It’s personal now. This is about more than protecting Equestria.”

“We gotta find out how to end this,” Mustang said.

“I know how we need to end this,” Meteor said. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a file, then tossed it forward onto his desk. “The gryphon who killed Aardvark is named Guifrond. He’s known for changing his appearance to fit whatever he’s doing. Normally, that isn’t ok in gryphon culture, but he’s a strong enough warrior that they can’t do anything even if they wanted to.”

“And this Guifrond, he’s the leader of the encampment we attacked?” Mustang asked.

More than that, he’s the leader of most of the resistance,” Meteor explained, sending both Mustang’s and Strat’s eyes wide as the open sky. “You weren’t told the specific target because it was too high profile.”

“That doesn’t make sense to me,” Mustang said.

Meteor frowned at him. “It doesn’t have to,” he said. “You just have to do what you’re told.” Mustang frowned back, but took his CO’s words in silence.

“So what’s the plan?” Strat asked.

“Falcon will take over Fifth Squad, at least for now,” Meteor said. “He has the highest qualifications and good leadership. Unless you object?”

“Not at all, sir,” Strat said.

“Good,” Meteor said. “As for your question… We need to locate Guifrond and/or his assets and take note of where they go, what they do, and, if need be, eliminate any and all threats to Equestria.”

“Sounds like an adventure,” Mustang said.

“Pretty simple, really,” Meteor said. “Track ‘em, find ‘em, kill ‘em.”

“Aye, sir,” Strat said with a determined look on his face.

“Good,” Meteor said. “Now, get on out of here.  I need to make some calls to Aardvark’s loved ones…” Meteor trailed off and started reaching for a pen and paper as Mustang and Strat left.

Neither stallion was particularly intent on talking at the moment. Mustang didn’t know what the standard protocol was for when a teammate was killed in the Nighthawks, but he had to assume that they might still be called on missions. They would just be the last ones called for a time.

Strat stopped, prompting Mustang to ask why. “I’m gonna hit the workout area, hit the bag,” Strat said. “I’ll be along eventually.”

“Gotcha,” Mustang said. Strat walked off in another direction, and Mustang just watched him for a moment before leaving for their shared barracks.

He knew the mood would be solemn and tense in there, but he wasn’t sure where he would be. He didn’t know Aardvark like these guys, and neither did Blazer. They would be in serious mourning, while Mustang and Blazer could really only offer their condolences. If they had only known him longer…

“Oof!”

Mustang, failing to watch where he was going, walked straight into some unsuspecting pony, tumbling over them and knocking them both to the ground. He fervently started to apologize, unsure of who he ran into.

“I’m so sorry,” he said.

“It’s okay,” a feminine voice replied.

Mustang looked at the mare’s face and recognized it instantly; he had run straight into Serene, dirtying up her mechanics outfit and getting dust all over her.

“Shoot, didn’t see you there,” he said.

Serene smiled. “I figured,” she said. She noticed that Mustang was wearing a sad countenance, much different from when he usually talked to her. “Is something wrong?”

Mustang wanted to tell her, but wasn’t sure. “I really don’t know if I can say,” he said.

Serene put her hoof to his shoulder. “I won’t tell a soul,” she said. Mustang believed her completely.

“Aardvark was killed.”

Serene’s eyes shot wide and she stopped completely. Watching her, Mustang saw her world completely freeze up and her mind short-circuited. That one statement had sent her train to a grinding halt, slamming every brake and screeching all the way.

“He… he’s dead?” she asked, starting to tear up.

Mustang felt himself tear up, too. “He’s gone,” he said.

Serene’s lip started to quiver and she looked to the ground. She desperately wanted to make sense of it, to figure out why it had happened, but she had no explanation. She looked up into Mustang’s eyes for an answer, but got nothing but sadness and empathy from them.

“No,” she said.

Almost slowly, she walked forward into Mustang’s shoulder and pressed her face there. Mustang felt her start to cry, her tears soaking the section of his coat that her face was pressed against. Mustang patted her on the back and hugged her close, then moved her out of the walkway in case any other ponies showed up to see what was happening.

“Shhh, shh, it’s going to be alright,” Mustang tried to reassure her.

Serene kept on crying. “I… He was one of my best friends… he can’t be gone…”

Mustang continued to hold her. Aardvark must have been quite a guy to draw such a reaction from his friends… He couldn’t imagine what Aardvark’s wife’s reaction would be.

“Come on, let’s go find some place to sit,” Mustang suggested. He felt Serene nod, then slowly pull off of his shoulder. When he looked at her face, he saw her fur was matted down by the tears, her eyelashes were all astray, her eyes puffed up, and her nose was scrunched up and running. It pained him to see her that way.

Mustang led her to one of the restaurants on base, the smallest one so that there would be minimal ponies around. When they got there, the Sub Connection, the few ponies who were there saw Serene and immediately left, understanding what was happening. Mustang brought her to a table and then went to the counter to order two small subs for them.

When the subs came, the couple of ponies chowed own furiously, using the better-than-MRE food to distract themselves. By the time they were done, they were both able to speak coherently and had calmed down a bit.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Serene said.

“I know,” Mustang said. “I didn’t know him long, but… damn, what the hell. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“He was my first friend here on base,” Serene said. “He was so nice to me. At first, I thought I would have to call the SHP sergeant, but when I found out he was married with kids, I figured out he was a decent stallion. I signed up to handle the 35th gear, and I worked with him for five years.”

“You knew him well,” Mustang said.

“Yeah, I did,” Serene said with a humorless laugh. “I got to know the other guys, too. One of them would hit on me sometimes, but… he died too.”

“I’m so sorry,” Mustang said. It didn’t escape him that he was likely the replacement for that guy.

“It’s all happening so close together, like the entire team is going to die before long,” Serene lamented.

“We won’t,” Mustang said. “We’ll find those responsible and bring them to justice.”

“I hope so,” Serene said, looking up at Mustang. “I just want this war to be over.”

Mustang checked the time on the restaurant’s clock. “Shoot, I should probably get back to my team,” he said. “But if you need someone to stay with you for a bit…”

“No, I’ll be alright,” Serene said. “You go. Your team needs you.”

“Right,” Mustang said. He stood from the table. “See you around.”

“See you,” Serene said with little energy.

Mustang left Serene in the restaurant and looked in through the window as he walked away. She was just sitting there, quiet, staring at the table. She wasn’t crying any more, the time for that had passed. She was trying her best to make sense of what had happened. But this was war; a lack of sense was the reason it was happening in the first place.

Walking back to his barracks was tough. As he walked, any time another pony passed him, they would look after him, fully aware that something had happened. They all knew that Mustang was in a special operations team, so the impact of losing a member tended to resonate a lot more on base. The uniqueness of the soldiers was a horrible thing to lose.

At his barracks, Mustang stood before the door before entering. What would his team be doing in there? Strat was beating on a bag. The other guys were in there, though. Mustang was afraid of what their reactions would be; but he had to go in.

Slowly, he pushed the door open and walked in. Inside, he found Falcon, sitting silently on his bunk, Eagle, looking distraught in his own space, and Blazer, quietly sifting through his things in the back. None of them looked up at Mustang as he walked in.

Mustang made his way to his little area and saw on his bunk, breathing as quietly as possible to keep the silence. All anypony could hear was the sound of Blazer ruffling through his things until he finally found whatever he was looking for. Falcon had his eyes down and Eagle was shaking his head nonstop.

“So what happened?”

The question took Mustang off guard. “Huh?” he replied.

It had been Eagle who asked, and now, he was letting his frustration out. “What the hell happened?!”

Mustang blinked. No one else cared about the outburst. “Meteor talked to me and Strat-“

“I know what the hell happened in the boss’ barracks!” Eagle shouted, jumping off his bed and stomping over to Mustang. Now, Falcon was looking up with concern.

Mustang backed up. “What are you asking?!” Mustang demanded.

Eagle ran up to him and poked Mustang’s chest. “Back in the camp. You and Strat and Aardvark. Why did Aardvark die?”

“Guifrond separated him from us-“ Mustang tried to say.

“Obviously!” Eagle said. “Why did it have to be Aardvark?! Why couldn’t it be you!?” Mustang blinked in shock at his teammates words.

“EAGLE!” Falcon boomed. The angry stallion looked over. “Outside. NOW.” Eagle grumbled as he left, looking back at Mustang as he left.

Falcon shook his head as the door slammed when Eagle left. “Son of a bitch,” he said, taking off his sunglasses. “Mustang, I apologize. That was completely out of line for him to say that. I’ll make sure he receives proper disciplinary action-“

“No, it’s fine,” Mustang said. Falcon raised an eyebrow. “He would rather have lost me than Aardvark. I get it. And I’ll make sure I remember that when we find ourselves in tough spots like that in the future.”

Falcon frowned. “I hope I don’t hear what I think I’m hearing,” he said.

“That I would like to avoid being partnered with Eagle?” Mustang said. Falcon took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Not what I thought, but far from ideal in any sense. You two will have to go to team counseling.” Mustang opened his mouth to object, but Falcon put his hoof up. “We all have to go as it is. You two will just have to go to a separate session after the group one.”

“Fan-freaking-tastic,” Mustang said, drooping his shoulders.

“If the issue can’t be resolved, Eagle will be moved,” Falcon said. “As much as I like him, if eh can’t get over this and blames you for it, he isn’t fit to be here. We all have to constantly earn our way here. I want you to trust him, but if you simply don’t think you can, I understand.”

“We’ll have to see,” Mustang said. “It’s all up to him.”

“That’s more like what I need to hear,” Falcon said. “Makes things less complicated.” Mustang nodded his understanding. “Where’s Strat?”

“He went to punch some bags,” Mustang said.

“Alright,” Falcon said. “When he gets back, we’ll all take some time to cool down, then head to the psych specialist. I know it isn’t a great time, but this is what happens.”

“Let’s just get it over with,” Mustang said. Falcon understood. “Did you get the news of the new squad leader?” Blazer overheard the question and looked up from what he was doing.

“I haven’t,” Falcon said. “Is it Strat? If it’s Eagle, that’s a problem.”

“It’s you,” Mustang stated simply.

Falcon blinked. “Oh. That’s… ah, shit.”

“You’ll do well,” Mustang said. “Meteor had only the best to say on your behalf.”

“I hope he’s right,” Falcon said. “After this… I don’t want to screw up.”

“You won’t,” Blazer said from his seat. “Honestly, you look badass enough anyway. I’d follow you just for that.”

Falcon chuckled, despite the overcast of Aardvark’s death. “Thanks for the confidence boost,” he said. “I need to go talk to Eagle.”

“You do that, boss,” Blazer said. Falcon turned and left to see his other teammate.

Mustang looked to his fellow newbie. “You think we’ll be alright?”

“I think so,” Blazer said. “I just want to get out there and kill these bastards.”

“Exactly,” Mustang said. “Track ‘em, find ‘em, kill ‘em.”

Blazer looked to Mustang and smiled. “I like that,” he said.

“Thank Meteor,” Mustang said. “What were you rifling for?”

“Hm?” Blazer replied. “Oh, just something personal.”

“Ah,” Mustang said. He wouldn’t ask anything more right now.

The two stallions stayed in their barracks, waiting for the rest of the team to return so they could go and do what they had to do. At least, the rest of the team minus one.

Next Chapter: Hitting Back Estimated time remaining: 13 Minutes