Firefly found herself awake long before the alarms were due to go off. She tossed and turned, but found herself unable to go back to sleep. Rolling off the hard sleeping mat on the hangar floor, she quietly donned her flight gear and trotted out the hatch of the modular dorm, past the sleeping forms of her squadmates. Other than their miniature dorm block, the Eidolon’s port auxiliary hangar was entirely devoid of life, having been specifically cordoned for the Admiral’s fleet lockdown orders.

The hangar was mostly dark, the only illumination coming from a line of halide lamps demarcating a virtual runway for incoming vessels. Only one such ship stood in the launch path, the harsh radiance casting sharp shadows across its hull and superstructure. Firefly gave one last glance back at her sleeping squad before trotting forward.

She breathed deeply. Aromas of old grease, LACE fuel, and gun propellant wafted into her nostrils. Firefly relaxed ever so slightly. Familiar smells brought her comfort even in the belly of a foreign ship. She paced around the parked ARC ship, recalling that it was this same ship that Rafale had debarked from at Azura.

The design was clearly based on the Vantage-class corvette airframe, being of similar size and shape to the Timberwolves’ own Storm Warden, but several visual features stood out. For one, it was entirely unmarked. The rudder bore no tail number and the entire ship was painted a uniform grey color not unlike the Sova’s stealth paint job. Its engines were similarly configured for stealth, being integrated into the hull with square intakes and masked exhaust instead of the usual round external nacelles.

Rather than having an exposed gunner position on the rear deck, the cabin extended all the way to the stern. Firefly noted that the usual Vantage ARC ship’s heavy repeater appeared atop the main cabin, its mounting indicating that it was remotely operated from inside the vessel. This, too, was covered in angular panels, all coated with the same drab grey paint. Finally, the ship’s radio masts had been replaced with sleek radomes that blended in with its hull.

“Guess Rafale’s team really tricked it out for black ops,” she muttered to herself.

As she paced, Firefly mulled over everything that had happened. An ambush called in by a traitor. A stolen griffon superweapon. An unwilling assassin. A sudden promotion. A prison sentence turned black operation. The world was coming apart at the seams. Never in a thousand years had she expected the sheer insanity of the spy games and knives in the dark that now surrounded her.

Four years ago, she had been so cocksure, so certain that she could handle everything. Even after Valdus, the attitude of solving all problems with more ammunition and sharper blades persisted. The past week had dismantled all of that and more. Firefly found herself burdened with more responsibility than ever before as CAG but with less confidence and fewer resources than she had as a combat flier during the War.

It was sobering. It was humbling. It was terrifying.

But there was no one else she could trust with the mission. With the fleet compromised and Task Force Paladin operations in complete disarray, the Timberwolves may well have been the last bastion that the Crystal Empire had against the war that now ground its way toward its glittering shield domes. She had to do it. She had no choice.

Having finished her lap of the ship, Firefly trotted back to the dorm block and laid back down on her sleeping mat. No sleep would come, but there was little else to do until mission time. She breathed a heavy sigh of frustration and idly listened to Sunburst snoring.

“You’re awake, too?” Eastwind’s voice cut through the raucous drone coming from Sunburst’s muzzle. “Glad to know I’m not the only one old Sunshine’s keeping awake!”

Firefly barely cracked a smile. “Just had a lot to think about.”

“Yeah…” Eastwind trailed off. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll live,” Firefly said flatly. She paused a moment as an especially loud, half-snore half-snort from Sunburst interrupted. “It’s just... there’s so many things to keep track of. I feel like I’m always looking over my shoulder. Doing it in combat is one thing, but doing it when you’re supposed to be safe is nerve-wracking.”

“You’re not doing it alone, though. We’re here, too.”

“I’m eternally grateful for you, Windy. But I guess the jury’s still out on whether or not Thunderlane and Sunburst can find it in their hearts to forgive me.”

“We could wake them up and ask.”

“Nah, let ‘em sleep. They’ve been through a lot of shit these past couple days, what with all the cloak and dagger and IA horseapples being flung around. It’s a miracle the fleet hasn’t self-destructed yet.”

“Maybe it is. But we know who we can trust now.”

“Do we really? I want to trust Flyleaf and Brahma, but I don’t know if I should.”

“What does your gut say?”

“Funny hearing that coming out of the egghead in the squad.”

“Just because I think everything through doesn’t mean other ponies will!” She chuckled.

Firefly scowled. “That’s cold.”

“I kid,” Eastwind nickered. “What I meant was that you’ve known them both for long enough that you know the strength of their character. You were closer to both than the rest of us ever were. And you have good instincts for evaluating other ponies. Hell, you chose Thunderlane.”

“Thunderlane chose us. He could’ve DOR’d or elected to transfer to a less combat-intensive unit. He probably had the education and ASVAB scores to do any job he wanted in the military. But he stayed with us.

“And why do you think that is?”

Firefly shrugged, quickly realizing that it would not be visible in the near pitch darkness of the dorm chamber. “I dunno. Maybe he developed a taste for blood.”

“You know that’s not true. Just because he made ace in two weeks of operations doesn’t mean he wants to kill everyone he meets.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“You can’t see me right now, but my eyes are doing multiple rolls!” Eastwind said, sarcasm dripping from every word. Her tone quickly sobered. “He’s your friend, Firefly. He never stopped being your friend. I promise he’ll listen.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I can hear every damn thing you two loudmouths are saying!” Thunderlane’s bedroll rustled and hooves fumbled on metal hangar floor as he groped in the dark. There was a muted click and the room was suddenly illuminated by the ghostly glow of a portable aether lamp. “Don’t talk about me, talk to me.”

Thunderlane sat up halfway on his bedroll, one hoof holding him up and the other rubbing the sleep from his eyes. A mask of irritation rested under his eyes, making obvious that he was quite unhappy with being woken. Firefly’s cheeks burned at Thunderlane’s interjection. Had she really been that loud? It had been no more than two weeks since she’d last spoken to Thunderlane without pulling rank, but it felt like years. What was she even supposed to say anymore?

“Well?” He pressed.

“Thunderlane,” Firefly began, finally sitting up on her bedroll.

She choked. She couldn’t even bear to look at him. He had looked up to her, joked with her, even offered to teach her how to dance. Firefly had hurt him -- deliberately -- when all he’d offered was to help her. The lump in her throat refused to go down, but she pushed herself forward.

“Thunderlane. I’m sorry.”

There was a pause as Thunderlane processed in his sleep-addled state exactly what was happening. He rubbed his eyes harder and blinked as if to clear the incredulity with his hoof. His right ear twitched and his eyes finally focused on Firefly’s face in the dim glow of the aether lamp.

“Firefly.” Thunderlane’s use of her name was halting, hesitant. Firefly could hear her rank on the tip of his tongue.

“I was wrong.” She continued, finally pouring out her apology. “I was projecting. I blew up and you got caught in the blast. I know I hurt all of you, but you had it the worst, Thunderlane. You have no reason to, but I hope you can forgive me.”

Thunderlane froze. Both ears were pinned now, the surprise clearly visible on his face. Firefly involuntarily pawed at the deck as Thunderlane seemed to cycle through several emotions; shock, fear, anger, contempt, finally settling on something Firefly couldn’t readily identify. Suddenly, he stood and galloped forward, making Firefly recoil in surprise. Thunderlane’s flying tackle nearly knocked her over, but he stopped just short of doing so.

He threw his hooves around her and squeezed her tightly. “We’ve been waiting for you to come back, jefa!”

A warm blanket of relief wrapped itself around Firefly along with Thunderlane’s hooves. The breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding finally left her lungs, taking with it any remaining fears. “You were right, Thunderlane. I need your help. I need you guys.”

“I know you’ve been hurting terribly. Friends help each other bear that pain, even if it hurts us, too. We’ll get through all of this together.” Thunderlane said, squeezing her even tighter. “You’ve gotta to talk to me, all right?”

“Of course. This was the loneliest week of my life without you guys!”

Firefly felt warmth on the back of her neck as Eastwind nuzzled her and put her hooves around Firefly. “Good to have you back, Fi!”

“Are you pukes done blubbering yet?” came the gravelly grumble from a sleepy Sunburst. “Papa needs his beauty sleep!”

“Get your wrinkly ass out of bed, abuelo!” Thunderlane whickered. “You should be in here, too!”

“I need to apologize to you, too, Sunburst,” Firefly said.

“All right, all right, I’m up.” Sunburst finally groaned as he rolled to his hooves. He rolled his head and cracked his neck, then made exaggerated stretching motions with their associated sounds. “But the kid’s right. Talk to us, Firefly. We can take it.”

“I’m talking to you now, old sire!”

Sunburst laughed as he trotted over and wrapped his front hooves around Firefly as well. “I may be an asshole, but I still love my friends. I need partners in crime or else I’d just be that old drunk bastard at the Horseshoe reliving his RDC days.”

“You’re already that to me, old sire!” Eastwind chimed in.

He shot her a dirty look. “Windy. We’re sharing a moment here. Will you let me have it just this once?”

Firefly squeezed Thunderlane tightly and extended her wings, wrapping one each around Eastwind and Sunburst. The cold of the hangar floor melted away, the warmth of her friends’ embrace bringing vigor back to tired bones and fallen spirit. Never before had Firefly been so grateful. Never before had she felt so loved. Tears welled up, overflowing her eyes as the love of her friends overwhelmed her.

BRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG.

Firefly stiffened at the sudden clanging of the alarm clock bells. She held the embrace a moment longer in defiance of the alarm before finally releasing. She looked at each of her squadmates, smiling as she swiped away tears with a fetlock. “Thank you.”

“It’s what friends do,” Eastwind said.

“And I’m glad for it. Now it’s time to suit up. I’ll go wake the dragons.”

“Hoo-yah.” Came the chorus of responses.

Firefly hoofed open the hatch to their dorm before easing it closed, allowing her team to suit up in peace. She trotted a few dorms down until she reached the one at the end of the block. Muted speech came through the bulkhead, which she paused to listen to before banging on the hatch. The conversation wormed its way between Draconic and Common, the harsh, consonant-heavy tongue spliced in between lines of speech actually understandable to Firefly.

“You are the last one I’d expect to have scold!” Firefly recognized the voice as Khog.

A female voice answered, which Firefly recognized as Roshina. Roshina’s incensed reply was in Draconic, countered with an equally livid response from Khog. There was a long pause as Roshina took a deep breath.

“I am secure in my convictions, Khog,” she finally said, far calmer than her previous outburst. “But that does not make this any easier. If you could look beyond your own snout you would understand! Consider why we’re even up here!”

“Were you not the one who preached against shackling ourselves?”

“Family still matters to me, Khog. If you think I’ve thrown that away on a whim you are sorely mistaken.”

“I hope for all of our sakes you are right.”

“Just keep your claws sharp.” Roshina hissed. “We still have a job to do!”

Khog’s reply in Draconic was one of weary assent. The hatch swung open, narrowly missing Firefly. Khog trudged out, pausing as he met Firefly’s gaze. He quickly dipped his head apologetically. “Commander.”

“Lieutenant,” Firefly gave a wary glance as she acknowledged him. Firefly turned as Roshina padded out of the hatchway. “What was all that about?”

“It was… a personal matter,” Roshina said, looking down.

Firefly cocked her head in puzzlement. Roshina’s usual confidence had waned. Her face was slack, her breaths ragged, and sacs hung heavy beneath her eyes. The hardened battle mage had withered to a tired drake.

“Roshina,” Firefly began, softening her tone considerably, “What happened?”

“Khog and I had a... disagreement. He is a capable fighter, but he often gets caught up in his own ideals for what a good and proper dragon should be doing; namely collecting fame and coin. You already know I believe we should strive beyond that.”

“I wasn’t asking about Khog. I was asking about you. You mentioned family. Did something happen to yours?”

Roshina sighed. “The Pyrian SOF community is my family, so anything that concerns them also concerns me, Khog included. Recent events involving ACG have forced me to split my attention between family and the northern front. I cannot say more than that without violating OPSEC. Suffice to say that the drama has been most tiring. I had hoped that it would wait until we had returned from deployment, but we may no longer have that luxury.”

“How will this affect our mission?”

Roshina shook her head. “It won’t affect this mission at all. But be forewarned that we may be recalled soon -- possibly as soon as after this sortie.”

Firefly could empathize. She had dealt with her fair share of drama in the fleet under Skywind. It was never fun and only got worse when peers were involved. Firefly could only imagine how much worse it would have to be to strain the relationships of Tier One special operators. Roshina’s last thought, however, was still discouraging.

“Recalled?”

“I’ll be going home in all likelihood,” Roshina nodded. “I suppose my time in the north has come to an end.”

Firefly frowned. Why would ACG recall their best operators when they were needed most? She muttered the answer to her own question under her breath, “Politics…”

“Politics,” Roshina echoed. “ACG high command orders and we must answer. At least the damned cold won’t be missed!”

“Damn shame,” Firefly sighed, glad to have the opportunity to lighten the mood. “We’ll miss having your firepower.”

“Well that’s uncharacteristically pragmatic of you, Firefly!” Roshina finally laughed out loud.

For a moment the self-confident mage shone through the coat of dreary exhaustion. Though the flash of joy did not last, Roshina appeared considerably more at ease after it had run its course. For now, she was still mission-ready.

“But if you still have doubts, I assure you I can handle this mission.”

“I trust you, Roshina.”

Roshina smiled. “Then your faith is legendary.”

“Only because my friends are legendary.” Firefly shot back playfully. “Once we finish this mission, we’re going to blow Cindermane’s entire operation wide open! Then we can all go home.”

“You seem in great spirits today.”

Firefly looked down the dorm block to where the Timberwolves emerged in full combat uniforms and cold weather gear. “I had a little help from my friends.”

“Hey! Rojo! You ready to kick some pirate ass?” Thunderlane’s boisterous greeting echoed throughout the hangar.

“Damn ready! My claws itch!” Khog stood at the ARC ship’s boarding ramp but replied with a hearty laugh, loud enough to be clearly heard at the far end of the dorm block. “The sooner we’re on that ship the better!”

“Someone seems quite eager for blood,” Grana snickered as she slinked out of the dragons’ dorm. She gave a nod of acknowledgement to Firefly before sauntering off to the ship.

A guttural growl emanated from the darkness of the dorm. Zaan emerged slowly, having to duck his head to fit through the hatch. Once outside, he stood to his full height, rolling his head to crack his neck and stretching his arms and his massive wings to their full span. A chuckle of satisfaction escaped his nostrils. The giant quickly followed after Grana.

“Guess everyone’s ready,” Firefly said. “Shall we?”

“With haste.”

By the time Firefly and Roshina had arrived at the ship, Rafale’s Maven team had already joined them. The ARC operators were loading the last of the equipment and munitions on board as the fliers gathered. Firefly noted that even the Timberwolves’ personal weapons had been packed, including her specialist repeaters and Sunburst’s Virago.

“Looks like the Admiral thought of everything,” she chuckled to herself.

“Bonjour, Commander.”

Firefly turned to face Rafale’s voice, extending a hoof in greeting. Rafale hesitated for a split second, shocked at Firefly’s sudden forwardness. She quickly recovered, however, and returned the gesture. If Firefly squinted hard enough, she could have sworn she saw a smile tug at Rafale’s lips.

“I trust your rest was sufficient?” the spymaster said.

Firefly grinned. “I’m good to go and my squads are suited up. Let’s get it done!”

Author's Notes:

Interludes will be woven in as appropriate.

Music
MOH: Warfighter - Lena's Dream