The world snapped back into motion. Firefly hammered her radio PTT switch. “All Timberwolf elements, this is Wolf Lead, I’m authorizing you to break radio silence! Does anyone have a bead on that sniper?”

“Mierda! Was that a thirty?”

Thirty as in thirty millimeter, the caliber of an Aquellian autocannon round fired from a sniper rifle. Firefly bristled at Thunderlane’s mere mention of it. She’d seen close-up what they could do.

Firefly watched Khog scramble to pull Roshina back behind cover, propping her up against the base of the monument. She was still moving and conscious enough to apply pressure to her own wound from what Firefly could see. That itself was a good sign.

The rasping breaths of a rattled dragon came over the comms. “Commander, this is Khog. Roshina is hit!”

“I’m fine! That shooter is a complete neophyte! It’s just a flesh wound!” Roshina growled, her anger incensed by her injury. “Firefly, we have the package!”

“And so do we,” Firefly said grimly. “Things just got a whole lot more complicated. We have no idea which one is the real one so we need to bring them both in.”

“And just how do you plan on doing that?” Khog snarled. A shuffling noise could be heard over the radio. “There! That should stop the bleeding for now, but we’re still pinned here!”

“Roshina, can you still cast a shield spell?”

“No infantry shield can survive that kind of firepower for long.”

“Stay put, then!” Firefly ordered. “Don’t move or you’ll make yourselves a bigger target!”

“Not like we have much of a choice!” Khog growled roughly. “Whatever you’re going to do, do it quickly!”

“Fortis, I need an emissives scan, pronto!”

“Negative on emissives, Wolf Lead. The target is completely radio silent. We have nothing to triangulate.”

“Gods dammit! We flew right into a trap!” Firefly slammed her hoof into the crumbling wall of the admin building in frustration. “Wolf Three, what have you got?”

“The sniper hides we scoped out earlier are empty,” Eastwind said. Even through the radio, Firefly could hear the disbelief in her voice. “Give me time to make another sweep!”

There was hardly time for anything. For all Firefly knew, there could be multiple shooters just waiting for them to move into line of sight. Firefly’s mind raced. The temple was empty. The shops next door were empty. Sunburst had full line of sight to the entirety of the perimeter of the park. If the shooter had moved or set up to take the shot, they would have spotted it.

What had they missed?

“Khog, I have an idea.” Thunderlane’s voice jarred Firefly from her own head. “Do you see where the round impacted?”

“Yes. There’s a blast crater in the cobbles where it hit.”

“Damn feathernecks and their HE rounds!” Sunburst grumbled.

“Focus!” Firefly ordered. “Thunderlane, what’s your angle?”

“The hellstorm is blocking visibility into and out of the city and the wind shear near the shield dome would make shooting through it damn near impossible. They have to be in the city proper with direct line of sight to the plaza!” Thunderlane explained. “Khog, from my angle, I saw it hit the statue before it detonated. Can you find the impact mark?”

“Yes,” Khog peeked out for a split second before returning to huddling behind the statue. “I see it. It’s on the statue’s left shoulder.”

“Draw a line between the two! Where does it point?”

Firefly watched Khog trace his finger in the air as he visualized the bullet’s trajectory. “It points up. The shot came from above and to the north!”

“Windy, Sunburst, check positions elevated above your initial sweep in the northern sector! We need to find their hide!”

“Wait. The obelisk!” Eastwind’s voice jumped at the epiphany. “Could they be in the obelisk?”

“You’ve gotta be shitting me!” Sunburst roared. “Celestia’s tits and ass, I should have seen it!”

The second shot was just as sudden as the first. Cobbles behind the statue went flying at the crack of the next high explosive round. Firefly ducked as a fragment of stone smashed through the window just in front of her, showering her with sooty glass fragments and dirty rain.

“Sunburst, look for that muzzle flash! Thunderlane, I need fire at the top of the obelisk on my mark.”

“We’re never going to be able to hit them at that range!”

“We don’t need to. We just need to piss them off enough to shoot at us!”

Firefly shouldered open the far door in the admin building. She strode out and sighted in at the top of the obelisk. Thunderlane filed in behind her and repeated her movements.

“On three. One. Two. THREE!”

Firefly dialed in and fired, followed shortly by Thunderlane. Two streams of violet tracers lanced out into the the mist, veering wildly as the bolts were buffeted by wind and rain. Firefly watched a few splash against the bluish crystal of the shield obelisk, each one leaving a shower of sparks. Most of them, however, flew far past the obelisk, winking out as their containment field collapsed and the packet of superheated aether dispersed.

“Over here, asshole!” She shouted into the storm.

In spite of the furious barrage, the cobbles near the statue exploded once again. Another high-explosive round skipped off the impenetrable Empress and blew a crater into the plaza grounds just in front of Roshina, this one even closer. Firefly unleashed another burst at the obelisk all the while shouting curses at her foe.

“They’re ignoring us!” Thunderlane shouted above the gunfire.

“Smug bastard! They know we can’t get to them!” Firefly growled. “Sunburst, what have you got?”

“Single muzzle flash about three-quarters of the way up, nestled into a crack in the outer shell of the obelisk.”

“Finally a break! Windy, what do our flanks look like?”

“Single muzzle flash,” Eastwind echoed. “Other potential sniper nests are still dark.”

The officer in Firefly seized upon her sudden realization. The ambush had been sprung. There was a team pinned in the middle of the plaza with no means of egress. Now would have been the perfect time to close the trap and annihilate or capture the remaining troops. But there were no ground forces assaulting from the flanks. There was no airship dropping out of the clouds. Firefly keyed her radio. She had to be sure.

“Fortis, emissives status.”

“Still dark, Wolf One.”

Her suspicions were confirmed. “Timberwolf, Typhon, they’ve only got one ops team, single shooter. No radio transmissions means no coordination and no additional squads.”

“Great, so that means there’s only one sniper who can take any of our heads off at any time!” Sunburst snorted sarcastically.

“It means we have a numbers advantage! We can take these guys!” Firefly countered. “Sunburst, load HE-I and smoke ‘em out! Three rounds!”

“Do what now?”

“Load HE-I!” She repeated. “Go!”

“Aye!”

Another beat of silence made it seem like the world had stopped. Then came thunder, one boom after another. The Virago’s reports echoed through the ruined city. Explosive brilliance blossomed from the obelisk’s shell, three quick gouts of flame spouting from the crack in the crystal before being rapidly extinguished by by rain. It took a few seconds for the crack of the payload detonations to hit Firefly’s ears. Smoke poured out of the crevasse, the billowing column thrashing violently in the wind.

“Thunderlane, with me! We have to keep the initiative!”

Even before the smoke had subsided Firefly was out the door and airborne. She flared ever so slightly on takeoff to give Thunderlane time to catch up. But as soon as his hooves had left the ground she power flapped harder, launching herself toward the smoking obelisk. A flick of her tail adjusted her trajectory out of the path of any incoming rounds from Sunburst’s rifle.

“Windy, BDA.”

“Inconclusive,” came the spotter’s reply. “Lots of smoke. Can’t ID bodies in this mess.”

“Sunburst, keep that hide surveilled. If anyone else comes out of it I want them shot dead. Fortis, get down to the plaza and prepare for emergency CASEVAC.”

Before the answer came over the airwaves, Firefly already knew what Roshina would say. “Firefly, I am fine. Allow us to join the search.”

“You’re injured,” Firefly’s response was brusque. “Get back on the ship!”

“Firefly—”

“We don’t have time for this! Don’t make me pull rank, Roshina!”

Roshina let out a crestfallen sigh. But a moment later, her signature toothy grin returned, a grin Firefly could hear through the radio. “Why the sudden surge of maternal instinct?”

“Because I’m commanding a bunch of foals!” Firefly snorted in mock contempt. “Now pack that tabs up and get to the ship!”

“What about us?” Grana said.

“Grana and Zaan, get airborne and cover the northwest ward. If they call for help I want QRF in blocking positions to hold them off.” Acknowledgment chorused through the airwaves. “Let’s finish these bastards, Thunderlane!”

They nosed toward the obelisk, slightly varying altitude and heading regularly to avoid being an easy target. Every minute airborne was spent looking for signs of life at the obelisk. Firefly expected gunfire and airbusting grenades to erupt in short order, but none appeared. In the midst of the howling tempest there was uneasy respite.

Hard, smooth crystal the color of jade resolved itself as they neared. Seemingly grown from the earth itself, the strange substance formed the whole of the obelisk’s outer shell. The sheer size of the shield obelisk did not fully set in until Firefly was very nearly in physical contact with it. Driving rain mixed with the shimmering crystalline surface to give it the illusion of growing in both directions, simultaneously shooting up into the sky and piercing the ground below.

Closer inspection revealed that the obelisk’s surface was pocked with craters and riddled with cracks. The base of the tower was littered with fragments of the same jade-colored crystal that had fallen away from the tower shell. Embedded pieces of twisted metal and stubborn blast shadows baked into the outer shell explained their origins. Whether the artillery impacts were wayward or deliberate, they were clearly the source of the obelisk’s malfunctions. No arcs of arcane lightning or faint glow of faerie fire caught Firefly’s eye, but a steady hum saturated the air near the tower, resonating in her chest and tickling her belly. The magic of the obelisk stubbornly persisted.

“I got nothing, jefa. No runners, no shooters.”

“Eyes peeled. We’re coming up on the hide.”

The smoke was just beginning to clear as they arrived. Black wisps reeking of spent propellant and ignited explosives wafted out of the deep gash in the obelisk’s shell. Firefly could now see two artillery strikes compressed the material between them, warping, cracking, and then shattering it into pieces that fell away into the plaza below. This left a large crevasse roughly two ponies wide and four ponies tall that she could fly through if she chose. Firefly instead slowed to a hover just outside the entrance.

Thunderlane took up position on the opposite side. He nodded to her and directed his weapon toward the darkness within. Firefly reached a hoof to her harness and flipped on her tactical light. With careful wing flaps, she inched forward until her hooves finally touched solid ground.

Firefly swept her light, pieing the entrance carefully. The crack in the obelisk’s outer shell opened into an artificial chamber. At least, Firefly assumed it was artificial. It was as if a squat, cylindrical slice of the tower had been excised to produce what appeared to be an observation deck. A single cylindrical pillar occupied the center with a twin door that Firefly assumed was an elevator. The floor was perfectly parallel with the ceiling and a cursory inspection was enough to reveal that the walls were perfectly smooth, or at least meant to be. The same battle damage that scarred the outside also left spalled debris and spiderweb cracks on the inside.

Even in the shadow of the hellstorm, light still filtered in from outside, dimly illuminating the inner chamber. The outer shell appeared semi-transparent from inside despite appearing opaque from the outside. A quick glance behind her showed the admin building and the Hushed Empress, both visible through the outer shell. Firefly continued her sweep.

In the milky beam of white, the extent of the damage became apparent. The odor of fire and metal was nearly overwhelming. Embers still smoldered on the floor from where the Virago’s high-explosive incendiary rounds had ignited wood and upholstery. Any remaining furnishings within the observation deck had been all but obliterated. Another smell slithered in beneath the propellant — a sharper, acrid odor that stung Firefly’s eyes even under her goggles.

She immediately recognized it as burnt flesh. Her flashlight beam confirmed the grisly suspicion. Blood splatters stained the floor and wall all over where burning explosive from the HE-I rounds and incidental spall from the obelisk had saturated the chamber, leaving a bloody trail in their wake. Firefly grimaced as the flashlight beam finally fell upon the unmoving body of a Talon marine slumped against the exterior wall.

“Found a body. Thunderlane, get in here.”

Wingbeats thrummed behind her and the clip-clop of hooves neared, finally stopping just short of her position. Another pool of light appeared, starting on the ceiling and rapidly snapping to the body as Thunderlane flipped on his light. Without looking back, she motioned toward the body with a hoof. Firefly could hear Thunderlane shift his aim and train his weapon on the body.

Firefly stepped forward, kicked the dead griffon’s weapon away, and leaned in to inspect the body. This griffon’s face had been badly lacerated. Evidence of shrapnel wounds covered her body and the tips of many of her feathers were blackened by the explosions. A gash across her neck from which blood still oozed appeared to be the deathblow. Firefly reached down and gingerly pressed a hoof to the blood matted feathers of her neck.

“No pulse,” Firefly whispered. “Body’s still warm, but she’s definitely dead.”

“I’ve got another one over there,” Thunderlane called.

Firefly swung her beam around, illuminating the subject of her wingpony’s description. This one was slumped over in a pool of his own blood, his mangled weapon pinned between his corpse and the hard crystal floor. A large chunk of his back was simply missing, as if an enormous claw had ripped out a huge chunk of flesh and bone. Portions of the wound had been cauterized by the searing heat of explosives, producing a stench akin to badly burned meat.

“Yuck,” Thunderlane said in disgust.

“Looks like that poor bastard caught the round straight on.” Firefly shook her head. “Exit wound size means the round detonated close, possibly inside him. No way he’s walking away from that.”

Her triage completed, Firefly continued the sweep. Scattered among the broken furniture opposite the crevasse entrance lay camp supplies: bedrolls, a few MREs, weatherproof ponchos. Spare magazines were scattered on the floor along with now-broken Aquellian assault rifles.

A conspicuous outline of an enormous weapon stood out from the debris on the floor. Firefly recognized it as an Aquellian anti-materiel rifle, the one that had been blasting holes in the plaza with its high-explosive rounds. Right next to it, the glint of polished metal caught Firefly’s eye.

“What the hell is that?”

“Jefa?”

Firefly’s light snapped to the shiny object on the ground. Though charred and scratched, an air of familiarity remained. The reflective glare dissipated as she approached, revealing red lenses. Red lenses shone in chrome helm. Chrome helm was highlighted in blood red stripes. Blood red stripes curled into the emblem of a red claw and moon. The adrenaline surged in Firefly’s veins as her mind registered the helm’s nature.

Ironclad.

“FIREFLY, DUCK!”

Firefly hit the deck just in time to avoid the burst of repeater fire from Thunderlane’s weapon. Hard aether seared the air centimeters from her skull buzzing menacingly as they traveled and skipping off the crystalline walls with loud, metallic pings. Instinctively, Firefly hammered the trigger, directing her fire where Thunderlane had shot just moments ago. She was answered by flash and thunder.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Muzzle flash momentarily blinded Firefly as she traded shots with her assailant from mere meters away while rolling for cover. In the quick flashes of light from muzzle flash and aetheric tracers, Firefly spotted the glimmers of chrome and crimson armor and the golden irises of a helmet-less griffon. Firefly half-kicked, half-flapped into an axial roll, rapidly slipping to her left to avoid incoming fire. She ended her snap roll behind what remained of a heavy table, half of which had survived the Virago’s barrage.

“Got a live one in here!” she shouted to Thunderlane.

Firefly ducked back behind cover as automatic rifle fire echoed violently through the enclosed space. Supersonic bullets whip-CRACKED past her head and made their exit into the hellstorm behind. Firefly glanced behind and to her right, where Thunderlane had found similar cover behind a battered counter.

“Damn!” Thunderlane cursed. “How many more rounds do they got?”

CLICK. CLICK. The Ironclad’s magazine clicked dry. For a split second there was shuffling and clacking metal, followed by a frustrated squawk.

“There’s your answer!” Firefly snarked. “NOW, THUNDERLANE!”

Her wingpony snapped out from behind cover, firing off a burst from his repeater. Firefly leaned out from around her own cover, her wings partially open as she prepared to launch herself at her foe. Her legs tensed in preparation to jump until she heard a new sound.

PING.

The unmistakable sound of a grenade’s spoon popping rang in Firefly’s ears. The metallic clacking of the grenade hitting crystal launched her into action. She changed her trajectory, launching from the ground, tackling Thunderlane, and throwing them both out their entry point with the combination of desperate jump and mighty flap. A split second after, a great gout of smoke and debris shot out of the crevasse.

“Firefly, what the hell happened?” Eastwind’s frantic voice cut into Firefly’s eardrums.

“Ironclad happened!” Firefly snarled through clenched teeth. “You all right, there, rookie?”

Thankfully, Thunderlane also had the presence of mind to open his wings to arrest his own fall, relieving Firefly of the burden of carrying them both. He banked right, circling to the tower’s west to avoid falling debris from the explosion. Firefly rapidly followed suit.

“Yeah, I think.” Thunderlane was wide-eyed, no doubt still high on the adrenaline rush. “I owe you one, Jefa.”

“We’ll call it even. You did save me from eating a bullet back there!” Firefly allowed herself a small smirk, a moment of levity in midst of the grim situation. “Fortis, SITREP!”

“Wolf Lead, this is Fortis. Radar contact: single bogey just left the obelisk, headed northeast.”

The outline of a single bird-like figure flashed in the twilight like distant lightning laced with motes of chrome and crimson. Firefly’s eyes narrowed and her wings tensed. She motioned a hoof for Thunderlane to follow her as she rounded the tower and powered her way northeast.

“Wolf Lead, this is Maven Actual.” Rafale’s emotionless voice was a jarring juxtaposition with the charged communications that had been exchanged moments before.

“Send it.”

“Commander, I need you to pursue.”

“Way ahead of you, Rafale.”

Firefly had no intention of letting the Ironclad escape. They had almost killed Roshina and now Thunderlane and herself were on that list. That alone was enough to warrant pursuit. But even more chilling was the fact that they had been set up to watch the drop site, a realization that made Firefly grit her teeth as officer training overcame raw adrenaline rush.

“That bastard set us up. If we don’t catch ‘em, we’ll never know why.”

“There is more.” Rafale continued. “I believe the shooter to be Lieutenant Victoria Windwright, a member of Cindermane’s inner circle and an Ironclad operator. Before her desertion, she was a highly decorated sniper who served in Indrek, as I’m sure you’re now aware. Weapons and tactics for this op match her MO. ”

“No shit,” Firefly said dryly.

Victoria Windwright. The name clicked. Firefly quickly recalled the name from the dossiers prior to embarking. She was the Sniper from the canyon ambush. That meshed perfectly with the Ironclad regalia that she’d spotted in the obelisk’s observation chamber.

“This must have come from Cindermane herself if she sent one of her top goons to do it.”

“Bring her in alive. What she knows could prove invaluable.”

“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises. If you remember the canyon ambush, Red Moon flight wasn’t too keen on taking prisoners or surrendering.”

“Red Moon flight is no longer in a tactically advantageous position.” Even through the radio, Firefly felt a chill go down her spine at the spymaster’s words. “Use any means necessary to bring her down, but make sure she lives long enough to give us answers.”

“Anything else?”

“I look forward to a productive interview. Maven, out.”

Thunderlane whistled in amusement next to Firefly. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was a serial killer,” he said. Firefly noted that his words were not repeated via radio, indicating Thunderlane preferred not to have his quips heard by the resident ice queen. Firefly had no such reservations.

“Spymaster, serial killer, same difference,” Firefly snorted. “Target ahead! Get ready!”

Firefly clawed for every bit of altitude and speed she could get. The sniper’s launch from her perch had given her a head start in both. The armor, however, seemed to slow her down. One meter at a time, Firefly and Thunderlane closed the gap.

“Fortis, emissives status.”

“Zero emissives, Wolf One. We are the only ones transmitting.”

“Does she not have backup?” Thunderlane puzzled. “Is she loco?”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Firefly growled. “Even Cindermane wouldn’t send her mooks out on a suicide mission. She must have a plan.”

Ambush? Extraction ship? Booby trap? Possible avenues of attack and counters flashed through Firefly’s head. Cindermane was clever and she would surely surround herself with clever and fearless soldiers. Windwright would not be flying in blind panic. There was a deliberateness to her motions that Firefly sensed.

The terrain below Firefly changed abruptly as she crossed over into the Canal Ward. The entire northeastern third of the city was separated from the rest by the meandering river, which entered from the southeast. A network of canals crisscrossed the ward interior and multiple bridges connected streets from the city proper into the Canal Ward. The structures within were taller and more angular and taller, interspersed with decorative crystalline spires, creating a forest of colorful columns.

With a sudden flare of her wings, Windwright dove into the spires. Firefly’s eyes narrowed. She was trying to trade what little altitude she had on them for speed. Firefly could work with this.

“What’s the play, Jefa?” Thunderlane asked.

“I’m going in. Thunderlane, I need you on top cover!”

“Aye!”

Firefly inverted and dove. Hot wind rushed past her from the myriad canals, fogging her goggles momentarily before her increasing airspeed rapidly cleared it. She righted herself then immediately banked again, slipping between two crystalline spires on wingtip. Ahead, Windwright’s silhouette vanished behind a tall, multistory building. Firefly rode her speed all the way to the structure, flaring at the last second and banking to round it.

CRACK-BOOM.

Firefly instinctively snap-rolled right at the muzzle flash, the rifle’s report hammering her eardrums a split second later, echoing off the spire she had just passed. The griffon rifle round snapped past her head and pinged off a nearby spire’s surface before spinning wildly into the grey. Firefly flared her tail and swung her legs out to her right, using the momentum to slew her weapon on target. Her repeater roared, spraying a hail of aether bolts downrange.

Windwright burned the last of her altitude to evade Firefly’s salvo. Her final maneuver sent her spiraling into the city streets, bobbing and weaving through wartime debris and overgrown detritus. Firefly grinned. This was a fight she could win. The match up of an armored target with only wing power against a nimble fighter in close quarters at high speeds would end poorly for Windwright.

Firefly dove in hot pursuit. Bombed out buildings and fallen spires raced by at breakneck speed. Colorful crystals blurred into muddy streets and war-torn facades in a twisted, morbid kaleidoscope.

“Fortis, I need her escape vector. Where’s she headed?”

“There’s too much ground clutter, Wolf One. We can barely track her on radar in this mess.”

“Thunderlane, do you have a visual?”

“I have visual but it’s spotty. She’s moving quick, but you’re closing the gap. What do you need me to do?”

“Make her make a mistake! Next time she goes out in the open I need you to buzz her! Try to push her north and to the west!”

“Aye!”

Firefly twisted through a mangled storefront, using an artillery mousehole to cut through a broken city block, further closing the gap. Windwright whirled around, riding her forward momentum to snap off two quick shots. Both went wild, the bullets being caught by broken rafters and weathered stone. Firefly grunted and powered on. Windwright must have been getting tired. Her aim was deteriorating.

“Thunderlane! Where are you?”

“Comin’ in hot, Jefa!”

A storm of glowing violet bolts rained from the sky just in front of her position as Thunderlane hurtled overhead, breaking his power dive and shooting up into the grey once again. Windwright squawked with surprise and snapped left, diving off the streets into a nearby canal. Firefly rolled and dipped, continuing the chase.

Hard breaths hammered Firefly’s lungs. The oppressive humidity in the shield dome seemed to concentrate near the water, leaving an invisible miasma that threatened to drown her as she flew. Derelict gondolas and broken down houseboats whizzed by as the two combatants tore through the the canal. Wooden frames and stone embankments splintered and sparked in the whirling storm of traded bullets and aether bolts. Finally, the narrow canal opened onto the river’s surface.

“Jefa, I’ve got something. There’s a ship parked in the river north of your position near the edge of the city. It’s nestled in with a bunch of gondolas and barges at the marina.”

“Clever bastards.” Firefly grunted. “Fortis, did you get that?”

“Affirmative.”

“Roshina, I need you to bring Fortis in and cut off her escape. Disable that ship any way you can, but take her alive!”

“Understood, Firefly. We’ll be there.”

“Thunderlane, it’s time to finish this. Run her into the ground! Next bridge.”

“Aye!”

Thunderlane’s response came just as Firefly ducked under one of the many bridges over the river. The next bridge was not even a hundred meters away and Windwright had yet to reach it. Firefly shot one last burst from her repeater, hoping to force Windwright to burn more speed dodging. Firefly predicted correctly, but something was off. Windwright released her rifle, allowing it to dangle from its sling and reached into the pack attached to her combat harness.

Firefly’s eyes darted to Thunderlane, who had begun his descent. His wings folded down as he entered the stoop, aiming for a spot just beyond the next bridge. Firefly’s eyes went wide as Windwright flung the oblong gadget she had retrieved into the air above her, letting its momentum carry it onto the bridge’s deck.

“Thunderlane break off your attack! The bridge is—”

FLASH.

Even this close, Firefly saw the flash of explosives and felt the heat of the explosion before she heard it. She had a split second to save herself. Tucking her wings and legs, she took as big of a breath as she dared and nosed down into the water. The entire river thrummed mightily around her, as if a titanic hammer had struck it and set it vibrating.

Firefly’s eyes snapped open. Warm, dirty water stung her eyes as it filled her goggles, leaving a crawling sensation on her skin as it infiltrated her coat, mane, and feathers. Up ahead, white plumes of bubbles and smoke rose from sinking stone and freshly extinguished wood. She stayed submerged as long as she could, but her lungs burned for air, driving her toward the surface.

She broke the river surface with a gasp and began to paddle toward the nearby dock. Pulling herself up Firefly coughed out the fetid air, sucking down as much oxygen as she could. Even as she struggled to breathe, she stumbled toward the bridge on uneasy hooves. Windwright’s demolition charge had obliterated any semblance of structure. Were she not there to see it herself, Firefly would have been hard pressed to believe there had been a bridge there at all.

“Thunderlane!” she screamed. “Thunderlane! Dammit!”

Bile welled up in Firefly’s throat. Did Thunderlane make it to the river in time? If he hadn’t... Firefly choked at the thought. She trusted him to live. She said she would let him go because he could take care of himself, but the one time she hadn’t come to his rescue, he—

“Firefly!”

“Thunderlane!” Her eyes darted to the river.

Paddling through the debris, apparently none the worse for wear was Thunderlane. Firefly was suddenly reinvigorated. Overcome with joy, she galloped through the miasma seemingly without hindrance, skidding to a halt near where Thunderlane had surfaced. Leaning down, she extended a hoof to him. Thunderlane gladly accepted, hooking his hoof around hers and allowing himself to be pulled from the water. As soon as he was on the docks, Firefly grabbed him and squeezed him tightly in a hug.

“Don’t worry, Jefa,” he laughed wearily, “It’ll take more than that to kill me!”

She gave him a sidelong glance. “I’m supposed to be the one saying that!”

“I learn from the best,” he smirked.

“Commander! Are you all right?” The radio burst to life. Firefly breathed a quick sigh of relief. It appeared her gear was still in order.

“We’re a little soggy, but alive. Don’t worry about us. SITREP?”

“Fortis is at the objective. Engaging now.”

The sharp crack of heavy repeater rounds firing barely a hundred meters away stung her ears. Firefly’s eyes panned to the north, where a thin plumes of smoke now rose from a cluster of docked boats downriver. The thrum of aetherjets filled the air, drowning out even the hellstorm as Fortis descended from above. If Firefly squinted, she could see Roshina and Khog standing on deck. A brilliant beam sprang from the ARC ship’s spotlight, slicing through the artificial twilight and backlighting the silhouette of Victoria Windwright. The Ironclad flapped slowly, hovering over the still waters and the remains of her escape ship.

“We have her, Commander!” Khog cheered.

“Good! Hold her there! We’re on our way!” Firefly said. She motioned to Thunderlane and broke into a hard gallop.

The ARC ship slowed as it descended, finally coming to a hover a few tens of meters above river level. Firefly felt a chill wash over her as the jet wash blasted the moisture from her coat and feathers. Finally, they arrived. Firefly took a moment to catch her breath before sizing up the hovering Ironclad.

Lieutenant Windwright hovered upright, her wings slowly flapping, enough to keep her airborne but only just. Nothing about her stance indicated that she was prepared to fight. Her talons remained by her sides and her rifle dangled from its sling, resting firmly upon her chest. The golden eyes that Firefly had caught a scant glimpse at in the obelisk were closed. Taking a deep breath, Firefly girded herself to speak.

“Lieutenant Victoria Windwright!” she bellowed above the storm and jet wash. “I am Commander Firefly of the Alliance Expeditionary Fleet! Your mission has failed. You are outnumbered and outgunned. But this doesn’t have to end in further bloodshed. I am willing to accept your surrender right now!”

There was a beat of silence. Windwright appeared unfazed, as if she had not heard a word Firefly had said. Or perhaps she was deliberately ignoring it.

“Lieutenant Windwright!” Firefly repeated. “I am Commander Firefly—”

Windwright’s eyes snapped open. She suddenly rotated to face Firefly, causing all present to train their weapons upon her. Firefly raised a hoof and waved them down. “So you heard me after all.”

The griffon’s face bore an expression of distinct disinterest. “None of this concerns you, Commander. Turn away and let this go. If you do, perhaps you will have time to save yourself.”

Windwright’s voice was clipped and proper, the mark of a Talonopolis upper-class griffon. Her condescending tone and refusal to address her question further raised all but confirmed her pedigree. Firefly could not hold back the scoffing snort from her nostrils. Windwright wasn’t a soldier. She was a trophy. Daddy’s girl sent to fight a war in the family tradition. Now she was nothing but a deserter and criminal. Firefly’s lip curled in disgust.

“You know I can’t do that,” Firefly growled in reply. Despite her disdain, she did what she could to remain professional. With any luck, her derision would be construed as mere gruffness. “My offer still stands, but my patience won’t for much longer. Are you coming peacefully or will I have to clip your pinions?”

Windwright leaned her head back and inhaled deeply before letting out a long sigh. Firefly raised an eyebrow. This was not a sigh of exasperation or in sarcasm. Windwright honestly sounded exhausted, not just physically but mentally. Finally, she spoke again — slowly, deliberately. “You have no idea what you have blundered into, Commander.”

It was all Firefly could do to avoid shooting her dead on the spot. This upper-class asshole had dared to fire upon them, then led her on a chase through the city, and now she had the gall to patronize them while outnumbered? Firefly’s voice adopted an edge just as condescending as the scum that floated before her.

“Listen here, bitch. I didn’t come all the way out here to die by the hand of some prissy patrician trophy daughter. You’re coming with me. Whether it’s in a jump seat or a body bag doesn’t matter to me. I’m giving you one last chance to surrender yourself.”

Windwright turned one last time to Firefly before closing her eyes and returning to her prior hover. Firefly slammed her hoof into the ground. Was she really so arrogant and hardheaded that she would refuse surrender? Windwright had one chance to prove herself not to be patrician scum to Firefly and she had completely blown it.

Still, something bothered Firefly about her mannerisms. Windwright knew more than she let on and the utter calm with which she addressed the soldiers pointing guns at her was unnerving to the extreme. Firefly glanced to Thunderlane, then to Roshina and Khog on the deck. It appeared that all were of similar mind. Something wasn’t right. But Firefly couldn’t afford to stand on the riverbank gawking at an ornery griffon all day.

She keyed her radio. “Typhon, bring her in.”

“Yes, Commander.” Khog took wing with Roshina close behind.

“Roshina—” Firefly started.

“Do not worry about me, Firefly. I am not the primary point of contact.” As she spoke Roshina manifested an aetheric spear which she kept pointed at Windwright as they approached. “Khog will handle the hard work. I will merely ensure our guest remains cooperative.”

The dragons slowly floated to where Windwright hovered in her meditation. Finally face to face with Windwright, Khog gave her one look and sneered, “Where’s the smugness now, little bird?”

Windwright’s eyes snapped open once again. She glared straight into Khog’s jeering pupils. The closer Firefly looked, the more it looked like Windwright was staring through Khog. Firefly followed her gaze, finally coming to Roshina. As soon as Windwright laid eyes upon Roshina, the aloofness vanished. Her brow furrowed ever so slightly. Her wings tensed and her talons clenched. Windwright fixated upon her, a low guttural gnarl emanating from deep within.

She spoke slowly, her words cutting and chilling like jagged ice. “You will not escape again, witch.”

Windwright’s armor flashed like lightning, lashing out at Khog with paw, with talon, and with her head. The headbutt flipped Khog upside down. His guard broken, Khog took the full brunt of Windwright’s final attack to the chin, a spinning strike with the butt of her rifle that sent the blindsided dragon careening into the docks.

Khog spiraled out of the sky and slammed into a rack of laid up gondolas on the docks, the splintered planks flying up into the air before handily burying him. Seeing her wingmate incapacitated, Roshina quickly shielded herself, a glowing disc of magical force springing from her left arm just in time to deflect the last of Windwright’s rounds. Her rifle empty, she threw it aside and charged forward, drawing her blade as she flashed across the gap between them.

CLANG.

Armor and blade met magical force field, the sound of the clash echoing across the Canal Ward. Their weapons locked together, the shield holding Windwright’s blade mere centimeters from Roshina’s face. Windwright’s blade trembled violently as she struggled to overpower her opponent. Suddenly, the trembling stopped. Windwright’s grip on her blade loosened and it fell from her talons, clattering harmlessly to the marina dock below.

Firefly’s eyes fell upon the gore-stained spearhead that now protruded from Windwright’s back. The griffon shook violently, unleashing a blood-curdling screech as she slammed her claws one last time into Roshina’s shield. Finally, she fell limp, leaving only the baying wind and the dull hum of aetherjets.

For a long moment no one could speak.

Firefly’s eyes darted from Windwright to Roshina, from Roshina to Khog, and from Khog to Thunderlane’s wide-eyed face. Everything happened so fast: the arrest, the perfidy, the chilling declaration. Even Khog, the warrior among warriors was caught flat-footed. Roshina appeared just as shell-shocked, the slackness of a thousand meter stare dominating her face.

Firefly shook herself back into reality. She was still commander. She still had to lead. They were deep in hostile territory with a probably-dead Ironclad and critical intelligence to deliver back to base. Personal processing could wait. She hammered her mic switch and gave her orders.

“Fortis, this is Wolf one. Situation: FUBAR. Roshina! Get Windwright to the ship! Corpsmare, see what you can do to stabilize her! So help me Celestia we’re going to salvage something out of this godsdamn mess!”

Author's Notes:

That took a while. I really need to get an editor.

Musical Index
ACZ: The Belkan War - Hresvelgr