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May 27, 2073
01:35 GMT
Director's Office, Firefly HQ
Lyon, France

The director pulled up a chair and sat opposite of the Firefly commander. "Walk me through it. Start from the beginning."

Ember stared into the two-way glass window as he recalled the events that transpired in Lagos. He gave his report, from the start of the op until its bloody conclusion. The Nigerian Prime Minister was safe, a lot of LVA ultranationalists were dead, but then so was Tac-Bang. Hazard did what she could to stabilize him, but by the time they got the operative to the nearest hospital, he was already dead. Tac-Bang had simply lost too much blood.

Wesley knew Ember long enough to know that he tended to agonize over his mistakes, and had just the kind of pep-talk to keep him from becoming ineffective in future missions. "You did your job, so did Cross. He knew the risks, and died for a good cause. If anyone is to be blamed for his death, it's Talon."

Ember inhaled deeply and glared at the director. "How do you know it's them?"

The director brought up a datapad and showed him a dozen satellite photos taken a few hours prior to the events in Lagos. An outbound aircraft hovered in close proximity to the highway where the team chased Chkheidze through. "Look here, see anything familiar?"

"Talon dropship." The corners of Ember's lips twisted into a grimace. He could see a silhouette of a lone figure exiting the roof of a hotel, which had a clear view of the highway. That same figure was slinging a large weapon onto its shoulder as it boarded the Talon dropship. "It can't be a coincidence."

"No, but we've already suspected Talon's involvement with the LVA's attack on Nigeria." Wesley tipped his head back, "Kurkova was nice enough to lend me some of his best analysts to paint a clearer picture of this mess, but I think it's safe to assume that you've gone ahead and made your own conclusions."

"Abedoyo was a smokescreen." Ember recalled what the Nigerian prime minister said to him, "The LVA was after the scientists from the summit. Or rather, Talon was after the scientists from the summit. Who were they?"

"As of now, we're still gathering intel on them. Once I've been notified, so will you." The director got up, but left the datapad for Ember to keep. "In the mean time, Edgar, I advise you to take this opportunity to speak to your teammates. Whether or not you knew Cross personally, they need to hear something from you."

Keeping the integrity of the team. This was one of the reasons why Ember disliked being team leader. But the fact remained, he had to do it. Things happen in their line of work, it was his job to keep everything else from falling apart. "I'm on it, director."

Ember left the office and stepped out into the long corridor connecting Central section to the main hangar, the two largest sections in the entire Lyons Headquarters. Central was the focus of the Initiative's engagement. It featured a rotating hologram of Earth referred to as a hologlobe, and was the nexus of the Initiative's satellite network. Within a few more days, this nexus would become fully operational once the shadow council's satellites were linked up.

The main hangar was the primary entry point into Lyons HQ, and houses the Initiative's small fleet of interceptor aircraft and heavy transporters. It's also where the director's office was located. Wesley particularly enjoyed the view of the interceptors from his window, as it reminded him of his days in the RAF.

Two access lift elevators, one on each end of the corridors, would take base personnel to Level Two. Here, the development sections could be found. The Research labs, where the Initiative's brightest minds put together new technologies to benefit the cause, and the Engineering section, which was the foundry responsible for crafting the Research section's prototypes.

At the moment, base staff lacked personnel to operate these sections at their full potential. However, if the Initiative proves itself in future missions, the shadow council will provide and allocate more resources to cover what they lacked.

Located at Level Three were the briefing room, the shooting range, the infirmary, the armory and the barracks. Level Four was reserved entirely for the Combat Simulation Room.

As Ember took the long way down to the barracks, he pulled up the file in his own datapad that contained dossiers for future Firefly operatives. Elite status recruits from around the globe, ranging from enlisted soldiers to mercenaries. Following the Omnic Crisis, there was no shortage of battle-hardened veterans looking for a way to ply their trade. Wesley didn't care if some were washed-up drunks fighting it out in some forgotten bar in the middle of nowhere, as long as he could pick the best that could get the job done.

Ember and Chameleon were his little experiment to prove that this sentiment worked out in the end. The job wasn't elegant, they weren't fighting to earn medals or land on the front page of some media outlet. Their line of work was a demolition derby. He didn't need finely tuned ferraris to dazzle the crowd, he needed monster trucks- the big boys with big appetites for grinding up steel.

Leave the fanfare to the UN and Overwatch, Director Wesley used to say.

Ember picked out two names out of the long list for his personal recommendation to the director. Kitty Reyncourt, an SAS sniper, and Seamus O'Brien, a former Irish Spec Ops Ranger. Non-oddities, just normal people in peak physical condition and experts in their respective work. He'll need more, much more, before the next mission comes. There were others on the list, some of which Ember crossed out as he felt that they didn't quite meet the requirements for candidacy. Some of those names were known to have been affiliated with Overwatch.

Amari. McCree. Oxton.

Those former operatives offered a significant edge, but Ember knew better than to let the Initiative reach out to them. Their world was bright and idealistic, they wanted to play heroes in a world filled with monsters and they were burned for it. Better to let them stay that way, let the grownups handle the mess they left behind.

"Monsieur Lacroix!" Someone called to him when he stepped out of the access lift, causing Ember to look up from his datapad. He saw a woman dressed in a white lab coat trot over to greet him. She was wearing an Initiative ID card around her neck, her amply displayed surname helped the man figure out who she was. After recovering from her abduction and subsequent rescue, Dr. Fabienne Dufour looked different from the last time Ember saw her, which was on a stretcher being hastily carried off by EMT's to the nearest hospital.

She looked more... alive. "Bonsoir, Monsieur Lacroix, it is good to see you again."

"Hmm, bonsoir, Dr. Dufour." Ember shook her hand. "I didn't know you work here now."

Dufour smiled and pushed up her glasses, "You have my employer, Director Weber, to thank for extending the invitation for me to support this Initiative in any way I can. I wanted the best way to show my gratitude, so here I am. Started working three days ago."

"Glad to hear it. If I may ask, what is it that you do around here?"

"Oh? I'm sure you've been briefed by Director Wesley already."

"Actually, he hasn't."

"Well, it turns out I am now the Initiative's Chief Scientific Officer. I oversee this section as well as Engineering in all matters of technological development. My team is due to arrive shortly, and per the director's orders we will begin working on our latest project soon. I assure you, you and your team will have new toys to test out on the Talon scum."

Ember nodded, "Ça c'est bon. I must leave you now, doctor. The Initiative had its first casualty today, and I must have words with my team."

The woman's face paled, "Oh, non! Not so soon..."

"It is the nature of our work. But don't worry..." Ember started walking away, "The shooter will get his."

When he found the team, they were gathered around a table in the barracks, drinking shot glasses of Lagavulin 16. Not too stiff, not too mild. Smoky, rich and elegant. Perfect for honoring the dead.

"To Tac-Bang." Chameleon raised his glass, "Barely knew the poor bastard, but he died doing his job."

Hazard remained silent, Chameleon didn't. He talked a lot, that was his thing. Some people handled loss differently.

And for people like Ember, at times like these, they'd feel like going somewhere where they could be alone for a few hours. In Lyons HQ, there were only a few places he could do that. One of them was the shooting range, and Ember was just in the mood for shooting.

He left the barracks without saying a word to his team, picked up a Sunburster rifle and set up his targets.

Ember liked to shoot omnics. Living, sentient omnics, although the notion of calling them 'living' remained a subject for debate. The Initiative kept an omnic personality template for all their training bots, putting it in a fixed and constant loop to keep it from adapting. It was discovered that the omnic mind made for a better thinking machine for their simulations, Ember just thought it as a fun exercise. Director Wesley kept the policy since it boosted morale, and that it made his men efficient killers.

The first omnic target stepped into the range, turned its head a couple of times to scan the room, then locked on to the lone figure standing at a shooting position on the opposite end of the firing lane. It was unarmed, Ember just wanted to blow off some steam. A bright flash of red blinded its optic sensors, and the omnic panicked as its world suddenly went black. Then, a second shot cut its right arm off.

With the way third generation omnic neurocybernetic systems worked, the omnic could 'feel' its lost limb similar to human phantom pain, except that it could sometimes move the severed limb as though it were still connected to its body.

The machine screamed, and Ember cracked a smile. He fired a third shot, finally putting the thing out of its misery.

The Firefly commander watched as the cleaner bots swept away the scrap heap he left behind, then prepared to send in another target. He was far from finished at the range.

He imagined what the shooter from Nigeria would look like as he brutally executed the omnics, recalled as best as he could what he thought he saw in the highway. Atop a high vantage point, hidden behind several hotel rooftops. There was a figure, a little too small to fit the silhouette of a man. Possibly an omnic, or perhaps a woman?

First op with the whole team, and one of them gets clipped seconds away from their target.

The shooter killed their guy too, which fit Talon's MO. They didn't like to leave loose ends.

Debriefing Dufour following her extraction provided next to nil, one Talon cell just wasn't the same as the whole operation. Ember hoped he'd get a mission involving gathering intel soon, to get them one step closer to finding the heart so he could destroy them. It's too early to psych himself up for that last leg of the race, but it was good to dream.

Just a little something to keep him going.

Suddenly, Director Wesley's face lit up the tiny holoscreen on Ember's armband. "Ember, get your team together and gear up. You have a new mission."

The Firefly commander immediately shut down the omnic targets and left the shooting range, "We'll be up in the briefing room in five."

"No time. Briefing's gonna have to go on the fly."

Whatever it was the director was getting them into, it was urgent. The team would be fighting at half-strength, but they had to make do. There would be a lot weighing down on his shoulders as commander, but Ember relished in the challenge. "Copy that. We're on our way."

Within minutes, the team was already onboard one of the heavy transporters and on their way out. Their AO would be in one of the techno-heartlands of Europe, a supposed neutral ground where humans and omnics could coexist.

The Bath. A tiny city in the United Kingdom responsible for luring tourists for over 2,000 years with its healing waters and hot springs. These days, the city's better known for its source of clean renewable energy found in their Triumvirate geothermal power plants. People came to the city for the bathhouses and spas, omnics came there for the upgrades.

Fio, the best pilot in the Initiative, could take them there in two hours. It was more than enough time for them to get familiar with their new enemies.

"They call themselves Null Sector, a group of omnic extremists dedicated to achieve equality for omnics worldwide. Recently, it seems that they've stepped up their game to terrorism."

Ember frowned as he watched the holoscreen depicting a live feed from the city outskirts. As usual, law enforcement teams were outgunned and their barricades were being overwhelmed by omnic suicide-bombers. The military has been dispatched, but that only seemed to make things worse. The omnic terrorists had taken the city hostage, ruthlessly exterminated its defenders and all who resisted, then rounded up everyone at Bath Abbey, which was the centermost point in the city at the time.

"Null Sector has breached the Triumvirate power plant and is preparing to move in what looks like an explosive device. Intel is sketchy, but we have reason to suspect that whatever the terrorists are planning as a failsafe, it damn well involves wiping out the city. Your mission is to infiltrate the power plant, eliminate any opposition and secure that device. Good luck, Fireflies."

"Hey." Chameleon handed Hazard some pills in a bottle, "Take this, it'll help keep you awake."

"Not my first op without sleep." Hazard said, turning him down.

"Maybe so, but it'll keep your edge on for a few more hours before we get back." Chameleon replied, "Trust me, you'll need it."

After a long pause, the woman took two pills and swallowed them up. "You're confident we'll make it back?"

"Can't afford to think like that." Ember warned as he pulled down his balaclava mask. "Not all fireflies burn out in one day. There's a lot of shit ahead of us, so snap to."

Hazard nodded, keeping her thoughts on Tac-Bang's death to a minimum.

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