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May 27, 2073
09:15 GMT
6 Hours After Null Sector Terror Attack
Bath City, Somerset UK

All hostilities within the city had ceased.

The omnic extremists, with all their nulltroopers and hulking war machines, remained frozen where they last stood prior to the blast. Lifeless, with their circuits all burned out from the EMP wave. The terrorists were dead, but then, so were the omnic civilians. As the Royal Arm Reserve moved in to restore order, they came across dozens of omnic husks littering the streets of Bath, and even more clogging up the inner sanctum of Bath Abbey. The total body count was yet to be determined, but anyone could take a guess and land on a good number.

Nobody saw it coming, not even the Fireflies.

"Well, this is one big clusterfuck we're not getting ourselves out of any time soon."

Ember clenched his teeth tightly until his mouth was a thin line, wishing Chameleon would just take a hint and shut up. The three of them were sitting around the derelict Big Bird heavy transporter, having made landfall near the Triumvirate power plant grounds after it was forced to make an emergency landing following the EMP blast six hours prior. Fio and Hazard were hard at work trying to fix the thing, starting with restoring communications with Lyons HQ.

The Firefly commander stood guard while his teammates replaced the burned out components and brought the derelict aircraft back to life.

"There's what, eleven thousand omnics living in Bath City according to the 2070 survey?" Chameleon asked.

"Pretty much." Hazard replied without bothering to look up from the exposed panel she was hovering over, "Not that it matters to our team leader."

Ember frowned, correcting Chameleon. "There's thirteen thousand omnics in Bath City, not counting the Null Sector population that's recently moved in. And there are more than eighty-eight thousand humans living in it present day."

Hazard glared at him, "Your point, sir?"

"Eighty-eight thousand people saved, Hazard. Eight-eight thousand. The lives we've saved here far exceed those lost. That's a win in my book."

"And what of the thirteen thousand? Where do they fit in with this book of yours?"

Ember shrugged nonchalantly, "Collateral damage."

Hazard stared at him, dumbfounded. "You... you're a fucking psychopath!"

"Realist." Chameleon corrected.

"Soldier." Ember crossed his arms and looked her in the eye, "In case you've forgotten, we're at war. These things happen. If you can't handle it, maybe you should have stayed in the UN Peace Corps."

"Handling is not the issue here, damn it! We're supposed to protect people- omnics included!"

"No, our mission is to neutralize threats like Talon or Null Sector. And we did exactly that today. Everything else in between is not a priority. Did they not tell you this when you were approached for recruitment?"

"-ireflies, this is Lyons HQ... Do you read..."

"Commander, comms are back online." Fio reported, pausing to watch the stare-down between Ember and Hazard. "Um... you might wanna take this."

Ember nodded to acknowledge the pilot, then jabbed a finger in Hazard's direction, "The omnics that died in the blast, now that was unfortunate. But then, none of them were alive to begin with. So save your tears for those most deserving."

"There it is again, I knew you were a fucking racist."

"Racist? No, it's not racist to be loyal to your own kind. And seriously? You see a bunch of talking toasters and call that life? If anyone here needs to have their head checked, it's you."

Again, the woman could only look on in disbelief. When she turned to Chameleon for support, the man only shrugged.

"You'll get used to it."

The Firefly commander sat climbed up to the Big Bird's cockpit and patched himself in to the comm channel, "HQ, we read you loud and clear. Sorry about going dark on you all of a sudden."

"Commander, give me a sit-rep on your mission objectives. Have you secured the device?"

"Yeahhh... about that." Ember sighed, walking HQ back through the mission up to its conclusion. "Null Sector won't be a threat to anyone in this city for a while. But... there were unexpected casualties among the civilians, sir."

"Copy. We're just receiving the news. You did good, Ember. What's the status of the ground team?"

"They're holding up just fine." The Firefly stole a glance through the port window and saw Hazard arguing with Chameleon, probably still fuming over their exchange earlier. "Big Bird's gonna need some serious TLC. Blast fried her circuits, might take a while before we come home."

"Sending a backup transporter to your location. Don't worry about Big Bird, we'll handle her retrieval."

"Thank you, colonel. What about the pogs pouring in through the city? Should we worry about them?"

Pogs. Persons-other-than-grunts, a universal nickname for any country's military reserves or backline personnel. The Americans coined it, now everyone uses it. "Just do what you usually do. Keep your distance, but do not engage."

"Roger that, sir. Ember out."

Ember unfastened the strap of his helmet and removed it along with his balaclava mask. The heat of the morning sun was causing all kinds of hell even in the cool Somerset climate. He was sweating profusely, and the fabric of his mask was getting itchy. As he and the Fireflies waited for backup to arrive, the commander found his thoughts wandering back to a time when machines were the sworn enemy of mankind.

They will always be with him, those memories. He will not forget them, he didn't want to forget them.

He sees it every night.

A city on fire, with the air choked with dust and smoke. Fire, so much fire, he thought that the whole world was burning. Then, he saw the machines. One-eyed demons marching through the streets, cutting down people in waves upon waves of red burning light. It's just him, and his brother Gérard. Frightened little boys hiding under a metal table, it could've all ended right there. Nobody came to save them that night, just pure luck. The omnics passed them by, leaving a bloody trail in their wake as they moved out of the city to the next.

The machines rebelled against their creators, tried to wipe them off the face of the earth. Now, 30 years later, people say that everything's good between them and the omnics. Null Sector remains to show them that things are anything but good.

Ember didn't care about the omnic civilians he inadvertently killed that day. If he felt anything at all, he felt happy. Now there were 13,000 less omnics to worry about. To him, they were still a threat to mankind. Dormant, like the volcano bubbling beneath Bath City, but still a threat. One day, they'll rise up against them, several generations smarter and deadlier than the last. Better to kill them all, cut their numbers down if that wasn't possible.

Often, Ember wished he could travel back in time and hunt down the scientist responsible for creating artificial intelligence. He imagined finding him in some stuffy and dilapidated laboratory, surrounded by blinking machines and a mess of interconnected wires. He imagined closing the distance and drawing his pistol. With a squeeze of the trigger and a loud Bang! he could prevent untold years of suffering, save countless lives with a single bullet to the head.

And he'd probably send mankind down another path. It was all wishful thinking, he knew it was inevitable. Even if the so-called father of artificial intelligence did not pioneer that unholy branch of science, someone else would've taken his place. Mankind had a nasty habit of creating its own problems, birthing its own demons. Stupid, but it was just human nature.

"Hey there, old boy." Chameleon entered the cockpit and sat on the empty co-pilot's seat next to Ember. "What did the director say?"

"Backup's on its way." The Firefly commander replied, "We're to sit tight until they arrive. What about the pogs, they show up in this part of the city yet?"

Chameleon shook his head, "Nope. Whoever's commanding them is a bit skittish, progress is slow on their part. At this rate, it'll take the whole day for them to restore order in the city."

"Good. We'll be long gone before then."

"So..." Chameleon leaned back on the seat, "Was a bit harsh with the rookie back there."

"Why the concern? You mothering the recruits now?"

"Someone has to make sure the team integrity remains strong. You're not helping me here by showing your bad side. And you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"My willingness to risk the lives of those civilians, even sacrifice them, operates within the parameters of why the Initiative exists. It's not a 'bad side'. We kill monsters, Cameron. We killed them today, Null Sector and those that were at risk of joining them."

Chameleon shook his head, "I hear you. I know this war of ours cannot be won through clean battles, but there ought to be a line somewhere. Wouldn't you agree?"

Ember stared at the scratched and battle-tested helmet sitting on his lap. Such a line cannot be drawn, with the kind of battles they had ahead of them. And even if it stood so clear, the Fireflies cannot afford to pay heed to it. Their enemies had no such constraints, and the war was never about who walked the higher road.

November 27, 2073
6 Months Later
Firefly HQ
Lyon, France

In the months following the Bath City Incident, the Initiative garnered enough support to expand its operations. With its international connections and with mounting success in its missions, resources and recruits flowed in monthly. Before long, Director Wesley was in charge of 69 Firefly operatives. With that many agents in the Initiative, it became rather clear that there should be more than one Firefly commander spearheading their operations.

And so, Cameron Sinclair was promoted. He got his own team to train and lead into battle, had his hands full getting the rookies to follow the new playbook. Ember's playbook.

Director Wesley covered after him when the shadow council inquired of the methods involved in his handling of the Null Sector debacle. A staggering amount of dead civilians wasn't something they'd let slide. But then, omnics were the minority. The council's concerns didn't lie with them, but in the small chance that the Initiative would prove unreliable in its ability to avoid unnecessary collateral damage.

As far as the Bath City Incident was concerned, the Fireflies did their job. The fatalities would be pinned on Null Sector, simple as that. But that didn't mean Wesley didn't have any choice words with his favorite soldier. He had a lot, and from then on kept Ember on a short leash.

Six months, the world seemed to quiet down a bit. Null Sector went underground to gather strength for another attack, Talon too. All the reports HQ Central could pick up on larger-scale threats like omnic uprisings, terror attacks were nothing the locals couldn't handle. And so, the Fireflies stood watch, waiting for the moment they would be of need.

And throughout those six months, Ember trained and trained hard. No other Firefly used the Simulation Room as much as he did, and it was all to prepare himself for the moment he'd have to face off against the Talon sniper. Central could pick up on a lot of information with their sophisticated satellite network, but there was a lot that slipped through the cracks. Ember gathered his own intel, kept tabs in places their analysts overlooked.

He found enough to make his own conclusions.

The scientists kidnapped from the Nigerian summit were freelance specialists, hoping to work under Abedoyo's administration. Their specialty involved the study and creation of god programs, the mythical artificial intelligences responsible for the omnic awakenings and the Omnic Crisis itself. The LVA had been tasked to hand them over to Talon in exchange for new weapons to support their war against the West. Unfortunately for them, Talon had no intention of lending its resources to the LVA, which resulted in Chkheidze's assassination.

The Talon agent assigned to terminate him was codenamed Widowmaker, an assassin specializing in long-range combat. Whoever she was, she didn't like it up close and personal. Just several hundred meters between herself and her targets, her own playing field and Ember's danger zone. The Widowmaker was fast, efficient, and as elusive as the next sniper.

The Firefly commander did all he could to work his way around this danger zone, going so far as to set the simulation computer to randomize the environment every time he stepped into the facility so he could adapt to any scenario. His opponent in these simulations was not an omnic drone, but another Firefly.

Kitty Reyncourt, or better known as Red Queen to her fellow Fireflies, was ordered by the director to help him in his preparation. His training bordered on obsession, but Wesley wouldn't have it any other way. He even went as far as to require the other Fireflies to watch Ember train with Red Queen, so that they may see what could be done when alone and pinned down by an enemy sniper.

Sometimes, these exercises didn't end well for Ember. There was only so much an oddity like him could do. Often, Red Queen would send him to the infirmary in critical condition. But every time he left that recovery room, Ember was getting better. Red Queen was the best sniper in the Initiative, and she was having difficulty landing a headshot.

Dr. Dufour took every opportunity to put her nanotechnology to use, and she provided many of the operatives an edge with her cybernetic modifications. Ember, especially, subjected himself to her augmentations. When he felt that he was too slow or lacked the strength, he had his limbs upgraded with cyber-actuators. And when his reflexes were too dull, he had Dufour install a reflex coordinator to his cerebellum.

His final upgrade was something Dufour had to get Wesley to approve on. Ember wanted the doctor to install a set of micro-bombs into his ribs, programmed to arm and detonate to a trigger word of his choice. He chose the word Serrurier, meaning 'locksmith' in French. Ember wanted to make sure that in the event he was captured, he'd have one last trick up his sleeve for his enemies. A grim end, but one that Dufour could understand was preferable to capture.

She should know, she had the scars to prove it.

"I hope the time will never come when you have to use them, commander." Dufour said after the operation was done.

Ember grunted in acknowledgement as he pulled his shirt over his chest, covering the faint roadmap of surgical scars cut into his body. "Well, when I'm old and I've outlived my usefulness, only then will I have them removed. Until that time comes, these micro-bombs will yet serve purpose."

He left the infirmary and joined up with his squad in the barracks.

Chameleon and six other Fireflies were away on-mission to gather intel on Talon. That left Ember with the rookies, all of them skilled in their respective roles but inexperienced in the Initiative's kind of war. It wouldn't be long before they'd have their turn, he was sure of it.

"Red Queen." Ember approached the woman bent over a workbench, "Ready for another go?"

Kitty was a woman of slender build, kept fit with the strict regimen she learned in her time with the SAS. Unlike most of the women in the Initiative who wore their hair in a tight bun, Kitty had hers cropped short to her head. Tattooed on the right side of her neck was the Union Jack, and on her left index finger were the words Hair-Trigger inscribed in a tight ring.

The sniper was busy cleaning and modifying her main weapon, a recoil-operated semi-automatic .50 cal anti-materiel rifle, which was by all means a relic by the year 2070. Still, relics had their use in the modern age. The weapons of the new era were mainly crafted around preexisting designs of the 21st Century's vast arsenal, the only thing that changed were the kind of bullets fired or the modifications installed.

And if there was one thing that could effectively punch through an omnic nulltrooper's armor, it was a .50 cal.

Kitty's father used that kind of rifle in the Omnic Crisis, trained her to shoot from a young age, and now it was her turn to use the rifle in battle. For obvious reasons, in her exercises, Kitty had to use weapons of lower caliber especially when she was training with her commander.

"Should I make it easier on you, commander?" She asked after sliding the last piece in place, "I'm not so eager to put you back in the infirmary again so soon."

"The director's not changing the rules yet, so it's best if we make the most out of the danger." Ember replied, "I don't want to get rusty during the wait."

"Neither do I, but if I may say so, I'm a little worried you're trying to get yourself killed."

Suddenly, Central signaled the alert for Alpha Team, which was Ember's squad, to assemble at the briefing room. Even though the Fireflies couldn't believe that they were finally getting some action after a long wait, they immediately headed for the armory to gear up and trotted off to meet for the mission.

The team composed of Ember, Red Queen, Hazard and the Irish giant Seamus O'Brien, whom they called Diamondback.

Seamus fit almost every stereotype people would think of the Irish. Redhaired, a foul temper with a punishing right hook to match, and a heavy drinker. Although, for the latter, Seamus fit the profile of a functioning alcoholic. Drink, as he so claimed, gives him clarity and keeps him running like fuel in a tank's engine. His propensity for being inebriated between missions got him into trouble before, and one too many brushes with the top brass got him kicked out of the Irish Special Forces. It was only thanks to his reliability in the missions themselves that landed him on the Initiative's list.

Director Wesley approved his recruitment on the condition that he puts his drinking habits to an acceptable minimum, which was little more than a shot glass of whiskey after a successful mission. That arrangement did little to improve O'Brien's short temper, but Ember saw to it that his outbursts could be properly directed towards the omnic targets in the shooting range.

"Director, what've you got for us?" Ember inquired as soon as they were all present at the briefing room.

Wesley was there to give the mission in person, an unusual thing even for the director. "Tekhartha Mondatta's been assassinated at King's Row little more than thirty minutes ago."

Hazard was the only one who reacted strongly to the news, as she was the only one in the room who personally met the omnic monk. The rest didn't quite get the significance of his death, or simply didn't care.

"We've detected an outbound aircraft which fitted the profile of a Talon dropship. Interceptors have been dispatched and have successfully brought it down in the woods near Ashdown, Brighton. Your mission is to inspect the crash site, eliminate all hostiles and if possible- capture the Talon agent onboard. Bravo Team will be joining you onsite to provide support. Good luck, Alpha."

"Let's go pick us a fight, yeah?" Diamondback said excitedly as he and the team prepared to leave.

"Director, a moment?" Ember stopped to ask Wesley a very important question, one that he'd been waiting to ask for six months. "Is it the Widowmaker? Can you confirm it's her?"

"Judging from the kind of stunt the agent pulled off at King's Row to make that shot, I think it's safe to say that it is." The director put a hand on his shoulder, "I know you've been prepping for this for a long time, Ember. But please, keep your head on. Don't give the enemy any advantage. You hear me, boy?"

"Copy that, sir."

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