A wave of dizziness washes over me as Simmons disappears from sight. I stagger to the side until my hand can touch the wall and lean on it for support. I take a deep breath, pressing my fingers into the cool metal of the wall. After a moment, the dizziness passes and I stand up straighter. I glance up and down the hall, but no one's there. Good, I think with relief. No one saw. I don't need my ever-caring family to tell me what I already know.

I turn back toward Yttri's room. While I'm here, I might as well see if she has anything new to help fight Gold.

When I walk into the room again Yttri is sitting on a stool, furiously scribbling notes and drawings while hunched over a blueprint. "Would you prefer a metallic casing, or synth-skin?" she asks when she hears the door close.

"What?" I ask.

Yttri turns to look at me. "Oh," she says, sounding slightly disappointed. "I thought you were the cyborge."

"He went to see his Sergeant," I explain.

Yttri nods. "Probably for the best. I was starting to need a break from people anyway."

I recognize the obvious hint to leave, but choose to ignore it. I need to talk about something important. I know this will only take a few minutes. She can go back to her chosen solitude once I'm done.

"Did you get the message I sent about our mission?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says. "And before you ask, no. I don't have any new gadgets. I don't have the supplies to play around right now, so all my fun little projects have gone on hold."

"Not even any new modified guns or anything?" I ask hopefully. She shakes her head, and I sigh. "We're going to need more firepower to stop Gold, but we need to make sure it's nonlethal…" I say as I think out loud.

"You have those stunners I made," Yttri points out.

I shrug dismissively. "I don't think they'll be enough. You said they could stop a brute. I've seen Gold take one out in a single punch before."

"Glad I'm not fighting him," Yttri mutters. She sets down her pen and thinks for a minute. "I'll check out the stunners later, see if I can work something out," she says after a while. "But don't get your hopes up."

I nod. I suppose it's the best I'll get.

I turn to leave when I hear a familiar thumping from the closet in the corner of the room. "Please tell me you didn't lock him up again," I say without turning around.

"Hey, this time it wasn't my fault," Yttri says defensively. "He started malfunctioning. Wouldn't stop spinning in circles, kept crashing into things. I figured he was less likely to hurt himself in the closet than out here."

I walk over to the closet in question and open it, snatching Lopez off the ground before he has a chance to roll anywhere. He makes a whirring sound as the wheels continue to spin. "What are we going to do with you?" I whisper.

"Get these wheels off me," the perturbed sounding robot demands.

"You're the one who ran away the last time I tried to take them," Yttri says. "You can keep the broken things for all I care."

Lopez starts to say something, which I'm pretty sure would have translated into something bad, before I cut him off. I just thought of something that causes a smile to spread across my face.

"Yttri, remind me, what's wrong with the hornet?"

She takes a moment to stop glaring at Lopez and turn her attention back to me. "I finally got the engine and rotors fixed," she says slowly, unsure of why I asked. "The targeting and navigational systems are still fried, though. I can't fix them unless we get replacements."

"What if we had something that did the job of both?"

"What do you have in mind?" Yttri asks suspiciously.

"From what I can tell, our Spanish speaking friend here has a similar 'dumb AI' set up as the Mother of Invention's onboard computer," I say, holding Lopez up a little higher.

"'Dumb' AI?" he asks incredulously.

I ignore his comment and continue. "A ship's onboard computer replaces the manual controls for navigation and targeting, right?" Yttri nods. "So, what do you want to bet Lopez could fly the hornet?"

Yttri looks thoughtful for a moment, before smiling. "That… might actually work," she says eventually.

"What are you two talking about?" Lope asks again.

Yttri snatches the robot head out of my hands and holds it up to face her. "Well, Lopez? How would you like a new body with a whole lot of fire power?"

I'm sure if a disembodied robot head could smile, he would. "Si," Lopez says.

I walk into the nearly empty mess hall, hand held unconsciously over my ribs in a futile effort to make them stop aching. Apparently they haven't healed as thoroughly as I'd thought. I plan on grabbing some quick food and getting back to work preparing for the mission, when one of the sim-troopers stops me. I recognize him as the leader of the red team, who they call Sarge. He looks like he wants to say something, but doesn't know where to start. "What do you need?" I ask him.

"Well, missy," Sarge says, the underlying and slightly patronizing tone of old-school male minded attitude going unnoticed to his ear, as usual, "I've been hearing that you're setting up a secret mission and to tell you the truth, I'm so bored that I'd consider jump ropin' over the mouth of a Sarlaac pit just for a taste of something new."

And now there's this to deal with, I think, giving him a look I hope will make it clear that I didn't understand. After a moment, he continues.

"Basically, I can't help but be a little offended. I mean here you are workin' day and night setting this mission up and you left out the single greatest military leader of this century. I've been through it all! There was that time when the Blues had that quest or whatever where that guy got pregnant and we stayed around at that windmill place and fought off a bunch of aliens. We helped fight off the Wyomings from taking over Blood Gulch and taking that alien baby to fulfill that one prophecy. We even helped Washington fight the Meta and take him down."

I flinch when I hear the name. It's obvious by the way he brags about it that he isn't aware the Meta was also my brother, Manny. Most of the other stuff he mentioned doesn't even make sense. I stand in silence for a moment, trying to wrap my head around what the older man had just said. I can't decide if some of my information about what happened in Blood Gulch is incomplete, or if Sarge is confused, or both.

After a moment, I decide it doesn't matter. Sarge's basic meaning is clear. He wants to be a part of the mission. I don't want him to be. But I can't afford to offend him, either. He's obviously... different. I'll have to be careful about what I say.

"This is going to be a different sort of mission than what you're used to," I try to explain. "It's a rescue mission. I don't want to put you in a situation that you can't handle."

"Ah, come on. I said I wanted to help and I meant it. Sure I've messed up a few times and there have been missions that have gone completely horribly. But even though we have had a few setbacks, without the Reds and Blues, Carolina and Church would be mince meat. Ya see I may not be quick of speech and we may be unorthodox, but we've managed to kick some serious freelancer ass before. What's got ya so worried about me?"

I'm not a dishonest person. Not really. I'm just a diplomatic person. Which means that I sometimes withhold just the right amount of truth so as not to hurt anyone's feelings and hopefully keep them from shooting me. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be hard to form a decent argument when I don't want to say what I really want to say. And on a day like today, with my ribs starting to ache and my head feeling just a little bit fuzzy, I sometimes reach a point where I don't want to be diplomatic anymore.

"You're boasting about victories," I say as calmly as I can manage. "I understand that you and your people have done some incredible things. But your greatest victory, the single greatest feat of skill and power you have ever performed, was when you killed the Meta, who just so happened to be my brother. And now, I'm planning a mission to rescue my other brother, and you say that you want to come along. I'm sure you can see how I don't feel I can trust you with that." I finish with an icy edge to my voice, which I can't help but think sounds like Dr. Han.

Sarge looks uncomfortable for a moment, then sighs, and I can see the guilt in his eyes at my words.

"I really didn't know he was your brother. We were attacked. Everything we knew and the people we... well, ya know what... whether I like them all the time or not... even Grif... My people were attacked by a hostile and dangerous man who was already out of his mind. How many times did we almost die because of him? I don't even know. Maybe he wasn't in control of his mind anymore but… Well, we didn't know of anyone named Silver at the time. And we didn't know of Silver's brother. All we knew, lady, was that there was one big monster of a man trying to kill us... and we killed him first."

I can tell that Sarge doesn't mean for this to hurt my feelings. He doesn't seem like someone who would be cruel or callous for no reason. He just looks like someone that has lived too long and seen too much to consider sugar coating anything.

"I'm sorry that I helped kill your brother Silver. But let me ask you one question: If it was my brother trying to kill you, kill any one of your family... What would you do?"

"Kill him," I say, without hesitation. I try to not look Sarge in the eye as I speak, aware of the point he's trying to make. I know it's nothing wrong. Sometimes people die. As long as it's not my family, I'm okay with it. Still, I can see what Sarge is trying to say.

"I can't forgive what you did," I say, matter-of-factly, "but I guess I can understand it. If the roles were reversed... I know I wouldn't have hesitated.

"That doesn't change the fact that on this mission, you might find yourself in that same position again. Gold is out for blood. He's fighting to kill, but we can't do the same. It's not him who's doing this. He isn't in control. We have to save him."

"Exactly. You'd kill my dear brother without hesitation if he tried to kill you or someone you love. But if this fight isn't to the death, what makes you think we couldn't tone ourselves down? Sure we haven't exactly been tested with rescue missions, except for once. But that one time went off without a hitch though, missy. And we had a major part in rescuing Epsilon and bringing that guy YOU are looking for back in one piece. Yeah we ain't exactly new to killing to protect our own. We're crazy, reckless, some would say we're stupid. But there is one element you are missing here."

Sarge hesitates, a smirk on his weathered face. I'm not sure whether it's endearingly senile, or maddening. I'm leaning toward the latter. After a beat he gets to the point.

"The biggest thing about this mission here is that this ain't personal for us. It's a trial and apparently a damn good one. We like being tested and we ain't afraid to kill. There's a certain... care, a trust that I feel for all of you. I mean hell, you came to Chorus, you found and rescued us, asked us to come with you and help you and we agreed. That means that we agree to help with whatever you are doing. This ain't a personal mission so there really are no hard feelings here, only the need to test myself in a battle that is, for once, not to the death. You don't want me to kill Gold, all you gotta do is say so, and you did. You have my word I will not kill Gold, but I will protect the men and women and kids that I promised to protect when I said I would help you. If that's not what you wanted from us all along, well I'll be honest: I don't know why we're here."

I sigh, a small measure of my anger draining away. "That is what I want," I say. "I just..." I sigh again shaking my head. "I have to be careful and make sure I can trust you. I can't take chances with this." I try to stand a little straighter, locking my eyes on Sarge's. "You're a leader. You're used to giving orders, not taking them. If you come on this mission, can I trust that you'll follow my lead and do as I say?"

"Heh heh. You ever hear of the time we followed Carolina and Washington under duress to locate the Director? Well let's just say that the only time we disobeyed a direct order was when Carolina was so out of her mind with revenge and misplaced workplace aggression that she was handing us out to fight a hundred Texes on our own."

Sarge chuckles again, recalling the memories.

"Yeah, all the way up to the point where Carolina was pointing a gun at people she was supposed to be helping as they helped her, it was a hell of a ride. Explosions, evil crazed robots and glorious battles galore. It was fun, but yes we all followed orders. Sure it was under duress, but we wanted to help Washington. We didn't trust Carolina because she never gave us a reason to trust her. But we're here for you. Because you asked, each and every one of us, and you didn't force us to come along. I like you. I can't speak for the rest of the guys but I think they like you as well."

Sarge takes a step closer and a smile crosses his craggy features. His coarse white chin dusting nearly glows beneath the bright mess hall lights. I think briefly that he might just be the oldest person I've ever met.

"Miss Silver, you have my word that I know how to take orders as well as I know how to give them. Don't point a gun in my face and you can trust me till the end of this war of yours."

I stare up at the older man for a moment, considering this. Eventually, I nod. "Alright," I say, somewhat reluctantly, "but I have one condition." I nod to the shotgun Sarge wears on his back even now, while out of armor. "That stays behind. You can use one of the stunners Yttri made."

Sarge opens his mouth to protest but swallows it. His eyes grow harder for a moment before he sighs and removes the weapon from his back. I can tell from the way the grip has formed to the shape of his hand that he's had it for a long time, and the pained look in his eyes tells me he must love this gun.

"I'll take good care of it," I promise, reaching out. He nods understandingly as I take the gun from his hands.

He seems to think about something for a moment and removes the pistol from his hip holster, handing it over with a wink.

"Is Yttri's stunner shaped like a shotgun? If so, then hell, even I can have an imagination," Sarge replies with a grin.

I stand in the shadows around the hangar doors, watching everyone run around and load supplies. Rho's using the room's projectors to set her avatar on top of the ship and telling people where to put what. There isn't much for her to tell them. A seven person mission doesn't require a lot of supplies.

Yttri is standing near the hornet, talking to Lopez. I still can't believe it actually worked. Yttri said she was also able to adjust the pelican's slipspace drive so the hornet can follow us. It wouldn't work with an actual pilot, since hornets aren't airtight, but with Lopez flying the ship is space worthy. She insisted he come on the mission with us. She says it's for intimidation, or to have extra fire power in case something goes wrong, but I think she just wants to test if Lopez really works with the ship. I told her as long as Lopez knows not to shoot unless ordered, he can tag along, though I doubt Gold will fall for the empty threat.

Yttri keeps pulling at the armor on her shoulders, trying to make it fit comfortably. It's supposed to be one size fits all, but Nick's made some modifications that are affecting it. I doubt she would feel comfortable even without the modifications, though. She's never liked wearing armor.

Rho eventually pops up by my shoulder. "All done," she says cheerily. Too cheerily, if you ask me. She's nervous about this mission. Can't really blame her, though, I think. Considering how our last mission went and what happened the last time she saw Gold, I'd be worried if she wasn't nervous.

I pull her chip from the wall's terminal and plug her in the slot at the base of my skull before snapping my helmet on. "Ready to go?" she asks.

"Almost," I say. I grab something leaned against the wall by my side and walk to the pelican. We've packed a few regular guns along with the stunners; once again, just in case. Even though I'm sure we have enough weaponry to handle anything Gold could throw at us, there's something special I want to pack.

I step up to the weapon rack in the back of the ship. There are five battle rifles, as well as extra ammo packs. I take down one of the rifles and replace it with Sarge's shotgun. I get the vague impression of a laugh from Rho, but no other comment.

As I finish securing the shotgun to the rack, Lico shuffles up to the ship's entrance. I try to hold back a sigh before I even look at him. This has become routine for us. Silicon always asks to come on missions, and I always tell him no. I turn toward the boy and see that he's wearing training armor and has a paint pistol on his hip. The gun looks far too big for his little hands.

"Lico," I start, but he cuts me off.

"I know you won't let me go," he says quickly. "I know you don't think I can help. You think I'm too young-"

I kneel down and put my hands on his shoulders to stop him. "I've never said you're too young to be helpful," I correct him. "I said you're too young for me to let you be in harm's way."

"I can take care of myself," Lico says, barely managing to not sound pouty.

"I don't doubt it," I say. "You're already better than I was at your age. But a kid shouldn't have to deal with the kind of things we're going to face. I can't risk losing you, Lico. I love you too much." I reach up to ruffle his hair. Partway through the gesture, Lico pulls me into a hug.

"Is there anything I can say to change your mind?" he asks once he lets me go.

I shake my head. "Nope."

Lico sighs exaggeratedly. "Fine," he says. He walks part way down the ramp before turning back to me. "Nick told me to tell you something in case he can't make it here before you leave," he says.

"What'd he say?" I ask, suspecting I already know the answer.

"Don't get killed," Nick's voice says behind me. I turn and see him stepping out of the ship's cockpit. "Just checking the controls," he says to explain his presence on the ship.

"Sorry we have to leave you behind," I say.

Nick shrugs. "Don't be. I get why. Too many people would only complicate the mission. You need to keep it as simple as possible."

I nod. "And don't worry, I won't," I add, finishing off out pre-mission tradition.

Nick smiles before trotting down the ramp toward Silicon. "Come on, little man," he says, grabbing the kid's shoulder and turning him away from the pelican. "Let's get you back to the training room."

I watch them go, smiling.

A few minutes later Doc walks into the back of the ship, medical bag in hand. I remember the conversation I had with him and Rhodi yesterday. Rhodi had tried to argue about being left behind, but eventually relented when I pointed out that he didn't have armor. I'd thought Doc would be hesitant to come, but apparently he preferred the idea of a rescue mission to any other kind we might plan, even if it would involve fighting.

Doc's arrival is followed closely by those of Wash and Simmons. Yttri sprints into the ship when she sees them come, taking a seat next to the maroon soldier. Tinu and Sarge show up last, Tinu chatting about the difference between needlers and spikers and Sarge looking slightly uncomfortable. He glances at the weapon rack when he steps into the ship and smiles before sitting down.

I climb up into the cockpit and start up the pre-flight routine. Once everyone's situated in the back, we take off.