“Councillor Harvey has accepted our offer,” Aquila announced.

Questions flew around the room but I stayed silent, holding my chin high. I needed to seem confident, composed, despite how unprofessional and young I felt. My hair was still wet from the pool, slicked back and smelling faintly of chlorine. It felt wrong. I should have been more prepared. I should have had my hair tied back properly, my jumpsuit fully done up instead of half unzipped with my sleeves rolled up.

I had the urge to unroll them quickly, before more people would see, in an attempt to look better but the people around the table knew me already. They knew what I was prepared to do. They knew I was willing to risk my life for this plan and Freo.

Well… kind of. I wasn’t really doing it for Freo, I was doing it for Peggy and for the good of the crew.

“When will this happen?” someone asked.

“Within the next forty-eight hours,” Aquila answered.

“How many fighters will be going?”

“At the moment, we’re estimating that we should need around eighty-five to ninety fighters and nine ships, not including the single person fighter jets. We have some on the way from other planets to assist,” she said, gesturing towards the centre of the table where a hologram rose showing each of the ships.

There were four warships, some containing names I didn’t recognise, but my eyes were fixed on the one with my crew, Andy, Fornax and some of the other fighters who had been with us on the first mission.

It felt wrong that I wouldn’t be on the ship with them and I could tell from the looks on their faces that they were a little uncomfortable with it too.

“Fornax, if you’ll stay behind after this briefing, we can go over the fighters to be included in this mission,” Aquila requested as the holograms changed position slowly to show the empty spaces.

“Of course, I already have a list of fighters in mind,” she replied with a grin.

“Excellent. We’ll also be sending eight of the single person fighters, ten smaller battle ships and, of course, the ship with Aries on.”

Everyone turned to look at me and I forced myself not to look away from the single ship now rotating in front of me.

It was a fairly small ship, about the size of Frida, with only four other people in it. Tuc, Trolis, Drac and Lace.

All people I’d already been on missions with. People I trusted. I knew they were good fighters and that they’d protect Peggy and me.

Something told me Fornax had organised that.

Good crew on your ship, Gem thought anxiously. I’ve worked with all of them apart from Lace.

Lace is nice, I’ve worked with her before, Cas added with a glance towards me.

Yeah, I’ve worked with them all, I thought.

You alright? Cas asked.

Yeah, I replied automatically.

Fear was fluttering inside my chest but at the same time, I felt alright. It was strange. I knew I should be scared, there was a genuine chance that I might die or be captured, but I wasn’t.

Everything was in place. Aquila had everything underway. There was nothing more for me to do or prepare. I just had to wait.

“Aries,” Aquila said, breaking me from my thoughts. “After this briefing, I’d like you to go to the armoury with Elliot to have a look at some close-range weapons.”

I nodded, almost eager to be doing something, before going back to staring blankly at the holo in front of me.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t pay enough attention to the rest of the briefing. Any time she mentioned my name I did but the rest of the time, I was stuck thinking about the fact that I’d get to see Peggy again soon. Within forty-eight hours, I’d see her. Not over a stream or when she’s dragged onto a Council press conference but face to face.

I’d maybe even be able to talk to her.

That made it all worth it. All the fear and anxiety gently bubbling in my stomach.

“Alright, Fornax and Andy, please stay behind. I’ll likely call another meeting tomorrow once the plans are finalised and stay near your screens in case anything happens before then. Thank you,” Aquila said, dismissing us.

I stood slowly, my gaze still fixed on the holos.

“Are you ready to head to the armoury?” Elliot asked.

“Sure,” I said, with a smile.

It had felt like too long since I’d last played around with weapons despite it being under a week ago in class. I was interested to see what I’d be given for the mission though. I needed something that couldn’t be easily seen by the Guardians or IA in case they scanned me but also something powerful enough to down a lot of them.

“Do you want some company?” Cas asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ll meet you in our room?” I said.

“Sure, see you there!” Gem called as we exited the war room and Elliot led us in the opposite direction.

Let us know if you need anything, she added silently.

Love you, I replied.

We strolled slowly along the blank corridor, neither of us in a particular rush. Anxiety started to build in me. Despite seeing him almost every day since I’d been on Freo, this was the first time I’d been alone with him and I found myself grasping for things to say but luckily we stopped outside the small armoury before too long.

“Are there different types of weapons in this armoury compared to the one by the garage?” I asked as we waited for the scanner to recognise his chip.

“There are. Here we have more smaller weapons and it’s generally empty so I thought you might prefer it. I know it can be a little overwhelming here sometimes,” he said as the door lifted.

A waft of cool air hit me and I stepped inside, blinking in the brightness. Much like the other armoury, weapons lined the walls but this room only had one firing lane.

“Do you have any favourite smaller weapons?” Elliot asked, looking around the room.

My eyes scanned it quickly, catalouging the weapons.

“I like the dart phaser. The pistol too but it might be a little too big. Maybe the laser pulse?” I said.

Elliot nodded slowly, his eyes finding the weapons I’d mentioned.

“The phaser should be good. We shouldn’t need to adapt it too much to be able to be concealed in your suit. The pistol is definitely too big though. What about a mini pistol?” he said, pointing towards a sleek silver gun.

It was a little bigger than the dart phaser, about the size of my hand.

I picked it up, automatically checking to see if it was loaded and making sure the safety was on.

“Ammo is on the left there. You can have a practice if you’d like,” Elliot said, gesturing towards the firing lane.

I grabbed a handful of bullets and began loading them as I walked forwards. I hit the button to refresh the target at the end and lifted the gun. Slowly breathing out, I stared down the sight of the pistol and squeezed the trigger.

“Andy was right, you’ve got a good shot. Do you want to try a moving target?” Elliot asked.

My lips quirked up in a smile at his compliment but I forced it back down.

“No, I think I’m okay. It’s basically the same as the pistol,” I said, unloading it and putting it back in its place.

“Great. Now, I had a bit of an unconventional idea but they won’t be expecting it. How do you feel about knives?”