[i]Armoury[/i]

Vasily had wasted no time in making his way to the armoury once the plan had been finalized and the assets secured. Taylor could take care of the pilots and their briefing. Vasily just had to get Meng Lie up to speed about the mission and have him prepare the teams' weapons, or, more accurately, to simply release the electronic locks securing them to the racks. The moment Vasily saw Meng Lie standing over a disassembled SVU-A sniper rifle on the armoury's central table, he knew that the Chinese man had just spent the last few hours ensuring that everything was in top condition.

"A mission, sir?" Meng Lie asked, looking up from his work at the Russian. They were no longer in their respective forces, and even then Vasily had never been an officer, but he had long since given up telling the Chinese man to address him by name. It was probably never going to happen. 

Vasily nodded. "That's right. Silenced loadout, Yang."

"Understood, sir." Meng Lie replied. "Sir, I need you to gather the teams. I shall see to the final preparations personally."

[i]Mess hall[/i]

The three members of Firelight had long since stopped their game of poker, much to Ashton's relief. He knew that it was only a matter of time before someone was eating rancid food or drinking expired milk, with the way things were going. In the aftermath of their last round, Anahera had to drink what was basically a tea-coffee mixture infused with oyster sauce, sliced chili and a copious amount of pepper. To say that it was an unpleasant experience would have been an understatement; the New Zealander had practically sprinted to the nearest sink to throw up.

"Still looking a little green there, Ana." Ashton said teasingly, a smirk tugging at the edges of the lips.

"Piss off, Ash." Anahera replied grumpily. She slumped over in her seat, resting her head on her arms and groaned in discomfort. "I'm never going to be able to wash the taste from my mouth."

Ashton leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. He was enjoying watching this side of Anahera, the side that wasn't always trying to get a rise out of him or teasing him to the point of irritation. Still, he could not help but feel some sympathy for his team mate. It would take a lot of mouthwash and mint-flavoured toothpaste to wipe the horrendously strange taste from her mouth. "Well, maybe next time you wouldn't choose such a stupid forfeit for our games. Not so fun when you're the one who has to do it, huh?"

"Yes, yes," Anahera replied, her voice muffled. "I'm sorry, Mister Ash. I promise I won't do it again, Mister Ash. Please don't call my parents."

Ashton was about to give his response when the ship's intercom crackled to life. "Attention all teams," Vasily's static-laced voice said. "Everyone to report to the armoury for kitting out. Repeat, all teams to report to the armoury for kitting out."

The three members of Firelight fell into silence for a moment, each of them looking at one another. Then, as one, they jumped out of their seats and ran for the armoury. The time for jokes and casual conversations was over. Now it was time to be serious.