The Silk Moth Dream (Season 1 Complete)

EPISODE 10: ICE & FIRE

It only takes a few days after Abin's demonstration for the excitement to wear off and tensions to rise. Like Abin said, Left Behind hasn't had a successful mission in months and the scattered support they've accrued across the country is starting to dwindle. Despite the voice in the back of Fiona's mind, she's been showing up to every logistics meeting to discuss the mission. Some part of her feels responsible for Abin, and she can't risk him dying for an organization that she'd brought him to.

"My team can do this sort of stuff with their eyes closed," says Samantha Tran, the lead on Left Behind's operations team. She runs her hand over her shaved part of the head. "His skills are impressive, to say the least, but we've never sent an agent in alone."

Right now, Fiona doesn't care for Samantha's bravado. Before she opens her mouth to retort, she realizes she would be defending Abin's prowess even though she doesn't want Abin to go on a mission. She purses her lips, and swallows unspoken words.

"With his powers, he won't need to carry heavy artillery or wear metal protection like the rest of your team does," Shailene says boredly, chipping away at some illegally-acquired paint on her nails. "He can wear the undercoat of Sheltersuit only, and move in undetected."

Samantha's second-in-command, Andre, sighs in frustration and pushes up his glasses. His response is much more measured than his superior. "Our team is well-trained. With all due respect, we have ways of getting around the detectors—"

Shailene giggles, a lilting sound. "With all due disrespect, you can't do this sort of stuff with your eyes closed because you haven't. I have. You haven't had a successful mission in months since I stopped running field ops."

Samantha's glower is palpable. "It's easy for you to say—"

"That's why I am saying it," Shailene says flatly. "Next."

The frustration in the room is almost a stink. This is how every meeting that Fiona's attended has gone, with people arguing back and forth and trying to poke holes in every step of the way. The truth is that missions like these used to be easy for Left Behind. Blowing up unmanned factories was done overnight with no real thought except for the goal of destroying the government's weaponry supply chains. But money and personnel have been dwindling, making it hard for them to find ways around the government's tightened security these days. Fiona can't help but wonder if this was what her mother had in mind when she first started the organization. She wants to think that a series of factory bombing wouldn't have been on her mother's agenda.

Fiona shifts in her chair, snapping the dozen eyes in the room towards her. Even Abin, who has been practicing character strokes on a tablet in the corner. Fiona avoids Abin's eyes. They haven't spoken since their non-fight. "We still haven't discussed the issue of our thermobaric bombs."

Sanjay, the head of the explosives unit, bristles at her comment. "What about them? They've never been the issue in our previous missions." Unlike the ops team is unspoken, but Samantha trains her glare on him regardless.

Fiona looks directly at Shailene for this, but she looks down at the maps in front of her. Ragnar does as well, knowing full well what she means. "This factory produces heavy artillery components for armored Sheltersuits, which means they're one of the few targets with a fleet of automated jets for mass exportation. We need to prepare for the possibility of a thermal shock."

Sanjay gapes at her, his brows furrowed in confusion. "We've never had a problem with thermal shock before–"

"We have."

Fiona's usually soft voice is filled with such finality that Sanjay drops the topic, the first in the room to do so. Shailene fidgets for a second, clearly hesitant to join the topic. "Jet fuel," Shailene says after an exasperated sigh.