Convenience was a splendid thing.

Henwy managed to arrive at Mira early, which would give him more time to pack to prepare for the mission.

When Henwy arrived, the port was completely empty, save a few bored workers who were probably waiting for him to arrive to go on break.

Henwy carefully docked, then shut off his engines. He stood and hastily made his way to open the cargo door. He dropped into the bay as the door hit the pavement, where a few workers had gathered.

"These are the blasters, yeah?" A griffin asked, raising an eyebrow at Henwy. Henwy fluffed his wings and nodded.

"Mhm," Henwy replied. "From the Ratchets."

Silently, he helped unload the products with the workers onto a large cart that hummed quietly with energy.

When they finished, they stepped back and let the griffin press the button to send it off. As the platform lifted off and sped away, a second ship sputtered into the bay.

Yikes. Henwy thought as he made his way back to his own ship. That ship looked like it was attached with only three bolts and ran on two capacitors. I'll have to talk to SSundee and see if I can wire them some cash.

Henwy stepped into his ship and pressed the button on the wall to close the ramp door. Henwy climbed the ladder to get back into the cockpit. He slid into his chair and flicked on the autopilot, then did a quick search to find a daycare for his cat, then set course and sprinted to his room.

He threw the closet door open as the ship lurched and hummed. Henwy rummaged around for a suitcase and jerked it out from under the shelf. He tossed it onto his bed and unzipped it, then spread it out. Henwy turned to his closet and aimlessly grabbed some clothes. He tossed them onto his bed, then started folding them quite sloppily and stuffed them into his suitcase. He zipped up the compartment, then opened the second. He grabbed two blasters, three canisters of power vials, a self-charging revolver, and two plasma blades. He secured each of them and triple checked that the safeties were on, then zipped up the compartment. He collected a few other necessities such as toothpaste and solar batteries, then placed his suitcase in his cargo bay and hunted down his cat.

He found her stretched out on the small hammock he set up for her beside the sun roof. Carefully he reached up and grabbed her. She let out a disdainful trill while Henwy apologized repeatedly. He gently stroked her fur while taking her to her carrier and set her inside. Henwy shut the door, leaving her to curl up on the soft blanket he set out for her.

The ship slowed and a cheery robotic voice claimed, "You have arrived."

Henwy picked up the crate and lowered it into the cargo bay, then lowered himself. He pressed the button to lower the ramp. Henwy picked up the crate again and stepped outside, fluttering his wings. He tapped the button on the side of the ramp with his heel and lingered for a moment for the door to close.

Henwy's attention was grabbed by a shiny blue and gold ship parked nearby. It looked extremely nice, causing Henwy to feel just a little envious. But it was fine. He could get a far nicer ship soon. Hopefully.

Henwy turned away and trotted down the stairs towards the small brown building surrounded by a collection of trees and bushes. He pushed the door open, making the bell ring.

His gaze went from the floor to a beebrid. Henwy jumped backwards in initial shock, then exhaled slowly.

"Oh. Hey. Biffle," Henwy greeted him stiffly.

Biffle's wings stiffened, then twitched a few times, "Um. Hey..." The apisera murmured, quiet enough that Henwy almost didn't hear him. "I didn't know they kept birds here." With the way Biffle said it, it sounded like he wasn't sure if it was a joke or not.

"Well if they're keeping bees of all creatures then I don't know what they wouldn't keep," Henwy shot back in a similar tone.

"Ha ha," Biffle replied dryly. His eyes flickered down to Henwy's cat. He tipped his head, "I didn't know you had a cat."

"Oh," Henwy straightened, following Biffle's gaze, "Yeah- uh- I found her as a stray not long after we- um- uh... yeah she's been keeping me company for a while."

Biffle fidgeted nervously, "That's nice. Well I have somewhere I need to go so..."

Biffle's eyes darted to behind Henwy. Henwy jumped away from the door, "Yeah- sorry, sorry."

The two awkwardly pushed past one another. Henwy tried to keep his eyes ahead, but he risked one small glance back at his old friend. He shook his head and turned back to the desk, where a wolfbrid bustled up to him. Henwy relaxed his feathers and put on a small smile. They exchanged information, then Henwy handed his cat over and left rather quickly.

Henwy boarded his ship and climbed up the ladder into the cockpit. He sat down in the pilot's chair and stared aimlessly at the controls.

A lot of memories were trying to punch him full-force in the face but his concentration kept them back.

Henwy shook his head and exhaled. No time for this. Not right now.

Henwy grabbed the throttle, shook his head one more time, and lifted his ship into the sky.

Mira was a great place to fly around if you want to take your mind off of something.

It's a cluster of buildings and architecture from a variety of races and species. On one block is a small, brightly lit restaurant complex owned by humans, and the next is an anti-gravity apartment building constructed to replicate the minimal gravity on draconian planets.

Then two floors above could be walls of beautifully designed murals, depicting the history of various ancient planets.

Henwy loved Mira for that. You could always find something new, no matter how convinced you are that you've seen it all.

Henwy had set his sights for a small cafe on one of the lower floors. It was very small and tucked away, which was a huge shame because it was one of the best places he knew of.

Henwy carefully navigated over the tightly packed buildings and lowered the ship into the parking lot.

Henwy stepped outside and stretched his wings as wide as he could, then rolled his shoulders and folded them against his back. He flicked his tail, then strolled to the cafe.

Henwy nudged the door open, making the doorbell ring cheerfully. The draconian behind the counter looked up, grey eyes meeting Henwy.

"Oh, heya Henwy," He waved a golden paw and smiled softly, "You've been gone for quite a while. What's been holding you up?"

"Hey," Henwy waved back, walking up to the counter and sitting down at one of the barstools, "I've had a ton of back-to-back cargo missions lately. I sprained my wing while trying to escape an assassin a few weeks ago."

"Dang, another?" The draconian asked, reaching behind him to grab a bottle to start making Henwy's drink, "That sucks."

"Mhm," Henwy agreed, "I also saw Biffle today which was extremely awkward."

"Oh boy," The bartender murmured, sliding Henwy's drink to him, "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

Henwy took a sip of his drink. The quality had yet to change for the worse. Henwy waved his hand, "This will probably be the last time I come here, at least for a while, so get me the best item on your menu."

"Oh, really?" He asked, tipping his head, "How come?"

"Mission. Class A, will be gone for quite a while. After that I'm going to change departments to fly with my friend, who's graduating from astrology in the next month." Henwy replied dismissively.

"Ah. Well you have fun with that. I'll go check with our chef to see what she can make for you." The draconian smiled softly, his lemongrass-colored scales glittering in the light as he turned away.

***
Convenience was a horrible thing.

Henwy anxiously tapped his fingers against the arm rest. The hangar doors were just ahead of him, closed since the scanners were still processing his information.

Stars he hoped the other pilots were tolerable. But it would be worth it, even if they aren't. It was for Jerome. He could manage two weeks.

The doors finally released pressure and slid open. Henwy took a deep breath as the ship was pulled forward. Henwy scrambled to grab his luggage and quickly dusted himself off and neatened his feathers, picked out a few that stuck out, then shuffled his feet as the ship stopped, showing it had pulled into it's spot.

Henwy exhaled shakily, grabbed his luggage, and pressed the button on the door to open the ramp.

Henwy stepped out into the brightly lit hangar, but kept his eyes to the floor as he found the button on the ramp and clicked it with his heel, causing the ramp to lift and lock.

Henwy exhaled and looked up, and almost choked.

There was no. Way.

The Pyrrus was sitting in the hangar.

Surely he sold it. Surely. Or maybe this was just a really similar model.

Nope, this was definitely the Pyrrus. The "RGLRS" etched on the side under the wing was unmistakable.

Henwy's lack of breathing only intensified when he heard a voice ring through the hangar. A dark enderman was leaning against one of the Pyrrus' legs, enveloped in the phone in his paws.

"Hey, I'm Si-," He started, but cut himself abruptly off as he and Henwy met eyes. He stiffened and twitched, trying to keep his fur flat.

Sigils didn't look too different then from when they last spoke. Sigils' fur was dark green with black and white markings striping his ears, face, and paws. His eyes were a bright and vibrant green, that has dulled slightly over time, probably due to his higher exposure to sunlight. Now that Henwy noticed it, Sigils seemed weaker and grayer, as if light was starting to bleach him. The enderman wore a large black trench coat that flowed around him, making him look bigger than he actually was. Making him look healthier. Sigils' tail curled at his feet, putting way too much faith in the cleaners that had to clean the hangar.

Henwy had his tail curled upwards, but now he had it curled around his legs and tucked his wings close, trying to shrink against his rusty red ship.

Sigils murmured something in Enderian, gaping at Henwy.

"There is no raich-yawH way," Sigils spoke again, getting over his initial shock. He chuckled nervously, "Are there two missions going on? Surely you're not-."

"I- um-," Henwy sputtered, shuffling his wings. Words were starting to become very hard for him, but luckily he didn't have to respond as another ship appeared.

Henwy turned towards it. It was the old ship he had seen at the loading dock. The ship's metal groaned as it came to a halt in one of the spaces.

Henwy cursed under his breath as a tall, red draconian stepped out from the ship's bay.

Nico snapped his head around and locked gazes with Henwy and Sigils, his bright eyes flicking between the two.

"Oh boy," He grumbled, scrunching up his snout to hide the scar across it. "This is going to end well."

Nico was a red draconian, which would make anyone who didn't know him personally think he was a fire dragon, which was far from he truth. The white across his face, horns, underbelly, and wings were the tell-tale sign that Nico wasn't a plain fire draconian. He was a hybrid, and he was extremely insecure about it. Rather than the fire his crimson scales suggested he had, Nico exhaled frosty air that caused frostbite and created jagged ice crystals. Sometimes, Henwy could feel the ice freezing his shoulder from Nico's misfire back when the Regulars were the greatest crew the Star Force had ever trained.

That last part was probably a lie.

Sigils hummed an agreement, folding his arms across his chest and tried to sink into his trench coat.

Nico's gaze lingered on Sigils for a while, who was trying to hyper focus on the floor. Nico snapped his attention to Henwy, who flinched and shrank back. He curled his wings around him and stepped towards his ship.

Nico's expression was blank, besides the scrunch of his snout. Nico seemed to contemplate something for a while, then turned to glance at his ship and sighed, almost in a defeated way. His expression softened, then he turned away from Sigils and Henwy, leaning against the hull of his ship.

The hangar went still, with the air stuffed with awkwardness.

When was the last time any of them had talked? Long over a year, but who was counting?

The silence was broken by the entrance of the fourth and final member.

It was the blue and gold ship.

How was Henwy not surprised in the slightest.

Henwy sighed, exasperatedly, "Oh god, here we go." Henwy spotted Biffle in the cockpit and gave a stiff wave and an unenthusiastic smile. Smile was the wrong word. He pressed his mouth into a thin line and slightly squinted his eyes.

A minute or so later, Biffle stepped out into the hangar, pulling the suitcase behind him.

"Well isn't this interesting." Biffle declared, forcing a smile as he took in the scene before him, "Long time no see, eh?"

Nico growled and scrunched his snout into a snarl yet again, "Biffle, don't."

Biffle's spark to spite Nico ignited, but thankfully he didn't act on it. At least, not then. All four of them had a really bad desire to spite someone who was demeaning to them. Was it a good trait? No. They all knew that.

But it was really hard to just leave it be.

The way Biffle's spite worked, it was tricky. It was a delayed response. It stayed tucked away and festered, creating a plan to find a way to make the other eat their words.

Though he hated to admit it, Henwy almost wanted to stick around to see how Biffle reacted.

"You're doing well for yourself, rich boy," Sigils commented, lifting his chin.

Biffle turned to his former partner, "That's hypocritical coming from you, Sigils. The Guardian might look pretty on the outside but all four of us know that the Pyrrus is worth more than each of us."

Biffle turned to Henwy, "You know, out of everyone here, I thought the Noble Avian would have taken the Pyrrus."

"I preferred buying a mediocre ship than dealing with a stubborn enderman any longer," Henwy shot back.

"Ha!" Nico laughed, "That we can all agree on." 

Sigils didn't respond. He just narrowed his eyes, folded his ears back, and lashed his tail.

"Woah, no witty comeback?" Henwy asked, "How much have you changed since we last spoke?"

Sigils peeled his lips back into a snarl, then formed it into a wicked grin, "I don't want to waste my time on lower lifeforms."

"Better back out of this deal, then," Biffle snapped, unable to fight back the taunting tone that leaked into his voice, "You'd age ten years on this trip."

Sigils directed his attention to Nico, "Let's talk about you, Tall-Dark-And-Scary. You seem to be doing just swell, yeah? What charity is supporting you this week?"

Nico bared his teeth, "It's a little hard to afford a mansion when you're kicked to the streets with nothing more than a suitcase of stuff and 1,000 Credits to your name. Before you even try to make the argument that I wasn't kicked out, I was not welcome. I'm not some leech just waiting around for an eviction notice. I didn't- I don't need your help nor you pity so you can wipe that smug smile on your face, achuakos."

"Wow. Name calling. Isn't that just so mature." Sigils replied, his grin widening.

"Alright," Henwy stated, "Cut it out."

Nico ignored Henwy and stalked towards Sigils, tail flicking to and fro, "You're about due for an unfortunate injury." Nico jerked a claw at the scar across his snout, "I'd say you deserve it."

"You think I can't call your bluff after a year?" Sigils taunted, "You couldn't land a claw on me even if you wanted to. And for the record, I don't care about hurting you anymore."

Nico's wings dipped downwards. It was a slight movement that was hard to notice, but Sigils, Henwy, and Biffle all noticed.

Henwy rushed forward, wriggling between the enderman and draconian to push them away from each other.

"Hey!" Henwy snapped, "That's enough."

Nico folded his ears back and glared at Henwy, then took a hesitant step away.

"Alright," Henwy declared, "Here's what we are going to do. We don't know each other. Oh, we have similar pilot numbers? Must have graduated the same year. Woah, you're not actually a fire dragon? Isn't that crazy. You have stingers with paralyzing toxin? I sure hope that comes in handy. You can teleport people? That's interesting. Isn't this just an amazing group of misfits that will partake on this one mission together? We are going to do this mission- fourteen days -then take the money and go. We don't have to talk ever again. We won't."

The three considered this for a moment, then each nodded.

"Good." Henwy straightened and folded his wings in, "Let's wait for our boss."

A/N: Hey
Hey you
Yeah you
Here take this gift :D
https://youtu.be/sj4qsLlhdi4?si=z7bMCm9ZcwF5hq6l