Eli stared down at the helmet in his hands. It was mostly featureless, but as he was looking closely, he noticed a fuzzy mark on the cheek. Lining it up with his head, it matched up to the burn scar on his face. Aces had apparently been proud of that particular scar. 

A scar he still didn't know the story behind. With a sigh, he put the helmet on.

It was surprisingly comfortable. He'd expected it to be harder to get used to, but aside from the limited vision, it felt perfectly fine. Maybe Kix was right about the muscle memory.

"If you spend another minute in that room, I'm going to kill you," Lark called from outside. Eli huffed out a laugh and slipped outside, readying himself for the fight that was sure to come.

Deco nodded to Eli, falling into step behind him. "Good luck, kid," he said quietly.

Eli gave him a lazy grin. "Thanks."

Lark elbowed him, muttering, "You're s'posed to say 'I don't need luck.' "

Eli rolled his eyes, not dignifying that with an answer as the squad set out to battle.

Maybe everything would turn out fine after all. Here, surrounded by these people, it was easy to fool himself into believing that.