Heads up this chapter is pretty bloody and gorey

‘I preferred you when you talked a lot less than this.’

Jimin laughs, automatically making Hoseok smile.

‘I was just thinking, and I bet my left lung that the ship in Kaitūtei is the same ship we found in Ynqaba.’

‘It most probably is,’ Hoseok answers as he brings over a new lift, ‘I was thinking that too…do you think that’s why Namjoon’s in Lowet?’

‘Maybe,’ Taeh’yung offers unexpectedly, ‘Ynqaba, Lowet, the planets there- a lot happened to them, and maybe Namjoon was taken there so that he can figure things out.’

‘You don’t think he’s being held at ransom?’ Jimin sounds extremely worried.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll pay for his metal any price,’ Sk’jin scoffs before he yet again changes the topic, ‘Taeh’yung please stop eating and please bring me my food already.’

‘But it’s so tasty!’

‘And I would like to experience that too! Do you know how tired I am?’

‘Just take a seat,’ Jimin laughs.

‘Hey, so what do you think?’

Jaen waves her hands over a few open crates before her as Hoseok gets closer. The Axudarian had said she would help Hoseok out with what he needed. Hoseok knows that anyone else could do it, and that technically he didn’t need to be “helped” but that they were doing this to keep an eye on all of them. And honestly Hoseok is not offended or at all surprised.

Safety precaution.

Hoseok squints at the models presented before him.

‘I mean, version 0.3 isn’t that different from 0.2 to be fair,’ Jaen tells him with a serious expression. ‘I think there’s just an added benefit that it’s lighter than the 0.2 but that’s it.’

‘So you’re suggesting there’s no real difference and I might as well choose any because it’s just-‘ Hoseok shrugs.

Jaen nods in agreement before closing the crates where the ion-beam based blasters were stored.

‘I guess it’s just personal preference at this point.’

‘How much lighter are the 0.3s?’

‘About 500 strams,’ Jaen explains, ‘It’s not that big, but I guess, familiarity?’

‘I guess so- dunno if Sk’jin or Yoongi will have something to say about the new ones so might as well take the 0.2s.’ Hoseok sighs. Sk’jin was not at all hesitant in complaining about anything if he chose to and Yoongi could sometimes get rather about stuff. So Hoseok would much rather avoid any of that and takes the version 0.2 with him.

‘Wise decision,’ Jaen nods seriously before slapping the top of the crates, ‘No offence but why are all Khol’isa rather y about everything?’

‘Oh? Jn’young’s the same?’ Hoseok chuckles and somehow everyone in the nearby vicinity snorts.

The storeroom Jaen had brought him to was very much not just a storeroom but rather a massive atrium that must have been some sort of inner-hangar at one point but customized to become this spacious and very stocked warehouse filled to the brim with every type of device, tech, weapon, and parts Hoseok would ever need for the Laikin. Camil had brought him down so he could take his pick, but asked Jaen to take over after a brief talk with Ilya.

It’s spacious, and with wide windows that extended the some 25 meter high walls, lined over with walkways and bridges that zipped overhead.

‘Oh definitely a Khol’isa trait,’ Jaen mutters but it’s not out of malice.

‘Jaen! Did you guys want the projectile-launchers?’ someone asks from the back, waving around a disc like object.

Jaen turns around to raise an eyebrow at Hoseok.

‘Sure- why not,’ Hoseok shrugs, ‘Maybe it’s something Yoongi would enjoy.’

Jaen yells back an affirmative before asking, ‘How’s it, working with a GI? If you don’t mind talking about it.’

Hoseok gives it a few seconds before replying, ‘Different.’

‘How so?’

‘I guess- they adapt to your methods very well,’ Hoseok explains, thinking back to every circumstance that brought Yoongi and himself together in a situation where they needed to cooperate, be it a fight or tactical decisions. ‘They made incredibly excellent support systems but they’re also somehow unpredictable- like you don’t know do what they think or, calculate you should do, and they take over completely, alter what’s about to happen in their way, with no regard.’

‘To others around them?’

‘No- with no regard to themselves,’ Hoseok gives Jaen a small grimace, ‘The GI believe they’re dispensable- at least, a lot don’t believe themselves as being really alive- they don’t realize, or at least were never taught, or lead to believe that they are alive. It’s why you could say Yoongi’s choices in what he does are so reckless – the GI mindset, or maybe lack of it, makes them put the mission ahead of themselves over anything else.’

Jaen nods thoughtfully to that.

‘I don’t know about other GI though,’ Hoseok adds as he pushes the last of the crates over onto his lift, ‘This is just- just what I know from working and living with Yoongi. And he’s a bit different, so honestly- maybe other GI are different.’

‘There’s not a lot around,’ Jaen comments.

Hoseok thinks back to Grisial and shrugs, ‘Maybe.’

‘But hey at least you’re-‘ Jaen begins but stops.

Hoseok looks up, a little alarmed at how everyone in the warehouse had stopped their actions, pausing as they were clearly listening to something.

‘What’s wrong,’ Hoseok asks carefully, hair on the back of his neck standing on end.

In a blink, there are TeorSers aimed at him from all directions. Jaen is still listening intently, hand raised up, ready to give a signal. Hoseok notes how her feet change positions, her body tensing to drop down or move away at an instance.

The next few seconds are incredibly tense; Hoseok has a crate full of weapons before him, but he’s surrounded from almost every single direction. He might be fast but the likeliness of him dodging 21 separate shots from 21 different angles was incredibly unlikely.

‘Hobi?’ Taeh’yung asks, a curious lilt to his voice.

‘Tae don’t do anything-‘ Hoseok says at once in his best steady voice when there’s a slight tremor immediately followed by a sharp yet muffled ping sound that makes everyone flinch, hands cupping their ears. Hoseok quickly rips off his Comm Device, taking a few steps back, arms still raised when Jaen points her own TeorSer at him, eyes suspicious.

And without warning, all the doors into the warehouse open wide. A few of the others around the vicinity quietly shift away.

‘I don’t know what’s going on-‘ Hoseok says immediately but before anyone else can say anything else, the lights flicker and there’s a clear loud klaxon and the whole ship shakes, making Hoseok take a few steadying steps.

‘Jaen!’ someone calls from the back.

‘What is it?’

‘The outer Atmoshield is out! Internal communications is down-‘

There’s a shuddering and violent explosion- arcs of light spreading outside the windows, causing items inside the warehouse to fall over.

Hoseok’s mind is reeling- what did this mean? Had the Omhlophe gotten hold of them but that didn’t make sense- internal communications would mean someone had direct access to the systems within the ship, this couldn’t be done from the outside. And judging from the sound from earlier,

Jaen is still glaring down Hoseok who still has his hands raised.

‘This is not us,’ Hoseok shakes his head, speaking directly to Jaen, ‘I swear to you-‘

‘-Jaen!’

Voices run towards them, and rushing towards them is Camil.

‘Stand down!’ Camil yells as he approaches them.

Almost all at once, everyone lowers their TeorSers, questions thrown about.

‘What is it-‘ Jaen demands at once.

‘There’s been a breach- I don’t know what’s happening but Ilya and Jn’young are compromised-‘

‘-what?!’

‘-someone or a team, something from Cuab have taken over they’re inside here too-‘ Camil explains hastily, ‘-they’ve targeted the Atmoshield and internal communications we need to bring those back up-‘

‘-which unit?’ Jaen asks immediately, waving her hands to the back.

‘-how could they get in?’ someone asks but Camil is quickly handing Jaen a screen.

‘Internal communications maybe down, but we can still access the network,’ Camil tells Jaen.

Hoseok quickly readjusts his Comm Device.

‘Tae? Yoongi? Guys- can you hear me?’ he calls out, stomach falling at the silence.

‘We need to set up the internal communications asap,’ Jaen declares while Camil nods, worry etched all over their features. ‘If the internal security is compromised, that means the cells are all open too.’

Camil nods worriedly, teeth clenched.

‘There should be security defenses that should protect the-‘

There’s a loud thundering sound, followed by more arcs of light outside the windows.

‘What the is going on?’ Jaen hisses, eyes wide as she looks around.

‘Cuab,’ Camil shakes his head- ‘-I don’t know how many- or who- but there’s something wrong with the arrangement Jn’young made-‘

‘-how? That’s never happened before Jn’young has never made a mistake before-‘ Jaen looks confused.

‘I don’t know!’ Camil looks agitated, wiping at his face.

‘Where’s the internal communications motherboard?’ Hoseok pushes in, ‘If we can’t fix it via the network- someone needs to manually restart it.’

Camil nods to that, ‘It’s not too far from here, Jaen-‘

‘Yeah I’m on it – where’s E’nid?’

‘She’s with the second Bridge,’ Camil explains, ‘I left the first Bridge to Varin he’ll keep it stable.’

‘Varin?’ Jaen frowns but doesn’t get to say anything more when another explosion shakes the whole ship.

‘Why are there explosions?!’ someone demands.

‘They’re trying to unhook us apart,’ Camil explains.

‘But the lower regions-‘ Jaen begins, looking confused.

‘Jaen- please, communications need to go up- I’m going down and try and get to Cuab- the Transporters are still up and running?’

‘Yeah- yeah, but we need to set up evac now,’ Jaen orders, ‘Let the kids out.’

Hoseok’s stomach drops again.

‘Got it- I’ll raise the alarm- I’m sure they’re all headed for the trams right now.’

Jaen nods before saying, ‘Hoseok- could you come with me?’

‘I need to-‘

‘-we set up communications and you can talk to your friends- we need this done asap,’ Jaen reaches over and grabs Hoseok, ‘Dro’thna, do you still have those short-wave Comms.’

‘Yeah!’

‘All right- grab those, distribute them, and Camil tell me when you get to the Transporters if we haven’t managed the communications yet.’ Jaen issues orders.

‘Got it,’ Camil nods, grabbing one of the Comms that’s tossed to him. ‘And stay low- the cells are unlocked- all of the passages are unlocked we don’t know who else is out and about.’

Jaen frowns at Camil before nodding, ‘Yeah- got it- good luck.’

Camil nods and lops off, a few others following as he beckons them.

The ship shakes again, the lights blinking.

‘,’ Jaen’s grip on Hoseok’s wrist tightens.

Up until now, Hoseok has been silent- unsure what to say or do- his thoughts swirling, worry overwhelming him. Where were the others? Were they safe? And what about Taeh’yung? He would have somehow made it a point to maybe burst through, wailing in exaggerated worry at one point.

‘Come on- we need to set up the internal communications back on again,’ Jaen lets go of his wrist and nods towards the other end of the warehouse.

‘I thought all of the prisoners or, I dunno, all of the cellmates in here were like, with you?’ Hoseok inquires in confusion as he follows after Jaen.

‘Dro’thna! You and Marda and Gyl stay here, set up a barricade up until we can get security running again!’ Jaen orders, ‘Sylna, you and Mir check up on E’nid on the second Bridge- take the vent-system.’

‘The vent system?’ Hoseok looks down at the two small species Sylna and Mir.

‘Don’t let anyone see you two- just check on her, keep watch.’

‘Jaen-.’

‘And the others! Make sure evac goes smoothly! Stick close-,’ Jaen starts walking, and Hoseok follows immediately, ‘-and keep low!’

Jaen doesn’t look back to see if the others listen but she doesn’t have to because everyone moves at once. She catches a Comm thrown at her and she hooks it to her belt at once.

‘Uh Jaen-‘ Hoseok wants to, if he’s allowed, , to go down to check on the others. But he doesn’t have time to say anything because as they round up the corner to a hallway, Jaen turns swiftly, her knee striking Hoseok on his thigh, a fast and hard fist knocking air out of his lungs and an arm hooking swiftly around his throat, a TeorSer aimed straight into his lower-back.

‘Who are you working for?’ she hisses.

‘No one!’ Hoseok grits out, winded and not at all ready to his chagrin for this attack.

‘Someone has been setting this up for a long while and you just enter like this with absolutely no-‘

Hoseok manages to twist away but not to strike back but to face Jaen.

‘I am not a part of whatever is happening,’ Hoseok grits out, surprising Jaen because Hoseok was now putting himself at a much more vulnerable position like this, the TeorSer digging under the sternum. ‘You heard why were came here- if you trust Ilya, and Jn’young, then you’ll know that this has nothing to do with us.’

Jaen’s glare pierces through him.

‘Someone is working in the inside, against us,’ she says tersely.

‘I gathered- and I would much rather not be a part of this, take my team, and leave as quickly as I can,’ Hoseok manages to get out.

Jaen doesn’t move, her knee still painfully pressed into his thigh.

‘I know you’re worried,’ Hoseok tries, ‘I know that this- this betrayal, is confusing – but please think about it- how could I – or any of my team members, be a part of this?’

Jaen’s expression doesn’t shift but she takes a step back and Hoseok gasps for breath, thigh burning.

‘You’re right,’ she says evenly, ‘Let’s get going to fix the motherboard. Do you need a moment?’

‘No,’ Hoseok wheezes, stretching his leg, ‘Just my leg is numb.’

Jaen rolls her eyes, ‘Venture agents.’

Hoseok only sort of limps for a few minutes, straightening his muscles as best as he could. He didn’t need this injured pride to cause him problems later.

‘If someone fried the internal communications, wouldn’t they need access to the Bridge or a NaviLet?’ Hoseok asks as they pause a moment in a hallway while Jaen checks the hallways.

‘They would,’ Jaen replies tersely before waving Hoseok forward.

‘Why are you sending me to cover you when I have no weapon of my own,’ Hoseok hisses, unmoving.

‘I’m not sending you to cover me are you insane?’ Jaen splutters, ‘I’m just saying the coast is clear lets move our asses!’

Grumbling, Jaen moves out first.

‘Oh Spaces are you apologizing by letting me go first?’ Hoseok realizes, glaring at Jaen’s head, ‘Why do I always get stuck with emotionally constipated Beings-‘

‘-shh!’ Jaen hisses, stopping suddenly before a dim hallway that lead out to one of the larger atriums Hoseok and Jungkook had been brought to by Camil when they first entered the ship.

They step back into the hallway, crouching down, and peaking over.

There’s hurried footsteps and in a second, a horde of prisoners sprint across the opening.

‘,’ Jaen whispers. ‘- what is this- how are they up here so fast?’

‘Aren’t all of the security measures gone?’ Hoseok whispers, watching as what could be a horde of maybe 100+ prisoners sprint through, already armed. ‘Doesn’t that mean that the elevators and lifts would be compromised? Especially if you don’t have a pass?’

‘Yeah,’ Jaen sounds worried, ‘Someone is controlling this from the Bridge.’

Hoseok thinks of E’nid, the Orvan who sat at their meetings and who was in charge of the second Bridge.

‘Doesn’t this mean they can watch everything through the surveillance?’ Hoseok asks worriedly, eyeing the cameras around the place.

‘I’ve been worried about that too,’ Jaen replies evenly, ‘But it’s more than possible that all of surveillance has been shut down, because who ever is doing this, knows that if we have surveillance, we’ll be able to counter whatever attack this is.’

There’s another shudder.

‘,’ Hoseok glances around as the lights flicker.

‘They’re gone,’ Jaen whispers, ‘Stay low, keep quiet.’

‘I know,’ Hoseok grumbles, following after the Axudarian.

‘The trams are still working,’ Jaen comments as they get closer to the hallway opening, the sounds of the tram filling up the air. ‘This was extensively preplanned.’

‘If this is someone working from the inside, they knew they needed the numbers to overtake all of you,’ Hoseok ruminates, ‘The inmates is a good idea- a good distraction.’

Jaen doesn’t say anything, still disturbed. Hoseok looks out into the atrium, ducking back as a small group still remained.

‘I don’t want to bring anyone down,’ Jaen says, ‘We still don’t know what’s happening, so I don’t want to make any mistakes until I can get communications up, and I can talk to Ilya or Jn’young.’

‘Okay- we move without casualties,’ Hoseok nods.

‘Here,’ Jaen unclips a small stunner from inside her jacket pocket. ‘It’s not loud.’

‘Thanks,’ Hoseok studies the small stunner before pocketing it.

Jaen looks around for a second before standing up straight, ‘They’re all gone. We need to get across the atrium.’

‘Are there any spots above us?’

‘Plenty- we’re going to have to be casual- not raise suspicion if anyone’s keeping an eye,’ Jaen says, trying to catch a look overhead from below the entryway. ‘There’s none opposite.’

There’s the sound of hurried footsteps down behind them. It’s not close, but it’s not very far either.

‘Okay- we step out- walk easy,’ Hoseok states.

‘Guests first,’ Jaen gestures with a nod. Hoseok rolls his eyes and steps forward, walking easily with a normal gait that wasn’t alarming but not too relaxed either. He hears Jaen walking behind him.

Hoseok thinks they might be in the clear as they reach the middle of the atrium, but the floors rumble faintly below their feet and before they can plan, the trams in the station to the side start filing in.

‘!’

Jaen instantly takes off, her body lowering.

Hoseok follows almost immediately and not a second later, there’s the sound of TeorSers firing behind them.

The floor chips, the walls beyond them crack and chip as TeorSer fire hails after them. Diving and slipping down the floor, Hoseok and Jaen manage to dodge into the hallway, protected briefly.

‘ - what the -‘ Jaen curses, fumbling to stand as Hoseok gets to his feet as well.

‘How far are we?’ Hoseok pants out, keeping in time with Jaen as she sprints down the hallway, as quietly as they could.

‘Take left, but we use the vents,’ Jaen pants out, ‘Will you fit?’

‘I don’t – how would I know?’ Hoseok exclaims just as something fires past their legs.

They run faster, sliding as they turn the corner to the adjacent hallway.

‘Why is it so empty around here?’ Hoseok demands, not that he’s complaining, ‘And what did you mean kids?’

‘Families-‘ Jaen pants out, ‘Not all of us- but a large number of us and our families are here- but we’re all staying in the living quarters above- closer to the 5^th Bridge.’

‘What about evacuation?’

‘Pods and transporters,’ Jaen replies at once.

‘This is dangerous-‘

‘-we know,’ Jaen hisses back before stopping abruptly, ‘In here.’

There’s a barely visible hatch that Jaen pushes her fingers through, grabbing the lip and pulling down to reveal a narrow chute.

‘Great okay- you might actually fit,’ the Axudarian mumbles, hurriedly lifting herself into the opening. ‘There are rungs- but they’re small.’

Hoseok more or less shoves her in faster before climbing in himself.

He follows Jaen downwards, nearly stepping her hands a few times, making her curse him out in her own tongue.

They keep going down and Hoseok wonders how long it’ll be because his thigh was really hurting but he wasn’t going to say anything about it.

‘Wait-‘ Jaen suddenly whispers. Hoseok stops immediately.

And Hoseok hears it. Sounds of movement within the ducts.

‘I’m going to slide down once we reach that opening there,’ she whispers quietly, ‘Cover me.’

Hoseok would glare at Jaen if they were in eye-level but he can’t so he grunts in response instead, looking down to an opening waiting for them. They go down just a little bit more, before Jaen taps on his shin and she moves across the duct, balancing herself with great agility and strength with bare hands and carefully placed foot holds across the ribbed metal that made up the duct. Hoseok lowers himself even more before hooking his knees carefully around a few rungs.

Jaen hands him her TeorSer and with a nod, drops down.

There’s sounds of sudden movement and a frightened muffled shout. Hoseok drops down as well, hanging upside down, TeorSer aimed straight into the side opening of the duct, aiming straight at-

‘-wait Hoseok!’ Jaen calls out from below.

Hoseok’s finger is off the trigger.

‘Jaen?’

It’s a young looking boy, Axudarian just like Jaen. He stares at Hoseok, eyes wide, hands up where he’s crouched. Behind him Hoseok spies more Beings- children, possibly.

‘Brena?’ Jaen cries out, climbing up quickly.

‘Is that Jaen?’ a voice asks.

Hoseok immediately lowers the TeorSer and pulls himself back up properly just Jaen climbs up to the proper height.

‘Why aren’t you evacuating?’ Jaen demands, briefly hugging the young Axudarian.

‘They’ve locked in the living quarters,’ someone way in the back explains.

Looking in, Hoseok spies around 15 Beings.

‘-,’ Jaen curses, eyebrows pinched. ‘Which way are you taking them?’

‘Down, and then to the front, towards the evac pods,’ Brena says with a confident nod.

‘Are there others who went ahead? Or behind you guys?’ Jaen asks.

‘A few ahead, some more behind us- but,’ a head pokes out, ‘Jaen- I don’t understand.’

‘Yeah well, neither do I,’ Jaen sighs out, ‘But make your way to the evac pods- but be careful- it might be under surveillance. You all have Comm Devices right?’

Brena nods and a few others behind them.

‘Can any of you use it?’

‘No,’ Brena shakes his head, ‘They all went down inside the Quarters, but the inmates could talk to each other.’

Another network? Hoseok frowns. Jn’young would have made certain to shut down any network within Cuab, that meant whatever was happening, was definitely being operated from within this ship, while Ilya and Jn’young were not in.

‘Okay hold on to those, we’re going to go set up the network for communication again, here take this,’ Jaen hands the young Axudarian her short radio Comm. ‘You can contact Dro’thna with that if you’re close enough, but make sure that it’s only him and the others okay?’

‘Jaen- what are you saying?’ someone in the back asks.

‘I don’t know- but please be careful, stick close,’ Jaen calls before giving Hoseok a look, ‘We’re gonna get going, but you guys go forward first.’

Brena nods and climbs out as Jaen climbs up a little, sharing the rung with Hoseok.

‘Will going to the motherboard help at this point?’ Hoseok asks.

‘I don’t know but we should do it anyways,’ Jaen looks troubled, ‘This was extensively preplanned.’

‘Could you set up another communications network within the ship with the preexisting system?’ Hoseok questions.

‘Yes but that would have to go through Ilya or Jn’young to have it pass. Not to mention me, Camil, and E’nid. Otherwise we’d be able to detect it at once. We keep it tight, secure.’

By the time everyone is moving down, Jaen nods towards the tunnel.

‘If we go through that, and then down, we’ll drop down into the floor above, and we can access the gravity-lift to go down,’ Jaen explains.

‘Don’t you want to take them to the evac? I can handle setting up the communications line, and I need to get back to my team,’ Hoseok asks, nodding down at the group below them.

Jaen gives him a face, ‘No offence but I am on edge right now and I need to make sure things are going how I want them to and need them to, you are more than free to off after we get out of this duct.’

Hoseok sighs, ‘Lead the way.’

It takes 10 minutes of crawling, during which the whole system of pipes shudders in the most worrisome way twice, before Jaen pries open a hatch quietly and slowly.

Hoseok’s legs are cramped and he’s sure he’s covered in dust but there’s no time to discuss as they adjust their eyes to the dark hallway.

‘Did the power give out too?’

‘Seems like it,’ Jaen whispers, ‘You’re good?’

‘I’m fine,’ Hoseok replies.

‘Okay- we’re not far from the gravity-lift,’ Jaen nods forward, ‘Stay quiet and-‘

‘-keep low I know,’ Hoseok snorts. Even in the dim light, Hoseok can see Jaen’s glare.

Practically tiptoeing across, Hoseok follows Jaen down an uncomfortably wide hallway. He feels too exposed in this dark stretch of space.

‘There,’ Jaen whispers. ‘No one’s around.’

It’s an uncomfortable minute as they turn the corner, hurtling down the dark hallway, feeling as though something followed them at their very heels.

Jaen leans all the way back in the lift, breathing out slowly as they descend. Hoseok hands her back the TeorSer which she takes with a nod. The door opens and they wait a few seconds before stepping out straight into a sudden onslaught of light and the clear sound of TeorSers powering up.

Blinded, Hoseok winces, turning his head quickly, and raising his hands above his head.

‘Jaen?’

‘E’nid?’

The lights are lowered and Hoseok’s eyes adjust again. There’s sounds of footsteps and the Orvan Hoseok knew as E’nid steps forward, watching both of them suspiciously until the two short Beings Jaen had ordered to spy on E’nid appear.

‘It’s okay!’ they tell them instead. Looking around Hoseok notices that Jaen has the TeorSer aimed straight at E’nid. ‘We got her out- she was being attacked in the second Bridge by Varin,’ Mir exclaims quickly, running up to them.

‘Why is he here?’ E’nid nods at Hoseok who still keeps his hands up.

For a brief second, he wonders if this was what it felt like to witness his own team’s mess from an outsider’s point of view. To an extent it was nice knowing everyone had rather messed up teams and issues with trust.

‘Jaen,’ Sylna, the other one next to Mir speaks up, ‘Jaen we’re okay- it’s okay.’

Slowly, Jaen lowers her TeorSer and then completely lets go, exhaling shakily.

‘Hey- hey, it’s okay,’ E’nid says soothingly, approaching the Axudarian and embracing her. ‘We’ll figure out what’s happening.’

Hoseok looks around, finding a small crew of 8 Beings all together. They all look at him with some wariness which, again, was justifiable but also Hoseok is getting tired of this.

‘We’ve been trying to fix the motherboard,’ E’nid tells them, eyeing Hoseok briefly before deciding not to question him, for which Hoseok was infinitely grateful.

‘Yeah- that’s why he’s here- said he can fix it.’

‘Oh?’ E’nid looks over at him and gives him a once over. ‘Oddly convenient.’

Hoseok really tries not to roll his eyes but he can’t help it.

‘It’s fine- he’s fine,’ Jaen says dismissively and it’s oddly touching despite the flippant tone.

‘Can we go?’ Hoseok tries his best not to sound agitated, ‘I need to find my team members- two of them are not exactly very healthy and I can’t have another one go missing or worse.’

E’nid regards him for a second before nodding.

‘Go ahead, Vla is already trying his best but none of us are actually trained for this,’ E’nid gestures down the dimly lit hallway. Jaen also makes to go with Hoseok but she’s stopped by E’nid.

‘We need to talk,’ E’nid says quietly before glancing at Hoseok, ‘It’s a kinda of only members of this ship discussion.’

Honestly Hoseok just wants the communication channels to be up so he nods. But Jaen stops him, handing him her TeorSer.

Hoseok gives her a nod of thanks before hurrying down the hall. He follows the faint orange light from a doorway. Looking in he finds a hassled looking trio of Beings that are vaguely familiar. They had been at the Bridge, Hoseok remembers, some hours ago.

‘Hey- uh, E’nid said I could come and check this over.’ Hoseok introduces himself.

One of them looks at him carefully before nodding and walking past, clearly to clarify for himself. So Hoseok just stands there, fiddling with his Comm Device. With a start, Hoseok realizes he hadn’t even noticed a fourth who was armed with a heavy TeorSer up on the coolers to the side.

He clearly needed to get his together. But honestly, Hoseok was having difficulty thinking straight. There was too much to think about, too much to consider- not only did he not have any background information on the hierarchy present in the ship, or the relationships of the Beings aboard it, or their connections- Hoseok can’t evaluate and judge this situation because he had no information to run off of. That, and not to mention the others were in danger- a sort of danger Hoseok could not predict.

Clearly this situation was happening because someone was planning to overthrow Ilya’s network. Whether it was planned from within, or in league with another force from outside, but clearly someone was trying to take over Ilya’s powerful and secret force. And they had been planning it for a long time too. And regardless of how they were planning this, it was obvious that the appearance of Sk’jin, Yoongi, Jimin, Taeh’yung, Jungkook, and himself- was completely unplanned, not even possibly imagined. So now in this situation, with a strange and unplanned crew of 6 unknown Beings, one who seemed very deeply and closely connected to Ilya, whoever was conducting this, would have to be very careful with how they operated.

Anyone could be connected to this- anyone could be in on it.

Hoseok now had to be careful, not just regarding their own situation and their plan, but also with balancing his way out of this situation and securing the others along with himself. But the first thing he needed to do would be to set up the damn communication line. Footsteps approach again and the Being who had stepped out reappears, he gives the other three inside a nod and Hoseok steps inside.

‘What’s going on?’ he asks, crouching down to look at the exposed motherboard.

‘We can’t breach the firewall,’ one of them replies, shuffling to the side to allow Hoseok to look in. ‘Whoever shut this down had access to the NaviLet. But seeing as the Bridges have been compromised, it’s all up in the spheres.’

‘Right,’ Hoseok sits on the floor, setting down his TeorSer, ‘Is this the screen you connected to connect in?’

‘Yeah- but- our Navigator was killed,’ the other one says tersely from his perch above head. ‘We’re in charge of the coolers- not the communication channels.’

‘Got it,’ Hoseok nods, ‘Okay if I take over?’

‘Have at it,’ they shrug.

Hoseok takes a deep breath and begins. This was when Namjoon would be priceless.

‘We ran diagnostics,’ one of them says, ‘But there’s nothing that stands out.’

And yeah Hoseok notices that too with a grimace. If the network had simply been easily switched off through the main Network, then it would be a simple matter of just switching it back on. Even this small team could manage that.

‘Maybe the network has been branched off to several frequencies,’ Hoseok surmises, reading through the diagnostic the others had ran.

‘That’s not possible- there’s no separate frequency. We all share the same single unit- Ilya said it’s best for transparency and also for sharing data across the network faster.’

‘Well-‘

There’s a sudden shower of TeorSer blasts.

‘- no, stay here,’ the one next to him orders, ‘Fix this- we’ll go check. This isn’t the first time.’

Hoseok wants to run back and check but he knows he needs to get the communications fixed.

‘I’ll stand here,’ one of them says as he puts himself near the doorway as the others rush past.

There’s another burst of TeorSer, and some shouts- muffled voices and talking.

‘What’s going on?’ Hoseok asks over his shoulder, eyes scanning over the screen carefully.

‘Not sure yet- I hear talking.’ He replies slowly.

Hoseok manages to get past the firewall just as the Being by the doorway lets out a sigh of relief. ‘Hey it’s okay!’ he calls out, ‘It’s just the others, I’ll be back in a second.’

Hoseok nods but it’s unseen.

It becomes quiet after a while and the sound of footsteps approach, breathless pants following soon after that sound familiar.

Camil appears, squinting in the dark.

‘Hoseok?’ he calls.

‘Here- I’m here,’ Hoseok calls back.

‘Oh thank ,’ Camil pants out, ‘Wouldn’t know what to say if something happened to you guys. How’s the motherboard?’

‘Setting up,’ Hoseok replies before facing the open motherboards again, ‘Is everything okay? What happened?’

‘Yeah- came down with a few others to back you guys up – and we came across some inmates coming down here – there was some confusion, but we’ve cleared it,’ Camil explains, looking at the motherboard as well, ‘How can I help?’

‘Where’s Jaen?’ Hoseok looks back briefly.

‘There’s been a massive breach with the cells- I think more inmates are closing in so Jaen and E’nid are holding up the barrier for now,’ Camil explains, closer, Hoseok notices a fresh welt on his forehead.

‘What happened?’ Hoseok asks, eyeing the injury.

‘Wasn’t paying attention,’ Camil replies, ‘Singed by a TeorSer blast.’

Hoseok nods as he hands him the light, ‘Here, point this over.’

Camil takes the light and points it at the motherboard.

‘Any word from Ilya? Or Jn’young?’

‘No- none, the way downwards is blocked- our hangars are compromised, the emergency Atmoshield just barely managed to protect the others working down there – we’ll need to go into Cuab to find them-‘

‘-,’ Hoseok mutters, ‘-, that’s where the others are.’

‘-what about the other one? Taeh’yung?’

‘I think he’ll be fine,’ Hoseok says, ‘Honestly least of my worries to be honest. I’m worried about Jungkook and Yoongi.’

‘Ah, the Vicitra and the Human? How come?’

‘Well, you saw Yoongi- he’s not good with stress right now,’ Hoseok tries not to remember their conversation too much, his chest twinging, ‘And Kookie is- well, he can be volatile if he’s confused.’

‘Sounds like he could be dangerous. To himself and others.’

‘Yeah- but-!’ Hoseok finally gets through and into the main terminal network. ‘Oh, got it.’

‘Great, when can we get up and running.’

‘Once I remove the barriers-‘ Hoseok pauses, looking at the screen. The network was working, the signal sending out clearly. There was nothing wrong with the network. ‘What-?

A sense of dread runs down Hoseok’s back.

‘I’m genuinely sorry you got caught up in this.’ Camil says quietly.

Hoseok knows no matter how fast he moved, no matter how quickly he took action- it wasn’t going to work.

The bright heat of the TeorSer overwhelms him.

*

Jungkook watches Yoongi and Jimin from inside the Laikin.

Jimin’s eyes glow softly, smiling at something Yoongi was saying.

He smelt happy.

He also smelt scared most times.

Scared, hesitant, anxious-

When Jungkook was captured, taken away from his mothers, his brothers and sisters, he waited and waited. He wasn’t sure what he was waiting for.

Rescue? Kindness? Pain? Hunger? Death?

But he knew he was waiting – and it wasn’t as though he thought he would never stop waiting. In fact, Jungkook knew that whatever he was waiting for would come to an end- be it because he himself would die, or whatever it was he was waiting for would finally come for him, whether is was good or bad, and that would be it.

Jungkook cannot describe it- cannot define it into a single word.

It combined everything all at once- hope, fear, sorrow, joy, anger, helplessness, bliss; it was all there, and it surrounded Jimin like a thick cloak. And it grew in weight, every time he spoke to Yoongi. His cloak weighed down on him – never crushing, but never allowing him to push it off.

And Yoongi.

‘I SAID STOP FLIRTING!’

Jimin laughs, turning around to help Sk’jin. Yoongi watches after him, resting his head on his arms, smile on his lips.

As though feeling his stare, Yoongi looks around, not at all surprised to find him there.

‘Come on Kook,’ Yoongi waves him over with an amused smile. ‘Let’s bring in the heavy stuff.’

Yoongi smelt of death.

Jungkook pushes himself on all fours before crawling backwards with a quiet sigh. There was really no way of finalizing his thoughts over the matter- not when Jimin didn’t want to address it. Not when Sk’jin couldn’t answer his questions, changing the subject. Not when Taeh’yung answered in multiple voices, bringing the cold of a time long lost into the air around him. He tried asking Hoseok but – but clearly they were all in the same footing about this.

Jungkook really wishes Namjoon would return soon.

Why was he is Lowet? Jungkook has never been to Lowet, but he’s heard of stories- second-hand stories and accounts of the planet, and how it was equally, if not more terribly, ruined.

Just as Jungkook gets his hand over the lift he had brought in, he hears it before he feels it.

A clear, distinct sound of something rupturing- below his feet, far from him, and then the ship shivers.

‘Um-‘ Jungkook automatically finds himself crouching into himself.

‘Wow thank you artificial gravity for inclining along with the ship in my time of fatigue-‘ Sk’jin complains outside, and Jungkook feels himself let go a little. Was that a normal occurrence?

‘Sk’jin, if you’re tired, I can do it myself.’

Jungkook turns, lift forgotten as he rushes towards the door when the whole ship shudders again but it’s much more faint- softer, further away, but just as potent. And then-

‘You reach my age one day and you’ll know exactly what I mean-‘ Sk’jin is exclaiming loudly ‘Even gravity is against you-‘

The lights flicker, turning red followed immediately by the sound of klaxons making Jungkook leap to his feet, shooting off towards the doorway. There’s a flare of orange light that erupts and highlights the interior of the Laikin before it softens, causing Jungkook to squint at the abrupt changes. There’s a strange screeching in his ear- it’s coming from his Comm Device, he realizes, but he charges forward, crouching down to gain more speed and momentum, skidding out of the Laikin over the ramp just in time to catch sight of Yoongi, sprinting forward.

Sk’jin and Jimin are nowhere to be seen and Jungkook doesn’t understand it wasn’t even a minute since he had gone in- hasn’t been more than just a minute-

Yoongi is screaming- screaming loud and desperate- his hands reaching out forward desperately- desperately before him straining hard and-

There’s nothing but space, nothing but the dark of space stretching out endlessly and Jungkook can’t think straight- but he can’t let Yoongi run forward he was running straight towards the opening and-

Jungkook barrels straight into Yoongi just as all the lights go out.

They fall heavily and with a lot of force, sliding across the floors a good distance before coming to a stop. Jungkook’s not sure what Yoongi was trying to do- a bout of madness? So Jungkook holds the Human down, the stench of death overwhelmed by anguish.

‘No-!’ Yoongi screams, breathless his voice broken and coarse. ‘NO-!’

‘Yoongi!’ Jungkook shakes the Human, helpless, unsure what to do. ‘Uh- Hobi! Please I don’t know what to do!’

There’s no answer.

‘Yoongi where is Jimin? Where is Sk’jin?’ Jungkook shakes the Human again.

‘- -‘ Yoongi’s hands are shaking as he lifts them to grab onto Jungkook’s wrists. ‘- Jungkook- , this-‘

There’s footsteps running towards them, a large number. Jungkook stands up immediately- maybe that annoying tall Being, Camil, was back to check on them.

‘Please don’t run,’ Jungkook pleads to Yoongi who was clearly in some sort of strange manic state. He turns to face the approaching footsteps and finds around a dozen Beings approaching them, all armed.

Had something happened? Jungkook is instantly nervous, taking a step back at the weapons.

‘Um-‘ Jungkook tries, ‘Um- what’s happening-?’

He’s shoved to the ground just as the approaching Beings set fire.

Jungkook recovers quickly, grabbing onto Yoongi’s hand that’s dragging him forward until he’s able to keep up with the Human as they dive back inside the Laikin.

‘Lisai activate shields!’ Yoongi orders at once, ‘Track Jimin and Sk’jin’s locations immediately-‘

‘Hangar compromised,’ Lisai replies just as TeorSer fire echoes all around them, causing the Laikin to shiver very very slightly. ‘All docked ships are on lockdown as per order issued by the Bridge.’

‘What?’ Yoongi hisses, moving fast and recklessly, pushing past Jungkook to get into the Laikin’s hangar where the Spardyti was.

‘Yoongi what’s going on-?’ Jungkook asks desperately, unsure what to feel, what to do.

Yoongi stops at the doorway, eyes wide and his face bloodless, mouth slightly open as though unable to speak.

‘Yoongi,’ Jungkook tries again, quickly walking over to stand in front of the Human.

‘Stay inside the ship,’ Yoongi manages to get out. ‘I need to- I need to go and get Jimin and Sk’jin I need to-‘

‘-where did they go?’ Jungkook asks though he has a terrible suspicion- a terrible feeling about the answer-

Yoongi pales even more, shaking his head furiously says, ‘I don’t have time- just stay in here, don’t let anyone in try to contact Hoseok and Taeh’yung-‘

Yoongi rushes into the Laikin hangar and jumps into the Spardyti.

‘Cover me when I get out- there’s some launchers over there that we just got in you can use them right?’ Yoongi asks, shutting the doors shut behind him, his voice echoing out. Jungkook hears more TeorSer fire being shot at them, feels more footsteps approaching.

‘Yes- yes I can-‘ Jungkook is stuck, body agitated in wanting to do something, he’s not sure what Yoongi was doing was right or wrong or-

‘Jungkook please-‘ Yoongi begs from the inside, shaking hands covering his face before he grips down onto the dashboard before him, dark eyes wet as he looks down at him from the inside of the Spardyti. ‘Please- don’t leave the Laikin, wait for the others.’

Jungkook just nods.

‘Get back inside after I get out of the Hangar- close the gates, go to the Bridge, activate the defense protocol and don’t go out, do you hear me? Don’t leave the Laikin.’

Jungkook nods furiously as he picks up the heavy launcher, activating it.

‘All right- I’ll be- I’ll be back-‘ Yoongi chants under his breath, the Spardyti starting up.

Jungkook crouches down by the hangar doorway as it opens- Yoongi doesn’t seem to wait, pushing forward almost immediately when there’s enough space. And Jungkook straightens up a little, lifting the launcher up to balance on his shoulder just like Hoseok taught him-

But he’s sent flying back in a flurry of heat, white light, and pain.

Jungkook doesn’t know how long he’s knocked out- but it’s not too long judging by how there are small shrapnel around the ground inside the Laikin hangar still on fire, the Spardyti upturned and tilted against the entry of the Laikin. Jungkook hears shouting, feels the Laikin tremor even more.

His senses screaming at him, Jungkook crouches on all fours, taking a moment to check for any injuries other than the familiar burn on his skull.

There’s a loud sound- like something ramming against a solid metallic surface. It repeats again and the door to the Spardyti bursts through, letting out a huge pillar of smoke, and Yoongi leaps out, armed only with a single Heliord that illuminates the smoky air a chilling blue before he vanishes with the light.

The smoke unravels fast and thick, already obscuring the visibility of the massive Hangar, only illuminated by the new orange Atmoshield. Ears pricked, Jungkook steps out of the Laikin hangar, crouching down to place his palms over the ground, concentrating more on the vibrations of the floor over any other sense.

A figure runs across Jungkook and with no calculation or thought, Jungkook leaps up, bringing the unknown Being down. Jungkook disarms the Being, driving his elbow down harshly into their chest and forcefully rolling on the ground with them. Armed with a TeorSer that felt hot in his hands, Jungkook crouches low to look closely at the Being he had just taken down. He doesn’t recognize them- and he can’t tell for sure if they were there to help him or not- but right now Jungkook feels the same way he did back in his cramped and damp prison cell.

He needed to survive.

The smoke is thick and visibility greatly reduced.

There’s some shouting, but it’s cut off abruptly in a flash of blue like lightning striking through thick dark thunder storms. Jungkook sticks close to the side of the Laikin, ears and nose alert. The sound of the Heliord rings towards the back, and footsteps, quiet and many, approach him. Jungkook throws the TeorSer straight across before leaping up, grappling quietly over the grooves of the Laikin and lifting himself over to one of the turbines, laying low.

Two Beings, crouched low, armed with TeorSers slowly walk by.

‘I saw someone here,’ one of them says.

‘We need to get rid of the strays,’ the other says lowly, ‘Can’t risk it.’

‘Aren’t there supposed to be 4 of them down here? I only saw two.’

‘Can’t be sure- maybe they were unlucky, got pulled out-‘

Their voices fade out and Jungkook takes a slow quiet breath, he’s about to crawl out of the turbine when they return again. Jungkook crouches further in.

‘-mil said we need to make sure that the GI is eliminated – he’s taken care of the weird tall one.’

‘He didn’t seem dangerous though-‘

‘-heard he’s one of the Zhak’gri,’ the voice is closer, ‘they’re unpredictable and incredibly powerful, they’ve put him down.’

Anger and fear burns hot through Jungkook and he’s moving before he realizes it.

He drops down on all fours, making no sound right behind the two walking past. And just as there’s a shout ahead, a flash of blue that illuminates the strange orange darkness, Jungkook springs into action.

‘Kookie, you gotta learn how to focus that strength,’ Taeh’yung offers from the side as Jungkook falls on the ground, Hoseok looking guilty having just thrown him down deftly. ‘Concentrate and think of where you wanna punch! And punch there hard and fast!’

Jungkook draws back his body as he slides forward on his knees before twisting around his waist, elbow striking across the back of knees. Twisting around the gasping and falling Being, Jungkook uses them as a shield before propelling himself up, knee flying up and coming across with an echoing thwap as he jams it straight into the other Being’s chest.

Jungkook makes quick work of the two, his breath escape him in hot hisses. But he’s not left alone for too long as another set of Beings converge around him. Jungkook doesn’t pause to think, doesn’t pause to calculate-

‘You’re not a fighter like Yoongi, or like Hoseok, if anything, you’re more similar to Taeh’yung- he doesn’t stop to think- he just acts out of instinct, and that unpredictability is what makes him so volatile,’ Sk’jin tells him, brushing his hair after his sad shower where he had lost spectacularly to Yoongi during a lesson, the lights of Grisial casting strange liquid shadow around them. ‘It’s good to know how and where to strike, but it’s also good to know that most Beings who are going to come at you are either trained to do so in a certain way- if you move in a way they’re not used to, you will have the upper-hand.’

Jungkook lets his body move how it wants- he takes Yoongi’s actions, Hoseok’s focus, Taeh’yung’s words, and Sk’jin’s guidance and Jungkook moves.

His would be assailant’s eyes widen in horror as Jungkook shoots forward towards him, mouth open in a snarl that tears right through his throat in a hot shower of blood, staining Jungkook’s sight a bloody hue. He hurls the still screaming assailant, blood gurgling out of their throat in wide arcs, straight into the next approaching Being. Jungkook chases after their falling forms, pale bloodied hands shooting out to wrap around a screaming head that abruptly stops after Jungkook slams it down hard. A TeorSer shot is fired at him, the heat of it passing over his back. But Jungkook twists away, scuttling onto all fours again and running towards the still firing source in a dizzying zigzag through the dark orange air until the last bright light of the TeorSer just manages to illuminate his snarling bloodied face to his assailant.

Her scream is short-lived.

Jungkook swiftly runs back towards the Laikin, hands feeling down on the ground, the faint tremors of approaching feet, pausing slightly in worry and fear.

There’s another loud and worrying blast of the klaxon, and for a moment, the black of space outside is brightly illuminated. Jungkook squints, turning his head away- but it’s in this moment that a burning hot pain cuts through his shin.

Immediately falling to his knee, Jungkook raises his arms up before his head instinctually- and just on time as a heavy and strong kick sends him down to the floor. There’s another TeorSer shot fired at him- he has two assailants; one further and probably on a higher ground with a TeorSer. And the other skilled and trained.

A cold and painfully familiar glint of metallic light slices the air before him just as Jungkook manages to back away. His assailant was carrying some sort of blade.

Jungkook immediately sprints, leg searing, towards the crates Sk’jin had been stacking up just some time ago. His shoulder burns as a TeorSer shot just barely misses him.

He couldn’t stay back here for too long- he was cornered, possibly planned so that he could try and hide in a place like this.

The floor, the air, the whole ship shudders and the space outside is illuminated again. But it’s enough to illuminate the crates and enough to remind Jungkook of what was inside.

He quickly pries the crate open, leaving bloody smears. He pauses, feeling the ground, feels footsteps approaching, quiet, faint. Making quick work, Jungkook picks up the vacuum cells stored inside. They were light but fit excellently in his hands. Pushing his fists through them, Jungkook grabs a few more until they stack up on his arms. Then grabbing the lid of the crate, nimbly climbs up the stacks of crates before throwing a vacuum cell hard and fast over to the edge, towards the orange Atmoshield. Almost immediately, a TeorSer shot fires through the air and Jungkook pinpoints its location, hurling with his whole strength, one of the cells with deadly force.

Jungkook’s not sure if his aim was true but there’s no more shots fired at him as he leaps over the crates and straight at the stealthily approaching assailant.

There’s sparks as the blade of his assailant meets with his cell-covered forearms.

And just as Jungkook suspected, this assailant was geared fully- unlike the others that came after him. This Being was dressed in a sort of armor- covering their body head to toe, clearly geared to specifically fight Jungkook and maybe even Yoongi.

His assailant has two thin and cruel looking blade, the air around it slightly shimmering. Jungkook doesn’t recognize what type of weapon it was, doesn’t know what will happen if he’s touched by it – so he keeps his distance.

The whole ship tremors again and his assailant darts forward.

His assailant would be formidable to most- but Jungkook has fought almost all of his grown life. He was trained by some of the most skilled and unorthodox Beings – has watched them fight. 

Jungkook lashes forward as well, the blades of his assailant coming down strong and hard against his covered arms as he pushes through, head butting his assailant. They stagger backwards but it’s momentary before it swipes, almost futilely, the air between them. Jungkook doesn’t have time to wonder over what this meant as he follows after his assailant.

But suddenly his eyes, nose, and throat burn up severely. He can’t help it, his eyes water- throat constricting and nose instantly blocked.

Gagging, Jungkook keels over and he’s immediately kicked down. He falls to the ground, skidding to a stop dangerously close to the orange Atmoshield.

He’s barely able to dodge the blade that comes down to his chest, twisting away on the floor, barely able to track the movements of his assailant over the sound of his breathless gags. His foot makes contact with something- probably his assailant. But his foot is pushed and grabbed the opposite direction, making him spin hopelessly onto his back as a weight pressed down on his chest.

Jungkook tries to push them off but it’s hopeless, knees pressing down on his arms. Letting out a gargled scream, Jungkook bares his teeth at his assailant, desperate as the Being brings down the sharp blade but it never touches him.

Like lightning, blue flashes through the smoke, a blade striking through like thunder and a shower of blood immediately raining over Jungkook.

A very blurry looking Yoongi appears before him, manic worry etched all over his blood splattered face.

‘Come here, come here- come on kiddo, we need to wash that out of your system-‘ Jungkook feels himself being pulled up and dragged almost. But relief washes over him as he allows himself to lean a little more into the Human. Jungkook can’t see but he suspects they’re back inside the Laikin and he’s left to stand up against the wall as Yoongi moves about.

It’s after a few seconds of silence, punctuated by Yoongi’s movements and some more tremors around the ship, that something is sprayed over his face. Jungkook flinches but he accepts it, taking the bottle pushed into his hand and raised to his mouth.

His sight clears up, though his eyes don’t stop streaming.

Yoongi looks completely ruined, blood soaking his clothes in multiple places, eyes wild, agitated where he stood.

‘You’re okay?’

Jungkook manages to nod.

‘Others will come we need to get moving- we need to get another ship, find Jimin and Sk’jin,’ Yoongi says hurriedly, taking a step back and looking at the still smoking Spardyti. ‘You stay here, hide, tend to your wounds and-’

‘No,’ Jungkook shakes his head at once, his voice raspy and throat raw.

‘Jungkook please don’t argue with me right now-‘ Yoongi isn’t even looking at him as he rushes about inside the hangar, ‘-I need to go out there and look for him I can’t leave him I can’t-‘

Yoongi collapses to his knees, unaware of his surroundings, arms and hands still moving as though he was looking for something.

Jungkook crawls over, his leg burning.

‘-I can’t leave him I can’t-‘ Yoongi repeats.

‘I’ll go with you- I’m going with you,’ Jungkook is hesitant at first but he wraps his arms around the Human. ‘Let’s find them together, we’ll find them.’

Yoongi lets out a strange shuddering sob before he’s nodding, gripping Jungkook’s hand around his shoulder.

‘We need to get a ship- a Transporter,’ Yoongi is saying.

‘The next door Hangar,’ Jungkook says at once, standing up, ‘That ship is there-‘

‘- those guards would be in there-‘ Yoongi curses, ‘-but I think Camil had them moved-‘

Outside, the blue of the Atmoshield flickers on, and the lights flicker back on again. Both Yoongi and Jungkook pauses, looking out through the smoky air.

‘We move fast, quiet,’ Yoongi says tersely, still looking out. ‘We cover each other.’

Jungkook nods.

Yoongi approaches one of the walls of the hangar and bangs his fist on it, a handle popping out. Yanking it down, there’s a shelving unit inside with just a single Heliord and one small TeorSer. Yoongi throws him the TeorSer and pockets the Heliord next to the other he already had.

‘Do you hear anything outside?’

Jungkook shakes his head after a few seconds of carefully straining his ears.

‘Okay- I have a feeling they’ll be back soon,’ Yoongi says, heading for the hangar opening.

‘What is happening?’ Jungkook asks, standing close and behind Yoongi.

‘I don’t know-‘

‘-is it them? The Omhlophe?’

‘No,’ Yoongi shakes his head, pausing to look around outside carefully. ‘If it were them this would be turning out differently- I think there’s some sort of assailing unit from Cuab- probably in league with someone within Ilya’s crew.’

Jungkook doesn’t know what to make of it but he remembers something.

‘I heard some talking- they- they uh, they said they had to take us down- that um, Taeh’yung- he’s been um-‘ Jungkook’s voice shakes, cracking all over the place.

Yoongi turns around, his eyes dark and strangely distant as he says, ‘He’ll be okay- it’s Taeh’yung right? He’ll be fine, you’ve seen him.’

Jungkook doesn’t know if Yoongi is trying to reassure him or himself but he just nods.

‘We-,’ Yoongi takes a shaky breath, ‘We’ll be okay.’

They step out, their movement silent through the slowly dissipating smoke. Yoongi gestures forward towards one of the connecting tunnels to the other neighbouring Hangar. Moving fast and low, Yoongi and Jungkook slip into the tunnel. But something uneasy stirs in Jungkook, so he reaches out to stop Yoongi just as the power gives out again before flickering on again.

‘What is it?’ Yoongi asks, barely a whisper.

‘I- I don’t think we should go through here,’ Jungkook replies, looking down the connecting tunnel.

Yoongi pauses to look down as well before looking out behind them.

‘We’re in the corner here,’ Yoongi says quietly, ‘We need another ship- we can’t go back around, we run straight forward- no stopping.’

Darkness falls over them again.

Gripping the TeorSer in his hands, Jungkook nods just once, ‘Okay.’

The lights flicker out again but return again. The ship tremors, the ground vibrating as they hurriedly move along.

As they continue on, Jungkook can’t help but look back. And in that blink of light Jungkook catches sight of a tall sinewy figure down the tunnel they had just gone through.

‘Yoongi-!’ Jungkook stops the Human from moving.

‘What is it?’

‘I- I saw something,’ Jungkook replies quietly.

They’re greatly disadvantaged- stuck in the middle of a hallway where they could be easily cornered from both sides.

There was no returning back to the Laikin at this point.

‘Then we move ahead-‘ Yoongi is pulling forward but he stops too, as the lights flicker and the figure down the hallway is apparent.

And closer.

In the darkness, Jungkook can make out the outline of the Being.

Tall, strong, sinewy- Jungkook notes pale skin, bloody looking fingertips, bloodied eye sockets- orb like glowing eyes in the dark- a sharp grin on her face as she regards Jungkook like prey.

‘It’s- it’s the Vicitra- the one from the cells below,’ Yoongi says, pulling Jungkook backwards and away.

And in that moment, Jungkook makes up his mind.

‘I’ll take care of her,’ Jungkook says tersely, ‘Please- please find Jimin and Sk’jin- please find them.’

Yoongi pulls him back.

‘She was purposefully sent here,’ Yoongi says, speaking more to himself. ‘She was sent here on purpose.’

‘Yoongi go!’ Jungkook removes his arm from the Human’s grip and hands him the TeorSer. ‘You need to get Jimin and Sk’jin- there’s no time!’

The Human blinks rapidly, mouth opening and closing a few times before he stops. His hands shake, fists against his side before he nods, turning to look him straight in the eye.

‘Don’t expose your back.’

And with that Yoongi sprints out down the tunnel.

Jungkook looks back at the other Vicitra. Now much closer again.

She was taller than him. Full grown, experienced, deadly, and sent here with one single purpose.

Jungkook has done his research on his own species as best as he could. Sk’jin hadn’t wanted him to read in too far, a worried frown over his forehead as he read with Jungkook.

‘Cannibals?’

‘Not all of them- it’s just an exaggeration of something that happened long ago.’

‘They sometimes killed their younglings in fights?’

‘War, pride, arrogance, fear- all of these kill without discrimination.’

‘Why?’

Sk’jin had struggled to answer, pausing as he ate. The Yisheng in training were listening closely to their conversation as well, their expressions filled with some sort of apprehensive anticipation.

Looking back, Jungkook notices how Yoongi slows by the entrance, looking back one more time. Jungkook isn’t sure if the Human can see, but he smiles, trying to appear as reassuring as possible. Yoongi quietly slips out and Jungkook looks back around.

The Vicitra, his own species and kin, stands not more than 10 meters from where he stood his ground. Her hair is pushed back, shorter than Jungkook’s own. There’s a bruise in the crook of her elbow- as though she had been administered too many invasive shots. She’s roughly dressed, as though she took whatever she could find. Jungkook isn’t sure if she’s definitely here for him, but he’ll try anyways.

She smelt like hunger.

‘I-‘ he starts. She looks surprised, head tilting just a little, listening. ‘I don’t know who you are.’

She raises an eyebrow at that, ‘You don’t have to.’

Her voice is soft and deep.

‘But you’re the first of my- of my species that I’ve met,’ Jungkook continues.

‘I know,’ she replies, ‘You’re one of those that they call New Born here right? One of the eggs- it’s what the Alliance calls you.’

Jungkook nods.

‘You’re supposed to be better than me,’ she says, eyes squinting a little, ‘Supposed to be stronger, better, faster – but I was watching you.’

Jungkook feels shivers down his spine.

‘And you’re not,’ she states calmly, orb like eyes watching him in the dark. ‘You’re just a youngling.’

‘Are you here to kill me?’ Jungkook asks calmly.

‘I am.’ She confirms.

‘Why?’

‘Why not?’

‘War, pride, arrogance, fear- all of these kill without discrimination.’

‘Why?’

‘Why not?’

Jungkook barely has time to defend himself as the Vicitra strikes forward – hard and fast.

It’s overwhelming- she’s incredibly fast and vicious. But Jungkook knows this isn’t it- this wasn’t the hardest she could hit him, the fastest she could knock the air out of his lungs – she was taunting him, playing with him, pretending to give him a feel for her strength and speed.

Jungkook manages to put distance between himself and the other Vicitra. She’s grinning at him, not even breathless, whereas Jungkook is panting, pain pulsing all over his body from her quick jabs and punches. She gives him time to catch his breath, watching with amusement.

When Jungkook stands straight he’s somewhat a bit more better prepared for the second time she dives at him. He counters her arms- manages to, painfully, block her knee that flies for his head, but is unable to avoid the blinding smack of her head against his own.

His vision turning white, and momentarily losing track of where he was, Jungkook stumbles backwards, falling back against the wall and sliding down as his legs give out under him.

He’s shaken by the sound of TeorSer shots firing off the direction Yoongi had gone.

He launches to his feet faster than the Vicitra was expecting – Jungkook knows his speed could potentially outdo Yoongi’s- so he uses the element of surprise; rather than running straight towards the Vicitra, Jungkook runs past, ducking under her sweeping arm at the last second and twisting sharply, runs for the wall using it as a lever, twists midair, swinging his feet backward and connecting heavily with the Vicitra.

The Vicitra only falls to one knee, a sound of surprise coming from her.

Jungkook falls but he purposefully stays low, crouched low as he slides closer on his knees, his elbow connected to her bent knee and with a resonating sharp crack, dislocates it completely.

But Jungkook is too close- she doesn’t seem to notice her knee being dislocated as she grabs Jungkook around the throat and slamming him down to the ground.

But Jungkook is oddly prepared for this- he’s gone through his exact maneuver with Yoongi in the past. So he swings his legs and hips upwards, locking the Vicitra’s heads between his legs and twisting his whole body to the side.

She automatically lets go and Jungkook grabs her hands, rolling them on the floor.

Jungkook knew that if he had asked, he would have never been allowed to watch it. But he had secretly watched Yoongi’s fight – the one from the Pompen Arena.

It had been horrifying- but educational.

Because while Yoongi and Hoseok both taught him practicality and technique- watching Yoongi’s fight had taught him how to be brutal effectively.

He twists the Vicitra’s arm out of the socket- this time causing her to definitely scream in pain with this dislocation. He throws his weight on the arm and reaches down, hands grappling her head-

But she physically throws him off, and Jungkook lands awkwardly to the side. He doesn’t have breathing time even, when she catches his foot and swings him clean off the floor and against the wall.

Winded, Jungkook stands as quickly as he can, hand slipping on the walls of the curved tunnel as he balanced himself. The Vicitra pops her arm back in and is reaching to pop her knee back but Jungkook is not an egotistic Vicitra, trying to prove her strength and dominance.

Jungkook is just trying to survive- and when you tried to survive, it meant no showy gestures and or displays of haughtiness.

He jumps up- it’s not with a lot of strength, but it’s enough to cause the Vicitra to reel backwards, disoriented as Jungkook lands a blow straight to her chest, and then another to her probably incredibly sore shoulder. He lunges forward, pushing her against the wall again and yanks at her arm, twisting it over his shoulder and throwing her over his back down to the floor.

Her fingers catch around his face, nails dragging down. Roaring, Jungkook crushes down on her arm, falling haphazardly before hearing another terrible wet crack, lower down the Vicitra’s arm.

Jungkook doesn’t manage to roll away, claw like hands grabbing at his hair.

Out of instinct, Jungkook grapples with the hand on his head as it jerks him closer to the Vicitra who roars in his face.

In a strange tangled mess on the floor, with Jungkook struggling on his back, the Vicitra swings her leg over and down, catching Jungkook on his side. His vision blinks out as pain erupts faster than the cracking sound that fills his ears. Then the fingers in his hair tighten and his hair rips out, a searing burn spreading over his scalp; the pain serves to clear his sight and he manages to push himself off the ground and away.

Jungkook nearly twists his own wrist, getting caught in a gap on the floor he hadn’t seen or noticed before. A quick look shows that wires ran under the gap- some sort of outlet ran up around the hallway.

He stands, adjusting himself, looking down quickly and noticing more gaps around the floor. He hears an increased rate of TeorSer shots coming from where Yoongi had gone into.

A sudden kick aimed right at his chest sends him flying back.

He’s closer to the end of the hallway now- the lights from there providing better illumination. Jungkook stands quickly but his side is burning- his breath short and unstable. The Vicitra is holding her mangled arm, already turning purple along the elbow.

She looks mad- and Jungkook wonders if he does too.

Jungkook shuffles back and the Vicitra, laughing, lunges- and then her foot is caught in the same gap, making her momentarily lose her balance, knee bending and turning in.

Unsure what prompts him to do so, Jungkook leaps forward, arms wrapping around her torso and shoves her straight into the wall before using his momentum swing his elbow forward.

It meets her jaw with a resounding cracking sound. She blocks his other fist but she can’t use her other arm to block his knee swinging upwards, catching her right under her ribs. Bowled over, Jungkook raises both hands in the air above his head, clasped tight and brings it down over her head.

But she in turn barrels into him, throwing him to the wall but it’s weak. And Jungkook bounces right back, raising his knee and sending her flying to the side as he swings it across her head.

There’s an explosion from the Hangar ahead-

‘-Yoongi-!’

The Vicitra roars, pushing herself off the floor and lunging at Jungkook. They both fall down, Jungkook taking her weight. But he curls his legs inward and kicking them out before him, launches the Vicitra off of him. Rolling around as quickly as he could, breath caught in his throat no matter how hard he tried to breathe. Jungkook stands up, instantly dizzy and his vision swimming before his eyes.

There’s roaring behind him and-

Don’t expose your back.

Spinning quickly, Jungkook catches the Vicitra’s extended hand- fingers like claws reaching forward as though intending to rip through Jungkook’s back.

Jungkook twists away and around, making the Vicitra fall through the air and landing onto the floor heavily. Her fall misbalances him, but Jungkook only falls to one knee. She swings her leg back, nearly clipping him on his head, but Jungkook manages to dodge it and grab her leg, pushing it down against the natural bend. This causes the Vicitra to shriek in pain, body twisting upwards to counter the unnatural way Jungkook held her leg. And then Jungkook lets go to twist his arm around the Vicitra’s throat. Then twisting his whole body with hers, Jungkook falls backwards.

The ringing in his ears is only just louder than his struggling pants.

It’s only when he pushes off the Vicitra’s body from on top of his that he notices that was bleeding steadily from his side.

The whole ship seemed to tremble violently, more flashes of light ahead.

Jungkook is closer than he thought. He can see the ship- but there’s no one around- either that or-

His breath rattling in his throat, Jungkook manages to stand- but only for a second, before slumping on the wall.

He hears TeorSer shots again, but now Jungkook is not sure if it’s actual TeorSer shots or just his mind.

‘Y-Yoongi-‘ he pushes one foot forward before he ultimately slips into silence and darkness.

*

‘I’m genuinely sorry you got caught up in this.’ Camil says quietly.

Hoseok knows no matter how fast he moved, no matter how quickly he took action- it wasn’t going to work.

The bright heat of the TeorSer overwhelms him.

But it never hits him.

Camil gasps in pain, breathless chokes.

Hoseok turns around quickly, pushing backwards to see Jaen and E’nid both holding the ends of some sort of rope, the other end around Camil’s throat. But Camil is pushing against it, fingers digging under the rope.

‘Hoseok!’ Jaen hisses.

Hoseok punches Camil across the knee, bringing him down before easily knocking him out with a swift uppercut.

Jaen and E’nid let go of the rope, panting. In closer inspection they’re both injured.

‘What happened-?’ Hoseok manages to get out.

‘We don’t know,’ Jaen says immediately, ‘But this is behind it- and I’m bringing his down to Ilya and Jn’young before I take his head off myself.’

‘Can you fix it?’ E’nid points at the motherboard before calling out behind her, ‘No- we’re good- caught the bastard.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with it- it’s something Camil himself probably did,’ Hoseok frowns at the unconscious Camil at his feet. ‘The network is running fine- it’s the Comm Devices I think.’

‘Best believe it’s what I do best,’ Hoseok grumbles, attaching the Comm Device to his ear before saying in perfect imitation of Camil’s voice, ‘The motherboard situation has been taken care of.’

‘Took you long enough – we’ve sent down the Vicitra to get the ones remaining at the Hangar. The weird one is still knocked out, we’re transporting him to one of the pods so we can get him out but Camil, there’s nothing coming from Axudar- are you sure that they said they would come here or we’re supposed to go to them?’

‘I got the message myself okay, I know what I heard and what they said- they’re coming here. ing Verktaë and their weird sensing abilities- they said they would definitely come because this was a “welcome home” party.’

‘Camil? What next now?’

‘Evdos should be meeting us soon shouldn’t he? ing got distracted and now we’re here-‘

‘Hey Camil- we managed to get Ilya and Jn’young inside Cuab- Jn’young’s out so there’s no danger there-‘

‘-wait guys- Camil what’s wrong-‘

Hoseok’s mind is reeling as he quickly shuts off the speaker.

E’nid looks horrified as Jaen looks like she’s about to collapse.

‘He’s- he’s dealing with Axudar,’ she says with a trembling voice, ‘They were going to take us- all of this, all of us- to Axudar-‘

‘Evdos was in on this- he was-‘

The others gathered around outside and a few inside have looks of shock and disgust and fear.

‘We need to get to Jn’young and Ilya,’ one of them says, ‘We have to get them out-‘

‘-this can’t be just Camil masterminding doing all of this,’ E’nid says at once, ‘If we can track down everyone else-‘

‘Clearly Evdos is in this too- those voices-‘ Jaen begins hotly, her anger palpable as she shakes.

‘-if you can get me one of the NaviLets or get me to the Engine Rooms with the core-structure, then I can reverse this,’ Hoseok says at once, holding up the Comm Device, ‘-but I really really need to get to my team- they’ve-‘

Camil had talked to him about the Vicitra, had talked to him about the others- and Hoseok had just-

‘-they’re in danger, Camil arranged for them to be taken care of I need- where are the pods?’ Hoseok asks instead at once.

‘Your friend- Taeh’yung right?’ E’nid questions.

Hoseok nods, ‘If I can get to him- get him out and just- just check on him, get him to wake up, we’ll be able to fix a lot of things.’

Jaen looks at him incredulously but E’nid nods to that.

‘Okay- okay I’ll take you to the pods- and then we go to-‘

‘-no I got it- I’ll take Hoseok to the pods and get his friend out- then we meet up at one of the Bridges-‘

‘-the fourth Bridge is closest,’ someone suggests.

‘One second,’ E’nid calls out, ‘Go through the stuff outside- pick out weapons, and other Comm Devices we can use. And then we move out carefully- we’ll put Camil in here and tie him up until we’re set.’

The others nod to that and quickly step away.

‘Jaen?’ E’nid calls out gently.

‘Wait- no I think-‘ Jaen seemed to be trying to get her together which Hoseok relates to a lot. ‘Wait- we all head for the Bridge- there we can track all pods that are being activated- that way Hoseok knows which one his friend is in. And we can also do that- that reversing thing you said,’ Jaen gestures at Hoseok and the Comm Device he was holding.

‘Okay yeah-,’ Hoseok nods to that. ‘Okay- uh-‘

‘I’ll go with Hoseok,’ Jaen continues, seemingly getting a grip of herself, ‘If there’s too many of us going at the same time, it’ll be riskier- E’nid-‘

‘-I’ll come too-‘

‘-now is not the time-‘

‘-please-‘ Jaen takes E’nid’s hand midway, squeezing it. ‘Just make sure the kids and families are okay-‘

For a brief moment, Hoseok feels like he’s intruding on something private and he looks away, trying to give the two before him their privacy as best as he could.

‘Fine.’ E’nid sounds exhausted. ‘Fine I will-‘

‘We’ll come get you guys- Brena and the others were headed for the 8^th Pod Unit- I think they deemed it safest.’ Jaen isn’t looking at E’nid.

‘Okay- right I’ll take them up,’ E’nid says, also not looking up.

She leaves and Jaen sighs out, squatting down to push Camil over to his front. It’s a comically awkward silence.

‘Emotional constipation-‘

‘Now is not the time!’ Jaen snaps, ‘Give me that rope I’m tying this up.’

Camil is well tied up, Hoseok makes no comments about Jaen aggressively tying the much taller Being up with more force than strictly necessary because, again, he relates. There was a lot to unpack here- what with Camil’s betrayal, as well as a lot of other Beings- including the wonderful Junior Constable Evdos (and Hoseok feels any guilt he had considering that Being completely evaporate), and Jaen’s own relationship with Axudar.

‘It’s quiet,’ Jaen comments as they pause in a hallway.

Hoseok agrees.

They come across bodies around the ground- but with no signs of struggle or clear battle. It was unsettling, what with the random tremors, and sometimes a few disembodied shrieks echoing down the hallways through the vents.

It’s an unsettling 10 minutes of quiet, more bodies, and more tremors when they reach a lift.

‘Okay we-‘ Jaen begins but they’re interrupted by screams and shrieks.

Down the hallway they had just come through and over to the other side, a massive hoard of Beings- still dressed in their prison uniform, run across- run away.

The lights flicker and there’s shrieking and then-

‘We should hurry,’ Jaen taps at the screen hurriedly, eyeing the long narrow dark tunnel uncomfortably. The elevator doors open, thankfully to an empty lift, and they step inside, placing themselves to the side.

As the doors close, Hoseok catches sight of a dark figure walking across the distant hallway.

‘- that was close-‘

‘What’s going on?’ Hoseok demands, ‘Did Camil bring in like, I don’t know, some sort of special unit to bring down this network-‘

‘I don’t know!’ Jaen exclaims, hands up in the air, ‘I don’t know why- I don’t know how- I just don’t know!’

‘Hey - there’s something wrong-‘

‘What do you mean? What are you talking about?’

‘They’re talking,’ Hoseok points at the Comm Device on his ear. ‘Something’s gone wrong.’

‘No one from the western wing is replying- I don’t know what’s wrong- is something ing up our network?’

‘Camil said it was fine-‘

‘-for ’s sake- keep an eye out- you think you lot are the best fighters in this ship? You’re lucky we have these inmates to take the brunt-

‘-just make sure we hold steady until Axudar comes through-‘

The line distinctly shuts.

‘I think they caught on that Camil has been compromised. My line is down. Also, apparently the western wing is down?’ Hoseok relays, ‘No one is responding from there.’

‘The western wing is where all our Hangars are,’ Jaen frowns, ‘That seems odd-‘

‘They’re waiting for Axudar to pull through for them right now I think,’ Hoseok nervously fidgets.

‘Hey- I know you have a lot banking on this- and with your decisions regarding Axudar and - but I hope you know that at this point, we’re both on the same side, and I have no intention of going there, or being captured- so don’t worry- we’ll pull through. We get the NaviLet- you communicate back with your team, and you get the hell out.’

‘What about you?’

‘I’m gonna get Ilya and Sk’jin after this,’ Jaen tells him seriously, ‘Then I’m hauling - get to the pods, or grab a Transporter and warp out as quickly as you can. When we’re in a safe distance, I’ll alert the GLA.’

Hoseok nods slowly.

‘I don’t think Sk’jin would want to leave.’

Jaen pauses at that, looking up at Hoseok thoughtfully. But nothing more is said as the elevator doors open.

Carefully looking out, the hallway and atrium they open up to is clear.

Here too, a few bodies lay around.

‘- this is so weird,’ Jaen says quietly.

The lights are low here- just the emergency lights that shine a dim light. The Bridge doorway is open and the light in there is brighter.

‘I think we’re clear,’ Jaen says hesitantly.

‘I’ll go in first, cover me,’ Hoseok pulls her back. Jaen nods.

The Bridge is empty. The view from here looks down at the longer side of Cuab-D2, and Hoseok spies debris flying all over the space around it.

‘What the -‘ Jaen whispers low, walking up to the window, crouching low. Hoseok makes his way to the Navigation Table, the source of the light. 

‘Wait Hoseok!’ Jaen calls out suddenly. Hoseok stops immediately, crouching down, staring around himself with wide eyes.

‘-what?’

‘The Communication network- it’s back on,’ Jaen looks confused. ‘I don’t understand- I thought you said-‘

‘-I did-‘ Hoseok frowns, looking down at the Navigation Table he hadn’t even managed to touch.

‘But-‘

‘Step away!’ Camil appears at the doorway, TeorSer held aloft.

Behind him are a number of Beings Hoseok cannot take down on his own, with just a single TeorSer, even with Jaen.

‘Camil-‘ Jaen’s voice is a warning, low and angry.

‘Away,’ Camil is only looking at Hoseok, a strange curious expression on his face, ignoring Jaen. ‘Who did you call?’

‘What?’ Hoseok is confused.

‘Or is it the Verktaë with you? Is he doing something?’ Camil demands.

The inmates that came with Camil fill in. Their uniform is the same as the one from Māho-5. How long had this operation been running within Ilya’s network without detection?

‘Answer me, or I’ll have the pod with your friend in it sent out without any vacuum seal,’ Camil throws in, ‘Don’t think death by implosion is all too great.’

‘Camil-‘

Camil doesn’t even look at Jaen when he fires the TeorSer at her.

‘Answer me-‘

The lights go off, the Navigation Table switching off and bathing the whole Bridge in darkness. Hoseok ducks down- and there’s an uproar.

All Hoseok could do now was wait out the time between now and his death-

TeorSers fire off- the inmates are yelling and screaming- suddenly a body flops over the dashboard Hoseok had ducked behind, more crashing sounds over the Navigation Table.

Confused, Hoseok looks around- trying to find a way out- a way to communicate. He finds that Jaen is unconscious, bleeding out from her side. Hoseok crawls towards her as quickly as he can, TeorSer fire going off above him.

Another body flies overhead and Hoseok can’t pay it too much attention, he readjusts Jaen’s position onto her side that’s not injured. He had to staunch the bleeding quickly. He takes off his shirt, ripping it from the collar down when-

Suddenly quiet, Hoseok stops with the makeshift bandage. Pausing to listen carefully.

Out of nowhere, he’s dragged up, held up by Camil who pushes his TeorSer against his temple.

‘Tell your people to stand down,’ Camil hisses in his ear, ‘Or I will blow your brains out-‘

There’s a very distinct clear sound of a TeorSer activation hum and before Hoseok can brace himself, Camil falls to a heap behind him in a flash of light and heat.

The lights flicker back on to full power, the Navigation Table switched on, and Hoseok twists around, hands still held up and-

An extremely familiar figure stood by the window, TeorSer still smoking slightly-

But no- something was different.

Taller, a little more built- a black uniform, matte and simple- a black helmet over their head.

The visor clicks upwards, revealing an expressionless face that regards Hoseok with a familiar yet different gaze before she says in an equally monotonous voice, ‘Mission successful Captain Namjoon. Now securing Ngfy’widan Hoseok.’

*

Sk’jin feels the tremor, move through the sole of his shoes, through his feet, to the back of his head. Before he can speak a word, everything is violently pulled away-

Sk’jin feels all of space and time slip under and over him- moving as fast and weightlessly as light. There’s nothing he can do- nothing he can hold on to- even his breath won’t escape his lungs- there’s nothing he can do-

He’s upside down- the stars below him, above him- all around him. He sees the ship- massive and lit in this endless space- the edges and surface riddled now with objects, Beings, dreams, memories- all pulled away from their place, slipping violently through space and time.

Sk’jin feels himself being pulled into a bright star, the lights wrapping around him- stabilizing him in this strange liquid formlessness.

And just as he feels his breath now trying to escape him, trying to rejoin that time and space it had once belonged to- something coils around him.

Something falls over his head- blocking his view and a pressure so great, so overwhelming, crushes out of him through his chest and-

‘-breathe! Breathe! Sk’jin you can breathe please breathe listen-‘

Sk’jin tries to breath but it’s too heavy it’s too heavy he can’t he can’t he can’t-

Ahadi smiles at him, warm brown eyes, dimpled smile.

‘Hey- you’re okay now- I got you okay?’

He’s shining, light bright around him, drawing him down but it’s heavy and Sk’jin feels too light and-

Sk’jin falls and falls until he’s not.

There’s voices around him. But he can’t hear what they’re saying- the voices are strange, pulling away, pushing in-

He can breathe- he can finally breath; and maybe he was loud because Ahadi appears. He smiles at him encouragingly- nodding, pushing the strange substance around him away and-

‘I’m cold- r-really c-cold-c-can’t m-m-move-‘

‘Shh- hey I got you, we got you, you’re safe I promise-‘ he’s holding Sk’jin close and it’s starting to become warm-

Sk’jin laughs breathlessly, amazed and awestruck. Ahadi was here- he was here! And was that a blanket around him? Was he in bed?

‘-dream?’

‘Jin? Hey- you’re awake, you’re okay-‘

‘How- h-how-‘

‘I tracked you the same way Yoongi does-‘

Something-…something wasn’t adding up- Ahadi didn’t know Yoongi.

‘-what-‘

Ahadi chuckles breathlessly, ‘Yeah he’s- his obsession with poison I guess-‘

The lights around him flicker-

‘They’re fine- they’re all fine,’ Ahadi assures him, ‘We got Jimin too- he’s fine. So is Yoongi- and Jungkook, we just got Hoseok and Taeh’yung-‘

Sk’jin thinks maybe he’s falling again. When he lands again he’s still there- in a bed. A Medical Bed. And Ahadi is still there- but, there’s something different about him.

‘You’re okay,’ he smiles, leaning in to kiss his forehead, ‘We’re okay, I promise you.’

‘I- I promise-‘

Ahadi grin, dimples broadening before he steps back from Sk’jin’s blurred vision and someone else comes closer.

Namjoon smiles with relief at him from where he’s kneeling, his skin is patched up over his eye, both arms present though one has no cover and was a matte metallic form.

‘What-.’

‘Got you just in time,’ Namjoon sighs out.

The light around him isn’t red, no Bloodmoon shone down on him here.

Instead it’s nice and mild.

Normal.

Gentle and soothing.

‘We thought you-‘ Namjoon struggles, ‘-but we got you in time and we’re heading in to pick up the others. Don’t worry okay?’

‘What?’ Sk’jin is suddenly exhausted.

Ahadi reappears as Namjoon steps back, his voice taking over.

‘We’re all set here. Just-‘

‘I swear- get the out, it’s normal,’ Sk’jin waves him off with a roll of his eyes despite being instantly nauseous in the process.

Ahadi just smiles, dimples forming deep on his cheeks before he leans in a little before he seems to reconsider and backs away.

‘I would like a goodnight kiss though,’ Sk’jin quips, attempting a wink.

Ahadi shakes his head, laughing low under his breath before he leans all the way in.

The lights overhead blocks Sk’jin from seeing Ahadi’s expression before their lips touch. Sk’jin only sees the familiar outline of the Mwenzini but he doesn’t have to see him to know that he’s smiling. He can feel it against his lips and it makes Sk’jin smile.

When Ahadi pulls back he is smiling down at Sk’jin with that same fondness, laced a little with exasperation and an expression Sk’jin isn’t entirely sure how to label. Instead he reaches up to feel at his dimples with a fond chuckle and pushes him off with a flick on his forehead.

‘I’ll see you when I’m beautiful again,’ Sk’jin laughs as Ahadi gets up.

‘Is that your way of getting me to tell you that you’re always beautiful?’ Ahadi asks, laughing as he looks back.

‘Is it working?’ Sk’jin has never heard Ahadi compliment him on his looks.

Ever.

Ahadi stands by the doorway, dimpled smile on place, shaking his head.

‘You’re gonna have to work harder than that Captain, I have a very specific aesthetic.’

Sk’jin manages to lift a finger at him before the door slides shut.

Sk’jin continues to laugh under his breath as the room is slowly bathed in darkness. It starts to get heavy again, around him.

The Bloodmoon is faded, replaced instead by a serene night sky.

‘I-I promise-,’ Sk’jin mumbles out loud. ‘I promise you,- that I’ll make everything right again when I come back. I’ll even be the in’ hero if that’s what’s needed.’

*

(Author’s Notes)

SO

WHO STILL WANTS TO SCREAM ABOUT MOTS:7

Let me tell you how this went down because the day the album dropped and the kinetic mv dropped I was FLYING OUT BACK TO MY HOME COUNTRY BECAUSE VISA ISSUES

My flight was at 4:30 but delayed to 5 so I thought I have time to watch the mv, download the album, and cry for 3 hours on the airplane this is great

WELL IT WASN’T

Normally my data is really fast and good

BUT SOMEHOW IT WANTED TO WITH ME AFTER THE MV DROPPED

4 o’clock here in Thailand is 6 in KST so I was seething, right at 4 my data goes , it takes me 45 mintues to download the album, and after maybe 1 hour I can finally watch the mv at 144p

I wanted to cry

But I did download the album and

Guys

Never fly over a sunset cloud filled sky over hills and distant citylines while listening to we are bullet proof the eternal

That is not for the faint of heart because I WAS TEARING UP IN THE AIRPLANE

IM NOT KIDDING

And like I said last time

MOON IS MY SONG

Also the longer version of shadow i

Didn’t think I could love shadow more

But here I am

No but really, we are bullet proof the eternal I just- I genuinely cried, there’s something about the song that makes me feel both incredibly uplifted and supported and comforted but also incredibly sad?????????????? Is this just me

Please tell me

Also surprise!! Namjoon’s here

SPEAKING OF NAMJOON

HIS VLIVE FROM TODAY AND WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT WE ARE BULLET

You know what

Im gonna go sit and think for a while