Simhan District. Kim Residences. 13:28 PM. 3002.

"Girls, come down now. Lunch is ready!" A beautiful middle aged woman with long dark hair and white skin shouts out as she sets the table with food and eating utensils, getting a pitcher of water from the refrigerator, and adding some final garnishes to the meal she just finished preparing. "Girls, don't make me call you two for the third time!"

As the woman removes her apron from her body and sets them aside on the kitchen counter, she hears footsteps running from above the kitchen room and making their way towards the staircase and witnessing two much younger girls race towards the dinner table. "Hey, what did I say about running around the house?" She says with a stern yet caring tone in her voice.

"It's not my fault mom. Jinyoung-unnie told me if I beat her to the kitchen table, I would get to have the first pick on what cartoon we can watch later after nap time." A seven-year-old Bona utters to her mother as she takes her seat beside her older sister who avoids making eye contact with her mother as she feels the gaze of the older woman bearing weight on her.

"Jinyoung, is this true? What did I say about teaching your little sister good morals and values? Do you think gambling is a good value, young lady?" She exclaims as she hands the two girls their juice boxes. "You're supposed to be taking care of your younger sister, remember?" she says as she takes her seat with her two daughters, handing them each their meals.

"Sorry, mom. I was just trying to have a little friendly competition with Jiyeon-ie." She remarks, before taking a sip from her juice box. "Besides, I didn't really mean what I said to her." She jokes before Bona immediately retaliates with a "Hey, no fair. I won!" Her mom and older sister laugh at the young Bona before the three girls wallow in their lunch.

The lunch bell rings the following day in Simhan Elementary School as all the children head out of their school building towards the school park as everyone either goes playing with their friends or use the time to eat their packed lunches. Jinyoung makes her way towards the swing set with her friends who are currently in the 4th grade and talk about the sleepover they're planning this coming weekend.

"Hey, Jinyoung, tell your little sister not to meddle with our sleepover okay? I don't want people finding out we're hanging out with a first grader." One of her friends exclaims as Jinyoung reassures her that she already told her parents to have Bona sleep in their room first while she has her friends stay at her and Bona's room. "Yeah, us 4th graders have a reputation to uphold, don't forget that." Another of her friend utters. 

"Don't worry guys, I already told them. We have my room for ourselves for the entire night!" Jinyoung tells her friends as they all share high-fives. "Speaking of your, sister..." Her friend remarks as she points Jinyoung and the rest of the girls to Bona who is not too far from them, surrounded by three little boys her age. "Looks like your sister is already attracting the attention of the boys in her class, Jinyoung." she jokes before witnessing one of the boys push Bona to the ground. "Uh oh."

Jinyoung doesn't think twice before separating from her group of friends making her way towards her younger sister who is clearly being bullied by the three boys around her. "Ya! What do you three punks think you're doing to my baby sister!?" Jinyoung exclaims as she stomps towards them, pulling her sleeves all the way up to her elbows." The three boys look to each other before running away and leaving Bona behind on the ground.

"Psh. Cowards!" Jinyoung shouts to them before attending to her little sister. "You, okay Jiyeon-ie?" She kneels down to be level with her younger sibling, realizing a tear slowly rolling down her cheeks. "Boys are so stupid, unnie." She utters, avoiding to face her older sister. Jinyoung grabs a hold of one of the hands of Bona and wipes the tear off her face. 

"I know, Jiyeon-ie. But don't worry. I'll always be there to protect you. I promised you that, remember?." Jinyoung reassures her little sister before helping her get up from the ground as the two walk to the swing sets, hand in hand.

"What am I gonna do when those boys come back for me and you're not around?" Bona asks concerningly as she faces her older sister who gives a bright wide smile towards her. "Don't tell mom I told you this, but sometimes you gotta fight back to protect yourself. But most especially to protect those you love." She utters still wearing that big grin on her face.

"What if I can't fight for myself and those I care for?" Bona asks, with disappointment written all over her face. "Then, that's what I'm here for, Jiyeon-ie. Unnie will always be there when you need her." Jinyoung proclaims as she tries to uplift Bona's confidence. 

"As long as unnie is with me, I feel like I can do anything!"

"Ha-ha. Don't be silly, dummy."

The two laugh, both holding on to each other's hands with firm grips. Two sisters that seem like they can take on the whole world together. 

"Jinyoung, come take a picture with your little sister!" Bona's mother calls out for her older sister as she is about to send off Bona to her first day as a Cosmic Police University student. "Alright, smile you two." 

"You can't imagine how thrilled I am to finally have you around campus, Jiyeon-ie," Jinyoung whispers, putting her arm over Bona's shoulders as they smile towards their mother and her camera. "I'll show you around before bringing you to your dormitory once mom heads off." 

"Alright. Now, Jinyoung, you're responsible for your younger sister okay? Make sure she's not getting herself into trouble and make sure she makes some friends." Ms. Kim reminds her eldest daughter. "Mom, I can handle myself. Jinyoung-unnie doesn't have to do everything for me you know that. We're not in elementary school anymore," Bona utters.

"Ha-ha, I know honey. I was just teasing. Same thing goes to you, Jiyeon. You make sure you keep your older sister in check, understood?" 

"Understood, ma'am." 

"Okay, I'll see you guys during winter break, okay?" Their mother exclaims before getting back in her car. She hugs her two daughters and gets one final look at them before finally seeing them off. "I'm gonna miss you two so much."

"We'll miss you too, mom," Bona tells her mom, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Geez, I don't remember you being this emotional when it was my first year in the academy." Jinyoung snickers before giving her mom a hug. "Don't be silly now, Jinyoung." 

"Finally. I thought she'd never leave." Jinyoung utters as she picks up some of Bona's luggage and the two watch their mother drive off campus. "Come on, I'll go show you where the cafeteria is or as I call it, the most important facility on campus, ha-ha." Jinyoung remarks before realizing Bona isn't walking with her. She looks back to see Bona glancing at the tall clock tower right beside the main building.

"You, okay, Jiyeon?" She asks.

 "You think I'll be okay here, unnie?" 

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you think I have what it takes to actually belong here in the most prestigious police academy in the planet?" 

Jinyoung pauses as she glances at her younger sister before reassuring Bona of how great she thinks she'll be. 

"I think you'll be amazing." She utters as she watches Bona finally face her and sees her smile finally show up. "Now come on, my hands are already starting to cramp up because of your luggage." Bona takes a final look at the clock tower before finally walking side by side with her sister.

Bona glances at the photograph of she and her sister in front of Cosmic Police University, her sister already a sophomore while she, a freshman, just about to start her life in CP U. She stares at the picture for a few more seconds before placing it back on her bedside table, heading out of her barrack and meeting with the rest of her team.

"Did you manage to get what you were looking for?" Xuan Yi, asks as she fixes her cap and zips her training vest. "Huh? Oh, right! Yeah, I got it." Bona replies before entering the truck with the rest of the girls already inside.

The truck departs from Barrack A-12 and makes its way to the main training grounds. Day five of Stealth and Reconnaissance week has just begun. 

Cosmic Military Police. Mess Hall. 12:14 PM.

"They said what?!" Exy yells out in shock of the news just laid out in front of them from Mei Qi and Yeoreum. "What do you mean we need to go to two different locations?" Exy asks as she puts down the sandwich she was enjoyingly eating.

"The Rear Guard won't be taking a third hostage anymore. Instead, they'll be splitting up the two hostages they already have and putting them in two different locations." Mei Qi tells the girls. "That means we'll be forced as well to divide our squad to assure we get to rescue both Eunseo-unnie and Soobin-unnie." Yeoreum adds.

The girls all look to each other with a little-confused look on their faces. Not quite sure what to make of the situation. "If we're to rescue two of our friends in two separate locations, what do we do with the leads we have? This just makes it harder for us to pinpoint where exactly they'll be." Xuan Yi utters as she again brings up a holographic map of Sapphire District.

"Way ahead of you." Yeoreum utters. "Mei Qi-unnie and I examined some more the smoke grenade canisters last night and also the stone that was inside. We thought that this wasn't just a decision the Rear Guard could have thought of out of the blue. They thought of how to conduct the exam thoroughly and with precision from the beginning."

So we went back to the last items they left us with. Turns out that the rock was a type of fossil rock. The composition of the outer layer has already started to deteriorate. It's still rock hard, but the inside's almost hollow making the rock close to being brittle, similar to how corals are. Meaning the rock has been submerged under water for quite a long time."

Xuan Yi realizes where the younger girl was going to with this new found information. "Wait, so that means the only possible place it could have been retrieved from is..."

"Sapphire Lake." Yeoreum announces.

"Okay, how about the second location? You guys managed to figure out where that is too?" Xuan Yi asks the two girls before Mei Qi brings out something from her pocket and places it on the table.

"We looked at the kind of metal that was used to produce the casing of the smoke grenade and try and see if it can pinpoint us to a manufacturer. And it did. The metal is carbon steel. And guess which company in Inkigayo Region is the only producer of carbon steel."

"The Sapphire Industrial Center..." Xuan Yi responds.

"Bingo!" Yeoreum yells out.

"Woah. You guys are really something else. You managed to figure all that out just last night?" Dayoung exclaims from the other end of the table as she gives the two girls a solo round of applause.

Xuan Yi looks at the map again and zooms in for any possible locations around the lake. "There is a large, abandoned facility on the opposite coast of the lake that used to be a fishery mil and it's highly likely that's where they're going to be keeping one of them. The Sapphire Industrial Center is a location on its own. The thing is, it's still in operation so I don't exactly know if we have to keep an eye for civilians. 

"Then we can't waste any time scouting the areas so we can answer those questions. Once the exam begins, we begin reconnaissance. Is that clear?" Seola interjects and waits for a response from the other girls.

"How about the team compositions? Who will be with who?" Luda questions the older girl.

"We'll stick with the squad-comp we used during the labyrinth exercise. But seeing that Eunseo and Soobin are both out from Seola's team and are acting captives, your squad this time will have the handicap. I suggest you let us have Sapphire Lake as our assignment seeing it's much larger than the Industrial Centre." Bona sitting at the far end of the table just beside Dayoung utters loud enough for the entire table to hear.

"The camp will provide us the transportation we need to get there and one chance at ex-fil once we have secured Eunseo and Soobin-unnie." Dawon utters.

"How about gear and firearms?" Soojin adds to their list of questions which is immediately answered by Cheng Xiao "The camp has left us forms back at our barracks to fill up later and submit to the weapons department, whatever you need, just fill up the form and you're good to go."

"Looks like we're all set then." Seola utters. "We'll discuss some more back at our barracks later once today's exercises have finished." The girls all nod and continue eating their lunches before heading out of the mess hall, and moving to their next training exercise.

Cosmic Military Police. Barrack A-12. 23:42 PM.

"Alright, girls, gather around. We have around five hours before we depart for the final exam. Let's make sure we pull this off properly." Seola calls out the rest of the girls to form up in the middle of their barrack. 

Seola gives the floor to Bona who briefs her squad and the rest of the barrack of the team compositions. "Squad A, under my command will be composed of Xuan Yi, Luda, Dawon, Xiao, Hyeri, and Dayoung. Us seven will be deployed at Sapphire Lake, it's a much larger location so the 7th man will benefit us more..."

"... Squad B will be composed of Seola-unnie, Exy, Soojin, Mei Qi, Yeoreum, and Yeonjung. You will be taking the much smaller, yet almost maze like Industrial Centre. The mission is being conducted on a weekend, so we doubt there will be people working on that day anyway."

Bona continues by asking Xuan Yi to display a large holographic map of the two locations for everyone to see. "May I remind you, girls, that stealth is the most important factor in our exam tomorrow. The less noise we make, the higher grade we get..."

"...The officials are going to take us to our designated locations via helicopters and we will be landing two kilometers away from our target locations to avoid alerting the Rear Guard. Even though they'll be expecting us, they won't exactly know when we'll hit them. We leave exactly at 0500 tomorrow, we'll use the entire day to scout the place and plan out our next move before executing exactly when dusk hits and utilize the darkness. Any questions before I move on?" Bona asks the room.

"I have one." Soojin utters. "What if we got it wrong all this time and they're not where we thought they were? What happens then?" Bona ponders on the question raised, but it seems she's unsure of what the right answer is.

"Then we fail," Dawon interjects. "We are only given one infil and exfil. If we ended up being in the wrong location, we're gonna have to find another way to get to the right one. Because once we call back the helicopter, the only place they will bring us is back here in camp." 

The room goes silent. "We obviously don't have any other choice but to trust in our intuition and what we have deducted over the past few days," Seola exclaims looking at the faces of the girls who suddenly don't feel confident about themselves.

Seola looks around the room. Observing each expression on the faces of her friends, doubt beginning to creep up on each individual. She even notices Exy's annoyed expression. She wants to be certain, she wants to be sure that they'll be able to not only just do good on the exam but to also be able to rescue their friends. 

"Hey! We'll get it done, okay?" Seola interrupts. "We always do. If you don't believe me, just ask Luda."  The remark sends the girls glancing at Luda who just a month ago was held captive on a different planet. 

"Seola-unnie's right." Yeonjung voices out. "We've gone through so much worse if you think about it. Nothing right now can compare to the real battles we've experienced and if you ask me, I think we already have this in the bag." The youngest girl's sudden burst of positivity was just the thing the girls needed to get their spirits up.

The girls all discuss key assignments and preparations for tomorrow's exam before they decide to call it a night. One by one the girls head to their beds but before getting comfy, take final checks on their gear and weapons making sure that everything is all set and placed where they should be. 

The barrack turns dark, and the twelve girls are less than five hours away from starting their mission. 

Sapphire District. Sapphire Lake. 05:38 AM.

"Alright, this is where you'll be held up for today's exam, recruit." A Rear Guard officer escorts Eunseo to one of the basement rooms of the fishery mil, where she will be kept hostage for the next 24-hours. "Now it is our job to make sure that this simulation feels as authentic as possible." The officer sits Eunseo to a wooden chair, ties her hands behind it and follows to put a black cloth bag on Eunseo's head.

"Uhm... is the bag really necessary?" Eunseo asks, her voice sounding muzzled from the fabric of the cloth. "Hey, it could be worse," The officer replies followed by subtle sarcasm. "We could be starving you and not give you food for the next 24 hours..."

"Ha-ha. Right." Eunseo nervously mutters. "But you are going to be feeding me right?" The officer doesn't answer Eunseo's question and pats the girl's head before leaving her alone and exiting the door to her holding room where just outside the door, two Rear Guard officers are guarding the entrance. "Give her some peanuts every once in a while. I heard this one's pretty loud so feeding her might shut her up if she gets too noisy."

The two guards look at each other before looking back at the officer who just left Eunseo's room. "I mean, up to you I'm not in charge of guarding her cell so it's not my problem." The officer advises the two guards before heading out back to the upper levels. "The trainees should already be on their way here, so keep your guard up." The officer adds before finally exiting. 

A few hours later, Eunseo wakes up from one of her naps, still unable to see from the bag over her head as she hears two grunting noises just outside her door. Her cell door opens and Eunseo isn't quite sure of what's currently happening. "So is it feeding time yet?" Eunseo tries to make conversation with who she thinks is one of the Rear Guard officers. 

Eunseo doesn't get a response and decides to speak up again. "Hello? Am I talking to anyon..." Eunseo gets her face struck by a rifle and the girl is in a state of shock, confused by what is happening. "You really don't shut up, do you?" A male voice echo and mixes with the sharp ringing sound inside Eunseo's ears as she tries to gather back her senses.

The bag is lifted from Eunseo's head and reveals a dazed Eunseo already bleeding from her lips. Her vision almost takes a while to recover but as soon as she finally gets to see the things around her more vividly, it doesn't take seconds before Eunseo starts jolting from her chair as she realizes the individuals around her.

"You motherers what are you doing here!?" Eunseo recognizes the mercenaries she faced off with back in Planet Monsta just a month ago now standing around her. "You're not going to get away with this!" Eunseo yells as she attempts to free herself from her latches. "You won't stand a chance against the Rear Guard! They'll find you and beat the living hell out of..." Eunseo shouts and squirms some more before seeing two bodies on the floor just right outside her door and blood spattered on the wall just in front of them.

"What did you do..." Eunseo's voice shakes as one of the men, Wonho, moves in front of her and crouches down to meet her eye to eye. "Isn't it obvious?" Wonho snickers. "We killed them. Just like how we killed every Rear Guard officer in this area."

"Why are you here? Why are you ers back here again!?" Eunseo exclaims. 

"You really aren't the sharpest tool in the shed, are you? We've come back to finish what we started! To kill you and the rest of your coordinate friends. While you girls are alive, you pose a serious threat to our planet and the rest of humanity. We can't allow such 'machines' to exist." Hyungwon utters.

"What the are you talking about!? You asswipes come into our planet, strike down an innocent town, kill some of m