Sapphire District. Sapphire Lake. 11:17 PM.

As the moon creeps behind the clouds, its bright light glaring on the lake behind the abandoned warehouses, a crew of  CMP paramedics carry off an unconscious Hyeri who is in critical condition on a stretcher and have her lift off from a medical helicopter. Luda, Dawon, Eunseo, Xiao, and Dayoung sit next to each other as some officers treat their minor injuries and give them some snacks to munch on after their struggle with the mercenaries just a few moments ago. 

One by one, CMP personnel bag up lifeless bodies scattered along the lakeshore, one of them being the mercenary Hyungwon. An officer lays a hand on the young man's face and closes Hyungwon's eyes, zipping the bag shut afterward. The five girls watch in dismay as the officers one by one load the body bags on a boat, the feeling of guilt as they begin to realize those were all their doings. 

Eunseo draws everyone's attention towards Xuan Yi and Bona who are speaking to one of the Captains of the CMP; with two officers behind him and Jinyoung between them restrained by handcuffs. 

"I don't think any of us were expecting Bona-unnie's sister to be alive... let alone working for the bad guys." Eunseo utters. "Answer me this: After getting attacked and having some of your classmates killed during an on-site mission, where do you get the nerve to work for the wrong side?" She continues to question in frustration.

"Ya, Eunseo!" Luda exclaims. "How can you say such a thing? You don't know what happened after we left Jinyoung. I think you're forgetting... she's Bona sister. She attacked her own family. She didn't recognize one of her own and kept going. That alone should tell you something bad happened after we thought she was murdered." 

Eunseo drops her head and lets out a sigh. "Oh give me a break! What could have they done to have her go and lead a militia that works for the very same planet that is trying to invade ours. Her home planet! I don't know if you're height is making you not see what's right in front of you but she almost killed Hyeri."

"I dare you to say that again when I have my knife against your throat, Eunseo!" Luda retaliates. 

"You won't even reach it, so good luck with that!" Eunseo exclaims and the small girl sitting on the ground jumps up and lunges towards the much taller girl before she gets grabbed by Dawon from behind.

"Hey, stop it both of you! Must you two really do this right now?" Dawon interjects. "Juyeon what's gotten into you!?" Cheng Xiao follows up. Eunseo drags her shoulders away from Cheng Xiao's hands and hisses in frustration. Eunseo begins to walk away from the group and Cheng Xiao follows suit, concerned about her friend and what's going through her mind. 

"Tsk. That tall freak better think about getting on my nerves again if she knows what's good for her." Luda huffs before facing Dawon in front of her, who has disappointment written all over her face. "... oh what now, Dawon?" Luda complains. "What did I tell you about threatening our friends, Luda??" Dawon utters. 

"Okay, first of all, she is not my friend. Second, did you not hear a thing she said? I understand you're the voice of reason in this group but being my best friend, I just wish you backed me up sometimes... Plus she made fun of my height and you know much I hate it when people use that against me. This should not be a surprise to you anymore, Dawonie." 

Dawon's face stays unfazed but before she could say anything else to Luda, Bona interrupts the two and rejoins the group with Xuan Yi just inches behind her. "What's going on here? Where's Eunseo and Cheng Xiao?" Bona questions the three remaining girls. 

"Eunseo-unnie decided to take a short walk along with Cheng Xiao-unnie, I think she's just tired and trying to recover from everything that has happened in the last few hours." Dayoung quickly answers, and trying to avoid the truth of the argument not wanting to add to the number of worries Bona probably already has.

"... So is that really your sister, unnie?"  Dayoung asks with hesitation in her voice, trying not to offend the older girl and all the girls are now focused on Bona and the next few words she's about to say.

A brief moment of silence passes through between them, all four girls waiting for the response of the girl in question. Bona stares at the ground for a brief second squints her eyes and looks back at Dayoung, "I watched my sister die two years ago, let's make that very clear. Whoever this is, she's not my sister. She is our enemy. That's it... Besides, she doesn't seem to recognize me at all."

Xuan Yi recognizes the intensity in Bona's eyes. The hatred that has filled the girl's body for the past two years. But something's different. Xuan Yi can almost sense the disappointment in Bona's eyes. Xuan Yi tries to hold Bona's hands to try and comfort the girl but she notices Bona's hands in a tight fist and so her hands retreat away not knowing how to act towards her best friend. 

"Ji..." Xuan Yi tries to utter Bona's name to steal her away from her thoughts but Bona beats her to it. "Go grab Eunseo and Cheng Xiao. We're heading back to camp in a few minutes. Xuan Yi, get in touch with Seola-unnie's team and find out what their situation is. I'm going to check in with the Captain." Bona walks away from the group, leaving the four girls dazed and confused. It wasn't the sort of response they were expecting from Bona.

Xuan Yi looks at Bona as she walks away from the group, worried about how she's handling the situation. "Xuan Yi-unnie... what do you think? You were close to the Kim family. That is Kim Jinyoung right?" Luda voices out from the back. Xuan Yi turns around, unsure of what to answer but in her head, she has no doubts that she is Bona's sister. "Can't say for now... A lot of things has happened in just a few hours I think its best to report back to camp first" Xuan Yi replies.

The blades of the helicopter slowly wind up, and as the girls, all take to their seats in the cabin of the transport helicopter and steal glances at who they believe to be Jinyoung at the back who is still securely guarded between two officers. "What are you all looking at!?" Jinyoung sneers at the girls and they all turn their heads towards the opposite direction. Jinyoung takes notice of Bona who was the only one who has never taken a second glance at her since she was detained on the ground.

"Hey, you up in the front, why didn't you kill me when you had the chance? You didn't hesitate to kill any of my men, but when we were face to face you chose to let me live. Why is that?" Jinyoung mouths out loud from the back so Bona who is all the way in front can hear.

"Intel." Bona utters. 

CMP Training Facility. Girls Shower Facility. 01:13 AM. 

Silence.

Complete silence.

The girls of Squad B under Seola's command have just arrived back at camp and were instructed to wash up and return back to their barracks immediately afterward are in total disbelief. The girls slowly take things in and out of their lockers, still in shock of the recent events and they seem to can't shake off the fact that they were so close to death once again. Time after time, those mercenaries just won't give up on their task on eliminating them for being something they didn't ask to be. 

"Hey, girls, hit the showers. It's been a long day." The girls look at Seola who tries her best to give a smile and share some positivity to encourage the girls it will all be alright but it's obvious that she too is scared out of her mind. The girls all ponder at their uniforms before removing them, stains of dirt and blood scattered all throughout. Their hands filled with cuts and bruises. 

Mei Qi enters one of the showers and turns on the water, drenching herself with hot water. She watches as the water on the shower floor turns brown red. Being in the camp for more than a few months now, she's used to showering and seeing her own injuries mix in with the shower water but not this time. This time, she feels completely vulnerable. She now feels the weight of having a price on her head. People actually want her dead. She begins to whimper and tears are now rolling down her face. 

As steam begins to fill the entire shower hall, it's apparent that all the girls feel the same way. Subtle sobs can be heard throughout the shower area and as much as the older girls wish to ignore it, they too feel the pressure piling up. Seola, Exy, and Soobin feel a responsibility to make sure the younger ones aren't in distraught but how can they when they too feel just as scared. 

Soojin is one of the first to finish showering and decides to make her way back to the barrack. She notices one of the emergency helicopters land on the open field and paramedics are the first to exit the aircraft. She watches as they slowly pull out a trainee from the helicopter and load her on an emergency bed. She notices the men coming towards her and stands aside to give way to the paramedics who are rushing towards the camp hospital. 

As the men run past her, she is able to steal a short glance at who they were transporting. Time seemed to be speeding up as she begins to doubt herself as who she thought she saw. "Hye... Hyeri?" Her voice gives up on her as do her legs as she appears to be frozen in place and the world around her keeps moving. Soojin recollects herself and slowly goes the opposite way from where she intended to go and makes her way towards the CMP Hospital building. 

Soojin quietly enters the hospital building and approaches the nurse in the reception area of the main lobby. "Hi, excuse me. By any chance do you know who was the cadet that was rushed in here just a few moments ago?" Soojin politely asks the man behind his work desk and the man grabs a logbook underneath his table and looks up the signature of the medic that came in earlier.

"Give me a sec, okay?" The man begins to turn pages to the most recent page and slides his finger to the last name and signature placed by the paramedic earlier. "Ah, here it is. Cadet No. 1137822, Ahn Hyeri. Room M401." Soojin's heart skips a beat and her eyes dilate as she breaks a cold sweat hearing the name of her best friend. 

"Please! Where can I find Room M401!?" Soojin exclaims in a panic. The male nurse is taken aback by the girl's distressed cry and closes his logbook. "I'm sorry, but that room is only for patients in critical condition. Cadets especially aren't allowed to be there." As if those words were supposed to help Soojin feel any better. She takes a step back, and in a split second, she decides to go against what the man said and rushes down the hall desperately looking for the room where Hyeri was being held in.

She sees the room just at the end of the hall and runs towards it but before she can get a hold of the door handle, two CMP officers grab her from behind and restrain her. "What do you think you're doing cadet!?" One of the man screams as he tries to pull Soojin away from the door who is putting up quite a fight. The other officer pulls out his stun gun and presses it towards Soojin's abdomen, putting the girl in shock and knocking her out. 

Soojin's unconscious body is brought back to the main lobby of the hospital and one of the officers lay her down on one of the couches. "Contact any of her team members and have her brought back to their barrack." The officer instructs the nurse behind the reception counter who is a little shocked by the lack of punishment. "Wait, you're letting her go just like that? Shouldn't she brought to the higher-ups for insubordination?" The nurse scoffs. 

"Look, it's way beyond midnight, alright? We don't want to deal with the paperwork and I don't think you will want as well. So let's just make this easier on ourselves and just have her brought back to their quarters, alright?" The three men end up in agreement and the two officers walk out of the hospital building.

A few minutes later, Yeonjung and Yeoreum enter the main lobby of the hospital building and approach the receptionist who points at Soojin passed out on the couch on the other side of the room. "Get her out of here and make sure she keeps out of trouble. She's lucky the officers who reprimanded her made a decision not to report her." The nurse tells them off and the two girls politely nod and head to collect Soojin and make their way back to their dorm. 

"Damn it, why are we always in charge of doing things the unnies don't want doing?" Yeonjung utters as she carries Soojin on her back and Yeoreum leading the way. "It's cause of just that. They're older so we sorta have to do what they ask of us. Now quit your whining and let's go." Yeoreum responds. "Easy for you to say, you're not the one with Soojin-unnie on your back!" Yeonjung replies back. 

Cosmic Military Police. Barrack A-12. 05:51 AM.

As the sun begins to rise, its rays peeking through the window of the girls' barrack, "Hyeri!" Soojin shouts out as she is woken up by the bright glare of the glass shimmering on to her eyelids. Confused to be back on her barrack and on her bed, she looks to her right and notices Hyeri not on her bed. A hand touches Soojin's shoulder and the girl jerks, surprised by the touch. 

"You okay, Soojin?" Dawon asks, removing her hand off of Soojin's shoulder after she unintentionally almost gave the girl a heart attack. "Dawon? You're back! What time did you guys arrive at camp?" Soojin asks as her eyes navigate through the barrack noticing the other team already on their beds and some already changing into their training uniforms. 

"Mmm... We arrived at around 02:30 AM. We hit the showers as we landed and when we got to the barracks, you guys were already passed out. Majority of us are pretty tired, to be honest, but we're being told to gather at the main courtyard by 0700 so I went here to wake you up since you were the only one to still be asleep but you managed to wake yourself up before I could."

Soojin drops her head and looks back at Hyeri's empty bed and isn't totally clear of what's happening and decides to question Dawon if she knows anything, being in the same squad with Hyeri during the exam. "What happened back there, to you guys in Sapphire Lake? What ha... happened to Hyeri?" Soojin stutters, choking on her own words afraid of the answer Dawon will give her.

"I saw her being rushed to the hospital building a few hours earlier by a pair of paramedics. The nurse told me she was brought to the emergency room but that's all I know." She adds a