Cosmic Military Police. Barrack A-12. 05:34 AM. 3018.

The sun peeks through the single window of the girls' barrack, landing its warmth and light first on Dayoung's face and the girl immediately turns to her side and covers herself with her blanket. A hand yanks the blanket away from her. Dayoung opens her eyes and complains to the perpetrator as her eyes adjust to the sudden burst of light around her. 

"Yaa, Xuan Yi unnie why are you being so mean to me right now? Can't a girl get some well-deserved rest and relaxation around here?" 

"What are you talking about, Dayoung-ah? It's almost six in the morning and you're the only one left who hasn't changed into her training uniform. If you end up being late again, you'll find yourself having air for lunch." Xuan Yi folds Dayoung's blanket and neatly places it on the edge of Dayoung's bed. 

The younger girl seems unfazed by the words of her older friend and barely moves an inch. A few seconds later Xuan Yi is for certain she can hear the younger girl snoring again.

"Heyy come on, you should be thankful I'm the one waking you up right now. If Seola-unnie were the one to wake you up you'd probably be on the floor right now." Xuan Yi folds her arms and pouts her lips.

Everyone knows Xuan Yi is one of the kindest souls in this world. Only she right now would believe that this is already her way of being stern and demanding discipline from the younger girls.

"So! Tell me, who exactly should be on the floor right now?" A voice creeps up behind the two girls and as soon as Seola's voice registers in the ears of Dayoung, her eyes open in an instant and in a flash gets up from her bed and makes her way past the two girls and towards the bathroom. "Ha-ha, no one Seola-unnie. Not me, certainly. Great weather we're having huh? I'll go dress up now, see ya!" 

Xuan Yi can't believe that no one would still take her seriously as a strict unnie, after all she is the second eldest in the barrack. "How do you do it, Seola-unnie? How can I demand respect and be as stern as you?" Xuan Yi puts her hands on Seola's arms who has yet to uncross them. "You're just too nice, is all." Seola explains to the girl and giggles as what appears like all hope as escaped the younger girl's body. 

On the other side of the room, Exy retrieves from their main door the mission brief for the day's training operation. She walks back to her bed and is approached by Soobin who is interested to know the activities they will be going through for the next sixteen hours. "What does it say? Are we splitting into squads again?" Soobin asks. 

Exy stands in the center of the barrack and makes the announcement to the girls. She reads:

"Attention Cadets! Welcome to the fourth week of the Cosmic Public Service Examinations.

This week's agenda, stealth, and reconnaissance. For the next few days, your skills in planning and conducting secret operations, knowledge in advance weaponry, breaching and escape tactics, and gathering intelligence will be put to the test. At the end of the week, you will undergo a special search and rescue operation exam. All squads will be made up of your respective barrack members. Three of your members will be taken at random as a hostage and without notice during the next few days and it is your duty to gather intelligence and conduct a rescue operation. The location of your mission will be classified and it is your job to remain aware of everything that will happen within the next few days to have an understanding where your members will be held captive. Be aware that your captors are highly trained Rear Guard officers. They will not make it easy for you. You may plan out your strategies at any time within the week, but you will only be given the go signal on the 6th day. You will be given 24-hours to conduct your mission. Failure to secure your teammates in the given time will leave all members a deduction of fifty percent on your final score for the week. 

Be reminded, in the last month of training twenty-five students have already dropped from the program, one of those was a fatality. The CMP will not stand for any signs of weakness. We in the Military High Council wish you all the best of luck. Gather your strengths, cadets. 

Per ardua ad astra!"

"Let's make a bet, they'll be taking the three strongest ones in each barrack. And for us, that's Seola-unnie, Bona-unnie, and Yeonjung no doubt about it." Eunseo confidently exclaims to everyone while the three girls just mentioned think to themselves and accept the possibility of that probably happening. 

"As much as I hate agreeing with Eunseo, she has a point." Exy lets out a sigh and looks at the three girls and then everyone else. "If this is to be an exam, they're going to want to make it difficult for us and removing the strongest in each team will do just that," Exy adds.

"Should I create a tracking device then? It'll make our lives so much easier when we go looking for them." Yeoreum suggests to the room. 

"That's cheating, Yeoreum-ah." Mei Qi utters to the younger girl. "Remember this is an official military police training simulation. What we did a month ago to save Luda was insubordination. In case you forgot, we almost got expelled from the program because of that. If it wasn't for the Lt. Gen, we wouldn't even be here anymore."

"She's right," Seola interjects. "The Lt. Gen. was kind enough to let our crimes slide and allow us to continue with our training. Don't forget, the Vanguard is now keeping an even closer watch on us until they figure out with to do with us and with the newly found information they received regarding the first coordinate. It'd be smart to just follow camp protocol for now. 

"So what's the plan for the next few days then, unnie?" Soobin asks Seola.

"We give our absolute best in training like we always do. Keep a watchful eye on each other, and if what Sojung said was true, keep a more watchful eye on us three. You'd never know when we'll be abducted."

The girls nod in agreement. Believed to be ready to face the coming days ahead when all of a sudden...

"Guys who finished all the hair conditioner!?" Dayoung busts out of the door, wrapped in a towel, soaking wet, and confused to why all the girls are now standing in a circle. "Oh... What's going on? What did I miss?"

Cosmic Military Police. Hangar 1C. 10:39 AM.

"Listen up, cadets! For your next exercise today, we'll be testing your CQB skills. If you don't know what CQB stands for, it means Close Quarter Battles. In front of you is a giant circular thousand square meter labyrinth with ten entrances. Obviously, those then entrances will be for the ten squads that will be battling today in this hangar..."

"...In the center of the labyrinth is your objective. The first team to capture the white flag and exit the labyrinth wins. Each person you gun down is an additional ten points to your final score. And every member that you lose is a fair deduction of the same number to your final grade for this exercise. The objective is worth a hundred and fifty points..."

"...The highest possible grade your team can get, provided your team eliminates the other one hundred and thirty-five cadets inside and you retrieve the objective without losing a member is a thousand five hundred. The chances of you earning that score are nearly impossible though. But one can dream right?"

The officer finishes explaining the rules to the first batch of combatants and instructs them to retrieve their weapons and any additional equipment they wish from the loadout room and to take the positions in one of the ten entrances around the labyrinth.

Among the ten squads, are the girls from Barrack A-12, with Seola taking the first command, Bona in second command, and Eunseo and Dayoung at the back watching their flank. Seola looks at the lineup behind her and informs the girls again of the plan. 
 

"Alright girls remember what we talked about, we'll reach the center faster if we split the squad into two. Exy, Soobin, Eunseo, Soojin, Mei Qi, Yeoreum, and Yeonjung will be with me. Xuan Yi, Luda, Xiao, Dawon, Hyeri and Dayoung will be with Bona. Don't forget, hug the left wall, squad leaders in front, front and rear will shift depending if you encounter dead ends."

"Dayoung and Eunseo, did you guys take the balls of white thread from the loadout room like I said?" Bona asks and the two girls turn around showing to her both of them having their own ball of thread attached to the sides of their utility belt. "Yup! We didn't forget, unnie." Dayoung replies to Bona.

"Okay good. It'll be risky leaving a trail everywhere we go but it'll be the fastest way of returning where we came from after we retrieve the objective. Since you two are in charge of watching our flanks, be quick to call out contacts, got it?" The older girl asks for reassurance from the two younger girls and she is quickly and confidently responded to with a firm "Got it!" from both of them. 

The officer in charge heads up the catwalk fifty meters above ground where he has a great view of everything that will be happening down below and is accompanied by four other officers to assist him in keeping watch of the exercise. "Thirty seconds!" He shouts from above, informing all the trainees of how much time before the battle commences. 

The fifteen girls ready up in single file, waiting for the final signal to enter the labyrinth in front of them. Dayoung and Eunseo loosen up some strands of the white thread beside them and making sure the reel that was keeping it in tact was also loose and spinning well enough for them not to worry about anymore.

"3...

2...

1...

BEGIN!" The instructor yells out and in an instant, all ten squads enter the circular thousand square meter labyrinth including the girls from Barrack A-12.

"Bona, take the first right! We'll take the first left we see. Keep in contact through our headsets. We'll catch up with you guys later. Copy?" Seola utters to Bona who signals her team to follow her in taking the first right turn in the labyrinth. "Copy that. Be careful of your corners, and keep your eyes peeled. We'll see you on the other side. Over." 

In seconds, Bona's team cuts from their original line and enters the first right they encounter. "Expect to encounter the opposing teams in a bit. Keep moving, guys. Hyeri make sure Dayoung keeps a close distance to us, we don't want anyone wandering off by accident." 

In less than five minutes minute, the girls already hear gunfire from parts of the labyrinth. The girls decide it's best to avoid confrontation at all costs unless confronted face to face. Bona thinks to herself that gun shots this early on just means the other squads are aimlessly heading towards the perimeter and not to the center. 

"Seola-unnie, avoid going close to where you hear the gunfire. At this early stage of the..." Before Bona can even finish her sentence, Seola interrupts her and explains to the younger girl how aware she is of the situation. "They're wandering off to the perimeter. I know. Bona, worry about your squad first and less on mine. We'll be fine."

Bona grinds her teeth in frustration. If there's one thing Kim Jiyeon hates, it's being interrupted and being told off afterward. She thinks of things to respond to the older girl but before she could even get a word out, Xuan Yi puts her hand on Bona's shoulder and shakes her head as if to say it's not worth fighting about. 

"Jiyeon, nows not the time. You're leading six other girls with you. You have to make sure none of them gets hurt because of your emotions." Xuan Yi reminds Bona, and Bona just looks at Xuan Yi for a brief second before nodding her head in agreement. "You're right. I'm sorry." Bona admits to her best friend before continuing their navigation of the labyrinth. 

Fifteen minutes into the exercise, the girls on the other squad are moving as a more efficient cohesive unit under the command of Seola who calmly and strategically moves around the four-meter tall maze they are in.

"Eunseo, are you okay back there?" Seola asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine, unnie. I've got our flank covered. Leaving a trace of our movements really is a risky thing you know that right? Any second now the other squads can just jump at us and I'll be the first to take a hit." Eunseo replies to her squad leader.

"I know. But if Bona didn't think of it, I would've suggested the same thing. High risk, high reward. Remember that. As much as Bona makes me want to pull all of my hair out, I can't deny the fact that she's a brilliant tactician." 

In a few moments, the girls in Seola's squad are about to enter one of the five fight rooms in the labyrinth. These fight rooms, split into twos are large enough to be a barrack on its own serve as both a checkpoint and a playing field for opposing teams to battle for weapon attachments, ammunition, and maybe if they're lucky a map of the entire labyrinth. 

The girls approach the entrance of the fight room with caution, moving slowly as a unit, each member two meters apart from each other. They survey their surroundings checking if the room has already been looted for items but it seems that they're the first ones to arrive. 

"Alright girls, get what you think you might need and let's keep moving," Seola tells the girls but is then interrupted by Soobin who informs her that she hears movement just a few meters away from where they are currently holding in. 

"They're to our east, I can hear their footsteps. Based on how fast I can hear their pacing is, they'll reach here in under a minute. We can either use the exit on our north and avoid battle or wait for them and try and fight them off. We need the points too, Seola-unnie." Soobins sounds like she's making a suggestion but actually makes the latter sound like more of a request. 

"She's right. If we don't eliminate anyone during this exercise, that objective might not even mean anything by the end. This is supposed to test our combat skills as well, Hyunjung, remember that." Exy tells Seola who takes a second to think about their next move before completely agreeing to her two squadmates. 

"Alright, we'll bring the fight to them. Eunseo, Soojin, and Yeoreum take cover behind the entrance we took.  Soobin, Mei Qi and Yeonjung to the north exit. Exy and I will take cover here in the middle. We'll take them from three sides that way they won't even know where to focus their fire. On my signal, give 'em hell." 

Back at Bona's squad, the girls are inching their way towards the objective with a full squad still. "We're near the objective." Xuan Yi tells the team. The girls look at the eldest girl with confused looks on their faces. "How can you tell?" Luda asks. 

"Easy!" Xuan Yi giggles to herself before explaining to the girls her new found revelation. "If you look up to where the catwalk is you'll notice it's circular in its shape as well. And earlier while we were walking to our respective entrances, I noticed that the catwalk almost shared the same size as the shape of the labyrinth. So if you just look up you'll notice that we're almost near to the center of the catwalk, meaning we're also near the center of the labyrinth." 

The girls are left dumbfounded to how simple yet very well hidden this game changing clue was literally right above their heads. "You can't be serious. You think the organizers of the exercise were dumb enough to leave something so useful to us trainees just right in the open?" Hyeri asks rhetorically. 

"Maybe they intended that. Sometimes the painfully obvious is neglected by those who think too much." Xuan Yi replies. Don't you think, Jiyeon?" Xuan Yi gives an eye smile to her best friend, proud of her sudden realization. 

"Mhmm!" Jiyeon praises her best friend for her efforts but secretly doesn't tell her that she figured out the same thing as soon as they stood in front of their entrance to the labyrinth. As egotistical Kim Jiyeon can be most of the time, she wouldn't dare steal the spotlight from her good friend Xuan Yi.

"From the looks of it, I say we're probably forty meters away from the center," Bona informs her members when all of a sudden an announcement is broadcasted throughout the entire hangar and the girls all look upwards, trying to take in whatever the announcer has to say. "Attention! The Squad from Barrack A-8 has been completely eliminated!"

"Ha! You guys here that!? That's all thanks to us! We did that !" The girls hear a loud and overly obnoxious Eunseo yelling from their headsets and seconds later Seola decides to radio in the girls as well. "Hey, we just did you guys a solid favor. That was an 8 vs 15 battle we just faced back there."

"I'm not gonna lie but I'm highly impressed you all made it out of there against a full squad," Bona admits to the oth