wolf silver (n.) – the most effective solution to an impending problem.

Coined by the Ferans during the Lycan Circus Incident, one of several disastrous splicing experiments that led to the signing of the Genetic Experimentation Control Agreement by members of the Frontier.

---

[Day 2, Noon]

Clare Langan had seen her share of incompetent, foolish volunteers for the Oxley Haulers’ cause, but none quite as frustrating as the two women who stood before her.

“Stand straight, Recruit Raven, Recruit Dew!” She bellowed.

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” The taller one of them stuttered.

“Those aren’t our names, you know.”

The other one shot her an indignant look, but followed along quietly after.

“They are what we will call you, unless you want to become highly wanted criminals throughout the entire Frontier?”

Her explanation was not met with further objection.

The mercenary paced around the office, in front of them.

“I’ve taken a look at your credentials, the two of you: A full explorer’s license. Possession of an independent deep-space personal craft. No ongoing ties to a major faction.”

She shot one of the recruits, ‘Raven’, a stern look, but it didn’t do anything to her.

The eyes of the slender woman were downcast, in apparent reflection of whatever mistake she seems to have done.

“You are our best shot against the plague that has contaminated our Deken base. I need you to live up to your name.” Clare continued.

“Yes, ma’am.” Recruit Raven answered.

“Departure commences in an hour, and it is my deepest hope that you will perform better in the actual mission than what you showed us in the shooting range.”

A few seconds of silence transpired between the two of them, as Clare realized they weren’t going to answer her expectations.

With a sigh,

“Dismissed.”

She let the two recruits leave the room.

Alone in her office space, Clare Langan held up a finger to her temple, trying to massage away the headache in her skull.

The team she led has had to deal with the string of unfortunate incidents that befell them these past few months: Jobs that landed them in more trouble than they were paid for, failing to smuggle their arms through regulation authorities, constant weather disruption of their logistics supplies…

The incidents almost killed half her team on many occasions, and made them a laughing stock among the circle of hired guns in this part of deep space.

And now, their outpost was overrun with Cold Wremuds, the very moment the only guy keeping watch of it left for a drink in the nearby civilian town. It just so happens that the security systems were optimized with heat sensors, which were useless against the cold-blooded gooey monsters.

Now, on board the cruiser-class ship Immerser orbiting Venus, she had to deal with the trouble of calling in outsiders to help them take back their home base, because most of her contacts wouldn’t lend them a hand without asking for a share in their mines’ profits.

“Haah…”

Exhaling another breath, she straightened herself and began to go over the plan once again.

---

“What’s she so uptight about, Seola unnie?”

On the third floor of the Immerser, the person who Clare called ‘Dew’ whined to her fellow member.

“You heard her explanation before, Soobin.”

Seola answered, trying to see the good side of their client.

“Her group’s disorganized and her base is full of those nasty slime-like pests. I would be mad if I had to deal with that as well.”

The two of them were in their respective spacesuits, Seola’s a black-grey colour while Soobin’s in shades of red and pink.

“Still, she’s the one who’s paying us to clean up the mess they made!”

The latter fumed, resting herself on the bunk bed of their temporary quarters.

As an independent orbital cruiser, the Immerser had every facility it needed to function as a makeshift space station; Seola and Soobin’s spaceships, repaired for the most part, were stationed in the hangar on the first floor of the cruiser.

“Well, they were nice enough to let us on here, at least.” Her partner rummaged through the closet, trying to find anything useful she can throw into her inventory. “The food wasn’t that bad, in my opinion.”

“The food is the least of my issues with this entire thing.” Soobin continued.

Letting out a sigh,

“…Never mind. We did sign up for this because of the money, and they already paid us upfront.”

“Either way,” Seola pulled a pair of uniforms from the closet and one of them handed her partner. “This is only a game, after all. No point playing it if we’re not having fun, right?”

Soobin nodded in response.

Their first day in Hyperspace Frontier was chaotic, even with Yeonjung coming to help get them up and running at the end. So far, Day 2 doesn’t look like it’ll be any more peaceful either.

She just hopes that this operation goes well, and that it’ll be the last time they’ll have anything to do with the Haulers.

---

Clearly, that wasn’t going to happen.

An emergency warning was issued throughout the entirety of the Immerser.

> Bandit Raiders Inbound. I repeat: Bandit Raiders Inbound! <

Not even a few seconds after, the entire room shuddered violently, the sound of plasma grazing against metal seared in rhythmic succession.

“What was that!?”

Seola steadied herself as she rose up from the chair, looking in Soobin’s direction to see if she was alright.

“Ow, ow!”

The other woman rubbed her cheek, which seems to have bumped against the wall next to the bed during the attack.

“That’s just great, isn’t it?” Soobin rolled out of the bunk bed and brushed her disheveled hair with her hand. “And Clare’s order, in three, two—”

A voice could be heard through the speaker in the ceiling of their temporary quarters.

“Recruit Raven, Recruit Dew, change of plans. If the team doesn’t leave for Deken now, our fleet of fighters will be compromised.”

“…one.” She finished her sentence, straightening her locks.

It was indeed the Oxley Haulers’ representative, urging them to commence the operation thirty minutes early.

“Shall we?” Seola was already by the door, waiting for Soobin to get ready.

“Let’s go,”

Tying up her hair in a ponytail with a band, the shorter explorer pressed a panel by the steel door, sliding it open.

“I don’t feel like dying here.”

Trying their best to recall where the hangar was, they rushed out of the crew quarters of the Immerser and headed for the lower floors, avoiding the chaos of the personnel all running towards their battle stations.

As the two of them ran down the narrow stairs on one side of the ship, Seola saw some parts of the interior corridors dent and crack; fresh damage from the cruiser’s engagement with the bandit raiders.

“Careful with your steps, Soobin!” She warned the woman who ran ahead of her.

“No time to waste, unnie!” She jumped over the debris from the broken walls. Fortunately, the air containment layers weren’t breached, or they would have to deal with being into outer space, unprotected from all the brutal fighting taking place there.

Bumping into the Haulers’ personnel more than they really needed to, Seola and Soobin finally reached the hangar where their ships were stationed.

Almost all the other fighters have already taken off, flying away to join in the battle outside.

As soon as they saw where their spacecrafts were,

“Let your glory shine, Resplendent 02!”

“Reach for the skies, Relentless 05!”

They issued a voice command, ordering each of their personal crafts to initiate the takeoff process.

Seola’s wide-winged, graceful Soarer-type ship let out a gentle hum, in contrast to the aggressive whirring from Soobin’s more agile Prober-class ride. At once, both their hatches swung open, ready to take in their pilots.

“Space fight time, Soobs.” Seola shot her partner a look.

“Don’t die too soon, okay unnie?” Soobin returned it with her own helpless expression.

The two of them nodded at each other, then entered their own respective crafts for takeoff.

---

Deadly projectiles and rounds whizzed past high-velocity interplanetary vessels above Venus’s atmosphere as the engagement between the Oxley Haulers and the unnamed group of bandit raiders built towards its peak.

A transmission request was delivered to both Seola and Soobin’s ship communication systems, coming from the Immerser.

Looking at the sleek, futuristic green-white cruiser under attack behind her, Seola hurriedly accepted the request, connecting her to Soobin’s ship as well as the bridge of the cruiser.

“This is callsign Manicom, board operator for this mission. Callsign Indera has authorized me to oversee your route towards the Deken base, as well as provide instructions for your maneuver past our active base defenses.”

The voice was sharper, belonging to a woman younger than Clare.

“A squad of our fighters will you on your way to the destination.” The voice continued. “Whatever you do, please try not to destroy our guns. I trust that you can weave through our defenses and infiltrate the base with your dogfighting skills.”

Soobin instantly flagged a protest as soon as the voice was done.

“Your own base will fire at us too!? Why can’t you disable the guns from your side!?”

“The turrets can only be operated from inside the base!” Manicom exacted. “We do not risk external cyberattacks from our enemies in this trade.”

A flurry of red lasers came down upon the Relentless 05, and Soobin’s ducked and rolled her ship through the storm of fire, enduring menial damage to its shields in the process.

“We will do our best to assist you in this operation, callsign Raven, callsign Dew.”

Still with the nicknames, huh.

Seola thought that the Haulers were being too serious for their own good, but then again this was their work and life on the line.

A few other participants in the channel voiced their presence.

“Callsign Boreon here, we’ll get you there safe and sound.”

“Callsign Glutana, ready to support!”

“Callsign Skulmiset, guns locked and loaded.”

The two of them realized how much the Haulers were depending on them to succeed in the mission, investing even the group’s own fighters in their security.

While steering clear from the sights of the dark brown bandit ships, Seola stumbled her hand opening the chat window and typed a message to Soobin.

You: Looks like failure’s not an option now.

Her reply came after a few seconds.

Soobin: We’ll finish the job we’re paid for.

“Got it.” Seola spoke into the transmission channel.

“Squad Splinter, assist the others as necessary, but sending our explorers down on Deken is top priority!” Manicom sent down her orders towards the three other people.

The promixal defenses of the Immerser turned in the direction of Seola and Soobin’s ships and began to fire at the bandit raiders pursuing the group.

Seola saw the crude, rickety spacecrafts surrounding her team burst into fragments as the cruiser’s Epsilon beams mowed them down. However, in their ashes burst forth an equal number of pirate pursuers, bent on taking them down.

“Team Venturer is taking on the long-distance gunships and they need my help!” Glutana’s voice flowed like velvet as she made her request through their transmission channel. “Blast open a path for me!”

“Got it.” Boreon’s glacial grunt came in response.

The team of five spaceships looped up in unison, completing an Immelmann turn and heading under the altitude of the Immerser. Making slight wobbles to avoid the bandits’ gunfire, Seola and Soobin followed the lead of Boreon’s ship in front of them, while Glutana and Skulmiset made up either side of their rear.

Right after, however, Skulmiset took over as the spearhead of their team, while Boreon and Glutana pulled away from formation and flew onwards in the direction of Venus’s curvature.

“Are you going to be fine?” Soobin asked in the channel.

“Business as usual.” Glutana reassured her. “Focus on your own mission, Dew, I’ll see you when we’re done.”

Far ahead of the team, the fighter Boreon piloted began to glow an immense aquamarine, as if charging up for a powerful attack.

“Shield your eyes!” Skulmiset issued a command and turned his ship away from his comrades’ path.

*FLASH*

A bright strobe of light reached Seola’s eyes through her eyelids, tightly shut just in time to avoid Boreon’s attack.

Clearing away the resulting afterimages, she briefly saw what happened while steering her Resplendent 02 to follow after the leading ship.

A path was blasted open through the fleet of fighters and support frigates further by the edge of the planet, most of them having avoided whatever path of destruction Boreon laid before them. Through that breach, Glutama accelerated her ship further into the distance, beyond her field of vision.

Looks like they’ll be fine after all, she thought.

Returning her gaze to the front, the explorer gradually put more force into her ship’s ers as it kept up with the rest of the team’s speed.

They were still receiving stray gunfire from the bandit raiders, but much fewer of them were now in pursuit as the rest of them pulled away to defend their gunships.

“Get out of the way, unnie, I’m shooting them down.”

Soobin spoke as the guns on the Relentless 05 turned and fired on their pursuers.

“…’unnie’?” Manicom’s voice asked.

“Fine,” She muttered under her breath. “Raven.”

Seeing the hassle of explaining that term to them, she chose to ‘correct’ herself instead.

The pulse chains from Soobin’s ship didn’t cause major damage to the few enemy ships they hit, but it was enough to deter them from coming in close on their position.

Just as the two of them were able to catch a breath,

“Heads up, Raven, Dew.”

Skulmiset’s misty voice brought her back to reality.

“We’ve got company.”

---

A squad composed of ten or so spaceships, each a sleek fighter shrouded in dusk zoomed past the three of them.

“The Fractured Daggers.” Boreon’s voice reported his arrival, joining back up with the team at the rear.

“What did you say?” Manicom’s voice came through the channel. “The Daggers are there!?”

“Someone leaked our situation to them.” He solemnly made his conjecture.

“Are they dangerous?”

Seola posed a question in the transmission channel. Just to be on the safe side, she opened the interface to her ship systems and diverted some power to her weaponry, firing them up.

“Right now, they are an extreme threat.” Skulmiset responded. “Rotten hyenas who prey on ships isolated from the rest of the herd. They know how dangerous it is for us to bring our fleet close to Deken.”

It poses danger to the relatively unprotected civilian settlements on the ground, he explained.

“Get out of there, now!!” Manicom’s sharp voice ordered.

“Easier said than done. Manicom.” Boreon replied.

Just as he spoke, the squad of black ships could be seen once again, catching up to their trail. Some of the larger ones began firing ultraviolet phasers on the team, while the faster, more streamlined ones accelerated to gain up on them.

Pulling away from the conversation, Soobin weaved the Relentless 05 away from the volley of stray phasers and looked behind her. None of the pirates chased them any longer, probably aware of the threat the black ships possessed.

Soobin: What do we do, unnie?

Sending that message to her partner, she waited for a reply.

Back on Charon, they spent most of their first day flying around on the moon and outside of it, taking advantage of the more desolate environment in that part of the Solar system. However, as familiar with the controls she was, outmaneuvering experienced killers like the Daggers were wasn’t something she was confident in.

Seola: How would I know?

In the Resplendent 01, Seola stared at the message she sent in the chat window, unsure of how to proceed.

In the bridge of the Immerser, the woman who went by Manicom gritted her teeth, trying to come up with a solution while staring at the hologram display, projecting an overview of the entire battle.

In a corner of the screen, the Fractured Daggers caught up to Squad Splinter’s position, and the team of fighters could only endure as the black ships began to assail them with their dismantlers.

As adept the Haulers’ fighters were, the Fractured Daggers held an absolute number advantage over them. None of the other units were within distance to make it in time.

Just as she was about to say her next words,

“Squad Splinter, breach Venus’s atmosphere as soon as possible.”

Clare Langan came up to her station and leaned into the microphone.

“Callsign Indera…”

Manicom trailed off, looking at the person who intruded in their conversation.

‘Indera’ should have been busy with directing the Immerser’s cannon operators against the bandit raiders. However, with their difference in rank, she couldn’t voice her protest.

“Straight for Deken?” From the transmission channel, Boreon’s voice could be heard, a strain of tenseness in his icy voice from the engagement.

“That’s right.” Clare affirmed her orders. “Our base may be compromised, but it’s still active, remember?”

Less than a second of silence followed before an answer arrived.

“We’ll do our best.” Skulmiset replied. “No guarantees, though.”

Straightening her posture back up, the mercenary’s gaze remained on the hologram screen.

“It’s not over as long as you don’t give up; that’s how you’ve managed to live all this while, right?” She spoke into the transmission channel.

However, there was no reply.

‘Indera’’s words masked Clare’s own fears. It was truly unfortunate that the Daggers would choose this moment to strike her most trusted comrades out of any other time.

“Do whatever you can, Manicom.” She turned to give her a solemn look.

“…And if worst comes to worst, be with them until the end.”

Walking back to her post, the mercenary left the board operator with those words.

---

“Looks like we’re dipping into low-altitude flight ahead of schedule.”

Boreon repeated Clare’s message to the rest of the team.

However, the attacks from the squad of black ships didn’t leave them any chance to do so.

Barely avoiding a flurry of ion knives from the smaller Dagger ships surrounding him, the Haulers’ leading fighter maneuvered his ship to an altitude above that of his teammates, before diving in pursuit of the enemies that chased after them.

Skulmiset continued to roll around his spacecraft in an effort to keep his opponents’ attention on himself.

The four ships were scattered about above Venus’s atmosphere, trying to shake off the Daggers that were cornering them.

In the midst of it all, Soobin pushed the Relentless 05’s ers to the limit, looping through the flight paths of the larger enemies while escaping the chase of the smaller ones. Her maneuvers were impressive, but the hull of her ship continued to chip away from the Daggers’ sustained assault.

More than anything, she was worried about how Seola was faring. The Resplendent 02 was much slower than her own ship was, and the weapons on that Soarer were not optimized for dogfights.

She’s not replying my message…!

Putting away her chat window, Soobin tried her best to lead the Daggers onto in front of Boreon’s ship, looking around the battlefield for any sign of her partner.

A stray ultraviolet phaser round lodged itself into the the left wing of Skulmiset’s ship, tearing it off the fuselage and making him lose control of the fighter.

Overheat warnings flooded both the engine and weaponry compartment of Boreon’s ship systems, smoke coming out of the boosters and beam weapons strained beyond their capabilities.

A probe extension on the Relentless 05 was destroyed by an ion knife, its fragments obscuring Soobin’s vision and almost made her crash onto a larger Dagger ship.

“Manicom.” Boreon’s voice sounded in the transmission channel.

“…What is it?” The sharp voice from the Immerser’s bridge replied.

However, there was no answer to her question.

A cacophony of gunfire orchestrated the violent battle building up towards its peak above Venus’s atmosphere.

---

Seola’s Resplendent 02 hummed silently, making no effort to escape the web of tractor beams that held the ship right in the clutches of the Daggers’ commanding unit.

The Soarer could barely outrun the bandit raiders in the first place; in face of the ruthless Fractured Daggers, it never stood a chance.

“At least you know what’s good for you, explorer.”

A darker voice could be heard throughout the ship’s audio system. This was a forced broadcast, instead of the usual transmission channel where communications usually took place.

On the other hand, the tractor beams also jammed the Resplendent 02’s communications system, so Seola was cut off from the rest of her group. The ship’s weapons were active, but they didn’t fire at all. To be precise, the pilot chose not to fire them.

“It’s unfortunate that you had to choose to fly this ship of yours, so slow and clumsy compared to your peers’.” The voice continued. “Even our most untrained pilot could roll out of your gunfire in time.”

Seola kept her breathing steady as she focused on something in front of her.

“Maybe it’s better for it to be dismantled for parts after all!” It laughed. “…But you won’t be alive to see it, unfortunately.”

The chatter that followed between the commander and her subordinates was lost on the woman’s ears, as she tried to pick out what was happening in her mind.

“…”

The Resplendent 02 was never a ship meant to trade blows with other, faster ones.

White.

From the armaments it sported, it was suited more to striking down ground fortifications from a higher altitude.

“White lights.” Seola gasped for air.

It was an instrument of war; conflicts of a scale much greater than the one she was experiencing now.

White lights.

---

Things that hailed from lost eras, times well before the foundation of the Frontier or any of its races, tend to have memories of their own.

Perhaps that was the only thing that reminded them of their glory.

Perhaps there was a purpose they could not fulfill from that age.

Or maybe… It had something to pass on?

A silver array of brilliance burst out in all directions behind her eyes.