day 112, alliance standard 407 (II)

we'll pour the brightest white, on the blackest space

 

day 112, alliance standard 407
1309 hours - east corridor plaza, space terminal laemos's primary complex

from the giant cupola adorning the large concourse's roofing, lieutenant son eunseo could see stars—bright faraway lights coming from planets million miles and light years away, gargantuan or miniature in size, already dead or still alive—all unbounded, twinkling ever so elegantly like fairies lighting their precious background. people of all kinds flock the busy open area concourse, unmindful of the sight eunseo couldn't keep her eyes off, all of them busy going about their separate day. a pity, is what eunseo could think of—how could anyone possibly brush such a sight off without taking a full moment to appreciate it?

eunseo cranes her neck so much and for so long that it starts to hurt, and she finally turns her head and eyes down, meeting the waiting pair of eyes that belongs to lieutenant kim bona. eunseo is about to apologize for keeping her rank-mate waiting while they are in need of such a hurry, but the shine she's enamored with soon fills lieutenant kim's eyes as well when she looks up to the cupola; and eunseo knows bona finds the cosmic flower bed of stars and galaxies among the pitch black, midnight body of the lunis cluster similarly beautiful.

lieutenant kim bona closes her eyes once she's taken the ethereal view in, imprinting it in her mind as best as she could for safe keeping. "i bet you can't wait to be just a tiny speck of titanium and steel living in the intrepid; surrounded by all those stars."

"yes," eunseo admits readily. "i can't wait to set sail again."

"you will," bona reassures the combat pilot. "even your reliant-class fighter is already repaired close to perfection."

"you think so?"

"yes, ensign kim gave me the repair updates earlier, and while you were off getting ready and changing out of your overalls into field uniform, i looked into the data. i'd say it's almost ready. you just needed to change a few more power conduits and cables to the impulse ers for a complete power delivery and you'd be set to go," bona graces eunseo with a gentle smile. "you did really well."

"to be honest, i didn't think i could manage to repair it so quickly without the ensign's aid... oh, be careful there," eunseo pulls lieutenant kim out of the way of a passing merchant who is pulling a heavy looking cart ladened with preserved meat and fried snacks. she murmurs a quick apology to the gruff merchant. "sincerest apologies, good sir," then she turns to bona again once the merchant's off on his way, still holding firm onto her blue sleeves—the colour for officers belonging to the alliance's engineering department. "what was i saying, lieutenant? oh... yes, that i'm thankful that you lent one of your engineering subordinates to help me with the fighter craft when you could've... y'know, made her work on repairing the intrepid instead. i felt like the intrepid needed the ensign's service more than me."

lieutenant kim pulls her hands away from eunseo's grip on her sleeves, albeit very slowly. "nonsense," she says. "the intrepid has another team of engineers working on her repairs, so we were pretty much set with that arrangement, and, well... the ensign really wanted to see what you're all about. she volunteered when i asked if anyone would make themselves available to help you instead."

"what i'm all about?" eunseo blinks questioningly at that statement—a plea for more explanation.

"not everyday does the intrepid acquires a new crew member, and never would commander bae order us to fly so far away from our previous assignment's location just for... ensign kim yerim's words, not mine, mind... 'a scrub pilot'."

eunseo chuckles nervously at ensign kim yerim's title meant for her. "i feel like that's a pretty apt description for myself. i'm really not that great, to be fair. the kind of dog fight battles i was involved in the whole time i was a crew at the battleship was..." she pauses for a time, thinking about the sheer magnitude of her past service. "really. i was seriously lucky to be alive."

"even being lucky is a precious skill, especially for survival," lieutenant kim says with a small shrug. "out here in this vast cosmic immensity... we sail in space seeking for a safe harbour, always."

"and it's not always there for us."

"it really is not," bona emphasises. "so if i hear one more word about how you're really not all that... i'll call lieutenant park down here so she could drill some very nice compliments to you and you won't be able to shut her up even if you try."

"how are you going to call for sooyoung when our ship's communication is down?" eunseo teases.

lieutenant kim bona lets out a rather offended gasp. "you think you're so smart."

"i'm teasing," eunseo grins happily, before remembering for a fact that the two of them are cut off from the ship and its command. "seriously, though... we're on our own here."

"lieutenant commander kang has set up a team to look for us if we're not back at the intrepid before the day's over," bona provides. "and the days in this cluster are so long. i'm quite sure we have around eight hours of daytime still."

"we should still hurry though—" eunseo's attempt to hasten their pace walking around the plaza is stopped by her stomach gurgling. bona too, stops on her tracks once she hears the audible complaint. "sorry, i, uh... my stomach does that. the food cart that just passed by us smelled delicious, so..."

"right, i did snatch you away from your duties when it's around lunch time," bona laughs, eyes curving to crescents and her upper cheek dip ever so slightly to form a dimple. her soft laughter rings so melodically in eunseo's ears that she couldn't seem to fault her stomach for being hungry; she'd honestly let her stomach gurgle as often as physically possible if it meant she could draw out more of those melodic sound. "i must apologise, i really should've let you get your lunch first with ensign kim earlier."

"no, it is alright, actually. i'll hang in there. my stomach is just fond of being... very dramatic."

this time around, bona is the one to tug on eunseo's red coloured sleeve. "well, won't have that. come on," she calls, the whisker dimple still visible. "let's get you some grub right now, lieutenant. did you see where that vendor go with his cart?"

 

----

day 112, alliance standard 407
1346 hours - reception, diamond drifts mining company, space terminal laemos's primary complex

missing!

mining vessel dd-177

1 asteroid mining personnel

on lunis era 23; day 78 at approximately 0558 hour the vessel dd-177 lost contact after its tethering on an exo-asteroid snapped. it was out of the weak orbit of asteroid #467729-e and has since floated without power. last known coordinate sq3 quadrant 13.6119 +90

any information helps

a few of the same missing posters are posted in the form of holographic screens outside the company's building and is one clue of many that eunseo should've given more attention on—she should've pieced together that their request for help from the mining company would go unanswered.

lieutenant kim bona's strides grow faster once they've passed the entrance, and she didn't seem to linger to read the mass amount of posters outside as eunseo did. she approaches the reception desk and introduces herself. "good afternoon. i am an officer from the alliance, lieutenant kim bona."

eunseo joins lieutenant kim at her side. "also from the alliance, lieutenant son eunseo."

bona clasps her hands together and lets them rest in front of her stomach. "may we have a word?"

"seen you lots come and go once the alliance called dibs and bought off this terminal," the mining foreman at the reception replies, a bit harsh on his tone. "can't real say if it's a good thing for us mining folks," he harrumphs before pointing to a corner away from the reception. "you can take a gander all you like at our mining permits and locations of our asteroids, planetoids and planets on that holograph board over there."

eunseo goes to the board, skimming through the list of asteroids and the sorties the company has done that week.

"this isn't about your company's permits, sir." bona tries.

"then we don't want your kind here."

"please, sir, if you could just give us a minute—"

"a minute's gone since you stepped in. if my permits are all straight and legal you should leave, lady," if bona's voice is pleading, the foreman's tone is full of exhaustion. "this week's been hellish for us. we lost several vessels after something went horribly wrong with an asteroid belt."

"the missing miners." eunseo says from the corner of the reception.

"aye, the posters you see outside ain't the only one gone. but that's most recent. anyone gone missing out there never returns to us sadly. we've been working on a search, but it is unfortunate that we have had no luck in finding a survivor so far."

"i don't think they'll know about our lost supplies, lieutenant," eunseo closes in to bona and quickly updates her rank-mate. "the foreman's telling the truth. their current priorities seem to be looking for their missing miners to the point that they've placed several projects on halt. their ships sorties this past week have only been at the relative distance of their permitted mining quadrant, nowhere close to the alliance's supply wormhole exit and collection point."

"that darned supply wormhole needs to be forced closed if it's going to be so useless," the gruff foreman warns. "it's unstable and cannot be relied on to perform the simplest deliveries. we tried using it to transport an urgent cargo to the planetoid rui-8k, which is registered as an actual stop in the wormhole path and we... unsurprisingly lost a whole shipment—it never arrived there."

bona nods. lieutenant commander kang seulgi was right. the intrepid's loss of supplies isn't an isolated case. "i'll raise a concern with higher command."

"see that you do," the foreman implores. "but whatever it is you need assistance with, officers, i'm afraid we can't help you. we're already too tied down with our own search for missing personnel and shipments."

 

----

day 112, alliance standard 407
1407 hours - east corridor plaza, space terminal laemos's primary complex

"that didn't go as well as i thought it would, but at least we weren't cussed our ears off," eunseo notes leisurely as the two lieutenants reach the busy concourse once again. still, countless bright lights stream in from the giant cupola window roofing. "lieutenant sooyoung and i were literally chased out of several business premises when the owners saw our uniforms the last time both of us were out purchasing additional supplies for the intrepid."

lieutenant bona hums, unsurprised by eunseo's admittance of public rejection on the alliance's occupancy in laemos terminal (and possibly everywhere else in the extended exoplanets orbiting the enormous space terminal). "i suppose the terminal's permanent residents would get used to our uniformed presence soon enough. after all, we're just the advance scouting party coming in after your previous battleship crews—the vanguards, finished their mission sorties. once the main force escorting the terraforming ships belonging to both military and private companies alike arrive in lunis cluster... the alliance would've officially made a significant entry and pathway to the supercluster galaxies bound together by lunis point's massive gravitational power. and there would be no return from obeying alliance's military regime then," bona pauses, deep in thought. "they lost their freedom, in a way. now there will be new sets of rules set by the alliance, instead of a private, corporate power as the terminal was under govern previously. permanent residents would be classed as alliance's public citizens, and not space nomads, adventurers, or workers under a corporation."

"my home planet... euthenia, was also originally a planet that was owned by a private corporation. they went bankrupt after a series of continuous natural disasters occurred. that ugly streak of nature's wrath devastated the planet's economy, and we were literally on the verge of interplanet war following the collapse of... everything, i guess. euthenia was barely livable at that point. then the alliance swooped in and bailed us out," eunseo recounts, thinking back on the rough few years during her preteen age when her home planet went through a downward spiral. "so if you were to ask me, the alliance saved my home and my family. that's why... i hope the transfer of government goes just as well for these folks as it did for me..."

bona listens to eunseo with rapt attention. "i'm so sorry to hear that, lieutenant... i... i had no idea. that's a terrible thing to experience."

"i guess it was bound to happen one way or another. euthenia is just a small colony where everybody knows each other. so when we exhausted all means and turned against family and friends alike..."

"i understand."

"i could only hope that... well, that the alliance make a difference here. good ones."

"you're right, we could only hope."

eunseo's eyes blink slowly as she studies bona's worried expression. "i'm sorry," she says finally, rubbing the back of her neck nervously at her own insensitiveness. "you must be already bummed out by the mining corp's dismissal, yet i just... added up to that pile of disappointment."

"no, it's alright. i liked that," the smaller lieutenant bites the bottom of her lip at her choice of words. "not that i like to hear about such a terrible event... just—well... i did dump a lot on you back when we met for the first time, so it's nice to hear your stories as well. i'd like to get to know you better too, lieutenant son."

"er, yes, of course." eunseo couldn't control the blood rushing to her face as she flushes red. bona's casual words could've been fairly normal, but to eunseo it meant so much more.

she's spent so many months being all by herself with nothing to show for—and it truly isn't eunseo's fault that she yearns for companionship so deeply and desperately.

(it also doesn't help her case that the kind of companionship lieutenant kim bona so easily offers her is the sort eunseo craves to embrace.)

eunseo mentally shakes her focus back into carrying out their current mission. she turns towards bona, and stiffens into attention. "the mining corps can't lend us their help, so i assume we're..."

bona sets her jaw with her hand, hesitant. "turning to the scavengers, possibly."

"i don't like the idea as much as you... but i can't think of a better idea," eunseo sighs a little. "do you know where we could find any of their crews?"

"i have a faint idea on the location of their headquarters," bona's sha ears twitch ever so slightly under her thick hair. "picked up some rumors and gossips around the port. they don't make themselves easy to locate but i have confidence that we can find them."

"or we could find you," a new voice pipes in the comfortable bubble of the two lieutenants' conversation, surprising them both. eunseo gently pulls lieutenant kim behind her, half covering the smaller lieutenant with her own body as she glares at the newcomer, accessing the possible threat. "hello," the stranger greets with an excited grin, both of her hands are up to her chest to show that she is unarmed and poses no visible threat to the pair of lieutenants. "couldn't help but eavesdrop on you two alliance officers, you two looked real important—sticking out like a sore thumb among all these folks."

"we could be," eunseo replies as she straightens out, looking around warily at the ever buzzing plaza. she could feel eyes on them, but couldn't pinpoint their origins. they are being watched. she needs to be careful. "my name is lieutenant son eunseo, the person behind me is lieutenant kim bona. we are officers on board the light weight exploration spacecraft intrepid, belonging to the alliance."

"aha," the unnamed woman notes. "the new rightful owner of this terminal and all the smaller, orbiting planets around. we welcome you. or not. depending on how you're going to treat us, really."

lieutenant kim cranes her neck over eunseo's shoulder to question the woman. "how would you like us to treat you? who are you, exactly?"

"why, i'm part of the group of people that you lot are looking for. hoarders, scavengers, thieves, poachers—whatever it is that you may call us; that's me and my friends, aye," she nods in satisfaction; as if that short bit could explain everything. "and of course we want you to treat us kindly. even people like us deserve basic decency and humanity," she then proposes a change of location with an urgency. "look; i'd like to talk more—but we're kind of in the middle of public place full with people who's not exactly fond of us. much like your unique situation, we aren't so welcomed here. so how about you two follow me somewhere more... safe?"

"how can we trust you?" eunseo's brows knotted together as her glare grows sharper.

"i'm sure you've read our case files before you come galvanising in this supercluster," the woman shrugs. "gotta study up on the threat if you want to conquer it and all that. so, really, if we want you dead, you won't be speaking to me so freely like this. catch my drift?"

eunseo sighs, but doesn't let her guard down. "loud and clear."

the presumed scavenger woman graces the two lieutenants with brightly smiling eyes and toothy grin, forgetting the fact that her words are almost a threat to both eunseo and bona. "great!" she says, turning on her heels and marching off, leading them away from the busy plaza. "let's get on with it then, shall we?"

"wait a second," bona calls for the woman. "we gave you our names... basic decency would call for you to introduce yourself properly, too."

"oh, right," she turns quickly on her heels again to face the alliance officers. "sorry, been living around savages for too long, 'afraid. i've forgotten all kinds of manners," she places her closed palm on the center of her chest, a gesture of goodwill among spacefarers—a kind of greeting dear to many, eunseo included. "my name is park soobin, i sail with the jolly crew in this ever changing lunis cluster. it's a pleasure, lieutenants."

 

----

 

- to be continued -

 

author's note: i sketched this way back when i hit a huge writer's block. some more details on the alliance uniforms for your viewing pleasure :)

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penrith
Going forward, each chapter will be around 2-3k words long.

Comments

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girlgrouplesbian
#1
Chapter 1: really great character establishment (and more worldbuilding!!!) i’m excited to see where this goes
corinneniix
#2
Chapter 3: omg, you write so beautifully, the imagery is vivid even tho i haven't been to outer space.

and soobin!!! that was kinda cute

nice drawings too uwu love the outfits!!

thanks for the update!
KTRouge #3
Chapter 2: Can't waittt
Taitai84 1159 streak #4
Chapter 2: Sounds dangerous!!
corinneniix
#5
Chapter 2: omg you updated!! thank you so much!! been wanting to read some wjsn recently esp with space concept that's just perfect for wjsn
gazwashere
#6
Chapter 2: AAAAA A NEW CHAPTER!!! been missing eunbo lately and this hits the spot, them off to an adventure that'll continue to the next chapter. chap is a chef's kiss and i cant wait for the next one! thank you for updating 🥰
corinneniix
#7
Chapter 1: i love this. the technical context is also well explained and seems so appropriate. i'll be waiting for the next chapter!
KTRouge #8
Chapter 1: excited for the next chap!! i'll be waiting patiently :)
gazwashere
#9
Chapter 1: already excited for the next chapter!!! i missed seulrene and wenjoy, and eunbo looks like a nice addition to the list 🥰
Taitai84 1159 streak #10
Chapter 1: Excited to read more about the complex world and tight crew on the ship