Chapter Text
SunaX72D was a big satellite of Chiron, one of the biggest planets on the Northern side of the Galaxy. It was a prized territory that has always belonged to the Republic ever since spatial conquest started. Its atmosphere was hostile to most living beings but its ground was rich in elysium, the heavy metal that made most components of spatial navigation systems. Especially fast travel in the entire Galaxy.
Elysium was found on some other planets and satellites around the galaxy but nowhere near as much as on SunaX72D. That’s why the Republic invested so much to make it liveable for its workers to extract it. And why it was so sought-after by the Empire.
The Empire and the Republic, the two superpowers of the Galaxy, originating from two planets in the Northern and the Southern sides, had always been in conflicts with each other and in recent centuries at war, especially on their conquered territories. War had yet to reach Dedale (planet of the Empire) or Thetis (planet of the Republic) but war was part of the daily routine of every single citizen in the Galaxy. Whether by choice or not.
The Empire and the Republic were always at risk of annihilating each other. A territory conflict could always escalate to something worse. And perhaps an Imperial attack on SunaX72D could be that last straw.
What made SunaX72D particularly uninhabitable was the unforgiven dust storms that ruled its atmosphere. It made landing on it a particularly hard task and navigating on it an even worst nightmare. Getting as much info on SunaX72D as possible in hope of getting to invade it and taking back from republicans was a difficult task. A difficult task that the High Command of the Imperial Army decided to give to one of its elite pathfinder squads: the Park Squad.
In the middle of a strong dust storm sat an imperial pathfinder spaceship called the Icarus. It was one of the latest models, freshly taken out of the Dedale spaceship factory a few years ago, at the same time as elite pathfinder squad Park was created. It had already withstood a lot of difficult missions and taken its squad to the worst environment of the galaxy.
Currently standing in camouflage mode in the middle of the storm, it waited for its owners to come back from their task to once again take them back to safety.
The Icarus rose to life once more, its main door opening and its platform dipping until it reached the dust covered ground. The airlock transfert of the entrance of the ship closed at the same time as the main door opened, preventing dust from getting further inside and damaging the expensive electronic hardware of the ship.
Nothing moved for a little while, and only the harsh winds could be heard outside the spaceship until heavy boots finally walked into the platform.
The tall silhouette of a man reached the top of the entrance platform, his figure completely drowned into protective gears and beige like turban that allowed him protection from and camouflage in the dusty winds. The robotic feminine voice of the Icarus’s AI recognized its captain and greeted him:
“Welcome back to Icarus, Captain Park.”
Captain Park ignored the AI and turned back to the opened door, a hand on its activation button, waiting for the rest of his squad to come in.
Three silhouettes dressed in similar ways came into view in the harsh winds: two helping the one between them to walk on the platform.
“Hurry up inside!” came the distorted voice of the Captain, speaking through the oxygen mask covering his face up to his nose.
As soon as the three other men passed him and the door, Captain Park hit the button, closing the door of the Icarus and Ulyss spoke again.
“Pressurization process ongoing. Please keep oxygen masks until further notice.”
The two men sat the injured one on the bench of the airlock transfert while Captain Park started to take out his protective gears and clothes revealing his black hair falling on his face and his piercing dark eyes.
“Where are you hurt Wooyoung?” he turned to the injured man who was stripped of his gears by the other two men.
“Left leg. It’s pretty superficial I think.” Even through the distortion of Wooyoung’s voice with the oxygen mask Captain Park could hear the pain in it.
“Bastards came out of nowhere. We took all of them down though.” the man with light brown hair spoke, hatred clear in his distorted voice too.
“Good job Jongho, but we still need to get out of here as quickly as possible. They’ll know it was our blasters that did this.”
“For the last f*cking beacons too. We’re out of luck, I'm afraid Captain.”
“We’re never out of luck as long as we have me.” Wooyoung smiled through his eyes.
“Concentrate Woo I’m begging.” the last man to speak did so trying to gently take the equipment of the injured leg.
He was not undressed of any gear himself, only concentrating on his injured friend. The task wasn’t easy with the big gloves on though so he took the time to take them off before delicately taking the gear of the leg back in hand.
“Hold Jongho’s hand.” he instructed Wooyoung who nodded and did so.
The imperial protective gears were pretty effective but stuck too close to skin. Taking it off while injured was an indescribable pain, one they all experienced at least once.
Jongho held Wooyoung tightly as the other got into position to take the gear off as quickly as possible until the Captain’s voice boomed into the airlock transfert.
“Yeosang wait!” he barked the command.
The room was silent for a few seconds until Ulyss’ mechanical voice broke it.
“Oxygen levels are good. Cleaning process in progress. Airlock transfert door will open in a few seconds”
“Now you can.” Seonghwa said while taking his oxygen mask off, revealing his face with the scar under his right eye.
Yeosang took the gear off in a quick gesture, leaving Wooyoung with a brief moment of intense pain.
“Bleeding doesn’t seem too bad. Wound looks long though.” he observed his friend’s leg.
“Yeosang, take your gear off now and join me in the cabin. I need you to get the Icarus off the floor.” Seonghwa ordered while dressing back in his characteristic long red coat, a sign of his position in the Imperial army.
Yeosang took his mask off, closed his eyes to calm down, his hands trembling from tremors and stress, and looked directly at Wooyoung’s eyes, reading “Go on” in them.
“Go Yeosang. I’ll take care of him. I’m better at stitching than you anyways.” Jongho reassured him smugly.
“Alright Captain, I’m coming quickly.”
“You better.” Seonghwa was already unlocking the transfert room door to get inside the Icarus cabin as quickly as possible, Ulyss talking to him about the take off procedure of the spaceship in the storm.
Yeosang was quick to take off his equipment one by one, letting them on the ground of the airlock transfert, pretty much like the rest of the crew did. It will be a problem for later, when they’re not in immediate danger deep in republican territory.
He went into co-pilot mode pretty quickly, at least as quickly as Seonghwa wanted him to. The latter was already sitting on his seat in the cabin, in front of the biggest electronic panel of the spaceship. Seonghwa was an excellent pilot, perhaps the best of the entire Empire, at least for his age. He had graduated Aircraft School with honors, given to him by High Command, something that very few other pilots had in the history of Aircraft School. That was probably why he was the Captain of one of the best pathfinder squads of the Imperial army at barely 26. And why his squad was sent in missions as dangerous as putting beacons deep into enemy territory, on a very hostile planet.
Yeosang himself hadn’t done Aircraft School but was handy with spaceships and deemed good enough by Seonghwa who hand picked him as his co-pilot. Yeosang came from General school and was trained to adapt to every situation, just like Wooyoung. Even though Yeosang took to the co-piloting field while Wooyoung did medicine. Every elite squad needed a member who dipped into medicine.
Yeosang sat on his designated seat, turning on his commands and monitor. Ulyss greeted him with his rank and name and asked what help could she be. Yeosang turned on the engines of the Icarus while asking Ulyss about the speed of the winds and their directions. He bit his tongue as the datas appeared on the screen before him and he told them to Seonghwa.
“It’s nothing we can’t do.” the Captain spoke confidently.
“Caporal Choi and Caporal Jung have safely reached the medbay.” Ulyss informed them.
“Alright Yeosang, we’re taking off in three.”
The controllers popped off between Seonghwa’s legs. Yeosang cracked his neck, ready for the tension of the spaceship taking off in the middle of the wind.
“Two.”
Seonghwa gripped both controllers firmly, knowing he’d have to apply a lot of strength. Yeosang clicked a few buttons, starting the motors for what’s to come.
“One.”
Slowly but steadily, the ship started to take off. The pressure of the wind and the lack of visibility of the storm made it ultra hard but Seonghwa was not an elite pilot for nothing. That’s precisely the reason why their squad was sent on this particular mission.
Yeosang switched a few motors, knowing exactly what Seonghwa needed and the spaceship got forward as it got up. Finally, he increased the power of the motors to get them out of the storm. The spaceship shook a lot against the wind until finally, they reached above it, the shaking abruptly stopping and their engine power needing to be decreased a bit, which Yeosang did before Seonghwa had to tell him.
“I need you until we’re out of SunaX72D’s atmosphere. Then you can go check on them.”
“Yes sir.” Yeosang answered quickly, already playing around with the buttons on the board.
Seonghwa could easily handle an atmosphere leaving on his own really, Yeosang was a mere co-pilot by formation and when the environment was too harsh like SunaX72D but he knew his captain wanted him in the co*ckpit and not the med bay.
“It was our last beacon.”
“I know.”
“I want to get us on the mothership as soon as possible. And I’ll negotiate with Colonel Pantin to get us back to Dedale.”
“We’ve accomplished our mission in time with what High Command wanted. I’m sure they’ll let us come home easily, Seonghwa.”
But Seonghwa looked perplexed and Yeosang knew it wasn’t about the possibility of them going home. It was a given, as they’d accomplished their mission brilliantly and Wooyoung got injured in the process. But more to do with what their mission was and what was to come.
The Imperial army, since its creation by the first Emperor of Dedale, was controlled by ten Generals of the same standing, forming the Imperial High Command. Each general owned a Mothership, the treasures of the Empire, whose size could reach one of a small planet’s satellite. Each Mothership housed the multiple regiments under the general’s command. Each general had their allocated troops with their respective color and forces strong enough to invade or defend. Technically, one soldier was assigned to a regiment of a particular general and did their entire career under this regiment and general. However, for elite squads, no matter of which kind, the squad could be under one particular general and carry out missions under other regiments if they were needed for it. That’s why the Park squad was currently under General Meyer’s command and especially took orders from Colonel Pantin.
“That old prick is so conquest-hungry. He’d be able to turn us from a reckon squad to a ground one to get us on the invasion day.” Seonghwa finally said, biting his lip.
“High Command won’t allow him to do it. The last thing they want is an elite squad in a ground invasion.”
“It’s our only saving grace.”
Yeosang nodded, watching as the ship shook some more, leaving SunaX72D’s atmosphere. He switched a few gears again as Seonghwa gently led them to space. As soon as they reached it, every engine was turned off, letting the ship float without gravity. Then Yeosang switched the space travel engine and they took off, Ulyss leading them back to Meyer’s Mothership.
“Go check on Wooyoung. We’ll reach the Mothership in a few hours. I won’t need you until then.”
“Thanks Sir.”
Seonghwa sighed at Yeosang calling him Sir, a thing the other members of the squad liked to tease their Captain for. Hierarchy was long forgotten between them, especially when it was only them and Ulyss, but the other three liked to remind their Captain of his rank.
Yeosang made sure the engines were fine before getting up. He switched his co-pilot boards on auto-pilot for space navigation. He lightly tapped Seonghwa’s shoulder as he passed him on his way out.
“Thank you for taking us out of yet another mission alive Captain.”
Seonghwa tsked dismissively but Yeosang saw the start of red stains on his cheeks,
“And take the time to dress into your uniform before we land on the Mothership uhm. I wouldn’t want a repeat of that recruits incident. I know you like your crop top but so do the other imperial soldiers.”
“I’ll remember.” Yeosang laughed, leaving the cabin for the med bay.
Yeosang walked into the medbay to a familiar sight. Jongho was washing his hand in the small sink dedicated to it while Wooyoung was laying down on one of the two beds, his injured leg exposed and freshly stitched out.
Yeosang sat on the chair next to Wooyoung’s bed and inspected the leg before whistling his admiration for Jongho’s great stitching work:
“You weren’t lying when you said you were better than me at this.”
“See? Professional work.”
“All done while we left the dust storms and atmosphere? With all the shaking?”
“I got a very good master.” Jongho smiled softly at Wooyoung while taking another chair and sitting by the bed too.
Once Jongho sat, Wooyoung smiled at him back and caressed Jongho’s upper arm in an affection’s gesture that Yeosang was all too familiar with. Only Ulyss' mechanical voice interrupted the peace inside the medbay by speaking into the silence.
“Now that Corporal Jung has been healed, would he like to read the letter his family sent to the Ares mothership? I can print it for you.”
“Yes Ulyss, thank you.”
The small Ulyss terminal of the medbay rose to life and started printing the letter from Wooyoung’s family. Yeosang got up and took it before sitting down once more. Wooyoung silently pleaded with him to read the letter out loud for him.
It came from Wooyoung’s mother and contained mostly worldliness about the family’s life back on Dedale but worldliness that Wooyoung absolutely loved. The Jung family had always been a tight unit and most of the time when missions tended to get on the longer side, homesickness took Wooyoung by storm and only those letters would appease him.
“You’d be pleased to learn that older Kyung has been promoted to a job at High Tech facilities and thus left the army’s weapon factory. His job is paying far more while also being safer for his overall health. As for younger Kyung, he recently prepared his file to enlist in the IT School. As you may know, his 12th birthday is soon and he has to choose a path by then. He says his dream is to join the Army as a coordinator. IT School is a bit on the more expensive side for us, even with the money we put aside, but we’ll do fine until he can get a job on his own outside of school to help pay for it.”
Yeosang stopped reading as he noticed Wooyoung was hiding his face in his elbow, while weakly gripping at Jongho’s arm now. He exchanged a worried look with Jongho.
“Stupid, stupid boy.”
“IT School doesn’t mean he has to join the Army Wooyo. You know it.”
“He said it was his f*cking dream.”
“Of course it is right now! You’re his role model and favorite person in the entire galaxy. And an elite soldier. He has time, he’ll grow up, you’ll be there to teach him. Military path at IT School doesn’t start before he’s sixteen.”
Wooyoung softly nodded and let go of Jongho’s arm but kept his face hidden.
“I’m going to bandage your leg now, Wooyoung.”
He exchanged seats with Yeosang who read the rest of the letter.
“He told me last time. He wanted to take my draft so I could come home everyday.” Wooyoung admitted with a shaky voice at the end of the letter. “He wants to do the exact same thing as I did with Hyung.”
“You know it’s never going to happen if you don’t willingly let go of your draft Wooyo. It’ll be fine I promise.”
The imperial army was a powerful force to reckon with mostly because soldiers were drafted and trained from a very young age. Most schools on the planet had a military branch, which half of the attendants had to undergo. Drafts were universal and not even the children of High Command General or Government officials could escape it. By Imperial decree, one of the first ones born with the Empire, every family had to enlist one kid to at least 15 years of active duty (so after graduating school).
Of course children from wealthier families went to the expensive schools that opened easier and safer jobs inside the massive army than most conscripted. Ground Invasion regiments were full of poor soldiers who rarely saw the end of their active duty periods. No one really wanted to end up in the Ground Invasion regiments of the cruelest Generals but poorer families didn’t really have a say. It also encouraged families to have as many children as possible.
Younger siblings could eventually take the draft of an older sibling when they came of age. This was what happened to Wooyoung, four years younger than his older brother, when he reached 12. Older Kyung was terrible at school and when he reached 16 and saw that he was assigned Ground Invasion training, he panicked so much that Wooyoung decided to take his place. Hils older brother refused at first but Wooyoung convinced him he would do better at school and join the elite force.
That’s when he met Yeosang, in General School, at 12, as Yeosang was drafted by his own Father, deciding his older sister was never meant for the draft four years earlier and Wooyoung to avoid certain death to his older brother. Yeosang was always meant to join the elite forces, a dream enforced by his father for the honor of the Kang family and Wooyoung followed him by sheer will, and also getting a very rare imperial scholarship at 16 to follow the elite path with how good his results were.
IT School and coordinator jobs were particularly sought after by richer families for they were the safest jobs in the Army. Whichever rich kids didn’t end up in IT School joined Elite forces for the prestige or because their family name was always attached to the Army. Like Yeosang, son of the High Command general Kang. Or Seonghwa who did the Elite Pilot path. Wooyoung was the only one of the squad coming from a more modest background.
Ulyss once again interrupted them by announcing connection to Seonghwa in the piloting cabin.
“I hope Wooyoung is ok now.”
“All stitched up Captain, I’ll be able to walk again when we reach the Ares mothership.”
“Fine. Yeosang, Sieun let me know you have a message from Pandora.”
There is a stunt silence following his announcement.
“Figured you'd want to know as quickly as possible.”
Jongho laughed while getting Yeosang up and Wooyoung answered their team captain:
“We’re sending Lover Boy your way. Tell Sieun I miss her and can’t wait to see her again.”
Sieun was the Park squad coordinator, meaning she supervised every mission the squad was sent on, mostly from the closest outpost the imperial army had. For this particular mission she spent the whole time on the Ares mothership, in the area dedicated to supervision and coordinators. She was from a diplomat’s family and unfortunately for her, the youngest and as it usually went when no one joined for prestige, she ended up being the one drafted. Hopefully, her parents had the means to put her into IT School and then coordinator path. The fact that she ended up a coordinator of an elite squad was a lot thanks to her computer and observation skills. She never missed a detail and everyone in the Park squad loved her for that.
Yeosang walked back to the piloting cabin, being greeted by Seonghwa sitting leisurely in his seat, his station on auto-pilot.
“You know what I can’t wait to do when back on Ares? A long hot shower.”
“Ah don’t sweet talk to me Captain.”
“You haven’t changed into your uniform yet I see.”
“We’re not on Ares yet.”
Yeosang sat back at his co-pilot’s board and asked Ulyss to read the message coming from Pandora.
Home. Miss you. See you soon. CS
Yeosang couldn’t help himself from smiling.
“Seonghwa, when do you think we’ll be back on Dedale?”
“Hopefully a shuttle will pass by Ares within the next week so in two weeks max?”
Yeosang tapped his answer and waited for Ulyss to send it to the original sender.
Safe. Miss you. Home soon. KY
🌌
Ares, the mothership belonging to brutal general Meyer, was one of the biggest flying structures of the galaxy, for the simple reason that Meyer was often the head of massive Ground Invasion operations and thus his mothership needed to house more regiments than any other Generals. The spaceship was truly in its owner’s image. Cold, unwelcoming, and with gray everywhere, being Meyer’s color. The whole Park squad hated it, hated staying in it and honestly felt better going weeks on a hostile deserted enemy planet than staying a few days on Ares. The only relief they felt when the massive space structure appeared on their sight was the fact that they would soon be back on Dedale. Ares was just an unpleasant step on their way home.
“I honestly don’t know how Sieun managed to live for so long on this stuff. Compared to Demeter.” Jongho said, distaste easy to read on his face.
The four members of the squad were now sitting in the piloting cabin, at their respective seats, Wooyoung feeling better with the effect of medicine, Yeosang back in his uniform and their gears tidied up once again in the entrance of the spaceship. Everything was immaculate as expected from an Elite squad.
“Incoming call from Ares’ checkpoint 3 Captain Park.” Ulyss announced, transferring the call on the biggest screen so everyone could see.
“Call accepted.”
“Unit 1117?” came straight away the voice of whoever was on duty at checkpoint 3.
“Captain Park Seonghwa answering, serial number 0304. We’re approaching Ares’ landing zone 3, permission to land in 5 minutes.
“The area is clear for you Sir. Permission granted.”
And with that the call ended.
“You have to give it to Meyer’s men. They’re not here for pointless talking.” Jongho giggled.
“Sometimes pointless talking is pleasant.” Seonghwa simply said while concentrating back on landing the Icarus safely in the boarding zone starting to open as they approached.
Once landed, Seonghwa and Yeosang turned off the engine. Jongho lent a hand to Wooyoung to get back up and then to support him while walking. They took their bags waiting for them in the entrance while the door opened and the platform went down. Outside the ship, on the landing zone, a bunch of mechanicals were waiting for them to get out to inspect the Icarus.
“Unit 1117, welcome back on Ares.” a young recruit greeted them as they went down the platform.
“Thank you, private Smith.”
“Upon hearing about your arrival, Colonel Pantin has asked me to fetch you and escort you to his office.”
“Alright.” Seonghwa turned back to his squad, opening his hand to take the log tablet Yeosang carried around. “You can go back to our cubicles and wait for me there. Wooyoung please go to the infirmary to make sure everything is okay with your leg.”
“Sir, I’m afraid the four of you will have to follow me. Colonel Pantin asked for the entire squad.”
“One of my men is injured and I’d rather have him in the med bay than galloping around the mothership, Private.”
“Orders are orders.”
“It’s fine Captain, I’ll be alright.”
Seonghwa gave up, not without glaring at the young soldier who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.
They were escorted from the landing area to HQ, through multiple corridors and lifts. HQ tended to be in the higher part of the motherships.
Colonel Pantin was Meyer’s right hand man and therefore, as vicious and war hungry as him. He led many Ground Invasion operations and honestly, to the man’s honor, also went down with his troops everytime. The fact that he was still alive at 45 was a miracle in and out of itself. Far better men and women lost their lives for the Empire glory but it seemed like Death didn’t want to claim this one just yet.
Private Smith knocked on Pantin’s office door before opening and immediately greeting the colonel.
“As you asked Sir, the complete Unit 1117 is here.”
“Thank you Private, you can go now.” Pantin dismissed him without looking up from the multiple papers on his desk.
The young soldier left the four squad members standing in front of Pantin’s desk and closed the door behind himself.
A few minutes went by just like this, in complete silence as Pantin seemed absorbed in his reports both on paper and on the screen in front of him, and Seonghwa slowly raging inside. This kind of attitude from higher ups was really starting to get to him, especially since Wooyoung started fidgeting, clearly uncomfortable standing so long with his injured leg.
Finally, Seonghwa decided to break the silence to get things going.
“You asked to see us, Sir?”
“Indeed.” Pantin finally glanced their way. “I just got confirmation from IT that all your beacons have been activated and are working perfectly! In a few days time we’ll get a map of enemy camps and weaknesses and the Ground Invasion of SunaX72D will finally begin!”
“We did as you instructed Sir.” Seonghwa politely said.
“I’m glad, I’m glad.”
“Was there a reason for this convocation in your office Sir? We’ve been on SunaX72D for the past six weeks and barely got back here.”
“Well yes. Since you’ve accomplished your mission brilliantly, as expected from an elite unit like yours, General Meyer ordered to send you back to Dedale. Your presence on Ares is technically not needed anymore.”
“I’m glad General Meyer is happy with our results Sir.”
“However…” Pantin started to say, clearly pensive, and a tension arose in the office. “As you’re probably aware, Ground Invasion will be planned, hopefully in a few weeks and I wanted to give you the opportunity to join us for this task. After all, you were part of most of the operation until now, so I thought it would be a shame to deprave you from its final result.”
Yeosang had long learnt how to hide his emotions and instant reaction from some of the most reality-detached higher ups and their antics, so nothing transpired on his face but in his mind, he was screaming endlessly.
Hopefully Pantin’s sentence sounded more like a proposition and not an order so Jongho felt confident answering, since Seonghwa didn’t seem to react.
“Ah that’s a very generous offer Sir. But Ground Invasions aren’t exactly our forte.”
“I know High Command doesn’t want their elite squads on Ground Invasion operations. But seeing your reputation in the Imperial Army and your perfect results, I thought I’d try to enlist your help. High Command wouldn’t refuse it if it came from you”
This was becoming more delicate and Jongho needed to find them a way out, quickly!
“I’m afraid we’d be more of a burden to you and your well versed troops Sir. Also Wooyoung was injured when we placed the last beacon and while it’s nothing too bad, he’ll need a few weeks of rest to recover.”
It’s pretty clear Pantin didn’t like his answer, if the displeasure they could read on his face was anything to go by. But he couldn’t force their choices as Unit 1117 didn’t belong to General Meyer’s troops and the original orders came from above him.
The tension of the room dropped down when he forced a smile on his face and said.
“Of course. That’s understandable. A shuttle is leaving Ares tomorrow morning to Dedale. See with your coordinator if she can register you to board tomorrow. Please have her also send me your mission logs. Have a safe trip back home boys and enjoy your time off. It’d be my pleasure to have you back under my command for another mission.”
They bowed down to him in sign of respect before taking their leaves.
On their way to their cubicle, once outside of headquarters, Wooyoung started to curse the Colonel, out of pure anger for what happened in his office.
“Son of a bitch ass colonel. Did you f*cking hear him? I wouldn’t want to deprave you of its final result. f*cker.”
Wooyoung rarely cursed as much as he did when he was properly furious. Just like now.
“Can’t wait to have his f*cking head.”
“Wooyoung.” Seonghwa reprimanded him half-heartedly.
“War hungry psychopath. I don’t know who I have to suck at High Command to never work for him again but I’ll gladly do it.”
“Wooyoung.” This time it was Jongho, much firmer than Seonghwa, as Yeosang laughed at his best friend’s antics.
“What don’t tell me you wouldn’t do it too? That’s a lie.”
“Med bay is this way Wooyoung I suggest you go right now.”
“I’ll go with him. You two check with Sieun?”
“Yup.”
Jongho and Wooyoung went their separate ways while Seonghwa and Yeosang reached the “guest” area of the mothership where temporary units stayed.
They found Sieun waiting for them close to their personal cubicles. She had a tablet in hands, one she lived 24/7 with and was munching on some gums. When she spotted them she smiled a bit and rushed to them.
“Boys.”
“Hello Sieun, it's nice to see you again.”
“Wooyoung went to the med bay?”
“Yes, Jongho is accompanying him.”
“I’m so glad you got here today! The next shuttle is leaving tomorrow morning so you are right on time! I’ve already registered our tickets and also the Icarus. It’s leaving Landing Area 1 at 9AM sharp so please be here at 8:30!”
“Thank you Sieun, you’re awesome as usual.”
“Also Yeosang. Your message has safely arrived on Pandora.” she added with a wink.
🌌
The military shuttles were decent sized spaceships that traveled from and to different motherships and Dedale. Ares was the last stop for this particular shuttle before going back on Dedale so they didn’t make another stop. Technically, the soldiers on the shuttle were still in active duty during the trip, just out of mission so the days on it were very repetitive. Waking up at 6AM, breakfast, training until lunch, lunch, some more training and free time from 4PM to night time at 10PM. Only Wooyoung was exempted from this routine this time because of his injury, so most of Yeosang’s time was spent with Jongho in the training area. Seonghwa was there too from time to time but he and Sieun spent an awful lot of time at the communication center, having hours long conversation with General Flores, which Yeosang didn’t like, especially since they didn’t display the topic of these meetings with the rest of the team.
Free time was spent in the “leisure” area of the shuttle, sitting in comfortable chairs and watching the stars as Sieun read her book in the corner. One evening, halfway through the trip, Sieun said.
“I saw the itinerary, we’re close to Pandora.”
Pandora had always been a planet with a specific status in the Galaxy. It belonged to a belt of green planets practically in the middle of the Galaxy. It was said to be the origin of all life and was populated by human and non-human species. Pandora was the biggest green planet of the belt and thus the most powerful on the political scale of the Galaxy.
Pandora and the green belt were neutral territory that had signed commercial and political deals with both the Empire and the Republic and accepted citizens of both regimes on their planets.
For many years, it was merely a vacation destination for Imperial High Society to Yeosang as he saw the people around him going there at least twice or thrice a year, some even having houses there. Pandora was sold to him as a green paradise, an escape from the gray and rainy Dedale, whose parks were all artificial. But as much as it was a prized destination for the richest families on Dedale, Yeosang and his sister had never gone there, their father not liking the neutral territory aspect of the planets and also the fact that they could come into contact with republicans at any time.
“Sometimes I really do wonder what would have happened if the peace mission Green had succeeded.”
Hearing the name peace mission Green always sent Yeosang back to memory lane. He looked at the window before them, observing space and its infinite stars.
“You know it was never meant to succeed Sieun. But I guess that’s something we’ll never know.
🔄🍀
Yeosang read the title of the file presented in front of him.
“Peace mission Green?”
Seonghwa and General Maria Flores were standing in front of him, at Flores’ quarter in High Command on Dedale, two years prior to the events on SunaX72D.
“It’s a peace negotiation mission that is going to happen next week on Pandora.”
“Peace negotiation with the Republic?”
“A new majority won their last election and part of their campaign was built on starting negotiations to stop conflicts within the Galaxy.”
“The emperor accepted it?”
“High Command held a vote that won 6-4 in favor of opening negotiations and the Emperor agreed to. Your father voted for it.”
“My father voted for it?” of all things, Yeosang found this the most incredulous. His father was mostly anti-Republic, even by High Command standards. But he had never been that much pro-war so it made a bit of sense to Yeosang.
“Just like the Emperor he thinks rejecting it would look bad on our side.”
“And what does that or anything have to do with me?”
“I’m leading the peace committee for the Empire. We’re putting up a team of military and diplomatic representatives to go on Pandora. I would like you to be part of the protection team.”
“Me?”
“You’re well versed in most close up techniques and a very good fighter.” Seonghwa started. “We thought you would be the perfect candidate for the job.”
“Uhm.”
“High Command isn’t trusting enough to send their peace committee without security and I’d rather have some of my men around. Also… your sister is part of the mission.”
“Hana?”
“Yes. She asked to join as a diplomat.”
Yeosang opened the file once again to see the details of the mission. Two weeks on Pandora, a rather usual close security job, a day and a night shift, some free time on the green planet. It didn’t sound too bad.
“I feel like there’s more to it that you’re hiding from me.” he said, still skeptical.
“I promise there is nothing else than you being one of our best elite soldiers.”
“Wooyoung could do it.”
“He could indeed but both Seonghwa and I want you to do it.”
Yeosang hesitated a bit before agreeing. Two weeks on Pandora on a basic security job for peace negotiation meetings should be a walk in the park. And with a bit of free time he could even enjoy the green planet with his sister, just like they dreamt when they were kids.
Pandora was unlike anything he’d ever seen, even barely upon arrival at the ground Spaceport close to the main city of the planet. Luxurious forests of every shade of green stood before them, only sometimes broken by a few metallic or wood structures that blended perfectly in the landscape. On their way from the spaceport to the diplomatic hotel where the two delegations would reside, they passed by a big river whose water was clearer than anything Yeosang had ever seen. Dedale was 85% part water but deep dark blue salty water, nothing like the clear river he got in front of his eyes. Flora and fauna were booming around them, with multiple birds of every color in the visible spectrum flying close to their shuttle.
“It’s really a wonder Father prevented us from coming here for so long.” Hana commented with a knowing smile, as Yeosang held her hand briefly.
The imperial delegation arrived a day before the republican one which meant they had some free time after checking in at the hotel and getting their rooms. Yeosang was not really pleased to learn he would share it with a republican soldier who had the same job as him but it was a mean to prove cohabitation was possible so he didn’t complain pretty much like the rest of the security unit did. He learnt it would be a man named Choi San who was an elite soldier just like him.
That first day in Pandora was kind of magical for Yeosang as he spent it mostly with his sister walking outside, in the forest close to the hotel, trying to watch the top of the giant trees until their necks hurt.
On the morning of the second day, as Yeosang was getting ready, someone knocked at the door of his room. Still wearing his crop top only and uniform pants, he opened it to a man about his height and with pink hair, smiling softly with dimples out.
He stunted out Yeosang a bit, not expecting a complete stranger so early in the morning.
“You must be Kang Yeosang? I’m your roommate for this mission.”
Still too surprised to speak or do anything else, Yeosang just let the man inside, and closed the door behind him. The stranger whistled while looking at the room, then went straight for the big glass window and its beautiful scenery, after dropping his bag on the free bed.
“It’s the nicest room I’ve ever had at any pandorian resort haha. If I knew I would have pushed for peace negotiations sooner.”
Slowly, Yeosang got back to his own bag on his bed to finish dressing, mainly adding his red protective jacket.
“Oh I forgot to introduce myself sorry.” the stranger turned around to Yeosang’s direction and extended his hand in a greeting gesture. “I’m Corporal Choi San of the republican regiment 8. Nice to meet you.”
“Well you knew my name already but I’m Corporal Kang Yeosang of elite pathfinder squad 1117. Nice to meet you too.” Yeosang said neutrally while shaking San’s extended hand.
And this was how Yeosang met San.
The first week of negotiation turned out incredibly boring. Yeosang had to stand alert during the different meetings that could go on for hours. Certain topics were interesting to him while others were completely out of his range of experience and thus every word coming out of diplomats on either side sounded like a foreign language to him. Though there were certain positive aspects to this week.
Most buildings in Pandora he learnt had big windows so the beautiful scenery outside was never far. Seeing his sister so passionate at those meetings was also something important to Yeosang. As they spent more time apart than anything else, they lived their lives through letters and writing correspondence and Yeosang had never witnessed Hana do her job. And she was so good at it too!
Finally, even though it was hard to admit, the fact that Choi San, enigmatic and bubbly Choi San was never far was also a positive aspect. Yeosang really took a liking to him first because they always stood guard duty close and because San was an easy person to observe and talk to. He was very expressive and barely hid his reaction to some of the discussions in the meetings which never failed to distract Yeosang a bit and make him giggle. They ate together too during lunch time as most security soldiers did, and talked a bit. Yeosang was always reserved also because in some corner of his mind he couldn’t let go of the fact that San actually belonged in the enemy army he was taught to fight his whole life. But San’s outgoing personality reminded him a lot of Wooyoung and here, in this small neutral bubble on Pandora it was far easier to forget who was the enemy and why they were enemies in the first place.
Somewhere along the second week, a particularly angry meeting happened, on elysium extraction around the Galaxy and the patent rights of both superpower’s biggest companies. Some diplomats who represented the interests of these companies exploded to the point it nearly got physical and San and Yeosang were forced to intervene for the first time since the beginning of their mission. It got so ugly an Imperial colonel nearly declared the negotiations closed on a failed peace agreement. But General Flores and a few other republicans managed to de-escalate things enough to just end the meeting sooner. The subject would be brought back again in the future hopefully to find some common ground on it.
That night in Yeosang’s room there was silence. The two delegations hadn’t eaten together so the two men hadn’t spoken since the incident. Yeosang didn’t feel like starting a conversation and San was unusually quiet so Yeosang hoped they would just fall asleep and wake up in a better mood.
San had another idea though, as he turned in his bed until he faced Yeosang’s bed. And then he broke the silence between them.
“What do you believe in Yeosang?”
It was a question he asked himself a lot. His father always thought of him as excessively naive as nothing seemed to move him when he was a child. Not the bullying at school, not his mother’s death, and barely the fact that he was taken away from his sister at 12 to join one of the harshest schools on the planet to prepare him to be a killer in the name of an Emperor he didn’t care about particularly.
Yeosang didn’t exactly believe in things. He cared about stuff. He cared about his sister and her well being on Dedale. He cared about his squad and did whatever he could to bring them back to Dedale alive. And even though he didn’t want to, he cared about approval from his distant authoritative father. He cared about finishing his active duty with his friends and maybe, maybe then only, allowing himself to dream of a future, of something to do outside of the army.
“What do I believe in?” he repeated the question, buying himself some time.
“Do you believe in your Emperor? Do you believe in your army?”
Yeosang pondered his answers carefully, strangely feeling like he was tested by San.
“I don’t particularly believe in the Emperor. I always saw him as a distant shadowy figure, something High Command could invoke to do as they please. And the army well. I don’t know if you’re familiar with how enlistment works on Dedale but let’s say joining has never been my choice.”
“I’m guessing your parents picked you as the drafted kid.”
“My sister was never an option in my dad’s eyes. And even though he thought I would never make it, he sent me to the most difficult path in the whole military system and when I graduated with the honor and was hand picked to join an elite squad he still didn’t show any sign of pride.”
Yeosang closed his eyes and then finally turned to San’s direction and found him lying on his side and looking straight at him, like trying to probe around his soul.
“I guess I believe in my squad. I want to believe in General Flores too and all her missions. I believe in getting to the end of my active duty at 35 still alive and maybe starting to finally live my own life then.”
He briefly saw pain cross San’s face before it came back to this calculating expression.
“And you San. What do you believe in? Your government? Your army?”
San went back to lying on his back and said nothing for a few seconds before answering.
“I used to. We don’t have a draft on Thetis, every person who joins the military joins it willingly. In theory. I was 16, I was fed my whole life on republican propaganda and my family was poor. The military is still to this day the greatest social mobility in the Republic. It was either becoming a soldier starting with a decent salary that could help feed my family or being sent on a faraway satellite to probably die in an elysium mine. The big industry companies on Thetis. They basically own everything, Yeosang, up to the government, no matter which side they are on. The working class of the republic, they’re treated so badly.” Yeosang saw San’s fists tightened as he spoke. “We’re seen as livestock for the ruling class. No matter in the mines or factories or armies.”
Yeosang took the time to digest what San was saying. He knew a bit, memories from school about the Republic, how big the wealth disparity was on Thetis and how badly the workers were treated. Workers didn’t have a particularly easy life on Dedale but Imperial Decrees granted them protection, good working conditions in the factories and good affordable medicine. Everything the workers in the republic didn’t have. Imperial companies were greedy but the specter of the Emperor and his power kept them in check. Soldiers on the other hand weren’t as precious or as well treated as republic soldiers were.
“I believe in peace. I believe in the fall of oppressive systems. I believe in the Resistance.” San said firmly, looking directly into Yeosang’s eyes.
After that, Yeosang avoided San at all cost for the next two days, even acting erratically and strange to the point it worried Hana and General Flores.
Yeosang wasn’t really patriotic and didn’t care about the army and the Emperor beyond his friends and coming back alive but the Resistance was something else. It was one thing to share some distate about their regimes and their conditions within their armies but outright claiming to believe in the Resistance? A whole new level.
The Resistance was an armed group of Rebels coming from armies on both sides. They were agitators, space pirates, some said terrorists. They disrupted army shuttles, spaceships full of materials (especially Elysium) and hid in one of the densest and smallest green planets of the green belt. They were dangerous and the few times unit 1117 crossed paths with them, Seonghwa ordered a retreat. Yeosang didn’t particularly like his Emperor and army but he also wasn’t fond of the Resistance. And wondered why San was so comfortable talking admitting to being part of it to a nearly complete stranger on the enemy side.
It all came to a conclusion on their free day, three days before the end of the mission. Very early in the morning, San woke Yeosang up by shaking him in his bed. Yeosang was disoriented but noticed the sun wasn’t out yet and San was fully dressed in casual clothes.
“What?”
“Dress up. I’m waiting for you outside in ten minutes. Take some clothes comfortable enough to go on a hike, I’m showing you the best view of this region of Pandora before we go.”
“How do I know it’s not a plot to get rid of me.”
“You don’t.”
Yeosang decided, against all reason, to believe San and dressed up to go hiking.
He discovered why San woke them up so early when they stopped at their first spot, on a hill on the other side of the hotel. They could see the river from it and the sun rising above the line of trees, with its soft color. Yeosang took a picture of it to immortalize the moment and show it to Seonghwa Wooyoung and Jongho. And also Hana as soon as he was back to the hotel.
It turned out San was far more familiar with Pandora and its landscape than Yeosang could ever dream of being. He knew the best ways to get around, the path to avoid, and also lots of stuff about the flora surrounding them and the small animals that crossed their paths. He was very passionate about it too, never missing a chance to tell Yeosang a fun fact about whatever animal or flower they saw along the way.
At some point, Yeosang didn’t notice, so they stopped to eat something from San’s bag, which looked like a sandwich produced at the hotel cantine.
“Stole them last night hehe.” San was proud to tell him.
A bit after their lunch break, San explained to him they needed to go to one more destination. Cascades lying in a mountain cave, a few kilometers away from them, close to a temple linked to the hotel with a shuttle they could take to go back there. Yeosang accepted quite easily.
They walked a lot while talking a bit more, still only about Pandora and its amazing nature. Until, at the end of the day as the sun started to set, San told them they were close.
They finally found a small abode among rocks and vegetation, with a natural pool in which a small waterfall was falling in. The light of the sun setting was reflecting on the water falling, creating a beautiful aura to the place and the rocks around it.
“San, it’s beautiful.”
They sit a few minutes on the edge of the pool, taking off their shoes to soak their feet in the clear water.
“Can you be honest with me?”
“I’ve been nothing but honest with you Yeosang.”
“Did you mean it last time? Do you believe in the Resistance?”
“I believe in all the values I told you about and the Resistance embodies them all, so yes I believe in the Resistance.”
“But they’re… violent.”
For the first time, Yeosang could read disappointment in San’s eyes and he didn’t like this at all.
“What are we Yeosang? We’re soldiers in armies that could destroy an entire planet if they put their hearts into it. It’s this kind of ideology and powers the Resistance is fighting against. They have to be violent. And they are far nicer to civilians than the Imperial army ever was with republican workers.”
Yeosang couldn’t refute that. He himself hadn’t been the kindest to civilian workers who happened to interfere during his missions.
“I honestly don’t know where to stand.”
“If you have the same beliefs as me… you can stand with the Resistance.”
Yeosang pondered for a few minutes. It seemed unrealistic to join the Resistance. His first thoughts were going to Hana and Wooyoung who he’d have to leave behind to join the guerillas on green planets or a space pirate crew.
“Your captain and all your unit already does anyways.” San added, sending Yeosang into shock.
“You’re lying!”
“I’m not.”
San picked something from his pants’ pocket, a small keyring Yeosang was very familiar with. It was Seonghwa’s lucky keyring that he carried everywhere. It was a small red rabbit, inherited from his grandma, that belonged in the Park family for a while now.
“How did you get your hands on this?”
“Your captain gave it to me through my squad leader. We were hoping they’d pair me with you and well.”
“But why?”
“Make no mistake, Yeosang. This peace mission is going to end in failure no matter what because both committees had explicit orders to not relinquish anything to the other side. You heard those discussions in these endless meetings. Very few end on a common ground. This was all to please the voting people back on Thetis and to keep up a good face. If you want to work for peace, you should join all of us. And resist from the inside.”
Yeosang was short of breath, the amount of knowledge too much for him. His whole squad? Wooyoung? In the Resistance? And he is the last one to know.
“Wait.” Yeosang suddenly realized. “That’s why they all wanted me to go on this mission. Thank you. For being honest with me.”
“Of course. I honestly wasn’t sure about what to expect when they told me I had to introduce you to the Resistance. They told me you were a son of a General and you went through Elite School or whatever it is so, not going to lie, I was expecting a little prick full of his own importance.”
“Aouch.” Yeosang said while laughing a bit. “But I don’t blame you. Most people from my background are like this.”
“You’re surprisingly kind and genuinely nice to be around. Don’t think I didn’t notice how you smiled whenever I made a face during a meeting.”
“You’re very endearing yourself if I may say so.”
“I know I am, it’s one of my great qualities.”
“And extremely humble too I see.”
“Humbleness and kindness are my very core values.”
Yeosang laughed at that.
“Thank you for showing me this place too. It’s very beautiful.”
“There are hundreds like these on the Green Belt. I wish I could show you all of them.”
“Maybe one day we’ll be able to see them together.”
In his career as a soldier, Yeosang has felt a lot of fear, impossibility of projecting himself in the future, and on rare occasions he acted recklessly either in the face of danger or on his leisure days, going out of his comfort zone. Life could end any day, so why restrict himself? Why not try that dangerous shot with Jongho on missions? Why not tell Seonghwa of course the Icarus can navigate this clearly narrow passage? Why not take Wooyoung by the hand and try the “Death Jump” attraction back on Dedale as they always talked about at school.
Yeosang felt like leaning in and getting closer to San right now, in the romantic air of the small abode was this kind of reckless action he wouldn’t do if he wasn’t an elite soldier and could die tomorrow. Something his inhibitions would prevent him from doing. But right now he didn’t care. San was kind, San was funny, San wanted peace. Yes maybe the fact that he was in the Resistance disturbed him a bit still but he didn’t care at this right instant. All he wanted was to kiss the attractive man in front of him.
And it seemed San was on the same wave-lenght as him as he pushed forward and kissed him with a groan. They kept kissing, first softly and then more passionately, getting closer as they did, until they got their arms around each other.
They only broke the kiss when they needed air, and San let his head fall on Yeosang’s shoulder.
“This has to be the craziest thing I’ve done. And I’ve done suicidal type missions all accross the Galaxy.” Yeosang said in a breath.
“I’m pretty irresistible or so I’m told.” San giggled.
They stayed like this for a few minutes and then San started to rise up from Yeosang’s shoulder.
“Alright. We should probably go before dinner service closes at the hotel.”
“Uhm.”
Yeosang took one more picture of the abode and the waterfall before he let San guide him back to the Temple nearby and the shuttle.
The trip back to the hotel was done in complete silence. They arrived at the canteen a few minutes before it closed and the employees looked at them with such defeat they took pity on it and decided to go back to their room.
All the way to the room, a rare tension grew between them, a tension Yeosang was a little familiar with and knew would explode as soon as they were behind closed doors.
And indeed they walked at a polite, safe distance in the long corridor until they reached their room and Yeosang opened it, letting San inside. As soon as he closed the door, San was back in his personal space. He tugged a piece of Yeosang’s slightly curly hair behind his hair softly, looking at him straight in the eyes.
“I know we’re going to part ways in barely a few days but. Would you let me have you tonight?”
“Yes.” Yeosang answered by initiating the first kiss this time around.
Yeosang remembered from that night the rain starting to fall on the window. Torrential rains, bouncing on the big leaves of the trees to end their journey on the window or the ground. He remembered how, no matter what, San never felt close enough to him. How his skin burned whenever it touched San’s skin, especially where his hands were. How soft his lips were. The grip he had in his pink hair. And how significant and emotional the whole ordeal was.
He was thankful the single beds of this hotel were big enough for them to lay together comfortably on it afterwards. Lying on San’s chest, he listened to his heartbeat creating a little tune with the sound of rain against the window.
“If your captain knows my captain… Do you think we’ll see each other again?”
“It might be difficult depending on the outcome of this mission but… I hope we can, yes.”
Yeosang went to sleep that night feeling happy and calm. The future looked a little brighter.
It all came crashing down rather quickly.
One of the last meetings was scheduled the afternoon after. Yeosang and the rest of the security teams weren’t allowed inside the room for the last few meetings and negotiations, so they had to secure the room before, and stand alert at every entrance. San and him stood guards at one entrance, since it was one small isolated one they were alone, so they spent the time talking and laughing together.
About two hours after the start of the meeting, they were signified it was over and the Republic delegation had left. San could leave if he wanted to but decided to stay with Yeosang who had to stand guard until the Imperial delegation decided to leave as well.
After another thirty minutes, General Flores got out of the room by the backdoor Yeosang and San were guarding, visibly frustrated. She turned to Yeosang when she spotted him.
“I’ll tell you what Yeosang, I wasn’t expecting much of it but I’m still going to leave Pandora very disappointed.”
San and Yeosang exchanged a look, understanding San was right all along. Flores sighed loudly and Yeosang felt bad for his general so he tried to cheer her up.
“It might not be peace but it could be a first step to it. Will nothing come out of it?”
“Nothing of substance, yes.”
Yeosang opened his mouth to add something when a loud explosion interrupted him, loudly banging around the floor, making them stumble.
“What the f*ck?” San screamed, finding back his equilibrium. “Where was this coming from?”
“This was really close…”
Panic took over Yeosang very quickly. He opened the back door and a big cloud of gray smoke came out of the room.
“The room meeting…” Flores realized.
Fear cut through Yeosang’s guts like it never did before and if it wasn’t for the adrenaline quickly pumping through his veins he would have collapsed.
“Was Hana still inside?” he asked General Flores.
“Yeosang. We need to alert medics and…”
“WAS SHE?” he screamed at her.
“I was the only one who left early.”
And it was all Yeosang needed to throw himself into the desolated room. San and Flores tried to hold him back but he got rid of their hands on him with a quick gesture.
Smoke was obstructing his sight and breathing but he quickly passed the cloud. There didn’t seem to have been a fire after the explosion but Yeosang quickly realized part of the room collapsed through the floor.
He heard groans of pain and screams of panic as he watched the horror in front of him. There was blood, a lot of blood and people buried under the rumble of the floor that collapsed. A few screams of help and hotel staff and other security guards arriving at the scene like him.
“HANA!” he screamed searching for his sister from above before diving into the mess. “HANA!”
Behind him, General Flores and San had finally reached him, also shocked by what they saw.
“Oh Gods above.” Flores whispered to herself.
“Yeosang, she’s here.” San pointed at someone lying down there, their lower body under the floor and upper body lying down, blood around them.
It was indeed Hana and Yeosang felt his heart drop at the sight of her seemingly lifeless body.
He moved around the big hole to get down the closest to her as people started to get picked from the rumble. Of course she was further away in the room. He jumped into the collapsed room, injuring his knee in the process but he didn’t care as he finally reached his sister.
“Hana, Hana please.” he begged her while softly cradling her face to see if she was responsive. He noticed her eyes being very bloodied and quickly tried to get her pulse on her exposed arm.
As he was trying to find a heartbeat, San joined him, quickly assessing the situation. Yeosang held his breath until finally, he felt her pulse under his finger.
“She’s breathing.” San said softly, putting his palm above her nose to feel her breath.
“Her heartbeat is weak but I feel it.”
“Let’s get her out of here.”
Both of them, they gently put away the debris above her, one by one, being careful to not crush her lower body. The last biggest piece of debris was too big to be moved properly so San proposed to lift it and for Yeosang to gently move his sister to get her away from harm.
They did just that, Yeosang being very, very careful with his sister. He realized at this moment a lot of glass shreds littered her body. She must have been close to the window when the explosion happened.
San let the debris fall when Hana and Yeosang were at safe distance and right after, two medics with a [brancart] were there to take the girl away. Yeosang recognized them from the medic team of the Demeter so he let it happen.
“Don’t worry, we’ll stabilize her.” the doctor said.
Yeosang turned to San as they got ready to go. He knew already that the consequences from this would be terrible. Briefly, San held his hand.
“Go.”
None of them knew if they would see each other again after this. No matter what, this explosion targeting the Imperial delegation would be taken as a declaration of war. Yeosang needed to join back with his troop and probably they would be back on the Demeter before the end of the day.
“Go be with her.” San whispered to him and slipped Seonghwa’s keyring in his hand.
Yeosang took the keyring, looked at San one more time, feeling dead inside, and nodded.
“I’ll see you again. I promise.”
From then until they reached the Demeter, Yeosang didn’t have any memory. He dissociated the whole way back, not even remembering getting his stuff back from his room or getting back to the spaceport. His sister was under constant medical care and would go on surgery when they reached the Demeter. The medics assured him her state wasn’t critical but she’d need intensive surgery as soon as possible. A few imperial soldiers were left behind for the dead of the explosion and to start investigating it. The Pandora government announced both Republican and Imperial armies were banned from the Green Belt until things calmed down.
Back on the Demeter, Flores let Yeosang accompany his sister to the medical bay, up until they pulled her to the surgery block and he was urged to wait in the waiting area.
He was taken out of his miserable state by a loud noise coming from the door of the waiting room.
“Corporal Jung, please.” the military secretary was begging someone.
“Let us go inside!” Yeosang recognized Jongho’s voice.
He got up, with difficulty with his injured knees and went through the door. Wooyoung, Jongho and Seonghwa were rounding up around the poor secretary desk. At the sight of his best friend and squad, Yeosang felt something break inside of him.
“Wooyoung.” his voice broke as tears started to fall from his eyes.
The three of them turned back at the sound of his voice and their faces went from anger to eeriness very quickly.
“Yeosang, oh Gods.”
In a second, he was cradled in the familiar embrace of his best friend, finally finding a bit of security and comfort.
He explained to them what happened and they went back to the waiting room, to wait for the end of surgery together.
The only thing that grounded Yeosang in this moment was Wooyoung’s hand in his.
“This is going to set peace back like… a million years.” Jongho broke the silence of the waiting room.
“Yup.” Yeosang sighed. He let his head fall on Wooyoung’s shoulder. “You know, for a few hours it almost felt like… something positive could happen. But this…” he couldn’t finish his sentence.
Seonghwa stood up and walked until he faced Yeosang.
“If peace can’t be achieved now, you know what’s left for us to do, right?”
The young corporal nodded, remembering the keyring sitting in his pocket, that San gave back to him before they had to separate. He took it out of the pocket and gave it to its rightful owner.
“Now we resist.”
🔄🍀
Thinking of Peace Mission Green always sent Yeosang back to its consequences. The rage of his father when they got back on Dedale and he saw his daughter and what she suffered from the explosion was something that still terrified Yeosang to this day, even though it was never directed at him. He’s pretty sure this attack was what motivated High Command to green light a Ground Invasion on SunaX72D. What led to where they were now. The first investigation found out that the explosive device used in the room was of Republican origin so it definitely buried the hope for peace and aggravated the conflict. Second investigation was still happening and General Flores tried to supervise it as closely as possible but to no avail for now.
The positive thing is that this mission opened Yeosang’s eyes to the Resistance and its necessity for peace in the Galaxy. And started his relationship with San. As he quickly begged Seonghwa for a way to contact him again after coming back on Dedale. Yeosang had been wary a bit at their first meeting after the end of the peace mission, but knew that no matter who was responsible for the explosion, San wasn’t on their side anyways, as the fervent resistant he was.
“Are you planning on going to the Green Belt when you have free time? Perhaps on Pandora?” Sieun asked him, taking him out of his thoughts.
“If we can coordinate. I hope so.”
Yeosang was desperate after this mission, he’d do anything to see San. He hoped he’d quickly be able to contact him and organize a trip once he got his leave order and landed on Dedale.
Soon.
