~12:48~

So... Mars has a new gun. Not just any new gun. A big new gun.

Baekhyun's mouth falls open as he looks at the new metal thing. It blinded everyone and wiped out half of the fleet they were leading. The crew is silent, all firing ceasing for a few moments. Both Earth and Mars stopped, clearly waiting for the other to make a move. "Sir, what the hell just happened?" a female voice asks.

Jimin unbuckles and walks up, looking as pale as a ghost but still refusing to give up. "I have no fucking idea. We have backup on the way. For now, stay back and stay on the defensive. Baekhyun?" He nods. "We're going in."

The Pilot looks at his Captain like he has twelve heads. Actually, everyone in the cockpit does. Even Taehyung in the bridge looks at him funny. "Excuse me?" Baekhyun asks in disbelief.

"All Earth ships, keep up a barrage and provide us with covering fire. We're going after that gun."

"You want me to fly towards the big ass battleship and face down fifty-eight Martian ships just for a chance to destroy that gun?"

Jimin locks eyes with Baekhyun. "That's exactly what I want you to do."

Seulgi glances between Baekhyun and Jimin before scoffing. "Escape pods. Now."

Jimin glares at her. "What?"

"This is a mission you're doing on your own. You realize how crazy you sound, right?"

"We don't know how that thing works, we could have a minute or twelve until it's charged and ready to fire again. Am I the only one who can see the carnage here? Look at how many ships we lost! Look at how many lives we lost! If we sit around and argue without trying, suddenly the second half of this fleet, including us, are gone! Now go towards that battleship and launch as many missiles as you can at it. That's an order!"

Baekhyun, Hoseok, Y/N, and Seulgi stare at Jimin in shock. "Our missiles are fully loaded, lasers recharged," Taehyung shouts.

"Thank you Agent Kim. Yoongi, tell me what to do here," Jimin says.

There's a beat of silence. "Jimin's... Jimin's right," the man replies. Baekhyun stares at the comm in shock. No, he can't be serious. He agrees with Jimin? This is a suicide mission for crying out loud!

"Lay down that supporting fire now!" As soon as the words leave Jimin's lips, all the other Earth ships fire away. They use their long ranged weapons to keep a strong attack run on the enemy. The closer they get to the ships, the more damage they do. The more damage they do, the more likely the ships get destroyed. That's why Jimin wants to get close. He wants Baekhyun to get a direct hit on that giant gun. Maybe that way it'll be destroyed.

"Strap back in, we have a gun to destroy. Y/N, how are shields?"

"Still fully operational."

"Good. Seulgi, please sit down."

She reluctantly follows Jimin back to their proper chairs, buckling in. Hoseok gives Seulgi a sympathetic look, but no words are exchanged. "Yoongi, how is this a good plan exactly?" Baekhyun asks as he starts up the engines again.

"Jimin has a point. If we go on the defensive or try to retreat, there's no guarantee that Mars doesn't use that gun again and blasts the rest of us away. There's no guarantee that they don't use that gun and destroy major cities on Earth instead. The best option is to destroy it here and now."

Baekhyun bites his lower lip for a moment. "But... alone? How are we supposed to do this alone?"

"We're not," Jimin interrupts. "Let me spell out my plan for you. We have backup coming. Literally the rest of the Earth military. I'm hoping that by the time we get close to the battleship, they're here. At that point, I'll send the rest of our original fleet in."

"Like multiple waves to an attack?"

"Exactly. We're the first wave. We're small and hard to hit. While they focus on us, the bigger ships will move in and their suppressing fire will slowly do more damage as they get closer. They'll be forced to ignore us so they can focus on the bigger threats. That should give us more than enough time to find out what the fuck to do with the big ass gun," Jimin explains.

Well, that's not a bad plan. Not the best plan ever, but not a bad one either. "Speaking of which, second wave, you heard me - start moving in now, we're getting closer." The Captains all reply with a 'right away sir' as the Moon approaches the battleship. Mars starts firing again, Yoongi and Jin doing their best to destroy the missiles before they even get close. There's some lasers being shot now since they're close enough, but Baekhyun can dodge them easily enough. "Alright, Y/N, run a scan on that gun."

"I'm trying. I need to send a probe out."

"On it!" Tae calls, tapping away on his hologram.

"Do we have probes?" Hoseok asks.

"Every ship has at least one. I made sure they were still working whenever I did maintenance," Baekhyun says, flicking a switch to warm up his missiles. He'll need his targeting system in a minute too. What has life come to that now he's about to attempt to destroy possibly the most dangerous weapon in the system's history?

What started as a mission to destroy some of the surface of Mars is now an intense battle for Earth. If this is how more missions go... Earth is doomed. Baekhyun doesn't want to leave Earth behind, but what will happen if they lose the war? Will Earth be completely destroyed? Made into slaves? Will they surrender just to keep whoever's left alive? Baekhyun will have to ask Chaeyoung those questions. For now, he focuses on aiming at the metal weapon.

They're close enough now that he can lock onto it. Baekhyun turns on his targeting system and makes sure he has enough missiles as quick as possible, keeping his eyes on the thing. He sends one volley out as soon as he's fully locked on, the missiles rocketing out and soaring towards the weapon. Mars shoots at them, the Moon rattling as she takes some hits. Baekhyun hisses and keeps dodging, but there's too many of them. They need the rest of the fleet, and they need them now.

Baekhyun lets another volley fly, the first one hitting the gun but to no avail. He watches closely as the second round comes closer and closer. His hands grip onto the yoke, his teeth clattering. The missiles hit, and once again, no damage. "We have to keep trying. Get us close enough that our lasers can reach," Jimin says.

"Sir, we're already taking heavy fire!" Baekhyun protests.

"We have backup coming! Keep trying!"

"Our hull is only at forty-five percent! If we don't back out now we die!" Taehyung yells.

Panic spreads throughout the cockpit. Y/N is hyperventilating, Hoseok has tears running down his face, and Seulgi is trying to remain calm, but the fear shows on her face. Baekhyun himself is shaking rapidly. Is he really about to die here? Suddenly, two Martian battleships get whacked with something big. An explosion blesses Baekhyun's vision as he snaps his head over to look at who just entered the fight. His eyes widen.

Their backup has arrived.

~12:56~

Oh thank God. Hoseok lets out a breath of relief as he watches the new fighters enter the ring. Hoseok has honestly never seen so many ships in his life. There's so, so many. Definitely out numbering Mars, but maybe not outgunning them. That new metal gun thing is still a threat. If it charges up again and shoots - bam. Bye bye Moonchild. Bye bye Seulgi. Hoseok shivers at the thought, turning to look at his girlfriend.

She looks calm despite the situation, but that was always her strong point. Remaining calm (or at least pretending to be calm) under pressure. There's a reason why she's the new Executive. She's a fighter. A survivor. Hoseok watches her face closely as she meets his eyes, raising a single brow. He's kind of just staring, he can't blame her for being a little confused. He's confused too. Why is he staring again?

Hoseok gulps and gives her a firm nod. She reads his mind, slipping her hand into his. "It's going to be okay, help is here," she whispers. Hoseok wants to say something, to agree, but he can't. Is everything going to be okay? He doesn't have time to think about that since the ship suddenly dips. Hoseok has to bite back his shriek as Baekhyun does a barrel roll downwards, dodging a heavy stream of missiles.

"Fuck!" the Pilot groans out.

"Careful Baekhyun! Engines are at fifty percent!" Taehyung calls.

"Got it!" he calls back, gritting his teeth as he continues his descent. "Y/N, how are we?"

"Keep going!" she says, watching the scanner closely. After a few more seconds, Y/N tells him to stop and he does. Baekhyun eases up, causing Hoseok to sink back in his chair. Finally that's over. He looks up in time to see Jimin unbuckling himself, paler than anything he's ever seen.

Jimin falls to the ground, coughing. "S-Seulgi, take over," he grumbles before shakily standing and running away. Y/N peers back in concern, then realizes it's not her Jimin and narrows her eyes. Within a second, that compassion for her lover shifts to hatred, and she turns her head to look out the window as if she never cared at all. Hoseok has to admit - Y/N's scary when she's angry. Seulgi and Y/N are very scary when they're angry. No, it's not just because they're women.

Hoseok looks at Seulgi, admiring her for a moment. They both know how to get their jobs done. They have experience. Maybe that's what makes them so terrifying. Y/N is very rarely angry, same with Seulgi. Maybe it's scary because they're angry so little. Or maybe it's because when they're angry, they do something about it. Y/N and Seulgi both confronted Chaeyoung. Granted, Seulgi got beat pretty quickly, but she still acted on her anger. That's pretty intimidating. Well, at least to Hoseok.

"How's our hull?" Baekhyun calls.

Taehyung grunts. "Same as before. Forty-five. Be careful."

"On it. Is Jimin dead or something?"

"I don't know, let's just keep moving. Get closer to the weapon and try another volley," Seulgi orders. Hoseok looks at her with sympathy. He can't imagine how hard this is for her. Being promoted right into a war. That seems to be a common theme with the crew. Namjoon, Jimin, and now Seulgi are all getting promoted in the worst way possible. Their successor died. That's not how it should be. The Captain and Executive should retire or resign at some point, making way for the new one and leaving with a good legacy behind them. Not through death. That's just... fuck, that's horrible.

The Moon starts moving again, making Hoseok nearly fall out of his seat if it wasn't for the buckle. He looks out the window, watching as the ship soars right for the battleship with the weapon. He's assuming that one is the flagship, so destroying it will be big. Who's the commanding officer for them? It's the same way here, if the Moon gets destroyed then it's a huge win for Mars. Losing the crew would be a massive defeat. So hopefully that won't happen. Yeah, Hoseok likes his life for the most part.

"Sending another volley out now," Baekhyun calmly says, pressing the button. Yoongi and Jin are going rapid fire with their lasers, destroying any missiles coming their way. Hopefully Mars will get the message and back the fuck off. Earth out numbers them now... by a lot. A lot a lot. Hoseok gulps as the missiles come closer to their target. Closer and closer until... they hit. Nothing happens once again. "Tae!"

"What?"

"How am I on missiles?" Baekhyun asks.

"Hang on!" The few beats of silence is nearly unbearable as Yoongi and Jin continue to fire on the enemy. After another couple seconds, Taehyung growls. "You're good, but our hull is still fucked. I'd suggest launching all our missiles at once and pulling back."

"We're not pulling out!" Jimin's voice calls. Hoseok snaps his head back to see the Captain rushing back onto the bridge, looking sick.

"Jimin? Are you okay?" Seulgi asks as he plops back down into his chair.

He straps in, mumbling to himself for a moment before meeting Seulgi's intense gaze. "Oh I'm peachy. Just had to puke my guts out." That... wow. That sounds strangely like something the real Jimin would say. That only makes Hoseok feel worse. It's almost like he's right in front of them, just out of reach. So close yet so far away. They keep just missing him. "Stay on course. We're destroying that weapon."

"And if our hull is about to fall apart?" Baekhyun asks, a hint of sass in his tone.

"Then we die."

"Are you shitting me?" Hoseok speaks up, glaring right at Jimin.

The Captain glares back. "This could save millions of lives. We have to try."

"We're the flagship, Jimin. We shouldn't be the ones doing this," Seulgi says. "If our hull gets lower, we should pull out. If we leave them leaderless then even more chaos will break out. Please, listen to me!"

He stares at her for a few moments, then loosens up. "Fine. If we go below twenty-five percent hull capacity, then we retreat. Until then, keep firing." That's exactly what Baekhyun does. He pushes the Moon closer to the enemy flagship, locking his missiles onto it. After a few seconds of eerie silence, he presses the button and a whole volley of missiles spring free.

"That's all we have, let's hope this does something!" Baekhyun says, turning on his personal laser guns and firing them towards the weapon.

They're not much farther away. Truthfully they're practically right on top of the flagship. They're taking a lot of damage too, even with Jin and Yoongi's good aim destroying the missiles. The lasers from the enemy aren't fun to deal with either, not to mention Jin and Yoongi can't destroy those before they reach the Moon. Right now they have to hope those missiles hurt that weapon. Otherwise they're toast.

As soon as the missiles explode against the weapon, a spark goes off. The flagship stops firing while the rest surrounding it keep up their intensity. Hoseok lets out a small breath, watching as one by one, the Martian ships stop firing and go dark. For a few moments, Earth is the only one shooting. Then, the ships disappear. They re-activate their cloaks and leave everyone's sight. Hoseok's eyes widen. "What the fuck just happened?"

"They retreated," Jimin says, unbuckling and standing. He walks over to Baekhyun, who keeps the Moon steady.

"I'm not getting anything on my scanners," Y/N says.

"Yeah I got nothing on my radar," Baekhyun adds, shaking his head.

"We won," Jimin mutters, placing his fingers against his temple. He sighs, then looks at the crew, "I won't tolerate this disobedience again."

"We did what you-"

"No, you argued against everything you could. I know you think I'm different. I know you think I'm not Jimin, but I am. Get over it. I won't have you risk my planet because of your stubborn asses thinking something's wrong with me."

Seulgi scoffs. "You think we were arguing because we think there's something wrong with you?" He stays quiet. "Every decision you made today put us on the verge of death. Not just in danger, right in the line of death for no reason! We have so many other ships that could have taken our place. Why are you volunteering all of us to be martyrs? We signed up to fight in a war, sure, but we didn't sign up to be leaders and commanders. That's your job, Jimin. Not ours!" Seulgi unbuckles and stands. "Do whatever you want. I'm out." Hoseok's eyes widen, so do Jimin's.

"Excuse me?" Jimin asks.

"You heard me. I'm out. I'm done. I'm not leading a war anymore. I signed up to be an Intelligence Officer on the Hep, not a God damn Executive on the flagship leading the Earth side of the war. Sorry, but even I'm not level-headed enough for that. I also don't have the sanity to take orders from someone under another person's control."

Jimin shakes her off. "I'm not under anyone else's-"

"Alright, let's put that to the test. Let's knock you out and scan your brain." She saunters closer to Jimin, only a foot away from the man. "Go ask her yourself. Go dig through her files and look for your lab report. Then come back to me and tell me Chaeyoung is innocent in all this. Tell me she didn't put a chip in your brain."

"Uh... guys?" Y/N asks, turning back to look at them. Everyone meets her gaze. "Um... our comm is still on..."

Jimin's eyes widen. He instantly storms forward and turns it off, glaring at Y/N. "And you didn't think to turn it off? Really?"

She grits her teeth. "Oh so this is my fault now? I'm supposed to magically predict us having a fight? Really?"

"You're the co-pilot!"

"And you're the Commander! I thought I wasn't allowed to turn anything on or off without your permission, 'sir'," she mocks, shaking her head in disbelief.

Jimin backs off, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. Seulgi, you can try to leave, but Chaeyoung won't let you so you might as well stay."

"Of fucking course she won't let me leave. Of course she won't," Seulgi groans, walking onto the bridge.

"Baekhyun, tell everyone that this fight is over. Reunite on the surface. Y/N, since you're so vocal today, you can go give the report to Chaeyoung."

"Hey asshole, you're the Captain, not me!" she says in a hiss.

Within a heartbeat he walks over to her and grabs her throat. "Hey!" Hoseok lets out, going for the arm that holds her. Baekhyun does the same, the two grabbing his hand. He's not adding any pressure onto her throat, only holding it. Both Baekhyun and Hoseok freeze, looking at Jimin before looking at Y/N. Her eyes are wide, focused on the window rather than Jimin as she takes in a few shaky breaths.

"Your throat is still healing from the last time I did this, right?" She doesn't reply. "Don't make me do it again. Be a good girl and listen to your daddy." Okay, what the fuck? Hoseok narrows his eyes and looks at Jimin, who's smirking at Y/N's lack of words. "Good. Looks like you're still my little girl after all." He removes his hand from her throat, ripping his arm away from Baekhyun and Hoseok and walking out of the cockpit.

Hoseok turns to Y/N in time to see tears dripping out of the corners of her eyes. "Oh Y/N... no," he whispers, kneeling next to her.

"Why him?" she asks, her voice raspy. "I don't want to see my father in him but I can't shake the image. What happens when we bring him back?" She looks at Hoseok, desperation in her eyes. "Will I be able to look at him the same?" She lets out a shaky breath, crying shamelessly.

"Will I be able to love him again?"

~14:52~

"So... they retreated?" Chaeyoung asks, trying to make sure she understands correctly.

"They did. We assume it's because we did a lot of damage to their new weapon," Y/N replies.

Chaeyoung purses her lips and nods in understanding. "And you're giving me this report... why?"

"Jimin ordered me to."

"Jimin did? He didn't want to give it to me himself?"

She sighs, "I don't know why either. He just told me to do it. Almost choked me when I refused, so here I am."

Chaeyoung frowns at that. He's not supposed to be this aggressive. Guess she's going to have to modify the chip. Not a big deal. The procedure itself only takes like five minutes, it's mostly the recalibrating when he wakes up that takes the most time. Taking it out would be much easier. He'd have to get used to being in control of his actions again, but luckily Jimin has probably been fighting this whole time so he'll take to it naturally. That is if she ever decides to let him go. She enjoys having him around. She's less lonely. Plus, she wasn't lying, he really is a good kisser.

She turns around, looking at Y/N. "Is that all?"

"Yes." Chaeyoung can tell Y/N wants to say something more, but she doesn't. Obviously it probably has to do with Jimin. She's not stupid. Y/N misses him. She probably misses him more than anything. Part of Chaeyoung feels bad, but the other part sees Alice whenever Y/N is in the room. It's like there's a ghost constantly haunting her, and it's summoned whenever this girl is around. It's terrifying.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Y/N insists. Her eyes are on the ground.

Even from here, Chaeyoung can see the pure anger and hatred in them. "Well then... I suppose I'll call for Jimin then-"

"Did you fuck him?" Y/N interrupts, looking up and glaring at Chaeyoung. That... was not what she was expecting. The girl is holding back tears, gritting her teeth. "Did it feel good? Did you enjoy fucking my boyfriend?"

"Y/N..."

"Did you?!" she demands, stomping forward.

Chaeyoung frowns. "I didn't..."

"Let me guess - not yet?" she asks in disbelief, scoffing. "How does it feel knowing you're causing me the most pain I've ever felt in my life? Are you happy?" Chaeyoung keeps her passive face, looking at Y/N blankly. She places both her hands on Chaeyoung's desk, leaning her head closer to the leader.

"Even my father wasn't as bad as you!" she shouts, shaking her head. "You're unbelievable. Actually unbelievable. You think what you're doing is justified because I took your sister but in reality it's just an excuse to be a monster! You're nothing more than a monster. You took my lover, you sped up the death date on my best friend, you're forcing us to be front liners in a war... what's next? How much longer is my entire crew going to suffer for your benefit!"

At her words, Chaeyoung closes her eyes for a moment and sighs. "You may not understand my reasoning... but one day you will. Our home is under attack. You can help fight and protect it," Chaeyoung calmly replies, opening her eyes.

Y/N looks even more mad at her words. "No... you're just in denial. Give me one good reason why my entire crew should suffer." Chaeyoung opens her mouth, but Y/N beats her to it. "I acted alone in killing Alice. My crew had nothing to do with it. Hell, they didn't even know until long after I did the deed. Why do they deserve to suffer? Huh? What did Jungkook do? How about Seulgi? And Jin? He's a no one from no where. What did he do?"

Chaeyoung stays silent. Y/N lets out a long breath. "You're the definition of a politician. You manipulate others, promise a big game but never deliver, convince yourself that what you're doing is for the greater good..." She pauses for a moment. "What greater good exactly? Do eight people really save millions of lives? Do eight people really make such a big difference in your massive military?"

"Are you forgetting how many lives you've saved on Ganymede?"

"That was different. Ganymede was in shambles. The military was fucked. Earth has a strong military, and what I thought was a strong leader." She cuts herself off, sniffling. "Guess the entire world is wrong about you. I can't wait for this to be over. I can't wait for Jimin to be free from you. The second he is, I'm killing you. I hope you're well trained, I want you to suffer just as much as I have."

An endless cycle of revenge... that's what this is leading to. Chaeyoung pokes her tongue against her cheek for a moment, then speaks. "I understand the suffering you're going through feels unfair, but Earth is in trouble-"

"Oh here we go with this bullshit again. 'Earth is in trouble', fuck me, you don't say?" She crosses her arms across her chest and stares Chaeyoung down. "You know who else is in trouble? Park Jimin. His brain. Do you actually know the long term effects of these chips?" She doesn't reply. "Exactly. If all lives really mattered to you, then you'd remove that chip and let my boyfriend go."

Chaeyoung doesn't move. She doesn't have the strength to move at all. How can she after a big day like today? Mars retreated after revealing they had two new weapons. That's a major win for Earth. Well, not really, they came back with more causalities, but it just means that maybe they can defeat this mysterious weapon after all. "Screw you. Honestly. I don't get how you could make someone suffer for this long."

"You ripped my heart out..." Chaeyoung whispers.

"Oh yeah? I bet life is so hard, isn't it?" Chaeyoung stares at her in disbelief. "Oh boo hoo my psychopathic sister is dead... what a joke. An absolute joke. Your sister tried to kill me so I killed her! Get your head out of your ass and wake up! You caused Jungkook to lose valuable time on his life and you killed Jimin!" She takes a step back, blinking in shock. "You... you killed my husband..."

Y/N seems more pained than angry now, shaking her head as the words process in her brain. "You killed the one who was going to propose to me... you killed the one who gave me hope again... a reason to live..." Chaeyoung's eyes widen, realizing what she's saying. Y/N scoffs, looking at Chaeyoung. "I'm done." Without another word, the girl turns and walks out of her office, leaving Chaeyoung there alone with her thoughts.

What the hell just happened? Chaeyoung got berated by the girl who killed her sister. And what's even worse? She made sense. She made perfect sense. For the first time since Alice died, Chaeyoung listened to Y/N. She listened and she sympathized. Chaeyoung is putting Y/N through the same exact thing she put the leader through. But... isn't that what she wanted? She wanted the girl to suffer as much if not more than her. That was the whole point of preparing the chip. The whole point to luring Jimin into her office. The whole point to putting it inside his and her head. There's no turning back now... right?

Chaeyoung plops down on her chair, the holograms buzzing to life and showing all the newsfeeds and reports from the fight that occurred not too long ago. She'll catch up on that later. Right now, she's too deep in her own thoughts. After that conversation, she doubts she'll be out of her head any time soon. Chaeyoung closes her eyes, rubbing her fingers across her temple. One thing's for sure...

Life just keeps getting more and more complicated.