A/N: Awww he's so FUCKING CUTE

These next two chapters will be shorter since the two after these two are uh... interesting... ;)

Early update since I won't be around later

~16:03~

After a lot of intense fighting, Chaeyoung decided to call Anya back to her office. There's something Chaeyoung thought of that can turn the tide in their favor. Not by a lot, but it would be a major morale boost and it would save lives. She's thinking of releasing the monster, but she's not sure if it's a fantastic idea. It could bite her in the ass. Actually, it's definitely going to bite her in the ass. Not Earth, but her in particular. Then again, Earth is the top priority right now. Her own well-being doesn't matter. The people should be number one in her brain.

Chaeyoung paces around her office, biting her nails as Anya watches. "Pacing won't help," Anya says.

"Shut up," Chae replies in a hiss. This is a big decision, one she doesn't really want to make. However, Mars is gaining the upper hand. Right now she needs someone to step up and help.

"Are you going to join the fight or are you just gonna stand there?" Anya asks. Alright, Chaeyoung has officially had enough of her.

She turns around and looks at Anya, temporarily stopping her pacing. "No. I'm not joining yet. I'm thinking about something else." Although confused, Anya doesn't ask anymore questions. She watches Chaeyoung go back to pacing around her office, biting her nails more. Her fingers hurt at this point, but she doesn't care. If she does this there's, no going back. She'll die. She knows she will, unless a miracle happens. But this may be the only way. The only way to give the crew an upper hand. And lord knows they need all the help they can get.

"I need you to help me," Chaeyoung whispers, finally coming to her decision.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because for once, you'll actually want to help with this." Chae gazes at Anya, trotting over to her desk and pulling up several holograms. Anya cautiously steps forward, studying the words and newsfeeds playing.

"What... what is this, Chaeyoung?" she asks in disbelief.

"I was alone for so long," Chae whispers instead, not quite answering the question.

"Why are you showing me this?"

"You know why."

"I would if you told me," Anya replies with a dry chuckle.

Chaeyoung lets a sigh escape her throat. "Listen, this isn't easy for me either. I'm asking for you help. Do you know how shameful that is for me? Asking for help?"

"Instead of forcing people to help you? Wow, so tough, Chaeyoung."

"Oh for once can you just listen to me? I promise this isn't a bad thing. Your life isn't in danger, no one's life is. Actually, quite the opposite."

Anya goes still at that, meeting Chaeyoung's eyes. "You're serious about this?"

Chaeyoung takes a moment, then nods. "I am."

"You're insane. Why should I believe you?" Anya asks.

"Because I want you to lead this project."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I know you're the only one who can do it. You're one of the smartest people in this entire galaxy. You've already done the impossible, this shouldn't be much different."

"I was supposed to be a researcher, not a doctor. Stop coming to me with all your problems. Get your team to do it, I don't want to risk messing this up," Anya says.

"Please. I'll never ask anything from you again. From you or your crew. See? I even said please. I said it without sarcasm too. God, please just help me!" At Chaeyoung's desperate tone, Anya finally sighs.

"On one condition."

"Name it."

Anya steps forward, placing her hands on the desk. "You accept the consequences. Whatever happens, I can't control it. I can't control them, and I can't control you. If you die, you die," Anya says.

"I will. I'll accept them, whatever they are."

Anya seems hesitant for another few seconds, then she nods. "Okay. Give me a few hours to look through this stuff."

Chaeyoung backs off, letting out a breath of relief. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Anya doesn't reply. She studies the holograms hovering around her face. "I'm guessing there's no tutorial for this kind of stuff?" Anya asks.

"No, but I'll have my team explain it to you."

"Have they done it before?"

"No, they know how, but they've never actually done it. That's why I want you there. You've proved yourself with enhancements, so I trust you."

"You really shouldn't," she replies.

"I know, but I have to. You know that."

Anya peeks at Chaeyoung, raising a brow. "Why are you doing this?"

"Look around. Earth is on the brink of destruction. We need a morale boost, and beyond that, we need a strong leader. Is there any other option?" Anya shrugs, choosing not to speak. They fall into a short silence, Chaeyoung watching as Anya's eyes dart across every screen. It's honestly fascinating how fast her eyes move. She's clearly used to this kind of stuff. Chaeyoung respects that.

"Yeah, I'll need a few minutes to sit down and read this stuff. But I can do it," Anya says.

Chaeyoung nods, smiling. "Thank you." Anya nods back, focusing on one hologram in particular.

"Alright," she whispers, stepping closer to it. "Let's do this."

~16:16~

Jungkook gazes out the window of the Moon, amazement in his eyes. What the fuck is going on up here? There's so many Martian ships littering the sky. Granted, there's a lot of Earth ships too, but still. There's so many. More than Jungkook has ever seen. Despite all his research on Mars, he wouldn't have expected this. This is just... crazy. Yoongi filled him in on the whole 'cloaked' ships situation, which still shocks Jungkook.

Cloaked ships. Jesus, is this a common theme now? Has the Belt given this technology to anyone else? Jungkook's confused but knows he won't get an answer, so he decides not to voice his thoughts. The only thing that matters right now is fighting Mars. Jungkook needs to protect Y/N. She's on the surface, and if they fail, Mars gets down there and there's nothing they can do from up here.

Baekhyun keeps the Moon at a steady pace, keeping her in line with the other Earth ships as the fire back and forth increases. Both Earth and Mars are heavily firing at each other, some smaller ships fighting in the large space between their battleships. "Baekhyun?" Jungkook says.

"Yes sir?"

"Bring us closer. We need to fight those ships."

"Are you sure, sir?" Baekhyun asks, peeking back at him. Although Jungkook really wants to say no and pull them out right away, he knows he can't. So, he nods.

"I'm sure. Let's do this." Although hesitant, Baekhyun obeys and pulls the ship forward. The Moon soars, feeling weightless as she rushes in front of the other ships. "Let the small ships handle the small ships, focus on the cruisers." Jungkook turns on the comm on the center console, clearing his throat. "Yoongi, Jin, are you in position?"

"Yes sir, we're going to shoot anything that comes near us," Yoongi replies.

"Good. Be on your toes, we're getting closer by the second."

"Yes sir," Jin says in a nervous tone. Yeah, Jungkook feels the same way. Nervous as fuck.

Jungkook sits in the co-pilot's seat, staring out the window while gritting his teeth. The speed of the Moon is intense to say the least. Everything hurts. His back, his heart, his brain. Losing his enhancements really took a toll on him. He'll never say that out loud, but it's there nonetheless. Taehyung can probably see right through him, but other than that, he's keeping it a secret. His body is a complete mess right now, and going on intense missions right after waking up isn't exactly good for the health with or without enhancements.

"Are we ready?" Jungkook asks, watching as Baekhyun takes them closer to the fight.

"We're in position! Jin, Yoongi, open fire!" Baekhyun calls. Immediately, fire lights up the sky in front of them. Jungkook's eyes take in the sight, the Moon's weapons working well. Baekhyun uses some missiles, targeting every smaller craft he sees.

"What are the odds of winning this fight?" Jungkook asks as the ship shakes.

"Slim to none. We'll probably end up retreating with twenty percent left on the hull. Speaking of the hull, Tae?!" Baekhyun yells.

"Yeah?"

"How we doing?"

"Ninety percent! We're good!" Tae calls back from the bridge.

Jungkook nods, peeking down at the controls in front of him. "Shields are fully operational, cannons are fully loaded, missiles are reloading. We're good for now, keep up the good work!" Jungkook says. No one replies, they only do what Jungkook says. The weapons light up the sky like fireworks, blessing Jungkook's vision with color. Despite how horrible war is, the exploding ships are almost like a painting. If Seulgi was here, she'd be taking a mental picture so she could draw it later. War does bring some of the best pictures. There's beauty in horror.

Baekhyun grits his teeth while he spins the Moon down, nearly making Jungkook throw up. The 'Captain' gags, holding a hand over his mouth as the Pilot straightens out. "You okay, sir?" Baekhyun asks, not taking his eyes off the open space.

"I'll... live," Jungkook slowly replies, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Good thing you're a co-pilot and not a gunner. If you need the toilet, I'll take over."

"No way in hell am I letting Byun Baekhyun take control."

He chuckles. "At least you still have your sense of humor."

"Thank my intelligence, not my humor," Jungkook jokes, causing Baekhyun's chuckle to turn into a laugh.

"Ladies and gentlemen, strap in, we're about to get some company," Baekhyun says, staying tall in his seat as he flips a switch on the center console. Jungkook mentally curses as the ship rattles some more, moving rapidly to dodge. Jungkook hates flying. It's official: he hates it. How the hell do Y/N and Baekhyun do it? It's so disorienting. Maybe that's just because of his enhancements, but he was never great at piloting. It was the one thing he could never truly master. Making maps? Yeah, he was good. Learning? Also good. Fighting? A little too good. Piloting? Fuck no. Get him out of the cockpit.

"Hull's at eighty! We won't last out here, we're taking too much fire!" Taehyung calls. Jungkook opens his eyes and peers at Baekhyun, who looks back for a split second.

"What do I do, Capt?" Jungkook pauses, thinking.

"Pull back, but only slightly. Give us some distance to work with. Yoongi and Jin, keep up the good work. Get as many of those bastards as possible. The less that get through, the less our ground troops have to handle."

The less Y/N has to handle, is what he wants to say, but he holds it back. Jungkook can't help but be worried for his best friend. She's in emotional distress and in the middle of a traumatizing war. Fantastic combo, huh? Why is this universe so hellbent on punishing poor Y/N? And Jungkook thought his whole enhancements ordeal was bad. Her emotional pain is the worst out of anyone's. Except maybe Jimin's, especially if he can see what's going on.

He doesn't want to think about that right now. She wouldn't want him to be worried, so he forces himself to remain calm as the Moon pulls back. Yoongi and Jin keep up their relentless barrage of firing, exploding anything that comes close. "Hull?" Jungkook calls to his husband.

"Seventy-eight!" he calls back just as the Moon rattles. "Uh, never mind. Seventy-six."

"Let me know when it starts getting low! As soon as we hit twenty, I'm pulling us, you hear me?"

"Yes sir!" Taehyung says.

"Taehyung, sweetie, we're in space, are you really calling me si-"

"Oh shut up you horny bastard, this is serious!" Tae yells.

"I almost died, cut me some slack! I'm just tryna get my dick sucked!"

"I hate all of you," Yoongi grumbles from the comm.

"Same here," Baekhyun says with a sigh.

"Use that hatred on Mars, how about that?" Jungkook says.

"I don't think Mars could handle it," Yoongi blankly replies.

"Even better! Keep going!" The crew goes silent as Baekhyun continues to maneuver around the space, dodging a lot more fire.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" Taehyung asks.

"Bad first so the good can ease my old heart," Jungkook says.

"You're literally the youngest here," Baekhyun replies.

"I'll demote you," Jungkook threatens, causing Baekhyun to shut up.

"The bad news is our hull is at fifty percent."

"It went from seventy something to fifty that quickly?" Jungkook asks, not hiding the awe in his tone.

"Yeah, that's the bad part. The good news is, we're kicking ass right now."

"How so?"

"We're destroying the Mars ships faster than they're destroying ours, we've already eliminated a quarter of them," Taehyung explains as Baekhyun continues to jerk the ship.

"Woah, Baekhyun. Careful, engines are starting to overheat!" Tae says.

"I'm trying, but we're in the middle of battle right now. Tell the Moon to hang in there."

"You're the Pilot, tell her yourself!" Jungkook says.

"For once, my husband has a point."

Jungkook bites back his snarky comment, looking out the window instead. "Woah woah, wait. Look," Jungkook suddenly says, pointing out the window. "What's that?"

Baekhyun slows his speed. "Turn our shields on max, Jungkook." The 'Captain' instantly does, making sure they're at the highest capacity possible before glancing back out the window. Baekhyun observes the sight before sighing. "The Martian ships are going for speed runs."

"Fucking what?" Taehyung asks.

"They're using small transport ships to break through our defenses. Not even half of them will make it to the surface, but because there's so many..."

"That'll still be a lot," Jungkook finishes in a whisper.

"Exactly," Baekhyun sadly replies.

"What do we do?" Jin's voice asks over the comm, still concentrating on firing his weapon.

"Tae, hull?" Jungkook asks.

"Forty." Time seems to run still as he thinks of what to do. He can't die here, he can't. Jungkook just got his life back not to mention the rest of the crew deserves to live to fight another day. This whole thing is complete bullshit. Jungkook lets out a sigh as he connects the dots and makes the only decision he can.

"Pull back. Pull us out Baekhyun." Baekhyun's definitely surprised by his decision but doesn't argue. Within a heartbeat, the Moon is rattling again as she soars away from the main combat zone. Baekhyun flies past the other Earth ships, slowing their speed so they can catch their breath. Looks like they had a pretty successful attack run, but it still didn't matter. So many ships got through. So, so many.

"What now?" Taehyung asks, heading over and kneeling down next to Jungkook. The man entwines his hand with his husband's, letting out a small huff of air.

"There's not much we can do. Jin, get to work with any repairs you can make from up here. Yoongi, stay on the gun." Jungkook turns to Tae. "I hate to ask this, but..."

"I'll get on the second gun," Tae says with a soft smile.

Jungkook pecks his lips. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I don't know either, Jeon." Jungkook softly chuckles, watching as his husband stands and trots out of the cockpit.

Baekhyun turns to him. "Is there much more we can do from up here?" Jungkook gazes at the battlefield, watching all the explosions and the ships that slip through their defenses. He sighs.

"No, there's not." Jungkook pauses, locking eyes with Baekhyun. "It's on Y/N now."

~18:37~

"Come on!"

You follow Seulgi through the crowds, the group of military men you're with not really paying attention to you. Not like you care, you only need to focus on yourself. They seem focused as fuck. Regardless, you rush down the streets, sirens going off in the city as the Martian ships start dashing to the surface. They got through. They somehow got through. Some landed on the other side of New York while others went to completely different sides of the world. Apparently Chaeyoung is dispatching all military personnel in every state and country to take care of this. The entire military, every single man available, has been dispatched. Every single one.

That thought scares you, but there's nothing you can do about it so you don't bother dwelling on it. The ships have already landed, several Martian men rushing out and blasting away. Seulgi ducks behind a building, you doing the same. Sapphire is next to you, Hoseok trailing on your backside to watch your flank. So, this is what war's like. It's not fun. It's not fun at all.

You grit your teeth as bullets whizz by your ear, the things hitting the wall in front of you and leaving small bullet holes there. Damn this is rough. Already having a blast today, huh? Everything seems to be going to shit real fast. You knew Mars had power, that they were practically controlling you, but still. This is bad. Beyond bad. Seulgi seems worried too, instantly making all the horrible thoughts you had ten times worse.

"What do we do?" you ask, practically yelling over the screams and sirens around you.

"We have to stay low and careful! Don't peek out from behind the wall! Stay hidden!" Seulgi yells back, crouching along the side of the brick wall. You stay still, watching as Seulgi blindly fires. Her AR peeks out from the wall, but not her. She refuses to go any further as she blindly fires. She'll have no idea if she hits anyone, but she doesn't have time to think about that. If she hits even one person in the damn leg it's worth it.

She pulls herself back, panting. "This isn't going to work. Move down the alley, we'll regroup in a less populated area. Let's move." You obey, turning and moving. Hoseok now leads, bringing the group to the other end of the alley and looking around. There aren't nearly as many screams around here. It's not completely quiet, there's still gunshots, but at least you can hear your own heartbeat this time.

Speaking of heartbeats, yours is insane to say the least. Your heart is banging against you, your ribs throbbing from the pain. It's safe to say your adrenaline is sky high, probably higher than Jungkook's whenever he used his enhancements. And that's another thing, Jungkook doesn't have enhancements anymore? What the fuck happened? Obviously he got them removed and that saved his life, but how? The crew hasn't had a single second to breathe, and you're not sure how to feel about it. You just got the news that Jungkook's alive and going to stay alive, and this is how you celebrate? By putting his life in even more danger? How fucked up is that?

You don't have time to think about him, so you force the thoughts down. Even one mental error and you're dead. You need to stay low and on your toes. This isn't the time to mess around. So, you grit your teeth and follow Hoseok as he leads the way out of the alley. You're on the backroads now, a lot of pavement and a narrow passageway. It almost looks like another alley, but these ones go right to the main roads.

"What way, Seul?" Hoseok whisper-asks, listening closely to the distant gunfire.

"Right. They're coming from the left, let's get some ground, shall we?" The other members of your team are no where to be seen. Everyone got split off once you entered the alley. Gold team? Pfft nope. Gone. Completely gone. You're not sure where the fuck they ran off to, but somehow it started with Seulgi leading them to the enemy ship and ended with an explosion and a lot of gunfire. Seulgi made it her priority to get the crew to safety first. You wouldn't consider this safety, but it's close enough.

Anya separated from you not too long ago, something about 'Chaeyoung comming her'. Why Chaeyoung is in contact with Anya in particular is unknown to you, but you also don't care at the moment. That's laters problem. Future you can deal with it. She's out of the fight, so she's safe. That should be a good thing. One less friend to worry about. Despite everything, you're glad Jimin isn't here. He may be an absolute ass right now (not his fault though), but if he was here, you'd be so scared for him. At the very least one of your friends and your boyfriend are safe. You can at least be somewhat grateful for that.

"Does anyone have a visual?" Seulgi asks.

"No, it's just a big alley," you reply with a small groan.

"Alright, stay here for a moment," Seulgi says as you approach a small corner. She peeks out of it, sighing once she sees it's a clearing. "Alright, the roads are this way, let's keep going." With a huff, you follow, staying close to Sapphire. Poor Sapphire and Anya, they get back and instantly go save Jungkook's life then get rushed into a war. They haven't even had much time to relax with their lovers, not to mention that both of said lovers are up in space. Once again separated.

Sapphire turns to peek at you as the four of you cower behind an abandoned car, gunfire sounding off all around you. "What do you think is going on up there?" she asks, although it comes out as more of a yell. The closer they get to the Martian troops, the louder it's getting.

"I think our crew is fighting for their lives," you reply, checking to make sure your AR is fully loaded, same with your shotgun.

"Get ready to attack!" Seulgi yells, peeking through the car window and getting a visual on the enemy. There's some military men around you. Key word: some. You've already suffered massive losses. That thought scares you, but there's not much you can do other than fight til' your last breath. You've lived a decent life. Well, a good nine months of your life was good. Then Chaeyoung showed up and made those nine months mean almost nothing now since Jimin's gone and Jungkook almost died. Yeah, that emotional pain will never leave. You're gonna need therapy, that's for damn sure. There's only so much you can take. The crew is the only reason why you haven't completely given up.

"Keep firing until you run out of ammo!" Seulgi says, positioning herself on the end of the car. The barrel of her AR rests on the metal, her keeping her head down as she opens fire. At her actions, the rest of you follow. You go to the other end, doing the same thing. There's a lot of Martians on the other side of the road, so you aim for them. You keep your head down, just barely peeking at them to aim as your finger squeezes the trigger hard.

"Seulgi! I don't think this will work!" Hoseok says, coming closer to you as he shoots.

"I don't either, but for now it's all we can do!"

"Fuck!" Sapphire yells, falling back.

"Saph!" Seulgi says, stopping her fire. She kneels next to the woman, who's groaning and writhing in pain.

"Sapphire! What happened!?" you ask, jumping away from your position.

"Keep firing, Y/N. I'll handle her," Seulgi says, bringing the injured woman onto her lap. Although you're hesitant, you agree, turning and going back to your original spot. "Where did you get hit?"

"T-Thigh," Sapphire says. You peek back to see her clutching the space. "My armor took a lot of the damage, but fuck. That hurt like a bitch..."

"Can you walk?"

"I don't know," she softly replies, trying to crouch. Thankfully there's no hole in her armor, so she was right: the armor took most of the damage, it just hurt. You frown, giving your attention to the Martians. You fire again and again, but quickly, it becomes obvious that you're being overwhelmed.

"This is insane!" Hoseok says.

"I know, we don't have much choice though," you reply, keeping your eyes forward.

Hoseok glances at you for a moment, then sighs. "I know that you're mostly doing this because of Jimin, but-"

"Please don't," you whisper, your voice barely heard over the gunfire. Hoseok crouches down, turning towards you. "Now isn't the time to talk about this," you start, but he shakes his head.

"Yeah, I know, but please don't do anything stupid out of your emotions. We're going to save him, you hear me, we're going to-"

'Bam'

Everything goes black for a moment.

Everything.

"Fuck," you mutter. You groan, your ears ringing as your eyes struggle to open. Your body feels like it's moving, but you can't tell. Everything hurts. Absolutely everything.

"Holy shit. That's the Moonchild crew," a male voice says, reverberating through the walls of your mind. You keep groaning, trying to crawl away, but you feel someone grab you.

"G-Get off," you say in a slur, blindly throwing a hand.

"How cute. This is the L/N girl, right?"

"Right. Take her to the Commander. She'd love to talk to her."

And without another word, everything goes dark.

~~~

Consciousness comes back to you, hitting you like a truck as you gasp and shoot up. The pain in your head makes your ears ring once again, but you don't have the time to focus on that. You're in an alleyway. A dark alleyway. Your eyes find two Martian men standing not too far away, holding your equipment and putting it into a bag. Your shotgun, AR, knife, pistol, and your comm. All in that one bag.

You grit your teeth, your feet digging into the gravel underneath your body. Your arms are tied in front of you, but that's nothing a knife can't fix. You have blood trailing down your face, your left eye a little cloudy, your right leg weak. You also notice a small gash on your bicep, your armor gone. Guess they took that too, you'll have to get it back. It's in that bag, it has to be.

"Hey assholes!" you shout, causing them to jump from the sudden noise. The first one straps the bag around his body, closing it and holding his AR up to your head. "Care to explain why the hell I'm here?" you ask, not hiding your scowl.

"The Commander wants to meet you," the first man says.

"Why? Because my dead dad is a Martian war hero? Is that why?"

"No. I think she just wants to see you. She wants to see your face one last time before killing you." Your original fire and determination dies a little. But only a little. Looks like you're going to die if you don't do something fast.

They turn their backs to you, heading to the mouth of the alley and glancing out it. Well, great. How are you getting out of this one? Yoongi's training has helped you a lot, but has it helped you enough? There's only one way to find out, isn't there? Plus, those self defense classes your father made you take must have had some impact, right? You gulp, slowly tip toeing over to them.

Their backs are still turned, them talking to each other as you approach. "Is she almost here? I know she's busy, but I don't want to do this babysitting anymore," one of them says.

"Give me the bag, I'll go take it somewhere safe and you watch the girl, okay?" the other says.

"Should we question her?"

"She just woke up, she probably doesn't even remember her name right now. You really think she can answer our questions? And what questions would you even have, genius?" The other one playfully smacks the first one's chest, chuckling.

Before they can continue, you lunge forward and rip the AR out of the one's hand. He yelps as you fire on the armed one, knocking him down first. "Joel!" he cries, going right for you. Before you can react, he pins you to the ground. The AR slips away from you as your tied hands struggle to swat him away. He holds you down, making you gag at your sudden lack of air. Alright, time to do the thing you absolutely suck at.

Use those legs, L/N. Use those legs.

You knee him in the stomach, making him lurch. His grip loosens enough that you can smack both your hands off his jaw... hard. He staggers back as you go for the AR, but he's quick to grab you by the hair and pull you back. You yelp, falling on your ass as he rushes forward to grab the weapon. You desperately get up, jumping on his back just as he grabs the thing. You bang your tied hands against the back of his head, making him groan and reach back to grab you.

Before he can react, you slide off him, grabbing the AR and pulling it between his legs. As soon as he turns around to disarm you, you fire one round into his chest. He gurgles, falling over. His body almost lands right on top of you, but you crawl back, tossing the AR and panting. Jesus Christ, that was more than enough fighting for a week. Within only a minute, you get the bag holding your stuff and free your hands.

Once again you're armed to the teeth with a knife, pistol, shotgun, and an AR. You don't bother putting all your armor on: only some of it. Your helmet is broken from the explosion, so you sigh and toss the now-empty bag away. Looks like you just barely won that fight, and even then that was only because you had the element of surprise. They didn't think you'd wake up at all, let alone wake up ready to fight.

Whatever, all that matters is finding the others. You strap your comm around your wrist, trying to activate it, but all it gives you is static. Great, it's damaged. Maybe you can still track someone, but you have no idea how to do that. That's an intelligence officer and agent thing, not a pilot thing. "God dammit, I should have learned how to track people instead of shooting," you mutter to yourself, fiddling with the device for a few more seconds before giving up.

"Wonderful," you say, grunting. You huff, shaking your head. Without giving yourself any more time to rethink your life choices, you trek out of the alley, the Moon shining directly above you. So clearly some time has passed since you were taken, the question is how much? Just how much have you missed? You sigh, keeping your weapons close. There's really only one thing you can do. You're starving, exhausted, dead on the inside, separated from your crew with no way to find them. You click the safety to your AR off.

Time to fuck up some Martians.

~~~

Seulgi blinks, her body coming back to her. The first thing she smells is smoke. As soon as the stench hits her nostrils, she flares them up and gags. Her eyes adjust to the area, taking in the new darkness of the sky. Seulgi coughs, glancing over and seeing Hoseok right across from her, his hands tied behind his back, his body pressed against the ground. "Hoseok!" Seulgi says, her throat burning from the effort.

"F-Fuck," she mutters, pulling on the rope and gritting her teeth. Sapphire is here too, sitting in the grass as she awakens as well. Seulgi can taste blood, deciding to spit it out instead of dwelling on it. Where the hell are they? They look to be in a park, the Moon the only light illuminating their faces. There's several other military men gathered here as well, but it seems as though Seulgi, Hoseok, and Sapphire are in the center.

Seulgi's missing her comm, but she's not surprised. She's sure whoever took them is keeping them somewhere. Speaking of people who took them, several Martian soldiers stroll forward. The closest one is holding her comm, dangling it in front of her tauntingly.

"Seulgi? Seulgi come in? It's Jungkook, we're on the surface, where are you?" Jungkook says, his voice covered in static. Seulgi grunts, trying to jump forward to reply, but the Martian laughs and backs off.

They're gathered around in a small circle, most of the Earthlings unconscious, including Hoseok. It's almost like they're arranged in a pentagram. Or at least, that's what it feels like. It feels like they're about to be sacrificed for the 'greater good'. "Who the hell are you?" Seulgi asks, glaring at the man in front of her. Her helmet is off, same with her armor, but that doesn't even matter right now.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" the man asks, motioning to the other four men who are surrounding them. They're holding ARs, looking around. She can't see their faces, they're hidden by helmets, but she doesn't need to. All she needs to do is somehow break out of her restraints, somehow overpower one of the Martians before they shoot her, and somehow kill all the others before they kill her. Should be easy, right?

She mentally groans to herself as the man kneels, taking off his helmet. He's attractive, probably in his late twenties to early thirties. He has a scruffy brown beard, pale skin, sharp green eyes. His hair, just like his beard, is a bit of a mess and kind of thrown everywhere. Despite how much of a mess he looks, he still has a sharp face. "Jace," he whispers, giving her a small nod.

"Seulgi. Care to let me go, Jace?" she asks mockingly.

He softly chuckles. "If you were single I'd say yes, but I know you're tied to the Jung boy."

"So you can't help a pretty girl out?" she asks with a pout.

"Sorry, but I have orders. I have to keep you here until the Commander comes. She wants to speak directly to you."

"The Commander wants to speak to me?"

"You're the Executive of the Moonchild, right?" Seulgi nods. "Why wouldn't she want to speak to you?" Jace asks. At that, Seulgi keeps her mouth shut. Jace doesn't react, so he shrugs and stands. "For what it's worth, I really am sorry," he whispers low enough that only she can hear. The other Martians don't seem to pick up on his words, mostly paying attention to the other unconscious Earthlings. When Seulgi meets Jace's sharp eyes, she can tell he means it. He's just like her, caught up in something he doesn't want to be part of. She can't bring herself to be mad at him. If the shoes were reversed, she'd have to do and say the same things.

Seulgi peeks over at Hoseok, smiling once she sees him stir. He's waking up now too, so there's hope. Hope that maybe they can try something and get out of this. Seulgi glances over at Sapphire, who gives her a terrified expression. As if Seulgi wasn't scared enough, now Sapphire's terrified? Great, when Yoongi's girlfriend looks scared, that's how you know it's bad. Seulgi sighs, giving Saph a sad nod before turning her attention back to Hoseok.

"Honey?" Hoseok asks, looking up at her.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay, Hobi. I promise," she whispers. Jace gazes at her with sympathy, sighing ever so slightly while still holding her comm in his hand. That's strange. Why doesn't he destroy it? Based on what she sees, Sapphire and Hoseok's comms are gone too. Seulgi furrows her brows, confused, then, she sees it. Her comm is beeping, flashing a small gold color.

She's being tracked.

Her and Jace lock eyes, and he gives her a small nod. She breaks out into a grin, but she quickly loses it so the other Martians won't notice. He comes back over, hiding the comm and kneeling in front of her again. "You have to stay down when they come, I don't want them to hurt you," she whispers, cautiously peering at the other soldiers, but they aren't paying attention.

"I will, don't worry," he whispers back.

"Why are you doing this?" she asks, meeting his eyes.

"You're the Moonchild, what kind of monster would want to hurt the crew of the Moonchild?"

"You'd be surprised," she sadly replies, and he gives her a frown.

He stands, heading over to Hoseok. Hoseok's eyes find Seulgi's, who gives him a reassuring glance. Jace talks to him, telling him the plan. Sapphire was close enough to Seulgi that she heard it too, so he doesn't bother going over to her after he's done with Hoseok. For now, all they can do is wait. "How far out is she, do we know?" Jace asks one of the men.

"No clue, hopefully close. She's probably dealing with the L/N girl now." Oh no, Y/N...

One minute turns into five, making Seulgi nervous. Are they really that far away? She grits her teeth, peeping around desperately when suddenly someone whips by her. Seulgi gasps, almost falling to the ground in shock. By the time she looks up again, she sees the familiar glow of enhancements, these ones from Taehyung. Before she can even process what the fuck is happening, Taehyung knocks one of the Martians clean out, stealing his AR and gunning down the others. Jace is still alive, dropping his AR right away and throwing his hands up in defeat. He's standing next to Seulgi, gulping out of fear.

Tae whips around, about to shoot when Seulgi jumps. "No! Tae! He's on our side!" Taehyung stares at Jace for a few more moments before sighing and lowering his weapon. "He's the reason why you were able to track me," Seulgi says as more footsteps are heard. She turns in time to see the others rushing forward. Jungkook, Baekhyun, Jin, and Yoongi. Yoongi goes to Sapphire's side, letting out a breath of relief.

"Oh my God, you're okay," Yoongi says, kneeling and pulling her into a hug. She would return it, but her hands are tied.

"I'm okay.. We're all okay."

"W-Wait, where's Ani?" Jin asks.

"Chaeyoung called her back for some reason we don't know. She's out of the fight. She's safe," Seulgi says as Jace cuts her free. She stands, rubbing her sore wrists. Jace hands her comm back to her. "I can't thank you enough. You really did that for us?"

Jace shakes his head. "Not only that. I'm from Earth. Born and raised. Transferred to Mars when I was a teen. My brother is still here, how can I fight against him?"

Seulgi frowns. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, if anything, your crew has made it better. At least now I can fight for the right side, if your leader will let me."

"I'll put in a good word," Seulgi replies, getting to work on her comm.

"Where the fuck is Y/N?" Jungkook asks, pacing back and forth.

"I don't know, Kook. They took her separately. I'm trying to track her now." Seulgi fiddles with her comm for a few more seconds before it pings. "Got her, she's this way." Seulgi points ahead of them, to the sidewalk.

"Alright, let's get moving," Jungkook grumbles, storming forward. Seulgi watches as the man gets farther and farther away.

"Jin, Yoongi. Can you guys free the rest of them?" Seulgi asks, motioning to the other unconscious Earthlings. They quietly nod, getting to work without protest. Seulgi sighs before glancing back at Jungkook. He's already on the sidewalk, going towards the nearest building and investigating it. "Jungkook!" Seulgi calls. The Captain picks his head up, turning to look at Seulgi. "You take Taehyung, Baekhyun, and Hoseok and go north west, I'll take Sapphire, Jin, and Yoongi and go north east. The comm is a little fuzzy!" Jungkook nods in agreement, waiting for Taehyung, Baekhyun, and Hoseok to approach him before taking off in the right direction.

Sapphire heads over to Seulgi, giving her a sad look. "Is Jungkook okay?" Saph asks.

Seulgi lets out a small breath. "I wish I could tell you." Seulgi's mouth still tastes a small hint of copper from her blood, but she can't focus on any injuries she might have right now. They have a war to win, that's much more important. Seulgi looks at her comm, the thing softly pinging-

"Where the fuck is she?!" a new male voice shouts. Seulgi jumps, Sapphire jumping with her as they whip up. A single man runs down the small hill, approaching the group. Her eyes almost burst out of their sockets.

"W-What-"

"Where is she? Is she okay? Where the fuck is Y/N?" the new man says, his eyes bloodshot as he struggles to catch his breath. Seulgi stares in awe for a few more moments before breaking out into a smile of relief.

Jimin.

~~~

A/N: Screaming.

Real mystery: is it actually Jimin or is it still chipped Jimin?