Nova

"Ever since the breach two thousand years ago, Nova has required an elite guard to defend it from the intruders that find their way through to our glorious land. After going through rigorous training to ensure they are ready to defend against any threats, these watchers each are stationed in their own individual watchtower, isolated from the outside world to avoid any distractions. They know the risks and sacrifices that come with their job - and for that - they are our nation's heroes."

"More like our nation's disposables," mumbled Yeonjun as he reached out to turn down the volume on the television.

He was hoping that watching a documentary on the watchtower would lull him to sleep, but it unfortunately did not. Bringing his hands up to cover his face, Yeonjun rubbed them over it as he laid on his bed. When he brought his hands back down, he looked at the red digital numbers on the clock beside him. He only had another two hours until he had to start his surveillance.

"Whelp...looks like it'll be another night I don't sleep," said Yeonjun as he sat up, stretching his arms above his head.

Yeonjun put his legs over the side of the bed and placed his feet into the gray slippers that laid on the floor. Trudging across the metal floor, he walked up the equally metallic steps in front of him to the upper deck where he surveyed the breach when it was his round.

The watchtower that Yeonjun had been stationed in for the past five years reminded him a lot of a lighthouse due to the way it was built. The lower level of the watchtower consisted of his living quarters which were made up of a twin bed, a small television set, bathroom and kitchenette. From the lower level a set of metal stairs led upwards to the top floor. The top floor's walls were all windows so that you had a 360 view of your surroundings. It also had an elaborate set of controls in front of a red pleather chair. When he was on watch, that was where Yeonjun sat, making sure that no foreign visitors from the breach came through and attacked their world.

Yeonjun crossed over to the chair, looking at the controls that were lit up by the moonlight as he took a seat. His eyes trailed over all the various buttons before looking at the touch screen mounted in the center. The touch screen allowed him to stay in communication with the thousands of other watchtowers littering the perimeter incase a threat was detected. It was how Yeonjun had met his four best friends: Beomgyu, Taehyun, Hueningkai, and Soobin. They were all on the same watch one night and had gotten to talking through a video call on the touch screen to keep the boredom at bay. In doing so, they became close friends.

They had only met in person one night when the five of them had decided to sneak out of their watchtowers. They reported to the other watchtowers in the vicinity that could see them walking about together that they were doing a ground sweep for threats so they wouldn't get in trouble for temporarily leaving their posts. That night they got to know each other and it helped them to pass the boundary from close acquaintances to best friends and brothers.

Before they had all headed back to their watchtowers so they wouldn't be reported for suspicious activity for being out so long, they had stumbled across a cave of sorts. Caves weren't necessarily suspicious on Nova - a place with forests and mountains as far as the eye could see - but there was something that glowed a bluish green within its depths that they had all decided needed investigating. When they had gone in, they saw that the cave was empty aside from a glowing gem. As they got closer to it, the gem started to hum. Yeonjun closed his eyes as the memory came back to him. After all, it had been his fault that what happened next happened.

Curious as to what this odd gem was, Yeonjun had reached out to touch it. The moment his fingertips had come into contact with it, it had exploded in a bright burst of light. The light had sent them all sailing backwards in the explosion. As Yeonjun sailed through the illuminated air, he had visions of a normal life with his best friends; a life where they weren't trained watchers and were able to be free. When they had all landed and came around, they were all miraculously unharmed. The only evidence that anything had happened in the first place was the smoking spot in the center of the cave where the gem had once been and the shard embedded in each of their palms.

Agreeing never to speak of what happened, they all went back to their watchtowers. Anyone that was in a tower close to the vicinity of the cave thankfully believed their story that the glow had been neutralized by them and that's what caused the blast. The blue-green shards in their palms didn't cause any sort of pain, so they had just let things go back to normal. Everything was as normal as it could be too until eight months ago.

Eight months ago was when the first of his friends had gone missing. They had all been talking to each other when Hueningkai swore he saw something coming through the breach. He said that he would go out to investigate after the rest of them had confirmed they hadn't seen it. When he didn't return, they had reported Hueningkai as missing along with the threat.

The government's response was merely to list Hueningkai as MIA and - when he didn't return two weeks later - as killed in the line of duty. The same thing happened to Beomgyu and then Taehyun. Soon, it was just Yeonjun and Soobin left of their group. The day that Soobin saw the threat that no one else seemed to be able to see, Yeonjun resorted to begging to try to convince him not to go.

'I'll be fine. I'll talk to you again soon.'

But despite Soobin's promise, it never came true. The same fate befell him and it left Yeonjun completely alone. Since the night of Soobin's disappearance, Yeonjun had been hoping that he too could see this threat and that maybe he could find his best friends alive somewhere. However, four months had gone by with nothing unusual in sight. It had left Yeonjun unable to have the sweet dreams he used to have of hanging out with them all outside the watchtower; of riding matching bikes in the sunshine and enjoying each other's company in person on a daily basis. Instead, Yeonjun's nights were normally sleepless - and when he did manage to sleep - he was greeted by nothing but darkness.

"I just wish I could see what you all saw..." he muttered as he looked from the darkened screen to the world outside the glass windows.

It was then that Yeonjun thought he saw some kind of flash at the edge of the border he was facing. Thinking that it was just a fluke, Yeonjun intently watched the spot to see the flash again. As he looked at it, it almost looked like headlights.

'A vehicle this close to the breach...that's not normal,' thought Yeonjun as he leaned forward to touch the darkened touch screen. He logged in his credentials and began to skim the list of names of the people in the other watchtowers to see who was nearby and currently online to see if they too could see that light.

"Great..." He muttered, pressing the button for Chet. Of course, the watchtower closest to him had to be filled by a macho airhead that he couldn't stand.

It also didn't help the fact that Chet was Soobin's replacement. To the Novian government, they were easily replaceable and - as long as they had muscles - brains didn't seem to be an important prerequisite.

"Chet! Do you see anything out your watchtower right now?" asked Yeonjun as Chet's face came into view on the screen.

"Hmmm?..."

"Are you asleep?"

Yeonjun couldn't hide his annoyance at the man as he watched Chet sit up in his chair and rub a fist over his eye.

'Some sort of defense you'd be,' thought Yeonjun as he watched Chet look out into the night before him.

"No. I don't see anything. Is this a prank, Yeonjunk?..."

Yeonjun didn't hide the look of disgust on his face at the name. Disconnecting the call, Yeonjun looked to see that the same light was still there. It hadn't moved. It was as if it was standing there, waiting.

If Chet didn't see the threat, then no one else did either. That meant that there was no use sounding the alarm. This was something that Yeonjun would have to deal with himself.

'Maybe this is the threat that Hueningkai, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Soobin all saw too,' thought Yeonjun as he got up and quickly took the stairs back down to the lower level two at a time.

Kneeling down on the metal floor by his bed, Yeonjun yanked out a small box situated there before undoing the combination look. Inside was the weapon that he had first been issued when he been escorted to his watchtower for duty all those years ago. It was a gun that he had never fired before. The gun was able to shoot a beam of light out that would - depending on your setting - paralyze or disintegrate your target. The only downside with the weapon was that it only worked to a certain extent. If the target was too big, it would be only slightly effective if at all. Yeonjun figured that it would be better than nothing though. Yeonjun tucked the gun into the waistband of his gray sweatpants as he moved to slip a gray hoodie on over the white t-shirt he was currently wearing.  After slipping his feet into sneakers, Yeonjun moved to key out of his watchtower.

The night was unnaturally quiet and cold, but Yeonjun didn't let it bother him as he rounded his mammoth tower and began to walk towards the light. He noticed the slight glow around him of the various other watchtowers sprinkled throughout the area, softly glowing like some sort of halo. His attention was riveted forward though as his eyes landed on the headlight looking lights across the field from him.

'Why can't anyone else see that?' thought Yeonjun as he slipped his hand onto the gun tucked into his waistband as he got closer.

He was soon standing right in front of the odd light and confirmed that it truly was a van. Right before he got close enough for the van to notice him though, he saw it start to move. Ducking behind a nearby rock to hide, Yeonjun watched it turn so that all he saw was its taillights. It was now facing the light of the breach as if it was ready to return from wherever it came from. Yeonjun's gaze flicked off to the side as the trees rustled and two masked figures walked out of the shadows dressed completely in black. They climbed into the back of the van as the breach light in front of the van started to glow brighter.

'What are they doing?' thought Yeonjun as the van started up.

Yeonjun knew that the only way to find out would be to follow them. He hoped that answers and his friends laid on the other side of the breach. Just as the van started to move, Yeonjun moved out of hiding to run after it. He managed to take a flying jump onto the back bumper; his side hitting the back of the van as he gripped the back handle with all the strength he could muster.

The van sped up as it got closer to the light, causing Yeonjun to tighten his grip even more. He closed his eyes as the van sped right into the light of the breach; the world he knew dissolving around him in a sea of light followed by an engulfing wave of darkness.

When the light came back, Yeonjun's grip on the back handle of the van was slick from his sweaty palm. He fell off the back of the van, tucking himself into a ball so that he would hit the asphalt road that he now found himself on, on his side. He rolled once before being able to stop himself, sitting up just in time to see the van fading away in the distance.

Cursing under his breath, he moved to stand up, taking in his new surroundings. Unlike the forest like surroundings he was faced with on Nova under the blanket of what felt like an eternal night, the sun shone down on the buildings sprinkled throughout the area. There were a few trees around him, but not nearly enough to make up a forest.

'Where the heck am-'

His thoughts were cut off as a car suddenly slammed on their brakes a few feet from him and honked its horn, irritated that he was standing in the middle of the road. Yeonjun moved to stand on the sidewalk as the car continued its progress down the road, waving a fist at him.

'Is this where the others are?' thought Yeonjun, looking back down the road where the van that had gone through the breach disappeared. If he wanted to find the answers, he would just have to explore this new world and find out for himself.