Chapter Text
Chan really should have listened to Hyunjin.
He was the crew’s diplomat, of course- sharp and witty, knew every language this side of the Milky Way, and could read people in seconds, and Chan should have trusted his crewmate’s gut that something was off.
Chan figured it was anxiety after a particularly rough mission a few days prior when the blond boy had come into the cabin, fiddling with the rings on his thin hands.
And of course Chan had shooed him off, telling him to get ready for a disembark.
Now that Chan is on the floor with his hands tied behind his back, he realizes Hyunjin has yet again proven himself to be even more clever than he looks.
Of course he would have to be, considering the bounty he’s got on his head- the entire crew’s heads, really- he wasn’t considered a KOS in the whole J-43 section of the galaxy for no reason. The same for the rest of Chan’s crew- as soft as some of them seemed (and were), they weren’t fools, weren’t cowards. But Chan had let his stupid “I can do it” mentality get in the way again.
And now here they were, five exhausted crewmates all on their knees on the blindingly white floor of some heavily armed ship, the walls clearly lined with Kyron grey diamond, at least three inches thick. The walls glowed with a sinister air, making the singular guard positioned at the door (a mockery, really) shine with a bright neon edge that was somehow not drowned out by the blindingly fluorescent lights.
Clearly, they were very fucked.
Next to him, Jisung spits blood onto the floor. He’s clearly trying to stop his viciously bloody nose to no avail, attempting to swipe his face into his shoulder.
It hits Chan that his normally bright eyes are blank.
Another scan around the room notes that the others are shutting down too. They’ve discussed getting caught a million times, have gotten caught a million times, and have had to weasel their way out over dozens of do or die situations.
Chan had truly only seen them like this a few times before, but never in a place so mocking as this, the singular guard in an almost obnoxious uniform, dark purple cloak thrown over his shoulder while his other arm held his ornate spear. It looked hand-carved out of dygnite, viciously sharp, quietly crackling as it absorbed static from the air. Any person with a little bit of sense could identify that this man’s outfit alone was worth enough credits to buy a Deathspeeder.
These guys were rich.
And Chan knew! They didn’t target this yacht-esque transfer ship for a laugh, there was money to be had! They’d run through this scenario at least a hundred times, go in, rob them blind, get out. Sell to the Day6 gang, probably, turn a profit and finally get back on good terms with the guys.
They obviously could have never expected the warm welcome they received.
How they fit that amount of troops onto a yachtship was beyond Chan, and they’d been overpowered in seconds.
There’s a quiet ding and scuffling at the door and Chan looks up to see three more soldiers join the first. They whisper in some language Chan has never heard. He instinctively shoots a glance at Hyunjin, who is grimacing at the floor.
This was clearly not good.
One of the men at the door laughs sharply, slowly making his way down the stairs from the top platform before beckoning his two companions over to their prisoners. He looks Chan in the eyes, grinning. Chan doesn’t back down, glowering right back at the man, though Jisung has curled in on himself beside him, clearly trying to lean into Chan’s side.
The blood has made it to his shirt collar, staining the pale grey a sickening brown.
That’s when the guilt really hits.
“We’ve caught something fun, haven’t we?” The guard crows- Basic this time- moving away from Chan and Jisung to examine the other three. His boots click against the floor.
“Everyone’s favorite pirates decided to attack a neutral military vessel! Got cocky, didn’t you?” The last part was spat out, bitter, and Chan sees Jisung flinch.
The guard has stopped in front of Changbin now, who was determinedly staring at the man’s sickeningly shiny boots.
Everything was shiny here, a fever dream.
“Look at me.” The guard growls, nudging at Changbin‘s knee with the butt of his spear.
Chan can see Changbin swallow out of the corner of his eye.
“I said to look at me.” The guard hisses, grabbing a fistful of Changbin’s hair and pulling.
“Ow! Christ I-“
A slap echoes around the room, piercing in the silence. The guard’s heavy breathing is the only sound for a moment.
Chan can see Minho is shaking furiously, shooting daggers at the guard while clearly trying to fight his bonds. Chan gives him a vicious look. Minho sees, but ignores it.
Stupid weapons specialists, goddamnit.
Changbin is looking at the guard now, who was now leaning on his spear with an almost lazy grin on his face.
“You rats wrecked me years ago, you know that?”
“Can’t say I do.” Minho snips, and this time Chan doesn’t flinch when the sound of the slap comes, ricocheting off of the smoky grey walls.
Minho has never had the best balance and the force of the slap sends him falling backwards. Jisung’s watching him struggle to get up, eyes wide.
It’s strange, Chan thinks. They’ve been treated like this before but it’s never been this dire. Hasn’t seen anyone crack like this, of course trying not to crack himself.
Something was wrong this time, and he couldn’t put a finger on it.
“Brat. I was in debt, you know.” The guard is crouched in Minho’s face, which was reddening rapidly as the boy tried to blink the tears out of his eyes. “Owed our lovely government nearly five hundred thousand credits. And you BRATS took it all from me and now look where I am. Serving the top brass in the military.”
He laughs. There’s not an ounce of emotion behind it.
“But guess who has the general’s permission to deal with you guys until we get to a trading depot, hm?”
Well, fuck.
Trading depots were almost always lawless behind the bright storefronts, the bars frequenting hooligans and government officials alike. Whoever got their hands on one of the currently most notorious space gangs could do anything, would do anything.
Chan sure knows there wouldn’t be a shortage of people who’d like a cut of their bounties. Don’t even get started on how many that wanted to see their head on a pike.
And god, how the ghosts of past life would catch up to them too- Jisung was still being stalked by the trafficking group he escaped from, all of them wanting blood after he slit their leader’s throat. Minho most certainly hasn’t made many friends, either.
Oh god, they’d be separated. They couldn’t keep each other safe anymore, could they?
Ok, Chan’s starting to crack.
The guard has made his way to Hyunjin now, who looks terrifyingly calm, eyes boring into the guard’s.
The guard clicks his tongue, reaching out to push Hyunjin’s hair back behind his ear. The only indication of discomfort comes from the blond’s jaw muscles tightening, lips pale.
“Aren’t you pretty?” The guard coos, a hand under Hyunjin’s chin, examining him. “You’d fetch a fortune.”
Jisung has managed to worm his way next to Chan, visibly panicked. He’s sniffling.
He’s crying.
One of the other guards says something that of course only Hyunjin was able to understand, eyes widening as the man who was manhandling him turned around, face red.
They begin to bicker, the other two guards looking almost bored. Chan watches with morbid fascination as the two get closer, the strange sparkles on their faces almost white against their furious red.
He’s being nudged by Jisung, who tilts his head towards Hyunjin.
The blond’s facade has cracked a bit, steely eyes now panicked. He hesitates before quietly whispering to the redhead.
Years of too-loud turbine repair communication has made Chan excellent at reading lips, and he almost regrets it.
“They’re definitely selling us. Something about their bosses. They’re using objective plural tense about us, Chan. Talking about using us.”
Minho, who’s closest to Hyunjin, is shaking again. The handprint of the guard is now vibrant red, stark against his pale face.
Chan takes a moment to think. Information. He needs information.
“Hyun, do you know who they are? Species? Anything?”
Hyunjin nods, gaze flickering between the fighting guards (who now were pointing their fizzling spears at each other) and his captain. “Azothian. They’re in royal uniforms.”
Yeah, Chan has cracked.
Azoth 3 was a powerful planet, massive, infamous for its vicious and merciless conquering of its neighboring planets. Anyone sane kept out of their way, and- believe it or not- Chan was decently sane. If he had known who was on this ship he genuinely would have done a full u-turn and headed back to their Hossk-infested base on Jakku.
Basically Chan has never fucked up this royally before.
Hyunjin’s info did help to explain a lot of their surroundings, especially the way the guards glittered in the low light. Azothians looked similar to humans, as their planet’s evolution status very was similar to Earth’s. They’d in fact be almost identical if not for the speckles of iridescent scales on their skin.
According to Hyunjin, there wasn’t much to explain exactly why the opalesque scales existed. The science perched somewhere between being a sort of flashy attraction trait and something about an ancient symbiotic relationship with clams.
Everyone had theories about the warmongers, and of course they wouldn’t tell anything. If they managed to make it out of this alive, they’d honestly have more information on the entire Azoth species than every scientific database to this day.
There’s a violent crackle and a smell of ozone and burnt flesh. The first guard (who, judging by his crushed red velvet cape was likely a higher-up) had skewered the other in the shoulder. The second guard shrieks once before toppling, the purplish electricity visibly arcing up his starched suit.
The first guard turns away, indifferent, walking back to his captives, hovering over them, almost like he was trying to pick the ripest fruit out of a bunch.
Choosing.
He thumbs along his spear, swiping away the deep red that coated the edge. “Now, as I was-“
There’s a gentle ping at the main door, and the guard lounging next to it immediately straightens as it slides open with a gentle hiss.
“I thought I made it explicitly clear that I was dealing with the captives.” The guard snarls, turning. “You-“
“I what?” The newcomer steps out of the doorway, walking over to lean on the railing overlooking the main floor.
He’s tall, slight, with dangerously dark eyes. Doesn’t look like anything of a threat, but the way the guards uncomfortably shuffle their feet clearly says otherwise. Though he’s nowhere as lavishly dressed as the guards, the simple leather vest and embroidered white top underneath screamed a dignified authority that clashed with his gentle features and quiet voice.
“Advisor Kim, I wasn’t expecting you.”
Kim doesn’t reply, scanning the room. His eyes widen when he sees the blood, eyes lingering a second too long on Jisung’s still-dripping nose. He quickly fixes his expression, turning away to talk directly to the door guard.
“You’re wanted by the general, all four of you. He also wants to remind you that he only excused Jah and Seor for guard duty until he gets here. Frankly this doesn’t look like guard duty, but of course it’s not exactly my place.”
It’s clearly exactly his place, judging by the looks the guards share.
“Oh, and the prince knows what you’ve found. Or who you’ve found.” He looks down at the captured pirates again, gaze suddenly soft, almost curious.
The speared guard in the corner (who had managed to regain composure, using his cape to stem the bloodflow) splutters. Kim shoots him a look, eyes suddenly sharp onyx again.
“Consider it a warning.”
With that he’s gone.
Chan knows the other four are staring at him, can feel it prickle the back of his neck, mixing with the hot shame already climbing there. He should have trusted Hyunjin (don’t look at him), his intuition and genuinely terrifying amount of life experience. Fuck.
Of course Chan had to get cocky and get violently reality checked by the fate he’d dragged himself into- accidentally raiding a transfer ship of the goddamn prince of Azoth 3.
The guards are bickering again. The man speared in the corner almost seemed panicked, gesturing wildly with his healthy arm.
Chan’s crewmates weren’t much better, Minho and Hyunjin whispering heatedly at each other, Minho warily glaring at the guards while Hyunjin tries to look him in the eyes. Minho notices Chan staring and shoots him a look.
It seems that the guards aren’t the only ones Minho’s pissed at.
The dark-haired boy looks away, leaving Chan to stare at the ticked-off profile of one of his strongest allies.
The door hisses open again. The man by the door glances at the visitors and immediately straightens like he’d been stung.
“At ease, Seor.”
The man relaxes, but only slightly. “Of course, your majesty.”
Well, fuck!
Kim appears first, leaning against the balcony like he had before, a smug look in his eyes, almost like a cat who’d cornered a mouse. He surveys the scene as two others come up next to him.
One’s young, likely no more than a teenager- with sapphire hair that falls gently over his eyes. He’s hesitant, keeping himself a foot behind Kim, hovering at his shoulder. Kim turns to whisper to him, leaving space for the other one to step up.
And Jesus Christ , if this man wasn’t the prince, Chan didn’t know who else could even qualify.
The first thing Chan notices is his iridescent scales. They’re not as noticeable on his companions, but this boy’s face reflected beams of light, opal spattered across his face like freckles. His hair is a warm blond, clipped into a neat mullet that surprisingly didn’t take away from his powerful appearance at all.
He looks a bit like Hyunjin, which sends another bitter pang through Chan’s chest.
Kim pulls the blond by the arm to whisper into the his ear (which dripped with jewelry that sparkled much like his face). The prince nods grimly before tucking a strand of his pale hair behind his ear.
“Jah.”
The aggressive man from mere minutes ago was now bowing deeply, an apologetic smile splitting his scruffy features.
“Prince Felix, what a surprise.” He simpers.
Kim snorts into his hand.
The prince ignores the boy next to him. “You knew I was coming.” He says briskly (as Kim smirks behind him). He has an accent, different from most who learned Basic, much more natural. It’s pretty, complimenting his low voice, almost soothing.
Jah laughs, dry. The other two guards glance at him, nervous and stiff. There’s an awkward pause, where Felix raises a brow.
“So, care to explain why it took me an hour to hear that you had captured a gang of pirates ? More importantly, extremely valuable criminals?”
Well fuck. Of course the prince hated them too. To be honest, Chan didn’t know why he expected him to be on their side at all.
He was really bad at critical decision making, wasn’t he?
Jah keeps his cool, gesturing at one of the other two guards. “I was about to send Kit out to get you.”
Kim can’t muffle his laughter behind a hand anymore. He turns away, trying to hide his face. Felix shoots him a look.
The blue haired boy grabs Kim’s shoulder and pulls him back to talk in quiet Azothian, allowing Felix a moment to survey the tense scene, freckles sending spots of light around the room. Unlike Kim, he doesn’t flinch at the blood that continues to drip to the floor from Jisung’s nose (it hadn’t stopped yet? Fuck, no wonder Jisung looked so pale).
“Jah, can you tell me why they haven’t been sent to a cell yet? Or why they’re in such horrible shape?” He makes a point to gesture at Jisung. “I’d hope you’d know the protocol around here by now.”
“Of course I do-“
“Then follow it .” The prince replies shortly.
“I was given permission to-“
“You can do whatever you want with them after you follow registration protocol.” Kim pipes up, absentmindedly scrolling through a screen on his armband as it dings. “You’re already on two write-ups, so I suggest not getting any more. Took you a while to climb the ranks, shame to be put back into D level.”
He’s nonchalant but Jah pales before turning tomato red. “How- you can’t…”
“Do your job.” Kim chirps sweetly, sending a crushing smile towards the older man. “Felix, we’re needed in room-“
THUMP.
Chan looks to his right to see Jisung collapsed on the marble floor, scarily pale and out cold. There’s silence for a moment before Kim sighs. “Calling a medic, they’ll be down to the cell level in two minutes or so. If you’re not there by the time they are you get to clean up your mess. Bye!”
With that, he grabs Felix’s wrist and leads him out of the room, blue boy anxiously glancing behind him as he follows the other two out.
The door slides shut with a hiss. Everyone’s eyes are on Jah, who looks like he’s been slapped.
Seor at the door clears his throat. “You should get them-“
“I know!” Jah snaps, rubbing his temples. “Call for extra guards, I’m sure as hell not carrying the bloody one and I don’t trust these guys not to swing if I unlock one of them to carry him.”
“Yessir.” Seor turns away to tap at a keypad, and Jah turns to his prisoners.
“You lucky bastards. I’ll be seeing you soon, though. Very excited.” He smiles, all yellow teeth. With that, he bounds up the stairs and leaves.
Chan lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as another guard approaches him.
“You carry him?” He says in broken Basic, nodding at Jisung.
“Huh- Yeah. I can.” Chan replies. The guard nods and moves to undo his cuffs. Maybe this is an opportunity, and Chan shakes out his wrists only to look up to a crackling spear in his face.
“No joke around. Carry him.”
Well. Carry him he must.
•••
The cell was massive for what it was, most definitely large enough for everyone to exclude Chan in the corner, where they spoke quietly.
Chan supposed he deserved it.
Jisung had healed up a bit, no longer bleeding but coughing up bits of blood and snot every so often. He keeps looking over his shoulder at Chan, almost regretful. Changbin and Minho are clearly bickering, Minho gesturing in Chan’s direction while Changbin laid on the floor, hands propping up his chin, tense and wrinkling his nose.
Chan didn’t want to look at Hyunjin.
Whatever. They needed a moment without him. Wouldn’t be the first time, nor would it be the last.
Chan was an adrenaline junkie, no questions asked. As level-headed and calm as he is, he’s a pirate for a reason. The thrill of a close call was enough of a high to last him for a week.
But of course, he has to drag his closest friends and only supporters in with him. He’d not even be close to able to pull the shit he’s done without the rest of his crew. They all depend on each other, and Chan’s betrayed that dependence again.
Chan stands, trying to stop his ass from falling asleep on the stone floor. The noise makes the boys in the corner turn to look, and Chan gives them a nod. Minho just shakes his head as he turns back to the ship engineer. Jisung blinks at him, torn. Chan waves him off, shrugging. He gets it, and to be honest, Jisung trying to help him would probably make him guiltier.
He can do this on his own.
But wasn’t that the reason they were here in the first place?
Chan huffs, leaning against the icy stone wall of the cell they were in. He needed to think of a plan for all of them. They’d gotten out of worse, for sure, but the people they were up against weren’t exactly helping at all. Azothians love taking prisoners for all sorts of reasons, and loved sending them off to other sleazy assholes for credits even more.
Chan’s so lost in his worry and frustration that Jisung has to tap his shoulder to get his attention. “Channie?”
“Hey Sung, your nose ok?”
He instinctively reaches up to touch it, wincing. The bridge of his nose has bloomed a fascinating shade of purple, ringed with angry red, bright against his still-pale face. “I mean… not really, but it’s better.”
“I’m sorry-“
“It’s fine.” Jisung brushes it off, crossing his arms, looking pointedly at his feet.
“It’s not, Sungie, I-“
“Chan, we can worry about this later.” He huffs, chewing at his lip. “I came to get you. Bin and Minho wanna talk.”
He glances up at Chan before turning abruptly and walking back to the other boys.
Chan guesses he has no choice but to follow.
He sits down at the edge of the circle as Jisung takes a spot directly next to Hyunjin, leaning into the blond’s shoulder. Minho seems to be very interested in picking at his shoelaces, but Changbin clears his throat.
“So, we’ve been talking.” He pauses, vaguely focused on something over Chan’s shoulder.
“Yeah?”
“Yes.” Minho says shortly, still chipping dirt off of his shoes. “Basically, the idea is-“
A clang echoes down the cell hallway, then footsteps. Jisung jolts up, trying to peer past Hyunjin to see the cell door.
“Jeongin, don’t be a baby.”
“I’m not being a baby! You’re just being really fricking stupid!”
“You can say fuck, Innie, it’s ok.”
Chan turns back to look at the others, who look just as confused. The voices are too familiar.
The steps get closer.
“Do we need to do something?” Jisung hisses, knees tucked to his chest. Nobody replies.
“I know I can say fuck! Felix, make him stop.”
“Only if you don’t tattle.”
“I- shut up!”
“Felix…” Minho repeats under his breath, burying his face in his hands. “ Fuuuuck.”
Oh.
As if this day couldn’t get any worse, here comes the crown prince of Azoth 3 with a handful of cronies. This could only go poorly.
The steps stop around the corner from their cell, and there’s whispers, likely in Azothian because Chan can’t understand a word. He glances over at Hyunjin, whose brows are furrowed.
Confused.
“What are they saying?” Chan whispers at him, and Hyunjin only holds up a finger, face crunched.
He doesn’t have to wait for long, because a moment later there’s a rattle of keys at the cell door, and it swings open.
The first one through the door is Kim, from earlier, whose cheeks are flushed. He’s grinning, clearly excited.
“Hey!” He chirps. “Do you mind if we talk to you guys for a second?”
“Do we have a choice?” Minho replies darkly.
“Nope!” Kim beams, glancing over his shoulder. “You two get in here too, don’t make me do all of your work.”
“It wasn’t my idea!”
“Who cares, Jeongin?”
“I do, Seung!”
Kim just rolls his eyes, stepping out of the doorway to let the sapphire boy from earlier slide past him. He’s visibly uncomfortable, twisting his fingers together and glaring at Kim.
Prince Felix follows right after, still just as ethereal under the shitty fluorescent lights as he was before. His eyes flit over the five exhausted boys in the corner.
He breaks out into a bright grin. “Hey.”
Minho’s looking at the prince like he just shit a brick, Changbin about the same. Jisung waves shyly back.
“I told you, dumbass, they aren’t gonna trust us.” Kim hisses, slapping lightly at Felix. “Let me do it.”
“Shut up, Seungmin! I’m trying to be nice!”
Kim? Seungmin? ignores Felix, crossing his arms.
“We have a proposal.”
“Who is we-?“ The blue boy hisses.
“Jeongin, literally shut up.” Seungmin replies. Jeongin pouts as Seungmin continues. “Anyways. We have a proposal, and you had all better decide fast because if we get thrown off of schedule then people will start getting suspicious and then we’ll all be in hot water.”
“Then tell us what it is already.” Minho groans.
“You’re not exactly in a good position to be a bitch.” Seungmin says shortly. Changbin snorts and tries to pass it off as a cough.
“I-“
“Look, if you want to live, I’m telling you that shutting up is a good idea.” Seungmin rolls his eyes.
“What was this about scaring them?” Felix grouches. Seungmin aims a kick at his shin, which the prince dodges almost instinctively.
“All of you shut up. I’m doing this for you, Lix, so don’t you fuck around.” Seungmin huffs a piece of hair out of his eyes. “Here’s the deal. We let you go free. Here’s the catch.”
“Don’t call it a catch, they aren’t gonna-“
“Felix, if you talk again I will snitch on you.”
The prince sticks his tongue out. Seungmin casually flips him off.
“You get to go free. We just have to come with.”
It’s silent. Felix looks patiently excited, clearly trying to hold back a hopeful smile, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Jeongin hides his face in his hands.
“Who’s we?” Hyunjin replies.
“Just us three. Jeongin, don’t you start-“
The blue haired boy shuts his mouth, albeit reluctantly.
“Whatever. Felix, Jeongin and I. You’re gonna take us with you when you leave.”
“How are we supposed to leave?” Chan asks.
Felix beams at him, smile brighter than his iridescent freckles. “I happen to know exactly where your ship is stored right now. Perks of being royalty.”
“And I’m the royal advisor, I have keys to everything.” Seungmin adds. “Basically I fuck with some security systems, unlock some doors and lock others, and give us a little bit of a diversion if shit goes bad.”
“And what about him?” Changbin gestures towards Jeongin.
“He’s coming with because he hates it here, not that he’ll admit it, also he’d die without us.” Seungmin says dryly.
“I would not!”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Felix teases. He sidesteps a kick from Jeongin.
“Point is, if you wanna get out alive and together, you’re taking us with.” Seungmin states, almost professional.
“To where?” Chan asks, voice catching.
“Nowhere in particular.” Seungmin replies, checking his nails, which were painted a void-esque black. Chan hadn’t noticed them before that, and honestly he doesn’t know how. The pitch black is hypnotizing, almost like the boy’s eyes.
“Why?” Minho asks. He’s immediately waved off.
“We’re running low on time.” Seungmin says. “It’s a yes or a no.”
“We’ll get fucking blown out of the sky.” Minho clips back.
“Ah, but isn’t your captain one of the best pilots in the galaxy?”
And boom, everyone’s eyes are on Chan. He chokes down his confusion, trying to be logical. He was good, Seungmin is right. But he doesn’t want to be responsible for another problem, another potential failure, not when he was sitting next to Hyunjin, not when he could see the violet bloom across Jisung’s nose out of the corner of his eye.
But if it goes well…
Chan looks up, meeting the aliens’ eyes. Jeongin’s reluctantly curious brown, Seungmin’s flashing onyx, and finally Felix’s bright gaze, hopeful.
Chan sighs.
“I’ll do it.”
Felix’s reaction is instant, clapping excitedly like they might not all get blown up within seconds. “Awesome! C’mon, follow me!”
He’s out of the door almost instantly, bouncing excitedly in the hall outside. Seungmin waits, somewhat impatiently, while the crew gets up. Jeongin’s chewing his nails, but follows after Seungmin when he turns to leave, glancing back at the pirates as if they’d save him from the other aliens’ bullshit, rather than walk him to it.
“Well? You coming?” Felix calls out.
Chan looks back at his four best friends, who all unashamedly look right back at him, expectant.
Chan finally allows himself to smile. “Yeah.”
•••
The yachtship is so much bigger than it appears on the outside, if its winding halls were anything to go by. Seungmin seems focused, stopping at every door keypad to configure something. For him being such a light figure, he commands some sort of power that the prince doesn’t; something Chan couldn’t quite put his finger on. He clearly had his walls up, especially compared to Felix, who looked like he was having the time of his life. Said prince was mostly checking down halls and confirming codes with Seungmin, keeping his energy under control enough to get through the gates and past guards.
Changbin’s beside Chan now, peering out from under his bangs, dark. “Chan.”
“Mm?”
“How do we know they’re not taking us somewhere even more dangerous?”
Chan didn’t really want to think of that, to be completely honest.
“I mean, we don’t. But I feel like we have an advantage here if need be.”
Changbin wrinkles his nose. “I dunno, that Seungmin guy is scary, and don’t even try to excuse the other two. Prince is probably pro in terms of self defense, and blue hair has military badges. And even if they can’t physically fight, we’re in their territory.”
With each word, Chan’s feelings swarm closer and closer, trying to choke out the glow of hope and adrenaline he has in his chest. He takes a deep breath. “I mean, it’s the only choice we have right now, and as of now we aren’t being split up.”
Changbin shrugs. “I guess. It’s just- this is too well planned. Why would they even want to abandon their power? Why are we the catalyst?”
“Because you’re good at what you do.” Seungmin has paused mid door code, clearly having had heard what Changbin said. “Plus Felix thinks you’re all cute.”
“HEY!” The prince protests, ears tinging pink. “You promised!”
“My fingers were crossed.” Seungmin replies, turning back to the keypad. “Either way, you guys are better known than you think. We saw an opportunity and took it.”
“So you’re using us.” Minho deadpans, brow raised.
“Sure.” Seungmin shrugs. “If you wanna think about it like that. I personally prefer to call it a partnership.”
“Personally prefer my ass.” Minho grouches. “You must be fun at parties.”
Seungmin ignores him as the door in front of them slides open. “The ship’s here.”
Sure enough, around the corner sat their little freighter, most definitely a sight for sore eyes, resting in front of a giant glass bay door that revealed the sprawling galaxy behind it. The ship appeared to not have taken much damage in their capture (thank goodness).
The ship was mostly Chan’s pride and joy (they’ve been together for four years now), but Changbin’s masterpiece. The ship, The Matryoshka , had been basically entirely replaced by their engineer at least twice. She was holding on for dear life, and Changbin kept her living. Which is why his need to immediately go and inspect the ship made sense.
Unfortunately, the alarm systems didn’t agree.
There’s a blaring screech, and Jisung and Hyunjin both instinctively cover their ears.
“Fuck!” Seungmin swears under his breath before grabbing Jeongin’s wrist and pulling him towards the ship. “Come on, all of you, now. The bay doors are closing.”
Sure enough, metal grates began to grind their way down over the glass bubble. That was all the motivation they needed, all eight boys dashing to the ship. Changbin got there first, clumsily opening the ship door. Chan gets in first, clambering into the pilot’s seat and putting his headset on. “Minho?”
“I’m already on it, Chan. Jisung’s got the lower rifle, I’m loading the top.”
“What would I do without you, huh?”
“Die, probably.” Minho snips back. “Which is what we’re all gonna do if you don’t hurry the fuck up.”
Changbin enters the cabin, followed by a wide-eyed Felix. He gets into the co-pilot’s, nodding at Chan as he jams his comm headset on.
Seungmin appears in the doorway. “The bubble door is automatic. If you get close enough it should open. The grate doesn’t do that, though, and if it closes, we’re fucked. You probably have about 30 seconds.”
“Well shit.” Changbin replies, standing to flick switches on the roof. “Glad I did maintenance yesterday.”
Minho’s voice crackles into Chan’s ears. “Hey Chan, anyone there? There’s assholes rolling up-“
A ping of a bullet against the ship’s hull confirms Minho’s statement, and Chan instinctively starts the ship.
Changbin whips around. “Hey, we aren’t-“
“We don’t have enough time, Bin, we gotta go.”
“We aren’t calibrated.”
Shit. This means he has to overcompensate to steer. Chan shrugs it off. “I’ve flown with worse. Come on.”
Changbin frowns but drops back down into his chair, flicking the engine light on his side on. There’s a roar as the ship comes fully to life, almost immediately tilting from the off kilter calibration. There’s a thud from the living space in back, and Chan knows it’s Hyunjin’s lack of space legs at him again.
Right, Hyunjin. Get through this for him, so Chan can apologize and beg for forgiveness.
With that, Chan tilts the yoke, the ship rolling sideways. Felix stumbles, Seungmin saving his fall by being pressed against the wall. Changbin swears, jumping up to flip a switch. “Forgot, I forgot, sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Chan brushes it off. The plinking gets louder.
“They’ve got a launcher up there.” Seungmin points out through the windshield. “Up top. Takes a second to charge, long range.”
“You hear that Minho?” Chan confirms into his mic.
“Sure did, would have been great if Mister Fancypants said it earlier.”
“Be glad he told you at all.” Jisung huffs. “Come on, door’s almost closed.”
Chan forces the yoke forward, the ship lurching towards the door. Sure enough, the bubble fades out of existence in front of their eyes, the swiftly closing metal aperture the only barrier now. Chan slams the gas, guiding the rolling ship through the hole just as it grinds shut.
Changbin lets out a breath. “Ok now-“
BANG.
They’re hit by a flash of green light that rocks the ship, sending it rolling.
“That’s the launcher.” Seungmin confirms, dull. “They’re on most of our fleet.”
Changbin stares at the alien for a moment before taking his headset off and handing it to him. “Here. You talk to Minho.”
Seungmin looks surprised, dark eyes wide. He takes the headset with a hesitant hand and puts it on, clearing his throat. “Hi.”
“Hey Twinkletoes, got any more fun facts for us?” Minho gripes. Chan can hear the sound of a charging beam rifle in the background.
“Yes. Our ships also have Kyrnian rifles.”
Changbin’s jaw drops.
“Suiciders?” Minho repeats, annoyance gone, replaced by shock. “What the hell are you guys on?”
“You seem to forget we’re a warlord race.” Seungmin says bitterly, adjusting his mic. “Can your ship do hyperspace?”
“Yeah, but we’re a mini freighter, not a fighter ship. We need time to charge.” Chan flicks at a dial on the dashboard.
“Hope you’re good at dodging top military gadgets then.”
“Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine?” Minho hisses. Seungmin just frowns in response, seating himself behind Chan in one of the passenger chairs.
“Chan, here they come.” Changbin warns, pointing back at the yachtship.
“Ok, time to go.” Chan turns sharply, pulling a u-turn and slamming his foot on the gas. The ship streaks forward.
“Chan, how long until we can hyperspace?” Jisung asks.
“Probably three minutes. Can you guys hold out?”
“You bet your ass we can.” Minho says, confirming his point with a beam of light that hits one of their pursuers square in the fuselage. The ship spins off to hit another one, both blooming with a split second of fire as their debris spirals off into space.
Chan grins. “Nice one.”
“Yeah, keep talking.” Minho replies, and Chan can hear him smiling right back through the headset.
“Hey Chan, you think they know we have Felix?” Jisung asks quietly, almost inaudible.
Chan looks at Seungmin, who looks surprised. “Uh,” The alien starts, “I mean, they shouldn’t? We probably have an hour until they really realize what happened, I think?”
“They can’t track you?”
“I ditched my comm at the ship.” Seungmin recalls, frowning at the blinking switches on the ceiling of the cabin. “Jeongin has a habit of not using his and Felix left his before we went down to the cell block, so we should be good.”
“Okay, thank you, just making sure.” Jisung replies, uneasy energy seeping through the mic.
There’s another splash of flame as Minho hits another ship. Seungmin watches its shrapnel cascade into the void, lost in thought. It’s tense and quiet for a moment, Chan dodging bullets and checking the hyperspace meter almost constantly. Seungmin listens to the crew’s well-rehearsed calls for a minute, looking increasingly worried, Felix’s eyes flitting between watching him and watching Chan.
Seungmin suddenly looks up at Felix, speaking rapidly in Azothian. Felix’s eyes widen.
“They know.”
Changbin turns. “What?”
“They know we’re on the ship.” Seungmin says dully.
“How do you-“
“They’re not shooting to kill.”
It was so obvious out in the light like that, the thick stupidity settling around their brains like they were underwater. The cabin was suddenly bitter.
“What do we do then?” Felix asks quietly, fidgeting with one of the many rings in his ears.
“If we get away, we should be able to ditch them and stay hidden for a bit. But I doubt they’re ever going to really stop looking.” Seungmin sighs, crossing his arms as he leans back in his chair.
A beam of purple light skims off of the ship, vanishing into the abyss of stars.
“Stun ray.” Seungmin murmurs. “Electric pulse that will basically put us all in a coma.”
“Jesus.” Minho sighs. “You guys really don’t stop with the murder devices, huh?”
“No.” Is all the advisor says, falling into a tense silence.
A shrill charging noise from the bowels of the ship finally confirms what they’ve been aiming for, their hyperspace drive finally charged. Chan doesn’t hesitate, turning the dial to the max and letting out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.
Seungmin immediately throws his headset back at Changbin. “That’s that.”
Chan sure hopes he’s right.
There’s a stumbling noise as Hyunjin peers into the cabin. “Hey, I’ve got Jeongin situated in a room, I’ll get you two there.” He glances warily at Chan before beckoning Felix and Seungmin out of the room. The sound of Minho’s work boots echoing down the hallway behind him has Chan cringing.
“I’d run if I were you.” Changbin says wisely, turning his attention to the calibration settings in front of him.
Chan nods, steeling himself before darting into the halls of the ship, hiding from his consequences.