"You're a coward... a disgrace for a daughter. Why do we even bother with you?" You feel tears well up in your eyes. Although you shouldn't let your emotions control you, this is something your father would say often. Almost every day. Sometimes you would be on the verge of giving up and seek his help, but he would tell you to handle your problems yourself while your mother watched and said nothing. You hate your life. You hate this planet...
~9:00~
Growing up on Ganymede was not exactly 'fun' or 'easy'. Looking up at the sky would only terrify you. Sure, the domes keep you safe from the harsh atmosphere and supplies artificial gravity, but the sky is always what made you hate the place. Every time you so much as glance up, you see the gas giant, Jupiter, towering over you. Every time you see it, you feel like your home is going to dive right into the massive red dot and get torn apart.
You scowl, muttering curses to yourself as you kick the dirt at your feet. You've always wanted to leave, but your parents wouldn't let you. You would stare at pictures and art of what the sky is like on Earth, hell, even Mars. Their skies didn't have a giant planet that could potentially destroy you in eye sight. Well, not up close, anyway.
The galaxy is a scary place, which is why you want to conquer it. Like a prize. You've been flying small transport ships since you were a kid. Your father being a renowned pilot makes that pretty easy, regardless, you want to be a pilot. You want to show the galaxy that you're not scared of it, that you can face anything. But that's kind of hard when you can barely face your parents without feeling angry or scared.
After years and years and years of you being kept on this stupid moon, you made a plan for tonight. Tonight, you'll go to the bay and steal a ship. Yes. You. You'll steal a ship. You'll steal a ship from Ganymede. The thought makes you chuckle. You, who was raised by one of the most recognizable pilots in history... you're going to steal something. It's safe to say your entire family would be amazed.
Speaking of family, your mother insisted on going to Ganymede to give birth to you since the moon is known for being a safe place for children. Mother only wanted one child, but eventually life got so boring they kept reproducing. Now you're one of eight. 3 sisters, 4 brothers, and you. You're the oldest. The one who's supposed to carry on the family name while your siblings stay safe and live in comfort. Comfort. A word you don't comprehend. A word you doubt you'll ever have. Look at your situation: the cold is biting at your skin at this very moment.
Standing outside your house, staring up at the sky - it's giving you a new idea. You don't have to steal anything. You can simply be a stowaway on a transport vessel traveling to Earth or Mars. You can start a new life there, you have the money to do so. You smile to yourself, closing your eyes. You don't need to think about your plan twice. All you know is that you need to leave by 20:00. And you do.
You don't even pack a bag.
~21:00~
Sneaking into the bay was pretty easy. Being a L/N meant that even if you got caught, no one would question you. You know every pilot on Ganymede already; they'd let you touch their controls and see their cargo. It isn't a big deal anymore. You can casually walk around if you want to. But, that's not what you want. You want to sneak around. You don't want to be seen leaving. If you are, whether by a person or a security camera, you'll be tracked down and found almost immediately.
You have one shot, so you have to choose carefully.
You force your nerves down, staying in the shadows and letting the dark sky cloak you. There are several ships here, but you need to find a small one. The smaller, the less noticeable. After sneaking along the fence where the darkness moves with you, you spot a perfect candidate. You can see the name etched into the wing. The Blackwell.
With a gentle smile, you sneak your way over past several guards talking to a few pilots you recognize. Luckily for you, it's a small transport vessel being loaded. You quickly tap on the panel in front of it, seeing that it departs to Earth in half an hour. You sneak to the back, where cargo is being loaded. There's only two workers, so sneaking past them should be easy. As soon as they turn their backs to help each other grab a large shipment, you rush inside, staying on the tips of your toes and sinking as far in the ship as you can.
"Alright, only five more to go," you hear a male worker say. Only a few seconds after he speaks, you notice the crate being pushed inside the ship. You hide behind a large box, sitting in the corner and getting as low as you can. You assume there's not many people assigned to this crew, but you don't question it. You simply let your eyes close. Now the adventure begins.
~21:45~
"Look what I found looting around the crates," a male voice says as you struggle to get out of his grasp. You didn't think they'd send a whole squad to search for stowaways. You never heard of ships doing that before, which is why you were caught so off guard when three men came at you. Due to your training in martial arts, you managed to knock out two out of the three, but with the third you weren't so lucky.
"Let me go!" you cry out, writhing in his grasp.
A tall man stands in front of you, giving you a scoff. "Y/N L/N? A stowaway? Wait until your daddy hears about this, you'll never be let out of the house again," he says, clicking his tongue. "Just fifteen minutes after take-off we find a straggler, and Jun-myeon is sick."
"He's sick, sir?" the muscular man holding you asks.
The other man, who you assume is the leader, lets out a low whistle. "Sick as hell."
"Should we go back, sir?"
He grunts at his subordinate. "We're getting paid to do a simple transport mission, not a heist. Having a guest and a sick man won't hurt us. We have a cell for her and medical supplies for him. Now throw her in a storage locker, she'll be comfortable there." Well...
Fuck.
~Unknown Time~
You float in 0g. This locker is the only part of the ship without artificial gravity. You're no engineer, so you have no idea how that works, but you don't really think about it. The only thing on you now is an ugly gray jumpsuit. Since they took the watch your mother gave you, you can't even figure out what time it is. From your counting you know it's been at least fifteen minutes. Your guess is around 22:10.
The locker is larger than what the average image of a 'locker' is. It has enough room to fit about three people, the door connecting right into the main corridor of the ship. Although you don't like the situation you're in, you can't help but admire how smoothly the Blackwell flies. Oh how you'd love to get your hands on a ship like this.
You open your eyes, looking at the door and floating over to it, resting your hand on the surface. You're not totally sure what it's made out of it, but the hinges look weak. The Blackwell must either be old (which it's not) or they've had a prisoner (or prisoners) before you who tried to escape.
You're about to try your own shot at it when you hear screaming. You freeze, eyes widening. Several screams sound off from what sounds like not too far away from you, followed by gunfire. After a whole minute of you staying still, staring at the door, the gunfire stops. The whole ship goes silent. "Send out a distress signal! Now!" a female calls out. Next there's loud, stomping footsteps.
Your blood goes cold when no one else says anything. For three whole minutes, the galaxy seems to come to a halt. No noises are heard. It's when those three minutes are up that you gain the will to move, to do anything to escape. You growl, adrenaline coursing through your veins as you keep a steady grip on the door handle and swing yourself back.
A grunt passes your lips due to the effort, then you kick your legs out and pull yourself back, hitting the door with all your might. It doesn't budge. You expected this though, so you continue to kick at the door. You kick the door with more force every time, but nothing happens. Unable to contain yourself, you shriek in frustration after your fifteenth kick fails. "Let me out of here!" you scream, banging on the door with your fist. You bang so much that blood starts to stain your skin, however you can barely feel the pain.
Tears well up in your eyes as you continue to bang and kick at the door for what feels like an eternity...
~Unknown~
You stopped thinking about how long it's been to instead let yourself float. Blood, sweat, and tears are all over your body. You've been banging on that door for at least an hour, and you just now decided to stop. To add to the wonderful situation, you haven't heard any voices, screams, or shouts since that lady ordered for a distress signal to be put out. Now you're starting to think this was a bad idea.
You gulp, the newfound moisture going down your throat giving you the energy you need to float back over to the door. You're about to bang on it mercilessly when you hear a scared female voice call out.
"Wait! What is that?"
You freeze, feeling slight hope. Although you can't see outside the locker, you still lean forward as if you can see through the wall. "Whatever that is... it's not human," a male's voice says. Something about his voice seems to calm you, even though it's only for a second.
"Back to the ship! Now! Pilot Byun run and get the ship started! We're done here!"
If the gravity was on, you would have fallen to the ground at the sudden yell. You gulp once more, hearing the footsteps go in the opposite direction. Your eyes widen when you realize this could be your last chance. You bang on the door again, pain shooting up your veins. "Let me out! Don't leave me here! Please!" you beg, screaming as loudly as you can. It never occurred to you that these walls could be soundproof.
Eventually, you accept the fact that whoever was here is not coming back. But you still can't shake what that man with the calming voice said...
Whatever that is... it's not human.
Your heart sinks at the thought that you're alone on a ship with something... not human? The tears are quick to come. You helplessly sob as you float in the air, your knees curled up to your chest as you wait. For several minutes, nothing happens. Then, everything changes and you scream as the Blackwell rapidly shakes. It was almost like a shockwave... like an explosion. Only an explosion could have rattled the ship this hard.
You close your eyes but end up opening them after a few seconds of nothing. You approach your door, confused. You go still when you see it push right open. However, the artificial gravity is not on for the rest of the ship either.
And the emergency lights are on.
Not knowing what else to do, you push out of the locker and look around, panic seeping through your heart. All the tough-girl walls you've built up over the years come crashing down as you take in the sight of blood all around you. First thought: find a weapon. Second thought: get to the bridge.
Your sore bones float through the area, looking around the seemingly endless corridors until you find your first pair of bodies. A gasp passes your dry lips upon seeing them up close, blood covering their faces. You instantly turn to the side and cough, fearing that you'll vomit, but you manage to keep it down. You have to be strong right now.
With a shaky hand you float over to the closest one, grabbing his pistol from out of his cold fingers. Tears rush out of your eyes and into the air, but you ignore them to instead do the second part of your plan: find the bridge.
You float down the rest of the corridor, trying to burn away the image of the deceased men you saw back there. But how can you? Those people... that was terrifying. With a shudder you float and float for several minutes before you reach a promising ladder. You immediately go up it, realizing now that you're finally on the bridge. Although you expected more bodies, you see nothing. The bridge is completely empty.
You sigh, going towards the comm link, seeing only emergency comms are available. Only one question comes to mind: what happened? You play with the controls, trying to find an active comm link. When you can't find any, you decide to float in the air in the same position as before: your knees tucked into your chest while you quietly sob.
~Unknown~
You tried to sleep, but the darkness never came. You thought this would be an easy mission for you. You thought you would be starting over. How naïve. It looks like you are starting over, just not in the way you think. Your crusted eyes slowly open, looking around the claustrophobic space of the bridge. Huh. You expected it to be larger.
You hear a tiny beep. The control panel has a single button flashing red. Your heartbeat quickens as you rush into action, flying over to the gray panel and pressing the button without thinking. To your surprise, the system talks back to you.
"One ship is in comm range of the Blackwell. Do you wish to make a connection?" a robotic voice asks.
You almost scream the word "Yes", your voice coming out hoarse.
"Attempting connection..."
The red light now flashes blue, and you stand there helplessly, muttering multiple "Please's" under your breath. You've never considered yourself very religious, but right now, you're praying that someone, anyone picks up your comm.
"Come on!" you yell after twenty seconds of no answer. "Please!" You're about to scream at the panel again when the light suddenly turns green... and it stays that way. Although you're confused, a small light of hope shines down on you. "H-Hello? Hello?! Can anyone hear me? Is anyone out there?"
"We hear you loud and clear. Who is this?" a male voice asks.
"I-I don't know what happened. I woke up and heard an explosion and there's bodies all around me a-and oh my God!" you say, the memories flooding back into your mind until your vision fuzzes.
"Slow down! Who are you? Where are you?" You take a deep breath...
"My name is Y/N L/N, and I believe I am the sole survivor of the Blackwell."
~~~
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