Karl bolted to the hangar and boarded his fighter. “Ava, connect me to the pilot,” he said upon takeoff, to which his team’s virtual assistant responded, “Connection established.”            

“Help me! I don’t want to die!!!” The cadet screamed on the other line.

“I got you, buddy. You’re gonna be just fine. But first you gotta listen, okay?” he said reassuringly.

“… Okay.” The cadet whimpered.

“Good boy. All right, first, we gotta boost your speed. I need you to lower your tail hook for me.”

“Okay.”

The cadet did as he was told, and Karl positioned his fighter’s nose to push the other spacecraft.  

“Now listen carefully. When I give you the signal, go past the runway and head straight for the sea.”

“What?!” The cadet yelled, beginning to panic again.

“Hear me out. It’s too late to safely make an emergency landing. The impact will be too much for your fighter and you might get hurt. It’ll be safer to ditch once you’re over the water.”

“But…”

“Just trust me!” Karl repeated with slightly more force; there was no time for hesitation.

“Yes, sir!”

They went past GDF’s main building, the runways, and the speedboat docks. As soon as they were a few meters into the sea, Karl gave the signal. “Now!”

On his cue, the cadet jumped off his fighter. Karl immediately backed away to maintain a safe distance, jumped off his own spacecraft, then used his space suit’s booster to get to the cadet and grab his hands.

“Gotcha.” Karl grinned.

They spun in midair for a bit until he was able to stabilize their dive. When they were both steady, Karl let go of him then nodded his head to the direction of the shore, medics had already boarded speed boats and were on their way.

“On three, we’re gonna open up our parachutes. Don’t worry, those guys will get us as soon as we fall to the sea, all right?”

The cadet, though still looking nervous, nodded stiffly. Karl pressed the side of his helmet to deactivate its visor so he could look straight into the younger boy’s eyes, hoping to calm him and tell him with his eyes that he was going to be okay. 

“One, two, three!” They simultaneously opened their parachutes and not long after, they splashed into the water.

Karl swam back up and before he could even call for help, his hand was grabbed and he was pulled right into one of the speedboats. He frantically looked around until he spotted the cadet on another boat being tended to by medics.

“Don’t worry, he’s fine now.”

At those words, he sighed in relief… at least, until he recognized the stern voice. He nervously looked up at a tall, tanned, and green-eyed man, who gave him a reprimanding look.

“Hey Zeph!” He grinned sheepishly.

The medic team’s captain unceremoniously took Karl’s helmet off before the ace pilot could even deactivate it then promptly flicked his forehead.

“Ow!”

“Honestly, what were you thinking, flying off again when you just got back from space?” Zephyr scolded as he took the ace pilot’s suit off and wrapped a towel around the shorter boy’s shoulder.

“And jumping into the sea? Really? There’s a reason Luna and I always accompany you when you dive, remember? What if I lost sight of you? What if I hadn’t pulled you out right away?” He dropped another towel over Karl’s head, which got soaked when water got in through his open helmet.

“What if you had another attack?” He furiously rubbed the pilot’s hair dry.

Behind them, the female medics were giggling at the sight, while the boys snorted, whispering to each other ‘here comes the Mother Hen’.

Zephyr flinched. Karl gently chided the other medics. “Come on, guys. He’s your Captain. Stop making fun of my younger brother.”

The medics blinked owlishly at him, then murmured to each other.

“Wait, he’s the older brother?”

“Seriously?”

“No way, I thought he was the youngest. Even Luna looks more mature…”

This time it was Karl who froze.

Zephyr turned to them indignantly. “Hey! He may be smaller than most people his age and was the shortest cadet in his batch, but he was the top pilot! And he’s still number one in GDF!”

“S- Sir. He doesn’t look too happy about your compliments…” one of the lady medics pointed to his brother.

Zephyr’s head spun around to where he was. Karl had already crouched down on the ground, hugging his knees. He was drawing imaginary shapes on the speed boat’s floor with his index finger, mumbling to himself, “Even my own younger brother…”

-

GDF Operatives in formal evening wear were gathered in the main hall. One group was on stage playing classical waltz music. The cadets who had just passed their flight exams like Luna and Ha-yoon, however, were wearing their official GDF uniforms, which they received for the first time.

GDF’s uniform consisted of standing collar tops, which had colored stones for buttons. For the bottoms, there was a choice of either white pants with a single thin stripe on the outer sides matching the color of their buttons or pleated sailor-style skirts with a single thin stripe near the hem matching the color of their buttons. The school’s minimalist emblem was on the left chest pocket— a minimalist silhouette of a soaring bird printed in metallic silver. Black, knee-high boots completed the outfit.

The button colours were coded according to the pilot’s specialization: sapphire for weapons specialists, ruby for medics, and diamond for engineering and comms. Those aspiring to become M.A.G.E. operatives, however, were first given onyx buttons, which would be replaced with amethyst once they successfully completed their training to avoid confusion.

“Check this out, guys. It’s official. I’m really part of GDF now!” Ha-yoon zoomed into his brand new uniform. “We only wear this on official missions though, and whenever we’re representing the organization. But for the most part, they’re pretty casual here. Oh, the armbands?” Ha-yoon zoomed in on some of the pilots behind him who had white armbands with the word ‘medic’ on. “That’s for the medic team. They’re required to wear it all the time. It makes it easier to identify them in case of emergency.”

He then flipped his phone’s camera and panned it around the venue. Cocktail tables were set up around a long table filled with a colorful assortment of drinks, yakitori, kushikatsu, onigiri, sandwiches, charcuterie boards, crudités, fruit platters, an assortment of sweets like pudding, cake slices, and ice cream. And in a little corner of the hall, there was a pop-up bar with a bartender.

He stopped when he spotted the members of Team Alpha gathered in one table. “Ah, there they are… Wait, where’s Karl?”

Ha-yoon turned the focus on Luna, who was standing across from him at the same cocktail table, enjoying panko-coated tofu skewers and iced barley tea. “Oh, he’ll be here. He’s not really good with social things like this so he’ll come fashionably late, as always.” 

“Okay. Oh, there’s Zephyr.”

Ha-yoon turned towards the wide open main doors and zoomed in on him. Donned in a slightly dressed down version of a suit, the semi-formal look highlighted Zephyr’s cool appearance.

“Look at that fine man, ladies. That right there is the middle Lyle sibling. Head of the whole medic division and captain of the top medic team.”

A swarm of hearts and heart-eyed emojis suddenly flooded Ha-yoon’s livestream, which abruptly stopped when Zephyr extended his arm to a lady in a one-shoulder dinner dress, whose hair was tied in an elegant bun accented with a glimmering floral clip.

“’Who’s that’, you say?” Ha-yoon read one of the comments out loud as soon as the influx of hearts stopped. “Why that’s none other than the co-founder of GDF, Mrs. Lyle.” The flood of hearts came back, and this time it was double the intensity.

Luna gave a little wave when Zephyr and her mother spotted them. The two exchanged a few words with the other guests they passed by then stopped at the table where she was. Luna pouted when Zephyr ruffled her hair, messing up her perfect waterfall braid. “Ugh, Zeph! Stop it. It took me an hour to do this.”

“My bad,” Zephyr replied nonchalantly as he snatched one of her skewers.

“Good evening, Mrs. Lyle,” Ha-yoon bowed lightly, putting down his phone.

“Good evening, Ha-yoon. Congratulations on passing your exams,” Mrs. Lyle smiled.

Ha-yoon gasped. “You know me, ma’am?! I’m honored.”

“Of course. You’re my daughter’s classmate after all. She’s told me a lot of things about you,” Mrs. Lyle chuckled.

“She did?! L- Like what?” Ha-yoon stammered, feeling heat creep up his cheeks.

“Ohhh, so this is Karl’s little fanboy.”

“Zeph!” Mother and daughter scolded him in unison. They almost felt sorry for the boy whose face had turned redder than the mix of cranberry juice and ginger ale he was drinking.

Ha-yoon snapped out of his embarrassment when a man wearing an unbuttoned flamingo-print suit with matching pants, a bright aqua undershirt that complemented his fair skin with polka-dotted silver bow tie, and cream vanilla espadrilles entered the room. His hair was neatly combed back, and when he looked their way, Ha-yoon gave a tiny yelp.

He froze in place when the man made steady strides towards them, completely oblivious to the dumbfounded looks and all eyes in the room following him.

“Hey, Luna! Congratulations!” The man then turned towards Ha-yoon and added, “You too, buddy. Congrats!”

Zephyr snorted when Ha-yoon could not reply. “He probably doesn’t recognize you, so lemme help.” He pulled the weird-looking man under one arm then tousled his hair.

“Hey!” The shorter man pouted, making him look that much younger.

Coupled with the messy hair, Ha-yoon finally recognized him. His jaw dropped. “Karl?! I mean, sir?!”

Karl grinned. “Yep! The one and only.”

Ha-yoon shot Luna a look of betrayal as he muttered under his breath “‘Fashionable’, she said…”

Noticing his gaze, Luna looked his way and innocently smiled.

“Oh, it’s Instructor Nakazawa,” said Karl. His voice prompted everyone else on the table to look at the podium, where the kind-faced lady who spoke up for them against the other instructor earlier, spoke.

“Good evening, everyone. I hope you’re having a great time and enjoying the lovely music thanks to our very own GDF Ensemble.”

Everyone gave a round of applause as the members of the orchestra stood up to bow.

“Tonight we celebrate the transition of our cadets into the newest members of the Galaxy Defense Force. May we call on our new pilots to come in front, please? And I'll pass the mic to our Headmaster, Mrs. Lyle.”

Another round of applause filled the venue as everyone donned in their GDF uniforms came forward and lined up below the stage while Mrs. Lyle went up to the podium.

“Good evening, everyone. And to the newest members of our GDF family, congratulations! I know we’re all hungry, so I will keep this short and simple.

Having three kids who are all in GDF now, I know how hard you have all worked to earn the uniforms you’re wearing. So chin up!

Here in GDF, we’re not just an organization. We’re a family. And I expect you all to treat each other as such— especially your own teams.

GDF stands for Galaxy Defense Force. It has been our responsibility to protect our planet. Our home. And over the years, we’ve answered distress calls both in our solar system and beyond, and gained allies who are now our extended family in this universe.

We have come this far by working together, by looking out for each other, and helping one another the way a family would.

Everyone, welcome to the family. And again, congratulations.

Enjoy the food and dance the night away, for this is yours.”

At the end of Mrs. Lyle’s speech, there was clapping, cheers, and even whistling, which was only overpowered by loud bangs from above as a show of virtual fireworks was projected on the hall’s ceiling.

After Mrs. Lyle’s speech, the ensemble resumed playing and a few people trickled into the dance floor in pairs. As they were making their way back to their table, Ha-yoon froze when he saw a storm of women going in the same direction. “Whoa… it’s like a low key stampede,” he managed to say before he was shoved out of the way.

A girl in a gold dress with pearls for straps stood in front of Zephyr, coyly looking up at him. “Captain Lyle, would you like to dance with me?”

“No, I was here first!” said another girl in a sparkling pink dress who pushed the first one out of the way.

“Excuse me, but I’m higher ranked than you both, so I should have the first dance,” said a third woman in a stylish, beaded maroon dress, who squeezed herself in between the other two.

“Ladies,” Zephyr called their attention, then spoke gently but firmly, “I know you spend hours styling your hair and worked hard to pick out your dresses. How can I let your efforts go to waste? The night is long, we’ll all have plenty of time to dance.”

At those words, the girls all calmed down and nodded, staring at him with dreamy expressions. He extended his hand towards the first girl who asked him for a dance. “Shall we?”

The girl, blushing, took his hand and together they walked off to the dance floor.

“That was impressive. Zephyr has grown up to be quite the fine gentleman,” said Chris, as he and the twins approached their table. He was clad in a body-fitting deep black vest over a blue dress shirt that brought out the color of his eyes. He wore a coat with satin accents over it, matching dark pants, and formal shoes to complete the outfit.

“He takes after his father. He’s quiet most of the time, but when he speaks, he does so in a stern, yet charismatic way,” said Mrs. Lyle.

“Ah, yes, that’s exactly how I remember Dr. Lyle,” Chris smiled fondly, then extended his hand to their Headmaster. “Mrs. Lyle, May I have this dance?”

Chuckling, Mrs. Lyle put her hand over Chris’ upturned palm saying, “With pleasure,” and they walked to the dance floor as well.

Hogan, who looked relaxed with his dress shirt’s top button undone and sleeves rolled up, theatrically bowed before extending his hand to Luna. “My lady, may I have this dance?”

Luna playfully curtsied back. “But of course, my good sir” She took Hogan’s hand and they merrily skipped to the dance floor.

Ha-yoon timidly looked up to Bianca, who looked stunning in a flowing white dress accented with glimmering beads and a satin blue ribbon on her long, blonde hair, which she curled, and matching silver and blue fashion contacts. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself to ask. “M- Miss Klein, may I have this dance?” He stiffly extended hand to Bianca.

Bianca grinned brightly and took his hand as they, too, trotted to the dance floor.

“Looks like everyone’s having fun,” Tala chuckled, watching the other members of Team Alpha from her seat at the bar as she took a sip of her whiskey on the rocks. She was wearing a simple but elegant high slit dress. “Hm?” She scanned the floor and, upon failing to find the face she was looking for, shook her head, chuckling. “Oh dear. Looks like our ace pilot snuck out on us again.”