#jae-eun

"They did what?!" Hana shouted in surprise. "We were doing just fine." She exclaimed as she tried to get up from her bed.

"Hana." Dae-Hyun tried to get her attention.

"They did not need to enlist you guys!" Hana ranted. "By tomorrow we'll all be as good as new."

"Hana." Dae-Hyun tried once more. "You don't understand." He stated as he sat on the chair beside Hana's bed. "That last attack proved that the Gwishin could attack at any time." He explained. "And we mechanics are the only people capable and familiar with your mechs to combat the impending threat." He finished.

"Kyung-Soo isn't going to like this one bit." Hana murmured.

"No! Absolutely not!" Kyung-Soo's voice was heard from behind the walls. "I enlisted in the army to take care of you and have somewhere to live." He continued shouting. "I am not about to let my uncle's youngest son participate in the battlefield!" He finished.

"Oh c'mon!" A younger voice argued. "I'm only 16 not that much younger than you!"

"No means no!"

"And that was bound to happen." Hana commented as she tuned out the argument taking place beyond her walls. "We were 18 when we voluntarily enlisted." She stated. "Even then Kyung-Soo was against our enlistment then." She finished.

"We already brought that up to Captain Myung." Dae-Hyun replied. "But unless any of us familiarize ourselves with King's mech, only his cousin can pilot it." He added. "And with you causing Tokki to self-destruct, I've got nothing else to do except make a second version of it."

"That's it!" Hana exclaimed. "Why don't you use the time off to familiarize yourself with Singijeon?"

"We brought that up as well." Dae-Hyun sighed." Captain Myung denied that request as she ordered me to make Tokki from scratch and make the self-destruct thing you did a thing." He continued. "This'll be my last visit to you until you get discharged." He finished.

"Poor Kyung-Soo." Hana sighed. "What about Yuna's, Jae-Eun's and Seung-Hwa's mechanics?" She asked.

"They're already familiarizing themselves on how their respective mechs operate." Dae-Hyun answered." Gyong-Si wassn't allowed until Kyung-Soo gives the okay." He added. "Which was why he informed his cousin today." He continued.

"Then the argument started." Hana finished Dae-Hyun's train of thought.

"As for those three." Dae-Hyun continued the conversation. "I'm guessing they aren't entirely happy with the decision." He added. "Like me, those mechanics are close to the pilots." He continued. "But they're already adults so they don't have any say."

"That sucks." Hana bitterly commented.

As Hana predicted, Kyung-Soo did not give the okay, much to Captain Myung's displeasure. As soon as he was asked who would be, everyone immediately volunteered Dae-Hyun as a suitable candidate.

"Dae-Hyun is not eligible to pilot Singijeon." The captain announced." From now on, he'll pilot Tokki and Hana will be safe inside the base." She explained.

"What?!" Came everyone's immediate reaction.

"Korea can't lose her symbol of peace!" The captain argued. "We can't cause mass panic when Hana eventually dies in battle." She finished.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Yuna shrieked. "What are you going to do if that plan backfires?!" She countered.

"Enough!" Captain Myung shouted. "I am your commanding officer and my decision is final." She stated with finality. "King you have three weeks to find a mechanic and at the same time will serve as your back up pilot." She then walked out of the mess hall.

The event that has just unfolded caused a stir inside the mess hall. Yuna 'D MON' Lee mostly glared at the door but continued to murmur profanities aimed at their commanding officer.

"Who does she think she is?!" Kyung-Soo exclaimed. "Enlisting a minor to get himself killed." He angrily stated. "And now he expects every one of us to die for Hana's sake?" He bitterly added.

"To be fair." Seung-Hwa responded." She only asked Dae-Hyun to die for Hana's sake." He corrected.

"Not helping Seung-Hwa!" Jae-Eun hissed. "Regardless of who she had sentenced to death, it's still unethical to not get Dae-Hyun's consent and force young Gyong-Si to enlist in the military." He continued. "Not unless Dae-Hyun already gave his consent.

Everyone's attention was immediately on the stunned Dae-Hyun. He hasn't completely processed of what has transpired.

Who could blame him, the squad's captain just essentially gave him a death sentence.

"No I did not." Dae-Hyun responded with a sigh. "This is the first time I've heard of it." He admitted. "But…" He trailed off.

"You can't actually be okay to be used as a sacrificial pawn by the captain." Yuna exclaimed. "She just sentenced you to death!" She added.

"Guys, guys!" Seung-Hwa shouted to get everyone's attention. "I understand that all of us are incredibly upset with the Captain's decision." He added. "Let's calm down just a bit and stop with the shouting." He pleaded with everyone in the room.

"Fine." Everyone responded with a sigh.

"Now that everyone is calm." Seung-Hwa started once more. "Let's air out our grievances at the recent events." He prompted everyone. "One by one." He added. "You first King."

"Why does it have to be our mechanics who will become our back-up pilots?" Kyung-Soo questioned. "Gyong-Si is still 16 years old." He exclaimed.

"Captain Myung has been on record saying that only we mechanics were the only ones familiar with your mechs." Dae-Hyun answered. "Me with Tokki; Gyong-Si with Singijeon and so on." He continued.

"Makes sense." Jae-Eun nodded.

"That doesn't mean I have to like it." Kyung-Soo pouted. "I will find someone who'll replace my cousin and become my back-up pilot."

"With that resolved, let's proceed." Seung-Hwa announced. "Who's next?" He asked.

"Not exactly resolved." Yuna announced. "We still have the issue of putting our mechanics in a dangerous position." She exclaimed. "They don't have any experience in piloting mechs." She explained. "They'd be sitting ducks out there."

"To be fair none of us were really experienced in piloting mechs before." Jae-Eun stated. "I'm a racer; Yuna, Kyung-Soo and Hana were E-sports gamers; and Seung-Hwa's the youngest pilot here like me." He continued. "We were trained."

"That's the point." Yuna exclaimed. "We were trained." She repeated for emphasis." Our mechanics weren't!"

"She does make a good point." Kyung-Soo agreed. "It took us months to properly work on our mechs." He added. "Then more months for us to work in synch." He finished.

"Then there's the whole Dae-Hyun thing." Yuna added another point. "Just because Hana is the face of MEKA and regarded as an invulnerable hero, doesn't mean she can just throw him to the lion's den in her stead."

"To be fair, Hana and I took turns testing Tokki for it to work as well as it did." Dae-Hyun responded. "So I am familiar with how Tokki works," He continued, "and how to fly it." He finished.

"But you didn't have the training we had." Yuna argued. "You'd be dead as soon as you're deployed."

"Gee thanks for the vote of confidence." Dae-Hyun responded mirthlessly.

"Dae I'm serious!" Yuna exclaimed. "I don't doubt your skills." She explained herself. "You were our coach during our E-sports days." She continued. "This and back then are two different things." She finished.

"I agree." Kyung-Soo nodded. "Frankly, you weren't trained as hard we have been." He continued. "Your plays were amazing by the way." He praised Hana's mechanic and coach.

"Thank you?"

"Not the time King." Yuna rolled her eyes. "Regardless if you're familiar with how Tokki works or not, you still weren't trained like we were.' She finished.

"Actually." Seung-Hwa inserted himself into the discussion. "The mechanics did go undergo combat training." He revealed. "In the event that the base would be compromised." He informed. "A contingency if you will." He finished.

"We were also trained in piloting simple ships in the event of an escape and defending ourselves during our escape." Dae-Hyun informed the group.

The other mechanics in the room sans Gyong-Si simply nodded in confirmation, opted to remain silent during the argument between the pilots and Dae-Hyun.

Kyung-Soo's young cousin on the other hand was inside his room, already asleep as he was still the youngest mechanic at age 16.

"Why weren't we informed of this?" Kyung-Soo glared.

"Actually you were informed." Dae-Hyun responded. "Hana and Seung-Hwa certainly knew about the training." He added. "Maybe you guys were just tired with your own training that you droned out the announcement and anything related to it." He offered.

"So we established Captain Myung's decision isn't unfounded." Seung-Hwa commented. "Does that resolve the issue?"

"Not necessarily." Yuna challenged.

"What do you mean?" Jae-Eun asked. "We just established that Captain Myung decisions unfounded."

"That's just it." Yuna exclaimed. "While our mechanics were trained for combat, but they weren't trained to work well in synch like we do.' She challenged.

"True enough." Jae-Eun nodded. "Barring Dae-Hyun, who I have no doubt can work well with us, the rest still need training to work well with the team like we do." He continued. "No offense." He added immediately.

"None taken." The mechanics answered in chorus.

"Thanks, I guess?" Dae-Hyun wasn't sure how to react to the underhanded praise given his way.

"But I don't see the issue here." Jae-Eun continued his assessment. "Like you said, they need to be trained." He added. "I'm sure Captain Myung won't just send her soldiers untrained and unarmed to battle." He finished.

"Fine." Yuna resigned." There's still another issue."

"What's that?" Seung-Hwa questioned.

"The fact that Dae-Hyun fighting in Hana's stead is going to backfire." Yuna stated.

"I see where you're going with that." Kyung-Soo agreed.

"I see."Seung-Hwa and Jae-Eun nodded.

"What about it?" Dae-Hyun asked.

"Hana's going to be labeled as a glory hog while somebody else is dying in her stead." Yuna informed. "In this case is you." She added.

"What's the harm in her getting the credit?" Dae-Hyun questioned. "It's not like she sent me to my death herself."

"To us, we know she didn't send you to the battlefield." Yuna nodded. "But in the perspective of the public, that's not going to fly well." She added. "It's going to look like she was getting undue credit and would forever have a bad reputation."

"The government's also going to be labeled as corrupt." Kyung-Soo added. "Despite the noble intentions, the English quote 'the road to ruin is paved with good intentions' will go viral and be plastered all around." He continued.

"Essentially, Hana's going to be the country's pariah when this blows on her face." Jae-Eun continued the discussion. "Really this would be affect Hana badly." He finished.

"Huh." Dae-Hyun responded." Never thought about that."

"I do agree that MEKA needs more recruits." Kyung-Soo voiced his opinion. "What I don't agree is Captain Myung sending a minor, inexperienced and untrained mechanics in our stead and basically sending you to your deaths." He enumerated.

"Thanks for worrying for us." Dae-Hyun thanked the pilots.

"Of course!" Yuna smiled. "You guys maintain our mechs with us." She continued. "Our successes as a member of MEKA aren't possible without you guys."

Hana Song walked out of the Captain's office with narrowed eyes as Dae-Hyun bowed at the captain and followed the angry Hana Song back to her room. The other MEKA pilots definitely noticed the stomp that she was making as she made her way to her room.

"What happened?" Yuna asked.

"Captain Myung just informed her about what had decided on regarding her, me and Tokki." Dae-Hyun answered. "And she didn't like that one bit." He sighed.

"Of course she won't." Kyung-Soo exclaimed. "She's one of those people who believe the credit where credit is due." He stated.

"It's a bit more personal than that actually." Dae-Hyun revealed as he blushed.

"Why?" Jae-Eun asked.

"I don't want my best friend to send him to his death." Dae-Hyun repeated Hana's words to the captain as his face become red in embarrassment.

"Of course!" Yuna smiled. "Dae-Hyun and Hana were childhood friends." She informed everyone. "Of course she's not going to send her best friend to his death."

"Although she did agree on me being her back up pilot." Dae-Hyun revealed." She does understand that if she were out of commission, someone needs to pilot Tokki whenever there's an attack." He finished.

"That's if she hasn't activated and made Tokki self-destruct once more." Seung-Hwa joked.

"Hey!" Hana reacted at the joke at her expense from inside her room. "I resent that Overlord!"

"Guilty as charged." Seung-Hwa laughed as he left to work on his mech along with his mechanic.

"In any case, rebuilding Tokki version 2 is going to take a while." Dae-Hyun informed the pilots. "The materials needed hasn't been delivered yet so we're stuck at the blueprint stage."

"Attention everyone!" The Captain's Voice boomed through the base's PA system. "Due to recent events and injuries, the General has issued a mandatory vacation amongst the members of MEKA." Captain Myung announced.

"What if another Gwishin attacks?" Came Yuna's question.

"You all are still on call." Captain Myung clarified. "But the newly installed marine defenses are going to hold them off until you lot arrive.

"Dae-Hyun and I will be staying at the base!" Hana announced.

Dae-Hyun simply shrugged and nodded with Hana's declaration.

"Good, the metals needed are going to arrive tomorrow." Captain Myung responded. "But the General needs everyone to be off the base premises tomorrow morning for a routine checkup and maintenance."

Dae-Hyun noticed the wrench Hana was holding fell to the ground, he approached the thing and picked it up.

"Oh man. This time off is great isn't it?" Dae-Hyun asked with mirth as he gave Hana the wrench that fell from her hands.