Chapter 1: Displaced

"Miss Song?"

"Here." Hana rose from her seat. She bites her lower lip, walking towards the registration table with her documentation.

"Hmmm…fighter pilot?" The man sitting behind the table had dark Egyptian skin with piercing dark eyes, a grim set mouth had spoken her name with disdain. "You look a little small to me."

Hana smirks, "I can hold my own."

"We'll see about that. Our space cadets are the most highly trained-"

"I think I can hold my own." She insists glancing at his chest for the administrator's nametag, "Mr. Calm." Hana raises an eyebrow, she couldn't help it. Being a female gamer in a male dominated environment forced one to acquire indirect sarcasm and thicker skin.

Straightening her posture, Hana folds her arms across her chest. Sometimes she wished Omnics would take over the world again. No she didn't really wish that, Hana allowed her arms to fall to her sides. "Do you mind giving me the directions to my room…please?" She adds as an afterthought. It wasn't his fault he was stuck in a shitty job, Hana couldn't help glancing around the main office painted in shades of depressing grey and white.

Mr. Calm's lips were still in that straight grim line, "Very well."


Hana's room was small and exactly as she imagined it to be, horrible and impersonal. A tiny metal bed with dark sage sheets had been pushed up against the pale-yellow walls. The nightstand beside her bed was made of the same material. The only other pieces of furniture in the room were a desk and a swivel chair that barely swiveled. Hana clenches her fists trying her hardest not to let her tears fall.


That night while in bed Hana stares out the window by her desk wondering if she made the right decision enrolling in Galaxy Garrison. She knew she should've accepted Angela's offer whenever she confessed to her that she was bored with MEKA but the idea of being confined to a lab, having an actual job that spanned from 8am to 5pm draining every single essence from her... Galaxy Garrison seemed like a match made in heaven.
What could be better than exploring the universe?
Hana hadn't counted for the loneliness of starting in a new place all on her own.

Footsteps outside her door startles her out of self-pity. Tossing the thin sheets off herself Hana crosses the room peeking through the peep-hole. A flash of bright blonde hair rushes past her door. Opening a crack, she watched that tiny person rush down the corridor. Automatically reaching for her keys to the mech she followed her.
The figure was heading for the roof. The girl has to be part of the communications sector, Hana surmises, watching as the short figure easily hacks into the codes to unlock the door. Nothing good could come out of this but it didn't stop Hana's curiosity.
After all, why else would anyone be sneaking around after lights off?

"What are you doing?" Hana decides to finally ask. Hana's eyes widens seeing the cadet jump a lot higher than she imagined she could.

"I…uhhh…was…doing nothing. Hey. Who are you?" Her blonde eyebrows wrinkles seeing Hana standing behind her.
It was her turn to blush and stammer. "I'm…I'm a…Hana. Hana Song. I just transferred here."

"Hana…Song…where have I heard that name before?" The girl cups her chin in deep thought for several seconds. Snapping her fingers, her eyes suddenly grew bright. "No way…it can't be. But you are! You're DVa!"

It was Hana's turn to blush, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I…yeah."

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." Hana cocks her head. The girl was about to say something when the sound of echoing footsteps interrupted them. She grabs Hana's arm and pulls her through the doorway up a pair of staircase, "It's the guards. Quickly. Follow me."

"Where are we going?"

"The roof. No one ever checks up there." She answers. They eventually got to the top of the flights where a dark grey metal door separated them and the open-air rooftop.
"What are you doing?" Hana asks watching the other cadet scan the lock with a program in her wristwatch.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She asks pushing the door open once the alarm was disarmed by the program in the watch.

Hana wasn't expecting the beautiful night sky peppered with billions of bright stars above her as the two stepped out on the concrete roof. Wrapping her arms around herself she watches the other cadet sit on the ground, rummaging in a suitcase that Hana hadn't noticed she had.
"What's…your name by the way?" Hana asks after seeing the girl settling with her equipment. Startled and mildly embarrassed by the looks of it, the other cadet pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Oh…sorry about that. I'm Pidge."

"Pidge." Hana repeats, smiling. "Nice to meet you. So…uhhh…are you going to tell me what exactly you're doing?" She gestures at the headphones connected to a smooth metallic oblong device in the suitcase. "What…is that supposed to be a satellite?"

"Yes."

"Who are you communicating with?" Hana's nose wrinkles. Before Pidge could reply something in the sky caught her attention and an annoying alarm started bleeping over the system.

A bright fiery blue ball streaks past the rooftop they were standing on forcing them to shield their eyes.

"Pidge! Did you see that? What are you doing up here? Who is…who are you?" The voice belonged to a tall lanky guy approaching them. Slightly behind him with an orange bandana pulling his hair out of his eyes is a bigger, much heftier guy. Hana crosses her arms over her chest suddenly aware of being in just her thin night clothes and hoodie.

"I..."

"We can do the introductions later, did you see that?! It was an alien spaceship! We've got to see what it is…" Pidge grabs her stuff running off the rooftop.


Hana felt the adrenaline rush through her veins and all at once it was another video game to her. She didn't have a problem with rescuing Shiro, she was certainly more inclined to charge in there more than Pidge and Hunk.
Keith's plan was exactly what she was thinking of.

"Is that a cliff?!" Pidge screams behind her.

"Yes it is." Keith's replies confidently accelerating his machine. She hears the others quickly object but Hana couldn't help it. Her arms tightens around his waist, whooping, "Go for it!"
Over the whistling air she thought she heard him laugh.


The cabin Keith had managed to build for himself was impressive. Sitting at the dining table and studying the wall of data he had collected over the last several months, a familiar spark started to envelope her. It was the same feeling that Hana got whenever the Korean special forces needed her for a mission.
Like she was meant to be a part of something bigger.

"So….who are you again?" Hunk asks startling her out of her thoughts. Pidge sighs, "I told you. She used to be a pro gamer until the-"

"Omnics - sentient robots - started attacking." Hana adds noting the shared confusion on Hunk's and Lance's faces. "I don't know if you know about the history concerning the omnic wars but it was a devastating event. It's the reason why our government decided to make the special ops in the first place."

"So what are you doing here? That sounds like an amazing job." Pidge asks. Hana's shoulder drops as if the fight had gone out of her and a heavy pit was starting to form in between her lungs, "That's the same question I've been asking myself. I don't…it was fun but I just felt like I was destined for something more. So I contacted Overwatch but obviously they've been disbanded…"

"Overwatch?" Lance echoes.

"Yeah? The special forces? They would go to omnic headquarters and dismantle their operations from there?" Hana raises an eyebrow not fighting to keep the disdain out of her voice. Lance made a face, distorting his handsome features, "I wasn't ever a fan of history classes."

Hana stands up, "Millions of people died…"

"Whoa hey…don't mind Lance, he's….yeah…" Pidge places a calming hand on Hana's arm, "-you'll get used to him." She continues apologetically.
"Has anyone ever told you that you look adorable when you're annoyed?" Lance grins. Hana gently pushes his shoulder so that he would stop leaning towards her. Thankfully they were interrupted by Shiro and Keith returning to the cabin.

Introductions were made and Hana was filled in with the failed Keberos mission and why everyone was concerned about Shiro and his reappearance.
"I take it you didn't command the alien spaceship on your own?" Hana asks.
"How are you so nonchalant about the fact that aliens exist?" Hunk demands. "It doesn't…doesn't bother you?"
"I've…I've seen a lot." She replies, standing up and moving towards the board. Her heart was hammering erratically in her ribcage feeling Keith's gaze on her as she approaches.
A couple of hours ago she had been hanging onto him for dear life now she was shy around him. It made complete sense. Hana distracts herself with examining the data in front of her, trying to make sense of the encryptions and drawings that Keith had taken photographs of.

"Is this cave nearby? Maybe we can get to it before noon."

"And skip classes?" Hunk's brown eyes were wide with shock. Hana, Pidge and Lance shared a look.
"If anyone should be worried, it should be me." Hana smiles, "-today would've been my first official day at Garrison."


The temperature shifted marginally as they entered the cave where Keith said he found markings related to a large blue lion.

"They're amazing." Pidge breathes barely touching the walls with her fingertips. Hana nods studying a particular sketch that looks oddly like a hanja.

"Looks like a bunch of gibberish to me." Lance said. He touches the exact same spot that Hana had looked at earlier. To his and everyone else's amazement the letters started to glow bright blue as if they had absorbed the sun rays through the cave walls.

"They've never done that before." Keith admits. Lance suddenly disappears down a hole that opened up beneath him.

"Lance!" Hana yells trying to catch the back of his hoodie but he'd already slip between her fingers and all she heard was his yelling and a hard thump as he landed. "Are you okay?"

It took a couple of moments but Hana breathes in relief whenever the weak, "Yeah.", came from the hole in the ground. "Uhh…you guys. I think you should come see this." He continues.

She'd been bracing for a hard landing against the ground but when she opened her eyes she found herself inches from a pair of heliotrope irises.

"Oh…thanks." Hana blushes clambering out of Keith's arms. By the looks on his face, he hadn't planned on catching her either.

"Whoa, what is that?" Hunk's voice brought her back to the present moment. Hana finally notices what Lance was talking about.

Looming in front of them was a colossal robotic lion. It towered probably 40 storeys high and was accented in navy and maroon metal plating. At least that's what Hana thought it was, she couldn't figure out what the giant ball encapsuling the lion was supposed to be.

"There has to be a way to get through this." Keith said his hand on the barrier that separated them and the lion.

"Maybe we should just try knocking?" Lance grins, knocking fictitiously on the hallow exterior. "Hello?"

He jumps backwards when the barrier drops almost instantly. The Blue Lion leans forward opening its giant maw ass if wanting to eat them. To Hana's relief she saw the control center located where the mouth's roof is supposed to be.

"It's not…it's not going to eat us." She sighs hand over her heart feeling the quickened beats of her heart. Cautiously they entered the lion staring in awe at the extensive control panel that laid before them. Lance got into the pilot seat stretching his fingers over the joysticks.
"Let's give this baby a test ride." Lance grins.

"Wait Lance, you don't even know how to fly this thing." Pidge argued but like everyone else knew it was useless.
The Blue Lion leapt out of its sleeping chambers and they were launched thousands of feet in the air. Keith's arm caught Hana's back begore she fell over. She smelled the sweet, spicy scent of cloves on his clothes as her nose pressed up against his chest. Keith held her steady, "You're the worst pilot ever!"