"This is IRL Among Us!" Michiru whispered excitedly as she dragged Saki down the long, metal halls of the Photonchord Space Station.
"Please! Michiru! This is serious!" Saki whispered back, squeezing the younger girl's hand fearfully. There was an alien on the loose, and they had to get from the containment area to the navigation section of the ship before the alien got to them! Saki's silver eyes pierced the darkness, searching for colors or clues that would point to evidence of them being stalked. Ibuki's words rang in her head.
"Saki. Are you sure about this? You don't have to take Michiru if you don't feel ready, or if you don't want to." The human Space Captain was secretly worried. The reason Michiru wasn't assigned more tasks in the day-to-day upkeep of the station was because none of them trusted her. She was a good kid, but that was it, she was a kid. But that meant Michiru had nothing to keep her entertained, so someone had to keep an eye on her. Saki volunteered, since Noa was busy training Kokoa and Hayate with Towa that day, and she flashed back to what Ibuki told her once Michiru whined enough that Ibuki finally gave her blessing for Saki to be her minder.
"Look after her like a little sister, Saki. I know you've always wanted the chance to be a big sister!" Ibuki's words and smile were kind, even when Saki doubted herself. The reminder made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside at the time, but it rang hollow now.
Some sister I am! The Vesperian shook her head, white hair flickering in the dark. She was but a sentient clump of light particles—a literal Photon Maiden—but she was solid enough for Michiru to drag down the hall by the hand. If only I knew how to get her to take this more seriously!
Something growled behind them, and Saki glanced over her shoulder to see long, black pincers scrabbling down the hallway towards her and Michiru. The only thing that kept the alien from overtaking them was how short its many legs were, but they worked terrifyingly fast.
"Woah!" Michiru cried out as well when she looked over her shoulder too.
Wait! Saki got an idea at the same time, catching a glimpse of one of the many monitors lining the walls…
"Howdy, howdy, howdy!" A cheerful voice chirped and a friendly face flashed on one of the many screens. The ship's AI navigation and self-repair system—the One Star—was activated by Saki influencing the electricity and light particles to forcibly turn on the screen remotely.
"Lumina!" Michiru cried excitedly as the screen flickered on, and Saki sighed in relief too.
"We need help locating the runaway alien, and making sure we don't run into it while we try to get out of here! And warn the others!" Saki pleaded.
"No worries! Already done and done!" Lumina's face appeared on several more monitors. "Space Captain Ibuki knows, and should be along shortly as reinforcement. The others will stay behind in navigation and set up another containment chamber!" Although Saki and Michiru couldn't see it, Lumina's face lined every monitor in the hall, and she found the escapee alien. It looked like a scorpion the size of a small dog, not large enough to be lethal unless one was struck by the tail too many times, but far too large for anyone to feel safe around it.
"Port!" Saki heard Lumina from the left, and although she could not see the screen with the AI's avatar, she could see the gold and white light, dazzling bright, that represented the AI's voice. Saki's silver eyes widened, and she tightened her grip around Michiru's hand again.
"Come on!" I see the way! Lumina is going to light the path for us with her voice, and my Synesthesia!
"Woah!" Michiru cried out as Saki tugged her down a different hallway than expected.
"Starboard!" Again, Saki couldn't see Lumina, but she could see traces of the AI's voice. She veered down another hallway, still dragging Michiru after her. They heard the scorpion-like alien skittering after them, but with Lumina keeping an eye on its whereabouts and Ibuki coming to the rescue, it wasn't too much longer before Saki and Michiru were saved.
"Space Captain Ibuki!" Saki gasped in relief, clutching her hands together. Michiru, meanwhile, skidded to a halt, starstruck.
"Get behind me!" Ibuki commanded, launching past Saki and Michiru. A metal battle rover rolled after her.
"Hiya, girls!" It spoke in Lumina's voice. "Feel free to join the others and watch as I livestream the smackdown Ibuki's gonna have with this alien!"
While Michiru saluted excitedly, Saki sighed tiredly. "L-let's… just get back to the control room…" Maybe it would be safer and quieter there…
"SAKI! MICHIRU! OMGGGG!"
"Noa…" Saki sighed tiredly again, but she couldn't stop the small smile that flickered across her face as Noa launched herself across the room at the two astronaut-cosmonaut DJs, easily scooping them up in her long, strong arms, their feet leaving the floor as she snuggled and cuddled them. Noa may have looked slender, but like Saki, she wasn't fully human. The type of alien she was fed off of absorption, in particular, cuties.
The past several minutes were torture for poor Noa. On the one hand, it was absolutely precious watching Saki and Michiru try to protect each other, Saki worried for Michiru while Michiru tried to bravely lead the way. On the other—
"You were in so much danger!" She bawled, and Michiru went from pleased by the attention to embarrassed while Saki only smiled knowingly.
"All right, Noa, calm down." Towa and Kokoa both shot the overzealous alien a deadpan sigh and stare. Towa was reclined in her seat, stuffing her face with provisions and rations from the chef's quarters. Like Noa, she was an absorption alien, though she survived on sweets rather than "cutes".
Kokoa, like Ibuki and Hayate, was a normal human, a scientist in the labs more than a pilot in the navigation seat, or an exploring documenting planets as she walked on them, but she was still critical to keeping the space station functional, studying and training under Noa.
"Oh, here they come!" Kokoa's irritation instantly became alertness as she received a notification from Lumina. It was a view of a map of the space station that showed her where Ibuki, Rover!Lumina, and the alien scorpion were, and they were nearing the navigation section of the ship.
"Trap is ready!" Hayate held up one peace sign, her other hand holding the rope that held up the heavy metal cage they would use to catch the creepy, crawly critter. It was a basic trap, but timing was still important, especially given how fast everything would occur. While Noa continued to steer the ship, having since taken over during Saki—then Ibuki's—absence, Kokoa kept her eyes on the map to coordinate when she would call out to Hayate to spring the trap. Towa reclined in her chair, stuffing her face nervously in anticipation.
"We're coming, girls!" They heard Ibuki cry in the distance, and through Kokoa's connection with Lumina.
The AI appeared on one of the many screens surrounding Noa, grinning confidently. "Four… three… two…!"
There was a horrific, hissing screech, and the sound of scrabbling against metal. "Don't worry, Cap'n Ibuki, I got it!" Those inside the navigation room heard Lumina's muffled voice from the rover just beyond the large, metal door separating them from the rest of the ship.
The metal scrabbling got louder, clanging and clawing, then the Lumina on the screen by Noa finished the countdown. "One!"
Kokoa signaled Hayate, who released the rope. "Woah!" They watched Ibuki stumble forward into the navigation room, just barely able to stop herself as Hayate's cage trapped the runaway alien. It smashed itself violently against the cage, but couldn't make it budge even an inch.
"Ibuki, you were amazing! You were awesome! You were epic!" Michiru clapped as she raced over to her Captain and hero, Lead Space Ranger Ibuki Niijima. The others approached as well, not quite as fangirly, but still appreciative and respectful.
"Thank you, Ibuki! Are you all right?" Saki's silver eyes flashed with concern.
"Yes, Saki, it didn't get me," Ibuki laughed and patted her shoulder. Lumina made good on her word to stream the chase. It was a fast and persistent little devil, but so was Ibuki, having finished as one of the top Cadets of their Academy. Strength, smarts, and stamina always led to success.
The Lumina Rover rolled into its charging port, Kokoa helping with the wires while Lumina's avatar loaded itself onto a single screen by Noa's head. At the same time, Noa got up from the pilot's seat to let Saki take back over. She was done babysitting for the day. That meant Noa could get back to mentoring Hayate and Kokoa more fully, since half of her time was spent trying to keep Towa in line too.
"Thanks for all your help, Towa," Kokoa said at the same time, muttering as she finished plugging in Lumina's Rover body, the outlet beside Towa's reclined seat. She sat up indignantly, sending wrappers and crumbs flying.
"Hey! I was keeping an eye on the maps and fuel gage and stuff! Besides, what about Hayate? All she did was hold a rope!"
Hayate flashed them a double-peace sign now that she was done holding up the trap. The reason she was selected was because she was one of the taller, stronger crewmates of Photonchord, while Towa was small and rather weak. She, Kokoa, and Noa continued to banter and bicker while Hayate watched, smiling to herself. Ibuki, meanwhile, sighed and shook her head, resting her hand on her forehead in exasperation.
"Don't worry, Ibuki, you did great! So just let them ride the wave of excitement out," Michiru advised happily.
"Don't think this gets you out of anything," Ibuki smirked and some of Michiru's smile disappeared.
"Ok but it really wasn't my fault this time! Yeah I know I did it last time. And I tried to leave the station the time for that. And I tried to hijack the station before that, but that was only because Lumina dared me to. And the last time I went in the alien containment area was because Towa and Hayate dared me—" Before she could keep incriminating herself, Saki intervened.
"Ibuki, please, it really wasn't Michiru's fault! The alien was already out by the time we got to that part of the containment area!"
Despite herself, Ibuki had to smile. Oh, Saki, you don't have to protect her, I already know, I was just teasing.
But it did the Space Captain's heart good to see how earnest Saki was, even though she was also nervous. Ibuki had been nervous too. Saki and Michiru were both like mentees to her, especially Michiru, who was still technically a Cadet, even though she would call herself a full Space Ranger.
Ibuki waved her hands to quiet the younger girls down. "I know the alien escape wasn't either of your faults. You both handled the situation very well." The girl with the silver hair smiled again, playfully ruffling the white and black before her, Saki and Michiru. While Saki went wide-eyed and starstruck, Michiru clenched her hands into fists and barely held in a fangirling squeal. This was why she created Photonchord with Saki.
After that first encounter when they were still competitors, enemies for the space aesthetic, their space race helped them see that perhaps they would work well together, and one did not need to be better than the other. Michiru and Saki were the beginning, the rest of their units following suit. Never would Michiru have ever thought life would lead her here, but looking around at all the colors and smiles, she couldn't have been happier, and neither could Saki.
AN: IDK yall, I just wanted more Space!Photon and Unichord (if I can't have them as competitors, Photon is Unichord's senpai LOL)!
Ibuki as the human Captain of an alien crew is also inspired by the Fred and Scooby Doo Eldritch thing (and my D4DND chap with Miyu).