Chapter Text
═══ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ═══
After successfully fixing the reactor meltdown, the three remaining crewmates gathered near the center of the reactor room to talk about the disaster they had just prevented.
It had gone a lot better than the last time Purple and Red dealt with something similar, although...
The unpaid intern they’d opened up to, the one they’d trusted enough to tell a very personal story about that last reactor incident, didn’t seem to remember any of it.
Which was really weird.
Maybe Green was just confused?
“You asked me to tell you, Green...” Purple reminded them again, genuinely puzzled as to why their “friend” couldn’t recall the most important event that had completely changed their life. They’d told them the whole story back in O2.
Seriously, were they even paying attention?
Green blinked. Then, as if finally remembering what Purple was talking about, they spoke up.
“Oh! Yeah... that story was...”
Before they could finish, the entire ship suddenly lurched.
A violent tremor ran through the Skeld, throwing all three crewmates off their feet. The floor shook beneath them as alarms briefly crackled overhead, and they hit the ground with startled yelps before the turbulence finally subsided.
“Urghh... great,” Green muttered, pushing themself upright and narrowing their visor.
Beside them, Purple groaned as they sat up. “What was that all about? Did we hit something?”
Red, who’d been knocked down with them, finally got to their feet and adjusted their hat.
“Aww, we just fixed the reactor! Did it not work or somethin’?” they whined.
“No idea, but we gotta check that out.” Purple’s voice turned serious. Whatever had just happened, they didn’t like it one bit.
“I agree. If we don’t fix whatever that was, we might seriously be in trouble.” Green nodded, dusting off their hoodie.
The three started toward the reactor exit, but before anyone could leave, Red stepped in front of them and blocked their path.
“Wait.”
Purple and Green paused.
Red crossed their arms, eyes sharp as they looked between the two.
“Before we go out there, just know I don’t trust either of ya not to stab me in the back while we’re checkin’ this out.”
If their visor were eyes, Purple would’ve rolled them by now. But it wasn’t, so instead they snapped a finger straight at Red.
“Well, I don’t trust YOU either, so don’t expect me to turn my back on you.”
In an instant, Purple’s focus snapped sideways, landing just as sharply on the unpaid intern.
“That includes you too, Green. I used to think Red was the most suspicious one here, but after a few minutes ago? I don’t trust you at all either.”
Green blinked, visor tightening slightly at the accusation.
“That’s… understandable,” they said quietly. There was a trace of sadness in it, even if they didn’t argue back.
“You don’t trust anyone,” Red muttered under their breath, almost too soft to catch. Guilt flickered behind the words, like they knew exactly why that might be true. Not after what Red did.
Purple turned sharply at that. They hadn’t caught all of it, still focused on Green, but the tone was enough.
“Watch’dja say?”
Green picked up on the tension immediately. This was going nowhere fast, and if they were being honest, it was dangerous. The longer they stood around arguing, the worse things could get. If something was really wrong with the ship, they were wasting time they might not have.
“Alright…” Green stepped in between them slightly. “I know we don’t trust each other. And yeah, maybe we’d all rather not turn our backs on anyone. But we still need to figure out what that was.”
They reached out and gently but firmly guided both Purple and Red forward, keeping them in the same space as they moved.
“Why don’t we just walk together? Easy solution. No front, no back. No one gets left exposed.”
For a moment, neither of them argued. Not that they fully agreed to it, but because it made too much sense to fight against right now.
So they moved.
They headed toward the right side of the ship, where the impact had felt strongest, eventually arriving at the cafeteria. The window there was their first real clue.
“Woah! Is that an explosion in the distance!?”
Purple was the first to reach the window in their hurry. Their visor widened as they stared at the aftermath of a ship that had exploded far out in space. Fragments of debris drifted through the darkness where the vessel had once been. Beside it, a dropship could be seen flying away from the scene.
Red stepped up beside them and immediately spotted it too.
“That... looks like another one of Mira’s ships,” they said grimly.
Why was there another ship nearby?
More importantly, why had it exploded?
None of the possibilities forming in Red’s head were good ones. What mission had Mira sent them on for another crew to be operating so close to them?
...Could it be?
Purple clenched a fist at their side, anger rising the longer they stared. Their body tensed.
“These bastards sent another crew into a death mission? It wasn’t enough for them to send us to transport alien cargo!?”
Their hand slammed against the glass with a sharp thud.
“Oh no... could it be that?” Green clasped their hands together anxiously. “Oh geez...”
Their gaze flickered between the other two before returning to the distant wreckage.
“There’s no way they were assigned the same mission as us... right?”
Green fidgeted as they waited for an answer, tugging lightly at the sleeve of their hoodie.
If that was true, then everyone on that ship was probably dead already. The eggs too.
Green didn’t particularly care about the crew. The eggs, a little more. They were part of their species, after all. Even then, it was hardly their problem. That was assuming the implication was correct.
“Hmm... I’m not sure they’re transporting the same thing as us.” Red continued studying the distant wreckage as the last traces of smoke and debris faded into the darkness. “Their ship looks different. It’s possible they were a research crew or somethin’ else Mira sent out here.”
They folded their arms as they thought it over.
“Since comms are down, nobody would’ve been able to tell us another ship was passing through. We didn’t see anythin’ when we were retrieving Ore+ from the asteroids. Then again...” They paused. “Maybe they found another deposit. Who knows.”
As Red sank deeper into thought, their usual accent faded almost entirely.
Purple glanced over at them.
For once, the captain was actually making sense.
They’d never expected Red to put together a reasonable explanation, let alone several. Maybe Purple had underestimated them.
Or maybe it was because they weren’t the real Red.
Either way, they had a point.
“Well, whatever the case may be, that doesn’t explain why that ship just... I dunno, exploded!” Purple threw their hands toward the window in exasperation, staring at the distant wreckage.
Red stroked their chin in thought while Green stood awkwardly between them, their gaze shifting from one crewmate to the other.
“Uhm... well, I got nothin’, honestly.”
Purple sighed and rubbed their face in frustration.
When Red spoke again, their voice had gone quieter.
“There’s only one thing on a ship that can cause an explosion that big.”
Their gaze lingered on the ruined vessel drifting in the distance. The sight stirred up memories they’d rather leave buried. The reactor incident, the families forced from their homes, the injuries left in its wake, and the mistakes they could never take back.
Most of all, Purple.
They wished they’d done things differently, but wishing wasn’t going to change the past.
Purple immediately understood what they meant. Some of the anger drained from their posture as they stared through the glass.
“The reactor...” they finished for them.
Their visor flickered toward Red before turning away again. Neither of them seemed eager to dwell on the subject.
Green glanced between the two, confused by the strange tension hanging in the air.
They felt as though they were missing something.
Was it connected to the incident Purple mentioned back in O2?
They hadn’t actually been there when it happened. At the time, their fleshy body had been venting toward Electrical to deal with Cyan. Whatever happened during that ‘reactor incident’ seemed important though. Green figured it might be worth learning about eventually.
Anything that helped avoid suspicion was useful.
“That might’ve happened to us if we were a second too late fixing the reactor...” Green said, slowly piecing it together. “Although, I’m starting to wonder what caused the meltdown in the first place. Couldn’t they fix it in time?”
Purple shook their head, pulling their attention away from the window.
“Whatever happened to that ship isn’t our business. We should focus on the thing that’s actually important.”
Red placed a hand on their hip.
“That sounds very suspicious, Purple.” They tilted their head slightly. “I mean, not carin’ about the state of fellow workers who tragically died out there? Sounds exactly like somethin’ a murderous alien imposter would say.”
Green nodded beside them, though they seemed oddly nervous despite agreeing.
“Yeah...” they said. “I’ve gotta hand it to the captain. Somebody who murders people probably would be pretty apathetic about a tragedy like that.”
Purple looked visibly offended. Their jaw tightened, and their hands twitched at their sides.
They took a slow breath and forced themself to calm down before speaking.
“It’s not like that...” They pinched the bridge of their visor. “You know what I mean. There’s nothing we can do about it. So it’s better to focus on our own situation right now.”
Their visor lowered slightly as they frowned. “Besides, we’ve got enough problems already.”
Green, as always, slipped into the role of mediator, rubbing at their arm as they glanced between the two. In practice, though, they rarely settled anything. Usually siding with whoever seemed least likely to keep the argument going.
“Yeah, can’t argue with that... it makes sense. We should probably be more focused on the whole alien thing that’s currently in the spaceship.”
Green nodded slightly as Red slumped against the window. Nothing about what had been happening on this ship was ever good.
Why did this have to happen to them?
To their friends?
“Right... but why does it matter now?” Red leaned against the glass before slowly sliding down to the floor. “In the end, it doesn’t matter either way. We’ll still be dead against the alien.”
They rested their hand on their knees and stared at the ground. Their reflection stared back faintly from the glass beside them.
Purple glanced over at Red. The captain barely seemed to notice either of them anymore, their head lowered as they stared silently at the floor.
That was weird. Red wasn’t usually this pessimistic.
Purple frowned to themself. The captain seemed strangely willing to give up without even trying to stay alive. Then again, Purple understood where it was coming from.
What exactly did they have against an alien shapeshifter?
After what they saw Orange do, Purple couldn’t imagine how two ordinary crewmates, assuming one of the three was the imposter, could defeat something like that.
It felt almost impossible.
“Well...” Purple straightened slightly. “We can’t just sit around here moping and accept our eventual deaths! We have to try... something! To survive...”
They folded their arms afterward, trying to sound more confident than they felt.
Maybe things were awful. Maybe the odds were stacked against them. That didn’t mean they should stop fighting.
Beside them, Green seemed to be hyperventilating, rubbing their hands together in an attempt to soothe themself.
“We can’t die here...” Their voice wavered. “I just started this. It can’t end just as easily as it began... I’m not one step closer to my goal. I can’t disappoint everyone back home.”
Their chest heaved as they struggled to steady their breathing.
Purple noticed immediately and moved to their side.
Comforting people wasn’t exactly their specialty. They never really knew what to say when someone was upset.
Still, Green looked genuinely distressed.
Awkwardly, Purple placed a hand on their back and gave a few gentle pats. “Calm down, Green... deep breaths. Just take it slowly.”
Purple started taking slow breaths themself, trying to give Green something to follow.
The intern copied them, breathing in and out as they gradually calmed their nerves. The trembling in their hands eased little by little.
“That’s it. Right there...” Purple nodded. “We’ll be fine, Green. Just don’t panic. We’ll get through this. We just have to hang on.”
They shot Red a pointed look.
“We’re all still here, so it’s not over yet. Don’t let Red’s negativity affect your judgment.”
Green sniffled, quickly wiping at the tears threatening to spill from their visor.
“I’m trying to stay as optimistic as I can... but with how everything is and most of the crew dead...” Another sniffle escaped them. “It’s hard.”
Purple hesitated. This was probably a terrible idea. Then they decided to screw it anyway.
Imposter or not, Green clearly needed comfort right now. Truthfully, Purple probably needed some too.
The past few days had been hard on all of them.
Without another word, Purple pulled Green into a hug.
Green stiffened for a moment in surprise before slowly wrapping their hand around Purple and hugging them back.
Purple could feel their body shake as the intern finally broke down.
Red watched the two silently from where they sat on the floor. They didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to do..
Their gaze drifted away toward the window again.
It was their fault things had ended up like this. Maybe Purple was right.
No, Purple was right.
Red had spent so much time trying to deny it, trying to make themself feel better about the kind of captain they really were.
But what sort of captain lets most of their crew die?
Incompetent.
Green remained wrapped around Purple, sniffling quietly as they calmed down.
Their grip on Purple’s shirt tightened for a moment before loosening again. Purple hadn’t pulled away either, their arm still resting across Green’s back.
Then Green’s expression changed into something harder to read as their thoughts drifted elsewhere.
It would’ve been so easy to kill either of them right now. Especially Purple.
They were practically handing Green the opportunity by letting their guard down and standing this close. For someone with trust issues, Purple was putting an awful lot of faith in the idea that Green wouldn’t stab them in the back the moment they stopped paying attention.
Purple’s hand drifted up and rubbed slow circles against Green’s back as another shaky hiccup escaped them.
Green wondered how they’d react if they did. If a tentacle suddenly pierced through their chest. If they tore straight through them before they had a chance to fight back.
It wouldn’t be difficult.
But they weren’t going to do that.
Not because they’d gotten attached. Far from it. Green had simply put more thought into what happened after the other two were gone, and the conclusion wasn’t particularly favorable.
Letting everyone die wouldn’t help them.
Once Green was left alone with those dumb baby aliens, every responsibility aboard the ship would fall onto them. Someone would need to keep the reactor running, repair damaged systems, handle emergencies, and stop the whole thing from falling apart.
That was already difficult with a crew. Doing it alone would be a disaster.
The ship was unstable enough as it was. Green wasn’t experienced with maintaining something this large, and there was no guarantee they could keep it functional long enough to reach a planet. More likely, the whole thing would fall apart before then.
And that was only part of the problem.
They still hadn’t figured out how they were supposed to get into Mira.
As irritating as the eggs were to deal with, they still needed them to hatch and find hosts. That meant living hosts.
The corpses of the dead crewmates could have worked for some of the eggs, but only to a limited extent. There were nearly a hundred eggs and only a handful of bodies. The numbers simply didn’t work.
More importantly, a pile of dead crewmates was useless for infiltration. Mira already knew their species existed. A dead host arriving at their doorstep would raise questions immediately.
They needed living bodies that could move, blend in, and carry the eggs where they needed to go.
Technically, they could’ve let one of the parasites take over Purple or Red.
Green doubted either of them would submit without a fight. There was a good chance the host would end up dead in the struggle, which defeated the entire point.
Besides, Green didn’t trust the babies to do the job properly. Orange had already been an embarrassing failure. Handing such an important task to a bunch of inexperienced parasites felt like asking for another disaster.
Purple shifted slightly against them, their grip loosening for just a second as though something beyond Green had caught their attention. Green barely noticed.
If Green was being honest with themself, there was another reason.
They didn’t want the competition.
They wanted to be the one doing this. The one hunting. The one killing.
What was the fun in letting the babies do all the work?
No, Green would enjoy dealing with Purple and Red personally. Toying with them sounded far more entertaining than watching little parasites stumble through the job.
Before Green could think about it any longer, Purple pulled away from the hug. Their face had taken on a faint reddish tint before they quickly shook it off, clearing their throat as they turned back toward the cafeteria window.
“Hey guys... you might wanna take a look at this.”
They rested a hand against the glass and pointed into the distance without taking their eyes off it.
Green and Red exchanged a brief glance before following Purple’s line of sight. Red pushed themself off the floor, dusted off their suit absentmindedly, and walked over beside them, their mind still weighed down by everything that had happened.
Out beyond the window floated a planet that looked half destroyed, as though an enormous chunk had been ripped out of it.
Its surface was mostly dark blue with streaks of white, while the exposed core glowed with deep red magma. Even from this distance, it looked scarred.
Purple’s visor lifted in confusion.
“Is that Industria? Looks a bit more destroyed than I would’ve expected.”
Red squinted at the planet, humming quietly to themself as though the sight stirred up a distant memory. Somewhere deep in their chest, a small spark of hope flickered back to life.
Green noticed.
“Know anything about it, Red?” they asked, giving the captain a light nudge.
Red scratched the side of their head, unable to look away from the planet. “...That doesn’t look like Industria.”
They paused for another second before snapping their fingers as recognition dawned on them.
“Oh yeah! That must be Polus! I heard about that place back at MIRA. If I’m rememberin’ right, there’s a research base on the planet.”
They frowned, trying to piece the rest together.
“I think they were studyin’ whether the planet could be inhabited...” They rubbed the back of their neck sheepishly. “Didn’t exactly pay much attention durin’ the briefin’.”
Purple perked up immediately and grabbed Red by the front of their shirt, pulling them a little closer.
“Wait. Planet? Base? Spill it, Red. What do you know about that place?”
Red raised both hands defensively, startled by the sudden grip.
“Woah! Why d’ya wanna know so much about the planet?”
“I just don’t want any more secrets from you if you know something the rest of us don’t.”
Meanwhile, Green had wandered closer to the glass, practically pressing their visor against it.
“Woah...” they murmured, staring out in awe. “I’ve never seen another planet before besides home.”
For a moment, Purple and Red glanced over at the intern before turning back to each other.
“Hey, hey, calm down.” Red leaned back as much as Purple’s grip allowed. “I only know a little! It’s not like I know everythin’ about space.” They tilted their head. “Besides... is there a particular reason you wanna know?”
“I... well...”
Before Purple could finish, Green stepped in behind them, gently catching their attention.
“Are you thinking about going down there, Purps?” they asked. “I mean... I get it. With everything that’s happened, we really do need to make a stop somewhere.”
Purple slowly let go of Red, suddenly unsure of themself.
“I... I mean...” They rubbed the back of their neck, avoiding the others’ visor for a second. “It’s not a bad idea... but...”
“But what?” Red chimed in, their visor lifting in confusion as Purple struggled to find the right words.
“It’s just...”
Green gave them an odd look before it slowly shifted into confusion.
“You don’t think we should go? I mean... with the state of the ship and all the dead bodies piling up, wouldn’t it be smarter to head down there and fix things?”
Purple let out a sharp, frustrated sigh. They’d been trying to explain themself, but no matter what they said, it felt like they weren’t getting it. Their emotion boiling over as they threw their hands up.
“That’s exactly why I’m not sure about doing it!”
Green flinched at the sudden outburst. Purple noticed, their shoulders easing for the briefest moment before they continued in a quieter voice.
“Most of everyone on the Skeld is DEAD. There’s still an imposter out there, maybe even among us.” They looked back toward the damaged planet outside the window, their hand still resting against the glass. “I think it’d be selfish to go there knowing we’re bringing something potentially dangerous into their base. What if they end up dead too?”
Purple shook their head, unable to meet either of their visors.
“We can’t do that. We can’t intentionally doom a whole base just to save our own asses.”
Red grimaced, their eyes lingering on the planet. If they were being honest with themself... Purple wasn’t wrong.
But Red was selfish.
The moment they saw Polus, their first instinct had been to get off this cursed ship. Away from the bodies. Away from the constant fear, and away from everything that had gone wrong.
Purple had a point. If they landed, they could end up getting everyone on that base killed.
As captain, the responsible thing would be to stay away.
...But Red wanted to live.
Green, meanwhile, kept their frustration hidden behind a concerned expression. One hand slowly curled into a fist behind their back where neither of the others could see it, their nails digging into their palm.
Their gaze drifted toward Red. The captain was thinking it over.
Good.
Green knew Red wasn’t heroic enough to willingly sacrifice themself by drifting through space until the ship finally gave out. Beneath all the guilt and second-guessing, they still wanted to survive.
That was something Green could work with.
If they nudged Red in the right direction, they could probably get them to side with Green. Purple would be harder to convince, but Green could already tell they were torn. They just needed one small push.
After seeing another vessel explode only minutes ago, the thought of staying aboard the Skeld wasn’t exactly reassuring anymore. The engines still needed work, the reactor had already proven unstable once, and the ship was only becoming less reliable as time went on.
If nothing changed, they weren’t making it to Industria.
Death would find them long before they got there.
“Is that it? We’re just gonna stay here on the Skeld? Just the three of us, barely qualified to keep this place running?” Green’s voice rose with every question, panic creeping in despite their attempts to stay composed. “Do you seriously want us to die out here?”
They gestured wildly around the ship as they spoke, pointing from one damaged section to another as though the walls themselves proved their point.
“Our reactor’s unstable, comms are down, we don’t have Lime to keep the engines running, THERE’S A MASSIVE HOLE IN STORAGE, and I’m pretty sure the fuel can got swept out during the hull breach!” They counted each point off on their fingers before letting their hand fall helplessly to their side. “Our oxygen’s practically being held together with duct tape. Most of the ship is damaged!”
Purple looked away, unable to argue with any of it.
“Yeah...” they admitted quietly. “It doesn’t sound good.”
Green let out a frustrated groan, throwing their hands into the air.
“Gahh!! If the imposter doesn’t kill us, then the ship falling apart will!”
Their shoulders slumped as the panic drained into desperation.
“Please...” They swallowed hard. “I don’t want anyone else to die either... but if we want any chance of making it through this, we have to stop at Polus. I’m sorry if that makes me sound selfish... I just want to live.”
Red finally spoke, their thoughts still tangled, but one answer had become painfully clear.
“Me too, Green...” they said softly. “We all do.”
Their hand tightened around the front of their suit. “That’s why...”
Red lowered their head for a moment, taking one last second to think it through before turning away from the others, mostly from Purple.
“We should head down to Polus.”
Purple froze, their visor widening in disbelief. “WHAT!? Are you kidding me, Red!? You can’t be serious...”
“I am serious, Purps.”
Red turned just enough for Purple to see the determination in their visor.
“More serious than I’ve ever been.”
The cafeteria fell quiet for a moment before Red’s gaze drifted back to the planet hanging outside the window.
“We can’t let the sacrifices our crew made be for nothing.” Their voice stayed calm, almost unusually so. “You said it yourself. We can’t give up yet.”
Purple flinched, caught off guard by their own words being turned back on them.
“If we let ourselves die here, when we’ve got a real chance to get off this ship...” Red continued, gripping their shirt a little tighter, “...then everyone who died trying to find the alien killer... it’ll all mean nothing.”
Their fist slowly clenched. “We can’t let it end that way.”
Purple stared silently at Polus. They couldn’t deny Red had a point.
But they also couldn’t ignore what they might be bringing with them.
If the imposter reached the Polus base, more innocent people could die.
Purple wanted to live. Of course they did. But condemning another crew just to save themselves didn’t sit right. The thought alone made their stomach knot.
“I agree with the captain...” Green said gently, taking a careful step toward Purple and reaching out.
Purple instinctively brushed the hand aside, though there wasn’t much force behind it.
“I don’t necessarily agree,” they muttered after a long sigh, straightening themself, “but... you guys do have a point.”
Their visor lingered on the damaged planet one last time before they finally made up their mind.
“Fine. We go down there.” Purple raised a finger between them. “But only under a few conditions. We’re gonna figure everything out before we land. I don’t want anyone else getting killed because of us.”
Green and Red exchanged a glance before quietly nodding.
Without another word, the three stepped closer, forming a small circle in the middle of the cafeteria. Whatever happened next, they’d figure it out together.
For now, that was enough.