A tanned girl in her late teens with red-brown hair tied up into milkmaid braids sat in front of her dresser mirror. She was putting light make up on, picking up her chopsticks in between to eat the last few bites left of her breakfast— freshly steamed rice topped with assorted Japanese pickles.
She went downstairs and stepped into the kitchen, put her bowl in the sink, then turned on the faucet to soak it in water.
"Morning, Mom!"
Her mother, who looked just an older version of her, was wearing an apron over her business suit. With dark hair tied to the side, her small, tanned face was framed by her fringe and loose strands covering her ears. Her gentle smile reached her vibrant brown eyes.
"Luna, how many times have I told you to eat breakfast properly at the table?"
Her mother took off her apron and hung it on the side of the fridge, then set two plates of grilled fish and bowls of miso soup on the table.
"Sorry, I had to rush," Luna took two bowls, filled them with rice then put them on the table to complete the spread.
"Rush? It takes less than 15 minutes to get to the base. And there's still 3 hours before the test begins. Are you nervous?"
Luna stuck her tongue out, smiling sheepishly.
"More like excited," Luna's older brother tousled her hair.
"Hey! Styling my hair actually takes time, you know," she lightly slapped his hand away.
"Good morning, Zephyr. Won't you join me for breakfast?" their mother asked as she sat down to eat.
"Morning, Mom. Would love to! I have a long day ahead. I've got to do routine check up on Team Alpha since they're coming back today. Then there's the flight exams, we're on standby for that in case anything goes sideways."
"Busy as always, eh, big brother?" Luna said as she poured tea for him and their mother, before their mother took the kettle from her and poured Luna's.
"My hands are full looking after my frail but reckless brother and fending off your suitors." Zephyr said coolly as he sipped his miso soup.
"I can fend them off myself, thank you. And you're right, he is pretty reckless, but you're also overprotective. No wonder you never have time to date. I feel bad for all the ladies pining for the tall, dark, and handsome top medic."
Tall, dark, and handsome. As cliché as it sounded, there was no better way to describe Zephyr. He was the tallest in their family, and had looks that charmed women of all ages— from kindergarten students in the nearby school who adored him, to the tiny grandmas in their neighborhood who gave him candy every day.
"It's more fun being with him than going on a date."
Luna's eyes drooped. "It's pretty scary how you say that with a straight face. No wonder everyone says you have a brother complex."
"And you, dubbed GDF's pretty little angel, your admirers would cower if they knew you have such a sharp tongue."
"Shut up, Zeph. She is a darling little angel," their mother replied in a defensive tone, making both swiftly turn to her, wide-eyed, then laughed.
"Wow, Mom… That really sounded like him," said Zephyr. Luna almost spat her tea. "Yeah. Totally nailed it. That's exactly how he talks."
"But of course. He's my son too, after all," their mother chuckled.
They gathered round a five-seater dining table; their mother and Zephyr sat side by side, while Luna and her eldest brother sat across from them. Their father's seat had been unoccupied for years, but every single day, without fail, their mother would still set his bowl and chopsticks there. They all hoped that one day, the head of the family would walk in through the front door and finally join them again.
Luna and Zephyr took the lunches their mother packed for them then walked to the train station. They lived in Mikuni, a town in Fukui Prefecture close to the sea and the road they took ran parallel to the shore. Luna relished feeling the sea breeze on her face. It was just a little past sunrise but students as well as adults in business suits were already out and about, some going into convenience stores— their familiar jingles resounding as their doors opened.
"Mornin', kids!" A buff man with a big smile sweeping the front of a closed izakaya waved to them, the gold ring on his ring finger glinting as it reflected the rays of the morning sun. The wooden sign in front of the two-floor building read 'Seigetsu' in hiragana.
"Morning, Tsukishiro-san!" They waved back.
They went into Mikuniminato Station, which was the last stop on the train line and just steps away from the beach. But those who had access knew there was a restricted station underground, and the gates required a special silver pass key with the letters GDF embossed on it. It led to a platform with an underwater bullet train, which had only one stop. The screen above it read:
06:52 – GDF Iruka Liner
-
The siblings parted ways as soon as they arrived at the base. Zephyr met up with his medic team for their orientation, while Luna went to the hangar to prepare for the flight exams and do some final checks on her fighter plane.
"That should do it," she hopped off her fighter, satisfied.
"This is it, y'all. July 6th, the big day. And this right here is the fighter I'll be flying in.
Every recruitment period, GDF gets between 60,000 to 100,000 applicants. Only 100 to 150 make it to the final cut to become cadets. And out of that, only 10 or so pass the flight exams. I worked my ass off, so there's no way Imma let myself fail. Wish me luck!"
A boy with the face of an idol trainee made a finger heart sign at his phone. The flood of good luck messages made him smile then he ended his story. He was in the same training group as Luna and walked towards her. "Yo! You're here early."
"I could say the same about you, Baek Ha-yoon. Bet you're nervous."
"Ha! Me? I was born for the skies. Just like Ka…"
Before Ha-yoon could finish, the sound of incoming fighters called their attention.
"They're here!" Luna squealed as she ran towards the entrance of the hangar, Ha-yoon tailing behind her.
Five pristine white fighter planes, each one accented with hues of blue on its body and gold in front as if it had eyes, and displaying the letters GDF and an alpha symbol on its tail, were flying in perfect formation and landed in synch. Ha-yoon scrambled to unlock his phone, flipped it to the back camera, and started filming.
"Oh. My. God. You guys! This must be a sign! I get to see Team Alpha up close on exams day! Dubbed the wolves of the sky, they're GDF's elite force!"
"You know they used to be a team of underdogs, right?" Luna said, not really caring that she was talking during Ha-yoon's livestream.
"Yeah. But they rose to the top of the ranks so fast! And even though it's been a decade, their records have yet to be surpassed, so no one really remembers that."
Five pilots got off, donning white space suits accented with the silhouette of a soaring bird across the chest in different colors. They also wore fanny packs.
"As you can see, even though their space suits are all the same, the soaring bird—GDF's emblem— have different colours. That's because it's colour-coded according to the pilot's specialization."
Ha-yoon zoomed in on them one by one. The first was the man in front with a purple bird on his suit. His helmet reverted into a wing-shaped earpiece, revealing a chiseled face, deep-set sapphire eyes with a mole under his left eye, and short brunette hair. Ha-yoon's stream had '#CaptainApollo' trending in just minutes. The comment with the most hearts was 'if jawlines could cut'.
"That's the leader of the pack, Captain Chris Norland. Purple means he's a M.A.G.E. Operative— oh, that means magic stuff— and they say he's a prodigy. Few people manage to pass the test to become one, and fewer still can completely synchronize with their mediums to release an Element. But the captain is said to be able to release any Element he so wills. He was the youngest to ever become a M.A.G.E., and also a genius tactician. He led his team to the top of the ranks in less than a year. Now they're sent to the most dangerous missions on top of regularly going on space patrol."
He then shifted his focus to the next person in line with a blue bird on his suit, a tall blonde man whose hair was tied in a loose ponytail putting on his glasses.
"Hogan Klein a.k.a. The Sniper. Blue means he's a weapons specialist. Rumor has it that he can hit a target even though it's so far all he sees is a tiny dot."
As his video was flooded with comments asking for the subject's phone number, Ha-yoon smoothly transitioned to the next two pilots walking side by side, immersed in their lively chatter. They were both women; one was slightly taller, with short black hair and similar shade of dark eyes, while the other one had the same features as Hogan, except she had long, flowing blonde hair that gracefully fluttered in the wind and wore bright purple contacts. They both had silver birds on their suit.
"Moving on, next are the only female members of Team Alpha. They're practically inseparable. Silver means they're in charge of engineering and comms. Tala De La Rosa, who assisted Dr. Lyle himself in designing the fighters, and the top mechanic and tech expert, Bianca Klein, who programmed Team Alpha's very own virtual assistant, Ava! Together, they're a deadly duo of close combat warriors. Apparently they're still undefeated, even by instructors!"
"Yep! Girl power goals," Luna chuckled.
The last one Ha-yoon focused on was the shortest of the bunch, who also had a blue bird across his chest.
"Ah… there he is. Karl Takaya Lyle," Ha-yoon sighed dreamily.
"A.k.a. his idol," Luna rolled her eyes.
"He was the youngest pilot at eleven"
"I know"
"And his flying records are the highest in the history of GDF. The ace pilot of Team Alpha"
"I know"
"Luna, please. I know that you know"
Karl looked left and right, then Ha-yoon's breath got caught in his throat when the man spotted them. He felt like he was going to faint when Karl gave a little wave.
"Oh, he found us," Luna giggled then ran towards Karl, who lifted her up and spun her around.
"Oh and that's Luna. Karl's younger sister, by the way," Ha-yoon said before turning off his camera and admiring Team Alpha from a distance.
-
Half an hour before the flight tests, the cadets donned their suits and were on standby, some already got into their spacecrafts. Karl smiled ruefully as he looked at their faces. "Everyone seems nervous. I know that feeling all too well."
As Luna put her helmet on, he did what visual inspection he could on his sister's fighter.
"Did you do your pre-flight check thoroughly? Are your comms properly working? What about your suit? And did you-"
"Karl!" Luna lightly slapped her older brother with both hands, cupping his face. "Relax. I triple-checked everything this morning. I've been here since 7:00, okay? Besides…" She held her brother's hands. "I've been preparing for this since day one. I may be the youngest, but don't underestimate the smartest child in our family."
Karl snorted, then tiptoed a bit to bump his forehead against Luna's helmet since she was slightly taller than him. "That's true. Have to remind myself that you're not a baby anymore…" Smirking, he added, "Go get 'em!"
Luna opened her mouth and looked like she was about to say something, but closed it again. She settled for a bright grin. "Thanks! I'll see you after the test. Now go away," she playfully pushed him away then hopped onto her fighter.
Karl joined the rest of his team to watch the test from the control room. Not too far from them, he spotted his mother with her secretary. As if feeling his gaze, Mrs. Lyle looked his way, and when their eyes met, her face lit up into a smile as she mouthed the words 'Welcome home.'
Grinning back, Karl also quietly mouthed the words 'I'm home.'
Turning back to the hangar, he saw the medic teams on standby and easily spotted his younger brother, the head of the entire medic division, giving instructions to his fellow captains.
As he watched the medics saluting to Zephyr before running to their positions, Karl remarked "He's so cool."
Hogan snorted, then leaned closer to Karl. "Your brother complex is showing, mate."
The ground crew took their positions then it was time for takeoff. Right off the bat, there were cadets who made mistakes. Some messed up the timing, while others did not take off altogether. There were also those who did perfectly in flight but failed their landing.
Becoming a full-fledged GDF pilot was no small feat. Some failed the maneuver they were asked to do, or panicked when handling emergency procedures and had to be switched to autopilot for their safety.
Despite the chaos, Luna was first to pass. Not long after, she ran towards Ha-yoon, who had just gotten off his own fighter and did a high five.
"She did it!" Karl grabbed Hogan, shaking him.
"Of course she did!" Hogan pulled him in and gave him a little noogie.
Noticing a fighter lagging behind the rest, Karl frowned when he saw it sway, even if it was just a few degrees. He broke free from Hogan's headlock upon seeing the fighter losing altitude fast.
One of the flight instructors ordered the cadet to let them take over remotely, but got no response. Suddenly, a missile shot out of the fighter, hitting the one in front.
"Bianca, see if you can hack into it and take control," said Chris.
"On it!" Bianca bolted to the nearest computer, but was stopped before her fingertips could touch the keyboard.
"We have things under control here, Captain Norland," one of the instructors, a brown man with a receding hairline, said in a cocky voice.
Karl clenched his fists. "But sir-"
Chris put his hand on Karl's shoulder, then spoke to the other man, voice stern. "Instructor, that cadet is likely panic-stricken. If we don't do something, more people could get hurt. If there's anyone brilliant enough to hack into the test spacecrafts' system and land that cadet safely, it's Bianca."
"Rav, there's no time for this!" A kind-faced, older lady scolded her fellow instructor when no one else offered to help. She then nodded to the captain of Team Alpha. "Chris, do what you must."
"Thank you, Instructor Nakazawa. I suppose it's settled then," Chris nodded back then turned to his teammate. "Bianca, we're counting on you."
"Yes, sir!"
With just a few strokes, Bianca announced "I'm in! Initializing landing sequence."
While others sighed in relief, it was too early to celebrate. The cadet in the fighter that had been shot seemed to be unharmed; he responded when the instructors tried to contact him. However, all he could do was scream for help.
Chris spoke beside Karl. "Judging from where his fighter was hit, the power source must have been damaged, and he's decelerating fast. Most fighters have enough back up power for emergency landings, but he's probably too scared to think straight. At this rate, he's going to crash."
With a firm voice, Karl looked straight into his captain's eyes and said "Permission to fly, sir."
Meeting Karl's gaze, Chris replied with a confident grin.
"Show them what Team Alpha's ace pilot can do."
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 would like to hand over the mic to our Headmaster, Mrs. Lyle, for a few words."
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 as she tucked her hair behind her ear."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.
"Not fair, senpai!" The two retorted in chorus, before more girls tried pushing each other and cutting in line.
"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."