PLATE 2G, AKATSUKI CLUSTER.

July 14, 2092 - 7:03 A.M.

"Over there, Lira, quick!"

Vira led her sister by the hand as they dashed through the thick grass of the artificial biome. The green carpet extended for less than a square kilometer around them, and beyond it was a thick border of domed glass. It was late afternoon, right before one of the rare Venusian evenings, and the area was empty except for the two young girls now staring up into the sky.

"Vira, we shouldn't be here! We're not allowed to be here beyond class hours!"

But her sister wasn't listening. Beyond the slowly setting sun was the rising black shroud of empty space. Vira strained her eyes, and after a few seconds pointed up excitedly.

"There! Can you see it?"

Lira squinted, focusing on a faint, bluish-white speck floating just above the horizon.

"It looks just like a star," the girl said, unimpressed.

"Yeah, but it's not. You can't see stars yet at this time," Vira replied. For a moment, the two of them stood hand in hand, as they watched the faint blue light start growing brighter.

"You know what?" Vira let go of her sister's hand, and stretched both arms up, as if reaching out to space. "Someday, I'm gonna go there. To Earth!"

The blonde-haired girl then smiled, as she looked at Lira. The happiness on her face rivaled that of the warmth and light of the fading sun. "And I'm gonna take you with me!"

Lira's eyes fluttered open. At first she was curious at what the large slab of rubbery foam was doing several inches above her head. She then realized what it was as the heavy pillow hit her right smack in the face, forcing her to acknowledge that it was time to wake up.

"Rise and shine, lazy bones! Snooze time's over!"

"Oshuzzzupfraaaahhh...", Lira muttered under the pillow.

"Hmm, what was that?"

"I said, shut up, Farrah! You're interrupting the first good sleep I've had in weeks!" Lira tossed the pillow aside. As she did, strands of golden hair flew up and caught the sharp stream of sunlight filtering through the blinds. Lira shielded her eyes from the glare, and rolled over to one side. She suddenly remembered her sister's smile. Stupid dreams, Lira thought as she stifled the memory with a yawn.

As Lira mustered the will to get up, Farrah's athletic frame flitted about the cramped room, ferrying stacks of reprintable paper from one side to another. "I have your dress uniform ready for today, and we have pancakes waiting at the kitchen table."

"Pancakes? How did we get pancakes?"

"Well, they look like pancakes... just some flour and a little bit of milk. Should taste decent with some sugar, though," Farrah replied with a smirk. Lira watched as her friend continued bustling about, her flowing white blouse and long black skirt billowing effortlessly as she moved.

"That's about it. As always, this morning's briefs are up there in the top drawer, and other official stuff had been sorted out in the next. Everything else had been stacked at the bottom cabinet, including our laundry tickets. Please try not to lose them again. Also — hey, did you just now get up?"

"Still sleepy," Lira moaned.

"And this is how the Veneran Colony goes extinct," Farrah mocked. She stepped in front of the mirror and straightened her hijab.

For a second, a steely looked passed through Lira's hazel eyes. "Come on. Don't even joke about that."

"Whatever you say, Field Marshal. Xander should be here in about half an hour to pick you up for the factory inspection. And that should be it then, seeya this afternoon!" Farrah waved as she headed out to the narrow corridor that connected their shared room to the shuttle bay.

"Wait, you won't be joining me?", Lira called out as she slid open the drawers where Farrah stashed the papers.

"Can't! I gotta head out early to inspect those mass drivers from last week."

"You mean on the Zond Network? How far behind schedule is that one?"

Farrah shrugged. "Dreadfully. Hopefully I'll have more details by tonight. Those accidents really took a toll on the manpower."

Lira thought for a few seconds. "Hey, Farrah. Shouldn't we just drop that project? At this rate we won't complete it in time, and that sector’s covered by other mass driver batteries anyway. All those man hours and resources could be diverted to the Surface Research Group instead."

Farrah turned back with a curious look. "Are you going to pour them all into Plan Muspelheim? Or are you planning another weird project with the Surface Group?"

"Muspelheim."

"Haven't you picked enough of a fight with Callahan and his goons yet? It’s one thing to slip that plan under their noses, but to divert even more funds into it would be plain crazy."

Lira shrugged. "It doesn't matter how many Earthlings we kill if our own people get wiped out. As long as we live, we win. Callahan should know it, too."

Farrah turned back to the corridor. "I'll go talk to the guy in charge, and try to bring the Surface Group on it. Hopefully it's not too late to pivot. And hopefully the VLF won't raise hell."

"Oh, let them," Lira muttered under her breath, but Farrah was too far to hear.

"Later, then!", Farrah called out as she disappeared around the corridor.

Several minutes later, Lira was sitting alone in the kitchen, chewing on the tasteless lumps that Farrah had called "pancakes". She was wearing her white Field Marshal's uniform, its golden trimmings gleaming brightly against the bleak sepia tone of the room. In front of her, near the middle of the table, laid a choker made of intricate goldwork and sapphire gems.

Vira...

Lira finished her meal in silence, and shortly after proceeded to the connecting corridor towards the shuttle bay.

Outside, it was business as usual, the same way it had been for the past few decades. One would think it's just any other day for the Veneran Colony. The metallic exteriors of the Akatsuki Cluster’s buildings glinted in the sun, imparting a somewhat picturesque glow to the rest of the surroundings. Some of these buildings reached up to thirty stories tall, the biggest man-made structures outside Earth. Their stately arches and shiny domes housed a mix of residential and public office spaces. Jutting out from several of their floors were steel-and-glass shuttle bays, similar to what Lira was now standing on. Each one was a node in the intricate transport network that connected the entire floating Colony.

In the far-off distance, a few dozen kilometers away from the Plate 2G, was Akatsuki's factory district: an array of low, windowless buildings that floated independently from the rest of the Cluster. These factories (and their counterparts from other two Clusters) were the lifeblood of the Colony, turning raw materials from Venus's surface and Earth's covert supply lines into everything that the Venerans might need. Lira was supposed to head into one of these factories this morning, to quality check its most recent assembly run of air-core Gauss rifles.

As Lira went over her to-do list in her head, a metallic vehicle resembling a large steel sausage with a domed glass front came into view. It buzzed in midair for a few seconds before descending onto the loading ramp of the shuttle bay. The dome popped open, and a sprightly young man in matching yellow-and-black jacket and cargo pants hopped off. His hair ruffled slightly in the thin breeze of the Venusian atmosphere, making the bright yellow tips sway. His square face broke into a grin as he saw Lira waiting.

Lira, however, was not amused. "Xander! You're late!"

"Geez, good morning to you, too! Sorry, I had to drop by the Mariner Cluster."

"What for?"

"There were staffing issues in their factory district. It seemed some workers fell ill, for unknown reasons. Even the hospital directors were clueless about the cause, but they said the symptoms seemed bacterial in origin." Xander explained as he helped Lira up the passenger seat.

"Bacterial? Did the decontamination procedures for the last supply drops fail?" Bacteria doesn't occur naturally here, so there should be no other way to get infected... Lira thought as she boarded.

"Eh, don't worry your pretty head about it. We're still investigating the root cause, but the workers are on the road to recovery. The symptoms started fading just about as fast as they showed up. At most, those affected will only miss a day or two of work." Xander took his seat behind the wheel and flipped a few switches to disengage the docking clamps. The shuttle's engines hummed smoothly as the vehicle detached itself from the bay.

"How was the impact to production?"

"Minimal. There were civilians who volunteered to come in this morning. Not enough to replace everyone on the shift, but enough so that we won't take a major hit."

Lira nodded, and the pair spent the next few minutes in silence. Past their shuttle, the varied shapes and sizes of the Colony's plates flew in a blur. Each “plate” was actually a satellite stationed in orbit around Venus, specifically configured to house the first permanent human settlement in space. Lira remembered the old stories about the heroic pioneers who started the Colony. What the Venerans now consider everyday sights must have been quite terrifying back then.

"So... you really think all these would work?" Xander was the first to speak as he expertly wove through the air traffic.

"Hmm?"

"All these... these preparations, these sacrifices?"

Lira was silent for a few seconds.

"They better. We all know the alternative," Lira finally replied as her hand involuntarily flew to her throat, where the sapphire choker now nestled coldly against her skin. "None of us wanted what's coming, but we have no choice, do we?"

"And surrender’s not an option." Xander's response was not a question, and Lira understood. But she had to confirm it anyway.

"Nope. And truth be told, I'd rather die here than be brought back to Earth to be treated like some circus freak. I'm not sure it's the same for everyone, though."

“You think they’d treat you like a circus freak?”

“Yeah, why?”, Lira raised an eyebrow as Xander chuckled.

“I think we’d get executed the very moment Zelig gets his hands on us.”

As they spoke, their destination came into view below them. Lira’s eyes widened in surprise as she peered down from her seat. Loitering around the factory’s shuttle bay was a group of men in rust-colored uniforms. They were obviously military types, but right now they mingled easily with the factory workers who were distinguishable by their ash-gray overalls.

"What's this?! What brought the VLF out here? I thought this will just be a routine check?"

"Beats me!", Xander exclaimed as he toggled the autopilot mode for landing. "Maybe something’s come up?"

Lira rolled her eyes. Whenever anything came up involving the Veneran Liberation Front, it's sure to be bad news. But what could be so important that there’s so many of them here?

In about a minute more, Lira and Xander had alighted from their shuttle. Despite Lira's office and the gleaming badge of authority that was her Field Marshal's uniform, none of the VLF soldiers even batted an eye as she arrived. She clenched her fists, and was just about to head into the factory building when she heard a gruff voice.

"Field Marshal Fari! Mr. Sable!" As the voice rang, the rust-clad men — and even some of the factory workers — snapped to attention.

When the two turned, they saw a stocky, middle-aged man wearing a uniform that was a shade darker than the rest of the men. His eyes glinted as he approached with measured steps. As he neared, Lira could see a large scar that ran from his neck, all the way up to the side of his bald head.

"General Everett Callahan," Lira forced out a smile as she stepped forward, meeting the general's eye.

Callahan stopped a few meters away from the two. "Busy morning, isn't it? It's so nice of you young people to join our intelligence briefing." His voice was mellow, but it dripped with an irritating sarcasm.

"Oh, you’re having an intelligence briefing! Well isn't that fortunate. And I never knew your group had one of your hideouts right here in this factory district.” Of course they knew. In fact, this entire structure might as well be a VLF stronghold, but it’s not like the government can just fire everyone here. “We were also about to do a quality inspection here. Would you care to join us?" Lira’s voice was as sweet as poisoned honey.

"Ah, but that little tour can wait," Callahan dismissed her with a casual wave. "The news we bear is far more important. Shall we head inside and discuss it?"

Without waiting for a reply, the general turned and made for the factory building. His soldiers also did the same. Lira and Xander stood awkwardly as the procession streamed into the wide open factory gates, but finally they decided to follow suit.

As they did, Xander shot Lira a meaningful look: Calm down. We're outnumbered, and it's not worth it.

In response, Lira glared back: If we're going to die in the war anyway, what's wrong with today?