Crewmates

"Umm… Commander, are you sure about this-"

"I am." Roka interrupted. "Got a problem with it?"

"Uh… No, it's just that… Well…" Kris had trouble expressing himself so,

"Going back there is too dangerous." El said sternly. "Those creatures almost destroyed our ship. They killed dozens of us. We can't just-"

"It's the closest place to get more fuel. We can't waste any more time than we already have."

"But…" Kris started. 

"But what? Fucking talk or shut up."

"There's no need to talk to him this way, Commander!"

"Ugh, give me a break. If I knew he was going to spend his time crying instead of helping, I wouldn't have bothered bringing him along" Roka replied coldly as she walked away. "We're going back to that hellhole. We just need a bit of luck."

"Then what was the point of going this planet?? We barely obtained the fuel it took to go there! It was a wasted trip that cost us lives!"

"And there's nothing I can about that. Being surrounded by strong creatures is better than invisible ones. We can see the former come at us, at least. Now, stop crying around. Get some work done."

The invisible Paru watched silently from the corner of room.

'Damn… Putting the subordinates in their place. Hot.'

"At least admit it was a terrible idea to-"

"It wasn't. And it was agreed upon by everyone. Don't start crying just because the result isn't what we wanted it to be. Do you have a better idea?"

"I…"

"You don't, huh? Then shut the fuck up and get to work."

'She gets hotter every time.' Rei chuckled internally. 

"Those invisible creatures are far worse. What if we remained there too long and a dozen of them entered our ship? What if they damaged it? What if they killed us all in our sleep? Invisible aliens are far worse than strong ones."

'You got that right.' The Paru nodded silently. 'Still, she does go a bit far… Hope there won't be some kind of coup. Well, doesn't matter to me. As long as someone can make this thing work…'

Sensing someone's approach, the automatic doors slid open, and the Commander left the control room.

"Tsk." The males clicked their tongues, while the females sighed.

"I'm sorry about the Commander. She goes way too far. I agree with you. We shouldn't rush into-" Raya was interrupted.

"Fucking simp." Rea muttered while looking away.

'This fucking bitch…!' Raya cursed internally.

"It doesn't matter…" Kris whispered, tears going down his eyes. "We're close to being done anyways. But we have to make sure that we complete our mission. Too many have died for us to fail now…"

"Right." El nodded as he stroked his crying companion's back. "There were eighty of us at first. We lost a whole spaceship, and more than seventy of us… The Commander really is horrible at-"

"Oh, shut up." Rea interrupted. "Things went badly, but we agreed with the Commander every step of the way."

"She's the Commander, so it's her responsibility!"

"Tsk, whatever…" Rea muttered as she looked away.

'This one is pretty hot too, huh?'

"Half of our dead died on Tseria. Another half on that hellhole where we're going back. How is this anyone but the Commander's fault-"

"Sacrifices have to be made. Any one of us could have died, the Commander included. Stop trying to pin your guilt on her. It's disgusting."

"Ha? You're obviously saying that because I'm-"

"None of this matters now." Kris whispered as he wiped his tears. "It's all to solve the energy crisis. As long as we manage to bring that Tsero Crystal to the people… As long as we manage to do that…"

They all remained silent for a moment, each for different reasons, before nodding.

By this time, the Paru had managed to eat every bit of the spiderweb he had used to lock himself in place.

'It wasn't useless, but…' Rei shrugged internally. 

As one of the crewmates was about to exit the room, the Paru decided to follow. 

'Guess I'll look around for a bit.'

Rei followed, but the instant he passed through the door,

'Tsero Crystal… That sounds familiar.'

He stopped suddenly.

"Mm?" The crewmate turned around. "Whatever…" He shrugged. 

It seemed like the door had some kind of glitch.

'Tsero Crystal, huh?' The Paru thought as it walked, not even caring about the doors that had collided with its body. 'Mmm…' The Paru scratched its head. 'Mmm…'

None of this matters now. It's all to solve the energy crisis. As long as we manage to bring the Tsero Crystal to the people-

Rei shrugged.

'Sucks to be them, I guess.'