[13+] Taezan & the Mice [Kim Taehyung] Christmas 2022

December 1st

"All hands on deck! We got a comet approaching from starboard!"

"Yes, Sir!" The answer echoed through the spaceship, as the five crew members ran to their stations to obey the captain's orders.

It wasn't the first time this happened, not even the first for this voyage, but Taezan still felt nervous butterflies tingling in the bottom of his stomach.

"You think we'll finally be able to see it?" A light voice asked from beside him. "Like, up close?"

"I'm not sure, Jiminzi." Taezan replied as he kept his eyes on the screen in front of him. Just like his friend, he really wanted to see the light described so wonderfully in the old logs, but in some way, it felt too much to hope for.

"CAREFUL!" Captain Jinzok barked as he tried to maneuver the ship through some old debris. It wasn't an easy task, however, and especially not when Namzoom was enjoying a cup of coffee beside him; every now and then spilling drops of the liquid that now floated through the ship. "I don't want this to get in the console!"

Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but as their gravity sphere had gotten unstable ten lightyears ago, they were now struggling to work their stations properly.

Letting out a sigh, Jinzok did his best to catch the coffee droplets floating in front of him. "Hozi!"

"Yeah, bro? What's up?" Hozi asked as he floated effortlessly back and forth between the cabin and his tools. "You need something?"

"I know we should wait until the next repair station, but I can't focus at all." The captain pointed over at the large silver sphere floating in the middle of the bridge. "Go check on the gravity-meter, and find out if there is anything you can do to get it stabilized."

"I'll check." Volunteered Jiminzi, activating the autopilot gun in front of him before letting go of the control levers. "I checked it last night, and the field was off by 8 then, but it seemed better than when- AAH-!".

"Jiminzi? What are you- AAAH!" Namzoom started, but was suddenly ripped from the air; his body sucked up like by a magnet; his tool belt making a loud 'clunk' as it met the cold metal beside Jiminzi.

"What's going on?" The captain turned, his mouth dropping open as he saw his two 'technical experts' glued to the ceiling. "Get down from there, you two!"

"Yes, sir!" Jiminzi wiggled his little booty, straining himself, but he soon looked down with a defeated look on his face. "I can't. I'm stuck."

"Me too." Namzoom admitted, before adding the words that made everyone look his way. "And I think we have a problem..."

Looking up, Taezan immediately understood why the senior officer sounded so worried.

Because there, in his fellow BTZ crewmember's hand, was a shiny piece of material.

There was no question what had happened.

"The god of Destruction strikes again." Zukook mumbled as he pushed himself to the utility cabinet.

"I'm sorry." Namzoom whimpered as he showed off the aluminum. "I didn't mean to..."

"HoW tHe HelL dId yOu mAnaGe tO Do tHaT!?" Jinzok was having a fit, and the words were shooting out of him like from a machine gun. "WhY dO yoU AlWayS Do tHiS?! Are YoU CuRsEd Or SoMeThiNg!?"

"I'm sorry." Namzoom repeated, grabbing onto the liana that the youngest threw at him.

Slowly and steadily, and with great effort, Zukook managed to get Namzoom, and then Jiminzi back to safety.

"Give me that." Jinzok ordered as he took the piece of shiny material. "It's ripped. Beyond repair. I didn't even know that could happen."

"We could still fix it, can't we?" Asked Hozi as he floated over to examine the sad-looking foil. "Right?"

"In theory, yes." Jiminzi considered. "It's not an accurate science - the gravity sphere just needs to be covered with an equal amount of the foil. After that, we can adjust the main values from the panel."

"Finally some good news." Looking relieved to have avoided a huge catastrophe, Jinzok handed the damaged foil to Jiminzi. "Make this your priority of the day."

"Well, there is just that..." Jiminzi started.

"What?"

Namzoom sighed. "...We don't have any more of it."

"Of course." Jinzok mumbled. "There's only one thing to do then..."

"I'll go!" Jiminzi volunteered again, his hand eagerly waving in the air. "I want to- WOAH!" Taking a step, he once again got snapped up to the ceiling; this time also taking his previous rescuer with him, as he had yet to remove the rope around his waist.

Rubbing his temples, Jinzok groaned. "How am I surrounded by idiots?" Crossing his arms, he seemed to make up his mind. "Taezan, Namzoom..." With a pleading look, he looked to his chosen descenders. "You two take the mission, and please, do not mess it up. We can't have Jiminzi stuck to the ceiling all day."

"I can still do my job from here!" Jiminzi ensured them; scouting left, then right, before grinning down at them. "And the view is actually great!"

Jinzok shook his head, clearly distressed at the chaos that had taken over his ship.

Beside him, Taezan felt his heartbeat quicken. This was it! This would be his first mission without the captain joining. It was a bit scary - daunting even - but he was determined to complete this mission.

"Yes, sir!" Namzoom saluted. "Of course. sir!"

Following the older's example, Taezan saluted as well, adding: "We'll do our very best!" 

And so the Christmas calendar has officially started! 🥳
A new part will be up tomorrow, and another one the day after, and then after that, and so on!

We hope you'll join us on this little adventure, and I also want to remind you that I have a little something for the user that comments the most during the run of this calendar story 😏.
So don't be shy - tell us what you think - and your guesses for what will happen next XD