Twelve is a good year. His dad's itchy feet carry them back out west that year, and Keith gets to see his grandpa again, and they're near enough the Garrison that he gets to see Shiro, too, right before his older friend's very first deployment as an active pilot, and it's been two years since last time he saw Shiro face to face as opposed to through a video chat. It's times like these that Keith is most grateful that his dad's a Wanderer – he might not have met Shiro, otherwise, and he definitely wouldn't have seen as much of North America as he has (he's had a passport as long as he's been alive, almost). It makes no sense how some other kids can be content to live not just in one country, or even one state, but a single town for their whole lives. Don't they know how big the world is, just how much they're missing?!
His dad always ruffles his hair and says to be nice when he comments on this, but his mom teases him right back for being content with a single continent, let alone planet, and will then proceed to launch into stories of the time before her ship malfunctioned and stranded her here, of her life as a scout for the Planetary Alliance, exploring the unknown swathes of space. If he's being honest, Keith sometimes complains about townies within her hearing just to get her to do this, because he loves hearing about space and the numerous other peoples and cultures living there and the Galran half of his heritage. Hearing about Texas and his Korean ancestors is cool, too, but his mom's people… they're something no one else outside the Kogane family knows about, a secret just for them until Earth either finally makes contact with an alien civilization or they figure out a way to reveal Nazair's true 'culture' without risking the government stealing her for testing and stuff.
It's also a good year because that's when he finally finds his mask, perched high atop a rock formation he's spent the whole morning climbing, and he almost takes a very nasty fall scrambling down it again in his hurry to show his parents, in part because it's a palpable relief to know you can still have a mask when you're only half human (he doesn't mind being different, but he doesn't want to be that different), and in part because of what it looks like – the lines on the right half of the face in purple, with a thin band of yellow around the eye, the lines of the left half in red, with a band of indigo-grey around the eye, and all of it adding up to the most perfect Explorer he's ever seen. The day only gets better when his parents decide that finding his mask means he's old enough for his first live blade – not just a wooden practice one but an actual dagger made of sharpened metal.
Yeah, twelve is a good year.
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"Yo! Mullet-head!"
Keith freezes at the voice, still not used to being around so many people and having to interact with them all the freaking time, then schools his face to neutral and turns to face the speaker.
It's another cadet, one in the same year as him from the looks of it, gangly and with a blue animal mask tied to the side of his head. He stands still as the other boy stalks over and then proceeds to bend down a bit and glare at him, their noses almost touching. "Can I help yo-"
"Ah!" Keith gets a finger to his lips for his troubles, and he's seriously thinking about reconsidering his 'no biting' policy when the other boy abruptly straightens up, the frown vanishing in place of a wide smile. "Okay, I have decided – we're gonna be friends!"
"I- what?!" Keith splutters, shocked, confused, and completely unsure of how to handle the situation, "You can't just go around deciding you're friends with people!"
"Sure I can," the (crazy) guy says, "I'm an Otter, we're friendly. Also playful, charming, and incredibly loveable. Come on, I'm gonna introduce you to Hunk."
Keith discovers that Crazy Otter Guy has somehow managed to get his wrist in a death grip and is now towing him along, and, seriously, what is happening. "Who's Hunk?!"
"Hunk is your other new best friend, besides me, of course, you'll like him, everyone likes Hunk, he is inherently likeable."
"I already have a best friend!"
"Awesome," Crazy Otter Guy says, completely unperturbed, "Now you've got three!"
"You don't even know who I am!"
The guy actually halts at this, spins and points a triumphant finger in his face. "Keith Kogane, first year cadet, same as me and Hunk, got the highest score on the last piloting test, and has no friends within the Garrison, a thing I am fixing, because I'm a helper like that."
"Okay, you know who I am," Keith admits grudgingly, "But I don't know who you are."
"Ouch, man." Crazy Otter Guy gives him a wounded look, "We sit next together in three classes and I got second highest on that piloting test. I'm Lance McClain."
"…oh. I- Sorry?" Keith says, feeling more and more wrong-footed as the situation progresses.
"You are forgiven," Lance replies magnanimously, then somehow manages to get ahold of Keith's wrist and start dragging him off again, "Now, Lance get this party started!"
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The annoying thing is, once he's gotten over the shock and indignation of it all, Keith finds he really does enjoy Hunk and Lance's company, and that Garrison life is far more tolerable when he's got people right there he can talk to and complain with. Hunk's comprehension of others seems to border on magic to Keith, even beyond the abilities he has as a Caretaker, and Lance is… weirdly entertaining, constantly down to argue and compete, but in a fun way? Also a good strategist, and completely willing to show Keith how to sneak out of the base after hours without getting caught.
Up until now, Keith had assumed the only people he'd ever feel really comfortable around would be Shiro and his parents, but he finds himself relaxing in the presence of these two fellow cadets, enjoying having friends to spend time with and not having to always be the outsider anymore.
Though this doesn't stop him claiming Stockholm Syndrome whenever Lance gets too smug about his friendship-making prowess.
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He's still at the Garrison when it happens, so he doesn't hear about it until later, too in shock over the news of the unexpected solar flare that knocked the Kerberos mission's ship out of commission and out of reach for potential rescue. Keith's friendship with Shiro means the Shiroganes and Koganes know each other relatively well, and his parents had been near enough when it happened to stop in and express their sympathies. That Colleen and Katie Holt had also been over at the time was a coincidence, but one that turned out to their advantage when Katie had gotten into a fight with her mom over whether it would be possible to contact the missing team.
"I can do it," the girl had protested, "I know all the math behind it and there's every chance it's just the engines that got knocked out, and as long as their communication systems are running I'm pretty sure I can hack them and force a line open to verify their location-"
"Could you do more than that?" Nazair had interrupted, "Could you force their systems to broadcast a message on a certain frequency?"
"I- probably," Katie admits, startled, "Why?"
"Give me some paper, and I'll write down the frequency you'll need to set their systems to and the codes to have them transmit."
"To do what?"
This is when Nazair had removes her decorative identity mask to the utter shock of everyone in the room and looks the young genius in the eye. "To send a distress signal to any ships within range. With any luck, they're just far enough out to get the message through."
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In another life, another world, Earth's first contact with aliens might have been hostile – as aggressive and terrifying as the versions portrayed in some movies.
In this life, however, first contact is a mission of mercy by outside forces, and, while there are suspicions and it takes awhile for everyone to adjust to the concept, they are not enough to erase this kindness or to revoke the hand of friendship that is offered with it.
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The footage is broadcast everywhere – the alien ship landing on the coast near Sydney, Australia, the local police and a crowd of civilians and reporters standing tensely nearby, excited and afraid of what may emerge, and then the ramp lowering and six figures emerging – two beings who could pass for human, a much larger figure with horny skin and kind eyes, and the missing crew of the Kerberos mission. Shirogane Takashi's right hand looks to be either prosthetic or in some sort of gauntlet, and Matt Holt has an impressive scar curving down the left side of his face worrisomely close to his eye, but beyond that they all appear to be whole, their masks all worn out and prominent in a gesture of confidence and security.
"We went looking for life beyond Earth," Sam Holt says when one of the reporters manages to get through to him, "Given the situation, and in spite of the circumstances, I think we can safely count the Kerberos Mission as a success." However he admits he's just as baffled as anyone as to how their ship came to be broadcasting the alien distress signal that was picked up by a passing Altean exploratory ship.
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Lance is the only one who is surprised when 'Pidge Gunderson' reveals himself to be Katie Holt one evening while they're all studying together. Technically Keith should be off 'bonding' with his own technician and navigator, but they aren't the ones who helped him survive first year without getting himself kicked out, so. And, honestly, he can understand why Katie decided not to be Katie openly here at the Garrison, considering the way the media went nuts after she was revealed to be the hacker that got the Kerberos mission rescued. Heaven knows he'd have done the same himself if he could, with all the attention he's been getting since it got revealed him mom is an alien, in the space sense as opposed to the immigrant sense. It definitely explains why Pidge got bumped straight into their class as opposed to being put with the other first years.
Actually, Lance had been less surprised about the alien thing than the Pidge thing, the grand total of his reaction being to turn to Hunk and announce, "You owe me twenty bucks." He had then proclaimed he wished to be paid in koko Samoa and gone back to grilling Keith about that new flight maneuver he'd come up with, seriously, how does he do it, every time Lance tries in simulation he takes the wings off his ship.
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By the time the four of them graduate, things have begun to finally settle down again somewhat in regards to the miraculous events surrounding the Kerberos mission. Earth is slowly adjusting to being the newest member of the Planetary Alliance, and not a moment too soon in Keith's opinion, because it means he's just in time to sign up to be one of the first human (well, half-human) members of the Altea mission. He's actually going to see the planet his mother trained on, meet some of the family she'd finally managed to re-establish contact with after the Kerberos mission, boldly go where no human-galra hybrid has gone before!
Lance always points out that this is true no matter where he goes, considering that he's the first known one in existence, but it doesn't detract from the excitement of it, or from the fact that Shiro's going to be captaining the mission with help from Soralla, the young Altean woman who had first accompanied them back to Earth and who has somehow managed to find time to become friends with their group, in spite of the constant buzz of media and interest surrounding her.
Pidge, in contrast, is sixteen and, like all sixteen year olds, has only two things on her mind – seeing just how much alien tech she can get her grubby little hands on asap and quoting Star Trek at every available opportunity, though gloating over the fact that she's a part of this mission at all, in spite of still technically being too young, does also get a certain amount of priority. Honestly, it's kind of astounding that they all got picked to go – the members of the original Kerberos mission were shoe-ins, of course, as was Pidge as a vital component as to why first contact actually happened, and Keith's pretty sure his mom had a lot to do with why he got chosen (yeah, he's one of the best pilots the Garrison has ever produced, but he still hasn't quite mastered the whole 'patience yields focus' concept yet), but Lance and Hunk didn't have any of that going for them. They got in entirely on their own.
And now here they all are, standing together with the half-dozen other Garrison graduates under Shiro's command, the teams of scientists and diplomats they'll be flying and protecting standing slightly to the side, all of them doing their best to look serious and professional, as opposed to so excited they can hardly stand still. Well, all of them but Lance, who is bouncing on his toes and grinning like an idiot. At this point it'd probably be more unnerving if he wasn't acting like this, though, so Keith decides to be magnanimous and let it slide, just this once.
(Especially since he knows Pidge will be more than willing to pick up the slack for him.)
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They are met by Norcar of Altea, an advisor of Queen Tarlo and uncle to Soralla. He's an energetic, enthusiastic man with a goatee and an odd knack for setting people at ease, already talking to them like they're all old friends as he shows the Garrison group around their quarters and where their fellow Earthlings will be staying, and it's just…
Keith takes a deep breath and lets it out with a contented sigh.
It feels like he and his friends are exactly where they're supposed to be.
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Lance's mask is different in this universe because I didn't want to make the Comedy mask quite THAT powerful in this and then leave him with it. Yeah, Comedy's powerful, but I do try and avoid god-moding characters (even though it was reeeeeeeally fun to do in the first chapter). That said, if Lance can't be Comedy, I think Otter is an equally good fit for him, as otters are friendly, creative, and about as close as you can get to laughter in physical form. Speaking of different, yes, Keith's mask is also slightly different in this universe – it has a more balanced overall appearance to reflect the stronger internal balance he has as a result of growing up knowing both halves of his heritage. Hunk and Pidge's masks are exactly the same, and Shiro's is like his original mask, but with the patterns in dark grey and violet on white, instead of red and violet on white. Why? 'cause it felt right, and that's all the reason I ever have for doing anything with the masks.
Why Australia? Because I didn't feel like setting them down in the US or anywhere I felt the Garrison might be, and why not Australia? They have the Outback. And lamingtons. If you don't know what a lamington is, go look it up right now, they are wonderful and yummy.
Shiro got hurt when the solar flare sent the ship out of control, so he still has a prosthetic in this universe, but this one is ONLY a prosthetic, no cool glowly hand-weapon, and it reaches up to mid-forearm. No nose scar or white tuft of hair, though.
There are some people who love to use OCs, and will carefully craft them and build complex backstories for them and include them whenever possible. I am… not one of those people. Which is my round-about way of saying yes, Sorella and Narcor are totally reincarnations of Allura and Coran with slight (unmentioned) palette and design alterations.