Sitting in a lecture at 8 in the morning was one of the few things that Lyra hated back in college and even now at the Garrison it was something she despised. Especially when she didn't get coffee in the morning. Which is what happened this morning. She had woken up late, practically sprinting through the halls to get to the class. And now her growling stomach and nodding head was not helping anything.
She shook her head, trying to wake herself up and pay attention to the professor in front of the class, who happened to be her mother. And being as it was her mother, she was chipper as always even for 8am.
"Now remember, the symptoms for nitrogen poisoning can include: lightheadedness, impaired judgement, fatigue, numbness in limbs, decrease of motor control, euphoria and in some cases unconsciousness," Mrs. Jackson was saying from the front of the room. Lyra watched her mom pace back and forth, making eye contact with every student in the room some way or another. It always impressed Lyra how her mom could control a room in a matter of seconds. It was another reason why she was the top medic at the Garrison. "But please," Mrs. Jackson continued, stopping in the middle of the front. "Remember to be wary when trying to judge your teammates' symptoms. For all you know they could just be skipping meals." She gave a smile and some laughter could be heard scattered around the room as some friends glanced at one another with knowing smiles.
Mrs. Jackson walked over to her desk, picking up a small device and clicked a button. The project turned on and a powerpoint started up. The woman turned back to the class, using the laser pointer feature of the clicker in her hand.
"Now we will be-"
Just as she started speaking the bell signalling the end of class. Immediately the students began gathering up their things, creating a loud commotion that broke the once silent lecture hall. Lyra, on the other hand, slowly gathered her things up. She had no intention of fighting the crowd of students to reach the exit. She'd rather avoid the shoving and pushing. Plus it gave her a couple minutes with her mom that she normally didn't get during the day.
Standing up, she approached her mom as the woman gathered up her own papers and devices from the lecture. She greeted her daughter with a smile as the honey haired woman reached her desk.
"I told you you'd be great as a medic," Mrs. Jackson stated, holding up a paper that had a 100 on it in red marker. "You completely aced the last test. I'm proud of you, Lyra."
Lyra offered a small smile as a hint of pink dusted her cheeks. "Thanks, Mom, but I can't really take all the credit." She looked down at her hands and began picking at the nail polish on her left middle finger. Praise always made her bashful. "I owe it to you. If it weren't for you teaching me as I grew up I don't think any of this would have stuck."
"Nonsense!" Mrs. Jackson said, placing a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "You're a brilliant woman, Lyra. Don't ever sell yourself short." She gave her shoulder a squeeze along with a sympathetic smile. "...How are you holding up?"
The smile on Lyra's face falter, but she quickly forced a it back. "I'm uh fine...I guess."
"Oh, sweetie," Mrs. Jackson cooed, pulling her daughter in for a hug. "I know it's hard with Shiro being gone. But he'd be happy to see you living your life and he'd be proud to see what you've been accomplishing here." She paused, placing a hand on her cheek. "You two would have been amazing explorers together."
"I know," said Lyra, casting her gaze down at the floor.
Mrs. Jackson frowned, watching the crushed look on her daughter's face. "Come on," she said, nudging her chin with her fist. "Let's get you something to eat. You have that simulation today with your team right?" She gave her daughter's shoulder another squeeze before leading them out of the lecture hall.
Lyra internally groaned at the thought. Today as the day that each team would be trying out the flight simulation with Commander Iverson. Which meant that she'd be taking it with her team. Her team which still had issues of getting along. Her team which nearly failed their survival exercise four months ago…
Was there a way to get out of the simulation?
"Yeah...I'm um looking forward to it," Lyra said, starting up her nail polish picking.
"Don't be nervous, sweetie," Mrs. Jackson said. "You'll do just fine. You and your team just have to work together and the simulation is a breeze."
"Work together...right…" the young woman mumbled, eyes slightly wide as she stared at the ground. "Speaking of my team." She spoke up after a moment, remembering a small detail from earlier in the day. "I have to go meet my teammate Pidge right now. I'm sorry I almost forgot. Can we grab lunch tomorrow, Mom?"
"Absolutely!" Mrs. Jackson said, a smile on her face. "I'm glad you're getting along with your team. Go enjoy your time off before your next class. I'll see you later, Lyra."
With that Mrs. Jackson walked off, but not before giving her daughter one last hug. Lyra smiled, watching her mom leave, a little sad that she had to cancel their lunch plans, but she had to meet with Pidge while she had time off.
Speaking of Pidge.
Up ahead of her, Lyra spotted the small girl shoving her way through the crowd of students as they walked to their next destination. The honey haired woman blinked as Pidge ran up to her, a large smile on her face and it looked like the girl was ready to bounce around the hall and off the walls.
"Uh Pi-" She began only to be cut off by Pidge practically shouting her name in excitement.
"I did it Lyra…" Pidge interrupted. "I found something."
Lyra's heart skipped a beat. Rather, it plummeted to her stomach. She stood there with her mouth slightly ajar and eyes wide. She kept playing Pidge's words over and over in her head, making sure she didn't hear wrong. "Y-you found something? What is...what is it?" She could feel her words dying in her throat.
She knew that she couldn't get her hopes up, it had only been a year since Shiro went missing, she and Pidge had been scouring all sorts of frequency and information from the Garrison that they could get their hands on. Lyra had been talking with her mom and anyone she could think of where she could casually slip a question in that could possibly give her some answers as to the disappearance of the crew. Lyra, with her mom's credentials was able to get into some files on the system, but that only go her so far due to her mom's restrictions to certain information. That's where Pidge came in. Pidge had been hacking into the system for a while now trying to find anything that could help them. She had picked up a few things, but they were all useless and led to nothing.
In the end the girls had found nothing that could help them find out what happened to their loved ones.
"I can't say right now," Pidge answered, glancing at the passing students and occasional teacher. She got closer to Lyra, standing on her toes ever so slightly as the older female was a few inches taller than her. "I can show you in my room. Come on," she said, grabbing Lyra's hand.
She began pulling her partner down the hall, pushing past more students once again. "Pidge!" Lyra cried out as she tripped over her feet for the second time. The young girl was practically dragging her down the hall. "Slow down." They turned a corner as she tried to right herself. "We-we have time to ge-"
"Lyra?"
The two females stopped just as they were about to run into someone and looked up to meet the bespectacled eyes of one of the teachers at the Garrison. Adam.
Lyra's eyes widened slightly when she saw the man in front of her. He had a similar expression on his face as they made eye contact. Pidge looked between the two, raising a brow as she waited for one of them to speak.
"Um...hello, Adam," she greeted, a blush forming on her cheeks.
"I um…" Adam began, adjusting his glasses for a moment as he thought over his words. "I've been wanting to speak with you. Um since I saw you in my class on the first day, but we haven't had a chance." He paused for a moment, looking down at his feet. "I wanted to see how you were doing and um tell you that I'm sorry."
Lyra blinked. "Sorry?" she questioned. She knew exactly what he was referring to. She had been hearing it from relatives, friends, coworkers, and now people at the Garrison who knew who she was. It wasn't anything new, but it was something she was tired of hearing. But for some reason with Adam, she didn't mind.
"I knew about Shiro's disappearance and never got the nerve to ask you how were you," Adam said, finally looking up and meeting the short woman's eyes. "I'm sorry Lyra."
Like the man in front of her, she looked down at her feet. Her face fell into a downcast expression and she could feel the tension in her shoulders growing. She understood Adam, she after all was the current girlfriend of his ex-boyfriend. Still with the circumstances, she believes that maybe things shouldn't be this tense around them.
She gave a small nod. "I'm sorry too. Even if we never talk you are one of the few people who would understand this." She took a deep breath as the feelings she felt when she first heard the news of Shiro's disappearance resurfaced. The feelings of despair and hopelessness. The feeling that she might never see him again. Looking back at the Garrison teacher in front of her she spoke, "And I know you are in pain too... so having you asking me how I am, it's just so bizarre. Not that i'm ungrateful."
They never were close friends, let alone friends. But Lyra could sense the honestly in his words.
And it sunk in how it all felt familiar to her. Like him, she at that moment felt sorry for him.
She met his eyes again and saw a small, sad smile on the man's face. "I um ho-hope you're doing well."
"Who would have thought this would have brought us together." Adam said, before he paused once more. A bitter laugh came from him, causing Lyra's heart to seize. He offered her smile. "I'm glad you're looking well...despite everything. And I...I know Shiro would be happy to see you doing well, even joining the Garrison."
Lyra gave a tiny laugh. "Y-yeah, there was a um time he tried to get me to j-join, but I kept refusing. Now...I guess...I'm here for h-him."
Adam nodded slowly, staring at his feet again. There was an awkward silence that fell between the two before he clears his throat. "I will uh see you around then, Lyra. Bye."
With one final nod, Adam walks past the two females without a second glance. Lyra watches him, her eyes starting to brim with tears. Thoughts of Shiro had resurfaced upon seeing Adam. She had found someone else who was feeling just as lost as she was and it was her boyfriend's ex-boyfriend. Someone she never thought she'd see again. An unlikely person who she thought at that moment that maybe - just maybe - she could talk with from time to time, share each other's thoughts on the matter. Someone who shared the same feelings as her.
"...Lyra?"
Pidge's voice broke Lyra out of her trance and she glanced down at the light brown haired girl, who had a look of concern etched on her face. It was then that Lyra realized they were still standing in the hallway which was now clear of any other people.
"Lyra, are you alright?" Pidge glanced at her before glancing behind her at the corner Adam had just turned down. "Who was that?"
"That was um…" Lyra paused, trying to get the lump out of her throat. "That was um Shiro's ex-boyfriend."
"Oh…" The young girl looked at her friend, sympathy clouding her eyes.
"Let's um let's get to your ro-room," Lyra stuttered, clearing her throat. "Y-you said you found something."
"Um right, uh," Pidge shifted from one foot to the other. "How about we get something to eat instead and we meet on the roof later tonight. I can show you what I found then. I heard that they have chocolate pudding today." She offered a bright smile to the older female, hoping to alleviate some of the tension.
Lyra smiled back. "That sounds like a plan. I've been craving chocolate for a couple days now."
"We can also discuss our plan for the simulation as well," Pidge said as the two started their path towards the commissary. "Maybe we can find Lance and Hunk and see if we can come up with some as a team." There was a slight tone of irritation in her voice as she brought up the other two teammates. Lyra could already guess who out of the two was causing Pidge's irritation.
"Knowing Hunk, he's probably already at the commissary," she offered, this time the one lightening the mood. "I'm sure once we um start talking with them we'll figure out a way to-to uh get through the simulation and pass."
ooOOoo
Once again Lyra found herself in a team exercise where she was staring around her in a panic. The sounds of their vessel gliding through space and bouncing off of a couple asteroids filled the air as Lance piloted through the obstacles. Pidge was off to the side typing away at her controls and Hunk...Hunk was starting to look green again.
"Uh Lance, can you keep this straight," Hunk said, his voice thick and quivering as nausea took over.
"Relax, Hunk," Lance said over his shoulder. "I'm just getting a feel for the stick. It's not like I did this." The Cuban boy then yanked the controls around causing their vessel to jerk downward. "Or this." Another yank of the controls and the vessel jerked to the side, shaking everyone inside.
Lyra gave a look of sympathy towards the larger boy in front of her. He truly looked like he was about to throw up any second. She began digging through her medical supplies, shifting bottles and bandages around her case. "I-I have something that can uh help you, Huuuunk!" Just as Lyra stood up, the vessel jolted sending her off balance and dropping her vial of medicine, squealing her teammates name as she fell to her hands and knees. "Oh no…" She stared at the shattered vial of medicine she was planning on giving Hunk. Quickly jumping back to her feet, she rushed over to her pack. "I-I-I-I think I have another one. Uh give-give me a moment." She quickly began searching through her supplies, pushing other bottles and vials around doing her best to find what she was looking for. She was beginning to get flustered. "I-I'm sorry, I can't find it. Gi-give me another minute."
"Lyra, you need to calm down," Pidge called out from where she was sitting. "Just breathe."
"Yeah, relax, beautiful," Lance chirped in. "Everything is under control.
Hunk groaned from his seat. "Unless you want to wipe beef stroganoff out of all the little nooks and crannies in this thing, you better knock it off, man!" he shouted in desperation.
Lyra had to agree with him on this one. The fact that Lance was turning this simulation into a game was not helping anyone.
Frantic beeping was coming from Pidge's corner of the ship. "We've picked up a distress beacon!" she shouted, turning around to look at her crewmates.
"All right, look alive, team," Lance said as he began to hit a couple buttons on his control panel above him. "Pidge, track coordinates."
"Copy."
The vessel jerked again, shaking a little.
"Knock it off, Lance! Please!" Hunk cried out, gripping his seat tightly and shutting his eyes.
"This one's on you, buddy," the pilot said, turning around in his seat to look at his teammate. "We've got a hydraulic stabilizer out."
Right as he said that, Hunk grabbed his monitor, preparing to fix the problem. As long as he held his lunch in.
Watching Lance actually act like a pilot instead of showboating around was a sight that Lyra never thought she'd see. Especially after the number of times she seen him act during training. She was starting to be impressed by the young man.
"Lyra, get your supplies ready so we're prepared for any injuries when we pick up the crew," Lance commanded.
Lyra's head jerked over towards the Cuban boy and took a moment to get her bearings before she started organizing the medical supplies. She just hoped that she'd be able to prevent anymore from breaking as the ship began to rumble again.
"Oh no…" came the soft groan from Hunk.
"Oh no. Fix now, puke later." Lance stated, glaring at the view in front of him.
"I lost contact. The shaking is interfering with our sensors," Pidge informed as more beeping started up.
"Come on, Hunk!" Lance said, looking back at his friend.
"It's not responding," Hunk said, before a moan came from him. He got out of his seat and crossed over to the other side of the ship where Pidge was, opening up a panel.
"Never mind, fellas - and lady," Lance said as a view of the moon appeared in the front window. "Thar she blows. Preparing for approach on visual."
"I don't think that's advisable with our current mechanical and gastrointestinal issues," Pidge said, making a face as she glanced over at Hunk, who held in his vomit.
"Agreed," he moaned.
"Lance, ju-just give me a moment to find something for Hunk. Then we can uh find-find a place to la-land." The honey-haired woman could feel her heart racing. She constantly thought this ever since she joined the Garrison, but never in a million years did she think she'd wind up in a situation like this. She was waiting for the day when she wouldn't have to find herself in one again.
"Stop worrying," Lance assured, despite the glare from Pidge and the pleading look from Lyra. "This baby can take it, can't you, champ?" Reaching in front of him and patted the dashboard, a fond smile on his face. In response the vessel shook again, causing a look of alarm to appear on the pilot's face. "See? She was nodding. She was nodding. Pidge, hail down to them and let them know their ride is here." He grabbed the controls once more, trying to get the vessel to stop shaking. He drew his attention to the team's medic as Pidge began to hail the other ship. "Lyra, how are the medical supplies coming along?"
"Everything seems to be in order," she said, holding up a vial in her hand to exam it. Just then the vessel shook again, harder this time, and caused Lyra to practically jump in her seat. This only resulted in the vial falling out of her hand and smashing to the floor. "Oh no…"
"Not another 'oh no'!" Lance shouted. "We can't afford to lose more medicine. I know you've got this, beautiful."
Lyra gave a look of exasperation towards the back of Lance's head. How did she end up on a team with him as the pilot again?
"Attention, lunar vessel-" Pidge was interrupted as she screamed from losing her balance as the ship shook again. She slammed into the floor with a loud thud.
"What are you doing? Buckle your belt. And, Hunk, stop that shaking!" Lance demanded, glaring at his teammates.
"I'm try- Oh no." And with that Hunk shoved his head into the panel and threw up.
Lyra quickly averted her gaze, her face falling at the sound of the boy being sick. This was not going well…
"Attention, lunar vessel," Pidge spoke up, speaking into the radio, "this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft ONe Victor Six Three Tango. Coming in for landing and extraction, against crew recommendations." She said the last part in a mumble, side glaring at their pilot.
Lyra made a face, watching as Lance argued back against Pidge. The two of them never saw eye to eye, and the older teammate wondered if they ever would. She prayed that day would come soon. There was no way that their team would accomplish anything if they argued all the time. Their team already had been reprimanded a couple times during another team exercise that was smaller than their desert crash landing exercise. She lowered her head, sighing at the thought of it all. It was exhausting.
"Look out for that overhang!" Pidge shouted.
Immediately, Lyra's head shot up and let out a squeak, covering her mouth with her left hand. Through the window she could see a rock formation with a hole in the middle of it. And they were heading straight for it.
"No worries," Lance tried to reassure. He hadn't reassured anyone since the start, what was different now? "My first year in flight school, know what they called me? They called me "The Tailor" because of how I thread the needle." The boy had a goofy, cocky grin on his face as he looked back at his team.
The color in Lyra's face vanished and her heart fell to her stomach. Lance continued to fail at reassuring his team. There was no way he was going to make it through that hole in the rock!
"Uh L-L-L-Lance," Lyra stuttered, raising a hand slightly, "I-I don't that such a good-"
She was cut off by her own screaming as Lance maneuvered the vessel suddenly, causing her, Pidge, and Hunk to grab onto their seats desperately. She watched in horror as Lance made a nose dive straight for the overhang and she quickly closed her eyes, afraid to see how it would all end.
The sound of a crash did not lesson her anxiety on the matter.
"We lost a wing!" Hunk cried out.
And right after Hunk's announcement another crash sounded and the vessel went black. They had failed the simulation. Every team member slumped in their seats, knowing full well that once they stepped out of the vessel they would be reprimanded by Iverson.
"Nice work, Tailor," Pidge mumbled, glaring at Lance.
"Roll out, donkeys!" Iverson shouted as the door opened.
Slowly, the four teammates stepped out and lined up outside of the vessel and in front of all the other teams. Lyra's face was burning as she felt all eyes on them. She didn't like this. Trying her best, she focused her attention away from the onlookers and to their instructor. However, the look on Iverson's face only made her lower her head to stare at the ground just as her teammates were doing.
"Well let's see if we can't use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you students," Iverson shouted as he stared down at the four. "Can anyone point out the mistakes these four so called cadets made in the simulator?"
"The engineer puked in the main gearbox," a male student called out.
"Yes. As everyone knows," Iverson said, glancing at Hunk, "vomit is not an approved lubricant for engine systems. What else?"
"The medic dropped medicine needed for the rescue."
"The comm spec removed his safety harness."
The pilot crashed!"
Looking at it all, Lyra was starting to wish that they had actually prepared for the simulator. When Pidge and her had met up with Lance and Hunk at the commissary Lance right away said that they didn't need to prepare. "As long as you have me as your pilot, we're already prepared" was what he had said. The woman was starting to wish she had actually pushed to get them to strategize instead of have Pidge and Lance argue during lunch over whether to strategize or not.
"Correct," Iverson said, facing the other students. "And worst of all, the whole jump, they're arguing with each other." At this point he was now addressing the four teammates. "Heck, if you're going to be this bad individually, you'd better at least be able to work as a team! Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astroexplorers, but these kinds of mental mistakes are what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission."
Hearing that, Lyra's eyes shot open and her head snapped up to look at Iverson. She didn't know what she was feeling. Hurt? Anger? Disappointment? But one thing was for sure, she knew that-
"That's not true, sir!"
The honey-haired woman turned her head to stare at an angered Pidge. "Oh no…" she whispered. If Pidge started sassing off to Iverson then they'd be in even more trouble! Lyra wanted to shush her, but before she could Lance had beaten her to it.
"Sorry, sir," he said, covering Pidge's mouth. "I think he hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken." The entire time Lance was creating his excuse, Pidge was shouting into his hand creating muffled noises and fighting to get out of his grip.
"I hope I don't need to remind you," Iverson said slowly as he walked up to Lance, "that the only reason you're here is that the best pilot your class had a discipline issue and flunked out. Don't follow in his footsteps"
Lyra glanced over at Iverson and Lance, eyes slightly wide when she heard that. Her brow furrowed as she thought those words over. There was only one person that she could think of that could have a discipline issue and flunk out and she had a feeling she was right as to who it was. She hadn't seen him in a while. Not since she met him a couple times through Shiro.
Which would explain why I haven't seen him since I got here… she thought.
She looked at Lance and saw the look on the Cuban boy's face. It was one that she had never seen on his face before. He always seemed happy and confident, but here he looked sad and worried. As much as he was annoying at times, Lyra didn't like seeing him like that. It worried her.
As Iverson called for the next team, the other four headed off to the locker rooms to change out of their flight gear. No one said a thing as they trudged their way to their destination. Nothing needed to be said after everything they went through and heard.
ooOOoo
A knock on her door broke Lyra out of her trance. After the simulation none of the teammates said a thing and just went to their dorms for the rest of the day. Since then Lyra had been sitting in her room, trying to distract herself from thoughts of what Adam had said to her, the simulation failure, and the mention of the Kerberos Mission. So much had happened today that all Lyra wanted to do was crawl into bed. But instead she had opted for reading. At least there she could try to focus on the story and not on her rampaging thoughts.
"Hello?" she called out, confused. She glanced over at her roommate, who was too busy on her phone, headphones in and ignoring anything and everything around her. There was no way she heard the knock. That was the good thing about her roommate. She didn't ask questions and pry into Lyra's life. The two made small talk here and there and just kept to themselves. She was glad for that.
"Lyra, it's me," Pidge's voice called out through the metal door.
"Oh," Lyra mumbled, standing up from her bed. Opening the door she was greeted by the young girl with a backpack strung over her shoulders.
"Are you ready?" Pidge asked, a glimmer of excitement shining in her eyes.
"Oh um...sorry, give me a moment. I got um a little distracted," Lyra stuttered, letting Pidge in.
Lyra walked to her closet, passing her roommate who gave a nod and wave to Pidge without even looking up from her phone. The woman grabbed her rucksack and a pair of tan booties. Passing her desk, she took her tablet and a notepad and pen, stuffing it into the rucksack. Slipping on her shoes, she paused, staring around the room thinking about what else she would need for this meetup.
They were meeting on the roof at night and from Lyra's memory of being out in the desert during the survival exercise she remembered it had been freezing cold. Heading back to the closet, opened the doors and looked inside. She spotted her brown leather jacket, grabbing it off the hanger only to freeze when she saw the article of clothing next to it.
Slowly, she reached out and took the dark brown jacket off its hanger. She stared at it, her heart clenching. It was Shiro's riding jacket. He had left it behind at her apartment the last time he had visited.
Lyra brought it close to her, hugging it to her for a moment. It still smelled like him. She stared at her jacket and then his jacket, going back and forth between the two. Thinking for a moment longer, she slipped her leather jacket over her white shirt and quickly folded Shiro's and stuffing it into her rucksack.
Taking a deep breath, she turned around from the closet. "Um sorry for making you wait," Lyra said, facing Pidge now.
"You're fine," Pidge said, nodding once. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, let's go."
"You won't believe what I found," Pidge said as they exited the room. "I think it might be something that might link to what happened with the Kerberos Mission." They turned down a hall.
Lyra's heart skipped a beat. Were they getting closer to finding out what happened to their loved ones? She could only pray.
In minutes they had made their way up onto the roof, somehow without getting caught by any staff members. Lyra watched as Pidge headed towards the edge of the roof and began setting up her devices. Blinking, she saw as the device turned on with a beep and soon the screen lit up with different information popping up.
"What is this?" Lyra asked, kneeling down next to Pidge.
"It's something I built," Pidge began as she typed away at the keyboard.
The older female's eyes widened. "You built this? Incredible…" Her eyes shifted from one part of the computer to the next. It was so advanced, almost something that the Garrison would have. It was no wonder Pidge had straight As in all her communications classes.
"Thanks!" the young girl chirped. She leaned closer to the screen, typing once more.
"What exactly did you do with it?"
"I hacked into the Garrison system and searched for any frequencies, but what I found was something completely different," Pidge said, her voice matching the excitement that had been on her face since telling Lyra earlier in the day.
"What did you find?" Lyra inquired, leaning in as well.
Pidge dug into her bag, pulling out a second pair of headphones and plugging it into the computer. "Here." She handed them to Lyra. "Listen."
Putting them on, Lyra was immediately greeted with the strangest sound she ever heard. It was rapid talking. Almost a whisper. It was as if someone was speaking gibberish. It was something she had never heard before.
Screaming from Pidge broke her trance and Lyra practically jumped a foot in the air when she saw a new person next to her and Pidge. Lance and Hunk had appeared behind them, each with their own quizzical expressions. Hunk for some reason, was inching along on the ground towards them. Whether it was to be unseen or out of caution, Lyra wasn't sure.
"We were just um looking at the stars," Pidge covered for them, trying to give as much of an innocent look as she could muster.
"So like a date?" Lance stated, raising a brow as he looked from Pidge to Lyra.
Both girls' face turned red at the accusation.
"No it's not a date!" Pidge exclaimed as Lyra shook her head frantically.
Lance continued to raise his brow, but diverted his attention to the device in front of the girls. "Man, where'd you get this stuff?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. Hunk had finally crawled his way next to his friend. "It doesn't look like Garrison tech."
A confident smirk grew on the young girl's face. "I built it," Pidge responded.
"You built all of this?" Hunk asked, sneaking up towards the tech, a finger reaching out to touch a button.
Pidge smacked his hand away before he could do anything. "Stop it!" She turned back to Lance, the smirk returning to her face. "With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system."
"That right? All the way to Kerberos?" Lance asked, raising a brow as he eyed his teammate. Pidge whimpered and lowered her head. "You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up. What's your deal?"
"Second warning, Hunk!" Pidge shouted as Hunk began touching the small satellite dish on the monitor. The large boy groaned and slunked away once more.
"Look, Pidge," Lance started up again, "if we're going to bond as a team, we can't have any secrets."
"Fine," Pidge relucted. "I was about to tell Lyra what this was so I'll explain it to all of you then." She took a small breath. "The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake."
Lyra let out a small gasp, her eyes growing wide. "...I knew it couldn't have been a mistake." She ignored the looks Hunk and Lance gave her and put her full attention to Pidge. She needed to hear more. She had to know what had happened to Shiro on that mission.
But that explanation took a very miniscule break as Pidge yelled at Hunk. "Stop touching my equipment!" Again the boy groaned and laid on his side. Pidge took a moment to gather her bearings. "So, I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter."
At that statement, Lyra's eyes grew wider. Aliens? Were there actually aliens? She never doubted it the possibility of other life out ther, but at the same time there was never full proof that there were any. "Are you serious?" she asked at the same time Hunk spoke up with "Whoa. What? Aliens?"
"Okay," Lance said skeptically. "So, you're insane. Got it."
"I'm serious. They keep repeating one word," Pidge continued, reaching over and grabbing a notepad that had a colorful drawing on it, "'Voltron.' And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it."
"You've been hearing this more than just now?" Lyra asked, her face falling. "Why didn't you mention this sooner?"
"How crazy?" Lance asked, the same skeptical look plastered on his face.
A split second after he asked that the Garrison alarms sounded, bringing the four student's attention away from their conversation.
Lyra looked around as she heard Iverson's voice on the PA stating that the alarm was not for a drill and stating that the school was on lockdown. What could be happening that would require a lockdown on the Garrison? In the years that Shiro had been a student and worked at the Garrison he never once told her about an incident that required a lockdown. If this was happening then what major event could be causin-
She gasped. Up in the sky she spotted a red and orange, burning ball of light. "Guys! Look!" she exclaimed, pointing up at the object.
"Is that a meteor?" Hunk questioned, also pointing up at the burning object. "A very, very big meteor?"
With wide eyes, Pidge quickly grabbed her binoculars, putting them up to her eyes. "It's a ship!" she reported only to have Lance take hold of the binoculars with her still holding on.
"Holy crow!" Lance exclaimed as he peered through them. "I can't believe what I'm seeing! That's not one of ours."
"No. It's one of theirs," Pidge stated, a little too calmly.
"On-one of theirs? So are the-the aliens actually here for whatever that um V-Voltron thing is?" Lyra stuttered, still in shock at what she was seeing. She watched as the ship moved closer and closer to the Earth, the light getting brighter as its distance shortened.
"So, wait," Hunk spoke up, his and everyone's gaze following the object. "There really are aliens out there?"
In a matter of seconds the ship crashed behind a large rock formation, miles away from the Garrison. Lyra quickly stood up on her feet, trying to see if she could get a better view of the ship. What was going on? And where did that ship come from? She watched as Garrison vehicles started up and left the compound, heading straight for the crashed ship.
"We've got to see that ship!" Pidge said excitedly, backpack already on her back. With that said, she took off running across the roof.
Lyra quickly followed soot, grabbing her bag on her way after her friend. Whatever that radio chatter was about it had to be in correlation with the crashed ship. And if what Pidge said about the Kerberos Mission, she was hoping these two things were linked to that as well.
Finally finished this chapter. I had this chapter planned out and just lacked the motivation to write it. Then the news from the SDCC Voltron panel came out and it gave me a few ideas. And then my best friend sent me a link to a leaked video of the first episode of season 7 and let me tell you that was a good first episode! It gave me so much inspiration and motivation to get this chapter done.
I wanted to incorporate Adam in somehow and with some help from friends from tumblr I was able to figure out how. Due to his addition this chapter became WAY longer than what I originally thought it would be. But I'm honestly glad I included him. I thought it would be a nice little moment between him and Lyra.
I'm excited to finally reach episode one and get started on the series. I am still going through each episode in my head and plotting out which ones I can skip over and which ones to include. I have ideas here and there of what I want to happen and it will take time.
As I've stated in the previous chapter, I can't guarantee how often I'll update. Or when I'll discontinue the story. I don't want to do that, but with me now being an adult and working it's hard to keep up with this stuff. I don't plan on discontinuing any time soon, but when that moment comes I'll let you know. For now, just don't expect constant updates for the story. I have other stories I'm working on as well and life and work to worry about. I hope you all can understand.
I'm so excited for season 7 to come out! It will probably give me some more inspiration to work on chapters.
If you want to keep up with what's going on with the story whether updates or edits or what not feel free to check out my tumblr at thestarsremained. Feel free to send me any questions you might have to there or if you'd like to just talk about Voltron feel free to send me a message! You can also check out my Voltron incorrect quotes blog at vld-incorrect-quotes.
I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! Let me know what you thought about the chapter and leave a review! I love any kind critiques, they always help and encourage my writing! Thank you!