familiar
chapter eleven: interlude
Pidge watched the fighter pod go then turned, making her way back towards the bridge. She didn't know what else to do – Keith and Allura had the Arusian village covered, and Lance would probably appreciate some more company.
She frowned as the familiar sounds of a scuffle reached her eyes. She'd recognize the sound of a fist fight anywhere – Lance had gotten into too many of those back at the Garrison.
"Shiro?" she called.
There was no response. Pidge tapped her helmet, frowning. Maybe he'd taken off his helmet – but that didn't account for the fight.
"Shiro?"
There was a sudden silence. Pidge swallowed, glancing at Rover, and extended her bayard. It was weird to say that the weapon gave her a little bit of comfort, but it did.
She crept through the halls, keeping her back flush to the walls, though she was small enough that she could be overlooked.
"Shiro?" Pidge tried, keeping her voice low. She reached the bridge then paused.
Assume the worst, Matt had always said.
"Vrepit sa," someone said, and the phrase was echoed.
"Well, that's not Shiro," Pidge muttered to Rover. The bot beeped in agreement. Careful not to make a sound, she slowly moved so she could look around the corner.
Standing in front of the controls was none other than Sendak, a Galran soldier next to him. Pidge covered her mouth with a hand, trying not to cry out.
Shiro. Lance. The fight.
The only reason Shiro would've given in was if they'd used Lance against him. The thought made her stomach twist.
She pressed herself against the wall, mind racing, before daring to look again.
They were there. Shiro had been knocked unconscious – the sight made anger boil in her veins – but Lance, it seemed, was awake. He'd curled into himself, obviously in pain. And though Pidge wasn't sure, she thought she could see his shoulders shaking in a silent sob.
"Haxus," Sendak said. "Prepare the Castle for takeoff."
"Yes, Commander."
Pidge hid as Haxus walked past, exiting the Bridge and turning towards a different part of the Castle. She snorted – that was definitely the wrong way.
Sendak stayed on the bridge, pacing back and forth in front of the screen. He looked distracted; Pidge glanced at the screen and found that he had camera feeds rolling.
She pressed her lips together. Had to fix that.
Pidge wasn't close enough to hack in – and even if she managed to, reading alien wasn't something they taught at the Garrison.
"Rover, think you can give me a hand?"
Rover beeped in response, and Pidge smiled.
"Thanks, buddy."
As Rover slipped into the room, Pidge crept a little closer. Lance hadn't moved from his spot. He looked… really bad. His armor was burned all over, and there was a deep scratch running down his shoulder, though he didn't seem to be bleeding.
The worst was the look on his face. From here, she could see his twisted expression, the way he'd tucked his head down to cry. Pidge had only seen the same expression on him once, after a particularly hard day at the Garrison – Iverson had called him a failure, insignificant and worthless to the program.
Pidge curled her fingers into a fist.
Her next move wasn't the smartest, to be honest.
"Lance," Pidge hissed. "Lance."
He lurched, then turned pale, clamping down on his lip to keep from crying out. Pidge cringed.
His eyes flickered towards Sendak before flitting in her direction. They were dull with pain, but a little light flared in them when he spotted her. He looked at Sendak again and then shook his head frantically.
"Lance," she whispered. "Don't give up, you hear me?"
He looked towards the ceiling, eyes glassy, but finally nodded.
"I'm gonna fix this," she told him, creeping away.
Pidge was careful as she weaved through the halls, keeping an eye out for cameras. They were little things, circles barely the size of her palm.
"Blind spots," she muttered to herself, eyeing a camera. Something clicked in her head.
If she could get up there…
Pidge eyed the camera again, and then turned her attention to the vent next to it.
"Rover?"
Out of nowhere, the little bot rammed into the camera, then hovered in front of it, lights flashing. In a minute, the camera had been jammed. Pidge, halfway up the wall, paused to high-five Rover.
She yanked the cover off and let it clatter to the ground before crawling in, thankful for her small stature for once.
Safely hidden, she curled up for a moment, turning her comms on.
"Keith? Allura? Can you hear me?"
For a second, she thought they wouldn't answer.
"Pidge! Pidge, where are you?"
"In the Castle," she reported. "Sendak… Sendak's taken the Castle."
Then, quieter, "He's got Lance and Shiro."
Keith made a strangled noise over the comms, but Allura stayed calm.
"Listen to me, Pidge," she said, and Pidge straightened as best she could in the vents. "If Sendak has begun the launch sequence, then we don't have much time before the Castle takes off. You have to stop it."
Pidge took a deep breath.
"Tell me what to do."
"You have to get down to the main engine control panel and disconnect the primary turbine from the Central Energy Chamber. If you can do that, Sendak will have to reset the whole system. That might give us enough time to find a way to stop them."
Pidge frowned but nodded. That sounded doable.
"Going through the vents?"
Pidge blinked. "Er, yes, Princess."
On the other end, Allura chuckled. "I'll get you there in a tick, then. I used to get into all sorts of trouble in my younger years."
"You? Trouble?"
Picturing a younger Allura crawling around in the same vents Pidge was in made her head spin. She shook her head and focused.
"Okay," Allura began. "If you're near the bridge, then… alright. Do you see a fork up ahead? The vent should split in two, one continuing forward and the other going to the left."
"Yeah," Pidge responded, crawling forward.
"Good," Allura said.
She was led through the vents step-by-step, Allura never faltering once.
"Okay, Rover," she said. "Here we go."
Pidge dropped down the elevator shaft, the air knocked out of her lungs when she landed.
"Disconnect the primary turbine," she repeated to herself. Once she'd made it in, she ran to the controls in the center.
"Allura, I'm in. I think the turbine's started."
Pidge pried the panel off, Rover dodging as it flew behind her shoulder.
"Okay, you just have to enter the following sequence—"
"Uh, Allura? A little problem. I can't… read Altean."
The little symbols etched onto the turbines were completely foreign to her – Pidge only understood two languages: English and code. Depending on who was asked, it could be said she only really knew one, and it definitely wasn't English.
"Which one is it?"
They were all the same size – there was no label in English that Pidge could use.
The humming in the background grew louder. The energy swelled, pulsing, and static sang in her ear.
"Allura? Allura?"
"Alright, Matt," Pidge muttered to herself. "I'm following your stupid advice. Wing it and hope for the best."
With nothing left to do, she used her bayard to cut through the entire thing. The control panel sparked – she'd done it.
"Sorry, Allura," she mumbled. "Hope this can be fixed."
Rover beeped, and she scrambled backwards.
"Let's get out of here!"
"Pi.. hear me?"
"Oh, thank God," she muttered, panting as she looked for the nearest vent. Using her grappling hook, she pulled herself up towards it and hid. "Allura, is that you?"
"You did it," Allura congratulated. "But victory won't last long. The damage can be repaired – and you can't fight Sendak alone. You have to get us in."
Pidge frowned. "The particle barrier?"
"Yes. The particle barrier generator is under the main hull – I can guide you there."
Pidge felt like some sort of secret agent creeping through the vents, like a character straight out of the spy movies Matt loved so much.
In the comms, Allura kept guiding her through; Pidge followed the instructions robotically, her mind in a thousand places at once. She couldn't stop thinking about Matt.
He was out here somewhere. He and Dad both were.
"Lance needs your help," Pidge reminded herself. "So does Shiro. Everyone's depending on you. Focus."
She couldn't, though.
The sides of the vent were shiny; in the dim light from her armor, Pidge could see her reflection. If she tried hard enough, she could pretend it was Matt watching her.
Katie paused, her fork halfway to her mouth. When she looked up, she found Matt watching her, a pensive look on his face.
"What?"
Matt looked away, stabbing at his plate.
"Nothing."
"What?" Katie pressed, leaning forward, though she glanced at her parents to see if they were watching. She kicked Matt under the table and sent him a look that meant she wanted to know what he was thinking.
"You'd better eat up," Dad said, eyeing Matt. "This is the last home-cooked meal you're going to get in a while. Ah, two months of the Garrison's best freeze-dried peas."
"Ew," she said.
Matt snorted. "Don't remind me. And besides, you love those peas."
Dad shrugged, smiling guiltily.
"What can I say? The chefs at the Garrison really know how to genetically manufacture their vegetables. Now if only they could get—"
Matt rolled his eyes. "We get it, Dad."
Katie pressed her lips together and stared down at her food. After tomorrow, half the seats at the dinner table would be empty. Matt and Dad would be in space, drifting through the stars – and she'd be here, always left behind because she was too young.
"Wish I could go," she said finally.
"Something tells me that you're going to have your own crew someday. And you're going to fly with them to worlds so far away, we can't even imagine. I bet my bottom dollar you're going to be part of something that makes the whole universe sit up and take notice."
Pidge wiped a hand over her eyes, sniffling. Rover beeped next to her; she patted it idly, sighing.
And then she'd seen the news.
Pilot error. The mission, gone. The three crew members, thought to be dead.
"A sad day for all humanity," he'd said. She'd cursed at the television, storming upstairs. They weren't dead.
She hadn't doubted them once. Hadn't doubted Shiro, either.
Armed with a PC and her determination, she'd hacked into the Garrison twice – once at home and the second time at the Garrison itself, sneaking in.
"Where's my family?"
"Escort Miss Holt—"
"Answer me! Where– is my family?"
"—off the premises. Make sure every guard – and I mean every guard – knows she isn't to be allowed on Garrison property ever again."
She struggled against the guards, their arms hooked around hers.
"You can't stop me," she spat at Iverson. "I'll find the truth."
Pidge reached up, fingers brushing the back of her hair. It was getting longer – if she wanted to keep up her ruse, she'd have to cut it again soon.
She remembered cutting her hair; remembered trading in her dress for a shirt and trousers; remembered stepping into Matt's room and snatching his old wire frames from his dresser, putting on the glasses and staring into her reflection.
"Pidge Gunderson," she'd told herself, meeting her own eyes in the mirror. Not Katie Holt, the girl she'd been, and not Matt Holt, who she looked like.
"Pidge," Allura called. "How's it going?"
"Good. Kay. Talk me through it, Princess."
"Shutting down the barrier from this room can be dangerous. Remember, the barrier is also a weapon. So, stay away from the energy arcs."
"Giant lightning bolts?" Pidge asked, looking around. "Got it."
Rover beeped frantically. She cried out when it rammed into her, tossing her to the side as a Galra sentry behind her opened fire. She recovered in seconds, leaping to her feet and running.
"Pidge? Pidge! What's going on—"
A yell was Allura's only answer.
"Are you there, Pidge?"
Keith had joined in calling. Pidge growled, sliding on the floor like she was going for home base. She slammed the button that would turn the comms off.
Pidge ducked behind a structure, panting. She checked the map from her armor and found the only exit above her head. Way above her head.
"Two floors up," she grumbled. "Honestly, architects have no sympathy for short people who need to get into the vents. Ugh."
A shot flew past. Pidge yelped, tapping furiously on the panel at her wrist.
"Let's see what happens if I do this," she told Rover.
The hologram shuddered as it came to life; Pidge sent it running out towards the energy arcs.
"There!" a sentry called.
Fire followed the hologram as Pidge made a break for it. Behind her, she heard the sound of what was hopefully Galran sentries exploding. She threw her hook, feeling it snag, and was sent zipping through the air.
"Ha," she said, ducking as gunfire followed. "Can't believe that worked, huh, Rover?"
Pidge flipped her comms back on.
"Allura! I need you to tell me how to get to the training deck from here!"
"What? Pidge, why are you… take a left at the first crossing you see, then follow the vents until you reach another fork. The one that goes straight leads to the training deck."
"Great," Pidge said. "Thanks a ton."
"What—"
Pidge cut her off again. Allura and Keith yammering in her ear would only be a distraction – and distractions in a time like this meant she'd be dead.
"The invisible maze," she muttered to herself. Behind her, the Galran sentries ran in pursuit. "Crap."
The sentries followed her onto the training deck.
"Let's see you get through this," she muttered to no one in particular. Rover beeped and flashed in a way that reminded her of faint amusement.
All around them, invisible walls sprang up. Pidge finished the rest of the maze easily, having memorized the path after the first few times she'd been shocked.
The sentries weren't as lucky. Pidge risked a glance back and saw one destroyed by an electric shock.
Rover beeped, and she followed it to another shaft, swearing when she heard the Galran sentry break free and follow.
"Faster," she told herself, the flight suit under her armor damp with sweat.
The Galra sentry fired. The first few rounds went above her head, but then one struck.
Pidge cried out as she fell, throwing her arm forward in instinct. The grappling hook flew upwards and wrapped around something; for a terrifying moment, Pidge hung in the air, her grip on her bayard the only thing keeping her from falling to her death.
Then the sentry she'd wrapped her bayard around came tumbling.
Pidge leapt to the side, hooking her fingers into the ridges of the vent as the sentry fell past her. She counted the seconds, waiting for the sentry to disappear.
The shaft shuddered suddenly, a shockwave travelling up the sides, and Pidge yelped when her grip loosened.
She closed her eyes—
Pidge wasn't moving. She cracked her eyes open and found Rover bracing her under her foot, beeping as it kept her from falling.
Pidge tossed her grappling hook up, finding a secure hold, and grinned.
"Thanks, Rover. Nice save!"
She found her way out of the shaft, feeling triumphant. Things weren't going exactly to plan, but she was making it work.
A glance around the empty halls reminded her what she was here for.
Lance. He'd been okay the last time she'd seen him – not in the best shape, but still alive and conscious, a small miracle.
"I'm coming, Lance," she said to the empty hallway. "I won't let you down again."
Pidge started down the hallway—
—of the Garrison, wiping her sweaty palms on her pants. The clothes were a little too big; they sagged on her frame and made her look smaller, but at least they hid the few curves she had.
Up ahead, she saw two guys standing in front of an announcement board. Lance Fuentes and Hunk Garret – her future team. She'd done some research.
"Pidge Gunderson? Who the heck is—"
"That's me," she said. "…Pidge, at your service."
"Welcome to the team. I'm Lance, fighter pilot."
The other boy waved. "I'm Hunk."
"We got a lot of great times ahead," Lance continued, waving his hands in the air. "Simulations, mess hall food, and sneaking out in the middle of the night—"
"Lance, wait a minute—"
"Cute girls, pizza—"
"Whatever," Pidge snapped, already annoyed. He sounded almost like Matt; the thought made her chest ache. She didn't have time for this – didn't have time for late-night partying, either.
"I'll meet you in the sims," she said, spinning on her heel.
Nearby, Iverson was walking with another officer, practically spitting in his face.
"—want this place guarded, you hear? Security is our top priority, and I will not have it breached again. Especially not by a little girl."
Pidge kept her eyes down as she passed but snapped her arm up in a salute.
Iverson hardly looked at her.
"Wrong arm, cadet."
As she switched arms, Pidge let out a sigh of relief.
Lance called her name as she kept walking down the hall.
"Wait… where are you— Pidge!"
She sighed.
"I've already let him down, Rover. And now he's…"
The words got stuck in her throat. She didn't want to think about what Lance was going through – and what Sendak would do to him to get what he wanted.
"They're my team," she said instead. "No one's getting in the way of that."
Especially not Sendak.
With that in mind, Pidge set off at a run, her destination the Central Energy Chamber.
Getting there wasn't hard. It was figuring out how to stop Haxus that was the hard part.
She pictured Lance and gritted her teeth, clinging to a ladder on the wall. Haxus was opening the pathway to the link to the bridge, so he could reboot the system and get the engines to start.
But Pidge— Pidge could override that.
She found a panel on the wall nearby; this one only had wires and buttons – no Altean characters, which was great news.
"Gotcha," she muttered. "Let the countdown begin."
Five. Haxus powered up the sub panels.
Four. In the Central Energy Chamber, everything finished setting up. Sendak responded, confirming that all was clear on the bridge.
Three. "Powering up."
Two. Haxus paused at the control panel, his expression confused. Pidge frantically finished the last part of her plan, overriding the controls so the entire thing would overload.
"Sir, something's wrong."
One. Pidge leapt off the ladder as the engine overloaded and exploded outwards. She watched grimly as Haxus was caught in the blast; the energy arced through the room and up the walls.
"Rover," she whispered. "Down there."
Under her hand, the bot beeped and slowly lowered them to the ground as Haxus stood and turned, suddenly aware of the presence behind him.
He laughed when he saw her, though the amusement faded as she let her bayard extend, glowing as it did.
"You're behind all this? A mere child!"
Pidge snarled back at him.
"I'm not a child," she hissed. "I'm a paladin of Voltron."
"Voltron," Haxus mocked, drawing his sword. "Sure. But I'm a soldier of the Galran Empire – and nothing will stop me but triumph or death."
"Well," Pidge said under her breath. "Guess we're going with death, then."
She struck with her grappling hook, wrapping it around his ankles and pulling him forward. Haxus retaliated faster than she expected, his sword biting into the air.
"Ah," Pidge cried, slamming into the ground to avoid being run through.
Rover beeped wildly and flew forward, hitting Haxus in the face.
Pidge knew a golden opportunity when she saw one. She slid between Haxus' legs and hooked her foot around one just like Matt had taught her, using her weight and momentum to toss him backwards.
For a moment, Haxus teetered on the edge of the gaping pit. His sword came swinging again; Pidge tensed, ready to block it—
—and Rover slammed into Haxus' legs, making him stumble back.
Their eyes met.
Pidge took a step back as Haxus cried out, plummeting into the pit behind him. She took one deep breath after another. Haxus was gone.
"Good work, Rover," she said, holding her hand out for a fist-bump. Rover gently pushed against her knuckles, beeping.
The panel crackled.
"Haxus, report! Haxus!"
Pidge gritted her teeth.
"Sendak," she spat.
"What—"
"Haxus is gone," she growled, and saying it out loud made it real. "And you're next."
"Turn yourself in to me," Sendak replied. "This Castle is mine – what are you trying to do? You can't stop me."
Pidge glanced at Rover.
"Never."
"Never?"
Sendak laughed, and the sound made chills run down her spine. Why was he laughing?
"Are you forgetting what I have over you, little paladin?" he crooned. "Or, perhaps, who? Maybe your… leader can convince you."
"What do you want?"
Pidge stumbled back. Shiro.
"No," she gasped, but there was nothing she could do. "Shiro? Shiro!"
"Your little friend wanted to hear from you, Shiro."
"Pidge!"
There was a faint buzzing sound; Pidge felt her heart drop in her throat. It sounded like—
"Pidge, whatever happens, don't listen to—"
Shiro cried out, screaming as Pidge stood there, trembling.
"No!"
"Don't— agh!"
"Not giving up yet?" asked Sendak, sounding amused.
His voice echoed around her – he'd turned on the speakers, broadcasting himself to the Castle and its surroundings. Now, not only could Pidge hear him, but Keith and Allura outside could, too.
"Stop it, Sendak," she threatened. He only laughed.
"Maybe," he said, drawing the word out, "if your leader can't convince you…"
"Sendak, you bastard, let him go—"
No. Not Lance, please, not Lance—
"…maybe your friend can."