A mangled pile of debris. It was a miracle they had even found the cockpit in the first place. After a few shouted orders Vace and Thace were climbing into the destroyed pod. The dash itself had practically melted, the windshield shattered beyond repair. Above tucked into a leather strap was a picture of the prisoner with two smaller Galra sitting in his lap. The edges of the picture were burnt, having almost taken the picture in the flames.
"Ugh," Vace snarled at the picture in Thace's hand, "Family portraits."
"Not a fan I see," Thace commented. As soon as Vace turned away he snuck the picture into his pocket, his family would want the picture back when this was all over.
"My mother insisted upon them, even well after I entered adulthood. The laughing stock I became." Vace growled. He opened a side cabinet only to close it a second later. "But boy did I prove them wrong when I became number two."
"I think I remember hearing about that. You were quite the talk of the empire for a while." Thace commented. He liked where this was going, Vace was putting his guard down.
"If only. It was mostly about the damn deal that Zarkon made with me. No one thinks I can accomplish it."
"Well, the Blade of Marmora has been notorious for evading capture. If you do succeed, and I believe you will, then you will be the talk of the empire for generations to come." Thace clapped a hand on Vace's back, "Between you and me," Thace lowered his voice, "I think you would be a great leader for this empire, even better than Zarkon."
"You think?" Vace asked smiling.
Thace smirked. He had him, what Vace was really after. He was hungry for power, and respect. The way he had bristled when he had mentioned the deal between him and Zarkon. "Without a doubt."
Katora was in her lab when Thace stumbled upon her. She had her back to him hunched over another file.
"Hello?" Thace asked tilting his hand to the side in a wave.
She looked over her shoulder, "Oh, hey!" She called. "Find anything in the pod?"
"Nope no luck," Thace replied leaning against the counter next to her.
"That's too bad," she replied resting her chin in her hand. She reached out patting a hand on his shoulder, "You two will make progress eventually. You guys work well together." She gave him a knowing smile that made him blush and made his heart drop at the same time.
She was so beautiful with that smile. But that same smile made him wonder what she knew about his connection to Vace. Did she know? If so how much has she uncovered?
"Uh-"
"Oh don't worry, I haven't told anyone." She said waving her hand in his direction. She closed her file pushing it to the side.
Thace's heart dropped.
"H-Haven't told anyone what?" He asked doing his best not to stumble over the sentence. Was it getting warm in here?
"About you're little crush on me." Katora said laughing a little.
"Oh-" Thace loosed a breath, "That. Yeah..."
"Don't worry I won't say anything. Besides-" she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I kinda find it cute."
"Oh really?" Thace asked. He had to calm his racing heart, it wasn't anything important, just a little crush.
She smiled as she met his gaze, "Of course your brother might not feel the same way."
Shit.