For the mission
by jalpari
Noor watches the battle unfold and is brought to a crossroad.
A/N:
Continuation of the incidents in the previous chapter.
"What's that? I see another pod coming from our craft", Pidge called out over the comm.
"Is it….", Luten began.
"It's Noor!" Shiro announced..
"What the hell is she doing!?" Keith yelled.
"Guys...I think...she's heading straight for their ship", Hunk began panicking.
"Oh no…", Pidge gasped.
"What? What!"
"She's turning herself over", tears were beginning to stream down her face.
"We're the hostages", Shiro's voice lowered.
"No!" Keith growled. "We need to fight this thing!"
"There's nothing we can do...we're stuck in this beam and we're going to burn alive", Luten groaned.
"Shiro", Pidge suddenly exclaimed, "...your arm!"
"What?"
"Your prosthetic. It's flame resistant! And it interfaces with your neural signals. You can control it from inside your pod!"
"Oh", Shiro began to follow. "I can try."
His pod opened long enough for his prosthetic arm to fly heard Shiro scream in pain as he was exposed to the beam for a split second.
"It's working!", Shiro yelled. "I'm going to try and take it out."
"Hurry, her pod is hovering near the ledge", Hunk roared.
"Let them go!" Noor screamed into her comm, facing the creature.
"You must turn yourself over first", the hissing voice echoed inside the pod.
"I don't trust you."
"You have no other choice."
Noor's mind raced. Her eyes darted from the creature to her team. Their pods were glowing. Any moment now, they would burst into flames. Just like the base that had held her fellow prisoners.
No! I'm not letting anyone else die.
She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Her hand gripped the twin daggers tucked into the thigh slit in her suit.
"Fine", she spat out.
"WHAT IS SHE DOING?" Keith screamed as he saw Noor's pod move into the hatch and land.
"Shiro, what's taking so long!" Pidge yelled in panic.
"I'm trying!"
"Just break it, whatever it is, punch it!" Hunk responded.
They waited with bated breath. A few seconds later, a shattering sound filled the air and the beam disappeared.
"It worked!" Pidge exclaimed, "...oh no...I can't...I have no control over my pod...everything is fried…"
"Me too!" Hunk grunted.
"I'm going down as well!" Luten's voice crackled over the comm.
Shiro watched the three pods free fall to the ground as three bodies ejected from them and thrust backwards to safety.
"Keith, is your…", but before Shiro could finish his sentence, he saw Keith's pod make its way to the enemy ship.
"They're not getting away", Keith whispered.
"I'm right behind you", Shiro sped forward.
Noor stepped out of her pod and onto the ledge. She covered her mouth and jumped at the sight of the creature. It seemed like an ugly hybrid of a human and reptile with long twisted horns and a scaly tail. The features on its face were distorted and its skin was covered in warts and crevices.
"Don't be afraid", it hissed.
"Let them go", Noor steadied herself and glared at him defiantly.
"That won't be possible, you see. If I let them go, they'll just keep coming back for you."
"You WILL let them go", Noor yelled as she pulled out her daggers.
"Are you really going to try and fight me", it smiled in amusement.
"No", Noor whispered and held both daggers against her neck.
"What are you doi…", it hissed.
"If you don't let them go, I will kill myself. And you will lose the only viable candidate for your...experiment."
It began advancing towards her.
"STOP RIGHT THERE", she pressed the daggers harder against her neck. "I WILL DO IT."
"Wait!"
"Then let them go or…."
Before Noor could finish her sentence, they heard a loud shattering sound and they both watched in astonishment as the powerful beam suddenly vanished.
"What is...how did they…", it growled.
Noor's relief quickly turned to horror as she saw three pods crash to the ground. The other two pods made their way to her. The creature took advantage of her momentary distraction and gripped her violently, dropping the daggers out of her hands, and twisting her arms behind her back.
She struggled and kicked about, trying to break free only to be held tighter. She felt the creature stiffen and followed its gaze to the two pods that had reached the ledge and were now hovering in front of them. She heard Keith's menacing voice erupt from the pod.
"Let her go!"
The creature backed away from the ledge, pulling her with him. Another mercenary showed up and grabbed her, holding a gun to her head. Keith's eyes widened in alarm as he realized that his pod's weapon system was down. He ejected himself from the pod and thrusted himself closer to the ledge, pulling out his sword. Shiro tried to activate his pod's offense but nothing responded. He groaned and leapt out of his pod as well.
Keith cocked his gun and tried shooting at the creature but once again, the defense shield deflected the shots. He pulled out his dual swords and charged towards the ledge. Noor saw the mercenary point his gun towards Keith and screamed out loud.
"Keith, get back! Shiro! You need to turn back!"
As the mercenary fired a blazing orange beam, Shiro lunged ahead and raised his shield in front of Keith just in time. At the same time, the ship began firing at the craft.
"Keith", Shiro commanded, "fall back!"
"What? No!" Keith yelled in surprise.
"None of our attacks are getting through. We can't win this fight."
"Keith? Shiro? Can you hear me?" Pidge's voice crackled into their ears. "You need to halt your attacks. Let them go."
"What are you guys saying!" Keith roared in anger. "THEY WILL TAKE HER."
"Listen to me, Keith", Bani interjected. "Noor knows…"
"NO. We can't give up!"
He darted and approached the ledge from another angle. He saw the gun target him once more and as the mercenary prepared to pull the trigger, Noor hit him with her elbow, catching him off guard. Before the soldier could recover, she grabbed her daggers and ran forward towards Keith but was caught by the creature. It grabbed her by the hair and brought her down on her knees.
"NOOR!" Shiro lunged forward.
She heard the creature command the mercenary, "Finish them."
"NO! STOP! Listen to me", Noor managed to yell. "THEY WON'T KILL ME. You NEED to go back. PLEASE."
"She's right, Keith", Pidge's voice began to break, "Bani gave her...she knows…fall back..."
"Listen to her", Shiro yanked Keith back by the arm. "LISTEN to Noor!"
"Shiro! No", Keith looked at Noor and then at Shiro in disbelief.
Noor watched as Shiro grabbed Keith and pulled him back. She sobbed in relief and tried to smile encouragingly at them.
"Trust me", she called out, hoping they would hear her.
Shiro watched helplessly as the girl, now on her knees, smiled at them. He saw no trace of fear or panic. Just relief. He fought the urge to rush forward and grab her from the creature's grip. There must be a reason Pidge and Bani were asking them to fall back. And he decided to put his trust in them.
Keith struggled but Shiro wouldn't let go. He saw Noor burst into sobs as he was pulled away. He thought she said 'trust me' but his mind was racing and everything was echoing inside him. Before he could make sense of anything, the hatch closed and the creature disappeared behind it, with Noor on her knees.