**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender (duh)
The largest of the generals launched herself at the group, forcing them to scurry out of the way as she punched a dent in the floor where they'd been standing not a second earlier. Mitsubishi and Scarlett fired at her relentlessly, dancing around one another and bobbing in and out of the rows of shelves in impressive sync as they lured her away from her comrades. Treble aimed her own gun at the second general, firing blast after blast, but she easily dodged, flipping and somersaulting like a professional gymnast. She whipped the appendage on her head out at the Flouwan child, but Treble proved to be just as nimble. She skipped out of the way, ducking and rolling and never missing a beat as she circled the woman, looking for an opening to hit her.
Mari was left facing Acxa, who had produced a pistol of her own and had trained it on her. At this distance, a gun against a staff, there was no way Mari would reach her to land a blow before she was shot. Still, Acxa didn't fire as she stared evenly at the human.
"I don't want to kill you," she said, and Mari almost laughed.
"Why? Because I willingly let you go with a bag of scaultrite? Because you think you owe me something?" When Acxa didn't respond Mari's scowl deepened. "You can't say that now when you attacked us in the Ulippa System. Not when you're working for that psychotic witch!"
"Haggar saved our lives! We would've been executed without her," Acxa insisted. "We owe her this much."
"She's caused me and my friends and countless other innocent people enough pain. And I'm sure she's just using you, too. You'll only get hurt in the end." Acxa's eyes widened just a sliver, the tiniest hint that she was unsettled, and Mari took the chance to strike. She charged the general, moving in a zigzagging line as she began to shoot at her. "I'm not gonna let her do what she likes anymore!"
She brought her staff down on her opponent as she closed the distance between them, only for Acxa to block it with the back of her gun. Mari stepped back and swung again, but Acxa leapt over her head and out of the way. She landed behind her with graceful ease and delivered a roundhouse kick to Mari's side, sending her flying right into Treble. The girls crashed to the floor, limbs tangled and their heads throbbing from the rough landing. Blasts peppered the ground at their feet as Acxa shot at the duo, and they scrambled for cover behind the nearest shelf. Treble squealed as the second general's whip-like appendage wrapped around her leg and yoinked her out of hiding. Reeling her in like a fish, she grabbed the child by the collar, grinning as she dangled her in the air.
"Not so speedy now, are you?" she teased as the Flouwan squirmed in her grasp.
A beam of blue energy soared dangerously close to the general's arm, and she hissed in pain as it cut through the fabric of her suit. She dropped Treble, allowing her to flee to safety while she slapped a hand over her injury. The largest of the generals whirled on Scarlett, the source of the shot. Her eyes were ablaze with killing intent as she barreled towards her like a freight train.
"Don't touch her!" she seethed, swiping at Scarlett. She smacked the startled Utearen across the floor, sending her colliding right into Mitsubishi. They slammed against the wall, falling to their knees as they gasped for air, wincing from the pain of their new bruises. The general stomped towards them before they could recover and seized them by their wrists, lifting them into the air and squeezing their delicate arms. Scarlett cried out in discomfort and Mitsubishi's hair shifted between orange, red, and white as he processed the pain being inflicted upon him. The giant general was careful enough not to snap their bones though as she turned to face her comrades.
"Ezor!" she called out to the second general. "Are you alright?"
Ezor waggled her injured arm in the air, as if she were flicking off water. "I'm fine, Zethrid. It's just a scratch," she assured her concerned teammate. Her expression turned murderous as she looked at Scarlett. "But let's see how she likes it when I give her a taste of her own medicine."
Zethrid grinned, a hungry eagerness twisting her features. "I like your thinking!"
"Ezor! Zethrid!" Acxa snapped, grabbing their attention. "Stick to the plan! Stop playing around and get Sendak!"
"You're too late for that."
All three generals looked up to see Immea approaching them, dragging the Galra commander in question by the back collar of his uniform along the ground next to her. He was damp and shivering from the pod's thawing freeze. Half-blind, dazed, and missing his powerful arm, the Sendak presented before them lacked the merciless strength and brutality Mari knew he possessed. Eye twisted shut in pain, his face revealed the blackening bruises from Immea's angry fists. He clutched his stomach where dark blood was steadily seeping from a deep stab wound, an injury that was also, no doubt, bestowed upon him by the Blade. Immea twisted him around, forcing him to face their audience as she pressed her luxite blade to his neck.
"Let them go," she demanded, her voice unwaveringly authoritative and leaving no room for argument. "Unless you want to lose your precious commander."
No one moved. Zethrid and Ezor exchanged a look before turning to Acxa, their leader. Her face had scrunched up in dismay, but she made no move to lower her gun. Immea impatiently tapped her blade against Sendak's flesh, digging into it just enough to draw a thin line of blood.
"He's got limited time, you know," she reminded them, gesturing at his larger oozing wound. "Don't wanna displease Haggar and lose your only protection within the Empire."
That seemed to snap Acxa into action. She reluctantly lowered her blaster and nodded to Zethrid. "Let them go."
Zethrid's brow furrowed. "But — "
"Do it, Zethrid!" Acxa snapped, and the larger woman grimaced before releasing her hostages. Scarlett and Mitsubishi whimpered, cradling their swelling arms to their chests as they hurried to Mari and Treble's side. They inched towards the direction of the exit, watching and waiting for Immea to join them. Dragging Sendak alongside her, she moved around the generals, their furious scowls never once leaving her. When she had rejoined her group, she threw him roughly onto the floor in front of the trio, eliciting a grunt from him.
"Let's move!" she ordered the others as the generals hurried to help the bleeding-out commander.
Without sparing their enemies a second glance, they ran for the vault door and escaped into the bedroom. The big golden doors had been blown open by the generals, the damage leaving even more of Lord Hauer's luxurious belongings in a state of disrepair. They crept into the hall, keeping an eye out for any lingering hunters.
"Scarlett, Mitsu, how are your wrists?" Mari asked, granting them a brief glance.
"It quiznaking hurts!" Scarlett griped, gnashing her teeth together. "Thanks a lot, stupid brutish woman!"
"They ache quite a bit," Mitsubishi admitted, his hair turning red despite showing no signs of pain or anger in his facial expression. "But I think they're only dislocated."
Mari sighed in relief. Their bruised faces were pale and exhausted, but they'd mustered up the strength and energy to get mad and keep running alongside her. She'd silently promised herself to make sure they were properly checked out and treated once they returned to Vurelle.
"Thank you, Immea," she said, trotting a bit faster now to match the Blade's stride.
Immea didn't even cast her a second glance as she stopped and cautiously peered around the corner. "For what? Our sorry asses aren't out of this mess yet."
"You didn't kill Sendak. You sacrificed the mission to save Scarlett." Mari paused, suddenly feeling rather awkward as she muttered, "So…thank you."
A humorless chuckle escaped Immea. "I didn't sacrifice anything. The wound I gave him is enough of a death sentence," she said, emotionlessly straightforward. "He'll die in less than a varga without a healing pod."
A nagging feeling of unease settled over Mari. "They have Haggar though. Her magic might be enough to heal him," she noted, her budding relief draining in an instant as this fact dawned on her.
Immea was quiet for a long moment. "Then let's hope those three don't get him back to her in time."
They sprinted down another hall towards a stairwell that would take them to the lower levels of the mansion. Unfortunately, the ceiling above this section of the estate had collapsed from the attack, preventing them from taking the steps and trapping them on the upper floors.
"Great," Immea tsked. "With the elevator out, we're stuck here."
"Maybe we could try climbing down the sides?" Treble suggested. Finding a door leading out to the balcony, they stepped outside and peered over the railing at the ground far below. "Maybe we can lower ourselves to the balcony beneath us?"
Scarlett pursed her lips and fervently shook her head, backing away from the edge. "Uh-uh. Nope. Not doing it," she stated flatly. "I'm not gonna risk slipping and falling to my death."
"You can't anyway with your hand all busted up," Immea said. Frustrated, she placed a hand on her hip, drumming her fingers. "Maybe the human and I can carry you and the Thollan?"
"The human and the Thollan have names, you know," Mari grumbled, but her gripe went ignored by the Blade. Her gauntlet beeped, pulling her attention away from Immea. When she brought up her screens, her mood lifted. "And the human's got our way outta here!" she exclaimed. "The Kintsugi's a minute away!"
Scarlett's face lit up with uncontainable excitement. "The summoning feature!" she squealed, bouncing on her heels. "Oh, thank gosh I included it. Good job, past me!"
"The Kin-tsu-gi?" Immea repeated, the foreign word sounding strange on her tongue. "What is that?"
"My ship," Mari elaborated, smiling knowingly at the Utearen. "Made by Scarlett."
"You made a ship?" Immea asked, the surprise in her question more than evident. "An entire ship?"
Scarlett shrugged as if it were no big deal. "Yeah. It was pretty easy, actually."
This time, when Immea laughed, it was genuine and full of awe. "I will never understand that complex brain of yours," she admitted. It wasn't an insult to either of them, but rather a compliment. "A ship. That is…incredible."
Scarlett grinned, her cheeks dusting with pink and her antenna glowing with pride. Watching them now, Mari was sure there was still hope for her and Immea. If they could continue to push past the complicated feelings brought on by the war, then they could reconnect with one another.
The touching moment was ruined as a bloodied mess of flesh and green feathers suddenly plopped down onto the balcony from the floor above. Their entire group jumped, stifling startled screams as the creature that had appeared before them writhed and began to slowly rise to its full height. Burnt, bleeding, and molting all over, his suit torn to shreds and half a winged arm missing, what remained of Lord Hauer limped towards them.
"You…brought the Galra…here," he croaked, thin and wheezy as if he were breathing through a straw. "You…destroyed…everything!"
He desperately reached for them with a wobbly hand, maybe to attack or maybe just to try and grab one of them. But weak and slow as he was, Immea easily snatched him by the wrist and flipped him over the railing, suspending him precariously in the air.
"You brought this upon yourself, my lord," she sneered before releasing him. The lord didn't even have the energy to scream let alone try to flap his wings as he fell, and the others looked away as he went splat against Hutt's rocky surface.
"Wow." Mari swallowed, refusing to look down at his corpse as her stomach did nervous flips. "That was brutal."
"I had to watch him do that to innocent subordinates who couldn't fly," Immea said, her tone tight and hollow. "He was dying anyway. He had it coming to him."
There was a tense beat of silence. "Your sister is scary," Mitsubishi finally muttered to Scarlett, and she hummed, refusing to agree out loud.
When the Kintsugi arrived, hovering to a stop next to the balcony, their exhausted group loaded into the cockpit. With Mari sitting in the pilot's seat, she pulled up and away from the mansion, giving them a good aerial view of the destruction below. The entirety of Hauer's office had been obliterated, smoke rising steadily into the air. Rather than barging into the mansion through the front door, the generals must've blown their way in from the top. The Galra warship still hung in the moon's atmosphere, having stopped its attack on the burning market below. Whether Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid had escaped from the vault with Sendak remained unknown, but their cruiser, thankfully, didn't pay their escaping ship any mind as it zipped past. The destroyed gangster's den growing smaller and smaller, they left Hutt far behind them and headed home for Vurelle.
**Check out my tumblr to see some cool art: pufftheninja
