Chapter 36
A/N: once again, I just own my OCs and the story.
/comms/
Flashbacks/telepathy/dreams
"Bold is intercoms."
Keith rammed into the cell door again. His most recent mission based on Lotor's intel did not go well, disaster would be a better term considering he was captured, thrown in a cell, and had been trying to break out for the past eight vargas. The Blade didn't do rescues, not unless they thought they could in fact pull it off; and Voltron…they probably didn't even know he was missing.
He was on his own.
On the bright side, things could be worse; he remembered the stories that none of the enemies of the Guardians took prisoners, save for the case of Eris Morn. It was because of this he was always scared that his dad would never come back; while Guardians could revive and were considered immortal, even they had an Achilles Heel. Ghosts could be killed.
And kill the ghost, you essentially kill the Guardian.
Which is why he didn't want to stay any longer than necessary, he needed to get Yorak out, especially with the recent rumors that they'd obtained from their spies. Haggar and Zarkon were searching for something, what they weren't sure; but considering his past encounters with druids and with how the Empire regarded Guardians, Keith was willing to bet he was the target.
The question was just: how to get out without blowing his cover?
The door hissed open, and his head snapped up before he narrowed his eyes at the three druids standing in the doorway. The middle one stepped in and Keith wrinkled his nose, the darkness rolling off of each one of them was almost sickening.
The middle one continued to step forwards and he raised his fists calculating his odds. If he summoned the Coldheart his father gave him for his twelfth birthday, he could easily kill all three of them.
"You have no reason to fear us."
"Yeah right," Yorak snarled, "These guys reek of Darkness. Don't trust them!"
It wasn't like he was planning on it.
"Come with us."
"No thanks," he said.
"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice," he growled, as the two druids in the doorway, followed by two more joined the witch in the room, each levelling a hand at him ready to attack should he choose to lash out.
Keith chewed the inside of his cheek, he could handle three wizards, but five, plus the nervous muttering and clicking of armor from what was likely nervous guards outside the door, that was pushing it, especially in cramped quarters. However, if he got outside into open space and he caught them off guard using a supercharge, he could get out.
Reluctantly letting his gun evaporate back into his storage, Keith raised his hands in surrender. A pleased grunt from the middle one turning his back to him almost made him just lash out anyways. He could do it, he could throw a punch and knock this guy's lights out for the rest of eternity. He would likely die horribly and painfully, but it'd be worth it for what they did to Jaz and Shiro.
Wayr it. Keith threw the punch.
Instead of making impact like he was expecting, his fist met air as he teleported several feet away in front of them. All at once, the four druids surrounding him fired, energy coming from their hands and wrapping around his arms, pulled them straight out to either side as the druid glided towards him.
"We were hoping you were willing to be cooperative so we could avoid this," he grumbled, "however Guardian, since you've chosen to be hostile, we will have to take measures to ensure both your safety and our own."
"I doubt you can hold me forever," he growled tugging against the restraints. The four druids holding him stumbled slightly at the pull, these guys weren't nearly ready enough to stand toe-to-toe with him in terms of brute strength.
"We have our ways," he replied giving a motion and the two druids in the front of the room moved out of the door, pulling with as much force as they could muster to drag him along as the other two focused on retaining tension in their lines. Exiting the cell, Keith collected his bearings, the Galra definitely didn't want to take chances, there were at least ten sentries and the same number of trembling guards levelling their guns at him.
He'd had worse odds, maybe not with the case of the druids, but he could easily handle the small fry.
"Move," a guard said shoving him forwards with the barrel of his gun.
Keith grit his teeth and moved forwards waiting for the moment to strike, he still needed to complete the solo mission Kolivan assigned him and collect the intel about the possible new quintessence shipping routes.
"Hey Keith, so…I did a scan of these guys, they're running out of power. And to make things even better, we're approaching the area that our spy stored the intel. It's coming up in three turns." Keith raised his brows, talk about convenient. "Should I get everything ready for a prison break?" Yorak questioned and Keith sent confirmation through their bond. He wasn't exactly sure how they could communicate when the ghost was hidden like this, but then again, no Guardian was really sure about the process.
The druids continued to lead him through the Galra ship, likely to the bridge where he can be presented to the witch or Zarkon like a prized pig. As, they strode to the third turn, Keith snapped his fingers, giving the signal. The druids nearly tripped as Keith pulled, hard enough to snap the weakened magic cables holding him. His Marmora suit was replaced with the more durable armor and without hesitation, Keith jumped up, and slammed a quintessence-coated fist into the floor.
A shockwave of evergy circled out, frying three of the druids and most of the guards in his immediate vicinity. Pulling out his sword, Keith lunged at the two surviving druids, the first one teleported away, leaving his partner to be skewered on the blade.
Looking around for the remaining druid, he growled when he didn't spot him among the scrambling guards or among the debris of his attack. Coward.
Either way, he didn't matter, the intel was more important. Walking away from the chaotic scene, he pressed his hand against one of the pads, opening the door and strolling right into the room. "Where did Kolivan say the operative's intel was hidden again?" he muttered tracing his finger over the creases in the console.
"It should be hidden in a keycard port."
Nodding, he looked at the ports, while tracing one, his thumb caught on something. He crouched down, jiggling the object a moment, before pulling out a small chip. "This must be it," he muttered, "put it into storage."
"Got it," Yorak replied and the chip evaporated in a flash of light.
"Now, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry and we need more GAC, I don't want to have to start using Glimmer, I'm not sure what the currency conversion rates are out here," he said racing out the door.
Jumping over the fallen sentries, Keith followed the arrow on his scanner, not even bothering to shoot the sentries that got in his way. It would be a waste of time and right now he needed to get off this ship, meaning he needed an airlock. They would be expecting him to go to the hangar.
Seeing his arrow turn a different direction, Keith skid to a stop, using his jetpack to help propel him into the next hall, right towards an airlock. He slammed his hand on the pad, opening the door and sealing it behind him as the countdown began.
"Ten…Nine…Eight…"
There was a clamor in the hall, and Keith turned, waving as he saw the guards finally catching up.
"…Seven…Six…"
The druid materialized in front of them, leveling a glowing hand towards the door.
"Five…"
Materializing his own shield, Keith waited for the doors to open so he could summon his ship and leave.
"…Four…"
The druid fired, their lightning hitting the airlock door.
"Three…"
Cracks began to spread over the glass as the energy began to sear through, and Keith noted that his quintessence shield was starting to fizzle out of existence.
"Two…"
The glass began to break as the soldiers started to open fire, trying to aid the druid in breaking through the door.
But it was too late.
"…One."
The airlock opened and Keith was sucked out into the void of space. His ship flew towards him, and Keith grabbed on as it flew past, crawling inside and springing into the pilot's seat. Time to blow this popsicle stand.
-.-
"So…how much do you think this is worth?" Keith asked twirling a broken pistol from the early days of the Red War.
"Uh…I dunno?"
"Hopefully somethin', we need to fix the transmat," he muttered stashing it in his holster. "What're the nearest trading planets?"
"Well, there's Vayar," Yorak suggested. "But it's expansive and has a lot of high-ranking Galra."
"It'll do," he sighed opening a holorscreen of his inventory checking through his clothing articles, "Where's my regular clothes?"
"Check the consumables."
Mumbling in irritation Keith maganed to locate and change into his regular clothes, before setting their course.
-.-
Landing had proven to be a challenge. First off, the hangar had guards, meaning customs. He'd risk being identified either through wanted posters or through his ship. So that meant he had to improvise. Good news, he managed to locate a clearing; bad news, it was in the marsh outside the city. There was also the little detail of getting through walls surrounding the place he was trying to reach.
"So…you think we could transmat?" Keith questioned as he crouched in the brush looking for a point of entrance.
"Um…no. Ours is broken. The only way that would work is if you died."
Quiznak.
Pursing his lips, Keith's gaze flickered over the wall, occasionally stopping on a catwalk perched high up on the side. Every now and then he'd see a guard walk past, but, if he were fast enough he could sneak past without getting caught. The only question would be how to get up there?
He could use his jetpack, it gave enough lift for him to get up there. It was just would it be too loud?
Watching another set of guards walk past, he sighed. No point to worry about it, jetpacking was literally his only option, none of the trees were close enough to let him climb up and swing over to one of the platforms.
Switching on a set of armor, he double checked to make sure his count wasn't off. Coast was clear. Taking his chance, Keith sprinted out towards the wall, activating his jetpack and launching himself into the air. The lift stopped just below the platform, just close enough for him to grab on and hoist himself up and over the railing.
Not wanting to waste any time, he started moving, trying to find an entrance into the wall. Seeing a door open, he ran forwards, ducking behind a colum jutting out from the side of the wall as two guards exited.
"So did you hear about what happened on the Qazar?"
"Not much, I heard there was some kind of attack. Voltron?"
"No, the ship was intact, but some of the crew just vanished into thin air, the rest were practically torn apart."
"Seriously? Weren't there three druids on that ship?"
"I think there were six, but a friend of mine told me only one made it out. That's all he would say though, command's trying to keep this pretty quiet."
"Must be something big. Think it's like the incident on the Vanderhym?"
"Maybe, the events are similar but I don't think it's the same. Think about it, the Vanderhym was radioactive, no one, not even the druids could get onboard. And all of the crew died, this time it was just some. Not to mention we can still board the ship, so it's not radioactive…" the conversation faded as the two guards continued on their route unknowningly leaving an intruder by the closing door.
Grabbing the door just as it was about to close, Keith looked after where the two guards walked off to. The Vanderhym? Sounded like something worth investigating. Hearing footsteps approaching from behind, Keith pushed his curiosity aside. He could look into the Vanderhym later, right now he needed to get into the city to get fuel.
Slipping inside, Keith crept through the halls holding his blade ready to defend himself should he encounter any guards along his journey to the city, where hopefully he could sell the gun to buy some parts to repair the damaged transmat and maybe some food.
After nearly being discovered several times, he eventually found his way out of the wall and into town. He came out near what he assumed was the upper side of town due to all the lavishly dressed people walking around shopping around what appeared to be the open mall.
And here he was, covered in mud. That didn't make him stand out. Nope, not at all.
Maybe he should've waited before changing clothes.
Oh well, too late now. Maybe he had a spare set in storage?
Slipping back into the wall, he hid in an alcove and started sorting through his inventory again, searching for maybe something he could use instead of his mud-covered clothing. Keith scowled as he saw his options: armor, undersuit, Marmora suit, and what he was currently. Those were is options. Fantastic.
Well…maybe if he mixed and matched he could pass? He did have some ceremonial armor he'd been meaning to deconstruct for spare parts. Keith thought back to the clothes of the closest people. Ceremonial with no helmet would definitely pass, he might be pushing his luck, but at least he wouldn't be glanced at twice with it.
His armor fizzled over his frame, replacing the marsh-soaked clothing he'd previously planned to wear, and he walked out of the alley strapping the pistol under his sash. Time to find a shop to sell his broken gun.
"Well, well, I'm impressed that you snuck that gun by the city guard," a feminine voice spoke and he whirled his gaze meeting a Galra woman leading against the wall. She was fairly tall, had ears similar to Sendak pointing out from her long, dark violet hair; however she had a set visible red irises in her yellow tinted eyes that were framed by red marks. "Relax, I'm no snitch." She moved from the wall tapping her cheek. "In fact, I take it you're looking for a place to sell it?"
Keith narrowed his eyes; this was too convenient. "What makes you say that?"
"Your armor," she replied. "Cerimonial Guardian armor worn only for the Revelry. An ancient Terran holiday celebrating life and the return of the growing season." She smirked flipping her ribbon-braided hair smugly, "I'll admit, I'm impressed, no one's collected a full set of gear from the Guardians. But just to warn you, that type doesn't offer much protection."
"I'm aware, I just needed something to fit in."
She nodded, "Makes sense, this garb isn't my standard choice either," she motioned to the formal robes she wore. "Anyways, if you're looking for a place to sell the gun, it's right here." The Galra turned putting her hands on her hips as she glared at the closed door behind her. "And it's not open! My benefactor bought an important Guardian relic from them and I told them I would be here to procure it today! And where are they? Not here!"
"Uh…Sorry—Wait," Keith paused, "Did you say you buy Guardian things?"
"Well, my benefactor does, I just determine what should be in his collection," she replied, ear twitching. "What'cha got?"
Pulling out the pistol, Keith twirled it in his hand lazily as her eyes widened. "A gun. As I'm sure you know."
"Wait…is that completely intact?"
He raised an eyebrow, "Uh, it's got a punctured combustion chamber, and the firing pin's a little banged up but that's about it."
"That's it?" she muttered. "May I see it?"
"Uh, sure," he offered, handing her the gun watching curiously as she inspected it. "But, uh, why are you surprised about the damage?"
"Really? You're obviously a scavenger, you must know that most Guardian artifacts recovered are mostly dismantled or broken…" she trailed off looking him over again, "Though, you must have unusual luck given your armor…How much do you want for the gun and the armor?"
"What? I don't have any other clothes!" he protested and she huffed.
"Well then my benefactor will buy you some! He'd kill for the gun, let alone the almost complete set! I'm actually curious on what he'd be willing to spend if you had the matching helmet."
"Uh…"
Her ears dropped, "You actually have the matching helment?"
Keith smiled nervously before he was all but dragged off his feet by the woman. "COME ON—What's your name?"
"Keith"
"WELL THEN, KEITH! WE'RE GOING SHOPPING!"
-.-
Keith sat wearing a set of loose-fitting clothes that reminded him a lot of the outfits typically worn on Terra across from the Galra woman as she took a sip from what he had to guess was Nunville. "Well, now that you're properly clothed we can discuss business. Tell me, how much do you want for the gun and Revelry Armor? Money is no object."
"Well…I was just kinda hoping to trade the gun for parts to fix my transmat and maybe some food."
The Galra woman just stared, jaw dropped. "Come again?"
"I said—"
"I heard you!" she interrupted pinching the bridge of her nose as her ears flattened to her head. "But what?! Do you understand how hard it is to get items that intact and you're selling them for parts?!" Pulling out a pad she grumbled a few things and pressed the pad to his face. "Will this do?"
Keith gazed over the pad in shock, he officially had enough materials to possibly rebuild his damaged transmat, plus a surplus of food and what was possibly more credits than he knew what to do with. "Um, yes?"
"Good," she grinned snatching the pad back before slamming her hands on the table with a manical grin. "And one more thing: You're now my exclusive!"
"You're what?!"
"You trade Guardian things with me and only me! With luck like yours I'm not letting you go trade with others," she replied handing him a small transmitter. "Here, this has my contact info. Call me whenever you get something good! And your supplies…where do you want them sent to? I don't know where your ship is."
"Um, can you send them to the nearest post? I can pick them up there on my way back."
"Perfect! They'll be there within the varga!" she grinned picking up the bag holding the armor and gun.
"Wait! I didn't get your name!" he protested standing up.
"I'm Tarin, pleasure to meet you," she smiled before walking away. "I do hope our paths cross again scavenger."
Keith shook his head, if things went alright, then he shouldn't need to resort to selling gear. Though, he glanced at the transmitter, having a buyer on standby might not be so bad.
Shrugging, he shoved it in his pocket and began strolling towards the nearest postmaster. He just needed to pick up his supplies and fly back to the Blade.
-.-
"High Priestess, pleasure to see you again," Tarin smiled widely as the witch joined her on the elevator to the bridge.
"Lady Jaxtiv, I trust your new assignment has been beneficial for you?"
"What can I say, you trained me too well," she replied, "well, the bits I picked up. Combat and tracking magic are more my forte. They're quite handy when getting what I desire for our liege's collection."
"Pity you aren't aspiring to be more than a liaison. Your talents could have much use in the druids," Haggar spoke as her former apprentice scoffed.
"Like what? Tracking escaped prisoners with no exciting lore or history?"
"I think you would be most interested in our most recent escapee."
Tarin scoffed, "And what makes you say that?"
"He's a Guardian."
Earing perking up at full attention, Tarin looked down at her former teacher. "Attacking and imprisoning Guardians is illegal."
"He's currently a danger to himself and others."
"How?"
"He's allied with Voltron."
She sighed putting her arms behind her back, "I see. That would present a problem."
"Your tracking abilities would be beneficial to us finding him as soon as possible," Haggar pressed.
"You know as well as I do my skills in terms of living subjects," she reminded.
The witch opened her mouth to speak again, but the elevator doors opened ending the conversation as Tarin put on a wide smile and strolled out towards the Emperor.
"Emperor Zarkon."
"Tarin, I hope you have a good excuse for disturbing me," the Emperor mulled from his throne as his liason entered.
"Well, I thought you'd like to see one of the two newest additions to your collection?" she purred holding up the handcannon teasingly.
Zarkon nodded in approval, at least someone today was being productive. "And what of the other aspect of my purchase?"
The ex-druid merely smiled playfully, "Now, you'll just have to wait and see! It was an absolute pain to get, but trust me when I say: it's one of a kind. In fact, I'm pretty sure anything I'll get from this seller will be one of a kind. Everything he had was intact!"
"I look forwards to it," he nodded before turning his attention back to the witch. "Haggar?"
"The Guardian escaped."
Zarkon frowned behind his mask, it shouldn't have been a surprise, and yet there it was. At least one person got their job done right today.
