Wow, chapter thirty! What a milestone! I hope to have this story wrapped up before we reach forty chapters- ideally before thirty-five chapters, but you never know how things will work out until you actually write them. That said, we are pretty close to the end! But don't worry- we've still got some time left before this story comes to a close, so stick with me until then!

cosmic dust

chapter thirty

raid

Growing up as the youngest of five siblings, Lance thought he was familiar with the concept of chaos. But if there was one thing he had learned, it was that space had this way of proving him wrong.

Because this situation? Chaotic.

First it turned out that his hero, Takashi Shirogane, had been abducted by evil aliens. Then it turned out he was the chosen paladin of an ancient alien war machine- and for that matter, so was Hunk. Now he was in space, where he had learned that not only was Shiro being brainwashed by an evil alien Empire, but that the half-Galra paladin named Keith turned out to be that Keith and had been experimented on so now he could drain the life force- or quintessence, he guessed- out of living beings.

Now? Now he was in a cloaked ship, with a pair of Galra, heading to a Galra cruiser to disable some kind of weird energy weapon thingy that could disable the crystals that they used to power the Castle. Which somehow negatively affected Keith at the same time. Oh, and did he mention the fact that there was a creepy space witch involved? Because there was totally a creepy space witch involved.

And here he thought things couldn't possibly get weirder.

Like he said- space had a way of proving him wrong.

"Are you sure they can't see us?" Lance asked, trying not to sound too nervous.

He couldn't help it! They barely knew this guy, other than that he had apparently helped Keith escape from this Central Command place. Oh, and that he used to work for Zarkon, so there was that fun fact.

Ugh. He was starting to understand how Hunk felt, being anxious all the time. It was awful.

"Trust me," Keith rasped, his voice sounding scratchier than it usually did, almost like he had a cold, "-if Pidge made it, it'll work."

Lance looked back towards him, the deep furrow of his brow only managing to grow more pronounced. Keith had hauled himself up onto his feet, using the wall to help balance himself as he stumbled towards the cockpit area. Not that this ship had any clearly defined areas, given that it was basically just a wide open space, but look- it was where Thace was, and he was the one flying the ship, so therefore, it was the cockpit.

"Are you sure you should be on your feet?" Lance asked. "You don't look so good."

"It's fine." Keith grunted. "Leaving the Castle made me feel better."

Lance hummed, somehow doubtful of that claim. But then again, Keith always looked like shit- and he didn't just mean that in the fashion disaster sense, though he was that.

Seriously, those bags under his eyes? It was like the dude never slept.

Thace glanced back towards the red paladin, his lips set in a tight frown. He couldn't tell if that was concern or not. "Perhaps you should remain onboard, while I locate the weapon. The blue paladin can protect you."

"Okay, first of all, the name's Lance," Lance cut in, "-and second of all, I'm not about to let you run around a Galra cruiser by yourself. I still don't trust you."

"And I don't need protection." Keith added, even though right now he needed support just to stand.

Though Thace looked skeptical of Keith's claim, he didn't seem bothered by the fact that he had just told him flat out that he didn't trust him. Maybe he was just used to it. And look- if he was wrong, if these Blade guys really could be trusted, he'd apologize. But not until he knew for sure.

"You cannot be left alone, not in your condition." Thace merely said. "Do not forget that the Galra Empire seeks your capture."

Keith just grunted, clutching at where his paladin armor covered his heart. Lance frowned. Earlier, when he had shown them all those freaky ass runes or whatever that had been etched over his heart, he hadn't exactly missed the weird way that they had glowed. And now this weird EMP weapon or whatever was affecting him?

"What is your condition, exactly?" Lance asked. They hadn't really gotten an explanation, just that whatever this weapon was, it somehow hurt him.

Keith just shot him a look, and for a second, he thought he'd just clam up again. But instead he just dropped his gaze, his brows knotting together. "It's hard to explain."

"Perhaps I can help." Thace stated. "I read over Haggar's initial notes."

Keith just gave him a curt nod, but didn't quite look at him, instead leaning back against the wall. He closed his eyes, and seemed to be trying to control his breathing. His color looked maybe a little better, but that could just be the change in lighting.

"In order to absorb and filter quintessence, a Balmeran crystal is needed." Thace stated. "In order to create one with the ability to drain quintessence, it was necessary to fuse a crystal to their own life force."

Lance blinked. He thought he understood that, but...

"There's a crystal fused to my heart." Keith finished.

The words sunk into him. Oh. Oh. Okay, that made sense. Horrifying sense, but still, sense. "So, what? If the crystal is shut down or whatever for too long, are you going to die?"

"Pretty much?" Keith frowned, before looking towards Thace, almost questioningly.

"Yes," Thace said, making it sound so simple, "-you will die."

Keith grimaced, but almost seemed to take the news with grim resignation. And that... that just didn't sit right with him. Nobody should be that ready for death, especially not someone who was only like, a year older than him, tops.

"Okay, but if we shut down this weapon, that should fix it, right?" Lance asked.

Look, maybe he wasn't wild about Keith- couldn't stand him, actually, but it wasn't like he wanted him to die. Sure, he didn't totally trust him, but he wasn't a jackass.

"It should." Thace told him. "We should soon be within docking range. Be ready."

Keith just gave him a curt nod, squaring his shoulders and forcing himself onto his feet. He didn't know if he actually looked better, or if he was just faking it. Lance had never realized before just how helpful pupils were in establishing how a person was feeling, but man, were they ever.

The actual color of his eyes seemed less... bright, he guessed? How should he know? It wasn't like he was an expert on sick aliens.

"I'm coming with you." Keith stated.

Thace looked like he wanted to protest, but decided against it. Maybe he just didn't want to waste time arguing. "Fine. But I would rather bring back both paladins to Princess Allura, alive."

Keith held his gaze. "Got it."

Thace heaved a short sigh. "Come. Once we get on to the ship itself, it should provide you some protection from the EMP's effects."

"Yeah?" Lance asked. "Why's that?"

Keith just stared at him blankly, like he was some kind of an idiot. He bristled, glaring right back at him. "Galra cruisers are powered by Balmeran crystals too."

Oh. Right. Yeah, that made sense. If the EMP thingy affected the cruiser too, it would have probably lost power, and then they probably wouldn't be able to even use the EMP thingy. It made sense that they probably had some way to protect the ship itself from it.

"Right, got it." Lance said, summoning his bayard. "So all we have to do is find this thing and like... blow it up, right?"

Thace merely arched a brow. "I was thinking more along the lines of disabling it. I have a few timed bombs we can use to destroy it from a distance, but blowing it up will only let the Galra know both our location, and the fact that we are on their ship to begin with."

Keith just huffed. "Never stopped me before."

"Yes," Thace remarked, "-I am quite familiar with your... illustrious career. I am also quite aware of the numerous times you have nearly gotten yourself killed."

Keith narrowed his eyes. "You've been following me?"

"Haggar designed you to be a living weapon." Thace simply stated. "Letting you out of our sight was never an option."

Keith looked like there was something else he wanted to say to that, but he just bit it back. "Fine. Let's just get this over with. Preferably before I die."

Thace merely inclined his head in response to that. The ship shook for a second, but judging from the fact that Thace hadn't so much as reacted, he was going to guess that was what was supposed to happen.

"We've docked." Thace informed them. "I've worked on many cruisers similar to this one. Once we're onboard, follow my lead."

Once onboard the cruiser, it got easier to breathe.

Keith exhaled, long and deep, feeling tension wash out of his shoulders. Resting his hand over his heart, he could feel a dull thrum, even past his paladin armor. Guess Thace was right.

Thace turned to him. "How is your condition?"

"Good." Keith told him. "I should be able to manage."

It wasn't perfect, but it was better. The thrum of the crystal was weak, like the EMP was still affecting it, just dulled. Eyes darting around the ship, he noticed that the lights seemed a little dimmer than usual, so whatever protection the ship had, it probably wasn't perfect.

Thace's idea of using stealth was sounding more and more appealing.

"What, not a damsel in distress anymore?" Lance teased.

Keith narrowed his eyes. He couldn't figure out if there were barbs to his words or not. "I'm not a damsel, Lance."

He wasn't sure what Lance's problem with him was. They barely even knew each other, and he was already constantly trying to pick fights with him. And sure, maybe he responded to them, but Lance was the one who had decided to get on his case in the first place. He knew he'd been suspicious of him too- probably still was, for all he knew.

Lance just snorted. "You'd make a lousy damsel anyways. Is dry skin a Galra thing, or have you just never heard of moisturizer?"

"Look, can we just focus?" Keith snapped. "We need to disable this weapon. Thace, do you have any ideas where it could be?"

"I might, but I would need to check this cruiser's identification code first." Thace said, seeming to take his exchange with Lance with remarkable stride. "That way we can find out who we are dealing with."

"I thought it was that creepy space witch." Lance frowned.

"No. Haggar might have sent them here, but this is not her cruiser." Thace said, resolute.

"Thace is probably right." Keith agreed. "If Haggar was here, she would have sensed me."

And he would have sensed her. She might not be able to track him by the quintessence she put inside of him, but she could still sense him when he was close. He knew that- he just hadn't expected it to be a two way street.

Maybe in the future, it might be useful. He should probably tell Allura about it, at least.

Lance's frown just deepened, but he shrugged. "Okay. Where do we need to go to find this... identification code thingy?"

"I should be able to access it from any console." Thace said. "The main concern will be avoiding detection by the sentries. Each cruiser has its own patrol pattern."

"Guess we'll just have to take it slow." Keith said, pulling out his knife.

For a brief second, Thace's gaze dropped to it, but he switched focus so quickly that he thought he'd almost imagined it. He bit his lip. He still wanted to ask about it- about his mother- but now definitely wasn't the time.

"I'm guessing we can't just shoot them." Lance said, his own gaze falling to his knife. "Or you know, stab them."

"Shooting would attract too much attention." Thace told him. "It is why the Blade of Marmora typically does not use pistols."

"So... stabbing works?" Keith guessed.

"Stabbing would work." Thace agreed. "But let us try and avoid that too. Unless you have a place to hide the damaged sentries afterwards."

No, he definitely didn't have that. Good point.

He was used to raiding ships, but he wasn't used to being this subtle about it. Usually, Pidge would hide their ship from any radar scans until they were right on top of them, and then they would blast their way inside, and take whatever they wanted. It had taken a bit of trial and error, but they had eventually found the best places on the cruisers to target to make a big payday.

Not to mention find the information that Pidge wanted- hell, that had been their main priority at first until they realized just how hard it was to make money out here the honest way if you were a wanted outlaw- the piracy was just incidental. But after the first few attempts, she got so good at getting into Galra systems that she could basically do it from anywhere.

Hit them fast, hit them hard, and hopefully get away quick enough so that they wouldn't be able to chase them. That last part was always the part they had the most issue with.

But none of that really applied now. He doubted this weapon was stored in the same location as basic cargo, or even with their other artillery. He hated to admit it, but his skills wouldn't be of much use here.

Best just to put his trust into Thace, then.

The real question was if Lance was ready to do that or not. Looking up towards the blue paladin, Keith frowned. If he suspected he didn't trust him, then it was blatantly obvious that Lance didn't trust Thace. He'd even said as much.

He didn't have time to dwell on it. Thace signaled for them to move, guiding them to the other end of the hall. Once there, he motioned for them to stop, and they stood, backs pressed against the wall as a pair of sentries walked past the hall that intersected with the one they were hiding in. Thankfully, they didn't notice them.

Once the sentries passed, they were on the move again. They crossed the hall, and Thace pressed his hand against a panel, granting them access to the room it locked.

As the door slid shut behind them, Lance frowned. "Shouldn't they have you like... locked out of the system or something?"

Keith just snorted. "Galra ships are all biolocked. They don't even have me locked out of the system."

"Zarkon assumes that his authority over the Galra is so absolute, that none would dare betray him." Thace observed, accessing the console in the front of the room. "The Blade of Marmora uses that belief to our advantage."

Thace had guided them to some kind of navigation room, though he wasn't exactly familiar with those. The transport ship that he had stolen was too small to have one, and there was almost never anything valuable stored in them, so for the most part, he and Pidge had left them alone.

He watched as Thace accessed the system, eyes fixed on the blade that was sheathed at his back. Was his mother doing undercover work like he had been doing before? Did she... did she know that he had been held prisoner?

Did she know what Haggar had done to him?

Did she know, and opt not to do anything? Maybe it was true- maybe she just didn't care about him. She had left him after all. He knew how important the war was, but was he just not a good enough reason to stick around? What about his dad? Hadn't she been in love with him?

Had she been in love with him?

He clenched his fists, paladin armor preventing his claws from digging into his palms. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about this. But with the answers so close...

At the console, Thace narrowed his eyes. "Keith, do you remember the Galra commander who chased after you when you found the green lion?"

Keith blinked. "Kind of hard to- wait, you were there too?"

"I was." Thace stated simply. "I would have intervened had the situation called for it, but you appeared to have the matter well in hand."

Snapping his mouth shut, Keith narrowed his eyes. Just how long had Thace been following him? Ever since he had left Earth? Even before that? How had he never even noticed?

"Wait, what commander are we talking about here?" Lance asked. "Because just for the record, I wasn't there."

Keith just heaved a sigh. "When Pidge, Matt, Allura, and I were trying to track down the green lion, we only had the system to go off of. Someone in the black market sold us out, so we had a Galra cruiser on our tail that jumped out of hyperspace on us halfway into our search."

"Wait," he frowned, turning back to Thace, "-is that who commands this ship?"

"I'm afraid it is." Thace told him. "Commander Sendak. He's nearly as old as Zarkon, and just as vile. Before he began conquering worlds, he was considered Zarkon's right hand. In many senses, he still is."

Huh. Guess he hadn't died.

"Oh great," Lance rolled his eyes, "-so we're just dealing with the evil emperor's best buddy here. No big deal."

Thace merely frowned. "Is sarcasm common among your species?"

"In some more than others. It's a defense mechanism." Keith observed, glancing over towards Lance, who just shrugged. "Okay, so we're dealing with Sendak here. Any idea what he's trying to accomplish?"

"I am afraid not." Thace admitted. "But whatever it is, it cannot be good."

Yeah, he could guess that much. His thoughts turned back to those they had left behind on the Castle- to Pidge and Matt, Allura and Coran, Hunk... and Shiro. Gritting his teeth, he narrowed his eyes. Was Sendak trying to take back Shiro? He hadn't gone through the trouble of fighting his own brother just to have him taken away again.

But there was nothing he could do about that. If he left the cruiser, his body would just start to shut down again. His best bet at being useful was staying here and completing his mission. He would just have to trust Pidge and the others to handle things back on the Castle.

"So... what do we do now?" Lance asked.

"Our objective hasn't changed." Thace stated. "We destroy the weapon."

"Do you know where it is?" Keith asked.

"Yes."

It was on the bridge. Of course it was on the bridge.

Of all the luck. This day was just getting worse and worse. And here he thought he'd spend the rest of the day geeking out with Hunk about the fact that he was a paladin now too. But no. He was here, crawling through the dirty vents of a Galra ship, trying to get a peek of the bridge.

Seriously, would it kill the Galra to clean their vents once in awhile? And why was he the one stuck doing this!? Keith was shorter than him, so he should be the one doing this, not him!

Biting back his complaints, Lance crawled forward. He was doing this for Hunk, he reminded himself- Hunk and Shiro. They had both been left back on the Castle, and he was worried about them both. Sure, Shiro was all brainwashed and crazy right now, but the princess could fix that, right? Besides, the guy was his hero- and him, pass up on a chance to save his hero? You had to be dreaming.

The stuff they had said about this Sendak sounded bad- real bad. He might have joked about it, but anyone who could be considered the right hand of an evil ten thousand year old emperor had to be serious bad news. And that guy was targeting the Castle right now?

You know, the Castle where Hunk was? His best friend? The guy who covered for him in the third grade when he had nearly gotten caught sneaking into the principal's office on some stupid dare? That Castle and that Hunk?

Yeah, no. There was no way he was going to sit around and do nothing while that was happening. Even if it did mean crawling through the filthiest vents he'd ever been in.

(Yes, he'd been in a vent before. Just once. It had been a weird day.)

"You see anything?"

Lance grit his teeth. He did not want to have to deal with Keith's voice in his ear right now, but he guessed he had no choice. "Give me a second, I'm not there yet."

Grumbling a little, Lance crept forward. There was a panel up ahead that lead to the bridge, but there was no way to see through it. He'd been warned about that ahead of time by Thace, who apparently had spent his fair share of time in the vents of Galra ships himself. Pushing out the panel just a smidgen, he peeked out of it, trying to get a view of the bridge.

He didn't see why they couldn't just burst in there and take out the whole ship along with the weapon. Something about it being too dangerous.

"Alright, I have a view of the bridge." Lance whispered.

"Great. Do you see anything that could be the weapon?" Keith asked.

Lance frowned, trying to get a better look. "I don't think... no wait, yeah, yeah, I think I see something. It's like a big weird... thing."

"You don't think you could describe it a little better?" Keith sniped.

"Hey, you try to describe alien tech when you didn't even know they were real like, a week ago." Lance snapped right back, by some miracle remembering to keep his voice down. "It's big, it's gray, and it's glowing purple."

"You just described most of the ship." Keith pointed out.

"Uh, no," Lance corrected, "-some parts of the ship glow green."

He could almost hear Keith roll his eyes- still a weird move even if he knew he used to have actual pupils to go with it. He tried not to dwell on that- about how all this time he thought he was chasing a ghost, only for him to turn out to be alive and somehow still a better pilot than him.

Just focus on the mission, Lance. There are people down there who are counting on you.

"Look, point is, the weapon is definitely here." Lance told him.

Keith just audibly sighed. "Fine. Do you see any sign of Sendak?"

He wanted to say that he didn't even know what this Sendak looked like, but he guessed it didn't actually matter. He didn't see any purple aliens on the bridge, just a bunch of robots. That... probably wasn't good.

"It's weird," he began, scanning the bridge again, just to be sure, "-there's no actual Galra on the bridge. Just sentries."

"What do you mean there's no Galra on the bridge?" Keith asked- and wow, he could hear that frown. "Sendak should be there."

"I mean, there's no Galra on the bridge." Lance repeated.

Keith sucked in a breath, and he swore he heard him curse. "Okay. Just hang tight."

"Hang tight," Lance repeated, "-in the vent?"

"Unless you want to take on all of those sentries yourself?" Keith ventured.

"Nope, you know what." Lance quickly said. "I'm good."

"Good." Keith told him. "Thace and I should be there soon."

He just groaned as the line went dead. Sure, not having Sendak on the bridge helped, especially given that their first plan was that they would use his bayard to remotely destroy the weapon and then just hope he could get out of the vents fast enough to escape retribution. Thace had said something about a mechanical arm, and if it was anywhere near as wicked as the one Shiro was sporting, then that was so far down on the list of things he didn't want to deal with that he was pretty sure he'd run out of paper before he even got there.

But Sendak not being on the bridge? That meant he could be like, anywhere. Maybe not in the vents- god, he hoped he wasn't in the vents, that would be fucking terrifying, but basically anywhere else. Maybe he was somewhere else on the ship, closing in on Keith and Thace's location. Maybe he was down on Arus.

Or maybe he was in the Castle. That was the thought he liked the least.

Unfortunately, it was also the one that made the most sense.

"Okay," Keith's voice popped back on the coms, "-Thace and I are in position."

"I take it there's a new plan." Lance observed.

"You take out the weapon, like we planned." Keith told him. "Thace and I will storm the bridge. If we take out the cruiser, the fighters attacking the Castle will lose power and it'll be one less thing to worry about."

"Got it." Lance said, shifting his hold on the panel a bit so he could summon his bayard. It took a little bit of doing, but eventually he positioned it right so that he could fire it one handed. It wouldn't be easy, but he could manage. "I'll take out the weapon on the count of three."

Keith just grunted in acknowledgement, and Lance fought the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he slowly began counting down, fixing the weapon in his sights. Once he reached three, he fired.

It was a direct hit- but just be safe, he fired two more rounds. The weapon exploded into sparks, prompting all hell to break loose on the bridge. Before the sentries even had time to react, the bridge doors opened, and he swore all he saw was a flash of red and white before Keith lunged on the first sentry he saw, shoving his knife into it with what was probably more force than actually necessary.

Not one to be left out- and frankly, just really not wanting to stay in the vents any longer- Lance kicked out the panel, bayard at the ready. Before even got the chance to take out the sentry he was aiming at, Thace was on him, sinking his blade into the robot and yanking it out in one fluid motion.

Okay. He'd admit it. That was pretty cool.

Plus, he got the next sentry. And the next one after that. He didn't get any others, but that was just because between Keith and Thace, there just weren't any other sentries left to take out. Man, those guys worked quick.

Jumping down out of the vent, Lance still kept his bayard at the ready. Reinforcements could be coming at any time.

"Now what?" He asked.

"Now we sink the ship." Keith replied.

Lance just cocked a brow. "Wow. Spoken like a true pirate. Sure you don't want to steal some booty first?"

Keith just ignored him, turning to Thace. "Are there any prisoners onboard?"

"Negative," Thace informed him, "-I could try to extract any data they might have, if you wish."

"We don't have that kind of time." Keith said. "If Sendak's not here, that means he's probably down on Arus. We need to get back down there."

Yeah, that was what he was afraid of.

Thace just gave him a curt nod, turning to the control panel and tapping away. "I've set the ship's self-destruct mechanism. We have two doboshes to get to our ship."

Lance just stared at him blankly. "Two what now?"

"Minutes." Keith replied.

"Wha- two minutes!?" Lance blurted out. "That's barely enough time!"

Thace didn't even blink. "Then I suggest we get moving."

They made it out, just barely.

He was no stranger to close escapes, but he had to admit- this one definitely took the cake. He hadn't realized just how used he was to having Red bail him out of tough situations until he didn't have that option. He could still hear her- growling in frustration and annoyance at being trapped in her hangar, considering destroying it just to get to him.

Thankfully he managed to convince her not to do that. He had no idea how long it would take to repair the damage to her hangar, and they needed to be ready to leave Arus as soon as they dealt with Sendak.

He grit his teeth. Thinking about the Commander had him on edge. He had no idea where he was, or what his plan is, but he was starting to think this whole attack was a ruse to draw them away from the Castle.

It had worked, too.

At least he felt better. He used to hate the steady thrum of the tainted crystal that Haggar had fused to his heart, but now it was almost comforting to feel. Even through his armor, he could still tell it wasn't in top condition, though- it was hard not to, considering the fact that it was a part of him.

Consequently, it meant that he wasn't in top condition. The battle on the bridge combined with their race back to Thace's ship had left him more than a little winded, when normally, even those two things combined wouldn't be enough to leave him out of breath. He pulled off his helmet, wiping his brow of sweat- it was bad enough that his bangs stuck to his forehead, and left his gauntlet a bit damp.

But at least he wasn't at risk of dying now. Just because he was ready to face it, didn't mean he wanted to face it. Not when there was a chance that there might actually be a way to help him.

Might. He wasn't going to get his hopes up.

"Any luck getting in touch with Hunk?" Keith asked, glancing over towards Lance.

He was looking increasingly worried, not that he could blame him. He and Hunk were close. "No," Lance said, "-I'm not getting anything from him. Maybe we're just out of range?"

"Could be." Keith frowned, putting his helmet back on. "I can try Pidge."

Lance briefly looked grateful, something that caught him off guard. Maybe he was just that worried about Hunk. Which... he got. He was worried about Pidge and Matt too- not to mention Shiro. If Sendak really was trying to take back Shiro...

But why stop there? Why not kill the paladins and seize the lions while he was at it? Shiro in his brainwashed state still had value to the Empire. The paladins didn't.

He bit his lip. Matt they might be able to get some rebel information from, but Pidge... if Sendak caught her, he'd kill her for sure.

He wouldn't let that happen.

"Pidge? Pidge, can you hear me?" Keith said.

There was a long pause, and then a crackle, so loud it made him wince. "Keith?"

Pidge's voice. He felt a rush of relief upon hearing it. "Good to hear your voice. We dealt with the Galra cruiser. Everything okay down there?"

"Keith," Pidge's voice was urgent, "-Keith, you need to tell Thace to turn your ship around right now."

He froze, his blood running cold. As if to further emphasize that something was wrong, the Castle of Lions finally came into view- with its particle barrier up. There weren't any Galra fighters left to protect it from, so why...?

"Pidge? Pidge, what's wrong?"

There was a long pause. Too long.

"Sendak took over the bridge." Pidge finally said, confirming that his dread was well placed. "He's holding Hunk and Coran hostage."