" I'm sure no one would snap at me, if I would make mistake by dealing with this stuff, only because I'm not familiar with some background, dynamics and so on." I can't see anyone getting worked up about that either. "like I told you, you're putting so much work and passion in your fics, so I really want to give you a little more feedback, to tell you, what I liked about a chapter and what things I have seen for myself in it." Thank you so much! That really means a lot to fic authors. Every likes to see feedback on stuff they work hard on. I got around to watching the first episode and yeah I can see why you'd say that; it did seem more childish to me in a sense. It was still pretty okay though lol.
"This one was a nice one, again. Acxa still feels uncomfortable within the team. If I'm understanding the circumstances right, they seems to was in a phase of getting known each other, when Acxa was captured." Yeah, she's way out of her comfort zone. And you are correct, they practically just met her when she was taken. "With the transformation, things has become more complicated." Things have become confusing, for sure. "Acxa seems to be a person to me, who's putting high standarts at herself," She does, a little bit, yes. "I don't know, if this is part of her Galra heritage or simply her own personality." As I interpret her character, it is a good mix of both. The Galra hold themselves to pretty high standards in many aspects (especially battle) but I also feel as though Acxa would have this trait on her own. She's somewhat stern and she has a very strong moral code. "I think she loves to be in duty and she doesn't like to be useless." Indeed, she does. "Keith is caring for her and it seems, that he's got the right balance between soothing her, giving her the time she needs and pushing her softly to get some vital informations." Yes, he doesn't want to be pushy but he also doesn't want to baby her. Granted, Acxa isn't the type who likes being babied.
"So Haggar seems to plan to transform humans into Galras to increase the power of the Galra empire(?)." Correct! "Lotor was/is the leader of this empire (right interpretation, I hope) and Haggar wants to help him with this experiments." Lotor is the Galra prince and *Major spoiler warning* he is actually dead. Haggar wants to bring him back to life. "Haggar seems to be a person, who doesn't care about moral and only cares about results." This is just a personal interpretation of mine; but I don't think that she doesn't have a moral code. In fact, I think that she's doing what she thinks is right in some sense. In the beginning she was more or less pure evil, but in the last season you kind of see a different side of her and that's what I'm going to try to work with in this fic.
Thanks for another awesome review!
The scents that assault Axca's nose are nauseatingly familiar. The air smells of the laboratory and she knows that Haggar has left her mark on this planet. She lingers at the edge of the group, Veronica trails even further behind with Kinkade. The pair will be her backup as she acts as a backup for the Paladins. Ina, Nadia, and James follow along as well, just in case they could use even more hands. She has been informed that they are on a recovery mission of sorts; a human distress signal has been pinging from this location for quite some time now and they must answer it.
They walk across a barren wasteland of a place, scattered with charred trees and wreckage of buildings. Sand whips at her face and she is thankful for the protection of her suit. Eventually they split off—one MEF pilot per Paladin. She follows Veronica and Lance.
With the air so heavy with poison, she is almost certain that they have arrived too late to do anything of substance for this planet. For as much as she yearned to go back out onto the battlefield, to do something important, she wished that they would call it quits. She is growing anxious, the smells bring back things that she is trying her best to repress.
She shudders.
The devastation grows worse as they trek deeper into what used to be a forest. She can see burn marks on dead tree trunks, they smell somewhat coppery. There is another metallic odor within, laced with a whiff of quellberry—her favorite Galran fruit, a tell-tale sign of quintessence. She thought it almost cruel that something that causes so much strife is allowed to take on such a delightful perfume. But then, she supposes that, if in kinder hands, quintessence had the potential to be a very charming thing.
She brushes her hand over the decaying tree and flinches away. Her hand comes up burned, whatever has killed those trees is still highly toxic. "Keith." She speaks into her communication device. "I think we should leave. Or at least hurry up."
If it is on the trees then it is in the air.
Human or Glara, she can't imagine that breathing it in is a good idea.
"There are still people here, Acxa."
"I know." She mutters. "We have to make this quick though, the longer we stay here the more trouble we'll be in."
She thinks that Keith is in a sour mood because he snaps, "you said that you want to be a part of the coalition, so be a part of it!" He pauses. "We don't back down to save ourselves. If anything, we die for the people like these."
She tries to be logical with him. "Keith, I don't think that we can save them. They've been here for a while now; they've already breathed in too much." She regrets having spoke at all, especially without muting herself to the other paladins. She knows how it sounds. Even to her own ears it sounds cowardly and selfish. But her lungs are taking a decent beating and she has only been here for a couple of hours.
"How can you say something like that?!" Lance asks. She wishes that he would have just spoken directly to her instead of over his communication device.
"We have to try." Keith says firmly.
"Keith is right," Pidge agrees, "if they're alive they can be saved."
"That's not true." Acxa digs herself in deeper. She has seen it enough to know…
"You wouldn't say that if we were helping Galra." Lance accuses.
"I would—" She starts.
"Either help us, or next time you can stay on the Atlas." Keith threatens.
She hears one of them mumble about how they knew that they should have left her at home. And maybe they should have. She tags along quietly. She doesn't understand how they could be so willing to end themselves over such small odds. She wonders how they can possibly ignore the bigger picture; that if they get themselves killed on a fool's errand, then the world will be in jeopardy.
"Hey, Acxa." Veronica falls in step with her.
She doesn't feel like carrying on conversation though.
"He's just stressed, they all are." Veronica reassures. But Acxa finds little solace in it. They have brought up her past again, brought up her lineage. And it hits home. She has a human body and all of its weaknesses, yet she has none of its perks.
Veronica makes one last try at conversation, "I'm sure that they didn't mean any of that."
She knows that she is isolating herself, but maybe she is better off alone. Even through her suit, the poisoned air stings her eyes and dries her skin. She is completely miserable, but she pushes forward.
.oOo.
He thinks that he might have been too harsh, but he is tired of failing and he won't lose these people too. Pidge works to trace the exact location of the distress call and he is growing antsy. "Shouldn't we have come across them by now, or at least a sign of them?"
"Not necessarily." Shiro says, "they're probably trying to keep as quiet as possible."
"Should we regroup?" Hunk asks.
"I think that we should." Keith agrees, "what do you think, Allura."
"I'm with you three."
Keith looks up. "Okay, do you all see that large tower, meet me there." He has a feeling that this is where his survivors are. "Kinkade and I are going to check the place out."
It is dark in the tower. Dark and flooded with sand that flows in from the broken windows. The air is getting harsher, he doesn't have time to wad through massive dunes. But he and Kinkade don't really have much of a choice. As painful as he knows it will be, he calls out, "is anyone in here?" And to the dark of the hallway, he adds, "we're the Paladins of Voltron and we've received and S.O.S. We're here to help."
"I don't think that anyone is home." Kinkade whispers.
"Why are you whispering?"
"I want to create the mood."
Keith groans. "We don't have time for jokes, Kinkade." He makes it to the staircase and follows it into the shadows. He punches a few buttons on his gear and a beam of light flashes on. The air here is almost worse, he can now see the vapors rather plainly in the light. Next to him, Kinkade gags.
Acxa was right about one thing, he had to make this fast—he may have underestimated the level of contamination.
"Keith, over here." Kinkade calls.
He hustles over to where Kinkade stands, near a door which stands slightly ajar. He sees the blink of a radio. No doubt, the source of the transmissions. Surrounding the device is a circle of bodies, each wearing a makeshift, flimsy looking mask. "No." He mutters. "Not again. No." He drops down next to one and puts his fingers to the woman's neck. He shifts his fingers once and then twice before he feels a pulse. "I found a pulse. Kinkade, confirm it?"
A few moments pass before Kinkade gives a firm nod, "she's alive."
They check the other five, to the same effect. "We did it." Keith says into the communication device. "We found them and they're alive." He is beaming from ear to ear; for the first time in a while he has made the right call, despite rather grim odds.
.oOo.
Back on the safety of the Atlas, she feels like a fool. Perhaps she had only been thinking of herself; it is what she is used to doing, after all. And she thinks that maybe she isn't right for this mission. She has done her part and told them the important details, she ought to keep her advice to herself.
She sees the survivors in the hospital wing, they are stable, no thanks to her.
Acxa wanders to her room, it is still bleak and empty. She flops down on the bed feeling sore and sick. Her throat is still on fire and her eyes still scratchy. Their mission was a success, but she still feels failure on a personal level.
And for more reasons than one.
She is angry with Lance for his assumptions and angry with the others for agreeing or for saying nothing on her behalf. She is twice as resentful towards Keith for, not only letting them tag team her, but for practically initiating the small verbal beatdown.
More than that she is furious with herself for speaking out of line in the first places. For suggesting a retreat—it was the least Galran thing she has ever said. She had underestimated how much those humans could handle and she could have gotten them killed.
There is a knock on her door, she rolls to face away from it.
"Acxa."
His voice is calming now, and she wants to let him in. But if Lotor has taught her anything, it's that failure is a scold-able and punishable offense. Keith calls her name again. But on top of past experience, she is still angry.
"Can we please talk?"
She will let her silence be its own answer.