Pidge told them. She told them everything, in all of its horrific detail.
She needed her teammates to be prepared for what she had inflicted upon them to have any chance at beating Sendak.
Pidge could remember everything now, and though the physical pain was gone, she could still remember the feeling of her flesh tearing, her body bruising and her bones breaking.
She didn't want to re-live those memories but for the sake of her team's safety, she had to in as much detail as possible. So she would. And she did.
She was terrified. Terrified of rejection, of alienation, of disgust- but the other paladins seemed to feel her pain when she told her story; instead of blaming her, they comforted her when she needed it most. And she definitely needed it most right at that moment. She was enveloped in an embrace from all of her team- Hunk, Lance, Keith, Shiro, Coran, and Allura all held her in their arms gently, and Pidge could feel their warmth and love calming the scars left on her mind.
Allura stood up. "All right paladins, what's done is done. I'm going to track down the Galra ship that abducted Pidge- Coran, you can help me. The rest of you should get to training." Her eyes studied the faces of her friends reassuringly. "Try your best to overcome your weaknesses." Her face turned solemn, and grave. "It may be our only hope."
Hunk, Lance, and Keith all ventured up to the training deck to help each other overcome their weaknesses, whilst Pidge looked for ways to hack into the Galra ship from her laptop. Shiro stayed to keep an eye on her.
"I understand, you know."
Shiro wasn't looking at Pidge, so she wasn't sure if he was talking to her.
"You.. Understand?" She was visibly confused.
"I understand why you're working so hard."
Pidge looked at him. She didn't realise before, but her hands were stiff and achy. "You need to know that you did an excellent job out there. Better than even I would have. You couldn't have done any better." He walked towards her and sat beside her. "Yeah, but I still wasn't good enough." She sighed, looking into Shiro's grey eyes. Her vision fell on the scar across his face. Guiltily, she looked away. Shiro noticed.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Pidge. Just know that I've had my fair share of bumps and bruises.. and regrets. But you have to keep moving forward." He looked directly into her jade eyes, making Pidge feel invaded- uncomfortable. She didn't know why. Maybe she was ashamed. She looked away.
"Just don't force yourself, don't race ahead. You'll get there in your own time."
Slightly comforted, Pidge looked back at his face, across his scar, and into his eyes. She knew exactly what he meant. She nodded.
"I'm going to check on Coran and Allura's progress. You should take a break." Shiro stood back up, and Pidge reluctantly closed her laptop- but she slipped her fingers underneath to stop it closing completely.
When Shiro had left, she stood up too. She headed for her room.
It was easy enough for him to say those things, but what was she supposed to do?
The fact was she had betrayed her team members. There was no way of sugar coating it. And now- well, she would do whatever was in her power to make it right. Even if it meant she got stiff, achy hands, and tired eyes. It was a small price to pay if she could make even the slightest bit of difference. She closed the door to her room, and despite her better judgment telling her not to, she locked the door. She planted the laptop atop her junkyard of a desk, pushing aside a pile of papers with a flourish. She flipped the screen open, implanted the headphone wires into the laptop and placed the headset over her ears.
She was looking to break into the Galra system, to eavesdrop and spy using the same cameras they used against her. She sifted through feedback and binary for what seemed like hours until she noticed a spike in radiation. She narrowed the field of data and found the ship's system, and after a minute of intense hacking, she cracked it. She now had access to all 10,000 cameras on board, all monitors and speakers could be controlled by her (if and when she wanted to use them). For now, no-one knew of her presence. And it would stay that way- until she came up with a plan.
—
Lance blocked an attack from the training robot expertly, grabbing its wrist and spinning through to hold its arm behind its back firmly.
"Good job, Lance." Keith's reassurance was welcome to Lance, for once.
What it took months for Keith to learn on his own was being taught to lance in as little time as possible, luckily Lances weakness was Keith's strength. The two formed an alliance and with Keith's masterful training, Lance was picking it up at an amazing rate.
"Woah yeah! Bring on the next one!" Lance yelled, filled with surprising enthusiasm.
—
"Okay, Hunk. Zero in on your target. Steady your breathing," Lance observed Hunk as he held the small laser gun, an unusual but vital accessory.
"Now, in one motion, pull the trigger."
As the words left Lances mouth Hunk did exactly that, the beam of light sped across the room and landed on the second ring of the bullseye.
"Again." Hunk agreed.
The drill was repeated until everyone felt safe. Secure.
It was less of a security measure and more of a coping mechanism.
Despite this, everyone was learning faster than ever and progress seemed smooth. That is, until the attack began.
—
It started with a rumble. The castle shook violently on the surface of Arus with the force of an earthquake. Loose materials fell from the ceiling and other surfaces, including Pidge's desk. "Oh, man! C'mon!" Pidge yelled, frustratedly as she tried to piece together a lump of Galra circuitry she had been tinkering around with for nearly a month. It had smashed to pieces from the quake- along with plenty of other items from Pidge's crowded room. Luckily her laptop had been saved by her panicked, desperate grab. She looked at it, checking it hadn't been damaged. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it wasn't, and immediately went back to work on it, trying to track the ship's exact coordinates. It had landed on Arus about half a mile away- Pidge looked through their cameras and saw Galra soldiers pouring through the halls and out the exits with the undeterred power of a tsunami. The attack had begun.
Allura contacted the Arusians Immediately to warn them. "You must evacuate Immediately- go underground if you can- and do not come out until I contact you again." She ordered authoritatively.
Hunk, Lance and Keith came flying in from the deck immediately and stood to attention. "Get to your Lions, Paladins- Wheres Pidge?" As she finished her sentence, the youngest member burst in with her laptop in hand. "I'm on it!" She ran back off. The rest of the team followed. Shiro was last to exit. He looked at Allura and smiled reassuringly. "Good luck," She said. "Thanks, Princess." He left for his Lion.