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Evaluations
Arus
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com
Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.
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As Rivals become Friends - Lance's Story
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"Lancelot Erick Michaels, get your keister down here this instant!"
Lance cringed at hearing his mother yell his name as he was lying quietly on the roof of their home. It was his place that he would escape to when the burden of real life came crashing down on him.
"Lance!"
Oh boy.
The young boy let out a sigh as he slowly climbed back through the window of his bedroom, groaning that he had forgot that he was supposed to clean it up after the examination that day. Hopefully his mother wasn't angry about that.
"WHAT MOM!"
A young woman then appeared in the doorway as she held a slip of paper in her right hand, and her other hand rested on her hips. She glared at him, and he had to turn away from his scrutiny.
"What is this about causing a ruckous at the examination today?" she demanded.
"Ruckous?" he asked.
"Lance!"
He cringed as she walked into his room, waving a piece of paper in front of him.
"Says here that you had to be moved three times before the test even started," she said. "Saying there wasn't enough light and you had to be moved near the window."
"You know how those damn lights hurt my eyes after a while," he grumbled as he turned to face her.
"Lance, you're grounded until your father gets home," she said as she shook her head. "They'll be issuing the results later today."
Lance watched as his mother went through several shades of expressions before turning and leaving his room. With a groan, he fell backwards onto his bed and stared up at the rough pattern of his bedroom's roof.
"Why do you persist on making mom angry?"
He let out another groan as he turned to his doorway to see his older sister standing there, her arms crossed as she stared at him.
"Gennie, shut-up," he said.
The girl laughed as she slowly walked into his room, looking around as her gaze came to rest on him. "You cause trouble because you like the attention, dont you?" she asked.
"Oh, now you're a shrink?" he asked.
She smiled. "You know that test was easy, yet you caused a commotion," she said with a smile.
"I didn't cause a commotion," he said. A lie. "And the light did bother my eyes."
"Liar," she said. "Could it have been because of a certain other student who was there?"
Lance's eyes widen as he propped himself on his arms and looked at her. "What student?"
She walked over to him, then squatted at the foot of his bed as he sat up and looked at her. "Lance, you do not have to impress anyone," she said. "You're taking the exams at an age that many kids couldn't even tackle. Heck, you've got me beat by three years. Just measure yourself on how well you do. You are not competing against anyone."
Lance breathed in deeply as he looked at her. Then his eyes averted for a moment. "He was there."
She smiled. "I knew it," she said.
"He's six, Gennie," he said with a groan as he fell back against his bed again. "How the heck do you get an exception when you're six?"
"You're eight, Lance," she said. "Complain to me when you actually hit double-digits."
"Its favoritism," he said. "And you know it."
Gennie shook her head then took her brother's hand and pulled him off of the bed.
"Come," she said.
"But, mom."
"Dont worry about mom," she said.
Lance let out a groan as she dragged him out of his room.
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Gennie looked both ways down the busy street as she held her brother's hand. As soon as the light changed, they crossed the busy street then walked down a few blocks before heading down a less busy one. Lance watched as the scenery changed as they passed by several homes, then came upon an older Japanese style building. She then pulled him along the side of the building as they stared into the complex.
"What is this place?" he asked.
"A dojo," she said. "Come here and watch."
Lance let out a sigh as his sister then lifted him up onto her shoulders and they looked into the small complex. He watched as a young man dressed in a gi stood in the middle of one of the many rooms of the dojo. As he shifted a little, he then watched as a young boy, then proceeded to fight the young man. It was easy for the man to overpower the boy, but he saw that the boy tried again, and this time catch the older man in a hold that brought him down.
"Favoritism?" his sister asked as they continued to watch. "Believe me that no favoritism is ever offered when you want to join the Academy. Aptitude and skills. That's what they base their decisions on, and its very rare that exceptions are made."
"You mean he is that good?" Lance asked.
Gennie shrugged. "He does come from a good family," she said. "Keitaro is a respected Captain in the Alliance. His father, a respected Admiral. Unlike our family, he is growing up under the shadow of three people who've done well in the Alliance. Mom never went through the Academy nor had the intention to join the Garrison. Civilian life suited her best. And for me, I just wanted to experience it so that I could get a good job around the base. But, exploration was never for me."
"I want to explore," Lance said as he watched the boy then attack his older brother again, but this time, a little too forcefully, the older man had taken the boy into a hold, which caused the boy to fall back on his ankle. He reacted seeing the boy fall to the floor as he began to nurse it.
Gennie smiled to herself as she let her brother down. "I know you do," she said with a smile.
Grabbing her hand, she then turned and they slowly left the building to walk down the street again.
"So when are we being transferred?" he asked.
"Mmm?" Gennie asked. "Oh? Well Dad hasn't received the final orders, but it will be in a month. But if you pass these last four exams, then you'd be staying here."
Lance slowly nodded. "Planet Leydra?" he asked.
She nodded. "The Alliance is building a new academy there," she said with a smile. "So Dad will have to help oversee the final details to get it up and running."
"It wont be fun with you guys gone," he said.
"Oh, we'll visit often," she said with a smile. "But yeah, it wont be fun at all."
Lance smiled as she wrapped an arm around him as they headed for home.
"I still dont like him," he commented which caused his sister to hit him on his head.
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How Lance hated this moment.
He swallowed hard as he stared out into the auditorium before him, as thousands of pairs of eyes were now turned on them; the 50 or so new cadets to enter the academy. He strained his neck against the high collar of the dress uniform he wore, wishing to pull the heavy jacket off. He hoped that the academy uniforms would be a little more comfortable than what he was wearing now.
He fidgeted a little as Admireal Benson took the podium expression his appreciation of the new talent to make it to this years class. His eyes then averted a little as he noticed the young boy standing at the end of the dias they were all on.
The perfect student.
As much as he wanted to give Keith Takashi credit, something still irritated him. He stood perfectly still, in his perfect white uniform. Behaving so damn perfect. He let out his breath as he looked toward the ceiling then looked to his side again.
Something was bothering the boy, he noted. He was slightly fidgeting, not as much as Lance did, but he could tell that something was wrong.
The speeches came and went, with the audience clapping after every one, and then it was all over. Lance couldn't wait to take this coat off.
His parents approached him, smiling as they took him into a hug, his sister placing a kiss to his cheek. Words were then exchanged with other students and their parents, with his father meeting with a blonde general, who stood with his own son, as his wife stood close by.
Sven.
He remembered the boy from one of the examinations. He was a quiet kid, he had noted, but having heard the poor kid speak, he knew why.
English wasn't exactly his first language, and it seemed that he was just learning how to speak it. From overhearing the conversation with his father, General Richardson was a former academy classmate of his fathers, and sported the same thick scandanavian accent as his son had. His wife, the daughter of a Chinese Diplomat who had visited the academy years ago, and the General and she had hit it off ever since.
They were then ushered outside as his parents continued to speak with other parents and a few of the generals there. He let out a sigh as he stood near his mother as he looked around the complex that would serve as his home for the next 7 years. He then caught site of the him, sitting alone on the stairs that led to the building.
As if sensing his gaze, the boy had turned to "him", and Lance was quick to notice the worry the boy held in his expression. Before he was about to move away from his parents to see if he was alright, his father announced that they were going to join the Richardsons later that day for dinner and started to leave the complex.
Lance couldn't help but look back toward the building as his family started to walk toward the transports that would take them home, wondering why Keith Takashi, the number one student, would be left all alone in a time when there should be celebration.
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Lance slowly woke when he heard the raised voices from downstairs. He looked at the clock that sat on his bed, seeing that it was already past midnight. He let out a groan he got up from his bed and slowly trudged down the stairs, to see what was going on.
The lights in the living room were on, strange for this time of night, he said to himself. He quietly walked down the stairs and as he neared the bottom he heard the voices again.
"Are you sure?"
His father was speaking to two men, dressed in Alliance uniforms as they stood in the living room.
"We're sorry to inform you at this late hour, Mr. Michaels," the younger of the two had said. "But Admiral Graham wanted to be sure that all who were acquainted were notified, seeing that neither had living relatives."
Lance hung onto the bannister post as he watched his father run a hand through his hair.
"What of their son?"
"He is going to be under the care of Admiral Benson," the older one stated. "However, Graham wanted to let you know of Admiral Takashi's wishes."
Takashi? Lance asked himself.
"Im about to leave for Planet Leydra at the end of the month," his father said.
"Admiral Graham has requested a postponement in light of recent events," the older one said. "We are truly sorry, Admiral. We know how close you and Admiral Takashi were."
He saw his father nod and breathe in deeply. "Please let Graham know that Im aware of Kenshiro's wishes, and I will see that everything is taken cared of."
"We will Admiral," the younger one said.
Lance gasped as he stood and raced up the stairs to duck into a room right at the top of the stairs as his father escorted the two officers to their door at the bottom of the stairs.
"We offer our condolences, Admiral."
Lance breathed in deeply when he heard the door open then close a few moments later.
"Loren?"
Lance heard his mother's voice echo up the stairs and he peaked out to see her at the bottom of the stairs as she joined his father.
"What's happened?"
"Its Kenshiro, Lisa," he said as he placed his hands on her shoulders and let them slide to her arms. He then swallowed hard. "Kenshiro, Mae and Keitaro were killed on their return trip from Planet Ebb."
"What?" her exasperated cry was heard. "How can..."
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. "It was an attack, out of the blue," he said. "They were only on a escort mission, and didn't have the firepower to ward off the attack."
"Im so sorry, Loren," she said as she held him. "What about Keith?"
"Benson will be taking care of him and the dorms at the Academy will provide him with the comforts he needs," he said. "I just wish that this new assignment didn't take us so far away. Then we could be here for him."
"It'll be alright," she said. "Adam knows what he is doing."
Lance was now lying on the top of the stairs as he heard his parents slowly move away from the bottom of the stairs, their voices fading. He stared up at the ceiling above him, as he mulled over the situation in his head. He breathed in deeply as he got to his feet and headed toward his room.
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Lance eyed him across the class they shared. It had been a month since the session started, and he had Keith Takashi in all but one of his classes. He always sat alone, not bothering to strike up any conversation with his fellow students, doing the assignments that he needed to do and disappeared to the dormitory when the days were done.
However, he lived up to everyones expectations, being the class clown and causing a commotion whenever he could. Gave every excuse in the book about late assignements or being tardy, yet was able to do well on the tests that were offered. Vast contrast to the boy who he considered his rival.
Now, he stared at the clock in the classroom. It was going to be lunch soon, and today was the day, he would make sure that Keith Takashi would know that he wasn't going to be number one for very long. He then remembered the conversation he had with his father the morning his family were about to leave, for Planet Leydra.
Was it really a conversation? It was his father who mostly talked.
'I promised his father, that if anything should happen, that we would watch over him,' his father had stated to him. 'But we are needed on Leydra, so Im asking you to do this for us. I've talked to Benson, and it seems that he hasn't made any friends. Lance, you're the closest one to his age in that class. All Im asking is just to be there if he needs help.'
Lance couldnt answer his father at that moment.
Friends? Bah.
Soon he found himself on the field as lunch hour had come. He was there, as always, under his tree, reading his damned book.
Damn kid reads too much, he said to himself. It irked him, when he learned that the kid had passed the language exam with perfect scores, and he could only score 80 percent on his.
It infuriated him. And his father wanted him to be friends with him? How can this kid be so damned perfect? The familar admonishment from his sister wrang in his ears. He could hear her now, scolding him for being jealous.
Jealous?
Yeah, it was a type of jealousy, he admitted to himself. Oh, but he would have so much fun trying to topple Keith Takashi from the pedestal that everyone had put him on. He was going to make them see that he was just as normal as any other kid here.
This was it.
He breathed in deeply as he crossed the field.
He was human after all.
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Admiral Benson slowly shook his head as he stared at the three students who stood before him.
Sven Richardson, Lance Michaels and Keith Takashi. Each of them sported an injury of some sort or other, having caused a scene during lunch, it took three Alliance officers to pull them apart. Lance had part of his uniform torn, and a split lip. Sven's left eye started to turn several shades of purple, and Keith looked the most disheveled of the three; a sleeve was torn from his uniform and hung by its threads, as he had a slight cut over his left brow and his nose was now bandaged up. Lance had managed to actually break the boy's nose.
He couldn't form the words he wanted to say, as he tried to find fault in their actions, more than it humored him. It was nearly a generation ago, in that same spot with the previous Academy Provost, admonishing the trouble caused by their own fathers.
"So who started it?"
Benson already had known the answer since he witnessed the event take place. He could see Lance tense up as his eyes darted over to the dark haired boy who stood to his right. Yet all three remained silent.
"We can stay here all day until one of you admits to starting the fight," he said as he crossed his arms.
Still the same silence.
"Then Im going to have to issue you your punishments," he said with a sigh. He turned his back on them, surprised that neither would own up to it. "You are all to report to Mr. Williams for the next two weeks."
"Mr Williams, sir?"
Benson turned to Lance and smiled. "Hope you guys like to get dirty as much as you guys like to hurt each other."
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"Hard labor?" Allura asked as she met Benson's gaze.
"Well, not really hard labor," Benson said with a smile. "Mr. Williams was the Academy's grounds keeper. He had them digging two trenches and filing it up with different dirt for two weeks, only to have no purpose whatsoever in the task."
Allura smiled. "They must have hated doing that," she said.
"For the first couple of days," he said. "Then they all realized that they would have to get along in some way to make their punishment at least bearable."
"And since then, they've been friends?"
Benson nodded. "Couldn't seperate them if I tried," he said with a smile. "If there was trouble, they'd find it easily enough."
Allura smiled as she then let out a yawn. She looked over to the clock that hung on the wall and saw that it was already late in the evening.
"I didn't realize how much time has gone by," she said. She then reached into the nearby stack and pulled out another disc.
"Lance's review?" Benson asked as he took it from her.
"An assessment from Coran, the head captain of the guard, and I," she said with a smile. "And of course from Dr. Gorma for health."
Benson nodded. "Summary?"
"Loyal, intellegent, definitely a team player, effective and conviction that I would admire in anyone who served under me," she said. "But.."
"But?" Benson asked with a smile.
"Im sure that you know his demeanor, but for the record, he is stubborn, has a temper that needs to be kept in check, and so cock sure of himself, it is to the point of embarassment," she said. "However as bad as it sounds, it what makes Lance, the fixture we need on the team. He is able to see each situation, differently. As Keith sees it through the eyes of a leader, following rules as they apply to each situation, Lance is able to see it from a different view. Sometimes that view helps us to see something that could have gone wrong if we were to follow everything by the book."
Benson slowly nodded. "Duly noted, Princess," he said.
"And with that, Admiral, I believe its time we took a break, and continue this tomorrow," Allura said. She then smiled. "Who are we going to review next?"
Benson smiled as he lifted up his file. "Sergeant William Shawn," he said then noticed her confusion. "Hunk."
Allura smiled as she nodded. "Ahh," she smiled.
"Also, I would like you to give a review on Commander Sven Richardson," he said. "I know that he hadn't served long under you, but we need a record so that we can offer Planet Pollux a status for him."
Allura nodded. "I'd be more than happy to."
With that the two offered their goodnights before turning in.
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-tbc-
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