Smoke and Mirrors

The Core

Coran went to a nearby control panel.

'Um...what's to stop them firing up the Caste when they realise where we are?' asked Pidge. 'You can't tell me they aren't monitoring the cameras.'

'You are correct in your assessment, Pidge,' said Coran. 'I need you all to listen to me and act natural. Please gather together and act like you are making plans. I'm going to record it and then play it in a loop.'

They all moved to one of the medical beds and started talking and acting like they were making plans.

'Won't they hear all this?' asked Olla.

'Normally yes,' said Coran. 'However, during our last battle the Castle sustained damage that has caused some of the systems to malfunction, including audio to certain parts of the Castle.'

'Where do we need to go to access the core?' asked Shiro.

'We will have to make our way there from here,' said Pidge. 'We can access a duct under the floor that will take us right to it. It will be a tight fit for some.'

'Correct,' said Coran. 'Once in the core we will need to split up and make our way to the lions.'

'Coran, you come with me,' Shiro said.

'Stret and I will go with Keith,' said Krolia. 'Olla you go with Lance, Shi with yellow paladin, and Chem with green paladin.'

'I am about to start the loop playback,' said Coran. They waited for a handful of heartbeats. 'Done.'

They followed Coran to the access panel they needed, and he pulled it up. Moving quickly, they all slipped into the duct behind Pidge and Coran pulled the assess panel closed.

Keith, Lance, and Pidge were the only ones not having issues moving through the duct. The hundred metre commando crawl was tiring, and they were sweating by the time they reached the core.

Pidge pulled herself out of the duct and onto a narrow ledge. She shuffled around further to let the others out.

The core was suspended in the center of a cylindrical room that ran down the middle of the Castle. There was one meter of distance between the wall of the room and the side of the power core.

'Whatever you do, don't touch the power core,' said Pidge. 'We may not be moving, but There's still enough energy running through it to kill you.'

'How do we get down to the lions?' asked Shiro.

'There are hand and foot holes in the wall like the ones in front of us all the way down,' said Coran. 'We will need to climb down. Every twenty metres is a ledge like this one. We should do it quickly because I doubt the looped recording will keep them distracted for long.'

'There is an access hatch to each of the lions,' said Pidge. She indicated where each one would be. 'Shiro, the one to Black is directly under the power core. We should make our way to our hatches as we climb down because space is limited in here.'

'What about our armour?' asked Hunk.

'No need to worry,' said Coran. 'The armour will be in your hangers when you arrive, the lions will see to that.'

'Keep in contact with each other,' said Shiro, 'and wait until we're all at our lions before leaving.'

Lance looked across at Keith standing next to him. 'Be careful and don't do anything stupid, or I'll kick your arse.'

Keith nodded. 'The same applies to you.'

'Let's go,' Stret growled.

Keith shot him a glare.