In Times of War | Discontinued

Of a Blue Lion and Battle

Leandro ran through the enemy's base, his dual blasters in hand as he shot every guard he could as he ran past them, his mission to secure an old weapon that the rebels could use. Shots fired around him as he sped up, shooting less guards as he was nearing the hold that contained the weapon.

Well, technically it was 1/5 of the weapon, but still was a pretty powerful piece of equipment on its own - or at least that's what intelligence gathered. He came to a halt as he got to the doorway, working quickly to shoot at the lock and rewire it to override the system and - voila! The doors opened!

His friends Peter and Harence watched his back as he ran through the doorway. They shot at the guards, drones, and soldiers that came their way.

As soon as he was inside, he could feel a strong sensation of being pulled towards something, but he ignored it for the sake of the mission. Instead, Leandro ran towards the center of the room where a huge mechanical lion stood - he would've admired it more if fellow rebels weren't being shot at just outside of that doorway. Leandro quickly put his blasters into his holsters after shooting all Galra forces in the room. He ran closer and finally slowed when he got close enough to the blue lion, grabbing rope out of his pack as he started to scale the leg of the lion to reach its underbelly.

Before he even got a chance to start tying up the lion so the 'Castle of Lions' pod - their new allies ship's pod and informants of these lions - could pick it up, it roared to life. Like, literally roared as its eyes lit up and it stretched as if it was just waking up from a nap. He didn't have time to wonder about it though. Its jaw dropped and Leandro shoved his rope into his pack as he changed direction and ran into the jaw that seemed to be - oddly - inviting him in without thinking about it much. In war, you don't really have time to think too much and rely a lot on split second and impulsive decisions.

The jaw closed behind him as he was welcomed into a room that looked to be a pilots section. He sat in the chair which immediately moved forward to the control board. He noticed the controls were a bit older, but luckily the rebels relied a lot more on older technology than they did the newer fancier stuff. Leandro grabbed hold of the two lever-like handles and flipped a few switches. The lion responded and as soon as he had gotten the feel for some of the controls, Leandro quickly flew the lion through the roof of the base.

A plan was already formulating in his head - circle back around to the entrance of the Galran base and use this lion as a diversion as all the rebels retreated - they're mission completed.

Peter's voice came in through his earpiece, "Leandro, whatever you're planning to do, do it now!"

Leandro quickly replied, "I'm about to! Brace yourselves and retreat!" He was returned with radio silence, but he knew Peter and the other rebels - they were definitely getting ready to run, because they knew him.

"Just be careful!", his buddy's voice came through.

"You know I will!" Leandro replied to Harence. Then, he was diving the lion into the front of the building and shooting with the blasters that this time-old war machine provided.

"We're out, now retreat Leandro!" Akira's voice came through a few moments later. A small blush came across Leandro's face - he knew he was in a battle right now, but - it was Akira. Akira who had a hint of concern in his voice - he could tell, even though it was subtle. And he just loved it when he said his name. Before anyone could worry though, he pulled up the lion out of the base and said,

"I'm retreating now."

As he flew past the base he could see that a significant amount of damage had been done to it and he couldn't help the feeling of pride swelling in him. Soon after he had begun flying he landed next to the group of rebels and the rebel ships. He got out of the lion as soon as it touched ground and began scaling its legs again, rope already being pulled out of his pack as to follow the original plan - tie her up real good and haul her out of there with their allies pod. The pod hovered above the lion as soon as he had finished tying her up and it automatically attached the rope to the bottom of the pod - technology is truly amazing - and lifted her up.

Leandro quickly turned and ran into the main rebel ship, where the rest of the rebels that didn't fly in in smaller pods had gathered. The ship's port door closed behind him and soon, the ship was lifting off. There were Galra pods on their tail, which they had the rebel pods take care of. Leandro stood with his friends - Peter, Harence, and Akira.

Although he noticed something felt ... off. It was strange, and he stood in silence, pondering what could be missing. It didn't take him long to realize it was the blue lion - he felt his being, very essence being pulled towards it, wishing to be back in that seat, looking through the eyes of the lion, piloting it, fighting with it. Almost like they had a bond, that it was a sentient being that was alongside him, rather than a ship he was piloting. He pondered on that for a moment - it was highly likely and reasonable for it to be sentient seeing as how it had acted. And that bonding part? He felt like that battle was a bonding moment and he - he wished to bond more with this war machine? How odd, wanting to have a bond with a -

"Leandro!" he heard voices call, and he snapped out of his thoughts, leaving them for another time.

He was so entranced in his thoughts and this odd feeling that he didn't even notice his friends trying to get his attention. He hadn't even noticed Akira calling out to him. He was normally so talkative, yet here he was, standing silent.

"You alright man?" Harence asked him, concern clear on his face. Leandro sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Of course! You know me, always cool," he said, adding finger guns at the end.

Peter groaned, "Yup, he's back." Akira looked at him.

"So, were you actually having thoughts or what?", he teased.

"Actually yes, unlike someone I know," Leandro responded, taking the bait and teasing Akira back.

"Interesting," Peter said like he was making an observation, "Now tell me, what was this thought process about?"

"Well, it was about the lion," Leandro says, tone harboring an obviously edge to it.

"Right, how were you even able to fly that?" Peter said, teasing over and tone instead replaced with confusion and curiousity.

"Yeah, I thought they hadn't flown in centuries and most likely wouldn't be able to be piloted until 'worthy people came along'?" Harence added before Leandro could even answer.

"I don't know. It just, roared to life when I came near and I ran into it and flew it. It almost felt like - like I had a bond with it? I know it sounds strange, but, I felt like I was pulled towards it," he answered with just as much confusion, and about summing up his thoughts.

"I don't know about the pulling and bond, but it sounds like you're the pilot of the blue lion," Akira's voice cut in, tone pretty indifferent. Leandro took a moment to fully process what he had just said.

"What," he responded intelligently. Thank god or whatever being out there that Akira is his friend and so he didn't think him as dumb. Or at least, too dumb. 

"Congratulations, you are a candidate for piloting the blue lion Leandro," Akira told him, sass biting into his sentence.

"Uh, thanks." Leandro said, still processing. And they didn't talk about it all for the rest of the ride home.