Of The Stars

Chapter 10: Paladins

A bright purple light streaked across the sky and Keith exchanged a knowing look with his dad. "Go, take the hover bike." Keith grinned excitedly and took off as fast as the modified bike would go. When he arrived at the 'popup' containment tents, he shot off a quick text to Katie.

< At tent - you in position? >

< Ya - lemme know what U C >

< Shit tonne of Garrison folks >

< U been in Texas all of 2 yrs and ur already sounding like ur dad >
< snort – 'folks' >
< loser >

< shut up Katie – just focus on getting the feeds >

< don't tell me what 2 do! >

< then do it! Stars! >
< hurry up! >
< NOW Katie - please >

< ok – do u wanna go in blind? Cause fuck u I'll send ur ass in blind! >

< sorry >

< damn right >
< I'm in >
< looks like 3 folks inside>

< thnx > He chose to be the bigger person and not comment on her mocking use of 'folks', instead he set the timer on the explosives and waited. There was a 2 dobash delay and he used that time to do some quick reconnaissance work. Taking a scan of Shiro's pod and disabling the command system and the tracking. If he couldn't take the pod with him, at least he could prevent the Empire from tracking its whereabouts.

4 large blasts went off and he charged, rushing into the complex and taking out the 3 scientists easily. Shiro blinked into consciousness for a tic or two before promptly passing back out, causing Keith to curse the Ancients for making this rescue substantially more difficult. Using his blade, he cut the straps holding the man down and carried him for the exit.

"Oh nonono – no you don't, I'M saving Shiro."

"Lance, this isn't a good time! Get out of the way." He didn't move, instead BlueEyes came and picked up Shiro's other arm, wrapping it around his neck, much like Keith was, and helped him carry the man out. He could have done it himself, he didn't need Lance's help, and he would never admit that it was slightly faster not having to drag the man – but dammit what was Lance even doing out here?

They walked out of the tent to find Katie and Hunk standing outside the entry looking around nervously. She frantically sputtered about the Garrison staff making their way back from the explosion site but Keith wasn't listening, he was too busy trying to heave Shiro's limp form onto the hover bike. He had planned to take himself, Shiro, and Katie on the bike and the two new additions complicated his escape route substantially. He couldn't rely on speed anymore, they were far too heavy for that, instead he'd need to rely on his super piloting and reflexes.

"Is this thing gunna be big enough for all of us?" Katie asked, knowing full well it would have been if she had done her job correctly and snuck out without being caught!

"No." He responded through clenched teeth and hit the throttle. Shooting the hover bike as fast as it could go given the circumstances.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Lance complained from directly behind him as if he wasn't part of the problem. The pissed off Garrison staff were gaining on them.

"We could toss off some non essential weight." He smirked to himself and Lance immediately agreed before catching on.

"Ok, so that was an insult. I get it -" Keith cut him off, yelling at Hunk to shift his weight to narrowly avoid being caught. He hollered to shift weight again, and they landed on a thin over hang. The Garrison jeeps followed, making the jump successfully and staying close to his tail. If they wanted to push him then he would push back, show them exactly why their stupid Earth tech wasn't good enough for him. There was a reason the Galra were known for their flight prowess. No one could fly like them, and Keith had been trained by the best. His face fell into a sly grin, the joy of a dangerous ride, the rush of adrenaline kicking in and coursing through his veins, pushing him to the limit and forcing him to excel. This was his element.