Return Of The Stars

Chapter 5: Preparations Part 2

** Trigger Warning: descriptions of decomposition. It's not very detailed but if you wish to skip it follow the ~ markers. One at the start and one at the end.

Krolia had continued to direct the rest of the meeting. Debating back and forth with Allura and the Garrison Command until they finally, finally , hashed out a mutually agreed upon plan. The other Galaxy Garrison bases had been given their directives and everything was set in motion to bring about Earth's liberation. The room was dismissed with instructions for specific preparatory assignments, while the Garrison senior command hung back to discuss other things. Things team Voltron "didn't have the clearance" to know.

All five Paladins had been ordered to their lions; Pidge assigned to retrieve the additional Blade of Marmora operatives, and the others to surveil in case of emergency. Red being the fastest of the lions meant Keith had been instructed to monitor Pidge, while Yellow as the slowest had Hunk watching the local MFE pilots. Since Blue and Black were both faster than Yellow, Lance and Shiro were assigned the other four Garrison bases between them.

After a short detour to his dorm, Keith found himself practically skipping with elation as he made his way through the winding train tunnels under the compound; his paladin armour a welcome change from the restricting Cadet uniform. In the back of his mind Keith could feel Red's anxious purring grow louder with each step. Their time at the Garrison was now the longest he'd ever been separated from Red since becoming her Paladin and Stars he'd missed her.

Their procession was organized with Hunk and Shiro each pulling a small cart stacked with the large wooden crates storing the devices they were to load into the Green Lion. Lance prowled directly in front of them with his rifle aimed and ready, using its viewfinder to scan the many dark corners in the maze of tunnels, searching for any sign of hostiles. Pidge typed feverishly into a handheld device, orange light illuminating their face in a childish way aided by the fact that they had climbed atop one of the crates on Shiro's cart. Perched with their legs folded under them, the tiny tech worked away, occasionally grumbling as the cart was jostled, and nearly falling off entirely after a particularly sharp turn.

Keith was leading the charge, sword drawn, and blood singing in his veins as he stalked through the dark tunnels. Lance, Hunk, and Shiro had turned on the night vision in their helmet's visor but Keith didn't need it, his golden eyes glowed softly as he carefully scanned his surroundings. So far they hadn't come across anything other than the odd rat; a rather large one had been dubbed "Splinter" by Lance. The further into the tunnels they progressed, the stronger the underlying smell became. What had started as a faint odour clinging to the still air had now become nearly palpable and distinct. So very distinct.

~ Skip Mark ~

Keith had gotten used to fighting battles that he could just walk away from, not having to stay behind and deal with the "clean up". This particular smell was one he hadn't had to endure for quite some time and, though he'd had plenty of training on handling his stomach, it was a difficult one to get used to.

"OH GOD! What the quiznak is that?" Hunk gasped as he and the rest of the group caught up. "Ugh, it's filtering in through my helmet - huuyuuk - I'm gonna be sick!" Before Keith could turn around and stop him Hunk had already removed his helmet, emptying the contents of his stomach in the middle of the tracks. "Oh - oh man, oh it's so much worse now!" He cried out as his entire body lurched once again.

Lance was babbling on about the stench and Pidge was switching their helmet settings to seal out the air of the tunnels. But Shiro - Shiro had gone very still and very pale.

"Ugh, what is that!!" Hunk cried again. "It smells like ... like ... I don't even have a reference! It just smells terrible!" He was shaking his head, one arm resting against the wall of the tunnel with his helmet gripped loosely in the other as sweat beaded on his forehead. Keith could see his dark skin take on a slightly green tint. Humans were fascinating.