Doom scrolling on the Sky Shop and I see the little keychains and I'm probably gonna get one or two but the placements of the elders??
Like, we have the elders who were either reluctant to use dark stone or at the very least recognised how bad it was for the environment. Next week have the two elders who were absolutely against dark stone, one starting a fucking war over it. And the last two are the ones who used a disproportionate amount of dark stone just because!!!!!
I'm probably reading too much into it but like com'on!!! Look!!
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Shiro’s voice grates on his ears.
It’s not a fair thing to say. It’s not even Shiro’s fault. It’s just – they’ve been planning this mission for weeks. Day after day, briefing after briefing, it feels like the only thing they’ve talked about is this stupid fucking mission. And Keith gets it, really. If they manage this successfully, that’s thousands of weapons that Zarkon won’t have, that they’ll no longer have to fight.
But they’ve been talking in circles forever. There are holes in the plan, and everyone knows it, but they’re exhausted and burnt out and no one can come up with anything better, so they have to take what few ideas and resources they have and pray for the best, because hope simply won’t cut it anymore.
Keith suits up as quickly as possible, riding the zipline to his lion in stony silence. He almost feels like it would be more appropriate to walk – it feels as if he’s rapidly approaching his death; the team’s death. The inherent joy and fun of the zipline feels wrong, but it would take too long to walk.
The comms crackle to life as soon as Keith is settled in the pilot’s chair, everyone’s colour-coded communication line buzzing in one by one. Keith watches them, burning the bright colours into his memory. He’s terrified to lose them.
“Hey, Mullet.”
It’s of course Lance who speaks first, opening a private channel between them. Keith doesn’t respond for a moment, and Lance doesn’t press. He hums, something quick and bright, just letting Keith know he’s there. Keith takes a deep breath, forcing his hands to stop shaking.
“Yeah, Lance.”
It’s Lance’s turn to be quiet for a moment, even the humming and ever-present tapping of his fingers stopping.
“We’re going to be fine, you know.”
Keith swallows. “I know.”
“I mean it. All of us. We’re going to work the plan until it falls apart, because it always does –” Keith snorts, because somehow Lance has managed to make that into a joke, a tease, when just seconds ago the very thought sent waves of panic through his head – “and we are going to flawlessly ad-lib our way out of shenanigans, as we always do. We are going to be fine.”
Lance leaves no room for argument. He very rarely does, and lately that has been making Keith smile. Lance’s surety has become comforting, his self-confidence a breath of relief in the ocean of uncertainty and fear they all seem to be drowning in all the time.
But still. The risks.
“But Pidge is almost completely undefended –”
“She’ll be fine. She could kill God with her bare hands if she was mad enough.”
“Hunk is going through the east wing alone –”
“Um, alone with his grenade launcher, you mean. He’s fine.”
“There are just – there are so many risks, Lance.”
Keith can’t see him. It’s only an audio call. But he can imagine Lance’s face softening, the corner of his mouth twitching the way it always does when he wants to gather someone up in a tight hug but isn’t sure if he’s allowed.
“Pidge and Hunk will be fine, Keith. We’ll all be fine. We’ll kick some Empire ass and get out, and then you and I can go punch those jitters away, okay?”
Keith is still worried. The fear still races through his veins.
But Lance is right. As usual. (Not that Keith will ever tell him that.)
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
As they approach the massive planet-turned-weapons-factory, Pidge’s cloaking device on in each of their lions, Keith tries to borrow Lance’s faith. His unwavering belief in the team, in their impending success, even when the odds are stacked intensely against them. Lance trusts each of them so strongly.
Keith takes a deep breath, and decides he will have faith, too.
– – –
next chapter
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