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It was hard piloting in that situation. Keith may have a great talent, but he doesn’t have the real experience of driving a ship inside a solar storm while a pirate ship shot at said ship. He’s still able to avoid major damage to the ship so it can still navigate, but it’s too slow to hope to shake off the pursuers.
In front of him, a little on the right, an asteroid belt appears. Keith was the best in that kind of simulation. Following his instinct, he turns the direction of the ship on the right: Red is smaller, so it can slip towards the asteroids, but the Black Lion is bigger and it may have problems web if they have a good pilot.
But before he’s able to sink the ship inside the belt, a shot hit the ship on the side, a shot Keith wasn’t able to avoid it. The hit makes the ship swings on the right and Keith loses his balance. He falls down and crashes on the wall. He hits his head and stays there for few minutes, a little bit disoriented.
When his legs are able to sustain him again, he rushes towards the helm, but it’s too late. No matter his efforts, the ship isn’t following his orders anymore, and there are only two possible explanations: the engine was hit and it’s now broken, or the pirates are boarding them.
With his gun in his hand, Keith returns in the upper desk and finds himself in the middle of the fight. Zethrid is fighting with his bare punches, slowing down the pirates as Ezor helps her to push them back. In the middle of the fight, both Allura and Shiro have torches in their hand, but apparently Shiro was right and the ritual to kill the pirates only works if they’re tied to a rock: the pirates’ clothes burn but they don’t slow down, and it’s even more dangerous for the ship itself, that already has some small burn on the ground. Romelle is on the back, and shots flame arrows directly to the Black Lion’s deck, hoping to damage it enough to force the pirates to focus more on it.
“Gentlemen,” Lotor’s voice sounds clearly despite the chaos on the decks. “Now that we’re all here, my suggestion is to calm down.”
Sendak grabs Shiro by the collar and smashes him on the ground. “You lied to me, and now you’re gonna paid,” and his voice is calm despite his feral expression. His gun his pressed against Shiro’s throat.
“I’m pretty sure we can settle things right if we just stop to talk, and if any of us does something stupid.”
Without thinking, Keith jumps on the parapet and places the gun on his own neck. “If you don’t stop and let Shiro go, I’ll kill myself!”
Sendak’s expression doesn’t change, but he stops. “And why should I care?”
“Because I’m the son on the person that stole this blade on the first place,” Keith says, and he shows the blade on his hand. “And you need my blood to destroy your curse.”
“Something stupid like this,” Lotor ends up disappointed.
“Why should we believe you?” Sendak asks, even if his pirates talked to each other about how much Keith resembles to Krolia.
Keith takes a breath and relax as Shiro taught him. The blade in his hand turns into a sword and everyone around gasp. Sendak smirks, predatory.
“What do you want?”
“Let Shiro go!” Keith orders immediately. “Don’t kill the others too!” he adds, looking at Allura.
“If I may…” Lotor tries to intervene, but Sendak cuts him off.
“Granted.”
“You’ve gotta kidding me.”
Lotor looks with an incredulous opened mouth the desolation of the destroyed base. At his side, Shirogane frowns, but he seems quieter than he should be.
“Sendak, you liar!” Keith is screaming from the Black Lion. “You promised to let Shiro go.”
“And that’s what I’m doing. If you’d like for me to bring him into a specific place, you should have told me before. Now stop pestering me, boy.”
Keith tries to protest again but his yells got cutting off. Lotor should have been angry at him for being so stupid, but to be honest somehow he understands it.
“Well, Lotor, looks like you remember this was the place we abandoned you last time.”
“Yeah, I’ve recognized him.”
“Good luck in surviving this time too. Wonder who’s the real immortal now.” Sendak leaves with a last, satisfied grin.
“What’s this place?” Shirogane asks, once the Black Lion was far at the horizon and Lotor walks towards the inside of the base, his steps resounding on the empty space.
“An old abandoned Garrison base,” he answers, since Shirogane is following him. “The build him during the war, to monitoring this area, but the solar storms are too strong here both for transmission and movements so it became soon useless.”
“And they left you here, after you killed the previous captain.”
Lotor gritted his teeth, but not correct the statement. “Don’t remember me.”
“How did you escape last time?”
“Smugglers.” Lotor points out at one of the closed metal door, then he pushes to open it. Dust and webs fly around. “They utilized this base to hide their goodies, and I negotiated a lift with them. But, as you can see, they aren’t around anymore so we’re trapped here.” He takes a bottle from the room, shakes a little to free it from the dust, and takes a sip of rum. “Be my guest.”
“Lotor,” Shirogane says.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, we’re going to die now that they have the last blade and the last blood, so, who cares.”
“Another good reason to tell me everything. You’re the one that bring Keith to them after all.”
“Fair,” Lotor rolls his eyes, “but you can imagine Keith wouldn’t have accepted to stay back with you in danger.”
“That’s probably true.” A soft smile is on Shirogane’s face. “But you lied to him, or at least kept some informations for you, so spill them.”
“There isn’t much.” Lotor realizes Shirogane isn’t Keith, and he isn’t let it go, as a true Garrison Captain. A pain in the ass. “When I realized what my mother’s plan was, I tried to stop it, and I failed. My father killing himself was useless, and I was kicked off from my own ship. Then, I found out the crew has become immortal, and I immediately realized the dark entities from the legends was freed.”
“You mean the nanomachines?”
Lotor nods. “But I was wrong. I believed it was my mother’s doing, and that I could stop them by taking back the blades. But the fact the pirates stole the blade in the first place freed the nanomachines. The dark entities behind them is still trapped, but not for long.”
“The blood…”
“Yep. Returning the blade and make sacrifices with blood will untied the spell that the first owners of the blades use to trapped the entities.”
“It makes sense,” Shirogane reflects to himself. “The blood isn’t part of the original legend. And I was wondering why Sendak would want stop his immortality, despite his explanation… The nanomachines are controlling them for free their boss. But then, how do we stop it? Returning the blade without the blood can be enough?”
“That, I don’t know. After my failure with my army, I searched for another solution, but without results. I hope to keep at least one blade away from Sendak, but now…”
Shirogane chuckles, and Lotor lifts an eyebrow. “This story teaches us something: don’t steal!”
Lotor looks at his stolen rum bottle and shakes his head. “I’ll keep in mind in my next life.”
He doesn’t notice Shirogane’s disappearance, not until he ends the bottle. Then he turns to take another one from the room and sees he’s alone. With a frown, he follows the strange sounds and finds Shirogane in the older control room of the base. Shirogane tries to connect two caves and presses some buttons. The control beeps and then dies again.
“What are you doing?”
“Even if they’re old, I know how this controls work. I can send a sos around.”
“To the Garrison.”
“Well, this is a Garrison base.”
“May I reminder you I’m a pirate and Garrison aren’t my favorite people.”
“Oh, it means you don’t like me?” Shirogane replies, a fake wounded expression on his face. “Don’t worry, you already stated you prefer spending your last hours here, drinking old room and drowning in self-pity.”
Lotor is going to be petty about it. He kicks the machine, that beeps again. “Those things are too old, I doubt they can send a signal so long to be caught.”
He leaves the room and returns to the outside, in time to see a Garrison ship floating upon him. Shirogane reaches him with a smug smile. Lotor snorts.
“Oh, bite me!”
Between all the people, Shiro is happy Adam is the commander of the rescue ship. He hopes Adam’s easier to convince.
He’s wrong, because even if Adam listened to Shiro’s explanations, he immediately gives order to the ship to return to the base.
“Have you understand what I tell you, Adam?” Shiro says, and his tone is annoyed.
“I did, Takashi,” Adam speaks as he’s a baby. “Immortal pirates that are about to free an evil dark entity? It’s hard to believe. And it comes from a pirate’s mouth too.” And he throws a look at Lotor, who’s still on the main deck, even if his hands are already handcuffed behind his back.
“You fought with them back there, haven’t you noticed something strange?”
Adam sighes. “I had. But still, it isn’t a bigger reason for us to turn back to the base and explain the situation to everyone? With the information you got, we can prepare more efficient countermeasures.”
“But Keith will be death at that point,” Shiro replies.
“I’m not happy to leave him too, but I have no choice. I can’t risk my men – our men – only to save one person.”
“You came for me.”
“It’s different,” Adam immediately says. “I have orders for you, and you’re a Garrison Captain. Keith is someone that ignored orders and plotted with a pirate, even helping him to evade from a Garrison prison.”
“To save me,” Shiro points out.
Adam shakes his head. “Like I said, I can’t go back for only one man, not matter how much I want to.”
“Fine, then,” Shiro snorts. “I’m sorry I won’t be able to marry you then.”
“What?” Adam looks at him baffled.
“I’d like to marry you, but I won’t build my own happiness by the idea that I or my husband would leave the man who saved my life to die. Not if we can avoid it.”
The conflict is clear on Adam’s face. “Fine, Takashi. Let’s try to save him.”
With his hand handcuffed behind his back, Keith is dragged to the cave again. He looks with wide eyes at the jaguar pictures as they place him in front of the only free spot from the blades. Sendak is behind him, with a hand on his shoulder.
“Finally, it’s time.”
“I won’t do it if I were you.” Lotor’s voice resounds in the cave, and Sendak growls.
“You again!”
“Me, yes.” Lotor walks steady towards him, the pirates that glare at him but not attack him, not until a direct order. “And you should be grateful for it, since I’m here to warn you about the fact you have a Garrison ship just outside the cave, ready to kill you. I don’t think dying is the best way to spend your freedom for your curse.”
“Where’s Shiro?” Keith asks.
“Safe, as I promised. He’s going to marry a man named Adam as he promised. And you’re going to die, as you promised, so we’re all men with one word.”
“What do you want, Lotor?” Sendak growls. “I gave you two occasion to survive and leave us alone, you should have taken them.”
“I excuse you bad manner because I understand it’s a tense situation.” At this point, Lotor is in front of them, smiling sweetly. “I came here early to warn you about Shirogane’s lies, and to deliver you the real Krolia’s son, and you refused to listen. Now, will you listen to me about the Garrison ship?”
Sendak narrows his eyes. “So you’re telling me you’re trying to help us all this time? Why should I believe you?”
“Because, at the end of the day, I’m a pirate,” Lotor answers, as his right fingers rub the rock wall. “I don’t care about the Black Lion anymore, but a nice, long, comfortable life. I gave you him,” and passes his left arms on Keth’s shoulders, “and now I valuable information. I think I ca accept something as payment,” he kicks one of the golden vases in the ground, “and then I’ll be my way.”
In all this, Keith doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t understand Lotor, at all. Allura didn’t tell him Lotor is a bad man, just one ready to do everything. And in that moment, he’s giving Keith some time and, if Shiro is for real with the Garrison, they know how to kill the pirates even if they’re immortal. It’s better playing with Lotor’s plan, even if he may be wrong.
“Decide fast, Sendak,” Lotor says. “In few minutes, the Garrison will attack.”
Sendak turns to his men in the cave. “Go. Kill them all, and fast. We have a sacrifice to make.”
“Wise choise,” Lotor murmurs, once all the men but a couple, who remain to surveil the entrance of the cave.
“I don’t like you,” Sendak says. “But maybe, finally, you’ve became a real pirate, like your father.”
“Maybe,” Lotor nods. “Or maybe not.”
In a flash of light, the blade he stole secretly before turns into a full sword he uses to cut Keith’s handcuffs. Keith rolls on one side, just when Sendak, with a yell, screams angry at Lotor and tries to shot him. Lotor’s body startles under the shots, but he doesn’t fall. A smirk appears on his face.
“This time, stealing was the right answer.”
With a swift movement, he opens cut a wound on Sendak’s arm: nothing that can hurt him for real, but Sendak is force to let the blade go, and Keith rushes to take it. He stands up next to Lotor, sword already transformed.
“Go help your Shiro,” Lotor says, in an amused tone. Then, his face hardens. “I take care of him.”
“Be careful,” Keith whispers before rushing towards the exit.
He doesn’t let the two men on guards stopping him and he kicks them out of the way and exits the temple. In front of the stair, the battle explodes. There are fires under rocks, and Garrison soldier with their uniform fighting pirates.
He sees Shiro and runs to him.
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