#slowest writer in the galaxy right here

[gethoce]

Project Halberd, Chapter 3: Protobot Armour

First - Previous

Upon arriving in the next room the trio is met with rows upon rows of containers filled with colourful vehicle parts attached to a rail system that is meant for transport from one point to another following a path on the ceiling of the hall. Excitedly Axe Knight points at them giving Meta Knight an enthusiastic look as he whispers to him. “Those can bring us straight to Mace Knight's location! We just have to sneak inside and let the machines do the rest.”

The blue knight observes the vehicle parts with great attention. It seems as though they were just large enough for the duo to remain obscured within a corner. A perfect hiding spot. All they need to do is to get past the workers first. Looking left and right he spots two Haltworkers eagerly moving differently coloured parts around and checking each for damages and imperfections. He would just have to find the right moment to sneak past them. As he whispers back to the skull-faced warrior he lifts a hand, not lifting his gaze from the Haltworkwers for even a second. “Which of these containers do you suggest we head for?”

The rail system has space for eight containers simultaneously, with six present at the time. Axe Knight analyses each from afar with a stern expression. The Haltworkers seem to move parts from containers featuring a single colour to one that holds a variety of differing colours. That is the one Axe Knight points towards as he replies, silently. “This one is being prepared for transport to the next section. Perhaps if we could cause a distraction these workers would look away just long enough for us to sneak inside.”

Meta Knight's gaze falls upon their new robot friend, who stares back at him attentively. He didn't need to speak a word, JAV138 begins to make its way towards one of the parts laid out for further damage inspection and pretends to get stuck on one of its corners, knocking it over onto the ground with a loud thud. In shock both Haltworkers turn their attention towards the robot, who innocently continues to float around. Hastily the two rush to the fallen part, lifting it off the ground nervously checking for damages while cursing the security unit under their breaths.

In the meantime Meta Knight signals for Axe Knight to get going. With swift yet silent steps they make their way to the container and climb into the corners of one of the lower hanging vehicle parts. The horned warrior moves his hands in front of his mouth holding back a chuckle. This had been the funniest thing he had done all week. Meta Knight, however, keeps his cool carefully continuing to listen in on what is going on outside of the container.

They can hear the two Haltworkers chatting before placing another part into the container. Soon after they can hear a gate shutting down. Axe Knight's eyes light up and he gives Meta Knight a triumphant thumbs up. Now it is only a matter of time until they will be transported to Mace Knight's location! Though he can't help but worry about JAV138. What if the robot behaves in a suspicious manner causing workers and security to become suspicious? Meta Knight is confident that the robot will find its way back to them eventually.

A couple minutes later a robotic arm appears above the container and lifts it up into the air before beginning to move the box away from this section of the factory. The two knights dare to peak out now that there are no more eyes on them and watch the many workers and machines go through their monotonous routines. Before too long Axe Knight points at their next destination, whispering loudly to not get drowned out by the sounds of the rails above. “There will be another worker there, but they will be busy preparing these parts for further assembly. At my signal we get outta here and sneak through the nearest gate. It should lead directly to Mace Knight's work station.”

Meta Knight nods, eyeing the gate closely. He can make out a figure clad in purple screwing lamps onto a vehicle part that looks much like the one they are currently hiding in. Shortly after the container is lowered into position and the gate opens once again. Axe Knight lifts a finger, carefully observing the motions of the Haltworker responsible for this section. They take out a part from a different box and begin to carry it to yet another machine.

As the worker turns their back to their container, Axe Knight signals for the two to leave. With his heart racing he rushes around a corner through the next gate and hides pressed against the other side of the wall, observing the area while keeping an eye open for Meta Knight who follows closely behind him. He lets out a sigh and then finally lays eyes upon his friend in need.

Mace Knight is right there, still wasting away doing his job, not noticing them yet. Without much further hesitation Axe Knight swiftly sneaks towards his side, heart pounding in his chest. The worker almost shrieks in surprise as he notices his friend. Axe Knight is here! Truly here! He can hardly contain his excitement, holding his hands against his mouth before embracing him in a tight hug. Angrily he whispers into his ear as the viking furiously hugs back. “Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? If security catches wind of this you're finished!”

Remembering the alarm from earlier worry creeps up on the assembly worker. He takes a deep breath. As frightened as he is there is a faint hope growing within his heart. By no means does he believe that they can actually leave this factory alive. The container method can only be used one way, they would have to find a different path out. Axe Knight holds onto his friend's shoulders and gestures towards the approaching Meta Knight with a nod. “Not with this knight by our side. He'll make short proces with anyone who will stand in our way! We run to the nearest exit and he'll chip away at anyone who dares to come close!”

The tall purple worker looks at the mercenary, unsure about his strength. He does look fierce, but could he truly stand up against war machines? It may be a high risk, yet he can't miss out on this chance. He doubted Axe Knight's words before, it is about time he trusts him. With a heavy heart he accepts the proposal. “Okay, there is a route we could take that should have less eyes on us initially.”

The knight turns around to face into the direction opposite of where they came from. Axe Knight strikes a victory pose exclaiming with glee. “Yeah, we will show them what's what!” Swiftly Mace Knight leads the two intruders towards the direction of a backdoor, attempting to look as non-suspicious as possible in the process. He briefly stops at a wall full of lockers and withdraws something from within without a word. As he turns around Meta Knight is surprised to find a huge morningstar resting within his arms. The cyborg nods as briefly explains himself. “Now we can go. I'm not gonna go through this unarmed.”

Axe Knight gives him two thumbs up and then giddily rushes to the nearby backdoor. The idea of being so close to freedom fills him with intense excitement that threatens to burst out at any scond. As he swings the door open a loud thud can be heard. Startled, he turns back to the door looking it up and down, yet it appears to be fine. Meta Knight turns around at that moment, having heard the thud coming from even further behind them.

“Something's coming,” he whispers just before the sounds reach their ears once again, now recognisable as metallic steps. A large robotic suit of armour stomps into view piloted by none other than Cyborg Samurai, Mace Knight's coworker who left earlier. Axe Knight's and his friend's eyes flash a bright red as they are struck with the startling realisation. Both exclaim at the same time what it is they are being faced with; “The Protobot Armour!”

Meta Knight doesn't hesitate to draw his sword in sparkling flash of yellow light as the machine approaches, a sharp look gracing his face, determination dazzling within his eyes. The suit of armour raises its arms in a display of threat as the samurai gives them a final warning. “Is this how you honour the man who has saved your life, repaired your broken body and offered you food and shelter, Mace Knight? Return to your station this instant and I shall forget about your transgressions. The other two, however, will be crushed for daring to trespass onto this property!”

A cold shiver runs down Mace Knight's spine. Of course he was immensely grateful for everything President Haltmann had done for him, yet was it enough to surrender his freedom for duty? The answer didn't come easy to him initially, yet now he knows what he needs to do; leave and never come back. “Gladly I worked for him out of gratitude for years, Cyborg, same as you, but there is a point in time where an agreement turns into exploitation and you need to realise that! This is your chance to leave as well, Cyborg! Come with us.”

Axe Knight pumps his fist in the air, agreeing with his best friend wholeheartedly, if perhaps sceptical about the probability of this warrior changing sides given how prepared he is, yet he cheers loudly all the same. “He's right, Cy! You gotta see that.” The Protobot Armour takes a step further towards the group, weapons readied for combat, his voice full of aggression as he snaps back at them. “If that's your final answer, then you too shall perish!”

Cyborg Samurai slams the right fist of the armour to the ground where the trio is standing. Axe Knight and Mace Knight cower in fear, weapons raised defensively. This is the end, they think, sobbing as their demise appears to be imminent. They hear a loud thud, yet there is no pain. Both look themselves up and down before raising their faces to stare at their companion. Meta Knight stands tall between the two, sword held high with two hands against the fist, eyes glowing with willpower, gaze shifting to the two as he speaks to them with a serious tone. “Continue to head for the exit. We just need to slow him down enough, this isn't over yet.”

“This is impossible! Mountains crumble before the might of the Protobot Armour! How are you still standing?” The samurai shouts, retracting his fist in a swinging motion, stepping back while gritting his teeth beneath his helmet, growling. “Dumb luck, that's all that was. Watch this!” He lifts the left arm of the machine which features a cannon, the circular parts within spin and glow as the weapon charges up with a violent sound. “We gotta get outta here!” Axe Knight shrieks before making a mad dash towards the door, followed by a frightened Mace Knight.

Meta Knight, however, does not back off. Instead he watches closely for a moment, annoying Cyborg Samurai immensely. Much to the worker's shock the knight steps forward just as the cannon is supposed to go off and does a swift back-flip kicking the weapon upwards so it's forced to aim into the air. A loud booming sound is heard as the cannon goes off and smoke fills the room, obscuring Meta Knight. This is his chance to slip away.

Grumbling Cyborg Samurai bats the smoke away, stepping forward In search of the escaping knights. The sirens of an alarm can be heard, putting pressure onto both his own mind and that of the escapees in the distance. Meta Knight catches up with the duo, as they make their way towards the fence that surrounds the factory. He signals his arrival to them with a wave, both cheering in delight. “You made it!”

“I thought you were a goner for sure!” Mace Knight exclaims, “He is not someone to be underestimated! Told you so!” Axe Knight replies, while Meta Knight turns back to see whether they are being followed. For the first time today he is visibly surprised as he discovers the armour he thought to be slow and sluggish racing after them with extreme speed. Before he can react the robot bats him away into the direction of a garbage container with a loud bang.

The duo gasps, turning around as they run, their jaws would drop if they had any. “Meta Knight!” Axe Knight shouts, while Mace Knight lifts his weapon ready to strike, shivering in fear. A sinister chuckle overcomes the samurai. “Hehehe, you really thought you could escape someone wearing the Protobot Armour? You should consider it an honour to be obliterated by its hand!” He points his cannon at them once again, this time already halfway charged up. The duo gulps, ready to parry the attack, desperately hoping that it would work.

Suddenly a sword slashes through the weak joint connecting the cannon to the rest of the armour and it drops to the ground with a thud. Meta Knight swooped by within the blink of an eye, red cape flaring out behind him revealing two impressive bat-like wings, sword still held out to his side. The samurai stares at him dumbfounded. It takes a few seconds until he finds himself capable of commenting on the matter. “You- you actually damaged the Protobot Armour? That… that is unforgivable!”

With a growl he commands the remaining arm to lunge forward towards the knight. Swiftly Meta Knight jumps on top of the arm and from there onto the cockpit of the armour. Before the arm can reach him he has already pulled the samurai out of his seat and thrown him onto the ground. The armour, now without a pilot, shuts down and Meta Knight leaps off of it landing in front of the other warrior holding his sword to his face.

The cyborg finds himself laying face down on the ground, unarmed and at the edge of a blade, all he can do now is run or surrender. Meta Knight briefly looks up to check in on his two companions, only to find them still waiting for him. “Keep going even when I'm behind!” He shouts as he steps towards them. “We gotta stick together! This is about leaving nobody behind!” Mace Knight replies loudly. Sniffling, Axe Knight rubs his eyes, sobbing. “This is the most beautiful conclusion you could have come to, Mace.”

Grumbling Meta Knight looks behind himself. Several security units are on the way to their location, floating even over the buildings to reach the trespassers. With a huff he narrows his eyes and turns his heels stepping forward. Suddenly, a hand grabs his cape, keeping him from going any further. Cyborg Samurai holds onto him tightly, yelling at him with a demanding undertone. “Don't just leave without finishing me off! Do not dishonour me thus!”

Meta Knight narrows his eyes at the fallen samurai disapprovingly, his gaze briefly shifting towards the approaching security units. With swift steps Axe Knight and Mace Knight move in front of the two, weapons raised high to buy them some time, the latter yelling at his former colleague. “Stop that nonsense, Cyborg! Just come with us instead of pitying yourself to death!”

“It is not about self-pity!” The samurai shouts back, “I have dishonoured President Haltmann by my defeat, the very person who saved my life. I must regain this honour by paying with this very life.” With a sharp exhale Meta Knight reacts, turning around once again walking towards the exit, much to the samurai's shock. “There is no honour in killing when it is not necessary. I will not do such a thing,” he replies with a rough tone.

“No. I do not wish to be served by anyone for any reason,” Meta Knight replies coldly as he walks away, “Yet you may follow us out of here.” This is good enough for the samurai, for now. He nods and giddily follows the blue warrior. Meanwhile Mace Knight and Axe Knight begin to struggle with the incoming amount of enemy units. For every robot smashed with a morningstar or slashed with a battle axe two new enemies seem to appear. The four become more and more cornered in, with the fence just in reach.

The samurai's face lights up in awe as he watches Meta Knight leave. These words of this stranger, so oddly familiar and inspiring. As hesitant as he was to abandon his duty, the words of these knights are of truth. With all his strength he gets back up and stumbles after the unfamiliar warrior, mumbling with emotion.

“Your code of honour… You must have learned from the great Morpho Knight! You've spared my life and therefore I owe you like I did President Haltmann before. Please allow me to serve you instead from this day forward!” He bows down to the knight while his former coworkers clash their weapons with the security units, visibly surprised, yet hoping for the approval of the mysterious knight.

Meta Knight raises his sword to the side ready to jump into action as suddenly one of the units begins to shoot down most of the robots directly surrounding the group. It is JAV138 who came back for them! The knight smiles and sheaths his sword before taking hold of Axe Knight and Mace Knight, wings spreading out wide before he takes flight taking the two warriors with him. They yelp in surprise, but quickly regain their composure, holding onto the knight while looking back to the chaos they're leaving behind at the factory.

The Cyborg Samurai reveals a jetpack on his back, floating after the team with great speed and regained confidence, followed by the rogue security unit, JAV138 who sets a couple more shots flying as they leave the area. “They will likely not give up so easily. We need to leave the planet as soon as possible,” Meta Knight explains while leading the team back to where he left Captain Vul with the stolen spaceship.

Axe Knight cheers as the factory fades into the distance. “I can't believe we actually made it out of this alive! The second I saw that armour I thought we were done for!” His friend remains a little more wary, replying with a cautious tone. “We aren't safe yet. They will certainly report this to the GSA. We are going to be wanted criminals. Still better than rotting away in that factory, I suppose.”

—

As the group approaches the hidden away spaceship Captain Vul takes another drag from his cigar, eyes narrowed as he looks into the distance, noticing that Meta Knight has come with more companions than expected. “Should 'ave expected the unexpected wit' that lad…”

Swiftly he rushes inside and starts the ship for a quick escape, leaving the door open as the vehicle rises into the air for the warriors to enter. “Hurry! We will likely be followed!” Meta Knight exclaims to the captain as he drops the two warriors back down and wanders to his seat as the door closes with everyone safely inside. The captain groans disgruntled. “Are ye determined t' get us killed? I thought this was gonna be a stealth mission! How much ruckus did ye cause?”

The four rescued warriors look out the window trying to spot the factory, both excited and anxious, except for JAV138 who keeps a cool head. “The HWC is aware of our transgressions and is going to report this event to the GSA. Caution is advised.” The captain takes a deep breath and gives Meta Knight a stern look, muttering something under his breath.

Remaining confident Meta Knight folds his wings back underneath his red cape, giving the captain some hope with his words. “We shall head to Silverstar first, then come up with a new strategy there. I'd hope to discard this ship to avoid suspicion.” The captain sighs with a weak smile, setting everything in motion for a quick travel to another planet. “Headin' t' Silverstar.”

[cinnamon-toast-whump-blog]

Space Sharks

Hello yes it is I, the Slowest Writer Ever, back again with an Emotions to give to you

I didn’t write the beginning very well I’m sorry but I got an ending ok for once so there’s that Seriously though, this prompt was so amazing and creative and much love back at u??? Anyways here we are lol

((Also homesick Klance because I am TrashTM, leave me here to die))

Word Count: 1480

Trigger Warning: Lotsa blood, drowning

From the instant they set foot on Vedalga, Lance couldn’t stop beaming. Sure, he had been expecting something pretty much like this—Coran had already told them about the beaches that covered the planet, complete with an ocean that was A) not made of acid and B) not contaminated with space germs that could kill them all. When the Altean had said “It’s completely safe for swimming!” Lance had nearly fucking lost it entirely. Swimming in a weird Altean pool on a magic flying castle was one thing, but an actual ocean? Like back on Earth? Lance was absolutely ecstatic. Some of his best memories from home were of him and his siblings at the beach—and he’d be lying if he said that he hadn’t been missing his family, his Earth, for a while now. The chance to revisit those things, even just a little bit, was making Lance even more energetic than usual.

“—and Hunk, you’ve gotta show everyone your cannonball, it’s the best thing ever—and can we make sandcastles? I think we should make sandcastles.”

“Jesus, Lance,” Shiro laughed, “I think you might need to calm down a little bit.”

Lance grinned. “Nope. No can do. Not when it comes to surprise space beach vacations, man.”

“This guy loves the ocean so much that he’s basically a merman, at this point.” Hunk said. “Seriously. We’re gonna have to drag him out of the water.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Lance! The castle’s going to be here in 5 minutes, and then we’re going to go train for a while. Come and get dried off.” Lance was a bit too far out to see Keith well, but he had no doubt that he was rolling his eyes. The rest of his team was out of the water, now, and Lance was getting tired enough from a day spent swimming that he was seriously considering getting out anyways—that being said, he couldn’t just go along with Keith right away. He had a rivalry to maintain, dammit, even if he’d been softening up to the red paladin for a while now.

“Come and get me, Mullet!” He taunted, smiling crookedly until he noticed the look on Keith’s face.

Lance didn’t register the dark shadow in the water beneath him, or the way that the waves seemed just a little bit choppier all of a sudden, swirling slightly as if something else was pushing its way through it. He didn’t pay attention to the fact that for a moment, everything seemed ever so slightly… sinister. Off.

He did, however, briefly notice the way Keith’s face twisted up in horror, right before something bit into his leg and yanked him under the surface of the water.

He registered the pull more than the pain, at first—the feeling of being suddenly underwater, without enough warning to take a breath, the feeling of being dragged down and down—and then Lance felt the cold and sharp and brutal something crunching down on his leg, grinding against the bones of his ankle, gouging into them, and he couldn’t help but scream even more of his breath away. It just hurt so fucking much. Lance needed to breathe, and he needed this to stop, and he needed to maybe just go to sleep for a while, because this was just a bit too much, thanks.

It felt like he was being ripped apart. Lance tried to kick at whatever had a hold of him with his other leg—god, make it stop—but that just made it bite even harder. His lungs were on fire, and there were jaws tightening into and through his flesh, and that was enough for him to think fuck it, I had a good enough run I guess before everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~

Keith had never seen anything like it. When he first saw the shark-like creature in the water, a bit below Lance, it had taken a moment for the image to sink in. The red paladin’s initial thought of what the fuck is that giant space demon had quickly morphed into a wordless sense of terror, and he couldn’t help but freeze up for a second or two—just long enough for it to sink its teeth, too long and too jagged, into Lance’s leg. Just long enough for a red tint to settle into the spot where the blue paladin used to be. He heard a voice—his, possibly—yell Lance’s name, and footsteps behind him as he dove into the water.

“Keith, what happened?”

“Is that blood?”

“Oh, shit, Lance!”

The creature was pulling Lance down more slowly now, and Keith swam towards them without a weapon or plan beyond ‘get Lance holy fuck get Lance now,’ but he was spared having to think of one when he saw the purple-white glow of Shiro’s galra arm beside him.

The red paladin was vaguely aware of Shiro cutting into the thing’s face, of its jaws releasing Lance’s leg, but he was far more preoccupied with the fact that everything was red and they needed to get him out of here right. now. The light from Shiro’s hand illuminated the water, but they couldn’t see through the cloud of dark blood surrounding Lance, stretching all the way back up to the surface. He pulled Lance through it, hoping and praying that it wasn’t that bad, but Lance was cold and still in Keith’s arms as they finally, finally reached the beach, Shiro on their tail with alien blood coating his arm.

              Lance didn’t start breathing until over a minute after that, but it felt like hours. While Shiro had been doing CPR on him, the others had gotten a good chance to look at his leg, and it was bad. It was so, so bad. You could see his bones in two or three places, and his ankle was a mangled mess, and there was way, way too much blood. Hunk had to step away to vomit as they tried to stop the bleeding, start Lance breathing again, do anything to just keep him alive, dammit, the castle will be here soon.

It wasn’t until they got Lance, glassy-eyed and pale, into a healing pod, that Keith finally let himself cry.

~~~~~~~~~~

A week and a half later, Lance left the healing pod. Thankfully, they hadn’t had to remove his leg, like Allura had originally predicted, and he was a little shaky but otherwise alright. Physically, that is. He disappeared shortly after, vanishing into some corner of the castle with a forced joke and a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Eventually, Keith found him in the observatory, looking at the holoscreen of stars.

“Um.” Lance jumped at his voice but didn’t turn to look at him. Keith scratched his neck. “How are you doing? After, you know.”

“I’m… fine.” The hesitation and slight tremor in Lance’s voice answered the question for him.

“Lance, it’s okay if you’re not, you know.” Keith stepped closer to the blue paladin, noticing as he did the fact that oh shit, he was crying.

Oh, god, how was Keith supposed to deal with this? What were people supposed to say to crying victims of space shark attacks who also happen to be really, really important to them in a not-rivals kind of way? He settled for just putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder, only to stiffen in shock when the other boy turned around and hugged him tightly.

Lance rambled, “I just… I thought I was gonna die, Keith. And from that, of all the quiznacking things to choose from. From swimming. And the whole time,” He laughed tearfully. “I just kept thinking, ‘I finally get to do something that reminds me of home again, and it fucking kills me.’”

“Lance...”

“God, I just…” He trailed off, looking at the holoscreen in front of them at what Keith suddenly recognized as the Milky Way. “I just miss it so much, Keith. I miss home.”

“Yeah.” Keith wasn’t one to talk all that much; he figured it better to just let Lance speak for a while.

The other boy leaned against him. “I miss the ocean. The real, Earth one.”

“Yeah.”

“I miss Veradera beach.”

“Yeah.”

“I miss my mom.”

“…yeah.”

“I miss…”

The two of them stood there for a while, staring at the swirling pinpricks of light on the screen. It all looked so peaceful like that—just little blue stars and galaxies, small and pristine and just a breath away. They both knew that they weren’t really like that, though. Up close, it was scary. It was dangerous and terrifying, and everything was so very far away from the two of them, and it was so hard sometimes to find something to help them through it.

But for at least for now, the teammate at their side would be enough.