For The Stars

Chapter 13: Babysitting

"I don't understand why Keith gets to ride shot gun. I CALLED IT!" Lance whined for the 30th time since departing the Castle of Lions. He sat in the cargo hold of the small Altean pod with both his arms and legs crossed, and a rather childish pout on his face. He'd scowled heartily at the doors when Keith shut them, segregating the three Humans in the cargo hold from the Galra and Altean in the cockpit. Normally this would have meant the young Blade didn't have to listen to them, however Altean pods had the inconvenient ability to allow the cargo hold to message the cockpit. Thus allowing Lance to whine unendingly over the coms.

It had been explained to them all that Keith needed to be in the cockpit to provide his Operative ID and the coordinates of the base they were headed to. Without him, there was no way their little pod would be allowed to dock. Keith glanced to the side and watched the vein on Coran's forehead as it pulsed in annoyance. He tried his best to suppress the snicker but earned himself an unimpressed side-eye glare from the Altean. They were still another varga away from the Blade base and he rolled his eyes as Hunk's voice explained everything to Lance yet again. The com line still connected. "Lance, buddy, you know the rules. You calling shotgun from the bridge doesn't count!"

"Since when?"

"Uh, since forever! You have to be in the pod bay to call it. That's shotgun etiquette!"

"Will you two knock it off?" Pidge interjected just as Lance was about to retort. They were met with a defiant huff and an ensuing silence as the coms were disconnected.

Thank the Ancients! He thought to himself with a sigh and relaxed into his seat slightly. It was nearly 20 dobashes before Lance complained over the coms again.

Transit Base Kassatae was approximately the same size as Communications Base Thaldycon, but with a much higher volume of residents at any given time. Both bases were capable of supporting 2,000 occupants, however Thaldycon only ever reached a max of 10, while Kassatae was rarely fewer than 300. This meant that Thaldycon felt large and mostly empty, and Kassatae was constantly buzzing with activity. It reminded him of their Head Quarters.

As a transit base, Kassatae had a much larger docking station with 55 hangars in total; more than triple the amount on bases of a similar size. The cafeteria was larger; there were more lounge areas, more sleeping quarters, more washing facilities, more training decks, and one very special holding room.

To prevent the small transit bases from running out of space on their resting walls, each was equipped with a special holding room that contained crates filled with the soft purple sand of Daibazaal. This room is where Keith found himself as he waited for their pod to be ready. He opened one of the unsealed crates and added the four blades he'd been given back on Olkarion. Placing them gently into the sand (blade buried to the hilt vertically) he took a small handful and rubbed it into the sigil on the handle of each blade with his thumb, returning the lid of the crate when he had finished. Once the crates were full, they would be sealed and taken to Headquarters where Kolivan would set each blade into one of the many, many resting walls on base. There were crates destined for specific bases, and crates destined for the Main base. Any Operative whose home base was unknown would have their blade sent to Kolivan. Therefore, of the 50 or so crates in the holding room, approximately 30 of them were headed for Headquarters.

When he finished placing the blades, Keith exited into the hall. His red and white paladin armour marked his as 'other' to the Operatives of the base and most shot him dirty looks when they saw where he had come from. Keith mostly ignored them. But it was a new sensation, one he wasn't fond of in the least. He'd traveled to other bases before when he was on missions, and he'd even had to stay at a transit base for a few quintants while waiting for his pod to be repaired. But each time he had been in his Blade suit and his presence was never questioned, just another Halfling member of the Blade of Marmora. Now, in his Paladin armour, he was being met with skepticism and apprehension. He didn't like it one bit.