Chapter Text
”ENTIRE CREW LOST IN KERBEROS MISSION DISASTER”
The announcement came on a Tuesday morning. Somewhere, on the other side of the galaxy, three of the greatest minds from the Garrison were suddenly gone.
Everyone took the news hard, but Keith was particularly upset. He had never had many friends at the Garrison, and wasn’t looking forward to losing Shiro for the short period that he would be gone. But now…
He completely fell apart. He stopped going to classes, started crashing easy simulations, and picked fights with his other team members frequently. Most of the professors knew that Keith had been close with Shiro, and were reluctant to discipline one of their best students. Losing someone close was hard, but everyone assumed he would move on eventually and return to his normal self.
A few months after the news broke, their hopes seem to come true as the shock wore off. Keith’s temper seemed to dim, and though he lacked his usual spirit, he was no longer unstable. This came as a huge relief to the Garrison staff, as they worried they would have to intervene soon. Now, though, they looked forward to the return of their top pilot.
Grief is difficult, though.
Keith went through the typical five stages of grief; refusal to acknowledge the news, anger and fits of violence, wishing it had been him on the mission instead, becoming withdrawn and sad. It was hard to see, but eventually acceptance would come as well, and the sting of loss would fade.
Unfortunately for the Garrison staff, Keith was far more perceptive than people gave him credit for. While he had been hailed as a brilliant pilot, he hadn’t been known for his patience and problem-solving skills. Though no one could deny that he was stubborn, especially over things he cared about.
He cared about Shiro a lot.
Once the disorienting fog had phased out of his head, Keith began to think more about what exactly had happened. The Kerberos mission had consisted of two great scientists and a legendary pilot. Despite his skills, the accident had been attributed to pilot error. There was no evidence of a crash, and every news story said no further details would be released.
Wouldn’t they have some point of contact with the ship? Video footage, radio transmissions reporting some sort of error or malfunction? The lack of details and coherence were suspicious, but no one else spoke up out of fear of disrespecting the deceased.
Keith was never great with respect.
He began asking questions, refusing to take no for an answer. Do you know what happened before the accident? Was there a flaw with the ship you provided? Did they try to contact you beforehand? Where did the accident happen? Why did this happen?
The answer was always the same: “I don’t know.”
_
“You said yourself that Shiro was the best pilot to ever walk these halls. What happened to that, huh?”
“I don’t know what to tell you, cadet. Accidents happen.” The officer walked away briskly, but Keith was hot on his heels.
“That’s not an excuse!” Keith growled. “Accidents happen when something causes it, but no one will say what caused it.”
“Watch your mouth, cadet. That’s no way to speak to your superiors.”
“I’ll respect you when you respect me and the other pilots here! You’re doing a disservice to Shiro’s memory.”
The officer whirled to glare at Keith. “That’s enough, Kogane,” he bit.
Keith crossed his arms and glared down at his feet. He always pushed too hard.
“Now, I know you’re upset that you lost your friend, but that is no excuse to harass your officers. We’ve made it abundantly clear by now that we cannot disclose what happ-”
Keith perked up and looked up. “What?”
The officer scowled. “This needs to stop, or you will be disciplined.”
“No,” Keith interrupted. “You said you can’t say what happened. All this time you’ve been telling me you don’t know, but you just said you can’t say. So you do know what happened?”
The officer froze. “No, that is not-”
“Why are you hiding this? Was the Garrison at fault?”
“That is enough, cadet! No matter the circumstances, this issue does not concern you. Do not bring this up again, or you will face punishment. Understood?”
The officer began to retreat once more. Keith still followed. “No, I don’t understand!”
“This conversation is over.” With that, a door was slammed in Keith’s face.
_
This was getting ridiculous. The Garrison was hiding something, Keith was sure of it. The conversation with the officer just now made that more clear than ever. So how could he find out the truth? Asking was getting him nowhere, but what else could he do?
Keith marched back to his room, lost in thought over the argument he had just had. Something was suspicious about this whole situation, and the cover story-
“-makes no sense! A renown pilot, and two brilliant scientists? I know you’re not telling us the truth, and I’m gonna figure it out one way or another!”
Keith poked his head around the corner to see a short cadet arguing with another officer that Keith had been questioning last week. Probably not a pilot, as Keith didn’t recognize him.
The officer leaned down to meet his eyes. “I don’t care what you believe, cadet. Breaking into authorized computers is unacceptable, and if you are caught trying to access confidential information again, you will be expelled. Understood?”
The officer prevented any further argument by turning and walking away, leaving the shorter cadet fuming and storming off. He made his way towards the hall that Keith was hiding in, but before he could walk away, Keith grabbed his arm.
“Hey, I heard you arguing with that officer.”
Bright gold eyes met his in a cold glare. “Yeah, so, what’s it to you?”
Keith huffed. “So, I was a...friend of Shiro’s, and I know there’s no way he would crash that ship. I don’t know who you are or why you care, but I think we’re both on the same side here. Something isn’t right, and I’m trying to find out what.”
The cadet looked him over, as if finally bothering to fully acknowledge him, before grabbing his arm and pulling him into a nearby storage room.
“Look,” he whispered, “if this is a prank, I’m not in the mood.”
“This isn’t a prank,” Keith reassured. “I’ve been bugging the staff here for weeks, and no one will give me any answers. Someone just told me today that they can’t say what’s going on. Whatever happened, they’re hiding something, and I can’t figure out what it is on my own.”
The cadet kept their mouth shut, still glaring, but not yet leaving. Keith sighed.
“Look, my name is Keith. Shiro was my best friend, and I’ve known him for years. I can’t just...accept what they’re telling me. I know he wouldn’t make a mistake. I’m offering my help here. Take it or leave it. Either way, I’m not letting this go.”
Finally, a sigh and a shrug. “Fine. I’m...Pidge. Let’s just say I was very close with Matt and Sam Holt.”
“Okay, Pidge, what’s the plan?”
Pidge huffed. “Well, I’ve been trying to hack into their computers to look for records of radio transmissions or something, but I got caught.”
Keith hummed. “And asking is clearly getting us nowhere. We have to find a way to do this without them noticing us. They already know we’re on their cases, and it sounds like both of us aren’t far from getting into some real trouble.”
“Well,” Pidge began, “I do know some people who might be able to help us out.”
“No way,” Keith argued. “I work alone.”
“What about me?”
“Well, I know we’re working towards the same thing. No outsiders.”
Pidge rolled his eyes. “Look, edgelord, I get that you have the whole loner thing going for you, but it hasn’t exactly gotten you that far. If we really want to find out what’s going on, you need to swallow your pride and accept help when it’s offered.”
“That’s not-!”
“Whatever. Look, I was trying to keep these guys out of it because it’s not really their fight, but even I know we’re out of other options. If you wanna get something done you gotta do it right.”
Keith sighed. “Fine. Who are these guys, and how do you know we can trust them?”
Pidge grinned. “Lance and Hunk, the other members of my crew. They might not look like much, but they can help us out a lot.”
“How so?”
“Well first, there’s Hunk. He’s a brilliant engineer, and he knows the Garrison backwards and forwards. Knows every hall, every room, every officer. His instincts are rock solid, so he knows who we can trust around here and who we can’t. Plus, he’s a total ray of sunshine, and a nervous one at that. No one will ever suspect him of helping us.”
“Okay, and what about the other? Lance?”
Pidge rolled his eyes. “Lance is a total pain in the butt, but it works for him. If you want to divert attention away from yourself, you want him around. I can’t even count how many times I’ve started mouthing off to Iverson, only to have him turn it on himself and take the beating for me. He would take a bullet for anyone he trusts.”
“And how do we know these guys will trust us?”
Pidge laughed. “They’re two of the nicest people in the world. They wanted to try and be my friend within a minute of meeting me. Trust me, I know they’ll help us out.”