Loving You to the Stars and Back // Keith x OC //

The Last Stand

A/N: Hey, everyone! This chapter was intended to be an extra, but I decided it would be best to include into the actual storyline so you won't be like "WHO IS THIS CHICK?!" later in the next few chapters. You'll say it now since this chapter is all in her POV, but at least you kind of get a background about who she is. Don't worry, as I said in the last Author's Note, she isn't going to interfere with Keith and Athena, promise. I'll have a brief bio of her at the end of this chapter as well :) I hope you'll enjoy reading!

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104

~ Zeida Kim ~

We were called by Commander Iverson to gather at the main hangar where he would be introducing us to Commander Samuel Holt, one of the missing members from the Kerberos mission a few years back. Since his disappearance, everyone sought that he was dead, along with his son Matt Holt and fellow crewman, Commander Takashi Shirogane. This was the second surprise since Commander Shirogane made his appearance last year in the most unexpected way.

The night that an unknown object crash-landed on earth, I ventured out on my own to find out what it was. Despite knowing James would lecture me if I got caught, I went out anyway. It would kill me if I didn't find out. But before I could get there, the Garrison had beat me to the location.

All I could do that night was watching from a distance. Several tents were surrounding the crash site and at the center of it all was this unusual purple pod. I stayed low, keeping myself from being seen as I watched everything unravel before my eyes, and before I knew it, people in hazmat suits carried out a body from the pod. It was Commander Shirogane's body.

I let out a gasp, clasping my hand over my mouth. I couldn't believe my eyes, but there was no doubt that it was Commander Shirogane. He looked a little different from the last that I saw him. He had a scar across the bridge of his nose and a patch of white in his hair, but that didn't stop me from recognizing one of the Garrison's top pilots.

They brought Commander Shirogane into one of the bigger tents as I watched from afar. I could only imagine that they were kept in quarantine to run some tests on him. After all, he just came from outer space. Who knew what Shirogane had contracted while he was out there.

As I continued to wait for someone to come out of the tent where Commander Shirogane was kept isolated, I saw a hoverbike quietly land off to the side. I pulled out my binoculars, only to see Athena, one of my classmates from the Garrison, along with an ex-cadet, Keith. My jaw dropped, seeing the two together, even after Keith's expulsion from the Garrison. I knew that they were close, but I didn't think that Athena would go as far as sneaking out with the troublemaker. I swear, they had something between them.

I kept a close eye on them until all of a sudden, explosives went off from a distance, startling me. I covered my ears as I closed my eyes shut, not knowing what had happened. As soon as the ground stopped shaking, I hear the roaring of engines roam off to where the explosion had occurred. I opened my eyes and looked at the crash site already seeing Keith and Athena heading inside of the tent where Commander Shirogane was kept.

Just seconds when I saw them go inside, three more figures snuck inside of the tent. It was to my realization that it was three other cadets from the Garrison: Lance, Pidge, and Hunk. Lance and Hunk were in most of my classes, so I knew them quite well. As for Pidge, I only knew him for a few months, but not long enough to know him personally.

That was when I knew I had to rush back to base and let James knew what I found out. James was going to kill me for sneaking out past curfew, but he had to know what was going on. He was the only person and friend that I could trust my secrets with.