𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 - 𝙺𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙺𝚘𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Chapter Twenty-Four - Sticky Situations

As he neared the fighter jet, Keith smiled. A genuine, pure grin that expressed his relief at the return of his closest friend. It was infectious, spreading to you as you watched the boy you cared deeply for relax, comforted by the discovery of someone he had previously been lost without.

---

Though the paladins had been reunited with Shiro, that did not mean their duties ceased. Lotor still had the comet, and there was still plenty of work to be done in the aftermath of Zarkon's defeat. With this in mind, it makes sense that they would still have to clear yet another Galra base, and that's precisely what they were doing.

The base they were clearing was just like the rest of them; a strangely shaped black metal building with the signature Galra purple lights and accents. It had been built into the ground of the planet it was stationed on, giving it a sturdy structure that the paladins were more than familiar with by now. They positioned themselves accordingly, Lance inside the base and at a high vantage point so that he could put his sharpshooter skills to use, and bided their time until they revealed themselves.

"Alright, team. I've got my eye on the targets. I'll cover you from up he--", the brunette cut himself off as he looked through his eyepiece, watching the guy he was about to shoot at being fought off by a certain ravenette. "Hey, Keith! I had that guy!", he whined, continuing to watch his teammate's skilful fighting through the blue tint of the eyepiece. Keith ignored him, taking out a few other soldiers in the area and grunting as he did so, but missing his blind spots.

Lance, noticing this, looked around to see if any soldiers were targeting his friends, and found one about to fire at Keith. So, taking his chance, he shot first, then continued to survey the area, eyes falling on Hunk, who stood on ground level with the others while shooting at the soldiers.

"They're still coming!", he exclaimed, looking behind him worriedly as more and more soldiers seemed to pour in. The Cuban said nothing in response, merely shot the switch keeping the side entrance to the main part of the building open, slamming the door shut before stopping the fountain of enemies from flooding in and overwhelming them. Hunk watched, relief flooding his system before he turned to face Lance, laughing and giving him a thumbs up.

Everyone seemed to be doing well in this fight. Even Allura, while surrounded by a group of Galra, used her whip to her advantage, wrapping it around one's neck and swinging the silver-plated soldier into his companion to take multiple of them out, all while ducking to avoid being hit by any stray beams. Then, once she was satisfied, she slammed the soldier entangled in her whip onto the ground, leaving it for dead.

Moving quickly, she used her momentum to slice through the middle of another soldier, leaving him in two pieces as she swivelled around, this time chopping it down the middle from head to toe before pausing in a crouching position, scowling fearlessly. Since becoming a paladin, she had truly grown as a person and as a fighter, and that much had become clear to Lance as he watched the ordeal.

"Well that was awesome,", he commented, lowering his gun and smiling. As he remained on the small ledge above the ground, Keith, Allura and Hunk took to huddling around Pidge as she worked, the ocean of soldiers rapidly firing in their direction. Shields held high, they looked forward sternly, Hunk using his gun and beginning to take out the enemies one by one through the small gap between his two companions' shields.

"Pidge, could you maybe hurry up a little?", Hunk suggested, half-irritated, half-focused as he took a quick glance back at the brunette. Unfazed by his sharp tone, the female bit her lip in concentration and continued clicking a few more times.

"Almost...", she muttered, listening to the beep that occurred as a screen suddenly sparked to life in front of her. "There!", within seconds of the red screen flashing, the pillar of light in front of them that had previously been running the Galran base powered down, leaving all but a dull, washed-out purple pillar in its place. This, in turn, killed the remaining druids, too, the robots falling to the ground gradually until the paladins were the last standing.