What we think, We become (Shallurklance)

12/10 - Sacrifices

The mission hadn't gone well.

At all.

It was unusual, since ground missions were usually a walk in the park. Pidge and Allura hung in the air over the drop zone, picking off the few, if any, ships that tried to ambush them, whilst the rest of the Paladins hit the dirt to take on the oncoming Galra army or support the rebellion. If anything, this one should have been easier than the others; Shiro had been eager to join in, since stepping down from the Black lion since the mess that was Project Kuron and the clone had meant he hadn't seen as much action, and was suffering from an acute case of what Hunk called Cabin Fever, so he joined the ground team of Lance, Hunk, and Keith.

It started well, at least. Keith would never get used to dropping out of the undercarriage of the green lion onto the alien planet, with Hunk next to him nor how Lance and Shiro could turn their drop from the Blue lion into a fun skydive, but he barely had time to think before his feet hit the ground and his Bayard had formed with a whisper of Altean metal. The Galra army didn't even seem that big, neither from the sky nor from the ground, and his sword-arm itched for an opponent that wasn't a gladiator that he could cut down. The ricochet of Hunk's massive gun seemed to echo around the area, and the other two landed just behind them a few seconds later; the purple glow of Shiro's arm reflected off his smirk, and Lance apparently had sniped a few front runners before his feet had even hit the rocks. The oncoming army seemed slow and weak, judging by how they were armed with the short range blasters that the Galra only seemed to give to their lowest ranking lackeys, so it was no surprise all six of them, seven if they included the encouragement from Coran back in the castle, thought this was going to be easy.

Then a robeast slammed into the ground in front of them, and all hell broke loose

Orders were given, the Paladins scrambled back to the lions that were sat just outside the plateau. Keith was aware of Allura in a state of near panic in his head, Pidge barking orders at him to get a move on and form Voltron, and Shiro announcing that he was flying with Lance. He hardly had to give the order before the Lions were forming Voltron, slotting into place fluidly, and the Hurricane that was the Black lion roared in the back of his mind.
In front of them, the Robeast let out a ear-piercing shriek, flailing its arms wildly.

Then their power went offline, and Keith felt himself fall.

The next year thing he was aware of was being on his front, cheek pressed against the front dashboard. There was blood trickling down his face - his visor had smashed, the shards were digging into his skin, and he must have vomited after the fall - but he was awake.
Black was unresponsive beneath him, and the Robeast was running towards them.

"-ith! Keith, can you hear me?"

The sudden volume of Allura's voice in his ear shook him lucid.

"Loud and clear," he responded with a wince at the sound of his own voice, wrecked and gravelled, "what happened out there?"
"Pidge says the monster released an electromagnetic pulse," Allura stated, connection crackling, "whatever it was, it managed to get Voltron to disconnect. This could be dangerous!"

Heh, Keith thought, languidly wiping blood and vomit away from his mouth, incredibly dangerous.

"Keith, you need to get the Black Lion up, now!"

His helmet was cracked too, and he felt lightheaded, almost as if his head was surrounded by cotton wool. His fingers didn't seem to respond quickly, and he held his hand in the air to marvel the way the red light danced off his fingertips.

"Keith, please! You need to move now!"

The giant steps of the robeast shook the  cockpit.