2019 Voltron Whumptober Collection

4 Human Shield

Word Count: 1,488

"Keith!"

The shout came from behind him just as the shot grazed his leg, burning into his skin with heat and fire. Keith grimaced, his knee nearly buckling under his weight as he struggled to stand, tipping to lean against the wall instead, breaths coming out in ragged pants as Pidge desperately shouted his name as she struggled to make her way towards him through the mess of a fight currently raging in the control room of a Galra cruiser.

If he had to sum up their current situation at all, he'd at least say they were screwed.

Yeah, they were screwed.

Of course, the mission had gone according to plan for a short time, it always did. Keith was supposed to protect Pidge's back while she gathered the intel they needed from the ship, while Lance, Shiro, and Hunk stormed the lower decks to buy them the time they needed to get in, get the info, and get out without any interference.

There wasn't supposed to be any trouble for them, Keith had only really gone with the girl in the first place because the thought of Pidge going on her own to collect information on her family's whereabouts smack dab in the middle of an enemy ship didn't sit very well with Shiro.

So the plan was to distract the Galra long enough for them to sneak in and sneak out undetected.

Unfortunately, the Galra were just a little smarter than that.

It didn't take them long to realize it was a diversion, and the pure multitude of sentries that stormed the command center merely minutes after they arrived was proof of that much.

Pidge had managed to lock the main doors second they came storming in, thank God, she wasn't known as the computer geek for nothing. The thick-plated metal was holding for now as the girl rushed to finish the download while Keith tried to pick off the sentries that had managed to make their way inside the room, the banging on the locked doors nearly deafening at this point as he fought to keep Pidge protected-

And of course, he managed to slip up and get himself shot.

"Keith, Keith are you okay?"

He managed to grunt out an "I'm fine" through clenched teeth as Pidge came to a crouch beside him, the knees of her armor scraping against the ground (when had he slid to the floor?). Those muttered words he'd managed to get out were the only thing he could get in before the sentries started swarming in again, and Keith jerkily pulled himself to his feet with a groan, activating his bayard and slashing through the metal bodies as they came at them with new gusto, trying to take his mind off the burning in knee.

He stumbled, shield activated as he struggled to follow Pidge to the control board (dammit, only sixty percent done?), watching her back as the doors began to give way to the clanking, banging sentries outside.

Keith stiffened as a few managed to claw their way through, he swung his sword almost madly at this point, watching as every sentry he took down would only multiply with more than he could count before the next one lunged.

He grimaced as one managed a shot on his shoulder, the could feel the warmth of blood rising up to the surface almost immediately but, not having the time to see how bad it was, he continued to push for at least some give to the Galra sentries invading his vision.

"Pidge, think you could hurry up?" His voice came out snappier than he'd intended, but, all the same, they needed to get out of there before things got hairier than they already were.

'Cause it was already pretty hairy.

Damn these stupid robots.

"Okay, it's done," the shout came from behind him after a muttered curse left her lips and without wasting any more time they ran through the exit, shoving and slashing against metal bodies as they pushed their way out of the room and into the space beyond, relief filling him that they were actually getting back on the move.