Love is Weak

Chapter 28 - Naxzela

Keith
The mission was going to be weird without both Lillian and Josh. She had been on every mission that I had been on, and I was used to her leadership. Plus, she and I shared the same determination for success on our missions, so we were a powerful duo.
However, I wanted her to rest. She hadn't been injured too terribly and probably could have muscled her way through the mission, but her injuries had been the result of stress. Therefore, Lillian needed to stay behind to sleep and calm down.
With Josh and Lillian both out, I became the designated pilot. I flew to Senfama where we would be commandeering the Zaiforge cannon. Once within range, I enabled our cloaking device and landed carefully on the planet.
Seconds later, we were out of the ship, sprinting through the jungle terrain. It felt fantastic to run, to have purpose, and to be doing something with my life.

Not much of the mission had even been started, but Captain Olia's team was already in trouble. She radioed through our communication links to let us know she needed help as soon as possible.
I'm glad Lillian isn't watching. I don't want her to see if something bad happens.
I let Olia know that we were en route to our canon and would provide support as soon as we were able.

Sentries guarded the entrance to the cannon, but we easily took them out. Kolivan neutralised the first guard, slicing the sentry. Kiana took the second, throwing her blade into its chest, and I took care of the last two, slashing them both and sprinting up the stairs.
Smooth like butter.
I grinned as I led the way into the control room. The captain of the ship was talking, though I didn't care what they were saying. The sentries and guards were out in seconds as we quickly took over. The rest of the unit made sure all the other guards and sentries were out of the way before I took the controls.
"Let's see how this thing works," I grinned, deactivating my mask.
"The Senfama Zaiforge cannon is ours. Naxzela attack underway," Coran said through our communications.
Kiana came to stand next to me.
"Don't get too cocky. Lillian wouldn't be proud," she said with a smile.
I smirked.
Matt Holt's voice cut through the communications link asking us to take down the shield of their Zaiforge cannon. I began to search the range of targets, looking for the rebel canon. I uttered a few frustrated phrases before I found it.
"Here goes nothing," I said as I locked onto the canon and fired a beam. It took down the shield of the other canon, breaking it so the rebels could get in. A few moments later Coran told us we'd won that canon too.
We got word that an incoming battle cruiser seemed to be interfering with our canon's signal. It was no longer operational.
"Sorry, Shiro," I said, slightly frustrated that I couldn't be of any use. I needed to do something. "That's it for artillery support. What should we do about that cruiser?"
"The cruiser's going to be late. Naxzela is almost secure. We just need to take out the last of the heavy artillery," Shiro said.
As our unit left the canon, preparing to head to our pod, I connected with Coran.
"Are there any targets that need support?" I asked. I figured there was something we could do instead of sitting and being useless.
"I haven't heard of anyone needing help. And that Galra fleet heading toward Naxzela stopped," he said.
"Stopped?"
"Yes. Quite a distance away, too," he replied.
"Perhaps the Galra decided it is too well-fortified to attack," Kolivan suggested.
"'Victory or Death' is the Galra way. They never stop attacking," I said. And then it hit me. "Voltron? Shiro, can you hear me? Shiro!" I paused. "Something's wrong."
Coran tried too. "Paladins? Allura? What's happened? It must be the magnetic disruption from Naxzela."
"I'm gonna go check it out. I need a ship," I said, looking at my surroundings and spotting a Galra ship. "That'll work."
Kolivan didn't say I couldn't go, and no one tried to stop me. No one would stop me from doing this.

I flew through what felt like, and probably was, almost half the universe. I contacted Matt to tell him that something was wrong with Voltron and we needed to take out whatever fleet had stopped just outside Naxzela.
When we arrived at the scene, I noticed an odd attachment on this particular cruiser, potentially a weapon with a shield around it that needed to be broken. It was sending some sort of emission to Naxzela, rendering it a very dangerous bomb that could wipe out almost half the universe. The fleet noticed us and began to fire, and I made sure everyone had the same goal.
"Follow my lead! We've gotta break through that shield!"
The left wing of my ship was hit, and I didn't know what to do. Our fire wasn't making any progress on the shield, and Naxzela was seconds away from exploding.
"We're not going to make it!" Lance shouted.
The fighting continued around me as I thought. Matt's face popped up on my screen as I got one of the worst feelings in my life.
"We'll never penetrate those shields!" He said.
"Maybe not with our weapons," I whispered, gritting my teeth.
I knew what I had to do.
I flew toward the shield, maxing out the power of the Galra pod I was flying.
"Wait, Keith, what are you doing?!" Matt yelled. "Keith, no!"
No one could stop me. This had to be done.
I was glad Lillian wasn't watching.
Victory or death.
Sacrificing myself would help Voltron win this battle so that they'd one day conquer the Galra. Even if I wasn't around to see it.
I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see the collision.
Suddenly, I sensed fire, and looked up, pulling away at the last second. The shield had been penetrated by someone else, and the bomb that was Naxzela diffused.
"Naxzela is returning to normal! You did it!" Coran said, cheering.
"Good work, Keith," Shiro said, and I wished I could accept his approval. But I couldn't. It hadn't been me.
"It wasn't me," I said. "It was Lotor. The canon on his ship was the only thing powerful enough to take down that shield."
"Attention, Paladins of Voltron and rebel fighters," Lotor said, his voice coming through our communications technology. "I know we've had our differences in the past, but I think it is time we had a discussion."