Coran went to a nearby control panel.
'Um...what's to stop them firing up the Caste when they realise where we are?' asked Pidge. 'You can't tell me they aren't monitoring the cameras.'
'You are correct in your assessment, Pidge,' said Coran. 'I need you all to listen to me and act natural. Please gather together and act like you are making plans. I'm going to record it and then play it in a loop.'
They all moved to one of the medical beds and started talking and acting like they were making plans.
'Won't they hear all this?' asked Olla.
'Normally yes,' said Coran. 'However, during our last battle the Castle sustained damage that has caused some of the systems to malfunction, including audio to certain parts of the Castle.'
'Where do we need to go to access the core?' asked Shiro.
'We will have to make our way there from here,' said Pidge. 'We can access a duct under the floor that will take us right to it. It will be a tight fit for some.'
'Correct,' said Coran. 'Once in the core we will need to split up and make our way to the lions.'
'Coran, you come with me,' Shiro said.
'Stret and I will go with Keith,' said Krolia. 'Olla you go with Lance, Shi with yellow paladin, and Chem with green paladin.'
'I am about to start the loop playback,' said Coran. They waited for a handful of heartbeats. 'Done.'
They followed Coran to the access panel they needed, and he pulled it up. Moving quickly, they all slipped into the duct behind Pidge and Coran pulled the assess panel closed.
Keith, Lance, and Pidge were the only ones not having issues moving through the duct. The hundred metre commando crawl was tiring, and they were sweating by the time they reached the core.
Pidge pulled herself out of the duct and onto a narrow ledge. She shuffled around further to let the others out.
The core was suspended in the center of a cylindrical room that ran down the middle of the Castle. There was one meter of distance between the wall of the room and the side of the power core.
'Whatever you do, don't touch the power core,' said Pidge. 'We may not be moving, but There's still enough energy running through it to kill you.'
'How do we get down to the lions?' asked Shiro.
'There are hand and foot holes in the wall like the ones in front of us all the way down,' said Coran. 'We will need to climb down. Every twenty metres is a ledge like this one. We should do it quickly because I doubt the looped recording will keep them distracted for long.'
'There is an access hatch to each of the lions,' said Pidge. She indicated where each one would be. 'Shiro, the one to Black is directly under the power core. We should make our way to our hatches as we climb down because space is limited in here.'
'What about our armour?' asked Hunk.
'No need to worry,' said Coran. 'The armour will be in your hangers when you arrive, the lions will see to that.'
'Keep in contact with each other,' said Shiro, 'and wait until we're all at our lions before leaving.'
Lance looked across at Keith standing next to him. 'Be careful and don't do anything stupid, or I'll kick your arse.'
Keith nodded. 'The same applies to you.'
'Let's go,' Stret growled.
Keith shot him a glare.
Each of the paladins took the dead and started moving in the direction of their lion's hatches. Stret ended up next to Keith, with Krolia following.
The descent was grueling and by the time they reached the first ledge their muscles burned. Keith was starting to get annoyed because Stret stayed so close to him he almost couldn't move. He tried several times to move away, but Stret followed him.
'For fuck's sake, will you back off,' snapped Keith, as they made their way over the next ledge. 'You're practically on top of me.'
'I'm keeping you safe, Omega.'
'No, you're pissing me off. And quit calling me Omega.'
'Stret leave him alone,' Krolia said.
'As an Alpha it's my duty to keep you safe.'
'Bullshit. You think I haven't been around enough Alpha's to know the smell of mating pheromones.' He stopped climbing and look Stret in the eyes. 'Lance is my Alpha and I don't give two fucks what you think about that, so back off.'
Keith continued his descent.
'He will never be able to satisfy you.' Stret said, following.
Keith groaned in frustration. 'You have no idea what you're talking about, and seriously, I don't want to be talking about this with you at all.'
'Stret, will you stop,' growled Krolia. 'You can't just take another's mate.'
'They're not real mates,' insisted Stret. 'You should know that.'
'I'm going to come over there and kick your arse,' said Lance, his voice clear even though he was on the other side of the power core. 'Now, leave Keith alone.'
'All I have to do is mark him and he'll be mine,' Stret said. He grabbed Keith and pulled him closer.
'Let go of him,' Krolia demanded.
Keith slammed an elbow into Stret's face. 'You can't mark me, I'm pregnant. You'll end up killing me and the baby.'
'Keith, what's going on?' asked Lance.
Keith shook Stret off him and moved away. 'I'm fine.'
'If an Alpha marks some other Alpha's pregnant Omega, it causes a hormone imbalance that can be fatal,' Shi said.
'Right, that's it, I'm going to bash the shit out of him,' Lance said.
'Lance, save it,' said Shiro. 'We have a job to do. I want everyone to stop with the bullshit and concentrate.'
Keith started his descent again, hoping Stret would back off now. He managed to put some distance between them, so Stret wasn't breathing down his neck, but it was obvious he was trying to catch up.
He found the entire situation crazy. Stret didn't even know him, so he had no idea why he wanted to mark him. Most Galran thought of him as an outcast and had not been welcoming into the Blade. He spent his time staying out of their way and going on mission's others thought were beneath them.
Against the odds, he'd found the perfect partner in Lance, and he was damned if he was giving that up for anyone.
Stopping at the next ledge, he took a moment to flex his stiff and sore hands. He was slipping down over the ledge when he felt the vibrations. Looking up, he saw sparks of blue electricity snaking its way down the core.
'MOVE,' Coran yelled.
No-one needed to be told twice.
Letting go of the ledge, Keith let himself drop down, maneuvering himself from one hand hold to the next in quick succession until his arms burned in protest and his feet hit the floor.
He wrenched open the hatch that would take him to red lion and looked up searching for Krolia.
Stret dropped down next to him. 'We need to go.'
'You go, I'm waiting for mum,' Keith said.
'There's no time.'
'Get through the good damn hatch before I push you through,' Keith growled. He grabbed Stret's arm and shoved him towards the open hatch.
Muttering under his breath, Stret disappeared.
The electricity was getting closer to Krolia as Keith watched. His heart hammered in his chest as he waited for her. she let go and dropped the last ten metres.
She dived for the opening, and Keith followed her through, pulling it closed behind him.
The force of the power hitting the floor above them caused the hatch to raise with Keith still holding on. Flipping his feet up he planted one next to the hatch and had to use all his strength to pull it down. Krolia grabbed the hatch as well, and between them locked it closed.
They dropped to the floor and ran into Red lions hanger and found his armour there just as Coran said. He quickly changed and pulled on his helmet and heard Shiro.
Shiro: Is everyone okay?
Pidge: Yes, just.
Hunk: Yes, we're fine.
'Same here,' Keith said.
There was silence.
'Lance?' asked Keith. There was no reply. His heart rate skyrocketed. 'Lance?'
Lance: Yep, here.
'Jesus, fucking Christ, you scared the hell out of me,' Keith snapped.
Lance: Sorry sweetheart. Olla twisted her ankle when she jumped down and it took a bit longer to get here.
Shiro: Let's get out of here.
Keith ran to Red with the other two following. Red's shield dropped and she allowed them in.
Stret looked taken aback at the complexity of the controls and eyed Keith doubtfully.
Shiro: We're going to have the blast our way out.
'Admiral, can you hear me?' asked Keith.
Shiro: Admiral?
Mitchell: Yes, I can.
'I'm headed to you to drop mum off,' said Keith.
Mitchell: We'll be ready.
Krolia moved to the hatch and waited for Keith's signal. Pushing the controls to max, Red surged forward almost sending Stret tumbling onto his arse.
Keith flew Red towards Mitchell's location at breakneck speed.
'Ready?' asked Keith.
'Yes,' Krolia said.
Keith shot around the asteroid budding Krolia's ship, slowed enough for her to exit, then continued back to the others.
Krolia entered her ship and Dobree opened the airlock and she hurried to the pilot seat, and she brought the others up on screen.
'You will all need the strap in,' Krolia said.
They hastily found seats and did as she said.
Lance: Here comes the Galran cruiser.
Pidge: According to scans, they have a full complement of fighters.
Shiro: We need to stop Allura from opening a wormhole and letting any other cruisers through to help them.
Pidge: Leave that to me.
Shiro: Hunk, you stick with her. Keith, Lance, take out the cruiser.
Lance: Come on, sweetheart, let's cause some damage.
Keith: Whatever you say.
Marco and Luis sat next to each other and watched wide eyed as Lance threw himself into battle against a massive cruiser and hundreds of fighters.
This person on screen was a battle-hardened warrior they didn't know, and it shocked them. He flew the massive machine with ease and in perfect collaboration with Keith.
'There's a wormhole opening,' Krolia said.
Shiro: Pidge, can you shut it down?
Pidge: Working on it.
Keith: Another cruiser is through.
Pidge: Damn it. She's done something to the system. I can't get in.
Shiro: Coran is going to try. Keith, you, and Lance stay on the first cruiser. Pidge and Hunk, you take the second. Let's see if we can take them out.
'The engines will be the weakest point,' said Krolia. 'If you can get a blast straight down the shaft of the centre engine, there's nothing they can do.'
Keith: All yours sharpshooter. I'll keep the fighters off your tail.
Lance: Okay, let's do this.
They came in close to the cruiser's hall and sped along it until they reached the engines. They shot past the end of the ship, and Lance turned Blue lion hard and came at the centre engine.
Just when they thought he was going to fly into it, he fired one shot then climbed over the top of the cruiser.
'One shot, that's all he gave it,' exclaimed Marco in disbelief. 'What the hell good will that do?'
Luis looked at the screen disappointed. He wanted Lance to prove himself and he'd let them down.
As they watched, the cruiser started to list to the right. Then at intervals the cruiser's hull blasted out, spewing debris into space. Seconds later, the ship exploded.
Keith: Nice shot, babe.
Krolia smiled. 'Perfect shooting as usual.'
Shiro: Go for the other one.
Hunk: Another wormhole's opening.
Keith: Hunk, fire your canon into it.
Lance took off towards the second cruiser with Keith, while Hunk lined up with the wormhole. Pidge kept the fighters busy.
They were both in position and took their shots. The explosion through the wormhole was more powerful than any of them anticipated. Hunk and Pidge got out of the way, but Keith and Lance were hit with the full force of the explosion that threw them into the cruiser as it went up.
Their images blinked off the screen.
'No, no, no,' muttered Luis. 'Where are they?'
Shiro: We must keep going.
They could hear the distress in his voice as he said the words.
Marco jumped to his feet. 'What do you mean keep going? They're dead.'
Mitchell moved over to him. 'They're fighting for Earth's survival. Billions of people, including the family you left behind to follow Lance out here.'
'I don't need a speech,' said Marco. 'I need...' He stared out the window at the debris lost for words.
'I know, son,' said Mitchell, patting his shoulder. 'I know.' He returned to his seat.
Marco sat back down and continued to stare out at the destruction as the other Paladins fought until he couldn't see any more through his tears.