Something went wrong and the team was discovered. Keith didn't know who that was discovered, but the blasting alarm deafening everything else was a clear sign that the Galra knew something was amiss.
"Pidge, Hunk, Lance, are you okay?" Shiro asked before Keith had overcome the white-hot panic screaming from the base of his throat.
"Yes," Pidge answered stressed but uninjured.
"We're almost at the prisoners," Hunk added. "But I'm really, very afraid there's someone waiting for us there."
"I'm coming as soon as I can," Shiro stated and ran a couple of steps before he either remembered Keith's presence or simply heard Keith following right behind him.
Shiro sent Keith with a firm look over his shoulder with hard eyes and a tight mouth as he ordered, "Go to the lions."
"No!" Keith huffed as he and Shiro ran towards where the rest had run to.
"Do it. We can't protect you if we're going to save the prisoners. So it's going to safety or letting people die."
Keith was stunned. He knew that the team liked him but being told outright that they would just abandon the prisoners to their own fate for him was entirely different from just knowing they liked him.
Keith didn't like it but he did as he was told and changed direction and ran towards the lions.
He promised himself that he would be better. He would be so good that there would be no question about whether they could have him fighting on the ship because he would be that strong and capable. He would save countless lives and if he died, then it would be because of a mission that no one in the entire Universe could have survived.
He needed to believe this as his breath grew short and he heard his teammates breathe less heavily than him but still deep and fast.
It took Keith embarrassedly long to notice the footsteps running just behind him. He entered the hangar just as a hand took a hold of the back of his paladin suit and pulled.
Keith landed on his back, looked up, and saw a purple and furious face looking down at him from a short distance. A gun swinging just next to his face and Keith realized for the 100 time in his time as a part of Voltron that he could very well die. It would just take one unlucky, or lucky for the Galra in front of him, shot to kill him. He was weak and he should have listened to the others when they denied his request to come and feel useful in the first place.
Keith bended his arm and hit the Galra in his cheek. The Galra turned his head and his body just enough for Keith to kick him in his either stomach or just a bit farther down. The Galra let out a pained huff of air and was incapable of stopping Keith from crawling under the Galra and away.
Keith only got a few seconds head start but it was enough for him to have some sort of distance between them. Or so Keith had thought until he realized how stupid that move had been.
Keith had a sword, a close-range weapon, and the Galra had a gun. Keith hadn't talked to a lot of Galras but he knew they weren't dumb creatures and he wasn't the least bit surprised when shots fell around him and he twisted and turned with his sword and shield still barely got away from the lasers fired in his direction.
He wouldn't be able to survive this for much longer and then this Galra would go back to the rest of the ship and shoot his friends. Maybe the Galra would even bring his body and mock them. Make the rest of them weak. Caring was a sign of strength but only because it was a big weakness too.
Keith saw a button that he had unintentionally run towards. It reminded him of several times that he had done this before. Times when Red had saved him. There would be no Red now but Keith still pressed the button to open the hangar.
He could die before he had been able to prove his worth but it was fine, the Galra was caught off guard and sucked out into the vast space and Keith just had to hold on until someone would close the hangar again. Preferably without them being either Galran or sucked out themselves but Keith found himself less picky as time when on and his fingers started burning from both the weakening muscles and the sheer pressure on having metal plates forced into his skin.
Keith heard footsteps and looked up. He was for once hopeful that this was going to end well. Even he would secretly admit that he hadn't been physically ready for battle but his mind had been ready long ago and this would be the fruit of his effort.
The hope fell from his throat and into his stomach like a stone falling through water and the stone turned into disappointment and horror as it fell.
The Galran soldier in front of him was not happy about the paladins sneaking into the ship but he seemed too happy about seeing Keith. Disturbingly so.
Keith lifted one hand from his death grip on the metal. He would die but he would rather become an invalid again than go down without a fight. He knew that he couldn't kill or even severely wound anyone like this but he could do something and that was better than nothing. Maybe even better than anything. A Galra carrying a scar forever from him would show just how strong Voltron was if its current weakest link could do something like that. Maybe he could pull out an eye and really spread fear of Voltron among the soldiers.
Keith activated his bayard and his fingers finally gave out.
He felt the burn from the metal edge cutting a layer or two of his skin and saw two single drops of blood find their way out of him as he was sucked out into space. Instincts or reflexes, Keith wasn't sure which since they both seemed unlikely, but one of them moved his hand up to close his helmet before he was suffocated in space. Again...
He was still going to die floating around and the only satisfaction was that the Galra looked almost as disappointment as Keith felt. He didn't really feel any fear anymore but disappointment that this would be his end. After all he had been through this was how it would end – floating in space waiting for the Galra to find a gun and see if he could hit him. Or maybe just someone from the ship noticing a paladin and a Galra soldier floating around and hitting Keith while he was helpless. He would be blown up beyond recognition and maybe the others would never truly know what happened to him as they would fly away from the ship and through his ashes.
It was just great.
Keith was surprised how calm he was feeling. Maybe it was a product of how close to death he had been both while conscious and not. Maybe his body and mind had accepted their fates.
He felt disappointed that the last thing the others would have seen him do would be him being stubborn and refuse to obey orders but at the same time that sounded like something he would have done before all this. So, in a way he would die more like himself than he had lived lately. It was all about finding the silver lining, as Shiro would have reminded him once upon a time when they were both far more innocent and with far less mental and physical scars.
The Galra only held onto the metal wall for a short time before he had clicked a lifeline into place and had both hands free to shoot Keith without fear of being sucked out with him. So, the Galra Empire did learn from Voltron's earlier actions. Good to know right before he would leave his team forever and could only hope that his teammates could evolve their fighting techniques faster than the enemy could.
Keith saw how the Galra pointed the gun in Keith's directions, aimed until it pointed directly between his eyes. The Galra was just about to fire the gun when his eyes widened in surprise.
Keith would normally not turn his eyes away from the enemy but he would be just as dead if he looked away as he would if he didn't so he had no problem turning his head. He couldn't really see what it was at first, it just looked at a red blur closing in on him, but he quickly recognized the shape and color.
"Red?" He asked the unforgiving void of space right before the Red Lion swallowed him.
It all happened so fast. His eyes blurred because of the fast movements and he couldn't believe that he was really in his lion again. He was so confused and elated that he didn't have any room for Red's emotions at first but he turned his own feelings down when he realized she was trying to communicate with him.
It wasn't words like she had done before the incident with Shiro. Just feelings. They were welcoming and trying to calm any questions he may have even though he wasn't asking any. It felt just like the first time he had sat inside her.
Had he won her back? If so, why wouldn't she just talk to him instead of acting as if they were strangers?
Oh. Oh.
"Keith?" Hunk's voice rang in the helmet.
"What's your status?" Shiro added.
"I'm..." Keith started but didn't really know what to say. What were there to say when he was suddenly filled with questions about everything that had happened the last few seconds?
Keith looked out of the red lion's eyes and saw the Galra trying to close the hangar and Keith realized he didn't have time to find the answers to any of his questions if he had any hope of stopping this particular Galra.
"Keith?" Shiro called.
"I'm fine," Keith answered. "The Red Lion's back."
"What?" Lance asked and Keith could practically see the expression on his face from the way he was talking.
"I will explain later," Keith said curtly but he didn't feel too bad since he needed his concentration on the mission and the others would understand.
Red was just as agile and dangerous as before. Keith had trouble aiming exactly where he wanted to and it scared him that he didn't know if it was excitement, fear or brain damage that kept him from perfection, but he would have time to dwell on that later. Probably. His chances would rise greatly if he could stop the Galran soldier and help his friends out of the ship before someone fired something towards Red.
The hangar doors were almost entirely closed when Red's laser entered the hangar. Keith couldn't actually hear any screams through the empty space between him and the Galra ship but he felt like he could.
Keith allowed himself to close his eyes for less than a second. These were the enemy and, yes, he shared some DNA with them, but he shared at least half of his DNA with the other paladins. His friends didn't need him to suddenly grow a conscience that would be in the way of him being useful.
"What did you do, Keith?" Lance asked in a distressed voice. It was high-pitched in slight panic but Keith could barely understand any of the words over the alarm that blasted even louder and in another rhythm than before.
"What needed to be done," Keith answered.
"That's very nice, but, Keith, shut up if you're going to be cryptic," Pidge stressed out. Keith knew that voice and knew that furious and narrowed eyes always accompanied it wherever and whenever it showed its face.
Keith hoped it was because she was simply irritated about her map being unclear as she was returning to her lion. No, he hoped everyone was returning so they could get far away from this ship and figure out a new plan for the Galra Empire to fall. A plan where he could play a part and show the team and himself that he could still be useful. He could help.
Keith didn't have time to wallow in his thoughts as a laser fired from the other end of the giant ship. He didn't even notice anything was amiss before Red was hit with a lucky shot. She wasn't really damaged but the force of the hit almost gave Keith whiplash and she did turn off for a tick.
A tick wasn't really long, barely more than a second, but it did spike Keith's fear. His heart was beating and he was sure that the taste in his mouth was from fear and stress. Adrenaline probably wasn't something he could actually taste but his blood was being beaten around to his muscles and left less oxygen for his brain so he couldn't be blamed too much for irrational theories about his hybrid body.
Keith pushed almost every button he could see in the cockpit. The first half tick it was controlled and the other half of that long tick was in a frantic panic. Red flew backwards as soon as she turned on because of Keith randomly pressing the buttons and pulling the steering wheel in every direction possible.
Ironically, that was what saved Red from a bigger hit right to her head where Keith was sitting. All the lions were strong but none of them were truly impenetrable and Red and Green were the least protected ones of the five lions. Keith would probably not have been seriously hurt, probably not even really in the need of using a pod, but one bad hit could mean that Keith would be less attentive and that could end in a far worse outcome.
"Are you okay?" Hunk asked through the coms.
"I'm fine," Keith rushed out as he tried to predict where the Galra ship were firing from.
"I'm coming," Allura informed the others. The castle had hid on a moon just out of where they assumed the Galra radar reached. Seeing the castle would have blown their cover but there wasn't a real reason for that anymore so the rest of the team kept quiet and focused on their own tasks.
Keith was ready to be fired at again but he wasn't ready for the shots to come from as many directions as it did. He had been properly discovered now and he was both remorseful and happy about that. On one hand, it did take some of the Galra's attention away from the rest of the team but on the other hand, now there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Paladins had infiltrated the ship.
"Try to destroy the lasers," Allura commanded as if Keith had any way of following the command while being shot at from at least four spots on the giant ship. Keith was good but he was out of training and not nearly as much in sync with Red as they used to be.
"No, return to the castle," Shiro said in opposition to what Allura said. Keith remembered when Shiro would try not to say anything against her if an order had been made and only say something if they were still discussing. The past Shiro had said it was important to show support and not split the team with two completely different opinions, but he clearly didn't care about that as much anymore. Keith may have not been conscious when this change started but he could imagine it just fine.
It should have been making him either angry that Shiro would risk anything because he didn't trust Keith even though Allura had put faith in him, or Keith should feel guilty that he was the reason for this. He knew that that was what he should feel but he only felt slightly worried about Shiro and prouder of Shiro than he thought anyone could be of someone mid-battle.
Because Shiro had been subdued for a long time now but him showing his blatant disagreement with someone from the team showed Keith that he was still not a pushover and he still had some self confidence in order to even hint at disagreeing with anyone from the team. Especially Allura who may only be the princess of a deceased kingdom, but she was still a strong leader and everyone put a lot of faith in her.
Keith did not tell anyone all these thoughts, hell, no one would have known even if they saw his face as he sat in Red. These thoughts didn't change that Keith couldn't follow Shiro's order without risking himself and the rest of the team. It was a simple math problem and the risk of casualties in both himself and the others would rise rapidly if he turned around and sought safety in the castle. It wasn't worth the higher change of Keith being uncharred if he could somehow reach the castle without being hit a single time while he was facing away from the enemy ship.
"No, we're not Galra," Pidge whisper-hissed through the coms. It startled Keith enough that he barely missed the next direct hit but wasn't fast enough to avoid the hit entirely. Keith collected himself before Red was hit again and therefore didn't figure out that Pidge was in fact not talking to him before he heard the next words through the coms.
"We're getting you all off this ship," Pidge whispered even quieter. Keith was concerned about his friends having to herd people who didn't trust them off an enemy ship but said nothing because of the fear shouting at him to not distract his teammates.
They would need all the concentration they had if they had hopes of any chance to pull this off. Just sneaking a possibly huge group off a ship seemed impossible but if they didn't cooperate, it would be legitimately impossible to not be stopped before they could even get close to their own lions.
"It's the paladins," a voice probably either belonging to an Enkrellatant or a Leffaging informed someone on the other end of the coms. It must have been very loud for Keith being able to hear it through one of the other's microphone.
"Yes, we will help you guys," Hunk whispered slightly louder than Pidge had been but not by much and his voice was a thousand times warmer and more comforting than Pidge's had been.
"Shiro," Lance asked in a hush voice. "What are we gonna do? There's already too many injured to carry and this is only the first three cages. There must be at least 6 more just in this hallway."
"Almost there," Shiro reassured both Keith and the three near the prisoners. "Don't open any more cages."
"What?" Pidge hissed.
"We can't sneak that many out and we've already been discovered," Shiro explained as he ran if his heavy breathing was anything to go by. Keith wished that every Enkrellatants and Leffagings could be saved but he secretly applauded the decision to have his teammates be safe above the chance to save every prisoner on the ship.
"We have to move now, Pidge," Lance said. He was trying to hide his own emotions but Keith could hear it clear as day in the way his voice had reached a higher pitch than it usually did and his voice almost broke at the word 'now'.
There was silence for only a short moment before the high-pitched voice of a child realized that not everyone was coming with them. "No, I need my mom and dad!" it screamed with no regards to the Galra hearing them.
"We'll see each other again," an androgynous voice called back quieter than the first.
"No!" The child screamed. "No! No! No!"
The screaming was muffled before long and Keith only felt a single zap of terror that they had simply left the child somewhere when he heard the heavy breathing of the child.
Several muffled voices started twisted Keith's heart through the coms and Keith felt both sorrow and relief for the Galra's cruelty. One thing was capturing someone but to capture children and separate them from their parents was just cruel, but it did help them to at least save all the children.
Keith hadn't realized how out of training he was before he barely escaped another direct hit.
Keith didn't know what was happening to his teammates while they were on the Galra ship but he couldn't hear any painful grunts or distressed calls for help. Only their breathing and the breathing of some of the people they were helping.
"In, in, in, in," Pidge ordered and Keith felt his shoulders fall in relief. They had risen to his ears without him noticing and they were not out of the woods yet but it was so close that he could almost taste it. Only one last, dangerous flight and then they could enter the castle and be safe until the next mission.
Keith felt himself tense up again when Shiro ordered Lance and Hunk to shoot while he and Pidge would try to keep the prisoners unscathed while they boarded the Green and Black lion.
Finally, Shiro muttered a single, "Return to the Green lion." Keith feared for a moment that Lance and Hunk wouldn't have heard it but he quickly realized that if he could hear Shiro through the coms even with all his blood rushing loudly through the veins right next to his ear, then Lance and Hunk would also hear Shiro just fine.
A great blast blew up a hangar door Keith hadn't spotted while in the open space. It was unlikely that the blast left any survivors without at least serious injuries and unconsciousness and the pull of space pulled every dead body out to be preserved until found and every living soul out to be suffocated. Keith could empathize with that death even if none of them would be conscious to experience it.
The shots stopped firing after Keith. The Galra was probably just as frantic now as Keith had been before and while he watched with wonder as the Black Lion exited the ship, the Galran people probably watched on with horror and dread.
Keith almost didn't see the Green Lion fly out as Pidge camouflaged it while exiting but he felt happier than ever before at the single glimpse of green he caught.
The Castle of Lions flew towards the lions as the lions flew away from the Galra ship and tried to dodge all the shots aimed at them as soon as the Galras had collected themselves. They all flew as fast as their lions allowed them to with Black initially at the front but the Black Lion was outpaced by the Green and Red Lion before long.
The castle let its particle barrier fall down just as Green was less than a second away from smashing into it but had full faith that that wouldn't happen. The castle rose it as soon as Black's tail was inside its premises but was still awarded with a hit to one of the towers letting the barrier down in the first place.
The hangar door had barely closed and the Red hadn't even landed properly before Keith felt the shaking indicating that the castle was flying through a wormhole.
The Green and Black Lion opened their mouths to let out both paladins and former prisoners while Keith sat and tried to swallow everything that had happened.
He had fought and like always someone on the team could have died but they haven't and this had probably been one of the safest, or more like least dangerous, missions they had been on but he still couldn't quite believe that no one was seriously hurt and that he himself had survived.
Keith looked at his hands that were laying comfortably on the armrests of his seat. Red had let him in. She acted as if this day was the first they had ever had with each other and probably had believed it when she had said he died but she had let him in once more. She trusted him again.
Keith stood up robotically and exited the Red Lion. He could feel all the other paladins sending him looks before they turned back to look at the prisoners that needed help one way or another. Some were physically hurt and needed everything from simple rest to a cryo pod, some were in shock about all the events that had just happened and some of the children were crying in the hopes that that would somehow bring their family members back to them.
Nothing had gone well with this mission and they would have to find every Enkrellatants and Leffagings they could and accept the fact that some of them would most likely die in the clutches of the Galra Empire. The paladins would fight to make everything outside the castle as well as possible just like they still needed to make everything as well as possible inside the castle.
Keith took another step and slipped and fell on his back gracelessly. His hair fell into a dark halo around his head and his arms fell flat and useless to the ground like limp wings. The blow came a moment after the surprise of losing his footing and it went all the way from the back of his head to his temples.
Keith closed his eyes with a wince but was caught up in his reeling thoughts and let himself feel the moment so deeply that he didn't even notice his head or anything else aching. His eyes stayed closed but his entire face and body relaxed until he felt like he could melt into the floor.
He had fought. He had run and he had fought. He had been useful and he could hear Red purring. She was quieter than before, fainter, but she was there. They would be okay. They would reconnect.
The others around him sounded perplexed right before they became worried but Keith didn't open his eyes. He simply let the corners of his mouth rise into a soft and content smile.
Keith was back and the Galra Empire didn't know what hit them.