Lance and Hunk had left in Blue, Shiro and Pidge had left in a pod, and Keith was stuck standing in the way-too-bright medbay with two Ancient Alteans. It was awkward. He shifted his weight between his feet slightly. After the identity scans, the castle had automatically started translating everything. He and Shiro had been the only ones to understand the scan, but after it was complete the translations flowed seamlessly.
He was trying not to eavesdrop, but they were both talking so loudly that it was hard not listen. The princess' hatred ran deep; she hated the Galra, all Galra. He thought, for a fraction of a tic, he'd caught the other Altean's eyes flit over to him, but that was just paranoia right? Keith looked passably Human, he arrived with 4 actual Humans, and he'd made damn sure to only speak in English since arriving. So he shrugged it off and continued to study the room and his surroundings, tiny scurrying movements catching his attention every so often.
Before they'd left, Coran gave Shiro a run down on how to fly one of the Altean pods. He'd asked a whole slew of questions about Earth and how much the Earthlings knew and what Earth technology was like and so on. Shiro volunteered the information that Earth was un-contacted and that they knew literally nothing – with the exception of Keith. The newly minted Red Paladin made a mental note to 'thank' Shiro for that one.
Currently, Coran was working at the console running full diagnostics of the castle. Allura was pacing around the room, waiting for further instruction. And the mice were keeping their distance, which was all well and good to him; he hated mice! Although, the big one might make a decent snack if they kept chittering annoyingly, and Keith started to notice that he was fairly hungry and they hadn't eaten in a while. He eyed it up a little and the creature scurried over to Allura, scampering up her leg and hiding in the princess' massive pile of hair with the other mice.
"KEITH! You will not eat Platt." She scolded, starring him down with the kind of authority one is simply born with. "Or any of the mice for that matter." was added after a moments thought. He rolled his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the Altean mouse.
"Um, Princess? Could you go to the bridge and relay the current configuration of the Ploogles? They should be set to match the Riggets, but not the Splunkers. That is VERY important!"
"Of course, Coran. Match the Splunkers. I understand." She giggled and swiftly left the room, taking the mice with her, and gracefully made her way down the hall to disappear into the elevator as Coran sputtered. Keith smirked as he watched her go and when he looked back, the moustachioed man was directly in his face, mere inches away. Keith may have hissed at him.
"Sorry lad; didn't mean to startle you."
"S'fine. Just wasn't expecting it."
"Yes, the Galra have always been quite touchy about their personal space. Hm?" Keith's eyes shot wide but he stayed otherwise silent as he stared at the Altean. "Oh come now, did you think I wouldn't notice? I must admit, the fact that you're not purple did throw me off – a Halfling I assume?" He nodded, still utterly dumbfounded. "Ah, makes sense. Your other parentage must be the same species as the Paladins, correct?" again, Keith nodded. The Altean man twirled the tip of his moustache between two fingers, pondering something as he stared the half Galra down. "If Earth is un-contacted, and the others know nothing while you know much, then I am assuming you were raised off planet and so, culturally you would be Galra not Human."
He continued to stare at the man for an embarrassingly long amount of time before nodding again. "How – how did you figure this out?"
"Well for starters you're not doing a very good job of hiding it. Poor Platt." Coran shook his head and tisked but continued none the less in an incredibly upbeat tone. "Also the castle ran a DNA scan when you all arrived." Keith groaned and the other practically beamed at him.
"So, you didn't so much 'deduce it' as just read my genetic information off your systems?" He rolled his eyes as the man bounced and laughed in agreement. Ugh the Alteans were so different from the Galra. This was going to be a very long assignment. "The princess doesn't seem to like my people at all. Is this going to be a problem?"
Coran was smiling widely but there was a distant look in his eyes as he glanced in the direction of the hall. "The princess is ... passionate." Keith snorted. "She cares deeply and the betrayal of our once allies is still fresh. She will come around in time."
"Maybe it's best if we keep this between us." As soon as the words left Keith's mouth a shadow came over the man, sliding in and displacing the exuberant smile that had been there moments ago.
"Do you think that is wise? To hide something like this ... the Paladin bonds are about honesty and trust, and that needs to extend beyond just the other Paladins." Keith stared at him again, he was right. Not saying anything was better in the short term, but once the others found out, it would feel like a betrayal. By modifying his behaviours and avoiding the topic of where he came from, he would be choosing to actively lie to them.
Keith huffed out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Ok fine, you're right. But just – not yet. Ok? I want to tell everyone at once, and I want to control how they find out. Shiro and Allura have every reason to hate us after what the Empire did to them but ..."
"You're scared? You know, a Galra Paladin is actually a perfect fit for the Red Lion." Keith quirked his brow; waiting for him to elaborate. "Ferocious, determined, highly skilled, agile, loyal. These are all traits of the Galra and of the Red Lion."
"You say 'loyal' like it's no big deal Emperor Zarkon betrayed King Alfor and destroyed ... well, everything."
"Yes, yes this is true." He twirled his moustache some more, eyeing Keith with suspicion. "You know, back in my day, Halflings were rare. I assume that isn't the case anymore?" He shook his head.
"The Empire has a habit of 'taking' what it wants and using the local populations as they see fit." The uncomfortable silence urged him to continue, and reluctantly he complied. "If a species has something beneficial to offer, a slew of half-breeds will be born after they are conquered. They then grow up to be placed as rulers of the locals, a sort of bridge for the Empire to communicate and subjugate through. We are treated way better than non-Galra, but still considered 'lesser' than pure Galra. At least to the Empire."
"And you are not from the Empire?" Keith shook his head. He was a Blade. "Hmm I suppose it would be presumptuous to assume all Galra remained loyal to Zarkon for 10,000 deca-phoebs." Keith gave a curt nod and a grunt of agreement.
They lapsed into another uncomfortable silence, neither knowing what to say. Finally, after what felt like phoebs, the princess' voice came over the systems altering them that the others were on their way back. Together, they made their way to the bridge, continuing along in silence until Coran stopped suddenly, grasping Keith's arm and pulling him back, receiving a hiss of annoyance from the boy. The young half Galra looked back at the Altean man, a growl ready to be released at the unyielding tight grip, but noticed the concern and alarm on his face. He was staring out the window ahead of them, into the atmosphere of Arus; curious, Keith turned his own gaze and inhaled sharply.
Off in the distance, barely visible at this range, was a large battle cruiser. It circled Arus in a wide orbit, slowly sinking below the horizon as it fell from view. "How did they get here so fast?" Coran's voice sounded foreign, the exuberance he'd shown before now fully faded in his fear.
"I guess a lot has changed in 10,000 deca-phoebs. Did you account for hyper-drive in your calculations?" He spoke softly, not wanting to upset the man any further.
"Ah, finger counting is – well, it's more of an art than a science really." Keith snickered and nodded. "I guess the Galra have improved their technology considerably. You'll need to catch us all up to speed once we have all the lions. Come along."
He loosened his grip but did not fully let go, opting to pull the boy along behind him. Planting his feet firmly, and causing the man to stop in his tracks, Keith stopped their small procession. "I want to be clear, nothing left 'up in the air' as the Humans say." Coran nodded, prompting him to continue. Keith took a deep breath and met his eyes. "I will tell them, I will. I just – not yet. Please don't say anything."
"It's not my secret to tell dear boy. But coming from experience, sooner rather than later would be best."
"And if I choose to say nothing?"
"Than that is your decision."
"You wont say anything to the Princess?"
Coran hesitated. His blue eyes surveyed Keith's with an intense scrutiny. "As I said, it's not my secret to tell. But, I rather dislike hiding things from Allura."
"Understandable." He agreed with a nod but didn't say anything further.
They made it to the bridge where Allura was waiting, standing in the centre of the room with her hands atop 2 pillars. From here, he could see the wormholes held open in the sky and when three lions came through, a rush of excited flooded his veins. The princess opened the hangar doors from her place on the bridge landing, and the three lions entered. Briefly, he wondered where the Altean pod was but quickly deduced it to be inside the belly of the Green Lion.
He'd been right. Both Shiro and Pidge entered the bridge, wide smiles and comfortable expressions as they greeted the other occupants. Shortly afterwards, Hunk and Lance arrived looking considerably worse for wear and complaining about the difficulty of their mission. Keith rolled his eyes, if they wanted to experience a difficult retrieval mission they should try going into a weblum! Now that is a rough experience.
He shuddered at the memory of his first time in a weblum. It had been a standard training mission with the Blades to teach new recruits how to think on their feet in a dangerous situation. He had been randomly paired with Zavin and the two of them had nearly gotten themselves vaporized by the giant creature's face laser for not paying attention to Kolivan during their briefing.
The main screens flickered and it pulled Keith back to the present. They were being hailed by the nearby cruiser and suddenly, Sendak's face appeared before them, his authoritative voice carrying throughout the bridge.
"Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me or I will destroy your planet." The video abruptly cut out and they were left in silence. Keith scoffed at the Commander's power move.
"Ok, let's not panic." Shiro stated, attempting to maintain a calm, controlled air. It wasn't working.
"Not panic? The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship towards us. We only have 4 lions - "
"Technically, only 3 working lions." Katie cut in, interrupting Hunk's cowardly rant.
"- That's right. Thank you, Pidge. THREE working lions and a castle that's like, 10,000 years old -"
"Actually, it's 10,600 deca-phoebs old. You see, it was built by my grandfather -" Coran also cut in, only to be cut off himself as Hunk resumed.
"- Thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!" Keith rolled his eyes, ready to make a snarky comment when Allura piped up.
"Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate."
"Girl you've already activated my -"
"Lance!" Shiro cut him off and Keith rolled his eyes even more than before.
The castle's systems analyzed the cruiser, singling out the ion cannon as the greatest threat. Duh! He thought to himself. "The particle barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever. The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last." Coran explained to eliciting shock from everyone but Keith.
"Gee, who would have thought an Empire built on war and conquering would result in more technological advancement, especially with weapons." He rolled his eyes again. Honestly, did they think Zarkon just puttered around the universe for the last 10,000 deca-phoebs?
"Yes, that's right Keith! The Galra are way more advanced than us! Can we panic now?" Hunk was already one step away from a full nervous breakdown.
"Look, the Empire is highly advanced with ships and tech that can't be matched by any other weapons. But Voltron isn't just any other weapon. I've heard the stories of King Alfor and the legends of Voltron. The princess is right, if the Emperor is looking for it, it's because he's afraid." Coran and Allura were beaming at him and he felt himself blush under the Princess' intense gaze. Katie, Hunk, and Shiro looked nervous, but Lance was glaring at him. Keith rolled his eyes again and, in a moment of juvenile weakness, stuck his tongue out at the Blue Paladin.
"No one is panicking. We've just got to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly." Shiro added, quickly stepping into the role of leader.
"I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day." Lance contributed, and Hunk immediately agreed.
"I second that. Yes. We tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it. We only have 3 – we can't form Voltron. I mean, I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance that you were talking about."
"Then, it's settled." The Cuban moved to stand in front of the princess. "Allura, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy." Coran's head nearly blew right off his shoulders and Keith was tics away from objecting as Katie voiced his exact thoughts.
"We can't just abandon Arus. The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them."
"Okay. If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we ssss our way of here!" Hunk was afraid, he could tell, but that was no reason to turn tail and runaway like a bunch of cowards. If Coran was right and a Galra was the perfect fit for Red, then Keith was going to embrace the more Galra parts of himself. Letting his Galra heritage be what holds the team to their moral compass. So he spoke up.
"I know what Sendak is capable of. He will destroy Arus then come after us anyway. Besides, he has the Red Lion on his ship. Staying is our only option."
"Here's an option: shut your quiznak." Lance unhelpfully interjected.
"You're not using that word correctly!"
"What do you know, Mullet?" Lance
"We're STAYING!" Keith
"Leaving!" Lance
"Staying!" Katie
"Snake!!" Hunk
"Guys! Stop!" Shiro
"Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing, what do you think is the best course of action?" Shiro diplomatically redirected the decision. Voltron was an Altean legacy, but the Altean princess wasn't much older than them. Still, if anyone got to make the final call, it was her.
"I – I don't know." Her face fell and she looked to Coran for advice. He led Allura out of the bridge, to another room in the castle, leaving the chaotic paladins alone. Hunk and Lance continued to debate the reasons for leaving, while Katie advocated staying. Keith walked away from them, moving to stand by the screens and stare out at the Empire cruiser looming on the horizon. He closed his eyes, focusing on the strange energy he could feel ever since the ship came into Arus' atmosphere.
He took a deep breath in, held it, then slowly let it back out. Repeating the sequence several times. He could feel a heat in his gut, one that burned separately from his Galran blood-lust, one that sparked a flicker of excitement in his veins the more he focused on it. This was Red, this was his lion; he could feel her.
"Are you ok?" Keith turned to look at Shiro, the man's strong hand placed on his shoulder was grounding him back in reality; the sounds of the 'debate' filtering back as his focus returned to the castle. He nodded but turned his gaze back to the cruiser, back to Red. "You know, if anyone knows the most about this war, about the Galra; it's you."
Keith gulped. Of course he knew the most about the Galra; he is Galra. "Ya?" he asked sheepishly, his voice holding the question more strongly than he had anticipated.
"Ya." Shiro snickered. "Coran and the princess have been asleep for most of the war. The rest of us didn't even know aliens were real until like, a few days ago. Well – I figure it out a year ago." He smiled but there was real pain hiding behind the joke. "Of all of us, you're the only one who has any experience in dealing with the Galra, of fighting in this war. You know what to expect better than anyone."
Keith stared at him a while, not really knowing what to say. It wasn't until the silence hit him that he realized the others had come to join them and were listening intently. He turned to face the group of Humans, 3 of which were still kits like him, thrust into this war without any prior knowledge, experience, or choice. He sighed and met their stares head on. "I know you're scared. That's exactly how I felt when our Leader sent me to Earth. I didn't know anything about Humans, or your planet; I didn't know what to expect or what I was getting myself into. But I had to do it. It was my duty and there was no one else who could go instead. Just like now. We are the chosen paladins; there is no one else who can take our place. The universe needs Voltron and it is our duty to do everything we can to help. The Empire has personally hurt all of us by kidnapping the Kerberos crew, destroying Altea, and hunting down the rebellion. But we need to work as a team. Voltron is about unity and trust; we need to trust each other and we need to work together if we want to stand a chance of defeating Emperor Zarkon."
"But like, can't we just go back to Earth and let the aliens deal with their own problems?"
"No Hunk, you can't. First of all – how do you plan to get home? Gunna fly a giant robotic yellow lion back to Earth and park it in your parent's garage? If you think Earth is safe – you're wrong. The Emperor won't stop until he has conquered everything. Everything! Earth will be conquered because Earth can't protect itself. My family has been dying in this war for generations. Now I have an opportunity to actually make a real difference. We can stop the Empire from ever reaching Earth, from reaching your families and my dad, if we stand up and fight back."
There was a long silence. The realization that Keith had been raised in this war, raised to fight as a soldier his whole life, was finally sinking in. The real threat of the Empire and the lengths that Zarkon was willing to go were slowly registering in their minds.
"It's one thing to be told someone is evil, but it's a whole other thing to have it laid out in front of you like that. Damn, Mullet." Keith rolled his eyes; Lance had been so close to something profound but he had to ruin it by being all - Lance.
The door hissed open and the two Alteans marched inside, the princess having changed out of her royal gown and into a flight suit. Like the gown, it was white with pink and blue accents. "Paladins. Like I said, you 5 were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you, and you alone. We must fight, and keep fighting, until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope; WE are the universe's only hope." She stood tall and proud; delivering her speech with a confidence Keith envied. He felt her call to arms resonate, the other paladins mentally accepting the challenge placed before them.
"We're with you princess." Though it was Shiro who spoke, the words came from all of them.
Allura led them to a new location in the castle, a large room that severed as an armoury. Like the medbay and the bridge, the armoury was a large, seemingly empty, round room with bright blue lights and a cold, almost clinical feel. In fact, now that he paid more attention, the entire castle had a clinical feel. He didn't like it, the more he thought about it the emptier it felt and the more he missed the Blade bases.
"Your suits of armour." The princess illuminated the casings against the perimeter of the room, showing off the 5 identical suits inside, each colour coded to their Paladin and Lion. They moved to stand before them, staring at the ancient suits, still more advanced than anything the rebels had, but not quite as nice as his Blade armour he thought. Keith inspected his; they were lightweight and flexible but bulky and brightly coloured. There was no way they could hide in the dark shadows of an Empire ship or base while wearing bright white suits of armour. They made him feel so exposed.
"Cool" Lance
"Outstanding" Shiro
"Wow, neat" Katie
"Hmm" Hunk
Keith turned to stare at the larger boy, watching him look skeptically at the small profile of the armour. He snickered to himself, the Humans were in for a treat when they experience the amazing tech infused fabrics used by the Alteans, the Empire, and the Blades. He leaned in so as not to make the poor guy uncomfortable with the attention and whispered "It'll fit – don't worry" in his ear, receiving a genuine, but mumbled, 'thanks man' in response.
Once they were all suited up, Allura made her way over to the sole console in the room. Placing her hand on the pad, she dissolved the barrier and 4 strange weapons rose. "The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin." Again, they weapons were colour coded to their armour and floated over to each of them, activating once in their possession. Naturally, Keith received a sword.
"Aww, you got a cute little bayard." Lance misguidedly commented to Katie. She promptly electrocuted him, much to Keith's amusement.
"Yeah, it is pretty cute." He couldn't contain it and snickered at her comment.
"Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin." The princess' words pulled him back and Keith stared at her, slightly confused. Was she not going to mention that Zarkon was the original paladin? That according to legend he lost the mighty lion but retained the bayard? He was tics away from calling her out before realizing he hadn't told anyone that he was Galra yet, and Katie hadn't told them that she was a girl. Guess I'm not the only one with secrets. He thought as he surveyed the room, catching Coran's eye.
Shiro shrugged it off, trying to maintain a positive attitude. "I guess I'll just have to make do." He smiled weakly.
"Shiro – I inspected your arm after you arrived back on Earth. There are weapons in it that you can activate in place of the bayard." Every one immediately stopped and stared at him. "What?"
"Weirdo." Lance flippantly waved his hand in the air as he dismissed him and once again, for the 8 billionth time, Keith rolled his eyes.
"Keith -" Allura turned to him "You'll need to retrieve your Lion from Sendak's ship. Remember, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental, you'll have to earn its respect." He gave her a curt nod.
"Alright, here's our plan of attack." Shiro straightened, his voice shifting into 'leader mode' as he laid out what the team needed to know. "The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lions, but they don't know we have the Green Lion too. Hunk, Lance, you'll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up. While Sendak is distracted – Keith, Pidge, and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion. Keith and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge guards our exit. Hunk, Lance, Find some way to take down that ion cannon." The group went over the logistics but Keith's mind was elsewhere. If they were going after Sendak's ship they were most likely going to need to destroy it. Everyone on board would be killed. Everyone – including the Blades stationed undercover in his crew.
The princess dismissed them to mentally prepare for their first battle, to go pee, and to grab a quick helping of food goo. Instead, Keith found a quiet corner tucked away from the others and pulled out his communicator.
"Blade, why the sudden and unscheduled communication?" Kolivan's masked façade appeared on his screen and Keith felt his heart leap. A familiar face, even behind the mask, was something he had greatly missed. Slipping back into his native Galran, he answered his leader.
"Leader, a lot has happened in the past few quintants. The Human known as Shiro was successfully returned to Earth and we acquired the Blue Lion." He watched Kolivan nod once to acknowledge his success in the mission before continuing. "I – uh, I have some other news to report. We – we managed to acquire the Blue Lion because we found the Blue Paladin."
"Well done."
"Yeah, um – the Blue Paladin is a Human who's a deca-phoeb younger than me. His name is Lance and uh – Lance, Shiro, myself, and 2 other teenage Human kits were blasted off to Planet Arus in System 3-8B-F. We are currently inside the Altean Castle of Lions with a very much alive Princess Allura." Even through the mask Keith could hear the gasp of surprise from Kolivan and he grinned at being able to shock the man. "Oh, there's more. The 5 of us are the new Paladins of Voltron."
"The 5 – of you?"
"Yes, Sir."
"You 5 – you are Paladins? Of Voltron?"
"Yes, Sir." He couldn't contain his grin.
"Keith, you are a Paladin? Which Lion?"
"Red, Sir." Kolivan nodded.
"You have done well. I am to assume that you are choosing to stay with your new team?" Keith gave a curt nod and Kolivan continued, unfazed. "I grant permission for the extension of your mission. Do you have anything else to report?"
"I do. We are launching an attack against Commander Sendak's ship. You have 1 varga to warn the Blades stationed on board. They need to abandon ship and escape immediately. The Voltron Lions will destroy the cruiser; I have no doubt about that."
Kolivan stared at the screen for a moment before giving him a curt nod and grunt combo. "You're consideration of your fellow Blades is admirable. I will be sure to pass along the message. We have 2 highly valuable agents currently stationed with Sendak. Their immediate evacuation will be ordered. Good luck Blade. The return of Voltron is promising news indeed."
With that, Kolivan cut the transmission. Their operatives would be ok. He had done everything he could to ensure that they got out. If they took too long, or ignored the warning, that was on them. Keith leaned back against the wall and let out a long sigh. What would happen to the undercover Blades if he hadn't been chosen as a paladin? They'd probably die on the ships they were assigned to, just like the Empire soldiers. Without Keith, Voltron would be just as dangerous to the Blades as it was to the Empire. Maybe he was chosen for a reason.
"Pidge, what's your ETA?" He heard Lance's voice float casually over the coms in their helmets. The sound was so clear it was as if the Cuban was standing right next to him. Event their Blade suits had a slight distortion over the coms.
"We're in." She replied and they began to make their way down the hall.
"Uh, Pidge – why are you following us? You're supposed to be guarding our exit." He asked and the Green Paladin glared at him.
"I'm not just gunna sit there and do nothing!"
"No, Keith is right. Pidge we had a plan and it's vital that everyone sticks to it. We all have a role to play. Keith and I need to go find the Red Lion and you need to make sure the Green Lion stays hidden." Shiro explained everything so eloquently and the little Green Goblin (gremlin? – whatever Matt called her!) obliged.
It didn't take long, maybe 2 dobashes total, before he felt the familiar energy. They ran through the halls, dipping into the shadows to avoid detection, and steering clear of sentries and soldiers. In one of the halls, Shiro grabbed his arm, squeezing tightly as he started to hyperventilate. Eventually calming, they took a moment to let the older breathe before continuing. "Are you ok?" He'd asked as they ran down another long hall.
"Yeah, I've been here before. After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here."
"I doubt it. I mean - all of these ships are designed to be identical. Wherever you were taken, it would have looked exactly like this one. Same layout, same halls, same everything. Commander Sendak has been stationed in this system for deca-phoebs. You were probably on Central Command, in their Gladiator pit – not here." He didn't know if that would help or make the situation worse, but it needed to be said. Shiro couldn't be having a panic attack every time they went onto a ship. It took a while, and a lot of deep breathing, but their Black Paladin managed to calm down enough to continue the mission.
They continued down the halls, making their way deeper and deeper into the cruiser. Once they made it to the hangar, Shiro pushed him out of the way. "Galra tech is genetically encoded to their species. My hand is the only thing we have that can interact with it." He placed his cybernetic hand on the pad and the doors beeped open, Keith rolled his eyes; Shiro's hand wasn't the only one that could do that. He said nothing.
Inside, the Red Lion hung suspended within her own particle barrier. He ran up to her, feeling her eyes follow him through the room, and placed his hand on her barrier. It was warm to the touch and he could feel a slight tingling move from his hand up his arm, like the gentle lick of a flame. The Blue Lion had felt like water, but Red – she felt like fire. A fire he was more than willing to let loose, a fire that he felt burning in his very soul, a fire matched only by his own. Staring up at the magnificent Red Lion, he watched as nothing happened. She was waiting.
"Let's get out of here, open up." Nothing. "It's me, Keith, your buddy." Nothing. "It's me – KEITH your – I. Am. Your. PALADIN!" Nothing. Like an absolute idiot – he knocked. It had worked for Lance, but it seemed Red was much pickier than Blue and the knock did absolutely nothing. Instead a series of shots rang out around the hangar and Shiro yelled for him to hurry up. "I'm bonding with you! Hey! Come on! We're connected!" Still nothing. Moving on, he drew his shield and called his bayard, jumping into the fray to help Shiro.
Unlike at the Garrison this was a real fight, one with actual stakes, and Keith didn't have to hold back. He let loose, letting all of his pent up rage and frustration out through his sword. Jumping into the thick of it, he took out 4 of the 6 sentries with ease, leaving the other 2 for Shiro to deal with, and made his way back to the Lion.
"Oh, COME ON! Still nothing? What do you want from me?" This time it wasn't sentries that attacked. Thinking on his feet, knowing they were outnumbered, he yelled at Shiro to activate his face mask before slamming his fist on the console. The hangar bay doors opened immediately, sucking everything out into the vacuum of space, including the two Paladins. He'd tried to hold on, tried to grab Shiro's hand and anchor them both to the console, but a rogue box hit him hard enough to dislodge his grip and they both of them went flying out the hatch. Panic sank in as he immediately tried to think of a solution, something they could do to get back in the ship. Reaching for his com line, he went to message Katie, ask her for an assist with the Green Lion but a large pair of red jaws clamped down around him and the Black Paladin. They were safe, he'd done it – he was officially the Red Paladin of Voltron.
The overwhelming excitement of the moment gave him the adrenaline boost he'd been craving and he ran from the jaw to the cockpit, jumping over the back of the seat to sit at the controls. "Good Kitty." He mused affectionately. "Let's roll."
"Pidge, this is Shiro – we have Red. Roll out!"
"Rodger that!" Less than a dobash later, the Green Lion was flying out to meet them. Keith activated the Lion's internal communications and connected all the Paladins through the Lions instead of their helmets.
"You guys made it!" Hunk's excited voice filtered through.
"Kitty Rose has left the stage!" Pidge confirmed cheerfully.
Lance piped in, "Let's get the heck out of here" the rush of battle making his words faster than usual.
"I hope I stopped that cannon. I could barely make a dent in it." Keith looked back, the damage Hunk had managed to do was severe – but with the drones and sentries, it would take Sendak a varga, tops, to repair it. He didn't say anything – yet. He'd let them enjoy their first tastes of battle for a little while longer before spoiling it.
When the lions returned to the castle they landed inside Black's hangar, sitting in formation as Shiro waited by the steps. This was it, this was the big moment where they'd either unlock the Black Lion, or spend the rest of the war with only 4 out of the 5. Everyone held their breath, Keith included, and slowly the large door opened revealing the absolute unit that was the Black Lion of Voltron.
Shiro rushed the steps, climbing into his lion, and a loud roar reverberated through the castle, the 4 other lions joining the call. They had Voltron.
"Oh quiznak!" Coran's voice came over the coms accompanied by a loud alarm.
"Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron, now!" Allura's orders were immediately followed, everyone still running high off the preceding battle.
A blast from the fully repaired ion cannon hit the castle's particle barrier. He knew what that cannon could do and the fact that it didn't completely decimate the castle's defenses immediately was a testament to how incredibly advanced Altea had been 10,000 deca-phoebs ago. The force of the blast shook the ground upon impact and they all felt the strain of it even from inside their lions.
"Man those Galra guys repair stuff fast!" Hunk commented over the coms, pointing out what Keith thought was blatantly obvious.
A series of Altean symbols popped up in the far left corner of his screen and he realized that they were not only connected to each other, but to the castle as well. He read the damage report and heard Coran relay the information to the others; the castle's shield couldn't take many more hits like that. Allura promised them temporary cover, but they needed Voltron.
Another blast from the ion cannon rocked their defenses again and Shiro issued a call to arms. "Listen up, Team Voltron! The only way to succeed is to give it all you've got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?"
Keith felt the call in his very bones. This is what he lived for. His fingers clenched around the controls, his brows set in a hard line, focused and ready for battle. He gave a curt nod of agreement, ready to launch at Shiro's command.
"I'm nodding – is everyone else nodding?" Hunk's voice came over the coms and Keith sighed a 'Yes' with the others.
"Let's do this!" Shiro called out, and they leapt at his word.
They had done it. They had formed Voltron and Sendak's ship had been destroyed, Voltron blasting through it like butter. It had been one of the most amazing experiences of Keith's life. Voltron stood at the base of the castle, Sendak's ship exploding magnificently in the sky behind them and Lance – Lance had to go and ruin it.
"Cool guys don't look at explosions! They blow things up and then walk away!" He sang over the coms.
"Who has time to watch an explosion? There's cool guy errands that they have to walk to!" Hunk chimed in, backing his friend and further ruining Keith's post battle high.
"Keep walkin. Keep shinin." Shiro contributed in an absolutely ear splitting falsetto.
"Don't look back, keep on walkin." Lance picked it back up.
"Keep struttin'. Slow motion." Shiro resumed his falsetto and Keith slammed his hands over his ears.
"The more you ignore it -" Pidge added before all 4 of them belted out "the cooler you look" in unison before bursting out into a roaring fit of laughing. Keith groaned.
They exited their lions and collapsed on the front steps of the castle, Allura and Coran rushing out to greet them.
"Good work Paladins!" She cheered, pure joy radiating off her.
"Thanks pretty lady." Keith groaned yet again at Lance, rolling his eyes and moving to stand by Shiro. "Uh, Pidge – what's that?"
"Oh this? It's Rover! While I was waiting for Keith and Shiro, a drone flew over to scan the area and I zapped it then reprogrammed it. We're friends! You like?"
"Uh yeah, sure." Lance didn't sound too convinced but a short explanation from Katie about how useful it could be to have something other than Shiro they could use to interact with Galra tech put everyone on board. Coran had shot Keith a quick look but he merely blushed and ignored the man. He was waaay too tired to get into his heritage at this exact moment. It would have to wait for another day.
Coran and Allura showed them to their rooms and Keith unpacked his bag, being sure to hide his Blade suit in the farthest corner of his closet. He hit the showers and crawled back to his room, barely making to the bed before collapsing from exhaustion. Under his pillow he rested his blade, letting his finger gently caress the wrappings on the hilt, feeling the little pulse of life as the blade thrummed with his own quintessence. His Blade of Marmora communicator lay beside him and he quickly opened it.
< All personnel successfully evacuated. >
Something inside him finally relaxed. His people were safe. Voltron had been formed, Sendak had been stopped, and the Universe was one step closer to peace.
For the first time since Keith left the Blades, he slipped into a deep and dreamless sleep.