Author's note
Abandon all of which you think you know. My story doesn't really follow the plot of the show at all, so don't rely on your knowledge of the show since it's not going to help you here. Enjoy.
Lance stifled a yawn, tan jaw trembling in obedience. Ocean blue eyes were half masked, and lanky limbs covered in blue and white armor, loosely gripped the joysticks and pedals. He tugged tiredly at the collar of his black undersuit that peeked out from underneath the white armor plates. The dark blue accents absorbed the holographic lighting that lit the cockpit in a calming blue. The blue v painted across the breastplate reflected proudly in the dim lighting. A dark blue helmet rested on his tousled hair, a glass panel shielding his eyes and thick lines of white outlining the edge of the blue. Lance rubbed his eye with his fist, man, he was exhausted. After several grueling hours of training with the lions, it felt nice to finally relax. As the paladins headed to their separate hangers, alarms blared and red lights painted space's black canvas a crimson red. Eyes wide, Lance jerked around to face the bombardment of purple enemy fire.
Dark navy blue and purple ships of varying lengths flooded the surrounding space. Purple lasers whizzed through the air as the paladins scattered, hoping to draw the attack away from the Castle of Lions. The protective blue glow of the particle barrier flickered in and out, exposing the slick streamline walls of the pearl white castle.
"Princess, open a wormhole immediately." Shiro's concern bled into his command, interlacing with tones of anxiety and determination. "We will cover you."
"NO!" She argued, "I refuse to leave the paladins of Voltron behind while I get to safety."
In the corner of his eye, Shiro could see the frown adorning Allura's dark features in the Black Lion's holographic comms. He knew that her stubborn pride was rearing its head and would present problems for everyone, allowing the enemy to gain the upper hand. Across the comms, her blue and pink speckled eyes narrowed in frustration, the pink marks under her eyes crinkling with concentration.
Amidst the explosions and laser fire, Lance's voice crackled across the comms, "There's too many of them, Princess." Lance's voice was devoid of all joking manner, leaving the atmosphere heavy and tense.
"If you don't leave now, the castle will fall and then we won't have a safe haven to return to."
Allura heard a mess of jumbled words from her paladins, urging her to escape. Coran's teal blue eyes shimmered with unshed tears, orange mustache twitching suspiciously as he turned part way to face her.
"Princess, the particle barrier is gone. All defenses show critical damage, and the teleduc can only withstand one more jump, Your Highness. I beg of you, please listen to Shiro." Coran begged, voice cracking.
Allura, her elf-like ears tense, gave a sharp nod, "Very well. Coran, begin sequence for wormhole jump."
The team was left with the image of Allura standing regal and alone, shoulders straight, the circlet of metal resting on her forehead, a display of her status of a princess. Only Coran could see the slight trembling of her shoulders, buckling under the weight of the universe.
"Alright, Team. Cover the castle." Shiro commanded sternly while dancing through outer space, avoiding laser fire left and right.
Hunk stood guard in front of the castle, massive metal body taking hits, the yellow paint chipped and scarred. Pidge and Shiro were using their jaw blades to inflict damage on the command ship. The red and blue lions were fighting side and side using their twins beams of fire and ice respectively to take out the fighter droids. Once the castle of lions had safely wormholed away Hunk rejoined the fighting.
"Shiro, where do you need me?" He asked over the comms.
"Hunk smas-!?"
"KEITH! LOOK OUT!" Lance shrieked before ramming into the red lion, effectively pushing it out of harm's way, only to have the purple lighting strike the blue lion instead. With a high pitched whirring, the lights in the cockpit dimmed to nothing, trapping Lance in unforgiving darkness. The Blue Lion stood motionless, drained of all power, it's bright eyes void of all life. Hunk felt his heart shatter a little as he caught a glimpse of the majestic Blue Lion limp in the cold clutches of outer space.
"Lance!" Keith screamed in borderline hysteria as he struggled to regain control over Red. Lance's push had forced them to spin uncontrollably in the zero gravity of space.
"Hunk, Change of plans. Recuse Lance." Shiro commanded, even in the unexpected circumstances he was calm and collected.
"On it!"
Hunk quickly sped after the large mechanical blue lion and its paladin. The lightning bolt had sent Blue hurtling toward the closest multi-colored planet. As the planet's gravity was pulling them to its surface, Lance felt the temperature skyrocket, easily slipping into the 100s degrees Fahrenheit. Due to its fall, the Blue Lion somersaulted, allowing Lance a nice view of the Yellow Lion approaching him, which prompted him to whoop.
"Woo hoo! Alright baby. Come to Lancy, Hunk!" The sound reverberating as it echoed within his helmet.
Hunk managed to nab Lance, but as soon as Yellow's huge metal paws clamped onto Blue's armor, another lightning bolt shot out, sizzling across Yellow's back. Hunk groaned as another Lion, more specifically his lion, lost power.
"HUNK!" Pidge shrieked, her voice cracking as she saw the yellow lion join the blue lion in its downward spiral toward the closest planet. Distracted by her fear of losing her friends, no family, Pidge failed to notice the purple lightning bolt till it was too late. The bolt struck the Green Lion in the chest, throwing Pidge hard against her chair. Before the video comms blinked out Pidge caught a glimpse of the purple of a fighter droid before it slammed into her lion's jaw, nearly sending her flying from the controls.
"Pidge!" Keith screamed before launching himself forward towards the downed lions.
"Keith, STOP!" Shiro demanded. Keith froze at the harsh tone.
"B-But the t-team." Keith whimpered.
"Will be fine. Their lions will protect them, but right now I need you to help me take out the Ion cannon, that's where the lightning is coming from."
Keith drew in a deep breath before he nodded. "Alright."
"Good to have you back on board. Alright, here's the plan." Shiro said, dodging bolts of purple lightning. "I'll distract the Galra while you take out the rest of the fighter droids. Then I want you to take out the cannon."
"Got it, Shiro."
"In anyway possible."
Out of the corner of his eye, Shiro saw Red pounce on the last few fighter droids, smashing them to smithereens, before swooping underneath the belly of the command ship. A flicker of red emerging just behind the cannon.
'Come on,' Shiro thought, as he danced through the stars a black twirl amid the purple streams of lightning. 'Just a little longer.' He could feel sweat trickling down the side of his face, clinging to the sharp incline of his jaw.
With a flash of red light, Shiro saw Keith activate his jaw blade, slicing through the base of the cannon. In its dying breath, with one last mighty surge, the Ion cannon shot out one last bolt of electricity. It struck Black directly in the face, cracking one of her eyes. Her bright eyes dimming as her power was sucked away.
"SHIRO!" Keith desperately screamed. He watched in shock as the black lion started to free fall towards the closest planet. Just as he was about to pursue, the cannon exploded in a fizzy of purple lightning, blue fire, and sound so damaging, it left a sharp unpleasant ringing in Keith's ears. The deafening boom was the last thing he heard before he cracked his head on the console and darkness pervaded his vision.
Shiro's eyes fluttered open and he blinked several times to help them adjust to the dim lighting. He shook his head a little bit to help clear away the fog in his mind. A shock of white hair tickling his eyelids. Logically, Shiro knew he was still in Black's cockpit, even surrounded by near darkness. Judging by the lack of response, after decently shaking his controls, Shiro gauged that Black would need to recharge in the Castle of Lions. Then it dawned on Shiro that the rest of the paladins were being awfully quiet.
"Team, STATUS REPORT!" He yelled into his helmet comms, voice filling with panic and cracking at the end. His command was met with a beat of silence, then a groan and coughing.
"Yeah," cough cough, "I'm here." Hunk's voice, low and gravely, blending into the cacophony of static.
'Thank goodness.' Shiro sighed in relief. 'But what about the rest of the team?'
He heard a whimper through the speakers in his helmet.
"I'm," wheeze "Here too." Shiro heard Pidge say in between gasps."
"Good, have either one of you heard from Lance or Keith?"
"...No…"
"Nope."
Tink...Tink...Tink... A tapping sound could suddenly be heard through the comms.
"Do you guys hear that?"
"Yes."
"Yeah."
'What is it?' Shiro thought, 'It sounded familiar.'
Suddenly, Hunk gasped, "I-it's morse code."
"Well, what does it say?" Pidge huffed.
"Give me a minute, it's been years since I last used it."
Shiro could hear Pidge groan in annoyance over the headsets.
"Here we go." Hunk said slightly shakily as he spoke every letter he heard. "...S...O...S...space...L...A-!?"
Suddenly Keith's voice surged through the comms, flooding everyone with a barrage of static.
"Keith to Voltron! Team status report! Hello? Is everyone alright?!
"Keith," Shiro tried to calm him down, but was cut off as Keith seemly ignored him. "W-!?"
"Hello!? Guys if this is a prank, it's not very funny. Someone just ANSWER me!"
"Kei-!"
"SHIRO!? HUNK!? Allura!? Coran!? Pidge?...Lance?"
Now Keith's voice gained an edge of desperation to it, filled with panic.
Shiro sighed in exasperation, concluding that Keith was ignoring them and heard Pidge speak up.
"I think his speakers are broken, he can't hear us."
"Ah, can you fix it?" Turning the question towards Pidge.
"Yeah, I can fix it, just not remotely. Besides my Lion isn't even online, how am I supposed to transmit any data at all?"
Shiro could barely hear Pidge over the onslaught of Keith's words, bombarding them with questions and sounds.
"Why don't you mute his channel?" Hunk suggested.
"Good thinking, Hunk." Shiro praised as he pushed a few buttons on the side of his helmet, silencing Keith's voice.
Shiro then turned his attention to the problem at hand.
"Umm...Shiro?" Hunk's voice sounded timid.
"Yes Hunk?"
"I figured now was a good time to mention, I can't feel my arms."
"What?!" Pidge squawked. At the same time, Shiro questioned, "What do you mean?"
"I can't feel my arms, no that's not true, there's a slight numbness but I can't move them." Hunk repeated, his voice trembling slightly, filling with panic.
"How long ago did the numbness start? And does anything else hurt?" Shiro asked, his voice full of concern.
"Wait…"
"What?"
"Why are you just telling us this NOW?" Pidge said accusingly. Shiro got where she was coming from, he was curious as well as worried.
Hunk sighed. "At first we were just responding to show that we were alive, then between Keith's and Lance's abrupt interrupting. I didn't get a chance." He finished with a whimper.
Shiro sighed, "Well, at least now we know. Pidge, what about you?"
"I'm fine, but my helmet got damaged in the fall. It's completely dark."
"Kinda like when Coran switched them to training mode?" Hunk asked, in his warm chocolatey voice.
"Yeah." Pidge clarified, while nodding her head, though no one could see it.
"Speaking of Coran," Pidge continued. "Can you get a hold of him or Allura, Shiro?"
Shiro mentally slapped himself, why didn't he think of that sooner? He was the leader after all, he had to take care of these kids. Shiro tapped a few buttons on his helmet.
"Allura? Coran? Do you copy?" His question was met with static. Undiscouraged, He tried once again.
"Coran? Allura? Come in." Once again, static buzzed in Shiro's ears.
Shiro sighed, rubbing his hands over his scarred face. "Alright Team, it looks like we're on our own."
'Well this wasn't the first time we've lost contact with the castle, nor unfortunately would it be the last . Though things could be worse and we've dealt with worse before.' Shiro thought thankfully.
As soon as the thought popped into his head things, did in fact, get worse. Shiro heard a cringe worthy shrill screech of metal against stone, accompanied by a terrified yelp.
"Pidge! Are you alright!?" Shiro all but demanded into the comms.
"Yeah...I-!?" Pidge was cut off by several twangs and a startled yell from Hunk.
"Pidge! Hunk! Get out of there NOW!" Shiro roared. "And keep your helmets ON. We don't know if this atmosphere can sustain human-life!"
"Roger that." Shiro heard Pidge squeak, while Hunk grunted an affirmative.
Ignoring the darkness of the cockpit, Shiro closed his eyes and concentrated on the sounds emanating from his helmet. He heard grunts, scampering, and the occasional curse. He bit his tongue, resisting the urge to tell Pidge off for her language, but right now she didn't need any one point Shiro heard clanks, which sounded suspiciously like rocks bouncing off metal; a few seconds later, a huge splash. Shiro tapped his fingers anxiously against the console, waiting for the appropriate time to ask for a status report. He waited 3...5 minutes, then all he heard was heavy breathing over the comms. But since there were no other sounds indicating immediate danger Shiro decided to speak.
"Hunk, Pidge. Status report."
"Wet, but alive." Hunk's voice came through the comms, slightly breathy .
"Little scraped up, but still in one piece." Shiro heard Pidge mumble.
"Good, what about the Lions? What's their status?"
Hunk signed, "When we crashed, Yellow landed in a forest. Unfortunately she was still offline and I ended up evacuating to a river beneath her."
"I still don't quite get it, where on Earth was your lion that warranted you to jump into the river, underneath her?" Pidge cried exasperated.
"... Do you really want me to answer that?..."
"..."
"...sigh... When my lion landed in the forest, she got tangled in several hundred vines. She was suspended in midair about 30 feet, I had to jump." The last sentence was said in an apologetic tone.
"Hunk...Why didn't you just climb down?" Shiro asked, worry lacing his voice.
Hunk gave a half-hearted chuckle. "I can't move my arms, remember? And did you know," He rambled on. "That it is very difficult to open a trapdoor without the use of your hands? I had to use my shoulder. That's why it took me so long."
"Ah, Pidge?" Shiro asked, dad tone slipping into his voice. "Where did you land?"
"In a canyon, I think. Green got stuck between two canyon walls and I had to climb up one of them."
"What do you mean 'think'?" Hunk asked, his voice cracking at the end.
"My helmets' broken, remember? I can't see out of it."
"Oh...right." Hunk said sheepishly.
After a moment's pause, Hunk gasped. "You climbed up a rock wall, even with your helmet like that?"
"Yeah, I'm not some little daisy who topples in the wind."
Shiro chuckled, everything was going to be fine. Hearing the sound of popping mud, Shiro quickly glanced down to see sky blue mud oozing into the cockpit and pooling at his feet. Shocked he tried to stand, but his legs weren't responding, causing him to land in the goopy mess. Panic set in, causing his chest to tighten. Shiro clawed at the walls of the cockpit, leaving streaks of strangely colored mud, desperate to get out. He began dragging himself across the mud covered floor, coating the front of his otherwise immaculate black and white armor in a thick layer. He hurriedly swam through the mud towards the emergency exit, but the thick mud was heavy and slowed him to a crawl. When he finally made it to the bottom of the ladder, he stopped to catch his breath, chancing a quick glance behind him.
The mud was ever so slowly rising, causing his breath to shorten into sharp gasps. Shiro then hauled himself up the ladder using only his arms, his legs dangling uselessly underneath him. At the top, he used one hand to open the hatch while the other one gripped the ladder rung, shaking with effort to hold him steady. 'Now those training exercises come in handy,' Shiro thought bitterly. He grunted as he hauled himself out of the black lion, scraping his armour over the lip of the exit. Once he was sitting on top of the magical creature, he took a moment to look around, choosing to ignore the constant bombardment of his teammates' questions. Black sand spread out on all sides as far as the eye could see; he was surrounded by desert.
Shiro glanced down and sighed in defeat, an unpleasant growl gurgling in the back of his throat. The black lion was almost completely submerged in the sky blue pool of mud, and sinking rapidly. Only the top of her head, the place where Shiro was sitting, was free. Swearing silently, Shiro quickly activated his jetpack, launching himself off the black lion just as it fully sank beneath the thick, bubbly mud. Daringly Shiro took one last backward glance, and saw the translucent bubbles ethereally rise out of the mud, marking the place of the fallen Lion.
Tearing his eyes away, Shiro returned his attention to the task at hand. Right now safety was his highest priority. He leaned forward, urging his body to be more aerodynamic. No such luck, his legs dangled uselessly from his hips, no strength left in them whatsoever; throwing Shiro off balance and forcing him to keep a weird 'L' shaped posture. He strained his eyes, scanning for the edge of the mud pit. Finding it, he quickly closed the distance between himself and the shoreline. Moments from the shoreline his feet skimmed the surface of the sky blue mud and entangled them in its gooey clutches.
Shiro stalled and slammed chest first into the hard packed sand, forcing the air out of his lungs. Gasping for oxygen, he struggled to claw his way fully onto the half-baked sand. All the while the mud latching onto him trying to drag him down. With one final grunt, Shiro yanked himself out of the mud. He flopped onto his stomach, exhaustedly panting. During the ordeal, Shiro could hear Hunk and Pidge shrilly bombarding him with questions. He had ignored them to the best of his ability, too wrapped up with his escape attempt. But now that there wasn't any immediate danger, he was able to answer.
"Pidge, Hunk, don't worry I'm fine. Black just fell into a mudpit." Shiro reassured them. "Luckily, I was able to escape before Black sank."
"W...what do we d-do now, Shiro?" Pidge nearly whimpered, uncertainty lacing her voice.
"Right now all we can do is roundup the rest of the team and protect ourselves as best we can from whatever else may be on this planet. We don't know how long it will take for Allura and Coran to find us."
"Okay."
"Got it"
"Now, Hunk. I want you to rescue Pidge and I'll meet you there." Shiro said.
"Wait...why do I hafta wait for you guys? Why don't I meet you guys halfway? Why do YOU have to come and pick me up, I'm not some damsel you know?"
Shiro sighed. "Pidge, it seems you've forgotten, but your helmet is broken. And the last thing we need is for you to walk off the edge of a cliff. And last time I checked you're stuck in a canyon full of them."
Pidge huffed. "Fiiiinnnnneeee...I'll stay put."
"Good girl...see you guys in a little bit." 'Hopefully,' Shiro thought, clinging to any hope he still possessed.
"Hardy har har, what a wonderful Space Dad you are." Shiro heard Pidge reply sarcastically through the comms.
"Yep, I totally agree."
Scrolling through his helment's 3D map, Shiro pinpointed Pidge's location. He sighed once more, glancing at his legs, before beginning to army crawl. Meanwhile, Pidge sighed, she hated that Shiro was right. She knew that if she fell while in the canyon she could get seriously hurt, but she couldn't just do nothing, right? Pidge knew their reunion would be faster if she worked her way towards them.