Author's note: "The Angels of Mons" is a poem by Jane Yolen. The Battle of Mons happened in August of 1914, during WWI. The retreating English troops reported seeing what they thought were angels, who scared off the German cavalry, allowing them to retreat with far fewer casualties.
This is a really old story. I fixed the formatting and the grammar, but it is what it is, which is old. I don't own Voltron or any of the characters from the show. They are owned by WEP.
Christmas on Arus
"Okay Keith, I give up," Allure sat down next to the captain at the control counsel. "What is Christmas, and why does Lance hate it?"
"Um, well," Keith glanced over at her. "Christmas is a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the savior of Christianity, which is a major religion on Terra."
"What about Lance?" Allura asked.
"Lance hates all holidays on general principle. Don't let it get to you," Keith shrugged and continued with his work.
"He said it was an overly commercialized holiday used by retailers to sell massive quantities of goods," Allura offered.
"Well, it has gotten really commercialized. It's a time when people exchange gifts, and retailers do tend to take advantage of that," Keith sighed; leave it to Lance to explain Christmas in the worse possible way. "But it's still a nice holiday. It's the time of year a lot of people spend with their family and give to charity, those types of things."
"Oh," Allura thought about it for a minute. "Maybe we should celebrate Christmas."
"I know Hunk and Pidge were talking about putting up a tree in the rec room," Keith continued to type on the computer.
"A tree?" Allura frowned.
"There are all sorts of traditions that go along with Christmas. You should ask Pidge," Keith's tone of voice seemed to say 'as much as I enjoy talking to you I have work to do and would appreciate it if you went away.'
"Alright," Allura got up. "I will."
Lance sighed and flipped idly through the various castle security systems. It was late, and he had just finished running a check on them for Keith. Now, he was just keeping an eye on castle control until his shift was over.
'Incoming message from Pollux.'
The words flashed across the screen and Lance sighed again. Probably just Romelle calling for Allura again. They spent more time on the com than high school girls did on the phone.
"This is Arus Castle Control responding to Pollux. Please state your purpose," Lance managed to sound both board and professional at the same time.
"Isn't it passed your bedtime Lance?"
"Sven!" Lance's head jerked up, suddenly much more awake.
Sven laughed at him. "Last time I checked. How's it going on Arus?"
"Not bad," Lance smiled and settled more comfortably in his chair. "It's been kind of quiet lately so I'm expecting something catastrophic to happen any moment now. How are you?"
"Very good, I think," Sven looked more puzzled than upset.
"You think?" Lance said skeptically. "I can go get Keith if you want to talk to him."
He assumed that if Sven had something on his mind it would be Keith he would want to talk to.
"Actually I wanted to talk to you," Sven shook his head. "I wanted to run something by you."
"Okay," Lance nodded, a little surprised. "What?"
Sven paused thoughtfully for a moment before speaking. "I think I'm going to resign from the Garrison."
"Um, okay. Why?" Lance wasn't really surprised, but it wasn't what he had expected either.
"I've been offered a position as the head of security for the royal family of Pollux. I would very much like to stay on this planet," Sven explained.
"You mean you would very much like to stay with Romelle," Lance corrected with a grin. "Head of security is a crappy job. Technically, Keith is head of security here, and it's a pain."
"Is it a crappy job because Keith assigns it to you, or is it just a crappy job?" Sven narrowed his eyes. "And I'm not staying because of Romelle."
"Of course you're not," Lance rolled his eyes, "and Keith doesn't turn the same color as his jumpsuit every time Allura smiles at him. It's a crappy job because it's a crappy job, and yes he does pawn it off on me most of the time."
"So you're saying I shouldn't resign," Sven sighed.
"No, I'm just warning you," Lance wouldn't have presumed to tell Sven anything.
Between the two of them, Sven was by far the wiser and more experienced. Not that Lance was likely to admit that.
"Lance, I really like this planet," Sven leaned back in his chair. "It's the first place that's felt like home since my parents died, and I'm worried about command moving me as soon as they decide my injuries are completely healed."
"If you like the planet that much you should stay. I seriously doubt the Garrison will be able to make you a better offer," Lance shrugged.
"Yeah," Sven nodded. "Thanks Lance."
"You're welcome," Lance shrugged, unsure of how helpful he had actually been.
"Are you guys doing anything for Christmas?" Sven asked abruptly.
"Like I would know," Lance snorted.
"Lance, you have to get over this dislike of holidays you have," Sven rolled his eyes.
"I just don't see the point," Lance said sourly.
"Since when do you need a reason to party?" Sven accused.
"But that's just it. Everyone seems to think they're so important, when really they're just another excuse to buy junk and get wasted," Lance slumped down in his chair a little.
"You and your deprived childhood," Sven said in exasperation, laughing a little when Lance stuck his tongue out at him and resisting the urge to sink to his level and follow suit. "I was thinking about coming to Arus for Christmas. Romelle has been wanting to spend some time with Allura, and it would be a good excuse to come."
"I'll pass it on to Keith," Lance brightened; it would be good to see Sven again.
"Thanks," Sven nodded. "I have to get going. Do me a favor and don't mention this resigning thing to Keith. I haven't decided yet, so I haven't told anyone."
"No problem. Talk to you soon," Lance stifled a yawn.
"Soon," Sven promised. "Take care Lance. Pollux out."
"You to Sven. Arus out," Lance watched Sven's image flicker off the screen.
With a sigh the young pilot slumped down in his chair. It was good to hear from Sven, it was good to know he was doing well, but there wouldn't have been a question of whether or not he was doing well if it wasn't for him. With a scowl Lance hunkered down deeper into his jacket.
"Christmas is so cool!" Pidge bounced excitedly alongside Allura. "There are trees and lights and presents and Santa Clause and reindeer and elves…"
Allura laughed at him as he started to turn cartwheels down the hall beside her.
"Can you teach me how to do those?" she asked.
"Of course," Pidge smiled brightly, "but you can't wear a skirt when you do them."
"I don't know, I think it might be interesting if she did. What color are the royal panties anyway?" Lance appeared from around the corner, catching Pidge by the back of the collar before he could turn another cartwheel.
"Lance Mierth!" Allura blushed.
"Hey! You can't talk to the princess that way!" in a fit of mock anger, Pidge tried wildly to attack Lance, who simply held him at bay with a hand on his forehead.
Allura almost doubled over laughing.
"Lance are you going to celebrate Christmas with us?" Allura asked as she wiped away tears of laughter.
"I don't do Christmas," Lance suddenly released Pidge, and the boy's momentum would have carried him straight into the ground if Lance hadn't caught him.
"You don't do any holidays," Pidge pouted at him as he righted himself.
"They're highly overrated," the young pilot shrugged. "Allura, Keith sent me to tell you Romelle's on the com."
"Why didn't you say so?" Allura hurried by him, eager to talk to her cousin.
"I just did," Lance rolled his eyes and blocked a sucker punch Pidge tried to take at him.
"You are just asking for trouble," before Pidge realized what was happening Lance had caught him and was tickling him mercilessly.
"So are we doing big party or little party?" Romelle asked as she hooked an arm through her cousin's while they walked away from the landing pad.
"Little party," Allura informed her. "Just us and the guys, and Coran is invited, but he probably won't come."
"An intimate soiree," Romelle smiled wickedly. "That ought to give you and the good captain a chance to get better acquainted."
"Romelle!" Allura turned red to the roots of her hair.
Behind the girls, Sven had finally managed to escape Pidge's enthusiastic hug. He laughed, hugged Keith and padded Hunk on the back, then noticed they were one short.
"Where's Lance?" he asked.
"He got stuck running an errand for Coran," Keith sighed as they started walking towards the door of the hanger. "He should be back, oh five minutes ago."
As it turned out Lance was waiting for them at the door, slightly out of breath.
"Sorry I'm late," he apologized ruefully.
"I'd be more worried if you were on time," Sven laughed and gave him a hug. "Now, what's this I hear about you giving Keith a hard time?" H
e kept an arm around Lance's shoulders, and his other arm around Pidge's. He was afraid he would bounce right through the roof if someone didn't hold him down.
"You must be hearing things," the lieutenant shot a glare in Keith's direction.
Keith tossed back his head and laughed.
"Lancelot Mierth I cannot believe you volunteered for watch tonight!"
Lance leaned his head back to look at the irate princess standing behind him.
"Someone had to," he smirked without taking his feet off the control counsel. "It was me or Keith. I figured you'd appreciate getting to spend some quality time with the captain."
"Oh you!" Allura fumed behind him, her cheeks crimson.
Lance laughed at her, and she found herself feeling less flustered. Lance had to be the only person she knew who would laugh in her face. Sometimes it was infuriating, and sometimes it was refreshing.
"Couldn't one of the castle staff have done it?" she put her hands on her hips.
"No one really knows the new system yet." Lance pulled his feet down and spun in his chair to face her.
"Isn't the new system automated?" Allura looked at him suspiciously.
"Almost," Lance nodded. "It won't be fully automated for another few months though. Even then, it's always good to have a person on watch. Even a computer can't catch everything."
"You're so antisocial Lance," the princess whined.
"What's your point?" the lieutenant grinned up at her.
"Fine, be that way. I'm going to the party," Allura turned to go.
"Good. I'm sure Keith has been waiting with baited breath to see you in that dress," Lance called after her, turning back to the controls.
Allura stopped just before walking through the door, looking down at her knee length spaghetti strap red dress. She gave a little shriek and stomped out of the room.
Lance doubled over with his head on the counsel laughing. Allura was just too easy. She was almost as easy as Keith. The young lieutenant calmed down and leaned back in his chair, skimming through the security channels again. It was true that they didn't have the security system fully operational yet, and that someone still needed to manually monitor them. It was also true that no one on castle staff had a real firm grasp on the new system, except Coran, and tonight had been one of the rare nights he had actually decided to take off. Keith had offered to take shifts with Lance, but the lieutenant didn't see the point.
It wasn't really a big deal for him to miss the party. Growing up with his grandfather they had never celebrated Christmas, or any other holiday for that matter. His grandfather just had never had the time, and Lance had grown up never understanding what the fuss was all about. As far as spending time with Sven and the rest of the team, that would have been nice, but Sven would be here for another week and a half, and he saw the others all the time. And Keith had really wanted to go. So it just made sense for Lance to take watch. At least to him.
It was an hour later that the warning light showed up on one of the security channels. Lance glanced up from the battered copy of Dune he had been reading. The light continued to flash insistently, and he zoomed in on the area. The warning was going off in an area at the foot of a nearby mountain range. It was probably nothing. That area had been giving them trouble for a while now. It was tucked up in the mountains and it tended to create odd interference that triggered false warnings. Aside from that, it had been snowing all night, which would make any activity, particularly at higher elevations, difficult. Still, he couldn't confirm that the warning was just been a glitch, and that meant that it needed to be checked out. With a sigh Lance activated his wrist communicator.
"Hey Keith, can you come down here for a minute?"
"Be right there," came the answer.
Lance could hear laughter in the background, and Hunk's loud voice demanding to know where the cookies had gone. The lieutenant rolled his eyes.
"What have you got?" Keith entered the room a few minutes later.
"Just another warning in the sigma region," Lance shrugged. "I'll take Red Lion and see what's up, but it's probably just more interference."
"I can't believe you actually told me what you were going to do before you did it," Keith shook his head.
"Yeah, well don't get use to it," Lance smirked a little.
"Is this a private party or is anyone invited?" Sven appeared at the door.
"No, come on in," Keith answered absently, reaching over Lance to hit a few keys on the control counsel. "That is defiantly not the same signal we were getting with the interference earlier."
"Trouble?" Sven asked, passing Lance a cup of something hot.
"Probably just a security glitch," Lance accepted the cup and took a sip, finding it to be Nanny's excellent apple cider. "I'm going to take Red Lion and check it out. It shouldn't take long. You two can get back to the party if you want."
"Or not," Keith took Lance's seat when he stood up. "You think the snow will be a problem?"
"In a lion?" Lance shook his head. "No. It's just snow, it's not like it's a blizzard or anything."
"Fine. Check in, tell me what you find, don't do anything stupid," Keith instructed as Lance left for his lion. "I don't know why I bother," he muttered after Lance had left.
"Just keep trying," Sven padded him on the shoulder with a laugh. "Maybe someday some of it will sink in."
Lance checked his instrument panel and hunkered down farther in his jacket. He hadn't bothered to change into uniform, not for a surveillance run.
"What have you got Lance?" Keith's voice came over the com somewhat statically.
"Nothing yet. The snow is cutting down my visibility, but other than that there are no problems. You're signal isn't coming in too clear," Lance reported.
"Neither is yours. Must be the snow. If the radio starts to cut out entirely I want you to come back. I don't want to lose radio contact," Keith answered.
"Yes Mother," Lance muttered, adjusting his course slightly to bring him up on the location from a direction with more cover, although he doubted anyone would be able to spot him in all the snow.
"I heard that," Keith said crankily.
"Good. Means the radio is working. I'll call you if I find anything. Red Lion out," Lance cut the transmission before Keith could protest.
Lance caught a flash of light on the screen as he approached and tried to bring it into better focus, but the bad weather worked against him. There could be some natural explanation for it, but he couldn't get close enough in Red Lion to check. The lions were great for a lot of things, but they just didn't cut it when it came to getting into small places undetected. The lieutenant hesitated a moment, then decided to set Red Lion down up above the gully he had seen the light in. He could check it out on foot. It would mean going out into the snow, but only for a few minutes, and there was no point in contacting Keith until he had it confirmed one way or the other.
Lance set his lion down, counting on the snow to hide him from any enemy eyes. He made his way to the edge of the gully, stopping at the top and bringing his binoculars up. Below him was a twelve foot drop straight down, then the sides of the gully leveled out to a gentler slope the rest of the way down into the valley. There was defiantly light down there.
The lieutenant focused his binoculars on the light, making out moving objects in the snow. He suddenly had a bad feeling about this. He increased the magnification, and the figures came into focus. Doom soldiers unloading a cargo freight. Lance activated his wrist com to tell Keith, but all he got was static. Frowning he tried again and got the same result. He swore softly. All the snow was interfering with the signal. He would have to go back to Red Lion to contact the castle. He knew her communicator could get through the snow.
As he turned to go the edge of the ledge he was standing on crumbled away, and before he knew what was happening he had fallen. He landed with an unpleasant thump in the snow that had collected at the bottom of the vertical drop. There was no way the Doom soldiers had missed that. Lance barely had time to scramble for cover before they opened fire on him.
Ducking down behind a boulder, Lance checked to make sure his gun was free of snow, then returned fire. This was not good. This was really, really not good. Flinching as a shot ricocheted off the boulder, the lieutenant did the calculations in his head. He had spotted what looked like two lieutenants by their uniforms, that meant two units. Doom units averaged thirty to thirty five soldiers, that meant somewhere between sixty and seventy soldiers at least. The only chance he had of contacting the castle was to reach Red Lion, which would mean climbing up twelve feet of exposed icy rock. He was defiantly in trouble.
Lance peered around the edge of the boulder, picking off several of the front line. Then he just stopped, staring blankly at the space between him and the approaching soldiers. But it didn't matter because the Doom soldiers had frozen also.
In the space between them the snow was swirling like it was caught in a whirlwind, then it just stopped. The last flake fell to the ground, and Lance was vaguely aware that snow was still falling on him, sticking in his hair and lacing his eyelashes, but for the most part he didn't notice. His attention was focused on the five orbs of light drifting down from the sky to hover between him and the soldiers.
The Doom soldiers shielded their eyes from the light and backed away, but Lance crept away from the protection of the boulder to get a better look, momentarily forgetting about the soldiers.
'Nothing learned in university; no special merit earned me this favour from Heaven.'
He could just barely make out figures in the circles of light with their hands upraised. He sat on his knees in the snow staring at them, mouth slightly open, oblivious to the fleeing Doom soldiers.
'We who had thought to die were not dead but in the presence of something greater then Death: greater than guns, than life, than breath.'
Suddenly there was a familiar roar, and Lance jerked his head up to see Black Lion open fire on the retreating Doom soldiers. He stared blankly at the lion for a moment, then looked back to where the beings had been, but they were gone, and the snow was falling heavier than before. He kept staring at the empty space until his view of it was blocked by Sven kneeling down in front of him.
"Lance?" Sven put his hands on his shoulders. "Lance, are you alright?"
Lance looked at him blankly, not really seeing him.
"Is he alright?" Keith ran up to them looking over his shoulder at where the soldiers had been, gun at the ready.
"I think he's in shock," Sven said as he shrugged out of his coat and wrapped it around the smaller man.
The words finally registered with Lance and he blinked at Sven then at Keith.
"No, I'm fine," he shivered, the sudden warmth from Sven's coat making him realize he was cold.
"Oh, you look great," Keith said sarcastically, shaking his head at his pale, blue lipped lieutenant.
"No, really. I'm okay," Lance looked up at them with perfectly clear, calm eyes.
"Where's Red Lion?" Keith asked, wondering where the Doom soldiers had gotten to so fast.
"Up there," Lance pointed.
Sven and Keith looked up to where he had pointed then back down at him.
"Did you fall?" Keith asked worriedly, kneeling down next to Sven. "Did you hit your head?"
"No," Lance didn't protest when Keith gripped his chin and made him look at him, letting the captain see that his eyes focused easily on him. "I mean yes I fell, but no I didn't hit my head. I landed in the snow."
Keith and Sven looked at each other. Lance was being awfully cooperative.
"Let's get out of here," Keith stood up again. "We can't track down the Doom soldiers in the dark anyway. I'll give you a lift up to Red Lion. Sven…?"
"I believe I will be piloting Red Lion home," he boosted Lance to his feet, pulling him to his side with an arm around his shoulders. "Lance's hands look a little numb for piloting."
Lance shrugged, and Keith and Sven exchanged worried glances. They had at least expected a little resistance to that.
"Let's get home," Sven said, leading Lance away.
Lance frowned and looked back over his shoulder where the snow swirled down to the ground through the empty air.
"Sven, do you remember Mons?" Lance was sitting on the floor against the control counsel of Red Lion wrapped in a blanket while Sven piloted.
"Mons?" Sven repeated blankly.
"It was a battle…" Lance's mind was being slow in pulling up the information he wanted. "in World War II, no World War I."
"Doesn't ring a bell," Sven shook his head, wondering what on earth Lance was talking about.
"There was a poem about it," Lance said slowly. "The Battle of Mons or something."
"Lance, you know what my English lit. grade was," Sven spared him a glance.
Lance thought for a second then laughed. He did know. Sven shook his head and smiled. That sounded like Lance.
The lieutenant stepped out of a nice hot shower and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Keith had decided to put the castle on standby, but nothing else. The snow had finally turned into an all out blizzard, and Doom would have trouble making any move in the heavy weather. As far as Lance knew he hadn't even called off the party. In fact, it was probably still going on.
Lance spotted a piece of paper on his bed and picked it up. It was a note from Sven.
'Angels of Mons' - Pidge found it. Keith says to get your butt to the party. Coran decided to take watch after all.
Attached to it was a poem. Lance left the note on the bed and read the poem as he walked to the rec room where the party was.
'August 24, 1914
'Mother:
I hope this letter finds you well.
I have gone from certain Hell
To heaven in a single day.
There is simply no other way
To tell it. We were on the run,
Taking a pounding from the German gun-
Fire. We set up a hasty barricade
Under the brutal sun. No shade
To disguise this, our final stand.
We turned toward the enemy, manned
Our post, said a soldier's prayer
Knew we were going to die there,
There in the mud of a foreign land.
Mother:
I hope this letter finds you – well,
I hesitate. The rest is difficult to tell
Without sounding the complete and utter fool.
There is simply no rule
For this sort of thing. Nothing learned
In university; no special merit earned
Me this favour from Heaven. But where I
Stood, prepared to die, the certain sky
Opened with a bright and shining light.
And there – between two armies readied to fight –
Flew five luminous beings, arms upraised
As if a greater god then war were praised
There in the mud of a foreign land.
Mother:
I hope this letter finds you well.
There is more of this miracle to tell.
The German horses swerved, shied, fled.
We who had thought to die were not dead
But in the presence of something greater than Death:
Greater than guns, than life, than breath.
Angles, Mother, what else could they be?
And we, so sure of eternity,
Could scarce believe the evidence of our own eyes
As they floated down from the credible skies
Between us and the German foe.
This, dear Mother, is all I know.
Written from the mud of a foreign land.
Your loving son.
Lance was so intent on reading that he didn't see Sven until he ran into him and ended up on his backside.
"You and gravity are just not getting along today Lance," Sven helped him back to his feet.
"I guess not," Lance smiled slightly.
"Come on. Allura put on some old Christmas movie she had in her Terrain collection," Sven started walking back towards the rec room.
"Which one?" Lance asked as he followed.
"'It's a Wonderful Life,'" Sven suppressed his laugh, knowing exactly what Lance's reaction would be.
"I hate that movie," Lance stopped walking.
"Have to come. Keith's orders," he turned and smiled at his friend.
"Okay," Lance started to follow him again. "I have a question for you. How did you guys get there so fast?"
"We got your distress signal," Sven looked at him as if he'd just asked what the only color in Keith's wardrobe was.
"I… never mind," Lance stuffed the poem in his pocket and followed Sven to the party. "Did Hunk eat all Nanny's fudge yet?"