"Zarkon, the paladins have used the their ship to escape. Shall we pursue them?" Commander Sendak contacted Zarkon with a salute and request. Zarkon seemed to contemplate the idea, before guttering,
"No. I have a different approach in mind."
...
"Keith- language." Shiro tutted.
"Language? We are out of FUEL!" Allura tried to slow down the aircraft into descent- but it was too late. They were nose diving down now.
"Coran- put up the particle barrier!" Allura shouted and she typed onto the podium to preserve power. Even from inside the thick barriers, they could hear the wind scraping at the hull.
"But we haven't even tested it out yet!" Coran protested, but doing so anyway. A large forcefield sputtered up around the ship. "It's very weak Allura- I"
"Everyone, hold on!" Shiro yelled. The ship crashed.
...
They all groaned. Allura and Coran were both on the floor, whilst the five paladins leaned against their seatbelts. A red light flared softly, but made no sound. Coran wheezed, lifting himself up using the podium. With a wobbly voice, "Systems are offline." Then he slumped back down, rubbing his head.
It made a large impact, but the trees in the forest they landed in dulled the crash a little, and the force field helped immensely. The force field automatically went down. Now, the ship was laying on its side surrounded by peals of fallen trees and piles of misplaced dirt. Smoke rose from the area.
"My chest hurts." Lance unbuckled the tight seatbelt that restrained him from falling. "Hunk?" Lance stood up, but his feet slipped and he fell on his side. Damn gravity.
"I'm good- thanks." Hunk rose out of a tumbling pile of debri. "Uh oh, that's not good." One by one, everyone stood up- rubbing their bruises. Coran looked around him, examining the damage.
"Oh- this might take a while to fix. And it'll be even harder when the ship is on its side. Allura? Could you kindly right it?" Coran asked. Allura nodded and pressed her hands against the podium and the ship creaked loudly. A bear waking up from hibernation- the husk groaned. Pidge just stood up on the side of his chair.
"Wait- no, no wait-OOF!" The ship corrected itself and everybody shifted right. Pidge fell onto the ground. He angled his glasses, making sure there were no cracks. "Coran? How long till you can fix this thing?"
"Hmm... give me three hours top- and it should be running smoother than an Olympic athlete!" Coran ran off to a supply closet. Lance snorted.
"Olympics? Man you're old." Coran gave an high sound of disagreement.
"Okay everyone. We're here in Kresinto so we might as well try to search the city for supplies." Shiro walked off to the doors.
"Yeah, because that went so well last time. Allura? You coming?" Lance asked. "You know you want to." He winked. Allura dusted her clothes off and began clacking away at an intractable screen.
"I am so, so terribly sorry- but I'll have to stay here and help Coran. You all go on ahead and have fun. Contact us if there's any trouble."
"My sarcasm detector went off the charts at those first words, but don't worry Allura. I forgive you." Lance shot finger guns at her. Allura seemed confused at the gesture, which was now getting dragged away by Shiro.
Shiro shook his head, scolding.
February 29
We finished evacuating the prisoners. Section F9 was sent to Gridale, G2 to Kresinto, Central Asia and B4 to Chatorpan, East Asia. We only have a few left we want to finish experiments on. Haggar suggested doing one of her own to our top fighter for the arenas. Said she might even bring him onto Zarkon's ship in the future.
Pidge was disappointed at the short length, but kept it nevertheless. He stuffed it back into his bag pocket once Shiro came out with Lance.
"Everybody's here. Good. I can see the city from the ledge we're on- but it'll be a hike for us to reach it. Remember Allura's words. Our priority is to find survivors, and make peaceful negotiations with them. Let's go." They all hopped off the thin ledge, sliding down into a dirt path back to the city.
They arrived at the gates of the city. Yes, the city had gates installed.
"What the heck?" Lance walked cautiously up to it. "Doesn't look like anybody's home."
"How did they barricade an entire city already? The world found out, what- a day ago?" Pidge rubbed the metal works covering the bars. "It's not too shabby either."
"It's alright. This means that there ARE people inside the city. We just... ah, need to get their attention." Shiro went to the lock of the gates. "Hello? Is anybody listening? We are the paladins of Voltron- we mean no harm." Silence.
"Hm." Shiro tried to think of another plan. Keith brushed past.
"Why don't we just, you know, use our bayards?" Keith's sword glowed up, and melted the lock into pieces. He smiled and the sword went back to normal swiftly. He turned to see everyone staring at him.
"What?"
"You can't just- you DON'T just!" Hunk pulled his headband over his eyes.
"Great work Keith- now how are we going to get on friendly terms with them?" Lance jutted out his jaw. Keith frowned.
"I just opened the gates- what's the big deal? Obviously nobody was going to come here and talk."
"I suppose the big deal is that now they can charge us with treason and for damaging their property. Well, not charge technically since I don't think the police is active right now, but they can point that out to us negatively." Pidge nodded.
Keith looked away, and kicked open the gates. "Whatever. It doesn't look like anyone's here anyway-"
"An entire city Keithy-boy, they can be anywhere!" Lance snapped.
"Shut up and go in." He walked into the city. They all looked at each other, and began to walk inside too, with Shiro the most worried.
"Keith. Next time, you have to keep control over your... instincts like that. Okay?" Shiro told Keith softly. He breathed out heavily before saying,
"Sorry. I'll talk it with you before I do anything next time." Shiro smiled.
"Oh- my GOD!" Lance's voice could be heard inside one store whose title was rubbed away. The team ran to the sound.
"What- what is it?"
"They have bathworks!" Lance held up a large basket of lotion, soaps, conditioner and the such. Everybody groaned.
"Only YOU would find that a worthy scavenging item." Pidge laughed.
"Drop them, they'll only take up space." Keith crossed his arms.
"Um, no Mr. IWouldMeltAPadlockWheneverIFeelLikeIt. Besides you don't know what you're missing out on. The showers in our ship have NOTHING. Don't come back begging for soap later on." Lance emptied the contents into his pockets. When he ran out of space he ran out to look for a bag. "Hey Hunk- follow me! We can get bags for everyone!" Hunk nodded and left.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Pidge assured Keith, who was currently sulking near the door entry.
"I can't understand how.. how he does NOT take this seriously." Keith rubbed his eyes together furiously.
"Like I said, you'll get used to it. Besides, Hunk is right about one thing, Lance can control himself when he wants to. He just... never wants to." Pidge snorted, kicking a can on the ground.
"... Hey Pidge?" Keith perked his head.
"Hm?"
"I.. need some leverage to keep him in line. What is the most embarrassing thing you saw Lance do?" Pidge rose his eyebrows to the sky.
"Oh- ho! I like where this is going."
...
Lance and Hunk came running back with one of their own bags. "Shiro Keith, catch!" Shiro found in his hands a tight black satchel. He smiled a thanks. Keith caught a bulky red back-bag- which he slid over his shoulders.
"Thanks." He muttered.
"Now to find some survivors. How can we help them if our own two hands are full?" Shiro agreed.
They were able to find more bullets and water bottles hidden in stubborn drawers or shattered cars along the way- until they heard an all too familiar noise.
Click, Click- Cli-i-i-i-i-i-i-ck." A groaning dragged out across the pavement. Hunk eeped. "Oh boy- not again."
"It's alright. If they try to bite you the force field should keep the blood from being injected."
"What do you mean should?" Hunk gulped.
"Shiro means that if you just stay still and let a million Stingers eat at you, then it will most likely fall down. Calm down Hunk! These force fields are phenomenal! Even if they do allow... an extraordinary sense of touch." Pidge ended nervously.
"Here they come." Keith noticed a bunch of Stingers, clicking their way closer. The mushroom infested heads spazzed out wildly, their arms seeming to glitch into dislocating angles. Lance muttered something under his breath, when one Stinger shrieked- running towards them.
"Wah!" Lance shot the head of the Stinger, a beam of bright blue whizzing into its eyes. It exploded into a confetti of mushroom plates and brownish blood. Some splattered onto Hunk. It felt warm, and he could feel it run down his arm. Hunk shuddered,
"Eugh!- you're right Pidge. Doesn't this thing have some sort of numbing setting?" He wiped it off quickly, pretending it was warm spaghetti sauce. Attracted to the quick burst from the shot of the laser gun, more made their way closer. The louder they clicked the faster the others ran in. Cycling over until there was about 100 Stingers surrounding the five.
"You ready guys?" Shiro's right hand gleamed purple. In no more than one second's moment, everyone's bayard shone brightly. They responded in a loud, "Yeah!"
...
Bodies littered the ground. It was only 50 before, but now it seemed like an eternity of fighting. Pidge twirled between the Stingers silently, ripping their necks out with an assassin's worthy cut of his bayard.
"For once, being tiny pays!" Pidge dodged an incoming mess of nails and mushrooms. Hunk spun around shooting blindly while hollering. His gun beamed out twenty shots at once, tumbling a wall of bodies circled around him. He didn't feel too comfortable with this, but he soldiered on. Lance's gun was shooting without a second in between each beat, never having to pause, Lance found himself smirking.
"Man! This bayard is sweet- you never have to reload, it's like one of those cheap video games!"
Shiro dealt with any Stinger that tried to sink its fangs into any of his paladin's necks. They had the force field, yes, and he didn't, but that didn't prevent him from squelching holes into the disfigured heads. The mushroom roasted, grilling from Shiro's hand alone. The scent wafted towards Hunk- who froze.
"Is that... bruschetta I smell? Oh- no, maybe the more delectable tingle of the a sauteed mushroom perfectly dried-"
"Hunk." Shiro grunted, beating down one Stinger that almost touched Hunk. He snapped out of his lenient trance and shook his head.
"Right, right- sorry."
Then out of nowhere- a sharp blam rang out from nearby. One Stinger crumpled down. Not from Shiro's hand marks, nor Pidge's sleek cuts, nor Hunk's multiple gaping holes, nor Lance's swift hit. There was a bullet embedded in the Stinger's mushroom head, smoke slowly lifting from the wound. The five seemed to glance at each other- time freezing. Then they went back to finishing off the rest of the Stingers as quickly as they could. Shiro stomped down the last Stinger.
"Well done guys- the horde's taken care of. Now..." Shiro glanced at the direction of the sound. "You guys heard that..."
A sudden rustling behind a nearby car made everyone froze.
"Hello? We know you're there." Shiro tentatively reached toward the car.
"We're not going to hurt you." Lance soothed. "Just come on out, we promise." Then he send a warning glare toward Keith's way, who glared back. A small figure slowly crept out behind the car. It was a boy. He had dark brown hair with red running through it (could just be blood) and his bangs draped over his eyebrows in such a way that it made him look continuously angry. He had splotches of orange paint on his skin, and he was barely higher than a knee. "I am Klaizap- bravest of our warriors!" He charged out, proclaiming. "The Clickers have somehow passed the city gates, and have forced us to barricade ourselves at the edge of the city! We are the Arusians!" Then the boy pointed his gun towards them. "And you are..?"
Keith immediately got in front with his bayard flashing. "Put down your weapon and then we'll answer." He said grimly. Shiro gave a warning stare. Keith groaned and put back his bayard.
"Dude." Lance jut in. "He is literally the size of our knees."
"Doesn't mean we should take any chances." Keith deadpanned.
"Gee, and here I was hoping we could knit him a sweater." Lance sighed, making Keith bristle. Shiro continued.
"We are the paladins of Voltron, we're here to help." Klaizap ranted on in his strange speech.
"..Not too long ago, soldiers came from the sky and took our parents and families away to a safer place. All that remains in our village is us kids, and our wise and noble leader. He is the only adult to survive."
"How... did he survive?"
"He hid inside a refrigerator." Klaizap answered with awe. Shiro refrained a smile.
"I see. So, can we visit this town of yours?" Klaizap nodded.
"Only, if you paladins will clear out all the Clickers in the area leading back. I was sent to scavenge, but the Clickers here grew plenty. Can you clear the path for me to lead?"
Lance snorted. "That's like, our job here. Don't worry about it." Lance smiled. Klaizap gave a loud "Hurrah!" And bounded off in the direction of his barricade.
There was a few clumps of these "clickers" here and there. While in the midst of the final rundown, Allura came in on the mic.
"Paladins? Coran has finished repairing the ship. What have you found?"
"Kind of- Umph! Busy- pretty lady- Whoa!" Lance said in between dodges. He ducked beneath one clicker and shot directly to underneath its jaw. It exploded, but Lance swooped out before any got in his hair. "Nope, nope, nope."
"Oh! You are in combat I see. Excellent! Remember to contact us for help if needed." Allura said nonchalantly.
"Allura, we found some survivors. They barricaded themselves to a far point in the city." Shiro informed.
Allura gasped. "What? That's amazing news! I'll track the coordinates through your mics. We'll see you soon!" She miked off. Soon, there wasn't a clicker in sight.
"Amazing- you cleared out the entire group." Klaizap gawked. "Come! Our barricade is this way!"
...
They were in front of a barbed wire fence, with two large gates at front. Maybe it used to be some sort of security check or stop, but now it was turned into an Arusian village, or that's at least what they called it. Clearly through the wires, you could see a bunch of sheds and even makeshift huts made of large metal plates scattering about. Nearby was the edge of a forest and a steep ledge to a form of up leveled ground. Klaizap called out.
"I am Klaizap and I have returned! I brought warriors with me, open SESAME!" He waggled his arms strangely. Two other kids rushed out and pushed open the gates.
"Open sesame?" Hunk leaned in to whisper to Lance. Lance shrugged.
"They're young and in a city wasteland. Let em live."
They all walked inside the long street of huts and stores. There were many kids running about, shocked at the sight of grown teens in their domain. Soon, the chief came bounding out of a somewhat tepee. He was taller than most of the kids only by an inch, and he was well fed.
"Ah yes, welcome to our humble abode!" He grinned widely. "Klaizap has told me of your great skill. Thank you for bringing him back safely." He bowed.
"Er.. no problem." Shiro then asked. "So, about the soldiers who came in?" The chief knew where he was getting at. He lowered his voice.
"Well, you probably figured ah, the soldiers did not come to take them away to safety. If anything... they're gone now. Very few young adults are left, of whom I've convinced to lie for the sake of the rest... most of us here are mere children. I decided to not ah.. tell them." The round man gulped. "I know it sounds bad but I've instead led them to think this was all just a temporary 'game'. A deadly one in that." He fidgeted.
"You're going to have to sooner or later. Well, what color was the soldiers?" Shiro asked.
"Hm? Oh er... purple and black I think? Why?" Shiro breathed out heavily.
"It's the Galra. Galra Co. is behind this zombie infection."
"What?!" The man spit into Shiro's face. He wiped it away with a prosthetic hand. "The Galra? But how? They're just a secretive science industry!"
"I know, and right now their intentions aren't entirely clear to us. But we do know that their head wants world domination, for reasons not known. That's why we're here. We're here to form an alliance with you for support, and to overthrow their leader Zarkon." Shiro grinned.
"Why- of course! It's an honor, oh we must have a celebration then! All shall get their family back!" He huzzahed.
"Oh, and we will be having a few more people come. Is that alright?"
"Why yes, why?"
"Because they have a big ship and... it's coming... right about now." Right behind them, the white aircraft landed on a patch of bare ground, spewing dust and wind everywhere. Lance was in awe. "Whoa Shiro! Wow did you know- the timing was perfect-"
"I saw the shadow coming behind us."
...
Soon, an assembly of the new alliance formed in an old temple. It wasn't too far off from the village, and the chief claimed it to be their "holy place". The leader's whiskers bounced as he spoke out loud to the crowd.
"Voltron here, has given us and all mankind hope. Hope to be free from Zarkon's evil plans. I need not remind you what was done to our people when the Galra came" The Arusians (the crowd was mostly consisted of oldish kids) murmured in bad recollection. "But now- all that shall change! We shall help them in their quest by spreading peace to others. A toast to our newest (and first) alliance- Voltron!" They all gave a cheer "Hurrah!" and sipped on some foreign juice.
In another part of the temple, Hunk suggested, "Hey- shouldn't we have some sort of cheer too? Like a team cheer that we do." Lance hummed.
"Yeah! Okay how about uh-." Then he said in a rap. "I say Vol, you say Tron- Vol." Lance waited expectantly.
Keith moved forward. "Uuh... Voltron?"
"No- no, no- the cheer include the instructions. I say Vol you say...?" Keith shrugged slowly.
"Vol..Tron?" Lance blinked.
"W-we'll work on it." He finished, drinking some of the herbal tea. A sudden shiver went though his body as Lance did his best not to spit out the juice. He twitched toward Coran who was walking by.
"Coran- what is this?" Lance stuck his tongue out, trying to shake off the taste.
"This is nunvil, the ichor of the gods! Or so do the Arusians say."
"It tastes like hot-dog water and feet."
"Yes! It surprisingly makes a wonderful hair tonic as well." Coran joyfully sprinkled some onto his mustache, which miraculously seemed to get bushier. Lance held in a gag and exhaled a hefty sigh, groaning. Coran went back to Shiro as Keith and Hunk prodded Lance curiously. Keith poked Lance on the shoulder lightly. Lance fell to the ground.
"Try some nunvil- settles the stomach and brightens your smile." Coran offered to Shiro.
"Remember back in the jets when we fled from the Galra?" Shiro asked.
"Yes, it wasn't too long ago." He smiled.
"We noticed that the main ship wasn't coming after us when we did. Don't you find that a little suspicious?" Coran waved.
"Oh, plenty of malfunctions can happen on a ship so large. I'm sure we just got lucky." Coran sipped more tea.
"But who knows when he'll attack again? I'm gonna do a perimeter check, just in case." Shiro walked out of the vast temple, and out the wooden doors.
...
"Commander Sendak, the sentries are in position around the Arusian village. We'll stop them from there." Haxus said.
"Luck is on our side. Look, there are no defenses and the doors are wide open. With all these citizens coming in and out- it should be nothing for you to infiltrate." Sendak smiled.
"I created modifications to our suit and armor, it will be able to cloak me long enough to plant the bomb and steal away their technology." Haxus replied.
"I knew you would not disappoint me Haxus." And with that, Haxus smirked and turned invisible- with only the sounds of his running feet.
...
Pidge stared at the journal over and over. It was as clear as day.
Zarkon just added another change of plans. The women and children will be sent off to the vast land of Kresinto as planned, but all the worker men will be sent off to various smaller bases in the city of Gridale, South Antoria. He said that Haggar sensed a presence of strong energy there. Altean energy. We are to search for it there, and the other bases have volunteered to give in slaves to pitch in. Already we found some randomly alloted Alteanium. We're far from the yearly quota, but still, either we find all of them here or we wait for another meteor to grace us.
If only he had read this note sooner, he could've gone south before and find them! Pidge sighed, shaking off the guilt. He had been so close... he looked out to the parked jets. He nodded, making up his mind.
"Shiro?" He went up to him outside. "I need to talk to you." Shiro turned and listened. Distracted now, Haxus snuck by them, holding the bomb delicately in his arm- well hidden from sight. Meanwhile back inside the rickety temple, Lance stared at the herbal tea. He sighed.
"We might as well get used to these weird drinks and foods. Who knows how long it'll be until we get the world back to normal?" Hunk swished the drink in his hands.
"Yeah... if at all."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean Zarkon has been preparing and creating these monsters 'Stingers' for 5,000 years- imagine how long it might take to fix all that. If we survive." Lance drooped.
"Oh, right."
He looked down.
"Hey, what do you think are the chances of us finding a store with edible pizza in it?" Hunk smiled, thinking about it.
"Well, I know one place in Veradera beach with a pizza shack. Looking over the great ocean, and the garlic knots an-... and my mom's hugs-" Lance's face scrunched up at what he was saying. He turned quickly and headed his way up the main stairs.
"I'm sorry, I think this nunvil's getting to me." He sniffed. His shoulders drooped walking up the stairs. Coran looked by concerned.
...
Shiro and Pidge both walked in with a serious expression, approaching Allura. "Oh Shiro, Pidge? Hows the celebration?" She sipped some nunvil.
"Uh great- uhm, Allura? I-"
"Pidge, how about you tell me a little about yourself." She smiled. Pidge gave a confused "huh?".
"We need to connect as a team, not only with the other paladins but with us as well! We're family." Pidge flinched at the word. Wanting to get it out of the way, he replied quickly.
"Well, I like peanut butter, and I like peanut butter cookies, but I hate peanuts. They're so dry. Also, I sweat a lot. I mean, in general, unrelated to the peanuts." Pidge stammered. Shiro suppressed a smile, before nudging Pidge.
"Right... right. Allura? Read this. I found it in the lab and..." He handed the lab journal over to Allura. "My dad and big brother was in the Association mission. I know he and Matt have been captured. It says right there that they'll be held captive in Gridale, South Antoria. We were just there! I've made up my mind. I'm... leaving Voltron."
Allura nearly dropped the cup and paper together. "What?" She held out her arms to Pidge. "Pidge- you can't! You are one of five paladins. You have a sacred task to defend the world!"
"My first priority is to find my family!" Pidge stiffened. "I thought you of all people would understand. If you had a chance to get your father back, wouldn't you?" Allura bit back.
He winced. "..I'm sorry. I should go tell everyone else." Then calling into the mic, "Hey guys? Everybody come here and meet me in the main west wing. I have something I need to tell you." Then he walked off in the direction of the point with Shiro following. Allura, though devastated, peered at the paper with a flicker of hope as well.
"Altean energy..." She read and held the paper close.
...
Lance was at the top of the temple. It had a tiny roof on top, granting access view to all of the people walking in and about. He sighed, hand against cheek.
"Mind if I join you?" Coran's voice entered the room. Lance shrugged.
"Hey Coran?" He started. "Do you think that Zarkon has already released those zombies into... say... Cuba?"
"I get it. You're worrying about your home. Don't worry Lance, I'm sure your family is-" Coran stopped himself. "I'm sure that they were escorted out. You saw how quick these Arusians were to making the fort after news spread about. I'm certain all other peoples around the world will be just as quick, and more secure as they have more time and all."
"Yeah... but I also-" Lance rubbed his head. "I miss home."
"I understand. I miss mine too." Coran nodded.
"I get that we're supposed to be these brave paladins of Voltron now to stop Zarkon and everything. It's super cool and shocking, but honestly? I just- if I could go home, I would." Lance groaned into his hand. "I miss rain and splashing puddles." Lance gazed into the sky. Coran hummed.
"Ah yes. Back when I remembered when the rain was all black and inky. It was a beautiful sight." He sighed. "...You seem very fond of your family. How many were they?"
"Oh, a lot." Lance chuckled.
"Must be fun."
"It was a mess back home, but...yeah." He trailed off.
"Tell me about them?" Coran offered. Lance smiled.
...
"You can't LEAVE." Keith shook his head at the blow.
"I have a jet ready from the Arusian village. I fixed and repaired it to go back to Antoria. " Pidge looked away.
"You're not leaving. If you leave we're a broken team." Keith clashed.
"Well, you can't tell me what to do!" Pidge exclaimed.
"Allura was right about the connection between the paladins and bayards. They chose us for a reason, and you're not the only one with a family. All of those Arusian kids have families, the people of this world have families. Everybody in the damn UNIVERSE has families." Keith yelled. Hunk intervened.
"Uh yeah, I have a family. I want to be with them- is that, like, a thing that can happen?" Hunk asked.
"You want to leave too?" Allura asked astounded.
"Of course I do! Look, I know Voltron is incredible and the bayards are awesome- but I never signed up for a lifetime or death for fighting zombies." Keith's eye twitched. He was obviously losing the battle between him and his temper.
"You are putting the lives of two people over the entire-" Shiro held Keith back on his shoulder.
"No Keith. That's not how a team works. People have to want to be a part of it, they can't be forced. The bayards attracted us, but they don't bind us." He turned to Pidge. "If you want to leave, then we won't stop you. But please, think about what you're doing."
Pidge looked down, but said without hesitation. "I'm sorry. But you're going to have to find another paladin to handle this thing." He shoved the bayard forward. Allura touched it delicately and put it back into Pidge's arms.
"Look Pidge." Allura said softly. "Perhaps, we could make a stop to Gridale. Coran and I have talked about it recently, and we have decided that it would be better to eliminate all of Zarkon's bases. It took him long to build them and it would severely put him at a disadvantage. We can go to the one there and-"
"I can believe it- YOU TOO?" Keith shouted.
"Coran and I spoke about it. It is far more reasonable than jumping headfirst into Zarkon, you all need more experience and that will do just-"
"You only want to go there because you think your father is there!" Keith pointed out. Allura squinted but said nothing. Hunk stepped in as the mediator. "Yeah I saw the paper. Some 'Altean energy' found there, you think it's another pod with your fricking-"
"Whoa hey, calm down. Keith, let's just listen to Allura. Her plan makes sense, really." Shiro mollified before Keith went too far. Keith looked away, biting back his tongue.
"Then it's settled. After all, it wouldn't hurt to have two more on the team." Allura smiled at Pidge. He smiled back a forgiving one.
"Or three."
...
Lance and Coran both laughed. "Oh man, you're like one of those really cool uncles. I have one back at-"
"Guys where are you? I said come to the west wing!" Pidge spoke into the mic, but with much less despair than the last time. Lance had suggested they leave the last call, but Coran refused. This time, Coran answered back.
"We're coming. Lance and I are chatting at the roof. We'll be there shortly." They both got up.
"Well! Looks like we're called again. Come on Lance." Coran stretched and began to walk down the stairs.
"Oh Coran?" He peered back curiously. "Thanks for talking with me." Lance said appreciatively. Coran gave a chipper thumbs up. The two were going to walk out, unaware of the invisible Haxus who snuck inside. Haxus clipped the bomb onto the electrical system which was in the center of the room. He turned it on and jumped out of the window. Under his breath muttering into the mic, "Bomb activated."
Lance was on his way out when he heard a very, very faint beeping. "Hm?" Lance turned to see a flat disk attached the podium they were leaning on. It wasn't there before.
"Lance? What is it?" Coran stopped. The metal disc suddenly turned bright red, flashing. Lance gasped, and immediately lunged toward Coran.
"Coran, look out!"
A booming shudder went through the entire temple, spraying bricks and rocks everywhere. The Arusians and paladins halted in their tracks. The children began to scream and run out of the swaying temple. The tiles feel from the roof, hitting some- but not severely.
"What was that?!" Keith shielded himself from the debri.
"Was that a bomb? Where did it come from?!" Pidge scanned the area. With realization, he shouted an answer. "It came from the roof. Lance and Coran are in there!" Hunk eeped.
"We gotta hurry- this building is going to collapse!" They all sprinted up the broken stairs and burst into the room. Coran could be seen on the ground, rubbing his forehead.
"Coran? What happened?" Allura went to help him up.
"I'm.. not sure." Coran dusted himself off, groaning. Then Allura gasped.
"Lance!" A crumpled figure on the ground could be faintly made out. Once the smoke cleared out, it showed Lance unconscious. They all made their way over to him, and Shiro picked him up with his hands. Lance groaned lowly.
"We have to get him to the infirmary!" Allura said. "Coran, Pidge, can you get the fuel in and get the ship up and running? Without energy the healing pods won't function!" Shiro carried Lance up.
"Okay, let's-" The chief Arusian stumbled into the room, blubbering.
"Voltron! Our post is under attack!" He panicked, pointing toward the open window. It showed some buildings on fire, people screaming and of course, Galran drones.
"Okay, this isn't good. Hunk, Allura and Keith get to the village and fight the drones off and the rest of use will return to the ship."
"Guys we need to get out of this building, now!" Hunk shrieked when another clump of tiles fell at his feet.
"I know, it's just.." Lance shuffled, groaning again. "This is not good." Shiro got up with Lance, and Keith rushed up to help.
"Will you not help us?" The chief worriedly looked between them. "Come on team, let's go!"
They all ran down the stairs as fast as they could. As soon as they were out, the temple's pillars creaked with a mighty heave and collapsed. In a rush of dust and flying rocks, the temple was now but a pile of rubbish.
"The temple..." The chief wailed.
"Come now- everyone go to where they were ordered." Allura called out. Coran and Pidge ran in the direction of the ship along with Shiro holding Lance. Keith, Hunk and Allura wasted no time jumping into the steep slope that led to the village. Sliding down, Allura and Hunk went to put out the fires. Keith brandished his sword out, prepared. He looked around a corner where a group of drones were just... standing there. He slowly got close to it, but jumped when it just fell flat onto its face.
They're fake. Keith thought with horror. "Allura, Hunk it was a trap! I'm going back up." Keith began to climb at the slope with nimble speed, the calls of Allura behind him get more and more distant. Once back on the ledge, Keith sprinted to where the ship was. It was a long run back, but he pushed through it, adrenaline helping to fuel his sore legs. He finally got to a point where he could spot the top of the ship, but was blocked by an entire line of Galran drones. Functioning, this time.
Between the shoulder of the drones, he could see a scene of Shiro fighting against a much larger Galra. This new Galra had a large prosthetic arm attached with bright purple beams to the joint. Shiro was expertly fighting with his hand. Keith glanced at Lance, who was lying on the ground nearby, and Coran with Pidge who were working frantically inside the ship to get its attack up. Noticing him, the drone began to head towards Keith, swinging their weapons.
Keith had trouble keeping every single drone off of him, but right when it seemed like he was surrounded, a multitude of bright yellow laser beams struck all of them simultaneously.
"Whoa..." Keith worded a thanks to Hunk, who had managed to catch up. He turned back. It seemed like Shiro and the big Galra were at a stalemate. He smiled, but it quickly dropped once he saw another large Galra drag Lance by the back and shove him forward into the ground.
No... Keith thought as he began to sprint without thinking to the two remaining soldiers. He trusted Allura and Hunk to be capable of handling the rest of the drones.
This faltered Shiro, who was slammed into the dirt by Sendak's large claws. He quickly bound them. Done with the drones, Allura and Hunk could be seen running just behind Keith as they got closer to the scene. They all halted once Haxus spoke.
"Surrender your ship, or your friends won't make it." He made sure that everybody heard it, and held a claw dangerously close to their neck. Keith looked back at Allura, asking for help.
"... Okay." Allura gasped. "We need to help them before its too late. Pidge? Coran? Come out." Pidge protested.
"What?! No- just give us some more minutes and we'll have the defense up and running. Then we can kick their a-"
Haxus sensed the hesitation and gripped firmly onto his prisoner. He trailed one thin claw down Lance's neck, producing blood. Lance audibly winced, but didn't stir.
"Pidge." Keith almost growled into the mic. Coran stopped whacking at the keyboard and nodded. He came out with Pidge following.
Sendak nodded approvingly. "Good. Now, lay down your weapons." Sendak turned to Haxus, who had let Lance go. "The day is ours. Contact Zarkon and- AURGH!" A sudden shot of laser hit Sendak into the shoulder blade, fizzling with intense heat. It was Lance. He had a smirk on his face, transient smoke flowing out of his bayard. It soon deactivated as Lance stumbled back into unconsciousness. He fell back as his bayard disappeared in a flash of light, groaning. Haxus protracted his claws to destroy Lance, but before he could Shiro threw himself against him. Haxus got knocked back, but Shiro was easily brought back down to the dirt with the heavy hand of Sendak.
Sendak threw Shiro against the ship, but soon got assaulted by Pidge, Keith, and Hunk at all sides. Allura called out to Coran who went spiraling back into the ship. Hunk was able to distract Sendak with his plentiful beams long enough for Keith to swipe his sword through the connection between the arm and Sendak's shoulder. He howled as the arm fell to the ground, lifeless.
"No!" Sendak threw Hunk and Pidge back together with his good arm, and proceeded to clash against Keith's sword, shaking from the full weight.
"Keith NOW!" Allura shouted. Sendak noticed a sudden blue glow coming from beneath him, a circle surrounding him and Keith. He turned to the ship behind, back up and running with bright cyan, several light beams connecting to the ground around him. He turned back to Keith- but was too late. Keith shoved him back with both his feet and Sendak stumbled into the circle alone. The forcefield came up with a bright shine and soon solidified into clear glass. Sendak banged onto the thick transparent walls, but soon found it to be fruitless.
"Haxus- go get more troops. Inform Zarkon- go NOW!" Sendak was barely able to finish the last word before an entire casing of cold steam built around him. Haxus was going to draw his sword, but he bitterly obeyed and turned- escaping into the forest.
"He's getting away!" Shiro turned, grunting.
"No! We must tend to our own first. Everyone please help me bring Shiro in and put Lance into our healing pods." Allura said sternly. Keith nodded and walked to him, clasping Lance's hands and bent down as the rest made their way in.
"Lance, are you okay?"
"We did it." Lance smirked, but much softer now. "We are a good team." Gripping him firmly, Keith smiled as well before helping him back to the ship.
Allura sighed with slight relief. "That was Sendak, Zarkon's top commander. You've done well paladins." Everyone shouted back an affirmative.
"Psh- him? The top commander? We beat him in our first Galra battle! Zarkon better prepare." Lance coughed, still smiling, despite his eyes drooping from exhaust.
"You just had to, didn't you." Keith rolled his eyes, chuckling. But it died down as Lance fell limp once again.
Before Keith could react,
"Come! He'll become better within a day in the healing pod." Allura urged. They all went inside.
The pod encased itself with Lance floating inside. Allura sighed, wiping her sweat off. "Well done paladins. Shiro? How are you?"
"Good, good. Your first aid kits are doing its job well." Shiro stretched, rolling around his shoulder. Then he looked to Pidge, who was sitting nearby, clearly pondering about something deeply.
"Pidge, we fought off Zarkon's top commander together. I can't help but feel like you were... meant to be a part of this team." Shiro prompted.
Pidge replied,
"Dad used to tell me how close he was with his crew members. They were like family. Now, I understand what he was talking about. I'm staying with you guys." Pidge decided. "Well, I know we're going to Gridale tomorrow, but really guys. Even if we weren't I'd stay- I-" Allura stopped his stammering, and smiled.
"Let's stop Zarkon for all of our families." Pidge sounded a cheer.
"Alright guys, get a night's rest while you can now. We're leaving for Gridale tomorrow and back to Antoria. Allura and Hunk doused the fires in the village right?" He looked to Hunk for confirmation. He gave the thumbs up. "After Lance is fully healed, we can try to interrogate Sendak for information on how to effectively stop Zarkon. The ship managed to encase him long enough to transport him to the... Coran?"
"The memory pods!" Coran grinned.
Allura promised she would explain what those were later on. "As of now, the plan is to rid of all his bases. It will take a while, but it is doable." Pidge laughed.
"Sometimes I wonder who the real leader is here."
"Well, maybe they can be both? Like leader mom and leader dad." Hunk suggested. The two sputtered.
"Go to bed." Shiro rubbed his eyes. Laughing, one by one they trailed off to their designated room. Leaving all but Keith. He stared at Lance curiously, hand on the cold glass pane. Before he could get himself too worried, he turned and with a hiss the doors behind him closed.