Minutes have passed and yet no response has been emitted from the team. Coran couldn't care less about the poor reception from the drones. Plenty of drones have had screwed them over for the past few years. He only cared about the status of Allura and her unit. The silence was starting to send doubt and concern through his mind. Gold stared at the laptop, tensed up, with Colbert sitting next to him staring at the screen as well.
"I don't like this, sir," he said. "Should we send a QRF?"
"No," Coran replied. "I have my concerns as well but it's best we give them some time."
"But we're not getting a bloody thing. No feed, no communication, nothing. How're we supposed to know if they're even standing?"
"Have some faith, Jem," Colbert assured. "If these guys are from Voltron, then they definitely know how to get back up."
Allura's eyes opened not without sacrificing her perfectly fine eyelids. It was hard for her to come to her senses with that loud ringing noise blaring in her ears, muting everything else outside. As Allura tried to pull herself up, the burning blisters and the stinging wounds pulled her down. She let out a tight groan, slipping back to the ground. Allura was unable to get back up without having to damage a wound. Down at a distance, she noticed her rifle intact but coated by flakes of sand. Lifting her forearm forward, she crawled her way towards her rifle.
Allura couldn't see anything through the cloudy smoke surrounding the area but she could hear faint sounds of gunshots echoing and bullets zipping back and forth. Her ears began to come to their senses, disorienting her in the process. She couldn't move. The noises were holding her down like a chain locked to her ankle. As Allura covered herself while panting uncontrollably hard, she heard someone or something call out her name.
She slightly raised her hands off her head and slowly looked up. A small shadow began to emerge from the smoke and shortly, a figure ran through the puffs. She watched as a large tall figure in a black shirt and a plate frame carrier approached her, slowly revealing a scar across his face.
"Allura! Allura! You okay?" Shiro shouted.
Just as her partner arrived, she was able to hear everything, despite the setbacks from the explosion. She nodded, unable to speak with her dry, chapped mouth. Through the roaring gunshots, Shiro gave her a bit of motivation to get up and moved away to provide covering fire. Once she overcame the pain and stood on her feet, Allura held onto Shiro's shoulder who had just went up to her to help her up. She looked around, bullets shooting past clouds and no sign of their attackers. They were sitting ducks at this point.
"We gotta go! Follow me!"
Shiro stepped out of Allura's way and they both ran together, heading towards another part of the village as bullets clamber after them. If they could pull this off without dying, it would be a well deserved favor.
Ever since the explosion set off from the village, Keith was pacing around, getting riled up and worried at the same time. Lance was keeping his cool as usual while setting his sights on the village with his scope. For the last few seconds, Keith had been muttering 'shit' for about a hundred times it was starting to annoy Lance.
"Hey, mind keeping your shit together, amigo?" He demanded. "We're gonna find them. I'm sure your girlfriend is still alive."
"She's not my girlfriend, asshole!" Keith snapped.
"Just saying."
As Lance continued searching for a sight of the team, he heard a faint sound of engine rumbling from below. He looked down and noticed a white Toyota Hilux with a black flag on the side mirrors pull up near the building. The doors opened and two Jihadists armed with rifles came out, uttering orders in Arabic. From what he's seen, these terrorists are unaware of their presence. Lance opened fire at them without giving them any chance to fight back. He managed to shoot one of them dead between the eyes with one bullet. The other scrambled behind the Hilux as the bullets penetrated the hood.
Keith heard the shots and needed no explanation on why Lance was shooting. They both made their way out of the building and approached the still running Hilux. The last jihadist popped out of cover and aimed his rifle, only to be put down by Keith with a bullet to the face.
The duo moved past the truck and made their way down to the rocky road fast. They arrived at the gate where two more jihadists stood near a white Land Cruiser. Just as one of them with a pistol noticed the duo approaching them with ease, he was instantly taken out in surprise by Lance. The jihadist with a shotgun heard the gunshot and raised his weapon towards them with absolute determination. Keith shot him in the leg, causing the jihadist to land on one of his knees before a bullet went through his head. The blood splattered onto the SUV's windows as the body slid against the door.
"Guess these assholes are too busy on the rest of the team." Lance said.
As Lance approached the broken gate, Keith distanced himself away from Lance and went up to one of the dead jihadists. He began to pat his pockets for something. Lance noticed him crouched near the body and rolled his eyes.
"Keith, of all the time we have, you seriously choose to-"
Before he could speak any further, he saw a walkie talkie pulled out of the body's pockets. Keith held it close to his mouth and cleared his throat.
"أيها الإخوة ، لقد قتلنا اثنين من الكفار من الجنوب. أين البقية؟ (Brothers, we've killed two infidels from the south. Where are the rest?)"
Lance was a bit baffled at the way he spoke in a different language but he was still skeptical of whatever plan he had. Suddenly, an Arabic voice replied through static before cutting the feed. Keith wasn't really happy with the news and swore under his breath.
"They found two more of our own up ahead." Keith told him.
"Didn't know you speak Arabic, dude." Lance said.
"Yeah, and I'll tell you what I know once we find our team. Alive."
Keith attached the radio to his vest as the duo made their way past the gate and into the village of echoing gunshots and blanched smoke.
Pidge never liked calling anybody names but when she tried to grab Hunk who was knocked back by the explosion, she couldn't help but admit he had to lose a bit of weight. Her rifle ended up getting lost amidst the explosion.
"You're fucking heavy, you know that?" Pidge croaked as she pulled him up.
"Well, don't mind me. It's part of the tradition." Hunk sarcastically replied.
Pidge wanted to chuckle but her throat was too scalded to talk. Doesn't really help much when they're being tailed by radical jihadists who were catching up to them. They opened fire at them with Pidge using her pistol, although they both shot blankly thanks to the effects of being hit by a bomb. At this point, the duo decided to ditch their plans and run. As they reached down the hill, Hunk was trying to contact through his radio.
"Yellow Lion to Zero, do you read me? Over!" He panted.
Other than mind controlling static, there was nothing from them.
"Don't waste your time on it, Hunk," Pidge told him. "Those assholes must've hammered our signals."
Hunk hesitated for a moment before letting his hand off the earpiece. "Shit."
As the two continued their way down the hill, they hear footsteps close in from a distance. A group of armed jihadists with one wearing a balaclava and carrying a MAS-49, appeared from the corner of a house. Just as they saw the duo, the jihadists pointed their rifles at them. They were both considering to fight back but the chances of surviving are slim and besides, only an imbecile would be dumb enough to open fire at a group with automatic rifles while being the only two alive.
The pursuing jihadists caught up to them from behind, rendering them both outnumbered. They were all closing in, barking and bellowing while shaking their rifles at them. The duo tossed their weapons aside and raised their hands. Just as they did so, Hunk heard a whack and Pidge's body suddenly slumped to the ground. He spun around and saw one of the jihadist holding the rifle with the butt stock at the front. Before Hunk could act, the jihadist aimed his rifle where the muzzle faced directly to his nose. It was enough to freeze Hunk on the spot. As the rest of the group lifted Pidge's body up, Hunk was held with his hands behind his back and taken along with the jihadists.
Once they were certain they were in the clear, Shiro and Allura ran up to a large slab of cemented wall, with portions of it missing like it was bit off. Looked as if the terrorists blew up some of the houses. They were both desperate for a breather, they could feel their chest tightening even harder. So far, the pursuing attackers haven't caught up to them but it was only a matter of time before the duo can hold them off.
"What's your ammo count?" She asked as she checked her pistol's magazine.
Shiro checked his pouches which was empty. "Down on my last mag. You?"
"I'm on my sidearm now."
Allura looked around. Practically everywhere was a bad opening. None of the walls could provide cover since they all look like they were blown up.
"We're in a bad spot, we gotta get outta this shithole now." She said, wiping her smudged face with her exposed forearm.
"Yeah but we have no idea where the others are and the comms are down."
He had a point. They were on the verge of being screwed to a whole a new level. After a moment of silence, Shiro started chuckling. Allura looked at him in confusion.
"What the hell's so funny?"
"Still remember that one time you and me were in a situation as tight as this?" Shiro asked.
Allura paused for a moment before answering. "That was in Prague and the comms were perfectly fine."
"But we survived anyway. Those guys were well trained back then. If we can take those guys down, then we can do the same to them."
"That's bollocks and you know it."
Shortly, they heard footsteps closing in as well as chatter. It was for sure not their team since they don't speak Arabic. Shiro gave Allura a nod while holding his rifle tightly. She nodded back and retracted the slide of her pistol. Her eyes communicated with his. It was now or never. Just as they were about to pop out of cover, they heard a thump and sudden shouts from the pursuers. The voices ranged from shock and desperation and then sharp and abrupt silence. The thumps increased into a style of a drum beat. Shortly, everything went quiet and faint footsteps closed in. Shiro peered from the wall and squinted his eyes. In a distance, Keith and Lance approached them, going through the bodies of the pursuing jihadists.
Keith was the first to reach the commander. "Commander! Are you alright? Where's Major?"
"She's here," Shiro assured, just as Allura appeared from the wall. "How'd you find us?"
"We saw the explosion from the distance and we had to find you two."
"Well, we're thankful for that." Allura nodded.
"Indeed we are." Shiro said.
Keith nodded in acknowledgment. His face changed into concern as he looked around, finding something making. There was six people in total and currently there's four of them.
"Where's the others?"
"We were separated when that IED went off on us." Allura answered.
"This would be the better time to start looking for them," Said Shiro. "And if we can, find if any of the terrorists know the whereabouts of Haxus."
Without any more hesitations, the remainder of the team moved out and searched for the rest of the team. They made their way around the village where there was no sign of anyone, not even Haxus. The team headed towards the side of the village where they saw an exit from a distance. However, in front of the gates were two white Highlander's parked and the remaining group of jihadists moving Pidge and Hunk to the cars. Shiro opened fire at them first, managing to shoot one of the jihadists down and taking the rest by surprise. The jihadists took cover behind a line of crates conveniently placed in front of the cars and returned fire, prompting the team to take cover behind abandoned cars separately. One of them pushed Hunk down under the vehicles.
"الحصول على هؤلاء السجناء في الشاحنة! (Get these prisoners in the truck!)" Shiro heard one of the jihadists ordered.
The jihadists continued to rain fire at them, buying some time for two other masked jihadists to carry Pidge. Lance positioned his rifle on the boot of the car and fired automatic bursts for their heads. The two jihadists dropped to the ground like clockwork, loosening their grip on Pidge. Just before Lance could aim for the other four jihadists, the bullets ricocheted against the boot, causing him to duck under. Their firepower wasn't enough to take on the remaining fighters packed with heavy armory.
As the two jihadists dealt with the team, the other two forced Hunk into the Highlander and hopped in without skipping a beat. Keith heard the engine rumble, giving him a sudden motivation to look up to notice the car about to drive off. Despite being under heavy fire, Keith moved away from the car, clipping off a flash bang grenade from his vest. Shiro, who was beside him, tried to reach for him.
"Keith, don't!"
He slipped away from Shiro's hands and threw a flashbang at them. The explosion flashed heavily, blinding the jihadists. Keith shot them down and tried to shoot down the car. He only managed to graze the headlights and the car began to grow smaller until it was nowhere to be seen.
"Fuck!" Keith cursed, forcefully yanking the rifle down.
The rest of them watched in disbelief, including Lance. Hunk was taken away and it was Allura's only responsibility to make sure none of them were hurt. It was all tearing down into the drain.
Keith turned around and approached Pidge's unconscious body lying near the dead jihadists. Shiro crouched by her side while Lance and Allura kept watch. Keith called her name first before shaking her by the shoulders. Once Pidge finally opened her eyes, she instantly squirmed and wrestled her grip off Keith.
"Get off me! Get off me!"
"Easy! Easy, Kate! It's us!" He assured.
Pidge eventually realized and started to relax. Her chest heaved rapidly as she panted.
"It's alright. You're fine." Keith told her.
She didn't pay attention to what he said. Pidge's was too busy looking around the area, noticing something missing. She looked at Keith who shared a glance of disbelief.
"Where's Hunk?"
Haxus, former army ranger turned Galra terrorist lieutenant looked down at his watch which was marked 19:52 hours, one hour over the suggested time.
"They're supposed to be here by now. What's taking them so long?" He murmured.
"Maybe they're a bit busy, sir?" His bodyguard, Bogh, standing next to him answered.
Haxus scoffed. "I wouldn't be surprised if it's actually the Voltron unit. Such amateurs."
Bogh didn't reply afterwards. He's probably one of the sane operatives he had met so far. Maybe Haxus should be surprised. Straight from the Special Forces Ranger Battalion, Bogh was one of his experienced teammates of his unit. The others weren't so steady but more radically influenced, especially the recently deployed Lahn from the Armenian Forces.
In Haxus' eyes, Voltron is just a ragtag team with a bunch of idiots and incompetent soldiers who think they're doing the world a favour by trying to ruin their plans. They don't even understand what and why they do this. His old army had the same ideas, probably the reason he decided to blow them and his brother up for the sake of joining the Galra Empire.
As they watch several armed fighters with equipment smuggled from their associates in Russia come and go, a white Highlander drove into the village. However, it was just one car. They sent more fighters to that location. Once the Highlander parked near Haxus, the fighters hopped out. Only two of their loyal ones, Barad and Fakhoury were present.
"What happened? Where's the rest of the team?" Haxus asked.
"We manage to ambush the western devils," Fakhoury answered while Barad lifted his ski mask off. "But they wiped out the majority of our brothers. We're the only two who survived but we were able to capture one of their men."
"Well, that's a shame but I'll take it. Show me the guy you caught."
Barad went up to the back of the car and pulled something out. Once he managed to get him out, Barad was holding a man with a beard in a beige t-shirt with rolled up sleeves, covered by a plate carrier. His face was smeared with dirt and bruises. Haxus raised an eyebrow in amusement and surprise mainly because of his looks. Barad pushed him onto his knees while Fakhoury assisted.
"Well, what a surprise you brought me, boys," he said, bending down and getting a closer look. "Never seen a Samoan like you in Voltron before. You're probably lucky to be here. What's your name?"
The man didn't reply other than glare at him. When he didn't answer, Haxus looked up at Barad, asking for his name.
"We heard one of his comrades call him Hunk." He said.
Haxus was rather surprised and found it funny. "Hunk? That's a weird name for a Samoan. What's your mother's name, is it Slab?"
The man, Hunk continued glaring at him. He seemed offended by his joke.
"Silent one, I see. Well, it's not like I'm here to have a joke with you. But I'm sure the commander will be delighted to see you. So until then…"
Haxus pulled out a magazine from the pouch on his vest and slammed it to his temple. Barad threw the unconscious body aside. "Get some rest. You deserve it."
The men stared at him, waiting for further orders. Haxus stood up while slipping his magazine back into his pouch.
"Put him in the cage with the women and get ready to pull out. We rather not let his friends catch up.