Oh boy, here it is, chapter seven, otherwise known as my very first attempt ever to write out a space battle. How exciting! Hopefully everything goes well! I'm a little sad that I couldn't end this chapter at the exact point I had planned originally, but it would have made it that much longer, and would go better at the start of the next chapter anyways. Get ready for some action!
cosmic dust
chapter seven
sendak
"Mystic hand holding ceremony over?"
Man, he didn't even need to call out to him. Guess those big ears weren't just for show.
"You know how it is with girls." Matt joked. "Gotta get in some bonding time. But yeah, the mystic hand holding ceremony is over. Princess says to set a course for the Saltus system."
"The outskirts, huh." Keith muttered, already setting himself to work. "Lucky this thing has hyperdrive, otherwise it'd take us a lot longer to get there."
"Wait, this thing has hyperdrive?" Matt asked, wondering if he'd heard him right. "I thought transport ships this size didn't have them."
"You can thank Pidge for that." Keith told him, a grin of what he was damn sure was pride on his face. "It's not perfect, but it's good for at least one jump every day or so. Would not recommend doing it twice, though. This ship's just not made for that kind of strain."
"Why, what happens if you use it twice?" Matt asked.
"Drains all power from the ship." Keith observed. "Including life support systems. And engines."
Unable to help himself, Matt flinched. "Yeah, let's... let's not do that, maybe."
"Don't worry, we shouldn't have to." Keith told him, glancing back towards him, a hint of a grin on his face that gave him the feeling that the only reason they'd found that particular piece of information out was because they'd already tried. "The Saltus system is way out on the outskirts. Even the empire hasn't spread that far yet."
"So we'll have a relaxing trip to pick up the green lion." Matt observed, dropping himself into the copilot's chair. "Nice to know."
"Staying?" Keith asked. "Thought you'd want to hurry back to your sister."
"I mean, I can leave if you don't want me here." Matt told him.
Keith seemed to consider the offer for a moment- before he simply shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself."
Watching the half Galra with a curious eye as he set the new coordinates in, Matt couldn't help but frown. He hadn't had many chances to talk with Keith alone since they'd first met, which seemed like so much longer ago than it actually was. They were going to be together for awhile now, right? He might as well and try and get to know the guy a little.
Who knew when he'd join back up with Te-Osh again? Now that he'd found his sister, he really didn't want to have to leave her- and if something was going to give, it was probably going to be him, not her.
It wasn't like he and Keith didn't have something in common- they'd both been held prisoner by the Galra Empire. Sure, he hadn't exactly been held at Central Command, holy shit, he'd had never gotten out of there then, but still- it was a common link.
"So do you uh... do you ever have nightmares sometimes still?"
...wow Matt. What a question. Great opening line, A+.
Keith barely even spared him a glance, his face nearly a mask. "No."
"Oh." Matt blinked, hand straying behind his neck, rubbing it as if this would somehow subdue the awkward feeling in the air. "Well that's... that's good, I guess."
Except judging from the bags under Keith's eyes, maybe it wasn't good. At first he'd thought that the low lights on the ship were just because it was easier for Keith to see with that kind of lighting- he knew that Galra eyes tended to be far more light sensitive than human eyes. But he couldn't help but wonder if at least part of it was to conceal the deep bags underneath his eyes.
He'd never seen any Galra with bags under their eyes- or any alien, for that matter. It seemed to be a very human mark of exhaustion.
Right. Okay. Time to find another topic.
"...so... you've met my mom?" Matt asked.
"Yeah. She's nice." Keith told him, flicking a switch, still not quite looking at him. "She'll be happy to hear that you're safe."
Man, what was up with this awkward feeling? He thought that they had been getting along fairly well- then again, whenever they'd talked in the past, Pidge had been around. Maybe this was just how Keith was with people he didn't know that well, without someone he did know around to put him at ease.
Or maybe he'd just asked the worst possible question ever as his opening line.
"...so what's your mom like?" Matt asked- and then almost instantly regretted it. Wow! He was really setting a track record for shoving his foot into his mouth here, good job!
"Don't know." Keith told him. "Never met her."
"I- oh." Chewing on his lip, Matt could only frown. Wow, good one Matt- you're really just knocking it out of the park here. "Sorry, didn't mean to ask something so personal."
"Not your fault. You didn't know." Keith said, only sparing him the slightest glance. "She's the Galra one, if you're wondering."
Perking up at that bit of information, Matt felt himself relax a little at it. Okay, so clearly he hadn't stumbled so bad that he'd caused any hard feelings. Good to know.
But that was probably also his cue to stop asking questions.
"Can you make an announcement that we're going to make a jump?" Keith asked, startling him a little. "You might want to strap in. It can get a little rough."
"Oh, right, yeah, sure!" Matt said, eyes darting around the control panel, trying to make out what was what. Catching sight of a purple finger out of the corner of his eye, he followed where it pointed, quickly flicking a switch.
"This is your handsome and dashing copilot speaking," and Matt could almost swear that he caught Keith rolling his eyes at that, quite the feat for a guy with no pupils, "-we'll be making a jump into hyperdrive shortly, so please fasten your seatbelts and buckle in, because this could be a bumpy ride."
Flicking the switch off, Matt grinned over at Keith- who merely let out a faint snort.
"I'm never letting you make the hyperdrive announcement again."
"Keith?"
"Yeah?"
"We're going to have to work on your definition of a little rough."
"Princess?"
Furrowing her brow, Allura fixed her thoughts on the faint pulse of the green lion's energy she had picked up from the Balmeran crystal, before shaking her head. "No. I do not think it is on this planet either."
She could still feel it, somewhere in this system for sure. Only she did not know from which planet it was coming from- leaving them with no other choice by to check them all out, one by one. Surely if they drew close enough to whatever planet the green lion rested on, she would be able to feel its pull.
"Right." Barely sparing her so much as a glance, Keith pulled the ship out of orbit from around the planet. "Onto the next one."
"You're sure this will work?" Pidge asked. "I mean... I know what I felt back there, but I don't feel any of that right now, princess."
"I am fairly certain this will work." Allura told her. "I can still feel the green lion's quintessence, so I know it must be in this system somewhere. It is only a matter of finding just which planet it is located on."
Pidge seemed to frown at that- it was clear to her that she did not put too much stock in her methods of detection. While it was true that nearly everything she had done up until this point was based on pure theory, she got the feeling that even were it not, the girl would still have her doubts.
Earth science, it would seem, was much harder in some respects than Altean science- which blended magic seamlessly into every aspect of it. It was not merely facts and numbers, but feelings and belief as well.
"So what is this quintessence stuff anyways?" Matt asked, peering back at her. "I thought it was just what the Galra used for fuel."
A fair question- even if it carried one of her own with it. How were the Galra still obtaining quintessence in the first place? The rift had been destroyed along with Daibazaal, ten thousand years ago. That should have cut off their only source of it- and yet, they seemed to still possess the means with which to obtain it.
She got the feeling that she would very much not like the answer.
Still, she could at the very least answer Matt's. It was a fair question, after all.
"It is that, yes." Allura told him, inclining her head. "But it is also so much more. While I am afraid that I do not know as much about it as my father would have, and while I am almost certain that what I do know is rather outdated at this point, I can at least give you the basics of it, if you would like?"
"Sounds good to me." Pidge said. "I'm kind of curious too."
Keith, she couldn't help but note, said nothing, instead staring straight ahead. Likely he already knew what it was, being Galra. That he did not supply an answer of his own, in spite of likely knowing more about it in its current form than she... she could not help but make a note of it.
His quintessence was unlike anything that she had cause to feel before. Perhaps... perhaps all Galra now felt this way, and Keith was merely no exception, halfbreed or not. Zarkon had been corrupted to his very core by it, who knew what it had done to his people in the past ten thousand years.
But somehow, she did not think that was all it was. Part of it, yes, maybe, but not all.
"It is the essence of life itself, in a sense." Allura explained. "All manner of living things have it. You, me, the planets, the lions..."
"Wait, the lions?" Pidge asked. "The lions are alive?"
"Of course." Allura told her. "Very much so."
"Okay, I have so many questions about that alone, but go on, Princess." Pidge told her.
Yes, she supposed that would be a bit difficult to wrap ones head around, unless you'd had cause to experience it yourself. Keith, it would seem, barely so much as blinked at this piece of information. Likely he was already aware of it on some level, from his bond with the red lion.
Their bond.
When she had connected with it before, she had only been focused on the information that she could gather from it- but she had not missed the faint protective undercurrent it seemed to have in regards to its current paladin. It was different than the feeling of deep fondness it had sent her in regards to her father- but no less strong.
Likely, it too, recognized that his quintessence had become warped in some manner. Not only that, but it seemed to have sensed her own apprehension, likely frustrated that the daughter of the paladin it had once so valued did not seem to be willing to fully accept the new one that it had chosen.
"It is the essence of life, but it is also a powerful source of energy." Allura continued. "The most powerful, in fact."
She couldn't be sure of that- not after ten thousand years had passed. But surely if there was a more powerful source of energy out there, the Galra Empire would have long since switched to that instead. Under the leadership of Zarkon, the only thing they craved was power, so that they alone would be unmatched in the universe.
She would show them that there was still a power greater than them left out there. One willing to stand up and fight against them.
Provided that she managed to find all the lions.
And their paladins.
And the Castle of Lions, while she was at it. She would need that last part especially- that was, after all, where the black lion was.
At the very least, it did not sound as if Zarkon had been able to get his hands on it. So perhaps, somewhere out there, the Castle of Lions still existed. Maybe like her, there were other Alteans frozen away in cryopods, waiting to be awoken- though if that was the case, she had to wonder just how it was that hers had gotten so far away from the Castle in the first place.
Perhaps she had never been in the Castle to begin with.
"So you can sense this quintessence stuff, then?"
In all honesty, she had not expected a question from Keith.
"I- yes, I can." Allura told him, slowly nodding her head. "Since its discovery, sensing and understanding it became one of the basics of alchemist training. It was nearly all my father was able to teach me, before the war began."
She did not miss the way his brow furrowed at her answer, nor the way he averted his gaze from her. So he knew- or at the very least, suspected- that there was something wrong with that of his own.
She wanted to do nothing more than to press him with questions, but she doubted it would earn her any answers. And perhaps doing so in front of the two Earthlings was also not the best choice- so if she did confront him about it, and she would, mark her words, it would be in private.
"I see." Keith said. "What about this planet, princess?"
"This planet..." Frowning, Allura traced her hands over the Balmera crystal. "No, I am afraid it is not this one either. How many more remain?"
"Three." Keith told her, keeping his tone curt. "You're sure it's on one of these?"
"Quite certain." Allura told him. "Though perhaps my theory of merely needing to orbit the planet is a bit off, I will admit. We may have to set down and search them all, if I cannot pick up its traces from the remaining three planets."
"Well, at least we'll be away from the heat for awhile." Pidge observed.
At once, almost as if brought on by her words, the ship's alarms began to blare. Standing straight up, Allura fixed her gaze on the message onscreen, a chill running up her spine. "What is going on?"
Swearing viciously underneath his breath in what was surely a mixture of that strange Earth language and Galran, Keith made quick work of the controls. "Something just locked onto us."
"Something." Pidge repeated. "That something wouldn't be a Galra something, would it?"
"Something." Keith merely repeated, gritting his teeth. "Get ready."
No sooner than had the words left his mouth, it all but seemed to emerge from open space before them. A Galra cruiser, more massive than any Allura had seen before, and certainly all the more sinister.
More than cause her dread, the sight of it made her blood boil.
"Oh man, they're hailing us." Matt whispered.
"Open the com line." Keith told him, narrowing his eyes. "Let's see what these assholes want."
"To kill us?" Pidge ventured. "I mean, that's generally the theme here."
"Who knows, maybe this is the party ship." Matt whispered, half to himself, even as he opened the com line.
The screen flickered to life, the face of an imposing Galra filling it. Narrowing her eyes, Allura found herself straightening her back, not wanting to do anything less than meet this Galra head on.
"Fugitive pirates, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe."
After all this time, she finally got to see the face of the enemy, and it confirmed what she had suspected. Perhaps this Commander Sendak was merely an outlier, but it would appear that in between now, and when she had been put into cryosleep ten thousand years ago, the Galran race had indeed changed.
"I am here to confiscate the red lion and claim the Altean princess." Sendak continued on. "And to reclaim fugitive prisoner 116-5748."
She didn't need to hear the way Keith's breath hitched in his throat to put two and two together, and determine that the latter was referring to him. Strange, she found herself thinking- from what she understood, the taller Earthling had once been a prisoner of the Galra as well, yet it seemed this Sendak was only interested in claiming back Keith.
Did it have anything to do with the fact that he had been held captive, apparently, in Zarkon's main fleet? She was not entirely up to speed on everything the empire had become, but from what she understood, Central Command was the name of the main fleet that was in command of the empire, from where Zarkon lead his forces.
"If you do not comply, I will be forced to destroy your ship."
The transmission cut out with that line, just in time to make out the faint growl that escaped from Keith. The hair on his head raised much like fur, he loosened his grip on the controls, jolting straight to his feet.
"Pidge, take over the controls." Keith told her. "I'll try and do something about the cruiser in the red lion."
"What, by yourself?" Matt sputtered. "Couldn't we just get away from here and come back again later?"
"No. If they know we have the princess, they might already suspect we're looking for the other Voltron lions." Keith told him, leveling his gaze on Matt. "We can't let them fall into the hands of the empire."
So he did understand their importance, then. Or at the very least, he knew how powerful his own was- and dreaded the thought of the Galra Empire not only getting it back, but also another alongside it.
"Keith is correct." Allura agreed. "I do not know how they found us here, but we must find the green lion before they can."
"Rolo." Pidge muttered underneath her breath. "That snake! He must have sent them our ship's most recent transmission code. I knew I should have changed it before we left the black market."
"We can blame Rolo all we want later." Keith told them. "Pidge, Allura, find the green lion. Matt, you know how to fly?"
"Uh... yes?" Matt said, not sounding all that confident. "Rebel ships, at least. I've never had to fly anything Galra."
"Well, you're about to get a crash course." Keith told him. "I'll distract Sendak for as long as I can. Use that time to search the remaining three planets, and get that lion."
Sliding into the pilot's chair, Pidge gripped the controls, drawing in a long breath. "Be careful, Keith. If I find the green lion, I'll come give you some backup."
"Don't worry about me. Just concentrate on yourselves." Keith told her- before pausing for a moment, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. It was almost... tender, in a way, Allura couldn't help but note- and for the span of a moment, there was genuine worry that surfaced in those golden eyes of his.
Then it was gone, drawing his hand away from her shoulder, turning on his heel without so much as another word.
"Alright you two," Pidge's words caught her ears, and prevented her from following the half Galra with her gaze any longer. "Strap in. Things are going to get a little rough."
Given how much of an understatement Keith's definition of a little rough had been, Allura thought it wise she do just that.
"C'mon girl, we've got work to do."
Feeling the hum of the red lion in the back of his head, Keith finally managed to exhale. He felt like he'd been holding his breath ever since he'd heard his old prisoner number being spoken, as if for a moment he was back on that ship, having never managed to escape.
You are here, something seemed to rumble in the back of his mind, and he fought the urge to lean into it. It wasn't that he didn't wish to- it was that he couldn't allow himself to lose focus right now.
Patience yields focus, he'd been told once.
After all this time, it still stuck with him.
So instead he drew in a breath, preparing himself to launch. Bringing up the com line to the bridge, he wore his face like a mask, not wanting to risk giving too much away. He didn't know about Matt or Allura, but Pidge had picked up the trick of reading his pupilless eyes quickly, so he couldn't afford to let too much slip.
"As soon as I engage the enemy, I want you to head for the next planet." He told her. "I'll try and draw as much as their fire as I can, but be prepared to evade and return fire, if you need to. Find the green lion as fast as you can, so we can get out of here."
He'd stopped believing in any kind of god a long time ago, but right now, he could only thank that same nebulous concept that he'd taught her how to fly.
"What's your plan for getting out of here?" Pidge asked, her expression grim, even as he knew she was already moving to open the hangar bay.
"Sink the cruiser with Red's railgun, and get away from this system as fast as we can. I know a few routes out of here that we can lose any pursuit with." Keith told her, a hint of a wry grin on his face. "And hope they haven't called for any backup."
The railgun was powerful, but it drained energy from the red lion with every shot, so it was best not to rely on it too much. He had no idea if Sendak's ship would be the only one, so he didn't want to risk using it until they were ready to make their escape.
"Understood. Good luck out there, Keith."
Drawing in a long breath, he shut off the com line's visuals for now, leaving it open. Grip tightening on the red lion's controls, he waited for the hangar doors to open, before he launched. Somewhere within him, he could feel his blood begin to boil, itching in anticipation for the battle that was to come.
He'd always carried that with him, for as long as he could remember, but now he knew what it was- bloodlust. Even before he had known he was Galra, he'd always been Galra. It had always been with him.
Might as well put it to good use.
Just one lion against an entire Galra cruiser- not odds that he hadn't faced before. Only he didn't have the advantage of them not knowing he was coming this time- and he had something to actually protect.
Some part of him held out hope that with two of the things that Sendak desired here, it would distract him long enough for the others to get away, to find the green lion- if it was really here. He didn't have any reason to doubt what the Altean princess said, she knew more about this stuff than he did, but even if he managed to sink the cruiser, they couldn't stay here.
They didn't have the luxury of scanning the system, planet by planet, on foot. Fucking Rolo. Next time he saw him, he'd have remind him of the exact terms of their deal.
No sooner than he had launched, did Sendak make the decision to engage. Fine by him, bring it on, you fluffy bastard.
He sunk the first fighter before it even left the hangar, bursting into a fiery explosion and taking the one that launched after it with it. Pidge had already pulled the ship away, headed for the next planet. It wasn't something that escaped Sendak's notice, and it would seem that his desire for the Altean princess was great too- because some of the fighters split away from the main pack, going after them.
Swearing underneath his breath in a haphazard mixture of English and Galran, Keith gunned after them with the red lion, managing to take out a pair of them with its lasers, before he was struck by fire from the rest of the fleet. If he focused on them, he'd leave himself open to the rest- not to mention Sendak's ship, which for now, was staying in place.
He couldn't lead it, or the rest of the fighters to them.
Sendak's ship, with its ion cannon. If it fired, it would do way more damage to their ship than any of the fighters would do. It did have a particle barrier, but it would probably only last through one shot, and after that, they'd be defenseless.
"Pidge, you've got a group of fighters on your tail." Keith informed her, turning the red lion around and lashing out at the closest fighter, shredding it with Red's claws. "Four, coming in hot. I can't tail you. Going to try and disable the Sendak's ion cannon from here."
"Understood. Taking evasive maneuvers."
A crackle of static.
"Don't get yourself killed, Keith."
"Don't worry." Keith grinned, evading a shot. "Wasn't planning on it."
Jerking the controls hard to the right, Pidge gritted her teeth, the lasers skirting just past them. She'd already thrown up the particle barrier, but the less damage it took, the better. The four fighters on their tail were proving themselves hard to shake, nevermind hit.
"No, no, the button on the left, Matt!" She cried out, barely sparing her brother a glance. "Press the button on the left!"
"I'm on it, I'm on it!" Matt cried, finally pressing the right button, muttering this would be so much easier if they weren't all in Galran under his breath. The monitor that controlled the weapons system finally sparked to life, just as Pidge jerked the ship away from another round of laser fire. "Okay, got em! You focus on piloting, sis, I'll try and get these fighters off our back!"
"Great, thanks!" Pidge told him. "Allura, you got anything yet?"
"I am sorry Pidge, but I do not think it is on this one either!" Allura called back.
Biting back a curse, Pidge all but yanked the ship out of orbit. Sure, she could pilot in a pinch, but was her emergency handling at all smooth? No, not in the least! She had no idea how Keith managed it, he'd never managed to pass on the trick.
God, she hoped he was doing okay. She knew he was prone to taking risks in the heat of battle, victory or death and all that jazz, but as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't have the time to worry about him right now. She was a little busy worrying about herself here at the moment!
"Okay, next planet!" Pidge called out, already readying the coordinates. "Matt, where are with those fighters?!"
"One down, three to go!" Matt called out. "Leave worrying about the fighters to me. You and the princess concentrate on finding what we came here for!"
"Hopefully it's actually here." Pidge grumbled under her breath. Look, she knew what she felt, and all of the princess' weird energy theories had been right thus far, but that didn't mean she was infallible.
She was definitely making it all up as she went along, she was sure of that now.
"Alright, coming into orbit of the next planet! Matt, fighters?" Pidge called out, dropping the ship down into the orbit of the next planet, only taking a brief moment to marvel at how vividly green it was.
"Hold on..." Eyes narrowed in focus, Matt fired the ship's laser, his teeth flashing in a white grin. "Second fighter down! Two left!"
"Good to hear!" Jerking her head to the right, she fixed her gaze on Allura. "Princess, you feel anything?!"
"I- yes!" Something seemed to spark in the princess' eyes as she spoke, almost seeming to lurch forward. "The green lion is here, I am certain of it!"
"Alright, we're going in then!" Pushing the controls forward, she broke through the planet's atmosphere, a vivid green forest world spreading out underneath them. Even if nature was her thing, she didn't have the time to marvel at it. "Matt, I'm going to need you to take over the controls. Princess, you're coming with me!"
"I- Katie, where are you going?" Matt seemed to sputter, even as he got to his feet. "I can't pilot this ship and return fire at the same time!"
"Then don't!" Pidge told him. "Just evade! Princess, can you pinpoint where the green lion's energy is coming from?"
"I can certainly narrow it down a fair bit." Allura told her, already getting to her feet. "From there, you should be able to pick up on its energy. It will guide you the rest of the way."
That still sounded like a load of new age bullshit to her, but she didn't have that many options at the moment. The situation was not good- they hadn't had contact with Keith since he'd told her that there were fighters on their tail. If she were able to get the green lion, she could go back there, and lend him a hand.
"That'll have to do!" She said, releasing her straps, hands still gripping the controls. "Matt, take over! Princess, get to the hangar!"
"Right, on it!" Grabbing the controls from her and planting himself in the pilot's chair, Matt buckled himself in with one hand, just barely returning his full grip to them in time to avoid a too close bit of laser fire. "Be careful, Katie."
The situation couldn't be more tense, but in the span of that moment, she couldn't help but allow herself a fond smile. She'd only just found her brother, so she sure as hell didn't intend to go anywhere anytime soon.
They'd find their father together, and survive to bring him home.
"Be careful yourself, flyboy."