Phew! Here's chapter eighteen, freshly finished! It's kind of ironic that I'm getting to this episode now, when it was brought up twice in season eight- we even got to see another Weblum! Timing, man, timing. Anyways, we're probably nearing the end of maroon. This time I really don't think I'll finish it in twenty episodes, since there are still three relevant episodes left to cover (not including Escape from Beta-Traz, which, like The Depths, won't be covered).
But of course, there will be an eventual sequel! One that I am very much looking forward to writing, because I am planning a definite twist from canon that I will not spoil.
maroon
chapter eighteen
weblum
"Princess, you're back!"
Coran's boisterous greeting was enough to cause her to forget that she was still a bit mad at him, if only briefly. Perhaps she had worked things out with Kyix, but she still needed to have a few words with her advisor about keeping secrets.
But for now, Allura smiled. "We are."
"Wonderful!" Coran exclaimed. "I trust things went well with the Blade of Marmora."
"Indeed," Allura said, "-we have not only established an alliance, but also a plan that may very well lead to Zarkon's removal."
"Which is why we need to get started as soon as we can." Shiro cut in, even as he gave Coran a faint smile in greeting. The rest of the paladins were starting to trickle out of the red lion, save for Keith, who was presumably still in its cockpit.
Coran straightened, a serious expression washing over his face. "Of course. What do I need to do?"
"Do you still have that old video about scaultrite retrieval?" Allura inquired. "Hunk and Kyix may need it."
Coran only briefly blinked at the mention of the red paladin's name, before he beamed. "I'm sure I still have that old video around here somewhere. I may even still have the tracker!"
"Just for the record, I am still not looking forward to this." Hunk groaned.
"Ah, it's not so bad, lad!" Coran assured him. "Why, I went on several scaultrite retrieval missions in my youth! They're an excellent way to build up character in young recruits."
"Yeah... usually on Earth, when someone says it's to build character, that means whatever it is, it's going to suck." Hunk said.
"I wish I could tell you it meant otherwise on Altea, but..." Allura trailed off.
Hunk just groaned again.
"You'll be fine, Hunk." Shiro assured him, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. "You won't have to do it alone. Keith will be with you."
"Mm, yeah, true." Hunk admitted, but not before casting a nervous glance in her direction. She couldn't blame him- she must have made quite the impression.
"Speaking of Kyix, where is he?" Coran asked, peering behind them. "He hasn't come out of his lion yet."
"I'm here."
Kyix's voice caused them all to jump- even her. Perhaps it was for the best that the Blade of Marmora were their allies now- she was all but certain that Ulaz had allowed himself to be detected by the Castle's sensors.
The hood of Kyix's Marmora armor was lowered, as was his mask- but Coran barely so much as blinked at his changed appearance. He had likely speculated, if not outright knew. Still, the dark armor made him look a bit out of place, and it was clear to her that he felt it.
Right. Part of that was on her.
Squaring her shoulders, Allura forced herself to smile. She still had her apprehensions, but Kyix had more than proven himself to be loyal to the cause of defeating Zarkon... even if he hadn't technically been the most loyal paladin, by mere virtue of his deceit. Perhaps now that the truth was out in the open, that would change.
At least, she certainly hoped it would.
"First things first, Coran," Allura began, "-we should safely relocate the Castle from its current position. The Blade should have sent us an exit path that we can use. We can discuss the details of the mission after that."
"Of course, princess." Coran acknowledged. "Where should I set our heading once we're out?"
"To the Balmera."
Hunk shifted on his feet. It had taken maybe an hour or two to fully debrief Coran and make arrangements for each of their tasks. Shiro, Pidge, and Lance had already left for theirs- he'd headed down to the blue lion's hangar with the princess to see them off. Coran was already making preparations to head to Olkarion, but he wouldn't depart until they'd all left.
That just left him and Keith.
Fiddling with his helmet, he tried not to dwell on the fact that they were about to enter the belly of a giant space worm. Really, he was. It just... look, it wasn't easy. It would be one thing if it was like the Balmera- he liked the Balmera! It was nice!
But this was just... ugh. He could sort of understand why it had fallen on him- they needed Lance's sharpshooting skills for the prison break, and it pretty much went without saying that Pidge and Shiro were just like... ideal for that kind of mission. Hacking wasn't exactly his strong suit- he was more of a hands-on kind of guy. Pidge had taught him a lot about coding that he didn't know since they had become paladins, but she was still way better than he would ever be in a pinch.
Even if she was a weirdo who double-modulated.
Sensing his nerves, Allura rested a hand on his shoulder. "If it is any consolation, you should only have to do this once."
Giving the princess a weak smile, Hunk swallowed. "Let's hope."
Allura just smiled. "Should I pass any messages on to Shay?"
Inwardly, Hunk groaned. He had kind of thought the whole girlfriend thing was like, a paladin-only joke, but even Allura had picked up on it. Still... yeah, if he had to be honest, he did kind of miss Shay.
"I guess you can tell her we'll be keeping our promise." Hunk said. "You know... ridding the universe of Zarkon and all that."
"I will be sure to." Allura assured him, before frowning slightly. "What do you think is taking Kyix so long?"
"I think he said something about wanting to get rid of some bugs." Hunk remarked, before flinching. Oh. Right. Maybe he shouldn't have told the princess that- heck, he was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to know that. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop!
Thankfully, Allura just arched a brow, but didn't look too annoyed. "So he was bugging the ship. I had a feeling."
"So... you're good with him now?" Hunk asked, chancing a glance down towards Allura.
Allura frowned, as if she had to think her answer over. "Getting there."
Hm. Well, fair enough. At least she was being honest. The fighting seemed to have helped- which, by the way, he totally didn't get, not when they seemed like they were really trying to kill each other- but he guessed that total acceptance was just something that would need time.
"Oh, uh... that's good." Hunk said.
Allura merely looked up towards him. "You knew him at that flight school you went to, did you not?"
"Uh, you mean the Garrison?" Hunk asked. It wasn't exactly a flight school- sure, yeah, they trained an awful lot of pilots there, but flight wasn't like, the only thing they taught. "Yeah, yeah, I did. I mean... not very well, but yeah, I knew him."
Allura merely hummed, her curiosity sated with his answer. Staring down at his helmet, Hunk tried to think back- he knew he had said it before, but god... knowing what he knew now made so many things about Keith make sense. Honestly? Him being an alien was kind of a relief. It was way better than him being some kind of child solider.
Except... hm. No, he guessed he kind of still was that. It was just... he didn't know. Sure, the Blades could be pretty imposing, downright intimidating, even, but the impression that he got of them whenever they interacted with Keith was... well, it was nice, if he had to be honest. Warm, almost like a family.
It made him think of his own family.
He tried not to do it too often. Yeah, he missed them, and god, would he do anything to see them again. But after what he had seen on the Balmera... the knowledge that if they didn't stop the Galra Empire, if they didn't stop Zarkon, that something like that could happen on Earth... no way was he going home until he'd done what he'd come out here to do.
...even if, okay, yeah, he didn't technically come out here to fight evil aliens. That had just sort of happened.
"Sorry for the wait."
Looking up, Hunk broke out into a grin. Sure, the Blade armor was super cool, but honestly? If you asked him, paladin armor fit Keith way better. The fact that he was purple now didn't change that.
He didn't miss the slight way Allura's brow crinkled at the sight. Whatever was on her mind, she chose not to say it.
"Hey, no problem." Hunk told him. "So uh, you ready to head into some guts?"
Keith tried to fight back a snort, but failed. Something about coming clean to them seemed to have opened him up, and honestly? He was happy about that. He'd always been so isolated from the rest of the team- which, yeah, in hindsight, he could totally understand why, but it was kind of nice to actually have a chance to get to know the real Keith.
Or uh, the real Kyix. Maybe he really should call him that. But he'd said Keith was fine, so...
Hm. He'd think about it later. You know, when he didn't have space worm guts to worry about.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Keith remarked, before catching Allura's eye, instantly seeming to stiffen. "Princess."
"Kyix." Allura said, her voice perfectly neutral. "Hopefully the Weblum tracker Coran gave you still works. I had him upload one of his old videos to the yellow lion. It should help."
Keith just frowned. "I've been in a Weblum before, princess. I know what to expect."
"Yes, but Hunk does not." Allura pointed out.
"...fair enough." Keith admitted.
Allura gave him a faint smile. "I wish the both of you luck."
"Same to you, princess." Hunk told her. "I hope you can actually find a crystal big enough for this thing."
"If I cannot, we should at least be able to design the teleduv to house several crystals." Allura told him. "But hopefully it will not come to that."
"I've had the Blades keep tabs on the robeast from the Balmera since we fought it." Keith said suddenly, shifting a bit awkwardly on his feet. It was as much an admission as it was the sharing of information. "He sent an operative down to plant some monitors after we left. It should still be stable."
Honestly, he'd kind of forgotten about that robeast. Blocked it from his memory would probably be more correct, since that thing had been capital F freaky.
Allura blinked, before inclining her head. "That is good to hear. Hopefully, it will not become a problem again."
Keith just gave her a curt nod, and while Hunk couldn't be positive, he kind of got the feeling he was averting his eyes. It was just so darn hard to tell when he didn't, you know, have any visible pupils. Shay and the Balmerans didn't have them either, come to think of it- it was part of why he had kind of freaked out so bad when he saw her and Rax for the first time. He'd seen them and thought they were Galra at first.
But now? Honestly, now he didn't find them creepy at all.
"Welp," tugging on his helmet, Hunk let out a long breath, "-guess this is where we part ways."
"Stay safe," Allura said- and then, almost as an afterthought, "-the both of you."
Keith blinked, before giving the princess another curt nod in response. "You too."
Hunk smiled. He might be getting ready to going into the belly of a disgusting space worm, but at least these two were well on their way to resolving their tensions.
"No way," Hunk wheezed, fighting back a fit of laughter, "-is that Coran?"
Leaning down to get a better look, Keith blinked. It was Coran. Just a younger and vaguely buffer version of Coran. "That's... kind of disturbing."
"Oh man, I know exactly what you mean." Hunk said, still making an effort to fight back a snicker. "It's like finding old photos of your parents from college or something."
Keith just frowned. He couldn't exactly relate. "I'll just... take your word for it, I guess."
Hunk opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the video glitching. Grumbling, he fumbled a bit with it, trying to clean up the corrosion- guess that was what they got for depending on ten thousand year old footage. It was a good thing he'd actually been in a Weblum before, because if this was the only thing they had to go off of, they would probably be hard pressed to complete their mission.
He couldn't believe he was doing this again.
"You know," Hunk began, "-it's totally wild that there's just these... giant animals floating around in open space. The Balmera was one thing, but... how do they even survive?"
Keith just shrugged. "Weblum have existed long before any of us. So have the Balmera."
"Yeah?" Hunk glanced behind him.
"That's what I was taught." Keith told him. He tried not to think about who it was that taught him- and how they were gone, now. "Some legends say that the Balmera might have had a part in creating our universe in the first place, but nobody knows for sure."
"Huh," Hunk frowned, "-so I guess they're a pretty big deal then. So has anyone ever seen one that's like... alive?"
"No," Keith shook his head, thinking back on his own lessons, "-by the time the Galra became a space-faring race, they were already petrified. It's probably the same with the Alteans. It's also probably why your galaxy doesn't have any- it's too young."
"Guess that makes us the babies of the universe, or something." Hunk joked.
Keith cracked a faint smile. "Guess so."
"So how do-" Hunk began, before stopping himself short. It wasn't hard to figure out why.
The chill that crept down his spine was enough to make him dig his fingers deeper into his arms. Biting down on his lip, he tried to force back the rising bile.
"Whoa," Hunk said slowly, "-what are those?"
"They're dead planets." Keith told him, trying to steady himself. Something wasn't right here. There had been remains of a dead planet the last time he had gone into a Weblum too, but it hadn't... they hadn't felt like this.
Something was wrong.
"That's strange." Hunk frowned- and he had to remind himself that he couldn't sense what he could. "The charts I'm looking at show that these planets should still be thriving. What do you think happened to them? Asteroid strike?"
No. No, he really didn't think so.
Drawing in a long breath, Keith swallowed back the noxious feeling. Whatever had happened here, he couldn't let this get the better of him. They had a mission, and Hunk was going to need his support. He couldn't afford to be the weak link.
"Keith," Hunk looked up at him, concern in his eyes, "-buddy? You okay?"
"I'm fine." Keith only half-lied. These planets were already dead- anything that he was getting from them now was residual. "I think... I think whatever happened here, it wasn't natural."
Hunk's brows furrowed, as if he wanted to press, ask more questions- but he didn't get the chance. Because where there were dead planets, there was bound to be a Weblum.
He couldn't know if it was the same one he'd gone into before or not. There was no real way of telling. There were some scholars who theorized that there was actually only just one Weblum, but nobody knew if that was true or not.
"Is that... is that the Weblum?"
Nodding, Keith sucked in a long breath. He was looking forward to going on this mission even less than he had been before, but he wasn't about to back out now. He could manage.
But in the back of his mind, he thought about the rumors of the komar.
Contradictory as it sounded, Hunk swore that as soon as they actually got into the Weblum, Keith's color improved. He was almost positive that it had been off back in the yellow lion, even if he still wasn't totally used to him being, you know, purple.
Maybe it had something to do with the dead planets. He'd been weird about the Balmera too, come to think of it- maybe... maybe this was the same thing.
"Right," Keith began, his tone a little curt, "-let's get to the third stomach and just get this over with."
"Yeah, I'm with you there, buddy." Hunk said. "The faster we get out of here, the better."
Keith gave him a grunt of acknowledgement. Honestly? He couldn't blame him. He was pretty preoccupied himself trying not to pay attention to the pus bubble right by his feet. It didn't help that even with his helmet on, he swore that he could still smell the Weblum- they'd both need to go through the disinfectant chamber after this for sure.
"So, third stomach," Hunk began, "-any idea how to get there? I think we're in like... what, the first stomach? How many stomachs does a Weblum even have?"
"Pretty much." Keith mumbled. "We have to-"
He cut himself off, narrowing his eyes. His own helmet probably blocked most of it, but he was pretty sure that Keith was growling, low and deep in his throat. Turning to see what it was, he watched as what looked to be some kind of jellyfish-like creatures emerge from the walls of- what was that, tissue?
Ugh. This was so gross.
"Great," Keith muttered, apparently opting to use his words again, "-these things."
Before he got a chance to ask, Keith had summoned his bayard, sword appearing in a flash. He was just going to take that as his cue to do the same, although the footing in here was downright lousy for his hand cannon. He wondered if he could maybe change the shape a little, make it a bit easier to carry, because as it stood, honestly? For a weapon that took on a form that was best suited to him, it was kind of heavy.
Hunk watched as more and more of the jellyfish-like creatures began to emerge. Okay, now he was starting to get nervous. "Uh... Keith? What are these?"
"Bacteria." Keith told him. "They want to kill us."
Right. Yeah. That made sense.
Any other questions had to be put on hold, because the bacteria were definitely very much trying to kill them. They swarmed them in a surge- every time he shot them down, more came to take their place. Keith was having even less luck with his sword, and he had to wonder how he had dealt with these things the first time around, especially since from the sound of it, he'd been alone then.
"We can't stay here!" Keith yelled. "We have to move!"
"Good plan!" Hunk shouted. "Where did you-?"
He didn't have time to ask before Keith made his bayard vanish, instead grabbing on to the back of his armor. Hunk let out a yelp, firing off a shot purely on reflex alone before making his bayard vanish too. Seconds later, Keith hauled them both into a- oh man. Oh man. Was this a... was this a pit of acid?
Frantically looking over towards Keith, he motioned upwards. Oh. Huh. Guess the bacteria couldn't follow them in here.
Still didn't change the fact that they were in a pit of acid.
Catching his attention again, Keith motioned downwards, and began to swim. Suddenly grateful for all those lessons he'd had as a kid, Hunk followed after him, trying to drown out the sound of his armor's sensors warning him that swimming through a pit of acid was a really, really bad idea.
He knew that. His armor knew that. Keith's armor knew that. But did Keith know that? Well, probably, but he was clearly just choosing to ignore it.
He also kind of wished he'd warned him that the pit of acid let out into a huge drop. Scrambling to fire his jetpack, Hunk fought to get himself stable. His flight was erratic at best, and before he knew it, he'd landed on something hard, letting out a grunt more out of instinct than out of any actual pain. Their armor absorbed blows pretty well.
Keith touched down a second later. "You alive?"
"No," Hunk replied, shoving himself up into a sitting position, "-I'm dead. What did we even land on?"
Looking down, Hunk let out a yelp, quickly scrambling to his feet. Oh man. They had landed on a ship. They had landed on a ship that the Weblum seemed to be absorbing. One that still had a pilot inside.
Paling, Hunk swallowed. Were they...?
The pilot moved, and he jerked back. Oh man. Okay. Still alive.
Out of the corner of his eye, Keith tensed, but he didn't pay it too much mind, too focused on the pilot. There had to be a way to get them out of there, right? Oh wait, yeah, there was one!
"Keith, can you-" Hunk cut himself off, frowning as he turned to actually look at his fellow paladin, "...Keith?"
If he thought he had been pale before, he was definitely pale now. He wasn't just pale though, Hunk realized- he was, for whatever reason, pissed. He honestly couldn't remember a time when he had seen Keith this angry, and he was pretty sure that it had nothing to do with the fact that he looked more visibly Galra now.
His bayard was out in a flash, which yeah, was what Hunk wanted, but something told him that his goal here wasn't to free whoever was trapped in the ship. Without thinking, he grabbed Keith's arm, wrapping his own around it to prevent him from outright stabbing the defenseless pilot.
"Let me go, Hunk!" Keith growled, yanking on his arm hard enough to cause Hunk to stumble. But he didn't let go.
"Were you going to free them?" Hunk asked, looking at him. Because it honestly didn't seem like it. It looked more like Keith was planning on murdering whoever it was that was in the ship.
Keith bristled, like that was something to get offended by. "I was going to kill them."
"Uh, yeah, can't let you do that." Hunk told him, paling just a little at the completely frank admission. Right. He'd kind of forgotten that it had been Keith who had killed Haxus.
Keith finally stilled, sensing that he might need to explain himself a bit. He didn't let go, just in case he changed his mind. "They're with the Empire, Hunk. They're the enemy."
Hunk blinked. Neither the ship nor the armor the pilot wore looked like it was standard Galra issue, but well... Keith would know better than him. But even if they were with the Empire, he couldn't just let Keith kill someone who had no chance to defend themselves. It wasn't... it didn't feel right.
"Keith, buddy," Hunk began, keeping his voice level, calm, "-remember how you told me that it was ridiculous to treat an entire race of people as evil? That there were people out there on the battlefield that don't want to be there?"
Keith grunted, barely even looking at him. "So what?"
"So, that means we can't just go around stabbing random solders." Hunk told him. "Especially ones who can't defend themselves."
Keith looked like he wanted to protest, but instead bit his tongue. He did finally dismiss his bayard, and only then did Hunk slowly release him. "I am still going to need that bayard of yours."
Keith narrowed his eyes. "You can't possibly want to free them, can you?"
"We can't just leave them here to die." Hunk told him. "Look, I'm no expert, but I don't think that's how paladins do things."
Keith stared at him for a long moment, before he finally let out frustrated growl. His bayard flashed back in his hand, but this time he only cut away at the veins keeping the pilot trapped. He didn't send it away after he was done, but he looked more like he was just staying on his guard than he was readying himself to stab someone.
Summoning his own bayard, Hunk gripped the hand cannon tight. "Hey, if you can hear me in there, cover your head! I'm going to use this thing as a battering ram!"
After a second, the pilot complied. Throwing as much of his weight into it as he could, Hunk rammed the cannon into the cockpit of the ship, once, and then again when it didn't completely break. Finally, it gave way, and as soon as it did, he banished his bayard, offering the trapped pilot a hand.
Honestly, he wasn't wild about helping the Galra either, not after what they had done to the Balmera. But it wasn't like this solider, whoever they were, had personally done all that themselves- heck, everything he heard about the Galra Empire basically made him think that its populace was just like... super brainwashed from birth.
The pilot grasped his hand, and he used it to haul them out. He couldn't see their face, their helmet darkened, but he was pretty sure they were watching Keith with a wary eye.
He returned the favor.
But at the very least, the Galra didn't make any move to try and kill them. Right. They had been trapped in here, for who knows how long. Maybe they were just grateful for the rescue.
"So uh," Hunk began, "-I'm Hunk, that's Kei- Kyix, that's Kyix." He corrected himself, the aforementioned Blade merely making a grunt. "We're uh, paladins of Voltron."
The Galra said nothing, but in their defense, they didn't exactly get the chance. And here he'd been hoping those awful bacteria things were restricted to the first stomach. Guess not.
Getting ready to summon his bayard, he paused, noticing the Galra doing something with their wrist computer. Before he could even ask, the ship underneath their feet began to flash red- and he very quickly understood what it was they were doing.
So did Keith.
"You're turning this ship into a bomb."
Let the record show that he was only restraining himself for Hunk's sake. And even then, restraining himself was about all he could manage under the circumstances.
His blood boiled. He couldn't find his calm. He gripped his bayard so tight, that he could feel it pressing into his flesh through his paladin armor. All of this, just because of Lotor's stupid insignia.
He had burned it into his memory, back when he had learned the truth about what his father did. Swore that one day, he'd get back at Lotor for all the pain and suffering he caused- he didn't care how, so long as it happened. And now, just when he had the chance, it was taken away from him.
He knew the Galra wasn't Lotor. It had to be one of his generals. Kolivan had purposefully tried to keep him away from any intelligence reports about the Galran prince, but he still knew some things about him, and about his generals. Probably Acxa, he reasoned. It couldn't be Narti or Zethrid- not with that frame. Whichever one it was, it didn't matter- all that mattered was that they worked for Lotor, and that was more than enough to make him hate her.
He had wanted to tell Hunk- tell him that this was no simple Galra soldier, that this was a general under the direct service of the Galra prince. Exiled, but still considered a viable candidate for the throne. But he couldn't- not without expanding on the depth of his fury for the prince. He almost regretted saying what he had before, about those who were forced onto the battlefield- if he had known it would be used against him like this, he would have just kept his mouth shut.
So instead he just settled for boring holes into the back of Acxa's skull. He couldn't see past the tint of her helmet, but he knew she was keeping her eyes on him. Hunk she didn't seem to see as a threat, probably because he had acted to save her. Him on the other hand, she wasn't willing to let out of her sights.
Fine by him. He felt the same way. If she even thought of making a move to harm Hunk...
...well, that'd be all the excuse he would need.
Up ahead, Hunk cast a nervous glance between the two of them, not for the first time. He felt a bit guilty, but he just wasn't in the mood right now. It wasn't Hunk's fault. He was just trying to be a good paladin. It wasn't his problem that he bore a grudge so deep, he was willing to throw away his own morals just to sate it.
He'd apologize to Hunk later. Later, when Acxa was either out of earshot, gone, or dead- preferably the latter.
At least they were able to find the third stomach. Good. The sooner he could get this mission over with, the sooner he could deal with Acxa. Maybe even sooner than he thought, since Hunk's plan involved him leaving the two of them alone together.
"Please," Hunk begged before he left, "-try not to kill each other while I'm gone."
He'd like to say that his compliance had everything to do with respecting Hunk's plea, but no- it was just because he had his hands full with the bacteria. The same thing probably applied to Acxa- between her pistol and his sword, neither of them exactly had the best weapons equipped to deal with mass hordes of acidic bacteria.
Once they were gone, however, all bets were off.
When the laser fired, they split up, heading to opposite sides of the Weblum. He was almost glad for his paladin armor right now, even if it did feel kind of strange when combined with his true appearance. The two things didn't feel like they went together.
The plan was a success. Now all that was left was collecting the scaultrite, and dealing with Acxa.
She didn't say anything to him, but he could feel her eyes on him as he moved to gather the material. She wasn't moving to attack, but he wasn't about to let his guard down.
It was only when he was nearly finished, that she did exactly what he expected her to, pointing her pistol at him. Without breaking eye contact, she reached for a bag of scaultrite, hefting it over her shoulder.
Drawing his bayard, he rose to his feet. "You're not leaving here with that."
"You don't have a choice." Acxa stated. It was the first time she'd spoken- she hadn't said a single word around Hunk. "I don't think your fellow paladin would be happy if you kill me."
She was right. Absolutely right. And that was the only thing stilling his hand at the moment- that, and the knowledge that he might never get his answers if he killed her.
"You're Galra." Acxa stated, as if it weren't plain as day.
"Is that a problem?" Keith shot back.
"No." Acxa simply said.
He couldn't see her face, so he had no idea what kind of expression she was wearing. All he knew was that during the entire exchange, she didn't lower her pistol once.
And that he let her go.
He didn't know why. Maybe he had been trained to kill rather than incapacitate, but he still knew a few ways of doing the latter. He was still a Blade, after all.
And here he was, a Blade, letting a member of the Galra Empire just walk away. All because he had to put his duties as a paladin first. That had to be it, he reasoned- he was just following through on the exact letter of his agreement with Allura. He just hadn't expected it to be tested so soon.
And not like this.
Drawing in a long, shaky breath, he steeled himself. He still had to get the scaultrite to Hunk. Mission first.
Hunk fought the urge to wince- he knew from the way he had sounded on the coms that Keith was probably in a bad mood, but actually seeing him in person just proved that. And sure, he'd been in a bad mood basically since they had found the Weblum, but it was immensely obvious that it was worse than before.
He was also alone.
Biting down on his lip, Hunk couldn't help but recall just how badly he'd wanted to kill the Galra solider. He couldn't have...?
"Uh, Keith," Hunk began, "-where's-?"
"Gone." Keith snapped, narrowing his eyes. "And they got a bag of scaultrite."
Now he actually did wince. Fixing his gaze on the yellow lion's controls, he couldn't help but wonder if Keith was mad at him. "Should we go after them?"
One bag of scaultrite probably wouldn't throw off their plans, but he couldn't help but be at least a little concerned as to what a Galra soldier wanted with the stuff. The Empire was already capable of creating dangerous robeasts, so he was willing to bet that they had other, equally dangerous things in the works that they might need scaultrite for.
His question was met with complete silence, prompting him to turn back and look at the red paladin. "Keith? Buddy?"
It looked like he had been lost in thought, judging from the way his voice snapped him out of it. Looking over towards Hunk, Keith blinked. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"I asked if we should go after them." Hunk repeated. He didn't particularly mind.
Keith just let out a long sigh, one that sounded particularly irritated. "No. We should focus on getting the scaultrite back to the Castle. We can deal with the soldier later."
"Oh, okay." Hunk frowned, chewing on his lip. "Um, are you...?"
"I'm not mad at you." Keith cut him off. "I'm just frustrated."
"Because they got away with the scaultrite, or because I decided to free them?" Hunk asked. "I mean... you can be honest."
Keith just shook his head. "I promise it has nothing to do with you, Hunk. You were just trying to do what you thought was right. I can't hold that against you."
"Oh, that's uh... that's good then." Hunk said, trying to evaluate his fellow paladin- but unless turning back into a Galra had drastically altered his body language, it honestly seemed like he meant it. He let out a faint sigh of relief at that. They were about to face down Zarkon- the last thing they needed to be doing was creating any bad blood between them.
Lifting his head, Keith frowned. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel that way."
Hunk blinked, not quite expecting the apology. "Oh, uh... it's fine, really. Just... do you uh, do you have some kind of personal history with that solider?"
"Not exactly." Keith said.
Before he got a chance to ask what he meant, a loud beeping caught both of their attentions. At first he thought it was coming from the yellow lion, but Keith moved to dig something out from a chink in his paladin armor- a small transmitter, barely larger than one of his fingernails.
Watching wordlessly as Keith activated the holoscreen, he watched as the red paladin's brow furrowed. "It's from Kolivan."
Hunk winced. The timing was a little too good for him to be totally comfortable. "Uh, you don't think he knows about the...?"
Keith just snorted, and he could have sworn that he rolled his eyes. "He's not psychic, Hunk."
Hm, fair point. Watching with one eye as Keith accepted the transmission, he honestly couldn't gauge anything from Kolivan's expression. He always looked stern to him- wouldn't want to play poker with that guy, that was for sure.
"We have just received an update from one of the monitors we put into place on the Balmera." Kolivan began, skipping any preamble. "The creature is beginning to show signs of activity. I have been trying to reach the princess, but she isn't responding to any of my transmissions."
Hunk froze. The Balmera? That was where Shay and her family were- and where Allura had been heading, when they had last seen her.
He was already plotting a course for the Balmera by the time Keith told him to.
She was silent for most of the flight back.
Once free of the Weblum, she had used the emergency transponder in her armor to contact Lotor. She was annoyed to learn that she had been trapped in that Weblum for more time than she thought- if it hadn't been for the paladins, she might still be stuck inside its gut. It was not a thought she cared for- not the idea of her rotting away inside a Weblum, nor the fact that she had been rescued by the paladins of Voltron, of all people.
She had heard rumors of their return- but it would appear they were true. What she hadn't heard was the fact that one of them was Galra.
Her lips curled into a tight frown as she recalled the red paladin- Kyix, she had been given his name as. Lotor had heard rumors that there were Galra working against the Empire, but it would appear that they were also true. It certainly explained the degree to which the red paladin desired to kill her.
Acxa suspected that if the yellow paladin had not been there to stop him, he would have fulfilled that threat. Being murdered by a renegade soldier was still the better option, between that and decaying in a Weblum's gut, but if she had to choose, she would much rather choose living.
At least she had been able to complete her task. Not as planned, but she had.
And she had something to report to Lotor.