Guest: There's nothing on the show about anyone's sexualities, but back in 2015 Executive Producer Lauren Montgomery posted a tweet about how everyone deserves respect no matter their race, gender, or sexual orientation. ( /artoflaurenm/status/796245419688738818) The tweet included a sketch of Allura and the paladins holding signs for those identities, with Keith and Hunk holding up the race sign, Allura and Pidge holding the gender sign, and Shiro and Lance holding the LGBT sign. Since there was some significance in the character choices for the first 2 signs (Keith being half-Galra, Hunk is Samoan, Pidge and Allura are the only girls on the team), a lot of have fans have reasonably concluded that there's similar significance to Shiro and Lance being the ones holding the LGBT sign. Hence, my decision to pair him up with Tactus. Also, that's a great idea. I've actually been toying with whether or not to go that route or have them wait until the end of the fic, but your whole "reverse New Order" comparison gave me the inspiration to finally pick one.

Chapter 10: Begin the Blitz:

Whitehold

Mars

March 16th, 2841

Keith was still horribly confused. Time travel he could at least wrap his head around. It was possible that the energy of the Galra battle cruiser's force field reacted with the weapons on Lotor's ship, tearing open a rift in time. That was an explanation that, while farfetched, at least made a weird sort of sense. But how did I get from Naxzela to Mars? He wondered. And what exactly is going on here? Once the fighting stopped, the soldiers returned to the main command center of whatever this place was, taking their newly captive opponents with them. He followed Shiro into what he was now certain was the communications room and his friend called out to a green-haired man named Nexiti. Keith felt a pang of nostalgia as he walked into the room, the man's technical expertise and green hair reminding him of Pidge.

"We're shipping out prisoners back to Agea," Shiro told the man. "I just sent them up to the landing pad with Evey's men."

"I'll pass it on to Quicksilver," Nexiti commented. "Also, Julii called. Telemanuses have secured Yorkton and they're coming to pick us up once we finish planting the charges."

"Good," Shiro replied. "What's our next target?"

"Corinth," the green-haired computer specialist answered. "Your boyfriend needs reinforcements." Keith blinked in surprise. Then he glanced sideways and smirked at Shiro, who was already looking at him all but begging him not to say anything. He still didn't understand the situation he'd found himself in, but that wasn't going to stop him from giving Shiro some good-natured teasing when he got the chance. Shiro shook his head and turned back to thank Nexiti for the update. Once he was done, the older man grabbed Keith's arm and led the younger Paladin out of the room.

Soldiers stopped to salute Shiro as they made their way down the halls. Shiro stopped to talk to each of them, and Keith had to admire how deftly his friend managed to deflect questions about the smaller, strangely armored figure by his side. After a few minutes, they managed to escape the larger groups and duck into a supply closet. Shiro pressed something on his gauntlet, and Keith heard a loud pop in his ears.

"Alright," Shiro said. "It's safe to take your mask off. We've got an hour before our ride gets here so I've got some time to bring you up to speed on what's going on."

"Okay," Keith replied nervously, his mask flickering before shutting off. Shiro took a deep breath, clearly trying to think of the best way to explain their situation.

"So," the Black Paladin began. "I'm going to have to give you some background on everything first. In the late 21st Century, humanity began colonizing the rest of the solar system. To maximize efficiency and avoid wasting precious resources, the colonists developed a system of organizing labor, color-coded according to job class. Yellows are doctors, Greens are tech experts, Blues are pilots… that sort of thing. And the ones in leadership positions were Gold. By the turn of the 22nd century, the Golds had become wealthy from trade with Earth, but they were resentful for having to pay taxes and adhere to corporate interests back on Earth. So, they declared their independence from Earth and conquered it." Keith was surprised at all of this, but he kept his mouth shut. He trusted Shiro and didn't want to interrupt until his friend was finished explaining.

"Once they conquered Earth," Shiro went on. "The Golds started to turn their labor classification system into a rigid caste system built to maintain their wealth at the expense of everyone else. It's been just over seven hundred forty years since The Conquering. Twenty years ago, a resistance movement formed called the Sons of Ares, the largest and most significant rebellion against Gold rule in nearly half a millennium." The Black Paladin paused, but Keith could tell there was still more to the story.

"I woke up on Luna, Earth's moon, five months ago. The Golds keep extensive census records on everyone in the solar system, so when I showed up with no record of who I was or where I came from…"

"You stuck out like a sore thumb," Keith finished.

"Exactly," Shiro replied. "So thankfully I was unconscious when I arrived, or I'd have really been in trouble. I was lucky that the only person who found me was one of the few Golds who recognized that this oppressive caste system was wrong. She forged my credentials and gave me everything I needed to blend in among Gold. It was the only way to avoid capture and still be close to the only person who knew who I really was. Two months after that was The Summit, a big once-a-decade event where all the high-ranking Golds from Mercury to Pluto show up for three days of business deals and political power plays. The final night was capped off with a Gala in the capitol building."

"Virginia had gotten me a job under the employ of her father, Martian ArchGovernor Nero au Augustus, so I was contractually obligated to attend. At the party, another of Augustus' employees, a man named Darrow, started a riot between the Augustus family and their chief rivals, the Bellona. Now, Augustus was already losing favor with the Sovereign, the de facto empress of human civilization. She had planned to let the Bellona assassinate the Augustus household and all their allies and employees during the dinner. Darrow suspected as much and had started the riot to force the Sovereign's hand. We fled Luna that night, but the Sovereign and the Bellona had already sent their forces ahead to Mars. We spent the next two months flying around gathering allies before we launched a full-scale invasion of Mars."

"We took control of Mars three weeks ago, and Augustus declared war against the Sovereign" Shiro continued. "But last night, at a party held to celebrate our victory, the ArchGovernor's son betrayed everyone, killing his father and most of Augustus' allies. One Darrow and a handful of us escaped the massacre. Now we're fighting to take Mars again for a completely different reason. Because Darrow was a spy for the Sons of Ares, his records forged so that he could climb the political ladder and bring the whole system down from the inside. But the ArchGovernor's son had discovered that ruse as well. Darrow announced his real identity for every human in the solar system to see, and now the Sons of Ares are in open rebellion."

"Wow…" was all Keith could say. It sounded like something out of a science fiction novel, but then again, he was one to talk. It wasn't like the half-human son of a rebel spy going up against a ten-thousand-year-old alien empire could afford to throw stones in that department.

"Yeah," Shiro laughed. "It's crazy how complicated our lives have become in such a short period of time."

"Wait!" Keith exclaimed, his eyes widening as he remembered his ship. "My ship! I was in a stolen Galra fighter when I blacked out. Did that make the trip too?" Shiro's eyes widened.

"Let's get back to Nexiti and find out," the older man replied. "If it did, this could accelerate our long-term plans for the rebellion. It takes a minimum of twenty-three weeks for Society's fastest ships to reach Pluto from Mars, but if we can use that Galra fighter to send troops out to the Rim, we could speed up the rebellion across the entire solar system." Shiro pressed a button on his gauntlet again, and once more Keith heard a pop. Keith took that as his cue to put his mask back on.

"What is that noise exactly?" he asked.

"JamField," Shiro answered, saying it quickly, like it was two words mashed together until they turned into one. "Temporarily deactivates all microphones and cameras in range and creates a small sound-proof bubble for private conversations."

"Sounds like that comes in handy," Keith commented with a smirk, even though he knew Shiro wouldn't be able to see it. He could imagine Shiro and his boyfriend using one of those whenever they slept together.

"It really does," Shiro replied, and the man's matching smirk made it clear that he knew what Keith was thinking even without being able to see his friend's face. "But no, we actually haven't yet."

"Seriously?" Keith whispered as they left the supply closet. Shiro typed up a message to Nexiti as they walked. "How long have you been together?"

"We only decided to take things from friendship to romance two weeks ago," Shiro answered dryly. "And he's made it clear he wants to deal with his own hang-ups before he's ready for sex. We're taking it slow."

"Ok," Keith remarked with a grin that said he was going to keep ribbing Shiro about his love life for a long time. The two of them were interrupted when that holographic screen appeared over Shiro's forearm guard with a light flashing across it. Shiro looked down and pressed the button before his helmet slid out of his armor to cover his face. Keith activated his own communicator, so he could listen to the conversation.

"Well?" he heard Shiro ask.

"You were right," Nexiti's voice answered. "The board dragged a space craft that matches your description into the main garage a few hours ago. They had a makeshift lab set up down there to study it. I'm not sure how useful it will be, but if you're sure it'll be helpful, I'll see if one of the prisoners we freed would be willing to pilot it back to Agea for us?"

"No," Shiro replied. "It's a short flight to Agea. We've still got an hour before our ride to Corinth gets here. I'll take it back myself. You're in command until I get back. Make sure the charges are set." Shiro finished the call and Keith turned off his coms. Shiro nodded, and the two men headed for the nearest elevator.

"Agea?" Keith asked once they were safe inside the elevator?

"Mars' capital city," Shiro answered. "Our rebel forces just secured it a couple hours ago." On the wall of the elevator, the light ticked downward for each floor they descended. A minute later, the lift stopped, and the doors opened to revel a cavernous hangar. Land and air vehicles of varying sizes were spread throughout the massive room. And in the far corner of the room, next to a pile of broken tent poles and a crumbled up white sheet, was a battered starfighter of the Galra Empire. Keith looked around in silent awe as they walked over to the ship. When they reached the ship, Keith climbed around the fighter, inspecting it for damage. Satisfied that the ship looked fine on the outside, he climbed into the cockpit and started it up. He breathed a sigh of relief as Shiro jumped in behind him. The ship still worked.

"So, ow come you're using that whip sword instead of the energy weapon in your arm?" he asked. Shiro tensed, and Keith winced at the realization that he'd obliviously stepped on a sensitive question.

"I lost it when Augustan forces conquered Mars three weeks ago," the older man answered. "Caught a pulseGrenade with my metal hand. It blew the whole arm off. Thankfully, there are Violets – artists, I should say, called Carvers, who specialize in body mods and genetic alterations. They used a blood sample to grow me a new flesh and blood arm from scratch. There's not even a scar, like the Galra never took my arm to begin with." Keith felt a surge of happiness for his friend. He knew how much the arm haunted Shiro, and hearing that he'd been able to free himself of that reminder of his trauma – even if he was still bothered by the circumstances behind it – was a relief.

"That's great to hear," Keith commented. "Now, how do I get out of here? And how do I get to Agea?" The two paladins laughed while the hangar doors ground slowly open. Once the way out was clear, Keith powered the fighter back up and gently maneuvered the ship around the other vehicles in the hangar. Once they cleared the exit, he opened up the throttle and followed Shiro's directions to the Martian capital.

I originally planned on just doing a constant rotation of Darrow-Shiro-Mustang-Keith, but when I was reworking my outline for the plot I realized I was going to have to play around with that depending on what's happening in the story.