The armada is upon you, driving itself closer and closer. Seeing it this close after all this time is completely disorienting...and terrifying. You weren't ready for a battle, you didn't even know how to fight! Also, now was not the time for this! Allura had the right idea. Her shrill, yet delicate voice hoisted out orders left and right, telling the vulnerable ships to escape, evacuate, retreat, as far as they could. Get out of here, she screamed. You asked, mind now in the zone, having fully caught up on the situation at hand and feeling the adrenaline coursing through your veins, "What about me?"
You were excited. Cheezits, help you..! You couldn't wait to see how the fight played out, but then again, you were also terrified. You were in the midst of a battle forming, and the alien ships weren't going fast enough to not be in the way of the oncoming fight. The enemy ships were huge, taking up almost all of space, and about to arrive right in front of you. Keith's wolf was working on getting everyone that wasn't a paladin out of the lions- meaning Romelle, who was bunking with Allura to catch her up on the neoculture of Altea, Krolia who was with her son, and the mice were all being moved to one of the transport ships. You heard Kaltenecker disappear with a poof somewhere behind you, having signified the wolf had gotten her somewhere safe.
That is, until the wolf didn't come back.
You and the others listened to Keith call for the child, but he got no response. You and Shiro were still in the lions.
"We have to get them out of here!" Hunk said.
"There's not enough time!" Pidge yelled back, obviously conflicted about what to do as well, if their/her voice was anything to go by.
"We have to lure them away from the Alteans so that they'll have enough time to draw back." Keith's irritated voice put in, having already formed a plan. "Raider will just have to stay with us."
The group gasped, unbelieving of Keith's theoretical course of action.
"We can't! We don't know what will happen when we form Voltron," Pidge said.
"Pidge is right. It's too much of a risk." Allura backed up.
"There's no other choice!" Keith argued, and then the black lions off, heading towards the large invaders. We call after him, Lance growling, before we follow behind him.
"Get ready," Lance says, and that's all the warning you get before you are dragged into the Voltron formation sequence.
A full fifty-eight seconds pass with literally just forming Voltron, and you think idly about how the Galra probably could have blown up all the allying ships by now.
"Are you ok?" Lance asked you.
"I feel like throwing up."
"Right?!" Hunk exclaimed.
You felt a little nauseous, but you'd be alright. What was happening before you seemed much more important than a light sickness. Lance steeled himself for an attack. "Hold on tight! It's gonna be a bumpy ride," he said as the large mecha moved forward, floating towards the array of spaceships.
You heard Allura over the comlink. "What is the problem here?" She asked loudly and cut off abruptly. She was talking to the ships. There was brief static.
"Paladins of Voltron," said a familiar voice, deep and hostile. "You have interfered with the Galra empire for the last time. Surrender your lions now and we will show you mercy."
Sendak.
"We don't have to fight!" Allura tried again to settle the fight before it begins, desperately wanting to let the Alteans get home safely, or at least give them enough time to get away. She was half-stalling and half-hoping that this would all end before any damage could be done.
But then the connection shut, and a ball of light was building up at the end of a tunnel at the front of one of the enemy ships.
She sighed, exasperated.
"They're attacking," Lance pointed out, nervousness in his voice. If they ended up fighting against all these ships alone, there's no way they would be able to keep track of who's going after the Altean ships under all the fire they'd have to see through.
"Move up!" Shiro yelled as the blue ball of light shot forward into a laser. It was inches away from hitting them but they were lucky enough to have moved out of the way in time.
And then you could see-...see something, but you definitely weren't in Voltron anymore. Lance disappeared and the stars of space were nowhere to be seen, everything was quickly replaced with a corridor, like the ones in the Galra ships. Two guards were standing on opposite sides of the hall, in front of two doors, when one of them blew open, flinging the Galra trooper into the other and bringing them both down with a grunt, smoke filling the passage.
A figure jumped forward and out of the doorway, black and blue and covered in fur, as another man turned a corner and saw him, shooting first and asking questions later. He was caught off guard with the wolf running towards him, then disappearing and appearing right in front of him, taking him down with the clashing sound of a gun hitting the floor and sliding across into oblivion.
You gasped, now back inside Voltron. You had never left.
"Whoa, do you see that?" Lance asked, and you let the nausea leave you before you were able to see what he was talking about. One of the ships was smoking on one side, a big bubble of white popped out of the side of it and made it lose its balance, tipping over its side and knocking into another ship right as it fired another laser at you.
The laser hit Voltron, knocking you off your feet and making you hit your head hard onto the ground as everyone groaned in pain, including you, electricity shocking them, and you grasping your head in pain, the laser having caused damage right in Voltron's stomach, except it didn't, and you were still upright behind Lance's chair.
With no need to even look, with only the sudden urge to do, you reached out and grabbed onto the control trigger right beneath Lance's hand and pulled right, just before the laser could hit you all.
You sighed in relief, looking down. Lance stared up at you amazed, hawk eyes wide and confused but also in some kind of awe.
You embarrassingly let go of Lance's hand.
"Dude...that was awesome!" He grinned.
"What just happened?" Pidge called, alarmed.
"Raider just happened! Looks like you're getting some of that pilot instinct back, huh?" He congratulated.
The wolf appeared at the control center in one of the ships. The two Galra agents were looking out of the screen over to the mecha you were in while talking into a comlink in his ear, voice urgent before rising in pitch as he saw the wolf come at him, tackling him onto the ground before he could fully reply to Sendack's orders. The unharmed Galra agent pulled out his firearm and tried aiming at the wolf, who jumped back from the unconscious agent and evaporated into thin air, appearing a little to the left, and then to the right, messing up the living agent's shot.
"Shoot the one to the farthest left!" You ordered. No one moved. In the heat of the moment you couldn't think of the blue paladin's name, getting irritated. "Sharpshooter, do it!"
The wolf disappeared again and the Galra agent looked around, trying to see where he would land next. He never got the chance. He was too distracted to see the beam of light reaching towards him until the very last second, right before he and his entire ship was gradually blown to pieces, starting from the control center.
Allura and the others cheered and you grinned. Thanks, Wolfe.
The cheer was cut short, though, when three other ships shot at you at the same time, hitting Voltron in her shoulder and chest, before an onslaught of more pulses of light hit you straight on, electricity striking all the paladins, you, and Shiro. When the shots stopped to reload and get ready for another offense, Pidge seemed the only one awake besides you and Shiro, screaming that Voltron wouldn't move. Lance was limp, his arm hanging over the chair.
But then the cheering came back and you caught on to what was happening. "Pidge, shield!" You yell, silencing their hoots. Keith saw the flash of white coming from the end of the tunnels on the other ships and yelled in the affirmative.
They braced for impact. You held onto the back of Lance's seat. You were ready for the attacks when they came, the force of them moving Voltron back even as she kept her shield up. But it wasn't enough. The crew grunted in focus, trying to push it back.
"We have to keep their shots on us so that the Alteans can get away!" Pidge grunted. "But we can't handle much more of this!"
"We have to get closer!" You heard Keith say. The fire stopped and Voltron regained her balance. "Lance, sword!"
Voltron raced towards the large ships, dodging lasers like they're your priorities.
At least it's not an entire fleet, you thought. Two ships were down and one had been hit earlier so now they only had nine and a half left.
"What happened to the Blade and Matt's team?" Hunk asked as Voltron got out her shield again, blocking the attacks as she moved closer to the fray.
"They must've gotten passed them somehow." Keith answered as your vision switched again. This time you saw Sendak standing with his hands, or hand, behind his back, face as if made of stone.
"Someone is attacking us from the inside!" A trooper told his leader, obviously nervous and in a panic.
Sendak was quiet for a few seconds, turning to the soldier only slightly. He didn't show his irritation in his expression but in his voice, quiet yet booming. "Who?"
"We don't know, Commander. They've been taking out all our guards before they can tell us what's happening."
"Then get rid of it." He growled.
"Yes sir," the soldier stumbled.
"Prepare the ion cannon." Sendak ordered the Galrans sitting at the control center.
"You guys!" You snapped out of your daydream to hear a new voice.
"Matt!" Pidge exclaimed.
"Sorry we're late, got pretty busted up earlier." you heard a voice say. Sounded like Lars from Steven Universe.
"But we're here now. Just tell us what to do." Said Matt.
"We need you to escort those ships out of here,"Keith instructed. "We'll take care of them." Referencing the Galran ships." If anything happens to the Alteans then this will all have been for nothing."
"Gotcha!" You couldn't see any of Matt's team through all the beams of light. But it was all soon to stop as your vision flipped again.
Sendak's ship shook as all the lights went off with the droning sound of machinery coming to a stop. Sendak kept himself upright, demanding a damage report.
"Now we can go all out," said Keith having no idea what just happened. You imagined him to be smirking.
"Everything is offline, Commander Sendak." Said one of the agents tapping on buttons and screens, trying to fix and turn on the controls. "All systems are down!"
The wolf stood in front of the core, watching as the lightly armored, lean bodies evacuated after planting some kind of device around the room. The core was blown to pieces and the lights went off as the beings slid into vents and away from the room the way they entered. The wolf saw as the other devices started to blink red and dissipated back into Keith's cockpit.
Keith didn't have time to be surprised about the rebel canine as the Galra's largest ship of the fleet blew up, ricocheting off the other ships and creating a domino effect of explosions. Three small missiles of debris were making their way toward Voltron, but flew right passed them-
And one of them had a face. Time seemed to slow as Keith looked Axza in her face as she passed by in one of the getaway ships so small they hadn't even noticed them beside the fleet. Her eyes twinkled mischievously at him but her expression was stern. She was glaring.
And then she was gone, and all the fleet was blazing white with bubbles bursting into explosions.
Keith wasn't the only one to have noticed, though. "Did anyone else just see that?" Hunk asked in pure shock.
"Did she just..help us?"Lance asked with confusion evident in his voice.
"Doesn't matter now, we need to regroup and make sure everyone is OK." You perked up at the sound of Shiro's voice. There was an edge to it, slim and almost unnoticeable, but there.
"We can't let her get away!" Keith sounded irritated.
"There's nothing we can do. She's already gone." Allura said. "Even if we do go after them, there's no guarantee we'd find out why would Haggar helped us."
Haggar? Keith and you thought, looking back behind them where the three ships flew off and disappeared into deep space.
Shiro felt another headache coming on.
You and the others find your way to an uninhabited planet currently being used as a hiding spot for the Voltron allies. The lions settle down on the gray dusty rock underneath piles of trees with trunks the width of entire monuments and heights into the atmosphere. You and the paladins walk down the ramp into the mineral thick air and somehow soft land. They meet up with the other captains and aliens, Matt and Vakala accompanying them, checking for casualties. As soon as you hear that the Alteans and aliens were ok, albeit some alert from the Blade and Matt's team having been ambushed, you find your way to the black lion.
Kuron's sitting on the edge of the ramp, eyes closed and shoulders slumped. He doesn't move when you sit beside him.
"You good, bro?"
"If a killer headache counts as good." He replied, pressing his thumb into his temple.
"Honerva again?"
"I don't...I don't know. I hope not. I think it's just another headache."
You nod. "What a development, huh?"
"Ha, you're telling me."
"Well, I guess we're one more step to getting you fixed," you smile encouragingly.
"What?"
"Well, not fixed, but, you know, getting you the help you need."
"Thanks, but I think I'll be ok. Just need to get some fresh air and rest." he paused, changing the subject. "By the way, let's talk about you. You did great today," he opens his eyes finally and looks at you, eyes warm and pupils round.
Oh Shia LaBeouf, that's Shiro.
"Where'd you learn to predict attacks like that?"
"Oh, uh," you stood up abruptly. "I have no idea! I kinda just...I just..did, you know? Anyway, I just remembered- I have to talk to Lance about something. Rest easy, see you later!"
Shiro tried to reach out for you but you were already too far gone. He sighed, watching you go. You were a weird one, surely.
No weirder than them all, he guessed.
You find Lance standing next to a blonde Altean with pink marks on her cheeks. Her posture is open, with a smile on her face and her hands behind her back, leaning towards him cutely. He's making one of his trademarked flirty faces, thin eyebrow arched with the other tucked down, eyes slanted and mischievous, with a smirk that showed all his teeth.
We just got out of a fight with Sendak and he's already flirting? Gosh/fuck, Lance!
You walked up behind him just as he said, "Nah, I'm fine. I'm kinda used to it by now. But if I do get into any trouble I can count on you to fix me up, right Keira?"
Keira laughed behind her hand before replying in the affirmative. Someone behind her called for her and she excused herself, batting her eyelashes at him as she left.
You hooted when she got out of hearing range. "Dude, that was awesome!" you give him a high five for the second time today.
"It's just the ol' natural razzle dazzle," he smirks, resting his hands on the back of his head.
"And the trademark smile, don't forget that." You laugh together. For the rest of the day, you laugh all the way across the universe, sharing jokes and roasting the other paladins behind their back, never stopping until you're at the Altean's new home. Days had passed but you didn't feel it, you fell asleep at some point but you weren't sure when. It's space and all.
By the time you all reach the planet, all park some much needed distance away from each other, it's dark. It looks no different from space, but their brains make the distinction anyway, and as soon as the paladins leave their lions for the first time in two and half, almost three days, they land on the grassy ground and are already half asleep. They're forced awake by Coran and Krolia, who had got a whole different sleep schedule from inhabiting the other ships the passed few days, and made to build a campfire.
Tents are laid out across the widespread of land in a clearing they found surrounded by purple trees. The air is warm from fires dancing in dots around the valley. Camp is set up and many of the Altean families and various mixtures of aliens are settled outside under the dark green and blue sky. Many are celebrating their arrival, others just wanted to see something different after being stuck in one place for so long. Some went out to explore the lands without waiting for daylight, though you weren't sure how long Altean days were here anyway.
Shiro fell asleep by the fire, you to his left with Hunk to your right, snoring. Keith, Lance, and Pidge were on the other side of the fire, asleep as well. It didn't take a long time for Kuron to wake up afterwards, and now it was just you two awake amongst the rest.
"I felt her there. She's still in my head."
"We're gonna get you help, Kuron."
"Have you gotten any of your memories back?"
"Sort of. I don't know. Everything's hazy and doesn't make a whole lot of sense…"
"Trust me, I know. I-, I mean Shiro, went through the same thing."
"You can say I." You remind. "At one point you were Shiro."
"Right...I'm gonna rest." He laid down with his back to you, facing the fire. "Goodnight, Raider."
You laid down too, facing Hunk, who was asleep on his back, arms spread out and drool down his chin. "Goodnight, K."
.
"Aww, that's so cute." Lance teased, looking down at you and Hunk, asleep in each other's arms. His long silhouette stood beside you two, along with Keith's.
Keith rolled his eyes."Leave them alone."
"What? They are!"
updates will be late thanksgiving week because of holiday blues