Rating: T(violence)
Characters: Lance, Keith, Pidge/Katie H., Hunk, Shiro, Allura, Coran, Matt H., new aliens (like a lot), Galra
Additional Tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt Hunk (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), or is it Shiro? Who knows, Allura (Voltron), Original Galran Character(s), Coran (Voltron), Matt Holt, Original Alien Character(s), Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, POV Keith (Voltron), POV Pidge | Katie Holt POV Hunk (Voltron), POV Lance (Voltron), Hurt Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Whump, Keith (Voltron) Whump, Alternate Season/Series 04, Hurt Lance (Voltron), BAMF Keith (Voltron), BAMF Lance (Voltron), Team as Family, Platonic Relationships, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Chapter has minor descriptions of injury and suggests violence. See below for full A/N.
Chapter 3: Naturally Disastrous
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we
call life when a man takes his whole universe for a vast practical joke.
-Herman Melville
"Yeah sure Hunk, just go use your giant, mechanical cat to distract some scary, purple aliens who'd love to shoot you. Seems perfectly normal to me." Hunk was muttering to himself as he flew off in Yellow. He knew a distraction was necessary, but he wished it didn't have to be him. What if it didn't work and none of the Galra even noticed? Then the team would have no cover at all and he was far enough away that getting to them, over the quarry basin and into the ravine, would take much to long for his liking.
He just had to make it big then so that wouldn't happen. He couldn't let that happen. The Princess was with him so at least he didn't have this responsibility alone. Besides the deep gashes and few mountains, the rocky terrain remained barren. Even though water is Blue's foremost strongest element of operation, her scanners were what was needed in this case.
The Princess was to scan the crevasses by the base of a nearby mountain for loose ground. That way, he could use the yellow lion's sturdier frame to knock them down. Creating an avalanche to create a large dust cloud and destroy some of the mineral mines down below, without hurting anyone. Well anyone not Galra at least. Another reason Allura's scanners were necessary.
"Hunk, according to my scans there are no life forms below… here," Allura's voice filtered through the coms as a point on his map flared to life. "The rock above looks quite loose. I can use the blasters above to freeze the rocks to make them more brittle beforehand. That should enable more to fall initially; what do you think?"
"Yeah sounds good, Allura," Hunk responded while sizing up the rock. If this landed correctly it would drop far down to the plains and caves below. "Alright I'm in position. Whenever you're ready."
The icy blast from Blue crashed into the cliffside, causing the loosest stone to break free. Jamming his thrusters forward, Hunk sent Yellow for a direct collision course. The chunk of mountain, roughly the size of the lions themselves, was sent crashing down below where it landed and burst with a shattering boom.
Yellow and Blue zipped to the side for fear of being caught in the large dust cloud that rose from the rubble. Hunk used the stabilizers from Yellow to secure himself to the remaining mountain, while Allura had Blue grip to Yellow.
"Okay now what," Hunk asked, "How will we know it worked? Do we just keep exploding things?" He couldn't make out anything in the dust cloud.
"I think our diversion was more than successful," came a strained reply. The dust was beginning to settle down to the lions line of sight, and from her tone just above him, whatever she was seeing was not good.
"Alright well we need to keep them away from the others so just tell me when and where to smash things, you with mighty scanner," he tried to say positively. Probably came out more like sarcasm or anxiousness, but that's what he was really feeling so not too surprising.
A soft exhale made it way over the coms. The Princess steeling herself. "Yes you are right. We must ensure the safety of the other's so they can complete their part of the mission. Alright, we are going to have to move. I'll take another scan and send you the coordinates. We must do this."
"Yeah alright. Just point me where to go," Hunk responded. The dust had cleared enough that he could see the troves of sentries and Galra flooding out of the trench. He could see rows upon rows of purple. Consider them distracted.
"Now Hunk! Over there!" came the shout over the coms, just quick enough so the panic didn't have time to settle fully. A blip on his monitor showed a new location marked, and after seeing the flash of light from the Blue lion, Hunk hit the throttle blindly at the target. The impact was jarring since he couldn't tell when he needed to brace himself, making his head spin for a moment.
The debris was piling up below and blocking the advance of most of the foot troops. Well according to Allura's scans, some of the sentries were even crushed. Hunk continued his body slams until a quick call for cover had him scrambling back to their earlier perch.
"Allura what's wrong? They didn't see me did they," he called out. It was difficult to gauge when he could barely see himself, even with his on-board systems.
"No they have stopped advancing. We were correct in that similar events of rock fall occur naturally on the planet given its terrain, so they must be waiting it out in order to clear out the damage. Only a small number of the remaining sentries are being sent ahead now." She paused and came back, sounding uncertain saying, "We should just have to drag this out now."
Hunk was just about to ask for the next target when a metallic screeching resounded. A startled gasp and jostled lions confirmed that Allura had been hit. The whine of the stabilizers drowned out any other communication as Hunk wrestled with the controls. Even though he hadn't been the one to be directly hit, since Blue had been resting on top of him, Yellow bucked fiercely. Without the stabilizers, Hunk was sure he would be joining the debris down below, right where the Blue lion was currently headed.
Hunk swallowed his rising bile. Arms shaking, he directed his coms towards Pidge and Shiro since Allura's were not working or she was unconscious from the blast. Blue looked like a plinko ball, hitting every 'peg' of rock as it free fell towards the heap of rumble. The coms not working were the least of Allura's worries if he didn't get there in time. If only he could tell what was going on, but the dust had been revived with the blasts around him.
Quickly he patched to Lance and Keith, who he knew would be dealing with company very soon.
""Um, guys? I don't think our cover is working anymore!" No direct response only further stirred the unease in his gut. Hoping his message got across, he switched coms to the other remaining Paladins.
"Pidge! Shiro! Come in! Ugh, so our distraction worked. Like really well. So there's uh, there's a lot of Galra out here and, well I couldn't see, still can't really but there was a blast and Blue got hit..." the ramble spilled out as he wrangled Yellow fully back under control, sending her in a swan dive towards blue. No mind to the rocks, since he could just plow through.
A burst of purple light next to him brought his eyes quickly off the descending lion below him. Enemy blasts were not as easy to plow through. If the Blue lion was anything to go by, he really needed to avoid the cannon fire. Wait cannons? Seriously? Who brought cannons to check on a natural disaster? Unless….
"… It's totally a trap for you guys!" He cut his ramble off with the sharp exclamation. If he wanted an answer, not talking for a tick and internal panic was necessary.
"Hunk, we understand is the Princess alright?" That was Shiro coming through, calm and concerned. A moment of relief went him through at their space dad's words. He was so glad that Shiro was back and able to help out again before they tried this mission. Not that Keith wasn't a good leader, with Lance's help, but having Shiro back was certainly comforting in times like these.
The calming moment was fleet though, as he had to swerve out of the way of another canon blast. Sweat tickled his face and he nearly bit his tongue off in concentration. He plowed through another bolder to give himself dust cover as he caught up to Allura.
She was a tick from impact when he collided, engaged gravity locks, and thrust upwards as hard as Yellow could go. Yellow gave a roar in effort, mixed with triumph when only the tips of Blue's claws scraped the ground. Hunk just slowly let out a shaky breath. He had caught Blue just in time.
Oh wait, Shiro. "Huh, yeah. Yeah well as far as I can tell. She didn't smash down into the trench below but the coms are down in Blue, I think," he finally relayed.
"Go find some cover in the safe zone we mapped out originally. Try to keep contacting Allura, and keep us posted. We'll probably be needing backup here soon, so only stay there long enough to regroup," came Shiro's voice over the coms again.
"Yeah no need to tell me twice," he replied as he swerved Yellow and Blue away from another blast. Taking a quick peek through the clearing dust, several of the lines of purple they had drawn out were noticeably retreating back to the base. Allura's com gave a spark of static before a light cough, then cut itself out. Well, Hunk thought to himself, which was promising. Priority one, check on the princess once out of immediate cannon danger. Then, off to the base. Well, guess he'd be the one really storming the castle now.
Pidge was not happy. She had only been a portion of the way of breaking logged files, looking for info on Matt or her dad, when Hunk's panicked message made its way over the coms. She gave a small curse, earning her a slight frown from Shiro as he reached out to Lance and Keith. It wasn't that she was mad at Hunk or Allura, they had done their job as well as to be expected given their track record. No, she was angry that she hadn't been able to use her new code.
If she had just been able to finish it, she could've used it to scan for life signatures and sentries, distinguishing who was Galra or not. She had been so close! If only she hadn't gotten sidetracked with commandeering Lance's project. Or going to sleep.
She shook her head, no time for a pity party. She checked the download progress of the data. Might as well sift through it later. Right now her team needed her. She needed to prep the lockdown, but Shiro was still trying to get into contact with Keith and Lance. They hadn't heard anything from either Paladin since she had opened the cell door several dobashes ago. This new quiet side of Lance was unsettling, and now that she knew what happened when he didn't get his beauty rest, she would make sure this never happens again so long as she could help it.
Her fingers danced along the keyboard, too pressed for time to backtrack. She heard Shiro try again to reach Lance and Keith.
"Guys! Can you hear me? We have to go, now! Pidge had to start the lock down in order to keep most of the Galra officers and backup out from where you are now. The countdown is started. Get the Zuiry'kt to the lions as fast as you can!"
A soft huff relayed that his message had gotten through, which was all she needed to know at that point.
"I'll keep you updated on time, just focus on getting out," she relayed while hitting run on the timed lockdown sequence. They only had fifteen dobashes to get clear before everything sealed up tight.
"Yeah we copy. Thanks, Pidge," came a croaked reply from Lance. No time to worry why the Red and Black Paladin was not answering. A soft beep alerted her to a complete download.
"Alright Shiro, let's go." She grabbed the chord and made her way towards the door, catching Shiro's eye and getting a quick nod as a reply. He lead the way back down the musky halls, arm raised in defense. The alarms were blaring, but other than the constant droning, only the sound of their light footsteps echoed down the hall.
A brief hiss of static was quickly followed by, "Oh quiznack." Lance.
"Pidge," Shiro stopped before a turn in the hall, whispering over his shoulder, "There's red smoke coming down the hall. I don't know what it is, so visors down."
Visor down, her muffled breath came even louder over their steady pace. Only 10 dobashes left. They were getting close to the intersection point; no guards or unnecessary stealth made traveling through the base much faster. The same couldn't be same for both Lance and Keith, who were nowhere in sight.
She fiddled with her com, the weight in her gut settling further when the only reply she got was static. The knot uncoiled a bit when a clipped 'roger' came from Hunk, but still noting from her other boys. She wanted to check in again, but a quick signal from Shiro halted her. They were not alone anymore.
Growls reached crescendo as she and Shiro turned the corner. Zuiry'kt emerged from the smoke, shaking and with several collective wounds, but otherwise looking no worse the wear. The weight lifted a little more, until the rest of the ruddy aliens came into view.
Wild, was Pidge's immediate thought. Eye's slighted and veins bulging, several of the calmer Zuiry'kt were holding them back. What really scared her was the lack of care for their injuries. Shiro was already helping support an unconscious, younger looking alien be carried.
"You are with those other two," a tall Zuiry'kt approached her, calm but haggard, "we can sense your same strong spirit." What had happened? Her eyes, or spirit, must've told her unease, because as she went to help support the Zuiry'kt continued. "Their spirits are strong, they continue the fight while we lost control."
"You mean they are still behind," Shiro asked, pausing to ask, voicing her own concerns.
"Yes, the smoke. It makes my people and I lose control and lose ourselves to the call of battle. We had to leave to subdue half of our number and quell our agitated spirit, should we begin to attack each other or the Paladins." He began to try to shuffle forward, thinking that was explanation enough for her. Pidge stayed rooted to the spot. They had left Lance and Keith behind!
The Zuiry'kt may not be able to go back down the tunnels, but she could. No way would she willingly leave her boys. She turned to Shiro, only to see conflict painted clearly on his face.
"Pidge, how much time is left?" Oh. Oh. OH! There were only four dobashes left. The hall doors were already beginning to close, the way they had come had only a small opening, enough for only someone her size to vault through. They needed to go back, but the Zuiry'kt would not make it out on their own.
"Shiro, we are so close to them, I can make it through. I remember another exit on the schematics, let me go get them." She was already letting one of the other aliens come offer support in her stead, and making her way towards the deeper tunnels.
"Stay on your com, and hurry. I'll let Hunk and the Princess know the change in plans directly," Shiro said behind her.
"Got it!" She jumped the rising ledge, not bothering to turn back. The tunnels continued down for a while. Ugh no time for this. She pointed her bayard at the ceiling and attached it overhead, reeling herself in so she could swing feely down the hall. The alarms continued to blare overhead, a constant whine in her ears as the sounds of the Zuiry'kt and Shiro dissipated behind her.
The cold seeped into the soles of her boots as she ran down the corner. Metal parts were thrown everywhere, residual sparks flickering in the low light. Her breath came loud in her helmet as she passed the charred spots from obvious firefight. She splashed through a dark puddle, ignoring the pungent smell of blood and oil that churned her stomach even more.
"Hey come on buddy, we're almost there. See look, there's my sick headshot." Lance. She missed the muffled response by Keith, but really she was just happy to find them.
"Guys!" – She ran up and gave them a quick clap on the shoulder – "Okay so the doors are closed, but I have a plan."
Keith, who was leaning heavily on Lance and cradling his right arm to his chest, looked up to her saying, "You always do, Pidge." Even though he was leaning on Lance, Lance didn't look so good himself. His hand was strained crimson, and was she could see blood dripping from his ears and temple. Keith has covered in blossoming bruises, with several gashes along his back.
"Look there's a chute if we go farther down, I'll contact Shiro and have Green come grab us."
"A chute? That sounds so promising," Lance snarked. She just fixed him with a short look; at least his humor wasn't hurt.
"Yeah well, it's just through these rooms according to the schematics," Pidge said while gesturing to some open doorway rooms off to the right. Unlike the cells or locked off corridors, these rooms connected as a type of stronghold and gathering center. To her it looked like there had been sentries gathered here. Keith's mumbled "Could've laid there for a bit longer…" confirmed that the massive destruction littering the area had something to do with the two Paladins beside her.
Keith placed his hand on thd scanner to open the door at the far side that she indicated to. Not for the first time today, she felt like Hunk at the sight that met her. What had been simply labeled "Med Bay" looked anything but. She wasn't the only one was both Keith and Lance, already pale from blood loss, blanched even further.
"I guess we know what that smell is now," Lance said behind her. They made their way through the sticky floor, gingerly stepping over broken instruments and jars of… something. She spotted the chute covering in the back, Lance and Keith moving to clear a path in front of her.
"Shiro, are you in the Green lion," Pidge called into the coms. "I found them and am going to need a pickup."
"Loading up the Zuiry'kt currently. Ran into a bit of trouble on the way out, nothing big," he assured.
"We are closing in as best as we can, but we are being held outside the perimeter by the cannons and turrets," came Allura over the coms. Despite the current situation Blue and Yellow found themselves in, Pidge couldn't help but be a tiny be relieved to hear her voice after the report from Hunk earlier.
"Shiro I have the layout of the base, including this chute, uploaded to Green. She knows where to go. She just has to lock onto my signal. I know it doesn't work inside the base, but I got a plan. Just tell Green to go with option 'D'." Of the different scenarios she had come up with, at least this one had a plan that worked out. Well, hypothetically.
"Ugh great. We're going down the body dump," Lance said into the coms. "If this was named option 'D' for body dump that is totally not cool, Gremlin."
"Body dump?!" Hunk's voice came in, mixed with the sound of firefight. "Pidge, wasn't that over the huge unknown since we don't have any schematics of the area around the prison?" More firefight mixed with static sounded, cutting him off before she could reply. She knew the plan was dangerous, seeing as she didn't know exactly where it was the chute went, but she could take a good guess.
"Hunk! We must get to that last canon," Allura answered instead. A grumble of 'yeah I hadn't noticed' came from the Yellow Paladin before both cut out to resume attacking the front.
"Pidge," Shiro cut in, "I got everyone loaded up and am ready to head out in Green. She seems to know where to go, but we're going to have to fight our way through. We'll be there in a few dobashes." She acknowledged this and turned back to help Lance and Keith. Usually the two would have no difficulty in clearing a way and opening the hatch, but with their combined injuries progress was a tick slower than Pidge was comfortable with.
She grabbed the heavy latch alongside Lance and pulled with all her strength. It unsealed with a soft hiss before creaking open to reveal, empty blackness. The light dissipating after only a foot into the unknown of the drop.
"Hey there demons. It's me, ya boi."
"Keith, much as I appreciate the reference, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but now is not the time!" Pidge just sighed at the other two Paladin's antics before getting into position on the ledge of the chute.
"Alright so new plan, I'm going to repel down as far as I can. Once Shiro is here, you two come down and use your jetpacks to slow your descent into Green." The others nodded their agreement so she sunk her bayard into the metal, tested the strength, and then leapt into the unknown. One of her least favorite activities as the Green Paladin.
The yank on her arm at the sudden stop when her bayard whet taught felt more like it was being retched from its socket than anything else. If the pain and sound was anything to go by, she most likely had. At least she had remembered to slow her descent a bit with her jet pack. A bit too late, but no time to dwell since plans were much harder in execution anyway. She hadn't quite reached the end, but could make out the general shape of where the chute ended below, and what unfortunately was beneath it.
A crevasse. A huge crevasse that split and looked to be supporting the prison in some places, but mostly it just dropped down an ungodly height. A height she was cursing over while dangling from her aching shoulder. Her muscles were on fire and every twist was sending shooting pain down her side. She just hoped her grip was strong enough on her bayard; numbness had already settled in and she wasn't sure if that was good or bad at the moment. "Shiro! I'm at the end of my rope – ha, comedy – and can see out the chute. Where are you?"
"Almost there Pidge! Hunk, I need more cover over here!" Shiro went back and forth with Hunk and the Princess, calling out positions but she could barely hear them over the roar of blood flow, her heart hammering in protest to her current position.
A clank from above and something whizzing past her brought her out of her near daze. A flash of red and white tumbled past her before she lost sight to the abyss below but she easily recognized what had just been tossed. A bayard, smoking and spitting.
She thumbed over her com, heart on overdrive from anxiety mixing with pain, her arm giving another painful twinge as a reminder that moving was not the best option at the moment.
"Pidge! Do you come in?" Hunk iterated, "We we're able to cover Shiro but more of the Galra were able to get back in. They are activating a particle barrier!" She could see a purple glow bouncing off the chute walls and knew there wasn't enough time. Lance and Keith had to get to her.
"I'm right below the chute outside the barrier! Go now," came Shiro, a roar from Green below doubling his argument. Just as she was to ask the new Red and Black Paladin's their position, she felt her line go slack and had a moment of weightlessness before her stomach dropped to her toes as she free fell.
She dropped like a Hunk body slammed stone, tumbling and out of control into the crevasse. Purple was creeping up fast below her and for a tick she entertained the idea of a green bug on a purple windshield. Breathing heavy, she closed her eyes as she fumbled to orient herself to use her jetpack. The booster flared to life and stilled her frantic movements. After another tick, not quite trusting she wasn't dead, she cracked open her eyes in just enough time to see the barrier close. Above her. She was through and drifting to Green whose maw was wide and waiting.
She panted loudly, swiveling her head all around as she noticed something quickly out of place. She was the only one floating down. No Keith, no Lance. She touched down in Green, already shutting tight and moving away, and clutched her arm as she ran to the cockpit.
"Shiro, guys we can't go. Lance and Keith didn't follow me down and are still inside!" His horror struck face met hers as Green guided them away from the enemy base.
"Fellow Paladin's, we must regroup now. We cannot break into that barrier as we are and while we cannot get past, their defense system, including more attached ion cannons can," Allura's voice came through, sounding tight and frustrated. She wanted to argue so bad. There was another option, there always was before and she would find one now. Needed to find one now.
"The… The Princess is right," Shiro backed her up, even if his words were laced with regret. He had turned his back to her in the cockpit, focusing on Green's controls instead. "We are not retreating, just regrouping. There's no way we're losing anyone." His tone took a sharper turn as he finished up, so Pidge knew he was just as irked as she was.
Reality sat in and forced her to sit down, or else fall down, in the back of Green's cockpit on the spare jump-seat. Throbbing pain ebbed its way up her arm as the blood returned. She definitely wished it would go back to being numb. The haze that had threatened her earlier returned full force as Green dodged fire from behind.
She closed her eyes to focus on breathing. Her last real thought that wasn't encompassed with pain making her heart ache for an entirely different reason.
Lance and Keith were trapped, and it was completely her fault.
A/N:
I am scum for not posting sooner. I promise I was not just sitting on this, there were complications to be handled. Plus, extra-long chapter for everyone! Yeah! I hope the wait was worth it. Feel free to scream at me below because as always, feedback is much appreciated. Until next time!