Our World: Notre Monde
The silence that came upon visual contact was audible. And then there were the terrible vocalizations. Allura could not bring herself to turn and see the pain on the faces of her paladins, their sounds of anguish echoed in her ears. She turned her face first to Coran. Their expressions mirrored one another, the same dreaded thoughts hanging between them. Above all the need for action; 'What do we do?'.
Earth was not simply absent. It was not misplaced. No. It was lying in scattered pieces loosely arced around the last semblance of an orbit.
This was a heavy blow.
They were at their weakest right now.
She knew none of her paladins were fit to pilot in this state. If they even attempted to the results would be catastrophic.
They needed to leave.
If Zarkon found them like this, they would be helpless.
Now more than ever she needed to act.
Allura finally curved to face her broken warriors. Scattered across the room she sought out each person, looking for some sort of response.
No aid was to be gained from the leader of Voltron- the black paladin had been again overtaken by trauma that still clung to his mind. Shiro stood stock still, pinned by turmoil. Memories exploded behind his retinas and voices from the past burned his ears. He had seen this before. Seen it, and heard the accompanying malicious tones which labeled it as a botched job.
Visuals of the present and past overwhelmed his mind, all the while the screeching soundtrack repeated
Botched job, botched job, botched job.
It would be a long time before Shiro would surface from this crisis to even consider the connotations.
The rest of the crew fared no better.
Hunk wavered on his feet looking fit to fall.
Pidge was ripping hair out without even realizing it, simultaneously struggling to breathe.
Lance had hit the deck on all fours and was making sounds of anguish.
And Keith was probably…
She whirled around.
"Coran" was the warning she breathed.
With no more than that princess Allura rushed across the bridge, her elegant Altean robes bunched between her fingers. There in the far corner she football tackled the shaking Keith preventing him from engaging the red lion entry system.
Breathing broken gasps, he gave a feral cry "Get off me!" Alas, as was fate, an Altean's strength was superior to that of a human's. She secured his arms and torso to the deck with her own weight.
Though restrained face down the paladin lashed out and screamed- red Bayard bursting to life in his hands. She knew rage had him prepared to sink lethal force into the power of that blade. But even expecting this did not ready her for the inhuman strength that burst forth from Keith in that moment. Shocked, her grip slipped and Keith still half pinned moved to strike against her. Crunch. In one swift movement Coran had crashed his boot down on Keith's wrist eliciting a cry of pain from the boy. The next moment his grip expelled the weapon and Coran kicked it aside before replacing the weight of his foot on Keith's wrist.
The room was quiet but for the panting of the three involved in the scuffle. Keith had ceased his struggle. All eyes centered on this fallen group on the deck of the bridge.
Allura's searched the room holding the gaze of each as she turned her head.
"Paladins" gasped Allura "Please do not enter your lions. You are unfit to pilot in this state".
~\/~
"I'll take care of this one."
These words from Coran served to release the room's occupants from their immobile state. The aged Altean gently guided Keith from the room.
Hunk sank down, easing his weight onto the steps of the bridge, head in hands. Lance remained where he was on the floor albeit now silent.
Their leader seemed to regain a sense of the situation. He grabbed Pidge before the child could fall, depositing her on the steps next to the largest of the group. She seemed disoriented when Shiro's reassuring grip vanished from her arms, but the lost comfort was quickly replaced by a strong hug from Hunk. Fat tears fell atop Pidge's head and salty water worked its way through Hunk's sleeve.
Before his composure could leave, the black paladin approached Lance. He rested his hand briefly on the boy's shoulder before hoisting him up by the arms. The blue paladin made no struggle and was led across the room; placed to lean up against Hunk's other side.
Shiro made to back away from the three now clinging to each other on the steps. His backwards motion was blocked by Allura, who nudged him towards his team. He collapsed on the steps next to Pidge.
Sometime later Keith joined them, wrist and hand bandaged, Coran in tow. Without words he took his place besides Shiro. Hands welcomed him into the fold, arms draped around his frame.
The paladins were a bundle of grief, clinging to each other on the steps of the bridge. Allura didn't have the heart to move the ship, as all five paladins stared at the remains of their home.
~\/~
Author's Addendum:
Once again I feel the need to reiterate that this chapter's contents are inspired by Angelitalysrg's Tumblr post. It is of worthy note that this appears to be the origin of the 'Voltron could return to earth only to find it destroyed' idea within the fandom (although admittedly earth meets a similar fate in the original go-lion anime). From here the story will clearly deviate from its primer, exploring new territory, but regardless this setup is important because it ignited some long forgotten curiosity. The implications of being off planet when your home is destroyed must have subconsciously intrigued me since my first viewing of star wars. And now I have decided to act on those ideas in the form of my very first fanfiction