"Approaching rendezvous point." Shiro's announcement vibrated through Black's cockpit as he eyed the map on his screen. "And remember to not remove your helmet or armour at any point in time."
The signal they had received weeks ago via their ally were indeed a distress call from a planet called Tarousse - and much like Earth they were the only habitable planet in their own solar system, but unlike Earth, they were far more advanced, hence the long distance encrypted messages. As per usual, the Paladins quick to depart on their lions as the castle stabilised in a geostationary orbit of Tarousse and remained above ground for communications and backup whilst the paladins carried out their mission - the last mission that Keith would be joining them for, at least until their next unscheduled return to Earth since they left in the first place.
The team took the news with as much grace as Shiro did, which is to say none at all. And like him, they tried to make more arguments that left Keith a little more than tired of having to hear the same thesis reiterated in four different ways, over and over. And Shiro tried to not dwell too much on how Keith twitched ever so slightly as if he was fighting against his own impulse to run from all of this, and for how long Shiro hadn't noticed it.
"Copy that." The Paladins resounded as the planet's surface came to view. Even from afar, the planet seemed like vast deserts with only the splodges of what seemed to be bodies of waters. But where they were going barely had any, not
"The entire surface of the planet is like desert or something. There's nothing on the ground, not even like… alien cactus or anything." Lance commented. "Also where exactly are we heading?"
"Were you even at debrief?" Pidge groaned, and Shiro can practically feel her eyes roll through the comms, even if he weren't looking at her in the holoscreens.
"No, I slept through it. Had a late night yesterday and I accidentally slept in."
"One could only wonder what you get up to in the wee hours of night, Lance."
"Not anything that you would want to try, Pidgey."
"Lance." A collective sigh escaped the mass, including Shiro, who wondered if it were possible to coerce Black into helping him defenestrate Lance out of the Blue Lion's cockpit right then and there. Meanwhile, Lance returned the collective disapproval with only a mirthful and easy laugh.
"What? I was cleaning my room! Honestly, you guys are nasty." He clicked his tongue. "I can't believe you would think that I would soil Pidge's poor, brilliant, innocent mind like that. I am a responsible pseudo-older brother, you know."
"Ugh, please don't call yourself that. I have one brother roaming somewhere in the galaxy already. And who made you my pseudo-older brother?"
"Aren't we all technically your pseudo-older brothers, by this point?" Keith teased, and the Paladins all gave an amused laugh with the view of barren land in front of them. The words were true in a way - Pidge was the youngest of them all and it was hard to not feel protective over this small family they've created for themselves in the time that has passed.
And it would be hard to let them go as well, after this mission.
The morning filled Shiro with a kind of dread that ruined his breakfast, and he wasn't sure if it was because this was going to be potentially Keith's last mission with them, or because he had been thinking about Keith's even more reclusive nature as of late. Shiro could only guess it was Keith's attempt to withdraw his presence from the team to protect both him and the rest of them from the heartache when he does leave.
This has happened before, almost two years ago between the time in which the Kerberos mission was announced to the public and the rocket's launch.
Avoidance tactics were Keith's way of coping with lost, but it was painful to watch as he began to drift from them willingly. This last mission was a last ditch attempt to stall time, because Keith's tendency to run away from emotional pains could only be dealt with through the thing he was avoiding with . And Shiro had to try for Keith and his troubled heart beneath the apathy, anger and impulsiveness. Well, that and perhaps also for some selfish motives to hold Keith close to him for a little longer.
"We're meeting a rebel Taroussene group in one of their outposts." Allura's voice pulled Shiro from his thoughts. "The Taroussenes are almost nocturnal people with cities that are built underground. And they come to the surface sparingly at night. Their planet is close enough to their sun to make radiation levels above ground similar to that you would experience in space, which is why you have to keep your helmet and armour on at all times.
"The people have evolved to live underground, hence they have incredible vision in dark environments, and a similarly incredible way with technology. Their cities underground are perhaps one of the most magnificent that I have ever come to witness in my lifetime."
"Like the Olkari?" Lance raised his eyebrows.
"I think so." Pidge added. "The Olkari's relationship with technology was mutualistic symbiosis, connected on an almost spiritual level. Keith, you said they were good engineers?"
Keith hummed in agreement as the lions touched down in one of the caves. "They are. But apparently they have a very strong bond with their surroundings, nature or technology alike, to the point where scientists even theorise that they can tap into quintessential energy within things. I guess was how they managed to adapt so quickly despite the added difficulty of having to live underground. It's more like the druid's magic than the Olkari's tech. Very much alien voodoo."
"Wait, where did you learn about that? I haven't seen anything as such when I read the files." Coran questioned.
"It wasn't on the casteship's file. It was in this recording that I found from some scientists conducting experiments on quintessence, and they referenced this particular planet as a major contributor to the research."
Lance made a frustrated groan, "Can you all speak normal? Quintessential energy? What does that mean?"
"It's nothing you need to worry about Lance." Keith's voice was perhaps equally disapproving. "All you need to know is that there are Galra presence nearly everywhere in their major cities, and there's a rebellion group living just below where you've landed. We've sent a returning message and one of their representatives should be meeting you there. They said that he should be carrying a beckoning signal that resembles ones they sent us."
"Uh-" Hunk awkwardly called and pointed into the deeper part of the caves. "Does that representative happen to have four arms? Because I think that's him."
Emerging from behind one of the large boulders was indeed a six-limbed being, with four being their hands, two that were feet, covered by vaguely ashened skin with seemingly freckles across every bit of his limbs. On his hip were small satchels holding various things, and in one of their raised hand were a device that flashed blue lights softly in a peculiar pattern.
He introduced himself as Muer, and Shiro returned the gesture by individually introducing the Paladins. Muer nodded at them politely. "It is an honour to meet you all. Please follow me. It is better if we go underground before we discuss anything else."
"Alright. Coran, Keith? We're heading under. Any final information or things to look out for?" Shiro called, looking instinctively out of the cave into the sky. Keith was sitting dutifully at his place in the bridge when Shiro left, and he wondered if Keith was propping his legs on his monitor again whilst listening in on their comms, perhaps with his permanent scowl that Lance dubbed as the resting-bitch-face, but Shiro found endearing nonetheless.
"None from me." He heard Coran reply. There was a moment of silence in which Shiro expected Keith to say something, but nothing came through and he swallowed his disappointment.
"Alright. Comms are staying online. We'll be heading off."
"Be careful, guys," Keith said softly. And somehow the tension in Shiro's shoulders evaporated slightly, and he smiled slightly towards the sky, even if no one could see it.
"We will," he promised, and stepped deeper into the cave.
The tunnels were long and winding as they followed the Muer. Shiro must have missed his footing at least twice during their walk due to the request from Muer to use minimal lighting. And the fears became logical when they emerged into a giant cavern, stretching on for distances they could barely tell.
Muer explained, "There are usually barely any lights so far out of the city where a majority of Galra troops are. We try to keep minimal lighting here, on the outskirts, to reduce suspicions of activity."
"Is that what that is?" Pidge pointed to a distant soft glow. "The city?"
"Yes. Ronan. One of our major cities. Our base is close by here, however."
"Muer, if you don't mind me asking: what damage has already been done to your planet by the Galra?" Allura treaded carefully.
"Our leader will discuss that with you when we arrive."
"Of course. But if you could tell us a little bit about their operation now, it would be much quicker for us later, don't you agree?"
Shiro slid slowly down the dusty slope, coming to a halt just as Muer glanced up to them from his position on the lower path. There was something about that gaze that sent a chill up his spine - it wasn't unpleasant, but entirely unexpected - making him hold his breath for a moment. But then the feeling was gone, and Muer removed his eyes from them. "The Galra came to us at least half a century ago. They terrorised our cities closest to the surface, destroying the caverns and bulldozed their way in with their giant cruisers.
"All of our major cities are run by a Galra government. And they run some sort of test on us, then they take our people away. None had ever returned."
"Do you know why your people would be useful to the Galras?" Allura asked
"For some sinister purpose to aid the expansion of their empire, I'm sure. It's almost harder to be the one that stays behind to watch our planet crumble with every footsteps that the Galras take here. But we try to keep hope and have faith."
"That's terrible," Keith uttered, even if Muer couldn't hear him. Behind Shiro, Allura was pensive as she turned her head towards Ronan. And if anyone could understand the feeling of being the one left behind to face the aftermath of the Galra's destruction, it would be Allura.
And Shiro? Shiro knew better than all of them what it was to be under Galra enslavement so far from home. "We'll do everything in our powers to help you, Muer." Shiro said firmly, surprising himself with how easy the words rolled of his tongue, practiced and unwavering, true to the very last intonation.
"I hope so too," Muer replied with the same determination, nodding respectfully. "I hope Voltron is everything we've heard and hoped it to be."
They were led through a number of tunnels and caverns passing through a particular one that housed what seemed to look like a forest underground. And deep within the forest emerged a clearing that has been taken over for farming. A cottage-like structure poked above the ground, inconspicuous and entirely too mundane. But as Muer crouched to the Earth and placed his hands upon the threshold of the gates, letters and strange symbols alighted on the ground around the cottage, and the front steps split into two to reveal a long winding staircase.
"Is there like a biometric scanner installed in the ground?" Pidge perked up in fascination.
"Yes. It scans for quintessential energy."
The staircase led to another cavern deep under, buzzing with activities in every path they took. Pidge continues to question Muer on the small oddities that she comes across, and Muer patiently tried to explain to her to the best of his abilities. Shiro hadn't exactly paid attention, but judging from the perplexed and borderline frustrated looks that Pidge had, followed by Hunk's pitying look, it meant that neither of them understood much about how tech worked on this strange planet yet. They were advanced, if not as much as the Galra's tech, but somehow more organic and mysterious, so much that even Allura was a bit taken aback by the revelation that almost all of their technology requires an almost effortless sensitivity to energy.
Alien voodoo, Keith had said. It seemed true enough.
The following vargas were spent discussing the state of the planet and the Galra colony - to which they all listened with rapt attention, harbouring a certain amount of disdain and seriousness that came with the sobering knowledge of the destruction done to the Taroussenes.
Though they did not need not look even to Taroussene to see such horrors.
"In six days, they'll be sending away another ship full of Taroussenes," the rebel leader - Saebth told them. "Those that will be taken are already rounded up and housed in the old industrial area, possibly in the cavern that stored aviation and astronomical machines. Their ships…" He rotated the holographic map of the underground city, pointing next to the warehouse. "...are parked here. It's the area with the most number of Galra fighters, guards and sentries. Our priority is to save those in the warehouse. Secondary to that is destroying the fleets parked there."
Shiro nodded in his seat at the long table. In front of him, the map hovered with a blue light that resembled the maps in the castle's bridge, though much smaller, showing a 3D model of the city. Around him, the paladins sat, and a screen Keith and Coran from the castle lied on the table. "How many people do you estimate that they've taken captive?"
Muer looked down to his datapad. "A little more than a hundred, according to our intel."
"That's too many for the lions to hold. We have to take down the base first before we could get them out safely." Lance grimaced slightly. "Wait, can our lions even get down here? The way we came in was way too small."
"There are tunnels that we've built to allow ships below ground. Most are blocked off by the Galra, but we've managed to create an alternative tunnel in recent decaphoebs. It hasn't been used often, seeing that we hardly needed it until now."
"We might need a distraction," Allura decided. "With this number of cruisers in the city, it is best if we spread their forces thin and take them down one by one. Please remind me, but how many are there?"
"Five," Keith supplied, "Conveniently, one for each lion. But we can't risk the cruisers going over the city. Even if you manage to destroy it, the collateral damage could raze the city to the ground. We can't risk turning it into a battlefield." His eyes were slightly narrowed with focus, even if he couldn't see them.
Through the screens, it was difficult to realise that Keith was blind, unless they paid attention just to how the violet in his eyes are slightly faded and his unfocused gaze. Which was probably why Keith opted to sit out on a lot of face-to-face meetings since Plaxofler. He did most debriefs via his screens now, where he can participate without being questioned too heavily about his capability. Not that the Taroussenes were even bothered by it, seeing that they were equally as bad as seeing in the light.
"Lure them to the outskirts, fight them there. Then come back to save the people. That sounds more logical, doesn't it?" Pidge questioned.
"We could take the fight above ground. That'll give us more room to form Voltron, and it will protect the people underneath." Shiro suggested.
"But there aren't just five cruisers on the planet. There's five stationed in the this specific city. A distress signal will immediately go off once one of them are taken down, and we aren't sure about how quickly they'll be able to respond. If we take down all five but can't make it back to the warehouse in time, then our mission would drag on indefinitely, risking even more casualties," Keith sighed. He looked tired, and Shiro wondered if he even slept for an hour the night before.
Shiro turned to the Taroussenes. "Actually, there's always at least one cruiser near the warehouse, aren't there?"
"Yes, for security measures." Saebth nodded.
"How well do your people know Galra cruisers and fighters?"
"Well enough to destroy them when necessary."
"Well enough to fly one?"
Keith's eyes widened. "You're suggesting that we take over one of their cruisers?"
"It's one less ship to worry about, and we can even use it as a disguise to get those people out of there safely."
"Not a bad idea, Shiro." Coran pulled slightly at his mustache. "Take it over and unload them into one of the safe rebel bases. Or even fly them to one of the Coalition's rebel bases."
"That might work. We could take one of their ships, then take out the other four, preferably underground in order to reduce alarms, regroup at the castle and then prepare for the next mission afterwards." Allura nodded.
"That sounds like an oversimplification of the task at hand," Hunk pointed out, "But I guess it's the best we've got right now."
"We already have people undercover, working in the docking areas that should be able to tell us the suitable time. And our other agents in the facility will be able to help us take off the cruiser without drawing alarms." Muer suggested.
"The Castle can only provide backup above ground, unfortunately. So you'll be on your own when it comes to the worst of it," Coran reminded them with a slightly worried look at Allura, specifically.
"We'll try our best to not require your aid, Coran." Allura pressed a reassuring smile on her face. "Then it is settled. Anymore questions?" Everyone shook their heads, and she stood up, eyes gleaming with confidence. "Let's get to work."
6 DAYS UNTIL MISSION: 001,
PLANET: TR-3051
The paladins came back all in Green, leaving the other four lions in their protective force field, hidden in the caves to reduce suspicious above ground activities. They brought Muer with them as the messenger and adviser for Voltron whilst the Paladins made preparations and contacted Coalition allies.
"For backup, in the worst case scenario. But I don't think we'll need it," Allura assured the Muer, who was dutiful in his work, yet at the same time imposing and if a bit skeptical of their work.
There were debriefs that refined the mission's details, and though Keith hardly participated in them when it involved too much graphic referencing, he was there for a fair chunk of time to discuss logistics and the feasibility of their tactics - being with the Blades for so long did come with its own set of training outside of just recon skills.
Though throughout the meetings and planning, there was a tension that permeated the air that Keith must be imagining. And he wasn't sure if it were just his nervousness about this final mission of his, or because of Muer and his slight skepticism, untrusting in a way that wasn't personal but unpleasant nonetheless.
It was Keith's last mission with the team, and paranoia be damned, but he wanted to be cautious.
When he brought his suspicions to Shiro (over a bowl of food goo that he will never come to love and would rather "keel over and die because of my hatred for it"), Shiro only placed the plate onto the table and guided Keith's hand to the spoon, prompting him to eat - which he did, with a slight grimace.
"One of these days, you will learn to acquire the taste buds for it."
"You mean when I die?"
"Don't speak like that," Shiro said with a slight weariess to his tone and a clatter of utensils against his own portion of goo. "And what makes you think that Muer is uh… untrustworthy?"
"There's this feeling I have. And I'm not sure if it's just because it's our first mission in a while that would require more than just diplomacy and words and I'm just paranoid that things will go badly, but…" He bit the inside of his mouth, not quite sure how to explain himself without sounding insane. It's one thing to be fearful of your opponent when you're a good judge of character.
It's one thing to be fearful of your opponents when they have reputation and you're a good judge of character, but it's another when you're judging someone after one video call and conversations in a war room meeting, where everyone is tense and wary all the time. Things like that required observation , and Keith has little to no foundation to back any arguments he has besides his weird gut feeling.
"He looks trustworthy, if that's what you're wondering." Shiro reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. Keith tried not to think too much of the gesture - he tried not to think too much of the feel of the hard skin on Shiro's palm that underwent many years of military training and a year of fighting in the Gladiator yet somehow could still be so grounding, soothing as his thumb rubbed over the back of Keith's hand. It spoke some sort of feelings that Keith wasn't sure that either of them wanted to address just yet at this point in time.
So instead, Keith calmed the tremor in his hand with a shake of his head. "I don't know. Be cautious, though. I don't want for us to regret it if I'm right."
"Don't stress yourself with it, Keith."
The days following were a frenzy of activities as they ran against the clock. Reconnaissance was conducted with the Taroussenes early in the day and ended successfully with a close call that had the entire bridge holding its breath. It was so still that the white noise in the background nearly drove Keith insane.
Keith excused himself to join Hunk for the late breakfast/lunch/afternoon snack (he wasn't sure which anymore considering how much time the mission took from their day), and plopped down at the dining table with his head resting on the cool surface with a satisfied groan.
"Mood, dude." Hunk drawled in agreement. "You'd think after the hundredth time doing this, you would get used to it and stop feeling like your stomach will do a flip every time something almost goes wrong. But no, every time it happens, I feel like throwing up as if I was getting on a jet for the first time."
"Probably gonna take until your thousandth time to stop throwing up." Keith chuckled. "But don't beat yourself up about it, Hunk. You've come a long way."
"We all have." Hunk said with a slight softness to his voice that Keith hoped was what people called fondness , if a bit nostalgic. It was rare to hear these days, almost as rare genuine happiness, and Keith found himself smiling a bit as well.
"Hey, how's the drone working out for you?"
The drone beeped, signalling its position and attentiveness. It almost reminded Keith of a robot he'd seen from a practically ancient space movie with laser swords and some guy with a really bat respirator. But at the least the movie managed to predict hyperspace and aliens right - though the former might need some reworking if the movies should ever shared across the galaxy, lest they cause another intergalactic war by insulting possibly any species in the known universe.
"It's cool. I haven't had any trouble with it so far."
"You named it yet?"
Keith blinked. "I have to name it? Why?"
"I mean why not? You've been using it for like- how long now?"
"I don't know, I thought it would just… tell me?"
"Naw, man. Drones are like pets - well at least this one that me and Pidge programmed for you is. You name your pets. Pets don't tell you their names." Hunk sniggered slightly, and perhaps Keith would have felt some semblance of embarrassment if it weren't for something prickling on his skin, something making his hair stand upon its end like a jostled feline.
Something or someone was watching them.
"I'll think about it." Keith said with less attention to the conversation than required to continue it. But there , right in the distance, there were feelings he couldn't quite place: apprehension, judgement, and… hope?
They were emotions flooding into his senses, and Keith couldn't figure out why he was feeling it at all when the emotions weren't his . And that was most frightening was how intrusive, but perhaps vulnerable it was to be able to feel someone else's emotions without knowing where it came from nor how it was possible.
"Uh, Keith?" Keith jumped at the sound of Hunk's voice ringing in his ears again. "You alright?"
He glanced towards where he last felt the strange emotions welling up within him, making him wonder if it were just some paranoia from the poor sleep he had last night, or something beyond science and rationality. Then abruptly, like a wind passing by, the feelings stopped, leaving behind an echo on his mind and a skin crawling thought that someone was watching them.
"Sorry, I thought I felt someone watching us."
"We're the only ones in here, Keith." Hunk shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and Keith was sure his words were unsettling to Hunk as the feelings were for Keith. Even more so when it made Keith sound like a batshit crazy psychic.
He sighed, shaking his head as if it would dispel the lingering foreign emotions. "You still up for some stress baking later? I'd love to join." Keith smiled, hoping it would stop Hunk's nervous tapping on the table.
Hunk took the suggestion eagerly, immediately discarding his thoughts with a simple subject change. Meanwhile, Keith sat, listening, and his mind still circling around the strange presence that hovered over him like an invisible veil.
5 DAYS UNTIL MISSION: 001,
PLANET: TR-3051
He later told Allura about it because if there's anyone that would know about those kinds of thing, it would be her.
"You don't think Muer is plotting against us, do you? Or the Taroussenes, in general?" Allura's tone was borderline insulted on behalf of the entire planet they were trying to save, and Keith tried not to flinch at her words, cutting as they are.
"I'm not accusing them of anything. But… Allura, you know how it is. It's just a feeling. And I don't know if I'm going insane or it's something that we need to be cautious of," he said, and he really hoped he was going crazy for once.
Keith didn't trust a whole lot of things, but if there was one thing that his instincts have taught him, it was that the nagging at the back of his mind was almost always right. Somehow it always is, and Keith stopped questioning the universe ages ago after a blue mechanical lion in the desert flew into space.
He sensed the Blue Lion before, only very faintly, but enough to pull him across the desert. And the lion radiated with an immense amount of quintessence relative to one small being such as the Taroussene. What he felt couldn't be Muer, could it? And if it was, then what was the apprehensiveness that he felt?
Allura assured him that she hadn't felt any such presence, and he wasn't sure that he should correct her when her knowledge on this mystical subject exceeded his by thousands of years.
"Alright. I'll keep an eye on it since it worries you. Thank you for letting me know, Keith." Allura finally said in understanding. "In the meantime, please don't do anything brash and be civil. I still hope our worries are unfounded."
Try as he did, Keith's anxieties only quelled slightly at Allura's words. And it didn't particularly help that no one thought it was a bad idea to leave a yet-to-be-judged stranger into the castle without even the slightest supervision, or at least even establishing ground rules. Though they were well past that point by now, after over a day of Muer being on board, and their carelessness only signalled their excitement to get back into action after months of inactivity. Though Keith couldn't hold too much against the team when even he would admit to take these missions over another Coalition summit any day.
But they had to be smart about it, and perhaps Keith could cut the team some slack when his worries might just be unfounded, as Allura suggested. So he paid attention at debriefs and social interactions with Muer because he'd rather apologise for being rude than regret it later.
The strange feelings never returned the day after, however, and Keith retreated to one of the castle's meeting rooms with a holoscreen and earphones plugged into one ear (in case alarms started blaring through the castle) to go through more work.
And it was also where Muer found him completely unguarded and surprised.
"You must be Keith," he said with slight nervousness, though Keith wasn't about to forgive him so easily for jumping on him like that.
"You must be Muer." Keith echoed.
"Sorry for interrupting your work, but princess Allura and her second in command, Coran, had suggested for me to come to you for a particular inquiry."
That sounded unlike them - if anything, the castle's bridge held the most information in the entire castle, followed by Pidge's lab. Keith would have been the second person that they would ever send to for information, but he wasn't about to say that. "How can I help you?"
"I believe we've shaken the wrong hand."
Keith blanked. Universal translators are tricky, glitching almost as badly as the obsolete Google Translate that the cadets used for gags sometimes. "Sorry?"
"Uh, in our culture, we bring our best hand out to shake, and shaking the wrong hand means we've made a bad first impression." Muer approached with the soft padding of his foot sounding on the carpeted room. "May I?"
"May you…?"
"May I sit next to you?"
Perhaps it was a little while too long after that Keith nodded in approval. Be civil , Allura said, and Keith sure as hell hope his acting skills are up to par with Allura's patience for bullshit, though perhaps he shouldn't be overly confident about it. "What made you believe that you've given me a bad impression?"
Muer took an audible breath. "I'm sure that you've read much about our people. And I apologise for being an unwelcoming presence in the castle, and I'm here to reassure you that your fears of me are uncalled for as I am only seeking your help for my people."
"O-oh." Taken aback was perhaps an accurate way to describe how he felt. That wasn't exactly what he was expecting. "Uh… thank you, I guess." He could almost slap himself. ' I guess?' Give the man anxiety, why not, Keith?
"What I meant to say is…" He scratched his head and huffed to the ceiling. "Sorry, I hadn't expected that. And you've done nothing wrong though. I should apologise instead for making you think that I hold any animosity towards you, and I don't , by the way." He added, just to save his ass in case Alllura tries to hammer his ass about it later.
"But you do."
"Uh, I don't." Keith reaffirms, trying to uphold a smile on his face.
"Please, you don't have to lie for my sake. I can sense it in your aura."
Alien voodoo - it was a term that Hunk came up with just as a joke to make Coran's explanations of the mystical bonds with the lions. Somehow it's now stuck with the paladins as a term for things no one but Allura or Coran could understand. "Nonetheless, sorry. I might have been through some… unpleasant things that made me less than a good company."
"It must have been hard to lose something as important as your sight in a fight."
Keith held his breath. How? How did he-
"How did you-"
"It's in your quintessence." Muer said, as if it were the simplest thing to understand, as if the knowledge of how he lost his vision were public announcement that weren't only entitled to Blade members who were on the mission , and the Voltron team. He doubted the Galras knew, not when Keith hadn't made a single appearance to them since Kolivan had told him to take a leave. Keith wracked his mind for any way that the Taroussenes could have known, but his mind dre-
He tried to pull air into his lungs. There, it was that feeling again. Apprehension, fear, judgement. And it wasn't his.
"What does that mean?" Keith fiddled with his hand slightly and rested it on his leg, right above where his Marmoran blade was strapped to his thigh, irrationally and suddenly highly self-consciousness.
"I can see that you're on edge, but please be patient as I explain."
"That would be helpful," he snarled.
"How much do you know about quintessence?"
Of course it would lead back to quintessence: the one thing that Keith has failed to truly grasp the concept of, and that was a feat in itself. Keith had level ten in the simulations before he even knew what driving a car was like. He learnt Common Galra after months of pouring his face into books and learning programs. Quintessence and Haggar's druids were something that escaped him completely.
But quintessence…
"Quintessence exists in all living things - it's almost a life force, as one may refer to it. Of course, the Galra had managed to find a way to refine it into something abominable as simply rocket fuels." Muer clicked his tongue in disgust. "But in its original form, quintessence powers life. It flows within us and every plants and animals that exists. This castle has its very own form of quintessence that comes from the Balmeran crystal.
"And in living beings, quintessence may manifests as a reflection of you - your capabilities, your actions, your emotions. That's what I meant when I said aura . You are wary of me, it's reflected in how the quintessence that you own exists within you."
It was ridiculous. It sounded ridiculous. It sounded like everything out of a scifi novel that would put Keith into an asylum if he thought it was real. But then again, if he had gone back to Earth telling people that there's a massive robot out there piloted by five people who have an intimate psychic connection to five mechanical lions, then he would the crazy one.
"Alright, let's say that you're correct and I am perhaps a bit… unsettled. How do you know? Do you… see quintessence?"
"Taroussenes are almost nocturnal, as you know. We've lived underground for millennia - our eyes are poor in bright light. Even our cities aren't usually as brightly lit as the paladins have seen. And we've never really needed it because we see through other means." Muer suddenly moved, the chair sounding softly as it was pushed back. Something was approaching - could be the Taroussene, but it was powerful, like energy ready to burst into a powerful bolt of lightning and struck a man dead. Keith was up on his feet in a second.
"What are you- " His words were cut by his own scream, because unexpectedly and so unbelievably, Keith saw flashes of light.
It was a brief moment when his vision wasn't just black, never ending and unnerving, but white and blue globes of light dancing across his eyes until it were an iridescent colours mixing like an abstract painting. And he could see it.
"We sense life itself."
A/N (2023): well fuck i forgot about updating here for months cuz of school lol. But yay now i remember and i have free time (im officially a graduate, yall), so i'll get to updating the next chapters as well lol.
A/N (2019): Also you know what messes me up? I was writing about how the castleship was in a geostationary orbit, and then i began to nerd out. LIke HOw the hell does the controllers on the castleship attach to the ship? LIke the position is so weird because the ship lands vertically, but flies horizontally. So if the controllers are perpendicular to the side of the ship, then it would be unusable when the ship lands? God the Physics in Voltron is like -10000.
Legit i remember rewatching S7E1: A Little Adventure, and they mentioned how Shiro broke the record for "orbital velocity" or something and me being self-proclaimed intellectualTM (yet i am still but a wee bab, so plz be kind), I laughed so hard because? if you go over a certain speed when orbiting a planet, you will yeet yourself into the next larger orbit, or even more terrifying: you yeet yourself to jupiter lmao. ANYWAYS-