2 DAYS UNTIL MISSION: 001,
PLANET: TR-3051
The date is 23rd of the 9th phoeb, 5th deca-phoeb of the Alforian rule. My name is professor Honerva, leading scientist for the project on 'Interdimensional Rift and Quintessential Realms,' stationed at Daibazaal's Astrophysical Research Administration...
...
...We've received a generous contribution from the planet - code TR-3051 - otherwise known as Tarousse, on the mechanics of quintessence, which is the most exciting thing files that we've receive in a long time, isn't it, Klara?
...
Pure quintessence is never visible to the naked eye, unless it were concentrated or refined into a different form. However, Alteans are engineers second and alchemists, first. There are certain things we have discovered that could help us sense it and track it down.
The Taroussenes have apparently developed such a harmonious existence with their surroundings that it allowed them to connect with the life around them. It might be something to do with the with the way that they control quintessence from within their own beings - which is a feat that I can only gawk at. Imagine being able to control pure, unrefined quintessence!
We've had recordings of Alteans being able to touch quintessence on a similar manner - the royal family, for example. King Alfor and the monarchs before him who can do the Balmeran rejuvenation ceremony are - on a minor scale - touching the energy of the Balmera, a living being full of quintessential energy. It's not exclusive to just the Altean royal family, nor just Alteans, of course. And reportedly, we can't actually draw from it and hold it as a physical form of energy such as fire, electricity or light like the Taroussenes. We can, however, guide it.
It is like a river. The water is the quintessence. It has a specific way in which it flows, and we can't put our hands in and expect to hold water and make it do something. However, we can change the direction of the river - which is very difficult - or we can take the water and use it for something else. The water itself doesn't exactly do anything but exist, but the things it can be used for are plentiful.
...
Alfor has refused my request for a visit to Tarousse because he fears that I am getting sidetracked about understanding this interdimensional rift and focusing too much on harnessing the energy that the rift is providing. He doesn't understand that I need to now how the Taroussenes can manipulate and control these pure quintessence to truly understand this quintessential realm.
It doesn't matter. I'll get my knowledge with or without their help.
...
It's truly fascinating that with enough exposure to raw unadulterated quintessence, I've began to be able to feel it - sense it as if I've grown another perception. Klara has said that she's beginning to kind of feel it as well, though I doubt that she understands why.
This rift is like a sun, and the quintessence radiates from it. Close to it, you can feel the energy on your skin. But I've grown to be able to even sense energy from living beings, even when I'm far from the rift. I can only imagine this is what extreme quintessence sensitivity could be. It's overwhelming sometimes, as if all your senses are working at a thousand times its capabilities.
It could be revolutionary if we could just tap into this power source and control it wit-
"It's the middle of the night." The heavy footsteps echoed on the tiled floor of the common area, signalling Shiro's approach. Keith sighed and paused the experiment log he was listening to.
"Did you come here to nag at me like an old grandmother?" He teased, stretching his legs slightly from sitting cross-legged on the couches.
"Yes, because that's what I am - your nagging grandmother." Shiro chuckled and sat down next to him, dipping the couch and putting Keith slightly out of balance and bumping into Shiro's chest without him realising. His head hit the very edge of Shiro's right shoulder with a painful yelp.
"Oh, fuck- you okay?" Shiro shifted him in his arms, pulling him upright again. And Keith was keenly aware of how he sat now: back against Shiro's chest, right arm tucked neatly between himself and the couch, and he was almost sitting on top of Shiro's thigh with his legs sprawled across the couch.
"Fine!" He hastily assured. "I'm fine." Things could be worse. Keith could be actually on top of Shiro now, completely undignified in his swim trunks or something. That could be worse, because then Keith would probably explode from the amount of none-existing air in his lungs.
Since when had his infatuation gotten so out of control that every bit of him were electrified just from a small contact with Shiro? If only his younger self could see him now, being an absolute disaster of a human being from Shiro just putting his hand around him when Keith used to just be able to sprawl across of Shiro's back like an absolute heathen that he is, screaming about coffee and how the cafeteria has terrible food.
(It also seemed that they were always talking about food somehow, which he guessed was a healthy friendship.)
"So… I heard you've been spending a lot of time with Muer."
"He's helpful," Keith answered truthfully. Of all the aliens that he had ever come across, never had he appreciated one as much as Taroussenes, and none as much as Muer - though he might be a bit biased because of his situation.
"So you figured out that he wasn't a threat." Shiro said with the confidence that only a person who knowing full well that his friend's idiocy could be prevented, but he would willingly let that friend become an idiot anyways just so he could laugh about it later.
"You knew I was going to like him."
"I did say he was trustworthy didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did. He taught me some really cool stuff." Keith smiled. It's been two days since that fateful conversation, and never once had he anticipated this.
"Really? Cooler than me teaching you how to fly?"
Keith feigned disinterest, pretending to put his earphones back on. "Shiro, flying stopped being the coolest thing I've done after I've been abducted by a Blue Lion, been flown to outer space, fought literally every living being that I've seen, got the crap beaten out of me-"
"Okay, point taken."
"- for trying to understand my Marmoran blade, infiltrated ships of an alien race that's causing an intergalactic war-"
"Alright, I get it!" Shiro was definitely pouting - Keith could tell, just by the small indignant huff that he makes. "You're too grown up for this old-timer now, huh?"
He bursted out laughing. "Are you jealous?"
"N-no?" Shiro scratched his head. "I'm just… conscious."
"Dude, you're not even that old." Keith shoved him lightly. "Unless like - I don't know - time dilation fucked you up whilst you were out here or something."
"Shouldn't it be the other way around? Like, I'm proper time, and you're dilated time, considering that I'm the one travelling at close to light speed. Hence, it wouldn't make sense that I would age slower than you and-"
"God, you and your shrine for Einstein."
"Well you gotta learn something in class."
He rolled his eyes. "Okay, I don't get how I had such amazing high school Physics teachers, only to get professor Montgomery as the head of Physics at the Garrison." And that was a fact. Classes drove him insane, especially when his teacher - c ough professor Montgomery cough - was less than patient with his sometimes entirely off topic questions. It wasn't his fault that he got curious and they hadn't known the answer, and he wasn't about to judge them, but oh god did they make his assignments hell .
"She wasn't that bad."
"She hates me, I hate her, we have a mutually hateful relationship," he quipped proudly. "And I learnt so much without her. Speaking of which, Siri…"
The floating drone atop the backrest of the couch turned to life.
Shiro choked on his spit, laughing next to him. "You named the drone Siri ?"
The only reason that the A.I. was named Siri in the first place was because Keith was unoriginal, and also terrible at naming. One could only pray that his future spouse has some sort of common sense for naming things or else his future kids are bound to be victims at the playground.
"Why not? It's convenient! Saves me the effort of having to think of a name." He shrugged. "Siri, show me a map of the city of Ronan on planet TR-3051."
Keith gestured to the map. "This is what I discovered today."
Judging by Shiro confused hum, it was clear that he had seen the issue with the hologram. "There's nothing on it." Shiro observed.
"That's what Pidge said too. Apparently we couldn't get an accurate map of the city and its surrounding areas through the Blue Lion's sonic scans."
"Because too much interference and reflection below grounds from the caverns, I'm guessing."
"Exactly! We tried doing a surface scan and use 3D reconstruction through the castle's scanners, but we're too far away to actually do it, and the ground is a bit of a barrier."
"Don't we need a map of the caverns and tunnels to know where go? What about that map that Muer was using? We could always ask the Taroussenes for that, can't we?"
"Funny thing you should say that." Keith smirked. "Siri, show me the map of Ronan that was received today."
Shiro gasped, his hand tightened around Keith's arm.
"It's the Taroussenes' map. They created it by scanning for quintessence." What surprised Keith wasn't that the Taroussenes had even come up with the concept as such - because of course, it were in their blood to be able to sense such energy. It was only logical they applied it to their technology. But what was more surprising was that Keith understood how it worked.
"It's hard to explain how they've done it, but this is honestly the closest thing we'll have to a rough map," he explained. "Muer has been teaching me how to read it."
"Read it?"
"Sense it, feel it, same difference." Keith shrugged. "Did you know that Taroussenes can sort of feel quintessence, like Allura, but like… a hundred times better?"
"No…" Shiro pulled away from him slightly, and Keith was almost a bit upset when he felt himself removed from Shiro's warmth. But Shiro was quick to turn him to face each other, with Shiro close enough for his breath to tickle Keith's cheek and nose, as if he were staring at him. "Wait, hold on. Are you saying that you can see this map?"
"No, I can't read the map yet, But I'm learning how to do something similar, like… I guess, see my surroundings without using light."
"Keith, that's incredible!" Shiro shook him aggressively with an unadulterated amount of enthusiasm. Keith wondered if his brain had sloshed around in his head like a baby's rattle.
"I know! Taroussenes are honestly the coolest people."
Shiro chuckled. "I meant you being able to see again, but yeah, that too. How does it work? Are you like bats but not really?"
"It's alien voodoo. I'm not sure I'll be able to explain it to you because… you now that weird bond you have with the lions? It's unexplainable like that." Keith scratched his head. "But I think I might be able to just get it by tomorrow. I've been wandering the castle a lot to practice, since this entire castle basically runs on quintessence and Allura's sweat-"
"Alteans sweat?"
Keith halted suddenly, touching his temples with his fingers. "Actually, I don't know, but stop interrupting me." He swatted Shiro's arm, only to realise at the last second that said arm was the prosthetic and he ended up hurting his hand more than actually making Shiro shut up. Shiro started to shake with a mirthful laugh at his expense again.
"Shiro, this is serious. I'm telling you life-changing nerdy stuff!"
"Okay, okay. Sorry. Please, continue." Shiro pulled his arm onto Keith's shoulder again and reclined into the couch.
He told Shiro about the Blue Lion calling him in the middle of the desert. He told him about the vague feeling in his gut as he sat in Black, something that almost resembled a distant SOS message through deep space, leading him to find Shiro in the middle of nowhere. He told him about the Taroussenes and their ability to feel pure life force - pure quintessence - and channel it as if it were merely an instrument. There was something in Keith's Galra genes that allowed for him to understand what Muer had described, even more so than Allura.
And the most surprising: Keith rarely sees darkness, anymore. It was like the Altean scientist had said - being able to truly sense it made him feel as if every nerve in his body was firing all at once despite the still air that he sat in. He can identify the castle walls, the windows, the doors, and the people - even see them in a sort of holographic way.
"I want to join you guys on the mission." He gulped, because the ultimate goal behind all this was one simple thing for him - to be able to go out there and make a difference again. And even if the team said otherwise about his help with their recent diplomatic missions, the one he spent countless days researching and discussing with Coran, it wasn't enough for him .
He turned to Shiro, reaching out with his newly developed but unrefined sense of perception, only to find fear and judgement in Shiro's face. It was a frown, with his brows turning inwards and his bottom lip bitten as if he was holding himself back from saying something unpleasant.
"No." He finally said, shaking his head. "I can't let you do that, Keith. We don't know how well you can see yet."
"We do. I did a few runs in the training deck today. I got pass level seven with the gladiator, and I got pass the invisible maze as well."
"Gladiators aren't programmed to kill you, Keith. It's an entirely different deal when we go out there."
Shiro said it as if Keith didn't know that every liberation they manage is celebrated with festivals and parties that hid the true hardship that they went through to get there; as if he didn't know that these were dangerous fights; as if Keith hadn't just lost the ability to see from exactly one of those very terrible missions. Keith wanted to chuck a helmet at Shiro's head. "I know that. You don't have to remind me. But I know I can do it. I promise you I won't fuck up."
"Don't you think you might be rushing it a bit?"
"I know what I'm capable of."
"Patience yields focus, Keith. I know you're eager, but think about this thoroughly."
"I have been patient," he gritted. "What do you think I've been doing for the past months, Shiro. I took a damn break, like Kolivan asked. Then I followed your request to not push myself or too much, or try the training deck too soon. I helped Coran and Allura with diplomatic stuff that I would have never ever touched under normal circumstances because I know I would useless in fighting, but at least I might be able to do something with my stupid words."
"And you've been doing a great job at it. You've helped us more than you would admit, Keith."
But it wasn't enough. It would never be enough for him until he could run across the field without fearing some projectile knocking into his head. It would never be enough until he can wield his blade, poised and sure as if it had always been an extension of him. It would never be enough until he can sit in a cockpit and fly again to the farthest corner of the universe with the engine humming under his hands and the stars in his eyes. Not until he can fly again
"I agreed to be part of this team because you asked me to believe in myself - give myself time, recover, so I may come back to fight another battle." Keith gripped the fabric of his jeans, digging into his knees so hard that it relieved some frustration growing in his throat. "And now that I have, you won't let me actually do something useful."
"Look, I know you've been frustrated because it had always been in your nature to do greater things than just play politics with alien races." Shiro's voice strained at his insistence. Then, with a deep breath, he reeled himself in as a patient man would. "But the world isn't ending tomorrow. We will have another day for you to fight. I know how it feels to lose a piece of yourself and all you could think about is how desperately you want it back. But jumping-"
"No you don't! You don't know a single thing that I feel right now!" Keith yelled.
"Keith-"
"And don't you even compare us because you lost an arm that was replaced. I lost an entire sense of perception that I could never regain. I was slow and weak, and I've accepted that enough to realise that I need to find a way around it. I went through researches and training and everything that I hoped would be enough to build myself up again because out of everyone on this ship, you always seem to be the one that's constantly worried about whether I can or can't handle myself. And I thought if I could just be good enough for you, then maybe I'll be able to actually make a difference. But I never am!" Keith spat and pushed forcefully away from Shiro's hold and stood up, towering over him.
"The Galras are out there wrecking up the universe, we can't do anything about it - Voltron, the Blades, the Coalition, we're barely getting anything done, and you're telling me that the universe isn't tearing itself apart and going to hell? As if we weren't already in hell!"
Shiro froze for a while, silent and contemplative, before he gently pushed Keith back so he could stand up as well. All the while, Keith let his anger burn into the toxic, heavy breaths that he exhaled, because he wasn't the least bit afraid of Shiro and he wasn't about to back down from this one thing.
He knew he was right about himself, but he was also wrong about them being merely ants in the giant mess that the Empire had created. They were more than that - it's been proven over and over again that they could do more.
But Keith was tired of people telling him what he can and can't do. He just wanted to do something for once, for himself, because he needed this. God , he wanted this more than anything he had ever wanted for a very long time. And he could say that. Shiro might understand. Instead he had poured his frustration into words that now left bitter notes in his mouth, unwanted and only half true. He took a few more breaths and shook his head. "Sorry, I-"
"No, I get your anger, Keith. I just hadn't realised that you held so much against... this ."
"Against what ? "
"Everything. Voltron; being a Blade; being dragged into space to fight an intergalactic war… finding me in the first place."
"Shiro, no." Keith reached his left hand out to find contact with Shiro's arm. And Shiro seemed almost burnt when he touched him. His mouth twitched unpleasantly, and he had almost wrung his arm to remove Keith's hand from him. But he didn't at the last second, and Shiro gently pried Keith's grip from his arm, and let it drop freely. Somehow that lack of contact burned Keith more than any druid magic could.
"I don't regret any of that, but…" Keith sucked in a long breath. "I just wished things would just work out the way I wanted it to, for once in my life."
It wasn't a simple request, but Keith thought he might have finally earned it after having lost so much. Yet, he had only received the repercussions of the tragedies that fell upon him, alone, unwanted, first by his mother, then the orphanage, the schools, the people at the Garrison, the fucking universe, probably. And now, even Shiro - even Shiro -
"I'm sorry, too, for making you think that I don't believe in you or trust you, despite my usual speech about being there for you. I am very glad that you've found this new way to see. I want you to go out there and be your best self as much as you do." Shiro's smile was painful on his face as if it was forced, weighing too heavily on his heart. "But I can't you kill yourself just because you think that's the only way you'll ever make a difference, Keith."
Keith's breath caught in his chest. Was that what Shiro thought? Was that what everyone saw? A martyr in the making?
"I'm not trying to play martyr. And I don't have a death wish," he muttered, and took a step back from Shiro, pained and equally hurt. It explained a lot of things: the team's wariness around him, their constant attention, their push for him to find things to do that didn't involve Voltron despite everyone else constantly busy with Voltron.
Maybe this is karma and he was just cursed. Maybe his mother left for the right reasons, his father died for the wrong one, and he was back at the castleship instead of at the Blade of Marmora's headquarters because he was just too much for them to handle. Maybe he shouldn't be here, or was ever meant to be here to do good.
Maybe he wasn't meant to be here .
The thought made him breathless enough to sit down again.
"Didn't take you to be religious or superstitious," Shiro said.
He hadn't even realised that he had said the thought out loud. "I'm not. But everything is just on fire, and I… can't do anything about it. Maybe I just did something in my past life without knowing it, and now you're paying for it."
Shiro had his gaze on the ground with arms crossed across himself, standing still a distance from where Keith sat. "Our suffering is from our own doing, Keith. Nothing that happens to me or anyone is because of you. You can't believe that my arm was your fault, do you?"
"I don't know."
"Whatever you're thinking of, it's not true, okay? You didn't do anything wrong. Bad things just happen to good people sometimes." Shiro attempted a small comforting smile to regain some sort of intimacy and closeness that they had just before. But his darting eyes and stiff posture made Keith question just how much of Shiro had he taken for granted, how much of Shiro he hadn't appreciated until this tension that festered into an abyss between them. And Keith had no idea how to close this gap that seemed to crack further and further with every second that passed.
"Keith, did you hear me?"
"Yeah." Keith whispered and retreated his senses, dimming the lights and Shiro's face from his mind until all that was left was a vast echoing darkness despite his desire to reach out and curl into Shiro's comforting embrace. "Okay," he nodded, not meaning it.
"Okay." But it didn't sound any more convincing the second time.
DAY OF MISSION: 001
PLANET: TR-3051
Coalition rebels and Blades arrived in vessels that scattered amongst the geostationary orbit that the castle was in for backup, as Allura said.
Keith stood next to Coran with a hand on the control board to interface with the castle's displays. He couldn't see the map, but the castle could do that for him. And Shiro's thoughts lingered on the naive possibility that Keith could just board Black with him and join them below ground, just so he could stop seeing the scowl on Keith's face. But of course he stopped himself before he could even try to fathom the stupidity of that thought.
He hasn't spoken to Keith much outside of the necessary debriefs and strategy meetings, which were all in good reasons. The days leading up to this particular one was stressful. More often than not, Shiro found himself completely beaten by their job and the quiet meals in between were the only times when his head won't be whirling about the next bad scenario that they might face.
Keith avoided him as well, to either cool down from their argument a few days prior, or because… well, there wasn't exactly much to talk about when clearly all that either of them could think about was their argument.
(...out of everyone on this ship, you always seem to be the one that's constantly worried about whether I can or can't handle myself.)
Shiro sighed in Black's cockpit, and she replied with a soft rumble - understanding but at the same time filled with a certain amount of attitude that seems to imply that she was unhappy with him about the whole ordeal.
You and me both, Black, he thought.
Over the comms, Coran's voice rung as they descend into hidden tunnels. "Does everyone know what they have to do?"
"Yes, Coran. Please stop stressing us out!" Hunk warned in a nervous tone.
"Only checking, Number Two."
On the surface the ground was seamless, until it suddenly split with a heavy rumble, shaking the trees nearby, opening up to a dark tunnel that lead underground. Shiro pushed the Lion in first before four more followed suit. They emerged quickly into another tunnel leading them along the far edge of the city, until they reach the end and Shiro could see the faint light of the buildings and streets on his right.
And a Galra cruiser hovered nearby.
The Green Lion headed towards it, hovering under its shadow before she landed upside down, her legs attached to the ship. The rest of the paladins held their breath, waiting for the next cue.
"Our spies have disembarked onto Galra cruiser." Pidge's voice piped up. "Green Lion moving to remote location now. I'm working on scrambling any electromagnetic signals within a ten mile radius around the communication hub. All comms and fighters on the ground should be offline as soon as the cruiser lands."
Coran approved. "Excellent work, Pidge. Muer what's your status?"
The plan had more tidbits to look out for than Shiro had liked, but when were these missions ever easy. Though perhaps he should be grateful that this particular one involved rather too much piloting for Keith to make another attempt at convincing Shiro that it was a good idea to let him join in person.
The nearest Galra cruiser was being infiltrated, they would take out commands and cause minor technical issues. Then things should be easy enough head to the industrial area, under the guise to refuel and conduct some maintenance, they would park the cruiser at the warehouse. Pidge would hack into the facility's mainframe and place a virus to stop all communications and Galra fleet from departing the facility.
The other four lions would cause a distraction atop the city and take the other four cruisers away from heavily populated areas. In the worst case, they take the fight above ground. Evacuation would happen immediately after the fight starts, and a flare would indicate that the people are secured. Pidge would destroy the grounded to ensure safe passage for the cruiser, and the cruiser flies off to Coalition rebel bases. Voltron destroys other Galra bases and demand a surrender.
At least that was another oversimplification of said plan.
As Shiro moved his lion right under the shadow of another cruiser, he vaguely wondered just how poorly managed these vessels were to not even notice a giant flying mechanical lion coming towards them.
"The ship has landed successfully. Engaging with grounded patrols now," Muer announced through the comms. "Going offline in ten seconds."
"Hell yeah!" Lance cried. "Let's go kick some butts!"
In ten seconds, Shiro brought out the jaw blade and stuck it into the ship above him and began to drag it along the ship's length. Screeching metal noises filled his ears, reminding him distinctly of nails across chalkboard, but worst.
Before long he was away from the shadow of the ship and did twirls and dances across all of its area in his best attempts to damage it before they start retaliating with their cannons. And true to Shiro's thoughts, the fighters were dispatched and bullets rained across in the air as Shiro dodged to the best of his abilities.
There were six fighters on his tail, and he took a head dive right before the cruiser. Sounds of explosion filled the air as some fighters narrowly missed flying straight into its commanding ship, and at least one did crash.
He needed to take that ship farther away and barrelled through the line of fire again, teasing, taunting and barely scratching the cruiser as he dragged it from the city below them. He can vaguely see the Blue and Yellow Lion in the distance with their own adversary.
"Paladins, report in!" Keith called.
"Just need to get their cannons out and I should be good!" Lance whooped in excitement as he landed a clean blast to one of the fighters.
"I just got their cannons. Working on that fuel tank now." Hunk replied in a focused seriousness.
"I'll race you to it, Hunk!"
"If you were going to make this a competition, you should have said it sooner, buddy."
A bright light followed by whipping wind and the telltale sound of the ship blowing up reached their ears, and Shiro turned back just in time to find the Blue Lion freezing up the fiery chunks of its target cruiser falling to the ground. Allura's voice finally came through. "Do I get a prize for winning?"
They all couldn't help a laugh as Lance remained speechless. Explosions continued and one by one the Shiro takes another twirl, firing on the underside of the ship and any fighter that happened to cross him.
"Almost done with mine too." Shiro finally said. Allura flew in to help Lance, who had a rather miffed but if a bit pleased smile as she announced her presence.
Things were going smoothly and easily. And perhaps they should all have noticed it quicker that Pidge has failed to make a statement. But they were all too caught up in their own fight until Pidge's frantic shouts filtered through their Lions.
"Guys, something's wrong."
"What's wrong, Number Five?"
"I can see the rescued Tarrousenes, but there are druid with them! It seems like a hostage situation!"
"Can you see our people?"
"No! And no flare! They should have sent it up as soon as they got out. We've been compromised! I'm going in for an intervention." Through the screens, Shiro saw her punch the throttle and the Green Lion's began to engage the facility.
"Lance, go help Pidge. I'll take it from here." Allura ordered. "We need to get them off planet as soon as possible before we engage in anymore fights."
Shiro swooped behind a pillar, and in a single continuous movement, he sent a long shattering blast across the expanse of the cruiser, ripping it to bits and finally subduing it. Words were on his tongue, ready to report in his success, but it was immediately cut off as Pidge yelled, "I can't control my lion!"
"Pidge?" Shiro blurted. "What do you mean?"
Lance's frustrated groan followed. "Red won't respond to me either!"
"Coran! The Taroussenes on the ground-" Pidge huffed between her attempts to pull at the controls. "-they're doing something to our lions! Green is conflicted. She won't listen when I tell her friend and foe!"
"They won't attack. We're just sitting idly in front of the warehouse now!" Lance made an incredulous scream whilst Shiro remained hovering in the air. Coran started to spout theories and suggestions for them to try, and Shiro only looked at the screen, at Keith, who was in thought with brows drawn in tightly and lips turned to a light scowl.
Until his brows finally retreated, and what Shiro saw as a hypothesis, but one that was crucial and perhaps deadly to them all. Keith knew something.
At the end of his wits, Coran finally slammed on the castle's controls. "Shiro, take Black to Lance and-"
"No!" Keith's voice was jarring in the aftermath of their first battle, where only static was filling over the comms and the distant noises of metal and Galra tech bursting into flames, falling like meteors.
"Keith?" Shiro wrinkled his brows.
"Don't go near them. Do not go anywhere near Lance and Pidge. If they are doing what I think they're doing, then we will lose Voltron."
"What exactly are they doing? And who are they?" Allura frowned behind her helmet.
"The Taroussenes that were taken - Muer told me they're especially sensitive to quintessence. I didn't think they could pull this off, though I should have known. Shiro, Hunk, Allura, you might want to regroup and lay low while we figure this out."
Lance scowled in his seat, pressing every random button possible but failing to trigger any reaction from his lion. "Pull what off?"
"I'm guessing in a way, they're calling out ot the lions in a- I don't know, spiritual way? The Lions might be confused because it senses beings that are speaking to it in ways that the Lions speak to each other. At least that's my theory."
"So how do we get them out of this?" Hunk asked. They all gave Keith a hopeful look that he couldn't see, then without warning, the caverns went completely dark.
"Guys, look!" Pidge gasped in surprise, and Shiro blinked as he let out a surprise breath.
A blackout.
The lights of the city was shutting off one by one, and the caverns were returning to a pitch darkness that was hardly illuminated by the Lion's light. Shiro could hardly see ahead of him when all that the lights on the Lion would shine upon was dust and rock walls. But at least he could vaguely tell the position of Allura and Hunk on the map and by the soft light that their lions had. And in the far distance the industrial area that was used by the Galra was still bright.
"What happened? What's going on?" Keith turned his head rapidly for an answer.
If there was such a thing as a holy deity above that controls their fate, then Shiro only wanted to scream at them for their pension for drama.
"There's a city wide blackout except where we are," Lance explained. "They're quarantining the city, too."
"Why a blackout?"
A pinging noise echoed from Pidge's cockpit. "They're trying to kill my virus." She jumped in her seat. "They're trying to re-establish communications to neighbouring military bases."
Shiro's hand gripped tightly onto his controls. "How long do you think it will take them to fix it?"
"I'm working on that. But it's probably not long."
Shiro gritted his teeth as the gears in his head began to turn. There had to be a way out of this. "We'll send a group into get you out. Castleship, get the Blades and Coalition rebels, we'll need them. And how many Tarousssene field agents do we have?"
"Not many. The majority were on the mission." Keith duly responded as Coran hastily ran to pull up communications with nearby Coalition vessels. "Are we using into the alternative escape route?"
"Can we still use the cruiser?"
"No, they it back, and it's taking off with the Tarrousene rebels soon." Lance noted worryingly. "They're sending the rest of the civilians back into the warehouses again."
"Keep us updated on their whereabouts. And yes, we're taking the alternative route. Get Saebth to prepare his people, and get a reasonably sized group from our side." Shiro ordered and was responded with nods. A plan was falling into place again. Shiro could already see a course of action forming in the silence of his mind.
Send in a team, get the people and the lions out, deliver them to the Coalition vessels in orbit. Perhaps that was the most they could salvage from this situation. He hasn't dared to consider coming back to destroy the rest of the Galra's military bases and calling for a ceasefire yet when everything is still so dependant on their most important task at hand: saving lives.
"Pidge, do you have an estimate yet?" He asked, agitated. The one thing that might just ruin them forever is time - there was never enough time for anything in his life, it seemed. Like the time they have left, like the time that he has left as the Black Paladin-time that he could spend with those he loves.
"Pidge?" He asked again, and Pidge made a gesture as if to push her glasses up her nose before dutifully and nervously announcing the results. Shiro's heart continued to beat loudly in his chest.
"Two vargas. We only have two vargas."
A/N (2023): i had to reread this as i was copying it into this doc because i needed to redo the formatting for FNN, and good god what in the tarnation was i on in 2019? the grammar? the wording? the OVERUSE OF ITALICS? like every other paragraph will have italics in it and not to say that I don't use italics anymore, but i certainly don't use it to this degree anymore lmao (i just overuse em dashes now PFFT). Please, Meap from 2019 needs to chill with the italics.