"NO, SHOOT LEFT!"

"You said shoot right!"

"I meant 'right' as in correct!"

Keith hissed, managing to cast Lance a scalding glare before materializing his shield to just barely avoid getting hit in the face with an electric shot from a Galran sentry's weapon. Lance, not missing the frustrated gleam in the Red Paladin's eyes, only scowled as he, too, raised his armor's shield.

"Pidge, are you finished yet? We're a little tied up here and Lance isn't helping at all."

Keith questioned, ignoring the Blue Paladin's indignant remarks. He fell back to the control center where the smallest Paladin sat, her body rigid with tension, curled tightly over the flickering purple lights of the shiny panels. She was securely downloading intel, trying to gain the information from the Galra base they'd infiltrated not too long ago.

"Almost done downloading. About 7 ticks and we can get out of here." Pidge replied, her voice thin with concentration as her eyes narrowed at the screens. Obviously, she was more worried about the blaster shots ringing through their ears. Everyone was itching to get out of the Lion-forsaken Galra station. Keith nodded despite knowing that she wasn't looking at him, and shifted his focus to Lance. The Blue Paladin's bayard was aimed at the oncoming swarm of robotic attackers, firing easily and on-point as he made an attempt to hold back the relentless security. Keith returned to where he originally stood, shielding his teammate from anything coming at his blind spot. This mission really shouldn't have been a problem. Keith, Lance, and Pidge were selected and sent in the Blue Lion to take action logs and intel on previously housed prisoners, shipments, and high authority visits assigned to the Galran base. It was a simple plan- have Pidge hack the security from outside to temporarily shut it down, get in, grab what they came for, and leave before her block was broken down. Since there were only sentries and no actual Galra existed nearby (seeing as this was purely a shuttle transport location, though a necessary one that housed both live packages and valuable items), the entire area contained only droids. Despite this, the Green Paladin's virus was overridden and resolved early, resulting in their current situation. Apparently, the 'random, middle-of-space' base had been far more upgraded and secure than most any others around.

"Finished!" Pidge's relieved voice bounced through the room, feeling just like music to Keith's ears.

"Great! Let's get out of here before our names are put onto those logs," Lance huffed, aggressively swigging the head of his gun into an enemy's head, knocking it to ground in a flurry of sparks and a sharp clanging sound. Pidge didn't need any more than that. In a single movement, she swept her small Coran-provided downloader's disc up from the metal platforms, cutting it off from its tie to the station. Almost instantly, a new screen appeared with a soft click, radiating both purple and red light. On it hovered a timer that clearly read

[9:59].

Pidge hurried back to her group, setting away the intel-stuffed disc and pulling out her electrified bayard. After a questioning glance from Keith, a small smile cracked her lips.

"I rigged it. The base is set to blow in ten doboshes.. and now counting down. Since there aren't any neighboring planets, only asteroids, the sole thing the explosives will destroy is this base. Good riddance, I say." The Green Paladin explained, gaining an alarmed look from Lance.

"All the more reason to hurry up. Come on, Blue's basically vibrating in my mind," Lance groaned, bringing a palm to his forehead to prove a point. Both Pidge and Keith nodded sharply at the same time, lurching forwards to follow the Blue Paladin out of the buzzing control room, weapons cutting through metal and shooting both laser-like bullets and green sparks.

Not too far from Blue's area, the three Paladins ran into a problem. More than "a" problem, really. Twelve or fourteen problems stood guard in a dimly lit main passage leading almost directly to the Blue Lion's landing point. Apparently, the Galra were more than aware of the Voltron Team's presence. Had they locked down Blue?

"Just our day, isn't it?" Pidge grumbled, her brows creasing as she raised her bayard in a threatening manner. Lance grunted in half-hearted agreement, one fist clenching into a ball and the other over his gun, more than ready to engage in combat. Keith tightened his grip on his own bayard, though more warily. Unfortunately, the sentries didn't acknowledge any of the intruder's physical or verbal statements. Vision panels glowing a soft, chilling red, they lifted their weapons in a nearly simultaneous manner. The three Paladins instantly brought up their shields as shots began to whizz through the air.

"Lance, take as many out as you can with your blaster and STAY BACK. We need you at a range where you'll be useful. Pidge, do what you can to knock as many out as possible. It's fine if we don't hit them all down, as long as we can squeeze by and reach the Blue Lion," Keith instructed, his vocal tone strained as he stepped forwards and brandished his sword.

Pidge nodded curtly and sprang forwards with a high-pitched battle cry, clicking her weapon and sending it out to wrap around a robot, electrical waves already brewing at the base.

"Who made you the leader of the team?" Lance complained, though not hesitating a tick to raise his gun and hit a droid square in the head.

"Shiro did!"

"What?"

"..Nothing! Just shut up and stay focused."

"Hey! This is my Lion, so that makes me the leader!" The Blue Paladin responded, hopping out of the way as a lifeless hunk of metal flew past his face, carrying the marks of Pidge's grapple.

"Where did that rule come from?" Keith snapped back, pulling his sword from the torso of a droid.

"That's a general thing! Y'know, 'Your Lion? Your mission!'. Though you obviously wouldn't know, since you rarely let anyone else lead, like, anything, except-"

Lance's snide remark was abruptly cut off as a shriek tore through the passage, seeming to bounce off the walls and hit the distracted, bickering Paladins with an invisible force. Both boys' heads jerked up just in time to see Pidge collapse, bayard flung carelessly aside, clutching her abdomen in obvious pain. A droid's weapon charged up again, ready to hit the small girl this time in the head. Silence seemed to crush down on Keith's world, shutting off all sounds. Time appeared to slow down, and newfound horror mixed with rage seared through the Red Paladin's veins. It wasn't just his own anguish, though. The Red Lion's distant, hovering presence became clearer, stronger, as the bond between them tightened, creating a single line tying their emotions together for a fleeting moment. Normally, Red's soothing mental aura would be close to nonexistent whilst so far away, but now... The guttural roar of anger and hatred that ripped out did not seem like his own as he charged forwards, a blur of blue in the corner of his eye the only indication Lance hurtled towards the attackers as did Keith. Sword swinging relentlessly, blaster powering up and overheating, both Red and Blue Paladins had the few remaining sentries struck mercilessly to the ground in no time. Keith struggled to pull his bayard out of a sentry- no- THE sentry, that had hurt the Green Paladin. Ah, right.

"Pidge?" Keith said, his voice sounding both strangely calm and broken as he crouched next to the girl, quickly dematerializing his bayard. Her eyes were tightly shut, pain edging her facial features. Pidge's hands were clasped around her stomach, which was releasing an unnerving amount of blood. It was seeping through her too small fingers covering her too large wound. Charred around the edges and secreting an ugly, fog-like substance, it was obvious that the shot had burned the skin as well. A muffled, tiny whimper scratched out of her throat as the Red Paladin gently lay his hand over one of hers. Despite his internal freak-out, Keith didn't miss the timer blinking quietly on her armor's gauntlet.

[2:38], it read.

The countdown for the bomb.

They needed to get out, and fast. He glanced up to his standing teammate, his eyes lined with worry, vague uncertainty, and... determination.

"Lance, contact the Castle of Lions. Notify Coran to get a healing pod ready- and quickly. Remember Pidge's bomb? It's going off soon." Keith explained, though knew it wasn't quite necessary. At the words "Castle of Lions", the Blue Paladin was already connected and speaking to the said Altean. Thankfully, Keith's communication line was temporarily closed- Shiro was unsurprisingly on the same line (as well as Allura) and his voice had gone at least an octave higher than usual after receiving the wrenching news. Hunk's incessant voice linked with Shiro's, clearly working himself up with worry. At least Lance was the one dealing with it. Now, Keith let out a harsh breath. There wasn't enough time to make Pidge comfortable (a.k.a lay her down on a makeshift cot) and take her to the Blue Lion slowly. He was going to have to carry her. Having no experience with any hurt.. things larger than a bird, and no younger siblings to take care of, the Red Paladin had approximately zero experience with issues like this. Lance would be the one to pilot their getaway, and therefore also couldn't help. So, it was completely up to Keith.

[2:00]

The timer read, going only further down the number line for every tick wasted. Heaving yet another deep breath, he lay one hand underneath Pidge's shoulder blades, and another slipped underneath her knees. A hiss of anguish sizzled out of her mouth, followed by a pitiful whine and a barely noticeable ripple of pain.

"I'm sorry, pipsqueak." Keith huffed, his voice low and wavering, lifting her from the ground as gingerly as possible. "I should have been more careful. I should have payed attention.. it's my fault that you're hurt. Never again, you have my word." He promised quietly, feeling quite unlike himself at the moment. Keith, the emo kid, feeling sick with worry and guilt for his teammate. Keith, the one who doesn't care, caring. Keith, the reckless, having gone too far and become too lax.

"Coran's on it. Allura's waiting to bring up a wormhole, Hunk is panicking, and Shiro has officially gone into Dad Mode and is awaiting our arrival. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be here when the whole thing blows into a mushroom of fire."

Lance's voice jolted Keith back to reality. Despite the Blue Paladin's constant joking manner, there was a strain to his voice that said what words didn't: "I don't want to stand by while Pidge needs help". Only offering a nod in return, Keith followed Lance down the corridor, seeing as he had already bolted down and headed towards his Lion.

The Green Paladin felt incredibly light in Keith's arms. Too light. Too small. He wouldn't know, since this would officially mark his first time ever picking up another human being. Lump forming in his throat, Keith just sprinted as swiftly as he could, at the same time trying not to jostle his wounded teammate.

[1:12]

There it was. The Blue Lion, in all of her radiant glory, seeming to be more welcoming than ever before. Walls were dented, and droids littered the floor. Obviously, the Lion needed no help taking care of herself. She bent down and opened her maw, letting out a small rumble that shook the ground slightly.

[0:58]

"Come on, quickly!" Lance shouted, hurriedly giving his Lion a pat or two as he bolted up the jaw. Keith followed, feeling uncannily numb. He barely made it to the cockpit and slid down one of the sides, wincing as a guttural sound emanated from Pidge's throat as she was settled down into Keith's lap. He moved his hands to support her head, and another to attempt to stop the bleeding from her abdomen. Pidge's fingers wrapped around the Red Paladin's, giving him a vaguely painful grip as if he was her only tie to life, and if she let go, she'd lose it.

[0:44]

"Allura, we're ready to bolt! A wormhole right about now would do some magic!" The Paladin spoke, nearly throwing himself into the pilot's seat as the Lion's jaw snapped shut. Blue shifted to all fours with a lustrous growl, and generated a heated laser, casting it out of her mouth and burning a hole through the Galran base wall. Keith could practically hear it sizzling. A small "Affirmative!" tickled the Red Paladin's ears as Allura acknowledged Lance's call.

[0:27]

The Blue Lion barreled through the hole, front paws outstretched and leg blasters at full thrust. She was as eager to leave as the rest of the conscious team.

[0:17]

Allura's wormhole rapidly came into vision. Lance and his Lion sped towards it, blurring the stars that enveloped the visible space with consistent speed.

[0:05]

Almost there. The wormhole's welcoming blue light caused Keith to narrow his eyes. Had the Princess's fancy exits always been so bright?

[0:01]

They'd made it. The nose of the Blue Lion touched the light just as Pidge's timer let out a quiet chime, indicating the bomb's countdown was completed.

[0:00]

Just before the Lion was completely surrounded by the wormhole, a large boom resonated through space. Light flickered behind the Paladins, and pieces of shrapnel were suddenly hurtling towards them, as identified and indicated by a screen on Lance's control panels. Thankfully, it was left behind as both shadow and otherworldly stars swirled around the Blue Lion. The task was completed successfully. They had the information, which would more than help the Voltron Team expand their inside knowledge, including logs of rebel and captured planets. Now, the consequences of the mission had to be dealt with. Fast.