Chapter Text
“Be careful Lance!”
“Keith lookout!”
“Green’s pinned, there’s too many of them!”
“Get out of there Hunk!”
“Shiro behind you!”
“Paladins-!”
CRASH
Shiro almost growled as a large purple beam shot through the group, hitting the side of his lion and knocking them aside. He gripped both controls and quickly righted himself before scanning the space before them.
The red lion soared over the top of Shiro. Keith tackled the oncoming Galra fighters head on. Beyond him, the blue lion dived and spun and dodged each attack made against it as it carved a path for Hunk to get free.
Their voices were panicked over the coms system. Shiro’s ears were still ringing from the impact though he did his best to focus.
Hunk was talking too quickly, as if reeling off every thought that came to mind. Lance was yelling at the ships he took out like they could hear his insults. Keith was focused, though Shiro could hear the alarm in his voice whenever he spoke. And Pidge…
Pidge was silent.
Shiro’s stomach lurched.
He moved his lion quickly, his eyes scanning for the green lion. Seconds passed before he caught sight of the unmoving lion. His grip on the controls tightened as he remembered how they’d been before the beam hit; remembered her shout when it struck.
“Paladins the castle can’t take another hit, we must leave!” Allura’s voice was strained over the coms.
“I’m going after Pidge!” Shiro heard various shouts of protest but didn’t pause to think before jamming his controls forward to race towards her.
Galra ships flew for him as he dove though he stayed focused, weaving in and out of the fighter ships to get to the green paladin.
It wasn’t long before his lion’s claws reached the green lion. He gripped the lion, starting to fly up to re-join the other paladins.
“Pidge?” He tried to sound calm though the static he received from Pidge made it hard to do so, “Can you hear me?!”
“We need to get out of here!” Keith yelled over the coms as more Galra fighters emerged from their ships.
Shiro cursed and jerked the controls sideways to avoid colliding with several fighters. The claws of his lion slipped a little on Pidge’s lion but he stopped short from his roll and gripped the smaller lion tighter.
A hit from a fighter slammed into the side of the black lion, but Shiro didn't stop.
Ahead of them the other three lions were swerving in and out of fighters; their gazes flitting back to their separated team members.
“Go!” Shiro’s heart was beating fast in his chest, his stomach tying itself in knots.
At that, Keith turned and shot up for the castle. Lance and Hunk quickly righted themselves to do the same.
They were close.
Shiro saw the wormhole open before the castle. Lance reached it first though paused to look back.
“SHIRO!”
Shiro whirled just in time to watch the bright beam of an ion canon as it hurtled towards both the green and black lion. He swore, jerking the controls down though he knew with the size of Black he’d never make it clear.
The other paladins were yelling.
Their words blurred together.
Then the beam hit.
Allura’s head was spinning. Alarms were ringing out throughout the bridge. Coran was tapping away at the speed of light on his screens. She could hear the paladins shouting warnings and directions in her ears. There was a crash as a beam hit the castle.
“Barrier at 34%!” Coran cried as more screens flashed with bright red lights, “If we take another hit like that, we’re done for!”
Allura glanced at the scan of the barrier, seeing its weakened points that were quickly overtaking the shield. She looked out at the battlefield and noted the number of Galra ships had grown.
“Paladins the castle can’t take another hit, we must leave!” Allura’s voice was strained over the coms.
“I’m going after Pidge!”
Her blood froze as she noticed the green lion floating lifelessly in space. The black lion dove. She watched the red lion slam into a Galra fighter that went to intercept him. Blue and yellow followed suit.
“Coran, divert all remaining power to the teleduv,” Allura said, steeling her voice to stop it wavering and pushing the thought of Pidge to the back of her mind for now, “We need to get out of here.”
Coran, to his credit, didn’t argue. His fingers flew across the screens in front of him. A bar appeared in Allura’s peripherals detailing how long until the teleduv was ready as she hurriedly typed in the coordinates. The jump would take them far enough, though once they did the castle be nearly completely out of power.
She risked a glance out. The blue and yellow lions were closest. Red was behind them though gaining ground quickly. Black and green were further. Allura meant to hold off on creating the wormhole but was too late.
The shimmering gateway opened up before them, the castle half being pulled through it before Allura had a chance to order any differently.
The castle shook. The princess stopped a shout from escaping as she was thrown temporarily off balance.
“Barrier at 7%!”
The lights flicked as the castle took another hit. Three of the lions were close; close enough to make it through in a moment’s notice.
Though they halted.
Allura saw where their gazes fell.
Saw the purple beam of an ion cannon as it was too late to do anything.
“SHIRO!”
Keith’s voice cut through the noise as the cannon fire.
The black lion’s head stayed trained on the castle as the beam slammed into its side. The paladins were shouting as they were pulled through the wormhole.
And the last thing Allura saw before they vanished, was two lions spiralling towards the surface of the blue icy planet.
And then the lights went dark.