Chapter Text
Blaster fire struck Lance's back and shoulder armour as he sped across the ground, ignoring the dark char-marks and pain as best he could. It was just more injuries on top of his already long list of complaints. He twisted his speeder at the lip of a crater, letting the vehicle slide out from under him as he used the movement to go from riding to running as quickly as possible. The dismount wasn't the most graceful thing ever, leaving him with arms flailing wildly as he fought to keep his forward momentum and not face-plant into the dirt, but right now he was in a hurry.
Keith's life might literally depend on it.
Things had gone wrong all at once, as they always seemed to do when the team was split. Two distress beacons had briefly flared-up in the same general section of space before being quickly silenced. Scans of those locations showed several odd power signatures immediately afterwards, so of course Voltron had to investigate - Given the sudden silencing of the beacons it seemed unlikely that it was supposed to be a trap, and the odd power signatures could have been a Robeast or some other weapon of mass destruction. The fact that there were two beacons that were triggered at the same time was the most concerning thing, so the plan had been to investigate both, immediately and simultaneously.
No engagement, just view and report. If something needed action, or if both needed help, that would be decided once they'd reported back.
That was the theory, at least.
Pidge was sent to one location (Allura's records had that particular planet as being home to a highly advanced civilisation, but as she pointed out, those records were still out of date in places) with Hunk to run extraction if required. Meanwhile, Keith was sent to this planet with Lance to act as his back up. Shiro was held in reserve to co-ordinate and act as reinforcement if needed.
Keith and Lance were in the planet's atmosphere, Keith was even beginning his decent to the ground below, when the coms lit up and Pidge's face bathed in bright warning lights appeared on their consoles.
"Allura! We're under heavy fire! I repeat, we are under fire! We're being attacked!" She shouted over the sounds of battle rumbling around her.
Hunk appeared moments later. "Like, serious fire here! We need help!"
"Copy that." Allura's voice rang over the sounds of battle. "We are scrambling the castle to intercept. Lance, Keith - retreat and rendezvous with Shiro."
Lance barely heard the command, spotting a bright light on the planet below that shot upwards, sending twisting purple crackles of energy blasting through the atmosphere.
Towards the Red Lion.
Keith had no way of seeing the attack, he was both responding to Allura and facing the wrong way. Pidge and Hunk were still sending panicked reports over the coms, so Lance's warning wasn't going to be heard over the commotion already happening. That was the only thing Lance had time to think before he was moving, pushing his Lion to body slam the smaller, lighter Red Lion out of the blast path.
Blue's shield flared to life only for the blast to punch straight through, barely slowing. Cold terror rush through Lance as he watched helpless, time slowing until the blast struck Blue.
There was a moment of strange timelessness as Blue was knocked back before the sound of the blast hit with an echoing boom, like thunder directly overhead, that sent her crashing down. Lance would swear he heard his name called over the roar and the sound of screaming metal - definitely by Keith, perhaps by Shiro as well - as he spiralled out of control before slamming hard into the ground below.
When Lance came back to himself moments later, Blue was unresponsive - no presence, definitely no reaction to him urging her to move. His ears were ringing so loudly that it took a while to realise that he could hear voices, drowned out by the slowly fading sounds of bells.
"Lance, respond!" That was Shiro's voice, but no visual showed up on the console. Of course it wouldn't - the console was dead. The voices could only be coming through his helmet.
"Lance, if you can hear, respond!" Allura's voice too, any panic she might have been feeling crushed beneath determined calm.
Shouting, swearing - that was Keith. He could see the Red Lion dancing through the sky, dodging the purple energy but unable to get close to its source.
Lance lifted a shaking hand up to his helmet, making sure it was in place and functional before he responded.
"I'm alive." He reported, looking around the cockpit. It was all still in one piece with no burned or damaged sections, but it was completely dark. "For a given value of alive, anyway. Blue's not though. I'm getting no response, and I've got no power. She... She's out."
Keith made it to the ground in one piece, and Lance was suddenly grateful for the impressive crater that Blue had left behind when she crashed. It gave the Red lion something to hunker down in, out of direct line of sight of the base that housed that energy cannon.
"We could just stay here." Lance pointed out. "Red's shield has Blue covered at the moment, and we seem to be too small a target for... whatever that thing was... when we're outside of the Lions. If we hold until the castle gets here, we could at least have aerial support for any extraction."
As far as plans went, Lance was aware that it had problems. Sure, the castle's shields were stronger than the Lions, and even if they weren't enough to withstand the new twister-cannon, the castle's guns had a greater range. But that wasn't the only problem.
"Red wasn't able to punch through the shields around the cannon from any distance I could reach," Keith pointed out. "And Yellow and Black might be able to survive the cannon, but there's no guarantee."
"Right, right. With Blue out, Voltron is also out." Lance grumbled, knowing full well that Keith was right. "And if the shields can't hold, no way Hunk can dodge the cannon."
"Losing any more lions will just compound the problem." Keith agreed firmly. "Besides, you heard Allura - they need to get Hunk and Pidge before they can even think about an extraction."
Keith squinted over to where the base loomed like an ominous purple bee-hive. "I don't think the shields stretch all the way to the ground."
"High enough for a Lion to run under?" Lance asked, following Keith's line of sight.
"I don't think so. But it's definitely big enough for a human on a speeder."
Lance shot Keith a look, noting the determination on his face. There was no question about it; Keith was going to break into the base and either sabotage the cannon or sabotage the shields and THEN the cannon. And he was going to do it with or without Lance. At least if Lance helped, Keith had a better chance.
Lance sighed and stood. "Well, let's see if Blue's speeder is still intact, otherwise we're going to have to go double on yours."
They were spotted fleeing the Shield's control room. It was inevitable; they were lucky not to have been spotted already, and neither Lance nor Keith were the best at manipulating Galra technology. And that's definitely what this base was - an experimental weapons testing facility for the Galra empire, with that damned cannon forming the centrepiece. Even worse, the whole place was on high-alert after shooting down an actual Lion of Voltron.
Lance just counted himself and Keith lucky that most of the on-ground personnel were robots. There were probably scientists in there too, but they weren't patrolling the halls looking to shoot strangers on sight.
Keith got the computer on and the shields off while Lance kept a lookout. Keith managed the power down sequence just fine, but it looked like the only way of locking that in place that Keith could see was 'Break the console and hope for the best.'
Lance nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Keith's bayard slicing through the console and input keyboard, even the podium that the whole thing sat on. He gave Keith a dirty look that he felt conveyed 'A little warning might have been nice.' very eloquently. Keith responded with an embarrassed but completely unapologetic shrug.
Sirens kicked up only a tick later, drawing both Paladin's eyes up to the ceiling and the blaring red lights that suddenly flooded the room. A mechanised voice alerted the whole base to the raising of the shield on one side of the building, overlayed by a similarly mechanised voice reporting the damage to the shield control station, right down to the room that the pair of paladins were in.
Lance and Keith shared a panicked look, both simultaneously hit with the realisation that the time for stealth was now passed. They needed to get out, and they would need to fight their way out.
Lance did so love these mid-mission conversations they had.
As one they bolted into the hallways, Keith on point and Lance behind him to watch both Keith's back and his own ass as they fled.
The patrols came shortly after, and their escape became an all-out fire-fight. They moved as quickly as they could through the halls, both holding their shields up, Lance firing at the approaching robots while Keith dispatched any dumb enough to come close. When the coast was a little clearer they bolted, Keith slicing through unsuspecting attackers that met them behind corners or doors and Lance picking off any that stood at the ends of halls or the backs of rooms they passed through. They would sprint up hallways until the resistance became too great and they needed to move back to back again, slowly progressing towards the exit.
Lance struggled to keep up with Keith's forward press, firing in both directions as he stuck so close he could feel the body heat radiating off of the red paladin, telling him every move Keith was about to make as it shifted and changed. He could feel sweat and possibly (probably) blood running down the back of his neck inside his suit. His legs ached from bracing his shield against the onslaught of fire and from several places where their defence had failed and blasts had gotten through, leaving dark, cracked places across his armour and torn, burned streaks along the black under-suit. A direct hit against his left arm was also bleeding into his suit, but adrenaline kept him from feeling it. Right now he was too busy keeping himself and Keith alive as Keith powered forwards, forcing Lance to race backwards to cover him. They reached a locked door, behind which Lance knew was a hallway that lead to a store room with an air intake vent and purification system that they'd busted and used to sneak in.
Good thing Keith at least had a sense of direction. Lance wouldn't have found his way back there on his own.
On this side of the door, a squad of Galra soldiers and a small clutch of the sentinel robots left on the base were bearing down on them fast.
Keith got to work prising the door open while Lance covered him with his shield, laying down imprecise covering fire.
"Want to hurry it up back there?" He hissed.
"Give me a minute!" Keith bit back. "We didn't come through this door the first time around."
"Hate to break it to you, but we might not have a minute." Lance grumbled. Despite that, his mind was already working.
There was a corridor to their left. Lance could hear the metallic footfalls of droids moving to come up the left and flank them. The Galra in front were coming up way too fast, using the robots before them as cover from his rifle blasts. If Keith managed to get the door open before they got here, the squad would be upon them before the door had even closed behind them. And the Galra wouldn't have to pry the door open manually.
Getting out through the vent took time. Not much, but they needed a little bit of leeway to wriggle through without being blasted or grabbed by the Galra soldiers. There was no time to block the door, so they'd need to make that time somewhere else. An explosion would work best, or some barricade to throw before the door, but Lance had no way of making any explosions or barricades.
The best bet would be to split up, much as he hated to think that. Lance could stay behind once the door was opened, push forwards slightly and take out as many Galra as he could. Keith could take the time that Lance managed to hold the Galra off to escape. The Red Lion was still functional, so Keith would be able to take the speeder out to the crater and pilot the Red Lion back to the base before the Galra had time to repair the shield. That would leave Blue undefended for a while, but Lance was confident that the Galra wouldn't be able to move her while Red lay siege to their base. Keith could break in through the side of the shield that was taken down and target the Twister Cannon from up close - without the shields, Red's weapons might be enough to destroy it. Then he could take out the rest of the base and collect Lance.
If Lance managed to survive that long.
If he bolted left after giving Keith the time to escape, he might be able to run-and-gun long enough to find a hiding place. Or he could try to surrender and hope they didn't have a kill-on-sight order on him.
Okay, the second part of the plan had a few holes. It was a work-in-progress. Keith didn't need to know that though.
Behind Lance, Keith had the door open enough to almost stick a shoulder through. It might just open enough for Keith to get through before the Galra were on top of them. So that was good news, at least.
"Keith," Lance spoke as quietly as he could over the sound of gunfire. He continued without waiting for Keith to acknowledge him. "When You get the door open, make a break for it. I'll hold them off long enough for you to get out."
"No." Keith responded, predictably.
"We don't have time to argue. You need to bring Red back and take out the cannon, fast." Lance hissed. The Galra were nearly upon them - this fire-fight was about to turn into a brawl.
Everything ached.
"No." Keith growled. The door screeched as his sword prised it open a little further, letting Keith force a shoulder in. Lance huffed out a sigh, biting down on his urge to turn around and clock Keith. They didn't have the time.
"Keith, I need you to trust me, please. I have a plan. I'll find you after the cannon's gone." Lance said calmly. A low blow perhaps, but it wasn't entirely untrue.
Keith stilled for only a moment before returning in earnest to forcing the door open, the last few inches easier with Keith already wedged into the gap. That was all the acknowledgement Lance got.
'It will have to do', Lance thought as he pressed his shield forwards to try and throw off the mangled form of a badly shot-up robot that the lead Galra had thrown at him. He deflected the robotic remains to the right, returning focus just in time to see the squad leader dash towards him, gun aimed to fire past his shield.
Another shield flared to life over Lance's left shoulder, just in time to stop the bolt from striking him. Lance didn't even have time to react before he was spun by a hand on his hip, stepping him around as though in a dance. He was pushed through the already closing door, continuing his spin just in time to see Keith in profile, sword at the ready and shield sparking on the far side of the door.
Just in time to watch the door slide shut between them.
"KEITH!" Lance shouted, allowing himself only the amount of time it took to kick the door before turning to sprint towards the exit, cursing under his breath the whole way.
He needed to hurry. He needed to get Keith out alive so that he could give that unrelenting, contrary ass-hat a piece of his mind.
Which bought him here. Racing across an alien landscape, reporting Keith's situation to Allura while she fed him ETA's that were far, FAR too far away.
No point in secrecy now.
The patrols hadn't made it all the way out to the crash site yet, at least. Just almost to the crash site, leaving Lance to shoot as many of them down as he could before he ditched the speeder.
Before him Blue still lay on her side, body twisted in a way that looked like it would have been painful had Blue been awake. Or alive. It reminded him of the dead animals he'd seen in the nature documentaries in a way that chilled him to the bone. The Red Lion was laid flat along the ground beside her like a guardian, head rested between their paws at eye level to Lance.
He ran up against the particle barrier that Red had erected over both the prone Blue Lion and themselves and knocked his hand against it once. The barrier dropped to let him in with barely a dip in his speed.
Desperately, he tried to reach out to feel any spark of life in Blue. It was there, but far too faint to reach - Blue was coming back online, but she was still out of commission right now. Lance didn't have time to wait for her to come back.
More importantly, Keith didn't have time.
Lance switched his focus to the Red Lion. It was a long shot, but not without precedent. The Red Lion had moved on its own to protect Keith before, he just needed to convince them to do it again. Admittedly, this was a lot more complicated than just moving through space - if he could get the Red Lion to follow a plan, more's the better. But right now he'd settle on just moving.
Lance raced towards the Red Lion, stopping to knock on their nose.
"Come on, wakey wakey." He called. The Red Lion didn't move. "Oi, wake up! We need to go get Keith."
Still nothing. The Red Lion must not know the severity of the situation. Well, Lance would just need to impress it upon them.
"Come on, seriously." Lance grumbled as he began to clamber up the side of the Red Lion's head, "Keith's in life-threatening trouble here, and we need to go a-saving now!"
the windshield lit finally lit up as Lance sat himself on the Red Lion's nose, just before Red raised their head. Lance whopped and threw his hands into the air before nearly overbalancing and scrabbling back to right himself.
"Alright, that-a-lion. Now, let me in so I can help."
The Red Lion appeared to stare at him, not moving. Lance felt his momentary elation crash through the ground, leaving cold dread in its wake.
"Come on!" Lance tried not to sound too much like he was whining. "Fine, I'll ride here, but we need to go now!
Red tilted their head down, causing Lance to slide off and onto the ground below. He landed heavily on the fused soil and stone beneath the Lions, body protesting the drop.
"Ow ow ow." Lance grumbled, glaring up at the Red Lion. Red made no other move.
"Alright, fine! Listen here you... you stuck-up mechanical jerk!" Lance shouted, pulling himself upright. "If you don't like me, that's fine. If you don't want anyone but your pilot in the cockpit, that's fine! But guess what? If we don't go now, you might have to get used to another pilot pretty damn quickly, because Keith will be dead! Do you understand me? D.E.A-" Lance's voice broke mid-word, a half squeak the only thing that came out. His vision blurred and his eyes burned hot with tears boiling below the surface. No. He couldn't cry, not yet. Not while there was even a chance that Keith was still alive.
He fixed an angry scowl on the Red Lion. "Fine, to hell with you then." He snarled, already mentally working out whether he could cannibalise any parts of Blue to either build a gun strong enough to break that cannon or, failing that, parts that he could overload to create an explosion. He'd apologise to Blue once she was repaired. He hoped she'd understand... "I'll go myself."
The Red Lion responded with a growl that Lance heard inside his mind.
Wait...
Lance had just enough time to realise that he'd definitely heard that inside his head before the Red Lion bent their head down and closed their mouth around him in a single bite.