Chapter Text
Kerberos: Moon of Pluto
It was supposed to be a simple mission, an easy come and go to collect ice samples in hope of possibly finding proof of life on other planets. They didn't think it would lead to them being captured by the said 'life' they hoped to prove exists. They didn't think it would cause them to become prisoners of war, but here they are.
Shiro regrets ever getting on that ship.
One Year Later: Earth, Galaxy Garrison
"Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made?" And thus everything went to shit. Iverson was pulling all the stops, making sure they realized their mistakes, but it was when he brought up the failed Kerberos mission that everything seemed to actually get rather hectic.
"That's not true!" Pidge, the youngest of the new cadets yelled out against something Iverson said about their failures and more specifically comparing them to the failed Kerberos mission. Lance was quick to cover his mouth to try and stop his team from digging themselves a bigger grave, because that was what Lance was. He was team leader since he was the fighter pilot. He had his best frien, the engineer Hunk at his side and the technical genius Pidge to provide the math needed to complete their missions affectively... well, more often then not. Today was a bad day, Lance could feel it, and it wasn't getting better anytime soon.
Iverson railed in harder, this time on Lance, now that he'd taken the attention off Pidge, just reminding him of his position. Cargo pilot to fighter pilot only because the best of class got into a fight with Iverson, cut out his eye and got expelled, or so the rumor goes.
If Lance didn't already hate Keiths guts... well.
"Don't follow in his footsteps." And that simply didn't make sense. If Lance wanted to become the best pilot of the Garrison, he would have to follow in Keith's footsteps, and one day?
Well one day he'd take the lead, and he would never have to think about Keith and his stupid mullet again.
Of course Keith and his stupid mullet couldn't have just stayed in his hermit hole he went to a year ago. Of course he had to come literally running back into Lance's life at one of his low days. Of course Lance would run into him on what's supposed to be a bonding moment for his team to let them surpass that idiot mullet man.
"Who's that?" Pidge asked at Lance's annoyed huff.
"I'd recognize that mullet anywhere!" I've been one step behind it since he decided I was not good enough. "It's Keith!"
At least Lance was capable of being Shiro's right hand man in his escape. That was his only thought running through his head as he ran after Keith, as he ran to help. At least Keith didn't go in all lone wolf this time to out shine him again! At least Lance was there to prove-
"Who are you?"
How dare he?
"We were like rivals!" And Keith looked at him for a second longer before going to confirm-
"Cargo pilot...?"
And if that didn't hurt, well Lance would make sure Keith would never have a reason to ever forget his name again. That is if he didn't kill them all in this escape.
"It's all a blur... how did you know to come save me when I crashed? Does A-"
"You should come see this." And this was definitely something. The conspiracy board was big and it made absolutely no sense, but at the same time, there was nothing clearer. Of course Hunk was the one to bring them back to the task at hand; aliens.
"They're looking for a weapon, something called Voltron-" And the word rattled amongst Lance, Pidge, and Hunk's heads who were all there to have heard Pidge say that same word the night before. Hunk though, in all his genius decides to bring to the forefront Pidge's finding's because he didn't think it was moving along fast enough. He needed to share his findings as quickly as his brain could come up with them.
"Give me that!" Keith said and Lance felt rather annoyed for his friend's sake before he saw it, too.
"A mountain range?"
Keith walked up to the giant blue lion first, but Lance couldn't believe Keith would have the nerve to walk up to this giant robot surrounded by a forcefield when he was the one to feel it's energy.
Sure Keith really found it, big deal, but Lance?
Lance knew with something deep in his being that this was his.
"Maybe you just have to knock?" And there were two taps onto the forcefield and Lance felt it, he saw it in his minds eye, a vision so deep and so true that he knew it was to be his future. He heard everyone else talking about the amazingness of the vision they had just seen but he was too busy paying attention to the voice, no not voice, presence in his mind telling him to move forward. To enter.
To fly.
So fly is what he did. Sure it was a bit of a mess, but Lance was sure he'd get the hang of it.
"You are the worst pilot ever!"
Ok so eventually.
It was beautiful. A technological masterpiece. A great castle, something truly amazing.
And it was where the Blue Lion took them.
It was where it's technological magic opened the door for them.
It opened the door to their future.
So when all the lights began to turn on, when the steps and halls proved to be people sized, they followed the lights of the castle to what Pidge saw to be a control room. Two pods came up from the floor and when a beautiful alien fell out of one them Lance was quick to catch the beauty in his arms.
Of course she was also quick to disarm him and ask about their intentions in her castle.
"We've been gone, for 10,000 years." And that was a number none of the earthing's could physically process. To be alive for 10,000 years, to have unlimited, unopposed rule over the whole universe for 10,000 years.
And to learn that Lance was now piloting one of the super powered lions of Voltron, to know the rest of the universe was in their hands?
Lance really wished he'd decided to go with Hunk and Pidge back to the food court when he had the chance.
How could the princess give the fastest lion, the fiery lion, the lion who was meant for the best pilot, to Keith? When Lance was clearly the better option, the better flier?
At least that was what he was telling himself, especially after he blew it by trying to flirt with the princess instead of learning what his lion was meant to be.
Pft what did a stupid princess know, it's not like her life force was connected to all the lions and had a deep understanding of their wants and desires in pilots.
Oh wait...
Well... Lance thought as he looked towards Keith standing to his left, the red lion hologram floating in between them, Blue's cooler anyways.
And Lance would swear to his dying breath he did not hear another voice in his head, so similar to the Blue lion's yet oh so different laughing quietly at his remark.
How does one bring up the fact that they know their best friends younger sister is in space with them on a mission to find a Green mystical lion under a different name and with a different gender?
"Wow, this is so peaceful I wonder if Lance and Hunk are having as much fun?"
I guess you just wait for her to come to you.
"The good news is we've found the location of the Red Lion, the bad news is it's on that Galran ship orbiting Arus. But good news again! We're Arus!"
"They're here already?" And thus Pidge decided to never let Coran do math ever again.
But of course Pidge couldn't think on that for long when they received a message from said Galra ship and the question everyone was debating now was to stay or to go and of course Hunk and Lance were together on leaving and Keith, well Keith was set on staying. Pidge was quick to stand on Keith's side, and that's when the sense of familiarity began.
"Yeah, you know how you felt that crazy energy when you were alone in the desert?"
"Yeah and you made fun of me for it."
"And I'm proud of that, but turns out it's exactly like that mumbo gumbo."
Now all Keith needed to do was to earn the lion's trust, while somehow relying on this lion mumbo gumbo.
Eh, he's done it before so he can do it again. So when he was separated from Shiro and Katie-who liked to be called Pidge now- he went deep into his sub conscious and tried to connect with this stupid space lion.
"Come on, patience yields focus." Keith said and he focused, and felt it, that tiny, tiny flicker of recognition. "Gotcha."
And of course Keith got caught with the most dramatic Lion ever, but at least he could appreciate an entrance.
And of course nothing is ever easy. The literal moment they got back to Arus to try and regroup and come up with a strategy with all the lions in play the Galra land and begin firing on the ship. There really is no breathing room between attacks and the castles only line of defense is failing.
It really doesn't look that good, but of course Shiro gives it the best he can because he has to make it out of here. He has survived imprisonment, torture, and who knows what else just to get back to Earth and he did all that while sick and probably without an arm.
Now he has a lion.
He has another four on his back, one with Keith at the helm.
He was not going to die today.
He was not going to perish here.
"Let's do this!"
"How?" And honestly that was the question that needed an answer. And there was nothing they could possibly do as they watched their lions getting pulled into the galra ship, as they watched the final form of defense shed itself from the castle.
Could this be the end? When they haven't even started?
"No! We can do this." And with their new resolve, knowing they are the true last line of defense the universe has they pulled together to try for one final blow and they felt it. The irrefutable pull towards one another. The feeling of five separate lions, five separate beings becoming one mind, one giant lion. And it worked.
They did it, somehow, some way they saved the day by saving the planet.
Maybe one day they could save the universe.
But for right now? They'll focus on saving one planet at a time.
"Defenders of the Universe, huh? That's got a nice ring to it."