Voltron Legendary Defender - Shining Like the Stars [69] [Shklance]

[scriveyner]

Title: shining like the stars [69]
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender
AU: slts
Characters/Pairing: Shiro/Keith/Lance, Team Voltron
Rating: M
Length: 1773
Summary: Illianya touched her wrist, and the forearm of her black flightsuit lit in the same soft teal that glowed on the paladin armor. A small display appeared above her arm, and she touched the keypad simulated by the holographic computer. "Two ships," she confirmed, as everyone crowded around her. The keypad dissolved and the hologram became a three-dimensional map.



Illianya touched her wrist, and the forearm of her black flightsuit lit in the same soft teal that glowed on the paladin armor. A small display appeared above her arm, and she touched the keypad simulated by the holographic computer. "Two ships," she confirmed, as everyone crowded around her. The keypad dissolved and the hologram became a three-dimensional map.

"That's the orbiting waystation," Shiro said, and Illianya nodded her head, and then zoomed it out.

"The frigate is in orbit around Eaphus itself, not the moon or docking at the waystation," she said. "It appears the prison ship is just here for a transfer, maybe gladiator games." She tapped her wrist again and the map rotated a little. "We've been tagging and trailing several prison ships. We're not able to read it's IF/F from here, are we, Holt?"

Matt was standing back from the group of them, his own small computer readout going and Pidge glued to his side, eyes narrowed. "I'll have to get closer to see if it's one we've tagged," he said. He looked over at Pidge. "I've — we've been following prison ships for weeks, trying to find the one I escaped from, or the one Takashi could have been on." He looked over at Shiro, who didn't lift his head from studying the display Illianya held out, but nodded his head to show that he was listening to Matt.

"But why's the frigate hanging back, then?" Hunk asked. "What is it here for, especially if Galra can't survive the moon's atmosphere."

"Drone soldiers aren't affected by insignificant things such as an atmosphere," Illianya sniffed. "But I don't think that they're here to conquer, their presence in the waystation in orbit is enough to keep Eaphus firmly in the empire."

"No, they're here because someone reported an idiot in a blue lion flying recklessly around," Rian, the other Altean, snorted, arms crossed.

"Hey!" Lance said indignantly. "I wasn't flying recklessly."

"Do you think it's scanning for the castle, princess?" Shiro asked, and Allura frowned, also studying the map. The gas giant was large enough that only the curve of it showed along the edge of the map.

"That would be my assumption," Allura said with a frown.

"Then that's a poor way of doing it," Keith said, and they looked at him. He too was focused on the map above Illianya's arm to notice. "The magnetic fields that the gas giant emits would be playing havoc with the frigate's long-range scanners. They'll never find the ship just hanging in its orbit like that."

"That's a good point," Illianya said. "What are they doing, then?"

"Waiting for the Blue Lion to break orbit and then follow it back to the castle," Hunk said. Allura's attention swung to Hunk and he shrugged. "I mean, that's what I would do, if I knew someone was hiding in the system. If the Blue Lion is planetside, it's gotta leave at some point. Then I send a few small recon ships behind it and wham!" He slammed one fist into the palm of his other hand. "Got'em!"

"I am not leaving Blue alone here," Lance said.

"Nobody said anything about leaving Blue, Lance," Pidge said.

"Blue should stay behind," Keith said. "And Lance, too." Lance shot Keith a betrayed look, that Keith ignored completely. "They'll be looking for Blue, but not for shuttles. We can get back to the castle and get our lions, and then go settle this frigate once and for all."

"Alternatively," Hunk said, "I bet we can outrun the frigate."

"No," Rian said. "We're not gonna run, we're gonna take down the frigate and tag the prison ship."

"I agree with the Altean," Keith said. "We can't just let this opportunity go to waste!"

"As much as I would like there to be one less Galran frigate running around," Lance said, "maybe Hunk is right. This place might be under Galra rule in name, but the people here aren't suffering or being exploited. More people would get hurt if we stood and fought here, than if we bolted."

"Your paladins are cowards," Rian spat toward Allura. Illianya lifted her head and glared at him, but Allura ignored the condemnation. Lance caught Keith by his shoulder and kept him in place before he could lunge at the Altean.

"My paladins are well aware of the stakes at hand," Allura said. She lifted her head and looked at Lance, who had caught Keith's arm now, linking his arm with Keith's and using the physical contact to keep him from making any more enemies. "Lance, if you would go ahead and radio Coran to bring the castle out of low-power mode and prepare it for a quick launch."

Lance nodded his head and unlinked his arm with Keith's. Keith scowled — not at anyone in particular, just in general, and Shiro put his hand on Keith's shoulder.

"I feel that Hunk and Lance are both correct," Allura said, and Lance, who was halfway to the exit, let out an audible "Yes!" that echoed a little. "It's best for us to get away from Eaphus for the moment and figure out our plan from there. Our exit might make any further action far more difficult having lost the element of surprise, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make." Allura looked to the Alteans, and Matt. "You three are of course invited to accompany us, but I understand if your path lies elsewhere."

"I would not pass up a chance to serve you, my princess," Illianya said with no hesitation. Matt nodded his head as well, arm around Pidge.

"We've got so much to catch up on," he said.

Rian let out a groan and said, "well I can't take on an entire frigate on my own, now can I?"

"I'd really like to see him try," Keith muttered, and Shiro squeezed his shoulder.


#

Lance sat in Blue and crossed his arms, looking up through the top viewscreen. Blackened, coiled tree branches blocked much of his view of the sky, and even if he had an unobstructed view he knew he would not be able to see the waystation locked as it was in tidal orbit above the moon. The Galran frigate would be too small to see against the vast, colorful surface of the gas giant that took up half the sky as well, so he had no idea what direction to look.

There was something bothering him, niggling at the back of his mind like an insistent itch and he couldn't figure out what it was. It was frustrating, that's what it was, and Lance grunted a little as he slumped further down in the seat, legs jutting out.

He'd left the ramp down on Blue, because hell, they were all going to squeeze into her cockpit again and judge Lance's piloting skills, so what was the point in pulling up the ramp? Blue's engines weren't running but he felt a small tremor that he usually would account for as an engine hiccup, and Lance cocked his head.

"They are too judging me," he said out loud, because why the hell not talk to the semi-sentient fighter craft? "Shiro and Keith are both better pilots than I am."

At that, the tremor was stronger this time, and several of the holographic displays illuminated themselves. Lance stared at them; they usually only activated while the lion was in flight, so he sat up as information started scrolling down them very, very quickly. It was all in Altean, so Lance had absolutely no chance of reading it, even if it went by at a speed that he could comprehend. "Blue," he said, and put his hand out to the display. "I appreciate the encouragement, as I'm assuming that's what this is, but I can't read this-"

As he reached out his hand to the display, Hunk's head popped around the corner into the cockpit itself. "Who are you talking to, Lance?" he asked. "Is Coran on the comm?"

Abruptly, the displays winked out. Lance leaned back around the chair. "Coran already had the ship up and running, he'd anticipated Allura's decision," he said. "He's aware that some of the craft coming in are Galran, though, thought he'd need that heads up."

"Did you tell him?" Hunk asked, as Keith squeezed past him into the cockpit.

"I'm going to stomp on that little shit's face," Keith announced, and threw himself against the side of the cockpit, arms crossed angrily.

Lance digested that for a moment. "And here I thought I was the only person who'd earned that honor," he said, and then looked over to Hunk. "I didn't, I didn't feel right telling him over the comm, you know? Like it's not my place to."

Keith gave Lance a weird look, and Pidge wormed into the cockpit, followed by Allura and finally Shiro. Lance shrugged loosely at Keith and wiggled his eyebrows, something that elicited a groan from Hunk.

"Can you two ever not be gross?" Pidge asked.

"Depends," Lance said. "Can you ever stop being a gremlin?"

"Feed me after midnight and see what happens," Pidge said.

"Matt gave me their IF/F signatures," Shiro said. "If you want to key them in so Blue recognizes them as friendlies." Lance hovered his hand over where the input keyboard would usually appear, to type them in quickly. He put in the information as Shiro gave it to him, then looked out the forward viewscreen to see Illianya climbing into her starfighter, the last of the three of them to do so.

"Do we have any coordinates on the waystation?" Lance asked. "Or any idea where the frigate is at in its orbit?"

"Nope," Pidge said cheerfully. "Don't get us killed, Lance."

"Just for that, I'm gonna make you hit your head on the ceiling," Lance said, resting his hands on the controls. Pidge automatically put one hand on her head as if that was enough to cushion it, and Hunk leaned forward and said urgently, "dude, remember this thing doesn't come with barf bags."

"Hunk, if you throw up on me, I'm ejecting you into space," Lance said. "I'm not even kidding here, just a little bit of puke and you're a Hunksicle."

Shiro put one hand around Allura's waist to help brace her. "Lance," he said, and Lance didn't look back, but shrugged exaggeratedly.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, yanking on both of the flight controls at the same time, causing the Blue Lion to leap forward into the air. "Where's a Kenny Loggins soundtrack when you need it?"