Love heals all wounds -Klance -

Chapter 9✨

It couldn't have happened at a worse time. Not only was the entire castle on edge in anticipation of Keith's impending delivery, but something even worse threatened and made itself known by the blaring over the castle's loud speakers.

"Oh fuck, now?" Lance slammed his fist into the wall adjacent to him.

Of course. Of course they were here. Would it be too much to ask for a day or two of silence during this especially trying time for Keith? Coran had barely gone into the infirmary with Keith when the sirens went off. Lance had to admit it: the Galra had impeccable timing. Simply impeccable.

The whole castle flew into a scramble, Allura running to the cockpit to determine the severity of the situation. In the meantime, the other paladins needed to suit up. As much as they all wanted to be there for the birth of the baby, they had a duty to the universe. So the entire crew (minus one important player who was currently preoccupied at the moment) ran to go change. It was hard to believe that just moments before the entire team had stood in panic outside the infirmary.

Coran stayed in the infirmary with Keith. No matter how dire a situation the castle may be in, someone needed to help Keith through the delivery. Coran seemed the most... qualified? Maybe that isn't the right word but fuck it he was the only one who had every delivered a baby before so it was Keith and the baby's best chance.

"Paladins, a Galra ship has been detected on our radar. At this rate, they should be upon us in no less than ten minutes," Allura reported, "I know this isn't exactly the best time for this sort of thing to be happening, but I'm afraid we have no choice. The four of you are going to have to go out there and defend the castle for as long as possible while the castle prepares for a jump. In any other situation, we might have stayed to fight, but I'm afraid—"

Allura's voice was interrupted unceremoniously by Shiro, which was out of character for him but given the circumstances, not all that surprising.

"Princess, we understand. Getting Keith to safety is the most important thing right now, I think everyone will agree," Pidge, Hunk, and Lance all nodded, "So just tell us what we need to do."

The current plan was to fight off the enemy scout ships and whatever else the main ship was going to throw at them while the castle prepared for the jump, then they would return and make a quick getaway.

"To your lions!" Allura commanded.

Lance took one last glance at the infirmary door, which was shut tight. If he listened closely enough, he could just faintly make out the sound of Keith's screams, and Coran trying his best to soothe him. Lance cringed, balling his hands into tight fists.

"Hang in there buddy. I'll be back before you know it."

A few minutes later and the four paladins were in their lions and out of their docking bays. The first of the scouting ships were relatively easy to handle, but now the ship knew their location, and reinforcements were sure to start arriving any second now. The mother ship finally came into view, and the team were taken aback by how large it was. This was no ordinary Galra ship. This was a ship captained by someone important. This was a ship who would have the capability to send wave after wave of fighters, and they couldn't even form Voltron to stop them.

"Uh, I don't mean to be pessimistic but do you guys see that huge mother ship?" Hunks voice came in over the intercom.

"That's no ordinary Galra ship," Pidge agreed, "We need to get out of here—and fast."

Allura broke into the conversation over the intercom, shedding light on their situation.

"Pidge, you're right. That isn't a typical ship. That ship belongs to a commander of Zarkon's Army, though there's no telling which one. We are far out powered, I'm afraid, but you'll all just need to hang in there and keep them away from the castle while we warm up for the jump."