Ally Gone Astray

Chapter one

As always, his room was empty. Keith had nothing other than his blade. Unlike Lance, who had the game console, Pidge who has her tech, and Hunk who has multitudes of notebooks, photos, and snacks, Keith's room was bare. Nothing except a bed, a knife and some clothes.
"I don't get it.... Why don't I have things like them?" Keith asked himself "It's like the Blade is all I care about... Maybe it's true. Maybe I do make a lousy team-"
Suddenly, he was called back to reality. The door to the former paladin's room slid open. "Keith! Buddy! You're back!"
He heard a familiar voice come from his doorway, and looked up to find his old rival, Lance. "Yeah. I am... Just a few days or until my next mission."
"Why aren't you saying hi to everyone?!" Lance grabbed Keith's wrist and dragged him out into the hall "We've missed you!"
    Keith followed Lance through the castle halls until they made it to their destination, the dining hall.
    "Hey, everyone! Look who I found!" Lance shoved Keith forward, forcing him to be social.
    "You're back!" Hunk rushed over to Keith and gave him a hug. "We really missed you!"
    "Yeah..." Keith smiled a little at his comrade's enthusiasm. "It has been a while..." He pulled away from Hunk, catching his breath just in time for yet another hug.
    This time, Pidge. "It's good to have you back!" She said cheerfully, letting go of Keith. "I take it you heard the news... About Zarkon."
    "What?!" Hunk laughed, "Of course he's heard! Who hasn't?!"
    Keith gave a small chuckle, "yeah, I've heard all right."
    "So much has happened since you left!" Lance pulled out his bayard, "Check this out!" A light flashed, and his ordinary bayard turned into a large sword. "Altean Broadsword. Beat that, mullet!"
    "How did you..." he looked on in amazement. The last time he saw Lance, the guy was all about guns and girls. But that's a sword. "I thought you were better with guns and sniping..."
    "Well," Lance smiled, clumsily swinging his sword "I have greatness within." He shot a glance at Allura.
    "But the bayard doesn't just change all of a sudden... Does it?" Keith looked to Pidge, the tech expert.
    "Mmm..." She shrugged, "mine changed at one point. I guess it's possible."
    Keith nodded, still amazed at Lance's blade. "I gotta hand it to you Lance, I never thought you were the type to—"
    "Keith."
    A voice caught him off guard. "Shiro...?" He stepped forward slowly, "It's so good to see you again..."
    "Same to you, Keith." He smiled slightly before motioning him to the other side of the hall. "We could use your help on this."
    Keith nodded and followed Shiro to the table where they had set up a holographic map. "What's the problem?"
    Lance came up behind him, pointing to small colorful dots in the image. "Those are all of the different Galra commanders." He pointed behind him to the Green Paladin. "Pidge decided to give them all different colors"
    "Seems reasonable... Since it's everyone for themselves now..."
    "Yeah sure! But we have a bigger problem on our hands." Lance enlarged the image onto one cluster of stars. "That there is one of the most fortified areas of Galran command. Not as bad as Naxella, or that prison, but it's bad. The rebels are slowly removing their forces, but now they're banding together."
    "What do you mean?" Keith looked confused, "you said they were working alone."
    "None of them like Lotor being in command..." he gave Keith a look of worry. "They'll find a common enemy and fight back. We have to take out the base but how?"
    "Easy." Shiro places his hand on Keith's shoulder. "We fly in to the main base and take that out. Then the rebel forces and your blade allies take out the remaining planets."
    "Easier said than done."
    "Lance, Shiro has a point." Keith said, siding with Shiro.
    "We'd need a better plan, but thats the idea." Shiro aded, "If we take out the main fleets, the outer planets will be easy to take out. That's why we'd send the Blade and rebels in there."
    "I'm pretty sure the Blade of Marmora can take on an entire solar system by themselves...." Lance mumbled.
    Shiro shook his head, "Lance, you're either going to be helpful or I can get someone else to do your job."
    "Fine..." He sighed, turning back to the others and walking away.
    "Shiro..." Keith began, "That was-"
    "Necessary." Shiro cut him off. "This is a crucial point in the war. We can't have attitudes like his throwing us off out game."
    "I understand..."
    Keith watched Lance as he left the hall. He wasn't his normal self. Shiro had crossed a line... But he was right. They need cooperation, not disagreement.