shining like the stars

29

There was still no response from the blue lion. It spun slowly, streaks of red and orange around it as it made awkward entry into the large planet's atmosphere. It was growing larger on Keith's viewscreen quickly, and he had to make a decision fast. If he had the red lion just grab on, he ran the risk of destroying the blue lion; a limb or tail could come off at this rate of speed.

Raising Lance on the communicator was not happening. Keith tried not to think about it. The closer he got he saw the blue armor burnt and carbon-scored, large gouges missing from the back end of the hull and its rear legs. It didn't look structurally compromised, though all the exterior running lights were gone and off.

He pushed his lion forward harder, felt the strain of it as he entered the atmosphere at a high rate of speed, and then pushed her even farther, past the blue lion. Keith turned the red lion, so he could see that he was ahead of Lance, and then righted it, hitting the reverse thrusters and bracing for the impact as the blue lion body-checked the red one.

If it weren't for the restraint webbing, Keith would have gone flying from his chair at the impact, it was that violent. He ignored the pained shudder of the lion and concentrated on the reverse thrusters, kicking them to full and hanging on tight.

"Keith!" Shiro's voice on the communicator in his ear, heard above the violence happening outside the cockpit of the red lion. He tilted his head back, to the viewscreen above him, where he could see the blue lion, and then he felt the double impact of the black lion, hitting the blue one from the rear. "I'm flaring the black lion," Shiro said. "To increase drag, you keep holding the reverse thrusters open!"

As Keith watched he saw the huge paws of the black lion clamp to the shoulders of Lance's blue lion, and beyond that, the spread of the large, red wings attached to the black lion. Instantly, they jerked again.

It was still free fall, but more controlled at this point. The blue lion was no longer hurtling out of control toward the planet's surface, with the two other lions bracing him between them they had managed to salvage the situation as best they could. Now, Keith just had to worry about landing this damn thing, because that wasn't going to be pretty.

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Shiro gripped both the controls, the reverse-thrust turned to full and the drag on the spread wings of the black lion slowing everything considerably. There were all sorts of red warning lights and sirens flashing along the right side of his viewscreen but he ignored them, holding tight and gritting his teeth.

The landscape of the planet below was quickly resolving itself in greens and blues and golds. Keith was the one in control of the angle of entry and descent, and while they had slowed considerably they were still free falling. Shiro didn't let up on the controls to open the comm again, he had to trust that Keith wouldn't direct the column of lions directly into a mountain.

Coniferous green forests spread below them, transitioning to scrub land fast and then Keith was on the comm. "On my mark, release him!"

Shiro didn't stop and question, just reacted. He released the blue lion and with the weight released the black lion flung backward, going tail over teakettle in mid-air before he could regain his equilibrium. The red lion was still bracing the blue lion, but as Shiro balanced and brought his viewscreens to bear, he saw Keith slip out from underneath as well, and the blue lion slammed into soft sand, cutting a deep scar through dunes and coming to rest with its front half splashing into shallow surf on one of the planet's beaches.

Shiro set down the black lion not far from where Keith dropped the red lion into the sand, and he didn't even bother with the speeder, barely waiting for the winch to fully drop him onto the beach. Shiro watched Keith run across the beach, heart pounding and chest heaving, before he flung himself out of the pilot's seat and ran for the exit of the black lion.