Forging Ties (Book 2 of Fates Entwined)

Fight Part 1

"Zarkon! How did he find us?" Allura asks as Coran grabs his cube.

"His commanders must have radioed him from Olkarion," Keith mutters.

"We need to wormhole, now! Everyone to your stations. We've got to put some distance between us and Zarkon. This could be the fight of our lives," Shiro orders, separating reluctantly from Keith.

"That's sure a lot of fighters," Hunk observes, as they are bombarded by lasers.

"Allura, can you evade these fighters? We can't have them following us through the wormhole," Shiro asks.

"I can try."

"Keith, Lance, let's lay down some covering fire," Shiro orders, three drones leaving the particle barrier and attacking the incoming fighters.

"Lance, incoming, 12 o'clock high!" Pidge warns.

"Got it!" Lance answers, only for Keith's drone to knock into his drone and take out the fighters, "Hey!"

"Sorry! Gotta be quick!" Keith says, trying to ignore the extra consciousness he can feel prodding at the Lions.

"How's that for quick?" Lance shoots some incoming fighters coming from Keith's rear, barely missing Keith's drone.

"Knock it off, you two! Stay in your zones!" Shiro orders, trying to get some order back.

"Yeah, Keith!" Lance calls, stressed, but his eyes soften when he sees Keith shaking slightly, "I can handle this."

"Keep calling out those fighters, Pidge. Hunk, how are the defenses holding?"

"I don't know. Ten percent? Fifteen maybe? Everything's a blur. I've been up too long. I have tired eyes!" Hunk rubs his eyes.

"I know we just came off an intense battle, but we've got to stay focused, just until we jump."

"And when is that?" Keith growls, trying to shake away the presence trying to reach him through Black.

"They're still too close! We need to gain more speed!" Coran yells.

"I've got an idea! Hold on!" Allura cries, heading for a nearby moon.

"Allura, what are you doing?" Pidge calls.

"I'm going to use this moon's gravity to gain speed and put some distance between us and Zarkon."

The gravity causes some strain for the Paladins and Alteans, but they put enough distance between them and the fighters.

"We're clear to wormhole!" Coran announces.

They fly into the wormhole. Zarkon watches. Keith whimpers, holding himself as he feels Zarkon watching, finally able to feel like himself without the foreign presence.

"We got away from Zarkon, how come we're still on alert?" Lance asks in the wormhole.

"Coran, what's going on?" Shiro demands, eyes focusing on Keith, who seems to be losing consciousness.

"Oh, no! Teludav lens malfunction! We're about to exit this wormhole a lot sooner than we planned! " Coran says, Allura looking like she is struggling to.

"Whoa. Where are we? Looks like some sort of iceberg graveyard," Lance observes.

"Coran, what's the status?" Allura asks.

"Checking that now. We didn't make it to our exit point, but we're several galaxies from Zarkon's fleet," Coran informs them and Allura falls to the floor exhausted.

Everyone except for Keith rushes over, struggling to stay awake. He grows a bit more aware at the commotion and reaches out to Allura with a whimper from his position curled in his seat. Shiro notices and goes to Keith instead. He picks Keith up, the younger putting his arms around the elder's neck. Shiro places a hand just below his neck and positions Keith's legs so he is holding Shiro like a Koala. Keith looks at the Paladins and Allura, who have been watching the interaction, watching them carefully. Keith whimpers and slowly reaches a hand out to Allura, who smiles softly and takes it, rubbing small patterns into it, Keith slowly falling asleep. The Paladins and Alteans take it as a sign to focus on Allura and their situation.