Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Honey-brown eyes opened up and stared up at the bottom of the bunk above him. Pinned to the board were drawings he had managed to draw. He would never claim to be the most artistic of folks, but he was proud of his works, especially considering he never met the two he often drew.

“Matt?” An Unilu went over to the bunk bed, leaning down to look into Matt’s bunk, pushing away the make-shift curtains put up for some privacy. “Oh. New drawings.”

“Yup.” Matt sat up and shifted, scooting out of his bunk some. Sitting on the edge, he grabbed his boots. “What’s up, Toval?”

“Te-Osh is planning an attack on a prison.” Toval commented, moving to lean against the adjacent wall, crossing his four arms across his chest. “Get more out. Take down the prison to the best of our ability. You up for it?” With his good eye, he focused a bit on Matt’s leg, the mechanical limb showing. His left leg had taken serious damage and, for his own health, had to be replaced. Originally the Galrans had done the task only so they could try to throw him in the arena again, but it was replaced again and with something he could appreciate more.

It was given to him after he was rescued and joined up with the rebels.

When he was rescued, he stuck with the rebels. He was not done dealing with the Galrans. He still had his father and friend to find. Samuel Holt and Takashi Shirogane were still out there somewhere. And as much as he wanted to return to Earth and find the younger siblings he always dreamed of meeting, he knew he had to finish his work first. Especially if it meant it could help keep Earth safe.

Keep his siblings safe.

“I’m more than ready for this.” Matt finished getting his boots on. He then grabbed his staff, keeping it down between his bunk’s frame and the mattress; he learned to always keep his weapon near, even if he’s safe inside the rebel ships. Being in a war, an attack could happen at any given moment, even a ship wasn’t a safe haven. Especially a rebel ship.

Matt went with Toval to the main part of the ship where the other inhabitants were. They were just a small crew on that ship, but they were one of many rebel ships, part of a vast and intricate network spread throughout many galaxies, all fighting for the same cause.

“We’ll be meeting up with other ships at this prison here.” Te-Osh, one of the head rebel leaders, the captain of the ship Matt worked with, and the woman who saved him from the prison before he could be sent back to the arena, said, pointing out their destination on the map. “It’s a labour camp prison. Approximately fifteen hundred prisoners. We need to act quick, though.”

“Compared to other attacks?” Eis’at, an Olkari woman, inquired. “Why?”

“The planetoid’s resources are nearly exhausted. After this, intel indicates that they’ll be sent to the arena.”

To die. Barely anyone ever survived the arena. Only one did and whoever they were, they claimed the name Champion. After Matt’s recovery on another base, doing some labour and working hard, he was going to go back there, too. Te-Osh and her fellow rebels saved him. Almost no one was left behind. Those who were were tragically ones so spiritually broken, they no longer had the will to even let themselves be helped.

Matt prayed for their souls, hoping for salvation in the afterlife.

“We’ll be on the ground team. We get in, strike hard and fast, and get as many out as possible.” Te-Osh stated. “Remember,” her eyes settled on Matt, the newest member of their crew, “some won’t have the emotional strength to come with us. We can’t waste time trying to force people who don’t wish to leave.”

Matt nodded. “Yes ma’am.” he confirmed. The others also confirmed the information and readied themselves. Matt grabbed his protective mask and put it in place. He then got ready as they met up with other ships.

When it was time, the attack started. With Olia, a canine-like alien, taking the helm, the rebels from Te-Osh’s ship jumped out, using their jetpacks to reach the ground more safely.

“Okay, Olia, help take care of the skies; we’ve got the base.” Te-Osh responded.

“Got it. Good luck down there.” Olia told them.

Matt followed the others into the base, splitting off down a different hall with Eis’at. More from other ships joined in, helping to take over the base and free the prisoners to the best of their abilities, their ships with at least one member in each to keep the skies as clear as possible.

Matt went through the halls, getting cells opened up and trying to help prisoners escape. He stopped, though, when a soldier, hardly a corporal judging by the armor, interfered. Soldiers were often a pain to deal with, but since getting free, he had learned to fight, Te-Osh taking it upon herself to be his main instructor. The human wasted no time in getting into the fight, wanting to deal with the soldier as quickly as possible.

The thing about Galrans were that most were significantly taller than the average human. Like humans, though, they differed. One thing that was a constant was the fact that their arms were proportionately longer than that of the average human. That’s probably the only thing I’m envious of, because curse these short arms. Matt thought to himself. However, what he lacked in appendage length, he made up for with a staff, having a longer reach with it and able to hit enemies more efficiently.

Fighting the soldier wasn’t exactly the easiest of tasks. They were trained, ready for combat. Matt? He was running on some training, winging it, four hours of sleep, and deprivation of coffee. But damn it! He was not going to fall that easily to a soldier. Not even taking a sword, even if that sword was a sort of energy beam sword he would expect to find in some sort of multiplayer character all-star game you could beat your friends up in, to the knee would stop him.

“Um...” The soldier, even with the helmet covering his eyes, seemed perplexed. “Hmm...”

“Really, dude?” Matt sighed. “I just tuned that thing last week. And you stabbed.” Good thing the knee that was hit was his mechanical one. Bracing himself on that one leg, he brought up the other, first kicking the soldier in the groin. The under armor he wore may have been protective, but it was not protective enough against blunt force trauma to the family jewels.

That did it to the guard, especially since he made a sort of squealing noise in pain and surprise. Matt then aimed another kick, this time in the head. It was enough and at the right angle that the helmet was even knocked off and sent several feet down the hall as another rebel ran past. Te-Osh.

The helmet clattering on the floor caught the captain’s attention. She looked to see the soldier fall over. Then the sword in Matt’s leg was noticed. “Matt, are you okay?” She ran over to check on her newest and, in all honesty, youngest rebel. “Eis’at! Can you do a check?”

“Right on it!” Eis’at ran over and checked on Matt’s prosthetic, removing the blade and pulling up the pant leg. Matt had learned that the Olkari were naturally gifted when working with metal. And it was Eis’at herself that did the primary work on his leg to begin with. “Looks like the joint is damaged a little, but it’s an easy fix.”

“Well, that’s good.” Matt declared as he focused his weight on his other leg. “Good news is that I didn’t feel a thing.” His smirk was hidden by his mask, but Te-Osh knew it was there. She ended up smacking him upside the head a bit.

“Mind yourself.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He chuckled. He then looked down to see Eis’at focus on his leg, concentrating on the materials and practically mending the metal; it was always a remarkable sight to see her work with technology and metal. He was told that the Olkari were the greatest engineers of all times and Matt had no reason to think that was a lie.

“Okay, that should do it.” Eis’at assured as she scooted back. Matt gave his leg a test, moving it around as though it were truly his biological one.

“Seems fine to me.” Matt confirmed. He pushed his pant leg back down. “We still have cells to check.”

“The hell ahead. It branches off in different directions. I want you two to take one corridor; Toval and I’ve got the second.” Te-Osh informed. She then led the way and when the next all split, they went their separate ways.

Matt and Eis’at checked other cells, getting other prisoners out. There were some, though, where older prisoners just sat there, refusing to budge. It broke his heart to leave them, but he remembered what Te-Osh reminded him earlier.

“I know you want to save them all… but sometimes we can’t.” Eis’at said softly, putting a hand on his arm.

“I know… it’s just… to know that so many people have been broken to this point.” Matt shook his head. He then continued with the cells, thankfully getting most people out. Then there was one cell left at the end of the hall.

“Matt, Eis’at, what’s you’re progress?” Te-Osh inquired. “We’re just about finished with the prison over here; only a few left.”

“We’ve got one cell left down here, then we’re done.” Eis’at confirmed.

Matt went to the cell and got it opened, hoping that the last person would decide to leave, too. What he didn’t expect, though, was to see a human there. And not just any human, but Commander James Hawkins. Last he saw, which was a year or so ago, Hawkins was back on Earth, giving the final countdown to their launch for Kerberos. How did he get way out there and in a Galran prison? Was Earth okay?

“Huh?” Hawkins was on guard, having already heard the commotion going on outside. He didn’t know what to expect, though his mind figured a soldier would come through, but what he didn’t expect were two masked rebels. “What’s going...”

Matt nodded. “We’re getting out of here.” he informed. “C’mon.”

The commander didn’t need to be told twice. Though cautious of the rebel, unable to tell he was human due to being covered, face included, Hawkins left the cell, following the others and out of the prison.

Once back on their ship, Eis’at went to Matt, removing her mask in the process. “That Earthling… he’s on another ship and we’re heading back to Kraydah’s moon to help get him and the other prisoners situated. Then they’ll be relocated and helped to safe locations. Or allowed to join the rebel force.” She watched her ally and friend closely. “Matt? He’s the same species as you. I don’t want to jump to conclusions or assume but… do you know that one?”

“Yeah.” Matt nodded as he removed his mask. “Commander Hawkins. He worked with my dad on a lot of projects and missions.” he admitted. He sat down on his bunk, a sad look in his eyes.

“Matt? Are you okay?” Eis’at looked worried. She glanced back when Olia entered the sleeping quarters, Te-Osh having gone to pilot the ship to give the canine-like alien a break.

“Matt?” She looked concerned, her motherly instincts kicking in as she saw the human. “Matt, what’s going on? What’s wrong?” She went over and sat next to the human. As much as Matt admired Te-Osh and appreciated her training and guidance, he loved being with Olia. She was a mother who knew just how to work with children. Though physically an adult, Matt often still felt like a child; he loved the feel of having a mother figure there for him. It also reminded him of his parents before he was adopted by Commander Holt.

“There was a human at that prison. And one I knew.” Matt admitted. “But… a human out here. That wasn’t part of my crew. I… I don’t know. What if Earth is in trouble?” He looked to Olia, tears welling up in his eyes. “What if the Galra found my planet…?”

“Oh pup.” Olia pulled Matt into a hug. “When we reach base, we can talk with him. I’m sure he has answers.” She nuzzled him some, hoping to comfort the younger rebel. “I can’t promise your home is safe or not… but I can promise we’ll try to get answers.”

Kraydah’s moon. It was one of the locations where the rebel forces had a base, monitored and guarded by several rebels, run by Lieutenant Ozar in Te-Osh’s absence. Ozar helped ensure that the base was secure and well supplied, shipping needed supplies, mainly food, weapons, and medicine, to other bases and refugee bases. He was seeing to it that the recently freed prisoners were getting situated so their health could be evaluated and treatment could begin.

“Te-Osh, good to have you back.” Ozar greeted with a salute.

“Good to be back.” Te-Osh confirmed.

“We’re getting health checks underway.” Ozar reported.

“Good, good.” Te-Osh nodded.

While Ozar updated Te-Osh, Matt sought out Hawkins, hoping to locate him. As he checked for Hawkins, he looked for others in general. But there weren’t any.

“Toval,” Matt called over, “where there other humans? Earthlings like me?”

Toval approached him. “According to our records, no.” He shook his head. “Not even among the ones who decided to stay behind. Just the one you and Eis’at found.” He pointed with one of his arms. “He’s over there.” Matt looked, his eyes lighting up when he saw Hawkins sitting and getting checked over by a doctor. The doctor seemed to say something good since Hawkins was nodding and smiling. Good. It had to mean he was okay. “Do you want someone to go with you?”

“Hmm.” Matt shrugged. He honestly didn’t know for certain. All he did know was that he had to go talk with Hawkins. He went over, approaching the human. “Guess we can now confirm there really is sentient life outside our solar system. Not that Dad and I had any doubts.”

“Huh?” Hawkins looked over, his eyes widening. Of all the people to expect to see, he never expected to see Matt Holt, a member of the Kerberos crew. “Matt… Holt...” He stood up. He then hugged the human. “Holy crow, I did not… I… you’re okay.”

“Yeah. I am.” Matt returned the gesture. When they finally parted ways, he saluted his superior officer. “Good to see you again. Good to see any human, actually.” He chuckled. “It’s… been a long while.”

“Yeah.” Hawkins nodded. He then motioned for Matt to join him as he sat back down. “Alive and well. That means all that’s left to find is Sam. And… well...”

“Commander, what happened?” Matt joined the commander. “How did you get out here? And what do you mean Dad’s the only one left? Did… did Shiro...”

Hawkins sighed. “Where do I begin?” He didn’t pay mind to Olia, Eis’at, and Toval standing near, listening as well; he recognized Eis’at’s outfit from when he was rescued. Thinking of it, he realized Matt was the other one who opened his cell.

“Is Earth safe?” Matt asked. That was a good and very important place to start.

“It is now.” Hawkins assured. “A few months back, give or take time, Earth was attacked by the Galra.” That was what Matt feared. “But… then one day, after a couple of months, Voltron came. Voltron showed up and saved Earth.”

“Voltron?” Everyone looked when Te-Osh interrupted, walking over to the group with Ozar at her side. “You said Voltron, right? As in the legendary hero, formed by five lions?”

“Yes.” Hawkins nodded. “You know of it?”

“It’s an old legend. I was often told that one day Voltron would return and save the universe.” Te-Osh informed, thinking of her childhood. She was a small tyke, still growing into her ears, and her parents would always tell her stories. She had prayed to the stars and powers that Voltron would show up again. “And… you know for certain?”

“Hard to miss five ships in the form of lions and forming to create an enormous robot.” Hawkins chuckled a bit. “And would you know it? The paladins are all humans. I mean, one is only half-human, but he’s still human in the end. And one of them is Shiro, the other member of Matt’s team that went missing.”

Hearing this, Matt was happy. He was relieved. That meant that Shiro managed to survive the arena and escape. He did his best to not cry. “So how did you get out here?”

“Yeah… that’s where we messed up.” Hawkins shook his head. “We were helped and our technology was quickly improved. We thought we could come out here, help the cause, put an end to this thousand year war… bit us right in the asses. Our ship was taken down… and most of us were captured. We got split up.” Listening, Matt hoped they could find the others, however many were out there. “Some were killed. But… there was a team of fifteen we had. They had specialized ships to fight in. We made sure they got away. Hopefully they got in touch with someone, an ally especially, and could get to safety… otherwise they’d still be stranded on that planet...”

“Te-Osh, is there anything we can do to help?” Matt asked, worried for his fellow humans.

“If you know the coordinates, we can send a small group there to investigate.” Te-Osh responded. “But otherwise… we need to be careful in our missions. We can’t go searching blindly, I hope you understand.”

“Yeah, I do.” Hawkins nodded. “I don’t exactly know the coordinates, but I can probably figure it out if I can look at some galactic maps. Or chart out some of what I saw and compare that.”

Te-Osh was in agreement to that. “Until then… knowing that Voltron is now out there...”

“Te-Osh? What’s wrong?” Olia inquired.

“Not exactly wrong. But rather… right for once.” Te-Osh nodded. “We need to up our game and progress further. Aid Voltron however we can.”

“And how do we plan on doing that?” Ozar inquired.

“Surely you recall Slav?” The alien with feathered ears looked a little amused.

Ozar was typically patient and well mannered. Hearing that name, though, he got a look of annoyance. “How could I possibly forget? He kept messing with my ship!”

“Who?” Matt asked Toval.

“A reclusive genius who had spent deca-phoebs helping rebel groups.” Toval responded. “There’s just one problem. He was captured and put in a maximum security prison. Beta Traz.”

Matt had a deadpan look to his face. “It’s seriously called… Beta Traz?” he asked. He looked to Hawkins. “Did I hear that right?”

“I’d say so, kiddo.” Hawkins chuckled a bit.

“What’s wrong with the name?” Eis’at was confused as she spoke up. Understandably so, everyone else listening was confused.

“Nothing’s wrong. Just oddly similar to an old and long-since closed down prison on our home planet.” the commander mused.

“Anyway, it’s not a prison we can just burst into and attack. It’ll take a lot of strategy.” Te-Osh reminded. “We’ll need to come up with a plan.”

Matt nodded, determined. Hopefully with Slav’s help, they could get more done in the war and put an end to it sooner. And help Voltron. Maybe with that, they could find the others and rescue them. He certainly hoped so.

Chapter Text

Pidge sat in her lab, working on a computer and compiling notes. There was a lot for her to update Chip on. They had met up with a member of the Blade of Marmora, Keith’s group, and got some assistance, even working together to take down a robeast. Ulaz, the senior Blade, only inhabitant of the base he was at, ended up staying on the castle, being able to provide needed information and help out, especially medically and with Shiro’s robotic arm. Pidge actually liked him and liked to listen to anything he was willing to teach her.

In addition to meeting and befriending Ulaz, they had been chased across several galaxies and into storms by Zarkon, their teludav finally reaching a point where the scaultrite lens stones were cracking, their use complete. They managed to finally escape and hadn’t run into the emperor since then. Despite all of that, though, Pidge found the worst and most disgusting part of that day was the fact that Coran had the slipperies, a relatively harmless Altean sickness that caused him to profusely sweat a mucus-like substance; Pidge felt like Hunk in getting sick so easily and often at that thought.

While trying to find a place to obtain more scaultrite that they needed so they could use the wormholes again, they helped more planets and people in need, including the Taujeerians. Taujeer, their planet, was crumbling on the surface, giving way to an acidic mantle of sorts to their planet; Pidge found that this was a common occurrence for their planet and they had planned to leave before it became too late to wait out the shedding process, but a Galran named Morvok screwed them over and damaged their escape ship, an ark as they called it. Well, they were able to help out in the end.

Then there was the space mall. A literal mall in space. According to Coran and confirmed by Ulaz, it used to be a swap moon, a dangerous location often inhabited by pirates where goods were traded; apparently the Unilu were notorious swindlers, but Pidge didn’t want to simply listen to a stereotype and judge that race. Ulaz informed them that it was one of the extremely few things that was good that the empire established, replacing the swap moon with a shopping center that had order and was safe, even non-Galrans of the universe that weren’t enslaved went there, openly spending money.

Pidge found that Ulaz was fond of her, treating her like his child or something along those lines; she didn’t mind and thought it was sweet, especially since he didn’t nag her and took it upon himself to teach her more. He had accompanied them to the mall to help them find the scaultrite, splitting off with her and helping. They had stumbled across Lance who had found a shop with Earth things. Prior to stopping at the mall in general, Ulaz and Coran both made it clear that it wasn’t going to be some shopping trip to have fun, that they had a task at hand.

Ulaz didn’t uphold that and actually bought some things that Pidge held an interest in, such as a game system, games, a sewing machine (she commented that with it, Lance could make those matching lion pajamas for her and Chip), and then computer parts from different stores. From the Earth shop, they ended ended up with a cow, Kaltnecker, a gift from the shopkeeper for buying from his store. Shiro was perplexed but then commented that Ulaz should not be left alone with Pidge while shopping and needed someone to supervise them better in future events.

Afterwards, after Shiro had bonded with his lion more while the others located and obtained the scaultrite, they went to meet with more members of the Blade of Marmora, including the organization’s leader, Kolivan. Though more reserved, handling missions from the shadows to slowly take down the empire (too slow according to Allura), Kolivan was in agreement that they needed to act as soon as they could.

While he went over ideas and planning with Allura, Shiro, Keith, and Coran, the others tended to the usual. Hunk was in the kitchen and cooking while Pidge was going over data and waiting for the time to contact Chip (they kept in touch for the past couple of weeks, keeping each other and their teams updated). Lance, on the other hand, was looking at a large pack of glow-in-the-dark stars of varying sizes and a few different colour. He had found them at the space mall, in that Earth shop to be more precise.

Lance thought back to the Garrison. They spent many nights in Pidge’s room and studying; she always studied their materials with them to help them make sense of it since everyone learned differently and she could help better than the professors for the most part. Lance knew Pidge loved glow-in-the-dark stars, she made a point to decorate her room with them; she was thankful she didn’t have a roommate for that very reason. One thing he noticed about her room in the castle, though, she did not have such stars on her walls. It was an item she didn’t grab from home after saving Earth.

At the Earth shop, before Pidge and Ulaz found him there, he spotted the stars. He didn’t have any GAC, Galra Authorized Currency, on him and even though Ulaz bought things for Pidge (and sort of for him since she wanted the sewing machine and accessories he saw and liked), he didn’t want to ask. Not for seeming like he wanted things, but rather so he could surprise Pidge. Thankfully the shopkeeper was interested in Earth things and loved the idea of accepting Earth money; Lance was thankful that he had that on him.

“Okay. Just… gotta go in.” Lance sighed. “Step inside, talk to Pidge, give her the gift.” It was easy. Right? Wrong. Lance didn’t know what to think. He was developing an actual crush on Pidge. Yes, he had a tendency to flirt with other girls, try to get them to go out with him (only to miserably fail), but in their defenses, he couldn’t blame them. He was a serial flirt. But this time? He didn’t want to flirt. He didn’t want other girls. This time he saw Pidge and he saw a possible future with her. And he didn’t know what to do other than give her a bunch of glow-in-the-dark stars as a token of his love.

This was not going according to plan or all that well since he still stood outside the green lion’s hanger that doubled as Pidge’s lab.

“Okay, now or never. Or… at least later?” Lance sighed. He finally got the courage and stepped inside the lab, seeing the partisan set up that sectioned off her lab a bit. Stopping, he saw Ulaz and another Blade, Antok according to Keith, with Pidge, the two helping to transfer data they’ve received on various prisons and prisoners. He realized Pidge must have been searching for her mother and the rest of the Explorer crew. Quickly before anyone took notice, he put the package behind his back. He then went over, checking things out.

“So, what’s happening?” Lance inquired.

“Just getting this set up so I can start my search.” Pidge stated.

“The files may not be as updated, though; while updated as often as possible, having all the data on every prisoner...” Antok started to remind the paladin.

“But it’s a better start than nothing. Besides, I still need to find Shiro’s crew, too.” Pidge didn’t tell the others of hers and Chip’s assumption of Matt being their older brother; Shiro didn’t speak of it, either, nor did he talk to the twins about the matter. She had it under the guise of for Shiro, but part of it was for her and her brother, too. “And they’ve been out here over a year.”

“It’s possible.” Antok nodded. “The data will need translating, though.”

“I can easily aid her in that regard.” Ulaz pointed out.

“Antok, can you come up to the bridge?” came Kolivan’s voice over the comm, coming in through to the lab.

“I’ll be on my way.” Antok responded, turning and leaving the lab and hanger.

“Huh? Just him?” Lance asked. Part of him hoped Ulaz would leave, too, so he could talk with Pidge and give her the stars. “Not you, too?”

“I’m not essential to all meetings. And Antok is Kolivan’s second-in-command.” Ulaz informed.

“And Ulaz is grounded for constantly going against protocol and Kolivan’s orders.” Pidge chimed in, earning a slight glare from the pale Galran. “I even had to give him my best kicked puppy gaze to convince him to let Ulaz remain in the castle since he’s able to teach me so much so I can continue aiding the team as well as I have been and improve.” She then motioned to shoo the two away. “Now go. It’s about time for Chip’s and my scheduled call.”

Lance left the area with Ulaz, sighing once out of the room. Well, there went the first actual attempt to give Pidge her gift. He shifted a bit, shuffling the pack some. Ulaz noticed the blue paladin seemed troubled.

“Something is on your mind.” Ulaz pointed out. “And behind your back.”

“It’s nothing.” Lance quickly said. He yelped when the Galran snatched the package of stars. “Hey! Give those back.” He tried to grab for them, but Ulaz simply held a hand out, keeping paladin back at arm’s length. “This is hardly fair.”

“They are reminiscent of designs children draw to represent solar stars however inaccurate.” Ulaz stated.

“Yeah, that’s what they are on our planet, too. And these ones glow.” Lance informed. “And… back on Earth, Pidge liked them.” Ulaz watched the paladin before lowering his arm and returning the package. “She had them all over her room back at the Garrison. But… not here. So I thought to get her a package when I found them at the mall, able to trade for them.” He sighed. “I just don’t know how to bring up giving them to her… normally I’d be straight forward with giving gifts but… it feels different with Pidge. A whole lot harder...”

Ulaz observed the paladin for a moment. He quickly figured out what this was. Love. Lance had a crush on Pidge. And while a protective parental side of him wanted to push him in a different direction and away from Pidge, another part thought it was sweet and they would be cute together.

“Then why not surprise her?” Ulaz inquired, confusing Lance. “She will be busy for a bit, why not put them around her room. Given you can navigate the war zone we call her room.”

Lance stared for a moment before slowly looking down to the stars. His smile grew. “Thanks, Ulaz!” He then ran off at top speed, heading off to Pidge’s room since he knew she would be busy chatting with Chip.

“No matter the species, children in love tend to be the same.” Ulaz chuckled a bit as he walked away, heading up to the bridge just in case he was needed.

Still in her lab, Pidge had the communication link formed and she saw Chip on the screen. She had given him the update, or at least as much as she could. Given their current situation, she couldn’t talk about meeting the Blade of Marmora further and the team coming up with a plan. Saying the wrong things, she could jeopardize the group and their members who were in the empire and spying. It wasn’t that the Vehicle Force team would betray them, but rather their messages could be intercepted by the empire.

“Anyway,” she spoke up, “how are things going on Olkarion?”

“They’re coming along nicely. Our fighter ships are all fixed and ready; we’ve been running drills all week.” Chip informed. “And Ryner thinks the battleship itself will be ready before long. Then it’s just a matter of getting a crew together.” He then grinned and motioned around. “By the way! Have you noticed? New setting? Should I zoom out?”

“I did notice the walls were another colour and had orange accents.” Pidge’s expression matched her brothers. “You’re on the new ship, right?”

“That’s right! While we’re not ready to take it up yet, hell, we don’t even have a full crew yet, but we’re getting used to being around here. And, when we do run our drills, we practice taking off from here now. So we have to be quick to get to our vehicle bays.” Chip looked so proud. “I mean, I know war isn’t fun or anything, but it’s exciting to see how much we’ve progressed so far.”

“I heard that” Pidge nodded. “While our initial training day wasn’t the most fun, it was still interesting and some things were exciting. To be a part of something so big and helping.” She smiled fondly at the thought. She then perked up when she heard the alarm from Chip’s end of the transmission. “What’s going on?”

“Sounds like an attack; we’ve had one other this past week.” Chip responded. “Gotta go, sis!”

“Go kick ass, bro! You’ve got this!” Pidge cheered. She caught Chip’s smirk before communications were cut. She let out a sigh. “But be safe, too.” she whispered softly.

“Pidge, can you come up to the bridge?” came Coran’s voice over the comm.

“Yup, I’ll be right up.” Pidge confirmed. She sent a message to Chip for when he returned, letting him know that she had to go and report to duty, that they would chat again soon.

Chapter Text

Chip enjoyed talking with his sister. Sure, they had only known each other for a short amount of time and had only been apart for two weeks. But for them, it felt like more. It felt like a longer amount of time. Perhaps it was that sense of being twins that they had that made them feel like that. Either way, they still missed one another and though optimistic about the other, they constantly worried.

Chip was enjoying his time talking with Pidge, but the alarms in the new battle and carrier ship went off. There was no voice of another Olkari, typically Ryner, telling them that this was a drill; she always let them know so they didn’t panic, but that didn’t mean they could be lax about things. Without the prompt of it being a drill, though, he was certain they were having an incoming attack. Wasn’t the first time and he was certain it wouldn’t have been the last.

“What’s going on?” Pidge inquired, concern in her voice.

“Sounds like an attack; we’ve had one other this past week.” Chip responded. “Gotta go, sis!”

“Go kick ass, bro!” Pidge cheered. “You’ve got this!”

Chip flashed a smirk before cutting communications and running off. He left the private communication’s room and took off down the hall, heading for the hanger where his ship was. He could hear some of the others’ running thundering behind him.

Then came an unexpected message over the PA system.

“False alarm, disregard that.” Ryner quickly told the group, making them stop all of a sudden.

“Huh?” Chip skidded to a halt and looked up. He then was barreled into by Marvin and Hutch, knocked to the ground. “Whoa!” Some of the others would have followed suit, but they got themselves stopped in time and Cliff, who they rammed into, managed to stand his ground.

“Sorry, everyone. It was just a supply ship and they brought in some downed Galran fighters.” Ryner assured them. More hushed, as though she turned away from the speaker or covered it, they could hear her reminding Aki not to jump to conclusions since he was on the ship’s bridge with her.

“What the hell?!” Marvin yelped, getting up after tripping over Chip initially. “What is Aki even doing up there!? I thought he was learning how to work on the bridge!”

“Hey, give him break.” Cliff couldn’t help but chuckle. He, Krik, and Aki were all being taught so they could work up there at times, especially since they were the leaders of their respective teams; he was grateful that it was Aki making the blunder rather than him. “This is as new to him as it is to us. There’s a lot to take in and a lot to get used to in working on the bridge.”

“Hnn,” Hutch grumbled, “you shouldn’t be going easy on him.” He was sitting down, arms crossed over his chest.

“Someone needs to watch what he’s doing.” Chip muttered, his voice sounding both strained and ticked off.

“That’s right.” Hutch nodded in agreement. “He needs to watch his ass.”

“You’re one to talk, stupid!”

“That’s right. I’m one to talk.” Hutch nodded again before stopping. He then looked down, realizing he was sitting on something. Someone. Under him and tapping his finger impatiently on the floor was Chip, the glasses wearing member of the team glaring up at him. “Oh!”

“Harumph!” Though the smallest member of the team and under a stocky member who did a lot of wrestling, both before and during his time at the Garrison, Chip did have his moments of strength. He managed to push himself up enough to knock Hutch off his back and onto the floor.

“Anyway,” Cliff went over and offered Chip a hand, helping him up, “since we’re up and so full of energy, we might as well get out there and take flight, get the hang of our ships more and get some practice in.”

“Can I at least send Pidge a message about us not being under attack so she doesn’t worry?” Chip inquired.

Cliff sighed, but he couldn’t help but smile. Nothing seemed to stop those two from wanting to keep each other updated, assured they were safe, and, in general, keep in touch. “Make it quick. Then meet with your team in Air Bay.”

“Yes, sir!” Chip nodded and ran off, heading back to the communication’s room.

“Whoa, he sure takes off quick, huh?” Hutch asked as he sat back up.

“Once he has his mind set on something, it’s dangerous business trying to stop him.” Rocky mused, knowing Chip well enough to understand that; they were close back at the Garrison base they trained at, even being roommates.

“I think it’s nice.” Krik pointed out. “Some may not agree, but having emotional bonds with others, especially family, can really make people much stronger.

Chip was up in the observation tower of one of the buildings the Olkari were working hard on. They were working on so many projects, the refugee city, the vehicle team’s ships and battleship, and a defense tower were the main things. When he wasn’t helping out on the planet or training, he was often up in the tower, watching over the city and seeing the everlasting twilight casting over the scenery. With the light hardly ever changing, showing no sign of day or night, Chip relied on timers, keeping track of the days and day/night cycles. At least in terms of trying to keep a schedule since Olkarion had no actual night except during rare planetary phenomenons.

“I figured I’d find you up here.” Ryner chuckled a bit as she walked over to Chip. “Hmm, so much progress in just a couple of movements.”

“We’ve definitely managed a lot.” Chip stated. He let out a sigh.

Wise and observant, Ryner knew the young human was troubled and she knew just what about. “So, were you able to get back into contact with Pidge?”

“No. So I left her a message.” Chip stated. “She left me one, too. She said she had to get back to work. I hope that doesn’t mean anything is wrong...” He shook his head. “I mean, I know we’re in a war now. We’re fighting against a thousand year old tyrant. And his armadas. Everything could go wrong, but...”

“You’ve seen her hurt before and you don’t wish that upon her anymore.” Ryner finished.

“Yeah.” Chip nodded. “I knew a bit of what I was signing up for. I had time to take it in and decide. Though I was selected for my skills, it was still my choice. But Pidge? She was just thrown into all of this. How she’s managed to stand as strong as she has been...”

“She’s an adaptable young woman. Able to grow and adjust to her surroundings.” Ryner chuckled a bit. “She reminds me of me in my youth.” She gently reached out and ruffled Chip’s hair. “She’s stronger than she looks. And she has you to help support her. And you have her to support you.”

Chip smiled. “Yeah.” He nodded in agreement. “We’re a team. We’re a part of the Voltron coalition, ready to fight with them.” He chuckled nervously. “Or… well… as soon as our ship is ready and with a crew.”

Ryner hummed a bit. “In time it will be ready. Another movement I think and it’ll be ready.” she assured. “Oh yes. I did come up with a message for you. I felt it better to tell you in person rather than over the comms.”

“Hmm? What’s up?” Chip inquired. He smiled. “Oh! Did Pidge get the prisoner data sent to us? We can start scanning it for the Explorer crew, right?”

“You can ask her about that yourself.”

“Huh?”

“Coran has informed us that they’ll be coming and landing in Olkarion in the next varga.”

Varga. Chip checked his mental notes for that and recalled that it meant an hour. In an hour they…

“Well, given the time it took me to get here,” Ryner rubbed her knees some, “more so about forty more doboshes.”

Forty minutes. Forty minutes until the castle landed on Olkarion. Chip stared in shock at first but then he grew excited. “Yes! I’ll get to see Pidge again!” he cheered. “And I can show her around the ship! Our ships! Oooh! I can even show her the lion bay that was built, too. This is so amazing!”

Ryner chuckled, greatly amused by Chip’s enthusiasm. “Goodness, your excitement is contagious. It makes me feel thirty deca-phoebs younger.” She stretched a bit, her back popping. “Though… that still does leave me a bit on the older side.” Catching her comment, Chip couldn’t help but snort in amusement. He almost felt bad for doing that, but the Olkari leader’s bright smile said she expected as much for a response.

“Now then,” Ryner prompted, “how about we head back to the base, hmm? Get ready for their arrival?”

“Get ready?” Chip was curious. “Is something going on?”

Ryner nodded. “Indeed.” she said. “It seems the others may have a plan to take down Zarkon.”

A plan? Already? That brought even more hope to Chip. If they could successfully take him down, then they could work better to bring down the rest of the empire and truly begin with the mission of restoring peace to the universe.

“We’ll all need to do our parts to help out.” Ryner continued. She started to walk off, guiding Chip back to the elevator so they could leave the tower. “We’ll find out more when they arrive.”

Chip nodded in agreement. As much as he was happy to see Pidge again, knowing that there was a possible plan to put an end to Zarkon made him even happier. They were that much closer to protecting the universe and finding the Explorer crew members who were taken.

“We’re one step closer.” Chip said.

“And each step, however big or small, is always good. Especially since we’re going in the right direction.” Ryner added with a smile. Chip nodded in agreement.

Chapter Text

Krik was walking through the new ship, seeing how well it was put together and coming along. Slowly but surely, it was even feeling like a home to the vehicle team. He stopped when he heard the girls on the team chatting about something mundane. He peaked in to see them doing their make-up, the girls enjoying their time in primping.

“What in the name of the depths are you three up to?” he asked, leaning in behind Lisa as she powdered her face. “Goodness, we’re just meeting with the Voltron team. You girls act like you’re getting ready for some sort of gala.”

“Hey now, don’t go judging.” Lisa held the powdery pouf out towards Krik. “We like to look our best. You boys may not see much in it, but we actually enjoy this.”

“Okay, okay.” Krik chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. “You win.”

“I thought so.” Lisa smiled brightly before she finished up, the final touches being some lip gloss. “Plus, one day there may be galas and diplomatic meeting. And some may be impromptu. You can’t blame a girl for being ready.”

“Is that so?” Krik sighed.

“It’s no use, Lisa, Krik thinks like most of the other boys in either team.” Cinda commented. “I think the only boy you’d get through to is Lance.” She started using some cream on her cheeks and neck. “Of course, he’d agree with us in a good beauty regime.”

“Remind me to ask him again where he gets his facial creams when we get back to Earth.” Ginger giggled.

“Attention all Vehicle Team members. The Castle of Lions will be landing in the next five doboshes.” came a voice over the comm.

“That sounds like our cue to finish up.” Ginger hummed as she applied some eyeliner. She then got up and ran past Krik. Cinda and Lisa finished up and were right behind her.

Krik chuckled a bit. “I will never understand them.” He shook his head, the smile still playing on his face, as he walked after them. He left the ship and watched as the castle-ship came in to land not too far from their location.

Not far from Krik, Chip was watching eagerly. He was happy to be reunited with Pidge. Sure, they spoke often enough with video transmissions, but being together was important to them. It was to be expected, though. They were twins, they liked being close. It didn’t even matter that they hadn’t known each other for long, they still connected.

When the castle landed, the main door opened up. It didn’t take long before a blur of green to speed past and tackle into the smallest member of the vehicle team. Chip was tackled to the ground, Pidge hugging him. The others were amused when they saw that interaction.

“Well, glad to know even a couple of weeks doesn’t change their attitudes towards each other.” Cliff mused. “But that’s how siblings are.” He then looked over when he saw the others leaving the castle. More than that, other than Keith, there were other Galra. They knew that there others because of Keith’s affiliation with Galran rebels, but it was still sometimes hard to believe or trust in.

One of the vehicle team members seemed especially bitter towards the Galra. Shannon. While he accepted Keith, perhaps knowing he was half human and a paladin of Voltron helped, the other Galra were not a good sight to him. Especially when he watched the pale purple Galran go over and pick Pidge up as though she was a kitten, Pidge even curling up her limbs some.

“Try not to hurt someone with your tackling.” Ulaz reminded. “You’re heavier than most would think.”

“Muscle toning from gymnastics and peanut butter cookies.” Pidge responded. She straightened her limbs when Ulaz set her down.

“Hmm.” Ulaz smirked a bit. He then held out his hand to Chip, helping him up as well.

“So, you must be Ulaz then.” Chip stated as he got up. “Pidge mentioned you a few times. Good things, of course. Even that impromptu training drill you put the team on when meeting them.”

Shiro stepped out with the rest of the team, greeting the others. “Glad to see you guys are all doing well. Pidge has been keeping us updated.” He then looked to the new ship. Massive, to be expected. It was reminiscent of Earth ships in design, but he could also see the Olkari touches in it. “So, this is the ship, huh? Does she have a name yet?”

“Not yet, but we’re hoping to have her named by the time she’s ready to launch.” Aki stated. He looked to see Kolivan standing next to Allura. Galra. But he had his ordeal with Keith. And if Keith was a good guy, then his group had to be good, too, right? And he thought back to that other Galran back on the planet they were stranded on where they met Pidge. They helped the team, too, by lying to their commander. “So, I take it these are also allies?”

“Yes, this is Kolivan, leader of the Blade of Marmora.” Shiro responded. Kolivan stepped up beside him. “Kolivan, these are the leaders of the vehicle team. Aki. Cliff. And Krik.”

“Hopefully we will work well together.” Kolivan stated, dipping his head respectfully. “We have much to discuss so we can get our plans underway. Time is of the essence if we are to have an advantage.”

“Well, might as well get ready to go over a plan.” Aki confirmed.

“Wait, that easily?” Shannon asked. “We’re trusting them that easily? We know nothing about these Galra.”

“Shannon, now’s not the time.” Aki tried to be rational with the sea team member. “If there’s a chance we can take down Zarkon, we need to take it.”

“How do we even known they won’t be leading us into a trap?” Shannon questioned.

“What?” Keith looked offended at that remark. “The Blade of Marmora would never-” He stepped towards Shannon, but Antok put his arm out, stopping him.

“Curb your anger, kit.” the masked Galran reminded in a stern tone.

“I have been informed that your planet had been attacked.” Kolivan stated. “But know that our organization had nothing to do with that and we are deeply sorry for any losses there had been.”

“Sorry? You’re sorry?” If looks could kill, then Shannon’s glare would have struck Kolivan down then and there. “If you’re this great rebel group, then where have you been the past thousand years while the Galra spread out? Clearly you had ties to Earth since he was born.” He motioned to Keith. “So where were you to defend us? Or even warn us? Because of you, thousands of lives were lost! Families were broken and destroyed!”

“Shannon, now is not the time nor place to start this.” Krik reminded, trying to rein in his teammate.

“If not now, then when?” Shannon snapped. “We may have come to terms with Keith, but we know nothing about these so-called allies. How should we know we can trust you?”

“Then trust us.” Pidge moved in and pushed Shannon back. “I get it, you’re still upset about what happened back home. But trust us when we say you can trust the Blade of Marmora. They’re our allies.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” Shannon glared down at Pidge. “You didn’t see your family get slaughtered by those Galran bastards. You weren’t even on Earth when they took over. Hell, you weren’t even there when your mother and the rest of the Explorer crew was taken! And before Gunderson, you were just some orphan! So you don’t know what it is to see your family taken and killed off!” He stopped and his eyes widened. The words left his mouth before he could even think about what he could say.

Everyone was silent. No one could fault Pidge for not being there for her mother, she was out fighting in a war. And sure, she wasn’t on Earth when it was fully taken over, but she was on another mission, getting Voltron together so they could save Earth and many other planets. But most of all, she knew nothing about her birth parents. She didn’t know if they were alive or dead. It never bothered her before, but Shannon snapping at her was like a slap to the face.

But Pidge didn’t snap back. She wanted to yell at Shannon, hell, she wanted to take her bayard and shock him in the groin. But she tried to keep her temper in check. But that didn’t stop her from speaking.

“You know, you can be a real asshole.” Pidge told him. Hit one. “Yeah, I know I wasn’t there for Mom when she was captured. But I was out there working my ass off, trying to protect other lives from the empire’s control. And yeah, I wasn’t on Earth when the invasion went fully underway. But we were busy getting the blue lion away so that they wouldn’t get it. Sure, we got caught, but we escaped with Keith’s help. If not for any of that, then Earth would still be under the empire’s rule.” Did that count as one or two hits? Either way, she made good points and kept hitting the vehicle team member with the facts. “As for my birth parents...”

This was where Pidge didn’t keep her calm. Though as the saying went, there was the calm before the storm. She pulled Shannon forward and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. “Leave them out of this! I may not know anything about them, but neither do you!” She then ran off.

“Pidge!” Chip called after her. He was pulled back by Ulaz. “Don’t stop me from going after her!” he yelled at the other.

“It’s not your place to handle this.” Ulaz reminded, his voice calm; though calm, the position of his eyebrows showed he was actually worried for Pidge. He looked over to Shannon, the Earthling still on the ground but finally sitting up. He went over to the male. Before anyone could say or do anything, he reached down and grabbed Shannon by the front of his uniform, pulling him up and forcing him to his feet. “I’m probably the last one to point this out, but unchecked emotions can make a team crumble. It’s best you figure yourself out and talk with Pidge about this.” He turned on his heel and walked off, motioning for the human to follow him. “This way. Hopefully she won’t be too hard to find.”

Shannon stared in shock. He then looked to the others, as though hoping that they would get him out of going with Ulaz.

“I suggest going.” Shiro stated. “Ulaz has taken up a bit of an unofficial uncle role to Pidge and will make sure she’s doing okay.”

Shannon sighed. “Fine.” He sprinted to catch up with Ulaz, even having to speed walk once at his side to keep up with the Galran’s longer legs. He kept an eye on his surroundings, concerned when they left the city and entered the forest. “This is not going well...” he muttered. “I shouldn’t have opened my mouth about Pidge’s family...”

“Perhaps not.” Ulaz stated, not even looking down at the shorter male. “But what’s said is said.” Shannon sighed. “Your emotions aren’t unfounded, though. Your pain is real. But remember, it is neither less than nor greater than anyone else’s.”

“What would you know about pain and loss?” Shannon asked. He was forced to stop when Ulaz put his hand out.

“The Blade of Marmora typically believe that emotions are a luxury we cannot afford. But more than that, a bitter attitude like yours is what can jeopardize a mission.” he reminded. “I understand you’re still young, everyone on the teams are, but this childish behaviour can get your team killed, and you won’t have anyone to blame.” He lowered his hand, returning it to his side. “I understand what you feel. I, too, have seen my family killed. I saw first hand a commander kill my parents in front of me; I was ten deca-phoebs old.”

Shannon’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ulaz continued. “They were rebels and raised me as part of the Blade of Marmora. But as a family, we were undercover in the empire. But they were found out and Ranveig had them kill upon Zarkon’s orders; I was spared because I was a child and they hoped I was redeemable. But I was already set on being an agent in the Blade of Marmora.” he informed. “I wanted to blame the empire, Zarkon, and especially Ranveig. But I had to learn to curb myself and focus on the bigger picture.” He patted Shannon’s back, prompting him to walk again. “It took time, but I learned. I still make mistakes, I still go against orders, but I’m prepared for the consequences. And I make sure my actions do not impact the rest of the group in a negative way.”

Shannon sighed. “I… I didn’t think of that. That you guys...”

“It’s not just rebels. Even members within the empire don’t have it easy. Zarkon is hellbent on power; if you’re weak, you pretty much perish. He even turns his back on other soldiers who aren’t loyal to the fullest, who would run from battle to survive instead of stay and die in the name of Galra.” Ulaz stated. “It’s not easy, but we all have the same goal. Take Zarkon down and bring back balance. True peace is improbable, there will always be bad people out there, but balance is possible.”

Shannon nodded. “Thanks.” he said. “I lashed out when I shouldn’t have...”

“But you made your thoughts known. And it’s up to you to learn from this.” Ulaz stated. He patted Shannon on the head. “If it’s any consolation, it does not bother most of us. We’ve been around for a while, we have seen and heard it all. Keith, though, he’s younger and more temperamental. And Pidge...” He stopped and looked up into a tree, seeing Pidge’s leg dangling from a branch, the girl hidden by the leaves and the rest of the massive branch.

“How did she...” Shannon looked dumbfounded.

“She’s a good climber. Plus she has the jetpack on her armor and her bayard has a tether feature.” Ulaz informed. “I… kind of dragged her around the castle halls with it because of a training session I sprung on them.”

Shannon eyed Ulaz for a moment. “Didn’t expect that...”

“Pidge? Pidge, can you come down now?” Ulaz called up. “You can’t stay up there forever. You already hit the young man, now you need to come back so we can get this meeting going and hopefully get our plan underway.”

Pidge shifted and looked down. She activated her bayard and hooked it onto the tree. She dropped down, letting the tether keep her safe as she came down and landed. She looked to Shannon and glared.

“Pidge, I...” Shannon sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did… it was wrong.”

Pidge’s shoulders slumped. “I’m too nice, aren’t I?” she asked. “I can’t stay mad… but you’re right, it was wrong. And I hoped you learned your lesson.”

“A left hook like that? Yeah, I did.” Shannon mused as he rubbed his face some, he smirked when Pidge started chuckling. “Where’d you learn to hit that hard? Him?”

“Bullying in school. Almost got myself suspended when I finally hit someone for picking on me, but Mom helped get me out of it and reprimanded my principal for allowing such behaviour without consequences.” Pidge shrugged. “It wasn’t easy being a young genius, you know.” She then looked to Ulaz and back to Shannon. “Done being bitter?”

“I think so.” Shannon looked up at Ulaz and offered his hand. “Thanks for talking with me. I hope we can work together.”

“I’m thankful you found it in yourself to actually listen.” Ulaz accepted Shannon’s hand in peace, offering a smile. “Now we should head back.”

Pidge held up her bayard. “With a little fun?” she asked. “C’mon, Ulaz, you’re strong enough.”

Ulaz stared for a moment before sighing, though he couldn’t help but smile more. “Children will always be children.”

Chapter Text

“What happened out there?” Krik asked in shock, seeing Pidge and Shannon caked in mud. “Did you get into a fight?”

“I get the feeling that if we did, I’d look a lot worse than this.” Shannon chuckled a bit as he rubbed the back of his head. “But… well, know that we’re fine. We’re doing okay.” He rubbed his side. “Sort of. That tree really came out of nowhere.”

“Don’t worry, the tree’s fine.” Pidge assured. “Anyway, we’ve got a meeting to get going, right?”

“That’s right.” Allura nodded. “We have the dining hall set up for the meeting.

The others, including some Olkari, especially Ryner, went inside to sit through the meeting. A holographic image was brought up, showing Zarkon’s ship along with some data about it. “Our target is Zarkon’s stronghold. Bringing it and Zarkon down won’t fully end the war, but it will bring us in the right direction.” Kolivan informed. “However, there are several components to making this work.” He looked to Allura, giving her room to speak.

“The plan is to shut down Zarkon’s ship. Ulaz will be able to coordinate with the undercover Blade on board of the flagship, applying a virus to the systems that will bring down power to Zarkon’s ships, which includes drones, sentries, and fighter ships. He won’t be able to attack.” Allura explained. “It won’t be down long, though, we’d only have about twenty doboshes to act.” She got the image to change to a construct of sorts. “Coran will be here on Olkarion, overseeing the construction of a massive teludav to go over Zarkon’s ship while it’s powered down, allowing us to transport it to the Yggiz Galaxy, a remote region of space where Zarkon does not appear to have any sort of base or patrolling Galra.”

“But won’t the Galra see a teludav big enough to go over Zarkon’s ship?” Krik inquired.

“Indeed. That’s why we need to collect Slav.” Allura responded. “He’s a technological genius and would be able to create a generator that could cloak the teludav, keeping it from being spotted, both visually and from the sensors. Unfortunately, he was captured several deca-phoebs ago. But one team will sneak into the prison, Beta Traz, and break him out.”

“Do they seriously have a prison called Beta Traz?” Rocky asked.

“Apparently.” Zandee commented.

“Another team will be going to collect scaultrite from a Weblum.” Allura continued. “The third team will be accompanying me to the Balmera to collect a large enough crystal to power the teludav. And one for your ship, as well since we’ll be there. Then the fourth team will remain here.”

“Remain here?” Cliff asked.

“Yes.” Allura nodded. “A lot of work will be going on here. Olkarion could be a target and we need a team to remain here to help defend it.” She offered a smile. “It’s a lot to work with, yes, but so long as we work together and stick to the plan, we should be… We will pull this off.”

“After we have Zarkon in the Yggiz galaxy, the paladins will form Voltron and take down the ship.” Kolivan took over, Allura not minding at all. “Is it safe to assume that the vehicle team will be ready for combat?” He looked to Ryner.

“The ships are all improved upon and the team’s been running drills.” Ryner informed. She looked to the vehicle team members, seeing their determination and some even nodding, confirming their readiness. “They’re ready. But I can’t say that their battleship is. It will be finished, but it’s sorely unmanned.”

“I can get some Blades on standby to come here and help out.” Kolivan stated. “If you have no qualms with that.”

The three leaders of the teams exchanged looks with not only each other but also the rest of their team. Galrans as part of the crew? But they had learned that the Blade of Marmora agents were their allies. Gazes in eyes and subtle gestures showed that they were all in agreement. “We appreciate the help and offer, thank you.” Aki confirmed.

Kolivan nodded, relieved that his team was being trusted. “Once the ship is down and through the wormhole, there are four targets to hit.” He showed Zarkon’s ship again and different sections were highlighted. “The weapons systems, the engines, the bridge, and the shield generator. You’ll be aiding Voltron in taking those down. The main systems you’ll want to attack are weapons and the shield generator; without those, it will be harder for Zarkon to defend himself and retaliate should we not complete our task in the allotted time.”

“So when do we strike?” Chip asked.

“As soon as all the components are collected and the teludav is complete.” Kolivan stated. He looked to Coran.

“Given the size and thankfully with the help of the Olkari, it should take about four or five quintants.” Coran informed. “During that time, three teams will go off on their tasks to collect what we need.”

“Team one will be with me.” Shiro stated. “Wolo. Shannon. Zandee. Ginger. You four will be joining me; we’ll be accompanying the princess to the Balmera; your ships will be boarded on the castle in case we need them.”

“Team two will be going to the Weblum. Cliff, you’ll be accompanying Tangor, Rocky, Hunk, and Keith there; Hunk will be utilizing the yellow lion for this mission.” Coran explained. “I’ll send you with a video explaining what you need to do when you locate the Weblum so you can collect the scaultrite.”

“Team three will consist of Krik, Cinda, Lance, Pidge, and Chip.” Ulaz went onto the next group. “You’ll be infiltrating Beta Traz and rescue Slav.” He brought up an image on the holographic display, showing the alien they were locating. “You’ll need to be careful. The prison is supposed to be impossible to break out of, let alone in.”

“That’s what they said about the Garrison testing base up in Colorado.” Pidge commented. Eyes were on her. “Yeah… I got reprimanded for that one, too.”

“Chip, your sister is...” Aki trailed off.

“Yeah… She’s on a whole different level.” Chip sighed, a little worried about the things Pidge had gotten herself into.

“The final team will remain here.” Shiro stated. “Aki, you’ll lead the remaining vehicle team members in defending Olkarion, make sure the Galra don’t come sticking their noses in our business. Can I trust you to keep your cool?”

“Yes, sir.” Aki nodded.

“We need to work together, everyone.” Shiro informed. “From here, we’ll be splitting off for our tasks. Cliff, Krik, details will be sent to your teams for your missions.” The two nodded in confirmation. “If we’re going to make this work, if we’re going to succeed, we need to do our parts and work together.”

“I don’t wish to pressure anyone,” Allura spoke up, “but this is important. If any of us fail, our whole mission fails. So we need to be diligent.”

With the plan explained and everyone knowing their part, the others went to get ready. The needed ships were brought over to the castle while the yellow and blue lions were removed so they could be used for the missions.

“This is it, huh?” Chip asked. “A step toward ending this war.” He took in a deep breath. “I know we had tasks before, working hard and all… but this is just… it feels so official.” He looked when Pidge put a hand on his shoulder.

“We’ve got this, bro.” Pidge reminded. “There’s no stopping us.”

“Yeah.” Chip nodded. He then looked over to see Ulaz approach them, a hand behind his back and a datapad in his visible hand. “What’s up?”

“A few things to go over before your departure.” Ulaz stated. “You won’t have the time or luxury to scan through the data, but this pad has been reconfigured for your use in the prison; you should be able to connect it to a computer console and download information available there. Perhaps data on the other Earthlings will be there.”

Pidge accepted the datapad and smiled. “Thanks, Ulaz.” she said. “This will help a lot.”

“As will this.” Ulaz brought out what he was hiding behind his back. A drone. He bopped it up a bit and caused it to activate, the lights on it turning on and showing a soft green. “It was among your things and I took the liberty of repairing it myself.”

Pidge stared in shock. Rover. Her drone that Haxus crushed. Though she knew it was possible, she never brought herself to repair it; in the end, Ulaz repaired the drone. He repaired her little robotic friend. “Rover!” She shoved the pad into Chip’s hands and grabbed the drone, hugging it. “You’re back, buddy. I missed you so much.” She couldn’t help but cry over the reunion, glad to have her drone back. “I’m sorry I didn’t repair you sooner. So much was going on and I was just a mess… but you’re back now.” Rover gave out a series of jovial sounding beeps. “I know, buddy. I missed you, too.”

Hunk and Lance were giving their goodbyes before parting for their missions. They both looked to see Pidge with Rover; they couldn’t help but tear up.

“Is it bad that I’m getting emotional over Pidge’s happy reunion with her drone?” Hunk inquired.

“If it’s bad, I don’t wanna be good.” Lance admitted. He smiled. It was nice to see Pidge with her little robotic friend again. He had to admit, he missed seeing the little bugger following her around.

“Um… what is the significance of the drone to Pidge? And why did she name it?” Aki inquired, looking to Keith.

“One of Pidge’s many feats.” Keith responded. “When we were escaping the cruiser they were brought to after being captured, she took it down and started tinkering with it. Came in handy for our escape. One day, though, Rover wasn’t around. She didn’t talk about it, though. And asking her… well… Pidge doesn’t open up too easily.” He smiled. While he wasn’t moved to tears like Hunk and Lance, he was happy to see Pidge reunited with the drone she adored.

“Anyway,” Shiro spoke up, “we need to get ready and head out. You guys know what to do.”

The others nodded in confirmation, going to where they needed. Pidge boarded the blue lion with her team, ready to set out. Once in, she set up a new pouch on her belt, slipping the datapad into it; it even had room in it for Rover, just in case.

“Okay, Rover, you ready for a mission?” Pidge asked. The drone beeped happily. “Cool.” She held up her fist and the drone bumped into it.

“You’re pretty close with it, huh?” Chip asked.

“He’s a good friend of mine.” Pidge nodded. “Rover, this is Chip, my brother. So be nice to him, too.”

“Hey there.” Chip held up his fist, wondering if Rover would do the same. The drone beeped a couple times before he sounded happy and bumped into his fist. “So, he’ll be of help?”

“Yup. Some things I may not be able to hack into as quickly.” Pidge explained. “Rover’s a Galran drone, though; he’ll be able to help get us in.”

“That’s good to know.” Lance called back. “Okay, ladies, gentlemen… drone, let’s hit the road and get this mission started!”

Chapter Text

“Okay, Pidge, you ready to launch?” Lance inquired.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Pidge confirmed. “Be careful, Lance, you’ve only got one shot at this.”

“C’mon, Pidge, I’m an excellent shot!”

“You are?”

“Yeah! It’s my thing!”

“Since when?”

“Pidge, Lance, knock it off, we need to get this taken care of.” Krik reprimanded the two.

“Copy that.” Lance confirmed. “Okay, Pidge, see you soon. Any parting words?”

“Yeet!” Pidge cheered. She was then launched from the blue lion, sent to the supposedly impenetrable space knock-off of Alcatraz. She went towards the structure, under the radar of the surveillance drones. She used her bayard’s hookshot feature to latch onto the structure and bring herself in closer and to where she needed to be. The panel it attached itself to broke off when Pidge was almost there; for a prison that was supposed to be impenetrable, it really did have such a bad flaw, didn’t it? “No!” she cried out.

Before Pidge could try to right herself with her jetpack, before she could even recall the end of her bayard, someone grabbed hold of it. She looked ahead to see a masked figure. The proportions of their body, especially arms, told her they weren’t Galra, but she knew nothing about this figure. Then they pulled her in.

The mysterious person was silent at first, seeming to observe the paladin. They then chuckled. “That was a close one.”

“Yeah, nice save.” Pidge responded. “Thanks.”

“You’re not Galra.” the person said. “I can only assume you’re here for Slav, too.” Pidge gave them a look, suspicious of her savior. “Don’t worry, I am, too. And in a good way. The rebel coalition needs his help.”

“So does Voltron.”

“Vol...” Behind the mask, the figure blinked in shock. “You’re one of the paladins then.”

“Yeah.” Pidge nodded.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Pidge, do you copy?” Krik called over the comms. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Kinda… made a friend.” Pidge responded. “Just hang on, I’ll get inside in a moment.” Pidge then moved. “Hopefully we’re on the same side. I don’t mind working together.

“I’m sure the other rebels I’m with will be in agreement.” the figure stated. “Problem is… finding a way in...”

“Yeah, I’m on that.” Pidge found where she needed to be. She then opened the pouch on her belt, Rover drifting out. “Okay, Rover, let’s open ‘er up and get in. We’ve got a prison to break in and out of.” Rover scanned for a panel before finding and activating it. A door opened up and Pidge entered with the rebel.

“Pidge, you said you made a friend, right? He wouldn’t happen to be a rebel, would he?” Lance asked.

“That’s right.” Pidge said, going over to the next control panel and working with it, getting Rover to help out. “Why?”

“We just met his group. Sounds like this is going to be a joint mission.” Lance informed.

“May need the help, this is a pretty big place.” Pidge admitted. “I sure hope that this Slav guy is worth all this...” She got into the system. “Okay, Lance, you’ve got about four minutes to scan the area and find a way in. Be quick about it.”

“Copy that.” Lance responded. “Okay, sending you the data, Pidge; rebels and me are gonna get in.”

“Read you loud and clear.” Pidge confirmed. She checked her sensors. “You’re right below us. We’ll come down and meet with you.”

“See you soon.”

“C’mon, time to meet with the team… teams I guess now, and get this mission going.” Pidge informed.

“Right with ya.”

Pidge led the way, getting down to what seemed to be a cargo bay. There, she saw the blue lion with another ship next to it; it was clearly the rebel ship since it didn’t look like any of the Galran ships she had seen. And the figures that stepped out weren’t Galra either.

“So, looks like we’ve got ourselves a larger group than expected.” Lance stated. He watched as masks were actually removed. The leader of the rebels that were there had feathery looking ears. “But I’m glad to know there are other rebels out there, too.”

“Paladins of Voltron.” the leader stated. “It’s a pleasure meeting you. My name is Te-Osh.” She dipped her head in respect.

“Actually, those two are paladins.” Krik commented, motioning to Pidge and Lance. “We’re just more rebels that started working with them recently.”

“Hey there.” Lance waved. “I’m Lance, the blue paladin. That’s Pidge, green, obviously.” He motioned to Pidge. “Then we have Krik. Cinda. And Chip. Our friends and allies. Pidge and Chip are twins, by the way.”

The figure that helped Pidge perked up. “Twins?” He removed his mask, showing himself to be human. Matt Holt. One of the members of the Kerberos mission.

Pidge and Chip were both stunned to see Matt. They did not expect to see him with the rebels, but they were thankful to see he wasn’t locked up anymore. Pidge wanted to talk more, but she knew they needed to get their mission finished and get out. “Um, can we wrap up introductions? We can talk later but right now? We need to find and rescue Slav and get out of here.”

The rebel leader, Te-Osh, nodded. “Agreed.” she stated. “Toval, Eis’at, you two remain here, keep guard with Olia. We’ll hopefully be quick.”

“Right.” Toval nodded. “Be careful.”

Te-Osh nodded. “Where do we even begin, though?”

“I’ve been working on that.” Pidge stated. “Lance was able to use Blue’s sonic scan on the prison; with that data, I was able to create a basic map.” She brought up the holographic map on her tech. “There are three levels, each with different types of security.” She looked perplexed. “But… hmm, the Blade of Marmora’s intel tells us that this prison was made just for Slav, but there are two cells.”

“Are you able to get any visual feed?” Cinda questioned.

“No… at least not from here. If I can, it’d probably be from the command center.” Pidge responded.

“We may have to check both of them then.” Te-Osh responded. “Can you send Matt and me the data?”

“Yup. Syncing now.” Pidge confirmed.

“Lance and I can check this cell here.” Krik commented. “Cinda, you, Matt, right? And Te-Osh go and check the other.” No one was against that idea.

“Then that leaves Pidge and me to hit the command center.” Chip stated. “We’ll see what we can do to assist you from there.”

“Then let’s get going.” Te-Osh stated, leading the way the way first since they didn’t have to split yet. Meanwhile, Pidge and Chip went for the vents, using them to sneak their way into the command center.

Pidge poked her head out first, looking into the large room. No one was there. Nodding, she dropped down, using her jetpack to help her down with Chip following after. They then accessed the computer, Rover helping them out. “Okay, we’re in.”

“Okay, can you guide us through?” Krik inquired.

“Just a tick.” Pidge brought up the data they needed. “Okay, so the top level is patrolled by sentries and the second level is patrolled by floating drones.” She looked at some information. “Ooh, that’s interesting.”

“Good interesting?” Lance inquired.

“The second level also has immobilizing foam.”

“Why do you sound so happy pointing that out?”

“Because it’s cool.” Pidge stated.

“What about the third level?” Te-Osh questioned, getting them back on track.

“Unfortunately we can’t get in to that one.” Chip chimed in. “They’ve got security measures going that make it so we can’t access the entire prison from one location.”

“Once you get to that level, though, you should be able to link us in.” Pidge added.

“Got it; we’ll let you know when we’re there.” Te-Osh confirmed.

“In the meantime, we need to get data for other prisoners.” Pidge nodded. “And… hmm…” She looked to Rover. “I think I can remotely take control of a drone from here; that could help out to get them on another level.”

“Can you really do that?”

“I hacked into a battleship to take down its barrier, remember?”

“Oh yeah.” Chip chuckled. “Well, you can work on that, I’ll get data downloaded.”

“There’s a sentry ahead.” Lance commented. He activated his bayard, letting it take its blaster form. He took a shot at its head, destroying it immediately. “And it’s down.”

“Nice shot.” Te-Osh praised. “We need to keep going though.”

They continued through the halls. They stopped though when a drone crossed their path. Worse yet? It shouldn’t have been on that level.

“Damn! We’re spotted.” Krik hissed out.

“Nope, sorry! That’s one of mine!” Pidge quickly told them. “He’s going to be your escort and help to scramble the monitors.”

“Nice thinking, Pidge.” Lance responded, relieved. “But he’s not green. Not Rover?”

“Nope. Rover’s with us.” Pidge informed. She used the drone to lead them down the hall and then connect to a computer. “Okay, this is where you guys split. Krik, you go right. Te-Osh, you go left.”

“Copy that.” the others confirmed, splitting off and heading down their intended paths. Krik and Lance went down the left hall, going to the next set of doors.

“Okay, I need you guys to connect your gauntlets. Cinda, Lance, go ahead.” Pidge instructed. Lance did as told and he only assumed Cinda did, too. “Okay. Now we can access level three. And give me a sec… doors opening… now.”

Lance smiled. “Good work, guys.” he praised. He then went down with Krik, heading further into the third level. They came across a set of doors.

“We can’t open this one. Pidge, Chip, you guys got eyes on us?” Krik inquired.

“Same here on our end.” Cinda added.

“I can’t from here.” Pidge sounded frustrated. “Wait… Krik, Lance, take cover! Someone’s coming!”

The two were quick to find an area to hide in. They watched as a Galran came down the hall and went to the door. He put his face in front of a panel and was scanned. The doors opened and he stepped inside.

“Looks like facial recognition.” Krik whispered.

“I can’t see who’s in the cell; I don’t know if Slav is there.” Lance responded. “Pidge, any thoughts?”

“I can’t access the cameras.” Pidge admitted. “But if you guys scan the guy’s face, we can create a 3D rendition to use. Odds are the other cell needs that, too.”

“Copy that.” Krik and Lance responded.

Lance waited until the Galran, the warden they assumed, left the cell. He was quick to get a scan, hiding before he could be noticed. Once the warden was gone, Lance let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Okay, Pidge, sending the scan now.”

“Got it. Just a moment… and… there we go. The 3D render is being sent.”

Lance nodded. “Got it.” He jumped down from the hiding spot and went to the door. He put the scan up to the panel, relieved to find that it did work. They got the doors open and looked inside. “Holy crow!” Lance squeaked, seeing the creature in there. “That’s totally not Slav!”

“Keep it down!” Krik ordered. He sighed. “It’s a Yupper; I’ve not seen one personally, but I’ve heard of them. Not exactly hostile, but they can be destructive.” He noticed the destroyed sentries around the cell. “Guys, this end’s a bust.”

“Well, good thing Slav’s in this cell.” Matt assured. “A little… neurotic, I think, but he’s here.”

“We’ll bring him back to the ships.” Te-Osh informed. “As soon as he stops messing with a blanket… c’mon!”

“Pidge, can you give us the way out?” Krik asked. No response. “Pidge? Chip?”

“What’s wrong?” Lance asked.

“They’re not responding; someone must have showed up.” Krik responded.

Lance listened to the comms. Nothing from Pidge or Chip. “They could have hidden; it doesn’t sound like there’s actual trouble.” he informed. “Otherwise we’d be hearing Pidge shouting every swear word she knows in probably four languages.”

“Four?” Krik asked.

“English. Italian. She’s been learning some Altean. And I think Ulaz taught her some Galran swear words.” Lance responded. He then yelped and jumped back, Krik doing the same, when the Yupper charged past them and out into the hall. It ran off, disappearing into another hall. “Oh… that’s… that’s going to come back and bites us, isn’t it?”

“This could be bad.” Krik sighed.

Chapter Text

Slav was found. That was a good step in the right direction. A step in the wrong direction, though, was when a beep alerted the twins. Pidge and Chip looked up when they heard the door to the command center. They quickly closed up the screens they were using and ducked down under the table, thankful it was covered at the bottom on three sides. Pidge grabbed Rover and pulled him close before the warden entered.

The warden went over to the table, sitting down and pulling himself closer. The twins did their best making themselves seem smaller, hoping to go undetected.

The warden brought up the screens to check on the status of the prisoner. He looked to see that something had been previously accessed. “Hmm? What did-”

“Sir.” A sentry entered the room. “Laika has escaped!”

“What?” The warden looked up in alarm. “Guard this station!” he ordered as he shot up, shoving the chair back. He then stormed out of the command center, leaving the sentry to stand guard.

“Pidge? Chip? Do you copy?” Cinda asked. “We’re in need of an alternate route.”

Chip pulled a small handgun-like blaster from his pouch. He looked to Pidge who nodded. He then peaked out and saw the sentry, its back turned toward them. He then aimed and shot a few times, destroying the robot’s head.

“Sorry about that, Cinda, we had a slight issue.” Pidge responded. “Okay, just a tick, we’ll get you a new path located. She checked the data, but there was nothing. “Sorry, no other path from there. Why do you need a path anyway? I’m not seeing enemies in that area.”

“Because this guy doesn’t want us walking over cracks on the ground!” Matt sounded exasperated.

“Oh boy...” Pidge sighed. She then looked up when she heard the alarms blaring in the prison, even in the command center. “Lance! What did you do?”

“Why do you assume it was my fault!?” Lance whined.

Pidge could hear his blaster over the comm. “Well, for starters, I hear fighting and it sounds like your blaster.”

“I am amazed and a little flattered that you can specifically identify the sound of my blaster.” Lance admitted. “I’d be even more appreciative if you can turn off this foam!”

“Oh, right, on it.” Pidge worked with the system, getting the defense system to change trajectory and attack the warden instead. She smirked. “Heh heh, stick around.”

Chip snorted a bit, amused by Pidge’s joking when he saw on the security footage that the warden got stuck in the foam. He then looked up. “Uh oh, we got company!” He ducked down, pulling Pidge with him, when sentries entered and started shooting. “Okay, I think our position is compromised.”

“Just a little.” Pidge shrugged. “Any ideas?”

“Nope.” Chip admitted. “You?”

“Um...”

“Okay, we’re still having an issue with Slav.” Matt grumbled.

“This base has artificial gravity, right?” Cinda questioned. “Can it be turned off?”

“That’s a great idea!” the twins exclaimed in unison.

“With that, you can just get past those cracks by using your jetpacks, assuming you’re still there.” Chip stated.

“And the sentries won’t be able to maneuver, either.” Pidge added. “Just give me a tick… and… here we go!” She was able to use her tech to get into the system and shut down the artificial gravity generator. Once it was off, they were all levitating. With that, the sentries were disoriented, unable to get themselves righted.

With the sentries out of sorts, Chip used that to his advantage. He shot at them, getting them destroyed and rendered useless. “Clear on our end.”

“Okay, let’s get this back online.” Pidge stated. “Gravity in three. Two. One.” They landed on the ground, the mechanical bodies of the sentries crashing. “Okay, we’ll meet you guys down in hanger.” She looked to Chip. “We got the data?”

“Yup! Now let’s get to the lion!” Chip ran off. “C’mon, Rover!”

Rover beeped in alarm when the twins sped off and out of the room. He then pursued them, beeping along the way. He chimed after them, seeming to communicate.

“Of course we’re forgoing the stealth. We’re kinda compromised already.” Pidge responded. Rover beeped again. “Not going to help, buddy!”

“Do you seriously understand him?” Chip asked. “What is this? A George Lucas film?”

“We’re thousands upon thousands of light-years away from Earth, flying alien crafts, or semi-alien in your case, and five of us form a giant robot the size of Big Ben. At this point, anything is probable. Including understanding a pattern of beeps to communicate with my drone.”

“Okay, that’s fair.” Chip shrugged. They reached the hanger and skidded to a stop when they saw the warden, much bigger than when they first saw him. “What the quiznak!” he yelped.

“What the hell?” Pidge look alarmed. “What? Did he go on space steroids?” She saw the warden use mechanical arms to pick up a storage crate. “And time to move!” She grabbed Chip by the arm and pulled him along before they could have the storage crate thrown at them.

The warden then ran at the twins, smacking them to opposite directions from each other. Krik managed to catch hold of Chip while Lance caught Pidge.

“Pidge, you okay?” Lance asked.

“I don’t think anything is broken.” Pidge admitted. “We need to get out of here.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” the warden shouted. “And neither is the lion!” He went to smash his robotic fists down upon the two paladins. They screamed before parting ways, narrowly dodging the attack.

“Okay, we either need to find a way to escape or defeat this guy.” Lance yelped. He then cried out when the warden grabbed hold of him with a robotic arm, squeezing tightly.

“Lance! No!” Pidge called out. She shot her bayard at the warden, but found a problem. The warden grabbed the end of it and flung Pidge to the side and right into a storage crate. “Okay… that one hurt...” She cried out when Lance was thrown at her and he landed on top of him. “And… again...”

“Ow… sorry...” Lance grumbled as he got up.

“Now would be a good time for a genius idea.” Cinda pointed out.

“Oh!” Slav, the genius alien they had found, perked up. “I know!” He went to a control console and messed with it. “Helmets on!” The doors to the hanger opened up, the pressure changing and pulling the others and their ships out.

“What is he thinking?!” Matt exclaimed.

“An idea, obviously.” Te-Osh stated. “Let’s go!” She let go of the floor and got pulled out along with the others. Slav started getting the doors shut before letting go, too, but before he could make it, the warden grabbed hold of him.

“No!” Chip looked back.

“I’ve got this.” Lance activated his bayard again and aimed. He watched the warden before shooting, hitting him in the robotic arm at the joint. This caused him to let go of Slav, letting the alien be pulled out of the prison. And smack into Chip. The blue lion opened up and grabbed them first. “Hah! I told you I was an excellent shot!”

“Nice going, sharpshooter!” Pidge cheered as she used her jetpack and went to Lance. She bonked her helmet into the side of his and made a kiss-like noise, as though she kissed his cheek. “Now let’s get out of here before the warden calls in for reinforcements.” She went to the blue lion, the ship letting her in.

“Lance?” Cinda went to the Earthling and patted his shoulder.

“I think she broke him.” Te-Osh chuckled. She looked to Matt. “Matt?”

“They’re...” Matt stared at the blue lion, knowing full well that Pidge and Chip were inside.

“Go on with them.” Te-Osh told him. “We’ll catch up.”

“Hopefully you do.” Krik informed. “We’ll be returning to Olkarion. We may need some help since we’re hoping to take down Zarkon.”

“We’ll get reinforcements and be there within the quintant.” Te-Osh nodded. “Be safe on your journey.”

“The same to you.” Krik nodded. He then went to Lance. “We need to report back to the princess.”

“C’mon, loverboy, let’s get going.” Cinda chuckled.

“Huh? Oh! Right!” Lance nodded. “We’ll catch you rebels later?”

“Of course.” Te-Osh nodded. “We want to protect this universe, too, so you can count on us to help.”

“Glad to have it.” Lance smiled. He then went to return to the blue lion, entering it with Cinda, Krik, and now Matt. “Alright, back in and ready to head out.” He went away from the rebel ship, letting them go and reconvene with the other rebels then head to Olkarion.

“Do we just head on back to Olkarion from here?” Krik inquired.

“We should contact Allura and Shiro, let them know that we succeeded. And expecting more allies.” Pidge looked to Matt and smiled. She hoped that when they landed on Olkarion, she and Chip could talk with him. They were sure of their relation to the rebel; what they didn’t know was that he was certain of the relationship, too.

“Shiro… he’s… he really is out there. And okay.” Matt trailed off, amazed. As happy as he was to see the twins, to finally meet them, knowing about Shiro filled him with joy.

“Alive and well.” Lance commented as he started to contact Allura.

“Well, with some PTSD. And don’t listen to him if he blames that white hair of his on me; he had it before meeting me.” Pidge added. “But yeah. And he’s the leader of Voltron. And like this awesome big brother figure. And… actually...” She looked to Krik. “He’s the oldest out of all twenty of us, right?”

“I think so.” Krik nodded. “I mean, some of the others are in their twenties, too, but more like twenty one, twenty two deca-phoebs. I think the only exception would be the princess and Coran since they’re technically over a thousand years old.”

“So, Shiro can keep his team big brother status.” Pidge stated.

“Hey, Allura, Shiro.” Lance spoke up when he got through. “We got Slav and-”

“You got him? Good! Now I need you guys back at the Balmera!” Allura quickly shouted, startling the others at first.

“What’s wrong?” Lance inquired.

“That monster! It’s back!” Allura informed. “I’ve locked onto your signal. I’ll get you a wormhole.”

“Right, we’re on our way.” Lance nodded. He saw the wormhole appear and wasted no time in getting through it. When he got through, he saw the monster. “Holy crow! How is that thing still operational!? It doesn’t even have a head!”

“It’s probably those crystals.” Pidge looked to see the crystals the robeast was using as shields. “If they’re ones from the Balmera, they’re probably fueled with quintessence and giving that thing life.”

“That… actually makes sense.” Lance mused. “But now what?” He watched the yellow lion show up; already the black lion was there. “How do we beat it?”

“How did you beat it last time?” Cliff asked.

“We formed Voltron, then I used my bayard in its port which formed this shoulder cannon thing.” Hunk informed. “We shot it in its arm lasers. But that didn’t stop it so then we punched it.”

“Okay, so what did you do to actually stop it?”

“Um...”

“Technically we didn’t.” Pidge informed. “The Balmera grew the crystals and encased it.”

“So… we’re screwed...” Cliff deadpanned.

“No we’re not.” Shiro informed. “Lance, get to the castle and drop the others off. Hunk, when Lance is back in the field, you do the same to your group. We’re going to need Voltron for this.”

“Ten-four!” Hunk chimed.

“Copy that, Shiro!” Lance confirmed.

“Wolo. Zandee. Ginger. Shannon! Get your ships and launch; we need help keeping those crystals out of the way so we can attack.”

“We’re on it!” Ginger called.

Lance got his team to the castle, letting them go. “You guys head up to the bridge and help!” Pidge told them as she ran off to get to her lion and launch. Once out in the field, she was watching the robeast. “It’s utilizing those crystals as shields.”

“That’s going to make it tricky to attack, so we need to work as a team for this.” Shiro informed. He waited until all five lions were out. When they tried to form Voltron, the creature focused on them.

“You need to hurry and come up with something, team.” Krik informed as he checked on the data from Shiro’s station on the bridge. “The particle barrier is badly damaged; we won’t be able to take many more hits.”

“Maybe we can attack those crystals?” Keith asked. “What if we destroy them?”

“It’s worth a try! Keith, Lance, Wolo, Shannon, focus on one crystal; the rest of you, on the other.” Shiro ordered. They tried that, but the crystals weren’t even cracking.

“Dammit.” Lance grumbled. “We may have those crystals outnumbered, but it’s doing nothing!”

“Wait! That’s it!” Pidge perked up. “You guys keep the crystals blocking to the sides! I got an idea to give us an opening!” She pulled back some from the robeast and activated the cannon on the green lion’s back. She then fired at the vulnerable chest laser on it, causing vines to burst out.

“Good work, Pidge!” Shiro praised. “Now it’s time to form Voltron!” They flew in formation until Voltron was formed. “Vehicle team, keep those crystals to the side. Voltron, form sword!”

With the four other pilots keeping the crystals away from the robeast’s core, Voltron formed their sword. With more confidence and skill than the first time they fought it, they sliced right through the creature, causing it to crackle with electricity and then explode.

“Great work, team.” Allura praised. “Time to return to the castle so we can get back to Olkarion.”

“Good idea.” Pidge nodded. “And Shiro, we got a surprise.”

“A surprise?” Shiro asked. “I don’t know if I should be curious… or suspicious.”

“Knowing Pidge? I’d say suspicious.” Keith teased.

When the others were inside, Shiro stared in shock. Standing right there on the bridge was none other than Matt Holt. “Matt...” Shiro gasped out.

“Shiro… hey.” Matt smiled as he walked over. “It’s… it’s been a while. Glad to see you’re doing okay.” He held out his hand, ready to shake. He yelped when Shiro took his hand and pulled him over and into a hug. He smiled and hugged him in return. “I missed you, buddy.”

“I missed you, too.” Shiro responded. He parted from Matt a bit and looked over to the twins who ended up standing side by side. “I think… I think they’ve been found.” he informed. “They found each other… they look like you. Especially their eyes.”

“Yeah.” Matt nodded. He finally parted from Shiro and went to the twins. “Pidge… Chip… I…” He shook his head, trying to clear his mind and keep himself from crying. “Over fifteen years ago, my mother was expecting twins. One boy, one girl. But we got into an accident and… I lost them. I was told, though, that while I was in a coma, my siblings were adopted. I didn’t know where they went, who adopted them, or what their names even were.” He offered a smile, unable to help but start to tear up. “And… I think that...” He couldn’t finish speaking. The words were caught in his throat.

But he didn’t need to speak anyway. He was nearly knocked down by the duo hugging him so suddenly.

“We already kinda figured it out.” Chip admitted with a chuckle.

“Shiro kinda hinted at it before since he thought I was you when we first met.” Pidge added.

Matt smiled as he hugged his siblings. He longed for the day he could meet them. He dreamed of the day he could finally hug them. “I’m so glad to meet you two finally.”

Allura smiled. She didn’t expect another sibling to be found, but seeing them together, it truly made her happy. “If you’d like, for further confirmation,” she spoke up, “we can run a DNA test like we did for Pidge and Chip.” She then looked to the others. “But for now, we need to head back to Olkarion. It isn’t much longer before the teludav to be complete.”

“And we’ve got some more company meeting us there, too.” Krik informed. “We met some rebels. Matt’s allies.”

Allura looked pleased. “That’s good to know that we’ll have more help in this mission.” she stated. “Not that I don’t have faith in you all, but the more help we get, the more successful I hope we can be.”

Chapter Text

They had arrived on Olkarion. Coran was still working with the teludav and Slav was helping to make the generator so he could hide it. At least when he wasn’t being a total pain and banging against something or spouting probabilities. Matt let Allura take a swab so she could compare the DNA, confirm that Matt had finally found his siblings after fifteen years. While they were waiting on the results, Chip went about, showing his siblings the new ship.

“We don’t have a full crew yet, but the Olkari set us up with a lot of rooms.” Chip informed. “And some of them are joining on to help, especially with engineering.” He showed them around some of the crew’s quarters. “Some of the rooms are also set up to be by the vehicle bays. So, Air bay, Sea bay, Land bay.” He grinned brightly. “We also have two more vehicle bays. One for other ships, when they’re built or when others show up, like the rebels! There’s even one for the lions to dock safely.”

“A bay for the lions?” Pidge asked. She then got a mischievous grin to her face. “So, a lions’ den pretty much?” The comment got her siblings to laugh. It was the perfect joke. “But really? This is awesome. And now that it has a crystal, it’ll be ready to launch soon.”

“It needs a crew, though.” Chip reminded. “I mean, sure, it’s got the vehicle team, but we’re going to be flying our ships.”

“Hmm, maybe the rebels can help out.” Matt suggested. “But we can talk further on that when they arrive.” He looked around as they strolled through one of the halls. “But the ship. It’s really amazing. It has a feel of the aliens to it… but it also feels like an Earth ship.” He longed for Earth, but he knew he couldn’t return yet. He still had to find his father and now the others from Earth. Having learned about the crew of The Explorer and only finding Hawkins so far, he wanted to find them all, too.

“What about you?” Chip inquired. “Would… would you join the crew?” He looked curious and even hopeful.

Matt looked down and smiled. He then put his arm around Chip and pulled him close. “You bet I will.” he said. “I know I’m a rebel, but you guys need a crew. And I’ll be happy to join and help out.” He then pulled Pidge in close. “And Pidge, if and when we part ways, you better keep in touch, okay?”

“You bet!” Pidge nodded in agreement. “This is so great! Finding out I have siblings? And then finding them in space? Wow!”

“You’re not going to spring on us that there are more, are you?” Chip asked.

“Nope. Just us three.” Matt chuckled. “So, tell me, what are your families like?”

“Well, my parents are gone.” Chip admitted, though he didn’t sound too sad. Yes, he missed them, but he had come to terms with the loss. “They passed away. So… I’m an orphan again.”

“Not for long; as soon as we find Mom, I’m certain she’s going to adopt you.” Pidge assured.

“Find your mom?” Matt looked to Pidge.

“Yeah.” Pidge nodded. “She was one of the crew members from The Explorer, the ship that Chip and the others previously had been on. But she was captured along with most of the crew.”

“But this is Professor Gunderson we’re talking about.” Chip stated. “She’ll find a way to survive until we can find her. Or she escapes.”

“Gunderson? As in Professor Colleen Gunderson? She adopted you?” Matt looked to Pidge. “Did she um… you know… marry?”

“Nope.” Pidge shook her head. “She was a single mom raising me. No dad in the picture.” She was curious. “Why?”

“Well, believe it or not, she and my dad knew each other.” Matt responded. “Dad had a huge crush on her; I think he still does. He wanted to contact her after the Kerberos mission.”

“So they could’ve ended up together?” Pidge asked. “What happened?”

“What do you think? Dad got scared and ran away. He said she asked him something, he never told me what, and he fled. His excuse was he had a mission to get ready for and wasn’t going to be on Earth for a while, but he admitted to me that while it was true, he was nervous.” Matt let out a sigh. “The guy had a crush… and he got scared. It’s a little sad, but amusing.”

“Yeah… Mom can leave that impression on others.” Pidge chuckled a bit, though it sounded more nervous.

“Yeah.” Matt snickered. “But… anyway, he didn’t keep in touch as their lives in the Garrison progressed I guess. Missions, work, you know, all that stuff.”

“Well, who knows, maybe when they’re both found, they can reconnect.” Pidge mused, liking the idea. Her mind thought of it further. It would have been amazing if Colleen and Sam reconnected again and got married, then adopted Chip together. That would have been the perfect chapter to their life story. Pidge was brought from her daydream of the ideal union of the family when Rover was beeping and rammed into Matt’s head. “Oh! Hey, Rover!”

“Hyper little fellow, ain’t he?” Matt rubbed his head. “But do you seriously have a drone?”

“I kinda stole him from the Galra when Lance, Hunk, and I were first captured.” Pidge commented.

“Captured?” Matt asked. He looked to Chip.

“Oh, we met months after that.” Chip stated. “After our ship was attacked and pretty much destroyed.”

“You two have been captured and attacked and you didn’t tell me those stories? You just drawled on and on about the ships you’re working with!?” Matt exclaimed.

The twins grinned brightly in response. Pidge looked to Rover who was beeping at her. “Oh hey! The rebels arrived!” She then sped off to avoid Matt questioning what they got caught up into before.

“Wait for me!” Chip scrambled after his sister.

“Hey! Don’t use the rebels to escape explaining yourselves!” Matt called after the duo. He then chuckled and shook his head. “I’m proud of them, you know?” He looked to the drone who pushed into his head. “Okay, okay, I’m going. I’m going.” He smiled and took off, leaving the ship to join the others. He looked to see rebel ships come in to land.

“Glad to know we have more allies to help us in this upcoming battle.” Allura said, standing next to Matt.

“I’m glad you guys were able to come up with a plan to finally take down Zarkon.” Matt responded. “To finally have a plan… and to be able to be a part of it...” He watched as the ships landed and smiled. He knew upon one of those ships, Commander Hawkins would be on board. He then looked to the vehicle team. Fifteen pilots, just as the commander mentioned. They had been separated from him. But now they could be reunited. “And I’m glad I met a certain someone on my mission before Beta Traz.”

“A certain someone?” Allura asked. She was left curious, but she shrugged it off for the time being. Instead, she went ahead to the rebels as they left their ships. “It’s a pleasure meeting you all. And knowing we’re all on the same side.” she said as she approached Te-Osh. “I’m Princess Allura of Altea.”

“Princess. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Te-Osh gently took the princess’ offered hand and dipped her head respectfully, touching her forehead to the back of it. “To find out that the Alteans are not all wiped out is as good of news as finding out that Voltron has returned to the universe.”

“You heard of it from the others while at Beta Traz?” Allura inquired.

“I heard about the legendary defender from a newfound friend. And perhaps someone your teams know.” Te-Osh turned to look at her ship, seeing Hawkins, dressed like the rebels, stepping out.

“Well, hey there.” the commander greeted. “Been a while, huh?”

The commander was greeted warmly by the vehicle team, the others happy to have him back. They had countless questions for him, even curious and worried about the others. Sadly Hawkins didn’t have all the answers, but he gave what responses he could to them. Overall, though, he was happy to see the team doing well and adapting to the war.

“So what all did I even miss? And you guys are even working alongside Voltron I hear?” Hawkins inquired.

“It was touch and go, but I think we’re doing well as a team now.” Aki informed.

“It was either get along or face Pidge’s wrath.” Cliff teased, motioning to Pidge who was standing with Chip. “The green paladin’s a violent one, you know.”

“Of course, you’ve met her mother. Those Gundersons are a forceful duo.” Hawkins laughed it off. He then looked to see the twins. He knew something about Chip always seemed familiar, but seeing him standing next to Pidge, they definitely looked similar. When Matt stood behind them, a hand on their shoulders, he realized something. “Holy crow. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I’m looking at a group of siblings.”

“Actually,” Allura smiled, “you’re right about that.” The commander looked to her. “We got the results back from the test. All three of them are indeed related.”

“Well I’ll be damned.” Hawkins chuckled.

“You probably are.” Pidge commented with a smirk.

Hawkins couldn’t help but laugh. “Yup, she’s definitely Colleen’s kid.” He knew Pidge didn’t need to be related to Colleen Gunderson to be like her; raised by the forceful professor was enough. He looked over to see the replacement ship to the Explorer. A real thing of beauty.

Aki noticed the commander’s attention shifting. “You like her? She’s the new carrier and battleship courtesy of the Olkari.” he informed.

“Goodness, you and the other Vehicle Team members had a part in it, too, coming up with the designs.” Ryner reminded the human, nudging him some. “And she’s almost complete and fit for battle. Except for one thing.”

“And what’s that?” Hawkins inquired.

“A crew. She needs a crew to maintain and command her.” Ryner stated. “You know the team well; surely you’d be the commander on board?”

“It’d be an honour.” Hawkins smiled. “But I can’t say for sure I’d know how to pilot her.”

Nearby, Olia looked to the ship, eyes wide and sparkling in admiration. The ship was a thing of beauty. She then looked to Te-Osh who gave a simple nod and smiled. This prompted the canine-like alien to step up. “If possible, I’d like to check her out.” she said. “I think I might be able to pilot her.”

“That’s what I was hoping, too.” Matt stated. “Olia is the best pilot I met. No offense, Shiro, but she has you beat.”

“I can live with that.” Shiro chuckled at that.

“I’d be happy to have your help, Olia.” Hawkins nodded. “So, she got a name?”

Aki looked to his team, seeing them nod in agreement. They managed to find time to discuss a name for the new ship and came to an agreement. “We are thinking of calling her the Arcadia.”

“Arcadia.” Hawkins nodded. “It’s a fitting name.”

Chapter Text

“Okay everyone.” Shiro stood in the center on the bridge, the different teams standing around. He was going over the plan one final tine, making sure even the rebels were clued in. “We need to be careful. Zarkon will have plenty of forces to fight against us, but we should be able to take them down.” He showed a hologram of Zarkon’s ship. “I’ll lure in Zarkon using the black lion. Once he arrives, we won’t have much time; we’ll need to act fast and hit them hard. I want all available ships to focus mainly on fighter ships and battleships.”

No one seemed to be in disagreement to that. “While we keep Zarkon occupied, Ulaz will coordinate with the agent on board to shut down the ship.” he continued. “Once the power is down, Princess Allura will use the teludav hidden by Slav to send the ship over to the Yggiz galaxy. When we’re there and he’s isolated, we’ll be working on taking down his ship, ending Zarkon’s reign once and for all. The paladins and I will form Voltron and aim for these two sections of the ship.” Two sections were highlighted in blue. “Vehicle team, you will take down this area.” Another went in green. “Rebels, here.” Then finally orange. “They shouldn’t be able to contact others for help, but there is still a probability of reinforcements showing up. So be on guard.”

“I know you’re probably scared. This is a battle we’ll be going into. That we’ll be initiating.” Shiro told the others. “But I need everyone to be in their top condition. I need everyone to be able to work together. We come from different walks of life throughout the universe, but we all have one common goal. We need to be strong and stand for that reason. Fight for that reason.” He smiled when he heard the others cheering in agreement, or at least most of them. While the Blade of Marmora was silent, they still agreed; Kolivan and Ulaz, who weren’t wearing their masks, showed their approval by the soft smiles on their faces.

“We’ll launch tomorrow.” Shiro told them, his voice being enough to quiet them down. “Until then, I want everyone to make sure their ships are in working order and fit for battle. And for you all to get rest. We have a big battle ahead of us.”

“Hey, buddy.” Hunk went to Lance, patting him on the back. “Hmm? What’s on your mind?” He watched Lance closely. “Nervous about the fight tomorrow?”

Lance didn’t register Hunk at first. He was watching where Pidge, Chip, and Matt were, the three going to the blue, helicopter-like ship that was outside with the other ships for the vehicle team. Chip was clearly showing it off to his siblings. But as he watched, he could only focus on Pidge.

“Lance? Hey.” Hunk nudged him. He sighed. “Oh, I get it. You’re definitely head over heels for her, huh?”

“Hunk? Lance? Is something wrong?” Cinda asked as she and Ginger were walking past. They went over to check on the boys.

“Lance is watching Pidge.” Hunk informed

“Hmm? Why?” Ginger inquired.

“Why else?” Cinda asked. “Lance has a huge crush on her.”

“Really?” Ginger perked up. She then went to Lance’s side and bumped her hip against him. “Well, why not go down and talk with her, huh loverboy?”

“Huh?” Lance finally registered the others.

“Oh yeah, he’s totally in love.” Hunk chuckled. Lance blushed and looked away. “Lance, why don’t you go over and talk to her? I mean, we’re going to be in a big battle tomorrow. Just talk with her.”

“About what? Hey Pidge, I have a crush on you. We may die tomorrow so I wanted to tell you that. Does that sound right?” Lance sighed. “And what if she doesn’t even like me? I mean, she kissed a girl for crying out loud back at the Garrison!”

“She did?” Ginger looked to Hunk.

“It… it was a failed attempt at spin the bottle.” Hunk admitted. “Pidge kissed Rizavi after she threw the bottle at her head.”

“I like Pidge… and she may like girls instead. Or she may not like me at all in general?” Lance shook his head. Even he admitted that he had been a flirt before with other girls. Hell, he even tried flirting with Cinda and Ginger after meeting them. Pidge would never take him seriously, right? “Besides… you saw how well I handled things before. You know, before we got to Olkarion?” He let out a sigh. “I can talk to her at times… but I don’t think I can confess to her yet...”

“Well, you should at some point.” Ginger informed. “At least so she knows. And who knows, maybe she swings both ways.”

“I guess.” Lance shrugged. “Hey, Cinda… do you think she noticed my reaction when she helmet-kissed me?”

“Hmm, probably not. She was really excited, I think she’d miss a planet exploding.” Cinda hummed in amusement. She then put a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “But don’t worry. Give it time, collect yourself, and one day talk with her.” She then looked to Ginger. “What do you think? Think we can pry a bit and find out what Pidge thinks about Lance?”

“Ooh, that’d be fun one of these days.” Ginger nodded in agreement. “We can have a girls’ night after the battle is over.”

“The Olkari did amazing work on your ship.” Pidge said, checking out the inside.

“It’s not as roomy as the lions, but it’s definitely doable.” Chip stated. “And comfortable to sleep in. Which I found out the impromptu way.”

“Dozed off while working?” Pidge asked with a smirk.”

“Yup.” Chip nodded.

“Wow. We’ve not met each other for fifteen years, didn’t get to know each other… and we’re definitely alike.” Matt snickered. “Olia teases me about my dozing off in random locations. She says I’m like her pups with that.” He then checked out the ship further, the monitors and cockpit. There was even room for a few to join him if needed, able to help out, watch, or even be transported. There was a panel on the side towards the back that could open up, giving him access to a cot. It was a ship for war, but the Olkari also thought to set it up in case they needed to rest, too. “To think. Earth would set up fifteen ships for war. And the Olkari perfected them.”

“Taking the galaxy in Galaxy Garrison to a whole new level.” Chip mused. “And these ships? They fly so well. We had some training before all this, and flying now, it feels even better.”

“The Olkari are truly amazing. Coran was right, they are the best engineers.” Pidge hummed.

When they finally walked out of the ship, Pidge looked back at it and even the others that were currently out. She sighed.

“Pidge?” Matt asked. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re really doing it. We’re really going to make a difference in this war. We’re going to stop Zarkon.” Pidge responded. “It almost all feels so unreal… but...”

“We’ll get this war ended.” Matt put a hand on his sister’s shoulder; he did the same to Chip. “And we’ll find the others, too.” He pulled on them a bit. “C’mon, let’s get you two to bed. It’s going to be a big day tomorrow.”

“I don’t know if I can sleep.” Chip sighed. “So much is going on… it sometimes takes a while for me to fall asleep...”

“Same!” Pidge chimed.

“Well, let’s at least try.” Matt chuckled, getting the twins to go with him. “And perhaps show me the castle a bit. I saw Chip’s room in the Arcadia. Now to see Pidge’s room. Maybe I can camp out in there. Have a sibling sleepover.”

“If you can find room.” Chip teased. “Pidge’s room is a disaster zone.”

“There is a method to my madness.” Pidge reminded. She led the way to her room, realizing she hadn’t entered it for a few days. She spent most of her time in the lab or on a mission. So when she opened the door, she was shocked. Sticking to the walls and ceiling, in between posters and her hanging lights, there were stars of different sizes glowing. Even on the floor between the piles of junk and discarded clothing, she could see them glowing.

“Whoa! You got glow-in-the-dark stars?” Matt looked excited. “I used to have these up in my room at the Garrison!” He looked down at Pidge. “Hmm? Pidge?”

“I… I forgot to grab mine from my room at the Garrison… and I didn’t think to try and find more in town before leaving Earth the second time.” Pidge admitted. She smiled softly. “Lance must have found them somewhere and put them up.”

“How do you know?” Chip inquired.

“Because, only Lance and Hunk would know of my love for these stars. And usually to make me happy, Hunk makes my favourite snacks instead. So… logic points to Lance.” Pidge looked to her brothers. “I’ll be right back. I want to thank him before I get too caught up in anything else and forget.” She turned on her heel and ran off, heading down the hall.

“Meanwhile… I’ll… you know what, we’re better off finding another room to have a sleepover in than in here.” Matt deadpanned. “I’ve seen war… and this room is a war zone.”

Pidge found Lance on the hologram deck, the area made to look like a field for their cow, Kaltenecker. The blue paladin was giving her some fresh grass for the night, making sure she would be okay.

“Okay, Kaltenecker, it’s going to be a big day tomorrow, but don’t you be afraid.” he told her as he gently stroked her side. “We’ll make sure all is okay. You just be a good girl and wait in here, okay?”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Pidge chuckled.

“Huh? Oh! Pidge!” Lance yelped a bit. “Hey. What’s up?”

“You want a sassy remark or a general answer?” Pidge smirked. “Anyway, I saw the stars in my room. The glowing ones, you know?” She went over and stood on the other side of Kaltenecker. “I know it was you who put them there. How you didn’t break your ankle or neck getting around, I don’t know. You didn’t even seem to break anything in my room.Anyway...” She smiled. “Thanks, Lance. I don’t know how you got them or where, but I’m glad you did. And I really appreciate it. I know we see stars all the time out here, but I like seeing those ones in my room. It’s nice.”

Lance blushed a bit and he prayed Pidge didn’t notice. He didn’t think it was important to go into how he procured them at the mall, but he didn’t want to remain silent, either. “I remembered them in your room back home… and felt that it’d be a nice touch, remind you of home.” he admitted.

“It was a really nice gesture. And I appreciate it.” Pidge nodded. “Anyway, thanks again. I should… get to bed. Or try to sleep. It’s a big day tomorrow.” She turned and started to walk off.

“Pidge?” Lance asked.

“Hmm?” Pidge looked back, head tilted to the side.

Tell her, Lance. You can tell her. He thought to himself. “I… I...” He couldn’t. He couldn’t say it. “I wanted to wish you good luck out there. I mean, you’re skilled but… it’s a dangerous mission ahead of us.”

Pidge smiled brightly. “We’ll be fine out there, Sharpshooter.” She playfully winked at him before turning away again and leaving Lance there.

Once Pidge was gone, Lance pushed his face into Kaltenecker’s side. “Quiznak!” he shouted, his voice muffled by the mooing cow.

Chapter Text

They launched. With the lions to move it, they got the teludav in position, taken to another galaxy for them to lure Zarkon to. All that was left was for everyone to get into position.

“Slav, you’ll be able to keep the teludav hidden within the space-fold until the last moment, right?” Shiro asked.

“Of course! I’ll be fine!” Slav assured. “However… I’m not entirely sure about the gravity generator.”

“Um… what was that?” Hunk asked. “Come again?”

“Hiding a ship is one thing, but one that can hide something this big?” Slav’s eyes widened. “I mean, I know it’ll work, of that I’m certain. But how long it will...”

“It’s a risk we’ll have to take then.” Shiro admitted. “Once Zarkon’s ship is in position, Ulaz will coordinate with the other agent to take down Zarkon’s security system and upload the virus.”

“With that, he’ll be a sitting du-flax.” Chip hummed, bumping fists with Pidge. He noticed the others giving him a look. “What? Pidge said you guys don’t know what a duck is and it’s the closest thing she found in her research and told me about it.” He looked to his sister. “Pidge!”

“Hey, don’t go whining to me. I told you that Earth expressions may not work out here!” Pidge yelped.

“Anyway!” Coran cleared his throat. “After that, we’ll use the wormhole to transport Zarkon away and in the Yggiz galaxy.”

Shiro nodded in confirmation. He then looked to the Blade of Marmora agents in the castle. “Is Thace ready?”

Ulaz looked concerned. “He was supposed to contact us two vargas ago… but...”

“It’s possible that he’s been found out and captured.” Antok pointed out. The others were worried about that, both for a Blade’s safety, but also for the integrity of the plan.

Kolivan wanted to point out that he could have been killed, too, the Empire was that way, but he held his tongue. Instead, he pointed something else out. “With this, we need to abort the mission.”

“What? After all the work we put into it?” Aki snapped.

“Aki, settle down.” Allura reminded, reining him in. She then looked to Kolivan. “But he has a point. We cannot back down now.”

“The Blade of Marmora does not take chances.” Kolivan reminded. “It’s how we’ve managed to survive all this time, working to take down the empire.”

“And that has held you back.” Allura reminded. “Zarkon is still in power. You have been so cautious, Zarkon’s had too much room to take more.”

Kolivan sighed. He knew it wasn’t easy to argue with a headstrong rebel, especially if that rebel was a princess and one of the last of her people with a vendetta against Zarkon. “It is best to wait than jeopardize everything.” he pointed out.

“For some, but sometimes we have to take a risk if we’re going to make a difference.” Keith spoke up.

“Keith, mind yourself.” Kolivan stated. “This is not the way of the Blade of Marmora.”

“You’re right, it isn’t. But it is the way of Voltron.” Keith stood his ground on the matter. “So Uncle Thace isn’t able to get in touch… he… he could be captured. But we can still go about the plan.”

“How? It’s too late to get someone on the inside to coordinate and shut down the ship as well as upload the virus.”

“Then I’ll go.”

“You’re too young and inexperienced for this sort of mission.” Kolivan looked worried and frustrated. “It’s a suicide mission. To command you to go on it...”

“The Blade’s spent years training me for infiltration missions.” Keith reminded. “Besides, the only one commanding me to go on this mission is me.”

“How would you even sneak on board?” Cliff inquired. “They’re gonna be seeing a red lion flying in pretty easy.”

“Actually,” Pidge spoke up, “I think I’ve got him covered there.” She smiled. “I can rig up one of the Altean pods with cloaking so he can go in without being spotted.”

“Then there’s the matter of getting into the system.” Ulaz reminded. “If Thace was captured, they’d be onto us. They would change the codes.” He looked to Kolivan. “I can go on board, too. I can try to scramble the systems from inside.”

“We need you out here to work with the virus.” Kolivan stated. “And you would...” He stopped himself and shook his head. He felt that Ulaz would not be able to restrain himself on such a mission.

“Then can’t we use Rover?” Pidge pointed to her drone. “You can quickly apply a program to him and he can help in scramble and seek out the needed codes to get in.” Rover beeped in compliance to that idea.

“Kolivan, this is our chance to make a difference, to put us on the right track.” Keith said.

“As dangerous as it is,” Allura spoke up, “I agree.”

Kolivan sighed. He was concerned, but he was also proud. Everyone was determined to make this work. And honestly? He felt if anyone could, it was the team. “Very well. Ulaz, set the drone up so Keith can get into the codes and shut the system down. And Keith… when on board, stick to your mission. I know Thace is your kin, but you cannot go after and look for him...”

“I know.” Keith nodded.

“Pidge,” Shiro looked to the green paladin, “how quickly can you get the pod rigged?”

“Ten… twenty minutes. Thirty tops, but I know what I’m doing.” Pidge grinned brightly. “C’mon, Chip! You can help me out!” She then ran out of the bridge, her twin chasing after her.

“Shiro,” Allura looked to the black paladin, “you should prepare to lure Zarkon on.”

Shiro nodded. “Right.” He confirmed before leaving for the black lion’s hanger.

“Everyone else… you should also get into position, too.” Allura looked to the vehicle team members on the bridge; on video from the Arcadia, Hawkins was with the other rebels. “Commander Hawkins, are the rebels ready?”

“In position and ready to launch on your command, Princess.” the commander confirmed.

Allura nodded. “We can do this.” she stated, though it was unsure if it was more for Kolivan who worried, the rebels, pilots, and paladins who were ready, or her who was hopeful that they could succeed but fearful that they would fail.

“Okay, and that… is… that!” Chip cheered. “Pod is ready to go with cloaking.”

“And it’s done ahead of the previously anticipated time.” Pidge grinned brightly. She then looked over when she saw Keith enter the vehicle bay, Rover floating next to him. “Hey, Keith.” She did her best to smile, but even she was worried. She knew he was skilled, he had been training for most of his life, but this was going to be dangerous for them all. “You sure you got this?”

“Yeah.” Keith confirmed as he went over.

“Just… be sure to come back to us, okay? You’re a valuable member of this team.” Pidge smiled as she jumped down from the pod. “And bring Rover back, too.”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to do that.” Keith chuckled as he bumped the drone some, earning himself a series of beeps. “He’ll probably keep me in line, too.”

“You mean keep you from going off to find your uncle?” Pidge asked. Keith sighed. “I know what it is to have family in trouble… and now I can relate to you even more in having family fighting in this war, too.” She looked over to Chip who jumped down. “If I were in your position, I don’t think I’d be able to restrain myself.”

“I don’t know how well I’d be able to, too… but… I also have to trust Uncle Thace. He’s a skilled warrior… I’m sure he’ll figure things out, too.” Keith admitted. He honestly hoped that was the case and that his uncle wasn’t dead.

“Be safe out there buddy.” Pidge said as she hugged Keith a bit.

“Keith, do you copy?” Shiro asked. “Zarkon’s arrived and Slav’s got the teludav cloaked.”

“Right, I’m on it, Shiro.” Keith confirmed as he got up into the pod. “Ready to launch and cloak.”

“Okay, I’ll keep an eye out for your signal and clear a path.”

“Much appreciated.” Keith then launched, leaving the vehicle bay and headed out.

“Paladins, vehicle team, rebels, once Keith is inside Zarkon’s flagship, I want you to launch; we need to keep the battleships and fights down!” Allura ordered. “And keep Zarkon in position; that’s definitely on you, Paladins.”

“Copy that! I’m headed to Green now and I’ll be ready to launch!” Pidge informed. The others made similar remarks, getting ready. She then smiled at Chip. “See you after the battle, bro.”

“See you after, sis.” Chip smiled and held out his helmet. Pidge did the same and the two bumped the objects to each other before taking off for their ships, Chip’s being in the Altean vehicle bay and Pidge’s in her hanger.

Pidge got to the green lion. Upon Allura’s command, like the others, she launched, working with the team to keep Zarkon’s ship in position for when it would shut down.

“I can use a little help here guys!” Hunk whined as he was chased.

“Copy that, Hunk, I’ve got you covered!” Shannon called out, shooting down some fighters.

“Voltron!” Olia contacted them from the Arcadia, “Zarkon’s ship is moving from the teludav zone!”

“Crap… Keith? What’s your status?” Lance inquired. “We’re running out of time.”

“We’re running out of time.”

“Yeah, I hear you, Lance.” Keith confirmed, ears twitching in his helmet. “We’re doing our best to get this thing shut down.”

“Wait… we?” Lance questioned. “As in someone else is with you?”

“Yeah, Thace found me.” Keith flashed his uncle a smile, the older Galran working with Rover to try and override the system. They were locked in the control room, a power column having been purposefully shot down to block the door and keep the guards, sentries, and even the druids from getting in. Looking at Thace, he could see he didn’t have an easy time prior to this.

Thace had been caught before. And he was tortured and interrogated. His armor was broken in sections and he had a wound on his shoulder. But despite all of this, he was alive and functioning. More than that, he would survive.

“Uncle Thace, what’s the status?” Keith inquired, going back over, the gun he stole from a sentry still in his grip.

“We’re almost there.” Thace responded. “Just another dobosh...”

“Hopefully it’s soon; the gravity generator won’t hold its power for much longer!” Slav informed the others. “Once it goes down, it’ll be visible!”

“Do what you can to hold it, Slav.” Shiro ordered. “Keith...”

“We’re almost there.” Keith reported.

“Just a little bit...” Thace nodded when he saw that the virus was almost completely uploaded. “It’s done!”

“Good!” Keith nodded. “But now how do we get out of here; we’re blocked in.”

“There’s an exit down there, through the main power conduit.” Thace informed. “It’ll lead us to the second deck.”

“Then get out of there, you two!” Shiro commanded.

“Copy that, Shiro.” Keith nodded. “Can you make it?” He was concerned since Thace wasn’t in the best of conditions.

“Knowing what this day means and what it will bring? I can make it anywhere.” Thace confirmed. He removed a small device from a hip pouch he was wearing, setting it in the room.

“What’s that?” Keith inquired.

“A parting gift to keep these guys from following us. Now let’s go!” Thace grabbed his nephew by the arm and jumped down the power conduit, using the jetpack within his armor to keep him from going too fast; Keith did the same. Once they landed, they ran through a sort of corridor, getting to where they needed to be.

Keith jolted as he ran along the corridor, feeling a tremor. A bomb. His uncle had planted a bomb. “Heh, leave it to you to be prepared.” he mused. “I think you and Pidge would get along in that regard.”

“Oh? Your fellow paladin carries explosives, too?” Thace chuckled a bit as he kept on running.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.”

“Not since the incident in middle school, Mom kinda banned explosives.” Pidge chimed.

“Wait, what incident?” Chip questioned. “Pidge!”

“Pidge, do we need to have a talk?” Matt inquired.

“Pidge, quit bringing up stories that worry your brothers.” Shiro reminded. “And we can talk about this after the battle.”

“Right, right.” Pidge sighed. She then watched as the ship was shut down. And there was a sort of explosion. Listening to the comms, she knew it wasn’t too bad since it was planned by Thace. She then watched as the red lion sped away from the castle before anyone could fly past and pick up Keith and Thace. “Keith, you in Red yet?”

“Yup, looks like he came to pick us up.” Keith responded.

“Thace is with you?” Ulaz asked.

“Still alive and with Keith.” Thace confirmed.

“Can you hold on until after the battle?” Ulaz asked. “Afterwords, if you need any, we can provide medical treatment.”

“I can, don’t worry.”

“Good, because this is our cue to get going.” Shiro announced when he saw the wormhole get activated, the teludav showing itself.

Pidge watched as the wormhole was brought down over Zarkon’s flagship and the other ships in their group go through. Alongside the other paladins, she brought up the rear, making sure everyone was through.

“Coran, how’s Allura?” Shiro inquired, worried for the princess. Everyone knew that activating that big of a teludav and for that big and many of ships was bound to be a strain upon the princess.

“Don’t worry about me.” Allura reminded the others, her voice showing she was tired. “You’ve got a ship to take down.”

“Right. Okay, Paladins!” Shiro called out. “Form Voltron!”

Chapter Text

“Okay, team, this is it. We’ve only got twenty minutes.” Shiro informed. “Everyone in position; take your targets down.”

“Copy that, Shiro!” Aki confirmed, leading the vehicle team in to attack the weapons systems.

“We’re on it!” Te-Osh, piloting a rebel ship, led other rebels in to strike down the shield generators.

This left the engines and the bridge to Voltron. Shiro called for them to form their sword and they did, going in quickly to strike the engines, aiming to destroy them. They dragged their blade along sections and used one of Voltron’s laser attacks to hit others. Without the use of fighter ships and battleships controlled by the Galra, this made their assault easier.

“Alright!” Pidge cheered. “We took down the engines!”

“Hell yeah!” Lance chimed.

“It’s a bit early for celebration, team.” Shiro reminded. “Next we’ve got the bridge. Rebels, Vehicle team, how are you doing?”

“Considering our weapons aren’t as good as Voltron’s?” Te-Osh inquired. “We’re managing.”

“Same on our end.” Aki reported.

“We’re almost complete with the weapons systems, though.” Chip added.

“Good; keep up the work, we’re almost there!” Shiro assured. He then led Voltron in to attack the bridge. What no one in the lions expected though was for something to activate.

“Huh? What’s that?” Lance inquired.

“No… Get out of here!” Thace ordered.

No one needed to tell them twice. Voltron tried to get out of the way, but from below, a jolt of black and purple electricity came up and struck them, covering them as blue light radiated from Voltron. In each lion, those inside, especially the paladins since Keith had a passenger, were in pain, as though they were both being electrocuted and drained of their energy. They cried out, the sounds heard through the comms.

It was cut off by a shock wave pulsating through the area, even pushing the rebel and vehicle teams’ ships away a bit; there was enough force that the Castle of Lions and Arcadia were even rocked.

“What the ruggle was that?!” Olia exclaimed.

“I don’t know, but they shouldn’t have had power to use that!” Cliff called out. “Coran? Blades? What’s going on?”

Allura had watched in horror as the blast occurred and Voltron was left immobile, the paladins not even able to check in. “It wasn’t from the ship’s weapons; it wasn’t even technology.” the princess spoke up. “That felt like magic!” More than that? It felt like Altean magic, something she didn’t expect to witness.

“Indeed. That must have been the komar.” Kolivan informed.

“Komar?” Ginger asked. “What’s that?”

“A device that Zarkon’s research team and druids have been aiming to develop.” Kolivan explained. “It’s designed to extract the quintessence from planets. But… it was still in development last I knew.”

“Well it works now.” Shannon pointed out.

Coran looked over, concern on his face. “But if it destroys planets… what did it do the paladins?”

“I… I don’t know...” Kolivan was worried for the team.

“Paladins, do you copy?” Ulaz called into the comms, hoping they would respond. “Keith? Pidge!” He looked over. “They aren’t responding.”

“We have to keep trying.” Allura struggled to get up, still tired from activating the teludav; Coran assisted her. She could see from the castle that Voltron had been separated, the force of the komar being powerful enough for that. She then picked up on something on the castle’s sensors. “Huh? There’s something exiting Zarkon’s ship!”

From the ship, there was what appeared to be a sort of battle armor. It was as massive as Voltron and reminiscent to Zarkon. This was bad news.

“Oh no...” Allura stared with wide eyes. “Paladins! Paladins, please, you must respond! You have to get out of there!” No response. No movement. The lions were all down, their paladins unresponsive. She prayed to the ancients that they were still alive. “We have to do something; Zarkon’s out there and if he gets his hands on the lions… on the black lion...”

“C’mon Pidge… please… you have to get up...” Chip whimpered, worried for his sister.

Aki bit his lip. They had finished destroying the weapons system right after Voltron was downed and separated. Zarkon coming out in a massive battle armor was also disconcerting. He knew, they all knew, that something had to be done.

“Vehicle team, we can’t let this go on with Voltron down; we have to step up and do our part.” Aki informed the other fourteen members. He brought up some data on the ship’s interface. “I know we haven’t had time to test this out, but it’s now or never. But we won’t unless we have a unanimous decision.”

Krik checked with his team. “Sea team is ready to go.”

Cliff did the same, making sure the other pilots of his team were okay with this. “Land team is with you on this.”

“Air team, what say you?” Aki asked. He watched all sections of the interface light up, showing their agreement. “Okay, then let’s do this. Battle formation! On!”

It seemed impossible, that it was only Voltron, but the vehicles originally made on Earth and improved upon on Olkarion came together, connecting and forming to be a large robot. Though not quite as big as Voltron itself, and therefore smaller than Zarkon’s battle armor, it was still of decent size. And the power inside seemed to increase.

“Holy crow, it actually worked.” Aki looked excited. His ship’s position had taken the area of the head, his ship even opening to reveal a robotic face similar to that of Voltron. “Ginger, what’s our status?”

Ginger’s ship took on a chest plate position, sitting at the robot’s front. From there, she kept an eye on the robot’s status, power, and functions. “Power and energy has increased by over two hundred percent! Our defense is even greater!”

“Leave it to Ryner and the Olkari to come up with this and make it work.” Cliff chimed, his ship at the robot’s hips.

“We can celebrate later; the paladins need us!” Krik reminded.

“Copy that, let’s go!” Aki had main control of the ship being at the head, though the others did their parts, as well. Though new to the ships’ formation, they were able to maneuver rather well. “Form particle barrier!”

Cinda and Modoch were both in the positions for the robot’s forearms and hands. They formed together, their ships even giving the appearance of actual hands, though obviously robotic looking, clapped together. When they parted, they created an orange particle barrier and got in the way between Zarkon and the lions.

“Incredible, Aki! The shield is holding strong at ninety eight percent!” Ginger reported.

“Good. Now we need to go on the offensive.” Aki stated. “Modoch, hold the particle barrier. Cinda, form laser sword!”

“Copy that!” the two confirmed as they did as instructed.

Shock and relive both filled the princess as she saw the new robot enter the battle. Though smaller than Zarkon’s battle armor, it was powerful enough to stand its own.

“Mightyest Wimbleton! Ryner really pulled out all the stops for this one!” Coran exclaimed.

“Oh thank the ancients.” Allura whispered. “Paladins? Paladins, do you copy?” she inquired. “Paladins, please...”

“Ugh… ow… quiznak...” Pidge finally grumbled.

Allura’s face lit up. She smiled more when she could hear the others grumbling, regaining consciousness. “Paladins, are you okay? What about the lions?”

“Sorry, Princess… I’m struggling to get the black lion online...” Shiro reported.

“Red’s down, too.” Keith added.

Allura assumed the others were all down. The komar really took a toll. Thankfully, though, it didn’t kill the paladins.

“Huh?” Pidge noticed the robot. “Whoa! What did we miss?”

“The vehicle team formed their own robot; and they’re trying to protect you from Zarkon.” Allura informed them.

“But it won’t last forever; this robot is highly experimental and Zarkon’s battle armor is powerful.” Ryner spoke up from the Arcadia.

“Paladins, I know the situation is dire, but you need to form Voltron again and help!” Allura pleaded. “I know this is bad… you’re probably hurt and tired...”

“It’s not just that… but the lions have no power.” Lance informed. “That blast drained us...”

“I have faith in you. In all of you.” Allura told the team. “You’ve been training hard, fighting numerous battles. I know it hasn’t been long since you’ve come to form Voltron for the first time, but I believe you can do this.” She smiled fondly. “You are true paladins; connect with your lions.” She then looked back to Zarkon’s ship, seeing some sort of light flicker. Was the power returning? No. It was the druids.

“The komar...” the princess whispered.

“If it fires again,” Kolivan spoke up when he heard Allura, “I don’t know if the vehicle team will be able to withstand it.”

“Then we need to stop the druids from activating it again.” Allura stated. She then ran off, leaving the bridge.

“Allura!” Coran called after her.

“Care for the ship, Coran; we’ll help her.” Kolivan stated as he followed after the princess, Antok and Ulaz joining him.

Allura got to a sort of hanger, the princess setting up some sort of quick-transport glider. She got others ready when she was joined by the three Marmora agents.

“This is dangerous, Princess.” Kolivan reminded. “But we are ready to fight with you.”

“Thank you.” Allura nodded. She then got ready. “Launch in three. Two. One.” The airlock opened up, letting them speed out before closing behind them. “Among the druids is a witch named Haggar.”

“The head of the druids, Zarkon’s adviser and the most dangerous of the druids.” Kolivan confirmed. “Taking her out should render the komar useless.”

“Then we aim for her, but we shouldn’t be negligent of the others.” Allura nodded. Saw where a druid was below the bridge and on a levitating platform. She let go of her glider and fell back into Antok’s, the other blade catching hold of her. Her glider went off and smashed into the platform, exploding it.

“An attack!” Haggar realized that the four came in to strike; Allura got away from Antok and went after her. “But it won’t be enough!” She used magic to teleport, getting out the way before Allura could smack the staff she wielded into her.

“Ulaz, stay with Antok!” Kolivan ordered. As much as possible, he did not like the idea of Blades working alone, especially in the heat of battle or on certain missions. When possible, they worked in pairs. He planned on working with Allura, watching her back while Antok and Ulaz had each other covered.

As Haggar shot a blast of electrified magic at Allura, Kolivan got in the way, managing to deflect it with his blade. He then pulled the princess out of the area and got them to another platform so they could attempt to get an advantage.

“The druids can teleport, so be cautious.” Antok warned.

“Understood.” Allura responded. She knew they would struggle getting close to Haggar, especially with the other druids, so they aimed for one of them instead. The less there was to stop them, the better.

Kolivan managed to throw his blade through one druid when they were caught off guard. Their focus was on Antok and Ulaz, they didn’t expect Kolivan to throw the weapon through their back. It was effective as they gave out a high pitched screech before practically blowing up.

But a druid wasn’t the only one taken down. Antok got blasted in the side by druid magic, making him cry out in pain and collapse.

“Antok!” Kolivan called. He wanted to check on his trusted friend, his ally, his second in command, but he knew he didn’t have the luxury of time or an opening to do so.

Ulaz, though, did. He was closer to the tailed Galran. While he checked on Antok, Kolivan and Allura fought off another druid.

“He’s okay, but he’s badly hurt. He’ll need medical treatment as soon as possible.” Ulaz reported, putting a device on Antok’s side to cover the wound and opening in his armor.

Antok groaned as he shifted. “Shit… that one hurt...” he wheezed out.

“Can you get him back to the castle?” Allura asked.

“We don’t have an opening, not with the druids.” Ulaz admitted. His eyes widened behind his mask. “Behind you!”

Another druid went to strike. Allura managed to turn in time and hit them with her staff, knocking them down to the platform she was on. Kolivan jumped in to finish the below, ending their life.

That left two other druids and Haggar. Kolivan went after a druid while Allura went for Haggar, engaging her in a fight. She dodged the attacks she could, the witch throwing the magic in bursts at her. Allura managed to get under an attack and swing her staff upwards, smacking it into the witch’s face.

With a cry of pain, Haggar fell back, landing on the platform. When she got up, her hood felt away, revealing her white hair. And elf-like ears.

“It’s can’t be… you’re Altean?” Allura was shocked.

Haggar, though, wasn’t going to treat that remark like idle chit-chat. Instead, she fired her magic at Allura, hoping to hit her with full force. Allura couldn’t dodge, though; she attempted to block. Perhaps in most, it wouldn’t have gone well, but for the princess, it was different.

Allura felt herself surge with power as her body absorbed the attack. When Haggar stopped attacking, the Altean princess looked herself over, to see a pinkish purple glow radiating from her body.

“No… that’s impossible!” Haggar shouted. She went to strike again with her magic, but Allura charged at her, managing to deflect the attack with her magically charged body as she rammed into the witch, knocking her down.

“Never again will you destroy another innocent planet! Especially with this monstrosity of a contraption!” Allura shouted. She dropped to her knees and slammed her hands into the platform, releasing the built up energy. From her, lightning flashed and hit different parts of the komar, even striking one of the druids and destroying them. The other druid got distracted by the magic, giving Kolivan an opening to attack and obliterate them. “HAH!” Allura cried out as she released the last bit of the magic, making it flash and destroy the komar.

Before she could get hit, Haggar disappeared, fleeing the attack.

Allura let out a sigh when the magic was gone and the komar was destroyed. “Let’s not… do that… again.” she gasped out, exhausted.

“C’mon, we need to get out of here.” Kolivan went over and picked up Allura. He looked to Ulaz who was supporting Antok. “We’ve done our part; now it’s up to the others to defeat Zarkon.”

Chapter Text

“Team, Allura’s right. We have to focus… and we can do this.” Shiro said. He finally got the black lion to move.

“There’s a problem; Zarkon’s got your bayard and wreaking havoc out there.” Lance pointed out.

“I don’t know ye… wait!” Shiro seemed to feel something in the black lion. “I think I know what to do. But I’m going to need an opening so I can get close to Zarkon.”

“Wait, close to him?” Keith inquired. “Won’t he attempt to take control of the black lion?”

“He can try, but I’m not giving Black up that easily.” Shiro’s tone showed his determination. “Vehicle team, how long can you hold him?”

“We’re already down to seventy two percent of power in our particle barrier.” Ginger reported.

“We can buy you some time, but whatever you’re planning, you’ll want to make it quick.” Aki pointed out.

“We can do that.” Shiro confirmed. “Hunk, Keith, Lance, I need you three to help the vehicle team in keeping Zarkon focused. Pidge, you’ve got the vine cannon.”

“Oh! I know exactly where this is going!” Pidge perked up. “Ready to do this.”

The vehicle team’s robot worked hard to keep Zarkon occupied, fighting full force while three of the lions helped, getting the sides and back of the tyrant. As the fight dragged on, though, the vehicle team’s robot was losing power fast.

Pidge then got her opening. “Open wide, you son of a-”

“Pidge!” Shiro interrupted her as she shot at Zarkon.

Zarkon was struck with the vine projectile. As expected, vines burst from the impact point and tangled him up in them. While they held for a moment, they wouldn’t keep him pinned. Shiro knew he had to act quick.

Shiro charged the black lion at Zarkon’s mech. From an outside perspective, it seemed risky. But he knew he had to do it; he could feel it through his lion. He thought of what he went through with the black lion, from the moment he flew it to fighting for control, bonding with the semi-sentient ship. It was in that moment that the wings on the lion changed, growing and upgrading.

This gave the lion more speed, making it even faster than the red lion. It charged at Zarkon’s armor; seeing this, the others expected there to be a collision.

But there wasn’t.

The black lion phased through Zarkon and his armor, speeding through him as if either of them where merely holograms. When he finally stopped and the wings returned to normal, he was several yards away.

“Whoa! Shiro, what did you just...” Lance was caught off guard; everyone was.

“I got it. I got Zar… my bayard.” Shiro sounded in disbelief even though he was sure something would work out.

“What? How?” Keith asked.

“That doesn’t matter. What does is ending this fight.” Shiro reminded the team. “FORM VOLTRON!” The team came together to form Voltron just as the power on Zarkon’s ship was restored. “Rebels, Vehicle team, keep the fighters off of us.” Shiro ordered. “As for us, we’re finishing this.”

Zarkon readied a new weapon through the armor, creating a sort of energy blade. He then charged at Voltron. “Form sword!” Shiro called. They did and then charged at the emperor, ready to strike him down.

They clashed. Their blade was sticking through the abdomen of the humanoid mech, Zarkon’s blade gone. But Zarkon wasn’t giving up. He was still able to move and took hold of Voltron’s head. He tried to take control of the black lion, not wanting to give in that easily.

But Shiro wasn’t giving up either. Shiro tried to fight back. He then looked when he heard the lion beeping at him. He saw the bayard port open and light up. Though electricity filled him from Zarkon’s attack, he did his best. He held up his bayard and slammed it in, activating the weapon.

And causing flames to engulf their sword.

They tore the sword loose before jamming it back into Zarkon’s armor, this time aiming for the chest area. Zarkon was unable to block the attack and took it full force. Voltron pulled the blade up, slicing through the armor as energy built up around them. Or was it the excess energy and quintessence from Zarkon’s armor? Either way, around them started to glow a brilliant pinkish purple before it expanded and seemed to explode. In the explosion, Voltron was separated once again.

“Did we do it?” Zandee asked from the vehicle robot.

“It looks like we did.” Aki sounded relieved. “Yes!”

“Teams? Do you copy? We need to get going now.” Allura announced, getting wormhole open.

The others went towards the opening, but none of the lions were moving. Chip was quick to notice. “Guys!” he called into the comms. “The lions aren’t following! Pidge? Hunk! Do you copy? Voltron?” Nothing. No response.

“Paladins! Are you there? Paladins!” Allura called out.

“The rest of you get going; we’ll get the team!” Aki announced.

Though the five lions formed a robot that was bigger than the vehicle team’s, they were still enough to gather all five of them, pushing them through the wormhole.

With the paladins unresponsive and the battle won, Allura got everyone back to Olkarion so that they could do a check and ensure everyone was okay and those who needed it were healed. It was then that the lions could be checked, the inhabitants worn out and the final attack taking a toll on them.

Except for Shiro. No one knew why, but he was missing from the black lion’s cockpit. There had been no sign that he was ejected for any reason. Perhaps it was an ability of the lion? Perhaps it transported him elsewhere?

As worried as the others were, they had to get the other paladins and the two Galrans who were injured and into pods. Despite the battle being hard on everyone, there were no losses. No one died out there. Shiro was not reported as a death since they had no proof; they honestly hoped he was just missing and would keep an eye out for him as they looked for those missing from the Explorer crew.

Pidge was the last to emerge from her pod, taking longer than the others; Allura wondered if she took longer because of her diminutive stature, not that the princess would say it out loud. When she did finally stumble out, she was caught hold of by Matt, her older brother lowering her to the ground to settle in, letting her curl up on his lap. Chip was there, too, looking close and hoping his twin was okay.

“Pidge?” Chip asked. “How do you feel?”

“Like I hate the komar.” Pidge grumbled.

“Well, good thing the princess destroyed it then.” Matt chuckled. He pulled Pidge close and rested his head on top of hers. “I was so worried about you. None of you guys were responding… then...” He let out a sigh.

“How are the others?” Pidge asked. Silence. “Status report...”

Matt huffed a bit. “We didn’t lose anyone in the battle in terms of death.” he responded. “You and the other paladins were hurt from the attack, but the pods did wonders on you. Andtok was also hurt when he, Ulaz, Kolivan, and Allura went to take down the Komar...” He let out a sigh. “Shiro… he’s...”

“What’s wrong?” Pidge looked up, worry on her face. “You said no one died, right?”

“We don’t know where he is… he vanished.” Matt admitted.

“He’s… missing?” Pidge stirred a bit.

“We think that the black lion might have transported him. I mean, we don’t know all of its abilities; or that of the other lions, so...” Chip hoped that would help.

Pidge thought it over. That did make sense. “Shiro was in the most danger in that fight since the lion used to be Zarkon’s… maybe it did that to protect him.” She let out a sigh of relief. “Then we’ll just have to find him. I’m sure we will. I don’t know when or how long it’ll take, but we will.” She snuggled into Matt’s hug.

“Pidge?” Matt asked. “Are you okay?”

“If you’re hurting or anything, we can get Ulaz.” Chip offered.

“I want peanut butter...” Pidge whimpered. “Take me to the kitchen. There are cookies there.” She hugged Matt more.

Matt was shocked at first, but then he snorted. “I think she’s doing fine.” he mused. He then got up, keeping Pidge in his arms; Chip assisted him so he didn’t drop their sister.

“Hey guys, I wasn’t totally out of it, was I?” Pidge asked. “I think I remember the vehicles becoming another Voltron.”

Chip smiled brightly. “Yeah, you totally got to see that.” he said. “It was something Ryner was working with so we can help further to defend the universe.” He walked alongside Matt as they went to the kitchen. “That was our first time getting to use it.” He looked so proud. “And guess what? I’m part of the left arm! Just like you.”

Pidge smirked. “Further proof we are definitely twins.” she hummed.

“My siblings truly are the coolest.” Matt chuckled.

When everyone had been informed that Pidge was awake and after Pidge had a bite to eat, the others were outside, watching as the vehicle team formed their own massive robot again after the battle. It truly was impressive, especially now that there were two robotic warriors to defend the universe. When they disbanded and joined up, they decided to talk.

“I know we can’t replace Voltron,” Aki stated, “but hopefully this will help out with protecting the universe until we find Shiro and you guys can form Voltron again.”

“Even after we have Shiro back,” Keith gently punched Aki in the arm, “I sure hope you guys still join up and help us out.”

Aki shoved Keith back in a playful manner. “As if you could stop us from helping.” he laughed out. “And don’t worry. We’ll help in finding Shiro.”

“We’ve got a lot of people to find, but I’m sure we’ll succeed.” Cliff pointed out.

“So, have you guys got a name for this Vehicle Voltron?” Hunk inquired. “I mean, the lions become Voltron, so what do the vehicles become?”

“Yeah, we’ve been talking about that since Ryner proposed the idea.” Aki looked to his team, seeing each of them nod, the other fourteen pilots all showing that they agree to the name they decided upon. “We were thinking of calling them DaiRugger.”

“Dai… Rugger?” Lance asked. “Like as in rugby?”

“What’s rugby?” Keith inquired.

“It’s a contact sport with teams of fifteen.” Lance responded. “And rugger is an informal term for someone who plays rugby.” He looked alarmed at some of the gazes. “I only know this because my sister-in-law and grandpa are huge rugby fans.” he informed them.

“I’m so glad I’m not the only one with amazing trivia for different situations.” Pidge chuckled.

“Anyway, I think the name is fitting. A rugby team has fifteen people and there are fifteen of you.” Lance stated.

“That’s what we thought, too.” Cliff nodded.

“And with DaiRugger, we’ll be able to help defend the universe.” Aki added.

Defending the universe. Pidge smiled. She knew that the war was far from over, they still had a thousand years worth of oppression to turn back and many planets and people to help. But together, she knew they would manage it. “Looks like our team of defenders of the universe just keeps growing.” she mused.