The Rise of Voltron: Season 1: Chapter 2 - From Days of Long Ago Part 2

Space wasn’t something that was supposed to bend. In fact, it wasn’t a ‘something’ at all, merely the void in which other things resided. However, rules, as they say, are made to be broken, and the Blue Lion was more than happy to as she soared through slip-space, physics bending to her will. With the Galra fleet long behind them, the small group within took the opportunity to relax. At least, most of them did.

For the past couple minutes of the several they’d been flying, Pidge had been attempting to connect his laptop to the Lion’s systems, but with no luck. He’d examined every nook and cranny on the consoles for anything resembling a USB port and come up empty. Undeterred, he scanned for a wireless network, to the same result.

‘Oh, come on. One measly connection — is that too much to ask?’ Apparently, it was; an error message popped up in response to his second attempt.

While Pidge’s frustration grew, Keith leaned against the back wall next to Shiro, his duffel bag propped up next to him. Sweat still lingered on the man’s brow as he stared at nothing with a tight expression.

“How you holding up?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

Broken from his thoughts, Shiro gave small start, then smiled and replied, “I’m alright. Just have a headache.”

‘Yeah, sure,’ thought Keith.

Even at a glance, it was clear his friend was tense beyond belief; his cybernetic hand clenched and loosened repeatedly. Getting chased by his former captors had undoubtedly left him disconcerted, to say the least. Still, if he didn’t want to talk about it, Keith wouldn’t pry.

“Okay.” He was silent for a moment as he let his thoughts drift. “By the way, nice use of the ‘Teacher Voice’ back there. Sounded a bit rusty, though.”

Huffing out a laugh, Shiro said, “Well, I haven’t had any crazy punks to use it on for a while, have I?”

He jabbed his elbow lightly into Keith’s side, making him chuckle. It was short-lived, though.

‘Is that what we’re calling it now?’ he thought, his gaze wandering to the floor. ‘Just “a while,” not “a year?”’

In the pilot’s seat, Lance leaned on his hand with narrowed eyes pointed as far back as they could go. ‘What are they talking about back there? And since when does Keith laugh? Wait, are they laughing about me!?’ An image sprang to mind of the two making fun of his flying. He shook his head. ‘No, there’s no way that’s it. Shiro had full confidence in my superb skills, and I aced it, so he’d smack that jerk’s mullet off for saying that.’

A gurgling noise interrupted his fantasy, followed by a pitiful moan.

“Does anyone have something to eat?” whined Hunk from his splayed position on the floor.

“Dude, you just threw up, like, a minute ago,” Lance said with a hint of disgust. “Plus, if anybody’s gonna have snacks on ‘em, it’s you.”

“A: Yeah, that’s why I’m hungry. And B: I already ate all of mine. It wasn’t enough.” Another growl sounded from Hunk’s stomach, proving his point.

Pitifully, he crawled over to Pidge’s backpack, left unguarded by the petite boy’s feet, and began rummaging though it, thinking there must be food stashed somewhere within the massive thing. Digging past the custom tech, he felt something oddly thin and flimsy. He pulled it out. It was a picture: a boy in a Garrison uniform and a girl in a lavender dress, siblings by the look of them, though one was much younger than the other. They stood in front of a rocket-ship, arms slung around each other, smiling at the camera—

“Hey!” Pidge snatched the photo and his backpack away, his expression downright murderous. “Don’t ever touch that!”

Hunk put his hands up and backed off. “Okay, okay. Sorry.”

“Dude, what’s your damage?” asked Lance, offended on his friend’s behalf.

“Just shut up,” said Pidge, quieter but no less venomous. He stared at the photo a moment, then stuffed it back in his pack and resumed his work.

While Lance rolled his eyes, seeing Hunk’s now even more downtrodden state, Keith reached into one of his duffel bag’s side pouches and tossed a bag of jerky onto his lap. His eyes lit up, and he tore into it, savoring the soothing saltiness of the beef.

Walking past him, Keith came up to the pilot’s seat, asking, “What’s taking so long? We got all the way to the Orion Nebula in less than a minute. Why is flying back to Earth taking ten times longer?”

Unseen, Pidge tensed at the question.

“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe tossing out some nonessential weight will help,” Lance replied with a smirk.

“Ha ha. Seriously. We should’ve been back by now.”

“What, you gettin’ scared?”

Keith’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. “With you at the helm? Terrified.”

“Alright, let’s stop this before it gets out of hand,” said Shiro, joining them up front with his arms out in a placating gesture. “Lance, it’s a fair question. How much longer is this trip going to be?”

The teen glanced between the two, frowning a little. He quickly wiped it away and replied, “Not much. I can feel Blue getting excited again.”

“Oh, fank goodnesh.” Bits of jerky sprayed from Hunk’s mouth as he made his way to the group. “I am sho ready to go home.”

“We can’t!”

Everyone turned to Pidge, who was glaring at them. “What about the other members of the Kerberos Crew? I thought finding them was the whole reason we went looking for the Lion!”

“That’s the reason you wanted to find her,” said Keith evenly. “And it doesn’t matter now. We just made ourselves fugitives of an intergalactic empire. Shiro escaped by sheer luck. We don’t know if the Holts even can escape.”

Pidge’s expression twisted in horror, as did Shiro’s somewhat. However, there was also resignation in it, like he’d already accepted that his team was…

“No, you’re wrong! They’re alive, and I’m going to get them back!”

“And if you can’t?” Keith’s expression was firm and challenging.

Gritting his teeth, Pidge wracked his brain for a response, but he couldn’t find one. He couldn’t even imagine such a reality.

“Uh, hate to interrupt,” said Lance with a cough, “but I think we’re about to—”

A slight jolt finished for him. The stars, which had a moment ago been blurring together, slowed and stabilized as the Blue Lion exited slip-space above a blue-and-green planet. A blue-and-green planet…whose continents were wrong.

“That’s not Earth,” said Keith slowly, his eyes narrowing.

After scanning the stars around them, Shiro shook his head a little. “I don’t recognize any of these constellations. Wherever we are, it must be a long, long way out.”

“Aww, whhyyyy?” Hunk wailed, flinging crumbs from the jerky bag everywhere as he flapped his arms about. “What happened to going home?”

“I…I think we are,” muttered Lance, his gaze glazing over. At the questioning noises from his companions, he shook it away. “I mean, not ours, obviously, but I think this is Blue’s home.”

Leaning back, Keith tersely said, “Well, tell her she can come back after she drops us off on Earth.”

“Yeah, like that’s your call. But also, I don’t think it’s possible.” Lance moved one of the control sticks, to no reaction. “She’s not responding anymore.”

“Can you at least find out where we’re headed?” Shiro asked.

“Sorry, she’s not talking either.” Suddenly, the teen’s eyes darted to the side. “Wait-wait-wait, shh! Listen. I think I hear something.”

Very, very faintly, an eeeehh sound arose, growing louder.

“I’m hearing it, too,” said Keith, glancing around for the source.

“I-It’s sort of a high-pitched squeal?” Hunk said uncertainly.

Lance smirked as the stuttering noise deepened and a pungent aroma filled the cockpit. The others gagged and gave various forms of “Oh, come on!” as they leaned away with their noses covered.

Hunk was pale again. “Dude, are you trying to make me puke?”

While her pilot laughed, Blue came to the rescue once more, distracting the group with a slight rumble as she easily broke through the atmosphere. Past a layer of fluffy white clouds, a landscape of gorgeous jade greeted them, with snow-dusted mountains piercing the sky while crystal clear rivers cut through deep valleys, reflecting the shining sun. A myriad of odd animals foraged and bounded through fields and trees, pausing at the sound of visitors. All in all, it looked nearly identical to Earth, save for one thing: at the end of the river sat an ocean inlet surrounded by rolling cliffs, and on the edge of the highest one sat an old, lonely castle.

Most of it was buried in rock, grass, and moss; only the center of the structure, a tall cylinder narrowing to a rounded point, and the four similarly-shaped tower-like structures surrounding it were left jutting up through stone, yet its true form could not hide. Massive sections, especially on the towers, were made of some kind of glass, dark and dormant. Though large dents and slashes, surrounded by what appeared to be carbon scoring, marred its otherwise sleek white metal, it firmly held an air of regality.

A deep sense of wonder washed over the Earthlings. The sight stirred something else in Keith’s gut as well. Anticipation, perhaps?

The moment was broken by the Lion roaring once more, causing her lights, both internal and external, to flare a deep blue. As if in reply, the central tip of the castle, where a diamond of the glass rested, flashed a similar hue, mirrored by one of the outer points. Blue dove for it, gliding in a circle as the metal slowly parted, then flew inside and gently landed with a pleased purr.

Leaning forward, the group examined the room, which seemed to be a hangar bay, tall and ridged with blue light strips reaching from floor to ceiling, their glow having followed the Lion. They weren’t able to look for long, though; the bay doors closed, leaving the room in shadow. Almost all at once, Blue lowered her head, opened her mouth and the cockpit doors, and retracted Lance’s safety harness.

“I think she wants us to get out,” he said.

“Nope, no, no-no-no-nope,” Hunk squeaked, hiding behind the consoles. “I vote we stay right here where there’s light.”

Her systems immediately went dark. The others glared at him as he let out a pitiful whine.

“Aw, c’mon, Blue, don’t be like that,” cooed Lance, patting the main dash. “You look so much more dazzling with your lights on.”

A quick chuff told him she was unmoved.

“Well, that’s just great. We’re stuck in a broken castle on an alien planet with a ship that doesn’t want to work,” Pidge said, crossing his arms.

Shiro put a hand to his temple in thought. “There’s gotta be something we can do.”

The others’ voices faded away as Keith stared out of the still-active screen, locked on the door in front of the Lion; the only way out. For several long seconds, he watched. Then, just for a moment, something flickered. It almost looked like a man. His eyes went wide, a strange sensation popping into his head. As quickly as he’d come, the figure vanished. He glanced at the others. They hadn’t noticed, too wrapped up in panicking, complaining, brainstorming, and — for some reason — flirting. Keith gave them a flat look before returning his gaze to the door. After a moment, he walked to his duffel bag and slung it onto his back.

Noticing, Shiro asked, “Keith, where are you going?”

“Sitting around won’t help us,” he replied, pausing to see the others’ attention now on him as well. “This place might have more hangars with other ships we can use. Besides, you’re the ones who insisted we go with the Lion.”

“Oh, heck no, I get to be the first one out!” Lance leapt from his chair and gave chase as the older teen walked through the doors.

Shiro watched them, somewhat bemused, then shrugged and followed, Pidge on his heels.

“But-but-but,” stuttered Hunk as they, too, disappeared into the dark. He hung his head. “We could’ve just gone to the kitchen and gotten a snack, but nooo. I’m never listening to a Lance plan again.”

Of course, he’d said that before. It never stuck longer than a day or two.

Reluctantly, he headed out, jogging to catch up with the group as they exited the Lion’s mouth. With her cabin now empty, her onramp-jaw closed and she sat up, returning to her dormant state.

Lance and Keith took the lead, the latter’s flashlight guiding the way, with Hunk and Pidge in the middle and Shiro bringing up the rear. The little light barely illuminated a small swath of the massive space, glinting off of a tunnel opening flaring into the room on their left and the drop-offs rimming the floor. They cautiously approached a door — the only Human-sized door to be found — jumping a little when the diamond in the center of the X pattern on it flashed the same blue as the Lion. It slid open with faint creaks and screeches.

“So we’ve got doors but not lights?” asked Lance, poking his head through the doorway.

“Must be on emergency backup power,” said Keith as he scanned the hallway thoroughly. “Clear.”

The five wandered down the large, elaborate corridor, their heads craning every which way. Pristine walls, floor, and ceiling reflected the flashlight’s beam in the same white metal as the castle’s exterior. Silence seemed to choke the air, making every echoing footstep feel like an intrusion. There was hardly a speck of dust to be seen. It was as if they’d stepped into a time capsule, and it made everyone tense.

Before long, they came to a four-way intersection. Examining the branching halls for hints proved useless, each being identical to the one they had come from.

“What now?” Pidge instinctively kept his voice low, as though merely speaking too loud would break something.

Lance glanced around, then pointed down a random hall. “That way.”

“What makes you so sure?” Shiro asked, his eyes occasionally darting to shadows.

“Don’t worry, Cap. I was born with an impeccable sense of direction.”

“Lance, buddy, finding north isn’t the same as finding the way out,” said Hunk.

“Plus, the last time you decided where to go, we ended up here,” added Pidge tersely.

Lance glared at him. “Excuse me, I thought you were all for this, Mr. I’m-Not-Going-Home-Until-I-Find-The-Kerberos-Crew.”

“I wasn’t exactly thinking of getting stuck inside some busted castle.”

“Well, I didn’t want to get stuck with your attitude, but here we are!”

“Okay, that’s enough, both of you.”

While Shiro and Hunk attempted to calm things down, Keith carefully scanned the hallways again. Still nothing—

His head snapped back to the corridor he’d just passed over as that ping-like sensation returned. There! Flickering a few yards away was the same man from before. Now that he was closer, Keith could make out his strange, ornate armor and a cape. The expression he wore seemed happy, yet somehow sad. Slowly, he reached out a hand, curling it in a silent beckon, then vanished.

For a moment, all the young man could do was stare, unsure of the odd feeling in his gut. Then he started running.

“Can we please just—whoa, Keith, where are you going?!” Shiro yelled, gaining everyone’s attention. He spared only a second to turn to the trio. “Come on.”

Thankfully, it was a straight line to their companion, who’d stopped at a T-section and was looking around almost frantically.

“Okay,” Hunk wheezed, “can the guy with the flashlight please not run off?”

“What the snart was that?!” said Lance.

“Language,” barked Shiro instinctively.

Still inspecting the corridors, Keith replied, “I think there’s someone here.”

“Uh, yeah.” Lance marched up to him, forcing himself into the older teen’s field of vision. “Us. You know, the guys who just sprinted half a football field after you?”

“There’s someone else. I saw him before in the hangar, and then again just now. I think he wants us to follow him.”

“Oh, there’s an ‘us’ now? Good to know, ‘cause it sure didn’t seem like it when you bolted away at mach ten. And I don’t remember seeing anyone.” Lance finished his rant by crossing his arms stubbornly.

Keith glared at him. “Well maybe if you all didn’t waste your time with pointless arguments, you would have.”

“Are you sure you saw someone?” asked Pidge with a raised brow. “It wasn’t just a trick of the light?”

“I’m positive. He was standing in the middle of the hallway, and then he…” Keith hesitated, remembering their conversation in his shack. “He disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” repeated Shiro.

“Also…he was glowing.”

Utter confusion colored the others’ faces as they stared at their fifth member.

“Keith…are you trying to tell me…this castle…is haunted?” whispered Hunk.

Lance threw his hands up. “Yup, I called it, he’s gone nuts. First it was looney-tooney magic, now it’s glowing ghosts. What next, a sparkly, pink unicorn’s gonna throw us a tea party?”

Grinding his teeth, Keith went to reply, but a light made him stop. The others noticed it, too.

“I mean, come on. How much longer are we supposed to listen to this guy’s hallucinations? If you ask me, we should…” Lance trailed off as he caught their wide eyes. “Wait, what are you all looking—oh no.” Turning slowly, he chanted under his breath, “Please don’t be there, please don’t be there.”

Sure enough, there he was, neon glow and all.

“…Miércoles.”

With something of an amused smile, the man beckoned to them and vanished, leaving the group staring after him.

“Still think I’m crazy?” asked Keith.

Lance sent him a side glare. “It’s still on the table.”

Adjusting his glasses, Pidge said, “I don’t think that was a ghost — not just because ghosts aren’t real — but the way it was flickering, it looked like a hologram.”

“I don’t care,” Hunk whimpered from behind Shiro, “I just want him to not come near me, ever.”

Placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder, the man asked, “Are you sure we can trust this hologram-ghost-guy-thing?”

Keith thought for a moment. “Not entirely, but my gut’s saying yes.”

Shiro let out a long sigh through his nose and nodded slowly. “Alright, then. I guess we’d better get moving.”

Down hall after hall they traveled. Some had upper levels atop the walls leading to who-knows-where; others were balconies overlooking what seemed to be ballrooms and indoor courtyards. At each juncture, the group waited for the ghost to appear and usher them deeper into the strange, silent castle. Several minutes passed, and they arrived at the end of a corridor where the phantom man stood. Hands clasped behind his back, he turned around and walked into the door, his form dispersing across its sleek surface. The five glanced at each other, unsure, then approached.

Just as in the hangar, it opened on its own, revealing a large, circular room. Unlike in the hangar, however, here the lights flickered on, dim at first, but quickly grew stronger. Thick columns near the edge of the room reached up in a ring to the vaulted ceiling, clearly more for decoration than practicality since they weren’t touching the floor. Within the ring was a platform, almost like a large dais, with the center matching the height of the rest of the floor.

“What is this place?” Lance asked as the group looked around, Keith stowing his flashlight.

An odd hissing noise drew their attention to the middle of the floor, which had opened, a podium-like console to rising out of it. Cautiously, they approached as a glowing symbol appeared on the metal with a hum, shortly followed by a multi-sectioned holo-screen.

“It must be some kind of control room,” said Pidge. He reached to touch it, but pulled back as alien script began to scroll rapidly.

After setting his duffel bag next to it, Keith joined the others in crowding around the podium as it seemed to cycle through an enormous amount of data. A few seconds later, the text disappeared, replaced by a single line with a dot flashing next to it. A section of the console then opened and an orb with a single glowing optic floated into the air.

Pidge stared at it in curiosity. It stared back — and moved toward him. Immediately, Keith grabbed him by his backpack and pulled Pidge behind him, knife at the ready. Unfazed, the orb turned its attention to him, hovering up to his eye level. A wide beam sprang from its optic, moving up and down his head several times before it stopped with a pair of melodic beeps. He kept his blade trained on the device as it moved next to him. A second, tighter beam fired at the side of his skull with a high-pitched, drill-like sound. The group jumped back, yelping in surprise, but Keith didn’t retaliate; he merely blinked owlishly as the energy disappeared and the orb floated away.

“Are you alright?” asked Shiro.

“Yeah,” he replied slowly, fingering the area the ray had hit. “Didn’t even feel anything.”

“So, what, we’re just gonna let it do its thing?” Hunk leaned away as the device repeated the process with Lance, easily scanning him despite his attempts to “ninja” away from it.

Conversely, Pidge moved closer. “It doesn’t seem dangerous.”

“Okay, so what’s it doing?” asked Lance, checking his hair to make sure it wasn’t messed up.

“Hang on…” Shiro squinted as the light passed over him and a faint sense of déjà vu surfaced in his mind. “I’m pretty sure the Galra had something like this. I-It had something to do with the brain, I think?”

Once all heads were scanned and…lasered, the orb returned to the console, facing them as a synthetic voice said, “Translator implantation and update: successful.”

With that, it sank back into the podium.

“Translator?” Pidge repeated, an excited sparkle in his eyes.

“Implantation?” Hunk squeaked.

A second noise arose from the console. Replacing the previous text was a depiction of two rows of rounded cylinders, a pair of them becoming highlighted and enlarged, dismissing the others as a message popped up below them. One word sat above two smaller ones on either end.

“Is this a ‘yes or no’ thing?” Hunk wondered, leaning out from behind the others. “How do we know which is which?”

“Um…” Pidge looked between the options for a moment, tapping his chin in thought, then cautiously reached for one. His finger got within an inch of the screen when the opposite button lit up and the message changed, and he snatched it back. “Uh, that wasn’t me.”

From behind came the sound of something opening, quickly followed by an airy hiss. Slowly, two large cylinders, identical to the ones on the screen, rose from the floor. Through their opaque, glass-like sections, blurry figures could be made out, entirely unmoving.

Hunk let out a squawk of fright and leapt behind the podium, peeking out as he stuttered, “A-Are those b-b-bodies? Did we just desecrate someone’s grave?!”

His answer came with a deep hum as one of the capsule’s “glass” lit up. It peeled away in a shimmering ripple, revealing a young woman in a silken dress of blue and white, the edges trimmed in gold. A circlet glinted on her brow. Her eyes were closed, as though she were asleep — then snapped open with a gasp.

“No!” She lunged forward, arm outstretched, only for her legs to buckle. Instantly, Keith was there, wrapping his arms around her.

She let out a quiet moan as she lay against his chest for a moment, her eyes fluttering open. Shakily, she looked up, her vision somewhat blurry, unveiling crystal blue irises with pink pupils (quite the unusual color, not dissimilar to his own indigo eyes), wide, heart-like markings perfectly framing them.

As he helped her stand a bit straighter, Keith noticed her other features. ‘Dark skin, pale hair, pointed ears…she looks like him.’

At the puzzled tilt of the young lady’s head, he asked, “Are you—Oof!”

In the blink of an eye, Keith was body slammed into the wall, and all of a sudden, it was Lance holding her, his most suave smile on full display as if nothing had happened. “Hello~”

Blinking in confusion, she murmured, “Who…are you?”

“I’m Lance,” he replied in a faux deep voice. “Don’t worry, I’m here to save you.”

“Save…me…?”

“This is the only way I can save you.”

“Father—Father!” She shoved him away and frantically looked around the room. “He’s not here…but he couldn’t be—” She cut herself off as her gaze landed on the strangers. With narrowed eyes, she raised her hand and demanded, “Who are you? What have you done with my father?!”

Golden light began gathering before her palm, but popped and vanished before it could take shape, making her flinch and grab her wrist.

Shiro swiftly stepped in front of the others, who were fearfully shrinking away, and put his hands up in a calming manner. “Easy, Miss. Look, we don’t know who you’re talking about.”

“Actually, I think we do.” Everyone turned to Keith as he made his way back over, nursing a sore shoulder. “He wore armor, right? White and gold with a cape?”

Both his group and the young lady’s faces lit up with recognition.

“You have seen him,” she said, a spark of hope in her voice.

“He’s the one who led us here,” he replied.

“Well, him and a giant robot lion,” added Pidge.

Her eyes went wide. “How did you—”

Another deep hum sounded, cutting her off as the second pod opened. This one held a red-headed man, most likely middle-aged, with an overly large mustache. He yawned loudly and stretched, his joints crackling like popcorn, then blearily looked around. Upon spotting the small crowd, he attempted to take a step forward, and promptly fell on his face.

“Quiznack…” he wheezed. “Sleep chamber knees…”

“Coran!” called the young lady, rushing to his side.

The man quickly righted himself at the call, catching her in an embrace. “Princess! Oh, thank the Ancients.”

“Princess?” echoed four of the Earthlings.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “The crown didn’t tip you off?”

Remembering their audience, Coran pulled away just enough to fix his posture and asked, “Oh, and who might you be?”

“My name’s Shiro.”

“Mine’s Lance, but you can call me whatever you like, Princess~”

“Call me Pidge. And feel free to ignore him.”

“Uh, hi. I-I’m Hunk.”

“Keith.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Coran dipped into a bow. “I am Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe, Chief Royal Advisor.”

The young lady likewise gave a curtsy, though her expression made her seem less than pleased to do so. “I am Crown Princess Allura Fala Lurhya Vielna, daughter of King Alfor and Queen Melenor, rulers of planet Altea. Now answer me at once, how did you acquire a Lion of Voltron?”

“She was on our home planet, Earth,” Shiro replied. “She brought us here.”

Lance cleared his throat and slid to the front. “Well, it was mostly me. These guys were basically just tag-alongs. No offense, Shiro.”

“Oh, sure, he gets the ‘no offense,’” grumbled Hunk.

“And where exactly might ‘here’ be?” Allura pressed. “Are we on Altea?”

“Uuuhh, maybe,” said Lance. “Blue wasn’t really specific on where we were going.”

“I can remedy that.” With a flamboyant twirl of his mustache, Coran sauntered over to the console and accessed its systems with practiced ease. Soon a depiction of the Earth-like planet was spinning lazily before him. “It seems we are on Planet Arus, in the Spkolian System of the Yekzyl Quadrent—”

Warped alarms suddenly sounded; the solitary solar system’s hologram was joined by several more, one of which was illuminated in red.

“Wha-Wha-Wha-What is that? What is that?” wailed Hunk.

“A distress beacon from Planet Gevonia,” replied Coran.

The princess’s posture went rigid with authority. “Then we must help them. Coran, ready the ship—”

A second alert went off, the star map expanding to show a second location. She went to speak again, only for another beacon to cut her off. Then came a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh, and an eighth. On and on the list went as the map filled the entire room. Nearly every planet it showed was red.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” said Keith, a horrible twisting feeling spreading in his and everyone’s guts.

“Coran,” Allura breathed, slowly turning to him, “how long have we been asleep?”

His hands scrambled over the console for several seconds. His sharp gasp pierced the silence.

“Ancients be with us.”

“What?” He didn’t respond. She repeated louder, “What is it?”

At length, Coran turned around and met her eyes. “…We…have been asleep…for three thousand years.”

Allura couldn’t breathe.

Trembling hands covered her mouth, a hollow whisper slipping out. “No…but…that would mean…”

The room faded away in fire — the same fire which consumed her planet at the end of the war.

The end of Altea.

Many stories had been told of the end of days, yet none could truly know how it felt to watch it happen. To see one’s people slaughtered without mercy; to watch one’s home burn to ashes, and all the while being entirely powerless to stop it.

When the battlefield finally reached her world, Allura witnessed it all firsthand. The great city of Falan, once a shining monument of Altean achievement, now lay in ruin as Galra warships bombarded the planet’s surface. Their fleet was long since lost, and it seemed the Castle of Lions would soon join it.

Violent tremors nearly knocked the princess off her feet as alarms and panicked cries filled the bridge.

“Infra cells are down!”

“We just lost the main weapons systems!”

“The particle barrier is nearly depleted!”

At the helm, Coran’s voice joined the other officers as he called, “Sire, the castle is being torn apart!”

Standing tall in the center of the chaos, King Alfor poured every ounce of power he could muster into boosting their systems. “Are the Lions away?”

“Almost,” Chief Scientist Valnor replied just as another cannon blast hit.

“Father, there is still time!” Allura shouted over the cacophony. “We can assemble the Lions and put an end to this!”

Alfor looked to the carnage surrounding him and hung his head. “No, we cannot.”

“But, Father—”

 “Everyone, get to the hangar bays,” he said. “Ancients willing, you can slip away in the confusion.”

The officers were torn as they looked from each other to their king. Then, one by one, all except Coran stood, saluted, and hurried through the door. Allura watched them go with trembling fists.

She turned back to her father and cried, “We cannot run away! We must fight! This cannot be how it ends!”

“And it will not be… for you,” Alfor replied. He stepped down from his dais and cupped her cheeks with his hands. “My little juniberry. I swear the stars shall shine on you once more.”

A small tear ran down Allura’s face as she clung to his arms, as steady and strong as an ancient tree. “Why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye?”

He smiled, softly and sadly, and laid one last kiss on her forehead. From his lips sprang a tiny burst of magic. Allura had no time to gasp before her mind grew foggy and her body drained of strength.

“Forgive me. This is the only way I can save you.”

She weakly reached for her father, her voice a distant whisper. “Wait…please, no…”

“I love you, Allura.”

And then he was gone.

The princess stared at the floor, though her eyes still only saw his face. “Father…Altea…my people…they’re…”

Silence suffocated the room, which now seemed far too small to contain all it held. No one could even look at one another. Several eternal seconds passed before footsteps broke through the quiet. A gentle hand on her shoulder brought Allura from her trance, and she looked up into Coran’s kind, weathered face. Tears glistened in his eyes. Her heart shattered.

With a broken wail, she buried her face in his shoulder. They clung to one another with all the strength they had left as they slowly sank to the ground. Soon, all that could be heard was the princess’s shuttering sobs. It was so much worse than the silence.

———————————

“Report.”

“They’re not here, sir. We scanned the entire system,” Captain Meer replied.

“I’m afraid we’re empty-handed as well, sir,” echoed Captain Volkath.

“There’s nothing here,” finished Captain Je’nok sourly.

Sendak nodded with a grunt. “Proceed to your next coordinates.”

“Vrepit Sa,” said the three captains, saluting.

Sendak returned it. “Vrepit Sa.”

The three then vanished from the screen. Closing his eyes, he quietly hummed in thought. ‘Where could you have scampered off to?’

A harsh SLAM sounded behind him. “I take it our results are similar.”

Haxus was practically vibrating with frustration as he glared at the holo-screen. “Two systems, a hundred fighters scanning every peak and crevice, and yet still no trace of those miserable little miscreants or the Lion.”

“Patience,” said Sendak tiredly. “Those five are novices at best. Having a Lion doesn’t mean they know what to do with it.”

“It makes them unpredictable, and thus dangerous,” said Haxus, removing his fist from the dented edge of the console to face his commander.

“On that, we agree. However” — Memories of the Blue Lion’s spastic dodging flashed through the general’s mind — “I hesitate to call them capable. And now that we know what to expect, I have full confidence that our next encounter will end very differently.”

His second-in-command let out a short hum as he thought it over, some of his anger dissipating. “Perhaps so. I can’t understand the order to capture such weak children, though. It seems far simpler to kill them.”

Sendak stiffened. Finally uncrossing his arms, he stepped closer to Haxus with a stern expression and spoke slowly. “We were all once weak. It is why we trained, and so will they. The Lion brought those five with her for a reason. Likely the same reason Emperor Zarkon gave the order to capture them alive.”

At the name, Haxus (and every officer in earshot) couldn’t help but flinch and shrink back slightly.

“I will set our course for the next system,” he said, readily backing out of his general’s shadow and resuming his post.

Sendak scrutinized him for a moment, then retook his position at the head of the bridge. The red glow of his cybernetic eye flared as the warship entered slip-space.

‘You can’t hide forever.’

———————————

Eventually, the princess quieted, and Coran guided her to sit on the cryopod ring, his arm wrapped around her. Around the room, the others had settled in various spots as they processed everything they’d learned. Keith and Shiro stood off to the side while Pidge leaned against the control console and Lance reclined on the circle’s steps. Next to him, Hunk reached into one of his belt pouches and pulled out the bag of beef jerky, which only had a few pieces left. His stomach gurgled at the sight of it, insisting to be filled. His eyes, however, drifted to the Alteans.

Allura let out a quiet, stuttering breath and reached to stop another tear before it could fall. When she pulled her hand away, a strange package was before her.

“Um, I don’t really know much about cryo-freezing,” Hunk said, fiddling with the plastic bag, “but I know if I woke up after three thousand years, I’d be pretty hungry, so you can have this, if you want.”

She and Coran blinked at the gift, seemingly unsure of what to do. After a moment, Allura mustered a small smile and replied, “Thank you, Hunk. But I am afraid I do not have much of an appetite at the moment.”

Coran’s face said he felt the same. “Please, you need not fret over us. You are welcome to have it.”

“A-are you sure?” asked Hunk.

“Even at my age, it is easy to hear such rumblings.”

His stomach let out a second, more fervent growl, making him blush with a bashful laugh and retreat to his seat.

“Man, three thousand years, though,” said Lance. “That’s, like, a thousand plus three.”

“That’s times three,” Keith corrected.

“Whatever, washout.”

‘Washout?’

Dismissing the thought for now, Shiro approached the Alteans. “I’m incredibly sorry for your loss. If there’s anything we can do to help — anything at all — we’d be glad to.”

“Thank you, Shiro,” Coran replied as he stood.

Turning to Allura, Shiro offered his hand to help her up. With a grateful smile, she reached for it, only for wicked claws to fill her vision. She lurched to her feet and stumbled away, as if burned.

“Where did you get that?” she tightly demanded, her eyes locked on the dull metal.

Shiro flinched and drew his hand back, hunching over it slightly. “I-It’s…I—”

Stepping between the two, Keith answered, “It was done to him while he was Zarkon’s prisoner.”

Coran and Allura gaped at him as if he’d said a meteor was coming.

“Impossible!” exclaimed the former. “No being lives that long!”

“What do you mean?” asked Pidge as he and his classmates drew closer.

Golden sparks flickered over Allura’s trembling fists, her jaw clenching as she growled through gritted teeth, “He is the one… He destroyed Altea and all the other worlds in our system. He murdered my father.” The sparks grew into small arcs of energy. “That filthy monster. He slaughtered billions and now cheats death himself?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone,” said Lance, waving his arms around. “Are you saying this guy’s immortal?”

Pidge’s eyes flickered with his racing mind. “An empire built by an immortal…”

“An empire that knows what we look like,” said Hunk, growing pale.

“And an empire that might be on its way here,” Keith finished, then grabbed his duffel bag and slung it onto his shoulder. “Which means we need to get going.”

Shiro’s head snapped up. “Wait, what?”

“Absolutely not!” said Allura. “This castle is the only piece of my people I have left. I will not abandon it!”

“Don’t know if you’ve seen this place, but any defenses it may have had are shot. Literally,” Keith replied.

“Not to worry, my boy. I can get it ship-shape in no time.” Coran straightened the small, shrug-like piece of his uniform. “They don’t call me the Coranic for nothing.” He paused and twirled his mustache, as if waiting for something. “Because it sounds like ‘mechanic’. Coranic, mechanic—It’s not—It doesn’t sound…exactly the same, it’s similar.”

“Yeah, we got it,” said Lance flatly.

Moving to the control console, the Altean continued, “All we need do is run a diagnostic to determine where to begin.”

“Wait, you can run a full, castle-wide diagnostic from here?” Pidge grabbed the back of the podium as he peered over the lip at the holo-screens. “You don’t need to access the main terminal?”

“For actions specific to the function of a room, yes, but for standard information, any console will do,” Coran replied. As he spoke, the computer ran the program and soon highlighted an area in red with an eeh sound. “Ah, there’s one of the little buggers—” Eeh “—Ooh, and another one—” Eeh eeh “—O-Okay, that’s two—” Eeh eeh eeh eeh “—That’s not good—” Eeeeehhh “—Oh, that’s very not good.”

Faster and faster, the warnings piled up until the entire screen was red. There were even a few error messages connected to darkened areas, likely meaning they weren’t responding.

“Alright, it may take a little time,” Coran amended with a sheepish chuckle, leaning over the console in a halfhearted attempt to hide it.

“Good for you, but we” — Keith gestured to himself and his fellow Earthlings — “need to go.”

Lance stomped past him, saying, “I don’t remember electing you as our boss, Mullet Man. I, for one, would love to stay. Especially if it means spending more time with you.” With his best smolder, he clasped Allura’s hand in a gentlemanly manner. She seemed less than thrilled as he glanced back at Keith with a dismissive wave. “You can get lost, though.”

“I’m not leaving either,” said Pidge. “I finally found out what happened to the Kerberos Crew, and this crazy-advanced alien tech can help me rescue them.”

“Um, yeah, I-I’d like to go home now, please,” Hunk said as he raised his hand.

“Dude, what is up with you today?” Lance exclaimed, pointing at Keith. “Since when do you always take his side?”

“Since he became the one who wanted to get us out of bad situations instead of into them.”

“Oh, come on, we have fun on our adventures.”

“Fun?” snapped Allura, tearing her hand away from the unwanted hold. “I would hardly call hundreds of civilizations being wiped out or enslaved ‘fun.’”

Lance waved his arms fearfully. “Oh, no, of course not, I-I just meant—”

“That’s exactly my point,” said Keith. “This isn’t a game. It’s war. And I am not going to put Shiro’s life in danger just so you can play hero.”

The younger teen bristled, but before he could retaliate, another voice spoke up.

“It’s not just my life,” Shiro said softly. “It’s everyone’s. I can’t count how many other prisoners I saw…and that was just in one prison. People are suffering because of the Galra.”

A pang of hesitation shot through Keith. He pushed it down. “This isn’t our fight.”

“Not our fight? Keith, why do you think the Galra were in our solar system in the first place? They were scouting it. They could be at Earth in a matter of hours, and not even the Garrison will be able to stop them.”

“Then what are we supposed to do? All we have is a busted castle and a Lion. War machine or not, one ship isn’t going to do much against a fleet. Blue basically told us that herself.” Keith hated how his voice began to strain, his frustration quickly morphing into aggravation.

His friend, though, seemed as impossibly calm as ever, replying, “Maybe if we can find a weakness, she can. The castle can be repaired, and there are other Lions. If we find them and form Voltron, we can fight back.”

A heavy hush fell over the room. Keith clenched his hand to keep it from shaking. “And if we lose?”

Shiro looked away. For a moment, the young man thought he’d finally gotten through, only for the man to raise his head with a solemn yet determined expression. “Then I guess I’ll just have to find a way to break out again. I’m sorry, Keith. I’m not going back.”

“Shiro…you’re gonna come back, right?”

“I promise.”

Ice settled in Keith’s stomach, stealing the air from his lungs. Every muscle in his body tightened even as his head drooped, bangs covering his eyes.

Tentatively, Shiro stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, saying quietly, “And I’m hoping you’ll stay, too.”

“…Like you did?”

A shudder ran through the man. He drew back as if he’d been sucker punched. Keith pushed past him, not bothering to look up, and headed for the exit.

“Do whatever you want,” he said hoarsely. “Just leave me out of it.”

Breaking from his trance, Shiro whirled around, calling as he moved to stand on the cryochamber ring, “Wait! Keith, please, wait!”

It was too late. With a deep clunk, the doors closed. Shiro let his reaching arm fall as he hung his head.

In the hallway, Keith paused, fighting down the urge to scream. ‘Why? Why couldn’t you just listen for once?’

 Clenching his jaw, he ran.

———————————

Sendak let out a growling sigh as the next report came in. Another solar system scanned and still no trace of the Lion. Even for a hunter such as he, this was proving tiresome, and it was only going to get worse. The further along the possible flight paths they travelled, the more worlds they would need to scout, and thanks to the little slingshot maneuver the Lion had pulled warping the trail, the projected cone was far wider than it should’ve been. Of course, what he considered tedious, Haxus found intolerable, evidenced by another sentry slamming into the wall.

Beyond the point of reprimanding, he simply activated the comm. “All ships, report in.” Oddly, only two were present. “Where’s Je’nok?”

“I don’t know, sir,” Volkath replied. “He didn’t report any deviations from his course to me.”

“Nor me,” said Meer.

Stomping over, Haxus grumbled, “Don’t tell me he got himself killed by some creature.”

“Or perhaps by some fugitives,” said Sendak, making his second-in-command perk up. “Redistribute the search vectors. We will investigate Je’nok’s last known coordinates and continue from there. This day may prove fruitful after all.”

———————————

Quiet footsteps echoed as the Humans and Alteans made their way to the control room so Coran could begin repairing the most important systems first. Thankfully, he’d already gotten the lights working, at least where they walked. Lance glanced at Shiro, who’d drifted to the back of the group, head still bowed. Pidge and Hunk were doing the same, concern written on their faces.

Slowing his pace, Lance casually slid up next to him, saying, “Hey, don’t worry about it, man. I’m sure it’ll be fine with just the six of us. I mean, do we really need a seventh wheel around here?”

“No offense, Lance,” Shiro abruptly replied, his voice tight, “but I’d like some time to myself right now.”

The teen tensed for a moment. “Oh. Uh, yeah, sure. Whatever you need.”

Rejoining his friends, they shared a look.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” Hunk whispered.

“He’s Shiro, of course he’ll be alright,” said Lance. “It’s gonna take more than Mullet throwing a tantrum to keep him down.”

Still, he couldn’t help casting another glance at the man staring at the ground like he’d just lost everything.

In much the same manner, Keith wandered down a different hall, his thoughts scattered. He didn’t know where his feet were taking him, and at the moment, he didn’t care.

“I’m not coming back.”

He ground his teeth. ‘Should’ve told me that a long time ago. Would’ve saved us both a lot of trouble.’

A now-familiar ping went off in his mind, making him pause. “What do you want?”

“Perhaps that is a question you should ask yourself.”

“I’m not in the mood for riddles, Your Majesty,” Keith spat, turning just enough to see the hologram over his shoulder.

Alfor’s gaze was solemn as ever as he replied, “Perhaps some advice, then. Stay.”

“Because you say so?”

“Because they need yo-u,” answered the king, his form flickering slightly, distorting his voice.

Keith let out a wry laugh. “Yeah, right.”

“I speak the truth. If not for your intuition, no-ne of you would have made it this far.”

“I know, that’s the problem! If I hadn’t found those caves, if I hadn’t taken them there and found that stupid Lion, none of this would’ve happened!” The young man’s voice faltered slightly. “If it weren’t for me, Shiro would be safe.”

The hallway grew quiet.

“So, you forced him to come here?”

 His head snapped up in confusion. “Well, no.”

“Coercion, then?” Alfor went on, his face strangely blank.

“No,” said Keith, firmly this time.

“Did you threaten to harm any of them or their families if they did not follow you?”

“Of course not!”

Alfor’s expression softened, and he took a soundless step closer. “Then it sounds to me that they made their choice.”

Keith crossed his arms. “No kidding.”

“And were your friend not here, I believe you would have made the same one.”

He wanted to argue, but found he couldn’t. If he were being honest, all of this had made him feel more alive than anything else, even flying for the Garrison. There was a sense of rightness in his gut, yet wrongness in his mind. Blast it, why did everything have to be so complicated?

“Ah, here we are,” said Coran as the door to the bridge opened.

Pidge spun on his heel so he could take everything in at once. The space was somewhat plainer than he’d expected, with only a simple console against the far wall and a short dais in the center. While he and the others spread out, Coran set to work activating the computer.

“So, what are we doing first?” asked Hunk.

“Well, that will depend on whether or not the repair drones are functional,” Coran replied, a touch distractedly. “If they are, the smaller issues will be taken care of in two shakes of a fyxan’s tail. Now, let me see…”

He trailed off into indecipherable mumblings as his hands worked. A few seconds later, he gave a triumphant laugh, and what the Humans had thought to be simply a black wall lit up with a neon hexagonal pattern. It spread out from the center, revealing a massive wrap-around screen showing the world outside.

“Excellent,” said Coran with a clap. “External sensors and cameras are working.” Part of the screen glitched. “Mostly. Now, to check on—”

Shrill beeping cut through the air as red light consumed the holo-screen and flashed along the edges of the monitor.

“What’s happening?” Shiro called.

Coran typed something, bringing up a hologram in the middle of the room of a planet with a blinking dot beside it. “A Galra battle cruiser just entered the Arusian atmosphere!”

Hunk let out a frightened wail. “Aw man, I knew we should’ve left!”

“Calm down, it’s practically on the other side of the planet, it’ll take a while before they detect us.” Pidge paused as dozens of smaller dots began spilling out from the big one and fanning out. “…Unless they launch fighters to speed up the process.”

“Let them come,” said Allura darkly. “Destroying them shall mark the first step in avenging Altea.”

“Princess, I realize you’re going through a lot right now, but we are not ready to deal with something like this,” said Shiro.

“I recall you saying you would help however you could,” she retorted with a glare.

“And we will,” he replied, “but we need a better plan than just ‘attack’.”

“A Galra ship?” Keith echoed.

“Yes,” said Alfor, a hand on his temple as his form began flickering worse than before. “It’s sending out fi-i-ighters to scan for us. It is onl-y a matter of time before they arrive.”

“Shiro will try to stop it, or at least outrun it,” the young man thought aloud. “But the castle’s defenseless, and they’ll detect Blue if she leaves and just track her down again. He’ll want to fight.”

While his mind raced through different scenarios, a small smile appeared on the ghost’s lips. “It would seem your own choice is upon you. So, what will it be?”

Keith hesitated. He could just walk away. He’d warned them it was impossible; that they were out of their depth. Them ignoring him and barreling ahead wouldn’t be his fault. But…would he be able to live with himself if he left now? Each of their faces flashed through his head.

He made his decision.

“And then we bust onto the bridge, take down the captain, and blow up the ship!”

“You skipped the part where we have to fight through hoards of ships and get past their shields, which, need I remind you, were tough enough to withstand the heat of multiple stars in a row.”

“Yeah, the Lion said to run then, so maybe we should do that now?”

“I will not abandon my home, and that is the last time I wish to hear such a suggestion!”

“If we had a micron disruptor, that shield would be no problem, but I believe I misplaced the last one somewhere on Wazblay.”

Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to breathe. The past few minutes had reignited his headache something fierce and it was taking most of his concentration to keep from yelling again. The red light of the battlecruiser’s hologram wasn’t helping.

“Okay, decent suggestions, but—”

“What we need to do is find out what frequency those fighters operate on and plant a virus to take out their systems and snag their data,” Pidge said.

“Uh-huh, and how are you gonna do that when you can’t even figure out how to turn on an alien computer?” said Lance tauntingly.

“Easier than your moronic ‘just blast ‘em’ plan!”

Hunk raised his hand. “Maybe we could, I don’t know, just give them the Lion? I mean, i-if that’s what they want, maybe they’ll leave us alone?”

“You would give the Galra a Lion of Voltron to save your own skin?” Allura nearly screeched. “Just how much of a coward are you?”

“Princess, that is too far,” Shiro said, stepping forward protectively as Hunk shrank back.

“I say it is not far enough. This is my castle. I will decide what course to take, and I say the Blue Lion is strong enough to break through the ship’s barrier and destroy it.”

“Maybe eventually, but the fighters and heavy cannon would blow us out of the sky long before then.”

Allura seemed close to losing her temper entirely but was able to keep her voice fairly steady as she asked, “Do you have a better plan, then?”

Shiro opened his mouth, only to close it again with a sigh. “No, not at the moment. Honestly, our best option may be to leave—” she opened her mouth again, “—temporarily. Once the danger’s passed, we could come back. The problem is that we have no way of knowing if the ruse would work since they already managed to track us down once.”

“Yeah, how’d they do that anyway?” asked Hunk.

“I don’t know, but I bet it’s Keith’s fault,” Lance replied snarkily.

“Say whatever you gotta say to make yourself feel better.”

He jumped at the voice as everyone turned to see said young man leaning against the open doorway.

“…How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to figure out that your plans won’t work,” Keith answered, joining the circle. “Shiro’s right. Their defenses are too strong, we can’t attack head-on. We also don’t know how the Galra found us, so running is out. The only way to take the ship down is from the inside.”

The others blinked at him.

“And you guys said my idea was crazy,” said Lance.

Shiro, though, smirked. “You have a plan to get in, don’t you?”

Keith returned the smirk. “We play dead again. Only this time, we make it convincing. We’ll take out as many fighters as we can, then take a hit and go limp. Once they reel us in, Blue can fire a shot to clear a path and cause confusion. From there, we disable the shield generator and weapons systems.”

Grabbing his chin thoughtfully, Pidge replied, “Well, it’s not a terrible plan.”

“Uh, yeah, it is!” said Lance. “We’d be walking straight into a hornet’s nest! How would we even know where to go?”

“I think I can help there,” Coran said. “While there seem to have been some upgrades made in the last few millennia, the basic design is virtually the same as I remember.”

“Um, okay, great, but why go for two targets when we could just hit the power core? That’s a thing, right? Power cores?” asked Hunk.

“The core will lie in the most heavily fortified and furthest area of the ship,” replied Allura, pointing to a spot on the hologram near the engines. “I admit, it would be faster to cripple them first, then finish them off with the Lion.”

“Hold on, what about the fighter jets?” Lance piped up.

“Once they think they have us, they’ll be called back and get blown up too,” said Pidge.

“We’ll also need to take out communications,” added Shiro. “If they signal the rest of the fleet, we’re sunk. Coran, do we have any kind of radio jammer?”

The advisor tugged his mustache for a moment. “I believe so, though it may need a little dusting off.”

“Alright,” said Keith, nodding. “It’ll probably cut off our comms, too, so I’ll head back to the bow for pick-up.”

Lance exchanged a glance with the others. “Um, I think you mean ‘we’, dude.”

“No, I don’t.” At the group’s confused faces, Keith went on, “I’m the fastest and second best fighter here. It’ll be easier to slip past guards if it’s just me.”

“Hand-to-hand fighter, maybe — and that’s a big ‘maybe’ — but I’m willing to bet most of the guys on that ship are gonna be using guns, which I just so happen to be an expert with,” said Lance, puffing out his chest.

“Would this be the same level of ‘expertise’ you used to fly the Lion the first time?” Pidge asked flatly, using air quotes to further his point.

“No, no, seriously, you should see him,” said Hunk, wrapping an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “He’s been a great shot ever since we were kids.”

“Yup, and Hunk’ll be able to break down their machines lickady-split!”

“Yeah!” Then he suddenly blanched. “Wait, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no — me in there is not happening!”

“And you’ll need someone who can hack their security systems.” Pidge fiddled pointedly with his glasses, a victorious smirk on his face.

Keith paused in surprise, then shook his head. “I can’t ask you guys to do this.”

“We’re not asking,” Shiro replied, setting a hand on his shoulder. “We’re in this together.”

‘Together…’

The young man looked to each person around him, a strange, warm feeling rising in his chest. It made him smile in a way he never had before as his eyes settled back on his friend.

He nodded. “Alright, then.”

Shiro nodded back as Allura spoke, “Now that that is done, we must get moving. The armory should still have plenty of—”

“Ah, Princess, I am afraid it would be better for you to remain here,” Coran interjected. “Before the alarm went off, I checked our power levels and they are nearly depleted. I will need your help to get the particle barrier working, in case we are found out.”

“But I—” she tried to protest.

“You said it yourself,” said Keith. “This castle is the last remnant of your people. Protect it. We can handle the rest.”

For a moment, Allura wanted to argue, yet found she couldn’t. Letting out a small, sharp sigh, she replied, “Very well. I will hold you to that.”

“You got it, Princess,” said Shiro. “Alright, boys, it’s time to gear up!”

———————————

The Blue Lion peeked out from behind a steep ridge far away from the castle, watching as a squadron of Galra fighters crested the horizon. Inside, the five Earthlings held their breath, waiting for the right window of opportunity.

“Hey.” Breaking from his concentration at the whisper, Keith turned to Shiro. “Thanks for coming back. But are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Keith thought for a moment. “If you’re going to launch yourself into some crazy space war, I’m not gonna let you do it alone. What about you?” He eyed the light sheen of sweat on his friend’s forehead. “We’re walking into a Galra cruiser.”

“I’m not exactly thrilled about it,” said Shiro with a slow breath, “but I can’t let you kids have all the fun.”

Keith chuckled and went to speak when Lance’s call cut him off. “Okay, here we go.”

Barely a second later, the Lion pounced, blasting through three fighters in one shot. Pivoting sharply, the remaining ships gave chase. As Blue wove around their fire, more of them began converging on their position, which just so happened to draw them closer to the cruiser. Perfect.

———————————

“Sir,” a lieutenant called, “the fighters have found the Blue Lion and are herding it toward us. Shall we alert the general?”

“And deprive ourselves of the sole glory this victory will bring? I think not,” replied Captain Je’nok.

Another officer spoke up. “Sir, if I may ask, how did you know it would be here?”

“My impeccable intuition.” In truth, he’d simply selected a planet at random, but the crew didn’t need to know that.

“Sir, we’re detecting an energy signature on the surface,” came a third call.

“So, they have a base, eh?” purred Je’nok with a growing smile. “Intercept the Lion and set a course for that signal. Our Dread Lord will be most pleased with the destruction of any so-called rebellion these Humans may have incited.”

———————————

“How you holdin’ up back there, Hunk?” asked Lance as Blue ran and twisted around more blaster fire.

A heaving sound was heard as the big guy barely contained what was left of the beef jerky, now tangy in the worst possible way. “I hate all of you.”

“So, as good as usual.”

He took out two more ships with the tail gun before Pidge called from his position at the radar, “Okay, I think that’s enough fighters.”

“Do it,” said Shiro. The others braced themselves.

“Sorry about this, Blue.”

Leaping into the air, he moved into the path of a laser. A violent shudder rocked the Lion and she let herself fall to the ground. The fighters circled her like vultures, ensuring she wouldn’t get up. The shadow of the battlecruiser fell over her, activated its tractor beam, and began pulling them in. However, it seemed not everyone got the memo.

“Um, guys?” Pidge said. “A group of fighters just peeled off and are heading for the castle!”

———————————

Coran’s hands flew over three different holo-screens. “Try it now.”

Allura closed her eyes and concentrated on pushing her energy into the particle barrier. It appeared briefly, then flickered away again to the sound of another error notification, making Coran wince.

Just then, Shiro’s voice came over the comm. “Blue Lion to castle. Princess, Coran, can you hear me? Listen, a squad of fighters is on its way.”

“What!?” she gasped.

“Quiznack!” said Coran. “They must have detected us trying to activate the particle barrier!”

“Can you delay them?” asked Allura, pulling up the radar for herself.

“Negative,” Shiro replied. “We’re nearly in the cruiser.”

Her mind raced with options before she took a breath. “Very well. We will be ready for them. Castle of Lions signing off.”

Coran looked at her with skeptical concern, the same kind she herself felt.

“We have to be,” she muttered.

———————————

As the Blue Lion drifted into the holding bay, Lance asked, “Now?”

“No,” replied Pidge, monitoring the fighters on the radar as they docked with the cruiser.

“Now?”

“No.”

Just a few more left.

“How ‘bout now?”

“Still no!”

A couple more.

“Now!?”

The last dot vanished.

“Now!”

Instantly, Blue came to life and fired a beam straight through several layers of the ship, destroying the tractor beam and dropping her to the floor.

“Alright, drawbridge is down, aseres!” said Lance, eagerly unbuckling and joining the others in the back.

“Weapons ready?” called Shiro. Keith, Lance, and Hunk pulled their blaster rifles from their backs and primed them while Pidge readied his pistol; the alien designs felt a bit odd, but a gun was a gun no matter the planet, it seemed. “Move out.”

The five leapt from Blue’s mouth as she crouched and ran for the hole in the wall. They raced through the pentagonal corridors (the ceiling forming the pointed side), keeping an eye out for guards and an access terminal — a tall order when they seemed to stretch on for eternity. Their only lights were the violet panels in the inset pillars in the walls, much like the ones in the castle, only pointier and concave.

“Waitwaitwait!” Pidge dug in his heels, nearly tripping, and turned down a branching hall.

Following him, the others saw the console and quickly formed a perimeter around the young genius. Pidge slid to his knees next to it and grabbed the teardrop-shaped jammer from his backpack, placing it on the underside of the terminal. Once attached, it lit up with a hum. He then stood and pulled out one of the white-and-grey, rectangular devices Coran gave them, scrutinizing the glowing V-like symbol near the tip.

“Gendopics,” he’d called them. “They can interface with any technology, anywhere at any time. Simply think the command and it will do it.”

Pidge held the ‘pic over the holo-screen and concentrated. A scanning beam appeared from the symbol, its own screen springing from the symbol. The two computers slowly became synchronized, and soon a robotic voice rang out, “Security cameras: disabled. Motion trackers: disabled.”

“Okay, we’re good to go!” he said, grabbing his gear. “We’ll have about ten minutes before they realize they’ve been hacked.”

Regrouping at the end of the hall, Shiro brought up a holo-map of the ship on his own ‘pic, showing two points highlighted further in. “From here on out, we won’t be able to contact each other, so make sure you stay with your partners. Keith, Lance, Hunk, you go for the weapons. Prioritize the ion cannon. Pidge and I will hit the shields.”

“Wait, what?” Keith said.

“Ugh, why do I get Mullet?”

He stepped closer, ignoring Lance. “I’m not leaving you.”

“You’re not,” Shiro replied, placing a hand on his shoulder. “But I need you to go with them. Like you said, if things get up close and personal, you’ve got the best training. I’m decent at short and long range, so I’ll cover Pidge.” His friend glanced away, apprehension etched into his face. A light squeeze made him look up. “I’ll be okay.”

Keith let out a breath. “You better be…” A smirk appeared. “Old timer.”

“Punk,” Shiro chuckled, shaking his head good-naturedly.

The heavy clunking of multiple footsteps rapidly approaching cut through the air. They were coming from the hall the intruders had just been in.

“Good luck,” said Keith quickly.

“Watch each other’s backs,” Shiro replied as the two teams started moving in opposite directions.

“Yes, sir!” Lance called with a two-finger salute.

“And, Keith.”

He paused.

There was a particular look in Shiro’s eye. “Remember: Patience yields focus.”

With a nod and one last glance behind him, Keith charged ahead, keeping his partners in his field of vision. He wouldn’t fail Shiro this time.

———————————

“Particle barrier, up!”

Flicker and failure.

Allura growled while her advisor tiredly said, “And there goes my last trick.”

“There must be something we missed,” she mused, standing next to him. “Have we checked the oscillators?”

“Twice.”

“What about the quintessence compressor?”

“And the energy conduits and the poklones.” Coran leaned back, scrubbing his eyes with his palms. “We have checked every system and program even remotely connected to the barrier generator. If the problem were in the computer—” He stopped, pulling his hands away. “Perhaps it isn’t.”

He pressed a few buttons and dropped to his knees, peering through the now-open panel on the console’s side.

“Ah-ha!” he cried triumphantly as Allura joined him, spotting a gem on the brink of falling off its holster. “The barrier crystal is out of alignment!”

He stuck his arm into the slot, but couldn’t move it farther than the middle of his forearm. Still he pushed harder, his face going red with the strain as he grunted out, “Blast it…why did we…only make this big enough…for maintenance drones—” Crunch “—OW!”

Coran yanked his hand out, flapping it madly before sticking his finger in his mouth. Allura watched in bewilderment, only for a little squeak to make her ear twitch. Leaning down again, she squinted into the hole. Something moved, then a head popped into view. She gasped in surprise as a somewhat dirty, chubby mouse tumbled out of the console, shortly followed by three more of various sizes and colors: yellow, blue, turquoise, and pink, respectively. They blinked dazedly at the Alteans, who did the same.

“Oh…my…goodness!” Allura squealed, eagerly scooping the tiny things into her hands.

“Be careful, Princess,” said Coran, eyeing them. “They are wild and bitey creatures.”

“Oh, do not be silly, you probably just frightened them,” she said, holding them up to her face. “Aw, you are so adorable! You poor little things, were you trapped in there?” She paused. “You were inside it.”

The mice squeaked and tilted their heads, clearly not understanding.

Coran seemed to be in the same boat. “Princess?”

Rather than answer him, Allura breathed deep and closed her eyes. Warmth gathered in her chest and flowed down her arms, enveloping her hands in a golden glow which then spread to the mice.

“Princess, wait, are you certain?”

“Of course,” she replied, her voice slightly strained. “I used to do this all the time, do you not remember?”

“Yes, but those were your mother’s Altean gerbils, not wild Arusian mice!”

Unfortunately for Coran, in a moment the spell was complete. Shaking their heads in confusion at first, the mice looked up at Allura and straightened, as if recognizing her.

Allura spoke slowly to be sure they understood. “Friends, would you be so kind as to push that crystal back into place?”

She held them up to the open panel and held her breath. They hesitated only a moment, then scurried inside. The three smaller ones climbed up on the gem and began pushing and pulling with all their might, though they didn’t make much progress, until the largest one got a running start and launched himself at it, slamming the crystal back into place with a small crackle of energy. At once, the holo-screen cleared of error messages. Coran and Allura cheered as the mice scampered up onto it, chirping triumphantly with them.

Sweeping them up again, she hugged them the best she could and cried, “Thank you, little ones!”

“A job well done, I must say. Perhaps a victory pet is in order.” Coran reached out a wagging finger, but snatched it back when the skinny, turquoise one growled at him. “No, no, you’re still bitey.”

Allura giggled. It was short-lived, however; the alarms began blaring again, the screen zooming in on the Galra fighters cresting the nearby forest.

“And not a moment too soon.”

She dashed back to the dais, allowing the mice to secure themselves on her shoulders, and placed her hands on the control podiums. The barrier activated just in time to block the first assault, its shimmering, pentagonal pattern a welcome sight. Now all they had to do was keep it up until the others returned.

———————————

The battlecruiser was in chaos. On the bridge, officers and sentries alike rushed to assess the damage and scramble their forces, but without working comms, they had to rely on the robots’ internal link to relay information and coordinate.

“Where are they!?” Je’nok bellowed, his patience long lost.

“They’ve knocked out our cameras and motion sensors, sir!” a lieutenant called over the alarm. “It’ll take a few doboshes to get them back!”

“Should we contact the fleet now, sir?”

The officer had a smoldering hole in his head before he could blink.

“Absolutely not!” Je’nok rounded on the rest of the crew, continuing, “Can you imagine the scandal? Crippled by backwater children!? Activate every drone and sentry we have! We will crush these pests beneath our heel, as should have been done to that worthless Champion!”

“But, sir, our orders were to capture—” Je’nok turned his pistol on the major. He backed away with a shaky, “Vrepit Sa.”

As his subordinate returned to his post, the captain seethed. ‘I will not be defeated by cretins. They will all burn!’

———————————

Several sections away, two such cretins were making their way through the corridors, hiding when sentries ran past every so often. Hallway after hallway, Shiro could feel his heartbeat increasing. Gripping the rifle in his hands was about the only way to keep himself grounded as he ran.

‘Faster,’ his mind repeated. ‘Faster. Can’t let them catch me. Can’t go back.’

“Shiro!”

He planted his feet and spun around, gun at the ready, only to see an empty hallway. A small hand on his arm made him flinch.

“Are you okay?” asked Pidge, his large glasses magnifying his concerned eyes.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” Shiro replied hurriedly. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

His partner pointed over his shoulder to a door they’d just passed. “We’re here.”

“Oh.” It came out more like a sigh.

Returning to the entrance, Pidge used his gendopic to hack the lock, and they slipped inside. Much like the ones on Earth, this server room had several floor-to-ceiling rows of computers, only these were not as long and their ends came to points rather than remaining flat. Pidge wasted no time interfacing with one of them while Shiro kept watch at the door.

“I’m in.” He cracked his knuckles. “Let’s do this.”

———————————

Racing down a different hall, Keith pulled out his ‘pic and consulted the holo-map Coran gave them, then made a sharp left turn. Hunk and Lance nearly ran into each other trying to keep up.

“How ‘bout a warning next time?” the latter snapped.

“If you pay better attention, I won’t have to,” said Keith. “We can’t afford unnecessary chatter.”

He slid behind a jutting corner, the others joining him just before another pack of robots passed by. Sentries, they were called, assuming Coran’s information wasn’t outdated yet. According to him, they made up the bulk of the Galra’s forces; plain silver androids towering at over seven feet tall, their thin, T-shaped visors and breastplate sigils bleak strips of light.

“I’d say telling your teammates where you’re going is pretty necessary!” Lance was immediately and vehemently shushed on both sides by said teammates.

“Halt!”

Their heads snapped to the end of the adjoining hall. One of the sentries in the passing squad had alerted his unit. They all turned and leveled their guns at the three teenagers.

“Move!” Keith grabbed the others and dove toward the opposite wall as lasers pummeled the wall where they had just been. Pressing against his cover, he leaned out and fired a few quick shots back. When he ducked back, Lance took his spot. Neither did much damage.

“We need to find another way!” cried Hunk, clutching his rifle as if it were a stress blanket.

“No time!” Keith yelled back. “The cannon’s power core is just a few turns away, and security will only be down for a few more minutes!”

“So how are we supposed to get past these guys?” asked Lance as another volley forced him behind cover.

The older boy thought for a moment, then reached for his gendopic, stashed in one of his belt pouches, remembering what Coran told them.

“These also have an energy storage function. Touch it, focus on the item you want, and presto!”

Just like he’d said, with a small touch and a quick thought, a white ball roughly the size of a large marble materialized in Keith’s hand. He tapped Lance’s shoulder, signaling him to get back, and threw the disruptor grenade. It bounced down the hall and ignited at the sentries’ feet with a massive burst of electricity. Once they stopped twitching, the robots collapsed.

“Ho-ho, nice!” said Hunk as the three peeked out.

“Eh, it was alright,” said Lance dismissively.

Ignoring him, Keith resettled his gun. “Alright, let’s move.”

He continued down the corridor, the big guy on his heels, while Lance hung back to mutter, “You still don’t get to tell me what to do.”

Regardless, he headed out as well.

———————————

Shiro glanced manically between both ends of the hall, his blaster at the ready. Every shadow seemed like an enemy, each noise a potential threat. He’d been using his grandfather’s breathing techniques to keep calm, but they were only doing so much.

“Pidge,” he called, “how much longer?”

No response.

“Pidge?” he repeated, a bit sharper, as he looked over his shoulder.

The kid was still at the computer station, but he’d pulled out his laptop and linked his ‘pic to it.

Eyes darting to the hallway one more time, Shiro jogged over, asking, “What’re you doing?”

Then he saw. Scrolling up the screen was a list of titles and descriptions next to pictures. They were moving too fast to be seen and a progress bar blocked part of it.

Shiro didn’t need to see all of it, though. “Is that…the prisoner manifest?”

“Yes, now shut up and let me finish,” Pidge snappishly replied.

“Pidge, they may never have been on this ship,” the man said somewhat desperately. “Look, I promise we’ll find them, but if you’ve disabled the shields, then we need to go—”

“Not yet! I may never get another chance like this!”

Shiro knew that tone. He’d heard it countless times from Matt when he was dead-set on something. It meant Pidge wouldn’t be swayed no matter what he said. Still, maybe if he—

Heavy clanking echoed through the door. Hoards of footsteps were heading their way. Every muscle in Shiro’s body went stiff; the gun shook in his hands with a crackle of energy. They were coming for him.

“We need to go…” he whispered, his breaths coming fast and short. “We need to go now!”

“Will you just let me do this?!” said Pidge.

Seconds dragged past, Shiro glancing between the door and laptop too many times to be counted. Bit by agonizing bit, the progress bar moved in time with the sentries. Then something pinged on the holo-screen. The shields were down! And the soldiers were nearly on top of them.

“Pidge, I’m sorry!”

In the blink of an eye, Shiro picked him up and bolted for the door. It opened just as a troop of sentries got close. He veered down an adjoining hall. Shots nipped at his heels, spurring him faster.

Another turn. Don’t stop.

More blaster fire. Don’t stop!

“Hey! Can’t breathe!”

Shiro skidded to a halt. Looking at the kid he was accidentally choking in his arms brought him back to the present, and he ducked behind a protruding wall corner.

“I-I’m sorry,” he said, setting Pidge down. “Are you ok—”

Pidge shoved away from him. “Why did you do that!?”

He blinked.

“I almost had it! I could’ve found them! Why did you stop me!?”

“Pidge, please.” Shiro put his hands up as the sound of metal-on-metal returned. “We need to keep our voices down—”

“I need to find my family!”

Silence took the corridor. He took a step closer. “I—”

“Halt!”

Shiro whirled around and stumbled back. Five sentries had them cornered.

‘No…No…’ He raised his arm; his hand flickered with strange light. ‘I can’t…not again!’

Black energy crackled stronger than ever before. A wave of pain tore through his body, forcing him to his knees as he clutched the metal limb. He couldn’t hear — couldn’t breathe — couldn’t think. The sentries stepped closer.

“No…”

Shiro looked behind him. Pidge had fallen backward, clutching his pistol with trembling hands and fearful eyes. “Stay away…”

His voice was so small. So scared.

“Please…please don’t hurt us…”

Just like Matt’s.

The dark energy vanished.

A sentry stepped forward, its blaster primed. Pidge wanted to fire, but his fingers weren’t working. Was this how he died? He squeezed his eyes closed.

The robot suddenly flew into the far hall.

Pidge blinked. Standing there, still crouched from the punch, was Shiro, his hand thrumming with a strange neon purple glow.

A shot rang out. He blocked it and sliced the offending sentry in half, his hand cutting through it like butter. When another rushed at him, he uppercut it into the ceiling. The fourth, he sliced in two as well. The final one brought out an electric baton and swung. In a single swift motion, Shiro ducked under it, swept the sentry’s legs out, and, with a ferocious battle cry, brought his fist down on its head, crushing it into the floor beneath.

Heavy breathing filled the hallway. The robot’s head sizzled as what was left of it started to melt. Shiro glared at it, a sense of primal satisfaction in his gut. It vanished at a small clatter.

Pidge’s pistol lay on the ground in front of its gaping owner.

“H-How…?” he went to ask, only to be wrapped in a hug.

Shiro pulled back, his now-nonlethal hands gripping the kid’s shoulders, asking, “Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

A vacant stare was his only answer for a few seconds. “How did your arm do that?”

For a moment, he stared back. Then a small laugh bubbled out. “Only a Holt would think about the science first.”

Pidge’s eyes somehow widened further.

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.” Shiro paused, properly taking in the kid’s condition. His gaze fell on the dropped laptop, and he sighed. “Listen, I want to save Matt and Sam — believe me, I do — and there will be other chances, I promise you that. But you have people who are counting on you right here and now. They need us to come back safe. Okay?”

Pidge’s eyes flickered to his laptop, then the gendopic, and finally to Shiro. A part of him wanted to demand they go back and finish the download; another part wanted to get as far away from the ship as physically possible. Eventually, the latter won out, and he nodded numbly.

Quickly helping him to stand and gather his belongings, Shiro said, “And, hey, once we do find them, you’ll have a ton of stories to tell them.”

Pidge perked up a little at the thought. He wiped away the remnants of his tears and turned with a small smile. “Yeah.”

Shiro returned it, and the two set off the way they came. It was time to get out of there.

———————————

Keith growled as another volley of lasers forced him behind cover. A second squad had come rushing in after the first, and though the boys had made it to the ion cannon control room, they’d become thoroughly pinned the second they stepped foot in the door. The sentries were smarter this time, spreading out too far for the disruptor grenades’ field to hit them all, thus allowing those outside of the blast radius to fire back.

“How the heck did they find us so fast?!” cried Hunk, still clutching his gun rather than aiming it.

“Besides the shouting and shoot-out?” Keith fired another burst.

“Hey, you can not pin this on me!” Lance yelled from above, standing while the others crouched. “Hunk’s right! We took out the comms — they shouldn’t have known!”

The big guy’s brain worked double-time. “Maybe they have some kind of internal link to each other, like a private network!”

“That would explain how they knew to avoid the grenade,” said Keith, “but it doesn’t help us take out the cannon! Are the charges planted?”

“Oh, uh, not yet.”

“Then go! We’ll keep ‘em busy!”

With a nervous nod, Hunk holstered his blaster, jogged into the hexagonal room, and stared up at the generator at its center, a massive and intricate feat of engineering surrounded by a ring of control panels — and strangely heart-esque, pulsing in an unearthly rhythm. For what reason? He couldn’t possibly fathom, especially not now, with the sounds of blaster fire growing ever-closer. From what he could tell, the ion cannon used so much energy that it required its own power source, which meant they had to blow it up. Summoning (because there was really no other word for it) his five incendiary grenades from his gendopic, he set to work tossing them onto the core. Luckily, it seemed Altean engineers thought of just about everything, including a magnetic function for their bombs, which activated upon mental command. Just like Coran said: it was as simple as holding the ‘pic and activating the magnets with his mind.

Hunk paused. If Altean engineers thought of such intricate details, would the Galra? He held up his gendopic and activated its scanning function, setting it to search for where data condensed in the system and passing the beam over the consoles until—there! He rushed to the panel, only to realize he had no tools to remove it with. Boom boom boom went the noises of the battle just outside. The volume was increasing by the second. Heart beating wildly in his ears, he grabbed the console cover and began yanking.

At the doorway, Lance and Keith had taken out two sentries, but the rest were steadily getting closer. One of them then stowed its blaster and pulled out an electric baton, charging ahead of its partners.

“Cover me!” Keith shouted, setting down his own gun.

“Wait, what!?”

He didn’t reply, instead shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. ‘Patience yields focus.’

Wait for it; a gap in the lasers; metal footsteps getting just close enough.

Indigo eyes snapped open. He rushed out from their cover, drawing the sword he’d opted to bring, its plasma edge thrumming in time with his heart. He dodged the sentry’s two strikes, then cut off its arm and ran it through. With a fierce battle cry, he pushed the blade deeper and then the robot itself, using it as cover as he charged and skewered another one. Once both were on the ground, he pulled out the sword and cut off their heads in one strike. The third sentry reacted quickly, aiming its blaster at him. Lance was quicker. In seconds, it was lying on the floor covered in smoking holes.

Both boys took a moment to catch their breath.

“Thanks,” said Keith.

Resting his rifle on his shoulder with a cocky smile, Lance replied, “No problem. Sharpshooter, remember?”

Though he rolled his eyes, Keith couldn’t help smirking, too. Knowing someone was there to watch his back, even if it wasn’t Shiro, wasn’t a half-bad feeling.

Lance’s eyes went wide. “Get down!”

Keith dropped immediately, allowing him to take out a pair of sentries sneaking up on them with one headshot apiece.

Straightening, Keith said, “Nice shot.” He spotted something. “Behind you!”

Pushing Lance out of the way, he threw his sword into a third sentry. It fired a few random shots before falling as well.

The younger teen stared for a moment. “Yeah, well, I still got two.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “And I got two earlier, so I guess we’re even.”

His teammate scoffed a little (though it sounded less annoyed than earlier) then the two headed into the generator room.

“Hunk, we good to go?” Keith called.

It seemed not; Hunk was currently straining to pull off the main panel of the control console. Slowly, the edges bent upward until, with a yell that sounded equal parts angry and pained, he tore off the metal, jammed his hand into the circuitry, and tore out a magenta crystal, the wires once connecting it sparking madly. He stood there for a moment, panting like a caveman, while his partners stared at him.

“Dang,” Keith muttered.

“No kidding,” said Lance, handing his partner the gun he’d left on the floor.

Finally breaking from his adrenaline trance, Hunk joined them.

“Dude, what is that?” asked Lance, gesturing to the gem.

“Oh, well, I got thinking,” Hunk panted, “even if we blow up the generator, the Galra might be able to fix it super fast. I mean, I know I’d have plenty of spare parts for my superweapon — not that I have one. So then I figured there must be a specific part that verified the command codes from the bridge, and I scanned for a secondary data-processing unit, and it turned out to be this thing.”

“Huh. Okay, but how does that help?”

“It means, even if the Galra use the main core to power the cannon, they won’t be able to fire it,” Keith replied.

“Hunk, you big, gassy genius!” Lance held up his hand; his friend completed the handshake: dual high-five, side bump, two-piece, elbow, trail to reverse grip, snap, finger guns. Their companion stared at the laughing pair hollowly for a moment.

“Let’s get moving before more bots show up.” Keith turned and led the others down the hall, snagging his sword along the way. “Once we get to Blue, we’ll blow the bombs. Hopefully, Shiro and Pidge are on their way.”

———————————

Sentries littered the floor as Shiro finished off another platoon. He signaled to Pidge, who came out of his hiding place.

“How much farther?” the man huffed, eyeing the robots.

“Not much,” his partner answered, checking his ‘pic. “But security will probably be back up soon.”

Shiro nodded and ushered him along. They turned down the next hall, only for the bulkhead doors ahead of them to slam shut, forcing them to stop.

“Can you hack it?”

“Th-There’s no control panel,” Pidge stuttered, looking around frantically. “That was our only way out.”

“Exactly.”

The pair whirled around, weapons raised. A Galra stood in the intersection, flanked by two squads. Wide, pointed ears with distended earlobes sat on either side of a bald, leathery head, a row of short, dark horn-like scales running down the center of his skull, with a few more scales scattered about his face, resembling crooked pebbles. Unlike Sendak and Haxus, his topaz eyes were not wholly blank; a thin slit of a pupil split them down the middle, a tiny scar marking the outer edge of a barren eyebrow ridge. Pidge had thought the sentries were oversized to scare their prisoners; it turned out, they were simply built to scale with their creators. The commander (because he had to be given how similar his black armor was to Haxus’s, and the arrogance in his voice) towered over even Shiro by a good head-and-a-half, at least. Combined with his furious glare, and bared fangs and claws, he was a vision straight out of Pidge’s worst nightmares.

“You two are going to pay for this,” he snarled, drawing a wicked electro-sword. “I’ll make you suffer a thousand deaths for this humiliation. The rest of your miserable little lives will be spent wallowing at the feet of our Dread Lord as he breaks you down bone by bone! Oh, I’m going to enjoy hearing you beg for mercy—”

A laser whizzed past his pointed ear, silencing him as it hit a sentry.

“Oh, shut up,” Pidge snapped, hoping he couldn’t see how his pistol trembled. “Even Lance talks less than you.”

An animal-like growl came from Je’nok’s throat and he charged. Shiro met him halfway, deflecting the blade with his hand and landing a punch to the face. Pidge ducked around them and tossed a disrupter grenade, and thanks to the sentries packing the corridor wall-to-wall, leaving no room to dodge, it took out half of them. He readied another disruptor as he moved past the second half, only for one to snag him by the throat and lift him into the air. Legs kicking wildly, he dropped the grenade in favor of pounding at the choking grip.

“S-Shiro,” he wheezed.

Though the call was faint, the man heard it clear as day. Pushing the sword away with all his strength, he hit Je’nok with a gut punch, forcing him to double over just enough so Shiro could land a roundhouse kick to his head. Before the Galra hit the floor, Shiro grabbed him by the arm and flung him into his platoon. The sentry holding Pidge lost its grip as it fell, allowing the teenager to breathe again as he sat up. Shiro quickly got him to his feet and they ran.

Je’nok roared and slammed his fist into the floor. Not bothering to wait for his troops, he grabbed his sword and gave chase.

———————————

Tossing another disruptor down an adjacent hall as they went, taking out another pack of robots, the boys soon found the hangar wall they’d blown open upon arrival. Blue had her shield up, keeping the swarming sentries away. Thankfully, there weren’t too many. With a few well-placed shots from Lance, and grenades from Hunk and Keith, the path was cleared. The Lion rumbled warmly, letting her barrier fall as she bent down and opened her mouth — her empty mouth. While the other two rushed inside, Keith paused and looked around, a sinking feeling seizing his stomach.

“Lance, are the others in there?”

From the cockpit, he replied, “Blue says she hasn’t seen them.”

There was ice in Keith’s gut again. ‘Oh no.’

“I’m going back!”

He went to run, but Hunk grabbed his arm, saying, “Are you crazy!? There’s probably a hundred robots between us!”

“I’m not leaving them!” said Keith.

“But—” Beeping cut the big guy off. He pulled out his ‘pic and blanched. “Oh quiznack, security just came back online!”

Keith yanked his arm free. “Which is exactly why I need to help them!”

“Wait!” Lance called. “If everything’s back up, maybe we can find them with their gendo-things.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, all we’d have to do is call them!” said Hunk readily.

Keith mulled it over, his eyes flickering around with his racing mind. Hearing the pounding feet of a hundred robots surging down the hall toward them, he grunted, “Fine. Blow the generator.”

His teammate nodded, and they headed to Blue’s cockpit. Once they were secure, she turned and blasted out the bay doors.

‘Hold on,’ Keith thought as they took to the sky. ‘Just hold on.’

———————————

Pidge’s blood rushed in his ears, his legs aching. Even after the rigorous training at the Garrison, his body was ill-suited for athletics. He was positive his lungs were about to give out when the sound of rhythmic beeps rang out. Shiro was kind enough to stop and release Pidge’s hand as the teen took out his ‘pic and saw in incoming call.

“Comms are back up,” he said, both relieved and concerned.

“Guys? You there?”

Hunk’s voice was like music to Pidge’s ears as he gasped a reply. “Hunk — we’re here.”

“Oh, thank goodness. When we got to the Lion and didn’t see you, we were so worried!”

“Where are you?” asked Keith.

Pidge pulled up the map. “Uh, somewhere near the upper right side, it looks like.”

“Copy. Get to the hull. We’ll come to you.”

“Understood,” Shiro replied. “But be advised, the captain’s on our tail and out for blood.”

“Roger that.” There was something dark in Keith’s voice. “We’ll be ready.”

The transmission cut, and Pidge speedily plotted their route on the holo-map. By some miracle, it was just a few more turns long. Echoing vengeful shouts of the commander spurred them on. One by one, they made it through each hallway and arrived at a T-section.

“Okay, this is it,” said Pidge, “but how will they get in?”

“I can think of one way.” Shiro held up an incendiary grenade.

The two shared a nod, then ducked into a nearby doorway as he threw the bomb. They clung to each other as the explosion rocked the corridor, triggering probably every alarm in existence. A powerful gust of air whipped around them, and the two ran to the gaping hole, looking around for their friends.

Pounding footsteps were their only warning; a small horde of sentries surrounded them. Je’nok stalked to the front, a gatling gun in his hands, so massive it seemed to be taking every ounce of his spiteful strength to keep its dozen barrels aimed at them. Shiro hooked his arm around Pidge and stepped in front of him, hand at the ready, though he knew it wouldn’t do much. He braced for the impact as energy built in the spooling barrels. The Galra began laughing manically, an eye twitching.

A roar shook the air. All eyes turned to see the Blue Lion charging toward the hole in ship, her sights locked on the Galra.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Lance shouted, slamming the control sticks forward.

Blue opened her mouth and fired. Shiro hunched over Pidge to shield him from the explosion — except there wasn’t one. Instead of burning heat, a wave of cold washed over them. Slowly, the two raised their heads. The hallway was completely coated in a thick layer of ice. They gaped at the sight of Je’nok, eternally frozen in fearful confusion.

The Lion pulled up close to the hull breach and opened her maw where Hunk and Keith were waiting, the latter reaching out his hand and calling, “Come on!”

They didn’t need to be told twice and hopped inside.

“We’ve got ‘em,” said Keith. “Go!”

Closing her jaws snugly, Blue turned and sped just out of weapons range.

“Dude, since when do you have a freeze ray?!” said Pidge, running to the pilot’s seat.

“Since now, I guess,” Lance replied with a laugh. “Blue just knew what to do.”

“Well, thank you, Blue,” Shiro sighed, leaning against the chair. A warm rumble seemed to say, ‘You’re welcome.’ He then straightened. “Now, Lance, if you would do the honors.”

The young pilot grinned. “Sir, yes, sir.”

Blue launched forward, nimbly weaving around incoming fire and drawing a line down the side of the cruiser with her mouth cannon, causing a chain reaction of explosions. Next, she pivoted around to the back and took out the engines, then pulled out her ice beam and created a thick patch on the top of the back hull. Switching back to the laser, she shot straight down into the ship’s core. A humongous fireball erupted, cascading through the entire warship, incinerating every being within, be they metal or flesh, and taking out any straggling fighters lingering too close.

The five Earthlings cheered, whooped, and hollered as they blasted away. At last, the tension constricting their lungs and stomachs subsided.

“Whoo, man,” said Hunk, sliding down to the floor, “I am so glad that’s over.”

“And you didn’t puke this time,” Pidge added cheerfully.

“We’re not done yet,” said Keith. “Coran and the princess still have a fighter problem we need to deal with.”

“Aww, man.”

———————————

Allura grunted as another pass from the fighters shook the castle and weakened the particle barrier further. She was pouring every ounce of power she had into it, but after her long slumber and bonding with the mice, there wasn’t much left. A thick sheen of sweat glistened on both Alteans’ brows as they did everything they could to keep the enemy at bay. The shield wavered. The princess took a deep breath and gave one last push. It sputtered, fighting to remain, then both she and it collapsed.

“Allura!” Coran cried, by her side in an instant.

Panting, she looked up to see the Galra fighters coming around. The next strike would be the last.

‘I’m sorry, Father,’ she thought, tears stinging her eyes as Coran tightened his hold and the mice huddled close. ‘I failed to protect our home.’

Just then, a voice came over the comlink. “Did someone call the cavalry?”

Allura gasped. The Blue Lion cut across the enemy formation, taking out two of them. As the others gave chase, the tail gun struck another fighter. They twisted through the air in dizzying patterns before she flipped around and cut down three of her pursuers with her claws. When the last two got close, she headed toward the ground, turning just enough to freeze them. They slammed into the ground with spectacular explosions as the Lion slid to a stop just in front of the castle.

Within it, the Alteans finally started breathing again, leaning against each other for support. The mice did the same, one of them fainting.

“Thank the Ancients,” said Coran.

The screen came to life, showing the Lion’s cockpit, where all five Earthlings stood accounted for.

Shiro asked, “Princess, Coran, are you guys alright?”

“A bit shaken,” Allura replied, a hand over her heart, “but alive.”

“No need to fear anymore, Princess, your Sharpshooter has returned,” said Lance with his overly-suave grin.

Everyone groaned.

“Lucky me,” she quietly deadpanned while Coran looked befuddled.

A short while later, as the sun set beyond the red-shadowed mountains, the small band of Earthlings got Blue back to her hangar and made their way to the bridge, where the warm rays of evening were pouring through the main screen. Or rather, stumbled their way. Hunk spun around and flopped onto his back with a long groan the second they got there.

“I never wanna move again,” Pidge moaned, dropping his backpack and draping himself over the the older boy’s rotund stomach like he was a giant pillow.

Lance stretched his shoulder, eliciting small pops. “Tell me about it. I almost puked out there. I felt like Hunk!”

“Think how I felt. I am Hunk.”

“Thank you all,” said Allura from her seat on the dais, “for everything. If not for you, all would have been lost.”

“Just glad we made it back in one piece,” Keith replied. “Um, what’s with the mice?”

Several squeaks filled the princess’s ears as the four mice scampered down her arms and sat on her knees. “Oh! I am so sorry, I nearly forgot about you. These little ones helped us activate the particle barrier.”

“Girl, you’re always activating my particle barri—”

“Lance,” said Shiro, side-eyeing him.

“Aww, they’re so cute,” Hunk gushed, rolling to his feet and tipping Pidge onto the floor.

“Ow…” Pidge hoarsely whined, though he couldn’t be bothered to move.

Kneeling next to the princess, Hunk asked, “What’re you going to call them?”

“Hmm… How about Platt” — The chubby yellow mouse gave a dopey smile — “Chulatt” — Little Pink blushed and held her paws behind her back bashfully — “Plachu” — He held his teal chin thoughtfully, a hidden smirk on his face — “and Chuchule?” Her ears, perfectly round and especially large compared to the rest of her teeny, baby blue body, wiggled in a pleased manner. Allura clapped her hands together. “Splendid!”

A comfortable silence filled the room, everyone taking a minute to admire the new additions to the group and relax.

“Now then, time to plan our next move,” Coran abruptly said with a sharp clap.

Groans filled the air as Shiro asked, “What next move?”

“To retrieve the other Lions, of course,” he answered. “We will need to find them soon so you five can begin training.”

“Training?” Keith repeated.

Suddenly, Allura was on her feet, the mice scrambling off, and turned to her advisor incredulously. “Them? Coran, you cannot be serious.”

“Five Lions, five new recruits, one of whom has already established a bond.” He twirled his mustache in a thoughtful manner. “Not very much of a stretch, I would say.”

“Coincidence is no basis for such bold assertions.”

Coran looked at her with a solemn expression, one that the Earthlings were very unused to seeing on the eccentric man. “I do not believe this to be mere coincidence. Our pods would have lost power, making our slumber eternal, had these Humans not come when they did — these Humans who have courage enough to face the might of the Galra Empire and restored the Blue Lion to the universe. I believe she brought them here for a reason.”

“Indeed.”

The breath left Allura’s lungs. Behind Coran, just in front of the command console, a luminous orb hovered. It surged with the light of dusk, shifting into a new form, until the sun sank enough to reveal the noble visage of King Alfor.

“Father…” She took a tentative step, then another, and another, each one faster than the last, until she was before him. “Father.”

He smiled, warmly and tenderly, just like she remembered. “My dearest Allura. How I have missed you so.”

Tears stung her eyes once more, her throat tight. “I thought I would never see you again.”

“Um, how are we seeing him?” asked Pidge hesitantly, having pulled himself from the floor to raise his hand.

“Before my…demise, I copied my consciousness into a digital form, which was then linked to the castle’s computer,” said Alfor, not at all offended by the interruption. “We call it aqlamyra.”

“But that process was experimental, and dangerous. Why did you not tell me of this?” asked Allura as Coran joined her.

Her father’s smile faltered a bit. “Because if I had, it would have robbed you of what little hope remained. And, I suppose, because some small part of me believed the war could end peacefully, and no one else need die. But that time is long passed.” He shifted to address the room. “I agree with Coran. The Blue Lion had a purpose in bringing these souls here. What precisely that purpose is, I cannot confidently say, but perhaps, for once, destiny is on our side.”

His words weighed on the Earthlings’ hearts and minds, pulling them all into a reflective quiet.

“So…we’re, like…the Chosen Ones!?” said Lance, an ecstatic sparkle in his eyes.

“Let’s not get carried away,” Pidge replied flatly. “It’s probably just personality profiling.”

“Must you ruin everything?”

“I’m just saying.”

While Allura watched them somewhat disdainfully, her father chuckled. “Well, if nothing else, the banter certainly seems to fit.”

Their attention was diverted by Shiro as he walked around the dais to them, Keith on his heels. Instinctively straightening his posture, he said, “I’m Takashi Shirogane. It’s an honor to finally meet you properly, Your Majesty.”

He dipped into a traditional Japanese bow.

“Please, there is no need for such formalities here, Shiro,” Alfor replied, motioning for him to lift his head. “My name is enough.”

‘Like the Pit it is,’ thought Allura indignantly.

“So, um,” Hunk stammered as he and his classmates moved beside their fellow Earthlings, “hi, Mr.—High—King, sir. Uh, I’m Hunk. Quick question: since you’re plugged into the castle, you wouldn’t happen to know where the next Lion is, would you? I mean, it’s totally cool if you don’t.”

“Uh, what are you talking about?” said Lance with a raised eyebrow. “We already know where it is.” His friends blinked vacantly. “Remember? The vision-thingy? In the cave?”

Now Pidge was raising a brow. “I just saw the Lions flying around and forming Voltron. What cave vision are you talking about?”

“The one after that one!”

“I am afraid you were the only one who received that part of the vision, Lance,” said Alfor. “Before sending the Lions away, I gave each of them the knowledge of where the others were hidden, to be granted only to their respective new Paladins, should they arise.”

“Paladins,” Shiro echoed, as if trying out how the word felt on his tongue.

Keith took a step forward. “Can’t you just tell us where they are, then?”

The king shook his head. “In order to avoid their locations being compromised should the castle ever be captured, the original Alfor wiped that information from my memories. Thus, we must rely on the Lions to guide us.”

All heads turned to Lance.

“Alright, Chosen Boy,” said Pidge, his tone doubtful, “tell us where we’re headed.”

The teen hesitated for a second, recalling the vision the best he could. “Uhh, well, it was definitely the Yellow Lion. I think it was in some sort of cave? Yeah, that sounds right. There were all these weird, glowing crystals around it, too. Oh, and a giant heart-like thing behind it.”

Keith gave him a flat look. “The ‘giant heart’ wasn’t the first thing you noticed?”

“Do you know what planet it’s on?” Shiro quickly asked, preempting another argument.

“Well, Blue didn’t give me a name, exactly,” Lance replied, rubbing the back of his neck, “but she did show me. It was kinda weird-lookin’, with these huge spine-ridge-thingies and, I think, an almost swirly pattern on its surface.”

Lighting up with recognition, Coran let go of his mustache and typed something into a holo-keyboard. A model of a yellowish planet appeared. “Is this the one?”

“Yeah, that’s it!”

“Ha ha! Perfect! This is a Balmera, the only place where power crystals can be found, and with how depleted ours is, we sorely need a new one. It’s a two-for-one bargain!”

Keith nodded, then glimpsed Hunk and Pidge out of the corner of his eye. Their stares were drooping more by the second, their heads lolling to the side only to jolt upright again.

“Okay,” Shiro thought aloud, “so we can snag the crystal and the—”

“Maybe we should figure out the plan in the morning. It’s been a long day.” Keith subtly nodded at the two.

With a small, understanding sigh, his friend replied, “Good call. Let’s get some rest.”

Agreeing hums rippled through the group; even Allura couldn’t muster a protest. The hologram was dismissed and the bridge shut down as the group headed into the hall, Coran guiding them to the section of the castle housing the living quarters, and going on about how it was all apparently built by his grandfather a few hundred years before the war. Most of the party tuned him out after a few seconds.

Bringing up the rear, Keith glanced at Shiro. “Hey.”

He glanced back. “Hey.”

“I’m sorry about everything I said before,” the young man went on, bowing his head slightly. “It wasn’t fair.”

Smiling, his friend put his arm around him. “I forgive you. And I’m sorry, too. I made a promise, and I broke it.”

“That wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but still.” Shiro held up his fist. “Are we good?”

Keith completed the bump. “Always.”

“Good. Oh, and before I forget…” The man leaned down, his smile widening to a dangerous degree. “What’s this about you being a washout?”

The teenager choked. For a moment, he was still, then he booked it down the hall. Shiro raced after him. “KEITH KOGANE, YOU GET YOUR SKINNY LITTLE DELINQUENT BUTT BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!!”

For the first time in three thousand years, the great hallways of the Castle of Lions flowed with laughter.