#igf coeus

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Brittle Relations: II

Word Count: 2855

A/N: Allura, give me the power to overcome my procrastination and the ability to spell words correctly the first time.

The Coeus appeared on the other side of the wormhole with the beauty and grace of ocean liners. Its splendor, even in ruin, could rival its sister ship, the Atlas. Its beauty could not, however, make the trip enjoyable for its crew onboard. While the Coeus remained intact, many of the teens in the bridge were having a hard time staying intact. Many of them were green, holding their stomachs or covering their mouths with their hands to hold down their lunch. Cake gagged, trying in vain to stop his lunch from coming back up. As he gagged, it made Liz begin to do so. Kova took deep breaths, calming her stomach. Caleb and Allie were matching shades of green, gripping their consoles to control themselves. 

"We are NEVER traveling through a wormhole after lunch again." Kova had shut her eyes in hopes of calming her stomach. And will. With various forms of agreement from the others and a retch from Cake's direction, the teens fled to their rooms. Kenny watched the entire scene unfold from the comfort of the engine room with a plate of sliced fruit in front of him. He scoffed as they fled, shaking his head as he took a bite of one of the slices. It turned into mush in his mouth, but at least it wasn't moldy. 

"Please, I implore you, I must speak to the half-Galra," Darrar's voice shook as he spoke to Shiro through the glass of his makeshift prison.

"Like I've said before, whatever you need to say to them, you can say to me." Shiro was firm, with arms at his side. Darrar still wore his dark armor, while Shiro wore his Colonel Jacket. Darrar's violet hair had been held back by a scrap of fabric in an updo, messy after days onboard. The poor man looked defeated and desperate, begging with his dim eyes. Shiro's stone cold expression softened slightly as he turned to look at something off to his side. As Darrar noticed Shiro's wavering expression, he tried to look at whatever it was. The edges and corners of the glass obscured the being too much for the Galtean to really see them.

"Who is there?" Darrar pleaded, banging on the glass. "Please, summon the half-Galra!"

"Enough!" Shiro said over the pleading, silencing Darrar. He sighed. "Enough." Without another word, Shiro walked away from Darrar, who slammed the glass as he realized he was being left alone again. His shouts were met with withering silence as the steps grew silent. Darrar collapsed on the ground, tears brimming his eyes as the realization hit him like the cold metal floor.

He was as good as dead. Yorak won the war without even trying.

Far away, a voice alerted the crew of a landing, but Darrar could only hear the blood rushing in his ears and the almost silent hum of the Coeus. As Darrar closed his eyes to attempt to sleep, screams echoed in his mind. His fellow cadets when they began training for running away. His mother when he and his brothers were torn away from her. Seklok's when he displeased the Emperor and left for dead. As the screams overtook him, he was shaken violently. His whimpers became screams as he tried to fight off whatever was dragging him away. 

Kova held on to Darrar's shoulders as his screams stopped and his eyes opened. His shaking never stopped. Neither did his tears. The poor man was tortured enough. Behind Kova, Allie clutched the first-aid kit with tight fists. They heard the screaming and ran towards the observation bay. As Darrar sat up, Kova dragged him towards the closest wall. Sitting on the floor, Allie and Kova calmed the man down. Both Allie and Darrar seemed to process the other's Altean markings at the same time. 

"It's okay," Kova whispered under her breath. "It'll be okay." Kova slipped a bracelet on Darrar's wrist, activating the magnetic field. Even if they were on the same side, Darrar still wore enemy colors.

"Who are you?" Darrar asked Kova, then turning to Allie. "Where's the Colonel?" Allie didn't meet his eyes, unpacking the first-aid kit. Kova met his eyes after triple-checking the magnetic field had been activated on his bracelet.

"I'm Kovalia Shirogane, Paladin of the Black Lion. This is Allie, Paladin of the Blue Lion." Darrar's eyes widened, but Kova wasn't done. "I understand your name is Darrar, and you've been wanting to speak to me."

"Yes, of course. I—" Darrar tried to stand up, but his wrist kept him down. As he looked, a bracelet connected to the floor kept him down.

"I'm sorry, but it's a security measure." Darrar nodded his head, sitting back down. He looked up to meet Kova's eyes again. "We came to ask you about the colonies."

"Of course." Darrar nodded again. "Where are we?"

"We have just landed on Senfama. The Colonel decided it was best to join an expedition." 

"Expedition?"

"I cannot answer what it is."

"Is it because I'm a member of the Fire?" Kova nodded her head.

"I am going to remove your armor piece by piece. Are you feeling any sensitivity or pain in any particular area?"

I'll spare you the details. It took two hours as Darrar flinched and twitched as the armor was removed, and Allie had to make sure he didn't have any injuries. Then when Darrar wore only his bodysuit, the girls put Keith's old poncho over Darrar's head to remove the bodysuit. The time was halved. Regardless, it took too long. With even more spare fabric, they made the baggiest pair of pants in the universe, using a long strip from the back of the poncho as a belt. 

When they were done checking for injuries, they began their questions. What is the status of the Galtean colonies? Where are they? How long have the colonies been under Yorak's reign? What did he want with so many Galteans? How long had he been involved in the war?  On and on the interrogation went, until they had covered topics twice. Allie left to grab a bottle of water while Kova kept watch.

"I can help you get your Lion back," Darrar said after a few minutes of silence. Kova shook her head, taking something out of her pocket. It was a small black box with the Fire insignia on its side.

"You've been tracked." Kova handed Darrar the box. He looked stunned, confused even, to see the small box. "A similar tracker was found in the mecha we encountered."

"He knew," Darrar whispered under his breath. He handed the box to Kova, who put it back in her pocket. "He knew."

"Who?" Kova asked. "Yorak?" Darrar didn't say a word. Kova would have turned off the tracker, but she didn't have her tools on her. Allie came back and held a closed fist in front of Darrar. He held his hand open to see two little pills in his palm.

"They should help you sleep so you can heal a little faster," Allie explained, taking Kova's place so the latter could stand and dust herself off. "The water is for you." Darrar took the pills after a moment of hesitation, and had big gulps of water. "When you awake, alert us. Have a good rest, Darrar." Allie stood, following Kova to the door, letting it shut behind them. They dimmed the lights in Darrar's room and deactivated the bracelet. Hopefully, his commanders would find him before Yorak did.

"Coeus to crew, call in." Kova had walked to the bridge, turned on the screen, and began sorting the camera angles. "Sec."

"Here."

"Griffin."

"Here."

"Garrett."

"Here."

"Kogane."

"Here."

"Colonel and older Kogane."

"Double here." As the boxes lit up with every person calling in, Allie had typed in their names as the boxes lit up. When the Coeus landed on Senfama, the crew left in pairs. Caleb and Liz were in charge of water. Kenny and Cake were undergoing repairs to the ship and the satellite. Shiro and Keith had to search the planet for lifeforms and food. Allie and Kova stayed behind to watch over Darrar, and make some minor research. Why isn't Keith on the screen too? Kova was too lazy to connect Keith's suit to the Coeus's software.

"Did you deactivate the tracker?" Shiro asked.

"Yes, sir. I also saved the universe and found my Lion."

"Kova."

"I haven't gotten to it yet." Kova rolled her eyes, and looked for her tools. "We just got back."

"Sending map of Senfama to crew," Allie announced, and every camera on screen had looked down at their screens. "Senfama is a jungle. There should be a large body of water ahead."

"On it," Liz confirmed, jumping forward with Caleb on her heels. An alert came online, before the power was cut short.

"Hey, uh, Kova?" Kenny asked. "Is there any way to return to the Balmera and get more crystals?"

"Power source isn't holding up well, is it?" 

"Nope." Kova fiddled with the tracker she found on Darrar, hoping an idea would come to mind.

"Random question, Ken." Kova looked up at the screen. "What did you do with the extra solar cells?"

"Solar what?" Keith asked, but he was ignored.

"How do you know about the missing solar cells?"

"Long story. Where are they?"

"I, uh, brought them onto the ship. Why?"

"Kenneth, I need you to think, okay?" Kova had leaned forward to rest her forearms on the railing around her console. "If wired correctly, solar cells can be made into..." Kova trailed off on purpose to let Kenny come with the answer. 

"Solar panels!" Kenny and Cake exclaimed at the same time.

"I'll send the materials up." Kova nodded her head, and finally managed to deactivate the tracker. "Allie, cover me." Kova walked down to the engine room, leaving Allie alone on the bridge. Using the Paladin Tracker, or the Teenager Tracker, Allie watched as Liz and Caleb creeped closer to the water source and Shiro and Keith inched further from the Coeus. That's when the entire ship went dark.

"Kenny?" Allie's voice shook as she looked around. "Guys, this isn't funny!" Not even the hum of the ship answered her. With only the sunlight streaming in from the large windows, Allie walked up the stairs to the door. Before she could even leave the bridge, she heard Kova's voice. 

"Get back in the bridge!" Kova yelled, and Allie listened. She and Kova were the only ones still wearing their normal clothes, so when Allie fell down the stairs to her seat, it hurt. Kova kicked, sending a figure cloaked in dark colors into the console. The figure went to punch Kova, but she side-stepped, Allie froze when she saw a flash of purple on the front armor piece of the dark figure. "Allie, your bayard!" Quick as can be, Allie summoned her bow, pulling the string back so the quintessence arrow could form. Now if they could stay still. Kova took a blow to her abdomen, collapsing on the ground. When the figure tried to pin her, Kova pulled the figure's leg out from under them. With a quick turn, Kova straddled the figure's hips from behind, holding their arm with one hand and used the other to push their shoulder to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Allie asked, limping up the steps.

"Fine." Kova gritted her teeth as the figure began resisting. "Do you know how long it's gonna take to replace all those wires? This ship is hard enough to maintain!" Kova began to rant. "Allie, help me pull their helmet off." Allie's eyes widened as she held the string taut, reminding Kova of the arrow. Kova nodded towards the door, so Allie aimed in the dark and fired the arrow. The ding could be heard around the world. As the bayard detransformed, the figure tried again in vain stand up, but Kova was faster. With their arm still in Kova's grasp, Kova reached around her back to grab the knife in its sheath. Allie had grabbed the matching pair of Darrar's bracelet from Kova's pocket and put it around the figure's right wrist, as it was the only one touching the ground. Letting go and standing up from the figure, Kova activated the magnet. As the figure stared at the bracelet holding them down, Kova pushed them against the console with the knife point at their neck.

"Deactivate your helmet or I rip it off," Kova growled, sneering at the figure and their dark outfit. The figure didn't move, so Allie pulled the helmet off their head. While Allie didn't recognize the Galra woman, Kova did. Her expression darkened while the Galra woman's softened.

"Kyla," The woman said. She got the knife point even closer to her neck and Kova's angry eyes.

"Call me that again and you lose your head." Kova stood after her threat, deactivated and collected the bracelet, and stood in front of the door. "Allie, this is Krolia, one of the Galra representatives."

"I'm not just that."

"You're right about that." Kova crossed her arms. "She's the reason a half-human and half-Galra exist in the first place."

"Oh, please." Krolia stood, rubbing her wrists. "You make it sound so bad." Kova scoffed in response.

"What are you doing here?" Kova reached behind her to sheath the knife. "I don't get the point." Allie silently died as the pun set in, but Krolia moved past it. 

"I saw your declaration. Pretty impressive how far the family goes."

"We aren't family."

"I beg to differ, Kovalia." Krolia crossed her arms, too, leaning against the console. "Headstrong, advanced, and prefers using a sharp instrument."

"Get off the ship."

"I came for my recruit. Where is he?"

"I'm shocked you didn't see him as you cut the power to the entire ship." Kova stepped aside from the door. "Darrar, get your butt over here!" Footsteps became louder as they approached the bridge. Darrar had dressed himself in his Fire armor since there were no spares onboard. At least he had the decency to look sheepish at being caught.

"Daibazaal sides with Voltron," Krolia said as she passed the angry teen. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"Wish I could say the same." Kova blocked the hall leading to the transport bay, leaving only the side door as the only way out. "May we never encounter the other again." The door opened, and Darrar jumped out first. Krolia's eyes softened, hoping to appeal to the teen. Kova wasn't having it, watching as Krolia jumped out. Stomping over, Kova slammed the door shut, and marched herself to the cut power lines. Allie followed her, since the bridge was scary to be in alone.

"Why didn't you say anything about Keith?" Allie asked after Kova began her tedious work.

"What about Keith?" Kova continued working, connecting wires with electrical tape.

"There is only one half-human and half-Galra hybrid that reached an age to reproduce." Allie began her thought process. "That hybrid sired three children, and you have confirmed the status of all three second-generation hybrids. The first-born is a maniacal genius, the second-born is a plant genius, and the youngest, which is you, is a—"

"A wannabe genius," Kova said, slamming the door closed. As the door secured itself, the power slowly came on, with the lights turning on the brightest they go before returning to their pre-sliced state. "How did you figure out Kenny was the middle child?" Allie shrugged as they went into the bridge.

"Yorak has called you his sister many times before, and you've never denied it. He seems much older than Kenny, and you've never denied Kenny as your sibling, either." Kova chuckled as she approached the console and reactivated all systems.

"Sec to Coeus, do you hear me?"

"Coeus to Sec, we're all clear." Various sighs of relief and cheers came from the team as they continued their errands.

"Keith is your father, and Krolia is Keith's mother." Allie had made it to her chair, where she began checking her injuries. "You met your grandmother," Allie looked up. "And you didn't seem too happy to see her."

"I'm not." Kova muted the Coeus to properly look Allie in the eye. "She had a chance to change what had happened and she didn't." Kova shrugged, and unmuted the Coeus. Allie looked on as Kova smiled at Caleb's screen because he was one misstep away from falling into the water. While his suit may be waterproof, it wasn't float-proof."

By the end of the first day on Senfama, the teens celebrated finding edible food on a planet. That's a first. An alert came on while they celebrated, and Kova opened it. She expected it to be a systems alert, since they still haven't cleaned the Coeus's filters, or even an electrical failure (only Allie and Kova know what happened with Krolia and Darrar). Whatever it was, it should be fixed soon.

She was wrong and she alerted the team of such.

It was a weblum alert, and it was headed for Pidge's location.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Brittle Relations: I

Word Count: 2815

The days on the Coeus stretched into a heavy monotonous cycle. The team would wake up and perform daily duties: Liz and Allie would check on Keith, who was recovering, Cake busied himself with meals, Caleb and Kenny worked together in the engine room, and Shiro and Kova reviewed plans and caught up with Curtis on Earth. When the Coeus was attacked, only one or two Lions were dispatched if the threat was more serious. Otherwise, they stayed on board and let the Coeus do all the hard work. After that was done, they would return to normal duties and only saw each other during meals and briefings. 

Liz, Cake, and Allie could see the wear and tear on the Shirogane clan, but they said nothing. Cake and Liz worked with Kova and Caleb long enough to know they weren't the types to back down, even if they were tired. It tugged at Allie's heartstrings to see the pair with the dark circles under their eyes, that intensity in their eyes was just...gone. Upon cleaning the bridge, Allie heard a strange noise coming from a vent. On closer inspection, Allie found the bottle the teens used during their game. It felt like a lifetime ago when the biggest worry was Keith piloting the ship. Allie finished her cleaning and ran out of the bridge to find Liz and Cake with the bottle in hand. Together, they spawned an idea. 

A few days later, Kova was found on the bridge, typing away at her console. Maybe she was updating the info board. Maybe she was writing fanfiction about a life that wasn't completely screwed up. Maybe she was writing a poem about peaches to make herself feel better since it is her favorite fruit. Whatever it was, the teens didn't care. They saw Kova standing alone, looking more stressed out than she had been the entire trip, so they struck. 

"Hey, Cap," Cake said, slowly approaching the older teen. Kova gave Cake a small glance before returning her attention to the console. "Cap, listen, we-" 

"I'm busy, Cake." Kova's voice was cold. 

"Okay, okay." Cake backed away with hands raised in fake surrender. Allie, who stood at the doorway, rolled her eyes and all but shoved the bottle into Cake's hands while he tried to give it back. Liz turned the corner, deadpanning at the scene with Kenny and Caleb on her heels. With Liz's help, Cake walked back into the bridge exasperated. With a sigh, he puffed up his chest and marched (like, seriously marched) to Kova's console. 

"You wanna play a game?" He asked loudly, thrusting the bottle into Kova's imaginary bubble. Allie inched herself into the room next to Cake so she could be in Kova's line of sight. Kova met Cake's eyes then stared at the bottle in his hands, and back again into his eyes with furrowed eyebrows. With every second Kova continued to stare, Cake's heart continued dropping lower into his stomach until he was sure it couldn't go any further. Then Kova smiled. His heart shot back up into his chest as Kova gestured to the floor with her head. The others followed until they sat in a circle in the middle of the floor. Liz and Cake explained the game to Kenny, who nodded along. 

Kova was the last person that spun the bottle when they played last time, therefore, it was still Kova's turn. Allie needed to think about her question, so it was either Kenny or Caleb who had to ask. Caleb went ahead, lazily turning his head. 

"What's scarier: a weblum or a nine-month-old who is just starting to crawl?" Kova let out a dry laugh, looking around the room. She was wearing her lavender sweater, so when she started rolling up her sleeves, the others looked on. 

"Caleb, the answer is so obvious that I'm shocked you even had to ask." Kova rolled her left sleeve up until it was around her elbow. "The answer is obviously-" Kova held up her now bare arm to show off the pink starburst scar on the back of her hand to the middle of her forearm, where the pink faded into Kova's natural tan. "The baby." 

"The baby?" The other members of their team asked incredulously. 

"What baby did that to you?"

"Wasn't that caused by burns on the Fire ship?"

"It was a human infant, right?" Kova's tiredness seemed to fade as the questions were being asked, replaced by amusement at their shock. 

"Yes, it was a human baby, no, it wasn't caused by burns on the Fire ship, and it was Cy."

"Cyrus did that to you?" It was Kenny's turn to look incredulous. Caleb looked pleased with himself as Kova was the one to answer everyone's questions. 

"Crawling humans are scarier than you think." 

"You weren't scary when you were crawling."

"Then you don't remember what happened to Stephen the Hawk." Kenny stared at Kova absolutely confused until his eyes widened. 

"What happened to Stephen the Hawk?" Liz asked, leaning forward so her elbow was perched on her knee and her hand supported her chin. 

"Stephen Hawkling had a beautiful life, staying with Kenny since he was about two years old until his unfortunate demise ten years later." 

"What happened to the plush, Kova?" Caleb said, staring at the side of her head. She rolled her eyes and continued. 

"I accidentally crawled over a cord, toppling a lamp that was turned on, and it burned Stephen's head and back. Ken never let me forget it." Kova stared at Kenny pointedly. To his credit, Kenny looked shocked hearing about Stephen Hawkling's demise again, but he seemed to remember the vaguest details, like how big the hole was. 

Allie wrung her fingers as she looked around the circle of friends. "It's my turn, right?" She asked, much too quiet to barely be heard over the hum of the ship. Even so, Cake heard her and nodded. "What's the most sentimental thing you kept from your youth?" 

"Wow, okay Allie," Liz said. Cake gave a low whistle and a smile. Kova smiled, too, and straightened up. Her arm went to her back, pulling something out. Tied to the back of Kova's pants, a matching black sheath held a small blade about the size of Kova's lower back. As Kova brought the blade forward, she pulled down her rolled-up sleeve. 

"I kept Keith's knife." Kova held the small blade in her open palms. "I never had the courage to get rid of it, and I rarely use it. Besides the family picture and a blanket, I didn't keep much from the Kogane household." 

"Does he know you have it?" Liz asked. Kova shook her head, reaching behind her to sheath it. "Kenny's turn." The teens turned their heads to stare at him. Kenny opened his mouth when a beeping went off. Liz and Allie checked their makeshift pagers, seeing an alert for Keith, and excused themselves. Cake stretched his arms out, then stood up to go to the kitchen, since it was almost dinnertime. Caleb asked if he could help, to which Cake nodded his head. 

"Well, I need to get back to the engine room," Kenny said, standing up. 

"I'll join you." Kova jumped to her feet, dusting herself off. "I don't have anything better to do." Kenny nodded and made his way to the engine room with Kova right behind him. When they got down there, the room felt warmer than before, and the pair got to work on lowering the temperature, not saying a word to each other. Eventually, they figured out the heat was coming from an exhaust vent and it was facing the wrong direction. The two ran diagnostics on the entire ship, and when it came back as clear, they stood facing the other. 

Kenny stared at Kova then down to his hands as she redid some cables, organizing them in their compartments. Kova noticed Kenny's mood darkening and finished quickly. 

"Hey," She said. "You okay?" Kenny gave a small nod, still staring at his hands. He had turned around to rest his butt on the console panel. Kova found an engine box covering to sit on across from Kenny. "You didn't get to ask me anything while we were in there. What was it?"

"It was nothing," Kenny muttered. He laced his fingers together so they were holding each other. 

"Kenny." Kova continued, crossing her arms so they rested comfortably on her thighs. 

"Everyone at the Garrison wants to be you." Kenny's voice was firm, making Kova flinch. "It doesn't matter what life. You're the Jax, near-perfect at everything you try, no matter what it is. Engineering, programming, even communications." Kenny looked up at Kova with those blue-gray eyes that sent Kova back. "You're just like him, y' know." 

"That's not true."

"Isn't it?" Kenny looked angry. "You're both half-Galra, you're both the perfect soldiers, you're both the best of the best, and-and," Kenny shouted then grew quieter as his sentence trailed off. "And I never saw you guys again. You both left, one way or the other." 

"You're just as talented."

"You're just saying that." Kenny looked down. "I've been a Holt my entire life, and I still can't be on your level." 

"Just 'cause you think you're not good at tech doesn't mean you're not good at other things!"

"Like what?" Kenny met Kova's eyes. They were flicking back and forth in their socket as Kova searched through her memory for something, anything to make Kenny feel better. 

"Remember that spider plant you used to have in your room?" 

"It was plastic."

"No, it wasn't." Kova shook her head. "Pidge switched yours out with the one in the living room because yours looked better." Kenny stared at her. "And! And remember that hybrid flower you made?" 

"The juniberry hybrids?" 

"Yeah! Colleen took them! The Altean soil is the only place they'll grow, so they were grown there." 

"You're joking."

"I'm not!" Kova's eyes lit up as she saw Kenny's dark mood disappear. "You can ask Allie about them! She worked in the inner courts!"

"What about me and the inner courts?" Speak of the devil. 

"Allie, can you tell Kenny about the juniberry hybrids?" Kova scooted forward so that Allie was in full view. Allie stepped forward, her lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed. 

"They're hybrids between Earthen flowers and juniberries. What else can I say?" Kova nodded her head, gesturing to Kenny. "They can only grow on Altea, and because of their rarity, they reside in the Royal Gardens." 

"That's only an acre or so, isn't it?" Kenny crossed his arms as Kova looked to a confused Allie and rolled her eyes. 

"It was expanded a couple of years ago because the formula was being repeated on so many flowers." 

"I love juniholts," Allie remarked. Kenny all but jumped out of his skin at the mention of the playful name he gave one of the hybrid flowers. 

"What do they look like?" Kenny demanded, scaring Allie. She looked to Kova for help, to which the older girl put a comforting hand on her back. 

"They're about my height, covered in green foliage, and they bloom pretty pink juniberries from bottom to top." Allie described, retreating further into Kova's bubble until she was in between Kova's legs and Kova's hands were messing with the braids on Allie's head. 

"That's the hollyhock hybrid." Kenny was astounded. His heart was about to burst out of his chest. "They're seriously called juniholts?" Both girls nodded. 

"There's a lot more, but that's my favorite one." Allie and Kenny stood in silence while Kova sat, unbraiding and rebraiding Allie's hair. Kenny had a hand over his mouth as the information sunk in. His hybrids survived. On Altea. He fathered an entirely new species of hybrid flowers because he didn't want to do his programming homework. Like she read his mind, Kova smirked. 

"Seems you have Colleen's green thumb." Kova looked up from her work. "Sounds like a pretty good deal to me." She continued to sift through Allie's now curly hair to attempt a new hairstyle on the girl. In the end, Allie wound up with six small braids pinned to the back of her head over the rest of her hair in a modified half-up and half-down. That's when Allie remembered why she went down there, to begin with. Dinner was ready. 

The next morning, the teens were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in their places on the bridge for their daily briefing. Keith was still on bed rest but will be fine. The Coeus is approximately two wormhole jumps away from Pidge's location based on current capabilities. Food was beginning to run low, so they would have to land somewhere to harvest food and water. The filters needed cleaning and the Coeus needed minor repairs, too, so they would need to land anyway. The prisoner had given more information about himself and the place he came from. While he described the area he grew up in as 'the colonies', it was enough for Allie to figure out what he meant. 

"Allura, this better not be-" Romelle began to say as her face appeared onscreen. 

"Can I have access to the Galtean colonies?" Allie immediately asked. 

"Allura, unless you-"

"Romelle, what is the status of the Galtean colonies?" Allie looked annoyed and determined. An odd mix. Romelle sighed with exasperation, typing away at something off-screen. Her violet eyes went wide as she searched for something she clearly was not found. 

"There is no status on the colonies," Romelle said, standing from her chair to call for guards. "Go to the last known location of the colonies!" 

"Romelle!" Allie shouted to get the woman's attention. 

"Right!" Romelle sat down in her chair again and typed something up again. On Kova's console, Romelle sent a full folder of information on the colonies. "Do make good use of it. I will alert you if we find them." While Romelle disappeared, the folder and its contents appeared. Allie hurried up the stairs to Kova's console as Kova stepped back. All the documents were labeled and written in Altean, and unfortunately, the teens don't learn languages at the Garrison. 

"What was the name of the prisoner?" Allie asked Shiro, who was standing on the floor. 

"He said his name was Darrar," Shiro replied, turning to look at the screen. Allie typed the name into a search engine under a subfolder. Fifteen different individuals popped up on the search, only about half of them with pictures because they were grown. Thankfully, Shiro was able to point out the prisoner. However, Darrar was much younger in the picture. Only a teenager since the pictures were time-stamped. 

"I didn't even know Galtean colonies existed!" Cake exclaimed, staring at the folder. "You think that Yorak has been recruiting from the colonies?"

"He's half-Galra," Kova said, crossing her arms. "It makes sense he'd go after other half-Galra." 

"Stupid question over here." Liz raised her hand as she spoke. "What's a Galtean colony?" 

"Galteans are an uncommon hybrid of Galra, the people of Daibazaal, and Alteans, the people of Altea. The colonies, however, are a consolation gift between Daibazaal and Altea to foster peace between the two," Allie explained, showing a map of the colonies' last location. "There were four colony groups. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Sirius. Darrar is from the Gamma colony." 

"The colonies are designed to move and interlock if the need arises. They aren't attached to anything, just themselves." Kova explained even further. 

"A moving colony?" Liz looked from Kova and Allie to the map on screen again. "How do you even keep track of it?" 

"There are supposed to be satellites constantly supervising them, with monthly updates." 

"Supposed to?"

"Darrar has to tell us where the colonies are!" Allie ignored Liz's question. "Yorak is pure evil!"

"I'll try my best, but Allie, I doubt he knows." Shiro sighed, meeting the young girl's eyes. "Kova, what's the closest planet so we can make a landing?" Allie stepped away from the console and returned to her chair as Kova closed the Altean folders and opened a map. 

"Senfama is the closest to us," Kova reported, and Shiro nodded his head.

"Set a course for Senfama," Shiro said, climbing that stairs. As he approached the door, he paused and turned to stare at the teens, who seemed more upbeat than they had in weeks. "Are you guys okay?" Shiro asked with a half-smile. The teens looked at each other than at him, just as curious. 

"Never better."

"I feel fine."

"I think I'm okay. Am I okay?"

"You're fine, Cake." 

"Yeah, we're good." Kova arched an eyebrow. "Are you?" Shiro laughed and walked out the door. The teens stayed on the bridge until it was time for lunch, then prepared themselves for a wormhole jump.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Impending Difficulties: I

Word Count: 2812

AN: Don’t hate me too much. XD

It had only been a few hours, but Kenny's brain couldn't seem to process anything but the encounter from before. 

It had been years. 

His grandfather never spoke about either of Kenny's siblings, never mentioned them, or even what had happened to them. During the launch of the failed mission, the one Kenny's parents never came back from, he found it weird that he didn't see his sister. His parents asked him about it but he could only shrug. He hadn't seen her in three years at that point. It was her birthday, but Kenny suspected they didn't know. 

Every memory Kenny had stored away in his brain was being taken out and being sorted through again. Unfortunately, the reason for the resorting came up empty when Kenny couldn't find what he needed. 

He couldn't remember his sister's face. 

Allie, who had been wandering the ship and the only one awake, passed by the bridge. Seeing Kenny leaned over, she thought nothing of it. This was the fifth time she passed the bridge, and Kenny still hadn't moved. On the sixth pass, Allie had two large cups. One of them had a tea bag string over the rim, the other did not. Both drinks were steaming and brown, albeit two different shades. 

With careful steps, Allie placed the cup with the teabag on the console desk in front of Kenny and walked away without another word. The pager on her belt made a sound, and Allie walked towards the observation room. 

In Kenny's mind, a brightness came over his memories. 

Laughter rang out in the juniberry fields on Uncle Lance's farm, chasing a dwarf around. Black hair in pigtails and a dress covered in red poppies. Tripping over something in the fields, Kenny landed face-first in the juniberries. Instead of complaining and standing up, he rolled over in the fields and stared at the never-ending blue sky. The dwarf he had been chasing toddled towards him with the biggest smile on her face. Letting a small giggle, she smacked her hand on Kenny's forehead. He laughed at the smack, staring at her face. It was blurry. He couldn't see anything past that big smile. 

"Klance!" A delighted squeal came from her mouth and she once again toddled forward. 

"Kenny, you okay?" Uncle Lance asked, bending over the fallen boy. His arms went to the little girl's waist and she was pulled higher and higher. Her squeals didn't seem to stop. 

"Yeah, I'm okay." Kenny used a hand to shield himself from the glaring sun to stare at his uncle and the little girl. She had turned her head away from Kenny, staring at something behind them. 

"Good." Lance readjusted the girl, who turned her focus to the man who had moved her from her perch on Lance's hip. "Ahora te paras o te paro!" In a flash, Kenny had stood, running towards Uncle Lance's house where the other farmhands (or cousins who needed something to do in the summer) were heading. Looking back at fields he'd left, Kenny saw the little girl had laid her head on Uncle Lance's shoulder, turning away again. 

In another memory, Kenny was sitting at a dinner table. The book work in front of him was unreadable, but he was counting his lucky stars that he wouldn't be doing whatever his brother was doing at the head of the table. The boy at the head had dark hair, wearing a red jacket with a green stripe around the middle. In front of him was an array of wires and connectors with a light bulb and two switches. One of the papers in front of Kenny was the answer sheet to his brother's problem. 

"Hey, Ky." The boy had looked up and said. Turning to a doorway that led to bedrooms, the little girl from before was rubbing her eyes. Her hair was a little longer but still styled in pigtails. Her jammies were a vibrant shade of seafoam, a gift from Uncle Lance. "Did we wake you up?" Without saying a word, the girl approached the boy, and he pulled her into his lap. She stared at the circuit board with bright, curious eyes. She noticed something off to the side and grabbed it. Attaching it to connectors in between the switches, she pointed at the switch to her right. Complying, the boy flipped the switch, and the light bulb lit. His face said it all. He had no idea what he was doing wrong. 

"Ky, what did you do?" By this point, the girl had covered her addition with her hands to keep it out of view of the boy. When she went to point, Kenny saw what it was. With a flourish, she held her hands up and almost smacked the older boy in the face.

"You were missing a power source," Kenny said for the girl, who had let her arms fall to her side and looked up at the boy. He had started rubbing his head, staring at the battery. Kenny remembered he was taking a double course load, something no one had done without losing sleep or sanity. 

"Kyla!" Kenny's mom came around the corner. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail and her eyes matched the girl. The green long-sleeved shirt and the oversized gray coat was a signature for her, along with the transition lenses over her eyes. "Leave your brothers alone!"

"Mom, stop." The boy sighed, leaning back in the chair. The little girl, Kyla, had bowed her head and her eyes became glassy. 

"She's a kid! What can she do?"

"C'mon, Ky." Kenny stood, walking towards the now upset little girl. "Don't listen to Pidge, she's just upset," He said much quieter, lifting the little girl. Her arms wrapped around Kenny's neck and her head leaned into his shoulder. Taking her back to her room, Kenny pulled aside the dark gray comforter covered in white stars and the white sheet underneath covered in gray astronauts. The little girl hung on for dear life as she sat on the bed. Unwrapping her arms from his neck, Kenny looked into her eyes, which had dimmed. Reluctantly, she laid her head down on the pillows and fell asleep.

A hand on his shoulder startled the poor man. Returning to reality, his eyes took in the sight of the bridge. Following the hand on his shoulder, he met a pair of jarringly familiar brown eyes. Even if they weren't as bright nor as curious as they once were, they matched his mom's eyes. 

"Kenny," Kova repeated, trying to get the young man's attention. He stared at her like she was the object he had been looking for his entire life. Pulling a tissue from the box Allie had brought by earlier, she patted Kenny's tear-stained cheeks. 

"Will he be alright?" Allie asked, arms crossed. After checking on Keith, she had passed by a few more times. When she found Kenny crying, she left a tissue box and ran for Kova's room. 

"Kenneth? You have to breathe." Kova said to the young man instead. He was taking shuddering breaths, just roaming over Kova's face. 

"Kyla?" He whispered under his breath. Kova met his eyes with shock, then defensiveness, finally with acceptance. She didn't nod, nor did she shake her head. 

"C'mon, Ken." Pulling on Kenny's hands, Kova stood. "Let's get you to bed." Kova walked Kenny to the door, with Allie following close behind with the box. 

——————————————————

In the morning, Kova was determined to let the others know, with or without the Colonel's approval. Speaking of the Colonel, he had thought long and hard about Kova's words. Shiro knew Kova was serious. She didn't fight orders unless she deemed it necessary for a specific reason. 

She fought patrol officers when they tried to restrain students to Garrison grounds. 

She fought her commanding officer when Caleb and her groups teamed up for training purposes. 

She even fought Curtis when he tried to stop the pair from taking little Cyrus to the McClain's farm when he and Shiro were on vacation. 

In every event, Kova won the fight. She was smart, strong, and dealt with any consequences that would come. 

Other students tried using Kova as a scapegoat and immediately realized why she had permission to leave Garrison grounds. They didn't appreciate the unpaid work on McClain's farm as much as Kova did. 

The commanding officer purposely gave the teams the hardest jobs on school grounds to make the others leave. They stayed intact until the last quarter when Jazz transferred to a more traditional school setting and Allie became her replacement. 

With the last one, while Kova had to be the one to bathe Cyrus after falling butt-first into a mound of freshly scooped cow droppings, she didn't complain. 

Kova sat through breakfast without a word to anyone, eating from the small bag of assorted nuts and dried fruit she snuck onboard. Cake and Liz exchanged nervous looks, while Allie stared at Kenny nibbling on an Arusian fruit. 

At least it wasn't whatever beverage the Arusians packed for them. 

When finished, Kova stood and walked towards the bridge. Without saying a word, the others followed. They were in their respective seats while Kenny sat in his corner as they stared at the slowly changing sky. 

Shiro walked into the bridge, descended the staircase, and went right up to the window. Kova stared at the back of his head, daring him to try to tell her no. 

Turning around, his eyes met hers. A tense minute. 

Cake nervously looked from Shiro to Kova and back again. Caleb was tense, ready to hold someone back. Liz followed this sentiment with her bayard in hand. Allie had a first aid kit under her console if a fight did break out. Kenny was lost, staring ahead. 

Shiro broke the stare with a sigh. Looking up again, he said, "Tell them." 

Opening a program on her console, Shiro walked forward so he wasn't covering the screen. On-screen, three folders appeared with different titles. 

The first read 'ACHLYS MISSION'. The second read 'FIRE REVIVAL'. The third was simply 'KHKH'. 

Typing away at her console, the first folder opened. Documents, pictures, and a video file fell into order on the screen. Clicking on a particular picture, Shiro looked away.

The ACHLYS was standing tall and proud, most notably intact. In front of it stood five people. From left to right, a woman with medium-length brown hair pulled into a braid. She had an arm around the waist of the man to her left, who was a full head taller than her with a scar on his right cheek and black hair tied into a ponytail. A gloved hand was on the shoulder of the Colonel, who had a hand tucked into his pants pocket. The man on the other side of the Colonel had tan skin and cropped brown hair. The last man also had cropped hair, black in color, and was much darker than the man next to him. Four of the five people in the picture wore matching orange, gray, and white suits. The men to the Colonel's left had helmets in their hands, while the ones to his right didn't. 

"Pictured left to right: Katie Holt, Keith Kogane, Colonel Takashi Shirogane, Lance McClain, and Hunk Garrett." Liz read aloud, squinting to read the caption. Kova opened a document file and it appeared beside the picture. In big bold letters, the word 'CLASSIFIED' was stamped onto the page. The top read 'INCIDENT REPORT & DISAPPEARANCE OF ACHLYS CREW'.

"I was right." Cake turned in his seat to stare at Kova. "You did know what happened." 

"We weren't supposed to say anything," Caleb replied instead. 

"The ACHLYS was ambushed," Shiro said, staring at the picture. "According to evidence collected, the crew escaped in pods, but never made contact."

"What evidence?" Shiro stayed silent. "I thought we were learning everything, so why—"

"Lance was the only one of the four that returned to Earth. His pod was used to locate the others, but it was unsuccessful. It was too dangerous to continue."

"But we found Keith! He's alive, right?" Cake turned his attention to Liz and Allie. Both girls were staring at the small devices in their hands. Something of Liz's creation used to monitor Keith's monitor. If there was a too high spike, a too low valley, or a change in anything, it would alert them both. 

Keith had been unresponsive and stable since he had been brought on. 

"My dad could still be—"

"Cake," Kova said. Her voice was firm, staring straight ahead. "The ACHLYS was ambushed by the Fire after an initial recon by Keith and Pidge." Cake became quiet, turning to the screen. 

Closing the file, Kova opened the second folder. Possibly even more documents came from the folder, many of them with the same 'CLASSIFIED' stamped onto them. 

Opening a picture file, it showed a crazed timeline of events leading up to the ambush Kova mentioned. Kova was adding onto it. 

At the top of the chain was a Galra with huge fluffy purple ears that seemed to curve like horns. A robotic eye replaced their left eye while their right eye was entirely yellow. Under his picture, the nametag read 'SENDAK: DECEASED; FORMER'. A red line pointed down towards a second Galra. Or Altean. You couldn't really tell. The being in the picture had an almost gray skin tone with yellow sclera and dark irises and pupils. Their ears were pointed, a long chain earring running from the tip to the lobe. Below, their name tag read 'RALAN: ALIVE; CURRENT'. There was no line connecting Ralan to anyone else on the board. 

Taking footage from her helmet cam, Kova changed a few details. Adding a picture of Yorak to the board and connecting a line from Ralan to Yorak, Kova changed the nametags. The 'CURRENT' changed to 'FORMER' and Yorak received an 'ALIVE; CURRENT'. 

"Chain of command," Caleb said. Allie had turned around to look at him with a question in her eyes. She turned back around, studying Ralan's face. 

"Ralan?" Allie whispered to herself, seemingly trying to find the memory of this man. "Was he a general or a guard?"

"Allie," Shiro turned. "Do you have something to add?" Allie stared at the Colonel. 

"It may be in your best interest to contact the Emperor of Altea concerning Ralan." It was all she was able to say before twin pagers went off. Allie stood and raced towards the observation bay. 

When Allie left, Shiro began to push down his feelings and started explaining more in depth what the mission against the Fire was about. Liz and Cake would interject here and there, saying the Coeus and Voltron should fight when instigated. Shiro reminded them that while Kova can be as reckless as she wanted, they weren't to go against the Colonel's direct orders. 

The Fire's revival began a few decades ago, staying mostly unknown until the recon mission. Yorak's concerned parents, Keith and Pidge, had gone after him because they had reason to believe he was working with an organization that threatened the peace in the universe. The recon mission Keith and Pidge were on took a full calendar year to complete. They had reported a small organization, but it was well armed. On a vote, all former members of the original legendary defender would be suited up to go. Keith and Pidge ran their own organizations, Lance occasionally served as ambassador to Altea but traded often with Alteans, and Hunk had relinquished most control of his culinary empire to head chefs in individual restaurants. The last former member, Shiro, had been offered the Headmaster position at the Garrison, and he didn't turn it down. The ACHLYS was completed in two years after Keith and Pidge returned, and the launch was televised all over the country. It had been months after the mission had launched, and there were routine communications between the ACHLYS and the Garrison, now under Shiro's command. One day, the communications stopped. 

There was no response. Not even static. Just silence. Nothing. 

Then, on the one year anniversary of the launch, two students reported and assisted a pilot from an escape pod bearing the silent ship's name. The pilot inside was Lance and the students were Kova and Caleb on their way to the green for lunch when they spotted the incoming ship. Neither said a word. 

Before Kova could open the last file, everyone on the Coeus had slammed into the nearest object to their right. For Liz and Cake, it was the floor and Kova's pedestal. For Kenny, it was pressing further into a wall. And for everyone else, they had shoulders pressed sharply to the walls. Liz paged for Allie and the crew of the Coeus began defending their ship.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Eventful Days: III

Word Count: 2937

Caleb had turned around to lift his hands in mock surrender. There was no way for him to see what had happened. 

Two soldiers, dressed in identical gray armor with purple insignias on the front chest plate, had taken Caleb by surprise. One of them knocked the butt of their weapon into Caleb's back, holding him down at gunpoint. The other had charged towards Kova, still sitting in the cruiser. With a boost from her jet pack, Kova had jumped away from the soldier chasing her. Unfortunately, she couldn't see inside the screen of the helmet, but they could see her. The crew onboard the Galra ship took quick pictures to send to their Emperor. 

While Captain Scars-a-lot had said he would get the girl, he never specified which. He had only assumed. Even now, he wasn't sure that she was the girl. 

"Captain," A voice from the doorway said. The Captain turned, already growling at the wormling who would have to grovel at his feet for interrupting him, but the threats quickly died on his tongue. The broad-shouldered man strode to the helm where the live feed of the soldiers' helmet cams was rolling. 

"My Emperor." The Captain bowed his head, placing a closed hand over his heart. "I was not aware of your presence." 

"If your men are incapable of handling her," The Emperor said, staring at the wincing Captain. "I will not hold it against you." The Captain's eyes opened in surprise, expecting a threat. 

"She is but a little girl." The 'little girl' had come out of her initial shock and summoned a shield, pushing the soldier away from her. With a backflip and an assist from her jet pack, she had landed just behind the other soldier and beat them away from the young man they were holding down. With both soldiers barely standing and the boy out of commission for a while, the girl summoned her bayard. It formed into a long, curved sword. 

"That 'little girl' is Paladin of the Black Lion," The Emperor crossed his hands behind his back. "Her skills in combat are almost unrivaled, by human or otherwise."

"Who could rival her?"

"The young man your soldiers beat to the ground." The Emperor's smile, the only thing not covered by a dark shadow, had grown across his face. "And he's only there because he was caught by surprise."

Back on the space rock, Kova was shielding Caleb from above while glaring at the pair of Fire soldiers. Caleb, on the other hand, was trying to blink away the double vision. Groggily, Caleb lifted his head, taking out his bayard in return. Balancing it precariously on his knee, Caleb aimed and fired. He didn't know which of the three small soldiers he had hit, but he hit one of them. 

"Jax to Coeus, I need assistance." Caleb fired another shot, missing the smaller soldier by a few inches. "Repeat, Jax to Coeus, I need assistance."

"Coeus to Jax, we hear you." Activating her helmet cam to show the bridge what she was seeing, Caleb fired one more time. He had hit the smaller soldier directly in the chest plate, sending them back with a scream. The taller one of the two, the one that had come after Kova, hadn't been deterred by this. Instead, he sped up. Kova's shield had blocked the soldier from attacking her head-on, but it took away protection from Caleb. As the tall soldier landed in a crouch, he grabbed Caleb's leg and pulled. With almost no effort, Caleb had been thrown to the other side of the cliff. Kova honestly didn't want to stab someone today, but if she had to. The sword in her hand glinted dangerously, much to the soldier's dismay. With bold, almost clean strokes, Kova lowered her shield, grabbed the handle of the bayard, and swung at the soldier. He jumped away, thinking he had jumped away just in time, evading Kova's erratic swings. He took one last jump backward before getting his head knocked on by a rock in Caleb's hand. Turning around, Caleb and Kova were back to back as the smaller soldier ran around them in circles, pushing them further from the edge. 

"Locate the Galra ship." Kova was panting. 

"Liz."

"On it." Liz had busily been typing away codes for each of the cameras on the outside of the Coeus. There was nothing but deep, dark, and lonely space around them. "I don't see anything, Colonel."

"Keep trying." Shiro had summoned the other teens and Kenny into the bridge when Kova's plea came through. "Hang in there. Remember your summer training sessions."

"This isn't desert sand being thrown in our faces, Dad," Caleb muttered. "It's space rock dust that refuses to fall completely." 

"Oh, hello there," Kova said, her bayard morphing again. It changed into a sharpshooter rifle, similar to the one Uncle Lance had taught her to use a few years back. Aiming, Kova found the body of the smaller soldier and fired. The soldier fell to the ground as Kova's bayard returned to its original form. "On the count of three, jump out. Ready?" Caleb nodded his head behind her and steeled himself. 

"One?"

"Two."

"Three!" The pair shouted at the same time, jumping out of the dust cloud. Kova was apprehensive, searching around the hole for anyone else. She had noticed the soldiers were gone, but it didn't put her at ease. 

"Gah!" Caleb's voice. Directly behind her. Turning around, Kova could only glare. 

Caleb was held in a chokehold with his hands pressed into his back by someone else. The man had dark brown eyes and dark hair that bordered on black. The man's pale arms were exposed in a sleeveless gray vest and tight dark gray pants tucked into calf-length boots. As he turned up to stare the girl, he made sure Kova saw the sharp fangs in the man's exposed smile. Switching hands on her bayard, Kova held it up as it morphed again. It elongated vertically to form a longbow. Pulling the string back, an arrow made of purple quintessence had formed. 

The teens onboard the Coeus were on the edges of their seats, hoping the audio wasn't as bad in quality as the video. Neither Shiro nor Kenny could make out the face of the strange man holding Caleb captive. 

"What do you want?" Kova growled, glaring at the man with intensity. Liz glanced at Shiro before looking back. Kova knew this guy?

"Oh, come on now," The man said much too casually for Kova's taste. "I'm just seeing what I was replaced with. No need to throw a fuss."

"Let. Him. Go. I won't ask again."

"I'm sure." The man's smile never wavered, even when the quintessence arrow created a dent in the wall just behind his head. Kova pulled back the string, another arrow forming. 

"That was your only warning." 

"You're no fun, Ky." The man grabbed both of Caleb's cheeks and turned this face towards his own. "Tell me the truth, is she always like this?" Caleb didn't respond. With an exasperated sigh, the man turned to meet Kova's glare. "I have every intention of letting him go."

"Then do it."

"I will." The man shifted on his foot. "As soon as you answer a burning question of mine."

"No."

"Then say goodbye to your so-called brother."

"You wouldn't dare." Kova aimed at the man's head. Caleb knew Kova's aim was good, but that was on Earth. How good would quintessence arrows hit him in zero gravity? The man froze behind Caleb, studying Kova's movements. 

"How about a proposition?"

"No."

"Oh, come on, Ky. You'll like it."

"Stop calling me that."

"You can ask me your question first if you'd like." The man's toothy grin returned, watching Kova try not to have a brain aneurysm. She stood unwavering for a few minutes, thinking carefully. "She always did this," the man whispered to the teen in his clutches. "Think so hard, her brain explodes from the pressure."

"If you are who I think you are," Kova started her question and the man perked up. "Are you the leader of the Fire?" 

"Aww, I knew your question would be carefully worded like that." The man, who had been resting his head on Caleb's shoulder stood to his full height, showing off two long scars on his cheeks. "I am who you think I am, and I am Emperor Yorak of the Fire." 

On the Coeus, Shiro slammed his fist onto the face of the console at the helm, making everyone jump. Kenny was startled, but he couldn't tear his eyes from the screen. Soon enough, every teens' eyes returned to the screen. To Kova's encounter. 

Kova was shaking her head, wrinkling her nose. Yorak, as they had come to find out, was tilting his head to the side, almost as though he was trying to figure out what Kova was doing. Caleb tried shaking himself free from Yorak's grasp, but it was instead tightened. 

"Little Ky doesn't know what to do now that her greatest fear was confirmed," Yorak said mockingly. 

"Stop calling me that!" Kova all but shouted. "What's your question?"

"Finally." Yorak overdramatically sighed and rolled his eyes. "My question is simple, Kyla." Kova sneered, almost near tempted to fire again. 

"Kova, don't," Caleb whispered, hoping he could hear her. 

"Yes, Kyla, listen to your so-called brother." Kova stayed silent, trying to press down her anger. "Tell me, Kyla. Have you forgiven our dear old parents and me for leaving you behind and alone?"

Kova thought she was prepared for the question. She thought she could handle it, but knowing Kenny was onboard and listening made it harder. 

Pulling back the string harder and letting it go, the arrow flew towards Yorak's stupid smiling face as he let go and pushed Caleb forward. Beaming himself up, he wasn't around to see Kova's internal and soon physical struggle as she collapsed onto her knees. 

Yorak had arrived in his private chambers as the Captain looked on. The quintessence arrow hit its mark, leaving a small slice on Yorak's right cheek. 

"My Lord!" The Captain had been watching the entire exchange. "I'll have soldiers deployed immediately! The girl should have answered your question!"

"There's no need, Seklok," Yorak said, wiping the blood from his cheek. "This was answer enough." 

"But my Lord—"

"Are you questioning me?" Yorak had turned to look down on the Captain, who had bowed his head. 

"No, milord." They stood there for a few seconds. Seklok, or Captain Scars-a-lot, whichever you prefer, was afraid the Emperor would punish him for disobeying orders. 

"Leave me be."

"Yes sir." Quicker than space mice afraid of the light, Yorak was alone. At least he had the satisfaction of breaking her down. 

The Lions had returned to the Coeus, and all Kova wanted to do was sleep. She was walking with a limp because unbeknownst to her, Caleb hadn't properly set up his weapon. The pushback had fallen entirely on Kova's knee, which the initial adrenaline had numbed. 

"Kova, Caleb." Shiro's stern voice came from down the hallway. "In my quarters. Now." 

Following Shiro, the door closed behind them. The room they had walked into was a room the teens had just passed by since it was in the way of the bedroom. Set up like his office back home, Shiro stood behind the console that stood in for his desk and laid his hands on it. Staring at the teens, he was trying to find a point to start his tirade. 

Outside the closed doors, the other teens had their ears pressed into the crack, hoping to pick up on some sort of conversation. Allie thought it was strange, but she joined right in. Kenny hadn't moved from the chair in the bridge, staring ahead blankly and no one wanted to bother him while he was lost in thought. 

"Where do I even begin?" Shiro began. There were no chairs, so the teens were forced to stand. Kova had her head bowed while Caleb was staring at a spot in the wall. "You can't just decide that you can pick and leave without informing me first. I had to find out from Ken. What would've happened if I hadn't responded to your call in time?" 

"Dad, can we—" Caleb tried to say.

"I don't ask for much. Just to be informed is enough, but then this bombshell happens." Shiro turned to Kova's bowed head. "How are you going to explain this one away? It's one thing to disobey my orders, but it's another if you don't deny what he said."

Kova mumbled something under her breath, leaving Caleb wide-eyed. Turning her head up a little, Shiro could see Kova's eyes were closed. 

"What was that?" Shiro fed into the anger she was trying to control. 

"Open the classified trio," Kova said, opening her eyes. Caleb could swear that you could've heard a pin drop if there was one. 

"No." Shiro's voice was a warning. 

"I told you before, this team won't fight against an enemy they know nothing about."

"Why do you need the files opened? What's your evidence?"

"What more evidence do you need?" Kova scoffed. "Keith is alive after all these years, Yorak is Emperor of the Fire, and this marks our third Fire attack." Kova's voice grew louder with every word, with more power than the last. 

"Those files are classified for a reason!" 

"And the team should've been informed from the start!" 

"Opening the trio will expose too many loose threads."

"And opening only one will lead to forcibly opening the others!"

"Kova, I'm not opening any of the case files."

"He called me out by birth name. Did you let me stare at his picture for fun?" 

"Kova."

"Opening the trio will do us more good than harm. We'll know what we're looking for."

"You were allowed to look at the files because you're my kids."

"Oh, so not because I'm part of the problem?"

"You aren't part of the problem."

"Then authorize. The opening. Of the files." Even limping, Kova didn't lose her attitude. Shiro didn't appreciate it as much. 

"I'm your dad. This is for your safety, Kova."

"It's a good thing I'm not even your kid then!" Caleb clapped a hand over his mouth watching as hurt filled Shiro's eyes. Kova had looked away from his eyes, knowing she'd break otherwise. She was breathing hard. The teens outside had looks of shock on their faces. No one said a word for a good minute. The constant hum of the ship filled the void, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to drown out the voices of the past. 

"Kova," Shiro began. 

"Open the case files," Kova muttered, refusing to meet Shiro's eyes. "Cake needs to know what happened to his dad." She looked up to meet Shiro's eyes, fighting back tears. "Kenny needs to know what his brother got into." At the mention of Kenny, Shiro shook himself out of his stupor. 

"I am not authorizing the release of the trio."

"Give the team the full authorization," Kova's threat began. Her fists were balled at her sides. "Or officially expel me from the Garrison." 

Outside the doors, Cake and Liz audibly gasped under their breath. Allie was shocked too but confused at the reactions of the others. Liz, who had been listening from above Cake's head, pushed herself away from the door. Cake met her eyes and nodded her understanding. An unspoken agreement between the engineers. With a deep breath, Liz calmed her thoughts and returned her ear to the door. 

"One way or the other, I'm telling them." Kova hadn't moved. Neither had Caleb, who was frozen in place at Kova's ultimatum. Shiro's eyes widened briefly before he sighed and broke his gaze from Kova. 

"To your rooms. We'll reconvene in the morning." Shiro watched as the teens walked towards the door and left. 

Liz, Cake, and Allie had ducked to either side of the doorframe, hoping the Colonel wouldn't see them. Kova and Caleb marched past them without a word, nor any sort of acknowledgment they were there. Kova looked angrier than any of them had ever seen her. In a rash attempt for some sort of information, Liz grabbed Caleb's arm before the pair entered their respective rooms. Caleb's baby blues met Liz's brown ones and she visibly became more flustered. 

"I'm sorry, Cap, I just, uh," Liz looked on in a wide-eyed stare. A shake of her head and the words came more smoothly. "We had a few questions." Caleb sighed, leaning on the doorframe outside his room. Kova had already gone inside. 

"Is her threat real?" Cake asked, and Caleb's shoulders sagged. He nodded, resting his head on the wall. 

"Will those files help us defeat the Fire?" Liz asked. Caleb nodded again. Allie knew it was her turn, but she couldn't think of a good question. Not when Caleb looked exhausted. 

"Will the opening of the files delay our arrival at the space mall?" She asked. Caleb could only stare at her, lifting his head. He smiled and let a small laugh escape. He shook his head. Pushing himself off the wall, he waved at the other teens and walked into his room. Allie, Cake, and Liz stood in the hallway. When they left, Allie insisted on taking the first shift. Between her and Liz, they should be able to care for Keith until he wakes up from this coma, taking a few hour shifts. 

If he ever wakes up.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

First Encounters: II

Word Count: 2702

AN: Sorry for late update. Again. 

The room fell silent. The others stared at Allie without moving. Did she say something wrong?

"Allie, are you sure?" Shiro was frozen in the doorway. 

"It's faint if that's what you mean." She may not understand all of Earth's customs, but freezing at the mention of a lion's roar wasn't normal. "I don't understand what's going on." Shiro made a signal for the teens to follow him to the bridge.

"Allie, can you figure out where the lion is?" Shiro asked, pulling a map on the huge screen. 

The teens still stood, not comfortable in sitting in decades-old seats. Allura knows what's been in them. Allie stepped forward to the map, it's new Altean blue hue matching her eyes. 

"That's the Balmera?" Allie stared at the image on the screen, entranced with the living planet. 

"Allie?" 

"Apologies," Allie shook her head. "I must be exhausted." With quick steps and her head low, Allie walked up the staircase and to her room. No one followed her. 

One by one, each of the teens began retreating to their rooms. Shiro stayed put, lost in deep thought. It had been thirty years since the last time he was on a mission, much less space. He had settled into domestic life. Well, as domestic as life could get as Colonel and Headmaster of the Galaxy Garrison. 

Liz and Cake entered the bridge and made beelines for the rough-looking chairs. Slowly but surely, they removed the gaudy material that was stitched onto the chair. Eventually, every chair was bare. 

Pulling up cameras, Kenny and the teens were stitching fabric together, laughing and enjoying their time. Shiro decided to walk down to check on them, not seeing the dark gray spaceship flying past the window. 

"What's going on here?" Shiro asked, knocking on the frame. With three pairs of eyes on him, Shiro walked over to the stove, where the strange concoction Cake made earlier sat in a pan. 

"We're taking some of the old sheets and making seat covers," Liz was the first to speak. 

"How far are we from the Balmera?" Cake asked, making Shiro look over his shoulder as he dug for a plate. 

"Shouldn't be far." The plates were surprisingly unbroken but covered in a layer of dust. "It would be faster if we had an operating teludav." Washing a plate and serving himself a piece, Shiro sat down next to the teens. Even sitting, he towered over them. The closest to him in size was likely Cake, but he was still shorter. The slouching probably didn't help any. 

Kenny's blank expression made Shiro want to laugh. The grandson and youngest son of the Garrison's most renowned engineers hadn't thought to check. Excusing himself, Kenny rushed down to the engine room, leaving Shiro, Liz, and Cake. 

"Can Cap build a satellite?" Cake asked, and Shiro stopped his chewing in response. 

"Kova?" A nod. "Has she done it before?" Another nod. "Yes." Taking another bite of the food mixture, Shiro considered his next words. "The first one didn't go well, but the others after it wound up going well." 

"There should be a debris nebula around here if Cap wants to go digging." 

"Can we go?" Another voice at the doorway made them all look up from their tasks. It was Kova, who had changed into black pants, combat boots, and a black t-shirt with a lavender sweater on top. Her intense brown eyes met Shiro's dark brown ones. 

"Only if Cake and Kenny join you." Shiro ate another spoonful while Kova nodded her head. She walked back up the hall, heading to her room to change. Before she made it to the mouth of the hallway, however, she was violently thrown against a wall. The alarms on board were flashing red, sirens wailing. "Kova!" Shiro rushed towards the collapsed girl, who was holding her head in her hands. 

"I'm fine, let's go!" She yelled over the sirens, stumbling towards the bridge. 

Allie was thrown out of bed at the impact, Caleb almost impaled himself, and Kenny was currently holding onto the handlebars at the screen in the engine room. Now he knew why they were there. 

Kova still held her head while she stood at the helm, the throbbing never quite subsiding. Caleb and Liz were quick to get to the screens on the sub-floor below her. Allie and Cake followed them in, with Allie's arms firmly around Cake's neck. She was so light, she was afraid she would be on the other side of the side at another impact like that. With the screens closest to Kova already taken, Allie sat below Caleb while Cake sat below Liz. 

"Liz, show me outside feed! Caleb, run diagnostics on running artillery." The large screen appeared at the front before the mysterious ship from before zoomed past again. "Allie, get me a communication link. Cake, help Kenny from here." On Kova's screen at the front, a panicked Kenny was moving around different icons and screens. 

"We have a cannon and small missile blasters!" Caleb had to yell over the noise, the sirens still going off. "Liz, help me!" 

"On it!" The feed showed the tiny aircraft was only the tip of the iceberg. A larger ship stood was out of view of the Coeus's windows, but not out of view of the cameras all over the ship. It wasn't quite as large as the Coeus, but the blast it struck against the Coeus was strong enough to tip it. 

"Communications are down!" Allie yelled, staring at her screen. "How behind was this stupid ship?" Kova couldn't agree more. 

"Ballistas online, cannon is down," Caleb reported. He turned around to look at Kova, whose throbbing head was giving her a rougher time than it should. "Allie, help Kova. Firing ballistas." The sirens shut off but the bridge didn't change from its ominous red hue. The spaceship zoomed past the window again, catching Kova's eyes. 

"Cake, is there a cloak for the windows?" 

"Uh, yeah! Activating it now." The inner windows darkened a shade, but the outer windows were as dark as the space around them. Another blast sent Allie off her feet, landing in Caleb's lap. 

"I'm fine!" Kova yelled, irritation taking over. "Do what you've been told!" Cake and Kenny were busily opening up and closing different channels and screens. The Coeus had taken substantial damage, a few panels flying off. A strike landed on the smaller ship, leaving everyone still. 

A face appeared on the large screen. The mysterious alien was cloaked head to toe in black fabric. It looked like a burka, but for aliens. 

"You are trespassing on Fire territory. Leave now or suffer the consequences." The alien said. Caleb and Kova gave each other a look, turning around to look at their dad. Shiro was in the doorway, staring at the face on the screen. The alien repeated his message, holding a weapon in his hands for emphasis. 

"The Fire?" Liz asked, looking up to Shiro, who was now behind Kova. 

"The Fire of Purification." Shiro stared at the image, moving past Kova, and opening a channel on the helm. "We are headed towards Balmera X-95-Vox. Allow us entry." The eyes of the alien narrowed at the voice. He stood unflinchingly as the larger ship passed in front of the Coeus. 

"To pass through, an individual must be onboard with confirmed half-breed status." Allie, Kova, and Cake made faces, Caleb and Liz looked on in confusion, and Shiro had to make the call. 

"Officer Kovalia Shirogane, second-generation half-galra," Kova said as loudly as she could from behind Shiro's towering frame. 

The alien's eyes went wide, but he had what he wanted. Shutting off the communication link, the ship began to sail away. The throbbing pain inside Kova's skull began to subside a little, while Caleb and Shiro stared at the teen. 

"We aren't officers." Caleb had turned around in his chair to stare at his dad and sister. 

"Yet." Kova was rubbing small circles into her scalp as she moved around Shiro. Shiro knew the situation was bad, but he didn't realize how bad it became. 

"Uh, Colonel Shirogane?" Liz asked, also turning around in her chair. "What's the Fire of Purification?" Shiro met his teens' eyes with a look that said, 'Don't tell your Pops I did this', before descending the staircase. 

"The Fire of Purification was a group dedicated to bringing order and power to purebred Galras." Shiro stood in front of the teens, their seats arranged like an auditorium. "Over the past decade, it has changed from purifying the world of everyone except purebred Galras to an unknown objective. The Garrison has been tracking the movements of the Fire, so it’s nothing to concern you guys with." Liz still looked uneasy, while Caleb's flat stare said nothing. He and Kova thought Shiro was going to reveal the Fire's mission, but I guess not. 

"Debris pile." Kova pointed out the window, already gone before Shiro could call after her. Cake was up the stairs and gone before Shiro could warn him. Allie looked around, eyes darting back and forth. 

"I hear the lion again." Allie left the bridge, leaving Liz and Caleb alone on the ship. 

They both stared at Caleb’s dad, who just shrugged and took Kenny's chair. He still had the earpiece Kova gave him earlier, watching the window as the ship slowed to a halt, and the three teens, now in their Volton outfits, jump onto the nearest pieces of debris. 

Kova was over the moon (bad pun intended), on the verge of going supernova (also horribly intended), and just simply overjoyed at going on her first spacewalk. Allie was looking around the debris for something specific, while Cake was moving smoothly through the debris. 

"Hey Cap, what are we looking for?" Cake asked, watching Allie dig. 

"We're looking for large sheets of metal, wires, and maybe even some decent siblings if we're lucky." Kova began to dig through the debris nebula while Caleb looked on. A faint 'fight me' could be heard from Shiro's earpiece, but Kova didn't seem to mind. 

"We need to repair the ship too, right?" 

"Right. There should be enough to cover both." Slowly but surely, the larger pieces of metal Kova and Cake seemed to find on the nebula made themselves at home in the bay, while Allie was busily looking for something. They had collected almost every piece they needed when they realized Allie was gone. 

"Allie, call in." Silence. "Allie, call in." Caleb and Liz, who found a stash of chocolate chip cookies, leaned forward in their seats. They had been busy playing connect the dots with the stars. "Allura, this isn't funny. Call in." Ooh, we're onto full name. It's serious now. 

"I found something." Her quiet voice didn't seem distressed, but she didn't seem completely okay. Kova and Cake made quick work of the last few pieces and followed Allie's tracker. A huge piece of orange metal was the only thing between the pair and Allie. "It's a lion." With a quick jump, Kova was over the piece of metal. Cake followed behind her. 

In front of them, Allie was on a meteor, but she looked tiny compared to the huge blue, silver, and black lion robot in front of her. It was collapsed on itself, hidden under larger pieces of debris. Much of it was orange, gray, and white. 

"No way." Kova's voice didn't give Shiro, Liz, and Caleb any idea of what the trio was seeing, the debris nebula too dense to see them. "Hey, Caleb? How did the colors go?"

"The Black Lion was as dark as space, the Red Lion was red like fire, the Green Lion was green like trees, the Yellow Lion was yellow like sand, and the Blue Lion was blue like water." Caleb had to shut his eyes to remember the way the teachers taught them the colors of Voltron, as well as their elements. When they were younger, Kova and Caleb used to refer the lions by numbers 1 through 5. It made the '#1 Space Dad' mug that much funnier to them and no one had to know they knew former pilots.

"Allie found number five." Caleb sat up in his chair, dumbfounded. Shiro and Liz looked at him to explain, but Kova did that for them. "She found Blue." 

With steady steps, more steady than either had ever seen her, Allie walked towards the splayed out Blue Lion. Entering its open mouth, Allie made quick work of the empty warship. The head was empty other than the chair and controls in front of it. She sat down in the chair, admiring the leather work for staying together for as long as it did. With her hands on the controls, Allie closed her eyes. 

It felt like a cosmic joke when holo screens appeared over the eyes, standing up to let out a huge roar. 

Kova and Cake watched it all, holding onto each other to keep each other balanced on the thin piece. A video appeared on the screen in front of Allie, and she almost wanted to walk out of the lion to yell at the universe. 

"There's footage of their separation." 

"So, we could potentially be the new paladins." Kova was craning her neck to above the weird lip over her line of sight to look into the lion's yellow eyes. Cake was dashing back to the Coeus as fast as he could go in zero gravity. 

"Potentially." 

"Can we talk about that after I get home?" Cake yelled over the comms, making everyone listening flinch. "I wanna see my mom!" 

"Let's get you in the bay, Allie."

"Uh, actually," Allie stopped Kova in her tracks. "Can I try to get used to Blue? Using the controls and all." Kova was staring so intensely into the Blue Lion's yellow eyes, Allie thought Kova could see her. 

"Allie, you arrived at the Garrison yesterday." Allie sunk into her seat. "Until you're cleared on training, you aren't driving the lion." 

"But—"

"Nope, let's go." Kova had the last word, walking back to the ship. Glumly, Allie motioned Blue to follow. Blue fit comfortably in the bay, surprising for the tall creature. 

Making a beeline for the bridge, Allie gave Kova the video footage Blue was trying to show her. It was the last moments of the lions on Earth, with a younger version of the paladins the teens have come to recognize and know. 

As the lions turned around and shot into space, they exited the Milky Way. They traveled light years until Blue was trapped in the trash nebula. On the screen, a map appeared showing the coordinates of the other lions. 

The Yellow Lion, unsurprisingly to Cake, was on his home Balmera. 

"All for finding the lions?" Kova said, catching everyone's attention. "Say 'I'." With a hand raised over their heads, Kova, Allie, Caleb, and Liz stared into Cake. 

"I just wanna go home and find my sister and hug my mom." Cake moaned, raising a hand for a unanimous decision. 

"C'mon, you can help me repair the ship." 

It took a few days, but the Coeus had new panels protecting its inner workings. Kova hadn't been able to weld in so long due to pilot training, it was refreshing. Caleb had taken to training Allie in the training arena, who was responding in kind. Most of it was reflex from too much time on Altea with pushy guards, but it was beginning to make sense to her. Cake was running low on ingredients to mix, and Liz had finished the seat covers. More often than not, they could be found either in the engine room with Kenny or on the sidelines with Caleb. Shiro agreed to take them to the space mall if they figured out what they wanted to get. 

Of course, he had to figure out how he was getting any sort of currency (seriously, who plans like that?) but he didn't voice it. As long as they stayed on track, everyone was safe and sound until they reached the Balmera.

Of course, no one expected the peaceful Balmerans to attack.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Dangerous Clashes: III

Word Count: 3245

AN: A little longer chapter today since its my birthday. Thanks!

Whether it was smart or dumb, the guards delivered the armor to Kova's makeshift cell. She spent a few minutes looking it over, then started working. The bodysuit was like a second skin, completely different than the street clothes she wore before.

The tech on the suit was older than anything she had ever seen, but that was the privilege of attending the intergalactic hub on Earth. We mean the Garrison if you're lost.

She was attempting to use a paperclip as a pair of pliers on the location tracker when the door reopened. Ezrid, or Vhix, stood in the doorframe. Kova spared him a glance before returning to her work. 

"Are you not going to say anything?" Vhix asked, crossing his arms behind his back. 

"Should I?" Kova glanced at him again, noting the scowl that crossed his face. 

"You should be grateful for everything we've given you." He hissed. "Most prisoners rot in the cells below, never seeing their home planets again."

"Ooh, how scary." Kova mocked him. "I should be grateful for being put in a janitor's closet. That's rich."

"What are you doing to the suit?" Vhix asked, noticing her position. He was about to cross the boundary. He was about to trigger the explosion before she was ready. 

"NO!" She yelled. "Stay away from me!" Vhix stepped back, shocked at being yelled at. "I don't want you anywhere near me!" Vhix found his voice, fixing his dark blue cape.

"Aren't you overreacting, Kyla?" He smiled, talking in the tone you would talk to most children with. She stood up from her place on the floor to at least be eye-level with him. 

"I'm not the one our parents chased across the galaxy." She cocked her head. "Am I overreacting?" Vhix had no words. He only looked on with wide eyes. Almost like he didn't know what her parents had done. Without another word the door closed, leaving Kova alone once again. 

She had to finish the suit.

Right. Now. 

——————

"Cake, cover me!" Caleb yelled over the intercoms. 

"You got it!" Cake yelled back, moving his controls. The Coeus had taken another hit. This time, there was a small platoon of ships striking. The Red and Yellow Lions were deployed, against Shiro's orders. The Lions were taking heavy hits, but at least there was no attention at the Coeus. 

The Red Lion was zipping past the cruisers, all their shots missing. The Red Lion was fighting its pilot, but Caleb was having none of it. The Yellow Lion, as the densest lion material-wise, was ramming into the cruisers head-on. 

Liz and Kenny were readying the Coeus for defense, while Allie cowered in a corner. She would have to come out eventually, but for now, she was staying put. 

The Yellow Lion zoomed past the cruisers, either ramming itself through them or leaving them alone for later pickings. 

A communication link request was sent to the Coeus, which Liz immediately refused without looking at it. She glanced at Allie, who was covering her pointy ears with her hands, hoping to silence the gunfire. 

"Can you guys stop playing and knock them out already?" Liz yelled over the intercom to the boys, who weren't quick to respond. The Red Lion was drawing fire towards the enemy ships while Cake used their distraction and fear to ram them down. In the end, all but one of the ships were destroyed. 

Seeing the last cruiser fly away, the Red and Yellow lions released a deafening roar and returned to the Coeus. The Coeus had activated their particle barrier and it would be up for the next few hours until it deactivated itself. 

"Now that that's taken care of," Caleb said. The screen on the bridge appeared, showing the paladins inside their respective lions. "What's next?" 

"We're going to have to double-check every point we travel to if we're going to make another jump."

"Ugh, seriously?" Cake complained. "That will take way longer than whatever we were doing before!" 

"Well, its the only thing we've got right now." Liz was at the head of the bridge, Kova's place, typing away. Kova's console, as it turned out, was the only console with complete access to all files and consoles onboard. 

"Griffin's right," Caleb spoke, leading the Red Lion to fly underneath the Coeus. "If we want to avoid another encounter like that, we're going to have to be more careful."

"But that will take ages!" Cake groaned, rolling his eyes. 

"It's better than not doing anything," Caleb said. 

"Right, 'cause we're still looking for Kova while trying to keep the Coeus intact." Neither Liz nor Caleb were amused by Cake's comment. "Easy enough."

"Speaking of Kova, Griffin, how are we doing?" 

"The tracking is still activated, and it shows we're about one full jump away from reaching her." Liz looked away from the camera and console for a minute, staring at something off-screen. She turned back with a sigh. "I have to take care of something now, but all systems are stable and shield will deactivate in a few hours. Until then, just hang on tight." The connection between the Coeus and the Red and Yellow Paladins was cut, and Cake and Caleb were now left alone with only each other to talk to. 

Where do we even begin with these two? Cake and Caleb were on different teams since they started as cadets at the Garrison. Kova and Caleb had similar leadership tactics, but they weren't on the same level. Caleb was maybe a few months behind Kova's level of understanding. At nine years old, she repaired a major issue on the Achlys. An issue the top engineers couldn't figure out. Kova was the only thing Caleb and Cake had in common. Beyond that, there was nothing. Cake was half-Balmeran. Caleb was completely human. Cake was raised by his biological parents. Caleb was adopted by the Shiroganes at three years old. Cake lived on Earth after ten years old. Caleb hadn't even been to space. 

"This might seem like a weird question, and you don't have to answer," Cake began. Caleb raised an eyebrow. "But didn't Keith have a dog?"

"I, uh, don't know, actually," Caleb said. "Dad and Uncle Lance used to stories, but I don't know if they ever mentioned pets."

"Really? I could've sworn my dad mentioned a dog."

"Huh." Caleb sat back in his chair. If there was a dog, why wasn't it ever mentioned again? "Maybe we could ask Keith about it."

"Maybe." Cake agreed. "Hey, uh, where are you?" 

"Under." /Please say it/, Caleb thought. Kova always switched her words and Cyrus copied her. No one did it. 

"Under /where/?" Caleb erupted in laughter, while Cake looked around confused. /Then/ he realized the joke. 

"Ha ha, okay, very funny, Caleb." Cake said sarcastically. 

Onboard the Coeus, Keith and Shiro were sequestered away in Shiro's office. While Caleb and Cake disobeyed orders, Shiro was getting Keith up to speed on everything they had been doing. 

"The Fire of Purification was terminated as a threat years ago." Shiro had activated a holoscreen, showing the progression board the team had been working on. They were at the beginning of the current threats when Keith spoke. "I killed Sendak!" 

"I know." Shiro took a seat across the desk from Keith. "It seems that some of their former members resurfaced with a vengeance, and began recruiting."

"The Fire of Purification wanted to wipe out every species in the universe if it meant conserving the Galra." 

"And that mission changed with the times." Shiro leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "The Fire we're fighting today was led by a half-Galra and is currently being led by a different one."

"The one that might've taken your daughter." Shiro's eyes widened a little, shock written on his face. As quickly as it came, it left. 

"Yes. Her status is the reason for the bounty on her head."

"She's half-Galra?"

"Yes, but that's not the only thing." Shiro turned off the holoscreen progression and removed it from his desk. Taking out the tablet Kova had given him when they began this crazy journey, Shiro logged into the Garrison's database. "The students have given her the nickname 'Jax'." Shiro turned the tablet to show Keith the screen. A picture of Kova was on it. Her eyes were like steel, and her features were cut from stone. Her uniform jacket was crisp, and her hair was pulled away from her face in a bun. That was all that could be seen. Shiro turned the screen away from Keith and swiped to view the next picture. It was Kova's log. Her entire school history was there for the men to see. 

"Why do they call her that?" 

"Her teachers would call her a jack of all trades, then it became Jack. To be fair, most instructors thought she was a boy when they heard about her capabilities. Eventually, the student body would call Jack, then Jax. It stuck."

"Teachers? Instructors? Like, she had multiple people teaching her?" Keith was astounded. Even he didn't require that much instruction, and he was considered the best pilot of his generation. 

"Programming, engineering, piloting, was offered private instruction with Commander Holt but declined, and still had time to spend with Lance and our family. Before we left Earth, she was being scouted as an instructor by other schools." 

"With someone like that," Keith began. 

"She could win wars if she stood on the front lines." Shiro finished Keith's sentence. "Caleb is capable of it, too, but he isn't as hyper detailed as Kova." 

"So the Fire wants your daughter, Kova, on their side?"

"More than anything." Keith sat back in his chair, staring into the void. Shiro turned off and put away the tablet while Keith contemplated everything. 

"What are we waiting for, then?" Keith said, standing from his chair. A hand rested on his hip with an iconic smile on his face. "Let's get her back." 

—————

"C'mon, c'mon!" Kova muttered under her breath. "Change color, you stupid light!" She stood on the dirty mattress in the furthest corner of the room. The garbage bag that held her street clothes was propped against the wall closest to the emergency toilet. The dark gray armor fit Kova almost perfectly, but if she wasn't careful, there could be an opening. Her hair was tied in a braided bun at the back of her head, her helmet screen open. She was trying to change the color of the insignia on her chest plate, but for whatever reason, it didn't. The top of the insignia was blue and the bottom was the original purple.

The sewer was emptying, and her window of opportunity was going with it. Let's all say it now: NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE COLOR OF YOUR STUPID LIGHT!

Heavy footsteps rang through the room. The metal grate was horrible like that. The steps became heavier, the metal groaned louder, and Kova's heart raced faster as they approached her room. 

"Screw this!" She finally exclaimed, throwing the paperclip aside, grabbed her plastic bag, and stood at the mouth of the gaping hole. The footsteps had stopped just outside her door. Indistinguishable words were being exchanged between the guards and the newcomer, but Kova wouldn't be around to see it. First went the bag, making a disgusting brown splash on the sewer walls. It was carried only a few feet from the weak current before coming to a standstill. Activating her helmet screen to completely cover her face, Kova took a deep breath. 

May Allura give her strength. 

She jumped feet first into the hole. The brown, maybe green liquid splashed under her feet, but there was no time to consider what it could or couldn't be. As soon as her boots made contact with the bottom of the pipe, Kova ran, grabbing the plastic bag on the way. 

In her now empty room, the door opened to reveal the maniac himself with his second-in-command in tow. 

"Where is she?" Yorak asked, staring at the empty room.

"Let me see," Vhix said, pushing past Yorak into the room. His step into the room triggered the boxes of yeast the guards had brought Kova to fall into the buckets of peroxide and dish soap at their feet. As the yeast fell into the buckets, the white foam quickly overfilled the buckets, spilling onto the floor. The metal grate didn't allow the foam to stay very long, but the results were worth it. Vhix was quickly overwhelmed by the foam, slipping on the metal grate. Yorak was fuming, his expression dark. He turned his stone-cold eyes to the guard at his right. The guard, for what it's worth, was rusting their armor at the glare. 

"Search the ship," Yorak growled, whipping his head to meet the stare of the second guard. "If she isn't found, it's your lives." Vhix had somehow stood and walked away from the foam. Thankfully for him, yeast doesn't stain. The guards ran down the hallways like their lives depended on it, because they did. 

"I told you we should have kept her in a prison cell," Vhix muttered, trailing foam. Yorak sighed, staring at the mess Kova had caused. 

"If we did, she would've discovered our plans before she was ready." Yorak stalked away from the room, heading for the bridge. Vhix strode after him, still trailing foam. 

"She isn't going to switch sides so easily." Vhix shook his shoulders, then aggressively shook his cape. "She's been taught to be a paragon of power."

"As am I." Yorak turned to meet Vhix's eyes. Vhix was one of few to meet the stone-cold gaze of the Emperor and not shake in fear. The others were either dead or changed. 

Down below, Kova ran, drifted, and jumped over pipes, large lumps of something, and tight corners. She simply followed the current. Kova's sloshed steps grew faster as voices grew louder overhead. The desire to live was starting to become her. Out of some misfortune, there was no exit to the sewer. At least, no exit she could use. The water escape through a small vent at the bottom of a wall. 

Kova looked up at the metal grate, searching for a means of escape. Another hole was torn into the metal grate directly above the sewer. Another emergency toilet. Tossing her bag through the hole, Kova jumped to grab hold of the edge. The sharp, torn metal pierced her skin through the bodysuit, but it did not break. 

She was in yet another janitor's closet, but it was worth it. If the map on the wall is correct, she's about ten feet from the closest exit.

Activating the helmet's shade, Kova walked straight for the doors that led to her freedom. The door opened up, four armed soldiers running past her without a glance in her direction. Quick as can be, she slipped through the doors. 

The room was a loading bay, stocked with wooden crates and small cruisers. If she could hotwire one, it would make her escape all the better. 

"Hey! You!" A voice yelled from above Kova's head. It didn't sound like either Yorak or Vhix, so at least she was safe. "What are you doing here? This ward is restricted to—" Kova turned to face the man yelling at her. He noticed the blue on Kova's insignia. The light is pretty hard to miss. The man yelling at her stared at the faceless armored soldier with surprise, then anger. "Hey! I found the runaway!" 

With a salute, Kova booked it to the doors. The man, completely caught off-guard, panicked, climbed the railing, and jumped to the floor twenty feet below. He didn't chase after her. At least, not immediately. 

Three armor-clad soldiers marched in, holding their weapons up. Kova had made it to the wall on the other, the door that should lead outside. One of the soldiers had fired on her, hitting the door three feet from Kova's head. She ignored it, searching for the control switch. It required a password to open it. Another blast was fired, only inches from her face. 

Kova turned to see the firing squad. They wouldn't kill her. Of course, they wouldn't. That's a death wish waiting to happen. Yorak and Vhix still want her alive. 

One of the soldiers aimed at the wall next to Kova, hoping to ricochet a blast to knock her out without completely damaging her. The soldier's stance wavered, the gun along with it. Kova held her hands up in surrender, but the soldiers made no moves to apprehend her. Not until they were sure they wouldn't be attacked. The soldier's finger was prepared to pull the trigger. It wouldn't take much, just a little push. 

The entire ship took a blow, and everyone took a fall. Kova held onto the frame of the door closest to the control panel. She connected her armpiece to the control panel, uploaded her code, and the door opened. As the oxygen was being sucked into the nothingness of space, some of the lighter boxes were being thrown out as well. Kova hoped it was food so they could slow down their pursuit. As the suction pulled everything, Kova braced herself and threw herself out into the nothingness. 

Curled into a small ball, she spun until she wasn't sure which way was up and down. Is there even an up and down in space? Kova had been pulled so far away from the ship, she could see what had caused the blast. 

The Coeus had come to the rescue, firing heavy blasts to the side of the enemy ship. A particle barrier had been activated, glowing orange. Two figures were dancing in front of the barrier. It took Kova a tick to realize they weren't just any figures. It was the Lions. 

Red sped past the entire length of the enemy ship, firing on the windows of their bridge. Yellow was clawing the side Red had left unscathed. Escape pods began to leave the ship, and Red noticed. It took after them, preparing to fire again when a small blast hit their snout. Red turned its head to look for the culprit. 

Kova fired again. She was so glad the arm piece had a laser, or she would have been a goner. 

Red was hit again between the eyes. Forgetting its original prey, it flew towards the source of the blasts. 

As Red got closer, Kova hung onto her bag for dear life. She was floating into nothingness. She didn't want to be like Keith! Lost for ten years until the new generation of Voltron came to find her. They haven't even formed Voltron!

Red stopped before Kova, staring at her figure. What was wrong? Didn't he recognize her? Then she remembered she still had the shade on. Deactivating it, she stared at Red again. Red opened its mouth, and Kova floated into it. The depressurization left Kova lying on the bottom of Red's mouth staring at the top of it. Eventually, she stood and joined Caleb in the pilot seat. He was updating the Coeus on the mission. 

Kova placed a hand on his shoulder, to which Caleb lay his own over it. They shared a look, and Caleb turned Red around to return to the Coeus. Kova slept in Red's cockpit until the barrier deactivated a few hours later.