Blood pounds in my ears as I sit in breathless anticipation, the roaring momentarily drowning out the voices of Hunk and Lance over the comms. A deafening boom crashes around me, making the sturdy exterior of my ship rattle with the force of it.
Come on, baby. I think, patting the inside affectionately. Don't let me down.
The comms crackle to life once more as more booms rattle my surroundings. Lance's face appears on the vid-screen to my left.
"We're about thirty ticks to the drop zone." He says. "You ready, Kolivan?"
The Blade of Marmora's enhanced voice comes on over the comms, but his face doesn't appear on the screen. "Affirmative."
A second vid-screen pops up, this time with Hunk's face. "What about you, Hope?"
"Whenever you are." I say, feeling a surge of adrenaline. Gripping the controls tighter, I take a deep breath and wait for Hunk's signal.
An even louder boom shakes my surroundings so hard my screens go fuzzy for a moment.
"What's going on out there?" I shout into the comms. All I can see before me is the walls of the Yellow Lion's bay.
"Hold on! Evasive action underway!" Yells Lance.
"Lance, I think we just passed the drop zone!" Says Hunk, looking concerned. He jerks the controls to the left and I feel the tug in my gut as the Lion moves sharply, probably to avoid an oncoming laser.
"We're under heavy fire!" Lance shouts. "There's no way we can stop here! Any ideas, Kolivan?"
"Open the hatch." Says Kolivan cooly. "We'll take it from here."
"You hear that, Hope?"
"Just get me down there already!" I say, my heart pounding with anticipation.
In response, the Yellow Lion's bay doors begin to open, flooding my vision with light. As soon as they're open enough, I thrust the controls forward and my ship gently eases out the doors and jets away from the Lion. I let out a wild war whoop as my ship races with ease over the rocky terrain, making a mental note to thank Pidge for her input on the thruster design.
My scanner blips, indicating a small fleet of figures dropping like stones towards the ground. It also picks up another, much larger fleet of incoming Galra fighters.
"Hope, are you in position?" Kolivan's voice comes over the comms once more.
"Right behind you!"
"Be ready to lay down some heavy fire to cover our tails. We're going in."
"You got it!"
I squeeze the handlebars and feel an immense sense of satisfaction as my lasers sweep across the line of Galra ships in a huge line, turning the first row to dust.
"Yeah!" I shout, swerving to avoid an oncoming laser. "Eat that!"
Above me, I can see the Blue and Yellow Lions taking on another fleet. The light blue and purple lasers are visible even in the broad daylight.
"Hope, watch out!" Startled, I jerk the controls to the right just as a flash of Altean blue zaps the pesky fighter out of the air.
"Thanks, Lance!"
"No prob."
"Hope, we're taking fire from those sentries!" Says Kolivan.
"Give me a sec!" I reply, pulling into a barrel roll to avoid another laser. "I've still got some bogies on my six!"
"Don't get too caught up in the sky-fighting, Hope!" Hunk cautions. We need you on mid-level support. Keep the attention off the Blade."
"You got it! Just keep these fighters off my tail!"
"On it!"
I gun the accelerators and pull into a nosedive, heading straight for the city.
"Take cover, guys! I'm coming in hot!"
Marmoran fighters dive for cover as I pull out of the nosedive and streak over the top of the city, mowing down the line of sentries that had them pinned.
"Oh, yeah!" I whoop, feeling exhilarated. "This thing is awesome!"
A sudden blast from the right rattles my ship and throws off my flight pattern. I'm forced to pull up and into a backflip before I crash straight into the canyon wall. One hairpin turn later, I'm left with some serious g's before I can clear my head enough to zero in on the new target. It's a large dome-shaped weapon attached to the underside of a rocky overhang that's shooting purple lasers every which way.
Kolivan's voice crackles over the comms before I can say anything.
"Paladins! Can you hear me? We're pinned down by heavy artillery! We need air support!"
"Kinda busy right now!" Shouts Lance. "Hope, can you take it out?"
"I'm trying!" I shout. "Let me get into posit-augh!" I break off as a purple laser shot fires from the weapon straight towards me. Biting my lip and feeling a flash of panic, I veer sharply to the left to avoid it.
"I can't get a clear shot!"
"I see it." Says Lance determinedly. "I'll take it out!"
I pull another hairpin turn, trying to get a good angle while avoiding the lasers at the same time. It's difficult to do. The lasers are firing everywhere, at every angle. It's taking all my evasive skills to roll, bank, and dive out of the way.
"Careful, Lance!" I shout. "It can fire in any direction at once!"
"Uh-oh!" Lance dives to the left as a beam shatters the rocks where his Lion was a moment later. Another laser head straight for my face and I roll just in time to avoid the brunt of it, but not before it clips the edge of my left wing, taking out the weapons on that side. A sudden coppery taste in my mouth makes me realize I've just bitten through my bottom lip.
"Guys, I'm hit! My left laser's toast!"
"Can't you fix it?" Lance asks, and I know he's talking about my Olkarian technomagic.
"Not in the air!" I reply, pulling into another roll. "Don't worry about me, how's that laser?"
"I can't get a safe angle of attack!" Lance yells in frustration.
"Maybe not from the front!" Shouts Hunk. With the air of an expert, he maneuvers his Lion behind the outcropping, pulling back before thrusting it forward into a dive. Heavy claws spawn on its front paws and it goes into a spin, burrowing straight into the rock and out the other side, leaving a gaping hole in the dome-shaped weapon.
"Yeah!" I shout, feeling elated. "We did it! Nice job, Hunk!"
"It appears the Galra forces are evacuating." Says Kolivan. I check my scanners. Sure enough, the last few fighters are fleeing the scene, trailing into the sky like a flock of startled birds.
I maneuver my ship back towards the city, looking for a spot to land. Hunk and Lance are hovering over the ground where Kolivan and his group have gathered.
"And stay out!" Hunk yells.
"Let's set them down over there and get ready for the parade."
"Oh, boy." I mutter as I pull forward and deploy the landing gear. "This should be fun."
·
Several vargas later, my ship has been completely overrun by an army of small children, who swarm me as soon as I land. The parents are understandably a bit wary, seeing as the ship is clearly of Galran design. It was a gift from the Blade of Marmora, once they realized the potential I had as a support-ship pilot. It's small, sleek, and allows for easy maneuverability, but the markings match the glowing bluish-purple and black motif of the Blade of Marmora. Maybe I need a Voltron bumper sticker, or something.
The children don't seem to care that the ship looks Galran. Once I jump down from the cockpit and they see a human girl dressed in a mix of Olkarian clothes and white Altean armor, they surge forward, excited to see up close one of the people who fought off the Galra empire.
Once I finally escape from the wriggling mass of small hands and excited faces, I notice Kolivan and several of his group standing on the edge of the crowd. He's removed his mask, revealing purple skin, yellow eyes, and a scar across the right side of his face.
"Great job today!" I say, making my way through the crowd towards them. One of them gives me a high-five.
"How did your ship handle?" Kolivan asks. His face is stony, as usual, but the edges of his eyes are crinkled, indicating he's probably very pleased with himself.
"Wonderfully!" I reply, bouncing a little on the balls of my feet with excitement. "Thank you so much! We've been without a good mid-level support ship since Keith blew up that pod with the built-in rocket thruster. Pidge helped me upgrade the engine on this baby so it can adapt to situations with or without gravity. Flies like an Olkarian scout-drone."
Kolivan raises one eyebrow. "I take it that means it flies well…?"
"Definitely."
He nods, looking mildly pleased, although he's probably happier than he's letting on. It's just what he does.
I frown at the left wing, remembering the laser that hit the weapons port right before the end of the battle.
"Although, I'm probably going to need some help fixing the lasers." I say, scratching my chin thoughtfully. "Olkarian tech-wizardry can only get me so far."
"I'll have one of my engineers look at it after we've finished up here."
"Thanks."
I feel a tug on my arm and look down to find an excited child with brilliant blue eyes and green marking on his nut-brown skin.
"Is this your ship?" He asks. "It's so cool!"
"Yes, it's mine." I say, glancing at Kolivan. "It was a gift from some friends."
Another little girl, a few years younger, jumps up and down, trying to get my attention.
"Hello, there." I say, smiling down at her. She has blue markings and pink eyes. "What's your name?"
"Jara." She answers, flashing me a gap-toothed grin.
"That's a lovely name. My name is Hope. I hope we didn't scare you too badly."
"We hid in the tunnels!" Jara proclaimed proudly. "I held Mother's hand so she wouldn't get scared!"
"That's very brave of you, to look after your mother like that."
The other boy pulls on my arm again. "Are you part of Voltron?"
I pause. "In a way, I guess."
"Are you a paladin?"
"No." I say, chuckling a little. "But I am part of the team." At a nod from a nearby woman who I assume must be her mother, I hoist a grinning Jara up and settle her on my shoulders. She giggles. "I make sure everyone on the team is happy and healthy." I explain, hoping it's simple enough for young ones to understand. "So when one member is sad, I go cheer them up. When someone gets sick, I take care of them."
"So you're their mommy?"
I pause. It wouldn't be my first choice of words. If I had to label someone as the designated 'mom' of the group, it would probably be Allura. I'm more of a confidant – someone to talk to. If someone has any issues, I want them to feel safe enough to come and talk to me. Also, since I'm the only one besides Coran who has much experience with first aid, it usually falls to me to patch everyone up after battles and make sure the healing pods are programmed correctly. Contrary to my initial belief, Alteans are very different from humans in several important areas, and it was only because I noticed an incorrect setting on the healing pod one time that Hunk narrowly escaped having all his hair fall out. After that close call, I had a good long talk with Coran about making assumptions.
But ever since Keith came back from the Blade of Marmora's headquarters bruised, exhausted, and emotionally strained, I've found it easier to step into the role of caretaker. It's not my sole responsibility of course – we all help each other out with whatever problems we're facing – but for those who find it hard to admit they need help (Keith), feel embarrassed to tell the whole team about a private issue (Pidge), or don't want to burden everyone else with their problems (Lance), I'm always available if they do feel comfortable talking to me. Which isn't always. It is, however, a start. If I can help promote unity between the members of Voltron, then I'll gladly do it. I look back on the start of my chapter with the Voltron team and chuckle at my initial feelings of insecurity. I've found my place, and I'm content with the role I've found myself in, however small and insignificant it might seem.
But it doesn't hurt that I get to be a part of strike missions such as this one. Now that we're working more closely with the Blade of Marmora, I've been able to take on other duties that would have distracted Allura or one of the paladins from their own roles. Relaying information. Staying up late to wait for a transmission when everyone else is exhausted. Performing subtle scout missions when a Lion would be too conspicuous. It's the little things like that.
The rest of the day is spent in festivities. By the end, my shoulders and arms ache from carrying little kids around and my stomach hurts from all the food I've been offered. Several kids are dashing about the village, playing with little floating cubes I fashioned from some scrap metal. They shriek with delight as the cubes hover above their heads, mimicking their voices (and rude noises). I laugh. The floating cubes are an Olkarian trademark, and I love watching the children's faces light up in wonder as they watch me create them from bits of metal.
When I'm sure I've probably doomed all the parents in the village to annoying sounds and shrieks of laughter for at least a quintant, I wander back over to where Lance is showing off the lions to a bunch of giggling girls. I hear excited squeals behind me and turn to find a mob of kids heading my way. Lance takes a break from flirting long enough to laugh when he sees me struggling under a wriggling pile of excited children. They're yanking me every which way, wrapping their arms around my legs so I run the risk of falling, and pulling on my ponytail.
"Lance! Help!" I cry out, managing to regain my balance after a brief moment of panic where I was sure I was going to fall.
He smirks evilly. "Nah. You look like you're handling it."
They finally pull me to my knees and swarm me like a bunch of Olkarian mud-grubs.
"Lance, you- aahh! Oof!" A small hand yanks my ponytail, popping several muscles in my neck. "Ooh, I hate you!"
Lance only laughs.