Wheel of Fortune = Fate, Luck, or Prophecy

Ren frowned, arms folded behind her back, as the rescue operation simulation played out before her. The pilot kept antagonizing his mechanical engineer, despite frequent warnings and the impending threat of a mess. Even without the conversations inside the simulator being broadcast for the rest of the class, the craft's unnecessarily jerky movements made it obvious. From the corner of her eye Ren could see Commander Iverson's face contorting. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from sighing.

The simulation lasted roughly five minutes before, figuratively, crashing spectacularly. Casualties included the main gear box, now in desperate need of cleaning and likely to never recover completely. There was a growing bruise on the Comm-Tech's forehead, the mechanical engineer was still shaky from losing his lunch, and the pilot only looked mildly ashamed as he stepped from the simulator. Subtly Ren shifted on her feet, closing her eyes as the Commander stepped forward and the yelling began.

"Congratulations, cadets. You're all dead!" The Commander turned, addressing the rest of the class. "Now, who wants to list of the many, many mistakes made just now?"

The class was quick to point out what had gone wrong in the simulation, listing several of the things Ren herself had observed: The sickness, while unavoidable, did little to repair the issue and would have made things worse in the field; The Comm-Tech taking a swan dive from the chair as if at the local pool; and the inevitable crashing of the craft.

Commander Iverson was quick to pounce on any perceived weakness. It was his favorite teaching method. "And as if that wasn't bad enough the whole time they were arguing with each other! It's just these sorts of mistakes that cost the men on the Kerberos mission their lives."

Ren jolted, eyes snapping open. Pidge was shouting, but by the time her eyes focused Lance had mostly diffused the situation with that easy grin of his and some sort of muffling submission hold.

"Tech Sergeant Ripley."

Ren stepped forward, meeting the one-eyed gaze of the Commander. She could feel her nails digging into the flesh of her palms. "Sir?"

"You've made your share of poor decisions." Iverson assessed. From over the Commander's shoulder Ren could see Pidge bristle in Lance's hold.

"That is correct, sir." The mechanic nodded, the motion a slight dip of her jaw. Her expression remained neutral. "I most certainly have."

"What's your assessment of these cadets?"

Ren stepped past the Commander, straightening as she looked down at the three teenagers. Slowly Lance released his smaller classmate as the whole failed simulation team moved to stand at attention.

"Even the best team will argue amongst themselves, sir." The Tech Sergeant paused and the cadets relaxed. "However there's a fine line between constructive disagreement and dangerous instigation, and that line was crossed ten times over."

"The Tech Sergeant is too kind, considering the mistakes made in that simulation." The Commander leaned down, nearly nose to nose with the training pilot. "You, especially. It would do you good to remember the only- and I repeat only- reason you're here and not learning to organize cargo is because the best pilot in your year washed out. Care to follow him?"

"They have potential," Ren interrupted, frowning. "Even with this failure, they have it. If they can stop sabotaging or tripping over each other long enough to unlock it is up to them. But to discredit them completely is-"

Commander Iverson glanced over his shoulder, scowl deepening as he straightened. "We'll see about that, Tech Sergeant. Next unit!"

The day completed without further incident. The rest of the simulations went fairly smoothly, despite no one wanting to touch the main gear box even after hose down. As lights out was called for the cadets Ren found herself in the Instructor's Lounge, wishing some of the budget went to better coffee. The Tech Sergeant contemplated the muddy liquid, frowning.

"How much do I hate myself tonight?" Ren muttered, just loud enough to earn a sidelong look from the man beside her. "Not that much."

Tossing the cup into the trash as she passed, the brunette exited the lounge just in time to catch the silhouettes of two people hurrying around the corner in the dark. They weren't moving with the purpose of a security patrol. Instead they were scampering, hurrying quickly past in what she could only assume was an attempt to not be seen.

Ren hesitated just outside the lounge doorway, squinting as she tried to place the shapes. "Is that...Garrett and, shit, the other one. What is it? McClain."

You're off the clock, Ren reminded herself, even as her feet began to move. You could just go to bed and pretend you didn't see anything.

The mechanic snorted at her own thought, following several feet behind the teenage boys as the snuck through the dim halls of the Garrison. Lance, from what Ren observed, seemed to be very into sneaking around. She was left to wonder just how many spy movies the boy had watched. Several times she had managed to lose sight of them only to discover Lance had shimmied himself into a trash can or attempted to go up a wall. Hunk seemed to be enjoying himself far less, but had refused to turn back so far.

"This is the way to Pidge's room," Ren realized as she passed into the A5 hallway. "What are you up to?"

Several feet in front of her, leaning conspicuously around the corner, Lance echoed her words. The lanky cadet elbowed his friend, made some sort of gesture Ren couldn't see, and the two hurried off down the hallway again. She could only assume it was after their team's Comm-tech.

Ren frowned, chewing at her bottom lip. "If I'm following them all this way for a late night pizza run, someone's going to buy me breadsticks."

The night air was cool, despite the sun setting only recently. With no lights for miles, save the ones from the Garrison itself, the stars were easily visible and twinkling softly. Pidge had perched almost precariously close to the edge, headphones on, laptop out, tech scattered around. Lance shook his head, taking a moment to pose like a disappointed parent before dropping to the ground to inch closer.

Carefully the pilot-in-training pulled back one side of the headphones, displaying more concentration and subtlety than he had in the simulator. "So, what'cha doin'?"

Pidge screamed and scrambled away, nearly knocking several pieces of tech off the roof. "Ahh, Lance! I'm just looking at the star- REN?!"

The two boys jolted in surprise, whipping around- and nearly knocking into each other in the process- to find their instructor leaning against the doorway.

"Hello, boys," Ren smiled and waved as if they weren't on the roof past curfew. There was a disappointing lack of pizza. "Come here often?"

Lance was the first to recover, sliding his crooked smile across his face and wiggling his eyebrows. "Well-"

"No," Pidge interrupted, frowning. "Just no. Don't."

The lanky pilot-in-training deflated as Hunk turned, reaching out for some of Pidge's equipment. "Okay, but what is this? It's not Garrison regulation."

"No," the smaller cadet agreed, smacking his hand away. "It's mine. I built it. I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system with this baby."

Lance arched an eyebrow, his interest renewed. "Oh? All the way to Kerberos, huh? What's with you? You go ballistic every time someone even mentions it."

Pidge's expression faltered, the grinning pride quickly falling away to hesitation and uncertainty.

"Personally," Ren began, stepping out from the doorway and onto the rooftop. "I like to think it's on my behalf." She put on her best grin, slowly lowering herself down to sit beside the small cadet. "But that's just to puff up my ego."

Hunk nodded sagely. "Right, right. Because you were supposed to go on that mission, too, and if you had you'd also be dead in space. And you're…" He paused, glancing between the two and squinting. "Siblings…?"

The Tech Sergeant blinked slowly, once then twice as she attempted to process the cadet's words. Then the smile returned and she reached out, folding her hands atop Pidge's head. "This is my son."

"That's not it," Pidge reached up, smacking Ren's hands away. "And stop telling people that. Listen. I've been picking alien radio chatter since...since Kerberos. Most of it is, well, most of it is a mess."

The brunette turned away, rummaging through paper and wires. Lance leaned away, glancing between the other two. "Soo, Pidge is crazy."

"Aliens?!" Hunk gulped, eyes wide. "There aren't aliens. Right?" His attention swung over to the Tech Sergeant, eyes begging her to confirm his statement. "Right?"

"I've never-"

Her words were cut short as Pidge's notebook was shoved in front of her face, the cadet pointing out something. "No, listen. They've been repeating a word. Voltron. And tonight the chatter's crazier than I've ever heard it."

Ren side-eyed the Comm-Tech, who was still excitedly gesturing at the paper. "What does that mean?"

As if on cue sirens began screaming, shattering the silence of the night. The Tech Sergeant was on her feet in a moment, one of the boys squealing in surprise, as Commander Iverson's voice sounded over the P.A. system.

"Code Zulu-Niner. I repeat, this is code Zulu-Niner. All cadets are ordered to stay in their bunks until further notice. Code Zulu-Niner."

"Zulu-Niner?" Ren repeated the code slowly, squinting at the P.A. speaker.

"Is that a meteor?!" Hunk yelped, voice cracking at the end.

"What? No. Zulu-Niner is-" The brunette's words were cut off with a yelp of her own as the cadet took ahold of her head, turning it skyward. "A ship!"

"It can't be one of ours!" Lance shouted, scrambling to find the binoculars.

"It's one of theirs!" Pidge gaped, eyes wide and glasses slipping. "The Voltron?"

The ship sailed past the Garrison, disappearing into the surrounding darkness of the desert. As the warning sirens dimmed several floodlights burst into life, followed by the sound of engines. Pidge was the first to move, scrambling for the door and backpack nearly spilling equipment.

"I have to see this!" Lance tripped over his own feet in his hurry to catch up. "C'mon, Hunk!"

"Oh," Hunk groaned, "I hope it's not aliens." He paused at the doorway, still jogging in place, and looked back at the Tech Sergeant. "Y-you're coming, too, right?"

The mechanic chuckled, "At this point it's either go with you or report you." Hunk paled and Ren sighed. "I'm coming with you."

The rocky outcropping was exactly that and little else: rocky. The side facing the Garrison pop-up structure crumbled away into something that could almost be called a path but the top was concerningly flat. If someone was looking the little group would be spotted quickly.

"I don't like this," Ren frowned, reaching over and snatching the binoculars from Lance. The teenager gave an indignant squawk that she ignored, adjusting the focus. "There's so many of them."

The Tech Sergeant tapped irritably at the side of the binoculars. What was protocol for Zulu-Niner?

"Can't we see what's happening?" Lance whined, jostling Pidge.

"Maybe we should just go," Hunk offered. The cadet was practically vibrating from nerves. "There's no way we'll get any closer."

"There's a camera. If I can just…" Pidge smacked away Lance's hands, typing quickly at the open laptop. "There! I have the camera feed."

Ren turned, lowering the binoculars and scooting around to see the computer screen. The camera feed flickered twice before coming into a grainy sort of focus. Lab equipment, members of the Medical and Science Department in hazmat suits, a table, and...

Ren forgot how to breathe.

"That's Shiro!" Lance exclaimed, half shoving Pidge away from the laptop. "From the Kerberos mission! That guy's my hero!"

Pidge frowned, glowering at the pilot-in-training and yanking the monitor back. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

Hunk leaned over the other three, attempting to see the screen. "So he's not dead in space."

"Stop," the Tech Sergeant mumbled absently, unable to look away from the grainy camera feed. "Stop saying dead in space."

"Why aren't they asking about the rest of the crew?" Pidge repeated, voice cracking, but Ren was having trouble listening.

The Tech Sergeant was on her feet before she even fully processed the movement, stumbling slightly on the rocky slopes. She could hear the cadets shouting but couldn't register the words. Ren barely heard the explosions in the distance, only the sudden change in light distracting her. She stumbled again on stiff legs, now aware of the figure reaching the pop-up structure several steps ahead of her and the cadet's footsteps behind her as they hurried to catch up.

"Who-" Ren began, hoping one of the cadets knew if the person ahead was friend or foe. She hadn't considered additional opposition. She hadn't considered anything.

"Keith!" Lance shouted, overtaking the brunette woman to reach the door before her. "And his stupid mullet!"

Ren blinked, confusion temporarily overriding her urgency. "Kogane? He came back?"

"Why does everyone else know who Keith is?" Pidge demanded, winded. Hunk shrugged in response.

"Nope. No, no. No you don't," Lance hissed, ignoring the question and shoving his way through the door. "You're not rescuing him before me."

Keith spared a glance as the other boy approached before focusing on the doorway behind him. He squinted, confused, and shifting his grip as Lance helped to balance the unconscious man between them. "Tech Sergeant Ripley?"

Ren stepped forward, scrubbing a hand across her mouth. Her eyes scanned the room, glazed and unable to focus. She teetered dangerously for a moment and Pidge hurried forward to steady her. "How? How did you-"

"Don't ignore me!" Lance bristled, his dramatic reunion with his self-proclaimed rival slighted. "I'm talking to you, Keith!"

"Shut up," the red clad boy scowled. "Who are you?"

"It's Lance!" No recognition passed across Keith's face and it was the other boy's turn to scowl. "We were in the same class at the Garrison."

"Oh, right. The...engineer?"

Lance groaned so loud that if any of the outside guard had remained it would have alerted them. "I'm a pilot. We were rivals. Why do you remember her and not me?"

"Ren?" Pidge questioned tentatively as Hunk hovered awkwardly between the two groups, unsure of where to help.

"We need to leave." Keith insisted. "They'll figure out it was a distraction soon and come back. We can't still be here when they do."

"Wow, dude, cold." Lance said, shifting Shiro's arm around his shoulders. "Can't you see she needs a moment?" From behind the Tech Sergeant Pidge frowned, not buying into Lance's sudden concern.

"No, no, he's right." Ren began, sounding a little more like herself as she steadied against the doorframe. "You need to go, now."

"What?" Hunk asked, his voice squeaking at the end of the question. "What about you?"

"Whatever Kogane used to get here, it's going to have enough trouble getting all of you out of here." Ren glanced in the direction the explosions had gone off, fingers tapping the doorframe as she thought. "I'll head back to the Garrison. There's a few things I'll need to pick up. Pidge, you know how to get ahold of me. Contact me when you're safe."

"I'm not-" Keith began, disapproval in his voice, only to be cut off by Pidge.

"You can't! The camera- They'll know you were here."

The brunette woman smiled, the expression not quite reaching her eyes. "There's no time to argue, so consider this an order, cadets: Go. Now."


Whoops. Forgot to update this. As usual, Kado thanks you guys for all your favorites, follows, comments and such. They're much appreciated! Don't forget to let her know what you think of this chapter.