Thank you for the comments, Dragunz, DracoFogg, and Shiranai Atsune!

Shiranai Atsune, I actually did have a line in towards the end of "The Journey Within" where the boosters/jet pack were activated. However, it was just a brief line, so I actually went back and added in more detail to make it clear that Keith and Lance were able to form them.

DracoFogg, while I adore Kallura, I will be keeping all relationships here (other than already married couples, that is) platonic. I want anyone, no matter who they shipped, to be able to read and enjoy this. Hopefully there will be enough development through this re-write that, no matter who you ship, you can choose your own conclusions to future romances.

The Last Stand, Part 1

Not wasting a minute more, the Paladins push forward, heading for Earth.

Pidge attempts to contact her father, and after a moment hears his voice come through, however she quickly realizes it's a pre-recorded message. The Paladins listen, horrified, as the message reveals that the Galra have invaded Earth, enslaving most of humanity. The Garrison has held on for as long as they can, but the time has come for them to make their final stand.

Four years earlier:

One week after having returned to Earth, Samuel Holt awakens in a secure room. Admiral Sanda of the Galaxy Garrison enters and greets him.

Sam asks if he's free to leave yet, and Sanda says that all the tests have come back, and that he has been cleared of any possible problems. Frustrated by the quarantine, Sam snaps that he could have told her that.

Hearing his tone, Sanda reminds him that he knew he would be receiving tests when he returned from Kurboros, spending years in alien environments made them even more vital; the Garrison is not willing to risk the lives of others by not following protocol. Her point defuses Sam and he relents, understanding the reasoning.

He tells her he has vital information that he needs to share. Sanda says that the Garrison Leadership want to hear all he has to say, and they can now schedule a debriefing for him. Sam says that while she does that, he needs to see his wife, Colleen.

His request granted, for the first time in years, the husband and wife reunite. Colleen asks what happened, explaining that she thought he was dead. Sam tells her that he, Matt, and Shiro were abducted by a hostel alien race when on the Kerberos mission.

Colleen asks if Matt is with him, but Sam lets her know that he is still in space with Pidge. He explains to both her and Sanda that he was given a transmitter that will allow them to contact Pidge and Matt. Sanda says before they can contact anyone, the Garrison needs to hear his story, and that any messages sent will have to be done carefully and cautiously for Earth's safety.

Colleen is upset at that, wanting to talk to her children now, but Sam understands and agrees to give his debriefing.

With the Garrison leadership gathered together, Sam begins explaining everything that happened from when the Kerberos crew was first captured, up to his recent return home. The Leadership has a hard time accepting everything, but Sam shows them all the proof and information they need to finally believe.

As they discuss how to handle this, Sam says that Earth needs to begin building their defenses, as war is coming. He then says he believes they should reveal the existence of the Galra and their war on the universe to the world. Sanda and the Leadership immediately dismiss that idea, as that could cause a global panic, inciting an unfathomable amount of damage to people and society in general.

Sam argues that the Galra will come to Earth, and the world needs to prepare. However, Sanda says that they don't have enough information on the current state of the war, nor have had any time to take in what little information he just shared to justify the potential mass panic, destruction, and loss of life that could ensue from jumping the gun.

Sam says that if he can contact his children and the Paladins, he could start getting the answers they need. Sanda agrees to that, and Sam attempts to send out a call using the transmitter. However, neither Pidge nor Matt answers.

Sanda says they will have someone continuously monitoring and sending out messages in order to make contact, but in the meantime, they will hold off on revealing anything to the world.

Sam says even so, they need to star other preparations, and Iverson says that they already have.

The Garrison Leaders take Sam and Colleen to the development hangers. Iverson explains how they have been working for over a year on reverse engineering the Galran ship Shiro brought to Earth, and have now begun studying the Altean ship Sam brought. He tells him that while they have been able to power up parts of the ships, they have been unable to make either fly. Sam says it might have something to do with the crystals that power the ship, and says he will help them look into it.

Sanda continue son, explaining how they have created simulators based on the controls of these ships in order to figure out how to integrate the tech into their own. They have also begun to train pilots on how to fly them.

Sam is then introduced to four of the best recently graduated Garrison cadets, Ina Leifsdottir, James Griffin, Nadia Rizavi, and Ryan Kinkade. Out of all that have been training, these four have been able to adapt and learn how to operate the systems the best.

Sam is glad to hear this, but says they need to get them out of the simulators, and flying the real thing. Rizavi says that the ships aren't able to fly, but Sam says they won't be flying the ships he and Shiro brought, leaving the young officers confused.

Sam further explains to the Leadership all the things the Galra forced him to build, and later what he learned from the Olkari on integrating technologies. He says they can use this information, as well as the Altean schematics given to him by Allura and Coran to build all that they need.

Following his instructions, the Garrison begins working on upgrading the base's defenses and weapons, while designing and building fighter aircraft.

As soon as the new ships are built, Griffin, Rizavi, Leifsdottir, and Kinkade begin testing the newly dubbed "Mecha-Flex-Exo Ares fighters," or "MFE's" for short. While there is a bit of a learning curve, the four adapt well to the Alien-Earth tech. Amongst them, Griffin quickly stands out as the one to lead the group.

As that happens, the Garrison also begin working on a warship/mobile command center that they hope will be enough to defend the Earth until help arrives.

After a year of research, discovery, and creation, the Garrison has a much better grip on the technological advances that were brought to them.

The four young officers stand as a shining examples of how well humans will be able to adapt to all the new technology, as they have completely adapted to their fighters, confident in their understanding of the ships and are eager to learn more.

Sam and Iverson watch on in pride as the four work together, adapting to each other's movements and following Griffin's lead. As they talk about how far things have come so quickly, Sam is called for by the communications officer.

Arriving to the Communications Room, Sam finds Sanda and Colleen are already there. Colleen says that Matt has finally responded, and Sam rushes to talk to his son. He asks Matt if he's alright, as they've been unable to contact him and Voltron. Matt reveals that no one has seen, or heard from Voltron or Lotor in six months.

Sam asks what happened, and Matt says they don't know for sure. There were rumors that Voltron and Lotor fought, but nothing was confirmed. However, since their disappearance, the Empire that was being built under Lotor's rule fractured and there is no longer one single leader for the Galra. Different Galran Warlords have been conquering as much as they can, while also hunting down and destroying anyone apart of, or connected to the Voltron coalition, Rebels, and Blade of Marmora.

Matt begs them to stop sending out messages, as they are going to end up attracting the wrong attention to Earth. He says the Rebels will do all they can to send some aid as soon as possible, but they have their hands tied at the moment.

Matt has to end the conversation, but before he does he warns them to do whatever they can to prepare for war, because the Galra will come.

With this information, Sam and Colleen once again speak to Sanda and the Leadership about informing the world what's going on. The Holts argue that this is not something that just their country alone can decide; the entire Earth needs to be involved.

Sanda believes the Holts are allowing their emotions overrule logic. With Sam having shared the Paladin's stories, she knows that they've willingly put their personal feelings aside for the good of the universe; she feels Sam and Colleen have been putting their own desire of getting in the fight in order to be with their children above everything else, and they aren't taking into consideration the impact this could have on the world if people don't unite.

Sam says it's true that they want to be with their children more than anything, but they do honestly believe that the only way Earth has a chance, is if humanity works together. He points out that for 10,000 years there have been small resistances fighting the Galra; from the Blade, to the Rebels, and other groups. However, it wasn't until the Paladins came and united these forces that any real difference was made.

He says he believes the Garrison can follow in the Paladin's footsteps and help the people of Earth come together as one force to fight back against whatever might come against them.

Sanda and the Leadership consider his words and say that while they can't overstep the authority of other countries and tell the entire world, they will start informing the leadership of the other countries. That way each nation can speak to their people in their own way, ensuring the safety of their citizens without mass hysteria hurting the innocent.

Sam, Colleen, and Sanda shake on it, and the Garrison begins spreading what they know with the other nations. Each country begins sharing with their citizens, and while there is panic at first, Sam and Colleen make a video telling the Paladin's stories that is shown to the world. Hearing about the Paladins, what they've been through, and how they have been out there fighting for Humanity and the universe, begins bringing the world together.

The Paladins fought for Earth all this time, now Earth will fight for them.

As Earth unites and the Garrison's final defenses are brought online, Sendak's forces, The Fire of Purification, arrive and begin their invasion.

Notes:

Hopefully this and the next story will come off alright. I kind of struggled through them, cause even through they're important to the overall story, they're hard ones to really be engaged in.

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So, I'm not expecting to change people's minds on Sanda's character, because she was terribly written in the show. I'm just hoping I can make her a bit more tolerable. I honestly hate what the Creators did with the her character. I get what they were going for, making her being the big, bad, Government bureaucrat whose only purpose is there to serve as a non-threatening antagonist for our heroes, but I am just so sick of seeing this type of unoriginal, clichéd character. Because aside from lazy and boring, it's just insulting.

I've known a number of military types in my life, and while none were as high of a rank as she was implied to be, they were all great and upstanding people who wanted to do good for this world and protect the innocent. I know bad people exist, and bad people in high places definitely exist, but they are not the majority.

I think it would have been far more refreshing and interesting to see Sanda depicted in a more balanced light. You could still have her and Sam argue over how to go about things, but make any conflict stem from having to approach situations from a different point of view due to their positions and responsibilities. Not because she's a brain dead, traitorous, moron who thinks handing everything over to the bloodthirsty conqueror will work out in their favor…but I digress.

Really, when watching this episode, I was agreeing with a lot of Sanda's arguments. She's framed in a way that pushes the audience to be against her and on the Holts side, but really, some of her points and concerns were right.

Truthfully, I found Sam and Colleen's actions to be wrong. They came off as if their motivation was really about wanting to be with their kids, Earth be damned. The way they overstepped everyone and selfishly revealed everything to the world was so, so stupid. It's only because the story wanted them to be right that nothing horrible, like mass hysteria, riots, a collapse of society, or deaths, came from their actions.

And actually, giving them flaws when it comes to their feelings for their kids isn't a bad idea, as that could have been used as character development, but of course that didn't happen. The Holts did whatever they wanted and nothing bad came from it, so clearly they were in the right. Because that's how life works.

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For the whole 'Earth immediately coming together after hearing about an imminent alien invasion' element of the episode, I get the creators have implied there's some sort of Star Trek-esk utopian future, where world is already a united force. But from what little we were shown of humanity, I didn't get that feeling at all. So, having everything perfectly come together seemed to only happen to push the story along quickly, and not have any fallout from Sam and Colleen's actions.

My thought is, rather than having Humanity already be perfectly united, have this be the catalyst for that to happen. Have the Paladin's selflessness and devotion to their world, and the universe inspire the people of Earth to do better and come together as one force.

Thanks for reading, have a great day!