Thace looked over the monitors as he watched the paladins take on the ships. He tried to ignore the small pang of worry in the back of his mind as he focussed on the controls.
"All systems go here," Ford said as the engine started.
"Same here," Daien said from his seat and winced at the screen. "Think the paladins will be okay?"
"They've been in larger battles than this, they'll be fine" Thace stated in a firm tone to reassure the boy..and himself.
"Leah's ship will be taking off any minute," Ford said as he took the passenger seat next to Thace. "We got to be ready to-"
"No! No!" Maya cried as she jumped from her seat. "This is bad!"
"What's wrong?" Thace asked as he turned around.
"We got droid sentries in our tunnel," Maya spat.
"What?!" Ford exclaimed as Thace zoomed over and hovered over the girl's head.
He curse as he saw the image of over a dozen soldiers marching in the tunnel straight towards them. "Porok must have found one of the tunnels and decided to send some ground troops!"
"And they're marching straight towards us," Maya said as she slammed the control panel.
Ford growled as Daien inched closer. "But that's not bad, right?" he said and looked to Ford. "You we have a cannon on this ship."
"A single cannon," Ford exclaimed as he raised his arms. "Meant to distract a ship long enough for us to escape. It's not meant to take out a whole squad!"
"What if we just ram them?" Maya suggested. "We would probably get damaged, but we should still be able enough to fly."
"We have no way of knowing what they have set up at the end of the tunnel," Thace said with a wince. "They could have a ship waiting for us and we fly straight into their trap."
"Not to mention, even if we got through, the ships flying behind us wouldn't get the same chance," Daien muttered.
Ford yanked as his ears before stomping to the control panel. "We'll have to back up, tell the other ships to do the same and take another tunnel out."
Maya's eyes widened in alarm. "But if we don't stop the sentries here, they'll reach the hangar before everyone else gets out."
"Hate to add to bad news," Daien said as he tapped the monitor, "but looks like they got a tank with them." He groaned. "We're so dead."
Thace calmed the boy by patting his shoulder. "No, we're not…at least you're not."
Ford glared as he spun around in the chair. "I know that look, and I hate that look. What are you plotting?"
Thace picked up Keith's dagger and a tablet as he turned to him. "Stig is flying in just a personal transport ship, correct? Made for one person?"
"Yes," Ford said with a growl.
"Then he and I are switching and he'll fly with you," Thace said as he typed into the tablet and held up the map. "I'm going to use his transport ship and take one of the smaller shortcut tunnels outside."
"What good will that do?" Maya asked. "You can't take out all those sentries."
"No, but if I have bombs place in the right positions it will collapse the tunnel and take them out," Thace explained as he headed to the door and pressed the button. "By the time they dig themselves out, everyone else should be gone."
"And how exactly do you plan to get out of here once that's done?" Ford said as he crossed his arms.
"I'll use the transport ship and follow you," Thace confirmed.
"But what if the other sentries catch you while you're planting the bombs?!" Daien exclaimed.
"Simple, I don't get caught," Thace stated in a firm tone.
"This is a risky plan," Ford stated. "We-"
"It's the only one we have and we don't have time to argue," Thace said as he ventured out of the ship.
Ford sighed and swiftly tossed him a comlink from his pouch. "At least stay in contact so I know you're not dead."
Thace caught it as the door closed behind him and he hit the ground running. He had to hurry or everything would be for nothing.
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Lance and the Blue Lion ducked ducked as two ships shot at him. "Could use a little back up here!" he called in the helmet.
"Got you covered!" Pidge cried as her Lion suddenly appeared and headbutted into them. The ships collided into each other, which gave Lance the perfect chance to have Blue shoot.
"Yes! Two more down!" Lance cheered and winced as he saw the other ships. "And only a dozen more to go…how are the rebels doings?"
"They just started to evacuate," Shiro called. "Keep it up guys!"
Lance took a breathe to calm his nerves. Right, stay focus, he thought as he drove Blue to where the Red Lion was taking down a ship. We can't slip up here-
"Problem! I'm tied up with three ships and one of them slipped passed me!" Hunk yelled. "They're heading towards Leah's ship!"
Lance froze. Leah's ship. The one the kids were on?!
Blue growled in his mind at the same moment his hands gripped on the control panel.
"Keith, you're the fastest, can you reach it?!" Shiro exclaimed.
"Arrg! Bit tied up right now," Keith exclaimed as Red did a somersault away from four ships firing at him.
Lance swallowed, the echo of the promise he made to Xenia ringing in his mind.
Shiro's cursed over the headset. "Alright, I'll try-"
"I GOT THIS!" Lance exclaimed as he did a u-turn and had Blue fly at top speed.
"Lance, wait! Shiro cried, but Lance blocked him out.
He spotted the warship and with Blue reading his mind instantly locked onto it. Leah's ship was almost out of the stratosphere, but the warship was catching up fast.
"Almost," Lance muttered as Blue flew closer to it. He couldn't mess up here. Had to make it count. "Almost."
The warship looked ready to take a shot as it's canons warmed up.
"NOW!" Lance slammed on the button and Blue shot out her freeze laser.
The warship staggered as it was hit and ice instantly covered it, but it wasn't enough. Blue's sensors indicated the canons were going to fire again. Lance drive Blue straight at it and she gave a loud roar as she cut through the ship effortlessly.
Lance had never be more relieved to see a ship explode. He panted and checked the screen. He nearly panic when he didn't see Leah's ship, until Blue's radar showed the ship was now off the planet. The kids were safe. They were out of danger.
"Got em," Lance told him as he took in a gulp of air. "I got them."
"Good job, Lance," Shiro stated with an amused chuckle.
"Whoa," Keith said over the headset. "Didn't know you had it in you."
"I did," Hunk commented. "I once saw Lance chase off a dog that scared his little sister."
Lance gave a smirk as he drove Blue back around. "What can I say? I'm a natural big brother."
"Well, you're going to have to do it again because two more are headed your way," Pidge stated.
Lance turned Blue around and groaned. There were indeed two more ships making a straight beeline for him.
"Terrific," Lance said as he began to charge at them. "Could use some help on this end-"
A cannon shot fired and hit the two ships. Lance shield his eyes and blinked as he watched the smoking ships fall.
"What the?" he muttered.
"CORAN ATTACK!" Coran's voice cheered in the comlink. "I will never get tired of that!"
Lance looked at Blue's monitor and a smile grew. The Castle of Lions hovering over the planet and rapidly firing at the ships.
"Sorry we're late, Paladins," Allura shouted over the headset. "What's the situation?"
"The evacuation just began," Shiro stated. "We're trying to provide cover and distract the Galra."
"So we're having a ton of fun as you can imagine," Lance stated. "And had you been here a few minutes ago, you would have seen me being awesome, Princess! I-"
"Tell her later," Keith shouted. "Shoot now!"
Lance gave a pout, but it vanished as he flew back into the fight. The kids got away safely, now they just had to make certain everyone else did. There was no way that could go wrong! Easy as pie.
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Thace had not ran so fast since he fled Zarkon's center of commander after freeing Voltron. He could barely think as he seized the bombs, fly in the small side tunnel to the outside and then plant the bombs near the tunnel's entrance.
Much to his annoyance sentries had been stationed right outside the tunnel. By some miracle, he managed to sneak past them and ventured inside. Thace would have liked to put more thought into where exactly he planted the bombs, but he was pressed for time as is.
After burying the last bomb in the dirt, he took a deep breath as he placed the remote to set the bombs up his sleeve. "There, that should do it," he muttered. "As long as nothing else-"
"INTRUDER DETECTED. IDENTIFY YOURSELF OR PREPARED TO BE ARRESTED."
Thace cursed silently as he slowly turned around to greet a pair of sentry droids each pointing a gun at him.
Just my luck, he thought as he straightened his posture and placed his hands behind his back.
"You don't recognize me?" he spat in his commanding tone. "I was assigned by Commander Prorok to inspect the stability of this tunnel."
His hands gripped around the hilt of Keith's dagger.
"ORDER NOT RECOGNIZED," the droids said in unison. "GIVE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER OR PREPARE TO BE SHOT."
"Yes, yes, of course," Thace said as he stepped forward as he pulled out the dagger from its' hilt. "I have it in my pocket…Here it it!"
Thace sprang forward and stabbed one of the droids in the chest and then ducked as the other droid shot at him. As predicted, the shot hit the damaged droid in the head. With it out of commission, Thace zoomed in on the other one.
He knocked the gun out of the droids hands and stabbed it in the head with the dagger. Thace took off before he even saw the droid fall to the ground. He could hear more troops coming his way.
They appeared and were prepared to shoot. Thace hit the button on the remote. Explosions rattled the cave and then a rumble was heard as the ceiling began to collapse. The droids looked around in confusion at the falling debris, but one still tried to shoot. Thace ducked and rolled out of the cave, mere seconds before the entrance collapse on itself and the droids.
Thace slammed against a rock and hissed in pain as he came to a stop. "I'll be feeling that later," he grumbled as he staggered to stand.
"Thace, you alive?" Ford's voice came over the comlink.
Thace sighed as he picked it up. "I'm alive..sore, but alive." He began to walk away from the cave. "I'm going to get into my ship and-"
A laser blast struck him. Thace toppled over, dropping the comlink. He struggled to stand up as he gripped the burns on his sides. He hissed in pain as he turned around and spotted five droids with blasters aiming directly at him.
Thace glared as he rose. "I'm amazed you all aren't shooting at me this instant."
"I told them not to," a familiar voice spoke. Thace froze as Prorok emerged from behind the droids. With his hands tucked behind his back, the commander held a large smirk. "I wanted to save the pleasure for myself."
Thace opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off as Ford's voice broke over the comlink.
"Thace? What's going on?" he spoke. "Quiznak! Answer me-"
Thace stomped on it, smashing it to pieces. I can't risk Prorok finding the others, he thought grimly.
"Now who was that?" Prorok asked as he stepped forward.
"None of your concern," Thace said as he reached for his dagger and tried to ignore the pain of his burn.
Prorok's eyes narrowed as anger washed over his face. "I beg to differ," he snarled as he approached. "You were my second in command, the one I could rely on the most." His hand tightened. "Do you have any idea how humiliating it was to discover there was a traitor right under my nose?!"
"I have a rough idea," Thace muttered under his breath.
The Galran commander's eyes hardened as he started to circle Thace like a predator waiting to attack. Thace knew there was no point in running. The droids were still pointing their guns at him. He'd been struck down if he even attempted to take a step back.
"I'll admit," Thace stated as he held out his dagger, "I'm amazed to see you on the ground during an attack instead of your ship."
"If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself," Prorok spat. "The only way I can redeem myself to Zarkon if I managed to capture the ones who have been targeting our weapon factories lately."
He gave a small bitter laugh. "When one of my subordinates discovered the cloaked ship in the recording, I had the signals traced hoping it would lead me to you."
He gestured to where the paladins were fighting. "Load and behold, not only do I find you, but I stumbled upon Voltron." A cruel smile appeared over his lips. "Now, all I need is to discover who you are working for."
"I work for no one, but myself," Thace said as tried to take a step back.
"Those ships the paladins are trying to protect suggest otherwise, but no matter, they're not my concern at the moment," Prorok said as he brought out his own dagger. "Whatever secrets you have, I'm certain Lord Zarkon will yank out of your mouth himself…that is if the witch doesn't beat him to it."
Thace tensed at that. He had only briefly seen the kind of torture Haggar would engulf upon victims and that was for 'experimentation'. He didn't wish to find out what kind she would have in store for him.
"So, what's your plan then?" Thace asked. "Have your droids shoot me?"
The droids blasters clicked ready to shoot, but Prorok raised his arm. "No, he is mine!"
The droids paused and each of them lowered their blasters.
"I need to restore my pride," Prorok said as he turned to Thace. "Only way to achieve that is to defeat you by my own hands and carry what's left of you to answer for your crime."
Thace grimaced as he glanced to this wound. Prorok was a strong warrior and not one to be trifled with. He and Thace had spared in the past, usually with the two of them being on tie, but those were merely for training. Prorok was playing for keeps and Thace's injury gave him a great advantage.
He no doubt planned for that, Thace thought grimly. Typical Prorok.
"Unless," Prorok said with a hard frown as he lowered his dagger. "You give yourself up to me."
Thace faltered slightly. "What?"
"Traitor or not, you worked with me for countless cycles," he said, "out of respect for that, I'll give you this offer only once." He pointed at him. "Tell me who is it you work for and I'll ask Lord Zarkon to grant you a pardon."
Thace scoffed at that. He was almost touched by the useless offer. "We both know Zarkon is not that forgiving."
"Perhaps," Prorok said with a sneer. "But it's your only chance at survival."
"I rather die," Thace spat with a growl. I've given up far too much to let it all fall here.
He thought of Keith and a precious person he had been forced to leave behind long ago. His grip tightened on his dagger. I refuse to loose anything else. I won't let it be in vain.
Prorok sighed and shook his head like a disappointed teacher. "Then, I'll take you to Lord Zarkon." He raised his dagger. "After I teach you a lesson in humiliation!"
Prorok charged and Thace braced himself to block. This was not going to be an easy fight to win.