Off with the Green Lion and Sage Serpent, Pidge casually exited her Lion after the two crafts were safely in the cargo ship. The Serpent got itself situated around the Lion quite nicely, curled up next to its front paws. When Acxa came out of Sage, she noticed the Green Paladin carrying an odd-looking case. She watched as Pidge opened the case to reveal a computer, sitting on the Lion's paw like she did it every day with her helmet beside her.

While Acxa was tempted to go see what the Paladin was doing, she attempted to resist the urge. However, curiosity won her over, along with recalling what Ayiko said about the small human's intellect and talent with technology. She cautiously walked over to Pidge, cradling her helmet under her arm. Upon getting a closer look at the human's technology, she noticed it seemed like a cross between two different types of technology.

"Did you create that yourself?" Acxa asked, the usual hostility in her voice traded for curiosity.

Pidge looked up at the general that was eyeing her computer. "Sort of. Back on our home-planet, it was just a normal laptop computer. Ever since we became Paladins, I've made a few tweaks so it can be used with Galra and Altean technology. Managed to give Green a few upgrades during our adventures, too."

"Impressive," she mused, going up to sit on Sage's tail near the Green Paladin. "I've always been more of a tactician in the field myself. I never had many physical skills that could help me in battle besides my handheld blaster, so I adapted to using it for various types of combat. Even had to hack a few systems to make sure that our missions were successful."

Pidge's eyes widened with a new light. "Really? I guess that makes two of us on... quite a few levels."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, neither of us are exactly strong in the physical department, so we have to use special tactics to get things done. We're both best with technology and use agility and speed in a fight instead of brute force. And I've hacked into a few Galra systems myself to help out the other Paladins."

On that note, it didn't take long for Acxa to see she stumbled upon quite a bit of common ground. "Ayiko told me that we were quite similar. Back on Olkarion while we were waiting for you to arrive."

Pidge hummed, typing away at the computer when an error message appeared on the screen. "Oh, come on! I've been trying to sync our Galra tracker with Lotor's map for a week at this point and the same error message keeps popping up every time I try to run the program. It's driving me crazy!"

Acxa peered over the smaller pilot's shoulder, looking over the program. "Ah, there's your problem. You made a small mistake with your calculations."

"What... Oh, there it is," Pidge tapped her own head with the heel of her palm. "Can't believe I didn't see that before. Let's try that one more time." She did her math over until everything was correct before running the program. Sure enough, the program went through successfully, and the maps were successfully synchronized. "Yes! Finally!" Pidge cheered. "Thanks... You're Acxa, right?"

"Yes," the blue-skinned general nodded. "And Keith's half-sister as well, apparently."

Pidge grinned up at her. "Never thought Keith would have a sister like you. We should do stuff like this more often." She held out her hand to the taller general. "What do you say?"

A small, genuine smile grew on Acxa's face as she shook the Paladin's hand. "Definitely."

"UGH!" Ezor groaned as she fell back in the open jaw of her Serpent - which was coiled up with its head beside that of the neighboring Lion. "This is so boring!"

"I'll say," sighed Lance, huddled in the Red Lion's mouth. "Say, aren't you normally up at some sort of station or something?"

Ezor snorted. "That was before we were allied with you and your friends. If there were any sentries here, I'd be doing target practice until either we got to the Main Base, or I fell asleep at my own game!"

"If there's a training deck at the Main Base, I'll probably do a bit of target practice of my own," Lance admitted. "I know how good you are with your throwing knives anyway. Remember when I managed to get one of them when you tried getting Keith?"

The pink-skinned Warrior looked over at the Red Lion. "How could I not? You're one of the first who could. I was also impressed that you found enough of an opening to block one of Acxa's shots, too. Not many people have those kinds of reflexes."

Lance smirked with confidence. "Point taken... By the way, did you ever notice how Lotor and Ayiko act around each other?"

Ezor burst out laughing, sitting up in Scarlet's mouth. "What do you think? I know for a fact that those two like each other. Have either of them confessed yet?"

The blue-armored Paladin deadpanned. "Take a wild guess."

Ezor made a sour look and fell back again. "Figures. Those two should just come out and say it already! I've talked to both of them about it a bunch of times when Ayiko was with us on Lotor's cruiser. So far neither of them have even begun to follow my advice to say it first chance they get."

Lance laughed. "Pidge and I have been talking to them about it, too. She even told me how she and Matt got Lotor and Ayiko to sing a duet; and they nailed it. Krolia and Allura also threw in something about him helping her with a nightmare; said neither of them left the room she was staying in until morning."

Ezor whistled. "They've actually made some steps in the right direction while we were gone. Wait. Did you say your friends got Lotor to sing? I thought Ayiko was the only one in the crew who could do that!"

The Red Paladin grinned and took out the orange handheld device that was his phone. "Apparently you are mistaken. They even got the whole thing on camera, though I never got the chance to see it. Come on over; we can check it out together."

"Great!" Ezor jumped up at the invitation and went over to the Red Lion, plopping down next to Lance. She looked over his shoulder as he played the video. The way the Galra hybrids in the video sang and danced on the stage amazed them both. Ezor even caught herself swaying to the music by the time the video ended.

"Whoa," Lance breathed once the video was over. "I never thought those two could even sing to Earth music; let alone pull off a duet like that."

"I didn't think Lotor could do anything musical, period," Ezor added. "The most I heard was Ayiko singing her little Mieran lullaby. That was normally after a hard battle where everyone got hurt to some extent, or while she was filling in when one of the others couldn't do their normal job for some reason. She said she could do them all because Miero soldiers are trained for any sort of position, not just what they excel at. And that it made things easy in case a member of the crew is incapacitated or something."

"Kinda the opposite of what I and the other Paladins dealt with on our home-planet," Lance shrugged. "If we're going to bring these two star-crossed lovebirds together for real, it'll have to be a team effort. Hopefully it'll be easy since they've both dropped hints with each other. I'll even invite Pidge when we get to the Main Base. You in?" He held out a hand in invitation.

Ezor grinned and clasped the Red Paladin's hand. "You bet."

Zethrid sat with her arms crossed in Citrine's cockpit, tapping with her finger. Her helmet was off and on her dashboard as she let out a frustrated sigh. "This is taking way longer than it should. Usually the ships would go hyper-speed back to the Main Base."

"I doubt they could pull it off with all of us," Hunk spoke up on the side-screen. "Between the combined weight of the Lions and Serpents and the combustion it takes for these ships to go hyper-speed, hmm... Yeah, it'd be a red-letter quintant if even the lead ship got back in one piece."

Zethrid huffed. "Isn't that just quiznaking great. I'm sure Ayiko is having a blast with the only worthy opponent I've ever faced, if she and Lotor aren't giving each other weird eyes over the side-screens."

"Wait, you're saying Lotor likes Ayiko?" Hunk asked.

"If that explains how Ayiko somehow got closer to Lotor within a deca-phoeb than the rest of us in our entire time with him, then yes. Neither of them even have actual light in their eyes like the rest of us. And the way they both act around each other..."

"It does explain it. But what do you mean by 'no actual light in their eyes'? Ayiko's eyes glow, for Pete's sake."

"That isn't what I meant, Yellow. The rest of us and all of you have an actual shine in your eyes; my people say it shows we have real life. Neither Ayiko nor Lotor have that. Their eyes are dull, and the only times I've even thought I've seen them actually shine is when they look at each other."

"So yeah, that basically means they do like each other. I think Pidge, Matt, and Lance have been trying to get them to realize their feelings. You think they'll actually get together?"

Zethrid shrugged. "Given how Ezor will probably join your friends, I say they will sooner or later."

As soon as the Cyan Serpent and Blue Lion were brought in, the Cyan Serpent curled up by the Lion's side. Ayiko took off her helmet with her tendrils, laying it aside as she went up the hatch in the cockpit, sitting down on the head of her Serpent.

"Your Serpents are quite impressive creatures," she heard Allura as she joined the Miero hybrid. "I wonder if your superiors wanted you to pilot the Cyan Serpent after you discovered your connection to it."

Ayiko gave a chuckle void of humor. "That would never happen with them, Allura. We all know well enough they'd rather kill me then allow me to pilot Cyan. It's the same for all the other Warriors, just because we're not fully one species. They hate Lotor. They hate Ezor. They hate Acxa, Zethrid, and Narti. But most of all, as part of my blood is part of their race, they hate me. I'm more than happy to leave Mierome behind, until every pureblood Miero is ready to accept hybrids as something besides enemies of the planet."

Allura frowned. "I see. You and the other Warriors have been through far more pain than any of you deserve... Still, the sentience of the Serpents - particularly without Altean alchemy - amazes me. How are they even that way?"

"We never figured out why that was. Most of us believed it had something to do with the energy from the comet they were built from. I confess, I've had a few curiosities concerning the Lions. I knew enough from the Druids that Zarkon once piloted the Black Lion. But what about the other original Paladins? What were they like?"

Allura smiled in nostalgia. "Well, the original Blue Paladin was Blaytz: a kind man who was very flirtatious and rather infuriating at times, but could calm even the most troubled souls. The Yellow Paladin was Gyrgan: a 'big brother' among the others who never turned down food unless he was distraught. The Green Paladin was Trigel: always so brave and protective of her teammates despite how much smaller she was compared to the others. And finally, the Red Paladin was my father, King Alfor: so reckless in combat, but so warm-hearted and loyal at the same time."

"They sound quite similar to the current Paladins," Ayiko mused, "along with the generals and me, to an extent. Ezor's playful and humorous by nature, and could easily get through to even the most closed-off hybrids. Zethrid is seen as a protective big sister to us, despite how she tries to hide it. Acxa never lets her size and lack of a special feature degrade her in battle. I've always tended to become aggressive or reckless, but that was mostly out of fear."

"Lotor told me of your fear-aggressive tendencies. I've wondered what the generals were like after we battled them at a Galra base. The one called Zethrid even considered me the first worthy opponent she faced in a while."

Ayiko chuckled. "She was actually talking about me like she respected me, then. I'm surprised she didn't actually say my name."

Allura's eyes grew curious. "She was talking about you? How so?"

"It was back when I was on Lotor's cruiser. I was in the training deck trying to perfect a few distance techniques with my tendrils when Zehrid decided to challenge me in hand-to-hand. Before then, she always called me the strangest names that I'm sure were directed at how I walked. Unfortunately, she didn't consider that a Miero can land quite an axe kick. I ended up winning the match because of that, combined with my tendrils."

Allura laughed. "I'm sure that was the last time she called you names. I'm almost curious about what she called you before you showed your power to her."

"If your curiosity wins you over, ask her yourself next time you see her," Ayiko replied as they both smiled at each other.

Out of all the Serpents we could've had the Black Lion bunked with, why did it have to be the cobra? Keith scolded himself when he realized the situation he and Krolia were in. They were stuck, alone, in a cargo ship with the terrifyingly long Cerise Serpent. And Lotor.

"I can't say I blame you if you're nervous about the situation, but I assure you no harm will come to you." Speak of the devil. "Come out, so we can talk."

"Not like we have much else to do here," Krolia commented. "Just to be safe, we'll keep our knives on us."

Keith nodded gratefully as the two left the Black Lion. They saw Lotor talking to one of the crew members, his helmet cradled under his arm. They looked at each other and shrugged, sitting on the Black Lion's paw to wait.

"Emperor, may I ask if these new ships are of Altean origin like the Lions?" the soldier asked.

"They are Mieran, actually," Lotor replied. "Quite admirable spacecrafts, I must say. Now then, report back to Torokan, and have him tell us when we reach the Main Base."

"Vrepit Sa," the soldier saluted and hurried off. Once out of earshot, Lotor walked to the mother/son duo, his stately expression shifting to a more casual one.

"I'm impressed that you can handle ruling the Empire so well," Krolia mused. "You'd think that hardly anyone would be willing to work with you."

"I'm glad you've noticed," Lotor replied. "I've come to believe that loyalty and friendship are far more effective for leadership than fear and oppression. I'm sure you heard of my plan to join with the Blade of Marmora?"

"Yes," Keith nodded. "Uh, Acxa told me that Ayiko knew about it. But why would you want to ally with a bunch of traitors to your empire?"

Lotor sighed. "They were traitors to my father's empire. But I've come to know that many of the empire soldiers have family members and relatives in the Blade of Marmora. Both that and adopting your comrades into my ranks will prove a helpful benefit to both side. If we're going to defeat the witch and her Druids, we will need help from any alliances we can attain."

"Let's hope Kolivan is willing to be on the same page," Krolia remarked. "He doesn't allow members of the Galra Empire to come too close to the main base, especially the newly-crowned emperor himself."

Lotor chuckled. "I've come to expect and take in stride such feedback from those who don't realize I'm no longer an enemy. When the time comes, I assure you I will be ready to calm any concerns your fellow Blades may have of joining the empire."

"As long as you don't turn and stab us in the back, we'll get along without a hitch," Keith replied.

"Emperor's honor," the Altean Galra promised. "Now I've come to hear about a Druid project called Operation Kuron. Assuming the stages of this project, I'd say the first stage was to find a Champion in the arena. Then, they would use their DNA to form clones. At the right moment, they would allow the most successful clone to escape and reach Team Voltron. Using the clone, the witch could spy on us through its eyes and attempt to tear the Paladins apart from within. If that were to fail, it would lure all the Paladins away and bring all available information concerning Altea to the Druids."

"We might as well call that clone after the operation it was made for," Keith suggested. "I'll save the name 'Shiro' for the real one, thanks."

The Galra emperor smiled in amusement. "Naturally. However, it isn't just 'Kuron' that will be a problem, but also Sendak. I hear you had to fight him as the Red Paladin, halfling. However, his robotic limb has been upgraded from being among the Druids, if his appearance at the Kral Zera was any indication. I fear he will soon become something you have dubbed a 'Robeast,' like my father and several other creatures you had to face."

"Lovely," Krolia cringed. "I hope we're going to talk about this more with everyone else at the Main Base."

"Indeed we shall," Lotor agreed.

"Emperor Lotor, we are approaching the Central Command System now," the voice from before reported over the speakers. "We are preparing the fleet to dock. All pilots of the collected ships are to return to their respective ships to transfer to the battleship hangar."

"What timing," Lotor mused before beginning to go into Cerise. "You should go into the Black Lion. The battleship hangar was originally built to store the Lions, but there will be plenty of space to keep the Serpents there as well."

"Fine by us," Krolia replied as she and Keith went back into the Black Lion.