Another idea to tide you over
Author's note: Sorry that the next chapter is taking so long, but the words just aren't flowing as much as they usually do, hopefully I'll get past this writer's block soon. Anyway, to tide you over until the next chapter can be completed, another idea I had that hopefully someone will pick up and make their own.
I got the idea from a review on the Homeworld games I saw, the concept behind the character of Karan S'jet stuck with me and inspired this story as well as the Voltron Cryopod AU.
In an attack against the Galra, finally taking out Zarkon, Lotor and Haggar for good, but in the process Voltron is heavily damaged and torn apart, and then the castle ship and every Lion except for the Red Lion are attacked one last time by one of Haggar's creations before it dies, once again corrupting the wormhole as the castle ship attempts to escape and leaving the affected Lions damaged beyond repair. The broken Lions are taken to a planet owned by allies of the Blade of Mamora, but when Lance checks inside them he finds all of his fellow Paladins gone, not even any bodies.
The leaders of the Galra may be gone, but the Galra themselves are still around, and the power vacuum caused by the absence of their leaders still poses a threat to the universe, Voltron is still needed. But there's a problem, even if new Paladins could be chosen, the Lions themselves are too badly damaged to repair to how they originally were, especially without the knowledge of how exactly they were built, and Lance can feel his connection to the Lions getting weaker, suggesting that they are dying because of the damage done to them, Red is also this way despite not being as damaged. The leader of the allied planet then reveals that her kind has a strong grasp of quintessence and could take the remains of the Lions to construct new ones, saving the Lions and giving the universe back its greatest defender, but warns that it'll come at a great cost, especially to Lance since he will be an integral part in the reconstruction as the last remaining Paladin and person with a connection to the lions. Still dealing with the grief of losing his friends and potentially losing his bond to the Lions, and wanting to end the war with the Galra to honour them, Lance agrees to whatever needs to be done to bring back Voltron. Using the old Lions, some new tech, the capabilities of the allies and Lance, Voltron is brought back to defend the universe.
(Backstory on the allies who are reconstructing Voltron: They are not a single species themselves, but a mixture of different species from across the universe who were chosen to ascend and become them, gaining unique abilities and control of quintessence, like Druids but not evil. When Zarkon turned evil, they were quickly targeted as a threat to the empire, many being killed or corrupted to become Haggar's Druids, but a few managed to escape and remain in hiding, eventually establishing themselves on a planet in secret that's to the Blade of Mamora.)
…
Many years later, a wormhole opens up and the castle ship flies out of it, on board are all Allura, Coran and the Paladins sans Lance, all of them still the same age as when they disappeared. From their point of view, it hasn't even been an hour since the last battle with the Galra, the Paladins somehow ending up on the ship after the blast from the dying Robeast, stuck in the corrupted wormhole until they managed to escape. From reports of Voltron saving a planet, the castle ship eventually tracks down Voltron, the Paladins confused as to why new Paladins were chosen so quickly. The Paladins and Alteans make contact with the Blade of Mamora who are surprised to see them and inform them that they have been missing for years.
The castle ship lands on the allied planet where the Lions of Voltron are kept when not used and meet with the leader of the allies who fills them in on all they've missed, including that Voltron had to be reconstructed and that Lance still remains to sole Paladin of the new Voltron. The team asks how it's possible to command Voltron on his own and demand to see him, worrying about him being on his own for the past few years as well. The allied leader is reluctant but receives a message from Lance telling them that it's okay and that he wants to see his team to, so the leader takes them to the Lions' hanger and into the Black Lion where the team sees what has become of Lance much to their shock and horror.
Lance is now a cyborg, his robotic body plugged into the Black Lion through various wires and tubes, quintessence flowing through him. The allied leader explains that this was the only way to repair Voltron and that Lance willingly went through with it. Lance was ascended to become the same as the allies and then the allies pumped him full of quintessence and their specialised magic during the accession ceremony so that he could fully bond with all of the Lions and bring them back to life, but since the human body couldn't withstand such a large amount of energy, his body was replaced with a cybernetic one, and to be able to control all of the Lions at once and form Voltron on his own, he was plugged into the Black Lion. The process also took the lives of many of the allies for Lance to be given the magical energies to bond with and control all of the Lions.
Despite being a cyborg and connected plugged into the Black Lion, Lance still has his own consciousness and is able to greet his friends and old teammates, though he isn't able to show as much emotion thanks to being a cyborg and isn't the same Lance they remember because of what he's been through, having a more apathetic attitude. Lance is also able to disconnect from the Black Lion when it's not in use, though he usually doesn't because he doesn't have much reason to, but he does for his friends so that he can walk around with them.
As they walk around, Lance further explains how things work for the new Voltron. All of the Lions, including the Black Lion still have pilots, though they are not the same as Paladins and can be interchangeable, just there so that Lance doesn't have his focus spread too thin when controlling the Lions and so there's still people who can go into places the Lions can't fit to rescue people, the allies or Blade of Mamora are usually the ones in the pilot seats, these Pilots also have no control when Voltron is forms, it is all Lance's doing.
Lance also says that since the team are back there is no more use for the pilots, they can take their places as Paladins again, saying that the Lions are excited to get their Paladins back. The team worry about being able to re-bond with their Lions since Lance has bonded with them all and controls Voltron on his own but Lance reassures that they still be able to bond and control their Lions, revealing that controlling all the Lions and Voltron on his own has been a strain for him despite his new body and all the power given to him. So the team are able to climb back inside and bond with their Lions, also forming a bond with Lance, who connects them all.
