A/N: This is a slightly shorter chapter than usual and I'm sorry. I'm just seriously tired and have work tomorrow. Meh.

However, I've gotten a few questions regarding the characters' ages. Their general appearances aren't that different from the show like Pidge is still short, but Lance has pointy-ears. That sort of thing. But I've aged them up a bit. These are their ages in Earth years:

Shiro: 28
Hunk: 21
Pidge: 19
Keith: 21
Lance: 21
Allura: 25
Coran: 47

Hope that helps clear up a few things. Because honestly, I can't think of any military branch that will admit high schoolers as active officers. The Galaxy Garrison is very likely a military college working side by side with civilian scientist. That's much more believable.

Chapter summary: In which the assault begins, the Lions have secret weapons, Shiro hates falling, and Hunk meets some old friends and enemies.

38: Cool Darkness

The moment the Black Lion burst out of its launch tunnel and into the Balmeran sky, the Galra began their attack. The smaller towers that marked the start and end of every arcing purple energy beam fired blasts of similar purple energy at the Lions of Voltron.

"This is it guys," Shiro said. "Look alive."

"We are alive," Keith said, sounding confused.

"It's a phrase, Keith," Hunk said.

"Remember the Balmera is a living creature," Shiro continued. "Pinpoint your attacks on the Galra equipment only. Good luck."

"Roger," Hunk said as the same time Pidge said "10-4."

"Your phrases are so weird," Keith said.

Lance laughed. "Why don't you focus on taking out that tower weapon instead of complaining, Fluffy Ears," he teased.

"You call him Fluffy Ears?" Pidge said and began cackling madly, diving her Green Lion down and cloaking before the Red Lion could snap at her.

"I will kill you," Keith growled in annoyance.

"Guys," Shiro groaned. "Focus."

The main tower weapon finished charged and fired a blast of solidified purple energy that formed a three spired pinwheel like the tower it originated from. The glowing attack spiraled straight at the Blue Lion which dodged to the side and dove down to join the Yellow Lion in attacking the Galra mining equipment. Shiro slowed his Lion until it hovered near the power generator.

Lance was doing a magnificent job taking down the smaller Galra tower weapons with the plasma gun in the Blue Lion's tail. Hunk and ramming his Lion into the heavier machinery, weakening the structures before blasting them with the Yellow Lion's mouth gun. Pidge was off dropping the BLIP Techs cloaked and Keith was expertly dodging enemy fire and focusing his attention on the power generator's main weapon. It was up to Shiro to thoroughly disable to generator.

"Okay," he muttered to himself, "how do I take this thing down?"

As if responding to his question, the Black Lion growled in his head, startling him. Then the screens in front of him lit up with purple schematics for a curved blade that fit snugly in the Black Lion's massive jaw. The razor sharp blades extended out from either side of the Black Lion's mouth. With this, Shiro could cut through reinforced steel with ease.

"Oh," he said, leaning back in his chair to study the weapon's designs. The Black Lion purred and, like a rush of wind, Shiro knew how to activate this new weapon. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards until he smirked. "Well alright then. Jaw Blade it is."

He took his controls, pressed the combination of buttons the Black Lion purred into his mind and grinned when the Jaw Blade materialized in his Lion's mouth. He flew his Lion down so he skimmed the Balmera's surface and dragged the left blade of the Jaw Blade along the sides of the glowing structures that created the arching energy beams. The gouges he left behind caused the main structure of the generator to combust, exploding in balls of fire and smoke that brought a triumphant smile to his face.

However, Keith hadn't taken out the Galra's main tower weapon yet. It seemed the tower was much more reinforced than the power generator itself. Shiro shook his head at the irony. It would be typical of the Galra to choose their weapons over energy production. He prepared to join the Red Lion when he saw something he couldn't believe causing him to pull the Black Lion up short in shock.

Without warning, the Red Lion executed a perfect loop so it faced the Galra weapon, opened its mouth wide, and fired a stream of blazing liquid fire directly at the tower's tapering trunk. The heat from the blast melted a hole straight through the metal that continued to glow red hot even after the fire dissipated.

"Did you see that?!" Keith shouted victoriously. "I have fire power!"

"Now freaking way," Hunk cried.

"Well, that explains that," Lance muttered in a voice that was barely audible over the speakers. "I wonder if I have something like that?"

"All BLIP Techs dropped pri- Katie," Pidge said, catching herself before saying the princess's title or name over the unsecured channel.

"Good job Pidge," Allura said. "The devices are starting to map out the interior as we speak."

It was probably due to their distraction that the other paladins didn't notice it first. However, Shiro didn't miss the way the semi-melted tower leaned to the side and began collapsing under its own weight.

"Guys look out!" he cried, flying his Lion towards the ground again. He had to stop the debris from striking the Balmera.

"Wha-? Crap!" Hunk cried, flying underneath the tower before Shiro could and taking the brunt of the weapon's weight on his Lion. The Yellow Lion's paw thrusters ignited, giving him some leverage but nowhere near enough. "We can't let this hurt the Balmera! Gah! Do something!"

"Hang on Hunk," Shiro said. "I'm coming."

"Wait," Lance said suddenly. "Hunk, get out from under there. I think my Lion knows what to do."

"Well whatever it is, do it fast," Hunk shouted in a strained voice.

Shiro stopped abruptly when the Blue Lion flew directly in front of him, catching him off guard. "Lance-"

Whatever he was going to say trailed off when a ray of blue burst forth from the Blue Lion's open mouth and struck the collapsing tower Hunk was struggling to hold up. Immediately upon impact, ice began growing up over the tower's surface, encasing it completely. Hunk looked up and quickly flew away from the fast encroaching ice before it could consume him as well.

"Dude," Hunk said.

"That was…" Keith murmured.

"I'm really starting to like this," Lance said with an audible smile on his face.

"Nice going Lance," Shiro said.

"Yeah, whatever," Pidge said, joining their group. She landed her Green Lion on the ice covered tower and looked up at her companions disdainfully. "You guys have all the fun while I run the errands. Typical."

Shiro chuckled. "Don't get too excited," he said, landing his Lion next to Pidge's. "We still have to deal with the Galra."

"Yeah, about that," Pidge said. "There aren't any Galra coming up here."

"Where are they?" Lance wondered aloud.

"I don't get it," Hunk said. "When Coran and I were here, the Galra were everywhere."

"Paladins" Allura called from the Castle. "We've located a hanger with Galra fighters. We can't let them launch if we can avoid it."

"They're luring us underground," Shiro grumbled. "We'll probably end up fighting hand-to-hand. I doubt our Lions will fit down there."

"Keith and I can take care of the hanger, Katie," Lance said. "By the way, that name totally suits you."

The sound of Coran's sputtering laughter filtered through the communications.

"Don't volunteer me," Keith groused.

"Why not?" Lance teased. "Would you rather go with Pidge?"

"Hey," Pidge said. "What's wrong with that?"

"Guys," Shiro said, rolling his eyes. "Save the flirting for later."

"HA!" Pidge cackled. "See? Shiro called it. It's official. You can't deny it."

"Why would I?" Keith asked honestly. "Lance is my mate. We can flirt if we wa-"

"By Pele, stop," Hunk groaned. "Please just stop."

"Lance, Keith, you two go take care of the fighters in the hanger," Shiro commanded. "Pidge, you and I will track down the Galra soldiers and get rid of them. Hunk, find your friend Shay-"

"Girlfriend," Pidge teased.

"No!" Hunk said.

"-and make sure she and her family are safe," Shiro continued, raising his voice to be heard over the commotion. "Ask them how to perform this energy exchange process so we can start on that as soon as we can."

"You got it," Hunk said, diving the Yellow Lion into one of the nearby mining pits.

The others quickly follow their given orders and Shiro breathed a sigh of relief. He would definitely have to give his team a talk about not goofing around while fighting. They couldn't afford distractions right now. He landed the Black Lion at the bottom of one of the mining shafts and prepared to continue the way on foot.

That was the plan. But then his chair slid back on the rails on its own and then dropped down into a hidden trap door at the far back of the room directly behind the Lion's cockpit. Shiro gripped his armrests in surprise and braced himself for whatever came next. When the chair stopped moving, Shiro found himself inside of a pod cockpit.

Surprised and intrigued, he leaned forward and examined the new set of controls. They were similar to the Black Lion's main controls but were missing some of the more elaborate commands and view screens. Speaking of view screens, Shiro blinked when all the lights in the pod came to life glowing the same purple he'd grown accustomed to.

Then the ground dropped out from beneath him and the pod fell from the Black Lion's chest to the Balmera's ground far below. Unfortunately, it took a couple seconds for Shiro's stomach to catch up to the fall. The dark roof and sides of the pod suddenly came to life, depicting the outside world. The whole thing was a view screen just like the Castleship's bridge. Shiro huffed, impressed.

He gripped the control rods and tested the vehicle's sensitivity and reaction time, smiling when the pod leapt forward. When he pulled far enough ahead, a flash of purple behind him caught his attention. He turned his head and looked out through the pod's view screens behind him and saw the Black Lion's particle barrier lift, protecting it from intruders.

The Black Lion rumbled in his mind and Shiro relaxed. It seemed the pod could keep the Black Lion's consciousness close to its paladin's even though they would be separated by space and the particle barrier. Good to know. A gridded map of the path ahead filled the view screens so he had a rough idea of what to expect from this path. Feeling ready for anything, Shiro pushed the control rods forward and sped down the tunnel directly in front of him.

Hunk ran down the tunnel as fast as his feet could carry him. He'd been forced to leave the Yellow Lion's pod behind when the tunnel got too narrow for it. The tunnel looked identical to all the others he'd seen so he had no real idea of where he was or where he was going, just that he needed to find Shay and her family. He was almost certain the Balmera was helping him now at this point.

However, even with the Balmera's help, Hunk had expected to run into at least a handful of Galra soldiers. He hadn't seen a single one so far and that bothered him. It was good, don't get him wrong, but it was also strange. The caverns were still and quiet except for the yellow paladin's footfalls and the occasional groaning of the Balmera.

A purplish light was faintly visible around the corner up ahead and Hunk picked up his pace, activating his bayard just in case. When he rounded the corner, he held his huge bayard gun up, ready to fire. But instead of Galra sentries, he saw a purple particle barrier acting as a prison door. It was just translucent enough that Hunk the see Balmerans on the other side. He didn't recognize them, but that didn't matter. They were prisoner that needed to be freed. That was all that was important.

Hunk raised his bayard and fired at the access panel, busting it into sparks bits. The purple barrier immediately dropped, startling the Balmerans inside. The paladin lowered his gun, deactivating his bayard, and smiled to the prisoners.

"Don't worry," he said. "It's okay. You're free. If you can, find the others and get to a safe pla- Hey!" he gasped, his smile growing larger. "You're Shay's family. Elder," he said, bowing his head respectfully.

The Elder stood from the earthen bench by the wall and stepped forward, looking the paladin over with sharp, old eyes. She smiled. "So," she said, her voice slightly hoarse, "you have kept your promise."

"Yes ma'am," Hunk said, smiling gently at the old Balmeran. "Coran and my friends are here with me. We're going to do the exchange as soon as we get rid of the Galra."

"Get rid of the Galra?" Shay's father gasped. "What you speak of is only a dream. It cannot come to pass."

"It will," Hunk said fiercely. "I made a promise to Shay to show you guys what freedom was. I'm not going to break that promise now."

"This one's words are true," said another voice from the back of the prison cell.

Hunk turned to the new speaker in surprise. "Rax?"

"These ones' lives may have been hard," Rax said, gesturing to his family, "but at least we were together. He stood from his seat in fury. "After you and the other one left, the Galra came for Shay. They took her to the core of the Balmera. We have not seen her since."

"Damn," Hunk muttered. He turned on his communicator. "Hey Shiro," he said, "we've got a problem."

"What is it Hunk?" the black paladin said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but Shay's not," the yellow paladin said. "The Galra captured her after Coran and I left the first time. Rax says they took her to the Balmera's core."

Shiro sighed. "They're setting us up," he said in frustration.

"We have to save her," Hunk said firmly.

"I know, Hunk," Shiro said, soothing the yellow paladin's fears. "I'm just trying to figure out how."

"You think the princess will have any ideas?" Hunk asked.

He heard a gasp from the Balmerans and looked over to them worriedly. "You okay?" he asked.

The Elder held her large hands up to her mouth and her eyes were wide and full of awful wonder and didn't answer right away.

"I'll call her and ask," Shiro said. "In the meantime, get the Balmerans to safety. I'll tell Pidge to keep a lookout for the core. I doubt it'll hard to miss."

"Right. Thanks Shiro," Hunk said, turning his communicator back to listen only. "I got my friends looking for Shay. We'll find her. I promise."

"You spoke of a princess," the Elder said.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. She's our leader, I guess," Hunk said. "Well, actually Shiro is the leader but she's the leader leader. Or, wait that doesn't make sense. She's the general to Shiro's commander, I guess."

"This one you speak of," the Elder said, her eye glittering in the low lighting, "is Altean, is that not so?"

"Yeah," Hunk said. "So's Coran and my friend we came here trying to save last time. I guess I told Shay, but not you guys. My bad, sorry," he said, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"Shay did tell us," Shay's mother said, joining her husband and the Elder. "She said your friend was a prince."

"He is," Hunk said. "He's here on Balmera, actually. He's helping Keith, another friend of mine, take out the Galra fighters."

"Then this one recovered as you wished," Shay's father said.

"Why do you care about this one's friends?" Rax exclaimed, standing in fury. "This one has brought nothing but suffering to this family. It was better before this one came."

"And yet the Balmera trusted this one," the Elder said sternly. "I wish to meet this one's friends. If they are who this one says they are, then there is hope. Something which has been unknown in this place for many periods."

"Why do you insist on believing this one's shadow show?" Rax cried desperately. "The Galra have taken Shay from us now they will take all of us away."

"L-look," Hunk said, holding up his hands in a peaceful gesture, "you can talk about this all you want later. Right now you need to get somewhere safe while we save Shay."

"We will, paladin of Voltron," the Elder said gently. "We will gather our people and help as we can."

"What?" Rax gasped.

"Be silent, young one," the Elder said sharply. "Your words are spoken without understanding. It was your act of betrayal that had Shay captured, was it not?"

The young Balmeran stiffened and fell silent. The Elder returned her gaze to Hunk. "Go help the ones you call your friends," she said. "We will aid you when we can."

Hunk smiled. "Thanks ma'am," he said in relief. "You guys stay safe, you hear?"

He waited for an answering smile before activating his bayard again and running down the next tunnel towards the core. At least, he hoped it was towards the core. Balmera, please take him to the core.