Chapter seventeen: The Escapade!

The ramp of the cruiser lowered and there stood Shiro and the freed aliens with the white clothed transport. When the ramp went down, the group caught sight of two masked soldiers standing ready to fight. But when they saw who it was who had arrived, they rose from their battle stances and pulled off their cloth masks and hoods.

"Ozar! Olia! Thank Traximus you're both okay!!" The familiarity of the voice was just as shocking as seeing her face.

"Uh-.. Nyma?" Shiro gasped, surprised to see her.

"You.." the alien responded curiously, squinting as if to see him better. "What are you doing here?" She asked, concerned written all across her face.

"I'm not sure.. I was.. battling Zarkon.. but-.. somehow I ended up stranded on a desolate planet that-.. seemed to be dying." Shiro coughed weakly and doubled over slowly; and Commander Ozar knelt down at his side, placing a hand on his back, the other hand to his forearm.

"He was wounded in battle.." Ozar told them, looking up at her. "He saved us all from imprisonment by at the hands of Commander Sendak. That planet is safe because of him."

"We checked over the planet's infrastructure, and it seems sound enough for its people to remain living there." Olia spoke up looking from Shiro and Ozar to Nyma as well. "The planet will be safe to recover on its own. We managed to get to it in time."

"Well isn't that good news." Rolo commented pulling off his hood and mask as well.

"Indeed." Ozar smiled. "Now hurry!" He went on pulling Shiro up again. "We must tend to his injuries as soon as possible." Nyma stepped forward to place a hand on his shoulder to help, as they began forward past her. Suddenly the wind whipped up and as soon as they looked up; cruiser fire rained down on them.

"Run!" Ozar cried, looking to Nyma. Nyma and Rolo retreated back to their ship and the aliens helped Shiro back into their cruiser. As soon as they were in the air, they evaded the attacks as best they could and even returned fire before managing escape(via hyperdrive).

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The Olkari alien threw more wood onto the small fire, which growled with pleasure; as it swallowed up the new fuel. Shiro grunted painfully as they laid him down. Ozar tossed something aside and pulled off his mask.

"This cave should suffice for now." He said finally. "It is too dangerous for us to try to return to rebel headquarters. We should be safe here until this blows over."

"I'm sorry.. for putting you all in this situation." Shiro managed to say, rather weakly.

"Nonsense, Paladin." Ozar told him. "From what you've told us, you did not have a choice in the matter."

"And now that you're safe.." Nyma put in, taking his wrist in her hand. "We can finally take a look at this wound." She lifted his arm up over his head as she spoke, and immediately felt bad with what she saw.

"So.. you've always been apart of this organization?" Shiro began lightly, as the alien began to assess the injury further.

"Only recently." Nyma replied, looking him in the eyes for only a moment. "This wound is deep." She went on, studying it a bit more closely. "It'll take awhile to heal, but you should be fine. We'll have to dress it for now, until we can get you to a proper healing facility."

"Thank you.. for helping me." Shiro told her, addressing the other aliens as well. "I probably wouldn't have made it out of there alive without you.. and Te-Osh.." everyone's expressions became that of sorrow at the mention of their fallen comrade.

But no one expected it when a blast from outside shook the ground; much to their surprise and horror.

"They've found us!!" Olia exclaimed, rising to her feet.

"We must get out of here!!" Ozar exclaimed, looking to the entrance of the cave. Shiro forced himself to get up; despite the unimaginable pain it caused. Managing to make it to a one-legged kneel, he held his side gingerly as he stiffly gasped for breath; his other hand still braved to the ground for additional support.

"I need- to get out of here." He told them breathlessly. "I've-.. got to.. lead them away.. from here."

"Absolutely not!" Nyma protested immediately. "It's too dangerous for you to go out there alone."

"Yes, you're in no condition to fly, let alone fight." Ozar concurred heavily. "If you go out there by yourself you'll surely be captured."

"I-.. can't risk you-.. getting caught.. or discovered…" Shiro breathed intently, forcing himself to stand up; bracing a hand to the wall next to him. "Your.. organization is.. too important.. to our fight against the Galra… We must.. protect it-.. for the sake.. of the universe.-" Everyone was silent in the room, another blast shook the ground; nearly knocking everyone off their feet.

"Alright!" Ozar decided finally. "We'll create a diversion to aid in your escape; but we ask only this if you…" He took out another device similar to that of the one Te-Osh gave him. He held it next to the one Shiro had been given and then handed it to him. "Keep in touch.. we have rebel scouts stationed in nearly every quadrant of the universe. Get in touch with them as soon as you're in a safe place. They'll help guide you to a healing unit to take care of that wound. They may even be able to track down Voltron for you. But please.. above all else… be careful out there… the Galra would be all too willing to take you out, if they see fit."

"Thank you.. I'll try to contact you as soon as I can." Shiro told them thankfully.

"Olia, help him get to a ship." Ozar commanded. "Take him down that way. We'll sprint for the cruisers and begin the distraction."

"Copy that!" The canine alien responded leading Shiro by his forearm down the tunnel opposite the entrance.

"The rest of you.." Ozar continued when they'd left. "Let us take care of our unwanted guests."

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Olia lead Shiro into an underground cavern that, when she flipped on the old, flickering lights, gave way to a couple old Galra escape pods.

"Heh, deja vu." He mumbled to himself, with a light chuckle. Olia helped him into the pilot seat and Shiro activated the pod to turn on.

"You should have everything you need to make an escape, we've already loaded supplies into these pods for our rescue and transport missions." The alien told him.

"Great, thank you…" Shiro smiled gratefully back at her. "So much."

"Be careful out there…" the alien told him slowly. "The Galra are more dangerous than you may think."

"Believe me.. I know." Shiro returned simply. Then Oila exited the pod and watched as he took off through the open hatch, which closed behind him as soon as he was out.

As Shiro jetted on the course he'd set for himself, he could see far to his right the laser fire from the battle that was clearly in full swing. Maintaining this heading, he held his course for nowhere in particular; but one he knew would get him to a safe place. His fever weighed down hard on him and he knew he wasn't well; but at the same time he knew that if he wasn't in a safe place he would never get well again. Which was why he was gonna have to push through, until he made it back to the one place he knew he was safe…. Voltron.

He simply watched the stars innocently floating by him, when suddenly an influx of lasers cut off his course; forcing evasive maneuvers to avoid getting hit. Tapping at the screen with one hand, he found that his scanners had picked up a Galra ship that had escaped the diversion to chase him down. Knowing this, he took both handles again; bringing the ship around to return fire with the cruiser. The fighters launched and Shiro knew he was in trouble. Turning the ship around again, he pushed it as fast as it could manage away; hoping to, at least, get ahead of them before they could catch up. Yet he soon realized that this was not going to be the case. 'Where is a wormhole when you need one.' He thought desperately. And just when he thought he was caught, a flash appeared behind him; followed by an explosion, followed by another flash. Checking his scanners again after another blast, the Galra ship lay in ruins from billowing smoke and the remaining fighters doubling back toward it. And though he was confused by this, he couldn't waste time on it; as he soon realized that his altitude was falling like he was. And he had to completely focus on the giant ice moon that was hurtling toward him. Pulling up on the yoke, he let out an earth shattering cry; as his own body screamed in agony!...

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The ringing in his ears was enough to make his brain bleed; his eyes hurt even before he opened them. The splitting of a hair could cause his pounding headache to worsen. He didn't dare move for fear of the pain that would result. But movement suddenly got his attention.. a breeze? And the way it gently pulled at his white floof felt abnormal. 'In what way could this occur?' His vision blurred back to normal and he saw daylight.. 'but why was it on the floor?' His eyes widened.. 'unless.. he wasn't.." The chill of the air rushed in to nip at his nose. 'How did this come about?!' He mind gasped. He noticed, now, that his arms hung toward the floor; which he pulled up to his sides. The creak of metal and the feeling of unsteadiness surrounded him. 'How was he like this? What had happened to accomplish such an impossible act?' Attempting to move he found that he couldn't and looked up at himself. The control panel had been smashed in just right, that his whole lower half was encased in the crinkled up metal. His blood ran cold at this; as a darkening feeling suddenly came upon him. Attempting to move, he found that both legs responded to his command, and he could feel everything that he did; which was both a blessing and a curse at this moment. Struggling to free himself, he activated his hand. Forcing it into the mass of bent metal and wires, he ripping a hole in it releasing him, shoulders first, to the cold, hard ground. Dizziness and ringing slammed him in the head once more, and he lay flat on the ground with his eyes closed for a moment. He only opened them, when he realized he was moving again. The sky was rolling up and Shiro's eyes popped wider; immediately rolling around to his feet, he took off in a sprint toward it. Crashing through the glass, he leapt out into mid-air. Time stood still, as he soared toward the icy edge; and he managed to catch his Galra hand on the cliff with barely anything to spare. His grip jerked and he lost it plunging down into the darkness below.

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As if he needed to know this, his headache was still hammering. His eyes registered the sky above, but somehow it felt warmer and colder down here at the same time. Forcing himself to sit up, he felt the chilling breeze once more. A twinge followed by a burning sensation indicted the injury to his right shoulder, which he knew was likely broken or sprained; though he couldn't be sure which. Only a small ledge lay under him. Leaning ever so slightly to his right, he peered down into the darkness; the drop seeming to go on for miles into darkness's death trap. To his left, though, was a small ice cave, a sight for sore eyes to say the least. Fearing to stand and walk, he carefully crawled with one arm into the cave and set himself against the ice-cold walls; his breaths visible against the frozen air. 'The only thing that could be worse than this..' He thought. 'Would be to have the Galra find me here.' And he waited there exactly how he lay.. until sleep overcame him.

Hi guys, how's it going?! This chapter was sooo much fun to write. Explaining how Shiro got to where the team found him, has been so much fun to creatively execute!!! Hope you guys find it as enjoyable as I did writing it! Thx!!!