"I know what you promised my brother. But if I don't go out there, everyone and everything on this planet will be gone. As a Paladin of Voltron, I can't let that happen."

Pidge


"Commander Prorok," Zarkon said, sitting on his throne while he stared at the holo-screen of the Galran Commander stationed at Balmera X-95-Vox. Prorok looked like a normal Galra, with the only noticeable difference being his stockier figure and plumper face.

"My Lord, of… of what do… do I owe the pleasure?" The stout Galra nervously asked his Emperor with a royal salute.

"I am bestowing to you a new assignment relating to your current position." Zarkon plainly said.

"I am honored you would choose me, my Emperor." Prorok thanked, saluting once more. "I won't let you down."

"Be careful with your choice of words." Zarkon aggravatingly responded. "I recall you saying the same thing when I sent you to retrieve the Blue Lion."

"A… And that was a… all my fault… sire." The Galran Commander stuttered and gulped. "But I won't fail you this time. L… like Commander Sendak said, may he rest in peace, Victory or Death!"

"Your assignment is to battle Voltron," Zarkon stated.

"V… Voltron?" Prorok hesitantly asked.

"Before Sendak met his end; he informed Haggar and I that the Paladins are on their way to your Balmera." Zarkon summed up.

"Then my fleet shall capture him in the name of the Galra Empire," Prorok stated boldly.

"No," Zarkon said. "The Fire of Purification couldn't stand up to Voltron, so what makes you think your cruisers can?" Prorok remained silent as sweated; trying to come up with an answer that he did not have. "And there is no need to capture him." Zarkon began anew. "Haggar's Deathblack Beastman will see to that."

"My Lord, why… do you trust the witch and that followers of Tzeench over the capability of your soldiers?" Prorok calmly asked his Emperor. "What… what if Voltron's victory against Sendak was pure luck… maybe he's not as powerful as you…"

"Do not claim to know more about Voltron's capabilities!" Zarkon furiously shouted as he rose from his throne. "He is referred to as the most powerful weapon in the universe for a reason. Do not forget that."

"I… I did not mean to anger you, my Lord." Prorok nervously apologized, sweating more now than he did before.

"Haggar has my trust." Zarkon reminded the stout commander as he sat back on his throne. "Remember, I carry more patience for her than I do for the likes of you. You are to battle Voltron, and only battle him, until the Deathblack Beastman arrives; any disobedience of that order will carry consequences. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, my Lord!" Prorok shouted, banging his fist on his breastplate. "Your will shall be carried out! Vrepit Sa!"


Haggar stood in Castle Doom's hangar, overlooking a massive, coffin-shaped ship; which contained her weapon against Voltron. "The Gem Quintessence we have extracted shall make this Beastman far more powerful than any other I've created," Haggar told her fellow Druids, who stood next to her.

"What shall you have us do with the… ones that are no longer of use?" One of the sorcerers asked; curious about what's to be done with the deceased Gems.

"Dispose of them however you see fit," Haggar answered. "They are no longer a necessity."

"We are ready to launch the Coffin on your command, mistress." Another Druid respectfully asked.

"Do it," Haggar ordered.

"For the lord of change and the Galra Empire."

The Druid entered the coordinates to the Balmera and slammed his fist on a large button; the hangar shook violently as the engines for the Coffin Ship ignited, then flew out into deep space towards its targeted location.


Steven and Connie were resting in the Castle of Lion's lounge; only to be awoken when Pearl's gemstone glows and levitates from its pillow, with a slim, glowing figure emerging from it.

Once the brightness dispersed; Pearl, in new attire, stood before the young ones. She wore a sleeveless, aqua blue tunic with a small, gold star on the center of her chest like her previous form; but this one transferred into a silk ballet skirt around her waist and she had a translucent shawl as well. She also wore lavender leggings the covered her legs from thigh to toe and pale blue boots with orange highlights. Her hair was also a little longer compared to her previous appearance, somewhat resembling that of a bob like Connie's.

"Pearl, you're back!" Steven excitedly shouted as he and the other Crystal Gem Paladin ran up and hugged her; almost knocking the skinny Gem down in their excitement.

"Steven. Connie. Are all of you all right, is the castle all right. Oh stars, please tell me everything is all right." Pearl asked in a panicked, motherly tone as she checked all three of them for any injuries.

"We're okay ma'am," Connie assured her mentor.

"What happened?" Pearl asked. "The last thing that happened was I was saving Lance and Pidge from an explosion. Are they both all right?"

"It was Sendak," Connie explained. "He snuck onboard the castle and placed a virus that almost gave him complete control of the castle. Pidge got injured in the explosion."

"Oh no," Pearl said, with worry for the teenaged girl.

"But I was able to save her with my healing spit," Steven assured Pearl.

"Thank goodness," Pearl said, letting out a sigh. "And what of Sendak?"

Steven and Connie remained silent for a moment, looking at each other before turning back to the pale Gem.

"He's dead," Connie said.

"Are you sure?" Pearl carefully asked the two teens; concerned about what they may have done to protect themselves.

"Connie… and I… we…" Steven tried explaining but found himself unable to say what he wanted to say.

"I'm so sorry," Pearl said as she embraced the two, young humans; realizing that they were forced to kill the enemy Galra. "Do the two of you wish to talk about it?"

"We'll be okay Pearl," Connie assured the Crystal Gem. "We just only need to put our minds to save the Balmerians..."

Pearl looked the young girl and nodded with understanding.

"Paladins, I need you in the control room. Now!" Allura's voice shouted over castle's communicator. "We are now arriving at the Balmera!"

"We'll talk later, Pearl," Steven assured. "Right now, we have a planet to save."

With those final words; Steven, Connie and Pearl rushed from the lounge to the control room as fast as they could. Their plan to free the Balmera from the Galra begins now.


Pidge sat up in her med bay bed; clothed in the Altean equivalent to a hospital gown while she ate some porridge Amethyst made for her with medicinal herbs mixed in. All the while Matthew, Lance, and Peridot; who was holding Pumpkin; checked on the Green Paladins condition.

Peridot did not know much about Steven's healing powers; but from what the other Crystal Gems have told her, his spit can completely heal any injury to the point of their appearing to be no injury at all. However, a scar was left on Pidge's stomach; signifying that not even Healing Spit could heal her wound all the way.

"Your vitals still look good," Matt told his sister while looking at her health monitor. "How are you feeling, Katie?"

"Slight discomfort by you know where," Pidge told her brother before taking another spoonful of her porridge, resuming after swallowing it down. "But besides that, I feel fine."

"I think we'll be the judges of that," Lance told the teenaged girl. "Most people don't come back from near death and say that they're fine like it's not a big deal."

"I didn't say that me nearly dying wasn't a big deal," Pidge responded. "I'm just saying I'm okay, and you don't have to bend over backward for my wellbeing. I'm sure you all are needed elsewhere."

"Well, if you're so confident you are okay." Lance began. "Then why don't you hop out of bed and put your clothes on; I just got them patched up last night."

"Thanks," Pidge said as she handed her porridge to Peridot; as she attempted to hop out of bed. "And I wi... Ah!" Pidge screamed in pain as she stood up straight, feeling as if she had a hundred needles stabbing the inside of her stomach. If it were not for Matt and Peridot catching her, the girl would've fallen flat on the floor. Pumpkin even whimpered at the distress of the teenager.

"Katie. I know you're not a fan of this, but we have to make sure your completely fine." Matt explained as he laid her back into her bed. "What happens if you get in the Green Lion and the strain of the entire situation causes your wound to scar to re-open? And what happens if you can't get back to the castle in time, or Steven can't heal you?"

"All right, I get it," Pidge said. "But there is an entire planet that's going to be counting on us when we arrive. Without the Green Lion, we can't form Voltron."

"But I thought Peridot was a Paladin too?" Lance asked the human girl.

"Co-Pilot." Peridot corrected. "Green prefers Pidge to pilot her, while I man the weapons. She's very picky about who gets to control her."

"Paladins, I need you in the control room. Now!" Allura's voice shouted over castle's communicator. "We are now arriving at the Balmera!"

"Go see the Princess," Pidge told the others. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm sure Allura won't…" Matt began.

"I'll look after Pidge," Lance assure the older Holt sibling. "Allura could probably use yours and Peridot's brain for the coming conflict."

"He does make a good point," Peridot told Matthew; before turning to Pumpkin. "Okay girl, I'm leaving you in charge of protecting Pidge with your life."

Pumpkin barked in response.

"That's a good girl." Peridot praised the veggitoid; who kissed her sloppily in return.

"All right. Fine." Matthew sighed, not sure if he should leave his sister or not. "Just keep her safe and let me know if anything changes."

"You got it," Lance assured as Matt and Peridot left the medical bay.


Steven, Connie, Pearl, Peridot, and Matt arrived a few seconds after Garnet, Amethyst, Shiro, and Keith had entered the control room; where Coran and Allura greet them. "Good, you're all here," Allura said, quickly noticing Pearl with them. "Pearl, it is good to see you are all right."

"Thank you, Princess." Pearl respectfully said with a bow.

"We knew you'd be fine," Garnet stated as Amethyst gave the pale Gem a quick hug.

"Where's Lance?" Allura asked, realizing that her cousin wasn't with the group.

"He's staying with Katie until she's well enough to be out on the field," Matt explained to the Princess. "And she's doing far better now."

"That is good to hear," Allura said with relief.

"What's the plan, Princess." Shiro stoically asked the Altean sovereign.

"It is highly likely that the Galra know we are coming," Allura stated. "So, we'll have to remain on the defensive; we'll divert the Galra's attention onto the Castle and the Lions. Once we have the Galra focused on us, the Blue Lion will sneak onto the planet and proceed to take care of the ground forces; ice won't harm the Balmera. As soon as the Galra's ground troops are dealt with, you can begin evacuating the prisoners; by then, the Castle of Lions should've landed on the planet's surface, where we'll offer shelter for the rest of the battle. Once the Galra are defeated, Lance, Coran and I will perform a rejuvenation ritual in hopes of saving the planet. With Pidge still recovering, we can't form Voltron; caution is extremely advised."

"I'll go with Stevonnie to make sure everything goes smoothly," Peridot said, before looking at both Steven and Connie. "Is it okay if I tag along?"

"We could use all the help with freeing Shay, Hunk and the others," Connie stated; answering the green Gem's question.

"And we better hurry too." Coran frantically added in. "Since we didn't arrive on our planned schedule, the Galra have had more time to harvest more crystals; if my calculations are correct, the Balmera is on the verge of collapsing and taking everything on the planet's surface with it."

"Then we don't have any time to lose," Shiro stated, before turning to the Paladins of Voltron. "Armor up and get to your Lions!"

The Black, Red, Blue and Yellow Lions fly from the castles hangar; just as the massive vessel activated its particle barrier and weapons systems.

"All right, Petal; once you see an opening to the surface, take it," Shiro ordered Stevonnie.

"You got it, Chief." The Blue Paladin responded.

"Let's do this!" Shiro further ordered as he maxes out the Black Lion's thrusters; with the Red, Yellow and Blue Lion's following their leader in that order.


"Commander Prorok, the Lions of Voltron; they are heading towards our position, sir." A lanky Galra soldier informed his commander.

"Good. Deploy the fighters and capture them!" Prorok orders.

"But sir didn't Emperor Zarkon order us only to battle…." The soldier began asking.

"I know what Emperor Zarkon said!" Prorok loudly stated. "But that witch is poisoning his mind; making him her puppet. We must remind him of the indomitable force that is the Galra military!"

"But sir…" The soldier began asking again.

"That was an order, soldier! Now follow it!" Prorok harshly shouted.

"Y… yes sir." The soldier hesitantly said as he left to carry out his task.


"Paladins. The scanners are picking up that enemy fighters have just been dispersed." Allura informs through the Castle of Lion's communicator.

"Break formation and grab their attention," Shiro ordered. The four Lions of Voltron did as their leader said and entered combat with their oncoming opponents.

"Broody, you got some on your tail!" Amethyst pointed out as several fighters pursued the Red Lion and her Galra pilot with extreme tenacity; firing a barrage of lasers at the alien vehicle.

"I see them, Amy! And I got them," Keith stated as he manages to avoid the oncoming fire with ease; diving as far down as he can before he pulls the lion-ship up; successfully circling behind the enemy Erto's. A burning red energy beam shoots from the Red Lions maw and incinerates the opposing ships.

"Let's go, girl!" Shiro shouted as the Black Lion summoned its mouth blade and charged the opposition fighters dead on; slicing through the Djalg's like they were soft butter. Shiro looked down at the Black Lion's scanner; detecting several large objects drawing closer. "Stay focused team; those cruisers are entering the fight now!"

The Yellow and Blue Lion's both manage to evade the laser blasts from the cruisers, with Amethyst successfully knocking some of the enemy ships into oncoming fire. "Boo-yah!" Amethyst pleasingly shouted as the Yellow Lion continued ramming into the enemy ships.

"It sounds like she's having fun," Peridot stated to Stevonnie; who didn't hear her as they were laser-focused on finding an opening to the planet; eventually detecting one.

"I found an opening, guys!" The human Fusion stated. "But I need those ships distracted!"

"We have you covered!" Garnet's voice shouted over the Blue Lion's comms, as massive laser blasts fire from the Castle of Lions; behind Stevonnie.

"That's just what we needed," Stevonnie informed. "The opening is… opened… I'm heading to the surface now!"

"Good luck you three," Shiro told the Blue Paladin and their Gem companion as they maxed out the thrusters and successfully broke through the Balmera's atmosphere.

"If I had to guess where the prisoners are being held, look for the place that has the most gathered heat signature," Peridot told Stevonnie. "Well, it's what I would do."

"How do we find that place then?" Stevonnie asked the small Crystal Gem.

"I believe Allura told us that the lions are equipped with Biothermal Life Indicator Point Technology?" Peridot reminded the pilot.

"Oh right, I forgot about BLIP-tech." Stevonnie embarrassedly admitted.

"BLIP-tech?" Peridot asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's an acronym." Stevonnie blatantly stated as she began activating Blue's scanner. "Anyway, I forgot we had it; but now, we can use it to find the Balmerans." Stevonnie started detecting a large amount of warm, orange energy on the small scanning device. "It looks like Blue found them. Let's go!"

The Blue Lion flew towards the detected energy as fast as it could; quickly flying towards a large, heavily armed bunker surrounded by sentry robots and docked fighters. It looked like prison camps that Connie read in her history books; the Balmeran's had to be here. "All right girl, take us in. Hang on, Peridot!" Stevonnie ordered their lion, who roared as she descended towards the small fortress.

"Let's freeze those fighters before they take off," Stevonnie said as she pulled the trigger and fired the crystalline energy beam from the Blue's jaws; encasing the ships, and everything it touched in ice; while being careful not to freeze the Balmera's surface too much.

"Hey, Peridot." Stevonnie turned to the green Gem with a mischievous grin. "You want to do something crazy?"

"Not really. But what did you have in mind." Peridot asked, slightly intrigued but at the same time not wanting to know.

"Do you trust me?" Stevonnie asked her.

"Of course," Peridot answered.

"Then grab on to me and don't let go," Stevonnie instructed the Crystal Gem, who nervously did as they said. "All right Blue, eject us!"

"Wait, wh… AHHHHHHHHHH!" Peridot screamed as she and the Blue Paladin were launched from the lion's mouth like a bullet and charging right towards the Galra structure. "Are you insane!"

"I told you it was crazy!" Stevonnie reminded as they flip their body to make sure their feet point toward the ground and start to run in mid-air; causing their descent to slow down to a speed Stevonnie wished. With the fall speed and trajectory calculated to their liking; the human Fusion reached for their Bayard and transformed it into its sword. Stevonnie grips the hilt of the weapon and swings as hard as they could at a caught off guard robot, just as they landed on the ground; slicing it in half.

The rest of the sentries raise their rifles and begin shooting at the Crystal Gems. Stevonnie summons their shield to protect themselves and Peridot; with the latter hopping off her friends back to grab the destroyed sentry's rifle, then jumping back on before firing it at the others.

Peridot managed to destroy several of the drones on her own before Stevonnie charged toward a small group of the machines with sword and shield in hand; decapitating them all with one, swift slice.

Just as the remaining drones pointed their weapons and prepared to fire; the Blue Lion lands and crushes all of them beneath its massive paws, before letting out a proud roar.

"Thanks, girl!" Stevonnie said to the mechanical beast, before turning to what she assumed to be the locked entrance to the encampment. "Would you mind getting the door, too!"

The Blue Lion locked her eyes on the metallic doors and fired a brighter blue beam from its mouth; which, after freezing the door, caused it to shatter on its own. Stevonnie gave their lion a thankful nod before charging into the prison.

"Guys, I'm on my way to taking out the ground base and getting the prisoners out of here!" Stevonnie informed Allura over the castle's communicators. "Is the Castle of Lion's close to landing?"

"We're almost there, Stevonnie," Allura answered. "The other Paladins are keeping the cruisers distracted; so, we should be landing in about twenty dobashes."

"Good to hear, I'll keep you updated. Blue Paladin, out." Stevonnie said lastly as the comms device deactivated.

"Coran, how much longer until the Balmera collapses?" Allura asked her advisor.

"According to my calculation, Princess. Roughly two varga or less." Coran informed.

"Then we must hurry," Allura said before activating the castle's communicators again. "Garnet. Pearl. Matthew. I need you all on the bridge; we'll need help with getting the Balmeran's situated into the castle."

"We're on our way." Garnet's voice said over the comms.

"Paladins, how are you doing out there?" Allura asked the three pilots.

"We're doing fine, Princess," Shiro answered. "We'll keep them distracted as long as we can."

"Thank you," Allura said before turning to Coran. "Coran, reroute weapon power to the particle barrier and engines. We'll ram past the cruisers if we have to."

"I'm on it, Princess." The bushy-lipped Altean said as he frantically carried out the sovereign's orders.

Allura did not know if they'd be able to save the Balmera; but nothing in this known universe is going to stop her from saving its inhabitants.


"Stop her!" A Galra soldier shouted just before he was hit in the head by Stevonnie's thrown shield; which bounced off and hit another soldier in the head, before returning to its owner.

Stevonnie shielded themselves and Peridot from the oncoming blast from several more soldiers before charging at them. The human Fusion leaped into the air and delivered a roundhouse kick to two of the opponents, knocking them out. The human Fusion grabbed another Galra and slammed the butt of their sword onto the soldier's head before tossing his unconscious body at three more Galra.

Stevonnie shielded themselves from the remaining Galra fire, before throwing their shield at a nearby wall; the bright pink disk bounced off the surface and slammed into the heads of the remaining soldiers.

"Something tells me more Galra will be on the way," Stevonnie said. "Let's find a key to the cells." With that said, Stevonnie and Peridot began searching the bodies of the unconscious guards for anything that resembled a key.

"I found something," Peridot announced as she pulled a strange device from a soldier's armor.

"That looks like a key." Stevonnie pointed out.

"One way to find out," Peridot said as the green Gem scurried over to a large door and placed the device on the alien scanner; which after a few seconds of beeping, turned green as the door slid open.

Inside the room were multiple cells with energy barriers; some of them were empty, but a vast majority of them were full of Balmeran's with varying sizes and colors. "Shay. Hunk. Are you guys in here?" Stevonnie loudly asked as the Crystal Gems entered the room.

"Stevonnie?" A familiar, innocent sounding voice said; one the human Fusion knew.

"Shay," Stevonnie said as they followed the sound; eventually arriving at the cell holding Shay, Hunk, and Rax.

"Stevonnie," Shay said with joy as she stood up with her equally happy mate; while Rax looked in disbelief. "I can't believe you're here."

"I wasn't going to leave any of you like this," Stevonnie said as Peridot deactivated the barriers with the key.

"Thank you, and nice armor by the way." Hunk complimented.

"Thanks." The human Fusion said with a blush.

"Why would you come back for us?" Rax questioned the Blue Paladin.

"Because we're that kind of people; you cowardly clod!" Peridot shouted at the Balmeran, kicking his shin; which he was unfazed by. "Amethyst told me what you did, which is why I'm kicking you. How do you like that, huh?"

"You're right." Rax lowly said, which caused Peridot to stop kicking. "Our life wasn't perfect, but our family remained whole and safe. I thought you coming here would jeopardize that; the Galra have taken so much from us already, I couldn't bear the thought of losing more. However, I was wrong about you, Stevonnie; you were trying to help, and I was too stubborn to accept it. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Rax," Stevonnie said, much to the Balmeran's surprise. "You were putting your family first; heck, if I were in your situation, I'd probably do the same thing to save the ones I love."

"Thank you," Rax said with a small, thankful smile.

"All right, we're getting everyone out of here," Stevonnie said. "How many Balmeran's are in the other cells?"

"Ninety-five, if you include the three of us." Hunk answered.

"Then we need to work fast," Stevonnie said. "Peridot, get the rest of the prisoners out; Shay. Hunk. Rax. I all your help to keep everyone calm. Some friends of mine are here to offer protection, but we need to move fast."

"We trust you, Stevonnie." Shay affirmingly said.

"Oh, I have one thing to ask you guys: do any of you know how to fight? Or use a weapon?" Stevonnie asked.

"Well, we're not the worst fighters." Hunk answered. "Why?"

"There are some knocked out Galra outside the room, but more are on the way," Stevonnie explained. "Anyone who can fight should pick up a weapon."

One firefight later, with thankfully zero casualties; Stevonnie, Peridot, and the Balmerans make it out of the prison camp; just as the Castle of Lions lands on planet's surface; roughly one mile away. "Perfect timing Allura," Stevonnie said through her helmets communicator. "I have ninety-five Balmeran's that need to be loaded on board."

"Understood," Allura said. "We have roughly eighty dobashes until the Balmera collapses; so, please hurry."

"Blue! I could use some help here!" Stevonnie shouted to their Lion, who let out a roar as she landed before the Paladin. "Blue can only carry twelve people at a time; so, women and children first. Peridot, I want you to go with the first group; once you're in the castle, help Allura and the others as best as you can."

"Roger!" Peridot saluted as she joined the mixture of a dozen female and child Balmerans. Once they were all loaded inside, the Blue Lion let out another roar as she returned to the Castle of Lions as fast as she could. Dropping off the Balmeran's and Peridot rather quickly, as Blue returned just as soon as she left.

"All right nex…" Stevonnie began to say; only to be cut off and knocked off balance as the ground shook violently as the Galra began firing down at the planet.

"Stevonnie!" Allura screamed into the communicator. "Are you all right?"

"The Balmeran's and I are fine. Are the Galra attacking the caste?" Stevonnie asked as she stood.

"No, they're not attacking the castle!" Coran's voice shouted instead. "They are attacking the Balmera. Our eighty dobashes has been sped up to sixty-five dobashes!"

"Now fifty-five dobashes!" Coran corrected. "They're going to kill the planet before we get off it!"

"Petal, we could use your assistance up here. Now!" Keith's voice shouted over the comms.

"I'm on it Broody!" Stevonnie replied, before turning to the rest of the Balmerans. "Change of plan, I have to draw the laser fire away from the planet; the rest of you need to return to the bunker for cover."

"We understand," Shay assured the Blue Paladin.

"Thank you, I'll be back soon." Stevonnie said as she quickly entered the Blue Lion and joined the other Paladins in the sky.


"Keep firing." Commander Prorok ordered, watching the destruction from the bridge of his cruiser. "The Paladins will put the safety of the locals before their own; once they are dead, we'll take the Lions to Zarkon."

"And what of the Balmera, sir." A Galra soldier asked.

"To the hell with it!" Prorok shouted. "We'll just find another one to mine. Also, isn'this the same strategy that the inquisition of the human Empire used to destroy its own planets? I will not be denied a victory this glorious, Zarkon will understand."


Peridot nearly stumbled as she made her way to the med bay to check on Pidge; making sure the disturbances outside do hinder her recovery. "Pidge. Lance. Pumpkin. Are you okay?" Peridot asked the human girl.

"We're fine Peridot," Pidge answered. "What's going on out there?"

"The Galra are attacking the Balmera," Peridot answered. "The others are trying to deal with the cruiser's, but I don't know if they'll be able to stop them before the planet dies."

"Well, that settles it then," Pidge said as she turned and proceeded to hop out of her bed; only to stopped by a concerned Lance.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? You're not at a hundred percent yet." Lance explained.

"It doesn't matter if I'm at my A-game or not," Pidge said to the Altean Prince. "We need to Green Lion out there to form Voltron."

"I promised Matthew I would keep an eye on you," Lance explained. "And make sure…"

"I know what you promised my brother." Pidge began. "But if I don't go out there, everyone and everything on this planet will be gone. As a Paladin of Voltron, I can't let that happen."

Lance remained quiet for a moment, looking at the determination the teenaged girls face; before letting out a defeated sigh. "All right. But you better come back alive, or your brother is going to kill me."

"I will," Pidge assured the Prince, giving him a grateful smile; before turning to Peridot. "You ready, Peri?"

Peridot answered Pidge by giving her a confident smile and nod. "I'll get your armor."


"Take out those weapons but be careful!" Shiro ordered the other Paladins as the Black, Red, Blue and Yellow Lion's target individual cruisers.

The Blue Lion fires its crystalline beam at the enemy cannons; encasing the barrels in full amounts of frost while being careful to avoid the other weapons.

The Red Lion flew under the belly of its targeted ship and launched a burning red beam at the hostile cannons; melting down one row before starting on the next row.

The Yellow Lion and her excitable pilot proceeded to bulldoze through all their targeted ships weapons; breaking them off their vessel as they plowed through one cannon after the other.

The Black Lion was quick enough to disable two ships at a time by slicing their weapons off with the lead lion's mouth-blade.

However, despite the Paladin's efforts, there were still too many cruisers firing on the planet.

"This is going too slow," Amethyst complained over the communicators. "Coran, how much time does the Balmera have?"

"I'm afraid half of a varga," Coran explained in a low tone. "We are loading Balmeran's onto the castle to evacuate them, but the rate we are currently going isn't fast enough."

"We need a new plan," Keith added in.

"And I'm here to give you one." Pidge's voice said over the communicator as the Green Lion broke through the planet's atmosphere, much to everyone's surprise.

"Pidge! What are you doing here?" Stevonnie loudly asked, with worry for their friend; especially due to her injury. "Aren't you supposed to be recovering in the med bay?"

"I am, but I'm not going to sit by while you guys risk your lives," Pidge stated.

"You can try talking her out of it," Peridot explained. "But she's not going to take no for an answer."

"Well, it's good to have you here," Shiro said. "Let's do this Paladins! Form Voltron!"


The five lions let out a mighty roar as they soared up into the heavens. The Black Lion's body altered itself; retracting its fore-legs and back-legs and rising vertically upwards; extending out its connector stubs.

"Form feet and legs!" The Blue and Yellow Lion, followed behind their leader; retracting their fore-legs and back-legs, before bending their heads forward in the ninety-degree angle; instantly connecting themselves with the back-leg stubs of the Black Lion.

"Form arms and body!" The Red and Green Lion's soared along aside its leader; retracting their fore-legs and back-legs and extending their heads and bodies forward, before attaching themselves to the fore-leg stubs of the Black Lion.

"And I'll form the head!" As soon as the four, multicolored lions attached themselves to the Black Lion, the lead beast opened its maw to reveal the face of Voltron: Defender of the Universe.


"Pidge, activate the shield!" Shiro ordered the Green Paladin.

"You got it, Chief!" Pidge shouted as she formed Voltron's shield.

"Keith, form sword!" Shiro ordered the Red Paladin.

"On it!" Keith responded as he thrusts his Red Bayard into the lion's activation slot. The right arm of Voltron flashes a bright red before a large blade appears in his hand.

"Let's hit them with everything we got!" Shiro ordered as he and the rest of the Paladins max out Voltron's thrusters; charging at cruisers with unmatchable speed as all the pilots let a passion filled war cry. With one strike from his sword, Voltron slices through an entire ship with ease; which is then consumed by a series of explosions.


As the explosions continued going off from behind, Voltron had already set his eyes on another cruiser, which met a similar fate.

"No! No! No! No! No! This can't be happening!" Prorok panicked as he saw Voltron destroy another one of his ships. "All weapons, target Voltron!"

"Shield up!" Shiro ordered as Voltron raised his shield to deflect the blasts from the remaining enemy vessels.

"The shield is adding too much weight," Pidge explained. "It's hindering our ability to dodge."

Stevonnie.

"Guys, Blue is talking to me," Stevonnie said. Before she could ask the Blue Lion wanted what she wanted, a compartment opens near the control panel; revealing a slot with a shape like their Blue Bayard. Stevonnie knew what she wanted, as Keith had told the other Paladins about this during their battle against Sendak.

Blue energy began to surround Stevonnie's entire body as they thrust their Bayard into the slot with a passion-filled cry. The right leg of Voltron flashes a similar radiance before the energy crawls up the robot's body to left arm; where the shield disappears and in its place is another saber.

Voltron's speed suddenly increased to the point where everything else appeared to move in slow motion; successfully dodging the once tricky to avoid laser blasts. With this new speed, Voltron proceeds to make quick work of all the remaining Galra ships; demolishing them all in precisely ten ticks… All save for one.


"All crewmembers, evacuate to escape pods!" Prorok ordered as he ran to the nearest one that could find. The Galra Commander wished to live to fight another day than go down with his ship; which was immediately destroyed just as his pod ejected. Once he was at a safe distance, Prorok entered his pods coordinates for the nearest Galra colony; once there, he would take a ship back to Castle Doom and explain his failure to Zarkon. In the back of Prorok's mind, he was silently praying his Emperor would show him mercy.


"Allura, the Galra have been taken care of," Shiro informs the Princess over Voltron's communicator.

"Excellent," Allura said to the Black Paladin. "We can halt the evacuation of the planet for the time being; so, we can attempt a rejuvenation ritual and try to save the Balmera."

"Understood," Shiro said. "We'll meet on the ground."

"Oh, Pidge." Matthew's voice irritatingly said over the comms. "I know you're listening to this, and when you get back on the ground; you are in so much trouble young lady. I mean... you nearly scared me half to death when I found out Green was airborne."

"I know Matthew." Pidge apologized. "And I'm sorry, but I had to…"

Before the youngest Holt sibling could continue with her apology; a large, meteor-like object zoomed past Voltron and entered the planet's atmosphere.

"What the quiznack!" Pidge shouted in shock. "Something is crashing down on the Balmera."

Without a second thought, Voltron flew forward as fast as he could; following the unknown meteor. Landing on the ground, just as the unidentified object crashed miles away from the Castle of Lion; kicking up a blindingly large amount of dust. Once said dust cleared away; what stood before the mighty robot, the Castle, and the speechless Balmeran people was a building-sized coffin.

"What is that thing?" Stevonnie asked themselves and the other Paladins.

"This is not good," Keith said with what sounded like anxiety in his tone; like he knew exactly what it was. Steam shot out from all directions of the coffin, as its front slowly creaked open.