The Paladins plus Coran entered the headquarters already a buzz with diplomatic leaders and assistants. There was a noticeable lack of security in the building which led Hunk to nudge Lance and point it out as if he was saying. Told you.

Pidge watched as people leaned close to their companions and chatter excitedly while pointing to an object or screen. She looked to find Shiro conversing with a native of Olkari. She didn't recognize him, from what she could tell was that he was only there for the meeting.

She smiled as she approached trying to remember the first thing about greeting someone. Both Shiro and the Olkari turned to face her almost immediately the Olkari took her hand and shook it.

"Paladin Pidge, so nice of you to join us," he said casually. Pidge nodded withdrawing her hand once he released it. The Olkari seemed to notice her lack of response and turned back to Shiro. She bit her lip as she mentally slapped herself. A voiced response would've probably been better, she thought.

She was only thirty feet into the door and she was already screwing things up. How did Allura manage to do this? As casually as she could she glanced around hoping to find another conversation to join since this one was going nowhere for her.

Pidge turned when a hand was placed on her back. She found another Olkari around her height looking back at her with wide eyes. "Paladin Pidge?"

She started to nod only to stop herself and clear her throat. "Yes, that's me."

The Olkari looked overjoyed to see her clasping her hands together, "Oh boy! Okay!" she took deep breaths calming her excitement. Lowering her head she said in a more solemn tone, "I'm sorry that was not very proper of me-" She glanced up, holding a hand out behind her- "I'm here to escort you to the meeting."

Pidge nodded, "Alright let me just grab my friends," She turned to leave only for the Olkari to grab her arm holding her back.

"They can not enter the room, only the diplomatic leaders may. If they wish to wait here they may otherwise we will ask that they leave."

"Oh...Here's fine," she glanced back at her friends as she left the room. Guess they do have specific guidelines in place for the leader's safety and security.

XxX

It didn't take long for them to reach the large metallic doors they stood in front of now. The doors reached just above the normal height for a door. Surrounding the door were others just like it. Each one had a keycard lock which the Olkari seemed to have. As she went to slide it the door slid open revealing, yet another Olkari with a tech uniform on and a bag gripped in his hand. If he was surprised to see them he hid it well. He tipped his hat to them both and went on his way. Pidge followed him with her eyes down the hallway and around the corner an uneasy feeling gnawing at her stomach.

"The meeting will begin shortly," The Olkari said stepping to the side allowing her access to the room.

"Thank you..." She trailed off not knowing the kind girl's name.

"Oksana."

"Thank you, Oksana," Pidge repeated.

XxX

Stepping into the room Pidge immediately noticed the long table situated in the middle of the room with a podium at one end. Her steps echoed as she made her way to the table her eyes following the intricate designs on the floor and wall. There was a line of pillars around the room decorated in all kinds of crystals and jewels that captured her attention almost immediately.

Placing her hands on the smooth metal of the chair she pulled it out. She winced as the chair scraped across the floor, once she had pulled it out far enough she sat down not bothering to pull it back in. Almost immediately the door slid open and a huge group of aliens entered sitting down in any chair they could find.

Pidge watched wide-eyed her hands clasped together as she watched the others get settled laughing and talking as they did.

A small ding sounded from the end of the table marking the beginning of the meeting. An Olkari host was standing at the podium in formal attire fit for the occasion. It was a simple robe with a sash hanging from his right shoulder and angling down towards his left hip. The sash itself was a vibrant red with gold stitching.

"I'm sure you all are eager to discuss the matters at hand, but first let us eat!" He let out a hearty laugh motioning for the servers to come forward.

Confused as to why they were allowing so many people into the room she tapped her neighbor on the arm getting their attention. "I thought only the diplomatic leaders were allowed in here?"

The man turned towards her. He had bright blue tribal marks on his face decorating his tan skin. He had cat-like ears that twitched every so often. "The host and his servers have special clearance."

He picked up a piece of food that could easily be mistaken for chicken although she was pretty sure that was not the case. "First time I'm guessing?"

She swallowed her bite placing the food down on her plate, "Is it that obvious?"

He shrugged, "you were the first person in the room weren't you?"

"Yeah, but how does that determine if this is my first diplomatic meeting or not? What if I'm just an extremely punctual person?"

"Well usually before the meetings we gather together allowing ourselves to be informal with each other allowing us to get to know each other before the meeting."

"Oh..."

"It helps with nerves and it also helps us realize that we are just talking to another person."

"I respect that," Pidge replied taking another bite of her mysterious chicken.

XxX

The plates had been cleared nearly an hour ago and Pidge was listening to the same issue being argued over. She leaned back in her chair acting as if she was still being attentive and listening but her mind was a million miles away.

She had to keep herself from smiling. She had no idea why she had even attempted to remove Shiro's hand from her door, there was no way that she was going to win that. Shiro had been so insistent on talking to her that it was almost fun for her to try and avoid him. Although she had been angry with him the first couple of days she kinda enjoyed the attention. Now she knew that she shouldn't find it funny that he was legitimately trying to apologize only for her to turn him away but she couldn't help it. He became so cute when he was frustrated.

The alien from earlier nudged her shoulder and she was jolted from her trance only to hear a question being asked.

"Pidge would you like to say a few things about the coalition?"

Her stomach was flipping over and over again as she stood and approached the podium. All eyes were on her as she cleared her throat before she began.

"As you all know the Princess of Altea was killed during a mission that had gone south..." Murmurs of condolences reached her ears, "...as Allura's wish I'm here before you today as the new diplomatic leader for the coalition. I'm the one that will keep you posted about improvements and new planets that have joined our cause..."

That was strange she thought she heard ticking, shaking her head she continued.

"I want to thank you all for coming to this meeting and joining our cause and fight against the Galra, the Paladins of Voltron couldn't do what they do without your support..."

Okay, now the ticking was getting more persistent, glancing down she gasped at what she saw. A time bomb was strapped to the podium set to go off in less than a minute. With no time to waste she grabbed everyone's attention.

"Everyone I need you to pay close attention, right at this moment there is a bomb strapped to the podium with thirty seconds left-" she pointed towards the door- "I need everyone to exit calmly and quietly but as quickly as possible." everyone nodded and stood from their chairs.

Once everyone was in motion she bent to get a closer look at the bomb. The time clicked closer to zero, she was running out of time. After closer examination, she discovered that there was no way for her to remove the bomb without it going off.

A ruckus at the door grabbed her attention. She glanced over to find a huge mob of aliens and creatures alike all trying to open the door.

"Hey what's going on?"

"The door! It's locked!"

"We can't get out!"

"We're going to die!"

One alien right after the other responded shouting over each other. Pidge glanced around the room looking for an alternate exit route. Surprise! Surprise! There were none.

5...

There were less than ten seconds left and she had a huge mob freaking out.

4...

There were less than ten seconds and she had no plan, she couldn't think. She was a paladin of voltron able to work under pressure, but for some reason couldn't think straight in this situation.

3...

She was going to die this was it. She stared at the group pounding at the door yelling for help. She willed herself to join them, but her body only took a few steps in that direction.

2..

she glanced back over at the bomb with the time almost out she saw everything go in slow motion. The crowd pushing and shoving getting closer to the door. She noticed how her dress swished back and forth as she turned between the two.

1..

Then all at once, everything went black.