Chapter 1

A/N: so, this is the rewrite of the previous story. Looking back on it, I realized I had a few more things I needed to flesh out based on new updates within the game.

Like the initial version: Terra and Earth are different planets, Guardians can have kids that can be Guardians, Awoken are a different race from humans, etc.

Now, I should mention that this story does need to follow the line of the main series plot for a while before I can intertwine more Destiny elements into it—trust me I thought about starting later and tried, but, unfortunately, that didn't work out as I hoped.

Ok, so with that out of the way, I just own my OCs and the story. Voltron Legendary Defender and Destiny aren't mine.

Ice crunched softly under the boots of several figures moving over the icy landscape, the sound barely being heard in the almost nonexistent atmosphere of the moon they stood on. Two of them stood next to a crane, pulling up something from the ground. "Careful son, this ice is delicate," one of them warned gently as the smaller figure grabbed the column of ice.

Behind the glass of his helmet, the smaller man gave a smile as he carefully set the ice core into a container. "Amazing, isn't it Shiro?" he asked, turning his head in the direction to two others standing nearby.

The larger one in a similar uniform laughed, a smile visible through his helmet, "You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do."

By his side, a slender figure in a darker suit made a motion of rolling their eyes. "Give me a fighter mission any day. I don't know why I was chosen for this of all things," a feminine voice scoffed.

"Aw come on Jaz, you know you love us," one whined. "Besides, everyone wanted to be sure this mission had the best pilots in the solar system. Plus it's probably good for the alliance between our people."

"True."

"All right, all of you, that's enough," their leader spoke, stepping between them all. "This is history in the making. We've traveled further than anyone in our system has before; this ice sample could lead to clues of life beyond our solar system."

"Think about it! We could be the first to meet aliens!"

Jaz put her hands on her hips, "What? Darvah and I aren't enough for you?"

"What?" a figure further away spoke up, turning to face them, four red eyes blinking in confusion. "Did someone call me?" Not receiving an answer, the four-armed being shrugged, continuing to type on the computer in front of him.

"Well, unless you want to confirm my conspiracy theories, then you guys lost your cool after the first hundred years. Speaking of conspiracies, what the heck happened to Prince Uldren? His sister vanishes into thin air and he's nowhere to be found? Did he kill her? I know I heard one rumor that he went bonkers—or was it that he disappeared too? Either way, what happened?"

"Matt."

"Yes?" the rambling scientist grinned.

"Shut up."

"Commander Holt," Darvah called. Jogging over, the others almost stumbled as his heavy steps shook the delicate ice, but thankfully, their chosen location was thick enough to support their combined weight. "We've got a problem," he typed of his pad, holding it out to the oldest of the group, "scanners are picking up something, something big."

The ground trembled under their feet again, cracks forming in the ice from the sheer force of the vibrations. "Seismic activity?" the commander questioned.

"No," Matt whispered as he scrambled back to his feet, watching as a shadow began to cover the valley as something began to move towards them. "I'm guess it was that."

Following his gaze, they all saw a massive purple ship entering the area.

"Back to the ship! Now!"

Turning to run, the ice continued to crack underneath them as the ship fired something at them. A bright violet light consumed the group before all were plunged into darkness.

-.-

Pain, that was the first thing Shiro registered as consciousness began to return to him. His head throbbed with every pulse of his heart, amplified only by his acknowledgement and recognition of the pain. He was vaguely aware he was leaning forwards on his knees. What happened? Did he black out? Did he have some sort of episode?

It was only when he tried to move his arms and heard an angry growl he began to realize something wasn't quite right. Forcing his eyes open, Shiro blinked a few times, trying to focus on the environment around him. It definitely wasn't the pristine silvery surface of Kerberos, nor was it the bland gray and orange interior of their ship. No, this place was dark, sinister even. Glowing red-violet light surrounded them, and he could make out a figure talking to a dark shadow with glowing eyes on some sort of holographic screen.

"Eyrolul Zarkon, to tolo ntuwraml nbnroy X-9-Y en uldolod twom to auwmd rwono rlayararo ntaomranrn."

Shiro blinked, his stomach dropping. He didn't know that language. Eyes widening he looked to either side of him to see if his crew was alright. Commander Holt and Matt appeared to be unconscious still, meanwhile, both Jaz and Darvah were eyeing their captors warily.

"I dum'r rwamp rwob pmut embrwaml wnoaws," the one at the screen spoke.

Shiro shivered as the glowing eyes of the shadowed figure narrowed. It felt like that thing—whatever it was—was starting right at him, or maybe right through him. Either way, it felt like this thing did not mean them well. Tepo rwoy vetp ru rwo yeahm asoor aul amrolluleraum. Two dlwadn tass aamd uwr twer rwob pmut."

Even the voice of the mysterious being sounded sinister. "Please!" Shiro spoke out, his heart pounding in his chest as he felt the eyes of the monster and the others around turn to him. Swallowing his fear, he continued to speak, these people—these aliens—had to know they weren't a threat, that they were not their enemy. "We come from peaceful planets! We're unarmed! We mean you no harm! Please just let us go!"

His answer was the butt of some sort of gun slamming into his head, making it spin. During that time, he was vaguely aware of claws digging into his arms, dragging him from the room. His arms hurt as they were pulled back by the men dragging him. Shiro's boots scrapped the ground as he tried to get his feet under him, but each attempt was met with another hit.

Gasping as the air was knocked from his lungs by the blaster hitting his gut, he gave up on trying to get up. Instead he looked up, watching the others behind him as they too were escorted down the path by armed guards. On either side of them, he could see doors and at moments he swore he saw faces peering out. A lump formed in his throat as they passed a window, he couldn't see anything familiar. All he saw was rows and rows of endless cells.

-.-

1 year later

The thrum of an engine could be heard in the desert night as a lone young man sat on a hoverbike, a gentle desert breeze ruffling his hair as he watched the sky. By his side, a flash of light came as a small droid of sorts materialized. Its multifaceted shell shifted as the lone blue eye blinked towards the young man, "So…what do you think the carvings in those caves were saying was going to happen?"

Violet eyes glanced its way, and the young man shrugged. "Who knows," he replied, resting his arm on the handles of the speeder. "All it said is something was supposed to happen today. Hopefully it'll be something that will let us get off this rock."

The small droid's shell shifted again, "We do have our own ships?"

"True, but that won't help us figure out what happened to our friends."

The little eye glanced away, before it turned back, "Do you think it has something to do with that weird signal I've been detecting?"

"You do know that's what lead us to this date, right?" the man snickered.

"Oh, yeah."

"Relax Yorak," he said, patting the top of the small shell, "It'll be fine."

Yorak's shell twitched, "Do things ever turn out well for us Keith?"

Keith raised an eyebrow as he looked at his ghost. "I thought I was supposed to be the pessimist in this relationship?"

"I am merely stating a fact," the ghost answered. "We don't exactly have the best of luck. What are the odds that an unknown alien race would attack Kerberos? Cause based on the data we got from Petra, it definitely wasn't any of our usual enemies; none of them use tractor beams. Plus, they would've left bodies. You know what that means?"

"No, what?" Keith inquired.

"That means we don't know who we're up against! It could be anything! What if they're stronger than us?! What if they're stronger than the Hive? The Cabal? The Vex? We're screwed!"

"They could be weaker too," Keith pointed out.

The ghost blinked, "Well…true. But the fact is we don't know."

"Well," Keith smirked, "we do know that we're the only ones who can revive. So even if they kill me a hundred times, I'll still come back to kick their asses. Guardians are hard to kill."

"True but—" Yorak started to protest before stopping as he spotted something. "Incoming object in atmosphere."

The small ghost vanished in a flash as Keith's helmet materialized. Almost immediately, the scanners locked onto a fireball falling from the sky. It soared past the peaks he sat on, the heat radiating through his armor as it moved past. The ground shook as it made impact, sending plumes of sand into the air as it skipped along the desert landscape.

He could already hear the sirens of the Garrison. It wouldn't be long before they secured the site. His engine revved as he spun on a dime, dust in his wake as he shot down the canyons towards the flats, dropping a few explosives as he went.

Light moved under his hands, spreading over his speeder as the smaller one changed into a larger white one with red racing stripes. While it was slower, it would be easier to use to transport anything he found at the site if it couldn't go into the subspace storage he normally used.

Cutting the engine early, Keith coasted towards some larger rocks beside the hastily constructed Garrison quarantine. He could see people inspecting what looked like some sort of ship on the outside, which meant whatever of importance was inside the facility.

Several explosions rocked the valley as the timers went off. Leaping from his bike, he crouched behind the boulders, watched as guards scrambled to their vehicles. Doors were barely slamming shut as engines started up and the vehicles were driving away to no doubt investigate what happened.

And their hasty departure made his mission that much easier.

The doors of the quarantine facility hissed open, revealing three surprised techs in hazmat suits standing around two tables. "Hey!" one of them protested, running at him. The man threw a sloppy punch at him, and the young Guardian merely stepped aside, allowing the man to stumble from the momentum. Grabbing his arm, Keith kicked his legs out from under him as he tossed the man to the side. By this point, the other two had seemingly recovered from their shock. One charged at him, and Keith ducked under his hit before swiping his feet from under him. As he fell, the Guardian grabbed the tech's arm and swung him like a bat into his comrade, knocking both across the room.

Now that the nuisances were out of the way, he could see what had crashed. Turning to the tables, Keith deactivated to make sure his helmet wasn't malfunctioning. On the table closest to him, a familiar face lied on it, clearly unconscious. The stupid forelock of once black hair had turned to a stark white, once tan skin was now pale, one arm appeared to be robotic, and an ugly scar crossed the bridge of his nose; but it was still easy to identify his friend and brother in everything but blood and light. "Shiro?" he whispered in shock. Head snapping to the other table, he was greeted by another familiar face of one of his closest friends. An Awoken Woman was sprawled on the other table, her once short azure hair now brushing past her shoulders with one silvery streak in it. "Jaz?"

Keith shook his head, revelations aside. He still needed to get them out. Pulling his dagger from his belt, he quickly cut the bonds holding his friends hostage. Now he had to get them both out quickly.

"You?!" a voice exclaimed.

Whirling on his heel, Keith raised his fists, small sparks running over his knuckles as he came face to face with not Garrison officials like he'd been expecting, but three teens, one of which looked suspiciously like Matt Holt. It was probably his little sister Katie, whom, like him, had been trying to figure out what happened to the Kerberos mission.

The lanky one in the front scowled as he stomped over. "No! Nope! No, no, no you don't! I'm saving Shiro and Jaz!" he growled trying—and failing to pick up Shiro.

Traveler he did not have time for this. "Who are you?" Keith snarled.

"Who am I?" the boy scoffed, as if it were obvious. "The name's Lance."

Well that answered absolutely nothing. This idiot didn't look remotely familiar. Though he did remind him of some idiot back in the Garrison, what was his name? Taylor? "Were you an engineer?"

The other guy's jaw dropped. "What?! No! I'm not an engineer! I'm a pilot! We were rivals! You know, Lance and Keith, neck in neck."

So it was the idiot who insisted they were archnemeses for no reason. "Right, the annoying know-it-all cargo pilot."

"Fighter since you washed out," he raised his head smugly.

"Tell it to someone who cares," Keith grumbled picking up Shiro, since it looked like the lankier boy was three seconds away from dropping him. "You and the big guy, get Jaz. Drop her, I break your arms."

With that threat, Keith tossed Shiro over his shoulder and ran outside to his sparrow. It didn't take long for the trio carrying Jaz to catch up. Handing Shiro's limp form to the larger of the group, Keith swung up onto his bike, pulling the two unconscious pilots onto his bike. What he didn't expect was for the rest of them to climb on the bike as well, causing the end to tip back, landing on the ground with a loud clang.

Keith grimaced, that would be a pain to buff out later.

"Can this thing hold all of us?" Katie questioned.

"No," Keith grumbled, reactivating his helmet, ignoring the surprised exclamations of those behind him. His scanner flashed, and Keith scowled as he got the signals of the Garrison's guards returning. As much as he detested having the extra weight, he didn't have time to argue. They'd be there soon and if they caught him, well, Keith didn't like to think of that.

The bike roared as he spun it around, creating a plume of sand that would hopefully cover their tracks. However, it didn't; the red light on his scanner still flashed as the red pinpricks appeared behind him, gaining fast.

"Can this thing go any faster?!" one of the unwelcome sidekicks exclaimed.

"We could get rid of some non-essential weight."

"Ok!" For a moment, Keith hoped one of them would actually leap off; preferably the annoying lanky guy. "Wait…" he seemed to realize, "that was an insult."

More of a fact, but Keith couldn't bring himself to care. Now, they were entering the canyons, where they could have a legitimate chance of ditching their tails. "Big guy, lean left!" he ordered revving the engine. Without waiting for a response, Keith kicked the bike to its highest gear and swung left towards the ledge, leaping across the narrow crevasse onto another natural path leading higher up the ridge.

"Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery!"

Good, that meant he only had two more targets to eliminate. Speeding up the ridge, he grinned as he saw his chance.

"Uh…is that a cliff?!"

"Yep," Keith replied, leaning forwards as they sped forwards. Leaping off the edge, he could barely hear his own thoughts over the sound of the trio's screaming.

"YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US ALL!"

"Trust me," Keith hissed. Hitting the brakes, he pulled up, causing the rotors to swerve, creating lift as the approached the bottom of the cliff. Instead of crashing, the bike merely revved as it continued to speed away from the Garrison.

To his relief, the trio of idiots went quiet. Either passed out from fright or processing the fact they weren't dead, whichever it was, Keith didn't particularly care. All he wanted was some peace and quiet for a little bit.

Something, his ghost, unlike these three could understand. He could feel a tightness release in his chest as Yorak let him know that the danger had passed. They were off Garrison grounds and on his own family's private lands. And they wouldn't dare enter his territory without his permission, not without risking the wrath of his people. Things were tedious between the Guardians and the people of Earth as it was—well, the people that knew they existed.

Keith sighed as he spotted his house on the horizon. Wouldn't be long now before he was no doubt bombarded with questions and chatter. But that would have to wait till after Shiro and Jaz were fully checked over for injuries. His friends were the priority.

Coasting to a stop, Keith grimaced as the tail end of his sparrow hit the ground with another loud clang, no doubt, if there hadn't been a dent before, there was now. He slid off the bike, taking Shiro from Matt's sister as she tried to pull the unconscious man off. Glancing at the other two, he watched as Lance and the taller boy with a bandana worked together to lift Jaz off. Keith sighed, shaking his head as he walked over to the door, unlocking it. The old door creaked open, prompting a grey and orange robot to look up from where it was sweeping. Thankfully, it looked away continuing to do its job as he walked into the Master bedroom and set Shiro down.

Already, he could hear thuds as no doubt Tweedledee and Tweedledumb struggled to figure out what they were supposed to do. Waving his hand, Keith watched as Yorak materialized over his palm, blinking up at him. "Run a scan on Shiro for me while I go get Jaz."

"What do I look like, a medical droid?" the ghost scoffed.

"Yorak," Keith grit his teeth, "now is not the time." He didn't bother to wait for his ghost's answer as he stomped out. Thankfully, his ghost knew better than to follow, but he could still sense his irritation across their bond. Keith sighed, feeling a small form of tightness in his chest. He didn't need to snap at his ghost, it wasn't like this situation was his fault. And frankly, Keith didn't like being farther than necessary from his ghost either; especially not after…after what happened.

"Where's Shiro?" the annoying one—Lance if he recalled correctly—demanded.

"Getting rest," Keith deadpanned, scooping Jaz from his arms with little effort. "You guys wait out here."

"Excuse me, who put you in charge!"

"My house, my rules," he snapped. "Go into the living room, stay in there. Do not touch anything." With a final warning glare, Keith stomped back to his father's room, setting the injured Awoken woman down beside Shiro. "Well?"

"Shiro has a minor concussion, most likely from the crash," Yorak answered. "From what I can tell, he seems to also have a few minor burns as well as some old scars, but…his arm…"

"Replaced with some sort of prosthetic?" Keith finished looking at the limb. It was easy to tell. He'd grown up seeing plenty of people who'd had robotic limbs. Though he wasn't totally familiar with this design pattern. It definitely wasn't a Terran, Fallen, or Awoken design, and it definitely wasn't from Earth. So he hadn't been treated medically by any of them. The design wasn't Cabal either—not that they'd leave any prisoners alive. But at least he had some reassurance that it wasn't any of the normal enemies. Whoever took them, left prisoners alive, which was good. That meant Matt and Commander Holt were likely alive as well—probably injured given the states of his friends, but alive. "And Jaz?"

Yorak's shell spun as he floated over to the Awoken woman, his eye glowing as a beam of light passed over her. "Minor burns on her right arm, and possibly a sprained wrist. She also has scarring, but it's not as bad as Shiro's."

Keith nodded, nothing was life threatening and required immediate medical attention. But still, handling their burns wouldn't be much of a problem. Walking to the bathroom, he pulled a first aid kit from the cabinet and opened, pulling out bandages, disinfectant, and burn cream. Closing the case, he moved back to the bed. "Ok, so where are the burns?"

"Shiro's are right here," Yorak replied, flashing his scanner over a portion of his arm. He floated over Jaz, "and Jaz's are here," he pointed out parts of her forearm and part of her leg.

With a nod, Keith pulled out his knife and began to cut away the cloth covering the injuries. Once he finished this, then he could get some rest. After all, it was going to take a few hours for the drugs in their systems to wear off.