Chapter 10

A/N: hey everyone! Welcome back! Good to see y'all again! Anyways, I just own my OCs and the story, nothing else is mine.

/comms/

Telepathy

Flashbacks

Smoke filled the hall as the group raced towards the source of the explosion they'd heard. Up ahead, they could hear the sound of coughing as a figure seemed to slowly sit up; getting closer, they could all see it was Coran.

"What happened?" Shiro asked, helping the advisor to his feet.

Coran gave another cough, rubbing a bruise forming on his forehead, "I'm not sure."

"The crystal," Allura gasped as she looked up into the room, her blue-pink eyes widening as she saw the fragments of the main-energy source. Taking another step forwards, a soft groan drew her attention and she looked down, "Lance!"

Drawn by her shout, the others raced over, Shiro and Jaz being the first to kneel by his side. "Lance?" Shiro spoke, gently shaking his shoulder, "Lance?!"

Frowning, Jaz gently pushed her friend off as she assessed the Blue Paladin's injuries. He was burned, not severe, but enough to say he'd been caught in the explosion; she would bet he'd fractured something too given his labored breathing. Lying him flat, she pressed her fingers to his neck, almost sagging with relief as she found a pulse. "He's alive, unresponsive, but alive," she said. "He has minor burns, a few possible fractures to his ribs, and" she motioned to the blood trickling down his brow, "a head injury, depending on the severity we'll need to watch for a concussion."

"We need to get him to the infirmary!" Pidge exclaimed.

"We can't," Allura spoke up, "without the crystal the Castle has no power."

"He doesn't look good," Shiro murmured.

"Then we'll just have to make do in the meantime," Jaz replied pulling her hair back. "I'm no expert in healing magic, but I'll do what I can. Hunk, Pidge, go get me what clean water you can find. Shiro, Coran, bandages and burn cream. Allura, you stay and help me move him to a bed or something. Keith, go clear out the Arusians and keep watch; this was a deliberate attack, we don't want them to get the drop on us again."

"Lion Warriors!" a voice interrupted and they all turned to see the Arusian king running towards them. "Our village is under attack! We need help!"

"Draaf," Jaz cursed. "Allura, are the lions available?"

The other woman shook her head. "They're sealed in their hangars. There's no way to get them out. We're defenseless."

That's exactly what she was afraid of.

"This is bad," Hunk whimpered.

"Will you not help us?" the king asked.

"We will, we just…" Keith trailed off. "We're going to have to redirect duties. I'll go check up on the village."

"I'm coming with you," Allura agreed. "I brought this on the poor Arusians, I must amend that mistake."

"No, it's too dangerous."

"You may need backup," Shiro chimed in.

"In the meantime, we're going to need another crystal to get the Castle up an running again," Coran continued. "But to do that we need a ship."

"The pod I was loading!" Pidge exclaimed. "I left the bay doors open! We can use that!"

"I can scan the area to see if there's a balmera nearby. Hunk, come with me, I need someone big to help me carry that crystal."

"A balmera?"

"I'll explain on the way!" Coran said as he ran out of the room, the Yellow and Green Paladins on his heels.

"Pidge!" Jaz called. "On your way back, bring me the supplies I asked for. Shiro, I'm going to need you to stand guard, I have a feeling whoever's responsible for this will be here soon."

Nodding, Shiro ran out with Keith and Allura. Their footsteps echoed loudly down the stairs as they raced down the dark halls and he came to a stop at the main entrance as Keith and Allura continued their run towards the village.

Shiro could feel his hair standing on end. How? How had this happened? They'd been standing at the only entrance for the whole night, how did an attack slip through?

It couldn't have been through the hangar Pidge was using, that was facing towards the water and was perched high above sheer, rocky cliffs surrounded by ranging waters and winds. There was no way something small enough to sneak by them would survive the trip, much less make it inside without tripping some sort of alarm. It had to have come through the main entrance.

But, he and Jaz had been watching. The only things going in and out were themselves and the Arusians.

Unless…unless was disguised as something? Or came in while they had been distracted. That was the only way to account for something being able to get in right under their noses.

Though he didn't have much time to contemplate what happened further as he spotted a group coming towards him from the bridge. And even from where he stood, he could still see the glowing yellow eye and the purple glowing prosthetic he recognized all too well. "Sendak."

"Stand aside."

Activating his arm, Shiro settled into a fighting stance, "No. You're not getting in here."

"Yes, I am."

The energy link on the Galra's prosthetic flared, small arcs of energy branching off of it before the limb came flying at him. Eyes widening, Shiro rolled to the side as the talons dug into the ground of where he once stood.

Unfortunately, he was so distracted by the arm, he momentarily forgot about the owner. Spotting movement out of the corner of his eye, Shiro took a step back as sharp claws arced by his face as Sendak made his move. His fist glowed as he threw a punch, the metal sparking off the limb of his opponent as the prosthetic retracted. Gritting his teeth, Shiro jumped up, vaulting himself off the Galra's stomach and rolling back to his feet.

The impact of Sendak's fist hitting his own nearly made Shiro gasp as he felt his bones rattle, a dull ache blooming around where the limb integrated with his flesh. He hoped it wasn't serious.

Above him, Sendak bared his fangs, his ears pinned back, "I see you spend some time with the druids; they do love to experiment. Too bad you didn't get the latest model."

Before Shiro could figure out what he meant, the energy cord flared and Shiro grunted as the limb shot forwards. It sent Shiro flying into the air, and hand him skipping along the ground through the Castle's threshold into the foyer. Shiro could taste copper on his tongue as he got up, quickly rolling to the side as Sendak's talons flew down at him again, the metal digits burying themselves deep into the ground. Jumping to his feet, Shiro crouched as Sendak leapt at him. Grabbing the Commander's arm, Shiro twisted, using his opponent's momentum to throw him overhead. Taking his chance, Shiro leapt forwards, sliding under swiping claws to level his prosthetic at his enemy's throat.

However, Sendak had managed to do the same.

Heat rippled from the tips of the massive claws, slowly causing sweat to bead along his jaw, making the Black Paladin very aware of how close the daggers were to his throat. Shiro only hoped that his opponent felt the same way. Being stuck in a stalemate and waiting for back up was better than nothing.

Unfortunately, the sound of a blaster powering up behind his head told him that the odds currently weren't in his favor.

-.-

Jaz bit her lip as she glanced between Lance and the door. Already she could hear the faint echoes of fighting. The Galra were already there, plus, the noise was too faint for her to tell how many there were or who was fighting.

She just hoped that her team was better off at the moment. Because Lance was in absolutely no condition to fight. The Blue Paladin hadn't been responsive since she'd started treating him. Though she at least took solace in the fact that her albeit limited healing talents seemed to be keeping him stable, for now.

It might be another story if the Galra made it up there. Jaz had been blown up enough to know Lance was going to have a nasty concussion and there was the risk of internal bleeding. She could also see numerous scratches, bruises, a hitch in his breath that indicated a broken rib, and there was the detail that his leg was currently sitting at an angle most would deem impossible. So, yeah, Lance wasn't going to be fighting anytime soon. And neither was she as long as she needed use her magic to keep him alive.

Hearing a soft hiss, Jaz reluctantly got up, fire flickering on her fingers as she put herself between Lance and the door. Something that was immediately dropped as Shiro's unconscious form was tossed into the room, sliding to her feet.

"Well, well," Sendak mused, his eye gleaming with malice, "so it seems not only have we captured Sorceress and Champion, but also Voltron itself. Perfect."

-.-

Orange light filled the air as Keith and Allura approached the village, the roar of flames growing louder. Spotting movement, Allura broke away from him, jogging up to the group of small aliens clustering together. "What's happening?!"

The King pointed, jumping slightly with alarm, "Attackers!"

Following his gaze, Keith narrowed his eyes as he looked through the smoke. Sure enough, in the center of the village he could see a few forms. Probably sentries given that nothing alive would be able to survive in there long without gear. But…something was off.

"Stay here," he ordered. Not waiting for the Princess's response, Keith slid down the slope. The fire roared around him as he reached the ground, the creaking of splintering wood nearly making the young Guardian jump as he remembered the last time he'd been this close to flames. It wasn't helping that the smoke was burning his lungs either.

Slipping out of sight, a small ripple of light passed over him, replacing Paladin armor with Guardian, the scanners in the helmet immediately flickering to life. He could see life signs of the Arusians and Allura behind him, but, there was nothing ahead of him. No life signals, no enemy blips, it was like they weren't even there.

Sucking a breath through his teeth, Keith immediately leapt from his spot, taking a closer look at the sentries. "Draaf," he cursed. "Allura! Get back to the Castle! It's a diversion!"

/Keith—!/

"Just go!" he snapped. "I'm right behind you!"

Turning off his comm, Keith began racing to the edge of the village, jumping into the air as a hoverbike materialized underneath him. The engine roared as it burst to life, and a plume of ash flew behind him as he drove through the flames.

Glancing up at the main path, Keith grimaced as he spotted Allura's small form racing towards the entrance. If he wanted to get inside without blowing his cover, he'd have to get creative, fast. "Yorak, what would be the best way to get into the Castle—besides the main entrance. We need to avoid the guards and eliminate the commanders first."

"The hangar Pidge left open," the ghost replied, "It's a long shot, but if you go full speed and drive off the ridge you might be able to leap off the bike and grab onto the ledge."

"And if I miss?"

"Then you fall to your death."

Well, it wouldn't be the first time.

The engine revved loudly as he hit the thrusters, the bike speeding up as he shot towards his target. Flying off the ledge, Keith grimaced as he flew through the air towards the hangar. Feeling the bike begin to fall towards the ground, he pushed up and leapt off the bike, reaching towards the hangar hoping that his momentum would carry him to the ledge before he needed to try his jetpack. However, he instead ended up faceplanting on the particle barrier.

-.-

"You missed."

Keith's head snapped up from where he was sprawled of the ground steadying his breathing as his lungs figured out how to work again. "Gee, I couldn't tell." Sitting up, the young Guardian looked at the barrier, "Of all the ways I've died…that's been the stupidest so far."

"Eh that's debatable."

Tossing a half-hearted glare to his ghost, Keith got up and stepped up to the barrier rapping his knuckles against it. The energy rippled under his fingers, causing a scowl to form on his face. Even with just a brush of energy he could tell it was going to take hours to even put a measurable amount of damage—even with his light. As outdated as their tech was, the ancient Alteans certainly knew how to build deflector shields he'd give them that.

"…I don't suppose we'd be able to dig under it?"

"Nope."

That's what he was afraid of. Sighing, Keith let a small ripple of light pass over him as the ghost disappeared, replacing his Guardian armor with Paladin. Turning on his heel he began to run up the slope towards the path where he could make out Allura's form standing outside the barrier. "You got locked out too?"

The Altean Princess jumped, clearly startled as she turned to face him, "Keith! Where were you?!"

"Trying to find an alternate entrance," he grumbled looking at the glowing dome blocking his way, "I don't suppose you know of any secret entrances that'll let us bypass this?"

Allura shook her head, "No, but we have another problem. The fact that the particle barrier is operational after that explosion means that whomever took over the Castle has a crystal. They'll be able to take the Castle and the Lions off world and to Zarkon."

This evening was just getting better and better, wasn't it?

-.-

"Shiro."

"Shiro, are you ok?" Jaz whispered as she saw the Black Paladin starting to stir.

He winced blinking a couple times to clear his vision. "Head hurts," he grunted quietly before looking at her. The Awoken woman had a busted lip, a on her cheek, and her jaw was bruised. "You?"

"I've taken worse," she grunted trying to undo the cuffs on her hands before grunting as a sentry hit her in the jaw with the butt of its gun. Spitting out some of her silver-blue blood, she glared up at the sentry. "Fhsusc'hhk'h yrohsus!"

Shiro may have been rusty in Eliksni, but he did not need a translator to know what that meant.

"You ok?"

"Fine," she muttered. "Believe me, I've taken worse."

That almost made him chuckle. As awful as their situation was, it paled in comparison to their time in the arena. "Sorry, standard question."

Shiro could see the corner of her mouth twitch with a repressed snicker. "Fair enough," she shrugged. However, it didn't take long for the flickers of amusement to fade. "How do you think the others are doing?"

The Black Paladin went quiet, however, before he could answer, there was a loud burst of static before they could hear Allura's voice over the comms on the terminal. /There's not much time left before they get the ship running again. You must shut off the particle barrier so we can get inside/

/You got it/ Katie's voice rang out, /Tell me what to do/

/The particle barrier generator is beneath the main hull/

"She's telling the intruder how to take out our defenses!" the lanky Galra snarled.

"Good for her," Jaz deadpanned.

A grin spread across Sendak's face as his ears perked. "But she's also giving away his location," Sendak realized. "Find that room! Kill the paladin!"

"Draaf," they both cursed as the sentries guarding them left, following after the smaller Galra officer.

However, that did only leave Sendak with them. And, Jaz would bet he was too busy trying to start up the ship to pay attention to them. Furrowing her brows she tugged at her cuffs again, gauging the distance between her wrists. The cuffs were too tight. She wouldn't be able wriggle her hands past her legs; not even one leg at a time. Not unless she wanted to get stuck in some painful position.

"Piraak naan ofiet?1"

"Nid," Jaz muttered. "Dreh hi?2"

The man's shoulders drooped, "Nid."

"Kul'vak," Jaz cursed. Sighing, she sat back on her ankles, looking around them to try to find something to break them free with. Spotting a flicker of purple light in her peripheral, she paused, looking back to her teammate. "Mindol hi dep vey zeim dii dyggt voth hin ehn?3"

Shiro glanced at her, his brow furrowing before he glanced at his hands behind him. "Dii ehn?4"

"Nid, dii klov," she deadpanned. "Grik dep hi dreh nii uv ni?5"

Tossing another glance towards their captor, Shiro flexed the fingers of his metal arm. "Hi tyhi? Zu'u duyrf ag hi.6"

"Pruzah nii daar med zu'u horvutah? Un ahrk zu'u blodl los wah qhigih do het,7" she grumbled, scooching closer to him. The pair tossed wary glances at their pacing captor, pressing their backs together as Jaz pulled her hands as far apart as she could. She could feel Shiro's hands fumbling to find the cuffs, his fingers tracing the edge of the metal till he found the middle.

"Hiefa?8"

Looking to their captor, Jaz watched as Sendak began tapping at the control console. "Dreh nii.9"

Shiro gave her a small nod and Jaz clenched her fists, resisting the urge to pull her hands away from the burning fingers cutting away at her cuffs. She bit back a hiss as she felt the metal encircling her hands heat up, warming the skin to an uncomfortable degree.

"Haxus!" Sendak snarled, slamming his claws on the console. "Report!"

Instead of hearing the annoying Galra like she'd been expecting, Jaz froze at the voice responding. "HAXUS IS GONE AND YOU'RE NEXT!" Pidge's voice snarled.

Clearly, she wasn't the only one surprised as the exclamation made almost Shiro in surprise, forcing Jaz bite back a pained hiss as his hand bumped into her arm.

Across from them, Sendak bared his fangs, ears flattening to his head as he glared down at the console. "You may've slowed me down, but this ship is mine!" he growled. "You will turn yourself over to me immediately!"

"FUCK YOU!"

If their current situation wasn't so terrible, Jaz almost would've chuckled at the affronted look on the Galra Commander's face as his fur bristled. Hissing through his teeth, Sendak's gaze snapped up to them, his snarl slowly morphing into a smirk. "Well then…" he drawled, stepping away from the control, striding up to them, "perhaps your mighty leader can convince you."

Shiro grunted as claws dug into his hair, dragging the man across the floor towards the center of the room.

"Sendak if you hurt him, I swear by the Ancients no one will be able to save you!" Jaz threatened.

On the other end of the comm-channel, she could hear Pidge's breath hitch. "Jaz?! Shiro?!"

"Pidge!" Shiro exclaimed, "Pidge, don't listen to—" Whatever else Shiro was cut off with a scream as Sendak's claws developed a glow similar to his own hand, and buried themselves into his right shoulder. Her friend convulsed in the Galra's grasp as electricity arched through his body.

"NO!"

"HI FIROK! GETIID ZU'U OFAAL NII BO WAH KRII HI!" Jaz cursed.

"You can make it stop. Turn yourself in. His suffering is in your hands," Sendak sneered.

Pulling at the cuffs again, her hands came apart with soft snap and Jaz shot to her feet, lightning on her fingertips already as she shot the blast at their captor. Caught off guard by the attack, the bolt struck true, blasting Sendak back against the wall, causing him to drop Shiro. "Pidge! Don't listen to him! Turn off the barrier!" she ordered charging across the room and kneeing the Galra in the face as he was rising back to his feet. Violet blood spattered out of his mouth as his head jerked to the side from the blow. However, it didn't take long for him to recover as Sendak tackled her to the ground.

Though he didn't get to land his own punch before another blast knocked him off of her. Rolling back to his feet, the Galra bared his teeth. With ears pinned to his skull, Sendak growled and lunged forwards swinging with his prosthetic he watched as she rolled under it and rammed him in the gut before he used his regular arm to grab her and hurl the gladiator into the wall. He heard a snap over her pained cry, and he took to opportunity to use his advanced arm to pin her by her torso.

Sendak toyed with the idea of crushing her in his grasp, it would be all too easy, but it wouldn't make her suffer. Coursing electricity through his arm like he had with Champion, he reveled in Sorceress' screams, before he released her and she fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Jaz!" Shiro called weakly as his consciousness began to return, eyes widening at spotting his friend lying at Sendak's feet.

Sendak chuckled picking her up and tossing her next to Shiro, making him wince as her form slammed into the ground next to him. "I'm impressed you two managed to escape. Perhaps it would be worth a trip to your solar system to see if the rest of it has the same spirit as you two. Of course, they'll all end up broken, just as you were. Now that we have Voltron, every planet, every race, all share the same fate."

"You'll never win," he grunted glaring up at their captor, "not as long as people are willing to fight for their freedom."

Sendak laughed. "Please, as if that means anything."

As if the universe was determined to prove him wrong, the alarms on the monitor began beeping incessantly. The Galra Commander's ear twitched with irritation as he stomped over to the console to figure out what was wrong. However, he didn't get far before notice the barrier enclosing the castle fizzling away before his eyes. "Deym'ar!" he cursed whirling on his heel only to find the culprit standing in his way.

Shiro watched as Sendak charged out of the room, chasing after Pidge. He hoped she would be ok until Keith and Allura could provide back up. Because as much as Shiro wanted to, he was in no condition to help at the moment. His muscles screamed in protest with each movement as he scooched towards Jaz, wanting to make sure she was ok.

"Shiro!" Pidge's voice hissed, making him jump in surprise as he turned to see the Green Paladin darting in. "Are you and Jaz ok?"

"Doing just fine," he chuckled.

"Oh, I'm sure—" Before Pidge could finish her thought, large violet claws wrapped around her torso, yanking her off the ground to come face-to-face with bared teeth and glowing yellow eyes.

"Did you really think your little hologram trick would fool me?" Sendak snarled, his ears flat against his head as he spat in the young teen's face. "Do I look stupid to you?"

"I would say so."

Whirling around, Sendak held up the small Paladin as a living shield. "Stand back."

Sendak had been so focused on an attack from the front, he didn't realize he'd let part of his guard down until a blast burned the back of his shoulder. He stumbled forwards, dropping his hostage as the Champion kicked his leg out from under him. Springing back to his feet, Sendak dodged the small one's lunge, kicking them aside into the Champion. A flash came from the corner of his eye, and Sendak turned, barely bringing up his prosthetic up in time to block the sword swinging towards his throat.

The sheer force of the blow made the Galra Commander to take a few steps back, trying to stay on his feet as he watched the metal of the old Altean blade digging into his arm. Had he known any better, Sendak would've said he felt something akin to fear settle in his gut—though such things had been beaten out of him ages ago. No, this was something else.

Something was wrong here.

A point that seemed to be proven when he felt a brutal kick slam into his gut, the armor cracking under the blow, his ribs protesting in agony.

This wasn't normal. Champion and Sorceress had never been able to deliver blows like these in the arena with hand-to-hand combat, not even after Champion got the new limb.

He needed to get out of this situation, fast.

Throwing a punch with his free arm, Sendak's concerns were further confirmed as the small Red Paladin stopped his fist with one hand, the youngster's violet eyes glowing with a malice he knew all too well. Sendak really needed to put some distance between himself and this paladin. The energy arc connecting his prosthetic to him sparked as he forced a power surge through it, blasting his attacker away from him.

Before the Galra could consider his next move, he watched in horror as the small Green Paladin swung their bayard, severing the link between himself and his arm.

Though he didn't have the chance to process it before the Red Paladin was on him again. The blade dug into his palm as he tried keeping it away from his neck, dark violet blood dripping off his knuckles as he stared into the Paladin's glowing eyes. At first Sendak had thought the glow had been due to the helmet he wore, but it appeared to have fallen off in his last attack, making the violet eyes seem brighter.

Champion's and Sorceress' eyes burned with a fiery drive to survive, the Red Paladin's burned with a fire he'd only ever seen in one place…and Haxus had reported strong disturbances and a near breach in the barrier. There was only one thing Sendak knew of that could do that—whose eyes glowed like that…but it was impossible…

"Keith! Now!" the Altean Princess called.

The Red Paladin, Keith, immediately looked like he just wanted to kill him then and there. However, he merely scowled, rolling onto the ground and kicking him away with enough force that sent the massive Galra sliding across the floor.

By the time he got back to his feet, a particle barrier had encircled him. Sendak wasn't sure if he was relieved.

A/N: here are this chapter's marked translations.
1. Can you get out?
2. No. Can you?
3. Think you can cut through my cuffs with your hand?
4. My hand?
5. No, your head. So can you do it or not?
6. You sure? I might hurt you.
7. Does it look like I care? Our main goal is to get out of here.
8. Ready?
9. Do it.