Chapter 11

A/N: hey everyone! Welcome back! I know haven't updated the rewrite in a bit, and that's cause I've been busy with both my other stories and, well, life. Anyways, I just own my OCs, nothing else is mine.

/comms/

Telepathy

Flashbacks

"Ugh," Jaz groaned, as she stepped out of the cryopod. Trying to take a step forwards, she yelped as her legs gave out under her, but, fortunately, Shiro managed to catch her before she hit the ground. "Thanks."

"Good to see you back," Shiro smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Like my legs fell asleep." Grabbing onto his shoulders, the Awoken woman tried to stand on her own two feet.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Hunk asked, nervously hovering over the woman.

"I'm not invalid."

"Of course not," Allura spoke up. "But are you sure you don't want to sit down for a while? Cryosleep can have adverse effects afterwards. It's typically best to let it wear off."

"I'm sure," she replied, wobbling a bit on her feet as she began to stand up straight. Holding her arms out, Jaz grinned, "See. So, how's Lance?"

"Well…" Hunk trailed off as he and Pidge crowded around his pod again, "I can't tell if he looks healthy or not."

"I think he's breathing weird," Katie commented.

"Really?" Jaz questioned taking a single step forwards and almost landing flat on her face.

"You ok?" Keith asked helping her up.

"My legs are still uncooperative," she grumbled looking up to Shiro, she motioned him down.

"What?" he asked looking worried. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No, turn around."

"Why?" he asked.

Losing her patience, Jaz, grabbed onto his shoulders, dragged her useless legs around to his back, and moved his hands under her legs. "Move it ponyboy."

Shiro groaned as he heard the stifled snickers of Keith and Katie, he was never going to live this down. Actually, there was a lot of things he would never live down, especially all the stupid stuff he, Adam, Darvah, and Matt had done together.

"Should we open it?"

"Not yet!" Allura scolded, swatting someone's hand. "A few more ticks."

"How much better do you think he's gonna get in a few more ticks?" Keith pointed out.

"He's got a point," Jaz added.

"What exactly is a tick?" Pidge questioned.

"You know, a time slice."

"Like a second?" Shiro asked raising an eyebrow and adjusting his grip on Jaz.

"What's a 'second'?" Allura asked turning to face them.

"You know: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one blast off," Jaz replied quickly.

"Like this," Pidge said pulling her phone out of her pocket and starting the timer.

"…I think ticks are bigger."

"I hate time telling differences," the Awoken woman grumbled as Shiro nodded in agreement.

"Coran, do you have a ticker?" Allura called and they all looked to where the ginger Altean was working on the console.

"Right here Princess," he replied pulling a small device out of his pocket.

"I think ticks are a little slower," Hunk commented as he and Pidge looked between the two devices.

"I can't tell. We have to start them at the same time," Pidge stated and they started resetting their timers.

"Ok, ready, go!"

Starting their timers, they began watching the two trying to compare seconds and ticks. "I think we're winning," Hunk cheered.

"Winning at what? The intergalactic time measuring competition?" Keith retorted.

"I think ticks might be a bit longer," Jaz muttered, "Shiro move around Coran, I can't see."

They got so absorbed trying to figure out whose telling of time was shorter or longer, none of them heard the pod open up or saw Lance stumble over, managing to stay up unlike Jaz, but he couldn't seem to walk in a straight line.

Peering over their shoulders, Lance tiredly narrowed his eyes. Were they…racing clocks? "…Are you guys having a clock party or something?"

"Aw Lance you ruined it," Hunk scolded turning around, before instantly perking up and hugging him upon seeing his best friend out of the pod and alive.

"What happened?"

"We can explain it once we've gotten you and Jaz something to eat. Are you able to walk?" Allura asked.

"Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?" he smiled.

"Yep."

"There it is."

"He's ok."

"Classic."

"Can we go get food now?"

-.-

"You'd all be in Sendak's prison right now if it wasn't for Pidge," Allura finished explaining as Lance and Jaz happily ate the offered food goo.

"Well, you wouldn't have survived the explosion from Sendak's bomb and even Jaz would've had some permanent injuries if it wasn't for Hunk and Coran getting that new crystal," Pidge stated.

"Wow, thanks everyone," Lance said. "Sorry you got hurt Jaz."

"It's fine, trust me when I say I've taken much worse, as hard as it is to believe."

"Though, it sounds like the mice did more than you Keith," Lance smirked and the other boy looked offended.

"I punched Sendak!"

"Yeah, apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot off his arm."

"We had a bonding moment," Keith protested looking very miffed, "I cradled you in my arms!"

"Nope. Don't remember, didn't happen," Lance stated. "So what happened to Sendak?"

"Keith and Coran got him into a cryopod," Allura stated. "We're keeping him here in the Castle."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"He's too dangerous to set free," Allura stated.

"Not to mention we could use this opportunity to see what secrets he knows," Jaz smirked, cracking her knuckles.

"So what's the plan now?" Lance asked, scooching away from the suddenly intimidating Awoken pilot.

To everyone's surprise, it was Hunk who answered. "We have to go back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people!"

"Who's Shay?"

"Wow, you are really hung up on this chick."

"No, it's not like that," Hunk said. "Look guys, when you see how Zarkon's treated these people and destroyed their home—They've been under his thumb for so long they don't even know what it's like to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a Paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up."

"Then let's get moving," Shiro stated.

"Wait," Pidge said, standing up from where she was sitting, looking nervous, "I have something I need to get off my chest first and I'm afraid this might change the way you think about me. Just so there's no more secrets between us anymore, I can't 'man up'. I'm a girl. I mean, I can 'man up' in a figure of speech, I don't need to be a man to do that, I just need to be tough. But what I'm say is—"

"WHAT?! YOU'RE A GIRL!?" Lance screamed making her jump. "HOW?!"

"Lance, there's this thing called biology," Jaz said smirking sinisterly, "you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much—"

"That's enough from you!" Shiro said putting the woman in a headlock and covering her mouth.

"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've decided to share with everyone," Allura smiled.

"Yeah, I figured," Hunk said.

"I've known since we got Shiro and Jaz from the Garrison," Keith smirked.

"Wait, we were supposed to think you were a boy?" Coran asked.

"Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin," Shiro smiled still trying to hold Jaz before she grabbed his arm and hurled him over her shoulder.

"Feels good to get that off my chest," she sighed. "Now let's launch this Castle-Ship!"

"Wait, what? Pidge is a girl and the Castle is a ship? How long have I been out?"

"Probably not long enough," Jaz breathed, "now continuing onto what I was saying…"

"Bye!" Lance yelped sprinting away.

-.-

Keith watched as Hunk paced the bridge, the Yellow Paladin's footsteps echoed around the quiet room as he muttered under his breath. "Ok, ok, so what do you thing? Do we just roll up and start blasting? Or do we land and have some kind of address system, like 'Attention Galra, this is Voltron. Surrender now and turn yourselves in'? No, it's blasting right?"

"Hunk," Keith said making a calming gesture, "calm down. And yes blasting."

"Never thought I'd see you calm someone down," Yorak commented.

"Nyke gīda ao ilagon mirre se jēda,1" Keith quietly retorted.

"It's our first big rescue mission," Shiro smiled defending Hunk. "He's just excited."

"Excited to see his new girlfriend," Pidge sang teasingly.

Hank gasped, looking mildly offended. "She's not my girlfriend! She's just a rock that I met and admire very much."

"Mm-hmm," Jaz grinned. "You're awfully concerned about her."

"She was captured by the Galra! How could I not be?" Hunk replied as the blue-haired Awoken woman began circling him.

"So, when we free her, what are you going to do?" Jaz asked tilting her head innocently. Pausing in her walk, she tapped a finger against her jaw, "Maybe, check for injuries, patch her up and send her on with her family?"

"Well, Shay hasn't ever seen the sky, so I'll—hey!" Hunk stopped as he saw her grin.

"Jaz, stop patronizing the cadets," Shiro sighed tossing her a tired look.

"Back at the Garrison you were worse than I was Takashi," Jaz quipped. "Or do I need to mention the tribute incident?"

Shiro's eyes widened and the look of betrayal appeared on his face, "Et tu Brute?"

Lance looked like he was about to press the issue, only to stop as the alarms went off.

"What is it? Are we being attacked?" Shiro called quickly turning around, and darting away from his friend.

"No, it's a distress beacon," Coran answered typing on the monitors.

"It's coming from a nearby moon," Allura continued, "apparently a ship's lost power."

"Does the moon have a breathable atmosphere?" Jaz asked.

"Yes?"

"Then they can wait."

"Wonder who it is?" Pidge asked.

"I'm with Jaz, whoever it is will have to wait," Hunk stated, "Shay and her people have first priority. We can help them when we're done."

"The Paladin Code states we must help all those in need," Allura replied.

"Does it specify when?" Jaz questioned, getting a glare from the Altean Princess. "Ok, geez, just a question."

"Wow, this is so cool, it's like we're space cops on space patrol," Lance said, puffing out his chest and putting his hands on his hips. "Coran, do we have a siren we can turn on?"

"Uh, no, but we could record you making a siren noise and broadcast that," he replied and Lance grinned.

As the Blue Paladin began to try to imitate a siren, Shiro turned around and slapped his hand over his mouth. "Nope, not doing that."

Arriving at the coordinates, they saw a small ship on the surface of the small moon, the light of a fire flickering beside it, casting the shadows to two individuals on the ground.

Allura walked over to the console and spoke calmly into the intercoms, "Attention damaged craft, this is Princess Allura. We are coming to assist you." Landing the ship, she turned to Coran. "Stary aboard and try to get as many of our systems clear of that Galra crystal energy as you can. We'll see who hailed us."

"Yes Princess," Coran nodded.

"Need help?" Jaz asked walking over to the advisor.

"Sure thing Jaz!" Coran smiled as the pair walked off to work on the Castle systems.

The rest of them went to a landing craft at the bottom of the Castle and went to the small landing pod at the bottom of the Castle. After a short drop to the ground, the doors opened revealing a purple alien male wearing some sort of cropped vest and pants and a yellow alien chick with solid violet eyes, white face, four weird hair thingies, and wearing a blue two-pieced outfit.

"Wonder if that guy's part Galra, I mean, he's purple, so he might be," Yorak commented and Keith paused, tilting his head as he looked to the purple one. While he highly doubted it, he couldn't deny it was a possibility, but there were plenty of races with purple skin besides the Galra; the Fae, the Awoken, the Alteans—though Alteans could change color at will—and the Alasians, they all had members of their populations with purple skin tones. And those were just some species he knew of, not counting the hybrids of each race. Granted, this far out it was more likely than not he was a hybrid. Unless there was a race with that appearance he didn't know about, which was a valid possibility. After all, the galaxy was a big place.

"You don't know how glad we are to see some friendly faces," the purple guy said crossing his arms.
"Most folks don't wanna get tangled up with anyone who's on the run from the Galra."

"So, you guys are fighting against the Galra?" Keith questioned. The second the words left his mouth, he wanted to facepalm. Of course, after a few thousand years a resistance against the empire would build, people of any race did not like being subjugated to slave labor. Heck, considering most cultural norms of any society there logically had to be some Galra resistance, though with how long Zarkon's been ruling that would mean they'd either failed, got wiped out, were in hiding, or by this point in time the Galra worship Zarkon as a deity.

"I don't think Zarkon's quaking in his boots at the three of us, but we do what we can," the man replied. "I'm Rolo."

"Like the candy?" Yorak asked and Keith chose to ignore him.

"This is Nyma and our cyber unit, Beezer."

"Hi," Nyma said and Keith could hear Lance swoon instantly.

A small blur went passed and they saw Pidge examining the robot with wide eyes sparkling like she was an anime character. "Cool robot!"

"Gōntan ao sesīr ūndegon zirȳla dīnagon?2" Keith asked Yorak.

"No."

"I didn't see her move either," Shiro whispered getting the gist of whatever Keith was muttering as they both stared at Pidge in shock.

"Hi, name's Lance," the Blue Paladin said taking Nyma's hand.

"Skori gōntan ziry dīnagon?!3" Keith said.

"Probably at the same time Pidge did, I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner."

Shiro looked away from the surprisingly fast teenagers back to Rolo so they could stay on task, "Was your ship damaged in a fight?"

"Yeah, we've really been through it with the Galra, parts are hard to come by, luckily we were able to limp to this moon about a week ago. If you didn't pick up our distress signal I—"

"We're happy to help," Allura interrupted, stepping forwards. "I am Princess Allura of Altea, and from now on, you won't be alone fighting the Galra. You'll have the Paladins of Voltron by your side."

Keith raised an eyebrow at Rolo's confused expression as he glanced to Pidge and Lance fooling around, before looking back to them.

"Ok," he replied, seeming a little underwhelmed.

"I don't think they've heard of us," Shiro said.

"It has been ten thousand years," Keith reminded. "It's probably faded into a myth by now, if it was even remembered at all."

"Voltron? You know? Five robot lions that combine into this big robot…dude?" Lance tried to explain.

"Sounds impressive. I'd love to see it—him—them…"

"Why don't we just get to work on your ship? I'm sure we all have places to be," Hunk suggested and Keith looked at him in surprise, he'd never heard Hunk sound so…harsh?

Yorak seemed shocked too because, Keith could feel him itching to come out as his nervousness and curiosity grew together. "Are we certain that's really Hunk? I could scan him and make sure—"

"Daor."

"Sure," Rolo said leading Hunk over to a panel and opening it. "Looks to me that our whole flaxum assembly's shot. I don't know what kind of extra parts you guys carry in this rig of yours. I've never seen anything like it."

"I'm sure we can get you back up and running. Give Hunk a list of what you need, Coran can show you where to find it," Allura said as Shiro nudged Lance to try and remind him that this wasn't the time for flirting.

Keith doubted his brother's attempts would be successful.

"Ok," Hunk said.

"We can go too. Don't want you to have to carry all that stuff yourself," Rolo offered, "Come on guys."

"Uh, I don't think so," Hunk stated crossing his arms. "You can wait out here."

"Hunk, don't be rude."

"Yeah, Hunk, mind your manners. There's ladies present," Lance scolded before making finger guns to Nyma.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but does anyone remember the last time we let our defenses down? Someone set off a bomb. Remember Lance? You almost died," Hunk reminded firmly.

"Oh yeah."

"I agree, we can't immediately trust everyone we stumble across, that'll just lead to more disasters," Keith stated crossing his arms.

"Hunk's right," Shiro agreed, silencing Lance's retort to the Red Paladin, "Sorry, but we have to be cautious."

"Hey, nothing personal, I get it," Rolo shrugged taking a paper Beezer printed, "that's how things are out here. You gotta look out for your own. You're doing a good job big man."

"Thanks," Hunk said taking the paper.

"Sure you don't need help?" Shiro asked as Hunk walked inside.

"Jaz can help!" he called back.

Nodding, they sat down around the fire to try and get to know these so called "rebels."

-.-

"…My planet was destroyed by the Galra and I was taken captive," Rolo finished. "I managed to escape…but, not before I lost something," rolling up a pantleg, he revealed the prosthetic limb.

Beside Keith, Shiro grimaced, flexing his own arm. "I know the feeling."

Keith liked to consider himself a good judge of character, and to him, these guys seemed sincere. But still, something was rubbing him the wrong way. He just couldn't figure out what it was for the life of him. "Pōnta vestragon naejot sagon ȳdragon se drēje, yn gaoman daor gīmigon. Skoros gaomagon ao pendagon?4" he whispered.

In his chest, the Red Paladin felt a warm pulse, "Well…Rolo's being honest about the story…But, I'm not buying it, the story about the landing. Something about it just seems off to me."

Keith bit the inside of his cheek as Yorak said that; yeah, that's exactly what he was afraid of.

There was a loud thud accompanied by the clanging of metal, turning, the young Guardian saw Hunk and Jaz stepping back from two boxes of spare parts. "Well," Hunk drawled, wiping his hands, "I hope there's some parts in here that'll fit. You know how to get your ship moving?"

"Thanks," Rolo smiled. Though he made no move to get up and look through the crates.

Something of which, Allura didn't help start as she asked a question, "So what can you tell us about Zarkon's forces? Where are they concentrated?"

The alien opened his mouth to reply, only being momentarily interrupted by Pidge flying by, riding on Beezer's back as Jaz chased after them. "Well…" he started, "the command ship sits at the center of the Empire. Zarkon mostly calls the shots from there and lets his minions do the dirty work. Who you get just depends on who's closest. I know this region's ruled by real nasty brute named Sendak."

"Oh, we've met."

"How far are we away from the center?" Shiro inquired, leaning forwards, resting his elbows on his knees.

"We're way out on the fringes. But—"

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," Hunk chimed in, crossing his arms as he glared at the stranded pilot, "but I think you're keeping Rolo from working on his ship. Remember? We're kinda in a hurry here. You understand, right?"

"Sure," Rolo muttered, looking annoyed. Pushing himself to his feet, he stretched his neck, striding towards the crates, "Sorry."

Looking towards the man, Shiro audibly sighed, "Hunk," he reached out, putting a hand on the other boy's shoulder, "I promise, we're going to be going soon, but I think Rolo might have some intel that might be useful to us."

"Sorry," the Yellow Paladin said, crossing his arms, "but I don't trust this guy as far as I can throw him. I think we should leave him with the boxes and say: Adios amigo! Good luck!"

"Damn…never thought I'd hear that from him," Yorak muttered.

On that, Keith agreed. He also agreed with Hunk. Something about Rolo wasn't sitting right with him. "Shiro, I'm with Hunk," he spoke. "Something about their story isn't right. Remember, back in the Garrison, we were required to have a spare of almost every component in case something happened in the event the normal tools couldn't fix it. Doesn't it seem odd they don't have their own spare?"

"Maybe that was the spare?"

Both the Red and Yellow Paladins glanced at each other before giving their leader deadpan looks. There was a time and place to see the best in people; this wasn't it. However, before either of them could point that out, they were interrupted once again.

"Hey bud!" Rolo called. "Sorry to interrupt, but do you think you can hunt down a thermal pipe about," he measured with his hands, "this long?"

Hunk groaned. "Let me check."

As he went back inside, Shiro strode over to continue speaking to Rolo, "So, are there more freedom fighters?"

"Only those who haven't been colonized yet, or the lucky few like us who managed to escape. I think I've heard of a few rebel cells on colonized worlds, but other than that, there's not really anything."

Keith frowned. He supposed that made some sense. In terms of evil alien dictators, Zarkon was on the low end of evil. Yes, he was enslaving and murdering people, but that was sadly a far, far better fate than those awaiting the worlds unfortunate enough to run into the Vex or Hive. At least this way they had a chance to survive.

"If you're gonna fight out there, I gotta warn you, it's pretty bad. You don't know what you're up against."

"We'll take our chances," Keith replied. "Trust me, there's much worse out there than the Galra."

Shiro gave the Red Paladin a glance, raising a brow curiously. He wondered if that comment had anything to do with what Jaz had told him about Keith's father. It would make sense, that talk had proven just how little he knew about the boy he regarded as his little brother. It certainly explained why Keith spoke so many languages he'd never heard of. It also explained why out of everyone besides Jaz and himself, Keith was the only one who didn't seem surprised at the presence of aliens.

The sound of rockets pulled Shiro out of his thoughts. Looking up, he could see the familiar form of the Blue Lion fly out of the Castle and off to who knows where.

"Was that Lance?" Jaz asked as Hunk gave an exasperated noise.

"Who else?" Keith growled. Honestly, at this rate there was a good chance he was going to start kicking the Blue Paladin in the balls each time he tried thinking with them. Maybe that would actually get blood flow up to his brain.

Unlike them, Rolo didn't seem particularly concerned about their departure. "Eh, let them have their fun," he said, waving them off, "Thanks to you guys, this thing's just about ready." He pulled out the damaged component, looking over it with a frown. "Guess there was just one too many miles on this thing." Handing it to Hunk, Rolo took the new one and began working.

"Yeah…" Hunk replied, his voice sounding tense, "no problem."

"Anyways," Allura spoke up, "I'm just sure Lance was just wanting to show our new friends some hospitality."

"Sure…" Jaz drawled, "I bet that's what he calls it. His hospitality."

"I don't think there's a microscope powerful enough to find his hospitality," Keith remarked.

"Guys!" Shiro exclaimed, looking at them aghast as Pidge fell off of Beezer laughing.

They elected to ignore him as they continued staring in the direction Blue flew off in. "So," Jaz started, leaning against the ship, "how much you wanna bet he's gonna be in trouble by the end of the day?"

"Thousand glimmer it's within half-an-hour."

"We are not making bets on Lance's safety!"

"You're just saying that cause you know we're right."

As if to prove their point, Rolo popped out of his shift, a wide smile on his face, "I think this thing's about ready for a test flight." Closing the panel he'd been working on, he waved over in Pidge's direction, "Beezer! Come with!" The small robot jerked, knocking Pidge off it as it sped towards the ship. "Be back in a tick!"

Both Jaz and Keith raised a brow towards the Black Paladin. Honestly, if that didn't set off Shiro's alarm bells, Keith didn't know what would.

Shiro sighed audibly, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I guess we should head towards the Lions."

"Yes!" Hunk said, stomping towards the Castle. "We should absolutely go after them. Something isn't right here!"

"How many ticks has he been gone?" Pidge asked, wiping dust off her armor.

"I don't know," Allura answered, biting her lip, "hopefully they didn't break down."

"Hopefully they didn't kill Lance."

/Hello? Guys?/

"Speak of the Devil!" Jaz grinned.

"Lance," Shiro interjected before she could say something, "what's going on? Are you ok?"

/Well…not exactly—I'm not injured, or anything, but I may be…chained to a tree…/

"I knew it."

"Damn it!"

"Pay up!"

/And…/ Lance started again, /I think Nyma and Rolo just stole the Blue Lion/

"I knew it!"

Shiro ignored the pointed looks Jaz and Keith were giving him, "Where are they now?"

/Uh…space?/

"Very helpful," Keith remarked as they ran onto the bridge moving towards the elevators.

/Ugh!/ Hunk's voice immediately exclaimed over the comms the moment the doors closed. /I never trusted those guys, right from the beginning. At first it was in my gut! I mean my Mom always told me to trust my gut, but I never felt it as strongly as I did before now/

"We get it," Keith said, leaping onto the zipline.

/So, imagine my shock when I was replacing that pipe! Yeah, the pipe was cracked, however none of the hardware around it was damaged!/

"Hunk!" Keith exclaimed, swinging off the zipline and onto the speeder. "We get it!"

"Please make it stop."

"Iksan sylugon'are,5" he groaned, throwing his head back. Hunk's rambling was really starting to get on his nerves. They got it; Rolo and his pals couldn't be trusted. Keith didn't hear anyone arguing with him.

But that didn't seem to stop the Yellow Paladin's angry chatter, /We should've had to replace the entire undercarriage of that reactor. So right then I was like positive that it was foul play/

"WE GET IT!"

Pulling up to Red, Keith had never been as happy as he was now to hear the comms go quiet. And they thankfully remained that way as his lion shot out of her hangar, grouping up with the others. /We've got sights on Rolo's ship,/ Jaz said as a moving blip appeared on the scanners. /Good news: they haven't gotten far. Bad news: they're going right for an asteroid belt/

/Aren't you supposed to let us choose which news we want to hear first?/ Hunk inquired.

/I'm not spending all day playing twenty-questions/

/Thanks for the tip, Jaz,/ Shiro interjected before another fight could break out.

On Pidge's end, they heard an annoyed growl, /Ugh! We're gonna have to go around. I don't think we can fly through this/

/Maybe I can ram through it?/

Keith's eyes widened in alarm. That was a bad idea if he ever heard one.

Before he could advise his teammate against it, the Yellow Lion shot forwards, ramming into an asteroid. However, unlike normal rock which burst into dust, the asteroid ricocheted off the lion's hull, sending it careening into another space rock, which then hit another. Setting of a perpetuating chain reaction throughout the asteroid field.

/Nope! That was wrong. Bad idea/

No kidding.

/Keith,/ Shiro's voice broke through, /you're the only one who could possibly fly through this. We need you buddy, get in there and flush them out/

Keith grinned, adjusting his grips on the controls as he watched the drifting space rocks. He hadn't gotten to do a flight this stupid dangerous the Sambrar Canyon maneuvers they practiced back on Terra. Though the asteroids would be more unpredictable than the hydra had been.

Well…as unpredictable as they could be with York keeping an eye out. At least he didn't have to worry about being eaten.

"With pleasure. See you on the other side."

Kicking Red into gear, they shot into the asteroid field, weaving between the shifting space rocks with practiced ease. As one drifted too close, he flipped Red, using her paws to vault them off the hunk of rock. Keith could feel Red's excitement as they continued to bob through the colliding mountains of stone, narrowly missing being crushed. It appeared his lion enjoyed skimming the razors edge as much as he did.

"Below us."

Checking his scanners, Keith turned Red, pointing her down towards where the small form of Rolo's ship could be seen desperately darting through the asteroids. There was no way they were getting out of here now. Not in one piece at least.

"They have blasters."

"Rȳ rietw issi verdagon ra opwihitwopm6," Keith remarked, pulling Red up to avoid the incoming shots. Diving around an asteroid, he fired the lion's cannon. Now that they were on the offensive, Keith continued to chase them, starting to return their incoming fire as he expertly weaved between the asteroids, using them as cover to block the incoming shots.

He was going to continue his assault before he was stopped by a soft tug on the back of his mind. It felt different that Yorak's. He couldn't really explain how, but there was a distinct difference. Following the pull, his gaze landed on a flashing red button on his control panel. Normally all logic said to avoid the big red button. But, it appeared that Red was directing him to press it.

Slamming his fist on the button, he felt a rush of energy travel through the lion, pooling around her maw. However, instead of firing an extra powerful shot like he expected, a blade of some sort materialized in Red's jaws. The lion seemed to move under its own power, and she swung her head down, throwing the glowing dagger with amazing accuracy. The blade shot towards the ship, cutting through the engines before it boomeranged back to Red, allowing her to catch it in her jaws.

"That was amazing."

"No kidding," Keith muttered in agreement. Though, his excitement was short-lived as he spotted the ship below careening out of control, falling towards a nearby planet. They wouldn't have long before it would be caught in its gravity

Shoving the controls forwards, he kicked Red into full throttle diving towards the crashing ship. The lion extended her claws, burying them into its hull, allowing them to pull the escaping vessel to a stop before they were caught in the planet's gravity field.

Smirking, Keith leaned back in his seat. "Hey Lance, I got your Lion back."

/Thanks Keith. Now, can you come and unchain me from this tree?/

"What's that? I, uh…you're cutting out. I can't—I can't hear you."

/Come on! I thought we bonded!/ Lance whined. /Keith! Buddy? My man?/

Keith started making a static sound into the comms, only for Shiro to ruin his moment of messing with Lance. /Stop tormenting him Keith!/

/You're no fun Shiro!/ Jaz whined. /Hold on Lance, I'll be there in a tick/

/Thanks Jazzy/

/Call me that again and I will leave you tied to that tree/

-.-

Keith crossed his arms as he looked to the abashed group of mercenaries. None of them were meeting their gazes, but they hadn't made any move to try anything again.

Not that they'd be able to given the condition of their ship.

"Since your ship doesn't work anymore, you're going to have to wait for rescue," Shiro said, his voice almost sounding scolding.

Rolo nodded, looking up to meet his gaze., "Makes sense," he shrugged. "Anyways, thanks for sparing our lives."

"We're not the Galra," Allura said. "We're hardly ones to kill over a simple disagreement."

Keith raised a brow towards the Altean princess. A disagreement? That's what she was calling this? Those guys had tried to steal one of their ships. And she was calling it a disagreement?

He shook his head. His people wouldn't have killed them for something like this, but there would be a good chance they'd have to spend a week or two in the Kruziik Prison.

It was hardly a nice place to visit. But it certainly got the message to not do it again across.

"Now that these guys are dealt with," Hunk interrupted, clapping his hands together, "let's get to the Balmera and save Shay and her family."

"Your girlfriend," Jaz coughed and Hunk tossed her a glare as she smiled cheekily.

"You may not believe this," Rolo said, stopping them as they started walking towards the Castle, "but I really hope you do stop Zarkon. It's a lifetime of fighting the Galra that led me where I am today. Good luck."

A/N: Here's the translations.
1. I cam you down all the time.
2. Did you see her move over there?
3. When did he move?!
4. They seem to be telling the truth, but I'm not sure. What do you think?
5. I'm trying.
6. At least they're making things intereting.