Chapter 15

A/N: once again people, I just own the story and OCs. Sorry for apparently posted the wrong chapter, thanks for letting me know Safire19, my computer must've glitched. College WiFi sucks.

/comms/

"Bold is intercoms"

Flashback or ghost telepathy

"Is he ok?" Hunk asked grimacing at Shiro's pained grunts from within the healing pod.

"Sometimes the healing process can cause involuntary brainwave reactions," Allura supplied from where she stood working with Coran.

"You sure?" Jaz asked standing straight from where she'd been leaning against the wall. "That dark magic could still be affecting him."

"I thought you pulled it all out?" Lance asked.

"I pulled out what was left, but there still could be some I missed. It might've dissolved into his system by the time I got to him."

"He looks like he's having a bad dream," Hunk remarked looking at their leader again.

Keith raised an eyebrow. "He just got blasted by a space witch and was nearly mauled by living demons. What dream could be worse than that?"

Shiro struggled against the bonds restraining him, shouting as two guards restrained Jaz to a table across from him. "Leave her alone!"

"Unfortunately, I need both of you for this to work," the masked medic sneered handing the technicians syringes. "Give them this."

Shiro struggled more as one of the guards approached him with the needle, injecting something into his arm. "You took my hand, what more do you want from us?"

The masked doctor looked down at him coldly before swatting the technician's hand away as Shiro's world slowly began to blur and grow dark. "Enough! I want them awake enough to feel this."

Shiro could make out the forms of the guards stepping back before a darker form attacked them. Slamming them into the wall, trying to focus his vision, Shiro thought he saw the medic walking towards his table. But…that was impossible. No Galra would betray their own to rescue them.

Would they?

"Listen to me, we don't have much time," he said and Shiro felt more than saw something being pressed into the node in his wrist.

Pain shot across his face and Shiro's vision sharpened, the clear form of the doctor glaring at him coming into focus.

"Wake up!" he snapped undoing the bonds holding him down before he rushed over to Jaz's table, releasing her restriants. She collapsed to the ground, still too drugged up to support her own weight. The Galran growled before grabbing a needle and injecting her with something. "That should help you focus for the time being. Now get up! Both of you!"

"Why…why are you doing this?" Jaz grunted, shakily getting to her feet.

"Zarkon has located the Blue Lion in the Sol System, on your planet Earth. You two must retrieve it before he does."

"You're helping us?" Shiro gasped as he got up. The world spun for a moment, forcing him to support himself on the wall as his vision went dark for a moment.

"I've planted a bomb to cover your escape, but you two must reach the escape pod I've programmed now."

"Shiro!" Jaz hissed grabbing his shoulder. "Dreh hi morah mu ov rok [Do you think we can trust him]?"

"Dreh hi lost aan miiraad [Do you have a choice]?" the Galran stated looking at them. "Unlike many in the empire I am fluent in Awoken."

"Who are you?" Shiro questioned.

"I'm am Ulaz, but now come on!" he snapped, dragging both of them to the door, before he peered out into the hall. "Zarkon will know that I released you two, so I must disappear. But if you survive, go to the coordinates in your arm. The Blade of Marmora is with you both."

"Why are you helping us?" Jaz questioned, looking suspicious. Not that Shiro could blame her, this was almost too good to be true.

"As fighters and leaders, you two give others hope. Now hurry, Sol needs you. We all do," he said, departing with that cryptic message.

"He could've at least given us directions to the pod," Jaz hissed darting out into the hall ahead of Shiro.

"Wait!" he snapped, grabbing her and yanking her against the wall. Tapping it, he heard the familiar footfalls of the patrols come into sync as they rounded the corner, going on their merry way without noticing them. "We need to be cautious, Jaz."

"We don't know how long we have before that bomb goes off, I'd rather be further than closer."

Shiro nodded in agreement; she had a point. "Let's move, we don't have long before the next patrol comes."

Rushing through the halls, they ducked behind a corner as another patrol passed by. Shiro peered around the corner to make sure they weren't looking back and to check if another patrol was on its way. Seeing they were clear, he stepped out and and tripped over the cart carrying containers of something.

"Come on!" Jaz hissed, jumping out and yanking him to his feet as the guards turned around. "Get to the pod!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"You aren't!" she stated holding her hands forwards and blasting them to smithereens. Whipping around, she sprinted towards him. "Think that's it?"

Shiro looked where she motioned further down the hall and saw a set of flashing doors opening. "I sure hope so."

Turning into the doorway, Shiro heard an explosion and there was pain on the side of his head as he and Jaz were thrust into the wall and everything went black.

Shiro opened his eyes to see a pale blue of the wall of the Altean healing pods, making him sigh in relief, as he saw the series of familiar faces looking back at him through the pod. It was only a dream.

Or…maybe not.

The door opened and he slumped out, wincing as Keith caught him. His side was still sore, but at least the pain was gone. "Good to have you back Shiro, you had us worried for a while," Jaz smiled clapping him on the back.

"Good to be back," he huffed, supporting himself against Keith as his bearings slowly came back to him. at least he wasn't a limp noodle as Jaz had been afterwards.

Her smile faded into a concerned frown as her glowing eyes looked over him for a moment. "What's on your mind?"

"I…I think I remembered how we escaped the Galra."

-.-

"I'm not finding any coordinates in here," Pidge said as she looked over the data she was scanning onto her laptop from the node in his arm. "Are you sure this wasn't a dream?"

"I'm positive. Someone helped us escape," Shiro affirmed and out of the corner of his eye he could see Jaz nod her head.

"That's what I got too from the bits and pieces I remember, I just chalked it up to being a hallucination or just misremembering."

"And he was Galra?" Allura questioned.

"Yes."

Jaz put her hands on her hips as she sized up the princess. "Is that really a shock?"

Allura scoffed. "You cannot trust a Galra."

"So you're telling me, you blame an entire race for the actions of one man?" Jaz said narrowing her eyes.

"Any Galra in rebellion has had ten thousand years to stop him. If they really wanted to they would have by now," Allura snarled. "All the Galra are now is a horde of monsters."

"Your father must've trusted them once," Shiro said. "Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?"

"That was a long time ago," she stated looking away.

"Wait, what?"

"Didn't you see how he stole the Black Lion from right under Shiro?" Keith said crossing his arms glaring at Allura accusingly. "Or all that stuff he could do with the Black bayard, Shiro's bayard. The one you said was lost with the original Paladin?"

"Why didn't you just tell us the truth about Zarkon?"

Allura looked down, refusing to meet their eyes. "I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the Paladins, so that you would have a chance to bond with your lions on your own. You are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon."

"The Black Lion might have a different take on the matter," Shiro frowned.

"It doesn't matter, I will never let a Galra fly one of the lions again."

Jaz rolled her eyes. "As if you can control what the lions decide. Like you said, the lions choose their Paladins."

"I think I found it," Pidge said breaking the tense slience that developed in the wake of Jaz's statement. "There's some repeating numbers in all this Galra code. Let me extract it…" she trailed off as the results appeared on the monitor above. "They are coordinates. They lead here: the Thaldycon System."

"Then that's where we're headed," Shiro stated.

"Shiro, are you sure we can trust this?" Keith questioned, making Shiro turn to him in surprise. He wasn't expecting Keith to be the one to protest, however, he didn't look suspiscious, just concerned. "I mean, after all the Galra have done to you—they captured you, they took your arm. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but what if it's a trap?"

"It's worth the risk," he said. "Someone helped us escape. If we can get some allies in our fight against Zarkon, especially ones from his own side. We can find a way to take him down."

"We can check the location," Allura said, "but I do not like this."

"No one's asking for your opinion," Jaz said coldly. "Shiro's right we need allies. And if they prove to be enemies at least we can get rid of a base or weapon in the process."

"The Galra are not to be trusted."

"Are you sure you're not basing that on your own prejudices against them?" Jaz questioned crossing her arms. "Statistically speaking there has to be Galrans that don't agree with Zarkon's rule."

"They've had ten thousand years to remove him from power in case you forgot that Jaz," Allura snarled, "the Galra are not to be relied upon."

-.-

The Castle wormholed into a field of large crystal-like asteroids. "Whelp, this is it. There's no sign of any activity at all, living or otherwise," Coran stated.

"Can we get in there?" Shiro asked motioning to the crystal field. "Take a closer look?"

"I don't want ot bring the Castle any closer," Coran replied. "Those Xanthorium clusters contain highly unstable nitrate salts; even bumping one of them them can blow us straight to Wazblay."

"You sure?" Jaz asked narrowing her eyes. "Seems like you're more eager to leave rather than check."

"These are the coordinates Number Six gave me."

"Hey! My decryption's solid!" Pidge snapped.

"There must be something we're missing," Shiro sighed tapping his chin in thought. There was no way it was just a dream, they found the coordinates and he and Jaz remembered the same details—though Jaz was a little more fuzzy on them—there had to be something they weren't seeing.

"We should get out of here," Allura said.

"Why? Scared we're right and that you're wrong about the Galra?" Jaz taunted.

"We've checked it out, now it's time to move on."

Jaz scoffed, "Please, you haven't checked out anything. Have you used advanced scanners to check for cloaking? Or any distortions in the area?"

"Good idea!" Pidge grinned as she and Hunk started typing. "We'll run those now, see what we get."

Shiro nodded, "I know there's something here Allura, we just need patience."

-.-

Shiro sat back in his chair rubbing his eyes from where he was staring at the monitor. There had to be something, those coordinates wouldn't be in his arm for no reason, and if it was a trap it would've been sprung by now.

Looking around the room he spotted Jaz helping Pidge and Hunk run the scans, offering different types of cloaking to check for. Though, every now and then he'd see her toss an accusing glare at Allura. He'd have to talk to her later to see what was rubbing her the wrong way, the last thing they needed was for the Altean Princess and the next Captain of the Awoken Royal Guard at odds with each other, especially if they were confined in the same space for long periods of time.

Coran was running scans of his own, probably checking diagnostics over the ship or running more scans of the area to check for threats.

Allura hadn't moved from her spot at the controls, it looked like she was silently debating on just wormholing anyways despite their agreement to check the area out.

Lance was playing a video game, it looked like that ancient videogame from the days before VR-MMOs called Space Invaders. How'd he even download it into the Castle? Or was that the Altean version, he'd have to ask later.

Keith seemed to be running a scan of his own, muttering to himself in another language as he occasionally shifted in his seat. He'd seemed unable to stay still long since the incident after the corrupted wormhole. Shiro made a note to check if he was alright, he knew that those things they fought could seriously put someone on edge. After facing that one in the arena he'd been unable to sit still till Jaz personally knocked his lights out.

After several hours, something finally happened, he just wasn't expecting it to be an intruder alert.

"There's an intruder in the Castle!" Coran called.

"How could someone just sneak aboard the ship?" Lance asked.

"I'll explain that to you later," Jaz grumbled.

"I knew we shouldn't have come here!" Allura growled pulling up the camera feeds.

"No, you just didn't want to come here because of your prejudices against the Galra!"

"He's on Level Five," Allura said ignoring Jaz.

"Everyone suit up," Shiro ordered getting up and they all got changed into their armor, racing down to where Allura said he was. "We'll divide and conquer, let everyone else know when you find them."

They eached raced through the halls, trying to find out where their uninvited guest was.

Turning a corner, Lance balked and aimed his gun at the tall, dark figure standing ahead of him. "I got him," Lance called. "Hold it right there!"

/Stay on him, we're on our way!/ Shiro responded as they all locked on Lance's location.

The dark form turned and began sprinting at him. Well, he warned him, Lance shrugged firing he weapon.

And the guy dodged his shots like a ninja.

"Careful, he's faster than an angry Klanmüirl!"

He was in front of Lance before he even realized it, swipe his gun aside, spinning him around and leaping over the Blue Paladin in a matter of seconds.

"But he can jump like an angry Globinheffer!"

"Coran you aren't helping!" Lance remarked as he continued firing at the retreating ninja.

"Oh, someone's as mad as a wet Chüper. Coming your way Number Six!"

Pidge stopped holding up her bayard as she looked around, where was he going to come from? She heard the blaster fire coming from this direction a minute ago.

As if in answer, a dark form shot out from around the corner. Pidge activated the taser and dived at him; and he just flipped over her. Rolling to her feet, she switched to the grapple and fired, making the intruder jump and grab onto the other end.

"I got him!" she grinned. Now, how did she get the taser to work on this?

There was a sharp tug on the rope and Katie felt her feet slide a few inches forwards.

"Oh no."

He began sprinting, dragging her behind him like a fish on a hook.

"I don't got him!"

"He's dragging Pidge away!"

Katie managed to pull her legs in front of her, now if only she could get a grip on the ground to stop him. "Come back here!" she snapped starting to press her feet down.

Hearing something behind him, Hunk whipped around and started firing.

"HUNK!" she screamed dropping down as she was dragged under the barrage of the cannon.

"Oh. SORRY!"

"Oh, Hunk failed the team everybody."

"HEY!"

"Looks like it's all up to Keith."

"Copy that," he replied pulling out his bayard.

"Hall to your right. He'll be turning into it soon."

Nodding, Keith began racing to the corner, better to take him by surprise.

"Oh. This is exciting. He's got a sword. One young Paladin, versus a seemingly indestructible foe…"

And there went the element of surprise.

The target whipped around the corner, making Keith duck and slide under the rope before he chased after, jumping over Pidge as she was dragged in front of him. Sprinting ahead, he caught up to the intruder and swung.

"Swing and a miss!"

Keith saw a corner up ahead, and he could see the man moving as if he was going to make a turn. Jumping forwards, Keith rolled passed, growling as he missed again.

"Another swing and a miss!"

Getting back to his feet, Keith continued sprinting after, this guy had to tire eventually.

"He can't touch him! He's too fast!"

Oh, what Keith would give to have Coran shut up for five seconds. Running alongside Pidge he looked at her and she nodded, smirking as she got the same idea. Digging her heels into the ground she grunted as she yanked on the rope, making the target stop as his arm was yanked back.

Seeing his chance, Keith activated the jetpack and bounced off the wall straight for him. Swinging his blade down, he grunted as the clang of metal rang out, and he found himself staring at a sword with a familiar symbol.

"Keith…?"

The intruder swung his free arm, knocking the bayard out of his hands and across the hall.

"He knocked Keith's bayard out of his hands!"

Keith raised his fists, that didn't matter, he didn't need a weapon to win this. He just had to make sure he didn't kill him. He had questions and one way or another, he would make this guy answer them.

Charging forwards with and undercut, Keith grunted as a body slammed into him, sending him sprawling across the floor with Pidge in his grasp. Springing back to his feet, he rushed at the intruder again. Raising his fist, he watched as the other's arm came to meet, making Keith duck and slide under before attempting to swipe their feet out from under them. He jumped up, trying to land on Keith as he rolled out of the way. Keith rushed at him again, grabbing his arm, and trying to restrain him, before his feet were knocked out from under him and he was sent slamming into Hunk and Lance.

He'd give this guy credit, he was good.

Shiro activated his arm as he stopped a few feet behind the intruder. Their head slowly turned towards him, when they moved quickly, pulling out a weapon. Shiro reacted, lashing out with his arm and they each stopped, holding their weapons at a standstill near each other's throats.

The intruder was the first to back down, pulling the blade away and lowering his hood, as the mask fell away, revealing a tall Galra with lavender fur bearing white markings.

"Ulaz?" Shiro breathed, backing down in relief. It was him. He and Jaz weren't crazy. This was the man who helped them escape.

Allura shouldered Shiro aside and shoved Ulaz up against the wall. "Who are you?!"

"Oh God, it's realy him," Jaz gasped as she slowed to a stop.

"Allura, let him go," Shiro reassured trying to calm down the Princess, "this is him. This is the Galra that freed us."

"You've come."

They all moved the conversation into the lounge, and despite protests, cuffed Ulaz as they made him explain.

"I really don't think this is necessary," Shiro said again looking at the cuffs.

"I will not have some quiznaking Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!" Allura snarled.

"He saved our lives and this is how you repay him for that?" Jaz hissed.

"He broke into the Castle!"

Jaz raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, "We technically did that when we arrived. In case you forgot: you attacked Lance. And yet I don't see us in cuffs."

"The Blue Lion brought you that's why, it let you into the Castle."

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already," Ulaz stated, his ear twitching in annoyance.

"Are your Galra threats supposed to earn my trust?" Allura growled.

"He's merely stating a fact, spies like us are trained that way," Jaz smirked.

"I'm not trying to win your trust, I'm trying to win a war," Ulaz responded to Allura, "and because of Shiro and Jaz, we're closer than we've ever been. Our gamble on both of you payed off better than we could've ever imagined."

"When you released us, you also mentioned that there were others working with you," Shiro recalled.

Ulaz gave a small nod, "Yes, we are called the Blade of Marmora."

"Others? Are they here?" Hunk inquired, sounding nervous.

"Hunk can you try not to act so scared in front of the chained-up prisoner?" Lance chided. "It makes us seem a little lame."

"Not that you need help with that," Jaz teased and Lance turned red.

"I am alone on this base," Ulaz answered frankly.

"What is this base you are talking about? Shiro's coordinates lead us to this wasteland!"

"The base is hidden."

"Ha! Told you so!"

"Now that I know it is Shiro and Jaz who've come, you are welcome to the outpost," he said. "It lies dead ahead."

"Behind all the Xanthorium clusters?"

"No, right in front of it, hidden in a pocket of space-time."

"Coran, are you hearing this?" Allura called.

"The scans Pidge and Hunk were running have picked up an anomaly, I supposed it could be a cloaked base."

"And whose idea was it to run those scans Allura?" Jaz smiled putting her arm on her shoulder, her grin widening as the Princess gave a frustrated growl. "So how do we reach your base?"

"Just fly straight for the center of the Xanthorium cluster," he answered. "You will see."

"You thin you're going to get me to destroy my ship just because you say so?" Allura scoffed.

"Allura, there's a lot easier ways to kill us and get the lions," Jaz remarked. "Blowing us up would just damage them. Zarkon wouldn't be happy about that."

Shiro nodded in agreement, but he still gave his friend a warning glare to try and get her to stop getting on Allura's nerves. "We came out here to find answers, are we going to turn back now?"

"You know I trust both of you, but I don't think this feels right," Keith said watching Ulaz with crossed arms.

Lance put his hands on his hips, "You know I hate to agree with Keith, but that's a big fat ditto for me."

"The Galra could've implanted fake memories of the escape in your head," Pidge pointed out.

"Of come on," Hunk said, "that would be so evil—which, of course, they are. But they'd have to come up with a molecular-level storage unit—which, his hand does have. But to be linked up to memory it would need a direct path to his brain, which…yeah."

Jaz leaned towards Hunk, "What about me? I remember that same stuff and I don't have any of that?"

"Uh well…I got nothing," Hunk shrugged.

"Ulaz saved us, without him none of us would be here," Shiro stated.

Allura didn't look happy about it, but she agreed. "Fine," she spat. "Slow and steady Coran. Head for the Xanthorium cluster."

"Yes Princess. Beginning approach…Impact imminent in five, four, three, two…Well, that's something?"

"What?"

"Putting it up on the screens."

They all looked to the screen and watched as a wormhole-like tunnel appeared.

"Amazing," Pidge gasped in awe, "They're folding space."

"It's like a space taco, or a space calzone, or a scape-time dumpling and we're the soup. Hey is there a cafeteria on this thing?"

"Incredible," Yorak commented, "I've never seen technology this similar to the Vex before. You think I'll get the chance to study it?"

"Kostilus [perhaps]."

They exited the portal and saw a base floating in front of the cluster. "Welcome to the Blade of Marmora Base Thaldycon," Ulaz said standing up. "Now if you'll free me, I can send a message to my leadership. They need to know I've made contact with Voltron."

"Go with him, and keep an eye on him," Allura hissed. "I'm staying here."

"Oh! Can we go too!?" Hunk asked.

"I wanna see how they make the space pocket!" Pidge pleaded.

"You guys go ahead, I'll stay behind to protect the princess," Lance said.

"Ugh."

"Have fun!" Jaz cheered as they made their way to the closest lion.

Flying Red out of the ship, Keith felt a little cramped as everyone crowded in the cockpit. They did know there was a larger area in the back right?

"This is the gravity generator creating the space-time fold hiding the station," Ulaz said. "It was created by a reclusive genius engineer named Slav. His technology allows the Blade of Marmorato remain hidden while we work to take down the Galra Empire. Zarkon would do anything to get his hands on this technology."

"So there are Galra out there who aren't loyal to Zarkon?" Keith asked making sure to keep his tone unreadable, he didn't want Shiro to worry, or Traveler forbid Jaz become suspiscious of his inquires.

"We thought that expanding the empire would bring stability," Ulaz supplied as they landed and walked inside, "we realized too late a tyrant doesn't seek stability, only power. With our members working on the inside, planning coordinated attacks with Voltron, we may finally have a chance."

"So you have agents working within Zarkon's ranks?" Hunk asked.

Ulaz looked at him raising a bushy white brow, "How do you think you got away from Zarkon in that last fight? Do you think those sheilds around the Command Center went down on their own? We've got people risking their likes in this war, just like you."

"If you've got people on the inside, do you think they could tell me where my family is?" Pidge questioned. "They were taken the same time Shiro and Jaz were."

"I knew others from the Sol System were captured, I never saw them, but there are some records of Galra prisoners here. I can transmit them to your ship."

"What's that weapon you carry?" Keith asked looking at the symbol.

Ulaz saw where he was looking and pulled out the blade. "It's a ceremonial blade that each member of our order carries."

"Cool."

"So do you guys have any allies?" Shiro asked.

Ulaz nodded. "A few, but most are small factions, our biggest allies have been unreachable for several decapheobs. Their loss was a critical blow to our work."

"What happened?" Hunk asked.

"We don't know, one day all communications and shipments were cut off without warning."

"Do you think the Galra got them?" Shiro frowned and Ulaz shook his head.

"I do know for a fact Zarkon tried to make an alliance with the area, but our contact made it clear it was refused."

Shiro furrowed his eyebrows, that didn't sound good, "You think they retaliated?"

This earned a short from the seemingly stoic man. "Not even Zarkon's druids are willing to go into such a dangerous area uninvited. The system one of the deadliest ever seen, it hasn't been at peace since the dawn of the Galra Empire. The violence has only worsened in the last six thousand years. The losses of sending troops there would be unfathomable."

Pidge grimaced, "Yikes."

Then, the screens turned red as the alarm went off, making Ulaz turn around and look at them accusingly. "You were tracked!"

"What? Us?" Pidge gasped in shock as Keith bristled.

"If Zarkon knows we're here, it's because you ratted us out!"

"It's another one of Zarkon's robot…beasts—Robeasts!" Hunk exclaimed as they saw the oddly shappen machine fly towards the clusters.

"We have to get back to the ship," Shiro ordered.

"Does it even know where exactly we are?" Jaz questioned. "We are in a space-time fold."

"That doesn't matter, we still need to be ready to fight if it does realize where we are," Shiro supplied.

Ulaz didn't suppled any answers as he slapped something into Shiro's hand. "These are instructions on how to reach the Blade of Marmora's headquarters. Before you go there, find out how Zarkon is tracking you, if you lead him there, our entire undergound network, everything we've spent centuries building will be lost."

Racing to Red, Keith swung into the pilot's seat as the others crowded him in the cockpit. Pulling out of the hangar, they opened a frequency to the Castle.

"Allura, we've got a robeast heading our way," Hunk stated and the Atlean Princess glowered.

/I knew he couldn't be trusted!/

"It wasn't him," Shiro and Jaz replied.

/That doesn't matter now!/ Coran snapped. /What should we do?/

"Why can't we do what Jaz said and hide here in the space clam till it goes away?"

"We are doing that Hunk," Jaz said raising an eyebrow. "We're just heading back just in case it does find us."

"Oh."

Landing in his hangar, Keith let his passengers get off, before closing Red's mouth and facing her towards the exit. Now came the irksome game of waiting to see what the enemy does.

/We should be hidden as long as we're in the space pocket/ Pidge said sounding like she was getting in Green.

/Uh guys, it's drawing in the Xanthorium clusters/ Coran called just before Keith could hear the explosions outside, but they weren't hitting the Castle due to the pocket.

/I'm pretty sure it knows we're here now/ Jaz deadpanned.

The was a rumble and the sound of blaster fire. /Direct hit. It definitely knows we're here!/

/Get the particle barrier up!/ Allura ordered. /Jaz, ready?/

/I'm always looking for a good fight/

"That's why you always got in trouble when we were kids," Keith quipped, smirking at her frustraited groan.

/And at the Garrison/ Shiro teased. /Remember the incident involving Admiral Sanda?/

/SHE HAD IT COMING!/

/Don't push yourself, you're still recovering from the last battle/ Coran reprimanded and they all heard Jaz's growl.

Blasts rapidly made impact with the barrier of the anomaly, attempting, yet failing to break through the protective barrier surrounding them. Opening its massive jaws, the robeast began drawing in more clusters.

/He's readying another attack!/ Coran exclaimed.

The Castle shifted, and Keith was jostled in his seat. Why in the Light were they moving? The pocket seemed to be protecting them just fine.

His answer came in the form of Allura shouting over the comms, /He's drawing us in as well!/

/Power Rangers you're welcome to form Megazord or whatever it was at any time!/

/Wait what Ranger would that make meEEH!/ Lance screamed as they were shot out of the hangars.

Forming Voltron, they shot through the barrier of the space-time pocket, and Keith shoved Red forwards, smirking as Red punched the beast back.

/We're exposed, the space fold's been lowered!/ Allura exclaimed and they saw a small ship shoot by.

/There goes Ulaz/

/I knew we should never trust a Galra/

/Will focus on the issue at hand rather than your prejudices?!/ Jaz exclaimed.

"If you two are gonna argue, do it off the comms, it's distracting!" Keith snapped as Voltron punched the oddly-shaped robeast back.

/Alright, let's light this thing up! Fire lasers!/

Green fired first hitting the beast, followed swiftly by a barrage from Red. Getting further away from them, the unproportionate jaws opened wide, allowing it to suck in more of the Xanthorium.

/It's drawing in more ammo!/

/Move, move, move!/ Shiro ordered and Voltron quickly stopped, the first shot flying past right where they would've been. Flying back through the clusters, the beast turned with, letting its laser ignite the explosive clusters. Several of the chain-reactions exploded along side them, causing Voltron to be blasted out of hiding into the open area where the beast could see them. /Lance! Hunk! Give me full-reverse boosters!/

Flipping over, the legs of Voltron activated the boosters, slowing and haulting their crash course before they hit another cluster. Before they could regroup, an immense gravity pulled on them as the beast's jaws opened wide and began sucking them and the clusters towards it. With the boosters still activated, Voltron tried to fly out of range, but unfortunately was hit by one of the clusters caught in the robeast's pull, exploding and knocking them closer to the mouth; where the gravity was more intense.

/This thing wants to eat us like we're a space taco!/ Hunk whined.

Getting closer, Voltron turned around, placing the feet on either side of the mouth as the two puny arms grabbed onto the Red and Green lions, holding them in place.

"Keith! Use the jawblade!" Yorak suggested, and Keith smirked. He had been thinking of summoning the sword, but due to the fact Red and Green had to connect for a split second in order to develop the energy needed, that wasn't going to happen with the space T-rex here was holding them apart.

Activating the blade, Keith turned Red in the arms and stopped pulling back, using the thursters to stab forwards, hitting it and making it let them go.

/Good thinking Keith!/ Pidge cheered as they flew away from the beast.

/We've gotta get some distance between us and that robeast!/ Shiro exclaimed as they wove through the Xanthorium clusters.

Several quick shots rang out and the three closest clusters exploded, blasting Voltron around like a ping-pong ball through the inferno. Flying out, they flew under the purple light as the jaws opened, trying to draw them in again.

/It's trying to eat us again!/

The jaws closed for a second before opening again, this time catching Voltron in its range. /I've got thrusters at full capacity and it's not making a difference!/

/Jaz! Now would be a really good time for an assist!/ Shiro called.

/I can't!/ she growled, sounding frustraited, /If I miss it'll cause an explosive chain reaction bigger than the current attacks!/

/I can get a precise shot!/ Coran called.

"What are you waiting for? Take it!" Keith snapped and a beam blasted by, slamming into the robeast, pushing it back and forcing it to close its jaws.

/Is everyone alright?/

/Alive yes, alright, that's questionable/ Lance replied.

The jaws opened again and a blue shield materialized in front of the particle barrier as Xanthoirium asteroids began to fly towards and hit the shield protecting the Castle. /I really don't know how long I can hold this!/

/We need a way to stop its tractor beam!/ Pidge exclaimed.

/I have an idea! Form shield!/ Shiro ordered as the object formed from Voltron's wings in Green's jaws and they flew straight at the robeast. /We'll use the shield to block the beam!/

Ramming it, Keith and Pidge used their lions to make sure the shield was stuck in the jaws, preventing them from closing and blocking the tractor beam.

/Why didn't you do that sooner?!/

"We've stopped the beam, now what?" Keith questioned tightening his grip on the controls, that shield wouldn't hold this thing off forever, eventually the evil Cat-Roomba would shake it off.

/Now we go on the offensive/ Shiro stated.

/Oh!/ Pidge squealed over the comms like she was a student who knew the answer to a hard question in class, /We can use the Xanthorium clusters!/

/Yes! Payback!/ Lance cheered.

Flying forwards, Voltron grabbed the shield, using it to push the robeast around and towards the biggest cluster they could find. Pushing the thrusters to the max for a moment, they gained speed before letting go and stopping themselves and summoning the shield back before impact was made.

It seemed to work, then the next attack began, at least they already had the shield out to defend themselves as it blocked the laser as the power of it pushed Voltron back.

/The shield can't handle this much power!/ Katie exclaimed.

And so much for their defense.

The shield broke apart, knocking Voltron back, but they managed to recover quickly, flying back up as the beats opened its jaws again and began trying to eat them.

/We might not be able to beat this thing!/ Hunk exclaimed.

/Hang on!/ Ulaz's voice called.

"Did we leave the comms open?" Yorak questioned and Keith shrugged. How was he supposed to know that would happen?

/Ulaz?/ Jaz and Shiro questioned.

/Hang on! I'm going to take it down from the inside!/ he said as they spotted the smaller craft speeding towards them.

/WHAT?!/

The implications dawned on Keith. He'd heard the phrase before, but it always came from other Guardians, and unlike Ulaz, they were immortal. "DON'T! IT'S SUICIDE!"

/Ulaz! No! Let us handle this!/

/Voltron is too valuable. The universe needs you/ he stated, sounding resolved in his choice and before any further protests could be made, the smaller ship flew into the mouth and it slammed shut behind.

The beast froze for a second before flying at them again, making Keith wrinkle his nose in anger. It should've been dead from that, the ship's impact should've killed it, but it was still alive. One way or another he was going to eliminate this thing. There was no way he'd let that kind of sacrifice be for nothing.

Voltron got into a fighting position, ready to fight it again, only to watch as the engines sputtered and it appeared to start short-circuiting. The real cause became apparent when pieces began folding in on itself.

/Ulaz opened the space pocket inside!/ Pidge exclaimed as Keith came to the same realization. /It's falling in on itself!/

The beast crumpled into a small ball before it exploded in firely light, taking out a large portion of the Xanthorium, but this time, it stayed dead.

/He did it/

"Ulaz saved us," Keith breathed, feeling guilty. He blamed him for when the robeats found them, and now he was gone, and he couldn't apologize for the accusation.

/He's…gone/

-.-

Keith walked into the observation room where Shiro and Jaz stood looking out the window to where Ulaz and the beats had vanished, sharing in their grief at the loss. "Sorry we doubted Ulaz," he apologized, "he saved our lives."

"I still have so many questions," Shiro choked, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Jaz pressed her lips together in a solemn smile, placing her hand on his shoulder. "We'll find our crew. He gave us the database, I'm certain there's something on it."

Keith glanced away, feeling like he was intruding on something. It was no secret that Shiro and Jaz were close, they had to be in order to stay sane in the pits, for them it had to be natural to comfort each other after rough battles at this point. He felt bad to bother them with his concerns.

"Do you really think Zarkon's tracking us?" Keith quietly asked, part of them hoping they wouldn't hear so he could just slip out of them room and let them have their peace. He could let Yorak run a scan of the ship to check for trackers, maybe even look around for anything tainted with the witch's magic.

We can't know for sure," Allura stated coldly, making him jump. When did she walk in? "Ulaz was the only one who knew of our whereabouts."

"You don't really think Ulaz gave us up?" Shiro questioned, his voice turning icy as he and Jaz both slowly turned. "After he sacrificed himself?"

"Did it ever cross your mind that Zarkon could've found this place on his own?" Keith barked coming to the aid of his friends before Allura could snap at either of them, they didn't need that right now. "He's probably been searching for the Blade of Marmora."

"If you ask me, it seems impractical to let us go when he had us cornered at Central Command for us to walk into a more elaborate trap," Jaz hissed, her grin resembling a wolf baring its teeth.

Allura, glanced down, she did make a point, but she wouldn't put anything past the Galra. "It's clear that the loss of Ulaz has caused you great concern, but regardless of how Zarkon located us, we cannot stay here any longer. It's not safe."

Keith crossed his arms, relaxing his stance. "Then we should meet up with the rest of Ulaz's group, finish what we started."

"No," Shiro stated, "we're not going to the headquarters until we figure out how Zarkon found us. We can't risk losing the only allies we have in this war."

"I'll go with Hunk and Pidge, run a thorough scan for any tracking devices," Jaz said, grabbing Allura. "C'mon Princess, we may need to use magic."

Not bothering to see the women leave, Keith turned to Shiro, looking over him in concern. His adoptive brother looked absolutely exhausted. "You need anything?"

"I'm ok."

Keith let his shoulders slump slightly, Shiro was almost as bad as keeping things internalized as he was. "I think Hunk, Lance, and Pidge were planning on eating soup and watching a movie. The soup was pretty good when I tried it."

Shiro seemed to perk up, if only slightly. "Are you going?"

Keith shook his head, "I was gonna catch up on some sleep, I already had my bowl."

Shiro gave a small smile, "Maybe I'll head up there in a bit, not like I can say no to Hunk's cooking."

"Who can?"

"True," Shiro said ruffling his hair. "You got get some rest then, I'll be up soon. Right now, I…I just need some time to myself."

He nodded in understanding. "I'll let them know," he said quietly leaving. Walking towards his room, Keith managed to pass Shiro's location to Pidge and Lance, both of whom swiftly started heading that way despite his protests.

But at least Shiro wouldn't be alone, grieving alone was often worse.

Closing the door behind him, Keith sat on the bed and pulled out his knife. Yorak flew beside him, being unusually quiet as he unwrapped the cloth he'd wrapped around the blade his father gave him, saying it came from his mother.

Revealing the glowing symbol at the hilt, there was no doubt: it was the exact same as the one on Ulaz's sword.