Chapter 18

A/N: alright! Onto the next chapter! As always, I just own this story and my OCs, that's it.

/comm/

"Bold is intercom."

Flashback or ghost talking privayely with their Guardian or dreams cause I guess they count as a kind of flashback?

"There's no point in debating this further," Allura stated firmly, Zarkon is clearly tracking us through me."

"Aw, space baloney."

"That's not possible."

"Why would that be so hard to believe?" Allura questioned, silencing everyone. "Zarkon's forces showed up on Arus only after I awoke."

"She has a point," Lance frowned before putting on a smile and bowing, "I would absolutely travel across the galaxy to find you."

"Think about how they found us when we first got to Arus in the Blue Lion," Jaz pointed out leaning against the wall near Keith, "whose to say that wasn't the test run of whatever they're using to track us now."

"They would've found us more often before that then," Shio stated.

"Maybe, unless it was only perfected by the time we reached Central Command," Pidge pointed out.

"But we would've found a tracker through all the scans," Hunk reminded.

"Touche."

"It has to be me, there's no other explanation," Allura stated hugging her knees.

"It's not you Allura," Keith said crossing is arms, "I'm pretty sure it might be me, I was the only one to have direct contact with Zarkon. He might've done something to me during our battle."

"The fact is we don't know how Zarkon's tracking us," Katie huffed. "It could be through the Black Lion. Everytime Zarkon gets close to it Shiro has to fight him for control."

"Hm, you've gotta point there, he was the original Black Paladin," Jaz nodded, "that bond could still be there."

"That's only when Zarkon's nearby," Coran remarked. "No one has ever been able to connect with a lion over a vast distance."

"So what're we gonna do?"

Shiro sighed, "Look, it doesn't matter how he's tracking us because we're gonna take the fight to the Galra soon enough. They've been chasing us from galaxy to galaxy, the last thing they'll expect is for us to come after them."

"The hunter becomes the hunted, hmm? Awesome!" Lance grinned. "That's a tag line from like six of my favorite movies."

"After our stunt with Zarkon's command station, they might be anticipating anything," Jaz reminded.

"As it happens, I took our list of recent Galra attacks and analyzed it for commonalities and anomalies among the attack sites," Pidge said sitting doen as she began typing. "I was hoping to create an algorithm that would—withing a statisctically acceptable margin of error—provide a list of target-rich Galra environments—color-coded of course, because what are we, animals?"

As she finished a holo-map appeared around them and planets began to turn red.

"It's a Galra finder?" Hunk questioned.

"Finder suggests that it locates the Galra. It would be more accurate to say that my model predicts their likeliest…" she trailed off as she saw everyone looking at her confused. "Fine, it's a Galra finder."

"So where are the Galra?"

Pidge began typing and a blue ring appeared around a red planet. "The nearest ones are right here. A planet called Taujeer."

"Then that's where we're headed," Shiro stated. "Everyone get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll find that fleet and take it out."

Everyone began to walk out before Jaz grabbed Keith by the collar of his jacket as she and Shiro stood behind him like parents catching their child doing something wrong—at least Jaz was, Shiro actually looked concerned.

"Is everything ok?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"You just…" he trailed off thinking of his next words carefully, "seem a bit anxious."

"What're you hiding?"

"I'm fine," Keith said forcing a small smile, "just tired. It's been a long few days. I just probably need some sleep." Turning he walked out of the bridge, ignoring the worried gazes boring into his back as he left.

"He's lying," Jaz muttered and Shiro raised an eyebrow, looking at her skeptically.

"What makes you say that?"

"Takashi, you know him as well as I do."

Shiro sighed, slumping his shoulders, he really was hoping that Keith was just tired, but his behavior suggested otherwise. He'd been pulling away, just like he used to when Shiro first took him under his wing, and that only happened when something was bothering him a lot. "I'm sure he'll tell us given time."

Jaz merely raised a brow.

"You don't agree?"

"Something tells me this is something he's trying to keep internalized," she said taking a step forwards and Shiro put a hand on her shoulder.

"Jaz, just give him some time. We can figure it out in the morning if you're so sure," Shiro said giving her some leeway. He really didn't want to pressure Keith; he hated to do it, especially when the younger man had a tendency to blow up when pressed too much. However, Shiro had to admit Jaz held a point. They'd known each other since childhood, so it made sense Jaz knew more about a few of Keith's odd quirks. Jaz hadn't led him wrong in helping raise his little brother yet. "Trust me, it'll be fine."

"I certainly hope so."

-.-

Keith sat on his bed looking at his blade, the glowing symbol cutting through the dark like a sign announcing its presence. Hearing an alarm, he raced to his lion, driving through the tunnels to Red on his speeder.

The elevator ride went slowly, but Keith couldn't help but notice how the light changed from a comforting familiar red to deep violet, the same color as the symbol on his knife. Getting up he stopped seeing his lion's eyes.

Red's eyes were supposed to be like golden embers, her eyes were not supposed to be violet. Her burning gaze locked with his and, she got up a deep growl echoing around him. Something was wrong.

"Red? What's the matter? It's me."

She roared and lunged at him. Violet eyes snapped shut as Keith braced himself, only…he didn't feel any pain. The sound of footsteps began to reverberate around him, and he lowered his arms finding himself surrounded by Galra sentries marching by.

Scrambling back, Keith held his knife in a defensive position, waiting for the attack. But it never came.

Violet light rolled off his blade, and Keith looked down at himself, biting back a cry of horror. He was in Galra armor, the light of his knife flashed and Keith looked down seeing a pair of glowing eyes looking back at him.

"I can find you anywhere," Zarkon said. "Do you really believe they'll let a monster like you be a Paladin? Especially after they figure out what you know is true?"

Keith couldn't move, everything turned dark and then he could see Hunk and Lance looking at him in horror, shielding Katie with their bodies. "I knew we could never trust you," Lance growled aiming his bayard at Keith.

"You lied to us," Hunk said stepping away looking scared, holding Pidge protectively.

"What did you do to my family?!" Pidge hollered at him, rage burning in her amber eyes as tears stremed down her face.

"No! No! I'm not with them!" he called as Allura and Coran appeared nearby, the Princess looking murderous.

"YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO BE WITH US! TO PILOT A LION OF VOLTRON!" she screamed.

"Allura! I—!"

"Get away from us!" the advisor snapped getting between them.

Another light appeared and Keith gulped, a heavy weight settling in his gut, there were only two people missing now. Licking his dry lips, Keith slowly turned to see Jaz and Shiro looking at him.

They looked terrified.

His brother, his best friend, they were afraid of him.

"You—you were with them this whole time?" Shiro stuttered.

"No! Shiro please! Listen to me!" he called.

"Why should we?!" Jaz sneered her brilliant blue-gold eyes blazing with fury. "You're a traitor! A disgrace!"

"Jaz! Please! I'm not with them!" he cried out putting his hand against the blue glass that now was in his way. Looking around, Keith paled, he was in a pod, like Sendak. Traveler…they were…they were going to eject him into space.

He was crying now, of that Keith was sure as he pounded away on the glass as hard as he could, but it wouldn't give. He wasn't with the Galra! He didn't know why his father had the knife, for all he knew it could be a trophy from combat; he'd brought Keith trophies before. Or it was something he bought at the market from one of the weapons vendors. They had to understand that he had no idea why it was with him. He wasn't with the empire!

"Shiro! Please, you know me. I promise I would never betray you!" he pleaded with the man that had his back turned to him.

"Then why didn't you free us from Kerberos?" his cold voice echoed. "You had the resources and you left us. A real brother wouldn't do that."

"I didn't know who it was Shiro! I didn't know it was the Galra."

"Your knife says otherwise," Jaz hissed. "You sold us out!"

"They were right," Shiro murmured and Keith's heart dropped, "you really are a demon."

Jaz sneered as her hand glowed, "And you know how we handle demons."

Then everything exploded into white-hot agony.

Keith shot up gasping for air, his hands gripping the hilt of his knife with white knuckles.

"Keith?" Yorak asked his eye blinking on as he looked at his Guardian before floating and nuzzling himself into Keith's cheek to offer comfort from whatever bothered him. The ghost was worried, it'd been a while since he'd seen Keith like this, scared, shaking, searching for any form of comfort he could get while refusing to burden others with his problems.

Something wet, dripped onto his shell and he glanced up, Keith was…Keith was crying. His guardian hardly ever cried, the last time he'd seen Keith cry was in their first foster home after he'd been beaten for standing up to a bully picking on another kid at school.

Yorak nudged closer to Keith, burying himself between his cheek and shoulder, he knew Keith felt more relaxed if he was close, maybe this would calm him down. "What happened? Bad dream?"

Keith didn't answer, but Yorak glanced at the knife, curse the Captain and his stupid promises. "It was about the blade? Wasn't it?"

Keith nodded, pulling his cheek off and standing up. "We should go, it's too dangerous for me to be here."

Yorak balked, watching as his Guardian grabbed a duffel to pack supplies. "Do you think they're going to do something?"

"Zarkon's tracking me somehow, might be through that wizard we fought, I can't lead him to everyone," Keith stated coldly as he put on a set of Guardian armor and they snuck to the kitchen, grabbing some supplies.

"Are we really certain it's through you?"

Keith's shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "I don't know, but the odds aren't in my favor. I fought with a wizard and unlike Shiro I absorbed the magic and healed my own wounds before anyone found out. I also fought Zarkon alone and absorbed the darkness poisoning Shiro. That's three chances for there to be a tracking spell or something to be put on me."

Rushing down to the hangar, Keith began sorting through his inventory figuring out which ship would be best to use. The door hissed open behind him, forcing him to duck behind a nearby pod. Letting his ghost hide, Keith peered around, his gaze quickly settling on the form of Princess Allura.

"Princess what're you doing here?" he asked and she yelped in shock, falling back into his arms before jumping out blushing.

"I might ask you the same thing."

"Nothing. Just walking," he said, "late at night…near the pods."

"In full armor with a bag of your belongings?" she pointed out and he grimaced before sighing in defeat.

"I have to know if Zarkon's tracking me. This is the only way, don't try to stop me."

"I'm not going to stop you," she said and Keith felt a rush of relief, "I'm going to join you."

And his relief was gone.

-.-

"Keith?" Jaz called knocking on the Red Paladin's door. "You in there?"

Not getting a response, she frowned, Keith normally would've responded to her, or at least Yorak would if the Guardian wasn't feeling particularly talkative. That fact that he wasn't answering was concerning, especially after how he'd been last night. Jaz had never seen Keith get scared, unsettled definitely, but last night he looked afraid and that worried her.

"Keith, open up!" she demanded knocking harder knowing the volume would wake one of them if both Guardian and ghost were still resting.

Scowling, Jaz pried the emergency panel open, typing in the master code she stole from Coran. The door swished open, and she walked into…an empty room? "Keith? Yorak?" she questioned tapping on the bathroom door, before opening it to see it empty.

Turning back to the bed, her brows furrowed in confusion, the bed was made. To most that wouldn't seem odd, but Keith had never been the tidiest of people. "No point in making it when I'll just mess it up again at night," was what he always answered with when the officers at the Garrison got on him about it.

Something began to gnaw at her gut and Jaz jogged out of the room, heading for the training deck, Keith probably fell asleep there again, that was it. Coran probably made the bed whenever he'd been tidying things up.

Turning a corner, she slammed into the wall of muscle that was Shiro. Taking a few steps back, she rubbed her nose glaring at him accusingly as he smiled. "Hunk already kicked Lance and Pidge out of the kitchen, your portion of food is safe."

She would have to thank the Yellow Paladin later.

"Have you seen Keith?"

Shiro blinked in surprise before sighing as the memory of last night's conversation came to him, "Jaz, maybe we should wait a bit, trying to force it out of him will only make him close up on us," he said. "You were the one who told Adam and I that."

"I know, I know, but have you seen him?" she said and there must've been something in her tone because Shiro's expression morphed from exasperated friend to over-protective older brother in a heartbeat.

"No. Why? What's going on?"

"Keith wasn't in his room this morning; the bed was made."

Shiro's eyebrows rose at the statement. If anyone knew Keith's habits almost as well as she did, it would be Shiro. "Where else have you checked?"

"I'm on my way to the training deck now."

Shiro nodded, "Check the observation deck after that, I'll check the library and Red's hangar."

Nodding, Jaz and Shiro separated running in opposite directions as they searched for the ever-elusive Red Paladin. Jaz opened the door to the training deck, frowning when she saw it was empty, Keith didn't even leave his jacket or a waterbottle which would suggest he was training.

Gritting her teeth, she turned and ran towards the obersvation deck, going past a very confused Hunk in the process. Storming in, she found Pidge and Lance playing a card game, but no Keith.

"Hey Jaz, you wanna play?" Lance asked waving.

She shook her head. "No thanks, have either of you seen Keith?"

"No, did you check the training deck?" Lance said raising an eyebrow. "I swear to God he lives there."

"Already did, he's not there."

"His room?"

"Not there either."

Pidge tapped her chin in thought. "What about Red?"

"No," Shiro said walking in almost making Jaz jump, dang he could be quiet when he needed to be, "he's not in the library either."

"…The bathroom?"

"I'm not checking there," Shiro said crossing his arms with a flush on his cheeks as Jaz snorted remembering the last time Shiro went looking for someone and decided to check the bathroom.

"Has anyone checked the bridge?" Lance suggested and Jaz smacked her forehead.

Going up to the bridge, they walked in to see Coran on the monitor, but no Keith. "We should be entering Taujeer's orbit soon."

"Raise the particle barrier and scan for Galra," Shiro ordered as they walked to their seats. "Coran, you haven't seen Keith around have you?"

"Where's Allura?" Lance asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen either of them all morning," Coran stated typing on his monitor. "It appears one of the pods launched in the middle of the night."

"Wait a dobash, Keith and Allura? In the middle of the night?" Lance questioned looking skeptical. "You don't think they're sitting in a tree?"

"Wonder who made the first move?" Jaz grinned as Lance squawked.

"Contact that pod," Shiro ordered.

"YES! CONTACT THAT POD!"

-.-

Keith sat in the pilot's seat quietly driving the pod far from the Castle, the ride had been quiet, awkwardly so. It wasn't like he and Allura knew each other very well so neither of them were sure how to start the conversation.

A notification appeared on the dash and they glanced at each other. "Should we answer?" Allura questioned sounding nervous. Before he could answer, the Altean Princess tentatively reached out and tapped the monitor, answering the incoming hail.

/Keith! Princess! Where are you?!/ Coran exclaimed.

"Exactly where we should be, far away from the Castle."

/What? Why?/ Shiro questioned.

/What in the Tangled Shore do you two think you're doing?!/ Jaz exclaimed.

"We must know if we are the ones Zarkon is tracking."

/They're isolating the variables/ Pidge realized, /well, two variables/

/English please/

/In order to test a hypothesis—/

/I said English!/

/NEVERMIND/

"Pidge is right, if Zarkon finds you despite our absence then we know with total certainty that we are not the ones he's tracking."

/Splitting up the group makes us far more vulnerable/ Shiro said. /Come back to the Castle, immediately/

"I'm sorry Shiro, we can't do that."

Keith nodded in agreement, "If Zarkon does find us, I can pilot us to safety. We're in wide open space with plenty of room to maneuver. Plus with the added booster rocket Pidge added we could outrun them."

/That thing's still on there?/ Coran grumbled.

/We need both of you back here now!/ Shiro said again before everyone started shouting.

Keith felt his stomach drop. Were he and Allura wrong afterall? Was Zarkon using something else to track them? "What's going on?!"

/We're in some sort of debris field/ Hunk replied.

"Oh."

/I think it's coming from Taujeer!/ Coran stated. /Correct that! It is Taujeer!/

"Coran what's going on?!" Allura demanded only for them to look at each other as the comms cut. "Coran?!"

"Sounds like interference," Keith growled trying to get the comms to work again.

"Are you sure they aren't in danger?" Allura questioned looking rather guilty now. "Maybe we should go back."

Keith shook his head, "They said they just flew into a debris field, they haven't run into any Galra yet. What if we go back prematurely and just get jumped by Zarkon again? We still wouldn't know who or what he's tracking."

The Princess pressed her lip into a thin line for a moment before nodding, looking out into space. "Keith…what are we going to do if Zarkon finds us? I know you can fly us to safety, but how will we know who specifically?"

Damn, he hadn't thought of that. "We wouldn't be able to go back to the Castle until we knew who it was for certain."

"You mean splitting up?" Allura breathed.

"Not far, probably on the same planet this way we could still reach the pod. Zarkon would send his forces in the direction of his target."

"But what then? The person he's tracking could never go back to the Castle without putting the others at risk."

"I'm sure we could find a way to block it," Keith replied, not sounding too certain himself.

Allura nodded, going quiet for a minute, "What makes you think Zarkon is tracking you?"

"…Back at the Universal Station, I fought something—think Shiro referred to them as Druids—anyways, it managed to hit me with a lightning blast that healed up way too fast," he said covering for his own natural abilities. "Then I fought in close combat with Zarkon. Both were opportunities for them to do something to me, it didn't cross my mind till we started getting tracked around every moon."

Allura nodded, his answer made sense, and if Keith really had been attacked by a Druid then there wasn't any telling on what the blast did to him now that the damage was long gone. "I was just thinking how the Galra found us when you arrived at the Castle. It's possible my energy led them to us."

"They could've been tracking the Blue Lion?" Keith offered, "They hadn't found us since until recently."

He had a point. "However, like you I encountered one of these Druids," Allura stated, "and Zarkon."

Keith grew quiet, she had two chances to get exposed to something just like he did. So the question of who was most likely being tracked was still up in the air.

"Tell me, what is Earth like?"

-.-

"That's Taujeer?" Jaz said looking at the glowing green planet that appeared to be losing its outer crust.

"We've lost contact with Allura and Keith," Coran stated typing on the monitor, "some kind of radiation's interefering with communications."

"Move the Castle away and reestablish the link," Shiro ordered. "Everyone else, get to your lions."

Flying out the four lions flew towards the crumbling planet, weaing through the debris field. Landing near what appeared to be a ship they looked around, checking their scanners.

/I don't see any Galra/ Hunk remarked.

/Looks like that fancy Galra finder doesn't work/ Lance grumbled, /Nice try Pidge/

Shaking his head, Shiro looked out to see someone running towards the lions, zooming in he saw as it appeared to be one of the natives. Opening his comms to the others, Shiro ran outside meeting with them.

"Thank goodness you're here! I am Baujal, leader of the Taujeerians," the large grey alien introduced themselves. "The Galran just destroyed our ship's engines and left."

/So the Galra we here Lance/ Pidge snickered.

"They've taken everything, we must get everyone off the planet before it dissolves completely," Baujal stated and Shiro frowned, dissolved? It was possible for a planet to just completely dissolve?! "Please help us!"

"How long do we have?" he questioned looking at the ship. If they had all five lions they could form Voltron and lift it out, he wasn't so sure that was possible with four.

The ground rumbled and Shiro turned watching more of the ground break away as more of the steaming bile-colored liquid erupted.

/Not long!/

"How did this happen?"

"We've known for years that our planet would eventually lose its outer layer," Baujal explained.

/Like a snake shedding its skin?!/ Lance called sounding grossed out.

/That doesn't sound so bad/ Hunk commented /Beneath that old skin's a new healthy layer right?/

Another explosion went off and Shiro and Baujal stepped back as some of the droplets flew at them, dissolving the ground they landed on. /Nope, the next layer is hot acid/

"The plan was to evacuate the population to our nearest moon, where we have build a colony to ait out the shedding process. So we relocated to higher ground and constructed that ark."

"What happened?"

"The Galra attacked, led by a vile commander named Morvok," the alien growled. "He robbed us of vital resources and left us with only one operational engine, stranding us here."

Shiro nodded, one engine, they could work wih that. Maybe with a lion supporting on each side they could carry the ship into orbit and get it to the moon without forming Voltron. "You're not stranded anymore. We'll save your people."

"I believe you, for I have heard many legends of the valor of Voltron. Five brave Paladins dedicated to…wait…I count only four of you. Are you not Voltron?"

/Uh…almost?/

"Where's the fifth Paladin?"

As much as Shiro loved Keith, he was going to throttle his little brother for this later. "He's on another assignment currently, but we can still help," Shiro reassured.

"I would feel more comfortable with all five Paladins."

Shiro would too, but the fifth Paladin had to take off in the middle of the night with the Princess to test something that might not be true. "Duly noted. Pidge, Hunk, take a look at the ark and see what were dealing with."

/Piece of cake, we'll get it flying in no time/ he answered. Another earthquake shook the ground and they watched as the ark disconnected from its supports, slamming to the ground. /…Would you settle for upright?/

This day could not get any worse.

-.-

"We've been here for hours, still no sign of Zarkon," Keith mumbled checking the scanner again. Maybe they were wrong after all and he was tracking them another way. From Yorak's calculations Zarkon should've found them by now if they were the ones being tracked.

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to wait here alone," Allura said. "You understand, I could never live with myself if Zarkon was finding us because of me. I must know, we face such a dire threat from the Galra."

Keith glanced away at that. He could see what Jaz meant by Allura seeming angry towards all Galra, if his suspiscions were right, then he'd maybe fall into the category. "I'm not saying the Galra aren't bad, they definitely are, but couldn't a few of them be fighting for good? Just look at Ulaz; he sacrificed himself to save us."

"For all we know his sacrifice was a ploy," Allura scoffed. "One life means nothing to Zarkon."

"That might be true, for Zarkon. It means something more me! It means some of them are actually willing to help us! We could use all the help we can get. Why would Zarkon make this so elaborate?! He had us trapped back at central command, why let us leave only to trap us later? These guys could really be trying to help us!"

Allura crossed her arms, a scowl appearing on her face. "Any offer of help from the Galra is just merely a prelude to a trap. I know all too well how quickly they turn."

"It seems crazy to lump everyone together," Keith stated.

"Listen, if there are any good Galra, they've had ten thousand years to take down Zarkon. I would never count on a Galra for help!"

"You know, many people used to think the same way about the Eliksni," Keith grumbled.

"And how are those pirates relevant to the Galra?" Allura growled.

"Because, where I come from we didn't get along. We massacured each other for eons! Heck I've killed plenty myself, but I happen to be friends with several of the good ones. In fact, I've fought along side them sometimes in battles against their own," he snarled back. "Still think everything's as black and white as it appears?"

-.-

/Assuming we can get it back up, the repairs are still going to take some time/ Pidge said.

/Which appears to be the one thing we don't have/

"We need to slow down the shedding," Shiro said looking over the cracks.

/How to you stop a planet from falling apart at the seams?/

/By sewing it back together!/ Hunk answered.

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked, maybe they were finally onto something here.

/Tha new Green Lion weapon causes vegiation to grow right? Well, I was thinking if you aim it at the cracks in the planet the vines could act like sitches/

"Won't they get dissolved by the acid?"

/They might hold together longer of they were frozen/ Pidge added.

"It's a plan," Shiro said. "Hunk, you and I will use our lions to get this ark upright. Pidge, Lance, you two buy us some time and keep sticthcing the crust back together."

Following his orders, the Blue and Green Lions flew out, starting to patch up the fracturing ground as Shiro and Hunk started moving the pillars that had one been holding the ark.

/My side's clear Shiro!/ Hunk called.

"Almost done," he grunted pushing the last one over.

/Yes! It worked."

"It won't hold forever. Keep going," he ordered driving Black under the ark. As he and Hunk pushed up, Shiro could feel the strain this was having on Black, the lion wasn't meant for moving heavy objects like Yellow. "Hunk! Give it all you've got!"

If only they had one more lion. Then this woundn't be as difficult nor would as much strain would be pressed onto the Black and Yellow lions.

Catching something moving out of the corner of his eye, Shiro glanced out the window only to brace himself as he watched the cracking ground explode and white light erupt beside him. The light faded, Shiro was relieved to find himself alive, not be dying a horribly agonizing death, and to see ice covering the cracks the had been spreading towards them.

/We got your back!/

"Thanks. Hunk, let's get started on those engines."

-.-

"So what are we going to do if Zarkon finds us?" Keith questioned breaking the tense silence that had settled over them since their argument."

"You said you could pilot us to safety. Why are you concerned about this?" Allura questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Who would pilot the Castle or create wormholes?" he relied back. "Jaz can for a little while but the Castle is connected to you specifically."

"Well what about you?" she scoffed. "Without you the team cannot for Voltron."

"I'm pretty sure it's easier to replace me."

-.-

"Well, it ain't pretty but it should get you airborne," Hunk said putting his bayard away once he finished welding the engines to the ship.

Another earthquake hit and they all crouched as more of the surface broke away. "Just in time," Shiro breathed. Running back to their lions, Shiro climbed in Black and nervously watched praying their work would be enough to lift the ship off the ground. If that engine didn't work, then Shiro wasn't sure—even with the Lions' help—that they'd be able to evacuate everyone in time.

The engine of the ark appeared to sputter for a moment as it activated, but to his relief it ignited and the ship began lifting off the ground without the help of the lions. Maybe they could get this done, Shiro throught optimistically.

On the other side of the ark there was an explosion and the ship went down as the engine failed.

/What was that?/ Pidge questioned as they all looked around.

Shiro frowned gazing up at the warship, seems today was just going to be full of problems. "The Galra. They're back."

The cannons on the ship fired again, razing the ground next to the ark and exposing the acid under the surface.

"Hunk! Take the Yellow Lion and hold it up! we can't let it fall into that acid!" Shiro ordered as Black flew up into the air towards the warship.

/No to mention the guy beneath them, which would be me in this particular scenario!/

/This is not the time for your mutinous protests Hunk!/ Jaz snapped.

"Lance! Pidge! We have to draw the cruiser's fire. Coran, Jaz, we need you here now! Attack that cruiser!"

/Already ahead of you!/ Jaz called and Shiro saw a brilliant blue blast of one of her magic attacks slam into the shield protecting the ion cannon, breaking through it.

Shiro made a note to hit that first.

-.-

/Keith! Allura! Are you there?/ Coran called sounding panicked.

"We're here Coran. What is it?" Allura inquired.

/Zarkon's not tracking either of you!/ he informed.

Keith could barely hide the relief that swept through him, but…how did they figure…oh quiznak.

"How do you know?"

/Because you're out there and there's a Galra fleet here!/ Jaz replied. /GET OVER HERE!/

"On our way!" Keith acknowledged turning on the engines and turning the pod around.

"We'll be there in two dobashes."

"Even faster than that," Keith said pulling up the controls and going to the booster setting.

"What's that?"

"Booster fuel Pidge added to this pod," he informed.

"Keith! Wait!" Yorak protested as he pressed the button and they were ejected as the pod blew up. "I tried to warn you."

"You could've done it sooner," Keith grunted stabilizing himself and flying towards Allura. "Allura! Grab my hand!" Reaching out, he grasped her hand tightly as they began spinning. Moving his body, he turned on his jetpack the opposite way, slowing them down to a stop. "You alright?"

"I believe so," she nodded. "Is your radio still working?"

"Let's see," he said opening a comm-channel. "Coran, can you hear me?"

After a moment of static, Yorak spoke up, "We don't have the range. Comms will get us nowhere."

"Comms are down," Keith informed, "It'll take forever to reach them at this rate."

"This was a terrible mistake! Shiro was right, we never should have left," Allura said berating herself.

"At least now we're closer to figuring out what Zarkon is using to track us," Keith replied, hoping he sounded reassuring. Closing his eyes, he called out for Red, maybe, just maybe, she'd hear him and come to help.

-.-

Shiro dove under the incoming fire, activating Black's cannon, the beam hit the side of the ship, carving a path in the thick hull. Pulling back, he watched Lance freeze some of the cannons over as Pidge used her jawblade to take out several cannons on the other side.

/Incoming!/ Jaz called and all three pulled back as another of her attacks hit, making one of the engines explode.

/Nice shot! You took out an engine!/ Pidge called whipping around the back and attamepting to use her vines to plug one of the others.

/Yeah, but focus on that ion cannon! I took the shield down for you!/ the Awoken reminded.

/In case you haven't noticed we've been a little busy down here!/ Lance snapped diving back down toards the ark to cover a forming crack with ice.

/Ion cannon's being aimed at the ark!/ Jaz warned.

"Lance! Pidge! Attack with jablades!" Shiro ordered pulling Black up towards the cannon as he could see a shield materializing between then ark and them, Jaz's handiwork most likely.

Hopefully he could take it down before she ran out of power.

The jawblade formed and Shiro drve it into the side of the cannon, atching as the beam was moved away from the target due to his impact before it was deflected off Jaz's shield.

/Guys! The stitches are coming undone!/ Hunk called.

Glancing down, Shiro could see what he meant. The ice was dissolving away as the acid began seeping through, and the surface started breaking away again, leaving less and less land for the ark to stay on.

/Go you covered!/ Lance called diving down and blasting the debris flying towards the ship away before joining Pidge in trying to make temporary patches.

They didn't have long before they needed to rejoin the fight as the cruiser began firing with more of its weapons, having to split their attention between avoiding getting hit and protecting the ark from debris as Shiro attacked the ship from the sides. Coming out fron under it, Shiro gripped the controls tighter as he felt the blast from another explosion as the Castle began attacking from above.

"Way to go Coran! Hunk! What's your status?!"

/Mostly just trying not to fall into a bubbling pot of acid/ he replied.

"Jaz? What about you?"

/As long as I don't make anymore attacks I should be able to hold the shield/ she answered, though Shiro could hear a slight strain in her voice. It wouldn't be long before she'd start running on reserves.

The Galra ship began firing up at the Castle and fighters came out.

/We're getting overhelmed!/

/We need Voltron!/

/Coran! Where are you going?!/ Jaz demanded.

"What's going on?!" Shiro called.

/Coran! He just walked off!/

/I'm going to pilot the Red Lion!/

"Can you do that?" Shiro question using Black's jaws to bite down on a fighter before tossing it into the ion cannon; hopefully that would do more damage.

/I don't know, Red's pretty picky/ Jaz remarked.

/No kidding!/ Lance called flyng past Shiro with a fighter on his tail.

"Lance! I've got the one on your six!"

/Thanks! Three-o-clock!/ the Blue Paladin called firing at the fighter coming at him.

"Thanks."

/Uh…ok? Guys, the Red Lion ran away/ Coran said and Shiro almost crashed into the side of the cruiser.

"It what?"

/The Red Lion's flying off right now/ Jaz stated. /Pidge! We've got another crack forming towards the ark! Patch it up! Shiro! I see an opening near the back of the ion cannon/

"Thanks, Jaz," Shiro called flying through the fray and driving the jawblade into the back of the cannon.

/I can't hold it any longer!/ Hunk groaned.

"Hunk you have to! If you let go the Taujeerians will die!" Shiro called.

He heard Hunk yell over the comms and Yellow roared, loudly.

"Are you alright?!" Shiro called, trying to get a view of Yellow, praying to God that he didn't just condemn Hunk to death by acid.

/Oh! Whoa! I've got armor claws!/ Hunk called sounding a little happier. Shiro slumped in relief. He must've unlocked Yellow's specialized weapon; leaving just him to figure out Black's. /Alright, I can keep this from falling any further, but I need your help to get it back up!/

/Coran and I got you covered/ Jaz said.

"On our way!" Shiro nodded and he flew down with Green and Blue. Landing near Yellow, the two bigger lions began pushing from the ground as Blue and Green started pushing further up the hull.

-.-

"Keith! Keith look!" Allura exclaimed excitedly tapping his shoulder.

Opening his eyes, Keith gazed out and saw Red flying towards them. "It worked?" Yorak questioned sounding just as surprised as Keith felt.

"The Red Lion found you!" Allura said and Keith heard a low growl in his head. He got a distinct feeling Red was currently scolding him for blowing up the pod.

-.-

/Keith! You're back!/ Jaz called as Red flew past the Castle.

"Good to be back! Where's the others?" he questioned looking around.

/Under the ark/ Jaz replied, /I have a shield up defending them, but it looks like the cannon's operational again/

"Say no more," he smirked activating the jawblade. "You may want to hold on Princess."

"What do you—ah!" Allura exclaimed clutching the seat tighter as Red dove down sharply. Sliding under the cannon, the blade dug into the metal connecting it to the ship, and Keith made the loop quickly, before flying, smirking in satisfaction as the resulting explosion blew the cannon off the ship.

"Good luck repairing that."

/Yeah! Alright!/ he heard the others call.

/Good to have you back Keith/ Shiro said.

"Sorry about takin' off," he apologized for the unneeded trouble they caused.

/Is the Princess with you?/ Lance questioned.

"Yes."

/Like 'with you' with you, or…/

/Lance! Focus!/ Jaz snapped.

/Keith! Little help!/ Hunk called.

"On my way buddy," Keith smiled flying around Jaz's shield and joining the others pushing up the ship.

/Alright everybody! No time to relax!/ Shiro reminded as they got the ark away from the edge.

"No? Really? I was thinking we could have a drink," Yorak remarked. Keith really needed to work with him on what times were good for sarcasm.

/Let's show them what they're dealing with! Form Voltron!/

Forming Voltron they flew up to face the ship as it turned towards them. /The weapons systems are down, what are they doing?/ Lance questioned.

/They're heading for the ark! They're gonna ram it!/

/Then we'll have to meet them head on/ Shiro stated, /Form sword!/

Nodding, Keith jammed his bayard into the slot, forming Voltron's sword. /Will the sword be able to cut through an entire battle cruiser?/ Lance questioned as they flew towards the incoming ship.

/Even if it can't the damage should still be significant enough to bring the ship down/ Jaz stated. /It does already have two damaged engines/

Keith shivered as he felt Red rumble, glancing at his bayard, he could practically feel Red telling him to do something. The question was what? "Guys, I think my lion's trying to tell me something."

/I can feel something too!/ Lance commented.

/Same!/ Pidge added.

/I thought that was just me/ Hunk sighed.

/Then do it!/ Shiro and Jaz exclaimed.

Keith grabbed onto his bayard and almost jumped as he felt a surge of power run through it. Before his eyes, he watched the sword of Voltron double in size. /Uh, everyone sees this right?/ Hunk asked.

/Yes/

"Cool," Keith smirked moving Red to lift the blade as they flew up under the cruiser with Green's support. Driving the blade into the hull, the thrusters increased intensity as they shot down the battleship's length. As they reached the engines, Red and Green sliced the sowrd down as Voltron ducked down and got far enough away to avoid being affected by the resulting explosion.

"Is it always this rough in here?" Allura questioned gripping the back of Keith's seat tightly, her hair looking a little frazzled.

"No, it's usually worse."

/Awesome! Now let's get the Taujeerians to safety!/ Shiro said moving straight to the next task at hand.

/How? Their booster rockets are shot/ Hunk remarked.

"We could carry them?" Keith suggested.

/…oh. Duh/

/That works!/ Pidge said as they flew over. Landing beside the ark, Green and Red buried their heads under the ship, both straining to left the ship onto Voltron's shoulders. Once it was on, they started flying up into the atmosphere, away from the crumbling planet.

/You guys are doing great! Just keep going! Whoo! You've got this! I believe in all of you!/

/Jaz! Please knock it off!/ Shiro grunted and Keith could practically see his eyebrow twitching.

/You can do it!/

/JAZ!/ they all screamed as they headed towards the moon.

-.-

Keith and Allura stood guiltily in front of the others as they were reprimanded for their actions.

"I'm sorry for leaving," Allura apologized stepping forwards.

"Me too," Keith said glancing away. "We thought we were doing the right thing."

"But clearly you were correct Shiro. We're always stronger together."

"On the bright side, we know know how Zarkon's tracking us," Jaz smiled. "If Red found Keith however far away you two were, then it stands to reason Zarkon's doing the same with Black."

"Plus, I found out my lion can extend its claws like that," Hunk said making a claw motion with his fingers, "ting! Which'll come in handy if we even need to, say, I don't know, slice up a giant steak while getting beat up?" He glanced at the others, before smiling nervously. "Or fight evil and save innocent people. That works too."

"You are a paragon of heroism Hunk," Jaz deadpanned.