Chapter 29

A/N: I just own the story and OCs. Nothing else is mine.

/comms/

"Bold's intercoms/videochats"

Dreams/flashbacks/telepathy

The first thing he was aware of, was the color violet. It was everything that surrounded him. it was soon gone, replaced with more distinct shades, forming into the cruel tools of a Galran lab. Realizing where he was, he sat up with a scream, a mess of white hair falling into his eyes as a black, tangled mess fell over his shoulders.

A medical officer stood at a console, one with a familiar white stripe. "Ulaz?" he whispered, his own voice sounding broken and hoarse to him. How long had it been since he'd last spoken? How long had he been gone? Voltron? What happened to them? Was the team alright? Looking back to the medical officer for answers, he blinked as he vanished. A hallucination? Wasn't the first time he'd had one, but why him?

Shoving the question aside, Shiro grunted as he slid himself off the table onto his feet. Unable to support his weight, his legs gave out, sending him collapsing to the floor. But that wouldn't stop him. with a grunt, he forced himself to his feet, drunkenly stumbling through the halls of the surprisingly empty Galra vessel. The lights burned into his eyes as he passed by, and at one point, he nearly swore that he saw himself being experimented on one of Haggar's lab table's again.

Some thing was injected into him. It hurt.

He was standing on a dark metal triangle, putting his hand out, he found his fist meeting glass. Purple liquid began to fill the tube. He couldn't breathe. "Operation Kuron stage one successful. Begin stage two."

Gasping for air, Shiro took a minute to remember where he was. He wasn't in a tube, he was in the hall. He just needed to find a way off and get back to Voltron.

The first blaster shot caught him off guard. He jumped as it hit the ground in front of him, and Shiro turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. He wasn't kidding himself, he was in no contition to fight those guys. As he raced past a junction, Shiro had to duck in order to avoid getting his head blasted off as two more sentried joined the pair chasing him.

Three more an into the hall in front of him. Not slowing down, he activated his arm, swiftly slicing through the first two. Rolling to the ground, he jumped up punching the last one into the wall, leaving cracks where it hit.

Then he felt dizzy again.

Stubling slightly, he managed to snag the trooper's gun as he took off running again. Using his new weapon to blast his way through the ship and into the nearest escape pod.

The ship fired at him as he flew away, one shot managing to hit an engine. Looking at the planet in front of him, Shiro prayed that he'd last long enough to at least crash there and hopefully survive.

-.-

Shiro woke up upside-down, his leg pinned under a piece of metal, as his ship teetered precariously on the edge of a cliff. Trying to pry the metal off his leg failed, but a ray of hope came as his blaster slid by. Now if only he could reach it without knocking it off the edge.

The ship jostled as it began to slide, moving the gun just enough for him to grab it. Without hesitation, Shiro blasted the debris off his leg, ignoring the pain that exploded afterwards. He had to get off this ship. Sprinting up, he jumped out as the ship fell into the abyss below.

He wasn't sure how long he just lied there, out in the cold, just watching snowflakes slowly drift to the ground. It almost seemed…peaceful.

Too bad that kind of peace often meant a merciless death when involved with the cold. He had to keep moving if he wanted to stay alive. Getting up, he limped away from the cliff, hoping there was somewhere he could get a ship.

-.-

"General Raht. I have an assignment for you."

"I serve in the name of Galra."

"I fear Lotor's focus wavers since his return," Haggar said turning to the general. "I knew there was risk bringing him back after such a long absence. And I worry about the path he leads us down. I need you to keep an eye on him. Follow his cruiser and report any suspicious behavior to me."

He saluted. "Vrepit sa." Turning to leave, he gave a nod to Macidus as he entered the chamber.

"Have you learned anything about which Paladin it is?"

"I am still standing by my statement that it is the Red one."

"None of the others can co-oberate your story, and after your previous track record. I would not be inclined to believe you otherwise. During the last battle with Voltron I did a reading of their quintessence. I have narrowed it down between the Yellow and Red," she said. "Find them both, tell the others to find a way to get the Guardian to unveil his true power and retrieve proof."

"High Priestess, we are doing everything we can."

"Then do better! Like it or not, rumor already begins to spread. And I fear for the empire, should they discover that a Guardian has aligned with them."

The doors opened and both druids turned as a nervous-looking soldier stepped in. "H-High Priestess, I've been sent to inform you that Project Kuron has entered stage three."

She grinned, maybe finding out which Paladin was the true Guardian wouldn't be so difficult after all. "You're dismissed," she said and the man quickly scrambled from the room.

"High Priestess?" Macidus questioned.

"We will use Project Kuron to figure out our little dilemma. Because if there's one weakness Voltron has, it's their trust in their leader."

-.-

The travel to his unknown destination had been slow going, and cold—scratch that—quiznaking freezing. He'd almost been certain he would've frozen to death had he not found the remains of what had once been a large animal along with the materials needed to start a fire.

Looking at his leg, he grimaced as blood still slowly trickled out. The bleeding hadn't stopped since the ship, and even with his lacking medical expertise, he knew that wasn't normal. Looking at his hand, he activated it and moved to cauterize the wound.

His screams echoed into the snowy darkness for miles.

He walked with a limp the next day as he continued his trek. The bandages he managed to make out of his shirt helping keep the wound from getting worse, but it wouldn't mean anything if he died of hypothermia, starvation, or dehydration. All three of which seemed to be trying to race for the literal finish line.

Fortunately, it wasn't long after that he stumbled across an oasis in the frigid environment. Licking his dry lips, Shiro sprinted for the water's edge, ignoring the pain in his leg. He slid to his knees, divind his hands into the cold water and scooping it into his mouth.

Kami-sama, when was the last time he drank anything? He wasn't sure he could remember.

A ripple traveled across the water, lapping at his kness. With a slight frown, he glanced up, blinking at the sight of a rock. Had that been there before? He wasn't sure it had. But then again, he was a little preoccupied to bother checking his surroundings.

The black object began to slowly drift in his direction and Shiro got to his feet. Wasn't there something the Garrison always recommended doing around water sources?

The memory hit him like one of Jaz's magic blasts: Always check for predators.

A crab-like creature sprung out of the water towards him. Shouting, Shiro scrambled to his feet, barely leaping out of the way as it hit solid ground. One if its massive pincers swung, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying a good few meters. It chared after, forcing Shiro to jump back as it continued to chase. Glancing back at his attacker, Shiro's eyes widened as he caught a pincer swining down towards him. Relying mostly on his Galra arm, his grabbed it forcing it to a hault. Seeing his chance, he sprung up, crawling up its back.

Only things didn't exactly go according to plan. Just before he could smash through the beast's back, the two tenticles he'd forgotten about wrapped around his neck and arm. Slamming him into the ground and pinning him.

The beast growled above him, drool dripping from its fangs. This was it. He was going to die at the hands of this beast. He'd never see any of his friends again.

The tendril around his neck tightened, cutting off his air. "H-Help," he gasped out weakly, trying to use his free arm to pry the limb off.

His prayers were answered in the form of blaster fire. Several shots ringing out before the creature screeched and scampered back into the water, leaving Shiro both relieved and stunned.

As his vision faded away, two shadows stood above him.

"This must be the one who crashed the pod," the larger one spoke.

As he passed out, Shiro barely glimpsed a third shadow approaching, an almost familiar voice speaking out over the others, "You're not eating him you d'hsusmhbhharhshsfefhs."

Blinding light consumed his vision. He couldn't blink, he couldn't move; not with the Galra restraining him.

"Subject Y0XT39 has normal response to optic stimuli. Approved for use in Operation Kuron."

Light began to slowly filter into his vision, not at all like the light from his dream. Blinking a few times to focus, Shiro found himself staring up at an icy ceiling.

"What's he saying?"

"I can't tell, but he's coming out. Get the Captain."

Quickly sitting up, he almost blacked out again as he scanned his surroundings. He was in an icy room, lying on some sort of sleeping bag.

"Why should I get the Captain?" the voices continued arguing.

"Because it was the Captain who insisted he wasn't an enemy. And did you remember to put the clamp on him?"

"Which clamp?"

"The one that keeps his arm from turning into a weapon!"

"The red one?"

"It's the only clamp we have!"

Looking at his arm, Shiro now understood what the extra weight on his side was. That apparent clamp they were arguing over. So, he wouldn't be fighting his way out of here. Hopefully he wouldn't need to.

"Do you two ever stop arguing?!" a third voice interrupted, this one sounding familiar.

"Captain!" they yelped and there was a clang like something had fallen over.

"How is he?"

"Uh…"

"Ugh! I uohe'rk'h ugygt'hh gygd'hgygoht'hhs [I work with idiots]!" the voice grumbled in a familiar language. Perking up, Shiro all but stared as the Eliksni of the Kerberos crew strode in, now easily the size of a Captain, bearing robotic arm like his own. Three red eyes and one yellow robotic one met his own, and the helmeted figure sighed. "You're awake. Good. I was afraid you were dead."

"Darvah?" he breathed, "you…"

"Got hotter? Yeah, I'm well aware, feel free to admire," he chuckled reaching out and ruffling Shiro's head. "You grew your hair out from that ridiculous haircut!"

"It wasn't ridiculous!" he defended.

"Sure, it wasn't." He raised his upper-right arm, "Our arms match now!"

Shiro nodded. "What…what happened?"

"Druids. Anyways, I'm glad to see you're alright," he said sitting beside him and handing him a cup, "I wasn't sure what happened to anyone after we were separated. After the cult was done with me, I managed to lead a riot at one of the work camps with the help of some rebel forces, been here ever since on spy duty. How'd you get out?"

Shiro chuckled, enjoying the warmth of the cup seeping into his frozen fingers. "Jaz and I escaped the gladiator arena with the help of Galra rebels. We stole a pod, crashed on Earth, then were sent flying right back into space with Voltron."

"Voltron? You found it? I thought it was a myth."

"Well, we found the Blue Lion first, then the rest," he corrected.

"Then…how?" the Eliksni motioned to his attire.

Shiro shook his head, "I don't know. Last thing I remember was piloting the Black Lion as we were fighting Zarkon, then I woke up on a Galra ship."

"And then you escaped again and crashed here?"

"Sounds about right."

"Is he dead?!" a new voice interrupted.

"Can we eat him?!" another followed up.

Darvah scowled, "Hold on a sec." Getting up, the man left the room and Shiro grimaced as he heard several loud smacks and shrill yelps. "FOR THE LAST TIME! WE ARE NOT EATING ANYBODY YOU LITTLE MONSTERS!" Storming back in, Darvah plopped himself beside his old friend again. "Sorry about that, I was given tweedle-dumb and tweedle-dee as my subordinates. So, where were we?"

"We were talking about my most recent escape."

"Right," he nodded. "So, we established that. So where's Jaz and the other Paladins? Why weren't they with you?"

"I—I don't know. I'm still not completely sure what happened. But I think they're safe…at least I hope they are," he said looking down into the cup, which at somepoint had become cold in his grasp.

"If Voltron had been captured, we would've heard it in the Galra's radio chatter," Darvah muttered tapping his mask. "Here, I'll be right back." Taking the cold cup from his hand, Shiro watched the Eliksni move to the other side of the curtain, returning holding a steaming bowl of soup. "Take it slow. Don't want you to throw up on us now."

Nodding, he began taking small sips, enjoying the feeling of something finally filling his stomach.

The Captain slowly sat down beside him again. "So Takashi, tell me about you and Jaz's adventures with Voltron. Who're the Paladins?"

Talking between bites, Shiro began explaining, "Well, first off, all the Paladins, besides me are Garrison cadets. When Jaz and I crashed on Earth, the Garrison got to us first and quarantined us. They broke us out and we flew off in the Blue Lion."

Darvah blinked in shock. "Cadets? Really? Do I know them?"

Shiro nearly choked while stifling a laugh. "Oh yeah, you know them. The Blue Paladin is Lance McClain. Veronica's little brother."

"You're kidding?! Him?" Darvah snorted. "Didn't he make up a nickname for himself? What was it?"

"I think it was the Tailor," Shiro chuckled along with.

"By the Elders, that kid was weird, not bad, but weird. So who else?"

"Well, then the Yellow Lion is piloted by Hunk Garret."

Darvah perked up, "I remember him, I taught a few of his engineering classes. Kid was almost as amazing with machinery as he was in the kitchen. If it wasn't for his motion sickness…wait, how is he piloting a lion?"

"He got over it."

"I always knew he could."

Shiro froze as he was about to take a sip. Lowering it, he looked quizzically at his old crewmate. "Didn't you put him on the centrifuge to try and get him over it?"

Darvah shrugged, "I thought it would help. It's how my people did it."

"IT TOOK THREE WEEKS TO CLEAN!"

"I didn't know it would be that bad!" Darvah defended. Waving his hands, he redirected the conversation, "And the rest of the Paladins?"

Shiro tossed him an accusing glare but sighed in defeat. When it came to Darvah, there was no way to get him to go back to a conversation he was insisting on leaving. "You'll love Green's pilot: it's Katie."

The former-Vandal froze, slowly turning with wide eyes. "Katie…as in, Katie Holt. Commander Holt's daughter, Colleen's daughter?!" His eyes got wider as Shiro nodded. "We're gonna die. Commander Holt and Matt will kill us, and then Colleen will pulverize and erase us from existence."

Shiro grimaced. "I don't think it'll be that bad."

Darvah grabbed his shoulders, "SHE WILL KILL US! YOU HEAR ME TAKASHI! WE WILL DIE!"

"She'll be more focused on grounding Katie to kill us," Shiro reassured, purposely forgetting to add the "hopefully" that was still there. And they both knew it.

"I just have to outrun you."

"Thanks."

Darvah took a breath, sitting up straight and slapping his knees. "Ok! Knowing you are the Black Paladin, I'm assuming Jaz is the Red one!"

Shiro shook his head, "Sorry pal. That position goes to Keith…though, while I've been missing he's probably taken over as the Black Paladin."

"The little nukruu's here too?!" Darvah exclaimed. "Elders Shiro! Is there any other child you're forgetting to tell me about?"

"Well, there is Princess Allura," Shiro answered. "She's the daughter of the person who created Voltron, she and her advisor Coran are—as far as we know—the last surviving members of her race. She pilots the Castle of Lions using wormholes, so we can escape quickly and reach destinations faster. Coran is the castle's mechanic, I think…he has a lot of roles. Jaz stays with them using her magic as an extra weapon and shield as Voltron handles most of the other issues."

"Seems like we need to find a way back to them," the Eliskni said and Shiro was certain he was smirking under his mask.

"You're coming with?"

"Hfeflhlh yeah!" Darvah cheered. "You know, as soon as you're fit for travel."

-.-

"Captain. We have a situation," the small blue one, Darvah told him was Vakala, informed.

"What?"

Following behind Darvah, Shiro walked through the curtain he'd been hiding behind for at least two weeks to find a small, but advanced espionage hub. /—planet Thayserix. We expect you here immediately/ was all he heard as the communication finished.

"Thayserix? Where is that?" the big one grumbled gruffly.

"Not far from here," Darvah stated crossing his top to arms as one of the lower ones tapped his chin. "Gar'qu log it on the klygarg. The fleet's coming through our quadrant."

The one-eyed alien groaned, reluctantly shuffling over. "I hate the klygarg. How do I get on again?"

"Enter your password."

"Right…what is that again?"

Darvah slammed his head on the table, muttering things Shiro didn't want or try to translate. "I'm picking up another communication," Vakala informed and the Captain sat up.

"Log this one too."

"I haven't logged the first one!"

"Stop whining! Vak, turn up the volume."

The small alien nodded, turning up the volume then beginning to type to filter out an ambient noise that could distort the message. /We've received orders from Prince Lotor. We are to intercept Voltron/

"It's them!" Shiro exclaimed.

"Vakala, Gar'qu, just so you know, you two are the absolute worst subordinates a guy could ask for," Darvah said hugging them.

"Wait, Captain, why does this sound like you're saying goodbye?"

"Because I am. I told both of you if I found my original crew I was going back, and I have," he clarified. "The rebellion's counting on yout two to keep an eye on their chatter, Elders know they don't need three of us to do it. But," he leveled a hard glare, "if I hear you've eaten anyone, I will come back and kick both of your arhshsfefhs into the next galaxy! Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good. Come on Shiro, we'll take my ship. I know where Thayserix is, we should get there quickly," Darvah said patting his shoulder. Leading the way to the hangar, Shiro couldn't help but stare at the large, almost ram-shaped ship. "Like it? I stole it off a few pirates a while back, hyperdrive's a little wonky, but she'll get us there. Now don't stand there gawking, we've gottan ship to launch."

Climbing in, Shiro buckled himself in as Darvah took the pilot's seat. If his shoddy memory was anything to go by, his piloting was worse than Hunk's when he first started.

"Ready?" Darvah asked and Shiro nodded, not at all liking the crazy look in his remaining eyes. "Then let's light this candle!"

Blasting off, they rammed through the ice, flying up through the frigid atmosphere. Reaching space, Darvah quickly typed their destination in and everything around them turned into brilliant streaks as they traveled at the speed of light.

"Never been in hyperspace before?"

"No, in the Castle we just travel by wormhole."

The Captain grunted. "Yeah, those are a lot faster, but they just don't hold the same beauty."

The ride coninuted in silence, until they came out from hyperspace that is. Right into the middle of a battle. Weaving through the blasts and various fighters, Shiro was happy to find out Darvah wasn't nearly as bad at flying as he'd previously been.

"I forgot how much fun this was!" he whooped.

"Where are they?" Shiro questioned looking around and checking the scanners.

Taking the wheel with one of his lower arms, Darvah reached up and pressed a button and Galra communications began to flood in. "I installed this so I could avoid them during solo missions!" he stated.

/Voltron has left the battle/

"No," Shiro breathed as his friend turned it off.

"We'll find them Takashi. Don't worry," Darvah reassured, patting his shoulder. The large being then stood up, walking back to a console. With a quick tap, it activated showing a hologram of the universe, or at least the section they were in. "You know where they'd go?"

Shiro was about to shake his head before stopping. During previous missions with Voltron, they left communicators to let planets whom already we liberated call in case the Galra returned. "But I do know where we can reach them!"

"Alrighty then, what's our heading?"

"Olkarion."

-.-

"Ryner, what's wrong?" Allura said as they rushed down from the Castle.

"We got your SOS signal, but…where are the Galra?" Lance questioned looking around.

The Olkari woman smiled. "I'm sorry, it wasn't meant to be an SOS, in fact, there's two people whom I believe would be excited to see you all."

As she stepped aside, they all stared in shock. There safe and sound, was not only Shiro, but Darvah Spydir of the Kerberos crew.