Chapter 37

A/N: once again, I just own my OCs and the story.

/comms/

Flashbacks/telepathy/dreams

"Bold is intercoms."

Zarkon tapped his throne in frustration, all these decapheobs, and there had been no trace of what happened to the Guardians, a legion of extremely skilled warriors does not just vanish, especially after being the only group to successfully fight the Hive and Vex alone for over five-thousand years. Something happened, but unfortunately, the Krein system was the Cabal Empire's territory. He'd been planning on using Voltron to handle the Cabal, but with it now being used against him, the treaty between the two empires was the only thing keeping the warmonger Ghaul from continuing his conquests.

A Guardian on his side would not only remind the smaller empire of his strength, but he could forge a very powerful alliance with the immortal legion of warriors. No one, not even Voltron, would stand a chance with such powerful quintessence wielders by his side. Even if it was only the one warrior.

The good news was, according to Haggar's research, the Coalition didn't even know what they had on their side, not once except in the case of his narrow escapes had the Guardian ever made his power known. Even when the child so foolishly fought with him when he was the Red Paladin, he did not use his ability to completely decimate his forces.

Whatever was the reason why he was in hiding and didn't use his power, one thing was clear: Zarkon needed to find that Guardian before Voltron could use it against him.

"Emperor Zarkon, we are getting hailed by an unidentified ship, they are requesting to speak with you," a soldier said, coming in with a bow.

Perhaps this will give him a well needed distraction.

"Very well," he replied, standing up and walking past the saluting soldier onto the bridge.

Once he stood on the platform, he scowled as one of Lotor's generals appeared on the monitor.

/Emperor Zarkon/ Axca greeted with a nod.

"…What do you want?"

/We have something in our possession that we think you might be interested in. We are willing to trade it for our safe passage back into the Galra ranks/ she replied coolly making his eyes narrow. Whatever it was, it better have been the Guardian, a Voltron Lion, or Lotor.

"I'm listening."

She pulled up an image of an older human male trapped in the ship's hold, Zarkon remembered him, he was one of the weaklings that arrived with the Champion, the only thing that saved it from death was the fact its brain had uses for the Empire.

/The Paladins have been doing extensive research in trying to locate this prisoner, we believe that they're trying to find him, he might even be related to one of the Paladins himself/ she smiled. /We propose that you use him as leverage to either decrease the attacks or make a trade to get what you want from them/

Zarkon smirked, a trade huh? How far would the Paladins be willing to go for this man? They would no doubt give up Lotor.

…And maybe even the Guardian.

-.-

The Paladins stood on the bridge of the Castleship glancing sadly every now and then at Matt and Pidge, they had come so close to rescuing their father, from the data they collected, they just missed rescuing him by a couple vargas.

"Damn it!" Jaz exclaimed slamming her fist on the console. "What use could Lotor's generals possibly have with Commander Holt?!"

"Ransom?" Darvah offered.

"For who? Us? What do we have to give them?" Hunk questioned.

"Uh, Prince L'Oreal downstairs."

"Oh, right."

The monitor beeped from a hailing frequency that none of them recognized, glancing at each other, then Allura, they all nodded and she opened the call.

/Paladins of Voltron/ Zarkon greeted coldly.`

"Zarkon," Shiro whispered, sounding as surprised as they all no doubt were.

/I am making a one-time offer/ he continued /I have someone of value to you/

The emperor stepped aside to show Lotor's generals, and standing in front of them in cuffs, was Commander Samuel Holt.

"Dad!" Pidge exclaimed in shock shooting to her feet.

/I will hand him over on two conditions: in exchange you give me my son Lotor, turn over the Guardian immediately. Bring me both of them if you want to see the Earthling alive again/ Zarkon said before ending the call.

Just outside the door, Keith listened with wide eyes. Kolivan had sent him to personally deliver the time sensitive intel he got from his mission to Voltron, and he arrived just in time to hear the demands. The guys (save for Darvah and Jaz) had no idea what a Guardian was, let alone that it was he they had to exchange for Pidge's father, there was no way they could do it, his friends would never trade on of their own…unless…unless, Keith gave himself up. That's what Zarkon was counting on; that he'd be nearby to be able to make the trade, and he was counting on the fact that Voltron had no idea that Keith was a Guardian.

"He's alive! Our dad is alive! We have to get him back!" Katie exclaimed.

"We're going to," Matt said determinedly. "What's the plan Shiro?"

"We can't rush into anything. We have to think this through," Shiro said making Keith blink in shock.

That wasn't right, at least it didn't seem right…when Allura was captured Shiro put her rescue on the top of the priorities list, and Samuel Holt's rescue had been up near the top for a while now. Why was he hesitating?

"What's to think through?! It's my dad! We're doing this!" Pidge snapped.

"We need to operate under the assumption that Zarkon is going to double-cross us," Shiro stated.

"Which he will," Darvah muttered. "I know negotiations with people like him, he's not going to let go of all the cards. He'll likely try using him to make sure you surrender the lions."

"He's gotta point," Jaz agreed.

"We have Voltron! We can do anything!"

"Pidge—"

"No! We can't let this opportunity slip away! We're too close! Our father is too close!" she snarled.

"What about this Guardian he demanded?" Hunk questioned. "I mean, we have Lotor, but why does he think we have…whoever else he's after?"

"So what! We have Lotor, let's just turn him over and get rid of him! A life for a life!"

Things on the other side of the door went quiet for a moment, "Jaz? Darv?" Lance questioned. "Do you know what he was talking about? The Guardian?"

It was silent for a moment longer before there was an audible sigh, as Davrah lied through his teeth, "They're just legends. Stories our parents would tell us before bed."

"What kind of stories?" Shiro questioned.

"Great warriors said to wield the power of gods at their fingertips," Jaz supplied. "Capable of throwing arcs of fire and lightning across a room, destroying any enemy in their path; and even able to move between different planes of existence at will. They were said to be the only force stopping darkness from consuming the universe and the greatest enemy of the Hive. Stories even told of an innate ability to resurrect themselves upon death, making them essentially immortal."

"That sounds bad," Hunk wimpered.

"So wait," Lance interjected, "if Zarkon's after one of these guys…do you think he actually, you know, found one?"

"You better hope not," Jaz drawled. "Voltron or not a fully-fledged Guardian would slaughter you."

"Of course, that's if Zarkon turns them into a weapon," Darvah added.

"What else would they be used for?" Allura questioned sounding rather concerned.

"Quintessence. Guardians are supposed to be one of the few natural producers of almost exponential amounts of pure, weaponized quintessence. It's said if they're completely drained it'll only take less than ten dobashes for them to completely recover it."

"You're kidding," Matt breathed.

"…No."

"Well, if Zarkon did find one, we cannot let him get his claws on them," Shiro stated.

"But my father!" Pidge protested.

"Don't worry Pidge, we'll get him back," Darvah reassured.

Slowly backing away from the door, Keith moved to another room and jammed the drive into one of the ports. This was bad, this was really bad. According to the message, Zarkon required a Guardian to even do the trade to get Sam Holt back. Even if they did offer Lotor there was no guarantee that Zarkon would return the favor. At least if he was there, Zarkon would have to give up Commander Holt.

"Yorak, get me those coordinates Zarkon sent."

-.-

"KEITH! KEITH BO KO [Keith! Keith come in]!" Jaz shouted into the comms as soon as she and Darvah managed to separate themselves from the others.

To their mutual relief, there was beep on the other line, /Fos [what]?/

"Zarkon mindok! Rok mindok hi los Vahlok [Zarkon knows! He knows you're a Guardian]!" Darvah hissed. "Rok fusrot hi ko ofanix fah Uthiik Holt [He's demanding you in exchange for Commander Holt]!"

/…Zu'u mindok [I know]/

"Fos?"

/…Kolivan jittan zey wah kelnat osos osfal. Zu'u avokhon […Kolivan sent me to deliver some intel. I overheard]/

"Kolos hi [where are you]?" Jaz demanded gripping the communicater with almost white knuckles.

/…/

"Keith Kogane. Kolos. Hi?"

There was a sigh on the other end. /Zu'u los bo [I'm going]/

"FOS!"

/Hi hon zey [You heard me]/ Keith replied. /Zu'u los vos Uthiik Holt fey ol grunzah. Zu'u vis filok, rok nis [I'm not letting Commander Holt stay as a prisoner. I can escape, he can't]/

"Keith…"

/Ahrk dreh ni unt wah vuth zey [And don't try to stop me]!/ he snapped shutting off the channel.

"Draaf."

-.-

"Anything?" Keith questioned as he sat back down in the pilot seat of his ship.

"The Castle of Lions just arrived," Yorak spoke, his shell spinning nervously as he watched the larger ship.

"We're cloaked right?"

"Signal scramblers are on, the only way they'll know we're here is if they see us."

"Good," he replied putting on his helmet. "Anything on the Galra?"

"Not yet, but I feel like they'll be here soon."

"Likely," Keith agreed. "We'll fly down when both parties are present."

"Not sooner?"

"No, Jaz and Darvah are probably going to try to stop us, better to get there when we know they can't try anything without revealing everything."

"Keith…" the ghost trailed off his little eye blinking before flickering back to his Guardian, "are you sure we should do this?"

"Yorak, we don't have much of a choice," Keith sighed. "We don't know what will happen if Zarkon finds out that they didn't bring a Guardian like he demanded, and odds are he'll try to double cross them. Our friends may need back-up."

"Guess so, the Galra just got here."

-.-

Jaz sat quietly beside Matt and Darvah, keeping her rilfe leveled at the prisoner just in case he tried to escape. She couldn't help but worry over the situation; it seemed too good to be true. There was no way Zarkon wouldn't be planning something underhanded. He'd be trying to get his hands on Voltron in some way.

She sighed to herself, they would just have to solve the situation when the time came. No use in fraying her nerves more than necessary. At least she could have the small reassurance that Keith wasn't here. That hardheaded Titan would no doubt hand himself over to the Galra just to spare Commander Holt's suffering; Guardians were stupidly noble that way.

Though…how did the Galra figure him out? She frowned in worry, she hadn't heard anything about him being captured—but that was unlikely considering Zarkon was demanding him and Lotor in exchange for the Commander. Could Yorak have been seen? Was he spied on? Or was it just a series of coincidences?

Jaz shook her head, she didn't have time to worry about this.

Once the ship landed, Matt stood up, nodding to them as he stepped out to talk with Pidge and Shiro. Leaving Jaz and Darvah alone with Lotor.

"Jaz," Lotor spoke up earning a scalding glare from the Awoken woman, "surely you must know this isn't right. My father will never let him go!"

"I'm sure we can find a way to see through his little tricks," Darvah said adjusting his own cannon. "We know he'll probably try to backstab us."

"Obviously, but you must understand, my father knows I am aware of secrets he cannot possibly risk getting out otherwise his very throne could be in jeopardy. That is why he seeks to take me away!"

"Really, because I'm pretty sure he sounded more eager to get his hands on that Guardian he demanded we bring too," Darvah muttered.

"G-Guardian?"

"Allura didn't tell you?" Jaz questioned boredly, "Zarkon demanded we bring him some Guardian, whom he believes for some reason is allied with us." She raised an eyebrow hoping he bought her lie. "Know why?"

Lotor took a moment to break out of his shock. "Well…um, in the Empire it's actually illegal to so much as touch a Guardian without the proper clearance or their permission. Having one on your side would render my father's forces unable to attack."

Jaz and Darvah shared a look, maybe they needed Keith to stop hiding in the shadows after all. "Anything else?"

Lotor looked uncertain before nodding. "Yes, many decapheobs ago, Zarkon sought to make an alliance with the Guardians. However, the negotiations plumited rapidly; rumor has it that the Vanguard issued a bounty on his head."

"Something if which got out would put his throne at risk?" Darvah reiterated.

Lotor nodded, a glimmer of something akin to hope flashed in his eyes. "With absolute certainty, Guardians are highly revered for their prowess in combat as well as their ability to produce an unlimited supply of pure quintessence. If word got out I would bet many of the Galra would turn against the Empire."

"And let me guess," Jaz drawled, "and they will only believe you because you grew up in the Galra Empire and—let me guess—accompanied Zarkon on his quest to make them your allies?" Scoffing, she rolled her glowing eyes. "Save your breath. I highly doubt they'd believe you."

Two taps came from from outside on the hull and they both got up looking down on the exiled prince. "Sorry about this pal," Darvah said, "but the Commander's life is worth more to us than yours. On your feet."

Taking the lead, Jaz strode down the ramp as Darvah trailed behind her pushing the prince.

"…Where is the Guardian?"

"What Guardian!? We don't know what you're talking about!" the small Green Paladin screamed at him. "We have Lotor, you have my father, now let's trade!"

"You were told to bring the Guardian as well," he growled.

"Look, we have no idea who he his alright!" Shiro pleaded, "So please, just give us Commander Holt, and we'll give you Lotor."

Even from where she stood, Jaz could see Zarkon's glowing eyes narrow in what she could probably guess was rage. It was only when his head slightly tilted up and she heard the sound of approaching engines, she realized he'd been trying to see something.

Turning to see what it was, Jaz's stomach immediately dropped. "Nid [no]," she whispered in horror recognizing the approaching Holborn Splint. No, no it couldn't be him! Why didn't Coran warn them of an approaching ship?! He wasn't supposed to be here!

From the corner of her eye, she could see Shiro, Matt, and Pidge egetting ready for a fight as the third ship arrived, hovering above the ground and jumping as a fully armed Titan materialized in front of them in a druidic-like burst of black smoke.

The ship flew away on its own, leaving its passenger behind.

Lotor was, surprisingly, the first to react, "DON'T DO THIS! THEY KNOW THE COALITION BENEFITS FROM HAVING YOU ON THEIR SIDE! DON'T GIVE YOURSELF UP TO THE GALRA!"

"I'm aware," Keith spoke, his voice sounding distorted through the helmet.

"Then why—?!"

"Because I can handle whatever they can dish out, he can't," the Guardian replied monotonely, before stepping forwards. "The commander! Hand him over!"

"You and Lotor cross at the same time," Zarkon said shoving Commander Holt forwards.

Keith motioned to Lotor, taking a few steps forwards before realizing that he wasn't being followed. Turning back, Jaz was well aware Keith could see she and Darvah holding the prince tighter, not wanting to trade off their friend, even if it meant getting Commander Holt back.

Her close friend's shoulders visibly slumped and he strode over. "Ziry'sos ecau [It's ok]."

Biting back a scream, Jaz reluctantly let Lotor go, watching as he and Keith started striding towards Zarkon.

"Stay alert, if Zarkon's gonna try something, now would be the time," Shiro whispered.

Keith meanwhile watched Commander Holt warily. For a man who hadn't seen either of his children in Lord knows how long, he seemed rather subdued.

Something wasn't right. This was too easy.

Eyes flickering to his scanner he observed the different life-signals around him. One to his right, Lotor. Five behind him, his friends. Five signals by the ship. But none approaching slightly to his left—wait, why would there be five life-signals at Zarkon's ship? There were only four of them visible…quiznak.

Without hesitation, Keith snapped around. He could faintly hear Katie's horrified scream out of the blood roaring in his ears, had the man been real his spine would've just been broken along with his ribcage, but instead his fist just harmlessly passed through.

Harshly grabbing Lotor's arm, Keith tossed him back, pulling out the autorifle strapped to his back and aiming it at the Galra entourage. "Give us the real Commander Holt and in exchange I won't kill you in every conceivable method I know."

Glowing eyes narrowed and Zarkon made a motion. In the back of the group, Zethrid gabbed something on the other side of the ship's entrance, yanking out a very startled looking Sam Holt. "Surrender Guardian and you may take his place."

"Guardian please, let me go, we have a plan," Lotor pleaded coming forwards next to the man.

He pushed Lotor back towards the Paladins. "You have three seconds to release him before I kill you," Keith hissed looking through his scope and getting Zarkon's head in his sights. "One…Two…"

"Very well," Zarkon said giving a motion and the generals shoved Sam Holt forwards.

Turning back towards the Galra Prince, Keith motioned with his gun. "Move."

Lotor nodded, walking forwards passed him and the Commander, not failing to notice the look of surprise on Sam's face as he saw him. Keith chewed the inside of his cheek, silently praying that he did not recognize his armor.

"Guardian!" Zarkon called and Keith turned. The emperor pointed to the ground by his side. "Here. Now."

"No."

Zarkon growled, taking a step forwards, "HOW DARE YOU—!" he was cut off as the ground exploded in dust behind him as Lotor held the black bayard, whipping it into his former generals before lunging at his father. The Galra Emperor skid along the ground looking up in a glare. "So the time has come. This ends today."

Keith was going to have a chat with Shiro later about giving away ones bayard. But for now, taking out Zarkon was the main priority.

/Zarkon's fleet is mobilizing!/ Coran called.

/Everyone get to your lions. We need to protect out team!/ Lance's voice ordered in the background.

"Shiro! Pidge! Get to the pod and fly Sam and Matt back up to the Castle a regroup with the others!" Darvah said. "They may need back-up against those ships."

"We'll help out down here, someone needs to keep those generals busy," Jaz added. Albeit reluctantly, Shiro and the others retreated, leaving Jaz and Darvah as they strode up to their friend. "Ful, fos gein dreh hi laan [So, which one do you want]?"

"Dalsesallu, Zu'u'fund med saak gein [Personally I'd like the big one]," Darvah answered puching both of his fists into his hand.

"Sah, Zu'u lorot faal sahqo geinro zos hin nelom [Nah, I think the red one's more your speed]," Keith snorted putting his hands on his hips. "Rek vis straag vonuz [She can turn invisible]."

"Ooh," Darvah made in interest. "Fos do daar: Zu'u kuz daar ziin, hi ofaal saak gein, ahrk Jaz kuz tir veysun [What about this: I take out those two, you get the big one, and Jaz takes out the ship]?"

Jaz nodded, once she was done she could give Darvah back-up if he needed it. "Zu'u med nii [I like it]."

Darvah was the first to move, teleporting in a flash of light, Lotor's ex-generals visibly jumped in surprise as he appeared behind them. Grabbing the red general's hair-thingy, he swung her around to hit one quiznaker with another quiznaker.

Both women skipped along the dusty earth like stones. Getting to their feet, they barely dodged as a barrage of fire came from the Eliksni's cannon. He teleported over, socking the blue general in the jaw before swinging towards the red one whom flipped back and turned invisible.

Darvah huffed, so that's why they wanted him to deal with her. Even though he could make out the slight distortion from her camouflage, he turned on the thermal imaging in his prosthetic eye. He aimed his cannon directly at her and fired.

"EZOR!" Zethrid called as she heard the smaller woman's cry of pain. Turning to see how she was, the massive completely forgot the Titan and Awoken she had been circling warily. The reminder came in the form of her opponent barreling into her like cannon shot.

Blood spurted past her lips as she felt something snap violently. Hopefully it wasn't anything important.

Rolling to her feet, she grabbed the being grappling with her and tossed them away. The Guardian landed on his back with a pained grunt, before leaping back to his feet fists up and ready. Zethrid grinned, she loved a good brawl.

Jaz watched her surroundings carefully, Darvah had done a good job of luring the first two generals away as Keith just tackled the other one. Looking in the direction of Zarkon and Lotor, she saw Zarkon hurl Lotor back before picking up a boulder and chunking it at him. Overall, seemed like his fight as going well. But the good news was that all of them were too occupied to get in her way.

Which was really good considering she didn't want anyone to mess up this spell. The repercussions would not be worth it.

Holding out a hand, she funneled energy into a concentrated center right in front of her. Taking a breath, she released it and fired. From a single pinprick of light a massive column of burning energy shot out, making a trench in the ground of its wake as it moved towards the ship. Firing through the craft, creating a massive hole, she stopped the attack as it hit the edge of the crater, almost blasting a hole through the mountain.

The ship blew up and the generals momentarily paused their fighting realizing their only means of transportation had been obliterated.

It was only then she felt a shift in the air. Something was wrong, glancing at Keith, she watched as the young Titan grabbed Zethrid's fist, his head snapping away from the fight in a different direction. Whatever it was, he sensed it too.

Her gaze following his, she realized what alarmed him, Zarkon. The tyrant's frame glew with quintessence, energy arching over his frame much like a Guardian's light and even rocks could be seen floating by him. This was bad.

Jaz grit her teeth, her magic may be weaker from that spell, but she could handle the big general. Charging over, she vaulted off of Keith's shoulders, kicking the general in the face, she rode the woman's massive frame to the ground, not being afraid to jump off her head into a crouch. This general may be stronger physically, but Jaz was stronger mentally and magically. Moving her hands in a familiar pattern, she couldn't help but smirk as the hybrid stood up, finding herself greeted with multiple duplicates of the same woman. Only one of which was real.

Lotor switched the bayard back to a bladed whip, his father going to be much more difficult to beat, he practically radiated energy in a way a Guardian would. Is that what the witch had been experimenting in? Guardian powers? Did she not realize how dangerous that was?!

Looking through the dust trying to pinpoint his location, Lotor turned just in time to be kicked in the face, sending him rolling across the valley. Springing to his feet, he swung his sword down towards Zarkon and horror spread across his face. Zarkon had grabbed the blade.

Swinging him like a ragdoll, Lotor was hurled across the field, and barely had any time to roll out of the way as Zarkon came down from above, activating the second charge of quintessence on where he'd previously been.

The impact wave knocked him off his feet. Getting up up, he once again found himself searching through the dust trying to pinpoint his opponent. Zarkon charged out, and Lotor readied his weapon. Almost as if in slow motion, Lotor watched as cracks slowly spread across his father's armor as a fist made contact, some pieces breaking off, then everything went back to regular speed as Zarkon was sent skidding along the ground. Stopping himself from sliding further, Zarkon lunged at the new target, throwing a punch that was easily dodged and repayed.

"Don't just stand there!" the Guardian snapped shoving the emperor back.

Shaking himself out of his surprise, Lotor decided to take advantage of this new opportunity. Watching as his father punched the ground where the Guardian had been, he made his move. Rushing out from the dust, he swung his blade through the back of the armor, no doubt where the quintessence and life-support systems were stored. Zarkon gasped, stumbling forwards as the precious liquid drained from the armor. But he wasn't dead yet.

Without a second thought Lotor drove his sword into Zarkon's back.