1130 Hours

02/05/2018

London, England

Classified Voltron Headquarters

Takashi stared at the wall across the room without moving a muscle. After being accepted to Voltron again, the operatives put him in a room as part of a therapy test. The room was grey and completely in utter silence. The table was made of steel with an empty cup beside him. Shortly, a woman in a camo uniform with an Italy patch on the shoulder entered the room. She carried a notebook with a pen attached.

"Good afternoon, my name's Miley Esposito. I'll be your therapist for today."

Shiro did not respond as Esposito took a seat. His eyes looked away from her.

"Let's get started," Esposito said. "First off, please state your name and current rank."

"Commander Takashi Shirogane." Shiro answered.

Allura and Coran watched the therapy session behind a window which was mirrored in Takashi's view. Esposito looked down at her notebook and glanced upon Takashi.

"What was your occupation after leaving Voltron?" She asked, with the pen touching the notebook.

"Moved to Hawaii and started working as a construction worker by day and bartender at night."

"By any chance have you been in any contact with alcohol or drugs?"

"I don't take drugs but I consume alcohol twice a day and shots of scotches on special occasions."

As Takashi spoke, Esposito jotted down the information. She read his facial expression and body movement as she did so. Esposito stopped writing and glanced at Takashi.

"Last question, Commander," Esposito asked. "Why do you want to return to Voltron, despite completing a rescue mission earlier?"

Takashi didn't respond but he thought about it. He still feels guilty of his actions and doesn't get why he accepted himself back to Voltron. He took a deep breath and looked at Esposito, ready to answer.

0820 Hours

02/07/2018

United States of America

Somewhere in the forest

The door shattered to pieces and smoke followed up. Keith and Lance stormed into the room while Pidge and Hunk followed them down a hallway. They all carried M4A1 rifles and wore black chest carriers over their clothes with tactical gloves. As Keith and Lance took point, Hunk and Pidge were trying to catch up to their fast movement.

"Could you two slow down?" Pidge asked.

"Keep up, we're on the clock." Keith replied.

Pidge rolled her eyes. She should've known Keith was like this. The team made their way to a corner and Keith spotted two wooden targets, shaped into men with ski masks.

"Contact." Keith called.

Before Keith even raised his rifle, Lance pushed him away and fired three rounds at the targets.

"Gotta be quicker than that." Lance teased and smirked.

Keith growled as he went past Lance and they advanced. As the team approached to another hallway, Pidge and Hunk stacked up on a door to their right while Keith and Lance went to a door on the left across each other.

Pidge and Hunk kicked down the door and shot down two targets inside while Keith and Lance did the same after Pidge and Hunk kicked the door. Lance aimed for the target nearby, only for Keith to bump into him with his shoulder and take the target.

"Too slow." Keith said and left the room.

Lance scoffed and rushed back to Keith where they moved to the next area.

"Think you can get more kills than me, Ranger Grunt?" Lance mocked.

"Oh I know so, Jarhead." Keith replied.

"Alright then. It's a bet."

"You're on."

The team got to the last door and piled up beside it. Keith gave a signal and Hunk moved in front of the door and kicked it down. They stormed in with Lance and Keith going in first and they shot the last two targets. Suddenly, a loud buzzing alarm emitted. The recruits stopped and lowered their weapons.

"Call that a tie." Keith said.

"Maybe but I got the target first." Lance replied.

Hunk and Pidge watched them bicker over who won and Pidge sighed. Hunk leaned over towards Pidge.

"Is your friend this competitive?" Hunk whispered.

"Only in training."

As Keith and Lance argued, Takashi entered the room, wearing a black shirt with blue jeans. His hands were in his pockets and he glared at the team. They turned to Takashi, awaiting for his instruction.

"So," Lance asked. "How did we do?"

Takashi didn't reply and passed through the recruits and made his way to the door where they entered.

"You guys..." he said. Shiro opened the door, revealing another wooden target aimed at them. "...would already be dead."

When they realized they forgot that target, they all groaned.

"Hey, hey, hey! Cut the shit!" Shiro bellowed. "You all should have known better. Broke formation, rushed and slow reaction."

Shiro then turned to Hunk.

"Hunk, you're the third person who entered in the room. While Keith and Lance were dealing with these two assholes, you have to watch their backs because you may never know if there's going to be someone waiting for the right moment to kill all of you."

"Yes, sir." Hunk nodded.

Takashi backed away and took his hands out of his pockets. "Alright. Lets run this again but the targets will be in different places this time."

The recruits were still upset but they made no further fuss and left the room. As Keith went for the door, he stopped to a voice.

"Hey Keith. Can we talk?" Shiro asked, motioning him to come by.

Keith sighed and turned towards Shiro. He approached Shiro and slung his rifle.

"What's up?" Keith asked.

"You tell me, kid," Takashi said. "I saw how you and Lance were going at each other."

"Hey, the Jarhead wanted to challenge me and I gave him one." Keith protested.

"Well while you and him were doing that," Shiro continued. "You left Hunk and Pidge behind."

"It's not like I don't care about them. I'm always there for Pidge and Hunk seems to be a cool guy."

"I know. You and Katie were pretty tight when you were in the Rangers, which is why you should already know that you can't run off leaving her and Hunk behind. No matter how quick or slow you pull this mission off, you never leave your team behind."

Keith realized he's got a point. He cared for them both but he and Lance were so caught up being competitive, he forgot about Pidge and Hunk. They would be gone if he did something like that.

"Yes sir." Keith said.

Shiro allowed him to leave. As Keith made his way out, Shiro stopped him.

"Hey kid," Shiro called out. Keith stopped and turned. "Don't make things worse for you and Santos. I don't think he's the same guy you knocked out in BUDs."

Keith recalled a vision of him beating up one of the cadets and being pulled away by instructors during his time in BUD. He turned away and walked off, leaving Takashi alone. He turned away and gazed at the target they missed.

The team returned to the armory where they filled their magazines for their next training. While Keith, Hunk and Pidge were refilling their rifles, Lance played a game on his phone.

"Think the objective will still stay the same?" Hunk asked.

"Can't say if it is," Said Keith. "We're in a CIA training field so who knows. We have to expect the unexpected. Hell, they may have us defuse a bomb or something. Thankfully, we have you."

Hunk chuckled along with Pidge.

"Yeah, true that." Hunk said.

Keith turned to Lance who was still on his phone.

"You wanna take point this time?"

Lance stopped playing and looked up, surprised.

"Am I crazy or you'd just asked me to take point?"

"Do you want to do it or not?" Keith questioned.

"Of course I will," Lance replied, slipping his phone away. "Just curious that you're letting me take point. Makes me wonder what Shiro said to you. Did he put you up for this?"

"No. Just shut up and be the point man."

Suddenly, Shiro walked into the room and packed everything in a hurry.

"We're being called back to base so drop everything and grab your stuff. Langley's giving us a plane to London."

1905 Hours

02/08/2018

London, England

Classified Voltron Headquarters

The team followed Shiro down a lighted hallway with their bags on them. Some of the recruits were tired and still sleepy but Shiro was awake. They entered a room where Major Brooks and Lieutenant Smythe was. There was a projector facing towards a screen beside them.

"Glad you're all here." Allura said.

"Couldn't this wait?" Lance asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Apologies but no, because we found out who hired the ISI to kidnap the MI6 agents for their execution in Pakistan."

She turned on a PowerPoint and the screen showed photos of a group of armed soldiers and a few clips of those soldiers in action and executing people.

"They're known as the Galra Empire. International and ex-military special forces in the Middle East."

"Those guys we killed back then didn't put much of a fight and were kind of like how we fought the guys in Taliban." said Keith.

"That's because it wasn't them." Allura deduced.

Keith stared in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"This was them."

Allura changed to the next slide which showed a video. The camera looked like it was filmed from a drone. But what shocked them was the fact it was watching the team leave the compound and place Khan on the truck before they sped off.

"What?! That's bullshit!" Lance yelled. "You're saying they set us up and they're the ones who filmed us?!"

"Sadly, yes." Allura answered.

"Then who the hell did we kill in that compound?" Keith asked.

"They're just militant forces operating in Pakistan who were hired to execute." Coran said.

"While you were flying here, yanks from Langley called me. They said that one of their undercover SAD Officers reported an ISI officer, Abdul Mohammad who may be connected to the Galra forces." Allura explained as the screen switched to a picture of a Pakistani man with grey sideburns in a suit walking along with armed men by his side. "CIA were keeping an eye on that ISI officer. They manage to tap into his phone and discovered he will be meeting someone in a hotel in Dubai. It's possible that he will be meeting someone from the Galra militia. If we capture one of them, we can acquire more intel of the lead operator and shut them down. Langley have provided us a safe house for us to set up our command operation."

"Sounds good to me," Shiro said. "We'll keep a low profile, find Mohammad and hope he has intel on one of the Galra operatives."

Allura nodded and turned off the PowerPoint. "Very well. Get geared up because we're leaving to Dubai at 0500."

The team headed out of the room and to the armory.

"Commander." Allura called, grabbing Takashi's attention. "How's the team?"

"They'll do fine, ma'am." Shiro replied.

Shiro left the room to return to his team. In Shiro's mind, he hopes that team will do fine. Even though the recruit didn't do so well in training, he still have faith as they did a good job on the rescue mission in Pakistan...Takashi also hopes that he won't get himself in another incident that will end up like the deaths of his previous teammates.

0130 Hours

02/08/2018

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Hotel

Dubai flowed with the breeze and the cold. No snow was in sight however. Keith and Lance entered the lobby of a hotel which was complex and large. The lobby was full of gold and pearl material and an elegant lounge beside. Keith had a red collar shirt underneath his brown leather jacket with blue jeans while Lance wore a blue jacket and black jeans with Puma sneakers. They carried go-bags that secretly had their weapons and their pistols were tucked under the back of their pants.

"Quite a place," Lance commented. "Would be nice to stay here for a while."

"Mind staying focused?" Keith said.

"It's called multitasking. It's something that people do during missions. Just so you know."

"Smartass."

Lance smirked. "You know it."

Keith and Lance roamed the lobby, scanning for a sight of their target. While making their way to the lounge, Keith lifted the collar of his shirt which was fitted with a mike. Lance had the same thing.

"Red Lion to Zero. We're inside the hotel searching for Mohammad." Keith said.

From a building a few blocks from the hotel, Shiro, Allura, Coran and a few Voltron operatives are inside an apartment room, turned into a surveillance room and safe house provided by the CIA.

Takashi wore his normal outfit, Allura in a blue shirt, black pants and Coran wearing a brown coat over his vest with a white shirt and brown pants. In front of them were several monitors, filming numerous areas of the hotel.

"Copy Red Lion," Allura replied. "Yellow Lion, are you and Green Lion in position?"

Hunk and Pidge were stationed inside a white van, parked near a fountain across the hotel. Hunk sat on the driver's seat, wearing his brown jumper underneath his puffer vest with blue jeans and Pidge stayed at the back, checking her custom DDMK18 and wearing a blue and black puffer jacket.

"Yellow and Green Lion in position." Hunk replied.

Keith and Lance split out to blend in while searching for their target. Keith searched the bar area and noticed a familiar man in a suit, waiting at a bar. When Keith approached him a bit closer, he realized that's the ISI Officer, Mohammad. Keith reached for his mike.

"Red Lion to Zero, target spotted, over." He said.

"Got a guy walking up to the target, over." Lance replied.

Keith noticed the man Lance mentioned walking up to the ISI Officer. Keith and

Lance kept a distance as they watched the conversation. However, the ISI Officer starts to look around with a worried expression.

"Wait a sec," Keith muttered. "Red Lion to Zero, something's up with the target."

Meanwhile, Hunk looked around the entrance and so far, nothing to report. Until he saw something that caught his eye. Hunk sat up and noticed a group of men in black and red tracksuits heading towards the hotel carrying bags. Normally, basketball players would be going to their bus but for some reason, they're heading into a hotel. Something felt off here.

"Yellow Lion to Red and Blue Lion," Hunk said. "I count fifthteen men dressed up as basketball players entering the hotel. Looks quite suspicious, over."

Keith and Lance turned to the entrance and noticed the men dressed as basketball players enter the building. Lance and Keith were certain something was up with them. Shortly, they stopped and set their bags on the ground, taking something out.

"Zero, this is Blue Lion. I think-"

Before he finished his sentence, loud gunshots erupted. The basketball players carried AK47s and fired at everyone in this lobby. Lance and Keith quickly ducked down and hid behind the back of the couch. Keith got to his mike quickly.

"Red Lion to Zero, shots fired! Shots fired! Unknown hostiles opening fire on civilians!" He he yelled through the loud gunfire.

Allura, Coran and Shiro watched as the surveillance showed the armed basketball players gun down several security guards and injure innocent people. It was unbearably crazy.

"Is this an attack?" Shiro asked.

"Possibly," Allura answered and turned her mic on her headphones. "All Lions, engage hostiles but keep ISI Officer and one of the attackers alive. I repeat, engage hostiles but keep Mohammod and one of the hostiles alive!"

Keith and Lance pulled out their pistols and fired. Hunk and Pidge jumped out of the van and ran across the street, carrying their own custom DDMK18 rifle. Hunk has a red dot sight and an advanced foregrip while Pidge has a EOTech scope and an AFG grip. The two also had their waist belts with pouches and holsters for their pistols. While approaching the hotel, two basketball players came out and noticed Hunk and Pidge. They fired at them, prompting Pidge and Hunk to hide behind the cars. Bullets riddled the cars and loud alarms blared throughout the chaos. Pidge quickly stood up and shot back. She managed to kill one of them who was approaching Pidge's position. However, Pidge was unaware of the other one who was about to shoot her. He was suddenly shot to the chest and finished off with one to the head by Hunk. As soon as they finished, three more came out and fired at them.

Lance and Keith fired at the basketball players, distracting them as long as possible. The civilians were able to escape among the chaos with the help of the remaining security. Keith and Lance ducked down and opened their go-bags, containing UMP-45 submarine guns. Meanwhile, the ISI Operative remained seated with the mysterious man in suit, watching the chaos with doubt and concern.

"S-Should I be leaving now?" Questioned Mohammod in english

"There's nothing to worry about." The man in the suit said in english. "This is just a front."

Lance stood up from the couch and opened fire while slowly advancing. He managed to take out two of the players before jumping off a couch to eliminate another.

Keith moved away from the couch as well and went for the other side. Three more players appeared and he charged at them while firing. He took out two of them with the other one taking cover before hiding behind a wall, next to the elevators. Keith reloaded and waited for the last player to come for his trap.

As soon as the player approached the corner, Keith went for his gun and pulled him towards him. He held the barrel of his AK, causing him to misfire and narrowingly miss Keith's arm. The player dropped the rifle, losing control of his own weapon. Keith kicked his shin and his side before wrapping the player's neck with his rifle. He held it tightly against his neck as the player tried reaching for his eyes. Keith kicked his leg again, causing him to drop to his knees. He continued to hold him, squeezing his neck hardly before yanking his rifle. There was a loud snap and the player stopped struggling. Keith lowered his body aside and went after Lance to help.

Lance was still opening fire at the players in the lobby when somehow, they stopped and dropped their rifles. Outside, Hunk took out one player but was unable to find the other one. Pidge eliminated another near her and was about to come out when suddenly, a player came out behind her and grabbed hold of Pidge. She struggled, trying to break free from the player's intense strength. She pushed him against the car and elbowed his abdomen. His grip slightly loosened and she pulled out her pistol, aiming at his foot. Pidge fired and he cried out, completely losing grip of her. She slipped out of his grip and fired several shots at him before he fell. Blood and bullet holes stained the car as he fell. With the rest of the players killed, Pidge reached for her mike.

"Green Lion to Red and Blue, everything ok in there?"

"Blue Lion to Green Lion, targets have stop engaging and are surrendering," Lance replied. "Stay put if these assholes try to make a run for it."

"Copy, Blue Lion."

Keith came out and remained trained on the surrendering players while Lance turned to the ISI Officer and the man next to him. They nodded to each other before they turned towards their targets.

"On the ground now, all of you!" Keith yelled.

The players obeyed and got on their knees. Keith slowly moved up to the players, glaring at him as if they have a plan. While Lance aimed at the ISI Officer and the man, he turned to look at the players, just in time to notice one of them standing up with something in his hands. Lance immediately realized what he was holding.

A detonator and his thumb was on the trigger.

"BOMB!" Lance shouted.

Keith turned around and saw the man with the detonator. Lance and Keith didn't have time to run so they hid. The rest of the players closed their eyes as the bomber spread his arms.

"ALLAH AKBAR!"

In an instant, everything erupted into a fiery explosion, disorienting the whole lobby. Pidge and Hunk were approaching the entrance when immense dust and fire blew out. They were knocked back from the explosion. The rest of the operatives watched in horror as they stared at the now dusty and unclear vision with the fire alarm blaring like crazy. One of the drones was even destroyed.

"Green Lion, report." Allura said.

There was a brief silence until Pidge picked up. "G-Green Lion and Yellow Lion are fine, over!"

Allura sighed of relief but she was still wondering Lance and Keith's fate.

"Red Lion, report," Allura called.

There was no response. Allura began to fear the worst.

"Blue Lion, report."

There was still no response from Keith or Lance. Shiro was starting to have guilt and regrets. It was all coming back to him. He hoped he was wrong but the chances were slim and hope was unlikely. The monitor continued to show smoke covering up almost the entire hotel as the alarm continued to blare.

"Red Lion, Blue Lion, report."