0800 Hours

Safe House

After bringing the terrorist back to their hideout, the team dragged him into their basement where they tied both of his hands around a chair and chained his left leg to the ground.

Outside the basement, Shiro was standing next to the door while on the phone. From what's happening right now, he's starting to get irritated.

"I know you don't want to talk to me so just please put mom on the phone...I don't care what you think about me...how the fuck would I know? Just get-"

The person on the phone hung up on Shiro before he could continue. His grip on the phone tightened with the urge to throw it on the wall.

"Everything ok?"

Shiro turned around to notice Allura approaching him. He quickly slipped his phone back into his jean pocket.

"Uhh...yeah. Everything's fine." Shiro replied, calmly.

"What can you tell me?" Allura asked.

"Well, they knew we were coming. Mohammed was bait and they tried to ambush us. These terrorists are smart."

"Quite so. Glad you and the cubs are safe."

Shiro nodded and looked at the door in front of them.

"Want me to take a run at him?" Shiro asked.

"No. I'll do it." Allura insisted.

"I'll be here if there's any trouble."

Allura opened the door and entered the basement. In front of them was the terrorist cuffed and still bagged. He didn't make a single flinch as the door opened. She went up to the terrorist and took the bag off his head. He looked up without a single emotion.

"As-salāmuʿalaykum," Allura said. "You disrespect the profit?"

The terrorist didn't respond but it didn't take long for an answer.

"Western whore." He murmured.

"I'm more of a bitch actually." Allura replied.

The terrorist turned around, focusing on her as she went around him. However, his gaze locked onto something past her. Allura looked behind and noticed two full jugs of water placed on the table she was standing behind. She let out a short chuckle and turned back to him.

"Oh, no need for that," she said. "We don't waterboard prisoners anymore. You should be lucky we don't. So are you ready to tell us what we need to know?"

The terrorist simply stared at her for a short time before looking away. Allura observed the terrorist's expressions and his movement. She was able to tell he doesn't see anything in a woman like her.

"I see. You think I'm a woman who can't handle violence. But believe me...I'm not one of those women you've treated in your country. Where I'm from, what I've been through...I'm that bitch who can do so much more...more than you can even guess."

Allura went up to his back and slapped his shoulders very tightly, leaning down towards his ear. She could tell the terrorist was chilled.

"You will tell me everything that I want to know about the Galra's next plan."

After some time passed, the team gathered in the briefing room where Allura played a presentation on their next mission.

"We have been told that three Galra members will be moving in to Cape Town to meet two ex-jihadists from Somalia who had to move because of their terrorist cell fallout from the US government. The jihadists are Olol and Suudi Shirwać, brothers who were responsible for the deaths of ten British soldiers. Either this is some sort of recruitment, we don't know but they will be meeting each other tomorrow."

"Okay here's what I'm having trouble following," Pidge raised her hand. "First, these guys started kidnapping MI6 agents in Pakistan and hired terrorist groups to execute them, they tried to do the same thing with you and Khan. They attacked us and a lot of people at the hotel and then blew themselves up so those guys can get that Pakistani agent and then trapped us again with that same agent who clearly died. This is seriously starting to make zero sense."

"I'm with Pidge on this one," Keith replied. "This is getting really confusing. We don't even know what's actually going on."

"They're right."

The team turned around and noticed Coran standing next to two people in multicam uniforms. One of them was a man with blue-dyed hair and a patch 'Gold' sewn to his right breast pocket. The other was a blond woman with one side of her hair shaved off. She also had piercings at her right eyebrow and a patch on her shoulder 'Colbert'. The woman was a few inches taller than the man. Possibly older.

"Ma'am, these are our best communications and analysts, Lance Corporal Jeremiah Gold and Specialist Stephanie Colbert." Coran introduced.

"Ma'am, I've studied their tactics and how they operate from previous encounters and it's obvious that they're leading you to a trap." Colbert said.

"Also, Olol and Suudi have already been taken out," Gold added. He had a slight British accent. "SAS raided their homes last year and wasted the two because they were armed to the teeth."

"Wait, what? Are you sure about that?" Pidge said.

"100 percent. I was part of the operation back in the Intelligence Corps."

On the other side, Allura who had just listened to the sudden news, started to feel her blood boil and clenched her fists.

"Fuck!" Allura shouted and slammed the door open, marching out of the room.

Shiro swore under his breath and went after her. Soon, the room was filled with awkward silence. Everybody froze for the time being before Lance pointed at Colbert.

"What's up with your hair?"

As Allura walked to the basement, Shiro caught up with her with the face of desperation.

"Allura."

"Don't try to stop me." Allura hissed.

"Don't do it."

She ignored Shiro and as she closed in at the door, Shiro cut in front of her path.

"Listen. You're already being attacked by the higher ups. Don't let this terrorist get into your head."

Shiro was right. Voltron may be a Covert unit but strict rules still apply, no collateral damage included. Allura sighed deeply and with her newfound confidence, she and Shiro went up to the room.

They opened the door, only to find the terrorist's head leaning downwards. Something was dripping out of his mouth. Allura's confidence was starting to shatter.

"What? No. No, no, no!"

She ran up to the terrorist and lifted his head up. His mouth was filled with a mix of saliva and blood. His eyes rolled sideways as she let go of his head. Allura stared at his limp body and her confidence was gone completely. Balling her fists, she kicked the terrorist's body, tumbling the chair in the process.

"FUCK!" Allura yelled and slammed her fists against the wall.

Shiro said nothing as he turned away, leaving Allura for her privacy. He could still hear loud table noises and venting through the door.

During the examining of the dead terrorist, the team discovered he had cyanide packed with him inside a tooth. Shiro was the only one accepted the news while Allura only went off, after hearing the word cyanide.

After an hour passed, Shiro went up to the rooftop, knowing that's her normal place to stay and found her standing near the ledge. With their only lead dead, more innocent people will die, the Galra Empire will continue their uprising and NATO will have no choice but to shut down Voltron.

Shiro knew much of Allura's behavior when it came to despair and failure. It was best for him to keep silent when a slight sign of Allura's behavior show up. He silently sighed, went up to her and stood by her side without a word.

"How the hell did we miss that cyanide liquid?" Allura simply said, in an emotionless tone.

"Fake tooth," Shiro answered. "But you shouldn't blame yourself-"

"I swear to God, I hear another 'you shouldn't blame yourself' come out of that bloody mouth of yours-"

"I'm being honest."

"Honest?" Allura repeated as she faced Shiro. "Do you not see how fucked we are right now?!"

Shiro understood from her perspective but good god, she needed to get a hold of herself.

"Look-"

"I've already had enough problems with those arseholes ups but I keep getting blamed for false intelligence and the lack of evidence on the Galra!"

"Allura-"

"They still think it's my fault for what happened back in Lahore, losing three operatives out of incompetence-"

"NO ITS NOT!"

Allura was taken back by his surprise. Shiro grabbed Allura's shoulders and pulled her in front of him.

"Shiro, wha-?"

"Allura, what happened back in Lahore was my fault. I was incharge of the operation, I was responsible for their losses. That's why I left Voltron because of that one mistake I shouldn't have let slip. There is nothing you should be blamed for. I know you're a good leader. Way better than me. Why did I leave you to be in charge of Voltron?"

"Jesus Christ, Shiro-" Allura tried to say.

"I get that you have the higher ups breathing down your neck," Shiro continued. "I know how much shit we're in by the Galra Empire but you can't blame yourself when we need to focus on trying to stop their next attack so we can prevent more lives being lost!"

Suddenly, they heard the door open. Shiro and Allura hastily stood away from each other as Coran went up to them.

"I need you two back inside immediately," Coran said. "We might have something on the Galra Empire."

Allura and Shiro followed Coran into the same briefing room where this time, Gold and Colbert stood by the screen with a presentation in front of them.

"You may now start, you two." Coran ordered.

"Santos and Yeun told me of a guy they saw with Mohammed at the hotel and thanks to Lance's amazingly accurate facial sketch, I managed to ID him." Colbert explained.

"So who is it?" Allura asked.

Colbert turned towards the screen and clicked on the remote. A photo of a man with light brown hair and a partly narrow face popped up with details next to him. Eerily, he resembled the murderous guy from The Guest movie. It's like the actor is playing as that man.

Allura and Shiro stared at the photo with mouths agape and eyes slightly widened. They were so focused on that photo they didn't blink for half a minute. Coran took notice of their reaction but he was unsurprised.

"That guy looks a lot like Dan Stevens." Lance silently commented, prompting a elbow bump from Keith.

"Hugo Becker," Colbert continues. "Codename: Haxus. Ex-Army Ranger turned American Taliban. Before going AWOL, he bombed his command post to prove his worth for the Talibans. Injured two soldiers and killed ten including Colonel Nash Becker, his brother. 10 years ago, he was helping the Taliban forces ambush some troops but there were some change of plans when his team got wiped out by the Australian Defense Force. So he disappeared and started working with a different terrorist group in Pakistan."

"He's also the lieutenant of Sendak." Allura managed to say.

Everybody shifted their focus on her. Nobody had an idea what she was talking about, not even Gold and Colbert.

"Who's that?" Gold asked.

Allura sighed and unfolded her arms.

"Sendak al-Qazi was an ex-Afghan Special Force operative who had been working for the Islamic State since 9/11. He led a team of Green Berets into an ambush and got them all killed, forcing him to go into hiding. He also formed his own organization to take out government agencies and armed forces..."

She stopped herself and turned towards Shiro. Her face was full of uncertainty. Shiro nodded and allowed her to continue.

"...and he was responsible for the deaths of three Voltron operatives, including Sven Shirogane."

Everybody was speechless at this point. The whole story was that Shiro and his old team were sent to Lahore to capture Sendak. However, they weren't prepared for an ambush he has set for them. Allura then turned to Gold and Colbert.

"Anything else from you two?" Allura asked.

"Huh?" Colbert looked up. They were both met with annoyed glances. "Oh, right. About Haxus. Sorry."

"Where was I?" Gold muttered. "Ah, yes. I've managed to trace Haxus' location. Even though he has been killing phone chips for years, I can certainly confirm this is his final location.

"And that would be?" Lance asked.

"Somewhere in Qatar but there's a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Shiro asked.

"He's an asset for the DEA."

Nobody reacted pretty well on the news. The whole room was full of angry chatter.

"DEA? Why the fuck would they protect this asshole?!" Pidge said, loudly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Lance replied. "He probably knew he would be hunted. Might've paid them to cover his ass in exchange for drug lords."

"There's no way the DEA would defend a scumbag like him," Hunk objected. "They were gonna arrest him after he tipped off all the drug lords to them, right?"

"Knowing the situation, I'm pretty sure they're still riding that guy's dick." Lance commented.

"And I think I'm gonna have a word with the DEA." Allura declared.

"No," Shiro stepped in. "I will. I still have friends from the Department of Justice who would back me up on taking Haxus in."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive."

0830 Hours

02/09/2018

While the team waited for the update on Shiro's request, Pidge took Keith and Lance with her and out to the city of Dubai where the busy streets filled all of the roads. They didn't go too far from their safehouse. As they walked down a cafe, Lance had his eyes on Pidge's back for a brief thought moment before looking back at Keith, who was currently questioning her intent.

"Is there a reason for bringing us along, especially this smartass?" Keith asked.

"So I can have a private chat with you guys." Pidge answered.

"Why not-" Lance would say.

"Just let her talk so we can get this over with."

Pidge finally stopped, while the boys did the same.

"There's something I need to address. About you." Pidge said and turned to Keith and Lance with her arms crossed. Lance glanced at Keith, giving a quite smug and snarky look.

"That includes you, Lance."

"Wait, what'd I do?" He asked, surprised.

"I need you two to just...get along and stop trying to go macho on each other and treat this as if it's a competition."

Keith scoffed at the idea. " He's an asshole of every type! What'd you expect us to do, hug and make out?"

"I would go for it." Lance said.

The two turned and faced Lance, bewildered. They were mostly focused on the fact that his face was straight as hell. Lance was unable to hold his straight face and a grin stretched his mouth. Shortly, they heard Lance's stifled laughter.

"I'm just messing with ya. I'm not actually into guys and I know you ain't either."

Keith groaned out of frustration while Pidge stared at Lance in disbelief. They could still hear him mutter 'priceless'.

"But seriously," Pidge continued and turned back to Keith. "I know you two are awesome because I've been with you both for God knows how long but...both of you keep challenging each other and that's gonna put both of you and the people you're trying to save in danger."

Just as she finished, their phones started to vibrate. They took out their phones where they saw a message from Allura in front of their screens.

"We gotta go," Keith said. "Operation has been greenlit."

Lance and Keith turned around and headed back to the safe house while Pidge followed. However, she was really hoping they listened to what she said. She was being serious back there.

1630 Hours

Al Khor, Qatar

After an eight hour flight, the team landed at Al Khor, which was Haxus' confirmed location. The team dressed in their normal clothes, fitted with plate frame carriers and ammo pouches. They also brought along their assault rifles each with their personal attachments and suppressors. There was also vehicles stationed for them as well. Of all the curated vehicles, Hunk, Lance, Pidge and Keith took a white G-Wagen while Shiro and Allura chose a blue Explorer. The team made their way to their destination, from the forward operating base to a two hour drive on the freeway.

As the team drove through the extendedly long road, Allura looked at Shiro who appeared to be intensely focused on the mission and noticed a change.

"What happened to the bun?" She asked.

"Huh?" Shiro spun, snapping out of whatever he was thinking.

"I see you had a haircut. What happened to it?"

Shiro ran his hand through his hair. It ended up looking shorter and spiked than his older one.

"Just thought that I should."

Allura didn't respond other than smirk.

"You know I missed that haircut," she said. "Reminds me of the old Takashi."

Shiro softly smiled, taking it as a compliment.

"I still remember that one time I made you dye your hair white when I took you to that band you loved." Shiro added. "Hell I did the same as well."

"Yes, yes you did." Allura chuckled.

"The best times we had."

She looked at him with surprise but shortly looked away, smiling. They eventually remained silent as the team approached an exit leading to the desert.

Once the team arrived at their destination, they parked themselves on top of a sandhill not too far from the village. They got out and scanned the area. Shiro took out a binoculars, checking the village while Lance scoped the area with his high powered rifle. The sandhill was able to get a clear view of the village. So far, there was no chatter, no sign of anyone or anything. Other than faint smoke seeping through the air.

"Seems quiet on the Western front." Lance commented.

"Yeah...this doesn't feel right," Shiro said and lowered his binoculars to look at Allura. "What do you wanna do?"

"Let me check with Zero first," Allura tapped her earpiece and contacted the SOCCENT. "Zero, this is Alpha Lion. Any view from the skies, over?"

"Negative Alpha Lion." Coran replied. "Drone's not picking up anything. Bad connection. Your call, over."

Allura didn't reply. She looked over and quickly gathered some thought for their next move. This was an important mission and mistakes will put them at risk of getting killed. She didn't want another repeat of what happened in Lahore. With her mind on the mission, Allura searched across the village and her sights set on a small house, few yards from the village on their right.

"Santos, think you have a good view on the house near the village?" She asked.

Lance turned his sights on the house and found the one Allura mentioned. "If you mean the one with a large ass hole on the wall then yes ma'am."

"Good, cause that is your overwatch with Yeun."

"Yes ma'am." Lance and Keith said simultaneously.

"The rest of us will move into the village to locate and capture the target alive. Got it?"

"Loud and clear, ma'am." The team said altogether.

They got up and made their way to the village. Keith and Lance separated from the team, leaving the rest to head into the village. They eventually made it to the gate of the village and went in. Shiro and Allura took the lead while Pidge and Hunk covered the rear.

Allura then decided to contact Keith and Lance for confirmation. At this time, they should've arrived by now. Unless Lance may be screwing around.

"Alpha Lion to Blue Lion, what's your status, over?"

The radio responded with nothing but looping static. She tried again.

"Blue Lion are you there, over?"

It continued. She tried Keith's radio.

"Red Lion are you there, over?"

No response as well. Lance must be really screwing around.

"Something's definitely not right." Pidge muttered.

The team continued advancing towards the village. As they got progressed, the smell became closer. Once they reached the source of that strange smell, their eyes widened and their weapons lowered. In front of them laid two large piles of burning bodies, sickening most of the team. They could even smell the aroma of burnt blood mixed into the fire.

"What the hell is this?" Pidge whispered.

"Kuhi…(Evil...)" Hunk muttered.

Allure went up to the one of the burning piles, blocking her mouth with her forearm while doing so. Shiro looked around the whole village and pieced together everything. Empty village, burning bodies, no sign of Galra soldiers, that could mean one thing.

Shiro realized this too late and charged.

"ALLURA-"

Keith and Lance had just arrived at the roof of the house when they heard a large explosion from a distance. A fireball boomed through the village and a wave of wind almost blew them off balance. The two stared in awe and shock.

"Oh shit…"

Hey guys Whiskey here. Characters Lance Corporal Jeremiah Gold and Specialist Stephanie Colbert are both belonged to my friend, Maximus Hambugerlius. There will be more OCs in the story but no more than four including the two that has been featured. I hope you are all enjoying the story so far. Next chapter will be out soon, PEACE.