1300 Hours

02/13/18

Goiânia, Brazil

While the analysts continued to go through intel on Sendak's location, the Voltron Lions spent the rest of the night at a local pub for some quality time together. Lance, Hunk and Keith competed against each other in pool while Pidge watched with her glass of Coke. Hunk however stopped the entire game with a story of his life when Lance asked him.

"So you're saying you set off a fire bomb during senior high?" Lance repeated.

"Yep," Hunk answered. "My stupid ass thought it was a good idea to light a firecracker with spray paint in the bathroom. I was a firework enthusiast back then. I ended up with a three day suspension but somebody from the Army was impressed about it and recommended me to the military. So I took that offer after graduation. Got into the EOD for a couple of years before I joined the Rangers."

"That's one way to get noticed."

"So, how many bombs did you defuse while you were in the army?" Keith asked.

Hunk paused for a moment while his eyes remained fixated. Lance lifted his beer to his mouth and took a swig.

"Well...I would say 50 and during my time with the Rangers...250."

Lance suddenly spewed his drink out, spilling it onto the pool table. Other bar goers glanced at them in confusion while Keith and Pidge were equally surprised.

"250 bombs?!" Lance blurted out.

"Holy shit, dude." Keith muttered.

Hunk chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah. While we were on tour, there was this Taliban, don't remember his name. Had a record of planting and detonating IEDs on Afghan troops, including a Blackwater patrol. He planted one next to where me and my unit were while we were on overwatch. I managed to find that bomb and disarm it. And that was not all. When me and my team evacuated from the building we were in, the guy was stupid enough to check on his IED. Once he got there...let's just say he now knows what it feels like to get blown up by his own bomb."

The team already surprised and astonished than they usually were. Lance in particular was confounded and invested for more.

"Yo, that was pure badassery," Lance said, pointing at Hunk with his beer. "You gotta tell us more while we get some more drinks."

Lance and Hunk moved away from the pool table and headed for the bar, leaving Keith and Pidge by themselves. Keith watched as Lance slapped Hunk's back, laughing his head off.

"Wish we had him in our Battalion." Pidge commented, grabbing Keith's attention.

"Yeah but you forgot our C.O was an asshole and would probably be less welcome about Hunk." Keith replied.

"If he saw what Hunk did, he'll probably piss himself and would rather hand his leadership to him."

Keith nodded, silently agreeing before looking away.

"So, how's things with Lance?" Pidge's asked.

"Hm?" Keith glanced at her who was smirking in a teasing manner, in which Keith wasn't fond of.

"You two seem to be getting along really well."

He sighed and looked away once again. "Yeah...he's alright."

"Oh my goodness. It is true! Keith Yeun has admitted that he likes Lance!"

Keith was unable to control his smile before letting a chuckle slip out of his mouth. "Stop."

They went at it for a moment before calming down. Keith then glanced at Pidge's who took a sip of her drink. There was something he wanted to ask. Tensions with NATO is potentially going to escalate if nothing's done to persuade them in withdrawing their decision to shut them down. But Keith felt like there were ulterior motives inside, besides their experiences.

"What's your opinion on NATO?" He asked.

Pidge lowered her glass, sighing. Her eyes gazed forward without a glimpse on Keith.

"We've made some mistakes but that doesn't mean Voltron should be to blame for," She answered, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Either NATO's scared or they just don't trust us."

"Makes sense. Hopefully it won't come to this and they'll allow us to go after the real enemies before more casualties arise."

"Amen to that."

Suddenly, Keith felt his pocket buzz. It was another text message to report back. He got his phone out and read the message before looking at Pidge's who also received one too. They both finished their drinks and headed for the door, alongside Hunk and Lance who had just paid for their drinks. One part of Keith's mind thought that the meeting would be bad news but they'll have to see for themselves.

1320 Hours

The team arrived at the hideout where Shiro and Allura were both waiting for them with Colbert accompanying them. They took the seats allocated for them, facing the board full of intel and pinned photographs. Once they were seated, Allura began her briefing.

"We finally have confirmation on Sendak's whereabouts," Allura said. "The satellite pictures we were provided has found him at the favelas in Rio de Janeiro with his Galra forces where a local militia is assisting them."

"What is this, Modern Warfare? Are they taking it straight off the game or somethin'?" Lance asked.

"Dunno," Colbert shrugged. "That part of the slums is a haven for shady business and organizations as there's no chance you'll find a good place for cover. The locals who live there may join the fight too and eventually vanish off the surface. This militia isn't a bunch of thugs. They're trained killers. They were responsible for multiple murder counts and all that bad shit for the past ten years. It's been giving the military a headache in dealing with them, especially with the casualties they suffered."

"The BOPE were more than happy to lend support and they will be taking point to lead us to the militia's district. We'll need to be quiet on this because the militia does use locals as spotters."

"What about the situation with NATO?" Keith asked.

Everybody turned to Allura and Shiro who were silent. There was still nothing they could find or hear from as of yet.

"We're still working on that," Shiro said. "For now, our mission is bringing Sendak in."

The team began to file out of the room, leaving Shiro and Allura together.

"Hopefully Coran and his analysts know what they're doing." Shiro commented.

"I'm sure they're getting to the bottom of this," She replied. "We just need to bring in Sendak and then we'll focus on the rest."

"You're right."

Allura glanced at Shiro who looked as though he was concerned about something.

"Will you be alright?" Allura asked.

"I will," Shiro answered. "We just have to reach him before he does anything else."

1333 Hours

Coran hung up on the phone and let out a sigh. The damp, lukewarm air floated across the room with the ceiling lights barely bright. The others were already getting themselves ready for another operation that isn't NATO-approved yet a worthy risk. Coran can hear the keyboard tapping near him where Gold was.

"Sir," Gold suddenly called out. "I'm in the servers."

Turning around, he approached Gold who was fixated on the bright screen.

"You're in?" Coran asked.

"Yep, only got a short period of time before they find out who's snooping around."

"That's all the time we need."

Gold began to tap away. Coran watched the screen as he scrolled and changed tab by tab. His experience with the Intelligence Corps and Interpol did pay off after all. Gold was one of those focused and dedicated people Coran knew back in the day. Although he maintained an easy-going attitude outside of work, Gold was quite the magic when Coran first met him. Shortly, Gold stopped typing.

"Found it, sir." He said.

Coran leaned over for a closer view. The screen showed several files inside a folder involving Voltron. There was a lot of files which could contain something useful. Coran ordered him to get the files copied and Gold was already on it. He continued to tap on the keyboard, getting all the files in their drive.

"What is Codename Osiris?" Gold asked.

Coran leaned forward and looked at where the cursor was on. There was a file document titled 'Codename: Osiris'.

"That was the name of our mission in Prague…" Coran muttered before shaking his head. "I don't think it matters. Just get everything copied and we'll sort them out later."

Gold nodded while seemingly disappointed about the response. As he got on with his job, Coran couldn't help but wonder about the operation in Prague. Was there something off behind the reason for the operation?

0700 Hours

02/14/18

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Voltron team were immediately greeted with the bright, golden sunrise from the distance as soon as they got off. Dressed in full combat gear to match with their fellow BOPE soldiers, they followed the nine-man team taking point through the cramped streets. The BOPE seemed to know more about the favela more than Voltron does, taking them through areas that aren't usually open to attacks. But the team as always, was accompanied by their recon drone hovering above them with thermal lens.

The streets were eerily quieter than usual, as described by their team leader Cardozo. The shops and houses were barred shut and the windows were pitch black. Shiro glanced around the empty pathway they were on while still keeping his guard up. He couldn't help but feel as if they were being lured into a trap. No favela would be this quiet, even for a place that is infested with armed killers. But the locals at this time would still be fast asleep. Shiro briefly glanced at Keith who was beside him sharing that unsettling feeling.

As the team moved forward into the darker area, Shiro looked up to the rooftops where the buildings cut the sun off. He could feel his heart pacing but he had to keep calm, no matter what.

"You think they would be nice to offer some breakfast? Cos' I'm a little starving." Lance whispered, tugging his shirt collar.

"Santos, focus." Shiro replied.

The team continued to walk down the path in the midst of dead silence. They felt like prey walking into the den of the predators. Something was already off. But they couldn't tell what it was. Once they reached another street, everybody's comm buzzed.

"Lions and Apex 5, you got contacts above you from both sides!" Allura warned.

By the time they heard the news, gunfire erupted from above like a supercell. Everybody was dashing for cover, even though there was not much to hide from. The team lost two BOPE soldiers to the militia. Shiro dived behind an old truck with Cardozo as bullets hailed against it while the others are scattered around the street.

"Seriously? No breakfast?" Lance joked through the gunfire.

"Not now, Lance!" Keith replied.

Shiro risked a peek through the windows to count about a handful of militants with Soviet weapons on each roof before firing back. He managed to shoot one of them trying to load an RPG, causing it to discharge and blow up the entire roof he was on alongside the militants near him. Debris began to scatter around the street and the team began to fight back. Shiro quickly changed mags as Cardozo approached him.

"My men will stay here and hold these Filhos da putas off! You go find the target!"

"Got it," Shiro nodded. "Lions, fall out on me! Apex 1 will stay and hold these guys off!"

The team began to cross the intersection and headed down the alley as the gunfire behind them continued to rumble throughout the favela. They advanced down the narrow hill while reloading their weapons.

"Zero to Black Lion, Kingfish is at the red building near the soccer field southeast."

Shiro said into his comm. "Copy, Zero. Out."

As they reached the alleyway, a loud crack from a distance erupted and Keith fell backwards. Sniper fire. Shiro and the group quickly took cover as another shot went for them, hitting a car windshield nearby.

"Keith!" Pidge's called out.

He was still clinging to his chest where he was hit, gritting his teeth to the pain. Keith was not to move so the sniper wouldn't focus on him. He could still feel the 7.62 round to his plate carrier. All he could do was cough out short, detached breaths. Shiro noticed Keith reach for his comm.

"Sn-sniper...400 yards front...sc-scope flash from the center window of the blue house."

Shiro glanced at Lance who was immediately on it. He positioned his HK416 with the sniper scope on the car he was hiding behind and scoped out for the sniper. He calculated his shot for 3 seconds before pulling the trigger. The flash from the window disappeared and he noticed the rifle fall off the window.

"He's down!" Lance called out.

The team got out of cover and quickly set up a perimeter around Keith. Shiro and Hunk kept watch while Lance and Pidge checked on Keith.

"Keith you good?" Lance asked, lending him a hand.

He didn't hesitate to grab it, although his chest still hurts. "Yep, thanks for that."

Shiro approached Keith and checked his plate carrier for the bullet wound.

"How bad is it?" He asked.

"Its okay," Keith assured, tapping the bullet area. "Only hit the plate. Nothing fatal."

Shiro nodded, relieved of his safety. Without wasting anymore time, the team continued their way to Sendak's location.

Allura tapped into Shiro's group after watching the feed of them taking cover from gunfire.

"Zero to Black Lion, status report, over."

"Black Lion to Zero, Red Lion was hit by a sniper round but the shot wasn't fatal. Heading towards the location, over." Shiro replied on comms.

"Copy Black Lion. Out."

Allura then changed channels to the BOPE team. They were still covering fire for the Voltron team.

"Zero to Apex team. Status."

"This is Apex 5-1, we're still holding position and covering for Lion team!" Cardozo said over the firefight. "We're still going to hold as much as we can, over!"

"Copy, Apex. If you're taking any casualties pull out immediately, over."

"Copy. Apex 5-1 out!"

Once the feed was cut off, Allura stepped back and sighed deeply before glancing at Colbert who was still controlling the drone.

"I hope your team completes this mission, Major." The BOPE captain said.

"I hope so too, Captain." Allura replied.

There was silence in the room other than distorted gunfire. Then, Shiro's comm buzzed.

"Zero, this is Black Lion. We have finally reached the building."

Shiro breached the door into the house. After a quick sweep with a group of militants down, Shiro advanced up the stairs with the rest following him. They stacked up behind a closed door and after a countdown, Lance stepped forward and kicked the door down and the team stormed in with weapons raised. As predicted, Sendak was inside but surprisingly, he was sitting at a table with a tea set unfazed by their intrusion.

"DON'T MOVE!" Lance yelled.

"Now, now, boys. No need for the hostility." Sendak said and stood up with both of his hands raised. "I surrender."

Shiro approached Sendak up close. He was already feeling that urge to act up and do something horrible to his face after all those years Sendak put him in. Those scenes were vivid. Shiro could immediately picture his fallen comrades' bodies and Sven… he deserved something worse. But he knew better than to let his anger take control, especially after what happened back in Al-Khor.

"Nice to see you again, Commander Shirogane." Sendak said, giving him that smirk. It was enough to drive someone mad.

"Keep your mouth shut and maybe you'll see the sunrise again." Shiro hissed.

He pulled him away from the table and cuffed his hands. Once he was fully secure, Shiro tapped into his comm.

"Black Lion to Zero," he said. "We have Kingfish. I repeat, we have Kingfish, over."