1500 Hours

Goiânia, Brazil

Arriving at their hideout, the team with the BOPE parked their vehicles inside the garage. Keith and Lance got out first with a bagged and cuffed Sendak in front of them. The rest got out and headed off to their business while Allura approached Keith and Lance.

"You two alright?" Allura asked.

"We're good." Keith nodded.

"Glad to hear. Take him to the room."

The two then left the garage with Sendak. Allura watched the two head upstairs before noticing Shiro staring where she was looking at. He seemed relieved and distracted in his own mind.

"Hey." Allura called.

Shiro snapped out of whatever he was on and glanced at her.

"You alright?" Allura asked.

"I'm trying to be," Shiro sighed. "Hard part is that I need to be in the room with him."

"You don't have to do this."

"No, I have to. It seems like he only wants me. Nobody else."

Allura wasn't sure about this. Sendak was one of the people that would get into Shiro's mind and twist his state to the point of snapping. He always wanted retaliation for the death of his brother. But Allura is his friend. She knows his other side more than any other person. She trusts him to keep his head on track.

Keith watched as the medical officer finished up on his checkup. There was a bruised mark at the center of his chest where the bullet hit him. The bruise only hurts a bit but it didn't look fatal. She already finished checking his bruise mark but she was tending to his other parts in case there was any damage.

"Seems to me that nothing is broken but I do advise that you wash the bruise and rub some Arnica gel if you want it to heal quickly."

"Thanks, doctor."

The officer then gives Keith an Arnica bottle before heading for the door. As Keith stood up, the door opened again and Lance entered the room. His eyes fell onto Keith's bruise, prompting a surprised look from Lance.

"Damn, ese. That's a nasty mark." He said.

"It'll heal." Keith replied as he slipped on his shirt.

"Well, I'm just here to thank you for letting me take that sniper out. Next time, don't get yourself shot and make yourself look more emo than you are right now. I'd rather not catch the edgy flu you have."

Keith nodded as Lance left the room. He was starting to become a little nicer than usual. Maybe Pidge did put some sense into him. Then, something came to his mind.

...make yourself look more emo than you are right now. I'd rather not catch the edgy flu you have.

Keith looked up, baffled. Did Lance just call him an emo?

Shiro opened the door, leading to the grayscale room for interrogation. The murky colours surrounding the room with the window on the other side. Shiro turned to the middle of the room, facing Sendak on a chair. The bag was still on his head and his hands hid under the table. Shiro approached Sendak and pulled the bag off.

Sendak's eyes then shifted towards him. Those piercing eyes that remind Shiro of what he had to deal with a long time ago. Sendak wasn't breaking his gaze off Shiro as he moved. He kept his mind under control. He can't risk it hurting him. This wasn't part of Voltron's conduct. Shiro sat down on the chair across Sendak, facing him in the eye.

"So you remember me?" Shiro said, recalling Sendak's words from Rio.

Sendak simply nodded. "Takashi Shirogane, one of the west's fiercest warriors and a capable leader...who failed to keep his brother and his team alive."

Just the reminder of his team and his brother made Shiro push himself to the breaking point where he would just get his hands on Sendak and shut that mouth of his for good.

"And you're Sendak al-Qazi, the Godfather," Shiro growled. "Ex-Special Forces of the Afghan National Army Commando Corps, working with the Islamic State. You were responsible for killing your own comrades and a team of Green Berets in Iraq."

Sendak chuckled softly. The left corner of his smirk raised into a sharp point.

"You know me well. I'll give you that. But there's one thing you were mistaken with. I never worked with the Islamic State. The Galra Empire was never part of the Jihad organization."

"And yet you've committed terror acts on government officials and innocent people."

"Governments yes, but civilians are necessary for collateral damage. They're the essentials of what war truly is."

Shiro pieced his words and the whole motivation together. His eyes then lit up. It was all coming together.

"So the Galra's goal is to wipe out all governments." Shiro deduced.

"Correct," Sendak answered. "We're not just Middle Easterners. We're Europeans, Latinos...Americans. We are a nation who wants our homeland to be free from fascism. This is the Galra's way to live and to die for."

Shiro was surprised that Sendak would give away their entire motivation for these attacks, despite their heinous nature that gives the impression that they wouldn't betray their comrades. But still. It doesn't give them any sense to attack. They're still terrorists after all.

Allura watched from the window as Shiro faced Sendak. She can't hear from the outside since the room is soundproof but she can read Shiro's mood. He was trying his best to keep composed while Sendak was trying to one-up him. Allura was more concerned with how Shiro would react if Sendak managed to get into his head. They need answers. How was the Galra able to ambush them in the way Voltron could? Hopefully Coran and his analyst are able to find something.

"Ma'am."

Allura turned around and noticed Colbert standing by the door.

"News, Colbert?"

"Yes ma'am," Colbert answered. "General Sanda is here and she needs to speak with you."

Ellen Sanda? What was she doing here? Something felt off with her presence but she was also the superior for Voltron and Allura works under her hand. She sighed.

"I'll be right there."

By the time Shiro was interrogating Sendak, the Brazilian forces had already left the hideout. Stacy headed into the large room where the Voltron team waited alongside the captured Galra agent and the NATO officials. General Sanda stood at the middle of the group. Stacy didn't recognize the other two, although she knew Colonel Sablan, who stood beside Sanda, for that weird posture. He works with Sanda as well and people knew him as one who agreed with everything Sanda said, even if it were to be about sending people to their deaths. Allura eventually caught up and met the NATO officers.

"General Sanda. What brings you here, ma'am?" Allura asked.

"We heard that Voltron has finally captured the leader of the Galra Empire, Sendak al-Qazi." Sanda said.

"Yes ma'am, we did."

"That's good news. We will be taking him out of your hands and all members of Voltron will be stationed back to London."

Stacy glanced at Allura who was confused. She knew Allura wouldn't be one to stand down especially after what they've been through. They still needed answers. Stacy glanced at Sanda who didn't look concerned with anything.

"I beg your pardon?" Allura said.

"Major, it would be best that you let us do our job." Sablan said.

"Is it really your job?" Stacy heard Coran say.

The team turned towards Coran's voice. He and Jem walked up to Sablan and Sanda, glaring particularly at Sanda.

"Lieutenant Smythe, this is none of your concern." Sablan said.

"It's funny how everytime we get one step closer to the Galra, they somehow know who we are and know our every move. My only best guess is that one of the higher ups has been exchanging information with the Galra."

Sanda scoffed. "Those are some baseless allegations, Lieutenant."

"Not allegations," Coran then pulled out his pistol, aiming at Sanda much to her alarm. "They're facts."

Everybody else in the room froze. The other two officers pulled their guns out but Santos and Yeun beat them to it.

"Lieutenant Symthe, are you mad?!" Sanda questioned.

"I could be but at least I'm not a traitor!"

The officials were confused as well as the Voltron operatives, although Allura seemed to be siding with Coran. Sanda was taken back by his comment while maintaining her position. Sablan wasn't having any of it.

"What the hell are you on about, Lieutenant?" Sablan demanded.

"Me and Corporal Gold did some digging into your private files and we found out that General Sanda has been giving information to the Galra," Coran turned his gaze towards Sanda. "You were slick enough to try and hire bounty hunter Sebastian Rose to capture Sendak so that he wouldn't tell us who was giving information about us."

Suddenly, Stacy felt the floor tremble to a muffled explosion. Everybody looked around, confused.

"The hell was that?" Lance questioned.

"That came from the interrogation room." Allura muttered.

Suddenly, another explosion erupted and the door flung open.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Coran yelled.

Everybody was already scrambling for cover as soon as masked agents stormed in and opened fire. Stacy slid towards a couch and hid behind it. The cotton inside the leather couch popped and flew across the room. She noticed Sanda, Sablan and the officers on the floor, bullet holes engraved onto them. They weren't lucky in the end. As Stacy looked around for Jem, she caught sight of him on the floor holding his waist. Blood was soaking his hands as he gripped onto it tightly.

Stacy quickly rushed up to him through the gunfire and grabbed hold of him.

"Hang on Jem! I got you!" She said as she pulled his body.

Suddenly, a bullet pierced her upper arm. Winding in pain, Stacy ignored it as she dragged Jem behind the couch. Once he was out of the open, Stacy checked her wound on her arm. She held onto the hole, holding back the blood loss while letting out a sharp breath through her gritted teeth. Looking up, Stacy noticed Santos firing back with his rifle and peered through the side. He managed to take out one of the agents before taking cover.

"Colbert, you good?!" Santos called out from across.

"Give me your gun." Stacy replied.

"Colbert, you know I'm not authorized to-"

"Give me your fucking gun!"

Santos was taken back by her sudden retort. He felt like hesitating but eventually, he took out his sidearm and tossed it to Stacy. Once she caught it, Stacy breathed and aimed through the side of the couch. She opened fire, taking out an agent. Two precise shots hit the torso. Stacy then moved over and shot down the next agent. Two shots. One to the neck and another to the face. Stacy took cover. Glancing over, she noticed Santos staring at her with eyes that shout 'you didn't tell me you were this good at shooting'.

"We have him! We have him!" A voice from one of the agent's comms said.

Shortly, the agents began to retreat and ran out of the room. The Voltron team rushed after them. Stacy helped Jem up to his feet and carried him after the team. Leaving the room, the Voltron team looked around for the agents but they were nowhere to be seen.

"What the fuck just happened?" Santos said.

Stacy was just as confused as the others. Before she could gather up her thoughts, Allura was running off but not without having Pidge and Momoa following her. Something must've reminded Allura about something, possibly the interrogation room.

Arriving at the interrogation room, Allura froze as she stared out at the window. The room was empty save for a large hole blown on the wall that led outside. She couldn't recollect her thoughts in the midst of the chaos and the tension. But one thing left her more fearful than for her position. Not just the fact Sendak's being rescued by the agents.

Shiro was nowhere to be seen.