1700 Hours
"So you're saying these guys aren't jihadists but Middle Eastern anarchist kind of terrorists?" Lance asked as paramedics gathered up the bodies from the safe house.
"Not just Middle Easterners," Allura corrected, turning back to the team. "It's an international terrorist organization intent on overthrowing governments worldwide."
"That's one helluva terrorist group."
"The militia we dealt with at the slum raid were also the Galra too, weren't they?" Pidge guessed.
"I'm afraid so," Allura nodded. "Cardozo confirmed it. We also have bad news from them. Earlier today, the Palácio do Planalto was just bombed before the attack on our safe house. There were no survivors."
The team were silent but Allura could read their shock and disgust and she could understand that. The Galra were willing to take innocent lives for a greater good.
"This is fucked up." Lance muttered.
"Where are they gonna strike next?" Keith asked.
She shook her head. "We're not sure."
"What about Shiro?"
Allura glanced at the floor in doubt, which was enough for an answer. She wasn't sure what Sendak was going to do with him but she prays that Shiro can hold his own.
Shiro was awakened by the bright illumination of light, flashing into his face. As his vision caught up, he noticed two looming figures standing over him. The only thing he remembered was getting hit by an explosion in the room before blacking out while trying to stop Sendak. Shiro found himself on a chair with his hands tied behind his back. He then got a clear look at the two figures' faces. Both were Middle Eastern and definitely part of the Galra. The two exchanged some words before one of them went up to Shiro.
"سگ آمریکایی! (American dog!)" the Galra terrorist yelled in farsi, punching Shiro.
The terrorist was then forcefully pulled away by the arm. Shiro's gaze locked onto Sendak as he stood next to the terrorist, holding his arm tightly.
"آیا از شما خواسته ام به او صدمه بزنید؟ (Did I ask you to harm him?)" he hissed in the same tongue.
"متاسفم ، برادر! (I'm sorry, brother!)" the Galra terrorist replied. "ما باید این سگ آمریکایی را حرف بزنیم! (We must make this American dog talk!)"
Sendak simply pulled out a pistol and shot the terrorist in the head. After ordering his partner to remove the body, Sendak turned back to Shiro.
"My apologies, Shirogane. I'm not here to harm someone who's treated me humanely." He said, holstering his pistol.
"It doesn't matter what you'll do to me." Shiro muttered, avoiding his gaze. "I'm already dead."
Sendak softly chuckled. He approached Shiro and stopped a couple feet away from him.
"I admire your courage but you have been misunderstood. I need you alive."
"Why?" Shiro growled. "Ain't I a liability? Ain't I just a soldier in your way?"
"You are...I'm impressed that your team managed to get this far but you're no use to us when you're dead."
Shiro refused to look Sendak in the eye. Whatever he was asking, he won't give in to his demands.
"You see Shirogane," Sendak said. "We're both warriors...we're both lions in a waging conflict riddled with deception. Our masters of war only see us as machines to fight pointless battles for empty glory. They sent me and my unit to Turkey to assassinate the prime minister so they can pin the blame on terrorists from their country.
It was a dirty operation because my master didn't want the Turks to step foot into our country. They had us pose as Al-Qaeda terrorists and ordered us to start a mass shooting at a football game where the prime minister was. I've killed so many men, women and children that I've lost count…"
Sendak paused before continuing.
"You know, those soldiers I killed in Iraq destroyed the hometown where I used to live. My father was trying to surrender when they shot him. My mother and sisters...they were raped before they were killed. I murdered them all when I found out what they did and all of a sudden...the government marked me as a terrorist. I am what I am because of what they did and I have no shame for that."
Shiro looked up where he faced Sendak's back of his head. He could understand his pain but that alone wasn't enough to forgive him.
"This does not change that you're responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people. You killed my team and my brother."
"Hmm. I understand," Sendak turned around to approach Shiro. "Which is why I'm not going to kill you. In fact, you have a choice. You can join us and together we'll bring those government tyrants to their knees..."
His gloved hand then latched onto the back of Shiro's head and forcefully turned it to his direction, locking gazes with each other. Shiro glared intensely at the eyes of his enemy.
"...or you can be my prisoner and watch the government fall and your country burn."
Shiro remained silent. Just staring at his eyes makes him want to spit at him. He was sure as hell not willing to work with Sendak. However, keeping his mouth closed may have saved his life. Sendak let go of his head and stood up.
"I'll leave you to think about it," Sendak said, heading for the door where one of the terrorists was waiting. "I expect an answer by the time I return."
The door slammed shut and the lights went off. Shiro looked down to the ground. He can't let this slide. Sendak is not going to get away this time. But first, he needed to get the zip-ties off his wrists. They were surprisingly tighter this time.
1800 Hours
The first thing he saw as he slowly opened his eyes was the pale-coloured ceiling. Jem only remembered getting shot and passing out while getting dragged through a chaotic shootout by Stacy. It felt different to his field missions while he was with Interpol. Jem felt the dry insides of his mouth as he licked over it. He needed water.
As his vision began to clear up, Jem found himself on a bed with curtains surrounding him. He must've been taken to a nearby hospital. Jem helped himself to sit up, only to tense up. His waist hurts like hell, much as if a soccer ball hit his ribs. Looking down, he noticed he was in a gown as well as some needles injected to his hand. He couldn't lift up the gown to see where his wound was but hopefully it didn't puncture anything fatal. But after all, he was the youngest and the most vulnerable of the family.
Suddenly, the curtains opened, jolting him. Jem cursed, spinning towards the source of the sound while holding his arms in defence before noticing Stacy standing at the curtains with a water bottle on her free hand. Judging by her face, Jem must've surprised her too when he almost got scared. Something is giving him déjà vu vibes.
"He-," he uttered. "Bloody hell, you scared me."
Stacy snorted, letting slip a smirk. "Five years and you still haven't changed. How're you feeling?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. Hurts when I sit up."
Stacy approached him and sat on the stool by the bedside. "The anaesthetic must've worn out while you were asleep. You want water?"
Jem nodded eagerly and took the bottle from her, downing about half of the water inside. He made sure not to move too much to avoid friction from the needles injected into his hands. He let out a sigh of relief as he took the bottle out of his mouth and handed it back to Stacy.
"Thanks, Stace. You're a lifesaver."
Her smile grew as she took the bottle off his hand. Jem couldn't help but stare at her short, ash blonde hair accompanied by the eyebrow piercing on her right eyebrow. He at first didn't recognise her when they met again five years later while Coran introduced him to Voltron. Still, he missed that long hair of hers and the feeling of running his hands through that silky sensation but changes happen in the end.
"You know..." Jem said, breaking the silence. "This is...some reunion."
Stacy glanced at him.
"I mean, it's been like a week since we met after five years and shit happened so fast, you know? Like, we caught a leader of a terrorist organisation and then we got attacked and lost him and I got shot and almost died. Crazy, huh?"
Jem began to titter and Stacy chuckled with him. "Yeah, it's crazy."
The moment of letting out their stress stopped. Turning towards her, Jem noticed her grin was still on as she stopped chuckling. Her eyes however give Jem a different meaning. Silence befell. Both were unable to think of anything to say. Then Jem figured something out that he didn't get to ask between the week.
"How's things?" The way he said it felt forced.
"Hmm?" Stacy looked up.
"I mean, we haven't seen each other since we…you know…"
"Broke up?"
"Y-yeah," Jem nodded, hiding the awkwardness in his voice."You must've been doing well, right?"
"Yeah, you could say that."
"So...you got into the FBI, right?"
She nodded again. Stacy always wanted to be an analyst after graduation and was quite fond of the FBI whenever they talked about their careers.
"I almost didn't, actually" Stacy said. "I messed up the final test at the Academy but fortunately, there was some sort of error in the system so they let me off on this one."
"Really? What happened?"
"Dunno. But anyways, I was an ace at my job. Caught a lot of criminals, including that one terrorist that the FBI has been trying to catch for twenty years. You should see the look on his face when he found out I was part of the team who raided his hideout. Still doesn't believe women are capable of anything."
Stacy began to chuckle. Jem did the same but then stopped himself.
"W-Wait, you were involved in the raid?" He asked.
"Oh, right. Forgot to tell you," she replied. "I also applied as a field agent halfway during my five years there. I had to keep myself in shape and work out and take up a different diet. It was a pain in the ass but those years definitely paid off."
Jem glanced at her and noticed there were some changes in her body. Her arms were slightly toned and her shoulders fit the shirt well. Honestly, compared to his skinny build, she was quite in shape. Although Jem wasn't that skinny, he still felt inferior to her build. In other words, he was kind of envious.
"How about you, Jem?" Stacy asked. "Anything interesting happened? Apart from that raid while you were in the Intelligence Corps."
Jem sighed. Other than taking part in the field, nothing big happened in both the Intelligence Corps and Interpol. Jem leaned back onto his pillow behind him.
"Nothing much. Just paperwork and coding, the usual."
Stacy slightly nodded. Another pause between the two. Stacy then got up from the stool.
"Well, since you're fine now, I'll just head on out. Coran's waiting for me." She said.
"Y-Yeah. Got it," Jem muttered before realizing something. "W-wait! Stacy! I have something to tell you."
Stopping near the curtains, Stacy turned back to him. "What's up?"
Even though she was his ex, Jem still felt like his chest was going to burst. He needed to say those words.
"Thank you," He said. "For saving me."
A smile spread across her face. "You're welcome. Just don't...well, get shot again, okay?"
Jem snorted. "Promise."
"The way you said it is kinda making me concerned." Stacy blinked.
"Relax. I swear, I won't."
She nodded and turned away, heading for the door. "Alright. As long as you keep your end of the bargain. I'm heading out now. See ya."
"Later."
And then she left. Jem heard the door close as footsteps distances away from the room. Letting out a sigh, Jem placed his hand over his chest where he could feel his pulse punching its way out before slowly calming down. Were those feelings back in highschool resurfacing? He thought he had let it go ever since then. Or maybe they were just hibernating for years until he met Stacy again? Whatever it was, Jem couldn't figure out why. He slapped his hands over his face and groaned.
"Why now, Stacy? Why'd you gotta make me go through this again?"
While following Lance and Pidge, Keith and the two noticed Hunk just coming out of a room with one of his hands in his pocket.
"Yo, Hunk!" Lance called, grabbing his attention. "Where've ya been, ese? I had a feeling that you ran away."
"Lance!" Pidge and Keith hissed at the same time, prompting Lance to raise his hands.
"I'm joking."
"It's fine," Hunk assured. "I just got off a call with Shay and got some more information about the Galra Empire. She told me who they really are-"
"Yeah, we know they're buncha anarchists." Lance said.
"But there's a reason why the Galra is operating in Brazil."
"Which is?"
"The president has scheduled a meeting with the presidents of Colombia, and Venezuela for tomorrow morning. They're planning to discuss about a potential combined military and defence agency in response to the spike of crime and terrorism across their countries."
Pidge and Lance were surprised to hear it. They did hear about the meeting between the presidents but there wasn't any info about why.
"The news didn't say anything about this." Keith said.
"Sounds overkill for these three to come up with something like this." Pidge added.
"Kinda makes sense when you think about the stats on both crime and terrorism."
"And the Galra sees this as oppression." Hunk said.
"Wait, how does a journalist like her have access to information like that?" Lance asked.
"She has her ways apparently."
"Also, wouldn't the meeting be cancelled? Did they not get the news that a Brazilian government building was just bombed?"
"No they're still gonna go with the meeting despite what happened to Palácio do Planalto. She isn't sure about when or where the meeting's gonna happen but it's only a matter of time before the Galra begins their attack on the presidents."
"Team?" Allura called, grabbing everyone's attention. "I have some bad news."
The leader stepped in with the group, forming a circle.
"I just got off the phone with the higher ups...They want us to leave Brazil and return to London immediately."
Allura could tell nobody was happy with the news as she looked at the team's faces. She wasn't happy with it either. They'll be letting the Galra run amok and take more lives as part of their goal and worse, execute Shiro.
"We can't go back."
The team looked at Keith who was the first to break the silence.
"We can't!" He raised his voice. "Do they even know what happened to Shiro? Not only that, the Galra is going to attack the presidents and nobody knows but us! We can't just sit aside and let them take more innocent lives, let alone leave Shiro with the Galra. Somebody's gotta do something and we're their only hope. If we let them kill the presidents, what do you think's gonna happen to all of us?"
There was silence. It was the first time they heard Keith let out an outburst like that.
"He's right," Pidge spoke up. "We need to do something."
"I'm in too. I can't walk away on this either." Hunk said.
Lance hesitated for one moment. "Fuck it. I'm always up for some action."
To them, they assumed Allura's planning to give up and return to base, leaving Shiro to die. But she was impressed that they were willing to risk their lives to stop a catastrophe.
"I never said we were going back to headquarters."
The team looked at her, surprised.
"To hell with orders from the superiors," Allura said. "As far as we know, they could be on this like General Sanda. From now on, this is an unsanctioned operation. This means we won't have any support and we'll be disobeying commands which may get Voltron shut down and court marshalled. If any of you want to step down, you're free to do so right away."
Nobody said anything. They were all willing to fight back.
"We're not going to let the Galra commit another attack and we sure as hell are getting Shiro back."
The team nodded with their decision being final. There was no going back from this but if it's to ensure their leader is with them, nothing matters. That is, if Shiro's still alive at this rate.
"So what's the plan, Major?" Keith said.
"كيف حال السجين انتهى؟ (Brother, how's the prisoner doing, over?)" Fakhoury asked through the radio.
The only response that returned was the ear wrenching static. Barad was supposed to keep watch of the Voltron infidel Sendak wanted. He hasn't responded for the past thirty minutes and at this point, Fakhoury was sure Barad was slacking off as usual.
Letting out a hoarse sigh, Fakhoury got off his chair and snatched the AK-104 off the table before leaving the room. The gun itself was actually more efficient and comfortable to use than the old AK47s he and the insurgents used to carry. The Galra sure knows their weapons. Fakhoury headed downstairs, taking in the sweaty stench of the Brazilian streets. The city may be impressive but they will be leaving a message for the government so they could prepare for their fall.
Fakhoury arrived at the room where the Voltron infidel was. Barad wasn't at the door. Where could he be now, he wondered. He knew Barad wasn't fond of doing patrols and keeping watch to the point he would wander off to have a smoke. Fakhoury let out a sigh and got out his radio.
"باراد ، أين أنت بحق الجحيم؟ (Barad, where the hell are you, over?)" he asked before pausing.
Fakhoury thought he heard his voice from the room. Now he was getting confused. Without thinking it through, Fakhoury opened the door which for some reason was unlocked.
"(Bara-)"
He froze, holding his breath short. There, lying on the floor, was Barad and the chair that the Voltron infidel was supposed to be on was empty and tumbled. Fakhoury rushed towards Barad and bent down to check on him. His wide, soulless eyes stared at the ceiling as he checked for a pulse. Fakhoury noticed red marks over his neck, fresh and warm. He was too focused on his friend's demise to radio in Sendak.
Standing up, Fakhoury felt a strange aura behind him. He spun around and glanced across the room. There was no sign of the infidel at all but Fakhoury still felt like he wasn't alone. He wasn't sure what to do now. Turning around to the body, he noticed the barrel of a pistol aiming at him from the side of Barad's head.
He pulled the trigger, letting the loud bang rip across the room. Shiro heard the round hit the terrorist and pushed the body off him. Pulling himself up, he approached the wounded terrorist holding his neck while stumbling back and gurgling in his own blood. Shiro fired two more well-placed rounds to his chest, enough to make him trip over while dodging the terrorist's misfired rounds.
Once Shiro made sure he wasn't getting back up, he flicked the safety of the Glock 18 back on and rubbed his bruised wrists. It stung like hell but it was the only way to get off these zip ties. He approached the terrorist he strangled just after breaking free of the zip ties and took the suppressed AK-104 and his plate carrier fitted with ammo.
After putting his plate carrier on, Shiro then heard faint footsteps from outside. His prediction was correct. Raising his rifle, Shiro walked out of the room and cautiously checked his surroundings as he moved down the hallway. The footsteps closed in from the corner and the last terrorist appeared. Shiro let single fire rounds rip and dropped the terrorist before he could react. Approaching the body, he fired two more rounds to the head just for precaution.
As he went upstairs from where the terrorist came from, he noticed the rusty, metallic stairs and the industrial-like setting surrounding him. Shiro would assume this is a warehouse that the Galra set up as a hideout. Arriving at the upper floor, he found a room with an open door. Entering the room, he made sure to check every corner throughout the room before confirming it was clear. Shiro's eyes then landed on something that caught his attention. At the very middle of the room among the tables filled with weapons and ammunition was a wide board with everything stuck together in one piece. There were sticky notes and strings connected to the pins holding up photos.
Shiro was able to read the entire board to realise how capable the Galra was. They knew everything about Voltron. Their tactics, their movement, everything. That was how they got the upper hand. The ambushes in Pakistan, Dubai and Qatar were all tests to prove their exploitation.
Shiro then read the rest of the board and noticed a photograph of a building which looked to be the Palâcio do Planalto with a red X crossed over it. The Galra must've done something to the building. Shiro looked over and found three separate photographs of men in suits with flags attached to it and red X's crossed over each of their faces, as well as a cutout of a newspaper article in English. There was Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. These three are the presidents of those countries. Shiro needed to know what their relation is to Galra.
He took the newspaper cutout off the board and read it. It seemed to be about some sort of 'secret' meeting between the presidents which was cancelled due to the bombing of the Planalto in Brasilia. The word 'cancelled' was circled in red with the word 'LIES'. Then Shiro noticed another photograph of a building which looked to have been taken recently with a red circle over it. The building itself was strangely different compared to the Planalto. Was it their secret hideout? He noticed a sticky note attached next to it with the address written on it. Shiro realized that the Galra must've seen through the cover story of the meeting and somehow figured out where the presidents were going to be at. He then noticed another sticky note saying:
'Tomorrow
9:30 AM
We strike'
There was only one final conclusion to this. The Galra is going to kill the presidents and possibly abolish the countries' system.
Thankfully, Shiro found a phone lying on the table as he frantically searched for a way for contact. They need to know this. Shiro dialed Allura's number and held the phone to his ear. The beeps repeated multiple times as a couple of seconds had passed. Shiro's fingers tapped on the table as he anxiously waited.
"Pick up, pick up." He muttered.
The beeping stopped shortly.
"Hello?" Allura answered.
"This is Black Lion." Shiro responded.
There was a brief pause. "Shiro? Is that you?"
"Yeah. Listen, Sendak and his men are gonna attack the presidents-"
"I know. We're sending the Lions there to stop the attack. Where are you-"
Shiro needed to get his message through. "Do you know where the presidents are meeting at?"
A brief pause filled the air. "Not yet. We're getting Coran and his analysts to pinpoint their location. You found something?"
"Yeah, I'm looking at it right now. They have a secret hideout in Goiânia and the Galra must've figured out their location. That must be where the presidents are going to be tomorrow. I got the address too."
"Alright. I'll relay this to the team. What's the address?"
Shiro took the sticky note off the board and read the address aloud. "R. 15, 32-148, St. Central."
"Got it," Allura said. "I'm gonna send the team to pick you up. Where are you right now?"
"Don't worry about me. I'll meet the team there."
As soon as he hung up, Shiro immediately crushed the phone with his boot, making sure the chip inside was destroyed with the phone. Now to get out of this place and find the team. As he made his way out of the room, Shiro turned around to look at the board one more time. The Galra were smart and dangerous. Possibly more dangerous than Al Qaeda or ISIS, especially with their motives and views. But no matter their perspectives, Voltron's purpose is to take down and prevent terrorism around the world and that is what Shiro and his team is going to do. Looking away, Shiro left the room and set off to put a stop to Sendak's mission.