This is a very different type of fanfic than what I usually write, but it was a fun challenge trying to balance an original character in canonverse this way and I ended up having a lot of fun. Hopefully fallingsnow enjoys this piece as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender and make no profit from this work.

"Hunk, two fighters on Lance!"

"Got it!" Yellow flies in front of a fleeing Red and tanks the incoming fire from the ships. Her powerful jaw bites through the first fighter and turns it into warped scrap metal. She throws it into the second to damage its wing, then finishes it off with her mouth beam.

Blue activates her sonar and disables the systems of several fighters in pursuit, then lets off her ice beam and freezes them in their tracks.

Despite the thrilling battle going on around them, Nivola can't seem to shake the growing feeling of dread in her heart. She's currently in Green's cockpit, Pidge calmly flying the cloaked Lion through the intense firefight in space.

Her heart might as well be beating itself right out of her chest. And then it nearly does when Coran's voice blares through their helmets' comms. "Princess, Paladins. Reinforcements will be arriving in roughly five dobashes."

The comms screen in Green's cockpit appears right after, and it's Keith in the Black Lion. "Pidge, your path is all clear for now. Get to the warship entrance and start the reconnaissance."

She nods. "We'll be there soon."

"And Nivola?"

Said woman's terra-cotta skin shimmers and she forces herself to look at him. "Y-yes sir?"

"I know this is your first mission, but Pidge is counting on you. Don't fail."

She gulps and her heart rate picks up even more with the added pressure. "Ah-ah I uh... understand. I, I'll guard her with my life." She hopes that's the right thing to say. She desperately doesn't want to disappoint any of them, especially Keith. Instead both him and Pidge frown at her remark.

Then Lance interrupts, his face appearing in its own screen on the side. "Mullet's still got the market cornered on awful pep talks."

"It wouldn't be Galra Keith if he didn't." Hunk appears on Keith's other side.

"Stop calling me Galra Keith-"

"Paladins, can we please focus?" Allura appears at the bottom and stops the budding argument in its tracks.

Normally the banter between them lightens her spirits but she can barely make it out now. Instead she runs through the mission details in her mind.

The first part is simple enough: the other four Lions distract and defeat the main Galra forces, as well as any reinforcements, assigned to secure the area while a cloaked Green slips in completely under their radar.

The second half is where it gets difficult. They're not just infiltrating any old ship but a former Rezluthian merchant commandeered by the Galra and repurposed as a warship. Which is, by tradition of the Rezluthians, already reinforced with armor and shields on the outside as well as weapons, traps, and other security measures.

There's also a hidden and more difficult goal then the initial information recovery - if possible they'll be attempting to recover the ship itself and bring it back to the Castle of Lions, where Nivola's people are currently being housed. The ship is massive enough to hold all of the survivors comfortably, until the Rezluthians can find a safe planet to land and settle on.

The thought of something belonging to her people being used by the same Galra that ruined her planet and killed so many makes her nauseous. Or it might be the terror of her first mission, knowing that Pidge is putting her life in Nivola's hands and if she fails Pidge will die and the entire universe and all its people are doomed.

She's starting to understand why Hunk gets so sick before every mission.

"How could they turn a merchant ship into something that even remotely resembles anything able to withstand combat?" Pidge asked during the mission debriefing earlier that day. Her expression betrayed her complete disbelief. Everyone had gathered around the display screen on the bridge as Allura and Keith laid out the mission briefing before them.

"Well my people-" And Nivola stopped here, wringing her hands. It was hard to admit this next part and not for the first time did she wonder if this'll make the Paladins unable to tolerate her presence anymore. "They were very cautious. We had been at war with another nation on our planet long before the Galra attacked and had learned to reinforce even our non-combative ships in case of ambush or direct attack."

But no one particularly remarked about it, even though she admitted that her people were fighting each other for a long time. Even her own attitude toward that civil war (she's ashamed to admit) was that it was justified because that's what she was brought up to believe.

Then the Galran Empire attacked and she experienced the horrors of war herself for the first time as the Galra killed and tortured indiscriminately. Though her uncle joined the war efforts, she remained behind and away from the front lines. Instead she maintained supplies and piloted the small evacuating ship once Voltron came.

Ever since then Nivola has been determined to help in the war effort anyway she could alongside the Paladins, to make sure that the universe would be free from the Empire someday. And once that day came, she would help maintain that peace.

"You okay Nivola?"

Nivola snaps out of her thoughts, mentally berating herself for getting distracted so easily. "I'm sorry, everything's fine." And she hides her shaking hands behind her back. "And um, Pidge? I know that I'm just a novice, but I meant what I said before. I won't let anything happen to you."

And she finds that, despite the fear that threatens to overwhelm her at any moment, she would rather die than let Pidge come to harm. The last time she's felt this strongly was when she was in charge of evacuating the shelter survivors once Voltron began fighting off the Galra invasion. And that protectiveness is coming back to her again.

But Pidge's eyebrows crease as she lines up Green to the back entrance of the ship, already having hacked the door. "We just need you to keep any sentries from crawling up my ass while I hack. I didn't ask you to die for me and if you do, I'll be really mad and you can ask Lance how I get when I'm mad."

Nivola doesn't reply to that, remembering the time Pidge tased Lance with her Bayard in the lounge when he sat on her and ignored her shrieks. Yeah, she knows how Pidge gets alright.

Once the entry hatch opens, they exit Green through her mouth by jetpacking through the opening. Pidge immediately pulls up a map of the ship and goes to a wall that hides a small panel. A few flicks of her Bayard blade reveals the circuitry inside, and then begins her work.

Nivola activates her own enemy proximity radar that Coran built into her custom flight suit and scans for enemies. So far their luck holds out and Pidge disables the heat detectors safely.

They move along, led by Pidge and her map as Nivola keeps track of the radar on her end. Unlike the corridors of Galran ships, Rezluthian merchant ships are more ornate. Glittering golds and vibrant reds decorate the walls, with the family crest adorning every door. It's strangely comforting to be surrounded by the colors and culture of her people even in such hostile conditions.

After racing through countless hallways they reach the next checkpoint, a room that houses the controls for a major trap. If they were to bypass the checkpoint and proceed to corridor 28B, a seemingly random section of the ship, as normal the motion lasers would trip and close off that section before releasing a deadly gas.

The panel just to open the door is fitted with a detonator that responds to the wrong fingerprint scan so Pidge is forced to remotely hack it instead of via direct cable, slowing the process down.

As Pidge works, Nivola's radar flashes and she's given a few ticks to prepare for the first sentry rounding the corner directly behind them. She loads her circular blade into the launching mechanism on her wrist. Adrenaline makes her arm shake and the tunnel vision aids the shaking in making it much harder to aim. She launches the weapon and a loud whistle trails behind it as it cuts the air. It's only thanks to muscle memory that her pinwheel hits true and cleaves off the robot's head. The blade spins back around and returns to her, then she launches it again at the next one that comes before it can pull its weapon. Then there's silence.

"Got the door open. Heading inside now, so watch the entrance. Also, nice work there." Without waiting for a response Pidge dashes inside, leaving Nivola trembling like a leaf post adrenaline rush. A few dobashes later she emerges and they continue, with Nivola warning Pidge of upcoming threats and Pidge directing them to alternate routes.

They avoid another laser gas trap before finding their next target hidden in a corner near the living quarters: the war room. Unfortunately there are about five sentries guarding the entrance. Thankfully the radar does its job and they hide behind the corner tics before they're spotted.

Now what? If they take too long beating these sentry then the alarm will sound and blow their cover. So she's going to have to take them out in one shot. She looks at Pidge, who returns it with a raised eyebrow as if asking "what should we do?" Nivola jerks her head to her pinwheel and hits a button, changing the setting to multi-mode. Two more blades join the first one and she readies them, points at herself first, at the pinwheels next, then at Pidge, and finally mimics a running motion with her fingers. Pidge is always mentally quick so she nods and smirks in response, having gotten the message.

Nivola takes stock of the enemies and waits, breathing deeply to wrangle her heart rate into something not "beating against her ribcage." There's a light squeeze on her shoulder and it's Pidge who smiles at her. She feels a bit braver now and immediately steps out and flings her blades. Their whistles sound like thin screams and the razor sharp metal slices through the necks of each sentry. She immediately puts up a shield summoned from the other arm and blocks any incoming laser fire heading toward her and Pidge.

In multi-mode Nivola can control the directions her blades fly in using the Quintessence bound between herself and the weapon. It's an empathic ability the Rezluthians possess but only a few can actually make use of. However, it takes huge amounts of energy and concentration and beads of sweat are already forming on her forehead, a tremor in her arm from the stress. A laser catches a slightly unguarded left side and grazes her but she can't lose focus now or the connection with her weapon will be shattered.

In less than a dobash the sentry force is dispatched and she returns the blades to her launcher with a heavy sigh as her arm slightly flinches back from the force. Her shield dismisses itself.

"I guess all that training with Allura paid off, huh?"

Nivola laughs a bit, still feeling shaky from the adrenaline. "Uh I, y-yeah seems like it. I don't really like fighting much though."

Pidge's suddenly eyes widen and she frowns. Oh dear, she probably noticed the burn. "You're hurt."

"Oh! Um, I guess so. It's fine, nothing serious I swear. I'll treat it at the Castle later, promise."

Thankfully Pidge drops the subject with a glare that screams "You better!" and the two make their way through the door that she remotely hacked during the skirmish. Pidge taps her thigh and the armor stripes glow blue until a datapad appears, then quickly gets to work hacking the large supercomputer in the center of the room.

Nivola stands guard next to her, watching both the door and the radar. Her injury throbs and stings a bit but it's nothing too serious. She takes in the war room's decor, which features the same color scheme as the rest of the ship. Covering two of the walls are tons of framed star system maps, topography maps, and charts displaying the periodic table of her planet.

"Nice, this was a nasty little setup they had…"

Nivola waits for Pidge to finish as she talks to herself, used to her working out her problems this way.

Then suddenly. "So how did you learn how to use that weapon anyway?"

Her voice startles Nivola but she answers, still keeping lookout. "My mother. She used this very weapon and taught me when I was young." A pause. "She's gone now. She was defending a small orphanage from the Galra and bought them enough time to escape." It occurs to her now that she's known the Paladins for almost six phoebs and only just now told them about her mother. When they get back, she knows she needs to change that. Her friends deserve to know her better, especially since they've shared plenty about themselves in the time they've known her.

A pause, the sound of the super computer whirring filling up the silence between them. "I'm really sorry about that. But she sounds brave. I'm sure you're proud of her."

"I am, thank you. She was a wonderful mother, kind and strong." Nivola looks down for a moment. "She, she reminds me of someone else I know."

"Well she sounds a lot like my mom too, of course my mom doesn't actually fight but she doesn't need to. I've seen her stare down guys twice her size and weight until they cowered and did whatever she wanted, it's pretty cool…"

She giggles at Pidge's rambling and at missing her point when her radar flashes and she gasps at the reading. "There are several enemies heading this way!"

"ETA?"

"About two, three dobashes max."

"That's fine, I'll be done in a minute!"

Nivola doesn't know what a "minute" is but hopes it's fast. She readies her weapons, still in multi mode, and aims at the door. At Pidge's "done!" they head out, Nivola and shield first, and dash down the hallways, barely avoiding a fight.

"We're almost at the bridge, and there's enemies ahead."

"How many? Are they clustered together? Moving at random?"

"Like, almost twenty?" Thanks to Allura's endurance training she can easily talk while they sprint down the endless corridors. "They're definitely clustered and immobile, almost like they're waiting for someth-" but that didn't help with the wheezed inhale that comes with the sudden sensation of being figuratively punched in the gut.

It seems Pidge realizes it too and she pulls Nivola behind another corner. Her voice is a whisper, calm and rational and Nivola envies Pidge's ability to keep her heart from escaping her throat. "Okay so according to Keith and Allura, we have some leeway here. Our main goal was the intel, which we have, so the ship takeover is optional. Also it's dangerous. Really dangerous. As in we could seriously die." Those words hang between them like the guillotine that beheaded her Queen when the Empire invaded. "And since you're the novice here, I think you should make the call based on whether you're able to do this."

For a moment Nivola is silent in disbelief. She's being given a choice and it's an important one. They already acquired the intel they need and it would be safer to return and to destroy the ship from the outside. Not to mention, she's really not cut out for battles. Her ability with her pinwheel is thanks to her mother's teaching and her natural Quintessence affinity but she can't use it for long periods of time. And she does extremely poorly with adrenaline, second only to Hunk. It would make sense to back off, and no one would be made at her for making that call.

No one but herself, that is. This is her people's ship and they need it. And worst of all, the Galra who ruined her planet and killed so many of her race had the nerve to just keep it. Like, like some kind of trophy. She feels her blood boil at the thought. No, they must take this ship, even if she has to send Pidge away and do it herself to keep Pidge safe.

"Pidge. Let's take it back from them."

And Pidge smirks, like she knew Nivola would say that. Which she probably did know. But it makes her happy that she has Pidge's full support. Pidge hooks them around the circular turn so they end up running back for the bridge entrance. "Are you sure you want to come with me-"

"Hush, I'm coming and that's it. Now, what's the enemy doing right now?"

Nivola pulls up the radar. "They're still waiting. Not moving or anything."

Pidge hums. "We already figured out they were waiting to ambush us. If that's the case, they probably had a trap waiting for us if we tried to escape the ship," Pidge finishes and Nivola shudders at the thought of being ambushed. "Ah shit, I probably alerted them when I disabled the trap on the bridge door. I guess taking it over was really our only course of action."

"So uh, what's. What's the plan?"

And here Pidge beams. "Okay so remember that war room I hacked? Well I put a little "bug" in the system. That'll give me remote access to the artificial gravity in that room only. I'll activate it, then open the doors but you do not enter, just get close to the entrance then fling your blades at them while I shield you."

"Pidge that's brilliant!" But then she sucks in a breath, taking in some new information on her display. "But I, there's a single living being in the room. What do we do? Are we going to…" She can't finish that sentence. Her stomach is churning and her wound is throbbing again. But Pidge squeezes her hand and grounds her.

"Leave them to me. Just take care of the sentries, okay? Remember, you can do this, they'll be sitting ducks this time."

Nivola nods and waits for Pidge's signal. Pidge summons the datapad again and stands with it, then summons her Bayard with the other hand. She flings the Bayard's blade, cord extending with a whur, and it digs into the door which she yanks open.

Nivola is already on her feet and gets less than a foot from the door before launching her three blades at the now floating sentries, purposely missing who she assumes is the Commander from the uniform decals.

Pidge rushes in front with her shield and raises it, blocking random lasers shots. Nivola is concentrating - there are ten sentries hovering but the area is larger and she has to make the blades travel farther out.

Cut through its arm, then turn left and slice the other's head. Dip under blade one and sever the next one's chest wires, Blade three circles in a wide arc… Bolts, metal parts, and sheets float around the room, making it harder to navigate her weapons. She feels the stress of the quintessence bond pull at her mind and the burn on her side threatens to ruin her concentration.

Pain spikes in her head and she loses focus for a moment. Through blurred sight she spots the Commander train her gun on her as blade three approaches her torso. No! She can't stop its momentum in time.

A thick cable wraps around the Galra and pulls her down, the circle blade flying over that same spot harmlessly. Gravity reverts back just as the Commander hits the ground head first and is knocked out. Nivola takes control of her weapon again and finishes off the last sentry before collapsing on her knees and hands, gulping for air.

Pidge kneels down in front of her and grins wide while holding out her fist. "We make an awesome team don't we?"

Lance taught Nivola the "fist bump" a phoeb ago and she eagerly returns the gesture to Pidge now. "We make a wonderful team."

Using the ship's Bridge controls, Pidge deactivates the remaining patrol sentries with a concentrated EMP wave and that's all Nivola can understand from Pidge before her head spins. She looks around the bridge and is shocked that the ornate tapestries proudly displaying the Ordez family crest are perfectly intact after such a battle.

Now to contact Keith and update him on the mission. She-she can do this. She can talk to him, he's just a person like her. His violet eyes flash in her mind and she covers her face in her hands, skin shimmering brightly.

Pidge is laughing behind her, then appears at her side. "Alright alright, I'll talk to him okay?"

"Y-yes, thank you," she responds, her words muffled. She really is hopeless.

Nivola's weapon is based off Rinoa's pinwheel weapon from Final Fantasy VIII and Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT. Look up her character trailer for NT to get an idea of how Nivola's weapon operates.

Also I kept wanting to put Dirty Pair in the title, and had to repeatedly restrain myself from making such an outdated reference.