PALADIN OR BLADE

The silence seemed to stretch for eternity. He stared at the communicator again, waiting for a response, but there was no change. The face on the other end continued to stare in deafening silence. The tics turned to dobashes as they passed and still Keith stared at the silent image in his hand.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Kolivan spoke and Keith let out a relieved sigh at his Leader's words. "Very well. You are granted 1 quintant. I await the princess' call." And with that their conversation was over. He fell backwards onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling, open communicator still in his hand. This was not good, Kolivan was pissed, Keith was in deep shit, and Allura probably hated him. Not to mention Shiro. Stars! Shiro probably hated him too – or worse, was scared of him. He wanted to go talk to his friend but he also wanted to give the man space. It was all so conflicting. And then there was Lance and Hunk. Who knew what they were feeling about the whole 'reveal' thing. A groan escaped him as he tossed his communicator onto the bedside table.

Aliens made everything more complicated. If this were the Blades, and the team were Galra, he'd know exactly what to do to fix the situation. But they weren't Galra, they were Humans and Alteans, and he had no clue what his next move should be. Groaning again, he let his head roll from side to side. "Ughh, why is this so difficult!" He shouted out into the silence.

Alone in his room, Keith lay completely still. The darkness broken only by the soft blue lights lining the base of each wall; even with the main lighting off, it was still too bright for him to sleep. Leaving his eyes in their more Human version helped, since they took in less light, but they were still substantially more sensitive than the other Paladin's eyes. He pulled the pillow out from under his head and laid it over his face blocking the light, yet even this wasn't much better. Sure it blocked the light, but it also sent his warm breath back at him, making the air around his face hot and damp. A part of him wanted to pull out his knife and just break each of the little lights, plunging the room into the sweet relief of darkness. But the princess probably wouldn't be too thrilled if he vandalized her castle; so he refrained. Keith was practically a martyr.

A shuffling sound filtered in from the hallway. Perking up, he focused his hearing on the soft sounds, listening for anything that would identify the person outside. He heard more movement, followed by some mumbling but no follow up mumbles, meaning there was only a single person on the other side. The shuffling seemed to move away, then come back, then move away in the opposite direction before returning and repeating the cycle; pacing. With a groan he got to his feet and opened the door.

"Hey, Lance." He sighed as the door opened, revealing a ghostly pale, and rather frazzled looking, Blue Paladin. The boy's eyes shot wide and he took a tentative step back before blinking several times and rubbing the back of his neck. Keith watched the motion, he could almost feel the tension radiating off the other as sweat beaded on the sides of his temples and made the short brown short hair on the back of head glisten. Softening his voice and adopting a much more casual stance, Keith leaned in the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, and hair still a mess from having been lying down. "Did you, uh – did you want something?"

Lance almost seemed to flinch at the words and he didn't speak, merely nodding his head quietly as he stood in the empty hall in his blue pyjamas and lion slippers; a soft, mint green, goo spread over his face. Keith stepped aside and let the tanned boy in. He stood in the middle of Keith's room, looking around in confusion before shrugging and plopping down on the floor with his back against the bed and his legs crossed in front. With a slight huff, Keith sat beside him.

"It's dark in here." Was all the Cuban managed to spit out. There was a heaviness to his words, his entire demeanour lacking its natural brightness and enthusiasm. Lance kept his head down, not making eye contact and instead choosing to stare intently at the fingernails he was picking at in his lap. It was very 'un-Lance' behaviour.

"Yea, the bright lights hurt my eyes."

Lance looked at him for a moment, taking in his expression and seemingly noting how Keith's eyes gave off a faint glow in the dim lighting. If he shifted them back to yellow the glow would be stronger. "Cause you're Galra right?" Keith nodded in response and Lance looked back down at his apparently very interesting hands. "Was it, like – hard?" Rings of sapphire made their way back to him, staring into confused amethyst as a Keith experienced something rare, something almost mythical; a moment of vulnerability from Lance.

He quirked his brow, not fully understanding the question, and the Blue Paladin elaborated. "Being away from your family. I – I'm really having a hard time with …" he trailed off into indecipherable mutterings, uncrossing his legs and pulling them up to his chest. Lance buried his face in his knees and the rest of his words were lost.

He watched the boy, because that what Lance was – a boy. All of them were really. Just kids, teens, thrust into a war they didn't know anything about, forced to fight as more than just soldiers, but as symbols of freedom. Keith was the only one of them who had any actual wartime experience, while Shiro and Coran were the only ones who classed as adults. Sure, Allura and Coran had been around for the start of the war, but Alfor had sheltered the princess and the latter was an advisor, not a soldier. Watching Lance was like looking back in time, he remembered this feeling.

"When I was a kit I was reassigned to the Thaldycon system because I broke the rules. It was a punishment, but it was also the catalyst I needed to make me grow up." Lance looked up at him with confusion, clearly wondering where the story was going. "And when I came to Earth I felt so disconnected and alone, I couldn't tell anyone about myself and I had a terrible time trying to adjust to the cultural differences. I missed my home so damn much it actually hurt sometimes. Having my dad around helped, until I'd remember that I'd eventually be leaving Earth and probably wouldn't ever see him again. I spent a lot of nights crying myself to sleep out of loneliness - "

"You were lonely?" Lance interjected. "I thought loners didn't get lonely."

"I'm not a 'loner' Lance. I just had a hard time connecting to Humans and it was easier to be alone than to makeup an entire backstory that didn't scream 'hey guys I'm an alien'. I was terrified the Garrison would figure out I'm only part Human and take me down into the more classified areas of the base to run experiments on me."

"Is that why you puked when we dissected those frogs in biology?" He asked and Keith nodded, growing slightly pale at the memory.

"It hit a little close to home. I kept picturing myself as the frog … that and the smell. My senses are stronger than yours and I couldn't handle the intensity. I can still smell the formaldehyde when I think about the it." This time it was Lance who paled and nodded. "Normally that kind of stuff doesn't bother me. I've been trained to kill without hesitation, but I don't know – it was just, a little too similar to what my dad said the Garrison would do to me if they ever found out what I am." Now Lance was staring at him in shock.

"I don't think the Garrison would do that."

"Well, that makes one of us."

They sat in silence for a bit, Lance made the odd attempt to speak but ultimately aborted each of them. After almost 20 dobashes he finally broke, his voice barely above a whisper. "What do you think they said about us?"

"Huh?" Lance looked up at him again, this time he appeared to be on the brink of tears. "Who?" Keith asked, softer this time.

"The Garrison. When the Kerberos mission failed -"

"It didn't fail. They were taken by the Empire."

"Right. But when the mission didn't go as planned, the Garrison spun a story about failure and basically ran Shiro's name through the mud. Do you think they did that to us? What do you think they told our parents?"

"I – I actually don't know. They probably said the truth though; we disappeared into the desert and hadn't been heard from since. Granted, the Garrison would probably leave out the part where a giant robotic blue lion launched into space from a cave – but still."

Lance snickered and Keith felt a swell of pride for having lightened the mood until the sudden fall of his face brought the heaviness back to the air. "You know the most about the Galra. What are the chances we make it out of this war alive?"

"Not good." He paused a moment before elaborating. "If we work together with the rebels and the Blades, then we have a much better chance. I just – I don't think it's going to be easy for everyone to work together at first."

"I hope you're wrong."

"Me too."

"I really miss them; my family. I miss Cuba, I miss speaking Spanish, I miss my mom and my dad and my Abuela and my brothers and sisters, and just Earth. Don't get me wrong, it's so cool to be a Paladin and fly around in Blue and like, the whole rescuing a super hot alien Princess thing was awesome, but – I'm just a boy from Cuba, and I want to go home." There were tears streaming down his face now, causing the minty mask to run and drip off his chin as it joined the smeared sections on his knees.

Keith placed a firm hand on his fellow paladin's shoulders, squeezing slightly in a typical Human comfort gesture that he hoped to the Ancients he was doing correctly. It must have worked because not a tic later, the Blue Paladin threw himself into Keith's arms and cried on his shoulder. Stunned and completely taken off guard, he rubbed his hand on the others back in soft circles, letting a soothing purr escape to calm him. It seemed to help, after a dobash or so the crying faded and Lance's heart rate began to even out.

"Are – are you purring?" He asked as he pushed himself up, separating the two. Keith immediately felt self-conscious and the invading blush was unwelcome. "No no, it's cool dude, I mean it was a little weird but you're like, an actual alien so it's fine I guess. Wow, the Galra really are just giant purple space cats."

Keith snorted, rolled his eyes, and flexed his claws as he hissed dramatically at Lance, causing the boy to shriek and scamper back while the Red paladin snorted with laughter. "You're face." He managed to get out between gasps and watched as the aforementioned face morphed into an expert level pout. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner, really, I am."

"It's ok. Believe it or not I actually understand. It was hard for me to come out as bi to my family, but I did it. And I guess this is similar in a way – except my people never committed mass genocide, or tried taking over the entire universe."

Keith rolled his eyes, but the shift had happened, Lance had processed the news and his pain over his family, coming out the other side. And Keith had helped. He had been the one to calm him down and reassure his friend, because that's what he and Lance were now. They were friends. He smiled as he watched the lighthearted nature of their Blue Paladin slowly start to take hold again. "You're a pain in the ass. And for the record – the Empire is not all Galra. We aren't inherently evil like Commanders Sendak and Prorok, or the Emperor."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Say 'the Empire' or 'the Emperor' instead of just Zarkon, and you call Sendak and Prorok 'Commander'. I don't get it."

"It's a respect thing. My people are a military society, we respect those who have earned a high rank. It means they are fierce, smart, determined, and resourceful; traits we Galra greatly admire. I'm not associated with the Empire, in any way, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still Galra and like it or not Zarkon is still my Emperor … Until we correct that." He added with a wink. "I hate it when Allura, Shiro, Coran, Pidge, Hunk, and even you say 'the Galra' when you mean the Empire. It lumps all of us into the same category. I've been trying to separate the species from the Empire in your minds but it's really hard with Allura hating my entire race." He took a deep breath and steadied himself before continuing.

"Most of the soldiers we fight are just soldiers following orders, they're not evil or monstrous or anything like that – they're just people who are on the wrong side because that's where they were born. They grow up in the Empire's academies, getting their heads pumped full of propaganda, and believing they aren't destroying the Universe on the Emperor's orders. Most don't even see any real battle until they have to face Voltron."

"Does it bother you when we blow up ships?"

"Yes." He replied without missing a beat. "After a battle, when we come back to the castle, I offer a plea to the stars to watch over their souls. It's what we do in the Blades if we have to kill anyone. We ask the stars to guide their soul to their ancestors, since their families aren't there to do it." He looked up and saw Lance giving him an odd look. "You think I'm weird now don't you?"

"I always thought you were weird, Mullet. But this I understand. It really bothered me when we blew up that first ship and I realized we'd probably killed a bunch of people. I was raised Catholic and it was just really hard to justify. Hunk and I talked for hours about it and he made me feel a bit better, but not really. I still feel really guilty and all that. When we get back to Earth I'm going to blow Father Garcia's mind in confession." They burst out laughing at the thought of Lance in a small booth explaining how he'd spent possible deca-pheobs fighting purple aliens for control of the universe. The bright-eyed Cuban even made a joke about Keith coming along to act as his proof that aliens were real. Then thinking better of it when the latter switched his eyes back to violet slits set in rich gold and Lance said he might be mistaken for possessed instead.

Keith had laughed and made ghost sounds, mocking Lance for having made the same mistake earlier that quintant. Vargas passed and the atmosphere of the room changed dramatically, no longer heavy and emotional but now light and friendly. Keith was lying sideways on his bed, feet propped up against the wall and head hanging over the side. While Lance had moved to lay on his back in the middle of the room, feet kicking in the air as if riding an invisible bicycle while he supported his hips with his hands. They were laughing heartily when the door to his room opened, revealing Shiro.

The Black Paladin cleared his throat and stood silently for a moment, watching them. He chuckled when Lance lost his balance and those long legs came crashing down, one landing firmly on the side of Keith's head. The young Blade let out a sharp hiss and swatted at the offending appendage, but Lance merely laughed it off. The more casual demeanour between them did wonders for Shiro's disposition. The air around him had felt tense and uneasy, but it was slowly dissipating and Keith could feel his friend underneath it.

A sly grin, and a quirk at the corner of his mouth pealed away the final pieces of his mask. "No no, don't let me interrupt your bonding moment." They burst out laughing while simultaneously sputtering their protests, but Shiro maintained his shit-eating grin. His smirk faltered slightly when he moved his focus to Keith but with a snap it was back in place, though less sincere than before. "Pidge managed to crack Sendak's memories and they've asked for your help."

"Why do they need my help? I already said I want nothing to do with this."

"The Castle isn't translating very clearly. Coran said it's most likely because the Galran language has changed in the past ten thousand years. You're the only one who can read it." Keith nodded and pushed backwards off the wall, flipping over his head to land on his feet. Lance let out an impressed 'woah' and Shiro's eyes widened, before looking down to avoid eye contact. He stepped aside to let Keith walk out of the room and flinched when he got too close.

It hurt. This reaction from Shiro hurt more than Allura, more than Lance and Hunk's initial reactions, more than even his imagination had thought it would. To have someone he cared about so strongly, even considered a part of his family, reject him like this; it hurt. He offered a pained smile; it was a struggle to force the edges of his lips to curl up and to force the stupid tears that were pricking at his eyes to go the fuck away. But he did, he put on a brave face and stepped around Shiro as he made his way down the hall.

The walk to the bridge was more awkward than anything. Lance scurried up to stand beside him, continuing his line of thought from before Shiro had interrupted and Keith tried to listen. He caught every fourth word and every third erratic hand gesture, but he didn't miss a single hitched breath from behind him. Shiro had insisted that Keith lead, he knew why – it was standard training for dealing with a potential hostile; always keep them in your line of site. And that knowledge added to the hurt. His friend, his mentor, his brother was treating him like the enemy and that sent waves of grief through him.

A sudden smack to his left arm pulled him from his reverie, making Keith hiss violently at the attacker. Lance shrieked but regained his composure relatively quickly. "Dude, are you even listening to me?"

"No. You fucking hit me!"

"Ya, cause you aren't listening!" out of the corner of his eye Keith watched as Shiro deactivated his hand. "I said it would be cool to speak an alien language."

"You do speak an alien language. You actually speak two alien languages; English and Spanish."

"No no, I mean an actual alien language like Altean or Galran or something." Keith rolled his eyes.

"I can teach you Common if you want. Actually, you should all learn Common. You can't rely on the suit's translators all the time."

"That's a really good idea, Keith." Shiro added and he turned to beam at the man. There might be hope for their relationship after all. "What languages do you speak?"

"Galran is my native language, but I'm fluent in Common and English as well. My Altean is absolute crap and I can say a few things in Olkari, but not much. Oh, and my dad tried teaching me Japanese back on Earth but I suck at it." He paused, fighting down the blush and building up the courage. "Himitsu o gomen'nasai."

Shiro's eyes widened and a genuine smile spread on his face. "Good attempt. Your pronunciation is … not great."

"Wait was that Japanese? It sounded like shitty Spanish." Lance interrupted.

"The Castle translated it for you. Any language that you speak, the Castle and the lions and the paladin armour can translate into. Altean tech is pretty cool." Keith clarified, barely getting the end of his sentence out before Lance was jumping all over it.

"So I can walk around speaking in Spanish and everyone will be able to understand me no problem?" Keith nodded. "HOLY SHIT! This changes everything!" The Cuban began rambling about how he had been so worried his connection to home was slipping away, and how being able to speak Spanish meant he could feel closer to his family, and blah blah blah mostly Keith was surprised to hear Lance's voice in Galran. It threw him for a loop at first, expecting the Castle to translate it into English but if he really thought about it, this made substantially more sense. Galran was his native language; of course it's what the Castle would default him to. He heard Allura and Coran in Galran, why would he expect anything else.

Shiro had not been expecting it. "Weird hearing Lance speaking your native language isn't it?" Keith asked him and the Black Paladin nodded, smiling as the young Cuban continued to ramble on and on and on in his own little world.

They made it to the bridge and found the entirety of the Castle waiting for them. "Guess we weren't the only ones who couldn't sleep, Mullet." Lance commented as he jabbed a very bony elbow into his ribs. Keith shot him a glare.

"WOAH WOAH! Did everybody else hear that? Lance, buddy, you can speak Samoan? Why didn't you tell me this? I feel like you really should have told me this!" Hunk sputtered, excitedly tripping over his own words. Pidge rolled their eyes and Allura explained the castle's translators and how they worked, like Keith had just done moments before.

He walked over to the Green Paladin chair, noting how Allura didn't move from her position though she stiffened at his proximity. He took up a spot to the right behind Pidge and glanced over their shoulder to read the words on the screen, letting out a bark of unexpected laughter. Naturally, all eyes landed on him immediately.

"Sorry." He muttered. "It's just – it's no wonder the Castle didn't translate this very well. The words are encoded." Pidge opened their mouth, about to argue, and he immediately continued. "Encoded, not encrypted. It's a basic language code the Empire uses. We learn it in the Blades so we can pass as Empire soldiers if we're questioned. It's kinda like pig Latin on Earth … well, it's actually nothing like pig Latin, but it's the same idea in that it plays with the structure of an existing language … sort of. Basically, you take the intended words and replace them rhyming words that have a similar meaning." He leaned in and pointed at a string of characters on the screen. "See these? They translate directly to 'Space Base' but what they mean is 'Galactic Hub'. And these ones -" he pointed to another set of characters further down "- say 'Pure Cure' but they mean 'Quintessence Refinery'." The others gave him an odd look and he rolled his eyes. "Quintessence isn't just harvested for fuel; it's also used in medicines and by the Druids for their rituals."

Keith pulled out his Blade data pad, typing as quickly as he could while Hunk leaned over his shoulder and Pidge pulled down on the corner to get a better view. It didn't matter if they looked, they couldn't read Galran anyways. After confirming his suspicion, he turned the data pad to the group, displaying 8 bright purple dots and 4 pink ones. "These -" he pointed to yet another set of characters on Pidge's screen "- are the coordinates for the refinery. We know of 8 that are currently active and 4 that are abandoned, but these coordinates don't match any of our records." He punctuated his words by wiggling the data pad.

Coran moved to stand at the central control station. "I'm pulling up the location of your Hub Base thing on our screens now." He explained as he typed. The screen displayed two small planets and a large moon, but nothing else.

"Sooo, where is it?" Lance asked, speaking for the group.

Looking down at his controls, Coran furrowed his brow. "I don't know. Our long-range sensors are unable to find anything at those coordinates."

"Maybe he remembered it wrong." Keith supplied. "Or he could have intentionally given us a false memory." He knew it was possible; their deepest cover operatives were trained to provide false memories for the Druids. There's no reason to believe Sendak wasn't capable of the same.

"Or maybe we just stumbled across a top-secret base in Sendak's memories." Pidge deduced, their fingers steepled in front of their face.

"Only one way to find out. Let's go take a look." Allura's word was final. It wasn't a tic later that Coran was setting their course and the castle was taking off at an incredible speed.

"Alright paladins, you have 10 vargas before we arrive. Get some sleep and freshen your daisies!" Coran exclaimed to a collective groan and a few snickers.

"Ugh, why does space travel have to take so long?" Hunk complained as he, Lance, and Pidge headed back to their rooms.

Keith instead turned to face Allura who was talking to Shiro and Coran. He cleared his throat and all six eyes focused on him. Suddenly, he felt incredibly nervous, as though a spotlight were shining directly over head. "Uh, Princess? I need to talk to you if you have a moment."

"What about?" She asked completely deadpan, voice void of all emotion and eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion.

"The organization I told you I'm a member of; The Blade of Marmora, our Leader wants to speak with you. In a private call."

"What about?" she continued, her tone becoming even more clipped.

"Not sure, he wouldn't tell me." Allura stared at him for a moment, not saying a word, not giving a hint of what she was thinking. After several tics she held out her hand, open palm up, and made a 'give it here' gesture towards the data pad he'd been clutching.

Walking over Keith placed the pad in her palm and she immediately tucked it under her arm, turning back to face Coran and Shiro. "Right, as I was saying, we need to consider what could be waiting for us when we arrive. It could be nothing, or it could be a heavily guarded top-secret station."

"Uh, Princess?" Once again she didn't speak to him, merely turning to look his way with a wordless expression. "You, uh, you'll need me to activate the pad. It's Galran tech."

"Shiro's prosthetic will suffice." No emotion. He felt his chest deflate and nodded once before leaving the room.

"We'll need to enter here: the central control building." Allura announced and Keith nearly dropped his jaw.

"I'm sorry, Princess, did you 'we' ?" He clarified and was met with a glare.

"I'm going with you. I've traveled through the Galra transportation hubs many times with my father before the war began."

"Princess, I'd rather you stay here." Coran interjected and her ire finally moved off Keith and onto a new target.

"I'm a part of this fight against Zarkon as much as anyone. I'm going. Does anyone have a problem with that?" She scanned the room looking for those who had the nerve to object. The others hummed, hawed, and whistled as they avoided eye contact and she crossed her arms in satisfaction. Keith had an objection though.

"Fine. Suit up." Shiro conceded to both Keith and Coran's shock.

Shiro was going along with it? Keith spoke up. "What? You can't be serious!"

"And why not?" Allura turned her intense gaze back to him, boring into his soul.

"Because it's a stupid quiznaking idea. This isn't just a transport hub Allura; it's a refinery. That means there's probably a Druid there."

"I have made my decision."

The base had been surprisingly easy to access and it made him nervous. Their plans were going smoothly and it made him nervous. Pidge gained access to the primary systems with little trouble and it made him nervous. This entire endeavour was making him nervous. Something was bound to fail, and the more little things that went smoothly, the more he worried it would be a big one that didn't.

Keith watched out the control tower's window, keeping an eye on the soldiers and sentries down below. He could hear the others yapping away in the background but he wasn't really listening. Instead, his focus was on the very large Empire cruiser that was preparing to dock. The emblems on the side declared it as part of the Central Command fleet. Quiznak!

"Ah guys, sorry to interrupt, but I think we've got company." He jumped in the middle of Hunk's story. A large looming shadow over took the control tower and instinctively, all 6 of them ducked under the workstations. "Think we should get out of here?" He asked, huddling together with the others.

"We just need a few more seconds." Pidge replied, typing feverishly on their laptop.

Keith looked up at the screen just in time for 'Incoming Message' to be displayed. Quiznak! "Get Down" he hissed through clenched teeth. The line opened up and he could hear the confusion from the soldier on the other end.

"He's still looking. I think he's waiting for a signal or something." Lance whispered.

"I got it." Hunk replied and … oh no. NO! NO! Quiznak HUNK! He thought to himself, very clearly face palming under the workstation as the large boy hoisted up a deactivated sentry, working it like a puppet.

"Command Fleet: Octa-brak-7-8 checking in." The soldier spoke. Keith watched Hunk panic and as the Yellow Paladin went to speak he cut him off.

Staying hidden under the desk, he let his voice speak for the sentry, slipping easily into his native Galran. "Checking system logs." He said in his most military voice possible and mimed an exaggerated typing action to Hunk. The larger boy pretended to type with the sentry's arms and after a moment Keith spoke again. "Arrival confirmed. Any additional supplies or personnel to declare?"

"Negative. Permission to dock?"

"Permission granted. Dock as per standard protocol. No special instructions." He quickly mimed the Galran salute and Hunk slammed the sentry's right arm over its chest. "Vrepit Sa."

"Vrepit Sa." And with that the link disconnected. They all let out a collective sigh of relief and crawled from their hiding places.

"You can't be serious!" He practically yelled at a 7 foot tall purple Allura.

"Completely."

"Allura! QUIZNAK! This is the worst idea I have ever heard! You don't have a plan! How are you going to get back if they launch? What are you going to do if you're caught? What if there's a Druid on board the ship? Seriously! You can't just run onto a Command Cruiser without the proper paper work! You're going to be caught, your going to be thrown in a cell, and you're not going to be coming back! Do you expect 4 lions to invade Central Command to get your assess out of there? Not even VOLTRON could attack central right now and without Shiro – WE CAN'T FORM VOLTRON!" He threw his hands in the air, well aware of the fact that he was now yelling at her … at the top of his lungs … in Galran. He could feel the hold on his more Human features slipping.

"This is not up for debate. Shiro and I will sneak onto the ship as discussed. We will connect Pidge to their system, and then we will leave the ship immediately. You're opinion has been noted but is of no concern to me at this moment." She glared angrily down at him and, not for the first time, he hated how short he was. "My decision is final. Come, Shiro, we don't have much time."

"Foolish Girl." He muttered under his breath is terrible Altean, knowing full well she would hear him. The look of pure rage she shot over her shoulder proved him right.

He watched out the control tower's windows as Allura pushed her cartload of Shiro towards the ship, disappearing inside. A moment or two later he felt it; the cold chill that ran up his spine. He'd felt this before, when he was a younger kit, first starting out his more advanced training. The hairs on the back of his neck pricked up and he scanned frantically around the base, searching for the source he knew he'd find here. He knew it. He'd warned them all that one of them would be here. And he'd been right, stars he wished he wasn't right.

"Yikes, check out that scary Dude." Lance commented and Keith was at his side in an instant. It was a Druid. He felt the flutter in his chest and the nausea that accompanied these foul creatures. Stars, he wanted off this base.

"We need to go. Now! Contact Allura and tell her to get the fuck out of there."

"Keith, buddy, you don't look so good man. You ok?" Hunk asked, rising to his feet and taking a tentative step closer to the Red Paladin. Keith ignored him, he watched as the Druid gathered the two containers of quintessence and headed off into the bowels of the base.

A sudden thought popped into his head. This was a refinery. One of the closest guarded secrets of the Empire was how Zarkon got his concentrated quintessence. The Blades had tried to replicate the methods they found in records but nothing produced the same results. Kolivan had suspected for a while now that it had something to do with the Druids, and Keith agreed. He was quintessence sensitive, had he been born in the Empire he would have been taken to become a Druid. Perhaps if he saw what the Druids did, he could find a way to replicate it himself. That could give them an edge, finally. "I'm going to go check it out."

"How about we just lay low and you don't blow our cover?" Lance countered but he ignored him, continuing on his way to follow that Druid. "Keith, think about what you're doing. Don't walk through that door!" He walked through the door, feeling it shut with finality behind him, and then took at off at a run as soon it sealed.

The room was massive. The walls lining the hexagonal structure contained 4 shelves, each stacked with rows and rows of quintessence containers. Including the shipping crates waiting to be unloaded there was easily a thousand canisters just in this room alone.

On a platform stood the Druid, hands outstretched as it began the ritual. Keith watched with rapt attention, studying the arm motions and each flick of the wrist. "Coran, you need to see this." He said as he activated the recording feature on his helmet. There was another who would need to see this footage as well, but he would have to wait before he could speak with Kolivan.

The Altean gasped as the line connected. "I've never seen anything like it."

"What is that?" Pidge's voice came over the com, followed by the metallic sounding voice of a standard issue Sentry.

{ The material is quintessence, the substance with the highest known energy per unit volume in the universe. }

"What? Impossible!" Coran, Pidge, and the sentry went back and forth but Keith's attention was locked on the Druid in front of him. The next container was being loaded into place and the newly refined vile was being set on a transport cart.

"Guys, I'm going to steal some." He ran off from his hiding place and followed the cart down the now vacant hall, jumping over the former guards in the process. Snatching the much smaller canister of refined quintessence, he tucked and rolled into a corner. Looking over his shoulder, Keith noticed the Druid was nowhere to be seen. Quiznak!

A sudden chill ran up his spine and a scream from his gut told him to turn around. As he did the Druid re appeared directly in front of him, sending him flying backwards and tumbling across the hall, dropping the vile in the process. Without batting an eye, Keith jumped to his feet and drew his bayard. "Ok, Plan B." He shouted at them in Galran, charging with his weapon drawn. They foul creature kept apparating around the room. "Cheater." He mumbled and swore he heard a sickly laugh echoing around him.

He let his instincts take over, the tentative hold on his more Human features falling away completely as he gave in. The urge to roll to the side had him narrowly avoid a lightning blast, and well-timed jump allowed him to nearly get a blow on the creature. He trusted his gut; he let it direct his actions as instinct controlled him. A surge of power from the Druid sent him flying yet again, this time into one of the various quintessence canisters, shattering the glass and spilling its contents. The lightning grazed his hand and it burned from the contact. He cradled it close to his chest but could barely move it, the entire appendage pulsing in agony.

The Druid did nothing. It stood on its perch and watched him. Not attacking, not fleeing, not even making a move. "Pidge, I need an extraction, now! Hurry!" He shouted, not caring that it came out in Galran. The helmets would translate.

He jumped around the room, clutching his wrist to his chest and switching his bayard to the other hand. Each jump left an explosion behind as the Druid attacked with their lightning. All he needed to do was get close enough to negate that ability and he could cut them down … hopefully.

Another canister slide down the ramp and Keith slid right along with it, unable to slow his momentum. The Druid appeared before him and charged up for another blow. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew, deep down, that allowing the creature to make eye contact was a really, really bad idea. His hand pulsed and he felt the lightning shoot from the Druid. He felt the energy of it as it swirled around him, but didn't connect. He had read the books in the castle about the old ways of the Druids, he had taught himself as much as he could from those texts and he was as prepared as he could possibly be without actual training. He opened his eyes to see a world tinted gold, sparks dancing at the sides of his vision.

The Druid took a step back and Keith raised his bayard. To kill with quintessence was to corrupt your own. He would never do what they did; he would never use his own quintessence to take a life. That was how she had corrupted them. He knew that now, he could feel the truth in the realization and he could feel the confirmation coming from his opponent.

"I knew I should have killed you when I had the chance." It hissed at him, breaking his concentration and letting colour saturate his vision again. The sparks fizzled out and the lightening that had been swirling around him shot out in all directions, exploding the canister behind him.

The quintessence poured down on him and Keith felt the rush of energy, the raw power, and the sheer potential contained within. A sudden rumbling shook the entire room as the Green Lion crashed down behind him, mouth opening wide. "Get in! We've got to get Shiro and Allura!" Pidge called through the com and he turned to watch the Druid vanish.

Growling out of pure frustration he rushed into the lion and the massive jaws closed behind him.

Keith stood in the cargo hold and stared at his hand. When he was little he had wanted nothing more than to be purple like everyone else. He'd wanted to look down and see this colour so badly, and now that it was there – he wanted it gone. He knew it would make the situation with Allura and Shiro worse. Unlike his eyes, which he could change, this would be a constant reminder for them that Keith was Galra. He felt no shame in being Galra, he was actually quite proud of his heritage, but he didn't want to put the others through any more stress.

He clenched his hand into a tight fist, feeling the tips of his claws dig into the flesh, and focused on the burns. A strange tingling sensation sparked across his hand and, opening his eyes, Keith watched the last of the purple fade away.

The door of the Green Lion's cockpit opened and Shiro walked in. Only Shiro. "Where's Allura?" He asked and felt a wave of pain emanate off his friend.

"Shiro?" Lance pushed and the man's face twisted with guilt.

"She sacrificed herself to save me." He spoke through tightly clenched teeth and though his eyes were squeezed shut, Keith could see the hurt they were hiding.

"So, she's still on that ship?"
"The ship that's headed to Zarkon's Central Command?" Pidge and Hunk asked respectively.

"The place that's way too dangerous for us to attack?" Keith contributed and regretted it immediately. He saw the way Shiro was reacting, he was clearly blaming himself for this development and pointing out the obvious wasn't helping.

Shiro flinched, but raised his head to meet Keith's eyes; eyes he still hadn't changed back to Human. "It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. We can't let Zarkon get Allura. We don't have a choice anymore."

The doors to the bridge opened and Shiro launched into leader mode, directing Pidge to locate Central Command. At the sound of his voice, Coran turned expectantly and stilled, before rushing to stand before them.

"What happened? Where's Allura?" He asked in a panic. Keith could hear the concern of a parent in his tone and it made his chest hurt for the man's loss.

"They captured her. She sacrificed herself to save me and the information." Shiro answered, maintaining a firm military tone. Keith saw through it, he knew it was a mask meant to hold himself together, prevent their team leader from fracturing into a thousand little fragments of grief, pain, and guilt. "I didn't have a choice." He finished.

A shocked Coran argued his disbelief. "How is that possible?"

"Coran, I'm sorry things didn't go as planned, but we can't focus on what went wrong. We've got to figure out how to make it right." He explained before turning to face their Green Paladin. "Pidge, anything?"

"Guys, look at this" They answered and pulled up a diagram of Central onto the large primary screens. The team collectively gasped, but Keith had seen this before. He knew what Central looked like, he'd learned all about it in his Blade training, he'd listened to his Uncle Thace's stories, and he'd watched some of the propaganda videos. Not to mention the arena videos from Central that he and Regris would watch. He knew how massive the Emperor's Flag Ship was, he just didn't want to think about it. Allura was screwed, they were all screwed!

"I think we should go in right away." Pidge announced. "Every minute we waste gives Zarkon time to prepare for us."

Lance nodded enthusiastically from behind the Green Paladin chair. "I agree. We form Voltron, fly in, fly out, dust off our hands, and walk away."

"Um, do you guys not remember the Balmera? We could barely take out one fleet. But this - a base this size could hold a thousand fleets!" Hunk worried and Keith nodded.

"Or, maybe we shouldn't go on this mission at all." He cut in and the team turned to look at him in an array of shock, surprise, and hurt. "Think about it. We'll be delivering the universe's only hope to the universe's biggest enemy."

"Keith, that's cold, even for you." Hunk said sadly. "What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn't leave me, would you? … Would you?"

"I'm not saying I like the idea. I'm just thinking like a paladin."

"No, you're thinking of yourself because you're too scared to do what's right!" Lance cut in.

"Okay, we're all upset because we lost Allura." Pidge interjected, attempting to soothe the rising tension.

Instead, Coran turned to Shiro. "No, SHIRO lost Allura!"

"OKAY! Okay, this isn't helping." Hunk yelled at the group. "We can't just sit here and bicker like this."

"Let's focus. How are we going to get Allura?" Taking the reigns, Shiro directed them back on track, attempting to maintain some level of control and keep the group productive.

They spent vargas going over plans, discussing the best ways to sneak in undetected, all the while Keith shot down every single suggestion. Everything they came up with he already knew the Empire had a counter measure for. Nothing they suggested was original, it had all been tried before. They needed a quiznaking miracle to get past Central's defenses.

Lance turned to him with what he assumed was yet another shitty suggestion. Instead, the Blue Paladin asked for advice. "This organization you're a part of … the Blade of Marmalade?"

"Marmora." He corrected with an amused grin.

"Right, the Blade of Marmora – what would they do in a situation like this?" Everyone turned to him, waiting for a reply he knew they wouldn't like.

"We don't go back for anyone. Under any circumstances." The group collectively gasped and he rolled his eyes. "We can't risk jeopardizing two operatives instead of just one. You either make it to the extraction point on time, or you get left behind."

"Cold." Lance replied and Keith shrugged.

"It's how we survive." Several very tense vargas passed again. The Human members of the team mostly keeping amongst themselves and Keith would be lying if he said it didn't hurt a little. It wasn't until a sudden beeping in his pocket that they seemed to acknowledge his presence with anything other than an uncomfortable glance.

It was Kolivan. He had to answer this, he didn't have a choice; rising from the Red Paladin station, he started for the exit.

"You can answer that here." Coran spoke as if it were a command. Keith deflated, nodding and returning to his seat as the others moved to gather around him.

{ Identify } the female voice commanded.

"Keith Kogane, Operative 2675 – Red Paladin of Voltron" There was a brief tic of silence before the screen flickered to life, revealing Kolivan's masked face. "Leader. We are not alone." He informed the man as quickly as possible.

"I see that." Kolivan's voice was as impassive as ever, his cold and emotionless mask falling on the various faces crowding around Keith. "Your – friends, were not invited to this meeting." Coran sputtered about it being an Altean ship and blah blah blah, Keith was mostly dying under the pressure of what he knew was an thoroughly disapproving glare from his leader.

"Did you need something of me?" He asked, trying to bring the conversation back on track.

"I have received troubling news and am calling for confirmation. Though as I do not see the Altean Princess' presence I assume the rumours are true and she has, in fact, been captured." Keith nodded and Lance unwisely chipped in that they were going to free her. "Is that the case?" Kolivan asked incredulously and Keith groaned of embarrassment. "Voltron is either more competent that expected, or more foolish."

"And what you have us do?" Shiro jumped in without hesitation. "Leave the princess behind? Leave her in Zarkon's hands? The Galra will kill her."

"Most likely not." Kolivan unhelpfully supplied. NOT killing Allura was worse, so much worse. It implied the Emperor had plans for her. "The Empire will not harm the Altean Princess so long as Voltron remains out of Emperor Zarkon's reach. It is ill-advised to deliver such a weapon directly into his hands." Keith nodded along in agreement but received a sharp look from … well, everyone on their side of the com. He rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"With all due respect, I disagree." Shiro responded, yet again resuming his leader tone and asserting his position as the Black Paladin.

"I can say nothing to dissuade you?" He was met with headshakes and angry glares from the Humans and single Altean. "Very well. Voltron is out of my control." Shit, Keith new where this was going. Kolivan turned his attention back to him. "Blade, permission to assist in this fool's errand is denied." With that, their communication cut out.

"You're not going to listen to him are you?" Lance asked in the most accusatory tone anyone could muster.

"He's my Leader, I have no choice."

"And we're your team." Shiro countered. "Keith, Voltron needs you; Allura needs you. Without the Red Lion we don't stand a chance."

"You don't understand!" He shouted. "I can't just ignore a direct order, that's not how this works!"

"Shiro – order Keith to help us! Use your special Black Paladin powers!" Hunk called out.

"I already did. Voltron is going to rescue the Princess, and as the Red Paladin, you are a member of this team. Keith I can't force you to do what's right, but please, you need to see reason here. If the situation was reversed, don't you think Allura would be planning your rescue?" He shrank under those words. Shiro was right, she absolutely would risk everything, no matter how dangerous and foolish it was.

He looked around at his team, all of them pleading at him with their eyes. "Fine." He conceded. "Let's go get the princess."