The next morning Ketih opened his door in time to see Lance running pell-mell past and down the hall. Pidge close on his heals screeching curses at him.
"What the-"
"He changed her programs file names," Hunk said walking by, "Its times like this I really think everything he told us was a big hoax."
Keith shrugged, "just so long as everyone does what they're supposed to."
()
"Taking out her support will make it easier to attack her directly."
"but her support doesn't matter when she's powerful enough without them."
"but if you could target them, then it would open the door to get at least near her ship."
Lotor was not pleased with his role in their plans.
Correction.
He was not excited that Hunk was the one accompanying him in the next mission and not Allura. He much preferred a direct attack and get things over with.
"We'll take out her support," Keith said, making the final decision, "and if we see an opening, then we take it, fair enough?"
Lotor leaned in with a smirk, "my, you've really grown to fill your position, haven't you?"
Keith blinked.
Strange…he'd expected to feel the heat rise in his face, or his gut to twist or something. But to his surprise, Lotor words didn't bother him at all.
"I guess you're right," Keith replied and shocked even himself as one side of his mouth lifted into his own smirk.
"Pffffft!" Lance lowered his head to the table as he laughed, pounding the top with his fist. Looking up he wiped a tear from his eye.
"Keep this up, Mullet, and I'll follow you for the rest of my life."
"Oh?" Keith tilted his head to one side, "you'd quit your job for me?"
"Hell no. I need something to keep you in check. You may be less emo now, but I don't trust your temper at all."
"Then why do you insist on calling me names?"
"Why do you keep answering to them?"
"If you two are done," Allura said pointedly, "is there anything else we need to discuss?"
"Pidge, has Matt contacted you at all?"
"He's manning the posts and marking the enemies movements," Pidge said, "I've already updated the program…no thanks to lance…"
"You left the whole thing open on your laptop, how was I supposed to resist?"
"Lance, we KNOW you can get serious, why are you being so…impossible right now?"
"Can I be serious? Really?" Lance grinned.
"right, let's get to work," Keith sighed and left the room.
"You really are a piece of work," Pidge said squinting at him as everyone followed Keith out of the conference room.
"Oh no," Lance gasped, "You figured me out?!"
"You are such a ham," she sighed, matching his drama with her own, "you are ridiculously transparent. But I swear, if you touch my stuff again I'll bust it over your head, got it?"
Her tone changed half way and Lance raised both hands in surrender. They had all been expecting to go home after Zarkon, and not only had they not, but the Clone and now the witch were taking a toll on their morale. Lance decided to lighten things up a bit. Gentle and harmless teasing went a long way to normalize any horrific situation.
()
Three months, and still no openings. Hunk and Pidge had finished spiffing up Lotors ships and adding their flair to his tech. He had been furious when they had redesigned his supply crafts with floral dingbats.
They had two attempts on Haggars personal ship, but each one ended in their narrow retreat.
()
"I'm dying…" Lance moaned sitting in the lounge, "I swear if I have to ram my face into another ship I'm going to have permanent whiplash."
"Stop whining," Pidge kicked his foot as she moved to the other side of the couch.
"say's the one with the shield," Lance made a face at her and she made one back.
"How many supporters does she have," Hunk looked over at Lotor, "you said not many refused to join you."
Lotor didn't answer.
"Lotor?" Allura sat next to him and put an arm around him, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing," He stood, "I have to get back to my people. I'll be heading to sector 53 and taking that rout along the end of her claimed domain."
"Sounds good," Keith nodded, "Keep us informed of how you're doing and we'll keep in contact with you as well."
Lotor gave a respectful nod and then left.
"I'll go see him off," Allura followed him out.
"Ahhh, a little bit of a shame, really," Lance sighed, "Snow White is staring to grow on me."
Keith shot him a look and Lance waved his concern away.
"Good news!" Shiro sang as he entered the lounge. He'd been awfully happy with their progress, even when it was obvious that their progress was minimal at best.
"Haggar imploded."
"Haggar was just a figment of out imaginations and we can go home now?"
"Haggar EXploded."
"Are you done?" Shiro asked. The team looked at each other.
"Haggar fell into water and melted?"
"Look, I think we found out a way to really get in close this time," Shiro brought up a screen and walked it over to them, "the Olkari are doing amazing things with sabotage type weapons. They got the idea seeing Pidges …plant…canon..thing…anyway, last time we came so close, if we can just find a way to get someone on the inside, we can overwhelm the ship without much effort and take it from there."
"You realize what it took Frok to get in there?" Lance said, not really impressed, "And even then he still got caught."
"Matts on his way, I really think if we go with this angle we could really get somewhere."
They could see Shiro truly believed it, and really, no one with a heart could say 'no' to that face.
()
"Why was I picked for this again?"
"…" Krolia was about to inform her companion that it was because she was small, instead she said, "because your lion is the only one with cloaking."
"I see," Pidge said, "remind me to put it in everyones lions when we get back."
"And the Olkari designed the weapon in such a way that you're really the only one who can activate it."
"Yeae me," Pidge rolled her eyes. The weapons were still in its experimental phase and wasn't exactly 'user friendly' as of yet.
"I will be taking a different ship when I leave with the prisoners," Krolia said a small smile on her face, "So take your time and make it count."
()
Something was bugging Pidge as she crept down the halls of Haggars ship. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something was not right. This made her more than a little jumpy and she ended up moving slower than she normally would have.
She ship shook as the lions landed occasional hits. Every once in a while a sentry or a galra soldier would run down the hall.
Other than that, it was smooth sailing getting from her entry point to main frame. The long bridge that lead to the singular consul was ridiculous. Pidge rolled her eyes again as she made her way there. She'd never really been one to be afraid of heights, but she'd almost fallen off of enough of them to be wary. The large vast space beneath mocked her as she did her best to ignore the echo of her own foot steps.
When she reached the end of the walk way, she pulled two large seeds out of her pocket. Dropping the blue one over the edge, she turned to the consul.
She opened the front and sure enough, a purple crystal shone bright amongst the wires. She licked her lips as she pulled an Indiana Jones and switched the crystal for a large purple seed. The machine whined a little, but she knew it would take a while for there to be any noticeable effect. By then she'd be long gone.
She tossed the crystal over the edge after the blue seed and began to make her way back down the long walk way.
()
Krolia, though proud of her child, wondered if he knew she wasn't perfect…and had more difficulties than most Blades in stealth. Her forte was spy work, infiltration and espionage. She could lie her way out of any situation. She was never very good at sneaking around…much less, sneaking around with seven extremely injured prisoners.
"Is this all of you?" She asked. If she figured if she had seven, then any more couldn't really be worse.
"We thought he heard more down the hall…" Said one who was less injured and supporting another, "but we have never seen them."
"Good, at least its on the way," Kroila muttered to herself.
()
"Shiro! Matt needs help at 10!"
"got it."
Shiro flew in the pod that Hunk had repurposed for Shiro to fight in. It had as many bells and whistles as Hunk could manage to put in. It could even make coffee.
"I spy Pidge!"
"About time!"
"It was a delicate process!" She snapped.
"Is Krolia out yet?"
"Not yet," Pidge said, "I caught a glimpse of her as I was making my way out. She still had a ways to go before reaching the bay."
"Well that sucks."
"How many prisoners were there?"
"How should I know? I did my job and I got out!"
"Give her ten more doboshes."
()
That's when things started to go down hill.
As they formed Voltron to take on her ship head on, she opened a channel with them. Three galra soldiers stood behind her. Two were holding a man, his hair matted with blood and semiconscious. The third was holding onto a smaller child bruised, but not severely injured.
Lance let out a series of curses that made even Keith flinch. They may all have been able to see Haggar, but Since the Black lion was the head, only Keith showed up on her screen.
"Cease you're fire and tell me where Lotor has gone," the witch was calm, almost stately.
Weird.
Lance opened a side channel with Allura and mimed instructions to her.
"…fine," Keith replied, "We'll cease fire and you send the kid out in an escape pod."
"Tell me where Lotor is."
"First let the kid go."
Haggar hesitated for a lot shorter than they thought she would have. She waved her hand and the kid was dragged out.
"Now tell me-"
"We can continue negotiations after we've confirmed that the kid is in the pod and heading towards the castle."
The Witch nodded.
After what seemed like forever, a pod shot from the side of the curser. Pidge and Allura scanned it and observed the data.
"One kid, no guards or sentries detected."
"What is he doing?" The escape pod was flying erratically.
"Shiro! Intercept!"
Shiros fighter rounded around the pod and tried to nudge it toward the ship. Only when the pod was close enough to the castle did Keith resume his conversation with the Witch.
"Why do you want to know where Lotor is?"
"that is MY business."
Keith took his time thinking. He had learned from Shrio and the others that putting up a show wasn't always a waste of time. Still, being who he was, he couldn't pause for very long.
"Alright," Keith said, "We'll tell you where Lotor is the moment you send that guy you've half killed in a pod as well."
"How about I just kill him?"
"then who would you threaten us with? We ceased firing, so far this is already a better exchange than all of you had with Lotor and Sam Holt."
"I wish to know where Lotor is; tell me and I will let this prisoner go."
"And I want to trust you, but I'm just not the trusting type."
"…you are stalling…"
"…"
It was then that Lotor fell out of hyperdrive immediately behind the Galra cruiser. Keith let out a long breath. Stalling was NOT something he was good at. It was worth it to have the others show him how. It had been long and painful lessons, but worth it.
"Is there a problem?" Lotor asked opening up his own channel along with Haggars and Voltron.
"Not anymore," Keith pointed, "we found him, not let that guy go."
The Witchs hand flew back, slicing the man across the chest.
"He can go, if he can make it to a pod on his own," She cut off communication with Voltron and they watched as her ship turned to face Lotors.
"Kroila is still on that ship right?"
"How long do we have before those seeds germinate?"
"Can't be longer than a few more doboshes."
"You know that guy Lance?"
"…yeah…" Lance didn't look to happy about it, "I'm still trying to figure out how he got all the way out here AND captured my Haggar! I mean, I'M not even that gifted."
"It must be important, though, right?"
"Yeah, and not good news."
"I'll contact Krolia and-"
All five paladins flinched at the rain of lasers Lotor began to fire at Haggars ship. Her defenses were as solid as ever, but that didn't deter Lotor from trying his best to break through.
"Should we help?"
"And get caught up in that? Hell no. Let's wait for the seeds to do their thing."
Keith was drumming his fingers as he watched the side of Haggars ship, waiting for Krolia to run up.
()
Krolia, when she found the cell empty, yet freshly soiled, gave a low curse. They had been moved and who knew where.
She lead the group to the escape pods and hid them in the furthest one, "You stay here, understand? I'll go see if I can't find the others."
They nodded and attempted to make themselves as small and well hidden form the outside as possible. She was grateful that she'd not have to specify that direction and felt a bit safer.
She was making her way back down the hall when she heard someone walking towards her. She hid and waited for the footsteps to pass before continuing on.
About to give up, because the only place she'd not searched was the bridge, and she was sure that if they were there, they were dead anyway. She was making her way back when the floor un front of her erupted as vines and woody branches made passage impossible
"Che," she scrambled up the vines and made her way into the airducts above. It was the long way around and she just hoped she'd be able to get out before the plants wrecked that part of the ship.
As Krolia passed by the Bridge, she gave a curtesy look inside. Haggar was focused fully on her weapons and slowly failing shields. Behind her was what had to be the other prisoner. He was slowly inching his way across the floor and out of view of the enemy in the room.
She had to give the guy credit for not only still being alive, but able to move. Not many would have.
Taking a line from her belt she lifted a tile well out of the view of the enemy. She lowered it and then attempted to get the guys attention.
He spotted it and squinted up to see who was up there. It was too dark, and in his predicament, he didn't really have room to argue. He inched slowly, the best he could, to the line dangling above the ground.
Taking the end, he fumbled with it while Krolia kept watch on the enemy. Bloodloss was making him clumsy as his fingers forgot how to tie a loop. He bit back a curse as the knot slipped again.
Krolia snatched the line back up and tied it for him before lowering it again.
()
Haggars ship was just staring to bow outward with the pressure of the growing plants when Voltron saw a second escape pod rush out and away.
"Oh I can breathe!"
"About time."
"Almost didn't make it."
"Shields are almost down, we should get into position."
()
"Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead!" Lance announced with both arms in the air as he entered the bridge.
Shiro looked up and nodded. In front of him was the kid wrapped up in a blanket. He looked a little shell shocked, but he'd be ok in a bit.
"Hunk, think you can get him something light to eat?" shiro asked, "Maybe something a little sweet as well?"
"Sure, I'll be right back."
"Lance," Shiro waved him over, "he wont say a word to me."
Lance walked over and sat next to the kid. Digging into his pocket he pulled out his badge and showed it to him.
"I'm Agent B1A5, what's your name?"
"…A3-1…"
"Well, Lil' Dash, you and your trainer got yourselves into a quite a bit of trouble. Is there a reason you're all the way out here?"
The kid nodded but didn't elaborate.
"You know," Lance said, "With your trainer out of commission, for the time being, you hold the authority. I can't do anything unless you talk to me. From what Krolia told us when we arrived, A3 isn't leaving the healing pod for a week."
"Will he be ok?"
"Of course," Lance grinned, "in fact, if he can survive the rude dreams, he'll be as good as new. Those healing pods are a little weird, but they patched me up after an explosion just fine. And I've seen A3 take on worse. With or without the healing pod he would've been out in a week."
The kid laughed, that was his trainer all right.
"So spill, what's A3 and his Dash doing so far from home?"
"mmm," the kid glanced around at all the bodies in the room. Bodies he was sure were not part of the agency.
"You can speak freely," Lance assured him, "if they ask questions I'll answer, or I'll let you know, ok?"
The kid nodded and sifted into a better position to face the older agent.
"We were sent by Superior Iverson to bring back whatever aid we could find. We were told to follow a specified signal that would lead us to something called…Voltron…and that we'd find an agent already stationed there."
"You found Voltron and the Agent is me," Lance confirmed, "what else?"
"Earth had been under attack for the last six months from an enemy named Sandack. He's blocked all communication in and out of the immediate solar system. The Hogros have tired sending aid, but they can't get through the enemies forces. The Jermites are trying to get the barrier fixed still."
"Did the markers Agent Frok ingrained in the enemies systems help?"
"they helped like a tornado siren," the boy shrugged, "it only gave us time to get underground and Sam Holt time to fortify the Garrison and the surrounding areas. We were not able to help everyone…"
"And you never will," Lance said firmly putting a hand on the kids head, "that should be lesson one. You will never help everyone. Life is and never will be fair. The best we can do is pick up where we trip, k?"
The kid nodded, "My trainer is the only one that had been trained on the new Jermite ships before the invasion. It was still not completely finished and only allowed one jump through space. But we figured that if we found you then we'd have a ride back and if we didn't, well, Earth was pretty much toast anyway."
"Is it a practice in your agency to be so hilariously bleak?" Allura asked leaning over to Lance.
"Occupational hazard," Lance shrugged, to the kid he asked, "do you have all the information?"
"My tainer does," he said, "I don't know where he put it."
"Don't worry," Lance said, a little too gleeful, "I'll look through his things. Hunk will be back with food and then I order you to get cleaned up, get those busies looked at, and then go straight to bed."
"But we have to hurry, we don't-"
"You disobeying orders?" Lance asked lifting an accusing eyebrow. Wide eyed the kid shook his head.
"Good," Lance smiled, "You're first priority is getting rested. A sluggish Dash is a useless Dash."
The kid blushed and muttered, "yessir…can I ask a question though?"
"Of course."
"are you really a…five?!"
Lance knew what he was talking about and laughed, "Don't worry, this job isn't for everyone. Most of them quit before their training was done."
"Laaaaance."
"Right, right," Lance looked up at his friends, "You're first letter and number tells people who trained you. The second number tells you how many were trained by that same person above you. the dash is there as a place holding. The letter that goes there will come after you become an actual agent and you've developed a specialty."
"So four above you were trained by the same guy? Is that bad?"
"Three quit, one died," Lance said, "I was the fifth to be trained. Normally agents only train two at most. So five is definitely rare, if not completely unheard of."
"Was your trainer tough?"
Lance grinned and shrugged, "he knew his stuff and the way he taught made it easy to get ahead of yourself especially if you couldn't keep up."
"But you could…keep up?...you?!"
"Ouch Pidge," Lance scowled at her, "you know, someday you're just going to have to get over this. You've had months to let this sink in."
She shook her head, "I'll believe it when I see it."
()
Lance whistled a happy tune as he searched the pockets of A3's jacket. He sat in the middle of the floor where all the personal possessions of the prisoners were kept.
"So, how angry will this guy be when he finds out you went through his stuff?" Pidge asked sitting on the steps by the bods
"Oh, he'll be furious," Lances grin widened, "and he'll have nothing to say about it."
"No love lost?"
"Love? No. But he is a good agent and his loss would be felt where the work load is concerned."
"Because you both are 'A's and his work would go to you?"
"Bingo."
"Have you trained anyone yet?"
Lance laughed, "Absolutely NOT! I refuse to train anyone."
"What if we wanna join? Would you train us?"
"Death first," Lance said and tossed Pidge a usb. She caught it deftly.
"Rude."