Chapter 10: Collection and Extraction

6 months prior to the present, a young girl with purple eyes, medium raven hair, and a casual white and black clothing walked out in the desert to find a Garrison space shuttle and saw a man with raven hair and a purple eye by it. She walked toward the shuttle before stopping in front of the man.

Unknown: "So... your mind's made up, Ayame?"

Ayame: "Yes, Mr. York. I came this far. There's no turning back for me."

Then, Mr. York patted her in the back as he smiled at her.

Mr. York: "Then let the new frontier begin."

The next morning, Jenny was rocked awake by Pidge.

Pidge: "Jenny! Wake up!"

Jenny moaned as she blinked her eyes open to see her panicked face.

Jenny: "Yeah? What's up?"

Pidge: "Ayame's gone!"

Then, Jenny panicked as badly as she did.

Jenny: "She's what?!"

Immediately, Jenny ran to Pidge's quarters and saw a vacant bed beside Pidge's, save for a note. Jenny picked it up and saw the inscription.

Dear Jenny,

I've recently found a way to confirm whether or not Shiro is alive. Mr. York provided it for me. I don't know how but he did. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you with me, but believe me when I say I'm trying to keep you safe. If they are gone, I didn't want you to be next. And don't worry. I haven't forgotten about your sister, either. I'll be sure to find them for you. If I haven't by then, I know you'll have better luck. Until then, keep trying for me.

Love,

Ayame

Pidge ran in just in time to see Jenny making waterworks as she smiled, much to the genius' confusion.

Pidge: "You alright?"

Jenny nodded back to her before Pidge responded.

Pidge: "How could you be okay with this?"

Jenny: "Because she's still alive. Who knows how long it'll take before I'll see her again? Until I know for sure, I'm going to keep on trying. For Ayame. And when I'm ready... I'll see her again."

At the castle, Pidge was searching through Sendak and Haxxus' memories.

Allura: "Somewhere inside Haxxus and Sendak's memories we should be able to find the inside information that gives us the key to take down Zarkon and Kaecilius."

Jenny: "Yeah, I don't think Alfor would like to hear about this."

Allura: "I know, but we have to do everything we can to defeat Zarkon."

Sandra: "Well, even if we get the data, we'll need to come up with a plan."

Lance: "How's this for a plan? Once we learn all his weaknesses, we can drive up to his front door and challenge him to a fight. Winner gets the universe."

Then, Lance pictured himself standing atop Zarkon's back with the Paladins and the Galra renegades giving him a thumbs up as Allura and Jenny stood by his side looking up to him with a smile. However, that daydream was crashed by Sandra.

Sandra: "Well, that's obviously a sucker bet, you being the sucker."

As Lance growled at her, Shiro got to the matter at hand.

Shiro: "Anything good yet, Pidge?"

Pidge: "We were only able to salvage bits and pieces."

Babak: "Well, there must be something to work with."

Keith: "I agree. Right now, we don't have a decent map of the empire."

Lapis: "Without a lead, we won't know where to strike without any casualties."

Lance: "Who needs a map? After 10,000 years of conquering, I could probably fire my bayard at any random point in space and hit a Galra ship."

Jenny: "Yeah, and maybe some other innocent ship in the process. We can't risk that."

Lance felt sheepish from suggesting that and agreed with her.

Lance: "Oh. Right."

Shiro: "If we could just find troop locations or supply routes, small targets we could hit-and-run, then we could start to free planets one by one."

Then, Lance slid over to Shiro and gave his two cents.

Lance: "Boring. I want the big kaboom."

Belle: "Not the best idea. Zarkon's built his empire for 10,000 years. It's not something we could just tear down overnight. And even if we could, Zarkon would just retaliate with something bigger than your kaboom. And if he doesn't do that, Kaecilius will."

Shiro: "Belle's right. Hitting him where he lives would be a huge mistake."

Then, Pidge found a solution to their problem.

Pidge: "Okay, I've cross-referenced Sendak's memories with the info I got from the downed ship back on Arus. Most of it was a garbled mess, but one thing kept repeating, something called a 'universal station.'"

Lapis: "Universal station? Hold on. I've heard it before."

Keith: "You have?"

Lapis: "Yes, but considering what they use it for, it might as well be some sort of Galactic Hub."

Lance: "Or 'space base.'"

The crowd looked to Lance in confusion, causing him to look back at them before blinking.

Lance: "What?"

Coran: "I'm pulling up the location of your Universal Hub Station Base on our screens now."

Then, Coran revealed three planets in a triangle, earning confusion from Jenny.

Jenny: "Huh? Are you sure it's up, Coran? Because I'm not seeing squat."

Coran: "I don't know. Our long-range sensors are unable to find anything at those coordinates."

Keith: "Maybe he remembered it wrong."

Lapis: "No, Keith. It means we found one of the top-secret bases in one of their memories."

Jenny: "How can you be so sure?"

Allura: "Only one way to find out. Let's go take a look."

Then, the castle took off toward the coordinates.

Later, as they drew closer to it, Hunk laid on the chair upside-down with his nose blowing out a bubble, grossing Sandra out before Jenny jolted him out, causing him to fall off of it.

Jenny: "If you're gonna sleep, you should do it somewhere else. Preferably not my chair."

Hunk felt embarrassed about that.

Hunk: "Oh, that's your chair?"

Sandra: "How close are we?"

Allura: "We should be close enough to get a good scan, but far enough away to avoid being noticed."

Then, as the castle crept closer to its destination, they saw three Galra cruisers and a giant structure embedded in an asteroid.

Shiro: "There it is."

Lapis: "I knew it."

Babak: "It appears the gravitation between the two planets and that moon warps the electron emission spectrum enough to keep the planet off the deep space scanners."

Jenny: "Like the Bermuda Triangle?"

Babak grew confused and tried to answer her.

Babak: "Well, uh, yes. I suppose?"

Pidge: "So, you can only see it if you really know where to look."

As the Galra cruisers came and went, Shiro had a theory.

Shiro: "This place must handle shipments from all over the Galra Empire."

Pidge: "If this is some big airport where shipments come and go, why is it hidden?"

Then, Zaltron stepped in, as if to answer.

Zaltron: "To hide their Quintessence manufacturing."

Coran didn't seem to believe that.

Coran: "And how would you know?"

Zaltron: "Because I've thwarted many operations such as this in my day. What I couldn't decipher was why."

Coran: "Okay. You're a war veteran. I get it. But to actually make Quintessence? That seems impossible, doesn't it?"

Shiro: "There must be more to this than what we're seeing."

Allura: "Then, we'd better go down to take a look. We'll need to enter here: the central control building."

Then, Keith caught onto what Allura meant.

Keith: "I'm sorry, Princess, did you say 'we'?"

Allura: "I'm going with you. I've traveled through the Galra transportation hubs many times with my father before the war began. I know more about them than either of you."

Coran didn't feel that to be true.

Coran: "Well, what about Lapis, Zaltron, or even Azix? They must know how these hubs work."

Lapis: "Actually, I don't have a clue. I've only heard about the universal stations."

Azix: "I do. But I'm afraid they'll recognize me and I'll put you all at risk."

Then, Coran turned to Zaltron.

Coran: "What about you, big guy?"

Zaltron: "I know about the hubs as well. But I believe Allura is entitled to help her fellow Paladins in this manner."

Coran: "But, Zaltron, I'd rather she stays here."

Zaltron: "I understand that you have your duties, Coran. But Allura has her own to consider as well."

Allura: "He's right. I'm a part of this fight against Zarkon as much as anyone. I'm going. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

Lapis: "I'll look after her to help."

The Paladins were speechless as Lapis stood by Allura.

Lapis: "I know that we come from different races, but why should that make us enemies? We all have a role to play. This is mine; to stand by Allura's side, whether she needs me or not."

Then, Shiro raised his hands up in a shrug.

Shiro: "Fine. Suit up."

Coran screamed in panic as the Paladins gasped, except for Jenny who didn't see anything wrong with that.

All: "Huh?"

Jenny: "What's wrong with that? It'll work out."

Then, Allura turned to Lapis.

Allura: "Lapis... thank you."

Lapis: "Just trying to help a friend."

Later on, the Green Lion moved in towards the dark side of the planet as it began cloaking itself and landing on the asteroid.

Shiro: "We'll go in low, fast, and hopefully undetected. Coming around the dark side of the nearest planet should keep them from getting a visual on us. Thanks to Pidge's modifications to the Green Lion, we'll have 30 seconds of cloaking."

Coran: "I can flood their short-range sensors with a radiation burst. That should But you a minute or so, while they assume it's cosmic interference. But, after that, it's up to you to be out of sight."

In the central command station, a voice spoke to the officers.

Male voice: "Interference clear in three, two, one."

One of the officers yawned before Belle got his attention.

Belle: "Psst. Hey."

Galra Soldier: "Hmm?"

Belle knocked him off of the station, getting the attention of two drones before she took them out. Then, she gave them the all clear.

Belle: "That's all of them."

Once they got out, the Paladins moved the drones away and Hunk set up a laptop as Pidge got to work.

Hunk: "This shouldn't take long."

Jenny: "How do you know?"

Pidge: "We'll have all the information we need in a few minutes. Hunk and I made some improvements since the last time we tried to download Galra info. We should get a nice, clean translation immediately. Hunk had a great idea about how to do it."

Sandra: "Is that a fact?"

Hunk: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you guys remember when we studied algorithms at the Garrison, and Mr. York told us that joke about the ghost learning symbolic logic and innumerably infinite sets?"

Lance: "Boring!"

Jenny turned to Lance and glared at him while Hunk told himself off.

Hunk: "Right, yeah, totally, it was boring. Anyway, the joke goes—"

Lance groaned before Hunk could tell the joke, just as Keith spoke up.

Keith: "Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt, but I think we got company."

He couldn't be more right as a giant Galra cruisers just landed.

Keith: "Think we should get out of here?"

Pidge: "We just need a few more seconds."

Shiro: "Stay low. We need this intel."

Then, they noticed a transmission coming on.

Keith: "Duck!"

Then, Jenny muffled her yelp as she and the other Paladins ducked under the desk. On the transmission, a scarred face with scattered raven hair and a purple eye spoke.

Komar: "This is General Komar. I'm requesting permission to board this station."

Hearing his name, Lapis felt it to be familiar as she'd knew she'd heard it before.

Lapis: "Komar..."

Pidge pondered a question that popped up in her mind.

Pidge: "Why does he sound so familiar?"

Then, Komar spoke up again.

Komar: "Well? I'm waiting."

Hunk: "I got it."

Then, Hunk picked up the pieces of a drone and used it as a puppet to swipe the list and waved him in with a thumbs-up, perplexing Komar as he blinked his eye.

Komar: "Uh... thank you."

Then, the transmission ended before Hunk and Pidge drew a breath of relief.

Hunk/Pidge: "Phew."

Inside the Galra cruiser, a soldier spoke to him.

Galra Soldier: "Uh, sir? Is something the matter?"

Komar: "Obviously, something's amiss in this station."

Galra Soldier: "What should we do?"

In response to his question, Komar smiled a wicked grin as his purple eye glowed.

Komar: "We'll land as planned. If anything else happens, I'm always the first to know... Bring me Ayame. She'll be very interested to see this."

At the control center, Lance congratulated Hunk.

Lance: "Nice job, Hunk."

Hunk: "Thanks."

Then, the laptop has finished inputting the data.

Pidge: "Okay, download complete."

Keith: "What's it say?"

Pidge: "Nothing. This place doesn't have any useful information. Just a schedule of the ships coming in and out."

Lance decided to abandon ship right away.

Lance: "Well, I guess this mission was a bust."

Shiro: "Let's get back to the Castle."

Then, Allura spoke up to Pidge.

Allura: "Hold on, Pidge. Do you know where that ship is headed?"

Pidge: "Um, it's scheduled to be here for about a half hour, then head off to Central Command."

Lapis: "That means that this ship may have the info we're looking for."

Allura: "My thoughts exactly, and I'm goofing to sneak aboard and get it for us."

Lance: "What? No way!"

Jenny: "Yeah, I agree this time. You'll be spotted right away. How are you gonna get past them without being noticed?"

Allura took off her helmet before answering.

Allura: "I'm going to walk right through the front."

Then, she closed her eyes before she suddenly gained a light purple skin and grew to the height of the Galra as the group gasped in awe.

Hunk: "How the heck did you do that?"

Allura: "The Alteans are a chameleon-like people who can blend in with the local populations. It's the ability that's made us great explorers and diplomats throughout our history."

Then, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Jenny bombarded her with questions.

Lance: "So, can you turn into, like, a balloon?"

Pidge: "How many different colors can you be at once?"

Hunk: "Aren't you afraid you'll rip your pants?"

Jenny: "Can you make yourself fat?"

The whole group looked at Jenny weirdly for that question. In turn, she blushed out of embarrassment.

Jenny: "Sorry. I've got a weird fetish."

Allura: "No, just one at a time, I will need a change of costume, and..."

Then, Allura leaned into Jenny's ear before whispering.

Allura: "Yes."

Jenny smiled like a Cheshire Cat at this before she decided to be professional as she cleared her throat.

Jenny: "So, uh, what do we do?"

Allura: "I can use his uniform as a disguise."

Jenny: "What about me?"

Allura: "You'll stay here and keep an eye on things until a new situation comes to light."

Shiro: "I can't let you go in there alone."

Allura: "Excuse me? I do not need your permission."

Belle: "Even with Lapis, it's too dangerous. I'm going in with you, too."

Allura: "You too, Belle? The both of you will stick out like a Choferiak's nose."

Lapis: "Actually, you're going to need those noses. Their arms are made from Galra tech. They can allow us to interface with their systems and gather intel."

Pidge: "Lapis is right. With their help, I can monitor the download from here."

Allura didn't like this, but due to overwhelming pros over cons, she had little choice.

Allura: "Fine. You can come."

Hunk: "Well, you guys better hurry up if you want to get on and off before the ship leaves for Zarkon central."

Keith: "How are you going to get Shiro and Belle on board?"

Then, Shiro, Belle, Lapis, and Allura looked to each other before smiling at each other.

Later, the disguised Allura carted a box of supplies with Shiro, Lapis, and Belle inside before a voice stopped her.

Galra Soldier: "Halt."

Then, Allura did just that as she noticed two containers of a yellow substance moving to the station by two soldiers before one of them spoke to her.

Galra Soldier: "Move along."

Then, Allura moved in with the container before drawing a breath of relief. Up on the control center, Lance informed the group.

Lance: "They're in."

Then, Keith and Jenny looked down to see Kaecilius in front of two soldiers with the containers of the yellow substance.

Keith: "Him again."

Jenny: "What do you think they have in all those giant containers?

Hunk: "Well, I suspect that it's sporks."

The group turned to Hunk and gave him a weird look.

Jenny: "Sporks? Really?"

Hunk: "What? This is an advanced race we're talking about here. Surely, they've learned that it's foolish to have forks and spoons when one tool will efficiently do the job."

Pidge: "Maybe this guy will tell us. What is coming in and out of this station?"

The drone sensed its brain being picked at and reacted.

Galra Drone: "Interrogation detected. Initiating lockdown."

Then, the drone's head slumped down as it closed itself off. However, Pidge only smiled at this.

Pidge: "Not talking, eh?"

Then, Jenny noticed a familiar face walking out of the ship, as did Keith, though he couldn't recognize him.

Jenny: "Whoa. Check out this guy."

Keith: "Whatever's happening here that requires the base to be kept secret must have something to do with that scary dude."

Then, Jenny noticed a scar on his left eye and a purple eye as her heart began to beat fast.

Jenny: "Wait... Isn't that...? It can't be..."

Then, another person walked out, in Galran clothing with purple eyes and medium raven hair. That got Jenny on edge as her heart practically began beating out of her chest just as Keith grew surprised.

Keith: "No way."

Pidge: "Is that...?"

Jenny: "Ayame... it's her..."

Lance and Keith noticed her panicking and hyperventilating as they tried to cool her down.

Lance: "Whoa, Jenny, calm down!"

Keith: "Calm down."

When she didn't heed them, Lance hugged her and brushed her hair gently as her breathing slowed down, as did her heartbeat.

Lance: "It's okay, Jenny. Keep cool."

Then, after she took a deep breath, Jenny began to tear up.

Jenny: "Lance. I... I..."

Lance: "Shhh. It's okay. I'm here for you."

Jenny: "I never thought I'd see her again..."

Lance: "Huh? See who?"

Pidge: "Ayame. She's really here..."

Then, Jenny stood up and knew what to do.

Jenny: "I'm getting her out of there."

Due to his own history with Ayame, Keith wanted to help her.

Keith: "I'll go with you, Jenny. She's my friend, too."

Lance, who was out of the loop, wanted an explanation.

Lance: "Okay, seriously, what's the big deal with this girl?"

Jenny: "She's an old friend, Lance. That's all you need to know for now. I'll explain once I get her back."

Then, she began walking toward the door, as did Keith, much to Lance's chagrin.

Lance: "How about we just lay low and you don't blow our cover?"

Jenny and Keith ignored Lance as they kept walking.

Lance: "Guys, think about what you're doing."

Jenny: "Been there, done that."

Lance: "Don't walk through that door!"

Jenny then stopped just outside the door before snapping at him.

Jenny: "You don't get to tell me what to do!"

Lance grew shocked at her outburst before she spoke onward.

Jenny: "I've lost her for six months, Lance! I'm not letting her slip away again!"

Then, she ran out the door as Sandra called out to her.

Sandra: "Jenny, wait!"

Then, the door closed on the group that stayed as Lance was dumbfounded.

Lance: "What happened?"

Then, Pidge spoke to Lance.

Pidge: "There's a lot you don't know, Lance."

At the cruiser, Allura, Belle, Lapis, and Shiro were sneaking along the ship's walls just as Shiro received a flashback of his time in prison.

He timed the drone's movements as he tapped on the wall.

Allura and the others checked on him.

Allura: "Shiro, are you alright?"

Shiro: "I just remembered how I escaped from the Galra prison ship. Listen, most of the ship's personnel are sentries."

Allura: "So?"

Then, Lapis got the point of that.

Lapis: "Of course. We timed their patterns before."

Allura: "Do you remember it?"

Shiro: "Let's find out."

Then, he waited for a drone to pass by before he tapped in the wall and ran to another wall as soon as they were certain that it was safe.

Belle: "That's really good thinking."

Shiro: "Thanks."

Then, they went to another wall to go along with.

Meanwhile, Keith and Jenny kept an eye on Kaecilius, Komar, and Ayame as they walked to the factory, listening to their conversation.

Kaecilius: "You've shown poor judgment bringing this heathen creature here."

Komar: "Watch your words, Kaecilius. You should know she has feelings."

Kaecilius: "That doesn't matter to me in the slightest. Showing her our work would allow Xaira to use it against us and quite possibly become our rival."

Komar: "There is that possibility. But I'm also relying upon a few certain... guests to retrieve her. In my experience, it's best to expect the unexpected, especially when you see it coming beforehand."

As they talked, Ayame looked up the walls and saw two Paladins atop a structure and grew surprised before blinking her eyes, only to see that they've vanished. All the while, Kaecilius growled at Komar.

Kaecilius: "You make a fine point where it's due, I'll admit that much. But know that it didn't fail to aggravate me."

Komar glared at him back before turning to Ayame.

Komar: "Message received. Come, Ayame."

Then, they noticed Ayame looking up at the structure before Komar spoke again.

Komar: "Ayame."

Ayame turned to Komar in confusion.

Ayame: "What?"

Komar: "Come here."

Ayame: "Sorry. I just... I thought I saw someone."

At that point, Komar smiled as he'd turned his back on her.

Komar: "Really? Well, it's best to keep your eyes open. Come."

Then, Ayame nodded before he walked with them, unaware that Jenny and Keith were watching.

Jenny: "Did you see that?"

Keith: "Yeah. That guy looks so familiar."

Jenny: "That's because he's Mr. York. He took her to space to find Shiro and my sis 6 months ago."

Keith: "Then what are they doing with the Galra?"

Jenny: "Only one way to find out."

Then, Jenny and Keith leaped off of the structure before they went in just as the gate would've closed on them.

Meanwhile, Hunk began to tinker with the drone, causing him to hit its head with its hand as he laughed.

Hunk: "Why are you hitting yourself? Stop hitting yourself! Quit hitting yourself!"

Pidge had had enough of Hunk's tomfoolery.

Pidge: "Stop torturing it, Hunk."

Hunk explained himself as he kept at it.

Hunk: "I'm sorry. I just... I need something to keep me busy, so I'm not worried about Keith and Jenny getting caught, or Shiro, Lapis, Belle, and Allura getting blasted by robot things, or someone finding us here, like right now."

Annoyed with Hunk's habit, Pidge slapped his hands.

Pidge: "Stop it, Hunk! I think we can teach it to help us. Would you like to help us, Mr. Robot?"

As a response, the drone rapidly shook its head before pausing and resuming the shaking in a pattern.

Pidge: "Whoops."

Then, Lance couldn't take the suspense and spoke to Sandra.

Lance: "Okay, just tell me. Why did Jenny just snap at me over that girl?"

Sandra: "You mean you don't know? Ayame was one of her best friends since joining the Garrison. She, Pidge, and Jenny both thought they lost someone they cared about. But when Jenny had an idea that they're still alive, she brought them closer together because of the hope she'd given them. She wanted the three of them to go into space together to search for them. Until Mr. York caught wind of that and offered to help Ayame. She wanted Jenny and Pidge to come with her, but he wouldn't let them go with, because he knew that they'd fulfill their lives on Earth. Ayame eventually agreed to his terms and left a note for the two of them. Pidge was obviously upset, but Jenny? She's really proud of her for jumping at the chance. Since then, she's made a promise that when she was ready, she'd find her too."

Lance took in every bit of the story involving her and Ayame and grew amazed.

Lance: "Whoa. Why didn't she ever tell me?"

Sandra: "Can you blame her? You've been flirty back then. Bringing her around you might've made it worse."

Lance: "Hey, that's—"

He attempted to retaliate, but couldn't deny the truth.

Lance: "actually accurate."

Sandra nodded as she replied.

Sandra: "Mm-hmm."

Meanwhile, Keith and Jenny snuck into the processing plant where Komar showed Ayame its function as the yellow substance entered the circle and flowed in the same shape as a spring.

Komar: "Do you know why we're here?"

Ayame: "You were going to show me how Quintessence is manufactured."

Komar: "Of course. Because one day, you'll carry out that work to benefit the greater good."

Komar then motioned to Kaecilius to carry out his work before he fired purple lightning at it, changing the color of the substance and causing it to leak out of the bottom and fill up another container below before it went along. He then turned to Ayame before speaking.

Komar: "Pretty impressive, isn't it?"

Ayame didn't have an answer as she replied questionably.

Ayame: "I guess?"

Meanwhile, Shiro and the others found a control room and noticed two Galra drones before Shiro went in and took them out. After that, he put them to the wall before the group got in.

Shiro: "We only have a few minutes before the next patrol comes by. Watch the door."

Allura: "Got it."

Then, they got onto the computer before he and Belle placed their metal hands on it to interface with it.

Shiro: "Okay, Pidge. Start the download."

Pidge: "Generating access code."

Then, the code automatically installed itself before it opened up.

Pidge: "We're in."

Then, the computer blocked them out after a moment.

Shiro: "Pidge, I think there's a problem."

Pidge: "Sit tight. I'm trying to work around this."

As Pidge did so, the computer did some work of its own.

Computer: "Scanning for information."

Shiro: "Pidge?"

Pidge: "I'm on it, I'm on it!"

However, things took a turn for the worse as a soldier wandered to their area.

Galra Soldier: "What's going on here? Who are you?"

Allura got in front of him and spoke to him.

Allura: "It's about time you got here. Where's the rest of your squad?"

Galra Soldier: "Uh, what squad?"

Shiro whispered to Pidge as the situation escalated.

Shiro: "Hurry up, Pidge."

Pidge: "Almost there."

Allura: "The squad that is to escort me and my associates to our ship."

Galra Soldier: "Who's back there? What's going on?"

Allura: "We are part of Zarkon's high command. Our work must not be disturbed."

Galra Soldier: "Where's Chief Information Officer Plytox?"

Allura: "Uh, he's in there. Say hello, Plyrox."

Shiro saw it as his cue and spoke in a deep voice.

Shiro: "It's 'Plytox!'"

Allura: "Oh, sorry. See?"

Galra Soldier: "Oh. Vrepit Sa, sir! I get his name wrong all the time, too."

Then, the soldier walked away before Allura drew another breath of relief.

Allura: "Phew."

Meanwhile, Keith and Jenny tried to analyze the situation while the former used his helmet to give the groups at the Castle and out a visual.

Keith: "Coran, you need to see this."

At the Castle, Coran, Babak, Azix, and Zaltron saw what Keith was seeing as he gasped.

Coran: "I've never seen anything like it."

Pidge: "What is that?"

Then, the drone's red mechanism turned yellow before answering.

Galra Drone: "The material is Quintessence, the substance with the highest known energy per unit volume in the universe."

Lance: "Hey, nice job, Pidge! You made him work for us."

Coran: "What? Impossible."

Zaltron: "I warned you of this."

Galra Drone: "Raw Quintessence material is transported here throughout the galaxy and refined into standardized Galra fuel requirements."

Pidge: "Did you guys hear that?"

Sandra: "Yeah."

Coran: "I can't believe it! They've found a new way to acquire Quintessence!"

Then, Coran turned to Zaltron and spoke to him.

Coran: "I'm sorry I doubted you, Zaltron."

Keith: "Guys, I'm going to help Jenny get Ayame back and steal some of this quint-whatever."

Then, they snuck onto closer to Komar and Ayame, inadvertently catching the former's attention.

Ayame: "Is something wrong?"

Komar: "Wait here. We're not alone."

Meanwhile, Allura and Lapis stood watch while Shiro and Belle tried to get the information just as another soldier appeared and caught Lapis' notice.

Lapis: "Allura, distract him."

Allura: "What?"

Galra Soldier 2: "Um..."

Allura turned to the soldier who spoke to her.

Allura: "Huh?"

Galra Soldier 2: "Do you think I could get assigned to Zarkon's unit? Nothing happens on this ship."

Allura: "Oh, well, I don't know. What's your bloodthirstiness on the scale of one to five. One being, 'No thanks, I'm full,' and five being 'Unquenchable.'"

The soldier took a moment to think before answering.

Galra Soldier 2: "Hmm... If I'm being honest, about a three."

Allura: "We'll work on that."

Galra Soldier 2: "Well, sure. But, you know, Zarkon's not always bloodthirsty."

Allura doubted that as she frowned.

Allura: "And why not?"

Galra Soldier 2: "Well, I think he puts on this mean and heartless exterior to cover up his feelings from..."

The soldier's face darted left to right before he whispered into her ear.

Galra Soldier 2: "the loss of his daughter."

Allura grew surprised as she gasped.

Allura: "Zarkon had a daughter?"

Galra Soldier 2: "Yep. Sure did. He called her 'Xaira.' That's all we know about her. Well, that and we lost her since she was a baby. You didn't know?"

Allura: "It's, uh, my first day."

However, the alarm that rang out alerted the soldier to their true intentions.

Allura: "Huh?"

Galra Soldier 2: "Huh?"

Computer: "Fugitive prisoners 117-9875 and 117-9876 detected. Remain where you are. Security alerted."

The soldier didn't know what to make if the situation and panicked.

Galra Soldier 2: "Uh, help! Intruders!"

Allura shut the door, only for the soldier to bang at it as she backed away.

Shiro: "I think we're in trouble."

Allura: "You think?!"

Then, Lapis took charge of the situation with no hesitation.

Lapis: "Stand back."

Then, Lapis charged at the door, breaking through it and flattening the soldier like a pancake before removing the door. The soldier then fell to the floor in a daze as she took his weapon. The group looked at her in confusion before Lapis spoke to them.

Lapis: "What?"

Allura: "Never mind."

Shiro: "Let's go!"

With that, they took off and headed to the hall as a pack of drones ran after them.

Meanwhile, Komar looked around for any sign of the intruders present in the room as another container of Dark Quintessence was prepared. All the while, Keith and Jenny waited for the right moment to snag a container of Quintessence. The moment came and Jenny successfully grabbed it, but also had difficulty trying not to spill it, making a small clattering before Komar and Kaecilius darted their eyes to them, only to find nothing. However, they knew better and Komar drew an exhale through his nose before they vanished. Then, Keith and Jenny tried to check the area for any sign of the Druids. Just as they jumped out and got ready to strike, Ayame turned to see Jenny and Keith as she gasped before the former shushed her.

Ayame: "Jenny? Keith? What are you guys doing here?"

Keith: "It's a long story. We're getting you out of here."

However, Komar's voice begged to differ.

Komar: "No one is leaving."

Keith: "Mm?"

Suddenly, Komar appeared behind him and smacked a mace-like weapon across Keith's face, knocking him to the ground and dropping the container to the ground, much to Jenny's surprise.

Jenny: "Keith!"

Then, Komar spoke to them as he picked up the container Keith dropped from the attack.

Komar: "You shouldn't have stuck your noses where they didn't belong."

Ayame tried to convince Komar to stand down.

Ayame: "Mr. York, stop this! They're my friends!"

Komar: "Didn't know, don't care."

Keith got up angrily and got his bayard ready in the form of a sword.

Keith: "Okay, plan B!"

Keith darted toward Komar, who placed the container back where it was, just before Keith could get to him. Right when he would've been attacked, he vanished and popped up in one area before Jenny tried to attack and failed as he vanished again and popped up in another area. Then, Kaecilius fire purple lightning from a spire up above at Jenny, who evaded the blast and glared at him.

Kaecilius: "There's no need for impatience. You'll face me now."

Then, Keith took the opportunity to attack Kaecilius from behind, only to be blocked by Komar's mace. Keith growled at Komar as he returned his own snarl before he thrust it forward, knocking Keith clear into a container, breaking it and spilling its contents on him. Ayame watched in horror as the battle went down.

Ayame: "Keith!"

Keith looked at his hand stained in the substance before looking toward Komar and Kaecilius.

Kaecilius: "Such a pitiful attempt."

Komar: "But they'll be punished severely, all the same."

Then, Keith spoke to Pidge in the transmission.

Keith: "Pidge! I need an extraction now! Hurry!"

Ayame overheard this and grew surprised.

Ayame: "Pidge?"

Then, Komar shouted to her.

Komar: "What are you waiting for? Detain him!"

Keith turned to Ayame, who tried to make up her mind about what to do before she came to a decision and suddenly prepared dark orbs in her hands, surprising Jenny and Keith.

Jenny: "What the...?"

Keith: "Ayame, why are you doing this?"

Ayame: "I'm sorry. But I have to do this. It's the only way to find Shiro and Belle."

The moment Jenny heard this, she decided to make it easier for her.

Jenny: "Well, then, you can stop this! We've already found Shiro and Belle!"

Ayame heard this and grew hopeful.

Ayame: "R-Really?"

Komar sensed what they were up to and tried to win her back.

Komar: "Don't listen to them! They'll say anything to break your focus! Detain them, now!"

Then, Ayame looked back to Jenny, who gave her a pleading look before she spoke.

Ayame: "You sure you've found them?"

Jenny nodded before speaking.

Jenny: "Have I ever lied to you?"

Ayame smiled at her before she took a deep breath and ceased her dark magic before Kaecilius appeared and knocked her back.

Kaecilius: "Just as I would expect from a mortal."

Then, Kaecilius fired purple lightning at the two of them, knocking them to the ground below.

Ayame: "No!"

Then, Kaecilius turned to Komar before speaking.

Kaecilius: "This debacle is your mess. You sort this out."

Then, Kaecilius vanished, leaving Komar to deal with Keith and Jenny.

Meanwhile, Shiro, Allura, Lapis, and Belle were running in the hall.

Shiro: "Pidge, fire up the Green Lion! We're coming in hot!"

As they ran, they evaded the shots fired at them, only to notice an new set of drones in front of them. In panic, she fired at them, only to fire at a drone behind her.

Allura: "What?"

Confused, she looked at the weapon before looking behind her to see a drone falling behind her. Then, Belle and Shiro took over and sliced the drone's to pieces before Shiro reprimanded Allura about the fact that she held her weapon backwards.

Shiro: "I thought you said you'd traveled around the galaxy. I mean, you fly a spaceship. How can you not know how to hold this correctly?"

Allura countered as they ran farther away.

Allura: "I'm tense! This is a tense situation!"

Then, an alert appeared and spread throughout the ship.

Ship: "Secure hatches. All personnel take positions for departure."

At the control center, Pidge got all the information she could before closing the laptop.

Pidge: "Let's move!"

Sandra/Hunk/Lance: "Right!"

At the factory, Komar looked down on Jenny and Keith.

Keith: "Why did you take Ayame from us?!"

Komar: "I'm sure you've heard this in class. It takes a true leader to know when to make hard decisions, when to strike, and when to make sacrifices. Like when I traded Shiro to the Galra Empire."

Hearing this, Ayame grew shocked as she gasped while putting her hands over her mouth.

Jenny: "What?! Shiro was abducted with my sis!"

Komar: "No. He and your sister were merely selected. During my time on Earth, I went under the guise of Mr. York to analyze the list of worthy candidates. So far, only Shiro and Belle were the top choices. After that, I made certain to put them as far away from the Solar System as possible in order to capture them. Zarkon wanted boundless Quintessence in his fingertips. I gave him the soldiers who can provide them: Kuron and Kren. But despite this, I remained on Earth for six more months to avert suspicion. Ayame over here was only here to be the third charm when Kuron and Kren inevitably failed. What's the lives of a few students when the Garrison could rule by Zarkon's side?"

Having heard this, Ayame grew angry and began to summon a dark purple orb of energy as Keith spoke to him.

Keith: "You don't care about the Garrison. You just care about yourself."

Komar snapped at Keith as he raised his mace.

Komar: "I AM THE GARRISON!"

Then, just as he was about to smite Keith, a dark orb hit him in the back, knocking him away to the floor before friend and foe alike turned to see Ayame with an angry look as she panted and walked toward Komar.

Ayame: "How could you?! You looked me right in the eye and promised me you'd help find Shiro and Belle, but you sold them to the Galra? Why?!"

Komar could only back away as a dark mist swirled around her, surprising Keith and Jenny.

Ayame: "I believed you, and you lied to me!"

Ayame fired another orb with one hand at Komar, who lost his mace to her blast before she planted her foot in his chest.

Ayame: "Tell me! Where are they?!"

Then, Komar nervously stammered as he spoke to her.

Komar: "I-I don't know where they went! They've escaped the Galra. That's the last I've heard of them!"

Ayame didn't believe him as she prepared another orb and prepared to strike him with it before she yelled.

Ayame: "LIAR!"

Then, Komar smiled before the dark mist around her spread itself around her as her pupils suddenly dilated before she began to shout in pain and anger, mich to Komar's joy and Keith and Jenny's worry.

Keith: "What did you do?!"

Komar: "It's not what I've done. It's what she's done."

Then, Jenny figured it out.

Jenny: "You mean Xaira's doing this to her?"

Komar only chuckled before he vanished while Ayame knelt to the floor and gripped her head as she yelled. Jenny struggled to get up from the damages caused by Kaecilius and Komar and put her arms around Ayame before shouting to reach her as Jenny got caught in the dark mist.

Jenny: "Ayame, please calm down! I'm here now! Keith, Hunk, Pidge, everyone! They're here for you!"

Ayame: "But... Belle... and Shiro..."

Jenny: "They're with us! They're with the Paladins of Voltron! Heck, they are the Paladins of Voltron! Just please... don't let Xaira control you."

Then, just as Jenny's hands produced a bright blue glow where she laid her hands and spread through her, Ayame began to calm down and hug her back as the dark mist vanished. Ayame began to sob lightly on her shoulder before she spoke.

Ayame: "Jenny... thank you..."

Jenny: "Actually... I'm the one who should be thanking you."

Then, Keith smiled at them before he held his hand out for her.

Keith: "You alright?"

Ayame wiped the tears from her face before she nodded and took his hand and stood up just as the Green Lion burst through the wall and opened its mouth, revealing Sandra.

Sandra: "Get in! We've got to get to Shiro and Allura!"

Jenny nodded to Pidge before Ayame asked her.

Ayame: "What is that thing?"

Jenny: "I'll explain later. How did you do that cool dark magic stuff?"

Ayame: "I'll explain later."

Then, they heard a yell behind them and saw Komar lunging at Jenny and grabbing her hand.

Keith/Ayame: "Jenny!"

Komar: "I'm not leaving empty-handed!"

Then, he and Jenny vanished from sight, much to the horror of Keith, Ayame, and Pidge.

Pidge: "They've gone!"

Keith then brought an update to everyone.

Keith: "Everyone, Jenny just disappeared!"

Lance: "What?! What do you mean she disappeared?!"

Keith: "Komar captured her."

Sandra, having heard this, jumped out of the Green Lion, to their surprise.

Keith: "Sandra? What are you—?"

Sandra: "Just go on without me. I'll stay hidden in the ship and find them."

Keith knew her sister usually comes through and simply nodded to her.

Keith: "Okay. Be safe."

Sandra gave him a signal with two fingers pointing upward as she smiled before the Green Lion closed its mouth. At the same moment, Ayame noticed Keith's hand stained in the yellow substance.

Ayame: "Your hand."

Keith looked to see the substance being absorbed into him in confusion.

Meanwhile, Shiro, Allura, Belle, and Lapis were trying to find a way off.

Belle: "What's the plan?"

Shiro: "The escape pods are up here!"

However, when they got there there was only one left.

Lapis: "You might want to change your grammar."

Male Voice: "Formulating navigation. All crew assume secure hyper-speed positions."

Belle: "Oh, great. We better hurry! We can't leave once this ship goes into hyper-space!"

Then, Lapis pushed the button on the door closing them on their drones. However, the drones were able to pry it open before Allura gripped the doors and tried to close it back while Shiro and Belle tried to melt it. However, they were pressed for time as the pod's doors began closing.

Allura: "It's taking off! Get in the pod!"

Shiro: "We're not leaving without you!"

Allura: "You have to!"

Then, to Allura's surprise she was gripped by Lapis and tossed to the pod before she gripped Shiro and Belle and chucked them into the pod as well. Allura ran to Lapis and spoke to her.

Allura: "Lapis! What are you doing?!"

Lapis: "You heard Keith. Jenny's been captured, and I have to help her."

Allura: "There has to be another way!"

Lapis: "There isn't, Allura. There's no two ways about it; I have to do this. If you're captured, Zarkon would have Voltron. I can't let that happen. You know that, too."

Allura gasped as the door that the drones were prying began opening up.

Allura: "But what about you?!"

Lapis: "This is bigger than just me. When you get back, tell Keith and my father... that they'll know where to find me."

Then, Allura began pounding on the door as she tried to get out of the pod.

Allura: "No! No, you can't!"

Shiro: "Allura, stop!"

Belle: "It's what she wants."

Then, the pod took off in great speed before the cruiser went into hyper-space, much to Allura's heartache before her hand that rested on the window tightened to a fist.

Allura: "I'll come back for you, Lapis. I promise."

Later, Shiro, Allura, and Belle got in the Green Lion, noticing Ayame as well.

Shiro: "Ayame?"

Ayame: "Takeshi?"

Then, Ayame hugged Shiro as the both of them drew their breaths.

Shiro: "What are you doing here?"

Ayame: "I was looking for you. If it wasn't for Jenny... I wouldn't have."

Then, Shiro spoke to her.

Shiro: "That's why we're going back for her. And Lapis, too."

Hunk: "But wasn't that ship headed to Zarkon's central command?"

Keith: "The one place that's too dangerous for us to attack?"

Shiro: "It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. We can't let Zarkon, Kaecilius, or Komar get Jenny."

Allura: "But you said going there would be a huge mistake. You said for us to attack that place head-on would be to have the universe to Zarkon."

Shiro: "I know. But now we don't have a choice."

Then, the group looked to outer space as they pondered what to do.

A/N: Hello. Sorry, it took me so long to post this chapter. In case you're wondering, the newest character in this story is Ayame Shirogane. She belongs to Akame-No-Senshi for this character, so be sure to send her a like or two. She is voiced by Arryn Zech as far as voice actresses. And if you want to know more about her, look her up at google and the rest should take care of itself. Have a good day. :)