Chapter 25: Best Laid Plans

At Olkarion, the Paladins were in their lions around the teludav as Allura spoke to Ryner.

"Thank you, Ryner, for all you and the Olkarion have done to assist us."

Then, she turned to Kolivan.

"Kolivan, is your council ready?"

"The council has been called to the Castle by Vrathrea. They should be waiting for us any moment now."

"Good."

Then, she turned to the Olkari before she spoke.

"Once we defeat Zarkon, it is my hope that we can continue to unite our forces and rebuild the once great coalition that my father, King Alfor, began."

The Olkari cheered from Allura's words, knowing that peace in the universe is nigh. Coran spoke to Allura amidst the cheering.

"Princess, it's time."

Later, the pod went up in the Castle as the Lions were huddled in a circle under the structure of the teludav.

"Everyone lock into position. We're taking this thing up."

With that, the lions clamped down their jaws on the teludav before Shiro gave a message to Allura.

"Princess, we are go for launch."

"Charging main turbine."

As the Castle took off, the lions and the teludav did as well, leaving Olkarion for what would be known as The Great Battle.

At Kaecilius' Cruiser, Vantiv walked over to him before she asked him.

"How soon are we going to attack?"

"Hopefully, not too long, my dear. Omegus is resting from the failed attempt. And now that they have all the necessary items, all we can do is wait until Zarkon finds the Black Lion. After which, the moment their plan springs into action, we shall alter it to our favor."

"Yes. And then Voltron and their allies will get what they deserve."

At the Castle, Shiro was going over the plan to the Paladins and the blades, including the council, for clarity.

"All right, guys, listen up. I'll use the Black Lion to lure Zarkon's fleet to our current location and make sure he's within the teludav's area of effect. Keeping the teludav hidden behind the space-fold until the last possible second is essential. We can count on you, right, Slav?"

"Absolutely. I'll be fine."

Then, he turned his eyes over to Luzria and Pidge.

"I'm not sure about the gravity generator, though."

Hunk grew worried about that part.

"What? Wh—What was that last thing?"

"Hiding a ship is one thing, but I've never had to build a gravity generator for something this large before. I know it'll work, but I'm not really sure for how long."

Shiro spoke up to Slav to get to the point.

"Well, that's a risk we'll have to take. Once Zarkon's ship is in position, Kolivan, Krolia, Zaltron, Lapis, Adea, Atchiam, Luzria, and Antok will coordinate with Thace. Together, they'll upload Zarkon's security system and upload the virus."

Pidge spoke up next as she smirked.

"And then, he'll be a sitting du-flax."

Hearing this, Adea grew confused, probably more so than everyone else.

"Uh, what?"

"What? A du-flax is an Altean creature with a beak and webbed feet."

"Oh. Sorry. I-I got it now."

Then, Coran leaped onto the podium.

"We'll wormhole Zarkon 500 million light years away, and he'll be in the Yggiz Galaxy before he knows what hit him!"

Then, Shiro turned to Vrathrea, Sneren, and Krul.

"What about Thace?"

Vrathrea spoke to Shiro on his progress.

"He's injured, but thankfully it wasn't severe. But, the Galra Empire already know he's the spy."

Then, Sneren spoke next.

"And if they already know, the whole plan is in enough jeopardy already. We need to abort the mission effective immediately."

Allura overheard this and grew angry at him, matching Vrathrea's fury.

"Abort? No! We cannot back away now."

Sneren snarled at her before speaking to her angrily.

"You may be willing to risk your own soldier's lives, but I am not! The Blade of Marmora isn't foolish like you!"

Adea grew worried about what it could lead to before she covered her mouth.

"Oh, no..."

However, Allura didn't let her temper get in the way of convincing them to do what's right, as much as she disliked his standing.

"It's held you back. Your caution is the reason Zarkon is still in power. It's the reason Omegus is in power!"

"We would rather wait than jeopardize everything. And even if it was the case, it's too late to send someone else on the inside."

Ayame stood up with Keith and both spoke up to Sneren.

"We'll do it."

Babak grew surprised to hear this.

"What?"

"Keith, Sandy, and I'll sneak onto Zarkon's ship. We're Galra, so we'll be able to interact with their technology."

Then, Keith turned to Pidge.

"Pidge, you can rig up one of those pods with a cloaking device, right?"

"Well, yeah."

Sneren was getting infuriated by their mutiny.

"Mutiny, again! Going onto Zarkon's ship is a death wish! I would never elect someone so inexperienced to go on a suicide mission!"

"We're not asking your permission, Sneren. Like it or not, the three of us are doing this."

Babak glared at the three before Shiro spoke up.

"Let's do it."

Later on, the Black Lion took off to space, acting as bait.

At Zarkon's command center, he was conducting the ceremony until Haggar stopped them, causing him to groan as he was cut out of it before he angrily spoke.

"Why do you disturb me?"

"My apologies, sire. I fear your singular focus has—"

"Has what?"

"I've overstepped my bounds. We've found a spy within our ranks before he disappeared. He plans something with an outside force. I suspect an attack is imminent."

"Let your Druids locate him and find out what he knows. You will stay here. The only thins that matter to me are getting the Black Lion, finding my daughter, and ridding myself of Omegus forever! I need the power you possess to search the galaxy."

With that, she and the Druids reluctantly conducted the ceremony again before Zarkon ended up going past the Blade of Marmora headquarters before going past it and a few burning stars, only to run past the Black Lion and fall to the ground as he took his breath.

"I have found the Lion."

Then, Zarkon sent a message to a Galra chief named Commander Throk.

"Get the fleet into hyper drive! I know where the Black Lion is."

"Yes, sir."

At the Black Lion, Shiro smiled after the link came back to him.

"Zarkon took the bait. He's got my location. Is everybody in position?"

Kolivan then spoke to Shiro about their positions.

"Yes, Shiro. The pod is almost ready and the gravity generator is being supervised by Slav. Lapis and her team will join them with the Violet Lion as soon as their own cloaking device is set up."

Adea giggled as she waved to Shiro before he spoke.

"Good. Keith, Ayame, Sandra, let me know when you're on your way. I'll give you guys cover."

At the hangar bay, Pidge installed the cloaking device in the pod as Babak walked up.

"Okay, the cloaking device is ready to go."

"Ahem! I'd like to have a moment with those three."

Pidge looked back and forth from them to Babak, already determining the situation won't be good.

"Sure thing. Uh, have all the moments you like."

As Babak walked up, Keith spoke to him.

"Is there something we can help you with?"

Babak spoke with venom in his voice.

"What I want is for you three to never come back."

The three grew surprised, Sandra being the most hurt from this before he spoke further.

"Of course, that's what I would ask of you... if I didn't know any better. It's just— the Galra. They've done atrocious things, Kaecilius most of all. He hurt me the most because we were partners once. Family, even. But, in time, I've grown to accept you and the Paladins to be my family. So, when I found out that you were Galra, I... I didn't know what to think. I wanted to hate you. Worse... I wanted to decrease the surplus population of the savages."

Ayame knew what it meant and spoke to him in shock

"How could you think like that?"

"That's just it. It wasn't any of you. It's me. My fury toward the Galra have made me susceptible to go down to their level until the last possible moment. And I want you to know that I... apol— apol— apol—"

Keith and Ayame were confused before Sandra giggled a little bit before she spoke up.

"It's okay, you can say it."

Then, Babak cleared his throat before saying it sincerely and clearly.

"I apologize. For misjudging you. You've proven time and again that it's not what's in your blood. It's who you are that counts. Promise me when this is over that you'll come back."

Ayame held her head before replying.

"We'll try. Thank you."

Later, Shiro got an incoming warning signal before he spoke.

"They're here."

Just like that, dozens of fighters, Galra Cruisers, and Zarkon's command center appeared out of thin air.

Far away, Kaecilius picked up a signal in where the command center is before he turned to Vantiv.

"He's taken the bait. I trust you can assist them along?"

"Just until the time is right."

"Excellent. At this rate, Omegus will be returned by this time tomorrow."

Back at the Black Lion, Shiro dodged the ion cannons of countless Galra Cruisers as he cut them down, triggering explosions on where the lacerations were made before Zarkon spoke to several cruisers at once.

"Send the fighters! Surround that lion! Draw him in! I want every ship in the fleet after that lion. Get me closer!"

As the fighters followed him, Zarkon's ship began to glow before Shiro spoke to the team.

"I've got Zarkon on the hook. Bringing him your way. Guys, you ready? We've only got one shot at this!"

Keith responded back as he put up activated the device.

"Engaging cloaking device."

After that, the pod took off in quick speed before it was detected by the Black Lion.

"Moving toward the fleet now."

"Roger that. I don't see you, but I'm locked on your signal. I'll clear a path."

Then, Shiro drove the Black Lion toward the fleet while dismantling them to make way for Keith, Ayame, and Sandra before they were able to get there as Ayame thanked her brother.

"Thanks, Takashi."

Then, Keith noticed their speed before bringing it up.

"We're coming in hot!"

As they crashed, they braced for impact before they noticed a few Galra drones and jumped out of the pod before they hacked them to pieces and ran forward with Ayame giving the report.

"We're in."

At the Castle, Allura got the report before she and Lance spoke to the others.

"The plan is working. Keith, Ayame, and Sandra are on board and Zarkon and Kaecilius' fleets are on the way."

"The Castle of Lion defenses are up and ready to go."

Meanwhile, Belle and Slav were working on the gravity generator around the main engine.

"Starting gravity generator now."

"Commencing cloak."

With that, the entire ship and the teludav turned invisible as the Violet Lion snuck itself on board as well, only it landed perfectly with Lapis, Adea, Thace, Atchiam, and Luzria following the trail of chaos caused by the pod from earlier just as Kaecilius' Cruiser appeared and Vantiv, wearing her helmet, rode on her manual pod toward the opening.

Inside the ship, Keith, Ayame, and Sandra ran to the door before they went behind a corner to hide themselves from the drones before they walked away. Seeing the opportunity, Keith and the others ran toward the handprint scan before he opened the door with his hand and the three walked in. At the last moment before it closed, Lapis and her group followed suit.

At the hangar bay, Vantiv entered it in her manual pod before leaping out of it with a smirk as she strolled down to see the Violet Lion. She thought it was the opportunity to tear it to pieces with her new arm, but before it could touch it, the lion activated its barrier, blocking out her dark red and black arm from its touch before she growled and got back to her mission.

"First things first."

Meanwhile, Keith, Ayame, and Sandra got to the corner as did Lapis, Thace, Adea, Atchiam, and Luzria before Kolivan spoke to them.

"Okay, you've made it to the lower communication deck. Head left down that corridor."

As they ran down that path, Antok spoke to Keith next.

"Based on the schematics from Thace, there should be a large door up ahead. This is the central hub for the Galra fleet."

"We see it."

Out in space, Shiro was still distracting Zarkon as he spoke to the team.

"I'm two minutes out. Is everyone ready?"

Kolivan responded to him first.

"No. Keith and the others haven't made it to the hub yet. We need more time."

"How much more?"

Belle joined in on the conversation next.

"Hopefully not much. The gravity generator is dangerously close to running out of gas."

"Well, I don't know how much longer I can hold Zarkon's fleet in this position by myself!"

Just then, Pidge spoke up to him.

"You won't have to!"

In an instant, the Yellow, White, Blue, and Green Lions came out to help Shiro while clearing them of the fighters.

"Good timing. Okay, we've got Zarkon's ship right where it needs to be. We gotta keep it here until that virus is uploaded."

Hunk, Lance, Jenny, and Pidge agreed with the plan.

"Let's do it!"

"All right!"

"No problem, jefe!"

"We got this!"

Meanwhile, the Druids noticed Vantiv walking toward the hub as well as she smirked at the cameras, as if vexing them to go find her as Zarkon barked at the other commanders.

"Flank the Black Lion! Surround him!"

Haggar grew very worried about how close they've come and what it could mean.

"Sire, I fear this could be a trap!"

"Get me more power. I must connect to the Black Lion."

With that, the Druids powered up Zarkon's suit with a stronger surge of Quintessence.

Meanwhile, Keith, Lapis and their groups made it into the hub before Ayame spoke.

"Kolivan, we're in. Now what?"

"Now you need to reset the system, using the codes that Thace obtained. It'll be down for a dobosh. That's when we'll upload the virus."

Luzria knew it was right down her alley before she spoke next.

"Copy that."

However, when she tried it, it didn't work.

"It doesn't seem to be working."

Atchiam had an idea about what could've happened.

"They must've changed the code or something."

"Try again."

Just then, Vantiv came to the door before they took off to their own columns as she stepped toward it. As Lapis peeked out, she grew curious.

"What is she doing?"

Kolivan spoke to them, wondering if she'd pulled it off.

"Lapis, Keith, are you there?"

As they just sat and watched, Vantiv was using the codes that Thace obtained before the two Druids spoke to her.

"And now we know you're the one who was in charge of Thace's capture."

As they darted toward her, Vantiv inputted the code and pushed on it before she turned to them.

"You're too late, boys."

"No. You're too late. We already changed the code."

The rapid beeping proved it as Vantiv grew disappointed.

"Well, that's unfortunate."

With that, she thrust her arm towards a Druid before clutching him and absorbing his Quintessence as a purple electrical surge sent around it before he then turned to dust, mortifying the present and hidden company before Vantiv clutched another one with a smirk.

"If you've changed the codes, I'm sure you wouldn't mind telling me what it is."

"I'd rather die than betray Emperor Zarkon."

"Fair enough."

With that, she chucked the Druid to a red wiring before he got zapped out of existence before she drew a breath of annoyance. Then, she felt a familiar presence near her before smiling and speaking to them.

"You know, I've heard so many stories about Voltron. They say it had a cunning leader, that it's strong, that it's clever. It's a shame that they're wrong."

With that, her arm turned into a sword before slicing the columns that hid them, revealing them as they stood shocked.

"It's not your fault, Paladins. You're just not worthy of such power. But I am. And so is Kaecilius. So we will take what is ours."

Keith and Ayame drew their bayards out before they got their luxite blades out as she shouted to her.

"We haven't failed yet!"

Out in space, the lions were trying to maintain the fleet's position as Lance did a flip to get behind the fighter before shooting it down.

"Yeah! That was close."

However, Hunk was having trouble.

"Somebody! Anybody! A little help here!"

Jenny offered help with that.

"Just lure them to me, Hunk! I'll shoot them down for you!"

As Hunk swerved upward, the fighters followed him before Jenny targeted them before pushing a button that sent spread-shot lasers toward the fighters and destroying them as the fleet was headed outwards of the circle, much to Allura's worry.

"Zarkon's ship is leaving the teludav's area of effect. You must guide it back in."

The lions were trying to manage this while the situation escalated, however, as Lance spoke to Keith.

"This is getting hairy. How you doing, Keith?"

In the hub, Vantiv was fighting against Adea, Thace, and Lapis while Keith gave him a heads up.

"The Galra switched the codes. And we're trying to hold off Vantiv."

"That crazy chick that was spying on the Blades for Kaecilius is there?!"

"Yeah. I'll explain later."

Shiro then spoke to Keith.

"Copy that."

As Lapis clashed against her, Vantiv shoved her away before Thace connected the wiring to the system, catching Adea's notice.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm using the main power to overload the system."

"But that means—"

Adea figured out what it meant before she spoke.

"Oh, no. You're turning this room into a bomb? Isn't there anything else we can do?"

"It's the only way."

Meanwhile, Hagar received the news from a Druid that was thought to be zapped out of existence as he was smoking from the electrocution.

"Vantiv has barricaded herself in the central hub. We believe she's trying to shut down the system."

That news was bad enough, but to hear the name of the one who spat in her face about upholding the honor of the Galra Empire made her angry as she stopped the ceremony with Zarkon panting his breath.

"She's working with Kaecilius. It was a trap."

"Get the traitor. I will end this firefight."

At the Castle's main generator room, Slav and Belle were working double-time to make sure the gravity generator remains in control. However, for all their efforts, the deadline hasn't changed as Slav pointed it out.

"Uh, everyone, the gravity generator won't maintain power much longer. If it goes down, we're just going to be uncloaked in open space."

Shiro spoke to Slav over the communicator.

"Do all you can. We just need to hold out a little longer."

At the outside of the hub, Haggar shot at the door, breaking it down before those in the room noticed as Vantiv impaled a drone with her arm before turning to Lapis.

"It appears we'll have to call a truce for now."

Then, she noticed the main wiring up above before she used her dark red and black arm to break it apart and cause it to block the door before turning back to her and thwacking her to the Paladins and the Blades.

"Then again, maybe not."

Just as she finished speaking, Ayame managed to smack Vantiv off of the hub before she clutched onto the bottom of the hub with her red and black arm. Ayame turned to Thace after the battle.

"Well, that solves one problem, but now we're trapped."

"No, we're not. There's an exit through the main power conduit. It leads to the second deck."

As Ayame, Lapis, and their groups looked down, Adea looked to Thace in worry.

"Wait. You're asking us to jump? Without you?"

"Yes. Go now."

"And leave without you? I don't think so!"

"You must. I will shut down the system."

Adea was still adamant in bringing him with them as she began to shed tears while banging into his chestplate.

"We can't leave without you, Thace! We just can't!"

Thace brushed Adea's head to comfort her as she sobbed lightly on him.

"Adea, this is where my journey ends, but as a Blade of Marmora, you have a bigger mission. You must understand that."

Adea was still reluctant to let him go.

"No, Thace. No..."

Then, they noticed the droids breaking through before she finally agreed to it.

"Okay. I'll go. It was an honor to meet you..."

With that, everyone jumped off before Vantiv clutched Adea, to the horror of Thace as she held her.

"I thought you weren't supposed to leave children unsupervised."

At the Castle, the gravity generator finally gave way before it went down and the alarm went off, exposing the Castle and the teludav and earning Slav's panic.

"Oh, I hate it when I'm right about things like this. The gravity generator just lost power! Now, there's no reality where we all get out alive!"

Coran gave the update to Allura.

"Princess, the teludav is completely exposed!"

They turned to each other as they nodded while Shiro grew worried.

"Come on, guys."

At the hub, the drones came in as they began firing, shooting Vantiv's arm and making her let Adea go in the process before Thace jumped in after her before clutching her bridal style and using thrusters on his back to propel himself faster to catch up with the group.

Outside, Pidge and Shiro grew worried as they distracted the fighters.

"What do we do?"

"We can't do anything. If Keith and the others don't get Zarkon's ship shut down, we're done for. It's over."

As Zarkon and Kaecilius noticed the Castle, the former gave an order to prevent Omegus from rising while the latter turned to Varek.

"Charge the ion cannon! Take it down!"

"Make sure Zarkon doesn't interfere."

"Yes."

Allura grew desperate in that moment before she made a decision.

"We cannot wait any longer. I'm powering the teludav now!"

With that, Allura went ahead as Zarkon and Kaecilius charged their cannons.

In the hub, Vantiv was dissecting the drones with malicious force before she caught up to Haggar and clutched her neck before slamming her to the wall.

"How pathetic. But then again, just what I'd expect from an Altean."

Haggar then noticed the generator about to explode before she smirked at her former pupil.

"How shameful. With all my teachings, you never learned to watch your back."

Then, Vantiv turned just in time to see it glow as she gasped before it exploded.

"What?!"

Suddenly, a blinding red light overcame Vantiv as she screamed while Haggar teleported away from her clutches before it could harm her.

Meanwhile, Keith, Ayame, Lapis, Sandra, Thace, Adea, Atchiam, and Luzria were traveling down the halls before they heard a rumbling and saw a bright light coming at them with Thace using himself as a shield to save Adea before they got hurtled outside of space, catching the Violet and the Red Lions' attention, causing them to go after the groups.

In the Castle, Vrathrea gave a report before speaking to Allura.

"The system is down. Uploading the virus now."

Just when Zarkon's ion cannon was about to fire, it suddenly went down, as did all of the ships, angering Zarkon while urging Kaecilius to update his order.

"NO!"

"Stop, Varek. The plan worked."

Then, his ion cannon went off as well while Keith, Ayame, Lapis, Atchiam, Adea, Luzria, and Sandra noticed this before taking notice of the burns on Thace's left side of his face.

"Thace. He did it."

Adea felt sorry for him as she clutched him.

"Thace..."

Just then, the Red, White, and Violet Lions found them and picked them up as Jenny spoke up.

"You guys need a little pick-me-up?"

In what was left of the hub, Vantiv was clutching onto the left side of her face, as it was burned from the explosion. However, she regained her smirk before she spoke.

"Again, you think you've won. But it's far from over."

At the Castle, Allura activated the teludav before Kaecilius and Varek turned to each other.

"It is time."

"Agreed."

As the teludav went down, Kaecilius and Varek were on top of their Cruiser as they re-enacted their portal changing act with dark red lightning arcs, changing the portal to dark red and black on the inside, catching Coran's worry.

"Wait a tick! That's not supposed to happen!"

Allura, feeling the exertion of her Quintessence and the portal's sudden change, groaned before she passed out, giving control of the portal over to Kaecilius as he chuckled.

"Behold, mortals! The rise of Omegus is nigh!"

Then, Varek hurtled the Chaos Comet into the wormhole in high speed as it streaked a red light.

At the Castle, Vrathrea was beginning to know what was going on.

"He knew. This whole time, he knew our plan. He didn't even stop us..."

Coran then spoke to her trying to reassure her.

"Look, this may not have worked out like we hoped, but we can still stop Zarkon."

"What about Omegus?! How are you going to stop him?!"

"With everything we've got. Everyone, hang on!"

Then, the Castle took off toward the portal and the comet as Coran spoke to the others.

"Hurry, Paladins! We must make it in before the wormhole closes!"

Then, all of the lions took off for the dark wormhole, seeing a spacial area of red dust and sparkles as Shiro checked on her.

"Coran, how's Allura?"

"She's weak, but okay."

"You take care of her. We got it from here."

Suddenly, they got to another area of the wormhole, which consisted of a solar eclipse as well as several debris in the area being pulled into nothingness. Pidge and Slav grew worried.

"Wait, this isn't where we wanted to go is it?"

"I knew it! I knew we were gonna be doomed!"

Then, he remembered the last time he thought he'd be doomed, only to be spared before he immediately changed his tone.

"And I like it when I defy the odds!"

Then, Shiro spoke to the team.

"It's not over yet. Everyone, form Voltron!"

With that, the Paladins formed Voltron while the White and Violet Lions turned into their robot forms and prepared themselves as Omegus' red eyes appeared in the solar eclipse.