A/N: Hi. Sorry I'm taking so long. I'm also doing a story for Dragon Ball Super. It's hard to focus on two stories at once. So the next time you're wondering how long I'm taking, please be patient with me on this. Anyway, here's the new chapter. This time, Narti's voice will be heard (telepathically) and be voiced by Elise Baughman. Enjoy. :)

Chapter 28: A New Order

On Planet Puig, the Blade of Marmora were helping the Puigians ready themselves for the Galra's imminent attack. However, it wasn't without hardship. Despite Jenny's speech at the Castle of Lions, Sneren and the Puigian leader didn't quite see eye-to-eye. In fact, the only Galra that he's comfortable with were Lapis and the rest of the Rogue Thrust. Other than the occasional dispute, everything else was in order as they both took Jenny's speech to heart. As such, they worked harder than ever to repair the damage left over from their liberation while two children ran down the street laughing as they passed a depiction of Voltron in the city walls. As Adea and Luzria were lifting a giant boulder with a few Puigians, Atchiam, Lapis, and Slav were talking about her synthetic arms.

"So, how are those arms working for you so far, Atchiam? They gotta feel strange, right?"

"Honestly, I'm kinda surprised. I thought they'd be huge weights, but they feel... natural. You really did a great job with those things, Slav."

"Well, they weren't easy, but when it comes to improving the odds up to 300%, I pay attention to every detail."

With that, Lapis and Atchiam laughed at Slav's usual rant about probability before Atchiam spoke to Lapis again.

"Anyway, they're a step up from what I went through before. In fact, Jenny might've helped with that."

"Really? I heard about what happened. How did she help?"

"Well, until what happened at the Castle, I felt like... like I lost a part of me, two if you're talking numbers. I felt like they're never coming back. But Jenny... she knew better than anyone what that's like and she continued to fight for the universe despite it. So, in a way, I'm glad she interrupted when she did. Because she told me what I needed to hear. What we all needed to hear. That, and things were getting kinda awkward."

"I'll bet."

Then, as they finished their conversation, Adea, Luzria, and the Puigians has finished moving the boulder as they all panted before Lapis tried to check on them, only for Adea to hold her hand up to her before she got her breath. Then, she smiled at her before speaking.

"Ta-da! We've got the boulder out of the way!"

Suddenly, a piece of it fell and landed near her, causing Adea to spring up like a cat and land in Lapis' arms before she looked in her eyes and got embarrassed. Then, she noticed something in the sky and pointed it out.

"Hey, what's that?"

Lapis and the others noticed what Adea was pointing at and noticed a Galra ship preparing to land, but it wasn't the craft from the Blade of Marmora. This could mean only one thing.

"An invasion? So soon?"

Then, Lapis inadvertently dropped Adea as the latter yelped before she shouted to a Puigian.

"Everyone to battle formations! Pass it on!"

The Puigian then spoke to the others passing the message along.

"We're under attack! To battle stations!"

With that, the Puigians and the Blade of Marmora hid in the buildings and rooftops. At the ship, Acxa and the others looked over the area that seemed abandoned before they jumped off and skydived to the ground before landing in the settlement. With that, Acxa turned to Syn and Kurziam.

"Syn, Kurziam, find the leader, Ezor, Zethrid, take prisoners. Kill no one. Narti, you're with me."

After they all took off in separate directions, Acxa and Narti found themselves under fire from the Puigians before she darted toward them and evaded their blasters as they planted spikes on the floor before pushing a button on her gauntlet that activated a barrier. Far away, Ezor made herself invisible to sneak on the rooftops and took the attackers by surprise before reappearing with a smirk. At ground level, Zethrid captured another group with her net gun before another Puigian attempted to trample her with a mammoth-like creature, only for her to grab its hooves and shove it away.

At the city capitol, the Puigian leader ran to the communicator only to be stopped as a dark, glowing, purple arrow landed in between his hand and the device. The leader turned to see Kurziam with her wrist gauntlets out before Syn kicked him away and held him in place with his sword by his throat and a smirk on his face. What none of them noticed was that Lapis, Adea, Atchiam, and Luzria were hiding by the pillars as Lotor and the other generals walked in.

"Who—? Who are you?"

Acxa spoke to the leader as Adea leaned in to get a good look at the intruders.

"You dare speak to Prince Lotor?"

Adea widened her eyes and gasped in shock as she heard Acxa's words before Lotor and the leader spoke onward.

"Now Acxa, that's no way to treat our new ally. Let him continue."

"We will not be enslaved again. We are free."

"According to whom? Your savior, Voltron? And where is your precious protector now? Gone. Leaving you with nothing but a hollow promise of freedom. And now you must answer for what you've done."

Taking Jenny's words to heart, the leader still spoke defiantly.

"I told you. We are free. And we don't need Voltron to make it so."

Lotor only smirked at his defiance.

"Is that so? You and what army?"

Then, as an answer, Adea sneezed like a kitten far away before they all looked to the source of the noise, Syn being the first to speak of it.

"What was that?"

Then, with their cover blown, Lapis took out a grenade before chucking it to them. Moments after, it exploded, blinding Lotor and his generals before the Rogue Thrust moved in and took the leader away. After it wore off, Lotor realized what it was that caught them by surprise.

"A flash grenade. Impressive. It seems the Puigian was true to his word. Even so, I'm certain he's not in this alone."

Then, Lotor turned to Kurziam before he spoke.

"Syn, Kurziam, track down the leader and his subordinates."

"Yes, Lotor."

At the Castle, Lance, Jenny, Keith, and the other Paladins were still shocked over what Alphus said.

"What?! Shiro's Quintessence is in the Black Lion?!"

"Why didn't you say anything before?! Better yet, why didn't I ask you?!"

"We could've used it to look for Shiro!"

Bombarded with questions, Alphus explained herself.

"First off, I was as shocked as you when I found that out just today."

Jenny caught onto that tone and knew that Alphus found that out earlier today before calling her.

"Oh. Sorry."

"And secondly, it's only a part of it. Not necessarily enough to locate the rest of it, but that's what we're left with."

Keith was afraid of what it meant.

"So you're saying... we're stuck at square one?"

"For now. Until we find out who else will pilot the Black Lion."

Lance sighed at the news Alphus had to give before he spoke.

"I wish Shiro were here to tell us how to go on without him."

Then, Pidge and Hunk turned to Allura, trying to figure out how she'd chosen them.

"Allura, when we came here, you told me I would fly the Green Lion, and I thought there was no way. But I found it, and I flew it. And then Hunk flew the Yellow Lion and he wasn't even a pilot. In fact, you told everyone who would pilot which lion."

"Yeah, how'd you do that? Did we ever find out how you did that? Can you do that now?"

Allura, sadly, gave her answer.

"Sadly, no. When you arrived at the Castle, I immediately recognized the special qualities in each of you. But I don't know how to search the entire universe for a new Paladin."

Then, the crowd turned to Keith before Jenny spoke.

"Hey, Keith. You had to pilot the Black Lion to save Shiro and Ayame, right? Maybe you're the new pilot?"

Lance, still on a heated rivalry, spoke against that.

"Keith would be the worst leader of Voltron."

Pidge backed up Lance's suggestion.

"Yeah, we all have our thing. Keith's the loner, Sandra's the risk-taker, and I'm the brain. Belle's the serious one, Hunk's the nice guy, and Jenny's the glass half-full type. Allura's the decision maker, Coran's the wise old guy, and Babak's the drill sergeant."

"Naturally."

"Lapis is a do-or-die team player, Alphus is the veteran, and Lance is the goofball."

"Mm-Hmm. Yeah, exactly. Totally right— Wait a minute."

That made Jenny giggle before he spoke up offendedly.

"I'm not a goofball! I'm like the cool ninja sharpshooter."

That made Keith scoff with a smile.

"Are you joking?"

"I'm being completely serious when I say I do not want you to lead me anywhere."

"I don't want to be the leader! That's just what Shiro wanted!"

That made Keith widen his eyes in shock over realizing what he'd said before holding his head down as Jenny spoke.

"Uh, can you repeat that?"

"Nothing."

Pidge, however, figured out what Keith said.

"Shiro wanted you to be his successor, didn't he?"

Keith remained silent at this before Lance spoke up, suspicious of this.

"Well, I never heard Shiro say that, and how convenient you're bringing it up now when Shiro's gone."

Keith stood up from the wall before he angrily spoke to him.

"You want the job so badly? You can have it!"

Then, Hunk and Pidge tried to vie for the rank.

"Now, now, hang on, I've called the head from the very beginning."

"What about me? Im the one who picked up on the radio waves that led us to Voltron in the first place!"

Hearing their squabble, Alphus was reminded of the time when Alfor was talked down to by Zarkon as she tensed.

"I'm the head of Voltron! You can't hold us back because of your fear!"

That was too much for her to handle as she began shouting at them.

"ENOUGH!"

The Paladins all looked to see Alphus trembling before they grew worried for her, Jenny most of all, and for good reason as she angrily glared at the stunned Paladins before she spoke to them.

"If you think that's how a Paladin is supposed to behave, then you're no better than Zarkon..."

"Alphus. Are you okay?"

Then, Alphus took a deep breath as Jenny held her hand to give her comfort. Ever since she was found, she's still recovering from Zarkon's betrayal. The fact that they had Zarkon's body in a pod didn't help. So, whenever Alphus was reminded of such a terrible event, Jenny would be there to comfort her until she felt better. It was at this point that she spoke to them.

"I'm sorry. I'm still recovering. Besides, it's not your decision to make. The Lion has to decide."

Then, Allura spoke up in support of Alphus.

"Alphus is right. We must all present ourselves to the Black Lion, to see who will bear this glorious burden."

Coran felt worried about that, concerning Allura.

"What? You, Princess?"

"My father and Alphus created Voltron. How can I allow others to risk their lives in battle and not be prepared to do so myself. I must try."

Later, at the Black Lion's hangar, Alphus gave the Paladins an idea to see who is worthy of it.

"Like I said, it has a fragment of Shiro's Quintessence inside it. It'll most likely activate when someone has a deep connection to its last Paladin."

Then, Hunk and Pidge tried to find out how to go about it.

"So, who goes first?"

"Should we draw straws?"

Coran, however, already came up with the order.

"I have it! I'm thinking of a number between one and 50."

Then, he snapped his fingers before he spoke up.

"Allura, you go first, Pidge is second, and then the others."

Jenny grew confused at his way of thinking as her face blanched.

"Uh, aren't you supposed to let us guess?"

"But I already know the number."

Jenny hugged before she spoke.

"We need to have a talk. You can go ahead, Allura."

In the Black Lion, Allura sat in the cockpit and took a deep breath as she tried to connect with it. However, it was to no avail as she pondered to herself.

"Hmm..."

Up next, Pidge say in it and found herself to be shorter than the cockpit itself.

"Mm... I wonder if I can adjust the seat."

Eventually, she succeeded as she placed her helmet under her to act as a booster seat.

"All right! Now I'll form the head."

However, as Pidge leaned for the levers she failed to grab them due to her short arms before she gave up and groaned.

Then, Hunk got the chance to try it next, but wasn't quite so interested as he just got up and walked out.

"Nope. Not it."

As Alphus and Coran saw him walk out, the former spoke to Hunk.

"What are you doing? Did you even try?"

"Yes, I did. I sat down."

"Hunk..."

Feeling her icy glare, Hunk slowly turned his eye toward her before he answered honestly.

"I don't want to leave the Yellow Lion, okay? I mean, it's big, it's got this super armor, it's safe."

"Didn't you call the head from the beginning?"

"Yeah, I know. I wanted to form the head with the Yellow Lion."

"Hunk, the Black Lion always forms the head."

"Always?"

"Always."

"Fine."

Then, Hunk gave it another try, this tine acting like a captain.

"Pidge, go right! Lance, go left! Keith, make me a sandwich, stat! Yes, you heard me. I'm the leader now, dang it!"

Outside, Sandra giggled at Hunk's level of "seriousness" before Alphus saw all she needed to see.

"Okay, you're not the one. Out of the lion, please."

Sandra gave it a try next, as she tried to engage in a conversation with it.

"Look, Black, we've actually got a lot in common. I mean, you already know Zarkon. He was Galra. And I'm Galra. But, I'm a good person. So... do I get the job?"

As an answer, Sandra received silence before she huffed.

"Whatever. Not like I needed the job anyway."

Next, Belle entered the cockpit and reflected back on how Shiro showed her the controls and tried to do as Shiro would usually turn it on. When she tried to get it working, Belle just couldn't find the strength to pull the levers.

"I'm sorry, Shiro. I just... I can't. I can't take this from you."

Then, Jenny sat in the cockpit trying to get the feel of it as she placed her hands on the levers. Then, she took a look at her surroundings and had a thought that slowly made her sad as she started speaking.

"If Ayame were here, I think this would be a great fit for her. After all, she... she was always there for us. It just makes sense. Plus, the colors in here are so like her."

Then, she remembered that Ayame wasn't here and felt herself hurting a bit before speaking again.

"Okay, I'm out of here. I can't cry in this thing. Whoever comes in here next would kill me."

After Jenny's near-breakdown, Lance stepped up to try next as he took his deep breath.

"Okay, you can do it. This is your moment."

Outside, the group waited for Lance as Pidge, Hunk, and Jenny spoke up.

"So, how long are we gonna let Lance sit in there?"

"Yeah, it's been, like, half a varga."

"I hope he's doing okay."

Later, Lance gave up and got frustrated.

"It's useless! The Black Lion hates all of us!"

Then, Belle turned to Keith.

"Not all of us. Shiro trusted you of all people the most, Keith. Maybe you'll have better luck."

Keith got the hint of what Belle suggested and tried to protest, but couldn't and found himself in the cockpit.

"I know you wanted this for me, Shiro. But I'm not you. I can't lead them like you."

Then, to his surprise and shock, the Black Lion activated itself. Keith knew what it meant and didn't want it to come to that.

"Please, no."

However, his plea was unanswered as the Black Lion got up from the ground and roared before opening its jaw and revealed Keith. As the half of the group (Sandra, Jenny, Pidge, and Hunk) smiled at him, the rest (Allura, Alphus, Belle, and Lance) appear to show blank faces before Lance frowned a bit as Keith walked down. Once he got to them, Allura, Jenny, Pidge, Belle, and Hunk spoke up.

"I'm proud of you, Keith. I wish you were getting the job under better circumstances, but congratulations."

"If she were here, Ayame would be so happy to see you now."

"Congratulations, Keith."

"Yeah. Way to go."

"Yeah, man, ditto."

However, Keith didn't feel he was worthy of it.

"No, I don't accept this."

That caught the group by surprise, Jenny and Alphus in particular.

"What? You're kidding, right?"

"Keith, the Black Lion chose you."

"I can't replace Shiro! You guys were right. I'm the loner. I'm not the leader Shiro thought I was."

Then, Lance placed his hand on Keith's shoulder, to him and Jenny's surprise.

"Keith, no one can replace Shiro. But the Black Lion wouldn't choose anyone it didn't feel was worthy of leading Voltron. I respect its choice. And you should too."

That made Keith think about what would happen to his lion on the mixup.

"But who's gonna fly the Red Lion?"

That gave Jenny an idea.

"I think I know someone who might be ready for it."

Later, Allura sat in the Red Lion's cockpit as she spoke to it.

"I want to carry on my father's fight, but I need your help. Allow me to follow in his footsteps as your Paladin."

However, the Red Lion remained still before she spoke to it again.

"Please, I must do this. Others are risking their lives in this fight, and I can't continue to—"

Before she could finish, Allura began to cry as tears streamed down her face just as Jenny walked in and saw her before she gave her a hug.

"I'm really sorry, Allura. I know how much how you wanted this, but... I didn't mean to hurt you like this."

Then, Allura wiped her tears away before she spoke to Jenny.

"I'm fine. I know you never meant to hurt me, and you didn't. The best thing we can do is move on."

"But we still haven't figured out who would fly Red."

That made Jenny think about its prerequisites and what Lance said to Keith upon being chosen as leader before she had an epiphany.

"Wait a tick. I think I've figured it out."

At the atmosphere of Planet Puig, Ezor was giving out the details of the other planets' conditions to Lotor.

"The poor little Blade of Marmora's defenses are spread so thin, they cannot defend any of the other insurgent planets."

"And what about their rebellion?"

As Zethrid fed Narti's cat, Kova, she answered her leader.

"Crushed. Which is more than we can say for Planet Puig's resistance. I should be out there busting heads up!"

"And how are we to get answers as to who they're working with when you are 'busting heads up' as you please?"

That made Zethrid sigh dejectedly before Acxa spoke to Lotor as holograms of the lions popped up.

"Fair point."

"As for the whereabouts of the Voltron Lions, we've had reports of yellow, white, violet, and blue in the Paglium quadrant. Coincidentally, the White Lion was also seen with the red one throughout these quadrants. And the green one here, here, and here."

Lotor was still stuck on a certain lion that his father sought after.

"No Black Lion?"

"We've questioned the prisoners. No one has seen it."

Ezor has a theory about what could've happened to it.

"It's like it just vanished. Poof."

Given how vital the Black Lion is to its formation, Lotor knew its lack of appearances could only mean one thing.

"No Black Lion, no Voltron."

This made Lotor come up with an idea to draw out their attention.

"Narti, go to Planet Puig and speak with the leader of the Blade of Marmora."

Then, Ezor raised her hand up before Lotor spoke to her.

"Yes, Ezor?"

"Can I come with?"

"For what reason?"

"Honestly, I think the girl with the scythe is kinda cute."

As Zethrid sighed, she was more interested in Atchiam.

"What about the one with the robot arms? I want to take her on!"

Then, Lotor turned to Acxa before he spoke.

"I don't suppose you'd like to join them?"

"Like I have any choice."

"Very well. You may all assist in their capture."

Meanwhile on Planet Puig, Adea, Atchiam, Luzria, and Lapis were sneaking around the buildings as the first of the two spoke to the Puigian Leader.

"That was really brave of you to stand up to him like that. Sorry I ruined it with my sneeze. It's just so musty in there."

"Oh, no. It's fine. What do you think they're planning?"

Lapis spoke to the leader honestly about the situation.

"Honestly, I have no clue. Ayame told me about Lotor, and though she didn't get a good look at him, she was told that he wanted to make the universe better. But how?"

Then, the Puigian leader had a typical theory, that obviously miffed Lapis as she put in a scowl.

"Perhaps by enslaving us like his father did?"

"No, I don't think it's that simple. I understand where you're coming from, though. If he wanted to enslave us, he could've sent a whole army to take us. But, for whatever reason, he didn't. What's really going on in his head is what I'm worried about."

Then, Syn's voice spoke to her.

"Maybe you should worry more about what's going to happen to you."

Lapis turned backward in time to see Syn slash a dark purple energy projectile with his sword before they ducked as the building they hid behind was sliced where it was hit. Then, Lapis was left with no choice but to draw her weapon before she turned to her team.

"Listen, I need you guys to save as many villagers as you can and keep him safe while I deal with them. Can you handle that?"

Adea nodded to her as she answered.

"Okay!"

With that, Adea, Atchiam, and Luzria took off with the Puigian leader before Syn spoke to them.

"None of you are going anywhere."

Before he could make an energy slash, Lapis stopped him with her luxite sword and glared at him.

"What are you doing here? What is Lotor trying to do?"

"I told you. You have to worry about yourself, first."

Lapis saw that as a challenge, to which she gladly accepted.

"Fine by me."

Then, Lapis yelled out as she thrusted Syn away from her.

Far away, Adea and the others panted as they hid behind the next building nearby a fence that Acxa had made before she realized what needed to be done.

"It's no use, guys. We need Voltron."

Atchiam didn't think it wise.

"What? No. We can't bring Voltron into this. We have to take care of this ourselves."

"But what if—?"

"No. They can't always be there to help us, remember?"

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't try."

"But for all we know, that could be exactly what they would want us to do. It could be a trap."

"Exactly. While they're preoccupied with Voltron, we'll be able to rescue the villagers and take Planet Puig back."

Considering the context of the situation, the Puigian leader and Luzria agreed with Atchiam.

"You're willingly placing them in a trap?"

"Isn't that what we're trying to avoid?"

"If we can tell them our situation, they'll be able to find a workaround for it. If it works, we'll be able to keep Voltron and Puig safe."

The Puigian leader sighed, seeing Adea's point before he got out a communicator that Allura gave him before he spoke.

"If you're certain there's no other way."

At the Castle, now that the Paladin of the Black Lion has been chosen, they're stuck on who should pilot the Red Lion.

"A new Paladin? I mean, where would we even start looking?"

Lance had an idea for Pidge's question.

"Well, I vote for getting some alien diversity on the team, and I know some cool mermaids who could be good at it."

Hunk had an idea about why Lance brought them up.

"You just want to see them again."

"Yeah, exactly. Remember when Jenny transformed into a mermaid? She looked so cool."

That caught Alphus by surprise.

"She did what?!"

That made Lance confused about her reaction.

"Wait. Aren't Alteans able to shapeshift?"

"Yes, but they can only change their height, weight, and color. What Jenny did was... it was what I would've done."

Lance and Hunk didn't find that surprising.

"So?"

"We all knew she had your powers."

That made Alphus sigh exaggeratedly before she spoke.

"I'm sorry. This-this is just a lot to process."

Then, Hunk and Pidge chimed their ideas in.

"Anyway, how about those blade guys?"

"Or the Olkari."

Jenny's voice spoke up to them as she and Allura entered.

"Or someone who was willing to follow Keith when he doubted himself. We were there when he helped him up." That made the group look to Lance questioningly as Pidge spoke up.

"Really? Lance?"

"Yeah. When Keith became the Black Paladin, Lance was willing to choose a strong team over his own need to be on top."

"Just like my father."

That made Lance worry about the Blue Lion.

"But... what about Blue?"

"Okay, calm down. But... Allura's gonna pilot the Blue Lion."

Then, Jenny covered her ears, expecting his shrill shriek. However, when Jenny looked at him, he saw his face being serious before he grinned.

"Allura, huh? Okay. That settles it, then."

Jenny smiled back as she responded.

"I'm glad we all agree."

Just then, a video transmission came on, showing the Puigian leader, Adea, Atchiam, and Luzria.

"Voltron, we need your help. The Galrans have returned. They saw through our defense protocols and captured most of the Blade of Marmora personnel, along with our people.

Adea took her turn to speak up.

"They're expecting us to call you in so they can trap you guys, but don't worry. I'm sending you the coordinates to sneak by undetected."

Then, a star map of Puig's solar system appeared before Alphus pointed it out and Allura spoke up.

"The coordinates lead to the outskirts of the Paglium quadrant."

"The lions are on their way. Hold your ground and protect your people until we arrive. Voltron stands with you."

Adea then waved to the princess.

"Thanks, Princess. Bye!"

As the transmission turned off, Adea turned to the Puigian leader.

"Now what?"

"Now..."

She then turned her luxite blade into a scythe with a smirk on her face.

"We hold them out."

Meanwhile, Narti was infiltrating Sneren's mind as he groaned as her telepathic voice spoke to him.

"Where do the other Blades congregate?"

However, Sneren, for all of his trials, never gave in. As proof of this, Narti kept on hitting mind blocks he'd set up with Sneren smiling at her.

"There's no use trying, you know. I didn't earn my position as councilman for nothing. My mind is unbreakable."

"Perhaps. But what about your heart?"

With that, Narti motioned her own soldiers to bring forth a beaten Vrathrea as she fell to the floor with a thud after being chucked in front of him as she coughed, earning his concern.

"No..."

"Tell me. Where are the other Blades?"

At the Castle, Lance was now in a Red Paladin uniform while Keith was in a Black Paladin uniform before Alphus spoke to him.

"Keith. The Black Lion has chosen you. You can do this."

With that, Keith nodded to her before he walked into his elevator (set up by Slav out of professional opinion) that led to the Black Lion before he held onto the lever.

"This one's for you, Shiro."

Then, the lions ejected out of the Castle before Keith spoke up.

"Alright, guys. We're not about to let the Galra take back this planet, so follow me."

The Paladins all agreed to this.

"Right."

Just then, a dark red and black light came in the sky before it zoomed past the lions and headed toward Planet Puig, catching Lance's attention.

"What the heck just happened?!"

Outside the atmosphere, the same ship that went past the lions hovered above Lotor's as both sides on the planet looked up in horror as Kaecilius' voice spoke up.

"Attention, Galra Empire. This is Lord Kaecilius, Supreme Leader of the Drule Empire. Surrender now, or you and your enemies shall be annihilated."

Lapis, Syn, and Kurziam didn't quite like the situation.

"Well, this is bad."

"You ain't kidding, goody-two-shoes."

"Looks like we'll have to put this on hold for now."

Lapis then turned to the two generals before pointing to Kurziam.

"Agreed. Can you make sure the people are safe?"

"I'll do what I can."

"Next, she turned to Syn.

"And you, while she takes care of that, we'll be ground control. Just don't get in my way."

"Sure, as long as you don't get in mine."

Suddenly, a barrage of his Galra Fighters which glowed purple lights rather than red began firing on the people, civilian or otherwise with extreme prejudice as a child was about to get shot before Kurziam grabbed her and ran to the next building before setting her down and petting her head.

"Just get to somewhere safe, okay?"

The child nodded to her before she ran her own way and left Kurziam in the alleyway.

Meanwhile, Narti was in the midst of interrogating Sneren with Vrathrea held by her throat with her tail.

"Tell me, or she dies."

As she clenched her tail, Vrathrea was gasping for air, much to Sneren's worry before Lotor spoke to her.

"Narti. You're needed on the ship."

With that, Narti let go of Vrathrea and chucked her to the floor before turning to her soldiers and pointed her finger at her, signaling them to make sure she stayed where she fell: beside Sneren. Then, she walked away, leaving Vrathrea in the area of a worried Sneren.

Meanwhile, Keith gave the situation to Alphus.

"Alphus, we got bad news. Kaecilius has that plan in mind, too. He's started his attack on Planet Puig."

"We'll head there immediately. Until we arrive, you must form Voltron and fight him."

"You got it. But with everyone still getting used to their lions, mainly me, Lance, and Allura, that might be a problem."

"Well, work it out."

On Planet Puig, Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid, who'd just landed, noticed the Black Lion and the others darting to fight Kaecilius.

"Hey! It's the black kitty!"

On the ship, Lotor knew what it meant to see the Black Lion.

"So, it survived. And the other lions are present as well."

Acxa spoke to Lotor before she spoke.

"What are your orders, sir? Should we fire on the lions?"

"No. I want to see what they're capable of."

Kaecilius took notice of that as well and grew displeased.

"Voltron, again? As if Lotor wasn't the only blight to my plans. Nevertheless, press the attack. I'd like to see them try to keep up."

As multiple fighters appeared, Hunk and Pidge screamed as they swerved and evaded the blasts, only for one after another to pop up.

"Pidge, behind you!"

As they tried to aim for Pidge, Hunk got in between them and smashed them with its tough armor before he spoke to the lion.

"Oh, I hope your super armor holds out, buddy boy."

"Where's Keith?"

Jenny answered Pidge as she and Keith fought them back.

"He's with me, Pidge! But we're kind of in some trouble at the moment!"

"These controls don't respond like the Red Lion's. We need some help."

As they encountered wave after wave of fighters, Jenny received a vision of the past in which the exact same fighters (only back then they had red lighting) were gunning down Altean fighters before she felt a strong and painful surge of anguish before she yelled out, sending a mental shockwave that decimated the fighters one by one, leaving only Kaecilius' Cruiser which still sent out more ships. Keith checked with Jenny as she panted her breath.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I think that cleared my head a little. Good thing Alphus taught me that one at least, huh?"

At the Cruiser, Kaecilius tensed in anger, remembering the humiliation he'd put him through before he turned to Vantiv before he spoke.

"Vantiv, prepare the Chaos Cannon and fire it at the White Lion."

"What? But it's not tested yet."

"Consider the White Lion a test subject."

Then, the Cruiser opened up to reveal an upgraded ion cannon with a spike on the top of it as a dark red substance inside it sunk into the weapon before it began glowing a dark red light with a black coloring on the inside before it fired at the White Lion, only for Jenny to pull up her particle barrier and block it before it collided. Jenny was having great difficulty holding it back as it started cracking before a switch opened up for her, to which she placed her bayard in and gave her White Lion a surge that powered it up and reflected it back where it fired from, disabling the Chaos Cannon, much to Kaecilius' increased frustration as he growled.

"Fix that Chaos Cannon immediately!"

Just then, his cruiser jolted before he spoke again.

"Alright, who did that?!"

Varek had the answer.

"It must be the Altean Castle."

Coran confirmed his answer as he spoke to the Paladins.

"Need some help?"

Then, the Castle fired it's cannon at the ships without lowering the particle barrier before they exploded as Keith smiled.

"Thanks, Keith."

On Planet Puig, Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid were watching the explosions before Atchiam spoke to them.

"Hey! Aren't we still fighting?"

Zethrid smiled at her question before she cracked her knuckles while Ezor and Acxa got ready to fight.

"Does this answer your question?"

Atchiam smiled back at her before she, Adea, and Luzria got into a stance.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Lapis and Syn, in the meantime, were fighting against the soldiers that originated in Kaecilius' faction with great precision as they kept coming at them to no avail. When there was no more left, Lapis and Syn turned to each other.

"Is that all of them?"

Then, Syn answered her question as they saw more soldiers swarming toward them.

"You tell me."

At Lotor's ship, Sneren tried his best to break free before Vrathrea cleared her throat, catching him by surprise before she broke his chains and helped him up.

"But how did you...?"

"I didn't become councilwoman for nothing, either. Now, we must find a way out of here."

"Agreed. But how are we going to do that? We're in the middle of a war zone."

Then, Vrathrea got close to his face with a smirk.

"Did that ever stop us before?"

Sneren widened his eyes before he cleared his throat.

"Touché."

Out in space, Kaecilius grew furious before he shouted to Vantiv.

"Don't just stand there! Fire at the Castle with everything we have!"

"Aye, sir!"

Suddenly, a dark red and black blast fired from the ship, damaging the barrier before Coran grunted. Suddenly, another blast was fired at it. As this happened, Lance was enjoying the Red Lion.

"Woo-hoo! Boy, this lion can move!"

However, when the explosion cleared away, he saw Kaecilius' Cruiser aiming to fire again, only for Lance to try to use it as a spring as it landed on the cruiser with its legs before jumping, resulting in Kaecilius' Cruiser during the blast away from the Castle.

"What?!"

As Kaecilius growled, Keith spoke to Lance.

"Hey! Be careful with Red!"

"Oh, fly your own lion, Keith."

Suddenly, the Red Lion smashed into a speeding fighter before it exploded as he screamed.

"I meant to do that!"

Pidge had to admit the situation wasn't looking the best it could be.

"Wow, we're really kind of a mess. We need to get organized. Keith, what should we do?"

Keith had an idea that he can only think of as a way to be close together.

"We need to form Voltron! Everyone in formation!"

Then, they all flew by each other before Hunk pointed out a problem.

"Uh, guys? Guys, I'm not really feeling that Voltron feeling!"

"Keep going!"

Jenny saw this and grew worried.

"Uh, nothings happening, you guys?"

Keith only growled at the situation escalating.

"What is going on?"

Then, Kaecilius took the opportunity to speak to Vantiv.

"On second thought, fire at the Black Lion. Leave nothing of it alive."

"Yes, sir."

With that, the cannon went online again before firing at Keith, only for Jenny to block its path with her particle barrier before they were quickly knocked away by the backlash as the lions were forcibly shut down by the effects as Lotor grew displeased.

"How disappointing. It appears that the reality of Voltron does not live up to the legend."

Just then, a pod was fired from his ship to see Sneren and Vrathrea escaping before he sighed.

"And as if things weren't bad enough..."

At Planet Puig, Acxa, Ezor, Zethrid, Syn, and Kurziam were called by Lotor.

"Attention, generals. I'm afraid we must retreat from Planet Puig."

That made Acxa worried about their prisoners while Ezor and Zethrid grew disappointed.

"Aw, man."

"I was so close, too."

"But what about the prisoners?"

"Leave them. They're his problem now."

With that, Lotor and his fleet ran away from the battle before Kaecilius took his deep breaths as his temper rapidly cooled down, catching Vantiv's worry.

"Are you alright?"

"For now. They're not with my time anymore. If they can't form Voltron, we must take this opportunity to learn from our mistakes. Retreat."

With that both Galra and Drule Empires had now left most of the Voltron Lions incapacitated before Jenny tried to speak to them.

"Guys? Guys?! You okay?! Come on, guys?! Come in!"

Then, Lance spoke to her, annoyed at her repetitive panic.

"Sheesh, Jenny! We're okay!"

"Oh, thank goodness! I thought you were goners."

"Woof. Now I know... how you feel."

As Lance spoke to her, Jenny felt the same way.

"Yeah. I know how you felt, too. But, why didn't it work?"

Then, Keith spoke up.

"Maybe we're still getting used to our lions. Either way, we know that Kaecilius made weapons from Dark Quintessence."

Alphus grew worried about that, considering its effects in a mortal body.

"This is... deeply disturbing."

Keith knew that their next mission was clear.

"We need to find out more."

Jenny grew confused about what he meant.

"About what?"

"About where he's getting the shipment, about Lotor, about the lions, and... that's pretty much it."

"Okay. Well, let's do the second thing first, okay?"

At the Castle, Lance said goodbye to the Blue Lion with Jenny as moral support.

"Well, Old Blue, we sure had some fun adventures, didn't we? I wanted to stay with you, but, sometimes, what we want isn't necessarily what we get. I'm gonna miss you, buddy."

"Well, it's for the best, Lance. I'm proud of you for doing this."

Just then, Allura came in dressed in a pink Voltron uniform.

"Pink, huh? Not what I was expecting, but I like it?"

"Wait, That was an option?"

"Yes. On Altea, we wear this color to honor our fallen warriors. I wear it to honor the Paladins of old. And Shiro and Ayame."

That made Jenny twitch her eyes before she calmed down.

"Well... I want to honor them, too."

Then, Keith handed Allura his blue bayard before he spoke.

"This belongs to you now. If I had to lose Blue to someone, I'm glad it was you."

Just then, Coran spoke on the speakers.

"Princess, Sneren and Vrathrea just finished recovery! And they're not the only ones!"

At the sleep chamber, Allura, Jenny, and Lance came in to see the others in shock as they beheld not only the recovered Vrathrea and Sneren, but also a certain someone who was the Emperor of the Galra Empire. Jenny widened her eyes in disbelief and shock as she whispered his name.

"Zarkon...?"

Then, Zarkon spoke in a younger voice toward them.

"Tell me. Where is Lotor?"