A/N: Hello. Just letting you know that the names of Adea's parents are Gen for the mother and Ral for the father. They'll be similar to Bardock and Gine in Dragon Ball Minus and will be voiced by Jad Saxton and Sonny Strait. Other than that, enjoy. :)

Chapter 36: Black Site

At Olkarion, Jenny, Ayame, Alphus, Honerva, and the two Galra were with the Paladins as they waited for Pidge and her group to arrive as the first of the group turned to Adea's parents and motioned them to its members.

"Guys, I want you to meet the Paladins of Voltron. This is Allura, Ayame, Lance, Hunk, Coran, Belle, my sis, and Shiro. Of course, Pidge and Lapis will be here in a few ticks."

The father spoke to them as he smiled.

"It's good to meet you, Allura. I am Ral. And this is my wife, Gen."

As Gen smiled, Allura spoke next.

"It's great to meet you two, as well. I heard about what happened to your home. I'm sorry you had to lose it."

Gen put her discontent at ease as she stepped up to her.

"While we appreciate your words, Princess, we were just concerned with our daughter, Adea. How has she been doing since we've... parted?"

Suddenly, the Green Lion entered orbit as it roared before Allura gave her a question for an answer.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

As it landed, the Paladins went toward it in excitement as did the mice before it opened its jaw and allowed Pidge and Rogue Thrust to exit the lion before she picked up one of the mice as she spoke.

"Hey, everybody."

Then, Adea ran out the door towards her parents as she shouted.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

As Adea hugged them she weeped with joy as she grew excited.

"I missed you both so much! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?!"

Gen then rubbed her head with her hand as she spoke.

"Of course we did. So much."

Then, Ral took a look at how Adea looks now and spoke.

"You've certainly grown a bit since we've been gone, haven't you?"

As Adea enjoyed the return of her parents, Pidge spoke onwards.

"This is my brother, Matt."

"Hey, everybody."

"Matt, this is Hunk, Lance, Ayame, Jenny, and Coran."

"Hey."

"Nice to meet you."

"How you doin'?"

"Charmed, I'm sure."

"Pleasure."

"And this is Princess Allura of Altea and Alphus."

Upon seeing them, Matt grew surprised as he exclaimed.

"Whoa!"

"It is so wonderful to finally meet you, Matt."

"I've heard about what you've done for your sister. And I have to say I'm proud of you for helping her."

Matt's heart began beating as he gasped before running toward them.

"Whoa! Oh, my goodness! You are so beautiful! It is my honor to meet you both."

Upon seeing this, Lance would've been jealous if he didn't have Jenny, but he still felt just as embarrassed as her and Ayame.

"Really?"

"Is he trying to be macho, or is that him being himself? 'Cause honestly, I don't know which is worse."

"Yeah. Me neither."

This made Matt fall to the ground in defeat as he groaned before he noticed someone who saved him at the gladiator ring as well as a friend of theirs who was also captured.

"Shiro? Belle? It's so good to see you, um, sir."

Then, Shiro and Belle pulled him in for a hug, surprising him before returning he favor as Shiro spoke up to Matt before Belle.

"Pidge never gave up on finding you."

"Yeah, she can be pretty stubborn at times."

"And I want you to know that all of us will help you find your father."

"Thanks, Belle."

Next, Zegdal spoke as he went down with Luzria, Lapis, and Atchiam.

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver or something?"

Pidge noticed him and felt embarrassed.

"Sorry. Everyone, this is Zegdal. He was with Matt when we found him."

"Actually, you might even say I'm the kid's mentor."

Then, Pidge spoke to her brother as she showed the Castle to him.

"Matt, this is the Castle of Lions."

"Whoa. Nice ship."

"Let me take you on a tour."

She then dragged Matt in the Castle as Jenny giggled at this before noticing a sad look on Ayame's face before she spoke.

"Hey, are you doing okay?"

She only responded in a monotone voice to her question.

"Yeah. Great. Why wouldn't I be?"

As Ayame went in, Jenny sighed trying to figure out what made Ayame so upset.

At the command center, Zarkon sat in his throne, thinking back on how easily Omegus corrupted him, as well as how easily he corrupted the Galra Empire himself as Zygmar spoke to him.

"I am pleased to see you back on your throne again, sire. But, if I may ask... why are you siding with Voltron? I know desperate times call for desperate measures but vast stretches of territory have fallen to him, Kaecilius, and a growing group of insurgents."

"I assure you, Zygmar, that my defeat at the hands of Voltron was also my gain. For 10,000 years, I was plagued by a dark being known as Omegus, and he used me, used the Galra Empire, for his own ends. The fact that you still wish to continue his regime is ill-advised."

This caught Zygmar unawares before he spoke on.

"But no matter. I have returned, in more ways than you can imagine."

"And what about Prince Lotor?"

"It is time to relieve him of his duties and stop him from going down the same path I took before it's too late."

In the Castle, Pidge gave Matt a tour of the Castle bridge.

"This is where all the magic happens."

"Whoa!"

"Impressive!"

Then she showed her brother a chair with Green lights near the bottom of it.

"This is where I sit."

"Awesome!"

"And this opens up, and there's a zip line that takes me to a speeder, and that loads into my lion. And this is where Allura, Alphus, and Jenny stand. Not at the same time, mind you. And these little, glowy pillars rise up, and then they use Altean magic that links them to that crystal, and the crystal powers the ship, and then they use this thing called a teludav to create wormholes!"

Then she dragged Matt to the training arena with Lapis and Ayame present.

"This is our training room. It has invisible walls, and you can fight robots!"

Then, the Galran Paladin spoke up to him as she waved.

"Hello, Matt."

Then, Pidge showed Matt Kaltenecker eating grass.

"This is our cow."

"How did you get—? Whoa!"

Then, Pidge introduced him to the kitchen very quickly.

"This is our kitchen. Here's where the food goo comes out."

Then, she shot a round of green goo at Matt before he ended up eating it before he spoke.

"Hey, this is pretty goo...d. Mmm!"

While Pidge continued to show Matt around the Castle, Lapis and Ayame trained each other as the latter swung at her with her dual naginata while Lapis countered it with her two daggers before pushing her away. Frustrated, Ayame charged back at her before she aimed to stab her, only for Lapis to dodge the weapon and catch the naginata with her daggers before pulling them out of her arms and holding them to her. Ayame then did a backflip kick to knock them out of her hands before running at her to punch her. However, Lapis got her arms out and blocked them wherever Ayame tried to attack before tripping her and pulling her arm up, forcing Ayame to use her other arm to punch her, only for Lapis to catch it, surprising her before she tossed Ayame farther to the floor as she hit it with a thud before the defeated spoke.

"Whew! I think that's enough for now."

As the two went back in, they took their breath as Lapis spoke to her.

"You're getting better, Ayame. You really had me there. Really."

"Well, so far, better isn't good enough in terms of fighting. But... it did help me feel a little better."

"As opposed to what?"

"Well, it's just that lately, I've been... I'm wondering about how Keith's doing."

"Oh. So you're trying to forget about him."

"What? No! Not like that! But... yeah."

"I know it hurts now, Ayame, but Keith really does care about you."

"Then why would he leave?"

"Ayame, he left because he cares about you."

"Really? How do you know that?"

Just as Lapis was about to answer, Jenny stepped in.

"Hey, guys, here's some water."

"Oh, thanks."

As the girls took their drinks, Jenny noticed Ayame's face as she smiled before she spoke with a smirk.

"Oh, I see... you miss Keith, don't you?"

This made Ayame go in denial as she reacted defensively.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Lapis can tell this wasn't going to end well and tried to stop Jenny from making it worse.

"Uh, Jenny, now isn't the best..."

"C'mon. You know you love him. I can see it in your face."

This was the last straw for Ayame as she smashed her fist against the wall, jolting Jenny before she reiterated.

"No, I don't. Now if you excuse me, I've got some training to do."

With that, Ayame walked out of the door before Lapis turned to Jenny with an annoyed look.

"Really?"

"What? Was it something I said?"

"Never mind. Clearly, you're too much like Lance to understand what's even going on."

As Lapis began to walk out the door, Jenny spoke up.

"Wait! I'm sorry, Lapis. You're right. I'm trying to understand what's going on, but I... I just don't know how to reach out to people the way Ayame does. I really want her to be happy. I don't want Keith's leaving the team to break her down like Kumiko's death did."

Lapis then sighed before she spoke.

"It's okay. I know you're trying. But... why don't you leave that to me for now?"

This made Jenny sigh before she spoke.

"You sure you can help?"

"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything."

Then, Pidge showed Matt to the hangout.

"And this is the lounge. You know, where we just hang. Just Voltron Paladins hanging out."

Then, Adea walked in with Gen and Ral as she spoke.

"And right here is the lounge where the Paladins take a break when they're tired from missions. Oh! Hi, Pidge!"

Just then, Hunk arrived with five milkshakes as he spoke.

"Hey, hey! I made celebratory milkshakes for you guys!"

This confused Adea as she raised an eyebrow.

"Milk...shake?"

"Just a little welcome gift to Matt, Gen, and Ral from me and Kaltenecker. No big deal. Fun fact about Alteans, they don't get brain freeze. Coran, Alphus, Babak, and Allura just totally hovered up their shakes in one slurp. Uh... I've never seen anything like it before."

As Adea and Gen tasted it and slurped it up really fast, she and her mother ended up feeling a headache and groaned as they spoke.

"It... burns!"

"Is that what brain freeze feels like?"

Then, Hunk spoke to her.

"Yes, but don't worry. Just ride it out. It'll pass."

Then, the headache went away before Adea spoke.

"Not bad. I like it. Thanks, Hunk."

"You're welcome. Oh, and don't drink too fast it it'll happen again."

"Oh. Okay."

As Adea and Gen enjoyed their milkshake, Ral spoke to Matt.

"So, what have you and Zegdal been doing since you've escaped Beta Traz?"

"We've been stationed at a listening outpost, monitoring Galra radio chatter."

"And you're serious?"

Then, Hunk spoke about Pidge's upgrades.

"Then you should totally check out the Galra finder Pidge built. We used it to track down a Galra fleet and save a planet."

"Hunk made the locator that led us to the first Voltron Lion, and we just built an upgraded version of it to track Lotor."

"Wow, Pudge. Dad would be so proud if he could see what you've done here."

This made Pidge smile as Adea spoke to Hunk.

"Hey, can I get three more milkshakes? I really want Lapis, Atchiam, and Luzria to try them. Better yet, can you teach me?"

"Sorry, Adea. That's a trade secret."

Then, Adea grabbed Hunk and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"TEACH ME!"

As her words echoed, Hunk spoke.

"Yeah, just go talk to Lance about that. I am out. Peace."

As Hunk walked out, Pidge looked at Adea before she blinked her eyes.

"What?"

Meanwhile, Lotor headed towards a new base where countless Galra drones were assembling two more ships from the same material that the first was made from as Syn spoke to him.

"Lotor. We received word from central command. Emperor Zarkon requires your presence immediately."

"Very well. Prepare a ship."

Ezor grew concerned about what it could mean.

"Do you think he's onto us?"

"No, my father is simply ready to return to the throne. He can have it. Our plans have not changed. Narti, come with me. The rest of you, continue to oversee construction. I will return shortly."

At the Castle, Allura, Babak, Coran, Alphus, Adea, Ral, and Gen were gathered around Kaltenecker as the Alteans spoke first.

"Hello."

"How have you been, my good man?"

"Hope we're not interrupting."

"There was just something that we needed to ask you. But first, we need to introduce ourselves. I'm Alphus, this is Allura, Babak, Coran..."

"Pleasure."

"Adea..."

"Hi."

"Gen and Ral."

"Hello."

"How are you doing? It's kinda peaceful here, actually."

"Yep."

Then, Coran spoke to Kaltenecker next.

"Well, how do you like living in the Castle with us? Pleasant, I hope."

Kaltenecker only mooed before Adea spoke.

"Uh, what? I didn't hear what you said."

"If there's anything we can do to make your stay here more to your liking, please do not hesitate to ask."

"It's her ship, so... uh, we were actually just enjoying these milkshakes that you made for us."

"Positively divine, really."

Then, Alphus spoke up after the princess.

"Which is why we're wondering if... well, you still have your say in this, but if it's possible..."

Then, they got their cups out as Allura spoke.

"Could we have some more, please?"

As an answer, Kaltenecker only stood still, just eating the grass as Allura whispered to Coran.

"Can he understand us?"

"I think he's been insulted."

Then, Kaltenecker mooed loudly before the cow turned its back on them, forcing them to step back.

"Just step away..."

Adea still felt as though she was robbed.

"But I still didn't get my..."

Then, Gen covered her mouth before Coran spoke.

"Well, we'll be off now! Enjoy your, uh... area!"

With that, they took off from the room before Alfor appeared and sat beside Kaltenecker.

"I don't think they'd want to know your secret. I didn't."

Kaltenecker just mooed at Alfor's hologram as it sat down.

At central command, Lotor and Narti stepped forward to see Haggar as she spoke.

"Please, follow me."

As Haggar walked, Lotor eyed her suspiciously before they found themselves at Zarkon's feet.

"Father, it gives me such pleasure that you've made a full recovery. You look stronger than I've ever—"

"Stop, Lotor. I did not bring you here to hear any flattery. Lately, I've heard that you've been taking... missteps in your role of Emperor. Clearly, this is a role you're simply just not ready for. Which is why you are relieved of your position, effective immediately."

Then, Lotor feigned surprise as he spoke.

"Lord, I beg you, do not discard me. Let me stay by your side."

"I wasn't discarding you, my son. I'm merely placing you out of charge. And you don't have to worry about anyone leaving your side. I am also assigning a Galra to keep an eye on you at this very moment. You will be notified as to whom at your earliest convenience."

"Of course, my efforts at ruling the universe seem feeble beside your inestimable accomplishments. But, perhaps, if you were to train me, I could learn."

"This isn't about ruling the universe anymore. That was Omegus's regime. From now on, we are protecting this universe from any who would harm it, Lotor. Starting with Kaecilius. That is final."

"As you wish."

As Lotor walked away, Zarkon spoke again.

"And Lotor? About your training... you will begin once your assigned guard has been chosen. You are dismissed."

Lotor bore a surprised look before he spoke.

"Thank you, my lord."

"Please, Lotor. Call me Father."

Lotor only turned away and walked out with a smile before Haggar spoke to Zarkon.

"Something is amiss with Lotor. I sensed a powerful energy on him when he entered, something ancient."

"Find out what you can, and do it discreetly. We need to know what he's planning."

As Lotor and Narti prepared to take off, the latter looked up to see Haggar before she heard Narti's voice.

"Is something wrong?"

"You must understand the truth."

With that, Haggar's eyes glowed yellow as she looked at Narti.

In the ship, Lotor spoke to Narti.

"Run the protocol to search for trackers."

As she did this, nothing seemed to have appeared before Lotor spoke again.

"Transpose the dynamics and run that protocol again."

This time, Narti found a tracker on the bottom of the ship as Lotor spoke.

"You think you can fool me, witch? Destroy the bug."

With that, the ship activated an electric field before the tracker blew up in the process with minimal damage.

At the Castle, Matt looked at the maps with Pidge.

"This is a pretty sweet algorithm for locating Galra targets within a statistically acceptable margin of error. And I love that you color-coded it, because what are we, animals?"

This made the two laugh before Hunk spoke.

"Ugh, you two are definitely related."

"Hunk, using the Fraunhofer lines to track Voltron, and then the comet... I mean, that's genius."

"Oh, well, yeah, I try."

"They say Fraunhofer was the greatest glassmaker in Europe and that when he died, he took all his greatest recipes to the grave with him."

"I want a Fraunhofer glass."

"So, check this out."

With that, Matt got out his transponder, surprising Hunk and Pidge as Matt spoke.

"This has all the relevant data from my time with Zegdal and the rebels. I think of we plug this info into the setup you guys have here, it might fill in the gaps. Then, we just might have the best anti-Drule intelligence mining operation in this or any other reality."

Hunk then spoke about his experience there.

"This one time, we went to another reality. It was pretty lame. Except for Iyera, I guess. She looked so much like Kumiko in our reality, but as an Altean."

This caught Matt unawares as he spoke.

"Wait, you what? You were in a different reality?"

"No big deal."

As Pidge took his transponder and scooted to the main computer, Matt smiled.

"My little sister."

Meanwhile, in the hall near Belle's room, Jenny knocked at the door as her sister spoke.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, sis? It's Jenny. There's, uh, something I gotta ask you."

With that, Belle opened the door and was revealed to be in Shiro's old clothes from before he put on his Paladin suit before Jenny noticed and got confused.

"Why are you wearing Shiro's clothes?"

"He lent them to me when I was rescued. Just didn't try them until now, done I've ran out of good clean clothes. Anyway, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah. It's about Ayame. Ever since Keith left, Ayame's been cold and distant all over again. I was trying to find out how she's doing and what's wrong, but... she's just pushing me away. Do you know what I should do with that?"

"Well, if you were trying to be funny about it, I'd leave the talking to someone else."

"I already did. Lapis said she'd do it. But I'm talking about for future reference. I really don't know how to talk to people the way Ayame did. When she talks to you, it really feels like she cares about you and what you're going through. But when I do it, apparently, I come off as a Lance. No offense to him. Anyway, I'm stinking at this so far. What should I do?"

Belle smiled as she spoke.

"I think you just found the answer to your own problem."

"Huh?"

"Look at the difference between how you come off around people as opposed to Ayame. You said it yourself. When she talks, it feels like she really cares about other people and what they went through because she actually does. The way you came off was the opposite."

"Oh. So... what you're saying is... I should be more like Ayame?"

"Bingo."

"But... I thought it's okay to just be me."

"It is. There's nothing wrong with you, and you know that. But there's gonna be a time when you have to start acting your age. I'm not asking you to give up your cheerfulness in the process, but the sooner you grow up, the better off things will be. You understand?"

Jenny then smiled at her big sister before she spoke.

"Yeah. Thanks, sis."

"Anytime, Jenny."

Then, Jenny noticed the group that went to Kaltenecker walking in the hall as Jenny grew confused.

"Uh, what are they doing?"

As Jenny followed, she found them near the open door where Lance was playing the video game he bought from the Space Mall as Coran spoke.

"Lance, could you assist us for a moment?"

"Not now!"

"Okay."

Suddenly, the dragon began to breathe the Final Inferno attack on his party members before they turned to tombstones as Lance whimpered before groaning as Allura spoke.

"We were wondering if you could possibly assist us in getting a milkshake."

"We tried to negotiate some on our own, but we've run into a bit of difficulty with Kaltenecker."

Adea then spoke next in a sort of Gollum-like voice, scaring Jenny a bit.

"Must have... the precious milkshake..."

Seeing her like that made Lance widen his eyes before he sighed and got up.

"All right. Let's go."

This made Adea happy as she spoke.

"Yay!"

At the room where Kaltenecker spends its day, it stood as Lance spoke to the group and Jenny.

"Well, first off, Kaltenecker is a girl."

"Oh! I see."

"Apologies, madam."

"Right. And she's a cow, so she can't understand you."

Adea then realized the next part of the problem as she grew angry.

"You mean I've been wasting my breath on someone who can't even hear what I'm saying?!"

As Adea fell to the ground, Ral smiled.

"Yep. That's my daughter, alright."

As Gen glared at him, Ral grew confused.

"What?"

"Also, she doesn't make milkshakes. She has to be milked. Let me show you."

With that, Lance got the bucket and put it underneath Kaltenecker before he got his hands ready.

"Watch and learn."

He then grunted as he got near the udders. As he did, the group (save for Jenny and Ral, who just widened his eyes) grew shocked at the actions he took as Gen covered Adea's eyes.

"Don't look, Adea! You're too young!"

"Mom! I'm 17 decaphoebes old!"

As Adea managed to get a peek, she began to regret it.

"Eek! Gross!"

Then, Kaltenecker mooed as the milk was in the bucket before he got out several glasses and poured them in.

"It's so thick. It's almost like a milkshake right now!"

This made the Alteans whimper before they slid back and around to the exit as the Galra that stayed were frozen stiff before Gen dragged the traumatized Adea outside while she held her cup as Ral just stood where he was and looked to Lance before he and Jenny spoke.

"Well, where's my milkshake?"

"Can I take one for the road, too? I need to talk to someone."

At her room, Ayame was alone before she heard the door open.

"Look, Jenny, I really don't want to talk about it, okay? Can you just leave me alone?"

When she looked up, she noticed Lapis by herself before they came in and sat down as she spoke.

"Oh. Sorry."

Then, Ayame sighed before speaking again, knowing she had every intention to finish her conversation.

"I know Keith's doing this for us. But I'm not just going to get over it. I'm sorry. I just... I don't think you know what it's like to be left, Lapis. You have a legendary father. People wanting to be with you, willing to stay with you...! I didn't have any of that. My mom left me. My dad left too. Shiro was always busy with the Garrison and Kumiko and her family couldn't take care of themselves. I had to pick up the pieces. I had to keep things together. Alone."

There was nothing but silence between the two before Ayame spoke.

"Lapis. If you have something to say, say it."

Lapis sighed at her before she spoke.

"Contrary to what you believe, Ayame, I do know. More than you think. When I was just an infant, my father and my mother were killed by Sendak. It was actually on my birthday. After killing my family, Sendak took me in just to take responsibility for what he did. He didn't even care about me. When I was old enough to take it, he beat me every single quintant. When I least expected it. I was... sad. Suicidal, even. Even worse, he told me the truth right to my face, and he didn't even care that it would hurt me. Maybe... maybe that's what he had in mind. Whatever it was between me and him back then, it was his deranged act of tough love. Since then, I had to grow up pretty quickly. I couldn't take any more if it. When I was 10 decaphoebes old... I learned. I learned where Sendak would strike me next and wherever he would attack, I would counter that and beat him down whenever I could. While I did that, he smiled. I guess, in a way, he was training me. So, in spite of what he did to me, I couldn't leave. I had no way to do that. So for 10 more decaphoebes I kept repeating the same pattern over and over, and well, you get the idea. That is, until Shiro helped me escape. As you can imagine, that made him... really angry. Then, one thing led to another, and here I am."

That made Ayame feel bad about what she said to her.

"I'm really sorry. I... shouldn't have assumed."

"You're right, though. I don't know loneliness like you do. I have my own version. And... I'll bet Keith has his own version too."

"And how do you know that?"

"The whole time he was with us, he was afraid to open up to people and was trying to keep others out of the way just so he could keep them safe. He told me that when we first met. We understood each other. But, when we got captured, and the ship blew up, the one thing Keith was afraid of actually happened. The universe proved him right. He may have told you the truth, but not all of it. He's also pulling away from you because he felt it's best that others don't suffer for his actions. He didn't want to take any chance of that happening to you."

Ayame didn't consider that an acceptable excuse.

"No one blamed him for anything. If he had just talked to us, he would have known that! How could I be there for him if he can't let me? What if I needed him here for me?"

With that, Ayame broke down in tears as Lapis hugged her.

"I know it's not easy. I wish he hadn't left, too. The only thing we can do is be here for him when he's ready. When he comes back."

"If he comes back."

"He will. Ayame. You, Jenny, Shiro, and even Keith are more family to me than Sendak or even my father, and he cares about me more than anyone. I would do anything for you, and I'm willing to bet Keith feels the same way. So, when he's ready, I'll be there for him. And, I know we're not as close, but... I'm here for you too."

This comforted Ayame as she wiped her tears away and spoke.

"Thank you, Lapis."

Then, Jenny knocked on the door before Ayame spoke.

"Come in."

As Jenny stepped in, she held a milkshake and sat down by Ayame.

"Hey. Listen. I'm sorry for how I acted back then. I wasn't trying to agitate you. I just... I only wanted to see you smile again. Clearly, I pulled a Lance on that, no offense to him. Truth is, I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to being serious. But, my sis told me I should start acting my age. Told me it's the way to go. So, you can know that I mean it when I say... 'I'm sorry.' It's just so new to me, talking to people like this when I'm not mopey, and I really don't want to be. But, I want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to, you can count on me, just like you can count on Lapis. That's how we've managed to recover when you went away. It made us remember who we're fighting for. I'm hoping it'll do the same for you, too. Okay?"

Then, Ayame hugged Jenny in surprise before she spoke.

"Thank you so much."

Jenny then hugged her back as she spoke.

"You're welcome."

Suddenly, they heard Adea's monotone moaning that sounded like a ghost as Lapis spoke.

"What was that about?"

Jenny, having seen the reactions herself, felt it best for Lapis to avoid that knowledge.

"Trust her on this: you do not want to know."

Meanwhile, Lotor and Narti returned to the base as Syn spoke.

"Let me guess: you got fired?"

"I'm afraid I was relieved of my command, yes."

Acxa then spoke next on the matter at hand.

"The second ship is finally complete and ready for testing. The sentries are just making some final adjustments."

Ezor then sighed before she spoke.

"And it's about time, too. That Jenny really made a dent in our plans by stealing half of that comet."

"Excellent."

Then, unbeknownst to the group, Narti was speaking to Honerva telepathically.

"Can you see it?"

"Yes."

At the command center, Honerva was using the same trick Kaecilius is using with Voltron as she witnessed Lotor and his generals near the ships.

"60% of the comet's material has been used in the production the first two ships, My Lord. We have more than enough for the creation of the third."

"Well done, Acxa."

Then, Syn spoke again.

"The sooner we get those ships ready to destroy Kaecilius and those holier-than-thou Galra traitors, the better."

This unnerved Haggar as she gasped.

"No."

Then, Haggar spoke to Zarkon up front.

"Zarkon, our son Lotor has created a second ship from that comet."

"What?"

"And worse, he's planning to take out Kaecilius and us."

"The only reason to keep them secret is for the element of surprise. Not only that. It seems he has every intention to abrupt the peace we mean to create. But we won't let it happen. Mobilize the fleet! Hunt down Prince Lotor."

At the Castle, Pidge, Hunk, and Matt were at work with the Galra finder as the last of the three spoke.

"I think we've just about got it."

To prove this, countless Galra symbols appeared as the three grew celebratory.

"Alright!"

"Yes!"

"Wow!"

"This is unbelievable. We're tracking Galra movements almost live."

"I think I know a few tweaks we can make to extend our range."

Then, Matt had other plans as he noticed a new message that is encrypted.

"Hold on, Pidge."

"What's up?"

"It's a scrambled message. I've collected hundreds of 'em. I never crack 'em."

Fortunately, that wasn't a problem for Pidge.

"Let me see."

As Matt handed it to Pidge, she felt a challenge coming on.

"I'm guessing this isn't just a simple number-for-letter swap."

"I've run these through every kind of decryption technology I can think of, and I've spent days with just the numbers and a Galta language log. Nothing."

Hunk had an idea about what it was.

"Maybe they're not words. Maybe they're just numbers."

This made Pidge think of something else they frequently use.

"Maybe they're a frequency."

"A quantum signal that broadcasts other frequencies to go to? It's too high. These are more than 3,000 gigahertz."

"Invert it."

"What?"

Then, Pidge flipped the screen sideways as she spoke.

"For every wave we receive, there's only partial transmittance, right?"

Hunk and Matt then understood what she was talking about.

"Oh, right, yeah. So, we figure the transmission coefficient..."

"And tune for the frequency of the reflected waves."

As they frequencies came together, they finally managed to get the transmission.

"Members of the Seventh..."

They began to cheer for their success, but it was too early to celebrate as the message extended to troubling news.

"...11th, 12th, and 14th Fleet, assemble to rally point trox-lyte immediately. Engage targets at coordinates in next transmission by order of Emperor Zarkon."

This made Hunk grow surprised.

"Zarkon's actually found Lotor?"

Then, Pidge looked up and saw a large concentration of Galra headed there as she and Matt spoke.

"Guys, look at this."

"I've never seen troop mobilization on this level before."

Hunk grew concerned about what they're after.

"What are they attacking?"

"That's just it. As far as I can tell, nothing. There are no planets, no rebel ships, no Blade of Marmora bases, nothing."

Then, she came to the realization about what he intends to do now that he's found him.

"Unless... he's attacking Lotor."

At the bridge, Alphus felt there's more to it.

"If Lotor is found, then we have to intercept."

Shiro didn't seem to trust it would end well if they just charge in.

"I don't like it. We should be gathering intelligence, not diving into a fight without knowing why, especially now that we know Lotor is found."

Lapis could agree with him on that point.

"Right. With Lotor backed into a corner like that, who knows what he'll try."

Then, Pidge had an idea as she spoke.

"We could go check it out."

Lance felt it wouldn't be optimal.

"I think they'd probably notice us."

"Not if we're cloaked."

"You have cloaking? Who are you?"

Ayame felt concerned with that.

"I don't think the Green Lion by itself is safe this time, Pidge."

"I'm pretty sure I can upgrade Voltron with cloaking. We could all go."

Lance then nudged Pidge before he spoke.

"Were you waiting for your big brother to show up before you rolled that one out?"

"It's something I've been working on for a while, but I can't pilot the Green Lion and operate the cloaking at the same time. But if I had a co-pilot..."

Matt knew what she was going for and whole-heartedly agreed.

"Absolutely."

Shiro then spoke to his team.

"Let's get to the lions."

At Kaecilius' cruiser, he sensed Voltron becoming active again as he spoke.

"Hmm. What daily activity requires my attention this time?"

With that, Vantiv and Varek walked in before he spoke with the latter answering first.

"Are the coordinates set, my companions?"

"Yes. Our base on Naxzela is fully operational."

"And now, all that's left is for Voltron to come to us."

"Perfect. But before we resort to any desperate tactics, we simply must oversee exactly whose aid Voltron is attending to. I have reason to believe it's of the... utmost importance."

At the secret base, it began to jolt as shots were fired from outside while the base blared an alarm as Lotor spoke to Zethrid, who was piloting the second ship.

"What's happening?"

"A Galra fleet is attacking us."

"Return fire!"

"Wait, there's another fleet. And another one. We can't hold them all off."

Lotor was left with no choice as he spoke.

"Prepare the Sincline ships to takeoff. Load the comet into mine. We're leaving."

Outside, Voltron came close to the field with Ayame in the Black Lion with Shiro, Matt in the Green Lion with Pidge, Jenny in the Red Lion with Lance, and Rogue Thrust in the Blue Lion with Allura at the same time Kaecilius activated the purple veil and he, Varek, and Vantiv looked through Shiro's eyes.

"We're getting close. Everyone, get ready."

Pidge then turned to Matt as she spoke.

"Go ahead. Run the cloaking subroutine."

"Got it. Initializing cloak. I'm not sure how long we can keep this up."

As Voltron turned invisible, Allura spoke.

"Alright, let's take a look at what the Galra are attacking."

Ayame then spoke to her as they saw the scene themselves.

"I think you know the answer, Allura. Those ships. I can tell they're made from Lotor's half of that comet."

This confused Lance as he spoke.

"What the cheese? It's Galra-on-Galra violence, again."

"Oh, these people just do not like each other."

Jenny then reminded everyone about what Alphus said.

"Maybe, but remember what Alphus said, guys. We have to intercept and capture Lotor."

In the base, Lotor spoke to his generals as they walked there.

"Divert all power to defenses. Hold the attack off until we're away. Then scuttle—"

Before he could finish, the base jolted as Acxa and Zethrid spoke.

"How did they find us?"

"We must have been tracked."

Then, Syn growled as he spoke.

"And I know how."

With that, Syn got out his luxite sword and made a dark aura slash with his blade, piercing the link, petrifying Haggar as the link came undone. All the while, Narti was now unconscious as Kova looked at him confusedly as Syn spoke.

"Don't fall for that witch's lies, or you'll suffer her fate. Let's move."

With that, Lotor and his generals took off via Sincline ships as Voltron took notice with Pidge speaking.

"Whose ships are those?"

Jenny can make a guess.

"Who do you think? They're Lotor's."

As Shiro spoke, Ayame replied her confusion.

"Lotor and Zarkon must be fighting for control of the Galra Empire."

"But why? I thought my father wanted peace."

Lapis then spoke to Ayam about the situation.

"So did Lotor. My guess is Zarkon's trying to bring him in and he's not in the mood for a time out."

Then, Hunk spoke up his worry as they came closer in view.

"Guys, those ships are getting awfully close."

Suddenly, they zipped past Voltron, deactivating the cloak as Matt spoke.

"Uh-oh. The trails from Lotor's ship drives messes with our cloaking spectrum."

"Can you find a work-around?"

"It's too late. Our cover's been blown. We may have to engage."

Then, Ayame remembered her status as she spoke.

"Wait a minute. Don't fire. Let me try something."

Then, Ayame spoke out to the Galra as she spoke from Voltron.

"Soldiers of the Galra Empire, hold your fire! This is Princess Xaira! I repeat, hold your fire!"

With that, Zygmar recognized her voice before he spoke to the fleets.

"Abort fire! Abort fire! Princess Xaira is in Voltron!"

With that, the fleet's weapon's powered down before she spoke further.

"Why are you attacking the base?"

Zygmar then spoke to her via transmission.

"We have orders from Emperor Zarkon to capture Lotor alive."

This confirmed that Zarkon brought the Galra in the loop about Lotor before she sighed.

"Understood. I'm sorry for causing you delays. Carry on with your mission."

With that, Ayame sat down as Shiro spoke.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just... surprised, I guess."

All the while, Lotor and his generals took off feeling disheartened by their situation as they heard a beeping from the transmission before Acxa spoke.

"Sir, we're picking up a transmission."

With that, Zarkon spoke to all able-bodied warriors of the Galra Empire, as well as Voltron and Kaecilius and his Drules.

"Attention, citizens of the Galra Empire. From this day forward, my son Lotor is to be regarded as a wanted vigilante of the empire. All citizens are authorized to use lethal and merciful force to stop him or any of his soldiers. I repeat, Prince Lotor is an outlaw of the state. Engage with extreme caution. Capture on sight."

With that, Kaecilius smirked as Vantiv smiled.

"So, what should we do about this development?"

Kaecilius smirked as he replied.

"Nothing. Zarkon is Lotor's son after all. Let him clean up his own mess. After all, it's one less threat to Voltron, and one less threat to us."