Chapter 40: The Prodigal Son
A month after Voltron captured Lotor and thwarted Kaecilius for the time being, Shiro spoke to the others as the six lions converged on a weaponized purple-red moon.
"That's our target, the moon of Tragoch."
Jenny grew confused about its importance as she spoke.
"What's the big deal with this thing again?"
Allura took the liberty of answering her question.
"According to our latest intelligence, that's where the Drule are building their new upgraded sentries."
"Taking out this base will mean the Drule won't be able to resupply their bases and ships for months."
Jenny, considering what the past experience with said intelligence led them to, felt unsure about the legitimacy.
"How do we know this isn't a trap?"
Ayame eased her worries as she spoke.
"All the intel's checked out so far. Everything's exactly how we were told it'd be. Including preparing us for those!"
Suddenly, small seeker drones emerged from the planet and went after the lions before Pidge spoke to Allura.
"Allura, I'm sending you the signals to interfere with the drones."
"Signal acquired. Broadcasting."
With that, the Blue Lion got a sonic wave machine and fired the soundwaves at the drones, shutting them down with the signal Pidge gave her before Shiro spoke.
"Now let's take them out before they recalibrate and report our approach."
"You got it, jefe."
With that, the six lions got their jaw blades and destroyed the seekers before focusing on entry as Shiro spoke.
"Form up on me. We're going in."
As they went in the thin vents of the planetary factory, Shiro reminded the team of the time they have.
"We only have five minutes before the Drule base realizes their drones aren't responding. Be careful to stay in formation, and don't touch the sides!"
As the lions flew through the vent, Hunk was pressuring himself.
"Don't touch the side. Don't touch the side. Don't touch the side. Don't touch the side."
However, in pressuring himself, he lost control and nicked a side of the vent just before lava came after them.
"Uh-oh!"
As Hunk flew away, he looked in time to see Pidge before colliding into her.
"Hunk!"
"I think I may have nicked the side a little bit."
Allura has an idea to remedy this as she spoke.
"Let me through!"
With that, she fired an ice blast at the lava, holding it on place before it began cracking to pieces.
"We'd better hurry. That patch won't last long."
At the facility's hold, Komar oversaw the construction of the upgraded sentries, still certain that a particular Defender of the Universe would interfere.
"With this many sentries, I hardly believe Voltron would turn his back on this."
The commander in charge disagreed.
"Nonsense. If Voltron didn't know about this before, why would he appear now?"
"Because it's only a matter of time."
Komar couldn't be more right as the alarm went off with it detailing the source of the commotion.
"We're under attack!"
As they saw the lions, Komar still maintained his dismal look while the commander grew surprised.
"It's Voltron!"
"You were saying?"
"All forces, prepare for enemy assault. This is not a drill."
As the Drule soldiers readied themselves, the patch Allura made shattered before the lava flowed again. As the lions tried to escape, the lava went faster, catching up to them quickly with Hunk panicking.
"The lava's gaining on us! We can't outrun it!"
Jenny then spoke to Allura for good news.
"How much further, Allura?"
"We should be directly underneath the Drule base."
Seeing a hole up ahead, Shiro knew what it meant as far as escape.
"There's an opening up ahead. Follow me!"
As they got out of the hole, the Lions went up another, only for the lions to be trapped with the lava rising to them as Lance spoke.
"Oh, no! We're trapped!"
Shiro wasn't willing to give up yet.
"No, we're not! There's another way out! Form Voltron!"
With that, the five lions combined into Voltron before the White Lion transformed itself. On the monitors, the commander spoke to his men.
"Stand down. Voltron is no more."
Komar knew better than that.
"I wouldn't count on it. Three, two, one..."
As soon as he finished counting, the two Voltrons emerged and revealed themselves as Shiro spoke.
"Take down the factory machines!"
As Voltron fired a blast at the machines, the White Voltron fired blasts at the sentries before they evaporated. As the destruction took place, the commander was forced to retreat.
"We have to get out of here! To the escape pods!"
As they ran, Komar was displeased as he pulled out a container of Chaotic Quintessence.
"Tch! So much for 'victory or death'. No matter. I've got what I came for."
With that, Komar vanished in a dark mist before the base exploded with both Voltrons safely evacuated.
At the Castle, which laid on the surface of Naxzela, Hunk commented on the info their intelligence gave them.
"Oh, man! Going on missions is a lot easier when somebody gives you all the information you need before you get there."
Lance felt he could've done better.
"And yet, you still managed to run your lion into a wall."
"Yeah, information is one thing. Ability is something completely different."
Alphus then spoke up.
"Well, either way you look at it, we haven't encountered a single problem since Naxzela."
Allura, Pidge, and Jenny gave their own two cents about it.
"I must admit, we took down a vital target today."
"And we made it look pretty easy, except for the getting buried in lava part."
"Yeah. That one was kinda embarrassing."
Given their luck so far, Ayame had an idea form in her head.
"It may be time to consider taking the next step."
However, Allura felt just as suspicious about this as Jenny was.
"I'm still not comfortable with this. It just doesn't feel right."
"That makes two of us. The last time we trusted him, he took off with half a comet and hurt our friends. How do we know he isn't up to something?"
Ayame then spoke to Jenny as the two stood up.
"If his word is any indication like the info, I'd like to believe that Lotor and I are after the same thing."
"Yeah. But at what cost?"
Later, Jenny, Ayame, Allura, and Shiro went down to the lower levels before the last of the four spoke to him.
"Your intel checked out."
"You still feign surprise."
Jenny raised an eyebrow at this as she spoke.
"Same goes for you, too."
"But of course. All of the information I've given, proven correct. Every target I've provided, easily dispatched. Yet, you still look at me—"
"As the first guy who pulls the trigger? Yeah, that sums it up."
"Can people not change? Is it so hard to believe that I wish to return the Galra Empire to a bygone era of peace?"
"Coming from you? Yeah."
This earned Ayame's clearing throat before Jenny remembered her promise to Ayame.
"Then again, your father did let you help us. Once. So that's gotta mean something for him to let you help, I guess."
"I wouldn't blame him. Our fathers were friends once, long ago. There must be hope for us."
Shiro then spoke up in Jenny's place.
"I guess we still need convincing."
Ayame then walked up as she spoke with him.
"I've been told, in the Weblum, that you were trying to bring peace to the universe. Is that anything to go by?"
"The facts speak for themselves. The Galra Empire is completely reliant on Quintessence. Serve that need peacefully, and you have a complete paradigm shift, a new dawn for the old empire."
Jenny scoffed at this.
"Funny. That's exactly what your father wanted. And look what happened to him."
"Yes. He's back on his throne, determined to set things right for the wrongs he committed, just like you claimed. Is this not accurate?"
This stunted Jenny, giving her no material to counter and forcing her to concede.
"Oh, alright then."
"My plan from the beginning has been to find a way to harvest Quintessence without resorting to the barbarism of the Komar. Extracting Quintessence from entire planets at the cost of every living thing? I think not."
Understanding the way Lotor thought, Jenny also understood why he tricked them.
"Is that why you tricked us into getting the comet for you?"
"Only Voltron and its counterparts could retrieve the trans-reality comet. So, yes, I'm afraid I had to be a bit duplicitous in effecting its retrieval, although we saw how well it turned out in the end, thanks in part to your quick-thinking."
"You're darn right, it is. And if we died, would that have even mattered to you?"
"It was a calculated risk, I admit that. But I knew they'd come through without a scratch. And since recovering a half of the comet, I haven't been in the least bit aggressive."
Allura then pondered about a missing general of his.
"What about Syn? Why haven't we seen him?"
"I'm afraid he's the one who acted aggressively. Before father captured me, he betrayed me and took one of my ships. When I heard you were in the Ulippa system at that point, I had to help. What would I gain by fighting you? My sole focus has been finding a way to enter the zone between realities."
Hearing this, Jenny felt it to be so familiar.
"Hmm. You must love making history repeat itself."
Ayame caught her tone and spoke.
"Jenny!"
"It was your predecessor who led the scientific exploration that discovered Quintessence. An exploration, I might add, that resulted in the creation of Voltron."
"And set Omegus free! If that meteor didn't crash, this whole mess wouldn't be happening right now!"
"This isn't a zero-sum game. Meeting the needs of the Galra Empire means bringing peace to the universe. That is the future enlightenment brings us, one of prosperity for all."
"Even if we do give them Quintessence, odds are, they'll still be just as evil as they were 10,000 years ago! People can't change that easily!"
"Such a hypocrite coming from you, Jennifer. You've already changed since we last met."
As Jenny growled and tensed her hands, she caught a deep breath before glaring at him calmly as she spoke.
"Yeah. I have. Wanna guess who's to blame?"
"I saved your lives and the lives of all your comrades. I have given you target after target in the Drule Empire, and all of them have been dismantled or destroyed at no cost of life to you."
"And I'm grateful for that. But as much as I want to trust you again... I just can't. I mean, I really want to, but I can't. I was the first person to trust you when we met, and then you stabbed me in the back. So you'll understand when I say I'm not interested in any alliance with you just yet. I'm just not ready."
Lotor held his head down as he spoke.
"I understand, Jennifer. But all I ask is to be judged for my actions rather than your preconceptions of my race. If that is beyond you, then perhaps you should just finish me and get it over with."
"First off, That's what I've been doing this whole time. And second, I won't. Your father would want you alive. That's the only reason you're still breathing right now. Well, that, and I'm trying really hard to forgive you, so try not to make it worse."
"If that's your attitude, Jennifer, then clearly, you are not ready to end this war."
That struck a nerve in Jenny as she snapped at him with a yell and banged on the barrier, forcing him back.
"You don't know what you're talking about, buster!"
Ayame then gripped Jenny's shoulder as she spoke.
"Easy, Jenny. Calm down."
As Jenny took a deep breath, Ayame spoke onward to her.
"Maybe you should go take a walk for a bit."
"Yeah. Maybe I'll do that, as long as I don't have to see him for a while. Better yet, I'll go talk to someone I can actually count on. For the record, Ayame, I wasn't talking about you. You're still cool."
As Jenny walked away, Shiro spoke.
"We're done here, too. You coming, Ayame?"
"Actually... you guys go on ahead. I'll be okay."
With that, Shiro and Allura followed Jenny, leaving Ayame alone with Lotor before she turned to her half-Brother.
"Jenny's really trying, you know."
"Well, her actions would say otherwise."
"I guess that's one thing you guys can agree on. And it's not her fault. Jenny's just... well, she's been through a lot those past couple of years. So, you can see the reservations for yourself."
"Worse yet, if this barrier wasn't in the way, I would've felt them, too."
This made Ayame giggle a bit before she cleared her throat.
"Anyway, with what you've done for us so far, for what it's worth, I trust you. And I really hope we can make that peace happen."
Lotor smiled gratefully at Ayame before he spoke.
"Well, that makes two of us."
At Base: Xanthium, Kaecilius entered a lab as he growled at Komar and removed his cloak to expose his upper body, which was suitably physical, even for a dark mage of the Drules.
"Komar... is the formula ready yet?"
"Just finishing up. Before Voltron interfered, I managed to get one last existing vial of Chaotic Quintessence left over from the battle at the quantum abyss, the contents of which are founded and sealed by the base's commander. It's a miracle there was any left."
"Good. Now, inject the dosage."
As he turned to Kaecilius, Komar felt unsure about whether it was the right choice.
"Are you certain? This Chaotic Quintessence hasn't even ripened yet."
Kaecilius only repeated his request loudly.
"Give it to me now! Or I will see to it that you will be a literal stain of this cosmos!"
Given the severity of the demands, Komar could only comply with it.
"A-As you wish."
With that, Komar added the canister of the Chaotic Quintessence into his siphon before firing a blast at Kaecilius, granting him a dark red aura over his body before he groaned with his body growing in size before his arm that held its hand out for the blast become corroded and the skin that reached for it turned to dust and was replaced with a red and black Quintessential structure over half of his body, before his eyes glowed dark red from the intake of the dark substance as he yelled out.
At the Castle, Lance went to the bridge to speak with Allura.
"Princess? The meeting's about to start."
"I'm almost ready. If I'm expected to lead this, I need to know what I'm talking about."
"Yeah, but no one expects you to memorize everything. We can have a script-screen for you, or you could just jot some notes down on the inside of your hand. I mean, I do it all the... uh, time."
When he paused to look at his hand, Allura turned to Lance as she spoke.
"Really, Lance? I doubt even Jenny would find that funny."
"I'm kidding! Wait, now that you mention it, where's Jenny? I haven't seen her since she went with you guys to check on Lotor."
"She's training with Honerva again. Although, I'd say she's mostly using that time to talk about Lotor. After all, he is Honerva's son."
At the core of Naxzela, Jenny spoke with Honerva about the doldrums of having him around as she spoke.
"I mean, the guy talks about bringing peace to the Galra Empire with Quintessence, but all I'm hearing is just that: Quintessence. It can't be the answer to everything, right? If it were that simple, we would've had world peace a long time ago, let alone universal."
"Yes, Jenny. I worry for Lotor as well. But we must give him time to be accustomed to this."
"Like he's gonna care. He did stab us in the back."
"As did his father toward the other Paladins. But he's beyond that now. And we have you to thank for that."
As nice as it was to hear this, Jenny got confused by her meaning of it.
"Thanks, but what exactly are you trying to say?"
"Zarkon only came back to his senses because he had someone to help him stray from the corrupted path he carved. It's high time Lotor had someone to help him."
"What? You mean me? No way! After what he put me through, what he put all of us through, you expect me to be around him?! We don't know what he'll do to us if he gets the chance!"
"Which is precisely why you will accompany him. During the days of war, Zarkon learned a great virtue. In fact, it's what brought the original Paladins together long before the comet ever landed on Daibazaal. Keep your allies close, and your enemies closer."
"Yeah, well, no offense, but the only virtue that matters to me right now is to remember who made the deal. Because a deal is only as good as the man who makes it."
Just then, Pidge spoke up to her via gauntlet.
"Jenny, everybody's ready and waiting for you and Honerva."
"We're on our way."
Later, Allura spoke with the coalition that included Sneren, Vrathrea, Kolivan, Keith, Sandra, and Lapis among the Blade of Marmora and the other planets.
"As of today, our rebel forces have taken control of one-third of the accumulate of the Drule and Galra Empires. With Zarkon on our side, we greatly outnumber the Drules with three-quarters of the universe free. But we cannot grow complacent. The Drule Empire is now backed into a corner, which will make them most dangerous. However, the tide is changing."
One of the leaders that commented on her appearance at the time of Ayame and Shiro's disappearance spoke to her.
"The rebel coalition is winning because of you, Princess Allura. You and the Voltron Force. Mere cycles ago, I felt that my race would breathe its last in Galra chains, but then Voltron appeared in the horizon and our lives changed forever!"
"This bid for liberty is only possible because of all of our sacrifices. And we still have a long way to go before the entire universe is free."
"We'll be behind you every step of the way."
"Thank you. We will reconvene soon. Until then."
With that, the leaders went away before the blades were shown front and center.
"Did you complete the raids on the targets we sent you on our last communication?"
Sneren answered as Ayame looked up to Keith before they smiled at each other.
"Yes. The information we've received from Lotor and his generals has consistently checked out, in spite of difficulties."
To demonstrate said difficulties, Atchiam fired a green glob at Slav's mouth, who exclaimed before swallowing it and grumbling as she called out to Adea.
"Direct hit! I repeat, direct hit!"
"Did you see that?!"
Sneren groaned at this while Vrathrea smiled before Pidge spoke.
"With all these successful missions taking place in such a short period of time, it won't be long until the Drule realizes we're using Lotor, assuming they haven't suspected already."
"That's true. We should expect the enemy to change protocol soon."
Lance felt time is of the essence.
"Then we need to act fast and hit as many targets as possible."
Jenny knew that they wouldn't have the time even if they started. The only option to guarantee peace is to... As much as she detested the thought, it was the only play where they can solve this efficiently. With that, Shiro spoke up.
"We'll talk to Lotor and see if there's anything else he can give us."
Jenny then volunteered to fill in that position.
"Actually... I'll go talk with him."
Allura felt unsure about this considering what happened last time.
"Are you sure? You're not going to blow your temper at him?"
"I can't make any promises, but if there's one thing Honerva taught me, its to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Still, I can't help but think we're being used for whatever he has in mind. But so what? All the more reason to check on him myself."
Later, Ayame accompanied Jenny to ensure she doesn't blow her stack again.
"Every lead I've provided you so far has been unerring, exact, and relatively easy to accomplish. Anything I would give you now would be somewhat more... perilous in nature."
"How perilous are we talking?"
"I have some information that I believe you would consider important on a more personal level. There is a prison, formerly under my control. It houses a special inmate."
Keeping in mind about what Honerva told her, she was all in this time.
"For once, I'm listening."
At a distant plant, Nyma spoke to Pidge and Matt.
"Thank you for helping us get the fleet back in order. They were pretty banged up after the invasion."
"No problem."
"We rebooted the entire targeting system in this one. Pidge wrote a patch that will increase accuracy by a power of three."
"Yeah, well, Matt overhauled the thrusters on this one. It can pull out of a six-g dive and not lose thrust."
"That's Newton's gravitational constant, of course."
"Duh. What would she think. 9.8 meters per second squared?"
The genius siblings laughed at this before Matt spoke.
"But we saved our best work for last."
With that, he introduced Beezer with a new upgrade for his legs, as well as some polish on his chest plate, making Nyma excited.
"He looks brand-new! I can see myself in his chest plate."
Suddenly, Rolo exited his ship before speaking to the Green Paladin.
"Pidge, you got a message incoming."
At the ship, Pidge saw Shiro, Jenny, Allura, and Ayame as she spoke.
"Hey, guys."
Jenny waved to her as she spoke back.
"Hey, Pidge."
Seeing Shiro, Ayame, and Allura's looks of seriousness meant that something was in the horizon as she spoke with them.
"Is something wrong?"
Shiro answered first.
"We have a lead on Commander Holt. Your father."
"Our father?"
"Lotor gave us information on his whereabouts."
"Where is he?"
Seeing the panic in Pidge's voice, Jenny spoke up.
"Well, the good news is, he's at a remote prison. Very easy to break out. Bad news is, they're about to move at any time soon. Ayame and I can meet you guys as soon as the transmission is over, then we can all go."
Knowing how much time is left, Pidge spoke differently after looking to Matt.
"Send us the coordinates."
With that, they ran as Ayame spoke.
"Pidge, Matt! You can't go without backup!"
Rolo eased her worries as she spoke.
"Hey, don't worry. We'll make sure they got the backup they need."
Beezer buzzed for reassurance as Jenny blinked her eyes.
"Huh. I guess we're good, then. Make sure to bring them back safe, okay? I'm looking at you, Nyma."
Seeing Jenny's stank eyes, Ayame grew confused before she turned to Shiro.
"What exactly happened between them?"
"You have no idea."
In the Green Lion, Pidge held her head down with Matt, Rolo, Beezer, and Nyma accounted for before her brother comforted her.
"What if something's happened to him, Matt? W-What if—?"
"We're gonna bring Dad back, I promise."
As Pidge still felt unsure, they got closer to an asteroid with Galra structure before she and Rolo spoke.
"Approaching the prison."
"This place is gonna have security. We're gonna go headfirst into that?"
"That's why we've got cloaking."
However, once they passed the small drones, they activated a barrier before the Green Lion lost its cloaking.
"How did it detect us?"
"That doesn't sound good."
Pidge can see Rolo's point as she spoke.
"We've hit some sort of barrier! We've lost cloaking!"
Then, Beezer buzzed in a panic before the Drule fighters emerged toward them.
"Drule fighters on intercept course!"
As they shot out their weapons at the Green Lion, Pidge took evasive action before firing a blast at one of the fighters before Pidge was forced to try an alternative as the lion dove down to the surface.
"Change of plan! Im going to have to drop you off! Hold on!"
With that, the Green Lion went into its belly before Rolo, Matt, Nyma, and Beezer jumped off of it with Pidge speaking softly as she saw them dive.
"Go get him, Matt."
As Pidge occupied the fighters, Matt spoke to the group.
"Everybody, fire jet packs!"
With that, Rolo, Beezer, and Nyma activated their devices while Matt was having difficulty with his.
"Uh... uh... Something's wrong! My pack's not working!"
"Matt!"
With that, he got into a free fall as he screamed and flailed before Beezer took action as he summoned two new arms and gripped him as they touched down on the ground with Matt panting before Nyma spoke.
"You know you can let go of him now."
"I'd rather not."
Later, they got to the entrance of the prison, where they found destroyed soldiers with purple, glowing marks near the lacerations. A clean cut to be sure. Rolo felt it odd as he surveyed the damage.
"No guards."
Matt felt it was a coy.
"Security and defense systems alum this prison are completely automated. Override codes should shut everything down."
Nyma felt it unnecessary.
"Uh, looks like everything is already shut down."
"What's going on?"
As they entered the prison, Pidge evaded the fighters until a blast hit the Green Lion, making her grunt before she spoke.
"Come on, girl!"
With that, she summoned an overgrowth blaster before it hit one fighter and got it tangled in vines before she was forced to take evasive action again.
"Stay with me, Green!"
As she took necessary action, she dodged a fighter before clamping its jaws on it and tossed it at the other. Just when she thought she could catch a break, however, more of them arrived as the alarm beeped. As they shot at her, she charged away from them and took cover.
Inside the prison, Matt saw more dismantled guards with the same ethereal cut before they proceeded and entered a room adjacent to them. As they did, they saw the prisoners minding their own business before Rolo crawled in the ground. However, he noticed a prisoner right in front of him before he chuckled embarrassedly and the prisoner started to panic before Nyma got him and placed her hand over his mouth. However, the action she took drew the wrong attention as they gasped. Realizing the situation, Rolo tried to calm them down.
"Everyone, relax."
"Don't hurt us!"
Nyma then explained themselves to help it along.
"No one's here to hurt you."
"You're not with the scary man that carries a sword?"
Rolo spoke up before thinking about the figure.
"We're here to rescue you. Wait, what scary man?"
"He told us to stay inside. If we went out, we'd be hurt."
Nyma took her turn next as Matt looked for his father, with no luck.
"Well, no one is here now. Come on, we're leaving."
However, Matt grew worried as he didn't notice his father.
"Is this everyone?"
"No. There are others back in the cells."
With that, Matt headed to the cells as Rolo spoke.
"Everybody, hurry up and come with us."
As they went with him, Matt was focused on finding him.
"Hello? Dad? Dad, are you here?"
He only found aliens that looked nothing like Sam Holt as he pressed on and passed the crowd.
"Has anyone here seen Sam Holt? A human like me. Is— Is there another human here?"
As he looked in all of the doors with a lack of San Holt's presence, one thing became clear to him: Sam Holt was already gone.
At the prison entrance, Nyma spoke to Pidge, who was having difficulty with the fighters at the moment.
"Pidge, we're ready for pickup."
"I can't come get you! It's still too hot!"m if I fly down to pick you up, I'll be leading all of these ships there. You'll be sitting ducks! We're gonna have to come up with some other way to get the scientists off the planet."
This made Rolo have an idea as he spoke.
"Pidge, what if I brought the group to you?"
"And how are we gonna do that?"
"I've got an idea. Follow me."
Later, they were all inside a Drule pod before a prisoner voiced her doubts.
"These pods are only meant to carry five passengers. We'll be lucky to break through the atmosphere."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
With that, the pod activated as Nyma and Beezer waited for them.
"Come on, Matt. Where are you?"
Beezer's buzzing indicates Matt was closing in. It was when she noticed his dismal look as he spoke.
"Let's go."
"But where's—?"
"Let's go!"
As Nyma gave a sad look, having figured out what must've happened, they went in before the pod took off with Rolo pushing its engines to outside of the planet. As he did, however, the engines were overworking themselves and burning out as the prisoners whimpered with Matt speaking.
"Something's wrong."
Rolo gave him the source of the problem.
"The thrusters are maxed out!"
As Pidge dodged the Drule fighters, Rolo spoke to her.
"Pidge, we're about as high as this overloaded escape pod'll take us. We could sure use a pickup."
"On my way!"
With that, Pidge made a break for them, and not a minute too soon as suddenly, the engines died as Rolo spoke.
"Engines are failing!"
As the ship powered down and plummeted, the Green Lion swerved to it.
"Hang on tight!"
She then used a maneuver to go directly underneath the ship before it entered the cockpit and closed it before Pidge pulled it out of the planet's barrier, giving the cloaking ability back as she used it.
"Cloaking back online."
As the Green Lion seemingly disappeared, the Drule fighters swerved away before Matt went to talk to Pidge and break the news to her. Unfortunately for him, she assumed the news would be good.
"Matt! Matt, did you find him?"
"I'm sorry, Pidge."
Pidge was afraid of what it meant as she tried to run to check on him.
"No. Dad! Dad, where are you?!"
"He wasn't there. He was already gone."
Upset at having lost her chance to rescue her father, Pidge knelt to the floor as she sobbed.
"No. No..."
"Don't give up, Pidge. We know Dad's alive. We'll find him."
At Kaecilius' cruiser, he examined his body and immediately grew shocked at this before Vantiv spoke in support of him.
"I'm sorry for what you went through to be like this."
Kaecilius, however, only chuckled as he spoke.
"Why should you be? This... ghastly appearance is a small price to pay for the power I wield now."
Suddenly, the mirror in front of him shattered to pieces the instant his eyes flared purple, shocking her as he smirked.
"Now, the Paladins will be destroyed."
Suddenly, Varek spoke out to him.
"Kaecilius, a transmission is waiting for you."
As it went to him, Kaecilius saw Syn in one of Lotor's ships as he spoke.
"Emperor Kaecilius."
"Syn. What have you to report?"
"It is just like you suspected. Lotor is planning to infiltrate the Quintessence field for 'peace.' But not to worry. I know a way to get him."
"Explain."
At the Castle, Jenny sat down beside Pidge as she comforted her.
"It'll be okay, Pidge. We'll just use a Galra finder to look for them. Hopefully, it'll be a good lead."
Suddenly, the transmission appeared in the Castle as it showed a maniacal Kaecilius, who now possessed a sinister grin before he spoke.
"Paladins of Voltron."
Jenny recognized this from her vision upon retrieving the White Lion as she spoke.
"Kaecilius. Yikes. What happened to his face?"
"I have a one-time offer. And I expect you to cooperate. I have someone of value to you."
As he stepped back, the Paladins saw Sam Holt held captive by Varek, Vantiv, and Syn before Pidge spoke.
"Dad."
"If you want to reunite with him alive, you will send the children of Zarkon and your White Paladin, Jennifer Shaybon. Failure to comply will result in his termination. Choose wisely, for his sake."