Chapter 46: Omega Shield

As the Castle, went towards the Galra Command Center, Lotor spoke with Allura, Alphus, and Jenny as the main Paladins sat in their positions.

"To return so triumphantly is a dream I thought I would never achieve. We are one step closer to bringing peace and prosperity to the entire universe. This is all because of you three."

Allura smiled back at Lotor as did Alphus while Jenny still fixated her sight into the view of space.

"We did it together, Lotor."

"That's right. No thanks to Babak..."

"Excuse me?"

"They would have never even known about Oriande without you, and therefore would have never unlocked its secrets."

Jenny, however, exhibited a somewhat dismal and morbid look on her face.

"Well, I'm glad you guys are happy. But... without the White Lion's trust in me, what does that matter?"

As Lance noticed this, he felt bad for Jenny being stripped of her privileges with the White Lion. Even if it was for a short while, Lance just couldn't stand to see Jenny so upset. However, they still had business to take care of. For now, Lance had to drop it so that he could focus.

At the command center, as they walked in, Shiro spoke with Lotor.

"We'll see intel in your briefing and decide what to do from there. Maybe we can—"

"Lotor."

Upon hearing an unfamiliar voice, however an all too familiar for Lotor, he lowered his eyes as if he's in trouble.

"Oh, no."

Lance grew curious as he spoke.

"Uh... who the heck are you?"

The Galran elder only walked up to him and practically barked at Lance eloquently.

"How dare you speak to me without authorization from Blood Emperor Lotor."

In a swift stroke, the woman thwacked Lance with her stick, making him explain as he felt the burn of the strike on his cheek. As he did, Jenny looked to Lotor and inquired of him.

"Who is that?"

"She was my governess. No one has used the term 'Blood Emperor' since before we were a star-faring race."

Then, Lotor introduced the Paladins to the woman.

"And these are my colleagues. They have more than my permission to speak. Everyone, this is Dayak."

Then, the Paladins, including Alphus said their greetings, starting with Pidge, Coran, Jenny, Ayame, Alphus, Hunk, Shiro, and Allura while Lance groaned in anger.

"Hi."

"A pleasure."

"How you doing?"

"Greetings."

"Salutations."

"Hiya."

"Hello. Nice to meet you."

Then, with everyone introduced, Lotor spoke to Dayak, expecting the embarrassment to come.

"So, to what do we owe the honor?"

"Word of your victory at the Kral Zera has spread throughout the empire. I always knew you had it in you to crush your enemies. Dayak's raised you from a child to a man, and now I'll witness your ascension to the throne."

This made Jenny raise an eyebrow.

"Huh? She was your nanny?"

This made Lance laugh at Jenny's question as Lotor corrected her.

"Governess."

"Are you sure?"

"You have a nanny! Oh, man, is she going to read you bedtime stories? Is she gonna rock you to sleep? Is she gonna—?"

Before Lance could finish, Jenny tripped Lance before Dayak could strike him, surprising the governess before she spoke.

"How did you know I was going to do that?"

"I didn't. I just don't want to hear him rambling on and on. Continue, please."

"Ah, yes. I instructed Lotor in the ways of the Galra. The history of our conquests, our customs, battle philosophy, the art of war."

This gave Hunk an idea as he spoke.

"Hmm, Galra customs, huh? Is that when you guys say, like, 'Vrepit Sa' and stuff? If Sandy were here, she'd be all about it. But... there's so much we don't know about you."

Lotor figured out what Hunk was meaning to say as he spoke.

"If you're interested in our society's history, you couldn't find a better teacher than Dayak."

"What Lotor says is true."

"Oh, wow. Would you really teach me about the Galra?"

This made Jenny confused as she spoke.

"What do you wanna know about them for?"

"Well, we're gonna be working for Lotor to bring peace throughout the empire, right? It just makes sense that the more we know about their society, the better. Besides, I really don't wanna be insensitive to Sandy in case we see her again."

"Oh, yeah. Forgot you had a thing with her."

As Jenny giggled at that nervously, Dayak spoke to Hunk, not quite certain he'd be up to the task.

"If you are to learn the ways of the Galra, you must be prepared for the most challenging trial you could ever undertake. There will be no turning back. Victory or death."

This made Hunk reconsider his standing on the offer as he backed away.

"Uh, oh, th-that's okay."

Allura felt he was getting cold feet, and so, tried to warm them up.

"Hunk, you're a Paladin of Voltron. There is no challenge too great for you."

"Hmm... will I learn what 'Vrepit Sa' means?"

Dayak knew it was obvious as she maintained her serious countenance and answered.

"Yes."

"Let's do it!"

As Hunk went with Dayak, Ayame turned to Lotor as she spoke.

"While Hunk's doing that, we need to get to the briefing."

At the briefing room, a soldier gave them the bad news.

"The civil war continues unimpeded. More and more Galra forces are leaving to join other factions. Sendak has claimed the most deserters. They call themselves 'the Fire of Purification.'"

Remembering another Galra that went rogue, Ayame had to bring him up.

"And what about Komar?"

"No one's seen him since the Kral Zera, so he's likely in hiding."

This made Lotor determined as he spoke.

"It is time I address all Galra and make my claim as emperor absolute."

Jenny thought it was obvious how they should start out.

"So, which planet do we need to go first? You know, to liberate it and such?"

"It's not that easy. My grip on the empire is tenuous as is. I need to prefer an alternative to our current state. That's why it is so important that Allura, Xaira, Alphus, you, and I gain access to the Quintessence field."

This made Ayame concerned.

"I know how important it is, but is it really necessary to drop everything else?"

"It is paramount. However, we cannot let the empire fall apart. I will address my people at the astral conflux."

Then, Ayame closed her eyes and changed her skin and hair color to that of a Galra, much to Jenny's surprise as she undid her ponytail.

"And if that isn't good enough for them, they'll know it's serious when they see Xaira standing with you, Lotor."

This made Lotor smile at her while Jenny blinked her eyes in wonder.

"Good thinking."

As Ayame turned to see Jenny's astonished face, Ayame raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What?"

Meanwhile, Hunk was holding up the weights in the room as Dayak watched over him.

"How exactly is holding these weights gonna help me learn Galra history?"

"Palen-bol!"

With that, Dayak smacked her stick on his head before she spoke onward.

"For the mind to learn, the body must be broken."

"Oh, broken? That seems a little drastic."

In response, Dayak swiftly struck her stick on his head again like a whip.

"Palen-bol!"

"Ow! What does that mean?"

"It means 'the enlightening pain.' But apparently, there isn't enough pain to make you enlightened yet."

"So you're gonna hurt me until I'm smart?"

"Yes!"

"Aww."

As a Hunk struggled to hold up the weights, Dayak explained the history of the Galra.

"The Galra race started as a nation tribe on planet Daibazaal, home to many warring races at the time. In the war to annihilate the opposing tribes, the Galra formed a phalanx of their bravest and made a spear-like attack to the heart of their foes. It was known as the Killing Thrust, or Vrepit Sa."

"Oh, So that's what Vrepit Sa means? 'Killing Thrust'? That's so violent."

This made Dayak strike him again, making Hunk put on an angry face.

"Palen-bol!"

"Ow!"

"Yes, it is violent. The Galra believe combat is the searing light that burns away imperfections on every level, from personal to societal."

Then, Hunk's knees began to wobble before he spoke.

"Oh, cool. Can't I maybe take a little break?"

"Breaks?! There are no breaks! Your training is finished when you have learned all pain has to teach you."

"Oh, man. That's so intense."

"If you decide to leave your training early, it is an insult to my teaching. An insult that can only be settled by a fight to the death."

"So you're saying a fight to the death is the only way out of this?"

This made Dayak strike her stick on his bottom before Hunk corrected himself.

"Ow! Okay, yeah, you just said that. I guess I am getting smarter."

At the main hangar, one of Lotor's Sincline ships is currently being worked on as Lotor spoke to Allura and Ayame.

"You must replicate your father's work if we are to use this ship to enter the Quintessence field."

"But how?"

"On a ship that size, it doesn't seem possible."

"Believe it or not, it is. Through something Allura, Jennifer, and Alphus earned in Oriande. Something your father learned to become the superior alchemist he was. How you and Alfor built Voltron is the key."

Then, another soldier walked up to him before he spoke to Lotor.

"My lord. It is time to prepare for your speech."

"It seems my empire needs us. Please continue. Alphus will join you shortly."

With that, Lotor and Ayame walked with the guard, leaving Allura by herself as she looked up at the ship.

In the main hall, Lotor and Ayame stood before countless Galra generals as the emperor spoke throughout several Galra links, even towards Base: Xanthium where Komar began to growl in anger as Lotor gave his vow.

"Galra brothers and sisters, I am your emperor, Lotor, son and successor of Zarkon. Slayer of a tyrant, child raised in the void and taught on the battlefield. There are rumors of doubt regarding my leadership. Do not let them poison your ears. Pledge loyalty to me, and I will deliver the Galra Empire unto times of untold prosperity. An age of unlimited quintessence, the likes of which this universe has never known."

"LIAR!"

Komar then fired dark quintessence from his siphon at the monitor, breaking it before he spoke.

"The only reason you got as far as you have is because of Haggar! The very thief who stole my glory, my ideas, my plans! Everything you have is built on lies! LIES!"

As Komar finished his outburst, he began to take a deep breath as he opened his eyes and analyzed the contents of the sample of quintessence that came from when Xanthia tore off his arm and had a plot of his own brewing as he spoke.

"You have no idea what you're in for..."

At another planet, a solar flare was about to strike the planet with a small shield above it as one of the Galra that worked there spoke up.

"Commander, radiation belt approaching."

"Initiate shield."

As they turned on the shield, Lotor continued his speech.

"Soon, I will raise our grand empire above the indigence and violence of its past up to new heights of peace and limitless possibility. Those factions that have splintered from the empire will pay for their treachery. I urge you now, send me your messages of fealty. Those who choose to turn their backs on their emperor will find themselves lost to the sands of history, unremembered and unmourned."

When he finished, the Galra spoke his doubts to the commander.

"You can't possibly be thinking about pledging to him. And what's all that about becoming a peaceful empire? He's too weak to be our emperor."

"Enough. Lotor lit the flame. We are honor-bound to do as he says, even if it is... strange. We will be pledging to Lotor."

"You're weak, too."

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear, Lieutenant Lahn. I'm in charge of this shielding facility. My word is law."

With that, Lahn grudgingly agreed.

"Aye, sir. Shield at 85 percent. Next radiation event in three Vargas."

As the solar flare went away, the shield lowered itself before the commander spoke.

"Recharge and prepare for the next radiation sequence. Open a hailing frequency to Galra Command."

Unfortunately, they were met with another complication.

"Sir, hostile ships incoming."

Suddenly, a Galra cruiser arrived before Sendak spoke to them.

"Sending a message to Lotor, are we? And to think, I came here to offer you a chance to serve in the Fire of Purification. Fire the ion cannon."

With that, Sendak fired the ion cannon upon the planet the shield hovered above, decimating a city and causing casualties at great numbers.

Meanwhile, Dayak continued enlightening Hunk with pain repeatedly as he soon did a crane pose before Hunk complained.

"I did everything you told me!"

"Yes, but that fought face of yours is very un-Galra."

"It's just my face!"

As Dayak tried to strike him, he dodged it. And when she tried to strike again, he dodged again.

"Ha!"

Frustrated, Dayak attempted to strike repeatedly, with Hunk rapidly dodging. After Hunk survived a barrage of Dayak's "enlightening pain", she grew impressed.

"Very good."

As Hunk got up, Dayak struck his hands, making him exclaim as she corrected him.

"Owwie!"

"Showing complacency? Palen-bol!"

With that, she rapidly struck Hunk across the face again before an alarm went off before the commander spoke out to Lotor in the briefing room.

"The planet has already been fired upon and we do not have the means to protect ourselves. You must send assistance immediately."

"Understood."

Seeing the group gathered, Shiro wanted answers.

"What's going on?"

"One of our labor planet's is under attack from Sendak and his fleet."

This made Lance anxious and Jenny uneasy.

"Sendak? Not that guy again."

"If Lapis were here, she'd seriously want to take him out."

Pidge was more concerned about the planet, however.

"We've got to help that planet immediately."

However, Lotor and Ayame, who is now back in her normal form, saw through his ruse.

"Sendak would have us respond to his attack and draw us away from the Empire."

"Lotor's right. We can't take that risk. Unless... maybe Voltron can help while you attend to the empire."

"But, Xaira, I need you here. Without you—"

"Your plan has waited this long, Lotor. It can wait a little longer. But they can't."

Allura spoke up in favor of Ayame.

"Ayame is right. We must protect your innocent subjects."

"Of course. You're right."

"We will return as soon as we can."

With that, Allura and the others began walking out just as Lance noticed Jenny with her head down as he tried to get her to come along.

"Hey, aren't you... coming along?"

"No. You guys go ahead. I'll be okay."

Alphus noticed that look too before she went over to her.

"You know, you may not be able to pilot it anymore. But that doesn't make you exempt from riding with me."

This made Jenny widen her eyes at surprise.

"What? But—"

"I know. But now that I'm riding the White Lion again, I need to be sure I'm not too rusty. Especially not during this situation. I need you."

Jenny, feeling spurred on by Alphus and her own desire to help, put on a smile and spoke.

"Okay. Let's go."

With that, they began walking out of the briefing room just as Hunk spoke to Dayak.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to cut my training short."

"You dishonor me. A fight to the death!"

This made Hunk back away in fear before he spoke.

"Okay, we'll, I've got to go with them right now. But maybe we can put a pin in that? Reschedule for tomorrow? Or never?"

With that, Hunk jumped back on the elevator with the Paladins as it descended.

As the Paladins took off in their lions, Hunk grew curious about the situation.

"Hey, Dayak isn't really gonna fight me to the death, is she? Is she?"

Pidge came up with a solution for that.

"She seemed pretty serious. But I bet if you ask Lotor nicely, he can have her exiled."

"Oh, that'd be nice. Yeah, I'm not really in the mood to die, you know? Uh, speaking of, is anyone else scared that we're about to face Sendak? The Sendak 'who almost took all of the lions' Sendak? And who basically came back from the dead Sendak. That guy?"

As Hunk spoke, Shiro began to have a headache as he began groaning and hearing voices as Pidge replied to him.

"Come on, Hunk. We're Paladins. We got this. Right, Shiro?"

As she heard wincing and groaning, Pidge wanted to be sure he was okay.

"Shiro?"

"Pidge is right. Let's focus on our mission."

With that, the lions entered a wormhole to get to Sendak just as he continued bombarding the innocent citizens with ion cannons while sending his message.

"Take heed. Galra citizens who side with Lotor will be destroyed."

At that moment, the wormhole opened up just behind Sendak's cruiser and the lions mobilized in front of the cruiser in defiance as Sendak spoke.

"Here at your new master's bidding?"

Meanwhile, Haggar, Acxa, Zethrid, and Ezor arrived at the White Hole before Acxa spoke to her.

"We've arrived at the coordinates. We can't go any further without losing power."

However, Haggar was certain it'd work out, despite the dangers.

"Stay on course."

As Haggar neared the White Hole, her markings began to glow as Shiro felt another headache in a stronger form as he grunted and groaned in agony before Ayame spoke to Shiro.

"Takashi, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Come on, team. Let's form Voltron!"

Jenny then looked to Alphus as she spoke.

"Alphus, do you at least remember how to change it?"

Upon seeing the keyholes for her bayard and Ayame's, Alphus smirked as she plugged it in.

"This, I can do."

With that, the five lions became Voltron just as the White Lion accessed its robot form as they went towards Sendak while the soldier spoke to Sendak.

"Sir, the cannon's trainer in both Voltrons."

Having remembered what he considered their weakness from Arus, Sendak had a different target in mind.

"No. Aim them at the shield station."

As his cruiser trained upon the shield station, Sendak spoke to the Paladins.

"I know your true weakness. That you value the lives of others. And I will hammer that weakness until you are crushed beneath my heel."

With that, the ion cannon fired at the shield station, tearing the panels asunder, as well as any chance of blocking the next flare with Pidge seeing the disastrous results.

"No! Without those panels in place, the planet will be fully exposed!"

Jenny grew fearful of what it meant.

"Which means what?"

"They'll have no protection from the radiation bands!"

At the shield station, with the panels becoming loose, the commander began to worry.

"The entire planet is doomed."

Sendak saw this as an early victory, thinking that not even Voltron can piece it back together.

"Take us out of here. We've won the day."

As they took off, Lance didn't want to let him go after what he did.

"We can't let him get away!"

"Lance, there's no time. We've gotta did that shield as soon as—!"

Suddenly, Shiro grunted as he received another headache, but this time, getting a glimpse of Honerva walking towards the temple in Oriande. After which, Shiro began panting for recovery before Ayame checked again.

"Takashi, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. We can't leave that planet unprotected."

As Shiro recovered, he spoke with the Galra in charge of the shield station as Voltron got close.

"We are the Paladins of Voltron, working with the Emperor Lotor. We're here to help you. What is the status of your shield system?"

Being met with people who were willing to help, the commander spoke to them.

"Paladins, I am Commander Bogh. Our damage report indicates that a plate has been fractured. Our generator is offline and needs rebooting. Other plates have shifted out of their gravitational harnessing and must be repositioned. Only five doboshes until the next solar sequence."

Seeing how close the flare is from getting over to the station, Shiro spoke to Hunk for an idea.

"You're engineer, Hunk. How should we handle this?"

"We need to split up. Pidge, you handle the generator system."

"Then I'm gonna need Shiro to come with me. I can use his arm to repower the mainframe."

"Okay, Good. Allura, Lance, Alphus, Ayame, Jenny, I need you guys to re-fuse that fractured plate."

"Affirmative."

"You got it."

"Right."

"Consider it done."

"Hear ya."

"I'm gonna try to get the plates realigned."

Shiro, certain that the orders were clear, spoke to them.

"Okay. We've got our orders. Let's move!"

With that, the lions split up into five and Hunk went after one of the plates to push it back in place as Shiro and Pidge went below the station to enter and power up the station. As Hunk got close, he spoke with Commander Bogh, who gave him directions.

"Where does this plate need to be lined up?"

"You're moving plate 7-2. It needs to be aligned with plate 8-1."

As he got the message, Hunk spoke of another recurring issue.

"Got it, but those other plates are out of position. There's just no way I'll be able to move them all by myself, and Alphus and the others are busy at the moment."

"I can activate the manual thrusters on some of the plates. It'll be slow-going, but I—"

Suddenly, Lieutenant Lahn began training his weapon on Bogh.

"First, you side with Lotor and get our system attached by Sendak. Then, you willfully work with the Voltron, our sworn enemy!"

Bogh thought nothing of such a threat as he spoke.

"Get to your station and begin the thrust sequence. That's an order!"

Hunk, seeing such a ridiculous display, spoke with such constipation.

"Are you freaking kidding me?! PALEN-BOL!"

Hearing this, Bogh and Lahn looked at Hunk in shock.

"You're both a dishonor! Do you fight for yourselves, or do you fight for the Galra?"

"Galra!"

"Then victory or death! Enough of the bickering!"

Lahn felt himself to be justified as he spoke.

"We're going to die because of Commander Bogh."

"You know, long ago, there was a desperate group of Galra that thought they were going to die. They executed a spear-like attach known as the Killing Thrust. Those soldiers knew what it meant to put their life on the line. They won the day. Are you ready to put aside your differences and fight with me?"

With that, Bogh and Lahn places their fists on their chests as they spoke in unison.

"Vrepit Sa!"

Seeing this, Hunk grew surprised at how much Dayak taught him before he smiled to himself.

"Well, I guess all that pain did make me smarter."

Meanwhile, inside the station, Hunk spoke to Shiro and Pidge as they made their way to the generator.

"Pidge, I'm gonna need you to restore main shield power to get this gravitational harnessing going."

"We're on it."

Once they made it there, Pidge turned to Shiro.

"Okay, Shiro, lets jack your hand into that terminal and we'll get this thing running in no time."

With that, Shiro began powering up the generator with his robot hand as Allura, Lance, Ayame, and Alphus dealt with a problem of their own as he spoke.

"Okay, broken massive shield plate. Don't suppose there's a quick tutorial video on how to fix this, is there?"

Hunk only spoke to Lance via communicator.

"Make sure the connection's straight. If it's even one degree off, the shield will fail."

This stressed Lance out as he spoke.

"That's not a tutorial!"

Allura then made another proposal as she spoke.

"If you hold them in place, then I could freeze them together."

Hearing this, Jenny spoke up.

"That sounds solid, I guess. But I don't think the ice will stand the radiation for very long."

This made Lance come up with a turnaround as he spoke to them.

"Hey, maybe after you freeze them, I could use my heat ray to weld them together."

This made Jenny smile as she spoke.

"Great idea, Lance!"

"Aww. Thanks, Jenny. I couldn't have thought of it without you, though. I mean, really, I think we make a great team. Here we are working, just the two of us."

Jenny corrected him as she spoke.

"Actually, Ayame, Alphus, and Allura are here too, you know."

This made Lance blush before Alphus spoke.

"If you're done flirting, Lance. We need to get to work."

Meanwhile, Hunk was having trouble pushing another plate as he grunted.

"This isn't working fast enough!"

Suddenly, the Yellow Lion gained a jet booster upgrade on its back before it used the upgrade to push the panel faster and go after one more plate as Lance gave them the news.

"They're all in place!"

With that, Allura fired an ice beam at it, freezing them together before she spoke.

"That should hold them."

"Hope this works!"

"You and me both. Okay, Alphus. If you're gonna fire, just push the lever on your left forward."

"Right."

With that, Alphus and Lance fired their own rays, the former being white while the latter's was red before the broken plate has been repaired as Jenny spoke up with Hunk bringing in the final plate.

"Hey! It worked!"

"Nice work, guys. Pidge, you ready? We're almost at the radiation belt."

"Hold on. I need just a few more minutes."

However, they didn't have a few minutes as Shiro's vision began to blur, replacing his hand with that of Haggar's as she formed a magical symbol on the ground as she was surrounded by the guards. After which, Lance noticed how close the flare was getting.

"Uh, guys, that radiation belt is getting closer!"

Fortunately, Hunk installed the last piece just in time as he spoke.

"Last piece in place. Fire up that power, Pidge!"

On command, Pidge pushed a button from his gauntlet before it began powering up with the shield barrier popping up from above as she spoke.

"Shield's up!"

As it happened, however, Shiro began to see himself floating in nothingness before the White Lion himself began to consume him, causing Shiro to exclaim in pain, making Pidge worried as the power went off.

"Shiro, no!"

As the power went off, it began to trail to where the patch was made with Lance asking about the situation.

"What's going on with the plates?"

That was the least of his worries as the accumulated electricity went to where the patch was made: directly below Jenny, Ayame, and Alphus, as he gasped and took action.

"Guys!"

As he took off, Allura became worried.

"Lance!"

With that, he shoved Jenny, Ayame, and Alphus out of the way before taking the full brunt of the blast, earning his screams before the Red Lion deactivated, much to Jenny's horror.

"Lance, no!"

With that, she ran to the mouth and spoke to Alphus via communicator.

"Eject me! Now!"

Alpha didn't hesitate to comply as she pulled both levers closer to her and it spat Jenny out as she used her jet pack to fly over to Lance as she spoke to Allura.

"Allura, I need your help!"

"I'm already on it."

To her surprise, she saw Allura flying over to the Red Lion as she turned her attention back to Lance.

"Lance, please respond! Don't do this to me!"

As she flew closer, Hunk gave the bad news as the flare grew closer.

"The broken plate shorted out. Lance isn't responding, Jenny and Allura jumped out of their Lions... what else could possibly go wrong right now?"

To resolve this, Hunk took the broken plate and pushed it back in place as he spoke to Pidge, who was hanging on to Shiro and pushing him upwards, who groaned at his headache.

"Pidge, what happened to the power? We're almost at the radiation belt."

"I know. I'm on it. Come on, Shiro."

Inside the Red Lion, Jenny and Allura were mortified to see him unconscious, both of them fearing the worst as the former began breaking down.

"No. No, no, no! I'm not gonna let you die on me! I WON'T!"

As Jenny began pushing on his chest, doing CPR in vain before Allura stopped her and spoke.

"Jenny, please! Calm yourself!"

"I can't! Lance can't die on me! I can't let him!"

"Listen!"

Hearing the seriousness in her voice, Jenny stopped herself before looking at her and she spoke.

"What about your powers from Oriande? Haven't you obtained them?"

This made Jenny realize what she could've been doing as she spoke.

"Oh. Right. But... how do I even begin to—?"

Suddenly, Allura took her left hand and placed them on his head while placing her right hand on his chest before she spoke.

"Now, close your eyes, and let your life flow through his."

"Okay..."

Scared as she was, she knew Allura would never steer her wrong. So, she took a deep breath and emitted a blue aura before it entombed Lance in it and restarted the Red Lion at the same time Hunk installed the broken piece.

"Let's try this again."

As Pidge struggled to bring Shiro's hand to the generator, Bogh began the countdown.

"Radiation exposure in four... three..."

"Pidge, hit it now!"

"Come on."

"Two... one..."

At the very last second, Pidge placed Shiro's hand up on the scanner, turning the shield on just on time for the radiation belt to only hit the shield before Hunk and Pidge got excited.

"Great job! We did it!"

"It worked!"

Bogh then spoke to the Galra personnel.

"Shielding complete. Recharge and prepare for the next radiation sequence."

In the Red Lion, Lance woke up to see Jenny's teary face as she suddenly hugged him.

"Lance! Thank the ancients you're alive!"

As she began to sob on him, she realized that the tears were quickly starting to fill up before she tried to stop as Lance spoke.

"You saved me."

"I owed you one."

Then, Jenny put on a look of sadness before she spoke.

"Lance... tell me something. This... agony I'm feeling right now... is that what I've been putting you through when I was hurt like that?"

"Well... yeah. So what?"

Jenny then hugged him tightly as she spoke.

"Let's promise not to hurt each other like that ever again. I can't stand it anymore, knowing how much I've hurt you..."

As Jenny began to tear up again, forgetting why she'd stopped, Lance hugged her back as he spoke.

"Hey. You didn't hurt me. You got me scared, sure, but you did everything you could to save me. I can't get mad at you for that."

"But, Lance..."

"It's okay, Jen. I've always liked that about you. So, please. Don't ever stop being the same kind and caring person you are just for my sake. Okay?"

Jenny only held her head down as she smiled before responding.

"Okay... thank you..."

Seeing their moment, Allura smiled at the two of them in reverence.

Later, Bogh thanked the Paladins for fixing the problem, mainly to Hunk.

"Thank you for reminding us what it means to be Galra. Vrepit Sa!"

"Vrepit Sa! Man, that's weird to say."

This made the group laugh at his comment.

As the lions were out in space, Ayame spoke to him.

"You did a really great job, Hunk. you really helped them get along. If Dayak knew about this, she'd be very proud."

However, Hunk was sleeping at this up until he heard Dayak.

"Huh?! What about Dayak?! Where is she?!"

This made the group laugh even more while Shiro received another headache.

This particular headache showed him a vision of Haggar standing in front of the temple and changing her dark blue skin color to that of an Altean's before her blank yellow eyes turned into those of yellow sclera with a pink pupil inside her eye.