Allura studied her face in the image on the screen, frowned, and made a minute adjustment to the shapeshift. She may not have had as much practice with full-form shifts as she would like, but the small transformations that concealed sleepless nights and reddened eyes came easily. Stars knew she'd used them often enough over the last cycle in her efforts to keep up appearances in front of the paladins. It was a habit she intended to try to break, but not today.

"You look fine, Allura." Coran reassured her. His smile was strained, the effects of a difficult day and emotional night more visible to her familiar eye, but he carried himself as easily as ever, an old hand at drawing attention away from that which he didn't want noticed by others. "If you keep fussing, you'll overcorrect and draw as much attention as a Prvall's whipneck in a field full of taberlocks."

Huffing, she hastily shut down the screen. "I know that. I just want to make sure I maintain the Blades' confidence in Voltron. The last thing they need is another blow to their morale." Remembering the strained and defeated air of many of the Blades they'd seen at the headquarters, she shuddered. The organization was struggling to regain its footing and find new purpose, and she was determined to assist.

"That's fair enough, I suppose. Although give them the credit they're due. The Blades of Marmora are strong. Give them time to recover from this shock and I have no doubt they'll bounce back and give the Empire back what they got ten times over." Coran swung a fist for emphasis, and Allura couldn't help but laugh, some of her tension easing away. Thank the stars for her Papa. He always knew just what to say.

"Of course. You're quite right about that, Coran." She chuckled, resting a hand on his arm in a silent gesture of gratitude. "As always."

Coran grinned back, twirling his moustache at her playfully. "That's what I'm here for, Princess." He dipped into a dramatic, sweeping bow that brought another round of giggles to her lips, exactly as he'd intended judging by the fond look in his eye when he straightened up again.

A knock at the door of the bridge attracted both of their attentions, and Allura frowned uncertainly. One of the new Humans who'd joined them at Earth? None of their usual team would seek permission to come in here. "Enter," she called, carefully smoothing the front of her dress.

To her surprise, it wasn't one of the Humans, but Kovirak. The Galra bowed, pressing a fist to her chest in a respectful salute. "Princess. I was wondering if I might have a moment of your time to speak to you."

"Of course." Allura exchanged an uncertain glance with Coran over Kovirak's bowed head. The former Blade had been silent since yesterday, when Kolivan had declared her exiled for the betrayal that had cost the lives of so many of their fellow warriors, and Allura couldn't begin to guess what was going through her head. She straightened and turned to face Kovirak fully. "What did you wish to discuss?"

Kovirak straightened, although the saluting fist did not move. Her ears flicked back slightly in nervous hesitation, but when she spoke her voice was steady. "I would like to request your permission to remain aboard the Castle of Lions. I will gladly assist however I can, either with the war effort or with the general maintenance of the ship."

It took all Allura's practice at diplomacy and composure not to let her bewilderment at the request show. Had they done something to make the Galra warrior feel as though she would be expected to leave? Hastily casting her mind back to the initial revelations about Kovirak's identity, Allura recalled that her place here had been only tentative, until she could be brought to face Kolivan's judgement. Her future after that point had not been discussed, depending as it did on what reparation the Blade Leader demanded.

Realizing that the silence following that request had gone on too long, and that the long pointed ears were slowly edging further and further back with each passing tick, she quickly cleared her throat. "Of course. I understand you made a promise to our Red Paladin to remain by his side, did you not? You have an obligation to remain here." She heard Coran's muffled chuckle as Kovirak's ears sprang upwards in obvious relief. She didn't remember the warrior letting her emotions show like that before, but then again, yesterday had been trying for her as well. It would take all of them time to regain composure. "As for assisting, we can always use more hands in a variety of areas. Coran will put you on the Castle's chore rotation, and I expect we'll be able to make use of your experience with stealth and combat as well." They couldn't afford to sideline an experienced warrior simply because her loyalties were to a single paladin first and to the war effort second. They'd simply have to be careful of what missions she was assigned, so such a betrayal could not happen again.

Kovirak nodded fervently, bowing again. "Yes, Princess. Thank you, Princess." Her relief was evident in her tone, and in the way her shoulders seemed to slacken under the tunic she wore. "Just call on me at any time."

Allura smiled, giving her a reassuring nod. "We will, I assure you. For now, though, I believe it's almost breakfast time if you'd like to join us."

"Yes, thank you." Kovirak fell in beside them as they left the bridge, heading for the dining room. As they walked, though, her ears flicked back again slightly. "Princess...I did have one other question. Why didn't you tell Kolivan that Keith was my son?"

Glancing sideways at the Galra, Allura lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. "At the time I sent the initial message, it wasn't relevant. You obviously hadn't known that your son was the Red Paladin of Voltron, and so it played no part in the decisions you made."

"...That's true enough, I suppose." Kovirak murmured softly. "And no, I certainly didn't know. I left him behind in an effort to keep him safe from this war." A hint of bitterness crept into her tone. "As far as I'd been able to find, there was nothing to interest the Empire in that sector. It would have been well down the list for expansion, untouched for decacycles. I thought my son would live his life in peace. And instead he's on the front lines of the war."

"I know how you feel, believe me." Allura's tone matched Kovirak's as her mind wandered once more to the message left by the young Altean Paladin she had once known. A sweet, earnest young man, she never would have believed him capable of the sacrifices that the message implied. But the impossible chain of coincidences that had brought them to where they were now bore out the truth of his actions-and her father's.

Kovirak gave a slow nod. "Yes, you would, wouldn't you. All those cub's stories about how the last King of Altea hid his daughter away to wait for the day Voltron would return and wake her to lead the Altean people once more-who would have thought there was that much truth in them?" she chuckled.

Allura stumbled and nearly fell as her head whipped around to stare at Kovirak. "Cub's stories?" She gaped. "About us?"

One ear quivered in amusement as Kovirak looked over at her. "Oh yes. Quite a few, about you and King Alfor and the Lions and even Advisor Coran. Although I have to admit, those ones always seemed a bit outlandish to me before I actually met you both." She bared her teeth in a Human-style grin at Coran, who couldn't seem to decide between looking flattered or offended.

"That doesn't surprise me, somehow." Allura chuckled, regaining her footing and resuming their walk. She wasn't sure why she was so surprised at the idea of old legends about Voltron and those connected to it. The great defender her father had built had been known all across the universe. Of course it would be remembered, even if the tales had been distorted with the retelling. "He is a bit of a whopper himself sometimes, nevermind the ones that come out of his mouth."

Coran squawked, looking insulted, and Kovirak burst out laughing. "So I see. Those cub's tales are as old as Marmora, and I wouldn't be surprised if she started half of them herself."

"That does sound like her, the ungrateful whelp." Coran muttered, crossing his arms with a huff.

Allura's own laughter announced their entrance into the dining room, attracting the attention of the earlier risers, Shiro, Matt, Keith, and Ryou. Shiro looked up and smiled, relief evident in his eyes. "Good morning. Sounds like you three are in a good mood today."

Nodding, she seated herself daintily in the chair Coran pulled out for her. "Good morning. Kovirak was just informing me that Coran and I, as well as the Lions, are the subject of children's stories that have been passed down amongst the Blades across the centacycles." She giggled again. "All those ancestors of mine I used to hear about in stories and now I'm one of them."

"Not just the Blades." Matt chuckled, leaning his elbows on the table and resting his chin in his palm. "I've picked up quite a few helping out with the kids on the Boiling Rock and the Long Wind. Not to mention the children's books they gave me to help me learn to read Galran and Altean." He gave a self-deprecating snort and grinned at Kovirak. "We'll have to do a comparison, and trade the ones we haven't heard before."

"Please!" Ryou put in, looking delighted. "Legends and stories are one of the best insights into a culture there are. I bet there'd be variations even from one pack to another, let alone to the versions down on Sh'raa H'ressnol," he stumbled over the H'ress name but kept going, "or the Marmoran-ow! Takashi!" He rubbed his arm and pouted at his brother, who had reached behind Matt to elbow him. "What was that for?"

"They can't tell us about the stories if you don't stop talking." Shiro grinned, rolling his eyes at Ryou's put-out expression. He waved a hand toward Kovirak to go ahead.

Giving the black paladin an appreciative nod, Kovirak stirred her food goo thoughtfully. "What ones would you like to start with? There's several variations on the sleeping Princess stories I mentioned to Allura, ones about Coran's antics, and quite a few about the Lions' heroics. Also a few about the paladins playing a trick on Zarkon that, now that I think about it, may be about the scheme they concocted that brought us to the Lions."

Matt hummed for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think I've heard that one. And that interpretation makes sense. I'll write it down for you later, Ryou." he added to the older man who was all but bouncing in his seat beside him. "You don't have any of the five-lions-holding-up-the-universe ones?" he directed the question back to Kovirak.

One ear flicked up and she frowned, obviously thinking hard. "I'm not sure...refresh my memory?"

"Well, the most common version I heard was that Alfor made the Lions to hold up the universe." Matt explained. He gestured with his spoon, marking five spots in the air. "First he made Yellow, but the universe kept tipping off to the sides, so he made Blue. And it still wasn't stable so he made Red and Green. But even with all four of them the universe sagged in the middle because it was so big. So he made Black and finally the universe was properly balanced on all five of them, safe and secure."

Allura choked on a mouthful of food goo. "He made-hold up the universe?" She demanded incredulously. Ten thousand cycles was apparently enough time for Alfor's work to get blown completely out of proportion! No wonder so many people thought Voltron was a myth! "The Lions are powerful, but they're not that strong!"

Matt simply laughed and shook his head. "It's just a kid's story, Allura, one warped by countless retellings. I'm not sure where they decided Alfor was responsible for maintaining the universe itself, but it is what it is."

Allura frowned but subsided as Kovirak flicked an ear thoughtfully. "No, I don't remember ever hearing one like that. I think the closest we have is the one about how the Lions were made. Supposedly," she shot Allura a cheeky grin, "Red was made from a supernova, Green from a newborn star, Blue from a black hole, Yellow from an entire system of giant planets, and Black from all the spaces in between." She laughed. "Keith loved that one." She turned a fond smile on Keith, who startled, reddened, and quickly looked down at his plate.

Groaning, Allura pressed a palm to her face as Coran laughed beside her. "Well, Black is almost correct in that story. Her quintessence was drawn from the interstellar void." He commented, twirling his moustache thoughtfully. "And Yellow's did come from a planet, although only one and not even the entire planet at that. The rest? Nonsense."

"If you think that's nonsense, you should hear the one about the battle against the Yelterian Star-Eater." Matt put in.

Allura relaxed in her seat, eating her breakfast slowly and enjoying the conversation and laughter as Matt and Kovirak vied to outdo each other by recounting the most ridiculous myths they could think of. After the trials of the previous day, this one seemed to be off to a badly-needed good start.

A lull in the conversation had her looking up sharply. Kovirak had faltered mid-sentence, her ears laying back slightly as Kurogane and Alejandro stood in the doorway. The pair seemed to be hesitating, unusual for them, as they eyed the array of empty seats. Usually they would sit as far away from Kovirak as they could get, so why they weren't headed for those spots now she wasn't sure.

Alejandro murmured something in his partner's ear and Kurogane nodded. Then, with a deep breath and squaring of shoulders, the former red paladin marched into the room and made his way not to the far seat by Ryou, but to the empty seat directly beside Kovirak and dropped into it without a word.

An awed hush fell, everyone gaping openly or, in Shiro's case, beaming proudly (he must have known something the rest of them didn't, Allura realized) at Kurogane as Alejandro settled into the seat beside him. As the silence stretched Kurogane studiously ignored the eyes on him, but his cheeks were getting progressively redder until the scars on his face stood out in vivid white streaks and he seemed to be trying to melt a hole in the wall across from him with the sheer force of his glare alone.

Alejandro cleared his throat loudly, and Allura jumped. So did everyone else. Realizing they'd all been staring quite rudely, she cleared her throat and turned her gaze back to her breakfast while doing her best to pretend her cheek markings weren't blazing bright pink with mortification. "I'm sorry, Kovirak, you were telling us about the legend of Altean Advisor Coran and the pirates of Klrytun Nebula?" She managed to get out.

There was another moment's pause, Kovirak's gaze still fixed on the man beside her, her older son who hadn't willingly come within ten spans of her if he didn't have to since the day they'd first met. There was no mistaking the stunned hope in those yellow eyes. Then she shook herself, seemed to force her ears back into a more normal posture, and nodded. "I...yes...ah, where was I?"

"Infiltrating the central star nursery in search of the hidden base, I believe." Coran offered helpfully, but there was a gentleness to his tone that suggested he understood better than anyone else there exactly what was going on in Kovirak's mind and heart.

"Right. That. Thank you. So that part of the story says…" As a faltering Kovirak resumed her recounting of the various legends and stories that apparently documented the supposed escapades of one Coran Heironymous Wimbledon Smythe-and as ridiculous as the stories were somehow Allura couldn't bring herself to completely discount any of it, especially with that mischievous twinkle in his eye-Allura kept an eye on the awkward pair beside her. It took a while, but they did eventually lose some of their stiffness and move more naturally.

Eventually Colleen stumbled into the room, yawning and reaching for the jug of the stimulant the paladins had deemed 'space coffee' as she sagged into the chair beside Alejandro. Lance and Hunk were right behind her, and Allura frowned as she noticed the way Lance hesitated looking at the few remaining seats between Colleen and Keith before taking the one furthest from his teammate. Apparently there were still some issues between the two, despite the blue paladin having been less withdrawn since returning from the last visit with his family. That could become a problem if they found themselves in another battle. She'd have to keep an eye on it, or perhaps speak with Coran, Hunk, and Shiro. Those three usually had the best idea of what was going on in the heads of the team's least stable pair. For now though, she was relieved to see the cheerful atmosphere in the room rapidly picking up the moods of those three as well.

Nearly everyone was done eating by the time Pidge appeared, still looking more asleep than awake as she flopped into the last seat by Keith. On her other side, Hunk greeted her cheerfully and laughed when she grumbled unintelligibly. "Right. Coffee first, then talk." He poured her a mug of the stimulant, passing it over carefully. "This stuff is going to stunt your growth, you know."

Pidge grunted, a noise that might have been acknowledgement, indifference, refutation, or all three, and downed half the mug in one long swallow, shuddering before taking another long gulp. Allura resisted the urge to make a face just watching her. She would never understand how the Humans or Coran could stand the taste of the stuff, even with the energy boost it gave.

Trying to lose herself in the chatter again, Allura found her gaze constantly drifting back to Pidge as the youngest paladin slowly started to perk up, unable to quite shake the feeling of something not adding up. Pidge seemed fine, nibbling at her food goo and pausing to rub the sleep from her eyes. Her gaze was distant, but it was the distance of someone still waking up rather than the distracted expression of someone deep in thought that she'd been wearing the night before, tapping away furiously at her laptop in a determined effort to break the encryption on the files Marmora had left behind.

Allura stiffened, bolting upright in her chair. That's what was missing! Her laptop! Even barely awake, Pidge never left the device behind while she was engrossed in a project. Not to mention she'd obviously been asleep, and unless she'd worked until she dropped Pidge never willingly slept in the middle of working on something so important. And given that she'd slept soundly two nights previously and should have still had energy to spare, that could only mean…Allura grinned in delight.

"Pidge!" She called across the table, unable to quite keep the excitement out of her voice.

Pidge looked up, cheeks bulging with a mouthful of food, and made a muffled interrogative sound.

"You don't have your laptop with you. Does that mean you were successful in your efforts with the files?" Her question attracted the attention of Hunk and Lance, who looked over eagerly.

The small paladin held up a finger for patience, quickly chewing her food, but there was no mistaking her smug grin as she swallowed and pushed her glasses up with the tip of a finger. "What, like you doubted me?"

Hunk barked a laugh. "Not a chance. Only someone who doesn't know you at all would ever have bet you'd fail." He bumped her shoulder lightly with his own as Lance leaned across for a high five.

"Wasn't even that hard." Pidge declared casually, shrugging and reaching to spoon up more goo. "Green's engineering scanner opened them right up no sweat."

Lance cocked his head slightly, listening to something only he could hear-probably Blue, Allura thought, having seen all of the paladins make a similar gesture now and then-then burst out laughing. "You left out the part where using the scanner was Green's idea, not yours." He teased, jabbing his spoon at her.

Clasping a hand to his chest, Hunk let out a mock-scandalized gasp. "Pidge! You weren't trying to take credit for Green's hard work, were you?"

"I-I was getting to that!" Pidge yelped, her cheeks going crimson (Humans blushed so strangely!) as she swatted Lance's spoon away from her.

"Uh huh. Sure you were." Lance smirked. "Liar liar pants on fire."

Allura blinked. "Why are her pants on fire?" She asked, starting to lean down to look under the table. She didn't smell smoke, and the Castle's alarms would have reacted to even a small on-board fire.

"Earth saying. Not literal." Pidge shot at her before turning her attention back to the other two. "And Green wouldn't even have that scanner without me getting the Learning aspect, so it's a team effort, dammit!"

"Whatever you say, Pidgey." Lance sing-songed.

"Shut it." Pidge hissed. "Regardless of how I did it, the point is the files are decrypted! I took a look through some of them last night."

"Well done to both of you." Allura said firmly while wondering what it was that caused the interactions of arguing siblings to be so universally similar across thousands of sentient species. "What did you find in the records, Pidge?"

"Um, lots of stuff." She stuffed another scoop of food into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully before washing it down with more stimulant. "Stuff about the other paladins and apprentices. Stuff about Zarkon specifically. There was one labelled 'useful information' that I haven't actually looked at yet. A reference file of the stuff she needed to do or not do to influence the timeline they way she was supposed to. And a message for me." There was a hesitation in her voice as she mentioned the last item, and she lowered her spoon to poke at the goo instead of taking another mouthful.

Lance and Hunk went still, and something twisted uncomfortably in Allura's gut. An island of quiet seemed to surround the four of them, even the oblivious chatter of the others around them oddly muted in that moment.

It was Lance who moved first, leaning over the table to see Pidge's face. "You doing okay? Do you need to talk about it?"

She let out a small sigh, setting down her spoon in favour of taking off her glasses and bending the arms back and forth. "I...think I'm okay? It just made it really hit home. Exactly what they did, I mean. She knew my name. She knew what happened to Dad and Matt. At Kerberos, I mean. She...she said she wished she knew whether I would find them." She swallowed hard.

"Aw geez, Pidge…" Hunk murmured, carefully slipping an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm okay." She murmured, leaning into him and accepting Lance's fingers lacing with her own. "But I get why you guys were all so freaked yesterday now." Her smile was shaky, and Lance chuckled.

"That's one word for it, yeah." He squeezed her hand and sat up properly. "We'll be okay too, though. Promise."

As he said it, though, his gaze flicked to Allura, and she resisted the impulse to check her shapeshift again. It was probably fine, he was just uncannily perceptive. Blues and yellows often were. Certainly Alfor, Aven, and Fiorin had been. And Acalli, for all she turned her knowledge to different uses.

She pushed the thoughts away hastily before they could drag her mood down further. "Yes." She said, more firmly than she really felt. "It may take some time to...adjust...to the revelations-" Time to come to terms with renewed anger and hurt and betrayal. "-but we will. There are more important things to focus on."

"Like the war." Pidge agreed, pushing away from Hunk to sit up straight once more. Allura realized all three were looking at her now, the earlier laughter gone from their eyes. "Right. What's the plan for today?"

00000000

The image on the screen panned slowly across a wide field lined with neat rows of crops. Small figures worked their way along the rows, tending each plant with methodical precision. It could have been any small village on any primitive planet in the Empire, if not for the eerie silence that hung over the scene. Plants rustled, insectoids chirped. But not one of the figures in the field uttered a sound, or even lifted their heads from their work.

A crackle of static interrupted the softer sounds, followed by an amused huff and a voice with the slightly tinny quality of someone speaking into a poorly-made pressure-suit microphone. "Total planetary application achieved in just over five standard rotations-about four and a half, local time-keeping. May be one or two still hiding in the bushes, but it'll get them eventually." They laughed.

Lotor hummed a pleased noise low in his throat. "Excellent. Rate of spread was standard?"

The camera bobbed slightly as the wearer nodded. "Yes sir. For this level of technology, five rotations is typical for the latest mass-vaccinator technology."

"And the response?"

"Only local panic at contact until the second day. Someone must have been making a distance call when it hit the town and word got out ahead. After that it got messy-people fleeing into the cities, out of the cities, hiding in their houses, whatever they could think of." Another derisive laugh was audible. "Not that it saved any of them, of course."

"Of course." Lotor purred, his lips quirking in a pleased smile as he shifted in the throne to recross his legs. "Were you able to obtain footage?"

Another bob. "Yes sir. And I even managed to get footage of the moment it hit one town. Patching it through now."

Delighted, Lotor straightened as the image on the screen shifted. The camera now seemed to be inside a small town, peering around the corner of a wood-and-brick building into a main street. People-tall and thick, with orange scales and four legs each-milled anxiously, running this way and that.

Then a scream was heard. The source was out of view but in an instant every head snapped to the left side of the camera's field of view. Suddenly everyone was running-to the right, away from the scream, crying out in terror and panic. Someone stumbled. The panic seemed to fade from their face, replaced by an empty blankness as they stood stock-still in the middle of the rushing crowd. Then another did the same, and another. As the remainder of the fleeing crowd passed beyond the camera's view, almost a dozen blank-faced, silent individuals were left behind. As one, they turned and walked toward the fields.

A moment later, others joined them, appearing from the direction in which the crowd had fled. The screams still audible in the distance were thinner, fewer.

It took only doboshes for them to stop entirely.

A gleeful warmth settled into Lotor's chest as the clip ended, his heart racing with anticipation. "Excellent work. Decontaminate and return. I must speak with Haggar at once."