Alright folks, this is it. The last chapter of Part I. There's still more to go in this fic. But I'm taking the rest of June off to recharge my creative juices and see if Season 6 gives me some ideas in regards to Keith and Shiro's backstories to reference in future chapters. I will be back in July to continue the story.

Chapter 21: A New Dawn:

Agea

Mars

March 17th, 2841

Keith stifled a yawn as he leaned back in the comfy chair that he was sure had cost a fortune to make. The Second Battle of Mars had come to a close shortly after midnight, so he'd only managed to get a few hours of sleep before Shiro dragged him out of bed to this early morning meeting. Keith didn't really think his expertise was needed here, but he figured that Shiro just wanted a reminder that the younger Paladin's presence wasn't a hallucination, that Keith was really there. And considering what little he knew so far about what Shiro had been through in the last few months, he could begrudge him that reassurance.

They'd won. After almost twenty-four hours of conflict, the Rising had full control over the surface of Mars and its two moons. But the war was only just beginning. With the Sovereign's death, the loyalist fleet in orbit had fractured as they retreated towards other planets in the solar system. Mercury and Venus were deep in the core, and from what Shiro knew the Sons of Ares' presence there was a relatively recent development. And that was without mentioning the ambiguity of the situation with the gas giants.

Several high-ranking Golds had been murdered by the Jackal's allies at the Triumph held shortly before hostilities broke out that had been meant to celebrate the victory in the previous battle for control of the planet that had taken place three weeks prior. Chief among those slain in the garden ambush had been Revus au Raa and several other ArchGovernors from the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. Thanks to Shiro's presence at the banquet, a few of the Moon Lords and children survived, but most had perished.

It remained to be seen whether their families would take up arms to avenge their death. And if so, would they ally themselves with the Rising out of spite for Octavia, or would they simply declare their independence from Luna and refuse to support either side? Tridenti au Norvo, ArchGoverness of Triton, one of the moons of Neptune, would be traveling towards the rim with the intent to return the surviving Rimborn children to their remaining family members as a peace offering to give the rebellion some sway with the Moon Lords. Keith could see the logic in that, but there were other things to worry about sailing the cosmos in that direction.

With the late ArchGovernor's son captured, the man's lieutenants, the Boneriders, had fled outward towards the asteroid belt under the command of Tharsus and Apollonius au Valii-Rath. Capturing those two and the remaining Boneriders was earmarked as one of the rebellion's highest priorities, and not just because they were Tactus' older brothers. Apparently, there was a top-secret bunker hidden in the asteroid belt, filled with enough nuclear warheads to destroy an entire planet. Keith shuddered at the thought. He'd been desensitized to all the dangers in space but being so close to Earth for the first time in ages reminded him of all the everyday threats back home.

That left the Ash Lord as the primary threat to the rebellion. With Octavia au Lune dead, command of the Scepter Armada, the Society's largest military force, fell to ArchImperator Magnus au Grimmus and his two surviving daughters, Moira and Atalantia. Keith had only heard whispers of the Grimmus family's reputation, but the few rumors he had managed to hear made him wary of facing them in direct conflict. If the Ash Lord, who apparently earned his moniker from using those hidden nukes on Saturn's moon Rhea, reached Mars before the Rising could solidify their hold on the inner planets – which if what Keith heard was accurate, only gave them two weeks – then there were very poor odds for the longevity of the rebel movement.

Fortunately, that was where the two time-travelling Paladins of Voltron came in. Before their departure for Luna, Mustang had told Shiro about the existence of the Classis Plutus, a secret black-ops fleet of warships made with Galra technology reverse engineered from the very same ship the Black Paladin had crashed in when Ulaz had helped him escape from the empire the first time. While apparently not as fast as a Voltron lion, even the smallest ship in the 11th Fleet of Pluto was fast enough to travel from Pluto to Mercury in less than a single day. If they could hijack even just a few ships, they'd be able to greatly accelerate the Rising's momentum.

For now, the plan was this: Keith and Shiro would cram that Galra fighter the former had arrived in full of as many Sons of Ares and other rebel troops as they could fit, and fly outward towards Kerberos, where the stealth ships that delivered food and other critical items to the hybrid fleet docked to restock on supplies. Once on Kerberos, they would smuggle themselves aboard the next supply convoy and ride all the way out to where the fleet patrolled the edge of the Kuiper Belt, protecting humanity from extra-terrestrial incursions. Once aboard, they would take control of the ship.

Shiro's idea was to take the bridge and try to persuade the crew to defect to the rebellion, but Keith wasn't optimistic about the chances of that tactic working. Apparently, the Reaper had done it before. But Keith was willing to bet that whoever had commissioned the fleet would have wanted to make sure that the crew was undyingly loyal to the system to prevent exactly what Shiro was proposing if the fleet's existence was discovered, and their location leaked. But he didn't begrudge Shiro his idealism. He could tell Shiro was using it as a coping mechanism to deal with all the things he had on his plate on top of the trauma from his time as Zarkon's prisoner.

Currently, Shiro and the rebellion's leadership were discussing last minute minutia for the framework of the new government the rebellion hoped to build. Once the rebellions biggest threats were defeated, they planned to create a Solar Republic, build a civilization where everyone had a voice, not just the ruling elite. It was a noble goal, and Shiro was providing input based on what legal stuff he could remember from twenty-first century Earth. Some of the rebellions leaders like Dancer, Theodora, and the Telemanuses were attending the meeting in person, while others, such as Orion, Victra, and Roque, who were in charge of the fleet, and Quicksilver, the Sons of Ares' secret financier and the richest person in the solar system who wasn't a Gold, attended via hologram.

The Reformers in the senate would aid Mustang in taking control of Luna, and from there, they would conquer Earth. Once Earth and its moon were under the rebellion's complete control, the Reaper would lead the fleet towards Mercury and Venus to secure the inner core. Meanwhile, Mustang would begin the transition of power from the Society to the Solar Republic. It would be a slower change than Dancer and the other Sons of Ares wanted, but Darrow had a point when he argued that until they had solidified their hold on the worlds they'd taken, the rebellion needed a strong central chain of command to keep their momentum going. They would start making reforms like giving all Colors representation in the senate, abolishing the hierarchy, dismantling the Board of Quality Control, and freeing the slave castes from bondage.

As Sovereign, Mustang would retain enough executive power to ensure a smooth transition. And once they cornered the Ash Lord, she would relinquish enough of those powers to satisfy the people worried about a potential dictatorship later on down the line. Keith and Shiro both knew that while they shared some of Dancer's concerns, this was also the best option they had to keep things running smoothly as the government changed. Otherwise, things would quickly turn chaotic with too many voice scrambling for a piece of the political pie while the Republic was trying to fend off retaliation from the loyalists.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard a sigh coming from his right. He turned to find Shiro's boyfriend plopping himself down in one of the conference room's horrifically expensive chairs and pouring himself a glass of wine. As Tactus au Rath took a sip of his drink, it occurred to Keith that despite fighting side by side for the last day, he hadn't really had a chance to get to know the man. Might as well try to start a conversation at least, he told himself nervously as he wondered how best to talk to the man he best friend was dating. Besides, he quipped silently. The others will kill me if I don't give Shiro's boyfriend the shovel talk on their behalf.

"Politics are such a bore when you're sober," the Gold remarked. "Drinking only makes it tolerable at best."

"I wouldn't know," Keith commented with an awkward chuckle. "I've still got a few years before I'm old enough to legally buy drink alcohol." Tactus raised an eyebrow, and Keith couldn't help but not the contrast between the man's dark skin and golden hair. The man was silent as he finished his first glass.

"You're what? Nineteen?" Tactus observed, pouring himself another glass. "In this era, you're technically legal. Care for some Lagavulin?"

"No thanks," Keith replied. "Not really in any particular rush. I've already tried Altean Nunvil, and if wine tastes anything like that does, I don't really feel like trying. Besides, even if I did, I'd never be able to live with that "I'm disappointed in you" look on Shiro's face when I got caught. The last time I was on the receiving end of his Disappointed Dad Face still haunts me to this day."

"I know what you mean," Tactus said with a mock shudder. "You should have seen the look he gave Clown and Pebble when they painted graffiti on the ceiling of his cabin on the Pax. It made me want to apologize to him and it wasn't even me he was directing it towards. He's just got one of those magnetic personalities that even if he's not actively being a mother hen towards you, you still feel like your letting him down when he gives you that face."

"I'll drink to that," Keith commented dryly. The two young men laughed quietly at that. After finishing his third glass of wine, Tactus put his glass down and turned to face Keith directly.

"Here's an idea," the older man suggested. "You've got years of embarrassing stories of Shiro from his time at Galaxy Garrison. I've got months' worth of tales from our time aboard the Pax on our voyage from Europa to Mars. What say we head downstairs to the kitchens, find you a nonalcoholic beverage, and trade dirt on our mutual friend? Register?"

"Register" Keith replied, grinning with anticipation. The two of them got up to leave when a shout echoed from the other side of the conference table.

"They made it!" Shiro hollered, staring at an incoming transmission on his datapad. Keith immediately sat back down. Tactus chugged the last of his wine and threw the empty bottle in a trashcan near the door before turning on his heel and returning to his seat. Every holoscreen in the conference room flickered to life. After a few seconds of static, the image cleared to show Mustang in what Keith assumed was the senate chamber on Luna, surrounded by the Reaper, Sevro, two grays, and a tall Gold who Shiro identified as Cassius au Bellona.

"Senators of the Society," she proclaimed. "I stand before you, Viriginia au Augustus. Daughter of Nero au Augustus of the Lion House of Mars. You may know me. Sixty years ago, Octavia au Lune stood before you with the head of a tyrant, her father, and laid her claim on the post of Sovereign to this Society." She paused as she lifted the severed head of the woman in question, taken from her corpse late last night before the Reaper and Mustang left Mars. "I stand before you now with the head of a tyrant,"

I'm still going off the ages released in the Voltron Paladins' Handbook released last year, even though the producers said not to treat the ages listed as set-in-stone facts. So I'm going with the assumption that Keith is 18 when they leave Earth, and turns 19 at some point while they're in space. It's vague how long it's been since they left, but I figure it's been long enough that at least one of the paladins has had a birthday pass.