My mother brought me to the airport the next morning. I guess Daddy-O couldn't be bothered to see his only child off to a prestigious school.

"Goodbye honey. We both love you, though it might not seem like it sometimes." She hugged me tightly before I entered security.

"I love you too." I kissed her cheek and grabbed my bag from her hands. I turned and took a deep breath. This was where it starts. Security had a long line, like always. It had only gotten worse and worse as the war progressed, as if every man, woman, and child could be a spy.

I was fairly early for the flight so I walked around the terminal, stopping every so often to buy a water or a small snack to keep myself occupied. By the time I returned to the gate, it was much busier. It was a commercial flight, but some of the other kids starting to file into uncomfortable airport seats carried bags much like mine. I definitely was not alone. You couldn't help but notice every strained smile or nervous fidget, everyone somehow looking scared out of their minds. I don't blame them at all.

"Attention, all passengers on Flight 238, we're boarding sections 5 and 4." The intercom announced. I checked my small ticket. It read section 2. I sighed. I had a little to wait. "Flight 238, we are now boarding sections 3, 2, and 1. Please have your boarding pass in hand."

I reached down for my backpack, full of snacks, my phone and iPod, a blanket and pillow, and four pairs of headphones. I got into line and began scrolling through my playlist for the flight. As the gate attendant was scanning my boarding pass, she looked up at me after reading the Garrison-issued ticket, her eyes a mixture of amazement and surprise. She handed it back to me with the words "Enjoy your flight!" on her mind, but "Good luck!" spoken aloud. I gave her a sincere smile, before following the people in front of me onto the plane. Thankfully, I was in a window seat. I put my thicker headphones around my neck, and tucked my backpack under the seat in front of me, my eyes never leaving the window, afraid I'd miss even a single second of this amazing moment.

"Is this Row 7?" My attention was unfortunately redirected to a girl standing in the aisle, blocking the flow of traffic.

"It does say the number right by your head.." I rolled my eyes, trying not to be disagreeable, but the girl shrugged her shoulders, pushing a strand of her blue hair back into place.

"Oh, I know, I'm just trying to make conversation-" She sat down next to me, showing me her ticket, identical to mine save for the seat letter. She was in the right place. "I'm Alana, and based on the backpack under your seat, we're going to the same place."

It took me off guard a bit, seeing as she basically had my outward-self figured out with only a few seconds of observation.

"Garrison?" I prompted, already knowing the answer, but entertaining her anyways. I lifted my hand off the armrest so that she could slide into her seat.

"Of course, that's where all the future badass females of tomorrow are going!" Alana grinned maniacally, pushing her bag under the seat in front of her and taking out her headphones, as well as a book that she put on her lap. I couldn't help but smile, keeping her gaze. She began opening her book, but gave me a supportive look as she settled in.. "I really hope you're training for Commander because in just the short time I've spent at the airport I've met at least 40 different boys and like 5 girls and they're all pilots and engineers, and I'm already on the borderline of being cut out from combat flight training and forced into flying cargo. I don't need any more pilots in my way. They let like…so many more pilots into flight training than other positions."

"Well, I guess you're in luck then!" I raised my hands in slight celebration, and I saw her eyes go wide. I don't think she was expecting that and watched as the realization set in. She held my arm and squeezed.

"Really?" Alana practically squealed. I nodded, and I could see how genuinely happy that made her. I didn't really get to react much more though, because the pinging of the seatbelt light distracted both of us, as it signaled our departure from the gate.

The flight attendants went over the safety information, but I only half-heard what was said as we all began excitedly staring out windows, knowing that when we landed, our future was going to begin. It took almost no time to turn onto the take-off tarmac. I kept my eyes glued to the glass and managed to knock my head into it when the gust of wind pushed us into the air. I heard Alana giggle, but her book had already enveloped her by the time I turned to look at her. I resumed my view of the window, but when we leveled out, I turned on music and drowned out every noise except for the sounds of songs feeding me good energy.

I think I fell asleep because the next thing I remembered was the announcement that we were 10 minutes away. I quickly packed up, and by that time, we were landing. Alana made sure we were practically the first ones off, mostly because she had no shame in shoving people out of the way and dragging my hand and the rest of me out of the plane. We rushed down to baggage claim to get our suitcases, and all the effort exerted in getting off the plane seemed to have no effect on making our bags got here faster. I waited for my bag, one duct taped with a neon yellow color over the handle so I could identify it more easily. It was the last one, even Alana's showed up mid-way through the line of bags. I grabbed it as quickly as possible and followed the sprinting blue-haired girl over to the transportation section. The bus was already there for the Academy.

"Names?" The bus driver was standing by the door, balancing a clipboard that held a sheet of paper with all our names and a pen. I threw my suitcase into the bottom of the bus as he checked in Alana first. When he got to me, I smiled and spoke proudly.

"Skylar Carter," I said clearly. The guy didn't even look up at me before motioning for me to enter the automobile. When I stepped into the center aisle, he spoke again.

"Commander?" He said, his voice containing a bit of confusion, turning back to look at me.

"Yeah." I grinned, and quite a few boys looked up from their phones to stare at me. I chose not to care. I knew this wasn't going to be easy in the slightest. So what? If I worked hard enough, there should be no reason I can't do what a man does.

I sat in the front, where there was barely a soul sitting, even though Alana had taken a seat in the back next to a girl with long blonde hair. I pulled my phone out, the only text was from my mom nagging me about leaving my room in such a mess before I went off. Honestly, there was no escaping her. I could be on the other side of the galaxy and she'd find a way to aggravate me. I plugged my thin headphones into my phone and listened to more music on there.

Trees and oceans and rivers and lakes and farms and countless other landmarks blurred past as the landscape leveled out into a desert-like plain. Soon enough, a group of buildings revealed themselves. Four extremely tall buildings stood out against the other ones. I knew immediately those were the simulator spaces that we were to eventually compete in. Phones came out to send pictures and brag to friends about how bright their future was looking. But the fun was over once we parked. Everyone on the bus pushed past me to get out. I managed to avoid getting trampled by hanging onto a tree similar to the one I leaned on when I took the test.

"Hey, Skylar!" I recognized a familiar upbeat voice.

"Cam!" I turned and she enveloped me in a tight hug as she smiled brightly.

"Skylar, I did it! I got into fighter pilot testing and combat testing!" She was ecstatic, you could tell from a mile away.

"That's so great! I made it too." I said softly, but the genuine congratulations was firm. It felt as if I could hear her heart beating fast. Or that was mine. Or a combination of both. A loud bell tone snapped us back to reality.

"Crap, that's the warning bell. We gotta go for orientation." Cam motioned me over with her arm as she turned to run. We found ourselves back into the sea of people headed into a central building. There was a large podium, so I could imagine this was where morning announcements, special events, and graduation were held. We were all standing around, waiting rather impatiently for this orientation. Everyone was a little on edge, you could see the shaking and the anxious faces. We knew how close our future was but yet somehow it seemed even further away when standing in the sea of mostly guys.


*Inside the Headmaster's Office*

"Commander Bekon, you're needed down in the main hall." A secretary stuck her head into the office but found the man standing by the window, over by seven very distinct hologram devices, each a different color, each occupied by either an AI version of an original Paladin of Voltron, or a version of the Princess herself, or her advisor.

Bekon knew very well the Princess had been smart enough to leave her knowledge, just as her father did, in the form of holographic help. She happened to let the Paladins also contribute so that new pilots could be trained. It was a good backup system, and with the way things went, the universe was lucky to have the knowledge of the whereabouts of the Lions and the Castle and the other information no one else could've thought to write down.

Bekon had been speaking to Allura for years, but this was the first time she'd spoken about training the new Paladins. The experts were correct. This was the class that would produce the new five pilots. Unfortunately, they had to be found as quickly as possible so that they could begin to find their Lions and train. The universe didn't have the time to take to let them fully train first. These five would have to rely on their instinct alone. And Allura had assured him that this instinct would be enough.

"Don't forget, you can't force a bond-" Allura began, raising her hand, but was interrupted as the black hologram machine turned on, and Shiro formed before him.

"This is not something you can gauge by looking at someone. The pilots must be able to take on our new enemy, one stronger than we've faced. Our intelligence is updated every so often, and I know that the Galra is preparing their warriors just as we are. We can't settle for second best in a situation like this." The Black Paladin spoke firmly, obviously a warning. Commander Bekon nodded, and the two holograms disappeared.

It was time to greet the new hope for the safety of the universe, whereever they may be in that crowd.