The green lion soared through the sky, spinning around asteroids and gliding around planets. With it's jawblade, the magnificent beast took out enemy ships with ease and grace, and if they fought back they were swiftly torn apart by her vines. The red lion came up beside her, only slowing slightly to match her speed. Alfor's joyous voice rang through the comms. "You're an absolute natural at this, Coran!"

At the helm of the green lion, Coran manipulated the controls with such ease it was as if he'd been born manning the lion. Together, they were unified at Alfor's side, taking out enemies and fighting against tyranny. While in her cockpit, Coran had to take a moment to revel at Alfor's incredible creation. These lions were the most powerful beings in the universe, and sitting in her pilot's seat, he could feel her power coursing through him. He could do anything.

"Coran."

He could already hear the cheers from the people below. He spun through the air, taking out an enemy cruiser before it could fire at the red lion. Finally, he was able to do something to protect Alfor. Finally, he could do something to help people. He felt like he knew this lion inside and out. It was familiar and came naturally. He felt himself engulfed in her embrace, and it felt so much like home. He never wanted this to end.

"Coran!" Pidge's shout abruptly brought Coran back to reality, and she stared at him in irritation. He had to blink a few times to realize that his daydream hadn't been reality at all. He looked down at Pidge as she sat impatiently at the controls of the Green Lion while they drifted slowly in space. "You're supposed to be telling me what to do here."

"Sorry. Right." Coran cleared his throat and got refocused. He stood behind Pidge's seat and peered at the screens in front of them. He had joined her out here to make sure that the lion was functioning correctly after a their series of rigorous battles. It was true that he could tell a lot from inside the castle, but the best way to find damage was from the cockpit. A cockpit that he admittedly wished he was sitting at."There isn't anything glaringly wrong, so let's go over the basics and make sure everything is working as it should. Fly towards that small asteroid belt just ahead and test out each of your weapons. If anything feels incorrect, bring it to my attention so that I can take a look at it back at the castle."

"Got it." Pidge surged forward towards the asteroids and shot the first one with a laser beam, reducing it to smithereens. She tested out her jaw blades and tail laser on the second and third, finding them all to be working perfectly as she left behind a trail of crumbled rock

"Why do we have to check all of this anyway? I thought the lions kind of healed themselves." She watched as another asteroid was ripped apart by her vines before looking up to Coran who was watching everything on the screens with scrutiny.

"You aren't wrong there. They are capable to an extent of self healing, but just like people, it can only go so far. They are nearly indestructible, but that doesn't mean they can't be damaged. It just takes a lot, and Zarkon has been pushing them quite far." Coran plucked at the end of his mustache as his eyes scanned her screens. "They get tired just as much as you Paladins."

"Have you ever seen one of them get damaged…?" Pidge looked down at the thrust levers that she had her hands gripped around. When she was connected to Green, she felt so invincible. She'd honestly never imagined her getting damaged. They'd collided into planets, been shot at by ion cannons, smashed into fighters ships and fought giant robeasts, and she had always come out of it unscathed. If that didn't leave a scratch, then what would they have to go up against to actually damage the lions.

"Yes, but only once." Coran responded with a slight chuckle. "It was very early on, as the original paladins were still getting used to the lions. They all bonded immediately, of course, but just as it did with you all, it took time to build that connection. The Paladin of the Blue lion pushed it to the limits a little too far a little too quickly. It was nothing dire, of course, and Alfor and I patched it up quickly. I took up the role of checking over the lions after battles to asses any minor damage or problems. We have to remember that they may be giant mecha robots, but they are sentient beings. We shouldn't make them do everything for us, so when we have the opportunity to help them, we should take it."

"I guess that makes sense." Pidge spun around asteroids, testing out the thrust on all four legs. Coran was always a stickler about keeping the lions clean. Maybe that was another part of taking care of them. Along with being a decent pilot and not crashing them into things. Sometimes that was hard not to do with the Galra constantly attacking. Suddenly, she felt a little bad for green. She'd been through the wringer. "You sure know a lot about the lions."

"Well, that's because I helped build them." Coran stated with a bit of a smirk, because revising his statement. "Well, as much as we humans could build them. They sort of built themselves, guided by King Alfor. I helped where they needed it, but as they were built up, I studied the inner workings of each Lion, knowing I would be their future mechanic."

"Is that where you got the nickname the 'Coranic'?" Pidge smirked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Precisely!" Coran snapped his fingers as if that was a nickname to be proud of. "That nickname was actually given to my by the original Blue Paladin."

"How creative." Pidge rolled her eyes. She could see Lance coming up with a silly nickname like that. Maybe Blue had a thing for dorky paladins.

"Pidge, look out!" Coran's shout made her jump, and she saw immediately what he was pointing at. Disguised against one of the asteroids was a huge, gruesome space octopus -or that was the best way to describe it anyway- whose long tentacles were closing in on them. He had been so well camouflaged against the rocks that even Coran hadn't seen it until they were too close.

Pidge twisted and yanked the thrust back, pulling her lion out of the way of the nearing tentacles. She spun and swirled around them, frowning at how quickly it managed to react. She would avoid one only to find another right behind it. It had completely closed her in. "What is this thing?!"

"It's an enormous Dodecsca. I've never seen one this large." Coran watched it almost in awe. He pointed at it's face, where she could see what looked like a huge beak. "It has twelve long tentacles that stick to whatever it touches. Once it has you, it'll pull you in and crush you with its beak. We used to use the beaks of deceased dodecsca to make Altean armor. It can snap an entire ship in half! Don't let it pull us in!"

"Great, It's a twelve legged alien octopus with a killer beak. Super. How do I get around these legs?!" Pidge groaned at the web she seemed to be tangled in, doing her best to avoid touching any of the tentacles but in every direction she seemed to be surrounded.

She had a better idea, and she readied her laser, aiming it for the closest tentacle. If she couldn't just fly away, she would have to attack back. She pressed down on the button just as Coran yelled, "Pidge, no!"

Her beam made contact, and the monster roared in pain. All of it's tentacles squirmed, but she didn't get the chance to spot an opening before she was suddenly engulfed in complete darkness.

"Firing at it will trigger it to spew out a pitch black cloud." Coran noted, definitely too late, and he caught Pidge's glare with the little light from the control panels.

"When I asked what it was, I was hoping to get all of the information, Coran. I didn't expect to run into a giant space octopus. How does the ink even spread in space? It's not like water." The lion lurched as one of the tentacles slammed down on top of it. She pushed the thrust to the limit, but to no avail. They were stuck to it like glue.

"I don't have the slightest idea what an 'octopus' is, but I know that a dodesca is nothing to turn your nose up at." Coran held onto the back of her seat tight as the thing yanked them upwards. Pidge gripped the controls hard and readied another laser. It was already dark, so it couldn't hurt to hit it now. She swung her lio nas she fired it, hoping to hit the maximum amount of targets, and judging by the beast's screams, she'd hit at least a few. The beam also managed to cut through the smoky cloud enough for her to see just a few feet in front of her for a moment.

"Pidge, put the thrust at full blast and pull downward." Coran had also noticed the tiny opening of light and he seemed to gather something from it. Pidge nodded and did as he said, pushing her thrust to the max and yanking the cursor control device down. Her lion pulled hard against the tentacles, but it was still drawing her in.

"It's still pulling us." Pidge gritted her teeth as she tried to maintain control as the lion struggled.

"Hold steady." Coran was seemingly staring into the blackness, but as she followed his gaze, she could see that the emission from her thrusters were causing the ink to billow and move enough to open a glimpse here and there. He was watching for every opening he got. "Extend the legs a little more. Can you form your vine cannon?"

Pidge readied the cannon quickly, extending her lions legs out, and after a second she felt the lion's feet make impact on all four sides. She pushed against the object, struggling to break free of the tentacles pushing her towards the beast's beak. She stole a glance at Coran, who was still staring intensely at the dark cloud in front of them. "Coran, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

He held a hand out for her to wait, which wasn't an easy task to do when the thing was pushing against them with everything it had. Her Lion's alarms started to go off as it slammed another tentacle down on them, causing the lion to lurch. When it did, Coran brought his hand down fast. "Fire now!"

Pidge didn't hesitate and slammed down on the control, shooting out a bright green beam that cut straight through the cloud of smoke. The beam entered straight into the dodesca's mouth, which was only a few inches in front of them. The green lion straddled the beak on both sides and had she had to hold out any longer, they would have been bitten I half. Luckily, the beam burst into a frenzy of vines, pulling the octopus into itself.

"Quick, hit the thrust and sharply pull upward." Coran commanded, and she didn't mind obeying. She wrenched the controls up, tearing free of the weakened dodesca's tentacles before they were all pulled into the converging beast. She shot away from the monster, only glancing back to see it's last tentacle being dragged in by the vines. Once a good distance away from the asteroids, she looked back at Coran.

"You really do know a lot about these lions." She cast him smile, which he returned warmly.

"I may have never flown one, but I've spent many years studying them. They were Alfor's pride, after Allura, of course." He chuckled. "I hope to help them whenever I can, and you Paladin's as well."

He may not be a paladin, but he couldn't deny that he felt a connection with each lion. He wasn't sure whether it was his help building them that led to that, or the fact that his best friend had built them that caused his connection. He could see Alfor's personality in all of their designs, and having known their creator so well, he felt he knew them too. It was something he couldn't fully explain. Perhaps like a shred of Alfor's lingering presence remained in each lion. It was a comforting snd familair presence. "Oh, speaking of, the thrust reverser on your back left needs a little maintenance. It isn't firing as strongly as the others. I'll get that corrected in a tick when we get back to the castle."

"Thanks, but next time you want to do an inspection, don't lead me somewhere with giant space octopuses."