Six months earlier – In an unknown Sector

Lapis groaned as her senses began to return; she expected to see the witch's face again but was honestly surprised to discover a night sky in front of her. "

What the…" Lapis said as she quickly shot up and looked around; she was no longer in binds and felt grass-covered soil in-between her toes. She was… free.

She looked into the distance and discovered with amazement a colossal city which was stacked in a pyramid shape, each building had an architectural appearance similar to those human worlds she had heard about. It was an amazing thing to see even from the great distance she was at. But, she couldn't help but notice that something was wrong with that gigantic place. It was as if she was dead as there was no light in her vision and no noise coming from him. It was as if the hive city was completely abandoned a few thousand years ago. What's more: she could even see some buildings in ruins and others slowly falling apart.

'Glad you're awake.' A mysterious, intelligent sounding voice said in her head; startling the blue Gem as she went on the defensive. She turned around and spotted a strange, alien woman sitting on a stone chair; eating a charred animal while petting strange-looking cat.

Her build was slender and wore a black variant of Galra Empire armor; without the empire's symbol and a dark gray hood over her head. While she had some Galran features, most of her appearance was reptilian with no eyes and light blue scales; as well as a dark blue tail that swung around behind her. Not taking any chances, Lazuli extended her hand out to extract the water from the grass; but struggled to perform a usually simple task and dropped the water.

'I wouldn't use your powers.' The strange-looking Galran said without moving her mouth; before taking a bite into her food. 'You still need to recover from what the witch did to you.'

Narti

A Galra-Kroot Hydride

"Who are you?" Lapis questioned. "Where am I? How did I get here? And how... am I hearing your voice?"

'I do suppose introductions are in order.' The hooded Galra said while swallowing her food and continuing to pet her cat. 'My name is Narti, and my furry friend here is Kova. Both of us are Psykers and I established telepathic contact with you, so we may speak whenever you woke up. If you ask why you are here is because I rescue you from Castle Doom under the orders of someone who wishes to speak with you. And we are currently on a hive-world; one that used to be owned by the Imperium of man but has long been abandoned. For now, this is our base before moving out to other localization.'

"Wait, I need to contact the Diamonds, whatever you want for me I not going to do it!" Lapis shouted as she attempted to summon her water wings and tried to escape. However, like with the grass, she struggled to do so and almost collapsed from the strain.

'You've been drained of Quintessence for nearly two deca-phoebs. Your powers are not going to be effective for the moment.' Narti summed up. 'It will be a period before you can even lift a drop of water.'

"Well, I wouldn't be in this mess if your people didn't abduct me." Lapis bitterly responded. "I've been trapped on a planet I don't care about for over five-thousand years, and as I was finally going to return home to live in peace, I get captured, turned into a gladiator, and experimented on to the point where death would've been merciful, I witnessed things done to others like me, things that would horrify our most experienced soldiers. I've clearly been the luckiest on the block not to be singled out by those filthy Druids. So, I want you to tell me why I should give a jank about who wants to speak to me?"

A moment of silence passed before she was answered: "It is true. The Galra did add more to whatever suffering you already had, and the worse came in the fact that they not the only.' Narti sympathetically told. 'But that's why you should speak with my master. He seeks to bring Zarkon, Haggar and the entirety of the Galra Empire to justice for their crimes. However, to do that, he needs people like you."

"What do you mean? Gems?" The blue lady questioned.

'People who are wanted for crimes that threatened their very archaic status quo. In simply terms: Outcast' Narti clarified. 'My father was a soldier of the Galra Empire; he fell in love with my mother who was a Mercenary Kroot during a mission where Zarkon was present. Galra genes are highly recessive; but, their laws see any act of mating with other species as heresy, a sing of weakness. I don't look like a normal Galran or Kroot. Because of that, Zarkon had my parents killed then tried to kill me. All of that, was because I was born a half-breed. I escaped before they could harm me, and then I eventually met him…'

"You're master?" Lapis Lazuli guessed; to which Narti nodded to.

'He didn't just take me in; he had others with him.' Narti explained. 'Outcasts from other races: Eldar, Tau, Humans, Orks and many species including Gems you would label as "off-colors"; we all swore loyalty to him under the promise of a unified universe like the Alliance that existed 10,000 deca-phoebs ago.'

"I will admit to that being an inspiring story," Lapis stated. "But I don't want to be a part of a war I don't have to fight, I am not a solider, I only just a terraformer."

'Zarkon has been abducting millions of Gems for his Empire.' Narti added in. 'You're already involved in this war, just by existing.'

Lapis was about to protest but remained silent upon realizing the Half-Galra has a point.

"And don't hear the lies that your leaders, you have more power that you ever imagine.'I'll tell you what." Narti said as she stood and walked up to the Gem; slightly dwarfing her in height. "Speak with him; listen to what he has to say. And if you're still uninterested, I'll allow you to take a ship and fly anywhere you want in this universe. It is the least you could do for the length we were willing to go to get you.'

Lapis remained silent for a while; pondering Narti's words, technically thoughts, before finally giving her answer. "Fine, I'm willing to listen."

'Very well.' Narti said before backing away. 'I know Gems do not need to sleep, but you should get some rest. We have a long journey ahead.'

Lapis agreed by lying on the ground and trying to figure out how to sleep. From what she understood, all she had to do was close her eyes and think about what makes her happy. Attending Blue Diamond to one of Pink Diamond's parties. Terraforming planets with fellow Gems of her kind. The friendship she had with her Diamond's pearl; with benefits. Also, the only real friend she ever had since being placed in the accursed mirror, Steven.

-Present, One day before the swap moons. Back in Saim-Hamm-

The huge port doors of the Craftworld opened and the Voltron team along with the seer Guren and the Harlequin Masquerade leader stepped inside.

"Whoa…" "Amazing!" "It's fixed!" "Wonderfull!"

In front of the group was the Castle of the lions which looked like new before their eyes, the seer came to the group to tell them that the repairs were finished and that the castle was ready to go to space once again. There were nostalgic feelings as even though they had been alone for a couple of weeks, they felt comfortable seeing what was more or less their home was back on their quest to defeat the Galra.

"As you can see," Guren clapped his hands to get her attention. "We've finished the repairs and added minor upgrades to her defense system as well as other things without affecting the interior appearance of the ship at all. Once you have entered, one of our technicians will give you a list detailing the major changes we made to the castle."

"Good, now we can proceed with our mission: go to the Marmora headquarters." Allura gave the Seer a nod. "Contact with Inquisitor Vail and Lord Angelos?"

"Yes, they will arrive at our meeting when they finish their recruitment from other companies of Space Marines originating from other chapters." Guren replied.

"Like, more Space Marines?" It was Lance who asked as he swallowed a bit of saliva. Masquerade gave a muffled snort.

"Don't worry your highness. There won't be that many." Guren said to reassure the young man.

The team was able to enter the castle, seeing that the seer was correct. On their way to the main control cabin, they found no visual change in the aesthetics of the castle. The rooms and hallways were a great example. Pidge and Lance took advantage of the opportunity to transport Kaltenecker to a room that resembled a natural field so that he could eat all the grass he wanted. While there were no visual changes to the castle, it was the training room that underwent the biggest changes as the Eldar had implemented a full immersion mode of different scenarios; this would be useful for Paladins to test their own limits against any enemy.

"This is super, I can't wait to get back to kicking Galra ass." Amethyst said making a small effort to contain her emotion.

"It won't be like the last time." Keith said with a steely gaze. He shared a brief look with Allura but no words were exchanged.

Half a varga later, the castle left port for one last test flight before departing. The castle of lions was already miles away from the Craftworld accompanied by three Eldar frigates and Vontonig's Spear.

"Very good, everything is in order with the reactors and the main engine." Coran reported to himself as he obsessively watched the energy spikes register on the control panel.

"Well, how's our particle shield?" Allura asked in the center of the control booth.

"100% and ready to be deployed." Matt responded by holding up a metallic thumb freshly painted light green.

"The Teladuv?"

"It's in green!" Peridot yelled excitedly.

"Okay, opening a portal to Teladuv now."

Seconds later, a great Teladuv portal emerges from space and the castle along with the Eldar ships enter with the clear purpose of reaching the main seat of the sword of Marmora.

This was the beginning of the end.

- Elsewhere in the Sub-sector Lysades, Segmentun Obscurus-

"We can't go on like this anymore, Neck." One of the Draconts of the Kabal called out to the Archon who in turn was slumped against his seat generating a state of uselessness and continuous shame. "We must return to Commorragh."

Syakallar gave Nekrorius a nasty look at his lack of response. It had been a long time since the spectacularly failed raid against Voltron as well as his allies. Having narrowly escaped, the mother of tense discussions with the other surviving Kabals who without thinking twice, left the Gray Splinters. This defeat was undoubtedly a withering blow to the Kabal's reputation. Syakallar would not be surprised if his estate was confiscated in the face of such failure.

The captain cast a sidelong glance at the battered, disheveled form of the Haemonculus whose name he couldn't remember. Half of his face was literally burned away by flames of unknown origin (Warpfire suspected), his once beautiful face was slightly deformed and some of his arms were missing. What could have happened to him or what he faced to leave him in such a sorry state, Syaka does not know, he can only guess that he must have been a very strong individual.

"How many times do I have to tell them…?" The Archon muttered with suppressed anger in his tone. "We cannot go back, it was as Lady Malys said: we will not set foot in Commorragh until we accomplish our mission!"

"Then what do we do!?" Another of the captains practically screamed. "We have been pathetically defeated by a group of Mon'keigh and Hyg'syr! the other Kabals abandoned us to our fate and just now our naval forces have been nearly halved since Voltron did his final act!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW, YOU ASS!?" Neck rose from his seat with an almost animalistic roar. "There are variants! Variants that we have not taken into account since our deployment!"

"Is that going to be your excuse for the day?" Another captain spoke. "I always had the feeling that this commission would fail but not in such a way of yours."

"REPEAT THAT, YOU BASTARD!"

"Archon." Syakallar put an end to this useless discussion. "It is totally obvious that we have failed to put an end to the defender of the universe."

In silence he appeared in the room with everyone waiting before the captain of the Specter Marauder.

"I think it would be better for what is left of the Kabal that instead of continuing to remember this failure, we devise another way to accomplish our mission." Syakallar argued before pulling out a datapad with the following: "In the year 355.M46 our Kabal was hired by Commander Galra Prorok for a dangerous mission on the deadly world of Macks Sautis. Thanks to our group's expertise in these kinds of environments, we were able to complete this mission and earn a debt to the remaining commander that we have yet to collect."

"There has been no news of that scoundrel since that Balmera. He may even have been killed." Neck spoke bitterly in his tone.

"Yes, it is a possibility. But a debt is a debt that death itself cannot avoid."

Another silence fell in the room with everyone glancing at each other but it was the Archon who had his sights set on Syakallar.

"Where are you getting with this, Syaka?"

-Two days later. Unknown end near to the Segmentum Obscurus-

Another two days have passed since the castle of lions and the Eldar ships sailed into the warp via the Teladuv. While half of the team was acclimating to the new upgrades. Only Allura, Lance, Coran, Shiro, Keith and Marmora's swords were in the control room where they usually received an occasional update from their companions.

"Ulaz, how soon until we get to the Blade of Marmora's base?" Shiro asked his Galran friend as Allura piloted the Castle; following the Marmora agents coordinates.

"To this point we'll be arriving in a few dobashes." Ulaz stoically said.

"Well, could you say more than just that?" Lance asked. "Like what should we expect of the place?"

"I'm afraid that's classified information, as of now. I'll divulge more as we get closer to the base." The Galran stoically replied.

"Well, if you say so." Shiro said a little dissatisfied with the answer. Then he turned his gaze to Thace. "Any word on Inquisitor Vail and the Blood Ravens?"

"Our agents made contact with the Inquisitor yesterday and she has been escorted along with the Space Marines and a few other ships to our location. The number of combat cruisers I have with me is thirty-two in total." Thace calmly explained.

"So many? Those numbers would not represent a problem for you? Lance asked the adult Galran.

"There is no need to worry. Even if they brought a hundred ships they couldn't get through our defense systems." Keith said half boastfully.

"Hold on; the scanners are picking up something," Coran said as he examined them; with his face turning pale. "We need to turn around; we're heading right into two black holes!"

"WHAT!?" Everyone else except the Keith and the Marmora agents shouted with fear as Princess Allura was about to do so.

"Wait!" Thace quickly spoke up. "Don't panic, It'll be all right."

"How is this all right?" Lance questioned from her control panel. "We're heading right into black holes."

"Yes, how do you think the Blade of Marmora base remained hidden from the Empire for so long," Keith stated.

"Wait, don't tell me that…" Lance began.

"Yep, our base is located in between two black holes," Keith answered.

"Let's call the rest to the control room now to address this." Allura declared.

The Castle of the Lions, like the Eldar ships, had to make an emergency stop to join the Inquisitor's fleet, which had just arrived, and indeed, the number of ships and cruisers that I carry with me could well be considered an act for anyone of aggression. But seeing a small ship belonging to the Marmora they knew there was nothing to worry about. Ulaz immediately contacted his fellow Marmorans who explained that they were awaiting further instructions from the base.

In the distance of the cluster of ships, two black holes which were facing each other created an egg-shaped field of gravitational energy. It didn't take a genius to figure out what would happen if a ship was stupid enough to enter that gravitational field.

Everyone on the Castle looked at the Marmora agents with surprise; except for team Pidgidot who had big grins on their faces.

"That is genius." Both girls said at the same time. "The gravitational pulls from the black holes can force any energy that tries to enter to disperse; making it the perfect defense," Pidge stated. "Plus, that pull can rip apart enemy ships; serving as the perfect trap," Peridot added in.

"Wait, if that's true; then how do Marmora agents get in and out?" Steven asked.

"We've been trained to maneuver pass intense gravity wells," Ulaz stated. "It's far easier to do so with single-manned vehicles."

"And for the Castle and other big ships is too difficult to maneuver through something like that," Connie stated.

"Hmm... It's actually a good defensive field." The intriguing and melodic voice of Masquerade who was sitting a bit away from the group spoke, he had been called at Allura's request so that he could also be informed. "He reminded me of the bases of the old days when we were the greatest universal force."

Keith's, Ulaz's and Thace's ears all twitched upon hearing those clicks. "The Marmora base is sending us a message," Thace stated as he moved over to the clicking console.

"What does it say?" Amethyst asked the father of the Red Paladin.

"They're asking us to identify ourselves." The older Galra answered.

"Tell them who you are and that you're with the Voltron Force, The Impirium of the man and the Eldar from Saim-Hamm," Shiro stated. "And that we are seeking their help."

A moment of silence passes before the Marmorans telegraphed their response.

"What did they say?" Steven asked.

"They wish to speak with all of you," Thace told Paladins. "But to come unarmed."

"Why would they insist we come unarmed?" Allura questioned.

"They don't have a reason to trust you yet fully," Keith stated somewhat coldly; which Shiro caught notice of.

"Give thanks to the Inquisitor." Masquerade said with folded arms.

"I know this is risky, but we've come too far to turn back now," Shiro stated; turning to the others. "We can't take the Castle through those black holes, but we can't leave it abandoned either."

"Any suggestions?" Bismuth asked.

"I suppose it would be best to send a few of us to talk." Masquerade responded. "The seer and I don't need any weapons to defend ourselves in case he well...has ways to nullify psychic powers."

"Let's contact Inquisitor Amberly and see what she thinks of this." Shiro said.

"That won't be necessary." Thace called. "Amberly Vail agreed to go to the base unarmed with a small select group."

"Alright, that fixes it then. The Alteans, Paladins and Marmora agents will go to the base," Shiro said. "Everyone else will stay here and protect the Castle. Pearl, you're in charge while we're away."

"Understood." The skinny Crystal Gem stated with a salute.

"All right everyone." The Black Paladin began. "Armor up and get to your Lions."

The five Lions of Voltron plus a small ship group navigated pass the black holes, led by the Black Lion with Ulaz as her passenger. The Red Lion followed behind with Keith's father. Lance was with the Green Lion. The Yellow Lion took Coran. Leaving Allura with the Blue Lion. Masquerade left with his people only to return with Guren to escort them to an Imperial ship containing the Inquisitor and her entourage.

Ulaz aided in guiding them through the powerful gravity wells and successfully navigated pass them; before informing the Paladins over the comms to fly straight, and they'll eventually reach the base. Once the Paladins affirmed they understood, Shiro shutoff all outward communications except for the Red Lion.

"Keith, is everything okay?" The Black Paladin asked over the comms.

"I'm fine," Keith replied over the comms.

"I noticed how you acted towards the Princess," Shiro stated. "I know you have trust issues going on, but you need to let that go if you're going to lead this team someday."

"Lead the team?" Keith asked with some shock in his tone, and a slight chuckle. "I'm not Black Paladin material."

"When we were stranded; I told you that if anything ever happens to me, I want you to lead Voltron." Takashi reminded him.

"I thought you were just delirious with pain," Keith admitted. "Told me, why would you make me the leader?"

"Because we've all seen what you are capable of," Shiro said. "I recognize how in conflict you are seen you know the truth about the ancient Paladins, but you cannot let that this affect you. I know you have it in you to do so."

"I agree," Ulaz added in over the comms.

"As do I." Thace pitched in as well.

"Why are we even talking about this? Nothing is gonna happen to you." Keith defensively responded; much to Shiro's surprise.

"It's just in case." Shiro calmly responded. "If you're going to be a leader, you've got to get your head on straight."

"I'm sorry I snapped." Keith apologized. "I have been having... a lot on my mind, recently."

"I know," Shiro said. "We all have and you are not alone."

"Inform the others to slow down," Ulaz stated. "We're here."

Shiro reactivated the rest of the communications. "Paladins and the others, decrease your speed. We've arrived."

"You got it, Chief," Stevonnie said over the comms.

"We read you." "Understood." Pidge and Peridot said simultaneously.

"Loud and clear," Amethyst added in.

"Affirmative." "Settle in." The Inquisitor and the Harlequin said

The Paladins and his allies slowed down as the swerved closer to an azure asteroid; carefully landing on it one at a time. Once they all did, the Lion's lowered their heads to allow their pilots passengers out; the Alteans placed on breathing devices while Thace and Ulaz activated their masks. They then saw the seer appear in her helmet with the Harlequin as Amberly exited the Valkyrie along with half a dozen soldiers which included Commissar Winter and surprisingly Elizabeth, all of them wearing oxygen masks.

"Oh! Is Elizabeth." Stevonnie announced to the others as she looked at the castle's previous host.

"Commissar Elizabeth for you, filthy Mutant!" Elizabeth snapped in annoyance at being casually addressed by this being.

"Leave it, Elizabeth." Amberly spoke to her in a bored tone. Then she gave the seer a look. "So, is this the right place?"

"Yes, Lady Inquisitor." Guren answered him.

"Then why aren't we seeing anything?" The inquisitor pointed to all the empty space in her field of vision.

In fact, everyone except the Galra and the Eldar looked around and saw nothing for miles. "There's nothing here; are you positive this is the right place?" Allura asked. "It just looks like a plain asteroid."

Nobody said anything and both Amberly and her entourage were getting upset when the ground began to rumble as the Black, Blue, Green and Yellow Paladins go on the defensive, and discover an elevator a mile away from them rise with three Marmora agents calmly standing on it.

"Appearances can be deceiving, Princess." Ulaz calmly stated as he leads the group towards the two agents.

One of the agent's wall and muscular with more layered armor, signifying rank; his companion was slightly taller but didn't have the same armor, and he had a tail as well; el tercer miembro poseia un atuendo diferente el cual parecia un vestido ceremonial antiguo con un abrigo andrajoso de cuero, el cabello negro de la mujer ondulaba hacia arriba como la sombra misma. The trio wore masks that concealed their faces to all except those who knew them.

Kolivan

Leader of the Blade of Marmora

Antok

Master of the 1st division

Shadow Weaver

Master of the Psyker division and Counselor of the Blade of Marmora

"Kolivan. Antok." Thace said as he, Ulaz and Keith saluted to them.

"Welcome again, Thace, Ulaz." Weaver intercalo su mirada con el Paladin rojo. "And Keith."

"It's been two deca-phoebs since we last saw you." The superior looking Galra, Kolivan, stated. "I am pleased to see you are all right. As for your guests…"

"Well, my name is Shiro." Takashi introduced as he stepped forward. "I'm the Paladin of the Black Lion."

"And you probably don't remember us." Allura began as she and her cousin stepped forward. "But I am Princess Allura, and this is Prince Lance."

"I do remember you," Kolivan said. "It is good to see you alive and well. However, I would've preferred that we did not meet in a secretive location such as this."

"He sent his regards, Kolivan of the Sword of Marmora." Guren bowed slightly to the Galra. "My name is Guren Sparkeyes; Seer from the sacred Craftworld Saim-Hamm. Beside me is York Motaven, also known as Masquerade, leader of the Roses of Cegorach."

"A pleasure." Masquerade bowed briefly with his arms behind his back and gave the seer a quick look for revealing his true name without permission.

"Greetings to you. It's been more than three millennia since we made contact with the Eldar." Kolivan spoke doing a double take with Allura. "I'm impressed that you managed to affiliate with them."

"I would say that it was fate that we met again." Guren spoke with a nod.

"I was certain." Shadow Weaver said.

Amberly took a step forward before making the Aquila gesture. "I salute you in the name of God-Emperor of mankind. I am-"

"Lady Inquisitor Amberly Vail of the Ordo Xenos." Antok spoke interrupted the older woman. "We know who you are, your dark reputation has hung over our organization after what you did in the Urgot sector."

Several gazes were directed towards the Inquisitor who kept a stony face. Stevonnie swallowed softly when she saw his eyes stripped of all compassion.

"A wonderful campaign. In fact, she was one of my favorites" Vail declared showing a cold smile that made the human fusion shiver. She didn't know what they were talking about, but she's certain that he wasn't pretty at all.

Kolivan narrowed his eyes slightly at her words but chose not to say anything.

"Ulaz, I think you had something for us." Shadow Weaver spoke, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yes, my apologies." Ulaz apologized. "I decided to bring them here. Time is of the essence."

"Explain yourself." The Marmora leader questioned.

"Before my capture, Thace and I discovered vital information." The agent explained. "Information about a weapon Zarkon plans to unleash on the universe."

"If you knew about his plans why didn't you return immediately?" Antok agitatedly asked of Thace.

"I couldn't just leave Ulaz to suffer." Thace explained. "I know it breaks our code, and I'll accept my punishment."

"At this point it's no longer a surprise to me." Weaver said putting her palms together. "You were always the most rebellious of the group since long before we took you in with the blades. However, despite your recklessness you have done well for the time being."

"Enough of talking, we'll address your punishment later," Kolivan said. "Right now, we must head inside to learn what you have gathered."

"So, you'll help us?" Shiro asked.

"That'll all depend on the information you brought," Kolivan stated. "Come with me."

The Paladins and the other two factions followed the Marmora agents to the elevator with Amethyst and Peridot being the last to get on.

"These guys sound like bowls of sunshine, don't they Peri?" The purple Gem sarcastically asked her friend.

"They are quite the opposite, actually," Peridot replied with the joke going over her head as they all descended.

They stepped out of the elevator and looked around the interior of the base; seeing hundreds of Blade of Marmora agents training, sharing intelligence, meditating and other activities.

"Keith! Thace!" A voice called out that captured the attention of the Red Paladin and his Father and stop the other paladins. She was a female Marmoran Galra around Ulaz's height with short purple hair and two dark violet scars on her cheeks.

"Krolia!" Thace responded as the purple-skinned woman gave her husband and son a passionate hug; as they both hugged her back with genuine smiles on their faces. "It is good to see you again."

Krolia

Agent-instructor of the 1st division.

"Um, who's this?" Pidge asked as the Galra family broke from the hug and Keith turned to the others.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my mother, Krolia." Keith introduced as the parent gave them a greeting nod.

"That's your mom?" Lance question with some disbelief in his tone.

"Yeah, why?" Keith asked the Prince; glaring at him as he folded his arms.

"Because... she… seems nice; hehe..." Lance quickly replied with a nervous chuckle. The flirtatious Altean originally wanted to say, "She's hot," but knew he would get punched in the face if he did so.

A deep barking sound was heard as Keith saw a dark blue wolf with yellow eyes and silver hair down of his mount charge at him.

"Wait, Cosmo! Cosmo!" Keith shouted, trying to get the canine to stop; only to be pounced by it and get face licked. "Hahaha. Stop it, boy. That tickles. I missed you too, boy."

"Down Cosmo," Thace ordered the wolf, who, much to the Voltron Force's surprise, teleported off his master; while Ulaz helped him up.

"Did that wolf just…" Steven began with a look of awe.

"It did," Katie said with the same expression.

"I'm glad to see you safe, my son." Krolia honestly said to Keith.

"Thank you, mother," Keith replied.

"Ahem!" Antok interrupted standing in front of the group while the rest continued to advance. "In case you've forgotten, we have a matter at hand to attend to."

"That is true," Ulaz said, before turning to Krolia. "I'm sorry, but your husband and I have information we need to deliver and have thoroughly examined."

"I understand." The female warrior said. "Do what you need to."

With that said, Thace and Ulaz leave the group to attend matters with the higher-ranking agents

"Don't you think they'll need us there?" Guren asked Antok with the Inquisitor behind her.

"At the moment her presence is not going to be required since first we are going to find out what kind of information our agents were carrying. Then we can arrange a meeting with all of us there." Antok explained to the two leaders. "Therefore, let one of our agents introduce you to our Psychic division, Shadow Weaver will be there in a moment."

"I've had enough of standing in a place full of aliens, a Alien psyker is the last thing I want." Amberly crossed her arms with an annoyed look and the Seer fought not to roll her eyes.

"Then they can be escorted to a more comfortable facility; where you will be allowed to communicate with his fleet, albeit under our supervision." Antok explained to the inquisitor politely.

"Hhm, that's enough for me." The Inquisitor crossed her arms with a bored face.

"Come on; we'll show you around while they discuss." Keith offered to the Paladins and Alteans as he, his mother and pet wolf gave them a tour of the unclassified areas of the base.

"This is all amazing," Pidge admitted after the tour, and Keith stepped away for a moment. "I can't believe how organized the Blade of Marmora is."

"For millennial, the foundation of the Blades was built on trust en el interior de una galaxia llena de destrucción y mentiras, cada agente es probado diariamente tanto mental como físico para ser fiel a sus camaradas y consigo mismo." Krolia stated. "Kolivan believes that same trust should be applied to the Galra Empire after Zarkon is defeated and all his corruption cleaned."

"Wait, does Kolivan plan to be Emperor?" Allura asked.

"No," Krolia answered. "Kolivan doesn't know who the Emperor should be after all of this is over, but he does know that another Zarkon shouldn't be the one to claim that title."

"And how would and new Emperor, or Empress be chosen?" Connie asked.

"A Kral Zera would be hosted." The female Galran explained. "Is a ritual trial by combat initiated to see who would be the strongest one to lead; but that privilege is reserved only for those who have made a prestigious reputation for themselves in the vast ranks of the Galra Empire."

"Wouldn't it be less violent to put it to a vote?" Steven questioned.

"Yes, but the Kral Zera has been a tradition long before the Empire of Daibazaal," Krolia explained. "Such a tradition isn't going to be replaced that easily. Are there any other questions?"

Amethyst spoke up to ask where the mess hall was; while Steven and Connie decided to sneak away from the group to find Keith. The last they saw, he headed down a corridor behind them, to the right. They retraced their steps and followed down that corridor, where they found a dark hallway to their left, and a slightly brighter hall to the right.

The two teens decided to follow the light until they eventually ended up in a room full of holograms of different Galra dressed in Marmoran attire, and luxite blades were resting before them on altars. The Blue Paladins found Keith standing before a hologram of a young, blue-skinned woman with short hair and black horns protruding from her scalp; unlike the other altars, hers didn't have a luxite blade.

"I know you're both there," Keith said to the two teens without looking at them.

"We're sorry." Steven apologized. "We noticed you leave and wanted to see why."

"I just wanted to pay my respects; to those no longer with us," Keith replied.

"Who… is she?" Connie carefully questioned, looking at the hologram of the woman Keith seemed to have a close connection to.

"Her name was Acxa," Keith stated. "My sister."

Steven and Connie both looked at the hologram; while there were some similarities to Krolia, she didn't appear related to Keith or Thace.

"In case you were wondering; my father wasn't the first person my mother fell in love with." Keith bluntly answered. "That and our genes are so recessive."

"I'm sorry; we weren't trying to be disrespectful or anything." Connie apologetically said.

"Don't worry about it," Keith replied.

"What… happened to her?" Steven carefully asked.

"She was a part of an important mission to assassinate Zarkon," Keith answered; clenching his fists. "She and her team never comeback."

An awkward moment of silence passed as all three of them looked at the hologram.

"It's okay if you want to talk about her," Steven said. "We're willing to listen."

"Not really." Keith honestly answered. "She reminds me of why I fight for the Marmora; to be better than before."

"I don't know what she would say," Steven said. "But I'm sure she would like the person you are now."

"I hope so, thanks for that." Keith replied before they all turn to the entrance upon hearing footsteps and see and Marmora agent step through into the room.

"Keith, Kolivan requires your presence. And the Blue Paladin's." The agent quickly stated. "We will start now with the meeting."

"Already?" Connie pregunto, asombrada por la rapidez de la agencia.

"Understood." Keith answered, before turning to the teens. "Follow me."

"Tch, you guys have taken your time." Masquerade expressed impatiently not caring about the looks he received from the others.

"We arrive, Kolivan" Keith said to his leader just as he, Steven and Connie arrived in the meeting room with the rest of the Voltron Force. By the time they arrived, they noticed that the Imperial and Eldar agents were already standing around a large circular holographic panel.

"For those who wield the deadliest weapon in the universe, they don't know how to care about time." Amberly spoke to them like a grandmother reproaching her grandchildren.

"Pff, look who's saying it." Masquerade scoffed, earning her frowns from the Inquisitor and Commissar-Specialist Schnee and a sly snort from Elizabeth.

"Kolivan, what's going on?" Keith le pregunto a su lider, sin prestarle atención a los otros.

"Through the information supplied to us by Thace and Ulaz, we discovered the weapon Zarkon has built," Kolivan explained as he brings up a holographic image of a giant, mechanical warrior modeled in the Galra Emperor's likeness that rivals Voltron's height.

"By the Emperor…" One of the Tempestus Scions muttered as they joined the group that was standing far away from Inquisitor Vail.

"He has a Ro-Beast he can pilot," Pidge said as she looked at the hologram with a mixture of impress and worry.

"Daemon machines." Guren said openly showing her contempt. "Mindless monstrosities with an insatiable appetite for destruction."

"A nightmare to knock down." Commissar Winter said without showing hesitation in her tone. "On several occasions we had to bomb those things for long periods of time to do any real damage."

"Have you already faced those things?" Shiro asked.

"Two thousand years ago, a venerable Autarch had to become a young king to sacrifice himself and summon an Avatar of Khaine to vanquish one named Monarch of Pain. A battle that left a lot of damage to our world." Guren answered with his eyebrows slightly raised.

"The bastards must have been completely desperate on that occasion." Masquerade accompanied.

"Wait, if he had this thing already built; why hasn't he used it yet?" Amethyst questioned.

"From what we can tell, no known power source can stabilize it," Antok stated. "This machine was meant to rival Voltron's power; but as a result, it burns through its Quintessence supply at a rate far greater than previous Deathblack Beastmen or the Reckoning Lazarus in the past millennium and would absorb Zarkon's lifeforce if he remained in it too long."

"It would take something very powerful to keep it functional for long periods of time." Guren said.

"That's why he's been hellbent on getting the Black Lion." Shiro deduced. "Since he had control over her, being her former Paladin, he could use her as the power source."

"But since you severed that connection, he needs to find a new form of energy now," Coran added in.

"And when he does find it, we'll have a major problem," Amethyst said.

"That is why we can't let him," Kolivan stated.

"We must hurry then if we want that not to happen." Vail I declare.

"We're going to need a plan of action first." Allura asked.

"We won't be discussing it here." The Marmora leader stated to the Princess. "We'll discuss it on your Castle of Lions with the rest of your team; we let you see our base, it's only fair we see yours."

"So Matthew!" Bismuth began to attract the young man's attention. "You've been carrying around that robotic prosthetic for a while and you haven't shown us what he does."

"Oh! Well… we were too busy back then to release it." Matt said scratching the back of his neck like his normal hand as he extended his artificial prosthesis. "It has a dozen modalities which I still need to refine. Like the retractable hook, a mini drill, electric blades that are very cool by the way."

Matthew made a show of causing three blades to emerge from between the gaps in his knuckles which crackled with orange energy.

"Woah…they are really cool." Bismuth whispered, his gaze fixed on the electric blades. "And they are excellently made

"I know, right? They call them lightning blades; I was told it could tear metal or penetrate the chitinous armor of a Hormogaunt." Matt responded by retracting his claws as he extended his fingers. "You can even save hundreds of terabytes of internal storage."

"Woah… Practically that arm is a big Bismuth." Bismuth gave the go-ahead. "The person who did it must have been a top-notch genius."

"hmm…" Everyone heard Pearl's mutter who was looking at the emptiness of space with all the Imperial ships at a safe distance from the black holes. "How do you think the others will be there?"

"I don't know, we haven't heard from them in a while," Matt said with some worry. "I hope they're all right."

"They're fine. I know it." Bismuth assured; trying to relieve the young man of his worries.

"This is Takashi Shirogane to the Castle of Lions." Shiro's voice stated over the comms. "We're coming back but stay in the control room; we'll be meeting you there soon, with some guests."

"I told you." Bismuth said to Matt.

"Welp, I guess my worries are for nothing."

"We hear you, Shiro." Pearl said over the comms; affirming the orders as the three of them all waited for their friends.

After introducing Matt and the Gems to the Kolivan, Antok, and Krolia; the Marmora and Voltron Force begin their plan to stop the Galra Empire once and for all. The princess called the Seer Guren, Masquerade, Lady Inquisitor Vail and Master Angelos to the meeting, Gabriel had received the information from Vail and showed total seriousness in his features as distinctive as Astarte. Guren on the other hand was serene as she was inside the Marmora headquarters but the looks of her entourage told another story. While the operation was being prepared to be presented by Shiro, Kolivan, Lance and Allura.

Steven noticed Keith's wolf, Cosmo, playing Lion, Pumpkin, and space mice in the corner of the control room.

"All right everyone." Shiro began, gathering everyone's attention. "We're ready."

"That didn't take long to get set up," Amethyst said as they all gathered around; with a holographic image of Castle Doom's schematics materializing before them.

"I think we've got something here," Shiro stated with a mix of seriousness and confidence. "It's extremely dangerous, and there are a lot of moving parts involved; but if we can coordinate everything just right…"

"Then Zarkon's reign will be at an end, and the savagery that's poisoned our pride in the past ten thousand years ago." Kolivan concluded. "I'd never thought I'd live long enough to see this day."

Lord Angelos, how many of your people are we counting on?" Allura asked the Chapter Master.

"I have two of my companies with me, the rest of the chapter is still fighting in Aurelia." The holographic image of Angelos said. "But I have called in favors from some allied chapters like the Blood Angels, Jade Host, Exorcists and Ultramarines to provide me with some reinforcements. The Inquisitor also brings with her a group of Astartes such as her personal Deathwatch as well as a couple of Cadian battalions and one from Remnant's fortress world."

"This is more than enough." Lance nodded and addressed the Eldar seer. "What can you tell me, Lady Guren?"

"We contacted the board of visionaries of Alaitoc and Ylbrasseil. They can offer some ships to execute hit-and-run maneuvers, they can also help with logistics and support as well." Guren explained and added. "Oh, and I also contacted the Ynnari, they are going to supply us with stormtrooper support."

"Good, if we all stick to the plan, this should…" Allura began but paused to correct herself. "This will work."

"Ulaz was right to trust you all," Antok admitted. "By the moment."

"So, what's the plan?" Katie asked the group.

"The plan is amazing!" Lance stepped in. "First, we infect Zarkon's ship with a one of a kind virus. Then, we make this extra-large teladuv portal and lure Castle Doom inside of it, zapping him and his army light-years away from any habitable planets. When he's thrown out the other side, he'll be all like, 'Oh no, why doesn't my ship work?' Shiro will be like, 'I'll form the head!' as Voltron swoops in and kicks his butt! Pshew! Pshew! Pshew! Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! And boom, we win!"

"Wow, so this is it," Connie said with some disbelief.

"As childish as it sounds, there is some merit to it." Guren accompanied with a shrug. "Space Marines can be very useful to get in and cut through backup lines to graft the virus."

"The only question now; when do we strike?" Pearl asked.

"That's the dilemma. The Castle's teladuv portal isn't strong enough to move something as big as Castle Doom," Coran stated. "We'll need to build a new one; big enough like a Webway to wormhole Zarkon's ship. And for that, we're going to need much scaultrite."

"Scaultrite?" Steven asked.

"Oh right, we haven't explained that to you yet…" Coran said, smacking his forehead. "Scaultrite is a rare type of crystal that can reflect plasma energies. And when they are molded into discs and the plasma energy reflected off them intersect with each other at a strong enough magnitude, it can create something like a teladuv portal. One that won't require Altean magic or psychic power."

hey are also efficient at creating shields against orbital bombardment and immune to alternate energies." Lance added.

"Okay, we'll hit up the space mall again and…" Amethyst began.

"I'm afraid not," Coran stated. "This is going to take a lot more scaultrite than we can find at any swap shop. And the only way to get the scaultrite is from a Weblum."

"Oh good… so… where can we find it?" Steven asked, showing a bit of confusion.

"I'm not really sure." Coran scratched the right end of his mustache thoughtfully. "Weblums usually overwinter inside consumed planets and tend to last more than half a millennium at most, depending on how many planets they have devoured during a century of their feeding cycle."

"Ok…" Connie slurred her words a bit, not entirely sure of her meaning.

Angelos cleared his throat a little to get attention. "I know where there might be one. It was two centuries ago. During the climax of the fifth war by Armageddon against the Diamond Authority. The Imperial fleet had detected a Weblum devouring Imperial worlds near the sector. The fleet moved on the attack and successfully managed to chase the beast away before it got any deeper, but many are certain it is still out there."

"We appreciate the information, Master Angelos." Connie nodded to the Blood Ravens master.

"For this plan to succeed, we are going need to split up," Allura concluded.

"We know of someone who can help build the Teladuv; as well as create the virus we need," Kolivan stated. "We've never met him in person, nor do we know what he looks like; but he is known as the smartest being in the entire universe."

"Who is he?" Matt asked.

"His name is Slav," Krolia stated.

"That name sounds familiar to me." Amberly spoke up, drawing attention. "He is a criminal wanted by the Adeptus Mechanicus for illegally altering and stealing STC collected from various forge worlds."

"What is a STC?" Pidge asked, to which Coran answered in a whisper.

"They are digital plans which have diagrams and information of all the human technology with which the Imperium benefits militarily. They are too rare and nearly impossible to obtain and the Tech-Priests would do anything to get their hands on one no matter what the cost."

"Oh, I suppose they must have been very important for this Slav to have stolen them." Pidge muttered turning her attention back to the brief discussion.

"Lady Inquisitor, I assure you that the need for us to have Slav is wholly substantial to our objective." Krolia declared.

"I know that. But the Adeptus Mechanicus would absolutely not agree to collaborate with a Xeno-criminal, much less that he has stolen important plans from us. " Vail refuted with a mask of calm.

"Enough. We can clarify this within another meeting." Guren slightly raised his voice to stop the discussion. "Mrs Krolia. Please go ahead.

"Very well, Our organization passed Deca-phoebs trying to locate him. And in our attempts to search for him; we discovered that he might have been abducted by the Gemkind and taken to this location."

The Marmora agent brings up a hologram of a large, pink facility; uno que hizo que Perla se entumeciera al reconocerlo.

"That's the Zoo of Pink Diamond." The skinny Gem stated.

"You know of this place?" The female Galran asked.

"I used to work their back when I served… Homeworld." Pearl hesitantly admitted. "It used to be owned by Pink Diamond. She was fascinated with some intelligent species and decided to 'collect' them roughly six thousand years ago."

"Wait." Lance began. "Gems, a super advanced civilization had been abducting innocent people to put them on display? That sounds horrible. It's reminds me the time that uncle Alfor told the history about a Necron Overlord called Trazyn The Infinite."

"It's not surprising," Pidge added in. "Humans do the same with animals on Earth. Not to be cruel, but to learn about them and see how they naturally react."

"So why do they take other species?" Steven questioned.

"The Diamonds see it the same way entrepreneurs make money." Pearl state. "New attractions lead to new research, and new research keeps the Zoo active."

"Gems need money?" Amethyst asked with a frown at Peridot. "Not that we were self-sufficient?"

"It is… a luxury that only the warrior and scientific caste of our species obtains." Peridot replied, "It was a law enforced by the Agathas and Hessonites war council, then passed by the Diamond Authority so that our soldiers could accumulate credit that they could invest in bodily enhancements or weaponry."

"Can we get to the point already!? I'm dying of boredom." Masquerade raised her voice rudely.

Everyone stared at the Harlequin leader in silence for several seconds..

"…All right, here are the teams." Shiro began. "Peridot, Connie, Steven, and Bismuth will come with me to collect the scaultrite from the Weblum. Keith, Pidge, Lance, Amethyst, and Pearl will get Slav from the Zoo. Allura and the others will gather up all our allies and everything else we need; then we'll meet back on Olkarion."

"How are we going to get in the Zoo, by the way," Amethyst asked. "They'll recognize a Lion."

"During one of our missions; an agent was able to steal a Gem ship interceptor so that we could study it," Antok stated. "You can use that to get in."

"Wait, we're going to need a non-alibi plan to get in." Pearl said. Several people cast their gazes towards the Inquisitor, Angelos included.

Amberly looked around in confusion until she realized what they implied. "Nope."

"Please, Lady Inquisitor." Masquerade said in a childish voice. "Which is sacrificing a handful of humans to complete an important mission."

"I will not become another Fidus Kryptman, space clown. That alone is a formula for disaster." Vail rebutted with a frown.

"Wait, are you telling me that people are going to die?" Steven asked fearfully.

"That will depend on whether it goes well." Angelos said quietly, taking the Inquisitor by surprise.

"Lord Angelos! You can't be serious!" The inquisitor called out to the Chapter master, who returned her gaze.

"I can assure you that everything will work out in the end." Angelos replied. "I'll take care of convincing the Mechanicus to cooperate."

Vail stared at Master Astarte for a brief moment while his mind went over the pros and cons of this decision.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, he nodded. "Very well, but I will choose who will participate first."

"Good, we all have our tasks." Kolivan grimly stated. "If any one of us fails... then the entire plan fails."

Most nodded in agreement, then the Amberly and Angelos holograms cut off as the Eldar teleported back.

"Geez, no pressure in that." Amethyst said lastly.

It took a day to prepare, and the Voltron team took time to say goodbye to each other before leaving.

"Good luck," Shiro said to both Keith and Matt. "We've come a long way."

"Yeah, we have," Matt said as the original trio hug each other.

"Stay safe little bro," Amethyst said as she hugged Steven.

"I'll make sure he stays safe." Bismuth assured.

"I know I've said this many times, but I'm so proud of you two," Pearl said to Steven and Connie.

"Thank you, Pearl," Connie said as she and her Jam Bud hugged their master.

"Make sure you stay safe," Peridot said to Amethyst; as they both took each other's hands and looked into their eyes.

"Don't worry, ya nerd. I'll be fine." Amethyst teased before they hugged. "Take care, P-dot."

"Stay safe, sis," Matt told Katie as he ruffled up her hair; before turning to Lance. "And you better watch her back."

"Don't worry. She's in good hands." Lance assured the older Holt sibling. "You better have a friendly 'hand' with those Tech-priests."

"Whoa, dude. No wonder you are heavily harassed by Masquerade." Matt responded with a face that betrayed disappointment and irritation..

"I can't believe how much you've grown up," Krolia said to her son. "I, your father, and the entirety of the Blade of Marmora are proud of you."

"Thank you, mom," Keith said as he gave both his parents a hug.

"Be careful, cousin," Allura said to Lance as they embraced each other.

"I will," Lance assured, before breaking from the hug.

Allura turned and noticed Keith; walking up to him. "I wish you luck on your assignment." The Princess sincerely said, but the young Galra didn't reply. All he did was give her nod before walking away.

Allura looked down and saw the space mice by her feet; sensing her worries as she gave them a faint smile.

After everyone said their goodbyes; Peridot, Bismuth, and Shiro entered the Blue Lion with Stevonnie taking flight. While Keith, Pidge, Lance, Amethyst, and Pearl walked into the Marmora seized Homeworld scout vehicle. Allura made her way to the control room to pilot the Castle of Lions and gather their allies.

"This is going to work, Allura," Matt assured the Princess.

"I know it is," Allura said. "Because I don't know what we'll do if it doesn't."

-Castle of Doom-

In the depths of the massive ship, a large ceremonial room glowed a deep purple. Inside were Haggar and four Druids who carried on their backs several cylinders full of Quintessence behind them, most of which were used to supply exorbitant amounts of energy to their emperor in order to re-unite their newly severed link with the Black Lion.

Several of them had warned her of the risks of storing so much power in his body. The only entities that could store so much Quintessence were the Ro-Beasts, whose vessels had to be properly prepared for energy supply.

"AHHH!" Zarkon screamed in pain as he collapsed onto his knees. Una fina capa de vapor emano de su persona.

"My Emperor!" Haggar screamed as she ran to her lord. Spending days and days supplying vital and psychic energy was also taking its toll on him despite being an immortal entity.

His gaze shifted sideways to the others who had perished in this task. Just now they were being claimed by the Sentrys to be taken to one of the castle mortuaries for their bodies to be reused; it seemed that the manufacture of Hollows had increased lately since recently.

"I am fine Haggar," Zarkon stated as he struggled onto his feet; grabbing a canister of Quintessence, opening and absorbing its life-giving properties. "Ah… Much better…"

"My lord, you can't keep pushing yourself like this." Haggar worriedly stated. "Your attempt on forcing a reconnection to the Black Lion has you running of fumes; it would be wise for you to rest."

"No." The Emperor said in a disregarding manner. "We need that Lion. Summon more of your Druids and this time give me an Accolyte; they're magic should aid in re-establishing my connection."

"But my Emperor…" Haggar began. "We not-"

"That is an order!" Zarkon snapped interrupt the witch.

"I… I understand." The robed woman said as she vanished from Zarkon's sight.

-0-

Haggar reappeared in one of the Castle's long corridors and was heading towards the main Mortuary to carry out her Emperor's order when an Accolyte appeared in front of her.

Her name was Jalda, a loyal servant of the Galra Empire and an ardent worshiper of Tzeench. She wore an ornate Juggernaught-type armor with two skeletal arms crossed in an 'X' on the faceplate and on one of her shoulder spires hung the helmet of a Dark Angels Space Marine plus other human skulls with her. She was carrying a magic scepter whose wood was wrapped in human skin with small carved pagan runes and on top was the characteristic seal of the lord of transformation with some small bells wrapped causing a soft melody.

It was this Accolyte who had recently accompanied Zarkon in defeating Grombuz's WAAGH on the planet Auxyr-5. He along with other Juggernaught and Hollow slaughtered the greenskin opposition.

"Greetings, Lady Haggar." Jalda spoke, a morass of distorted voices escaping from her voice.

"What do you want?" Haggar asked in annoyance without making eye contact with the warlock.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting her work. But ten doboshes ago we received contact with a Dark Eldar Kabal." Jalda explained to the witch.

Haggar's silence signaled the Accolyte to continue.

"The Kabal called 'Gray Splinters' said that one of our commanders who was here owed them a favor and they came to collect it." Jalda said. "Our operators asked who, to which they replied that it was the now transformed Prorok."

"What are you doing here? Why are you wasting my time with such a trivial matter?" Haggar's eyes gleamed with growing anger at the Accolyte who reflected absolute calm. "Don't you see I have more important matters to run!?"

"I know." Jalda nodded without flinching. "We told them to leave immediately but the filthy knife ears have proclaimed the right of the Black Heron."

Haggar could feel a migraine slowly growing in his head. The Black Heron's right was a decree that any Kabala Drukhari could enter into peaceful parley with the Galra without any retaliation (ONLY if the information brought by their Archon was substantive to the conquest of new worlds or the slave trade). )

"WHAT information have they brought with them to execute that decree?" Haggar asked having her fists clenched.

"About Voltron itself, as the possible location of one of the strongest entities in the Gem race hierarchy." The Accolyte revealed.

Haggar's posture lifted and he saw Jalda in her eyes. His expression was unreadable to the enhanced wizard but he could tell that his mood had radically changed.

"Take me there, I want to see what they offer." Haggar said, looking down. "He also sends some more druids to help the Emperor reconnect with the Black Lion."

"By the Lord of Change and the Galra Empire. It will be done, my lady." Jalda nodded, and a second later she disappeared in a thick trail of black smoke.

Meanwhile Haggar continued on his way but this time his thoughts were on something else.

This could be an opportunity to exploit.

-Abandoned Imperial system near to the Armageddon Sector-

The black and blue Leon were flying over an asteroid field on what was once a planet, the dead world had a gigantic hole in the surface. As if a colossal caterpillar entered the planet as if it were an apple.

"It just dawned on me that out of all of us, Allura's mission is the most leisurely," Peridot stated. "I mean, we get to go after a giant space monster for some scaultrite, the others are attempting to infiltrate a Homeworld base, Matt talks to the Adeptus Mechanicus to collaborate with us and Allura gets to visit our friends we've made along the way. Does, anyone else here see what I'm getting at?"

"Yes, but you heard Coran, building a huge teladuv portal isn't going to be easy," Stevonnie spoke up. "The good stuff is that everyone can collaborate with us. Every one of us has a job to do, and this is ours, right Chief?" The human Fusion turned to the Black Paladin; who appeared to be staring out into space. "Shiro?"

"Oh, yeah," Takashi replied.

"Is everything okay?" Bismuth asked the man.

"I was just thinking about Keith and Allura," Shiro said.

"What's wrong?" Stevonnie asked.

"I know he is putting the mission ahead of his emotions. However, I still feel he has lingering feelings of contempt towards the Princess." Shiro said. "I'm not blaming him, but it's going to be a problem if it's not resolved before I face Zarkon again."

"Well, you know that Keith is stubborn like that, more than anyone else here," Stevonnie said. "He'll eventually come around after all this is over."

"Yeah, it's not like Keith doesn't hate Allura," Peridot added in. "He just needs to take some time to deal with the fact that the person he trusted with his life turned out to have been keeping something he should've known from the start; putting the lives of him and his friends in danger."

Everyone in the Blue Lion then looked at the green Gem in a deadpan manner that clearly said "seriously?"

"What?" Peridot asked in confusion.

"Let's just watch the video Coran gave us and stay on task." Bismuth said as she handed Stevonnie an old recording device. "We need to figure out how to collect this stuff, after all."

Before leaving, Coran had sent the first group a video showing tips on how to enter a Weblum and what to do and what not to do as well as details of the dangers that dwelled within.

Stevonnie fiddles with the buttons on the recording device; which causes its screen to glitch at first, before a clear image of a younger looking Coran inside the Castle of Lion's appears, with cheerful music playing in the background.

"Hello, brave Altean. So, you plan to go into the belly of a giant Weblum to harvest its scaultrite. Good for you! Scaultrite is an important substance that has over thousands of commercial and industrial uses; like fabrication foam, insect night vision goggles, teladuv…" The recording suddenly cuts out into static, much to everyone's worry; before resuming. "Anti-fungal klanmüirl lotion and other such lubricants."

"What's wrong with the video?" The human Fusion questioned.

"It's over ten thousand years old. It's probably corroded." Bismuth stated.

"Now, I could go on for days, maybe even weeks. But you don't have time for that; you got a weblum to enter and some scaultrite to collect." The video recording of the mustached Altean stated. "Oh, look! There's a Weblum now. Hello, big fella!"

A poorly drawn creature, whom the passengers all assumed to be a weblum appeared on the screen. "Hey, Coran! I'm off to eat some planets. There's one now! Nom, nom, nom, nom!"

"As you already know, or probably remember from school, the weblum is an enormous creature and an integral part of keeping our universe very functioning." The recorded message continued; while interfering static still plagued it. "It survives off the… … leftover from dead planets. It then reconverts the Quintessence remnants by… …. becoming the building blocks of new solar systems. Incredible, isn't it? Of course, they are no gentle giants. They're giants that are quite deadly, which leads to rule number one. It's an important one, so listen closely. Stay away from… … You got that?"

"No, we didn't get that, ya clod!" Peridot cursed at the video.

"Other things to remember include; avoiding the poisonous… … eye socket… … could lead to certain death!" The recording added.

"Um… guys," Stevonnie said, as they looked forward with a shocked look; garnering the others attention as they looked ahead with the same expression; finding themselves surrounded by dead planets.

"This isn't right," Peridot stated. "According to Coran, current Coran, planets in this sector should still be thriving."

"Something tells me they didn't die a natural death." Shiro grimly added.

Suddenly, the area of view began to grow dark as the Voltron Force members turn to the source of the shade and discover, to their awe, a planet-sized worm-like creature with an armored shell, gills, and six eyes gently swimming above them. It was both terrifying and majestic to look at; as well as better than that poorly drawn cartoon.

"Stevonnie, keep the Blue Lion away from it for now!" Shiro ordered. "We don't know what to do yet!"

"I'll skim through the video; you fly carefully." Bismuth said as she took the recording device and fiddled with it.

"So, you've made it into the weblums first stomach!" The recording said.

"Rewind! Rewind!" Bismuth repeated as she continued pressing buttons; as Stevonnie piloted the Blue Lion away from the beast, staying ahead of its face.

"So, you've identified a weblum. Great! Now, remember rule number one. Stay away from its face." The Coran recording warned.

"Wait, that's rule number one?" Stevonnie panicked. "I just broke rule number one!"

A defensive roar was heard as the weblum opened its mouth and yellow energy began to build up.

"Get out of the way quickly!" Peridot screamed at the pilot, just as the human Fusion did so at the same time the beast fired a destructive beam of energy at them; barely hitting them.

"The weblums natural defense… …. venomous laser, deadly acid… … total annihilation… … death monster… … to find its blind spot on the back of its neck, just below the gills." The video continued with the cartoon weblum on the screen.

"That's your way inside!" The crudely drawn animation stated. "If I can't see ya, then I can't kill ya!"

"All right, I'm heading to the gills!" Stevonnie announced as they made a swift, one-hundred-eighty-degree turn and flew over to the weblums back; successfully landing near its gills. "We're attached to its blind spot."

"Excellent work." Shiro praised. "We're heading in."

"Wait, what are we supposed to do when we're inside?" Peridot questioned as she snatched the recording from Bismuth.

"Now, for a quick recap of what to do and not do when you're inside the beast." The recording stated. "One, avoid all the things that are out to kill you. Two, get to the third stomach and find the scaultrite gland. Three, activate the weblums defense mechanisms and collect the excess material from the gland. That's the scaultrite!"

"Seems simple enough." Bismuth said.

"Seems under-explained." The green Gem stated.

"Come on." The larger Crystal Gem said as she picked up Peridot and carried her out of the Lion with Shiro and Stevonnie.

The Life of Commander Morvok could well be described as a kind of lucky wheel where the end of the spin could mean a stroke of luck or a misfortune of colossal proportions.

It was not his fault that he was born the runt of the litter, it was not his fault that he received the contempt of his father and brothers, and it was not his fault that his mother abandoned them for a better life next to a Tau of high social class. Morvok always thought that trouble came to him and the outcome varied depending on how he played his cards. This is how he became a commander after having gone through bloody battles whose chances of annihilation were just around the corner and barely getting out of several close calls.

The Galra Empire, by some divine grace, had recognized Morvok and promoted him to squad captain where, despite being taunted by his squad, he has racked up several defensive and sabotage achievements as well as successful looting of abandoned space hulks. His best military campaign was that time on the planet Belemus when he managed to suffocate the firepower of a Genestealer cult and then launch a devastating offensive where he not only destroyed the cult but also one of the Druids who accompanied him on his offensive managed to capture the presence of a hive fleet about to penetrate Galra territory. It was this achievement that the Druid recommended and secured his promotion to the rank of commander.

Morvok couldn't be more proud of himself. His own efforts brought him to a prestigious place in the Empire and gave him the honor of standing on the very ground that the Emperor walks on. Right now he was walking down one of the thousands of long corridors, escorting a small group of Drukhari with his platoon of Sentrys.

Morvok never liked the Dark Eldar. They are the third most hated race below the Tau and Tyranids. Razor-eared bastards always have to be way too creepy and downright disgusting than their annoying, introverted cousins and the extinct Alteans. Under normal circumstances, Morvok would have maimed them with laser fire but he was told not to do any such thing.

As much as the Galra hated the Dark Eldar like many others. They have proven to be efficient trading partners during the early Empire in terms of supplying manpower and resources and even acquiring services from a Kabala through transactions.

"HEY!" Morvok cut off his thoughts as he leveled a cosmetically modified laser pistol at one of the Incubi who was straying slightly from his group. "Regroup with the others unless you want a new hole in your skull!"

If the Incubus was intimidated, he didn't show it. Rather, he let out an amused snort filled with spite at the diminutive Galra Commander who was not meant to go unnoticed.

They continued with the walk until they finally reached their destination, a majestic conference room which was well lit and furnished with various banners of the Galra Empire as well as some war trophies and ancient items that were part of what was left of Daibazaal. Some of the Drukhari were itchy to steal them, but they knew that would amount to suicide.

A few Druids were already sitting in the room at a long rectangular table with Haggar in the middle of the wizards. At the entrance stood a pair of juggernaughts armed with energy halberds who stood sentinel. The Haemonculi was almost fascinated by the last two.

"Welcome to the Castle of Doom." Haggar said almost robotically. His bright eyes pierced towards the leader of the Kabal. "Please, sit down."

Neck reached for his helmet to remove it from his head, then proceeded to walk over to the table to sit and lean it against the wood. Action that his subordinates have done except remove their helmets.

"Nice to meet you. I am Tu'alha'bal Neckrorius of the Gray Splinters. I-" Neck started but was cut off.

"Let's skip introductions for now. First of all let me inform him that Commander Prorok has been decommissioned since his last failure and has been refitted." Haggar dijo mostrando una cantidad sorprendente de educación en su tono áspero. "Por lo que no podrán cobrarle un favor de vuelta."

Several Drukhari looked at each other having confirmed their suspicions.

"Another thing, as far as your knowledge of Voltron's whereabouts won't be necessary." Haggar's eyes gleamed slightly. "But I am interested in the second thing you have to offer me."

"Of course, if you allow me." Neck carefully lowered her hand to his magnetic belt and from it extracted a medium-sized node. "Months ago we had captured this from a clandestine organization of his Empire called the Sword of Marmora. We know that for the past two Deca-phoebs they have been collecting Hyg'sir all over the Milky Way to drain them."

"Indeed." Haggar said as he interlocked his fingers. "We also have knowledge of those fools who have refused to follow our pride as a species. But let's leave that aside for the most pressing. I was informed that you have information for me regarding the whereabouts of one of the leaders of the Diamond Authority.

"Hang on," Stevonnie tells the others as they bubble themselves in a translucent pink barrier before hopping down in the giant beast's gills; using their floating powers to control their descent until finally landing on a mucus cover floor and bursting the bubble.

"Ugh, this is so gross." Peridot bellyached as she was forced to stand in the pus-covered ground.

"Well, what did you expect?" Bismuth asked the little Gem. "We're in a giant worm monster. You're not gonna freak out on us, are you; we're going to need the big brain of yours if we're going to make it through this."

"All right, I can do this," Peridot said. "Now, let's get out of this stomach acid."

"Quiet you guys," Stevonnie spoke up.

"What's up?" Shiro asked.

"Listen." The Blue Paladin said as everyone went quiet and heard what sounded like bickering. The Voltron Force members go to investigate the sound and carefully navigate the first stomach of the beast; the arguing became louder as they drew closer, and eventually spot five familiar faces off in the distance. "Are those… the Rubies?"

"I don't understand, how did they get here?" Peridot whispered to him, keeping her distance.

"Perhaps they are also looking for the same thing as us." Bismuth responded hypothetically, his left arm had turned into a hammer. "Or they entered here by accident."

"Let's keep our distance so as not to be discovered." Shiro said and the others nodded.

What the four of them didn't know was that there was a small entity watching them from their blind spot. It was a pale green too small gem with a small black cape, short hair of the same color and wings on its back that resembled a beetle with a small rhombic shaped gem.

"It's no good, boss." Navy spoke up. "The acid ate through our engines."

"Great, Emerald's not going to be happy about this." Eyeball grouched.

"Emerald's rarely happy about anything unless it involves her dear Sun Incinerator." Army mocked.

"Don't talk about her like that." Doc defensively spoke up. "She's our superior officer and Hessonite's apprentice."

"Who's Hessonite again?" Leggy confusingly asked.

"Oh, no one special, just one of the greatest admirals in all of Homeworld's battlefleet. Basically they are made to direct fleets and colonies." Doc sarcastically told the young Gem.

"Does anyone know how we even got in this mess, to begin with?" Eyeball complained.

"Uh… I… don't… know?" Leggy answered. "But… I… Think that-"

"Just stop and wait in the ship, newbie," Doc ordered with slight annoyance. "We'll be out of this soon."

"Okey-dokey." The innocent Ruby said as she floated into the vehicle.

"If I remember correctly, Emerald ordered us to fetch something before we were swallowed," Navy stated.

"Who cares about the mission!?" Eyeball shouted. "Let's just get out of here!"

"What's the rush, Cut-4ND?" The lead ruby asked.

"That's 1F4 Cut-4ND." Eyeball replied.

"Oh, is this about getting back to Jasper?" Army asked in a flirtatious manner.

"Hey, don't talking me like that, I'm older than you. I fought more battles than you include the war for Earth." Eyeball defensively reminded. "I was on the ground in Facet Six when I heard tales of a legendary Facet Nine Kindergarten Quartz. They said she popped out of the ground with her helmet on and took out eighty Crystal Gems before the sun went down. She's a hero who deserves your respect!"

"Don't get too excited, or you might dissipate you…" Navy began to tease but stopped when he heard the sound of flapping wings and everyone fell silent when they saw a ground beetle appear and prostrate itself on Eyeball's shoulder.

These tiny gems have a messenger function imposed under the communication ministry of Zircons. They have the utility of serving as very stealthy lookouts capable of blending into the environment despite not having camouflage abilities unlike their sister the sky beetles. They can also be used for sabotage maneuvers on the battlefield.

"What's going on?" Eyeball asks the Beetle who leans into his ear to whisper. Ruby's eye widens in shock and she exclaims from the rooftops. "CRYSTAL GEMS!?"

The little gem points to the place where they were hiding and the rubies spotted a Peridot who had poked her head out of it at the worst time.

"WHAT!?" Doc exclaims with his eyes open in surprise and fear of seeing the rest of the opposing group. "CRYSTAL GEMS! RUBIES, ASSEMBLE!"

The five Homeworld Gems charged towards the Crystal Gems in an orderly fashion, with their gemstones beginning to glow. Stevonnie realized what they were about to do and quickly summoned their shield; throwing at the quintuple and hitting Eyeball right in the head, knocking her down, but not stopping the other rubies from fusing into a giant.

With there being no other option, the Voltron Force members get ready to fight their small, yet deadly adversaries within the belly of the strange beast. The giant slammed her massive hand down at the quartet but missed just as Stevonnie summoned their Bayard sword.

"DIE, ROSE QUARTZ!" Eyeball screamed from behind Stevonnie with a chisel-like knife in her hand, trying to stab the human Fusion.

"Nope." but was unable to get close to them. Eyeball He leapt at the human fusion to attack her in the air but she had caught his leg with her free hand and hurled it into a wall of flesh and soft tissue, but the small gem quickly sat up and charged with reckless abandon.

The giant ruby continued smashing and flailing her arms around while trying to avoid the stomach acid. During one of her attacks, the ruby unintentionally hits Stevonnie and Eyeball; sending them flying into a wall of flesh, that they both sink into.

"Stevonnie!" Shiro called out in fear for his friend as he, Bismuth and Peridot continued battling the giant Gem. The buff Crystal Gem quickly shapeshifts her hands into blades and slices the rubies ankle; causing it to lose its balance, defusing as it collapsed.

"Never give up, soldiers!" Doc shouted as the four rubies continued their fight with a familiar roar. "WAAAGH!"

"What the heck!?" Peridot grito consternada al escuchar el famoso grito de Guerra Orko saliendo de las bocas de cuatro simples rubies.

"Ignore them!" Bismuth she said as she got in front of Peridot and kicked Leggy who was in front.

"Stevonnie, are you there?" Shiro asked over his comms as he punches one of the rubies away.

"I'm fine Shiro," Stevonnie answered over the comms; to the Black Paladin's relief. "I think I fell into the weblums bloodstream. It's carrying me somewhere."

"Find a way out; we'll meet up with you when we can," Takashi assured before uppercutting Army with his cybernetic hand; poofing her.

Shiro quickly grabbed the gemstone before it fell into the acid.

Stevonnie and Eyeball floated through the circulatory system of the giant space worm, with the ruby shouting at the human Fusion; which was muffled by all the blood. However, the Blue Paladin could make out some of the short-tempered Gem's rants.

"There goes my whole platoon! This is a mess! What'll I say in my report? How will I even make my report? This is a nightmare! And this is all your fault! You're lucky you're all the way over their Rose, or I'd pop you right in the face!" Eyeball shouted angry.

The Gem continued ranting as Stevonnie waited patiently for what they assumed to be the right moment and activated their armor's thruster pack; flying forward and bursting through the blood vessel, with eyeball being dragged along. The human Fusion deactivated their thruster pack and floated to the ground; trying to wipe the blood off their body. "Well, that was gross," Stevonnie complained.

"ROSE QUARTZ!" Eyeball screamed like a berserker, an adorable berserker, as she tries to stab Stevonnie; who casually dodges the attack.

"What are you doing?" Stevonnie asked the Homeworld Gem. "We just only searching Scaultrite before you attacks us!"

"Don't act surprised, Rose Quartz! You shattered a Diamond!" Eyeball shouted as she vainly tries to attack the human Fusion again. "I never thought I'd get a chance like this. I can't believe you're all mine! Ooh, I'm gonna get ya! I'm gonna take your gem and bring it back to Yellow Diamond herself!"

"Isn't there a way to end this peacefully? I can tell they were trapped here, we can help you escape." Stevonnie says dodging again the Eyeball's attacks, while also wondering what would happen if someone did take Steven's gem from his body.

"Oh, give up already; you can't take this away from me! I'm gonna be a legend! I'll go down in history! What will the Diamonds say when they hear that a Ruby defeated Rose Quartz! They might give me my very own pearl!" Eyeball began gnawing at the pommel of her weapon at that last statement, with perverted thoughts going through her head; the kind that made the Blue Paladin shudder. "Here I come Rose…"

Both Eyeball and Stevonnie gasped as the former looked down and discovered a knife planted right in her stomach area, and poofed.

"Eyeball?" Stevonnie said as they tried to reach for the ruby gemstone; only to have a thrown knife nearly strike their hand. The human Fusion turns around and spots two Galra soldiers standing on a mound of inner-flesh. Stevonnie recognized one of them; it was the same, hooded, tailed Galran that "saved" Lapis in that recording Keith, Shiro and Matt showed them roughly a month-and-a-half ago.

'Stay right where you are.' The tailed Galran ordered.

Stevonnie quickly summoned their shield and activated their Bayard sword; preparing for a two against one fight.

"Narti, wait." The second, masked Galran spoke up, just before her ally was about to throw her knife. "That shield…" The second Galran leaped down onto the ground below and slowly approached the on-guard Blue Paladin. "S… Steven?"

Stevonnie was immediately caught off-guard by what the Galran said. "Do… I know you?"

'Do you know this one?' Narti telepathically asked.

"I think I do." The Galra soldier said as she slowly moved her hands to her head and removed her helmet-mask; revealing herself, much to Stevonnie's genuine surprise, to not be a Galra, but actually…

"L… Lapis?" Steven's side of Stevonnie said as the human Fusion dropped their sword and deactivated their shield. "Is…"

"It's me, Beach Summer Fun Buddy." The blue Gem said with small tears in her eyes.

Stevonnie then wrapped their arms around Lazuli with tears of joy. "I… I can't believe, I thought you were dead or worse…" Steven admitted.

"It's okay Steven," Lapis told him. "I'm live and okay."

'So this was the Steven you've told me about?' Narti asked as she leaped over to join them. "It looks different from the one you described."

"Yes." Lapis dijo y le devolvió la mirada a Stevonnie. "What is this? Why you look so… familiar?"

"Oh, well… that's because I'm a fusion of his best friend, Connie." Stevonnie stated.

"Who?" Lazuli asked.

"The girl who was with Steven the same day you tried to steal the ocean from our planet." Connie's side of Stevonnie reminded; only getting a confused look from the Gem. "You tried drowning me."

"I tried… drowning a lot of people that day." Lapis embarrassingly admitted.

"And who's your friend?" Stevonnie asked, looking at the tailed Galran.

"This is Narti," Lazuli told him. "She saved my life."

"Why are you wearing Galra armor?" Stevonnie questioned the waterbased Gem.

"A lot of things has happened." Lazuli vaguely answered.

'Lapis, they're coming back.' Narti warned as she drew her knives.

"Who's coming back?" Stevonnie questioned they turned around and saw a gigantic group of what looked like yellow jellyfish swim towards the trio.

'Digestive bacteria meant for breaking down food; we're the food. Those things can melt a Tyranid Bio-Warrior in seconds no matter how friendly they seem..' Narti explained. Lapis stepped forward and extended her arms out in a dance-like manner as she manages to manipulate the hydronic creatures to change their course and away from the trio. 'We need to finish the job and get out of here.'

"Job, what job?" Stevonnie questioned as Lapis summoned her water wings and picked up Narti. "Lapis, wait!" The Blue Paladin activated their thruster pack and followed the two women.

'We still haven't figured out how to trigger the scaultrite gland.' Narti stated as they landed back where they once were.

"Lapis, please tell me what's going on?" Stevonnie begged of the Gem.

"We are currently in the third stomach of the weblum." Lazuli explained. "We're trying to harvest the scaultrite."

"But why?" The Blue Paladin asked. "Are you… working for Zarkon…?"

"No, I would never work for the likes of him; not after what he did!" Lapis snapped.

"I didn't mean too…" Stevonnie tried apologizing.

"I know, Steven," Lapis responded. "Narti and I are a part of something bigger than Zarkon, the Diamond Authority or any faction that you know; that's why we're here for the scaultrite."

"Stevonnie!" Shiro's voice called out, getting the attention of the trio as the Black Paladin and the two Crystal Gems make their way into the third stomach; with Bismuth and Peridot holding the bubbled rubies in their arms.

Narti drew her daggers, but Stevonnie quickly got in front of the Galra. "Wait, they're my friends!"

"Stevonnie, I'm glad you're… Lapis?" Shiro said with disbelief as he noticed the familiar Gem.

"Shiro?" Lapis said with disbelief.

"How… how are you? And what are you wear…?" Shiro stuttered.

"It's a long story." Lapis plainly answered as she looked at her former ally and his companions, but her eyes widened with shock and quickly turned to anger upon seeing Bismuth. "YOU!"

All the water within the weblums stomach and the Paladins bodies began to boil as Lapis scowled at the large Gem.

"Me?" Bismuth questioned pointed herself with his finger.

"I remember you; you're the one who poofed me back on Earth!" Lapis shouted with fury as the water in the third stomach began to turn to steam. "You're the reason; I was trapped in that mirror for…" Lapis' eyes suddenly turn from blue to yellow as everything begins to simmer down.

'Lapis, calm yourself.' Narti soothingly said.

Lazuli's eyes turned back to normal and looked at Narti. "I'm sorry about that." The blue Gem apologized.

"What did you do?" Stevonnie questioned.

'I calmed her mind. Erratic emotions make his powers work against her.' Narti telepathically explained. 'If I allowed her rage to continue, she would've killed the weblum, and by extension, us.'

"You can kill a Weblum?" Shiro pregunto con los ojos abiertos hacia Lapis mientras se imaginaba la posibilidad.

"I can theoretically turn every liter of blood in his body into condensed oxygen and implode him." Lapis responded with a shrug.

None of them wanted to prove that theory, much less have that image in their minds.

"Um guys, the bacteria are coming back!" Peridot informed them all as they turn around and see more massive droves of the digestive bacteria swarm towards them.

"I got this," Lapis said as she manipulated the bacteria to avoid the group. "That was larger than last time. We need to get the scaultrite and go."

"I think that's going to be a problem." Peridot began. "From what we've seen in the second stomach; the scaultrite gland somehow secretes mucus and other gross stuff, which becomes crystallized. The only problem is, we don't know how to trigger the weblums defense mechanism to do that."

"I think I might have an idea," Stevonnie told them. "If we want to trigger the weblum's defenses someone needs to fly in front of its face. I'll swim back to the first stomach, out of the gills and back to the Lion. As soon as it's about to fire the laser; all of you hide in a blood vessel. I'll contact you all when it's safe to leave."

'Wait.' Narti began. 'While that may work; there is a quicker way for you to leave the weblum. However, I doubt you'll like it.'

"What do you have in mind?" Stevonnie asked.

"Ugh, this is going to be grosser than the blood vessel," Stevonnie complained. Narti explained that the quickest way out of the weblums third stomach was to travel out with its "excess gasses."

"But you're the only one here who can pilot the Lion," Shiro stated.

"I know. But that doesn't make this any better." Stevonnie stated. "Just make sure to find cover before you're all incinerated."

"Good luck, soldier." Bismuth said with a saluted as Stevonnie activated their thruster pack and flew further into the third stomach of the giant creature. After a few minutes, the entire weblum began to rumble as a strong pull of wind tried sucking the rest of the group out; but they quickly clenched onto the fleshy walls of the beast, holding on tight until the winds ceased.

"Guys, I'm out," Stevonnie informed over their comms. "And I'm taking a shower as soon as we get back to the Castle."

"Get to your Lion and provoke the beast," Shiro said over his comms. "We'll do our part."

"I'm in Blue, and off to get the giant space whale's attention," Stevonnie informed. "Yoo-hoo! Over here! Yes! Yes, I think it's gonna do it! Oh, no, it's going to do it! Guys, get in a blood vessel, now!"

The entire third stomach began to heat up as yellow energy started to manifest itself. "Move it, now!" Shiro ordered as Narti digs her blades into the flesh walls; cutting open a blood vessel that they all crawl into just in the nick of time. Shiro dug his cybernetic hand into the wall as his real one held on to Bismuth, who in turn held on to Peridot, while she held onto the bubbled rubies; meanwhile, Lapis held onto Narti's tail, while her hand held onto the dug-in knives.

"That was too close!" Stevonnie's voice shouted. "The laser stopped firing; please tell me scaultrite's in there?"

The group all pulled themselves out of the blood vessel and discovered thousands of scaultrite crystals floating around.

"Gather up all you can," Shiro ordered as he, Bismuth and Peridot floated towards the glimmering stones; with the two Crystal Gems creating several large bubbles around the abundance of Crystal. Lapis and Narti did the same thing, and once they had enough; they proceeded to make their way out of the weblum the same way Stevonnie did. "Lapis, wait!" Shiro called to the Gem.

"Shiro, I know what you're going to say, and the answer's no," Lazuli answered.

"But, why?" The Black Paladin questioned. "Help me understanding."

"Because I found a purpose," Lapis explained. "For the longest time, I believed that I was made for only one thing; but it took Narti, and others to show me that I can be more. I can help show that to the entire universe. A great change is coming, and it'll boil down to you either being with us or against us. No sacrifice, no victory."

"Lapis…" Shiro began.

"Goodbye for now, Shiro. And good luck in whatever you do. Tell Steven that I'm sorry." Lapis finally said as she summoned her water wings and grabbed Narti, who held onto the bubbles.

"Don't follow us." With those final words said, the two women flew out of the weblum as Shiro watched them leave.

"Stevonnie, we're out," Shiro announced over his comms.

"I'm on my way." The human Fusion said as they turned the Blue Lion around and flew toward the Voltron Force member; scooping them up into the mechanical beast's mouth.

The trio entered the cockpit with a dozen bubbles in their arms, but Stevonnie noticed Lapis nor Narti was with them. "Where… are…"

"The left ahead of us." Shiro solemnly answered. "They took what they came for and left."

"We need to go after…" Steven's side of the human Fusion began.

"Lapis doesn't want to be followed," Shiro said. "Besides, there are far more pressing matters we need to attend to."

Stevonnie looked away from the Black Paladin and let out a sigh; they knew he was right, but they were so close to getting Lapis back, and now she's gone again. However, something also told them that this wouldn't be the last time they see her.

"Copy that." Stevonnie lowly answers as they set course for Olkarion.

"Hey, don't feel bad." Bismuth spoke up. "We got more scaultrite than we needed, and some Homeworld Gems at that." The large Crystal Gem showed Stevonnie the bubbled rubies; but the human Fusion only saw four bubbled rubies.

'Are you going to be okay, Lapis?' Narti asked her Gem friend as they flew on her water wings.

"I'll be fine." Lapis uneasily said; thinking to herself how her choice will hurt Steven. "But the mission had to come first."

'Besides.' Narti began as she looked at the blue bubbles her tail held. 'I believe he'll be pleased with what, and whom we have.' The tailed Galran looked at both translucent orbs; one held the scaultrite, while the held the ruby known as Eyeball.

Hey it's me.

I know it's been a while. but during this time I have had face-to-face classes at the University and it has not given me time to write.

Thank you all for your patient wait and see you in the next episode.

PS: I'm still looking forward to some Beta-readers.