Chapter 13: Heart of a Lion(Keith's POV)

"Sendak has been building Zaiforge Cannons. The intel we gathered states that they are almost completed." Pidge states.

"What are Zaiforge cannons?" Admiral Sanda asks.

"Planet destroyers," Keith answers, shuddering at Sendak's threat to use it on Arus when they first arrived in space and had to get the other lions. "If these cannons launch and are fully charged they could destroy Earth in a matter of seconds."

"So what do we do?" Adrien asks.

Shiro answers, "We attack all six bases at once."

"How? We don't have enough firepower to do that kind of damage," Admiral Sanda argues.

"If the MFEs joined us we would be able to pull it off if we had our lions."

"We'd love to," Griffin responds, "But we don't have that kind of range."

Coran speaks up, "There should be enough leftover Faunatonium to get the MFEs to the bases and back again while also boosting their attacks."

"Even if the MFEs joined the fight, how are we going to get to your lions?" Admiral Sanda asks.

"The Horse Miraculous," Adrien answers. "It's how we got here inside the base instantaneously after Pidge communicated with Commander Holt."

"But the Galra will notice the lions once you get closer to Earth." Admiral Sanda argues.

Allura stands up, "Maybe there's a way to get the lions to come to us instead of using the Horse Miraculous to send them to Earth one by one to the location they need to go. Remember how the Red Lion went after Keith after he and I got stranded in space together?"

"Yeah, it all completely surprised us and led me to discover an important clue which made me bond with Black more."

"Or the time Red attacked the Blade of Marmora base making me suspicious until she stopped her attack?"

"I do remember that."

"If the lions can come to us in our times of need, then perhaps you could call out to them willingly and they will respond." Allura states.

"But will they come from Kerberos all the way to Earth?" Admiral Sanda questions, doubting the plan.

He stands up, "Red came to me and Allura in space when we had been traveling all night. If Red can do that then so can the others."

Marinette nods, "That's right. Black led me to Shiro's clone as well."

"Then it's settled. We call our lions to us and attack the six bases all at once before they launch. And once we're done we can form Voltron and finish off Sendak and his forces." Shiro affirms.

"My pilots can transport five of you before heading to the sixth cannon." Griffin states.

"Perfect. The MFE's will carry us to the bases and we should arrive at the drop zones at the same time as our lions. Then the MFE's will head to the sixth base. We will launch a coordinated attack on all six bases at once."

Keith looks at Marinette and sighs. In case Red doesn't come for her he should call out to her, But only just in case and Red should have a bond with Marinette by now. "Hey, would you mind riding with me?" He asks Marinette.

"You're an MFE pilot?"

"Yep. They needed someone to teach the ropes of how Altean ships are piloted so I came here."

"Thanks. I am a bit worried that Red won't come for me since our bond isn't nearly as strong, so having you as my pilot in case it doesn't happen will be a relief."

"Why?" Keith asks, though he knows the answer already.

"Because your bond with Red is stronger and I'm sure that even though Lance is a great pilot and was great at being my right hand, she only chose him because the universe needs Voltron and we couldn't exactly head to Earth while the Galra were still on the loose."

"Fair point."

"Alright let's head out team," Shiro commands loudly, leaving him and Marinette's conversion unfinished.

Marinette's POV

She walks up to Lance as he is about to get in one of the MFE fighters. Fighting down her nervousness she calls out to him, "Lance," He turns around and looks at her and her cheeks flush nervously, "I, uh, I just wanted to say… I..uh..I.. What I want to say is…. Good luck and stay safe."

"You too Marinette."

She smiles, and she can feel her face blush at the response. She then turns around and walks away to where Keith's MFE is. Keith is leaning on the plane.

"So you and Lance huh?" Keith asks, curious.

"Its..uh, nothing like that." She stammers.

"Sure." Keith responds, not believing her for a second.

"Uh, come on. Let's get inside and head to the Base we're supposed to go to."

"Alright."

She hurriedly climbs the ladder and gets into the seat behind the pilot's seat. Strapping herself in she sighs in relief that now Keith will have to focus on the task at hand. Suddenly they fly off towards their mission and Marinette can't help but feel nervous. However she calms her breath and begins to focus.

"Paladins, the window of opportunity is our only shot, but I know you can do this. Good Luck," Commander Holt says.

Trying to feel a connection to the Red Lion, she only feels no connection. Just like when she first piloted it and after Shiro took back his place as leader of Voltron.

Opening her eyes and leaning forward she tells Keith, "I can't feel a connection to Red. There isn't even an inkling we even had one to begin with. You'll have to connect with her."

She hears Keith sigh, "I had a feeling this would happen. I'm putting the fighter on autopilot… AstroRoaar paint my stripes."

And then she just hears his breathing almost inaudible due to the noise of the ship. Looking at the window she jumps in surprise. Red is already here.

"Hi girl." Keith says.

She notices Keith's wearing a tiger themed looking paladin armor suit as he climbs over to her side and says, "We're going to have to drop down together."

"What about the plane?"

"I've made its course to head back to the Garrison and I've already pushed the button that allows it to speed up its trip. With Red's speed we should make it to the Base in no time."

"Okay," She responds.

Keith presses the escape button built into the seat. Suddenly she's falling, but it abruptly stops and she notices they are in the Red Lions mouth. Scrambling, she undoes her seat straps and heads with Keith to the cockpit of the Red Lion.

She makes her way to one of the sides of the pilot chair as Keith sits down. The controls immediately light up in his presence making her heart pang that its truly over. Her time in Voltron is done.

"Alright let's destroy this base!" Keith comments making the Red Lion go into full throttle.

The base starts attacking at them, but Keith quickly outmaneuvers the blasts sent their way. Marinetter looks at him in awe, it's like the Red Lion was made for him. They're going so fast and dodging every blast thrown their way. And Keith has managed to hit the base without missing a single shot despite all this firepower being thrown their way. Then again the base is an unmoving target but still.

Lave rays from the Red Lion melted the base into a hunk of junk in a matter of minutes causing explosions to rock the base before a bunch of Galran Cruisers arrive. They start taking heavy fire, with Keith barely managing to dodge their attacks. But it's too late. One base has been destroyed already.

However through the com links it sounds like the other Paladins weren't so lucky. And they're getting more of a beating than her and Keith.

"Abort! We need to destroy Sendak's ship if we want to succeed." Shiro says.

Following Shiro's orders, Keith flies Red out of the fire zone and soon they are with the other paladins.

"Form Voltron!" Shiro shouts.

But when they fly up there the five remaining cannons all focus their fire on them and suddenly everything goes dark.

Author's note: The reason I had Keith managed to successfully destroy one base is because he and Red, besides Shiro and Black, have a really strong connection making him have easier access to Red's lava ray making the battle a success. That and even though Lance spent far more time with Red in cannon as well as in this story his and Red's bond isn't that strong. The reason the other paladins failed is because they don't have Red's super speed and Keith's natural flight instincts and their power alone against an entire force of Galra just doesn't stand a chance. That and from cannon the other paladins don't have as a special bond like Red and Keith too. Shiro and Black could destroy the a base together because they also have a strong bond, but I feel like Black might be holding back because Black tends to get too attached to his paladins because he didn't let his bond with Zarkon fade even if he was evil and there was the absorbing of Shiro's conscious in cannon and the saving of him in this story before he died from Zarkon's blast. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter:)