A/N: I hope you all are enjoying your summer as well as this book. I am going to try to update around every two weeks. I don't know if that will happen but I am going to try. This episode I start towards the end of it. Please comment and review!
Season 4, Episode 1: Code of Honor
Shiro slowly walks into the hangar while everyone is handing out supplies to other planets. He stares at the Black Lion waiting for a sign of a signal that everything is going to be okay. He wants to understand why Keith is doing the things he is doing for a reason. Shiro starts to walk out of the hangar when he hears something. He turns to see the eyes on the Black Lion light up for a moment. Shiro runs to the lion to see if she is going to open up for him but she keeps closed. However, a voice comes through for a moment.
"Keith! Help!" Linna's voice comes through for a moment like it is a playback.
"Linna!" Shiro yells back but there is no response to his reply. "Linna!"
The hangar goes completely silent at that moment and the Black Lion's eyes go back to normal. It is like she had been holding that message until a Black Lion paladin had entered the hangar. Shiro shakes his head as he runs back to the main hangar where Coran stands at his post figuring out where they are heading to next.
"Coran! Replay what happened in the hangar just a few seconds ago!" Shiro orders him as he runs into the hangar.
"Why do I need to do that?" Coran wonders to Shiro when he sees the frustration in his eyes. Coran types something in his keyboard and presses enter. "There you are."
The video plays before Shiro and Coran. They hear the door open as Shiro walks through the door. Shiro watches himself head back when he turns back. The eyes on the Black Lion glow on the screen as Coran stops what he is doing when he hears her voice.
"Keith! Help!" Linna's voice comes through the screen and the Black Lion's eyes stop to glow as Shiro runs out of the hangar.
"You heard it!" Shiro shouts to Coran with excitement. "That means that she is alive!"
"I can't believe it..." Coran stops for a moment. "But when was the original message?"
"Try a week ago and run the footage every time Keith is in the hangar or about to exit. We all must have missed it!" Shiro announces to Coran.
"Alright," Coran replies to Shiro and types with great speed on the keyboard in front of him.
He stares at the screen as he stops every few hours to the times where Keith enters or leaves the hangar. Finally, he lands on the day that Voltron was hit with a shot of quintessences. Coran plays the video as they watch Keith walk out of the hangar. Within a few seconds, the Black Lion's eyes glow and Linna's voice comes through.
"Keith! Help!"
"That was three days ago," Shiro states to Coran. "We missed our chance to connect with her through the lions!"
Shiro slams his fist on the board in front of him in frustration. He starts to feel like this is all his fault. He could have saved her when he was on that ship. She would be safe and not in pain if he would have done something then. When the team gets into the Hangar, Shiro, and Coran lower their heads to them because they know that they have to tell the team.
"What's wrong guys?" Pidge wonders to Coran and Shiro.
"Yeah," Lance starts right after spotting them. "You look like something terrible happened."
"Did something happen?" Hunk wonders to the two of them.
"Coran... Shiro..." Allura questions the two men that stand before the group, not speaking at all.
"I went to see the Black Lion," Shiro starts to inform the group of what Coran and he found out. "I just wanted to see if she would maybe allow me to fly with her since Keith is gone."
"Did she?" Pidge wonders to him because she is guessing that might be the bad news.
"She didn't but..." Shiro takes a deep sigh to the paladins. "The Black Lion's eyes glowed and I heard Linna's voice come through."
"What!" Everyone screams at the top of their lungs except for Coran and Shiro.
"That is great news. We can contact her now!" Allura states to them. "So why do you both look like it is bad?"
"I came back here and had Coran replay the scene," Shiro tells them as he clicks the video to play.
Linna's voice comes over the mics and everyone stops because they all can hear it. It was a recording that came from the Black Lion. Allura can feel the tears coming from her eyes now. She realizes why the boys are not happy about this sign from Linna.
"It is a recording," Pidge states aloud what everyone else has finally realized.
"Yes," Shiro agrees with Pidge. "So I had Coran go through the past week of Keith going in and out of the hangar."
"And?" Lance wonders for the answer.
"That message was from three days ago when we were fighting Lotor's commanders. She had just missed Keith when he left the hangar," Shiro answers Lance.
He presses another button as the video changes to the day that Keith stayed behind in the Black Lion for a moment. He finally appears out of the Black Lion and leaves the hangar. The eyes of the Black Lion glow suddenly and her voice appears not as a recording but as real life.
"Keith! Help!"
Allura takes a deep breath because she can hear the fear in her tone of voice. Everyone stays completely silent in the room now. Keith has no idea that if he would have stayed in the hangar a second more than they could have tracked down her signal and saved her. Allura looks at the group for a moment before heading out of the main corridor of the castle. She can't stand there with the frustrated looks on everyone's faces.
She heads down the hallway and stares face to face with Linna's room. She lays her head on the door while her knees lock and cause her to fall towards the ground. Tears fall down her face as she doesn't move. All she does is let them fall faster and faster. She has no idea what is happening to her friend. She has no idea what Lotor has planned for her. He must be doing terrible things to her.
Allura just keeps her head on the door until she hears the alarm ring out in her ears. She slowly gets up from the room as her fingers slowly let go of it and she dashes towards the main corridor of the castle. She wipes her tears away before entering the main hangar to see what could be setting off the alarm now.
Lotor's ship:
Lotor stands before the comet made ship before him. Linna has been doing her part by created different things out of the comet's core. He wants to make sure to get everything he can out of her before Voltron has a chance of stealing her back. Acxa slowly walks into the hangar with a message for her leader which he is not pleased to get.
"Prince Lotor, High Pristress Hagar requires your presence," Acxa tells him as he turns to her with anger in his expression at the mention of Hagar.
He follows her back into the main hangar for them. He really did not want to meet with her especially after he learned what Hagar had done to his father. Bringing him back to life is not something that Lotor really wanted to happen. He takes a deep breath before Hagar appears before him, hiding her face from him like always. When she is hiding something, she avoids eye contact as much as she can.
"Lotor, while you distance yourself from central command, rebel forces have taken entire star systems from our hands," Hagar informs Lotor of something that he already knows.
"You think clutching on to worthless outposts strengthens our empire?" Lotor wonders to her, getting annoyed already from this meeting.
"Your father knew those outposts would one day become strongholds," Hagar argues with Lotor.
"My father is..." He stops for a moment but not long enough for Hagar to notice. He is going to hold onto that card a little longer. "Is on his deathbed and I'm in control."
"You say you rule, yet you stay hidden. An emperor must be seen. His absence diminishes his power," Hagar points out to Lotor.
"I don't have to explain myself to you. Now, do not bother me again," Lotor replies back to her with anger growing in his eyes. He doesn't voice it though because he did not want Hagar to have that satisfaction of frustrating him.
"Very well Emperor Lotor," Hagar states back to him before the screen vanishes from view.
Lotor clutches his fist in anger as he gets up from his seat. His commanders start to move but back down from that thought when they see that he is heading to Linna. None of them are able to see her or go into that room unless Lotor orders them.
Lotor stands face to face with Linna as she stays on the ground with her legs curled to her chest. She doesn't even look at him when he starts to talk.
"Hagar is trying to control me," Lotor states to her in disbelief that he is even talking to her about this.
"She usually did," Linna whispers to him as she remembers all the times that Hagar would order Lotor about her torture.
"I am Emperor!" Lotor raises his voice like he is trying to get rid of this anger in his chest. "I am in charge of the Galra! Not her!"
"I already know this Lotor..." Linna replies still not looking at him with a deep sigh in her voice.
"I don't even know why I am talking to you!" Lotor shouts out unexpectedly to her.
Linna lifts her head a little bit to place her chin on her knees. She stares at the bars that keep her somewhat safe from him. However, she also remembers the times that Lotor would come into her cell just to yell out his anger or his ideas about creating a new empire.
"Because I listen..." Linna replies to him very quietly.
"But why do you listen! I tortured you! I am forcing you to be away from your friends! I take out my anger on you! Why?" Lotor yells at her while opening the cage that she uses as a protective barrier.
Linna lowers her head again before speaking to him. "I have been through a lot in my life. I have watched my entire planet blow up because of your father. I have been held by Zarkon, Hagar, and you," Linna takes a deep breath before continuing. "But those horrible times can not take away from all the great memories I have. I can remember the other times that you would walk in my cell just to get on Hagar's nerves. She would take it out on me later but it was nice for a moment that she didn't get what she wanted. So I guess it is because even if I am beaten, tortured, or forced to do all of these things. I still am able to live and know that the people I am protecting are living their lives."
Lotor stares at her for a moment. He is trying to understand what she just explained to him. Lotor realizes right then that Linna hasn't even tried to escape. She does the jobs that he orders her to do and comes back to her cell before falling asleep. She has never even fought with him. She doesn't raise her voice with him. All she does is wait for his next order before going back to sleep. He only feeds her once a day which is now showing by the pale skin and weak fatigue expressions.
"You..."
Lotor starts to speak but stops himself. He walks out of the cell and slams it shut. He turns to see her one more time before walking out the door. He feels his heart pound like he has realized something very powerful. He looks at his commanders for a moment but doesn't say anything to them. He just heads to his room and lays on the bed.
He shakes his head with confusion as he drifts off to sleep. He can't believe that she just told him all of that. He goes into a dream with Linna standing in front of him. She smiles at him before falling into ashes before him. His heart races when he watches this as he runs to her but everything around him just goes black until he wakes for the next day to begin.
Castle of Lions: After the battle
Everyone stands in the main corridor with disappointment and anger in their faces. Keith could have cost them all of their lives as well as everyone else that they were protecting. They all try to figure out what they are going to do when the door opens to Keith in the doorway.
"Guys, I..." Keith starts but stops when he sees all of their disappointing faces. He avoids their stares when he starts to talk again. "I heard what happened. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."
"You keep saying you're sorry, but your actions say otherwise," Allura interrupts him with anger in her tone of voice. "Do you realize that your absence put the team in jeopardy?"
"And not just the team, the refugees as well," Lance informs him with just as much anger in his voice towards his friend.
"Matter of fact, the entire quadrant was in danger," Pidge points out to Keith because they all wanted to make sure he realized that mistake that he did.
"This is not the way I wanted this to happen," Keith starts to tell them with his eyes avoiding contact because he can't face them with all of the guilt he feels in his chest. "But, if there's a bright side to any of this, it's that my absence allowed Shiro to reestablished his bond with the Black Lion. He can finally be the leader I was unable to be." Shiro looks at Keith with a disappointing look but Keith continues to talk to them. "I'm not meant to pilot the Black Lion."
"Is that why you've been pulling away from us?" Allura wonders to Keith with pain hitting her. She remembers Linna telling her that she knew that Keith was ready to pilot the Black Lion. Maybe she was wrong.
"Yeah. I suppose that's part of it," Keith replies to Allura still holding his eye contact to the floor.
"Part of it? What's the other part?" Hunk questions Keith's intentions.
"The Blades have been making headway tracking the source of this new quintessence. They've been able to piece together a large network of hidden supply lines that have been secretly transporting it for who knows how long. And there's good reason to believe it could lead us directly to Lotor," Keith informs his friends, finally giving them all eye contact.
"A mission is being planned to infiltrate the supply line. It could take weeks, maybe months to pull off, but... if there is a chance to stop Lotor or even find Linna... we have..." Keith takes a deep breath. "I have to take it. I need to be on that mission."
Everyone stares at Keith because they know exactly what he is saying. They all stare at him with hurtful expressions now. "Shiro, you are the rightful leader of this team. And you proved it today by reconnecting with the Black Lion. It was always meant to be yours."
"Keith..." Shiro places his hand on Keith's shoulder. "If this is what you feel is right, then we won't try to stop you. But just know that we're here for you whenever you need us."
"I know you are," Keith replies to Shiro with a smile on his face. "And I can't tell you how much that means to me."
Shiro and Keith lock hands before wrapping their arms around one another. Everyone tries to hold back their tears but Hunk just lets them fall. He doesn't want any of this to happen. No one does.
"I can't be left out of this," Hunk cries to them when everyone wraps their arms around Shiro and Keith.
Everyone's sobs are as loud as they can be. No one wants to let them go.
"We're really gonna miss you," Pidge whines to Keith.
"Yeah, who am I gonna make fun of?" Keith tells him with sorrow in his voice.
"I know you'll make us proud," Allura states to him.
They finally release him from their family hug. Shiro keeps his hand on Keith's shoulder though. He lowers his head to him before speaking.
"We do have something to tell you though. It really isn't that happy."
"What is it?" Keith wonders what Shiro has to say.
"I walked into the hangar before the mission and the Black Lion played a message. A message that was sent from Linna from Lotor's ship," Shiro starts to explain to Keith.
"Were you able to track it!" Keith wonders to Shiro with excitement until he realized that Shiro said that is was not happy news. "You couldn't track it."
"It wasn't that we couldn't track it," Coran tells Keith with tears still coming down his face.
"The real message was three days ago," Shiro informs Keith as his eyes widen when he remembers that day. "You had just left the hangar when she made the contact."
Keith stares at Shiro with shock in his eyes. "I missed her..."
"We are going to find her Keith," Allura tells him.
"Yeah," Lance tries to cheer him up even though he still has some tears hiding in his eyes. "Linna is a tough cookie. She can handle Lotor until we find her."
Keith shakes his head as he takes a deep breath. "You're right. She is one of the toughest people I know."
"If we find anything, we will try to inform you," Shiro tells him.
"Thanks," Keith replies to him as he heads towards the door.
The door opens and his smile towards the paladins slowly turns upside down as his back faces them. He really doesn't want to leave them but he has to. He needs to do this because he has to stop Lotor. He needs to save Linna. He walks down the hall as the door to the main corridor slowly shuts telling him that he is going on his new path. He can't turn back now because his team is counting on him and he can't let them down.