All five of the paladins were surrounding the platform under the crystal in the control room. Nya was pulling up data from the holographic screen, desperately trying to make the process faster in the mists of a soon heat of battle. The tension rising as the knowledge of the Oni warship heading towards them becomes inevitable. 

In the back of the prince of Ignacia's mind, he could predict many different scenarios of how this could end. They could possibly all die in battle, or the succeed in taking back the red dragon. Only time will tell at this point. He could feel the bond with the red dragon becoming stronger as the ship becomes closer to the unknown planet. 

The princess spoke, " With the endless possibilities of how advance Oni technology has endured over these past ten thousand years, the design of the structure of the warcraft from our scanners should help us with figuring out how to get inside of it." 

She pulls up a picture of the Oni ship that they would have to sneak into, it had a similar shape to a ship Cole had seen long ago back on Kerberos, "The green and white dragons are going to be the ones breaking into the ship while the blue dragon will be the distraction-"

"What do you mean distraction, Princess?" Jay inquired, becoming quite concern over his wellbeing. 

She thought about it for a moment, "Well, let me see how I can word this correctly. You're the-" 

"Bait." Lloyd interrupted, "You're the bait. You'll be making something so chaotic to bring the Oni's attention to yourself then what the green and white dragons are doing." 

The freckled boy gasped, taking a step back, "Why do I have to be the bait?!? The blue dragon can do everything the white and green dragon can do! Why can't Lloyd's dragon be the bait-"

"Jay-" 

"You want me to answer that for you-" 

"Cadets!" 

Everyone's attention turned towards the voice of Cole Brookstone. It may have been quite some time since he's taught them back at the commission, but he knows when it is needed to be the person to take the wheel, "We are in the middle of a ten thousand year war that has lasted longer than human civilization itself. We are facing an enemy that destroys planets when they don't gain control, an enemy that shoots on sight, an enemy that never takes no for an answer. We might be the universes last hope, and all you think about is who is going to be the bait? Everyone is important in this war, each and every one of you. You were chosen for a reason, whether that be out of fortunate circumstances or not. This is a serious matter, and with that comes mature Paladins of Voltron. Do you understand?" 

With hesitation, the other Paladins nodded bringing their attention back to the princess and prince. Jay coughed, "So, how do you guys want me to distract the Oni's ship?" 

The red paladin smirked, "All you have to do is simply stand in front of it and avoid it's ion canon. Well that is if there technology hasn't advance more than what is being calculated by our systems." 

Nya glared at him, "The system is never wrong-"

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket, princess. You've been asleep for ten thousand years, if Earth is able to create thousands of new technology without the knowledge of the rest of the universes existence, then I would assume the Oni is fully capable of doing just that." The former commission pilot told the young Ignacian. 

She looked at him with confusing, "Eggs in a basket?" 

"What eggs?" 

"We don't have a basket-" 

Cole furrowed his brows, "Earth expression." 

Wu stroked his beard, "Earth is a very strange planet." 

"Earth is strange? You are the ones with pointy ears-" Jay was saying until Lloyd slammed his hand over his mouth to prevent him from saying anything stupid. 

Kai shook his head, "The ladies dig the ears, it's the most attractive feature of an Ignacian." 

Nya mentally slapped herself, "Changing the topic here, Lloyd and Zane you'll be entering underneath the ship and breaking in at the bottom of the ship. Kai will be accompanying you while Cole, Wu, and myself stay at the temple to give you further instruction. Do you understand, paladins?" 

They all nodded, "Well then, go to your dragons-"

Suddenly, sounds of sirens were going off and the big screen holograph was active as it revealed the face of skeletal face with red eyes that would haunt your dreams. Even though he had no skin on the outside, his strong glare to the paladins had thick skin behind those eyes. 

"Prince Kai, this is Commander Samukai of the Oni Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Garmadon, lord of the known universe. I am here to confiscate the dragons, turn the over to me, or I will destroy your planet." The alien skeleton threatened.  

Before Kai could reply, the commander hung off, the screen completely disappeared in front of their eyes. The Prince of Ignacia clenched his fist and slammed it into the nearest wall he could find. He screamed out in anger and frustration, of course it was that same ship they had to invade that was coming to kill them all. 

"Kai, calm down-" 

"Do not tell me to calm down, Nya-"

"Kai get yourself together-" 

"THAT'S PRINCE KAI TO YOU, PALADIN!" The angered prince shouted at the black paladin. 

The princess went up to her brother and slapped him upside the head, "You're are a paladin too, brother. We have no kingdom to rule, so drop it. We are never going to get your dragon if you keep this up, do you understand?" She snapped. 

The room went quiet, all you could hear were the heavy breathing from the red paladin. Nya turned her attention away from her out of control brother to the paladins, "The plan stays the same, the only thing added to the list now is we now have a target on our backs. There can be no mistakes. I wished we were under better circumstances to better prepare you for this, but here we are. Watch out for each other, now, go to your dragons and knock that war craft out of the sky."

Just as the paladins including Kai were headed for their lions, Nya called Cole back, "Brookstone, you'll be joining the mission. Get a ride from green or white and whenever Kai connects with his dragon, get yourself and the dragons down here to open the hanger gates to the black dragon." She informed him. 

"Understood, Nya." 

Before he could make a run for it Nya called out, "There are new suits in your assign dragons to help you in the Oni ship. Tell the others when you get there." 

Cole nodded, "Anything else before I go, waterlily?" 

"Make sure my  brother doesn't do anything stupid." 

Back with the other paladins, they had just discovered their new uniforms without even being informed by the former commission pilot. In his blue dragon, Jay was admiring himself in the new suit. His suit was white and blue, with little neon blue lights all over the suit to give it a more appealing affect. 

"This is so cool!" Jay squealed like a squirrel when it finds a nut, "I feel like a superhero!" 

Unaware that his mic was on, someone said, "Glad you feel that way, Jay." 

The freckled boy let out a girlish yelp and turned around to see a holograph of the Ignacian princess with a small smirk on her face. Her beautiful face, Jay thought. The blue paladin walked over to his pilot seat and sat down, keeping eye contact with the woman. 

"Are you nervous?" 

Jay shrugged his shoulder, "I don't know, a little. I was trained to become a pilot my entire life, so I should be ready, but another part of me is saying it's too soon." He admitted to her. 

The raven nodded, "I understand that, Jay. I was born into this decisive universe, and forced to be a part of it. You had just been informed about this part of the universe a day ago, I would not blame you for being slightly sluggish."  

There was an awkward silence between the two, yet the paladin in blue is in dire need of a conversation, "S-So uh, how old are you?" 

"With or without the ten thousand years added?" She teased making Jay's face go red. 

The brunet rubbed the back of his neck, "U-Uh how about without." 

"Eighteen." She told him, "What about you?" 

"Nineteen."

"Hey, Nya said that there are some new suits in the dragons-" Cole butted in, automatically feeling the awkward tension when he entered the room, "Oh, it seems you found it already." 

Nya giggled, "It seems you have too, Brookstone." 

Similar to the blue paladins suit, Cole was wearing the one assign specifically for the black paladin. The only difference being that his armor is more bulky than the other suits. Cole coughed, "I'll get going to the green dragon for take off, princess-" 

"Brookstone-" 

"Nya, sorry." He answered before walking out of the blue dragon. 

Jay turned his attention back over to the Ignacian outcast. There was something bothering her from what Jay could comprehend. Everyone called the black paladin Cole, but for some reason she doesn't and insist on calling him Brookstone. In fact, Cole never even mentioned his last name when introducing themselves to the foreigners.- 

"Paladins, are you all ready for lift off?" Her angelic voice inquired. 

In the green dragon, Lloyd unmuted his mic, "We're ready, Nya." 

When a snap of her fingers, the dragons took off in the clear skies heading towards their impeccable fate over their heads. This could go in one of two ways, Kai connects with the lion and Cole is able to regroup with the others with black and win, or everything could go downhill. Either one, no one was exactly prepared for. 

As the dragons were flying to Samukai's warship, Wu and Nya stood at the platform awaiting to news of their arrival. The old mentor put a hand on the princess's shoulder, "They'll be fine rest assure you, highness. Once Kai reclaims his dragon then all is well-" 

"Unless they are unable to form Voltron. That is what I'm mainly concerned about, Wu." 

"Or?" 

"Kai does something stupid and jeopardize everything." 

The old Ignacian stroke his beard with a soft chuckle, "You have to give him more credit. He was a great paladin then and he is a great paladin now." He said.

"So was I. But it seems I've been put on the sidelines. And now we're already having a rough start. I don't want this team to end up like the last one." She confessed, turning to face her mentor. 

He sighed, "We'll tell them in time, Princess Nya. That's one thing you and Prince Kai share in common, impatience." 

A hotheaded voice spoke in the mic, "We've arrived. Zane is putting the cloaking device on now. Jay is in position." 

Nya turned on the camera so she could talk face to face with the other paladins, "When you go into the ship, we will not be able to communicate with you. Jay, you'll be on the front lines so you'll stay within communication range until the others are able to get out with their dragons. Good luck." 

Back in space, the camouflaged green and white dragons go underneath the Oni warship while Jay appeared at the beak of the ship, making the Oni believe they are giving up the dragon. Zane and Kai exited the white dragon and got out their bayards. 

The white paladin's bayard turned into a small lazar and started burning the metal into the ship. The goal was to make a hole big enough to fit all four paladins to enter the warship. Once Zane completed the circle, he slammed his feet on it and went straight through into the space craft. 

The other paladins quickly followed behind the neon blue eyed teen. Back with Jay, his hands trembled as he allowed Samukai's call to his dragon, "We surrender, we are here to give you the dragon as a peace offering." Jay informed the Oni commander. 

"Your sacrifice is gladly excepted." The commander replied before ending the call. Leaving the blue paladin in confusion he turn his mic on to the princess, "What do I do from here? He didn't really specify on what to do from here." 

Before he allowed her to respond, Jay noticed a purple light coming from the beak of the ship. A canon like weapon rose from its hidden panels within the ship. Unknown to the paladin, the ones down in the Temple of Dragons could see everything he could, "Jay, move out of the way!" 

The canon was shot out to the blue dragon, luckily Jay was able to move he dragon in time before the violet beam could hit them. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!?!" Jay panicked, more anxiety filling his veins. 

Instead of hearing Nya's voice, he heard Wu explain, "It's an Ion Canon, anything within it's path is automatically destroyed from its power." 

"AND YOU SENT ME OUT HERE KNOWING THIS?!?" 

"It slipped my mind." 

Another beam was shot at the blue paladin as he dodge it. Jay really hoped the others found the red dragon so he doesn't have to endure this anymore. 

Back with the others, they were facing the ambush of sentries, robotic Oni soldiers. Thankfully their bayards handled it which dwindled the number that attacked them. Defeating his last sentry, Cole turned over to Kai, "Do you sense your dragon?" 

Kai shook his head, "Nothing, if I get closer to it maybe it'll become easier." 

The black paladin looked around and only saw two hallways, either of them could lead them to the red dragon. Cole looked over at his team, "We need to split up, Kai, you and I will go down on hallway and Zane and Lloyd the other. If either finds the dragon, the others regroup at the dragons." 

"And how will we know? Our coms don't work in here." Zane questioned.

"Then you better hope the dragon roars." 

The two groups separated, both running in hope on finding the captured dragon. While they were sprinting, Cole asked, "So when you find your dragon, will you have to reconnect to it or will it already let you inside?" 

The prince's green eyes stayed on the path as he spoke, "I don't know, I haven't been in contact with red in ten thousand years. Who knows maybe it found another paladin." He admitted. 

The raven raised a brow, "But you said that you were still its destined paladin. Wouldn't you know if it had another one?" 

The prince flushed in embarrassment, but before he could answer; he sensed the red dragon. He was about to make a run for it, but behind the two paladins were more sentries were following them. Kai and Cole made eye contact and nodded, the red paladin ran to where he could feel his dragon while Cole's metal arm starts to glow a dark purple. 

"I really hope this works." Cole mumbled to himself as he charged the incoming army. 

Kai felt his feet burning every step he made on the ground. His heartbeat spiraling out of control, with no control over his breathing. His eyes dilate whenever he entered a room where his red dragon laid. He noticed the force field surrounding the mechanical creature and even when he came closer the walls still wouldn't come down. 

Kai placed his hands on the scarlet barrier, "Come on red, don't be like this. I know I've been gone a while, but I need you to let me in please." 

The dragon didn't respond to his plea. Red was harsh, he was the most strict of all the dragons, that mostly being because of who his first paladin was. Kai furrowed his brows, "Red, I know I messed up by leaving you and letting this happen to you, but we need to go before we endanger more lives." He told the right hand of Voltron. 

He leaned his forehead on the force field, "I know I've been keeping secrets, I know I've been lying, I know that I haven't been the best teammate that my father wanted me to be. But please, I'm begging you, if you don't let me in we're putting more lives at risk. That monster destroyed Ignacia. He killed our father. He made our culture extinct. And he will not hesitate to do it to other planets as well. Please, in the name of Ray, allow me to regain control." 

With his voice beginning to croak, the red dragon roared.