"He fought us here," Pidge starts, while marking spots on the holographic map all around us. "his generals were here, and he stole the comet here."

"So, Lotor could be anywhere." Lance stated.

"We'll never be able to find him unless we can figure out his plan. We're totally missing the big picture." Shiro said.

"How about this question? Why was Voltron made out of the same material as the comet?" I ask. "What's so special about it?"

"My father discovered another comet like before I was born." Allura spoke up while staring at her feet.

"You father.....and Zarkon." Coran  said grimly.

"This is back when Zarkon was the Black Paladin, right?" Hunk asked.

"Before that. Before Alfor built the lions."

"I know this is painful to talk about, but if we want to stop Lotor, it's time we hear the rest of the story." Shiro said. Coran look up, then began.

"In the beginning, the paladins were just six leaders, who despite coming from different cultures which where vastly divergent and in some cases, had been warring for generations, managed to look past their differences in an effort to protect their common interests. What was initially a formal agreement to work alongside each other soon blossomed into true friendship. A warriors bond was formed and together they worked to rid their system of those who would do it harm."

Aliens shot at a young Alfor, who easily dodged. The aliens ran into a shelter and closed the door. Waiting for Alfor to try and break in, they all faced the door. Dirt from the roof fell on one of the aliens head and he looked up, only to get Alfor's foot to his face as he jumped down from the hole he made. He look smugly around the room, before realizing how many there were in the room.

"Oh, dear."

Alfor manages to knock a few down before being pinned down, he hears a yell followed by thuds, he looks and sees Zarkon and the others easily taking down the rest. The alien pining him down is suddenly knocked away, Alfor looks up at a smirking woman looking down at him. She had light purple skin, patches of her skin was even lighter colored scales, and dark purple hair that was tied in high pig tails. She's wearing a black long sleeved armored dress witch matching knee high boots and a dark red cloak.

"We kept telling you not to break formation." Alfor just smiles up at Ditza. 

"You're much more knowledgeable as a alchemist than a soldier." Zarkon says. 

"That's what I keep you around for Zarkon."

"The original paladins were Zarkon from Planet Daibazaal, King Alfor and  from Altea, Gyrgan from Rygnirath, Trigel of the Dalterion Belt, Blaytz from Nalquod, and Ditza from Coruscant"

"Pull up a bench and join the feast." Blaytz says to one of the servants. Zarkon clears his throat, making Blaytz flinch.

"You know that fraternizing with the servant class is prohibited. It erodes discipline." He says as he hands his cup to a servant.           

"Well perhaps a bit of discipline erosion would do you good, Zarkon." Teased Alfor.

"Something I will consider the next time you are surrounded by Lambonite scavengers."

"I was handling myself."

"You mean wetting yourself." Ditza says from across from him,making everyone laugh.

"Why I joined up with this band of scoundrels, I'll never know."

"Because we're the only band of scoundrels that would have you." Trigel says, then stands and hold out her cup in a toast. "To us!"  Suddenly, there was a loud rumble everyone gasps and looks up at the open ceiling. A giant meteor flies past and crashes.

"They could have never known that, that night the fate of the universe would change forever."

Alfor sets up a lab in the crater to study the meteor. He stands at a computer, studying a small piece of the meteor, Zarkon next to him.

"I have evacuated all Galra citizens near the crater. What have you discovered?" Zarkon asks.

"I'm not sure. This comet is like none seen before. It seems to be made of a material that can be passed through realities."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean the sages have always theorized that there are many realities stacked side by side to each other. Whole other universes with their own histories unknown to us. We never had any proof. Until now." Alfor explains has they walk over to a large hole in the ground, where the comet once stood.

"When we moved the comet, we found this." They look at the large, glowing hole.

"This...is another realty?" Zarkon asks. He looks at his feet and suddenly screams.

"What is that?" He points to a cat that meows up at him.

"Don't worry, it's only Kova. He's from our realty." A female Altean says and let's the cat climb on her shoulders.  

"Zarkon, this is Honerva.  She's the best alchemist on Altea. I asked her to come to Daibazaal to lead the scientific investigation. Her expertise will be invaluable." Alfor says and looks at Zarkon, who practically has his jaw to the floor.  

"Isn't it exciting? It could change the way we understand our entire universe." Honerva says, while looking at Zarkon.

"Well, find out everything you can. I will provide any support you require, I must go." Zarkon swiftly turns and walks away. Honerva looks confused while Alfor just smirks.

"He didn't stay long."

"King Alfor experimented with the comets core in his lab on Altea, as Honerva continued her research on Daibazaal. But Alfor visited often as the years passed."

"Zarkon, I would like you to meet Princess Allura." Alfor says, holding a baby Allura in his lap. Melenor sits next to him, with Coran standing next to them.

"It is my pleasure, please accept this gift in honor of your birth, Princess." Zarkon says. A servant holds out a box. Melenor opens it to reveal a small Galra helmet. She places the helmet on Allura.

"Honerva has really softened you up, my friend. I never thought I'd see the day the great warrior Emperor Zarkon was married, to an Altean alchemist no less." Alfor says, while Allura giggles and plays with her mothers fingers. Later, Alfor and Zarkon go to Honerva who was looking intently at a screen.

"Honerva, working hard as always. Many thanks for the gift, Allura loves it." Alfor says.

"It was a customary gesture." She replies, not looking away from the screen.

"Of course." Alfor says, slightly uncomfortable at her intense gaze of the screen. "How is our quintessence experiment?"

"Still running." Honerva points to a small machine, still not looking away from the screen.

"Running for a full year on one drop of quintessence, with no decline in revolutions per doposh. No other energy source like this exists. The ships I'm creating for us work on the same principle, and the ore from the comet practically engineers itself. It's frighting in a way." Alfor says.

"Endlessly powerful ships for the Galra empire."

"And an endless source of clean energy for the entire system." Alfor replies, glancing at Zarkon.

"Of course." Movement catches Alfor's attention. He turns toward a tube, inside was a small orb moving around the tube.

"What is that?" Honerva finally looks away from the screen to turn and look.

"I sent some signals into the neighboring reality and this creature answered the call. Nothing from our universe has been able to survive the passage though the rift. But somehow, he arrived unharmed." She explains. Alfor looks at her with a surprised look.

"What? I thought we discussed this. We must exercise caution. We have no idea what is out there."

"The ancients thought that lightning was shot from the bows of the gods until science proved otherwise. Honerva says and turns toward the two men. "We must always push into dangerous territory in pursuit of knowledge." The creature suddenly let out a screech. The rift glows, as thousands of the creatures fly out of the rift. They all look in shock before running out of the facility.

"King Alfor and Honerva erect a particle barrier around the crater, containing the creatures. But it wouldn't hold forever."

"I trust this plan of yours will work Alfor?" Zarkon says as he and the original paladins ride an elevator. Alfor only smirks as they come in view of the lions. They all stand in front of the lions, looking at them with awe.     

"Alfor, they're amazing, how do they work?" Zarkon asks.

"I made them from the quintessence infused ore of the comet, which provides them with an endless supply of power."

"Remarkable."

 "The comet alloy also renders them nearly indestructible."

"What sort of weaponry do they have?"  Blaytz asks.

"This is where things get interesting. Altean alchemy can accomplish some incredible feats of engineering, as you know. But in testing my ship, I started to feel some kind of psychic link. I'm not sure how to explain it but the ship wasn't just reading my mind.It was communicating with me. They seem to be evolving. We don't know what powers the ships possess, but we may gain understanding in time." Alfor explains, Zarkon whips his head towards him.

"Time? Time slips away even as we stand here. My people will soon be slaughtered by creatures from another realm. Without these ships, all hope is lost." Alfor gives Zarkon a sad look.

"I understand. It may take some doing, but these are not regular ships to be chosen at a whim. You do not pick the beast. The beast will choose you." Ditza stares up at the pink lion, feeling a connection. 

The paladins fly out, as the creatures break the barrier. Zarkon orders them to fire at the creature from all sides. Ditza flies next to Alfor as she fires lasers at the creatures. She fires a hole in it, but it quickly repaired. The paladins are struggling to hit the creature. Zarkon orders them to pull back, but Alfor refuses.

"We need to get back in formation, I don't know why but I can feel it." They all fly up in formation. Ditza closes her eyes, a strange feeling blooming in her chest. She can feel her lion rumble. Voltron flies down and lands a killing blow to the creature.

"I can't believe we did it!"  

"How did this come about?"

"This is amazing!"

"Am I a leg?"

"This power, it's unbelievable."

"This is Voltron."

Their amazement was short lived as the creature rose once again. It shoots a yellow beam at Voltron. Trigel puts up a shield and they all gasp in surprise. The creature then surrounds Voltron, the paladins grunt as the creatures try to tear Voltron apart. Red called Alfor's attention, he put his bayard in the slot and formed the sword. Voltron slices the creature, successfully killing it. 

"We must find away to seal up this rift." Alfor says as he, Zarkon, and Honerva stand in front of it.

"Seal it? Why?" Honerva angrily asks.

"It nearly destroyed Daibazaal!" Alfor exclaims.

"The creatures nearly destroyed Daibazaal, and you found a way to defeat them." 

"Zarkon, surely you agree with me, it must be closed." Alfor says and turns to the Galran.

"Perhaps not. Look at what we've gained, Alfor. Your ships are the most powerful ever created. Who knows what else we could discover if we keep working." Alfor frowns at Zarkon's words.

"You would risk your entire planet , the entire solar system, for what? For more power?"

"You know it's more than that." Zarkon says calmly, which angered Alfor more.

"We already have Voltron, you have to know when it's enough." 

"I'll decide what's enough on my planet!" Zarkon suddenly snaps, making Alfor gasp. Zarkon sighs. "I'm sorry Alfor, the work will continue."

"Honerva continued her experiments on the rift. Despite their differences, Zarkon and Alfor, along with the other paladins, established an era of peace and prosperity. It was an age of exploration, and Voltron became known as the Defender of the Universe, establishing the legend that would live on till this day."

"I heard there was three more earthquakes in this movement." Alfor says to Zarkon when he reaches Daibazaal. The two men have aged several years.

"Don't worry, I'm installing stabilizers to strengthen the planets cohesion."

"Zarkon, my scientists have scanned Daibazaal. It's fracturing, soon the structural integrity will--" Zarkon cuts off Alfor.

"I can't stop Honerva's work now! She's discovering more everyday!" The two then walk to the lab where Honerva is.

"Her team has developed a space cruiser fiver times larger than our current largest ship. But that's nothing." Zarkon explains as they approach Honerva.

"Hello Honerva, it's been deca-phoebs." Alfor greets, Honerva doesn't turn around.

"I hope you haven't come to try and shut down my work. There is more hidden knowledge and power in this tiny fissure than you could possibly understand."

"I'm only worried about the stability of--" Alfor stops when Kova jumps on the Honerva's desk. "Is that Kova? How old is he?"

"Twenty-eight deca-phoebs old. Shortly after the creatures attacked, he fell ill. But then, I began treating him with quintessence." Honerva answers. Alfor looks at her in shock. Kova now hissing at him.

"No."

"He revealed the truth to us.  Quintessence is so much more that you can understand. It is life itself."

"You have gone too far." Alfor says. Honerva whips around, Alfor looks at her in shock. Her Altean marks have grown, her once calm face has a crazed look on it.

"You've always been a coward."

"Honerva you--"

"You wish to close off our gateway to enlightenment, we should be expanding it." Zarkon moves to stand behind his wife.

"If we used Voltron we can enlarge the opening to the other reality." Zarkon says. Alfor couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"It's madness! The prolonged exposure to quintessence has poisoned your minds!"

"We've only scratched the surface. We can rule this entire universe! We can live forever! All of us!" Zarkon says with the same crazed look. Alfor turns and walks away.

"I cannot be a part of this."

"You are only one part of Voltron, Alfor. You cannot hold us back because of your fear!" Zarkon calls after him, but he keeps walking. "Alfor, I lead the paladins! I command you! Alfor!" Alfor keeps walking and leaves the lab. Zarkon hears a thump and turn to see Honerva on the ground.

"Honerva? Honerva!"

Honerva lays on her bed, looking frail and weak as she uncontrollably trembles.

"We-- we must--we must have it." She stumbles out. Zarkon lays his hand on Honerva's.

"What is it, my love?"

"Quintess--quintessence. Quintessence is life. Into-- Into the rift." Her wide, crazed eyes staring at the ceiling. Zarkon turns her head toward him.

"How?'

"We mu-- we  must-- we must have Voltron. Voltron. Voltron." She continues to chant as Zarkon looks down.     

"Alfor tried to warn me, but I would not listen." Zarkon says, as he gathered the paladins. "Now my wife has fallen ill, and my planet is on the brink of collapse. So I must beg you, my trusted comrades, to join me on a dangerous mission. W must close the rift, I need Voltron to do it." The paladins look at each other, Ditza nods.

"We will help you."

"I only hope it is not too late to heal the rift on my planet. And our friendship." Zarkon turns to Alfor and holds his hand out. He stares at it, then shakes it.

"Alfor's compassion for his old comrade blinded him to Zarkon's true plan"

Voltron approached the rift.

"Honerva told me the only way to close the rift was to use the power of quintessence. We must make the opening bigger first to gather power." Zarkon's statement made Ditza raise an eyebrow but stayed silent.

"How do we do that?" Gyrgan asked.

"We use the sword." Alfor answers. They form the sword and stab the rift. Blinding light and the overwhelming feeling of power erupted from the rift. The next thing they know, Voltron is floating in seemingly bright nothingness. The paladins groan as they look around.

"Where are we?" Blaytz finally asked.    

"We're in the rift." Alfor answers. Alarms blare and Alfor look out to see Zarkon has left his lion and is holding Honerva out.

"We have to get them out of there!"

"We must hurry, the creatures has returned." The creatures surround all of them.

"Fire all lasers!" Alfor orders. The lasers clear the creatures.

"Trigel, grab them!" She moves her lion to get them.

"Gyrgan, Blaytz, fire your thrusters! Ditza, you have to maneuver Voltron now. We must leave!" Ditza griped her controls and moved Voltron out of the rift, and landed next to it.

"Zarkon's attempt to save Honerva was in vain. They both succumbed to overexposure to quintessence. The paladins had been deceived by Zarkon. They had unwittingly enlarged the rift, which further destabilized Daibazaal. King Alfor was forced to evacuate the planet. He then closed the rift the only way he knew how. By destroying the Galran homeworld. King Alfor held a state funeral for Zarkon and Honerva in his royal hall. But what happened next, he would have never guessed."

Zarkon sat up, the cloth that was covering his body fell. He turns to the table next to him, to see it empty. Honerva was sitting on the floor. Both of their eyes were glowing with quintessence, Honerva's once tan skin, now a deep purple. The door opened and the guard in front of is turned in shock.

"Where am I?" Zarkon asked.

"Aboard your ship, sir." 

"Take us home."

"I can't sir. Daibazaal has been destroyed." Zarkon's eyes narrowed. He then went to the intercom of the ship to speak to everyone. He has also connected it to Altea so everyone could see and hear him.

"My fellow Galra. King Alfor of Altea has destroyed our planet. He must pay dearly for his crimes. Rise up and join your emperor. Revenge will be ours!" The paladins looked at the screen in shock.

"Zarkon became pure evil, obsessed with quintessence. In order to open a new rift, he needed Voltron. And so, the war began. The Galra immediately responded to their leader and attacked. The peaceful planets of our system were not prepared. Soon they had all fallen, except for Altea. In a final attempt to keep Voltron out of Zarkon's hands, the lions were sent to the far corners of the universe. Zarkon flew into a rage. He killed King Alfor, the avenged the loss of Daibazaal with the destruction of Altea."

"So that's Lotor's plan. To cross into other universes to get the purest quintessence." Pidge stated.

"No matter what, we have to stop him." Keith stated and we all nodded with determined looks.