First off, I'd like to apologize. I lost interest in this show for a little while, but I've gotta a bit of a spark for it again, so hopefully I can add it to my list of continuing stories.
I own nothing.
Chapter 10: The First Mission
"We'll be arrive at the Balmera soon," Allura informed the Paladins as they approached their destination. "Liberating these Balmerans from Zarkon's grasp will not be easy,"
"So what's the plan?" Lance asked. "We go in there and just- pow, pow, pow! And free the prisoners?" He pointed his fingers like guns to emphasize, while Keith, who was standing next to him, gave him an unimpressed look.
"What was that noise?"
"Laser guns," Lance replied confidently.
"No Lance," Hunk argued. "I think you mean-pwach! Pwach! Pwach! Pow!"
"That sounds like fireworks,"
"Technically, they're more like- ba-choo, ba-choo, ba-choo!" Pidge threw in.
"Okay, that's enough with the bad sound effects," the White Paladin intervened, with her Black Paladin boyfriend backing her up.
"She's right...Besides, it's more like- blam, blam, blam!"
"What?"
"You're crazy!"
"No way,"
"Wrong," (Y/N) facepalmed.
"I really am a mom. Though I have five kids instead of four!"
"Paladins, focus!" Allura raised her voice over the others. Hunk calmed down and took over explaining.
"Besides, we cant just shoot at the Galra. This Balmera, it's, like, alive, and from what we've seen, it doesn't look very good," Coran pulled up a thermal scan of the creature. The central part was a red, as if it had a dangerously high fever. The older Altean was melancholy.
"Yes, it's an atrocity what the Galra have been doing to this grand beast. Stealing its crystals, its very life force, without ever preforming the energy rejuvenation ceremonies to heal it," (Y/N) frowned angrily of the pictures of the Galra mines. It reminded her of those greedy mining facilities back on Earth. Seems greed and a lack of respect for nature just followed them, even so far from their planet.
"After seeing Shay's people enslaved, it made me realize how bad Zarkon really is," the Yellow Paladin admitted. "And we're the only ones who can stop him,"
"Okay, so we can't go into the tunnels guns blazing," Shiro began to analyze. His second in command stepped forward.
"We're gonna have to draw them to the surface, somehow. At least then we'll have less of a chance of hurting the Balmera,"
"Any ideas on how to do that (N/N),"
"I know," Hunk answered. "If we attack all of this big mining stuff on the surface, the Galra troops will have to come out to defend it. Then we beat them up, head down to the tunnels, Voltron saves the day,"
"But how will we know how many are left in the tunnels?" The Red Paladin asked.
"We can track the Galra and the Balmerans using Biothermal Life Indicator Point technology," Allura assured while pulling up a hologram of a machine. Pidge got a closer look with a smile.
"Oh, BLIP tech!" The princess looked at the Green Paladin inquisitively while Pidge met her gaze wearily. "It's an acronym,"
"One of you will need to fly around the Balmera and drop sensors into the shafts on each side," the hologram expanded to an entire schematic of the Balmera's interior. "Then we'll be able to see where the Galra and the Balmerans are. There are already sensors built into your suits,"
"I can do it," Pidge volunteered. "I just modified the Green Lion with the invisibility maze's cloaking ability. I should be able to fly around unnoticed," Coran suddenly pipped up, pulling up a visual of a Galran structure.
"That's their main power generator. If you take that down, it will severely weaken their defenses,"
"We'll stay in cloud cover and give tactical support," Allura decided. "With the Castle's defenses weakened from Sendak's crystal, we won't be of much help to you,"
"(Y/N) and I will take out the power generator," decided Shiro. "Keith, Lance, Hunk, you take out these big mining rigs around the area,"
"Yeah!" Hunk cheered. "Okay, let's do this! Let's go kick some alien butt!" (Y/N) smirked.
"Nothing like love to motivate courage," Hunk pointed accusingly at her and Shiro.
"You two have no right to judge,"
(Timeskip)
The castle descended into the clouds as the Paladins loaded into their Lions to prep for launch.
"You think the Balmerans will have a parade for us after we've freed everybody?" Lance asked over the communication line.
"It's not about the glory, Lance," Keith reprimanded. "It's about freeing prisoners from Zarkon,"
"No, I know. I know. But still. When they-," He was cut off by the g-force of the launch as the Lions jetted from the hangar and bolted for the surface. The Galran defenses met them with a barrage of laser blasts which the Paladins easily weaved through. As they approached the generator, the leader spoke over the com.
"This is it. Get your heads in the game,"
"Remember, the Balmera is a living creature," (Y/N) warmed. "Make sure you pinpoint only the Galra instillations and not its surface. I don't think this thing can take much more abuse,"
The Lions scattered, save for the Black and White Lions sticking together. The Green Lion initiated the cloaking device and began dropping the censors while Lance, Hunk, and Keith began making a mess of the Galra tech. Shiro and (Y/N) approached the generator, analyzing it.
"How do we take this thing down?" Shiro asked.
"I'll do a once around. Try to spot a...what's this?" The White Paladin was cut off when something came up on both Lion's monitors.
"Jaw blade?" Shiro said, a little excited. "Okay! Let's do this!"  Both Paladins pushed forward as their Lions growled. A set of double ended blades appeared in both machine's mouths as the raced at the generator. They flew parallel to each other and sliced through the pillars of the machine easily before racing off as it exploded. (Y/N) let out a cheer.
"Alright! That's what we like to see!  Pidge, how we looking on your end?"
"All sensors delivered!"
"Whoa! Did you guys just see that?" Keith yelled over the com. "I got fire power!"
"Hey! I want that!" Lance complained before their was a large cracking sound.
"Oh no," Keith watched as the pillar began to plummet. Luckily Hunk was there to catch it.
"Hey, we cant let this think hurt the Balmera," the Yellow Lion struggled with the wait as others raced over to help. Lance was the first to dive in.
"I think my Lion knows what to do!" The Blue Lion opened its jaws and shot a blue beam which froze the pillar in place. "Aw, snap! These rays are super cool, just like me!"
The Lions all landed on the pillar of ice, the Yellow, Red, Green, and Blue Lions on the lower platforms, while the Black and White Lions stood side by side on top.
"Great job, team!" Shiro congratulated.
"Wait," (Y/N) said while frowning. "Something isn't right,"
"I agree," Keith said. "Where are all the troops? They're not coming to the surface,"
"Yeah," Hunk agreed. "I remember seeing a lot of Galra guys down in the mines,"
"We've located a hangar full of Galra fighters just below the surface," Allura informed them. "Someone has to take those out before they can launch,"
"It's a trap," the White Paladin growled. Shiro nodded.
"Yeah, they're luring us down, but we have no choice. Keith, Lance, (Y/N), you hit the hangar. Hunk, head to the prison to rescue Shay and the other Balmerans. Pidge and I will track down the Galra soldiers,"
"Consider it done,"
"Yes sir,"
"Ten-four,"
"On it,"
"Let's do this!"
The Lions all took off to preform their tasks. The trio attacking the hangar snuck down quietly and watched from a perch overlooking the many ships.
"The entire hangar's only being guarded by a few sentries," Keith observed before drawing his bayard. "Let's go!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Cool your jets, Keith!" Lance said, pulling him back. "Don't you remember all that stuff about the Balmera being a sensitive animal,"
"Lance's right Keith," (Y/N) said, nodding to her student. "Rushing head long will only make it more likely that we'll hurt it,"
"Oh right," Keith mumbled.
"Yeah, so we can't just blow things up like a psycho,"
"You got a better idea?" Keith glowed at the Blue Paladin.
"I do. We sneak into the control room to shut down the bay doors. That'll trap the ships in,"
"That..." Keith's eye's widened at the realization. "Actually is a better idea," (Y/N) nudged Lance.
"Nice going Lance,"
"What? It's not like a never pay attention to you during tactic lessons," the trio snuck their way towards the control and began crawling towards the main hub. Keith pulled out his bayard to cut a path for them inside.
"No, no, no, it's over here!"
"I know what I'm doing!"
"Lance, let him concentrate, and will you both be quiet!"
After completing the hole, Lance pushed it down hard on a sentry's head. (Y/N) followed close behind.
"Nice work Lance. Keith, keep an eye out for those guards. I'll try and shut the hangar doors," (Y/N) began trying to dissect the controls, but it was difficult given that it was in an alien language. Lance groaned.
"It's all Galra gibberish!"
"Let me see," Keith insisted as he walked up to the control panel. He placed his hand on one of the symbols and the hangar door immediately began to close.
"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Lance asked.
"I just put my hand on the handprint," (Y/N) deadpanned.
"Right,"
"Paladins, are you there?" It was Allura again. "The Galra troops are moving down the tunnels. It looks like they're going down towards the center,"
"They must be headed to the core of the Balmera," Hunk reasoned urgently. "That's where they're holding Shay,"
"They're drawing us into an ambush," (Y/N) warned.
"We don't have a choice if we want to save Shay," her boyfriend retorted. "We have to follow,"
"Fine. We'll meet you guys at the core. I've got a bad feeling and I think we're all going to need to be together to weather the storm,"
"Alright, watch your backs,"
"Copy that," Lance said. "We're on our way,"
(Timeskip)
(Y/N) took the lead as her team raced down the tunnels towards the core. Pidge spoke through their helmets as they ran.
"Hey, team, be careful. The Balmera is very unstable," just as she said this, they ran into a group of sentries that opened fired on them. They quickly sidestepped and avoided the blasts, only them to hit the Balmera and make it cry out.
"Their shooting is destroying the Balmera," Keith shouted. "We gotta do something!"
"Well we can't shoot back!" Lance yelled back. "It'll just make it worse!" (Y/N) eyed a ladder like structure behind Keith and smirked.
"Keith, you go up top. We'll cover you!" He turned and saw the ladder before nodding.
"Yes ma'am!" As he began to climb, the remaining Paladins nodded to each other before jumping out and blocking the blasts. Lance used his shield while (Y/N) twirled her bayard. Keith eventually jumped down and tore through the machines. Once they were finished off, (Y/N) smiled.
"Nice work boys. Come on. We need to pick up the pace,"
(Timeskip)
The Paladins arrived at the core together just in time to see Hunk rescue Shay, only for hatches to immediately shut them in.
"Not an ambush, more like a trap," the Yellow Paladin pointed out.
"Whatever it is, keep you guard up," Keith encourage as they all gathered together.
"The Galra," Shay began to explain. "They gained knowledge that you would return to the Balmera,"
"How?" Pidge asked.
"I know not. But they set this trap just for you. I was the bait,"
"Who could have possibly known that we were heading here to save Shay?" Shiro contemplated out loud. Hunk gritted his teeth.
"Rolo! Those liars must have told Zarkon!"
"Maybe," (Y/N) said, unsure. "For now, we have to figure out how to get out of here,"
"Wait!" Lance interjected. "We have a giant Castle ship hovering in the sky! Allura, can you please come get us?"
"How do you expect her to do that, genius?" Keith snarled.
"I don't know, maybe they got teleporters or something?"
"We're quite occupied at the moment!"  She grunted as an explosion was heard. "We're completely surrounded by Galra ships and we're taking heavy fire! Paladins, you need to get out of there as soon as you can!" Lance began to panic.
"This is it! We're going to die in here. I can say bye-bye to that parade," Everyone have the Blue Paladin a look before Shiro took the reigns again.
"Get it together, guys. Allura, we'll get there as soon as we can,"
"Perhaps my people can help us get out," Shay suggested as she placed a hand on the core. "This is how we communicate. The Balmera senses our vibrations and sends a message to those in the tunnels,"
"Are you sure someone will be able to hear your...hand from all the way down here?" The Red Paladin asked, not really buying into to this.
"The Balmera will deliver the message," Shay closed her eyes as the area around her hand glowed. The Balmera moaned softly. After a while, Allura came back on the com
"Paladins! The Lions are in danger! You must get back to them immediately!"
"We're working on it!" (Y/N) tried to assure her.
"There's a battle cruiser locked onto us. If it fires with its ion cannon, I don't know if we can survive,"
"We're trying Allura," Lance also tried to assure her. "Shay's pressing her hand against a wall, which apparently sends vibrations to the other rock people, who vibrate back or something. Hand talking?"
"Shay, are you sure the Balmera is sending your message?" The Black Paladin asked. Just then, there was a large crashing sound as the Balmera broke through one of the doors, revealing several Balmerans.
"Rax!" Shay yelled. He answered back.
"We must make hast! We know a shortcut through the tunnels!"
"Allura, stand by. We're on our way," Shiro told the princess as the team followed the Balmerans. Everyone raced back, barely in time to intercept the Galra stealing their Lions.
"Oh no you don't!" (Y/N) growled as her pod loaded into White. She quickly took control as the machine roared to life and bolted out of the tunnels, Red and Blue on her tail.
"Guys, did everyone make it to their Lions in time?" Shiro asked as the other joined him.
"Come on Shiro," Lance taunted. "Who'd you think you're dealing with, a bunch of amateurs?" Lance helped as he bumped into a pillar.
"You really want me to answer that?" Shiro teased.
"No,"
"No time for teasing!" (Y/N) commanded. "Let's go!"
The Lions raced forward and began blasting through the Galra ships (expect Yellow who was bashing through them). Lance and Keith tag teamed a good chunk of the ships with fire and ice while Pidge protect Hunk from laser fire. Shiro quickly sliced up their attackers with the jaw blade while (Y/N) charged a whole swarm on her own. As she did, something came up on her monitor.
"Energy sap? Alright, let's see what this can do!" (Y/N) hit the icon and a pair of retractable fangs popped out from the Lion's mouth. White clamped down on one of the ships, which immediately began sparking before it stopped glowing all together.
"Woah! You can steal energy! Nice one girl! Now, let's give them back their friend!" The White Paladin threw the powered down ship at several others, causing them to explode. She then began to repeat the pattern of steal energy and flinging the empty husk. She then noticed something on the side monitor.
"15% charge? What's charging?" Allura broke her thoughts.
"Paladins, I need you immediately! Five more ticks and we're finished!"
"Okay, team," Shiro yelled. "Let's form Voltron!"
"Yeah!"
The Lions shot upwards as they morphed into the giant mechanical knight. Everyone gave a mighty yell as they pushed the cruiser upward, pushing the laser away from the castle. The castle then shot back with its own beam, which blasted through the battleship. The ensuing explosion had the added benefit of taking out the rest of the fleet. The Paladins cheered as    (Y/N) slumped back with relief.
"Coran, Allura, that was some fine shooting," She complimented as Voltron and the castle landed.
"Mission accomplished," Keith sighed in relief.
"And just in the nick of time," noted Allura. "The castle's defenses are battered and will need to fully recharge. An alarm suddenly began ringing as something crash down from the sky. As the dust settled, a very familiar structure stood in the distance.
"What is that?" Lance asked. Both Shiro and (Y/N) glared at the thing.
"Trouble,"