"You'll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak's ship," Allura says.

"That's a pretty big ship," Keith observes. "How are we gonna know where the Red Lion is?"

"Well, it's not a matter, of 'we'," Pidge says. "It's a matter of 'you'."

"Pidge is right," Hunk adds. "Once we get you in, you'll be able to feel its presence and track it down."

"Yeah, like I did on that planet, remember?" I ask.

Keith frowns, but nods eventually.

"Yeah. you know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert?" Lance asks.

"Yeah. You made fun of me for that," Keith shoots back.

The desert... It feels like a lifetime ago when we found the Blue Lion.

"And I'm proud of that, but turns out it's exactly like that mumbo-jumbo."

"Keith, remember, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental," Allura says. "You'll have to earn its respect."

"I know how to deal with temperamental," Keith mumbles, shooting me a sidelong glance.

I grin and shoot him a peace sign.

Shiro puts a hand on Keith's shoulder. "All right," the former says. "Here's our plan of attack."

***

I fly alongside Pidge, Keith standing behind me. I direct my lion to fly under the ship and land next to Pidge.

"Time to go," I say.

I stand and we both make our way to the mouth of the Purple Lion.

"Ready?" he asks.

I sigh, but press the side of my helmet and the glass covers my entire face. "No, but that's not an appropriate answer, so pretend I said yes."

He chuckles as my lion opened its mouth and we jetpacked to Shiro and Pidge.

"Look alive, team," Shiro tells us as we jetpack to the ship.

Pidge activates her bayard and opens a window for us to climb in. I fly in after Keith, going down the air shaft while Pidge reseals our entrance.

We crawl down the shaft until we find an entrance and drop down from the ceiling only by one, landing in the engine room. Magenta bolts of lightning going up and down, connected to a complicated network of cables as thick as my arm.

"We're in," Pidge says, either narrating our every move, or speaking to the decoy team up front.

I'm gonna go with the latter.

We sneak down the halls, staying along the wall and freezing when the footsteps of Galra patrols were heard. We sneak around a corner and Shiro turns back. I pause and lend an ear, thinking Shiro heard footsteps. Instead, he groans and starts breathing hard, looking all around him.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

He looks like he's about to have a panic attack.

"I've been here before. After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here," he tells us.

"So, that means your other crewmembers, they might be held captive here," Pidge says. "We... we've got to rescue them."

"Pidge, we don't have time. We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus."

"But we can't just leave prisoners here!"

"Look, no one understands that more than me, but, in war, we have to make hard choices. Now let's get moving."

We're not in war yet, I think. Right, now, no one knows Voltron's back. This is just a small revolution. The war will come when we actually form Voltron.

I walk over to Pidge and grab her hand, giving her a strong nod. A silent reminder that I'm with her 'till the end.

"NO!" she yells. "Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos Mission with you."

"Commander Holt is your father?" Shiro asks.

"Yes. I've been searching everywhere for him and my father. And I'm not going to give up looking when I'm this close. I won't!"

She turns to walk away.

"I'm coming with you," Shiro says.

We all turn to him in surprise and shock.

"What?" Keith asks.

"I remember where the prisoners are held. Keith, Nova, you two go find the Red Lion."

"By ourselves?"

"On our own?" I ask too.

"Minor change of plans. You two will be fine," Shiro tells us.

"Can I get that on paper?"

Shiro turns to Keith. "Just remember, patience yields focus. So—" I hear heavy footsteps and see a light shining down the hall. "Run!"

We break off, Keith and I running left, Shiro and Pidge running right. We run until we both skid to a stop in front of a closed door.

"Great," Keith mutters. "Now, which way?"

"Energy..." I pant. "Look... for..."

I'm too exhausted and spent from my earlier quest on a desert planet where we were running around a lot. Now, I can't run for long without getting tired or form coherent sentences. I look up to see Keith staring at the door. I jerk my head as I hear footsteps behind us.

"Hurry!" I hiss.

Keith grabs my arm and pulls me into the corridor on the right. We continue running and the halls blur into one as a dull ache in my side shows up. Left, right, right, right, left again...

We turn again and end up right where we started. Keith groans in frustration. Keith is also panting hard, and though he's good at hiding it, I can see that he's just as exhausted as I am.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" he growls.

"Listen... to the energy,... dude," I pant.

My legs feel cottony and my thoughts are sluggish, as if they're wading through syrup. I lean against the wall as I try to catch my breath.

Keith takes a deep breath. "Patience yields focus."

"That's the way to go," I mumble, giving him a thumbs up.

Keith turns around after a minute, a smirk on his face. "Gotcha." he starts running. "Come on, Nova!"

I groan and reluctantly follow him. Down more halls, dodging Galra patrols, fun. Even Keith is tired, his hands shaking a bit, his breathing ragged, and he's much slower, though I still trail behind him.

We run up to a closed door.

We glance at each other and smirk. We activate our bayards and start pulling the doors open. It takes a few seconds and a lot of effort, but we push the doors all the way open. I hold them open while Keith runs inside and I count silently to three before jumping away from the doors as they slam shut. I stand up and, together, we both walk up to the Red Lion.

Unlike the other lions, this one is hanging limply in the air, looking uncomfortable, if that's even possible.

"Bingo," Keith says, walking up to the lion.

"I'll keep watch," I say. "You try to earn its respect."

"Ha, ha. So funny,"

I turn around, listening to his one sided conversation. I activate my bayard and keep my eyes on the doors.

"Let's get out of here. Open up," keith says.

Nothing. Time for a new tactic.

"It's me. Keith. Your buddy."

Again, nothing. I snort.

"Try again," I call. "Third time's a charm."

"It's me," He says, a bit more forcefully this time. "Keith, your— I am your paladin!" Keith draws out every word.

The doors hiss open and Galra androids step inside the room, their guns at the ready, and start shooting.

"Watch out!" I yell.

I activate my shield and stand in front of Keith until he activates his shield and bayard. I run up to the androids, thinking Keith is behind me. I turn around and he's still where he is, building up a defense. It's too late to turn back as two androids zero in on me.

I roll my shoulders. "Two against one?" I ask. "Oh, this is gonna be easy."

One of them jumps at me and I dodge. They're both attacking me, the third one still focused on Keith. I go under and over and slash and parry until I find an opening when one of the androids runs past me. Its back is still turned and I run up to it and stab it in the back before cutting its head off.

"I'm bonding with you!" I hear Keith yell. "Hey! Come on! We're connected!"

"The lion doesn't think so, so shut up and HELP ME!"

The second android starts shooting at me, and I raise my shield, trying to get closer.

"You're not getting this lion!" Keith yells, running up to the third android, his sword and shield raised.

I can't see what's going on with Keith because more androids swarm in. I slash and parry and weave and bob, cutting off legs, arms, heads, stabbing them in the face, the chest, the stomach. But the more I take down, the more there seems to be coming.

Keith is struggling against his own swarm so there'll be no help from him. I throw my dagger at an android and slide under another one, picking my dagger out of the first android's head.

I'm great with daggers, but they're not very easy to use. Daggers are always the hardest blades to fight with. To fight with a dagger, you have to be great at fighting with a sword first. Daggers demand precision and balance. You have to be sure of every hit you make, because one mistake can get you killed. Daggers mean that you have to get close to your opponent to be able to score a hit. You could always throw it, but we go right back to precision and balance. Your stance has to be perfect, you focus has to be perfect and your aim has to be perfect. And unfortunately, I'm getting tired and way too outnumbered.

I glance at Keith, now seeing double vision. He's on the ground, groaning, his armor smoking.

"Keith!" I yell, getting pulled back in the fight.

I hit one android with my shield and another with the hilt of my dagger to disorient them while I cut up three more before dealing with the two dazed ones. My plan works until three more join the party and I get shot in the shield arm.

I drop my shield and have to rely on my dagger alone.

One of them aims his gun at me and shoots me. I fly backwards and crash into a panel. I look up with black spots dancing in my eyes and see Keith crouching next to me.

"Helmet," he says. "And hold on."

I don't question him. I stash my bayard away and activate my helmet before grabbing Keith's hand. He uses our linked hands to hit the button that opens the hatch. The androids are sucked into space while Keith and I hold on for dear life. I tighten my grip, but I see that it's hopeless unless the Red Lion decides to wake up and help us out.

I look up and Keith and see the exhaustion I feel written all over his face. He's gonna let go soon. He's too tired and the wind's too strong and he can't close the hatch unless he lets me go, which we both know he'll never do.

I furrow my eyebrows. Keith will probably kill me for doing what I'm about to do, but I have a space suit and a lion. I'll be fine.

I shake my hand violently until Keith is forced to let it go and I get sucked out into the endless void.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oops. Looks like I ended with a cliffhanger. Sorry not sorry. Guess you'll have to wait and see if she makes it out. *puts on sunglasses* deal with it. Yes, I know I'm evil*evil laughter*.