Nyle POV

Allura had told us she needed us and we were brought to some medical wing. I looked through the glass and saw Shiro just waking up with a new arm.

"How are you feeling, Shiro?" I heard Sam ask.

"Good," He responded. "I'm good."

"I'm happy to tell you we've successfully attached your new prosthetic arm," Sam says. "We just need to power it on and make any final adjustments. We've outfitted it with the most powerful energy source Earth has to offer. It's the closest we could get to mimicking a Balmera crystal's energy. It should generate enough power to operate most of it. The remaining power will be drawn from your body's own electromagnetic field."

The arm started powering up, Shiro moving the arm and testing it out a bit. Suddenly Shiro started to scream and the monitors started beeping.

"He's crashing! We have to shut it down!" Sam yelled as the men tried to grab the arm, the arm shoving him away.

Allura suddenly ran in as she managed to get the arm down to the ground, using her body weight to keep it down. "Sam, we need to remove the power source."

Sam ran over and removed the chip before Allura put the crystal from her crown in it. The arm went back to normal and the monitors started slowing back down.

We all ran in, making sure Shiro was alright.

"What, what happened?" Shiro asked. "I feel strange. I feel great."

Eventually, we had a meeting we needed to go to about Sendak's memories and what Allura and Pidge found.

"We've learned so much from Sendak's memories," Pidge starts. "We discovered his methods for taking over planets like Earth."

"Sendak constructs armaments at key strategic points around planets," Allura adds. "This gives him the ability to control enormous swaths of territory. He uses the armaments as deterrents to prevent any uprisings and to control the conquered population."

"Based on data from Commander Holt's micro-satellites, cross-referenced with resistance intel, we've ascertained that Sendak built seven massive structures on Earth," Veronica spoke, showing pictures on the screen. "We never knew what they were being used for until now."

"They're the weapons?" Hunk asked. "So, what's stopping us from blowing them up?"

"We simply don't have enough firepower to do the job," Admiral Sanda responded. "And even if we did, there's a good chance those facilities contain citizens. We can't just go in blind."

"Admiral Sanda's right," Shiro said. "That's why we should infiltrate a base and gather intelligence first."

"The nearest base is 52 klicks south of our position," Veronica added.

"What's the terrain like?" Shiro asked.

"The region around what we'll call 'Base One' is a complex urban environment," Veronica says. "Our route will take us through highly patrolled areas. It'll be hard to keep proper surveillance of our surroundings due to all the structural damage."

"Then I suggest we form two teams: a ground unit that will attempt to infiltrate Base One and get eyes on whatever's inside, and a sniper team that observes from a higher position, covering the ground unit and providing some visibility."

We worked some other things out before we headed out on the move to get some information. Pidge, Keith, Allura, and Griffin were the ground team going in. Hunk, Ryan, Lance, me, and Veronica are gonna be the sniper support.

We headed towards the building that was in the meeting and we were all just kinda quiet, in our thoughts. Then I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Lance.

"You know, a map would've been just fine," He said. "You didn't need to come along on this mission."

"What are you talking about?" Veronica asked. "I've been going on these missions for months now. No one knows the terrain better than I."

"Yeah, I just don't like to see you put yourself in danger," Lance said.

I laughed softly at how protective of a brother Lance was being.

"First of all, that's very sweet, but knock it off," Veronica responded. "You're an idiot if you think I'm not going to defend our home."

"So, you excited about this mission?" Hunk asked Ryan before he let out a small grunt. "Yeah. Totally. I feel the same."

I laughed softly and shook my head. "He doesn't talk much Hunk."

"Oh, yeah. He's one of your friends isn't he?" Hunk asked.

I snickered and nodded. We soon got to our destination and set ourselves up. I formed my bow and thankfully it had a little scope on it for when I needed to do shots like these. Hunk was doing some work on a tablet, checking to see if there were any transmissions. Veronica was checking the surroundings with her binoculars. Ryan, Lance, and I were ready with our weapons if need be.

"No transmissions. Varied radiation signatures," Hunk spoke.

"Approaching target location," Keith said.

"Copy that, ground unit. We've got eyes on you," Veronica responded.

I kept my eyes on the ground, using my scope and its sensor to try and detect anything coming. Thankfully I got nothing so far.

"Drone patrol ahead," I heard Lance say.

There was a long pause of silence, a bit of suffocating silence. It was probably because of the tension of the situation.

"Lance, you ready to cover us when we get inside?" I heard Keith ask.

"Ready to go," Lance responded. There was a bit more silence. "Got you, Keith. Scanning for hostiles. Sentries on the other side of the east wall."

"Lance?" Keith whispered.

"You're clear," He responded. "You guys are gonna have to take the next right tunnel. But wait. There's sentries approaching from both tunnels. Hold position. Coming up to you in three, two, one."

"That thing pick up heat signatures?" Ryan asked.

"It actually locks onto their suits' sonar imaging and renders a 3-d map within a 20-foot perimeter," Lance responded. "It's cool Paladin stuff."

I heard my scope beeping and centered in on where it detected movement. "I got movement up north. Drones are closing in on your positions adjacent to you in an alley."

"We've been spotted," Allura said.

"Hang tight," Ryan said before shooting all three of the drones.

The sentries and other drones turned and started shooting at Griffin and Allura.

"I think you guys made them angry," Griffin said.

"I've got seven hostiles," Veronica said.

"I'll take the three on the right," Ryan said.

"I got the two on the left," Lance said.

"I'll take the two in the middle," I said.

I aimed at one of the sentries and shot it down before quickly taking the second one down.

Allura and Griffin stood up, looking towards where we were. "Thanks," I heard Allura say.

"No problem," Lance responded.

"She's pretty," Veronica said, a smirk on her face as she looked at Lance.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lance snapped back.

"Lance, Kinkade, Nyle!" Allura spoke. "More sentries incoming."

I pulled back my bowstring and started shooting again. I kept shooting at drones and sentries, trying to narrow down the numbers.

I heard Hunk shooting his gun and looked back to see him shooting at the stairs. "Cover is definitely blown, guys."

"Keith, Pidge, It's time to roll!" Lance shouts.

"Copy that," Keith said.

"Veronica, detonate the chaff," Lance said.

Veronica pressed a button that released signals that messed with the sentries and drone's vision which allowed us to go through them without any problem.

"Rendezvous at your cruisers. We only have a couple of minutes until the sentries gain vision again," Veronica said.

Once we got back, we almost immediately started another meeting to talk about what we found.

"Sendak has built Zaiforge cannons," Pidge started. "Our intel indicates the cannons were just completed. They could launch at any time."

"What exactly is a Zaiforge cannon?" Iverson asked.

"Planet destroyers," I said.

"If these cannons launch and are fully charged, Sendak will be able to destroy Earth in seconds," Keith added.

"So, what do we do?" Nadia asked.

"Ideally, we attack all seven bases at once," Keith responded. "Allowing them no time to stage a counterattack."

"That's not possible," Admiral Sanda said.

"If we had our lions, it could be," Keith said. "We'll have to find another way to retrieve them since the ship we rode in on crashed."

"Your lions are orbiting another planet," Admiral Sanda says. "There's no way to get you to them. Plus there are only six lions."

"The MFEs would have to attack the seventh cannon," Shiro interjected.

"We'd love to, but they just don't have that kind of range," Griffin said.

"There should be enough Faunatonium to boost the MFEs to the seventh base and back," Coran adds.

"That's great and all, but Admiral Sanda has a point," Pidge started. "We can't get to our lions."

"You don't need to go to them," Shiro said. "They'll come to you. As Paladins of Voltron, you can connect with your lions. They will come."

"From Saturn?" Hunk questioned.

"From anywhere," Shiro said. "You've been training for this since the very beginning. Each of you has forged a bond with your lion. Tap into it."

"Our lions did come to us when we were lost in space," Lance said.

"And Red has saved my life numerous times," Keith added.

"Yes, it's possible," Allura said. "So we'll call our lions to meet us here."

"We'll need the element of surprise. The lions will have to rendezvous with us at the bases," Pidge said.

"That's gonna catch them off guard," I said with a smirk.

"I mean, assuming our lions respond to our call," Hunk added. "What if they don't come?"

"They'll come," Shiro responded. "And when they do, you will strike and destroy all seven cannons simultaneously before they can be launched. And when the job's done, you can form Voltron and finish off Sendak and the rest of his forces."

"My pilots can transport four of you to the Galra bases before heading out to the seventh cannon," Griffin said.

"I'll bring Lance to base one," Veronica said. "It's the closest, so I can do it by ground."

"Which means someone will have to drive by themselves to the next closest one," Shiro said.

"I can drive it. It shouldn't be too hard," I said.

"It's settled, then," Shiro said. "While Veronica drops Lance at Base One and Nyle drives to Base Two by herself, the MFEs will each fly a paladin out to a base. The paladins should reach the drop zones at exactly the same time the lions arrive. Then the MFEs will head to the seventh base. We'll launch a coordinated attack on all seven locations at once."

The meeting ended and I started walking back when Hunk came to my side. "I-I don't feel comfortable with you going by yourself. Why don't you and I switch? So that you can go with a pilot."

I smiled and laughed softly. "Hey, I'll be fine. I've gone through so much already. Driving by myself isn't gonna be the worst thing in the world. Worry about who you're flying with got it?"

He sighed and looked at me. "Nyle I, I really would rather you go with a pilot."

I hum and pat Hunk's back. "I'll be just fine. I promise. Nothing bad is gonna happen to me."

"I hope you're right. I don't want you getting hurt," He said, a sad type of puppy look on his face.

I laughed softly and shake my head. "It's gonna be fine, I promise."

He let out another sigh. "I hope you're right."

"I am Hunk, don't worry. Now go get ready," I responded before walking off to get my armor on. 

I headed out to the cruiser and checked out the controls, trying to familiarize myself with them. Then I heard someone call my name. I looked over and saw Keith there.

I smiled and got out. "Hey, you ready?"

"I guess, I'm just a little nervous is all. I just wanted to come over and say, be safe," He said, a worried look on his face.

I let out a small laugh. "I'll be fine, Keith. Don't worry about me ok? For now, worry about yourself."

He sighed and hugged me. "You can't stop me from worrying."

I smiled wider and hugged back. "I will be just fine. You can worry about me once you're in your lion."

He laughed and smiled at me. "Sure. Just promise you'll come back to me in one piece."

"I will, I promise," I responded.

Keith leaned down and kissed me. I kissed back, pulling away after a few moments. "Alright space boy, you should get going."

He let go of me and hums. "I love you, be safe."

I smiled and got in my cruiser. "I love you more. You be safe too."

He smiled at me before walking away. I started driving off as the MFEs took off.

"Paladins, our window of opportunity is razor-thin," Shiro said. "With the element of surprise, we'll have the advantage. Good luck."

I drove faster, taking a deep breath as I tried to connect with my lion. I soon felt myself connecting with my lion, hearing a roar and soon enough I saw her flying above me.

I laughed some and hummed. "Hey there Purpur. Let's see if you've stiffened up girl." I quickly boarded my lion and flew upwards, heading towards the cannon.

Then I suddenly heard Lance screaming, then the audio cut out. Oh no, what's going on with him?

"Lance!" Allura exclaimed. "Lance, are you there?"

"Lance, where are you, buddy?" Hunk asked.

"Lance, can you hear us?" Pidge asked.

"Lance, Lance? Are you alright?" I asked.

"Lance? Lance, come in!" Keith exclaimed.

We kept yelling for Lance, trying to get him to answer us. We were starting to get worried when he wasn't answering.

"Red Lion, checking in!" Lance suddenly exclaimed.

A wave of relief went over me before I started attacking the base.

I shot at it, trying to use my sticking ray as well to block things up. But it wasn't working very well. I suddenly got shot at and my eyes widen seeing a bunch of cruisers showing up with fighters everywhere.

"Ah! I'm taking heavy fire!" I heard Hunk yell.

"Something's wrong!" Allura yelled.

"These aren't normal base defenses!" Lance shouted.

"I'm pinned down!" Pidge shouts.

"I can't do anything! I'm cornered!" I exclaimed.

"Keith, what do we do?" Griffin asked.

"Do what you have to. We can't let those cannons launch!" Keith shouts.

"They're everywhere!"

"Come on!"

"There's too many!"

"Watch out!"

"I'm coming!"

"We need backup!"

I noticed out of the corner of my eye, the Zaiforge cannon coming out of the base.

"Focus on the Zaiforge cannons. Stop them from launching!" Keith commanded.

"Base six is launching!" Griffin said.

"I can't get near Base one's cannon!" Lance shouted.

"I can't stop the launch!" Allura yells.

"Me neither!" Hunk adds.

"Base two is already in the air!" I exclaimed.

"How did this happen?" Pidge questioned.

"Sendak must have known we were coming. But how?" Keith questioned.

I looked up when I heard a slight explosion and felt my heart drop seeing the cannon halfway into the sky.

"We were too late," Allura said. "The cannons have launched and we're exposed. Sendak knows we're here with our lions."

"What do we do now?" Lance asked.

"MFEs, return to the Garrison," Keith said.

"Roger that," They all replied.

"Paladins, we need to cut the head off the snake," Keith started. "Taking out Sendak is our last option. Everyone, converge!"

I flew up into the sky and met up with the rest of the team, following behind them.

"Form Voltron!" Keith shouted.

The team quickly formed Voltron as I flew next to them, heading to Sendak's cruiser. Suddenly a bunch of beams came towards us, hitting us full-on. I felt like I was being torn apart. And then I suddenly lost consciousness.

                                                                                              <<<~>>>

I started waking up, groaning as I sat up before hearing Keith's voice.

"Hello? Lance! Hunk! Pidge! Allura! Nyle!" He shouted.

"I'm here," Lance said.

"Yeah, I'm alive at least," I mumbled.

"Yeah, me, too," Hunk said. "How long have we been out?"

"It looks like we've lost about an hour," Pidge responded.

"What happened?" Allura asked.

"We're on Sendak's ship," Keith said quietly. "Admiral Sanda...she sold us out."

I frowned, feeling a rage hit me.

"How could she?" Pidge frustratedly said.

"He said he'd leave Earth if he had the lions, but he lied to me," Admiral Sanda's voice suddenly said. "This is all my fault. I wanted to protect my people, but now I've doomed them. I've doomed them all. I'm so sorry."

"Admiral, what is Sendak's plan?" Keith asked.

"Sendak is, moving the Zaiforge cannons into position. He's going to destroy earth," Admiral Sanda said. "Please, you must know, I wanted to save Earth."

Suddenly the ship started to shake and there were explosions everywhere.

"What was that?" Lance exclaimed.

"The Garrison is mounting a counterattack," Keith responded.

"My dad, he launched the Atlas!" Pidge shouted.

"We need to get out there," Keith said. "The Atlas can't win this fight alone."

"Guys, I have a thought," Hunk said. "Remember how we were able to call the lions to us on Earth? Why can't we do that now? They might be able to break us out."

"Calling the lions to us and having the lions break us out are two totally different things," Pidge adds.

"I'm not saying it'll be easy. I'm not even saying it's possible, but we have to at least be willing to try," Hunk said. "Think of our families. Think of Earth."

"Shiro said we're capable of more than we realize. Maybe it's worth a shot," Keith adds. "Paladins, close your eyes. Connect with your lions."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to find a way to connect with my lion. I tried to peek into the bond I had with my lion, focusing myself solely on it.

I heard a roar in my head and felt my soul connecting with my lion's. I opened my eyes to see what my lion was seeing. I looked around, seeing the other lions slowly powering on.

We broke the lions out of the ship, looking around to see the entire fleet attacking the Atlas.

"The Atlas!" Pidge exclaimed.

"It's under heavy fire. They need our help!" Allura exclaimed.

"Lions, on me," Keith said as we flew towards the ships.

We started attacking the surrounding cruisers, destroying as much as we could.

"Paladins, welcome to the fight!" Shiro exclaimed. "Let's go take out Sendak's cruiser."

"No, no, no! Wait! Shiro, we're still on that ship!" I quickly shouted.

"Well, our bodies are," Pidge added.

"Amazing," Shiro responded. "We got ourselves some breathing room. Let's make it count."

We headed towards Sendak's ship as the Black Lion went through the ship, destroying the hallway where we were being held.

I tapped back into reality where I was and saw my door fall down. I came out to see Keith next to Admiral Sanda on the ground. And then I saw that she was injured.

"Admiral," Keith said in a low voice.

"Do what I couldn't," Admiral Sanda responded, out of breath. "Save Earth."

She laid her head back and let out a slow breath before she stopped breathing completely. 

Keith laid her back down and got up. "We will."