Third Person POV

The paladins have been gathering intel from Lotor about different Galra sites to hit and the best way to bring them down the past few months. As of now, they were infiltrating a Galra sentry factory and making their way towards it.

"That's our target, the moon of Tragoch," Shiro says.

"According to our latest intelligence, that's where the Galra are building their upgraded sentries," Allura says.

"Taking out this base will mean the Galra won't be able to resupply their bases and ships for months," Shiro adds.

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Lance asked.

"Well, all our intel has checked out so far," Nyle responds. "It's going just how it's been described."

"Including preparing us for those!" Shiro exclaimed as a swarm of drones started heading for the lions.

"Pidge?" Allura questioned.

"Allura, I'm sending you the signals to interfere with the drones," Pidge spoke.

"Signal acquired. Broadcasting," Allura replies as she sent out a signal with the radio waves of her lion, causing the drones to shut off.

"Let's take them out before they recalibrate and report our approach," Shiro says as the lions formed their jaw blades, taking the drones out before heading towards the moon.

"Form up on me. We're going in," Shiro says firmly. "We have five minutes before the base realizes their drones aren't responding. Be careful to stay in formation and don't touch the sides!"

The paladins maneuvered their way through the pipe-like entrance. Hunk made a wrong turn and hit the side, causing lava to fall through. 

"Uh-oh!" Hunk exclaimed before screaming, going faster and bumping into Pidge.

"Hunk!" Pidge yelled annoyed.

"I think I may have nicked the side a little bit," Hunk says.

"Let me through," Allura says turning her lion around before freezing the walls with the freeze ray. "We'd better hurry. That patch won't last long."

The paladins started moving again, trying to outfly the lava. Soon enough, the lava caught up to them. 

"The lava's gaining on us! We can't outrun it!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Oh really? I couldn't tell!" Nyle replied, sarcastically.

"We should be directly underneath the Galra base," Allura says.

"There's an opening up ahead. Follow me!" Shiro yells.

They fly up to the opening, all going up higher away from the lava. 

"Oh, no! We're trapped!" Lance shouts as the lava started rising.

"No, we're not!" Shiro exclaimed. "There's another way out! Form Voltron!"

The team forms Voltron and busted through the walls of the factory.

"Take down the factory machines!" Shiro exclaimed.

They started shooting at the machines, causing as much damage as they could. They flew out once they did enough damage, the moon exploding behind them.

They got back to the castle, using the time to rest a bit. The paladins met up in the lounge, changed out of their armor discussing their missions.

 "Oh, man! Going on missions is a lot easier when somebody gives you the information you need before you get there," Hunk says.

"And yet, you somehow managed to mess up and run your lion into a wall," Nyle says, a sly smirk on her face.

"Yeah, information is one thing. Ability is something completely different," Hunk replied.

"No doubt about it, we haven't encountered a single problem," Shiro says.

"I must admit, we took down a vital target today," Allura adds.

"And we made it look pretty easy, except for the getting in buried lava part," Pidge says.

"It may be time to consider taking the next step," Shiro says.

"I'm still not comfortable with this. It just doesn't feel right," Allura said, slumping over.

Shiro and Allura left to go talk to Lotor, leaving the team to get ready for the meeting with some of the coalition planet leaders as well as Kolivan and Keith.

Once everything was ready, everyone was called down and standing next to Allura.

"As of today, our rebel forces have taken control of one-third of the former Galra Empire," Allura starts. "But we cannot grow complacent. The Galra Empire is still the dominant force in the universe. However, the tide is changing."

"The rebel coalition is winning because of you, Princess Allura. You and Voltron." One of the leaders says. "Mere cycles ago, I felt that my race would its last in Galra chains, but then Voltron appeared on the horizon, and our lives changed forever!"

"This bid is for liberty is only possible because of all our sacrifices. And we still have a long way to go before the entire universe is free," Allura spoke firmly.

"We'll be behind you every step of the way," The leader says.

"Thank you," Allura says with a small smile. "We will reconvene soon. Until then."

The screens disappear before Kolivan and Keith are the only ones left.

"Did you complete raids on the targets we sent on our last communication?" Shiro asked.

"Yes. The information we've received from Lotor has consistently checked out," Kolivan responds.

"With all these successful missions taking place in such a short period of time, it won't be long before the Galra realizes we're using inside information," Nyle says, bringing the issue to attention.

"That's true. We should expect the enemy to change protocol soon," Kolivan responds.

"Then we need to act fast and hit as many targets as possible," Lance says.

"We'll talk to Lotor and see if there's anything else he can give us," Shiro adds.

"I can't stop thinking that we might be an unwitting part of a much larger ulterior motive," Allura says.

Nyle POV

After that whole meeting, I headed back to my room still in my armor. When I got a call on my wrist device. I answered it before seeing Keith on the other side, which made me smile. 

"Hey Nyle, I managed to sneak away for a bit. So I wanted a chance to talk to you for a while," He says.

I laughed softly and smiled softly. "That's sweet of you. How has everything been?"

"A little stressful but, what else is new right?" He said with a smile.

"Right. Well, everything has been going alright here. Mereida is now a year and a month. God, it's already been a year," I said, now taking in the fact that our daughter was a year old.

"Yeah, that's crazy. And, I'm a little upset I missed it. But hey, she's got you right?" 

I smiled softly and sat down. "Yeah, she does. But she's been asking for you. She's been learning how to use real words. So whenever she wants you, she goes 'daddy here?' And then when I try to say no, she goes, 'daddy not here?' So yeah, that's how that's going."

He sighed and shakes his head. "I'm sorry you're doing this by yourself Nyle, I am. I would give anything to be there right now with you guys."

"You're where you need to be. But, you know you can always contact me to see her. She's playing if you wanna see her," I said, knowing he would want to.

He smiled a small bit and nodded. "Yeah, I'd like to see her."

I laughed softly before going to Mereida, picking her up before sitting back on the bed with her on my lap. "Look, baby, it's daddy."

(A/N: For reference, just to give an image. This is kinda the idea of what Mereida would look like.)

She looked at the screen and smiled widely, squealing. "Daddy!"

Keith let out a small laugh and smiled at her. "Hey Mere, what're you doing huh?"

I smiled and laughed softly. "Tell daddy that you're playing."

"Paying!" She yelled.

We both laughed and I smiled softly before there was a voice in the background behind Keith.

He sighed and looked at me. "That's Kolivan. I gotta go, I love you."

I hum and nod. "Ok, I love you too. Tell daddy 'bye' Mere. Say 'bye-bye daddy' baby."

She smiled and giggled, waving. "Ba-ba daddy."

He smiled at her and waved back. "Bye-bye Mereida." 

He hung up after and I sighed softly. "See you another time..."

Mereida looked up at me, pouting some. "Daddy bye-bye?"

I smiled sadly and nod. "Daddy went bye-bye. But daddy's gonna come back soon."

She looked down at the Black Lion in her hands and hugged it close to her chest. It broke my heart to see her wanting Keith so badly but he wasn't here.

I sighed and changed out of my armor, heading to the lounge with Mereida so that she could just get out of the room for a while. We were still on Naxzela so I didn't feel comfortable letting her outside yet with all the Galra installations still there.

I held a small necklace that Keith had sent me a little while ago and looked at the picture inside the little locket of us on Christmas. I loved it. And it was probably the only thing I had of him since he left. I heard the door open and looked to see Lance walking in.

"Hey, I just wanted to tell you that- whoa, Nyle are you alright?" Lance asked, his face full of worry.

I sighed as I touched my face, realizing that there were tears on it. Guess that's why he got worried. 

"I'm, I'm fine Lance. Don't worry ok? I'm just, thinking," I responded, looking back down.

He sat down next to me and put a hand on my back. "Are you thinking about him again?" He must've seen me looking at the locket.

"Yeah. I just got off a call with him. And, it makes me realize how much he's missed. I mean, since he left, I don't know what to do with myself," I said in almost a whisper. 

He pats my back and leaned forward a little to try and face me. "You can talk to me. Isn't that what my job is? I kinda owe it to you anyway, after you talked with me when we were on Arus."

I smiled a little and hummed, pulling my hair back out of my face before looking at him. "I guess you do huh? There's not much to talk about anyway, other than that I miss him."

"I get it. Everyone misses him, he's a part of our team, our family. So it's ok that you miss him. But you should be able to talk to us," He replied. 

I leaned back against the couch and pursed my lips. "You're right. And I will start talking to you guys more. Anyway, what was it you came to tell me?"

"Oh right! Pidge and Matt are going to find their dad. So Shiro said we should be on standby just in case. They asked me to let you know," Lance says.

"Oh really? They got a lead on him? That's good. But I'll keep that in mind, thanks, Lance. And, thanks for talking to me. I feel a lot better. Can you put this back on for me?" I asked, handing him the necklace.

He agreed as I turned around, moving my hair out of the way before letting him put the necklace back on. "And done. It's on," He says.

I smiled and dropped my hair, looking down to make sure it was on tight before looking at Lance. "Thanks. I'm sure you have things to do so if you need me I'll be here."

He laughed and shakes his head before leaning back putting his arms behind his head. "No, I don't have anything better to do. So maybe we could sit here and talk?"

"Yeah, I guess we could do that," I responded, starting up a conversation.

Eventually, we were called to the bridge so I picked up Mereida and headed to the bridge with Lance. The first thing I saw was Pidge sitting on her chair with her legs up to her chest and Matt next to her with his hand on her shoulder.

And I could immediately tell that they didn't find their dad. I didn't know exactly what I should do to help. Then there was a beeping noise and then Zarkon's face showed up on the screen. 

"Paladins of Voltron," He spoke. He looked terrifying, more than he used to.

"Zarkon," Shiro muttered.

"I am making a one-time offer. I have someone of value to you," He moved out of the way to show a human in the middle of Lotor's generals.

"Dad!" Pidge exclaimed as she got up.

"I will hand him over, and in exchange, you give me my son Lotor," Zarkon spoke. "Bring me Lotor and the prisoner is yours. Meet my demands if you want to see the Earthling alive."

The broadcast ends as Pidge started freaking out. "He's alive! Our dad is alive! We have to get him back!"

"We're going to. What's the plan, Shiro?" Matt asked, turning towards him. 

"We can't rush into anything. We have to think this through," Shiro responded.

"What's to think through? It's my dad! We're doing this!" Pidge shouted back. 

"We need to operate under the assumption that Zarkon will try to double-cross us," Shiro says.

"We have Voltron! We can do anything!" Pidge yells.

"Pidge," Matt started to say as he put a hand on his sister's shoulder.

"No!" She yelled. "We can't let this opportunity slip away! We're too close! Our father is too close!"

All of us went to where Lotor was being held and tried to see if he knew what we should do.

"My father has held the universe in a death grip for millennia, but he sees it slipping from his grasp because of your efforts and because of mine," Lotor says as he clenched his fists. "With our forces combined, we would provide the greatest threat Zarkon has ever faced. He knows we could topple his empire, so this is his attempt to tear us apart. But united, we could forge a new path, open doors to new worlds, and crush the tyrannical ways of an old regime."

"A regime you ran. We can't listen to him. He just wants to save his own skin," Pidge says.

"It's true," Lotor responds. "If you return me to my father, he would surely see to my demise. And with his most legitimate threat to the throne removed, he would only grow stronger."

"One lest threat to Zarkon and one less threat to us," Pidge replied, venom in her voice.

Lotor ignored her and turned his attention to Allura. "Your father, King Alfor, once stood side by side with Zarkon and protected the universe from harm. There was no foe the paladins of old couldn't defeat. Sadly, that time of peace has been lost, but, together, we can find it once more. Princess, imagine a new generation that could lift the mantle of peace. The children of King Alfor and Emperor Zarkon, you and I, a royal alliance between Altean and Galra."

Lance stepped forward and glared at Lotor. "How 'bout we don't imagine that?"

"Lies! Every word is a lie!" Pidge yelled.

"And what of Zarkon's words? You think he'll return your father as he says? You think the corrupted leader of a ruthless empire will be true to his word? He wants more than just me." Lotor says, narrowing his gaze at Pidge.

"You think he'll double-cross us," Shiro states.

"I think he'd do anything to rid himself of me and claim the Lions of Voltron," Lotor responded. 

"An alliance with the heir to the Galra throne could end the war," Allura says. 

"What?" Pidge exclaimed.

"It's not ideal," Allura says. "I don't like trusting the Galra, but it could be our best option."

"No!" Pidge yelled.

"Pidge, think of the lives we could save. Think of the countless worlds we could free," Allura says, trying to calm Pidge down.

"Think of my father!" Pidge yelled.

"I'm with Pidge," Lance says. "Let's get this guy out of here, pronto. Right, Hunk?"

"I don't know," Hunk starts. "I mean if this dude is on our side like he says he is, you are saying you're on our side, right? Couldn't he lead the Galra toward peace from the inside?"

"We are turning him in and getting my dad back!" Pidge shouted. "We have Voltron the bring peace to the universe!"

"Don't play into Zarkon's hands!" Lotor shouted.

"That's enough!" Shiro yelled, getting everyone's attention.

Once everyone was calm, we formed a plan just in case everything went wrong. Matt, Pidge, and Shiro would go down with Lotor while the rest of us would wait in the bridge if something were to happen.

As of now, they were on the ground with Zarkon's ship across from them a little ways away and we were up here waiting. 

We had a monitor of the planet and the ships, little dots to show us where everyone was.

"Everything's going as planned, thank god," I spoke softly.

"I still don't like it," Lance says. "This whole thing is like making a deal with the devil."

"I hate being so far out of range!" Coran shouts as he slammed his hand down on the console.

"Zarkon's fleet is also out of range. These are the terms we agreed on," Allura says.

A couple of the dots started to move, indicating that the exchange was happening. Then one of the dots just disappeared.

"Lotor was right. Lotor double-crossed us," Hunk said.

"Everyone, get to your lions! We're going in!" Lance yelled.

"Lance, we can't," Allura starts. "Zarkon still has Sam. If we go in, we put his life in jeopardy."

"Allura's right," Coran says. "If we move in, Zarkon's fleet moves in as well."

"Yeah, but we don't have a prisoner anymore. We don't have any cards to hold," I added. "What are we supposed to do?"

"We hold our positions," Allura responded.

"Pidge, Shiro, and Matt are moving in!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Zarkon's fleet's mobilizing as well!" Coran shouted.

"We need to get to our lions. We have to protect the team while they get Sam," I said as all of us quickly got into our armor, heading down to the planet with our lions.

We started heading down before we heard Shiro's voice. "Lance! We could use a little help down here."

"We're already on our way!" Lance yells.

As we headed down to the planet, I noticed Lotor and Zarkon fighting. And Lotor had the Black Bayard. Then the Galra cruiser started shooting at us, causing us to start evading the lasers.

"We can't let the Galra get that shuttle!" Lance exclaimed.

"Copy that," All three of us respond.

The four of us started doing what we could to hold off the fleet, destroying the fighters and trying to do damage to the cruiser.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw another cruiser charging up a shot towards Lance. I was about to rush over when a bunch of shots came down, I looked up to see the castle.

"Coran!" We all yelled in relief.

"Thought you could use a little help," Coran responded.

With Coran's help, we managed to destroy the entire fleet. "We did it!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Nice work!" Allura shouts.

"Shiro, Pidge, the sky has been cleared of all Galra," Lance starts. "What's your status?"

"Shuttle is not clear yet!" Pidge exclaimed.

After a few moments, we heard Shiro's voice. "The shuttle is clear."

I sighed in relief as we all started to fly next to the shuttle. "Nice job, team," Lance said.

"Where are Lotor and Zarkon?" Shiro asked.

We looked over when we saw some commotion and started shooting at Zarkon when he pointed something at us and charged it up. Then we saw Lotor run towards him and stabbed him with something, making him miss us completely. 

He's, he's dead," I spoke softly to myself. "He's finally gone..."