Return Of The Stars

Chapter 3: Galaxy Garrison

"Hands where we can see them!" the Admiral commanded, her voice raised and authoritative. All of the Humans in their group, himself included, raised their hands high above their head and the others copied their actions.

Allura, Coran, and Romelle were wearing Altean flight suits utilizing the same translator technology as the Paladin armour. They had been synced up to the Castle of Lions before the mission which allowed them to understand Earth languages, but only those spoken by the Paladins. Plak and Regris on the other hand, were dressed in Empire armour and lacked a capable translator. They'd decided to stick closely to Krolia, placing full trust in their superior Officer's knowledge of English.

Sanda's scrutinizing gaze followed each of them as they exited the train car. She eyed Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro with frustration, Matt with surprise, Keith with anger, the Alteans with distrust, and the Galra with hate. He was just about to say something when the sound of a small transport vehicle echoed down the tunnels. Veronica pulled up onto the platform, having driven up the service steps, and parked just shy of the conflict. Lance exploded from the passenger side door in an instant, rushing to the side of this team and demanding to know what was going on.

"I'm pretty sure that's my line, Cadet!" Sanda spat back. She turned to face one of the Officers, ordering them to send for a group of Cadets to unload the gathered supplies after their classes let out.

"With all due respect Admiral, the supplies need to be unloaded immediately so that we can seal off the tunnels." Shiro objected.

"If I allow you to block off the tunnels, then how are we going to get more supplies?" She countered.

"There are no more supplies." Krolia casually announced, causing all eyes to turn in her direction. "If the other warehouses held anything useful, Sendak's soldiers would have taken them."

Sanda's ire turned to Krolia, her eyes narrowing as she spoke. "We will not destroy functional infrastructure under the commands of a Galra. Now that we know the Voltron Lions are here, we finally have a bargaining chip to use."

"Are you suggesting that we willingly hand over the Lions to Sendak?" Shiro asked, utterly bewildered.

The Admiral's jaw tightened, her patience clearly wearing thin. "If this is truly the last of our supplies than Earth can't hold out against them. The weapons we have aren't enough to mount an attack, and we've already lost countless pilots in an attempt to defend this base. The Galra are just too powerful."

"You don't understand!" Pidge shouted, tiny fists clenched tightly at their side, their entire body shaking with a barely contained rage. "It's not just Sendak, there's a whole armada waiting just beyond the asteroid belt. With all of those ion cannons, Earth won't stand a snowball's chance in hell if we hand over the Lions!"

"Yeah, we'll all be sitting duflaxes!!" Lance added and Keith had to resist the urge to face palm.

With a roll of his eyes he swatted the Blue Paladin in the back of the head. "Be serious for one minute, would you?" He hissed and watched as several of the guns moved to aim in his direction. Krolia bristled at his side.

"Enough!" Admiral Sanda yelled, her voice echoing in the abandoned train tunnels. "We will inform Sendak that the Lions are here and offer to make a trade with him; Commander Holt and the promise of Earth's safety in exchange for Voltron's surrender."

A series of objections rang from the Paladins before Allura decisively stepped forward. She squared her shoulders and the air around her seemed to shimmer with the power and authority she'd begun to radiate. "I'll settle this argument right now. We're NOT giving up the Lions under any circumstances."