The Sixth Paladin

Chapter 46

The castle is silent as it's still powered down. Everyone is working on getting it up and running again. I sit in the teladuv control room with Pidge,who is sitting on the ground with her laptop in front of her,wires are scattered on the floor. I fiddle with them,having nothing better to do.

"How's it going,number six?" Coran sounds over the comms

"I've diverted as much power from the teladuv to the main turbine as I could."

"Nice work! Looks like we have the power we need to attempt a system restart." We wait,but nothing happens.

"Guess it didn't work." Pidge says,I hum in response. I sit on the ground,pulling my knees to my chest. I can feel Pidge's gaze flicker to me,I keep looking at the ground. Eventually,we get a warning from Keith that Lotor is on his way back. He also told us that Shiro was apparently a clone? I didn't quite understand but he said he would explain later. We get into our lions,as Allura speaks to us.

"Accessing the quintessence field has been Lotor's singular drive for millennia. He wants to harness the power for himself,we cannot let him. Thankfully,there's only one way into the quintessence field. Through the inter-reality gate. So we must destroy it."

We fly out the castle,Coran saying he'll keep working on repairs. We fly to the gate and hover in front of it.

"Are you sure about this?" Lance asks.

"We must. It's the only way." Allura answers. Everyone shoot their mouth lasers at the gate,effectively destroying it. I stare at the floating debris.

"Lotor will be here any second. What's the plan?" Pidge inquires. 

"The castle is still broken down. So there's no help there." I state.

"The black lion isn't here,so we can't form Voltron. We're just going to have to do what we can." Allura adds.

"Got it. Attempt to survive." Pidge says in a solemn tone.

"Last time we fought Lotor,we had six ships and Lotor has two and he still kicked our butts. This time,he's going to have three ships and we only have five. Does anyone see where I'm going with this?" Hunk said.

"Hunk,no one's interested in your math equations. Especially ones that add to us taking a beating." Lance snaps at him.

"Coran,how are the repairs coming?"

"I'm working on 'em,princess. The problem is we need power for the systems to starts the main turbine. But if I use that power to engage the systems, I don't have the power to run the main turbine. It's a conundrum."

"Coran,without the castle backing us up,we might not make it."

"No pressure or anything." I added dryly. 

We waited in tense silence. Alarms started to blare and my screen pinpointed three approaching ships.   

"We got incoming." Lance warned. I spot the ships as they get closer.

"Guys,they're here." Hunk said as the ships stop in front of us.

"Hold your positions. Let Lotor make the first move." Lance orders. A bead of sweat rolls down my temple as I grip my controls nervously. Lotor begins to speak to us through the comms.

"We need not to fight. We are all on the same side. I know what you must all think of me now that you know my past. It doesn't have to change our future together. The truth is, I want to harness the power of the quintessence field to better the universe,like I said. Nothing has changed."