The Gold Paladin

Battle Scars

Novae's eyes opened to see the familiar ceiling of her Lion's storage area, where she had been sleeping since the team departed from the Atlas. They were searching for even more of the white Robeasts that the Alteans were using to attack others, but so far, not much luck.

After getting dressed in her armor and brushing out her hair, she exited the cargo bay and sat in her pilot seat.

"Good morning everyone." She cheerfully greeted the rest of her team.

"Novae, it's the afternoon according to Earth time." Keith said.

"You slept for a long time. Longer than normal." Allura said worried, "Are you feeling all right, Novae? You hardly ever sleep that late."

"I'm fine, Allura. It's just been a good while since I slept in the Gold Lion. I guess I missed some of her comfort." Novae chuckled, "Pidge, how many more star systems are in this quadrant?"

"This celestial quadrant is 230,000 light-years in diameter." She answered.

"I can't even process what that means." Hunk said tiredly.

"Okay, picture five fleas searching for another flea on a dog that's the size of Earth." Pidge tried to clarify.

"Ugh, all this talk about fleas is making me itchy. Are you guys feeling itchy?" Hunk asked as he scratched himself.

"Pidge, why can't you and Hunk just make a Robeast tracker thingy, you know?" Do some math and science stuff. Then put some components together, and bam, its done." Lance suggested.

"Perhaps we should set our heading for the Altean colony." Allura said.

"We've talked about this." Keith said, remembering the conversation on the colony topic, "To get to the colony, we would have to travel through the Quantum Abyss."

"Plus, Kolivan said the colony no longer exists." Pidge added.

"Traveling through that abyss was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. A single misstep could turn a six-month journey into a ten-year journey. The creatures, the environment, everything in there wants you dead." Keith explained. Kosmo whined, "Except you." Keith added.

"I'm tired of hearing what we can't do and what we don't know." Allura said.

"Allura, we just want to make the best decisions--"

"The Alteans were my people, and the last of them are being exploited as soldiers in someone else's war. You don't understand." Allura cut Lance off.

Lance sighed, "I understand what it feels like to see someone I care about hurt so much."

"And remember, the Alteans are a part of my heritage as well, Allura. I don't want them to be under someone else's control anymore than you do." Novae added.

"I'm sorry." Allura apologized.

"Okay, maybe we head to Olkarion. We're just a few galaxies away. They might have some information of any unusual sightings." Hunk suggested, lightening the mood a little.

"Hunk's right." Keith agreed, "Olkarion is a great spot to regroup and reevaluate our situation."

"And it'll be awesome to see everyone again." Pidge added excited to see the Olkari again, "I wonder what kind of technological advances they've made in the last few years. Oh, man! If they figured out a way to untangle the uncertainty principle, new precision calculations could open the doors to a flood of innovations!"

Novae could practically see the stars in Pidge's eyes as she spoke with so much excitement. And the mention of going to Olkarion made her excited as well. She had missed the Olkari and wanted to see Ryner again.