When Stars Align (Shiro x Reader)[Voltron - Legendary Defender]

IX.

"A reconnaissance mission?" Shiro asks. He's sitting with the other four paladins in the castle's control room. Allura nods.

"Coran's been picking up some strange signals. He thinks the black bayard could be somewhere on Zarkon's ship."

"Really?" Lance asks before Shiro can reply, overt excitement coloring his tone, "Sick! What d'you think it turns into? A sword? A gun?" He gasps, "What if it's like some mega-cool laser cannon?"

Shiro frowns, ignoring Lance's speculation, and asks, "Is that really...worth the risk? I can fight just fine without the bayard. It hasn't caused any problems so far."

"I know," Allura sighs, "That's what I've been trying to decide. On one hand, it would be extremely dangerous to try to infiltrate Zarkon's base. If even one of the paladins was captured, you wouldn't be able to form Voltron, and I have no idea what would become of you as Zarkon's prisoner." Shiro suppresses a shudder at her words. He has a better idea than any of them about what it would be like to be Zarkon's prisoner...

"However," Allura continues, "The black lion and the black bayard are linked. If Coran's been picking up signals from Zarkon's ship, that could mean that Zarkon is using signals from the black bayard to track our location. Additionally, although he is not in possession of either the black lion or the black paladin, we don't know if he's figured out a way to use the bayard in some capacity as a weapon. And even if he hasn't, we're still learning about what the bayards can do when paired with their lions--what if the black bayard has some special purpose that could help us defeat the Galra empire?"

Shiro nods slowly. Her argument is convincing. But it's still mostly hypothetical; is it worth risking his team's lives?

"I'll go," Pidge says, stepping closer to Allura. She doesn't continue speaking, but no one needs to ask why she's so willing. She still spends most of her time searching for anything that will help her find her family--if there's a chance that there's information about their whereabouts on Zarkon's ship, she'll want to be there.

"Well, you would need to go," Allura says gently, "But you wouldn't be able to get onto the ship."

Pidge frowns and asks, "Why?" There's a challenging undertone to her voice, like Allura had better have a good enough reason. Pidge won't just blindly obey orders.

"If you were to go," Allura explains, keeping the situation hypothetical, "You'd need to pilot the green lion. It's invisibility and camouflaging would be the only way to get past Galran defenses undetected. The other four paladins would infiltrate the ship and search as pairs, so that they could help each other if trouble arose. It would be too dangerous for a paladin to go alone. And they'd need you waiting to get them out if something went wrong."

"So you want me to be the getaway driver?" Pidge clenches her hands into fists, frustration evident in her voice. Before she can continue speaking, Shiro places a hand on her shoulder and says gently, "Pidge." She turns to look at him.

"Shiro, you know there could be information about my family on that ship!" She says, keeping her voice steady. It's obvious that she's trying to stay reasonable, but her family is the one thing that makes Pidge disregard logic.

"I know," Shiro answers gravely, "But we need to keep the bigger picture in mind. I promise, we'll do everything we can to save your father and Matt once we get the opportunity. They were like family to me, too."

Pidge sniffs, rubbing at tears that are starting to build in her eyes as she mutters, "Fine." Even Lance has fallen silent at this exchange, and an awkward pause ensues.

"So, what exactly is the plan?" Shiro asks, turning back to Allura and hoping to take some of the attention off Pidge. The princess clears her throat and throws a concerned glance at the green paladin before answering.

"We managed to salvage some Galran soldier's uniforms from Sendak's attack on the castle," she says, "And Coran and I have been studying the technology. We've altered four suits to fit each of you, but there's still the issue of how much shorter humans are than Galran guards. You'll have to use camouflaging technology to make yourselves appear taller." As she speaks, she takes out four small devices that look similar to wristwatches, except that there's a few buttons where a clock would normally go. Allura slides one onto her wrist.

"Obviously, I could make myself taller on my own," she says, fastening the clip onto the band of the device, "But if I press this button," she presses a small green dial as she speaks, and instantly grows a foot, "It will make me appear taller." The paladins stare in shock for a moment before Lance grins and says, "Sweet! How soon do I get one?"

Allura smiles but ignores his question, continuing her explanation, "The only thing is that the extra height is just an illusion; if someone tries to, say, pat you on the shoulder, their hand will fall through to your real shoulder, ruining the disguise. So you'll need to avoid physical contact, although it should be okay for you to touch things." She reaches out to lift up one of her mice as an example. The paladins watch her hand reach down and pick up the mouse, but when she straightens back up the creature is cradled below where her hand appears to be. "It can be a bit...disconcerting." Allura says as she places the mouse back with its friends.

"Alright," Shiro nods as Allura presses the button a second time, returning to her normal height, "And what would we do once we got inside the ship?"

Now Coran steps forward and pulls a map up onto a holo-screen. "I've been trying to triangulate the signals," He says, zooming in on what the paladins assume is a rough map of Zarkon's ship, "And I've managed to narrow it down to somewhere in the west wing of the ship. There are different branches in that wing, however, and I can't pinpoint the location. You four," he says, addressing all the paladins except Pidge, "Would need to split into two groups and explore as much of that area of the ship as possible. I've installed cameras into the helmets of the Galran uniforms, so you'll be able to automatically document your findings. If you find the black bayard and a way to retrieve it, do, but don't take any unnecessary risks."

"Allura," Shiro says, turning back to the princess, "It sounds like you've planned this out thoroughly. I don't like risking anyone's life, but I trust you. If you think this mission is important enough, we'll go."

Allura nods, looking a bit worried as she responds, "I wouldn't risk any of your lives unless I believed this was extremely important," she says, looking a bit guilty. Shiro nods.

"What are you talking about?" Lance interrupts loudly, "We risk our lives like once a week fighting weird monster alien things. This sounds like a piece of cake!" His words help dissipate the tense atmosphere, and Shiro and Allura both smile.

"I suppose you're right," Allura says, "But this mission is just as dangerous as your others. You'll need to be very careful, Lance."

The blue paladin places a hand over his heart dramatically. "I always knew you cared about me." He says, and Keith rolls his eyes.

"She means all of us, dumbass." He says, and Lance shakes his head. "Nope. She said my name, specifically. Did anyone record that?"

Shiro interrupts the two, drawing Allura's attention back to him. "So, when do we leave?"

"Well..." Allura says, examining Coran's map, "We still have some details to go over, but once that's done...as soon a possible."

The paladins nod, each of them turning to listen to Coran as he begins pointing out entrance and exit points. As he listens to the Altean speak, Shiro tries to calm his nerves. If he could, he would never go back to the Galran ship. He's terrified that there's a possibility he'll be captured, that they'll transform him completely from man to monster. But there's also some tiny part of him that feels a need to return, like he left something behind on the ship that he needs to get back...