The Silver Paladin

Our First Step

I looked down at Allura and Commander Holt and noticed that instead of a chip, there was a small blue gem. I recognized the gem as the same one Allura had in her crown.

The arm flew back to Shiro's side as he slowly woke up again. Everyone outside rushed in to see if everything was all right.

"What-- What happened?" Shiro asked, "I feel strange." He looked down at his new arm and clenched its fingers into a fist.

"I feel great." He smiled.

We gave Shiro few days to get used to his new arm. When that time passed, Admiral Sanda called all of us to a meeting to discuss what Pidge and Allura discovered from Sendak's memories.

"We've learned so much from Sendak's memories." Pidge said beginning her report, "We discovered his methods for taking over planets like Earth."

"Sendak constructs armaments at key strategic points around planets." Allura continued, "This gives him the ability to control enormous swaths of territory. He uses the armaments as deterrents to prevent any uprisings and to control the conquered population."

"Based on data from Commander Holt's micro-satellites, cross-referenced with resistance intel, we've ascertained that Sendak built six massive structures on Earth." Veronica pulled up on the screen a picture of the structures, along with their locations.

"We never knew what they were being used for until now."

"They're the weapons?" Hunk asked, "So, what's stopping us from blowing them up?"

"We simply don't have enough firepower to do the job." Admiral Sanda answered, "And even if we did, there's a good chance those facilities contain civilians. We can't just go in blind."

I looked over at Admiral Sanda and got a bad feeling from her. My scar didn't burn, but I couldn't ignore this kind of feeling. Even her rigid movements were giving off bad signs for me. Sure, she was always serious, but I felt something behind that serious nature of hers.

"Admiral Sanda's right." Shiro agreed, "That's why we should infiltrate a base and gather intelligence first."

"The nearest base is 52 klicks south of our position." Veronica said.

"What's the terrain like?" I asked.

She pulled up a map of the base's terrain, "The region around what we'll call "Base One" is a complex urban environment. Our route will take us through highly patrolled areas. It'll be hard to keep proper surveillance of our surroundings due to all the structural damage."

I thought for a moment about how all of this would go down. There was too much of a risk if we sent in too many people, but there was a chance the plan could fail if we sent in too few. After a few more seconds of thinking, I got a plan all figured out.

"Then I suggest we form two teams: a ground unit that will infiltrate Base One and get eyes on whatever's inside, and a sniper team that observes from a higher position, covering the ground unit and providing some visibility." I said.

"Who will be in each team, Saoirse?" Admiral Sanda asked.

"Pidge, Keith, Allura, Griffin, and I will be the ground unit. Hunk, Kinkade, Lance, and Veronica will be sniper support." I listed off,, "Be sure to use communcatuoms sparingly and keep track of the drones patterns."

Everyone agreed on the mission and we all left to prepare for it.

I went back to my room and was immediately tackled by Nalira. She laughed as I caught her in my arms and hugged her.

"Welcome back, Saoirse!" She exclaimed. The rest of my family, hearing my sister shout my name, came out to greet me.

"Hey, Saoirse, how was the meeting?" Lellal asked.