τHΣ ϢΔRRIΟR ϢIτH ϢIͶGς

collection and extraction

"somewhere inside sendak's memories we should be able to find the inside information that gives us the key to take down zarkon," allura declares with a determined smile.

"i don't think your father would approve of searching through an enemy's memories."

"i know, but we have to do everything we can to defeat zarkon."

"in a time of war, sometimes you have to make choices that go beyond your moral standpoint. it's upsetting, but necessary at times. my mentor drilled that into me when i was young," rhys chimes in, earning a contemplative look from coran.

"who was your mentor, by the way? from the way you mentioned queen diada when you first met, it was as if you knew her personally. also, sendak called you a very important title, if i recall."

a huff of air leaves her lips, averting her eyes from the suspicious man. turning her gaze back to him, she says firmly, "my mentor was cortaq sai."

coran gasped exaggeratedly, allura almost mimicking it completely. both alteans were giving her wide eyed, shocked looks, and the paladins turned from their conversation to look at them in confusion.

"what's so special about this cormac guy?" lance questions, though he was quickly corrected by the altean advisor.

"cortaq sai was the greatest noxian commander in history! the commander oversees and commands all of noxenna's legions! aerial, ground troops, aquatic, you name it! they only answer to the queen, being her second in command! and rhys, you're telling us that your mentor was cortaq sai?!" the orange haired man exclaims, almost bursting at the seams with shock and excitement.

the paladins looked between her and coran to see if he was telling the truth, but when rhys just nodded almost sheepishly at him, their eyes bugged out as well.

"seriously?! you're the commander of your entire planets' military force?!" keith yells, making her wince, and he doubles back once noticing it. rhys nods slowly, but then turns to pidge.

"what did you find, pidge?"

"yeah. most of what i got was a garbled mess, but one thing kept repeating, something called a 'universal station.'"

"universal station? like, the kind of station that controls the entire universe?" the yellow paladin asks, eliciting a small chuckle from rhys. "no, more like where supply ships come in and out of. my people have a few scattered around, subtle enough to not draw attention, but essential. it's likely that zarkon might have important transactions go on, if this one isn't mentioned as much as a supply station would in a regular grunts' memories."

shiro nods.

"well, we are translating it from galra, so it could also be 'galactic hub.'"

"or 'space base!'"

"i'm pulling up the location of your universal hub station base on our screens now."

"so, where is it?"

"like i said, it must be important if the galra went out of their way to hide it," rhys comments, and shiro sends her another nod of agreement.

"only one way to find out. let's go take a look."

——

they arrived at the coordinates soon enough, staying out of range of any scans, and a confident smirk formed on the noxian's lips.

"there it is."

"looks like you were right, commander!"