Wonder if they found a way to rescue the Princess, Korrin thought. She lay in her bed, bouncing a rubber ball off the wall and catching it. Tensions were high and everyone was agitated. That was the only reason she could think of for Shiro to raise his voice at her. But if they had figured something out, hopefully someone would come and tell her, right? But the minutes went by and no one came.
Then there was a knock on the door. Korrin sat up and beckoned them in. It was Keith.
"Hey," he said, handing in his pocket.
"Hey," Korrin responded. Silence.
Keith looked around nervously. "I know I'm not who you were expecting."
"I don't know what you mean."
"You don't have to lie," he said. "Anyways, I just wanted to let you that things are a little weird right now with Allura being gone. But that still wasn't okay for Shiro to talk to you like that. I think he's taking this harder than anyone else."
"I realize that. But I'm okay, really," Korrin said with assurance. It was nice of the red paladin to check on her.
Keith nodded. "Whatever you say. I believe you." He turned to leave the room. "We have a plan to get Allura," he gestured his hand outwards, "Care to join?"
Korrin looked up at him. "I doubt I'll be wanted back in the room..."
Keith scoffed lightly. "Shiro may be the leader, but he doesn't control who enters or leaves a room."
Everyone was standing with their attention on the black paladin when Korrin and Keith entered the room. For a moment, an annoyed expression crossed Shiro's face but then rapidly disappeared.
"Don't let him get to you," Keith whispered to Korrin.
Korrin nodded and hung back a few paces as Keith joined his fellow paladins.
"Alright, everyone, look here," said Shiro in a commanding voice, clearly not a stranger to this type of scene. "Our plan to rescue Allura is to jump into the heart of the enemy. And with our skills--and no small amount of luck--we'll do this undetected."
How do they plan on accomplishing that? Korrin asked herself, raising her eyebrows. The warship could be the size of a small planet. No doubt security would be tight once they got onto the ship, and that's if the enemy scanners didn't pick them up beforehand.
"But the wormhole can't open without Allura, right?" questioned Pidge.
Coran nodded. "While that is true, young paladin, I think we have enough of her residual essence stored in the system to make one jump. We'll hide the castle here--," Coran pulled up a large screen. It displayed three large planets and Zarkon's central command center in the middle. He honed in on the largest of the planets. "--the gas on these giant planets in Zarkon's system are dense enough that we'll be hidden."
Shiro turned to face the group. "Once we're there, we can scan for Allura on Zarkon's ship with the Castle. Then we attack before Zarkon knows what hit him."
Korrin listened carefully while looking at the screen. It seemed like a decent plan.
"We have a minor hiccup, though," said Coran.
Korrin flicked her eyes to the Altean.
"Wormholing in won't be a problem. But we won't be able to get out without Allura."
There's always a 'but', thought Korrin, So this rescue mission must succeed.
"We won't leave without her," Shiro said with an assured look at Coran. He had let Coran down before. He was determined not to do it again.
The helmsman nodded. "Alright. Let's get ready to move." With that, the Castle began to move as they set out to rescue the Princess.
Korrin leaned back against the far wall, observing everyone, and Keith came to join her.
"Sounds like a decent plan, provided everything goes well and you get Allura," Korrin said.
Keith nodded shallowly. "Yeah, they did a pretty good job."
"But you sound like you have reservations."
Keith chuckled, "I always have reservations."
The two stayed quiet for a moment before Korrin spoke. "Shiro seems to be worried about Allura a lot."
Keith looked at her, following her gaze to Shiro. The tone in her voice was empty and hollow, and seemed to carry no hidden meaning. He was confused; then why would she ask?
"Well, yeah," he responded, uncertainly. "Although if it was any of us, he'd be just as worried."
"So he doesn't favor Allura over you guys?"
Keith shifted his weight. "No, I don't believe he does." He couldn't help but wonder if Korrin felt differently though. "I think he just feels guilty because he blames himself for losing her."
"I see." The paladin eyed her curiously.
"We're preparing to jump," Coran called out.
Korrin had never been through a wormhole before. A large, circular entrance appeared in front of Castle as it approached. There were beautiful, intricate designs of light around the border. Once the Castle was completely through the entry, they were surrounded by a tunnel of intense and wild energy. Before long the castle sat inside their target planet, clouded in a dense , ruby-colored gas, hiding them from view.
"So far, so good," Korrin said to herself.
Everyone gathered around the large screen as it scanned the enemy's base.
"I'm detecting Allura's energy signature," Coran said after a few minutes. "From this distance, the signal's pretty weak but she's somewhere in Zarkon's main ship."
"Gives us a starting point," said Keith, glad to have some sort of direction.
"Once we get closer, we'll be able to narrow down the location where the princess is being held," said Coran.
"Okay guys, this is it," Shiro spoke up. "Voltron is going smash its way into Zarkon's ship and grab the princess without any warning. We will be in and out before they know what hit them."
Wait, what! Korrin almost let her thoughts slip. She straightened up, a disconcerting look on her face. Why would they avoid stealth for a full frontal assault? Going in guns blazing was a terrible idea to her. The weapons equipped on Zarkon's ship could probably take out a planet, much less Voltron itself. And that's also not to mention the smaller ships that would attack them as well once they were discovered.
The paladins all started to go to their lions. She stopped Keith, giving him an apprehensive look. "The plan is to just rush in? I thought there would be more stealth involved..."
Keith sighed, shaking his head. "I told you I had my reservations."
Korrin watched, mouth half open, as Keith disappeared behind the door that took him to his lion. She let out an exasperated sigh, then turned to see Shiro looking at her, a displeased look on his face. Neither broke eye contact as the floor at the paladins feet descended downwards to his lion. Exhaling the breath she had been holding, she joined Coran at the controls.
"You think they'll be okay?" she asked.
"If everything goes according to plan...then yes," the mustached man replied.
Alright. Korrin didn't like this but things were already in motion, not that they would listen to the new girl anyways. The lions were released from their respective hangars and Voltron was formed. She watched as the giant robot jetted straight towards their target. The enemy engaged a fuchsia colored barrier that quickly enveloped the area surrounding the ships and the paladins.
"Will they be able to make it out of that?" Korrin asked, observing the shield-like energy.
"I'm sure they will find a way," Coran responded.
Korrin focused intently, her eyes mirroring the color of the barrier. Zarkon wasted no time in sending out Galra fighters to engage Voltron. With its enormous sword, Voltron plunged it into one of the large cruisers, causing a devastating explosion. Darting out of the way of enemy fire and using its shoulder cannon, the giant robot swiftly put an end to the Galra ships one after the other. Soon all, except Zarkon's, were destroyed. Voltron made a beeline for it. Everything seemed to be going well until suddenly Voltron froze up midair.
"What's happening?!" Coran asked, panicked.
"Somebody do something! Voltron's frozen up!" cried Lance through the screen.
"What the hell is going on!" Korrin shouted. Voltron was completely stiff and rigid. Her eyes widened when suddenly a blinding blue and white light emanated from the giant robot. It flashed and then all of a sudden the lions were separated from Voltron as if someone had just ripped them apart. And if that wasn't bad enough, more ships started to come at the paladins.
"Something isn't right," Korrin said, eyes darting around the screen. "It's like they knew we were coming..."
"Well we aren't going to be much assistance if we stay up here!" Coran shouted, startling Korrin. "Let's go!"
Korrin nodded as an immense force field--a particle barrier--came up around the front of the ship and they sped towards their friends in need. All the lions were busy darting between the massive fleets of ships that attacked them.
"Here we go!" Coran shouted as he fired the castle's lasers at the enemy ships. Everyone cheered with the new boost of confidence. They continued shooting but the waves of enemy Galra seemed never-ending.
"Guys, where's Shiro?" Korrin asked, not seeing the Black Lion anywhere.
"He's still by Zarkon's ship!" Keith said. "Shiro, are you okay?"
"My controls are being overridden!" he responded, seeming to struggle against the intensity of something. "I can't get the lion to respond!" Suddenly he started screaming in agony.
"Shiro!" Korrin shouted
"I'm going in to help him!" exclaimed Keith.
Korrin kept her eyes on the Black Lion. The mouth of it opened and spit something out. "It's Shiro!" she shouted, pointing. "His lion...ejected him?" The black paladin spiraled away from his machine, crashing against the warship. Coran dodged the castle away from a Galran laser, causing her line of sight of Shiro to be cut off. She pounded her fist down. This plan was going just the way she thought it would. It was doomed from the beginning.
"We can't let Zarkon get his hands on the Black Lion!" she said.
"Well we're kind of busy at the moment!" Pidge responded, tying to handle three ships that had surrounded her.
"We need to do something," Hunk asked. "This plan isn't working!"
"I'm going for the Black Lion," Shiro responded. "You guys need to get the Princess, now!"
"Allura's exact location is here," Coran said, pressing a couple buttons on the console, "The coordinates are being uploaded to you now. I'll keep you covered from out here...all alone, against an entire fleet. Do you mind hurrying?"
"You're not alone Coran," Korrin chimed in, tired of sitting back and watching. "I'll help you in any way I can."
Coran nodded a thanks.
"Damn, my jetpack got damaged," Shiro said. "I'll need to go through this ship."
"Shiro, I can come help if you need--"
"No! Stay there, it's too dangerous." he snapped.
Korrin balled her hands into fists, always being told to stay. "I can help Shiro!"
"I said no!"
Coran placed a reassuring hand on Korrin's arm. "Don't take it too hard, he will be fine."
"I know," Korrin replied, shaking her head. "Never mind, let's focus on covering for the others."
They continued firing at every Galran ship they could while keeping out of their line of fire. Zarkon began pulling the Black Lion towards his ship. Noticing this, Keith broke away from the others.
The Red Lion Smashed into the Black Lion, knocking it out of Zarkon's grasp. The heavy machinery landed on the wing of the ship not to far away. Keith went after it when suddenly a large Galran flew past the red paladin and landed next to the downed Black Lion.
"Whoa! Who is that?" Keith asked.
Coran pulled up imaging from the Red Lion and his eyes went wide. "It's Zarkon! Keith get out of there, now! He's too powerful!"
"I have a chance to end the Galra Empire! I'm not going to miss this!" Keith said stubbornly.
"Keith, don't be such a bonehead!" Korrin shouted. "Do as Coran says!" It was no use. The Red Lion took a dive at Zarkon, getting ready to fire its lasers.
"Keith, don't!" Coran shouted. But in the next instant, the laser was fired, tearing across the ship and stopping at Zarkon.
It looked like a good hit as an explosion and a cloud of smoke surrounded the enemy. But a few moments passed and the smoke cleared, revealing Zarkon with his shield up. Using his weapon, he sent an attack directly at the Red Lion, knocking it off kilter.
"Keith, you have to stop this! He's too strong!" Korrin pleaded. The red paladin was way in over his head.
"Look, I need to do everything I can to stall so Shiro and the others can complete the mission!" Keith argued. "Just let me handle this!"
Korrin plopped down in a chair, rubbing her temples. Are all paladins this stubborn?
"Uh, Korrin, I realize there's a lot going on right now, but I could really use your help!" Coran said.
Momentarily forgetting that there was an entire fleet of ships to fend off, Korrin leapt to the controls to help Coran. There were still dozens of ships to fight but between the two of them, they were able to keep them at bay, but just barely. Korrin kept an eye on Keith who seemed to be struggling in his battle with Zarkon.
"Keith, get out of there!" Coran said once again. But there was no response from the red paladin. "Keith, do you hear me? Zarkon's too power! You don't know what you're up against! Listen to me, it's imperative that you don't engage the--" with a click, the transmission was cut off. "Did he just disconnect me?"
Korrin nodded. "I don't care what he says. I'm pretty sure he is not just buying time any more. But he's going to get himself killed." She gripped the control panel until her knuckles were white. She watched as the Red Lion lay motionless as Zarkon rushed it. Then suddenly, a cannon materialized on the top of the Lion and fired a powerful laser at Zarkon. The laser went around the Galran and cut through the outer ring of central command, causing a chain reaction of explosions. "Whoa..." Korrin said under her breath, not expecting that. She watched as Zarkon launched himself into the air and, wielding a giant mace, knocked the Red Lion out of the air with a devastating swing.
"Keith!" Korrin exclaimed. "Come on, you guys, you should have the princess by now. And where's Shiro?"
As if on cue, the Black Lion swooped in just as Zarkon was about to deal a final blow to the Red Lion. Shiro fired a laser at Zarkon, picked up Keith, then made his way back to the Castle.