~~~~Keith~~~~
Saoirse and Allura were gone, and I couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible. Saoirse was close to me. If I hadn't told her go find Shiro and stay with me, she'd be right here. I didn't protect her like I promised.
As soon as we got to the Castle, we bursted through the doors into the the Bridge.
"Pidge, scan the download from the ship. Find out where Zarkon's central command is." Shiro ordered as we rushed onto the bridge.
"On it!" Pidge replied as she did as ordered running to her station and typing away to find the information.
Coran, turned around and expected to see all of us together, but he noticed that the group was missing two members.
"What happened? Where's Allura and Saoirse?" He asked frantically. I noticed the fear in his eyes.
"They captured them. Allura sacrificed herself to save me and the information, and Saoirse...." Shiro could barely say the rest, "She didn't want to leave Allura behind on her own, so she stayed behind. We didn't have a choice."
"How is that possible?" Coran asked.
"Coran, I'm sorry things didn't go as planned, but we can't focus on what went wrong. We've got to figure out how to make it right. Pidge, anything?"
"Guys, look at this." Pidge gestured to the larger screen in front of the group. It was a plan of Zarkon's central command ship. And it was massive.
"Look at the size of it!" Coran gasped, staring at the ship plans.
"I think we should go in right away." Pidge suggested, "Every minute we waste gives Zarkon time to prepare for us."
"I agree. We form Voltron, fly in, fly out, dust off our hands, and walk away." Lance said nonchalantly.
"Um, do you guys not remember the Balmera?" Hunk asked, "We could barely take out one fleet. But this... a base this size could hold a thousand fleets!"
"Or maybe we shouldn't go on this mission at all." I said, "Think about it. We'll be delivering the universe's only hope to the universe's biggest enemy."
Everyone stared at me like I was crazy, but I didn't mean to sound so heartless. Saoirse is the kind of girl that knows what's right. And she's also the type of girl that no matter what, puts bigger things above herself.
"Keith, that's cold, even for you." Hunk said, "What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn't leave me, would you? Would you?"
I looked down and away from my teammates, "I'm not saying I like the idea. I'm just thinking like a paladin."
"No, you're thinking of yourself because you're too scared to do what's right!" Lance accused, "Have you forgotten that Allura is the only one who can fly this ship? Not to mention Saoirse? What about her, huh? Are you really gonna leave them like that?! Do you even care!"
I growled in anger and stomped up to Lance, grabbing him by the collar and holding him up.
"You don't think I care about Saoirse or Allura!?" I shouted, "Allura is important to the team and Saoirse..... Saoirse is the only person I can lean on! I promised to protect her from anything that may come to hurt her and I broke it! So, don't you dare say otherwise!"
I was cut short by Pidge coming between us and pushing us apart.
"Okay, we're all upset because we lost Allura and Saoirse." Pidge said.
"No, Shiro lost Allura and Saoirse!" Coran yelled, blaming Shiro in the harshest way.
"Okay, okay! This isn't helping." Hunk said, "We can't just sit here and bicker like this."
Shiro sighed, calming himself down, "Let's focus. How are we going to get Allura and Saoirse?"
~~~~Saoirse~~~~
I sat next to Allura as we were transported to Zarkon's Central Command. It was the one place we were told to never be, and yet we came because we were selfless and cared more about the others than ourselves. And I had no regrets in following Allura.
"Saoirse, are you all right?" Allura asked. I lifted my head and turned to see Allura with a worried expression.
I smiled, "I'm just fine. A little nervous in seeing the universe's evil overlord, that's all." I chuckled.
She still didn't seem convinced that I was fine, and to be honest, I was not afraid to see Zarkon face to face. I wanted to see the evil that we would wipe from the universe for good, especially when we defeat him.
"Saoirse..." Allura said tearing me away from my thoughts. I turned towards her again and looked into her worried eyes.
"Why... why did you stay behind and get captured with me?" She asked, "Aren't you worried that you might not make it back to the others?"
I softly chuckled, "You seem more worried than I am." I answered, "But I have faith that we'll be all right, and that's all I need. So, I'm not afraid."
~~~~Allura~~~~
I stared at Saoirse as she spoke, completely confused as to why she could have so much bravery and strength. We were about to meet Emperor Zarkon, the conqueror of the universe, and she says that she's not afraid.
"How can you be so sure that we'll be all right?" I asked, wondering how she was so confident.
She smiled and held a hand to her neck, where I remembered her scar was. She gripped the black cloth over it and pulled it down, revealing the scar to me.
"My scar is usually a good sign when something is going to happen." She said, "When it hurts, something bad is going to happen, but it doesn't hurt now. So that means nothing bad will happen to us. We'll be fine. I can feel it."
I let the cloth cover her scar again and sighed while still keeping that smile on her face.
I looked down, pressing my forehead against my knees and closing my eyes to wait for our arrival at the Cental Command.
Just then, I felt a hand on mine. I didn't have to look up to know who was comforting me. Saoirse was so kind. She didn't deserve to be locked in this prison with me.
We stayed in that position, until we reached the central command. Not talking, not moving, just enjoying each others company.
When we arrived, our hold unlocked, and three cloaked figures appeared in front of us. One of them was an old woman with purple skin and thin white hair.
She looked at the two of us with her glowing yellow eyes, "Come with me." She said.
We did as she told us and stood up to follow her, after the other cloaked people handcuffed us. We walked down the halls followed by two Galra sentries.
We moved onto an elevator platform and waited for the doors to close and bring us to our final destination. When we stopped, the doors opened and revealed a large observation room.
The walls were mostly clear, letting us see the bright shine of the stars surrounding us.
"Allura." Saoirse said looking straight ahead. I followed to where she was looking, and saw our enemy.
It was Zarkon, donned in large red and black armor.
I was seething with rage at the sight of his large armored back as he looked out at the stars.
"Princess Allura." He said, his voice deep and menacing.
"You monster!" I yelled, "You destroyed Altea!"
I was so filled with rage that I didn't think before charging at the man who destroyed my planet and destroyed many more planets and their people.
"Allura, stop!" Saoirse shouted.
Haggar, who stood by Zarkon's side, stretched out her hand, covering it in a strange purple aura. I suddenly couldn't move as I was covered in a strong purple force. I grunted and groaned as the pressure from her distant hold squeezed me tightly.
"Let her go, now!" I heard Saoirse shout behind me.
"Why should I take orders from a little girl like you?" The old woman asked with a hoarse tone.
"That is enough, Haggar." Zarkon said. Almost immediately Haggar let me fall to the floor.
"Allura, are you all right?" I heard Saoirse as she ran up to my side to see if I was unharmed. I ignored her worried tone and lifted my head to face my enemy.
"Voltron is going to put an end to your empire!" I shouted with determination, my eyes showing my rage.
"No, it will only make me more powerful." Zarkon said, "Your father knew that as well as I. That's whe he led me to believe he destroyed it all those years ago. But now, your new paladins will come for you and the girl, and they will deliver Voltron to me, and, with it, the key to unimaginable power."
I was about to speak again, when Saoirse stood up before me. I looked up at her and saw her eyes narrowed and filled with determination and without fear.
"So you decided that you deserve the great power of Voltron?" She asked, "If that's what you think then you'll never have Voltron in your hands."
Zarkon stared at her darkly, "How dare you speak to me like that?"
"I will not stand down for what is right." Saoirse continued, "A man like you does not have a shred shared shame or guilt in your body. You do not deserve to even think about how that power will feel."
Zarkon went silent, his eyes fixed on Saoirse and only her.
"Haggar," Zarkon said, "Take the princess away. I would like to have a word with this girl."
"Yes, my Lord." Haggar said.
The sentries in the room grabbed me by the arms and dragged me away.
"Saoirse!" I screamed, "Zarkon, what are you going to do to her?"
I didn't get an answer. Saoirse turned around and smiled at me.
"I'll be all right, Allura. Don't worry." She said, smiling while I was being dragged away.
~~~~Saoirse~~~~
I watched as the door closed after Allura, still smiling until I couldn't see her anymore.
"Turn and face me girl." Zarkon demanded.
I turned around and let my smile fade as I stared at the evil man with no fear shining in my eyes.
He noticed the look in my eyes and he glared.
"Why do you show no fear in your eyes like the others?" He asked.
"I don't see a reason to be afraid." I answered, "I'm not afraid of you. You're just a man who is doing so much evil. An evil that needs to be snuffed out forever."
He didn't change his expression as he walked up to me. I didn't flinch or make a single move. He stopped in front of me, towering over me as his shadow blanketed me in darkness.
He stared hard into my eyes, as if he was looking for something deep in my soul.
"Those eyes..." he whispered, "I've seen those eyes before."
I was confused. This was the third time someone made a comment on my eyes. What do they mean? Where have they seen my eyes before?
"This girl has a power inside her. Haggar, take her to a separate cell from the princess. Make sure it's guarded well."
"Yes, my Lord." Haggar said, she and her fellow cloaked friends grabbed me by arms, but stopped when Zarkon asked me one last question.
"Who are you?" He asked.
I turned around, the cloaked people still holding me, and answered his final question.
"I am the Silver Paladin of Voltron. You don't need to know anything else."
~~~~Shiro~~~~
"Anything?" I asked Lance. We've been at this for hours and still haven't found any way to get into Zarkon's Central Command.
"There's just no way in. They'll have us tracked from every direction." Lance answered.
"There's got to be something. Keep looking." I stood back up and looked forward, seeing Coran stare at the screens with as much worry for Allura and Saoirse's safety as the rest of us.
I walked up to him, "I know you're worried about Allura." I said, "I'm worried about Saoirse just as much. We all are. I'm so sorry I let them slip away."
"I know it's not your fault." Coran said, "It's just... I've lost so much. I can't lose Allura, too."
"We'll find a way to get Allura and Saoirse back. If there was just a way to get close to Zarkon's ship unseen..."
"You seem to be extremely worried about Saoirse more than Allura. Why is that?"
I lowered my head and thought about Saoirse. The girl I came know as little sister.
"Saoirse is special to me. We may not be related by blood, but she's my younger sister. I once made a promise like Keith to always keep her safe, and I broke it by leaving her behind. I don't want to make that mistake again."
Coran hummed, understanding what I meant. Suddenly his eyes widened.
"Wait a tick. I think I have a way to get close without being seen."
I nodded and discussed the plan. Once everything was in place, I turned back to everyone.
"Everyone, eyes front." I said, "We have to plan to get Allura and Saoirse. We're going to jump to the heart of the enemy, unseen and undetected."
"I thought we needed Allura to open up a wormhole." Pidge said.
"It's true that Allura powers the Castle's ability to travel through wormholes." Coran said, "However, I think we have enough of her residual essence stored in the system to make one jump."
We turned to face the screen behind us, showing the rest of our plan.
"We'll hide here, inside one of these giant gas planets on Zarkon's command system. The gas is so dense, we'll be hidden."
"From there, we'll use the Castle to scan Allura and Saoirse on Zarkon's ship and attack before Zarkon knows what hit him." I continued.
"There's only one hiccup. We have enough energy to wormhole in, but, without Allura, we won't have enough energy to wormhole out." Coran said.
"It doesn't matter. We're not leaving without Allura and Saoirse." I said determined to get Allura and my sister back.
~~~~Keith~~~~
We wormholed directly into the heart of Zarkon's command system inside one of the gas planets.
"We're here." Shiro announced.
"I'm detecting Allura's energy signature." Coran said, pulling up Allura's location on the screen.
"Can you find Saoirse?" Pidge asked eagerly.
Coran pressed a few keys, and another location appeared.
"There she is." He said, "From this distance, the signal's pretty weak, but they're both somewhere in Zarkon's main ship."
"Gives us a starting point." I said.
"Onve we get closer, we'll be able to narrow down the location where the princess and Saoirse are being held."
"Okay, guys, this is it." Shiro said, "Voltron is going to come in fast and without warning. We'll smash our way into Zarkon's ship and grab the Princess and Saoirse. Before they know what hit them, we'll have them both and be on our way."
We quickly rushed to their lions and formed Voltron. Without hesitation, we charged straight for the main ship, but before we had a chance to hit it, the ship created a some kind of barrier to keep Voltron inside where they could not.
"What is that?" Hunk asked as the barrier closed around us.
"I don't know, but I hope once we get the Princess and Saoirse, we can find a way out of here." Pidge said.
Voltron flew closer to the ship, as more cruisers steadily flew in.
"They're going to fire!" Pidge shouted. The ships prepared to fire at us, but we had determination and were ready to face the Galra.
Voltron evaded the attacks and we used the Red Lion to punch one of the cruisers.
"Form sword!" Shiro shouted. I plunged his bayard into the slot to his right and formed the sword.
The sword emerged from a blinding blue light and cut through the ship with ease. With the sword still stuck in the ship, we shot off across it, running the sword through the heavy metal. The end result being the destruction of the ship in a blaze of fire.
We cut through one ship and pushed into another, before stopping and going to another ship and slicing it straight through.
"More trouble, straight ahead!" Lance shouted as more ships came on the attack.
"Form shoulder cannon!" Shiro ordered. Hunk plunged his bayard into the slot and formed the large cannon.
The cannon fired multiple shots at once and took out each Galra ship in the way.
With sword in hand, Voltron sped through space towards Zarkon's ship.
"There's Zarkon's ship!" Shiro pointed out. They flew faster towards the ship when suddenly, Voltron stopped.
We screamed then groaned at the sudden halt.
"What's going on?" Hunk groaned.
"We lost the sword! Something's malfunctioning!" I shouted.
"What's happening?" Coran asked.
"Somebody do something! Voltron's frozen up!" Lance yelled.
"Shiro!" I yelled, hearing Shiro groan in pain more than the rest of us.
"I can't hold it!" He shouted in pain.
We screamed again, the feeling of my limbs being torn apart filling my body as Voltron was torn apart. We lay in space in our individual Lions.
"What just happened there? Something tore us apart!" Hunk said.
"I dont know, but we've got bigger problems right now. Look!" Lance pointed off into the distance. Everyone followed his pointed direction and saw even more fighters coming on the attack.
"Why do I get the feeling these guys knew we were coming?" I asked sarcastically.