~~~~Saoirse~~~~
It had been a couple of days since my younger brother, Lellal, found us and told me about what happened to our family. I had another younger brother and a little sister, and our parents were still alive out there on Teshiria's Dark Moon.
Since then, Lellal had barely left my side, attached to me and never let his smile dim. But right now, he was helping us narrow down Lotor's location.
"He fought us here, his generals were here, and he stole the comet here." Pidge "said as several coordiantes appeared on the holographic map around us.
"So, Lotor coukd be anywhere." Lance stated.
"We'll never be able to find him unless we figure out his plan." Shiro said then turned to Lellal, "Lellal, you've been on his ship, right? Can you think of anything that might give us a hint as to what Lotor's planning?"
Lellal shook his head, "No, sorry. I was stuck in the cargo hold and I can't read Galran. Plus, no one came in the entire time I was there, so I couldn't take in any details."
"That's all right." Shiro said, "But with all of these coordinates we're still missing the big picture."
"How about this question? Why was Voltron made out of the same material as that comet? What's so special about it?" Pidge asked.
"My father discovered another planet like that before I was born." Allura said.
"Your father... and Zarkon." Coran added sadly while saying the Galran Emperor's name.
"This was back when Zarkon was the Black Lion's paladin?" Hunk asked.
"Before that." Coran answered, "Before Alfor built the lions."
"I know this is painful to talk about, but if we're going to stop Lotor, it's time we heard the rest of the story." Shiro said.
Coran took a deep breath and looked up at the stars as his mind wandered to the past, recalling the good peaceful reign, and the darkness that came after.
~~~~Flashback~~~~3rd~~~~
"In the beginning, the paladins were just five leaders, who despite coming from cultures which were vastly divergent and in some cases had been warring for generations... managed to look past these differences in an effort to protect their common interests." What was initially a formal agreement to work alongside each other soon blossomed into a true friendship. A warrior's bond was forged, and together, they worked to rid their system of those who would do it harm."
The sounds of gun fire rang through the air as the yellow sky covered the land in dim light. Suddenly, you could see several bandits holding laser guns and firing st their enemy before running into a handmade cave. Their enemy chased after them to the cave before the door closed, locking him outside.
The bandits waited inside facing the door, watching for the door to open so that they may attack and finish off their enemy. But the atrack they anticipated did not come from the fromt door.
Small rocks fell of the ceiling, landing on of the bandits' metal head. He looked up to see what caused the rocks to fall, but all he saw was a foot slamming itself into his face before everything went dark.
The man who landed om the bandit stood up straight, holding his broad sword with strength and precision as he smiled victoriously at his small defeat. But then, his smile faded when he realized just how outnumbered he was.
"Oh, dear." He said looking around at the massive number of bandits surrounding him.
The bandits came head on, trying to hit the man with their daggers, but the man was skilled with his sword, blocking any and all attacks that were thrown at him.
Suddenly, two of the bandits ganged up on him, while one attacked from back, causing the man to look away, the other one attacked form the man's blind spot.
The man was thrown to the ground, his broad sword being tossed out of his hands and laying abandoned on the rocky ground. He turned around and blocked an arial attack just before it could hit. He held out his arms and used his hard armor to block the daggers, grunting in his efforts to not be hurt.
Suddenly, to both the man and the bandit's surprise, a loud clanging noise echoed in the room. The two looked towards the door to see what caused the noise, and then, saw another warrior fighting the bandits with a large mallet-like object.
The warrior swung his weapon with great strength, knocking the bandit on top of the first man away. Soon, other warriors came to help, three to be exact, each one with a different weapon, skills, and all from different races from different planets.
The fight was over before the first man could get up on his feet.
"I keep warning you not to break formation and run ahead, Alfor." The first warrior said.
The man, Alfor, stood up and smiled as if nothing had happened.
"You are much more knowledgeable as an alchemist than a soldier."
"That's what I keep you around for, Zarkon." Alfor said jokingly.
After that, the five warriors returned to their own planets, remaining there for a few weeks until they decided to gather on a red planet called Daibazaal, where it so happens that the Emperor of said planet was Zarkon.
The friends were gathered at a large dinner table, enjoying a lovely meal while joking and relaxing with each other's presence. Alfor had even invited his wife, Melenor to the dinner.
"The original paladins were Zarkon from planet Daibazaal, King Alfor from Altea, Gyrgan from Rygnirath, Teigel of the Dalterian Belt and Blaytz from Nalquod."
The five friends joked and bantered, eating their delicious meals and just having good fun.
"Mm. Pull up a bench and join the feast!" Blaytz said to the servant serving him a drink. Zarkon cleared his throat, making Blaytz shiver at the sudden call to attention.
Zarkom was indeed a well rounded ruler who cared about his people greatly, but he did have a way to intimidate many people, especially with his serious and almost cold expressions.
"You know that fraternizing with the servant class is not permitted. It erodes discipline." Zarkon said.
"Well, perhaps a bit of discipline erosion would do you good, Zarkon." Alfor joked.
"Something I will consider the next time you are surrounded Lambonite scavengers."
Alfor frowned, "I was handling myself." He stated.
"You mean wetting yourself?" Gyrgan teased leaning closer to Alfor who slumped in his seat while his shoulders stiffened and a vein popping out of his head in annoyance.
The entire table laughed loudly, even Melenor and Coran laughed at the way their King was embarrassed.
"Why I ever joined up with this band of scoundrels, I'll never know." Alfor said smiling.
"Because we're the only band of scoundrels that would have you." Trigal said then soot due and raised her glass, "To us!" She said when suddenly, something caused the room to glow a bright red light.
Then, the room began to shake is if it was an earthquake.
"By Willow!" Gyrgan said in shock. The group looked up to see what was glowing in the sky, and for a moment, they saw something shoot across the once darkened sky.
Whatever had flown across the sky crashed a ways away from the Castle, landing in the planet's surface and exploding upon impact. Even from the Castle you could feel the winds caused by the crash.
Without hesitation, they ran out to the crash sight to see what had fallen onto Daibazaal.
They climbed down the side of the crater, seeing the fiery object still burning at the bottom of the crater.
A large comet sat in the crater, blue light shining from the cracks, and a substantial amount of energy radiating off of it in waves.
"They could have never known that, that very night, the fate of the universe would be changed forever."
The very next day, Zarkon and Alfor had began taking the necessary precautions and actions to ensure the safety of the Galran citizens, and the containment and study of the comet.
It had taken many weeks, but with Alfor's resources on Altea and his wide knowledge of alchemy and science, they were able to successfully contain the comet within a barrier so that they may safely study it.
Zarkon walked into the lab stationed near the impact zone, where Alfor was staring intently at a piece of the comet. The sample was kept in a holographic sphere, while Alfor ran multiple analysis tests on its stranger properties.
"I have finished evacuating all Galra citizens near the crater." Zarkon said, "What have you discovered?"
"We're not sure." Alfor answered, "This comet is like none seen before. It seems to be made of a material that can pass between realities."
"What do you mean?" Zarkon asked.
"Well, I mean that sages have always theorized that there are many realities stacked side by side with each other. Whole other universe with their own histories unbeknownst to us."
The two walked closer to the hole where the comet once was, the bright glow from the hole illuminating the room as small lights floated from the bottom.
"But we never had any proof. Until now."
Zarkon scoffed, "Yes, and the next you'll tell me is that Teshirians are still alive out there."
Alfor shrugged his shoulders, "Perhaps they are, and then perhaps they are not."
It was true what Zarkon had said. Teshirians were a legend across the universe, stories passed down thousands of years. They were said to hold amazing abilities, hold and take away energy and with one touch of their fingers, they could bring a dead planet back to life.
But as said before, they were nothing but legends. However, there is always a hint of truth in those legends.
"When we moved the comet, we found this." Alfor gestured to the hole created by the comet, shocking Zarkon to his core.
"This... is another reality?" He questioned. Suddenly he screamed, feeling something rub on his leg. He looked down and saw a black and orange cat meowing at him.
"What is that?" He asked almost panicked by the sudden appearance of a cat near his leg.
A pair of arms reached to the cat, and the cat accepted the soft gesture, crawling onto his owner.
"Do not worry. It is only Kova. He is from our reality." A voice said.
It was an Altean woman sent here to research the comet's remains. She was a lovely woman with light brown skin and pale purple hair. Her gold eyes looked at Zarkon with respect and she had red sickle marks under her eyes, a significant visual characteristic of the Altean race.
"Zarkon, this us Honerva. She is the best alchemist on Altea." Alfor introduced, "I asked her to come to Daibazaal and lead the scientific investigation. Her expertise will be invaluable."
"Isn't it exciting?" Honvera asked, the excitement and curiosity easily heard in her voice, "It could change the way we understand our entire universe."
Zarkon was too flustered to answer properly, instead he just looked away from Honerva.
"Well, find our everything you can. I will provide any support you require." He said before excusing himself to leave.
"King Alfor experimented with the comet's ore in his lab on Altea, as Honerva continued her research of the rift on Daibazaal. But Alfor visited often as the years passed."
Things over the years have certainly gotten better. Zarkon and Alfor were both blessed with good fortune. One had been blessed with love, and the other, a beautiful baby girl.
Alfor, his wife, Coran and Zarkon gathered in one of the halls sitting on the benches surrounding a light fountain.
"Zarkon, I'd like you to meet Princess Allura." Alfor introduced the infant playing with her mother's finger. The little family looked genuinely happy together, and even Zarkon seemed happy for his dear friend.
"It is my pleasure." Zarkon said to the baby princess, "Please accept this gift in honor of your birth, Princess."
The servant by Zarkon's side held a tray with a box on it toward the princess. Melenor opened the box and took out a Galra soldier helmet, then gently placed it on her child's head.
Alfor chuckled in amusement seeing his daughter in a Galran helmet.
"Honerva has really softened you up, my friend." Alfor said, "I never thought I'd see the day the great warrior Emperor Zarkom was married, and to an Altean alchemist, no less."
Zarkon smiled in joy. It is true that since he married Honerva, he has gotten softer and able to show a bit more emotion.
Months afterwards, Alfor came to visit the lab on Daibazaal. He stood behind Honerva who was typing away at her keyboard.
"Honerva, working hard as usual." He said in a joking manner, "Many thanks for the gift. Allura loves it."
"It was a customary gesture." She replied.
"Of course. How is our quintessence experiment?"
"Still running." Honerva pointed to a device on the table to her right. The device was spinning continuously, never slowing down or having signs of stopping.
"Running for a full year on one drop of quintessence, with no decline in revolutions per dobosh. No other energy source like this exists." Alfor said in amazement, "The ships I'm creating for us work on the same principle, and the ore from the comet practically engineers itself. It's frightening, in a way."
"Endlessly powerful ships for the Galra Empire." Zarkon said happily.
"And an endless source of clean energy for the entire system." Alfor added, to which Zarkon quickly agreed.
Suddenly, Alfor heard something swish. He turned around and saw a canister with something small and dark floating around inside.
"What is that?" Alfor asked.
"I sent some signals into the neighboring reality and this creature answered the call." Honerva explained, "Nothing from our universe has been able to survive the passage through the rift. But somehow, he arrived unharmed."
"What?" Alfor said shocked, "I thought we discussed this. We must exercise caution. We have no idea what is out there."
"The ancients thought that lightning was shot from the bows of the gods until science proved otherwise. We must always push into dangerous territory in pursuit of knowledge."
All of a sudden, the creature screeched, and brought on new problems in the rift. The rift began to become unstable, dark and unfamiliar energy came shooting out from the rift and engulfing the lab.
"King Alfor and Homerva erected a particle barrier around the crater, containing the creatures. But it wouldn't hold forever."
Much time had passed, and Alfor had completed a project that should help save Daibazaal from destruction. He called his warrior group and told them to come see what he had created.
"I trust this plan of yours will work, Alfor." Zarkon said hopefully as the elevator brought them down to Alfor's lab.
Then, the rocky exterior disappeared and revealed what Alfor has been working on for all these years.
"By Willow!" Gyrgan gasped. Once the elevator had stopped descending, the group walked into the room and gazed upon six amazing and powerful lions standing proudly.
"Incredible!" Trigal said.
"Alfor, they're amazing. How do they work?" Zarkon asked.
"I made them from the quintessence-infused ore of the comet, which provides them with an endless supply of power." Alfor explained.
"Remarkable!" Zarkon expressed.
"The comet alloy also renders them nearly indestructible."
"What sort of weaponry do they have?" Blaytz asked.
"This is where things become more interesting. Altean alchemy can accomplish some incredible feats of engineering, as you know. But in testing my ship, I started to feel some sort of psychic link. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the ship wasn't just reading my mind. It was communicating with me. They seem to be evolving. We don't know what powers these ships possess, but we may gain understanding with time."
Zarkon turned towards Alfor with a shocked and impatient expression on his face.
"Time? Time slips away even as we stand here. My people will soon be slaughtered by dark creatures from another realm. Without these ships, all hope is lost." Zarkon said.
Alfor completely understood what Zarkon was feeling. And so, they began.
Each lion was not chosen by their paladin, but in fact they were chosen by the lions themselves.
Blaytz was the chosen Blue Paladin of the Blue Lion.
Trigal was the chosen Green Paladin of the Green Lion.
Gyrgan was the chosen Yellow Paladin for the Yellow Lion.
Alfor was the chosen Red Paladin for the Red Lion.
And finally, Zarkon was the chosen Black Paladin for the Black Lion.
However, no one was chosen for the Silver Lion. At the time, there weren't enough warriors in the room be chosen from, and they didn't have enough time to search for a Silver Paladin.
After being chosen by their lions, Alfor had given all of them their out Paladin armor and without hesitation, they shot off out of the Castle and headed for Daibazaal.
"Now, go easy at the beginning." Alfor warned, "This is greater energy than you have ever worked with before."
"Perhaps you should lead the formation, Alfor." Zarkon suggested, "You have a greater understand of the vessels than anyone."
"I'm a better alchemist than military leader, Zarkon. I'll stick with being uour right hand."
Zarkon took the position as leader and they all flew to Daibazaal, where the battle with the creatures had already begun.
The Lions made it to the site and began to fight, Zarkon firing at the creature from the front while the others came in from all sides.
They continued to fire their lions' lasers, but everytime it was hit, the creature would split into more creatures. Quickly the battle became more difficult.
"Fall back, Paladins! We must regroup!" Zarkon shouted, but Alfor didn't listen. He closed his eyes and focused on his lion. That's when he felt it. A strange pull at his mind, telling him what to do.
"Quickly, we must come together in formation." He said.
"What? Why?" Trigal asked.
"I don't know, but somehow I can feel it."
And so, the five lions flew into the sky in formation. Then, they saw it. The mighty warrior that would protect the universe.
They had formed Voltron for the first time!
The creature was defeated with only a single punch, but more came their way. Luckily, Voltron's surprises were not limited just yet.
Another dark creature fired its attack at them, but the Green Lion formed a shield. However, the beast was still too powerful and surrounded the warrior in its darkness.
Just then, Alfor heard his lion growl, telling him to use his bayard. He did as requested of him and formed a broad sword, finally vanquished the creature and saving Daibazaal.
But the issue remained about the rift. Alfor wanted it to be closed to prevent another catastrophe like this, but Zarkon and Honerva wished for it to remain open.
"Honerva comtinued her experiments on the rift. Despite their differences, Zarkon and Alfor, along with the other paladins, established a new era of peace and prosperity. It was an age of exploration, and Voltron became known as the Defender of the Universe. However, there was still no Paladin for the Silver Lion. Many have tried to gain its trust, but none could connect to the lion. It seemed as if the Silver Lion would never choose a Paladin. At least, until she came along."
The Paladins were celebrating another victory on Altea. They danced and drank and had much fun with friends and family. Alfor was in the middle of a happy dance with his nine-year old daughter, Allura, when a large crash sounded outside.
"What was that?" Gyrgan shouted over the loud noise.
"I don't know, be prepared for anything!" Alfor shouted. They ran out the castle still donned in their armor and flew off in their lions to the crash site.
It was an empty field thankfully, so no citizens were in harms way. But there was still a large crater in the ground.
They scanned the area and saw nothing dangerous from the crater created by whatever had crashed. Slowly and cautiously they came out of their lions and walked to the crater's edge.
"What's down there?" Zarkon asked.
"I don't know." Trigal answered.
"Should we call for backup?" Gyrgan asked.
"No. I don't think it's anything dangerous." Alfor said sliding down the crater side. The others followed in suit sliding down the crater side.
It didn't take long before they reached the bottom of the crater, and what they saw at the body, was something that shocked them to their cores.
It was a young girl wearing purple robes with white markings on the cloth. She had long deep blue hair and a pale face, her eyes closed as if she were asleep and not a single scrath on her body.
But her most surprising feature, were the large white wings attached to her back.
"It's... It's a child!" Trigal shouted rushing to the young girl. She picked the girl up and rushed her out of the crater with the other paladins following her.
They rode in their lions back to the castle and got the girl to the infirmary. The Altean doctors there did what they could and determined that she was just extremely exhausted.
It was three days later when the child woke up, and when she did, she was utterly terrified.
Alfor and his wife Melenor were called to the infirmary to see the child and once they walked in, they saw the girl shivering and trying to hide her head in her knees.
Alfor gently and slowly came closer to the girl, placing a soft hand on her shoulder.
"Child, we will not harm you." He said. The girl stopped shivering after an hour of soothing words and comforting conversations.
Finally, the girl lifted her head up, showing her face to the Altean royal couple. Alfor and his wife were shocked hy the pure blue color of her eyes. It was if staring at the sky with shining light glowing in the pure blue shade.
"You are such a beautiful young lady." Melenor complimented.
The girl smiled a small grin and nodded in acknowledgement, "Thamk you very much." She whispered, "What planet is this?"
"You're on Altea. You ctashed onto our planet and have been asleep for the past three days." Alfor explained.
"I see. I must've flown for too long. But that means I'm far away from him." She whispered.
"Now, may I ask your name?" Alfor asked, "I am King Alfor and this is my wife Melenor."
The girl looked at the two Alteans and sensed their calm and comforting energy. She knew she could trust them.
"My name is Siofra." The girl answered.
"That's an interesting name." Melenor said, "Where are you from?"
"I am from Teshiria." The two Alteans were shocked to hear about where she had come from.
Siofra had told them all about what had happened to her. Her father, her planet, her exile. Everything was told to the Altean King and Queen.
After much consideration, Alfor decided to let Siofra stay on Altea, but in order to do so, she wqs to be the personal maid to his daughter.
Allura was nine years old and Siofra was thirteen, so they were close in age and more easily to get along with each other.
Alfor had warned Siofra that Allura was a little stubborn and headstrong, but slowly, the two go along quite well.
After six years of this life, she had grown fond of Altea and thought of it as her true home. She had even found love on this planet.
He was the captain of the Castle knights. Cires was handsome, skilled, intelligent, kind but the only downside to him was that he was very pushy to get her to date him.
Almost everyday since meeting her, he has asked for a single date and everytime, Siofra turned him down. Then after many days of this, he finally got a yes.
The first date was more than she could ever imagine. He took her out to a lovely dinner and then a walk under the Altean stars.
They had dated since then and have loved every moment of their relationship. But then, her position on Altea would soon change.
Siofra was talking a walk around the Castle, holding a basket of flowers she had picked to liven up her bedroom, when all of a sudden, she heard something roar in a passing room.
Curious, she opened the door and saw the hangar where all the Voltron Lions were held. Siofra walked inside and went straight to the Silver Lion. There was an energy tugging at her to the Silver Lion.
And that's when she felt it. The amazing power of a Voltron Lion. She was so shocked that she dropped her basket of flowers and walked closer to the Lion, who laid its head down and opened its mouth to let her inside.
She sat in the pilot seat and felt her Teshirian powers increase a tenfold. Her Teshirian marks glowed brighter than ever before and the Silver Lion roared, drawing Alfor to the lion hangar.
"Who's in there?" Alfor asked whoever was inside the Lion.
The Silver Lion lowered its head down and revealed Siofra standing in the Lion's mouth.
Her wings were spread out wide, the Teshirian marks on her body shining brightly, and her smile sparkling with such happiness.
Siofra was officially introduced to the universe as the Silver Paladin of Voltron and during one battle, they found out that the Silver Lion was deeply connected to her Teshirians abilities to control, extract and give energy. The Lion changed into armor and connected to the energies of the other lions, giving her the ability to strengthen and protect Voltron.
However that power had consequences. Her own energy was greatly depleted and it took her a while before she was able to become used to the sudden energy loss.
Three years passed and Siofra and Cires celebrated their marriage. The only ones that didn't attend here Zarkon and his wife. At the time, Honerva was ill from exposure to dangerous amounts of quintessence, making her health suffer greatly.
Almost a year later, a few phoebs after Allura had turned nineteen, Siofra had given birth to a beautiful baby girl they named Saoirse.
Saoirse was a Teshirian name meaning the stars' jewel. It was meant to give their daughter strength and a blessing of beauty and purity.
Although, with the birth of her child, the Silver Lion had stopped responding to her and instead, calling to her daughter.
Allura had fallen in love with the baby and had even thought to call her her little sister.
Soon, Zarkon had said that the rift must be closed in order to protect his people, and the others agreed to use Voltron, the only thing powerful enough to withstand the rift.
They flew to Daibazaal and proceeded to fly closer to the rift covered by the dome barrier.
But, little did any of the paladins know that Zarkon had different intentions for the rift.
Voltron landed next to the rift and tore the dome covering it, throwing it far away.
"Honerva told me that the only way to close the rift, was to use the power of the quintessence." Zarkon explained, "We must make the rift bigger first to gather the power."
"How do we do that?" Gyrgan asked.
"We use the sword." Alfor answered.
Alfor did so and formed the sword. Voltron stuck its sword into the rift. Almost immediately they all felt power pour into Voltron.
However, there was too much energy and without the Silver Lion to filter the excess energy, the Paladins were feeling the overwhelming power from the rift.
"It's too much!" Gyrgan grunted.
"Stay focused!" Alfor shouted.
It was in an instant. Voltron was covered in a strange light and pulled into the rift.
Everyone breathed heavily as they groaned in pain, but when they opened their eyes, they were in a different realm.
"Where are we?" Blatz asked, almost at a loss for words upon seeing this strange new realm.
"We've entered the rift." Alfor informed us. Just then, the alarm went off. We looked around and saw that Zarkon was outside of his Lion, holding a very sickly Honvera in his arms.
Not a moment later the creatures returned and took Zarkon and Honerva into their dark embrace.
Voltron was quickly covered by the dark creatures. Alfor ordered to fire the lasers, the lasers fired and blew the creatures away long enough for them to escape.
"Zarkon's attempt to save Honerva was in vain. They both succumbed to overexposure of quintessence. The paladins had been deceived by Zarkon. They had unwittingly enlarged the rift, which further destabilized Planet Daibazaal. King Alfor was forced tk evacuate the plamet. He, then, closed the rift the only way he knew how. By destroying the Galran homeworld. King Alfor held a state funeral for Zarkon and Honerva in his royal hall. But what happened next, he could never have guessed."
In the room where the deceased couple lay, dark magic and evil forces were at work to change the universe forever.
Zarkon and Honerva were revived due to the darkness of the tainted quintessence of of the other realm. They had turned into the evil Emperor Zarkon and his loyal witch Haggar.
Zarkom had vowed to create a new rift through space and time to gain more power and control over quintessence.
But to do so, they needed Voltron.
And so... the war began.
Peaceful planets throughout the universe were not prepared for war, and so they quickly became victims of Zarkon's evil intentions.
Alfor, in a final attempt to keep Voltron from Zarkon's hands, sent five of the six lions to the far corners of the universe.
He had even sealed his daughter, his advisor and Siofra and her family in cryo pods so that maybe one day they would end this war once and for all.
But something was amiss with the Silver Lion. Instead of taking off on its own, it teleported the pods containing its paladin and her family, then flew off to a distant planet to hide until it was time for them to awaken.
~~~~Saoirse~~~~
We all stared in shock at the story we were told.
"So that's Lotor's plan." Pidge said, "To cross into other universes and get the purest quintessence possible."
"No matter what, we have to stop him." Keith said.
I looked down at my brother, who seemed to be afraid. His hands were shaking and his eyes filled with fear.
I grabbed his shoulder and he almost instantly stopped shaking.
But then, I got a strange dark feeling and my scar began to burn. I gently touched my scar.
"I still wonder.." I said grabbing everyone's attention, "How has Lotor gotten this far without being destroyed by the Galra? And why has he taken the time to destroy Galra checkpoints? He's up to something terrible in the future."
All of us thought those same questions all night. But my scar didn't stop burning until the next morning.