~~~~Saoirse~~~~
A couple of weeks passed since I freed Teshiria from my Grandfather and defeated the Galra fleet waiting to take it.
The day after the celebration, I had said goodbye to my family. My mother completely understood my role as the Silver Paladin, and was proud that I would continue to fight alongside my friends and allies. My father and Lellal understood as well.
However, Reilo and Nalira didn't fully understand why I had to leave and cried into my chest begging me to not leave them again.
I simply smiled and promised that when the war is over, we'll live together as a family, and that I wouldn't leave them again.
Lellal had decided to stay on Teshiria and help my mother and the other Teshirians rebuild their lives on their planet, trying to reverse the effects of my Grandfather's rule.
Before we left, I gave my mother her Teshirian stone back. At the moment I returned it, she cried and hugged me so tightly and suddenly that it knocked the wind out of me.
I had also received something. My Grandfather's sword. My mother gave it to me, but as soon as I touched it, the sword changed. In a quick flash of light, I was holding a long lance, the Teshiri clan crest on either side of the weapon. The red streak had disappeared and on the white pole part of the lance was a silver pattern that swirled up from the grip and formed a flower towards the ends of the lance.
The grip in the center was gold with blue stones on it, but not where I would grip it. It shone brightly in the sunlight and I was amazed that it changed upon my touch. When I asked my mom about it, she said that it was a Teshiri clan family heirloom passed down from the first Teshiri clan head.
She explained that it was made of a special Teshirian mineral that changes depending on the weilder.
A good match for the Paladin of the Silver Lion of Voltron. But what was stranger was the change to my appearance.
I had a permanent Teshirian marks on my ar, colored the same blue as usual. And my hair had changed slightly too. A single strip of my hair was blue with silver and white highlights. It ran down my face, framing my left side right behind my bangs. When I put it into a ponytail, it ran to the back of my head. It reminded me of how my hair changed for a second after I met Anielisa and Castielis in my dream.
We didn't have to worry about the Galra finding Teshiria again. Once my mother took back the Teshiri clan head seat, she erected a powerful barrier around the solar system, but it wasn't like my Grandfather's. The barrier was much stronger, but it didn't hide the solar system from sight. Instead, it kept any type of signals from reaching Teshiria without being intercepted through energy waves.
In other words, if there's a signal heading towards Teshiria, the people can intercept those signals with their control over energy, then change that signal into something different. They basically manipulate signals to say thay nothing is there. Thankfully it doesn't take much energy and the Galra haven't been seen near the system since we left.
We all said our goodbyes and parted ways. Much to Keith and my dismay.
We didn't tell anyone about the previous night, as they would tease us non-stop, especially a certain young Green Paladin who had a habit of teasing. Although, Allura would probably do the same if she found out.
Even so, Keith and I still talked, although not as much as we wanted since he was mostly on missions and so was I. But we managed to keep in touch and talk when we could.
Now, we were stationed back on Olkarion, awaiting our next course of action.
We stood on the Bridge of the Castle, Kolivan and Keith on the wide screen.
"Entire Galra fleets have been mobilized. Zarkon seems to be out looking for Lotor." Kolivan explained.
"It's only a matter of time before gets the empire back in order." Shiro said, "We need to take advantage of this moment."
"What are you getting at, Shiro?" Allura asked.
"Now would be the perfect time to assemble the coalition that Voltron has been building." I answered.
"Saoirse's right." Shiro agreed, a large holographic map appeared above us, showing places and areas taken over by the Galra, resistance fighters and coalition members.
"With intelligence gathered by the Blades and coalition observers, combined with Pidge's Galra tracking software, we now have a detailed map of the Galra Empire." Shiro continued.
Several planets were highlighted on the map, almost in a complete straight line.
"I've identified an intermittent line of coalition planets that runs through the territory. If you look closely, there's only one Galra-occupied planet left on that line."
A single planet was circled in the incomplete line.
Naxzela." Allura said, knowing the planet.
"Exactly." I said, "If we capture Naxzela and solidify that line, we can cut off all the Galra troops behind it from central command and use our position to defeat them."
Everyone smiled at the hope for cutting off a third of the Galra's territory by taking a single planet back for their hold.
"Wow!" Pidge exclaimed, "We could take back a third of the Galra Empire in one fell swoop."
"Do we have a plan?" Hunk asked.
"We attack several locations across the region, at once." Shiro said, "First, we'll have to cut off communications between the region and Galra Central Command."
"We can do that by striking the satellite relay station orbiting Vantax Five. That station handles all communications between the region and Galra Central Command." I said, pointing to the cooridnates of Vantax Five.
"Pidge and I can handle that." Hunk volunteered, squeezing Pidge to his side.
"The Blades have informed us of two Galra defense systems coming online called Zaiforge Cannons." Shiro said as a large hologram of a cannon appeared above us.
"Now, these cannons can strike any target within our combat theater. The first, in high orbit around the planet Teq, will be attacked by coalition air forces led by Matt and Captain Olia. Kolivan will lead a Marmoran strike team against the second cannon, located on the surface of Senfama, which is vulnerable to a covert ground attack. We intend take a control of these cannons and use Zarkon's own firepower against him."
All of us smiled at the sound of beating Zarkon with his own weapons. A good way of showing that we were much stronger than him.
"Once the coalition forces and the Blades neutralize these targets, Galra defenses will be weakened, allowing us to take down the remaining Galra-occupied planets in this area. While our forces are taking control of the planets, Naxzela will already be under attack."
Allura glanced over at Shiro confused, "By whom?" She asked.
"Voltron," Shiro answered.
"Aw, yeah!" Lance exclaimed, hugging Pidge and Hunk around their necks, "Team Voltron's gonna drop in Naxzela, form Hunk's giant laser cannon, and be all like, 'Pow! Pow! Pow!' Easy-peasy."
I sighed at Lance's over confidence, "Sorry, Lance, but it's not going to be as easy as that." I said. Lance's mood suddenly went down fast.
"Saoirse is right." Shiro agreed, "Naxzela will be tough. It's heavily fortified with Galra. Our attack must be swift enough to neutralize the Galra forces beford they have time to contact Galra headquarters. 'Cause if they call for reinforcements, we'll be caught in fight on two fronts."
"If this works, the Voltron Coalition will possess a third of the Galra Empire's territory. It will be a massive victory." Kolivan said.
"And inspire a whole new wave of rebellions." Allura added.
"There's no time to waste." Shiro said.
~~~~Lotor~~~~
We flew through the darkness of space, a plan forming in my mind as I sent coordinates to Ezor and Acxa.
"Ezor, Acxa, set a course for the coordinates I'm sending you." I said.
"Where are we going?" Ezor asked.
"Just do as I say." I ordered, cutting off the transmission.
I stayed on track, following the directions I had coded into my ship. But while I steered my ship, my mind floated off elsewhere.
That strange pilot of the Silver Lion.
She seemed to brave, but she was also very different. She spoke to me so coldly in a way that no one had ever spoken to me before.
"The Silver Paladin." I said under my breath while smirking in anticipation of seeing her again.
"I look forward to meeting you again."
~~~~Saoirse~~~~
I stood with the others in full Paladin armor as I waited for everyone else to come back.
Hunk and Allura went to the the Balmera to ask for the Balmeran's support in the fight.
My brother Shiro went to Taujeer's moon to ask for their help and support.
Finally, Lance and Pidge stayed on Olkarion to help formulate strategies and other plans to attack the Zaiforge cannons and take back Naxzela.
Meanwhile, I stayed in the Castle and worked on my powers. Ever since Teshiria, I've felt more powerful than ever before, and that made me need to practice more in order to control it.
I stood in the training room with my lance and in my Teshirian form. When I let my human form fade, I kept finding myself in the same clothes I had on during the battle with my Grandfather, after I took in the Light of Teshiria. But when I wore my paladin armor, it didn't change, so I was relieved for that fact.
I had three drones hurled in the air, all of them controlled by me. I took ahold of their energy and forced them upwards. The drones were confused by the sudden change in their location, that they weren't able to function properly, making it easier for me to spread my wings and take them out.
I did that several times on multiple levels of the training program until I began to get tired around level thirty.
I ended the training sequence and sat down in the middle of the floor breathing slightly heavy.
"You'regetting better at controlling energy, Saoirse." A voice said from the entrance. I turned around and saw Shiro standing in the entrance.
I smiled and stood back up, going back to my human form.
"Yeah, I thought it would be best to train a little before going into battle. Lossen up my muscles and train my powers a little." I explained, walking towards him.
He smiled back, "I'm glad to see you doing well. I would've thought thay you would be overwhelmed by all the stuff that happened on Teshiria."
I shook my head, "No. In fact, I feel relieved. Like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, so now I feel lighter. It was good to finally get all the answers I wanted. And to find my family."
Shiro and I walked back to the bridge, waiting for everyone to return.
A few hours later, the rest of the Paladins, Allura and a few rebellion members came back to go over the plans again.
"It's time to gather to coalition." Shiro said to the group, "Friends and allies from across the universe must come together to take on the Galra. With their help, we'll have a chance to turn the tides of this war. We all knew this day would come and we are more prepared now than we've ever been. Let's do this."
I turned back towards the holo-map in front of us. This was it. One of our biggest missions to save the universe yet.
Soon, after the sun had set, we were called to the Bridge for Allura's live broadcast to the coalition. Allura stood in her platform and looked ready to speak to all the coalition members.
She would be seen as the knot that binded all of us together along with Voltron. We were the symbol of hope, but she was the one who brought us paladins together. Without her, there would be no Voltron.
"All right, Princess, it's time to begin the broadcast." Coran said as we stood in front of her.
"Have we secured communications?" Allura asked.
"Yes." Pidge said, "Matt and I used the rebel's transponder encryption."
"And I made sure that no type of energy signals could interfere with the transmission broadcast as an extra safety measure." I added proudly.
"Always helps to have a pair of tech-genius siblings and an energy wielding Teshirian around." Coran said, joking slightly.
The crystal above Allura began to glow engulfing her in a soft light. Several points on the screen visually signalled the connection between us and the planets belonging to the coalition.
Soon, all connections lines were made, and Allura was ready to speak words of hope to all.
"Fellow members of the Voltron Coalition, if you are hearing me now, it is because you have pledged to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our fight against Zarkon's enslavement of the free peoples of the universe. But that enslavement is abiut to be dealt a crushing blow. The time for a full-scale attack on the Galra Empire is now. Far in the future, when they speak of this day, they will speak of our sacrifice, but they will also remember this as the day that freedom began to overtake tyranny. You all have your missions. You know what to do. Good luck. We'll see you on the other side."
The broadcast ended and we began to put our plan into action.
Pidge and Hunk ran to the Green Lion and took off without hesitation. The rest of us went to the rendezvous point to wait for further instructions on how to proceed next.
"When you finish knocking out the communications hub, meet us at the rendezvous point." Shiro said, communicating with Pidge and Hunk.
"Copy that, Shiro. According to its trajectory, it passes through the dark zone in five ticks." Pidge answered.
"No pressure." I heard Hunk slightly panic as Pidge counted down.
"Good luck, you two." I wished them before their signal went off.
I waited anxiously in my lion's cockpit for them to call back with good news.
"Be calm, Saoirse. They will be just fine." My lion reassured me. Her reassurance calmed my nerves a little, but I was still very nervous.
About ten minutes later, we got a transmission from Pidge and Hunk.
"Comm station hacked, ghost signal initiated. Fully automated, so Galra HQ thinks it's running. We have eight hours before they figure it out." Pidge informed.
"Until then, no calls get in or out." Hunk added.
"Coran will monitor it from the Castle so we know when it's back online. Great work, guys." Shiro praised.
It didn't take long for everyone to meet at the rendezvous point near Naxzela. I felt so much power and confidence rush through me, that I had the feeling of invincibility fill me to the brim, all the way down to my toes and fingertips.
"Who's ready to take down the Galra?" I asked.
"You bet!" Lance said.
"Ready when you all are." Hunk said.
"Affirmative." Allura said.
"Let's do this!" Pidge exclaimed.
"Well, then, let's get started. Form Voltron!" Shiro ordered. We formed our respective parts of Voltron. However, unlike the last time we formed the warrior back on Teshiria, the armor wasn't made of crystal like before.
"Aww, what? What happened to that awesome crystal armor we had on before?" Lance asked whining at the change to our armor.
"I think it's because Saoirse isn't in her Teshirian form right now." Pidge suggested.
"She's right, Lance." I said.
"Well, can't you just change again?" He asked.
I shook my head, "No. If the Galra see my Teshirian form, they'll want to hunt us down just to get a hold of my abilities, not to mention my connection to the Silver Lion. Besides, it'll take time to gather up the energy I need to form that crystal armor. You'll have to be patient."
Lance slumped in his seat, but he didn't complain anymore, my reasons being too hard to argue against.
When we got there, a larger Galra cruiser was in orbit.
Instead of wasting Voltron's energy, I used my individual abilities to take it down.
I held out one of my hands and focused on the engines. It didn't take long for me to grasp the cruiser's energy. Instead of just snuffing it out, I increased the energy of the engines to make it overload. In seconds, the cruiser began to explode.
Majors sections of the ship, like the bridge, weapon systems and main thrusters were severely damaged as they exploded from the overwhelming amount of energy that had to take in.
The ship began to fall towards Naxzela's surface
"Nice job, Saoirse!" Shiro praised me.
We followed the falling ship for a dust cover. I heard the lions of Voltron growl as we landed on hand and knee right on Naxzrla's surface. Our energy levels increased as we stood up straight and looked towards the Galra buildings and ships in front of us, and we were ready to take Naxzela.
"All right, Paladins, we've only got one chance to take Naxzela, so let's make it count." Shiro said.
Then, we struck the Galra. Pidge thrust the Green Lion arm forward and shot a laser at the large cruisers above us, taking them out in a second.
The Red Lion did the same, only this time, the lion was shooting at the ground bases, turning the buildings to rubble in a single shot.
I kept a close eye on our energy levels, making sure that none of us were weak as we fought for Naxzela.
"Incoming cruiser, three o'clock!" Lance shouted.
The cruiser took its shot and tried to hit us, but Lance's warning gave us enough time to evade the attack. We backed away from the blast, but the laser followed us not too far behind.
To avoid the laser, we flew into the sky, but were suddenly hit from behind. A strange sense of energy swirled around me as we were hit by something not visible to our eyes.
"What was that?" Allura asked the Voltron shook violently and the alarms blared.
"I didn't see any-" Lance said but was interrupted by another mysterious blast.
We were shot back again from the blast, landing on the ground and staying still, but once again we were surprised by another blast from behind.
They kept coming, each blast weakening us even more and confusing us at the same time. I grit my teeth and swallowed the pain in my body as Voltron continued to get hit.
"What's hitting us?" Shiro asked.
"We're in a mine field." Pidge informed us a tick later, "Somehow, the bombs were cloaked."
"That explains the weird energy I'm sensing. It's coming from the cloaked mines." I said finally understand the situation.
"Shield. Shield!" Hunk shouted.
We looked up and summoned our shield to block the attack from the cruiser above us.
I gripped my controls tighter than before then looked over at our energy readings. The shield was strong, but against this amount of force being put on it from the laser, it wouldn't last long before it would break.
"My systems are able to detect the mines, but there's just too many to safely maneuver through them." I heard Pidge inform us, "And with the cruisers covering all possible exits from this minefield, we have no way out!"
We thought for a second before Allura gasped.
"Wait a tick." She said, "Perhaps I can freeze the mines."
"Then we could fly out of here before they explode." Lance added.
"I'll add extra power to the ice in order to keep them frozen longer. It'll give us more time to escape." I said.
"All right, sounds like a plan. Freeze 'em, Allura!" Shiro shouted as we separated.
Allura fired the Blue Lion's freeze ray around the area. I concentrated on connecting to the Blue Lion. Shooting off my Lion's energy transformer strings, I sucked the energy from the atmosphere and transferred it to the Blue Lion
The freeze ray became colder and more powerful as it traveled across the area and froze every single mine.
Once they were all frozen, we quickly flew out of there and reformed Voltron.
We flew back down towards Naxzela, cutting through the clouds as we escaped a Galra laser trying to hit us.
"Great work, team. Let's secure Naxzela." Shiro said, the Green and Red Lions forming the sword and striking the enemies down one by one.
I could feel the energy if so many coalition members fighting across the universe to free planets of the Galra and secure them for the coalition.
I laughed and smiled with joy as I saw the victories of our battles against the Galra. This was incredible. All kinds of people were gathered together and winning against the Galra to free our shared universe.
"Quiznak!" Coran said, "The communications satellite is back online."
"It doesn't matter, Coran. They're too late." Shiro reassured him, "We've just about secured Naxzela."
But for some reason, even though we were winning, I couldn't shake the feeling that the tides might turn against us yet again.