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naruwitch · 3 years

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Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron: Chapter 44: A Place to Belong

(Warning. Mentions of sexual assault. Nothing graphic, but it is strongly implied.)

It was common to feel a sense of awe and respect upon entering the throne room of the Britannian palace. After all, should the emperor occupy the throne at the center, respect should be the one emotion described as you approach it. Showing anything less to the most powerful man in the world could constitute great punishment in its wake.

But currently, the emperor wasn't present, and any sense of sacred respect and honor could only be replaced by foreboding. Like if any of the members in the room so much as twitched the wrong muscle, they would be pounced upon by the 'guests' that joined them in the room. They felt like young rabbits being stalked by a conniving fox.

"I…" Odysseus eu Britannia muttered, eyes flickering nervously across the room from his siblings to the yellow eyes of the Galran commanders and officers eying them, "I'm sure the emperor will be joining us shortly.

"Tch, pathetic," Commander Gnov, a female Galra across the room sneered, eying the throne in disgust. Like her brethren, she shared their glowing yellow eyes, and her build was muscular but leaner. Her hair was slicked back into three separate sections that seemed to curl around to her cheeks. "A throne is for fighters, warriors; not self-entitled bureaucrats."

Guinevere de Britannia's face contorted like she had sucked a lemon. "I beg your pardon, you uncultured swine?!"

Commander Trugg, another female officer growled furiously. She had very short hair covering one of her eyes, and the other side showed a deep scar that spread across her forehead, "I'd watch your tongue, human. You may be the big dogs among your people, but you are nothing but insects here. Or perhaps you should learn your place?" She drew a long jagged sword, "I'd be happy to teach you."

"You would dare speak down to a member of royalty?!" a blonde woman in glasses, Alicia Lohmeyer, exclaimed, indignant to the disrespect.

Commander Throk, another Galra, this one with a thin narrow face and a lanky with long purple ears roared with laughter, "'Royalty'?! Where? I see nothing but a pack of weak philnots! Your so-called empire can't even control its own planet, but we have an iron grip on thousands of worlds!"

"Now, calm down, please," Odysseus tried to mediate, "we're allies here…!"

"Allies? You think we'd actually ally with you?" Commander Landok, a female with two long locks of hair over her shoulders, sneered, "Our empire has ruled since before you human-primates even learned to use rocks and sticks as tools."

"We've earned our strength," Commander Thace narrowed his eyes at the royal court, "Blood has sharpened our swords. Meanwhile, you nobles sit back on thrones you didn't even build yourselves like fat pigs."

"Who you calling fat?!" Carine ne Britannia shrieked, her gold hoops clanging loudly as she stomped forward, only held back by her knight Dasko.

"You impudent-!" was one of only several words thrown back to back as the two sides soon dissolved into a furious quarrel. Odysseus was the only one trying to calm everyone down, but the crown prince only found himself being pushed and shoved one way or the other.

"That's it!" Trugg snarled, brandishing her sword, "I'll have their heads on my wall!"

"Let's test Britannia's so-called strength!" Throk agreed, a sadistic smile curling his lips that only Luciano Bradey could match.

The Britannians only had a moment to actually look horrified and realize the bloodbath that was about to happen when the doors opened with a loud boom.

All heads turned and were greeted by the sight of the Emperor of Britannia, and the Emperor of the Galra entered the room. Zarkon strode boldly into the room with Charles trailing behind. Putting the two rulers side-by-side, everyone could see that Zarkon was the superior one of the two. Not only did he tower over Charles like a Doberman to a Chihuahua but the aura that he exerted not only demanded respect but fear as well. This was only confirmed more as the Britannains all stepped back several feet away, hoping to put as much distance between the Galran emperor and them as possible.

Charles tensely walked past Zarkon as they approached the throne and he took his seat upon it. Even sitting upon the throne did little to raise Charles' position against the Galra.

"Give me the report on the global situation," Charles stated like this was any other meeting. He seemed to at least be keeping his composure better than most of the occupants in the room.

There was a small silence before Charles slammed his fists on the throne's arms, "I said report!"

Zarkon narrowed his eyes, clearly unimpressed and several of the Galra commanders scoffed and rolled their eyes as the few officers that were present in the room scrambled to answer.

"Your Majesty, almost all Earth governments have collapsed. Only various resistance cells scattered around the world are still fighting back. Ironically, it's because the rebels aren't a united front that's making it so difficult to defeat them," an officer finally answered, though he couldn't meet his emperor's eye without accidentally trailing to Zarkon, and he was already shaking in absolute terror in front of the alien. "All of the factions are still fairly small, so it's difficult to track them. Even larger groups like Peace Mark are on the move constantly, if Princess Marrybell's report on the Euro Britannian front is accurate."

Trugg tsked, "You call that a report? All I hear are excuses!"

"No," Thace shook his head, drawing the attention of the room, "Commander Trugg, I am unsure how experienced you are dealing with rebels, but when it comes to survival, they can be resilient. Those cowards in the Blade of Marmora are a true testament of that, aren't they?"

Trugg growled and looked like she wanted to protest, but settled for glowering instead.

"And no word from Voltron?" Zarkon inquired to his commanders. The emperor was only barely hiding his annoyance. Now that his connection to the Black Lion had significantly weakened, he had to rely more on his more outer fleets for sightings of the battle robot. Within the three to four Earth weeks that the Galra had taken the planet, they have heard no sign of Voltron at all, but Zarkon was no fool. He knew that they would be back. This was the Paladins' homeworld and was something they valued greatly. It was a pity they couldn't use any of their immediate family as hostages. The only ones they had managed to find were the Yellow Paladins mother and father, but reports said they held a weak relationship with their child at best. Still, perhaps they could have their use at some point.

"Nothing yet, Lord Zarkon," Commander Gnov reported, fist over her chest in salute, "Though if I may be so bold to inquire about the defenses and counterattacks for the Lions' eventual return?"

"Well," Zarkon smiled, and that expression seemed to terrify the human occupants of the room more than a frown, "the Britannia Emperor has graciously offered up his finest soldiers in Haggar's latest project to combat Voltron."

The advanced cloaking of the ship allowed it to easily bypass the Galra battle carriers surrounding the planet. Good thing too as it was unlikely that the Galra would have let the occupants of the ship through otherwise.

Making a beeline for the small island of Japan, the ship gracefully landed in the ruins of a large city. The bodies that had once littered the entrance of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan had long been cleaned out, but the bloodstains and signs of battle were still prominent enough for anyone to see that a tragedy had occurred here.

"Well…" a female alien with pink skin and a long, tapered, prehensile tail attached to her head nodded, "...this is it."

"The last known place Voltron was spotted, right?" a gruffer-looking female with a blue face and long pink and indigo ears and green lips grunted, "They still haven't cleaned up the blood, huh?"

"According to the reports we've managed to intercept," a third female, bearing blue skin, pointed ears, sharp claws, and sharp cat-like eyes with yellow sclera and has four horn-like projections on her head stated, "a lot of Galra patrols that have entered the area to the west have been destroyed. The source of which still remains unknown. Resistance cells?"

"It is a high possibility," the only male on the ship, with lavender skin, pointed ears, and long flowing white hair, responded, "Acxa, you and others are to investigate what is causing it. If they're skilled enough to take down multiple Galran patrols, they're clearly quite skilled, and they may be of some use to us."

"And what will you be doing?" the pink-skinned alien asked with her hands on her hips.

"I have another matter to attend to," he said vaguely. "Contact me if you find what the source is."

"Yes, Lotor," Acxa saluted, along with the other three Generals, the-pinked Ezor, the large, muscular Zethrid, and Narti, a silent, slender female with a long prehensile tail and hood over her head. A lithe, feline alien was perched calmly on her shoulder.

"Good," Lotor nodded before he turned to the bay where their ships were held. "Be careful and make sure none of the empire's forces spot you."

"Pfft," Zethrid scoffed, "You really have to remind us? We know the drill."

"Try and refrain from blowing anything up this time, Zethrid," Acxa shook her head.

"Hey!"

Smoke, gunfire, and explosions filled the air of the forest as a fierce battle raged on. The European Union was already losing a lot of ground against Britannia alone. However, with the addition of their newest players, the aliens known as the Galra, their odds became even grimmer than they ever were before. Just like the rest of the world, the main EU governments had already surrendered to the Galra, and only a small fraction of the military was able to escape to bases and underground sanctuaries scattered across the region. One such area by a river called Narva, close to St. Petersburg where this battle still raged. A large supply route for the Britannian-Galra alliance had been set up close by and had currently cut off the small city, and the pilot of the Alexander Knightmare moved swiftly through the warzone around him. His comrades were falling left and right, but that was only adding more fuel to the wrath building inside of him.

"Die… die!" the young Japanese man with blue eyes and long blue hair chanted with a wide grin, and the red ring around his eyes glowed brighter the more he chanted. His Knightmare's turrets slashed and hacked through every Galra sentry and every Britannian Sutherland in his path. "Die!"

Despite his ferocity, it wasn't long before his bullets ran out. Scowling, he took cover behind some trees as he witnessed his comrades Alexander Knightmares explode one by one as the Galra-Britannian troops and mechas cornered them.

"Your Highness, the enemy Knightmares appear to be self-destructing!" a small, petite, dark-skinned girl exclaimed as the data poured in from the battlefield. Many of their Knightmare frames had already suffered losses and more were in the line of fire.

"They're cowards!" Princess Marrybell mel Britannia shouted from her Knightmare squadron, the Glinda Knights, "Resorting to such tactics like this?!"

"We should send for reinforcements, at once!" the young girl said, only for an older man aboard the same floating vessel, the Grandberry, to speak up.

"No! We do not know the full measure of the enemy. If we call for reinforcements, they'll be put at just as much risk. Please forgive me, Your Highness!"

"No, your assessment is correct, General Schwarzer," Marrybell confirmed through the radio, "I appreciate your concern for my safety, Toto, but he is right. Leave this to us."

"Your Highness," Toto Thompson whispered before reluctantly nodding. She would have to trust her princess.

"Right! Glinda Knights, move-what?!"

A large crash could be heard over the monitors and the screens on the Grandberry fizzled as they struggled to comprehend a new enemy.

"Your Highness?! Your Highness?!"

Marrybell scrambled her squad as a multitude of bullets were shot in their direction. Coming out of the foliage of the forest, a large, clearly custom-made Gloucester emerged, leveling two large guns toward the Glinda Knights. Behind him, seven more red and white Gloucesters appeared behind and appeared to surround the princess and her squad.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" a voice laughed from the red Gloucester, "The Glinda Knights, is it? Must be my lucky day!"

"That voice…" a blonde pilot in the Gloucester, Oldrin Zevon, exclaimed, "...where have I heard that before?"

"Marrybell!" another pilot, Tink Rockheart, shouted, "That symbol on the Gloucesters!"

Marrybell looked and her eyes widened, "The Order of Michael… What is the meaning of this?! Your loyalty is to Britannia!"

"Britannia…? Perhaps it would be if they weren't bowing their heads like dogs to those purple bastards!"

"So you betray your country and people instead?!" she shouted.

"Oh, like you are one to talk, Your Highness!"

"Don't speak to her like that!" a third pilot, Leonhardt Steiner, shouted.

"Master Ashley," a pilot from the other side, a younger blonde man named Johanne Fabius, said, "This conversation is pointless, we're wasting precious time!"

"I suppose so," Ashley Ashra admitted, "Well, then. I wish you the best of luck in your survival, Your Majesty!"

At this final taunt, the Michael Gloucesters scattered, intending to surround the Glinda knights and the transport that they were guarding.

"Scatter!" Marrybell yelled, "Protect the cargo!"

"Yes sir!" the Glinda Knights replied as they rolled into action to meet the Ashra Strike Force head.

"Marrybell!" Toto's voice rang through the comm as she slid around the back of two Gloucesters, firing her gun at them. However, these Knights weren't in the Holy Order of Michael for nothing, and they easily evaded her attacks, sliding around and firing many shots of their own.

"What Toto?" Marrybell barked, silently apologizing for sound so harsh.

"There's another enemy Knightmare unit, coming your way fast! It's tearing through any other ground troops that face it!"

"Description?" Marrybell promptly asked.

"It's… it's an EU unit, Your Highness!"

"That must be…!" Marrybell's eyes widened as the very unit Toto warned about came flying in from the right, a tonfa-weapon clutched in its hands as it swung toward her.

"Marrybell, look out!" Marika Soresi shouted, rushing over to defend Marrybell, firing at the unit. However, it dodged to the side and took a swing at her cockpit, which she barely managed to avoid.

"DIE!" Akito roared as several Galra drones began to fire from above, but leaping up at them, he swung his tonfa and smashed them to bits with barely any effort at all.

"Is that… the Ghost of Hannibal?!" Leonhardt shouted.

"Ghost of Hannibal?!" Ashley gasped, before grinning, "Well, this day's just getting better and better!"

Marrybell bit her lip. She hated to admit it, but she and her squad may be in trouble. It seemed this Alexander unit had taken out many of their ground forces. And there were these deserters of the Holy Order of Michael.

"Leonhardt! Marika! With me!" she finally yelled, "We'll battle this ghost! The rest of you, after those traitors!"

"Yes sir!" They all shouted as Marika and Leonhardt sped up behind her, while the remaining Knights consisting of Tink, Oldrin, and Sokia Scerpa engaged the Ashra Squad.

Akito had discarded his guns long ago, but now that the self-destruct had been disengaged on his Alexander, he had much more…. liberties in how he could approach this enemy.

His eyes flashed red like before as he shot toward the Gloucesters, jumping and swerving with such speed that none of their bullets so much as grazed him.

Leaping into the air, drawing its tonfa, he charged straight at Marrybell's Gloucester, making an aim for her cockpit, but his attack was blocked by Marika's swift action.

Taking advantage, Leonhardt started to rapidly fire at Akito. Gritting his teeth, Akito transformed to his insect-mode, zooming directly toward him. He drew both his tonfas this time and leaped toward Leonhardt.

"Leonhardt! Eject now!" Marrybell ordered quickly, and the knight was quick to obey as moments after, his Gloucester was crushed underneath the tonfas of the Alexander.

"Die!" Akito shouted, leaping his Alexander out of the way as he avoided a spear that Marrybell lunged at him with moments later. Spinning around his tonfas clashed against the spear in a screech of metal and steel. "DIE!"

Marrybell gasped as Akito struck her spear with his right tonfa with enough force to knock it from her hand. She barely had time to pull back before he swung hard with his left.

"What the… he's some kind of monster!" Marika gasped, actually feeling scared despite it being two on one.

"Well, well," Ashley couldn't help but bark a laugh as he glanced over at Akito's fight from his own, "Now I see that that title isn't just for show!"

"Master Ashley!" Johannes said through their radio, "We've wiped out the Galra transports! But there are several robots and-Alan no!"

"What?" Ashley asked while rolling away from Oldrin's spear swipe, but he heard a loud boom over the radio. "What happened?!"

"Alan… they got him! He wasn't able to eject!" Johannes sobbed.

"Johannes, you and Kuzon get out of there!" Jan Manes, another Ashra Knight shouted as he and Tink clashed blades.

"It's bombs!" the heard Kuzon Montoban shout, "The Galra are units are throwing-argh!"

"Kuzon!" Johannes screamed before the line went dead.

"Damn! We need to finish up here!" Ashley ordered, not liking the sound of this new weapon they seemed to have sprung. But it seemed they at least managed to put a wrench in the supply route they had been targetting.

"Master," René Laurent exclaimed, "Maybe you should assist the Ghost of Hannibal? We can take these three!"

"You really want to get in the middle of that?!" Ashley gestured to Akito's fight to see the Alexander locking blades with Marika's Gloucester, only for his fist to pull back and shoot toward the cockpit, a hidden blade that would have destroyed the chest of the Knightmare had Marika not ejected a split second before.

Now it was just Marrybell's unit and she was scrambling to keep her distance from the Alexander.

"...Good point sir," Simon Mericourt nodded, mildly disturbed watching the battle and the sheer fury Akito was displaying.

"Marrybell!" Oldrin shouted, attempted to maneuver around the Ashra Knights to make it to the princess.

Ashley snarled. "Don't you ignore me! Get back here!"

"I don't have time for this!" Oldrin barked back, swinging around, gun raised and rapidly firing to her enemy.

"That the best you've got?!" Ashley shouted, charging swiftly toward Oldrin. However, this was a nearly fatal error, as a millisecond before he could strike her, Oldrin made a sharp turn around to the back of Ashley's Gloucester, brandishing a long sword specially equipped to her Knightmare, its violet blade gleaming against the flames of the forest.

"I've got you now!" Oldrin exclaimed, her sword raised to stab him through the back of his cockpit.

"Master Ashley!" A single white Gloucester suddenly sprung in front to take the blow, the blade piercing through its cockpit and the pilot inside.

Ashley looked in absolute shock. He knew that voice, and who had saved him. "No… Johannes…"

"Good luck… Master Ashley," Johannes choked out before more sentries fired into his Knightmare, where it crumpled to the ground.

This sacrifice was witnessed by all of the rest of the Ashra squad. They had already lost two of their other comrades, Kuzon and Alan, and now they've lost another.

"You… you'll pay for that!" Ashley roared before charging at Oldrin, swinging his swords wildly.

"Marrybell! We need to get out here now! While we still have cover!" Sokia shouted, rushing over with Tink while the Ashra Knights were still distracted.

"You expect me to leave traitors alone like this?!" Marrybell shouted while still clashing furiously with Akito.

"Princess, the cargo is gone," Toto informed through the radio, "There's nothing left for you to protect. Please, get out while you still can!"

"...Fine! Glinda Knights, retreat!" she ordered, throwing Akito's Alexander off, one final time before fleeing into the tree cover, the others close behind her.

"Damn," Frantz cursed, "they've escaped."

"Maybe for now…" Ashley growled. He had just lost three of his comrades, his subordinates in this fight. He wouldn't let their deaths be in vain to these purple bastards! "...But not for long."

"Master, what about him?" Simon asked, gesturing to Akito's Alexander that was watching the remainder of the squad warily.

Ashley frowned before calling out. "Oi! Why don't we have a chat! Send me a channel to your command center, will you?"

"Zero enemy Knightmares detected. The rest have retreated. Combat zone is clear."

"The thirty-second regime has begun evacuation," a woman with flowing purple hair reported from her station.

"What's Wyvern unit's remaining troop strength?" a younger woman with light blonde hair tied back in two buns asked from the commanding post in the center.

"Already verifying," another soldier said, typing on the computer.

"One frame on our end," a third reported, "It's… receiving biometrics now… Second Lieutenant Hyuga! It's Akito Hyuga!"

The blonde girl let out a breath she didn't realize that she was holding when she heard that. "And the other? The troops that aided us from the other side?"

"That unit seems to have lost half of its forces, Leila," the purple-haired woman reported, "We are receiving several transmissions from a… Ashley Ashra. Perhaps he intends to join us?"

"Ashley Ashra?" a man next to Lelia gasped, "A knight from the Holy Order of Michael? It must be a trap. One that Britannia is set against us!"

"I am not so sure…" Lelia Malcal said, voice intrigued, "While it is true he is of Britannia, ever since the emperor forged this alliance with the Galra invaders, their military has been split on how to proceed. Many have deserted to enemy lines or other rebel alliances. Also, this Ashley's forces directly attacked a member of the Royal Family. Why endanger an asset if it were a trap?"

"So, we hear them out?" the woman asked again.

"Yes, Anna," Lelia nodded, "We'll meet them at Location V. It is far enough away from HQ in case it is a trap."

"Very well… cheer up Lelia," Anna Clément said, trying to sound comforting, "The operation was a success. The city is evacuating and we've secured the supply route."

"Perhaps… but with our losses, this does not feel like a victory…"

"This isn't working, Wizard," a young blond boy muttered as they both looked over the latest reports from the various groups that Peace Mark was struggling to assist, "All of the factions are being snuffed out one by one."

"I know, OZ," Wizard, a masked man in a black and white magician's outfit shook his head, "But we ourselves are low on supplies and resources. We're stretching it as thin as we possibly can to support all those that are still fighting back these invaders."

"These invaders have a name, Wizard. Galra. We might as well call them what they are," Orpheus frowned.

"I suppose," Wizard said, his lips twitching up slightly. "From this report, it seems the wZERO squad in Europia is causing the most amount of damage. One of the pilots is known as the Ghost of Hannibal and he is leaving bodies, both Britannian and Galra, in his wake."

"And how do you know this?" Orpheus asked suspiciously, "Our contact?"

"Elphaba? Yes."

"How can you trust them?"

"Honestly, I don't completely. We've never met in person. I've only ever received coded messages from them."

"Is that so?" Orpheus scowled.

"So far, all their information has been accurate. It's probably one of the only reasons we are still surviving," Wizard argued back.

"Perhaps our chances of survival would increase if we banded together!" Orpheus exclaimed furiously.

"You know that's not possible right now," Wizard said gravely. "To rally together, we all need something, a symbol, to rally behind. And you and I both know what that symbol is."

"Voltron…" Orpheus whispered, admitting it.

"Yes," Wizard nodded, "and with it already off Earth, that is not an option right now."

Paris was once known all over the world as the City of Love or even the City of Lights. Even during the conflict between the EU and Britannia, the French city was seen as a small paradise to its citizens. Even the wayward Japanese who were forced to the city's ghettos claimed it was better than staying behind in their conquered land. And while it may take ten years, they could still qualify for full citizenship as well. Not as Honorary Parisians, or Honorary Europeans, but as true, fully certified citizens. At least they could be seen as equals instead of a step down from a true Britannian.

Now though, what was once a bright and prosperous city was reduced to grey rubble. The once proud Eiffel Tower lay desolate on its side, the first casualty of the warships' bombardment of the city when they rained from the sky. Both new skyscrapers and other old, historical structures lay alongside the torn-up roads and black ash that decorated the streets now.

There was no safe place to occupy on the surface. Most citizens had been captured or shot on site by the sentries that now prowled the streets. Where the survivors were taken, no one really knew. So far, any that tried to escape after capture never made it.

Any survivors that managed to escape the original invasion fled underground, to the territory where gangs and street rats gathered. Now, it was probably the only safe haven for those still holding out hope to live.

But life in the underground was far different from the Xanadu that had been Paris once. Only those truly familiar with tunnels and catacombs would have any hope of surviving down here. And everyone knew it was only a matter of time before their invaders spread down here as well.

"Eighty-five of my crew are dead, and there are another thirty-seven who are laid up in the hospital ICU. Or at least, the area we can call a 'hospital' since most of those damn robots have taken over most of the streets." A masculine voice said from deep within an abandoned train station. Or at least what was left of it.

A young, red-haired man in black leather pants and shirt was examining a worn-out Glasgow and a few other Knightmares that the underground gang leader was willing to offer to them. Not just that, but it was several boxes of disabled Galra tech and other material they had managed to scavenge without being shot on site. It wasn't the best quality, but beggars couldn't be choosers in this day and age.

"Not to mention," the gang leader continued with his henchmen lined up behind him, "twenty of your own friends have… entered the great beyond."

"It was eighteen," Ryo Sayama corrected tersely with narrowed eyes. "Get your facts straight."

"This is the first time a war of this size and scale has been fought. Even in the underground, but you knew that" the gang leader commented as two other Japanese teens watched from the other side of the garage. One, a boy with spiky light-brown hair and bright green eyes was typing vigorously on a Galra holopad they managed to find and steal for their own use. His companion was a girl with short brown hair and hazel eyes, leaning against a pole.

The gang leader clasped his hands, leaning forward, "So listen up kid. You and I have both paid a steep price, right? Let's end this. With that in mind, I've prepared a little 'gift' for you and your friends."

"Ryo," the boy with the holopad said, sitting up, "the pilot ID's been rewritten. You're all set."

"Thanks, Yukiya," Ryo sent a thumbs-up back to his companion.

One of the gang leader's men then approached and whispered something in a low voice. "It seems there was a deposit in my bank account?"

"Oh yeah?" Ryo asked, smiling smugly, "Well, I guess since we paid for it, we'll stop calling it a gift like you did us some big favor."

"Oh, get over yourself, Ryo," the gang leader scoffed, "We both know you're paying with money you scammed from the others. We're both just two big thieves."

Unbeknownst to the boss and his men, Yukiya tapped another button that began a countdown from thirty, and two pink anime figures played across the holopad.

"Yeah," he smirked, snapping the holopad shut, "why don't you do it too then? Assuming you can, that is."

"Watch your mouth you filthy Eleven brat!" a henchman barked, drawing his gun along with all of the other men.

"Boys, boys, let's just take it easy alright?" the boss placated calmly. At his command, the men lowered their weapons. "Come on, old friend. Thought you knew better than that. Show a little respect for your elders alright? You and this crew of yours need to chill."

Ryo's smirk turned cruel, "Bold words coming from a thug. Right, Yukiya?"

"Give them a break, Ryo," Yukiya smirked back as the girl pushed herself from the pole she was leaning against and walked toward Ryo. "They don't have too many lectures left in them."

"Ryo…" the girl said lowly, "we need this deal to pan out for the plan."

"Relax, Ayano," Ryo reassured nonchalantly as if waiting for something.

"Fifteen… fourteen… thirteen…" Yukiya began counting down from the back, still smirking.

"How about this, Ryo? Why don't you join our organization?" the boss offered. "We could really use someone with your particular talent. You'd be a good asset against those annoying Galra robots."

Ryo chuckled, "That made things easy. But there's one small problem. You make me sick!"

"What was that?!" the boss growled.

"Four… three… now Ryo!" Yukiya shouted before leaping behind some large boxes and covering his head.

Ryo grabbed Ayano and rushed into the Glasgow's holding container just as some of the henchmen began to approach with their guns again. Confused by their actions, they didn't notice the bombs until they had already activated around the hideout. Some of the men attempted to run to a higher level, but there were bombs planted there too.

After several seconds of explosions, Yukiya peaked out. "Wow, body parts everywhere."

"Man," Ryo groaned, walking out with Ayano, "what a mess. It's gonna be a bitch to clean up. Good work! But it won't always be this easy."

"Yeah, I know," Yukiya shrugged, walking over.

"People are so fragile in the end," Ayano muttered, fingering one of the debris pieces that had lodged into the wall.

"H-help me!"

The trio looked over and were surprised to see that the gang boss was still alive, albeit without a leg, and was dragging himself away down the tunnel. Or trying to.

"Help! I need a doctor! Just… help me! The Galra…"

"Well, I'll be," Ryo said, impressed, "You're still alive, huh?"

"You…you've got to help me," the boss whimpered, forcing himself to sit up.

"Sure, I'd be happy to help you," Ryo sneered, "For a small fee."

The boss could only stare in disbelief as Ryo continued, "I mean, your life isn't worth much. Give me a ballpark estimate."

Ryo threw his head back laughing as if he'd just cracked the joke of the century as the boss dragged himself back.

"Wait… are you kids with those terrorists? Those Elevens, the Black Knights? The ones Voltron…?"

"Nope," Ryo popped the 'p' at the end. "We're a little different." He turned and leveled a gun at the boss, "But you don't have to worry about it."

With a single pop, the gang boss sagged to the ground, lifeless.

"Yukiya, next time's for real."

"About time," Yukiya acknowledged.

"Come on, boys," Ayano spoke up, "Let's hit the road before those purple freaks turn up."

"Right… Stage one is done. Now onto stage two."

"You know… when I was little I always wanted to be an astronaut," Gino tried to joke from the darkly little room that he and his fellow knights were occupying on the Galra Mothership, "I guess my dream came true after all. Right?"

"This is hardly a time to be joking about our situation, Gino!" Monica Krushevsky, the Knight of Twelve chastised the Knight of Three.

"Sorry…" Gino muttered, looking embarrassed, "Just trying to lighten the mood…"

Dorothea Ernst, the Knight of Four, scoffed, "You and your childishness may have been charming on Earth, Weinberg, but it is nothing but a nuisance now. Not with these alien freaks breathing down our necks."

"Careful, Dorothea," Bismarck warned, calm and composed as ever, "we may be the Emperor's personal knights and still answer to him directly, but we must be cooperative if we are to make this alliance work."

"An alliance for what though?!" Monica exclaimed, looking frustrated and if one looked close enough, you could see a sheen of tears in her eyes. "The whole world?! They have that already, what more can they possibly want?!"

"Don't be stupid, Monica," Dorothea scowled, "it's all for that abomination, Voltron. If they had simply surrendered from the start, our people wouldn't suffer to these lifeforms now."

"Yeah, well, last I checked, the Emperor joined these guys willingly," Gino pointed out, "I'm starting to think he would have whether Voltron was here or not. Maybe Nonette had the right idea throwing her lot in with them when she had the chance…"

"Do you think that she's alright?" Monica asked, worried for her friend.

"She seemed okay at that Special Administrative Zone…" Gino pointed out.

"Yes, shame I couldn't spot her among the corpses," Luciano said off-handedly, twiddling a knife between his fingers. How he managed to sneak that onto the ship, no one knew.

Monica and Gino whipped around to stare in horror at the Knight of Ten. Even Dorothea looked a little surprised by his brash statement.

"What the hell did you just say?!" Gino shouted, fists clenched and eyes narrowed.

Luciano then thought about it before grinning. "No, you're right. Silly me! I'm glad she seems to be alive. It will be much more gratifying to kill her myself."

"You… you're sick, Bradley!" Monica growled, barely restraining herself from slapping the Knight of Ten.

"No, I'm just being honest," Luciano corrected, "Where's the joy in killing if I can't participate in it myself? At least these Galra seem to have mastered the art of homicide. It's truly gorgeous."

"You have no honor as a knight, much less a Britannian, do you, Bradley?!" Dorothea barked, now flanking Monica with Gino on the other side.

"Hmph, I'm disappointed that you don't understand, Dorothea, but I'm not surprised that these two naive children who are still getting on by family rulers." Bradley mocked.

"Excuse me?!" Monica gasped.

"Are you implying that becoming a Knight of the Round is based solely on family connections alone?!" Gino shouted.

"Enough!" Bismarck barked, "Cease this foolish squabbling at once!"

Anya, who had remained silent through the entire exchange, looked up. "We have company."

Finally registering that the doors to the control room they were in had opened, the Knights of the Round were greeted by the arrival of the hunched figure of the Galra's witch and head scientist, Haggar. Next to her, his face stoic was none other than Prince Schneizel.

"Prince Schneizel," Bismarck greeted promptly, immediately standing at attention, the other Knights following suit.

"At ease Bismark," the prince addressed, "let's get down to business shall we? Lady Haggar is being kind enough to explain the new Knightmare frames she and her scientists will be gifting you."

"New Knightmares?" Bradley asked, eyes gleaming with delightful bloodlust.

"Indeed," Haggar intoned, approaching the large computer frame that took up the entire wall. She waved her hand as the monitor sprung to life, lies of Galra language and code filling the screen. "I will state that your species has produced a very unique weapon for battle. However, as you've seen yourselves, they are simply annoying insects in comparison to the Voltron Lions. However, with our… cooperation in data and testing, I believe we have finally found the blueprints for a truly potential counterforce to combat Voltron."

Dorothea scoffed, "Please. You saw at the SAZ that the Paladins are children, most inexperienced with Knightmare frames. We can handle them."

Haggar narrowed her eyes, "And it is that arrogance that will be your downfall. Your emperor made the same mistake of underestimating these 'children' himself. You say you can handle them, and yet how many battles can you truly say that you've come out triumphant when your forces have faced the Lions?"

Dorothea looked like she wanted to say something, but found she had no solid argument to give without further making a fool of herself. She settled for grinding her teeth and looking away.

"You say we'll be Voltron's counterforce?" Anya stated, "And yet the Paladins are seven, and there are only six of us here. We are at a disadvantage in regards to numbers."

"That will not be a problem." Schneizel commented before gesturing to the doors again, "I already have a substitute for Nonette in mind."

The doors slid open again to show two more figures walking into the room. A man with bright green eyes, a pale face, and long dark hair tied back in a high ponytail walked in. He was wearing an elegant white suit and the knights recognized the symbol belonging to Euro Britannia's Holy Order of Michael on it. Next to him was a woman with orange hair and purple eyes, wearing purple robes with a white belt with gold markings and a large gold Britannian Military insignia on the front and back of her robes. Both were carrying long swords by their side.

"Thank you so much for coming," Schneizel addressed the man, smiling for the first time that meeting.

The man smiled, "How could I turn down such a gracious invitation from the Second Prince of Britannia?"

"Your Highness," Dorothea said, frowning, eying the new man suspiciously, "who's this Eleven?"

"Apologies," Schneizel said, "may I introduce Sir Shin Hyuga Shaing and his personal knight, Jeanne Rowe. He was previously trained by the former Knight of Two. He was recently promoted as the Grand Master to the Order of Michael."

This news seemed to shock most of the knights in the room.

"Beg your pardon, Prince Schneizel," Monica said, hoping to not sound disrespectful, "but wasn't Sir Manfredi the last Grand Master? Why isn't he here?"

Schneizel then frowned sadly, "Unfortunately, I only recently received word that Lord Manfredi committed suicide not too long ago. Shortly after the Galra came, actually."

"What?!" Gino gasped, "Suicide?!"

"Are you absolutely certain of this, Your Highness?" Bismarck asked, concern in his tone.

"Yes. The investigation I managed to do showed no signs of foul play, leaving no other option than suicide."

"Why would… that doesn't sound like him at all!" Gino exclaimed, "There's got to be something else!"

"Unfortunately, there are no resources I can deploy at this time to investigate further. That is why I have called on Lord Shaing here in his stead."

Shin bowed slightly to the other knights, "I hope to live up to my teacher's valor."

Schneizel nodded, "I'm sure you will. He has told many good things about you."

Suddenly out of nowhere, a knife was flung in Shin's direction. The Japanese knight briskly danced around it, drawing his sword and bringing it to the throat of the aggressor that threw the blade at him.

Luciano laughed, "Well, well. You got some good moves for an Eleven."

"Was that supposed to be a test, Sir Bradley?" Shin asked, sounding unimpressed.

"Well, I had to see how much you valued your life, didn't I?" Bradley smirked despite the blade against his jugular.

"Lower your sword, Eleven!" Dorothea barked, reaching for her own, only for a second blade to block her as Jeanne stepped between them, glaring hotly at the Knight of Four.

"Value my life?" Shin said softly, eyes flashing darkly, "I hold no value to such a thing. But perhaps you'd like to tell me how much you value your own life?"

"Y-you think an Eleven can challenge me?!" Luciano shouted, eyes wide and feeling an unusual chill down his spine. Strangely he felt like a rabbit that was cornered by a ravenous wolf. Why did he feel so afraid of this man?

"Enough!" Schneizel raised his voice, "Lower your weapons, all of you. Lord Shaing isn't here by my orders alone, but by order of the Emperor as well. Failing to cooperate will be a direct violation of those orders."

Bradley growled and Shin narrowed his eyes a moment longer before dismissing his blade, Jeanne following suit.

"Perhaps we should continue this discussion another time. I apologize, Lady Haggar," Schneizel said, his voice reverting to normal, nodding slightly in the witch's direction.

"So it seems… very well, you're all dismissed," Haggar intoned, but there was a note of warning in it as well. It was clear that she wasn't impressed with the little display that she witnessed. If they continued to act like children, she may have to… discipline them.

As the knights began to file out of the room with Schneizel, however, Haggar felt something. Turning her head to the source, the smallest of the knights stalled at the door, feeling the witch's eyes on her.

Their eyes met.

Haggar's golden eyes glowed. She was certain now.

Before she could investigate further though, Anya was jerked by the arm through the door by the Knight of Twelve.

Haggar narrowed her eyes. She would have to determine what she felt. She would know who else resided in that girl's body.

Lelia set her pen down as she finished her report for the evening in her office. Her intuition had fortunately been correct about the messages they had received from what they now knew was called the Ashley Asura Strike Force. When they had met with the survivors, consisting of Ashley Ashra himself, Jan Manes, René Laurent, Simon Mericourt, and Franz Vallo, at the north gate of Castle Weisswolf, they learned that their enemy turned allies were a division of Euro Britannia's Order of Michael that had seceded shortly after the Galra invaded. The original lord of the order, the Britannian Knight of Two, Sir Michael Manfredi, was discovered dead some weeks ago. Reports officially called it suicide, but many had doubts.

The leader of the group, Ashley Ashra, originally had been delighted that his old pseudo-brother, Shin Hyuga Shaing (Lelia hadn't missed the color drain from Akito's face at the mention of that name), had been named the new Grand Master, but the knight had immediately pledged allegiance to the Galra, handing over the members and the order's resources to the alien invaders.

"He'd rather serve those purple bastards than take a stand and fight back!" Ashley had ranted, emotions still high from the battle and losing half of his squad in the process, "If he truly respected Lord Manfredi, much less Duke Velanies, he'd fight to defend our nation alongside them! But no. If he'd rather become a puppet to them, I want nothing to do with it!"

Along with this, they also received some very disturbing intelligence. Apparently, the Duke Velanies, Euro-Britannia's main ruler, was missing. Ashley didn't know whether he was alive or dead, but no one had been in contact with him, not even the other Grand Masters, since Shin left to answer a summons directly from the Britannian royal family.

Which is what brought them to their current situation.

Due to the battle wiping out half of Ashley's squad, the wZERO unit offered a temporary truce and alliance with those who remained, as both groups saw the Galra as their enemy, the best rate of success was to fight them together. Besides, since Ashley's squad had attacked Marrybell mel Britannia and her personal guard, the Glinda Knights, they would likely be officially marked as traitors to Britannia anyway.

This information, plus the chance to avenge his fallen comrades against those 'purple bastards' (as Ashley took to calling them) was what had led to their current arrangement.

Fortunately, Ashley's squad managed to pass on some intelligence regarding the other holy orders as well. His group was the only one outwardly resisting, but as far as Ashley knew, none of the other lords had joined up directly with the Galra like Lord Shaing had, so there was possibly still hope for some potential allies, but they would have to tread lightly to know who to trust. They also had info on some other supply routes and weapon facilities that could be potential hits for the future. With supplies currently dwindling fast, they would need to conduct a raid sooner rather than later for their own survival.

Turning to her tablet, Lelia brought up some videos of the Britannian news feeds of Voltron battling the Galra as they were just starting to invade. While Voltron had displayed great power and strength in their few squabbles directly against Britannia, their actions during what many were beginning to call the Night of Black Sky truly showcased the courage of Voltron and the Black Knights. They were only a small band of rebels compared to the force and might the Galra were bringing, but many fought bravely to their last breath.

If only the robot was still on Earth. It could inspire many more to continue fighting, to not give up hope to their new captors.

"You think they'll come back?"

Looking up, Lelia had been so entranced in the video that she didn't even hear Akito entering her office.

"I do," Lelia said resolutely, rising from her desk. Then she paused and corrected herself, "They have to. They're the only thing that people are still holding out hope over. Besides, the fact that the Paladins are both Britannian and Japanese, supported by both Zero and by many in the Royal Family is proof that peace is possible. Our world can be united without war."

Akito clicked his tongue as the two entered the hallway, "If there's much of the world still left when they get back…"

"Bored…" an arrogant drawl interrupted them. Turning to the right, the two spotted none other than Ashley Ashra himself.

"What do you want?" Akito scowled, eyes narrowing.

"Well, you certainly know how to greet a guest," Ashley sneered, "But to answer your question, I'm bored."

Akito clicked his tongue, "Well, sorry this isn't exactly a five-star establishment. Figure out your own form of entertainment."

"Commander," Ashley spoke, completely ignoring Akito as if he hadn't spoken at all, "How much longer do you plan to hide up in this dump?"

"I understand you're anxious to act, Sir Ashra," Lelia addressed calmly, "But until we receive word from our few contacts, we can not afford to deploy any troops outside the castle. Otherwise, we risk the Galra discovering our location and wiping the rest of us out."

"Yes, yes, the purple bastards," Ashley waved off, "But let me ask you something, commander. Whether against an enemy on world or off, what's the one thing you need in order to survive on the battlefield?"

Lelia blinked, not quite understanding the meaning of the question. However, Akito answered instead.

"I assume you're going to tell us whatever we answer."

Ashley barked a laugh, "Oh you're no fun! But if your answer was going to be skill or intelligence, both are wrong! It's luck."

Lelia blinked again, "Luck? I don't understand."

Ashley smirked, before pulling out a pistol. Lelia and Akito immediately tensed, but Ashley just twiddled the gun around his hands, almost thoughtfully, "Well think about it! It doesn't matter how skilled you are or how hard you fight. The fact is you lose, you die. And why is that? It's because luck wasn't on your side."

Akito frowned, "And what, you consider yourself lucky or something?"

"Oh yes!" Ashley said, "I'm very lucky!"

Akito scoffed, "How stupid can you be?" He then sent a challenging smirk at the former knight, "Or are you saying that the subordinates you lost simply weren't lucky enough to keep fighting?"

Ashley bristled, "Why you…!" Taking a breath, the knight quickly collected himself. Then with a click, he opened his pistol and emptied out the bullets inside. All but one.

"What are you doing?" Lelia asked, tone apprehensive like she was watching an inexperienced tightrope walker attempt to cross a rope at fifty meters high without a safety net.

"You want to test me? Test my luck?" Ashley exclaimed, flipping the pistol closed, but not before spinning the bullet around in its chamber. "Fine then!"

Before Lelia and Akito could stop him, Ashley placed the pistol to his head and pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

Ashley smirked, "See? Luck is on my side! Maybe we should see-"

Akito rushed forward and kicked the pistol from Ashley's hand as he turned the gun on them. Twisting around, Akito grasped the knight's arm and pinned it behind his back.

"No thanks," Akito said briskly, "I don't need stupid things like luck to win."

Lelia was prepared to shout for the two young men to stand down, as a brawl seemed inevitable.

However, to the astonishment of both soldiers, Ashley started cracking up laughing like a lunatic.

"HAHAHA!" he howled and used Akito's shock to twist away. He continued to grin as he turned back to face them. "Well! I think I like you, kid. You've got spirit I give you that!"

"Am I interrupting something?" a more jovial voice sounded in the hall.

Turning to the source, the trio saw Lieutenant Colonel Claus Warwick striding toward them.

"Nothing of the sort, Lieutenant Colonel Warwick," Lelia addressed, "What is wrong."

"Straight to the point as usual," Claus chuckled, "well, you may want to assemble a recon unit, Commander. We just received a message from what we believe is an anti-Galra cell in Paris. They are requesting a meeting. Immediately."

"What do you think?" Zethrid asked, glancing around the remains of the neighborhood she and Ezor were scouting. Considering this was the very first country on this planet to be conquered, they expected the streets to be crawling with sentries and Galra soldiers, and in most of the city of Tokyo ("Tokayo?" Ezor had asked. It had taken her a couple tries to finally pronounce it) that was the case. But this one particular area several miles south showed little sign of Galra activity. Yes, they had been there, but there were no current patrols or even drones as far as they could see.

Determining this to be the area they were looking for the group had split in two, with Acxa and Narti going one way to try and triangulate the attack sites and Zethrid and Ezor heading in the direction of the most recent attack. It would not only cover more ground but they would find out who was doing this quicker.

"Well," Ezor said, kneeling by some sentries (or what was left of them), "these look like they were taken out by blaster fire, but the humans don't have much access to those weapons, and they haven't developed their own yet."

"What are you saying? That this was from friendly fire?" Zethrid asked, quirking a doubting eyebrow.

"No, not really," Ezor amended, "humans are pretty resourceful from what we've seen. They probably managed to steal some Galra weapons somehow."

"Hmm, you got a point. Of all the actual casualties we've only seen Galra soldiers. No humans," Zethrid observed.

"Um, think again," Ezor said, leaping up onto a destroyed Knightmare, the cockpit half open. Inside, the half Galra peeked in, only to find the half-decayed face of a Britannian officer staring back at her.

"Whoa!" she squeaked. Being a general for Lotor, Ezor and the others were used to seeing corpses, but this soldier certainly didn't die peacefully if the beam shoved through his Knightmare and through his torso was anything to go by.

"Ezor?" Zethrid asked, stepping forward.

"Oh, nothing!" Ezor waved off, "He's dead. It was one of those… what do they call themselves? Britallians?"

"Britannians," Zethrid corrected, "The wimps that were stupid enough to actually side with the Galra like this."

Ezor frowned though, "Can you really blame them? I mean, it's not like this is the first time something like this has happened."

Zethrid tsked before looking down. She was sure Ezor hadn't meant offense, but the history of her people, the Vrin, wasn't exactly honorable since the world of Vrinqox willingly chose the Galra as well. They had been a world that was allied closely with Bimoral, the Paladin Iris's home planet. But after the Galra first invaded, some corrupt politicians betrayed the original Yellow Paladin's homeworld, and offered resources and information willingly.

Of course, this backfired. Once their planet and Bimoral were taken, the leaders were slaughtered and the strongest warriors of Vrinqox were taken into the Gladiator pits. If they were lucky, the strongest got assigned as front-line assaulters to other planets being conquered, but it was rare that any came back.

One had been Zethrid's father. He'd caught the eye of one Galran officer overseeing his fights, and one thing led to another as they liked to say. Not that it did Zethrid any favors. She was dropped off with her father's niece, the last surviving member of the family, shortly after birth. Never saw either of her folks again. Not that she wanted to now anyway.

"Oh…" Ezor gasped, realizing what she said, "I'm sorry. That was insensitive."

"It's fine," Zethrid grunted, "I shouldn't be complaining compared to what you had to go through."

Ezor bit her lip, looking down as unpleasant memories resurfaced.

Much like most Galra hybrids, Ezor's life wasn't what one would call 'happy'. Her people, the Talpa from the planet Talpalian, were a very conservative species that relied heavily on their religious traditions. Not that their Gods protected them when the Galra came.

Her planet was home to a very valuable mineral called pyrenite in her people's tongue. They used it to provide warmth and power to their homes during the cold winters since her species was cold-blooded. Turns out it came in handy for a lot of Galra weapons as well. Her home had been a mining colony for the mineral since she was born.

And that's not even taking into account how she was born. Her mother had been a very beautiful Talpa with a very rare color pattern on her skin. It made her quite favorable for betrothal and many of the men of her species were hoping to court her and be the lucky guy. But, like most planets, there were those that were jealous of the… special ones.

A couple of bribes and one day her mother's home was broken into by some lower-ranking Galra, bored of their everyday duties and hoping for some 'excitement.'

Their religion put great emphasis on the 'purity' of the planet's females, so needless to say, when word spread of what happened, Ezor's mother was rejected and shunned by everyone and left to raise her daughter on her own, even though it wasn't her fault! The only bright spot in Ezor's life was that her mother never blamed her for what happened. But that didn't stop her from running away from home. It remained one of the few things she ever regretted doing in her life, as she never saw her mother again after that.

"But… despite how bad we both had it, I don't regret joining Lotor. I got to meet you. And Acxa. And Narti!" Ezor deflected, smiling brightly despite the darkness in her eyes.

Zethrid smiled, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Zethrid, Ezor, come in!" Acxa's voice crackled through the comms.

"What's up, Acxa?" Ezor answered.

"I'm sending you two coordinates to meet up at. Narti and I believe we've located our target. Their base at least."

Thirty dobashes later, the four generals met up in front of a large building. It stood behind a large metal gate that had long since been torn down, and much of the land surrounding the structure was torn up and destroyed. Maybe before the invasion it would have been a beautiful estate, but much like the rest of the city, it was clearly destroyed, but unlike most of the buildings, most of the infrastructure still seemed to be intact and stable.

"Your triangulation led you here?" Ezor asked, surprised.

"Yes," Acxa acknowledged with Narti nodding, "we'll head inside and split up. Keep your communicators on at all times and report what you find."

"Got it," Zethrid said before the four headed in.

It wasn't too hard to find a way inside. The doors clearly showed signs of being broken into already, and the destruction from the invasion didn't end on the outside. Debris was littered throughout most of the hallways and in several of the large rooms.

Zethrid found herself wandering into an area aligned with several lockers that were probably once pristine white, and several metal benches and tables were situated in front of most of them. Shaking open a couple, the half-Vrin found some change of clothes, an elasticy piece of clothing that smelled odd and could stretch quite a bit when she pulled it, a pack full of books and paper, and a few other miscellaneous items that were likely abandoned in a hurry. She did find a small zipped-up pack in another bag that had some smaller items, one of them being some form of ID. It had an image of a human (probably female?) with green eyes and short brown hair. She couldn't read the name or other information on it and with a shrug, tossed it with the rest of the stuff.

She eventually found another large set of doors that she kicked open to break the lock. These doors led to a very spacious room, in the middle was a large pool of water that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a while. Understandable with how destroyed the building was.

Sniffing the pool she picked up the same scent that was on the stretchy clothing she found.

'That must have been some sort of swimming or bathing wear then,' she thought off-handedly before grunting and heading out again.

Ezor's eyes lingered down the page of an open book on a wood table. The Galra weren't familiar with the language of this planet (didn't help that this planet spoke up to several thousand different languages!) so Ezor didn't get what it was saying, but the picture of a pretty looking plant was nice to look at.

She hadn't found much in her search. All that she had come across were some big rooms full of desks and chairs facing a board at the front of the room. There were some weird white stones on a ledge under the board that felt weird in her hands and made a terrible noise when she slid it across the board. She had immediately dropped the rock in discomfort (was using this part of some sort of endurance training? Who could possibly stand such a sound?!) and it left behind some white powder on her fingers in retaliation. Gagging she briskly rubbed her fingers off on an upper clothing piece she found hanging on a chair that did the job and quickly left the room.

She found similar rooms before finally making it to a huge room, where the walls were full of nothing but books. Not holopads. Not memory drives. Books. Ezor couldn't remember the last time she saw one of these.

This is what led to her current situation of admiring the flower picture.

"Guess we're a school?" she wondered aloud.

"I think you're right," Zethrid answered over Acxa's commlink, "Just came out some storage or changing room. There was a built-in water pool in the back."

"There's a pool?!" Ezor exclaimed in excitement.

"Ezor, not now," Acxa ordered sharply, "Focus on the task at hand."

"Aw… sorry…"

"Nothing on your end, Narti?" Acxa asked.

In response, Acxa received several photos through her holoscreen on her wrist. Narti was patrolling the outside of the building, and like the front, most of it was in ruins. There was one image of what was once likely a grand pathway with pavilions, and even a flat track with fading white lines that circled around. It was now littered with Galra sentries, vehicles, and even a few human and Galra corpses.

While Narti couldn't talk or see, that didn't mean she was incapable of communicating. Narti's people, the Pili from planet Moko, though they had working vocal cords, tended to communicate through psychic links with one another. That cat she carried with her, Kova, was linked to her psychically. Using his eyes and ears, Narti experienced the world. She could link herself psychically with anyone through touch, but Kova was her prime conduit most of the time.

Though, because of this, even though they'd been with her for as long as the others, the other general didn't know too much about Narti's past. Her people weren't known for their blindness or muteness at all. These traits were unheard of until Narti was born. Apparently, these deformities came as a result of her Galra parentage. It was to be expected that not all aliens would be compatible with Galran genes. Narti's people were one of them, but she was one of the lucky ones that came out with only her two disabilities. Most Pili children with Galra heritage didn't have very functioning bodies at all. Some were paralyzed or had deformed arms and legs. The list went on.

Narti didn't let these disabilities stop her though. Even before she got Kova, Narti was an amazing fighter. You did not want to be on the receiving end of her tail. She could easily crush Acxa's back with it if she wanted to.

"Okay, looking fine so far," Acxa acknowledged, "continue on."

Assuming Narti heard, Acxa continued on.

Her search eventually brought her to one of the larger buildings in the area. Surprisingly, the outside of this one looked more intact compared to the others. But looks could be deceiving.

Shoving the door open, she raised her blaster, scanning the immediate room. No signs of life or enemies. Cautiously stepping further in, blaster still raised. In the center of the open room was a large staircase.

'Might as well start from the top. There's an advantage to being on higher ground anyway,' she thought as she ascended the staircase, yellow eyes still sharp and narrowed. Nothing awaited her in the hallway, so she proceeded further in.

For a large, fairly intact building, there wasn't much. Most of the rooms seemed to be used for storage for different supplies. There was a room full of a lot of drawers and cabinets, and upon wrenching one open, she found it full of paper and folders. If this was a school, this was likely records of the humans that attended.

Continuing, she found a couple of bathrooms, what she guessed was an office, and finally, there was one more room at the very end of the hallway.

The door opened with a slide unlike the others. Inside, the room was bare save for a large dining table and it had a few other rooms attached. Looking in, Acxa saw some bare mattresses and a fair layer of dust built up on the dressers and shelves.

'Someone lived here. But it looks like they left. Long before the invasion it looks like,' she thought with a frown before exiting. With it already so bare, there was nothing that stood out.

Finishing her sweep of the upstairs, Acxa returned to the ground floor. Again, most of the rooms looked like either file rooms, offices, or the occasional guest bedroom.

Eventually, she came to another room that slid open like the one upstairs. Seeing this, Acxa expected to find another living area, but instead, she found herself in some kind of meeting room, with a long narrow table running down the center. There was some sort of wooden and cushioned climbing thing off to the side, clearly meant for an animal, posters, and fliers tacked up to the boards and walls, and a shelf full of books to her immediate left.

One book though wasn't on the shelf. It was sitting rather innocently on the table. It had a thick blue cover with gold trim.

Of course, Acxa was cautious. Out of all the books in the room and in the building, why was this one just sitting out on the table like that? Carefully looking around, she didn't see any signs of traps or cameras. Well, ones that were working anyway.

Withdrawing a knife on her belt, Acxa shimmied it under the cover and flipped it open, stepping back as if waiting for an explosion. Nothing.

Nerves calmed for now, she took a step forward. And her eyes widened.

Inside were pictures. And not just any pictures. They were images of the Paladins! The page it had landed on showed three of them that she recognized as the Blue, Orange, and Purple Paladins, and they were wearing some kind of feline outfits.

Turning the page, there were more, but this time she saw one with the Yellow Paladin and a dark-haired human male she didn't recognize. Both were also dressed like felines. Well, the Yellow Paladin was anyway. The boy looked to be in the middle of getting dressed into one.

Another one showed the same boy in what she assumed was the school's uniform, looking at a red-haired human female that Acxa realized was the Red Paladin.

Another photo showed the Blue and Yellow Paladin posing on a motor vehicle of some kind.

Then in another, she saw the Purple Paladin with the dark-haired boy and a light-haired human boy with blue eyes. They seemed to be cooking something.

Another photo showed another girl, younger than the others in a motor chair of some kind. Acxa recognized her as the little princess from the SAZ stadium. She was with the Paladins too.

There was also another girl in the pictures. She had green hair that was styled in two braids and large circular glasses. She seemed mousey and shy at first glance.

"But she's not one of the Paladins… this can't be a coincidence…" Acxa muttered to herself. "Meaning, if all of these kids are the Paladins, it's likely that one of the other two boys in here is Zero, and the other is likely the Green Paladin…"

Picking the book up to get a closer look, Acxa barely had time to hear a click sound.

Raising her gun before she could completely process what happened, a hidden door behind the bookcase lifted up to reveal several heavily damaged sentries, yet still operational and all raising their guns.

She pulled the trigger and fired back before they had the chance to.

Hearing the blaster shots over the commlink, the other generals quickly rushed outside. Around the time that they got to the central area, several scrapes of metal against concrete shrieked to life. The few Knightmare frames that had originally looked demolished turned on and began to charge toward the three. Several beaten-up sentries also joined in the charge.

"What the-"

"Oh no, you don't!" Zethrid roared, interrupting Ezor, racing toward the mechs before leaping into the air and landing a flying kick against the closest Knightmare. The force of it was so hard that it knocked the Knightmare off balance and crashed into several others behind it. She wasted no time in charging others, knocking them over with nothing but her fists.

Shaking out of her stupor, Ezor quickly flipped into action, flipping in the air and chucking a knife at an incoming Sentry. Narti wasted no time either, rushing and dodging several (poorly aimed) blaster fires from the robots, her tail slapping into them and crushing them to the ground.

Soon blaster fire came from the other side and glancing over briefly, the three saw Acxa leaping out from the large building's entrance, rapidly shooting from her handguns at the robots and Knightmares alike.

It was easy to take out the sentries, but a couple of the Knightmares were still active. Narti, via Kova's eyes, observed them closely before finally spotting it. Loose cables were attached to the Knightmare's main energy filter. Reading her thoughts, the cat stealthy maneuvered around the battlefield before leaping up and swiping at the cords, easily breaking them free. He did the same with the last one. With groans, the mechs powered down, losing their balance as they two crashed to the ground.

Panting a little with adrenaline, Ezor was the one that managed to speak first. "We should get out of here. If the Galra see us here…"

"That wasn't a Galra attack," Acxa shook her head. "Look at the shape these sentries are in. They wouldn't be running properly on their own in their condition. Someone reprogrammed them to attack anyone who came to this area, along with other Knightmare things. There's no one inside piloting them."

"Hmm, guess you're right," Zethrid admitted, "That was a bit sloppy even for Sentries."

Kova then meowed loudly, grabbing their attention.

"What is it, Narti?" Acxa asked. The silent general pointed toward the building Acxa had exited and motioned them to follow after her.

Narti led them more toward the back of the building to an area Acxa hadn't looked at yet until they came across a heavier-looking door. After Zethrid managed to shove it open, they made their way in. They found themselves in some sort of garage or hangar.

"Well… these guys have seen better days," Ezor commented, kicking the shell of a Sentry that had been practically stripped of everything inside.

"Someone's definitely been here recently," Acxa said softly before Kova suddenly hissed at something behind them.

Whipping around, a huge blue Knightmare zoomed out of the darkness heading straight for them. There were two large machine guns mounted on its shoulders, which were dark grey with purple lining, clearly scraped together from leftover or destroyed Galran machinery. There were also two large blades in its hands that nearly scraped against the ceiling from their size.

"Take cover!" Ezor shouted as the guns began to blast at them, illuminating the room in violet.

"Die… Die!" a shrill voice screamed through the darkness, "Princess Euphemia will be avenged! DIE!"

Zethrid growled as she grabbed her large attack rifle off her back and began to fire back at the machine. Ezor and Acxa had also drawn their guns and were firing at it in quick succession, but they didn't seem to be doing much damage.

Narti, while also taking cover, had another plan. Via psychic instruction, Kova once more scurried undetected across the floor, avoiding the heavy blades and blasts of the mech. Climbing over some metal storage boxes, he made it to the top of the Knightmare, able to get a good view of the cockpit. A cockpit that was still wide open. This mech seemed to not have an inner hatch for the pilot.

Using her fellow generals as covering fire, Narti slinked around the same path as the cat. The pilot was so focused on her attack she hadn't even noticed the enemy sneaking up behind her.

Not until she felt Narti's strong tail wrap around her neck and pull her out.

"LET ME GO!" the girl shrieked, clawing at the tail and kicking her legs violently. "LET ME GO, YOU GALRA MONSTERS! LET ME GO!" With the Knightmare no longer firing, Narti leaped down, carrying her prisoner with her. The girl still continued to scream and struggle as Narti pinned her down to the floor, nearly knocking her glasses off.

"Wha… she's just a kid?!" Zethrid exclaimed as she, Ezor, and Acxa stared in surprise to find that their assailant had been so young.

"Wait, she did all of this?" Ezor asked, pointing to her, "She did… all that?!" She pointed behind her, to indicate to robots they had to fight outside.

"You… YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" The girl screamed again, this time tears running from her eyes, "YOU GALRA TOOK HER AWAY! YOU KILLED PRINCESS EUPHEMIA! GIVE HER BACK TO ME! I NEEDED HER! SHE WAS A GODDESS TO ME!"

"Okay, she's obviously lost it," Zethrid said, almost feeling pity for the girl as she leveled her gun to her head.

"Wait," Acxa said, stopping the bigger general. She pulled out the photo album she'd taken from the other room and opened it. Her eyes widened when she saw the same face of the girl on the floor staring back at her.

"She's a friend of the Paladins," she informed them, showing the others the pictures.

"Huh? Wait, where'd you find that?" Ezor asked curiously.

"That's not important," Acxa waved off as she put the book away and turned back to the sobbing girl in front of them.

"We're taking her with us. Alive."

"You think they'll actually show?" Ashley inquired, slumping back in his seat, bored. He, Lelia, and Akito had just arrived in Warsaw, Poland (or what was left of it) to meet with this anti-Galra group. They had a small group of other surviving EU officers accompanying them as well in other vehicles. Lelia was being escorted in a disguised EU limo with Ashley acting as her guard, while Akito had taken a position in one of the Gardmare vehicles, ready to spring into action if he had to.

Originally, the group had wanted to meet in Paris, but it would have been too risky to travel such a large distance with the Galra patrols prowling the skies almost at every turn. While they disguised their convoy to look like Galra ground transports, they had had to take cover three times on the way already, and it had taken over an hour each time for the patrols and sentries to finally leave. They could only hope their contact managed to make it this far as well.

"We managed to negotiate a meeting place here," Lelia said, "It is too dangerous for us to travel all the way back to Paris. At least in Warsaw, it is halfway between here and Narva."

"I don't like this," Akito frowned through the radio, folding his arms, "They said to come without Knightmares. Something's not right."

"Oh please," Ashley grinned, twirling his personal pistol, "They said no Knightmares, not no weapons. I think we can handle them if they try anything funny."

While it was true, the area they planned to meet up wouldn't have any Knightmare or Gardmare frames present, that didn't mean the convoy itself didn't have any. They had to defend themselves if the Galra managed to ambush them and they couldn't escape after all.

"Can you please put that away while we're driving?!" the driver in front exclaimed, voice tense at the sight of the gun.

Suddenly, the road rumbled, and the bridge at the front of the convoy collapsed in a cloud of dust and smoke, taking the convoy car at the front with it, along with a second that couldn't stop in time.

"What the hell?!" Ashley cursed, as he and Lelia were jostled in the limo as it skidded to a stop, "Did those purple bastards find us?!"

Akito also felt the impact as the Knightmare carrier slid and sideswiped the guard rail to the right of it, crashing into another military vehicle in the process.

His sense on alert, Akito activated the Gardmare's cockpit he was in and tried to get it open, but it wouldn't budge.

"Damn! The hatch is stuck!" he cursed.

Ryo smirked as their plan was thrown into action. Sure it was annoying to have to travel that thousand-mile plus trip to get here, but the plan should still work if they all did their part. Ayano should be in position and Yukiya should be able to handle any other loose ends. With the level of expected security, they should have the target and be out of here before the next sky patrol flew overhead.

"Okay! Now let's party!" he shouted, before thrusting the controls forward in his Glasgow. With a shriek, the Knightmare drove forward and flew out of the building it was encamped in, landing smoothly on the road below and skating toward the convoy, gun raised.

"Deploy! Hurry!" an officer shouted as the Knightmare transport doors opened and a Gardmare staggered out.

"Knightmare Forty-six, prepare to intercept!"

Another soldier had just barely given the order when in a flurry of bullets the Gardmare went up in a burst of flames.

The guards barely had time to process what happened when the Glasgow slid up right in front of them and past them.

"This is too easy!" Ryo shouted almost joyously as he skiied across the road toward the second transport and Gardmare. It managed to fire several shots at him, but he easily danced around them before, in a bit of a dramatic display, throwing his secondary weapon that they had managed to get a private source mount on. With a hum of energy, the weapon glowed purple before a purple blade extended out, landing in the Glasgow's hand.

Spinning in front of the Gardmare, Ryo brought the blade down and through the mech, blood spraying from the soldier inside before he kicked it hard across the road and into the path of several more soldiers and transports.

"What the?!" Ashley gasped, gaping at the limo's screen as it displayed the Glasgow walking slowly their way, "That's something of the Galra freaks' isn't it?!"

"Must be," Lelia nodded, "Terrorists it seems…"

"Tch! So this was all a trap after all!" Ashley growled, about to leap out of the vehicle before Lelia grabbed his arm.

"No, you'll be a sitting duck!" she said, "Let's stay put for now."

"Might want to rethink that!" Ashley warned, pointing at the opposite window. Gasping, Lelia turned and saw a figure knocking on the windshield, smirking. It then raised an object to her view. A grenade.

"Shit!" Ashley swore, seeing it too, "We got to move!"

"Right! Driver, run!" Lelia yelled to the driving officers, before breaking off her seatbelt as she and Ashley bolted for the other door.

Scrambling, the driver managed to escape just seconds before the grenade exploded under the vehicle, sending him and Lelia flying.

"Commander!" Ashley gasped before a figure shoved him to the side, trying to rush past him. On instinct, he blindly grabbed out and caught the sleeve of the culprit.

They gasped as Ashley pulled them toward him, captured their arm and twisted it behind their back.

"No you don't!" he growled, pulling out his pistol as their hand reached for a blade at their side. He pressed the pistol against their head. "Who the hell are you?!"

The figure whipped out their sword, but before they could swing, Ashley kneed their arm, making them drop it. Their hood was thrown off in the process, revealing it to be the face of a girl with brown hair and gold eyes. Despite the resistance, Ashley held firm.

"A girl huh?" Ashley sneered, "What's a pretty face like you doing blowing up our envoy?"

"Ashley!" Lelia called, "Don't kill her! They're all to be taken alive!"

Ashley frowned but shrugged, "Oh, fine, whatever. She's not going anywhere." He then turned and whispered to Ayano, "Guess it's your lucky day… for now."

"Damn!" Yukiya panicked as he raced down the stairs of the abandoned parking lot, watching everything unfold on his screen. "Ryo! Ayano's in trouble!"

"I'll be right there!" Ryo replied, "What happened?"

"She got caught when she tried to grab the target."

"Tch, guess some of these guys are better than we thought," Ryo scowled before his attention was drawn toward the third Knightmare carrier. It was shot open and the Gardmare inside burst out, before speeding off toward Ryo's direction, making a beeline for his Glasgow.

"Another one?!" he gasped, sliding out of the way of the shots flying at him, "Just my luck!"

Akito slid by the Glasgow, the Gardmare's arm swiping at the mech as the larger Knightmare slid underneath its reach. In retaliation, the Gardmare spun around leaping into the air to crush the enemy, but it barely slid out of reach again. As the Glasgow flipped away, Akito continued to fire furiously at the attacker before Ryo finally raised his own gun toward him.

"Let's wrap this up!" Ryo shouted, before firing multiple shots at Akito.

Too slow to dodge, both of the Gardmare's arms got blown off, but Akito didn't seem too phased as he continued on his course, speeding up to meet the Glasgow. Then he flicked a small button, and the Gardmare's cockpit snapped open and Akito leaped out, somersaulting along the pavement before regaining his footing and charging the Glasgow on foot.

As the Gardmare exploded in front of Ryo, the Japanese youth's mouth dropped when he spotted Akito running at him on foot.

"Who is this guy?! He's taking on a Knightmare!" Ryo then smirked, "He's even crazier than we are. If you're that eager to die, I'm happy to help!"

He brandished the Galra scythe to the side, ready to swing it through his enemy.

However, Akito suddenly stopped. He pulled his assault rifle out and shot out the grappling hook on the bottom. Ryo gasped as he felt it connect with the front of the Knightmare.

"Dammit!" he cursed as the grapple began to pull Akito rapidly toward him. He began to slide along the ground and Ryo realized what was going on. "No!"

He swung the Scythe through the cord but it was too late. Akito had built up enough momentum to slip under the Glasgow, under its blindspot, and fired multiple shells at the Knightmare. Rolling to a stop on the other side, the Glasgow dropped the scythe it held and crumpled to the ground.

"Augh! Crap!" Ryo grunted as warning alarms began ringing in the cockpit.

Outside, seeing that the enemy was incapacitated, Akito raced forward, leaping on top of the Glasgow, shooting off its 'head' and raising the gun at the cockpit.

"Ryo!" Ayano screamed, struggling in Ashley's grip again.

"Lieutenant Hyuga!" Lelia shouted, running over. "I want you to take them alive! To the pilot of the Glasgow, we have your friend as a prisoner! Resistance is useless! Come out of there at once!"

"...All right, just don't hurt her. I'm coming out," Ryo finally said before reluctantly opening the cockpit. He pulled himself out and raised his hands. He was shocked when he finally got a better look at Akito though. "Hold on, what the hell is this? You're just a kid."

"You two don't seem to be that different in age to me," Lelia countered as Ashley also walked forward to join them, pistol still raised to Ayano's head.

"Commander Malcal," Akito said, "Letting them live would only put us at risk."

Before Lelia could reply, Ryo smirked, "You're smarter than you look."

Despite her dangerous position, Ayano also smirked, "He's right you know."

"Shut up," Ashley snapped, tightening his grip on her arm.

"Let them go!" another voice shouted. Both parties turned to see Yukiya approaching from the other side of the asphalt, explosives strapped against him and a detonator in his hands. "Now! Don't try to stall for time or I'll blow us all sky high! What do you say?"

Ashley scoffed, "Are you an idiot? You're dead whether we let you go or not!"

"He's right," Akito agreed, "Even if we let you go, the Galra will take notice of the disturbance soon. I doubt you'll be able to hide from them for long."

Yukiya didn't seem phased, "Do I look like I would back down from a threat like that?" Despite his words and demure though, Yukiya was nervous. He didn't want to kill Ryo and Ayano. And Akito was right, the Galra would probably be here any second. They had to grab the wZERO Commander now if they wanted a chance to live.

However, Akito saw through his bluff, "Pretty much."

Yukiya growled and Ayano shouted toward him, "Just do it, Yukiya! We'll be killed either way so what's the difference?!"

"Just tell me why you did it!" Lelia shouted, "I'm the one you want, correct? If you were targeting me, I assume you wanted to trade me for something?"

Ryo gritted his teeth before sighing, "Oh, what the hell, the operation's already screwed. Yeah, you're who we wanted. We figured a high-ranking rebel like you would be a nice bargain for the Galra. In exchange for you, we'll demand safe-passage off Earth. We'll find another home, away from this war-forsaken planet."

Akito scowled after hearing that explanation, "You're an idiot. There's no guarantee the Galra will keep their word. The second you try to escape, they can just shoot you out of the sky."

"We don't have another option!" Ryo barked back, "Earth has been doomed from the start! It's our last chance to find a place to belong!"

"A place… to belong?" Lelia quiered, stepping closer, "Is that it? Is that all you really want?"

Ryo scowled, "You call us idiots? You made a mess of the whole world long before the Galra got here and finished the job. And now you're crazy enough to try and fight back? You may think you still have something to fight for, but not us. We don't belong here. There's no place in his world for Elevens anymore… hasn't been for a long time now."

"So what? Your genius plan was to start a new colony on some Planet X that's who-knows-where?" Akito asked, starting to pity the three just a little.

"Hey, I don't have any interest in becoming the representative for all Elevens," Ryo replied, "All that we want is a place for ourselves. Somewhere to call home."

Lelia's eyes over the three fugitives. The looks on Yukiya and Ayano's faces were the same as Ryo's. They were in this together, no matter what fate awaited them.

Because of that, Lelia made her choice.

"If you want a place to belong, I can give you one," she offered, grabbing everyone's attention, "I'll allow you to join my team. It's as close to a home as you'll find."

"Commander…" Akito protested, frowning.

"I think I can accept that," Ashley said, "They were crazy enough to try and bargain with those purple bastards, probably crazy enough to fight them."

Ryo stayed silent before speaking, "Yeah, I think we get it. If we say no, we go boom anyway. Whether by your forces or the Galra when they get here. That's it right? We don't have a choice, do we?"

How long had it been since he had last set foot here? A century? Three or four? It certainly looked worse for wear since he'd last been here. If his theory was still correct, they wouldn't be able to enter through this one anymore. That was fine. There were several more on this planet. Not all was lost.

"This is it," he breathed as he helped his companion up the chasm. "This is where I've been picking up those readings."

His companion glanced around, absolutely mesmerized by the messages and drawings on the wall. Her hand trailed lightly down the one closest to her.

"Lotor, what exactly do you think you've found? You still haven't explained," she asked.

Lotor grinned ecstatically before pulling out a device. He pressed some buttons on the holoscreen before it expanded. It showed more drawings of figures, some large and glowing, flying past planets and galaxies.

"Well, Cera, as I've told you before, back when Altea was still thriving, the Alteans believed that a group of their own known as Life Givers spread to various places throughout the universe. Alteans cherished all forms of life because of these great sages."

"Life Givers?" Cera asked.

"Yes," Lotor nodded, "As the name suggests, these sages would find planets with no life, and start their own colonies, creating their own forms of life to roam these worlds."

"All right," Cera said, following along, "But what do they have to do with this?"

Lotor turned to her, grinning, "I think we've discovered the place where it began. On this planet anyway!"

"...What?" she gasped, eyes wide.

"The quintessence reading I'm picking up from here is stronger than any place on Earth! This structure must be Altean in origin. If all my research is accurate, I may have found what I've been searching for for centuries!"

Cera smiled, happy to see Lotor in such high spirits. She may still not quite get what just the structure alone got Lotor so excited, but she was glad that he seemed pleased.

"All your talk about Altea, a place with no war, no conflict, a paradise really. I keep dreaming about what such a place could be like," she admitted softly, "It's likely far better than whatever Earth has to offer. But… it's gone now."

Destroyed. By Lotor's father thousands of years ago. How any creature could be cruel enough to destroy such a wonderful place is something Cera would never understand.

Lotor turned back to her, taking her hands, "I intend to make a new Altea. It will be just as much a paradise as the old one. And when that day comes, I will take you there, Cera. You will see it someday, I promise."

Cera laughed, "Well, there's no need to rush. We have all the time in the world for that. I can't exactly die, and you'll probably live just as long."

The two laughed at her joke. They could already see it. When this new Altea eventually came to be, they could live happily. Cera, even if she could never break her curse, could live peacefully there. And he would be by her side the entire time.

But that time was still so far away.

"Cera, listen…" Lotor whispered, now looking sad, "If something should happen. If I have to leave Earth and return in a time of danger, come to this place. I'll find you. I'll get you away from here. You'll be safe."

Cera nodded, smiling despite the melancholy change in topic. "I promise. Just don't keep me waiting too long."

She then stood on her tip-toes and kissed Lotor's cheek. Blushing, Lotor smiled in return.

Lotor smiled reminiscently as the memory drew to a close.

After sending his generals off, he'd flown another ship straight to this island. He'd been disturbed upon landing to see there was clearly the aftermath of a battle here and the Altean structure had been partially excavated before being abandoned.

Putting that aside for the moment, he searched the entire island for hours, but there was no sign of Cera anywhere. Saddened, he did take some comfort in knowing she wasn't in Galran captivity. He had searched privately through the Galra's comm channels on the way to the planet, and no being, from Earth or otherwise, matched Cera's description much to his relief.

Meaning there was only one other logical option. If she wasn't on Earth and hiding on this island like they'd planned, she was likely with the Voltron Paladins. Not exactly an ideal place Lotor wanted her, but between the two, he'd choose the Paladins.

'I'm sorry, Cera,' he thought with a sad sigh, 'It seems I couldn't keep my promise…"

He was shaken from his thoughts when his radio crackled and Acxa's voice came through.

"Lotor, our mission is complete. We found the perpetrator. They're currently in our custody on the ship."

Nodding, he pressed his link and turned back to the beach, "Very well. I'm on my way."

The sun was beginning to set when Lotor finally arrived back at his ship. Swiftly entering, he found his generals in the brig, all surrounding one cell near the back.

Pushing forward, Lotor's eyes widened when he saw the occupant. It was just a small human girl, with dark green hair tied in braids and glasses, and she was wearing what probably could have been a school uniform at one point if not for the dirt and grease stains all over it.

She also had a large cloth tied around her mouth and her arms and legs were cuffed behind her. She was equally terrified and furious as she looked up at him and his generals.

"She's young…" Lotor said, mostly to himself before directly addressing his generals. "Why is she gagged?"

It was Zethrid that answered, "Cause she wouldn't shut up about all this Galra-hate slang. Here, look…"

The larger general entered the cell, bent down, and pulled the cloth out, and almost like the sudden pulling of an alarm, the girl immediately started shrieking.

"YOU'RE SCUM! YOU GALRA TOOK EVERYTHING! YOU DESTROYED MY LIFE! YOU KILLED HER! YOU-"

The shrieks were soon cut off when Zethrid stuffed the cloth back in her mouth, muffling her screeches.

"See?" she gestured while cleaning out her right ear that was ringing from the shrill screaming.

Lotor didn't seem too phased. This wasn't the first time he'd seen such a response to the Galra after all. Though he had to applaud the girl for having such a loud volume come from her small frame

He cleared his throat, "You said you had your report, Acxa?"

"Yes sir," Acxa stood at attention, "We found her at the epicenter of where the attacks were happening. It was at an old school building, and from what we could find, she was the only occupant."

Lotor's eyebrows quirked, "Really?"

"Yes. She ambushed us with several reprogrammed sentries and those Knightmare devices this planet is known for. Not only that, but she even managed to integrate Galra technology into a couple of different models of the mechs."

"Is that so?" Lotor asked, now sounding interested. While it wasn't unheard of for some worlds to integrate their tech with Galran ones, the fact that this girl managed to do it within only about a month's time of her planet being conquered was impressive. Most civilizations that tried took years of trial and error before they got a working device and system that could handle both technology forms.

"But, that's not the only surprise we found. Besides the fact her base was a school of all places," Ezor continued, pulling out a blue-covered book and opening it to a random page, "look who also attended."

Taking the book, which Lotor quickly realized was a photo album, his eyes soon landed on several familiar faces.

"The Paladins…" he realized, flipping through a couple more pages.

"Yes," Acxa nodded. "As you can see, we can easily identify the Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red, and Purple Paladins in here. And if you look here," she pointed to a small group photo to the bottom right, "even that paraplegic princess from the massacre is in this."

"And these other two?" Lotor asked, pointing to Lelouch and Rai's faces in the same picture.

"We couldn't identify them, sir," Acxa said, "However, even if it's not solid evidence, considering that five of the seven Paladins were in this album, I can only guess that these two are likely the Green and Black Paladins. Meaning…"

"One of these two is likely Zero," Lotor finished, realizing Acxa's theory.

"Yes, but like I said, there's no way to prove it. It could likely be coincidence as well."

"Hm…" Lotor hummed, glancing between the photos, even to the girl in the cell. He could tell from this album that she was close with the Paladins… or was anyway. If that were the case, why leave her behind?

With a snap, he shut the album and handed it back to Ezor.

"Well done," he praised the four of them, "it seems we've gathered some valuable intelligence on the Paladins. And likely a valuable resource."

He stepped a little closer to the girl's cell door. "Leave us."

The four generals quickly exited while Lotor stared at the girl, considering her before stepping forward and opening her cell door.

The girl shrunk away as he knelt in front of her.

"Listen, I'll take the gag off, so long as remain calm and not shout," he stated placidly, before smoothly sliding the gag out of her mouth.

Despite Lotor's statement, though, she instantly returned to her screaming.

"MURDERERS! ALL OF YOU!" she screamed, spit flying from her mouth, some of it splattering on Lotor's face. Fortunately, he didn't seem phased by either her screams nor the spittle and remained composed as he wiped it off. "YOU KILLED PRINCESS EUPHEMIA! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE! I'LL KILL YOU… I'LL KILL YOU! PRINCESS EUPHEMIA… I WILL AVENGE HER! YOU'LL PAY! YOU'LL PAY!"

She continued to rant and scream for a good five doboshes, but Lotor waited patiently, letting her have her say.

Besides, it wasn't like she was wrong after all.

"...Yes, they should, shouldn't they?" Lotor finally said when there was finally a pause for her to catch her breath. "They should all pay."

The girl froze, seemingly shell-shocked. She looked up at him, eyes wide.

"The Galra… they are nothing but barbaric aren't they?" Lotor continued, tone not changing, "They do as they please with little concern for the consequences to their actions. So your hatred for them is understandable. Most of their actions are unforgivable. And for you especially… they took something from you. This 'Princess Euphemia'?"

The girl bit her lip, eyes shining. She bowed her head, almost curling into herself as tears leaked down her cheeks.

"Well, believe it not, I understand. They have taken away someone precious to me as well." Lotor revealed but didn't give a name. While he had never truly had the chance to meet her, Lotor had always admired his mother's work and felt connected to her the more he learned about her. If only his father had cherished her as much as he did.

The girl looked up, eyes wide in surprise this time, clearly not expecting him to emphasize with her like this. Again, understandable. It was clear that this girl's trust in not only him, but anyone, had been shattered when this princess she mentioned was taken.

Blinking, something glowing and red appeared in the center of Lotor's eyes. A red, v-shaped, bird-like symbol that illuminated the cell.

"What's your name?" he requested, tone still calm and serene.

With a gasp, Nina's eyes glowed with an identical colored ring within her own. She immediately relaxed a moment later.

"Nina. Nina Einstein," she answered.

Lotor smiled, "Well, Nina, may I ask what has been burdening you?"

For the next several minutes, Nina felt words tumbling out of her mouth, and it wasn't just thoughtless rambles. No. These feelings, these thoughts, they were things that people would share only with those closest to them, or even only for a diary or journal.

It started practically from the beginning. Nina had started her life like a normal girl in he homeland. Then her father had gotten a promotion that had forced them to move to Area 11. Life didn't seem too different at first.

Then one day, on the way home, she had made a stupid mistake and gotten off at the wrong train station and ended up in the ghettos. Until now, she never revealed what occurred while she was there. What she saw and what could have possibly happened to her…

Lotor had stopped her from continuing with that account. He didn't need to know the details to get the picture. However, it did explain the crippling fear she carried with her whenever she so much as stepped out of her home or the school, around the only people she truly trusted.

The talk then shifted to the views of the Britannian people themselves. How much she hated how weak she felt, as in the eyes of her people, the weak were useless. Even among her friends and schoolmates, despite the safety, the feelings never left.

That was until the hotel-jacking at Lake Kawaguchi. It was like the ghetto incident all over again, but this time she was the one caught directly in the middle of it instead of an unfortunate bystander. It had gotten worse when one of the Elevens had personally attacked her. She hadn't meant to offend him, the word had just slipped out in her panic.

Then she saw her. Before the sitaution could get too out of hand, an angel, or at least that was the only way she could describe her. Princess Euphemia, previously hiding amongst the hostages stood up and defended her, practically taking Nina's place. She became Nina's hope, her foundation to keep going. Even when her friends disappeared, leaving her alone, as long as Euphemia was there, she felt like she could continue forward. She had even been lucky enough to meet her and properly thank her for saving her. She was even more amazing up close like that. And even better, when they had spoken, the princess spoke to her like an equal, like a friend. She had never been happier in her entire life before.

"You hold this Euphemia in high regards it seems," Lotor observed.

Nina couldn't help but blush, "She's a goddess…"

Lotor smiled but then asked, "And what about your friends? I'm sure you were shocked to learn of their identities with Voltron."

Nina frowned, looking down with an unreadable expression. "I was shocked, but I never heard from them even after finding out. But Euphemia seemed to trust them so, I thought… maybe if I could go with them, I could work closer with her. Maybe I could be a part of something too."

"But then the Galra came," Lotor said matter-of-factly.

Nina clenched her still-bound fists and her face darkened. "They killed her… and the emperor, her father, he let it HAPPEN! Why?! Why would he kill someone so amazing?! His own daughter! He has to pay… they all DO!"

Angry tears had started to fall again as Nina lamented and Lotor's eyes returned to normal. Calmly getting to his feet, he addressed her again, this time a little more authoratively.

"Nina… do you know who I am?"

"Huh?" Nina gasped, looking up, confused by the question as it should be pretty obvious that of course, she didn't.

"My name is Lotor. Prince Lotor. Son of Zarkon."

Nina's pupils shrunk, body freezing, shock and terror plain on her face.

"And yet…" Lotor quickly continued, noticing, "Despite my blood-relation with the Galran emperor, I wish nothing more than to see that demon removed from his throne that he's built on the blood of billions throughout the universe."

Nina's eyes widened. Lotor… hated his father? He was against him?

"Would you like to see that, as well?" he asked her directly, and Nina couldn't help but listen to every word he said. "Your hatred Nina, your anger, while justified, is like a fire. If left unchecked, it could spread and grow to the point where you cannot control it, and it will ultimately consume you and everything around you. However, if you learn to control your anger, to harness and use it properly, you can deal more damage to your enemies than you can ever hope to imagine, and I can help you with that."

"You... would help me...?" she asked quietly.

"Britannia and the Galra are the same," Lotor explained, stepping behind her and smoothly uncuffing her hands and feet. "They think the strong must thrive over the weak. However, this also means they share a crippling weakness: they fail to comprehend that the weak can grow stronger. Despite being Britannian yourself, you hated yourself because you saw yourself as weak, something to be cast aside and forgotten like trash. But you have so much more potential than they could realize. You believe yourself to be weak? Then how would you like to become stronger?"

He knelt down in front of her again, a smile on his face.

"How would you like to become part of the new empire I hope to build? Join us, and you'll never feel weak or helpless again."

He held his hand out to her and Nina stared at it for several long moments.

Then her face hardened and placed her hand in his.

AN: WOW! This is the longest chapter I've ever written for this fic to date. 17,427 words! The last one I wrote that was that long was Battle of Home at 14,393 words.

Now then, onto some notes for this chapter.

Firstly, addressing the generals' backstories. We don't get a ton of information about Lotor's generals in Voltron canon. All we know for sure is that they are all half-breed Galra, and due to prejudice on both sides (Galra and home race), they are extremely loyal to Lotor and his vision (at first). So, I took several creative liberties in most of the generals' backgrounds to try and make them interesting and give additional reasons as to why they may join Lotor's ranks (you may have noticed I didn't include Acxa's. That was intentional. Her's will be revealed later). That included not only the names of their home planets and alien races but also some of their early lives.

First, Ezor. Talpa translates to Chameleon in Latin, and Ezor's home planet is a playoff of that word. And regarding her backstory, I know it's a pretty heavy subject and difficult to write it in a way that doesn't offend anyone that is sensitive to this subject matter. If anyone is offended, I deeply apologize and will work to do better in the future. Hopefully, I won't dive into this matter again in this fic.

Next, Zethrid. Her race is a completely original name that I thought off the top of my head, same with her planet name. I thought it would be interesting to address the fact that, despite consequences, there may have been planets that willingly sided with the Galra even at the beginning, whether to get revenge on another world (some have been warring for centuries after all) or hope to get something from the Galra invading. It didn't work out for them, and forever remains a stain on Vrinqox's history.

Last, Narti. Since we saw her for the shortest amount of time in canon, she's definitely the one with the biggest gaps to fill in both personality and background. I think from a logical perspective, it's safe to assume that there are some races that simply aren't compatible with Galra DNA, and Narti's race, the Pili (Samoan for Lizard) of planet Moko (Maori for Lizard) happens to be one of them. However, as we can see from both canon and this fic, she's not letting her ailments stop her from being pretty badass. Plus, there's the fact that Haggar lent Kova to Narti to use as her eyes, which further proves in my opinion that Narti's blindness and possibly inability to speak is not a common trait of her race, otherwise, she'd have another way of navigating her surroundings and/or communicating.

Secondly, we're diving into a few of the Code Geass spin-offs in this chapter as we check back on Earth. As you can see, things aren't looking too hot for anyone. The Britannian royals and much of the military are strongly protesting the actions of Charles zi Britannia, and there will continue to be consequences that are still to come.

For those of you who have seen Akito of the Exiled, you're probably wondering why Ashley, who was pretty loyal to Shin when he was first introduced is siding willingly with the enemy. Well, he kind of explains it himself. He's a proud Britannian knight and while he may still respect Shin, he's not too keen on being he lapdogs for an alien regiment that turned up uninvited and started to wipe out both Britannians and their enemies. So, like many other military officers and soldiers, he and what's left of his squad (the ones that died were chosen at random besides Johannes) have defected, and have agreed to assist the wZERO unit as the enemy of an enemy. I hope that makes some sense.

Thirdly, Marrybell has made an appearance along with Orpheus and Wizard as well. Again, I have not read any of the mangas (and never will), so my characterization of these characters comes directly from other fanfics that features them. If they seem OOC at all, I do apologize.

Fourthly, after much anticipation and questions, we know what Nina has been up to and where she has been. Since the Galra invaded, she's been in hiding at Ashford this whole time. How come Milly didn't find her when she went for her grandfather? Well, firstly the school residents were being evacuated so it was already difficult to find her grandfather in the crowd and get him to safety. And it is likely in her haste that she didn't think, or even have time, to check certain areas of the school. Plus, ever since they were taken from Earth in the Blue Lion, Nina had been spending less and less time at the school anyway, only going there to try and deal with what few student council matters she could being the sole remaining member.

Now though, Lotor has found her and has offered her a place among his ranks. What will become of her now, and what may change about her? We'll see!

And finally... Lotor's reason for knowing C.C! Or part of it anyway, there is still a truckload of stuff to uncover about their relationship and history, but we did get a small glimpse of what seemed to be going on with them many years ago. And we get a few more questions and mysteries about the Thought Elevators and what they really are here. Please share whatever theories or questions you have in the reviews or PM me for questions. Can't promise I'll confirm or deny anything, but it's always interesting to hear your thoughts.

So! Hope you enjoyed this very long chapter! R&R, update the TVTropes page, and I will see you next time! Bye!

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