#kovalia shirogane

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

A Portentous Warning: II

Word Count: 3010

The weekly meeting with Curtis on Earth and the crew of the Coeus happened on the day the teens were covering the bridge. Kova and Allie rushed past the kitchen, where the adults were eating whatever Hunk and Cake managed to make. Down the hallway, past the sleeping quarters, past Shiro's room, and to the left, was the bridge through the only doorway to the right. Kova never broke her stride, reaching out to grab her podium. Allie hadn't bandaged Kova's hands, leaving them still bruised and bloodied. Caleb, who had walked in seconds earlier, turned his chair around as Allie walked past to sit in her chair. Kova looked up at Caleb's turning, seeing the lavender fabric in his hands. He tossed the bundle to her like a basketball, and Kova managed to catch it. She had managed to put it on and pull the sleeves down to cover her knuckles when Krolia turned around. 

"Kovalia," Krolia said, noticing the teen standing at her console. "I was wondering when you would come." 

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Kova said. She leaned on her console, hiding her knuckles in the bend of her elbows as Krolia approached the podium. 

"Um, sorry," Liz said. She and Cake were gaping at the sight of the Galra. "When did we meet?" 

"Cap, you can't secrets from us," Cake whined, puppy dog eyes in full view.

"Your team?" Krolia asked, looking at Kova again. The teen had closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, hoping to ignore the other two members. 

"Yep." She opened her eyes. "We have something to ask you." 

"About cargo." Krolia placed a hand on her hip. "I recall. What is it and where is it going?" At that, the teen sucked in her lips and took a breath. 

"Vatos," Kova called. Krolia, confused, turned around at the toddler that had been coloring in the corner. His sheets of paper were in disarray, with crudely made crayons in his fists. When Kova said his name, the little boy looked up with a toothy smile. "Hi," Kova said, giving a little wave. Vatos waved his fist before returning to his scribbles. 

"No." Krolia was quick in her response. "Kovalia, I am not and will not become responsible for the child." 

"Please?" Kova pleaded. "We can't safely transport him without running into the Fire." Krolia sighed, looking at the little boy. Vatos had managed to draw a mess of yellow, red, green, blue, and black. He stood, walked over to Cake's console, and proudly held up the paper to show it to Cake. Cake fawned over the picture, telling Vatos what a great job he had done. Krolia closed her eyes in defeat. 

"Where is he going?" She asked, turning her head to face Kova. It didn't help that Kova was trying to hide a victorious smile. 

"Earth, if possible." 

"Not Altea?" 

"If the Emperor were to become aware of the war, he would order all available troops to prepare," Allie cut in. "All of our citizens would be rehomed, and travel to Earth for refuge. Altea won't be safe." 

"Like Daibazaal," Krolia said, her voice low. "Alright, I'll do it. But I expect something in return, Kovalia." 

"You have my word." Kova rolled her eyes, sending off a message to Kenny. Since Kenny had been in charge of the toddler, Kenny was also assigned to prep a bag in case the deal came through. "Kenny will bring the bag, and Vatos is all yours." 

"You're lucky I was already on my way here." Speak of the devil. The door opened up and quickly closed behind him, tossing the bag to Kova. Kova, in turn, tossed it to Krolia. "Hey, Grandma," Kenny said, waving. "Wait, Grandma?!" 

"Kenneth, correct?" Krolia asked Kova, swinging Vatos's bag over her shoulder. Kova nodded. Cake explained, as well as you could explain to a kid, that Krolia was going to take him somewhere safe. 

"Where Mommy is?" Vatos asked. Cake's smile faltered. Allie's shoulders sagged. Caleb didn't meet the little boy's eyes. Kova moved, descending the staircase to Cake's level, and sat down on the step. "Where's Mommy?" 

"Mommy will join you later," Kova said, smiling at the little boy. "But she wanted us to keep you safe. So that's what we're going to do. Is that okay?" After a tick, the little boy nodded. "Good. Krolia, the woman over there, is going to take you to Earth. One of my dads is going to take care of you when you get there. Okay?" 

"Okay." Another head nod from the little boy. "Will I be able to color on my way there?" Kova shrugged, picking up the little boy so he rested on her hip. 

"You're going to have to ask Krolia," Kova said. "But I think she will." Kova had leaned in to stage-whisper in his ear, causing the little boy to giggle. Kova approached Krolia, handing Vatos to her. The little boy wrapped his arms around Krolia's neck to look over her shoulder at Allie and Caleb. Allie gave a small little wave and touched her markings. Caleb smiled at the little boy, only staring at him. 

"Until next time, Kovalia," Krolia said on her way out, heading towards the emergency exit to the right of the doorway. 

"Until next time, Krolia," Kova said softly, crossing her arms. After a few minutes, the Coeus shook again, and an escape pod flew past their window. The teens watched the pod until it was unclear if they were looking at a ship or a star. 

"How long has Grandma been here?" Kenny exclaimed, finally unfreezing from his stance. 

"Not long." Kova turned around, hoping to end the conversation. "This isn't—"

"Is the first time she's been on the ship?" Kenny asked, staring at Kova with wide eyes. Kova pursed her lips. With a raised eyebrow, she waited until Kenny finished.

"No, this is not the first time she's been on the ship." Kova walked over and climbed the stairs one syllable at a time until she reached the floor. "No, she hasn't asked how the ship is running and who fixed it." Kova finally made it to her console, pushing Kenny aside. He stood with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. He was shocked. Anyone else would. 

"She probably thinks it was you," Kenny spoke at last. Kova did what she could to not roll her eyes. 

"I can't speak for other people's thoughts, Ken." 

"Everyone else would." With that, Kenny marched out. Kova looked after him. If it wasn't her shift. Kenny would have to wait. 

The day stretched into the next, where the teens switched off with the adults. Liz and Cake offered to teach Pidge and Hunk about the little upgrades they had managed to do with their spare time. They admitted it was mostly Kova, but they helped. 

Kova, on the other hand, stood in front of Kenny's door. Her long hair was tied in a ponytail. She wore her blue dress and leggings under her lavender sweater since her gray vest was given to Keith. She held only a tablet in her hands as she stared into the door. Liz, Cake, and Caleb were pulling out all the stops since Kenny decided to stay in his room today. With a deep breath, Kova knocked and opened the door. 

The room was dark, save only for a distant red light. Kenny had turned part of the closet into a  vertical garden. Kova wasn't sure if the plants were already here pre-launch, or if they were collected over their trip so far, but it was a mystery. Immediately to the right of the doorway, the door to the ensuite bathroom lay, also dark. Across from the door, a bundle of blankets lay on the bed. The door closed behind Kova as she approached. The only shifted when Kova sat on the corner closest to the pillow and the wall. Pulling an outermost blanket away, Kenny's head of brown hair appeared from the bundle. At least he was still here. 

"Ken," Kova said softly. "Kenny, look at me." 

"Go away." Kenny's voice was hoarse. "Go be perfect somewhere else." The mountain of sheets moved as Kenny tried to merge with the wall. 

"Kenny," Kova tried to say. 

"Kova this, Kova that." His voice was mocking. "'Why can't you be more like Kova?' 'If Kova weren't the Colonel's kid, I would've thought she was my grandkid.' 'Kova's everything everyone wants.' 'Kova is perfection." Kova hadn't said a word while Kenny mocked the comments. She almost jumped out of her skin when he turned his head to glare at her. "Why do you have to be so perfect for everyone?" He turned back around, almost slamming his head against the wall. Kova retracted her hand from the blanket, but she hadn't moved off the bed. As the blood that rushed in Kenny's ear calmed down, he noticed Kova had yet to make a sound. He turned around again, looking at her face. Those pretty amber eyes were downcast, filled with so much sadness and hurt, Kenny wished he could take his words back. 

"I wasn't perfect enough for them." Kova's voice held just as much sadness as her eyes. "I have to fight with that every day. It doesn't help that eyes are always on me." Kenny waited as Kova took a deep breath. "I'm the Colonel's kid. I'm a top student. I'm the jack of all trades. I don't' have time to wallow, to process my feelings. I wish I did." Kova's eyes moved from her lap to Kenny's. "I wish I could be invisible, to not be the center of attention, to not worry about failing."

"You wish you were me." Kenny finished her sentence. A rueful smile appeared on her face, nodding gently. 

"I wish I could do what you did." Kova continued before Kenny could say more. "You rebuilt, upgraded, and in some places, restored this massive outdated ship without anyone ever noticing." With a hesitant hand, Kova ruffled Kenny's messy hair. "Sam would be proud. So would Matt."

"What about Colleen?" Kova scoffed as she returned her hand to the tablet in her hand. 

"Colleen has always been proud of her grandkids, whether they became evil emperors, homebodies, or high-ranking soldiers." Kenny smiled, playfully glaring at Kova. He sat up in bed, pushing his glasses onto his nose. That was when he saw the tablet in Kova's hands. 

"What's that for?" He asked, pointing at the tablet. Kova looked down and smiled. 

"I was hoping you would watch some old videos with me." She looked up, holding the tablet in front of her chest. "From before." 

"Before?" Kenny asked, looking between the tablet and Kova. "Like, /before/ before? Before the Achlys?"

"Before everything." 

"Let's do it!" Kenny said, excited. He scooched over to leave some room for Kova, who leaned into his pillows uncomfortably. They were much too soft. The tablet turned on and Kova clicked on a video file hidden under a folder labeled 'KHK'. 

The first video opened with a dark screen, with muffled voices over it. At last, the camera opened to reveal a toddler. The little girl had short black hair with a little ponytail on top of her head, held in place by a red hair clip. The toddler had big light brown eyes, with her tongue intermittently darting in and out of her mouth. As the camera zoomed out, more of the toddler's outfit was revealed. She wore a long-sleeved red shirt with a bow in the middle and ladybugs where her pockets would be, and a pair of light gray pants covered in little ladybugs and red shoes tap shoes. Her playful smile at the camera quickly turned into giggles as someone behind the camera bounced their dark pants-covered leg up and down. The toddler turned her attention from the camera to whoever was there. 

"Klance!" She shouted happily, squealing. 

"How come you're 'Klance', but I'm 'Unatt'?" Matt said off-screen. The little toddler turned her head to presumably Matt with a smile. 

"Untt!" The camera zoomed out further until the backs of Lance and Matt's heads could be seen. Lance had thrown his head back in laughter. The toddler, now assumed to be Kova, giggled again. 

"At least you're 'Untt' now." Lance was holding little Kova, bouncing her on his leg. 

"Be careful, Uncle Lance." The camera turned, giving a full view of what was the Kogane family home. With a turn of his head and across a floor shift, Lance looked at the dining table, where Kenny met his eyes. "TJ is gonna get really mad if you drop her." 

"I know, Ken," Lance replied, grabbing little Kova's waist and holding her above his head. "She's just a little daredevil." 

"She wouldn't be if you left her alone." The camera turned, flying over the armrest to focus on Pidge. She wore a long-sleeved green shirt, hands planted on the kitchen counter. Her eyes, matching the toddlers, were hard. 

"Sorry, Pidge," Matt said, and the camera flew to the other side of the room. "But if she weren't a little daring, she wouldn't be walking, talking, or potty-trained." 

"Yeah, Pidge," Lance said, finally lowering the little girl. She sat down on his lap, facing where the TV would've been. Matt handed her a stuffed ladybug, which she gladly accepted. "Pretty soon, little Kyla will be riding a bike into town." 

Before Pidge could respond, a giant wolf appeared in front of the couch. Lance, who had been reclining, sat up to secure a hold on the toddler. Matt nearly jumped onto the couch. Kyla, with the black and blue wolf only inches from her face, screamed. The wolf's bright yellow eyes turned to face the screaming child, approaching her to sniff. As Kyla calmed down, about to reach out to pet the wolf, it disappeared. After the moment of shock passed, Kyla was lifted again to stand on Uncle Lance's lap. 

"That was Kosmo," Matt said, coming down from the couch. 

"Y'know what that means, Ky?" Uncle Lance smiled up at the little girl, who smiled back. "Daddy's home!" 

"Daddy!" 

Behind the couch, the front door opened. Keith, muttering something was wrong with the wolf, walked into his home. He wore his Blade of Marmora suit, recognizing him as a high-ranking member. 

"Daddy!" Kyla exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "Daddy! Daddy!" 

"Hey, Lance," Keith greeted, finally seeing the child. "I didn't know you had a kid." Both Lance and Matt looked at each other, then at Pidge, who was trying to blend in with the fridge. That was when TJ emerged from the hallway leading to the bedrooms. 

"Dad!" He all but shouted. TJ's hair was shorter, cropped at the nape. He wore a familiar red and white jacket over a forest green shirt and black pants. TJ, with arms outstretched, walked towards Keith, who did the same. As Keith let go of his oldest, he walked past his second and ruffled his hair on his way to the counter to finally see his wife. It was quick. It could've been missed. Little Kenny, still sitting at the dining table, passed a note to TJ as he took a seat. TJ's smile fell as he read the note. He looked up to meet Kenny's eyes and Kenny gave a quick nod. 

"Hey, Uncle Lance?" Kenny said, a little too loud for an inside voice. "Does Kyla need to go to the bathroom?" 

"I don't know, Ken." Lance caught on quick, meeting the little girl's eyes. "Kyla, do you need to go to the bathroom?" She shook her head. "Are you hungry?" She shook her head again. "Are you tired?" At that, she nodded her head. A yawn followed, and Kyla started rubbing her eyes. 

"I'll take her to bed," TJ said, standing up from his chair. "She's our little sister, anyway." Keith looked up at his son, watched him pick up the little girl dressed in red, and walk deeper into the house. Keith stared at Pidge, who had only closed her eyes. Kenny silently slid out of his chair, walked to the couch, and sat in between Lance and Matt. He was staring right at the camera. 

"So," Kenny said. "What's the camera's name?" Both Lance and Matt now stared directly at the camera. 

"Chad?"

"Why?" Lance asked, staring at Matt. "How about Buddy?" The camera did something, earning Lance's attention. For a brief second, the lens turned colors before returning to normal. Lance smiled. "Buddy it is, I guess." 

"Okay, Buddy," Kenny said, and the camera deactivated. 

Kova paused the video before it could continue. She looked up at Kenny, now fifteen years older than the video. He pushed his glasses up as he stared at the dark screen.

"I, uh, didn't know Buddy's deactivation phrase," Kenny said, laughing. "But it was boring afterward anyway. TJ came back out after putting you down and admired the camera. It wasn't until he realized that the camera could've captured an unflattering angle when he asked if it was on." 

"Uncle Matt talked you through it, right?"

"Yeah." He smiled at the memory. "I was the only one who knew the phrase, besides you."

"I remembered." She smiled, too. "I always turned it on whenever something was happening. And if I didn't turn it on, Pops or Dad did." 

"Who made the video?" Kenny reached his hand out to Kova, who handed over the tablet. "There's, like, an hour and a half left." 

"Probably Pops." Kova shrugged. "Maybe it was Buddy. I just know that the video has been under my file for years and has only grown." Kova stood, stretching her arms. 

"Thanks for that, Ky," Kenny said. Kova froze mid-stretch. "I really needed that."

"What? The memory?" 

"The before." 

Kova smiled, holding her hand out. Kenny handed her the tablet, watching as she turned and walked towards the door. No words were said between the two, but the nostalgia hit them all the same.

[ao3feed-voltronlegendarydefender]

Voltron: Next Generation

read it on the AO3 at Voltron: Next Generation

by annoyinglyjovialbird

Thirty years after the end of the war, there was peace in the universe at last.

Of course, nothing is that simple.

After an accidental launch into space, Shiro faces a threat he never wanted involvement in. Now, he isn't on the frontlines. His kids are.

Kovalia "Kova" Shirogane has a long-hidden secret, undefined goals, and top rank at the Garrison.

Caleb Shirogane has been Kova's second-in-command for years, always one step behind his sister's quick mind.

Eliza "Liz" Griffin never wanted to go to the Garrison, but the cute pilot she was teamed up with was enough to stay.

Allura "Allie" Smythe is the newest member of Kova's trio, a soft-spoken Altean who is somehow afraid of everything.

Issako "Cake" Garrett grew up on Earth under the care of his grandparents after his dad disappeared seven years ago.

Kenneth "Kenny" Holt is under scrutiny for causing the accidental launch of long-forgotten spacecraft, the IGF-Coeus.

When a new threat arises, will the teens face their destiny head-on? Or will they be too busy yelling at Kenny?

Find out in Voltron: Next Generation!

Words: 2686, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Multi

Characters: Lance (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Curtis (Voltron), James Griffin (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Pidge | Katie Holt's Family, Keith (Voltron), Original Child Character(s), Original Altean Character(s), Original Galran Character(s), Allura (Voltron), Voltron Lions

Relationships: Curtis/Shiro (Voltron), Hunk/Shay (Voltron)

read it on the AO3 at Voltron: Next Generation

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

A Portentous Warning: III

Word Count: 2979

A/N: Season 1 finale! 

The darkness of the room was lightened by the hallway lights outside the door. A dark head of hair brushed back behind their head, reflected the lights overhead. Whether the shininess was from oil or gel, it was hard to tell. Here's where the differences came. 

One wore a black and white vest, with their long hair in a ponytail. The other dark head wore dark plated armor, with their hair not reaching longer than the nape of their neck. The person wearing the vest walked past gray and white walls, heading towards an elevator that led to the main floor. As the doors opened, the person who wore the dark plated armor strode forward. As he walked past underlings, they stiffened, some biting their lips and closing their eyes to hide their fear. 

The doors to the bridge opened, and the man wearing the vest walked into the bridge, descending the staircase to the right to look out the large windows. The teens in the chairs didn't flinch. They ignored Keith as he walked past. Keith stared out into the darkness past the glass. The space was infinite and cold. 

If only they had known that father and son were looking at the same star.

"Keith, are you okay?" The voice was distant, far away from anything in Keith's mind. 

Kova stared at the man with a confused expression. Maybe she was also indignant that she had been ignored. The other teens looked up as Keith didn't answer. 

"Allura forbid," Kova muttered. 

"Keith. Keith!" Caleb said, hoping to get the man's attention. 

"No one get up," Kova said, moving from her console. "I got it." 

Keith didn't notice the footsteps, made purposefully loud. He didn't feel the presence of another person. Until a hand touched his shoulder. His body reacted before his mind caught up. Grabbing the other person's hand and twisting it behind their back, Keith tried pushing the person to the ground. Instead, Keith felt himself being lifted until his back met the floor and he was staring at the ceiling. Has that weird discolored plate always been there?

"I did nothing!" Kova yelled, holding her hands up in surrender. Heavier steps walked over to Keith, seeing Shiro's towering form. 

"Keith," Shiro said, letting his robotic arm push Kova back towards her console. "Are you alright?" 

"What happened?" 

"Kova flipped you." Caleb was helpful at least. It seemed that Shiro didn't appreciate it as he turned his head to glare at the teen. 

"He started it!" Cake yelled, standing from his console. 

"Who started what?" Hunk asked, coming into the bridge. The room descended into chaos. Pidge argued with Liz and Cake, Hunk was asking Allie what had happened, Caleb was just shouting over everyone, and Kova and Shiro had matching expressions. Reaching a human hand out to Keith, Shiro stood the man up and turned to his daughter. Her face was the definition of 'May I?' and Shiro nodded his approval after a survey of the room. 

"QUIET!" Kova yelled, louder than necessary, but effective nonetheless. The arguing ceased and Shiro's robotic arm had flown over to Caleb, covering his face completely. After a sigh, Kova looked at the struggling Caleb. "If you stop struggling, you'll get the hand off your face." After some more indignant struggling, Caleb finally relaxed in his chair. 

"You're loud." Hunk stated. 

"I took singing lessons." Kova looked at the chaotic bridge. "Right. So... we're going to go train in our Lions, and we'll figure out the rest from there." The adults tried to voice their opinions, but the teens were already filing out. 

Hunk took a seat in Cake's chair, using his bent arm as chinrest. Pidge reluctantly sat down in Liz's chair, watching as Keith walked to Caleb's chair. Shiro sighed, making his way to Kova's console. The Lions filed out in backward order: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Or Blue, Yellow, Green, Red, and Black. When the Lions were in the air and flew in front of the Coeus's large windows, Kenny finally woke up from his quick nap. 

"Oh," Kenny said, yawning his way through. "We're doing that today." 

"Send the file to my console," Kova said over the intercom. Through yawns and stretches, Kenny complied. Shiro received a file aptly named, 'TRAINING FILE'. Sharing it to the main screen, Shiro pressed something to open the file code. Strings of random letters, numbers, and symbols were written across the screen, undesirable for the Colonel. 

"Press the green button to launch the file and we'll be—" Kova said, getting interrupted 

"Who, when, where, and why?" Pidge exclaimed. "This is super complicated!" 

"Which teen?" Hunk asked, looking over the code as it scrolled by. "I don't know much about programming and it's been a while since I've stared it in the face, but," He let out a low whistle. "Whoever made this deserves a cookie. Maybe a cake." 

"I think Kova likes cookies and cream cake," Kenny said, voice muffled by something. How were the teens supposed to know he was stuffing his face with leftovers. "Before you ask how I know it's Kova, it's called she is perfection personified." 

Out in her Lion, Kova groaned, leaning her head back. 'Perfection personified'? Oh, boy. 

"Are we private from the Coeus?" Allie asked, and with Kova likely out of commission, Liz checked. 

"We're clear to rant." Liz leaned back without letting go of the controls. The other teens sighed in relief, chatting among themselves. Liz ranted about Pidge being super intrusive and petty. When they moved from Pidge to Keith, Allie said nothing bad about the man. She didn't say anything good either. In fact, she said nothing at all. 

"Kova," Allie said, silencing everyone. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm sure she's fine, Al," Caleb said. "She is 'perfection personified'."

"I'm not sure it's being interpreted the same way," Allie said. Kova sat up at the words. 

"What do you mean by that?" Liz asked. 

"Well, it sounds like a compliment, but it doesn't feel like a compliment." 

"And she's right," Cake spoke up. "Remember when she got really torn up about the chem test?" 

"Oh, yeah," Caleb said, looking off to the distance. "And the surprise pilot test." 

"DIdn't you guys redo that one?" Liz. 

"Yeah." Caleb stretched in his seat. "We still passed, but we felt better about it." 

"Coeus to Lions," Shiro's booming voice came over their earpieces. "Training file is launching in 3, 2, 1, launch." 

Each of the Lions received a different screen, explaining the long code. It took a second to recognize what happened, but it was made clear when the inner cameras appeared onscreen. The Blue Lion was on a frozen tundra, the Yellow Lion was in a howling desert, the Green Lion was in a rainforest, and the Red Lion was on an island. The Black Lion's screen didn't seem to change, still staring out into dark space, and Shiro thought that the file had malfunctioned or maybe Kenny sent the wrong version. 

"Alright, Paladins," Kenny said, watching from the massive screen down in the engine room. "Each of you has received a custom training simulation based on your individual strengths and weaknesses. Locate the green exclamation point to begin your simulation. Oh, and, uh, good luck Paladins." 

The simulations were created to spread the Lions apart from each other to prevent them from hurting the other. Everything else Kenny said was true. 

For Allie and Blue, the tundra was a thick layer of ice on top of a large body of water. The green exclamation point gave her the mission of stopping an oil rig in the middle of the tundra, risking an oil spill in the clear, undisturbed water. 

For Cake and Yellow, the howling desert's exclamation point gave him the mission of getting up close and personal with a town slowly being sucked under the sand. 

For Liz and Green, the rainforest exclamation point revealed that farmers were cutting down trees to make way for their crops, driving the natives that lived there already. 

For Caleb and Red, the island's exclamation point explained that a volcano on the island was set to erupt and Red had to follow the directions of a long-time resident because he was the only one who spoke both the native language of the island and English. 

For Kova and Black, it hit a little too close to home. All Kova had to do was fly out for a few miles and down. The orange and white wreck was in flames, on the verge of explosion. Her mission was to assist the pilots onboard to escape pods. Kova had seen the ship in perfect condition too many times. It was the Achlys, and the pilots onboard would represent Keith, Pidge, Hunk, and Uncle Lance.

——————————

Vhix scoffed as he looked at the screen. Yorak had managed to hack into the Coeus's most recently opened file. The Lions were all out and exposed, and according to the training simulations in front of them, they were very distracted. 

"She'll be playin as you," Vhix said with a smile, looking at his brother. Yorak didn't smile, didn't acknowledge Vhix, didn't even seem interested in a discussion with him. Yorak had been made a makeshift throne, made of cut black stone from the deepest parts of the Nether Region in sector IV. 

"We can take the Black Paladin now." Vhix held himself up on one of the armrests, leaning over the Emperor. "Why wait to grab her?" A second, then a minute of silence passed before Yorak slowly turned his head to Vhix. 

"Are you telling me what I want to hear or are you finally expressing your free thoughts?" Yorak asked, voice low. Vhix stood, hoping to shake off the chills that ran down his spine. He returned his eyes to the screen, showing the Paladins struggling with their missions. Yorak did the same after staring at the side of Vhix's head for a few seconds. 

"Hack further into the code," Yorak ordered to a shaking underling. "Ensure the blanks are real people." The underling bowed their head and returned to work, furiously typing away. As the underling highlighted and deleted the strings of code that indicated the blanks' appearance, an alarm rang. 

Every screen on Yorak's bridge had begun to turn red, flashing a warning sign over the middle of the screen. Every screen turned red, including the main one that had been used to look at the Paladins' progress through their Lions. 

"What. Is. Happening." Yorak demanded, watching the screens now turning from red to black. As the main screen deactivated itself, Yorak and Vhix didn't have time to react. 

The Yellow Lion had headbutted them straight-on.

——————————

"Great job, Yellow!" Kova yelled, flying under the ship. "Fall back and assist." 

"Roger that!" Cake said, moving Yellow away from the cracked glass. With a motion forward, Yellow joined Green in making long, deep scratches on the side of the ship, hoping to block off the escape pods. 

Red and Blue hoped to do the same but were unlucky enough to receive the first few blows from smaller ships. With Blue's laser tail and Red's jaw blade, the three smaller ships imploded on themselves. 

"Teleduv at 39% power, Paladins," Kenny said over the comms. The Black Lion had turned itself horizontally to make the best use of its dual-bladed jaw blade. It did almost run its wings into an engine, but likelihood said the engine was likely to become destroyed. Rationality said 'Don't quiznacking die'. As Black emerged from the underside of the massive ship, Kova flew straight up. With Red and Green to her right and left respectively, and Blue and Yellow to Red's right and to Green's left, Kova said the magic words. 

"Form Voltron!" 

"Yeah!" 

The giant robot towered over Yorak's ship. Onboard, the alarms had begun to sound. Two servants had come to whisk Yorak and Vhix away, hoping to catch an escape pod. How were they to know the ones normally used were destroyed or blocked? Yorak had raised a hand to one of the servants when he was violently thrown off his feet. Voltron did the football player move again. Tackle and push. Grabbing Vhix by the collar, Yorak ran to the other side of the ship, where the smaller combat ships were located. It would be cramped but better than dying today. 

With one last push, Voltron let go of the massive ship, watching it float away. At the same time, Cake inserted the Yellow bayard into the port, with an array of matching sparks. With the insertion, a yellow-plated shoulder cannon appeared on Voltron's shoulder. Taking aim, Cake fired. The recoil sent Voltron back a few feet, but what're a few feet in space? 

"Teleduv at 89% power, Paladins," Kenny called again, warning the teens. Voltron wouldn't be able to watch the destruction then, as they turned away from the incoming explosion to fly back to the Coeus. Shiro, to his credit, managed to snap a picture of Voltron flying away from the explosion as it happened. The teens sure do know how to angle. 

"Teleduv at 97% power," Kenny warned one more time. "Prepare for teleduv travel." Shiro hung onto the banister while the others put on the provided seatbelts. 

The wormhole opened and the Coeus pushed itself through. Voltron wasn't far behind, hanging onto the tail end of the Coeus. 

Within the hour, the teens were cheering, polishing their armor, and reviewing what they would say. Allie was running her hands on the gravel underneath her feet to calm her down. Liz was on the verge of squealing in excitement, shaking her fists with her helmet in her lap. Cake was speaking slowly to make sure all the words came out of his mouth correctly. Kova was working with Kenny to set up the bridge drone to record and broadcast their message while simultaneously brushing her hair and braiding it. Caleb was snapping pictures of the team, sitting around excitedly. 

"I give up," Kova said. "Allura!" Kova made her way over to Allie, who was sitting on a log. How Kova could plop herself down on the gravel, was a true mystery. "Braid my hair." Demanding brat. Allie relented, taking Kova's dark hair and braiding her long bangs back in a side french braid ponytail. At least, that's what Allie thought it was called. Why couldn't all the countries on Earth be one united clump like their landmasses show them to be? 

"Alright, get in positions, everyone!" Kenny yelled. "We're ready to telecast."

"One more minute!" Kova yelled back. Allie muttered something under her breath. "Two more minutes!" 

"You get five because you haven't cleaned your armor yet." 

"Are you calling me dirty?" 

"I ain't calling you clean!" Kenny walked away just as Caleb walked up to Allie and Kova. 

"Is my hair good?" Caleb asked, crouching down to be eye-level with Kova. 

"I don't know," Kova said. Her eyes were closed, but a quick peek at Caleb was all she needed. "But your hair would be called 'Rat's Nest Chic'." 

"What are you going to do about it?" 

"Me? Nothing. Dad, on the other hand," Kova trailed off as Shiro appeared like a menacing villain behind Caleb, holding a brush in his human hand. While Caleb tried and failed to run away from Shiro and the threatening brush, Allie finished the braid and started helping Kova clean her armor. Kova did the same for Allie when the five minutes were up. 

The Paladins stood in a line in descending order. Far behind them, the Lions were sitting proudly. With two stomps on the gravel ground, the teens stood straight and at attention. Behind the drone, Kenny held up his hand. Telecast started in five, four, three, two...

"My name is Kovalia Shirogane, and I am the Paladin of the Black Lion and leader of Voltron." Kova was confident, with her arms crossed behind her. The other teens had followed suit. "My team and I have been training relentlessly on the looming threat. With war on the horizon, we decided to announce Voltron's return to the universe as a united front. Yorak and his minions will have you believe we have hidden in fear rather than confront him directly. Earlier today, we proved him wrong." Behind the scenes, Kenny uploaded the footage of the earlier attack. "With a virus disguised as a training simulation designed by our engineer, we managed to attack and destroy the largest ship in Yorak's fleet. After defeating him today, we returned here, to Moilea. Voltron has never backed down from a fight, from a war, or the right side of peace. Myself, and my team," The teens spread further apart from each other to make themselves better seen by the camera when Kenny gave the signal. "Are prepared to take on any and every challenge thrown our way. I, Kova, am a second-generation half-Galra. My brother, Caleb Shirogane, and Paladin of the Red Lion is human. Paladin of the Green Lion, Eliza Griffin, is human as well. Issako Garrett, Paladin of the Yellow Lion, is a first-generation half-Balmeran. Allura Smythe, Paladin of the Blue Lion, is Altean. Together, we can not only unite the galaxy," As Kova spoke the teens reached down to grab their helmets, to either hold them in their hands or hold them between their hips and arms. "We can rid the world of doubts in the coming war." She turned her head to Caleb, who handed her the helmet for the Black Paladin suit. "Your move, Yorak," Kova said with a smile, with the teens looking at the camera as it zoomed out to show the teens and the Lions in the same frame. 

With that and the setting sun over the Black Lion's head, the telecast ended.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Zealous Approach: III

Word Count: 2791

A/N: Torture warning! Please skip ahead to line if uncomfortable with torture! Or skip chapter entirely if you don’t want to be sad.

Far away from where the Coeus rested, Yorak's massive battleship floated through at almost a crawl. The bridge was lifeless. No holoscreens were lit. Any chairs were gone. Through a labyrinth of halls lit by lowlight from above, soldiers stood ready at an escape pod with coordinates set for the colonies. The silence dragged on with the hours, just waiting. The Emperor was creative and cruel. Whatever his latest victim ended up looking, they were likely not going to make it to the colonies. The soldiers who stood guard at the metal door in the kitchen reserves would agree. When the cooling system in the freezer turned on, they could remain stone-faced. Unmovable. When it turned off, the memories of boot camp returned. The barely audible screams. The soldiers flinched and shook as the screams became louder, but weren't enough to give anyone else on the ship the pleasure of hearing. They remembered they were lucky it wasn't them. That was all. 

Inside the walk-in freezer, Yorak wore a cruel smile and a dark bodysuit. His victim was chained by her wrists to the ceiling. The woman wore a jade green shirt and light gray pants with matching boots. Her dark brown hair looked darker under the dim light in the freezer, blue eyes lifeless as she breathed heavily. Before her breath could even itself out, hot water forcefully sprayed onto her body. She shook her body, trying in vain to escape the scalding water. The chains shook, but never gave way. Ugly red marks were left on her pale skin where the spray hit her bare skin. Her clothes could provide only so much protection before they too were soaked in the hot water. At the temperature change, the freezer turned itself on and her screams were drowned out. As her screams died, the uselessness of her moving now apparent, her body now sagged, Yorak decided at last to restart his interrogation.

"Sammima," Yorak said, his smile growing impossibly wider. The woman shook as she strained her head to face the man. "You failed me. That is why you are here." 

"I-I'm sorry, Emperor." Sammima bowed her head, every word taking another breath. 

"Tell me." Yorak stepped forward so he was well-within Sammima's line of sight. "Why did the Black Paladin get away from you?" 

"I-I," Sammima began to violently shake, the once-hot water quickly freezing on her skin. 

"This will all stop when you tell me why the Black Paladin got away from you." Yorak was close enough to tuck a loose strand of dark hair behind Sammima's pointed ear. It was the only Altean trait the human half-breed had. That, and her inhuman strength. 

"They pushed us aside, ordering us to take shelter," Sammima said between shuddering breaths. "My son—"

"What about your son?" The faux care in Yorak's voice turned cold again, removing his hand from Sammima's face. "This is about the Paladins." 

"I was in position, but my son," Sammima tried not to meet the Emperor's cruel eyes. "He heard the Paladins and dragged me along to meet them." 

"Sammima, I have no patience for excuses." 

"I'm sorry, Emperor." 

The freezer turned itself off, but the woman still shook. Yorak was fine in his bodysuit glaring at the woman's meek form. The skin on her face had begun to turn waxy and the tips of her fingers were turning blue. Ugly red welts appeared on her neck where the spray was most concentrated. Her head was still down when she heard the freezer being knocked on. 

"She's ready." Yorak's voice was stiff. With weak movements, two soldiers came in to unchain her from her restraints, bringing her down to the floor. Sammima collapsed into a heap on the cold floor of the freezer. "Take her away. If she dies, her son will bear the weight of his crimes." Sammima was too tired to fight, to argue, to stand. Each of the soldiers hooked their arms under her armpits and dragged her out of the freezer. Before Sammima passed out, Yorak's tall form reminded her of the brave young man she remembered fondly so long ago. What happened to him? 

————

Keith was smoothing down as much of his dark hair as possible, tying it in a low ponytail as he made his way to the bridge. 

Through the door and into the bridge, his face fell as he saw Kova's stupid purple sweater. Her back was to him and the door, the bright blue screen at the windows lit up. 

"Good morning, Keith," Kova greeted without turning around. Caleb, in his chair a step below and to the right of Kova's podium, turned around to see the man. With a little wave, Caleb turned around, looking at the screen. 

"How did you know it was me?" Keith asked, approaching Kova to lean on her railing between Kova and Caleb. 

"A teen with strict parents knows." Kova finally looked up from her holoscreen to meet his eyes. "And we were running the cameras for software updates." She pointed to a small part of the screen that had been obscured by Kova. She was right. Cake, with his tongue sticking out, was much too close to the camera, looking at something directly above it. 

"Now?" Cake said, looking directly at the camera. His voice seemed to surround Keith, and he looked at the walls hoping to figure out where it came from. Kova pressed a finger to her ear to respond. 

"Yeah, we're good." Cake made a little air pump, then got down from the small step ladder he was using to be so close to the camera in the first place. 

"You added audio?" Keith asked, staring at the screen. 

"We didn't add anything. We just improved it." Kova closed the camera feed and stared at the empty screen. "Now." 

One by one, multiple screens lit up as Cake happily sang.

"SECRET TUNNEL! SECRET TUNNEL!" Cake sang to the engine room, putting the step ladder just inside the door. "THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN!" He happily marched his way to the bridge. For every syllable, he marched one step. "SECRET, SECRET, SECRET, SECRET TUNNEL! YEAH!" With the last word, Cake's voice came from the hallway next to the bridge. With both hands in the air and a smile on his face, Cake posed for the camera. 

"Cake!" Kova yelled. 

"Coming!" Cake panicked and ran to the bridge, almost missing the door entirely. Keith stared at him with an incredulous look, but Cake walked past him with the little dignity he had left and sat down in his chair. One by one, the cameras turned off except for the one in front of Shiro's room. His door had opened, looking into the empty hallway. At last, he looked up at the camera and pointed at it with one finger. 

"No." With that, he walked back into his room. 

"Software update." 

"The cameras take a tick to come online, but," Kova shrugged. "It works." 

"I can agree with that." 

"Time for our next order of business." Kova moved her head from side to side, hoping to pop her neck. "Allie, did we find anything on Vatos's mom?" 

"Good news is yes, the bad news is no," Allie said, uploading her screen to the larger one. "Her name is Sammima Clarke, a half-Altean and half-human hybrid." A woman appeared on the screen, with very dark hair swept to the side and tied in a bun and light blue eyes. 

"She doesn't have Altean markings," Caleb pointed out, and Allie nodded. 

"It's odd, but it isn't uncommon," Allie explained, showing a side-profile of Sammima. "Her file says she has Altean strength, ears, and others." 

"Other?" 

"Probably something else. I'm too young to develop past these." Allie patted her markings with her fingers, showing them to her team. Keith stared at the girl with questions, but the team moved on. 

"So we found her official Altean file," Kova started. 

"But we can't find her." Allie finished the sentence. "Maybe she worked for the Emperor?" Allie turned around, glancing at Keith as she spoke. Kova shook her head, looking at the woman. 

"She isn't half-Galra, there's no point." Kova stared into the woman's eyes until a thought came to mind. "I've got an idea, but I gotta talk to Kenny first." 

"This isn't something you can share with us?" Caleb said, turning around. Both Keith and Kova stared at him. Kova was side-eyeing Keith, hoping to get the point across. The realization struck Caleb just as Keith spoke. 

"Why can't you share?" Keith turned his head to stare at Kova, who leaned herself against her screen in a second of panic. "On top of that, why are you guys in here? Isn't our turn?" 

"Dad is making the schedule as we speak. And no." 

"If we're going to be taking over for you guys, shouldn't we know what's going on?" 

"We already covered technical with my dad and Pidge," Cake spoke up. 

"Allie and I have medical covered," Liz said. 

"Dad will be in charge of the main console, and you'll be in my seat." Caleb was next, crossing his arms. 

"We're in here because we didn't want to wake up Kenny and Vatos." Allie was last, looking up. 

"We haven't eaten breakfast yet," Kova explained, running a hand through her hair. "Patience yields focus." Before Keith could say anything in response, the screen showing a warning. Opening it up, the teens stared. 

"Starting tracking!" Liz said, typing away at her screen. 

"Do you want us to intercept?" Cake asked. 

"No, take a mold and track it!" Kova ordered. "Liz, give me a BLIP reading!" Liz swiped at her screen, passing it onto the larger screen, and someone to Kova's right took it as Liz began to take a reading. The small pod appeared to contain only one person, with very low readings. Whoever was inside wouldn't make it to their destination without dying. 

"We need to intercept," Keith said, staring at the screen. 

"I agree." Kova made her way out of the bridge, removing her sweater as she did so. Caleb stood to follow her, but Keith stood in his way. With a pointed stare, Liz stood up and followed Kova out. 

"There are some fights you need to wait and watch before you make a move." Caleb sat down, Keith's words setting in. Wait and watch? 

The Black and Green Lions left the transport bays, heading towards the fast-moving pod. The Black Lion flew in front of the pod, catching its jaw. Inside, Kova pushed the controls forward, hoping to counteract the speed. Liz unboarded the Green Lion, hopping inside the small pod. 

There was only a holoscreen showing the coordinates and a wide back area where a figure lay collapsed under a thick sheet. 

"Green to Coeus, prepare med bay." Allie stood up, getting to the med bay as quickly as she could. "Hello?" Liz said, crouching to see the person's face. The person was shivering, shaking violently. The tips of their fingers and their lips were blue, but an ugly welt on the inside of their neck made it seem like they were worse off than they should. "I'm getting you out of here. Ready?" Liz said, picking up the figure by her armpits. She bit down on her lips as she marched herself towards the hatch she had come in from. Using the sheet as a wrap, Liz managed to hoist the person through the hole, over her shoulder, and into her Lion. Laying the person down in the back of the cockpit, Liz ran to her chair and took off. 

Watching the Green Lion fly around, the Black Lion let the pod go underneath them, watching it fly into the distance. 

The Lions returned to the bay, Liz and Allie took the figure into the med bay and began trying to treat them, and the rest of the team anxiously ate breakfast while the pair worked. 

"Colonel and Kova Shirogane to the med bay, thank you." Allie said over the intercom, just as Shiro had served himself a plate and Kova finished hers. They both stood, with Kova seeming more anxious than before. 

Liz looked exhausted and defeated, with Allie nowhere to be found. She looked up as the Shiroganes walked in. 

"Allie confirmed," Liz started. "That's Sammima Clarke." 

"And?" Kova asked, approaching the window. Liz looked down. 

"We can't save her." Liz clenched her hands into fists. "She requested the Black Paladin and the Colonel." 

"She's talking?" Shiro asked, opening the door. 

"Not for long." She looked up again, staring at the figure in the bed. Allie was at her bedside, holding Sammima's hand and brushing her hair away from her face. 

"Sammima?" Shiro said, stepping into the room. Kova stood at the door, placing a hand on Liz's shoulder before walking in herself. "I am Colonel Takashi Shirogane." Allie tried to walk away, but Sammima's strength came back if only to keep Allie at her side. 

"I'm Kovalia Shirogane, Paladin of the Black Lion," Kova said, standing at the foot of the bed. Sammima struggled to breathe, but she managed to speak. 

"Yorak wants you dead, Colonel," Sammima said, meeting Shiro's eyes, then turned to Kova. "For stealing you away." 

"Sammima," Kova said, coming around to where Allie stood. "Have you been to Earth?" The woman smiled as her eyes softened. 

"My father took me there many times. I grew up there. In a little house, with a big willow tree in the backyard." 

"Have you ever met a TJ in your time?" 

"Yes." She breathed, turning her head towards the ceiling. "So nice. So smart. So handsome. Nothing like whatever he turned into." Sammima's eyes became sad, a tear coming from her eye. She turned her head to the side to meet Allie's tearful gaze. "I hope my son never turns out like him." 

"I promise, Sammima," Kova said, as Allie choked back a sob. "No harm will come to your boy." 

"My crimes are mine to bear," Sammima said, staring at the ceiling again. "Mine to bear." The heart monitor bounced a few more times as the O2 levels lowered until the monitor read a flatline and low O2 levels. Kova held Allie as she sobbed. The young girl was led out while Shiro raised the sheet over Sammima's face. 

After a few hours, the former Paladins and the Shirogane clan were on the bridge. Caleb sat in his chair with Kova sitting on the step next to him. Pidge and Hunk took seats in Liz and Cake's seats, respectively. Keith was annoyed in Allie's seat, arms crossed. Shiro was in front of the team, rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

"We have to cremate the body," Kova said, muffled by her own cheeks as she squished them with her fists. "It's what we were trained to do." 

"We can't just," Hunk said, making little hand gestures. "Launch her?" 

"Or send her back to Altea?" Pidge asked, looking to Shiro. Shiro sighed. 

The teens were right. 

All bodies had to be cremated because they aren't degradable in space, unlike ocean burials or traditional burials. The problem was the Coeus. The Coeus was built before this law became law at all. Before the Garrison Council and the Galactic Coalition. The Coeus doesn't have a cremator unless you count the thrusters as a make-shift one. That was when the idea of respect for the deceased came up. 

The Coeus would have to land, and with Yorak becoming more desperate, it was dangerous. 

"We don't know if the pod would cross through Fire sectors, and they might intercept or attack the pod before it gets there." Caleb was arguing for landing the Coeus. Kova was with him. 

"We have to land." Kova stretched her arms over her head, giving her cheeks a break. 

"How are you going to make a fire hot enough to turn the body into ash?" Keith asked, turning around to face Kova. 

"We made a welder. I'm sure making a hot enough fire won't be that bad." 

"We can't land. We can just eject and go." 

"We have to land." 

"No, we don't." 

"It's space law. I'm not committing another felony." 

"What?" 

"Enough," Shiro said, the two sides finally quieting. "All in favor of landing, raise a hand." Kova, Caleb, and Keith raised a hand. Shiro also raised a hand. Keith turned to Pidge and Hunk at the other side of the room, who stared at him in surprise. Just as quickly, they accepted the landing. 

The Coeus would find itself on a dwarf planet, named Vyria 1RC, within hours. The teens flew around in the Lions, practicing their moves as they planned ahead.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Brittle Relations: III

Word Count: 2992

It took three days to prepare the ship for launch. Besides the repairs and harvesting and the weblum, a majority of the urgency came from Keith. When Keith was shot with tranquilizers, it was Kenny freaking out and rushing the team. If it ain't one Kogane, it's another. They would've tranquilized Kenny, but they needed him down in the engine room. The makeshift solar panels helped a lot in powering the ship, storing it all in backup generators. By the third day, it was only a review of systems and they took off. The teens learned from their mistakes and traveled through a wormhole on empty stomachs. 

On the other side of the wormhole, the teens rapidly checked every map. In front of them, there was only a deserted and broken hull of a planet. 

"Kova, where are we?" Shiro asked with arms at his sides. Kova had pulled up the maps Liz had sent to the main console, while simultaneously trying to triangulate Pidge's location. 

"Thayama," Kova replied, finally able to translate the triangle. "Once a satellite to a larger star, it became too cold to sustain life." 

"Why is it broken like that?" Caleb asked, staring between the lifeless hull in front of the window and the complete planet on the map. 

"I think it became so cold, the entire planet kind of," Liz replied, holding her hands together in a spherical shape. "Broke." She separated her hands to hold half-spheres. 

"That's the running theory," Cake nodded his head with hands under his chin. Kova began talking to Kenny over her earpiece, working together to steer the Coeus towards Pidge's location. 

"Hold!" She yelled, dropping the controls. Down in the engine room, Kenny turned off the thrusters. "Cake, Kenny, suit up, and let's go." 

"What." Cake and Kenny deadpanned, eyes comically wide. 

"No offense to either of you," Kova began. "You look more gullible than I do." Cake stared at Kova as she walked out, putting her helmet on as she was doing so. Cake looked around at the other four Paladins, who stared back at him expectedly. Slowly, Cake places a dramatic hand on his chest. Allie, who was across from him, nodded her head, confused. 

"Cake!" All of the Paladins jumped, but Cake was the only one who stood up, tripping up the stairs while pulling his helmet on. 

Together, the trio (ugh, unavoidable alliteration) boarded the Yellow Lion with a vague plan in Kova's mind. Kova directed Cake towards the signal, narrowly avoiding several big chunks of Thayama. 

So, uh, what's the plan?" Kenny asked as Yellow neared the bright orange triangle. 

"Since Cake and I can defend ourselves, you'll stay here until we need help." 

"That's offensive, Kova." 

"If we need you, your code word is 'dump'.

"'Dump'? Why 'dump'?" 

"Cake, find a place to land here." It's safe to assume Kova never answered Kenny's question. Yellow touched down on a giant chunk of land still attached to the bigger mass of the dead planet. Kova handed Kenny a screen after Cake led Kenny into the seat. 

"This is going to give you a status on the weblum." 

"How do you know where the weblum is?" 

"Kenny, not the time." Kova glared at Kenny through their screens, shutting him up. She looked up at Cake and nodded towards the door. Cake nodded in response, gripping his bayard.

On the surface, Thayama wasn't cold. There were no readings. Even though the suits warmed them, Kova and Cake could feel the chill of the strong wind. Turning on their floodlights did nothing to help them, but they continued forward. They could still see Yellow's eyes when the first blast came. It came in between the teens, making them duck. Kova dived to the ground, summoning her shield. Cake summoned his minigun, firing a warning shot. Another shot came at them, hitting three feet away from Kova's left. 

"Where are they?" Cake shouted over the wind. Kova looked down to check her screen, seeing the triangle point thirty feet ahead. 

"Not far!" She yelled back, pushing forward. Cake hefted his weapon up and pushed forward too. Three more shots were fired from the darkness at the teens, who continued forward. The shots kept missing, but when one hit a boulder, causing it to explode, it rushed the teens. 

At ten feet, the Yellow Lion was a dim blob in the distance, but the howling wind stopped. Kova deactivated her shield, stood up, and lifted her hands in surrender. Cake saw what she was doing, and did the same, except he held the deactivated bayard in his hand. 

Two figures approached the teens. Dark fabric hung from their shoulders, with a makeshift mask covering their blurry shields. Either they didn't see their armor from the fogginess of their dark screens, or they weren't the person they were looking for. 

"Who are you and what do you want?" One of the cloaked figures said, holding up an upgraded weapon. This cloaked figure was significantly shorter than the other, with their torn fabric cloak dragging on the ground. 

"We want to get you off of here," Kova answered, getting the cloaked figure's attention. They approached them with their gun, pointing the barrel directly at Kova's chest plate. 

"Why?" The figure inched closer. "Who sent you?" 

"No one sent us." Kova stepped forward. Only a step. "We followed a signal coming from this location." The second, taller cloaked figure scoffed, standing next to the first figure. 

"Not until you tell us who you are and what you're doing here." Kova gave Cake a side-glance, who didn't meet her eyes. Kenny took the silence to update Kova. 

"Weblum is approximately half-hour out." 

"Listen, we have to get you—" Kova tried walking forward again, but the first figure held up their gun. Now that Kova was having a little bit of a closer look, it looked more like a bazooka, if a bazooka was made of random bits and pieces. "My name is Kova, and I'm the Paladin of the Black Lion." The taller cloaked figure hadn't made a move, but the shorter figure had begun to shake their shoulders. They were trying to stop their laughter. "We have to get you out of this dump." 

"Why?" The taller figure asked, earning them a 'huh?' from the shorter figure. 

"There's a weblum en route to this planet." The wind started up again, pushing the teens to their side. Kova held up her arm to try to block some of the wind. "Let's go!" 

"No!" The first figure shouted over the wind, trying to hold onto the dark fabric over their face and the bazooka at the same time. From behind the teens, Kenny ran against the raging wind to reach Kova and Cake. 

"Weblum is twenty minutes out!" He shouted, diving in front of Kova and Kenny to make his face visible to the pair. "I'm Kenny, and we really have to get you both out of here! You know what a weblum is, right?" He looked at the shorter person, then at the taller person, hoping to garner some sympathy. 

"Matt?" The shorter figure says. "What are you doing here?" 

Jackpot. 

"Katie 'Pidge' Holt?" Kova asked, getting a hesitant head nod. "And you? Who are you?" 

"I'm Hunk." The taller figure said. "Hunk Garrett." 

"I'm Takashi Shirogane's daughter."

"Shiro?" Both said. Kova nodded.

"Let's go!" Kova turned, dragging Cake by the back of his collar. Kenny stood up, grabbing the elbows of the two people, and pulled them towards Yellow's general direction. 

"Wait!" Pidge shouted, turning around towards the area behind them. Both Kenny and Hunk yelled after her, but she paid no mind. Pidge ran back to Kenny after about thirty seconds with a satchel, and let Kenny lead them. 

"Hang on, everyone!" Cake yelled as soon as Kenny and his guests boarded Yellow. The ride in Yellow was pretty bumpy, jerking around through the wind. It bounced the passengers except for the pair in the cockpit around like balls. Pretty soon, the Yellow Lion escaped the strong winds of Thayama. The calm was disturbing after the winds. 

"Yellow to Coeus, do you read me?" Cake asked into his earpiece, ignoring Kova's sigh of relief as they flew towards the Coeus. 

"Coeus to Yellow, what's your status?" Caleb answered. 

"Mission successful. Prepare accommodations and treatment for two."

"Copy. Transport bay doors open." Caleb was right, and both Kova and Cake were grateful for it. Flying Yellow into the bay, they began unboarding and led the newcomers directly into the observation room. Keith's room was dark, but he turned over as they passed by. Allie and Liz were on standby in the med bay, hanging out in the doctor's office as Kova walked in to knock on the glass. Liz led Pidge into the observation room while Allie led Cake to the spare cot in the corner of the room. They asked them to remove their cloaks and suits, which they seemed hesitant about. That was where Cake, Kova, and Kenny left them, practically skipping to Shiro's office. 

"Dad." Kova was the first one into the room. Shiro looked up at the teens and 'adult' with a bored expression. An inverse image of Curtis with crossed arms was on the screen. He smiled at Shiro's expression, choosing to answer for him. 

"What's wrong, Kova?" Curtis said with a funny deep voice, trying to imitate Shiro. Shiro turned to glare at Curtis, who began snickering. 

"Was your mission successful?" Shiro asked the teens, ignoring his husband. 

"Yes sir." Kova straightened her back and crossed her wrists behind her back. "We successfully recovered Katie 'Pidge' Holt and Hunk Garrett." Shiro did a double-take at the names, pushing past the teens to head for the med bay. Kova came into her Pop's view, who began to ask her about her mission. She confirmed and answered every question. 

"Bridge to the crew, weblum crossing. Repeat, bridge to the crew, weblum is passing." Curtis's last words to Kova were a demand to take a video of the weblum. Together, Kenny, Kova, Cake, and Caleb watched the giant weblum cross in front of the Coeus, devouring the broken remains of Thayama. 

"So, uh, how did you know where the weblum was?" Kenny asked again, and Kova sighed. 

"You know how there's online tracking for dolphins and whales?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Researchers applied that to weblums." 

"You're joking."

"It took eighteen months to find them all." 

"Did they find them all?" Kenny asked, turning his head to look at Kova. She shook her head, still looking at the huge weblum. 

"We don't need any scaultrite, right?" Cake asked with a smile.

"Please, don't joke about that," Caleb said with a flat look. 

That night, everyone aboard the IGF Coeus went to bed without a heavy thought. The lights dimmed, and the Coeus sang a soft lullaby. 

Early the next morning, Kova was rubbing a towel over her wet hair, grimacing at the neon green on the fluffy towel. As her hair went up in a towel turban, she walked into the kitchen to find Liz and Cake standing over a huge pot in the middle of the floor. 

"Um, what are you doing?" Kova asked, coming to stand next to them. The metal pot was filled to the brim with water, with a wooden stick sticking out of it. The water shifted from white to pink, reflecting the light above the teens. 

"We tried to wash the poncho, since two people have already worn it without it ever being washed," Liz began, looking at Kova. 

"So we started washing it, and we left it over one of the air ducts." Cake finished, taking the stick and moving the fabric around. 

"The Coeus releases hot air if low temperatures are detected, and the metal heats up easily," Kova pointed out, staring at the pair. 

"We know." They answered at the same time, faces darkening. Cake kept stirring, lifting the poncho out of the water. It looked like a bad tie-dye, with patches of white and pink from the leftover dye. Staring at the patches, Kova had an idea. Taking the towel turban from her head, Kova fluffed her hair so it fell smoothly down her back. A little prong fell in front of her forehead, almost touching her nose. Two other locks of hair framed her face, curling next to her chin. Her hair was as dark as before, reaching her shoulders. The rest of her long hair was still bright green, ending with dark tips. 

"Would you guys mind getting the green out?" Kova asked. Wordlessly, Cake dropped the poncho and stick back into the water, furiously pushing it to the bottom while Liz grabbed a lonely chair in the corner of the room. It took a half-hour and not all of the dye came out of Kova's hair, but it was enough to dye the fabric bright green. Not as neon as before, but green enough. Kova was left with a patch of hair that looked brown, but at least it wasn't green anymore. As the dye settled into the fabric, the teens remarked how amazing the dye was, wondering what store Caleb had gotten it from. Cake and Kova deadpanned Liz, but Liz said nothing. 

Thank Allura it was early. 

Breakfast was served as usual, Kova looked for any leads regarding Yorak, Allie searched for the colonies, and Liz took care of the three patients. Kenny was excited to see his parents together again, but to avoid being physically restrained to a chair again, he occupied himself in the engine room. 

By lunch, Liz declared everyone healthy, if only dehydrated. The five teens walked down to the observation room, calling for Shiro and Kenny. 

Hunk sat on the bed in the furthest corner of the med bay, wearing a yellow shirt and black pants and boots. His hair had grown to shoulder length, tied back by an orange headband. Sideburns grew long his face, stopping short of his beard. He watched as the teens filed in, wearing their Paladin armor. Cake wanted to wear his, while the others wanted to wear their normal clothes, but Cake persisted. 

"I didn't think the Lions would appear again," Hunk said, a sad smile on his face. "Much less so soon." 

"What are you talking about, Hunk?" Pidge said from her observation room. Her door was open, unlike Keith's. She stood from her bed, and stared at the five teenagers. Kova had brushed her hair, a small braid holding back the prongs, and a bigger braid holding back the rest. Caleb had swept his hair to the side, crossing his arms next to Kova. Beside him, Liz had left her short brown hair down. Behind them, Cake wore an identical orange headband around his dark hair, while Allie returned to the dual braids on her head. 

"I was the Yellow Lion," Hunk said, pointing out Cake. He couldn't contain his excitement anymore. 

"I know, Dad," Cake said, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. Hunk stared at Cake while he pulled up a picture on his arm screen. It showed a smiling Hunk with a little Cake, smiles wide and eyes sparkling. Hunk wore a spacesuit, while little Cake wore a yellow shirt with a small sticker that read 'MY DAD IS A PALADIN'. Cake looked up from the picture to Hunk, who did the same. Before Hunk could stand, Cake ran into his father's arms, crying into his shoulder. The other Paladins, the current ones, barely had time to get out of the way. Kova was directly in Pidge's line of sight, but there was nothing there. 

"You said you were Shiro's kid, right?" Pidge asked, getting Kova and Caleb's attention. Pidge wore the bodysuit of her armor underneath the poncho, now sewn at the open ends to form short sleeves. The rest of the loose pocho was tied by the random long strip on the back of the poncho. 

"Yes, but there is someone you'd rather meet first," Kova said, smiling slyly. (ALLITERATION). Kova walked towards the other door, the other teens stepped back to give Pidge room to move around. Their grins were wide as Kova opened the door, turning on the lights. A pillow flew in the direction of her head, with muffled grumbling coming from the bed. Thankfully, Kenny had arrived. 

"Hey, we have someone for you to meet." More grumbling come from a mass of blankets on the bed, missing a pillow. Kova carefully stepped further into the room, ever closer to the bed. "C'mon, it'll be good for you." Even more grumbling, but at least Kova could hear it. She grabbed an edge of the blanket, pulling it away from the being's face. "Keith, that's a very rude thing to say to someone." Keith's dark hair barely peeked out of the white sheets, turning to glare at Kova. 

"Keith?" Pidge whispered, eyes wide. "Keith Kogane?" That was enough to lift Keith out of bed, to stare at the woman on the other side of the room. Kova stepped out of the way just as Keith launched out of bed to embrace Pidge. Crying, they fell to the floor. Pidge leaned into his shoulder, grabbing fistfuls of Keith's vest. Keith had one hand on Pidge's head, combed into her light brown hair, while the other easily wrapped around her back. Cake and Hunk stood together to watch the scene unfold, with Hunk's arm wrapped around Cake's shoulders. Kenny silently sobbed in the doorway, watching his parents. Ten years. He waited ten years. 

Kova smiled at the happy reunion, already wondering what they would do. Pidge's next words, though, struck a lightning bolt through Kova's heart. As Pidge sniffled, and Keith wiped his tears away, they pulled away from the other to meet each other's eyes. 

"Now," Pidge started, wiping away a tear. "Let's find our daughter."

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Brittle Relations: II

Word Count: 2855

A/N: Allura, give me the power to overcome my procrastination and the ability to spell words correctly the first time.

The Coeus appeared on the other side of the wormhole with the beauty and grace of ocean liners. Its splendor, even in ruin, could rival its sister ship, the Atlas. Its beauty could not, however, make the trip enjoyable for its crew onboard. While the Coeus remained intact, many of the teens in the bridge were having a hard time staying intact. Many of them were green, holding their stomachs or covering their mouths with their hands to hold down their lunch. Cake gagged, trying in vain to stop his lunch from coming back up. As he gagged, it made Liz begin to do so. Kova took deep breaths, calming her stomach. Caleb and Allie were matching shades of green, gripping their consoles to control themselves. 

"We are NEVER traveling through a wormhole after lunch again." Kova had shut her eyes in hopes of calming her stomach. And will. With various forms of agreement from the others and a retch from Cake's direction, the teens fled to their rooms. Kenny watched the entire scene unfold from the comfort of the engine room with a plate of sliced fruit in front of him. He scoffed as they fled, shaking his head as he took a bite of one of the slices. It turned into mush in his mouth, but at least it wasn't moldy. 

"Please, I implore you, I must speak to the half-Galra," Darrar's voice shook as he spoke to Shiro through the glass of his makeshift prison.

"Like I've said before, whatever you need to say to them, you can say to me." Shiro was firm, with arms at his side. Darrar still wore his dark armor, while Shiro wore his Colonel Jacket. Darrar's violet hair had been held back by a scrap of fabric in an updo, messy after days onboard. The poor man looked defeated and desperate, begging with his dim eyes. Shiro's stone cold expression softened slightly as he turned to look at something off to his side. As Darrar noticed Shiro's wavering expression, he tried to look at whatever it was. The edges and corners of the glass obscured the being too much for the Galtean to really see them.

"Who is there?" Darrar pleaded, banging on the glass. "Please, summon the half-Galra!"

"Enough!" Shiro said over the pleading, silencing Darrar. He sighed. "Enough." Without another word, Shiro walked away from Darrar, who slammed the glass as he realized he was being left alone again. His shouts were met with withering silence as the steps grew silent. Darrar collapsed on the ground, tears brimming his eyes as the realization hit him like the cold metal floor.

He was as good as dead. Yorak won the war without even trying.

Far away, a voice alerted the crew of a landing, but Darrar could only hear the blood rushing in his ears and the almost silent hum of the Coeus. As Darrar closed his eyes to attempt to sleep, screams echoed in his mind. His fellow cadets when they began training for running away. His mother when he and his brothers were torn away from her. Seklok's when he displeased the Emperor and left for dead. As the screams overtook him, he was shaken violently. His whimpers became screams as he tried to fight off whatever was dragging him away. 

Kova held on to Darrar's shoulders as his screams stopped and his eyes opened. His shaking never stopped. Neither did his tears. The poor man was tortured enough. Behind Kova, Allie clutched the first-aid kit with tight fists. They heard the screaming and ran towards the observation bay. As Darrar sat up, Kova dragged him towards the closest wall. Sitting on the floor, Allie and Kova calmed the man down. Both Allie and Darrar seemed to process the other's Altean markings at the same time. 

"It's okay," Kova whispered under her breath. "It'll be okay." Kova slipped a bracelet on Darrar's wrist, activating the magnetic field. Even if they were on the same side, Darrar still wore enemy colors.

"Who are you?" Darrar asked Kova, then turning to Allie. "Where's the Colonel?" Allie didn't meet his eyes, unpacking the first-aid kit. Kova met his eyes after triple-checking the magnetic field had been activated on his bracelet.

"I'm Kovalia Shirogane, Paladin of the Black Lion. This is Allie, Paladin of the Blue Lion." Darrar's eyes widened, but Kova wasn't done. "I understand your name is Darrar, and you've been wanting to speak to me."

"Yes, of course. I—" Darrar tried to stand up, but his wrist kept him down. As he looked, a bracelet connected to the floor kept him down.

"I'm sorry, but it's a security measure." Darrar nodded his head, sitting back down. He looked up to meet Kova's eyes again. "We came to ask you about the colonies."

"Of course." Darrar nodded again. "Where are we?"

"We have just landed on Senfama. The Colonel decided it was best to join an expedition." 

"Expedition?"

"I cannot answer what it is."

"Is it because I'm a member of the Fire?" Kova nodded her head.

"I am going to remove your armor piece by piece. Are you feeling any sensitivity or pain in any particular area?"

I'll spare you the details. It took two hours as Darrar flinched and twitched as the armor was removed, and Allie had to make sure he didn't have any injuries. Then when Darrar wore only his bodysuit, the girls put Keith's old poncho over Darrar's head to remove the bodysuit. The time was halved. Regardless, it took too long. With even more spare fabric, they made the baggiest pair of pants in the universe, using a long strip from the back of the poncho as a belt. 

When they were done checking for injuries, they began their questions. What is the status of the Galtean colonies? Where are they? How long have the colonies been under Yorak's reign? What did he want with so many Galteans? How long had he been involved in the war?  On and on the interrogation went, until they had covered topics twice. Allie left to grab a bottle of water while Kova kept watch.

"I can help you get your Lion back," Darrar said after a few minutes of silence. Kova shook her head, taking something out of her pocket. It was a small black box with the Fire insignia on its side.

"You've been tracked." Kova handed Darrar the box. He looked stunned, confused even, to see the small box. "A similar tracker was found in the mecha we encountered."

"He knew," Darrar whispered under his breath. He handed the box to Kova, who put it back in her pocket. "He knew."

"Who?" Kova asked. "Yorak?" Darrar didn't say a word. Kova would have turned off the tracker, but she didn't have her tools on her. Allie came back and held a closed fist in front of Darrar. He held his hand open to see two little pills in his palm.

"They should help you sleep so you can heal a little faster," Allie explained, taking Kova's place so the latter could stand and dust herself off. "The water is for you." Darrar took the pills after a moment of hesitation, and had big gulps of water. "When you awake, alert us. Have a good rest, Darrar." Allie stood, following Kova to the door, letting it shut behind them. They dimmed the lights in Darrar's room and deactivated the bracelet. Hopefully, his commanders would find him before Yorak did.

"Coeus to crew, call in." Kova had walked to the bridge, turned on the screen, and began sorting the camera angles. "Sec."

"Here."

"Griffin."

"Here."

"Garrett."

"Here."

"Kogane."

"Here."

"Colonel and older Kogane."

"Double here." As the boxes lit up with every person calling in, Allie had typed in their names as the boxes lit up. When the Coeus landed on Senfama, the crew left in pairs. Caleb and Liz were in charge of water. Kenny and Cake were undergoing repairs to the ship and the satellite. Shiro and Keith had to search the planet for lifeforms and food. Allie and Kova stayed behind to watch over Darrar, and make some minor research. Why isn't Keith on the screen too? Kova was too lazy to connect Keith's suit to the Coeus's software.

"Did you deactivate the tracker?" Shiro asked.

"Yes, sir. I also saved the universe and found my Lion."

"Kova."

"I haven't gotten to it yet." Kova rolled her eyes, and looked for her tools. "We just got back."

"Sending map of Senfama to crew," Allie announced, and every camera on screen had looked down at their screens. "Senfama is a jungle. There should be a large body of water ahead."

"On it," Liz confirmed, jumping forward with Caleb on her heels. An alert came online, before the power was cut short.

"Hey, uh, Kova?" Kenny asked. "Is there any way to return to the Balmera and get more crystals?"

"Power source isn't holding up well, is it?" 

"Nope." Kova fiddled with the tracker she found on Darrar, hoping an idea would come to mind.

"Random question, Ken." Kova looked up at the screen. "What did you do with the extra solar cells?"

"Solar what?" Keith asked, but he was ignored.

"How do you know about the missing solar cells?"

"Long story. Where are they?"

"I, uh, brought them onto the ship. Why?"

"Kenneth, I need you to think, okay?" Kova had leaned forward to rest her forearms on the railing around her console. "If wired correctly, solar cells can be made into..." Kova trailed off on purpose to let Kenny come with the answer. 

"Solar panels!" Kenny and Cake exclaimed at the same time.

"I'll send the materials up." Kova nodded her head, and finally managed to deactivate the tracker. "Allie, cover me." Kova walked down to the engine room, leaving Allie alone on the bridge. Using the Paladin Tracker, or the Teenager Tracker, Allie watched as Liz and Caleb creeped closer to the water source and Shiro and Keith inched further from the Coeus. That's when the entire ship went dark.

"Kenny?" Allie's voice shook as she looked around. "Guys, this isn't funny!" Not even the hum of the ship answered her. With only the sunlight streaming in from the large windows, Allie walked up the stairs to the door. Before she could even leave the bridge, she heard Kova's voice. 

"Get back in the bridge!" Kova yelled, and Allie listened. She and Kova were the only ones still wearing their normal clothes, so when Allie fell down the stairs to her seat, it hurt. Kova kicked, sending a figure cloaked in dark colors into the console. The figure went to punch Kova, but she side-stepped, Allie froze when she saw a flash of purple on the front armor piece of the dark figure. "Allie, your bayard!" Quick as can be, Allie summoned her bow, pulling the string back so the quintessence arrow could form. Now if they could stay still. Kova took a blow to her abdomen, collapsing on the ground. When the figure tried to pin her, Kova pulled the figure's leg out from under them. With a quick turn, Kova straddled the figure's hips from behind, holding their arm with one hand and used the other to push their shoulder to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Allie asked, limping up the steps.

"Fine." Kova gritted her teeth as the figure began resisting. "Do you know how long it's gonna take to replace all those wires? This ship is hard enough to maintain!" Kova began to rant. "Allie, help me pull their helmet off." Allie's eyes widened as she held the string taut, reminding Kova of the arrow. Kova nodded towards the door, so Allie aimed in the dark and fired the arrow. The ding could be heard around the world. As the bayard detransformed, the figure tried again in vain stand up, but Kova was faster. With their arm still in Kova's grasp, Kova reached around her back to grab the knife in its sheath. Allie had grabbed the matching pair of Darrar's bracelet from Kova's pocket and put it around the figure's right wrist, as it was the only one touching the ground. Letting go and standing up from the figure, Kova activated the magnet. As the figure stared at the bracelet holding them down, Kova pushed them against the console with the knife point at their neck.

"Deactivate your helmet or I rip it off," Kova growled, sneering at the figure and their dark outfit. The figure didn't move, so Allie pulled the helmet off their head. While Allie didn't recognize the Galra woman, Kova did. Her expression darkened while the Galra woman's softened.

"Kyla," The woman said. She got the knife point even closer to her neck and Kova's angry eyes.

"Call me that again and you lose your head." Kova stood after her threat, deactivated and collected the bracelet, and stood in front of the door. "Allie, this is Krolia, one of the Galra representatives."

"I'm not just that."

"You're right about that." Kova crossed her arms. "She's the reason a half-human and half-Galra exist in the first place."

"Oh, please." Krolia stood, rubbing her wrists. "You make it sound so bad." Kova scoffed in response.

"What are you doing here?" Kova reached behind her to sheath the knife. "I don't get the point." Allie silently died as the pun set in, but Krolia moved past it. 

"I saw your declaration. Pretty impressive how far the family goes."

"We aren't family."

"I beg to differ, Kovalia." Krolia crossed her arms, too, leaning against the console. "Headstrong, advanced, and prefers using a sharp instrument."

"Get off the ship."

"I came for my recruit. Where is he?"

"I'm shocked you didn't see him as you cut the power to the entire ship." Kova stepped aside from the door. "Darrar, get your butt over here!" Footsteps became louder as they approached the bridge. Darrar had dressed himself in his Fire armor since there were no spares onboard. At least he had the decency to look sheepish at being caught.

"Daibazaal sides with Voltron," Krolia said as she passed the angry teen. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"Wish I could say the same." Kova blocked the hall leading to the transport bay, leaving only the side door as the only way out. "May we never encounter the other again." The door opened, and Darrar jumped out first. Krolia's eyes softened, hoping to appeal to the teen. Kova wasn't having it, watching as Krolia jumped out. Stomping over, Kova slammed the door shut, and marched herself to the cut power lines. Allie followed her, since the bridge was scary to be in alone.

"Why didn't you say anything about Keith?" Allie asked after Kova began her tedious work.

"What about Keith?" Kova continued working, connecting wires with electrical tape.

"There is only one half-human and half-Galra hybrid that reached an age to reproduce." Allie began her thought process. "That hybrid sired three children, and you have confirmed the status of all three second-generation hybrids. The first-born is a maniacal genius, the second-born is a plant genius, and the youngest, which is you, is a—"

"A wannabe genius," Kova said, slamming the door closed. As the door secured itself, the power slowly came on, with the lights turning on the brightest they go before returning to their pre-sliced state. "How did you figure out Kenny was the middle child?" Allie shrugged as they went into the bridge.

"Yorak has called you his sister many times before, and you've never denied it. He seems much older than Kenny, and you've never denied Kenny as your sibling, either." Kova chuckled as she approached the console and reactivated all systems.

"Sec to Coeus, do you hear me?"

"Coeus to Sec, we're all clear." Various sighs of relief and cheers came from the team as they continued their errands.

"Keith is your father, and Krolia is Keith's mother." Allie had made it to her chair, where she began checking her injuries. "You met your grandmother," Allie looked up. "And you didn't seem too happy to see her."

"I'm not." Kova muted the Coeus to properly look Allie in the eye. "She had a chance to change what had happened and she didn't." Kova shrugged, and unmuted the Coeus. Allie looked on as Kova smiled at Caleb's screen because he was one misstep away from falling into the water. While his suit may be waterproof, it wasn't float-proof."

By the end of the first day on Senfama, the teens celebrated finding edible food on a planet. That's a first. An alert came on while they celebrated, and Kova opened it. She expected it to be a systems alert, since they still haven't cleaned the Coeus's filters, or even an electrical failure (only Allie and Kova know what happened with Krolia and Darrar). Whatever it was, it should be fixed soon.

She was wrong and she alerted the team of such.

It was a weblum alert, and it was headed for Pidge's location.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

A Portentous Warning: I

Word Count: 2994

A/N: May Allura have blessed you all with a happy and safe new year!

"Schedule has been finalized," Shiro announced, using his robotic arm as a console to the large screen in the Coeus's bridge. To his right and in Liz and Cake's chairs were the former Paladins. To his left, the current Paladins were either sitting in their chair or on the step next to them. Kova was leaning on the banister around her console, looking bored. 

"Yay," Caleb said unenthusiastically, earning him a punch to the knee from Liz. 

"Starting today, the adults will take over breakfast and dinner shifts every other day. The teens will have a lunch shift today, then switch off tomorrow." The incredibly detailed schedule was, well, incredibly detailed. The adults, marked as solidly blue, were boxed in until lunchtime, where the teens, marked as red, were boxed in. Small spaces of purple showed the shift change between the two groups. Kova scoffed as she looked it over, a small smile on her face. 

"Colonel, I mean no disrespect," Liz began. "But—"

"Why shifts?" Pidge asked, earning her a glare from the Green Paladin. "Why not full days?" 

"Shiro, I'm gonna be honest," Hunk said. "This is stupid." Shiro stared at the teens, who were either smiling or laughing softly. "They're doing a great job already." 

"Hunk!" Keith and Pidge stared at him. 

"What?" 

"Chef Garrett, the concern is," Kova said, meeting Keith's eyes. "We're just kids." Her smile rivaled Keith's glare. 

"Permission to continue?" Liz asked, looking at the Shirogane teens. Both nodded before she looked back to their dad.

"Granted. What's on your mind?" 

"Colonel, what if they have the whole day today, and we can have the whole day tomorrow?" Shiro pouted for only a second but changed the schedule accordingly. The schedule had one day solidly blue, the other solidly red, with purple outlining sleep schedules. Kenny, marked by an ugly brown, had a separate schedule with varying shades of green and khaki in various time slots. 

"Uh, Colonel, I'm gonna need a color code chart for that." Speak of the devil. Kenny had arrived. He was cleaning his glasses with the hem of his shirt, so he was squinting to look at the screen. Even half-blind, he could see the random colors on the screen. 

"You're late." Shiro was annoyed. 

"You're brown." Kova was bored again. 

"Sorry, I had to give Vatos a bath," Kenny said, putting his glasses back on. "And why?" 

"Yellow looks white and orange looks red, probably." Kova shrugged, lolling her head to stare at Shiro. He was muttering something about the teen being a know-it-all, but took down the screen and sent it to the consoles. 

"Jax, I need you to take Blue and Yellow on another recon," Shiro said, approaching the podium. Kova stood straight at the nickname, looking straight ahead. "Ken will take over from there." 

"Yes, sir." Kova nodded her head and turned to Allie and Cake. "Let's go." The two stood from their seats, gone before the former Paladins could ask why. 

"Griffin, Sec, you're on babysitting duty." 

"Yes, Colonel." 

"Hooray." 

"Sec." 

"Going!" As Caleb lazily left the bridge, Shiro turned to the other adults. 

"Keith, you can take Caleb's chair," Shiro said, smiling. "Let me show you how to run the ship." 

————————

"Y'know, I never expected to be out here again," Cake said, looking at the stars from the stray meteorite he found himself on. The stars were either too bright or too dim, but there was no denying they were there. 

"What?" Kova replied. "Cutting and harvesting scrap metal?" She was about two levels above Cake's head, using her bayard to bat a small piece out of her way. Many of the pieces were unusable, too small to have a purpose. 

"No." Cake jumped from the meteorite to a large sheet of twisted metal. "I was raised on my Balmera until I was, like, ten." 

"The stars certainly look different." Allie's voice was almost wistful. She was leaning on a tall post, splintered in half so it could rest under Allie's elbow. 

"Aw, homesick babies." 

"C'mon, Cap." Cake found a steep decline in the twisted metal. "You can't say you don't miss Earth."  

"I'm also a trained soldier, Cake." Kova watched Cake slide down the piece from above, smiling. "I put others over myself." 

"You weren't always," Kenny said, breaking through the silence. "You were a little kid with hopes and dreams."

"Yeah, forever ago."

"If you weren't a soldier, what would you be?" Allie had managed to find Cake nearly falling into space, only to jump onto a nearby rock. "I never asked my question." Silence followed. Cake managed to climb onto the small rock, giving Allie a thumbs up. She shook her head in response. 

"I don't know," Kova said, her voice almost a whisper. "An astrologist, maybe? Maybe a farmer."

"C'mon, Kova." 

"I'm serious!" Kova continued to absentmindedly bat away space junk. "I don't know how I did, but I lived in spite, and I don't plan on stopping." 

"Ouch." Kenny teased, smiling. "That hurt my feelings." 

"Why do you live in spite?" Pidge asked. Kova jumped at the voice, but she opened up her arm piece to show where her voice had echoed. Only the bridge on the Coeus showed any connection between the trio and the crew onboard. 

"Nice to see you figured out the connections," Kova said, deactivating her bayard and jumping to a level below. "Now if you can figure out suit tracking." 

"What?" Kova smiled proudly at Pidge's confusion, landing on a twisted piece of scrap metal harmlessly. "The suits don't have tracking." 

"They do now." 

"How's the recon going?" Hunk asked, interrupting the fight that was sure to break out between Kova and Pidge. 

"Wonderfully." Kova looked around the trash nebula the trio was in. "We have found absolutely nothing." 

"Nothing?" 

"Nothing. Everything is either too small or too big." Kova had jumped off another ledge, landing next to Allie with Cake just within eyesight. "Clear to return?" 

"Y—" Hunk began to say when Shiro cut him off with a headshake. 

"You're cleared. Return to your Lions." Kenny gave the order, returning to adjusting something in the engine room. It hadn't been fifteen minutes when Kova came back online. 

"Uh, sending a transmission to the Coeus." The four adults watched as the massive screen came on, showing a video feed from the Black Lion. Three figures were approaching the Lions, and fast. Silver in color, they were about twelve feet tall with handguns, literal handguns, brandished. "Oh, no." 

"Activating particle barrier!" Kenny said, slamming a button. "Five minutes to activation and counting." 

"Do you need the other Lions' assistance?" 

"Negative. We got this." Kova closed the transmission channel and stared at the three bots. "On me, split. Ready?" The other two Paladins nodded, readying themselves as a united front. The bots were feet away when Kova's signal came. "Split!" The Black Lion ducked down, letting the centermost bot fly overhead. The Blue Lion darted up and to the left, nicking the bot's flat head. Yellow took a unique approach, ramming its head into the bot at full-force. 

"Not what she meant!" 

"Not what I meant!" The girls shouted at the same time, preparing themselves to take another attack from their attackers. 

"Well, now we have two to deal with." Allie's bot had made a quick turn, following Blue. Allie, in a panic, had ordered her Lion to attack. Blue did that. Blue raised its tail until it was over its head and fired a shot, causing the bot to explode. 

"I have a laser tail?!" Allie exclaimed, looking over her systems. 

Amateurs, Keith thought but said nothing. 

"On me!" The other two Lions converged, with Black activating its dual-sided jaw blade. As the last bot sped towards the three Lions, the Lions once again split, with the blade cutting through the bot in a clean cut. It exploded as the Black Lion deactivated its jaw blade. 

"What were those?" Pidge asked. 

"Warning shots," Kova answered, turning on transmissions from the Lion to the Coeus. "Coeus, review for trackers." 

"I got it," Shiro said when Pidge turned to him for help. From her screen, she took note of what Shiro opened to scan the Lions with. The Black Lion had a tracker on its right hind leg. The Yellow Lion had one on its forehead. The Blue Lion had one on its tail, but unlike the others that glowed green, the tracker on Blue showed red. The laser must have rendered it inactive. "Two green on Yellow and Black. One red on Blue." 

"Quiznack." Kova motioned the Lion to rest away from the Coeus. "We'll wait for the barrier to deactivate. Until then, we'll remove the trackers." 

Eventually, the particle barrier deactivated itself, the teens got rid of the trackers, and they were able to continue sailing through space.  

———————

"I'm very upset." It was all Curtis said. The teens looked on with matching looks of 'What are you doing to do about it?' while the adults looked at Curtis like he was a savior of some sort. It was the first weekly meeting all of the Paladins, former and current, were able to attend. 

"Kids, I don't think I need to remind you what happened the last time you were responsible for a toddler." 

"We gave him a bath! He was fine!" 

"You didn't do the laundry." Curtis rolled his eyes, meeting Shiro's. "Takashi."

"It was the best idea at the time," Shiro said, stepping between Kova and Curtis. "And besides, we're working on a plan." 

"It better be a good one." He muttered, shaking his head. "Keith, Pidge, and Hunk. It's good to see you all alive." 

"Alive." 

"I read your reports over the past few weeks. May I say, Kova, you're getting better at notes." A silent fist pump came from Kova as Curtis continued. "Wish you would've told me about the prisoners sooner, but at least we know now." 

"What's going on at the Garrison?" Kova asked. Curtis's face fell, glancing over the faces looking at him. The five teens were the first front of the defense. They had to know. 

"Well, besides every student at the Garrison making speculations as to who has which Lion, the LDP preparing for war, the council demanding to know why we're repairing an abandoned sub-floor, and Cyrus on school break," Curtis shrugged. "There isn't much to tell."

"The LDP is what?" Kova demanded. Caleb stood from his chair. The other teens either straightened their backs or widened their eyes. Kenny had walked in after laying Vatos down for a nap. 

"But only Captain Holt has that authority!" Kenny said, descending the staircase to be in full view of the small drone that served as a camera. 

"And both Commander and Captain Holt had given the order, based on the declaration." 

"What declaration?" Kova said again, eyes hard. Curtis sighed, pulling out his phone. He pulled up a video and showed it to the teens. 

Yorak, in all his evil glory, stood in the middle of the frame. His dark hair was slicked back, showing off the long scars on his cheeks. His eyes flickered dangerously as a smirk grew across his face. His dark armor was on full display, showing off the violet Y in the middle of his chest plate. Soldiers stood behind him, guns in hand. Then he spoke. 

"My name is Yorak, and I am Emperor of the Fire of Purification. You may remember my sabotaged transmission from before with my pesky younger sister deciding to rebel. No matter. This is an official declaration of war. My sister chose her side. So will I. I will take and claim every planet in the galaxy until every planet is purged from the hate and distrust my fellow hybrids have had to suffer and endure over the past thirty years. If the only way to purify it is to burn every village, city, and planet to the ground, I will not hesitate to do so. You've seen what I've done to the Unilu space mall. I can and will do worse. Your move, Voltron." He said the last word with a mocking tone. Every word sent Kova's blood boiling and chills down her spine. 

"Woah, that's your bad guy?" 

"Sister?" Pidge asked. “Who’s his sister?” She had turned around to stare at Kova, who had stood straight like a pin. 

“He’s delusional,” Keith said, noticing Kova’s change in demeanor. He placed his hands on Pidge’s shoulders. “It’s okay.” 

"Alright, before someone kills someone," Curtis said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The Holts gave the order. The LDP is preparing for war, but they've been given orders to shut their mouths or immediate expulsion." 

"You sure know how to threaten teenagers, Commander," Liz said, slouching on the step. 

"I had a lot of practice." Curtis stretched his arms, yawning. He shook his head and returned to the crew of the Coeus. "I can't order the LDP to stop without telling the Holts about you guys. As far as they know, Kenny is in space with you guys lightyears away and trying to return to Earth." 

"Commander, what about access to files?" 

"Only those who know what files were opened when are allowed to look in those files," Curtis said sternly. "The original crew of the Coeus was given authorization and only the current Paladins and Kenny are authorized to look in the files. Am I clear?" 

"Yes, Commander." The teens sat straight if they weren’t before as they spoke. 

"Wait, so we're going to be told who the enemy is and that's it?" Hunk  looked up at Curtis, hoping for more. 

"Yes," Curtis nodded his head. "I'm sorry, Hunk, but until you return to Earth, I can't reinstate your clearance. Besides, the Paladins can give you everything you need without disclosing classified information." 

"Is that all?" Shiro asked. Curtis nodded his head, said his goodbyes and the transmission ended. "Kova, go blow off some steam. Caleb, supervise." 

"Can I kidnap Liz and Cake for the engine room?" Kenny asked Shiro. He nodded, and Kenny led the way with Liz and Cake on his heels. 

"Allie, grab your first-aid kit. Kova might need it." Allie nodded her head, head bowed as she left the bridge. 

“What happened before we got here?” Pidge asked. Shiro took a heavy breath. With his robotic arm, Shiro opened the last transmission. 

Yorak stood behind a railing, wearing an armoured suit similar to the one in his latest transmission, with a billowing cape magically attached to his shoulders. His voice bordered on jovial, proud of what he had done. Over his shoulder, Kova looked shocked and angry. Her light brown eyes flicked across the room she was in before zeroing in on Yorak talking. Behind her, likely holding her hands together, was a light purple alien. He’d could’ve been mistaken for Galra if it wasn’t for the fluffy dark turquoise hair coming from his head. His ears were pointed, lined with matching fur and pink inner ears. Aquamarine irises followed something off-screen, and when his turn came, he stepped forward to reveal his outfit. It matched Yorak’s, with the exception of the cape. Kova took the opportunity to shove the two aside, make her own statement, and cut the feed. 

Before anyone could speak their thoughts into words, Shiro switched the video to a live camera feed from the training room below. 

Kova had removed her lavender sweater, throwing it in a far alcove. Only her dark head of hair was visible, but from the way her arms were moving and the way her braid moved, she was angry. Yelling something. She pointedly glared at the balcony where Caleb was setting up a bot. A bot, maybe as tall as her, fell to the floor, activating itself. Before it fully turned on, it took an angry spinning kick to the head. It fell on its back, slowly standing up. In an onslaught of beatings, the training bot took hit after hit from Kova, until there was nowhere else it could go. Another bot appeared on the floor, brandishing a sword. It approached Kova from behind, sword raised. With one last punch to the first bot's face, Kova spun around with a blade in her hand. A long curved sword came from Kova's bayard. With both hands on the hilt, Kova pushed the bot back until it was far enough to let her swing. With one swing, Kova freed the bot from its movement mechanism. It didn't have legs, but rather a large wheel that righted itself when the bot fell over. 

"Fast, ruthless, smart," Hunk counted on his fingers. "No wonder he thinks she’s his sister.”

“He called her out,” Pidge said. Shiro turned to face his friends. “I’d be mad, too.”

“It doesn’t help that she’s half-Galra,” Keith said, watching Shiro nod his head as he deactivated the screen. “Yorak’s threat made the division real.”

“Follow the other hybrids,” Keith said. “Or follow your destiny.” 

"Poor kid." Hunk shook his head. As the weight of the mission ahead of the teens finally sank in, Shiro hoped, prayed to Allura, that Keith and Pidge would get it. Their little girl wasn't so little anymore. No. She was currently showing her temper against poor bots who hadn't done a thing to her. 

It took almost an hour, but Kova ran out of steam. Her knuckles were bruised and bloody, hands still curled into fists. Her hands shook as Allie tried to apply disinfectant. She had never seen Kova so angry. The other Paladins were having dinner while Allie tended to Kova's wounds. Kova took deep breaths as she tried not to flinch, wince, and open her fists. [:D]

"Do you," Allie said softly. "Do you want to talk about it?" Her bright blue eyes briefly met Kova's amber ones. As Kova's eyes darted back to her lap, she nodded her head. 

“He called me out,” Kova said. “You know what it’s like for hybrids right now. Follow the hybrid leader of Voltron or follow the hybrid of the Fire. It’s a choice no one wants to make.” Allie waited, letting the words come to Kova. No words came. 

"That doesn't explain why you were angry." Her voice was soft. Kova's hands had unfurled themselves, letting Allie better treat them. Kova looked up at Allie again, sorting through her thoughts. 

Why was she angry? There was no time to answer as the Coeus shook. 

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Juvenile Matters: III

Word Count: 2938

On the Coeus, dinner came and went. The excited teens sat at their usual table in the kitchen, chatting, and reconnecting. The adults stared in confusion, wondering what the teens could be so excited about. Before the adults could retire to the med bay, Liz and Allie stood up and met the adults at the door. Allie spoke as Liz covered her mouth to keep the gelatinous pink blob in her mouth. Together, the pair led the adults sans Shiro and Kenny to the floor below the main. 

The huge space was dark, smelled of dust, and seemed empty until Liz pulled the light switch. The bright white walls blinded them at first, but the orange stripes, digital keypads, and metal archways came into view as their eyes settled. They kept the power off on the majority of the ship to conserve power, and with more people on board, Keith had graduated to his room. If he wanted. Since they had found his wife. The floor lit up hall by hall until there was nowhere for the shadows to hide. The matching metal archways stood in the mouth of the hallways, with another in between the entries. As Allie led them to the closest hallway, Liz set herself on shutting the hall from the rest of the floor. Pidge and Keith took one room and Hunk took the room across from theirs. With that, Allie turned off the lights in the other rooms and quickly ran to Hunk. The girls helped them take the old sheets from their beds, lift and secure fallen furniture, even advised where to position the beds in case of an attack. Hunk followed the advice, while Keith and Pidge chose not to. 

Whatever. Preferences. 

Hunk asked about meals and how that would work, while Keith asked if relinquishing control was going to be a common thing. Allie explained the digital keypad on the wall and how its neutral position is a clock, while Liz stated the Colonel would inform them of the schedule when it was finalized and cleared with the team. One was sweet and accommodating and the other was the epitome of professionalism. Together, the girls rode up to the main floor and left the adults to settle in. Kenny was the first to find them, ushering them into the bridge. 

He stood on the floor with hands on his hips, meeting each of the smiling paladins' eyes. He then announced his idea. An idea he has had stewing for several days, and now it's time to take it off the stove. The reactions were different brands of confusion, but it was confusion nonetheless. 

"What?" Kova asked, hoping Kenny would clarify. 

"Reform the Galactic Coalition," Kenny repeated. "We don't have any info on Yorak, the model of that ship is still rendering, and there is nothing else to do." Kova gave a little pout, probably wondering why she didn't think of that. Caleb raised his hands in a 'Are you serious?' gesture, dropping to them to rest on his console desk. 

"Reform it?" Caleb asked. "How, exactly?"

"Well, we could probably—"

"Along with that, we're kids!" Caleb had clapped his hands together, grabbing Kova's attention. "What do we know about inter-space politics?" 

"Um," Allie turned her chair so she could look up at Caleb. "Are you serious?" Her soft voice traveled to the other members who stared at Caleb. 

"I don't know. Kova?" Liz looked from Caleb to Kova, who stared at her brother. 

"Unfortunately, he is." 

"What?" 

"'What do we know about interspace politics?'" Kova muttered to herself, putting her head down. Caleb looked from Kova to Kenny, hoping to get some sort of explanation. Kenny shrugged his shoulders. 

"Kova, what?" She looked up with bored eyes and pushed herself up. 

"Allura has studied under the ruler, the diplomat, and the medical staff of Altea since she could write. Cake has apprenticed under and learned the customs of different chefs, bakers, and staff that have worked for his father since he could walk." The pair in question stared at Caleb pointedly as Kova spoke. "Not to mention, your sister has been interacting with diplomats since she was born." Her arms had changed from being leaned for support to supporting her head with a fist while her other hand counted out the experienced members of the new Team Voltron. 

"I get it!" Caleb held up a hand in surrender, hoping Kova would stop. She did not. 

"If that wasn't enough, Dad also had to play diplomat for several years before, during, and after the Great War for the universe. Oh, and he helped /create/ the Galactic Coalition in the first place." The bridge fell silent, waiting for Caleb's response. 

"So we should be blaming Dad for this?" 

"He got the point," Kova announced, standing up. The other members turned their chairs and heads forward to Kenny and the now activated screen behind him. "What are we thinking, Ken?"

"I'm thinking Daibaazaal since they're Galra. Not to mention they're probably battle-ready." 

"We already have Daibaazaal support," Kova said much too quickly. "Who's next?" 

"Oh, uh," Kenny tripped over his words. "Altea, then." 

"They're behind us," Allie said, typing on her screen. A long-distance chat box appeared on the larger screen, with the sender labeled 'Blue' and the recipient 'Romelle'. The exchange proved what Allie had said, with Romelle promising troops if Voltron could prove its existence. 

"I don't have proof, but I can guarantee it," Kova said, grabbing Kenny's attention. On the tablet he had stolen from the Colonel, he drew a large T-chart. On the left, he wrote 'With' and on the right, 'Without'. In the left column, he wrote Earth, Daibaazaal, and Altea and moved down the list of planets and star systems. Allie removed her chatbox and listened intently. 

"Is Naxzela still under Galra rule?" 

"I wouldn't count on it." 

"Puig?"

"Has their top layer reformed?" Cake asked, earning him a stare or two from the other paladins. "When they joined the Coalition, their acidic planet was shedding its crust. Did their crust reform or are they still living on their moon?" 

"Liz, put that on our itinerary." 

"We don't have one, but I'll start one." Liz began typing away as they continued down the list. Kenny had placed a question mark beside Daibaazaal, but no other planets were added onto the list. The three planets remained. The teens searched through maps until they ran out of resources. By then, it was time to sleep. One by one, the teens wished each other good night and retreated to their rooms. Kova stayed up, staring at the large map.

There was nothing to warn her about the hand that came to rest on her shoulder. It was much smaller than Shiro's or Caleb's. The former Paladins should've already gone to bed by the time the teens finished up on the bridge. 

Kova felt as though her reaction was justified. 

Taking the stranger's wrist in her hand, Kova spun around and hooked her right leg around the stranger's left, knocking them off balance while striking them in the face. As the intruder fell on the floor, Kova quickly pulled her knife and held it against the intruder's throat. 

"What did you expect?" Kova muttered, more annoyed than angry. Krolia lay still underneath her, looking at the knife in Kova's hand. The blade hadn't elongated, but the purple symbol on its hilt wasn't hidden in any way. 

"I thought I would have more of a 'Thank you'," Krolia said, now meeting Kova's eyes. "Especially from my granddaughter." Kova scoffed, pulled Krolia off the ground a few inches before shoving back to the ground. Kova stood up in the process, sheathing her blade. 

"Leave." Kova turned to face her console, shutting the screen. The lights remained dimmed, but Krolia only stood from her place on the floor. Kova could feel Krolia's eyes stare into the back of her head, hoping she'd turn around. 

"Let me explain myself first." Another scoff from Kova. To her, what was there to explain? She already knew. Kova mumbled something under her breath. Krolia stepped forward, hoping to hear Kova repeat it. Instead, Kova turned her head so fast, her braid flew onto her left shoulder. Kova's bright eyes met Krolia's purple and yellow ones. 

"'Too young for a battlefield.'" Kova watched as Krolia's eyes widened. She remembered. "I never blamed you. You were fighting the beginnings of a war and I was too young for a battlefield."  

"Kyla," Krolia said, stepping forward. She stopped, looking angry with herself. "Kova." 

"Kova, what's going on?" Caleb said, half-asleep. He was rubbing his eyes. When he saw Krolia, he rushed and tackled her to the ground, much to Krolia's surprise. "Get Dad!" 

"Caleb, it's fine." Kova crossed her arms, staring at the teen on top of Krolia's back and holding her arms. 

"How did she even get on the ship?" Caleb asked, not taking his eyes off Krolia. "Dad!" He shouted, noticing Kova's lack of movement. 

"What happened? What's wrong?" Shiro yelled, rushing into the bridge, activating the lights. Kova had stepped back, leaning on the railing. Caleb was pinning Krolia down, and Krolia was wiggling, trying to gain an upper hand on Caleb. Wait, Krolia?

"Hello, Colonel." Krolia greeted. "I'd shake your hand, but I'm preoccupied at the moment." 

"Kova." 

"I'll explain in a minute." Shiro sighed, marching over to drag Caleb off the Galra. Krolia stood, stretching her arms as Caleb got seated on the floor several feet away. 

"Krolia, what are you doing here?" Shiro asked, looking between Krolia and Kova. 

"Just came to deliver an update on the Galtean colonies," Krolia said, handing a holoscreen to Kova. Kova took the screen without hesitation, looking through the information. "I also came to check-up on my granddaughter and her adventures." 

"How did you even know we were here?"

"This is, what?" Kova looked up to look at Krolia. "The third time you snuck onto the ship?" 

"Give or take." 

"Third?" Shiro looked incredulous, angry, and confused. Poor thing. 

"The first time was back on Senfama, when Darrar went missing and the power went out." Kova looked between Shiro and Caleb, who had finally stood up from his quiet fit. "She broke Darrar out and cut the wires, which you still owe me for. Electrical tape isn't going to last forever." 

"I know, Kovalia." Krolia raised an eyebrow at the teen, and met Shiro's gaze. "Darrar was the highest ranking spy in Yorak's circle, so when he was given command of Seklok's ship, he came straight to you." 

Shiro didn't say anything, processing the information. It would make sense to have spies within the Fire. At the first opportunity, Darrar tried reaching out to be met with adversity from the team. 

"When was the second time?" Caleb asked, staring at Kova. 

"The night before the mission to retrieve the Black Lion." 

"What." Poor dear deadpanned. 

"It was the only way I got as far as I did." Kova looked up again, putting the holoscreen in her hoodie pocket. "Krolia gave me a couple of keywords and phrases that the spies used to communicate with each other. They could've warned me about the bots with handguns, though."

"They're a new creation, only used on cargo ships," Krolia explained, hands on her hip. "Besides, I heard you handled yourself well." 

"What are the cargo ships carrying? Do you know?" Shiro asked, to a shake of Krolia's head. 

"No one can get a close enough look of the prisoners to see."

"Prisoners?" 

"Yes, from the Galtean colonies." Both Krolia and Shiro turned to Kova, who shrugged. 

"There's coordinate points and a still-active tracker." With a heavy sigh, Shiro's shoulders sagged. Even if he wasn't carrying an under-trained team, he was still supervising a new Voltron team. With a giant courseload attached. Fun. 

"We'll take a look at that in the morning," Shiro said, turning from Kova to Caleb. "Have Griffin check on the status of the ship from the cargo shipwreck." Caleb nodded as Shiro turned from Caleb to Krolia. "I'd offer you a bed, but I imagine you have somewhere to be." 

"Yorak has been trying to trap Kolivan and me for years, and the only we've managed is by moving around." Krolia bent down to pick up her helmet, which had rolled away in the chaos from earlier. "Kovalia, I hope that one day we can sit down and talk." 

"One day," Kova replied, watching as Krolia walked out. The Shiroganes stayed silent for a few minutes. Shiro walked out first, heading to bed. The teens couldn't blame him. They were tired just thinking about tomorrow. Caleb and Kova walked each other to their rooms, staying side-by-side until they arrived. 

"Hey, Kova?" Caleb said, his voice almost a whisper. 

"Yeah?" came Kova's reply. 

"Do you believe her?" The silence filled the space for a moment. "About sitting down and talking?" 

"Yeah." Kova turned to look at Caleb, or at least, the general direction of where Caleb could be. "She tried, but she put the universe over her family. We'd do the same." In the dark, Caleb nodded his head, opening his door. 

"Goodnight Ky." The door closed him, leaving Kova alone in the darkness and quiet. She padded into her room, shutting the door behind her. 

Instead of being a sane person and sleeping, Kova sat on her bed after putting on her pajamas. The holoscreen Krolia had given her rested on a low nightstand next to the door, her hoodie rested on the back of a chair, and the only light in the room came from the steaming bathroom across from Kova's bed. Pulling out the matching tablet to the one Shiro was given, Kova pulled up her folder. 'KHKH' the folder was labeled, and anyone's guess what it could've meant. 

To Kova, it was her entire life in a digital folder. 

Opening the folder with a heavy sigh, Kova watched the tablet load its contents. Several documents, pictures, and two video files appeared. Kova had the documents almost memorized. They were grade checks, performance reviews, and scans of paper essays she wrote before thirteen years old. The performance reviews were stunning, while the grade checks belonged to the laziest student. The teachers used to fail her without checking her work. With a rueful smile, Kova read through the extensive notes one particular teacher left. Mrs. Donovan had taught not one, not two, but three Koganes in her class over her tenure at the Garrison. She held a distaste of Keith, vaguely remembering the way he would turn to look at the window and fight with her prized student. After his success, she tried to turn a new leaf with TJ, but when he also dropped out of the Garrison, it was clear: A Kogane never succeeds. 

Mrs. Donovan taught basic arithmetic to junior cadets, so when Kyla Kogane appeared in her classroom next to her eventual prized student of the year, she took it upon herself to show everyone the girl didn't belong anywhere. How was she supposed to know that she was well-protected under Captain Shirogane and Ambassador McClain? 

Kova laughed as she remembered the shocked face of Mrs. Donovan when Aunt Veronica demanded to know why she, with classwork worthy of an A, was sitting in a classroom by herself while the rest of her class took the preliminary flying test every student was required to take. Kova and Caleb were quickly switched out and at the end of the year, Mrs. Donovan retired. Whether she already planned it or Aunt Veronica sped it up, no one but Aunt Veronica and Mrs. Donovan knew. 

The pictures in her file were of little Kova in various outfits for official Garrison functions. 

One was a still of Caleb and Kova on a hoverbike they stole. It was days, maybe a week before they were about to enter the Garrison as senior cadets. Kova drove the hoverbike, bringing it to a still while Caleb hung onto her waist for dear life. It was just before they stopped, sand and dust flying forward and around them. Caleb held up an arm to block the sand from getting in Kova's eyes, while she focused on stopping. The still could've been a portrait and Kova wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. There were others, with the teens wearing either their cadet uniforms or matching black and white clothes. 

One of the latter photographs held Caleb with his arms around Kova's shoulders, wearing a black button-up under a white dress coat. Kova wore something similar, a black dress with a short white coat. Her hair had been styled in a high ponytail with a purple ribbon tied in a pretty bow. Caleb, Pops and Dad wore purple handkerchiefs in their breast pockets, but you wouldn't be able to tell from looking at the picture. They both looked at the camera with shining eyes and big smiles. That was the night Dad got promoted to Colonel and officially took the role as Headmaster of the Garrison. 

As Kova sunk lower into her bed, losing her battle with sleep, she stared at the video files. She never pressed on them, never opened them. Not that night. One was labeled 'Kyla's Life', and she had yet to see it. It was password-protected, so she couldn't even if she wanted to. The other, she had sworn she'd never watch again. She slept with the happy memories dancing in her mind, keeping her thoughts away from the other video file and its title.

Not again, she promised. Never again

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Brittle Relations: I

Word Count: 2815

The days on the Coeus stretched into a heavy monotonous cycle. The team would wake up and perform daily duties: Liz and Allie would check on Keith, who was recovering, Cake busied himself with meals, Caleb and Kenny worked together in the engine room, and Shiro and Kova reviewed plans and caught up with Curtis on Earth. When the Coeus was attacked, only one or two Lions were dispatched if the threat was more serious. Otherwise, they stayed on board and let the Coeus do all the hard work. After that was done, they would return to normal duties and only saw each other during meals and briefings. 

Liz, Cake, and Allie could see the wear and tear on the Shirogane clan, but they said nothing. Cake and Liz worked with Kova and Caleb long enough to know they weren't the types to back down, even if they were tired. It tugged at Allie's heartstrings to see the pair with the dark circles under their eyes, that intensity in their eyes was just...gone. Upon cleaning the bridge, Allie heard a strange noise coming from a vent. On closer inspection, Allie found the bottle the teens used during their game. It felt like a lifetime ago when the biggest worry was Keith piloting the ship. Allie finished her cleaning and ran out of the bridge to find Liz and Cake with the bottle in hand. Together, they spawned an idea. 

A few days later, Kova was found on the bridge, typing away at her console. Maybe she was updating the info board. Maybe she was writing fanfiction about a life that wasn't completely screwed up. Maybe she was writing a poem about peaches to make herself feel better since it is her favorite fruit. Whatever it was, the teens didn't care. They saw Kova standing alone, looking more stressed out than she had been the entire trip, so they struck. 

"Hey, Cap," Cake said, slowly approaching the older teen. Kova gave Cake a small glance before returning her attention to the console. "Cap, listen, we-" 

"I'm busy, Cake." Kova's voice was cold. 

"Okay, okay." Cake backed away with hands raised in fake surrender. Allie, who stood at the doorway, rolled her eyes and all but shoved the bottle into Cake's hands while he tried to give it back. Liz turned the corner, deadpanning at the scene with Kenny and Caleb on her heels. With Liz's help, Cake walked back into the bridge exasperated. With a sigh, he puffed up his chest and marched (like, seriously marched) to Kova's console. 

"You wanna play a game?" He asked loudly, thrusting the bottle into Kova's imaginary bubble. Allie inched herself into the room next to Cake so she could be in Kova's line of sight. Kova met Cake's eyes then stared at the bottle in his hands, and back again into his eyes with furrowed eyebrows. With every second Kova continued to stare, Cake's heart continued dropping lower into his stomach until he was sure it couldn't go any further. Then Kova smiled. His heart shot back up into his chest as Kova gestured to the floor with her head. The others followed until they sat in a circle in the middle of the floor. Liz and Cake explained the game to Kenny, who nodded along. 

Kova was the last person that spun the bottle when they played last time, therefore, it was still Kova's turn. Allie needed to think about her question, so it was either Kenny or Caleb who had to ask. Caleb went ahead, lazily turning his head. 

"What's scarier: a weblum or a nine-month-old who is just starting to crawl?" Kova let out a dry laugh, looking around the room. She was wearing her lavender sweater, so when she started rolling up her sleeves, the others looked on. 

"Caleb, the answer is so obvious that I'm shocked you even had to ask." Kova rolled her left sleeve up until it was around her elbow. "The answer is obviously-" Kova held up her now bare arm to show off the pink starburst scar on the back of her hand to the middle of her forearm, where the pink faded into Kova's natural tan. "The baby." 

"The baby?" The other members of their team asked incredulously. 

"What baby did that to you?"

"Wasn't that caused by burns on the Fire ship?"

"It was a human infant, right?" Kova's tiredness seemed to fade as the questions were being asked, replaced by amusement at their shock. 

"Yes, it was a human baby, no, it wasn't caused by burns on the Fire ship, and it was Cy."

"Cyrus did that to you?" It was Kenny's turn to look incredulous. Caleb looked pleased with himself as Kova was the one to answer everyone's questions. 

"Crawling humans are scarier than you think." 

"You weren't scary when you were crawling."

"Then you don't remember what happened to Stephen the Hawk." Kenny stared at Kova absolutely confused until his eyes widened. 

"What happened to Stephen the Hawk?" Liz asked, leaning forward so her elbow was perched on her knee and her hand supported her chin. 

"Stephen Hawkling had a beautiful life, staying with Kenny since he was about two years old until his unfortunate demise ten years later." 

"What happened to the plush, Kova?" Caleb said, staring at the side of her head. She rolled her eyes and continued. 

"I accidentally crawled over a cord, toppling a lamp that was turned on, and it burned Stephen's head and back. Ken never let me forget it." Kova stared at Kenny pointedly. To his credit, Kenny looked shocked hearing about Stephen Hawkling's demise again, but he seemed to remember the vaguest details, like how big the hole was. 

Allie wrung her fingers as she looked around the circle of friends. "It's my turn, right?" She asked, much too quiet to barely be heard over the hum of the ship. Even so, Cake heard her and nodded. "What's the most sentimental thing you kept from your youth?" 

"Wow, okay Allie," Liz said. Cake gave a low whistle and a smile. Kova smiled, too, and straightened up. Her arm went to her back, pulling something out. Tied to the back of Kova's pants, a matching black sheath held a small blade about the size of Kova's lower back. As Kova brought the blade forward, she pulled down her rolled-up sleeve. 

"I kept Keith's knife." Kova held the small blade in her open palms. "I never had the courage to get rid of it, and I rarely use it. Besides the family picture and a blanket, I didn't keep much from the Kogane household." 

"Does he know you have it?" Liz asked. Kova shook her head, reaching behind her to sheath it. "Kenny's turn." The teens turned their heads to stare at him. Kenny opened his mouth when a beeping went off. Liz and Allie checked their makeshift pagers, seeing an alert for Keith, and excused themselves. Cake stretched his arms out, then stood up to go to the kitchen, since it was almost dinnertime. Caleb asked if he could help, to which Cake nodded his head. 

"Well, I need to get back to the engine room," Kenny said, standing up. 

"I'll join you." Kova jumped to her feet, dusting herself off. "I don't have anything better to do." Kenny nodded and made his way to the engine room with Kova right behind him. When they got down there, the room felt warmer than before, and the pair got to work on lowering the temperature, not saying a word to each other. Eventually, they figured out the heat was coming from an exhaust vent and it was facing the wrong direction. The two ran diagnostics on the entire ship, and when it came back as clear, they stood facing the other. 

Kenny stared at Kova then down to his hands as she redid some cables, organizing them in their compartments. Kova noticed Kenny's mood darkening and finished quickly. 

"Hey," She said. "You okay?" Kenny gave a small nod, still staring at his hands. He had turned around to rest his butt on the console panel. Kova found an engine box covering to sit on across from Kenny. "You didn't get to ask me anything while we were in there. What was it?"

"It was nothing," Kenny muttered. He laced his fingers together so they were holding each other. 

"Kenny." Kova continued, crossing her arms so they rested comfortably on her thighs. 

"Everyone at the Garrison wants to be you." Kenny's voice was firm, making Kova flinch. "It doesn't matter what life. You're the Jax, near-perfect at everything you try, no matter what it is. Engineering, programming, even communications." Kenny looked up at Kova with those blue-gray eyes that sent Kova back. "You're just like him, y' know." 

"That's not true."

"Isn't it?" Kenny looked angry. "You're both half-Galra, you're both the perfect soldiers, you're both the best of the best, and-and," Kenny shouted then grew quieter as his sentence trailed off. "And I never saw you guys again. You both left, one way or the other." 

"You're just as talented."

"You're just saying that." Kenny looked down. "I've been a Holt my entire life, and I still can't be on your level." 

"Just 'cause you think you're not good at tech doesn't mean you're not good at other things!"

"Like what?" Kenny met Kova's eyes. They were flicking back and forth in their socket as Kova searched through her memory for something, anything to make Kenny feel better. 

"Remember that spider plant you used to have in your room?" 

"It was plastic."

"No, it wasn't." Kova shook her head. "Pidge switched yours out with the one in the living room because yours looked better." Kenny stared at her. "And! And remember that hybrid flower you made?" 

"The juniberry hybrids?" 

"Yeah! Colleen took them! The Altean soil is the only place they'll grow, so they were grown there." 

"You're joking."

"I'm not!" Kova's eyes lit up as she saw Kenny's dark mood disappear. "You can ask Allie about them! She worked in the inner courts!"

"What about me and the inner courts?" Speak of the devil. 

"Allie, can you tell Kenny about the juniberry hybrids?" Kova scooted forward so that Allie was in full view. Allie stepped forward, her lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed. 

"They're hybrids between Earthen flowers and juniberries. What else can I say?" Kova nodded her head, gesturing to Kenny. "They can only grow on Altea, and because of their rarity, they reside in the Royal Gardens." 

"That's only an acre or so, isn't it?" Kenny crossed his arms as Kova looked to a confused Allie and rolled her eyes. 

"It was expanded a couple of years ago because the formula was being repeated on so many flowers." 

"I love juniholts," Allie remarked. Kenny all but jumped out of his skin at the mention of the playful name he gave one of the hybrid flowers. 

"What do they look like?" Kenny demanded, scaring Allie. She looked to Kova for help, to which the older girl put a comforting hand on her back. 

"They're about my height, covered in green foliage, and they bloom pretty pink juniberries from bottom to top." Allie described, retreating further into Kova's bubble until she was in between Kova's legs and Kova's hands were messing with the braids on Allie's head. 

"That's the hollyhock hybrid." Kenny was astounded. His heart was about to burst out of his chest. "They're seriously called juniholts?" Both girls nodded. 

"There's a lot more, but that's my favorite one." Allie and Kenny stood in silence while Kova sat, unbraiding and rebraiding Allie's hair. Kenny had a hand over his mouth as the information sunk in. His hybrids survived. On Altea. He fathered an entirely new species of hybrid flowers because he didn't want to do his programming homework. Like she read his mind, Kova smirked. 

"Seems you have Colleen's green thumb." Kova looked up from her work. "Sounds like a pretty good deal to me." She continued to sift through Allie's now curly hair to attempt a new hairstyle on the girl. In the end, Allie wound up with six small braids pinned to the back of her head over the rest of her hair in a modified half-up and half-down. That's when Allie remembered why she went down there, to begin with. Dinner was ready. 

The next morning, the teens were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in their places on the bridge for their daily briefing. Keith was still on bed rest but will be fine. The Coeus is approximately two wormhole jumps away from Pidge's location based on current capabilities. Food was beginning to run low, so they would have to land somewhere to harvest food and water. The filters needed cleaning and the Coeus needed minor repairs, too, so they would need to land anyway. The prisoner had given more information about himself and the place he came from. While he described the area he grew up in as 'the colonies', it was enough for Allie to figure out what he meant. 

"Allura, this better not be-" Romelle began to say as her face appeared onscreen. 

"Can I have access to the Galtean colonies?" Allie immediately asked. 

"Allura, unless you-"

"Romelle, what is the status of the Galtean colonies?" Allie looked annoyed and determined. An odd mix. Romelle sighed with exasperation, typing away at something off-screen. Her violet eyes went wide as she searched for something she clearly was not found. 

"There is no status on the colonies," Romelle said, standing from her chair to call for guards. "Go to the last known location of the colonies!" 

"Romelle!" Allie shouted to get the woman's attention. 

"Right!" Romelle sat down in her chair again and typed something up again. On Kova's console, Romelle sent a full folder of information on the colonies. "Do make good use of it. I will alert you if we find them." While Romelle disappeared, the folder and its contents appeared. Allie hurried up the stairs to Kova's console as Kova stepped back. All the documents were labeled and written in Altean, and unfortunately, the teens don't learn languages at the Garrison. 

"What was the name of the prisoner?" Allie asked Shiro, who was standing on the floor. 

"He said his name was Darrar," Shiro replied, turning to look at the screen. Allie typed the name into a search engine under a subfolder. Fifteen different individuals popped up on the search, only about half of them with pictures because they were grown. Thankfully, Shiro was able to point out the prisoner. However, Darrar was much younger in the picture. Only a teenager since the pictures were time-stamped. 

"I didn't even know Galtean colonies existed!" Cake exclaimed, staring at the folder. "You think that Yorak has been recruiting from the colonies?"

"He's half-Galra," Kova said, crossing her arms. "It makes sense he'd go after other half-Galra." 

"Stupid question over here." Liz raised her hand as she spoke. "What's a Galtean colony?" 

"Galteans are an uncommon hybrid of Galra, the people of Daibazaal, and Alteans, the people of Altea. The colonies, however, are a consolation gift between Daibazaal and Altea to foster peace between the two," Allie explained, showing a map of the colonies' last location. "There were four colony groups. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Sirius. Darrar is from the Gamma colony." 

"The colonies are designed to move and interlock if the need arises. They aren't attached to anything, just themselves." Kova explained even further. 

"A moving colony?" Liz looked from Kova and Allie to the map on screen again. "How do you even keep track of it?" 

"There are supposed to be satellites constantly supervising them, with monthly updates." 

"Supposed to?"

"Darrar has to tell us where the colonies are!" Allie ignored Liz's question. "Yorak is pure evil!"

"I'll try my best, but Allie, I doubt he knows." Shiro sighed, meeting the young girl's eyes. "Kova, what's the closest planet so we can make a landing?" Allie stepped away from the console and returned to her chair as Kova closed the Altean folders and opened a map. 

"Senfama is the closest to us," Kova reported, and Shiro nodded his head.

"Set a course for Senfama," Shiro said, climbing that stairs. As he approached the door, he paused and turned to stare at the teens, who seemed more upbeat than they had in weeks. "Are you guys okay?" Shiro asked with a half-smile. The teens looked at each other than at him, just as curious. 

"Never better."

"I feel fine."

"I think I'm okay. Am I okay?"

"You're fine, Cake." 

"Yeah, we're good." Kova arched an eyebrow. "Are you?" Shiro laughed and walked out the door. The teens stayed on the bridge until it was time for lunch, then prepared themselves for a wormhole jump.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Juvenile Matters: II

Word Count: 2778

A/N: You know what? One missed update isn’t going to kill me.

With more speed than ever shown before, an armored Paladin raced underneath flashing red lights. Strange hallways rushed past them, with someone yelling over the sound of the Paladin's breathing. An alcove in the wall provided a space for them to hide. Both robotic and non-robotic soldiers rushed past the alcove, yelling and cursing. If the silver-plated robots were any taller, they would scrape the dark metal grate over its head. 

As the soldiers ran past, the Paladin took a breath, listening for any noises. None came, and they took off for the opposite direction. Their arm piece holoscreen appeared with an x-ray map of the ship. With the glaring red lights, it was near impossible to make out, but a quick glance was all the Paladin could afford when a four-way hall came up. With no more time to waste, they ran to their right, only to be met with a robotic trio brandishing their hand guns. Literal hand guns. Freaking robots. The Paladin tried escaping to the tunnel ahead of them, but two soldiers with dark armor illuminated with a wide dark V with a little tail. The hall from the Paladin's right was also blocked with a robotic trio, with hideous power saws. The Paladin made a motion of exaperation as they held up their hands, balled into fists. 

The soldiers boldly made a move, rushing forward to grab the Paladin. The Paladin had other plans, kicking one of the soldiers into the other soldier so they collided together in a wall closest to the left-emerging robots. Upon close contact with the robots, one of them misfired, with the shot melting a hole through the metal grate. 

Noticing this, the Paladin, stood still in the middle of the floor between the two trios of robots coming from opposite directions. When the bots were a meter away, the Paladin ducked and rolled underneath the center robot's legs with their shield protecting them. The Paladin ran down the left hall, ignoring the sound of shots firing and the crashing of metal. 

Such an ugly sound. 

Having to hide again in an alcove to catch their breath, the Paladin studied the map again. If they continued down the hall, they could reach one of the explosives bays. Taking off again, the Paladin stealthily made it to the first explosive bay. 

The doors shut behind them as more soldiers appeared in the doorway. The doors shut on them, crushing them into mangles of wires. Thank goodness they were robots.  

Taking a convenient blade leaning on one of the many boxes of explosives, the Paladin drove the blade through the door's control panel. The blade broke as it was being pulled out but at least it did something useful. With a quick scan around the room, the Paladin noticed another set of metal double doors to their left. A quick electrical shock from an electric spear hanging on the wall did the trick, opening the second set of doors. This continued over and over until the Paladin found its target. 

The Black Lion sat majestically, with tall wings flared behind it. As the Paladin was making its way to the Lion, a series of three shots narrowly missed their head and striking the particle barrier that surrounded the Lion. The Paladin, their armor tinted solid red, lifted their left arm up, activating their personal shield, while their right was outstretched behind them. Their bayard appeared in their right hand, and before the soldiers could do anything, the Paladin activated their bayard. The weapon extended outwards, turning into a gun, similar to the ones the soldiers used. 

Two shots to very concerning places, assuming both soldiers were male, later, the Paladin searched their plans again. This was one of the interior bays. Why did this ship have to have interior storage bays? If the answer is food, it clearly wasn't being used for that. 

The Paladin made their way to the other side of the Black Lion, hoping to find a thin wall they could bust through, or maybe a door they hadn't seen before. 

There was none. If the Paladin tried to get the Black Lion out, there was a chance the explosives would react and cause more damage than it was worth. It seemed like the Paladin would have to find a way around the explosives. 

The Paladin had circled around the Lion so their eyes could glare into the Paladin's soul. With a single hand pressed against the particle barrier, the barrier deactivated particle by particle until the Lion was completely free. Wasting no time, the Paladin made their way into the cockpit. The Black Lion's screens activated as the Paladin took a seat, reaching out to grab the controls. More shots were fired, but they only ricocheted from the Lion's protective armor. One of these firings landed on one of the boxes of explosives, causing the Paladin to brace themselves. 

The explosion was seen from both the Coeus and one of the depots set up by the Fire. Yorak was staring out the window when the huge explosion went off. He immediatley turned to Vhix, who seemed just as shocked. On the Coeus, Caleb was anxiously rubbing a pendant around his neck. He wore the ugly ladybug sweater, black pants, and red sneakers. Civillian clothing. Cake and Allie were on standby in their Lions, while Liz, also in civillian clothing, sat in her chair with a finger over her lips and her thumb under her chin. 

"Is she even going to make it out?" Liz asked, turning to look at Caleb. As the explosions rocked the Fire ship, Caleb held his pendant tighter. 

"She'll be fine." Caleb readjusted himself in his chair. "She'll be fine." He repeated it, almost as though he were trying to reassure himself. 

From the wreck of the ship came a hint of blue. With a roar, the Black Lion emerged intact. The Yellow and Blue Lions left the transport bay, heading out to assist. Before Liz and Caleb could move from their spots, the Black Lion floated firm in between the Coeus and the destroyed ship. 

"Black to Coeus, don't move," Kova ordered, causing Shiro to rush in. Her voice had echoed through the ship, with her firmness as evident. Shiro wore a black leather jacket over his white tank-top and black pants and boots. 

"What's going on?" Shiro asked, eyes to the sky as smaller cruisers appeared at the sight of the wreck. They weren't attacking the Lions, or even made attempts to fire at the Coeus. The cruisers were aiding the wreck. 

"Griffin, take a scan of those smaller ships." The Black Lion had been joined by the Yellow and Blue Lions inbetween the Coeus and the wreck. Together, they watched as Fire soldiers, dressed in dark armor, vanished into the wreck and emerged with...something. The Paladins couldn't see what it was, but they could only assume there were soldiers who had been trapped under the wreckage. They watched until the wreck went dark, and the ships that had arrived to assist turned tail and left, leaving only a brief violet imprint. Together, the Lions returned to the transport bay, with the Black Lion the last to enter. 

Kova, Cake, and Allie returned to their places in the bridge, with helmets at their sides. Kova had balanced hers like a basketball on her hip, while both Allie and Cake held theirs in front of them. 

"We could've taken them." Liz stood up from her chair. Cake and Allie made their way to their seats, placing their helmets on the floor. "Why did you stop us?"

"Replay the footage," Kova said, staring at the screen. Liz sat down again, and did what she was told. The footage replayed, from Kova being dropped on top of the Fire ship, to the explosion of the same ship. "Did you take the scans?"

"Yeah, but it will take some time to create a 3-D model." 

"Alright, in the meantime, we can—"

"We can take care of this," Keith announced from behind Kova. You could see the teen physically tense as her face shifted from annoyance to murder to calm with a deep breath. She turned around to face the man standing in the doorway, and they had another staring contest. After a minute, Kova gave Keith a smirk and turned back around. 

"Sounds good," Kova said. "Alright team. Time for lunch." Cake cheered, Allie giggled, Caleb smiled, Liz stood and stretched, and Kova stared at Keith over her shoulder. "Have fun, and don't break anything." She grabbed her helmet, putting it back on her head. Cake and Allie had done the same, following Kova out of the bridge. Liz walked past Keith, and Caleb patted his shoulder. While Liz and Caleb walked together to the cafeteria, the other three got changed into civillian clothes. 

Keith stared after the teens in disbelief that it actually worked. Shiro had walked up to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder. Keith looked up at Shiro, and Shir gave him a small smile. 

"Get the others. I'll catch you up." Shiro strode into the bridge, back down the stairs, and took a seat in front of the large windows. The former Paladins stayed up on the bridge for a while, but it was long enough that when they returned, the teens were telling stories. 

Allie was trying to get her snorting under control, but everytime she snorted, she would snort again. Sitting beside her, the boys were having a hard time controlling their own laughter. Liz had placed a comforting hand on Allie's, biting her lip to keep the laughter in, and Kova and Kenny were silently shaking in different ways. Kova could at least look at Allie, with a fist over her mouth. Kenny had laughed so hard, there was no sound coming from his mouth, so he placed his head on the cool white table. With deep breaths and flailing her arms, Allie began getting her laughter under her control with a huge smile on her face. Cake began to cry a little, and Caleb had turned away from Allie to lean into Cake's shoulder. 

"Oh man, I kinda want to ask what happened next, but I kinda don't wanna." Cake wiped tears from his eyes as he spoke, but Allie already controlled herself. 

"I don't think you would survive," Allie said, leaning her head on her raised hand. That's when she saw the adults in the doorway. "Oh." She sat up so her back was rimrod straight and the smile disappeared from her face. Kova noticed the change and turned around. Liz peered over her shoulder and stared at the uninvited guests. Cake brightened, then noticed everyone else's reaction. Kenny was taking deep breaths to regualte his breathing, but Caleb was the only person who had yet to see the guests. Kova slid out of her seat to stand across the adults when Caleb finally came up for air. 

"Oh quiznack, I don't think I've ever laughed that hard since-Hey, why did everyone stop laughing?" 

"Did you have fun?" Kova asked, meeting Keith's eyes. Keith took in her outift, a lavendar t-shirt, black slacks, and black boots. She wasn't in her uniform anymore. 

"Yeah, fun." 

"Cool." Kova walked past them towards the door. "We're off the clock until dinner." Shiro and Keith stared after Kova while the other teens relayed the message and cheered. Liz and Allie went to the med bay to restock, Cake and Caleb headed to their rooms, leaving Kenny alone in the cafeteria. He had turned around in his seat, staring at the adults. 

"If you wanna come in, I think Cake made some leftovers." Kenny pointed at the kitchen area that was just out of sight from the door. The former Paladins creeped in after Shiro, who strode in first to fix himself a plate. After they had all sat down, with matching plates in front of them, they looked awkardly from one to the other. 

"Is this even edible?" Hunk asked, poking the near gelatinous pink blob on his plate. Shiro had began digging in, using a spoon. The other three went pale at the sight. 

"Yeah, it's, uh, the, um," Kenny stumbled for the right word when he looked up at Shiro. "Remember those weird red pears we found?" 

"Yeah, what about them?" 

"They're shaped like pears, they have seeds like pomegranates, and they taste like mixed berries." 

"No wonder I taste strawberries." 

"I tasted blueberries, and Caleb tasted raspberries. Kova refused to comment." 

"Is. It. Edible?" Hunk asked again. Kenny nodded his head. 

"Yes, now eat you blob." Tentaviely, the three spooned a small piece of their blobs. Their faces morphed from disgust to pleased. Kenny took out his phone after a few minutes of the former Paladins eating. He was scrolling through system reports when Shiro got his attention. 

"Ken, Pidge asked you something."

"Oh, sorry about that." He put his phone down. "Can you repeat that?"

"Why are you here with us if Kova gave you until dinner?" Kenny chuckled and lifted his phone to show Pidge the screen. 

"I run the ship's systems while the team pilots the ship and their Lions," Kenny said, scrolling through green systems. "I get a break when I sleep. If I sleep." Speak of the devil, one of the previous green buttons on his screen turned red. Pidge half-expected him to stand up and leave, but he didn't. He pressed a few buttons, and it was repaired. Hunk, who chose to sit next to Kenny, had been looking over his shoulder. 

The two began talking about the complex code needed, and all the repairs needed to repair such a battleship like the Coeus. Pidge joined in when Kenny mentioned the months he spent onboard the ship replacing some of the parts. Keith and Shiro's eyes glazed over, eating their pear-berry gelatinous blob. 

————————————

Yorak was furious. His study had been turned into a disaster zone, and his bedroom wasn't much different. The brooding man stood in front of a porthole window wearing identical armor to his soldiers. The dark gray suit seemed to emphasise the darkness in his eyes. Vhix entered the bedroom, stepping over ruined funiture and fabric to stand between Yorak and the door. 

"How many?" Yorak said, his voice low. He hadn't turned to face Vhix. 

"Three of the cargo bays and eighteen soldiers." Vhix had crossed his arms behind his back, waiting. Watching. 

"Gone?" 

"Yes." A beat of silence followed. Like thunder and lightning, loud clangs echoed through the ship. The younger soldiers shook, the older soldiers fought not to flinch. They've heard this anger before, and its aftermath was never pretty. The bangs and scrapes of the metal continued until morning. By then, Yorak had exhausted himself. After all, he is still half-human. 

"Are you done?" Vhix asked with a bored expression on his face. 

"Three chambers out of five could not be saved." Yorak had wound up in a heap on the floor, panting inbetween words. His hands were covered by his bodysuit, but the way his hands shook when he moved his fingers told more than neccessary. 

"At least we saved two."

"What are we going to do with two?" Yorak turned up his head to glare at Vhix, who didn't so much as flinch. 

"Continue doing what we have been doing with the rest of the cargo." Vhix stepped around Yorak to grab the violet and crimson red cape hanging from a post. With a dramatic flair, Vhix secured the cape to Yorak's shoulders while Yorak glared daggers at the floor. "Train them, break them, and who knows? Maybe we can take a few and experiment with them." 

"Do we have any leads on the resistance from Daibaazaal?" Yorak asked as he stood, hiding his still shaking hands under his cape. 

"Darrar's tracker shows him to be in the Poilderan star system." 

"That's on the other side of the universe." 

"I'm aware. I've already sent out a rookie to investigate." 

"Very well." 

"If he happens to find him, which I doubt, what do we tell him?" 

"Tell him to threaten and capture the female leader." 

"Your grandmother." Yorak released a low chuckle as the door opened. 

"If she were my family, she would have supported me. Not tried destroying me." 

The pair strode into the bridge, where the soldiers and pilots stiffened at the Emperor's passing. The pure joy that Yorak felt at every flinch and every small whimper was indescribable.  Now if only he could have a family, specifically a sister, to share his kingdom with.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Nuclear Decisions: III

Word Count: 2177

AN: It’s a little shorter today, but I hope you find the end well worth it. :)

As Yorak finished his comment, Kova began resisting. She pulled back from Yorak’s grip, physically leaning back and away. Yorak smiled like he knew this was going to happen. His grip on her arm grew tighter as his knee pushed the back of hers. Kova fell on the ground hard, shaking her arms in vain. 

“Now, now, Kyla,” Yorak said like he was speaking to a child. “You better stop now unless you want your precious team blown into atoms.” Kova panted, pushing back one last time until her body sagged. She was hauled up to standing and pushed towards a heavy metal door. Yorak turned to Kova, smiling widely at the glaring girl. “I’m releasing you. You better not do something you’ll regret.” Kova nodded as the violet cuffs faded, falling to the floor with heavy, echoing thuds. Vhix appeared from behind, taking Yorak’s place on Kova’s upper arm. 

Together, the trio marched up a set of stairs on the other side of the metal door. It opened, and the bright lights briefly blinded the teen. Within a minute, Kova could see again. The entire crew of the ship she was on was standing below in perfect squares, looking up at the trio as they walked in. Huge screens were on two of the walls, showing a better view of the balcony they were on. A screen appeared in front of the balcony as Yorak approached. He smiled smugly as the telecommunication started with a swipe of his finger. 

On the Coeus, every screen on board had tuned itself to the incoming transmission. The same happened at the Garrison, where the programmers who trained to take care of unauthorized transmissions like this set to work. Unfortunately, the head programmer was on vacation and the team couldn’t get through the Garrison’s firewall. The Garrison was the only place on Earth that received the transmission, but that was enough to send panic through Curtis’s heart. 

“Ladies and gentlemen of our lovely universe,” Yorak said, stepping forward to become more prominent on the balcony. “Today, you are witnessing a historic event. One that can change the universe as we know it." 

Shiro had ordered everyone on the Coeus to report to the bridge. Keith, of course, didn’t listen, charging towards the transport bay. While he hadn’t been under supervised care in awhile, he was still recovering. Before he could even leave the transport bay in the MFE jet, the quick lapse in oxygen knocked him out. Shiro and Liz found him and hauled him back to the observation room. He would be fine. He just needed to rest. 

"The Fire has long remained in the darkest corners after a humiliating defeat and highly publicized death of our founder and first Emperor. I, Emperor Yorak, am now changing that.” Vhix pulled Kova along so she was sandwiched in between Yorak and Vhix. “The Fire is finally ready to make our grand premiere, with Voltron supporting our cause.” He gestured to Kova, who sneered. “My brother, Commander of the colonies, my sister, the leader of Voltron, and I swear to make the universe equal and whole. A balance that should’ve been since the beginning.” Vhix stepped forward, kicking Kova’s foot forward so they were closer to the screen. Kova’s fists began shaking with anger as Vhiz took the stand. 

“Imagine the possibilities of an equal and balanced world. The doors that will open to all those who join us in our cause.” For a brief minute, Vhix let go of Kova to make wide hand gestures. She took a step back so that she could look over Yorak’s shoulder. “Voltron stands with us. You will too." 

"No.” Kova stared directly at the screen. “We don’t.” With a right hook, Kova’s right fist connected with Yorak’s jaw, making him fall onto the ground. With a quick turn on the ball of her foot, she knees Vhix in the stomach, also making him fall. Yorak tried to stand, but he slips on the topmost step on the staircase and falls backward. Vhix didn’t have the same luck, so Kova kicked him down the other set of stairs. She turned to look forward, where her face was projected onto large screens. Her eyes look shocked, then determined. 

“My name is Kovalia, and yes, I am the leader of Voltron. My team has remained hidden for the past few weeks, but we have used our time to train and prepare ourselves to defend our home. My parents formed the Galactic Coalition in their prime, and I am not going to let anyone, friend or foe, destroy something I swore to protect. To everyone who stands on the side of good, of peace, I ask you to stand with Voltron. With us. To those who stand with the Fire, be prepared for war.” With that, Kova slashed her fingers through the air to cut off the connection. By that point, the soldiers down below had begun to find their way up the staircase. Kova climbed onto the wide railing of the balcony and jumped over the balcony railing before anyone could reach her. 

Her jetpacks were a godsend as she landed harmlessly on the ground below. As soon as her feet met the ground, Kova ran towards the huge doors that the soldiers were running out of. Several of them tried catching her but met the business end of her bayard. The weapon had morphed itself into a long vaulting pole. With a push, Kova vaulted over the soldiers, and the bayard morphed in mid-air. It became a small stun gun, to which Kova used to shock the door’s control. She didn’t take a second look, dashing down the hall. Through a matter of twists and turns, Kova found herself in the same area she had found herself the last time she was kidnapped. The doors refused to open, welded shut. 

“Halt!” Someone said behind Kova. She turned to stare at half a dozen soldiers pointing the barrels of their weapons at her. “Surrender!" 

Kova was panting in her helmet, slowly putting her hands up. Her bayard morphed again, turning into the long curved sword. With a swing, the barrels of the three weapons directly in front of had fallen off, the cut so clean, it could’ve been done with a razor. With two hands now on the hilt, Kova widened her stance, ready to fight. 

A heavy thud sounded on the outside of the door, throwing everyone off balance. A heavier thud and an imprint on the metal door was the only warning Kova had to get out of the way. Diving into a barrel roll, she held onto the frame of the door as a third hit from outside revealed the Lion. Yellow’s head bursts through the heavy metal. With a deafening roar, Yellow extracted itself from the ruins as someone complained about just replacing the door. Kova ran to the opening and dove out. Red opened its jaws and ate Kova whole. Quick as can be, Kova ran to the cockpit of the Red Lion, where Caleb was navigating Red back to the Coeus. 

"Where’s Black?” Caleb asked. 

“No clue.” Kova was panting, staring at the large ship that she had just escaped from. “They have multiple holding bays." 

"We can’t check them all.” Caleb agreed with Kova’s train of thought. “Griffin, use the BLIP. Try to find the Black Lion.”

“On it,” Liz replied, directing Green far away from the ship so it could properly scan it. “Large number of guards in bay three.”

“Got it.” Red flew towards the ship again, but Kova put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. 

“Bay three has low-grade explosives." 

"How do you know?” Kova opened a screen on her arm, showing a picture of the ship map time-stamped on the day Kova was kidnapped the first time. With a swipe, Kova sent the image to the other Lions. 

“Bays three to six hold all explosives for the entire ship,” Kova explained, highlighting the respective bays. “I escaped from bay two, a transport bay." 

"What are we supposed to do, then?”

“Leave the LIon." 

"What?” Caleb turned to give Kova an incredulous face. If they didn’t have the Black Lion, they couldn’t form Voltron. 

“We have to.” Caleb tried to fight her, but as he continued thinking it over, he agreed with an exasperated sigh. 

“Team, retreat. Coeus, open a wormhole.” The Coeus opened a wormhole, slowly creaking its way through as the cannon on the front end of Yorak’s ship charged up. By the time it was ready to fire, the Coeus and the Lions were long gone. 

Onboard, Shiro said nothing as the teens filed past. Four of them went to their rooms, and one went to the bridge. Shiro eventually followed the teen as she removed her helmet to reveal her bright green hair. The teen stared at the bayard in her hand, a remnant of the Lion she had lost. That realization struck her deep. Kova, the jack of all trades, the pride of the Garrison, had lost. 

Shiro approached the teen from behind, placing a warm hand on her shoulder. Kova turned to meet Shiro’s sympathetic eyes, causing tears to fall from Kova’s eyes. With arms wrapped around Shiro’s large waist, she let the silent tears shed. Shiro patted the back of Kova’s head with his human hand, letting the robotic one turn off the lights in the bridge. While he said nothing, Kova could understand his meaning behind it all. 

It wasn’t her fault. She did what she could. 

Shiro led the teen back to her room, where she slept like a baby with the reassurance on her mind. Like a mantra, she repeated it over and over. It’s not my fault.

————————

In the distance, far away from the Coeus, further away from the colonies Yorak mentioned before, someone important watched the footage, too. Their face was partially obscured by the shadows in the room as they rewinded and played Kova’s speech over and over again. Specifically, the scene before the footage cut out. The glare on Kova’s shield made it impossible to see her at times, but in that quick second, her entire face was on display, albeit obscured slightly by the helmet. 

Over and over, the shadowed individual played the second. There was something about the girl’s eyes that stuck familiar. The way her dark eyebrows pinched together as her amber eyes filled with determination. While her hair was completely covered by the helmet, it could only be assumed her hair matched her eyebrows. Yorak and the Fire had been watched for months, to the point where there were several moles in various ranks throughout the organization. Yorak had referred to Vhix as his brother, already known as a fact by the individual, but he referred to the girl as his sister. 

More details about the girl began to become more apparent to the shadowed person. How the girl’s eyes weren’t as sharp as once thought, they held the same fiery spirit. Her chin and nose were more pointy, likely coming from her mother. Her armor and helmet were signatures of Voltron Paladins, leaving a small space at the bottom to allow her to talk. Her skin tone didn’t match either parent, but this was suspected to be from other causes. Her name was the nail in the coffin. While her suspected surname didn’t match any records, the unique first name she used did. 

Kovalia. 

With a press of a button, the individual opened a second screen with the image of a young girl. The little girl was seated in between a man and a woman with small smiles, but expressionless eyes. The woman wore a green shirt and dark pants with a pair of mint green glasses. Her chestnut hair was swept to her left side. The man wore a black shirt under a brown and red leather jacket, with dark hair tied in a ponytail. The little girl wore a pretty black dress with a lace overlay with a green ribbon around her stomach. Her dark hair had been braided to form a crown on her head. She was the only one who seemed happy to be there, giving the camera a big smile. She couldn’t have been more than three years old, but the picture was enough to get an age-progression of the girl. 

Leaning forward, the individual laced their fingers together in front of their mouth as the program did its work. As it aged the three-year-old and made an overlay of the teenager, it slowly confirmed what the individual suspected. 

The screen stopped, showing a 98% match between the adorable child and the fierce teen. 

“Finally.” The individual said, showing off their toothy grin. “We finally found you,” As they leaned further into the light, more features became apparent, like their pointed Galra markings on both cheeks, their two-toned hair, and their sharp eyes. “Kyla." 

Krolia stood from her chair. As she picked up the screens, deactivating them in the process, she walked to the door. Her smile never left as the automatic door opened, then closed with a thud.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Juvenile Matters: I

Word Count: 2831

A/N: Allura, I asked for strength, not a 10,000 year nap. Thanks.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Pidge angrily said. The teens stared at Kova, looking to her for a cue. 

"I don't have to explain myself to you." Kova had placed a hand on her hip, light brown eyes glinting. She said nothing more, turning around and leaving the med bay. Caleb followed her out, leading the others in order of color: Green, Yellow, and Blue. Allie smiled apologetically before leaving. The teens marched to the bridge, where they took their respective seats. Like a mama duck to her ducklings, Kova waited until every member was seated. 

"We aren't going back to Earth, right?" Caleb was the first to speak. Kova had walked around her console to grip the railing. She nodded curtly. 

"Is it not our responsibility to ensure them a safe return?" Allie quietly remarked. Again, Kova nodded. 

"So," Liz was next. "What are we doing first?" Kova had been glaring into space (mental space, not actual space), so when she looked up to glare at actual space outside the windows at the front of the Coeus, Kova had the beginnings of a plan. 

"Between the lost colonies, defeating Yorak, and retrieving the Black Lion, we have our hands tied," Kova said, standing with arms at her sides. "That isn't including solving the mystery of the cut contact between the Galactic Coalition and what Yorak is doing with the colonies." 

"What are the colonies exactly?" Caleb asked as Kova pulled up a screen. Onscreen, a timelapse video began playing. It showed Altea and Daibazaal ships flying around each other, slowly constructing something in the dark space in between the two planets. 

"The Galtean colonies were a gift between Altea and Daibazaal, in hopes to foster a new alliance and a new generation." Kova sped up the timelapse as she spoke, watching as the cores of the colonies took shape. "They colonies are designed to interlock and disconnect depending on the circumstance."

"Wait, interlock? Like, connect together?" Liz asked, clasping her hands together to further her point. Kova nodded, returning her eyes to the screen. 

"There are four of these systems built." Allie stood up to point out the four colonies as they were built. "The first, Alpha, housed warehouses and ship ports. They were the repairers of the four. The second, Beta, housed libraries, schools, social buildings. The third, Gamma, is the largest since they are the residential colony. The fourth, Sirius, wasn't included until late in the plans, but they are the strongest of the four." 

"How, exactly?" Caleb had crossed his leg so his ankle met his opposite knee. He rested his head on a fist, his elbow touching the armrest. 

"Sirius housed the military and a hospital," Kova answered bluntly. Allie had turned when Caleb asked, so she pointed at Kova with both hands close to her chest. As she sat, the four colonies grew until they were one large city floating in the air. Alteans and Galra alike cheered as the interlocked colonies took flight on its own. An Altean blue particle barrier activated itself around the colonies when they were far enough away from Altea, where they had been originally constructed. As the timelapse ended, Kova pulled up reports of the last sighting of the Galtean colonies. A folder simply labeled 'BIRTHS' caught Caleb's attention. He rose his head to get a closer look. It was enough for Allie to explain what had happened. 

The Alteans and Galra who volunteered to live in the colonies were also assisted in fertility treatments. Over the past thirty years since their construction, thousands of Altean, Galra, and the uncommon Galtean infants were born with more success each time. Allie explained that Galra DNA can become incredibly hostile towards foreign genetic material, causing it to basically eat itself as it is forming. With absolutely no idea how human researchers figured out how to 'turn off' the genetic hostility in growing babies. Galteans, unfortunately, still have shorter lifespans compared to either race. The same went for every Galra half-breed, no matter what the other half was. Cake, Allie, and Kova looked fine, while Liz and Caleb looked panicked. Kova had to roll her eyes and explain she wasn't dying until at least one-hundred. The same went for Cake and Allie.

"Help us look for our daughter!" Keith demanded as he stomped into the bridge. He brushed past Kova at her console, shoved Allie into her seat, and stood in the middle of the floor with blue-gray eyes glaring at the five teens. 

"Not until you say the magic word." Kova raised her hands in surrender, even taking a step back from her console. Keith was having none of it, baring his teeth.

"Now." His voice was a near growl as the other adults walked in. Pidge and Hunk took a moment to admire the bridge in its glory. Pidge locked her eyes on the vast space outside the large floor-to-ceiling windows at the front of the Coeus. Hunk noticed the tension in the room but was already halfway down the stairs. Shiro and Kenny rushed in behind the teen at the front. 

"Please," Pidge pleaded, tearing her gaze away from the window. Her hands wrapped themselves around Keith's bicep, softening his expression. "Please. We need to find our daughter." 

"Okay." Kova shrugged, stepping to her console. She flicked her eyes from the screen to Keith. "That's all you had to say." Closing the files they were looking at, Kova opened the Garrison student database. 

"When did you..." Shiro trailed off, pointing at the screen. Kova once again shrugged, typing in credentials. 

"Let me know when you need to upgrade the firewall," Kova said, looking up at the screen. 

"How is the Garrison going to help us?" Keith demanded, glaring at the teen. While the teens and Kenny looked panicked, Kova's face never shifted, remaining an almost bored neutral.

"Keith Kogane and Katie Holt have successful careers in humanitarian relief and aerospace engineering because of their time at the Galaxy Garrison." Kova sounded as bored as your facial expression seemed to show. "If they were to have a kid, they would likely attend the school their parents attended." 

"Yeah, that makes sense," Hunk said after a moment, shrugging and closing his eyes as he spoke. 

"Besides, while we see the GSD, there's an underlying code connected to other school databases throughout the entire state." Kova moved her cursor over the search bar, readying her hands over the keyboard. "What's her name?" 

"You can't do that," Pidge exclaimed. 

"Kyla," Keith said at the same time. 

"I can do that, and I did that. Now, Kyla Kogane?" 

"Yes." Keith nodded his head. "K-Y-L-A." 

"I can spell, thanks," Kova retorted, typing the name into the search bar. "This system will check the whole name, then the two names separately. It's not instant, but it will search through every available database." Hitting run, Kova leaned on the railing to her right, Caleb crossed his leg again, Liz rested her elbows on the desk so her head rested on her hands, Cake leaned back into his chair with hands behind his head, and Allie rubbed her side where her ribs met the edge of the desk. Oh, wait till Kova found out. There was no way Keith would survive Kova's wrath. 

It was only a few minutes, but those few minutes were enough for Shiro to join the other adults on the floor. Kenny stayed above next to Kova, studying the screen. 

The results read as follows: KYLA KOGANE - 0 RESULTS; KYLA - 5 RESULTS OOD; KOGANE - 2 RESULTS WD. 

As the red 0 embedded itself into Pidge and Keith's memory, Kova stretched her arms. 

"OOD is out-of-district, which just means it's not at the Garrison. WD is within the district, meaning—" 

"That there are two pings inside the GSD," Kenny finished for Kova, staring at the screen. He turned to meet Kova's eyes, and she did the same. The two shared a look, saying more than would ever be said between the two. 

"The five," Keith said, approaching the screen to reach his hand out. "Can we see them?" 

"Yeah, but I seriously doubt it's your girl."

"Do it." Shiro worriedly looked from Keith to Kova, the latter shrugged and did what she was told to do. 

The five individuals appeared on the screen. Two were from the same district, one was from a different one, and the other two were black and white images from a third district. The first was a boarding school, and one of the individuals was a teacher at the facility. Her hair was silver, wrapped in a fancy bun, and a scowl embedded into her face. Kyla Hannigan, as the teacher was named, was also one of the black and white pictures from the third district. She had the same scowl on her face, although she looked forty years younger. Kyla Marrow, the other black and white girl, passed away several years ago, leaving a granddaughter also named Kyla Marrow, the only Kyla in her public school. The last Kyla, the one from the boarding school where Ms. Hannigan taught, was in her first year. Maybe twelve years old, if that.

Kova didn't mention any of this, just pointed out vague details on each of the Kylas, and the pictures confirmed there was no connection between any of these Kylas and the missing Kogane girl. 

"The two results of Kogane within the district are," Kova said as she exited the 'Kyla' search results and entered the 'Kogane' results. "Takashi Heath Kogane and Kenneth Samuel Kogane." 

"Wait, that's- AH!" Cake tried saying before Liz pulled the tails of his headband to get his attention. Her eyes said 'Talk and you die', and Cake listened well. 

"You had a mullet?" Kova asked, side-eyeing Kenny. He looked flushed, holding his light brown hair, messy from lack of hair products. 

"Shut up." Kenny lost the fight, his face turning beet red. He looked down with interlaced fingers over the back of his neck.  

"Kova, that's enough," Shiro scolded. While Kova smiled, Kenny looked up. Shiro motioned Kenny forward, which he reluctantly did. There was no way Kenny would know what would happen. 

"Pidge, this is Kenny." Shiro wrapped an arm around Kenny's shoulders as he spoke, pushing him forward towards his parents. 

"What are you talking about?" Pidge asked, staring at the man in front of her. "Kenny's sixteen." 

"That was forever ago," Kenny said, reaching out towards Pidge. Pidge stepped back, further into Keith's embrace. Keith and Kenny shared a look, having Kenny back away. 

"Unless your daughter changed her name over the past several years or moved out of state," Kova interrupted the moment. "There is no record of your daughter ever existing." 

"Can we begin actual plans, then?" Liz asked, her voice harsher than it had been in weeks. 

"Yes!" Cake cheered. "Please!" 

"Return to the med bays, reacquaint yourselves and we'll let you know when your rooms are ready," Kova said, closing the GSD, and opening several maps. 

Keith, Pidge, and Hunk didn't move. Kenny climbed the stairs, stopping at the head when he noticed they weren't moving. Shiro had climbed the other set of stairs, stopping instead at the foot of the stairs. The trio looked among themselves, before turning to the teens. 

"We should be the ones leading this mission," Keith stated rather confidently. "You're kids." The teens still dressed in Paladin armor, had disbelief on their faces. In a vain attempt to keep the peace, Shiro tried to plead with Keith. Kova spoke before he had the chance. 

"Griffin, pull up maps of our tracker. Smythe, get more information on the disappearance. Garrett, review systems and reconnect the satellite. Sec, is the Coeus ready for battle?" Her commands stirred the others into a team mentality, turning the disbelief into spite. The teens were quick to activate their consoles, with each carrying out their individual tasks. 

"Ballistas are down, particle barrier is on standby," Caleb reported, trying to reboot the weapons systems. 

"Holt, check if it's a software issue or a design malfunction." Kenny nodded, leaving the bridge. 

"You can't ignore us forever." Kova had moved her holoscreen to hover directly in front of her so she could type and still look in the same direction. "I'm above you in rank, so do what I said and back down." Liz, Cake, and Caleb stared at Keith with shock written all over their faces. Kova bristled, stilling her fingers. 

"Listen to me, and listen carefully," Kova started, descending the staircase Shiro was at earlier. It was to avoid Caleb's interference, but it wasn't like they would know that. "I am a top student at the Garrison, about to be the youngest officer in Garrison history, and am currently Paladin of the Black Lion, leader of Voltron." With every statement, Kova descended the staircase, until she reached the floor. Then, she took careful steps toward Keith and Pidge. "You have been declared MIA and considered deceased for a decade, losing your status and any rank you may have had." Kova was only inches away from Keith's face, glaring into his eyes. Kova was only inches shorter than Keith, so the staring contest wasn't ridiculous. The pair held the other's gaze long enough for Shiro to intervene. 

"Continue your tasks as ordered," Shiro told the teens. "You go ahead into the med bay. Kova, in my office." Kova and Shiro walked away first. As they left the bridge, the teens glared and ignored the trio until they left. Allie flinched as Keith passed by, but nothing more was said. 

"Kovalia, what was that?" Shiro began his reprimand. "You're the leader of Voltron, a high ranking student, my daughter. You're supposed to be showing that rank without telling people off!" 

"He questioned my authority!" Kova argued. "Again! This is the second time he has tried to overturn my decisions."

"So you let me handle him!" Shiro stood to full height. Shiro's time at the Garrison was starting to show. "Is that so hard to do?"

"YES!" Kova all but shouted. "We've avoided using 'Emperor' and 'Yorak' in the same sentence, we haven't tried telling them about current events, and besides Kenny being ten years older than before, I doubt they believe us when we say it's been ten quiznacking years since anyone has seen them!" 

"Kyla, enough!" Curtis yelled over Kova's yelling. Both Shiro and Kova stared at the holoscreen on Shiro's desk with shock on both their faces. 

"How, uh, how long have you been there?" Kova asked, pointing at the holographic picture of Curtis. 

"Long enough." Curtis crossed his arms, looking annoyed. "Kova, you are dismissed to your room."

"Yes sir," Kova muttered, shooting Shiro a look. Kova never made it to her room, as the Coeus violently leaned to its left. Kova ran to the bridge, with another blast propelling her forward to collide with the console. While her ribs might be bruised for a while, it didn't matter when faced with multiple enemy ships, almost all of them bearing the bright purple V with a little tail. 

"Hand over the half-Galra and no one gets hurt." An unknown voice spoke before their face appeared on the Coeus's screen, completely covered from head to hip in dark armor with a wide V with a tail. The large gun in their hands was held to appear more intimidating, but the slight shake of his hands spoke louder than words. With a small hand signal, Caleb and Liz activated the particle barrier and closed off sectors of the ship. It trapped Kenny on one side of the ship with the former Paladins while trapping the current Paladins and Shiro. 

As the particle barrier surrounded the Coeus, the enemy ships fired. Kenny sent a small message to the console, and Kova sent back an agreement. The lights on the entire ship turned off, replaced by low red lights. The steering apparatus for the Coeus appeared at Kova's console, ready for her influence. Before taking control over steering, Kova sent the message to the other Paladins on their consoles. 

ER: 'Ballistas report a design failure. We have to travel via wormhole'

HC: 'Prepare the ship. I got steering.'

The Paladins could only brace themselves, hoping that the Coeus could endure this battle. That's when Caleb had an idea. Sending a brief message to Kova, he went to the Coeus's network. Transferring the page to Liz, they both set to work. 

They still had the training bot. 

Activating the large mecha, Caleb and Liz took over its motor functions. Caleb controlled everything above the hips, while Liz had everything below. The transport bay doors opened, and the pair led the bot out. There was a hole in the particle barrier, but it would have to dealt with later. The pair piloted the bot until a well-aimed shot took it offline. 

By the time the mecha died, the Coeus was already gone through the wormhole.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Impending Difficulties: I

Word Count: 2812

AN: Don’t hate me too much. XD

It had only been a few hours, but Kenny's brain couldn't seem to process anything but the encounter from before. 

It had been years. 

His grandfather never spoke about either of Kenny's siblings, never mentioned them, or even what had happened to them. During the launch of the failed mission, the one Kenny's parents never came back from, he found it weird that he didn't see his sister. His parents asked him about it but he could only shrug. He hadn't seen her in three years at that point. It was her birthday, but Kenny suspected they didn't know. 

Every memory Kenny had stored away in his brain was being taken out and being sorted through again. Unfortunately, the reason for the resorting came up empty when Kenny couldn't find what he needed. 

He couldn't remember his sister's face. 

Allie, who had been wandering the ship and the only one awake, passed by the bridge. Seeing Kenny leaned over, she thought nothing of it. This was the fifth time she passed the bridge, and Kenny still hadn't moved. On the sixth pass, Allie had two large cups. One of them had a tea bag string over the rim, the other did not. Both drinks were steaming and brown, albeit two different shades. 

With careful steps, Allie placed the cup with the teabag on the console desk in front of Kenny and walked away without another word. The pager on her belt made a sound, and Allie walked towards the observation room. 

In Kenny's mind, a brightness came over his memories. 

Laughter rang out in the juniberry fields on Uncle Lance's farm, chasing a dwarf around. Black hair in pigtails and a dress covered in red poppies. Tripping over something in the fields, Kenny landed face-first in the juniberries. Instead of complaining and standing up, he rolled over in the fields and stared at the never-ending blue sky. The dwarf he had been chasing toddled towards him with the biggest smile on her face. Letting a small giggle, she smacked her hand on Kenny's forehead. He laughed at the smack, staring at her face. It was blurry. He couldn't see anything past that big smile. 

"Klance!" A delighted squeal came from her mouth and she once again toddled forward. 

"Kenny, you okay?" Uncle Lance asked, bending over the fallen boy. His arms went to the little girl's waist and she was pulled higher and higher. Her squeals didn't seem to stop. 

"Yeah, I'm okay." Kenny used a hand to shield himself from the glaring sun to stare at his uncle and the little girl. She had turned her head away from Kenny, staring at something behind them. 

"Good." Lance readjusted the girl, who turned her focus to the man who had moved her from her perch on Lance's hip. "Ahora te paras o te paro!" In a flash, Kenny had stood, running towards Uncle Lance's house where the other farmhands (or cousins who needed something to do in the summer) were heading. Looking back at fields he'd left, Kenny saw the little girl had laid her head on Uncle Lance's shoulder, turning away again. 

In another memory, Kenny was sitting at a dinner table. The book work in front of him was unreadable, but he was counting his lucky stars that he wouldn't be doing whatever his brother was doing at the head of the table. The boy at the head had dark hair, wearing a red jacket with a green stripe around the middle. In front of him was an array of wires and connectors with a light bulb and two switches. One of the papers in front of Kenny was the answer sheet to his brother's problem. 

"Hey, Ky." The boy had looked up and said. Turning to a doorway that led to bedrooms, the little girl from before was rubbing her eyes. Her hair was a little longer but still styled in pigtails. Her jammies were a vibrant shade of seafoam, a gift from Uncle Lance. "Did we wake you up?" Without saying a word, the girl approached the boy, and he pulled her into his lap. She stared at the circuit board with bright, curious eyes. She noticed something off to the side and grabbed it. Attaching it to connectors in between the switches, she pointed at the switch to her right. Complying, the boy flipped the switch, and the light bulb lit. His face said it all. He had no idea what he was doing wrong. 

"Ky, what did you do?" By this point, the girl had covered her addition with her hands to keep it out of view of the boy. When she went to point, Kenny saw what it was. With a flourish, she held her hands up and almost smacked the older boy in the face.

"You were missing a power source," Kenny said for the girl, who had let her arms fall to her side and looked up at the boy. He had started rubbing his head, staring at the battery. Kenny remembered he was taking a double course load, something no one had done without losing sleep or sanity. 

"Kyla!" Kenny's mom came around the corner. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail and her eyes matched the girl. The green long-sleeved shirt and the oversized gray coat was a signature for her, along with the transition lenses over her eyes. "Leave your brothers alone!"

"Mom, stop." The boy sighed, leaning back in the chair. The little girl, Kyla, had bowed her head and her eyes became glassy. 

"She's a kid! What can she do?"

"C'mon, Ky." Kenny stood, walking towards the now upset little girl. "Don't listen to Pidge, she's just upset," He said much quieter, lifting the little girl. Her arms wrapped around Kenny's neck and her head leaned into his shoulder. Taking her back to her room, Kenny pulled aside the dark gray comforter covered in white stars and the white sheet underneath covered in gray astronauts. The little girl hung on for dear life as she sat on the bed. Unwrapping her arms from his neck, Kenny looked into her eyes, which had dimmed. Reluctantly, she laid her head down on the pillows and fell asleep.

A hand on his shoulder startled the poor man. Returning to reality, his eyes took in the sight of the bridge. Following the hand on his shoulder, he met a pair of jarringly familiar brown eyes. Even if they weren't as bright nor as curious as they once were, they matched his mom's eyes. 

"Kenny," Kova repeated, trying to get the young man's attention. He stared at her like she was the object he had been looking for his entire life. Pulling a tissue from the box Allie had brought by earlier, she patted Kenny's tear-stained cheeks. 

"Will he be alright?" Allie asked, arms crossed. After checking on Keith, she had passed by a few more times. When she found Kenny crying, she left a tissue box and ran for Kova's room. 

"Kenneth? You have to breathe." Kova said to the young man instead. He was taking shuddering breaths, just roaming over Kova's face. 

"Kyla?" He whispered under his breath. Kova met his eyes with shock, then defensiveness, finally with acceptance. She didn't nod, nor did she shake her head. 

"C'mon, Ken." Pulling on Kenny's hands, Kova stood. "Let's get you to bed." Kova walked Kenny to the door, with Allie following close behind with the box. 

——————————————————

In the morning, Kova was determined to let the others know, with or without the Colonel's approval. Speaking of the Colonel, he had thought long and hard about Kova's words. Shiro knew Kova was serious. She didn't fight orders unless she deemed it necessary for a specific reason. 

She fought patrol officers when they tried to restrain students to Garrison grounds. 

She fought her commanding officer when Caleb and her groups teamed up for training purposes. 

She even fought Curtis when he tried to stop the pair from taking little Cyrus to the McClain's farm when he and Shiro were on vacation. 

In every event, Kova won the fight. She was smart, strong, and dealt with any consequences that would come. 

Other students tried using Kova as a scapegoat and immediately realized why she had permission to leave Garrison grounds. They didn't appreciate the unpaid work on McClain's farm as much as Kova did. 

The commanding officer purposely gave the teams the hardest jobs on school grounds to make the others leave. They stayed intact until the last quarter when Jazz transferred to a more traditional school setting and Allie became her replacement. 

With the last one, while Kova had to be the one to bathe Cyrus after falling butt-first into a mound of freshly scooped cow droppings, she didn't complain. 

Kova sat through breakfast without a word to anyone, eating from the small bag of assorted nuts and dried fruit she snuck onboard. Cake and Liz exchanged nervous looks, while Allie stared at Kenny nibbling on an Arusian fruit. 

At least it wasn't whatever beverage the Arusians packed for them. 

When finished, Kova stood and walked towards the bridge. Without saying a word, the others followed. They were in their respective seats while Kenny sat in his corner as they stared at the slowly changing sky. 

Shiro walked into the bridge, descended the staircase, and went right up to the window. Kova stared at the back of his head, daring him to try to tell her no. 

Turning around, his eyes met hers. A tense minute. 

Cake nervously looked from Shiro to Kova and back again. Caleb was tense, ready to hold someone back. Liz followed this sentiment with her bayard in hand. Allie had a first aid kit under her console if a fight did break out. Kenny was lost, staring ahead. 

Shiro broke the stare with a sigh. Looking up again, he said, "Tell them." 

Opening a program on her console, Shiro walked forward so he wasn't covering the screen. On-screen, three folders appeared with different titles. 

The first read 'ACHLYS MISSION'. The second read 'FIRE REVIVAL'. The third was simply 'KHKH'. 

Typing away at her console, the first folder opened. Documents, pictures, and a video file fell into order on the screen. Clicking on a particular picture, Shiro looked away.

The ACHLYS was standing tall and proud, most notably intact. In front of it stood five people. From left to right, a woman with medium-length brown hair pulled into a braid. She had an arm around the waist of the man to her left, who was a full head taller than her with a scar on his right cheek and black hair tied into a ponytail. A gloved hand was on the shoulder of the Colonel, who had a hand tucked into his pants pocket. The man on the other side of the Colonel had tan skin and cropped brown hair. The last man also had cropped hair, black in color, and was much darker than the man next to him. Four of the five people in the picture wore matching orange, gray, and white suits. The men to the Colonel's left had helmets in their hands, while the ones to his right didn't. 

"Pictured left to right: Katie Holt, Keith Kogane, Colonel Takashi Shirogane, Lance McClain, and Hunk Garrett." Liz read aloud, squinting to read the caption. Kova opened a document file and it appeared beside the picture. In big bold letters, the word 'CLASSIFIED' was stamped onto the page. The top read 'INCIDENT REPORT & DISAPPEARANCE OF ACHLYS CREW'.

"I was right." Cake turned in his seat to stare at Kova. "You did know what happened." 

"We weren't supposed to say anything," Caleb replied instead. 

"The ACHLYS was ambushed," Shiro said, staring at the picture. "According to evidence collected, the crew escaped in pods, but never made contact."

"What evidence?" Shiro stayed silent. "I thought we were learning everything, so why—"

"Lance was the only one of the four that returned to Earth. His pod was used to locate the others, but it was unsuccessful. It was too dangerous to continue."

"But we found Keith! He's alive, right?" Cake turned his attention to Liz and Allie. Both girls were staring at the small devices in their hands. Something of Liz's creation used to monitor Keith's monitor. If there was a too high spike, a too low valley, or a change in anything, it would alert them both. 

Keith had been unresponsive and stable since he had been brought on. 

"My dad could still be—"

"Cake," Kova said. Her voice was firm, staring straight ahead. "The ACHLYS was ambushed by the Fire after an initial recon by Keith and Pidge." Cake became quiet, turning to the screen. 

Closing the file, Kova opened the second folder. Possibly even more documents came from the folder, many of them with the same 'CLASSIFIED' stamped onto them. 

Opening a picture file, it showed a crazed timeline of events leading up to the ambush Kova mentioned. Kova was adding onto it. 

At the top of the chain was a Galra with huge fluffy purple ears that seemed to curve like horns. A robotic eye replaced their left eye while their right eye was entirely yellow. Under his picture, the nametag read 'SENDAK: DECEASED; FORMER'. A red line pointed down towards a second Galra. Or Altean. You couldn't really tell. The being in the picture had an almost gray skin tone with yellow sclera and dark irises and pupils. Their ears were pointed, a long chain earring running from the tip to the lobe. Below, their name tag read 'RALAN: ALIVE; CURRENT'. There was no line connecting Ralan to anyone else on the board. 

Taking footage from her helmet cam, Kova changed a few details. Adding a picture of Yorak to the board and connecting a line from Ralan to Yorak, Kova changed the nametags. The 'CURRENT' changed to 'FORMER' and Yorak received an 'ALIVE; CURRENT'. 

"Chain of command," Caleb said. Allie had turned around to look at him with a question in her eyes. She turned back around, studying Ralan's face. 

"Ralan?" Allie whispered to herself, seemingly trying to find the memory of this man. "Was he a general or a guard?"

"Allie," Shiro turned. "Do you have something to add?" Allie stared at the Colonel. 

"It may be in your best interest to contact the Emperor of Altea concerning Ralan." It was all she was able to say before twin pagers went off. Allie stood and raced towards the observation bay. 

When Allie left, Shiro began to push down his feelings and started explaining more in depth what the mission against the Fire was about. Liz and Cake would interject here and there, saying the Coeus and Voltron should fight when instigated. Shiro reminded them that while Kova can be as reckless as she wanted, they weren't to go against the Colonel's direct orders. 

The Fire's revival began a few decades ago, staying mostly unknown until the recon mission. Yorak's concerned parents, Keith and Pidge, had gone after him because they had reason to believe he was working with an organization that threatened the peace in the universe. The recon mission Keith and Pidge were on took a full calendar year to complete. They had reported a small organization, but it was well armed. On a vote, all former members of the original legendary defender would be suited up to go. Keith and Pidge ran their own organizations, Lance occasionally served as ambassador to Altea but traded often with Alteans, and Hunk had relinquished most control of his culinary empire to head chefs in individual restaurants. The last former member, Shiro, had been offered the Headmaster position at the Garrison, and he didn't turn it down. The ACHLYS was completed in two years after Keith and Pidge returned, and the launch was televised all over the country. It had been months after the mission had launched, and there were routine communications between the ACHLYS and the Garrison, now under Shiro's command. One day, the communications stopped. 

There was no response. Not even static. Just silence. Nothing. 

Then, on the one year anniversary of the launch, two students reported and assisted a pilot from an escape pod bearing the silent ship's name. The pilot inside was Lance and the students were Kova and Caleb on their way to the green for lunch when they spotted the incoming ship. Neither said a word. 

Before Kova could open the last file, everyone on the Coeus had slammed into the nearest object to their right. For Liz and Cake, it was the floor and Kova's pedestal. For Kenny, it was pressing further into a wall. And for everyone else, they had shoulders pressed sharply to the walls. Liz paged for Allie and the crew of the Coeus began defending their ship.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Zealous Approach: I

Word Count: 2807

A/N: Thank Allura for the power outage last night

Hopeful news came for the crew of the Coeus. On the same day and minutes apart from each other, messages appeared on the Coeus's main screen. The 3-D model of the smaller ships in the cargo ship disaster had finished rendering. Altea had sent files on the missing half-Galra that had been implemented into the Galactic Coalition. Daibaazaal sent its support in the form of a video message where Krolia spoke with Kolivan standing behind her. Arus, Cake's birth Balmera, and Puig similarly sent its support, with planetary updates when necessary. Puig's crust was reforming, and it would only be a few phoebs before they could return to rebuild their lives. Great for them. The information Krolia had given Kova checked out, and the coordinate points were successfully uploaded onto the Coeus's map. 

When the onslaught of messages ceased, the teens had a chance to review it all. The former Paladins ate the leftover pink blobs while the teens stared at their consoles. Allie was in charge of reviewing the files from Altea, searching for inconsistencies. Cake was set to writing thank you messages to the other planets. Caleb sent messages to Curtis, updating him on everything. Liz pulled up the models and looked them over. Kova stood above it all, pulling up the large screen at the front of the Coeus. 

"Who's first?" Shiro asked as he walked into the bridge. As he descended the stairs, Liz was quick to upload her screen onto the larger one. 

The 3-D models of the ships could carry a max of twenty people before it would become too heavy to land or take off. These ships were designed to keep whatever was in the back as far away from the drivers as possible. The only way into the back was through a door in its side. Reviewing the footage, there were five of these ships, but they weren't enough to fill them at capacity. Only a few forty combined, from a hundred at max. 

Kova had an odd look on her face as Liz explained her findings to Shiro and the rest of the team. Kova pulled up the dim pictures of Yorak's ship, then of the cargo ship. The cargo bays were on a different level of the cargo ship, with six chambers. One, if Kova recalled, was used as a temporary hospital for the prisoners. 

"Wait, prisoners?" Liz asked, staring at Kova. The others looked equally confused, while Caleb sat with eyes wide. 

"That's the cargo." Kova stared ahead, eyebrows furrowed. "Galtean prisoners." Caleb relaxed, returning to his work. 

"Half-breed trafficking." Liz turned around in her chair. "Who would've guessed?" Allie raised her hand before Kova could ask. Liz pulled down the screens, returning them to her console as Allie pulled hers up. 

Over the years, Galtean soldiers were assigned under the command of another Galtean soldier named Ralan. The Shiroganes perked up when hearing the name. Ralan was the second Emperor of the Fire when the resurgence occurred. The odd thing Allie had encountered was every soldier in Ralan's platoon was declared MIA every couple of decaphoebs, after several phoebs under Ralan's command. What made it worse was Ralan was supposed to oversee surveillance of the Galtean colonies. Allie went down the list, bright red text next to every picture of the missing Galteans declaring them as such. Ralan's reported MIA was dated only a day before the last known transmission of the Galtean colonies. 

Cake wanted clarification, and Allie provided. The video transmissions of the Galtean colonies were time-stamped, and Allie received those dates. The last video transmission of the Galtean colonies was the day after Ralan went MIA. Cake nodded his head, staring at the young man. He wore a cocky smile, dark violet hair combed back with only a slight curl lay astray. The black chain earring hugged his stone-gray ear, ending with a dark crystal. Ralan was an only child, a common thing among the half-breed children, and his parent's were members of the Alpha and Gamma colonies. That is, a repairer, and a stay-at-home parent. Except, Ralan was born before the colonies were completed and first choice to oversee their surveillance. 

"Whose first choice, exactly?" Caleb asked, staring at Ralan's punchable face. Allie's face soured, staring at the smirking man. 

"The Emperor's," Allie muttered. "He had never seen such a talented, strong, or handsome individual in his life. Except for himself, of course." It was probably the first time Shiro had seen the girl roll her eyes. Kova chuckled, staring at the main screen. Shiro noticed, and smiled. 

"Who's next?" Kova called. Allie pulled her screens down as Caleb projected his. 

"Pops wants to set up a meeting with the Garrison council," Caleb read the message. Kova's eyes hardened at the sight, while Shiro raised his eyebrows. 

"Not until we return to Earth."

"That's what I told him, but he wants an exact date." Both Kova and Shiro stopped in their tracks, reading the last message to confirm. Kova made silent and confused hand gestures at the screen while Shiro sighed tiredly. Kova mouth 'What the quiznack?' while Shiro rubbed his forehead with his human hand. 

"What exact date?" Kova asked to no one. She was so confused. "He knows we're in space. With no clear agenda. And Voltron." 

"On top of the family drama you got going on." 

"Thanks, Caleb."

"No problem."

"Enough, you two." Shiro brought his human hand to his mouth, letting his robotic arm float to Caleb's screen. Allie stared, following the arm as it floated past. The fingers began to type into the message box. The teens looked away as Shiro typed the crude message, then to their horror, sent it. Does he know he's already on 'no hugs'? What's next? 'No husband'? 'No kids'? 'Cleaning Peaches's litter box without his robotic arm'? When Shiro's arm returned to his side, Caleb shut the message box as fast as he could. He wasn't sticking around for that trainwreck. May Allura and the stars be with both of his fathers. 

He pulled his screen down as Kenny's face appeared in a small box on the screen. Kenny held a scaultrite lense in his off-hand while he used his right to push his glasses back up his nose. 

"What's up, Ken?" Kova asked, watching the tiny drone activate itself and fly upwards to show the team in full. Kenny indignantly held up the scaultrite lense, eyes wide and chin forward. "Use your words, Kenneth." 

"This is the last scaultrite lense we have." The team stopped dead in their tracks. They stared at Kenny. How did they run out of lenses so fast? "With all the jumping we've done, some of the older lenses started breaking. This," Kenny held the lense up again. "Is the last scaultrite lense we have." 

"We had thirty-six." 

"I know." Kenny sighed, using his empty hand to brush his bangs back. "I counted, then recounted, and triple counted the lenses in our teleduv. We have seventy-two lenses in our teleduv, double what we bought." Kova groaned, lowering her head. Liz opened up the ongoing itinerary, typing 'scaultrite lenses' in the next empty space. Other items on this list included 'Public appearances', 'food', and 'Schedule'. At least two of those other items could be solved with one trip. 

"Dad," Kova said, looking up. Shiro turned to face her on her podium. She looked so dejected. "We have to go back to the space mall." 

"I know, Kova." Shiro looked up at Kova, sighing along with her. "Liz, set a course for the space mall. Ken, can the lenses hold together long enough for the trip?" 

"Colonel, I never said the lenses needed replacing." Kenny put the lense down somewhere off-screen, coming back empty-handed. "I said we had one left. If any of the other lenses broke, we'd only be able to replace one." 

"What are the chances they break?" 

"It wouldn't be for a couple of trips, but it would be safer to have more." 

"Alright then." Shiro turned towards the nearest of the two staircases, heading towards the door. "I'll let the others know. No one is getting kidnapped again." As the door closed behind Shiro, the others looked up at Kova, who was busily typing away at her screen. 

"What are you doing?" Caleb finally asked after they stared at her for a few minutes. 

"Reaching out to someone who can help." 

——————————

Among the cheery and tired mall visitors, two stood out from the crowd. One, in a dark hoodie and pants, pushed through the visitors in a vain to outrun Varkon the mall cop only meters behind him. The dark clothed individual glanced over his shoulder and ran. 

"H-Hey! Stop right there!" Varkon yelled, speeding towards him on his scooter. The guy ran into an alley to hide from Varkon, catching his breath. As Varkon sped past, still yelling at someone to stop, the dark hooded guy smirked and was turning away. 

They tried at least. 

With a groan, their back met the wall with a harsh thud. An arm had slid in place over his throat and put pressure, causing the hooded guy to cough. As he coughed, the arm disappeared and the hooded guy collapsed on the floor. With a harsh tug, the hoodie was pulled off the guy's head. As the hooded guy held his throat, he glared up at the people responsible. 

"If it ain't the Jax," the Galtean said. "Pleasure to be of service." 

"Uh, Kova?" Caleb asked, crossing his arms. "Who's this guy?" Kova stood above the Galtean, with Caleb to her left. Allie and Liz were behind Kova and Caleb, all dressed in their Paladin armor. 

"The best mole in the universe." The Galtean tried to laugh, coughing instead. Violently. Allie's eyebrows furrowed in concern as Kova and Caleb looked on in mild boredom and daring him to make a move. 

"May I?" Allie whispered, getting a nod from Kova. She lowered herself to the ground, crouching in front of the injured Galtean. He couldn't have been more than their age, but he bore a long scar on the left side of his face, from his scalp to his chin. With gray coily hair and a menacing dark scowl, the Galtean glared at Allie as she stared too long at his scar. 

"Who the quiznack are you?" He said harshly, causing Allie to tense. "What you looking at?" 

"N-nothing!" She exclaimed. The Galtean looked up to meet Kova's glare, and moved his legs forward so he leaned against the wall he was thrown against. 

"What do you want, Jax?" 

"What do you think?" 

"Info." The Galtean looked from Kova to Allie, who was still staring at him. "Is she broken or something?" His sclerae were yellow, with gray irises. Very dark blue Altean markings almost faded into his dark skin, cutting through the marking entirely on his left cheek. 

"You got a problem?"

"It's the purebred Altean for me, y'know?" The Galtean shrugged, stretching his legs out and crossing them while his arms were crossed over his dark hoodie. 

"Allie, can you pull up the Galtean registry?" Kova asked, not taking her eyes off the Galtean teen. Allie complied, with Liz looking over her shoulder. "Look up Mollas." 

"You're supposed to be dead." Allie looked up with a start, blurting out the words before they could be stopped. She looked outraged, confused, and angry. So many emotions for such a tiny person. 

"Kova." Caleb stared at Kova's head. Mollas sighed, figuring it was better than nothing. 

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be dead." Mollas began. Riveting. "You wanna know how I got this, purebred? That maniac of a leader did this to me." Kova's eyes seemed to harden as he continued. Yorak was insane. "Y'know, that idiot doesn't care if we lived or died in those 'training camps'. He just wanted us to follow every command." 

"How did you—" 

"Ha! I'll tell you, princess!" Allied stiffened at the nickname, but said nothing. "I believed it! I believed him! I seriously thought that the Fire was going to provide what I never had! But when the maniac did this," Mollas pointed at the scar. "I left. Stole the nearest escape pod and flew as far away from there as possible."

"That's good, right?" Liz said, getting a scoff from Mollas. 

"Y'know, Jax has it made. Human parents, human siblings, and a home on Earth. Other half-Galras don't have siblings, much less parents or a home." Liz and Allie stared at him in shock. Kova and Caleb had those matching unreadable expressions on their face. "Ever since that idiot came into power, every half-Galra was treated like our parents were after the war. Like we were all guilty of crimes we didn't commit." 

"It's like that throughout the entire galaxy." Kova finally spoke, shifting her weight onto one leg. "Half-Galra are scary, not because of our skills, but because of our parents." 

"Especially if you're second gen." Mollas stared at Kova, who frowned. "The Emperor was some hot-shot second gen on Earth before something happened and he ran away." 

"We already knew that, Mole." 

"Yeah, whatever." 

"How much do you want to go back under?" 

"You couldn't afford me." Mollas and Kova glared at each other. Allie stood, stepping behind Kova. Liz stood in Allie's place with her bayard ready in case the two decided to fight right then and there. 

"I heard the Blade of Marmora is recruiting," Kova said at last, a hand on her hip. Mollas seemed to perk up. "I'm sure they'll have a division set up for the colonies' surveillance after they're found." 

"Can you get me in?" 

"Mole, I can get you to the final stage." Mollas stood up at Kova's words, scaring the Altean behind Kova. "What d'you say? Deal?" Kova held out her hand. Mollas looked from Kova's eyes to her outstretched hand. 

"Y'know, I always liked you, Jax." Mollas said before taking Kova's hand. "You got yourself a deal." As Mollas turned to walk away, Kova slapped the back of his neck. He didn't say anything, frozen in his tracks. 

"Precautions, y'know?" Kova said, and Mollas turned around to give her a nod and a smile. He strode to the opposite end of the alley, lifting his hood over his head, and disappeared into the crowd of people. 

"That was rude, Kova." Caleb said flatly. 

"Says you," Kova responded, walking to closest end of the alley to look for the food court. 

"It was, though?" Caleb said after her. Liz and Allie relaxed, following their pilots. 

The pair were still bickering with each other as they approached the table Cake, Kenny, and Shiro were sitting at. They took their seats around the table while ignoring the lingering eyes on them. Whether the eyes were annoyed or amazed, the pair didn't care. Their argument was more important, even if it had been reduced to 'Yuh huh' and 'Nuh uh'. Cake was still handcuffed to Kenny, looking from the arguing pilots to the yelling coming from the kitchen. So far, someone had been called an idiot sandwich, and Sal was demanding to know who microwaved the fish and chips. 

At least Cake now knew what to avoid. 

"What are you two arguing about?" Shiro asked tiredly. He had leaned his head on his human fist while using his robotic arm to create a barrier between the bickering (and childish) teens. 

"Kova slapped the informant." 

"You're exaggerating."

"Griffin can back me up. Griffin!" Liz looked on with wide eyes as she drank from a large cup. Allie had a similarly large cup in her small hands, looking over the rim. 

"I put a tracker on him!" Kova argued. Before either Caleb or Shiro could respond, an Altean woman approached the table. 

"Um, excuse me. Are you paladins of Voltron?" 

"Yes." Kova and Caleb said at the same time, returning to glare at each other. Liz put down her large cup and kicked Caleb in the shin from under the table. Kova stared at Allie, but she continued taking small sips from her cup. 

As Caleb felt betrayed, a little boy approached Kova. The young boy had pale skin, sandy hair, and big jade green eyes. His little pointed ears and small lavender markings caught Allie's attention. 

"Hi." He said shyly, tucking his chin into his oversized sweater. 

"Hi." Kova, turning in her seat so her back was to Allie. "My name is Kova. What's yours?" The little boy gave a small smile. 

"My name is Vatos." The little boy's pale cheeks turned red as he met Kova's eyes. "You're pretty." 

"Thank you, Vatos." Kova smiled widely. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" 

"I wanna be a paladin," Vatos said, grinning. "Just like you." Before Kova could ask what color, the entire building shook under their feet.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Eventful Days: III

Word Count: 2937

Caleb had turned around to lift his hands in mock surrender. There was no way for him to see what had happened. 

Two soldiers, dressed in identical gray armor with purple insignias on the front chest plate, had taken Caleb by surprise. One of them knocked the butt of their weapon into Caleb's back, holding him down at gunpoint. The other had charged towards Kova, still sitting in the cruiser. With a boost from her jet pack, Kova had jumped away from the soldier chasing her. Unfortunately, she couldn't see inside the screen of the helmet, but they could see her. The crew onboard the Galra ship took quick pictures to send to their Emperor. 

While Captain Scars-a-lot had said he would get the girl, he never specified which. He had only assumed. Even now, he wasn't sure that she was the girl. 

"Captain," A voice from the doorway said. The Captain turned, already growling at the wormling who would have to grovel at his feet for interrupting him, but the threats quickly died on his tongue. The broad-shouldered man strode to the helm where the live feed of the soldiers' helmet cams was rolling. 

"My Emperor." The Captain bowed his head, placing a closed hand over his heart. "I was not aware of your presence." 

"If your men are incapable of handling her," The Emperor said, staring at the wincing Captain. "I will not hold it against you." The Captain's eyes opened in surprise, expecting a threat. 

"She is but a little girl." The 'little girl' had come out of her initial shock and summoned a shield, pushing the soldier away from her. With a backflip and an assist from her jet pack, she had landed just behind the other soldier and beat them away from the young man they were holding down. With both soldiers barely standing and the boy out of commission for a while, the girl summoned her bayard. It formed into a long, curved sword. 

"That 'little girl' is Paladin of the Black Lion," The Emperor crossed his hands behind his back. "Her skills in combat are almost unrivaled, by human or otherwise."

"Who could rival her?"

"The young man your soldiers beat to the ground." The Emperor's smile, the only thing not covered by a dark shadow, had grown across his face. "And he's only there because he was caught by surprise."

Back on the space rock, Kova was shielding Caleb from above while glaring at the pair of Fire soldiers. Caleb, on the other hand, was trying to blink away the double vision. Groggily, Caleb lifted his head, taking out his bayard in return. Balancing it precariously on his knee, Caleb aimed and fired. He didn't know which of the three small soldiers he had hit, but he hit one of them. 

"Jax to Coeus, I need assistance." Caleb fired another shot, missing the smaller soldier by a few inches. "Repeat, Jax to Coeus, I need assistance."

"Coeus to Jax, we hear you." Activating her helmet cam to show the bridge what she was seeing, Caleb fired one more time. He had hit the smaller soldier directly in the chest plate, sending them back with a scream. The taller one of the two, the one that had come after Kova, hadn't been deterred by this. Instead, he sped up. Kova's shield had blocked the soldier from attacking her head-on, but it took away protection from Caleb. As the tall soldier landed in a crouch, he grabbed Caleb's leg and pulled. With almost no effort, Caleb had been thrown to the other side of the cliff. Kova honestly didn't want to stab someone today, but if she had to. The sword in her hand glinted dangerously, much to the soldier's dismay. With bold, almost clean strokes, Kova lowered her shield, grabbed the handle of the bayard, and swung at the soldier. He jumped away, thinking he had jumped away just in time, evading Kova's erratic swings. He took one last jump backward before getting his head knocked on by a rock in Caleb's hand. Turning around, Caleb and Kova were back to back as the smaller soldier ran around them in circles, pushing them further from the edge. 

"Locate the Galra ship." Kova was panting. 

"Liz."

"On it." Liz had busily been typing away codes for each of the cameras on the outside of the Coeus. There was nothing but deep, dark, and lonely space around them. "I don't see anything, Colonel."

"Keep trying." Shiro had summoned the other teens and Kenny into the bridge when Kova's plea came through. "Hang in there. Remember your summer training sessions."

"This isn't desert sand being thrown in our faces, Dad," Caleb muttered. "It's space rock dust that refuses to fall completely." 

"Oh, hello there," Kova said, her bayard morphing again. It changed into a sharpshooter rifle, similar to the one Uncle Lance had taught her to use a few years back. Aiming, Kova found the body of the smaller soldier and fired. The soldier fell to the ground as Kova's bayard returned to its original form. "On the count of three, jump out. Ready?" Caleb nodded his head behind her and steeled himself. 

"One?"

"Two."

"Three!" The pair shouted at the same time, jumping out of the dust cloud. Kova was apprehensive, searching around the hole for anyone else. She had noticed the soldiers were gone, but it didn't put her at ease. 

"Gah!" Caleb's voice. Directly behind her. Turning around, Kova could only glare. 

Caleb was held in a chokehold with his hands pressed into his back by someone else. The man had dark brown eyes and dark hair that bordered on black. The man's pale arms were exposed in a sleeveless gray vest and tight dark gray pants tucked into calf-length boots. As he turned up to stare the girl, he made sure Kova saw the sharp fangs in the man's exposed smile. Switching hands on her bayard, Kova held it up as it morphed again. It elongated vertically to form a longbow. Pulling the string back, an arrow made of purple quintessence had formed. 

The teens onboard the Coeus were on the edges of their seats, hoping the audio wasn't as bad in quality as the video. Neither Shiro nor Kenny could make out the face of the strange man holding Caleb captive. 

"What do you want?" Kova growled, glaring at the man with intensity. Liz glanced at Shiro before looking back. Kova knew this guy?

"Oh, come on now," The man said much too casually for Kova's taste. "I'm just seeing what I was replaced with. No need to throw a fuss."

"Let. Him. Go. I won't ask again."

"I'm sure." The man's smile never wavered, even when the quintessence arrow created a dent in the wall just behind his head. Kova pulled back the string, another arrow forming. 

"That was your only warning." 

"You're no fun, Ky." The man grabbed both of Caleb's cheeks and turned this face towards his own. "Tell me the truth, is she always like this?" Caleb didn't respond. With an exasperated sigh, the man turned to meet Kova's glare. "I have every intention of letting him go."

"Then do it."

"I will." The man shifted on his foot. "As soon as you answer a burning question of mine."

"No."

"Then say goodbye to your so-called brother."

"You wouldn't dare." Kova aimed at the man's head. Caleb knew Kova's aim was good, but that was on Earth. How good would quintessence arrows hit him in zero gravity? The man froze behind Caleb, studying Kova's movements. 

"How about a proposition?"

"No."

"Oh, come on, Ky. You'll like it."

"Stop calling me that."

"You can ask me your question first if you'd like." The man's toothy grin returned, watching Kova try not to have a brain aneurysm. She stood unwavering for a few minutes, thinking carefully. "She always did this," the man whispered to the teen in his clutches. "Think so hard, her brain explodes from the pressure."

"If you are who I think you are," Kova started her question and the man perked up. "Are you the leader of the Fire?" 

"Aww, I knew your question would be carefully worded like that." The man, who had been resting his head on Caleb's shoulder stood to his full height, showing off two long scars on his cheeks. "I am who you think I am, and I am Emperor Yorak of the Fire." 

On the Coeus, Shiro slammed his fist onto the face of the console at the helm, making everyone jump. Kenny was startled, but he couldn't tear his eyes from the screen. Soon enough, every teens' eyes returned to the screen. To Kova's encounter. 

Kova was shaking her head, wrinkling her nose. Yorak, as they had come to find out, was tilting his head to the side, almost as though he was trying to figure out what Kova was doing. Caleb tried shaking himself free from Yorak's grasp, but it was instead tightened. 

"Little Ky doesn't know what to do now that her greatest fear was confirmed," Yorak said mockingly. 

"Stop calling me that!" Kova all but shouted. "What's your question?"

"Finally." Yorak overdramatically sighed and rolled his eyes. "My question is simple, Kyla." Kova sneered, almost near tempted to fire again. 

"Kova, don't," Caleb whispered, hoping he could hear her. 

"Yes, Kyla, listen to your so-called brother." Kova stayed silent, trying to press down her anger. "Tell me, Kyla. Have you forgiven our dear old parents and me for leaving you behind and alone?"

Kova thought she was prepared for the question. She thought she could handle it, but knowing Kenny was onboard and listening made it harder. 

Pulling back the string harder and letting it go, the arrow flew towards Yorak's stupid smiling face as he let go and pushed Caleb forward. Beaming himself up, he wasn't around to see Kova's internal and soon physical struggle as she collapsed onto her knees. 

Yorak had arrived in his private chambers as the Captain looked on. The quintessence arrow hit its mark, leaving a small slice on Yorak's right cheek. 

"My Lord!" The Captain had been watching the entire exchange. "I'll have soldiers deployed immediately! The girl should have answered your question!"

"There's no need, Seklok," Yorak said, wiping the blood from his cheek. "This was answer enough." 

"But my Lord—"

"Are you questioning me?" Yorak had turned to look down on the Captain, who had bowed his head. 

"No, milord." They stood there for a few seconds. Seklok, or Captain Scars-a-lot, whichever you prefer, was afraid the Emperor would punish him for disobeying orders. 

"Leave me be."

"Yes sir." Quicker than space mice afraid of the light, Yorak was alone. At least he had the satisfaction of breaking her down. 

The Lions had returned to the Coeus, and all Kova wanted to do was sleep. She was walking with a limp because unbeknownst to her, Caleb hadn't properly set up his weapon. The pushback had fallen entirely on Kova's knee, which the initial adrenaline had numbed. 

"Kova, Caleb." Shiro's stern voice came from down the hallway. "In my quarters. Now." 

Following Shiro, the door closed behind them. The room they had walked into was a room the teens had just passed by since it was in the way of the bedroom. Set up like his office back home, Shiro stood behind the console that stood in for his desk and laid his hands on it. Staring at the teens, he was trying to find a point to start his tirade. 

Outside the closed doors, the other teens had their ears pressed into the crack, hoping to pick up on some sort of conversation. Allie thought it was strange, but she joined right in. Kenny hadn't moved from the chair in the bridge, staring ahead blankly and no one wanted to bother him while he was lost in thought. 

"Where do I even begin?" Shiro began. There were no chairs, so the teens were forced to stand. Kova had her head bowed while Caleb was staring at a spot in the wall. "You can't just decide that you can pick and leave without informing me first. I had to find out from Ken. What would've happened if I hadn't responded to your call in time?" 

"Dad, can we—" Caleb tried to say.

"I don't ask for much. Just to be informed is enough, but then this bombshell happens." Shiro turned to Kova's bowed head. "How are you going to explain this one away? It's one thing to disobey my orders, but it's another if you don't deny what he said."

Kova mumbled something under her breath, leaving Caleb wide-eyed. Turning her head up a little, Shiro could see Kova's eyes were closed. 

"What was that?" Shiro fed into the anger she was trying to control. 

"Open the classified trio," Kova said, opening her eyes. Caleb could swear that you could've heard a pin drop if there was one. 

"No." Shiro's voice was a warning. 

"I told you before, this team won't fight against an enemy they know nothing about."

"Why do you need the files opened? What's your evidence?"

"What more evidence do you need?" Kova scoffed. "Keith is alive after all these years, Yorak is Emperor of the Fire, and this marks our third Fire attack." Kova's voice grew louder with every word, with more power than the last. 

"Those files are classified for a reason!" 

"And the team should've been informed from the start!" 

"Opening the trio will expose too many loose threads."

"And opening only one will lead to forcibly opening the others!"

"Kova, I'm not opening any of the case files."

"He called me out by birth name. Did you let me stare at his picture for fun?" 

"Kova."

"Opening the trio will do us more good than harm. We'll know what we're looking for."

"You were allowed to look at the files because you're my kids."

"Oh, so not because I'm part of the problem?"

"You aren't part of the problem."

"Then authorize. The opening. Of the files." Even limping, Kova didn't lose her attitude. Shiro didn't appreciate it as much. 

"I'm your dad. This is for your safety, Kova."

"It's a good thing I'm not even your kid then!" Caleb clapped a hand over his mouth watching as hurt filled Shiro's eyes. Kova had looked away from his eyes, knowing she'd break otherwise. She was breathing hard. The teens outside had looks of shock on their faces. No one said a word for a good minute. The constant hum of the ship filled the void, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to drown out the voices of the past. 

"Kova," Shiro began. 

"Open the case files," Kova muttered, refusing to meet Shiro's eyes. "Cake needs to know what happened to his dad." She looked up to meet Shiro's eyes, fighting back tears. "Kenny needs to know what his brother got into." At the mention of Kenny, Shiro shook himself out of his stupor. 

"I am not authorizing the release of the trio."

"Give the team the full authorization," Kova's threat began. Her fists were balled at her sides. "Or officially expel me from the Garrison." 

Outside the doors, Cake and Liz audibly gasped under their breath. Allie was shocked too but confused at the reactions of the others. Liz, who had been listening from above Cake's head, pushed herself away from the door. Cake met her eyes and nodded her understanding. An unspoken agreement between the engineers. With a deep breath, Liz calmed her thoughts and returned her ear to the door. 

"One way or the other, I'm telling them." Kova hadn't moved. Neither had Caleb, who was frozen in place at Kova's ultimatum. Shiro's eyes widened briefly before he sighed and broke his gaze from Kova. 

"To your rooms. We'll reconvene in the morning." Shiro watched as the teens walked towards the door and left. 

Liz, Cake, and Allie had ducked to either side of the doorframe, hoping the Colonel wouldn't see them. Kova and Caleb marched past them without a word, nor any sort of acknowledgment they were there. Kova looked angrier than any of them had ever seen her. In a rash attempt for some sort of information, Liz grabbed Caleb's arm before the pair entered their respective rooms. Caleb's baby blues met Liz's brown ones and she visibly became more flustered. 

"I'm sorry, Cap, I just, uh," Liz looked on in a wide-eyed stare. A shake of her head and the words came more smoothly. "We had a few questions." Caleb sighed, leaning on the doorframe outside his room. Kova had already gone inside. 

"Is her threat real?" Cake asked, and Caleb's shoulders sagged. He nodded, resting his head on the wall. 

"Will those files help us defeat the Fire?" Liz asked. Caleb nodded again. Allie knew it was her turn, but she couldn't think of a good question. Not when Caleb looked exhausted. 

"Will the opening of the files delay our arrival at the space mall?" She asked. Caleb could only stare at her, lifting his head. He smiled and let a small laugh escape. He shook his head. Pushing himself off the wall, he waved at the other teens and walked into his room. Allie, Cake, and Liz stood in the hallway. When they left, Allie insisted on taking the first shift. Between her and Liz, they should be able to care for Keith until he wakes up from this coma, taking a few hour shifts. 

If he ever wakes up.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Wavering Objectives: I

Word Count: 3283

A/N: Longer cause I can!

It had been a few days since Kova's great escapade, but the effects still lingered. 

Yorak and Vhix were studying the holoscreen recording of the event. She was smart, quick on her feet. Vhix stared at the recordings in a begrudging impress. Yorak was supporting himself on the table, bowing his head and glaring at a still of Kova's face. 

"Well, Kyla sure has grown up, hasn't she?" Vhix muttered. Yorak's hand tightened into a ball. With a thunderous blow, Yorak pounded his fist into the table, shaking the screen and disabling it. 

"Kyla is still the same spineless girl she was before." Yorak stood at full height, cradling his fist. "We can break her. Rebuild her. Make her fight for us." Yorak had turned to look out the small porthole-sized window behind him. The stars flickered past the slow-moving ship. The rainbow clouds of dust glowed in the distance, much too far to reach. 

"And how do you intend to do that?" Vhix asked, crossing his arms across his chest and leaned on the edge of the table. "Her moral compass was determined by the ones who raised her, and that wasn't you."

"Ezrid," Yorak growled. "Don't tell me things I already know." Yorak turned to glare at the man behind him. Vhix looked unimpressed, only uncrossing his arms at Yorak's turn. 

"Well, Junior," Vhix said. Yorak sneered at the name. "Entertain me. How are you going to break someone who isn't here to break?"

"In due time, Vhix." Yorak flexed his hand, wincing at the pain that shot up his arm. "When we return to the outpost, I'll tell you."

"Until then?" 

"Track her down. Double the ransom. We need her back."

———————

The crew of the Coeus was gathered on the bridge, hoping to hear all about the amazing escape. Kova, for her credit, stood in the middle of the floor in full view of everyone's eyes as they looked her over. She was wearing only a black t-shirt, black pants, and combat boots. Her hair was held back in a loose ponytail, her eyes downcast. 

Rolling her head around, she met everyone's eyes and sighed. 

"Let's just get this over with." She muttered. Stiffening her shoulders and holding herself steady, Kova's eyes brightened. "Who's first?" A barrage of questions came her way, and if there was a way to physically be blown away by the questions or the volume at which they were being asked, Kova would. "Time out, time out!" 

"What happened? What did you do?"

"I called for a timeout, Griffin!"

"Don't care!" Liz held her face in her hands in a glamor pose. "How did you escape?" Kova rolled her eyes and rested her hand on her hip. 

"I made an elephant toothpaste trap, escaped through a hole in the sewer, and was blown out through the back door." A few awkward blinks came Kova's way, and she stared back. "Seriously, that's what happened! Ugh, anyway. Who's next?"

"Are you physically okay?" Cake asked next. Kova nodded. 

"Besides a wrist sprain from holding on to the door, I'm fine."

"Then why are your arm and leg wrapped?" Kova really hoped Cake wouldn't ask. Her body language said as much. Kova's leg had been scratched from her jump into the emergency toilet that she hadn't noticed, the small scratch on her hands climbing out of the emergency toilet later on, and the wrist sprain didn't and shouldn't warrant an arm sling and Kova's left arm and right leg to be completely wrapped in gauze and tape. 

"I wish I could tell you, Cake." Kova looked to the quiet side of the room. "Next?" 

"Did you recover any pertinent information?" Allie asked. 

"Not much. I'm sorry. They took me to a closet across from the Emperor's room. The second-in-command told me I should be grateful for not being in a crowded prison cell." 

"They were treating you well?" 

"I know! I was shocked too. It seemed like I was their main priority. They tried feeding several times. I even dunked a soldier's head in a toilet, but they let me go. I wasn't punished." Allie sat back in her chair, pondering. "Who's next?"

"How were we able to track you?" Shiro was supporting himself on the banister around Kova's station. 

Kova's eyebrows lifted at her father, who stood firm. She shrugged and turned to face the windows to the dark space outside. She stooped down to lift a small panel on the floor and inserted a small chip. The screen came to life, showing a unique code, color-coded to show the differences. Kenny and Cake marveled at the sight, geeking out at the individual codes. Everyone else was trying to understand what it was. 

"These are the individual tracking codes on the suits. When I was going through the suits and updating, upgrading, or even unlocking several different components, I also inserted a tracking code." 

"Into the armor or the bodysuits?" Cake asked, tuning into the conversation. 

"Both," Kova said, turning to face him. "I managed to have the codes be separate from each other unless combined together."

"Meaning?" Keith asked. He had been quiet throughout the whole conversation. At least he was interested in something. 

"Meaning that the bodysuits will emit a tracking code unless attached to the armor. Then, the bodysuits disable their code when their pairing code is in position."

"So, wait. The code Cap knew is—" Liz started again, being cut off by Kova. 

"The code to the Black Paladin bodysuit." Kova's right hand found itself a home on her hip as she stared at everyone's awed stares. If reversed, you'd be impressed, too, she chided herself. "I kept all the code on a small password-protected chip in case of plagiarism. I hoped to integrate it with the modern suits after test runs."

"So, wait." Caleb held a finger in the air. "Our suits are tracking code experiments." Kova raised her eyebrows again, giving Caleb a flat stare. Allie, although not visible to Caleb, also gave a flat stare. 

"Caleb," Kova pinched the bridge of her nose. "You. Were. There." Caleb crossed his arms and pouted. "Are you going to ask a question, now, or are you going to keep pouting?"

"What is your relationship with the Fire?" Keith demanded, turning all eyes to him. 

"What are you talking about?" Kova asked. Her heart was racing. Did he know? Did Keith recognize her? 

"You're half-Galra, aren't you?" Darn. 

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" 

"Whose side are you on?" Keith had descended the staircase to stand in front of Kova. He was taller than she was, but she didn't move. She met his stare. "The Fire's or the galaxy's?" 

"Stand down, soldier." Kova's eyes flared at the accusation. "I'm on the side that takes down the Fire, not the other way around." 

"Then why haven't you done anything against them?"

"What are we supposed to do? We're kids!" 

"So was I, and I defeated the Fire! Give me a real excuse!" 

"Alright, alright, enough!" Shiro intervened. "We can discuss more later. Kova, go put ice on your wounds. Keith, go rest in your bunk. Everyone else, continue normal duties." To a chorus of 'yes sirs' and huffs from fighting parties, the crew did exactly what they were told to do. 

Later that night, and in the middle of the night, the crew had a rude awakening. One minute, the Coeus is stable. Drifting through space without much interference from the space around it. The next, it went nyoom to the right. With thunderous crashes, every teen had fallen out of bed. Kenny, who positioned his bed in a small alcove, hadn't been affected. Until the ship took a hard left to reposition itself. Then he raced to the bridge. 

The paladins raced in, in varying degrees of sleepwear. Together, they scanned the windows, searching for warnings or blasts. Instead, they found Keith. He was wearing the clothes Shiro had gotten him from the space mall: A plain black t-shirt, a gray vest Shiro had stolen back from Kova, matching gray cargo pants, and boots. Red ribbons were tied around his calves to keep the pants from billowing. 

Keith only stared at the teens, holding the console. It seemed to the teens he didn't expect the teens' response time to be so fast. Clearly, he didn't know how often they've been attacked. 

From left to right, the teens wore their Lions' colors well. Allie wore a light blue long-sleeved smocked waist dress with matching blue pants and white slippers. Caleb wore a bold red shirt with a plaid breast pocket and black and white plaid pants with black socks. Kova wore solid purple sweatpants and long-sleeved tunic with fitted wrists and ankles and barefoot. Liz wore a white tank-top with bright green shorts underneath. covered by a green robe and white socks. Cake wore a long green and yellow tunic similar to the ones his mother wore on the Balmera. They all had varying degrees of bed head, from Allie's bent pigtails to Kova's tri-pronged hair and everything in between. 

"It's the middle of the night!" Liz exclaimed. Cake and Allie were quick to follow her anger but did nothing to stop Keith. "Kova! Kova?" Liz tried to rally the stunned teen and noticed a vein protruding from the girl's forehead. 

"DAAAAD!" Kova's voice started small, growing in volume as she stood to full height. "DAD!" She leaned her head out the doorway. "DAD! Control your, uh, whatever!" 

"Get into positions," Caleb ordered, sighing tiredly. The teens complied, watching. "He's probably still strapped into the bed." 

"What a shame. I don't care." Kova turned to glare at the man in her place. "Get away from my console." Keith didn't budge. She repeated it. His eyes hardened as she got closer. 

"I have to get back to Earth!" Keith shouted, pulling a hand away from the console. The Coeus once again went nyoom but the teens were semi-prepared this time. "I have to get back to my family!"

"We have a larger mission at hand!" Kova argued, lunging at his hand. Keith moved away from her grasp, turning the ship right-side up. "Sorry to say, but I think your family can wait!"

"You don't understand!" The Coeus tilted to the left. 

"Try me!" Rightside up. 

"You're a kid! What do you know?" Coeus went almost flat to its right. 

"More than you, apparently!" Rightside up again. 

"Enough!" Shiro yelled, interrupting the two. Kova took Keith's distraction to pull him forward and flip him onto his back. "Kova!" She stood at attention, directly in front of the console. "What's going on?" Keith was quick to stand up. He opened his mouth to explain, but Kova beat him to it. 

"We awoke to the Coeus changing direction. While aware of your sleeping circumstances, we attempted to resolve this on our own."

"Kova." 

"Fine." She sighed. "I tried to solve this on my own. But he started it!" She pointed a menacing finger at Keith. He pointed one back. 

"She doesn't understand what happened!"

"He almost killed us!"

"No, I didn't!" 

"Stop it! Enough, you two!" Shiro stood in between them. "Kova, be more understanding of others around you." She glowered as Keith beamed. "And Keith, you're new to this dynamic, but Kova's in charge until I take command." Now it was Kova's turn to beam while Keith scowled. "Kova."

"On it." She turned to her team, ready for orders. "Liz, pull up cameras. Cake, redirect our course. I uploaded some data into the Coeus's hard drive. Allie, can you decode for Kenny? It's Altean. Caleb, get me a hot chocolate."

"No." He spun in his chair, typing away at his console to check on weapons systems. Kova shrugged at her dad, who gave his head shake of disapproval. She didn't mind much. 

"Keith, there's a chair in the corner." Kova pointed at the chair in its long-forgotten corner. Of course, he didn't listen. Luckily for the teens, there was an all-clear. The teens climbed up the stairs, all hoping to reacquaint themselves with their sheets and pillows. 

The Coeus, once again, went nyoom, taking a hard hit from the left. The teens slammed into the nearest walls. 

"Oh, I'm never going to sleep tonight," Kova muttered with her head bowed. She stood, taking command. "All right, everyone, get to stations!" Keith had a first-class seat to the efficiency the team dealt with the threat. Unfortunately, now they were all too wired to go to bed. Keith wasn't pulling his stunt again tonight. 

They're kids! What do they know!

Kova was typing away at her console. The low light on the bridge had darkened her features, making her look more tired than she was. For once, the look matched the feeling. All the attacking and the running and the plotting were starting to take their toll. The universe didn't have to know about Voltron just yet, but having to break the news to the Coalition might be the end of her. Or her career. Or both. 

"You ask her!" 

"No, you!" 

"Why do I have to do it?" 

"She's your pilot!"

"This was your idea!" The hushed, hurried argument between Cake and Liz was entertaining at best, annoying at worst. There was no reason for them to be up here. They knew Kova was more than capable to handle the bridge duties by herself. 

"Hey, uh, Cap?" Cake inched himself closer to Kova at her console. He glanced at Liz, who motioned him to continue, and he smiled awkwardly at Kova's head. 

"What's up, Cake?" She replied, still not looking up. 

"We, uh, um," Cake cleared his throat. "We want to play a game up here if that's alright." 

"I won't interfere. Go for it." Cake rolled his eyes and Liz smacked her forehead.

"We want you to play with us." Kova's fingers stilled over the keyboard and she looked up. Slowly she turned her head to Cake, who began to sweat bullets. They stood there for a few seconds as the message was being processed in Kova's brain. She half-smiled and agreed. Cake, blown away that it worked, was dragged to the floor by the hand by Liz, who held an empty bottle. 

"Guys, she said yes!" Liz cried excitedly, and Caleb and Allie soon appeared. All the teens sat down in a circle on the floor of the bridge and placed the bottle in the middle of the group. 

"I think we're too young to play spin the bottle," Kova said. 

"We're not," Liz said, spinning the bottle. "It's kind of like truth-or-dare, twenty questions, and spin the bottle rolled into one." The bottle slowly came to a stop in front of Cake, who had finally come out his daze. 

"Whoever the bottle lands on has to answer every question the other members of the group ask them truthfully." Cake explained further. 

"And it's your turn." Kova pointed out. Cake smiled sheepishly and turned to the person on his right. This was Liz. 

"Lady Eliza, what do you wish to ask me?" Cake said in a fake posh accent. Caleb stifled a laugh and Allie covered her mouth. Kova smiled at the ridiculousness. 

"Why thank you, sir," Liz replied with a matching accent. "Lord of Cakes, I wish to know your real age." 

"My word, Lady Eliza, know you nothing of proper manners." Caleb couldn't hold his laughter in anymore. At Caleb's laughter, Allie laughed too. Kova giggled, which was enough to boost both Liz and Cake's egos. 

"For real, though," Liz said, dropping the accent. "What is your real age? I know Balmerans probably age slower than humans do." 

"I'm still your age." Cake answered. "It's human genetics. I live longer than a human but tragically short for a Balmeran. I don't think about it too much." 

"Does that—" Liz started. A finger twice the size of her own pressed against her lips, and Cake looked away dramatically. 

"Lady Eliza, please! Only one question!" The three other teens erupted in laughter again and one by one asked Cake their questions. 

"What's the story behind your nickname?" Allie was the last to ask, and Cake scoffed at her question.

"Easy." Cake rested his hands in his lap. "I was trying to help my dad in the kitchen. He was working on a huge cake order at the time, and I thought I could sift or mix or pipe frosting or something. I wanted to feel useful. I tripped and caught myself on the counter and dropped a sheet cake Dad had been saving for his overworked pastry chefs. I wound up returning to the Balmera with some proper embarrassment from Talia, who sent pictures of me around the Garrison. I was famous as the 'Cake Kid' before I even got there." 

"I thought you were told the story before," Liz mentioned, and Allie shrugged. 

"I wanted to hear it again." Allie rested her hands on her knees. "Who's next?" Liz leaned forward to spin the bottle again. Round and round it went. It slowly came to a stop in front of Kova. 

"Can I start?" Cake asked excitedly. Allie nodded.

"Who's Kyla?" Liz butted in instead. Cake pouted, but accepted it and turned to Kova. Kova had wide eyes, a look of fear etched into her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. May Allura forgive her.

"Kyla is my real name," Kova answered, her hand reaching out to rub the back of her neck. "Kyla Hannah Kogane." 

"Ha!" Cake exclaimed, earning everyone's stare. Well, everyone except Liz. "You owe me 20 GAC!" Cake turned his head to read the room and muttered an apology. 

  "Who's next?" Kova asked. Cake's eyes lit up, but Kova ignored him and looked to the other side to stare at Caleb. "How about you?"

"Nope. Look at Cake." Caleb answered. Kova said something about Caleb being no fun and turned to Cake. 

"If Keith and Pidge are your parents, and you knew they were your parents, why do you never call them mom and dad?" Cake asked his perfect question. Kova lifted her knees to rest her chin in the crook of her knees. 

"Keith and Pidge weren't the perfect parents everyone imagined they were." Kova started, looking off into the distance. "Oh, sure. They had their shining moments, but those were always with my brothers. It was never with me. I can't remember ever calling them mom and dad. TJ always called them by their first names, and Kenny always called them mom and dad when I wasn't in the room. When I left the Kogane home, I took a family picture with me. I stared at it every once in a while. I never had an issue because they weren't parents."

"Th-that's s-s-so sad!" Cake sniffled, tears and boogers coming out of his eyes and nose. The other teens distanced themselves from Cake, equally disgusted. 

"Ugh, Cake! You asked the question!" 

"I didn't think it would be such a sad answer!" Cake sniffled again. 

"Ew." Kova shook her head. "Allie, you're next.

"Alright. Um," She began. She wouldn't finish. 

The Coeus took another blast from the left, earning a quick response from the team. The bottle, disturbed from its resting place, rolled itself to the outermost wall and falling into a vent. The Coeus survived by making a wormhole jump about a week's worth of travel, but barely. In the morning, Kova, Kenny, and Cake would have to suit up and make repairs. Calling it a night, the teens left the bridge and slept in their bunks, leaving the bottle forgotten and left behind.