United We Stand
“Shiro, Adam, meet up with the Rebel fleet coming in from Mars!” Ordered Lance, throwing a grin at the former Black Paladin through his screen. “Nyma, make sure Matt and Shay get there too! Once you’re all assembled, come meet up with us on the front lines.”
“Krolia, take a fighter ship from the Rebels; I made sure they had one for you,” added Keith. “Stay safe out there. Hunk, hang back here and keep any ships from getting past the atmosphere. Pidge, you know the drill.”
“Already on it,” replied Pidge with a smirk as Green vanished beside them until only the faintest ripple through space was visible.
“Allura, you’re with us,” called Lance, plunging the joystick into a full sprint ahead. “We’re going to hold off the fleet as long as we can! As soon as we get backups, you know what to do.”
“Ready and waiting,” promised Allura, pulling up beside the Black Lion and baring her claws with a grin.
“We’ve got your back,” assured Acxa, her battleship rolling behind them with Ezor and Zethrid whooping in the background. “Lotor’s fleet is on its way; they should be here soon.”
“Well, I think we can handle soon,” replied Lance, gritting his teeth. “If anyone sees the comet, alert Voltron and retreat immediately!”
“Uh, bud,” called Hunk, rubbing his head. “What if one of us spots it? Should we engage and wait for backup?”
“No, tail it and keep us posted,” replied Lance, shoulders rising as Black sped up, leaving Yellow and Blue out of sight. “But, Hunk, if it comes after Earth……”
“I’ll stop it,” swore Hunk, pounding a fist over his heart and throwing a sunshine smile at his family. “I won’t let anything hurt our planet.”
“You’ve got this,” said Keith, throwing a smile at his brother and raising flashing eyes at the enemy fleet quickly coming into view; gods, he nearly laughed as he remembered when one battleship was almost too much for them to handle. “Alright, everyone, we can do this! You all know the plans; other than that, improvise, trust your instincts, and remember that, no matter what, we’ve all got your back. Now, let’s end this once and for all!”
A battle cry roared through the comms, and Lance twisted to grin at Keith, squeezing his partner’s hand as lightning flashed through his eyes.
“It’s been a while, huh?” He said. “It feels good to be back in action.”
Keith chuckled, leaning over to kiss his boyfriend and relishing in the squawking blush that raced through Lance’s face like wildfire.
“Better than I can explain,” he murmured.
Pidge rolled her eyes so hard she wondered if they would fall into the back of her skull, glancing over at Allura with an arched eyebrow.
“Have they forgotten we can see them or are they just desperate for me to test my prototype bombs on them?”
Hunk had totally jinxed himself when he originally complained to Lance about stationing him in the back because I’m not going to be doing anything or helping to protect Earth at all!
Yeah…no.
Hunk threw one of the controls forwards, wrenching the other to the side and unleashing a blazing laser from Yellow’s mouth. It curved across the battlefield, a flurry of explosions dotting the blue arc like beads on a necklace, and Hunk tore past them with a growl grating along his throat. A barrage of lasers bounced off Yellow’s coat, and Hunk swerved to claw apart a fighter trying to escape onto Earth.
“Oh, no you don’t!” He thundered as Yellow let out a roar that sounded almost more like a dragon than a lion. “None of you are going to touch Earth because not one of you is going to make it past me!”
Yellow pounced across space, diving for one of the only two battleships who had managed to bulldoze its way past Black, Red, and Acxa’s battleship. He could still feel the lingering hiss that echoed through the comms after explosions over him like a second skin, prickling at all of his nerves like a needle well after the wincing confirmation that everyone was alive.
Hunk was ready for that feeling to end.
“Alright, come and get some of this!” He yelled, whipping his bayard from his belt as a familiar, soothing glow rippled across it. “Never underestimate a leg!”
Hunk slammed his bayard into the console, twisting it and letting golden light flood through the cockpit like a second sun had risen. “Let’s give them a fight to remember, Yellow!”
The Yellow Lion threw back its head, light swirling into its maw as if summoned from the very fabric of the cosmos, and Hunk felt their shared quintessence pumping through his veins like every burst of anxiety he’s ever known except…except there’s a layer of determination over the anxiety that transformed it into a kind of drive he had never known before. Because, after everything they had already done, after so many near deaths and narrow victories, after celebrations and disasters, after so many revelations they had made together, after shaping their very universe, this was not going to be where they failed! It didn’t matter how large or powerful Zarkon’s fleet was, it didn’t matter if they had to fight for the rest of their lives, all that mattered was that they. Refused. To. Lose.
And, as Hunk’s battle cry roared through his link with Yellow, golden light exploded from his eyes and the comet building between his Lion’s jaws tore across the battlefield. A glittering trail followed in its wake, and Hunk grinned as the glow from his eyes pulsed, spreading to his lower back and arcing lines across his armor that seeped into his skin. Hunk let out a whoop, snatching the controls as the comet smashed through the shield protecting the ion cannon and crushed it in a single action. He blew a laser through the hull of the battleship for good measure and bounded towards the remaining battleship. Squares and triangles hovered over his skin, geometric lines connecting them, and dark marks resembling claws winding down his legs. The formerly horizontal lines rotated then, dancing down the inside of his legs as the darkened claws grew stronger until they ended in suns at his knees. Hunk swerved, drifting like a race car around the battleship as he unleashed a concentrated stream of destruction into the side of the ship, leaving red explosions to light up the fighter behind him. The lines arced up to spin suns on the top of his knees as well, arcing across his thighs to make space for the squares sliding up after them, and circles wound onto his legs in little dots. Rectangles blossomed over his legs, the golden light blending into the cabin’s glow, and Hunk twirled away from the battleship just as it detonated behind him. Shrapnel tore through space, and Hunk ducked behind a string of fighter ships in the chaos.
He let out a long, slow breath as pikes of metal skewered the ships in front of him, and glanced up.
“Yellow, you doing okay?”
His Lion let out a rumble bordering on amused, and Hunk cocked his head. “What do you mean? Is there something on the floor? Did a space squid get in while I wasn’t looking?! Is it trying to eat my legs and that’s why they’ve been burning those whole time?!”
Yellow gave a cosmic roll of his eyes as Hunk screeched around the cabin, the final arches of golden light burning into his skin and connecting with the pattern already seared into his back. Yellow chuckled, shaking his head and nudging Hunk on the astral plane.
“Look down,” purred Yellow with a fond smile. “Look down and do not be afraid, my paladin.”
Hunk froze. That was the first time Yellow had called him something other than kit since they had started this whole crazy journey together.
“Okay,” he replied, straightening his shoulders and digging his feet into the pedals.
He trusted Yellow. And yeah, maybe Hunk hadn’t always been the quickest to jump aboard the dangerous, death-defying insanities that his team decided to pull out here in space, but he was always happy to dig his heels into the ground and give his family a boost up into whatever they felt was right. He would catch them if they fell, pull them back up to their feet, and trap them in one of his patented big bear hugs until they were ready to try again. Because, no matter what happened, Hunk would always believe in his space family. After all, they were the ones who taught him to believe in himself.
“Okay, what’ve we go—HOLY QUIZNAK!” Shrieked Hunk, the golden pattern filling up his eyes as it gave a final pulse before settling into his armor, the lines sharper than Keith’s bayard. “Yellow! How did you give me a Pe’a?!”
“I did nothing,” replied Yellow with the sweetest rumble on the edges of his words, “this was all you, my paladin. The universe does not give out tattoos lightly, but you, Hunk Garrett, have more than earned the markings of a warrior. You are a Defender of the Universe. Wear your title with pride, kit.”
All the breath vanished from Hunk’s chest and his eyes swelled with tears even as his grip tightened on the controls. He sniffled, and Yellow nuzzled against him with a soft purr. “I am proud of you, Hunk.”
Hunk swerved free of the cluttered battlefield, unleashing a firestorm of lasers into the final battleship with a roar that rivalled Yellow’s even as he curled up with his Lion in the astral plane and reached back to give him scritches behind the ear.
“And I’m proud of us, Yellow.”
Shiro swooped in with a battle cry, a flurry of ice beams crashing through the ships standing between him and his space family, and a euphony of cheers flooded the comms.
“Heck yeah, Shiro!” Cried Lance, pumping a fist in the air as Keith gave his brother a grateful grin.
“What took you so long?” Teased Keith over the comms. “Got caught up flirting with Adam?”
“What, when I’m his superior officer? I would never,” joked Shiro, cackling as Adam flashed him a deadly glare. “Although Matt and Nyma spent a long time getting onto the comms.”
Matt sputtered out a protest while Shiro snickered at his second-in-command’s fiery cheeks and even Keith snickered over the comms.
“Shut up!” Cried Matt, folding his arms and pouting even as Pidge giggled. “We were discussing strategies!”
“Strategies to get into each other’s heart~?” Teased Lance, and Matt surrendered with a groan as the team chuckled at his expense.
Nyma just shot a ship close enough to the Black Lion to draw a squawk from Lance and snickered contentedly.
“Alright, everyone, fall into formation!” Ordered Shiro, raising his chin and squaring his shoulders as a familiar rush turned his blood into pure adrenaline. “Adam, lead the ground troops in on my command! Matt, take half of the ships and circle around to the side to create an opening for the landing crew; the rest of you are with me, so let’s throw them into the next galaxy!”
A chorus of assents roared through the comms, Shay’s battle cry nearly deafening all of them, and Shiro easd back in the pilot’s seat and barely managed not to blow out a long breath. It was so familiar, all of this. The orders flying from his lips, the instant unquestioned trust everyone had in his words, the strength in the smiles they all shared before takeoff, it was…well, it was nice. As much as he appreciated the break that Keith and Lance had given him from leading Voltron, Shiro still missed being a leader. He missed the certainty in his decisions, the constant grasp of the battlefield that seemed to just materialize in his mind, the reflexes that made up his body when those he led were in danger. It felt like he had a piece of the Black Lion inside of him.
Now, when piloting Blue, he couldn’t help but wonder if it would be the same.
“Not the same,” purred Blue with an amused roll of her eyes as she nudged him cosmically, “but just as good.”
Shiro chuckled, leaning back as she powered up an ice beam again, and closed his eyes to better meld with Blue. It was actually kind of funny; melding with Blue was completely different than melding with Black. He had always turned to the similarities that Allura had given him in the beginning of their journey together, the truths that had bound him to Black, everything that had made him into a Black Paladin, and used that to forge a bond with his Lion. When he started piloting Blue, he had actually just spent their first session staring at the controls in a vague confusion of how to actually bond with the graceful Lion. He definitely found a new respect for Lance from that, though, for forging one of the strongest bonds they had seen out of nothing.
Now, though, he didn’t need Allura to tell him what made a Blue Paladin. He already had the honor of knowing two of them, of walking in their footsteps, and he ran through their truths as he blew out a breath and slowly slid his eyes closed. Blue purred, curling around him as she opened her eyes, and he raised a hand to rest on her fuzzy cheek.
Trust. Blue Paladins were the most trusting, whether in the universe, their teammates, themselves, or their ideals, they would believe until the cosmos caved in on their heads. Allura believed in Voltron and, even more than that, in her family with an unshakeable faith that often blew Shiro away. She would raise her chin and proclaim them Defenders of the Universe without batting an eye regardless of whether they were in a diplomatic meeting or the Castle of Lions’ kitchen. Allura had always believed in them above all else.
Shiro dove into the battlefield, a flurry of ships on his tail, and Blue’s eyes gave a hazy shimmer as her tail whipped in a frenzied circle of lasers. Fighters exploded around them like an endless song, a battleship’s ion cannon turning into an iceberg even before Blue tore into the side of the ship with a fury. Shay twisted behind Shiro, blasting through an incoming squadron, and Hunk whooped in the background. Shiro smiled, leaning into Blue’s embrace, and blew out a long breath. He believed in them. They could do this.
Flexible. Blue Paladins were quick to step up to the plate, to fill whatever spot the team needed them to, and wanted nothing more than to help in whatever way they could. No matter what curve ball the team had thrown at him, Lance had caught it in style. When they needed someone to help them relax into space, he had thrown finger guns and puns around the castle as the flirty Blue Paladin. When Shiro vanished and they needed someone to act as the glue of the team, to anchor them all together, he had stepped in as the right-hand Red Paladin no matter what the clone had thrown at him. And, when Keith had offered him a hand, Lance had finally run forward into the place he most belonged and stepped up into becoming one of their Black Paladins. He had always been exactly where they needed him when they needed him there, no matter what. Lance had always been what they had needed most.
Shiro arched his shoulders, teeth gritting into one another, and Blue’s eyes let out a sputtering glow. Allura blasted a ship on his tail, and Shiro twisted through the air to snipe down a fighter trailing after Adam’s squadron. As if he would ever let anyone touch his fiance. Shiro grinned, Blue crouched, and her eyes flared a searing gold.
Finally, Blue Paladins were people who would always sacrifice themselves, their dreams, or their futures to save the ones they loved. And Shiro was finally ready to break that trend. Because how could he truly protect his family if he didn’t go home to them at the end of the day?
Shiro’s vision flashed forward into Blue’s eyes and his Lion let out a roar that shook the battlefield as he threw his head back with a whoop.
“You’ve got great eyesight, Blue!” He cried, grinning as he tore through another battleship and batted a fighter aiming at Matt into one stalking Krolia. “Now,” he added, grasping the controls as gold blazed in his eyes and Blue pounced across the battlefield with a wild battle cry, “let’s end this once and for all, team!”
“HECK YES!”
“I believe I may be of assistance in that,” chimed in a smooth voice with just the faintest smile curling at the edges of his words, “despite your Green Paladin’s best attempts to blow me up.”
“Lotor!” Cried Acxa, and the Emperor’s face lit up the screen with a soft smile at the sight of her sparkling circlet. “You made it!”
“Indeed. Please do not tell me I was so late as to miss the battle,” replied Lotor, explosions ricocheting around him as Pidge whooped through the comms with zero regret, her refined explosives reversing the electrical flow of a good third of Zarkon’s fleet, giving them approximately three ticks to panic before getting blown to smithereens.
“Don’t worry, Lotor,” said Shiro, biting a fighter in half before freezing another into an iceberg and body-slamming it into an ion cannon aimed at the Black Lion; he smirked at the screen and plunged into enemy fire with a roar that melded with Blue’s. “There’s plenty to go around!”
“All units, open fire!” Ordered Lotor and, with a sweep of his arm, an army of lasers ripped through space to blast apart the back of Zarkon’s fleet. “Acxa, I need you to get Zethrid, Narti, and Ezor back here immediately to lead the divisions in! Until then, Kuron, cut them to pieces!”
Kuron gave him a thumbs up before seizing the controls of one of their best battleships and whipping through the battlefield with fighters tight on his tail. He tore through the sky, pinpointed lasers slicing into the enemy’s engines, and spun the massive ship with concerning agility before opening fire into a battleship’s cockpit. The fighters around him swarmed forwards, dancing around one another and spinning across the battlefield in complicated patterns that even Lotor couldn’t truly comprehend.
Kuron was unlike any general he had ever met before. When he first started training their soldiers, he saw everything on the battlefield and nothing that was happening on his own front until disaster struck. Once it hit, though, he was excellent at damage control, he was quick to ask Lotor for advice on how to avoid making the same mistake twice, and his ideas for combinations were far beyond anything Lotor would have thought to ask of their soldiers. But when he mentioned that last piece to Kuron, the general just shook his head with a soft chuckle. Voltron is made up of teenagers with no military training, he had replied with a sparkle in his eyes, and if they can pull it off with enough practice, then I know we can too.
Kuron had a vision for their army that Lotor never would have dared to dream of. It was part of why the fighters instinctively hugged so close to him on the battlefield, waiting for his every word, and turning to him when the going got rough. Lotor was their emperor, but Kuron was their general. And Lotor wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Emperor Lotor!” Shouted Acxa, her battleship veering through the chaos as her face lit up his screen with a glowing smile curving right into her ocean eyes. “Welcome back! Permission to dock, sir?”
Lotor knew he wasn’t allowed to chuckle at his sister’s formality, but he was so tempted to when he saw that wiggle at the edge of her lips that held a laugh behind them.
“Permission granted, General Acxa,” he replied, pulling his ship around to fire into a particularly large battleship in the back row. “And it’s good to be back.”
Acxa grinned, her circlet catching the sparkle in her eyes, and Lotor’s heart throbbed because finally, finally, his sister had found the love she deserved. A love to last beyond a lifetime.
“Acxa, pull around on the left side, it should better guard y—”
A scream cut through Lotor’s words, freezing over his blood, and Acxa’s battleship shuddered in front of him as a strangely large battleship opened fire into her hull.
“Ezor, Zethrid! Escape pods now!” Yelled Acxa, spinning her battleship further in to guard Lotor’s cockpit. “Narti, you’re closer to the fighter ships, so launch one! I’ll buy you guys as much time as I can, so go now!”
Lotor gripped the controls as his teeth bit into one another, but Allura’s voice sliced through anything he had prepared to say.
“Acxa, do you need reinforcements?!” Cried the princess, the Red Lion’s flames licking ever closer to them.
If they could just divide the fleet in half…
“Acxa, pull back!” Shouted Lotor, thrusting the controls forwards. “I’ll shield you, so get behind me!”
“Narti, launch!” Screamed Acxa, red lights flashing over her face and turning her eyes purple to match the tattoos lacing down her face. “Ez, Zeth, are you out yet?!”
“Launching now!” Roared Zeth, the distinct punching of a button ringing out through the comms, and Narti raised a thumbs up as her fighter tore free of the battleship. “We’re clear! Acxa, get out of there now!”
Lotor growled, inching around Acxa’s battleship as explosions ripped along its port side, but his general pinned him with a glare.
“Lotor, if you come out here, you’ll get blasted to pieces!” Snapped Acxa, crushing the controls down into a locked position under her foot. “Stay where you are! I’ll come to you—!”
An explosion erupted through the comms, fire lighting up Acxa’s screen, and she shrieked as a shard of metal whipped through the air and bit into her cameras. The last Lotor saw of his sister was her turning to face the explosion ripping through the ship towards her, her circlet catching the glint of the flames and shoulders braced to dash back to the ones she loved.
Then the screen flickered out into blackness and flames consumed the ship, rending metal apart and transforming the engine into a bomb. Lotor screamed as his sister’s battleship exploded, shrapnel bouncing off his hull and shredding an enemy fighter nearby, plumes of smoke billowing out from its carcass, and Acxa’s comm cut out.
“A-Acxa?” Murmured Lotor, his throat nearly swollen shut as fractures of glass trickled off of the cockpit. “Acxa, please, come in!”
“ACXA!” Roared Allura, her shredded heart bleeding into her scream as the Red Lion tore into the battleship that had just…that might have just killed her soulmate. “Acxa, where are you?! Please respond!”
Silence and static reigned.
Lotor wanted to sink to his knees, tears rising into his eyes, and scream until his voice gave out. He wanted to roar and curse out the cosmos, to shout until time gave in, to cry until death itself gave Acxa back to them. He wanted to tear apart the universe to get his sister back.
He just wished that was an option.
“Ezor, Zethrid, Narti!” He managed, shoving the names of his remaining family past his teeth. “Are you all onboard?”
“…Yeah, Lotor,” replied Ezor, tears staining every breath, “we’re all accounted for.”
“Then let’s rain hell down on their heads,” growled Lotor, a film of tears shining across his eyes, and he punched the missiles free from his battleship.
Allura screamed, her Lion spinning a circle of lava through space and searing through half of the ships around her as she pounced on Acxa’s battleship.
“Red, guard my back!” Shouted Allura, leaping out of her Lion’s seat and blasting free of Red’s mouth as her jetpack roared to life. “Acxa, if you can hear me, I’m coming!”
Lotor swung his battleship between Red and the battlefield, unleashing a spiral of lasers into the incoming fighters.
“Bring her back to us, Allura!” Cried Lotor, eyes blazing and fists tight around the controls. “Please, bring Acxa home!”
Because he had an army to lead, he had an empire to lead. No matter how much he loved Acxa, no matter how badly he wanted to swoop down there himself and pull his sister out of the wreckage, he didn’t get that choice. There was more at stake here than them. He had to guide the rest of his family, the rest of other people’s families, in a battle for not only their honor, but their very existence. If they lost here, Lotor didn’t want to think about what Zarkon would do to all of them. He couldn’t afford to back down even an inch.
“All units, engage!” He roared, unleashing the rest of his ships into the fray, and he threw his ship at the largest battleship in the back.
After all, it was fairly rare for such a large ship to hang back so far…
Allura swung through the sheared metal remains of the ship, her jetpack filling the carcass with an eerie blue glow that illuminated the shaking of her hands as she pushed deeper into the battleship with no sign of her love.
Allura blasted off a nearby pole, tucking her knees close to her chest and sliding through a torn window to land in what she barely recognized as a shredded cockpit. She planted her feet on the metal and raised her chin high despite her trembling to survey the fractured room.
“Acxa, please, if you can hear me, say something!”
Lotor gritted his teeth as he fired his ion cannon into the flagship, cracking into the shield that extended far beyond the cockpit to cover the whole ship. Lotor’s heart stopped. Only one person he knew had shields like that.
Allura spun, a faint shine catching her eyes, and her blood ran cold as she spotted Acxa’s luxite knife on the ground. Allura knelt, fingers skimming the layer of ash coating the handle as she cradled it to her chest, tears catching on her eyelashes. Her love would rather die than let go of this knife.
“Acxa…!”
“Zarkon!” Snarled Lotor, spinning the power level on his ion cannon because he would be quiznaked if he let his father get away again when he was so close. “Not this time, father!”
Lotor slammed his controls down towards the flagship, snapping his guns around to lock on the engine, and unleashed a missile towards the cockpit just as the ion cannon blasted a hole through the particle barrier. He dove down towards the fizzling opening that allowed him access to his greatest enemy, to the one who had tormented him his entire life, who had destroyed everything he held dear once, and he raised his chin with a growl.
Zarkon would not take everything from him again.
Allura tucked Acxa’s knife safely in her belt, knees trembling under her and tears on the verge of overflowing as her jetpack sputtered to life again.
“Allura?” Called Lance softly, the silent question slamming into her like a punch to the stomach, and a sob tore free from her lips as if in response.
A hitching breath snuck out of Keith’s comm, and Allura barely had time to mute her own before she bent double and screamed. She curled around herself, hugging Acxa’s knife to her chest, and screamed until she couldn’t even imagine breathing.
She had lost her home again.
“Lotor, wait, I found her!” Shouted Ezor, her voice snapping through the comms like a whip, and Allura’s heart slammed into her ribs. “I locked onto Acxa’s suit! She’s still alive!”
Lotor crumpled to the floor, tears finally sliding from his eyes as Ezor tore into the room with the coordinates out in front of her. “Allura, she’s close to you! Just fly more to the right and she should be right there for pickup!”
“You couldn’t have done that sooner?” Groaned Lotor, rubbing his temples as explosions cracked against his ship and his missile lit up Zarkon’s ship like a fireworks show. “I can’t deal with any more of Acxa’s death-defying shenanigans.”
“I have her!” Cried Allura, sobs wracking every word, and Lotor’s heart twisted in on itself; he had never heard anyone sound so…shattered before. “I have her. Coran, come meet me at the Red Lion, she needs emergency medical care and a healing pod!”
“On my way, Princess!” Shouted Coran, and Lotor could finally draw breath in again.
“I am going to lay into her for that later,” he grumbled. “Anyway, Ezor! Grab your battleship and lead the fleet for about ten dobashes!”
He turned to the glowing battleship in front of him and unleashed another ion blast towards its cockpit. “I have some trash to take out.”
Lotor’s nails bit into his gloves and Ezor saluted before dashing out of the room, her usually bubbly smile replaced with a grim smirk. She had her own work to do, after all.
Lotor dove towards the battleship, eyes flicking over to Pidge’s whooping face and pumping arms. “Green Paladin,” he called, veering over the battleship and opening fire at the weakest bolts he could see that attached the cabin to the rest of the ship, “you wouldn’t happen to have any additional bombs, would you?”
Maniacal laughter exploded through the comms, and Pidge’s face filled his screen with a battle-born smirk.
“Come on, is that even a question?” She replied, and Lotor felt an involuntary quirk at the edges of his lips.
Voltron’s joy was infectious.
“Never for you, Green Paladin,” he replied, sniping down the droids trying to repair the particle barrier. “I’ll clear an opening for you; bomb him into the moon.”
“Woo-hoo!” Cheered Pidge, tearing towards him, and Lotor blew out a long, slow breath.
As much as he wanted to be the one to take down his father, to destroy him, he had already come within inches of killing Zarkon once before. He had done his best. Not only that, but he had an entire empire behind him, and he couldn’t just pawn that off on Ezor. He was no longer Prince Lotor, Zarkon’s son.
He was Emperor Lotor of the Galran Alliance, and he would make the choice that his father never could: he would believe in others.
So, as Lotor blasted away any obstructions, Pidge unleashed a flurry of bombs directly towards the weakened cabin. The Green Lion darted away, pivoting to guard Lotor’s cockpit and letting out a triumphant roar.
“Let’s sit back and watch the show, oh great Emperor,” she teased, and Lotor chuckled.
“Indeed,” he agreed as Zarkon’s cabin spun free of the ship, rocketing towards the moon with Haggar’s flagship and two Lions in hot pursuit; he drew back his shoulders and flashed a smile at his screen. “Allura, Lance, Keith, it is all up to you now.”
“Roger that, Lotor,” replied Lance as the Black Lion bounded past, throwing him a smile. “We’ll throw in a punch for you.”
“We shall not fail,” swore Allura, her Altean markings glowing and teeth practically biting through one another at the memory of her love’s suspended tears in the healing pod. “We leave this battle to you, Lotor.”
“Good luck,” stated Keith.
Lotor raised his hand in a salute, and the three Paladins returned the gesture before blasting off towards the moon as Zarkon crash-landed on the planet. Then Emperor Lotor turned back to the battlefield and twisted his controls to surge up to the front lines. “Everyone, assume formation C+! On our lives, we shall bring an end to this here and now!”