Voltron's Mechanic (Keith x OC)

16) Tailing a Comet

We finally found Shiro, he was in a Galra ship he stole, very disheveled and tired, his hair grown way past his shoulders. But a couple days afterwards, when we were all in the bridge, he came out looking like normal. Although there was something different about his eyes, I couldn't tell what.

"Great job out there, everyone. You've really turned the tide in this war," he said. "I'm glad you never lost sight of the mission while I was gone"

"You're looking better. How are you feeling?" Lance asked.

"Good. Just trying to get rid of this weird headache"

"Guys, I think I have something here!" Pidge announced, making us all gather around her. "So, I downloaded intel from the Galra base we just defeated. I untied the quantum folder encryption, and I found something on Lotor"

"Do you know where he is?" Keith asked.

"Well, not exactly, no, but the last three sightings of his command ship have been in the Va'Kar quadrant"

"Nice work, Pidge. Although, those quadrants are massive. How will we pinpoint his location?" Shiro asked.

"Hey, that comet is made from the same material as Voltron. Maybe I can scan the emission spectrum for Fraunhofer lines, like when I found the Blue Lion!" Hunk suggested.

"But you know those emissions are subject to free induction decay. Those are exponential drop offs," Pidge said.

"What if you found a way to amplify the sensors..." I suggested.

"No, there'd be way too much interference," Hunk grumbled to himself.

"Then how about increasing the SA magnitude?"

"The spires of the Castle!" Pidge said.

"Genius!" Hunk said.

They both ran off to work on it, but I stayed behind with the others. Lance looked really confused with what we were talking about.

"I have no idea what any of them just said," Lance said.

"It's science stuff," I told him with a smile.

"Let's set a course for the Va'Kar quadrant while they get started on that detector. We need to work fast. Who knows what Lotor has planned for that comet?" Shiro said.

I checked on Hunk and Pidge, but they had a handle on what they were doing, so I thought I'd go for a walk. I stopped outside of Keith's room, hearing him and Lance talking. I leaned against the wall beside the door, listening.

"I've been doing some math," Lance said. "With Shiro back, that makes six Paladins, but there are only five lions and if I'm right, that's one Paladin too many"

"Solid math," Keith said.

"Look, when Shiro takes over the Black Lion, you're going to want your Red Lion back. If I get a lion, I'd have to take Blue from Allura. But she's progressed a lot faster than any of us did. She might even be able to unlock powers we don't know of"

"That's true"

"And then there's Aris..." Lance paused for a second.

"What about her?" Keith asked, sounding a little defensive.

"She has that natural bond with each of the lions, and even if she doesn't have a lion she's still needed by Voltron. Like, she could take over for any one of us, and if someone goes missing again why not let her take over? It'd be easier than looking for a new Paladin"

"Yeah"

"So, maybe the best thing I can do for the team is step aside"

"What are you talking about?"