Voltron Coran' Squad Logbook 1

Log 002 - Second hand

"To form Voltron, you must trust each other," Coran announced through the mic to the training deck. "This ancient paladin maze will teach you how to earn that trust. Your teammate can see the walls, but you cannot." The old altean technician sighed. "So listen carefully. If you touch the walls, you'll get a slight shock." He grimaced.

Standing next to the Altean, Leila and Nakia were observing their training carefully. Coran observed Lance on the training deck. "Wait. Who's guiding me through?"

"Take two steps forward." Keith's voice rang through Lance's helmet.
"Oh no, not Keith.." Lance groaned. "Why does he have to be the man on the mic?"
"Now, just sit tight. You'll get your turn." Coran commented with huff noise.
"Has Lance always been that grumpy around Keith?" Nakia asked to Leila.
"From what I know when we were at the Garrison, Lance had an unspoken claimed rivalry with him. I'm not sure why."
"Like I said, take two steps forward, turn right, and take three steps in that direction." Keith continued his description.

The three spectators grimaced as they saw Lance getting slightly shocked by the maze. Opening one eye to look, Nakia saw Lance shouting that Keith did it on purpose. The ravenette tried to explain himself with a grunt while the Cuban took another shock. This second attempt made Leila have a fit of giggles to the mage's confused look.

"Sorry... I don't usually laugh at him.. It's just so priceless how much he loses his temper this quickly." Leila sighed with a burst of content laughter. Nakia couldn't help but smile.

---

Following the Altean technician to the bridge of the castle, they watched the boys taking off with their lions, flying in formation. Coran spoke through the mic once more. "You'll never be able to form Voltron unless each of you has a strong bond with his lion."

"No problem. Me and Blue are best buds for life, for real." Lance commented pretty confidently of himself.
"Perfect! Then you won't have any issues with this exercise." Coran asked. "Everyone, put your lions into a nosedive!"
"Got it, Cap'n!" Leila carefully pushed the controls to block the vision of the paladins' visors, hearing many gasps from the paladins themselves.
"Coran will be teaching us for you guys.." Leila explained, "This is an expert-level drill that you really shouldn't attempt until you've been flying for years."

Nakia stayed on the side watching Leila getting directions from Coran above her shoulder. Hearing the guys shout and trying their best to attempt their progress, it didn't obviously work. Lance and Keith challenged each other and ended up crashing into the ground. Leila and Nakia felt the pain of their crash, closing their eyes with the landing in the sandbanks. They sweatdropped, dumbfounded of their idiocy.

The girls cheered on the success of Shiro's flight and welcomed him back. He smiled fondly at them and excused himself to follow the boys back in the training deck. Coran looked at the girls with a keen eye. "Why don't you girls join them? You could be a part of their training as well."

They shrugged and went inside. While they were sitting in a circle, Coran handed them each a headset. Leila sat in-between Keith and Shiro and Nakia sat in-between Hunk and Pidge. All sitting cross leg, they sighed of relief, listening to Coran's instructions. Emptying their minds, they put a picture that would become their destiny. Lance thought of his family, Keith of his shack in the desert, Leila of her friends at the Garrison, Shiro of the Kerberos spacecraft, Pidge of his girlfriend, Nakia of a sacred stone with a strange insignia and Hunk being Hunk thought of food. The images took small replicas of the lions aside of the girls being small drones.

Shutting their eyes tighter, Pidge groaned and let go of the exercise. Nakia gasped louder, earning gazes from the others. She excused herself, and went to sit a little more in the back. What did she just see? It wasn't true, was it? Only a short vision of a spacecraft drifting into space... She shook her head and heard Pidge yelling out their discontentment.

"Alright... Let's take a break." Shiro suggested. A moment later, Coran distributed some water pack portions to everyone.

"You all have been working hard. Maybe it's time to relax a little."
"What are you guys doing laying around?" Allura arrived with the mice perched on her shoulders.
"Maybe we were pushing them too hard?" Coran said.
"Get up you lazy's bumps. It's time for you to face the gladiator."

--

"In order to defeat the Gladiator, five paladins must fight as one."

Hunk looked up hearing the hydraulic ceiling door opening. The first gladiator dashed towards Hunk making him fall on his back, stunning him with its staff. Pidge tried her short blade in close combat. The Gladiator kicked her back on Hunk's stomach, making the Blue and Red paladins follow in suit. Nakia, Shiro, and Leila remained in their fighting stance.

Preparing his hand, Shiro saw a vision of his past. He froze in place before Leila took the staff attack against hers. "Shiro! Are you okay--! KYAH" Both of them got kicked out, leaving Nakia alone to fight the Gladiator.

As he dashed, she did as well and they blocked each other's attack. Using a classic sword attack pattern, Nakia disarmed the Gladiator from its Altean staff, sending it off on the ground. Watching look away, she quickly ran to it to strike it in the nerve system - or so she thought. It swooped its leg under hers making her fall on the ground, her head landing against Lance's helmet, knocking her out cold.

---

"Are you going to be okay?" Leila asked as she put an ice pack on Nakia's forehead. "You've seemed distracted since this morning."
"Sort of." Nakia thanked Leila, taking the next step herself. "I felt something unusual. I wouldn't say it's close or far... I just felt it..."
"What kind of feeling?" She asked as she put away the water bucket in the sink.
"I felt someone in outer space. I could be crazy... but I can feel their soul. They are alive but... extremely tired."
"I didn't know your soul vision could reach that far."
"Having a deity based on the star running in my family... has its perks, I guess." She sighed with a smile.
"Come on. Let's go eat."
"Yeah."

Walking down the hallway, they saw the paladins run back to the bridge. Soon after, Allura and Coran were by their side. "They finally have some purpose in their stomach."
"Purpose?" Leila asked.
"Stomach?" Nakia followed soon after, perplexed.

Finally seeing the size of the robot up the sky and landing in front of them, they were astonished by the presentation. So, this was Voltron in pure metallic work. Nakia's eyes shone with interest but were driven back to the sky.

Something felt terribly wrong. Why...

Coran put a hand on Leila's and Nakia's shoulders. "Girls. Soon it will be the day you will be putting your pilot skills to the test. Tomorrow, you will be the pilots of the drones." The Altean smiled. "I will be your personal teacher. Be kind and respectful to me."

"I'm more of a tech person...than a pilot." Leila apologized.
"It will come naturally." He countered.
"I'm more of a down-to-earth person than with technology."
"Oh, my dear. I'll give an you extra instructor."
"Who?" Nakia asked a little fearful.
"Lance, of course."

It took a solid second to realize the situation. The flirty guy of all people as her instructor?

"Oh..heck no! This guy won't be my teacher. Not in a hundred years!" Nakia yelled through the mics.

Bad luck for her. This goofball had the dorkiest smile painted across his features.

Next Log - Bare spirit