Love is Weak

Chapter 27 - Stress

Lillian
    The next morning, Keith, Kolivan, and I were standing in Central Command with the rest of Delta behind us.  We were speaking with Team Voltron about our next plan of attack. 
"Entire Galra fleets have been mobilized.  Zarkon seems to be out looking for Lotor," Kolivan said, staring menacingly into the camera. 
Shiro spoke next. "It's only a matter of time before he gets the empire back in order.  We need to take advantage of this moment."
It was clear what Shiro wanted to do, and I was just about to make a note of it when Allura spoke up, asking him to explain. 
I internally groaned. 
How hard is it to understand that he wants to jump into a fight?
"Now is the time to assemble the coalition that Voltron has been building," Shiro said, patiently. 
"With intelligence gathered by the Blades and coalition observers, combined with Pidge's Galra tracking software, we now have a detailed map of the Galra Empire," he said.
"Which we already had," I muttered under my breath. 
Keith shot me a glare. 
Shiro went on. "I've identified an intermittent line of coalition planets that runs through the territory.  If you look closely, there's only one Galra-occupied planet left on that line."
"Naxzela," I said.
"Exactly.  If we capture Naxzela and solidify that line, we can cut off all the Galra behind it from central command and use our position to defeat them," Shiro finished.
"Wow!" Pidge exclaimed. "We could take back a third of the Galra Empire in one fell swoop."
"Do we have a plan?" Hunk asked.
"We attack several locations across the region, at once.  First, we'll have to cut off communications between the region and Galra Central Command by striking the satellite relay station orbiting Vantax Five," Shiro began to explain.
"Pidge and I can handle that," Hunk said, volunteering himself and another human to do it.
"The Blades have informed us of two Galra defense systems coming online called Zaiforge cannons."
I nodded.  I hadn't been part of that crew, but I had deciphered the coded message. 
"These cannons can strike any target within our combat theater.  The first, in high-orbit around the planet Teq, will be attacked by coalition air forces led by Matt and Captain Olia.  Kolivan will lead a Marmoran strike team against the second cannon, located on the surface of Senfama,which is vulnerable to a covert ground attack," Shiro said. 
I burned with jealousy. 
That should have been my mission.
Shiro continued.  "We intend to take control of these cannons and use Zarkon's own fire power against him.  Once the coalition forces and Blades neutralise these targets, Galra defenses will be weakened, allowing us to take down the remaining Galra-occupied planets in this area.  While our forces are taking control of the planets, Naxzela will already be under attack."
"By whom?" Allura asked as if it wasn't obvious.
"Voltron," Shiro answered. 
"Aw, yeah!  Team Voltron's gonna drop into Naxzela, form Hunk's giant laser cannon, and be all like, 'Pow!  Pow!  Pow!'  Easy-peasy," Lance said, and I actually groaned this time. 
"Unfortunately, not that easy." Shiro brought him back to reality.  "Naxzela will be tough.  It's heavily fortified with Galra.  Our attack must be swift enough to neutralise the Galran forces before they have time to contact their Headquarters. 'Cause, if they call for reinforcements, we'll be caught in a fight on two fronts."
"If this works, the Voltron Coalition will possess a third of the Galra Empire's territory.  It will be a massive victory," Kolivan said. 
"And inspire a whole new wave of rebellions," Allura said, finally uttering something useful.
"There's no time to waste," Shiro said, and I felt like he was wasting time just by saying that. 

Our call ended, and I turned to Kolivan.
"When were you going to tell us that we are part of the Voltron Coalition?" I asked sternly. 
"When the time was right," he said. 
"And how about that mission you're leading?  Who's going on that?" I asked.
He sighed.  "General, I do not have time for your attitude.  We carry out that mission in less than a day.  Get to the arena."
Kolivan left Central Command, heading to the General's hall, and I was left with an unhappy Delta Unit. 
I groaned.  "This is frustrating."
"Why?" Josh asked. 
"Well, you're not coming, that's one thing.  It'd be easier if none of us had sustained the injuries we had."
"And another thing?" Josh looked at me. 
I didn't say anything. 
"You wanted to lead that, didn't you?" Kiana asked softly. 
"It's fine."
"And what's wrong with being part of a Coalition?" Keith asked, crossing his arms.  He wasn't happy.  Probably because he was offended by my behaviour towards his team.  I wasn't proud of it either. 
"It feels like we're weakening, having to rely on a new force.  The Blades have been around a lot longer than Voltron or the Coalition," I said.  "But it's fine.  We need to get into the arena and run through some training."
That was the end of the conversation.  I wasn't going to let any more of my feelings come out.