τHΣ ϢΔRRIΟR ϢIτH ϢIͶGς

the black paladin

the group returns to the ship, immediately heading to the command room was, seeing coran turn to face them.

"what happened? where's allura?" the frantic man asks, shiro gritting out, "they captured her. she sacrificed herself to save me and the information. i didn't have a choice."

"how is that possible?"

"coran, i'm sorry things didn't go as planned, but we can't focus on what went wrong. we've got to figure out how to make it right. pidge, anything?"

rhys ignores the words of the green paladin, moving forward to put a hand on coran's shoulder. "we'll get her back, coran. you don't have to worry."

they turn to see the blueprints of the command station. "look at the size of it."

pidge says, "i think we should go in right away. every minute we waste gives zarkon time to prepare for us."

"i agree. we form voltron, fly in, fly out, dust off our hands, and walk away."

"it's not that easy, lance. not in the slightest. if it were, my people would have taken zarkon down centuries ago," the noxian pipes up, gaining their attention.

"well, if your race is full of battle-ready soldiers, why haven't you?"

"because despite what you may think, we don't go rushing into fights. and zarkon has sent fleet after fleet to my planet to try and overpower us, using that to distract us from targeting his command. we have allies out there, but they are not ready to take them down. we've all been waiting for the right moment to strike."

"um, do you guys not remember the balmera? we could barely take out one fleet. but this... a base this size could hold a thousand fleets," hunk adds worriedly.

"or maybe we shouldn't go on this mission at all. think about it. we'll be delivering the universe's only hope, and the strongest commander in the galaxy, to the universe's biggest enemy," keith states.

"keith, that's cold, even for you. what if it was one of us? what if it was me? you wouldn't leave me, would you?"

"but he's not wrong. i care about allura and want her back just like the rest of you, but think about this. sometimes, you can't risk others lives just to save one among many."

"how can you say that, rhys?" lance demands, and she fixes a hard look on him.

"why do you think i wasn't rescued? the galra had me in their hold for close to a week. my queen knew better than to send a force out to find me, not just because of my skill and intellect, but also because she knows the cost of what would happen if it went wrong. this is war, and sometimes, you have to make the hard choices."

"rhys-"

"i'm not saying that we shouldn't rescue allura. i'm saying that until we have a foolproof plan on how to do it, we aren't going out there. find me when you have a plan."

with that, she exited the room, wings furling back to their non-visible state.

——

hunk found her on the training deck a few vargas later, and after hearing shiro explain the plan, they all looked to the most experienced soldier in the room. rhys stares at the man before nodding in approval, and he lets out a small sigh of relief.

they wormhole in not that long after, and rhys straightens her stance.

"rhys."

she turns at her name, and locks eyes with shiro.

"pile in with keith. he tends to stay off by himself, so watch his back if we split up, alright?" he asks. she was quiet for a few moments but then nods, following after the said paladin to his lion. he gave her a confused look but just went with it, figuring it was part of shiro's plan.