Ember watched the Castle of Lions approach the yellow-greenish planet with a pensive stare. When they get closer to the planet, she would have to run to throw her armor on and gather the medical supplies she would need. Her finger tapped a beat on her shorts as she thought of everything she would need.

  Bandages, we'll need a lot of them. Regardless if the - uh, rock people? Regardless if they don't bleed. Anti-infection cream, thread, neddle - wait. . .They're rock.

    "We'll be arriving at the Balmera soon." Allura's voice broke through her thought process, bringing Ember back to the present. "Liberating these Balmerans from Zarkon's grasp will not be easy."

    "But you guys got this!" Ember sent them all a reassuring smile. Even when the other paladins looked away, she kept the smile on her face. 

    "So, what's the plan?" Lance asked the million-dollar question from Ember's left. "We go in there and just - pow, pow, pow!" He imitated the sound of a gun and waved his arms around. Ember backed away from Lance, only to run into Keith. "And free the prisoners?" 

    "What was that noise?" Keith rose a questioning eyebrow, holding onto Ember's shoulders to steady her. 

    "Laser guns," Lance replied smugly, narrowing his eyes at Keith defiantly.

    "No, Lance, I think you mean-" Hunk lunged forwards, doing his own imitation of laser guns. His final shot was a loud Pow. 

    "That sounds like fireworks." Lance retorted.

    "Technically, they're more like-" Pidge entered the conversations - making a finger gun to emphasis her point. "ba-choo, ba-choo, ba-choo!"

    "I think it's more like; pew, pew, pew!" Ember joined in, pretending to reload her 'gun' and pointed it at Keith with a cheeky smile. "Pew!"

    "Okay, enough with the bad sound effects," Shiro ordered. "Besides, it's more like - blam, blam, blam!" He got down on a knee - pointed his 'gun' forwards and held his wrist. If the former cadets actually thought about it, that was the way the Garrison taught them to shoot. 

    "What?" Keith snapped lightly. 

    "You're crazy." Pidge denied.

    "No way,"

    "Wrong,"

    "Sorry Shiro," 

    "Paladins, focus." Allura spoke up, gaining their attention again. 

    "Besides, we can't just shoot at the Galra. This Balmera, it's, like, alive." Hunk tried to explain. "And from what we've seen, it doesn't look very good."

    "Yes, it's an atrocity what the Galra have been doing to this grand beast," Coran let out a disappointed statement as he showed a graph of the planet. "Stealing it's crystals, it's very life force, without ever performing the energy rejuvenation ceremonies to heal it."

Ember tilted her head as more images popped up. A familiar picture of two people on one side of the crystal - hands held out - and a third person on the opposite side showed. 

  Oh yeah, I saw that when I was going through the archives. She thought, That makes more sense now.

    "After seeing Shay's people enslaved, it made me realize how bad Zarkon really is," Hunk assessed, looking at everyone in the room. "Are we're the only ones who can stop him." 

    "Okay, so we can't go into the tunnels guns blazing," Shiro excluded. "Plan B. We figure out how to draw the Galra up to the surface and battle them out there."

    "I know!" Hunk blurted out. "If we attack all of this big mining stuff on the surface, the Galra troops will have to come out to defend it. Then we beat them up, head down to the tunnels, Voltron saves the day." 

    "How will we know how many are left in the tunnels?" Keith asked. 

    "We can track the Galra and the Balmerans using Biothermal Life Indicator Point Technology," Allura tapped the air, an image of white pod expanding and showing a white glow. 

    "Oh, BLIP tech!" Pidge exclaimed. Her hazel eyes slid over to a confused Allura. She shifted her glasses. "It's an acronym."

    "One of you will need to fly around the Balmera and drop sensors into the shafts on each side." Allura continued as the BLIMP flew forwards and a faint outline of the Balmera appeared. "Then we'll be able to see where the Galra and the Balmerans are. There are already sensors built into your suits." 

Ember and Pidge exchanged excited looks as they both spoke at the same time;

    "Pidge could do it!"

    "I could do it!"

    "Pidge -"

    "-With Em's help -"

    "Just modified the Green Lion!"

The two girls snickered as they talked over each other. Ember waved Pidge on to continue. "We modified it with the invisible maze's cloaking ability."

    "She should be able to fly around unnoticed," Ember explained. "Pidge is - after all - the best engineer I have and ever will meet."  

    "That's their main power generator," Coran spoke up as he showed an image of a big Galra contraption. "If you take that down, it will severely weaken their defenses."

    "We'll stay in cloud cover and give tactical support," Allura informed. "With the Castle's defenses weakened from Sendak's crystal, we won't be of much help to you."

    "I'll take out the power generator. Keith, Lance, Hunk, you take out these big mining rigs around the area." Shiro ordered.

    "Yeah! Okay, let's do this!" Hunk cheered excitedly. "Let's go kick some alien butt!"

    "What do you want me to do, Shiro?" Ember asked, taking a tiny step forwards. 

    "Could you scout for us?" Shiro pursed his lips slightly at the thought of Ember scouting down there. "Not only that, but gather any Balmerians that aren't captured."

    "Yeah, I can do that," Ember nodded.

    "Get your armor on, and bring your travel kit if you think it'll be needed."

    "Got it!" Ember saluted, turning with the group as they started to head out to get their armor. 

    "Ember!" Shiro called out, taking a few strides to walk besides her. "Do you think you are able to fight with your weapon?"

    "I. . ." Ember curled into her self slightly. "Yeah, I can."

    "Just. . .Don't hesitate."

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬ 

Ember held onto the back of Pidge's seat with a firm grip, knowing take off was soon to happen. 

  "You think the Balmerans will have a parade for us after we've freed everybody?" Lance's voice floated through the comms. 

  "It's not about the glory, Lance," Keith explained. "It's about freeing prisoners from Zarkon."

  "No, I know. But still, when they-" Lance was cut off as the five lions took off from the castle. They flew in a V formation for a bit, before scattering away from the purple lasers shot at them. 

  "This is it. Get your heads in the game." Shiro ordered. "Remember, the Balmera is a living creature. Make sure you pinpoint only the Galra installations and not its surface."

Pidge flew closer to the Balmera, looking at Ember from the corner of her eye. "Better get down to the BLIP, you can drop down with them."

  "Got it!" Ember nodded, turning around and running towards the drop off.  

  "Initiating cloak," Pidge's voice came through the comms as Ember got ready to launch the BLIPs down. Right when they passed over the first gaping hole, Ember shoved the heavy metal out and into the hole. 

The process was repeated until there was only one left. With a grunt, Ember pushed the white metal out before jumping after it. 

  "All sensors delivered." Pidge relayed. 

  "One medic falling to the ground!" Ember responded, letting out a little giggle as she did flips in the air. "I thought I would be more scared doing this."

  "Focus, Ember," Keith reminded the black-haired girl. 

  "I am!" She huffed, flipping one last time before letting her jet pack slow her fall down. "Okay, Allura, think you can guide me to the biggest group of Balmerans?"

  "You need to take the farthest tunnel away from you and keep going straight until you reach a fork," Allura guided the younger girl as Ember landed on the ground with a soft thud. 

  "Straight, okay, then where?" 

  "Left - but be careful! There seems to be a group of sentries just before the group of Balmerans."

  "Got it!" Ember started off in a jog towards the farthest tunnel, not swaying any direction until there was a fork in the road, where she went left. 

   "Where are all the troops? They're not coming to the surface." Keith noted.

  "Yeah, I remember seeing a lot of Galra guys down in the mines." Hunk added, just as Ember entered a small cavern. 

  "Ack!" Ember swore, diving to a formation of rocks as lasers blew pass her helmet. "Well, I found some of them!"

  "Ember-"

  "I got it! There's only. . ." Ember glanced around the edge of the rocks to count. "Five of them. You guys worry about you, I'll be fine!"

  "That is so not what you said last time," Lance snorted. 

  "Besides the small group that Ember is in front of, we've located a hangar full of Galra fighters just below the surface." Allura informed them. "Someone has to take those out before they can launch."

  "Hold on, I can't think with you guys yelling in my ear!" Ember tapped the side of her helmet twice, making the comms turn off. Ember glanced around the corner, letting out a yelp of surprise as a purple laser grazed her helmet. 

  "It's just like practice, just a lot more. . .real," Ember sighed, her hand brushing her thigh. Her look-alike bayard appeared in her hand, glowing in a dim light as it transformed into two separate scythes with a chain connecting them. "Just do a count down. . ."

3. . .

2. . .

Ah, screw it. 

Not wanting to waste more time, Ember threw one scythe as far as she could - watching it plunge itself into a sentries' head. With a grunt, Ember tugged the chain and tried to spin. Luckily, the sentry stayed hooked and flew into a different one of his buddies. 

 Running as fast as she could, Ember yanked at the scythe she held in her hand and tripped a third sentry, pulling her second scythe free from the first robot. 

The bayard quickly transformed into a whole scythe and she swung it around herself to hit the fourth machine. Ember breathed heavily as she swung her scythe across the last sentries' chest, watching it go haywire and fall backwards. 

  "I have no idea how I managed that," Ember heaved out, letting her bayard disappear to where ever it goes before continuing down the tunnel. 

She didn't go far before the was met with  a scared group of Balmerans huddle together. 

  "Don't worry!" Ember exclaimed in a gently voice as the group started to scramble away, gasps of panic heard. "I'm here to help you! I'm with the Voltron Alliance!"

  "V-Voltron?" A elder looking Balmeran stammered. "That's what Shay was talking about before she. . ." The woman walked closer to Ember. "I, I think we can trust her."

  "Please," Ember started. "You don't have to trust me fully, but if any of you are injured, I would really like to help."

The group seem to glance at each other warily before a woman walked forward, a child in her grasp. 

  "While we were running from the Galra, my child was shot in the arm." She explained. "He's in pain, could you do something?"

  "I'll do my absolute best," Ember replied, swinging her bag around her shoulder and kneeling beside the child. She tapped her helmet twice, waiting a little before speaking. "Guys, I found a group of Balmerans, we have an injured child, but nothing too bad."

  "Alright, Ember, we need you to get them somewhere safe, the team and I are going to rescue Shay." Shiro explained. 

  "Copy that," Ember took some herbs out, and a bottle. "Okay, this is gonna sting a little, but it's suppose to stop infection from spreading." She explained, shaking the bottle before spraying it on the childs' arm. 

He whimpered, but besides that showed nothing short of bravery. Ember hummed to herself as she smoothed an aloe and achyranthes aspera ointment over the burn, before wrapping it in a cooling bandage. "There, that should calm the irritation down, and sooth the burn."

  "Thank you," The mother murmured, making Ember smile. 

  "No need to thank me, I would do it a hundred times if it helped you all," She pushed herself up into a standing position. "Guys, where should I take all of them?"

  "Don't come close to the core," Shiro replied instantly. "We're in a trap of some kind."

  "Alright," Ember slowly started. "I'll take them close to the surface then, but not all the way there."

  "Allura, can you come and get us?" Lance asked. 

  "How do you expect her to do that, genius?" Keith shot at Lance. 

  "I don't know, maybe they got teleporters or something." 

  "Teleporters aren't real, Lance," Ember stated, looking back at the group of Balmerans. "Okay, we're going to start heading to the surface, I need you all to stay close."

Ember must have missed Allura's reply as they started to walk, because Lance's dramatic skill was showing. "This is it! We're going to die in here. I can say bye-bye to that parade."

  "Get it together, guys. Allura, we'll get there as soon as we can. Ember, get those Balmerans to a safe place." Shiro ordered. 

  "Already on it," Ember replied, glancing behind her to make sure that the group was following her. "Alright, I'm going to take you guys to the entrance of the cave system, so that if the Balmera starts to have a. . .quake, we'll be close to the surface. Sound good?"

The Balmerans nodded and Ember led the way. Not even ten minutes later, after the small group passed the mess that Ember made earlier, Allura's voice filled the coms. 

  "Paladins, Ember, do you copy? There's a battle cruiser locked onto us. If it fires with its ion cannon, I don't know if we can survive this,"

  "I copy," Ember replied, stopping at the entrance of the cave and peaking her head out. "I don't know what you want me to do, though! My suit doesn't have enough power to fly me back into space."

  "We're trying, Allura," Lance replied as well. "Shay's pressing her hand against a wall, which apparently sends vibrations to other rock people, who vibrate back or something? Hand talking?"

  "Like echolocation!!"

  "I don't know what that is. . .Anyways! I guess the answer to your question is, 'Yes, we copy.'"

  "Allura, is there anything I can do?" Ember asked frantically, noting that the Balmera was shaking again. "I don't know if this is a safe place for any of us, at the caves' entrance!"

As if to prove her point, rocks started to crumble around them. Ember did her best to protect the rock people, but a huge bolder fell from the ceiling and was heading straight towards an elder Balmeran.

Panicked, Ember threw her hand out and watched as another one of those circular disks appeared above the elder woman. It hit the colorful orb and rolled off it to the right of the elder. This sparked an idea. 

  "Alright you guys, I need you to gather in close around me, hurry!" 

  "Paladins! They're taking off with the lions!" Allura informed them all. 

  "Please, please work!" Ember muttered to herself as the Balmerans huddled around her as close as they could get. Explosions sounded from above - making Ember hope that her friends made it to their lions - and she held her hand up in the air. 

The Balmera groaned, and Ember focused her on the space above them. Her teeth gritted together as she tried to think of the colorful rainbow disk to appear above their heads. There was a flicker, but nothing else appeared. 

  "Calm yourself," The elder Balmeran soothed from Ember's right. "Forcing it to appear isn't going to make it appear. You've got to control it, don't let it control you."

  "How?" Ember asked, looking at the wise woman. "I don't even know what I'm doing! It just appears at random moments!"

  "That's because you haven't been trained yet," She replied. "But that's okay. Close your eyes, and see what you want to be protected."

Ember breathed in deeply, and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the explosions around her and thought about what she wanted to be protected. 

 I want to protect these people. I want to protect the group of Balmerans around her. I want to protect these families. I want - 

  "There you go," At the woman's gentle voice, Ember opened her eyes and looked up. There, a swirling rainbow disk floated above the group and protected them from falling debris. "It's nice to see a Majesdanian so young, and fighting for someone other than the Galra."

  "Majesdanian?"

  "Don't you know who you are, girl?"

  "No. . .I guess I don't. . ."

  "Paladins, I need you immediately! Five more ticks and we're finished!" Allura exclaimed into the coms, making Ember wince.

  "Okay, team, let's form Voltron!" Shiro ordered.  

After that, all Ember could hear were yelling and commands from Allura. Two of the younger Balmerans let out a gasp, and Ember peaked her head out to see the Castle of Lions shooting their own canon at - what Ember hoped - a Galra battle ship. 

  "Yeah!"

  "Nice shot, princess!"

  "Yeah! The parade's back on!"

  "Mission accomplished." 

  "And just in the tick of time!" Allura sighed. "The Castle's defenses are battled and will need to fully recharge. Ember, gather the rest of the Balmerans and head back up here."

  "Got it!" Ember turned and looked to the group of Balmerans. "Uh, could you do that echolocation thing that I mention earlier into my coms? I need to head back up there to regroup."

  "Yes, we can send a message to the rest of our race," The grandmother smiled. "Thank you."

  "Don't thank me yet, lets get you guys in a safe environment."

Ember waved at the group before the started out into the deep hole that was in the Balmera. Looking around, she noted that there were ladders leading up to the surface. 

  "There's an unknown object incoming! It's about to crash into the Balmera!" Coran relayed to everyone, making Ember start to climb up faster. A loud explosion caused Ember to grip the ladder she was climbing up tighter and duck her head at the quakes it caused. 

  "What the heck is that?" Lance asked. 

  "Allura, I'm like, half way to the top! What's going on up there?"

Instead of the princess replying, Shiro replied with a simple word. 

  "Trouble."