As Allura stepped up onto a raised platform after leading them into a different, and bigger room - Coran started to explain to the others. 

    "King Alfor connected the lions to Allura's life force. She alone is the key to the lions' whereabouts."

    "That sounds like a lot of pressure." Ember pointed out. 

    "For anyone but her, yes. Yes it is." Coran nodded. Allura's eyes were closed in concentration before her snapped open - blue dots exploding all across the room. 

    "Whoa!" The Earthlings breathed out in awe as the small blue spheres moved gracefully around them. 

    "Are these planets and stars?" Ember whispered. 

    "These are coordinates." Allura gently corrected. 

    "The Black Lion looks like it's in the same location as the Blue Lion." Pidge noted with a curious expression. 

    "Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage." Coran told her. Maybe as a compliment?

    "Very observant. That's because the Black Lion is in the castle." Allura smiled gently. 

    "To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle." Coran lightly explained. "It can only be freed if the other four lions are present." 

    "Smart." Ember nodded. 

    "As you have found, the lions choose their pilots." Allura reminded them. It's a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain."

The Princess moved the holograph of the universe with just a wave of her hand and made each lion appear. "The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion.

    The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion. The Blue Lion-"

Allura was cut off by Lance, who posed and grinned at her. "Whoa, Hold up, let me guess. Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?" 

    "I don't see Ember getting the Blue Lion." Keith muttered under his breath as Allura stared at the new pilot. Ember glanced at the taller boy from the corner of her eye. 

    "So you think I'm handsome?" She teased. 

    "That is so not what I meant!"

    "The Yellow Lion is caring and kind," Allura continued. "It's pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together."
Hunk nervously pointed at himself but Allura was already moving on. 

    "The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. It's pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion."

    "What? This guy?" Lance scoffed, making the smirk on Keith's face drop. 

    "Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After 10,000 years, I might need some work." 

    "Don't worry, we'll find it soon." Coran reassured the newly made team. "They don't call me 'The Coranic' for nothing." He paused slightly. "It's because it sounds like 'mechanic'. So. . .Coranic, mechanic. It's not - it doesn't sound. . .exactly like it. It's similar." 

The five lions roared in unison before flying their way above everyone to join together - to form Voltron. 

    "Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe." 

    "Awesome!" Hunk exclaimed. "Wait. Okay, we're going to be in there flying lions. Got that part. How do lions turn into legs? Is this going to be a long trip? I have to pee. Do you people pee?" 

    "Hunk, blabbering." Ember sighed. 

    "Right, sorry, my bad. . .Thank you."

    "We don't have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion." Shiro started. "Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one. Keith and Em, you two stay here. If you locate the Red Lion, go get it." 

    "Aye!" Ember grinned and mockingly saluted. 

    "In the meantime, I'll get this castle's defenses ready. They'll be sorely needed."

    "I'll ready a pod and load the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion." Coran offered before switching his gaze between the new Red Paladin and Em. "Now, which one of you two care learn quickly and help Allura?"

Ember raised her hand while Keith pointed at the said girl. 
    "I am!"

    "That's her."

    "Great!" Coran cheered. "You can help me reboot the main systems and all that other junk. How quick can you learn a new language?"

    "Uh," Ember trailed, making Coran shrug. 

    "Our language isn't too hard, you should  be fine."

    "Oh, Seigneur, aie pitié." Ember mumbled under her breath, before nodding. "Lets do this." 

   ▬ ✦✧✦ ▬ 

By the time Coran had taught her the basics of the ship, and their language, Lance and Hunk walked through the doors of the control room, groaning and rubbing their sides or heads. 

    "You made it," Allura breathed in relief, clasping her hands together. 

    "Yeah, just barely. That was a nightmare." Lance complained, rolling his shoulder. "I almost puked out there. I felt like Hunk!"

    "Think how I felt. I am  Hunk."

    "Well, maybe if you-"

    "Bee, I swear; I know I should have took the medicine you were going to give me!"

Ember crossed her arms and huffed. 

    "Yeah. We had a tough time, too." Pidge shared knowing glance with Shiro. 

    "Did we find the Red Lion yet?" Shiro asked,  getting serious again. 

    "Allura just located it. There's bit of good news and bad news." Coran explained, twirling his mustache. "The good news is, the Red Lion's nearby. The bad news is, it's on board that Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We're Arus!" 

    "I think we gotta work on your good news and bad news delivery." Ember commented, patting Coran's shoulder. 

    "They're here already?" Shiro repeated in disbelief. 

    "Yes. Guess my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting -- it's more of an art than science." The screen in front of them all buzzed, making everyone turn to look. 

A holograph of what Ember assumed was a Galra general appeared. He had purple fur with two big ears. His eyes were cold and yellow - although one of them was more orange since it was robotic. 

    "Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on the behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet." The footage cut off, making the humans and two Alteans start to panic.

    "Alright, let's not panic." Shiro spoke up, making everyone turn towards their new leader. 

    "Not panic? The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship towards us. We only have four lions-"

    "Technically, only three working lions." Pidge interrupted.

    "That's right. Thank you Pidge." Hunk patted the shorter paladin's shoulder as he walked forward. "Three working lions and a castle that's, like, 10,000 years old."

    "Actually, it's 10,600 years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather- "

    "Thanks, Coran." Hunk put his finger to the alien's mouth to shut him up. "Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!" 

    "Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate." Allura stated.

    "Girl, you've already activated my par-"

    "Lance." Shiro cut him off sternly. 

    "The particle barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever." Coran reported glumly. "The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last."

    "Panic now?" Hunk begged. 

    "No." Shiro denied. "We've just got to figure out our plan or action, and figure it out quickly."

    "What if we had a source from the inside to manually run power from that spot to power of the particle barrier longer?" Ember thought out loud, hand under her chin. 

    "That would be a great idea, but we're on a time limit." Coran sighed. "For all we know, Sendak could start attacking at any time." 

    "I sat we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day." Lance suggested from his spot. 

    "I second that. Yes. We tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it." Hunk held up his fingers. "We only have three. We can't form Voltron.  I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance, that you were talking about." 

    "Hunk - this isn't anything like a 'college try'. People's lives at stake here." Ember explained calmly. 

    "Yeah - like ours!"

    "Then, it's settled." Lance pushed pass the two. "Allura, you ride with me. Bee, head off with Pidge or Shiro. One of you guys take the old guy." 

    "We can't just abandon Arus." Pidge spoke up. "The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them." 

    "Okay. If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we," He hissed for emphasis, "out of here."   

    "Sendak could destroy the planet then come after us anyways." Keith pointed out. "Staying is our only option."

    "Here's an option: shut your quiznak." Lance ordered from his spot. From the looks on Coran and Allura faces, he either didn't use it right or used it in a bad way. 

    "I don't think you're using that word correctly." Keith commented. 

    "What do you know, Mullet?"

    "We're staying."

    "Leaving!"

    "Staying!"

    "Snake!"

    "Guys, stop!" Shiro snapped, causing everyone to separate. "Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?" 

    "I. . .I don't know." Allura stammered. 

    "Perhaps your father can help." Coran said from his spot. 

    "My father?"

    "Come, follow me." Coran started towards the doors as they slid open. Allura quickly followed behind, leaving the room full of tension. 

But that quickly stopped as Ember cleared her throat - arms crossed and foot tapping the ground. Her eyes glared at the paladins.  "I am very disappointed in you all." She stated, looking at Shiro with her eyes softening. "Not you, Shiro. Just the rest of these. . .children."

 "Who are you calling children? You're about the same age as us!" Lance narrowed his eyes. Ember's gray eyes instantly spotted him out. 

 "I may be around the same age as you all, but I'm not the one acting like a child. Neither is Shiro." Her tone was firm, shutting the Blue Paladin up. Her gaze met each and everyone of their's. "You five are a team. Whether this was destined or not, it doesn't matter now. We are stuck here, with Allura and Coran, and the weight of the universe upon our shoulders. Your  shoulders."

Her gaze snapped back to Lance. "You and Keith might have a competition - but you do not block out his ideas or words in a group conversation. That's not how it works." Next was Keith. 

    "You, you also have to respect peoples suggestions. If Lance wants to leave, that's up to him. You aren't going to change his mind unless you have straight facts." She sighed, closing her eyes and holding her head. "I don't even want to continue this conversation."

It was silent as everyone took in her words. Finally, Shiro broke it. He placed a gentle hand on Ember's shoulder, making her look up and drop her arm. "Ember is right, guys." Shiro started, turning to look at his newly formed team. "If we're going to be a team, we have to act like a team."

 ▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

The six humans stood around the main control room, waiting for Allura to return from her trip. Finally, the doors opened up to revel a determined Princess. Her long white hair was pulled up into a bun and she now wore light armor - white, pink, and blue the colors. 

    "You five paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope. We are the universe's only hope." 

    "We're with you, Princess." Shiro replied. 

    "Then lets get you guys suited up." Allura turned on her heel - and the rest of the group stumbled after her. 

They walked into a room that was lit up when they walked in. There was five main pods holding suits of armor in them while a wall to their left held more basic armor. 

    "Your suits of armor." Allura gestured to the pods. 

    "Cool!"

    "Outstanding." 

    "Princess, are you sure about this?" Coran asked, twirling his mustache between his fingers again. "They aren't exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer." 

    "No, but they're all we got." Allura replied. 

    "It's better than nothing." Ember agreed with a nod of her head, watching as her friends awed over their new suits. 
     "Boys, it's time to suit up!" Shiro exclaimed. 

     "Oh! Ember, right?" Allura turned to the young girl, making said girl nod. "Good! If you want, we have our warriors' armor let over. Better safe than sorry, right?"

    "Totally," Ember breathed, smiling awkwardly. "I won't have to go out on the field though, would I? I'm more of a healer than a fighter. . ."

    "Only when you feel like you absolutely have too." Allura assured her with a gentle smile. "Coran, show her what we have."

    "Right away Princess!" 

The ginger hair Altean walked over the the left wall Ember noticed earlier. He touched the blue screen that protected the armor before it disappeared. "We designed them to look like the Paladin's armor - but we made sure not to take the color of their lions."

    "Thank you, Coran." Ember turned and looked Coran in the eye, smiling. The older man nodded and returned the smile before stepping back to his Princess' side. Ember turned around and took in the color of armor they had. 

 They had pink, purple, aqua, orange, brown, white - any color that wasn't yellow, red, green, blue, or black. Sadly, that meant Ember's two favorite colors were out. 
    "You'll do." Ember nodded, taking the purple armor out of the casing and started to put the armor on. 

When she walked back over to the group - Allura had opened another case. There was four objects in there, each one corresponding to the color of their owner. "The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron." Allura nodded to the said weapons. "It takes a distinct shape for each paladin." 

As the bayards' floating towards their new paladins - Ember grinned and tried to guess what each of her friends would get. "Oh, I bet Hunk it going to have a battling ram! Keith is definitely going to get a sword! Pidge. . .probably a smaller sword. Lance, maybe some gun? Shotgun!" 

    "Alright, Em, calm down." Shiro smiled at the girl that was clearly excited for them. 

    "Sorry. . ."

Instead of a battling ram like Em thought - Hunk let out a groan as his weapon weighted him down and grunted to pull it up. It looked like a gun, a machine gun. Keith's turned into a sword - with a shield added on - making him gasp in surprise. 

Just like Ember thought - Lance's bayard turned into a gun - much less bulky than Hunk's though. More like a sniper rifle.  "Whoo!" Lance laughed. 

To be completely honest - Ember had no idea what was Pidge's weapon. It wasn't a katana but it looked like it do well in close range combat.

    "Aw, you got a cute little bayard." Lance teased the shorter paladin. Big mistake. 

Pidge struck Lance on the stomach with her weapon - Lance letting out a scream of pain as he gets electrocuted. "Yeah, it is pretty cute." Pidge smugly replied. 

    "Shiro, I'm afraid you bayard was lost with its paladin." Allura spoke in an apologetic tone. 

    "I guess I'll just have to make do." Shiro brushed it off. Allura nodded, glancing over at everyone. 

    "Lets head back to the control room. We have planning to do."

  ▬ ✦✧✦ ▬  

   ▬ translation ▬  

  "Oh, Seigneur, aie pitié." 
v
"Oh, Lord, have mercy."