Chapter Text
The Balmera was free.
The faint, distant glow of the crystal-covered planet shimmered beneath the Castle of Lions, peaceful now in a way that felt unreal. The pain, the captivity, the slow draining of its life force was finally over. The people were safe and the Galra defeated.
And for the first time since they’d hurtled into this cosmic war, the Paladins had won something that felt more than survival.
In the control room, the air felt lighter than it had in weeks. Hunk had cooked using Balmerean roots and strange cave grains that somehow made something like warm cornbread. Pidge had her boots off, slouched with a datapad in her lap, half-reading, half-napping. Lance was chowing down on hunks space cornbread with a relieved look on his face. Keith wasn’t scowling and took a few bites of it too. And Shiro was simply smiling looking at his Paladins.
“It’s quiet,” he said, leaning back in the chair beside Allura.
Coran piped up, twirling his moustache between two fingers. “The kind of quiet that comes just before the universe throws a flaming meteor right in your face, if you ask me.”
“We didn’t,” Lance muttered before taking another big bite of the cornbread.
“Hey! Chew your food Lance! Don’t disrespect my space cornbread. “ Hunk spoke from the other side of the table, fixing Lance with a stern look.
“But it’s true!” Coran insisted. “These peaceful little moments? Always suspicious. Mark my words.”
Allura’s lips twitched in amusement. “I hate to say it, but I am starting to agree.”
Shiro glanced around the room. The team was— against all odds—coming together. For once, they weren’t scrambling for survival. They’d gotten people out alive. They’d made a difference. This was what voltron was supposed to do.
So when the alert chimed, low and slow, like a heartbeat just slightly off-rhythm, none of them moved at first.
It didn’t sound urgent.
***
Minutes later, the team was gathered around the holotable.
Allura expanded the projection. A nearby star system lit up—faint readings pulsing like static. A slow scan swept across a dark, debris-choked sector. Floating there: a ruined Galra structure, long dormant, pulsing weakly with quintessence signatures.
Pidge zoomed in. “That's not just a wreck. It’s active. Barely…”
Hunk squinted. “Looks like it’s falling apart.”
“Still giving off a quintessence signal,” Pidge said, fingers moving across the computer with impressive speed. “And–wait–this frequency. It’s not normal. It’s… warbled. Like corrupted Altean code. It’s mimicking the lion data.”
Allura’s brows furrowed. “That should be impossible.”
Keith leaned forward and crossed his arms. “Is it dangerous?”
“Most likely!” Coran said cheerfully. “Could also be useful! If the Galra were experimenting on lion resonance tech, we might be able to find something that helps stabilize the lion’s power systems.”
“It’s not impossible. They did have the red lion and we honestly have no idea what they were doing to her.” Pidge conceded.
Shiro nodded slowly, eyes still fixed on the holographic projection hovering above the table.
“We’ve been pushing the lions hard,” he said, voice steady but thoughtful. “And if this place really has anything on how the Galra were interfering with Red… we can’t ignore that. Especially not after how close we came to losing on the Balmera.”
He looked up, meeting each of their eyes in turn.
“If we can make the bonds more efficient—and shut down whatever tech they were trying to develop—this could help us in the long run. I say we go. Quick in and out.. Grab the intel, destroy the rest.”
There was a quiet pause.
Hunk shifted in his seat, looking over at the readout. “Are we sure this thing’s stable? Because last time we went into a half-dead Galra base, we almost got thrown out into space.”
“It’s been dormant for years,” Pidge said, brushing her hair behind her ear. “I ran a system sweep—it’s active, but barely. If something’s still running in there, it’s on its last legs.”
“Like Coran,” Lance smirked, humor clear in his tone.
Coran’s head snapped up from his console, “I think not! I’ll have you know I am in my prime for an Altean”
Shiro allowed a faint smile. “We’ll take every precaution. But if there’s even a chance this helps us strengthen the lions, I think it’s worth the risk.”
Allura crossed her arms but gave a small nod. “Very well. I will prepare the Castle’s trajectory. We will stay nearby in case anything goes wrong.”
Everyone agreed and they left within the hour.
***
The Castle of Lions glided smoothly toward the decaying star system, white and silver against the fading light. On the bridge, everything felt normal. Boring, even.
The mission briefing lasted all of ten minutes. Pidge had already checked out halfway through and was now fiddling with a half-disassembled drone in her lap. Hunk was lying belly-down across two seats with a ration bar sticking out of his mouth, muttering to himself about “barium root ratios” and “emotional consequences of too much fiber.” Lance was humming something tuneless and annoyingly catchy. Keith stood near the viewport with his arms crossed, looking broody and windswept by absolutely nothing. As usual.
“We should bring snacks,” Lance announced.
Pidge didn’t look up. “It’s a two-hour recon run.”
“Exactly. Two hours. That’s long enough to get hungry. What if we run into space turbulence? What if I pass out from low blood sugar?”
Keith sighed. “Then we leave you.”
Lance clutched his chest dramatically. “You’d abandon me in a cursed Galra ruin because I forgot to pack a snack bar?”
“No,” Keith said. “I’d abandon you before the cursed Galra ruin.”
Shiro, from the pilot’s seat, smiled faintly. “You two bonding again?”
“Define bonding,” Keith said.
“Define again,” Lance muttered.
Coran looked up from his screen. “The station’s orbit is stable—for now. But it’s close enough to the gravity well that we shouldn’t linger. I recommend grabbing what you can and setting charges on the way out.”
Allura nodded, tapping her fingers against the console. “We will keep the Castle nearby. But do not take unnecessary risks, we cannot give the Galra a single chance at taking any or all the lions. If the readings spike, you pull out. Understood?”
“Yes, Princess,” Hunk said, mock-saluting with the last bite of his ration bar.
Lance pointed dramatically at Keith. “If anyone’s gonna take an unnecessary risk, it’s Blade Boy over there.” He turned to look at him. “You’re not cool if you get flung into a black hole. Just saying.”
Keith rolled his eyes, “What like your super kick on Arus?”
Before Lance could make a comeback, Shiro cut in, “I’m going to stop this before it even starts. We have a mission to do even if it’s just recon. Focus now, fight later. Got it?”
Lance and Keith both grumbled in response but turned to their respective platforms. The team split to their launch platforms as the lions began to power up.
The hanger lights buzzed softly, casting long shadows across the floor. There was a rhythm to all of it now. Suiting up, syncing vitals, running checks. It wasn’t second nature yet, but it was familiar. Muscle memory wrapped in armor and nerves.
“Everyone ready?” Shiro asked over comms, his voice calm and level.
“Greens purring,” Pidge replied, already halfway through her diagnostics “Though I think she’s side-eyeing me for messing with her stabilizer node.”
“I’m good,” Hunk said. “Yellow’s good. We’re all set.”
Keith just made a low affirmative sound.
“Blue’s ready,” Lance added, stretching in his chair. “I even gave her a good wash so hopefully she isn’t still mad at me.”
“Doubtful,” Pidge said dryly.
Keith’s voice crackled over comms. “You tried to feed her goo from the castle cafeteira and it got her jaw all dirty.”
Lance blinked. “Okay, first of all, it was a bonding gesture.”
“She doesn’t eat.”
“It was symbolic!”
“Symbolically insulting.”
“I didn’t say it worked...”
With a few groans and huffs of laughter the Paladins launched in tandem, lions peeling away from the Castle of Lions and diving into the black.
***
The Galra station loomed ahead, jagged and half-swallowed by the pull of a nearby red giant star. Bits of metallic debris orbited lazily, like teeth around an open jaw.
Up close the scans didn’t do the wreck justice. Twisted girders and shattered plating spiraled off into the void. Quintessence residue glowed faint purple across the seams of the structure like dried blood. The main hangar bay, surprisingly, was intact. Most of it at least.
“Looks stable enough to walk through.” Keith said as red hovered beside an entry point.
“Copy that,” Shiro replied, voice steady and clear. “ Pidge and I will enter through the main hangar bay and make our way to the control room. Best not to interfere with anything. No touching, no triggering, no heroics. We are here to observe and extract intel—nothing else.”
“Ugh, you take the fun out of cursed space ruins,” Lance muttered. “At least we’re blowing it up.”
“It’s only fun until it sends a signal and then we have a fleet on us.” Pidge spoke dryly, rolling her eyes.
“Exactly my point,” Shiro said. “No surprises. We get what we need and get out.”
“Copy that,” Keith confirmed. “I’ll stay sharp on the perimeter.”
“Be careful in there,” Hunk added. “That place is seriously giving me the creeps.”
“We will.”
Pidge dropped into the hangar bay first, Green’s paws skimming the floor before she hopped out with her scanner already active. The Black Lion followed, landing heavily beside her with a controlled thud. Shiro disembarks in a smooth motion, landing right beside Pidge.
The interior was worse than they thought. Collapsed beams, warped walls, and a deep purple haze that made the place look foggy.
“This place feels off…” Pidge said, glancing around, voice low over comms.
Shiro nodded, scanning his surroundings. “Stay close. We don’t want to get seperated in here.”
—
Outside the remaining lions circled slowly. In Blue’s cockpit, Lance tapped his fingers against the controls
“So… what are the odds that this place isn’t cursed?” he asked.
“Cursed or not it’s still Galra,” Keith said. “We treat it the same either way.”
“Cool, cool. I’ll just be over here watching for space ghosts then.”
“Ghosts aren’t real.”
“Listen, I am not dying because you refuse the existence of ghosts when we are literally inside a magical cat head that speaks to us in our minds.” Lance responded loudly.
There was a pause on comms.
“That’s… fair.” Keith said slowly.
“Wait, wait, wait. Did you just—Keith, did you agree with Lance?”
“I didn’t agree. I said it was fair.”
“That’s kinda the same thing.”
“No. It isn’t.”
“Guys,” Lance interrupted, smug. “Let’s all just take a moment to acknowledge this historic day. Keith Kogane agreed with me. I am so going to record this conversation.” Lance chuckled.
“I didn’t agree.”
“Space ghosts are real and Keith knows it.”
“I’m muting you.”
“I’ve already recorded the entire thing.”
“Lance—”
“Preserved! Forever and always will this be hung over your head!” Lance was smirking now and Hunk went from quiet chuckling to full on laughing. Keith turned his head, lips twitching.
—
Inside the station, the echo of the comms drifted faintly through Shiro’s helmet as he and Pidge moved deeper into the main corridor.
“...Keith Kogane agreed with me. I'm so going to record this conversation.”
Shiro huffed quietly, the smallest smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You know, I used to think that it would take forever for those two to actually work with each other.”
“To think, space ghosts is a friendly topic.” Pidge smiled.
“I don’t know how friendly they’d be so glad they aren’t exactly real.” Shiro moved a piece of debris.
Pidge snorted. “I don’t know Shiro. If space ghosts were going to haunt anything it would definitely be in Galra territory.”
“That’s optimistic.” Shiro said dryly.
She shrugged, scanning the walls again. “I mean, let’s just accept we’re living in a cosmic horror movie and move on.”
“Fair enough.”
***
They reached a sealed archway at the end of the hall, twisted but still functional. A faded Galra sigil blinked above the door.
“This is it,” Pidge said. “Control room should be just through here.”
Shiro stepped forward, shoving the broken door aside with a grunt. Past the door the control room stretched in a wide half-circle; broken monitors lined the walls, some still twitching with fragmented images and corrupted code, a raised platform sat in the center, surrounded by cables and cracked conduits, and at its core–floating just inches above the surface–was a dark crystal veined with a pulsing purple glow.
Pidge stepped in beside him, eyes wide behind her visor. “This place looks… horrible.”
“Can you get anything from it?”
“I’ll definitely try.”
Pidge moved around the platform with purpose, her scanner in one hand, the other skimming across corrupted data ports. Shiro stood guard nearby, eyes flicking between the rooms warped monitors and the slowly pulsing crystal in the center.
“This core’s not just a power source,” Pidge muttered. “It’s a relay node. It’s been copying resonance patterns. See these signatures? They match red’s bonding waves from when she was captured.
“Is the data salvageable?” Shiro asked.
Pidge adjusted her scanner, eyebrows furrowed. “Some of it’s readable. The rest is a mess. It’s like the whole system’s half-written in corrupted Altean code–no wonder the signal looked weird. They weren’t just studying the lions, they were trying to mimic them.”
Shiro stepped closer to the crystal platform, brow creasing. “Do you know if the Galra have this yet? It’s been a while since we got red.”
Pidge didn’t answer right away. Her fingers flew across the scanner, eyes flicking between bursts of static-filled code and pulses in the core’s light.
“...Hard to say,” she admitted. “The data’s fragmented. A lot of it looks like it was never finished–or maybe someone tried to wipe it. But if this cruiser still exists and it’s still echoing red’s resonance, there’s a chance the Galra never fully recovered it. Which means we are most likely the first ones to see what’s left.”
Shiro’s jaw tightened. “Then whatever's in there–if it can still influence the lions–we need to shut it down.”
“Already on it.” She knelt, drawing out a thin cord and plugging her scanner into a partially intact control terminal. Sparks jumped, but the screen flickered to life.
The crystal above them pulsed again, almost like it was reacting to the connection. Shiro’s eyes narrowed as it flickered, a few sparks coming from it.
“I’m getting some clean files,” Pidge murmured. “Core resonance maps, Red’s neural sync data–oh man, they were trying to rewrite the instincts. Like… override the lion’s choice.”
“This tech is i-incredibly reckless, beyond reckless. It’s crazy.” Shiro said, voice low. “You don’t force a bond like that without consequences.”
Pidge grimaced, fingers flying across her console. “Well, it gets worse. If I’m reading this right, they weren’t just experimenting with Red. They were building something like a… relay, or maybe a resonance anchor–it’s hard to tell with the code this mangled–but the idea seems to be that they’d fake the neural bond entirely. And make one that can artificially mimic lion-pilot bonding signatures. Probably to force compatibility. Like skip over the whole ‘lion chooses the pilot’ part and just force it. As if synching with the lions is some kind of password you can just spoof, which is– ”
“Pidge, Breathe.” Shiro cuts her off before her tangent can become intangible.
“Sorry,” She paused, then reached up and clicked her comm receiver back on, “—Hey, uh. Is everyone getting this…?”
A sharp buzz of static cleared as the connection stabilized across the team. One by one, voices chimed in.
“Define ‘force compatibility’?” Lance said, somewhere between a joke and alarm. “Because that sounds like the kind of phrase you hear right before everything goes black.”
“You’re saying they wanted to control the lions?” Keith asked, “Override their instincts?”
“They were manufacturing bonds,” Pidge confirmed. “They had access to Red long enough to collect detailed resonance patterns–and now they’ve embedded those into a system that could theoretically assign a lion to anyone.”
“That should not be possible,” Allura cut in. Her tone was sharper than usual, clipped with disbelief. “The lions choose their Paladins. They always have. That’s not just design–it’s spiritual.”
“Well somebody forgot to tell the Galra that.” Pidge grumbled.
Coran’s voice crackled through. “If they had succeeded in hijacking the paladin's bond to the lions it would make the lions vulnerable to control.”
Hunk groaned. “Please tell me it’s broken. Like, rusted-out beyond repair, buried in a volcanic pit kind of broken.”
“It’s still active,” Pidge groaned, squinting at her scanner, “and is currently being extremely difficult to take the data from.”
She smacked the side of the console, watching it flicker in protest. “Ugh—there’s too much signal interference. It’s drawing power from something half-fried and then feeding it back through the corrupted crystal node. I need a clean stabilizer to keep the interface open–something the system recognizes as Galra tech but won’t fry on contact.”
She froze, then slowly turned her head to Shiro, “...Your arm.”
Shiro raised his eyebrow. “My arm?”
Pidge gestured at the flickering node. “It’s Galra. It runs interface-compatible energy, and it’s already synced with most of the castle systems. If you plug in directly, it might stabilize the relay long enough for me to extract the rest of this without everything exploding in my face.”
Shiro hesitated. “If you—”
Pidge didn’t wait for a reply and snatched Shiro’s arm, slamming it on the console, “Great, thanks!”
Shiro’s eyes widened. “Woah! Pidge!”
“Sorry! Sort of.” She said, already twisting his wrist toward the terminal. The port shimmered, then glowed violet as it recognized the interface and pulled the connection live.
Instantly the systems flared. The crystal overhead surged a bright purple with a deep, pulsing hum. Shiro’s arm lit up, lines of Galra circuitry glowing hot beneath his skin.
Pidge watched her screen. “Okay… okay, that’s it! Stabilization’s holding and the data stream is coming through clear. Just keep it steady.”
“Red’s getting agitated,” Keith said. “Shiro, Pidge, what did you do?”
“We’ve stabilized the relay. Just extracting data,” Shiro replied, still locked in place. “It might be pinging the lions—stay sharp.”
“Pinging?!” Lance exclaimed. “That sounds like it's getting the lion's location and I am definitely not a fan of that!”
Coran’s voice came through again, more urgent now. “Paladins, we’re detecting a quintessence feedback loop building in the station! Whatever you activated—”
“I know!” Pidge cut in. “I’m almost done. Just a little more, come on, come on…”
Deep vibrations rumbled through the floor. The lights in the control room flickered–then began to pulse in time with the crystal’s glow growing faster and louder.
“Pidge!” Shiro yelled in warning.
“I KNOW!” She shouted back. “Just five more seconds!”
The room lurched. Sparks exploded from the ceiling panel. The node beneath Shiro's hand surged, and Pidge's screen flashes green.
“–I got it!” She yelled triumphantly. “Pulling everything now!”
The console erupted with a pulse of energy. Blasting Pidge backwards, over the raised platform and hitting the ground hard, skidding across the floor.
“Pidge!” Shiro roughly removed his arm from the node and ran to her side. “You okay?”
She groaned, clutching her shoulder. “I’m fine–I think–I just–ow. Yeah, ok, definitely dislocated.”
“Good enough.” Shiro looked towards the corridor they came from. “We have to get back to our lions.”
He pulled Pidge to her feet as gently as he could, steadying her before he looked around. The floor beneath them vibrated again–stronger this time. A low, pulsing hum echoed from the crystal node like a warning bell.
“Shiro,” Keith’s voice crackled through the comms, tight and on edge. “Something’s wrong, Red’s moving on her own.”
“Same with Blue!” Lance shouted. “I didn’t touch anything–she just powered up and opened the cockpit!”
“Yellow’s responding too!” Hunk yelped. “Guys, she won’t listen to me!”
Coran’s voice overrode them all, panicked now. “The lions are syncing with the station’s resonance pulse! It’s pulling their quintessence levels out of alignment.”
“What does that mean?” Keith snapped.
“It means they’re being reprogrammed!” Allura cut in. “The lions, they’re changing their Paladins!”
Shiro’s eyes widened. “We need to move now!”
He grabbed Pidge’s good arm and took off down the corridor. They sprinted through the trembling wreck of the cruiser. Sparks flew from ruptured panels. The floor quaked under their feet. Each pulse from the corrupted crystal core was stronger than the last–like the ship itself was trying to throw them out.
They burst into the hanger, Shiro immediately running to Black. “Come on, open up. It’s me.”
Shiro’s fist pounded on his paw. “Black respond!”
Shiro turned to Pidge only to see she couldn't access Green.
“C’mon, Green, not now–please…”
Both lions remained motionless and with a sudden rumble, the other lions descended. Red, Yellow, and Blue landed roughly beside Green and Black. Their mouths opened and ejected their pilots.
Lance hit the hanger floor first, groaning. “OW–hey! Blue?!”
Keith stumbled out of Red next, blinking. “What the– Red?”
“Guys!” Hunk yelped as he rolled out of Yellow. “What’s going on?!”
“They’re rejecting us,” Pidge panted. They’ve already re-aligned and the resonance tech surging must’ve kept them from re-aligning properly!”
“Allura!” Shiro barked into the comm. “Where’s the castle?!”
“Still en route!” She yelled. “We can’t get in range before the station collapses. You all need to get out now!”
The team stared at their lions. Five enormous metal heads loomed in front of them, feeling more intimidating than welcoming.
Shiro felt a small rumble in his head and he turned from Black to feel Blue staring at him. Her eyes glowed faintly, soft and steady. Like she was waiting.
“...No way,” he muttered.
“Shiro?” Pidge called from behind him, clutching her dislocated shoulder. “They’re not opening for us! What do we do?!”
Shiro looked around. The lions were still watching. Not rejecting them, just waiting for the wrong Paladins.
He clenched his jaw. “This makes no sense but we don’t have time to question it.” He turned to the others, taking a deep breath. “Forget what you know,” he said, loud enough to cut through the chaos. “Forget which lion was yours before. That bond is gone. Right now, you listen to the one that’s calling to you.”
“Calling?” Lance asked, looking between the lions. “Shiro, I don’t even know what that feels like!”
“Yes, you do,” Shiro said, gaze locked on him. “It’s different now, but it’s still there. Feel for it. Trust it.”
The team hesitated. Everyone looked around nervously.
“Get in your new lions,” Shiro ordered, more forcefully this time. “Figure out the rest after we live.”
Another explosion rocked the hangar. The far wall split open in a violent crack, and an inrush of air whistled around them.
Lance turned. Green’s eyes locked on him. His stomach dropped, “Ugh, fine,” he muttered. “But I swear, if she eats me!”
Keith approached Yellow, jaw clenched, clearly struggling to accept it. “This doesn’t make any sense!” he groaned.
“No, it doesn’t,” Shiro agreed. “But you trust the lions, right?”
Keith didn't answer, yet Yellow opened anyway.
Hunk stared up at Black in awe and horror. “I’m not a leader! I make food and cry under pressure.”
Black lowered his head. “I–okay,” he said, inching towards the mouth. “But don’t get mad at me if I throw up…”
Pidge hobbled towards Red. The lion growled low as its cockpit opened. “Guess you’re stuck with me now,” she said, her voice wavering a bit.”
Shiro climbed into Blue. The controls shimmered to life beneath his hands. It felt wrong for all of them.
“Get us out of here bo-girl.” Shiro stuttered over his words.
The hangar gave one final, agonized shudder as the lions launched and headed towards the castle.