17 「V for Voltron」

The Green Lion of Voltron sat in the hangar of the Galra Cruiser, directly beside it was a massive robotic Black Fox. They were made of the same material. What set them apart was the neon blue eyes, and green accents on the Fox. The Fox, unlike the Lion, seemed to be laying down in the hangar instead, rather that sitting on its hind legs.

A few meters away from both of them stood Pidge, her helmet tucked under her arm half-heartedly on the right, with Nemoi standing only a couple feet away from her. He faced her with a smile across his lips and the helmet he had been wearing in his left hand. He kept his dominant hand, his right hand, open for use.

"So... You have a robotic beast too," Pidge wore a smile, though it had more than one meaning. This meant he became even more useful, but at the same time, it left him more exposed to direct danger.

She already had to focus on saving her family, and now she had someone else joining the fray.

"Where'd you get it?" She'd manage to ask him as he was just watching her. The far off look in his eyes seemed to make it apparent he was in deep thought. Knowing him from the past week she spent with him before, he was probably going through the different social scenarios that could happen.

"Oh... Um, I used Altean Alchemy combined with Magic, to summon it." This was a quick and blatant response. It wasn't necessarily truthful, but it would explain a thing or two. He couldn't just up and say that he paid for it with Quintessence.

That was when she looked around the hangar from where she stood. The place was nearly spotless, as if someone had sweated up the remains of Galra Sentries from the day before. That's when she paused, there was a bit of ash nearby in a shadowed corner.

Why were there ashes there? Did something get burnt?

She looked over at him as he tilted his head at her wondering what exactly she was looking at.

"It's nothing," Pidge seemed to block out some thoughts, primarily wondering where the ash had come from. She wasn't entirely familiar with the harvesting of quintessence, so she didn't know its effect on worlds or living things.

Leaning back on one leg, she looked over the half-assed cleaning job he had done on his armor. There were some clear stains of Galra blood, though it added some character to his armor, it made him appear a bit worn and gruesome. "So why'd you invite me on board?"

"There's a computer on board that may have access to the information on your father and brother." It was something she had been considering, since the ship was active and things could be relatively easy to access.

Pidge nodded as he spoke of this and smiled up at him, a big smile, showing of her teeth. "You really are looking out for me, huh?" She gently brushed her fist against his bicep as the two of them began walking towards the door to leave the hangar.

It would have taken them a few minutes, but they arrived on the ship's bridge within standard time. There was nothing in their way since he had already cleared the cruiser and gained plenty of Quintessence as it were.

If they were to send the Robeast, it would surely depress Nemoi. Though it didn't matter all that much, as he had set the onboard Indicator for friend or foe to attack other Galra vessels. So if the Robeast were to be sent, this ship would be the first line of defense.

As they walked onto the bridge and towards the designated terminal which held the ship's blackbox and other information. He would activate it by placing his hand on the panel, which looked as if it had been tampered with.

The screen lit up and various highlighted screens began to pop online.

Pidge immediately began downloading the available information. Especially ones concerning the prisoners.

While she was doing this, Nemoi would patiently walk over to the nearest viewport and stare out the window into space. They were a long way from home, Earth and wherever Altea used to be.

The fact that the Universe was so big and could be transversed was something that Nemoi enjoyed. Compared to his previous life, there was no such thing as manned deep space exploration. No expedition to mars or anything of the like. All there was were privately funded machines being sent off with cameras.

Many of the World's governments had almost given up on actually funding the space race. There wasn't really much to gain from it until they progressed more. If they could mine the asteroids and moons of their galaxy, they'd have a grand collection of resources.

He let out a soft sigh as he thought of what could happen should he die here. Would he go back to that dull and mundane existence he had left behind over ten thousand and sixteen years ago? That wasn't something he wanted. He wanted to continue to live, here and with people or a person he admired.

He turned and looked at Pidge as she was about twenty-five percent through all the information. This was further than she had gotten last time. Of course, they had also done this much earlier than she originally would have.

He glanced over at the helmet she had placed on the nearby counter. He could hear the sounds of the other Paladin, Shiro, calling for her. They didn't know where she was and he found it rather entertaining. She was up here, with him, alone and no one knew.

Nemoi's attention returned to Pidge who was now looking over her shoulder at him with a faint smile across her lips.

She could hear the chatter to, but she knew if she answered, she'd have to leave this all alone. She'd have to leave him alone. And clearly, he appeared troubled. More troubled than before.

"Aren't you going to answer them?" Nemoi spoke up as she seemed to shake her head almost immediately in response. She didn't want to go down, and she didn't want to leave him alone. He was useful, he cared for her and for some reason she couldn't understand what she should put first in priority anymore.

He was giving her what she needed to find her family, he worked beside her and was fulfilling his promise as he had said before. That he would help her on her quest.

Pidge's eyes narrowed as she glared at the helmet as the voices buzzed about. "They want to form Voltron, but I can't... I can't stop thinking about my family." She looked as if she was about to pull out her hair.

While he wouldn't mind if she cut it shorter or even had more of a boy-cut, that wasn't healthy to pull out hair due to stress.

"Then think about what you have to become, in order to acquire what you need, what you want, what you desire." The way he thought about it, Voltron was only a tool to do something. It was necessarily the only thing that could defeat Zarkon, but it was definitely the only thing that could kill him realistically.

"If you wish to bring peace through war, you have to steel yourself to kill. If you wish to bring peace through diplomacy, you have to turn a blind eye to cultural difference." As Voltron was only a tool, it had many uses. More than just saving the Universe, it could be used to save singular individuals, select groups, such as family.

"If you are determined in your wish to save your family, Matthew and Samuel Holt, then you must become one with the Green Lion, one with your team, one with their ambition. Imagine, Voltron as a necessity, a focal point. See them as one and the same."

It was a known fact in order to form Voltron the team, and the lions, generally have the same objective. If they all aimed for the same thing, they will get it. However it couldn't be superficial, it had to be their focus. Without that focus, Voltron and the universe will spiral into the arms of Chaos.

Pidge simply stared at him as she was seeing the way he was thinking. And with that the computer had finished the download. She took her chip and placed it into her pocket. A few steps forward, she placed a hand on his cheek.

As she did so, he brought his hand up, gently grasping her chin between his thumb and index finger. The tip of his thumb, pulling down her lower lip.

In that moment, Pidge could see that all his thoughts and preoccupation, even anxieties had lifted. His everything was just focused on her, what appeared to be a gem, in front of him. This was something she had never seen, at least towards her. Only the Hallmark channel had these stories.

She was wondering, trapped in her own thoughts, of how many times she could have seen this expression in his eyes if she had said yes in the very beginning. How much closer would they have been?

She had him on a string, he was her kite. She could point him in any direction and he'd fight the wind for her. However, the longer she stared into his eyes, the more she lost herself. She began to straighten out her brow. Why was he so empty, that she could feel the abyss staring back at her?

"You should go down to them... Katie," Running his other hand over her forehead, brushing her hair to the side as he pecked her forehead. "If the Witch of Zarkon has sent a monster, it'll be here any moment and you'll have no choice but to form Voltron to fight it."

When he had kissed her forehead, she tensed slightly. The only people who had laid their lips on her skin was her family. If her mind wasn't so focused on him, she wouldn't have suddenly become flustered. She took a step back as he freely let her out of his grasp. She nodded, swiped her helmet off the counter and placed it onto her head.

"I'll see you soon, Nemoi. Don't spend too much time alone up here." Pidge said as if warning him for segregating himself from the others.

Picking at his eyelid, letting it snap back into place, he chuckled a bit. "I'll see what I can do, no promises though." He wasn't a social butterfly, while he had no problem hanging around them, he had a feeling that he'd be entirely out of place. It started to feel as if he had some form of social anxiety.

As she as part way out the door of the bridge, "Oh right!" He said loud enough to stop Pidge in her tracks. She took a step back and looked over at him as he held out what looked like a simple looking paging device. It was the same one which he had given to her when she was staying on the Chimera.

Blinking a few times, she took it into her hand and looked at it for a few moments, then focused her gaze back on him. "What is this for?"

"If I were to say... Disappear all of a sudden, dramatically, or nowhere to be found." He pointed at the item, "This will always tell you my status, in case you worry."

Pidge raised a brow at him as she began to slink her way out the door again. "Ooookay," she made the little finger gun at him before vanishing around the corner.