The Gold Paladin

Collection and Extraction

The team had rested for a day after Alfor's artificial intelligence was destroyed. Though they were all saddened by the sudden loss, everyone on the ship knew that the Altean King would want them to move on from this loss.

One Paladin knew this more that anyone could possibly understand. And she would take it to heart yet again.

Pidge typed away on her computer on the Bridge, decoding the information they had gotten from Sendak's memories before he was expunged from the Castle.

"Somwhere inside Sendak's memoires we should be able to find the inside information that gives us the key to take down Zarkon." Allura said staring down at the screen with the others.

"I don't think your father would approve of searching through an enemy's memories." Coran said uneasily.

"I know." Allura sighed, "But we have to do everything we can to defeat Zarkon."

"Once we learn all his weaknesses, we can drive up to his front door and challenge him to a fight. Winner gets the universe." Lance said, looking up and day dreaming of the hopeful victory.

Everyone looked at him curiously for a moment, then turned back towards Pidge and her work.

"Find anything good, Pidge?" Shiro asked.

"We were only able to salvage bits and pieces." She replied.

Keith sighed and stood up straight, "We need something to work with. Right now, we don't even have a decent map of the empire."

"Who needs a map?" Lance asked, "After 10,000 years of conquering, I could probably fire my bayard at, like, any random point in space and hit a Galra ship."

"That would be unwise, Lance." Novae said, "If we are to defeat the Galra, it would be best to fond their weak spots first. It is as if you are trying to destroy a machine built with a hard shell. You cannot destroy it from the outside, but if you destroy it from the inside out where it is weakest, the goal will be achieved."

"Novae is right." Shiro agreed, "If we could find troop locations or supply routes, small targets we could hit-and-run, then we could start to free planets one by one."

"Boring. I want the big kaboom." Lance whined and posed strangely.

"Zarkon has been building his empire for 10,000 years. We're not going to tear it down overnight with five inexperienced pilots and one support ship. Hitting him where he lives would be a huge mistake."

"But it is possible." Keith said, then turned to Novae, "Didn't you say that you've infiltrated several Galra ships? Maybe you could tell us what ships hit first? Or even how strong Zarkon's ships and forces are."

Novae nodded, "Zarkon's forces have no fear and his home is strong...." she frowned, "But not even I dared to try and infiltrate his command ship. The only times I have ever been inside his ship, was when I was near death."

Everyone went silent. Novae fiddled with the pendant around her neck, a behavior that the others had associated with uneasiness. Whenever she was doing it, the group knew to drop the subject.

"Okay." Pidge said drawing everyone away from the previous subject, "I've cross-referenced Sendak's memories with the info I got from the downed ship back on Arus. Most of it was a garbled mess, but one thing kept repeating, something called a "Universal Station"."

"Universal Station?" Hunk repeated blocking Pidge's view of her screens, "Like, the kind of the station that controls the entire universe?"

Pidge pushed his head away, "Well, we are translating it from Galra, so it could also be "Galactic Hub."