The Gold Paladin

Atlas Rises

Shiro stood in the command center, fear griping his heart as they lost all contact with Voltron after they were shot by the cannons.

"Where did those shots come from?" Sam asked.

"The Zaiforge cannons." Coran said, "Sendak was ready for the attack the entire time. How?"

"Where is Admiral Sanda?" Sam asked.

"Sir, she's been gone since our mission briefing." One of the crew members answered.

Shiro turned back to the screens, widely scanning the screens for any sign that the paladins were all right. Any sign that Novae was all right.

"Paladins, are you there?" Shiro asked, "Paladins, do you copy? Keith? Novae? Anyone?"

But all they got was static from their radios. Shiro turned to Sam.

"Commander Holt, what weapons do we have available?" Shiro asked.

"Fusion cannons, but that fleet is out of range." He answered.

"What about the MFEs?"

"The mission depleted their power. They're charging now."

"Shiro, even with the MFEs, Sendak has an entire fleet." Coran pointed out.

"We need to get them back! We have to do something." Shiro looked down in thought, then looked back up at Sam, "What about the Atlas?"

"We've had zero success launching it." Sam said.

"Veronica, monitor the fleet. Let us know of any changes." Shiro ordered.

"Yes, sir." Veronica said.

"Come on, let's get that ship off the ground."

The group ran down to the Atlas As soon as they got to the Altlas, Commander Holt and Coran sat in their assigned seats typing away at their keyboards to try and get the ship airborne. Shiro took his place at the main control console watching over everything that was happening.

"Anything?" Shiro asked.

"Not yet." Coran said, "We can shut down all non-essential systems and use an external source to fire one engine."

"We tried that. It wasn't enough power." Sam said.

"What about crystals from the MFEs?" Coran suggested.

"You think that will work?" Sam asked.

"Actually, no, scratch that. Far too small. You don't happen to have any Nunville, do you?" Coran asked Sam, who looked at him confusingly.

"Nunville?"

Veronica stared at the moving points on her screens, "I'm detecting movement from the Zaiforge cannons." She said.

"Where are they headed?" Iverson asked.

"Based on their projections.... The cannons are converging above our location!"

Shiro narrowed his eyes in anger and frustration.

"Even with all the power we've allocated to it, the particle barrier will never hold against a Zaiforge cannon." He said.

"Wait, that's it!" Coran exclaimed, "We can divert power from the shield generator to the Atlas."

"The base would be unprotected, but it's possible. And it just might work." Sam said.

"How much time do we have before the Zaiforge cannons arrive?" Shiro asked.

"By our calculations, less than two hours." Veronica answered.