"I'm picking something up. It's faint, but steady, like a signal." Pidge's voice was tinged with excitement as the Green Paladin interrupted the view of the control window to share their findings.

"Pidge, stop doing that. I can't see." Lance's voice betrayed his irritation. Shiro, in some way, understood. The teens continued proximity to one another was wearing on them.

What the kids had initially accepted as a grand adventure had quickly devolved into a stifling sort of boredom. Even learning the layout of the Castle Ship and attempting to master forming Voltron did little to alleviate the feeling of being trapped.

"But guys, it's something. Just look, okay?"

"It's probably just a pulsar or something." Keith was leaning as far back as he could in his seat, staring solidly at the ceiling. Shiro frowned, eyeing the data that Pidge had shared on the screen.

It didn't seem quite right for a pulsar; if it had been, the rhythm of the rotating neutron star would be consistent and steady as it released radiation into the space around it.

But there was something else behind it; the faintest rise of frequency after the initial radiation blast, much like the lines on a heart rate monitor would rise and fall. It would be possible, on a reach, that the signal came from a binary system with two pulsar's rotating at different rates, but it was highly unlikely.

Shiro frowned, casting a glance over at Coran to try to guess the redhead's thoughts. His face was calm, though pale as his fingers flew over the control panel before him.

"I don't think it's a pulsar." Shiro said after a moment, causing Keith to sit up and glare at him.

"Shiro's right." Coran said after a moment, casting an apprehensive look at Allura, who stood at the controls, her hands engulfed in silver-white light.

Her wide, blue eyes were fixed on the screen before her, scanning the data Pidge had provided as a smile crept across her face.

"It's an Altean signal." She said, her voice laced with hope. She rocked up and down excitedly on the balls of her feet.

Coran and Shiro exchanged a glance; it physically hurt to see her that hopeful, especially knowing full well the likelihood of any surviving members of the Altean species was so low.

"Wait, how do we know it's not one of Zarkon's traps?" Hunk's voice was a cautious foil to Alluras. Shiro found himself quietly thankful that the boy had spoken; he was growing tired of being the bearer of bad news to the group, and it was difficult to resent Hunk with his easy, amicable nature.

Coran leaned forward, rubbing his chin in thought before pressing a spot on the screen.

A grainy, old video transmission filled the chamber, reminding Shiro of the old archival footage of war films.

"Is it on?" An Altean man with shoulder length silver hair appeared on the screen. He was, by all standards, exquisitely handsome, with piecing green eyes and warm, brown skin that was somewhat dulled by the age of the transmission.

Shiro swallowed hard as he watched the man's lips move, just slightly out of synch with the video.

"To any ships picking up on this signal, we are in desperate need of help. We have been-:" There was a burst of static, and the picture came back, looking darker and grainer than before.

"I am Algoma, third in command of Altean Convoy ON-92. We managed to slip the Galra blockade on Altea just in time, however we…" He trailed off, his eyes shifting downward, this, white lashes veiling his eyes.

"I don't know how much time we have left." A womans voice was whispering as the camera panned around the room, as if she were gesturing.

In the darkness of the transmission, Shiro could make out the bodies of crewmembers slumped over their control panels, each seemingly surrounded in a gut-wrenching halo of darkness Shiro recognized from his time in Zarkon's Arena.

"We are altering the mission, and hopeful that help will come quickly. Onara, over here." The camera panned to Algoma, who looked dazed and disheartened. "We're low on power, and it's getting dark inside the ship. We're cutting power to bare minimum; just life support. We need backup to arrive quickly. We were compromised and now Ingham and Gleaves are both dead, as well as the crew. I'm taking the remaining Knights and their seconds and placing them in their pods for deployment."

He inhaled, squaring his shoulders and looking directly at the camera one last time. There was a gravity in his expression that made Shiro's heart leap into his throat, green eyes seeming to meet each of the Paladins in turn.

Shiro wanted the break the gaze, his heart hammering against his ribs and his stomach fluttering, but he couldn't look away from the handsome Altean.

"We will be concealing ourselves close to the Atlantig nebula in the hopes the radiation will replenish our power in the absence of our crystal. This will be our final transmission. In the name of King Alfor, I wish you all farewell."

The transmission ended and Shiro found that he had, at some point, forgotten to breath.

Regaining his composure, he dared a glance over at Coran and Allura.

Coran was pale as he looked down at the console, his palms resting heavily on the corners as he seemed to be propping himself up. His eyes were glassy, his brows knit in an expression of grief.

Allura swayed on the spot, withdrawing her hands from the navigation podiums.

"Please excuse me." She said, her voice brimming with a tense composure, before turning and leaving the room, a deep and tangible feeling of grief in her wake.

Lance almost said something, but Shiro shot each of the kids a warning glance. He himself had a million questions, but held his tongue.

It felt like he had been bereft of something he never had in the first place.

There had been a great deal unsaid in the transmission, though heavily implied, and that Coran fully understood the implications.

"What the f-"

"Keith." Shiro cut him off before the boy could finish the word. Coran sighed and sat back, running his fingers through his hair, visibly agitated.

"So…what do we do now?" Pidge said after a moment. Shiro sighed. He couldn't win with these kids.

Coran hesitated a moment, inhaling deeply as he recovered his composure.

"We wait for the Princess to recover, and then we investigate the situation."

Authors Note: So I thought I would cross post this from my AO3 account to see if it lights a fire under my butt to finish it.

Basically, this is a fix fic from Voltron. It has Oc's. Shiro is bisexual. Adam doesn't get killed off before we can see his personality. We acknowledge abuse and manipulation. There's a tiny bit more science and less rambling of space-words, Allura doesn't do the thing, etc, etc.

My friends and I were...pretty disgusted with the last few seasons of Voltron. So we're making our own version. I kinda want to include my friends oc, Aranea, whomst is a badass shitlord.