Voltron didn’t lose all those years once they beat Lotor, this changes the way they returned to Earth.

Ao3

How I wish the Paladin’s return to Earth went, in this AU they didn’t lose all those years when they beat Lotor as I thought that their return was very lacklustre and didn’t display how amazing and badass the Paladin’s truly were by that point.

I found this in my WIP and decided while it is not done and most likely will never be more than these two chapters, I thought I would share it nonetheless 

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“Status report!” Sam Holt cried out as he stormed into the control center, panic thundering through his veins since the moment he saw those Galra cruisers coming into view high above the Earth.

“They look to be circling the planet and our readings show they are charging some sort of ion cannon from each battleship!” Veronica reported, fingers flying across her keyboard, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face.

“Can you hail them?” Sam asked, desperate to stop this attack before it happened. Earth was nowhere near ready for this sort of invasion and he still hadn’t heard anything from Katie and the rest of Voltron, not even Matt had replied yet.

“I can try… Aha! On the screen Commander!” Veronica said in triumphant before she paled at the sight of a large purple Galra with one eye and prosthetic claw.

“I am Commander Sendak of The Fire of Purification and we are here for the lions of Voltron, hand them over or we will destroy your planet.” Sendak snarled, his voice glitching like the computer was trying to translate the languages Sam had programmed into them to English. The Galra looked powerful and in control but there was no way Sam was going to back down.

“I will give you one minute to comply or your planet is forfeit,” Sendak stated in an almost bored tone before Sam even had time to reply.

“Voltron isn’t here and Earth will not fall as easily as you think it will Sendak.” Sam snarled, remembering what Katie had told him about what Sendak did to the Castle of lions, Lance, herself and Shiro. He was not going to let this Galra hurt anyone else he cared about and he had a planet to protect.  

Suddenly the ground shook and everyone in the control room yelped and clutched at their terminals as they lurched forward. Sam knew that was the result of a blast hitting their particle barrier and he wasn’t sure how long the barrier would last.

“That was a warning shot, comply now Earthlings,” Sendak ordered firmly.

“Give me Voltron!” Sendak roared before the transmission shook and Sendak snarled and Sam felt hope flare up in his chest. They hadn’t fired any of the fusion canons yet, so if Sendak was under attack that could only mean one thing.

“What was that?” Sendak snapped off-screen.

“You wanted Voltron, you’ve got it!” A familiar voice echoed through the speakers as another transmission made it’s way to the control room causing everyone in the room to gasp in shock.

“Champion, I knew you would come to protect this dustball of a planet.” Sendak’s lips curled back to show his pointed teeth.

“You made the grave mistake of attacking this planet Sendak and this time we won’t be so gracious to let you live.” Shiro snarled in response, his own transmission popped up next to Sendak’s showing his full black Paladin armour and pure white hair.  

“Shiro!” Sam beamed in relief at the sight of Shiro alive and well.

“We shall see Champion, all ships focus on Voltron. I want those lions!” Sendak roared and his transmission feed was cut off.  

“Commander Holt, keep the barrier up and if you have any ground support we would appreciate it.” Shiro smiled at Sam who returned it with relief.

“You’ve got it, Shiro, we can scramble our own fighters if you need backup?” Sam offered.

“No need Commander, taking out Galra fleets is our specialty and well after taking down Lotor, this is nothing,” Shiro smirked and twisted his head to the side to touch a glowing screen next to him.

“Paladins, don’t let anyone of those ships breach the atmosphere or they will attack the Earth with no remorse,” Shiro ordered firmly and one with the air of someone who did this numerous times before.

“Got it!” Numerous familiar voices echoed back and Shiro smiled proudly.

“We’ll contact you when we have taken down Sendak and destroyed his fleet.” Shiro turned back to the screen.

“Dibs on taking down Sendak’s ship!” Lance’s voice filtered through and Veronica let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hand at the sound of her brother’s voice.

“Still holding a grudge Lance?” Pidge asked teasingly and Sam beamed at the sound of his little girl’s voice.

“He blew me up and almost killed Shiro, yes I am holding a grudge!” Lance huffed and Shiro placed his left hand over his eyes while trying to hold back some sort of noise.

“Guys focus and yes Lance you can blow him up!” Keith chuckled from his lion and Lance whooped in return.

“Cut the chatter Paladins,” Shiro said fondly and the transmission cut off leaving the control room in silence.

“They, just, my brother was almost killed by that purple asshole!” Veronica raged as she punched the desk she was sitting at as she realized how dangerous things had been for Lance and the other cadets in the time they had gone missing.

“I’m sorry Veronica, but they have been through a lot, but they are stronger than anyone in the garrison,” Sam said like it was a fact. Veronica gave Sam a wobbly smile before turning back to her screen to keep an eye on the battle.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Iverson asked Sam as they watched the battle from a distance, flashes of colour flitting in between the purple battle cruisers that were exploding every time one of the coloured streaks flew past.

“Get the fusion cannon’s charged up and give them some support,” Sam ordered.

“Yes Sir!” Veronica jerked to life and determination to give her brother any backup she could provide.

“Sir should we launch the new ships?” Iverson asked concern in his voice. Those were still his old cadets up there and if he could do anything to help them then he would do it.

“No, they aren’t ready for this yet and well I hate to say it but they would get in the way of the lions right now. Besides, it looks like only Sendak’s ship is left.” Sam said absently as he watched the battle on screen, a smile on his face as he watched as all the ships but one fell to the Voltron lions.

“They are charging their ion canon again! This blast is massive and if it makes contact with the Earth… Half of the planet will be destroyed.” Veronica reported face paling and the room broke out into mutters and gasps.

“What can we do?” Iverson turned to Sam who was paler than before.

“We believe in Voltron and fire those fusion canons!” Sam shouted.

“Firing in 3… 2… 1!” Veronica hit the correct buttons and everyone watched as the orange blast flew into the sky and they cheered when the blast made contact with the remaining cruiser. They watched in awe as the streaks of colour flew up in an organized formation and a burst of light appeared and a new form stood.

“Magnifying,” Veronica murmured as she quickly enhanced the image and she gasped in awe at the sight of Voltron in all its glory as a sword appeared in the mouth of the red arm.

“Voltron,” Sam breathed out in delight as awe wafted across the room and Sam knew that seeing Voltron for the first time was something to behold. They watched as a shield appeared in front of the robot just in time to block the incoming ion blast.

They watched as the ion cannon was then destroyed by another blast and a new ship came into view it was a mix of glowing white, green and blue with a shining particle barrier up around it to protect it.

Voltron zoomed forward showing up on their screen as nothing but a blur and appeared on the other side of the cruiser and a moment later the battleship was sliced in half in a bright explosion, outlining Voltron’s form in the aftermath like an avenging angel.

“They did it.” Sam breathed out in excitement, his words echoing in the silent control room, everyone holding their breath for confirmation that the Galra had truly been defeated.

“This is Takashi Shirogane of the Castle of Lions and the Voltron Coalition. The Galra invasion fleet has been destroyed and we are requesting permission to land.” Shiro’s voice rang out and Sam noticed that it was broadcasting throughout the Garrison itself to let everyone know what had happened and that he was still alive, Sam just hoped Adam was on base to hear it.