A dobosh later, I land near a Blade drop ship. A female galra with cropped hair walks up to me.

"That was quite the trick you pulled. Wiped out those bastions one after the other." She says, as I recognize her voice. She is general Troda.

~~Thanks. Voltron, ask her about the current situation.~~

Response: Affirmative.

"Query: What is the current situation?" Voltron asks.

"Situation? Excellent. With all the clean-up you did, we haven't gotten any resistance. The Olkarion defense network is online and they patched the problem. It won't be going down again any time soon. So, what exactly are you?" Troda asks.

"Answer: I am Voltron."

"No, not who are you, what are you? Because there's no way a mechanoid did everything I just saw." Troda elaborates.

Query: Response?
Not sure… tell her you're an ally, sent by Kolivan.

Notice: Answer may be construed as "dodging the question".
It will have to do.

"Answer: Voltron is an ally, sent by Kolivan." Voltron says. Troda raises an eyebrow.

"Hey, where is the commander anyway? He went off on some mission to find new allies and now I hear that the base is being moved." Troda says, to the interest of other Blades members.

"Response: Correct. Commander Kolivan is moving the Dagger to Mystacor, thereby moving it outside of Galran space." Voltron says.

"What? Seriously?" Troda asks.

"Response: Seriously seriously." Voltron says, a small bit of humour in his voice, to Troda's surprise.

"Haha! Now I definitely know you're not just a mechanoid! You have a sense of humour!" She exclaims.

"Continuation: Situation optimal?" Voltron asks.

"Yeah, I'd say so. We should have Oscil Lima Kilos back up by tomorrow." Troda informs us.

"Response: Good. Returning to Mystacor." Voltron says, getting ready to blast off.

"Wait, what?"

"Continuation: Voltron shall inform commander Kolivan of general Troda's accomplishments." Voltron continues.

"Hey wait, I still want to-" Troda is cut off as we ignite our thrusters, flying out of the atmosphere.
Now, do you know the way back? I mentally ask.

Response: Of course. Engaging super-wings.
To infinity!

And beyond! I think as we rematerialise. Unfortunately, I look around in front of me, not seeing the familiar planet of my destination.
Uuum…

Advice: Turn around.

Rotating around, I see the planet is merely behind me, having over shot it.

~~Woops. How'd that happen?~~ I mumble as I fly back, looking down over the massive landscape. ~~Wow. This place really is amazing. So many colours and different lands. Just the more reason to protect it.~~ I say to myself as I start flying over Fantasia. Making my way to the familiar capital, I start scanning for the princesses and captains.

Notice: Target quintessence signature detected. Location: Throne room.
Which signatures?

Response: All of them.
They're all in the throne room. Thanks.

Response: You're welcome. Voltron says as I land on a balcony. Briskly making my way to the throne room, I am greeted with relieved smiles.

"Diego. I am glad to see you have returned." Celestia says as I enter.

"Hey big guy! So, what happened? Did you kick butt?" Spitfire asks.

~~More than I can count.~~ I nod as I begin recalling the events of the battle. Kolivan, who is also present, listens calmly but I can tell he is relieved as well. Luna retells my words to her sister as I speak.

~~…and Troda says that the base on Olkarion should be back up by tomorrow.~~ I finish.

"That is good to hear. I will make it a priority to return to Galran space soon to check on the rest of the resistance and its allies. Thank you, Diego." Kolivan says.

~~Just doing my job.~~ I reply.

"What you are doing is much more than a simple task or job, Diego. You are a hero, a true shining knight. And I can say with certainty that others would think so as well." Luna says, getting nods from everyone in the room.

~~Thank you Luna. So, Kolivan, how's the construction for the base platform going?~~ I ask.

"Ahead of schedule. With the added help of volunteers and the easy to access power from the quintessence forest, we've been working fast. Construction should be done in another movement, or week as you call it. So long as nothing goes wrong." Kolivan answers.

I suddenly feel like something is wrong. My feeling is accompanied by the sound of an explosion in the distance. Moving to a clear window, I see that the explosion came from the construction site.
He jinxed it.

"Looks like you jinxed it, commander." Spitfire says.

"Now is not the time. We need to go check what happened." Spell Blade says.

~~I'll go.~~ I say.

"Me too. There are Wonderbolts among the volunteers." Spitfire says.

"I'll meet you there, there are Star Sorcerers too." Spell Blade says, teleporting away.

~~Let's go then.~~ I say, making my way out with Spitfire and Kolivan. Holding Kolivan to me as he puts his arm around my shoulder, we take off with Spitfire behind us.

Arriving a minute later, I drop Kolivan at the site of the explosion. I see a large white skinned muscular Flier being tended to by a magician and a Blade, a nasty burn in his side. It seems a terminal exploded.

"Crewman, status." Kolivan asks another member.

"He touched the conversion manifold of a secondary terminal that was being installed. Malfunction caused it to overload and self destruct." The crewman with a synthetic arm says.

"He'll live, it's just first degree burns and a concussion." The Blade medic says as he and the magician both stand up.

"What he said. Bulk should be fine." The magician adds.

"Good. How severe is the damage to the terminal?" Kolivan asks.

"Response: Data management terminal damage: Light. Estimated repair time: Eighteen doboshes." Voltron says. I scan the terminal.

~~He's right. Just fix the manifold and give it a new paint job and it's fine.~~ I say.

"Thank you, Diego. Why did he touch the manifold?" Kolivan asks the medic.

"Drevan says he wasn't looking where he was going while he was helping to carry a Dimensional Stabiliser lock. By the time someone noticed the terminal, he was too close to stop."

"And the lock?" Kolivan asks the crewman.

"Intact."

"Good. This is why we have safety precautions. Stay alert. We may not be in a battle but that does not mean we can let our guard down. This construction is important, so stay sharp and finish it. We're ahead of schedule on this platform, let's stay that way." Kolivan says to all the nearby Blades.

"And to all those volunteering, I must ask the same of you. This technology is advanced and can be dangerous. If you believe your life is in danger, we do not ask you to endanger it for no reason. If you wish to keep assisting us, please keep an eye on what you are doing. Thank you." Kolivan says to everyone else.

"Wow. Didn't know you were good at speeches." Spitfire says.

"A necessary skill in leadership." Kolivan replies.

"Right you are, commander." Spell Blade says, walking up to us. He looks down at Bulk, peacefully resting on a mat. "I take it he is alright?"

"Yeah. Magician healed him up. He does have a concussion though." Spitfire answers.

"Good to know." Spell says as he looks around. "Your technology truly is breathtaking, commander."

"Thank you captain. If you'll excuse me, I shall check our progress." Kolivan says, walking off with a… odd expression. Almost lost but still driven.

He must still be thinking about what I told him. Dangit, why did I even- no. It was the right thing to do. No more secrets.

Author's Note

Almost forgot to post this. I am back!