"It looks like the gravity supports are decalibrated." Coran announced from the control room, his posture decidedly lopsided.
Everyone was lopsided, actually. Earlier that morning the Castle had suddenly tilted, sending everyone's breakfast to the end of the table and on to the floor. Pidge had lost her balance and slammed into Allura, causing greater panic, particularly from Hunk, who was mourning the lost of his breakfast as well.
Once that fiasco had been settled, it became apparent that the castle wasn't shifting itself back. An uncomfortable few hours passed before Coran and Allura could indentify the problem.
"Fixing this will require landing on a planet," Allura stated, scrolling through the hologram map in the pilot room.
"Any planets that'll be cool with this giant thing landing there?" Lance asked from where he was seated. He was sprawled in his seat, feet pressing against the control panel to keep him from falling forward. Most of the other Paladins had taken up similar stances. Shiro was gripping the sides of his seat to keep from sliding forward, and Pidge had gathered her knees underneath her chin to keep her center of balance low. Kieth was leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. He looked as calm and collected as ever, despite the urge he felt to fling out his arms like a tightrope walker to stay steady. "Some sort of space airport or something…"
"Or any uninhabited planets." Hunk suggested. He had given up on trying to keep his balance, and settled on sitting cross legged on the floor.
"I'm afraid not, Hunk." Allura replied. "there are three planets nearby…" she flicked her wrist to zoom in on the planet cluster. "...but two of them are solely composed of gas."
Pidge pushed up her glasses. "Can't we use the teleduv to travel somewhere that we could land the castle? Like Arus?"
"Traveling crooked through a wormhole isn't something I'd like to try," Shiro admitted, his thick eyebrows knitting together.
"Yeah, I second that." Lance announced.
"Well thought, number one!" Coran replied over the com. "The force of traveling at an angle through a wormhole could rip the Castle apart!"
The weight of Coran's sentence sat eerily on everyone's shoulders, until Lance cleared his throat. "So…"
Pidge shakily stood from her chair. "I'll see what I can find out about the creatures that live on… what was it called?"
"Taksgar." Allura replied. "Let's hope they're friendly."
"Hey Pidge." Shiro greeted as the rest of Team Voltron stepped slowly into the room where Pidge had barricaded herself with her computer. She was going through the Castle's library, sprawled out on her stomach. She looked up when Shiro said her name.
"I found some general info on Taksgar. They're a sentient race for sure, but it just doesn't seem like they interact with other cultures. I did find a sketch of a famous Taksgarrian leader though." She tapped at her screen, pulling up a sketch of a tall humanoid with four arms. The arms were massive and muscled, so big that the sinewy goat-like legs didn't seem to be able to support them. The Taksgarrian's forehead caved in, and the back of the head jutted out, presumably to encase the brain more fully. No nose was visible, just slits.
Despite the intimidating structure of the alien, there was a pleasant smile. Everyone just stood in silence for a moment. "He looks… strong." Hunk muttered.
Pidge glanced at him. "The males are probably bigger. That's a she."
Allura let out a breath. "Hopefully Coran and I can fix the castle before any of them notice us."
When the Castle settled down onto the planet, all the Paladins were on their guard. They had seen the strength of the Taksgarrian in the sketch Pidge found, and they didn't want to face any.
Keith and Shiro were outside the castle, while still keeping inside the protective barrier. If any aliens came close to the castle, they'd catch them before they could get close.
Inside, Allura and Coran got to work on repairing the gravity supoorts. Pidge, Hunk and Lance were standing by in their lions, should anything go wrong.
My Paladin.
Hunk jumped. That was a voice.
Inside his head.
"Um… guys?"
Pidge and Lance gave a simultaneous "what."
"I think my lion's talking to me." Hunk stammered.
Lance's video feed popped up on Hunk's dashboard. He cocked an eyebrow. "Blue talks to me all the time, doesn't Yellow?"
Hunk placed a hand on Yellow's console. "These were… words, man. He's never done that before."
Pidge's feed popped up too. "Then listen." She stressed.
And so he did. Turning off both feeds, he placed both his hands on the console and closed his eyes. "What are you trying to tell me?" He asked.
"Shiro-" Kieth's voice dropped to a whisper, and he pointed his Bayard towards the edge of the field they landed in, about 50 yards away. Beyond the field were tall black and white trees, and Keith had spotted a shadow moving in between the trees. Shiro's hand began to glow, and he took a protective stance.
"Wait!" Something called from the trees. Shiro relaxed his stance, and Keith lowered his Bayard just a little. "I come in peace?"
From the trees stepped out a Taksgarrian like the one they'd seen earlier. It's arms were less toned than the one in the sketch, and it seemed shorter, but otherwise it was clearly the same species.
"My name is Andop." He stated. "Can you understand me?"