©DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER! IT IS OWNED BY DREAMWORKS! THIS IS FAN-MADE!
CHAPTER 1
The machine gave a harsh whine before humming to a stop as it extracted the capsule from beneath the surface of the ice. With brows pinched in concentration, the block of ice was removed slowly by delicate hands.
"That's it lad, ease it out." Coran spoke as he watched Matt examine the ice block in his hands as it was pulled out. "Just remember that it's quite delicate."
Matt let a small grin pass over his features. "Amazing." He turned to look over his shoulder at his fellow pilot.
"Isn't this exciting, Lance?" Matt called out, eyes sparkling with energy.
Lance rose a brow and gave the smaller male a flat look, "Yep, I'm brimming with excitement. Can't you tell?"
Matt deflated with a pout as he handed the ice block to Coran. "Lance!"
A snort escaped the lanky man as he stepped away from the tools and he lifted a hand to his face, snickering harder as he accidentally knocked against the visor of his helmet instead.
"Oh relax, of course I'm excited." Lance laughed, clapping Matt on the arm.
"As you should be." Coran spoke, smiling fondly at his two pupils. He gestured towards the ice block that he was currently setting safely into one of the transport capsules. "We're making history . Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside Earth."
"Just think, Lance." Matt spoke, awe coating his words as he slung an arm around Lance's shoulders. "We could use those clues to become the first people to meet aliens ."
"My life's work would be complete if that were so." Coran said as he closed the capsule.
Lance sighed dreamily, "Tell me about it. Being the first to meet some intergalactic babes would make my life complete. " He joked, making Matt roll his eyes.
Suddenly, tremors wracked through the ground causing the three to stumble over themselves.
"What on Earth is this?" Coran started, startled. "Seismic activity?"
"Let's head back to the ship." Lance suggested. However, the area was shrouded in sudden darkness and the three looked up, only to stare in disbelief and awe at the sight of a cruiser ship making its way overhead.
"What the cheese?!" Lance gasped as he took a startled step back.
"Wha—? What is that?" Coran exclaimed as the ship grew closer. "It can't be…"
There was whirring sound and on the bow of the ship, it began to glow a bright energy. Lance's eyes widened as he realized one thing: If they didn't move now, things weren't going to end well.
"A-Ah, now — " Lance gulped, watching the energy get brighter and larger with each passing millisecond. " — is the time to run!" He stumbled, backpedaling and pulled Coran and Matt along, "Run! "
The three of them broke out into a sprint towards their ship as the cruiser suddenly expelled a large brightly colored beam of energy over the ground below; it quickly grew in size, expanding over the area and sucking up all their supplies they abandoned in their haste.
Lance's pulse thundered in his as ears as they pushed their legs as fast as humanly possible but alas, they could not outrun the beam and he watched in horror as the bright light washed over his teammates from his peripheral vision, before he too was engulfed; fear and dizziness the last thing he felt before everything went dark.
.*.*.
Lance awoke slowly, to the sound of an unfamiliar voice; strong and heavy and speaking in dialect he barely could understand.
"Emperor Zarkon...we were scouting... system X-9-Y as ordered…"
'System? ' Lance pondered slowly before his eyes widened, the memories flowing back in an instant and he snapped his head up.
Firstly, his hands were bound behind his back, he discovered as he nearly toppled over from lack of balance; he only avoided falling due to being so close to the ground already. Secondly, at the sight of a tall being standing on a platform talking through a virtual screen, Lance felt his hackles rise in dread as he started to piece together his situation.
'Holy crow, we were abducted by aliens.'
"...when we found these...primitive scientists. I don't think...they know anything useful."
"Take them back...to the main fleet for interrogation…" A deep, warped voice spoke through the monitor.
Wait, 'them' ? Lance looked around in startle before his eyes landed on the still, unmoving body's of his teammates next to him, bounded and on their knees as well.
"The Druids...will find out what they know."
Lance also realized with great fear, the guards standing behind his friends, holding them at gunpoint and became overtly aware of the barrel he felt softly poking at the back of his head.
Desperate, Lance turned back to the front, his heart ramming his chest.
"Please!" The brunette watched as the alien turned around at his outburst, staring at him hard with beady yellow eyes.
"We come from a peaceful planet!" Lance continued. "W-We mean you no harm! We're unarmed!"
He let out a noise of pain suddenly as the feeling of something hard and solid slamming into the back of his neck sent his world tilting before fading as he lost consciousness once more.
.*.*.
"Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14. Begin descent to Kerberos for rescue mission." The voice of a young man carried through the small spacekraft as he pulled on the control wheel roughly, making the ship take a sharp left turn into a nosedive towards the ice surface of the satellite, Kerberos.
A groan echoed behind him from his fellow teammate. "Shiro!" Shiro's brows pinched in mild annoyance, as sweat beaded his brow. "Could you please keep this thing straight?"
"Relax, Allura." Shiro assured as he watched the surface get closer and closer. "I'm just getting a feel for the stick. I mean it's not like I did this !" He smirked as he gave a sharp jerk to the control, pulling the ship in for another, even deeper nosedive.
Allura clutched at her controls with a frighten squeak, the shaking of the ship making her feel unsteady.
"Or this !" Shiro gave another jerk and Allura felt ill, nausea pooling in her gut.
"Okay…" She spoke weakly, her voice growing with volume, "...Unless you plan to remove shortcake from all the little nooks and crannies in this thing, you'd best knock it off! "
A melodic beep interrupted before Shiro could retort. "We've picked up a distress beacon." Hunk called out.
Shiro pressed a couple of buttons overheard, smirking. "Alright team look alive. Hunk, track those coordinates."
"Copy." The other man replied, immediately typing while the ship gave another rattle, causing Allura to clutch her chair.
"Shiro, stop it please !" she begged. Shiro 'tsk'ed and shook his head. "I'm afraid to disappoint but this one's on you, hon. We've got a hydraulic stabilizer out."
Allura's eyes widened as she quickly pulled down a monitor. She gripped it tightly as the ship rocked once more, swallowing slowly as the nausea threatened to become more.
"Oh no." She groaned weakly.
Shiro snapped to attention, "Oh no, no no—fix now, puke later!" He snapped.
"I lost contact." Hunk informed, voice laced with irritation, "The shaking is interfering with our sensors."
"Allura, please !" Shiro called, looking back at the girl. Allura was typing frantically on the monitor.
"It's not responding." She unbuckled her seatbelt and stumbled over to the main gear box. The coordinates of the distress call appears again on Shiro's monitor.
"Oh! Well then, never mind. Target is locked." Shiro said. "Preparing for approach on visual."
"Uh," Hunk started, looking over to Shiro. "I don't think that's advisable with our current mechanical and…" He looked over at Allura who was hunched over the box, looking visible ill. "... gastrointestinal issues."
"Agreed." Allura nodded weakly.
Shiro threw a frown in their direction, "Quit worrying! This baby can take it." He grinned as stroked across the control board. "Can't you?"
A rumbled of the ship was his answer and he retracted his hand, "Okay maybe not." He murmured. "Hunk, hail down at them and let them know help is here."
Hunk unbuckled his seatbelt as he stood to reach for the microphone. "Attention lunar vessel—" Hunk shouted out as he was flung to the floor. Shiro jumped in startle at the bang,
"Are you crazy? Get back in you seat and buckled up! And Allura, stop that shaking!"
He grimaced as the sound of heaving was his only reply.
"Attention lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft One Victor Six Three Tango. Coming in for landing and extraction." Hunk spoke before giving Shiro a glare, "Against crew recommendations."
"No time for your mutinous comments now, Hunk. They're going under and we're going in." The raven-haired man pulled the ship into a dive towards the surface of Kerberos.
"Look out for that overhang!" Hunk warned.
"No worries! I got this!" Shiro called back as sweat trickled down his temple. "Just sit tight and let Ace-Pilot Shiro work his magic!"
The overhang was approaching quickly and Shiro's fists tightened on the controls, his teammates letting out startled yelps as he swerved. "Come around, come around! Come on, come on—!"
There was loud crashing noise outside their ship and Shiro froze in dread.
"We lost a wing!" Allura exclaimed, looking at ship's interface.
"Oh, man…" Shiro muttered as he let his hands relax, allowing the ship to hit the surface before his window went dark.
" SIMULATION FAILED."
"Nice going, Ace ." Hunk snapped quietly. The door in the back swooshed open and Commander Iverson leaned in,
"Roll out maggots!"
It was soon after that the three cadets found themselves standing before their classmates, lined up and awaiting their scolding.
"Well let's see if we can use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you students. Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made in the simulator?" Iverson asked.
"The engineer puked in the main gearbox!" A random student spoke up.
"Yes, as everyone knows, vomit is not an approved lubricant for engine systems. What else?"
Allura looked down shamefully.
A student said, "The Comm Spec removed his safety harness." while another said, "The pilot crashed!"
Iverson nodded, "Correct. And worst of all, the whole jump, they're arguing with each other!" He turned his glare onto the three students. "Heck, if you're going to be this bad individually, you'd better at least be able to work as a team! Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astro-explorers, but these kind of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission."
Hunk bristled, "That's not true, sir!"
Iverson's eye narrowed, "What did you say?"
Allura quickly reacted by covering Hunk's mouth, while Shiro spoke up nervously.
"I'm sorry, sir!" He held his hands up in a placating manner. "I-I think he may have hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken."
With heavy step, Iverson stalked towards Shiro, "I hope I don't need to remind you that the only reason you're here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out." Iverson glared in irritation and Shiro's heart leaped into his throat. " Don't follow in her footsteps." With those as his final words, he turned away from them.
" Next !"
Shiro, Allura, and Hunk dejectedly watch as their classmates board the simulator.
It was later, when evening had settled in and the stars had come out that the quiet of the Garrison was interrupted as commanders released notice that curfew had begun and students should retreat to their dorm rooms.
Shiro and Allura peaked around a corner as they watched the back of one of the commanders disappear into a room.
"We shouldn't be doing this." Allura whispered. Shiro waved her off, "You heard Commander Iverson. We need to bond as a team. We're going to grab Hunk, hit the town, loosen up, and have some fun—"
"OK, ok, I get it but I'm just saying this here, right now, on the record: This is a bad idea."
The lights turned off and Shiro dashed down the hallway, Allura following behind him uneasily.
"You know, for someone in a space exploration program, you don't have much of a sense of adventure." Shiro quipped as he pressed up against a wall.
Allura frowned in irritation, "Excuse me, but all of your little 'adventures' end up with me in the principal's office." She looked behind them. Shiro peeked into the Instructor's Lounge window before ducking underneath the pane, motioning for Allura to follow, whom let out an exasperated sigh yet followed.
"Honestly Shiro…"
The two of them continued to duck and weave through the facility, shoving into cramped spaces or posing behind inanimate objects to avoid being caught. A breath of relief was expelled by them both as they just managed to hide in time as a guard walked from around the corner.
"L-5 North all clear." They waited a moment as the guard's footsteps faded before Shiro stepped out from supply shoot, pulling Allura along with him.
"That should be the last of them for a while." Shiro sighed, checking his wrist watch. "They don't usually come up this wing after a certain time."
"Should I even ask how you know this?" Allura rose a brow.
Shiro winked, "Can't go sharing my secrets, now can I hon?" He grinned, "Now, to go and find Hunk so we can ditch this place already."
The sound of an automated door opening had Shiro pushing Allura back against a wall close to them. Holding their breath, they wait anxiously for whoever to exit but were rendered to confusion at the sight of Hunk leaving Iverson's office with a large backpack and taking off down the hall.
"Where's he going?" Allura questioned aloud, and Shiro merely shrugged in response before the two of followed after.
Hunk wiped his brow as he finished setting up his equipment, giving it all one final once over before settling on the ground, crossed-legged. He reached out and placed his headset on, then turned some dials on one of the devices. He watched as the feed stabilized and let out a breath, closing his eyes, listening to the murmurs and broken static through his speakers with a pinched brow.
"V-v-voltron… "
He opened his eyes, ready to grab his notepad but screeched in surprise at the sight of Shiro squatting before him, elbows resting on his knees and staring at him with a lax grin.
Hunk ripped his headset off, "What the heck man?!"
Shiro seemed unfazed, "Come here often?"
Hunk stared at the other man with naked bewilderment before slapping a palm to his face, letting out a wheezing breath of air.
"N-no, Shiro just…" He peeked at him through his fingers, "...looking at the stars?"
The other gave a tilt of his head, raven bangs falling into his eyes as he gave a flat look. "Really now?"
"Um, pardon me." Hunk turned to the side to see Allura examining the equipment with heavy interest, "But where did you get this stuff? It doesn't look like Garrison technology."
Hunk gave a smug expression as pride swelled in his chest, "I built it."
"You built all this?" Shiro reached out to touch one of the consoles but Hunk smacked his hand away before he could.
"Stop it!" The brunette admonished, glaring. He turned back to Allura, "With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system."
"Is that so?" Allura murmured, her gaze softening, "Even...all the way to Kerberos?"
Hunk blinks and looked away, not responding. Allura sighs.
"Hunk..." She began, "You get angry every time the instructors bring it up and I find it quite...strange, seeing as you don't have any particular connection to it."
Shiro shifted a small satellite. Hunk growled, "Knock it off man."
Allura touched Hunk's shoulder and the brunette was forced to look at her. In her pale blue eyes, he found raw pain and anguish shining in their depths.
"Please." She begged. "If there is something you know of the Kerberos mission, please tell me."
Shiro stared at Allura sadly, it was no secret that her uncle was head of the Kerberos mission and thus one of the three pronounced dead pilots. Professor Coran was a well respected scientist at the academy and even Shiro himself, looked up to him. To have him disappear so suddenly along with the others took its toll out of everyone, but Allura most of all.
It was this knowledge that had Hunk staring helplessly into her blue orbs before letting out a withered sigh, "Alright fine." He conceded, "Let's just say things are about to start changing. The Kerberos mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake—" The annoyance that Hunk felt as he caught Shiro reaching out to touch his monitor again, from his side vision caused a visible vein in his temple as he felt his patience snap.
"— stop touching my stuff! " He hissed sharply and Shiro relented in startle. He turned back to Allura, exhaling deeply, "... So I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter."
Allura blinks rapidly before stammering, "A-Alien?"
"Okay," Shiro frowned, "You're a wacko. Good to know."
"I'm serious!" Hunk pressed. He grabbed his notepad and showed it to them, pointing to a page with a word heavily circled. "They keep repeating one word: "Voltron" — and tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it."
Shiro rose a skeptic brow, "How crazy?"
Suddenly the system alarms started blaring as Iverson's voice filtered through the megacoms,
" Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: All students are to remain in barracks until further notice. "
The three cadets looked about in worry, before Allura spotted a flaming object falling from the sky.
"Is that a meteor ?!" She gasped fearfully, pointing up into the sky.
Hunk pulled on his binoculars, "Holy swiss rolls, it's a ship!" Shiro snatched the binoculars and looked through them himself, "I can't believe this! That is not one of ours!"
"Could it be…" Allura whispered, as the three of them watch the ship crash land into the desert. Not too long after, did they also see the Garrison send out land rovers to the site. Hunk quickly began to pack up his equipment,
"Woah." Shiro spoke, "Where do you think you're going?"
Hunk looked at him, eye alit with a fire. "To the crash site, duh!" He stood, "We've gotta check out that ship!" He raced off the roof as Allura and Shiro shared a look before following after him.
However, they were forced to stake out on a cliffside, unable to get any closer to the crash site as the Garrison has dominated and quarantined the area. Hunk set up his gear once more as Shiro took his binoculars to get a closer look. He watched as the guards hauled the spacecraft onto a transport cart.
"Woah." He breathed, "What the heck is that thing?" He looked around the area before spotting an attractive female guard.
"Ooh~ and who the heck is she?"
He let out a grunt of pain as Allura hit his arm, chastising him. "Right, right right. Alien ship." He set the binoculars down with a frown. "We'll never get past all those guards to get a look."
Allura nawed her thumbnail, "There has to be a way…"
"Hold up." Hunk spoke up, pausing his typing. "They set up surveillance and I managed to hack into its feed. Check it out."
Allura and Shiro hunched over Hunk's shoulders as they stared at the small screen. For a few moments there was nothing but static but soon the image began to clear up. On the screen, there was a person dressed in dark, tattered rags strapped down to the table while others in hazmat suits surrounded them.
"W-wait!" A frantic voice called through the audio, "What are you doing?! "
Hunk's chestnut colored irises shrunk as his eyes widened, taking in a sharp gasp of air.
"Calm down, Lance." Iverson's voice filtered through, "We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests on you. "
"You have to listen to me! " Lance spoke desperately, "They destroyed worlds! " He struggled against his bonds. " Aliens are coming! "
"Lance… " The name felt heavy on his tongue as Hunk stared in awe. His friend...his best friend was alive .
"...He's alive ." Shiro and Allura wouldn't have heard such a small whisper had they not been so close to Hunk in the first place. Slowly, the pieces began to click in Shiro's mind and he opened his mouth to voice his thoughts but was interrupted by Iverson,
"Do you know how long you have been gone? " He asked,
Lance panted as he looked around, wondering why these people weren't listening. "I-I don't know. Months? Years? Look, there's no time!" He flinched as someone came over to him and scanned his face,
"Alien are coming! They're looking for a weapon!" He struggled once more, "They're going to destroy us all! We have— we have to find Voltron !"
"Voltron!" Allura gasped, the three of them sharing a look of shock.
"Sir look at this. It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic. " A technician spoke. Allura, Hunk and Shiro watched as Iverson gave the order to sedate Lance, who grew even more frantic, struggling even more so and voicing his objections.
"They didn't even ask about the other crew members…" Allura said weakly, staring at the scene with uncertain eyes.
"What are they doing ?" Shiro muttered, "This is the Lance McClain we're talking about! They're not even gonna listen to him?"
Hunk's eyes narrowed at the harsh treatment, "We need to get him out."
"But how on Earth will we get past the guards?" Allura inquired. Shiro sat back on his haunches, a pensive expression. "Could we tunnel in?"
Allura scratched her head, "Perhaps we could steal some hazmat suits and sneak in as medics?"
"No." Hunk said, pondering, "What we need is a distraction."
Suddenly, explosion burst in the distance and the three cadets screamed.
"Are those the aliens?" Allura shrieked, "Are they here?! Already?! They got here so quickly!"
Hunk squinted, watching as Garrison troops headed over to the explosion site and scanned the area.
"No." He said as he leaned over a bit, "Those explosions were a distraction!" He pointed down below. "For them!" There was a hover vehicle approaching from the opposite direction of the explosion. "The Garrison's headed towards the blast, and they're sneaking in from the other side!"
Shiro pulled up the binoculars again, letting out a gasp. "No way! Where'd she come from?!" Shiro pulled off the binoculars and took off in a sprint down the cliffside.
"Who is it?" Allura called as she and Hunk stood to follow.
"Katie! " Shiro shouted.
"Who?" Hunk questioned, while Allura went after Shiro, asking, "Are you positive?"
"I'd recognize that shrimp anywhere!"
Hunk sputtered, running after them, "Who's Katie?!"
Down at the base, Lance had finally been put under and Iverson looked over his testings. "These readings are off the chart."
Suddenly the door swooshed open to reveal a petite girl standing there with her auburn hair pulled into a ponytail and a bandanna over her face. Her hazel eyes narrowed.
"Hey!" Iverson called and charged at her, but was knocked flat onto his back as she kicked him in the chest; she jumped and stomped on his stomach before scurrying across the room. A technician charge at her before she grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder, throwing him into the supply cart. She dodged a punch from the last one before tackling him, straddling over him and landing a solid right hook to his skull. She hurried over to the table and grabbed Lance's jaw, turning him to face her. Her eyes widened; despite all the new changes added to his face, it was one she recognized.
"Lance?" she whispered.
Katie let out a tense breathe as she released him, pulling out a knife from her belt and slicing his bonds. She pulled him up from the table and slung one of his arms around her shoulder, grunting from the weight.
"Hey!"
She jumped at the voice, glaring at the entrance but was surprised to see mere students.
"Where do you think you're taking him?!" Hunk hurried over and slung Lance's other arm over his shoulders, essentially taking Lance away from Katie. He gave her a glare which she returned wholeheartedly.
"Who are you?" She snapped.
"Nevermind who I am." Hunk retorted, "Answer my question: what were you going to do with Lance?"
Katie growled, "This guy here is the ticket to finding out where my brother is, so hand him over ."
Hunk's glare became deadly, "Not a chance."
"Uh, guys?" Both snapped to attention at Allura's voice.
"I know things are really tense and kind of awkward but is now really the best time to pick a fight when the rest of the Garrison could come back any moment?" She hopped from one foot to another anxiously. "I say we leave now and argue later in a much more safer space."
Katie frowned, "Come on. I have a hoverbike parked not too far from here."
The three of them ran out the ship only to find Shiro, staring out through the binoculars
"We gotta leave right now if we don't want our butts roasted because they're coming back and they do not look happy." They all ran over to the large rocks that hid Katie's hoverbike and boarded, causing it to tip over.
"Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" Allura questioned as she helped Hunk steady Lance.
Katie gritted her teeth as she started up the engine. "No." She growled before taking off as the Garrison arrived. She hit the accelerator as they began pursuit.
"Hey, we did all fit!" Shiro spoke nervously as he held on for dear life.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Hunk called.
"We could toss out some non-essential weight." Katie snarled.
"Hey! Keep your insults to yourself!" Hunk snapped back.
Katie turned back to glare at him but saw the Garrison was hot on their trails. "Oi! Pretty boy, lean left!"
Shiro nodded and did so, causing the hovercraft to turn. There was an explosion behind them as Garrison rovers crashed.
"Holy crap, are they dead?!" Shiro shrieked as he looked back.
"Pretty boy, lean right!"
Shiro does so and the hovercraft jumps off the cliffside and onto lower terrain, narrowly missing the walls and more explosions sounded behind them as more rovers crashed.
Allura pressed against Hunk while the vehicle steadied before she spotted a cliff up ahead.
"Guys? Is tha—Is that a cliff up ahead?" She pointed, heart racing.
Shiro blanched, gripped the back of the hovercraft tightly, "Ooooh no! No, no, no—!" The others voiced their fear as well. Yet Katie merely leaned forward with a smirk, revving up the gears and increasing the speed.
"Yup ."
Everyone screamed as they jumped off the cliff, plummeting towards the ground with increasing speed.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Allura shrieked, "You're going to kill us all!"
"I know what I'm doing!" Katie snapped. The ground was steadily getting closer and closer.
"Pull up!" Hunk screamed.
"Not yet!" Katie felt sweat bead her brow as she kept hold onto the handles while simultaneously easing the throttle.
"What are you waiting for?!" Shiro screamed.
"Shut up and trust me!" The petite girl then pulled the clutch in, shifting gear as the hovercraft's thrusters flipped before hitting the accelerator, shooting off into the wide desert plains, finally escaping the hands of the Garrison.