Welcome to Origins: A Legend Unfolds. I'm breaking my golden rule of not posting a story until I've finished it. However, this is a very long story, I'm about 80% done and should have no problems completing it before I reach that point in posting. For now, I am posting to T, but the rating will go up to M somewhere in the middle due to violence and sexual scenes.

Many thanks to my friends, editors, and co-conspirators for the encouragement they always give me as I work on a story. The numbers have grown since I've started writing and I greatly appreciate the help you each have given me. Love you girls…

Enjoy!

Mertz

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Origins: A Legend Unfolds: Chapter 1

Prologue:

Sitting on the floor with her back against a wall and her knees up to her chest, a young girl watches the screens in front of her in horror. She had managed to sneak into the room when the battle had started. With her governess and mother gone, no one had been watching her closely and with everyone's attention on the battle, it had been easy to sneak into the room. No one had bothered to order her to leave since they were far too busy worrying about the Drule forces.

Her teary eyes move from the screens to the court advisor sitting in the chair at the control panel. 'Not just an advisor…' the young girl remembers as she watches him shout out orders to the other men running about the room. He turns abruptly in his seat, anger on his face as he yells, "They are going into the stratosphere after that robeast! Be ready for the fighters!" His eyes fall on the young girl and they widen, "Princess Allura! What in heaven are you doing in here?"

He starts to stand, "This is no place for a child!" then stops when he hears the sound of men screaming coming from the communication equipment. Turning back to his seat, Coran cries out, "NO!" as he watches Voltron falling out of the sky before a bright light flashes and the robot is split into its five individual pieces that continue to fall toward the planet's surface.

"Coran!"

The horrified advisor hits a button to hear a soldier state, "Sir! King Alfor just appeared before us…he is critically injured!"

"Get him to MedTech!" Coran orders then stands up. His eyes fall on the terrified princess and he races to her. Scooping her up into his arms, he runs out of castle control and down the hallways leading to the medical center. Reaching the location moments later, the advisor finds the king on a stretcher with medical staff frantically moving around him.

The doctor that had replaced old Dr. Slothum only a week ago is shouting out orders to the nurses as they try to stop the inevitable. Only when the king shouts, "Enough!" do they back away. His voice is considerably weaker as he adds, "Coran…I need Coran."

The advisor briefly glances at Dr. Gorma, who shakes his head solemnly, then approaches the dying monarch, forgetting about the child within his arms, "I am here King Alfor."

Coughing, blood forms on the king's lips as he says, "Haggar…tricked us. Her spell destroyed Voltron's spirit. The others are dead…" His eyes fall on the young girl in the advisor's arms. He reaches out to her, "Allura…"

Coran lowers the princess to the bed, who looks at her father with tearful eyes as she begs, "Father…do not go."

"Cannot stop that…now." He replies as he coughs up more blood. Alfor reaches up to touch her cheek, "I am glad…your mother…is not here for this. Her pain is ended…yours is about to begin." His eyes move back to the advisor as the princess curls up on his chest and cries, "My old friend…keep my daughter safe. Call…the other kingdoms. Tell them to get out now…before the Drule forces…" He does not finish as he violently starts coughing again.

He stills suddenly and his eyes go white as his voice becomes strong and clear, "Five men will come from a distant planet. They will reawaken Voltron and destroy the Drule invaders. Arus will rise once more…" A last breath escapes him as the king's eyes close and his head falls to the side.

"NO! FATHER!" As Allura cries and clings to her dead father, Coran looks on helplessly for a moment. Gathering himself, the advisor looks at the nursing staff, "You heard him, the Drules are coming. Get to the caves!"

Picking the princess up into his arms despite her protests, Coran rushes out of MedTech and down the hallway. He stops at castle control long enough to give orders to the man that took his place when he ran out of the room earlier, "Call the other kingdoms, tell them to get the royal families out now!" His eyes move up to the monitors to watch the Drule forces landing outside of the castle. Looking at the men around him, Coran says, "We are done. We cannot stop the Drules. Evacuate as many of the civilians to the caves as possible then get yourselves out as well." At the nods he receives, he finishes, "I am taking Princess Allura to the caves." His eyes pause on the screen once more, "Gods above help us all." Turning around with the princess still in his arms, he rushes out of the room.

Ten years later:

Standing near a monitor, a young woman stares at the information streaming across the screen. Taking it in quickly, she makes note of the numbers that need to be passed onto the advisor. Dressed in a simple black pantsuit, with the royal seal of the Storm Kingdom on the left arm, her long, blond hair is held back in a simple braid that has fallen across her shoulder and chest. Princess Allura looks up from the screen when she hears a commotion near the doors. Her eyes follow a group of men walking into the control room. They pause for a moment then finding their quarry, they walk over to the old advisor to King Alfor. Leaving her position by the monitor, she moves across the room in time to hear, "They will not give up Coran. The Drules were in the Water Kingdom again today. They are determined to capture anybody they can find."

"They are determined to find the lions."

The men turn as one to face the last remaining princess of Storm Kingdom. Several of the older men narrow their eyes at her as the eldest of the group says, "Why don't you leave this to us, Princess, and go back to your responsibilities." His tone turns sour as he adds, "Your womanly responsibilities."

Allura glares at them, her sapphire eyes ablaze as she snarls, "As the daughter of King Alfor and the last remaining royalty within the Storm Kingdom, this is my responsibility and I resent the implication that I cannot understand, nor anticipate, the decisions that need to be made regarding the Drule attacks."

As the eldest of the group opens his mouth to retort, Coran steps forward to state, "Gentlemen, thank you for the information. Please return to Water Kingdom and ensure that the remaining citizens are accounted for. Also, check the seals to King Byron's tomb…we do not want the Drules to be able to break in there."

A few disgruntled noises are his replies as the men glare at Allura in turn then leave the room to follow Coran's orders. The old advisor glances over at the agitated princess to find her face still red with her anger as she turns on him, "Those arrogant, overbearing…"

"Princess…" Coran interjects, holding up his hand to stop his charge's rant, "I know what you are going to say and you are right. But these men are from the old frame of mind that the woman's place is to have children and not to make military decisions." His eyes are sad as he finishes, "Only kings should make those kinds of decisions."

"There are no Arusian kings left to make the decisions." Allura's eyes flare even hotter. "The old days are gone. You have trained me to handle these situations and they need to get over their ancient ideas of what women can do and let me do my job."

Coran smiles softly as he studies his charge. She was so very different from the young woman she would have been had the Drules never attacked. He continues to speculate as he thinks, 'She would have been married by now to one of the princes of the other kingdoms. Then again…maybe not. King Alfor had definitely been taking his time choosing a mate for her, most of the princesses were betrothed by the time they were four, married by sixteen.' Noticing the angry look in her eyes again, he finally speaks, "Princess Allura, I know the old days are gone. Those men know the old days are gone, but please be patient with them." He puts a hand on her shoulder, "It is very difficult for the men to admit that they can no longer simply protect the women and that they need to work with them so we can all survive."

"It has been ten years, Coran," snorts Allura in reply, "Ten years since they could expect the women of Arus to stand by and watch the men fight. I have had enough of that attitude. They will learn to respect my position and the decisions I make, or they can go to one of the other kingdoms."

Nodding in agreement, the advisor sighs, "I will speak with them when they return."

Satisfied, Allura gestures to the monitor she had been studying prior to the men's arrival, "Come look at these numbers…" Moving across the room, Coran studies the monitor then looks back at the princess, "So the Drules are coming back in increasing numbers…"

"Yes, but I do not understand why," replies Allura as she looks back down at the monitor again, "I mean, from what you told me, for the first two years after Voltron fell, the Drules were attacking constantly. But they ceased for the next seven, only sending occasional patrols to scoop up slaves." Her eyes move back to the advisor, "Why do they return so vigorously now? Besides the lions, which do not work so would be worthless to them, what could they be looking for?"

Agitation fills Coran as he studies the young woman in front of him. Keeping his theory to himself for the time being, he replies, "I am not entirely sure, but I think we should try to acquire help from Galaxy Garrison again."

Allura snorts in reply, "We have asked over and over again for the last ten years, Coran. They have never been willing to send their forces into the Denubian Galaxy, what makes you think they will now?"

"Because, King Zarkon has defeated most of the Denubian Galaxy…" Coran starts to state, his tone speculative as he adds, "My guess is, he will set his sights on the next galaxy at some point, which will soon put Earth in danger. They will have to act soon or risk a full Drule invasion of their own."

"They should have acted ten years ago before the Denubian Galaxy was taken. We would have stood more of a chance then," argues Allura as she glares at her old advisor.

Smiling at her spirit, Coran replies, "Nothing we can do about that now. I will send another message to Admiral Graham…we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying."

Releasing a defeated sigh while rubbing her forehead, the princess responds, "Very well, but do not hold your breath Coran." Her eyes look sad and tired as she finishes, "Galaxy Garrison abandoned us years ago."

"Yes, well, we are due for some good luck for a change." Coran replies as he walks over to the command controls.

xxxxxxxxxx

Earth:

Walking quickly down the hallways of Garrison headquarters, Admiral Graham makes his way to a set of double doors with two guards standing in front. He gestures to them to move aside then waits for the doors to open. Walking inside the room, he faces the assembly of Galaxy Garrison's top military personnel. Pausing in front of a podium, the admiral states, "We've received another request from Planet Arus for aid."

"The Denubian Galaxy, Admiral Graham?" One of the older men stands up. Admiral Tameral glares at him, "We decided a long time ago that it is simply too far away to adequately protect. Our forces are spread too thin as it is…"

Holding up his hand as the chamber fills with talk, Admiral Graham replies, "I am aware of the decision that was made long before I became an admiral. I didn't agree with it then, I certainly do not agree with it now."

The room erupts with voices, some in agreement with Admiral Graham, some with Admiral Tameral. With his arms up in the air, Graham calls out, "Please gentlemen, this is getting us nowhere." As the room quiets down, he looks back at his challenger, "Ten years ago, King Zarkon was just starting his conquest of the Denubian Galaxy. We believed then that the rulers of Planet Arus, with the aid of their mechanical robot, Voltron, would be able to stave off the Drules. We were wrong. Not only did Planet Arus fall, but so has nearly every other planet in the Denubian Galaxy." His tone is full of derision as he states, "Do you honestly think Zarkon is going to be happy with his conquests and stop? He's going to move onto the next galaxy, and the next, growing more powerful until he reaches Earth."

The room erupts in voices, each drowning out the other as Admiral Tameral sits down in his chair and another man stands up. Fleet Admiral Johanssen holds up his hand for silence then states, "I agree with Admiral Graham. We can no longer sit here with our eyes closed and ignore the situation in the Denubian Galaxy." Graham looks pleased, but the smile is off his face a moment later as Johannsen continues, "However, Admiral Tameral is correct, we do not have the forces necessary to drive Zarkon from Arus or any other planet in the Denubian Galaxy."

As the voices in the room break out once more, Johannsen holds his hand up again, "I suggest a compromise. We will send one of our special teams to Arus to survey the situation, do what they can to help the people and to report back if there is more that Garrison will be able to do." Ignoring the look of anger on Graham's face, he finishes, "Meeting adjourned."

The room empties of people as Admiral Graham approaches the bench, "Admiral Johannsen, surely you know that even one of our special teams will stand very little chance…"

"I know what you are going to say Admiral Graham." Johannsen interjects as he picks up his papers and places them into his brief case. His gaze is hard as he finally looks back at the other man, "This is the best we can do for now…it is that or nothing. Select one of your teams and send them." Picking up his brief case, he nods in dismissal at the other man then leaves the room.

Swearing, Admiral Graham follows him out the door then changes directions toward his office. Reaching it, he watches as his junior assistant stands up from his desk and salutes him, "Sir!"

"At ease…" Graham says as he throws his hat on the desk, "Get me Lieutenant Commander Kogane. I want him and his team in my office in ten minutes." At the assistance's nod, the admiral continues his way into his office thinking, 'The only man I know that might be able to help Arus is Kogane…I hope he is willing to take the challenge.'

xxxxxxxxxx

Standing at a vantage point, Lieutenant Commander Keith Kogane watches his men strike at each other. The objective of the fight is to knock the other person off their feet. Feeling satisfaction, he watches as Private Hunk Garrett tries to flip his sparring partner, seventeen year-old Private Darrell "Pidge" Stoker, only to have the younger man reverse the hold on him and try to get the bigger man off balance. Keith nods in approval then looks at the other two men in his group. Frustration quickly replaces the satisfaction as he watches Lieutenant Sven Holgersson try to put Private Lance McClain in a full nelson only to have McClain twist him about, with Sven's hand shoved up behind his back. Blowing the whistle he holds in his hand, Keith walks up to the pair and snarls, "What the hell Sven! You are making amateur errors!"

The pair breaks apart and Sven uses a hand to wipe at the sweat on his face, "Sorry Keith…still recovering I guess."

Keith narrows his eyes at the third-in-command, "It's been three weeks Sven, while we are all still feeling it, we need to get it together so we can be prepared when they send us out again."

As Sven nods at him in silent reply then walks over to pick up a towel to wipe his face properly, Lance snorts, "Send us out again? We are still only half a team…when are they supposed to assign us replacements?" His eyes narrow on the man in front of him a little as he snidely adds , "And a new commander?"

Resisting the urge to hit his friend, Keith retorts, "When they get around to it Lance. In the meantime, we keep to the routines Commander Smith set for us." He looks back at the other four men, "So let's get to it!" He turns his attention to the other two men that had stopped their sparring and had simply been watching the exchange, "Switch partners…Hunk, you and Lance work together…"

Hunk smiles evilly as Lance groans while looking at the big man, "Ok, now I know I pissed Keith off…"

"Stuff it McClain and get your ass over there," orders Keith as he looks over to find Pidge already moving toward Sven.

"Lieutenant Commander Kogane?"

Turning to find a Garrison messenger behind him, Keith nods to the man then hears, "You and your team have been ordered to Admiral Graham's office. Please report there immediately."

Keith nods in reply then looks at the men, "Let's get going." Each man uses a towel to quickly wipe the sweat off their faces, grabs their shirts, and pulls them on as they follow Keith out of the door. They reach the admiral's office five minutes later and walk in to find his assistant waiting for them, "You are to go in immediately."

Taking a deep breath, Keith leads the men into the admiral's office to find him sitting at a table used for small conferences. Admiral Graham gestures to them, "Have a seat gentlemen…" He waits for the men to sit down then states, "I want to extend my regrets about that last mission…"

"It only cost us half our team," whispers Lance under his breath then stops when he spots the death look Keith is giving him.

"And your commanding officer…I know." Admiral Graham finishes, ignoring the fact that McClain had been out of line. His eyes move over the remaining men as he inquires, "I gather you have sufficiently recovered from your injuries?"

"Yes Admiral," answers Keith before any of the other men can say anything.

Nodding, Graham starts, "We have another mission for you. It's a dangerous one, so you will have the right to refuse if you don't think you can do it…"

"Another mission!" Lance stands up, "We still don't have replacements for the men lost on the last one!"

"Private McClain! Sit down and shut up!" snarls Keith as he stands up as well to glare at his friend.

"Gentlemen please…" Admiral Graham holds his hands up in a placating gesture. He waits until the other two have taken their seats again before stating, "I understand Private McClain's concern, but still feel the five of you can do the job required."

"What is the mission Admiral?" Sven's quiet question has the admiral looking away from Lance and across the table to reply, "We need to send a team to Planet Arus to ascertain the situation there and to provide whatever support is possible."

"Planet Arus?" interjects Keith, "In the Denubian Galaxy? Isn't that under Drule control?"

"For the most part, yes. There are a few remaining planets holding out, but it is probably only a matter of time before the rest fall." Admiral Graham informs them as he studies each man in front of him. McClain looked ready to explode again. 'Hot head…he never has learned to control his temper.' thinks the admiral before turning his head to look at the rest of the men. They sit with neutral looks on their faces as they listen to the conversation.

"Will we be assigned a new commander?"

Looking back at Kogane, Graham responds, "You are the new commander." His gaze shifts to the shocked faces of the others, "Holgersson, your rank will be moved up to lieutenant commander and…" He stops on McClain, "Your rank has increased to lieutenant. Try to show the decorum the rank demands, Lieutenant."

As Lance looks at him a bit stunned then manages to nod, Keith asks, "What is the condition of Arus?"

"That we are not entirely sure of," replies Graham as he sits forward in his chair. "Planet Arus was originally divided up into five kingdoms named after various sources of natural energy, wind, earth, fire, water and lightning. The kings of those kingdoms flew mechanical lions that formed a robot called Voltron when merged together. We know that, ten years ago, Zarkon managed to break apart Voltron and killed the five kings. The planet has been without proper leadership since."

He waits a moment for the information to sink in then says, "They have sent various requests over the years for assistance, a request that has been refused until now. While I would love to be able to send an entire battle group there, that is not possible." Sitting back in his chair, he finishes, "So I will send them the best group of men at my disposal."

"Were the lions destroyed?"

Admiral Graham looks over at Pidge, the first words the youngest member of the group had spoken since entering the room. Shrugging, he replies, "I'm not sure Pidge…if they weren't, that could be a project for this team to pursue in an attempt to set up a defense for the planet." His eyes move over the men sitting at the table then asks, "Do you accept the mission?"

Looking away from the admiral to each of the other men, Keith receives short nods from each in turn then turns his gaze back to the admiral, "We accept."

A smile forms on Admiral Graham's face as he replies, "Good, gather what you will need Commander. You leave as soon as you are ready."