The Cryon IV Incident, Episode 1: The Ice Cave
By Papa Palpatine 2008
Notice:Princess Allura and Prince Lotor are copyrighted characters of the Voltron anime franchise.
Everything was spinning out of control. The Blue Lion had taken several direct hits and was now falling from its orbit around planet Cryon IV. Allura braced herself for impact as her lion ship plowed itself into snow and came to a stop at the end of the half mile long trench it cut into the icy surface of the planet. Thanking her lucky stars she was still alive, she looked over the damage reports on her console. Unfortunately, the Blue Lion was too badly damaged to leave the planet's surface under its own power and the communications systems were down. She would be stranded on this frozen waste of a world until Keith and the others picked up the Blue Lion's distress beacon and came to get her. But how long would that be?
She was starting to regret going out on a sole mission without telling anyone where she was going. At the time, when reports of a crew of pirates harassing ships along a locale trade route came in from Galaxy Garrison, she had though it was minor enough trouble that she could deal with the matter without needing to bother Coran or the team; she'd teach those pirates a lesson and be back before dinner that night, and she'd prove she's not a helpless damsel like the "Princess Peach" character that appeared in Lance's favorite video game (and to whom he was constantly comparing her). Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and even her beloved Keith were all sure to chide her for taking such a foolish risk...if they arrived in time to find her alive, that is.
Allura powered down all of Blue Lion's systems except the beacon; the longer it had power to transmit, the better her odds of rescue she figured. But that also meant the the interior of the ship would become like a deep freeze in very short order. She climbed out of her chair, retrieved a thermal insulated jacket and a pack of survival gear from a compartment behind the cockpit. Opening the emergency hatch above her and extending a ladder with the pull of a lever, the Princess climbed out on top of the Blue Lion's head. Smoke was still rising in tendrils from the places the space pirates' missiles and lazon blasts had struck her. Even with the thermal jacket on over her pink and white flight uniform, the howling winds sent chills rushing through her body. She would have to find shelter, somewhere, somehow. Based on what Keith had told her about planets like Cryon IV, she knew she probably didn't have long before a severe ice storm came her way.
She began to climb down carefully from the Blue Lion, trying hard to avoid further complicating an already bad situation by falling and injuring herself. At last hearing the crunch of the powdery snow under her feet, she headed East away from her downed ship, searching...
Little did Allura suspect, but someone had picked up her distress signal, but it wasn't Keith and the others. Sitting in the cockpit of his bat-like spacefighter, Prince Lotor of Planet Doom chortled and smiled wickedly as he thought about the opportunity that presented itself to him. He contacted his father, King Zarkon, to advise him of the situation.
"So, the Blue Lion's out of commission and that insipid Princess Allura's stranded on Cryon IV?" King Zarkon said. Merla stood behind him massaging the evil Dule king's shoulders, but surprising chose to remain silent for once. Zarkon laughed hardily and maniacally. "Excellent, this means the Voltron Force has only four operating lions and no way to form that infernal super-robot of theirs."
"Yes Father," Lotor replied, hiding his displeasure at hearing his intended bride being called insipid. "And this time she will be mine. I need only get there first and seize her before that insufferable Commander Keith and the rest of those meddling fools come to her aid."
"Well, happy hunting boy." King Zarkon chuckled. He was a little disappointed that Lotor was, as usual, doing his thinking between his legs rather than using the situation to its fullest tactical advantage; but why spoil the boy's fun? With the Voltron Force down a member for the first time since they lost that annoying Norwegian pilot Sven, they would be significantly less of a threat. He hung up on his son, closed his eyes, and said. "Yes, down and a little to the left, my dear. Yes, that's it, ah..."
Lotor switched off his video-com screen and smiled. If he got to the princess before those annoying fools from the Voltron Force did, she would at last be his. He set the autopilot to take him to Cryon IV, already dreaming about having the lovely Allura in his clutches.
"Things couldn't have gone better if I planned it." He mused.
Allura had been staggering for God only knows how long, and how far, across the frozen tundra; her body shivering and her teeth chattering. She could feel every inch of her skin goose-pimple from the cold winds blowing against her through her flight suit; even the thermal jacket she wore over it was insufficient to stop their icy assaults. The temperature differential made every breath she took visible to the eye, like puffs of cold, white smoke. Oh how she longed to be off this oversized ball of ice. Oh how she longed to be back at the castle, where she could enjoy a warm meal and a hot bath. So far she hadn't encountered anything else moving on the planet's surface, and that much was probably a blessing she thought. What kind of creatures could possibly live somewhere as cold and uninviting as Cryon IV? Did she even want to know the answer to that?
Fresh snow was already beginning to fall; she needed to find shelter of some kind and fast. Scanning the horizon, she caught a glimpse of a cave in the side of an ice mountain, just a little further away. She ran to it, knowing she didn't have long before the light snowfall became a blizzard. The interior sloped down at a slight angle as she stepped inside. It was still bitter cold inside that cave, but not as cold as it soon would be outside. Allura produced a lantern from her backpack and explored deeper into the cave, looking warily around with her lazon gun drawn. The last thing she needed was for some predatory creature to get the drop on her, on the off chance there actually were any about.
Far away, Lotor had landed his ship next to Allura's Blue Lion. He got out and looked over the numerous blast points on her lion ship's hull with momentary interest.
"Allura must have run afoul of the Krelvan pirates in this sector," Lotor said to himself, rubbing his chin. "If so, she's very fortunate to still be in one piece, even with this lion of hers."
But why would Allura go it alone on something like this? Lotor thought. Didn't she know how dangerous the Krelvans could be? Sure, she was so endearingly naive from living the sheltered life of a princess, but she wasn't stupid; or at least, Lotor didn't think she was. He retrieved some gear from his ship and set out to follow Allura's footprints in the snow. He would have to move quickly before the winds and the impending snow storm erased them. She wouldn't escape his grasp this time...
Allura had found a nice cozy corner deep within the cave to sleep in for the night. After making a small fire with her flint and some sticks of wood she found (perhaps Cryon IV hadn't always been an ice planet after all?), she carefully drove two spikes into two cave walls and strung a line between them. She slipped out of her jacket and uniform and hung them over the line to dry, wringing them out by hand as best she could first. They were wet both from the snow and from sweat. It was funny how you could both be neigh freezing to death and sweating at the same time. Stripped down to her lacy white underwear and socks, she put her helmet, boots, and gun belt in a pile next to her backpack and warmed herself by the fire.
Hungry from both the long walk to the cave and the energy her body spent in an effort to stay warm and live, She took one of the emergency ration bars from her pack, tore the foil wrapping, and took a bite. She had enough of those in her pack to last her a week if it came to that; maybe two weeks if she were conservative with her rations. She prayed that long before then Keith and the rest of the Voltron Force would arrive on Cryon IV and find her.
She ate half the bar, wrapping the rest back up and putting it away for later. After about an hour or two, she grew sleepy, doused the fire for the night, and dug in her pack for the silver mylar emergency blanket. She spread it out on the cave floor, laid down and rolled herself up in it, pulling her backpack closer to use as a pillow as she turned off her lantern and went to sleep.
She dreamed about her friends on the Voltron Force. How she loved them all, not necessarily in a romantic way. After all, Sven, Hulk, Lance, and little Pidge were more like the brothers she had never had growing up all alone in the ruined castle, Hiding from Zarkon's henchmen. Keith, she admitted to herself, was different. She had had many dreams about the two of them together, sometimes slowly dancing together in formal attire in some grand ballroom of her mind, and sometimes the two of them sharing moments of intimacy as lovers. Allura smiled and blushed, imagining her prudish Nanny would be shocked and appalled if she knew "her baby" had such thoughts, even if they were about a man of Keith's caliber.
But then she dreamed of someone she tried not to think of too often when she was awake: King Zarkon's son, Prince Lotor. The evil bastard had been obsessed with her from the moment he first laid eyes on her that day; and no matter how many times she told him she wanted nothing to do with him, he persisted in stalking her. She had heard more than she had ever wanted about the crowned-prince of Planet Doom from her cousin, Princess Romelle, who had been unfortunate enough to end up in his clutches. Lotor already had a harem of hundreds of lovely young women who were made to belly dance for his entertainment; and, naturally, dancing not the only thing he expected them to do for him. Allura knew all too well he wanted to have her enslaved in much the same way as he had those other poor girls.
Keith, Hunk, and Lance had each had opportunity to beat Lotor senseless and toss him out on his evil, powder blue ass the last few of times he had shown up unbidden at the castle, but even that wasen't enough to deter the evil Drule warrior prince. Still, as creepy and despicable as she found him, Allura sensed much longing and pain in him and that much earned him some measure of pity. Not much though.
Then a most disturbing thought, something that hadn't occurred to her shortly after crashing here on Cryon IV: What should she do if someone other than Keith and the rest of the Voltron Force had picked up the distress signal? What if Lotor himself had been out there somewhere, waiting and watching for something like this to happen? And what if he followed her beacon to this frozen planet where she was stranded and awaiting rescue? Would she be trapped with no hope of escape? No, she refused to think like that. She would get out of here and she would see her friends again, surely she had to...
About the same time as Allura was going to sleep, Lotor had reached the mouth of the ice cave. Allura's footprints led inside, there was no question she had sought shelter from the coming storm in here. Lotor smiled, his yellow eyes shined like those of a predatory animal that had its prey right where it wanted them. At first he was tempted to just call out her name, but then he thought better of it. Taking her by surprise would mean far better chances of success, after all. He strapped on a pair of darkvision goggles and followed her tracks deep into the cave, moving as stealthily as possible.
It didn't take him long to find her, asleep and wrapped up in her emergency blanket next to the embers of her little camp fire. Her uniform hung over a line she had strung between two cave walls. Her helmet, boots, and gun belt were in a pile next to her. That was what he loved so dearly about Allura; were she more prudent, she would have slept with her weapon in hand and one eye open. His first impulse was to awaken her and tell her she was at last caught, but he decided to instead let her sleep until morning...
Allura yawned and stretched the next morning, already thinking of having the other half of her ration bar for breakfast. As she rubbed her eyes, she got the vague sense that she was not alone in the cave. Reaching for her lantern, she noticed a figure leaning casually against the cave wall a couple of yards away. "Who's there? Keith? Lance? Hunk? Pidge? Answer me please..."
Allura gasped at the sound of an evil laugh. And then an all too familiar voice said, "Good morning, my dear. I trust you slept well?"
"Lotor!" Allura said, clutching the blanket tightly to her chest to keep herself covered. She fumbled behind her for her gun belt, but found her weapon gone. "What the..."
"Looking for this perhaps?" Lotor said in a smug tone of voice. He produced Allura's lazon pistol from behind his back and wave it infront of her. He put it into his belt, next to his light sword, then snorted and shook his head. "For shame, Allura. You know, it really hurts my feelings to think that you of all people would want to shoot me."
She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "What are you doing here, Lotor? As if I needed to ask..."
"Come now, Allura." He said, waving a finger at her. "Is that anyway to talk to the man who's come all this way to rescue you from this oversized chuck of freezer burn?"
"Your kind of 'rescue' I can do without."
"Aw, now that was uncalled for…" Lotor replied, feigning a sad face.
"Listen Lotor," Allura said defiantly. "Keith and the others will be coming to find me soon, so you would be wise to just turn right around and leave right now."
"Your faith in your friends is touching, if misplaced."
Allura looked at him surprised. "What do you mean?"
"My father already knows that your lion is out of commission and that you are stranded here on Cryon with me." Lotor said. "No doubt he's taken this as an opportunity to launch an all out attack on Planet Arus. Commander Keith and the others will be far too busy fending off the forces of Planet Doom to have time to come looking for you; and with no possible way to form Voltron, even that bumbling fool Cossack should be able to put them down...once and for all."
"You're wrong, Lotor." Allura rebuttled. "Even with only four lions, the Voltron Force won't be defeated so easily."
Lotor cackled. "And just what are they going to do? Unite their lions with that farcical little contraption your pet mice fly around in? I'd hate to think what would happen to those poor, dear little rodents if their rubber band were to break at a critical moment in the battle ahead…"
"My friends won't give up, no matter what the odds against them." She snapped. "And I'm not going to surrender to the likes of you either."
"So be it," Lotor sighed and closed his eyes. He pressed his thumb into the left eye socket of his skull-shaped belt bucket and a tiny vial of dark purplish fluid popped out of its fanged mouth, into his hand.
"Ah, better living through Haggar's alchemy." Lotor smirked, holding up the vial. "I had her prepare this little concoction for just this sort of occasion. This size dose should suffice to render you unconscious for the trip back home to Planet Doom."
Allura laughed. "If the old witch gave you some magic tranquillizing potion, why'd you even let me wake up? You could have used it on me while I was still asleep."
Lotor growled. "I was going to do the honorable thing and let you surrender yourself to me of your own accord..."
"Really? How gentlemanly..." Allura quipped. Before Lotor could react, she grabbed one of her boots and threw it at him. The heel struck his wrist and sent the vial flying from his hand. It shattered on the cave floor and Lotor winched and back away to avoid the fumes.
"Damnit!" He swore through his teeth. Clever girl...
"Now get out of here, Lotor." Allura scowled, picking up her other boot. "Or so help me, you'll take the other one in the face."
"Enough tomfoolery, Allura." Lotor scowled back. He dodged to the left as Allura heaved the other boot, narrowly missing his shoulder. "You're testing my patience. Give yourself up right now, or--"
"Or what?" She replied defiantly. "I know you wouldn't do anything to damage the prize you've sought for so long; any threat of physical violence rings rather hallow coming from you."
Lotor snorted, annoyed. He took Allura's gun from his belt and glanced at the setting controls. "Perhaps so, but knowing you and your friends, this weapon of yours must have a stun setting..."
Abandoning all thought of modesty, Allura let go of the blanket, sprang to her feet, and charged at Lotor. Distracted briefly by seeing her in her unmentionables, Lotor had little time to react as Allura tackled him; knocking him to the ground and wrestling with him for control of the lazon gun. They rolled over each other for serval feet on the cold cave floor. Though grimacing with frustration outside, Lotor was laughing inside at the irony of finally having such close physical contact with Allura, though not quite in the way he had in mind. With his muscular build and superior upper-body strength, Lotor had a substantial advantage over Allura with her pleasantly lithe, feminine physique; but still, she had been quite astute in pointing out that he would never risk causing her significant physical harm just to subdue her, equally as astute as when she said he should have drugged her while she was still asleep.
In the chaos of the struggle, it was hard to say with certainty whose finger found its way onto the trigger, but Allura's lazon pistol fired several times in random directions. As the entire cave rumbled, they each scrambled to their feet and ran to get clear as tons of ice rained down from the ceiling; burying the weapon they both forgot about in their flight, and sealing their one and only way out. Allura slipped and fell, sliding all the way to the rear wall of the cave. About a second later, Lotor also lost his footing and landed on top of her; grunting and cursing. They were trapped...
To Be Continued...