PLEASE READ, BEFORE CONTINUE!

Hello everybody. This is an heavy and interesting project for me. I have started writing this to cheer up a new gained friend. But this also is linked with the problem, that I'm not familiar with the Voltron Universe (no Netflix and as a student not enough extra money to get it for now), but I have read some stories here and I liked it. So it's a pretty heavy task for me to create a story for it, but I know, that this person, I'm writing this one for, really likes this Universe, so I do the best I can. It MAY happened, that characters, settings or events COULD BE OUT OF CANON. My appologies for that, if this would happened, BUT I really like the whole theme I try to deal within this story, so pleace have some mercy with me, if some things shouldn't fit correctly within the existing and, as far as I can judge, great universe. I really try my best with the few informations I could gather within other stories, VLogs, trailers and fanpages.

In case this news doesn't have scared you away, I like to present my first chapter for this new project of mine. Acxa is checking some unusual signs on a dying planet, when she get in really big trouble. I wish all of you a lot of fun with this first chapter.

The Canyon

The scanners signs were unusual. Slightly out of place, but definitely unusual. The thermal scans showed a temperature a half degrees to high for this canyon due to the state this planet already had reached. The Galra kept focused on her device.

This planet was dying. The harvest was going to its end and the horrible results were to be seen all over the planet. Worlds reacting different, when all quintessence were taken from them. Like living creatures reacted different to a disease. It was always a mixture of many reactions. Like a immune system, which did its best to get of the plague. But every world seemed to prefer a different favorite reaction. Some worlds seemed to buckle, shaken by earthquakes cracking and bursting, when the energy was sucked away. Others tried to spit fire to burn off the parasites, who tortured them. Most of them got a high fever. Temperature rose higher and higher, until oceans started to vaporize. But a few did something different. They seemed to stare in shock. They ran cold. Deadly cold.

Acxa looked up from her scanner. The canyon was dark. Dark and desperately cold. The life supporting system of her suit was almost at its maximum. The walls of the canyon caught her interest. They were made of emerald green crystals. Acxa remembered those crystals. She loved them. They weren't completely mineral. Life should be in and on them. Little microbes created these magnificent structures over billions of years. Water and weather had carved the canyon in it, but also have brought life for them. It was amazing to see, how such tiny creatures were able to build mountain high crystals. She touched the walls and her mood dropped. They used to be warm, but they were as cold as the rest of this world now. And they didn't glow anymore. Normally these structures would glow in a breathtaking green. She had seen these glowing on another planet once before. She had watched for hours, how the green mesmerizing light was pulsing and floating from a deep and strong tone to a bright and nearly blinding light and back again. How rhythmic waves of light had floated through the structures. Before the harvest had begun, this canyon must have glowed so strong, that it had to be seen on a space ship long before it would have reached the planet. So much life.

The darkness grew with every step Acxa took deeper in the canyon. It was a thick and heavy darkness. It not only clouded her sight. It tried to get a grip on the mind and soul of the Galra. It was gnawing on her mood, it tried to swallow her, like the darkness was swallowing this planet too. Her scanners turned red, as she moved on. She was recognizing a yellow mist, which was covering the ground. It was so cold, that this mist was condensing at the crystals. Acxa's eyes widened in shock. Acid. Where the fog was kissing the structures, the dead crystals were blind and milky. She resisted to touch the slimy-looking frozen crusts on them. The foul yellow condensation was corroding the green matrix, leaving dead brown crust on the dying crystals. The last breath of this dying planet was a rotting and deadly one. She couldn't stay long down here. The acid was also gnawing on her suit. She was about to turn around, when the mist uncovered a foot.

"Pidge."

The com stayed quiet. Probably she was too deep in the canyon, but she want to check this closer. She wasn't sure, how much time this fog would give her, to check her discovery. She walked on in the direction and she found five bodies, all Galran. The acid had barely started to do its work, so these patrol hasn't died long ago. But all this didn't puzzled Acxa. These soldiers were buried with the proper honors. They were laying side by side, their arms were crossed at their wrists before their chests. Everyone of them was holding a weapon in his right hand and all of them had a little purple crystal on their foreheads. No grave was dug for them, but the Galra recognized, that all of them were covered with a little layer of dust. Acxa hadn't seen such a correct and respectful fulfilled funeral ceremony for years, especially in war. Something strange had happened here in this canyon.

"Pidge, can you hear me, copy."

Nothing. She checked her com. The signal seemed to be able to leave the canyon, but she couldn't get a response. She took out her blaster, instantly. A trap. Communication must be jammed. She observed the mist and the milky green walls. But no life, no movement. Dead silence.

"Pidge? Keith? Hunk? … Anyone?"

Suddenly the com was soughing.

"..xa? ..a..s repor.. A.x. we're …. si..al. ..eas repe.."

She cursed a little and tried to climb up some crystals. They cracked and broke under her weight and with shock she recognized the cold biting in her leg. She instantly pressed her hand on the pain but the freezing cold was already cutting on her whole leg. The alarm system of her suit went crazy. She threw her blaster aside and checked the survive belt for the repair kit. But the acid was already working. She felt the foul and burning sour taste in her mouth and her lungs started to burn as well as her eyes. It reminded her of wet rotting moss and leaves combined with the sour burning taste of a vinegar and a little sulfur.

"Emergency call. Suit is damaged. Position Emerald canyon, South-side, two and a half kilometers from rendezvous point."

She had found the kit, while she had set up the call. She was nearly sure, that it was already too late, but she had to try. Pidge had been right, something was wrong in this canyon. She ripped out the patch but the cold was already under her skin. She felt so freezing cold. The pain in her leg was gone, but she was sure, that this was only due to the lost of any feeling and control of her left leg. She stumbled and felt on the ground, loosing the patch. Her lungs hurt, and she wasn't sure, what was biting more, the ice-cold rests of air or the acid.

"Acxa?"

It was Veronica's voice. She felt, that she was fading, but her voice kept her awake.

"Acxa! What's happened? Acxa! Your vitals are going down! Acxa! Hold on, we're coming!

Her sight went smaller and the colors faded like Veronica's voice. She understood, why some planets reacted the way this one does. It was somehow peaceful. The pain was muffled in a thick fuzzy feeling.

She recognized a movement. Someone was at her side. Her pains started to return slowly. The fuzz seemed to be vanishing. She recognized panic voices from the team in the com. It seemed, that the communication wasn't jammed any longer. The person held up his right arm and activated an emergency flare. The signal light rushed higher and higher, switching it's light constantly from white to red, reflected by the green crystals. A line of thick smoke reached down from the climbing light directly to their position. Strange shadows, created by the light and the crystal structure moved over Acxa.

The stranger must have placed a patch on the rift, the sharp crystals had caused. The suit managed to stabilize a normal temperature within, but it also meant, that her feeling returned to her leg and with them her pain. But the filters had collapsed. The air in the suit was contaminated with the acid. Acxa started to cough dry and heavy as her breath went faster and deeper. She suddenly felt a sting at her waist. The stranger had rammed a injection in her side. He pulled it out ungentle and fixed the damage at the suit with with another patch. She wasn't sure, what he had done, but breathing got easier and her pains were pushed aside. Acxa shared looks with the person and the emergency flare. The light had climbed high above the canyon and stayed at place now, blinking bright in red and white. A clear signal. For friend and foe.

She turned her head to search for her weapon but suddenly the stranger held her blaster before her helmet, targeting her head. She was frozen at the spot, but he flipped the weapon in his hand so that the hilt was now before her face. She took it slowly and the person nodded. She realized, that the visor of the strangers helmet was reflecting her appearance. He took defending stand as well, kneeling down beside her. He had put up a plasma rifle. It was absolutely quiet. The dying atmosphere wasn't dense enough anymore to carry the sonic proper to them. But she recognized flashes from the north. And these flashes came closer. She felt the rumble in the earth. Shock-waves spread out through the ground, tickling in her stomach.

The stranger started to shoot suddenly in the darkness. Acxa didn't see anything, but the person seemed to have targets. It was no frantic shooting, not a kind of fire to pin an enemy down. It were controlled blasts, alternated between targets, only her defender seemed to notice. And then she heard the muffled sound of fighters. The rays of the Galra guns cut through the dark, but missed them barely. She hadn't done a shoot yet, but with her simple blaster she would only draw more attention, but wouldn't do any damage to the fighter. The mist was blown away buy the machine, swirling in yellow curls beside its wings. The stranger kept targeting the machine and place a powered up shot.

A perfect hit.

The capsule of the fighter cracked and the pilot must have been hit. The machine was ripped up high suddenly and was turning fast spirals. The fighter broke out to the left side and crushed in the walls of the canyon, exploding in a blazing fireball. The burning ball spitted out broken pieces of the fighter and of the walls and it started to rain fire. The stranger jumped over Acxa, covering her with his body. She was surprised of this heroic but hopelessly useless try, to protect her from this deadly rain. Only luck would rescue them from this inferno, but a sudden blue glow proved her wrong. A shield covered both, as a burning fragment of the fighter crashed on their spot. The piece bounced away from the glowing shield. The stranger pushed quickly on a part of his belt at his side to remove a smoking energy cell. With skilled moves he threw away the old cell and placed a new one in his suit. Two another explosions created walls of fire near the ground. The hot rain of fragments and fire must have hit two other fighters or had caused them to crash against each other. Whatever it was, the result was the doom for the machines.

But the stranger was still alarmed. And he was right. It seemed that the pilots of the two machines had used an emergency escape and both landed before the fire wall pulling out blasters to attack. The unknown person started to run towards the enemies, and Acxa was surprised. He was much faster, than she had expected and obviously he had surprised the other Galras as well. They started to shoot at him, but he managed to dodge the attacks. He had chosen a way to approach the pilots, that their shooting wouldn't put Acxa in danger. Both threw away their blasters and grabbed their swords to attack him. Acxa gasped in surprise. The stranger ducked away under the skilled strike of the first pilot. He got a good grip on the wrist of the stretched sword arm. With a painful twist he turned the hand back, and got control of the sword, while he jumped over the baffled Galra. He landed behind the pilot and instantly kicked him in the back of his knee in order to bring him down. While the pilot was breaking down, he placed a hard strike with the sword against the second Galra, who tried to defend his comrade. The blow let the alien stumble and the stranger used the time to turn the sword in his hand back and with a fluid motion he stung backwards, without turning around. The blade found precisely the first pilot, who felt over after Acxa's defender had brought the sword back in front of him. He blocked the rageful blow the second Galra and pushed the enemies sword up high with the block. A quick and powerful motion from the sword down the Galra finished the second enemy instantly.

He kept standing for a moment, frozen in his last motion, until he relaxed and started to walk back to Acxa. She looked closer at her defender. The suit was custom made. It seemed to be a former suit of a planet defense team. Acxa remembered, that she had seen suits like this before, but this one was uses and repaired many times and the shield had proven, that its owner must have done a lot of modifications. He picked up his rifle and hung them over the shoulder. The person looked southward. Acxa turned her head and she saw the green lion approaching. The way, the atmosphere absorbed and alternated the sounds was so strange. She turned back to her defender.

"Thank you."

It sounded much weaker and rougher, than she had expected. The acid must have done more damage, than she had expected. The stranger put a hand on his helmet and his visor became lucent. A face of a young human man appeared behind it. His left eye was replaced by an bionic implant. It was definitely Galran heritage, but it seemed to be modified. Acxa felt a shiver running down her spine. Loathing was in his eye as he faced her look. But then he turned his head down to his side and the scorn was replaced by a strong bitterness, Acxa had never seen before. He had closed his remaining eyes and his lip was quivering.

"I haven't done it for you."

He turned away from her and he must have activated his own communicator.

"Freyda. Voltron is here. We can evacuate."

He walked back to the dead pilots. She kept watching him, while Pigde left the lion and ran to her side.

"Acxa! Easy, don't move! Axca, I got you, we must be fast, I think the whole planet knows, that we're here."

Acxa didn't react. She kept focused on the stranger. Pidge recognized her look and it seemed, that she finally got aware of the stranger and the mess of burning wrecks in the canyon. Her voice was shocked and baffled.

"What happened? Who is this and… What is he doing?"

Acxa's eyes widened in surprise. The stranger hit his chest with crossed fists and lowered his head before each dead pilot. A Galran gesture of respect for the dead. Then the man got down on his knees and started to prepare the dead pilots.

"He's doing the proper rites to honor the dead and guide the warriors souls."

Acxa's voice was trembling. He must have done the same for the patrol. Pidge shared questioning looks with the wounded Galra and the stranger.

"But how… and why…?"

Acxa stayed quiet. She didn't know.

"We must secure this area a bit longer. We're awaiting refugees."

This announcement ripped Pidge out of her questions. She helped Acxa up and guided her back to the lion. The Galra turned her head back and ignored the incoming questions and messages about her status and what has happened. Suddenly she recognized a heavy door at the side of the canyon. It must have been hidden before by a cloaking device. The door opened and a group of seven people left the wall of the canyon.

"Pidge."

Acxa nodded in the direction. The peoples steps were frightened and uneasy.

"Hey, over here. Don't worry. We're from Voltron. We'll help you. Get into the lion, we'll fly you out."

Almost all of the group started to come closer. Acxa saw Pidge's sad face as six people got closer. It were all kids or teenager, four girls and two boys, all in improvised survival suits. She started to chew her cheek. War has done no good to them, obviously. But the last person walked over to the stranger. Acxa suggested, that due to the movements, it must be a high grown woman. Her eyes widened, as she recognized a little child in her arms. She was nearly at the ramp of the lion, when the woman reached the stranger. She was taller than the man. She laid one arm around his shoulder and tended her head aside until her helmet touched his. The last thing Acxa recognized was his hand getting a grip on hers on his shoulder, before she was too high up the ramp of the green lion.