Something About Us
Chapter One
~ A Voltron Fanfiction ~
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Voltron or the characters. I only own my OC, Andromeda Galilei.
Author's Note: Enjoy! Please consider leaving a review.
I could feel the unforgiving chill of the snow and ice through my chest plate as I pressed my body lower to the ground. The harsh wind clawed at my reddened cheeks, and I fought against the gale to steady my trembling hands. The thick gloves made it rather difficult to adjust the dial on the binoculars, but I managed to fumble with it enough times to get it to the correct settings. My eyes followed the stumbling figure in the distance, and I watched him carefully as he made his way towards the unfrozen pond.
"Vakala, where do you think this guy came from?"
My fellow rebel shrugged. "There's a Galra battle cruiser passing by this planet, and that was a Galra pod he crashed."
I glanced over at my two compatriots. "So, you think he's one of them? He doesn't look like a Galra. Do you think that maybe he's an escaped prisoner looking for refuge?"
This time, Remdax shrugged. "It doesn't matter what he is. We need to capture him and interrogate him. He could have information. Helpful information."
My blue eyes flitted back to observing the mystery man through the binoculars. I watched him as he briskly jogged down the bank, disappearing out of view.
"All right, it's time to move. Now's our chance to capture-"
A loud shrieking noise echoed across the valley, interrupting me mid-sentence. My eyes grew wide as I realized what that meant for our new guest.
All three of us booked it across the snow, stumbling through the mounds with urgency. If we didn't reach him in time, we would lose one of our only chances of gaining useful information for the rebellion. There had been so few hopeful opportunities for us out here on this awful planet. We had been stationed here for so long, I actually forgot what warmth felt like. It felt like the cold had permanently settled into my bones. The thought of getting off this waste of a planet was enough to quicken my pace, despite having to fight against the enormous blanket of snow beneath me.
Upon reaching the steep embankment, Remdax opened fire on the creature while I slashed at it with my naginata. Its tentacles were firmly wrapped around the refugee's neck, choking the life out of him. I sliced at the tentacle while simultaneously dodging another one. After landing back on my feet, I stabbed at the creature's thick exoskeleton, hoping to rescue our mystery man. Luckily for us, the creature quickly retreated to the water after uttering several high-pitched shrieks of pain.
"Good riddance, you filthy animal," Remdax spat at the creature as the last bit of it disappeared into the pond. I leaned down at the refugee's side, and his eyes locked with mine for a split second before he slipped from consciousness.
"You're going to be okay, I promise," I whispered as I grasped his hand as tightly as my thick gloves would let me.
His hand was hard and metal, and it initially shocked me. I hadn't been expecting that at all. I made a quick mental note to analyze it back at camp, hoping it would give me some kind of clue as to who this guy is.
After looking him over for any wounds, I noticed the bandages on his leg were no longer white. They had become stained with a dark red substance that looked like normal human blood. His previously patched wound had opened back up.
"Let's get him back to the base before he dies from his wound, exposure to the elements, or both," I yelled over the wind.
Remdax hefted him over his shoulder, and our ragtag party started the trek back to headquarters through the snow.
.
.
I viciously rubbed my gloves together in a feeble attempt to produce more heat, but my efforts were not very fruitful.
"I can't wait to get off this wretched planet," I mumbled as I reached for the incident report forms that were hiding under a mountain of junk.
"You aren't the only one, Andromeda," Vakala irritatingly replied, "We hate it just as much as you do."
I heavily sighed as I fumbled with the clipboard and papers.
"I don't know why they even need us on this forsaken planet, anyways. I haven't seen a single Galra ship attempt to enter this planet's atmosphere since we set-up base here. This outpost is a complete waste of time and resources. Besides, my talents could be used elsewhere, despite the consequences. If it meant putting an end to Zarkon's reign, I'd be more than willing to make that sacrifice."
Vakala gave me a concerned look, and Remdax stared at me with his usual scowl.
"You don't mean that, do you? I know how useful your "talent" can be, but the risk is far too much. No one has even devised a fool-proof plan that would allow for you to use it, and I wouldn't just let you march onto a Galra ship without at least three plans," Vakala chided as he fiddled with the radio system.
After glancing over the report forms, I stared up at my comrades.
"I do mean it. My life is not worth the same as the lives of the millions who suffer at the hands of Zarkon. I would gladly risk it, even if it meant-"
A loud rustling noise, followed by a clanking sound, filled my ears.
"What's that noise?" Vakala questioned, scanning the room.
"Let me check," Remdax said as he stood up and ambled over to the shoddy curtain behind us.
He lifted part of it, revealing the now-conscious visitor.
"Did you remember to put the clamp on him?" Vakala asked.
I shrugged. "I didn't. I thought that was Remdax's job."
Remdax had a look of confusion on his face. "What clamp?"
Vakala and I both sighed.
"The one that keeps his arm from turning into a weapon!" Vakala exclaimed.
"The red one?" Remdax asked.
"It's the only clamp we have!" Vakala groaned as he hurried through the curtain into the other room.
Remdax and I both lazily followed. I drummed my pen on the clipboard with excitement.
"Where am I? Why am I tied up," our visitor asked in a panic.
"I say we eat him," Remdax said.
"He doesn't look Galra," Vakala said almost doubtfully.
"Does that mean we can't eat him?"
I smacked Remdax with the clipboard, "We aren't going to eat him, you big oaf! What is wrong with you?"
"I'm not Galra," the captive articulated, leaning his head forward as much as he could.
I raised my eyebrow at him. He looked very human to me, with his soft pink flesh matching my own, but, his arm really threw me off. That kind of prosthetic was unlike anything I had ever seen on Earth, and it definitely seemed like Galra tech.
"Even worse. He's a traitor," Remdax spat.
"I'm not a-" our captive's eyes grew wide as the realization hit him, "You're-you're rebel fighters."
I nodded proudly as I grinned from ear to ear. "You bet we are. Proud rebels, at your service."
"That's right. We stand against the Galra. We haven't thrown our lot in with them like you have." Remdax pointed his stubby finger in the human's face.
"I'm not working with them. I'm on your side! My name is Shiro," the captive glanced over in my direction, "I'm a Paladin of Voltron, but I was captured… I think."
"You think?" I chuckled. I could see it in his eyes as he pleaded with us that he was definitely telling some stretch of the truth. The desperation in his voice was also a dead giveaway.
"I was fighting Zarkon," our prisoner, now named Shiro, insisted.
"Fighting Zarkon?" Remdax said with a laugh. "Right, and I'm the Phloban of Gargalax!"
I still wasn't entirely sure what that meant.
"Please, have you heard of Voltron? The lions. I need to know what happened to them? How much time has passed?" Shiro desperately pleaded.
How much time had passed since what? What could he possibly be talking about? As far as I knew, the lions of Voltron were just fine. They were out there in the universe somewhere, kicking Galra ass and liberating thousands of enslaved people. What I wouldn't give to be able to meet them and shake their hands.
"Of course we've heard of Voltron. We are part of the coalition, after all," I said with acknowledgement.
I glanced over at my two colleagues, giving them a look of total confusion. What was up with this guy?
"The Galra have been sending scouts to try and flush us out for years. And now they send you to infiltrate us. Hmm, a joke," Remdax said a snort.
"They didn't send me. I escaped," Shiro implored.
Vakala scoffed. "Escaped a Galra battle cruiser?"
All three of us gave a hearty laugh at the thought. Very few rebels made it off Galra ships alive once they had been captured.
"I'm not buying it," Remdax hollered.
"It's true. I took a pod. They fired at me. My pod took a hit. They wouldn't do that if I was friendly. Please, contact the Blade of Marmora or Voltron to verify my identity," Shiro begged.
"And send a signal that can be tracked? Uh, no," Vakala said with a scoff.
"Look around you," Remdax waved his stocky arms around, "Our food and supplies are limited at this outpost. We have no problem watching you starve until you start telling the truth."
Vakala and Remdax walked back through the curtain into the main control room, but I stayed behind. I wasn't quite ready to leave our guest alone. Something about him made me feel at ease for the first time in a while.
.
.
The room was incredibly quiet for quite a long time. I sat in a chair across from Shiro, filling out the tedious incident report. I was always the one stuck with the boring paperwork. Initial here, sign there. It was awfully boring, but the feeling of Shiro's eyes on me as I continued to fill out the report made things a little more invigorating.
"You look human. How is that possible? I thought the Paladins were the first humans to make it this far into space on their own. There's no way that any other humans could have traveled this far without some kind of help." Shiro's voice broke the silence that had settled on the room like a heavy blanket.
I chuckled, mostly to myself, as I jotted down some notes on my clipboard. Despite the freezing temperatures, I was able to steady my hand just enough to keep my writing somewhat legible. I continued to casually fill out the report, occasionally glancing up at our guest to study his features.
"Human? Oh, I'm far from it," I replied with a smirk as my eyes connected with his, "This is just a disguise, of sorts. You see, my people have a certain "ability" that allows for us to change our physical forms. We can morph into essentially any living creature, granted that we've thoroughly researched their anatomy beforehand. My parents escaped from their home world when Zarkon and his army attacked. They fled to some planet light-years away, and once there, they took it upon themselves to blend in. This is why I look human. My parents took refuge on Earth."
A confused look crossed Shiro's face. "Zarkon started destroying worlds ten thousand years ago. I would be surprised if there were any worlds left to conquer. How long can your people live for?"
I raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, and I shrugged as I lazily tapped my pen on the clipboard.
"Frankly, it varies. The more we morph, the faster our lifespan depletes. My parents once said that our people could live for thousands of years. Though, the solar cycles of Earth and the home world are very different. This greatly confused my parents. I don't think they know how old they are now. As for me, according to Earth cycles, I am roughly five thousand years old, give or take."
Shiro's eyes grew wide as he attempted to register this new information. After a moment of silence, my focus trailed back to my paperwork. I continued to cross and dot things as I went through each trivial section. Log information here, initial there. I sighed at the realization that I had a few more pages of tedious work to go.
Shiro cleared his throat, and when I looked up, he launched another question at me.
"What did you mean by "the more you morph, the faster your lifespan depletes"? How exactly does that work?"
I cupped my chin in my hand, balancing the pen between my gloved fingers.
"We only morph into another species when our lives utterly depend on it. Extensively altering our DNA puts too much of a strain on our bodies, and it's actually a very painful process. I mean, we have to shed our old morph before we can assume a new one. The shed includes outer features, and any internal organs we won't be needing. We're not just changing our physical appearance, mind you. We're also altering our internal organs and reproductive systems to match the species we are copying. By completing this process, we lose a few years off our lives. It's the ultimate camouflage, but it's also a double-edged sword."
I stood up, haphazardly tossing the clipboard onto the chair behind me.
"However, I can change little details without entering the shed process."
Shiro's eyed me nervously.
"Here, I'll demonstrate for you," I said as I grabbed a lock of my hair, rubbing it between two fingers. My whole head of hair, from scalp to root, steadily transitioned from my typical shade of honey to the darkest shade of black that I could muster. One wave of my hand, and the colors reversed until my hair was as white as the snow around us.
"Pretty neat, huh? I can even change my height, skin tone, eye color, facial structures, or basically any other small feature with no effort at all."
I did a quick shrink and grow, darkened the skin tone of my face a few shades, and then switched my eyes to three different colors. Once I felt like Shiro had seen enough, I changed everything back to the default settings I had grown accustomed to over the years. Blue-grey eyes with flecks of gold, a nice subtle tan skin tone, moderately voluptuous curves, and honey colored hair, all of which were paired with the slightly above average height of an Earthling female.
"I hope to one day see my true home world, if it still exists. I know not whether Zarkon enslaved my people, or if he completely annihilated them. My parents escaped before I was born, and I was lucky enough to grow up far from the war. Earth is an incredibly beautiful place, and over my five thousand years, I have watched the planet change and humankind evolve. I never want Zarkon to get his hands on Earth, so I left it behind to fight in the rebellion. Then, once I was stationed here, I heard about what happened on Kerberos. Three humans had been captured by the Galra. I took it upon myself to find them and save them, but I've had almost no luck."
Shiro gave me a weird look. "I was one of the crew members for the Kerberos mission. I don't know what happened to Commander Holt after we were captured, but Matt was with me up until the gladiator fights. I don't remember much of what happened, but I haven't seen him since they took him away."
Before I could say anything, I heard Remdax and Vakala squabbling in the control room. I set my clipboard down, irked at the thought of them bickering again.
"Oh, I hate the klygarg. How do I get on it again?"
I sighed at Remdax, who couldn't even operate the simplest equipment.
"Enter your password," Vakala and I said in unison as I pushed the curtain open.
"Right. What's my password?" Remdax questioned.
"I don't know! It's your password!" Vakala shouted back.
"How do you not remember, Remdax? I wrote it down for you like three times. Don't tell me you lost it yet again?" I smacked him to see if that would jog his memory.
Vakala continued to fiddle with the communications deck.
"I'm intercepting another communication coming in now. Log this one, too," He barked out to Remdax.
"I haven't even logged the first one yet!" Remdax complained.
"Why are you so slow at this, Remdax? Get with the program already!" I chided as I bumped him out of the way to take my position at the klygarg.
Vakala shushed us both in order to focus on the distorted chatter on the radio.
Finally, the distortion cleared.
"We've received orders from Prince Lotor," the male voice reported, "We are to intercept Voltron."
Vakala, Remdax, and I exchanged confused glances. Prince Lotor was going to start an assault on Voltron?
"See if he's ready to talk," Vakala said with hesitation.
Remdax and I both made our way towards the back, but when the curtain was lifted, we found nothing but an empty store room.
