Voltron: Dark Universe
Chapter 2:
"The Paladins of Voltron"
A Galra ship was flying over a village, where each and every one of the buildings had been built in blue rock at the foot of a mountain. There were, on each wall, large floating crystals that emanated the light that illuminated the night. In a corner a large part of the population was crowded, surrounded by Galra soldiers who were pointing their weapons at them. The commander of the Galra was slightly taller and stockier than the rest of the soldiers.
—It's your last chance! Give us the crystals, or you will be destroyed.
The leader of the natives, beings with blue eyes, with four extremities and pointed ears, was firm, determined and without fear before the Galra.
—We're not going to give you anything! The agreement with the Galra was over at the time that Voltron beat Zarkon. And at the moment when Lotor invaded our caves. Do you want to kill us? Go ahead, without us, you will not have more.
—There are always other ways —he assured him. The commander pointed his gun directly at the leader's forehead.
The leader looked at his people, they were all equally determined.
—So be it —and then he let his guard down. The Galra Soldiers prepared to fire.
Suddenly they heard a shout above them, all looked up. A thin figure fell from the sky. He had a weapon with which he started firing at the Galra.
—Renew the fire! —Commanded the commander.
Just before falling, the figure activated thrusters on his back, with which he propelled himself directly towards the commander. A young man in a blue and white suit struck with Commander Galra, throwing him several meters away before falling over. It was Lance, Voltron's Blue Paladin. The soldiers pointed at him, but more shots fell from the same direction, it was Hunk, the Yellow Paladin, who fired frantically as he fell into battle. Pidge and Allura, the Green and Red Paladins, although the princess wore pink, used their whips to disarm the soldiers. And finally, Keith, the Paladin of the Black Lion, began to eliminate the robots with his sword.
The commander got up, activated a communicator and sent a warning message to his ship, warning that Voltron had located them, and they had to counterattack. But the Castle of the Lions had already begun to shoot the ship. Lance stood in front of the commander, aiming his Bayard.
—I think it's over. You lost —he said sure of himself.
—I think you too.
Lance looked at him confused, then discovered a small Galra ship flying in his direction. The ship fired at Lance, who quickly activated his shield, but the impact sent him flying.
—Lance! —Keith shouted when he saw him. He got rid of his enemy, and rushed to catch up with his companion.
The commander took advantage of that moment and ran towards his fleet. One of the ships allowed the boarding, and the fleet went to sky. One last shot of the Castle, and the Galra Ship was destroyed. The remnants of the fleet fled off the planet. The castle now fired at the remains of the ship that could fall on the village. The villagers hailed the victory.
Keith caught up with Lance, who lay on the ground without moving. Keith leaned over and picked Lance up, holding his back.
—Are you okay? —Lance opened his eyes and saw him. He gave him a smile, and took off his helmet.
—I'm fine —Lance stood up —It wasn't bad, huh?
Lance was pleased, he felt good because they had won, but Keith looked at him harshly. Before he could say anything, the villagers approached them and hailed their victory. The Paladins gathered, took off their helmets, and the leader of the village advanced towards them. This time, he spoke more calmly.
—We are grateful Paladins. If it had not been for his arrival, it would have been our end.
—It was nothing, we're happy to help —Hunk said.
—Let us thank you.
—Please —Allura said —it's not necessary.
—It would be a disgrace to us if you did not accept our gift. Please follow me.
The Paladins followed the leader, and the people followed them, thanking their actions, flattering them. The leader led them through the village, to a cave, on whose walls there were bright crystals. He guided them through the interior, through corridors that grew larger and larger, until they stopped in a large central chamber, and in the center there was a great white crystal shining. Upon entering, the Paladins felt a great calm in the environment, suddenly the fatigue had disappeared. And the feeling increased with each step they took towards the crystals.
—What is that? —Asked Pidge, interested in extracting a sample of that crystal.
—This is solid Quintessence.
—What? But... —Allura approached the crystal —I thought that the Quintessence could only be treated as a substance.
—Usually yes —the leader said —but in the end it's a fuel, and all material is malleable. We are one of the few species with the ability to manipulate Quintessence. Fortunately, we live in one of the few planets that concentrates large amounts of Quintessence, and for centuries we have dedicated ourselves to treating the substance.
—That means this is a mine —Allura said —You must have enough crystals.
—Unfortunately not, the solidification process of Quintessence, well done, takes us a lot of time. In the course of two years, we are only able to produce three crystals, and this is the last one.
—If this is the last thing you have left —Keith asked —why are you giving it to us?"
—If you mean how we are going to sustain, you should not worry about that Paladin, we do not depend only on Quintessence to survive. But if you mean the gesture, and I speak for all of us - the leader moved his arms, and embraced his people - it's more a compensation. For centuries, we produce Quintessence crystals only for the Galra Empire. Zarkon had promised us security, resources and technology, in exchange for the crystals. Over the centuries, that offer expired, and we became slaves of the Galra. And then, when Voltron emerged, our hopes were reborn. We understood that we could be free when Voltron defeated Zarkon, and our "alliance" ended until a few days ago, when Prince Lotor stole our crystals. This is our gift to Voltron.
The leader, and his people, moved away from the crystal, knelt and put their hands on the ground. A brightness emanated from his hands, and it moved across the floor to the crystal. This one shone, and without noise, and slowly, the great crystal separated in five fragments, that levitated to the hands of each Paladin.
Allura was moved —I do not know how to thank you.
—Just use the crystals wisely, and please consider us allies of Voltron —The leader bowed.
Keith looked at the crystal in his hands, it was very light, for the size it had, a bit larger than a watermelon. Then he heard laughter behind him. He turned, and saw Lance talking to three of the natives. They laughed, and then Lance took his cell phone and took a selfie with them. Then he showed it to them and he continued talking. He was very happy, but Keith was again upset.
—Paladins! We leave! —he said suddenly.
Keith said goodbye quickly, and was the first to leave the cave. Then followed Pidge and Kunk, after more farewells, Allura, and finally Lance.
…
Shiro and Coran were in the Lions' hangar. Allura was the first to go down, told them what happened with the natives, and handed the crystal to Coran. He looked at it surprised.
—Princess, do you have any idea what we could do with this?
—Not exactly —she said with a smile —but I'm sure you and Pidge can find it out.
—Immediately! —Said Pidge, at that moment she had already come down from her Lion, and was holding her crystal with great emotion. Coran and Pidge smiled and ran to the lab. Hunk and Lance approached.
—Shiro, I think you should keep this," Hunk said, offering him the crystal.
—Ah, I cannot accept it, that was a gift for you.
—Well, in that case I ask you to keep it for me —Hunk offered it again. This time Shiro accepted it. Then Lance came up.
—After all, what can I do with this? Maybe I can make improvements to Red! And if we change the color?
—Lance! —Keith shouted. Lance sighed annoyed. Then he turned around. Keith was right in front of him —We need to talk.
—Oh, about what? —Lance's smile disappeared.
—You disobeyed me.
—Again with that? Don't you want to punish me at once?
—Do you think this is a children's game? —Keith raised his voice. Lance the same.
—Of course not! You are the one who wants to be an explorer! Giving orders and orders all the time.
—I'm trying to be a leader!
—More like a boss!
—If you weren't so stubborn maybe it would not be so ...!
—And if you were not ...!
The discussion became denser. Each time the boys raised their voices more, and Shiro believed that they would even be able to start a fight. The boys shouted more and more and he decided to intervene.
—You two, enough! Don't you get tired of arguing? How many fights have you had in the last weeks? I remind you that it's about working together, not fighting each other.
Lance turned around —Tell that to your star player —and start walking.
Keith receives the comment, and only growls. Then he drops his Quintessence crystal to the ground. Despite not being heavy, the crystal resonates strongly in the ground. Lance turned around quickly.
—I don't need this to be better —and with that, Keith retreated at a rapid pace.
Lance received the comment. He tried to argue, but he did not know what to say. He only saw Keith leave.
—Oh yeah? Well, me neither! —Lance shouted at him, and threw his own crystal at Keith, but Keith was gone. Lance was upset.
Finally, only Hunk, Shiro and Allura remained in the hangar, the three of them saw that the crystals of Keith and Lance lost some of their brightness.
- Why they don't stop fighting? —Allura said, picking up Keith's crystal.
Hunk sighed —I wish they would stop being like that. But every day is worse.
—If they continue like this, it will soon be impossible for us to form Voltron. We cannot allow that.
—You're right —Shiro said —Hunk, how if you talk to Lance? And I talk to Keith.
-If you want. But first, we must keep these crystals.
