Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron/Go Lion or any of their characters. They are the property of WEP and Devil's Due Comics and Toei Animation. All other characters are mine. This is written purely for entertainment purposes and I am not monetarily compensated in any way.
Star Crossed
Chapter 1
1
"Blue Lion! This is Alpha Black. What is your position? Over." Keith asked as his sensors suddenly lost contact with Blue Lion. Nothing heard.
"Blue Lion, Blue Lion! This is Alpha Black. Acknowledge, over." He repeated accelerating upwards over the jagged mountain tops into the cloudless blue sky until the dessert canyons below shrunk to a rust red smudge and a tangle of lines, the landscape fading from terracotta red to white and finally green all the way to the ocean. He could see clear from one curved horizon line to the other and still no sign of Blue Lion. Fuck! Where was she? Beneath him he could see a squadron of Drule drones exit a battle cruiser and engage Altean fighters. Reluctantly and feeling deeply uneasy he descended to rejoin the battle.
"Alpha Black! We got a problem. Over." Hunk said as he swerved to avoid a barrage of enemy lazon from overhead.
"Go ahead, Hunk. Over." Keith answered.
"I just saw Lotor buzz by heading four-zero-niner-three with the princess on his six. Over." Hunk replied.
"Oh dammit! Hunk, cover her! Over." Keith ordered as he locked on two enemy fighters and blasted them out of the sky. She better not be doing what I think she's doing. He thought with a mix of fear and anger.
"Roger that. Out." Hunk replied as he changed course to pursue. Yellow surged forward and the sonic boom reverberated across the landscape below. With the blink of an eye Hunk called up a 360 degree, three dimensional visual scan across the cockpit of Yellow for any trace of Blue Lion. Empty sky and not a trace of her on the ground. It was like she vanished out of thin air. He descended to get a better view inside the maze of sheer cliffs and river valleys.
"Blue Lion, this is-"Suddenly between the nearly vertical walls of a steep canyon he felt the hard snag of a tractor beam.
"Son of a bitch!" He cursed as he was thrust forward so hard against his harness it nearly knocked the wind from him. With an instinct born from years of training, he knew better than to fight it but let it pull him down as he asked Yellow for more thrust. Within a fraction of second he felt himself go weightless as the combined force of gravity and his acceleration neutralized the force of the tractor beam. He changed directions at a nearly right angle and broke free.
That's gonna leave a mark. He thought as he rocketed out of the steep crevasse and arced back around to rejoin his team mates.
"Hunk I need a sit rep, over." Keith asked methodically targeting Drule robot drones with bursts of lightning from Black Lion's tail.
"Not Good." Hunk replied tersely and ducked into evasive maneuvers as he was suddenly pursued by enemy fighters that swarmed up out of the deep chasm after him. The squadron of Altean airmen that had lost the princess reappeared over the high bluff that ringed the canyon and intercepted them. He shot two drones down with elemental blasts from Yellow's tail cannon and then made to rejoin his teammates.
"And it's getting worse!" Pidge answered as he spiraled away to avoid laser fire from the two rotating turrets of a Drule battle ship only to nearly get side swiped by the exploding lid from a newly deployed robeast coffin ship.
"Oh, great! Let's see what kind of butt-ugly Zarkon's sent us today!" Lance quipped as the energy field around the creature flared brighter than the sun for several seconds as it grew to its full size. He swooped down low and welcomed the creature with a jet of magma and then rapidly ascended to avoid getting swatted by a tentacle. He arced around fired a missile and severed the wriggling arm.
"Chtulu robeast! You are cliché!" He chided. "Seriously—Ah! Shit!" He was cut off by as second tentacle sprung out of the robeast's chest whiplashing around Red Lion's back legs.
"Romeo, Shorty, minimize your chatter." Keith admonished he and Black Lion raced over and blasted the tentacle away as Hunk and Pidge opened fire simultaneously and forced the creature to retreat back toward the chasm.
"Aye, aye, Skipper!" Lance retorted. Some rules were just too much to break.
"Alpha Black. This is Hunk. I got caught in a tractor beam in a ravine north west of the Emoire canyon. I couldn't hang around to see if anything was in there but it's big enough to hide a battleship in. Over." Hunk said flatly.
"Shit. He's got her." Lance said through clenched teeth as the tentacle loosened and fell away. He gained altitude and looped back around and engaged the beast from the rear with laser rounds from his machine guns, grunting in satisfaction as the tentacles flailed about wildly but missed him.
"Blue Lion, this is Alpha Black. Acknowledge. Over." Keith called one more time. And again there was no reply.
With a sinking feeling Keith knew Lance was right. Allura might be inexperienced but not unprofessional. She would have responded by now, unless she was in trouble. Big trouble. He swallowed hard pushing the creeping knot of fear in his stomach back down. Allura was separated from the group and more than likely taken prisoner. Keith knew Lotor wouldn't kill her, he wanted her alive. But he would hurt her. Keith knew that too.
It wasn't just the princess that was in danger it was all of them. Everything. If Lotor had Allura then he also had Blue Lion. They couldn't form Voltron. Even if they won this battle Zarkon would attack again, with more battle ships, lazon bombs and drone aircraft. Stronger and more powerful robeasts. The four Lions would be able to delay the inevitable, but without Voltron to take down the more powerful sentient battle machines, Altea would fall. Again.
"Alright team, let's put this fugly bastard down and pay Prince Charming a visit." Keith ordered.
"Aye, aye, Sir!" Lance and Pidge replied simultaneously.
"Roger that!" Hunk concurred.
He switched to an encrypted frequency and hailed the Castle of Lions. "Castle Command, this is Alpha Black. Over."
"Go ahead for Castle Command. Over." Keith recognized Coran's voice. His carefully modulated tone betrayed none of the anxiety that he must be feeling. The old man had ice water in his veins.
"We have situation Masai. I say again. Situation Masai. Execute Tango Alley Cat. Over." Keith ordered. His simple coded message was designed to confuse the enemy who, in spite of the Altean's best efforts, were undoubtedly monitoring all of their transmissions.
"Understood. Out." Coran answered.
2
In the castle's command center, twenty stories beneath the Castle of Lions Coran slumped in his chair his mouth gone dry. He knew what it meant. His throat constricted and his vision blurred. Situation Masai. It wasn't possible. Masai was the code for a Lion down or MIA. They had chosen the name from the famous lion hunting African tribe of Earth. Allura…please be alright. Please let it be some problem with Blue Lion's communication system. Tango Alley Cat. Deploy all remaining aircraft and artillery and to divert the enemy's attention away from the Lions.
He took a deep breath and spoke into the comm. He ordered all remaining fighters to launch and calling for ground support and anti-air craft artillery to target the battleship that hovered over the air battle.
Then he swiveled in his chair inserted a security card, cued up a visual and entered the five digits that sent a planet wide alert to all media outlets advising the inhabitants of Altea to prepare for a prolonged siege and possible invasion. It also sent a message to all military and police to institute a strict dawn till dusk curfew and marshal law was in effect until further notice.
Castle Command had heard every word exchanged by the team since they launched. The battle was being broadcast to six massive visuals in real time from cameras mounted on the Lions and simultaneous satellite feed. They had seen Allura engaged by a group of Drule ships being lead by an unmarked civilian space craft. They watched the dogfight and even cheered as she had made the kill. And then she had disappeared down into the crevasse her camera feed suddenly going to distortion. It looked like she had pursued the remaining fighters but then they heard Keith's repeated attempts to locate her. They had heard Hunk's report and they knew what it meant. Blue lion was down and their princess was injured, captured or both. What had started out as a fairly routine skirmish had just turned into a worst case scenario.
He noticed Lt. Sully pulling up a visual and adjusting the fire co-ordinates of the castle's heavy anti-aircraft cannon . So young! He thought. She couldn't be more than twenty. She must be the same age as Allura. He glanced at the other faces, some even younger, with scowling eyes and mouths set in grim lines as they fought to save their world. This war has lasted over half their lives. He suddenly felt old and weary and the hopelessness of the situation threatened to overwhelm him.
It would be devastating for Altea if the princess became Zarkon's hostage. But they put had safeguards in place for that possibility years ago. She had not been ordained queen after her parent's death. The throne of Altea was empty. The dynasty could be abolished with the stroke of a pen should the Council of Lords vote that way. Additionally, the Galaxy Alliance favored a democratic government system and had been pressing that point when ever Coran had asked for more aid. But Coran had hope that one day the war would be over and Allura could ascend the throne and govern as queen. Altea would be free. Free of Zarkon, the Drule and their tyranny. And free of the Alliance's impositions.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and took several deep breaths. The decade of war had taken its toll on him. Just as it had on the people of Altea. They lived in a constant state of fear and strict rationing of basic necessities. Their personal liberties were becoming more and more restricted. And their anger and frustration were palpable as their growing despair. They had been at war too long. It was only the terror of Zarkon's forced labor camps that kept many of them from outright anarchy. That and the discovery of the Lions and the reawakening of the mecha Voltron. He didn't know if it was technology, magic or both. And truthfully he didn't care. It was as if, no, not as if, but indeed that the gods of this place had returned to bring justice to Altea's people. Voltron had inflicted devastating losses on Zarkon. The tide of victory was turning in Altea's favor. But, now, without Blue Lion, there was no Voltron. Without Voltron…and Blue Lion in the hands of the enemy…he shuddered to think of what would happen. They must find her and get her back. All of their lives depended on it.
Coran remembered the years before the Voltron Force's arrival. He had drafted document after document dictating the terms of Altea's surrender. He deleted all of them, knowing that in the end it didn't really matter. Even if Zarkon signed it, it was not worth the few kilobytes it was stored on. There was no way to enforce it. Who would question Zarkon? The Drule council? Not likely. To whom could Altea appeal her grievance? Emperor Bjorn? Ha! Altea was alone, beaten and friendless.
It seemed their only course of action was to hide. The laws of warfare that it is impossible to win a prolonged war and that war is won not just by the ability to inflict damage upon the enemy, but more importantly on the ability to absorb casualties.
Alfor had thought of this, even when Altea and Korrinoth were allies. He knew that Altea's massive stores of lazon and growing wealth made it a target for much bigger threats. He had been wise beyond his years, knowing that too often in history that the greatest allies can make the most dangerous enemies. He set a plan in place utilizing the natural topography of Altea and the resilience and resourcefulness of her people. To invade Altea to exploit her resources would be a costly venture. He sought to ensure that trade and commerce was always a much more attractive prospect to Altea's ambitious yet frugal Drule neighbors.
He had used the unresolved conflict with Pollux as his reason when he ordered that the natural cave systems of Altea be made into emergency shelters. There were thousands of miles of them with underground springs and lush oasis created by massive, ancient water filled sink holes that let in the sun and life flourished in their depths. They lived for years in them. Waiting for the Korronites to establish bases and drop their guard before ambushing them with guerilla tactics. Their refusal the surrender was a thorn in Zarkon's side, costing him greatly in blood, treasure and reputation.
But one by one Zarkon's forces had found them and enslaved those they captured. Forcing the rest deeper and deeper, away from the clear water and light until their resources dwindled and the remaining population was devastated with starvation and disease. He had those who ventured out for food followed and then he bombed the caves, entombing the living and flushing out those who feared being buried alive….
"Sir?" A voice startled him out of his reverie.
"What is it, Corporeal Reilly?" He asked his mind snapping back to the present with an unpleasant jolt. He had to get control of himself. Despair and grief were the luxuries of people who had no responsibilities. His princess and an entire planet depended on his ability to remain clear headed.
"I have satellite observing battle field and I think I found something…in the Emoire canyons as Captain Garret said. "
Coran slid his chair over the corporal's visual. "Where?" He asked squinting trying to see the anomaly.
Reilly touched the screen and enhanced the image, then adjusted the setting. Suddenly the numbers coding the margin of the screen began to fluctuate wildly. "See here Sir?" She pointed to the shadow of a deep chasm. "There's a random change in polarity. That's where the tractor beam starts. And ends." She traced her finger along an undulating area that extended several square miles well away from the fighting. "If that son of a bitch, pardon me, Sir, has the princess that's where she is…and-"
"If that's where she is, then that's where he is." Coran finished. "He planned to isolate her but in the process he's isolated himself as well..." Coran mused. "Well done, soldier!" He patted the girl on the shoulder and hailed Black Lion.