The Cryon IV Incident, chapter 9: Return to Arus

By Papa Palpatine 2008

Notice: No own…please no sue…

And now, the conclusion….


Castle Doom was dark and gloomy as ever. Cossack sat moping in his quarters, wishing he could go somewhere and get so stinking drunk he'd either forget his troubles or die of alcohol poisoning; whichever came first. Zarkon, naturally, had berated him for his incompetence hours earlier; and even the ever bitchy Queen Merla had taken digs at him. Oh, how he hated that pink-haired devil woman and that damned bird of hers!

In his defense, he had said Hagger guaranteed him the Robeast she selected for the mission was a sure winner with the Voltron Force down a lion ship and pilot; that the failure was really on her. Zarkon wasn't impressed of course, stating that since he signed off on it, he was as much to blame for the mission's failure as her; if not more so. The old witch had received her fair share of the tongue lashing; that much Cossack took as a small consolation.

Within an hour, they would be launching yet another attack on Arus; and this time there would be no screw ups…or else….


Hunk landed Yellow Lion a few meters from the cave entrance. His sensors indicated two life readings deep within the cave system that might be humanoids. Which of these signatures was Allura, he couldn't say for sure, but one of the two was significantly weaker than the other, possibly close to dying. He climbed down from his ship and entered the cave, following the life signs with a handheld scanner. As he came to a first chamber, he shined his flashlight on the twisted and smashed bits of Allura's Lazon pistol, briefly wondering how it got broken before moving on. Tunnels and chambers stretched on seemingly forever, until finally he heard the sound of sobbing; a woman sobbing...and praying.

"Allura?" He called out, running to the source of the sound. He was shocked by the sight that greeted him upon entering the chamber. All around, several Krelvan were lying dead on the cave floor in pools of greenish-blue. Splatters of the same greenish-blue on her face, on her thermal jacket and uniform, and in her hair; Allura knelt in the center of it all, cradling a badly injured Prince Lotor in her arms like some strange parody of the Pietà. Lotor's sword was discarded nearby; the glowing, humming blade in a small greenish-blue puddle.

"Allura, are you alright?" Hunk called out to her once again.

"Hunk?" She said, glancing up at him, startled. "Thank the gods you're here. Please, I need your help with him…"

"What in the Hell happened in here?" Hunk looked at her quizzically.

"There's no time, Hunk." She said through her tears. "Lotor will die soon without medical attention. We need to get him back to the Castle's medical center immediately."

"Allura we don't—"

"Please Hunk," She pleaded. "We can't just leave him to die."

"Jesus, I can't believe I'm doing this." Hunk sighed. "Is he stable enough to move?"

"I think so…I…I hope so; I did the best I could with what was in my first aid kit."

Hunk noticed the bandages wound around Lotor's midsection as he knelt down over the unconscious Drule prince. Hunk quickly slung Lotor over one shoulder and stood. "Careful with him, Hunk…"

"Come on, Yellow Lion is parked just outside the cave. We'll go get Blue Lion and we'll be on our way."

"W-where are Keith and the others?" She inquired.

"They had to stay on Arus, just in case Zarkon launched another attack." Hunk replied. "I was sent to find you while we still had a lull in the action."

"Is everyone alright?"

"We took a licking, but we beat their Robeast and sent them packing." Hunk said. "I hope we can get the Blue Lion back up and running before King Tuna-Face sends more trouble our way."

"So do I…" She said.


Keith, Coran, Lance, Nanny and Pidge were gathered around the console in Castle Control; waiting. The beeping of the Com quickly drew their attention. Coran punched buttons on the console and Princess Allura's face appeared on screen. A look of relief crept across all their faces.

"Princess," Coran said immediately. "I'm glad to see you're—"

"Coran," She interrupted him. "I need you to fetch Dr. Gorma immediately, we have a medical emergency."

"Are you and Hunk alright?" Lance said, concerned.

"We're fine," She said. "But Prince Lotor needs medical attention as soon as possible."

"Lotor?!" Keith said with a stunned look on his face.

"Allura, are you daft child?" Nanny said in disbelief. "You can't seriously be bringing that scoundrel here to Arus…"

"I'm not going to argue the matter with you, Nanny." Allura snapped. She turned her face to Coran again. "Have Dr. Gorma and a medical team waiting for us when we land."

"Yes, as you wish, Your Highness; Castle Control out." Coran said. With that, the screen went blank. The old diplomat sighed.

"Has she finally lost it?!!" Lance said in disbelief. "I can't believe she's really bringing…him here. What do you think, Keith?"

Keith said nothing, his jaw still hung slack and his eyes were still wide as he stared at the blank monitor screen.

"Hello?" Lance said waving his hand in front of Keith's face. "Keith? Are you in there? Hello?"

"I—I'm fine."

"You looked like you were about to fall over, Commander." Pidge spoke up.

"I'm fine. Really, it's just—"

"We all understand man," Lance said putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not thrilled by the thought being in the same castle as that rat Lotor either."

"I guess we shouldn't be too surprised," Pidge said. "Allura's much too compassionate to leave anyone to die; not even an enemy like Lotor."

"I need to get some air." Keith said, turning to leave the room. Pidge, Lance, Coran, and Nanny all exchanged glances.


Keith stood on one of the castle's observation decks, watching the late afternoon sky. Several minutes passed, then he could see them slowly descending from the clouds. Blue Lion was atop Yellow Lion as they landed, the blast points from energy weapons and missiles visible on one side. Allura's lion was just barely able to dismount from Yellow Lion's back under its own power; it took a couple of steps back and then lowered itself onto its belly.

Hunk was first to disembark from his lion; and even from such a distance, Keith could not mistake that Hunk had the unconscious Prince Lotor slung over his shoulder as he climbed down the ladder. Allura emerged from Blue Lion's cockpit shortly after, just as Dr. Gorma and the medical team hurried to them with a stretcher. Within seconds, the Drule prince was on the stretcher and they were all running into the castle with him, toward the medical wing.

Keith stood there for a moment, closed his eyes and clinched his right hand into a fist, and then turned to go back inside, shaking his head.


Allura, Hunk, Lance and Pidge were all gathered in an observation room overlooking the operating room. For the last hour and a half, they had watched Dr. Gorma and his staff of surgeons working on Lotor. Allura's anxiousness as she watched the operation was not lost on any of the others, though none of them spoke; nothing they might have said at the moment would have been helpful under the circumstances. Lotor was now alone down on the operating bed; an oxygen mask over his face and various monitors beeping all around him as he laid their still unconscious. Dr. Gorma soon entered the room, still wearing his surgical scrubs.

"How is he Doctor?" Allura asked.

"His internal injuries were serious, but his condition has stabilized." Dr. Gorma replied. "Those Drules are amazingly resilient. Now it's just a waiting game for him to regain consciousness."

"Terrific," Lance said cavalierly. "In the meantime, we can go pick out a nice cozy dungeon cell for Prince Not-So-Charming."

Allura turned and shot Lance a look that pierced right through him.

Taken aback, he replied, "What?"

Hunk and Pidge both looked at him, sighed, and then shook their heads.

"Come on, Mister Big Mouth." Pidge said. The three of them turned to leave the room as Allura turned back to the window, placing a hand on the glass. A man in technician's coveralls squeezed passed the boys, into the room.

"Princess Allura?" He addressed her. She turned, startled. "Sorry to interrupt, Your Highness; I was told you would want a progress report on Blue Lion's repairs."

Allura nodded reluctantly. The technician handed her a clipboard. She leafed through the pages, giving them a cursory glance at most. The gist of the report, of course, was that Blue Lion might be back up and running in twenty-four hours. She sighed.

"I'm sorry, was this a bad time?" He said.

"No, no." She said, waving a hand. "Thank you for coming up, I'll read your report in more detail in my office later."

"As you wish, Princess. Carry on then." He bowed and left the room. Allura tucked the clipboard under her arm and turned her gaze back to Lotor in the operating room below.

"Princess," Dr. Gorma said with a concerned look on his face. "Perhaps you should go get some rest. I'll send someone to let you know the instant he shows signs of waking."

"Thank you, Doctor." She said, nodding. "And you're right, I probably should."

The doctor patted her shoulder and then she left the observation room. Meanwhile, downstairs on the operating bed, the pinky finger of Lotor's right hand twitched slightly…

The End (for now)