Chapter ten: Regrouping
Everyone had gathered in the lounge to chill and hang out, while they proceeded along the invisible path in which they traveled.
"So what did happen to you out there?" Lance asked turning to Allura, who sat across from him between Hunk and Pidge.
"I was brought to this wonderful place, believe it or not." The Princess began. "A mysterious, yet gentle, creature took me into this gorgeous temple with lion carvings of all kinds. It brought me to the White Lion's hanger. I still can't believe how wondrous it all was..."
"Father?!" She gasped, her breath nearly catching in her throat as she said this.
"Allura?!" Alfor breathed in astonishment. "My daughter! How I have missed your face! And you're here? You have found my final gift to you."
"Final gift?" The Princess echoed.
"This lion was meant to be my gift to you, Allura." Alfor told her. "But unfortunately, I had not expected it to be my last... but now... you've found it.. And I am soo proud to know that my dear, sweet daughter has finally claimed a weapon of her own."
"So.. this was... all meant for me... all along?" Allura almost could hardly comprehend the meaning of this.
"This lion was constructed from the remains of the volcanic ore of the comet, which became the Voltron we know today. And with this sixth lion, came a uniqueness to its design. At first I wasn't sure what to do with it. But somehow as I constructing it... it seemed to connect with me the way all the lions do. But this wasn't quite the same... it told me what to do,.. and what to build. It was like it knew its purpose, before I did. And that is why it was not recognized as the sixth lion of Voltron. It was meant to stay a surprise, that one day I would show it to you when you were ready... But now I see that you are indeed worthy, as you have come to find the lion on your own."
"But Father I didn't." The princess sighed, pain and regret coming over her. "The Black Lion has runaway from the Castle and Shiro, it's Paladin, is still missing after our battle with Zarkon and after an ambush on Keith went awry... I'm not sure how we can even form Voltron anymore, without the Black Lion.. and it's Paladin."
"Do not worry, daughter." Alfor soothed. "It will be alright. Do not give in to despair. Each of the lions are individual, but they all need each other to function as the Defender of the Universe. But what they also have in common is that they have a mystical understanding, that not even the ancient Alteans could understand; even id they were to study them for millions of years. Before I made my stand against Zarkon, I connected the lions to you, my daughter. And in doing so, I left a piece of myself within them. So that I may always be able to watch over you;.. and the future Paladins to come."
"Be that as it may, we can't do it without them." Allura reasoned hopelessly.
"On the contrary, Allura." Alfor returned dynamically. "I believe you can.. And I will show you how..."
"Woah! So King Alfor downloaded his memories into a second AI chamber built in to the White Lion?" Pidge asked, gushing internally at the 'scientific elegance' as she often puts it.
"Precisely." The Princess confirmed. "And now with the White Lion on our side. we may be able to defend against the Galra; until we find Shiro and the Black Lion."
XXXX
Doors the size of giants yelped, as they were forced to open. The only thing to appear on the other side of it was the high priestess of the Galra, herself. It wasn't until the doors had locked into place, that she strode into the room.
"It's it done?" Haggar asked in a firm, one-note tone.
"Nearly, high priestess." A Druid reported bowing respectfully. "Forgive me, mistress.." He said straightening up again. "..but what are your plans for Emperor Zarkon? Is he not going to recover and re-assume his throne?"
"What he is or isn't going to do is none of your concern." Haggar snapped. "All that is required of you is to do as you are instructed."
"Yes.. high priestess." The druid sighed returning to his work. With that, Haggar turned on her heel and floated back out of the door.
XXXX
"I still can't figure out how you got there in one piece." Lance sighed, sipping from the cup of tea in his hand. Hunk wrapped up another fold of dough around its inner contents and turned around to head over to the stove; sticking the gooey pockets into it.
"Maybe she didn't fall." Keith thought, remaining pressed against the wall with his arms crossed loosely in front of him again. "Maybe she got there some other way."
"Like what? Just magically appeared there?" Lance questioned sarcastically; waving his hands in the air at the exaggeration.
"I don't know.- It's just a thought." Keith returned in frustration.
"Believe me, I'm as confused as you are." The Princess agreed taking a drink herself. "But however the case, I'm here now and we're all safe for the time being."
"-Most of us." Keith mumbled sadly. Allura shot him a sympathetic look, that he didn't seem to catch; as his eyes were still glued to the floor. They all fell silent, as they sat or stood around the counter, all with their heads down; each thinking their own thoughts and worries internally.
Minutes turned to hours as they sat there, Hunk had retrieved the food from the oven a while ago; and had placed the pockets in a bowl for everyone to take what they wanted to eat. No one spoke for fear of setting fire to the atmosphere that hung heavily over them, like a combustible gas that would spark at anything other than breathing. A piercing scream shattered the silence, however, in the form of an alarm!
"What's going?!" Lance asked urgently, as they all looked up.
"Are we under attack?!" Hunk cried, as they all scrambled for the bridge; bringing his food with him.
XXXX
Allura and Coran were the first to burst into the room, and head to their control panels; tapping at all their screens to figure out the problem. A screen came up, and they were surprised to see the face of Kolivan appear across it.
"Kolivan? What is it? Is something wrong?" Keith asked immediately.
"No, not really." The leader of Blade of Marmora replied simply. "But I have some news for the Green Paladin.." Pidge acquired an odd look of confusion at this statement.. curious of his meaning.
"We have reason to believe that your brother, Matt; has been found." Kolivan stated, his eyes clearly on her. Pidge's eyebrows shot up at this, a glimmer of hope igniting in her light brown eyes.
"How do you know this?" Keith asked, urgently.
"An unidentified message was sent to us, with coordinates regarding Matt's alleged whereabouts." Kolivan replied. "But the origin of this message is unknown. There's no way to track it or discover the source of its sender. All we know is that Matt is supposed to be there, and that time is of the essence in retrieving him before he is moved again. No one knows who sent this message, but it is not within the ranks of the either Galra, or any known rebel activists that we associate with. The signal showed up and died just as quickly as it had come. It's a good thing our systems document and save all messages that are received; no matter where they came from."
"But only the rebel fighters and Blade of Marmora know that..." Lance pointed out. "Who else would know that?" Keith thought for a moment, but was interrupted by Pidge's voice.
"Whoever it is must be trying to help us." She said. "Otherwise why would they send us this kind of information? We have to go check it out."
"I can send you the coordinates, but the location they'll lead you to is a treacherous one." Kolivan warned. "It is completely overcome with Galra, and is practically as dangerous as entering Zarkon's main ship. The coordinates lead to a planet called Zakron, and, in the Galra language, it means 'danger'. You'll have to tread carefully when entering into such a stronghold."
"I'm going alone." Pidge decided, earning her gasps all around.
"What? No way?!" Lance cried, decidedly.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Paladin Pidge." Kolivan advised. "The base you will be headed to is highly fortified; if you go it alone, without backup, you will easily be overpowered and captured."
"I have cloaking." Pidge reminded them. "I'm the only one who can."
"Right, but it won't take long for them to overtake you should you get caught." Kolivan told her. "At least with a little back up, you will have at least someone covering your back while you find your brother."
"Kolivan has a point, Pidge." Allura agreed. "We need a plan to make sure this works." Everyone could see the Green Paladin restrain herself as she lowered her gaze; the look of pain crossing her face in a heartfelt cringe.
"Ok." She said softly.
XXXX
Haggar stood over Zarkon once again, the twitch that she'd once seen may as well have been a dream. Because now, the fallen Galra Emperor was silent as could be. Not any inkling of resurgence emanating from him.
"High priestess, Haggar." A Galra commander knelt in a respectful salute as she exited Zarkon's chamber. "Pardon my questioning, but how long must we go on like this? Lotor is nowhere to be found and Lord Zarkon has not returned yet. And it seems Voltron has made moves against us taking back territory. How long are we going to wait before Voltron decides to take more territory?"
"Your pardon will be noted, Pythineius." Haggar replied simply. "But only once... Lotor is still in charge of the Empire at Zarkon's request. And he will be relieved of such duties once Emperor Zarkon recovers. And as for Voltron... we will continue to search for them and capture the lions and their Paladins;.. and await Zarkon's return... He desires the honor of destroying the Paladins himself. Now take leave of me!"
"Yes mistress, but what of Voltron now?" The commander began to pry. "Zarkon will not approve of returning to his empire in its poor, weakened state. There has to-augh!!" The commander hit the floor on all fours, grimacing through the seething pain that had so violently attacked his chest. Haggar simply stood over him, a blank look of her stoic expression hiding her inward thoughts; glaring down on him from her outstretched hand.
XXXX
"Because the base is very well guarded, we'll need a distraction to keep the defenses occupied while we get our inside-.. man, inside." Lance devised thoughtfully.
"Yes, and we'll need our defenses to hold their attention until the target has been secured." Kolivan concurred.
"I'm the best one to go." Pidge insisted once more. "The cloaking on the Green Lion will suffice in getting me there. And if we try the cloaking plan again with Slav, we might be able to keep the cloaking up until I return. We have a better idea of what to do now, so we can do this. It's too risky for more than one of us to go."
"Pidge makes a valid point." Coran had to agreed, twirling his mustache thoughtfully.
"I don't think this is a good idea sending you of all people in there." Allura remarked dubiously.
"Why? You don't think I can do it, just because it's my brother we're rescuing?" Pidge questioned hurtfully.
"No! That's not it at all!" The Princess insisted immediately. "I'm worried because there are so many Galra in there and I fear you will be easily overpowered if you get caught."
"So I won't get caught." Pidge returned quite matter-of-factly. Allura pursed her lips defiantly, but read Pidge glance and knew she wasn't going to give in. Finally she closed her eyes in frustration and lowered her head in defeat.
"Fine." She said, giving in with a heavy sigh.
Hey guys how is going!! This chapter was freaky fast! I gotta say even I was was surprised at how quick it was to get it done. Chapter eleven is in the works, but I'm not sure when it'll finished, but I'll get it done as soon as I can. Til then, though, enjoy!! Thx!!