Prince Lotor walks carefully, as if on eggshells, into the planning room of his father. Zarkon has his back to Lotor, staring at a display showing a holographic sequence of a teleduv opening, and lines of energy coursing out. A readout of numerical calculations are projected alongside.
Lotor waits for his father to speak. Zarkon says nothing. Lotor's hands clench and unclench, as he continues to wait. Zarkon just keeps staring at projection, watching the numbers change as the calculations continue.
Finally, after what seems like an eternity, Zarkon speaks.
"You failed." The voice sounds neither angry nor surprised.
"...yes." Lotor says, forcing the word out.
Neither says anything for several long moments.
"...your mother took the teleduv to a secondary location for some preliminary tests. You will go to her."
"...for what purpose?"
"To be out of the way."
Lotor flinches. "...and...my punishment?"
Zarkon finally turns around to face Lotor.
"There is nothing I think I can do, that is worse than the dishonor you have laid upon yourself. You know what a failure you are. Do I have to hammer in what is already clear to see?"
Lotor's eyes bore into the floor, tightening his fists so hard the knuckles go white.
"Leave me. Do not return until you have something of value to offer."
With a jaw clenched so tight the words can barely be heard, Lotor says:
"...yes father."
With that, he leaves.
Pidge gazes intently at a display showing frequency readings. She sits inside a laboratory in the Garrison base, at a computer terminal. She types a few keys on the board and more frequencies appear, overlaying on top of the existing ones. Her expression grows harder.
The door slides open, and Keith walks in.
"Hey, Pidge. You wanted to show me something?"
"Take a look." She nods to the screen.
Keith walks over, and looks down at the display.
"So uh...you wanna tell me what I'm looking at right now?"
She sighs. "When we first got back to Earth, I had them tune the astro spectrometers to look for quintessence, and other unique energy signatures."
"And lemme guess: You picked up some?"
"You could say that. I'm getting some crazy readings all over the place. Been using my spare time trying to locate the epicenter, which I finally did. Check it out."
A map of celestial bodies appears on the display.
"This," she says, pointing to a highlighted spot, "is the source of these energy readouts. And this," she points to another spot, "is the Quantum Abyss. Just a couple of lightyears away. I'm betting that's not a coincidence."
"Me either." Keith says, eyes narrowing. "It's got to be Zarkon."
"So...what do we do?"
"For now, just keep an eye on things. Let me know if anything changes. I'm going to ask the Blades and the Warlords if they know, or can find anything about this."
"Roger that." Pidge says, returning the display to the readouts. "Oh and Keith?"
"Yeah?"
"Whatever this is...it's big. These readings...I can't even begin to describe how scary they are. Whatever Zarkon and the other Dark Paladins are planning...we have to do everything possible to stop it."
"We will." Keith says confidently.
"How can you be so sure? We sure got beaten last time."
"Because we're the Paladins of Voltron. That's why."
Pidge nods, seeming to accept this answer. With that Keith leaves her to her work.
Lance walks inside an open hanger, towards Hunk, who's back is to him. The big man is talking to a group of cadets that surround him. Lance smiles as he approaches, hearing his friend's words.
"-rookie mistake. I used to make it all the time. Those gyroscopic stabilizers can get a little wonky once you get past three G's. Talk to your engineer about it, they should be able to adjust the compensators, to make that a little-"
"There he is!" Lance calls out, for the whole hangar to hear. "The man, the myth, the legend: Hunk Garrett!"
Hunk cringes, but the cadets seem all the more excited.
"Don't you think you're exaggerating a little bit…?" Hunk says, as Lance walks up to throw an arm over his friend's shoulders.
"Not even a little! Ya know this guy always talks about how scared he is? Turns out he's a real heroic one. Totally called it."
"Come on, I was the last one to even get in the fight."
"Yep. Real thematic entrance, too. I'm proud of you buddy."
The Cadets start to clamor, asking questions and swarming them. Hunk, however, cuts them off with a wave of his hand.
"Alright, alright. Cool down guys. We aren't going anywhere. You all on the other hand, are due for flight drills if I'm not mistaken? I'd get to your fighters before your drill sergeant starts to wonder what's taking so long."
The cadets get a wave of panicked looks, and quickly disperse, calling out farewells as they run.
"Amazing." Lance says shaking his head. "Just hold one of your eyes shut and you really would just be the spitting image of Iverson."
"Oh stop it." Hunk says shrugging off Lance. "I was just running their tests on the Yellow Lion, and after seeing Voltron firsthand they wanted to ask me stuff."
"Uh huh. So in other words, you've become their beloved hero-pilot." Lance sighs exaggeratedly. "Man, how come no one ever notices how heroic I am?"
"Well I'm sure before long they'll all be singing the praises of 'Lance the Sharpshooter."
"Guess we'll just have to see…" Lance grumbles. A slight quirk of his lips indicates that he is not as downcast as he pretends.
Hunk chuckles.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing. Just glad I'm right where I'm supposed to be."
Suddenly a wide grin grows on Lance's face. "Not yet ya aren't."
"What do you mean?"
"Well buddy, I think it's time we both got some well deserved R&R. Whatcha say we sneak out of this place before another alien invasion or something happens, and go hit the town? Yaknow, for old time's sake."
"That does sound like it could be fun." Hunk admits.
"Great! Now let's just make sure Keith doesn't-"
Both of their communicators squak to life, with the sound of Keith's voice.
"All Paladins, gather in the usual meeting room. Follow up on the attack, and discussing where to move from here on. Attendance is non-negotiable."
They both sigh.
"Well he's sure got ordering people around down." Lance says.
The five Paladins of Voltron, Shiro, Coran, Matt and Sam Holt, Admiral Sanda, and all the other various leaders of both Coalition and Garrison sides sit in the large meeting room.
Admiral Sand sighs long and hard, before standing up to speak.
"The council has agreed to support the Coalition in their efforts to stop Zarkon and the Galra forces he controls-"
Before she can continue the room erupts into a cheer. She gives an annoyed look, though a slight tug at the corner of her mouth seems to tell a different story.
"-this means that we will supply the Coalition with all our resources." She goes on once the cheers die down."Most important of these, is our own military forces which, when necessary, will join the Coalition in deep space, and assist in the includes the Atlas mecha, and all the currently battle-worth starfighters we possess. That is all." Sanda sits back down.
"Oh come on Sanda, it's okay to get excited!" Matt says with a smirk. "This means we can finally officially work together again! I know you've missed my sense of humor."
"With how much time you spent hanging around base, one could be convinced you never left." Sanda sniffs. The comment however, is lacking it's usual bite. Though reserved, she does seem pleased.
"Thank you, Sanda. Really." Shiro says. "Delays aside, I know you fought hard for this. We all owe you for this."
"Pay me back by finishing this war quick. Oh and try not to bang up the Atlas any more than you already have. Speaking of, how are the repairs coming along?"
"Just about finished, actually." Sam Holt replies. "While the arm came off, the actual damage was relatively minimal. Plus Coran showed us how to implement some Altean technology that expedite the repair work. Should even make upgrades easier, too."
"Ah yes, modular construction." Coran says, massaging his mustache."Very helpful in building the Castle. Interestingly enough a version of the same tech was instrumental in Voltron's-"
"I'll leave the details to the engineers." Sanda cuts in. "As long as it's back to being battle ready. I don't want us to be caught with our pants down, again."
Keith clears his throat. All eyes turn on him.
"On the subject of battles...I think we should probably discuss what we're doing next. Moving forward with the war, I mean."
"I'm all ears. You're in command here now." Sanda says simply.
Keith looks taken aback by that, but recovers quickly.
"Right. So, I've been thinking lately that we've been fighting a little too defensively. So far we've just waited for our opponents to show up first, then deal with the aftermath. But we'll never win like that. I think it's time we attacked, and put them on the defensive."
"A good decision." Sanda nods approvingly. "But my question would be, where? As far as I understood it, you were not aware of your...our, enemy's precise whereabouts."
"That's not...exactly true." Keith says carefully. "We know that at the very least they've taken over the Altean Colony in the Quantum Abyss. The Blades have confirmed as much. They also verified that a lot of enemy galra activity is centering around there, so it's a safe bet that they're using the colony, or a place very nearby as their headquarters."
"So we attack this 'Quantum Abyss,' then? Cut the head off the snake, as it were?" Sanda asks.
"Tempting as that is, we don't really have enough info to make that kind of attack, yet. We have no idea what kind of defenses they have, how they have their forces situated, or any of that. The Blades, unfortunately, haven't been able to get close enough to get a read on the place."
"Do you have an alternative suggestion then?"
Keith nods. "Over the past few days, Pidge has been monitoring some suspicious energy readings coming from an area not far from the Abyss. Just recently I was informed by the Blades that there is, in fact, a large compound there, with a significant amount of security guarding it. We think they might be testing some kind of new weapon."
"Whatever this thing is, it's a big deal. I can tell that from the readings alone. We've got to figure out what they're doing there, and stop it if we can." Pidge explains.
"I assume you have a plan?" Sanda asks.
"So far, the idea is we launch a good portion of our forces to attack this thing. We'll have a ton of ships, Atlas, and a few Lions, but not Voltron. The reason for this, is because the attack is just a distraction. While our forces are attacking outside, one of the Paladins is going to sneak in, hack their computer and take every scrap of data on what's going on in there, then evac. Then we'll pull out, before reinforcements can arrive."
"Wait a minute." Lance cuts in. "Hack in? That means the one going in will be…"
"Me." Pidge says, as if it were obvious. "I've got the computer skills, plus Green already has cloaking abilities, so getting in should be easy. I'm going to be the one sneaking in."
"...alone?" Lance asks, looking confused.
"Well yeah, that's the idea. We don't exactly want them to find out the real reason we're there."
"Why don't we send in some of those Marmoran Blade guys, too? They're all space ninja-ey."
Pidge sighs. "The more people we send in the more likely it is we'll get noticed. As good as the Blades are, adding more people will just make sneaking harder. Besides, they"
"If...you say so." Lance says, uncertainly.
"We can discuss the finer details later." Keith cuts in. "But, right now this seems to be the right move. We'll deal a blow to our enemy, and gain some much needed intel, in one move. Any more questions?"
There are none.
"Alright, then. Let's get ready for battle everyone."
Prince Lotor, inside the Dark Red Lion, flies towards a massive space station. It is built in a gigantic, flat, ring shape. At the center of the ring, is the teleduv, with six robeasts hovering over it.
Lotor pulls into the station's hangar bay, and lands his Lion. He steps outside, and is met by Raimon, standing there, in his usual maroon armor.
"Raimon." Lotor nods.
The other man nods back, ever so slightly.
"I suppose this is where Zarkon is sending all those he wishes to punish. Though, I should hope I never do something to earn as much ire from him as you."
Raimon does not reply.
Lotor sighs. "Ever the quiet one, my friend. Very well, take me to my mother."
"Yes sir."
Lotor and Raimon step inside a room, where the far wall is one long viewport. The viewport is built into the inside of the station's ring, giving it a clear view of the teleduv and the robeasts hovering over it. Honvera stands in front of the port, looking out, unmoving.
"Mother." Lotor greets.
"Son." She replies. "How did it go with your father?"
"He didn't throw anything at me, so I suppose that's something. Just told me to get out of his way, and stay like that. Almost makes me more worried, that he didn't do something worse."
Honvera pauses before replying. "...I see. Well that aside, your timing is impeccable. Come, we are about to start the next test."
Lotor walks over to stand next to his mother. "How goes your mad plan to open the quintessence field with the teleduv?"
"So far the readings have been promising. By using the robeasts, and by extension, the altean pilots, we can more easily control the rate of quintessence draw."
Violet lighting begins to crackle along the teleduv's surface, then begins to arc out to connect with the robeasts.
"...does it hurt the pilots?" Lotor asks after a moment.
"Yes. I suppose it does." Honvera says unconcerned. "I believe it only takes a few hours to recover, however. No one's died yet, so it shouldn't be a resource concern."
Lotor winces, but his mother doesn't seem to notice. The crackling grows more intense. A glyph appears at the center of the teleduv.
"...what is the purpose of today's test?" He eventually asks.
"I'm trying to solve a rather interesting conundrum."
"Interesting how?"
"After the first few tests, the outputs suddenly changed. It appears as though there is some kind of block in the quintessence field. Like a large stone obstructing a stream. Quintessence still pours out, but not nearly as much as we should be getting."
"What could be causing that?"
"My best hypothesis, is that there is something physical stuck in the quintessence field, and due to the nature of reality, it is trying to slip out every time we open the teleduv."
"Something physical…" Lotor muses. "...could they have tried to make another-"
"Mistress! Something is coming through!" A voice crackles over comms.
Honvera narrows her eyes. "Expand the portal, and run stabilization. I don't want it-"
There is an explosion of violet light, sending several of the robeasts flying. The violet lightning grows more erratic, striking out at the station itself, causing the whole facility to shudder.
"Shut it down!" Lotor calls out.
"It does not appear to be responding." Honvera replies, fingers flying across a holographic keypad.
The crackling grows more intense. Lotor grabs his mother's arm and makes as if to run for it.
Then, all at once, the energy crackles to nothing, an all is dark. Honvera tests the comms.
"Report." She says.
"Damage was minimal, mistress. Just a power surge from all the quintessence. We'll have things back up and running soon."
"The pilots?" Lotor asks.
"Two dead. Rest are in critical condition. Reeling them in now." The operator replies.
Lotor's eye twitches at that.
"Prioritize getting me a visual." Honvera says. "I want to see what we just dragged into the physical universe."
After a few moments, lights from the station come on, illuminating the thing in the center of the teleduv.
A mecha of dark armor, with a long segmented tail, hangs limply in space.
"What…" Lotor says carefully. "...is that?"
Lance runs through a crowd of Coalition and Garrison personnel. They are standing in a crowd around Keith and the other Paladins.
"...the Atlas is going to be flanked by Garrison fighters. Now remember, as good as you guys think you are, you're still at a technological disadvantage, so don't take unnecessary risks…"
"Sure cutting it close huh?" Hunk whispers.
"Just psyching myself up, before the battle, as usual."
Hunk gives him an odd look.
"What? Do you not do that?"
"I usually just pretend we aren't actually fighting until the last minute. That way I don't have time to think about how terrifying it really is." Hunk shrugs.
"...Meanwhile our Galran allies will attack from another angle. Finally us Paladins in the Lions will attack from a third angle. This should convince them we really mean business. Meanwhile Pidge will be commencing her operation. ONce this begins, Lance and Hunk will board the ship as well, but in less covert fashion..."
"He means awesomely." Lance whispers.
"I think he means make a bunch of noise." Hunk corrects.
"This, hopefully, will keep them for looking for other intruders, by giving them a false lead. After that, it's just a matter of waiting for Pidge to get the data…"
Lance shoots a look over at Pidge, but she doesn't seem to notice.
"...destroy as much as you can on the way out. And, I'll say this again, but no unnecessary risks. The more people we lose today, the fewer we have to fight Zarkon tomorrow. That's all. To your posts."
The group disperses, to head for their respective ships. Lance however, instead of heading to his own Lion, walks over to Pidge.
"So, going in there all commando style, gonna steal the glory from the rest of us, eh?
"Glory's got nothing to do with it. It's just the logical move." Pidge shrugs.
"Riiight." He smirks. "I think you just decided video games aren't enough you gotta beat me at being a hero, right?"
"Oh sure, we're all just trying to beat you Lance, but you're just too hard to one up. Really we all feel inadequate with you around." She rolls her eyes exaggeratedly.
Lance chuckles. "Glad someone recognizes me…" his expression suddenly get serious. "But uh...be careful."
"Where's this coming from?"
"It's just...these guys are dangerous. Really dangerous." He glances down at his hand, as if expecting it to star shaking. " I wouldn't want…" He shakes his head, and his smile reappears "...I wouldn't want to have to come rescue you. It'd be really embarrassing for you."
Pidge snorts. "Yeah, sure." She moves to enter her Lion, then hesitates. "I'll...try to look out."
Lance nods. "Good luck, then."
Then, he turns around, and heads over to his own Lion. Pidge watches him go. After a moment she shakes her head, and steps inside the Green Lion.
Prince Lotor watches, as the strange mecha is laid down inside a hanger on the station. Workers using laser-torches make vain attempts at opening the hull.
"Where do you think it came from?" Lotor asks.
"I do not know." Raimon replies.
"Best guess then."
"I have no guesses."
Lotor narrows his eyes at the other Paladin. "My father really did a number on you didn't he?"
Raimon remains silent. Lotor sighs.
"Wherever it came from, hopefully what's left of the pilot or onboard computer will tell us more."
"What is that?" A voice suddenly says.
Lotor and Raimon turn to see Sendak approaching.
"Sendak." Lotor smiles. "What brings you around here?"
"Routine inspection of the contingent I left here. I heard something of note had been found but…" He gazes up at the mecha. "...this is something."
"It is, isn't it." Lotor muses. "I must say I like the color choice…"
"Hold a tick." Sendak says, as his communicator beings pinging. "This is Sendak, report."
"Sir! Enemy activity detected!"
Lotor perks up, with interest.
"Numerous enemy ships on a course towards our location." The office goes on."It seems they are approaching the compound in force. Lions have been spotted but no Voltron as of yet.
Sednak furrows his brow. "ETA?"
"Just under a varga."
"Understood. Launch defenses, and prepare for assault."
"I will be in my Lion. I suggest you do the same. Perhaps a good performance here could...improve your situation." Sendak says carefully.
Lotor hesitates. "...no. Don't get in your Lion.
Sendak quirks his head looking confused. "...forgive me, Prince Lotor, but you are not currently in command here."
"Fine. Take it as a suggestion, then. I don't think we should go out. At least not yet. If we wait to show ourselves, we'll get a better hand on what their goal here is. More than that, we'll be able to upset their rhythm. They launched a surprise attack on this station. Seems only fitting we should return the favor."
Sendak stares at Lotor for several long moments, before finally nodding. "Your words are wise, Prince. Let us try this plan…"
The forces of the Voltron Coalition open fire on the ring-shaped space station. Defense turrets and galra cruisers return fire. Swarms of fighters on both sides pour over the battlefield. Four of the Lions of Voltron tear through the battle. Energy-fire from all sides turns the whole scene into a lightshow.
Pidge ignores all this, engaging her Lion's cloaking ability and disappearing from sight. She guides Green in a careful trajectory, weaving around and out of the way of all the other ships, friendly or enemy.
She makes it all the way to the station's surface without incident, touching down on the dark metal.
"On the surface, gonna see about getting inside, now." She reports.
"Roger that. Lance, Hunk, time to move." Keith orders
"You got it!" Lance yells over the comms. "Gonna hit these guys so hard they crawl back to Zarkon and tell 'em stories of 'Lance, the Greatest Paladin that ever lived!'"
Pidge smiles and shakes her head.
The Red and Yellow Lions tear their way through the battlefield, aiming for a hangar bay that fighters are streaming out of.
Pidge picks her way long the surface of the station, still unnoticed. She comes upon a hatch built into the top of the station.
"Found the maintenance hatch." She reports, inserting a wire from her wrist into a side-panel. "Just making sure they don't notice me entering…" The hatch pops open. Pidge slips inside, and the hatch closes after, shrouding her in darkness. There is a hiss as the compartment fills with air. "...I'm in."
Lance and Hunk glide their Lions inside the hangar bay, mouth beams blasting all the way. Dozens of enemy fighters are destroyed, and galra sentries go flying.
After a few more rounds of shooting, they both land.
Lance dashes out of his Lion, rifle at the ready. "We just made our entrance. And with a lot of style, too."
"Good work, now go make some noise." Keith says.
Lance and Hunk share a look and nod. Hunk hefts his bayard cannon, and opens fire on a door at the end of the room. After a few shots, it crumples, and falls to the floor. They dash through, to find a squad of sentries running up to meet them.
"Well buddy guess it's just you and me against the world." Lance says, taking aim.
"More like against the universe." Hunk corrects.
"I guess so. Thinking about running away, yet?"
Hunk blasts apart a pair of sentries before they can get shots off. "Not a chance."
"I thought so." Lance smiles.
Pidge sneaks down a long corridor. She stops just before an intersection of hallways. Across the gap, on the next wall over there is an access panel. She starts to move across, glancing around the corner, before jumping back into cover.
A pair of sentries walk down a parallel hallway. She waits several moments before peeking around the corner again. Nothing. She runs across and plugs into the panel. She types on a holographic pad for several moments before a light turns green, and her wrist projects a virtual image of the station's inner layout. She zooms in on one location.
"Central servers. Got ya." Pidge smirks, unplugging from the panel.
She resumes her creeping down the hallway.
Lotor watches the battle being waged outside. The Black and Blue Lions still tear their way through fighters and cruisers. On the other side, Atlas is wreaking havok on the station's defenses. Yet another feed shows Hunk and Lance shooting their way through the inside of the station.
"Tell my mother and Raimon to fly out and engage the Lions outside." Lotor says. "I assume you should be able to handle those two making a mess inside?"
"Do not insult me Lotor." Sendak scoffs. "But even still, where will you be?"
"I'm going to go confirm a hunch." Lotor says, walking out of the command room. "If I'm wrong it's galran ale on me for you and all the men."
"Very well, sir." Sendak says a slight smile touching his lips. "Happy hunting."
"And you."
Keith and Allura fly in a tight pair, keeping the fighters off each other, and blasting lines through the enemy fighters.
"Two more on your six!" Keith warns.
Allura fires the Blue Lion's tail laser, taking out one. Keith finishes off the other.
"Thanks!"
"Don't thank me just yet. We got trouble."
Sure enough, the Dark Blue and Green Lions fly out from the station, opening fire. Keith and Allura dive into evasive maneuvers, narrowly dodging the blasts.
"Let me take the Blue one. We have unfinished business." Allura says narrowing her eyes.
"Careful." He warns, letting out a blast that is aimed at the Green Lion, but is evaded. "These guys are no joke."
"I'm well aware." Allura says, dodging a blast. She fires her sonic cannon, to stun the other Lion. She follows up with a mouth beam, but despite the previous blast, her opponent is still able to move enough to make the shot only grazing.
The other Lion then replies, by firing with his own mouth blast, forcing Allura to dodge into his second shot from his tail.
Allura shakes off the hit, and punches her Lion back into motion, facing off against the Dark Blue Lion.
Pidge creeps up to a corner, around which is a short hallway, ending in a door guarded by two sentries. She notes these on her map. Biting her lip, she dismisses the map, and pulls out her bayard. She takes a deep breath, then dashes around the corner.
The sentries notice immediately, raising their weapons to fire. Pidge is faster. She fires her bayard, it's blade taking the first in the chest. She reels in the line at the same time, dragging herself and the sentry towards each other. An energy shot from the other one flies over her head, narrowly missing. Pidge kicks off the first sentry, leaving it a broken mess on the floor, and freeing her bayard to stab at the second. It's weapon cleaves in two. The sentinel tries for a punch at Pidge's head, but she slips under it and drives her bayard's blade upwards. The sentinel's head shears off, and it collapses.
Pidge admires her handywork, giving a self satisfied smile. Hacking through the door takes only a moment, and she steps into the room beyond.
Long columns, from floor to ceiling, with blinking lights fill the room. The central and thickest columb is the one Pidge moves for. She immediately sets to work on the terminal built into the side of it.
"Guys, I'm in the server room now. Should only be a few minutes now." She says, fingers typing quickly.
"G-" there is the sound of an explosion over the comms. "Good work!" Keith manages to get out. "Just make it quick, these guys are putting up a fight!"
"Will do." Pidge pulls a drive out from inside her armor, and inserts it into the server. "Gonna copy everything I can down. Until then…" She opens one of the files on the terminal display. "...let's see if we can't take a peek as what you guys have been up to…"
Pidge opens another file, scanning it before closing it and opening another. She does this for several minutes, before finding one file that is different. When she opens this one, her eyes immediately widen with shock. She nearly falls as she stumbles back from surprise.
Sincline. Lying in a hanger, held in the very same station she stands inside.
"I take it that you recognize that machine." A voice says from behind.
Pidge whirls around, throwing up her bayard.
Standing barely two dozen feet away, is Prince Lotor.
"When did you…?" Pidge says with confusion.
"Oh, I was here from the start. Just, waiting for you to show up." Lotor explains causally. "To be honest, my first thought was that you'd go after the power. But, that'd be too well guarded, with too man redundancies. After I thought about it for a moment, I knew that you'd have to actually be here for information."
Pidge's eyes flicker to the drive, still slotted into the server.
"Tell me little one. That mecha there, do you know where it's from? I'm betting you do. If you tell me outright I promise to make sure my mother doesn't torture you too badly. I might even let you live after that, though perhaps that would not be much of a mercy. My mother does do nasty work when it suits her-"
Pidge dives, snatching the drive free and rolling across the floor. Lotor summons his bayard, cracking against the spot she just vacated. The energy whip slashes a glowing tear in the column, having missed Pidge by inches. Lotor cracks the whip again, and Pidge only barely dives behind another column in time.
"Prepare to disengage!"She yells over the comms. "I was discovered, evacing with as much data as I could get!" Then, as an afterthought, she adds. "Keith, Allura, blow a hole in the hangar on the third quadrant, and see what's inside. You'll understand when you see."
"Roger that." Keith replies.
"Wait, discovered?" Lance asks. "You need help evacing?"
"Negative! Evac with Hunk as planned!" Pidge is forced to dive again, as Lotor's whip slices the column she was hiding behind in half.
She makes for the door, sprinting as fast as she can. Lotor's whip slashes across the floor in front of her, cutting off her exit. She spins, bringing her bayard up and firing at Lotor. He smiles, shifting his bayard into it's curved sword form, and knocks the green blade aside. Then he launches himself at Pidge, blade swinging. She tries to dodge, but the blade connects.
Pidge cries out as her helmet is knocked from her head, and she tumbles across the floor.
"What was that? Pidge? Pidge!" A suppressed voice says from her helmet lying several feet away.
Pidge looks up, fear in her eyes, as the towering Lotor approaches.
"...you realize, of course, that I cannot let you leave with that data." He explains, twirling his sword experimentally. "Not that I was ever going to let you leave anyway…"
"Pidge? Pidge!" Lance repeats over the comms. "Pick up, quiznak it!"
No response. He shoots Hunk a worried look. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but is cut off when a door ahead of them is blown out of the wall. Sendak steps through, staring them down. Hunk and Lance raise their weapons, but no one yet fires yet.
"At last," Sendak says. "I get to test myself against the Paladins of this realm. It is one things to fight in Lions, or Voltron itself. But there's nothing quite like beating a man with your hands." Sendak clenches his large robot hand into a fist, as if for emphasis.
"We should evac." Hunk says.
Lance nods slowly. His gaze shifts away from Sendak, past him, deeper into the station's bowles. Hunk notices this. He takes a breath, and turns back to Sendak.
"Go."
"What?" Lance asks with confusion.
"I'll keep this guy busy. Go find Pidge. Make sure she's all right. And if she's not, get her out of here in once piece."
Lance hesitates only a moment before nodding. "...okay."
Sendak laughs. "That assumes I will let you do such a thing."
"Go!" Hunk repeats,
Lance does, dashing down the hall, towards the doorway Sendak blocks. Sendak throws out his fist, hurling the metal hand right for Lance. It is blasted off course by a shot from Hunk's cannon. Hunk fires the next shot at Sendak himself. Sendak activates his bayard in shield mode, blocking Hunk's blasts. Lance dashes past Sendak, not even giving the galra a second glance.
Sendak turns to throw his arm at Lance's back. His shot his thrown off balance when something slams into his shield, pushing him back. Sendak looks up to see Hunk, standing there with a large hammer having replaced his cannon.
"I'm not going to let you stop my friend." Hunk says, hefting the hammer.
"Interesting…" Sendak says, pacing back and forth. "...and do you really think you're strong enough? Can you can defeat me with what pitiful power you have? You'd be better off running. At least you'd live a little longer."
Hunk sighes. "You know, not so long ago, I might've taken you up on that. But here's the thing: I realized that bad guys like you don't just go away. Someone's gotta step in your way. Someone's got to stop you. And today, that's me. No one else is gonna do it, so I'll have to. To answer your question, I don't know if I'm strong enough. Let's find out." Hunk raises the hammer to his shoulder.
Sendak grins hungrily. "Yes...show me your strength…" He turns his bayard into an axe. The two Paladins of the Yellow Lions charge each other.
Lance dashes for a group of galra guards. He shoots the first two sentinels down before they can even react. His third shot misses, but the following one lands, taking another sentinel in the head. The fourth and final guard's shot glances off Lance's energy shield, as he crashes into the guard. They tumble and Lance comes up on top. He shifts his bayard into a sword, and holds it to the guard's neck.
"Oh, a living one, not just a bot. Good." Lance says, noticing the flesh of the guard's mouth and chin from the gap in the helmet's chin. He presses his sword against its throat, making the guard swallow in fear.
In a very cold voice Lance says: "Tell me where the server room is, and you'll get to keep your head where it is."
Keith and Allura spins their Lions around, avoiding fire from the enemy Lions, while letting out blasts of their own. They try disengaging from the fight, but the Dark Lions give them no opportunity to escape.
"Dangit, we can't shake these guys!" Keith calls out.
"What about that part of the station Pidge told us to find?" Allura asks.
Keith looks out at the enemy Lions, as if deciding what to do. He moves to intercept the Dark Blue Lion, which is gunning for Allura. The Dark Green Lion fires a crackling Violet shot from its mouth to stop Keith. He evades easily, but oddly the bolt of energy, once past him, loops back around to strike Keith's Lion in the back.
Meanwhile, Allura fires three quick shots in succession, all of which are deftly avoided by her enemy. The Dark Blue LIon blasts Allura, sending her flying back.
The two Dark Lions are moving in, about to strike on their weakened foes. Before they get a chance, the Atlas flies in blasting both sending them tumbling backwards.
"Need a hand?" Shiro's voice asks.
"Sure can!" Keith replies. "Just hold them as long as you can."
"Roger that." Shiro says raising both of the Atlas' fists.
He flies up to meet the now charging Dark Lions, while Keith and Allura slip away, to further down the station.
Pidge dodges out of the way of Prince Lotor's latest attack. He chases after her, wicked sword in hand, an even wicked her smile on his face. It is all Pidge can do to avoid getting her head taken off. Her armor already features many scores, where the blade has grazed her. Panic is in her eyes.
She keeps glancing back at the doorway, searching for a path to escape. She makes as if to duck around to the side of Lotor, then jumps back to dash around the other side.
Lotor sees through this, and puts a kick into Pidge's gut that throws her halfway across the room. He back slams into the side of a server column. Pidge seethes with pain. Despite this, she manages to push herself up, and takes aim with her bayard. She fires at the open doorway, the green tethered blade sailing for freedom.
Lotor knocks the blade off course with his sword, then with his free hand grabs hold of the tether, and yanks hard. Pidge is dragged across the floor, sliding to a stop just in front of Lotor. He smiles down at her.
Pidge tries to scramble back up to her feet. Lotor slams a foot down into her chest, holding her there. The blow makes her cough and gasp for air.
"Finally." Lotor sighs. "You Paladins of this reality are so slippery. Just when we think we've got a hold on you, you manage to worm yourselves away. Pathetic."
While he is talking Pidge tries to drive the tip of her bayard into Lotor's leg. Before she can he slams his other foot down onto her arm, pinning it.
"Do you know how much trouble you lot have cause me?" He sneers. "How many of my atleans I sacrificed, by sending them on futile attacks? How much of my father's ire I earned with the failure at your hands? It's worse that you aren't even very competent. You;re just children, playing at an adult's game. We should have finished you off when we had the chance."
"These...these children are gonna kick your ass!" Pidge glares up with defiance.
"I don't think so." Lotor says, lifting his sword.
He drives the blade down into Pidge's shoulder. She screams. Blood starts to pool where the blade enters her suit. Pidge tries to squirm, but Lotor presses his foot down harder on her chest, making her gag. He leans down, so their faces are only about a foot away.
"You shouldn't have come here alone. Maybe then you'd have stood a chance. Probably not, though. But to your credit, at least the only screams you'll hear, when my mother questions you, will be your own."
Pidge, with tears in her eyes, looks up with absolute terror at Lotor.
Suddenly, there is the sound of an energy rifle being fired.
Lotor leaps back, pulling his sword free as he does. A bolt of blue energy blasts into the column, where Lotor's head had been just a moment prior.
"Don't. You. Touch. HER!"
Lance stands in the doorway, rifle held in his grip, fury in his eyes.
"...Lance." Pidge says with shock. She winces throwing a hand over the bloody wound on her shoulder. "L-Lance get out of here! He'll kill you!"
Lotor smiles. "Your friend knows what she's talking about. Go on then. Abandon her. Leave her to-"
Lance fires again, aiming for the Prince's skull. Lotor blocks the shot with the edge of his sword. "...I was really hoping you'd do that."
Lotor charges. Lance fires two more shots, both blocked by Lotor's blade. Cursing, Lance lowers his rifle, and shifts it into a sword. Then, letting out a battle-cry, he meets Lotor's charge.
Blades clash, throwing up sparks in their wake. Lance pushes the offense, throwing rage-fueled blow after rage-fueled blow. Lotor blocks, deflects and dodges each of the strikes. Lance continues to hammer down on Lotor, but the Prince moves like water, with none of the blows coming close to hitting.
"You really don't know how to use that thing do you?" Lotor asks, amusement written on his face.
"Shut up!" Lance barks, swinging to take Lotor's head off, but meeting only air.
Lotor deflect's Lance's next strike, an overextended thrust, and slams a fist into the boy's ribs in reply. Lotor then steps forward, and lands a slice on Lance's wrist. Lance retreats back, clutching his arm. He looks down to see his bracelet, the one Pidge made, in two broken pieces on the floor. He looks back up at Lotor, not masking the utter rage in his gaze, and raises his sword again,
"Lance stop!" Pidge cries out, struggling to sit up. "You can't beat him! He's been fighting with that sword longer than we've been alive!"
"You think I don't know that!?" He retorts. "But like hell I'm going to use that as an excuse to leave you!"
Pidge can only stare, unable to muster a reply.
Growling, Lance charges at Lotor again. This time, the Prince does no playing around. Every strike Lance throws Lotor counters with one of his own. Lance thrust forward. Lotor parries, and lands a hit on his Lance's arm. Lance swings overhead. Lotor blocks, and slams a foot into Lance's chest. Lance tries a wild trio of blows, Lotor deflects each of them, before slicing into Lance's side. Lance steps back, wincing from the shallow, but painful wounds.
Lotor pounces, unleashing an onslaught of sword strikes at Lance's guard. Lance is barely able to defend, only partially blocking most of the strikes, and earning multiple scores along his armor, and some biting into the skin below. Lance is forced to retreat backwards, as Lotor's flurry does not let up.
"Is this really all you can do!?" Lotor demands, sharp teeth revealed in a grin. "Is this all that this reality's Paladins can offer!?"
Lotor smashes Lance's sword to the side, and drives his own blade into Lance's leg. Lance cries out, stumbling back into a column. He brings his sword back up, in a weak guard. Lotor chuckles and shakes his head. The Prince raises his sword and motions for Lance to come forward.
"Come on. Face your end like a man. I only need one of you."
Narrowing his eyes Lance moves forward. He nearly stumbles, from the leg wound, as he strikes out.
"Pathetic." Lotor knocks the blow aside.
Gritting his teeth, Lance strikes again.
"Weak." Lotor uses a lazy backhand to fling Lance's strike off course.
Yelling, Lance launches himself forward, for one more swing.
Lotor moves to sidestep the blow. "Honestly, you really are-"
Pidge fires her bayard along the floor, tether blocking Lotor's feet.
Lotor stumbles, and for a moment his guard opens. Lance's sword swings forward, slicing across one of Lotor's eyes.
The Prince howls with back, stumbling back. He falls to his back, clutching his wounded eye, fury filling the other.
"Let's go!" Pidge yells, running over to Lance. He stumbles, but she supports him as they dash for the exit.
Lotor lashes out, shifting his sword to a whip, but he just misses them, as they slip out the door.
"We've...gotta get out of here…" Lance says, wincing as he forced to run on his bad leg.
"This way!" Pidge say guiding them down a side hallway. She leads them to a large panel on the lower half of the wall. "Blast it."
Lance complies, raising his bayard, shifting it to a rifle and firing. It blows apart the panel, showing a small vent beyond.
"Service tunnel. Short cut." She explains in a tired voice. Lance nods weakly.
Clutching to each other, they leap down.
Keith and Allura blow apart the blast door holding the hanger close. They guide their Lions inside.
"Now what could be so important that...oh." Keith says, seeing what lies in the hangar.
"It...it can't be…" Allura gasps.
Sincline sits in the hangar. Galra workers scatter at the presence of the Lions, leaving the mecha behind.
"Lotor. Our Lotor. They...they freed him. Why? How?" Allura asks.
"Dunno, and at the moment, don't care. Come on." Keith flies his Lion up to Sincline.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking him with us. Friend or foe, we can't let Zarkon use Lotor for whatever he's got planned. Get the other arm." Keith says, locking his Lion's mouth around one of the mecha's arms.
Allura hesitates for a long moment, staring at the Dark metal of Lotor's mecha. "...you're right." She finally says. "We can't leave him."
She moves her Lion over to grab onto Sincline's other arm, and together they haul the mecha out of the hangar.
Lance and Pidge move down the hallway, each keeping the other from stumbling and falling.
"...sorry about that bracelet you made for my hand. I broke it." Lance laughs hollowly.
"I don't care about that idiot!" Pidge scolds. "You almost just got yourself killed! What'd you do that for!?"
"You're one to talk." He scoffs. "And here I thought you said you'd be perfectly fine by yourself."
"I'm serious!" She elbows him in the ribs. Both of them wince. "Sorry." She apologizes.
"It's fine. What's a little more pain, on top of the rest?"
Pidge gets a sick look. "...I mean it, though. Why did do that. Come rescue me?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"That's not an answer. We had the mission. I told you guys you should all get out. But then, not only did you come after me, but you tried to fight Lotor! With a sword! How insane do you have to be to do that!?"
"Oh come on, Pidge. As if I'd leave another Paladin behind."
"And that's just it?" Pidge scoffs. "You'd be and idiot and try to save any one of us in that situation? It'd be the exact same, and you'd do the same dumb thing?"
Lance seems to think about it. Pidge studies him as he ponders.
"...no." He says finally. "I mean, yeah I'd still try to save them if it were Hunk or Allura or Keith. That's just the kind of guy I am. But, no, it wouldn't be the same."
"Wh...what do you mean?"
"I mean, that when I saw you sitting there, blood on your armor, Lotor standing over you, I lost it. I just...I couldn't stand the idea that I'd lose you."
Pidge looks up, eyes widening.
He goes on:"In that moment, no one, not Lotor, not an army of galra soldiers, not even Zarkon himself wouldn't have stopped me from trying to save you. You are the one person I can't lose, no matter what." He looks down at her, as if having realized something for the first time.
For a moment, they just stand there staring at each other. Then, they both blush and avert their gazes. Pidge gaze flickers back to Lance, studying him one more time. She sighs.
"...dang you Matt."
"Huh?" Lance asks.
"Nothing." Pidge shakes her head. "I just...know something, now."
Several minutes later, Lance and Pidge shamble past the scene of Hunk and Sendak's fight. The two combatants slam powerful blows against each other, both looking beaten and weary. Despite this, Sendak is smiling.
"So you do have power! And here I thought there were no worth adversaries in this reality!"
"Well...sorry to cut things short then…" Hunk backs away to his retreating friends.
"It's not over yet!" Sendak sneers. He pulls back his fist to strike, and throws it towards Hunk, and the other retreating Paladins.
Hunk stands directly in front of it, and shifts his bayard into a glowing yellow shield. The fist bounces off. Sendak doesn't even look mad, as Hunk slams the door shut and destroys the panel
"What happened to you guys!?" Hunk asks as the run.
"Lotor." Pidge winces. "He was waiting."
"I…" Lance cringes as he steps too hard with his bad leg. "...had to come in and save the say, as usual."
Hunk eyes them warily but doesn't question them further. He runs inside Yellow, while Lance and Pidge stumble into Red.
"Drop me off at Green." Pidge says.
"Can you fly like you are?" He asks, nodding to her shoulder.
"I'll...be fine." She says, covering the wound.
Reluctantly, Lance nods, and pulls the Blue Lion out of the hangar bay. He dodges the odd fighter as he brings Lion around the station, to where Pidge directs.
Pidge hits a button on her wrist and the Green Lion appears. She moves to leave the Blue Lion, then stops. Then, she spins around and hugs Lance from the back of his chair.
"...thank you, Lance. For saving me." She whispers.
Lance blushes and lets out a strangled cough. "You uh...you saved me too. So, really I think we're even."
"I...guess so."
Then, before either of the can say anything more, Pidge pulls back, and turns to leave. She jumps out of one Lion, and into the other.
Back inside her own Lion, Pidge immediately winces as she tries to move the throttle with her bad arm. "Gonna be a fun ride home…" She opens her other hand, and allows a slight smile. She still holds the drive.
"Keith...I got it. Mission was a success."
Then, gritting her teeth, she pushes the Lion into motion.
She rejoins the rest of the now retreating Coalition forces. There is still some exchanging of fire, but the Coalition breaks away, and one by one, jump out of sight.
Prince Lotor watches them go. His right eye now shut, with a deep cut running through it. Sendak, Raimon and Honvera are also in the room, watching the display.
"Zarkon will not be pleased." Sendak notes.
Honerva's eye twitches ever so slightly at this comment.
"No...he wont." Lotor turns around, facing the others. "Which is why I won't be here when he arrives."
"Running, Prince?" Sendak asks. "That is...unlike you."
"Not running." Lotor shakes is head. "But I'm not going back to him empty handed, either."
"What then?" Honvera asks.
"I think...I'll have to go after them myself." Lotor says, as if coming to a decision. "We know where they are now, and I think I've begun to understand how they think. It'll take a subtler touch. I don't think I'll manage it alone. They seem to work well together..." He rubs his new scar, absently. "...Raimon?"
"...yes?" The armored man replies.
"Will you come with me?"
The man does not reply.
"Sendak is occupied with the armies. My mother is occupied elsewhere. It's just you and me. The two ones Zarkon hasn't deemed fit more much else."
Still, Raimon remains silent.
"Oh come on. I know you've got your dedication to Zarkon, but he hasn't give you orders yet. If he hasn't given you orders you can't defy him, right?"
Raimon gives the barest of nods.
"Then come with me. The two of us, we can show Zarkon why he needs us, what we bring to the table. We might even deliver the critical blow to our enemy in the process. What do you say, old friend?"
Raimon seems to hesitate, as if torn. After a long pause he finally says in a quiet voice: "...I will join you."
"Good." Lotor says, narrowing his good eye. "Let's go hunting."