Beginner's Resistance
Ch.11: Deprived
Disclaimer: I don't own the Voltron Force or its characters (including the Wadedroids)—they belong to World Events Productions. The good news is that Diana, Ethel, Bernice, Deborah, Alex, Cheryl, Devin, and the rest of the unique characters are all mine!
"Why are you still up, Larmina?" Lance asked as he noticed the young red-headed and blue-eyed cadet stopped in front of Diana's room and across from Lance's room. "You should be sleeping right now." He said in concern for the teenaged girl.
"Lance!" Larmina responded in surprised when she turned to face him. "I thought that Hunk was roaming the halls tonight."
"We switched so he can take you and the other cadets to The Hunkyard," Lance answered crossing his arms. "Since you're in front of your Aunt's room, you must be worried about her."
Larmina nodded her head. "You guessed right, Lance." Larmina stepped away from the door and leaned against the wall next to the door. "I haven't heard from Aunt Diana since she visited us after Ariel and before the Mechanical Roaming Eye incident. She never leaves this much time between calls or notes. Wade found her and tossed her into The Void, didn't he?"
Lance sighed. Larmina was becoming a very intuitive person and he found himself at times having to remember that her intuition was comparable to Allura's, Keith's, Diana's, and even his. While he would hold stuff back from Vince and Daniel, Lance made it a personal policy to be completely honest with the somewhat mature cadet. Being the current heir to the Arusian crown would do that to any teen regardless if they were on Earth, Arus, Pollux, or any other planet for that matter. "You weren't supposed to know about that officially. But you're right and believe me, we're going to bust Diana out of The Void ASAP. If I had it my way, she would be on her way back home to Arus yesterday."
"Thanks, Lance. I can always count on you and Aunt Diana to tell me everything." Larmina walked away from the wall and walked with Lance to her room. After stifling a small yawn, Larmina opened her door before turning to Lance. "Don't tell Keith or Coran this, but you're my favorite uncle! Even if you're not my uncle officially yet—but you'll make a great uncle and a father."
Lance laughed. "Family doesn't always have to blood or married in," Lance replied as Larmina stifled another yawn before walking into her room.
"I don't know what's taking you two so long," Larmina called out. "You two are already settled down—you guys are just too stubborn to make it official." With that Larmina yawned again before wishing Lance a good night. He called back his benediction before taking a step away from the door to greet both Keith and Allura.
"She's worried about Diana, isn't she?" Allura asked. Lance nodded in response. "She's handling this better than I expected." Allura, Keith, and Lance made their way to the kitchen.
"Larmina has always been a resilient girl," Lance stated. "She's been able to bounce back from her parents' deaths, staying under Nanny's strict guidelines and becoming quite an heir to the throne."
"If she would only study her other courses as hard as she does her martial arts and piloting," Allura stated to which Keith and Lance chuckled.
"I seem to remember the same was being said to another certain young monarch," Lance stated with a smile. "It's not proper for her royal personage to be around these hooligans and flying lions." He mimicked Nanny's voice.
"And that young monarch came out just fine," Keith answered, giving Allura a chaste kiss on her cheek. When they arrived at the kitchen, Lance reached into the "Adult" fridge and grabbed a bottle of Arusian Beer while Keith poured a couple of mugs of hot tea. Lance sat at the bar opposite of Keith and watched as he gave Allura her mug first before taking a few sips from his mug. Lance took a few sips of his beer as Keith and Allura took a few sips from their tea in silence.
"Since Mansett has been caught, it shouldn't be too long before he'll be taken to The Void. Hopefully, he can confirm some last details for me concerning the layout. Once I hear from him or from another contact, we'll go spring Diana out." Keith said, putting his mug on the counter.
"That's great. How long are we looking at before we'll move out?" Lance asked. "The sooner, the better for me."
"Hopefully we can move out in a couple of days to the nearest star center," Keith stated.
"Is it adult swim or three's company tonight?" Hunk asked as he and Pidge entered the doorway to the kitchen. Lance answered they can join them. With a smile, Hunk hit up the "Adult" fridge and grabbed an Arusian Craft beer for himself while Pidge grabbed a bottle of ginger ale and they joined the table.
"So, what are we talking about?" Hunk asked.
"Well, Manset should be on his way to The Void right now. Once we hear from him or a contact, we'll visit the nearest quadrant and then we're going to spring our friends and other political prisoners out." Keith said. "We'll take the cadets on a little field trip and I'll take it from there."
"Why does it always have to be you to save the day? I can save the day, too." Lance said.
"We already discussed this Lance," Keith stated. "You're too emotionally involved to go in. Besides, it'll make more sense for me to go in. He'll be expecting me but I'll be able to enact plan B or plan C."
Lance growled as Pidge spoke "He has a point, Lance. Wade would just use your emotions against you." Lance huffed before taking a couple of gulps of his beer.
"Fine," Lance said, finishing his beer.
"In the meantime, you'll need to find some ideas on how to make-up." Hunk said. "Starting with a big gift since the last time you two spoke you ended up in an argument and a disconnected call."
"But I was right!" Lance said, crossing his arms. "And if she would have listened to me…"
"Anyway, flowers aren't going to work this time." Hunk replied.
"Especially if she finds out from Alex or Cheryl that you had a hand in making all those embellished stories," Pidge added, taking his glasses off and wiping them with a small microfiber cloth.
"But if your heart is set on flowers, you should plant a garden or field with flowers to get back in her good graces once she recovers from whatever happens in The Void," Allura stated. "You should also plant a fruit orchard."
"There's nothing like labors of love," Keith stated with a smirk.
"You know what—no. I am not taking relationship advice from the third and fourth wheels," Lance said point to Pidge and Hunk. "And I'm not taking advice from the King and Queen of Pining Away." Lance finished pointing to Allura and Keith. Lance got up from the table and went to the Adult fridge and grabbed two bottles of beer. "I'm going to spend some time in Red." He said with a wave as he walked out of the kitchen.
Allura sighed and got up from the table, only to be held back by Keith as he nodded no. "Give him his space, Allura. He's not going to get drunk from drinking three beers. Let him be moody for now in Red Loin."
"I knew that Moodypants was going to show up again soon," Pidge stated as he got up to go to his room. Hunk took the empty bottles and tossed them in the recycling bin. He waved goodnight to Keith and Allura as he left for his room behind Pidge. "Thirds and Fourths. There could be a song in that."
"Or even a band name." Hunk stated as they continued down the hallway. Keith and Allura looked at each other.
"Just the two of us," Allura said with a smile. Keith smiled back before taking Allura's face in his hands and gave her a searing kiss. Keith stopped the kiss and put the mugs into the dishwasher before sweeping Allura into his arms, carrying her down the hallway to her room. "Stay with me, Commander?"
"Anything for you, Princess," Keith answered before giving Allura another kiss as they entered her room and the door shut behind them.
Meanwhile, in The Void, Diana and the rest of the crew were about to meet their newest prison mate. The open yard was surprisingly quiet as the door creaked open and they could hear shouting from the door. "Hey! This is no way to treat a legitimate businessman. I even worked with you before!" Manset yelled at the Wadedroids. "You tell your boss that!" The robots each grabbed one of Manset's arms and tossed him into the bleachers.
"Warning. If you continue to act like this, your anti-gravity bracelets will be turned off and you would be free to escape."
"Why ye—" Manset started to say before Diana ran to Manset and covered his mouth.
"Sssh. You don't want that. If they disable your bracelets, you'll float to your death." Diana said. "Trust me on this Manset." Manset sighed against Diana's hand before nodding his agreement as the Wadedroids left to go behind the doors. Diana moved her hand from Manset's mouth.
"Diana, a pleasure to see you again," Manset said. "You'll be happy to know that I'm leaving the smuggling business so I can focus on my resorts on Dradin."
"That's good and all—but it doesn't matter much to me right now," Diana said as she walked towards the group.
"But I have good news," Manset said—motioning Cheryl, Bernice, Alex, and Ethel towards him and Diana. "It won't be too long before we're going to be free. I'm part of the plan to get you out. Keith has all the information needed thanks to the prisoner that was finally released the other day. All you have to do is survive another week or so."
"Blah," Alex said. "Does he even know about Chief Kalon being here?"
"The leader of the Lion Riders is here? Where?"
"He's in the Black Hole," Alex replied.
"That's a small complication, but nothing Commander Keith can't solve," Manset replied. "Unfortunately, those robots stole my goodies for you. All I can say is hang tight and let me do me in here." Manset said as he walked away from the women.
"One week. I can deal with it." Cheryl said. "I can plot all that I'm going to do when I'm free." The others nodded their head in agreement. Suddenly, a pair of Wadedroids came in and stopped in front of the group around the bench. When they scanned Diana, they sounded an alarm before aiming for Diana's limbs.
"What's going on?" Diana asked as she moved away from the group. The robots followed Diana's moves. "I'm not going anywhere," Diana said as she dodged a set of robotic arms. Diana then started fighting with the two robots using a pair of dumbbells and was about to win when another 3 robots joined in. Diana tried to fight off the reinforcements but lost her balance and was ultimately captured by five of them. One robot held on to Diana's left leg while another held on to her right leg. Each of Diana's arms was held by a robot immobilizing her. The fifth robot flickered on its screen and a clear image of Wade was shown.
"Diana Smythe-Williams, are you enjoying your stay so far in The Void?"
"I've been in better places," Diana replied. "What in the hell do you want?"
"Such language. Here I thought your vocabulary would have changed by now. You've been around Commander McClain too much."
"Maybe not enough," Diana muttered. "What do you want, Sky Marshal Wade?"
"That's better," Wade replied. "I just upgraded you to better accommodations. You get to try out our wonderful Sensory Deprivation chambers."
"Lucky me," Diana said slightly annoyed.
"Yes, lucky you. I'll meet you in your new room in just a few moments." Wade finished, his image disappearing on the small screen. Before Diana could blink her eyes, two of the robots had her in the hallway on the way to the Sensory Deprivation chambers. Any thoughts of escape were thrown out the windows when she noticed that all the doors and vents looked the same with hallways crisscrossing several times. The trip to the chamber took several minutes and Diana guessed that she was given the scenic route to keep her disoriented and to psychologically defeat her.
When Diana and the robots arrived at a room after a seamlessly long walk around the prison, Wade walked out of the shadows. "Well, hello Diana. It's been a while since we last seen each other personally."
"Not long enough, it seems," Diana replied as she turned her head away from Wade. Wade walked to Diana and forcibly moved her head back to face him. Diana narrowed her eyes at him giving him every piece of her hatred for him. "You'll never get away with this."
"I think I will, darling," Wade replied. "As you learned yourself, the only way to finding this location is to be caught—it'll only be a matter of time before the honor-bound Kogane will come and rescue some of my guests here. Once Kogane allows us to catch him, he'll have a surprise waiting for him. It'll only take a few days, I guarantee it. In the meanwhile, you're going to enjoy our sensory deprivation chamber. It should only take a few days to break you down long enough to gather all the evidence needed to keep you and your friends here. Once you leave this room, who knows—I might actually be in a forgiving mood. I always need someone with your varied talents and outstanding social background, even if it's for personal use."
"Only in your dreams." Diana spat out. "You'll never win, and the Galaxy Alliance will be reinstated in its original condition. Just you wait and see."
"Dreams do come true, my dear," Wade replied as he released Diana's chin. "Without any further delay, your sensory deprivation awaits. I'll be back to check in on you later."
"I feel nothing but the utmost abhorrence for you Sky Marshal Wade," Diana said. "You'll never get the same respect as Space Marshal Graham or Commander Keith Kogane. You impugn your title and you're an embarrassment to all who wear the uniform. You're the most repulsive man I ever met and there is a special circle in hell for men like you."
"Are you done with your speech?" Wade asked with a nonchalant demeanor.
"No," Diana replied with narrowing eyes again. "Go to hell and never come back." She gathered a large amount of saliva and spat at Wade.
"After you." Wade smiled as he took a handkerchief and wiped his face. Wade turned to the robots before giving them directions. "I want you to prepare her for deprivation. Thick earmuffs, goggles, hood, gloves. Shackle her to the wall and check on her with the prescribed times, skip the first check-in time." Wade turned back to Diana. "Enjoy your stay. I'll be seeing you around." And with that Wade walked out of the room as the robots did his bidding. The first robot took some very thick earmuffs and forcibly placed them on Diana, making sure that her ears were completely covered. The second robot then placed a pair of blackened out googles on Diana, also careful enough to make sure that Diana couldn't see outside of the googles. Finally, a burly hood was placed over Diana's head—making sure that nothing could be seen through Diana's eyes. Diana then felt a pair of heavy gloves covering her hands.
The robots were satisfied with their handiwork, walked Diana to a wall and turned her so that she was facing the door. One of the robots shackled Diana's legs to the wall tightly, while the other robot raised Diana's arms to their highest point, before shackling her wrists to the wall. With a quick scan for her vitals, the robots left the room and locked the door afterward.
"Wade's a fool to believe that I'll break down easily." Diana thought to herself. "My specialty is behavioral and mental health. I will last a lot longer than he thinks. I'm a woman with strong psychological training."
****Back to the Open Yard, The Void****
"Isn't sensory deprivation supposed to be relaxing? Why is there a sensory deprivation room here?" Bernice asked.
"Sensory deprivation, in this case, is a bad thing," Cheryl answered. "He's going to use sensory deprivation as a way of torturing Diana."
"What?" Bernice asked.
"It's not an approved way of treating prisoners but Wade doesn't care. He wants to stop Voltron so bad he can taste it." Alex continued.
"He's going to put on googles so she can't see. Heavy clothes and gloves so she can't touch or feel anything. She's also going to be chained to either a wall or a table." Ethel finished her thoughts out loud. "She'll get fed at different times, but she won't be able to figure out anything because the times are going to be so random."
"That's outrageous. How long can someone last through that treatment?" Bernice asked.
"It would depend on how resilient a person is. This is a stressful event, so if the person thinks emotion-focused thoughts, the person could last roughly about 3 to 4 days before significant mental trauma can happen. If the person has more problem-focused thoughts, that person could last up to two weeks before significant mental trauma can happen." Cheryl droned on.
"Either way, Diana is going to have a hard time once she's free from that chamber," Ethel stated. "She's going to have nightmares and repeated thoughts from this torture. Don't forget she also been through Wade's prior torture treatments as much as we have. Hopefully, she'll be able to hold out until we are saved."
"It's hopeless! I haven't felt this hopeless since I've been caught." Bernice stated. "At least when Diana was here with us we had stories to distract us from our situation."
"I haven't felt this way in a while, either." Alex shared. "But it's a miracle we lasted this long. All we have to do is hold out a few more days and I'm sure we'll be free. Diana never waiver in her faith that the Voltron Force will come to rescue us as well as the political prisoners. We shouldn't either."
"Agreed," Cheryl said.
"In the meantime, let's share how we got caught. I'll go first since I was here to longest." Ethel stated. "Bernice, you'll go next while Cheryl and Alex can go last since they were caught together."
"Sounds good," Bernice said. "It'll make me feel better." Cheryl and Alex nodded their agreement.
"So, my last mission happened…"
*****1 year ago*****
Ethel had to admit it, Diana was right. When Diana told her to take this mission, Ethel had her doubts. Ethel was a businesswoman, not the operative Diana always claimed she was. Diana laughed her doubt off and stated that this mission couldn't go to anyone but her—and it would be beneficial in more ways than one. "There's a jewelry show in one of the resort domes in Dradin. A lot of high rollers are visiting Dradin now and it would be the perfect cover. You can work either a pop-up shop or a booth at the show by day. At night, you can pinpoint Wade's current stashes." Diana said with a smile she finished her green tea latte. "Trust me, it'll be perfect. All the high rollers usually meet up at the bar during a break in the action from their games."
"Why can't you do it? You're more social than I am!" Ethel asked.
"I'm too known," Diana said as she sighed. "Being a diplomat's daughter works against me sometimes. But since you run a business, you can network and get new sales on the side."
"Fine, I'll do it," Ethel said as she finished her coffee. "So, next Saturday for our ladies night?" Diana groaned before stating that she had date duty with Lance. She then commented that it's not like he couldn't find another date on short notice. Ethel laughed as they went their separate ways.
Ethel had to admit, Diana's plan was near perfect. Ethel was able to grab a small pop-up shop at the jewelry shop at the hosting hotel as well as a hotel suite with a great discount. Ethel ran the day hours while Jenna her trusted assistant ran the night hours. In the daytime, Ethel was able to add new clients while at night she was able to network with some dubious businesspeople. Those contacts at nightlife did provide with a couple of decent, updated information on where Black Lion could be stashed this time. Another bonus to her night networking trips was more business and new suppliers. Diana was right, she would never be able to get those coordinates herself.
Luckily for Ethel, this was the last night of the jewelry show. Satisfied that her inventory was gone, Ethel and Jenna packed up their emptied displays before turning in the keys and the hotel's share of the profits. She then gave Jenna the night off to enjoy the resort. Two hours later, Ethel stepped out of the resort and rode a bike over to the meeting spot where she was going to give the coordinates to Keith.
As Ethel rode her rented hovercycle to the neighboring resort dome, Ethel thought about how long they have been working to stop Wade in his tracks. She then thought about how long they have been trying to help Arus reclaim Black Lion. Who knew that it was going take years? True that her work with the Resistance boosted her business as an effect, but at the same time Ethel wasn't sure if she could continue much longer. It was getting very tiring to live two different lives. Minutes later, Ethel stopped at the meeting spot and waited for Keith to show. The last few times they had to meet, Keith had to show up in disguise.
She didn't have to wait too long. An old man pulled up in a hoverchair a few minutes later. "I think you lost your cameo bracelet." Ethel turned to look at the man. That was the codeword for this mission, Diana decided to continue naming the mission with jewelry-rated terms.
"You must be mistaken, I don't own any," Ethel replied, waiting for the response.
"But's is a rare black cameo." The old man continued. "It can coordinate with anything. Are you sure it isn't yours?" Ethel sighed, Keith was not disguised as an old man this time.
"No, sir," Ethel replied. "I wish I could. Finder's Keepers."
"Thanks, I'll see what I can do with it. Maybe I could find me a young lady." He said as he moved on to the next corner.
"Been waiting long?" A man asked as he walked into the dim light of the alley. The figure took the hood off his head and revealed Keith's face.
"Not long," Ethel replied. "And I have what you're looking for."
"That's great. Maybe I'll get my property back." Keith replied. Ethel took out a small rectangular box and gave it to him.
"I added a little something," Ethel replied. "And keep your pocket. It might lift her spirits while we're waiting. Lord knows I need it." She turned to the street to make sure nobody could interrupt their conversation.
"I agree. Hopefully, this time we can turn the corner in the sun." Keith replied as he pulled the hood back over his head. "Thanks as always. The invite is definitely coming by mail." With that, he disappeared down the alley before Ethel could turn to see if he was still there. When Ethel noticed that she was alone in the alley, she shook her head and got back on her hovercycle returned to her hotel suite for the night.
The next day, Ethel decided to spend two extra days in Dradin. She sent Jenna with instructions back to Earth and took up an offer from an acquaintance to take their personal fractal back. With a smile, Ethel spent the day at the spa and felt relaxed and rejuvenated. The next thing Ethel did was spend the afternoon shopping at the mall next door. Four hours later, she returned to her room with bags of clothes and shoes. After a quick meal served by room service, Ethel changed into a red minidress and heels and enjoyed a night out at the club. The next day, Ethel enjoyed brunch from room service before checking out from the hotel.
At the spaceport, Ethel entered the private fractal and was waiting for lift-off when it finally happened. "Ms. Ethel Acenas. Fancy seeing you here." Wade said as he entered the fractal.
"Space Marshal Wade, how can I help you?" Ethel asked nonchalantly.
"The question is how could you help the Resistance?" Wade asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," Ethel replied, hiding her panic as she stood up. "You can't go around throwing accusations around."
"I'm surprised at you, Ms. Acenas. I would never have thought that you were against me this whole time." Wade replied. The next moment, a group of Alliance soldiers walked to Ethel and arrested her. "Take her to the transport. I'll personally take care of the intake procedure."
"Sir!" The men answered as they grabbed Ethel and escorted her off the fractal. A few minutes later, the owner of the fractal entered the ship.
"Dezvous, thank you for cooperating with the Galaxy Alliance. Your company should receive all the new supplier paperwork within the next day or two." Wade said, smiling at the blue dolphin-like being.
"I look forward to working with you in the future, Sky Marshal," Dezvous replied with a smile.
"So do I," Wade replied before leaving the fractal and entering the prisoner transport. In the prisoner transport, Wade asked Ethel questions about the Den Resistance. "Have it your way, Ms. Acenas. Since you won't answer my questions, you'll enjoy the accommodations of The Void until you confess everything." Wade said with a smile. Turning around, Wade ordered his robots to change Ethel out of her street clothes and into The Void uniform. In a matter of 10 minutes, Ethel was stripped of her street clothes (including underwear), jewelry, and dressed in the sterile orange prison outfit with a white shirt and slide in tennis shoes. It wasn't too long before Ethel was pushed into The Void's intake center and assigned her anti-gravity anklets and pushed into the Black Hole.
"Enjoy the Black Hole, Ethel. I'll let you think about what you've done before our next conversation." Wade said after pushing her in the zero gravity room. "Have fun in there." He said before closing and locking the door with a smile. A few days later, Ethel was pushed into the Open Yard with her weekly sessions with Wade until the next interesting prisoner came along.
*****Present, The Void*****
"Even now, I still feel as if I was a complete failure," Ethel said, finishing her story. "I kept thinking who betrayed me and why. The only person I could think it could be was the owner of that fractal. I didn't listen to my gut on him and I've been regretting ever since."
"It could have happened to any one of us, Ethel," Cheryl replied. "We all ignored one detail before we were caught and sent here."
"As everyone said, it was only a matter of time," Alex replied. "Nearly five years is a miracle these days. Even guerilla groups have a hard time making it past a year or two."
"No one blames you. It just taking them a little longer to set us free." Bernice said. "Let me tell you my story. I was going on a diplomatic trip to..."
*****9 months ago*****
Bernice looked around the room, reading the faces of her hosts. This was the last day of her diplomatic trip to Tylade which was on the other side of her system. Tylade was a mostly tropical planet and were looking to join the Alliance as a way of sustaining their economic status—but still needed at least one more sponsor to join the council. Bernice looked back down at the nomination documents in front of her before looking to her right to look at Deborah. Deborah nodded her head before looking back at their hosts. After their session was done, Allura was coming in to see if they could sponsor Tylade as well, hoping to make it easier for them to join the Alliance.
Of course, Bernice was able to successfully finish her unofficial mission at night. With some light guidance from Pidge, Bernice was able to find a schedule of several things Wade has planned for the next year—including plans for Black Lion and his new robots. Bernice quickly printed a small page of information and placed it within an envelope disguised as an invitation with Allura's name on it. She then sealed the envelope and put with a few of her personal things for the meeting. Hopefully, she'll be able to hand of the information to Princess Allura before something happens. Bernice couldn't shake the feeling that her time was running out as a member of the Den Resistance. For right now, Bernice mentally shook her head to focus on the meeting in front of her.
"Minister Monede, as far as I can tell, your beautiful planet should be accepted and added to the Alliance without issues. I'm proud to sponsor your planet for membership and I believe that this is the start of a great diplomatic relationship." Minister Monede was considered a female member of the hybrid reptile and humanoid people who called Tylade their home. As a female, her skin was yellow with the occasional white freckles compared to the vibrant green skin of the male version of their species. The people of Tylade tend to run the same height as the males normally just an inch or two taller than females.
"To you as well, Princess Bernice." Minister Monede answered. "This is a great day for the Tyladen people." Minister Monede grabbed a small pen and quickly signed the agreements before returning the paper to Deborah.
"That's about it. We'll send the papers right away and make sure to send you a copy just in case. It's always good to have two or three copies of every document for the Alliance." Deborah said with a smile. "In fact, by your leave, I'll go and take care of that for you now."
"If you'll like, Duchess Deborah, Duke Vaken would love to help you in our business office."
"That will be great," Deborah replied with a bow. Vaken walked to Deborah and offered his arm. The two nobles walked away from the room sharing more about the two different cultures and what Vaken could expect as being the first in the line of succession within the Alliance. Bernice looked across the table at Minister Monede again with a smile, as she stood up with Bernice to come close to shake hands.
"Welcome friend," Monede said with a smile. "I would love to visit your planet soon."
"We'll be pleased to host you in kind," Bernice replied with a smile. Before either head of state could speak, Deborah and Vaken returned from their errand.
"Everything is taken care of from our side and the people work was sent certified with copies sent to both inboxes," Deborah replied with a confident smile.
"And Duchess Deborah gave me some great tips on submitting the paperwork so we'll be all set up when we have to send documents over," Vaken replied. "It's been a joy to work with you and I look forward to working with you in the future. I'm sure you would love to enjoy a break in the action before dinner."
"That will be great!" Bernice replied, before facing Monede again. "I'll see you for another meal."
"Until then," Monede said. "I have the meeting with Princess Allura of Arus before I can take a break. I'll see you at dinner." Bernice and Deborah nodded their heads as they followed Vaken back to their quarters in the expansive seaside castle. When they arrived at their hallway, Allura stepped out into the hallway wearing a blue sheath dress with matching blazer and a couple of strings of pearls along with her blue circlet. Bernice and Allura greeted each other and caught up on the day's events.
"And before I forget, Allura," Bernice stated as she fished out a small envelope with her name on it. "Here's the formal invitation I promised you about the week of events you asked about on my last visit to Arus."
Allura smiled as she took the invitation. "Thank you, I've been looking forward to receiving this invitation for months." Bernice and Allura shared a smile before Allura left the hallway with Vaken ahead of her to escort her to the conference room. Bernice and Deborah walked into their suite and sat down on the couch.
"Another successful day of work," Bernice replied with a smile.
"As much as I enjoyed Tylade, I'm ready to head home to Cetrac," Deborah replied. "I'm sure my husband also misses me with the joyous work as acting as regent in your stead."
"I agree. After dinner, we'll return to Cetrac, since everything official is finished." Bernice replied. "We'll dress into the semiformal clothes, enjoy dinner, and head on home after thanking our host of course."
"Of course," Deborah replied as they walked to the different rooms to prepare for the semiformal dinner as well as the trip back home to Cetrac. Just as they were finished getting ready for dinner, there was a heavy knock on the door. Puzzled, Deborah answered the door to find a few Alliance soldiers waiting.
"Good evening, Duchess Deborah. By any chance is Princess Bernice in there with you?" The soldier closest to her asked.
"Why, yes she is. Did something happen on my home planet? Or an emergency meeting with the Council?"
"We're here to formally escort Her Royal Highness, Princess Bernice of Cetrac to meet with Sky Marshal Wade immediately."
Bernice walked into the living area with a flowy sleeveless blue dress and blue heels. "What's going on here?"
"We're told that we need to formally escort you immediately to Sky Marshal Wade who's waiting for you."
"What about my aide? Where I go, Duchess Deborah go." Bernice stated as she glanced hard at the group of soldiers.
"Our orders are to bring you only, Your Highness." The soldier replied. Bernice sighed before turning to Deborah.
"I'll meet with Sky Marshal Wade. After dinner, please go on to Cetrac. On your arrival, you and Duke Devin are now co-regents until my return."
"Bernice—"
"Everything will be fine," Bernice called out. "You and Devin know how to handle state affairs. I should return shortly." And with that, Bernice followed the group of soldiers to Sky Marshal Wade's personal fractal. Once she was firmly within the fractal, the ship moved and started its way to the interesting prison known as The Void.
"Good Evening, Princess Bernice."
"Good Evening, Sky Marshal Wade. To what do I owe the pleasure of our meeting tonight?"
"I'm here to see what you know about the Den Resistance," Wade replied. "And until I do, I'm placing you under arrest for conspiracy against the Alliance Government."
"You can't do this!" Bernice stated evenly, keeping her tone even. "You have no proof!"
"Here's my proof. You were going through my personal files and grabbed a calendar of events I planned for the next few months. However, I was already one step ahead of you and your little friends." Wade stated with a smirk. "I planted a fake agenda. And with that fake agenda, I should be able to catch the rest of your group."
"You bastard! You leave my planet and subjects out of this!"
"Oh, I will. I think you acted on your own. Good thing you have the foresight to name your Duke and Duchess of L'mel as co-regents in your stead when you leave your planet. They'll be able to run things until further notice. I'll just tell the press that your fractal got in an accident, with the crewmembers either killed on impact or missing since some of the pods would be launched."
"You'll never get away with this," Bernice stated. "Someone will figure out something funny about that story."
"Who's going to stop me? Your little friends?" Wade asked, smirking again. He turned around and looked at his prototype droids. "Take her to the clothing room and change her outfits. Also, go on and process her intake files." Without a sound, the two robots grabbed an arm of Bernice and guided her to the changing room."
When Bernice arrived at The Void, she was immediately placed in the Black Hole. A few days later, Bernice was set free and tossed into the open yard in the hope that she'll confess sooner than later. It didn't take long before Bernice found someone she knew in the small crowd in the yard. It was Ethel!
"Ethel! This is where you've been!" Bernice said, as she gingerly ran to Ethel and gave her a hug.
"Welcome to The Void, where your name gets pulled in the mud and people mysteriously disappear from the galaxy," Ethel said with a smile. "And at least I'm not alone here anymore."
"I'll say not," Bernice replied with a small smile of her own.
*****Present, The Void****
"I had no idea that the neutral planet of Tylade had secret dealings with Wade." Bernice shared. "I heard some of the rumors but decided that it was worth getting that information to Allura—even if it was fake."
"From that schedule, I was able to tell which of the events were real and which ones were the fake ones," Cheryl added. "Pidge was able to plot the correct times and we were able to do several somewhat successful side missions."
"But I still feel like a fool," Bernice replied. "The only reason I was able to hold on until you guys came because Ethel was already here. We plotted on designs, hopes for the future, guessed when we'll be free from here."
"Ahhh. That's so sweet of you!" Ethel stated. "If it wasn't for you, I'll probably have gone crazy already."
"Our stay is only bearable because of you guys," Alex said. "If you want to hear the worst way to be captured, you should hear our story."
"Yes. And the sad part was that our missed detail was right in front of us." Cheryl stated. "It was the stations we were working on. They separated us—Alex was assigned to check out things in Brazil while I was assigned to check out a technical system in Balto. Both missions were supposed to compare things to the data we had on the Lions. As we did some of the comparisons, we noticed that the equipment acted a little weird when we were doing our Resistance mission."
****6 months ago*****
"It did it again," Cheryl stated as she looked over the terminal again. "It flashed twice to a different folder on its own. Are you sure you're not doing it from your end?"
"I'm away from the terminal, remember." Alex stated as she tried to go over the performance differences between the "new lion" and the performance data from Black lion.
"One thing's for certain," Cheryl stated as she looked at the screen intensely.
"What's that?" Alex stated.
"Look at the screen on your terminal," Cheryl stated. "Wade's progressed very far with his side project. We got to tell them that within the next few months, the technology poop will hit the fan."
Alex looked at her screen before whistling and noticed the flicker again. "And it's flickering again on my terminal. Maybe it's the weather here."
"It's a clear sunny day there," Cheryl replied. "You should only get that if it's raining down there in Brazil." Cheryl turned around and muttered snart when she noticed that she was surrounded by military police. She rose her arms up in surrender as the Lieutenant of the group took Cheryl's headset and waited for an opportunity to speak.
"I get the feeling that we've been set-up," Alex said, noticing that she had been kicked out of the system. "And I'm kicked out."
"I'll say that you're correct, Sergeant Zana. "Turn around and submit to the squad there in Brazil. You're meeting Sky Marshall Wade."
Alex turned around and saw the squad of Alliance Military Police in front of her. "Snart." She simply stated as she put her hands up. A few hours later, Alex and Cheryl met in the processing fractal.
"Together again," Alex stated.
"You said it," Cheryl replied as the robots stripped them of their clothes before dressing them into The Void uniforms. When they arrived at The Void, there were tossed into the open yard before Wade changed his mind and tossed Cheryl into the Black Hole first.
*****Present, The Void*****
"The fact that we overlooked the weird flickering of the screen still haunts me. We'll still be out and free if I would have listened to my gut." Cheryl shared.
"Don't beat yourself up about it, Cher," Alex said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I ignored the flickering several times myself. All we have to do is hang on."
Manset walked over to the group after hearing bits and pieces of the conversation about being caught. "Ladies, I ensure you, everything is going to be fine again soon. While we're waiting, let me share how I met Keith and Allura." Manset noticed he had a captive audience before starting his story. "I heard it through the smuggler grapevine that a special customer wanted to talk to me. So I went down to a bar on Dradin that was close to where I was finishing up the work on my newest resort…" Manset shared that he was waiting in the bar and looked up when he heard a soft feminine voice using their secret code phase. He also stated that he did figure out how special this gig was going to be as Diana handed him a small device, asking him to protect it with his life until he makes it to her contact on the other side of the quadrant.
Manset then shared what happened during the mission. Everything was going smoothly until he made it to where he was supposed to meet Diana's contact. Wade's men were all over the place because they heard that one of their most wanted suspects was reportedly close. "And just when I thought it was safe, I see Commander Keith." Manset continues. "You can imagine how surprised I was to see him," Manset said he threw the device to Keith just a mere second before they're surrounded by Wade's soldiers. The next thing he knew, a couple of smoke bombs detonated and they were engulfed by smoke. "Suddenly I was hit with something blunt and blacked out. When I came to, I found myself back on my fractal with a note from Diana thanking me for acing her test and that I will hear from them soon." Manset said finishing the story.
"That was awesome and dramatic." Alex shared. "But I could see that happen."
"Another story to the mythos that is Diana and Keith," Cheryl added. Manset noticed that someone wanted his attention from across the yard. Manset got up and started to leave the group.
"Everything will come out fine. You'll be free in a few days and you can return home to your families." Manset called out before joining with a group of other aliens, laughing along with their jokes.
Meanwhile back to the torture chamber, Wade walks in with a couple of robots behind him. "Feeding time!" He called into the room. Since Diana couldn't see or hear Wade she didn't respond with a biting response. "What's wrong, Diana, cat got your tongue?" Wade asked, chuckling at his joke. "I forgot you can't see or hear." Wade walked to the wall where Diana was chained to and took off the hood and the ear muffs. "Time for your meal," Wade said.
"If that's what you want to call the slop here," Diana replied at the sound of Wade's voice.
"But this food was made especially for you," Wade said as one of the robots made its way to Diana. The robot took a spoon and fed Diana the blandest bowl of Cream of Chicken soup ever. After the first spoonful, Diana forced it down her throat before speaking.
"This lacks any kind of seasoning," Diana replied. "I wouldn't feed this to a dog." The robot stuffed another spoonful down her throat.
"And what do you think you are?" Wade asked as the robot continued to feed Diana the bland soup.
"If I were to be an animal, I'll be more of feline if anything," Diana replied between spoonfuls. "In fact, out of all the natural beings in this room, you're more of a son of a female dog." The robot fed Diana a few more spoons of the soup before opening Diana's mouth and poured the rest of the soup down her throat. Diana tried to be calm as she allowed the soup to go down her throat to her stomach. The robot stepped back and left the room with the other robot behind it.
"Now that we're alone Diana, you can end all of this if you'll just confess everything you know about your little resistance group," Wade said.
Diana took a few moments before taking the opportunity to vomit all over Wade. His shirt was covered with the bland soup she was forced to eat. "Go to hell. I'm not telling you a damn thing." Diana replied.
"You ruined my shirt. You'll pay for that."
"You ruined so many lives and you'll never be able to fully pay for that." Diana spat back out. The next second Diana's head moved to the right after being slapped hard by Wade. "Don't you feel like a big boy," Diana said. Her head jerked to the left after another hard, open-handed slap from Wade. The next thing she knew, Diana's ear muffs were back on and followed by the hood. With a precision turn, Wade huffed, left the room, and locked the door behind him.