Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron!
A/N: Someone asked if "Josie" was actually short for something, and it is! It's short for Josefina. Also, sorry for the long wait, I'm was on vacation VERY far away from home with not much Internet. So as compensation, this is a pretty long chapter (at least for me lol), and I'm going to do my best to update again within the next 24 hours! Some of these events are taking place at somewhat the same time, and oh, there's lots of robot destroying.
Chapter 12
"What if they start moving prisoners? What if they take him somewhere? They've probably realized who we are, and they might try and evacuate before it gets worse, so what if we don't make it in time?"
Pidge spewed out her anxious thoughts as she and Matt raced down yet another hallway, dodging and taking out robotic Galra sentries along the way. They were fighting together, tag-teaming their way to Level 3 of the ship's prison section. This place was like a maze, all corridors and tight turns, and if they didn't have the guidance system built into Pidge's armor, they would have been lost already.
"We're going to make it," Matt said.
"Yeah, but maybe—"
"We will."
How could he so certain? Pidge dodged a blow from a sentry and then charged it, jamming her bayard into its face plate and short-circuiting it.
Matt slammed his staff into another sentry, driving it backwards and into a wall. Yanking the staff out, Matt swung it wide. Energy crackled over it before he hammered the staff into the sentry, crumpling the robot.
It still shocked her to see her brother fight like that, as if he had been training with a staff for a decade instead of just a year. Back home, Matt had never gone for self-defense and he had always taken the bare minimum when it came to phys ed classes at the Garrison. Now he was like an expert level staff ninja and on top of that there was his Galra tech left foot. Right now, he still had his boot off, and purple lines were glowing across the metal.
Shoving her anxiety down, Pidge surged forward, slinging her bayard into a sentry and lodging it in its shoulder. Allowing the energy rope to extend, she raced forward, looped it around another sentry and yanked. The two collided and one's gun went off, sending a laser blast through the other's chest plate.
She retracted her bayard and spun to use her wrist shield to block a series of laser bolts aimed at Matt. Spinning on his right heel, Matt slammed his powered up left foot into a sentry before hurling his staff into the air and impaling the robot who had tried shooting at him. While Matt went to retrieve his staff, Pidge rushed in the opposite direction and shoved her bayard into a sentry's side. The electricity shorted it out, and it fell to the floor in an awkward heap.
"We're going to have to do something about the rest of these prisoners," Matt said as they hurried down the hall, "We can't leave them all here."
"Mhmm." There were so many, it was going to be hard to evacuate everyone. They had underestimated how many prisoners Lotor would have on board.
"After we get Dad, we'll find a place where we can open the cells at once," Matt said, "Escape pods will probably work, if we can get them all there."
"Yeah, after we get Dad." It wasn't that she didn't care about the other prisoners, it was just that she was focused on their father. They were so close to getting him back after all this time, it was hard to care about anything else. But they couldn't leave all these people behind, that would be wrong.
The comm unit in her helmet crackled before Shiro spoke. "Hey team, we've got Josie. There's a second hangar bay, we're heading there."
"Is Josie okay?" Hunk asked, concern in his voice.
"She will be," Lance broke in, "Have you guys found Theo and Isaia yet? Pidge, how's it going on your end?"
"We're not there yet," Pidge said, feeling behind. She and Matt needed to find their dad soon since Allura and Coran would be on their way with the Castle and the lions. It was weird being on a Galra ship and knowing that Green wasn't crouched outside on the hull, but it wouldn't be long before the lions arrived.
"We'll be at the training floor soon," Hunk said. Laser shots echoed from his comm, which meant he and Keith were in the middle of a fight.
"Era, do you copy that?" Matt asked over the comms. He and Pidge had patched together the comms that the Outcast crew and the Voltron team used before they started this mission. "You and the Blade go ahead and move out to the second hangar."
There was no response from Era, which drew more tension into Matt's movements.
"Era?" Pidge asked, hoping for something, anything. They hadn't heard anything from Era since they had left the hangar bay, and she knew Matt had asked her to check in. "Do you read?"
"Era?" Matt said again, quiet, like a plea.
Nothing.
"Maybe her comm is broken," Hunk said.
Matt slowed for a moment, pain in his light brown eyes. "Yeah…" They had left Era and two Blade members to fight off an entire hangar bay full of Galra. It wasn't hard to tell what Matt was thinking.
He gripped his staff and lunged forward to meet an oncoming sentry. His staff smashed through its chest plate and exploded out of its back, sending bits of metal and circuitry skittering across the ground. Sidestepping around the sentry, Matt grabbed the end of his staff and jerked it the rest of the way through the robot before continuing down the hallway.
Pidge didn't say anything as she darted after him, catching up in a second. She couldn't think of anything that would make the situation better.
"She's tougher than that," Matt said as they turned the corner. His eyes hardened. "She'll meet us at the other hangar. Let's go get Dad."
Down on the training floor, Isaia lunged forward, taking on the green alien kid head-on. With five arms, three eyes, and an extra half-foot of height, the other kid already had some major advantages over him.
Except Isaia had more experience by now.
Snagging one of the multi-jointed arms, Isaia swung around and tossed the green kid before they could get a good punch in. If this was a sparring match back home, he would wait for his opponent to get up, but here showing mercy meant he and Theo and Mr. Sam wouldn't eat tonight. Barring his teeth against his compassion, Isaia kicked the green kid in the side and then jumped on him, slamming an elbow into their back before they could get up.
"Stay down," he hissed, not wanting to hurt them more than he had to.
Instead of listening, the kid screeched and twisted, pounding two arms against Isaia, catching him in the face before he could block. Isaia shouted and lashed out, shoving the kid back against the rough floor but the more flexible alien turned on him. Those arms just weren't fair, they bent in ridiculous directions.
For a moment, his mind flashed to home and wrestling with his older brothers. Home, where it smelled like fresh air and warm bread, where his parents were waiting for him.
The alien kid used Isaia's momentary distraction and wrapped an arm around Isaia's neck, trying to choke him into a knock out. Isaia punched at the kid's side, looking for a weak point. His vision was starting to go dark when the entire training arena lit up with flashing red lights and alarms started wailing.
He and the green kid jumped up immediately, startled into ending the sparring session. Around them, trainees were frozen, wondering what that noise meant for them.
"No one move," their trainer, Torpak, growled, his hand on the weapon in his belt.
This was it, this was their chance. He had to get Theo so they could run and find Josie and get Mr. Sam and leave. He and Theo talked about escaping every day, or they had until the Galra had taken Josie. Now he spent most of his time keeping Theo from attacking everyone.
Above them, a voice boomed out over what had to be a loudspeaker. "A breach has occurred in the main hangar bay, all prisoners are to be returned to their cells."
A breach? Did that mean the ship was getting attacked? For a split second, Isaia let himself hope that it was Hunk. He had promised…but now Isaia knew that had been a trick. He tossed the hope to the side and mentally pounded it into the floor. He knew it couldn't be true because the Galra could make up all sorts of illusions, and he had fought things that looked exactly like Hunk since that day in the throne room. Mr. Sam was the only one who thought that maybe the video feed hadn't been faked. Isaia knew better. His brother wasn't going to come save him.
But that didn't mean he was just going to stand there.
Looking around the room, he spotted Theo sitting at the edge of a sparring circle, his legs splayed out in front of him. He stared intently at the younger boy, willing him to feel that someone was watching him. A few moments later, Theo lifted his head and started looking around until he met Isaia's eyes. The flashing alarm lights made it difficult to communicate, but Isaia subtly pointed toward the door, which got a nod from Theo.
The second Torpak turned to talk to another trainer, Isaia bolted, zigzagging to avoid the laser shots that whizzed past his head an instant later. They wouldn't kill him, but if he got hit, he would definitely wind up on the floor unable to move.
He glanced up to see Theo racing for the door, a blunt practice sword in his right hand. Man, he should have grabbed a weapon, too. Anything would have worked.
Around the room, other trainee kids hollered and yelled, cheering for them as they made a break for it. No one had ever escaped before, but then again, there had never been a breach before. Maybe this was their moment.
Isaia surged forward and fell into step beside Theo, their boots pounding against the training floor as they tried to get to the door. Almost there, almost there, please—
He saw the flash of purple armor before it slammed into him and Theo, forcing them both to the floor. Isaia immediately tried to get up, shoving against the Galra's arm, but there was no give. On the other side of the massive trainer, Theo cursed and spat like a furious stray cat. He even tried to claw the Galra's face, but the trainer simply held him farther away as he got to his feet, dragging them with him.
"That was moronic, even for humans," he said. His grip on Isaia's upper arm was crushing, and he leaned toward the trainer, trying to get some relief. The trainer shook him, and it felt like his arm was about to be ripped out of the socket. On the trainer's other side, Theo yelped and dropped his practice sword.
Another trainer walked up, this one smaller and more hesitant. "Evear, the prince wants those two brought to his personal vessel," he said, waving a hand at Isaia and Theo. "Take them there."
"Vrepit sa," the Galra said, repeating that dumb catch phrase of theirs.
A personal vessel? Like a different spaceship? If they were going to another spaceship, that meant they might be leaving Mr. Sam and Josie behind. Theo must have figured that out too because twisted and shouted, pulling at the trainer's hand on his arm as the huge Galra dragged them toward the door.
They were marched down the hallway, heading away from the prisoner levels. Isaia couldn't remember ever being in this part of the ship, but then again, it wasn't like the Galra had been giving out free tours.
"My sister!" Theo yelled, punching at the Galra with his free hand. "You can't leave her. Hey!"
The Galra trainer snorted and lifted Theo up by his arm, dangling him in the air. "Stop your whining before I get annoyed."
Theo gave wordless scream and snagged the Galra's arm with his other hand so he could swing forward. He kicked out, catching the Galra in the mouth. It surprised him enough to drop Theo, and the nine-year-old landed on his feet, only stumbling a little.
Theo looked surprised that he had actually gotten away, but Isaia automatically grabbed the Galra and pulled at hard as he could, trying to put him off balance. It was like trying to pull down a brick wall, at least until Theo dropped down and slammed his boot into the trainer's knee. The Galra didn't fall, but his leg did buckle and he let go on Isaia to try and grab Theo. The nine-year-old rolled to the side, dodging the Galra's claws, and Isaia sprang forward, trying to get out of reach.
Taking Theo by the arm, he pulled the other boy to his feet and they took off.
"Where are we going?" Theo asked, "Isaia!"
"Dude, I don't know, just run!"
They flew down the hallway, taking turns at random and eventually losing the trainer. How did you get off a spaceship? Weren't there escape pods? But they needed to get Josie and Mr. Sam. Part of Isaia wanted to go, to just leave, even if that meant leaving them behind. He just wanted to get away from here and go home and see his family. Maybe that made him a horrible person, but he was scared and maybe they would never get another chance. But he also wanted to help them. What was he supposed to do?
He and Theo barreled into a new corridor, and Isaia instantly had to duck to avoid getting smacked in the face by something flying through the air. It hit the ground and slid back into the hall they had just come from. His mouth fell open when he realized that it was the head of one of those robot sentries.
Man, those did not just come off.
That's when he saw a guy in armor swing a red and white sword through what remained of the sentry. The torso dropped to the floor in pieces, and Isaia took a step back. Hey, he knew that guy. It was Mullet, from the Garrison where Hunk and Lance went to school. He and Theo had once pulled a prank on him a really long time ago. He had been in the faked video that the Galra had made, the one from the throne room. What was going on? Was this some kind of really messed up, elaborate training exercise? One that made them think that they got to escape then took it all away?
Another sentry exploded, and the boys ducked as pieces of it flew back toward them. When Isaia straightened up, he saw something that crushed him and convinced him this was a training exercise.
There was a second armored man, this one taller, broader, with a massive gun at his side. That was what had scattered the sentry into a thousand pieces. The face that stared back at Isaia was so familiar, that stunned expression captured perfectly.
"Isaia?" It was Hunk's voice, catching on his name, but there was no way that could be his brother.
Hot tears sprang to Isaia's eyes even as his foot slid back, getting him into a position he could attack from. He wished that was Hunk. He wanted it to be Hunk.
But that was just another Galra fake, one he had to take out.
