Chapter 26 – Matt Holt
I don't own Voltron Legendary Defender. I'm taking the characters out for a spin.
Adam glared at the screen. "Pidge, you could have told me what you were up to. I would have gone with you."
Shiro stepped up next to him. "Pidge, I don't like the idea of you going alone. You sure you don't need backup?"
Pidge nodded. "I'm sure. The intel that the shopkeeper gave me leads me to believe that they could pull out of their location at any time. I need to act fast. This may be my only chance. Plus, you guys still have plenty to do on Olkarion."
Shiro sighed but nodded. "You're right. Good luck."
Hunk took a moment to speak up. "Hey, while you're out, will you look for some more fluuto beans?"
Lance shook his head almost violently. "No, no, no! No more beans for Hunk!"
Hunk gasped. "Hey! I happen to like those beans, Lance."
Lance turned to the Yellow Paladin. "Well, yeah, we all know how much you like them. But we also know how much they don't like you."
Hunk frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.
Pidge smirked at the two teens. "Gotta go."
The Castle of Lions landed at the Olkarion spaceport. The transport pod lowered from the Castle to the surface, and the doors opened. Several huge aliens stood inside. Coran squeezed his way through and popped out of the pod like a cork from a champagne bottle. Only instead of flying, he fell to the tarmac. The aliens rushed out, and the Altean became a red carpet as they ran over him.
Coran stood, "Go right in there. They'll get you sorted out."
Allura gazed at Coran. "Is that the last of them?"
"That's it. A few hundred more souls looking for a new home."
Shiro smiled. "A few hundred more soldiers in the fight against the Galra."
Adam strode over to Coran and pulled his scanner out of his pocket.
The older Altean waved him off. "I'm perfectly fine. Don't worry yourself over old Coran."
Adam shrugged his shoulders as he slipped the scanner back into his pocket. "If you say so."
A roar of a lion came from overhead as the Green Lion flew over. Hunk grinned as he pointed. "Hey, everybody. Pidge is back!" Hunk and Lance took off, running toward the lion as it landed.
Adam shoved his hands in his pockets as he gazed at the smallest of the lions. "I hope she found Matt." He paused as his eyes lost focus. "Do you remember back at the Garrison how Matt and Keith fought like cats and dogs at times?"
Shiro chuckled. "How can I forget. Those two had a lot of hero worship going on."
Adam shook his head. "Not on Keith's part. He had this idea that he was losing you to Matt."
"What are you talking about?"
Adam shook his head. "You know, for a brilliant leader of Voltron, sometimes you can be as dense as a doorknob." He pointed toward the lion. "We should go to meet her."
The Green Lion hunched down and lowered its ramp. Pidge stepped down and knelt to pet the mice who joined in on meeting her. She laughed as she stood up. Another person began to step down the ramp behind her. "Hey, everybody. This is my brother Matt."
Matt, a taller version of Pidge, waved. "Hey, everybody."
Pidge quickly made introductions. "Matt, this is Hunk, Lace, and Coran." She got to Allura. "And this is Princess Allura of Altea."
Allura smiled at him. "It's so wonderful to meet you, Matt."
Matt bowed to her. "It is my honor to meet you, Princess."
Everyone moved out of the way, and his eyes locked on two people he never thought he'd see again. "Shiro? Adam?" He walked forward. "It's so good to see you, um, sir." He held out his hand but gasped when Shiro pulled him into a hug.
Adam chuckled at the pair. It felt good seeing another familiar face even though that face had a scar on his cheek.
As Shiro released Matt, he smiled. "Pidge never gave up on finding you."
Matt nodded as he gazed back over his shoulder at her. "Yeah, she can be pretty stubborn at times."
Adam nodded. "I'll agree with you there. She wouldn't tell us what she was up to until after she'd left."
Shiro smiled at Matt. "I want you to know that all of us will help you find your father."
"Thanks."
"Matt," Pidge said as she pointed up. "This is the Castle of Lions."
Matt turned around and followed her finger with his eyes. "Woah. Nice ship."
Pidge grabbed him by the hand. "Let me take you on a tour."
Adam sat in the lounge as Pidge and Matt came in. She flopped down on a couch in the semi-circle. "And this is the lounge. You know where we hang out."
Adam smirked. "Although, this is where I find Lance most of the time when he's trying to avoid Paladin training."
Matt chuckled as he sat down.
Hunk entered the lounge with a tray in hand. "Hey, hey! I made celebratory milkshakes for you two! Just a little welcome gift to Matt from Kaltenecker and me. No big deal." He turned his head toward Adam. "Here's yours." He passed out the milkshakes as he sat down next to Matt. "Fun fact about Alteans, they don't get brain freeze. Coran and Allura hoovered up their shakes in one slurp." He chuckled. "I've never seen anything like that before. So, like, what have you been doing since you got busted out of Galra prison?"
Matt gazed back at Hunk. "I've been stationed at a listening outpost, monitoring Galra radio chatter."
Hunk grinned. "Are you serious? Then you should check out the Galra finder Pidge built. We used it to track down a Galra fleet and save a planet."
Pidge smiled. "Hunk made the locator that led us to the first Voltron Lion, and we built an upgraded version of it to track Lotor."
Matt smiled. "Wow, Pidge. Dad would be so proud if he could see what you've done here."
Adam stood from the couch and passed his cup back over to Hunk. "That was good, but I'd better go track Lance down before he gets into trouble."
Matt turned his gaze to Adam. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking Adam, but you seem to be kind of protective about him."
Adam shook his head. "It has nothing to do about being protective of him. He's my cousin's son, and he has this bad habit of getting himself into trouble."
Matt chuckled. "Kind of like me and Keith."
Adam nodded. "Yeah, you were Mr. Hero-worshiper over Takashi. While Keith thought you were trying to take his brother away from him."
Matt gaped at Adam. "Brother? I didn't know Keith and Shiro were brothers."
"It's a long story, and one Takashi or Keith should tell you. But Keith's not here to ask."
Pidge piped up. "Yeah, he's working with the Blade of Marmora."
Matt gasped. "Blade of Marmora?"
Hunk nodded. "Yeah, they're a group of Galra fighting against Lotor."
Matt gazed at Hunk. "Wow. I guess I've missed out on a lot."
Pidge grinned. "Don't worry. We'll get you caught up."
Adam strode out of the lounge, leaving the Holts and Hunk to talk. He needed to find Lance. Sometimes that boy could do nothing and still get himself into trouble.
Adam saw Allura and Coran hovering outside of Lance's door, both seemingly afraid to open it. "What's going on? Is he pouting again?"
Coran turned around. "Ah, Adam, no, not exactly. We have a problem that I believe only Lance can help us with."
Allura nodded. "Yes, we would like another milkshake, but it appears Kaltenecker won't make one for us, but there are all these noises coming from inside Lance's room. It sounds like a pitched battle."
A slight grin curved up the sides of Adam's mouth. "No, he's not trashing his room. He's playing a video game."
Allura gazed at the human. "Is it some type of Paladin training."
Adam shook his head in reply. "No, nothing of the sort. It's supposed to be for relaxation, but well with Lance, if he can't win, he takes it personally. But since he hasn't been able to get past that level, don't worry about it." Adam moved over to the wall. "I'll just wait over here."
The door to Lance's room slid open. Coran spoke up. "Lance, could you assist us for a moment."
Adam shook his head as Lance screamed, "Not now!"
"Okay."
When the game's music stopped, Allura spoke up. "We were wondering if you could assist us in getting a milkshake."
Coran took up their tale. "We tried to negotiate some on our own, but we've run into a bit of difficulty with Kaltenecker."
Lance groaned as he walked out of his room. "All right. Let's go."
Adam followed the trio to the holographic room where Kaltenecker grazed. Lance sat down on a stool. "Well, first off, Kaltenceker is a girl."
Allura gazed down at Lance. "Oh! I see."
Coran held his hands behind his back. "Apologies, madam."
Lance gazed up at them. "Right, and she's a cow, so she can't understand you."
Adam shook his head. "Lance, if you're going to explain things, do it right." He sighed as he gazed at the Alteans. "Yes, Kaltenecker is a cow, but cows are raised to provide an array of protein as food for humans and sometimes predators. They're usually raised in herds of both males and females. Some of the males are separated and sent to slaughter for their meat. While females like Kaltenecker here are raised for their milk, which is used to make some of the products you've eaten. Like butter and cheese."
Lance jumped up off his stool and grabbed Kaltenecker's ears. "You can't just say slaughter around her. She's sensitive."
Adam rolled his eyes. "Get on with it."
Lance stuck his tongue out at Adam, but he turned his gaze to Allura and Coran as he sat back down on the stool. "Well, since Mr. Grumpy cat said it all ready, she doesn't make milkshakes. She has to be milked." Lance picked up a bucket and placed it under Kaltenecker. "Let me show you." He raised his hands. "Watch and learn." He reached under Kaltenecker and began to milk her.
Both Coran and Allura turned white.
Adam would have called them shellshocked because of the expressions on their faces.
Lance, once finished, dipped two cups into the milk and held them out for Allura and Coran. "It's so thick. It's almost like a milkshake right now!"
Allura and Coran didn't say a word as they rushed out of the room.
Lance shrugged as he leaned against the cow. "It's not your fault, Kaltenecker. You're a beautiful girl, and this is very natural." He raised the cup and drank it down. He gazed over at Adam. "Do you want to explain why you've been such a grouch lately?"
"I don't know. I feel out of synch with everything. Especially Takashi."
"Why do you say that? Both of you seem to be on the same page."
Adam shook his head. He sat down on the ground and wrapped his arms around his knees. "That's just it. We're not. Before Keith left, he kept harping about how Voltron needed a strong leader. He didn't even try to connect with the Black Lion after that first try until the other day. Which isn't like him at all."
Lance cocked his head. "What do you mean?"
"Back at the Garrison, no one could keep Takashi away from anything with wings. You know he broke every record the Garrison had for pilots. So when he didn't try again, that just didn't make any sense at all to me."
Lance nodded. "Yeah, I see, but did you think that maybe he might have just been tired?"
Adam shook his head. "No, there are other things." He sighed. "I don't know. Maybe waking up on a Galra ship again messed with his head."
"You could be right. But right now, you have to stop thinking that way because your only making yourself grumpy and when your grumpy well, you kind of bring the team down." Unseen by Adam, Lance dipped his fingers into the cup of milk and pulled them out with milk dripping off the tips. He flicked his fingers at his cousin several times.
Adam flinched and wiped at his face. "Did you flick milk on me?"
A big smile pulled at Lance's lips. He dropped the cup of milk to the ground. "Nana nana boo boo you can't catch me," he giggled as he ran.
Adam jumped up off the ground and gave chase. "You are so going to regret that." The pair raced out of the room, and when Adam got close to his cousin, he lept off the floor and tackled Lance.
The pair rolled around on the deck plates until Adam got his arms around Lance's neck and managed to get his feet underneath him. He stood with his cousin in a headlock beside him. "Say it."
Lance grinned, but he shook his head. "Never."
"Say it, or I'm not letting you go."
"Do your worst. I refuse to say it."
Adam grinned as he chuckled. "Fine, you asked for it." He backed both himself and Lance into the wall. Releasing his hold, he spun around and used his fingers to tickle Lance's ribs.
Lance howled in laughter as he fought to catch his breath. "Fine, uncle."
Adam released him, but he continued to chuckle.
The teen gazed at his cousin. "Your laughing, finally."
Adam wiped at his eye. "I guess I needed that."
Lance threw his arm around Adam's shoulder. "Yeah, you did. I'd better get that milk to the kitchen and clean up that mess I made."
"Yeah, and now I need to find out what trouble Matt, Pidge and Hunk are getting into."
"I'm not exactly sure I like Pidge's brother."
Adam gazed at Lance. "Why not?"
Lance scratched at the back of his head. "I don't know. I guess it was the way he came onto Allura."
Adam shook his head as he squeezed his cousin's shoulder. "Look, the only thing that gets Matt's total attention is robotics. Remember, he's a computer nerd just like his sister."
Lance shrugged. "If you say so."
"I don't say so, I know so. Matt and Pidge are both cut from the same cloth. Having two Holts on board, the Castle is going to be interesting." He gave his cousin a gentle shake. "Now, go take care of the milk and Kaltenecker."
Adam found Matt, Pidge, and Hunk working in the Green Lion's hangar. Whatever they were doing, it was keeping the trio out of mischief. "What's up?"
Hunk didn't look up from his screen as his fingers moved entering something into the computers. "We're plugging in intel that Matt has into Pidge's Galra finder."
Matt looked up at the larger screen on the wall. "I think we've just about got it."
The trio cheered as the screen came to life covered with dots representing Galra positions. Hunk pointed at the screen. "This is unbelievable. We're tracking Galra fleet movements almost live."
Pidge turned her head to gaze up at the Yellow Paladin. "I think I know a few tweaks we can make to extend the range."
Another screen caught Matt's attention as what looked like hieroglyphics gibberish scrolled up. "Hold on, Pidge."
"What's up?"
"It's a scrambled message. I've collected hundreds of them. I never crack them."
Pidge leaned forward in her chair. "Let me see."
Matt pressed a button sending the possible message over to her laptop.
Adam took a couple of steps forward to stare at the gibberish, scrolling up her laptop screen.
Pidge leaned back in her chair. "I'm guessing this isn't just a simple number-for-letter swap."
Matt stared at her screen as he leaned in close. "I've run these through every kind of decryption technology I can think of, and I've spent days with just the numbers and a Galra language log. Nothing."
Hunk scratched his chin. "Maybe they're not words. Maybe they're just numbers."
Pidge place her head in her hand. "Maybe they're a frequency."
Matt frowned. "A quantum signal that broadcasts for other frequencies to go to. It's too high. These are more than three thousand gigahertz."
Pidge's fingers began running over the keyboard. "Invert it."
"What?"
Pidge didn't take her eyes the screen as she spoke to her brother. "For every wave we receive, there's only one partial transmittance, right?"
Hunk caught on fast. "Oh, right, yeah. So we figure out the transmission coefficient—"
Matt caught on too. "And tune for the frequency of the reflected waves."
Pidge pressed a button on the keyboard, and they were hearing a Galra transmission for the first time. "Members of the Seventh, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Fourteenth Fleet, assemble to rally point trox-lyte immediately. Engage targets at coordinates in the next transmission by order of Emperor Zarkon."
Hunk's eyes grew. "Zarkon is alive?"
Pidge gazed up at the screen. "Guys, look at this."
Matt gazed up at what his sister was looking at. "I've never seen troop mobilization on this scale before."
Hunk asked, "What are they attacking?"
Pidge frowned. "That's just it as far as I can tell, nothing. There are no planets, no rebel ships, no Blade of Marmora bases, nothing."
Adam frowned. "We need to get this to Shiro and Allura. They'll decide what to do next."
Allura's eyes hardened. "Whoever they're attacking, we have to help."
Shiro frowned. "I don't like it. We should be gathering intelligence, not diving into a fight without knowing why, especially now that we know Zarkon is alive."
Pidge spoke up. "We could go check it out."
Lance sighed as he turned his ocean blue gaze down on her. "I think they'd probably notice us."
The green Paladin snapped her fingers together and smirked. "Not if we're cloaked."
Matt's eyes grew. "You have cloaking? Who are you?"
Shiro turned his gaze back to Pidge. "I'm not sure it's safe for just the Green Lion."
Pidge grinned. "I'm pretty sure I can upgrade Voltron with cloaking. We could all go."
Lance rammed his elbow into the smaller teen's shoulder. "Were you waiting for your big brother to show up before you rolled that one out?"
Pidge scratched at the back of her head. "It's something I've been working on for a while, but I can't pilot the Green Lion and operate the cloaking at the same time." Her eyes slid over to Matt. "But if I had a co-pilot."
Matt grinned. "Absolutely."
Shiro turned his gaze over to Adam. "Suit up. If this cloaking of Pidge's works, we'll need someone else to operate it when Matt's not here. Ride with Pidge and Matt."
Adam glanced over at the smallest teen who raised her hand with the thumb up. He turned back to Shiro. "Okay."
Shiro gazed at everyone. "Let's get to the Lions."
Shiro's voice over their comms. "We're getting close. Everyone get ready."
Pidge craned her head. "Go ahead. Run the cloaking subroutine."
Matt nodded. "Got it." As he started running it, he explained to Adam what he was doing. "Initializing cloak. I'm not sure how long we can keep this up."
Adam tried to absorb everything Matt said. "Uhm, you might need to write down some instructions for me to study."
Lance chuckled. "What's this? My cousin needs a technical guide?"
"You want extra drills?"
Lance's voice cracked as he replied to Adam's question. "No."
Allura's voice came over the comms. "All right, let's take a look at who the Galra are attacking."
Lance shouted, "What the cheese? It's Galra-on-Galra violence, again."
Hunk's voice came over the comms. "These people just do not like each other."
Two ships appeared out of the firefight. Pidge asked. "Whose ships are those."
Allura came close to growling like Keith. "It's Lotor."
Shiro's voice came over the comms. "Lotor and Zarkon must be fighting for control of the empire."
Hunk called out, "Guys, those ships are getting close."
The ships flew past Voltron. Matt frowned as he called out from behind Pidge. "Uh-oh. The trails from Lotor's ship drives messed with our cloaking spectrum."
Pidge craned her head slightly. "Can you find a workaround?"
Shiro's voice came over the comms. "It's too late. Out cover's been blown. We may have to engage." Shiro, Hunk, and Allura flew Voltron through the Galra weapons fire, trying to evade. As Voltron was hit, Shiro called out. "Hunk, use your bayard."
"You got it."
Beams shot out from the giant shoulder cannon striking all the Galra ships. Damaging the cruisers and destroying the smaller fighters.
Shiro let out a sigh. "All right, that'll hold them. Let's get out of here."
