Birthright: Chapter 16
Chapter 16
"Sire, there has been a break in."
Kellar turned to Alysson as she too stared at the guard that stood before them.
"Where?"
"The dugeon, sire," the guard reported. "The Voltron Force as well as Prince Lotor have escaped."
"Round up every soldier in this castle and find them!" Kelar ordered.
"Sire, some of the soldiers have reported back seeing the Lady Anala," he added.
"Kill everyone else, but bring her to me alive," Kelar said. "I will deal with her accordingly."
"Yes, sire."
Alysson watched in silence as the guard bowed and leave the throne room, as Kelar then walked back to the throne to take a seat upon it.
"It seems you have underestimated their tenacity, Kelar," she commented. "You will lose this fight."
"I have lived through worst, my dear," he said as he signaled for a servant. "And when this is all over, my power will be absolute."
Alysson slowly came to stand before him. "Then why keep me here?" she asked. "You've gotten what you wanted. You have everything that I fought for."
Kelar smiled. "I am not finished with you yet, princess," he said.
"After we see to the death of your children, I have other plans for you."
"I'll die before I let you lay a finger on me."
"And I can make it a painful death," he said. "Your presence is still of importance to me."
Anala spied the two guard who stood near the main entrance to both the storage areas and the main holding areas of the people who had been enslaved to work in the mines. She then spied Hunk and Pidge, and threw each of them a crude gun and some of the grenades she had found.
"I know this isn't the most advanced of weapons," she stated. "It's all we have."
"We've fought with spears and lances," Hunk said. "An old gun is prime choice for us. So what is the situation here?"
"There are two guards near that door," Anala pointed out. "Behind, we will come up to two more larger doors. The door on the left after the entrance will take us to the holding cells. The door on the right will lead you to the storage areas. The cells are easy to take care of. The doors that hold the slaves are controlled by one operating booth. The codes are going to be a task to figure out, but I'd figure Pidge can handle that."
Pidge slowly nodded. "Anything special that I need to know about trying to crack them?"
Anala slowly nodded. "Its based on a old binary system my grandfather developed," she said. "That's the easy part."
"So there is a hard part?"
"You have to figure out the 10 numbers within in 3 minutes," she said.
"Why 3 minutes?"
"Every three minutes, it goes through a cyle and changes," she warned.
"Only Kelar carries the device that will lock the numbers in, when ever he needs to free the slaves to go and work in the mines. When they are locked up, the number sequencing changes. Its to prevent escape."
"Tough system," Pidge commented. "Wish I had access to Green Lion. I could use its on board computer to access those codes."
"Can you communicate with your Lion if you had a remote communicator?"
"Possible," he said. "Maybe on a high frequency one, since we are so deep underground."
Anala took off the wristband she was wearing and handed it to him.
"It's a communicator," she said. "Sorry its small, but I hope it can help you."
"Actually, I think this is all I need," he said.
"Hunk, Im going to need your help with the storage tanks."
"Understood," he said. "Which ones are we going to hit?"
"We need to get to those that hold the water," she said. "There are underground pipes that funnel the water from the underground water sources into these tanks. If we can stop the siphoning and..."
"Let them pump the water out instead of in," he finished. "Is that the reason why we never see any lakes or oceans here?"
"Oceans?"
"Huge bodies of water," he explained. "Never mind."
"Well, whatever they are, I guess that's what will happen," she said.
"The food storage can be gotten later. What's more important is the water."
"How are we going to distract the guards?" Hunk asked.
Anala smiled. "You guys will head from the bottom," she said. "I'll get them from the top."
"The top?" Pidge asked.
Anala pointed up. "I used to play here when I was a little girl," she said. "I know these caverns like the back of my hand."
"Whatever you say," he said. "Those cliffs are quite high up."
"Don't worry," she said. "Ill give the signal. There's a little outcropping just a few yards from our position. You can hide there until I get to where I need to be."
"We got it," Hunk said.
Anala peered around the corner they were hiding behind and saw that the guards were now to one side, having a small break, while they spoke with each other. She waved her hand and Hunk and Pidge quickly ran past her, and headed for the small area she had pointed out to take position.
Once they were where they need to be, Anala looked above her and smiled. She holstered the gun she was carrying on her hip and slung the small bag she carried across her chest.
"Time to stretch the old wings."
Lance looked down the empty hallway seeing the doors that marked the entrance to the throne room.
"This is just too quiet," he commented. "Where the hell are the guards?"
"Looking for us, it seems," Lotor said as he came over to join him.
"Over heard a couple that were down the other end of this hall."
"Why leave the throne room unguarded?" Lance asked. "Surely Kelar isn't that stupid."
"It's rule number 225 in the Guide to Being Evil," Lotor explained as he too stared down the hall."
"What?"
"Always leave yourself unguarded, since heroes aren't stupid enough to attack you in the heart of your fortress," he said. "Why do you think my father loves his throne room?"
Lance went silent, finding that he had no answer to that.
"You guys only did it once," Lotor added, "and that was a miserable failure."
"It was a fake Planet Doom," Lance defended.
"See what I mean."
Lance shook his head. "We will discuss that later," he said. "No time like the present. Shall we knock or just let ourselves in?"
"I like the abrupt approach myself."
"Sounds good to me."
Allura held on tight as Xue carried her through the caverns that led up to the main castle. However, her head still hurt and the steady rhythm that he was taking was slowly lulling her to sleep.
-You must stay awake, princess.-
The sudden voice seemed to wake her, but she was still feeling groggy.
"Its too hard."
Xue suddenly stopped when he felt her grip on him loosen. He quickly let her down off his back.
-Come on princess, you have to stay awake- he repeated as he helped her lay down.
"Too tired," she said.
Xue then jerked her up, shaking her a bit to keep her from falling asleep.
-You have to stay awake,- he told her.
"Allura.."
Xue looked up as Keith caught up with them. He quickly kneeled down.
"What's wrong?"
-She's going into shock- Xue explained. -We have to keep her awake.-
"Come on Al, we have to keep moving."
"Too tired," she said. "Just leave me here."
"You have to keep awake," Keith said. "Your life depends on it."
-We have to hurry,- Xue stressed. -We can't leave her here.-
"Go on ahead," Keith told him. "I'll carry her from here on out."
-You're injured as well.-
"I can handle it," he said. "I found something back there that can probably help us."
-If you should lose sight of me, just follow the way to your left,- Xue explained. -It will lead you straight to the dungeon area of the castle. From there, its it's the pathway to your right to take you straight to the main throne room.-
"I got it."
Xue then slowly stood as he placed his hand on Keith's shoulder.
-Take care.-
"You too."
Keith watched as the strange man walked away, then quickly turned to Allura. He saw that she was almost on the verge of falling asleep. "Ah ah ah, not today, princess," he said as he pulled her to her feet. This seemed to wake her up a bit, but before she could fall to sleep, he picked her up, having her slightly slung over his shoulder. "If Lance saw this, we would never hear the end of it."
"Let me down," Allura said as she fought against him. "You're going to make me puke again."
"You're up aren't you?" he asked.
"You wont be soon if you don't let me down."
"Not until we get up to the caslte," he said. "But first, to prevent you from falling asleep again."
"What..."
Before she could answer, he had walked back the way he came, and she was suddenly screaming as he had walked straight into a small pool of cold water. She then found herself waist deep in the cold water.
"What'd you do that for?"
"That should keep you up for a bit longer," he said. "Do you think you can stay awake enough to walk on your own?"
"Now that I'm going to be walking around half soaked!"
"Good, come on, Xue is waiting for us."
Anala peered over the edge of the cliff and met Pidge's gaze. She nodded as she spied the guards at the bottom. Seeing the chance they needed, she signaled them as she came to stand at the edge.
"What the heck is she going to do?" Hunk asked as he looked up at her.
"She surely can't drop from that height."
"She's Keith's sister, Hunk," Pidge stated. "That's all we have to...."
His sentence was cut short as they watched her step off the ledge.
Both of them watched in horror as she began to fall.
Chapter 16
"Sire, there has been a break in."
Kellar turned to Alysson as she too stared at the guard that stood before them.
"Where?"
"The dugeon, sire," the guard reported. "The Voltron Force as well as Prince Lotor have escaped."
"Round up every soldier in this castle and find them!" Kelar ordered.
"Sire, some of the soldiers have reported back seeing the Lady Anala," he added.
"Kill everyone else, but bring her to me alive," Kelar said. "I will deal with her accordingly."
"Yes, sire."
Alysson watched in silence as the guard bowed and leave the throne room, as Kelar then walked back to the throne to take a seat upon it.
"It seems you have underestimated their tenacity, Kelar," she commented. "You will lose this fight."
"I have lived through worst, my dear," he said as he signaled for a servant. "And when this is all over, my power will be absolute."
Alysson slowly came to stand before him. "Then why keep me here?" she asked. "You've gotten what you wanted. You have everything that I fought for."
Kelar smiled. "I am not finished with you yet, princess," he said.
"After we see to the death of your children, I have other plans for you."
"I'll die before I let you lay a finger on me."
"And I can make it a painful death," he said. "Your presence is still of importance to me."
Anala spied the two guard who stood near the main entrance to both the storage areas and the main holding areas of the people who had been enslaved to work in the mines. She then spied Hunk and Pidge, and threw each of them a crude gun and some of the grenades she had found.
"I know this isn't the most advanced of weapons," she stated. "It's all we have."
"We've fought with spears and lances," Hunk said. "An old gun is prime choice for us. So what is the situation here?"
"There are two guards near that door," Anala pointed out. "Behind, we will come up to two more larger doors. The door on the left after the entrance will take us to the holding cells. The door on the right will lead you to the storage areas. The cells are easy to take care of. The doors that hold the slaves are controlled by one operating booth. The codes are going to be a task to figure out, but I'd figure Pidge can handle that."
Pidge slowly nodded. "Anything special that I need to know about trying to crack them?"
Anala slowly nodded. "Its based on a old binary system my grandfather developed," she said. "That's the easy part."
"So there is a hard part?"
"You have to figure out the 10 numbers within in 3 minutes," she said.
"Why 3 minutes?"
"Every three minutes, it goes through a cyle and changes," she warned.
"Only Kelar carries the device that will lock the numbers in, when ever he needs to free the slaves to go and work in the mines. When they are locked up, the number sequencing changes. Its to prevent escape."
"Tough system," Pidge commented. "Wish I had access to Green Lion. I could use its on board computer to access those codes."
"Can you communicate with your Lion if you had a remote communicator?"
"Possible," he said. "Maybe on a high frequency one, since we are so deep underground."
Anala took off the wristband she was wearing and handed it to him.
"It's a communicator," she said. "Sorry its small, but I hope it can help you."
"Actually, I think this is all I need," he said.
"Hunk, Im going to need your help with the storage tanks."
"Understood," he said. "Which ones are we going to hit?"
"We need to get to those that hold the water," she said. "There are underground pipes that funnel the water from the underground water sources into these tanks. If we can stop the siphoning and..."
"Let them pump the water out instead of in," he finished. "Is that the reason why we never see any lakes or oceans here?"
"Oceans?"
"Huge bodies of water," he explained. "Never mind."
"Well, whatever they are, I guess that's what will happen," she said.
"The food storage can be gotten later. What's more important is the water."
"How are we going to distract the guards?" Hunk asked.
Anala smiled. "You guys will head from the bottom," she said. "I'll get them from the top."
"The top?" Pidge asked.
Anala pointed up. "I used to play here when I was a little girl," she said. "I know these caverns like the back of my hand."
"Whatever you say," he said. "Those cliffs are quite high up."
"Don't worry," she said. "Ill give the signal. There's a little outcropping just a few yards from our position. You can hide there until I get to where I need to be."
"We got it," Hunk said.
Anala peered around the corner they were hiding behind and saw that the guards were now to one side, having a small break, while they spoke with each other. She waved her hand and Hunk and Pidge quickly ran past her, and headed for the small area she had pointed out to take position.
Once they were where they need to be, Anala looked above her and smiled. She holstered the gun she was carrying on her hip and slung the small bag she carried across her chest.
"Time to stretch the old wings."
Lance looked down the empty hallway seeing the doors that marked the entrance to the throne room.
"This is just too quiet," he commented. "Where the hell are the guards?"
"Looking for us, it seems," Lotor said as he came over to join him.
"Over heard a couple that were down the other end of this hall."
"Why leave the throne room unguarded?" Lance asked. "Surely Kelar isn't that stupid."
"It's rule number 225 in the Guide to Being Evil," Lotor explained as he too stared down the hall."
"What?"
"Always leave yourself unguarded, since heroes aren't stupid enough to attack you in the heart of your fortress," he said. "Why do you think my father loves his throne room?"
Lance went silent, finding that he had no answer to that.
"You guys only did it once," Lotor added, "and that was a miserable failure."
"It was a fake Planet Doom," Lance defended.
"See what I mean."
Lance shook his head. "We will discuss that later," he said. "No time like the present. Shall we knock or just let ourselves in?"
"I like the abrupt approach myself."
"Sounds good to me."
Allura held on tight as Xue carried her through the caverns that led up to the main castle. However, her head still hurt and the steady rhythm that he was taking was slowly lulling her to sleep.
-You must stay awake, princess.-
The sudden voice seemed to wake her, but she was still feeling groggy.
"Its too hard."
Xue suddenly stopped when he felt her grip on him loosen. He quickly let her down off his back.
-Come on princess, you have to stay awake- he repeated as he helped her lay down.
"Too tired," she said.
Xue then jerked her up, shaking her a bit to keep her from falling asleep.
-You have to stay awake,- he told her.
"Allura.."
Xue looked up as Keith caught up with them. He quickly kneeled down.
"What's wrong?"
-She's going into shock- Xue explained. -We have to keep her awake.-
"Come on Al, we have to keep moving."
"Too tired," she said. "Just leave me here."
"You have to keep awake," Keith said. "Your life depends on it."
-We have to hurry,- Xue stressed. -We can't leave her here.-
"Go on ahead," Keith told him. "I'll carry her from here on out."
-You're injured as well.-
"I can handle it," he said. "I found something back there that can probably help us."
-If you should lose sight of me, just follow the way to your left,- Xue explained. -It will lead you straight to the dungeon area of the castle. From there, its it's the pathway to your right to take you straight to the main throne room.-
"I got it."
Xue then slowly stood as he placed his hand on Keith's shoulder.
-Take care.-
"You too."
Keith watched as the strange man walked away, then quickly turned to Allura. He saw that she was almost on the verge of falling asleep. "Ah ah ah, not today, princess," he said as he pulled her to her feet. This seemed to wake her up a bit, but before she could fall to sleep, he picked her up, having her slightly slung over his shoulder. "If Lance saw this, we would never hear the end of it."
"Let me down," Allura said as she fought against him. "You're going to make me puke again."
"You're up aren't you?" he asked.
"You wont be soon if you don't let me down."
"Not until we get up to the caslte," he said. "But first, to prevent you from falling asleep again."
"What..."
Before she could answer, he had walked back the way he came, and she was suddenly screaming as he had walked straight into a small pool of cold water. She then found herself waist deep in the cold water.
"What'd you do that for?"
"That should keep you up for a bit longer," he said. "Do you think you can stay awake enough to walk on your own?"
"Now that I'm going to be walking around half soaked!"
"Good, come on, Xue is waiting for us."
Anala peered over the edge of the cliff and met Pidge's gaze. She nodded as she spied the guards at the bottom. Seeing the chance they needed, she signaled them as she came to stand at the edge.
"What the heck is she going to do?" Hunk asked as he looked up at her.
"She surely can't drop from that height."
"She's Keith's sister, Hunk," Pidge stated. "That's all we have to...."
His sentence was cut short as they watched her step off the ledge.
Both of them watched in horror as she began to fall.