Chapter Three
Sean could tell almost as soon as they had reached Arus' atmosphere that they had a problem.
"Houston, we have a problem." Aiden meowed, as a blast from behind rocked them and their cargo.
"Thank you for stating the obvious, Aiden!" Sean said, from between clenched teeth, bracing himself when something exploded near his ship. Sylvan fired off a number of nasty sounding expletives, as Keith silently thanked his stars that he couldn't understand just what was being said, since they were in Norwegian.
"Full speed ahead, boys, we're almost there." Sean muttered, as he nosed his Wolf into the atmosphere. Thankfully, Sean was right. Keith could already see the green land that symbolized Arus.
"Oh, lookit that! I can't wait to get down there!" Kip said, with true longing in his voice.
"Let's just hope we can end this peacefully and not cause any bloodshed." Sean murmured, as he pressed one button that released the space tarp from over the Black Lion.
"They've stopped." Dev said, noticing when the attacks ceased.
"Begin landing procedures. No telling when they might start bombarding us again." Sean said, as he led the five ships and carrier towards an unsettled piece of land that was big enough for the carrier.
Sven stared in shock at the huge craft when the tarp fell away.
"Black Lion!" Lance yelped.
"Stop shooting! I think Keith is on one of those ships!" Pidge shouted. Sven had to agree.
"Cease fire!" Sven commanded, getting an immediate response from the other pilots.
"What the hell is going on?!" Hunk asked, bewildered by this turn of events.
"I wish I knew." Sven thought, as they all watched the ships land.
Corran was about as bewildered as the four Lion pilots. The moment he saw the wolf ships, he could do no more than gape in astonishment.
"Corran?" Allurra asked, when she'd noticed the dumbstruck look on her advisor's face.
"Wolf Force Voltron………….." Corran muttered, disbelief evident in his voice. At first Allurra was confused, then she looked at the monitors and saw what her advisor was seeing. Five canine ships had come to rest on Arusian soil, one of them was walking towards the castle.
"Order the guns to aim directly on that ship. If it makes any threatening moves, shoot it." Corran ordered, as two guards nodded and ran out.
"But why would you have them shoot on another Voltron, Corran?" Allurra asked, as she continued to gaze at the strange ships.
"They might have fallen into the wrong hands." Corran murmured, as he watched another ship join the one that was approaching the castle.
"Well, are you prepared to face your friends, Keith?" Sean asked.
"I'm about as ready as I am going to get. They are going to be mad as hell with me for going out on my own, but I have reasons for doing so." Keith replied.
"Oh? And what were those reasons?" Sean asked, curiosity in his eyes.
"Lotor had threatened to use the same weapon on Arus that he had on Pollux if I didn't come alone to face him in a duel. I didn't want that same fate to befall Arus." Keith replied, with sadness in his voice.
"Keith, I have been on that barren planet for far too long and news doesn't travel. You must tell me what Lotor did." Sean said, with an intensity Keith had never seen before.
"He sent a Robeast into the planet's core and exploded it, causing a chain reaction. Luckily for Arus, Pollux wasn't parallel with it anymore, so the chain reaction didn't harm it. There were very few survivors from that cataclysm, one of them being Princess Romelle, Princess Allurra's cousin." Keith murmured.
"I see. Then he has a whole lot more to atone for." Sean said, his voice hard and distant.
"What do you know about Lotor, Sean?" Keith asked.
"A whole lot more than the average person does." Sean replied, enigmatically.
"Such as?" Keith pressed, wanting to know more about his mysterious benefactor.
"I would rather not talk about it. There are too many nasty memories buried that I want to remain so." Sean replied, as his Wolf settled down and the Yellow Wolf rested next to it. Keith sighed, this stranger, Sean, was still a mystery. He didn't even know what the man looked like, aside from the white head-to-toe uniform he wore. Within moments, Dev had carried him out of Sean's Wolf ship and onto the grassy area before the Castle of Lions. Immediately, four Lion ships settled down and their pilots jumped out.
"Your friends?" Sean asked.
"Oh yeah…………..and do they ever look pissed?" Keith muttered, as he got assailed by furious shouting in several different languages.
"I am understanding every word you lot are saying, and that isn't the kind of language I was hoping the heroes of the universe would have in their vocabulary." Sean said, reprimand in his voice. Instantly, the four enraged men quieted down enough so Keith could give an explanation.
"Guys, Lotor was planning on doing the exact same thing to Arus that he did to Pollux! Unless I went and dueled with him, you all would have been murdered along with the rest of Arus' population!" Keith said, as his friends' faces paled.
"If anything, Lotor is planning on coming here with his Robeast, regardless. If you would allow us to, my team and I will take over your duties until your commander recovers from his injuries." Sean offered.
"How can we trust someone who has just arrived?" Pidge asked.
"Yeah! And how can we trust someone who hides his face behind a mask?" Hunk added. Sean did not even flinch.
"Because you gentlemen are one man short, and I know Lotor's mind better than most. You take care of Keith's injuries, and we'll make sure that Lotor doesn't injure Arus." Sean said, solemnly.
"Don't worry, guys, you can trust him. He's saved my life once already." Keith said, vouching for the other commander.
"Commander! Drulian ships breaching the atmosphere!" Sylvan shouted, from across the field.
"All right! Let's see what these Wolves can do!" Sean shouted, getting yells of agreement from his comrades.
"I trust you have the capabilities to handle his wounds?" Dev asked, as he handed Keith over to Hunk.
"Yeah." Hunk replied.
"Good." Dev said, as he went to follow his comrades into battle. As the Lion pilots watched, the Wolves leapt into action. They were quick to dispatch the Drulian attack ships and even managed to damage the Robeast carrier before it reached the ground. But they couldn't stop the Robeast from escaping.
"Okay, trial by fire! Form Voltron!" Sean shouted.
"Yeah!" Aiden and Kip cheered, as Sylvan and Dev kept their minds on the job.
"Transformation sequence initialized………." A mechanized voice murmured, as the five Wolves became one unit.
"All right! It worked! We are now Wolf Voltron!" Aiden yowled, enthusiastically.
"Now, let's see what this baby can do! Form StarFire Sword!" Sean cried, enjoying every moment of the battle. With a collective shout, they attacked the Robeast, slicing it into four pieces before it could even fell one blow!
"Yahoooooo! We did it!" Kip howled, as the robot became five Wolves again.
"We sure did………….Wolf Voltron has passed his test with flying colors. His builders would have been proud." Sylvan said, bringing the tone down a little.
"Yes. Tonight we'll try to hold some kind of memorial for them. It's the least we can do." Sean said, getting an agreement from his comrades.
Corran couldn't believe his eyes. Not only could the five ships fight on their own, but they could also form a Voltron! They all watched as the Wolves parked in front of the castle and waited for someone to show.
"I'm going out there to thank them." Allurra said, getting a rather disgruntled reply from her Voltron Force and advisor.
"I forbid it! You don't know where they have come from or what they might do!" Nanny, Allurra's governess bellowed, as the stubborn princess jogged out of the control room.
Sean looked up when he heard footsteps, and was astonished to see a young woman coming to meet them.
"Rowr." Aiden said, under his breath, before getting elbowed in the stomach by Sylvan.
"Are you the pilots of those Wolves?" the woman asked, her eyes alight with a fire of their own.
"Yes. I am Commander Sean Ghost, and these are my comrades." Sean replied.
"I am Allurra, Princess of Arus. I wanted to thank you for what you did on the field of battle today." Allurra said, surprised when they all kneeled before her.
"Princess, we are honored that you have taken the time to even speak to us. Our services, ships, and lives are at your command, your Highness." Sean said, quietly and honestly. Allurra was impressed and touched by the honesty with which the five men kneeled before her.
"Commander Ghost, is there a reason why you hide your face?" Allurra asked.
"I am ashamed of it, your Highness." Sean replied, sadly.
"Why?" Allurra asked, gently.
"I am afraid that it will frighten you, your Highness." Sean replied, the sadness in his voice almost moving the princess to tears.
"Why do you say that?" Allurra asked, again.
"I cannot say. Maybe someday I can reveal my face to you, but until then, it must remain hidden. Otherwise, my life, as well as yours, will be in danger." Sean replied, as he and his comrades rose and stood before the princess. Allurra was stunned; this man had to keep his face hidden in order to keep her safe?!
"Then what will you do?" Allurra asked.
"Stay close and protect you from Lotor. It is the least we can do." Sean replied, turning his head when he heard something above them. Allurra couldn't help but watch the man's every move, but, as she did so, she caught sight of something gold underneath his hood. But she couldn't tell what it was.
"Whatever it was holds some clue to his identity. But what? Who is he really?" Allurra wondered, as she led the five into the castle, where her Voltron Force was waiting.