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A Change in the Winds
Arus
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com
Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.
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Chapter 19
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Anala felt herself weaken. She suddenly felt arms come around her, then slowly pick her up. The room was spinning around her.
"Anala?"
The voice was faint, as she felt her eyes grow heavy.
"Take her to the infirmary..."
And darkness overtook her.
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"Katherine, you're in charge until I get back," Keith stated as he shoved several shirts into a bag. "Ill return as quickly as I can."
Kit watched as her cousin packed his bag. "What about the team?" she asked. "We are so close to finding the sixth..."
"I have to go to Vallis," he stated. "Find out what happened. I trust that you can handle things here."
"Hurry back," she stated.
"I will," he said.
He grabbed his bag and they exited his room together. She watched as he ran down the hallway, toward the hangar bays. She leaned against the wall, holding herself in her arms.
"How cany anyone be so ruthless," she asked herself.
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Rolsin smiled as he watched the ships return from their small mission. Risen had done well. His youngest brother slowly exited the small command ship he was in, carrying a small bundle his in arms. As he approached, he knelt down before him.
"Good job, Risen," Rolsin stated as he accepted the small bundle from his brother. Rolsin slowly turned to the man who stood nearby. "I trust that this was the only thing you wanted."
Zarkon looked down upon the High Lord, slowly accepting the bundle. "Having fullfilled your promise, Lord Rolsin, you will have my cooperation. Haggar will assist you in anything that you need or want."
"I thank you, King Zarkon," Rolsin stated. "And again, we do offer you one of the planets that is under our control, should you decide to accept it."
"For now, Lord Rolsin, this was all I asked."
Rolsin nodded and watched as the old king left with his dark witch.
"I lost 40 of my best fighters just to collect that child," Risen commented as he stood. "What can a baby do for him?"
Rolsin smiled to himself. "What better way to take revenge on your children for turning againt you, than to turn their own against them?" Rolsin asked. "Come, we detected a power surge earlier in the day. A scan of the surface found one of the Lion ships near a large mountain face."
"Do you think they found their weapon?" Risen asked.
"We have to assume that they are near what they are looking for," Rolsin stated. "Meaning that the Princess Zeya would be nearby."
"That woman will be your downfall, if you continue to pursue her, brother," Risen stated as he walked passed him. "On our return, we detected a small fighter ship leave Arus' airspace. It was heading in the direction of Vallis. We assume that its either the Queen herself or the Captain who is heading that way."
Rolsin stared after Risen as he left the hangar bay. One way or another, he was going to have her.
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Zeya, Allura and Neive slowly walked down the long tunnel, finding that it was growing darker the deeper they walked. Neive pulled a light off the belt he wore, which helped illuminate the way. The air in the cavern grew thick with moisture, and the longer they walked, Zeya realized that they were heading downward.
"We should be near," she stated all of a sudden.
Neive slowly lifted his light and saw that the tunnel was coming to an end. They reached what seemed to be a large set of doors, and etched upon the door were the three royal insignias of the three kingdoms of Arus. Allura ran her hand over the cold dark stone.
"I do not see a way to open it," she stated. She then looked down at her armlet and realized that the small etching of the royal symbol of Altaire was now shining. "Wait."
She slowly ran her fingers over the symbol and upon reaction, the symbol slowly lifted from the armlet. She removed it and saw that it was some sort of key.
"Here, we have to place our insignias here," she stated.
Neive and Zeya did the same and approached the door. Together, all three placed their keys against the door, over their respective symbols. Soon the door before them began to groan, and as they stepped back, the giant doors began to open.
Allura was the first to step through, entering a dark room beyond the doors. As soon as all three were inside, the doors behind them slammed closed, thrusting them into complete darkness.
Then a low gutteral roar could be heard. Neive could feel the his skin react to the sound. He then peered into the darkness as an ominous glow began to form before them. Two yellow eyes seemd to stare at them through the darkness. Then he had to close his eyes and cover his ears as a deafening roar sounded through the dark room.
#who dares enter?# the deep mechanical voice echoed. #who dares enter? who wakes me after promising me to sleep forever! marlena! you promised me that you would never bother me?#
Neive slowly opened his eyes as he stared at the two yellow eyes. Could this be what they were looking for?
"Who...who are you?" he heard Allura's nervous voice next to him.
#marlena, is that you!# the voice echoed followed by a deafening roar. #why have you bothered me! you promised you would never bother me.#
"Marlena," Allura stated. "Queen Marlena, is...was my mother."
The voice roared again. #you lie! marlena was the only one who could wake me!# it yelled. #unless...no, karone, she died, the three kingdoms could not have survived..#
"Please, believe us," Allura stated. "We are the children of the three kingdoms. Please, you must remember. Remember what my mother did to protect Arus."
#your voice, it can't be...has it been that long!#
Neive shielded his eyes as the room they were in, was flooded with several bright lights. As soon as his eyes adjusted, he slowly removed the arm blocking his eyes. His gasp was only matched by those emitted by Allura and Zeya. Before him, stood the the lion ship that they had been looking for. Before him, stood a lion ship that would eclipse any one of the Voltron Lions.
Suddenly, a holographic image appeared before them, and caused them to step back. The image reacted to their movement, slowly turning to Princess Allura. She stared at the image before her, as it was of a young man, someone who was probably no older than she.
"I apologize for scaring you, Princess Allura," he said. "Normally, I wouldn't use the lion to communicate through, but I've been down here for a very long time."
Allura stared at the image. "What are you?"
The image then smiled. "I am the onboard AI that controls the Lion ship you see before you," he stated. "However, I can only be activated during down time, so that I may go over diagnostics, and system repair. During battle, I surrender control of the Lion to the pilots."
"Pilots?"
"The three who hold the keys," he stated. He then turned toward Neive and Zeya. "You must be from Helena, and Mythrias."
Neive slowly nodded. "If you're the onboard AI, then was this the reason that Queen Marlena needed to protect you?"
The image only nodded. "You see, she surpassed the knowledge she acquired while she had visited Triasus, all those years ago," the image explained. "What she understood was not the cold technology needed to command war machines, what she wanted to bring was a sense of awareness, for a machine to posses the ability to decide what was right and what was wrong."
"Emotions?" Allura asked.
"Far from it, princess," the image said as he turned to her. "For machines are not capable of understanding emotions like a human, she knew that. She wanted a machine to know what emotions are capable of doing to a soldier in combat, and to learn from what reactions a soldier may give, to certain situations. This, this was dangerous technology and she knew that if it fell into the wrong hands, an enemy could use it against us. So, to keep the secret safe, she decided to hide her creation, here. Until such time it was needed."
The holographic image then turned away. "I am sure by now, you have already sensed a form of AI from your current Lion ships?" he asked. "The reaction that each lion has, is tied with the person it allows as its pilot."
"It allows?" Neive asked. "But, how; we are able to pilot each others lions ships?"
The image turned to him. "Because you've been accepted by all lion ships," he stated. "Each of you, who pilot the lions, were chosen by them. If they did not want you, you would not be able to fly them."
"That means you were developed long after the first AI programs were made for the Lion ships?" Neive asked.
"I was developed as a means to balance the the five AI programs, if such a time, in combat, that they would be under severe attack," he stated. "The sixth lion would bring the AI programs together, as a defense system, which would open up a new level of power, as well as weapons to your disposal."
"Does it require that three pilots must be there to pilot the sixth lion?"
The image slowly shook his head. "The lion can be controlled by one person," he stated. "But that part of the program was never completed. And the routine was only written so that Princess Karone could operate the Lion, if the need was to arise. Since Altaire and Helena contributed to the pilots of the original lions, Marlena offered the sixth lion to Mythrias, and a soldier would have been chosen from their ranks. However, Mythrias was attacked before a man could be chosen and the program was left in place, for that of Princess Karone.
The holographic image turned to Zeya. "Your mother, was more than happy to be apart of defending Arus," he stated. "But, she was unable to reach the lion ship in time. Before Mythrias was destroyed."
Zeya gasped.
"If Princess Karone was written into the program, does that mean Zeya can operate the Lion if the program is rewritten?" Allura asked.
"Allura?" Neive asked.
"If the program can be rewritten to accept Princess Zeya as the daughter of Princess Karone, she will have full control over the lion ship, in battle. It will still require all three keys by each of you in order to fully activate it."
"For now, is there a way to reach this cavern without covering so much terrain?" Allura asked. "Is there some place near the Castle of Lions that we can offer a second home to this lion?"
The image smiled. "Your mother was prepared for this day, Princess," he stated. "There is a cavern built 2 kilometers from the current position of the Yellow Lion's base. There you will find another resting area, filled with the needed supplies and equipment to maintain the lion ship. From this cavern, you will find a tunnel leading to this new base. I can have the lion ship moved there, but I do need one of you to remain with me."
"I'll..."
"I'll stay," Zeya interrupted Neive. "If my mother was destined to fly this lion, it should be my right to see that its delivered safely to its new base. At least allow me to do this."
"The tunnel will close once we are in the new base, and all that was here will be destroyed," the AI stated.
Allura slowly nodded. "We will return to the Castle of Lions to see if we can get a head start on figuring out the program. Zeya, please be careful."
The princess slowly nodded. "I will do the best that I can."
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Zarkon stared at the young child as it laid silently in its makeshift crib. He then turned to Haggar. "Do what you need to do, Haggar," he stated. "I want them to suffer for what they've done to me."
Haggar nodded. "The spell is a dangerous one," she said. "If done wrong, it can and will rob the child of his soul."
"Just do it," he ordered. "I trust that you will be able to pull it off."
"As you wish," she stated. "It will take a couple of days to perform, but Im sure you will be happy with the results."
Zarkon nodded. "They will pay for betraying me."
"And what of Lord Rolsin and his brothers?"
Zarkon smiled to himself. "A fool blinded by his own ambition," Zarkon stated. "Once our plan is put into motion, the entire Triasian fleet will fall to our command."
"Then I'll be sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible."
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Lance stood up as he watched as Allura and Neive exit from the chutes that lead to each Lion Ship. He realize that Zeya was not with them and as the control area lowered, he walked up to them.
"Did you guys locate the lion ship?" he asked.
Allura slowly nodded her head. "Zeya is with the ship to try and have it moved to the new base," she stated.
"New base?" Lance asked.
"Seems my mother had everything planned so that we would be ready to accept this ship," she stated. "Once the Lion reaches the new base, we will be able to have an access tube open to it."
"I can't believe that we found it," Lance stated.
"There's a lot of information that was shared with us," Allura stated. "However, all will not be known until the Lion is safe at its new base." She looked around noticing that the Control Room was unusually bare. "Where is everyone?"
Lance's expression darkened. "While you were away, we received a distress signal from Vallis," he stated.
"Distress signal?"
"The Triasians sent a small fleet to attack Vallis, as a diversionary attack," he said. "Ally, they kidnapped Anala's son."
Allura's eyes widened. "Where's Keith?"
"He flew out once we received news," he said. "He took one of the faster fighter ships. Anala was taken to the infirmary, after having a faint spell here."
Allura slowly nodded. "Have both teams gather in the main conference room," Allura stated. "We have to work out a new plan. If these Triasians are willing to harm others, to get to us, we must be prepared for any new tactic they may take against us. Keith shouldn't have left, but I understand why."
Lance nodded. "I'll see that everyone is there in a half hour," he said.
Allura turned to Neive. "These Triasians must be stopped once and for all," Allura said. "Im tired of playing their games. It's time we show them that they can no longer continue to threaten systems."
tbc
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