The Pride of Arus
Arus
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com
Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.
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Chapter 6
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Gorin looked over the old armoring device and a piece from the armor that Keith was able to break off during the fight. He knew that they would need to modify the ones they had if they were going to go up against that boy again, or if Rolsin decides to equip the rest of his forces with the same armor.
He turned to Hunk who was breaking down a piece of the new armor to see what it was made up of, and of course to reverse engineer the device.
"I think we can duplicate this with some minor adjustments," Hunk said as he turned to Gorin. "And I believe we have some of that ore from Vallis that we can use."
"Good idea," Gorin stated. "And there could be another way we can reconfigure these?"
"What do you propose?"
"If I can get the schematics for the new armor, we can use that to help us in reconstructing these."
"How would you be able to get the original schematics?"
Gorin hesitated for a moment. "We will have to release my daughter," he said. "Have her go back to the command ship."
"You know that she wont help us," Hunk said.
"If I can just talk to her, maybe I can convince her that what she thinks Rolsin is doing is actually going against what Triasus once stood for," Gorin said. "Rolsin wont suspect that she is working for us, if we give her something that will entice Rolsin."
"About the only thing they seemed interested in is attacking us to test our defenses," Hunk said. "It's kinda odd that they are only targeting the Castle and the Lions, but have made no attempt to attack our outlying villages or towns."
"Rolsin is the type to make sure that he understand the enemy's forces before initiating an all out attack against a planet," Gorin said.
"But with Planet Doom?"
"As with all forces in the Drule Empire, the forces on Doom were like any other Drule Planet," Gorin said. "And we had been scouting Doom for a very long time, so we knew when and where to attack."
"And he has never encountered a Galaxy Alliance planet as of yet," Hunk said. "Which is probably why the Galaxy Alliance didn't know about them...you for a while, at least no until you got close to our systems."
Gorin nodded. "I will speak with Allura on seeing if we can get my daughter to work for us in securing those schematics," Gorin said. "Until then, we'll have to figure out how Gorin was able to get it to react the way it did."
"Well the new armor could cut through this old one," Hunk said as he lifted the armor device and activated it. "I can't even get a hammer to bend or break it, but this just cut it like a hot knife through butter."
"I didn't have much time to study the new concept, but Im sure we will be able to find a weakness," Gorin said. "And hope that it will be enough to stop their forces."
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"If you keep this up, Im going to have to put you on permanent suspension."
Dr. Gorma shined a light into Keith's eyes before shaking his head again.
"If its not you, its someone else," he commented. "Remember, you're still recovering from the broken ribs you got a few months ago. Just because you're Vallusian, it doesn't mean that can just get back into the thick of things. I've stitched up the wound, but you must keep it covered and dry. Come back to me in two days, and I'll redress it."
"Thanks, Alan," Keith stated.
Dr. Gorma smiled before meeting his gaze. "Your sister has asked to see you," he said. "She hasn't spoken to anyone else, not even Lotor, so I would oblige her, alright?"
Keith slowly nodded. "Where is she?"
"Last room on the right," Gorma stated. "I'll be sure to keep it private for you two."
Keith stood from the bed he was sitting on and slipped his shirt back on before leaving the room he was in. He walked down the small hallway and turned into the room that Anala was staying. He was about to knock on the door, but as he looked in, he saw that she was leaning against the side of the window, arms crossed.
"Come in or leave," Anala said as she slowly turned to him.
Keith slowly walked into the room, closing the door slightly as he approached her.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Fine," he said. "Nothing a little rest can't fix."
She turned away to stare out of the window again. Keith slowly approached her and came to stand next to her, following her gaze. A group of children were playing some sort of ball game, tossing it around and tackling each other as they fought to gain posession of it. Two little girls were climbing over the older boys as three others cheered them on.
"I can remember playing in the fields near the palace on Vallis," Anala started to say. "In the summer, the grass grew so high, that one could easily hide among them, and be lost to the world. I can remember when mom brought me there that first year, and even knowing what Kelar had done to Vallis, she found a way to find the happiness she needed. Her strength came from knowing that both her children were safe, looked after, and hoping that one day she would be united with them.
Anala breathed in deeply as tears came to her eyes. "That first year was difficult," she continued. "I fought with her nearly every day, never forgetting how she abandoned me, without an explanation. I didn't want to have anything to do with her. But, one day, she brought me to those fields and she showed me something, that only a loving parent could show their own child. The love that she had and the strength she had from that love. She believed that the love she had was what drove her through those lonely years."
Keith turned to her, slowly approaching her as he placed his hands on her shoulders, slowly turning her to him. "Anala, what's wrong?"
Anala met his gaze as she fought back the tears. "Dr. Gorma did everything that he could," she said as her tears spilled. "He saved my life, he was able to save me, but...but the damage has been done."
"Anala, what is it?"
Anala breathed in deeply as she started to cry. "Keith...I can...no longer have any more children."
Keith breathed in deeply as she started to cry. He took her into his arms as she began to sob; holding her tight as she cried. He felt as if the weight of the world just landed on his shoulders, and knew that the pain that his sister was going through now, was more than any type of physical pain he had ever experienced. First Reece had been taken from her, not knowing what the Triasians wanted with him, and now this.
He tightened his hold around her as he leaned his head to rest againt hers, closing his eyes as she continued to cry, leaning against the sill of the window as he supported her. He breathed in deeply knowing that she had fought hard to be the woman she was today. Growing up under the shadow of Kelar's rule on Vallis; then proclaiming her life to protect the man he had once considered his enemy. With Reece's birth, it provided her with the opporunity to start a life she was happy to have. But he knew that deep down, she felt as if the future she had hoped to secure for her new family, and Vallis, had just turned upside down. Vallis, being a matriarchial society, meant that only daughters of the royal family would earn and inherit the rule of the entire planet. And if the current monarchy did not produce a female child, then the rule would be passed onto the female child of any siblings of the current monarch had. If no siblings were present, or did not have children of their own, then the people of Vallis would hold an election to reccomend one of the present Ladies of the High Council to take over.
After some time, he felt her relax in his hold as her sobs subsided. Her breathing became shallow, telling him that she had fallen asleep. He carefully lifted her into his arms and made his way to the bed and gently laid her in it, pulling the covers over her. She stirred a bit, her eyes slowly opening, fatigue hidden behind them. She met his gaze before closing her eyes again.
"You have to stop him," she said quietly. "That boy."
"Anala, rest, he will never harm you again, I promise," he said as he kneeled down. "I'll make sure that he will never hurt another person again."
She slowly shook her head. "No, you have to bring him to me," she mumbled as she closed her eyes. "Bring him back to me. Keith, you have to bring him back to me. I don't know what they did to him, but he is not evil."
"He nearly killed you, Anala," he said. "Vallusian or not, I have to stop him."
"That boy, Keith," she said. "Whatever they did to him, I don't know, but I know my son. You have to stop him. That boy Keith, is my son. He is Reece. "
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"Why show me this?"
Gorin turned to his daughter as she stood next to him. They were standing in the room across from the one Anala and Keith were in.
"Because this is what Rolsin has done to them," he said. "This is the kind of thing he does to people. Innocent people. He doesn't care who he hurts or whose lives he destroys in his path to glory. This is how he got your sisters killed. This is how your mother died. Believing that he was going to save our people, but in the end, we are no better."
Siaras turned her head away from him. "They are our enemies."
"Siaras, we are the enemies," Gorin stated as he turned to her. "We've become the people that planets have come to hate, and fear. Please, remember how it was on our home planet. Remember how we were. We actually worked with the other planets in peace. It wasn't until Rolsin and his brothers who came into power that everything changed."
"He saw a way to make our people stronger!" Siaras nearly yelled.
Gorin shook his head. "Rolsin wanted you to believe that," he said. "Do you know what happened to Triasus, Siaras? Do you know why we were forced to leave?"
"We were attacked!"
"NO!" he yelled. "IT was all Rolsin's doing. He wanted to gain control over our lives, so he did the only thing he could do!"
Siaras turned to him, shock in her eyes. "He didn't!"
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"The readings we got on Triasus, only confirms our suspicions," Lemille stated as she brought up her report on the view screen before them.
The two Voltron Force teams, with Keith and Zeya absent from the meeting, stared at the images before them. Lotor stood near Coran as Sendrre and Lemille presented their findings.
"None of the damage we see here were caused by any Drule weapon or ships," Lemille said. "Since most of the Drule Empire rely on using Lazon in much of their weaponry, that was the first thing we scanned for. With the amount of destruction found, the readings for Lazon should have been detected, even after all these years."
"We found none," Sendrre said. "The readings we found were consistent with only the weaponry found on Triasus."
Allura crossed her arms as she looked at the images taken on Triasus by Lemille and Sendrre.
"So, you mean to say that they attacked themselves?" Lance asked.
Lemille slowly nodded. "Whomever wanted to make sure that they left Triasus, made sure that their reason to leave was a good one," she said. "By making it seem that the Drules attacked them, the Triasians had to leave their home planet. And by placing blame on the Drules, it gave whomever who made this plan work, have a reason to attack the Drule Empire."
"And anyone associated with them."
Lemille slowly nodded. "They framed the Drules, and used that as a reason to start their rampage through the universe," she said. "As they continued to concquer, they were able to advance their technology quickly. Their knowledge has grown exponentially because of what they learned from the planets they've concquered."
"Not only we have to deal with their forces, but we will have to deal with their tactics," Katherine commented.
"Now that the Drule Empire has fallen apart, they are targeting the next entity that threatens their existence," Sendrre said.
"The Galaxy Alliance," Allura said. "If they are able to concquer some of the planets in the Alliance, they will gain unimaginable technology and knowledge that can be used against the entire union. But why attack Arus first? They know we have Voltron."
"Because of your mother, Allura," Lemille said. "She visited Triasus, when it was in its prime and she took with her the knowledge that she gained while there. That threatens them and their very existence. They probably feel that she was able to pass on her knowledge to the defense systems you have now; those systems that also include Voltron."
"But we know that my mother did not use any of her learned knowledge when she helped design the robot lions," Allura said.
"We know that," Sendrre said. "They don't."
Allura breathed in deeply. "Is there anything on their technology that we can use against them?" she asked.
"It would seem that the only way we can learn how to defeat them is to find away of learning what they already know," Lance said. "Right now, we are just sitting blind. Entertainment for their leaders as they toy with us."
"I have access to obtaining their technology."
Allura quicky turned as the door to the conference room they were in closed behind as Gorin and Siaras slowly entered.
"Siaras?"
The young woman met Allura's gaze. "If you will allow me, I can get what you need," she said. "Provided that we offer Rolsin something tempting in return."
Lance stood from the seat he was in. "And what makes you think that we should trust you?"
Katherine was quick to hold Lance back as she stood.
"Because, I've been...my people have been lied to all these years," Siaras stated. "We never knew what really happened on Triasus, except for the same lie we've been told over the years. Rolsin lead us to believe that the Drules attacked our home planet, driving us away from the place we called home. And blindly, I followed and listened to that lie. I can never take back the things that I've done, but this is the only way I can make ammends for what I have done, in the name of Rolsin."
"Just because..." Lance started but Allura stepped foward, which caused him to become silent.
"Something tempting?" Allura asked. "What would be tempting to, this Rolsin?"
Siaras turned her gaze away for a moment. "Either give up the secret to your Voltron or give him Captain Hayashi," she said.
"If you think we'd do either, you're dreaming," Lance said.
"With Voltron, I understand," Allura said as she signaled for Lance to remain calm. "But why his interest in Keith?"
Siaras met her gaze again. "Rolsin is one of our best fighters, soldiers and a great leader," she said. "Compared to his brothers, he is a natural leader, which is how he fooled us for so long. He loves to test his limiations, his skills; but he has never met an equal that could face him in battle, and live. It seems that he has found that equal in your Captain."
"Then we shall give him what he wants."
Allura turned to the door again as she saw Keith enter the room. "We can't afford to give him anything," she said.
"In either case, if we do not get a hold of their secrets, whatever we do, will only delay the inevitable," Keith said. "Zeya can't handle another battle in the White Lion alone; whatever is allowing her to operate it, without Allura and Neive there at her side, is also causing a side effect that is going to end up killing her. We have to have time to figure out its systems and we wont have that if Rolsin's forces continue to attack us.
"The White Lion was meant to be piloted by all three members of the royal houses of Arus," Keith continued. "Which is why Marlena left the single pilot program incomplete. She knew that the strain of one person handling the systems of the White Lion alone would have an adverse effect. The way the Lion interacts with the pilots, their thoughts, to create the weapons we saw, draws on the power by all the pilots. One person, means that the Lion is drawing all its power from one person."
"What are we going to do?" Katherine asked. "If we lose Neive, then we will be one member short. And the Alpha Team will be without Allura."
"Iliana will continue to train with the Beta Team," Keith said as he turned to Katherine. "Teri, you will move up to Alpha Team to take the place of Princess Allura in the Blue Lion. I will assign another pilot to take your place in Red Lion."
Katherine slowly nodded. "If you will allow me to suggest, sir, that Captain Ellis be the one to take his place," she said.
Keith slowly nodded. "Your suggestion is noted and I agree," he said as he turned to Allura. "He is the Captain of your guards, reassignment can only be done under your agreement."
Allura breathed in deeply. "I will have Captain Ellis serve as an alternate," she said. "I can't afford to lose him at this point from his current duties."
Keith then watched as Allura breathed in deeply, meeting everyone's gaze before turning to Coran. Coran slowly nodded under her gaze and cleared his throat.
"Princess..."
Allura held up her hand as her gaze then came to meet the man standing next to Coran. "Lotor, if you will accept, I would like you to start training under Katherine as the pilot for Red Lion," she said, which caused a reaction from Lance. Katherine once again held him back. "Provided that the Lion actually accepts you."
"Princess, as much as it would be an honor, I can't accept," Lotor said. "There is still too much animosity over this, and I do not want to be the reason that would tear your team apart. I have to decline."
"Then, I'll do it."
Allura turned again to face the door of the conference room as Dr. Gorma escorted Anala into the room.
"Anala?"
Anala breathed in deeply as she met Princess Allura's gaze. "I've trained as a pilot on Vallis for our fighter ships," she said. "If we can't stop them here, there is no telling what they will do if they are able to continue to destroy everything in their paths."
"Anala..."
Anala slowly shook her head. "I have already lost too much in all of this to just sit back and watch them take their aggressions out on Arus," she said. "Please, allow me to fill in, so that we can work together to find a way of defeating these monsters."
Allura met Dr. Gorma's gaze and with a nod from him, she closed her eyes and slowly approached her.
"I can only offer my condolences on all that you have lost, Anala," she said. "And I hope that we can do everything in our power to set things right for you. I will let you work under Shane and Katherine for your training, provided that the Lion ship accepts you."
Anala nodded. "I promise Allura, that this isn't any type revenge on my part," she said. "Its time to set things right."
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Kaden sat quietly in the small room, staring out of the window as the ship they were on, orbited the lone green planet below. He leaned heavily against the frame of the window as the ship slowly entered the dark side of Planet Arus.
"You should be resting."
Kaden turned his head as Haggar entered the room. He let out a sigh as he turned to face the window again. "I can't rest," he said. "Im sorry that I failed you."
"You weren't ready to take on the Captain, as I warned you," Haggar said. "Not until you are ready to, you cannot face him."
The boy looked up at her, then slowly shook his head. "I felt this great power come over me when I confronted him," he said. "It was as if everything around me stood still for a moment. Then I heard a voice."
"A voice?" Haggar asked.
"It asked me to stop," he said. "Told me to stop."
Haggar lowered her head slightly. "The power you experienced has to do with your bloodline, Kaden," she said. "And soon, you will be able to control it, use it to your advantage. Once you are able to, then there is nothing for you to be afraid of."
"Why does he have it?" Kaden asked. "I saw him use the same power I have."
Haggar met his gaze. "He is Vallusian, same as you," she said. "Tied to the same bloodline you have."
Kaden's eyes widened. Haggar slowly approached him. "Just remember this Kaden, if they get their hands on you, they will see that you will never gain the full potential you have," she said. "They will take away all that you have worked for, even that power you possess. Especially that Captain. He will want to stop you from seeing you reach your full potential. Even it means to kill you."
Kaden turned away from her as he breathed in deeply. "How can I learn to control this power?" he asked. "If I have to stop him, I must learn how to use it."
Haggar smiled to herself. "In due time," she said. "For now, you should rest. We can start your training tomorrow if you wish."
Kaden slowly nodded as he stood from where he was sitting and approached her. He then turned to her. "When will grandfather be free so that I can speak with him?"
"He is quite busy, Kaden," she said.
The boy was silent before he turned away from her. "He's always busy," he said.
Haggar then turned and watched as he left the small room. "You should placate the boy a little," she commented.
Zarkon emerged from the shadows as he joined her.
"I will not treat him the way I treated Lotor and his sister," Zarkon stated. "By feeding into their need to please me."
Haggar turned to him. "Pleasing you is all that he wants to do. He's done excellent work, for Rolsin, which in turn only makes your own plans work the way you want them. Soon the other High Lords will see Rolsin for the incompetent leader he is."
"Which is why I need to make sure he understands that he must continue to do as he told," Zarkon said. "And until he brings me back the heads of Lotor and Zeya, I will not be satisfied."
Hagger nodded. "I will continue his training," she said. "Rolsin will be expecting a report soon about the recent attack and what my robeasts have been able to gather."
"Keep him entertained," Zarkon said. "I will continue to deal with the High Lords."
Haggar bowed, before leaving the small room.
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