Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron, Star Trek, or any other stuff that is owned by Paramount or WEP. What I do own are the crew of the Berlin (except for Mordock and Scotty), the fighter Thunderwing and the story itself.
Star Tron: EscalationsChapter 12: Hit & Run, Trip & Fall
Captain's Log, Stardate 51382.1: Repair work continues as we bring the ship back up to spec. Captain Scott informs me we'll be back up near full capacity within 36 hours, which will be most welcome. We've received word that the first modules of the starbase to be built near Arus will be arriving in a few days, so we're going to be looking at some security duty in the near future. Just wish we could get the aft phasers back.
Driscoll deactivated the log recording and picked up a laser welder and went back to work on the replicator mounted on the side of his ready room. Every available hand was working on the repair effort, and the captain was no exception.
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With no practice that morning, the Voltron Force found themselves with some unexpected free time. And on this beautiful, sunny day, that could only mean one thing…
Lance surveyed the field. Two on two. Fair odds. With the wind at his back, they had the offensive. Piece of cake. "Down, set, hike!" Lance yelled as Pidge snapped him the ball, then went out for a pass. Keith stayed close to the little guy as he dodged and weaved, trying to open himself up for Lance to give him the ball. Lance dropped back, looking for an opening.
At this point, Keith and Hunk were up 21-17. They were playing in the field near the Castle, with Red, Green, Black, and Yellow Lions marking the corners of the field. Lance was about to risk a quick pass down the middle, when he was suddenly struck hard and fell to the ground. When his vision cleared, Hunk was standing over him.
"Man, Hunk, you gain weight?" Lance grumbled as the big man pulled him to his feet. "How does a guy like you sneak around like that?"
Hunk beamed. "Simple. You weren't paying attention," he replied.
Keith and Pidge returned to the line. "Okay, so it's third and twelve," said Keith. "You wanna keep going or surrender?"
Lance snorted. "You wish. We're going for it." The boys took their marks as Lance signaled a shotgun play to Pidge, then made a quick call. Just as Lance handed off the ball, Keith's communicator went off. He stopped short and whipped it out as Pidge went sailing by him. "Keith here."
Pidge raced by his CO and on down the field, running flat out. He didn't stop until he spiked the ball between Red and Green Lions. "Oh, yeah, touchdown!" he yelled, dancing around.
But his end-zone celebration was short lived as Keith called out, "Launch the Lions! Doom ships inbound!"
The game suddenly forgotten, all four pilots scrambled to their Lions and took off. Blue Lion joined them a moment later, and the five ships headed up into space.
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Clearing Arus' atmosphere, Keith looked around, noting that the other four Lions were in formation with him. Looking up, he saw the Berlin above them. The starship was coming around to face the incoming attack as the Lions raced by.
Then he saw them. Eight Doom battleships in a vee formation, heading straight at the Berlin. They ignored the Lions and dove at the starship, their laser batteries and missile racks raining hellish fire on the Federation ship, even as the Lions began their counter attack.
The starship answered the attackers, it's own phaser mounts slashing at the forward echelon of the Doom force while the Lions attacked from the sides and rear. Everywhere were red beams, the glare of missile engines, and the blinding flash of detonating warheads.
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Lotor gritted his teeth in frustration as he saw the ships on either side of his own fall out of formation, torn asunder by the return fire of the Federation and Arusian ships. Even crippled, the Berlin was more than a match for his meager fleet. And with the Lions helping defend her, this mission had quickly gone from fool's errand to suicide mission.
Completing their attack run, Lotor ordered the remaining ships to return to Planet Doom at full speed. Hopefully, he could gain enough of a lead that his enemies would not follow.
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Keith saw the Doom ships withdrawing. Of the original eight, only three were left, and one was falling behind the other two. He and Lance teamed up to deal with this straggler, and then regrouped with the others to pursue the last two.
"Okay, everyone, there's two left," he said. "Don't let them get away."
"Right, Keith," said Lance.
"You bet," said Pidge.
"Right," Allura said.
"Uh-huh," Hunk nodded.
"Lemme at them bastards!" said Captain Driscoll angrily as Thunderwing came out of nowhere and overtook the Lions. "Nobody takes pot shots at my boat and gets away with it! I'm gonna blow those mothers clear to hell!" The Mustang raced ahead, closing on the skullships, the torpedo launchers under its wings already telescoped and ready to fire.
"Adam, form up," Keith said firmly. He understood the Captain's motivation, but determined to retain control of the engagement.
Adam grumbled a reply, but obliged, taking his usual position off of Blue Lion's flank as the six ships throttled up to keep pace with the Doom ships.
Keith had no idea what had happened on the starship to get Adam so mad, but he figured it had to be bad, otherwise the starship would itself be pursuing the attackers. But whatever happened, he intended to see to it that neither of the Doom ships made it back to base.
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Lotor looked anxiously over the shoulder of the droid manning the sensor operator's post. The Lions were gaining on him. At this rate, he'd have only a few minutes more before they caught him. But then, he noticed something. The starship wasn't with them. It was only the five cats and that infernal fighter that pursued him. Perhaps there was a chance.
But not facing them in open space. That was too risky. He knew the Lions would be too good. But if…
He punched a few buttons on the sensor panel, brining up a chart of the area. A few seconds later, he found what he was looking for.
"Alter course for this planet," he ordered. "We'll make our stand there."
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Keith watched as the two skullships changed course and accelerated. At that speed, they could keep ahead of the Lions indefinitely. Fortunately for the Voltron Force, they could not maintain it. It was a sprint speed, meant for short dashes, not sustained flight.
"Keith, if we turn now, we can get close enough for a couple of shots," Adam pointed out.
Maybe. Just maybe, but if they missed, or didn't do enough damage, they'd have to wait anyway. No, it would be better to let Lotor tip his hand. And he knew that the ships would not be too much trouble for the Lions to deal with.
"No, we'll keep following for now. Let's see what they're up to before we attack. Pidge?"
"Yeah?"
"Check the star charts. See if there's anything along this course. Planets, bases, whatever."
"You got it, Keith," the boy replied. He put Green Lion on autopilot and started scanning the charts. Ten minutes later, he had an answer.
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Half an hour after the Berlin was attacked, the Doom ships arrived at a small planet, MCP-182. It was a small, uninhabited world with thick rings and a number of moons. The planet itself was habitable, with abundant water and an oxygen atmosphere, and had in fact been scouted by the Alliance for colonization just prior to the outbreak of the war. However, the immediate interest had been its moons and rings. They were rich with ores used in the production of spacecraft, and the Alliance had set up mining stations to harvest the metals.
But now, the mining stations were in Doom hands, and manned by worker droids. And it was here that Lotor intended to make his stand among the debris of the ring system, which he hoped to use to his advantage as a sort of cosmic sniper's nest.
The two battleships made their way quickly into the rings and separated, each getting itself lost in the turbulent maze of debris, then settling in to wait for an opportunity to present itself.
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The Voltron Force approached MCP-182, following the two ships. They saw their prey move into the rings, where their sensors lost them among the debris and electromagnetic interference.
Keith brought Black Lion to a stop, and the others gathered around him. Red Lion turned its head toward Black and Lance's voice sounded over the comm. "What do you think, Keith?"
Keith paused a moment, studying the situation. Lotor obviously wanted them to follow. The question was why? What was waiting for them in there? A robeast perhaps? Or maybe some new weapon like the topaz bomb that had nearly destroyed them a few days ago.
Finally, Keith replied, "Hunk, take Adam and see if you can find them. Report back in ten minutes." He knew that with Yellow Lion's earth powers and Thunderwing's sensors, they'd have the best chance of finding the Doom ships, and of doing it with the least risk to themselves. "The rest of us will stay here in case they come out.
"Right, Keith," said Hunk. Adam joined up on his wing, and the two headed into the rings. As luck would have it, he didn't have long to wait. Just under seven minutes later, Hunk and Adam returned.
"Did you find them?" Keith asked.
"Sure did, Keith," Hunk replied happily. "I'm sending you the coordinates now. It looks like they're just sitting there waiting for us."
"Or playing possum, hoping we'll give up and go home," Pidge commented.
"No way. They're ready for battle and scanning the daylights out of the area," said Adam. "They want us to come in after them."
"Did they see you?" Keith asked.
"No, we were dodging between asteroids. We only got a few glimpses of them, but enough to know what we were looking at," Hunk replied.
Keith looked at the coordinates Hunk had sent him. The two ships were less than 100 kilometers inside the rings. He agreed with Adam's take. They wanted the Lions to come after them.
"Well, it'd be rude to keep Lotor waiting. Lance, you, Hunk, and Pidge circle around and attack from the far side. Adam, Allura, and I will go straight in.
"Okay, Keith," Lance said as Red Lion broke off. "We'll see you in there." He led Hunk and Pidge off around the far side of the rings, while Keith took the others in.
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Lotor paced around the bridge of his command ship anxiously. The Voltron Force should have arrived at the planet by now. So where were they? He kept looking at the displays of the sensor and communications stations. Nothing. No messages from the other ship, and nothing on sensors. Of course, with all the debris in the ring system, the Voltron Force would have to be almost on top of them before they'd see them.
Grunting in frustration, Lotor returned to his throne-like command chair. Nothing to be done now, except to wait.
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As Lotor was seating himself in his chair, Kieth was leading his group toward the Doom vessels. Black Lion stopped alongside a large ice boulder, just short of the coordinates Adam had provided. Blue Lion and Thunderwing pulled up to Black Lion as Adam said, "Just ahead there, Keith. That's where Hunk and me found them."
"How many?"
"Just two."
"What's the plan, Keith?" Allura asked.
Keith paused a moment before answering. "Rush them. Hit 'em with everything we've got, fast and hard."
"Simple, straightforward ass-kickin'. I like it," Adam said with a grin.
A moment later, Lance's face appeared on the intercom screen. "We're ready, Keith. Just give the word."
"Okay, team, let's go!"
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"Prince Lotor! The Lions…" That was all Lotor's sensor officer could get out before the ship was rocked by the attack. The control panels on the bridge blinked and spewed smoke as a second volley struck home, causing power couplings to burst, spewing sparks across the bridge.
"Return fire!" Lotor bellowed. "Blast them! Destroy the Voltron Force!"
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"Bingo!" Keith heard Adam exclaim as his torpedoes struck one of the skullships, ripping huge holes in the vessel's side.
He looked back at his own target. The lead battleship was right ahead, and Lance was closing on it from the other side. "Let's get him, Lance."
"After you," the Red Lion pilot replied as the two began their attack.
"Lion daggers!" Keith called. The blades formed in the mouths of the lions as they raced in. Slamming their heads sideways, the lions dug their blades into the hull of the battleship, ripping huge gashes as they went. Dozens of small explosions erupted in their wake as they severed fuel lines, ruptured power conduits, and breached compartments. Reaching the end of the ship, they crossed paths and ran down the other side of the ship, leaving a second series of cuts.
"Get clear! Keith yelled. "It's gonna blow!"
The Volton Force quickly fell back into the ring debris as the battleship broke in two and exploded in a blinding flash. A chunk of the hull crashed into the second ship. Already crippled by the torpedo strikes and claw strikes from the other Lions, it too exploded in a cascade of fire and debris.
Just then, on an inexplicable impulse, Allura looked at her sensor display. Her eyes widened in surprise as she called, "Keith! There's an escape pod heading for the surface. It came from the lead battleship."
"It's gotta be Lotor," said Pidge.
"Whoever it is, they're not getting away," said Keith. "After him, team!"
Chasing the pod out of the rings, the Lions followed it down through the planet's atmosphere, tracking it until it crashed into a densely forested hillside.
"I'm detecting a life form down there," said Pidge. "He survived the fall."
Keith looked around and spotted a clearing nearby. "Okay, Pidge, you stay airborne and track him. The rest of us will land over there and go after him on foot."
"Right," the others chorused. Pidge began circling over the crash site, while Keith led the others to the clearing.