Discalimer: I don't own Voltron, Star Trek, or anything else that it owned by WEP or Paramount. 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 13: A Prince in your Palm
Lotor slowly emerged from the escape pod, grunting at the pain that shot from his right knee to his hip. That was not one of his better landings. He took in his surroundings, trying to get his bearings. He knew the Voltron Force would not be far behind, and set off through the trees as quickly as he could on his injured leg. He had to hold out for just a few more hours. By then, reinforcements would arrive, and the Voltron Force would have to leave.
He heard a roar and the deep growl of an engine nearby, and looked up as Green Lion passed directly over him. He continued on, crossing a small ridge, pausing only a moment as he felt the ground tremble beneath him, and he knew he was out of time.
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Half a mile away, the Voltron Force emerged from their Lions and gathered in the middle of the clearing. Keith looked at Green Lion, circling a short distance away, showing them Lotor's position. He turned back to the team, just behind him. Lance, Hunk, and Allura all had their blasters drawn, and Adam held a tricorder in one hand, and his phaser pistol in the other.
"Adam, do you have a fix?" Keith asked.
The Captain pushed a few buttons on the tricorder. "Yeah, about a click and a half thataway," he pointed a little to the right. "Blue boy ahoy."
Keith nodded. "Okay. Everyone set your blasters to stun. We want Lotor alive." He heard the clicks as the team dialed down the power settings on their weapons.
"So what's the plan?" Lance asked.
"Fan out, twenty-foot intervals. We'll advance in a line, that way it'll be harder for Lotor to evade us, and harder for him to take us out." He looked at the others. "I'll take center, Adam and Lance on the ends. Remember, don't rush in. Lotor's a highly trained soldier with special ops experience. Be ready for anything."
The others nodded their understanding, and took their positions. Keith gave a hand signal, and the five soldiers advanced at a brisk walk, heading toward Lotor's position. Keith signaled them to pause for a moment while Adam scanned ahead. The Captain gave him the universal OK sign, indicating no sign of traps or Lotor in the immediate vicinity, and Keith motioned them forward again.
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The line advanced quickly, but carefully, wary of any surprises that Lotor may have left for them. They reached the coffin ship within twenty minutes, and Adam spent several minutes scanning it and the immediate area.
Allura looked at Keith, who was kneeling down, staring intently at the dirt. She approached him and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Tracking," Keith replied, not looking up. He pointed to the two footprints he was studying. "Lotor's injured."
"How can you tell?" Allura asked, unable to tell any difference between the two boot marks.
Keith circled his finger around the right footprint. "This one's deeper than the other. He's limping." He stood and looked at the others gathered around the pod. "It'll slow him down, but it might make him more desperate too. We need to be really careful now." He led Allura back toward the others, and told them what he'd told her.
"So what do we do about it?" Hunk asked.
"We need to be ready for anything. We've got less than two hours before Doom renforcements could arrive. We've got to get Lotor and get him out of here."
The team got back into their search formation, and Adam gave them their heading with his tricorder. Without a word, Keith led them on into the forest.
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From his perch high above, Pidge watched his sensor display unblinkingly as Lotor scrambled through the woods, trying to escape the others, who were steadily gaining. Less than half a kilometer now separated the Voltron Force from the object of their pursuit. And they were closing in.
Forty minutes later, Pidge saw Lotor make a sudden dash to one side, and he remained still. The Voltron Force was nearly upon him, and Pidge warned his friends. "Keith?"
"Yeah, Pidge?"
"Lotor's about a hundred meters ahead of you, now off to your right. He's not moving."
"Thanks, Pidge. Keep us posted."
"Roger."
On the ground, Keith quietly passed the information on to his teammates, and the group tightened up and turned, heading toward Lotor, ready for anything.
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Lotor scrambled through the woods. He knew he couldn't stay ahead of the Voltron Force much longer. He was able to block the pain from his mind, but the physical damage was slowing him down too much. Then, he saw movement, far behind him, and knew instantly what it was. He was through running. It was time to stand and fight.
Looking around quickly, he spotted several trees that had fallen, making a sort of wall in the middle of the forest. It was his best chance.
Drawing his laser sword, he drove for the trees, throwing himself behind them. Between the trees and the low brush that was growing among them, he was well out of sight. Hopefully, he could surprise them. He knew if he could wound at least one, he'd have a chance. The others might give up the chase to get their friend to safety. A foolish choice, but one he was sure they would make.
He saw Green Lion circle above him, and part of him knew that he couldn't win. But the rest of him refused to accept it. Surrender was weakness, and the weak were conquered. Lotor of Doom would not be conquered.
So he crouched, leg throbbing, blade at the ready, as he heard the Voltron Force approaching.
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Adam stared at his tricorder, watching the readout as the numbers counted down, showing the Voltron Force's decreasing distance from Lotor's position. When the counter wound down to a mere twenty meters, he gave Keith a wave. Keith motioned for the others to stop, and the group came together.
"Where is he?" Keith asked.
Adam consulted the tricorder again. "Looks like he's in that brush," he said, pointing to a group of fallen trees and low scrub.
"Okay, spread out and surround him. But stay alert. He might try anything," Keith said.
The others nodded and began to walk around the deadfall, spacing themselves out, holding their weapons ready. Keith watched his team move into position, and he was pleased at how they executed his orders. They were ready for anything Lotor could throw at them. And they had to be. A wounded animal, when cornered, was unpredictable and prone to extreme violence, and those instincts extended to humanoids. Especially those trained in lethal combat.
When everyone was ready, he moved a few steps closer to the fallen trees. "Lotor, we have you surrounded. Surrender, and come out with your hands on your head."
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Lotor couldn't believe his ears. How dare he? How dare they presume to order him. Treating him like some animal, trying to trap him.
But even through his anger, he knew he had little choice. Even if he were fast enough to take out one or two, the others would surely get him before he could escape. He saw them in his mind's eye, weapons drawn, watching his hiding place intently, waiting for him.
Well, we shall see, he thought. He peered out from the brush, and saw his target. Commander Keith stood there, waiting for him.
He would wait no longer.
With a fierce battle cry, Lotor leapt from his hiding place, raising his sword high over his head, the wicked energy blade glowing red, thirsting for the blood of his prey. Landing hard, the Prince of Doom lunged, his sword aimed at Kieth's heart.
Just as he reached his target, Lotor heard the whine of a laser somewhere behind him, and the world went dark.
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Keith looked at the unconscious Prince at his feet, then looked up at Lance, who dramatically blew off the barrel of his blaster. "Guess he was feeling lucky," he quipped.
Keith smiled at his friend's smart-aleck remark. "Okay, Clint, let's get him back to the Lions."
"Who's he riding with?" Hunk asked.
"Not me," said Lance.
"Huh. He's unworthy of my bird," Adam scoffed.
"You can't let him ride with Allura," Hunk pointed out.
Keith thought a moment. Hunk had a good point. If Lotor came to in Blue Lion, there'd be trouble for sure. In fact, he didn't want Lotor in any Lion. Which left only one choice.
"Adam, he's going with you." Keith said.
"Aw, man," Driscoll groused. "Are you serious?" He wouldn't argue with Keith. He'd agreed to follow Keith's orders on VF missions, and he was true to his word, but he'd make sure his feelings on the issue were known.
"Completely," Keith assured him. "Now let's get him out of here before he wakes up."
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It was more than an hour before Driscoll returned to his ship, after dropping a still-unconscious Lotor off at the Castle of Lions. The first thing he did was seek out his first officer. When he'd taken off, the skullships had just broken away, and he needed to find out what had happened to his ship.
As he'd approached, he'd seen several new burns on the hull from the attack. And now he regretted not staying longer. He remembered the wisps of smoke drifting around the bridge as he'd boarded the turbolift, and mentally cursed himself. That time, he'd deserted his post. No question.
He found Gredar in the first place he'd expected to find him, on the bridge, closely monitoring the repairs of the ship from one of the auxiliary consoles on the perimeter of the bridge, near the viewer. Driscoll invited the Gorn into his ready room, and asked for his report.
Most of the repair work done over the last two days had been completely undone. Two of the dorsal phaser arrays were down, as was the entire shield grid. Most of the shots fired at the ship had struck the bare hull, causing hull breahes and significant damage within the saucer section. They had lost three crewmen, and two more were in sickbay's intensive care unit. Others had been treated for injuries and released back to duty.
Driscoll's anger flared, and now he wished he'd depressurized Thunderwing's cockpit on the way back. Lotor had now killed ten of his men. And he wanted payback.
Suppressing his emotions, he thanked Gredar, and released him back to his duty. He looked down at the desk, and saw the laser welder right where he'd left it. He picked up the tool, and looked at the replicator in the wall, the repairs unfinished. He set to work, finishing the repairs, knowing he wouldn't be attending the victory party tonight at the castle. He had a lot of writing to do.
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The next morning at the Castle of Lions, the Voltron Force walked into the control room following Lion practice, to review their performance with Coran. Just as the Prime Minister was about to call up the logs, the console beeped, indicating an incoming transmission. Coran looked at the identity code from the carrier wave, and his eyebrows shot up. "Princess," he called, looking at her. "King Zarkon wishes to speak with you."
There were expressions of shock and distrust from the team as Allura stepped up to the console. As Keith stepped up beside her, she nodded, saying, "Put him on, Coran."
The image of Zarkon appeared on the main screen. "Princess Allura, Commander Keith. You have something of mine."
"Yes, what of it?" Allura said coldly, diplomatic protocol forgotten. This was the man responsible for making her an orphan, and for devastating her planet and enslaving her people. He was, in her opinion, unworth of such niceties.
Zarkon sneered at her. "You'd do well to watch your tongue, Your Highness," he rebuked.
Lance made to say something, but Keith silenced him with a look.
Zarkon paused, seeing the exchange, then continued. "You're holding my son captive. Whether in your castle or on that ship orbiting your planet, I don't know. I could easily take him back by force, but I think there's an easier way. I have something that you want back, as well."
"And what's that?" Keith asked.
Zarkon glared at Keith. "The scientists and crew of Tango Seven."
"Are you proposing an exchange?" Allura asked.
"I am. My incompetent son for your scientists. You must admit, it's a fair trade."
Allura considered a moment. "I'd like to confer with my advisors," she replied.
"By all means," Zarkon replied with feigned cordiality. Allura and Keith stepped away from the console and joined the others.
"What do you boys think?" Allura asked.
"Don't do it," said Lance. "What makes you think he'll hold up his end?"
"I agree, Keith," said Adam. "We've got one of the war's major players in the palm of our hands. If the Federation were to get our hands on Gul Dukat or a Founder like this, there's no way we'd give him back. I know it sounds mean, but those scientists are a small price to pay for keeping Low-Blow."
Keith thought about Zarkon's proposal, and then remembered what Graham had told him. This was a perfect opportunity to correct a lot of mistakes.
"I think it would be worth it, Princess," he said. Seeing the skeptical looks from the others, he elaborated. "If we can get them back now, we should. Who knows what they'll be forced to help Zarkon develop in the future. It's the lesser of two evils."
Allura looked at Keith, then at the others, thinking about what they'd said. It was not an easy decision.
When they returned to the console, Zarkon asked, "Well?"
Keith looked at him, but it was Allura who spoke. "We agree to your terms. We will contact you later to arrange the exchange."
"A wise choice," Zarkon said condescendingly. "I will await your call." The screen went dark, and the room erupted with objections.
"Keith, you're nuts!" said Pidge.
"Allura, why?" Adam asked. "We've got an edge, and you're going to just give up?"
"What are you thinking?" Lance asked.
Keith looked around the room, and off in the corner, he noticed a small, gray box. He looked back at Lance and said, "I'll tell you…"