Chapter 33: Battle Royal for the Crown(Lotor's POV)
Lotor stands in line with all the other galra. He can't believe that Shiro took him here against the other's will. It was only an idea, a suggestion. But here he is standing amongst all the other Galra, waiting for the Archivist to make his appearance. But an Archivist hasn't been called in for so long, will one of the Galra priests that preside over funerals take the role instead?
Looking around he notices most of Zarkon's highest generals are here. Ranveig, Sendak, Trugg, Gnov, even the coward Quartermaster Janka is here.
Silence still permeates the air until Ranveig steps forward. "Why should we all fight when the Archivist announces the beginning of the ceremony? I was on the frontlines and am Zarkon most trusted general, I should be the one to carry on his legacy."
Sendak scoffs, "As if. I was his right hand man. If anybody should light the torch it is me."
"What do you know? You never knew the harshness of the war, always just making sure our conquered planets stayed conquered. You never had to fight them when they had all the resources they could access to defend themselves. Olkari is a good example, it took ages before their King submitted to our demands."
Lotor winces, but stays focused on where the Archivist is supposed to appear.
"Oh yeah? I had Voltron on their toes, I had them at my mercy and none of you can say the same. I came close to beating them while you guys never had a chance." Sendak growls.
"But you didn't beat them, did you?"
Incoherent grumbling is all he hears from Sendak.
Then silence again falls.
Before anyone can start a new conversation a Galra priest dressed in pure white robes, the hood is down and the rim of the hood is encased with gold silk.. His face has a Glara mark running alongside both of his cheeks. His eyes are pure yellow, the most typical eye for a galran. His ears protrude from the top of his head, a little like Gnov's ears.
His voice booms, "Welcome to the Kral Zera. A Ceremony that hasn't been hosted since Emperor Zarkon's reign began. So let's go over the specifics. I am the Archivist, recently chosen, and my job is to record the reign of each Emperor and Empress and record what happens at a Kral Zera if it is called. Which it has been. The ceremony goes like this: once I announce that the Kral Zera has begun, a torch will appear in front of you and each of you will battle for it. The one who manages to climb the steps up to me with the torch and light the basin igniting a flame attached to their life force will be the new Emperor or Empress and start a new line of rulers."
"May the Kral Zera begin."
Tension in Lotor's shoulder's builds as the ground starts to shake and groan. The floor opens up and reveals a torch floating on above the floor it is on. The purple flame flickers and burns as it slowly ascends to where everyone is waiting.
Once it stops it is in front of all of them, shining a brilliant purple in the night sky. Quickly he rushes forward to the torch, only to get slammed away by Ranveig's arm, hard. Landing harshly on the cold ground, he looks up to see Ranveig fighting all the Galra that dare come near the torch with his bare hands. Smacking them left and right.
Lotor tries to get up, but his ribs scream out in pain, making him stop. Looking at Ranveig his eyes widen in horror as he sees that only Sendak is left opposing the fierce general.
"Give me the torch, Ranveig. I deserve it more than you. I was Zarkon's right hand man! I also had Voltron on the edge of defeat and what have you done, nothing but conquer planets!" Sendak screams.
"Sorry, but your little plea falls on deaf ears. I have commanded more men and been in more dire situations than you ever have. I have more experience and my leadership skills that I have learned in the field will greatly benefit the Empire."
Sendak scowls. "Then so be it. Victory or Death!"
A fistfight emerges between the two, the torch being forgotten.
Carefully Lotor aprocachs the torch, his ribs still screaming in protest. Thankfully the two generals are so enamoured by their fight that they don't notice, which relieves Lotor.
Lotor grabs the torch in his hands, and begins to walk as fast as he can to the stairs. He looks back every so often to make sure he isn't the focus of Senadk's or Ranveig's attention.
However his luck does not last long.
A victory cry is let out, making Lotor stumble a bit in shock. He does not look back though, as he must concentrate on this last flight of stairs and then he can light the torch. A new era of peace will be spread, with Voltron by his side he can finally make the Galra a better nation instead of just warmongers.
His ears catch the sound of footsteps. His heart quickens, he closes his eyes and holds onto the torch tightly, afraid of whoever the victor was of the fight to tear him apart.
Suddenly the footsteps stop and are replaced by a crashing noise.
Turning around and slowly opening his eyes he sees Shiro and Sendak. And that makes his eyes widen since they are now both fighting each other.
"Go! What are you waiting for! Light the damn torch!" Shiro screams in desperation, which makes Lotor focus back on the task at hand.
As soon as he lights the basin with the torch, the ground starts shaking again. Cracks in the floor form from it making the whole place unsteady.
"Lotor, you are the new Emperor. Get to safety!" The Archivist plea's.
"But…."
"No time, there are old escape pods on this castle in case a coup ever took place deep within the castle. And the torch connected to your lifeline has its own defences…"
"What about the ship I took…."
The Archivist shakes his head, "I'm afraid that's out of the question. Whoever set theses bombs planned to kill the new Emperor which means they prbabaly attacked any ships that entered. So go!"
He watches as the Archivist runs away.
Looking back at Sendak and Shiro, he yells, "Shiro follow me, we have to get out of here!"
"But our ship…."
"We can't be certain it wasn't destroyed! We have to hurry!"
The ground groans and shakes. Inside the castle fallen debris is everywhere and the walls are shaking. Leaping and running he hopes the Archivist whom he is following knows what the hell he's talking about, because he is right. There is no way for certain to know that the Altan pod they used wasn't destroyed.
Eventually they reach the inner parts of the Castle which is carved out from Mountain stone, making it cold. Roots line the walls as well and on the floor making it difficult to traverse the terrain without tripping.
Doesn't help that the light keeps flickering in and out(it's the same lights as on a Galra ship). The groaning and shaking of the earth doesn't help with focus either. Just how many explosions were set to go off when the torch was lit?
And why would someone want the Galra to be without a leader? If there was no leader then the Galra would be at their most dangerous, power-hungry generals would try and stake a territory of their own and rule their own little Empire and try to expand it.
Which meant a lot more conquering and, and more resistance to a peace effort.
He applauds the people who did the coup for thinking that a unified Galra would be more easy to take out, but they don't know the Galra if that's the case. We're survivors, we don't go out so easily in a fight unless we're fighting another Galran(because Galran's all match each other in strength and durability since we are trained at a young age how to fight, some are better than others tho).
The Galra here for the ceremony will make it out alive, no matter the impossible odds. Victory or Death, that has been taught to us for generations, we either give it our all or die trying because anything less is dishonourable.
Lotor shakes his head, now is not the time for that! Suddenly he sees the Archivist stop at a wall. In the wall are round shuttles, a very old design for Galra escape pods.
"These won't work! These are ancient."
"They will work, Emperor. Old, sure, but never used, until now."
He sighs, but follows the Archivist's lead.
"Are you sure you trust him? Didn't he say that he was recently appointed." Shiro whispers.
"We have no other choice, these pods are our only certain way of escaping this place. The ship we brought could've been easily destroyed in the blast since it isn't a Galra Cruiser. It can't take as many hits."
"Listen to the Emperor, young one. I saw the ship you arrived in, Altean wasn't it. But centuries old, if that can work so can these old shuttles."
Shiro opens his mouth to protest…
"Come on, these shuttles can fit two people at a time. And I already opened a couple of hatches so get in!" Urgency laces his voice as the castle shakes again, as loud as a roaring wind.
He climbs through the small shuttle opening to find a more spacious room inside. Though it's only as big to allow you to sit on the cushions and the interior is all purple. Sitting down quickly he puts the harness that hangs over the seat and it locks into place.
Shiro comes in and does the same.
Suddenly the escape pod zooms out, making Lotor hit his head on the wall. He wasn't expecting that much speed from an old model. Because of the speed his head is stuck being at the back of the wall as they zoom across space.
After a while it finally dies down and comes to a stop and he sees the Archivist's shuttle as well.
The harnesses automatically release and he sighs in relief.
"Well that was exciting," Shiro drylily replies.
"But we did accomplish what we came to do. Make me the Emperor of the Galra Empire."
Which will bring about a new era of peace and prosperity for the whole universe, Lotor vows.