Chapter 7: A Hero Falls

The damaged Galra command ship retreated to low orbit, still just inside the atmosphere, but hopefully just far enough away from the new castle to be out of any sort of sensor range, and made repairs as quickly as they could. Yurak also sent out an order to Imperial Navy Command for a reinforcement fleet of Star Cutters, demanding at least forty be dispatched to him at once. Sakura, meanwhile, maintained the command ship's atmospheric pressure with her magic until the hull damage had been successfully repaired and reinforced for safety's sake, then promptly went to the lounge to plop down on a couch to rest – that level of even temporary continuous use had heavily drained her. She quickly dropped into a light doze.

Several hours, and for Sakura a hearty meal and something good to drink, later, and the command ship was ready to go again, the forty reinforcement Star Cutters having arrived. Sakura, having just finished said meal and drink, returned to the command ship's bridge, and took quick notice of the shored up numbers.

"Are we going to attack again already?" she asked, slightly incredulous.

"So it would seem," Spinner commented from her shoulder; he had joined her in the meal, having used up some of his own power to shore her's up during the repair work.

"Yes," Yurak told them. "If nothing else, we can at least make sure that new Castle of Lions meets the same fate as the old one. Or, if nothing else, get a better idea of it's defensive capabilities."

"Well, it's not like they can have that many people in there to man the weapons other than that woman from before, right?" Sakura pointed out.

"When we retreated they had no one, yes," Yurak replied. "But we've been monitoring on long range sensors the whole time, and dozens of Arusians have been popping out of the hills and other hiding places and flocking to the place, so now they have dozens of people at their disposal."

"Ah, that could change things a little," Spinner noted.

"Not to mention we don't have a replacement robeast," Sakura added. "I don't suppose you called ma...Master Haggar and ordered one?"

"No, Zarkon would know almost instantly, and I'd rather not bring him into the loop just yet," Yurak stated.

"Ooookay..." Sakura said, and left it at that, though she wondered how Zarkon could not know about a fleet of forty ships leaving the planet.

"All ships and stations ready to go, sir," an officer informed them.

"Very, well," Yurak said. "All ships, forward to the new Castle of Lions!" With that, the command ship and Star Cutters surged forward, returning to the new castle for a re-engagement. It took about five to ten minutes for the castle to once again come into view, and Sakura immediately noted all of the horses and caravan equipment parked just outside. People were bustling about moving things around. Yurak was right, the Arusians had flocked to the new castle in droves. Yurak just sneered at what he saw before him.

"Attention all hands, we're approaching the target!" he declared, the coms open to all ships. "Hit them hard, crush the castle, take no prisoners! Attack until it's destroyed!"

The Star Cutters and command ship opened fire, blasting away at the new castle. Within a few moments several dozen weapons platforms and laser based guns were shifted into position to aim at the approaching enemy, two of the towers actually rotating with cannons emerging from the slants, and let loose with a torrent of counter fire. Sadly for the fleet, and not that unexpectedly, the Voltron lions also launched from their resting places and into the air, and between them and the multitude of laser fire from the castle, the available forty Star Cutters was soon knocked down to thirteen.

The command ship also took a few hits, but this time, having a better idea of what to expect, the initial damage wasn't as bad, forward shields being powered to maximum. Some shots, though, did manage to pierce the shields, and scored more damaging blows to the ship. Sakura noted the woman from before again taking up a cannon even as the previous operator was felled by a laser blast from a well aimed gun on one of the Star Cutters, and the red lion was making use of a new weapon, a square shaped cannon with two round blast holes, which launched deadly missiles. She also noted, to her dismay, that the damage to the yellow lion's head had been repaired, not that there had been that much damage to begin with.

"Quick, destroy them before they can form Voltron!" Yurak ordered, and the command ships' weapons refocused, attempting to hit the five lions. The lions, apparently taking the hint, quickly formed up, rising speedily into the air in combination position. Sakura focused on the lions carefully, trying to decide which one the little human might be flying, but then gave up and just aimed her staff for the red one at random.

"Let's see if we can delay that one a little bit!" she declared, unleashing her magical might to grab and hold down the red lion. Her magic scored, grabbing hold of the lion in question and momentarily stopping it in its tracks.

"What the?" Lance blinked when his lion suddenly halted in mid-air.

"What's wrong, Lance?" Keith asked over the lions' intercom.

"My lion just stalled!" he replied.

"Yes, there seems to be some kind of energy beam around you emanating from the command ship," Sven noted.

"It looks like the same thing that boosted that last robeast," Hunk commented.

"But what is it?" Pidge asked. "And how can it be multifunctional?"

"I'd rather know how to turn it off!" Lance called, and then several laser blasts slammed right near him, making the lion shake badly.

"Ha! Got him!" Sakura cried out happily. "Let's see them get out of this one!"

"Ha, good work, Witch Sakura, well done!" Yurak praised her, then turned to the bridge crew. "Blow that lion out of the sky!"

"Uh, Sakura, Yurak, did you, perhaps, forget something?" Spinner asked.

"Hm?" they blinked at him, and at that moment the ship rocked from a well placed blow from one of the many weapons firing in their direction from the castle below.

"Oh, yeah, that..." they realized as Sakura's beam cut off abruptly due to losing her balance for a moment.

"Oh, that worked!" Lance smiled, noting the restraining beam suddenly ceasing after the command ship took a hit from the castle. The lions resumed their current plan, and immediately began joining together once again.

"Oh, no..." Sakura moaned as Voltron was formed. Voltron immediately broke out the Blazing Sword and attacked the command ship, slicing across the topmost part of the ship, right near the bridge. Everything shook hard, a small explosion ripping through the top of the ship.

"GAHHH! Abandon the attack! All units return to planet Galra!" Yurak ordered, and the command ship and surviving Star Cutters, all nine of them, quickly turned and retreated into space, leaving planet Arus behind them.

The trip back to Galra was mildly lengthened to allow for some of the more immediately required repairs to make sure the ship could get back undeterred, but return it did. This time, though, Yurak instructed Sakura to wait outside the throne room while he went in and reported to Zarkon.

"I doubt he knows you joined this excursion, so why get both of us killed?" he stated.

"You sure?" Sakura asked, uncertain about this strategy.

"No, but I'm doing it anyway," Yurak replied, and entered the throne room, Sakura waiting outside nervously, holding the door open a crack to see how it went.

"Think he'll be back?" Spinner asked from her shoulder.

"I don't know," Sakura admitted. She watched carefully as Yurak walked calmly up to the base of the stairs leading to the throne itself, and kneeled down on the floor.

"Sire, I have come to report on the recent events on planet Arus," he intoned, and Zarkon glared.

"Well, is Voltron destroyed?" he asked, a growl in his voice.

"I'm afraid not, Sire," Yurak replied. "Unforeseen events caused us to lose the battle, and have shifted the odds against us and into the Arusians favor."

"WHAT?!" Zarkon roared, leaping to his feet and turning to look toward the door Yurak had entered through. "Witch Sakura, get in here! I know you're at that door!" Sakura let out a small shriek of surprise, and quickly entered the room, dropping to her knees beside Yurak. Spinner was glued to her shoulder the whole time, and quickly moved to try and hide behind her head as she presented herself to the evil King.

"Yes, Sire, whatever you want, Sire," she said, Haggar giving her an apologetic glance from her seat near the throne. Cova was sitting in her lap, watching all quietly.

"Now what happened down there?!" Zarkon demanded.

"It was going great at first, Sire!" Sakura stated, slightly frantic, before Yurak could stop her. "Deathhell was easily matching Voltron, and even damaged him! And while he was doing that, we turned and fired on the Castle of Lions to destroy it, and we did! But then a new castle popped up in its place, like a daisy! And a woman fired on us so we had to pull back, and then..."

"ENOUGH!" Zarkon cut her off, his anger boiling. "A new castle, Yurak?"

"Yes, Sire," Yurak confirmed. "It came out of the ground from below where the original castle stood. There was no warning. The new castle is of metal construction and very high tech from all appearances." Zarkon growled, his anger rising by the second.

"And the robeast?" Haggar asked, though she already suspected the answer.

"After we pulled back to avoid getting shot the woman shot him, and Voltron, well, do I really need to say it?" Sakura answered, praying that when Zarkon blew the end would be fast and at least slightly merciful.

"We pulled in some reinforcements and attacked the new castle again not long afterward," Yurak picked up. "It didn't go well."

"Then take the entire fleet if you have to, and crush that castle into the ground!" Zarkon shouted at them.

"That would be ill advised, Sire," Yurak replied. "As I was about to report, several dozen surviving Arusians have emerged from hiding and congregated at the new castle, thus giving them more than enough soldiers to man the castle's various technological weaponry. Plus, they still have the Voltron robot."

"Excuses!" Zarkon screamed, then paused, blinking as something that had been said earlier finally reached his twisted brain. "Did you say a woman fired on you from the new castle the first time, alone?"

"Yes, Sire," Sakura responded quickly. "A blond haired woman in a pink dress."

"Use your powers to show us an image of the woman, my dear," Haggar suggested, and Sakura nodded. She pointed her staff to the throne room monitor, sending a burst of energy to it. A moment later a perfect image of the woman, Allura, at the twin laser cannons of the Castle of Lions appeared on the monitor. Zarkon and Haggar stared at the image before them, surprise all over their faces. Zarkon recovered first, once again growling.

"Haggar," he hissed, "Why does that woman resemble the Queen of Arus I had killed fifteen years ago?"

"Coincidence, Sire?" Sakura suggested, then quickly quieted when Zarkon shot her a vicious glance, reflexively jerking her staff in front of herself defensively. Zarkon turned back to Haggar, who had also recovered at this point.

"It would seem the royal family came into a last second addition at some point not too long before we attacked and thought we destroyed the planet," Haggar admitted. "To think, one member of the royal family actually survived. I deeply regret this oversight, my liege."

"On the other hand, Sire, this does explain a few things," Sakura offered, realization coming to her with the revelation of the mystery woman's lineage. Zarkon glanced back at her, raising one eye, and Sakura quickly continued. "Well, a member of the royal family would know about the secret hiding spots of Voltron and how to get to them from inside the castle without leaving through the front door, right? So she's probably the one who gave the lions to the five humans who escaped from us before, right?"

"Yes, my evil apprentice, that makes much sense," Haggar agreed. "She would most likely have known the secret of Voltron, and all too willingly shared it with the humans to counter us. My dear, it is time to act." She turned to Zarkon, a twisted smile on her face. "Sire, I shall go to Arus, bringing my most perfect assistant."

"Oh?" Zarkon glanced to his main witch. "What did you have in mind, Witch?"

"Assassination, Sire," Haggar answered. "It has clearly proven impossible to eliminate all five lions, but if we can lure out the pilots, and succeed in eliminating even one, then Voltron will be useless; and afterward this new Castle of Lions will be more vulnerable to attack, if we approach it correctly."

"Succeed, Witch. Eliminate Voltron, or else!" Zarkon growled.

"Voltron will trouble you no more, sire," Haggar promised, then turned to her apprentice. "Come, Sakura, I want you to join me for this, it is time for you to taste the sweet nectar of blood first hand."

"Yes, mam...Master Haggar!" Sakura replied, leaping to her feet at the chance to escape from Zarkon's sight once more. Haggar rose to her own feet, Cova dropping to the floor, and they strode down the steps to the apprentice, and they quickly left the throne room together, Spinner still clinging to his mistress.

"As for you, Yurak," Zarkon turned his attention back to his Fleet Commander.

"Yes, Sire?" Yurak replied. He just knew he was sweating buckets.

Out in the dark fields of Galra, the two strolled through a series of spire rocks toward where Haggar kept her personal space coffins. The area around the coffins was littered with the bones and skulls of the dead. The wind knocked one skull off a spire, depositing it at the feet of a somewhat insect-like robeast. Dark blue to the point of being nearly black, it had spikes jutting out of the back of its lower legs, and one from each shoulder pointed forward at a forty-five degree angle. The feet had but four toes each, two from the front and two from the back. The "skin" was actually a hard chitinous armor, the shoulders jutting out to the side slightly like shoulder pads. One hand was relatively human-like, while the other was a huge, menacing pincer capable of rending much damage. The head was round, bald, and held a pair of pupil-less yellow eyes that shone with hostility. Its mouth sat slightly open, revealing needle-like razor sharp teeth; the fangs were elongated, nearly five inches each.

The two witches turned upon hearing him take a step, spying him instantly. Cova gave a slight yowl in his direction, and Spinner just glanced, remaining impassive.

"Ah, there you are, Galcia, my magnificent blue fiend!" Haggar addressed him. "My apprentice and I have a task for you. We're going to take a little trip, to where you can crush and destroy things to your heart's content after you help us kill the five humans who escaped us." Galcia roared in delight at the offer.

"Just save the smallest one for last, okay?" Sakura said. "I wanna torment him a little first." Haggar cackled happily at her apprentice's request.

"We'll see, dearie, we'll see," she said, then turned back to Galcia. "Come now, let us go." Haggar turned and led the unlikely group past a few more spires to where a pair of black space coffins sat waiting, and boarded one with Cova while Galcia climbed into the other.

"Uh, what about...?" Sakura asked.

"Just climb in with me, dearie," Haggar said. "There's plenty of room."

"Okay," Sakura replied, and carefully climbed in with her mentor, Spinner flitting down to rest upon the coffin's cushy inner lining beside her. "Why are we taking coffins instead of a full ship?"

"To cut down the likelihood of the humans and their Arusian allies detecting us with whatever tracking equipment this new castle may provide them," Haggar explained.

"Here we go again," Spinner muttered, and the coffins closed. They blasted off a few moments later, zooming through space to planet Arus. The trip took several hours, during which the two familiars dozed while Haggar took the opportunity to verbally quiz Sakura on her spell casting, magical history, and potion making knowledge, Sakura passing with an eighty-nine percent. Finally the space coffins reached Arus, and landed in a mountainous area northeast of the Castle of Lions. They opened, and the passengers disembarked, Haggar cackling to herself in twisted glee at the job soon to come.

Sakura, meanwhile, took a glance around the area, and quietly marveled at how different it was from Galra. It was the middle of the night, but she could still see the rich vegetation in all its colors, and a cool, clean wind blew. She actually found herself hoping that, when all was said and done, the planet wouldn't be too ravaged from its re-conquest; she'd like dearly to take a full-on vacation here someday. She had a dim, ghostly memory of living someplace green when she was little, and for a moment she was filled with nostalgia and a quiet longing.

"Now we wait til sunrise," Haggar instructed, and all nodded in assent.

The next day was bright and beautiful, and Princess Allura decided to take a cart of food out to the nearby ruined city to give it out to the people, the five Voltron pilots going with her as guards and assistants. Haggar and Sakura had quietly slipped into the city remains during the early morning light of the day, and now watched Allura and the humans from the shadows, waiting for the right opportunity. The little human, the large one, and the moody one in the brown jacket, 'Lance' Sakura recalled his name being, separated off for a while, calling out to everyone that it was safe to come out and receive the food. The people were slow at first, but by planetary noon several dozen, many of them children, emerged from their hiding places and followed the three to the cart, the Princess happily handing out fruits, vegetables, and bread to the hungry and half-broken people. She even gave one lucky little boy three lollipops!

At one point three women approached Allura, tears in their eyes.

"Princess," one breathed.

"She looks just like her mother!" a slightly older one said. "Oh, the memories!"

"We're so happy you've grown up safely," the third said, and they all went to their knees and kissed the back of Allura's hand, swearing eternal fealty. Sakura, watching the emotional display, felt like she might become ill from all the sweetness. At this point she and Haggar held a position behind a wall several feet away from their targets, said unsuspecting fools having their backs turned to the two waiting witches.

"Alright, now we just have to lure them away to us, and we'll have them!" Haggar quietly cackled. Sakura thought about that, and beamed in inspiration.

"I have an idea," she commented with a grin.

"Pretty good turn out, huh?" Lance commented as another peasant partook of a loaf of bread.

"Yes, they're really happy," Sven agreed, cheer on his face. Just then the little blue mouse sitting on Pidge's shoulder squeaked in surprise, causing the young human to turn in curiosity.

"What is it, Platt?" he asked, then blinked. "Oh..." For there, walking nervously towards them from the rear, was a little girl, right around Pidge's own age. Her mousy brown hair looked ruffled and unkempt, her emerald eyes filled with uncertainty, her simple brown dress and brown shoes ragged and overused.

"Hm?" Sven and Lance looked, too, then smiled warmly at the child.

"It's okay, little one, there's plenty for you, too," Sven told her.

"Yeah, come on and dig in," Lance agreed. The little girl smiled slightly, and took a couple more steps forward, when a sudden cat like roar sounded, and a black mass jumped out, knocking the child to the ground. The girl did the only logical thing, she gave out a scream of terror.

"What the?!" Lance stared.

"What is that thing?!" Pidge asked in shock as it turned to stare at them with fierce sapphire orbs. At first blush it looked to be a large black panther or puma, its ears standing straight up as though cropped, but several details were off. First was the yellow-white bow with a bright blue sphere at its center that the creature seemed to wear on it's chest. Second was the sapphire-like crystal in the shape of two half-pyramids connected at the bottoms, seemingly embedded in the creature's forehead. And finally, were the two giant black-edged blue butterfly wings emanating from the feline's back.

"Is it a robeast?" Pidge asked. The thing actually seemed to 'humph' at that notion, as if understanding his query, then it roared, turned back to the child, and grabbed her by the dress with its jaws, and jumped into the air, its two large wings beating hard, and it flew off, the girl crying in fear and panic.

"Hurry, we gotta save her before it eats her!" Lance cried and dashed off in pursuit.

"Wait! Don't go alone!" Sven cried after him. Sven started to run after Lance and the creature and girl as well, then stopped, quickly dashed back to where Pidge was, and grabbed a sword left leaning by the wall. He then took off after Lance as fast as he could.

Lance ran as fast as possible to catch the monster cat, hoping beyond hope that the little girl it had grabbed would be okay.

'What is that thing?' he pondered to himself. 'Is that some sort of native wildlife? Allura never mentioned anything about butterfly-winged panthers, but what other options are there?' He quickly turned a corner and blinked. The little girl had been deposited on the ground, unmoving, and the cat creature was nowhere to be seen. He quickly dashed over to the little girl, and was relieved to find her still alive and well.

"It's okay, kid," he told her reassuringly. "Whatever it was, it's gone, you're safe now." The girl looked up in awe.

"You really came to save me," she almost looked like she was about to cry, then her face suddenly took on a twisted, evil smile. "You really are dumber than you look!"

"Huh?" Lance found himself jumping to his feet and back a step, but it was too late as a net of pure energy suddenly lashed out and snared him. An old Galran hag in brown robes stood on the other end of the net holding the wooden staff from which the net came, a blue Galran cat at her feet. "What?!"

The little girl giggled evilly and jumped to her feet, her peasant appearance dissolving to return Sakura to her true one, her staff reappearing in her hand.

"See, mama Haggar, it worked!" she said to the old woman.

"Yes, my evil apprentice, your plan was as beautiful as it was brilliant!" Haggar agreed, a vicious smile on her lips.

"You're...you're with her?!" Lance stared, his mind not able to believe that a human child could willingly help anyone from planet Doom, let alone this old hag. "Who are you?!"

"Not that it really matters, since we're going to kill you," Haggar sneered, "But since you asked, I am Haggar, High Witch to King Zarkon. And this is my chosen Apprentice and heir..."

"Witch Sakura!" Sakura gleefully introduced herself. "Pity the little human didn't come, too."

"Little human? You mean Pidge?" Lance blinked, surprised yet again by this child.

"Pidge?" Sakura blinked. "The cute one's – I mean the little one's name is Pidge?" Haggar cackled merrily at Sakura's attempt to verbally backpedal as she took hold of the net with her hands and started to pull Lance in to his death.

"Cute?" Lance whispered. "Oh, gods..."

"Yes, puberty is upon her, we know," a male voice chimed, and Lance glanced to the side to see Spinner laying calmly atop the weathered and broken wall to his right, watching all with an air of detachment. "Hello," he said to the human.

"What?!" Lance's brain seemed to momentarily lock up again.

"My familiar, Spinner Sun," Sakura explained. "Does that clear everything up? Are you ready to die now?"

"Hell with that!" Lance finally found the strength to snap into action, and reached into his coat, pulling out a laser pistol. Sakura saw this and immediately blasted him with a burst of energy from her staff, knocking the weapon from his hand before he could even aim.

"Shit!" Lance swore, now truly fearing for his life. Haggar was dragging him closer, and closer, and closer...

"STOP!" a voice cried out, getting their attention, and Sven dashed up, swinging his sword in an upward arc and severing the net mid way between Lance and Haggar. Lance fell backwards on his rear with the drag finally removed.

"Thanks, Sven," Lance gasped. Sven gave him a nod, then turned to the two witches.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, having only caught the last three or four lines of commentary before he arrived, and even that in the distance.

"Like I said before, we're here to take your lives!" Haggar cackled. "Isn't that right, my wicked student?"

"That's the plan!" Sakura agreed, then glanced in the direction Sven had come running in from. "Is that Pidge guy coming, too?"

"No, he stayed behi...why do you care?" Sven started to answer, then blinked.

"I think she has a crush on him," Lance replied, and Sven actually gave a little shudder.

"To think, a human actually working with the forces of planet Doom," Sven muttered.

"It's called Galra, actually," Sakura corrected him. Sven just tsked, then turned slightly to his comrade in arms.

"Quickly, Lance, run back and tell Keith, and make sure they get Princess Allura back to the castle safely. I'll hold them here," he instructed, Lance nodding in acknowledgment. He got up and dashed quickly back the way he came. Sven calmly turned his attention back to the witches.

"It doesn't matter," Haggar continued to smile evilly. "Either one of you will do!"

"Should have tried to run while you could!" Sakura taunted. "Hope you enjoy your death!"

"Only one of us dies today!" Sven declared, and charged, his sword held aloft, ready to swing, his aim pointed straight at Haggar. 'If I can kill the old witch,' he reasoned, 'it should break whatever mind control spell is on the little girl!' He quickly closed the distance, and swung down, and for a moment it looked like he would slice the old witch in two vertically. But just as it looked like he was going to hit her, she split into three duplicates, the sword tasting only air.

Sven blinked, then swung again, and again; on his next swing Sakura took a step forward and his heart nearly stopped when he thought he was about to send his sword through the girl's head, only for Sakura to split into a series of duplicates as well. Both witches cackled and laughed merrily at his plight as he stepped back, only for the multiple witches to start circling around him, the Haggars clockwise and the Sakuras counterclockwise. Sven's eyes were darting back and forth, trying to see through the illusion before it was too late.

"Which one, which one," he muttered aloud. "Which one is it?"

"Hehehe, oh, yes, which ones are the real ones?!" Sakura singsonged and laughed at him, Haggar just continuing to cackle away. Spinner suddenly appeared in his face with a quick "BOO!" before he chuckled and fluttered back away from the trapped human. Sven was startled by the familiar's appearance, and his disorientation increased. The moving witches then stopped, and each released a blast from their staffs, Sakura hitting him in the chest and Haggar in the face, blinding him. The blasts were powerful enough to draw out a scream of pain from their victim as Sven desperately covered his eyes to try and save them.

"What?!" Keith stared at Lance. "Sven's fighting Zarkon's witch alone?!"

"What about that little girl and the thing that grabbed her?!" Pidge asked, worried for the child.

"The thing vanished, and the girl was a lure," Lance said. "She's the witch's apprentice!"

"Apprentice?!" Hunk stared in shock. "But I thought you said she was human?!" Keith immediately came to a decision.

"Hunk, Pidge, get the Princess back to the castle, guard her with your lives!" he ordered.

"Right, Commander!" Hunk said, and turned and grabbed Allura's arm, the Princess still diligently handing out food to the people. "Time to go, Princess," Hunk told her, and he and Pidge wasted no time getting her on a horse, each taking one for themselves, and the three rode for the castle. The people were surprised and confused, and began to murmur in fear. Meanwhile Keith turned back to Lance.

"Lead the way, and let's hurry," he said.

"Right, this way," Lance replied, and turned and ran back towards where he left Sven and the witches, Keith hot on his heels.

Sven breathed carefully, focusing his mind as he closed his eyes and reached out with his other senses. His training did its work, and soon he could "sense" that the real Haggar and Sakura were directly in front of him, not actually moving at all.

"I have you now!" he called, and charged, sword once more held aloft. He got right up next to them and swung down, Haggar abandoning her spell to block his sword with her staff. Sakura also ditched her illusion to thrust her own staff into Sven's lower ribs, momentarily slowing him as he took a step back. At that point Cova took action, leaping from the ground onto Sven's left shoulder and clawing and biting at him, Spinner zooming forward to chomp on his sword hand in an effort to make him drop it.

Sven struggled to get Cova off and swing Spinner away at the same time, when the last blow came from Galcia's claw hand coming down on his right shoulder from behind, delivering crippling internal damage. Cova flipped back to the ground as Spinner also fell back, Sven's sword flipping through the air and landing in the ground point first, standing straight up. Sven himself staggered on his feet only a moment longer, then fell to the ground, laying face down. Galcia circled around him, growled, then swung down on the prone and helpless human one last time, again with its claw hand, eliciting one last scream of pain from Sven - his last.

Approaching footsteps drew their attention, and Haggar made a decision.

"Sounds like two or more," she said. "They'll be ready this time, best to withdraw for now." Using her magic to calm Galcia, she and the robeast, Cova, and Spinner turned and began to depart. Sakura stared at the felled Sven a moment longer before turning and following after her master.

She wasn't sure why, after all she had seen countless slaves and robeasts fall and die in the arena, but for some reason seeing Sven's last moments...bothered her.

A few moments later Keith and Lance came around the corner, and saw their comrade lying on the ground, a small pool of blood starting to form beneath him.

"SVEN!" Keith yelled, and they ran over to him, carefully turning him over onto his back.

"Sven! Sven! Stay with us!" they cried, trying to put pressure on the bleeding and keep him alive.

"Go back," Sven whispered. "Go back to the castle...they have a new robeast...I so wanted...to see the...kingdom...restored with...my own eyes..." And with that, Sven went still forever, his forgotten sword finally toppling over to the ground with a light clack as he did.

"Sven!" Keith yelled.

"No!" Lance cried. But it was no use. He was gone.

A hero had passed into the eternal night.

A couple of hours later at the castle, the four remaining humans, Allura, and her advisor Coran, stood in moratorium over Sven, laid out before them in his coffin in a quiet room hastily set up for the impromptu viewing. The mood all around was sorrow. They all stood quietly, looking on at the coffin, tears in their eyes, none wanting to completely accept the tragedy. Finally, Pidge stepped up to the coffin that lay set upon the floor, and dropped to his knees.

"Why?" he whispered. "Why'd you have to die, Sven? We'd just gotten started..."

"We got careless after we won, and let down our guard at the worst moment," Keith quietly replied as Allura flopped to her knees, the grief overtaking her. She'd only known Sven for little more than a week, but had come to care for him as a good friend, as she had the others, and the pain of losing him was more than she thought it'd be. "And now Sven's paid the ultimate price..." Keith continued. As Pidge and Allura sobbed, Lance moved slightly closer to his remaining adult comrades.

"We have another problem," he whispered to Keith and Hunk. "The little girl, the apprentice, she wants Pidge."

"Huh?" Keith blinked at him.

"What do you mean, she 'wants' him?" Hunk asked, also whispering as he figured Lance didn't want anyone else to hear this, at least not yet.

"When they were taunting me, she called him...the 'cute one'," Lance slowly admitted, and Keith and Hunk's eyes rose slightly as the full implications sank in. "I don't think we should tell him, not yet," Lance added, concerned for his youngest friend's well being.

"Yeah," Hunk agreed. "He has enough to worry about for right now."

"We'll figure out when and how to tell him later," Keith consented, and they all again lapsed into silence, their minds returning to their lost friend.

Out in the nearby desert, right on the edge before the landscape gave way once more to the more greener areas leading toward the castle, Haggar and Sakura sat waiting, Cova in Haggar's arm and Spinner on Sakura's shoulder. The robeast Galcia stood twelve feet in front of them, awaiting orders and making small sounds in its throat. The quiet of the moment was disturbed by the roar of a ship's engines as Yurak's command ship floated into range, the Commander having arrived quickly once Haggar sent word of their success at dispatching one of the five wretched humans.

Sakura, for one, was pleased to see the command ship. While traveling by space coffin had it's...advantages...she most definitely preferred the comfort of the full travel quarters provided aboard the huge ship for officers and important personnel. The ship moved until it was just over Galcia, then halted.

"Energize and enlarge the robeast!" Yurak's voice came over a loudspeaker, and Galcia was blasted with the energizing beam to flood the creature with power and enlarge it to ten times its original size. It roared in pleasure and stormed off towards the Castle of Lions.

"That's it, Galcia, my wicked fiend," Haggar cackled. "With one human slain, they can no longer form Voltron, so nothing stands in your way! Journey to the Castle of Lions and level it to the ground! Crush all within!"

"And if they send out the other lions," Sakura added, ignoring a heavy feeling in her stomach, "tear their legs off and toss'em in the lake, we'll fetch them later!" Haggar glanced at her apprentice as Galcia roared over his shoulder and continued forward. Sakura glanced back to her mentor and smiled. "We could still use the lions for the glory of the empire, provided they're not totally destroyed and irreparable, right?" she asked. Haggar thought that through, and smiled back.

"Very true, my dearie, well thought," she lauded her student. At that point the command ship landed and they quickly boarded, joining Yurak on the bridge to watch the coming show. Yurak gave them a brief nod of acknowledgment as they arrived.

Outside, Galcia charged through the ruined city, smashing through old buildings like they were stacks of children's blocks, moving ever forward to the castle. He was about half way there when the four lions appeared, and immediately jumped the robeast, determined to gain victory without the power of the mighty Voltron. Galcia batted them off with ease, and black lion rebounded, two tube like cannons appearing on it this time, one at each shoulder, and fired. The two missiles smacked Galcia dead on, but the monster barely noticed, and responded by opening a hidden compartment in its knee and firing a missile of its own. The black and yellow lions dodged just barely in time as the missile hit the ground.

Galcia then fired more missiles from the tubes on the back of his wrists, and the lions fled, Galcia giving chase until they were backed up to the edge of a cliff overlooking the cauldron of a semi-live volcano, molten lava bubbling and waiting below. The four lions halted, seemed to survey the problem ahead, and then turned to face the robeast behind, Galcia stomping towards them to defeat them and win the battle.

"Hehheh, so much for the mighty Voltron," Yurak grinned. "Without the complete set of lions, they're helpless."

"Indeed, our evil work has succeeded wonderfully," Haggar agreed, a cackle on her lips.

"And to think, the guy we nailed flew the blue one," Sakura observed, taking note of which lion was absent. Then a thought passed through her head. "But isn't the blue one one of Voltron's legs? Can't they just form him without and hop around on one foot or just fly long enough to destroy Galcia?" she pondered. Haggar and Yurak blanched at the thought.

"I...can't really see why not..." Yurak admitted.

"If they could, they would have done it by now," Haggar stated firmly. "Voltron cannot be formed without all five lions, it's as simple as that."

"Oh, okay, if you say so," Sakura conceded, and they lapsed into silence for a moment.

"Although," Spinner chimed in. "You gotta admit, the idea of Voltron bouncing on just one leg is kind of funny." They all imagined that for a moment, and chuckled merrily at the thought of a hopping, one-legged Voltron. Then the battle between the lions and Galcia took an unexpected turn.

The red lion strode bravely forward a few steps, Galcia roaring at it in challenge, and the other three dashed away to the sides, swinging around behind the robeast. Before Galcia could look to see what they were up to, red lion jumped onto him, biting down hard on Galcia's shoulder and drawing a line of green blood. Galcia gave another roar, this one of pain and rage, and tried to shake off the red lion, then the other three launched into its back while it was distracted, shoving both robeast and red lion off the edge into the magma below. A few moments later the red lion emerged unharmed, rejoining his brothers.

Aboard the command ship, all were stunned quiet for a moment, not sure what to think.

"I did not see that coming," Sakura admitted finally.

"We were so close that time," Yurak groused.

"It matters not," Haggar smiled jovially. "One of the human pilots is dead, and Voltron can no longer be formed. Let them have their moment of luck, next time they'll all die." Haggar cackled happily to herself, and Yurak gave the command to return to planet Galra, their work for the moment done. Spinner just watched for a moment, and glanced at his mistress.

"Sakura, are you alright?" he asked quietly. She glanced back at him briefly.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, but it was actually far from the truth.

Sakura's mind was still whirling. On the one hand, she had aided in handing Galra a victory after multiple set-backs, and Haggar was now more proud of her than ever. On the other, she had aided in ending someone's life.

And somehow, though she wasn't sure why, that didn't seem to even remotely balance out...

That evening on Arus, Sven was buried serenely in a grave in a field just a small ways away from the castle, the remaining team members giving him a final salute while Allura left flowers in his coffin before it was sealed and buried. A marker was still being made, and would be placed later. There was nothing more to be said or done, and all they could do now was move forward...


And so Sven dies! What, did you think I was gonna keep the dub lie that he lived and was "injured"? Give me a little more credit than that! Next up, then, putting a Princess in a pilot's seat! And for those wondering just what that thing was that grabbed Sakura, that'll be revealed at another time, hehhehheh...

Scorpinac