Chapter 10: Stratagems
Sakura was not wrong in her assertion of coming events. In his rage and ire, Zarkon tossed over fifty slaves spanning a variety of ages from six to sixty into the arena to be slain by a group of robeasts, and then ordered nearly a dozen executions on top of that. By what Sakura could only call the greatest of luck, she escaped being included, not that she took much solace in it. During the slave massacres, one young human girl of about sixteen or seventeen managed to halt a robeast just by staring at it, and then caused it to turn on one of its brethren with the same stare. Haggar took immediate notice, and ordered the girl removed to her lab for closer examination.
As fate would have it, the girl, Lisa, was gifted with telepathy, and had simply used her power to "erase" herself and the slaves immediately near her from the robeast's sight, and make it think the other robeast was an intended slave victim. Seeing a potential weapon for the Empire, Haggar confined the girl to her lab and began to work on strengthening the girl's abilities. Sakura, while collecting certain magic enhancing stones near the slave pits for a lesson assignment, learned that Lisa had an elder brother who had escaped the sudden 'culling', and had him moved to the palace dungeon, informing Lisa of his location and the results to him if she failed to cooperate with Haggar. Lisa cooperated completely.
While this project was underway, Haggar crafted a humanoid cobra robeast named Bambara, and disguised it as a white-haired young human man going by the identity of Prince Bokar of the Synac Kingdom of planet Orion. Sending the cleverly disguised monster to Arus, "Bokar" managed to "save" Princess Allura from crashing the Blue Lion, again, during a training exercise, then used the opening to introduce himself and claim he had come to protect Allura and, hopefully, win her as his bride. The plan was to have Bambara infiltrate the Castle directly and kill all of the pilots of Voltron in their sleep with cobra servants that he was able to produce from his body at will. Or, failing that, steal a lion, any lion, from the humans.
The first plan failed when it turned out the four remaining former slaves of Galra slept a warrior's sleep, and awoke before the produced cobras could reach their targets and strike, the humans managing to destroy them all. The second failed first when Lance spotted a surviving cobra wriggling in "Bokar's" sleeve and shot it, and when the false Prince grabbed Allura as a hostage and made for the Blue Lion, something else went wrong. Haggar only knew for certain that some kind of magic intervened, and in the end Bambara was ejected from the lion in mid-air in his true form, at which point Yurak, nearby in his command ship as per usual, bathed Bambara with the enlarging beam. As Bambara grew, the lions quickly combined into Voltron, and the behemoths engaged in battle that lit up the night. Bambara was destroyed in just under two minutes, Haggar's clever plan completely crushed.
During all this, Haggar and Sakura watched all via their familiars, Zarkon having ordered that until further notice the two would remain on Arus for surveillance duty. And before Sakura could even ask about it, Zarkon had also quickly decreed that Sakura was "grounded" to Galra until such time as she might actually be useful against the enemy titan, or the status quo actually changed in some meaningful manner. In other words, no time soon.
After the Bambara failure, Haggar decided that Lisa was sufficiently prepped for a simple infiltration mission. The plan was simple – Lisa would "escape", earn the enemy's trust, then plant a bomb in the enemy castle where it would do the most damage possible. At first Lisa was unsure of such a thing, until Zarkon told her he would release all the human slaves on Galra – and only Galra – if she succeeded; his solemn promise! Sakura couldn't believe the girl actually bought the outright lie hook, line, and sinker. And on top of that, her brother was offered the chance to assist his sister as back up by becoming a robeast with the same deal, and he bought it, too.
The first part of the plan went well, as the false escape included shooting Lisa down after reaching Arus for authenticity, and at first it seemed like the humans were falling for it, taking the girl into the castle and listening to her half true story, even allowing her a room to herself. Two nights after her arrival, and then only because her last second ejection from her crashing ship had been a little too last second and she'd actually required a brief recovery time before springing into action, Lisa snuck out of her room in the dead of the night, and made for the nearest missile room. Using her partially strengthened powers, she managed to open the doors telekinetically and entered the chamber before risking making telepathic contact with Haggar.
After reporting her progress, Lisa was directed by Haggar to the part of the room where the bomb would set off the biggest chain reaction. Haggar quietly admitted to Sakura as they watched via Haggar's crystal ball that the Castle of Lions would probably not be destroyed, but it would suffer sufficient damage as to be no more a protective force than the previous castle had been at the end. Sakura watched the ball intently, looking forward to the impending results, while at the same time lamenting the most likely impending death of Pidge.
'I wonder if I'll ever find a boy that cute, err, interesting, to torment again?' she mildly wondered to herself, when the plan suddenly went wrong. Even as Lisa escaped the castle and fled for the Arusian hills to hide until pick up arrived, something suddenly ejected from near the top of the castle and flew into the air for several feet before exploding violently. A few moments later the blast cloud cleared, and the castle was unharmed.
"WHAT?!" Zarkon snapped from his throne, as they were in the throne room at the time, the two witches and the crystal ball at the bottom of the steps.
"Son of a...," Sakura breathed in surprise. "Are you kidding me? She put it on something ejectable?! Wait, how'd they know to..."
"I think that's beyond the point now, dearie," Haggar cut her off, and immediately set the back-up plan into action, releasing Lisa's brother, now a cyclopean robeast, into the area nearby the castle. The lions quickly responded, Voltron was formed, and the robeast, not unsurprisingly, was destroyed. Afterward, Sakura managed to get Spinner into visual distance of Lisa at a cliff side, in time to see the giant member of the human team pleading with her. A moment later, Lisa jumped off the cliff.
While Zarkon had been disgusted with yet another failure, and Haggar sulked due to not getting to experiment with Lisa further, Sakura felt the same feelings of turmoil she'd briefly felt when they'd killed Sven. And this time, she thought, she had a more direct hand in it, via having found and brought the human brother to Haggar's attention in the first place. 'Someone else probably would have found him eventually anyway, this probably still would have happened, regardless,' a voice inside her head told her.
Somehow, that didn't make her feel any better.
After that, Haggar set her a few additional learning assignments that had Sakura departing the castle, and thus Zarkon's orbit, for a few hours and, under the supervision of a guard – not that Sakura nor Haggar really thought she needed it, but safety first – into the nearby city of Sincline. While she was away, Haggar began working with a new plan involving a white lion robeast named Lian, and a little subtle dream manipulation. Casting a spell to give him the appearance of a true albino lion, Haggar took the lion to Arus and, with Cova in position at the castle next to the Princess's window, cast a second spell into the Arusian girl's sleeping mind.
Haggar made the Princess dream of her castle under attack by Galran foot soldiers, her arm injured, and her precious comrades slaughtered. Then, for the coup de gras, Haggar inserted a vision of Allura's mother into the girl's mind, a stern look upon the dead woman's face. Not unsurprisingly, Allura then snapped awake, and Haggar instilled the next part of the plan, allowing Allura alone to hear Lian's roars, and casting an image of his current lion form onto her window. Haggar then created a voice resembling the late Arusian Queen's to lure the Princess out of the castle and away into the nearby forest. Two recently assigned night guards on the front gate attempted to halt her, but so deep was the spell that she quickly broke from them and dashed off anyway.
Cova was, by this point, already long gone from the castle, rejoining his mistress and Spinner at the agreed upon meeting place while Lian awaited Allura in the forest.
"Well done, my darling evil pet," Haggar cooed to her familiar, getting a pleased meow in reply.
"I trust she's taking the bait we tossed her?" Spinner inquired.
"With how layered I made my spell, I don't see why not," Haggar stated. Cova meowed in agreement, and then a light roar was heard, drawing their attention. They slipped into a more concealed place, and waited. Sure enough, Allura appeared a short time later, on Lian's heals and chatting away to the "lion" she'd been ensorcelled to believe was her reincarnated mother.
"Silly Princess, to be lured out so easily," Haggar sneered as she watched the human come forward. "You make this too easy. Don't you agree, Cova? Spinner?" Cova gave a yowl in response, and Spinner just nodded.
Back on Galra, Sakura returned from her trip to Sincline, her lesson materials and a couple of souvenirs carried in a bag in her left hand. As she moved through the castle towards her and Haggar's chambers, she paused when she noticed Yurak heading past in the other direction. He shuffled by quickly, not even noticing Sakura's presence.
"Yurak?" she asked, halting her own motion. Yurak's head rose slightly as he also stopped, then he turned to her, seeming to only just notice she was there.
"Oh, Sakura, back I see," he commented. "How'd it go?"
"Fine," she said. "Educational, a little boring. Where are you going?"
"Command ship, headed to Arus, again," Yurak replied. "Haggar said to head out to meet up with her at this point, and that she'd send a signal if her current plan was going as intended." Sakura blinked.
"She went to Arus?" she asked. "Without me?" She then slipped easily into seeing through Spinner's eyes, something she noted became easier and easier every time she did, and quickly noted his location overlooking an Arusian waterfall dropping into a canyon river. And sure enough, Haggar and Cova were both there with him. "I can't believe she went without me!" she snapped. Haggar had never left Galra without Sakura before, at least not that Sakura could remember.
"Well, Zarkon did ground you to Galra," Yurak reminded her.
"So?!" Sakura glared at him. "It's not like his orders have ever stopped her before!"
"And with his current temperament over the whole Arus situation?" Yurak stared at her pointedly. Sakura continued to glare angrily for only a moment longer, then sighed reluctantly as her face fell.
"I guess," she admitted. She turned to continue on to her chambers. Yurak watched her start away, then turned to continue on his own route when his communicator chirped.
"Yes?" he answered it.
"Sir, there will be a minor delay in departure," a voice came over the communicator. "Nothing serious, just getting a few replacement supplies properly stowed. Should be ready in about fifteen minutes."
"Understood. Yurak out," he replied, and snapped off the communicator. He paused, then looked back at the retreating Sakura, making a decision against his better judgment. "You know, Sakura," he spoke up, getting her attention as she stopped and glanced back at him over her shoulder, "if you were somehow aboard my command ship when it took off, there isn't a whole lot I could do about it." Sakura blinked in surprise.
"Are you suggesting I stow away?" she finally asked.
"Hey, your decision," he shrugged and finally continued down the hallway to the port. Sakura continued to her chambers, contemplating all the way there. The thing that kept going through her mind was how Zarkon would react when he found out she'd left Galra without orders.
'No,' she decided in the end as she arrived at her quarters, entered, and deposited her bag on her bed, 'it's not worth the risk. I want to live!' She put down her wand and began pulling things out of her bag when a knock came at the door, grabbing her attention. "Yes? Come in," she called, and a guard entered.
"Witch Sakura, orders from King Zarkon!" he snapped to attention the moment he saw her.
"What now? Is he going to have me do jester tricks for the court or something?" she asked, certain this could only lead to badness...for her.
"Negative, ma'am," the guard replied. "His Imperial Majesty commands you to board Fleet Commander Yurak's command ship and join him on the trip to Arus to back up your Master in the current endeavor if needed! Also, you are not allowed to leave the ship for any reason until it returns to Galra!"
"Seriously?" Sakura blinked, then collected herself. "Alright, on my way!" she saluted back, grabbed her wand, and took off for the ship at top speed.
Back on Arus, just as Allura and Lian reached the waterfall, Red Lion appeared, and Lance jumped out and engaged the white lion in battle, claw versus laser gun...which ended in seconds with the lion spitting out magic webbing, entangling and dropping Lance to the ground. The others arrived shortly thereafter and also engaged the lion, Hunk and Pidge meeting the same fate, Keith just barely escaping the fight by heading back up the canyon wall. Lian chased after and even got ahead of Keith, then Keith used his laser gun to create a dust cloud and escaped. Lian then dropped back to the ground in front of Allura, roaring at her. Allura shook for a moment, her hands crossed over her chest, then went still, and sighed.
"I was hoping to see this out a little longer. Oh, well," she lamented, then pulled her own laser pistol from her cleavage and fired at Lian, who jumped back in surprise, dodged another shot, then leapt at Allura, knocking her to the ground and pinning her, the gun flying from her hand as she fell. "Damn," she swore, and went as still as possible. Haggar, Cova, and Spinner came out a few moments later, and Haggar cast a quick short term sleep spell on the collected "heroes", rendering them all null.
When they woke again several minutes later, the boys were all tied to stakes in the ground while sitting on their rumps, and Allura was tied to a cross, crucifixion style. By this time, Keith had snuck around to a stone jut about halfway up the waterfall from where he could see everything, and waited for his chance to do something. Haggar cackled excitedly at her success.
"Look, Cova, Spinner, we've caught all the little fish but one," she gloated.
"Yes, the leader, I believe," Spinner concurred.
"My magic worked like a charm, and now we'll finish them off!" Haggar continued, then stepped forward to lift Allura's chin with the top of her staff. "Look well at your 'mother', pretty Princess," she cackled, and the spell disguising Lian dropped, revealing the sword wielding, two-legged robeast beneath. Allura stared at the thing for only a moment, then exhaled in disappointment.
"So that's what it is," she sighed. "Figures."
"Huh, you don't seem that upset or surprised," Spinner observed.
"You don't mean to say you knew all along, do you?" Haggar blinked, feeling a little irritated at this turn of events.
"Knew? No," Allura admitted. "Suspected? Yes. After your 'Prince Bokar' I've made it a point not to take anything at immediate face value, and the fact that neither of the gate guards could hear the lion roaring when I asked them about it was a bit of a red flag. That's why I took a gun from one of them and told them to tell the boys to follow me in their lions, discretely, five minutes after they awoke, which apparently they didn't follow as instructed," she continued, the last aimed at her teammates.
"Uh, we didn't get that order," Lance admitted, the other two nodding in agreement. Allura glared.
"I'll talk to them later," she decided.
"What later? You're mine now, remember? This is what happens to those who defy the will of Zarkon, and with all of you here, there will be no Voltron to save you!" Haggar gleefully told her royal captive, her good cheer restored. She then turned to Lian, who had moved to stand over Lance, growling menacingly.
"Now, Lian, take off the mens' heads!" she commanded. "But leave the boy, he has a different fate in store for him!" Lance, Hunk, and Allura stared in alarm, Pidge filled with both fear and confusion.
"We're really gonna take him back?" Spinner asked, and Cova gave a yowl of unconcern. "Tch, says you," Spinner quipped. Lian, meanwhile, had drawn his sword, roared, and drew back, ready to slice off Lance's head as ordered.
"Stop, please!" Allura begged, but Lian ignored her and swung downward. Before it could reach Lance's noggin, a laser shot fired out, knocking the blade aside. Keith jumped out and fired a few more shots, drawing Lian's attention, the robeast leaping after him to subdue his enemy. The two danced around each other, Lian swinging his sword at Keith, and Keith nimbly dodging out of the way while looking for an opening for another shot.
"Well, this is a tad annoying," Spinner observed.
"No matter, my wicked beast will destroy him and victory will remain ours," Haggar stated, unperturbed.
"Um, I probably don't want to know the answer, but, why are you sparing me?" Pidge asked, his curiosity eating him up.
"Yes, do tell," Allura spoke up. "As long as you have a moment to gloat, I mean." Haggar glanced back at her captives, then down toward Lance.
"You mean you haven't told them, yet?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
"Uh...," Lance found himself feeling like a deer in the headlights as he realized he had, in fact, not yet told Pidge or Allura about Sakura's crush on the boy member of the team. Hunk looked equally flummoxed as he realized he hadn't told either of them, either. Fortunately right then, before any more could be said, an engine roar could be heard, and Blue Lion suddenly flew into view...decidedly out of control!
"Who's flying blue lion?" Lance asked the question on all their minds, and then Blue suddenly released a torrent of water from its mouth, which washed into Haggar and the familiars and knocked them into the river, sending them downstream.
"Aah! No! Not water!" Spinner screamed as the wash hit them. Unfortunately for the heroes, the torrent also knocked over Allura's cross, sending her into the river as well. Blue then landed next to the river with, to put it nicely, less than grace. The events also distracted the two cliff side combatants, Lian screaming Haggar's name and leaping into the river after her, dropping his sword in the process, while Keith quickly holstered his gun, pulled a knife and placed it between his teeth, and dove in after Allura.
Keith and a now free Allura rose first and rejoined their comrades even as the pilot, or pilots as the case would be, of Blue were revealed – Gertrude and Coran. A moment later, Yurak's command ship arrived, escorted by a flock of Star Cutters, and quickly tractor beamed Haggar, in the arms of Lian, and the familiars aboard.
Aboard the bridge, the still wet Haggar, familiars, and Lian were met by Yurak and Sakura, the latter looking thoroughly amused by her master's predicament.
"Water bad, water bad, water bad..." Spinner chanted, looking thoroughly shocked. Cova meowed in agreement as he shook himself off, and Haggar just glared angrily. Sakura rose her wand and the top glowed briefly. Spinner's fur then poofed as he dried almost instantly. "Thank you," he moaned.
"What took you so long, Yurak?" Haggar asked as he smirked at her, and then turned on her apprentice, "And what are you doing here? You're supposed to be restrained to Galra!."
"I thought you were supposed to take care of everything with your marvelous magic, old witch?" Yurak asked in reply.
"But apparently Zarkon thought you might need a hand, that or he just wanted me off the planet, take your pick," Sakura said. "Mind you, I'm not actually allowed off the ship until we get back home."
"Oh, never mind! Just enlarge this beast immediately!" Haggar snapped, indicating Lian.
"Aye, immediately," Yurak agreed, signaling Lian to head back out. Lian took off, and Yurak turned to his crew. "Prepare the Infra Energize Beam!" he commanded, the crew quickly obeying.
"So," Sakura smiled at her mistress and the familiars, her hands resting atop her staff as she let it rest upright on the deck, "everything not going according to plan?"
"Only because the blue lion suddenly showed up out of nowhere," Spinner admitted as he tried to figure out how to de-frizz his fur. Cova mewed in agreement, again, and Haggar's glare slightly increased its intensity.
"Don't make me reconsider my decision about discipline," she growled. Sakura just smiled more broadly.
"Oh, never," she chimed.
Meanwhile, Lian was enlarged, but by then the rest of the team had been freed, and had returned to their lions, Allura being stopped briefly outside blue by Gertrude and Coran.
"Are you sure you should do this?" Gertrude asked. "Maybe Coran and I should..."
"Yes, allow us to pilot the..." Coran started.
"I'm flying, you're riding," Allura said, her personal irritation level at an all time high.
"But..." the two chimed.
"Shut up and get in the lion!" Allura snapped, pushing them toward it. Moments later Blue flew up to join its brothers, and battle was engaged. Initially the lions opted to try and take it on as was, firing volleys from their shoulder cannons, which only served to annoy Lian as he dodged them or took glancing blows. He returned fire with missiles fired from white plates on his chest which missed their targets. Blue lion then charged in for a direct attack, only for Allura to be seized by the illusion of her mother's face over Lian's again, throwing her off just enough for Lian to ensnare her in his mane. The lion struggled while the others formed their mini-blades, readying to attack.
"Ah, looks like my evil spell still has some grip upon her," Haggar leered, feeling better. "We may win this yet."
"And maybe we'll even recapture Pidge, too," Spinner quipped as he smoothed the last of his fur. "Oh, wait, that's the fairy tale universe, isn't it?"
"Oh, have a little faith, Spinner," Yurak glanced at the floating familiar. "It could happen."
"Yeah, it could...wait, you caught Pidge?" Sakura blinked in surprise, turning to her familiar and Haggar.
"Along with all but the black lion pilot, yes," Haggar confirmed. Sakura just stared for a moment longer.
"Dammit!" she cursed, then turned back to the battle, feeling a little annoyed.
"Mother, why?!" Allura screamed as she stared at the illusion she alone saw on her view screen.
"Princess, she's not there!" Coran yelled at her. "It's just a robeast!"
"Princess!" Gertrude screamed, then slapped Allura across the face, which finally snapped her out of it.
"Thanks, Gertrude, I needed that," she said as the illusion of her mother faded. She turned back to her screen staring at the lion-faced abomination before her. "Guys," she called into the com link, "a little help with this mane please?"
The other lions dove in, slicing the mane with their blades and loosening the hold on Blue, and then Allura fired a trio of missiles point blank, freeing her lion and knocking Lian on his ass. At this point the lion pilots decided to end the "foreplay" and formed Voltron, then immediately formed the Blazing Sword. Lian rose to his feet just in time to literally loose his head. At this point, the Galran forces wisely chose to depart while Voltron watched Lian's remains explode into charred chunks.
"Well, that was another bust," Yurak groused. "Maybe we should try nuking the planet from orbit."
"No, their sensors in the new accursed Castle of Lions would pick them up, and doubtlessly they have a means to deflect some, if not most or all, of the missiles we'd fire at them," Haggar negated the idea. "Besides, I want the pleasure of watching these upstart humans dying with my very own eyes, just to know they're actually dead."
"Hm, yeah, I can agree with that," Yurak nodded. "So what do we do next?"
"I dunno," Sakura said with a shrug. "Make it rain blood on them?"
"Um, ew," Spinner said. Yurak and Haggar, though, blinked as they thought that idea over, then smiled cruelly.
"That's my wonderfully smart wicked darling," Haggar cackled, "coming up with such a beautifully brilliant evil idea!"
"Yes, it'll disrupt their morale and allow us an opening!" Yurak agreed.
"Wait, really?" Sakura blinked. "Uh, okay." Yurak chuckled lightly.
"Return us to planet Galra!" he commanded the crew, and the command ship flew towards the dark world once more.
It took almost a week to prepare the new plan, during which time Zarkon was informed of the latest failure and the new strategy, for which he actually lauded Sakura for her on the spot creativity, but soon the blood rain was ready to be unleashed upon Arus. Haggar even added a touch to make the rain ignite almost anything it touched on fire, and Yurak, this time taking a mobile attack fortress containing a pre-enlarged robeast, the minotaur like Buffalon, departed on the new mission. Sakura contritely asked Zarkon permission to join the assault and see the results of her suggested strategy, but Zarkon denied the request, as he had another job for her.
"I want you to communicate with the Viceroy of the Nemon colony on planet Jarre," he told her.
"Jarre? Isn't that a desert planet?" Sakura asked from where she knelt at the bottom of the steps to the throne. "What for?"
"It's simple, little witch," Zarkon replied. "A celebration is being prepared there in honor of my coming birthday, and I want you to get an update on the facilities before we leave for the planet. The communication may take some time, so head to the Interplanetary Communication Room at once."
"The Interplanetary Communication Room?" Sakura's eyes widened. She'd never been allowed in that room before, even with Haggar. This was the last assignment she would have expected her King to give her, especially with all the recent activity regarding Arus. She took a deep breath, and looked up at her sovereign bravely. "Very well, your majesty, I shall fulfill your orders! I shall not fail!" With that she rose and marched smartly to the Interplanetary Communication Room, summoning Spinner to her as she went. After she left the throne room, Cova yowled lightly from Haggar's lap as the witch herself looked up to her liege.
"Is this a test, your highness?" she asked calmly.
"Mmm, of a kind, Haggar," he answered. "Lately the appointed Viceroy has been suspiciously careful in the wording in his reports, leading me to believe he's trying to hide something from me. With luck, this communique should yield greater information, as having someone who looks like him might get him to slip up easier. Especially one so obviously young."
"Ah, crafty sire," Haggar admitted. "But shouldn't Sakura be made aware that she is to be plying for information?"
"And that, witch, is the other part of the test," Zarkon grinned. "If she is to one day advise my son as you do me, then she should be able to detect when someone is hiding information from her, and then find a way to ferret out that information regardless of the desires of the ones' holding it."
"I see," Haggar said. "Then I shall pray to the evil gods that Sakura manages to pass this test."
Sakura arrived at the Communication room in question, and when asked told the guards her business there, Spinner arriving and coming to sit on his customary place on her right shoulder. One of the guards did a quick check with security, and received confirmation of the order.
"You may proceed, Witch Sakura," he said as he opened the door and allowed her through. Within, Sakura couldn't help but stare a moment in awe at the number of machines and operators in attendance. The room was enormous, and contained easily sixty or seventy stations, most of them occupied by Galrans working feverishly to get information updates to and from planets and ships all across the empire. The rest were left empty to allow for ease in shift changes and impromptu communication requirements. The officer in charge noticed her and waved her over.
"Zarkon called down to say you were coming," he told her. "Fifth row, ninth station. It's all set up for you, just hit send and it'll put you through to Jarre."
"Thank you, sir," she replied, and headed to the assigned station. She took a seat at it, glanced at the various buttons on it, and silently thanked the officer again for presetting it for her as she might never have figured it out on her own. Luckily, it only took a few moments to find the send button and push it. The machine revved up and made a trilling noise, the screen filled with the words, "CONNECTING, PLEASE WAIT." She hummed to herself while she waited for the connection to go through, and a moment later the screen came alive as the Viceroy, a human man in his late thirties or so with a thin mustache and wearing a green robe with yellow circles on it under a red cape and a turban, appeared on the screen.
"Yes, this is Viceroy Tabor of planet Jarre speaking," he said, then blinked. "Little one, I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to play with that equipment."
"One, not playing," Sakura replied. "Two, King Zarkon himself ordered me to contact you. I am Witch Sakura, apprentice to Haggar, and I'm to get an update on the preparations for his majesty's upcoming birthday party."
"Seriously?" the Viceroy arched his eye. "Um, well, everything is going as planned, the monument is nearly completed, the landing platform is under triple guard, the banquet hall is being prepped for the celebratory feast, and the finishing touches are being put on the celebratory parade floats as we speak. All should be more than ready by the time he arrives."
"Very good, be sure that it is," Sakura nodded. "We wouldn't want Zarkon to have to make an 'example' out of you, after all."
"Heaven forbid," the Viceroy agreed, since both could imagine several unpleasant ways that "example" could be carried out. "Will that be all, Miss?"
"Well, just out of curiosity, why the triple guard on the landing platform?" she asked. "I wouldn't think the people of your planet would be in that much need of guarding against."
"Oh, uh, no reason, really," the Viceroy answered, but Sakura noted his eyes had widened slightly at the question. "So, you're really Witch Haggar's apprentice? I'd heard that she'd taken one, but I kind of thought you'd be Galran."
"What, hasn't your picture been sent to all the planetary governors in a memo, yet?" Spinner asked idly.
"Yes, I am," Sakura answered the Viceroy's inquiry. "My race, Viceroy, is of no importance. Mam...Master Haggar chose me, and that's what matters. Now, you say a parade is to be held?"
"Ah, yes, and it will be magnificent," the Viceroy beamed. "We've spared no expense, and made every extravagance possible for his majesty, Zarkon."
"Ooh, sounds like fun," Sakura cooed. "I can't wait. And I trust you've gotten the best food for the feast, including the bestest desserts?"
"Absolutely," the Viceroy replied. "I take it someone has a sweet tooth?"
"Do I ever!" Sakura giggled back. "And of course with the heavy guard on the platforms, we won't half to worry about anyone trying to attack his majesty upon our arrival, right?"
"Of course not, it'll be perfectly safe," the Viceroy assured her.
"And of course none of the naughty slaves will be able to try and escape, right?" she winked at him, going for "cute little kid."
"No, that certainly won't happen again," he chuckled, then froze as he realized what he'd said. "ahhh..."
"Ah, hah!" Sakura pounced. "So something did go wrong!"
"Ummm, wellll..." he stammered. "Not...exactly..."
"Spill it!" Sakura jabbed a finger at him. "Or should I just tell Zarkon that you can't be trusted to control your allotted sheep?"
"Okay, okay!" the Viceroy waved his hands in submission. "A couple weeks ago a slave boy snuck down to the landing platform in the dead of night and snatched a ship and made a break for it, but our men responded almost as soon as he started taking off, and shot him down before he could get far. We even have footage of an engine explosion. There's no way he's alive."
"I see," Sakura sat back. "Well, as long he's history, I suppose."
"Absolutely," the Viceroy agreed, a light sweat appearing on the sides of his brow. "Everything's just fine now. In fact, you really don't need to bother his majesty with this silly little triviality, so... our secret?"
"Please, I want to see adulthood," Sakura replied with a smirk. "Just for the hell of it, which way was the idiot trying to escape to? Alliance space?"
"Oh, uh, just a sec," he said, turning away from her, and then she heard him tapping at the keyboard of his computer on his end for a few moments before he turned back to her. "Uh, no, actually. Looks like he was aiming his ship in the direction of..." the Viceroy started, then paused, the sweat returning.
"Of?" Sakura asked, her tone broaching no nonsense.
"Planet...Arus," he finished nervously. Sakura stared for a moment, then slapped her face with one hand.
"Oh, no..." she muttered.
"Let me guess," Spinner said. "Word of Voltron's rising has reached your quaint little rock out there?"
"Yeah," the Viceroy admitted.
"Which means that it's probably already gotten around to half the empire," Spinner sighed. "Or more."
"I'm amazed we're not being besieged by a ton of rebellions from every direction at once, right now," Sakura grunted.
"Give them time," Spinner quipped.
"So...will there be anything else, Ma'am?" the Viceroy asked, hoping beyond hope that the conversation would just end.
"Um, lemme think...yeah, that should do it," Sakura replied. "See you on his Majesty's birthday, then."
"I look forward to your arrivals...I hope," he said, and signed off, the connection ending. Sakura switched off her end as well, and sat back for a moment, contemplating.
"So, how are you going to report all this to Zarkon?" Spinner asked.
"Very carefully," she answered.
Shortly thereafter, she returned to the throne room and made her report, once again on one knee at the bottom of the steps, telling Zarkon how all was proceeding well on Jarre in preparation for the celebration, going over the particulars that she'd discussed with the Viceroy.
"And? Anything else of note, Little Witch?" Zarkon asked when she had finished.
"One thing, sire, though you may be upset by it," Sakura stated evenly. "Apparently, a slave boy nabbed a ship in the dead of night a couple weeks back and had to be shot down to prevent his escape. His flight path indicated he was headed towards Arus, sire." Zarkon stared for a moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Dammit, I knew he was trying to hide something," he growled. "You say the brat was shot out of the sky?"
"The Viceroy stated that an engine explosion was detected, your highness," Sakura replied. "He is certain the boy is dead." Zarkon nodded, still visibly irritated, but not outright enraged.
"Let's hope the Viceroy is correct, for his sake," Zarkon dropped his hand to his arm rest. "Yes, I suppose we must be on alert for more attempts like this until such time as that annoying robot is destroyed. You have done well, Little Witch, you will make a decent adviser for my son yet."
"Thank you, sire!" Sakura felt herself swell with pride. From her place next to the throne, Haggar beamed with pride as well for her apprentice. "Has there been word from Yurak, yet?"
"Not as yet, my wicked darling, but soon I imagine," Haggar answered.
"Now resume your place," Zarkon lightly waved his hand, and Sakura rose and ascended up to the dais, taking her place next to Haggar once more.
As fate would have it, it would only be a few hours more before Yurak reported back, and it was a mixed report. On the one hand, the blood rain, and fires caused thereby, had definitely shaken the Arusians something fierce, and several had fallen in the chaos. Yurak had even managed to capture a large group, and made it clear to the Voltron pilots that all the prisoners would be slain unless they surrendered - and they actually did, trading themselves for the would-be slaves. Only for all of it to fall apart in record time.
Apparently at some point Pidge had taken on a passenger, another child roughly the same age, height, and build as himself, so he'd put the kid into his green uniform and sent him out in his place, and the moment the ground troop commander's guard was down, Pidge had fired his lion's weapons, allowing the rest of the pilots to take out the ground troops and escape with the other Arusians. Yurak had then released Buffalon, Voltron had been formed, and, well, it went about as they could expect.
"Your ground leader seriously couldn't tell one human from another, Yurak?" Zarkon asked, annoyed. "You couldn't?!"
"Well, the lion was several meters away from us, and in the uniform from that distance they looked identical," Yurak stated. "At least enough that we honestly thought it was the human we sought. In hindsight, I probably should have had the monitor officer zoom in on them before they began the trade off to be sure. I have no excuse for not doing so, sire, and accept full responsibility."
"I'd argue they all generally look the same, sire, but I imagine they have the same issue with us," the troop commander, kneeling next to Yurak at the foot of the stairs to the throne, added. Zarkon glared at him, pulled a dagger, and threw it, the blade landing true in the commander's chest. The commander jerked, then fell dead to the floor. Sakura watched all, impassively. It was not the first death she'd witnessed at Zarkon's hands in the throne room, and she sincerely doubted it'd be the last. There was one thing she wanted to know, though.
"Soo, Yurak, which lion does he fly?" she asked, trying to be nonchalant about it.
"Huh? Who, your would-be sweet-heart?" he asked back. As Sakura reflexively blushed, he gave a chuckle, then continued. "The green one, since that was the one firing at us after we thought we had them all prisoner," he told her.
"The green one," she thought aloud. "Now I know which one to cut off!" At that, both Yurak and Haggar chuckled.
"Enough prattling!" Zarkon snapped. "Begone, all of you, before you join him," he pointed at the newly made corpse. Sakura gladly took the invitation to leave the room, and Yurak took it as well, signaling a couple guards to remove the body as he left. Only Haggar remained, attempting to soothe Zarkon's ire.
Five days later Zarkon's personal command carrier was fitted out, and he, Haggar, Sakura, and Yurak boarded it and set off for Jarre for the King's birthday party. Jarre was a six hour trip at primary speeds, being towards the fringe of that part of the Empire, and Sakura spent most of the trip going over her studies, which was now branching into the nastier brand of curses. When an announcement from the pilot finally let them know they were approaching the planet, she glanced out the window, and blinked in surprise.
"Rings?" she asked aloud as she stared at the brownish circlets of dirt and rock around the planet. "I didn't think a solid planet could support any."
"They can't," Haggar replied. "Not in the normal, conventional way, anyhow. Those are primarily dust kicked up from the planet's surface due to windstorms and ship launches."
"A true ring composed of rock and space debris would fall to the planet below within days to weeks, a few months at most," Yurak agreed. "It is a rather unique spectacle, though." Cova, riding in Haggar's lap, simply yowled, and Spinner, currently draped over his mistress's shoulder, humphed.
"Great," he groused, "More sand to get in my fur while we're there." The pilot then announced final approach and that they would shortly enter the gravity well of the planet, so Sakura stowed her book and prepared for landing.
The ship landed smoothly, and the royal entourage departed, Viceroy Tabor meeting them as they disembarked. Behind him a group of humans and Galran soldiers stood at the ready.
"Greetings, Oh mighty King Zarkon! Welcome to Planet Jarre," he announced loudly for all to hear. "As you can see, I have everything under control here." Zarkon nodded, then turned to glance to his right, the sight of the giant monumental statue of himself upon a giant skyscraper pillar catching his eye.
"Ah, magnificent, Viceroy, you have outdone yourself," Zarkon praised the work. "I honestly never thought I'd be on this world for my seventy-ninth birthday." The Viceroy gestured toward the colony buildings, and they all strode forward, departing the landing platform and heading toward the colony of Nemon proper.
"All preparations are made, and the parade is ready to commence at your discretion, majesty," the Viceroy stated.
"Very good, Viceroy," Zarkon replied.
"I imagine it must be tiring to do your own walking, sire," the Viceroy commented idly.
"Hardly, to do otherwise would result in a weakness and potential vulnerability I cannot afford," Zarkon replied. "And as it happens, this walking feels quite good."
"Ah, I am honored and pleased to hear it, sire," the Viceroy said. Just then, a light grunt was heard from right below them.
"Hm? What's this?" Zarkon asked, pausing and glancing down, and noticed for the first time that the "sidewalk" they were walking along to enter the colony was in fact composed of several dozen humans lying face down on the ground. Yurak, Haggar, and Sakura also paused and glanced down and noticed this for the first time.
"My people, swearing their eternal loyalty to you, sire," the Viceroy explained. "That, and some lazy slaves using the chance to dodge working for a couple of hours." Zarkon chuckled evilly.
"I like it," Zarkon laughed. "Make sure they work double overtime later to make up for their lost time here."
"Of course, majesty," the Viceroy agreed.
"A flesh walkway, neat," Sakura quipped, then glanced at Spinner on her shoulder. "You okay?" she asked him. Upon exiting the ship, she had again, as she had on Arus before when moving in a desert, conjured a hood to deflect the glare and extra light from her eyes, and Spinner had, like then, ducked inside her "cloak" to escape the excess sun.
"Just peachy," he said sarcastically. "Seriously, why couldn't you make me brown or grey? Or even yellow?"
"I thought you were yellow," she teased, receiving a 'humph' in return. The group resumed moving again, and Zarkon decided to broach a new subject.
"So, Viceroy, you had a slave slip you?" he stated more then asked.
"Ah, yes, but he was destroyed," the Viceroy replied. "Just as I reported to young miss Sakura a few days ago."
"Yes, you better hope so, Viceroy," Zarkon said. "But it's the fact that it happened at all that displeases me. Nothing like this had better happen again!"
"Oh, no, it won't, sire. I swear it, oh mighty King of Kings!" the Viceroy declared.
"All the same, let's teach these slaves a lesson!" Zarkon proclaimed, then leaned closer and told his idea of a "lesson" to the Viceroy quietly.
"Ah, yes, that will be good," the Viceroy agreed, a line of sweat forming on his cheek. "It'll be a nice distraction."
"Yes, the desert will be stained red," Zarkon growled happily. As they continued moving forward, a light noise nearby caught Sakura's ear, and she glanced to her left to see a slave boy holding a load of stone in his arms watching them pass by. She sent a jolt of energy from her wand at the boy, causing him to flinch.
"Keep working, no slacking!" she snapped at him, and then returned her attention to following her King. The boy just stared after them, angrily.
"A human," he muttered to himself, his eyes on Sakura's retreating form. "Another human, working with them!" He gripped his load a little tighter. "Filthy traitor..."
The parade was held shortly thereafter and was quite elegant, as befitting the birthday of a mighty King and Emperor. While it proceeded, the Viceroy had some of the Galran soldiers attend to something; though Sakura was unsure what, she suspected it had to do with what Zarkon spoke to him about earlier. After the parade, they went briefly to a royal manor house for visiting dignitaries to freshen up a little, then returned outside to the base of Zarkon's new monument where a stand had been set up for them, Zarkon taking a seat in the provided psuedo-throne. The others stood to the King's left, at Zarkon's command in order of Sakura, then Yurak, then Haggar. Below them, a strong breeze was making the sand fly and dance into spirals, hiding the ground. The Viceroy appeared behind Zarkon, eager to please as always. A group of Galran soldiers armed with swords stood nearby, at the ready.
"The wind is shifting. Is everything prepared, Viceroy?" Zarkon asked the nervous human.
"Yes, sire, all is as you requested," the Viceroy replied. "The slaves await their punishment."
"Dare I ask what's on the, er, menu?" Sakura asked. Just then the wind pushed away the sand furls obscuring the ground before them, revealing approximately thirty or so human heads sticking out of the sand about ten to fifteen meters away, their bodies clearly buried beneath. "Oh," Sakura blinked, quickly putting it together. Something deep in her guts squirmed uncomfortably.
"Ah, aren't people buried up to their necks in sand a delightful sight?" Haggar crooned. "And once Zarkon gives the order, the soldiers will go headhunting!"
"Yes, this should lift his Majesty's spirits nicely," Yurak agreed.
"I don't suppose I could just go wait in the banquet hall?" Sakura asked. "By the cake?" A hand landed on her shoulder, and Sakura turned her head nervously to her King, unpleasantly reminding her how close he currently was to her.
"Nonsense, Little Witch," he grinned. "You'll miss the best part!"
"Yes, sire, as you command," Sakura submitted, and returned her attention to the buried slaves.
"Oh, yeah, this'll be a blast," Spinner said drolly from inside her "cloak". Cova, from his perch in Haggar's arms, gave a light rowl, to which Spinner snapped in response, "I didn't ask!" Zarkon then raised his voice for all to hear.
"Because one of your people tried to escape, my soldiers will now practice their swordsmanship, and teach the rest of the slaves a lesson at your expense! Let your blood serve as a reminder why you do not defy Zarkon!" he declared, and rose his hand to the air. "Let the fun begin!" he roared. The Galran soldiers roared back in glee, and charged forward, their swords brandished and ready. Sakura found herself becoming slightly disinterested in the whole affair. It was little different from a mass execution in the arena or the throne room, and right now she really just wanted to get out of the sun for the day, and into some cake! She completely ignored the uncomfortable squirming in her insides, as if it wasn't even there.
Just before the soldiers could reach the slaves, though, a flash occurred in the sky high above, followed by the sounds of an approaching engine, and then a terrifyingly familiar mechanical roar!
"What?!" she blinked. "No way!"
"It's Voltron!" Haggar screamed.
"VOLTRON?!" Zarkon roared. The robot flew close seconds later, formed its Blazing Sword immediately, and with one slice took off one of the outstretched arms of the monument, the stone appendage dropping to the ground below, landing in front of the stand, missing it by mere inches. As it came down, Yurak grabbed Sakura and jumped backwards, landing in the sand behind the stand. Meanwhile, Zarkon leapt up from his seat and back, somehow backing into Haggar and causing both to fall on their rears, Zarkon atop Haggar, while Cova dove out of his mistress's arms and ducked behind the stand for cover. As for the Viceroy, he leapt back in the opposite direction of Zarkon, landing in the sand as well.
In the sand where they remained buried and waiting, the slaves cheered in joy.
"It's Voltron! Jai did it! Voltron's here!" one boy, ironically the exact same boy Sakura had "disciplined" earlier, cried, and the other slaves around him joined in the cry. "Voltron!" Voltron then took three mighty whacks at the statue's base, severing it from the giant pillar upon which it sat, sending the rest of it to the ground following the appendage it previously lost. As it shattered upon the ground, Zarkon gnashed his teeth in utter rage!
"Blew him up, huh?!" Sakura snapped at the Viceroy, sending a blast from her wand at him, knocking him over. Yurak then rose and drew his sword, charging the poor Viceroy.
"How dare you ruin the King's birthday party like this, you incompetent fool!" he roared.
"No, spare me! It's not my fault!" the Viceroy cried. "The Galran Commander assigned to us, it's his doing! He left the ship unlocked!" Yurak, however, ignored the man's cries, and brought down his sword across his chest, ending the Viceroy's life. He then turned and quickly gathered Zarkon and the others, quickly herding them toward the landing pad and their ship.
"Hurry, to the ship!" Yurak barked, getting no argument. Meanwhile, the would be "headhunters" scattered as Voltron landed on the ground, and quickly deposited something from its left hand, before turning to the escaping Galran Royal Entourage, Zarkon's ship already blasting off. Voltron launched after them, propelling himself into the engine exhaust and taking a swing with the sword that connected, briefly, with the engine. On the bridge, the impact tremor from the strike was felt by all.
"Yurak, what are you doing?!" Zarkon snarled. "Voltron's way too close for comfort!"
"You heard the King!" Yurak snapped in turn to the pilots, "Punch the accelerator to maximum!"
"It's already there, sir!" the pilots responded.
"Then punch the afterburners!" the Galran Commander assigned to Jarre barked. He had opted to join the Royal Entourage in their impromptu evacuation, and now stood next to Yurak.
"Haggar, Sakura, do something!" Yurak turned to the witches.
"Alright, I'll give him a taste of my 'special' magic," Haggar cackled. "Join me, dearie?"
"I'll do my best!" Sakura said, and the two quickly chanted out a spell in low tones, twin energy blasts departing their wands and leaving the ship to smack into Voltron's chest, temporarily slowing him down.
"Two blasts, looks like Haggar brought her student with her this time," Lance commented as they recovered equilibrium.
"I could have told you that," Hunk replied. "I saw her with the others when they dashed for their ship."
"Great, now you tell us," Allura quipped.
Mere moments after the twin blast, not one but two robeasts were released and enlarged from the ship. The two were identical save for one being green and the other red, and both carried particularly nasty looking scimitars and small round shields.
"Twin Titans, attack Voltron!" Zarkon's voice roared over an outside loudspeaker. "Smash him! Cut him into a thousand pieces!" The two beasts roared and jumped off the ship, lunging at Voltron to do as they were commanded. Voltron had little option save to engage in battle, allowing the ship to break atmosphere and escape. The battle was fiercer than those prior, mostly due to the double robeast, but in the end Voltron stood triumphant, if mildly dinged, once more.
But the Galran ship had already well made its escape.
Back on board the bridge of said ship, all were catching a quick breath of relief. Except for Zarkon, who was seething.
"I don't believe this," he growled.
"What, that the Viceroy lied, or that he thought he'd actually get away with it?" Sakura asked, doing her best to sound placid.
"I'm not sure it matters," Spinner quipped from her shoulder.
"Sire, I deeply apologize for this disaster," the Commander turned and placed a fist over his heart. "I should have kept him under a tighter leash." Zarkon glowered at the soldier, and stood and stepped toward him. Yurak quickly recalled Viceroy Tabor's last desperate plea, and quickly stepped aside.
"Yes, I'm sure you are quite contrite," Zarkon growled. "However, I still have to deal with those still alive that hold responsibility." Sakura blinked, having not seen where Zarkon had gotten the sword, only that he suddenly had one, and it was now rammed through the Commander's chest. The Commander gurgled in shock as he died. "Beginning with you!" Zarkon roared at the dying Galran. Sakura sighed.
"Looks like we're in for more sudden group executions in the arena," she said.
"Gee, whatever gives you that idea," Spinner drawled with a complete lack of compassion.
And my not-so-quick run through of the next five episodes is finished. The primary reason I did this was that a good chunk of these episodes were generally toss away anyhow, and save for the White Lion and Zarkon's birthday Haggar and Zarkon were barely even in them! Hell, they're weren't in the Red Rain of Hell episode at all! This chapter did give me a few issues though. First, I was painfully low on excuses for Sakura to fly solo with Yurak, hence the eventual decision to "ground" her for two episodes, and give her something else to do for another. The white lion, however, caused me headaches for another reason altogether – I'd actually forgotten that that episode had Haggar sharing screen time with Pidge!
And why would this be an issue, you ask, my readers? Cause I don't want Sakura getting face to face with Pidge until the Aunt Orla episode, but I also want her joining in with Haggar in Haggar intensive episodes! In other words, the White Lion was ready to throw off my whole intended "schedule" of events, hence leaving me with little choice but to keep her grounded to Galra/Doom as long as I did. After that, though, it went swimmingly. And now I finally get to do the Aunt Orla episode as planned, and torture Pidge mercilessly! Heh, heh, heh...
You might also note that I gave Allura an IQ bump during the White Lion; seriously, two episodes, two, and she's already falling for it again? Really?! I will also give WEP credit where it is due – in Zarkon's birthday ep., the two boys, Jai and Tao, are never actually named on screen in the original Golion! They don't even refer to themselves by name, even though they're clearly bosom buddies! So, yeah, points to WEP for correcting that little oversight.
Lastly, in regards to Jarre having rings, well that was in the episode, and I felt compelled to have them say something about it, though I may have played a little bit loose with the science. Anyway, on to Aunt Orla!
Until then.
