Good evening! I was a little challenged with this chapter. I hope it came out okay. If not, well…sorry? There's always a reason to my madness, so I hope it works out.

Cubbiesfan1: I'm hopeful that I've built enough suspense in this story. This one was hard to write! LOL! So, the weekend is here my friend! Time to catch up on my guilty pleasure…your fics!

Sunshineleo: Oh, you are so sweet! Well, I'm not using too many flashbacks in this fic, but you'll be happy to know there will be scenes with Keith and Allura that will make you happy. ;)

Playlist:

The Humming: Enya

Colorblind: Counting Crows

Beyond this Moment-Patrick O'Hearn

Chapter 4

Leaving Yurak, who continued coordinating the preparations around the castle, Lotor walked to the control room where he found Cossack, his intelligence officer, second-in-command, and best friend, sitting in front of a large screen reading material he decoded earlier, "I've decrypted all the information regarding the Voltron Force." Without looking away from the screen, the Drule sighed, enthralled by what he read.

"Enlighten, me," Lotor smiled ruefully as he took a seat on the commanding officer chair. The informal interaction between the two could have been considered blasphemous and utterly disrespectful by other officers. Cossack's actions showed no regard to the Prince's station. However, most officers didn't understand the type of bond the two Drules shared. Their relationship, one of complete trust and loyalty, reached the point where formalities had no place in their interactions. Lotor considered Cossack a brother. The two were raised together and despite the witch caring for them equally, she made sure Cossack understood Lotor's position. The Prince respected Cossack's loyalty and alliance to him, despite their youth and lack of understanding in many of the things they now understood.

The rather large thick Drule who stood a few inches taller than Lotor spoke as he read from the screen, "The team is comprised of five members, four of them active, one dishonorably discharged. None have aged at all since the time of the first war."

Surprised, Lotor asked, "How is that possible? Humans age what? About three times faster than Drules?"

Cossack changed the view of the screen to show planet Arus, "According to the information Haggar provided, Arus is full of magic. Despite how it presently looks, the planet was originally comprised of villages and small towns. But, after the defeat of your father, it began to accept Terran customs and cultures. The villages developed into cities. Some of the towns merged onto the villages and formed even larger metropolises."

"Metropolises?"

Cossack laughed, "Apparently, another word for cities. Anyway, technology and magic helped achieve that change. As war ceased, the elders of each village became what Terrans call government officials. They preside over the cities. They call themselves governors."

"What about their military?" Lotor asked seriously as he studied the pictures of Arus Cossack provided on the screen.

"During the ongoing battle between Korrinth and Arus, the Voltron Force restored and organized the planet's military into what is now called the Arusian Corps, led by Coran Altair from the House of Altair."

Lotor sat up, more interested to understand the information being provided, "Arus had a royal house?"

Nodding, Cossack answered, "Yes. The fight between Korrinth and Arus has been an ongoing saga that dates even before your father took the throne."

"Really?" Lotor's eyes widened. "I wonder why Haggar never shared any of this before."

"She was always keen on holding information," Cossack reminded him as he turned around to face him. "You will know at the appropriate time, my children. Remember that?"

The prince chuckled, "Oh, I do. Patience. She taught us patience. Continue."

Looking back at the screen, Cossack continued, "It was your great grandfather, King Keezo who destroyed Arus' royal house. He thought that he killed all who belonged to the line during one of the wars, but he didn't. King Alfor the first was able to save his son Alfor the second from Keezo's wrath. He entrusted the child, along with all the magic that belonged to the house of Altair, to his advisor. This advisor never divulged that the child he raised was royalty. They both fled to a distant village impersonating a single father. As Alfor II grew among the common people, the advisor worked to safeguard everything that his master bestowed him from what was left of the royal line."

"Let me guess, the secret of Voltron," Lotor cut in.

Cossack smiled and nodded, "The fallen king gave his advisor five medallions along with a book of spells and plans to build a weapon that would destroy the Empire, when the time came."

"Never happened, did it?" the Prince asked excitedly.

Looking back at his friend, Cossack snorted, "Apparently, Haggar's lessons on patience didn't sink in, did it?"

"This is very interesting," the Prince replied with a smile, ignoring his friend's sarcasm, "I can't help it if I'm quite excited by your tale. My apologies, Cossack. Please continue. I'll hold my remarks until the end."

This time, Cossack laughed, not believing that Lotor would ever cease to hold his remarks. Whenever excited, Lotor just talked, "I'm sure you will. Let's see how long it takes you to open that mouth of yours. As I was saying, when Alfor II was old enough to know the truth, the advisor entrusted his secrets to him. It was Alfor who studied the book and began building the weapon."

"He built Voltron by himself?" the prince asked incredulously.

Shaking his head knowing the silence wouldn't last long, Cossack continued, "No, not exactly. He began construction, but keep in mind that Alfor, although smart, was basically a one man crew. The war continued and the resources weren't there. As the years went by Alfor II married and had children, Alfor III his first and Coran, his latter. Both very bright; but very different."

"How so?"

Cossack went to the vidscreen and pull up pictures of two men. One with dark brown hair and eyes and another with light brown hair and hazel eyes. They looked no older than twenty. But, the prince noticed their attire; older looking attire for today's age. A picture from the past. "Alfor III was apparently a genius. He became a scientist and sorcerer, studied with Arus' with the most gifted Arusian scientists in hiding. Coran was more of the tactical expert; he had a passion for combat and strategy. A warrior. It was Coran who convinced Arusians to fight back. He managed to assemble a small army since Arus, by this point, had been battling with your father, and carried out a number of successful missions."

"But, they were still losing against my father," Lotor laughed as Cossack nodded in satisfaction.

"You're absolutely right." The Drule responded, "Your father had destroyed most of Arus by this time. The villages had been devastated to the point that they could no longer be inhabited. Since the Arusians feared death, they resolved to live in caves where they felt safe."

"I don't care about the people," Lotor stated as he looked at his intelligence officer, "What of the Voltron Force?"

"I'm getting there," Cossack responded, enjoying Lotor's sudden lack of patience. "Despite the chaos around him, Coran continued to put together his army. But, he found it rather hard. Your father had captured most of the young strong men and turned them into slaves of Korrinth. What remained were mostly women and children."

Enthralled by the story he'd been listening to for quite some time, Lotor stood and began walking about the room, "When do the lions come into play?"

"Well," Cossack commenced with excitement, "Arus was in pretty bad shape. Your father made sure of that. And some time later, things looked grim for Alfor III and Coran. According to the story Haggar sent us, one evening while reading from the book of spells, Alfor found a secret spell that allowed him to build the lions magically overnight."

"That's unbelievable," Lotor snorted as he rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"That's what Haggar swears by," Cossack smirked. "Like I said before, Arus is very full of magic, but it died with Alfor III."

"So what happened next?" Lotor asked looking very interested as he took his seat once more.

"It gets better," Cossack nodded firmly, letting Lotor know that there was more. "All five lions were magically built and kept under the lowest levels of caves. However, the book stated that only those worthy of the lion's souls, their essence, could bring them to life. Thinking that only those with royal blood could fly them, Coran and Alfor tried."

"Did it work?" Lotor turned to look at his intelligence officer.

"No, I'm not sure why. But the lions, according to what Haggar found, didn't accept them."

"What then?"

"They had no one to fly the lions and few of the Arusian men that remained on the planet were also not accepted. So, Coran and Alfor, were beside themselves. They had no idea what to do. No one on Arus seemed worthy of flying those contraptions."

"So what did they do?"

"They went back to the book. It revealed the answer in a hidden message within the spells that Alfor decoded. The book stated that the chosen ones would come from another world. The chosen ones had a quality those of Arus didn't have."

"What was that?" Lotor asked curiously.

"A self-sacrificing heart."

Lotor burst out laughing, "What the hell does that mean?"

"Many things," Cossack responded. "For one, they are willing to do anything for the better of mankind, even if it means their possible demise. It also meant that they were willing to give up more than their lives. They give up their chance of an afterlife." Cossack shrugged. "They'll never die a natural death, which means they will never reunite with loved ones who have died."

Lotor nodded, pondering, "Interesting…"

"The Garrison, by this point, had been locked in war with your father as well. Coran, not knowing what else to do at this point, contacted the Garrison for back up. They sent him one thousand men to serve under him. Within those thousand, Garrison sent five operatives for tactical missions to help aid Coran with the war efforts such as reconnaissance and undercover missions. It would take months for them to arrive. However, during that time, Alfor III and his wife were killed in a surprise attack. Coran's wife and son were killed as well. His niece and daughter were the only survivors of the royal house.

Coran had kept his small armada as best he could, but hope was dwindling away. Then, the Garrison troops showed up. They fought your father for months, but the troops themselves were no match for your father and the Armada suffered again."

"My father was annihilating them, wasn't he?" Lotor gloated.

"Yes. Very much so. Your brother was cunning as well. One night, his army infiltrated Arus in another surprise attack, crumbling more than half of Coran's army. This is where the story gets interesting. The five operatives managed to rescue as many people as possible that night, almost giving up their lives in the process. They even managed to challenge Zolon's army enough for them to retreat. After the danger ceased, Coran analyzed what he saw that night. He took this in as a sign. Five dormant lions and five operatives that did the impossible that night; he expected nothing less than annihilation. He took them to the lions to see if they would accept them."

"And they did."

"More than that. By what Haggar gathered, the lions roared and the medallions that were hidden in their compartments magically broke out and flew to the operatives embedding themselves within the hearts of the men. This is why they say that the men carry with them the souls of the lions."

"And what does that mean?"

Cossack sighed as he himself processed tale, "They control the lions. They control Voltron. And the souls allow them to live…forever. They have basically pledged their lives to fight for Arus and to keep the lion's souls with them. Their main duty is to Arus."

"Then, they are immortal?" Lotor worried a bit. This would prove a challenge to his plans.

"Not quite," Cossack corrected him. "They can die just like you or me. Should that happen the soul will then go back to its resting place inside the lion's compartment and wait for another worthy of having it. I could continue, but you know the rest of the story from here," Cossack finished uneasily.

'No, that's alright," Lotor replied courtly. "I'm sure that after they had their pilots, they came here to destroy my father." Lotor felt disgusted by the realization. "How did she find out all this information? Haggar could not have known everything, could she?"

"She did say that she'd find everything she could, didn't she? Even I couldn't have expected her to be this good."

Nodding, Lotor beamed, "Haggar's done well. Do you have anything else to show me?"

"Yes," The Drule nodded, "Would you like to meet the Voltron Force?" Cossack asked as he pulled up the files up on the vidscreen.

With anger radiating from his eyes, the Drule prince answered, "I'd love to."

VVVVVVVVVV

Keith waited in Coran's office standing by the window that overlooked the city. He had arrived an hour earlier, at Coran's request, to familiarize himself with the base and to look over the latest reports from Korrinth.

The advisor's office, located on the thirtieth floor of the base, overlooked the entire city. Keith's amazement grew as he saw the metropolis in front of him. Buildings that reached the sky, aerial transports flying the firmament, taking people from one place to another. Arus no longer had the feel of a rural planet once filled with forests and pastoral lands. Instead, the planet bloomed with urbanization. Its economic, political and cultural growth made a significant impact on the entire Denubian Galaxy. It astonished Keith that he took part in the incredible transformation of a once demolished planet.

Turning around, he looked at the room where he stood. Coran's office epitomized modern elegance and Arusian tradition. Floor to ceiling windows served as part of the wall overlooking the city. A semi oval stainless steel desk decorated with all the latest computers and military devices for surveillance and scanning faced the open window. Shelves filled with books covered the wall to the back of the desk. On the right side of the room, a rectangular stainless steel table with twelve chairs surrounded it. The left side had the entrance door, a small foyer and living area with dark blue sofas and chairs. The walls had artwork from past Arusian artists, some of the artwork depicted the once pastoral scenes of an Arus from long ago.

The bookshelf behind the office desk had two shelves parallel to each other that held no books, but photographs. Keith glanced at them when he had first come into the office, but didn't walk up to look at them. He figured they would be pictures of Coran's family or of the advisor's younger days at the Corps. Either way, he stayed away knowing Coran would have a picture of his time, once upon a time. Sighing, he continued looking at the view of the city.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting," the advisor came in. Keith turned around to face him. "Were you able to read through the report?" Coran asked as he gestured him to the living area of the room.

Nodding, Keith answered, "Yes. I have ideas of where to start."

"Good. Your team is almost here," Coran stated as he sat down. "We'll meet with them in a few minutes."

"Alright," Keith answered, inwardly witholding any emotion he had when he heard the statement. "You're not expecting us to stay at base, are you?"

"Not unless it's necessary, Keith," Coran looked at him.

Nodding, he asked another question, "I want to start lion practice tomorrow. Will that be a problem?"

Coran shook his head, "Unfortunately, yes. None of the governors from the cities know of the latest….developments. I'm holding a summit in two days to tell them and to start arranging a plan of letting the citizens in their cities aware of the impending change of the planet."

He tried to hide his annoyance; the political aspect of Arus never interested Keith in the least. He found it rather inhibiting to his way of carrying out his duties as an officer. "So when will I be able to take out the lions?" Suddenly, Keith felt a jab in his chest, his heart started beating faster and he felt out of breath. She's here.

"Give me three days. For now, work on strategy," Coran told him as he heard a sound coming out of his communication unit. "This is Coran."

A woman's voice announced, "Advisor Coran, Lieutenant Altair has just arrived. The system is escorting her to the conference room."

"Thank you Kirian. We'll be right there," the advisor answered before terminating the communication. Looking at Keith once again, he asked, "Are you ready to meet your team?"

"No, but I guess I don't have much of a choice," Keith began to stand up and walk to the door before Coran stopped him.

"Keith."

Turning around, he watched as the advisor walked toward him. Coran retrieved something from his pocket. It looked like a jewelry case, "I meant to give you this at our last meeting." He opened the box and showed Keith what it contained inside. "Keith Kogane, I'd like to present you with your wings," He told him as he showed him the silver insignia that represented the Arusian Corps. Very awkwardly and with a feeling of unease, Coran continued, "This signifies your status as commanding officer of the Voltron Force."

He looked at piece inside the box. Somehow they didn't have the meaning or the value that they once held. Looking at the advisor with stone cold eyes, Keith replied, "Coran, you don't have to do this. As far as I'm concerned I'm here to help. It's my promise to Arus, to the oath. I'm here for that and only that. Once it is over, everything goes back to the way things were." Once finished, he walked out of the room, "We should get started."

Sighing and not sure how he felt about what had occurred, the advisor closed the case, put it back in his pocket and walked out of the room.

VVVVVVVVVV

When Allura entered the conference room she smiled at the faces that greeted her. Trying to bury the anxiety she felt, she closed that part of herself and focused on the people in front of her.

"Welcome back, Altair," a familiar voice called out.

She immediately walked to him, "Lance." As she hugged him, she whispered in his ear, "It's been a long time McClain."

"I could say the same for you old blue eyes," Lance replied. "It's good to see you…too bad it has to be under these circumstances."

Nodding, Allura answered, "I'm still unaware as to the circumstances you speak of."

Lance looked at her with disbelief.

"I just came back from survival training with my cadets. I'm sure Coran had reasons as to why I haven't been briefed," she smiled. I can't wait to hear his reasons. Her attention broke when she heard another voice coming up behind her.

"Hey, do we get any hugs?" Hunk cut her as he walked over to her, "How are you Princess?"

Allura turned and went to him, "Oh Hunk." Always being the more sensitive one of the group, Hunk called her Princess and at times spoiled her like one would a baby sister.

"How's Lucy?" Allura had stayed with them during the time she lived on Earth.

"She's good," he nodded with a smile. "Wants to know when you're coming over for a visit. Well…once she's here on the Arus."

"I'm looking forward to it. Oh Hunk, I've been so busy with the new recruits…"

"And with Gellar," Lance added with a smirk.

"Idiot!" Allura slapped him on his shoulder. Turning to Hunk, she continued, "I know I've been a horrible friend," she replied before her eyes fell on the youngest of them all. "Darrell…"

"I thought you'd forget about me," the younger man leaned down to hug her and kiss her cheek.

"You keep getting taller," she joked taking a look at the tall man with the dark brown hair and caramel eyes.

"No, just older," Darrell replied smiling. "You must be getting shorter Allura. Old age catching up to you?"

"You little butthead!" She punched him on the shoulder before she embraced him.

After all initial greetings completed, Allura looked around to all of them, "What's going on?"

"You weren't joking? Coran hasn't told you?" Darrell asked surprised.

She shook her head, "No, but I'm sure it has to do with Korrinth, doesn't it?"

"More than that," Darrell answered her. "We have more than Korrinth to worry about. We have Zarkon's son."

"Zolon? But he's dead. How can this possibly be about him?" Allura asked perplexed by what she heard.

"No, not Zolon," Hunk replied as his brows rose, "his other son, Lotor."

"What?" Allura answered flabbergasted. "Zarkon had another son?"

The big man answered her question with a firm nod, "He's taken over the Garrison base at Korrinth and reclaimed the planet. Coran thinks there's more to it than just reclaiming the planet, but he's still not sure what."

"So what's next?" Altair asked.

"What do you think Allura?" Lance stared at her, "We're active again, but this time, we're going after Lotor."

Altair sat down on one of the conference chairs. "That means…"

"Yes," Lance snorted with disdain, "Not only do we have to deal with Lotor…that bastard has command."

"Lance," Allura shook her head, "this isn't the time."

Keith was somewhere inside, she felt him immediately. She took a deep breath and blocked him out the moment she felt him. Instead, she concentrated on seeing her friends, her team.

McClain wasted no time in allowing his feelings to be heard, "Please Altair. I'm surprised he still can lead after what he did."

"If he still has Black lion's soul, then," she stopped suddenly. The wall she had built crumbled. A feeling, very recognizable, entered her. She looked at door. And knew who would soon walk in. She heard Darrell's voice around the room, but it sounded muffled and so far away.

"Let's not start analyzing this again," he said as her gaze continued hanging by the door.

"The fact of the matter is…"

The room felt stuffy, her breathing harder.

"He is our commanding officer…"

She felt him….coming.

"And right now…..we need him to help Arus…"

Her heart thump faster…he had never been… so…close

"Rid itself of Lotor. Allura?" Darrell asked looking at her with troublesome eyes. Suddenly the door opened and a familiar person walked into the room.

"Welcome Voltron Force," Coran stated as he walked in. Everyone looked as the old advisor walked in. Behind him, stares lingered as their commanding officer followed.

"It's good to see you all," Keith greeted unemotionally. Turning to the woman, he nodded curtly, "Hello Allura."