Hello all! Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

CubbiesFan1: I'm so glad that you are giving Allura a chance. I really think that her heart is in the right place. As you will see in later chapters. Lance is also in a bad place. There's a reason for that. You'll see soon enough as well. I'm giving enough away.

Sunshineleo: So there's a connection there. I've always wanted to pair them up. I hope it works out for them. Sam…yeah…Sam is such a good guy. And he loves Allura. Just like she loves him. It will be an interesting battle.

RossoDiSera: Sven and Romelle…it's like Romeo and Juliet for them. But Lance is not a bad catch! ;) So what's happening with the rest of the team? I guess you'll have to read it to find out. LOL!

Playlists

The Swell Season-Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

Papa Roach-Scars (Thank you Mertz ;)

Portishead-Western Eyes

The Sacred and Profane-Smashing Pumpkins

Chapter 8

After dropping off Ivana at her home, Lance drove over to Romelle's place. The British bombshell was not impressed with how the evening ended. As a matter of fact, the drive home proved it. Neither spoke. Lance didn't expect her to ever go out with him again. It didn't matter to him. He wasn't planning to call her back anyway.

Lance had known where she lived for years, but never thought about knocking at her door. After marrying Ryan, he felt it would be better to just stay away from her. She had a new life, a new husband, and the opportunity to be happy again. He remembered how distraught Romelle had been after Sven's death. Murder, he thought to himself. But now things changed. Romelle was free again. He could tell her. But, what would be the point? What would he say? So many years, so many misunderstandings.

For a brief moment, he felt tempted to walk into the building, knock on her door and tell her everything. He wouldn't. He knew that. "Get a hold of yourself McClain. You don't have a right to hurt her again," he told himself before he pulled out of a curve and headed back to his house. The past did not belong in the present just like he didn't belong with Romelle.

VVVVVVVVV

Walking inside her apartment, Allura sighed as the day's events finally took a hold on her, "My goodness, I'm beat."

"You're too young to be beat," Sam answered as he keyed in the code to lock the door.

"It's a mirage," she answered tired tone. "I'm going straight to bed. Are you coming?" Allura didn't wait for a reply thinking Sam would follow her as he normally did.

"Mind if we speak for a moment?" he asked her. Turning around she looked at him curiously. "I just need to speak to you before we go to bed."

Allura had an idea about the conversation topic. Since they had not had a chance to talk about her encounter with her ex-lover earlier today, she knew he would take the opportunity to ask her. "Sam, nothing happen. All we spoke about was our mission."

"I'm sure you did," he answered as he took Allura's hand and guided her to the living room. "I don't want you to think that I don't trust you. But, please have some sympathy for my feelings. This man is just not any man. You two share something that I will never have with you."

"Just because we share the oath…"

He shook his head immediately, "That's not what I'm talking about, Allura. It's more than that. I know what you felt for him. I know how you loved him. Remember our friendship before we were together. You confided in me and I've always felt very grateful to have had that opportunity with you. At least I thought I did. I guess the other side of the coin is that since I know so much…I can't help to feel that I might lose you."

Looking at him, so vulnerable and frail, Allura couldn't help her eyes from watering. She took him into her arms and kissed him feverishly. Sam kissed her back with such compassion and love that they both were left breathless. After composing themselves, it was Altair who spoke, "Sam Gellar, you will not lose me. You and I…will be together, always."

Sighing and nodding at the same time, he whispered to her, "God Allura, I hope so."

VVVVVVVVV

Keith sat in his control room reading over some information Hazar had unexpectedly sent him hours earlier. As a gift, the Drule informant provided for him detailed files on Lotor. Hazar even found information on the Drule Prince's conquests on certain planets. Surprised by the 'gift', Keith asked Hazar how much the information would cost him. He was even more surprised was when the Drule told him that the information was free "for being such a valued and consistent customer." Hazar replied with a wholehearted laugh before severing communication.

Keith knew Hazar had wits about him. The information was just another way to convince him that if he could find more information on Lotor than the Garrison and the Corps combined, he would come through with the information Keith requested on Haggar as well.

Astounded at what Lotor had done in just a few years, Keith sighed grimly, "How could the kid have done all this in just a few years?" he asked out loud. This Drule was not Zarkon or Zolon. He thought, processed and acted on reasoning, not impulse. Who taught him? Then again, Keith displayed some personality traits Lotor had and no one taught him. It was innate in him. Cursing inwardly, Keith realized that in a way, he was fighting himself.

Hazar had even provided a picture of the prodigal son. He looked like Zolon, except for the eyes. The eyes that stared back at him were Zarkon's. Cold, evil and full of hate.

Suddenly, Agatha's voice sprang out and startled him back to the present, "Security check. Ms. Romelle D'Orr at the door. Should I allow her in?"

Surprised by the name Agatha called out, Keith pulled up visuals to his front door. "Damn it," he whispered to himself when he saw Romelle standing by the front door. When he saw her ring the bell once more, he ordered Agatha, "Let her know you'll allow her in, but give me time to reach the apartment."

"Yes sir," the computer's voice replied.

Keith stood up and briskly walked over to the elevator that took his to his third floor apartment. No sooner had he reached his apartment, when the other elevator door opened to reveal Romelle D'Orr. "What are you doing here?" he immediately told her.

"We need to talk," she replied. "Keith, this can't–"

"You shouldn't have come here Romelle!" He yelled. "We made an agreement."

"An agreement that I didn't fully agree to! Keith, they can't continue to believe this lie!" She yelled back with a confirmed strength that she thought she lost long ago.

Keith saw the tears in her eyes, her sudden desperation and fear, but he also saw strength. A strength that he hadn't seen in years from Romelle. He had to be careful. She could ruin everything he had built so far. Sighing and lowering his tone, Keith gestured her to take a seat. The woman followed without a word and sat. Keith walked over and sat next to her. Gently taking her hand, he said, "It isn't a lie Romelle."

"Why do you do this to yourself?" she asked as he wiped away her tears with his fingers.

"I'm not doing anything to myself," he firmly replied. "Romelle, you know I killed him. You know what I did."

She nodded, "I know, I know." She began crying again. "It's just that it's not fair."

Keith squeezed her hand gently, "Romelle…it is the truth. Sven is dead because of me. I haven't lied about anything."

Romelle shook her head in frustration, "I can't change your mind?"

He shook his head with a firm disposition, "No. We need to keep this buried Romelle. Digging it out will just make things more complicated."

"More than now?" she laughed sarcastically, "They hate you, Keith." She paused briefly before continuing, "She. Hates. You."

Keith lowered his gaze to the floor trying to compose himself before answering her, "It's better this way. We'll be able to work better. The mission comes first."

Romelle looked at him shocked by what she heard, "How can you say that? After what you both went through?"

"It's all in the past," he repeated with a steel cool tone.

"You've turned so cold Keith Kogane. You've changed so much," Romelle replied shaking her head in grief.

"It's the only way I can live now," he answered keeping his tone free from emotions, "It's the only way I can protect Arus, Earth and every one of them."

VVVVVVVV

Lotor walked inside Castle Control with a mysterious smile that Cossack found strange, but appealing. Meeting the prince half way, the commander looked at him curiously, "What is on your mind Sire?"

"I had an idea come to mind last night," Lotor began as he sat down on one of the command chair. "Perhaps it's time for Arus to know that Korrinth has returned to claim its position in the galaxy."

Seeing the humor in the Prince's tone, Cossack continued his game, "And how do you propose we do that?"

"We visit them of course!" Lotor smirked with a grandiose smile.

Chuckling and shaking his head, Cossack turned around and began typing on the console, "I'll round up a fleet."

"Nothing big," the prince replied settling on his seat, "Just enough to establish a presence."

"This is going to be fun," Cossack laughed. "What ship would you like to take?"

The prince shook his head, "No, I'm not going. Neither are you for that matter."

Quickly turning around, Cossack looked at Lotor curiously and dumbfounded, "What do you mean Sire? If neither one of us is going, then who is?"

"Contact Yurak," Lotor ordered. "I think it is time for the old man to prove himself to us and to his planet."

VVVVVVVVVVV

The morning brought the team together in the conference room. Keith had called in a meeting early that morning, postponing weaponry training for later in the day.

"I thought we would do debriefing by end of day," Darrell asked as he looked at Hunk who sat across from him.

"Don't ask me," the big man replied. "I'm just following orders."

"Where the hell is he?" Lance sighed heavily as he anxiously tapped on the table with his finger, "I could be working out."

"You'll be able to soon enough," they all heard Keith state as he walked in with Coran and Kirian behind him. "Good morning everyone." When he heard no one answer, Keith continued. "I called a meeting this morning because I found more information on Lotor that you all might be interested to hear."

"More information than what Corps or Garrison has?" Kirian answered, surprised as she took her seat.

Keith nodded at the young woman before he walked over the large vidscreen and inserted a small disc in the drive. Within seconds an image of Drule with long white hair came up on the screen. Allura's eyes widened, "Zolon?"

"No," Keith shook his head. "This is Lotor….Zarkon's younger son and the reason why we are here."

"He looks exactly like Zolon," Hunk replied in awe. "Except for the eyes…"

"Lotor was born six months before our last battle at Korrinth," Keith said as he took a seat. "My source confirmed that Zarkon ordered Haggar to take him out of the planet the day of our final attack at Korrinth. She jumped from planet to planet over the years, educated him privately, and groomed him to be a soldier. At sixteen, he began to conquer planets outside the Denubian Galaxy. These weren't small planets either. They were rather prosperous planets like Theta, Phylos and Vermillion with valuable resources that he used for his own gain. In five short years he gathered enough armies and weaponry from these planets to take back Korrinth from us."

"How does a sixteen year old conquer the most powerful planets in the galaxy?" Lance asked with disbelief.

Looking at Lance, Keith replied, "It's not impossible Lance. When Alexander the Great was sixteen years old, his father, Philip, made him regent of Macedonia while he was off fighting the Persians. While regent, Alexander crushed an uprising in Thrace. When he turned eighteen, Philip left him in command of the left wing of the Macedonian army at the battle of Chaeronea. He won the battle while commanding soldiers twice his age. By the time he was twenty, he had inherited a kingdom so vast that by his death at thirty two it had to be divided in three parts. Can you believe that power and influence he must have had to do all this at age sixteen?"

Leave it to Keith to know his history, "So you're comparing Lotor to Alexander the Great? He's that good?" Lance asked with an eyebrow raised.

"No," Keith shook his head, "He's better. Lotor not only took the resources he needed from these planets, he took their armies." He looked around the room to find the group completely enthralled in his words, "And they went with him…willingly."

"What?" Allura exclaimed with shock.

Keith looked at her, "Imagine the power he has. He's been able to convince high ranking military personnel from other worlds to leave their kings, their rulers, their homes and follow him. They've changed their allegiance to someone who is basically…a kid. No different than Alexander, but much more influential."

"How is this possible?" Hunk asked. "Could the witch have given him powers?"

"I don't know." Keith answered, deep in thought. "Nothing points to that. But, one thing is true. Lotor is not someone we will beat quickly. He's not someone who's impulsive. He's not Zarkon or Zolon. He's smart, cunning and eager to destroy both Arus and Earth as revenge for his family's demise."

"How did you find all this? Darrell asked.

"Yeah," Lance nodded, suddenly perking up, "How Keith?"

Coran looked quite interested himself even though he didn't utter a word to anyone in the room. Keith looked around the room briefly and watched as the group waited for an answer. Looking them straight in the eyes, he answered, "The information is true and my sources prefer to remain anonymous."

"I beg to differ!" Allura warned. "It's enough that we have try to trust you and you hide information from us."

Indifferently, Keith answered, "It really shouldn't concern any of you how I got the information."

Hunk shook his head, frustrated with the answer he received. Darrell rolled his eyes and Kirian seemed so surprised by what she witnessed that she felt obligated to remain quiet.

"Your sources are every bit as dirty as you," Lance replied in a venomous tone. Keith did nothing other than to remain quiet, hiding the anger behind his icy stare.

Trying to maintain the peace, Coran stood up and with a strong commanding voice stated, "This isn't the time for arguing. As I explained to all of you, Keith is your commander. You will follow orders, you will work together with him." Looking around as the team held their own anger, he continued, "Now, I don't know how he found this information, nor do I care at the moment. I believe it is true and I believe that Keith has the best intentions for this team and Arus. Now, let's be happy with what we have and use our energies to use it to our advantage."

Allura, about to argue, suddenly stopped herself when she watched the hologram appear to them. The group turned to watch the computerized woman in Arusian Corps uniform speak, "Advisor Coran, we've received a stress call from the city of Lenna. They are being attacked by unidentified fleet of fifty ships."

Coran's features grew pale, "Lotor…"

Keith didn't wait for orders. Standing up, he headed to toward the door, "To the lions, now!"

VVVVVVVVVV

The team ran ahead with Coran and Kirian not too far behind. Entering the room that held the lions, Kirian quickly went over to controls and coded in the data needed to open the domes that held the lions while the team entered changing pods that would automatically dress them in their uniforms. Within seconds, the domes disappeared to the ground as the metal ceiling of the room opened to reveal the cloudy dark sky. The team ran out of their pods ready for battle.

"Great! It's going to rain," Lance said before he watched the lions lean their heads down and open their mouths to let their pilots in.

"Let's go," Keith ordered the team before running toward his perspective lion. Once inside, he sat in his command chair and the lion came alive. Automatic seat belts locked him in and controls began to light up. The view screen opened to reveal the room around. He could see Coran and Kirian at control. "All lions ready?"

"Yes," he heard each pilot answer him.

"Permission to take off," Keith addressed Control.

"All systems ready and activated Captain. You have permission. Good luck," Kirian answered as Keith bolted out of the room followed by Red, Blue, Yellow and Green Lions.

Turning to Coran, the young woman asked, "How do they know who goes out first?"

"Ranking," The advisor answered. "It is tradition in the lions that the order for takeoff is by order of rank."

"Within the pilots?"

"No," he shook his head. "Within the lions. The lions initiate take off, not the pilots."

Kirian nodded thoughtfully, "Interesting."

Walking past her to the control panel, Coran began typing codes so satellites could establish visuals. "Let's see how they do on their first flight." The young woman stood behind him and began to watch what would become her first battle against the Drules.

VVVVVVVVVV

The city of Lenna, located about one hundred and fifty miles east of the Arus Corps base, had been once a small town with rural landscapes and forests. Almost twenty years later, it held itself as one of the most technologically advanced cities on Arus. It also held some of the more advance medical laboratories on the planet. When the team drew close, they watched as Drule fighters flew by hitting buildings and areas with explosives, while others dropped bomb that exploded as they dropped to the ground.

"Damn, this can't be happening," Lance let out a breath he did not know he held while flying toward the city.

"Enemy fighters at two o'clock," Darrell informed in a serious tone.

"We need to divert them out of the planet," Keith added. "Let them see us fly up. They'll follow."

"How the hell do you know that?" Hunk asked skeptically.

"If they wanted to destroy Arus, they would have chosen to hit the base, not a city so far away from the Corps." Keith explained. "This is just a tactic to make their presence known to the planet and us."

"The more we talk, the more these people suffer," Allura interceded. "Do we proceed as planned?"

Keith nodded, "Yes. Let them see us. Destroy only those that won't cause any more harm to the city. Then, fly up."

The five lions did as ordered. And, as the commander predicted, the remaining fighters flew up behind them. As they left the planet, Keith began establishing communications. "This is Keith Kogane. State your cause for your presence."

"I would have thought you would have stated your ranking…unless you're still stripped off it." A voice on the comm. units stated. The voice sounded familiar, as if resurrected from the past. "It's good to see you all again Voltron Force."

"Holy crap," Darrell murmured.

Allura's heart beat faster. How did he manage to come back? She thought as the voice continued speaking.

"Believe me Yurak, the feeling is not mutual," Keith responded as he moved up his lion in front of the rest. "What does Lotor want?"

Yurak popped into their viewscreen, a sly smile taunted those that watched him, "Arus," he answered, "And you."

Allura's heart pounded harder, even though she stayed cool.

Keith didn't flinch, "I take it that's the order he wants us in?"

"You are very funny Kogane. Prison makes us real funny people as it eats our lives away," Yurak answered. "I should know from experience."

"I'm still waiting for what he wants, Yurak," Keith calmly asked. "Other than what you've already stated."

Pausing for a moment, Yurak looked Keith straight in the eyes. His hatred toward him evident in the yellow eyes filled with a passion for murder, "He wants you to know that there is no stopping him. There are no negotiations, there is no forgiveness. Arus will pay, vengeance has come. You are all dead." He began to laugh, mocking them. "Will see you soon, Kogane."

VVVVVVVVVV

The auditorium inside the Corps base had not been silent since officers from the Arusian Corps, dignitaries and officials from cities of Arus, and Alliance officials on vidscreen around the half-moon shaped auditorium were called in for a conference about an hour after Lotor's fleet vacated Arusian airspace.

The city of Lenna held on as much as it could, but forty percent of the city fell to the ground. Almost four thousand people were found dead or considered still missing, buried under rubbles. Lenna's prime governor sat by the front of the auditorium. His wife was one of the ones missing. Trying to keep a brave composure, the man kept quiet, looking at his data pad from time to time to check on updates from the rescue efforts.

From behind the stage, Coran watched the commotion taking place beyond the podium. Members of the Force and Ensign Mosley were with him, watching as well. Turning to Mosley, Coran asked, "Is the speech…"

"Uploaded on your datapad, Advisor," she finished for him. "I ran it through to three proofers before the upload. It's perfect."

He nodded uneasily as he began to read over his datapad, "Thank you."

"You'll do fine Coran," Allura responded as she walked up to him and touched his shoulder trying to calm him. She knew he was nervous knowing that he had to explain an attack no one even suspected of happening.

"How do you think they'll take this? Lance asked as he looked out.

"How do you think Lance?" Allura answered before Coran could speak, "There are almost four thousand victims, not to mention no one expected this mess."

"Allura, Lance," Coran called them, "I'll need you to walk out with me."

"Why?" Lance asked.

"The planet will need to know that you're back and willing to protect them," Mosley replied for Coran. "We've televised the Address to the entire planet. Seeing you will give them hope. They need it at this moment."

"I guess that makes sense," Lance answered. "But why just us? Where are the others?"

"I told them to stay at Lenna with the lions," Coran replied. "I assigned Darrell to speak with reporters while Keith and Hunk are helping with the rescue efforts."

"He should have been here," Allura volunteered.

Coran shook his head, "You know Keith has never liked the political aspects of the job. Besides, under the current circumstances, I don't think it's prudent that we have Keith in this public broadcast."

Allura didn't like what she heard. Somehow it just didn't seem fair. She didn't like the situation they were in. She didn't like Keith around her, but it didn't seem fair that the one person who could save them was the most hated man on the planet.

"Dad?" The four turned around to watch Romelle D'Orr walk toward them. Coran stepped up to his daughter and gave her a hug. "I came here as soon as I could. Are you alright?"

Coran nodded calmly, "I'm fine dear. Thank you for coming."

Romelle smiled uneasily, "I'm glad you're all safe." She looked at briefly at Lance who looked back at her before she moved her gaze to Allura. "Sam asked me to tell you that he'll be working late tonight."

"Planning meeting," Altair nodded. "He told me they would start soon. I guess the first ones are tonight."

Coran nodded, "Yes, they are. The first of many."

"Would you like to stay with me tonight?" Romelle asked. "I'm not sure you may want the company but I'm willing to give it."

"I'd like that," Allura nodded a little. "Lance and I will be running surveillance over the planet. But after, I'll drive over to your place. Thanks Romelle."

"I'll be in the audience, but I'll come backstage after the State Address is over," she told them before briefly looking at Lance and then turning to walk out.

"Advisor Coran," Kirian called out as she listened to the earpiece inside her left ear, "We're ready to begin."

Sighing heavily, he looked at Lance and Allura, "Alright. Let's get started."