Hey there!

It's been… a while

I hope you are enjoying the chapters so far!

I want to say this, I can't make chapters as frequently as before. I have a lot to do besides this, and I want to make everything else my priority.

So yeah…

…I have no idea what else to say now…

Oh! I got it!

*Clears throat* I've come to make an announcement, Shadow the Hedgehog is a bitchass motherfu-


One day later…

The wormhole opened high above the planet as it spat out dozens of ships. The Atlas was the first to appear before any other ships. For the first time, Katie was able to see the planet below, and she could see the horror of the battle that occurred here.

The first thing that drew her eyes' attention was the hulks of the ships that floated above the planet. A couple of the ships were still burning, which was a little intriguing.

"We've arrived at the Colony site, sir," Veronica spoke as she looked over her shoulder to Shiro.

"Sensors show about 20 ships ahead of the debris field remaining stationary high above the planet's orbit. All of them belong to Captain Olia's fleet," Coran said as he read.

"Admiral, we're getting a short range transmission from the SDF-2, it's Captain Olia," Veronica shouted as she leaned over slightly.

"Put her up," Shiro ordered. Veronica nodded as she opened the comms and a holoscreen projected itself in front of Shiro, displaying Olia with a small smile.

"Good to see you in the field, Admiral!" Olia spoke as she sat down in her chair.

"Likewise. Got anything to report?" Shiro asked.

That's where Olia's smile fell as she nodded, "I do, both good news, bad news.."

Shiro raised an eyebrow, "do tell, start with the good news first…"

"The good news is that after analyzing the data from the debris from the fleet. We have evidence to suggest that the Macross did in fact escape the battle along with a few ships, although she looks like she's barely keeping up," Olia paused as she displayed a grainy, but still visible image of the Macross escaping a battle via a Fold, fires erupted throughout the hull of the ship.

Kaite's eyes widened at the state of the ship, but relief eased her nerves, "Max…"

"Our teams on the surface also have found some small pockets of survivors deep in the ruins of the city," Olia continued as the image exited from the screen, "however the good news ends there. We've examined the city. 93% of the city has been decimated, only a few skyscrapers still stand, but barely. We found the wreckage of several Galran and Earth ships that we believe were docked when the fleet was attacked. However… I recommend you go down to the surface and see for yourself…" Olia finished as an officer tapped her shoulder and showed her something on a datapad. She read it for a moment before her eyes widened, "are you sure?!" She spoke in a panicked tone. The officer nodded, then walked away from the view of Team Voltron. Olia looked back at the Paladins, "I have some news, we've been able to use the Fold energy to get a rough estimate of where the Macross might have gone to. Evidence seems to suggest that the Fold ends at the De'Gor system!"

Everyone gasped at what Olia had just said. Katie was the first to come out of shock, "Then what are we waiting for! Let's go out and find them!"

"We aren't going Katie," Shiro's voice made her heart drop. She shot her gaze up at the older man, who had a solemn expression on his face.

"W-WHAT?!" Katie screamed so loud, everyone, even Olia and her bridge crew cringed at her volume.

"We won't go, at least not now. There are people down on the surface of the planet that need help. We'll go when we finish up here," Shiro calmly replied. Before Pidge had a chance to rebut him, Shiro placed a hand on her shoulder, "I understand what you are feeling, but the colonists should be and is our top priority. The lives of civilians outway the lives of military personnel at this moment. Max would agree to this, too…"

Katie stared daggers into his soul for a moment before slowly nodding, "Fine. Let's help the colonists."

Shiro nodded, then turned to Olia, "Olia, you and your fleet are to follow the SDF-1's course and to locate them. Contact us if you need assistance, but under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy unless they fire first, got it?"

Olia nodded, "yes sir!" She saluted before the comms line went dead. Multiple Fold gates simultaneously opened in front of the small fleet. The ships began to pass through the Folds before disappearing in space, the gate closing behind them.

Shiro pressed a button on his chair to activate the comms, "this is Shiro, all hands stand by to drop to the surface and administer aid to any survivors and to analyze the damage of the colony. The Altas, Hospital Ship Omega and a small detachment will go down to the surface, the rest will remain in orbit in case another attack ensues. That is all." He spoke as he let go of the button, "Helm, land us no more than 10 kilometers away from the colony if possible."

"Aye!" Coran spoke as the lumbering ship slowly began to descend down to the planet. As the ship passed through the open skies and atmosphere, Katie couldn't help but wonder at how beautiful the planet and the colony was before they were struck down by this enemy. She was quickly removed from her thoughts when a shift shake startled her.

"Katie, did you hear me?" Shiro asked, looking down at her.

Katie nervously grabbed her arm, "u-uh, no, sorry, could you repeat what you said?"

Shiro nodded, "since you have the most fighter experience here, can you take your fighter down and do a preliminary scan of the colony?"

Katie nodded, "y-yeah, I can do that!" She spoke as she rushed out of the bridge to the hangar bays. Everyone watched as she left the room, then turned to look at each other when she cleared the bridge.

"She's not doing well…" Shiro muttered as he placed his human hand in his pocket.

"What can you expect? Her lover is missing in action, and it's the third family member that's been lost in space. The girl can't catch a break…" Keith shrugged.

"Maybe so, but she seems much more… agitated about it?" Lance spoke, placing a finger on his chin.

"The only lead we have is the De'Gor system, and yet she can't go there because the Colony is in shambles, Lance!" Veronica rolled her eyes.

"I know that!" Lance retaliated as he shot a look at his sister.

"Guys! Guys! Please!" Shiro broke up the feud as he sighed, "I know that this probably hurt her, but we need to be rational, not immediately jump the gun on where Admiral Holt is. We still need to rescue any survivors and know who we are dealing with. We have very little, if not, no leads on who or what attacked the Colony. For all we know, they could still be in this system without us knowing!" Everyone looked at each other after what Shiro said. He was right, the enemy is still unknown and still running rampant. They need to know more.

"I've spotted a landing site for the Atlas about 4.7 kilometers away from the edge of the Colony," Coran said as he looked back at Shiro.

Shiro nodded, "put us on the ground, Coran."

The moment that Katie managed to clamber into her fighter and buckle down in her seat, she felt the vertigo of her fighter rising upward. She looked up as the hangar bay doors opened, squinting as she once again saw the dusk orange skies. The color of the sky almost looked like Mars to her as her fighter reached the launch pad.

She threw forward the throttle as her fighter rushed forward, the G-Forces pushing against her body. She grunted as her fighter left the small flight deck of the Atlas. As the pressure subsided from her, she took the controls and swerved away from the Atlas. She looked over her shoulder to see the lumbering ship slowly descending to the surface. She steered the plane down as she cut through several clouds until she saw the surface. For the first time, she could see the carnage up close, and the sight was something out of nightmares. She found a small cliffside nearby the edge of the colony to land on. She threw her fighter into GERWALK mode and slowly descended, landing roughly on the battered terrain. The nose of the plane angled downward as she opened the canopy. She quickly jumped out of the plane and rushed to the edge, stopping only a few inches from the edge.

Song: Fly me to the Moon (from squid game) plays.

Katie watched in horror as flames radiated in front of her. She could feel the heat of the fire from her position, and she was a fair distance away. She took off her helmet, allowing her hair to flutter. The crisp scent of fire almost made her regret that decision. She made a fist with her off hand as she growled. This was just as bad if not worse than what the Galrans did to Earth several years ago. The heat of the fires pushed on her body like a weight, making her begin to sweat.

"Katie, you got anything down there?" Shiro's voice suddenly came through her helmet. She pulled her helmet down onto her head then pressed a button on her helmet.

"The city is completely destroyed, I'm going to the docs, maybe we can pull something from one of the downed cruisers," She spoke as she walked back to her fighter.

"Understood… Do you see any signs of survivors down there?" Shiro asked. She froze, looking back at the burning ruins behind her. Her eyes encapsulated the heat of the fires as they reflected in her eyes.

"The only thing that I see that lives here is the fires of hell…" she spoke as she climbed into the canopy and closed the glass windshield above her.

As her fighter slowly lifted off the ground and floated towards the destroyed docks, she couldn't help but look down at the burning city. She wished that the Galran war was the final war she would participate in. It's clear that fate has a cruel way of telling her of how wrong she could be.

When she landed at the destroyed harbor, she hopped out of the canopy and landed on the ground. She took a moment to examine her surroundings. She could see several Galran and Human ships that crashed onto the planet floor below. Fires raged inside the open hulls of the vessels. She looked up at the smoke that loomed before her. She sighed as she looked over to her right slightly, then squinted. She noticed something a little unusual in one of the destroyed rock layers of the planet. Something shiny and not of a burning husk. She examined it from her position, but it was too far away for her to make out what the object was.

"Pidge to Shiro, I've got eyes on an object in a rockbed outside of the harbor. It doesn't look like a destroyed ship, but something different. I'm going in to investigate," she spoke in her comms as she climbed back into the canopy.

"Roger, but be careful, Katie. We'll be arriving at your location," Shiro's voice came back as she took off from the harbor and slowly approached the object. When she came to 50 meters from the wall, she stopped and landed her fighter. She opened the canopy and jumped out of the cockpit. Staring at the object in front of her, she slowly approached the structure with caution. Her mind began to analyze what was standing before her. The structure was ancient, ruins of another time period. They have very unusual designs and markings all over them. She looked down at the base of the ruins. They were buried underground, so this is more than likely a tower of a much larger structure of sorts. For some odd reason, the design of the building was eerily familiar to her, but from where?

She slowly reached her hand out to touch the ancient ruins. She was hesitant, but slowly placed her hand on the ancient stones. It was rough to the touch, yet oddly smooth at the same exact time. She kept her hand on it for a while, but as nothing continued to happen, she retracted her hand as she stepped back.

The ruins' shadows began to loom over her as she sat down on the rough terrain. She looked up to the most visible part of the structure, which was still encapsulated in the rock face. What was it that was drawing her to these ruins? The familiar sound of an Altean designed engine caught her ears as she turned around to see a Altean shuttlepod landing about 20 meters away from her and about 10 from her fighter. The cockpit opened up to reveal Shiro and Keith in the pilot's canopy and everyone else exiting the back ramp of the shuttle. Pidge slowly stood up and dusted herself off as they approached her.

"Found anything?" Shiro asked.

Pidge shook her head, "nothing," she spoke as she faced the ruins, "I've gotten nothing from the ruins. I may have to run a geo-analysis and scan the structure, but I need to go back to the Atlas and start it. I will need at least the top of these ruins in order to run an effective scan."

Shiro nodded, then turned to the others, "go see if you can help the rescue teams. I'll get an engineering and archeological team here to clear the way for Pidge." Everyone nodded and went back to either the shuttle pod or fighter. Shiro looked back at the ruins and eyed them. He couldn't help but stare for a moment at them. 'Why do these ruins feel so important?' he pondered as he examined the ancient structure.

"Shiro! Let's go!" Keith's shouts suddenly returned his attention to the task at hand.

"Right," Shiro called as he turned and walked back to the pod as he pressed a button on his metallic arm, "Shiro to Atlas, I need an engineering team and an archeological team at my location."


As the last human boarded the shuttle pod and the shuttle left to the ruined city. None noticed the fact that someone had been watching and observing them for some time, listening in to the conversation. A pair of military spyglasses analyzed and recorded the conversations, before panning out to the ancient ruins and shutting off.

"Recording complete. I must take this to Commander Brennar at once," he spoke hushly as he crawled away, the ground rumbling under his weight. When he knew that none of the microns couldn't see him, he stood up and quietly exited the premises. He soon rounded a small hill at the edge of the ruined city to see a massive two legged mech sitting powered down underneath some rocks. He quickly hopped into the mech and powered on the war weary machine. The metal screeched as the machine stood up, knocking away earth and stone as it marched out of the hole it hid in, before checking his surroundings with his machine's two massive cannons. When he saw that he was alone, he activated his thrusters and flew upward into the skies, every second that passed, his worry that he would be discovered grew in his gut. When he breached the sky, he again checked his surroundings to see if he was being followed, but nothing was around him. He looked up and was greeted to the sight of the familiar small, green scout ship he had been accustomed to, his worry faded away as he signaled the ship to prepare for his return. A hangar bay opened on the starboard side of the ship, allowing him to enter the ship. The moment his pod touched down on the metal surface, the ship's hangar closed, and he could feel the ship begin to slowly and silently move away from the planet. He opened the back of his pod and exited the mech as he was greeted by an officer.

"Did you find anything useful about our enemy?" The officer asked in a gruff voice.

The scout nodded, "yes sir, but I also have information that I need to take to Commander Brennar himself. He may find this very intriguing."

The officer nodded, "we'll be rendezvous with his fleet around the first planet's orbit. The micron's sensors will not be able to detect us there. Be prepared to leave the moment we enter range." The scout saluted as the officer left. He soon rushed over to a nearby transport ship and climbed on board, entering the pilot's seat and waiting for the time to leave for the commander's flagship.

A few minutes later, the hangar bay opened, followed by the officer that greeted him shouting, "Terra 4, you are clear to launch." He pushed the throttle forward, allowing the shuttle to depart the scout ship. He soon activated his comms as he approached the flagship.

"This is Terra 4 to the Neipuz, requesting permission to land," the scout spoke as he approached the starboard hangar. The hangar slowly opened as a voice greeting him in return.

"You're clear to dock Terra 4." He nodded to no one as his ship slowly entered the hangar, touching down on the metal floors as the hangar bay doors closed behind him. When he exited the transport, he was greeted by the sight of Commander Brennar and his advisor, Excelsior. Brennar, despite being the same height as him, had a menacing and an imposing stance that made him stand taller than any soldier in the room. His left eye and half of the head was covered in a metal casing, with a hole for a slot where he could see. There was the dim glow of a red glowing mechanical eye underneath it. His skin was a dull green, with multiple scars appearing all over his body.

Excelsior was a different man entirely. Where Brennar was mighty and stand off, he was a shrill and frail looking individual. He was much smaller compared to the two, but he was still a tall being. He was a brighter green compared to his contemporary, but what set him apart was his head. His head, or possibly brain, was pulsating above him. Many of the soldiers remarked he looked like a plant of sorts, but his capacity and intelligence were of no laughing matter.

Brennar looked down upon the scout, who then saluted to the commander, albeit with a slight drop of sweat down the back of head. "Have you found any intelligence regarding the Mircon's status?" His voice was commanding and broad, even in a question, which made the scout flinch for a moment.

The scout nodded, "they appear to be checking the settlement for any survivors, but they also have unearthed ruins of sorts. Something ancient, apparently."

"Ruins?" Excelsior responded, his veiny expressions making him appear he's raising an eyebrow.

"Yes sir. I'm not sure what they are, but they appear to be not Micron design, that fact is certain. I have the data on a pad, if you wish to see it, sirs," the scout replied as he reached behind him and pulled out a large pad containing the files. Brennar took the pad and began to examine the files in hand. He read the first pages of the report, then he did something the scout had never seen before. He seemed a little surprised and shocked, and as he kept on reading, it only grew in force. He looked back at the scout.

"I'm going to need you to come with us when we leave to go to the main fleet. This information may be vital for Supreme Leader Demmuld," Brennar spoke. At that moment, the familiar feeling of entering a Fold resonated throughout his body. Brennar motioned for the scout to come along as they entered another transport. This one was much more spacy and roomy compared to the one he was on moments ago.

Then just as the feeling of entering a Fold came over him, the same feeling of exiting a Fold washed over him once again. It made him stagger slightly as he sat in the hold of the ship. He felt the ship begin to take off and leave from the command ship. From a nearby window, he could see the entirety of the main fleet. Hundreds of thousands of ships floated in space, with billions of his fellow soldiers on board, each ready for a battle if need be. What really captivated him was the ship in the far back of the fleet. The presence of it put both fear and comfort in his body. The massive cannon in the front had the shape of an eye, as if piercing in front of him, watching him, watching everything. It was a Mobile Fortress, specifically made for the Supreme Leaders of a fleet, as they say in the barracks.

As the small transport boarded the massive Mobile Fortress, the scout couldn't help but be in awe of the interiors of the ship. Soon the ship entered the inner space of the fortress, where they could see a massive orange tube in the middle of the area. Inside was a body, but not just any body, Supreme Leader Demmuld himself. The Transport entered a small hangar just below the center cortex, then landed in a small hangar. The transport's doors opened, revealing a small platform for the three to stand on. A gut feeling of nervousness set in the scout as he followed his leaders onto the platform. As the three stepped on the platform, it began to shift, then rose upward until they came face to face with Demmuld himself. The scout gulped as he took in the view of the man before him. Brennar was a man who stood out and was generally imposing to all that encountered him, but Demmuld sent so many shivers down the scout's spine, even in the tube he was limited to. He looked old, his eyes and skin were hollow in color. A portion of his cranium was missing, revealing his meshy brain underneath, but even that looked beaten up.

"Report, Commander. You said this was urgent… and who is this?" the Supreme Leader notioned to the scout. His voice thundered through the room, making the scout shake with fear when he spoke.

"That's my best scout, sir. We've identified some things that you must be informed of, sir," Commander Brennar spoke as he pulled up a small console, displaying images of the recent battles against the Microns. The Supreme Leader looked at them with curiosity, but what really drew his attention was a massive, damaged battleship fleeing via a space Fold. "We encountered what appears to be a Micron race." Brennar showed a video and some photos taken of the strange small creatures just before death. Their faces contorted with fear and pain.

"Microns..?" Demmuld seemed a little surprised by what Brennar spoke of, then gazed back at the battleship. He then looked closely at the surprisingly similar looking race. The scout couldn't fully hear him, but it sounded like the Supreme Leader was muttering in the lines of 'Could it be..?'

"That's not all, my scout here has reported found something buried under the mircron colony that is of note as well," Brennar motioned for the scout to present his findings. The scout, admittedly nervous, nodded and pressed a button on a datapad, displaying the image of the ruins. Demmuld's old eyes widened in shock.

"Protoculture!" He shouted in surprise.

"...Protoculture..?" the scout spoke softly to himself as he cocked his head in confusion, then returned up straight quickly.

"That's what we think, sir. And the ship that escaped is no doubt a Protoculture ship acting as their flagship. The question remains on how these Microns managed to get their hands on such a weapon…" Brennar rubbed his chin in thought.

"Forgive me for speaking out of term, sirs, but… what exactly is Protoculture?" the scout raised his hand up like a school student.

Brennar was about to silence him, when the Supreme Leader gave a strong hmph. The Warlord looked down on the scout. "I shall explain what I know, but this information is confidential and WILL NOT leave this room, or you will be killed on sight, understand?" the scout hurriedly nodded in fear. Satisfied, Demmuld continued, "I do not have a lot of information, as my creators did not give me all the information about them. They were the race that created us and we were their soldiers against an ancient race called the Protodeviln. The one warning that they did give us was 'to either vanquish them quickly, or fall to their might.' After that, we drove their race to the point of extinction, but clearly their influence survived." Excelsior seemed to become distracted by something, as if listening to someone without being disruptive to the conversation at hand.

"If that is indeed the case, then we may need to strike a killing blow to them and destroy their homeworld once and for all!" Brennar slammed his fist into his open palms as he spoke harshly.

"That may be sooner than we think," Excelsior's voice chimed in as everyone turned to face him, "I've just gotten word from an assault fleet at sector 2841, the Gl'ar sector. They encountered a Micron fleet over the 4th planet and destroyed most of their ships; several escape pods have crashed into the planet's surface. Reports seemed to indicate another Protoculture design ship acting as their flagship, however, it seems not to be the same one we encountered before and only mocks its design. They report heavy casualties on both sides, but our forces seem to be winning."

"So, one of their fleets is being destroyed while another remains near the colony site, this seems too easy…" Brennar spoke up, almost chuckling to himself.

"Yes… but make no mistake, gentlemen. If they do indeed possess the power or the influence of protoculture, they will no doubt be a major threat," Demmuld hummed as he turned to face Brennar, "go back to your fleet, and take the Zumwalt fleet with you, you may need the reinforcements, if we are indeed dealing with the remnants of the Protoculture."

"Yes, sir!" Brennar saluted as the three began to board the platform to take them back to the hangar.

"Oh, and one more thing, Commander," Demmuld caught Brennar's attention, "if you can, capture some Microns and interrogate them. If necessary, bring them to me, and relay the orders to the fleet at the Gl'ar sector to do the same." Brennar saluted as he, Excelsior and the scout descended down the cortex and back down the hangar.

Demmuld continued to stare at the image of the battered battleship escaping via Fold, a scowl present on his damaged face, "if we are facing the remnants of the Protoculture. I hope we will be able to strike them before they unleash their power…"


On board the Atlas…

The sounds of Alarms was the first thing that Katie woke up to. She lifted her head off of her desk… wait, her desk? She looked around at the equipment around her and scattered all over the desk, with a monitor displaying some information on the ruins they found. She must've fallen asleep working. Was she even working..? She couldn't even remember.

Three loud bangs made her perk up. Someone was at the door. "Come in!" She spoke, her voice was more hoarse than she remembered it being. The door opened, and a very panicked Lance entered the room, worry evident all over his Altean marked face.

"There you are! I've been looking all over the Atlas for you! C'mon, we gotta get moving!" Lance shouted as he waved for her to get up.

Katie waved her hands to slow him down, "woah, woah, Lance! Slow down! I just woke up! What's even happening?! I'm so confused!"

Lance didn't bat an eye, and delivered something that she didn't expect, "it's Olia's fleet. They're under attack by the aliens and they're taking heavy casualties!"


So… I can't promise I can do anything to make my schedule more consistent, but I can say this, I will… try?

Bye, I guess.

Oh hey, while you're here, maybe check out a new crossover I'm reworking called Undertails? It's a Sonic X and Undertale crossover remake from like, 5 years ago or something? I don't remember how long it's been since I made that… plus it cringe.