Lotor screamed.
The sound was accompanied by a lion's roar.
A hot wind swept over his prone form. He forced his eyes open when his clawed hands dug into the wraith above him. It shrieked.
Above them, a wildly spinning wormhole ripped through time and space. She did it.
A wave of perverted quintessence surged over him from the convulsing shadow. It wafted tantalisingly around him in a vortex. It was a simple way out of the fray; an unlimited source of power breathing all around him. It promised him everything he wanted, a proxy to his missing Altean instinct.
"Lotor!"
Her voice broke him out of the reeling cycle of thoughts. I am not him. He grunted, reaching deep inside the beast. His hand grasped something physical, it shattered into a plume of white ash when his fingers crushed the vessel. The shadow locked eyes with him as its form stripped away in the roaring wind. Madness gleamed under the flames.
He had seen the look before, many times in the gaze of Haggar and his father. The weight of memory paralysed him. He felt the being's last affront brush his body like a ripping wave of energy.
Then everything was gone. His muscles crumpled and he groaned. Reality was caving around the two of them. They needed to leave. Lotor compelled his legs to fold under him. He turned, almost crashing into Allura.
She gripped his shoulders violently and pulled him along towards the shrinking portal. Together, they stumbled into the lion's jaws as the world collapsed.
His stomach lurched as they landed in a heap on hard, cool metal. The smell of sulphur and burning minerals seeped into Lotor's nostrils. It mingled in a sickening concoction with the austere metallic atmosphere of the robeast. He was mildly aware of his hair smouldering adding to the nauseous rearing of his gut.
Lotor rolled away from the shaky princess lest the ill sensations get the better of him.
Blue's growl reverberated through the hull. He almost thought it was a warning, but his head was pulled away from the distraction when an explosion rocked the vessel.
His adrenaline peaked again, and he forced himself onto his feet yet again. Allura was already running to the cockpit.
Lotor quickly followed her, standing respectfully behind her pilot's chair. A battle seemed to be underway.
"Why are they firing on us?!" Her voice held an even mixture of terror and exasperation. This confusion was really getting tiresome.
Lotor answered her rhetorical question as pieces fell into place. "They believe I stole the lion."
"Isn't that impossible?" She pulled the lion into a series of evasive manoeuvres that stole the words from Lotor's throat.
He grunted, remembering not to tear Blue's seats with his claws. "Not if I hold a strong enough will." Lotor couldn't temper the arrogance that tinged the words. He hoped she didn't take it wrongly… neither of them.
Outside, Black fired a heavy barrage wiping all thought from both occupants as the lion flew into another wildly erratic stunt. It lasted a good three seconds before a breath of respite allowed the princess to open communications to the other lions.
Lotor previously did not think she could manifest such metal to her pleasant voice. "Cease fire!"
All four paladins shouted at once. "ALLURA?!"
The Voltron barrage halted suddenly. However, before the initial shock of the princess' return could even wear off, another blast ripped through the sky.
A dozen galran battle cruisers glided through the thick, smoggy clouds into view. They were arrayed in formation, unlike Captain Yurn's private fleet. A heavily accented, male voice crackled over the interface.
"This is Commander Vos! Surrender Voltron to the new Galra Empire!"
xXx
There were only a couple other instances when Allura had felt so worn. Even her soul felt withered. Rejuvenating the balmera had siphoned the life energy from her but this was a different kind of weakness.
It was a parched, empty tiredness. And fighting in this condition with Lotor behind her barking orders over her head was only making things worse. Because as lovely as his deep baritone was, she was not in the mood.
She attempted to concentrate on sowing the battlefield with as many fiery blooms that she could. It helped.
Lotor was in a heated three-way debate with Commander Vos and, unfortunately, Captain Yurn.
The pirate who had interfered presumably on the premise of scavenging the end result of Voltron's battle with Vos was shouting unnecessarily over the channel. "You are all trespassing! We'll shoot you down and strip your puny fleet!"
"Captain, surrender and then we can stop Voltron together!" Commander Vos offered.
Lotor interjected. "Stand down, Commander. This is Lotor son of Zarkon."
"Liar! Zarkon is dead," Vos retaliated as if that made any sense.
The leading frigate opened fire on the lions. Several other secondary ships entered the scene and immediately began pouring forth armed drones. Allura dived into a canyon to scramble the rudimentary navigation computers on the flying weapons. She briefly wondered why Lotor did not just succumb to destroying the fleet. At the very least, they could force them to surrender like they had done previously to Yurn's fleet… Unless, the galra would fight to the death.
Lotor tried again. She really gave him credit for his patience. "I am Prince Lotor."
The ire in his voice was laced with the same flavour of annoyance Allura felt in her veins. A flash of sympathy for the man passed though her just before she decimated a cloud of drones.
The discussion continued when Captain Yurn suddenly changed sides with all the rationale that a pirate could conjure. "We've already sided with Voltron! Mates, fire all guns!"
A rain of variously coloured plasma cannons erupted from the high atmosphere where Captain Yurn had been watching the skirmish. They were quickly accompanied by the sapphire bolts of the Castle of Lions.
Coran's voice erupted over the private link connecting the lions. "Coran, here. Captain Yurn agreed to clean up after you paladins. Try not to blow everything to smithereens."
"No!" Lotor interrupted, half listening to Vos monologuing Yurn's stupidity.
Allura closed the hailing channel to allow Lotor to speak privately, just before barely missing a jutting cliff in the canyon wall. Juggling the conversation and fighting was difficult.
"Do not destroy the Galran fleet. They are our allies."
"No, they are not," Lance said dubiously.
Lotor ignored the boy, instead speaking directly to Coran, who had garnered his respect. "They will be our allies. Take out the smaller ships if you will, but do not bring the castle down on the main flagship."
"Just tell us when you're giving up trying to recruit this commander," Shiro said flatly. Allura could tell he was not happy.
As expected, Lotor also ignored the older man. "Allura, please switch back to the hailing channel. If you can, open a visual link," he said.
The princess grit her teeth as she rounded a sharp corner before flipping the switch and giving Lotor the floor once again.
His image flickered to life on the bridge of every open channel in the area. Lotor entered the raging conversation smoothly, with a disdainful smirk plastered onto his face. "Gentlemen, it would seem we are all on the same side. Commander, halt your attacks or I shall order Voltron to destroy your ships as enemies to the true Galran Empire, that is under myself: Prince Lotor, son, slayer, and successor of Zarkon."
There was a tense, long silence, but the ultimatum and proud visage was effective when a crisp "Vrepit sa!" spit over the channel.
"My deepest apologies, Emperor."