Julia had nothing more to say before Squadron Captain Tissim disappeared from the screen.
"They're raising shields," said Caterina. She looked up from her station with a surprised expression. "Captain… their shields, they're Darglan technology."
Julia kept the frown from her face. Now wasn't the time for a reaction like that. "Are they locking weapons?"
"Only on the Castle," said Jarod. "Still no target locks on us."
"They are forcing us to make the choice of engaging them directly, so that they might say we initiated combat with them." Meridina gave Julia a careful look. "Our orders are to avoid conflict."
"And they're also to render aid to other ships, not let them get snatched by the local bullies," Julia added. "Still… Mister Locarno, put us between the NEUROM ships and the Castle of Lions. Jarod, extend our shields around the Castle."
The two men in front of her answered with "Aye ma'am."
"Tactical, do not lock weapons and do not open fire," Julia added. "We'll let them make the first shot."
"Right." Angel kept her disagreement with that decision out of her voice.
Tissim's voice came over the speakers on Tothwallad's bridge. "Go forth, Captain. Snare the Aurora."
"Will you not open fire on them, Squadron Captain?" he asked. "They defy us."
"Yes. But I have my orders: The real objective of this operation is the extrauniversal ship. The Aurora should not be destroyed, but must be crippled to accomplish our objectives. Now snare them, it is the best way to accomplish the task and you have been given an order!"
Tothwallad was not very happy with that order. He knew it was liable to get his ship shot up. The Judgement of Fate wasn't meant to snare such a large ship. But his orders were clear, and his life and position were on the line.
"Take us in, helm," he said.
Julia's attention turned to the small holotank beside Meridina. It displayed a tactical view of the surrounding space. The numbers of nine on two - she wasn't sure whether the lion ship by itself counted as a full-sized starship for the fight - were unfavorable even with the smaller size of the NEUROM ships. That they had Darglan technology in some way made those odds worse. "Even if we win, we probably lose," she murmured.
"Yes," Meridina said. "It appears our foe has their own strategem."
Julia noted the red mark coming toward them. "It looks like they're going to use the Cabean ship by itself. Is this some kind of test, to see if we open fire on it to keep it from the Castle?"
"Or they're going to try and use those man-of-war tendrils on us," Cat said. "They'll try to drain our power."
"Even through shields?"
"They'll just drain those first. Especially since we've extended them."
"Jarod, warn them off."
"No response," he said.
"Right." So that was it. She'd maneuvered Tissim, now he was doing the same. Open fire on the Cabean ship to keep it from sucking their ship dry of energy or hold fire and let them drain away the shields. "Is it a threat to us?"
"A full-sized Aurigan man-of-war can drain a cruiser dry, according to the Avalonians' records," Jarod answered. "This one isn't full-sized, but since it's a ship they might have capacitors hooked up to those things, or other methods of releasing any stored power. So it's a definite maybe."
Which was all Julia needed to hear. Whatever game Tissim was playing with this, he was subjecting the Aurora to a potential threat. Julia felt clear to respond.
"Fire one shot across their bow, Tactical," she said. "If they don't change course within give five seconds of that shot, feel free to let them have it."
"Yes ma'am," Angel said. She tapped several keys on her control. A beam of sapphire light fired from one of the light plasma banks. Angel's shot was precise, coming within a meter of the bow of the Cabean ship.
Tothwallad swallowed at the beam that nearly struck him. A warning shot. The Alliance vessel would fire after all, he knew it.
Just as he knew, with just a look, that Lady Dolores would kill him in his chair if he ordered his ship to break off. "Steady on course," he ordered, trying to keep the fear from his voice.
The next shot didn't miss.
Angel didn't bother firing again with her lighter mount. Given the orientation of the ship, she targeted the port-side heavy plasma emitters on the Cabean ship and fired.
Before the Shadows and Daleks wrecked the Aurora, the weapons in question had been pulse phaser cannon batteries set on turreted mounts. And while those weapons certainly packed a punch, as the Koenig often demonstrated to opponents, the plasma emitters that replaced them were even more powerful. The best that could be fielded thanks to the various Darglan databases that the Alliance had available, almost entirely due to the actions of the Aurora's crew.
Now the fruits of their past labors showed with the sapphire beam that struck the shields of the Cabean ship. Those shields were quite capable for their size and held. But when a second, third, and then fourth beam converged on them the shields melted away. The blue energy from the Aurora's weapons now sliced through the Judgement of Fate. Flame and debris erupted from the damaged sections. The tendrils whipped about wildly and helplessly.
The eight NEUROM ships opened fire barely a second later. Bursts of ruby light erupted from their bows in repeated streams, the turrets tracking and firing again. The Aurora's shields flared blue at the impacts. Fighters flew from hanger decks built into those ships, forty-eight in all. Their brown hulls and curved appearances made them look organic as well.
"Shields down to seventy percent," Jarod said after the first barrage.
"Return our shields to normal status," Julia ordered. "Helm, heading two seven three mark zero one three."
"Shield cohesion back to ninety-two percent."
"Fighters launching now," Meridina confirmed. "The lion ship is launching as well."
From the hanger deck at the top of the Aurora's drive hull, fore of the warp nacelle pylons and below the Koenig's dock at the back fo the primary hull, Mongoose starfighters erupted from their launch tubes. At the rear of the launch deck the Green Lion of Voltron emerged.
The Aurora's maneuver uncovered the Castle of Lions. A visible energy barrier formed around it. The barrier was made up of hexagons of white light. Colored discs moved into position to face the approaching enemy ships.
"What kind of weapons are they firing?" Julia asked Cat.
"It looks like a laser-pumped plasma cannon, very powerful for a ship of that size," Cat replied. She saw something on her screen. "They're firing missiles!"
Trios of missiles fired from each of the ships. "Particle interceptors firing," Angel confirmed.
Pulses of blue light fired from the small interceptor batteries arrayed at points on the Aurora's hull. Some of the missiles struck said bursts and exploded, others managed to survive them or evade long enough to slam into the Aurora's shields. "Shields down to eighty-three percent."
Meridina continued to observe the tactical display. "They are attempting to maneuver past us."
"Tactical, fire at will!"
Angel responded by opening up on every target her weapons could track. At the secondary tactical station Lieutenant Syrandi Luneri, a Dorei woman with a dark purple complexion and hair with teal spotting, was busy operating the targeting for the lighter plasma emplacements, allowing Angel to focus with the main emitters. Beams and bursts of sapphire light struck out at several of their foes.
"We're degrading the shields on several of them," Cat noted. "But I'm not reading any damage from our hits."
"They're armored," Jarod said. "It looks like heavy armor too."
"Focus fire as you need to, Tactical," Julia instructed. The ship shuddered beneath her as she did.
Between the warships the fighters of the Aurora and the NEUROM ships were engaging in their own battle. The Aurora flight wing had numbers, the NEUROM fighters a maneuverability edge, and the result was a pitched battle.
"Bravo and Charlie Squadrons, engage from range," Laurent ordered. "Your priority is keeping them from hitting the ship."
"Roger, Alpha 1," were the replies.
"I've got one on me!" called out one pilot.
Laurent registered the voice. Ensign Keller, Delta Squadron. He twisted his craft and found Keller's Mongoose desperately evading the red bursts of light fired by his pursuer. Laurent lined up his own shot and sent a flurry of phaser fire into the enemy craft. Its shields started to fail. Before his fire could finish his target off the enemy pilot banked away. The maneuverability of the NEUROM fighters was incredible. Laurent tried to follow the turn, but he simply couldn't keep up.
"On your six, Alpha Leader!"
Kerman's warning prompted Laurent to fire his engines and thrusters to full, pulling his Mongoose into a tight maneuver. Red light zipped across the front of his cockpit. An enemy fighter went by a moment later, amber fire pursuing the fighter. Laurent's Kerbal wingman kept on target until he, too, found the NEUROM fighter maneuvering too quickly.
"Bravo, Charlie, keep your range. Fox squadron, move bearing 221 mark 089, gain range and turn. We can't dogfight them like this."
A bright white beam of energy lanced between Laurent's fighter and Kerman's. It struck one of the NEURON fighters and blew it apart in a second. Another weaker beam accomplished the same on a second fighter. Laurent's maneuver allowed him to watch the lion ship fire again. The beams of energy were coming from the tip of its tail and its open mouth.
"I'm going for the ships," Laurent heard the pilot of the lion say over their tactical channel.
I have a fifteen year old pilot in the most powerful light craft we have engaged. The thought didn't inspire confidence in Laurent. But he acknowledged with, "I hear you. We'll continue to engage the fighters."
Once she was past the fighter battle, Pidge flew the Green Lion toward one of the attacking ships. The tail and mouth lasers fired in tandem until the enemy ship's shields were down to nothing. The armoring of the enemy ship was good enough that her hits weren't doing much to the enemy ship. The red bursts of light from its weapons streaked in front of her. One glancing hit brought discomfort and forced her to adjust. She drew the lion "up" to get away from the main turrets tracking her from the dorsal and ventral bow surfaces. But secondary energy weapons spread along the broadside, their bursts of ruby light like darts in space, continued to track and fire on the lion.
Pidge put Green into a corkscrew and made her final approach. She activated Green's jaw blade in the final seconds before she was moving alongside the NEUROM vessel. The armor might have resisted the blade alone, but with Green's speed and the blade's toughness, she successfully cut a line through the port hull of the ship from stern to bow, opening a wound that the other ships could exploit. Pidge pulled away and "aft-downward" to evade the main guns on the NEUROM craft which were fouled by their own sensor masts at that angle.
Lights flashed red to match the color of the hits that impacted her. Another of the ships was coming after her. She turned Green to face it. She didn't need to batter its shields down - the Aurora or Castle had done so already - and she was clear for an attack run with the jaw blade.
But the enemy was ready for the maneuver. As she came in for the run the NEUROM warship maneuvered hard to evade. Her blade barely scraped the armor before running across nothingness. The Green Lion's speed now turned against it. Before Pidge could adjust she was already clear of the enemy ship.
She might have resumed the attack. But a glance toward the other ships changed her mind. Pidge broke away from the two attacking ships and hit her engines to full to link back up with the Castle of Lions.
Six of the enemy vessels - seven counting the damaged Judgement of Fate - were focused on the Aurora and the Castle of Lions. WIth their smaller size and maneuverability they could keep their massive armored glacis plates covering the critical portions of the hull while their main battery turrets remained locked on target, hammering the Aurora and the Castle with almost unerring accuracy.
In the Castle's command center, the Alliance officers under Lucy were doing their part by manning the disc-shaped drones that added to the vessel's firepower. There were few fighters to shoot at due to the Aurora's fighter wing containing them, but the incoming missiles from the NEUROM ships provided them with plenty to do. Lucy moved the crosshairs of her drone over another of the incoming missiles and fired. Bolts of light struck at the missile until it blew apart.
Allura and Coran were busy at the other stations. "The particle barrier is holding," Coran said. "But not for much longer."
"I'm returning fire as best as I can," Allura stated.
She was, too. Lucy found it interesting that the particle barrier itself was both defensive and offensive. The individual hexagons in the field acted as emitters. Bolts of white energy erupted from the hexagons. Some were missing entirely and others were striking the shields and armored hulls of the NEUROM vessels directly. They didn't seem to be doing a lot of damage, however.
A flight of missiles slipped past their defenses - Jumpa, given her condition from the Fracture, was clearly having trouble focusing on the fight - and slammed into the particle barrier. This time the Castle did shake. "The barrier's starting to fail!" Coran warned. "We're taking too much fire!"
"More missiles incoming, Jampa!" Lucy cried out.
"I can't get to them," the Dorei woman insisted. Her voice was strained. Lucy sympathized. It was taking all of her focus to push away the wrongness of the Fracture.
"I've got them!" Talara shouted. Her disc, the blue one, shifted over enough to take out the missiles Jampa's yellow-colored disc wasn't in a position to shoot.
"More incoming!" Allura watched one of the NEUROM ships fire while targeting it.
"I'm out of position!" The cry was from Ensign Laurence Tasker, the fourth of the Aurora officers. His red-colored disc was already shooting up missiles coming in from a different ship.
"Impact in five ticks! Four! Three!"
Coran's countdown ended there as a white energy beam swept over missiles. The Green Lion's shot destroyed them all. Pidge turned and went for the enemy ship. At this range, and with its position and her built-up speed, there was no chance for the NEUROM captain to evade her attack run. Again the Green Lion's jaw blade appeared. Pidge gave a triumphant "Ha!" when she sensed, with the Lion, the blade strike the armor and hull. She left a gash in the enemy ship two hundred meters long.
"There's a weak spot!" Allura cried. "Firing!"
The Castle of Lions' particle barrier generated a full beam this time. The beam played over the NEUROM ship. Its shields were completely gone, leaving nothing to protect its wounded side from the blast. Flame and debris erupted along the path of the white beam until one great explosion blew the NEUROM ship to pieces.
They'd managed their first kill. Now seven NEUROM vessels remained to threaten the two ships.
The Aurora shook again as more of the ruby-colored bolts struck her shields. "Shields down to forty-six percent."
Julia acknowledged their decreasing shield status. The enemy vessels were being careful to avoid getting into the Aurora's bow and aft arcs and the pulse plasma cannon batteries that covered them. Angel's fire was still hitting home a fair amount of time, leaving most of the enemy ships with degraded or weakening shields. But the armor of the NEUROM ships was sufficient to survive the weapons most likely to hit them.
The reason for the maneuvering of the NEUROM vessels was made glaring a moment later. Locarno's own maneuvering caught one of the NEUROM vessels in the Aurora's bow arc. Angel took her chance immediately. The pulse plasma cannons, ten in all, opened up on the broadside of the enemy ship.
Whatever material the NEUROM ships had in the massive glacis plates on their flank, it clearly had their limits, and the main batteries of the Aurora now demonstrated those limits. The barrage blasted glowing chunks of super-heated armor alloy away from the attacking vessel. Bit by bit more of the ship's long form was blasted away until an explosion ripped through the middle of it. A spread of solar torpedoes, glowing blue-white from the effect of their drive fields, struck the wounded ship. That was the final blow needed. The NEUROM ship blew apart.
Still, that was just one more down, and six were left. Again the Aurora rocked from the impact of missile and energy fire. The main guns on the NEUROM ships were clearly a class or two larger than usual for such ships given the damage they were inflicting.
"Can our fighters get in for an attack run?" she asked Meridina.
"The enemy fighters are quite maneuverable and are still a threat," Meridina pointed out. "Commander Laurent is fully engaged with them despite the numerical difference."
Julia could have left it at that. Some captains would have. And she trusted Meridina's judgement and that of Laurent. Nevertheless, the thought in her head on this situation mandated a change in the tactical situation. "Tell Laurent that I want half of his squadrons detached to attack runs on the enemy ships. His people are to break away on my mark."
"Sir?" Meridina looked at her. "The enemy fighters may gain an advantage over ours. Or they may commence attacks against us."
"I know," Julia said. "I'm hoping for the second. Jarod, the others are tied into our tactical channel, right?"
"They are," he confirmed.
Julia tapped the key on her chair to send over said channel. "Miss Holt, I'm detaching squadrons for attack runs on the enemy ships. I'd like you to join them. Open their armor up for our fighters to take advantage."
"I'm on it."
"Princess Allura, I'm having Jarod relay you positional data. On my mark, I'd like you to take up the indicated position relative to the Aurora."
"I hear you, Captain. I am ready."
"On my mark for fighter run…" Julia felt the ship shudder again. They'd taken another direct hit from the main guns of the enemy ships. "...now."
Over thirty of the Alliance fighters broke away from the combat with the NEUROM craft. Pidge joined them for the run. The mouth laser of the Green Lion fired and raked across the unarmored and armored part of the hull on their first target. One of the secondary batteries exploded from the impact. The Green Lion banked to the side to evade fire from the main turret of said ship. Pidge pulled her craft "downward" and then back "up" The sharp maneuver kept her from getting hit until the Green Lion's jawblade was again ripping through armor and hull.
The lead fighters trailing her launched a wave of missiles. The enemy ship maneuvered sharply to evade the attack. This kept some of the missiles from impacting, but only some. Those that struck anyway blew the wound in the ship wide open. Pidge twisted her Lion around with dizzying speed and fired the mouth laser into the gaping wound. More flame and debris exploded from the damaged areas, following the beam of white light issuing from the Green Lion's mouth. The lights on the NEUROM ship began to flicker.
As Julia hoped, the enemy fighters were able to use their superior maneuverability to break off from the Aurora air wing. They targeted the Castle of Lions with a clear attack run. Julia waited for the fighters to get to where she wanted them. When they had arrived at that point she gave the order: "Mister Locarno, Princess Allura, mark."
The two ships obeyed. The Castle turned slightly and maneuvered "upward", but otherwise did nothing to cause the enemy fighters to break off or substantially change their trajectory.
Whether Captain Tissim's people recognized the maneuver in time or not, no such change happened, and Locarno swung the Aurora into place to close the trap. The two ships were now maneuvered to place the approaching enemy fighters, almost twenty in all, between them. The Castle's point defense drones opened up, as did the point defense weapons on the Aurora. The bolts and streaks of blue light created a killing field that even the maneuverable enemy fighters could not get out of in time. Only two of the fighters managed to get away.
The two ships turned and faced one of their attackers next. The lighter NEUROM ship attempted to evade, looking to avoid Aurora's deadly bow weapons. Its maneuver protected it from those weapons, but nothing could save it from another blast that emanated from the Castle's particle barrier. The beam of light speared the ship in the mid-section between the protected armored areas. There was nothing immediately critical in the area taken out, but it did sever the firing controls for the ship's main turret. It continued to track and fire, but there was a clear disconnect between the turret's target choices and the maneuvering of the ship.
Locarno kept the Aurora on the NEUROM ship was best as he could. It managed to get outside of the engagement arc of the main cannons, but Angel was quick to employ everything up to the large capital-scale plasma emitters on the enemy ship. One of the heavy weapons hit its engine assembly as it tried to turn away. An explosion roared out of the engines while consuming the entire engine section of the ship. Another beam from the Castle of Lions sliced off the lower spire of the NEUROM vessel. Solar torpedoes from the Aurora crashed into the main turret and blew it apart.
The crippled vessel, deprived of its main engines and main guns, could only fire spitefully with secondary batteries at the resilient shields of both vessels until the Aurora's main batteries, with a full volley, tore through its glacis armor and gutted the enemy ship.
Squadron Captain Tissim watched another of his ships go down with the look of a man knowing everything he built was about to be taken from him. The Ministry would be swift to punish his failure if he didn't have something, anything, to show for this battle.
"All ships, prepare to breakaway," he said. "And put all available power into your tractor beams."
"What is the target?" the ship operation officer dutifully asked.
"The lion vessel," Tissim replied. "Engage tractor beams when ready. I want every ship taking that vessel into tow."
The Green Lion twisted in space and came up to another of the remaining NEUROM ships. The jawblade gripped in its mouth again cut into the armor of the enemy ships, creating a gap that the approaching Alliance fighters could use to hit the vital internals of the vessel.
Pidge was pulling away from the ship when the tractor beam grabbed her lion. "They're trying to hold me in a tractor beam," she warned the others over the tactical comm line. She shifted the Lion's engines into full power to breakaway. Everything around her shook from the strain.
A second tractor beam suddenly snagged the Lion. And a third. Warning signs on her pop-up readouts warned Pidge that she wasn't going to break away. "I could use some help!"
"The NEUROM vessels are breaking away, Captain," Caterina said. "But they've caught the Green Lion in their tractor beams."
"Pursuit course, Mister Locarno. Tactical, give them everything we've got!"
The Aurora and Castle of Lions pursued the NEUROM ships, weapons blazing. Armor and hull broke and exploded under the hits they were delivering. One NEUROM vessel, already damaged, suddenly fell away from the others. It disengaged its tractor beam and turned toward them. The secondary batteries on the ship opened up on the pursuing Alliance fighters. One blew apart from a direct hit. Another was sent spiraling away from a glancing blow. The rest opened up with weapons and what was often their last torpedo or missile before breaking away. The resulting hits added to the enemy ship's damage. But it refused to break away and its main guns kept firing as it rushed toward the Aurora and Castle.
Meridina's eyes widened. "Captain, I can sense their intent. They are on a ramming course."
"Damn. Evasive maneuvers, now!"
The two pursuing ships broke away from each other as the NEUROM ship came in for its suicide run. It barely missed one of the warp nacelles of the Aurora on its pass. Nor did it come through unscathed. Multiple blue beams and bolts from the Aurora's port side weapons carved into the damaged vessel's port side while its starboard was ripped into by the Castle's weaponry. Gas and debris were still spewing from the new wounds in the ship as the two vessels passed by it. The rear cannons on the Aurora pounded the ship into debris.
But the NEUROM ship had achieved its goal. The shift in trajectory kept the Aurora and Castle from closing the distance quickly with the remaining three ships and their captive prisoner. "I'm picking up an energy surge in the remaining ships," Cat said. "They're about to activate their hyperdrives!"
"Our fighters are attempting to close, but they have expended all of their anti-ship munitions," Meridina added.
"Take them out! Now!"
"Trying!" Angel replied.
But Julia knew it was too late. The added distance they'd allowed to open up to avoid that ramming attack, the maneuvering enemy ships… the chance of stopping them from getting away with Pidge and the Green Lion was lost.
Squadron Captain Tissim felt relief. Bringing the lioncraft back to Admiral Gal-Nazad would justify this disaster of a battle. "Hyperdrives are at ninety-five percent," the helm officer stated. "Preparing for hyperspace transition in ten… nine… eight…"
Space rippled ahead of the NEUROM ships.
The rippling settled into the decloaking form of the Starship Koenig. The attack ship raced in, phasers and torpedoes blazing. As the seconds passed and it drew even closer, the fire of its phaser cannons was joined by the rapid appearance of a blue ribbon from the vessel. The Koenig's tractor beam lashed out, aiming not at the captive Green Lion but at the beams holding the craft prisoner. One beam failed in two seconds. Then the next.
This sudden loss of restraint allowed Pidge to make one final effort with the Green Lion's own drives. She threw them to full power in the final few seconds before the NEUROM ships initiated their hyperspace jumps.
When the Green Lion broke loose, it went spinning past both the NEUROM ships and the Koenig. On the bridge of his flagship Tissim shouted, "Cancel! Cancel the transition!"
But it was too late for that to happen. His ships made its jump to hyperspace without the prisoner they had expected to bring along.
On the Koenig bridge Apley turned to Magda. "Good job, Lieutenant. I didn't even remember that little trick from the fight at 33LA."
Magda shook her head. "Don't mention it. Besides, it was Cat Delgado's idea, I'm just using it." Something drew Magda's attention to her console. "The Aurora is tying us into their tac-comm."
"Put everyone on screen."
The screen shifted to three images, side-by-side, of Julia on the Aurora bridge, another bridge with a pointy-eared alien that reminded Apley of Falaens, and a very young woman in a set of white and green armor, including helmet. "It looks like we got back just in time."
Julia spoke first. "Your timing was impeccable, Commander Apley."
"Yeah, I couldn't have broken away without you taking out those tractor beams," Pidge agreed.
"You have our thanks," said Allura.
Julia furrowed her brow. "Where is Commander Carrey?"
"In the infirmary," Apley answered. "We found him passed out in his quarters after we had our own little run-in with the locals."
"It looks like you did too," Magda added. "I'm picking up that freaky ship with the biological tendrils on sensors. Looks like you put it down."
"You could say that," said Julia. "What's wrong with the Commander?"
"Doctor Epstein ran what tests he can, but wants to confer with Doctor Gillam first."
"Right. And what's your status? We're showing damage."
"Like I said, we ran into that ship with the tendrils. We had to overload our reactors to break free. We're down to just one fully-functional naqia reactor and one partially-functional one. Lieutenant Derbely wants to dock and shut the entire system down."
"Docking is fine. I'll have a medbay team waiting at the dock. As for the other term, tell her to hold off until we can have a command staff meeting. I expect your report shortly, Commander Apley. Aurora out."
The viewscreen changed to show the approaching vessels. Apley drew in a breath before saying, "Ensign, begin docking sequence."
"Yes sir," Hajar replied.
Magda was giving Apley a concerned look. "You didn't mention…"
"I didn't," Apley said. "Not on open comms anyway. I'll… I'll talk to Captain Andreys about it."
"Why not see why he blacked out first?" Sherlily asked. "If you tell her, she'll…"
"I know, April," Apley sighed. "And I don't want to get Commander Carrey in trouble. But…" He shook his head. "As the First Officer I have a duty to the crew too. And that includes being honest about issues that affect our ship. The Commander being… indisposed like that during a field mission in potentially-hostile space? I can't cover it up."
Sherlily pursed her lips. She could see where he was going with that, and she didn't like it.
"You do what you have to do, sir," Hajar remarked. Her voice sounded calm, matter-of-fact, but there was the slightest emotion toward the end. And she certainly kept her focus on her instruments. "Beginning docking sequence."
Nobody said anything more while the Koenig docked.
Julia left Meridina in charge on the bridge and went straight to the Koenig's dock. When she arrived she was met by Doctor Opani. The Dorei physician, with a dark-teal complexion and purple hair arranged into a pony-tail, started to speak only to stop when Doctor Epstein emerged with his nurse, both pushing an anti-grav stretcher. Zack was lying unconscious on it. "We found him a few hours ago," Epstein said. "Scans show low brainwave activity and bruising consistent with a blow to the head from falling. Neural activity is slightly off. He may have taken a medication of some sort."
"Commander Carrey has no long-term medications," Opani said. "Let's get him to the medbay for a full scan."
Julia watched quietly while the two doctors and the nurse left with her friend. She allowed herself a moment to worry about him before returning to business. She turned back to the airlock to see Magda and Apley approach. "I'll read your formal reports later, but I'd like to hear what happened?"
"The NEUROM ship grabbed us with its tentacles. While we were cloaked. We overloaded our reactors and used transported torpedoes to damage the tentacles until they let go enough for us to escape."
"Good thinking." Julia nodded to him. "I'll put you in for a commendation. What's your status?"
"Lieutenant Derbely is still working in Engineering and is against relaunching the ship until the reactors are refueled. Due to the torpedoes we lost communications."
"We'll discuss her desire at the staff meeting later today," Julia said. "In the meantime, get your reports finished and filed, and see to any needs for your crew."
"Yes ma'am." Apley's expression betrayed concern. "Can you keep us informed about Commander Carrey?"
"Of course. You're both dismissed."
The conference room on the Aurora betrayed the tension that attended the Koenig's return. The officers of that ship joined the Aurora officers. On the wall viewscreen the control center of the Castle of Lions was being displayed. Allura and Coran were joined by Lucy and Talara.
Julia set her hands on the table. "So, let's get down to business. NEUROM wants the Green Lion and the Castle of Lions. And we're not going to let them have them, if we can stop it."
Everyone nodded.
"And what is this 'NEUROM'?" asked Allura.
"They're an alliance of states in the Fracture," Julia replied. "They're uniformly xenophobic. Most are dictatorships of one kind or another."
"We're not that close to NEUROM space, though," Locarno said. "What are they doing out here?"
"Perhaps they also detected the arrival of the Green Lion," Meridina proposed. "We know from experience that NEUROM possesses agents with capabilities matching our own. Their swevyra'kse may have sensed the Lion."
"Through the Fracture?" Lucy's tone was skeptical. "We had to get close to feel it."
"They would be used to the Fracture's effects," Meridina pointed out. "Perhaps their training even attunes them to it."
"Why are they willing to die over this though?" Allura asked. "Even the Galra usually aren't that suicidal."
"Tissim said he was with the Ministry of Fate," Julia replied. "They're the central enforcement arm of the entire alliance and highly secretive. We don't even have their ships on record. Including the fact that they possess Darglan technology."
"You mentioned them before," Allura said. "Who are the Darglan?"
Pidge already knew about them through her conversations with Cat, but she let the others explain. "They're a species that existed over three thousand years ago," Julia answered. "They're the source of our interuniversal jump drive technology among other things. They even built the hull and frame of the Aurora."
"NEUROM possessing Darglan technology is a major discovery that the Alliance must be made aware of," Meridina added.
Julia gave a nod of agreement. "I've already dispatched a record of the battle, and that fact, to Admiral Maran. As for the Ministry of Fate, everything I've read on them says they're fanatical when it comes to NEUROM's perceived needs. And if they're the ones out here, that means someone really powerful wants control of your technology."
"The Castle's defenses are ready," Coran said. "If they want another fight, we'll give them one."
"There's no telling how many more ships they're sending." Julia shook her head. "So I'd rather not get into another fight at all. It's better if we send you home." She looked at Caterina. "Lieutenant, any progress?"
"I'm trying a couple of avenues," Cat said. "But I've got more work to do to make sure this will work despite the Fracture's… problems."
"What if we were not in the Fracture?" Laurent asked. "What if we departed this space for our colonial zone?"
"I've still got work to do on restoring the teludav," said Coran. "Until we're finished, the Castle isn't going anywhere."
"So why not tow them?" Locarno asked.
Scotty shook his head. "I dinnae think th' tractor beams can keep up with t' strain. Nae with th' interference from th' Fracture."
"So it's clear running isn't possible. And given what just happened, NEUROM's going to be spoiling for a fight, and I don't think any diplomacy will dissuade them" Julia said. "Commander Apley." She looked his way. "What's the status of the Koenig?"
Apley was not usually in the place of providing these details during joint staff meetings. He rose to the occasion. "We still have armor and structural damage. And we're down to one completely functional reactor and one with some functionality. Lieutenant Derbely wants to do a complete systems check with all reactors powered down to ensure there's no lasting damage from the escape."
"I'd love to give you that, but we may need everything we've got," Julia said. "Mister Scott, do you think your staff can spare some hands to help get the Koenig into shape for combat?"
"Aye, Captain, I can send a crew or two t' help out with th' bairns," was the engineer's reply. "It shudnae take long t' replace any burnt out components or naqia. As long as she's got two reactors, Koenig is good for a fight."
"Then see to it when we're done." Julia looked at Cat next. "I hate to put you on the spot, Lieutenant, but we could use a solution to Princess Allura's problem."
"I know," Cat said. "But the problem is, we still don't know the origin universe's signature to open a point ourselves, assuming we were willing to risk it. Re-opening the wormhole to their universe may just put them back into that time loop. At least if we do it that same way again… maybe if we…" It was clear Cat was deep in thought.
"Maybe what?" Pidge asked.
Cat turned her head toward Pidge. "Well, we tied your lion into the Aurora to connect to the Castle through what was left of the wormhole. If we could find a way to use that same connection to determine the universal coordinate you come from, we could use our jump drive to take you home."
"That means we need their coordinates," Jarod pointed out.
"Right. So we tie whatever system they use to detect the lions into an IU receiver and that could get us the coordinates we need."
"I suppose we could install an IU transceiver into the Castle," Lucy said. "And see if that works."
Julia noticed the others start to look at her. Her expression remained impassive, although behind that appearance her mind was anything but impassive. Lucy's suggestion meant providing restricted technology to Allura. If they ended up not recovering it, and something wrong happened after the transfer… Julia did not like the thought of these Galra getting their hands on any element of interuniversal technology.
But at the same time, she'd made the offer of assistance, and in their current situation, delaying made another fight with NEUROM more likely. And she was certain it would come long before any help would arrive from Admiral Maran.
After weighing these options, Julia breathed out and nodded. "Alright," she said. "We can try that. But we have to recover the transceiver when this is over." She looked to the image from the Castle. "I personally don't have an issue with you having such a thing, Princess, but we have laws and regulations about this technology that I'm sworn to obey."
"I understand, Captain, and I'm grateful to you for any risks you take on our behalf," Allura answered.
"Lieutenant Lucero, we'll send the transceiver over right away. Get it installed immediately."
"Aye sir," Lucy answered.
Julia nodded. "Mister… Coran, is it?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"How long until your wormhole drive could be ready? If we can leave this area of space before trouble shows up, then we don't need to worry about rushing things to get you home. Or the problem of our jump drive not working well with the Fracture's twisted space."
"Well, whatever hit our wormhole really did some damage to the drive controls. Allura and I have to re-synchronize the entire teludav. And I'm worried about the scaultrite lenses…" Seeing Julia's look Coran stopped himself there. "It will probably take a few vagras at least. Maybe a long as a quintant if the drive needs total re-alignment."
"A vagra is about an hour and a quintat about a day," Pidge clarified.
Julia nodded. "See if Lieutenant Lucero and her team can trim that down for us." She turned her head to Scott. "Mister Scott, status on the jump drive?"
"Openin' that wormhole burnt out a number of th' particle feed lines," he answered. "I've got crews workin' on it. But I've had t' reassign th' Dorei officers an' staff t' light work given all th' problems this space causes 'em. It's slowin' down our progress."
"Do what you can. I want options." Julia looked over everyone. "I know it's getting late, but given the situation we need to be ready for action at a moment's notice," she said. "For the time being we're remaining at Code Yellow. I'll have Hargert prepare the coffee."
"Like we don't drink enough of it as it is," Barnes grumbled.
Julia grinned wryly at that. "Just imagine trying to do this job without caffeine, Lieutenant. That's the stuff of nightmares if you ask me." Julia directed her attention to Laurent next. "Commander, I'm sorry for making you the last item on my list. You and your pilots made that victory possible. What is your status?"
"We lost six fighters, two of the crews were lost with their craft," he said. "And twelve more extensively damaged."
"I understand. But I need your pilots out there. Not just for patrol either, but to escort our runabouts while they drop sensor buoys."
"I can consolidate our pilots by deactivating Fox Squadron for the moment. We'll send our two flights per runabout."
"Coordinate with Commander Jarod, he'll be assigning the runabout teams and scheduling their launch. I want them out and planting buoys within three hours." Julia stood at the table. "You're all dismissed. Doctor Epstein, Doctor Gillam, please remain for a moment."
The other officers filed out of the room save the two medical officers. Julia spent the time waiting for those departures agonizing over the questions she felt compelled to ask. But she had to know.
"What happened to Commander Carrey… he's drinking, isn't he?"
Leo and Epstein exchanged uncomfortable looks. "You understand that under medical ethics, we can only tell you so much, Captain."
"I do. I also understand that under the same ethics and regulations, you have to report general conditions that interfere with someone's capability to fulfill their duties."
"True," said Epstein. "I would have to say, Captain, that it is likely alcohol could have played a role."
"Although not the major one," added Leo. "The neurological symptoms don't fit something like an alcohol-fueled blackout striking. We have to finish tests."
"Alright. Do what you need to and keep me informed," Julia said. "You're dismissed."
She watched them go. When she was by herself Julia let some of her defenses down. Seeing Zack like that affected her more deeply. For weeks he was visibly suffering, but he seemed determined to not let anyone help him.
Maybe I should have forced the issue, she thought. Maybe that would have helped him more.
The thought had to be banished for now. Before things hit the fan she needed to get a message to Admiral Maran about their situation.
And then... she needed some damn coffee too.
With al-Rashad on duty, Caterina decided to follow Pidge to the launch deck. They remained quiet until they were in the lift. "Do you think this is going to work?" Pidge asked her.
"It might. I'm not sure. I mean, there are still some aspects of the interuniversal technology we're still trying to grasp. And I'm not sure how this connection between your lion ships and the Castle of Lions works, or if the IU transceiver can interface with it." Caterina shrugged. "All we can do is give it a try."
Pidge nodded in agreement. The lift came to a stop and they stepped out together. "I'm sorry you didn't get to go over to the Castle."
"Yeah. But we don't always get to do the fun things."
"Sometimes I wish someone would remind Lance of that."
The Green Lion was still seated on all fours on the hanger deck. Its head was just low enough that Pidge could climb up into it. Cat stopped at the last step before the mouth. "Well, here we go." She turned to face Pidge. "Just in case we don't get to say anything else before you get back home, it was great to meet you."
Pidge smiled at that, prompting Cat to do the same. "I feel the same way. This ship you've got is amazing. I only wish we could stay in contact."
"For now, we've got a war and stuff to fight. But maybe one day…" Cat nodded. "Maybe we'll come visit."
"I'm looking forward to that." A wistful look came over Pidge's face. "If I can find my dad and my brother… they would love this. The entire idea of multiple universes to explore."
"There's always something new, too. It's like each universe has something unique about it." Cat offered her hand. "I hope I can show you more of it someday."
Pidge took her offered hand. "I'm looking forward to it."
There was no rest for Pidge when she returned to the Castle. She immediately joined Coran and the technical officers from the Aurora on the engineering deck. A gray and blue-surfaced object was in the middle of the floor. Wires were connecting it to the Castle's system. She looked over said wires. "Are you sure about this?" she asked. "That's a lot of capacity."
"IU radios can take a lot of power," Lucy answered. She handed Pidge a cable. "Would you mind running that into your transceiver system?"
"Sure." Pidge took the cable and did so. "How much longer?"
"Another hour at least," said Lucy. "And that's just the basic set-up. We'll have to modify parts of the bridge to account for your new systems."
"I just hope this works," Pidge said. "We need to get home."
"And I'm looking forward to getting the hell out of the Fracture," Lucy said. "This place makes me feel horrible."
"What could have happened to make space-time here so messed up?" Pidge wondered.
"I'm not sure. And I'm not sure I want to know." Lucy shook her head. "All I know is that my connection to the Flow of Life is distorted here. And it makes me feel anxious and sick." She looked back up to Pidge. "If it comes to a fight, you'll be piloting your ship, right?"
Pidge nodded once. "Yes."
"Then maybe you should go rest. There's no telling when trouble is going to show up."
"I'd rather help get things done, if that's alright with you."
Lucy nodded and smiled. "Right. I can appreciate that." She looked away for a moment. "Jampa!" The Dorei woman turned. "You and Miss Holt head to the bridge. Help Talara get started on our work up there."
"Yes Lieutenant," Jampa replied. She joined Pidge in departing the area.
The command bridge of the Castle of Lions was quiet. It was not a pleasant quiet either. It was awkward and uncertain. Nervousness was evident in the air.
Allura kept up the quiet while Talara examined the various consoles. Neither of them seemed ready to speak first. They were waiting for the other one to go first.
When the quiet broke, it was with a gentle squeaking noise. Talara looked down from the console she was examining and noticed the quartet of little creatures that seemed to be vying for her attention. "Well, hello there," she said softly. A little grin formed on her face. "And how are you?" She extended a hand and rubbed the head of the largest of the mice.
Allura walked to her side. "They're quite happy to see you. Surprised, but happy."
"They're your pets?" Talara asked.
"They were in my cryopod when Coran and my father put me in stasis," Allura replied. "Somehow that allows us to understand each other."
"That is quite interesting." Talara put a hand on the console before her. "Your ship is wonderful. It's inspiring to think we used to be capable of building these vessels."
Allura nodded. "I'm just glad that something of our people survives. It's hard to talk about all we lost. I'm…" She drew in a small breath. When she resumed speaking, her voice was firmer. "I apologize, Talara. I'm making you feel unwelcome when I asked your captain to send you in the first place. It was unfair of me to put you in this position."
"Yours is worse," Talara said. "I can't imagine how it hurt to wake up and learn your people were considered extinct."
"It still haunts me, Or it did, at least. Meeting you has taken some of that pain away."
Talara nodded. "It is… strange for me to see you as a living being, Princess Allura. I grew up with tales of the tragedy of our people and the bravery of our last royal family. On Fala we are told you died heroically at King Alfor's side, buying time for Queen Fala to escape with our ancestors."
A pained look crossed Allura's face. "Sometimes I wish I had," she confessed. "It was my father who put me to sleep and placed me into the cryopod. I begged him to let us form Voltron and fight the Galra, but he refused."
"He must have had his reasons."
Allura nodded. "He did. But it still hurt."
Talara lowered her eyes. "I was actually a little angry with you before. Seeing you alive made me wonder what else our legends got wrong about our history. It's unfair, I know…"
"I think I understand." There was another moment of quiet. "What is it like? Your new homeworld?"
Talara looked up again. Her eyes glistened from happy memories. "Beautiful. The cities are jewels of light when you view Fala from orbit." By way of example Talara activated her omnitool and called up an image of Fala. Part of the sunlit surface was visible, showing a healthy, beautiful garden world. The side of the planet where it was night was lit up with strands of bright light connecting points of varying size. A second image showed cityscapes of towering white and blue structures.
Allura's heart ached at the sight. Whatever the Falaens had lost over the millennia, they still had Altean architecture as Allura remembered it. When another change of image showed a beautiful park in the middle of one of the cities, Allura said, "It's all beautiful. My mother would adore your world. And Father would be proud."
"That is what we wanted. It's what we've always wanted. To be worthy of her and of you." Talara turned her omnitool off. "You should come to Fala. My people, our people, would welcome you."
"If circumstances allowed it, I would love to." Allura shook her head. Determination flashed in her eyes. "But I have a duty to our home universe first. The Galra must be stopped."
To that Talara smiled softly. "Spoken like the Allura I grew up reading about." That caused a small blush to form on Allura's face.
The door opened and Pidge entered with Ensign Jampa. She walked up to them. "We're still working on getting their technology fitted to the ship. I need to start modifying the controls."
"Of course." Allura turned her head and faced Talara. "Talara, can you check on Coran for me? He may need help."
"Of course, Princess… Your Highness." Talara nodded her head once in respect and left.
Pidge watched her walk out and glanced back to Allura. "This changes a lot, doesn't it?"
"It does," Allura admitted. A contented smile was on her face. "I have never allowed myself to consider what victory over the Galra will mean for us. With my people gone, what was I to do? But now I know Coran and I aren't the last. For the first time, I have something to look forward to when we stop Zarkon."
"Right." With nothing more to say on the matter, they got to work.
The three surviving ships of Tissim's squadron exited hyperspace at the planned rendezvous. Tissim waited quietly, nervously, for the signal from Admiral Gal-Nazad. Through the viewer he made out the image of the assembled task force from the Ministry of Fate's States Reserve Fleet. A kilometer long dreadnought was at the center of the force, which consisted of another half-dozen assault carriers and twice that number in ships of his own size.
"Hail from the Tatran's Bane," his comm officer stated.
"On viewer."
Admiral Gal-Nazad's face appeared. He was a man of olive complexion, with graying dark hair and a red cybernetic implant where his left eye used to be. His golden uniform bore more markings and commendations than Tissim's. "Squadron Captain, you seem to have run into difficulties. What is your report?"
"The Alliance vessel Aurora protected the extrauniversal visitors, my Admiral. We fought as well as we could, but the power against us was too great. The Fates were not with us."
"I see." Gal-Nazad considered his next response. "Return to Starngard and take repairs. We will convene an inquiry into your actions at a more opportune time."
"Yes sir," answered Tissim. He had just been given a stay of execution, at least. "Will you be pursuing the lion ship?"
"Oh, yes." Gal-Nazad nodded. "In decades of service I have never failed the All-Father. I will not start now." He looked off-screen. "Order the fleet to prepare for hyperspace. All must be ready to sacrifice to bring victory to the Ministry of Fate."
"Aye sir," was the accented reply over the line.
Tissim watched Gal-Nazad's fleet warp away. He smiled. Whatever his fate, that damned alien and those damnable meddlers in the Alliance were about to suffer far, far worse.