Alright, I'm trying to keep the story going at a pretty brisk pace and avoid meandering plots, while at the same time having meaningful character development and making the story interesting. I welcome constructive criticism and any ideas/ways you'd improve the story; reader feedback is definitely important. Also, I'm going to have some scenes focusing on the other paladins, starting with a Keith portion this chapter. I'll have some with Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk in the future.
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Lance's first real day on the Tartarus had been uneventful; after the wormhole jump, the approach to the first planet to be explored had begun, and the ship's crew began preparations of several ground and water vehicles which the exploration team would descend and make the initial exploration in. These vehicles had only increased Lance's perception of Turan as an enabled fanboy – they bore an obvious resemblance to the Atlas ships. Turan had quickly assured Lance that the vehicles had "brand-new radar technology" and then had gone off on a technological tangent that would make Pidge blush, but the inspiration for the look of the vehicles was obvious.
Lance's train of thought as he observed the hanger was suddenly interrupted. "Ah, you are the paladin, correct?" A man's voice rang out in an accent that Lance couldn't quite pinpoint. "Oh, uh, yeah, I was." Lance responded, turning around to see a tall, bearded man in what looked to be a jungle combatant's uniform. "I'm Lance McClain, and I was a paladin of Voltron, but I'm not one anymore, so…"
The conversation was interrupted by someone who had grown all too familiar over the past few days. "Good! You've already met!" Martin Turan's voice rang out. "Jack, you know Lance. Lance, this is Janco Badenhorst, our head of security for the mission!"
A look of discomfort spread over Badenhorst's face. "Please, just call me Jack." Lance was still unsure about the accent but figured it would be an inopportune time to ask. "But yes, I am head of security and me and my team will accompany the scientific explorers on the expedition and planetary landings. I was hoping that you would join us."
"Of course!" Lance responded. He'd come on the journey for a reason, and he wasn't planning on staying onboard the home vessel the entire time. And Badenhorst, or Jack apparently, looked well suited to the job. He was a rugged, well-worn looking man, in stark contrast to the clean, Scandinavian features of Turan. However, Lance was slowly getting the feeling that he'd seen him somewhere before. Oh well, it was probably just a coincidence.
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Once preparations were completed, the four initial scout ships departed the Tartarus for "Planet A" as it had been dubbed. Lance was in the same vehicle as Jack and Turan, who had insisted on accompanying them. As Jack took control of the ship, he checked on the others. "Morgan, Jean-Luc, Trish, how are your systems?"
"All good, mate." A female voice, presumably Trish's, rang out. "That's a copy." a different voice responded. "Same here." A man with a light French accent chipped in. The ships began their descent through the atmosphere, all landing at distinctly different areas on the planet. As Turan had repeatedly explained to all who would listen, the speed of his vehicles would enable them to reach each other in minutes if necessary, covering large swaths of the planet quickly. Jack had been quick to jump in and clarify that it was not ideal to do that; it would rather quickly deplete the vehicles of energy.
As their vehicle landed, Lance noticed the rather unusual landscape of the landmass. A large forested area appeared to take up most of the land, but one spot appeared to give way to desert. Lance wasn't exactly proficient in science, but even he knew that normally, that would be functionally impossible. "That's… weird." He commented on it. "Did your scientists know about this landscape before we came here?" he asked Turan.
"We knew of the irregularities, yes. This planet is one of interest, as we study the exact science behind some of these landscapes. Two of the other planets that we will see appear normal, but we will have to study far more closely."
The communicators began to crackle. "Guys, you're gonna want to see this. Get to the 16th quadrant, where we are. We're headed up."
"Morgan? What's going on?" Turan spoke through his communicator. "Just get up there, boss. I've got a feeling that you'll be very interested in what we're seeing.
After a short silence, Jack spoke up. "Do it. I'd trust that man with my life." The ship began to rise into the atmosphere, to get a quicker trip without expending all of its energy.
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"Okay, slightly unusual, but a mountain surrounded by the woods isn't impossible, is it?" Lance asked. "It's highly unusual." Turan responded "And this one isn't surrounded by any other rock formations. I've never seen anything like it."
"Oh, that's not just any mountain." The lead scientist on the expedition had been quiet so far, seeming intent on making observations of the unusual sights. "According to every reading, that's an active volcano."
"But… that makes no sense!" Once again, Lance voiced what everyone was thinking. Someone had to do it.
"Guys?" Morgan's face appeared on the communication screen of the ship once more "We should probably get out of here."
"We should." One of the main scientists concurred "Our sensors are showing that an eruption is imminent."
No one had to say anything as the ships departed for the lower atmosphere. Turan redirected the long-range cameras to view the eruption.
If Lance had to describe the volcanic eruption, he would've ascribed to it a certain destructive beauty. While the trees and all of the surrounding forests were cleared almost instantaneously, with lava and magma raining down and crushing them under the earth and fire, it was horrifying. Horrifying that something natural could do so much damage in a few minutes, yet also beautiful at the same time. As the trees were cleared, the question on everyone's minds was how the forest had sprung up so close to the raging heat of the mountain.
A few minutes later, they got something of an answer.
While watching the cameras, the trees began to spring up again. Slowly, the roots turned into tiny twigs, before stretching up to the sky in harmony and regaining the size and shape they had, while the lava and magma appeared to melt away as if nothing had ever happened at all. The mass amounts of ash, safely out of the ships' range, appeared to dissipate as well. The entire ship stood in shock.
"That… that should be impossible" This time, it was Turan who was the voice of the room.
And while it could be a unique feature of this planet, while it could just be that the vegetation of the planet had a unique kind of life, Lance had a sneaking suspicion that the effects might be due to something he'd seen before; Quintessence.
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The stabilization of the new Daibazaal hadn't been entirely peaceful, but the progress had been extremely promising. Keith, Krolia, and Kolivan had been the main leaders of the process, and the rebuilt Blade of Marmora had become extremely prominent in the creation of a new government. The blades were now something between a humanitarian organization and the recon and covert ops crew that it was originally. The sad fact was, the amount of destabilization attempts from both imperialists within the Galra and anti-Galra organizations left over from the war mandated a certain amount of militarization. And the tactical side of things was why Keith had been called in to a meeting with some of the higher-ups today. Specifically, his mother and Kolivan.
Keith was happy that his mother had found someone again, he really was. But it was sort of awkward that it was Kolivan. It made most blades meetings feel like some sort of attempt at a family gathering. And Keith liked Kolivan too, he just wasn't particularly… fatherly. He tried, of course, but he was clumsy about it. Keith would prefer it if he just stuck to being a leader and mentor, rather than attempting to be a father figure. He sensed that Kolivan would too, but got the idea that it was Krolia putting him up to it. His mother still was plagued by guilt for leaving him on earth, and even though he had long ago forgiven her, she still tried to make it up in ways. He just hadn't anticipated her attempts making things awkward. Weirdly, working with his ex was now something he preferred to do within the blades. He and Acxa always found it easy to remain friends, due to a deep mutual respect for each other and their similar personalities. They just had to, finally, accept that they probably weren't going to work romantically. It was these thoughts that Keith unfortunately found himself drifting to during the rather boring meeting.
"And one last thing; No one has reported seeing Janco Badenhorst or his mercs in months." Kolivan contributed, as the previously boring meeting was coming to a close. This caught Keith's attention. Janco Badenhorst was notorious due to his quick rise as a rather brutal mercenary who was one of the best in his trade, despite his completely human origins. He was also not at all fond of the Galra, and had participated in several attacks on Daibazaal.
"Knowing him, that's not a good sign. He'll pop up any time now." Keith stated
"Exactly my thinking." Kolivan responded. "No sightings of his lieutenant, Blake Morgan, either. They're planning something." Keith could only speculate what, but he had a very bad feeling. The radio silence from the enemies of Daibazaal over the past few months had left him on edge in a way he hadn't been since the war. Except this time, he didn't have a lion. For now.
In case anyone is wondering, Janco Badenhorst is an Afrikaans name. He's meant to be South African. Once again, leave a review and suggestions!