**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!
From their position in the clouds, the Castle trio watched in anticipation as the sword and shield quickly materialized in Voltron's hands. The Galran pod opened with a loud hiss and the front half of it fell to the ground, revealing the beast that resided inside. The creature had long, dangling arms and multiple green beady eyes on its head, chest, and arms, all of which immediately trained on Voltron. From the eye on its torso, the monster fired a green laser beam at the giant mechanical man, the shot colliding with the shield and the force of the impact pushing Voltron backwards.
"What are we doing? We've gotta get down there and help them!" Mari urged, looking frantically between the two equally anxious Alteans.
"Give us a few more ticks. The particle barrier generator needs to recover a bit more," Coran said. "We don't know yet how powerful that beast is and I would rather not risk engaging in battle with it unprotected."
Below them, Voltron tripped and fell and the shield flew from its grasp. The five lions split apart to take on the creature, only to be bombarded by multiple laser beams that their foe began to fire from the cannons on its arms.
"I'm afraid we cannot wait any longer. The paladins need out help," Allura decided quickly. "Particle barrier up!"
The Castle's shield appeared once more and several warning screens popped up over Coran's control panel. Ignoring them though, the princess proceeded to lower the ship through the clouds towards the ongoing battle beneath them.
"Blasters locked on target," Allura announced, as her screens focused on the Galran monster. "…Fire!"
The attack took the creature off guard as the blast caught it in the back. It was knocked off balance for the briefest of moments and it halted its deadly light show so it could focus on the castle-ship above it. Without missing a beat, the monster retaliated and relentlessly fired one of its laser cannons at the ship, causing the whole Castle to violently shake and tilt dangerous.
"Where does Zarkon get these beasts from?" Allura wondered aloud in exasperated disbelief. "And how do they keep finding us?"
"Princess, the particle barrier won't sustain much longer," Coran alerted her. "It's still not at full strength after the blast from the Galra ship. I knew we should've given it a few more dobashes!"
On screen, the Red Lion was charging towards the creature, drawing its attention away from the Castle while the Black Lion attempted to strike from behind. But before Shiro could land a blow, one of the beast's eye canons swiveled around its head and fired at the Black Lion, causing it to reel back to safety.
"We need to find its blind spot!" Keith said frustratedly, tapping into the Castle comms to relay this objective.
"No duh! Are you saying you haven't been trying to do that since that thing landed?" Mari huffed in response and the Red Paladin tsked.
"I didn't ask for your input!" he snapped.
"And I didn't think I needed your permission to provide it," she fired back. "I'm practicing my freedom of speech, jerk."
"Geez, you are so annoying!"
"And you're an asshole!"
"Knock it off you two!" Shiro ordered sternly, and the quarreling duo obediently shut their mouths.
"What do we do? Fighting this thing is like fighting an entire fleet at once!" Pidge growled, bringing everyone's attention back to the issue at hand.
"I think we've got to aim for those laser eyes and take them out," Keith ventured to provide his input again.
"And what exactly is your plan for taking them out?" Mari challenged him, raising a doubtful eyebrow. "None of the lions have even managed to make a dent in that monster."
"We just need to draw its fire, have it focus on one spot so the lions can attack the eyes," Allura chimed in before Keith could respond, snuffing another potential bickering episode between their two resident hotheads.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? The particle barrier's already on the verge of collapse," Mari reminded her, but the princess simply shook her head grimly.
"I know, but…It's our only option right now," Allura admitted. "Paladins, we'll cover you from up here! All Castle blasters lock onto that beast and fire at will!"
Responding to her commands without hesitation, the lions pulled back as the Castle began to pelt the beast with more laser blasts. But the monster remained unaffected by the seemingly feeble attacks, getting more irritated than injured as it turned and trained all of its lasers on the castle-ship before firing them all at once. The Castle lurched upon impact and a million more alarms were set off in the bridge as a flurry of beeping red screens popped up over Coran's control panel.
"We've lost the spectral generator! Going to reserve! There's a fire in VIN bay three! Suppressors on! Suppressors out!" the older Altean fretted, his panic increasing with every new alert that appeared on screen. "Princess, the ship is being torn apart!"
Clutching the back of the Black Paladin's chair as the ship quivered and quaked, Mari shouted to be heard over the din of the alarms, "We have to get out of here!"
"No! We cannot abandon the paladins!" Allura insisted.
"No, she's right!" Shiro piped up over the comms. "Princess, pull back! Get out of its range, now!"
"We will not abandon you!" she stubbornly continued to protest.
"You're not abandoning us," Shiro said. "We're about to pull back anyway."
"We are?" Hunk asked.
"We can't hold out. We have to," Shiro confirmed. "Lions, to the mine shafts. It's the only place the monster can't get us."
"Roger that!" Pidge replied, steering her lion to safety.
"Fine. We're heading into orbit," Allura relented, her tone radiating dismay. She pulled the Castle back into the upper layer of the atmosphere and the ship disappeared amongst the clouds once more.
The Castle hovered listlessly over the pea-green colored clouds of the Balmera, its systems cooling down after the intense battle. Having been taken out of harms way, the particle barrier had been deactivated and Coran went to work shutting off the alarms.
Mari sighed and sat back down in the Black Paladin's chair. How were they going to beat that monster? With its all-seeing laser eyes, it was practically untouchable. It was obvious that they needed Voltron, but it was nearly impossible for the giant robot to fight that beast without inflicting damage upon the Balmera.
"So…What's the plan?" Mari asked, breaking the silence with the big question. "How do we beat that creature and protect the Balmera?"
"Those are questions I do not have the answers to," Allura sighed bitterly. "Not yet, anyways."
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but our efforts to preserve the Balmera might have been all for naught," Coran sadly informed them. "My scans indicate that the mighty beast has begun to collapse."
"What?!" Allura and Mari exclaimed in unison just as Shiro's face popped up on screen.
"Coran, Allura, Mari, are you there?" he asked.
"Shiro, we're here," Allura nodded.
"The Balmera—" he began, but Coran cut him off.
"We already know. Our scanners are showing the life energy draining from the Balmera," the older Altean said, pulling up a thermal image that displayed the warmth of life fading from the planet-like creature.
"How does that happen?" Pidge spoke over the comms.
"Removing crystals from a Balmera is like removing a vital part of the mighty beast," Coran explained solemnly. "The Balmera needs time to regenerate itself to stay healthy, but the Galra's greed may have cost this noble Balmera its life."
"So, what's gonna happen?" Hunk asked.
"The core will collapse, destabilizing the entire skeletal structure," Coran continued. "Anything or anyone remaining on the Balmera at that point will be crushed into dust."
"How long before its core collapses?" Shiro inquired.
"Probably a matter of hours," Coran estimated. "The mighty organism willingly gives itself to all, but not all return its kindness."
"Then our time is short. We'll evacuate the planet," Allura decided. "We need to get all the Balmerans to the Castle of Lions before the planet implodes."
"Okay, that sounds like a good plan, but how on earth do you plan on landing the Castle with that monster-thingy on the surface?" Hunk pointed out, his worried expression coming into focus on screen.
"You'll need a distraction," Pidge surmised, appearing on screen as well.
"We'll engage the beast in our lions. With it distracted, Allura and Coran will land the Castle and load all of its citizens," Shiro concluded.
"Or we could load Balmerans into our lions a few at a time and shuttle them to the ship," Lance suggested, leaning into view next to Pidge. "Y'know, no engaging ferocious laser-eye guy."
"Lance, that's not going to work. It'll take too long," Mari shot him down with a shake of her head. "Don't be a coward about this."
"Uh, I wasn't asking you, Mari," Lance chided lightly and she rolled her eyes. "Anyways, how long would that take, Coran?"
"Days?" he guessed with a half-hearted shrug. "Weeks?"
"We only have hours," Keith stated flatly.
"Told you it wouldn't work. We don't have a lot of time here, so stop being a baby about it and just be the distraction," Mari chided and Lance scowled at her before sulking out of view, grumbling all the while.
"Look, we don't need to beat this thing," Shiro sighed. "We just need to bait it away from the ship. Provoke and evade."
"Okay, here's the thing. I'm worried that we're going to be really, really good at the provoking part, and then like really bad at the evading part," Hunk said hesitantly. "But if this is what it takes to save Shay and everyone on the planet, then I'm in."
"Can you contact the other Balmerans?" Keith asked of Shay.
"I can, but I know not what they'll say," Shay answered from somewhere off screen. "Leave the planet? Our home?"
"It's the only option," Allura said. Then after a moment she added, "I'm coming down."
"Princess, no!" Coran objected instantly. "It's too dangerous!"
"Someone has to be there to lead these people out," she said firmly.
"You're coming down? That thing will spot your pod and blow it to pieces!" Pidge exclaimed.
"Let me worry about that," Allura replied, turning to leave the bridge. "You just focus on keeping the creature distracted. Mari, help Coran in any way that you can. I'll contact you when I'm on the ground."
Remaining on standby in the Castle, Coran and Mari waited with bated breath as Allura departed. They watched on screen as the lions valiantly protected the princess from the robeast as she angled her pod down towards the Balmera's surface. When she had landed safely without any problems, she had provided some powerful words of wisdom and encouragement to the Balmerans planet-wide before the evacuation was set into motion. With the Balmerans moving towards the surface, Coran prepared to land the Castle.
"Castle of Lions, coming in!" he relayed via the comms as he zeroed in on a landing spot.
"How are you guys holding up?" Mari inquired of the paladins.
"I think we've got him pretty distracted," Keith responded. "Are the Balmerans in position?"
"They're making their way to the top," Allura confirmed and Coran proceeded to carefully ground the ship.
Once the Castle was safely on the surface, Coran turned to Mari and instructed, "Stay here and watch over things. I'm going down to help the princess."
"W-Wait, seriously?" Mari stammered, scrambling to her feet as Coran hurried past her towards the bridge doors. "But I don't know how any of this tech works! What if something goes wrong?"
"When in doubt, just fire the blasters! Use that big circular button in the center of the panel to activate them," Coran instructed much too cheerfully as he pointed to his controls. "But otherwise, don't worry about it! Everything will turn out just fine."
"That's terrible advice!" Mari began to argue, but he was already gone, leaving her alone in the Castle of Lions.
"For the love of God…" she groaned, anxiously hovering over Coran's control panel. "'Here Mari! Just watch over our ten thousand year old and highly advanced ship by yourself. Don't worry about not being able to operate it or anything. You'll be fine, just shoot the lasers if there's a problem! Pew, pew, pew!' Yeah, great idea, Coran!"
She worriedly glanced up at the screens displaying the chaos going on outside and grimaced at the destruction. The Balmera was beginning to crumble, collapsing in on itself as its skeletal structure gave way. Off in the distance, the five Voltron lions were continuing in their struggle to distract the monster. They wouldn't be able to hold it off for long, and the beast's attention was being drawn towards the Castle more and more with each passing second, like it was losing interest in fighting the lions and deemed the grounded ship the more dangerous threat.
"If that thing fires on the Castle, I'm screwed," Mari groaned in frustration. "Man, why didn't Coran tell me how to put up the particle barrier instead?"
Suddenly, the crystal embedded in the ceiling over Allura's control platform began to glow and emit a comforting warmth. Her heart rate increasing with her concern, Mari pressed the button that would open communications with the two Alteans down on the surface. "Allura, Coran, something's up with the crystal," she said, struggling to keep the panic out of her voice. "It just started glowing. It's not going to blow up, is it?"
"There's nothing to worry about, Number Five," Coran assured her. "It's reacting to being closer to the Balmera. It's revitalizing this area of the mighty beast."
"Oh…Okay?"
"This means that the Balmera can still be saved," Coran proceeded to explain. "The princess is going to perform an Altean ceremony to re-infuse the Balmera with quintessence. If she succeeds, we won't have to evacuate the planet."
"That's a relief," Mari admitted, letting out a quiet sigh. That would take care of one major crisis. Now all that was left for them to worry about was the robeast. Diverting her attention to the screens once more, Mari immediately inhaled sharply and her heart nearly frozen inside her chest: the monster was quickly approaching the ship and the lions were nowhere to be seen.
Terror settling in, Mari instinctively went to fire the blasters, her hand shaking slightly as it hovered over the controls. Every nerve in her body screamed for her hand to come down, to shoot at the beast that was making this rescue mission so much more difficult for the team to complete. But with her lack of knowledge on how to operate the Castle, could she even control the lasers? Coran had told her which button to press to activate the cannons, but how would she be able to aim them? What if she messed up and accidentally shot the dying Balmera instead? And what if activating the laser cannons somehow interfered with the ritual Allura was currently preparing for? No, she couldn't risk doing it. Too much could go wrong.
Gritting her teeth as her fear and anger flared, Mari nearly punched a hole in the control panel as she slammed her fist against the comm link button. "Guys! Where are you?! That monster is getting a little too close for comfort!" she shouted urgently, hoping to God that the five paladins would be able to hear her.
On screen, the beast lifted its arms, generating a green sphere of sparking energy as it prepared to fire a supercharged beam that would no doubt blow a hole through the Castle of Lions. But before it could release the damaging blast, Voltron suddenly dropped from the sky and shot the beast, causing it to stumble back as the giant robot landed protectively in front of the Castle.
"It's about time!" Mari cried out in relief. "What the hell took you guys so long?"
"Sorry we're late," Shiro apologized.
"Had to step out for a bit to form Voltron," Pidge said.
"I can see that," Mari nodded. "Please tell me you guys have an actual plan on how to beat this thing?"
"Don't worry, Mari, I (think) I've got this," Hunk tried to assure her. "Okay, Yellow. Now form thingy!"
There was a solid click as Hunk thrust his bayard into the corresponding plug next to the Yellow Lion's central controls, and a massive shoulder cannon instantly materialized on Voltron's right shoulder. The robeast hissed furiously and raised its arms again to attack, releasing a green beam at the giant robot. Voltron's new shoulder cannon powered up and fired a blue laser at the monster, the two beams meeting in the middle in a thunderous collision. Green light swirled with blue in a massive ball of scorching hot energy, but it was obvious that Voltron's artillery was still no match for the beast's eyes and it took seconds for its lasers to overpower the shoulder cannon.
"It's not enough!" Shiro grunted.
"We'll have to try something else!" Hunk agreed.
Changing the angle of the cannon ever so slightly, the green beam soared past the Castle, Voltron having just barely been able to deflect the blast away from the ship. The entire structure quivered and Mari held onto the control panel to maintain her balance.
The robeast was fully focused on Voltron now and it turned away from the Castle as watched the giant robot take to the skies before firing a volley of shots at it. Voltron nimbly dodged the attacks and formed the shoulder cannon once more before using it to fire a series of smaller laser beams at the monster, taking out the laser eyes on its arms. The creature screeched and sank to its knees, shocked by the blow it had received.
"Nice!" Mari grinned, clapping her hands together. "Good, good, this is good. We're winning! Keep it up you guys."
Suddenly, the crystal in the ceiling was completely absorbed in light and the entirety of the Balmera's surface glowed a sparkling blue. The hairs on the back of Mari's neck stood on end and a shiver ran down her spine as her entire body tingled with an unfamiliar energy. But as soon as the phenomenon had begun, it passed, and the strange feeling faded away as the Balmera dimmed to its original earthy color.
"What. The heck. Was that?" Mari whispered, rubbing her arms fervently to get the goosebumps to go away. Had that strange sensation come from the Altean ceremony Allura was performing? It must've been. The real question was, had it worked? The Balmera's surface looked no different than it had five minutes ago, but the screens displaying the activity down below showed no more signs that the planet-sized creature was still collapsing.
Outside, the fallen robeast had risen to its feet again and had begun firing desperately at Voltron with its remaining laser. But the mighty robot was too quick and it wasn't long before it got close enough to land the final blow. Bringing back the Red Lion arm, Voltron punched the beast in its central eye, sending it flying backwards in a brilliant explosion. The beast landed on its back in defeat, the light slowly fading from the eyes on its head.
"Yes!" Mari cheered, pumping one fist in the air victoriously as Voltron split into the five lions and they landed on the Balmera's surface to meet with Coran and Allura. "That was awesome! Congratulations, you gu—!"
Her mini celebration was cut short as the ground began to shake again and the robeast suddenly rose to its feet again, its central eye glowing anew as it prepared to fire at the Castle. There was no way the paladins would be able to make it back to their lions let alone form Voltron in time to stop the creature from firing. They were all so very, very dead. Unless…
Moving swiftly, Mari pressed the large button that would activate the lasers. A new screen popped up displaying the robeast outside, and with shaking fingers, she quickly aligned all of the targeting circles over the monster. The circles blinked twice as they locked onto their target and another button on the control panel began to rapidly flash red, indicating that the blasters were ready to fire. Without hesitation, Mari slammed her hand on top of the control and the whole Castle vibrated as the familiar whine of the cannons powering up echoed throughout the bridge.
A single blue beam shot from the tip of the ship and it collided with the robeast's fleshy head, disintegrating it into nothing in the blink of an eye upon impact. The monster's body stiffened and the blast it had been building up suddenly flickered and began to lose its form just as the Balmera let out a grateful moan. Huge chunks of blue crystal erupted from the ground around the robeast's feet and began to crawl up its legs, a particularly sharp shard completely impaling the monster in the chest in the process. The creature's central eye shattered and the remnants of its final attack were snuffed out as the rest of its body was rapidly encased in thick layers of Balmera crystal.
The bridge was deathly silent as Mari stood frozen to the spot, her mouth agape as she stared as the imprisoned robeast on screen. She…she had just single-handedly beheaded that thing! And the Balmera, it—it had just effortlessly imprisoned that monster, protecting all of them from its destruction for good.
"Holy crow," Mari squeaked, taking a shaky breath as she leaned heavily against the control panel. "That—That actually just happened."
Then all at once, the comms roared to life and all five paladins appeared on screen, with Allura, Coran, and even Shay squeezing into frame as they all began to speak excitedly.
"Holy crow, Mari! What the cheese was that?"
"You and the Balmera completely wrecked that thing!"
"That was freaking insane! And I mean that in a good way, of course."
"Nice job."
"See? I told you, Number Five. When in doubt, just fire the blasters. I'm glad you followed my advice. And at the perfect time, too!"
"Coran, I cannot believe you told her to do that. That was incredibly dangerous! She doesn't know how to properly operate the Castle. What if something had gone wrong? What if she had missed?"
"My apologies, princess, but it was an emergency situation. I assure you it will not happen again."
"Well, what matters is that we're all safe and that thing has been defeated," Shiro said, a small smile playing his lips. "Nice work, sis."
Holding up a weak thumbs up, Mari managed a half-hearted, "No problem."
"Aw yeah!" Lance cheered giddily. "Bring on the victory celebration!"
Chuckling lightly, Mari sunk to the floor, her knees weak with relief. She sat there for a moment, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm her frazzled nerves. "Oh thank God this is all finally over," she laughed to herself. "First mission accomplished."
**Please feel free to leave a comment/review down below! They're always appreciated and they're very motivating!
