Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron, Star Trek, or anything else that belongs to WEP or Paramount. What I do own are the crew of the Berlin, (except for Mordock and Scotty), the fighter, Thunderwing, and the story itself.
Star Tron: Hidden DangersChapter 2
"Fighter squadron, closing fast, bearing 045," Jacobs announced as Driscoll strode onto the bridge. He moved directly to the center of the bridge, and watched the rest of the officers settle into their stations with practiced efficiency.
"They are targeting the starbase," said Mordock.
"Fall back to the base," Driscoll barked. "Tell Timberwolf to swap places with us." They needed to be ready for anything, as fighter raids were often a prelude to an assault by a group of cruisers. The Berlin's phaser arrays were better for dealing with the fighters, while the Timberwolf's phaser cannons would be more effective against the larger vessels
The great starship heeled around and moved in closer toward the base. As the Berlin reached the station it swung back to face the coming attack just as the fighters swept in, and the battle began. The fighters rushed the starbase, throwing everything they had at it. Luckily, although the base still lacked weapons, its shields were fully operational. The laser fire beat against those shields now, causing cascades of fluorescent color across the surface as the laser energy was absorbed, and the shields cycled. But despite the fireworks, the base suffered no real damage.
"Starbase shields holding," Mordock reported.
"Good," said Driscoll. He whirled around to face the tactical station. "Let's get some flak out there. T.J., fire at will."
The starship's phasers opened up, filling the space around the fighters with deadly red lightning bolts. Immediately, some fighters erupted in flame and streams of debris, while others aborted attack runs to evade the starship's defensive fire and fell back to regroup.
But the fighters didn't give up. A small group of them broke off of the main force and raced around the starship, staying just out of weapons range. These fighters were more heavily armed than the others, carrying lazon/topaz missiles. Coming in behind the starship, where it's defenses were thinnest, they locked on and fired.
"Incoming astern!" Mordock announced, whirling around to face the Captain. "Lazon missiles!"
"Onscreen!" Driscoll ordered. The picture on the viewer changed to show a dozen missiles and half as many fighters coming at them from behind.
"Point defense," Gredar hissed. Jacobs' hands danced across her board, calling up the Berlin's newest system.
On the vessel's stern, two panels slid back and a pair of spherical devices popped out of the hull. Immediately, they began rotating furiously, spewing small, blue bolts of energy. The ion dart launchers shredded the missiles and several of the fighters that flew in too close to the ship. The Berlin was rocked by the blasts, but suffered no damage.
Driscoll grinned, seeing the ion darts in action. He owed Hunk and Pidge a big thank you dinner for their good work.
He was called back to the situation at hand as Mordock announced, "Remaining fighters are massing for an assault."
Driscoll looked at the viewer, which now displayed an image of the fighters as they grouped up to launch a new attack on the base. He turned to his tactical officer. "Two torpedoes, set for proximity detonation."
Jacobs entered the commands on her console. "Torpedoes ready."
"Target the middle of the formation…fire!"
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Materializing in the Castle of Lions, the Voltron Force raced for their launch tubes and were airborne in moments. "Where are they, Coran?" Keith asked, scanning his instruments as the others formed up on Black Lion.
"There's a fighter squadron attacking the starbase," Coran replied in his ever-calm baritone "Berlin and Timberwolf are defending."
"We should get up there, Keith," said Lance.
Keith was about to agree and head out, when he was suddenly struck by an odd hunch. Why only send fighters against the starbase? Where were the battleships? "No," he said finally, "they can handle a few fighters. We're staying here."
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Commander Torka swore under his breath as his group of six fighters bore down on the Castle of Lions and its nearby villages. The Voltron Lions were still hanging around, patrolling the area. But there was no way they could have been detected. Their masking technology was impervious, wasn't it?
"Lead, this is Four. What should we do?"
Torka thought a moment. With the Lions hanging around, there was a chance his team could be detected. They had to avoid that at all costs. But then, they had a mission to complete. Thinking quickly, Torka modified the attack plan.
"This is Lead. Four, Five, and Six will attack and distract the Lions. Two and Three, we will carry out the strike as planned."
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For several long minutes, nothing happened. The battle was in space, and even that was waning as the starships cut down the attacking fighters, suffering little damage to themselves.
Keith was about to move the team up to join the Berlin when an explosion rent the air nearby, and Hunk screamed, "Argh! I'm bit!" Keith's head whipped over in time to see Yellow Lion tumble from the sky.
"Three fighters diving on us!" Lance warned before Red, too, was hit.
Keith turned Black Lion and raced to his friends' aid, seeing three black fighters attacking the Lions. Yellow and Red lurched drunkenly as they tried to recover and evade further attacks, while Blue and Green broke away and began a counterattack, weapons appearing on their shoulders and flanks, hurling death at the enemy.
But just as suddenly as they appeared, the fighters were gone.
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Torka grinned as he watched his fighters strike the Voltron Force and leave them flying in confused circles. Everything was working perfectly. The Voltron Force had no idea what he was up to. He doubted they even knew what they were up against.
"Two and Three, prepare for attack," he commanded, swinging around the airfield and lining up his missile run. In a few more seconds, it would all be over.
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"What was that?" Pidge demanded in shock as he steered Green into a slow circle.
"I don't know. They looked like regular fighters," said Allura.
"Well, they sure don't hit like regular fighters," said Lance.
"So where'd they go?" Pidge wondered aloud.
Suddenly, Hunk called out, "Guys, the airfield!" Everyone turned to see three more fighters attacking the landing field southeast of the castle. One barrage of missiles had already struck, cratering the field and starting several fires on the hangar level.
"Come on, let's go!" Keith ordered. All five Lions charged forward to defend the base, weapons blazing, as the black Stinger fighters wheeled around and made another attack pass. But as they fired their missiles, they shimmered and disappeared.
The five Voltron pilots scanned the sky and their instruments. Nothing. There wasn't so much as a ghost echo on their radar.
Lance was the first of the dumbfounded pilots to speak. "So now what?"
Keith stared at the airfield, cratered and burning, and for once in his life, he had no idea what to do next.
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Torka checked his indicator board, and saw that all five of his squadmates were with him as he withdrew. Except for the Voltron Force showing up, everything had gone as planned. Their masks were more that sufficient to evade their sensors. Now that they knew this, they could plan more effective strikes against more important targets. Oh yes, this was only the beginning. If everything went as he hoped, Torka mused, the planet would be ripe for Lord Zarkon's invasion within a month.
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Aboard the Berlin, Captain Driscoll watched on the viewer as the fighters came streaking in at the starbase again. Of the original one hundred fighters that attacked, less than thirty remained.
"Fire phasers! Take 'em out!" Driscoll ordered. The energy beams lashed out at the fighters, scoring hits on ten of them, which exploded like small suns. The remaining fighters regrouped and retreated, heading out of the system.
Driscoll grinned as he watched the ships flee, but he wasn't about to let them go so easily. Whatever their mission was, it had failed, and now they were going to reap the whirlwind. "Driscoll to shuttlebay, prepare Thunderwing for launch, max-range loadout." He turned to Gredar. "Commander, the ship is yours. I'm going to follow 'em and find out where their base is."
"I advise against it, sir," Gredar replied.
"Noted, but I don't care," Driscoll replied, turning and heading for the turbolift. "Besides, they'll be less likely to notice Thunder than the Berlin. Start scanning for survivors from the fighters," he added quickly as he disappeared into the lift. Moments later, Gredar watched as Thunderwing left the shuttlebay, carrying two drop tanks. The rest of the bridge crew also looked on as the fighter cleared the ship and leapt into warp.
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"He what?" Keith demanded. Gredar's emotionless, snaggletoothed face stared back at him from the main screen in Castle Control. The Commander had just told him of Driscoll's self-imposed mission to shadow the fighters back to their base
"I, too, advised against it," the Gorn hissed.
"Okay, thanks for the heads-up, Commander," Keith replied. Coran cut the communication and turned to Keith, who had called the starship to inform them about the fighters Unfortunately, Gredar had no answers, either. They hadn't seen the attack on the airfield. Gredar had merely assured them that he intended to follow Driscoll's orders, and move the ship close to the planet to scan for the Doom encampment.
Keith looked at the rest of his team. "I can't believe he did that…" he mumbled. "Of all the stupid, irresponsible…"
Lance huffed. "Glory-hog."
Everyone looked at him sideways, and he threw his hands up as if to say, "What?"
"We should go after him, Keith," Allura said, her face hiding none of her concern for the young captain. "He'll need help, especially if there are more fighters."
"Yeah, we can't just let him hang like that," Hunk said.
Keith considered it a moment. Hunk and Allura were right. They couldn't just let Driscoll risk his neck all alone like that. But then, what if they did run into trouble? Two Lions were already damaged, and all of the pilots were tired. And then there was the random frequency and intensity of the attacks. What if another attack came while they were out chasing Driscoll? What if there were a robeast?
Finally, Keith looked around at his team and Coran, locking eyes with each in turn. "I'm sorry, we can't risk it. If there's another attack before he returns…"
"You can't be serious!" Lance blurted.
Coran cleared his throat. "I'm inclined to agree with the Commander. Captain Driscoll knows what he's doing. We cannot take a greater risk by further depleting our forces, especially in light of all the recent attacks. Let us just hope that he returns safely."
The others silently echoed that prayer, but none more so than Allura. All six of them were a team, but Adam was her wingman. He covered her so often, and now, when he needed her the most, she couldn't be there. It was an awful feeling. Please be safe, Adam, she prayed as she and the others shuffled out of the room.
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A/N: Okay, maybe that wasn't one of my best, blaze-of-glory combat chapters, but this one wasn't about the combat. See you next time.