AN: This chapter will be weaving through episode three of the show while it appeared to be an off-cam story of how Wade's drone forces were in Arus so quickly, Chapter 5 and 6 have bits of my interpretation of how they were on Arus in the first place.
Chapter Six
After Keith had parked the vehicle inside the castle's garage bay, the trio rode up the elevator to the nerve center. Allura and Keith left the elevator without a break in their conversation about the rising threat from Doom as they advanced to the castle's nerve center where they knew Lance was taking station at the time.
Larmina on the other hand, had other plans for the rest of the day. She decided to track down Daniel and Vince. She knew the boys wouldn't be in class since today's subject was Arusian History. She also had a hunch those two were on a prowl for a secret meeting place; she may have an idea on where to start.
Inside the control room and after learning what else was in the cadets' curriculum from Lance, Allura was stupefied how a conversation deteriorated right before her eyes as these two grown men started acting like teenagers. She didn't need to go out of her planet to hone her diplomatic skills because right now, tempering two-hot heads required a bit of delicate handling.
"Boys, boys," she sighed inwardly and finally stepped in before Keith could land a punch on his friend, Lance. She spared a sidelong glance at Lance, and she could see he wasn't backing down from the challenge even with a bad arm. She placed a placating hand on Keith's arm, silently asking him to stand down and let her speak. When Keith eased up a fraction, Allura reminded them what made them a great team in the first place. Good thing—the two lion pilots listened and let the matter go.
Allura understood they all have been apart and have not worked as team for quite some time so she suggested either Lance or Keith come up with training maneuvers in the future. She also knew the new cadets could benefit from the training exercises if they were brought in. Both men agreed and with the three of them, they started outlining some of the training modules as they headed to the sim room.
Once inside the sim room, Lance tabbed a command from his Voltcomm and several training schedules of the main lion pilots scrolled up on screen for the other two team members to peruse. Keith soon started adding the times the cadets could join them during their sessions and keyed in solo simulated schedules for the following week. Allura watched the two men agree from one item to another in the training curriculum. She was glad they were able to accomplish this without butting heads so when the last keystroke was entered and saved, they left the sim room. They were on the way back to the control center only to find Wade's drones barring their way.
Havran blinked at the zoomed image of the name flashing on the constabulary lab's screen. The lab technician at the constabulary began moving the findings to a secured section in the database, but he wasn't particularly interested in accessing that anymore.
He called Geldrin.
"Zanir was attacked by Deputy Marsh Nevs!" He nearly screeched to the communicator while he changed gears and hacked around the constabulary system for the deputy's file.
"Anything else?"
"You were right. We've been hunted by an ex-GA soldier." He skimmed through the deputy's work record and GA commendations before his program warned him that someone from the constabulary was tracing his location now.
"Havran?"
"Later," he abruptly disconnected his communication to concentrate on his commands. He typed furiously. There were strings upon strings of code, zipping across his monitor. He was trying to secure the identity of the constabulary officer doing the tracing but he kept getting walled up and to his consternation, whoever was on the other end had exceptional computer skills; he wasn't going to be beaten, not just yet. He enabled a secondary decoy program and when it beeped, the result of his ploy plastered a curious expression on his face.
"The insignia of the Faceless?" Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to ponder more. Seconds count and he couldn't risk staying too long in his spot with the recent information he had found. He began transferring all the data stored in the computer to a portable drive. He also ceased any effort to mask his cyber-trail since the hacker from the constabulary obliterated his firewalls one by one.
"You all right, Jazia?" Jaryl's gaze went from her monitor then back to her. He was certain he heard her cursing under an alien language.
Jazia hastily minimized the running program window on her monitor. "Yeah, I just—well, the chief didn't think I need to accompany Eli to Lazar," she said quickly.
Jaryl straightened up and knew very well the exuberant spirit of a new officer wanting to earn his or her place in the constabulary. "Don't worry about it. We all went through the paces." He gestured to the seated officers inside the station. "You'll get your moment." He nodded his encouragement and resumed heading toward the chief's office.
She watched him take his seat in front of the chief's desk. Chief Andros then tabbed a control making the glass partition turn opaque from view of everyone from the bullpen. A few heads noted the change, but she had a hunch Jaryl was sharing the results of his preliminary examination.
She returned to the program she was working and resumed breaking every firewall the spy had installed on the other end of the trace route. She found it amusing that she was calling the hacker a spy when she was too. Unfortunately, in her zealousness, she fell into the cyber trap placed by the other spy, briefly exposing her Drule code technique. She was able to mask her style in time, but those first few seconds would have been enough to tip off the person.
Back at Havran's home, the man loaded his pertinent items into a storage container installed on the back of his hover bike before crossing the room and going under the tarp where the landspeeder was hidden. He reached out to the dash and activated the vehicle's destruct system. When he was sure there was nothing on the vehicle that would point to their identities, he moved out from the under the tarp and spared a glimpse at the monitor.
The unknown tracker had locked on the coordinates of the house. He smiled as he started the engine of his hover bike. He knew when to cut out his losses, and this was one of those times.
"We'll play another day if you survive this," he muttered and pressed a button on the wall. Satisfied after hearing the short beep echoing inside the garage, he maneuvered the hover bike out of the garage and rode off to the agreed secret place where the others would be waiting for him. The whole house had been armed for fiery a reception the tracker will never forget.
"That was the fifth group assembling in the town square," Eli noted when they finally ended their business with Zanir's assistant.
Deputies Eli Parr and Wyx Andros were leaving Arus Eyes shop when they spotted another group of Galaxy Alliance drones marching toward the center of town. Eli pocketed Zanir's old schedule book and journal inside his jacket.
Wyx looked over his shoulder. "Their numbers are growing, and they're frightening the children." His gaze fell on two kids bawling their eyes out as their mother carried them away from the drones' path.
"Chief Andros said the drones should be in their storage units and would only come online if the perimeter sensors read Drule foot soldiers were entering the town." Eli had just ended his call with their chief. He elbowed his colleague who spotted the elderly man too, shuffling out of the pathway of the drones as fast as his stiff extremities could.
"Someone should put him where he belongs!" The angry elderly man shouted at the top of his lungs before going into a wheezing fit while
shaking his walking stick at a Galaxy Alliance drone in front of him. Soon more and more of the robots poured into town. All of the drones' faceplates bore the frozen image of Sky Marshall's face.
"I knew it!" Wyx guided a middle-aged couple out of the drone's path.
"What?" Eli beckoned a family to head across the street to take an alternate route home.
"We should have subscribed to the GA newsletter!" Wyx replied.
"Very funny," Eli said, seeing that the other drones had established a perimeter. "This doesn't look good."
"They're boxing everyone." Wyx also saw the drones' formation, and he sprinted toward the elderly man who was going to launch another tirade. He hastily grabbed the elder before he got trampled by the drones.
"Sir, this isn't the time or the place to lodge a complaint; if you need to then you may go down the town council hall."
"Oh, you will be certain of that." The elderly man hobbled off to a safer area just as the ground trembled and a roof exploded from a blaster ray unleashed by a Doom fighter fractal.
In a space of a heartbeat, chaos twisted the town, ripping through every street corner much to the horror of the people always caught in the crossfire. Wyx watched grimly as he took shelter behind a store and motioned the patrons inside to be on the move once he gave the signal. The growing mayhem brought by Wade's drones and Drule fractals surged full force. It always seemed too good to be true to have the peace they were yearning for, and then the fighting starts again.
Several stores away from Wyx's position, the colorful banners caught fire and were all snaking toward buildings while Galaxy Alliance drones came in droves and swarms of Doom fractals rushed in from above.
The pandemonium raged on.
Another establishment exploded.
Screams of people trapped underneath destroyed buildings.
Sounds of bodies crushed by falling blocks of stones.
Vegetables, food supplies, wood, and concrete sailed through the air.
Marsh Nevs was tossed in mid-air like a rag doll, yet his bewilderment was temporary; he instinctively tucked his knees close to his body as he was about to hit the ground. He went into an easy dive-roll and was safely on his shaky feet in one fluid motion. If his old training hadn't kicked in, he would have suffered a broken neck from the concussive wave apparently coming from a block away.
He surveyed his surroundings. If it wasn't for his beloved planet going to hell in a handcart, he would have laughed; what else would the fates throw at him?
He soon got his bearings and began treading his way to see if he could lend a hand to any trapped residents. He had seen Galaxy Alliance drones both shooting down Doom fractals and cornering civilians.
Another explosion on an adjacent street caught his attention and took him out of his pensive musings. He saw two of the Voltron members destroying the drones as they reached for the cornered civilians. If not for Larmina's and Keith's superior combat skills, the people would have perished. He let his gaze roam, searching. He may have relinquished his symbols of office but he was going to assist people in any way he could. He went from one establishment to another, calling out for anyone who needed assistance.