Disclaimer : Voltron and related characters the property of WEP.
Episode 2 : One Night on Arus
"And that's how the forward stabilizers work," Commander Stormclaw said, ending his lesson on the mechanical design of the Jet ships. "Any questions?"
"Are these smaller ships really capable of interplanetary travel?" Sheri asked. "Pushing something that vaguely dense through hyperspace just seems unheard of."
"Where'd you say you were from again?" he asked.
"Balto, sir," she replied.
"That explains it," he said with a frown. "You've all been behind the controls of this, in the simulator, and from what I heard yesterday, performed well in the real deal. The Space Marshall wouldn't have put you into this if she had any doubts. Now I have programmed the course to Arus into your navigational systems. Assuming you can power these things on like you did yesterday, you should have no trouble making it to Arus. Maybe even make it back in one piece!" JC and Seth looked at one another, then back at the Commander. "Here are the keys." He handed each one the insignia crested keys. Roxy stared intently at hers, then looked over at Red and sighed.
"Well," JC said, "we should get moving."
"I'm kinda nervous," Dariana replied.
"It'll be ok," Seth said, rubbing a hand on her back. "We'll be flying in formation all the way. We can talk and keep each other company." She shot him a smile, the first time they had a good look at her pointed teeth, another of her Drule traits. They all ran to their ships and climbed in. They carefully placed the keys into the slot they had seen them resting in before, and the console lit up as the key slid into place and locked. The engines hummed to life, and JC reached forward, grabbing the yokes with both hands.
"Arus here we come!" he yelled as he pulled back hard and pushed the throttle pedal, and the ships took off in a flash, climbing higher and higher until they broke free of the Earth's gravity and propelled at immense speeds on a course to Arus.
"We should be arriving at Arus in approximately 3.87 minutes," Sheri said, looking around at every gage and screen around her.
"This'll actually be my first official trip here," JC said. "How about you, Roxy?" She remained silent. "OK, well I'm excited." Suddenly, they heard a signal come through on the communicator.
"Greetings, Voltron Force," came the voice of an older gentleman. "You have been cleared by security to land on the castle grounds." JC was about to respond, but out of nowhere, it was Roxy that hit the transmit button.
"Affirmative, Ambassador Coran," she replied. "We should be landing in the next minute or two."
"A small welcoming party will be standing by," he replied. "Arus out."
"What was that all about?" JC asked her. "You've been here before?"
"You could say that," she replied. JC knew that was all he was going to get out of her, and they proceeded to begin the landing sequence.
Upon landing, the team exited their ships and walked towards the gentlemen standing on the edge of the bridge. One was quite old, while the other looking slightly older than they were.
"Welcome to the castle of Lions," the older gentleman said. "I am Ambassador Coran, and next to me is our Defense System Technician, Pidge."
"The former Green Lion pilot?" JC asked.
"One in the same," responded Pidge.
"Aroxia," Coran said, looking strait at Roxy. "It is a pleasant surprise to see you return home, and on such good terms!"
"You didn't expect me to fail, did you?" she asked him, frowning.
"Oh, I mean no disrespect Miss Truvall," Coran replied cordially. "It's just that your disciplinary record was only a match for your academic record. On the contrary, I knew you would do well."
"That said," she replied, "let me introduce you to the rest of the team. This is JC, Seth, Tails, and Dariana."
"Indeed, a surprise!" he replied. Dariana was unsure whether to take it as a compliment, and simply bowed her head and looked at the ground. "Come, let's head inside. Queen Allura wishes to meet with you all in our training facility."
"More training," JC groaned softly to Seth.
"We did sign on for this," Seth muttered back to him. They all walked across the great bridge and into the castle. Coran led them up the grand staircase and down another hallway to an elevator. The door slid open.
"Be a bit carful entering the elevator," Coran warned. "The doors haven't been working very well recently, and Lieutenant McClain has been filing complaints about it frequently." They carefully entered the elevator, and it took them up several floors and stopped. When the doors opened, they followed Coran out and down the hallway, then entering a classroom not too different from the Academy classrooms on Earth.
"This definitely looks familiar," JC said, but went completely silent when they noticed the queen standing in front of the room, in an informal pink jumpsuit, waiting to speak.
"Cadets," she said, "welcome to Arus. I am Queen Allura. I know the Space Marshall sent you here for a bit of training, but I already know she can be politically motivating." She smirked. "She wants to show off the new ships. They are impressive. But I'm sure you have questions on how and why they operate."
"If I may, your majesty," Tails responded, "while my background in technology far exceeds that of Academy standards, I have come to the irrefutable conclusion that the ships…well…chose us."
"In a sense, they do," Pidge said, entering the room. "Much of the technology we still don't completely understand. The information contained in the nexus crystals that form the core of Voltron is coded in thousands of different languages, some so old that the civilizations that used it have long died out. It's the progress we've made in deciphering this information that has allowed us to upgrade and enhance our voltcoms."
"What are voltcoms?" JC asked.
"This is a voltcom," Pidge said, strapping the large bracer around his forearm. "It has a range of functions, from creating light armor for space missions, to creating basic weapons determined by your thoughts. It takes your strengths and magnifies them. Also, with some adaptation, they can be used to power on your ships."
"That said," Allura continued, "we have had specialized voltcoms constructed for you. When you return to Earth, Commander Stormclaw will be able to help you with harnessing your abilities, and learning to use your voltcoms." She carefully handed one to each cadet.
"There is one more thing I'm sure Commander Stormclaw hasn't instructed you on yet," remarked Pidge. "The ships are powerful alone, but they were constructed in the same manner as the lions. Unity is at the core of Voltron. When the need arises, the ships can come together to form the feet and legs, arms and body, and head of Voltron." He raised his arms and touched the air, and a holo-screen appeared in the air. "In standard formation, you need to activate the system of interlocks. By connecting the dynotherms, and bringing up the infracels, you increase the magnetic field between the ships, which assists with the combination." He moved his arms around as the diagram ships changed from before their eyes. "Lastly, pushing the megathrusters will guarantee the force needed to generate enough momentum to begin the formation sequence." Before he could utter another word, the whole room shook with a boom.
"What was that?" Seth asked. Alrms began to go off.
"It looks like we're under attack," Pidge replied. "Bad timing too."
"Can't you send out the force to deal with it?" asked Roxy.
"They are out on a mission," Pidge replied. "I'm guessing Lotor knew that and planned this attack. I need to head to castle defense." He ran from the room.
"We can head to the control room," Allura said. "You should be safe there."
"With all due respect, your highness," JC replied," I think we should go out there and fight back."
"That would be far too dangerous," Coran replied. "As emissaries from Earth, I can't ask you to put yourself in harm's way."
"I didn't ask," JC said. Roxy smirked and took off running. JC followed, and the rest of the team followed suit.
"I pray they know what they're doing," Coran said to Allura.
The team hopped into their ships and placed their keys. They took off into the air and headed towards the attacking force.
"Now it's time to see what these ships can really do!" JC yelled. He pushed a button, and the ship sensors went dark. He hit it again and they came back on. "OK, that wasn't it." He pulled the right yoke and narrowly missed an imperial cruiser.
"There's a trigger lock under the right yoke!" Roxy yelled as she fired her forward laser array at one ship, destroying it and flying through.
"I see it!" Tails yelled. "Left are your missile arrays. Use the stick control to aim forward and rear, then trigger to fire!"
"Thanks for the heads up!" Seth yelled, dodging past one, the firing missiles back at it, destroying it.
"That ship over there," Dar said. "That one is not a normal attack vessel. We should concentrate fire on that one."
"You heard her, team!" JC shouted. "Let's take out the command ship!" They flew in formation at it, and launched an array of missiles at hit which destroyed a front hatch. When the smoke cleared, a form appeared from inside.
"Snart!" Tails yelled. "You see that on the RadialTrac? It's a robeast!" It leaped out of the ship and to the ground. It began firing lasers at the ships, and they did their best to avoid it.
"That thing is packing a lot of firepower!" Roxy yelled. "Our arrays won't phase it."
"I know what will," JC replied. "You guys remember the formation?"
"We've never done this before!" Roxy shouted. "What makes you so sure this is gonna work? What makes YOU the leader?"
"Just trust me and follow my lead!" JC yelled. There was a moment of silence. "Please, Roxy." She sighed.
"Let's do this," she replied. JC tightened his grip on the yokes and tugged hard, suddenly turning them inward.
"Activate interlocks!" he yelled. "Dynotherms connected! Infracells up! Megathrusters….are go!" He pulled hard, and the team followed in a wing formation. A field enveloped the ships, and suddenly he felt his seat begin to move. He looked at the screen, and the RadialTrac revealed Dar and Seth in position. "Form feet and legs!" He felt a slight jolt as the rear of the ships connected magnetically, then were mechanically locked down. The field went into a spin. He looked at the screen again and saw Tails and Roxy in position. "Form arms and torso!" He felt jolts from the left and right as they too made connection. He looked at the screen again, and saw the red flashing reflection of a button beneath a lever overhead. He reached up and pulled the lever all the way forward and pushed the button. "And I'll form the head!" His seat slid backwards and up as the entire control console rotated and locked into place in the head. As the sequence completed, the energy field dissipated in an explosion, and the mighty robot arched back with a surge of energy which lit up its eyes. They landed on the ground with a thud.
"Holy crap we did it!" Tails shouted. "I'm right side up! I did not expect that!"
"Now's not the time," JC said quickly. "Let's take care of this robeast." They charged forward, JC's hands gripping the yokes tightly, and pulled hard and pushed. Unfortunately the robeast was able to dodge it, and the miss caused them to fall forward to the ground.
"That worked well," Roxy said sarcastically.
"Let's try that again," JC replied.
"We won't get the chance if we don't move!" Seth yelled, and pulled hard. Voltron rolled to the left to avoid a laser blast from the beast.
"Nice save!" JC said.
"We have to work as a team!" Dar shouted. "I'll roll hard, but I'm gonna need a push."
"One push coming up!" Tails shouted, hooking right and rolling Voltron over again. They pushed hard, and Seth managed to get Voltron to its feet and push off. Dar hit a button to her left and pulled the yoke, and Voltron sprung into the air and Yellow kicked the robeast in the face to the ground. They turned to face the robeast trying to get up.
"We need to pin him!" JC shouted.
"Leave that to me," Roxy said.
"We got this!" Tails shouted as they grabbed a boulder and heaved it at the beast as it got up.
"I got one more trick up my sleeve," JC said. "I hope this works." He looked to his right and saw another set of levers next to a control pad. "Roxy, Tails, get ready!" He closed his eyes and slammed his hand on the control pad. "Form Blazing Sword!" Red swung around and met Green at Voltron's left hip, and as it pulled away, a beam of light formed. As Red tilted upright, the energy formed a longsword.
"I know just what to do with this!" Roxy shouted. "You ready?"
"Let's go!" they all shouted. Voltron ran at the beast and leaped into the air, and drove the sword through the robeast. Power emanated from the sword, and they pulled it out and stepped back. The robeast exploded, and Voltron stood in victory. The ships above began to retreat.
"We did it!" Tails shouted.
"We sure did," Roxy replied, pulling the controls and causing the sword to retract from where it came.
"Looks like Lotor's fleet is headed back to Doom," JC said. "I'm wondering if this is just a taste of what we're in for trying to fight the Drule Supremacy."
"Doesn't matter," Roxy replied, confidently. "Whatever happens, we'll be ready."
"On behalf of myself and the Arusian people, I thank you," Queen Allura said, the team standing with her in the main hall. "Seeing you all work together and help fight off Lotor's forces not only showed courage, but showed me you really are worthy of being Voltron pilots."
"Honestly, your Highness, it was a learning curve," JC replied. "But with this team, I think we can accomplish anything."
"And as hard as it is to admit," Roxy said, "you did a good job leading it."
"The Space Marshall is expecting you back within the next twenty-four hours," Allura said. "Please send her my regards and my blessings. As I said, she's got a fine team."
"Thank you, your Highness," JC replied with a slight bow. They all turned to head out of the castle and back to the ships.
"So," JC said turning his head to Roxy as they walked out, "you're full name is Aroxia?"
"Aroxia Truvall," she replied. "Born and trained right here on Arus. While I may go by Roxy, a lot of people around here know me as 'The Rocket'."
"Why's that?" JC asked.
"Get in the ship, fly boy and watch!" she said, running for Jet Red. JC just laughed and followed her.