alyssa and awesome - I make nods here and there of favorite episodes and series. Being a Vehicle Force fan, a lot of former enemies will begin at show up as the face of things take shape. Our young heroes are going to have their hands full, and I hope you enjoy hearing more of their adventures!
Disclaimer : Voltron and all associated characters are property of WEP.
Episode 3 : An Empire Divided
Planet Carnus was a world of simple people before the remainder of the Drule Emipre stormed its lands and took the entire planet for their own. With their homeworld destroyed, the Supremacy called this place home, and have fortified it as a base of operations. A planet discovered by them early in their conquest, it not only lies closer in proximity to the former homeworld than the new planet Drule, but in time, they feared, it too would share its fate. But the council had more important matters in mind.
"Your excellency," Viceroy Throk said to the emperor, bowing slightly. "I have been informed that work on your armada is far ahead of schedule."
"This is very good news," the emperor replied. "With the failures out of Korronith, and the word of rebellion on Doom, I felt that this battle was far from over."
"When the armada is finished, and we take back planet Drule and all its people," Throk said, holding a tightened fist in front of his chest, "we will once and for all assert our power and authority, and crush our enemies!"
"And what of Hazar?" the emperor asked. "Will you make the example of him we wish?"
"His execution will make his court martial look like a picnic!" Throk replied. "The traitors shall pay for what they have tried to do to the empire! Our enemies will be crushed! And once we have taken Drule, we will set sights on Earth, and finally rid ourselves of the meddling Galaxy Aliiance!"
"Contact Nerok," the emperor said. "I want to speak with him before the council meeting to discuss the matter of his promotion."
"Yes, your excellency," Throk said, bowing again before leaving his presence.
"They practically packed our schedules!" JC said, walking tiredly down the hall with Seth, Roxy, Tails and Dar. "How do they expect us to get anything done?"
"The girls from our wing of the dorm keep asking me out for drinks," Roxy said, "but when I gotta keep getting up at 0400 to watch perimeter scans and hear Professor Saltz drone on about the intricacies of interplanetary diplomacy….I just can't do it."
"At least I found my glasses!" Tails chimed in, pushing them up her cute little nose. "Now I don't have an excuse for not going through the tons of text books I was required to read on the intricate circuit boards that make up the on board computers of drone ships."
"I like keeping busy," Dar chimed in quietly. "The labs are impressive. They had us disassemble a dynothermic reactor that no longer functioned. They were going to discard the pieces, but I managed to put something together with the remaining working parts." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small robotic mouse. She pushed a button on its underbelly, and it sprung to life, crawling up her arm and onto her shoulder. "I made it to look kind of like the space mice I saw on our visit to Arus." It let out a cute mechanical squeak.
"Have you given it a name?" Seth asked.
"You want me to give it a name?" Dar replied, confused.
"Of course," Seth said. "It's got to have a name."
"Oooh!" Tails chimed in. "How about Cheezy? Or Swiss? Or how about Monterey?" Roxy looked at her with a frown.
"I like 'Tick'," Dar said softly.
"Tick?" JC asked. "He doesn't look like a bug."
"'Tick' is the sound he makes when he's powered on and moving," she replied. She looked at the little mechanical mouse on her shoulder and smiled. "It's perfect."
"Tick it is," Seth said, smiling back. As they continued walking, Commander Stormcalw approached them.
"Cadets," he said, "I have been looking all over for you. The Space Marshall needs you in her office as soon as possible." He handed JC a key card. "Use that card to take the elevator to the office. It only works once, so do be careful. Once you are done in her office, meet me in the hangar. I have already had you dismissed from the rest of your classes today." He gave them a quick salute, then turned and walked away.
"He does get right to the point, doesn't he?" JC said with a confused smirk. The five began to walk towards the area where the elevators were.
Viceroy Throk sat quietly in his office going over screens of information. Moments later his concentration was broken when Nerok entered the room.
"Viceroy!" he shouted. "The Emperor has instructed me to personally lead the assault squadron for the attack on the new Drule homeworld."
"I take it your promotion went through?" Throk replied in a somewhat sarcastic tone.
"You are looking at the latest commander of all Drule forces!" he replied proudly. "And with an army of our best ships at my disposal, we will no doubt crush the Confederation once and for all, and make them pay for their rebellion!"
"There are some pieces of intelligence I need to go over with you before the mission," Throk said. "That is, if you can handle intelligence."
"I am more than ready to handle the Galaxy Alliance, if that's what you're referring to!" Nerok replied angrily.
"From what our spies tell us," Throk continued, unphased by Nerok's demeanor, "the Galaxy Alliance is indeed sending support to the Confederation. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me, or anyone on the council, if the Voltron Force wasn't there to preside over the Confederation's ceremony to support their…ick…newly elected Prime Minister."
"It shames the entire empire that our own brethren have chosen an Alliance government over the protection of its own sovereignty!" Nerok retorted. "I will quickly remind them of the power of the Drule Supremacy! As for Voltron, I have my own surprise in store for him."
"Have your incompetent scientists bore you another failure of a robeast?" Throk asked mockingly.
"You will see no failure in this robeast," Nerok said defiantly. "This robeast's power source is two-fold. We intercepted a large supply convoy of lazon on its way to planet Mira. The beast's shoulder cannons pack so much power, if concentrated enough, can bore through solid corrite!"
"And the other?" Throk asked inquisitively.
"The other is a small amount of a substance called 'haggarium'," Nerok said. "The scientists on Planet Doom have been apparently harnessing the substance from a nearby quasar. They claim to have used it to manufacture what they call 'super robeasts'."
"And this robeast is infused with it?" Throk asked.
"Our scientists can't even explain the stuff," Nerok replied. "They have no idea what effect it will truly have on the enemy, or even if the Doom scientists are even telling us the truth. They were able to infuse its head cannon with the substance. We won't know the effects until the beast is in battle, but the test so far have been far beyond promising." He grinned maniacally.
"Very well," Throk said. "Gather your forces and proceed with your mission. And so help me, Nerok, you better not fail me. The emperor may like you, but if you fail him, you may as well bury yourself with that traitor Hazar."
"Yes, sir," Nerok replied sarcastically before turning and leaving the office. Throk returned to his work.
The team walked into the Space Marshall's office to find she was not alone. A man with long flowing white hair stood facing the window, peering out over the Garrisson.
"Cadets, please, have a seat," she said with a smile. JC breathed a sigh of relief knowing they weren't there for punishment. "I want to introduce you to the Drule liaison to the Galaxy Alliance, Ambassador Hazar." The man turned around. Dariana was slightly taken aback. She had heard stories of the brave Commander of the Drule Empire that brought down Zeppo and rescued his people from a dying homeworld. He stepped forward and offered his hand, shaking each of the cadet's one by one.
"It is an honor and a privilege to finally meet you," he said. "You are the cadets the Space Marshall has told me about that pilot Voltron. I wish I could say I was here on routine business, but as you might have guessed, that's not the case." He paced in front of them, then back to the window, gazing out of it again. "Early warning satellites, placed on behalf of the Galaxy Alliance, have detected a large squadron of ships slowly making their way into Confederation space. I don't believe they have caught on yet that we know, but we've detected an invasion force."
"Are they really considering invading Drule?" JC asked.
"We can't be certain," Hazar replied, "but we can't rule out the possibility. "Drule is one of the most populous worlds in the Confederation. That population swells by 345 million a year. If there were to be an attack, the casualties would be astronomical." He turned to the cadets again. "With the induction of newly elected Prime Minister Garok, an attack at this time would be not only catastrophic in casualties, but politically as well. That is why I have requested the Space Marshall to send a force to scout this fleet, and defend Drule if need be on this occasion. This of course will be in addition to our own military, but I admit, our ships are few in number due to the lack of funding, and my people's new loathing for war and domination."
"We will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of an ally of ours," the Space Marshall said. "Cadets, Ambassador Hazar will be departing for Drule within the hour. I want you to escort the Ambassador's ship, then scout the fleet we detected. If it is an invasion force, we will need to pool our resources to stop it. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.
"Dismissed," she replied. The cadets left the office, and the door slid closed behind them.
"I would normally scoff at the thought of children being able to stand against the might of the Drule Supremacy," Hazar said, staring out the window again. "But if anything can strike fear into the hearts of the enemy, it would be Voltron. I know that for a fact."
The team ran in the door to the hangar control room and came to a stop in front of Commander Stormclaw.
"Cadets," he said, staring at them. "You're cutting it pretty close. But I want to give you a quick rundown of a couple of things." He pulled back his sleeve and displayed a voltcom. "Each of your voltcoms has been fine tuned to receive long distance communications, as well as link up with the interspacial radio in your ships. You can use them to communicate with each other in the field." He turned and gestured behind him. "In light of the circumstances, to facilitate the speed of launch, chutes have been installed to get you into the ships faster, allowing you to launch at a moment's notice." He turned back to them. "The Ambassador's ship will be launching any minute. Get to your ships."
"Yes, sir!" they shouted, then ran to the chutes. They leaped in, and slid down the curved chute which dropped them into a seat that lowered into the cockpit. JC pulled out his key, the others following in kind, putting it into the console. The engines roared to life, and in formation, all five ships shot out of the hanger and into the air.
"Do you see the Ambassador's ship yet?" Roxy asked.
"I don't see anything on the RadialTrac," Tails replied. "Did they launch?" JC sees a flash on the console and hits the button.
"This is Captain Mata of the Transport Ship Draktha," the voice said. "We are leaving interstellar docks now, and will meet you near the outer perimeter before engaging the hyperdrive."
"Affirmative," JC replied, trying to sound official. "We will meet you there."
"Good luck," Captian Mata said before ending the transmission.
"Good luck?" Roxy asked. "That doesn't sound promising.
"It's customary to wish one luck before a journey," Dariana responded. "This is regardless of whether they are going into battle or merely travelling." Tick crawled out of Dar's pocket and up onto her shoulder again, carefully sitting there. It seemed to take in the sights of the view screen and enjoy them as much as she did.
"Well," JC said, "here they come. Let's get ready to engage hyperdrive. Stay in formation the entire way. I don't want any surprises."
"Agreed," Roxy said, somewhat defiantly. The ship surrounded the transport vessel, then engaged the hyperdrive, and sped off into the deepness of space.
"Commander," one of the robot pilots stated, "we have entered Confederation space."
"Good," Commander Nerok replied. "Bring us to a stop and stay somewhat out of sight. The ceremony is supposed to take place in the next twelve hours. It is then we will make our move."
"Very well, sir!" it replied.
"Throk thinks that my robeast will be a failure," he said angrily. "He forgets my many victories against Voltron and the Galaxy Alliance fleets. He doesn't understand the reason our great emperor has promoted me to Commander of all Drule Forces. I am not a traitor like Hazar was! I am the most powerful commander in the Drule Army, and with the help of this robeast, I will prove once and for all the Throk exactly why that is." He laughed maniacally.
"The Ambassador seems like a great guy," Tails said. "I'm sure the ceremony will go off without a hitch."
"As long as we find out what this mystery fleet is up to," JC replied. "And put a stop to it if we can." They flew the ships on a course towards the last known location of the fleet.
"I'm not seeing anything on RadialTrac yet," Tails said.
"There might be a glitch in the system," Roxy replied. "You couldn't detect the Abassador's transport either.
"Just keep your eyes peeled," JC said. All of a sudden, they were surrounded by laser fire.
"Hey chief," Seth said, "I think we found 'em." They began swerving around them, breaking formation.
"OK, it's definitely an attack fleet," JC said, then swerved to miss some enemy missiles. "Yep, definitely an attack fleet."
"What now, oh brilliant leader?" Roxy said sarcastically.
"Split up and go around them," he replied. "We'll get them from the rear. Their ships are bigger, and will turn slower. Roxy and Tails, go left. Set and Dar, bank right. I'll draw their fire and meet you on the other side." They split up, and as soon as they reconverged, they turned and fired forward lasers, taking out several ships. JC managed to make it through the array and almost crash intot he command ship. He banked left and up over the ship, close enough to vaguely see Nerok in his command chair on the bridge.
"Children?" Nerok yelled, standing up from his chair. "The Alliance sends children to fight the Drule Supremacy? I don't know whether to laugh or be insulted!" He took a few steps towards the view screen. "Activate forward laser arrays! Blast them into space dust!" The arrays opened up and fired, and JC and Roxy barely swerved between the beams.
"Seth, you and the girls ok?" JC asked.
"We're fine," Seth said, firing another round of missiles, destroying another attack ship. "We got this under control."
"Roxy," JC shouted, "Can you get a clear shot at the main array?"
"The question isn't can I shoot it," she replied. "The question is how fast can I take it out?" Jet Red rolled several times through the laser fire, and JC watched her take off ahead. Roxy pushed the throttle to full. "Come on baby." She continued to weave and roll through the lasers, then hit the trigger and lunched missiles at the array, obliterating it. She pulled up hard. "Whoo!"
"Nice flying there, Cadet!" JC said, smirking. He pulled left again to regroup with the others.
"Only thing as good as my flying is my aim," she replied. "Remember that."
"Guys," Tails shouted, "we've downed a lot of the ships, but they are still advancing! And worse, I'm detecting a strange energy signature from the command ship!"
"If it's another robeast," Roxy said through gritted teeth, "I say bring it!"
Nerok held up his fist in a rage.
"The Drule Supremacy will not be disgraced by child pilots!" he shouted. "Release the robeast!" The robot soldier pressed a few buttons, which opened the cargo hatch, and they watched as Nerok's robeast left. "While the robeast finishes them, we will continue on course to Drule. I will NOT return home in disgrace!"
"Looks like you're about to get your wish," JC said nervously as they saw the robeast launch.
"We have the winning combination," Roxy said, determined.
"We better make it quick," Tails said. "That robeast is coming in fast!"
"Let's do this!" Seth shouted.
"I'm ready," Dar said.
"OK," JC said, "scatter, then regroup in formation!" They scattered to avoid the robeast's charge, and cane back together in wing formation. "Activate Interlocks!" He jerked and twisted the yokes inward, beginning the sequence. "Dynotherms connected! Infracells up….megathrusters are go!"
"Let's go Voltron Force!" They shouted in unison as the ships took off at full throttle, then slowed as they changed from a wing to a star formation. The magnetic field took hold as the ships transformed.
"Form feet and legs!" JC shouted. "Form arms and torso! And I'll form the head!" The energy field surrounding them surged and exploded as the robot arched back, and its eyes lit up..
"We haven't piloted the mecha in space before," Seth admitted. "How you wanna handle this, chief?"
"You and Dar just mind the forward thrust," JC replied.
"That's what SHE said," Tails replied with a snort. Roxy rolled her eyes.
"Give us all you got to brace for impact!" JC shouted as the robeast slammed into them, and they flew end over end through space. "Get us stabilized!"
"We're trying our best," Dar replied. "Power levels just went erratic!"
"That's what I'm seeing here, JC!" Seth replied. "The gauges are going crazy!"
"Then let's shake it off!" Roxy shouted, pulling back hard with her left, and pushing with the right. Voltron hit the robeast with a right hook, splitting the two.
"Power is coming back online," Seth said, "but we suffered some kind of drain."
"OK, we just gotta maintain little contact with it," JC said.
"Then we better move!" Roxy shouted as they saw the robeast coming in for another hit.
"Got it!" Seth yelled as he and Dariana hit the side thrusters and veered out of the way.
"Do we have any other weapons?" Roxy yelled. "Anything long range?"
"I'm looking!" JC yelled. "Dammit, I wish I paid more attention in Stormclaw's class the other day."
"He's coming back!" Tails shouted.
"Try this!" JC shouted as he picked a button and pressed it. "Eye Beam!" JC shouted as a laser array blasted from Voltron's eyes at the beast slowing him to a stop, damaging him a bit.
"Let's me see what else we got," Roxy said looking around. "Commander Stormclaw said the weapons array was similar to the Lion Voltron." She looked around and found the weapons console. "Let's see if he likes this!" She hit the button. "Form Lason Blasters!" Red and Green pulled back and drew forward, and fired blasts of energy at the robeast, knocking it back.
"We got this!" JC shouted. "Good work, Roxy! Now Seth and Dar, let's move in!" They took off towards the beast, but it turned and charged up cannons mounted on its shoulders.
"SNART!" Tails yelled. "Look out!" The blast hit Voltron in the chest, sending him flying backwards until he slammed into a nearby asteroid. The energy blast resonated through the entire mecha, and they screamed in pain.
"We need it get out of this!" JC yelled.
"Roxy," Tails grunted. "You see the button on your center console in the top center?"
"Yeah, why?" Roxy eeked out.
"Hit it and pull hard!" she yelled. They both hit the button, and the front of the ships detatched and flew at the robeast. Roxy screamed in shock and delight, and Tails closed her eyes. They smashed the shoulder cannons, and Voltron was able to recover.
"Good work, girls!" JC yelled. "Come on back and let's finish this!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Roxy yelled as they flew back into position and reconnected. "Let's hit it, JC!"
"Form Blazing Sword!" JC shouted. Red met green at the left hip and pulled the sword from it. Red turned the sword upright as it solidified. "Charge!" They flew full speed at the robeast, but it opened its head cannon and fired. Suddenly, Voltron was caught in a purple energy field and slowed to a stop.
"We're caught in some sort of field!" Tails shouted. "The gauges are going haywire!"
"This is what happened before!" Seth yelled. "Power levels are dropping rapidly! I can't stop it!"
"Do we have any control at all?" JC asked.
"It's like we're paralyzed!" Roxy shouted. "All controls are completely unresponsive!"
"Dariana!" JC shouted. "Can you move at all?" There was no response. "Dariana! Answer! Are you alright?" Dariana felt strange. She began feeling dizzy and sick. She heard them, but she couldn't respond. Tick ran to the other shoulder and down her right arm. She struggled to look. It looked up at her, then suddenly started to change form and combined with her voltcom.
"What….is…..happenning…." she stammered as energy overpowered the voltcom, and her eyes began to glow. She all at once went from being sick to grasping the yokes hard. The energy flowed into them as she began working the controls like a woman possessed. Suddenly, the surge affecting them was shrinking, and localizing to the sword.
"Power levels have been stabilized!" Dar shouted. "We have full thrust, and full charge. Send that flacking energy back at it!" JC didn't think twice and pulled hard. Voltron swung and the energy blast sailed back at the robeast, incapacitating it. Dariana hit another button and pulled hard, and JC tried to hang on for dear life as Voltron soared over the beast and came down on it, slicing through the beast twice quickly in a criss-cross pattern. The beast fell apart and exploded.
"What the hell just happened?" JC shouted.
"There's no time for that!" Roxy yelled. "The attack fleet is almost to the planet!"
"Let's move!" JC shouted as they flew at the planet.
"Incompetent fools!" Nerok shouted, hammering his fist on the console! "I can't believe there is another Voltron, and that it destroyed my prized robeast!"
"Sir!" the robot soldier exclaimed. "Voltron is headed this way!"
"Send the squad at it!" he shouted. Turn up the firepower! I don't care what it takes! I am going to stop this ceremony one way or the other!" He ran to the console and pressed a few buttons. "All personnel to the escape pods! I am sending this ship right into the crowds! I will take out Garok and Hazar in one shot!" He turned and retreated to the escape pod hatches.
JC hit a button, resheathing the sword.
"I remember something," JC said quickly. He hit another button and pulled a lever. "Form Spinning Laser Blade!" Red and Green met above Voltron's head and pulled apart in a half circle, meeting at the bottom, forming a large spiked disk in front of them.
"You aim, I'll throw!" Tails yelled.
"We're in position!" Roxy yelled back. "Let it fly!" Voltron hurled the spinning disk, and it sliced through the remaining ships and back to him again.
"We got it!" Tails yelled.
"JC!" Seth yelled. "It looks like the command ship is on a crash course with the ceremony!"
"Snart!" Tails yelled.
"Long have our people live in fear under the ruthless dictatorship of the Empire!" Ambassador Hazar shouted. "On this day I fulfill a promise to you, citizens of the Drule Confederation! Freedom for its people to choose its leaders!" The crowd cheered. "And without further ado, I would like to officially introduce the new Prime Minister, Garok!" The crowd cheered, but as Garok took the stage, a large shadow came over them. They looked up and saw a giant ship headed right for them. People scattered, and Hazar grabbed Garok and fled the stage. But as the ship appeared to get closer, they saw it suddenly cut in half by something. The ship exploded, and out of the sky fell Voltron. It somersaulted several times before landing on its back in an open area of the city, a single building crumbled to the ground. Shrapned from the destroyed ship melted and burned to ask or was vaporized.
"Is everyone alright?" JC asked.
"I'm fine," Roxy said, coughing.
"Me too," replied Tails.
"I'm a bit banged up, but I'm ok," Seth said. "How about you, Dariana?" There was no response. "Dar, are you alright? Please answer!"
The team stood in the Prime Minister's office, Prime Minister Garok and Ambassador Hazar standing before them.
"You did exceptionally well today," Hazar said. Thankfully none of the people were killed, and injuries were few. You managed to prevent a grave tragedy, and we owe you our thanks."
"Thank you, Ambassador," JC replied. "Do you think the threat is over though?"
"No," he replied solemnly. "Knowing my former comrades, it is far from over. It won't be over until they have taken the entire universe and enslaved us all. But as long as there is Voltron….and brave pilots like you, we know that someday we will all be able to live in peace." He turned towards the windows looking out at the city. "I hope to see you all again, perhaps on better terms."
"Thank you, sir," JC and the team replied. They walked out the door and headed down the hall to head back to their ships.
"Dar," Seth asked, "what happened up there? You went silent, then out of nowhere this strange energy surge. Then when we landed, you didn't respond, and I thought…"
"Don't worry about me," she replied. "I know I'm not the toughest or the smartest woman in the universe, but I know as long as I have the team…and you…I can make it through anything." She stumbled a bit, and he helped her, allowing her to lean on him. "I really wish I knew what happened to me up there. Maybe I'll never know. But it's ok. As long as we're safe, and the threat is gone."
"There's still Ancient Cultures class we need to fight through," Seth said laughing. "That'll be more brutal than any robeast!" They laughed as they all walked out, Tick scurrying behind Dariana on foot, several blue sparks emanating from its tail.