KathDMD - Oh yes, Brak is definitely an idiot. But keep an eye on the tension between Nerok and Twyla. That is eventually gonna explode in classic Drule fashion. Let's not count out Lotor though, as another evil looms. The Tails/Chip thing is gonna continue to grow. I do have big plans. But if it's action you are craving, the next chapter should suffice, and begin the backdrop for the rest of this half of the season.
Disclaimer - Voltron and all related characters are the property of WEP.
Episode 7 : Trapped!
The team sat around the table in the Courtyard food court, eating lunch and talking.
"What you guys doing tonight?" JC asked. "I was thinking maybe we could hang out, maybe order a pizza, share stories?"
"I have ship cleaning duty tonight," Seth groaned. "Sucks, cause I could definitely go for a pie or two."
"You eat that much in one sitting?" Tails asked. Seth nodded yes. "Snart! Well, Chip is taking out to this nice place that just opened downtown. Authentic Baltan food!"
"I'd like to as well," Dariana replied, "but Commander Stormclaw asked me nicely to help him with the perimeter scan, and I don't wanna let him down."
"What about you, Roxy?" JC asked.
"As much as I'd like to," she replied, "I have to clean out the Space Marshall's storage room. Maybe if I get done quick enough I can."
"How about if I help you out?" JC asked.
"Up to you," she replied. "It shouldn't be too bad. She always seems to me to be a pretty organized person."
"Sounds good," JC replied.
"Captain Twyla," Nerok said to her over the ultrawave. "I trust you have been filled in on the mission?"
"I received the word from the emperor himself," she replied with a grin. "I've been telling Viceroy Throk for months that simply hijacking shipments of lazon bound for Mira has been tedious at best. I suggested we crush Mira and destroy the Alliance defense base there. It would be perfect to be able to obtain lazon directly without having to whittle down our fleet in battle."
"The mind of a true strategist," Nerok replied. "I trust you have the robeast we have supplied specifically for the mission?"
"If it works the way your scientists say it will," she replied, "the Mirans will have no choice but to surrender!" They laughed maniacally.
"I can't believe the stuff that's been collected over the years," JC said, picking up a box and sorting it out. "I'd swear some of this stuff had to be here when Graham was Space Marshall."
"Who knows," Roxy said, randomly tossing things around. "But organization wasn't always my thing."
"What is your 'thing'?" JC asked.
"You already know that," she replied. "Flying. Taking risks. That's the rush I crave. All my life I just wanted to do new things, break records, and be the absolute best." Suddenly, warning sirens sounded.
"What's going on?" JC asked.
"Something bad," Roxy said, putting down a box and running for the door. When they tried to open it, they found it was sealed shut.
"We're trapped?" JC asked.
"Can you cut it open with your Voltcom?" Roxy asked.
"I don't have it!" he replied. "Can't you shoot it with yours?"
"It's on the charger in my room, you snart-faced blit!" she shouted back.
"OK, let's just calm down and think for a moment," JC said. "The alarms are going off. Someone is bound to look for us. We just need to sit tight and wait."
"Whatever," she said, plopping down onto one of the closed boxes.
"Mira has sent out a distress signal," Commander Stormclaw said. "I need you all to launch immediately and intercept the attack force." He looked around. "Where is Cadet Grend and Cadet Truvall?"
"I haven't seen them all day," Seth replied. 'They were supposed to go someplace after Roxy finished what she was doing."
"Hopefully they heard the alarm," he replied. "The rest of you, launch immediately and head for Mira."
"Yes sir!" Seth said.
"Alright team," Tails said, "I'm in charge, so let's hustle!"
"Wait a sec," Seth replied. "Why are you in charge?"
"Because I'm in GREEN," Tails replied.
"How does that have anything to do with it?" Seth asked.
"Seth," Dariana said, "Just let it go." He sighed, and the three leaped into the chutes. Soon after, Green, Blue and Yellow launched from the hangar. Commander Stormclaw just shook his head.
"So now what do we do?" Roxy asked.
"Well," JC said, "We could sit and talk about each other. I mean, short of being from Arus, I don't know much about you." Roxy paused for a moment, then began banging on the door harder.
"HELP!" she shouted. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" She let out a sigh, then turned around to see him sitting on a box with his chin resting on his hands, faced away from her. "Fine." She walked over to a nearby box and once again sat down across from him. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, for starters," JC said, "Why do you hate me so much?"
"I don't so much as hate you as dislike you," she replied.
"That still doesn't explain much," he said.
"Look," she said, "I'm sorry. I just don't usually get along with a lot of people, that's all."
"Why?" he asked.
"Are you always this annoying?" she asked.
"Are you always this abrasive?" he asked back.
"Yes," she replied. "I guess that's why Coran refers to me as a 'lost cause' sometimes."
"Why is that?" JC asked. "You always seem to know what you're doing."
"On Arus, it's different," she replied. "I've been piloting craft since I was ten. My dad was killed in the Zarkonian Wars. My mother refused to live in fear of the empire and stayed in our home. One day the village was attacked, and my mother, fearing for my safety, hid me away under a false board in the floor. I watched as a Drule soldier stormed the house, and when my mother resisted, watched him slice her throat from ear to ear and leave her for dead. Do you know what that's like?"
"No," JC replied. "I don't. I lived with my parents in a quiet part of Kansas. My father's a dentist, and my mother a teacher. Aside from the attack on Earth, I haven't seen much."
"It doesn't matter," she said. "I became a ward of the state when the Arusian government was able to get back on its feet. I survived on my own for two years in a cave before that. The rest of my life I spent wanting nothing more than to see done to Zarkon what was done to my parents. I trained hard and fought hard. And to be honest, no one liked me. But I don't care. The only way I was gonna get what I wanted was to be the best."
"So how did you wind up coming to the GA Academy?" JC asked.
"I said I fought to be the best," she replied, "but I did what I could to achieve it. Knocked people out of the sky, choked people out in competition fights, and whatever else it took. All I was ever told was that I was a rogue, and that I'd never fit in anywhere….that I was trouble. I just assume they're right."
"If it's all the same to you," JC said, "I don't think you're a lost cause." She rolled her eyes.
"Oh please," she replied, "save the pick up lines for someone who wouldn't snap your neck in a second for no reason."
"Look," he said, "I can't even begin to think about what it was like for you growing up. All I know is that here and now, we have the chance to do so much more. Heck, if it wasn't for you convincing us to snoop around, we would have never been a part of Project Defender. I'm not handing you a line or even trying to cheer you up by saying these things. I'm saying them because you're good. You know you're that good. That's why I'm glad you're on this team."
"Captain!" the soldier shouted. "The Miran attack force is dwindling!"
"Excellent," Twyla said. "Let the demise of these fools send a message to all the planets in the Galaxy Alliance to never question the might of the Drule Supremacy!"
"Ma'am!" he shouted. "I'm picking up Alliance ships coming from the rear!"
"Bring us about!" she replied. "Let's give the Alliance ships a welcome, and prevent them from stopping the destruction of Planet Mira." A few of the larger ships turned to meet the oncoming attack, and began to fire on the Alliance ships. Twyla looked closer at the screen and noticed three ships standing out from the rest.
"It's the Voltron Force," she said. "But what's this? There's only three of them! They can't form Voltron! What a perfect time to unleash Nerok's little monster to take care of Mira and Voltron!" She turned from the screen and looked at her tactical officer. "Concentrate your fire on the Alliance drone ships! Release the robeast!" The bay door opened, and a robeast appeared from it. It had a blue, liquid-like metallic shell, and leaped from the platform with the grace and flexibility of a diver. It fired ice rays at the drone ships, freezing them in their place.
"First the Alliance will feel the chill," she said, "then Mira will be sent back into its own Ice Age!" She laughed maniacally.
"Tails," Seth shouted, "they just released a robeast!"
"It's freezing the drone ships!" Dariana shouted. "They've stopped in their tracks! And the laser fire from the command ships is shattering them to pieces!"
"Um…yeah," Tails replied. "Stay away from that laser."
"What do we do?" Seth asked.
"Who said I was the leader?" Tails asked.
"You did, remember?" Seth said.
"Snart!" Tails shouted. "Well we can't form Voltron, so here's the plan. That beam is pretty strong. Let's lead it towards the Drule fleet and see if we can get it to fire on its own ships. Do to them what they're doing to the drones."
"Sound plan," Dariana replied.
"Let's do it then," Seth replied. "But first, let me get its attention." He pulled over his weapons console and hit some of the buttons. A crossbow materialized below the ship and fired three ice bolts in rapid succession at the beast. It turned and began to follow. They flew at and around the fleet, and sure enough, several got hit by the robeast's ice beam.
"Nerok's robeast is gonna wipe out our entire fleet!" Twyla shouted. "Why can't he put someone with brains behind the controls of that thing instead of worthless mindless robots?" She walked to her command chair and sat down. "Two can play at this game. Order a withdrawal of ships. Take out as many of their drones as possible. Direct those idiots to bring the robeast into Mira's atmosphere. I want those people to suffer for the Alliance's arrogance!"
"Yes, ma'am!" the soldier shouted, and began implementing her orders.
"Snart!" Tails shouted. "It's not following us anymore!"
"Where's it heading?" Seth asked.
"Oh no," Dariana said quietly, "to the surface."
"This is a level five security alert!" a voice screamed over the loudspeaker. "All ships must launch immediately! Drule attack on Mira is eminent!"
"We gotta do something!" JC said. His fist pounding the box he was sitting on. "Hey, what's in these boxes?"
"I dunno," Roxy replied. "But maybe there's something in here that can get that door open!" They both dug through the boxes. Roxy found clothing in one of them.
"Some nice dresses," she said. "Not my style though." Joe opened another box and pulled out a case of vodka.
"Dang!" he shouted. "Probably not gonna do any good at getting the door open." Roxy saw another box and broke it open. Inside was another metallic case. It had a Galaxy Alliance seal on it.
"What do you suppose this is?" Roxy asked.
"Hopefully not sleepwear," JC replied. Fortunately the locks had been undone, and as Roxy opened it up, they made a discovery.
"What is it?" Roxy asked. "It looks like a Voltcom…but nothing I've ever seen before."
"It has the Galaxy Alliance logo on it," JC replied. "Did they try replicating Arusian technology?"
"I dunno," Roxy said, tapping on it, "but it's made of solid corrite. Whoever crafted this thing wanted to make sure it could never be destroyed."
"It won't work for either of us," JC said. "but maybe we can tap into its power source."
"Dariana isn't the only one who talks in her sleep," Roxy said, bringing the unit and wiring to the door. "Tails mutters constantly about Voltcom theory. I remember something about a port under one of the lower panels that allows access to diagnostic and data connections. If we can overload the port, we can short out the console and force the doors to open."
"Let's do it then," JC said. "Give me the other end of that cable." He wired it to the panel, and Roxy pried the access port open and attached the cable to it.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Do it,' JC replied. She keyed commands in, and power began to flow, but it wasn't enough.
"Why won't it work?" she asked. JC came over to it and kneeled next to her.
"Sometimes technology needs a little bit of coaxing," he said. He then started pounding on it with his fist. She was about to scold him when suddenly, the panel exploded, and the doors slid open. "You did it!" She grabbed JC's head, forceably turned it towards her and kissed him full on the lips. Fifteen seconds later, she broke the kiss, looking into his eyes for a split second, then got up and ran.
"Come on!" she shouted. "We have to get to the ships!" JC slowly got up and gently wiped his mouth with two fingers, confused as to what just happened. He soon snapped out of it and took off running.
"Where have you two been?" Stromclaw yelled as they ran through the control room.
"No time to explain," JC replied as they jumped into the chutes, then took off for Mira.
"We have to draw its attention again!" Seth yelled.
"I don't think it's gonna work this time," Dariana said. "It's on a course for Aquatar, the Miran capitol."
"Then how do we stop it?" Seth asked.
"What we need is something to counter that ice ray," Tails said.
"How about a little fire?" Roxy shouted.
"About time you showed up!" Seth replied.
"Hear you have a robeast problem," JC said. "How about we team up and stomp it out?"
"Does this mean I'm not in charge anymore?" Tails asked.
"Activate interlocks!" JC shouted as they moved into formation. 'Dynotherms connected! Infracells up! Megathrusters are go!"
"Let's go Voltron Force!" they yelled. The ships took off into the air, then switched to star formation and began transforming.
"Form feet and legs!" JC shouted. "Form arms and torso! And I'll form the head!" Voltron arched back as the energy field exploded, and his eyes lit up with power.
"So what are we looking at here?" Roxy asked.
"The robeast has a thick exoskeleton of tetracarbide corrite infused with lazon and…something the computer hasn't been able to identify," Tails replied. "The beam it's been firing is capable of reducing temps to near absolute."
"Then this should be right up your alley, Rox," JC said. Roxy paused for a moment. He's never called me that before.
"I'm on it!" she shouted. "Draw Magma Pistols!" Voltron reached down and pulled two fiery pistols from nowhere. They began firing on the robeast just as it was about to fire on the city.
"It's working!" JC replied. "Keep it up!" The beast turned and fired the ice beam at Voltron.
"Look out!" Tails shouted. The beam hit Voltron and began to freeze him solid. "Temperatures are dropping fast! The life support systems can't keep up!" They tapped their voltcoms, and their suits changed to full metallic armor with helmet.
"He's coming at us!" JC shouted. "I'm up for suggestions!"
"JC," Roxy said. "We can turn up the heat, but I think the best way to handle this is to give him a taste of his own medicine!"
"Meaning?" JC replied.
"Meaning," Roxy said, "let's take him into the deep freeze!" She worked the controls, and fired the pistols into the beam, dissipating it. "JC, we need to drag him under with us!"
"I trust you, Cadet Truvall," he replied. "On your orders." She held her breath in shock, then grabbed the yokes tightly.
"NOW!" Roxy shouted.
"Form Raybeam Whip!" JC shouted. Voltron reached behind him and pulled the whip and lashed the robeast.
"Take 'em down!" JC yelled. Seth and Dariana pushed the thrusters to max, and pulled the robeast down and under the ocean, pulling it to the floor. Suddenly, the robeast began to freeze.
"He's freezing up!" Tails yelled. "But if he keeps this up, he's gonna freeze the entire ocean!" JC hit a button and released the whip.
"Form Blazing Sword!" JC shouted. Voltron drew the sword from his hip and brandished it in front of him. "Time to carve us a robeast ice cube!" Voltron flew at the beast and sliced around it. Voltron grabbed the chunk of ice containing the robeast, and flew out of the ocean, through the air and back into space. "NOW!" Voltron released the robeast, pulled back the sword, and sliced clean through it twice. Shortly afterwards, it exploded, ice shards plummeting through the atmosphere, changing to a light falling snow. Votron took off to the surface, and gently landed."
"Good job team," JC said. "And quick thinking Roxy." They made sure all was well, and quickly took off, separating and heading back to Earth.
"So where were you guys?" Seth asked as they walked back to the dorms.
"Would you believe trapped in a storage locker?" JC said.
"Those doors can be tricky," Tails said. "I got locked in a bathroom once. Took the crew three days to get the doors open!"
"Well, at least we made it out in time," JC said. Seth, Dariana and Tails walked ahead, and JC hung back, as Roxy was hovering behind.
"I appreciate what you did back there," he said.
"We all did what needed to be done," she replied. "What else would we do?"
"One question I have though," he asked. "What was….you know….the…"
"THAT was desperation," she said, knowing full well what he was referring to. "Don't go thinking this changes anything between me and you, 'Cadet'. If you think it's that easy…"
"It's not," he said. "Nothing good in life is." She paused for a moment, struck by what he said, then gave him a frustrated sigh and stormed off. "I'll never understand it."