Coran had stood in solitude on the Castle's bridge dozens of time without a problem but without Nayni by his side, he felt vulnerable. He knew she'd be furious if she found out he'd allowed her to distract him for even a tik. The truth of the matter was he'd never really needed her help to man the Castle's defenses. He'd just wanted her near so he didn't have to worry about her. The Castle was hurtling through a wormhole towards a deadly battle with the Queen's militia. Coran and the Paladins had plenty to worry about on their own but he kept thinking about what would happen with Nayni and the rebels.
All of the communication channels were open. Coran had the Blade of Marmora and the Paladins by his side. He'd never needed anything more. Strategically it was more than enough. They'd won victories with much fewer resources. They were up against an enemy that they barely knew anything about, just as they had hundreds of times before. He still couldn't shake the sense of dread that was hanging over him. The Castle emerged from the wormhole and bucked.
Coran quickly adjusted the controls to steady the massive vessel. He watched the Marmora ships sweep around the Castle in a defensive patrol. Aside from the presence of the Lions, the system seemed unremarkable. This only made him feel even more uneasy. The planet before him was massive. The yellow and green atmosphere of Apocritia looked like a swirling pool of toxic chemicals. The clumps of asteroids that were caught in its orbits tumbled and bounced off of one another.
Coran's eyes darted over to the tracking monitor. Pidge's program was still running without issue. He could still see that cluster of red blips heading for their location. The radar pinged rhythmically as the Queen's militia drew closer. They should be right on top of them. The system remained silent. He could hear the hum of the Castle's systems and the light chatter over the communication lines. There was nothing threatening that he could see in the endless stretch of twinkling stars.
The Blue Lion weaved between two small asteroids. It looked like a cat peeking around furniture as it hunted for a juicy space mouse.
"I can feel so much quintessence here," Allura said over the radio. "They're here."
Coran pulled up another program on the monitor. The quintessence readings in the area were off the charts but the Queen's fleet was nowhere to be seen. Keith's fighter probed into another cluster of asteroids.
"This doesn't feel right," Keith said over the communicator. "Where are they?"
Coran's gaze kept darting over all of the information on the monitors before him. Everything the Castle was picking up said that the Queen was here. Pidge's tracking program indicated that they were right in front of them. He already felt sweat beading up on his forehead. His left ear twitched from the anxiety. The back of his neck tingled as if someone was standing right behind him. Coran glanced over his shoulder. He was still alone on the bridge. He felt a twinge of shame over letting that paranoia get to him.
The Green Lion swooped right towards the vacant patch of space where the Other Castle was supposed to be. Pidge fired off a cautionary shot. The blue round bounced off of something. There was a flicker of red that broke up the darkness and Coran gulped. The vision of the spacescape around them dissolved and the Other Castle emerged from the void. The twisted black vessel was engulfed in its scarlet particle barrier and immediately began raining down laser fire on Coran's comrades. Coran brought up the blue particle barrier and frantically began setting up the targeting parameters for the Castle's systems.
He watched the Lions and the Blades ships swerve around the asteroids. They fired off shots at the enemy fighters. Tiny explosions peppered the battlefield like splatters of paint on a canvas. Coran's eyes narrowed as his hands danced over the controls. The Castle's gleaming blue lasers slammed into the enemy's red particle barrier. Sparks flung off of the flickering shield in every direction. A stray shot of red laser fire smacked into the Castle's barrier as Coran steered the vessel behind a cluster of asteroids. He wanted as much cover as he could possibly get.
Preserving the integrity of the particle barrier would be critical if they wanted to hold out for as long as they possibly could. The Lions weaved through the field, taking out as many of the enemy drones as they could. The Blades swept around and tried to hold off any of the drones that got by and tried to make it to the planet's surface. The main display lit up with a flashing yellow window. The system's residents were haling the Castle.
Coran's left hand continued to work the controls as he reached over and opened up the channel. The garbled image of a golden, insect-like alien appeared on the monitor. The Apocritian's mandibles clicked and its antennae twitched. It didn't seem to be very expressive but Coran could tell they were terrified.
"Are our scanners broken? There appears to be two of your Castles?" The Apocritian pressed.
Its voice sounded so monotone and almost had a robotic quality. Coran barely glanced over at the communications monitor as he spoke.
"I know this may seem rather alarming, but I promise the Coalition will keep you safe," Coran assured.
Even though he was frantically working the controls he took great care to make his voice sound as calm and comforting as possible. Coran wiped the sweat from his forehead on his glove. The alien clicked its sharp mandibles and nodded.
"The Hive will send whatever we have to help with this fight," The Apocritian said.
Coran patched the alien transmission through. He had a wicked smirk on his face. He'd like to see The Queen and The Advisor try to win this fight with an entire planet's army rushing towards them and Voltron.
"I've got a present for you, Shiro," Coran said coyly.
He watched the alien ships streaming into space from the planet's surface. The golden, geometrically shaped vessels surrounded the battlefield like an impenetrable wall. The more enemy drones and fighters that the Lions took out, the more of them seemed to come pouring out of the Other Castle. They would need to form Voltron soon. It appeared that Tomyko's prediction had been accurate. The Castle shook as it took another hit from the enemy's main cannon. Coran braced himself on the main control panel. The particle barrier flickered but it's integrity levels remained high. The Black Lion swung around the Other Castle to regroup with the other Lions.
Shiro's voice boomed over the communicator. Coran had known the Black Paladin for quite some time now but he still found the way he led to be awe-inspiring.
"Everyone, focus your fire on the enemy's barrier," Shiro ordered.
Coran watched a barrage of different colored lasers rain down on the scarlet particle barrier. He adjusted his controls and watched the Castle's main cannon fire off. It sliced through an asteroid and slammed into the enemy's barrier. The Other Castle jerked and their shields started to flicker. They might actually have them this time. Coran didn't want to get his hopes up. This enemy was clever, they probably had a few tricks up their sleeve. He was painfully aware of this because he was up against another version of himself.
The Lions flew in that familiar formation and Coran grinned. He could see Voltron form a thousand more times and it still would never cease to fill him with hope. He watched the Lions dance around one another. The raging battle seemed to come to a halt as Voltron came together in an explosion of light. The superweapon plunged through a cluster of drones and weaved through a web of red laser fire. Their allies continued to pick off whatever enemy fighters they could.
Voltron was barreling towards the Other Castle. Its massive sword was held at the ready. They were going to carve right through their particle barrier. It seemed too easy now. Coran felt a twinge of fear. Something just felt wrong. Before Voltron could swing its blade against the scarlet barrier, the Other Castle pulled back. It fired a weapon that they had never seen before. A twisting, writhing red laser beam erupted from one of their cannons. It looked like some supernatural creature that was swimming through the abyss of space.
The beam seemed to slice through the very fabric of space. It ripped open a massive rift in the middle of the battlefield. Red and violet lightning poured out of the rift. It'd undulated and spasmed like some organic passage rendered from flesh and blood. A fleet of dreadnoughts poured out of the rift. They were sleek and black. They looked just like the Altean warships of old but as if they'd been tainted by something ancient and insidious.
Coran's heart sank. Tomyko had mentioned this technology. She'd told them that the Other Castle possessed the power to travel through the barriers between realities. They'd observed one of these rifts before but to actually see it formed right before his eyes was jarring. To witness the enemy vessels come streaming out of that unnatural passage again was still rather unsettling. He was frozen for a moment. It was both fascinating and terrifying.
Coran tried to shake off the fear that was starting to consume him. He furiously began readjusting the Castle's defenses. He unleashed everything they had on the enemy's dreadnoughts. The new arrivals were already tearing apart their ally's ships. Only Voltron seemed to be able to make a dent in them. Tomyko had been right about that too. If Voltron wasn't here, Coran didn't know if they'd be able to hold out. He watched the superweapon slice through one of the enemy dreadnoughts. The sleek black vessel split in half and was consumed in a ball of flame.
Coran felt his chest tightening. That eerie sensation washed over him again. He felt as if someone was standing behind him and watching his every move. The tingling sensation on the back of his neck was even stronger now. Coran looked over his shoulder and there was nothing there yet again. He could feel it down to his core though. He was not alone. He clenched his jaw, his violet eyes darted all around the bridge. The Castle continued to buck and shake. The battle raged on around him but he felt frozen.
The dimensional rift closed as Voltron fired its massive yellow cannon at another dreadnought. Coran still couldn't shake that feeling. It felt as if a pair of icy cold hands were gripping his shoulders. That frigidity spread through his body and made him shiver. His ear twitched as he felt the faintest wisp of chilly air flutter over his flesh.
"We're going to kill you all."
The voice that whispered in his ear was dripping with malice. It made Coran shudder. The sound had come out of nowhere. It was like a spirit had passed through him and taunted him. That voice was so cold and distant. It harbored a deep, relentless hunger. It wasn't the fact that it had appeared from thin air. It wasn't troubling that these foreign words had manifested in an empty room. What bothered him was that it was the sound of his own voice that he'd heard. It had cut through the sound of the radio chatter and the booming explosions. It had been a threat meant only for his ears.
Being on the shuttle with Tomyko was far more awkward than Nayni had been expecting. It was a rather cramped situation. Nayni didn't take much issue having to sit next to this other version of her wife but Tomyko was stiff as a board. She seemed to be going to great lengths to not make eye contact with Nayni either. It was incredibly frustrating. They should be past this point by now. If Tomyko hadn't been hiding in her quarters like a child and faced the facts they wouldn't be here right now. It was just another reminder to Nayni that the Altean woman sitting next to her wasn't the same person she married.
Her Tomyko handled everything with such grace. She always confronted personal tensions head on and resolved them before things could fester like this. She could make the most uncomfortable of situations seem trivial and easy to resolve. The Tomyko sitting next to Nayni just seemed completely determined to avoid everything that was mildly upsetting to her.
Nayni gripped the control stick for the massive turret mounted on top of the shuttle. Firing off that thing was probably the only thing she was going to be able to do to help. If Tomyko or Lotor tried to pull something it would be up to Nayni or the rebels to try and stop them. If the Galra Prince had as much sway over the Terrapin as he claimed, then they might not be able to rely on them for help if he turned on them. She wasn't sure this was really a concern anymore. Lotor hadn't done much to actively sabotage them but something about him still didn't sit right with Nayni.
The shuttle's radio crackled. The communication system on this tiny vessel wasn't nearly as sophisticated as the one on the Castle. The boxy rebel ships were already circling around Terrapin. The bulky, brown Terrapin dreadnoughts were puttering around their planet at a sluggish pace. Their hulls looked like they were impenetrable. She could hear Lotor and the rebels checking in over the communications channels. Nayni reached for the transmit button. Tomyko's hand recoiled from the shuttle's controls and she stiffened. Her immaturity was particularly vexing given the circumstances.
Nayni just sighed and pressed down on the transmission key. She'd heard the vaguely familiar sound of Matt's voice come over the speakers. She'd barely interacted with him but he sounded rather similar to Pidge so there was no mistaking who it was.
"Mister Holt, I promised your sister that I would allow no harm to come to you," Nayni said. "So do your best to stay alive, I've seen how she is when she's angry. I rather not incur her wrath."
Nayni heard Matt chuckle over the radio. Lotor's sleek violet vessel swooped through Nayni's field of view.
"They're coming," Lotor said over the radio. "Let's all do our best not to perish today."
Nayni shifted in the shuttle's tiny seat. This endeavor was going to be uncomfortable for
multiple reasons. Tomyko leaned forward and gazed out of the cockpit. They watched the Galra fleet jump into the star system. Seeing the massive violet ships made Nayni feel just the slightest bit of panic. Having Voltron around had made her feel significantly more confident in the past. And with the Castle being absent as well she felt even more vulnerable. The Galra warships didn't hesitate. They immediately opened fire on the rebel forces.
She watched Lotor fly at the front lines with the Terrapin vessels in formation behind him. They deployed their massive green shields. The rounds from the Galra fighters bounced off of the shields like insects flying into a net. Lotor was already issuing orders over the communications channels. The rebels seemed to be reluctantly following his lead. Tomyko hesitated before she pushed forward on a lever and the shuttle launched forward.
It was going to take a great deal of restraint on Nayni's part to not retch. Tomyko was a good pilot as she had claimed but Nayni never handled the dramatic dips and turns that were required for effectively piloting during a dogfight very well. Tomyko yanked the yolk to the left and the shuttle jerked. A blast from one of the Galra fighters grazed the surface of the shuttle. Tomyko maneuvered the shuttle back around and Nayni was thrown back in her seat.
Nayni wrapped her stubby fingers more tightly around the joystick. She aimed the turret's crosshairs on her tiny monitor and opened fire. The whole shuttle shook as the turret unleashed its rounds on the enemy fighter. Nayni struggled to maintain her grip on the controls. She desperately missed the smooth comfort of the Castle now that she was stuck on this cramped shuttle. Tomyko swerved the shuttle around. Nayni locked on to another target and opened fire.
Tomyko shook her head and her fiery hair whipped around her.
"Not that one!" Tomyko growled. "Are you daft?"
Nayni scowled and held her finger down on the trigger. She watched the massive rounds slam into the Galra drone until it was just a mass of smoldering, twisted metal. Tomyko groaned with frustration.
"Are you just going to sit over there and do whatever you please?" Tomyko hissed. "I'm the expert pilot here, remember?"
Nayni tried to take a deep breath to calm herself but it didn't do much to help.
"I know what I'm doing!" Nayni said through gritted teeth.
She only actually barely knew what she was doing but she wasn't a fan of being snapped at like some undisciplined child. Tomyko plunged the shuttle forward. Her eyes were narrowed and her nostrils were flared in anger. Nayni pulled back on her joystick and swept the turret across the battlefield. It was actually rather thrilling to unload the laser rounds on all of these ships. The feel of the shuttle shaking from the sheer force of the gun was rather invigorating. Tomyko didn't find this nearly as amusing.
"Instead of shooting all willy-nilly why don't you try actually targeting something?" Tomyko pressed. "Or-I dunno actually taking out a fighter?"
Nayni was not going to put up with this in the middle of a quiznacking battle. She shot Tomyko a nasty look. Her olive skin was starting to redden with rage.
"If you spent more time concentrating on your flying maybe we'd actually be contributing!" Nayni snapped.
Tomyko pulled back her fist, Nayni thought the Altean was about to punch her square in the jaw. The shuttle's radio crackled as Lotor's vessel swooped by in front of them. The laser of his ship tore through a cluster of Galra drones.
"Knock it off!" Lotor hissed.
His ship swung back around and took out another pack.
"And here I thought you were the one who was supposed to be doing the babysitting, Nanny," Lotor teased.
Tomyko and Nayni exchanged rather disgusted looks. She was stuck on this shuttle so she would have to make the best of things. Tomyko pushed forward on the throttle and the shuttle plunged deeper into the fray. Nayni locked on to another target and began firing. Tomyko opened her mouth but Nayni didn't even give her a tik to speak.
"If you're going to yell at me, I'm just going to shove my fist down your throat," Nayni said.
Tomyko closed her mouth. Her eyes widened with rage. She steered the shuttle even more wildly. It wove through the Galra drones. Nayni's head bounced off the back of her seat with every swerve the shuttle made. It was doing little to help her temper. She tried to just focus on taking down as many targets as she could. If she even glanced at Tomyko for more than a tik she was certain she'd just end up throttling the woman.
One of the heavily armored Terrapin warships slammed into a Galra dreadnought like a battering ram. It slammed right through the Galra's shields and tore off the nose of the dreadnought. A string of other warships followed suit and smashed the dreadnought to pieces. After seeing that remarkable bit of strategy Nayni wondered if the Terrapin vessels even needed guns to win a fight. Tomyko steered the shuttle through the cluster of rubble that had been left in the wake of all that destruction. A hunk of metal clipped the side of the shuttle and Nayni was nearly flung out of her seat by the force of the impact.
"Do you mind!?" Nayni growled.
Tomyko jerked the yolk in the opposite direction and the shuttle swayed. Nayni thought she was going to vomit all over her controls.
"I'm just trying to keep us alive!" Tomyko snapped.
Nayni laughed. It was very sarcastic and it seemed to fill Tomyko with more rage.
"If that's the case then why do you insist on trying to kill us?" Nayni asked.
Tomyko grew so angry she was shaking. Nayni was taken aback by the way the red-head looked at her. There was nothing but disdain in those narrow violet eyes of hers.
"Do you have to comment on everything?" Tomyko seethed. "You're always barking at me like I'm some child! I know what I'm doing! I know more about fighting a war than you do! Why can't you just sit there and do what I say like-"
A massive round from one of the Galra dreadnoughts slammed into the side of the shuttle. The right wing snapped off and smoke started to pour into the cockpit. The ship spun around through the vacuum of space. It slammed into another hunk of debris. The earsplitting sound of metal slicing through metal echoed through the shuttle. Nayni felt blood trickling down the side of her face. A sharp, searing pain was radiating from her forearm. The shuttle continued to spiral out of control and the pain she was experiencing was so intense that Nayni thought she was going to faint.
She could barely understand the chatter coming over the radio. There was frantic shouting that was breaking through the loud static. Her head lulled to the side and she saw Tomyko pulling back on the yolk. Her red hair was a mess and she was shouting desperately over the communicator. Tomyko's head whipped around. Her eyes were wide and full of fear. Nayni was fixated on the shapes her red lips were making as she spoke frantically.
Tomyko seemed to regain control of the shuttle. It still was bucking and swerving wildly through the battlefield but the wild spiral to their death had stopped. Tomyko's arms were trembling as she struggled to maintain control over the shuttle. The rebel's flagship swooped in front of them. It's hangar doors were wide open. Nayni could barely make out the shape of the boxy ship amidst all the smoke and fire. The shuttle weaved and bucked as Tomyko steered it into the rebel ship.
The shuttle slammed into the hangar. It skidded across the floor. It left a trail of scrapes across the rough metallic hull. The shuttle jerked as it slammed into the interior wall of the hangar. Nayni was starting to see stars across her vision. She couldn't summon the strength to move. She could still hear the muffled sounds of the battle going on around them. She could hear the screech of the rickety hangar door as it started to close.
Tomyko's face was just a blur to Nayni as the Altean pulled her out of the cockpit. Tomyko dragged her across the floor of the shuttle. She knew the pod had ceased spinning but Nayni still felt like everything around her was crumbling away. She felt the warm trickle of her blood sliding down the curve of her face and down her neck. The sleeve on her right arm felt damp and hot from the blood that had soaked into the fabric. Coran was going to be most upset with her. She desperately hoped that things were going better for him than they were for her.
Despite the reinforcements that had arrived, they were finally pushing back the Queen's militia. The Castle's particle barrier was barely holding itself together now and Coran felt drained but they were winning this. That ethereal threat that had been made against him was the act of a coward. They'd had minimal casualties. With the help of the Apocritians, the Blades and Voltron they were actually going to win this. He hoped things were going just as well in the Terrapin system.
Red lights were flashing and several of the Castle's alarm systems were going off. Coran was doing his best to contain the issues from the bridge. He had dispersed almost all of the Castle's maintenance drones to do his bidding. The scene outside seemed just as much, if not more chaotic. The asteroid belt was littered with smoking debris. Only a few of the Queen's warships remained intact. The scarlet barrier engulfing the other Castle was barely able to stay up for more than a few tiks. It kept flickering and it's red glow only grew dimmer with each deployment. Voltron soared through the battlefield. Chunks of an asteroid and stray scraps of fighters would bounce off of its massive shield. Once the last of these warships were destroyed they could go for the Other Castle.
They'd struggled quite a bit and Coran had felt a great deal of fear but he never lost hope for a single moment. He couldn't allow that to happen. Voltron cut through the last of the dreadnoughts. It erupted in flame. It splintered into a million pieces that were flung across the battlefield. The Marmora fighters dodged the debris. Their allies did not need any of Shiro's orders to jump back into action. They all immediately started firing on the Other Castle. Coran typed into the main control panel. He lit up every conceivable target he could and watched as the Castle unleashed everything it had on their enemy.
Voltron started barreling towards the Other Castle. It was going to ram the massive vessel with its shield. The superweapon plummeted towards the scarlet particle barrier. Every tik that slipped by felt like an eon of agonizing tension to Coran. The Other Castle fired off its twisted cannon again. Voltron weaved out of the way. The undulating laser raced past them, it sliced through a cluster of golden Apocritian ships that had made up the barricade around the planet. Coran watched in horror as the beam slammed into the glowing green surface of the planet.
The alien world was split in half as the rift tore open. The glowing red edges of the rift twitched and undulated. The dark chasm swallowed up chunks of the planetary debris. Coran had just witnessed billions of lives disappear. They'd just been snuffed out from the face of existence within a tik. Coran's hands hovered over the control panel. He was shaking. An entire world had just been cut in half. An entire civilization had just been pushed to the brink of extinction.
More of the Queen's warships poured out of the rift. It was endless. The Other Castle retreated. Coran watched as they opened a Teludav portal and disappeared down the wormhole. Coran was still in such shock that he could barely command his limbs to move. He could hear Allura's desperate, heartbreaking pleas over the communication channels.
"We have to get them out of here," Allura said. "We have to evacuate as many of them as we possibly can!"
Coran got a hold of himself. He opened up the hangar doors to prepare for the massive influx of refugees. He knew they wouldn't be able to get them all. It was impossible but Allura wouldn't accept it. He knew she never would. The visage of the insectoid alien had vanished from Coran's monitor. It sent a chill down his spine when he just calmly accepted that they were dead.
Voltron flew around the new wave of enemy dreadnoughts as the rift closed behind them. The geometric golden ships were the last remnants of this entire alien civilization. They rushed towards the Castle. They swarmed around in pure chaos. They were dodging debris, lasers, and asteroids. With every Apocritian ship that fell, Coran felt more guilt. They'd failed. They'd failed this entire race of people that they'd vowed to protect. He watched the two halves of the planet slowly drift farther and farther away from each other. It looked as if someone had just sliced a chunk out of the planet. An entire world had been vivisected like a science experiment.
The communication channels were overwhelmed. They were flooded with the frantic cries of his allies and desperate, frightened refugees. He didn't even know where they would take them or what they would do with them. Coran knew from personal experience that there was little to be done to comfort people who'd just lost everything they'd ever known. There were no words that could be said to even begin to heal that immense wound. His monitors continued to light up as refugee ships started to land in the hangar.
He had to block out the sound of Lance comforting Allura over the communications channels. If he didn't focus on manning the Castle defenses he was going to fall apart too. He'd seen a lot of atrocities during the war with the Galra. He'd seen entire civilizations enslaved and worlds turn to ash. This was just as horrendous. This was just as incomprehensibly horrific that he couldn't conceive of a logical reason for why anyone would commit such an act.
The Queen's warships were starting to push them back. They kept picking off the golden Apocritian ships like they were squashing a trail of insects at a picnic. Shiro's voice cut through all the chaos on the communication channels. It was like a beacon of light amidst all the darkness.
"We need to make a jump," Shiro said. "We can't stay here any longer."
Allura started to protest and it felt as if someone had punched Coran in the gut. Coran started prepping the Teludav for the jump. He didn't want to either. He wanted to stay and keep fighting until they had nothing left to give. But if they stuck around for that long, then there would be no one to bring this destruction to an end. They had to now. After seeing this, they had no choice. The Queen was just as vile as the Galra. Some of the refugee ships hovered around the Blades, the others continued to try and squeeze into the Castle's hangar. All their hopes were riding on fitting them all into the wormhole.
Allura powered up the Teludav. Coran watched as the violet-blue portal erupted in the center of the smoldering battlefield. The Blades dove for the portal, a stream of refugee ships were tailing them. Red laser fire rained down on them. Coran felt numb. He steered the Castle into the portal and Voltron flew in behind him. They had taken as many people with them as they could. The population they'd saved was just a fraction of what had existed just moments ago. Once they emerged on the other side of the wormhole, everything that they'd left behind would be consumed by the Queen's fleet. That realization made him sick.