Author's Note: The idea of the grid map, with the markers, came from the system used by the German Navy during World War II, in conjunction with the 'Enigma' code machine.
Fed Up On Planet Doom
Prince Fauk of Odeos was not the only one wondering if he had taken on more than he had thought. Maahox had been in his laboratory on Planet Doom, scanning multiple news sources from across the galaxy. He agreed with the ancient earth scientist and statesman, Sir Francis Bacon, that knowledge was power. Not only could he absorb, and remember multiple sources of information, but he was from a race of beings that had long life spans. Maahox had been very young when they Drules were coming to power, but in his species the idea of childhood did not exist.
It was while reading the field dispatches from the Galaxy Alliance that he came across the piece of information that had led him to where he was now, thinking about what he had taken on. The information itself was bad enough, but having to explain it to Lotor was even worse. Maahox had heard that King Zarkon had stated publicly, on more than one occasion, that his son was an idiot and incompetent. The scientist was ready to agree with that statement, and questioned why the king had not just had him killed, as he had done to so many others, even family.
The dispatches had mostly been regarding the transfer of supplies between warehouses, various bases, and refueling stops. It was dry, logistical information, but the reptilian scientist knew that if resources were being moved, it needed to be noted. What had first caught his attention was one of the memos that dealt with a large transfer of men and materials. The GA was getting ready for something, it was clear, and Maahox wanted to know what it was.
The message was coded, with the locations only indicated by a letter/number designation. The markers corresponded to a grid that was overlaid on a map of the galaxy. Depending on the threat level, the markers would be moved, either horizontally or vertically, so many spaces. The idea was that you needed to have the key, which told you where to position the markers on the grid.
Maahox had long ago cracked the code, and since everything had stabilized in the galaxy, the GA had been lax about changing the key. He brought up the map of the galaxy, overlaid it with the grid and the markers, which showed him where all those resources were going to. What he saw perplexed him, because it was empty space at first glance.
He set his hands on his hips, as he rolled his one eye, trying to figure out where the mistake was. Maahox looked at several other dispatches, and the designator markers in those matched up with his current grid key. That at least told him that the GA had not rotated the key, but not too much else. He then narrowed in on the quadrant, as indicated by the grid. It was just off from the planet of Odeos.
Scanning his memory, he pulled together everything he knew about the planet, which was located in the Stettin system. It was unremarkable, as far as location or natural resources, Maahox thought. He then turned his attention to any recent news from the place. He read the gossip newsfeeds as eagerly as he read the ones from GA Headquarters; Maahox liked to know everything happening in the galaxy! The upcoming wedding of the Odeon princess to the Polluxian king was the only thing of any recent note. Maahox did not know any of the players, but remembered that Grand Prince Fauk, the planet's ruler had been a highly decorated Alliance fighter pilot during the Drule wars.
This was getting him nowhere, Maahox mused, as he looked at the empty space on the map. He didn't think the GA was going to establish a large presence on Odeos. Even if they were allowed to, which he doubted they would be by the Odeons, it just didn't make sense militarily. Something though was tickling the back of brain, a reference to Odeos several months ago, in another batch of memos.
Scanning the data banks took several minutes, but he found it in a reference to the trade treaty that Odeos and Arus had entered into. The timing coincided with the engagement, and Maahox remembered that the King of Pollux and Queen of Arus were cousins. It looked like the queen had brokered the marriage, in his opinion.
Maahox remembered that she had been the Blue Lion pilot until recently, proving herself in combat many times over. He liked strong willed females, admiring how they could be tough, but decisive in a way that most humanoid men couldn't be. He took a moment to picture the great warrior Queen of Arus in his mind. He then sighed, because said warrior female was the great prize of His Majesty, King Lotor.
Lotor had desired the Arusian princess for years, and had spent vast amounts of his, and his father's resources, in pursuit of the female. Maahhox groaned, not wanting to listen to his overlord on that subject. The Drule's reaction to her marriage had almost caused a quake on the planet, because of Lotor's rage. For his part, he had a secret longing to have a dinner, one on one, with the glorious woman. She was beautiful, accomplished, smart – all the qualities Maahox admired in a ruler – none of which his current one had.
Stiffing his spine, Maahox came back to the task on hand, and how to turn it to his advantage. He also needed to keep the upper hand with Lotor, which was not as easy as he had first thought. He transferred his attention to the trade treaty, and found a codicil at been added at the end.
The codicil involved three auxiliary planets that were under Odeon control – Pommern, Ermlnd, and Konigs. Now Maahox had the answer as to why the space on the grid had appeared empty. Unoccupied auxiliary planets did not always get noted he knew. Bringing up a different map, he found the planets, along with their trajectory orbits.
Two of the planets were to the south and west of Odeos, and had some value as refueling stops for trade ships. Pommern was also in a good location to provide short term docking for military transport ships. Konigs though, being off to the east, with a trajectory orbit that took it to the edge of the Stettin system, was a different story.
The east border of the Stettin system was parallel to the Colwemb system, which had been the neutral zone with the Drule Empire a very long time ago. The Drules had made some minor conquests of planets, to see what the rest of the galaxy did to them. Nothing, other than trade sanctions were imposed, so the Drules bought themselves time by agreeing to a neutral zone, which was supposed to confine their ambitions.
In reality, the Drules used the neutral zone, which had been a temporary truce area, to make nice until they had gotten to full strength. Maahox had a nagging feeling that he'd seen a reference to Konigs in some old Drule documents. It bothered him, because Konigs had definitely been outside of the neutral zone, as the boundaries were at the time.
One of Maahox's earliest projects, when he had first come to Castle Doom was to digitize all the old records from the days of King Zarkon, and his father too. Lotor had thought the project a waste of time, but the scientist didn't want to overlook anything. Switching data banks, to the archives of the Drule Empire, he started a search for any reference to Konigs.
Maahox found what he was looking for, and as he read the reports he felt a chill settling on his body. The Drules had launched the war, after getting their forces to full strength. Konigs was one of many planets the Drules conquered in the early days of the war. So many systems were defenseless, because they had believed that the Drules would honor the treaty.
Konigs had been conquered very easily, Maahox read, because the people were peace loving and intellectual in nature. The Drules had been flabbergasted that the people had not even put up a fight against them. The invaders either slaughtered the population, or sold them into slavery. The planet's location was perfect for launching attacks on the rich Stettin and Denbuin systems, so the Drule's rapidly established a large base on the planet.
Reading further, he saw that the base was abandoned not even a year later, without any attack having ever been launched from it. Maahox read about how the weapons wouldn't work, the machinery broke down, and the soldiers were always getting sick. It was decided the planet's atmosphere was somehow poisonous to the Drule blood, so they shut up the shop and left. On Drule maps the planet was marked with the death symbol, which meant it was off-limits.
The scientist was not interested in the sickness that the Drule soldiers had experienced, but the copious notes about the problems with the weapons and machinery worried him. Haggerium was always the main element, or power source, for Drule war machinery. Nothing had ever been found that rendered it useless, and even Voltron was not able to beat it completely.
Maahox suspected that Konigs had something on it that could have neutralized, or destroyed the haggerium. He decided he needed to take a trip to Konigs, and was now explaining his reasoning to Lotor. It had taken the scientist a long time to get Lotor back to full strength, after his last encounter with Voltron. Lotor was hot for revenge, and didn't see the need for Maahox to take a field trip.
Retelling the story, for the third time, as he looked at battle scarred Drule, Maahox was starting to regret entering into an alliance with Lotor. Managing the king was more work than he had envisioned, and so far no rewards had been reaped. His majesty was impatient, ungrateful, and complained constantly at anything he came into contact with.
"Sire, you must understand that if there is an element out there that could defeat haggerium, we must control it. Otherwise, your desire to take down Voltron and the Alliance will all be for naught." Maahox explained slowly, trying to get the Drule to focus on something concrete. The scientist decided to be devious, as he added "As it stands now, Konigs is set to become a GA military outpost. If that happens, they could discover the secret of the planet before we do."
"You were supposed to come up with a new robeast to defeat Voltron!" Lotor pouted, not wanting to be seen as giving into Maahox. The scientist regarded the king; sitting in his haggerium filled hot tub, and inwardly sighed, as he wondered again what he had gotten himself into.
"My Lord, we need to know what is on that planet, before the Alliance does. If there is something, and they get hold of it, our plans are finished." Maahox replied slowly, wanting to slap Lotor up the side of the head. If he had any sense, the scientist thought, he would be ordering me there right now. It took several more minutes before Lotor finally agreed with the plant.
"Maahox, before you leave, please adjust the temperature of the haggerium bath; I feel chilly." Lotor said petulantly, "Oh and I need more wine too." Maahox did some quick calculations, to figure out just how hot he would have to make the bath, to parboil the Drule king.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will see to it right away, because we don't want you to be uncomfortable." The scientist answered, keeping the sarcasm out of his voice. He was disappointed because the tub couldn't get hot enough to boil Lotor to death. Maahox took care of the king's needs, and then went down to the hanger bay. After making sure the ship was ready, he briefed Commander Cossack on the trip, explaining it as scouting mission for another source of haggerium. The ship pulled away from Planet Doom, and Maahox regarded the receding planet, pondering again just what he had taken on.