The Conspiracy
"Allura, is something bothering you?"
Her mouth opened as if to reply but quickly snapped shut again. Keith knew that their encounter with his old classmate hadn't gone over too well.
"I never dated her, if that's what you're wondering."
"No, it's not that really. Just, the sadness in her eyes when she looked at you. I used to feel that way also, so I guess I just felt a bit bad for her."
He felt his heart squeeze a bit at the reminder of those days. From the moment he first laid eyes on Allura there was never anyone else who could turn his head. Yet, at that time he also felt she was far from his reach and had refused to allow himself to hope.
Now he was married to her and she was carrying his child. Of all the things that had happened to him in the space of these few years that was the one thing he still had trouble wrapping his head around.
For some reason, she chose me.
Soon the plane touched down near an outcropping of large buildings. He had been right about where they were headed and couldn't help but wonder if what Matt had been concerned about would be found here.
As they disembarked they were greeted by none other than Commander Iverson.
"I see you've finally caught on to our little program here," he laughed, nodding towards the largest building on the campus.
"What exactly is going on here? What have you been keeping from us?" Keith could feel his face heating with anger but tried to keep his voice level. "What happened to Kerberos?"
"Come with me, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Iverson responded. "You remember the UFO crash back in 1947?"
"Roswell? Yeah, I've read up on it. Classic government coverup."
"With good reason. We had to hide the lone survivor not only from enemy countries but also from the Galra." Keith was pretty good at reading Iverson's expressions, and it appeared he was telling the truth.
As they stepped in the large hangar there was a gust of cool air that pushed away the dry heat of the desert. It caused their eyes to blur so that it took a moment for them to discover the big secret that was hidden in the room.
A white lion.
It was smaller than Red, and it currently wasn't surrounded by a force field. But there was no doubt that this was part of Voltron, although for the time being they weren't sure how it fit the giant robot.
"Commander, where did you find this? Was this—" Allura stopped short, seeming to already know the answer to her question.
"This is why we sent the mission to Kerberos. We found her in the core, waiting to be set free."
Keith was enraged to think that Shiro and his team had suffered trying to find something humankind couldn't even use. The big question was how they found it. Earth technology was nowhere as advanced as Altean or Galra technology, so they must have figured out the map he and Allura had found. But how did they manage to decipher it?
As if on cue, a small figure emerged from the shadow of the giant beast. Wearing coveralls, welding goggles and a hardhat, the figure approached them while wiping their hands on a rag. Hands that looked familiar but not human.
"Oh, Root, this is Keith and Princess Allura. Remember I told you about them before?"
Root stepped closer and removed her eyewear and hat, reaching out her hand to shake theirs.
"You're Olkari," Allura said, obviously shocked by the revelation.
The alien smiled and nodded, seemingly pleased that they were familiar with her people. She motioned towards the back of the building where there was a doorway leading to another room. They followed her but their eyes kept wandering back to the lion, desperate to get a closer look.
Eventually the two were led into a small conference room. Iverson closed the door behind him to muffle the sounds of the workers that echoed into the hallway. Root turned towards them and bowed slowly, a sign of respect for the Princess of Altea and for her husband, its Prince.
"I am so happy to have finally met you after all this time," she began. "My apologies for waiting until we're behind closed doors, but we want workers here to know as little as possible about our project, which includes your identities."
Once seated at the table, the Olkari began her tale of how she came to Earth. Her team had been on a reconnaissance mission to find the lions when they crashed; the other two members sadly died in the collision. She had been taken by the government to be interrogated and eventually agreed to work with them to try to repair her ship.
"Unfortunately, Earth doesn't have the resources needed for that, so I was stranded here. In the meantime, the work we did paid off for humans at least."
"Root is the reason technology took off in the late 1900's. Computers, the internet, smart phones. All thanks to her. We could use her technology for pretty much anything that wasn't for destruction," chimed Iverson.
"Well, it wasn't supposed to be, but that's another issue," she reminded him. "Anyway, once I figured out the location of the White Lion we started work on a ship to reach Kerberos."
She went on to explain that the Olkari had been helping King Alfor build the White Lion in secret once relations with the Galra started to sour. It was unfinished when he sent Voltron into hiding, so Blue had to tow it to its destination. Blue's pilot is the one who hid the lion in space rocks, freezing them to hold it together.
"So, the mission was to find the lion and bring it to Earth? Why wasn't the crew alerted to the true objective?" Keith wondered what Shiro would think of this latest information.
"We just wanted to confirm the location, we hadn't yet figured out how we'd get it back here," Iverson replied. "Commander Holt was aware of the unusual circumstances but was sworn to secrecy. He was chosen for the mission because of his connection to Root, actually."
Keith and Allura looked to Iverson with curiosity. Neither Matt nor Pidge seemed aware of their father's connection to any top-secret government organization.
"I'm his distant grandmother," Root offered, sensing their confusion. "I mated with a human that carried our bloodline and had children. Samuel, Matt, and Katie, are also a result of that union. That's why they have a natural talent for science and technology."
"So, their connection to the Olkari is much stronger than we thought," Allura mused. "Even closer than the original paladin it seems."
At this point Keith was wondering if this was why Pidge's father had been separated from Matt and Shiro. It had been assumed that it was because he was weak, but what if Zarkon recognized his abilities? The Galra had used the Olkari to build weapons before, it wasn't beyond them to try it again.
As much as he hated the idea of such a good man being used for dark deeds, it relieved him somewhat to think that there was a better chance of that man still being alive.
"Root, could you please tell us more about the White Lion," Allura spoke, interrupting Keith's thoughts. "What was its purpose? It doesn't seem to fit Voltron's configuration, is it a weapon?"
The Olkari looked to Iverson for approval before speaking. "We aren't sure what form the lion will take when joined with the others. We do know it was designed to use light quintessence to counter the dark quintessence that Haggar had been testing. It would require someone who had mastered druid magic to operate it. At the time that would have been your mother, Princess. Once activated it could change the course of the war, but it could prove dangerous to the pilot too."
The gasp that escaped from Allura led Keith to believe that she was just as surprised about her mother being a druid as she was about the lion. He understood that losing her mother at an early age was difficult, but now with this new knowledge she would feel even less connected to her than before.
So Allura could fly it, but it could hurt her?
The idea sent a chill down Keith's spine. Surely someone else could pilot it, right? Of course, it didn't even look like the lion was operational, much less capable of helping to take Zarkon down. Still, leaving it there didn't seem the best option, and the Princess seemed to agree.
"We're taking the White Lion with us," Allura asserted. "I'm unhappy that this was kept from us for so long. We could have helped get it ready much sooner had we been trusted with the information."
"Princess, with all due respect, you weren't even aware of the existence of the lion. You've had contact with the Olkari and they did not alert you to it either. We felt there had to be a reason for that." Root's voice was quieter but still firm.
Keith couldn't argue that assertion; Allura had just begun to learn to use her powers so they may have felt it premature to relay the information. Granted the Olkari didn't even know where it was so telling the team could have caused an unnecessary distraction.
"It was an insurance policy for us as well," Iverson added. "Until we could come up with a defense should Earth be attacked it was the only thing we had to possibly protect us. Now that we're covered you can take her. That is assuming you can get her to fly."
Keith's ears perked at the mention of building a defense. He'd long worried that such technology would be used for means other than defense should they fall into the wrong hands.
"Commander, are you implying that you've got more than a few ships to protect the planet? Didn't we learn our lesson from the nuclear arms race?"
Iverson's eyes narrowed at the implication. "This was a global effort. Every country contributed in some way and has claim to it. Pilots have come from all parts of the globe. We will be ready should the Galra come to us."
Keith looked to Allura to gage her reaction. Her people had built Voltron for the same reason, then Voltron became the catalyst for a war that spanned ten-thousand years. He waited quietly until she was ready to speak.
"We expect full details of your project, including pilot information. You betrayed our trust by lying about the use of the crystals, and you withheld crucial information. For us to continue to work together you must bridge the gap by allowing us access to everything, no matter how sensitive the data."
That's my girl.
Root slid the tablet she'd been holding over to Allura. Keith leaned over to look at the screen. It took a moment to digest exactly what they were looking at.
"Did—did you build your own Voltron?"
"Yes, Princess," Root responded. "It's comprised of fifteen vehicles that join into one giant robot. There are three teams of five: air, land, and sea teams. That way they are just as useful on Earth as they are in space."
"Are they already tested and functional?"
"We're in the training phase now, Captain. We have a team assembling at the Garrison as we speak," Iverson offered.
Keith had heard enough at this point, his blood pressure rising to the point that his head was throbbing. He stood quickly and offered his hand to Allura, signaling that he was ready for them to leave. Should they stay any longer he felt his temper would get the better of him.
At that moment, Coran's voice burst through the coms.
"Allura, Keith! Can you hear me?"
"Keith here. What's going on?"
"We've just received a communiqué from Zarkon. He wants to do a prisoner trade for Haggar."
That's odd. Why not Lotor, too?
"No negotiations for now. I do not trust Zarkon to keep his word," Allura replied gruffly.
"Well, we may not have a choice. It's the prisoner he wants to trade. It's Pidge's father, Commander Holt."
Shit.
"Send Black to pick us up," Keith responded. "Don't say anything to Pidge or Matt until we get to the castle."
"Yeah, um, it's kind of too late for that. They took off in the Green Lion as soon as the transmission was complete. Lance is trying to chase them down in Blue. They can't wormhole so if you hurry back we can probably cut them off."
As the newlyweds went to rush out of the room they were stopped by Root's voice. "May I come with you?"
Keith didn't hesitate to say yes. To be honest he was afraid to leave her behind since she had been used to such ends as building another Voltron. As they reached the hangar they felt the ground shake and heard the familiar roar of Black. Suddenly Allura stopped, turning slowly towards the White Lion.
The lion who was now roaring back to her leader.
The sound reverberated through the metal building, shaking the walls. They watched the workers stop and turn towards it in utter disbelief.
"I guess she's finally ready to go," smiled Root.
"Allura, I don't want you to fly her now. I'll carry her to the castle."
"Keith, I can feel her reaching out to me. I'll be fine."
He knew there was no time to fight a losing battle. They needed to get to the Green Lion quickly.
"Fine, you and Root meet me back at the castle. We'll plan our next steps from there."
"Just don't be surprised if I'm parked in your spot when you get there," she teased.
"This isn't a competition, Allura."
"You're just saying that because you hate to lose, my love."