Author's Note - The saga continues not only with the inevitable attack at the opening ceremony, but the results from the testing on Earth. Jenny Owens is quickly becoming a favorite character of mine, and I hope everyone likes where I am going with her. Also, sit back and get ready, because Chip and his team just might find out what happenned that caused Voltron to fall apart!
Theme Music : "It's Gonna be Me" by NSYNC
Disclaimer - Voltron and all associated characters are the property of WEP. Space Marshall Lenora Hawkins and associated characters are the property of KathDMD. Lieutenant Lysette fabrere and associated characters are the property of selena devargo.
Episode 55 : It's Gonna Be Me
"Please, take a seat," Commander Hawkins said to Jenny. She sat down in front of the desk, and he sat down as well. "Professor Paige has told me a lot about you."
"Oh?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied. "But it's what your test results say that made me not only make my decision, but confirmed for me every good thing he's said about you. Did he tell you what your score was?"
"No," she replied. "He only told me I scored fairly high."
"You received a perfect score," Hawkins said. Her eyes widened. "If your actual skill level reflects this testing, you far exceed the expectations of this program."
"What exactly IS this program, Commander?" Jenny asked. "Professor Paige mentioned a position aboard the Defender. Would this be an internship of some kind?"
"In a way," he replied. "There are some positions aboard the Defender that have opened up that we are trying to fill. A lot of current graduates have been going on to other things, or haven't come close to qualifying for such a position. But Professor Paige seems to think you would be perfect for it. And honestly, from what I've seen so far, I couldn't agree more." He stood up and walked over to the window. "The Project Defender crew have been hard at work on not only trying to figure out what happened to Voltron, but to begin rebuilding the exploratory vehicles that formed the mighty robot. I honestly want to test your piloting skills, but in this case, I think no ordinary simulator or test craft will do. Sergeant Stoker and his crew were able to piece together one of the vehicles. It's not quite battle-worthy yet, but if you can fly it, you'll have proved to me beyond all doubts that you are right for this." She stood up and walked over to the window with him.
"I know I can do it," she said. "I aspire to be a great pilot sir. And I'll do my best." They looked down at the vehicle in the repair bay below….the Command Jet Explorer.
"I'm picking four lions approaching fast," Tails said.
"Grend to the Lion Team," JC said over the com, "give us some cover fire. We're gonna try to go after the robeast."
"You got it," Daniel replied. "Everyone, scatter and take out these ships!" The lions scattered as ordered, and began firing on the ships.
"Everyone, get into formation," JC shouted. "Activate interlocks! Dynotherms connected! Infracells up! Megathrusters are go!"
"Let's go Voltron Force!" they shouted. The jets flew in Wing formation, then switched to star formation as the energy field took hold.
Form feet and legs!" JC shouted. "Form arms and torso! And I'll form the head!" Voltron arched back as the energy field exploded, his eyes lighting up with power.
"Watch out!" Roxy shouted. Voltron dodged a blast from the beast.
"Let's get down there and see what we're dealing with," JC said. Voltron flew down and quickly over top of the beast. "Eye beam!" Voltron fired several blasts from the eye beams, but it easily deflected off the surface of the beast.
"It looks like a giant turtle!" Tails said. "Running an analysis on the scans….yep, that's a Corrite-Duerillium alloy. They thought this out. The head and feet don't seem to be as armored."
"Then let's see if we can hit the weak spots," JC said.
"Draw Magma Pistols!" Roxy shouted. The pistols formed in Voltron's hands, and he fired repeatedly at the beast. It pulled its head and legs in, and the shots merely deflected off the shell.
"Not even a scratch!" Seth remarked.
"Maybe we need to get in close and personal," JC said. "Form Blazing Sword!" Voltron reached to his hip and pulled out the beam of light that became the Blazing Sword. Voltron ran at the beast, dodging its blasts. As he swung, the beast pulled its head and feet back into the shell, and the sword dug into the ground. Voltron pulled up and swung at the shell repeatedly, and the sword simply bounced off.
"Even the sword isn't making a mark!" Roxy shouted. Ships fired on Voltron. When he turned to confront them, the beast came out of its shell and blasted Voltron in the back, sending him forward and to the ground.
"Damage?" JC shouted.
"Black sustained a bad hit," Tails replied. "Systems back online in thirty-two seconds."
"One thing we know for sure now," Seth said.
"What's that?" Dariana asked.
"Don't turn your back on this one," he replied.
"Why are we taking cover in here?" Lance asked. "The Drules are here to turn these buildings into rubble!"
"There's a reason the Garrison asked for my help on this project," Keith replied. "These buildings have been reinforced almost as well as the Castle of Lions. And I installed some surprises for just this type of occasion. Come with me to the top floor." He headed for the elevator.
"Can't we just take the stairs?" Lance said, letting out a big sigh before running into the elevator with Keith. The doors closed, and Keith held up his voltcom. There was a click, and the elevator went up to the roof. When they exited, turrets rose out of the roof. "Magna Lasers?"
"Let's take out those fighter ships," Keith said. They both mounted the turrets and began opening fire on the attacking ships.
"If only I could get to Red Lion, we could form Voltron and help them," Lance said.
"Truvall can take care of herself," Keith said. "Just focus on getting rid of the things distracting them. They'll need to focus."
"You have been chosen to join an elite group of cadets that will receive on the job training on the Defender," Commander Stomclaw said to the now thinned out crowd. "You will all place amongst the crew, but there are a few positions that will require additional training. Those of you who scored especially high in the fields of expertise required will come with me to receive this training. When I call your names, step forward and join me." He pulled out a list on a data pad. "Mai Islu." Mai stepped forward. A young woman of Indian descent, her dark skin and hair enhanced her beauty. She made her way over to Commander Stormclaw. "Chester and Edward Keegan." The Baltan twins high fived one another. Both were of average height, but built, which was unusual for Baltans. They both smoothed their short black hair as they made their way out of the crowd to join Mai. "Dixie Calla." Dixie looked a tad shocked. She carefully brushed her blonde locks out of her face and made her way down to join the others. "And finally, Kenneth Hunter." Ken was not surprised. He knew from the start he had what it took, and assured himself he had scored high in the testing. His short brown hair parted neatly, he make his way to join the others. Stormclaw paused. "Dismissed." The crowd made their way out of the room. Stormclaw turned to them, and motioned for them to follow.
"Sir," Ken asked, "where are we going?"
"To the hangar," Stormclaw replied. "I want to show you what we've been working on, and also to enlist your help in the project."
"Project Defender?" Ken asked. Stormclaw nodded.
"Not much of a secret anymore of course," he replied. "Let me tell you that the five of you are going to be involved in the operation to rebuild Voltron. The council actually hopes that if the repairs can be made, that suitable pilots can be found to replace those who have transferred or have been promoted. That's the main reason you were selected amongst the others that were chosen for positions aboard the Defender. Between your technical backgrounds, your piloting skills, and the scores on the testing, your time and input on the project will be critical." The hangar doors opened, and they walked in and looked around in amazement. Pieces of the Vehicles were set up around the hangar area, but the current hub activity were around five of the vehicles that appeared to be the Air Team. Chip stopped his work on the console and came over to talk to them.
"Hello," he said. "My name is Chip Stoker. I'm the lead technician for Project Defender, and former pilot of the Blue Advanced Recon Helicopter over there." He gestured towards his former vehicle, which had received damage to one side where the interlocks physically snapped from the side of the vehicle. "Tech Seargents Katz and Karateya will be assisting us. They're busy piecing together the rest of the Strato Weapons Module. We haven't quite found the cause of the incident yet, or why the interlocks and failsafes….well, failed, but we have been successful in piecing the vehicles back together, and reinforcing the systems and armor to withstand future incidents. With the exception of some of the weapons and defense systems, the Command Jet Explorer is actually operational. The problem will be with Voltron." He walked over to a nearby console and brought up a holo-screen. "Each of the units operated off a small nuclear reactor core with a fusion generator. There were always elemental components involved, though technicians that worked on the vehicles, including myself, never fully understood their use. One of the many mysteries Dr. Loring took to the grave with him. When the sub-units combine, the fusion generators work in unison to power them. Everything is pretty straitforward. It's when the units come together to form Voltron that the issue arises. Back when we first put Voltron into use, Dr. Loring's power designs were not completed. The supply of stored nuclear energy was nominal…as if the fifteen units involved didn't have enough power to operate it. A redesign was made a few years later that incorporated a solar backup system able to store larger amounts of power. While again not fully understood, it allowed Voltron to operate indefinitely, as long as the solar generators had a source to draw power from. Now it seems whatever Dr. Loring incorporated into the Vehicles to combine and hold the vehicles together when forming Voltron is just….not there. In the meantime, I have been trying to do research on Dr. Loring's other works, and his papers on the Voltron project, in the hopes that the technicians that worked on all this before me may have missed something." He was abruptly interrupted when Zandee came running up to him.
"Chip!" he shouted. "You need to take a look at this!" Chip smiled at the cadets.
"If you'll excuse me for a moment," he said, walking away with Zandee. "What's going on?"
"Tangor and I were rerouting the power conduits and taking apart the damaged armaments near the lower interlocks," Zandee replied, "and this is what we found." He pointed, and Tangor peeled back a layer of damaged metal to reveal several electromechanical parts that Chip immediately recognized as not part of the vehicle schematics.
"It's a detonator," Chip said. "But what would a detonator be doing inside an interlock access panel?"
"There's more," Zandee said, directing Chip's attention to a data pad in his hands connected to the ships systems. "There is software taking residence in the low priority memory of the onboard computer. It doesn't look like anything I've seen before." Chip looked at the code.
"It's a virus," Chip said, his eyes widening. "Again, I ask, how?" He gasped slightly. "Someone had to have planted this into the vehicle. Someone aboard the Defender who had access to the vehicles. I don't even know how long this has been in here, as it's not part of our routine checks, and the program is buried in a place we don't normally run security scans." He looked over at Tangor and Zandee. "Stop what you're doing, and run a full diagnostic on all of the vehicles with operational systems. I want to see if the Module was the only vehicle affected, or if the entire force was sabotaged."
"Yes, sir," They said, saluting. They both picked up their data pads and began their work, while Chip looked at the access panel and shook his head.
Allura entered the control room and saw Coran and Pidge monitoring the battle.
"What's the situation?" Allura asked.
"Drule forces have attacked the campus," Pidge replied. "They unleashed a robeast. Daniel and the others launched to confront them."
"What about Keith and lance?" Allua asked.
"They took the crowd and took refuge in the building," Pidge replied. "It was built to withstand attacks like this, but this robeast is formidable." She observed the screen.
"Four lions?" she asked. "What about Red?"
"No lance, no Red," Pidge said. "The other force is there. They are doing their best." They continued to monitor the situation. Allura frowned, then walked over to the nearby controls and pushed a button. She took the only key sitting in there and put it into her Voltcom and took off for the chute.
"Your Majesty!" Coran shouted. "Where are you going? Stop!" She didn't think twice, grabbed the swing, and headed on her way to Red's lair. Coran sighed.
"I guess some things never change," Pidge said with a small laugh. Coran was not amused.
"I have to find a way to get back to the castle to get Red," Lance said. Just then, they both saw something coming right at them. They were about to take aim, but saw what it was.
"Red!" Lance shouted. "I knew Pidge would find a way."
"And I have the perfect spot to land," Keith said. He hit a few buttons, and the roof opened to reveal a landing pad. Red swung around and touched down. Lance went running.
"About time you got here," Lance said. "Who'd you leave the castle defenses to…" The jaws opened up, and Allura walked out, stumbling slightly.
"Allura!" Keith said, rushing to her aid. 'What are you doing here? Where's Alexander?"
"He's safe with Nanny," she replied, giving Keith a hug. She handed Red's key to lance. "Get up there." Lance smiled, then took off into Red. Red powered up and took off.
"We gotta keep the ships away from the campus." Keith said running for the turrets.
"I'll help," Allura said, running with him.
Volron had pulled out the throwing axes, and was repeatedly striking the shell, to no avail.
"Nothing is getting through it!" Roxy shouted.
"And if we take our eyes off it," Seth said, "it nails us with that laser barrage!"
"Then we need to coax it out so we can strike it," JC said.
"Well," Tails said, "we can't just stay here. He won't come out, and they keep fiting at our backs. It's like they are trying to get us to turn away from the beast."
"They are," JC said. "But if we don't, they are gonna hit us hard. That blast we received ripped a good chunk of the armor off Black. If we black out again, the beast will be able to head for the Academy and level it."
"I think I have a solution," Vince said over the com as Lion Voltron descended.
"Form Green Center!" Daniel shouted. Voltron reconfigured so Green was at the center. "Turn away from the beast!" Both voltrons turned and opened fire on the remaining ships. The turtle beast began to come out of its shell. "Now!"
"Boomerang Shield!" Vince shouted. Voltron formed the shield and threw. It winded around a mountain, then came back behind Voltron and sliced through the head and legs of the beast, causing it to flop to the ground. They both turned.
"Let's get it on its back!" JC shouted. "It's defenseless!" Both Voltrons hefted the beast, and filally rolled it over. "Just as I thought."
"Form Black Center" Daniel shouted. Voltron reconfigured. "Form Blazing Sword!" Red and Green clanked together and pulled apart, forming the blazing Sword. Red held it high while Green let out a mighty roar. Both Voltrons leaped into the air and drove the swords into the beast. It then split and exploded.
"Order a retreat!" General Dari shouted.
"Yes, General!" the robot said. The ships turned and began to fly off.
"How am I going to explain this to Commander Twyla….." Dari said softly in defeat.
"That takes care of that," JC said, both Voltrons putting away their swords.
"Who was it?" Daniel asked. "Was it Lotor? Haggar? That General Kovinx you were talking about?"
"No," Dariana said. "But I have a feeling whoever it was, we haven't seen the last of them.
"Pathetic," Kanji said. "This is exactly the kind of thing these 'Commanders' do each time, and fail. There's a reason I didn't want to launch an all out attack. And now that bumbling idiot has ruined my element of surprise." He scratched his chin. "I'm thinking perhaps I should let the strong survive, and let the survival of the fittest take out the weak once and for all." Haggar entered the room.
"You wished to see me?" she asked.
"I want you to assist Maahox in creating a robeast for me," he replied. "It's time to perfect the work that he started years ago. But that's not the only reason I called you here."
"I live to serve you," Haggar replied.
"Don't think for a moment I don't know the legacy of the lamia," Kanji growled. "Don't think for a second that I don't know what you want. You are drawn to the secret of Voltron like a moth to a flame. Zarkon patronized you all these years never fully understanding your obsession with it. You don't even fully understand it." He stood up and looked directly into her eyes. "But I do." He grinned. "But only when the Voltron Force….every last one….has been defeated, only then will I allow you to take back your soul….and become the most powerful lamia in the universe." He sat down. "Go to Commander Twyla. Give her the weapons she needs to fulfil her plans. Then…." He laughed. "…watch her die."