KathDMD - Marina's win is about to start causing havoc, just not the way you think! I'm glad to have wrapped up the JC/Roxy thing, and I know Red will find the one it's looking for. As for the linked past...you will see a little more of that here. Oh, and I'm glad you like the gold watch...it will come slowly, and ramp up closer to late season. Be patient!
cubbieberry - Yep, Allura is OK, but she has a destiny to fulfil. Follwoing in her father's footsteps...hopefully not to her doom.
Author's Note - I'm still in a conundrum over how i want to handle the story from here on out. There are several stories and several Voltrons going at once. I want to do something different with each...eh, all in due time.
Theme Music : "Chalk Outline" by Three Days Grace
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 61 : The Dead Can't Speak
The team returned to the Castle of Lions to rest for the night before heading back to Earth. As JC and the others walked into Castle Control, they saw no sign of their missing crewmember.
"Ambassador Coran," JC asked, "have you seen Sergeant Kovinx?"
"I haven't seen her since earlier today prior to the competition," he replied. "She wasn't at the arena with you?" JC frowned. He raised his voltcom to near his lips.
"Dariana," he said, "are you there? Respond." There was silence, followed by a static filled reply.
"Lieutenant Grend," Allura said over the voltcom, "I have Sergeant Kovinx with me. She is unconscious. Please meet us in the Great Hall. I will need your assistance." The transmission ended. JC turned and ran out the door, closely followed by Seth and the others. When they arrived in the Great Hall, they saw Allura setting Dariana down gently on the top step. Seth ran to her and sat down, cradling Dariana's head in his arms.
"What happened?" he asked.
"She led me into the crypts," Allura replied. "She said my ancestors had a message for us. When I did, she became possessed by what seemed to be the spirit of her grandmother. There were things written that I had never seen, and she mentioned the secret of Voltron." She paused a moment, then looked at JC. "I must return with you to Galaxy Garrison immediately. This information must be given in person. My father told me Voltron is forever changing and evolving around us. I think this may be one of those times. And I must pick up the legacy where my father left off." She stood up. "I will need to gather some things from the study. Tomorrow morning, we will need to leave for Earth." She turned to Coran. "Please inform Commander Stormclaw of my arrival."
"I'll take care of that, Your Highness," Lysette said. "He is expecting me back at the Garrison as well. I'll let him know of our travel arrangements."
"Thank you," Allura said, bowing her head. She turned and nodded to keith before walking away.
"I'll be going too," Keith said.
"You better not be thinking about taking this child on such a journey!" Nanny spouted.
"Alexander is in capable hands," Keith replied to her. "You know I'd never risk his life." Nanny huffed. He turned to JC and the others. "Due to the blockade Lieutenant Ellington warned us about, it will be best to travel an unspecified route, and use smaller more maneuverable ships."
"Ahem," Tails grunted. "It just so happens you have five very small, capable, and maneuverable ships at your disposal, Your Grace."
"Agreed," he replied. "We will team up with you and leave in the morning. I'll have the coordinates and flight path mapped out for us."
"What about us?" Daniel asked.
"We'll need you and the others to remain on Arus in case there's another attack," Keith replied. "I don't know what the Drules are planning, but it can't be good."
"As you know," Commander Stormclaw announced to the cadets, "the Defender will be launching soon. We need everyone to be ready, and remain vigilant in the face of your mission." He began to pace. "As you know, there is still an investigation under way regarding the accident that occurred with the Voltron Force. Rest assured, that investigation is moving forward. But we need each and every one of you to keep a close eye, and alert us of any strange activity you may observe." He paused for a moment, turning around. That said…."
"Commander," a voice came over the com, "there is an important communication coming over the ultrawave for you." He sighed.
"I'll take it in the Space Marshall's office," he replied. "You are all dismissed." The crowd disbursed as he made his way for the main elevator. He slid the key card and entered the elevator, the doors promptly closing behind him. As the elevator rose to the top floor, he closed his eyes and for a moment pondered over the nature of this communication. Once the doors opened, he marched out and walked through the door to the office. He hit a button, and on screen was Lieutenant Lyssette Fabrere.
"Greetings, Commander," she said. "Hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."
"Not at all, Lieutenant," he replied with a snort. "To what do I owe this private communication?"
"Queen Allura of Arus has made arrangements to come to Earth to meet with you, Sir," she replied. We will be flying with your Voltron Force on a route that will be mapped out by Commander Kogane. The blockade the Drules have set up has been less than stellar for travel. That's why we came up with this plan."
"Any idea what she wants to speak about that cannot be handled via the ultrawave?" he asked.
"I don't know, Sir," she replied. "All I know is that she believes it to be extremely urgent, and about Voltron. I know with the issues the Project Defender team has been having with piecing together the ruggers, any information on the subject would be welcome, ya know?"
"I hope so," he replied. "If we can't figure out what we are missing in this reconstruction, we will not only lose the key to Voltron, but become more vulnerable to the Drule threat already waiting in the bay. Scouts are barely able to keep an eye on their activities, and I'm afraid we won't be able to keep this information a secret for long. Once word gets out, there will be city-wide panic, and possibly worldwide chaos. We can't let that happen."
"Agreed," she replied. "Fabrere out." The communication ended. He sat down and let out a sigh.
"Here are your orders," Haggar said, staring at the Doomite soldiers she herself handpicked for this mission. "I have embedded within your arm a device that will track your every move. I will use my magic to help you slip past their defenses. Once inside the castle grounds, you will find your way to the west side. It is there you merely follow the sounds you hear from the tracking beacon to locate the girl. When you do, subdue her and use the tracking signal to summon me. I will then use my magic to home in on you and pull you and the girl back through the defenses. It is then we will escape." She cackled.
"Nothing shall stand in our way, oh great one!" they announced.
"Once we have the girl in custody," she continued, "not only will they be short one pilot, but will be forced to negotiate her release! It is then we will finally take possession of the lions, and claim Arus in the name of Lord Kanji!" She laughed loudly, her cat chiming in, and the Doomites cheered as well.
Marina and Lysette proceeded to get ready for bed. For tonight, they were sharing quarters.
"Today just wore me out," Marina said.
"Get used to it," Lysette replied with a laugh. "Hell, with you flying a Lion now, you're gonna be famous. Get to pick from any man in the universe. Not a bad profession."
"I don't have the same outlook on men as you do though," Marina replied. "I'm more worried about whether Red will even accept me or not. And even if it does, will I be able to handle this?"
"Of course you will!" Lysette replied enthusiastically. "You already showed you got skills, girl. You'll do fine." She pulled back her hair and tied it back. "Now me, on the other hand….that's another story."
"What's that all about?" Marina asked.
"The Space Marshall will be coming back from maternity leave eventually," Lysette replied. "Then it's back to a boring corner office. Yeah, sure, I get pulled every once in a while for an assignment, but nothing as exciting as being Acting First Officer, ya know?"
"I guess I can see the glamour of it," Marina replied. "At least with less responsibility, you can visit the girls on Dradin more often. Should be done with the remodel soon."
"Yeah," Lysette said. She climbed into bed and tried to get comfortable. Marina dimmed the lights.
"I'm gonna see if I can get some warm milk," Marina said. "Want any?" Lysette let out a laugh and flashed a small flask.
"Trust me, hun," she replied, "I'm good." Marina shook her head and left the room.
Minutes went by, and Lysette tossed and turned trying to get to sleep. Outside, footsteps approached the west side of the castle. Within seconds, several dark figured were scaled the walls and crashed through the window. Lysette jumped up in defense. Two of them came at her, and she backhanded one, and flipped the second over her. Another grabbed her from behind. She elbowed him in the face, then turned and head butted him, sending him reeling backwards. It was then another came at her and prodded her with a stunner. Her body stiffened with numbness, and she fell forward to her knees and blacked out.
"Come on!" one of them said. "Let's get out of here before…." The alarms sounded. Explosions began to go off outside
"What was that?" another of them said.
"I don't know," the first replied. "That wasn't us! We better get the girl back to haggar before the rest of the space explorers get here!" They touched arms, and the homing beacons glowed. As the door slid open, and Keith and Lance ran in, the Doomites and Lysette vanished before their very eyes.
"Flack!" Lance shouted. "How the hell did they get in here, and why did they take the Lieutenant?" Marina ran into the room.
"What happened?" Marina asked, looking around. Keith walked over to the broken window, the glass crunching under his boots. He looked over the side at the ground below, a few cables dangling from the ledge above, reaching the ground.
"Lieutenant Fabrere's been kidnapped," Lance said to Marina. Marina gasped.
"I don't think they were after Lieutenant Fabrere," Roxy said, her hand on her chin. Another explosion was heard. Keith raised his Voltcom.
"Pidge, what the hell is going on?" he asked.
"It's a robeast attack!" Pidge replied. Lance was visibly angry.
"This doesn't make any sense!" he shouted.
"We'll figure it out later," Keith said. "Right now we need to get out there and stop that robeast."
"Do you want me to take Red?" Lance asked.
"Head out with the cadets," Keith replied. "Lieutenant Carletti-Deville, you stay here with me. We'll head to castle Control."
"We'll head out as well," JC said. "Hopefully we can get to it quick enough before it gets through the castle defenses." He waved to the team, and they ran out of the room. As they ran, Seth looked over at JC.
"What about Dari?" Seth asked.
"We'll figure something out," JC replied as they ran out of the castle and climbed into the ships.
"They still haven't mentioned a word about the base," Jenny said, slightly frustrated.
"I'm sure they have people looking into it," Mai replied, trying to calm her down.
"She's right, you know," Ken said. "I've never known the Garrison to overlook a Drule threat. I have total faith in Commander Stormclaw and his men."
"You would," Dixie replied sarcastically. "Golden boy still sucking up to the brass?"
"Wait," Eddie shouted. They paused. "You hear that?"
"It sounds like hissing," Chet said. They turned and saw out the window some trails of white smoke leading out of the water.
"Those aren't ships," Jenny said. Just then the alarms went off.
"Red Alert!" the announcement sounded. "All personnel to battle stations! This is not a drill! Voltron Force please report to Commander Aki at the main hangar immediately!" The six of them looked at one another.
"That includes us, right?" Jenny said. The rest of them looked at one another and nodded. They all began sprinting for the hangar.
"We've been sitting here for days!" General Dari shouted to Twyla. "When will we finally make our move?"
"Patience," Twyla replied. "We can't be like the others. Launching attack after attack without an ounce of strategy. No, we need to stick to the plan."
"And what plan might that be?" Dari asked.
"A little something I picked up from Maahox," she replied. She held up a jar. Dari was not impressed.
"A jar of water?" Dari asked sarcastically. "What is that going to do? Wet their hair?" Twyla placed a wrench on the table, then placed the jar next to it.
"Why don't you open it and find out," Twyla said. Dari looked at her, and then the jar, then cautiously opened the lid and stepped back. For a moment, everything was still.
"What is it supposed to do?" she asked. Suddenly, the water moved like a molten mass out of the top of the jar and reached for the wrench. It grabbed it and pulled it into the jar where it twisted and contorted it until it was a crushed heap. Twyla put the lid back on the jar. "What is that thing?"
"Those 'things' are picomemes," Twyla replied. "One trillion times smaller than a grain of sand, these little bots can latch onto molecules and manipulate matter in such fascinating ways. Of course, Maahox said there's no guarantee what effects they have on solid matter, which is why I advise you not to touch them, but as you can see, they can work together to manipulate liquid matter quite efficiently."
"And what are you planning on doing?" Dari asked. Twyla smiled.
"We are surrounded by a sea of possibilities, General!" she replied. "Under our control, if we release these into the Terran water supply, we can not only subdue the population, but crush Voltron once and for all!"