KathDMD - I'm super glad you liked the last episode, and even more excited to post this one! I know how much you love the Albegas crew, and Aidan gets to put his smartass-ness to the test! But back to last week, I enjoyed putting Cinda and Christiane together in this, and am working out how Merla's parents relate to Syn. You already know the end of Cinda's story...of course. I'm glad you enjoyed the Cliff/Cinda moment, talking about Justine/Hunk. This is leading up to some big moments in the finale, but I won't spoil it. ;) And again I say, love, without you, I am nothing.
lovecastle89 - I am hoping to restructure the story in Season 4, because I want to expand on my team. I threw JC and Roxy's scene in as a teaser, because they are gonna go through a lot, his blandness and her hidden insecurities. I want to play it out, because they have their own little KA thing going. Lance will be going back to the Academy soon, but his involvement with Lieutenant Ellington will take off...hehe. Finally, the robeasts...you'll have your fill in the finale, I promise!
Author's Note - Thanks to some swift kicks by the dynamic DWC duo of kathDMD and selena devargo, I am trying to get back in the swing of things to get to the finale! You'll love this episode, I know it!
Theme Music : "Battleships" by Daughtry
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 77 : "Plan B"
"I have the perfect plan to finally stop Voltron and allow us to take Terra," Twyla said. Dari walked into the room towards her.
"You always say that," she replied, "and yet you have had little success doing so."
"We have caused severe damage to their main city," Twyla snapped back, "and crippled their base. Without supplies or reinforcements from the Alliance, Terra won't be able to recover quick enough o avoid this latest attack."
"And what, pray tell, do you have up your sleeve now, Commander?" she asked. Twyla grinned.
"See that asteroid?" Twyla asked as she gestured at the viewscreen.
"What about it?" Dari asked.
"General," Twyla replied, "sometimes an asteroid isn't an asteroid. It is my latest creation. It is really a vessel. By modifying the gravitational pull on the outer hull, I plan to draw one of their precious mechas to it and hold it there! And once we have one…they won't be able to form Voltron! Then we can crush the life out of the others and finally take Terra!"
"Nice plan," Dari said with a hint of sarcasm. "How do you plan on getting them to come to your little trap?"
"Same thing we always do," she laughed. "Send a distress signal. By their own laws and codes, they'll have no choice but to answer."
"This better work," Dari snapped. "I want revenge for what they did to my father. I've waited far too long, Commander." Dari stormed out of the room. Twyla paid no mind, fully absorbed in her psychotic scheme.
The limo door opened, and out of it stepped a woman in her thirties, with long brown hair, wearing a moderate green dress covered by a short white labcoat. She turned and shut the door, and the teams were in somewhat of a shock.
"Let me please introduce my daughter, Hotaru Mizuki," Professor Mizuki said as she approached them.
"Father," she replied, "what happened to the base?"
"The Derinja are stepping up their attacks," he replied. He turned back to the team. "Hotaru originally designed and built Gamma."
"Yes," she said, turning to the team as well. "I built it as part of a competition. But when we started having trouble with the Derinja, my friends and I used the robots to fight back. It was my father's idea, coupled with the legend of Voltron, that brought the Albegas Project to life."
"Of course," Kelly replied. "I had heard that Dr. Loring had been in touch with the Professor as part of an exchange when Terra first applied for membership in the Galaxy Alliance. I still have some of the original specs in my office, signed by Marshall Graham himself."
"It's come a long way from the prototype," Hotaru said. "I hope my presence here will help us step up to the rising threat." She looked over the rest of the team. "So you are the Academy graduates they sent to pilot the mechas." She walked to the front of the lineup and looked Aidan dead in the eye. He held out his hand.
"Commander Aidan Dalloway, leader of the Gladiator Voltron Force," Aidan said as he took her hand and gently shook it. "It's an honor, and a pleasure, to meet you." She smiled as they let go, and moved down the line.
"I'm Sergeant David Rackens," David said, "and this is my wife and co-pilot, Morgan." Hotaru shook his hand, then shook Morgan's.
"Morgan Rackens, good to meet you," she said. Hotaru moved to Taye.
"Taye Benton," he said, "pilot of Gamma." He shook her hand, and she turned to Lisa, who had been shooting her a look the whole time. Hotaru reached out her hand, and Lisa grabbed it firmly.
"Sergeant Lisa Dalloway," she said, "Commander Dalloway's wife." Her grip tightened.
"Glad to meet you as well, Sergeant," Hotaru replied, and Lisa finally let go. She turned back to Kelly.
"Admiral," she said, "if we could go look at the damage to the base, I'd like to get started with repair plans, as well as some ideas I have to modify the mechas."
"Modifications?" Aidan asked. "Like, what kinda modifications we talking about?"
"Not a vodka dispenser, if that's what you were thinking, Dalloway," Morgan quipped.
"I've actually been in contact with Commander Stormclaw at Galaxy Garrison," Hotaru replied. "Some of the ideas Lieutenant Commander Stoker has been implementing into the Vehicle Voltron may have some use on our team as well. I have actually been working on schematics for months….but we can discuss that later. Admiral, if you would."
"Of course," Kelly relied, and began to lead them all back to the base. Lisa walked over to Aidan who was about to follow.
"Keep your eyes and hands to themselves, Aidan," she whispered through her teeth. Aidan paid little attention as he and the team followed Kelly and Hotaru back towards the base.
"What does the damage report look like?" Kelly said to one of the men cleaning up the damage.
"Access to the main control room has been sealed off," he replied. "That entire quadrant of the base is thought to have collapsed. We're still investigating. The secondary control is still open, and access to the hangar is not only possible, but the hangar is fully intact."
"Good," she replied. "We'll need access in order to perform the required maintenance on the Voltron Mechas."
"I'll need a team of four of the base's personnel to assist with the modifications," Hotaru said. "I know the base repairs are a priority…"
"Consider it done, Professor," she replied. Lisa rolled her eyes. They continued walking, and entered the Secondary Control. As they entered, however, alarms started to go off.
"Seven hells," David shouted.
"There's an object headed towards Terra, coming in fast," Kelly said, looking at the controls. "And a distress signal from it."
"I'm on it," Aidan said, turning to run for the hangar.
"Aidan wait!" Lisa shouted, but Aidan ran off. She started to cry.
"What's wrong?" Hotaru asked, but Lisa turned around and snubbed her. She ran after Aidan, but Aidan boarded Jet Alpha, and took off to dock with Alpha for launch. The doors closed on her, and she pounded on them. Morgan caught up to her.
"Lisa, what the hell is wrong?" Morgan asked. She hesitated for a moment, then blurted it out.
"I'm pregnant," she replied.
"Kelly," Aidan shouted over the com about ten minutes later, "I'm approaching the object we saw in the scan. Thing looks like a giant meteor, or an asteroid. What the flack is the difference again?"
"Nevermind that, Dalloway," she replied. "What do you see? Is there a crashed ship? Any survivors?"
"It's kinda hard to tell from here," he replied. "I'm flying in for a closer look.
"Be careful," Kelly replied. "You don't know what that thing is."
"Relax, Admiral Worrywart," Aidan quipped. "What's the worst that could…." The communication dropped. Alpha was suddenly caught in a graviton field. "What the crap? The controls are fried….I'm going down…" Alpha was pulled down and pinned to the surface of the asteroid. The mecha was shocked by the impact, and Aidan was knocked unconscious.
"The Black Mecha has been trapped on the surface, General," one of the soldiers said.
"Good work," General Dari replied. "Retrieve the pilot and bring him to the hold. I want to have a little talk with him. As for the others, should they come looking, release the robeast to destroy them."
"Yes, Ma'am," the soldier said, saluting. Dari turned to the viewscreen.
"I want answers," she said quietly to herself. "I want revenge."
"What happened?" Morgan asked.
"We lost the feed," Hotaru said. "Alpha's signal is lost, I can't track it."
"Then we have to go after him," Taye replied.
"Wait," Hotaru said. "We have to think about this.
"What's there to think about?" Lisa asked. "In case you haven't noticed, that's MY husband up there!"
"I understand that, Sergeant," Hotaru replied. "Don't you think I wouldn't feel the same if it were MY husband up there? My husband BUILT that mecha." Lisa gasped. "We need to hurry and run some long range testing on the object heading for Terra so that we can determine what happened to Alpha. Once we know what happened, then we can attempt a rescue." Lisa let out a sigh.
"You're right," she said. "I shouldn't be losing it like I am. I'm an Alliance officer."
"You're also human," Morgan replied, putting her arm around her. "So come on, let's run those scans and bring your boy home." Lisa nodded. They both ran to the controls and began working on a solution.
General Dari made her way down into the hold. As she entered the cell, she looked on to see Aidan in a chair, his hands chained behind him. He looked up and their eyes met.
"Leave us," Dari said to the guards.
"But General…." the guard started to say.
"I said leave us!" she shouted. The guards saluted and left the cell, leaving General Dari alone with Aidan.
"Commander Aidan Dalloway," she said.
"Ah good, you know my name," he replied. "I was worried for a moment we'd have to make some extremely awkward introduction." She reached back and smacked him in the face. He flinched briefly. "Memo to self, Derinja women have no sense of humor."
"I'm not playing games, Commander!" she shouted, pacing around him. "I want to know, in detail, how you systematically captured, tortured, and killed my father! I want to know which one of you mongrels was responsible for his execution!"
"You seem to have me at a disadvantage," he replied. "You seem to know who I am, but I have no clue who you are." She reached back and slapped him again. He once again flinched from the pain, but tried not to show it.
"I am General Luxina Dari," she replied. "My father was sent in a robeast to attack Terra. I have reliable information that he was taken prisoner, and was killed by Alliance forces!" Aidan remembered hearing about General Dari, who had indeed been captured when Voltron destroyed his robeast.
"The Alliance never executes prisoners," Aidan replied.
"Liar!" she shouted, striking him again.
"Your father was captured by the Voltron Force," Aidan said, "but he was brought back to a medical facility for treatment. They tried to save him, but because they were unfamiliar with Derinja anatomy, they couldn't save him. He died of his injuries."
"My father would rather die than to allow any of you to touch him!" she shouted. "A disgrace to my family!"
"He was an honorable man," Aidan said. "He found out too late that we are not the enemy. We're not bloodthirsty monsters. We only want to live and explore in peace." She smacked him again.
"You Terrans are all alike," she replied. "I won't believe your lies. The only way to end the conflict between our peoples is total annihilation. I will have my revenge."
"I found it!" Lisa shouted.
"Found what?" Morgan asked.
"Alpha's final reading on the surface of the object," she replied. "The readings are consistent with that of a tractor beam, or an electromagnetic force!"
"If I can modify Gamma's outer hull to redirect any electromagnetic attraction like a lightning rod, we may be able to get in close enough to the object to perform a rescue," Hotaru said.
"How long before you can make the modifications?" Kelly asked.
"I built Gamma, Admiral," she replied. "I can perform the modification in a matter of minutes."
"David, you and Morgan suit up and get out there with Beta, but keep your distance," Kelly said. "Taye, you and Lisa ready yourself. As soon as the Professor makes her modifications of Gamma, I want you up there and looking for Aidan."
"I'll go with you, Professor," Lisa said.
"You sure you'll be alright?" Taye asked.
"The quicker we finish," Lisa said, "the quicker we save Aidan." Within moments, Beta launched from the hangar, and Hotaru got to work on the modifications.
"Revenge won't bring your father back," Aidan said. She went to smack him again, but this time Aidan lifted his feet and tripped Dari. He and the chair fell over, and he managed to wrench her blaster from her. He held her at blaster-point. "The keys." She pulled the keys and set them on the ground and kicked them to him. He carefully got down and unlocked the shackles. As he did, she ran at him, and they fought over the blaster again.
"I won't let you escape!" she shouted, fighting him. "Guards!" Aidan got the blaster again and the random blast hit the lights, blackening out the place. He grabbed Dari as the guards ran into the room. He snuck out and locked the door, sealing the guards in. She struggled against Aidan and fell to the ground. He trained the blaster on her.
"Go ahead," she said. "Shoot! Kill me just like you did my father! Do it!" Aidan held his finger tightly on the trigger, looking her dead in the eye.
"I can't change your mind, General," he said. "But that doesn't give me or you the right to take a life. I didn't kill your father. You believe what you want, I don't care. But if Twyla plans on hurting the innocent people down on that planet, we're going to stop you." He let her go and took off running. He came through a set of doors and found Alpha in the hangar area. As he ran, guards caught sight of him and opened fire. His training kicked in, and he expertly dodged the blaster fire. He was able to gain access to Alpha through the lower entrance, and climbed the ladders to the cockpit area. Fortunately, there were no Derinja inside, and he quickly placed his key into the console. Alpha powered up and went to take off. The restraints groaned and broke as it took off"
"Now to blast my way out of here," he said to himself, hitting a few buttons. "Damn, the flacking weapons are offline. Looks like they were trying to mess with the controls. Well, if I can't blast a hole in the door, I'll do the next best thing." Alpha took off at full speed and smashed through the hangar doors.
Gamma launched from the lake to screamed into the sky at top speed.
"Any sign of Aidan?" Taye asked over the com.
"Nothing on RadialTrac," Morgan replied. "We've been keeping out distance from that thing."
"There's an electromagnetic field around the entire bloody thing," David said. "Nothing's gonna get through it."
"We'll see about that," Lisa said. "Taye, get us in close." Gamma flew in close to the object, and Gamma straitened up. Gamma pulled a bow from nowhere and fired at the object. The forcefield dissipated, and then something came flying at them.
"Is that Aidan?" Taye asked. It slammed into Gamma, flipping end over end.
"Something tells me that's not Aidan," Morgan replied. "David, get us over there!"
"On it, love," he replied, pulling the controls. Beta turned and took off towards Gamma.
"Kaga!" Taye shouted. "Get us stabilized!"
"I'm trying!" she shouted. Gamma kicked the beast off, and fired rockets to stop the spinning. They turned to face the beast, which looked like a giagantic mantis. It once again flew at Gamma.
"Brace yourself!" he shouted.
"Hands off my wife!" Aidan shouted as Alpha side slammed into the beast, knocking it off course.
"Aidan!" Lisa shouted.
"You guys miss me?" he asked as Alpha came to a stop.
"So much for a rescue mission," David said.
"Shut up, Rackens," Morgan snapped. "You alright Dalloway?"
"Depends," he replied. "You guys ready to form Voltron?"
"Rah frickin rah," Morgan snapped back. The mechas flew in formation, then split apart to begin formation.
"Denjin Dimension!" Aidan shouted. "Form feet and legs! Form arms and torso! And I'll form the head!" Voltron raised his right arm as the energy field around them exploded.
"Here he comes!" David shouted.
"And here we go!" Aidan shouted back. Voltron flew at the beast and grabbed it. They struggled for a moment in a test of strength before he sent the beast fklying back towards the asteroid.
"The Professor's modification is working perfectly," Lisa said. "We can get in close to that thing!"
"Then let's kill two birds with one stone," Aidan shouted. "Form Blazing Sword!" Voltron raised his hand, and the symbol for Alpha, Beta, and gamma flashed before them, the energy forming the sword. Voltron took off at the beast as it tried to stand up. The team let out a shout as Voltron made impact, slicing through the beast and punching through the asteroid.
"General," a soldier asked, "what are your orders?"
"Retreat to the escape craft," she shouted. "I don't know what his motivation is, but so help me, I'll find the truth one way or another!" They took off running, and soon after, the escape craft took off. Voltron punched through the other side, and the asteroid broke apart and exploded, along with the robeast.
"Score one more for Team Voltron!" Aidan shouted.
"Now," Morgan said, "Lisa, don't you have something to tell Aidan?"
"What is it?" he asked.
"Your brilliant plan failed again!" Dari shouted over the com. Twyla looked on, unphased.
"It doesn't matter," she replied.
"Doesn't matter?" Dari asked angrily. "How can you even…."
"I received word that Lord Kanji has discovered the whereabouts of an ancient power," Twyla interrupted. "If we can find it first, we can not only stop the Galaxy Alliance, but attain total domination of the Drule Supremacy in the process!"
"I'll believe it when I see it," Dari replied as she turned off the com, muttering to herself.
"Look, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot," Lisa said to Hotaru.
"It's no problem," she replied. "It's tough working around new people. I remember when my father modified our robots into Voltron. I was used to competing against Daisaku and Tetsuya. It took a lot of effort for us to work together, and a lot of trust. I see you all have that same trust, like a family."
"Yeah," Lisa said with a smile, "I guess we do."
"So, Lis," Aidan asked, "what were you gonna tell me earlier?" She paused a moment, then went to speak, when suddenly, an urgent message came in from Galaxy Garrison."
"Admiral Benton," Commander Mike Stormclaw said, appearing on the monitor, "I need to inform you and your team that Space Marshall Hawkins has disappeared. We fear she may have met with foul play. In the wake of this incident, Supremacy forces have been converging on Alliance Territory, possibly heading to Earth. We are requesting you and your team come to earth as soon as possible to help curb this threat. I hate to leave Terra unguarded, but we need to protect the Garrison at all costs."
"Understood, Commander," Kelly replied. "You heard 'em, team, let's head out. Aidan, I'll ride with you." Lisa let out a sigh as the team headed back towards the hangar.