Even with their presence being publicized throughout the ship via the alarm system, Lance and Hunk were able to catch the engineering crew unaware as they barreled into the room, guns blazing. It had taken little effort to neutralize the soldiers who now lay at their feet.
Lance poured over the ship's schematics that he had managed to hack from the computer mainframe while Hunk squeezed into a crawlspace near the ships core. To Lance's delight, he found that the brig was somewhere on the same level that they currently occupied. That fact should make it easier to track down Keith and Deirdre. The one problem that they would face would be time. Especially if Hunk could manage to complete his task.
Before he had been evacuated underground, Pidge had given Hunk a project that he had been working on for such an occasion that they might have to take out a Drule ship from the inside. It had yet to be tested, and Pidge admitted that he had no idea if it would actually work. They all agreed, however, that under the circumstances, it was as good a time as any to give it a test run. Now Hunk scrambled beneath the bulkhead to attach the small object to the computer's mainframe. A loud grunt of satisfaction from the large man as he backed out of the crawlspace told Lance that was now a non-issue.
"It's done?" Lance asked.
Hunk nodded. "The virus will be released into the computer, effectively shutting down the system. The ship will recognize that there is an internal system failure, causing the computer to initiate the self destruct sequence."
"How much time do we have?"
"Pidge said around twenty minutes."
"Well, we better get going then."
They made their way back into the corridor. Red lights flashed as the alarm continued to wail loudly. Fortunately, the corridor was empty at the moment, giving them a brief reprieve. Lance led the way taking two quick turns before stopping. He motioned silently to Hunk that the prisoners' quarters should be just around the next corner. There would most definitely be guards in the corridor so they would have to quick and accurate. Both men held their rifles at the ready as they rushed around the corner. Just as they had known, two guards stood at the ready. But they were not fast enough to dodge the barrage of bullets that came their way and soon lay quiet. Wasting no time, Hunk yanked the access panel off the wall and quickly hot wired the circuits allowing the door to slide open.
The room was pitch black and hot as hell causing beads of sweat to immediately form on Lance's forehead. He felt along the wall for a light source and squinted when light filled the room. The room was empty save for the lone figure hanging by his wrists, his toes barely grazing the floor. His head hung forward, tangled wet hair matted to his face.
"Keith!" Lance sprinted to his friend's side. "Keith." His heart dropped when he did not receive an immediate answer. He tried to lift Keith's body, but the hanging dead weight made it nearly impossible. "Hunk! Give me a hand!"
With the stronger man's help, they lifted Keith's unresponsive body off of the hook and laid him on the ground. They both stared for an agonizing moment until Keith's chest moved every so slightly and a shallow breath escaped his lips.
"Thank the gods." Hunk whispered.
Lance took a quick analysis of Keith's condition. His face was stark white except for the black circles under his red eye lids. A blood soaked bandage covered some sort of wound on his shoulder that had yet to even begin to heal. With the sudden movement, the wound had reopened and now spilled blood over his sleeve and onto the floor. "This is bad." He finally said, realizing that he was stating the obvious. "How are we going to get him out of here?"
"No worries," Hunk said. "I'll carry him." Without wasting another moment, Hunk lifted Keith up and tossed him easily over his shoulder. The commander hung limply like a rag doll.
Lance was about to tell Hunk to get Keith to the nearest escape pod and get him off the ship but was interrupted by the sounds of blaster fire in the corridor. With a quick look, Lance told Hunk to stay where he was while Lance moved quickly to investigate. The sounds died into silence as quickly as they had started. With a deep breath and rifle at the ready, Lance leaned his head into the corridor to get a look.
"Lance!" Allura screeched loudly as she lowered her own blaster. As he stepped into the corridor, she threw herself at him, hugging his neck fiercely. He wrapped his arms around her squeezed her tight before setting her back to feet.
He gave her a once over raising an eyebrow at the white tank top and pants that she was wearing. "Are you alright?" He pushed a strand of hair from her forehead, noting the bandage just over her eye.
"I'm fine. It's just a scratch from when Blue Lion crashed."
Lance scanned the corridor quickly finally noticing the five Drule soldiers lying lifeless on the floor. He recognized two as the ones he had taken out just moments before, but the other three... He raised an eyebrow at Allura. "You?" She nodded, and he smiled at her. "I'm impressed."
She cocked her head to look at him sideways. "I had a good teacher."
"Hey, is everything clear out here?" Hunk said as he emerged from the room to meet them with Keith still in tow.
Allura's eyes widened as she stared at the commander's still form. "Is he?"
"He's alive." Lance quickly filled her in on what little he knew about Keith's injuries. "We have to get you and him out of here."
"What about Deirdre?" Allura said quickly. She owed it to Deirdre to make sure that they all got out safe.
Lance took a deep breath. He had not forgotten about Deirdre, and he knew that Allura would refuse to leave until Deirdre was found. He also knew that they had very little time. "Hunk, get Keith and Allura back to the hanger bay. Take the cruiser we came in on. I'm going to find Deirdre."
"Now wait just a minute. If you think that I'm going to let you stay here and look for her alone, you are out of your mind." Allura stood firm with her hands on her hips. Lance immediately recognized the look aimed at him. Only it was usually Keith on the receiving end of said look. It suddenly occurred to him that there was a lot more on Keith's plate than simply commanding the Voltron Force. Dealing with a head strong princess was at the top of that list.
"Allura, we don't have time to debate this. Hunk has planted a self destruct virus on the ship and you have a planet full of people whose lives depend on you getting back to Arus." He held his breath as he watched her. He felt a pang of guilt for throwing out the Arus card, but there simply was not time for them to argue. But he had one more ace. He lowered his voice. "And Keith is going to need you, Princess. You have to make sure that he survives."
That did it. He could see the resignation in her expression as she glanced at a Keith and nodded. "Good," he said. "Now get going."
Hunk started back the way they had come, but turned once more to Lance. "You sure about this."
Lance nodded. "I've got this. Deidre and I will meet you underground."
The big man nodded, shifted Keith's weight on his shoulder and hurried back down the corridor, followed closely by Allura. Lance watched them until they disappeared around the corner, then he powered up his rifle and turned in the opposite direction to find Deirdre.
"I want a report NOW!" Lotor bellowed from the captain's chair on the bridge of the ship.
"We have received no reports since the intruder came on board, Sire," the communications officer replied, making absolutely sure not to make eye contact.
Lotor slumped in his chair with his head in his hand. "How incompetent do these men have to be to not be able to find one scrawny member of the Voltron Force? And where is the Princess?"
The lights on the bridge flickered quickly before the room fell dark and the emergency lights came on casting an eerie red glare upon them. What now? Lotor groaned to himself.
"Your Majesty, internal scans are picking up a virus that has been embedded into the ship's mainframe. It's shutting down all the systems." The bridge fell into silence as the man continued to stare at the console before him. He turned his chair around suddenly to face Lotor; a grave expression on his face. "Sir, the virus has activated the ship's self destruct sequence."
"WHAT?" Lotor was on his feet as the bridge erupted into unfettered chaos. "Can you stop it?"
The man's fingers flew across the console. "The virus originated in engineering. I'm trying to reach someone down there, but there is no answer."
"How long do we have?" Lotor seethed.
"Ten minutes at the most," the officer's voice began to crack. Lotor made no reply but turned and marched toward the door leading to the corridor. "What should we do, Sire?"
Lotor turned and gave him a flippant look. He had no intention of going down with Zeppo's piece of shit that he called a ship. "What do you think you should do? Abandon ship." With those last words to his crew, he turned and disappeared down the corridor.
His thoughts were a blur as he snaked his way through the hallway, sidestepping out of control crewmen who were scrambling to get off the ship. Word had already spread that they were aboard a doomed vessel. He thought of Allura. She was still somewhere on the ship. He would find her and take her with him as he made his heroic escape.
"Lotor!" He turned to find Hagar hurrying in his direction. "We must leave now." she said.
"I'm going to find Allura." He replied.
She shook her head with disgust. "Don't be stupid, Lotor. You have no idea where she is on the ship. Is she really worth dying for?"
Her reasoning gave Lotor pause. While his obsession with Allura was indeed a strong one, in the end, Lotor looked out for only one person. Lotor. While the thought of being Allura's savior was appealing, he realized that it would take time to comb the ship for her. Was she really worth it? Hell no.
He nodded to the witch. "Let's get to an escape pod."
Allura walked behind Hunk as he lumbered down the corridor with Keith still in tow. She gripped her gun ready to neutralize anyone who might try to stand between them and escape. Now that the crew knew about the virus on the ship, however, none of them really seemed to care about the intruders on board, so they were pretty much left on their own to find a way off the ship. She stared at Keith's black hair as it moved carelessly against Hunk's back as the commander's head swayed back and forth. She felt sick. There was no telling what kind of pain Lotor had inflicted upon the man because of her.
Everything that had happened to Keith since the day he had crash landed on her planet had been because of her. Because of her, he and his team had stayed on Arus to protect her people. Because of her, Keith had disobeyed direct orders from his superiors, railing against the very principles that he swore an oath to uphold. And because of her, he had stood bravely between her and the one thing that he knew she could not bear to suffer through. Lotor.
Allura had found in the last years of Zarkon's reign of terror that she had the strength to stand against anything. Except being a possession for Lotor. Of course, Lotor would never harm her. Not by his standards anyway. Allura knew that she would never be in any physical danger from Lotor, but he was cruel and savage to anyone who would stand against him. That was the part that Allura could not stomach; watching while innocent people suffered at Lotor's hands. She would rather be dead. But Keith had made it his life's mission to keep her out of the monster's clutches. And up until that moment, he had been very successful. This time, his unwavering devotion to her safety may just have cost him his life.
"How much farther?" she asked Hunk. It seemed as if they had been walking for ever. Of course logically she knew that only a short time had past.
"Should be right here." he replied, stopping in front of a door. He shifted Keith's weight to allow him to turn the release lever that opened the door. They turned right into the hanger and breathed a collective sigh as they climbed aboard the same freighter that Hunk and Lance had arrived in. Hunk laid Keith gently on the floor of the cockpit before dropping into the pilot's seat and began the power up sequence. Allura stared for a moment as his prone figure. It would be a bumpy ride to the surface and there was no way to secure him. She dropped to sit on the floor, gathering him in her arms.
"You might want to strap in, Allura, this is not going to be an easy trip." Hunk said, glancing back at her.
"I'm fine, Hunk." she assured him, instinctively pulling Keith tighter to her, tucking his head under her chin. "Just get us home."
"You got it, Princess."
Hunk waited for what seemed like an eternity as the bay doors opened up to the dark space outside. He pulled on the throttle and guided the freighter into the starry sky. Allura watched as the Drule command ship got smaller and smaller and couldn't help but think about Lance and Deirdre and wondering if she would ever see them again.
Lance cursed loudly when he looked into the last room in the corridor and found it empty. Where the hell was Deirdre? He glanced at his watched. He was running out of time, and he knew that very soon he was going to have to make a choice: either he was going to have to leave her on the ship while he escaped to safety or stay himself and be blown to bits. Neither prospect was very appealing. He stuck his head out into the corridor. It was empty. Most of the crew had evacuated once word got out that the ship would self destruct. He stepped out into the corridor and took another turn around the corner only to be brought face to face with the person he had been looking for.
He stopped short and did a double take. The blond hair that was fading into red at the roots and blue-green eyes threw him for a moment. And the Drule uniform that she was sporting definitely looked awkward. But it was Deirdre none the less. Lance felt elated, like the weight of the world had just been lifted from his shoulders.
"Deirdre, thank god. I've been looking for you all over this damned ship." He reached out to grab her arm. "Come on, we've got to get the hell out of here."
She narrowed her eyes at him and jerked her arm from him. Then, before Lance had even grasped what was going on, she drew out the pistol in her belt and fired.
Fortunately for Lance, while it took his brain a moment to register the events, years of special training instinctively forced his body to move out the way the moment the gun was produced. The blaster nicked his arm causing him to cry out as he threw himself into an open doorway and out of her line of sight.
"Jesus Deirdre, what the fuck?" he screamed at her, keeping pressure applied to his wound with his free hand.
She began speaking to someone, but not to him. He stuck his head out the doorway to get a look only to have another blast force him to retreat.
"You majesty, I have found the intruder." she was saying into a hand held comm. "Should I take him alive?"
"No need," a voice replied. "Soon the entire Voltron Force will be inconsequential."
From where he stood, Lance blanched. The voice was unmistakable. She was talking to Lotor.
"Kill him." Lotor continued. "And do not leave this ship until he is dead. Do you understand me?"
Deirdre hesitated slightly. "But Sire, the ship..."
"Those are your orders. If you want to get off this ship alive, I suggest that you make his death a quick one." Lotor growled.
Lance was struggling to understand exactly what was going on. Deirdre was taking orders from Lotor now? There was no way she would willingly fall into league with the madman.
"Hagar and I are leaving the ship as we speak. Are we clear on your assignment?"
Deirdre's voice faltered slightly, but she quickly recovered. "Yes, Sire."
Hagar. Lance shook his head, still struggling with the new information. Hagar was dead. Wasn't she?Apparently not. But now everything was beginning to make sense. Hagar was behind the failing castle circuitry. Deirdre had hit it on the head when she said that it was magic. And now, Hagar must have Deirdre under some sort of spell. And it seemed to be a pretty powerful one if Deirdre was willing to stay on a doomed ship just on orders. She never even had that kind of loyalty when she enlisted in Galaxy Garrison. And that was voluntary.
He glanced at his watch again. "Damn it." he said under his breath. They were running out of time. He had to find a way to reason with her. "Deirdre," he said calmly. "it's me Lance. I need you to listen to me. We have got to get off this ship."
He could hear her footsteps. She was walking towards him. "Forget it, Lance. I have orders."
"You're going to stay on a ship that's going self destruct in a matter of minutes just to make sure that I'm dead? Doesn't that sound just a little loony tunes to you?"
"I have orders."
She was closer now, and it seemed to Lance that negotiations were not going to work. He shrugged. Screw it. Negotiations were never his strong suit anyway. Best to stick with what you know. With lightening speed, he stepped out from the doorway, aimed, and fired. His sudden change in tactics took Deirdre by surprise allowing Lance to get a clean shot at her hand.
She screeched loudly as the gun flew from her hand. While she was occupied, Lance quickly reset his blaster to stun and fired again. This time he hit her square in the chest and she fell to the ground, unconscious. He stared at her still frame for a moment. This was not how he had envisioned the rescue. He certainly hadn't planned on have to carry her out. To hell with it, he thought and he scooped her up, securing her firmly over his shoulder as Hunk had done Keith only moments before. He was acutely aware that his shoulder was still bleeding slightly from the blaster shot, but he gritted his teeth. No time to worry about that now. He ran down the corridor toward the hanger bay.
The ship was nearly empty now so there was no opposition as he moved quickly. Halfway to the hanger, the lights in the corridor cut out and were replaced by an eerie red glow from overhead. The ship was shutting down all the power now, and Lance knew that they only had minutes left. He shifted Deirdre's weight and renewed his resolve. There was no way in hell that he was going to let them die on that ship. He pushed forward, finally turning into the hanger bay.
Lance went immediately to the Siren and climbed in. He secured her in the co-pilot's seat before beginning the power up sequence. There was no time to gently guide the Siren out of the port. Even if they managed to escape, he still had to get them far enough away that the blast wouldn't rip them to pieces. So Lance took a deep breath and punched the throttle sending them speeding into space.
The Siren shook violently as it descended, and Lance prayed that they would get enough distance. Time was up, however, and he felt rather than heard as the Inferno explode behind him. He gripped the Siren's controls tightly, bracing himself for the inevitable back blast.
It hit as expected, catapulting the Siren forward at an insane speed toward the surface of Arus. The circuits shorted out, and Lance suddenly found himself sitting in the pilot seat of an uncontrollable ship. The console lights flickered briefly before returning him to darkness. Lance's heart sank. He tried again. Nothing. No, no, no...this could not be happening. His fingers flew over the now malfunctioning controls as they barreled toward the planet.
"COME ON, DAMN YOU!" This time he got a half hearted start from the ship, but it was enough.
With luck and skill, he hoped that he could stabilize the ship enough that they could crash land without destroying them. He watched as the surface became more visible. He could now make out the lakes and the trees of the forest. Working at a fevered pitch, he was about to lose all hope when the propulsion system suddenly sputtered to life. While the thrusters offered a little bit of stabilization and slowed them down a bit, Lance knew that they were far too close to the surface for a proper landing.
He waited until the last possible moment before he abandoned the pilot's seat. He grabbed Deirdre, hauled her under the console and covered her body with his own in the cramped space. The impact rocked them violently as the Siren crashed into the trees, knocking down everything in it's path as it sheered through the forest for more than a mile before finally coming to rest.
"Princess, thank the maker you have made it back safely!" Coran cried as he gathered Allura into his arms.
Hunk had landed the Drule cruiser near the desert cave that served as the lair for the sleeping Yellow Lion. It was far enough from the castle as to make it nearly impossible for them to be detected. The Drules would most certainly be expecting them to attempt to retake the castle so any space around the castle would be heavily monitored. But there was another reason had made the most sense for them to land near Yellow's lair. Aside from keeping the lions safe from those who would want to have them for themselves, each of the lairs hid secret entrance that cut deep into the earth, leading to the underground catacombs that served as the security bunkers for the castle. This made it much more accessible for Allura and Hunk to move Keith to safety.
The bunkers had been dug out just under the castle and fashioned into an underground city of sorts. There were sleeping quarters and a kitchen stocked with enough rations to keep the castle residents comfortable for some time along with most of the necessary amenities. In the center of it all, the castle's core energy source ran straight down into the earth. Of course with the castle's circuitry out of commission, they had been forced to make due with back up generators for essential functions.
Now Allura, Hunk, Pidge, and Coran waited outside of the medical bay where Dr. Gorma was tending to their fallen comrade. Rebeka stood next to Hunk, offering her support. While Allura was very relieved to back with her people, Keith's condition and the whereabouts of Lance and Deirdre weighed heavily on her.
"I wish my homecoming was under better circumstances," she replied to the older man.
"Yes," Coran answered simply, and it occurred to Allura that he looked much older than had only days earlier. "Your Majesty, I know that you are worried about the commander, but there are things that need to be addressed immediately.
"Lotor, I know." she said.
Pidge cleared his throat and waited as the princess turned her attention to him. "Hagar's magic may have backfired in our favor, Princess. Apparently, they have not been able to get the energy core back up and running. We may be able to use that to our advantage."
"How so?"
Before he could answer, the waiting room door flew open with a BANG and a young soldier hurried in. "Your Majesty, we have news! Some of our surface guards have confirmed, the Inferno has been destroyed."
Allura glanced at Hunk who's concerned face mirrored her own horror. "Has anyone heard from Lieutenant McClain?" She was pretty sure that she didn't want to know the answer.
The young man's face faltered. "No, Your Majesty. There has been no word from the Lieutenant."
The princess took a deep breath to steady herself. She could not afford to fall apart now. "Okay, I want to be informed immediately if there is any new information.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The soldier bowed low before turning and retreated the way he came.
"Allura," Hunk began.
"I know, Hunk." she cut him off as she looked around the room at the solemn faces. "For the moment, we are going to assume that Lance and Deirdre found a way off of that ship before it blew up. We will simply maintain operations as if Lance is MIA." She made sure that she had their full attention before she continued. "They are NOT dead." she declared. "And we have to work on the notion that Lotor was also able to get off that ship. I will not let him keep control of my castle."
Pidge and Hunk nodded, and Coran while still looking skeptical, finally conceded. They had to believe that Lance and Deirdre were still alive. It was at that moment that the exam room door opened, and Dr. Gorma stepped out. His frustrated expression made Allura's heart stop.
Gorma looked them group over before beginning. "First, I am going to say that the commander is very lucky that he made it back alive. He had lost quite a bit of blood, but a number of transfusions seem to have stabilized him. He was also extremely dehydrated so he is on a saline drip at the moment until his electrolytes return to normal. He is resting comfortably now and appears to be past the worst of it. We won't know much more than that until we wakes and I can do a complete physical and psychological exam."
"Psychological exam?" Hunk asked. "What for?"
The doctor took off his glasses and wiped them with a cloth. "The commander has been through quite an ordeal. There's no way to know if he has been subjected to specific kinds of torture. On top of that, the severe dehydration that he suffered can sometimes have an affect on brain function. So far there are no anomalies showing up on the scans, but like I said, we won't know for sure until he wakes."
Allura took in everything the doctor was saying. Was it possible that Keith would wake up as a different person? Would he still be able to lead the Voltron Force? While she knew that those same questions weighed heavy on everyone's minds, she could not bring herself to voice her concerns aloud. They needed Keith to be alright. They needed Lance to be alive. They needed to all be together again. But now it was nothing more than a waiting game. And while they waited, Allura's worst nightmares were coming true. Lotor had taken her castle, and she would die before she would allow him to remain there.