KathDMD - Aidan is very protective of his Voltron. He's the Commander for a reason. While I'm sure he will find himself is less trouble this week, the hoverbike is not so lucky...
Author's Note - The saga continues as the Fab Five once again try to stop the latest plot cooked up by Twyla and General Dari!
Theme Music : "Catch My Breath" by Kelly Clarkson
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 3 : "The Rest of My Life"
Lisa woke up and rolled over, draping her arm over the other side of the bed. Her eyes sprung open when she realized Aidan was not there.
"Aidan?" she said as she rolled back over and sat up. She saw him already up, trying to get dressed. "Where are you going?"
"Taye needs help with that crappy bike of his," he replied. "Honestly, I don't know what he sees in that thing."
"You talk about it like it's his mistress," Lisa laughed.
"It may as well be!" Aidan replied laughing. "I think he's put more time an energy into that piece of snart than his own marriage!"
"What about YOUR marriage?" Lisa asked him, batting her eyes.
"OUR marriage?" he asked with a smirk. "Are you saying I should get a hoverbike?" She threw a pillow at him.
"Jerk!" she snapped back playfully. "I just mean I want to spend a little more time with you. We have our next prenatal appointment coming up, and we still need to think up names, plan a shower, set up the baby's room, research on feeding, changing, and what not…."
"Relax, babe," Aidan said walking over to her and sitting on the bed next to her. He looked into her eyes. "You're gonna be an awesome mom. You have nothing to worry about. You're just overthinking it all." She looked into his eyes and smiled.
"There is something else I've been meaning to ask you about,' she replied, biting her lower lip.
"What is it?" he asked. She grabbed his head and pulled him to her, kissing him hard. He struggled in surprise at first, then totally surrendered. Not gonna say no to this! he thought.
General Dari and Commander Twyla carefully walk through the still under construction base on Luna. Dari looks around and spies a robeast being constructed, covered from view by cloths and barriers.
"What's that?" she asked adamantly.
"THAT, General, is our next creation," Twyla replied. "Remember the plans I showed you?"
"You mean the information you lifted from the Black Mecha?" she asked.
"Exactly," Twyla said. "From the data we extracted from that pile of junk they call a robot, we were able to extract crucial data about the inner workings of these….Voltron units. It took a lot of research to try and understand all of the ancient writings, but we were able to come up with a relatively sound schematic."
"Are you saying you were able to create a replica of the Black Mecha?" she asked.
"No," Twyla replied. "We cannot find all the pieces to the puzzle, but what we have created, and filled the gaps in with, will make our version superior to theirs."
"And what about the others?" Dari asked. "We have no schematics of the other two."
"Relax, General," she replied with a smile. "When you see my plan in action, you will find it more than entertaining….and satisfying."
"As long as it delivers my revenge swiftly," Dari said. "I'm becoming more and more aggravated with each failure. It has made a mockery of the entire Supremacy."
"Oh it will," Twyla replied. "And if we play our cards right, we may even be able to destroy Terra and ruin the name of Voltron in front of the entire Galaxy Alliance!"
"Yes," Dari said with a smile. "The end of the Galaxy Alliance, and end to the wretched people of Terra, and most of all, an end to that ingrate Commander Dalloway and his precious Voltron Force!"
"Admiral," Hotaru said, "I've completed the systems upgrade on Alpha."
"Great," Kelly replied. "I'll have to make a report to send out to the Space Marshall. Since implementing the restructuring from Project Defender, she and the High Council have been thrilled with the progress we've made on the Gladiator Force."
"I'm glad to hear it," Hotaru replied. "Here are some of the changes we made." She opened up a holo-screen and pointed to certain things in the image. Kelly nodded, then tilted her head.
"What's this?" she asked.
"It was a design flaw in Daisaku's original schematics," she replied. "I'm actually surprised that the Derinja never discovered it, or took advantage of it. The main power conduit for Alpha originally ran up the back of the mecha, and was routed through the neck joint here." She pointed to the locations on the schematic.
"I see," Kelly said.
"While the conduit is relatively protected once the gladiators form Voltron," she said, "as a solo unit, the vulnerability could be easily exploited if they were able to penetrate the hull right here." She pointed to another spot on the back of the model. "What I've done is rerouted the conduit along the corrite spine here." She pointed to a glowing tube on the model through the center of its back. "It is equipped with a flexible polymer that will allow range of motion without compromising the structural integrity of the conduit. In other words, it's safer."
"And you said you've made some weapons modifications?" she asked.
"Yes," she replied. "As part of the overall rebuild of the mechas, I've implemented the technology provided by Lieutenant Commander Stoker. To pair Alpha with Commander Dalloway's weapon of choice, the Sanbai Plasma Sword, electrical properties have been added to Alpha's sword to allow him to use it as he would in non-mechanical combat. I do have plans to implement this technology into Beta and Gamma as well."
"How soon do you plan to have the modifications completed?" Kelly asked.
"As I said," she continued, "the modifications to Alpha are complete. We still need to perform a test run, but from a Systems Analyst's standpoint, the components are sound. As for Beta and Gamma….if you would allow me the time, I would like to begin work on Gamma."
"Will your progress on Gamma prevent it from launching if there is an emergency?" Kelly asked.
"While I would like to complete everything as quickly as possible," Hotaru said, "That's the snag. We will need down time to complete the modifications. My suggestion is that due to the looming threat from the Derinja, we hold off beginning modifications until after the next attack, if there is one. This way we can perform the modification procedures in down time."
"Let's just hope the time between attacks is enough, professor," Kelly said.
"Did you put the coffee on?" Morgan yelled. David peeked his head out of the bathroom.
"You're telling me you don't smell it?" he asked.
"No," she said. She looked down at the coffee maker. "You didn't turn the damn thing on!"
"Seven hells," he replied. "I'm sorry, Morgan. I don't know where my head's at."
"It's absent coffee," she replied, flipping the switch on. "When you get a moment, come out here. I want to talk to you." David put on his clothes and walked out to the dining room. He sat down and began to eat.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing's 'wrong', really," she replied, "I just wanted to talk."
"So talk," he said. "You sound like you got something on your mind."
"I've had a lot on my mind," she replied. "Between the attacks, and the upgrades, and Lisa's pregnancy, and…."
"Morgan," he said, putting down his fork, "we've been through this."
"I really think I'm ready, David," she replied, looking at him with pleading eyes. "I really want to try."
"The last time you said this, you changed your mind," he said sadly. "You became all paranoid and were actually relieved when you found out you weren't…."
"This time will be different," she said. He let out a sigh.
"You promise?" he asked. She gave him a big hug.
"Yes," she said excitedly. "Let's start right now."
"Now?" he asked. "I didn't even have my coffee!" She punched him in the arm. As he got up, they heard the communicator sound. He walked over to the voltcom charger and pressed a button. "Rackens here."
"Ah, David,' Kelly said, "I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."
"Not at all," he replied. Morgan frowned. "What's going on?"
"I need everyone to come to the control room at the base as soon as possible," Kelly said. "We need to come up with a strategy to buy us time to make the necessary upgrades on your mechas."
"We'll be on our way," David replied, ending the com.
"We can't just have five minutes to ourselves?" Morgan asked.
"Does it really take that long?" he asked jokingly. She frowned. "Right. Let's get moving."
The five pilots scrambled into the Control Room, and Kelly turned to face them.
"Ah good, you're all here," she said. "Hotaru and her crew were able to complete the modifications to Alpha, but…" She looked over at Taye, who's hands were greased up. "Taye, what the heck happened to you?"
"I was changing the hydraulic fluid," he replied. "I didn't get a chance to wash up."
"Working on that fail-bike?" Aidan laughed.
"You laugh, Dalloway," he replied, "but mark my words, when it's finished, it's gonna be more awesome than you THINK you are."
"Dream on," Aidan said. "I'm just gonna refer to that thing as 'the other woman' from now on."
"That's enough, boys," Kelly scolded. "We need to…" The alarms went off. "Professor?"
"The new satellites we sent up have picked up an incoming object," she replied.
"I guess that's where we come in," Aidan said.
"Hold up a minute, Dalloway," Kelly said. "We need to calibrate your new voltcom weapon. Everyone else, launch immediately. Aidan will catch up."
"Alright, let's go!" David shouted as he and Morgan headed for Jet Beta's door.
"Can I at least wash up?" Taye asked. Lisa pulled out an entire backage of wet-naps.
"Use these," she said, then took off for Gamma's door.
"Can't say she's not prepared," he said shaking his head. He wiped off his hands as he took off running after her.
"Alright," Aidan asked, "is this gonna hurt?" Hotaru and Kelly looked at each other with a smirk.
"See anything yet?" David asked.
"I'm getting a reading about a quarter mile from town," Morgan replied.
"I'm seeing it too," Lisa said. "Down there!" Beta and Gamma approached the area where the object landed and touched down. Both turned around and looked, then spotted something. "There!" They ran up to it, and when it turned around, they saw it was Alpha.
"Dalloway!" Taye exclaimed. "How the heck did you get out here so quick?" Suddenly, Alpha opened fire, hitting Gamma point blank with a barrage of stingray missiles. Gamma staggered backwards and fell to the ground.
"What the flack, Dalloway?" Morgan scolded. "What do you think you're doing?" Alpha ran at Beta and tackled them without warning. Beta staggered backwards, and Alpha spun around and kicked Beta in the face sending it backwards to the ground.
"Has he gone psycho?" David asked. Alpha approached Beta, the held out its hand, forming the Alpha Sword.
"Guys," Lisa shouted, "I don't think that's Aidan….."
To be continued….