KathDMD - Almost to the mid-season cliffhanger...er, I mean finale! Yeah, I drop the ball that Dillin is one of Wade's cronies, but believe me when I say that General Dari is not respected among the Drule High Council. (Then again, the entire Derinja race is considered inferior, but that's neither here nor there.) That said, have you been keeping track of the episode titles so far?

Author's Note - Without my muse, I am nothing.

Theme Music : None

Disclaimer - Voltron and all associated characters are the property of WEP. Space Marshall Lenora Hawkins and associated characters are the property of KathDMD. Admiral Lysette Fabrere and associated characters are the property of selena devargo.

Episode 112 : "The Final Frontier"

Beta and Gamma continued firing on the ships, taking out as many as they could.

"Not doing too bad," David said, "considering my controls are all jacked up."

"Will you stop complaining and just shoot?" Morgan snapped back.

"I'm picking up something on the command ship," Hotaru said.

"That's usually not a good sign, you know that, right?" Taye said. Sure enough, they watched as a lone robeast launched from the command ship, and headed right for them.

"Incoming!" David shouted.

"Don't just stand there, Rackens," Taye shouted, "MOVE!" Beta and Gamma split up as the robeast breezed by. In response to the evasion, it promptly turned as it passed them, and several small claws fired from its knuckles, embedding into Beta and Gamma.

"What the hell was that?" David asked.

"Some kind of metal claw," Morgan replied, keying things into the console rapidly. "It pierced the outer hull. No system's damage."

"No system damage here either," Hotaru said. "We need to get it grounded. That's the only way Gamma is gonna have a shot at stopping it."

"You heard the woman," Morgan shouted to David, "ground this thing!"

"Seven hells," David muttered, pushing the lever all the way forward. Beta shot a ways into the air, then came down with a kick, nailing the robeast, sending it plummeting to the ground with a crash. Gamma landed in front of it, while beta landed in back.

"Whatever happened when we made contact," Morgan said, "we lost thirty-three percent of our power reserves!"

"It's draining our energy when we come in contact with it," Hotaru said. "Keep your distance. If it takes off, you need to stop it. You need to keep it grounded at all costs."

"Easier said than done, love," David replied. The robeast ran at Gamma. Taye plugged his voltcom into the console, and a staff appeared in Gamma's hands. The beast unleashed a sword, and Gamma blocked it.

"Energy levels are holding," Hotaru replied. "The modifications seem to be blocking whatever is trying to sap the power." They continued exchanging blows, trying to outmatch one another.

"You are skilled," Centa's voice said over the com, "but you cannot hope to defeat the Derinja, and the full might of the Drule Empire!" It countered right, then fired several claws into Gamma, sending it reeling backwards.

"It's trying to take off!" Taye shouted.

"Keep it on the ground at all costs!" Hotaru shouted. The robeast went to fly, but Beta swooped down and tackled it. It kicked Beta off it, sending it flying several hundred yards away. Gamma was able to move back in and continue swinging at it.

"I don't know if we can take another hit like that," David shouted, rapidly pulling levers and flipping switches.

"Power levels dropped to critical," Morgan said, "but I think we're stabilized for now."

"You can't keep this up forever!" Centa shouted. And as we speak, our fleet is moving in on the city, and your base! And there's nothing you can do to stop it!"

"Will you stupid green intergalactic freak shows just shut your damn mouths already!" Aidan shouted as Alpha swoped in, opening fire on the robeast, sending it flying backwards to the ground.

"Dalloway!" Morgan shouted. "The hell have you been?"

"Busy," Aidan said. "Looks like I don't have time to explain. Beta's levels appear low. David, you alright enough for a linkup?"

"I got this," he replied. Morgan nodded.

"Then let's do this!" Aidan shouted. "Ready to form Voltron!"

"Rah, frickin' rah," Morgan shouted. Tetsuya rolled his eyes. The three flew up into the air and became surrounded by the energy field as they broke apart to configure.

"Stop them!" Twyla shouted over the com. "Don't let them form Voltron! I can't let them stop our attack fleet!" Suddenly the ship shook. "What the…."

"Their base has opened fire on us!" one of her officers said. "And there are drone ships taking out our fighters!"

"This can't be!" Twyla shouted. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists in frustration.

"Denjin Dimension!" Aidan shouted. "Form Feet and legs!" Centa pulled the controls and tried to knock Voltron's legs out from under him, but an energy burst from the field surrounding Gamma hit the robeast, and hurled her back to the ground. "Form arms and torso! And I'll form the head!" Voltron curled forward then arched back, one arm in the air, powering up as the energy field dissipated. His eyes lit up with power, and turned to face the robeast.

"Now we have a more even playing field," Aidan shouted, cracking his knuckles. The robeast got up and pulled its sword. "Sword fight, eh?" Aidan plugged in his voltcom, and Tetsuya looked on as the console lit up with power. Voltron raised its hand, and the symbols for Alpha, Beta and Gamma appeared in the beam of energy, which then formed the Blazing Sword. It glowed white hot as the energy within it tripled.

"I've never seen it do that before," Tetsuya commented.

"There's a lot you haven't seen this baby do," Aidan snarked. The robeast ran at him, and Voltron blocked the sword.

"Power levels are still stable," Hotaru shouted, "but I'm detecting some sort of power fluctuation emanating from one of its subsystems." Voltron pushed hard, trying to overtake the robeast, but it pushed back in a test of strength. Morgan's eyes widened. She gasped.

"It's a self destruct sequence!" Morgan shouted.

"Seven hells!" David shouted. "She's planning to blow herself up, and take us with her!"

"Not if I can help it," Aidan replied. "I don't need another flipping idiot blaming me for killing their loved one. One psycho is bad enough. Morgan, where is the fluctuation?"

"The energy core just above the right thigh," she replied. "But there's thick plating…."

"Thhen we'll need to be smart about this," Aidan replied. He yanked the controls, and Voltron quickly backed off, allowing the robeast to stumble forward. "Now!" Voltorn ran forward, spun around the beast, and swung the sword around, cutting through the waist diagonally, severing the right leg.

"How's this for a field goal?" Taye shouted and he yanked on the controls, and Voltron turned and dropkicked the leg into the air, sailing into the distance.

"Commander," the officer said, "there's an unidentified object heading right for us?"

"Put it on screen!" she demanded. When it came up, she saw the leg hurling at their ship, and smashed through the screen. She escaped with the officers from the bridge, jumping into one of the escape ships. "Get us out of here!" The ship took off.

"This is your last chance!" Aidan shouted over the com. "I don't want to see you die, and I don't think you really want to!"

"You filthy Terrans don't know or understand what we want!" she spat back, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. "As long as there is breath in me, I won't stop fighting for the glory of the Empire!"

"You can't reason with 'em," Tetsuya said.

"We gotta finish it," Taye said. Aidan nodded. Voltron swung and stabbed through the chest of the beast, then pulled the sword out. The beast began to explode, but out od the smoke, a beam from a nearby ship latched on to the head of the robeast and pulled it away from the exploding wreck, dragging it away. Centa, semi conscious, looked at the screen to see Commander Twyla.

"I was to die with honor," Centa said weakly.

"You deserve to live to carry out the will of the Empire," Twyla replied. "For that alone, you've earned my respect." They flew away, Voltron looking on.

As they all came out of the doors into the control room, Tetsuya and Hotaru set eyes on one another. They walked up to each other and looked at one another in silence for a moment.

"You left without saying goodbye," she said.

"I had to," he replied. "I couldn't continue going through all of this. And seeing you and Daisaku happy….I wasn't ever going to be a part of your happiness. Not like that."

"But you came back," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," he replied. "I never stopped caring, you know." He smirked. "How is he?"

"He's fine," she replied. "Much like you, he's avoided this place like the plague."

"I don't blame him," he said. "But after what I saw today, I think maybe our robots really are in capable hands." He turned to Aidan. "Commander, you realize more than any of us that the robots are alive. They aren't just some machine you can upgrade and tinker with. A force awakened in them when the Professor and Dr. Loring created the Gladiators. It's something that not even the blueprints I carry can explain." He handed several papers to Hotaru. "Do what you can with these. If you need my help, I'll be around." He began to head for the exit.

"Where will you go?" Hotaru asked. He stopped a moment.

"To see my family," he replied. "Haven't been back to Terra in a long time. I wonder if they still have my old hoverbike…." He started to walk away, and Taye went to chase him down.

"Wait!" Taye shouted. "You know about hoverbikes? Wait up!" Kelly let out a dissatisfied groan.

"Here we go again," Morgan sighed as Aidan and David laughed.