Collective Rebirth
ESKK: Here we go chapter 3, let's begin.
(Start Castle of Lions Kalvin)
The Castle of Lions was enroute to Purgatory a highly secured Prison ship run by the Blue Suns. Apparently, there was a prisoner on that ship that John needed to recruit to his team. The recruit was a dangerous and highly unstable biotic known simply as Jack. Admittedly, Kalvin was not too fond of asking a known criminal for help in this mission, especially one with such a high body count, but given what they were up against, Kalvin could see the need for someone who's biotic abilities were as great as Jack's were reported to be. Of course, his feelings about recruiting someone as dangerous Jack was, were easily shared by some of the crew.
Of course, there was also the fact that the Paladins had a small role as to how Jack was in that prison. Then again Jack did try to go toe to toe with Voltron and failed miserably in that regard. The fact she tried to take on a single Lion without her own ship was a huge giveaway of how reckless she was. Still, she was a powerful Biotic and if not for Penny's help she would have killed them. What Penny lacks in her Biotics she more than made up for with her brains by developing a counter agent to neutralize Biotics for a brief amount of time.
Another reason the Castle of Lions crew was nervous about letting Jack out of Prison was because of the prison there might have more criminals that the Paladins had put away. If they walked in there was a good chance a prison riot was bound to happen. There was also one other matter of concern in regard to their next recruitment mission, and that was the fact that Purgatory was run by the Blue Suns.
From what Kalvin learned during the recruitment run for Garrus John, Miranda, and Jacob may or may not have ticked off the Blue Suns on Omega which was where Garrus got his new face scar. No one was going to kid themselves into thinking that the mercenary gang had not spread word about the actions that the team had taken against them on Omega to their other divisions.
This meant that they all had to be ready for a possible double cross from the Blue Suns. Cerberus may have paid for Purgatory to release Jack to them, but Kalvin knew full well that it was usually a very bad idea to take such dangerous, known criminals at their word alone in such matters. Kalvin knew his father was made aware that the Paladins had put Jack behind bars in Purgatory because of how many Prisons failed to keep a biotic as powerful as Jack behind bars.
With this in mind Kalvin began to do his daily rounds for the ship. Mainly to check how each major member of the crew was doing see if there were any complaints to report and whatnot. His first stop was the maintenance crew which was where Penny tends to hang around. The Ships core was still operating well as he saw several crew members walking about mainly Alteans. Amongst them was a dark skinned Altean as he was monitoring the gauges on his console.
"Tavo." Kalvin greeted the Altean and thus the Altean turned to Kalvin.
"Commander. How may I be of assistance?" Tavo greeted back as Kalvin entered the area. Tavo was amongst the colonists that the Alliance and Citadel fleets helped to liberate from Lotor's colony. He was amongst the first Romelle had trusted and from there it was discovered how adept he was at handling the Castle of Lions and other ships and with Penny and Coran's help he became their new ship mechanic. But it was mainly upon learning Lotor's true nature that he wanted to help even though he wasn't at the battle he felt some responsibility for his people.
"Just doing my regular rounds was checking in on you was all." Kalvin said as he looked to Tavo. "Anything going on or need to be reported?" Kalvin asked and thus Tavo went back to his work.
"I've been hearing about our mission into the Omega Relay been hearing how no one survives a trip into it." Tavo said and in turn Kalvin was aware of this.
"You're worried a feeling we all share." Kalvin said as he looked to Tavo. "But I'm open to suggestions to increase our odds of survival." Kalvin said as he looked to Tavo.
"Well, I did have a few ideas to increase our shields power." Tavo said which Kalvin nodded to this.
"Alright then if you think it will work bring it up with Penny and Hector." Kalvin said knowing that such an edge could be helpful for the group. "They should be able to help you get it operational." Kalvin said as he looked to Tavo.
"I'll be sure to do that, Commander." Tavo said and in turn he knew he needed to focus. "If you don't mind Commander, I do need to get back to work." Tavo said which Kalvin nodded.
"Yeah; I should go, I got rounds to run." Kalvin said and thus he left to let Tavo get back to his job.
(Later The Green Lions Lair)
Kalvin arrived at the lair and found Penny and Hector were working on some things on their console. Nearby the Green Lion was seen through a glass window sitting awaiting the need to launch. Entering the room Kalvin walked over to the pair and went to check in on them.
"Penny, Hector how goes things?" Kalvin asked as he looked to the pair.
"It's all good Kal, Dr. Solus has been a huge help to some of my projects." Penny said happy for more brainiacs in the team.
"We're getting the stuff for that done right now but if you need to talk, we can make time." Hector said as Kalvin nodded to this.
"I was just here checking in on you guys." Kalvin said as he looked to the pair. "Anything to report? Any concerns about the inevitable trip through the Omega Relay?" Kalvin asked as he leaned against the window to speak to the pair.
"I got some concerns about facing the Collectors... maybe 20... maybe 100." Hector said as he raised his hand about that.
"Well then share the most important one." Kalvin said as he was open to feedback from his teammates.
"Well, I guess I can say it's mostly the shielding, as no one knows where we would be heading when using the Omega Relay, as I want to help increase our defensives for any situation," Penny said as Kalvin said, "Well then I'm glad other people are thinking the same thing, as Tavo from engineer was having similar thought on how to Upgrade the shield so maybe you two can talk with him and see what you guy can come up with."
"Tavo, he's a cool guy," Hector said as he knew some of the Alteans on board, with Tavo seem to be one of them with Penny nodded and said, "I'll give him a call to come meet us later to talk about it then, thanks for the tip."
"Not a problem, as I am glad, I can help you guys with anything," Kalvin said as he went on his way as he finish his chat with Penny and Hector, as next on his check list was Leon as he knew where exactly the red lion paladin is.
(Shooting range)
Leon was using his Bayard rifle mode to hit some targets to keep his skills sharp, as he hit three targets that just popped up with less than 10 shots to take them down before lowering his gun and saw the scoring off on the side as nodded a bit as Kalvin walked in and saw the score himself and said, "Nice done, still a sharpshooter as ever."
"Hey Kal, what's going on?" Leon said as he put away his Bayard for the time being as Kalvin said, "Just making my rounds around the ship and stuff."
"Ah got it, wanna join me for a few rounds?" Leon said as Kalvin said, "Sure why not."
Kalvin grab an extra rifle from the rack nearby as he check the ammo in it before cocking and switch safety off as he aimed and fire at some targets that popped up before he said, "So how everything going with you?"
"The same mostly," Leon said as he use his Bayard rifle and hit a few targets as well as he went on saying, "Kicking ass, taking names and giving them to other people."
"Seriously?" Kalvin question that with Leon laughed a bit as he then said, "Not really, but that does sound fucking cool to do."
"And how do you feel about the new crew we have?" Kalvin question as he then shot a moving target as Leon took aim and fire the other moving target before he said, "The Altean crew is pretty cool, easy to get alone with, and pretty much know what they are doing so there nothing to complain about them at all, even if someone wanted too."
"And how do you feel about the new addition, Kasumi?" Kalvin asked fire at a target before running out as Leon took the rest as he said, "She alright I suppose."
"Come on man, I seen you getting along with her, out of all the paladin she got you more times than any of us, as in a way I'm surprise you even talking with her," Kalvin said as he reloaded the rifle real quick before he took aim and fire again as Leon change his Bayard into sniper mode and fire a few target in the back as he said, "Well I get what you mean man, as at time I mean I want to hate her but can't either. I mean she's fun to talk with at time… probably how she dragged me into a bar to drink with her."
"As she stolen all of your credit and for some reason your clothes?" Kalvin said as he took a long distant shot as well as he hit the target a bit but didn't knock it down, while Leon somehow got a double kick shot in as he shot one target and the one behind it got hit as well as he said, "Come on Kal, don't be like that, I mean I may have been drunk a bit that I somehow dare you to steal my clothes to see if she was that good."
"And?" Kalvin said as he took another shot at a moving target with Leon said to Kalvin, "She was that good I suppose."
"IS that all, I mean I also see her flirting with you?" Kalvin said as Leon said to him, "I mean she would flirt with me, but she doesn't mean it, she does it get under my skin a bit as she did to try and steal my Bayard, which she did take but I took it back as she didn't realize that our Bayard are link to our suits."
"So, a good chance she would try again and get around that?" Kalvin said as Leon said, "I wouldn't put it pass her as it seem anything she wants, she would try and take, but enough my imaginary love life, and get with your real love life."
Kalvin and Leon came to an end at the shooting Gallery and saw Leon score was a few points higher than Kalvin as the paladin leader said, "What do you mean?"
"Well, we all know that you and Allura are a thing, but you really think it would last?" Leon question Kalvin as he responded with, "We've been together for 2 years and nothing bad happen, now that I think about, I think the only argument we ever had was fighting over who side we would sleep on the bed."
"After doing, the horizontal tango?" Leon question as he laugh at a bit before Kalvin fire a round that was in the rifle as it hit Leon's foot as he cry out a bit as he jump on one food a bit as he said, "Ow, what the crap dude?"
"Sorry I guess I still had a round in the chamber, thankfully we only used non-lethal round in here," Kalvin said sarcastically at first before pointing out he only shot Leon with a rubber bullet more or less as Leon said, "Alright, no sex jokes, but for real man. She is literally royalty to the Alteans, and from what I hear they want her to be the Queen very soon, and if they do what would that do between you two."
"I don't know how, never really thought about that far ahead with her, but I suppose we should talk about that, but I'm sure we'll be alright, as I'm not going to just stop loving her, she is… she something special that I can't find the word to describe her as other than lovingly, beautiful, and bit savage when it come to her fighting."
"Which you get a combat boner for?" Leon said as Kalvin fire again as Leon jump back a bit lucking missing him that time as Kalvin said with Sarcasm, "Oops another round was still in the chamber."
"Alright- alright but seriously when we play some of those fighting games, you always like and play that one female character that can kick some ass," Leon said as Kalvin defended himself saying, "Hey they had better combos I can use, and I don't always play a girl character, I pick a guy characters as well."
"Yeah, like once in a while," Leon said with Kalvin quickly said to change the subject back, "Okay we're getting off track here, I love Allura alright, and I don't want stuff like royal status or military duty stand in between our relationship, we played it cool and take our time with things, and If she were to become queen, we'll cross that bridge when we get there, but right now I want to keep things as they are with her."
"Alright… but if you marry her, would that make you king of New Altea?" Leon said as Kalvin sighed as he just walk away while putting the gun back on the rack as Leon said to him, "Nice talk bro, see you later I suppose."
Kalvin left the armory and began to make his way to his next destination. Kasumi was setting up her room so that meant the only person left to check on was Allura herself. There were several people that they needed to recruit for this mission with the first group being from Dossiers provided to the teams by The Illusive Man through Miranda. Kalvin didn't completely trust Miranda, but he also knew that he would have to do so if he wanted to be able to fight against the Collectors. So, heading to Allura's office Kalvin continued with his daily rounds.
(Later offer in Allura's office)
One of the rooms closest to Allura's quarters was refitted to act as an office. This would allow her to perform her own tasks both as a part of Voltron and as the leader of the Alteans. Romelle sent most of the important documents to her while she is away. So, typing on her console filling out reports and signing off on the documents Romelle sent her Allura was working hard.
Just then a beep came from the door which got Allura's attention. "Enter." Allura said and in turn the door slid open allowing for Kalvin to enter the room. "Oh, hello Kal glad to see your here." Allura greeted happy to find Kalvin here. "Was there something you needed?" Allura asked as Kalvin smiled and leaned against the wall a bit to speak to Allura.
"No just finishing my daily rounds." Kalvin said seeing as he came here to speak with Allura.
"And of course, I'm the last stop." Allura said with a faux offended tone towards Kalvin.
"So, is there anything I need to know about?" Kalvin asked as Allura sighed a bit before pushing away from her work to give Akira her full attention.
"Quiet, frankly I don't trust Cerberus." Allura said as it was a feeling, they all shared. "I've heard and seen what they've done, and it goes well beyond Xenophobia." Allura said as Kalvin listened to what she had to say. It was no secret that Cerberus had run illegal experiments not only on aliens but also on other humans. The Paladins had the displeasure of finding some of those places and it was not a pretty sight to behold.
"Allura no one here does, but we trust my dad at least." Kalvin said as he looked to Allura.
"Of course, I trust him, and I know that at the moment Cerberus is a necessary evil." Allura said but by her tone it was clear she did not like it. "It still does not give me any satisfaction." Allura said as she let her woes known to Kalvin.
"I know and once the Collectors are dealt with, we sever ties with Cerberus." Kalvin said making it clear that once they were done with Cerberus, they cut them out of their missions.
"Agreed." Allura said but she also had one other concerns. "I'm also worried about us letting Jack out." Allura said recalling that crazy Biotic. "The last time we faced her we barely managed to bring her down." Allura said recalling what Jack did to them last time they fought.
"I already have Penny making more of her Biotic Counter Measures if a fight breaks out against Jack." Kalvin said assuring Allura that Jack was not going to get the jump on them this time around.
"She might expect it if it comes down to it." Allura said which Kalvin had to admit that Allura made a good point. Jack isn't the sort to fall for the same trick twice.
"We do what we always do... we improvise." Kalvin said with a smile causing Allura to chuckle a bit.
"Well, no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy." Allura conceded knowing that Kalvin was good at thinking on the fly. "Was there anything else you needed before I return to my own work?" Allura asked as she gestured to the documents she had to sort through on her console.
"No, I should go." Kalvin said and thus Allura nodded as Kalvin took his leave.
"I'll be here if you need to talk." Allura said and thus Kalvin took his leave of Allura. Now that his daily rounds are done it was time to focus on the Purgatory Prison and the Paladins reunion with Jack.
(Scene Break Purgatory Prison Ship)
A few hours later, the Normandy and the Castle of Lions were docked to the prison ship, Purgatory. From here Kalvin disembarked with his team his fellow Paladins. Following suit was John with his own team, Miranda, Jacob, and of course Jacob. Kasumi was staying on the Castle of Lions with Sven as he kept an eye on Penny's countermeasures to bring Jack down should the need arise.
The Paladins then headed out to meet with the prison ship's guards. They did not have to go all that far, as the minute they had reached the end of the boarding ramp, they quickly spotted those guards standing just down the hallway from them, and just as the team had expected, he and his companions were completely outfitted in the standard blue and white armor of the Blue Suns.
"Welcome to the Purgatory, Commander Shepard." The guard that was closest to them greeted once they had reached them. "WE were made aware last minute of the Paladins arrival so due expect some minor inconveniences." The guard said before getting back on subject. "Your package is being prepped and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high-security vessel, you need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed." He said which got the group on edge.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather my team and I hold on to our weapons." John said ready in case the Blue Suns pull a double cross on them. Clearly neither team was going to give up their weapons and for a moment things seemed to become almost standoffish. For a moment, the others thought there was going to be a chance that they would have to fight the guards, until a Turian stepped the door and approached them, ordering the other Blue Suns troops to stand down.
"Captain, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship," the Turian said as he approached the captain, only pausing for a moment at the sight of Steve's armor. "Your weapons will be returned to you on the way out. You must realize this is just a standard procedure."
"How about this: I relinquish one bullet right after you tell me where you want it," Garrus offered as he reached for his rifle while Jacob and Miranda prepared to reach for their weapons as well.
John stops them before they could try anything as he raise a hand to them and besides, he knew the paladins would watch their back if they had to give up their weapons as not a lot of people know of the Bayard functions and how they would be keep hidden, but then again, he even know when not to take chances as he said, "Forgive me crewmate, but It's my Standard Procedure to keep my gun."
After a bit of a stair off between the two as the Warden Kuril soon said, "Let them proceed. Our facility is more than secure enough to handle a small group of guests. Half of them aren't even armed anyways."
"Not like we need any to kick ass," Leon said before Kalvin elbow him hard at the side that wasn't' cover by armor as he winch a bit as he rub his side with Warden Kuril continue talking as he said, "We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds clear, you can be on your way. If you'll follow me to Out-processing for the pickup, Commander."
"Let's go," John Shepard said as the group follow the Warden into the prison as they came upon a window hallway area as Kuril said, "Cellblock 2. As you can see, we keep tight control over the populations."
Looking into Cellblock 2 showing many cryo-pods being move around by robotic arms and seem to be automatically as Warden Kuril said, "Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained, Modular unit. I've blown a few out the airlocks as an example."
Allura was already hating this Turian man as her people would never sent any prisoners into space during the Prothean war or Galra war, just keep them locked up as prisoners of war until they were release, or in the Galra cases, they will kill themselves for failing their mission as she really did hate that 'Victory or death' saying as if they can't win, either fight to the death or kill themselves upon capture, as Warden Kuril went on saying, "The ship is made up of 30 cell blocks identical to this one. We house thousands of Criminals."
"Really, a thousand," Hector said sounding a bit worry as he went on saying, "Wouldn't someone try and cause a riot or something?"
"Not to worry, we can put the whole place in lockdown on a moment's notice. Nothing goes wrong here," Kuril said as he sounded very prideful of that as John said, "Let's get on with this."
"I bet people try pretty hard to get out," Grunt said as the warden said, "We're in space. They have nowhere to go, and they know it. But still, we exercise extreme caution. These are dangerous individuals."
Outside of a window as two prisoners seem to be arguing about something a nearby guard use his Omni tool to control a Biotic pillar that pop up and entrap the two prisoners in energy bubbles that they could not escape or move in as Kuril went on saying, "We have many ways to control the populations."
The group soon came to another area as the doors open with the warden keep on saying, "I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus cleared. Out-processing is straight down this hallway."
John walk up to him as the warden pointed down the hall as he said, "Just keep going pass the interrogation rooms, and the supermax wing."
After that he soon walks away leaving the group by themselves as Kuril said to John, "I'll catch up with you later... Shepard."
"I'm really getting a bad feeling about this guys," Hector said as they keep on walking down the halls Leon said to him, "Yeah, you and everyone else no doubt."
Oh, my goodness," Allura said as the group were passing the interrogation rooms it seem as one guard was hitting a prisoner brutally as Garrus said when he saw this, "You don't even get good information that way. After a point, victims admit to anything to make the pain stops."
"How barbaric," Allura said as Kalvin put a hand on her shoulder to help her move along, with a prisoner from the next cell over sees them as he try calling out saying, "Hey! Hey guys, over here. Let me ask you something."
"Keep on moving," Kalvin said as he seen how prisoners can be as someone did try a scared tactic on him once before of bringing him to a prison, but it didn't really affected him all that much as he didn't feel afraid or anything, as he thought about that time he could guess that his Galra blood may have made him somewhat immune to such things and the reason why he always been so brave during missions, but there are fears that still get to him that he cannot shake off, one of them is getting Allura hurt, and this prison might do that, so he helping her move along.
They keep going until they reach another room which maybe the supermax wing area as a technician saw the group and knew where they are headed as they said, "Out processing is through the door on the far side of the room."
"Weird," Kalvin said as he overlook the area, he saw how the place was, and it didn't seem like they were heading in the right way, as then he soon ask Penny a question, "Is this really the way to the Out processing?"
"I don't know, I can't access the system through wireless, unless I plug into it," Penny said as soon enough the group reach the final door as it open showing a dead-end room or in this case a prison cell as Warden Kuril spoken up on the coms as he said, "My apologies, Shepard. You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer. The same goes with the paladin of Voltron."
"I knew it," Kalvin said as the warden went on saying, "Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell. you will not be harmed."
"A classic bad guy line from every B-rated movies," Leon said as Hector said, "W-what now?"
"Either two option, as one we do what he says and go in, or two fight our way out," Kalvin said as John turn to his son and said, "Let me try something, this doesn't have to end in bloodshed."
"Here's hoping," Hector said as he cross his fingers for luck as John turn to the camera and said to them, "Maybe I can change your mind?"
"Activate systems!" Kuril said as soon enough the alarm were going off and no doubt every other place in the prison is being locked down with blue sun guards coming in to take on the group as Kalvin call out to the paladins, "Allura, Penny, shields up. Leon, Hector covering fire!"
With that as the guards came in with John Shepard's group took cover and started to open fire as well, while watching friendly fire as the paladin charge in and started to take out the guards, one by one as Penny fire her Bayard grappler and nail a guard in the chest, giving him an electrocution with Kalvin coming in and cut down the guy with his sword and pull out his pistol and shot another guard near him, and Allura using her Bayard whip to wrap around a guard's neck to flip him and send him into another guard with a sharp snap sound could be heard.
After that, the guard were taken care of with ease as Miranda came up to Shepard and said, "Those paladins sure know how to fight, and that son of your I think he took out most of them, and not like the normal Shepard way."
"He get it from his mother side mostly," John said as he remember how savage Jane was on the battlefield, as Kalvin may have his leadership skills, but he got his mother attitude and bloodthirst for battle as Miranda said, "Given the report and rumors of Jane Kogane Shepard, I believe it."
"I believe I one heard that a SPECTRE I believe her name was Tela Vasir had put Kalvin's name up for SPECTRE as well after the battle of Lotor, but the council reject it given his already given his Paladin rank title, and age at the time into factor," Garrus said as John would say he is impressed that his own son impressed another SPECTRE that they put his name up for selection as he said, "He's really growing up well."
"That he has, in fact they all have," Jacob said as when he meet the paladin 2 years ago, they were a bit of a rag tag team with little to no training, but now that he sees them again in action, he can say that they have greatly improve when they first started out and wonder if the N 7 training that Kalvin did, had help him or was it really necessary?
Reinforce out processing! Shepard and the paladins are loose!" Kuril announce to the entire ship as more guard were heading their way including FENRIS Mechs that Penny had use her Bayard Taser function and short circuit them to force them to reboot before she starts hacking and turning them into her own personal robot dogs as when their system was fully rebooted, their screen turns green and how they were moving were like real dogs. So, upon approach she pets them and said, "Who are good robo doggies? You guys are yes you are!"
"Seriously Penny?" Kalvin question Penny as she points out to him saying, "Hey you have a cosmic wolf that can teleport, Allura has mice, and don't get me started on the pet cow Leon keeps in his room, I want my own pets."
"Wait, how do you know about Kaltenecker!" Leon said as he thought he hid that cow well, as Kalvin sighed as it seem he didn't know about the cow and by the look on Allura's face neither did she as Kalvin said, "Hector we will talk about the cow later, and Penny if those things prove to be helpful, then you can keep them, but you will only keep them either in your room or in the lab."
"Hu, wait a moment here? Does everyone but me have a pet now?"
"Not now Hector!" Kalvin, Leon, and Penny all called out before Allura had an idea. "Perhaps we should try again later." Allura said as she looked to the group.
"No, that's too risky." Mirana denied as she began to explain. "They'll probably reinforce the entire prison against such an attack," Miranda added meaning they had no other option. "If we're going to get Jack, then we need to do it now, so we'll have to head over to wherever they're holding him and retrieve him from cryo ourselves." Miranda said only for Penny to cut in.
"Cell Block three." Penny said as she was at the terminal from earlier. "While you guys decided to start planning an escape I hacked into the system." Penny said with a smirk on her face.
"Alright we know where to go now, so let's not waste any more time and move it people." Kalvin said ready to fight off these foes. So, with this in mind they began to move towards the indicated cellblock as a unit to bust out Jack. For the Paladins this was going to no doubt get them on Jack's shit list if and when she finds out its them who's busting her out.
The only problem with getting to Cellblock Three was that there were a number of Blue Suns mercs and mechs barring the way, but thankfully, the team was able to blast through them all, in more ways than one. The Paladins lead the charge to break apart the opposing formation. John lead the team firing away with his own pistol as Miranda was watching his back with her biotics primed and ready, only switching to her SMG when those powers needed a minute to cool down. Jacob was more than able to cover John's other flank with his shotgun and a few of his own biotics, and if there was any that the first three had missed, they were easily dealt with thanks to some very precise shots from Garrus, either through his sniper rifle or his assault rifle.
Thankfully, the group did not have very far to go, and they managed to reach the control room for the various cells in Cellblock Three in no time at all. After making sure that the room was secure, Penny ran over to the console and began to work her magic on it to release Jack from Cryo. Garrus covered Penny as she was working with Leon also assisting.
"Oh crap." Penny cursed as she ran into a snag.
"What's wrong?" John asked as he looked over to Penny worried as to what could be happening. "You can hack it right?" John asked with clear concern for Penny.
"No, I can do it. I'm just a little concerned about what will happen after I do," Penny said which got the group worried.
"What does that mean," Jacob asked, his concern over the answer showing in his voice.
"The minute I use the control to release Jack from cryo, every door on the cellblock will spring open," Penny said and there was no doubt what would happen next. "I doubt I'll need to tell you what that will lead to afterwards." Penny said and in turn it was Kalvin who responded.
"Total chaos a prison riot." Kalvin said realizing that the danger gets worse if they go this route.
"Can't you find a way to open the cell without doing that," John asked as he rather not have every criminal on the ship running around doing god knows what.
"Sure, I can but the issue comes from two different sources, time and what happens when Jack wakes up." Penny said as she knew what Jack will do once she sees the Paladins. "If I had Tali, she and I could do it in an instant." Penny added as she couldn't do this without Tali. "If we want to get Jack out of stasis, then this may be our best option." Penny said which meant that they had to make a call.
John was not willing to accept that, and he immediately tapped his comm. to radio the Normandy's resident AI. "EDI, have you been monitoring our progress," John asked even though it was a dumb question on his part.
"Yes Captain Rogers. I am always monitoring the ground team's progress on a mission, as is one of my primary functions," EDI replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Is there anything you can do from your end to help keep us from starting a prison riot then?" John asked as he rather avoid that unsavory outcome.
"I am afraid not, Commander Shepard." EDI said which did not sit well with John. "Even if I were to combine my functions with Miss Gundersons talents, the end results would remain the same." EDI said which was not news that John wanted to hear.
"Blast." Allura cursed seeing that they had no other choice. John hated it and as much as he did not want to take any chances, he decided that if they wanted Jack on the team, then they would have no choice but to let Penny do what she needed to do.
"Open it. Everyone, be ready for when the cells open." John said and thus clearly had to make the hard choice here. Everyone nodded to John and in turn Penny soon went to work on the console while Jacob and Miranda readied their weapons for action. Kalvin and Allura drew out their guns while Leon and Hector had their Bayard's at the ready. Soon a loud buzzer went off which signified that Penny had completed her work.
Thus, as the large metal arm that moved the various cells around the prison ship rose up to open Jack's cell, a trio of heavy mechs immediately came online and turned to face the cell. No doubt these mechs were an extra security precaution for when certain prison cells were opened for whatever reason. In the end though, nothing that anyone on the team could have done would have prepared them for what they saw coming out of the cryo cell when their new recruit finally came into view. The only one who were not surprised were the Paladins since they were the ones who originally put Jack in here to begin with.
"Wait that's Jack!?" Garrus asked in surprise over what he saw.
"I was expecting a big guy that looked like someone you wouldn't want to come across in a dark alley with a few scars and several tattoos on his body or something," Jacob remarked as he was equally surprised as the other Normandy Crew members.
"Well, you certainly guessed correctly in regard to the tattoos, at least," Miranda said equally shocked expecting something similar.
"Just not so much on everything else, including gender," John said his own voice holding a bit of disbelief in it as well.
Indeed, Jack was not a large man, but a malnourished-looking woman with a shaved head and several tattoos running all across her body. Her clothing consisted of a large pair of combat boots, baggy cargo pants, and a thin belt that just barely covered her breasts. From where he was standing, John figured that Jack looked to be in her early twenties at the very least, so to think that this woman could be the same, cold-blooded, dangerous biotic killer that they were here to recruit seemed to suddenly be a bit of a stretch.
"Hopefully, she's not too angry with us." Hector said which got John's attention.
"Why?" Garrus asked which Kalvin had the response.
"Simple we're the ones who got Jack locked up to begin with." Kalvin said recalling the aftermath of their fight with Jack.
"How'd you, do it?" Miranda asked curious now over the fact the Paladins managed to apprehend the most dangerous Biotic out there.
"that's for us to know and you never to find out." Penny said as Miranda smirked a bit.
"Trust me love I'll find out." Miranda said but not was not the time for that.
"You guys should probably hold back just case she sees you." John said not wanting any bad blood to ruin this recruitment drive.
Shaking off the surprise at the fact that Jack was actually a woman, John prepared to lead the team down to the holding cell so they could attempt to talk with Jack. But John then stopped when he noticed her hand suddenly twitch, and a minute later, the woman had woken up completely.
Once she had woken up, Jack wasted no time in prying herself free from her restraints, and she then only needed a minute to catch her breath before she glowed with the usual blue energy that accompanied the use of biotic powers and lunged towards the three YMIR mechs that were moving towards her. John was still fairly certain that charging the large mechs like that would be suicide, at least until Jack plowed right through the central mech with a single, biotic-infused punch that caused the mech to go up in flames the minute she hit it. When the smoke from the explosion had cleared enough for the team to see, Jack was long gone, along with both of the other two mechs.
"Well, she definitely seems to be as powerful a biotic as her file said she was, but she is really lacking on subtlety," Garrus commented as the team turned and raced down to where Jack had previously been.
"Among other things," Miranda muttered once they had crossed through the room Jack had previously been in and entered the room she disappeared into. From there, they continued to chase after Jack, only to find the trail of destruction she had left in her wake, further emphasizing Garrus's point on how she lacked any sense of subtlety. Before they could enter the next room, the whole ship suddenly shook under the force of an explosion.
"EDI, what just happened," John asked the AI who was their mission control.
"Jack's rampage seems to have caused multiple system failures on the Purgatory." EDI Reported which was only the tip of the iceberg. "A mass prison riot is now currently in progress. Warden Kuril is doing everything he can to quell the chaos. No doubt he will try to head you off eventually," EDI instantly replied which meant they were in trouble now.
"That's just great," Jacob bemoaned unhappy with this outcome. "Any other good news you want to share with us?" Jacob asked but Garrus was the one to answer.
"How about the fact that we're about to have an abundance of Blue Suns and escaped prisoners to shoot at," Garrus asked as they entered the next room filled with just that.
"I asked for good news." Jacob said but Garrus chuckled to this.
"And I gave it to you." Garrus quipped and thus it was clear he was trying to lighten the mood.
As they continue onwards of chasing Jack throughout Purgatory, the group keep seeing more and more destruction that Jack left behind no doubt whatever the paladin did the capture her in the first place must have been a miracle.
Suddenly there was a shootout between guards and prisoners as they were shooting at each other before they spotted the paladins and Shepard's group and open fire on them as they took cover while returning fire.
"Cover me!" Kalvin said as he charge in as he pull out both his Bayard and dagger which both goes into their sword form as he went at the prisoner and guard that was shooting at them, they weren't expecting the black paladin coming at them in a blades of fury.
"All prisoners, return to your cells immediately or I'll open every airlock on this ship," Warden Kuril said to all the prisoners over the coms as Hector soon ask, "Is that guy serious?"
"Hard to say, but I think he's bluffing as if he does that, he'll eject the crew out, not to mention high price prisoners, and also waste all of the air as well," Leon said as he didn't believe the warden would do such a thing as he snipe a guard that was coming up behind Kalvin.
Allura rush towards Kalvin waiting to help him as she use her Bayard whip to knock the weapons out of guards and prisoners hands to disarmed them before subduing them as she wrap her weapon around them, then pull them towards her before kicking them hard before putting her back against Kalvin as he said to her, "You really step up in fighting a lot more."
"Thanks, I decided to set a high level to the Gladiator for some real intense training, and it seem to be paying off well," Allura said as she knew Kalvin would get better with training from the N7 group, she may as well work just as hard as well, as both of them push off and ran towards a some enemies for Allura it was some prisoners, and for Kalvin the guards as they take them down with ease taking very little damage to their shields during before they stop taking down the lasts ones.
Then suddenly a YMIR Mech came forth as it fired at both Kalvin and Allura as the group fire shots at it to give them covering fire, taking it shields out before it turn towards them and fire a rocket which everyone took cover from with Kalvin looks at it as he said, "That thing may have a lot of fire power, but it slow moving around, with tis shield down we can hit it at its joints, we could be able to bring it down."
"I'm with you," Allura said as both of them charge at the Mech as it dodges the gun fire as Allura wrap her Bayard whip around of the mech's arm and pull it to the side giving Kalvin an opening as he raise both swords and drive down onto the giant robot taking out its arm before they take it down piece by piece as Allura wrap her Bayard weapon around one of its leg and sent an electric current down her whip which cause the machine to glitch out a bit before Kalvin came in and took out the other arm, and a leg as he jumps in the air slashing down upon its arm before twirl in the air and slash out its leg making it fall down before its monitor face went dark.
"Damn man, you and Allura got some skills," Leon said as he could not figure out how Kalvin did that and wonder if he should take up more sword training to use his Bayard broadsword form, as Kalvin said, "Thanks man, been working on a lot of close quarter combat mostly."
"Let s move on and find jack, it hard to say how far ahead she is from us ," john said as everyone agrees, they need to catch her before she finds the ships and try either hijack and/or destroy it one of them as Kalvin said, "Lets hurry then."
The groups on with Hector soon whisper over to Penny as he said, "So you think the anti-biotic weapons would be enough to stop jack again, I mean last time we face against her, she nearly killed us like a dozen times."
"I sure, tested them myself, as painful as they were, they work," Penny said as the group didn't have a lot of Biotic users on the ship so Penny had to use some on herself making sure they were good enough but then again she is thinking would it be enough for Jack as she maybe the most powerful Biotic user in the universe, so they were pretty lucky when they first face back, as at the last moment the lions decided to help them out to capture Jack at least as she maybe a very biotic user, not even that has limits and fighting against one of the lions was pretty stupid of her to do so, and such Penny deploy her Anti-biotic trap that subdue Jack long enough to put her to sleep and restrain her until they could put her in prison.
Suddenly the entire ship shake as an explosion happen as the computer V.I program warned out as it said, "Warning: power plant damage has led to overlord. Core system failure Imminent
"Damn it like she trying to being down the whole place regardless of if she's inside of it or not," Leon said as Kalvin said, "We better hurry then, double time it."
They rush through as they pick up any useful weapon or items that the enemy dropped as Shepard found a guard that they didn't kill as he check him over and said, "This guard got swarmed by prisoners with improvised weapons. He never had a chance "Shows you what kind of people these prisoners are. I don't agree with everything they do here, but it's in the galaxy's best interests. This guard keep maniac away from innocent people."
"Yeah, but in this case, which are were the worse ones? the prisoners, or the guards?" Leon said as Purgatory may hold the worst people, but they also have the worst guards as well as either side was either want to capture them or kill them, or both as Hector said, "I rather not think of that right now."
The group keep advancing with Kuril keep announcing over the intercoms as he said, "Lockdown in blocks four , seven and eight!"
"Does he realize he can't control the situation anymore? This whole place just went to hell in the matter of Minutes," Leon said as they went into the next area as the group hears screaming and yelling as they came out, they immediately got fired upon as they took cover and fire back with guard were acting smart as they were firing from the distant.
"These guards are behind cover; Leon take them out!" Kalvin call out with John call out as well as he said, "Garrus help out as well."
"Sweet, let see who the better shooter between us," Leon said as Garrus smile to this as both of them took out his rifle as he and Garrus soon had a shooting contest to see who could take out the most enemies as they started shooting and gotten many heads shots as Leon soon got the last shot and said, "Boo-yeah! what do you think of that Garrus?"
"You gotten a lot better than before, I say that your training with the STG really has done you well," Garrus said as he praised Leon a bit then the V.I voice soon announce, "The hull has been breached in sector 12, 14, and 30. No survivors."
"Does that thing ever tell good news?" Hector said as he sounding very worry that they are in or the next sector they would head towards maybe next as they group moves on and keep firing through the guards, as there were still a lot of them trying to prevent both groups from moving on, but thanks to Penny new pets, they were able to distract some of them for one of the team to take a shot at them as Kalvin said, "Alright Penny they're useful, you can keep them."
"I was hoping you would say that" Penny said as she smile as then more YMIR Mechs showed up as they group took their time facing it as Allura and Kalvin acted like distraction hitting it from the distant while also doing run by hits and took them down quickly.
"How the heck does this guy get so many Mechs? These things cost like small for fortunes," Kalvin question as Miranda spoken up saying, "It's not surprising, as people are used to paying prison to keep prisoners in prison, Kuril must be charging extra as well."
"Or selling them as it seem he want Shepard's and the paladins as prisoners themselves, "Jacob said as he took notice of that as no doubt a lot of people want Voltron as their own even if it mean either killing the paladins or control them which is a scary thought on its own as Penny said, "Not surprising, as people put bounty reward for our lions with Leon almost got his taken away."
"Can we not bring that up still?" Leon said as he was still embarrassed that Kasumi fooled him, not once but twice and he rather not have a third time as Kalvin said, "Don't worry Leon, the only thing Kasumi could take from you at this point is your dignity… oh wait she already."
Everyone laughs at this as it seem Kalvin told the story of what happen with Leon and Kasumi the last time as he and Allura had to bring him some clothes as Allura calm down from laughing a bit and said, "That was a bit embarrassing to say."
Another explosion was heard in the distant as it seem jack was at it again as warden Kuril call out, "All guards to cellblock one!
"That guy's voice is really getting annoying now," Hector said as the paladins all said at the same time together.
Leon: yep!
Allura: Agreed
Kalvin: ehh
Penny: totally
"Are the paladins always this chatty even in a serious situation?" Miranda question about this as Jacob spoken up saying, "It's their way of coping I think."
"How would you know on that?" Garrus asked with Jacob soon said, "I talk with Kelly once in a while about them, as she told me the same thing and said to let it be."
"Less talking more fighting!" Kalvin called out as he fired at the Blue Sun mercs with his trusty pistol.
Whether it was the prisoners that were being held on Purgatory, the Blue Suns mercs, or a YMIR mech that got in their way, it did not matter, as the team was able to easily dispatch every single one of their enemies in little to no time at all, until finally, they had reached Cellblock One, where a number of prisoners were being taken down by Kuril's men, and the warden himself just as they had arrived. When Kuril noticed the team entering, he immediately opened fire on them, forcing the group to dash or duck behind the Paladins shields. They moved to cover as they now entered the final room against the Turian.
When he finally managed to reach cover, John noticed his surroundings and his teams current positions. Kalvin did the same with his team knowing they now had room to act when needed. "You know, you're valuable." Kuril ranted as he fired on the Paladins and the Normandy teams current positions at random. Unknown to him was he began to monologue Kalvin and John gave their teams silent orders on what to do.
"Despite how you've only been alive again for a short time, the bounty on you has become quite considerable." He went on with his rant. "I could've sold you and lived like a king, but you're too much trouble!" Kuril said but then had one last thing to say. "At least I can recapture Jack." Kuril said but then Leon rolled his eyes.
"Dude we were the one to catch Jack, we only left her here because we didn't have a place that can hold her!" Leon snapped before ducking behind cover to avoid getting shot.
"He's right! You won't be able to catch her without our help!" Kalvin added as he saw his father directing Garrus to the perfect sniping position to hit Kuril with some well-placed shots.
"HE's right your prison is done Kuril." John called out as he waved a hand signal to Jacob, hoping that he could distract the Turian warden by keeping him talking. "You're a two-bit slave trader who pretends to be a man of justice, when in reality, you're no better than the criminals that you're keeping prisoner here, assuming all of the people on this ship are criminals." John said and in turn that definitely got under Kuril's skin, as he shouted, "I do the hard things civil governments are unwilling to! This is for the good of the galaxy!"
"I'd ask you to forgive me for disagreeing with you, but frankly, I honestly don't care one way or the other," Kalvin said as he was ready his own move to bring Kuril down. "And answer me this real quick, Allura is a political leader, what was your plan for her before the Alliance and Citadel sends a fleet after you to rescue her?" Kalvin asked as he nodded to John.
started giving a silent countdown from three to his team. The minute he signaled them to move, Jacob and Miranda instantly opened fire on Kuril, driving the warden right into Garrus's line of fire, and the scarred Turian did not hesitate to take the shot. The minute Garrus had fired, he immediately nailed Kuril in the leg, disabling the warden long enough for John to jump out from behind cover and fire a few rounds on Kuril with his pistol.
Hector roared out as he fired his gun off at Kuril forcing him to stumble as Leon sliced some crates down with his broad sword to push Kuril towards Allura. Allura then moved in and wrapped her Bayard's whip around Kuril before dragging him towards Garrus line of fire. Kuril struggled only for Kalvin to throw his dagger at the Turian and watched it jam into his back causing him pain. This tactic allowed Garrus the perfect chance to literally nail Kuril right between his eyes.
"Boom! Headshot," Garrus shouted as he saw his victory. "You all saw that, right? Because I will need someone to back me up when Leon tries to boast at being a better marksman." Garrus boasted as Leon glared at Garrus for that.
"Well good to see Garrus hasn't lost his sense of humor." Leon said with a scowl on his face.
"Yeah, because he actually has one unlike some people." Allura countered as Kalvin had to admit that was a good one. The two teams had to chuckle a little in response to Garrus's comment, while Miranda simply rolled her eyes.
But then the moment was quickly brought to a halt when everyone on the team received word from EDI. "I apologize if I am intruding but we have a situation at the docking bay." EDI began as she got their attention. "Jack has made it to the docking bay and Sven is preparing to meet with her." EDI reported and thus the group was wide eyed.
"Shit SVEN!" Kalvin cursed and thus they got moving hoping to stop a disaster before it can happen. The minute they heard that, they instantly put any further celebrations on hold and raced out of the room so that they could hopefully stop the two before either of the two did anything too reckless that they would later regret.
(Meanwhile at the Docking Bay)
Even though Jack was panting a little once she had reached the docking bay, there was no reason that she could see to not feel like she was unstoppable at the moment, as every single idiot that had gotten in her way was now either dead or nursing a very serious injury like a little baby, a fact that was easily enforced by the two Blue Suns that had tried to stop her and were now dead. All she had to do now was steal a ship and she was home-free, and she quickly spotted a ship that was perfect for the job. At least she thought it was perfect, until she saw the symbol that was painted on the side of it, and her feral grin of success had instantly changed to a snarl once she had, because she knew that symbol far too well.
"Cerberus," Jack spat in anger, and she quickly roared in anger as painful memories that she did not enjoy remembering started racing back to her. Thankfully, she knew the perfect cure to make those memories subside for a moment, and that was to kill every single person on that ship without any remorse or mercy. She was so caught up in her ravings and promises of death to the people on the ship that she never noticed a Blue Sun merc trying to get the drop on her.
A gunshot went off and looking to it Jack saw a new arrival wearing an outfit similar to those brats and their robot cats that ended her up here. "Ok ve can do ziz zi easy vay or zi hard vay." Sven began as he kept his gun lowered. "Zi Easy vay is vhere you enter zi ship so vi can get you off zis ship or zi hard vay vhere you a knocked out and brought in by force." Sven said as he rather do this peacefully. "I voud do ziz zi easy vay ziz entire ship iz coming apart." Sven said as he kept his guard up knowing enough about Jack to know she was a powerful Biotic.
"How about fuck off, Cerberus freak," Jack shouted as she threw a powerful biotic blast at the Normandy's and Castle of Lions sole defender. Acting fast Sven rolled out of the way to avoid the blast and returned fire with his gun. Jack avoided it with her Biotics as she saw Sven going to cover again. When he did, he was loading up Penny's counter measures for Jack. Seeing this Jack snarled refusing to fall for that same trick a second time and attacked. Sven moved and opened fire on Jack as the bullets were in fact micro flash shots meant to debilitate the part of Jacks brain that was connected to her Biotics. Last time they weakened her enough where the Paladins stood a chance, but Jack saw it coming. Ducking past the shots the bullets hit the wall and let loose a blinding flash of light for a moment.
Jack soon got close and blasted Sven back causing him to drop his gun before she grabbed him by his neck to choke him out. "Any last words robo arm?" Jack asked glaring at Sven.
"Stop ve don't van't to fight." Sven begged as he grabbed Jack's arm to stop her.
"Too bad I do." Jack said ready to smear the walls with Sven. But then to her shock Sven gritted his teeth and gripped her arm but when he did his right hand began to glow. It released a volatile energy as Jack felt the burn on her skin before being forced to let go of Sven.
Sven rolled out of the way and saw his hand glowing with the energy. It seems Cerberus had put some other tools in his prosthetic limb. Jack growled and looked ready to attack when all of a sudden, she was hit by the same bullet that Sven had tried to use on her earlier. They hit her and with a flash Jack cried out as she grabbed her eyes and felt the stinging burn in her brain. "SHIT FUCK NOT AGAIN!" Jack yelled as she glared and saw who shot it.
"That's enough!" John said as Penny holstered the gun she used
"Stand down Sven." Kalvin said as he looked to his old friend. "I'd rather let Jack join us of her own free will rather than being knocked out." Kalvin said as he glared at Jack.
"Oh, now you want my help after you fucking got me locked up to begin with!?" Jack yelled as she glared at Kalvin with contempt. "And you, what the hell do you want?" Jack asked as she pointed over to John.
"I'm Commander John Shepard, I'm a SPECTRE and I'm here to get you out of the bad situation that you're currently in the middle of," John said which Jack scoffed to this.
"Shepard you two related? You sound like it both pansy ass bitches." Jack said as Kalvin itched towards his dagger. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus," Jack then snarled at John wanting to take him out.
"We could still stun her." Allura offered as she looked ready to do this the hard way.
"I'm here to ask for your help, and I can assure you that I'm not a member of Cerberus nor are the Paladins." John said assuring her that they were on the same side.
"And yet you showed up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere," Jack pointed out seeing that as the biggest flaw in John's defense. "You think I'm stupid?" Jack asked glaring at John ready to snuff him out.
"No, and that's why I'm sure that you can tell that this ship is going down in flames." John said as he gestured to the ship they were on. "We can get you to safety, and all we're asking for in return is your help," The elder Shepard added making it clear his offer may just save Jack's life.
"We could knock her out and take her," Garrus suggested only to be elbowed by Jacob for that one.
"Enough! We're not attacking anyone," John shouted before he then looked to Jack and said, "Listen, we need your help to stop a major threat to all life in the universe, though at the moment, which applies more so to human life than any other, so what's it going to take for you to join us."
Jack seemed to consider this for a moment before she finally said, "If you really want me to come with you, then make it worth my while. I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases." Jack said making her demand clear. "I want to look at those files and see what Cerberus has got on me." She said as they all heard it. "You want me on your team, let me go through those databases." Jack said as she waited for a response. John let that hang for minute, making it seem like he was considering it, when in reality, he had already made his decision.
"Fine," John said as he finally nodded. "I'll give you full access." He said which proved to upset Miranda.
"Shepard, you're not authorized to do that," Miranda protested seeing this as a huge problem.
"Oh, did I upset the Cerberus cheerleader? Even fucking better," Jack drawled in excitement before she then looked back to John and warned, "You'd better be straight up with me."
"You have my word, and I also promise that I'll do whatever else that I can for you," John agreed as he was not one to go back on his promises.
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Boy Scout," Jack said before focusing on the current situation. "Now why the hell are we still standing here?" She said while making her way over to the Normandy. Everything seemed to have gone well when all of a sudden EDI's voice cut in on them.
"It certainly is beneficial that Jack has agreed to join but I fear we may have new problems approaching." EDI suddenly said as she detected something.
"Contact has been detected on our scanners Commander and boy is it big." Joker said and thus this got the Paladins on edge.
(Later the Castle of Lions)
The two ships detached from the prison vessel when they did, they saw what looked to be a Robeast Coffin coming their way. A robeast coffin normally meant only one thing for them... a Robeast. "Haggar." Allura growled quickly realizing what was to happen.
"Looks like Haggar is up to her old tricks again." John said as his image was on the castles screen.
"Our guns are stronger than they used to be, Commander." Joker said as John knew this.
"We'd appreciate you guys providing support but keep your distance." Kalvin said making it clear that he did not want to justify the need for a Normandy SR3. "Paladins you know what to do, let's get to our lions." Kalvin said and thus the Paladins got moving to their designated lions.
Four doors activated color coded with red, yellow, blue, or green. Leon stepped into the red door, Hector into the yellow door, Allura into the blue door, and Penny into the green door. From there the four Paladins stepped into lifts that began to lower them downwards.
Kalvin on the other hand stood around the Black Paladins chair on the control deck revealing it had its own lift exclusive for him that began to lower. Once all the Paladins got to the bottom, they were met with handlebars for ziplines that they jumped and used to travel down a tunnel. Once they got to the end of the tunnels, they flung themselves down a slide like tube and landed inside hover pods and began to ride towards their individual lions.
Travelling a short path, the pods arrived at another lift that began to lift them up towards their lions. The pods were loaded into the lions and from there each of the Paladins went to the cockpits and activate their individual lions. The Lions eyes flashed to life before they each let out a mighty roar showing they were ready for battle.
One by one the lions launched with red, yellow, blue, and green launching from the four pillars of the Castle while the black lion launched from the main tower.
The Lions flew out towards their enemy as they saw the massive coffin coming towards their ships. With the Purgatory burning behind them the Paladins had one problem dealt with only for a new one to take its place. Detecting the Paladins, the Robeast Coffin opened up and from it they were met with the Robeast inside.
The Robeast was large like all the other ones but this one had more of an insectoid like look similar to that of the Collectors. Its arms were comprised of cannons with claws hands under them. On its back were a pair of boosters that had large insect wings humming behind it. The Robeast looked every bit the bug from which it was modeled.
Upon its emergence the Robeast went on the attack firing its guns at the Lions. "Evasive Maneuvers!" Kalvin commanded and thus the Lions scattered to avoid the laser blasts. They quickly noted that the lasers were similar to the ones that destroyed the Normandy SR1 2 years ago. The Robeast then sprouted a large claw like sword and went on the attack against the Paladins. Thankfully, the lions flew around the Robeast avoiding the attack coming their way.
"Well looks like Haggar has been busy." Leon said when he saw the Robeast glaring at the Lions who glared back.
"Think she might be working with the Collectors now?" Penny asked as that was a scary thought.
"Either that or she's using them in some way." Allura said as Haggar had proven herself to be a crafty witch from their previous confrontations with her.
"Well, we got to take this thing down and there's only one way we can do it." Kalvin said and thus it was time to give the order. "Paladins FORM VOLTRON!" Kalvin roared out to his team and with the Lions roaring in response they flew in formation to form Voltron.
(Forming Voltron)
Black Lion roared out as it flew forward with its arms folding into the needed sections. First it folded backward before folding into the container units and once secured Black Lion began to take on a more humanoid look. Then Green and Red Lion flew in as they flew upward leaving behind a trail of energy in there colors as when they did their legs began to fold up and secure themselves to form the arms of Voltron as once, they did they flew off to continue the formation.
Next up was Yellow and Blue Lion as they flew in and began to fold up their legs to be secured and become more leg like themselves as once, they were secured they now looked more like legs. They were now ready for the finishing touches as they got ready to form up with their prides leader the Black Lion. Red Lion attached first as once it was in the socket a connecter shot out and not only secured the arm but also made sure it was usable as this caused the Red Lion to extend a bit to be the right arm of Voltron.
Green Lion was the next to connect as its back shield was now the shoulder pad for Voltron as once Green Lion was in the socket the connection was made and secured in turn allowed the arm to extend a bit to better form the arm like with Red Lion. As this was done Green Lion roared out. Once this was done Blue and Yellow Lions began to form the legs as when they did it was shown that once the Black Lions rear legs were inside Blue and Yellow Lions it began to seal up to both connect and secure the connection as once it did and both legs were secured the transformation was almost done.
Now that the body was formed Black Lion's head was now ready as the yellow eyes then flashed as the maw opened up as first the crown formed and in turn the maw opened up to reveal the face of Voltron as soon Voltron formation was done. When the formation was done Voltron then crashed the mass of Red and Yellow Lions before splitting them apart while a current of energy went through them. Voltron then struck a pose with legs and wings spread and the right arm pointed upward before releasing a burst of Quintessence that formed the Galaxy behind it in turn as Voltron was ready for battle.
(End formation)
Voltron had taken the stage as he glared down at the Robeast ready for battle. The Robeast roared and attacked Voltron by firing his arm lasers at it. Voltron weaved around the beams and flew to the side while returning fire. The two giants flew about firing their lasers attempting to one up the other all the while Voltron and his Paladins were trying to avoid hitting the Normandy and the Castle of Lions by accident. The battle went like this as the Robeast then acted and from its other arm released a tether that latched onto Voltron. It wrapped around Voltron's neck allowing for the Robeast to start pulling the defender in.
"He's got is!" Penny called out as Voltron was using his boosters to get away.
"Now for long! Form Sword!" Kalvin called out and in turn after he locked in his Bayard Voltron formed his sword and sliced the tendril off freeing himself. Once the sword was drawn Voltron charged in and thus, they began a clash of blades flying about and clashing against each other. The Robeast fired off its beam weapon again, but Voltron avoided it with ease.
"Penny form Arm Cannon!" Kalvin called out to the Green Lions Paladin.
"RIGHT!" Penny called out and slamming her Bayard into its slot Voltron formed the arm cannon and then fired upon the Robeast. The two beams met and in doing so they began to build up before exploding between them. The two giants flew at each other and clashed blades again and began to struggle over the other. Voltron then kicked the Robeast with the yellow Lions before flying back and firing the beam at it from afar.
Leon saw this and smirked as they were getting the upper hand against their foe. But they needed something with a bit more length now. The Robeasts arm weapons were making it hard to get close with the sword and it was too fast for the Kusarigama. He knew just what to use as it was a weapon he was hoping to use for a while now since they reunited.
"Guys let's use the new weapon!" Leon called out which Kalvin knew what Leon was talking about.
"Be my guest." Kalvin said and thus Leon smiled waiting for Kalvin's next order. "FORM HALBERD!" Kalvin called out and with a roar Leon slammed his Bayard into the slot and activated it. From there Voltron slammed his fists together after calling off the sword and in turn formed the halberd. Voltron spun the new polearm above him as he then held it against the Robeast ready to fight once more.
The two foes charged at each other and continued their clash as Voltron was surprisingly nimble with the polearm. Voltron now had the upper hand as the Robeast was doing its best to keep Voltron from laying a decisive blow. But it would eventually come as the Robeast tried to push back on Voltron and when it did it tried to fire its weapon upon Voltron. Using the chance Voltron threw the halberd at the Robeast taking off its arm and removing one of its beam weapons and its tether weapon.
The Robeast roared in pain and before moving in on Voltron. But Voltron was already moving as he boosted through and grabbed the Halberd before spinning and cleaving the Robeasts melee weapon off leaving a stump where the elbow was on the Robeast. Voltron spun the halberd about for a bit before bringing it down on the Robeast from the head right down the middle. Cleaved in half the Robeast fell and floated in the weightlessness of space before Voltron boosted away to give it room to explode.
"We got it!" Leon boasted with a huge grin on his face. Voltron had once more achieved victory but unaware that Haggar bore witness to it all.
(Haggar's Lab hidden base)
Haggar saw the battle and smirked as once more Voltron achieved victory unaware that he was playing into her hands. The Reapers will focus on Voltron while the Citadel and their allies remained blissfully unaware of the true danger to the galaxy. She had a great deal of work to do and soon Voltron would suffer defeat as he opens the path to her goal a path beyond that of Oriande itself.
(TBC)
ESKK: Chapter 3 it took a while but its here. I hope you all enjoyed it and will join us next time for chapter 4. Anyway, be sure to leave a review before leaving and as always faithful readers, ja-ne.