Collective Rebirth
ESKK: Here we are chapter 5 we now move to Horizon and a reunion with some familiar faces. Now let's get things started.
(Start The Normandy Cargo Hold)
John was not really sure how long the team had spent arguing over whether or not they release the Krogan, but he did know that both sides of the argument had valid points. Unsurprisingly, Miranda was the one leading the side that argued against releasing their newest passenger from his tank, and she ended up pointing out quite a few times that while bringing the Krogan aboard for study alone was a smart idea, letting it out could indeed pose a great security risk to the ship.
A Krogan by itself was already a walking disaster waiting to happen when one added in the fact that this Krogan-Hulk was created and likely educated by Okeer, who was a fully certifiable madman, there was no telling what it could do to the ship when it was just slightly annoyed. On the other hand, there were also the arguments that were in favor of releasing the Krogan and surprisingly, it was Garrus who was leading that side of things.
Of course, seeing as both himself and Garrus had fought alongside a Krogan as the Paladins had done, they knew just how valuable even a basic Krogan on the team would be for them. As a result, the odds were in favor of letting the Korgan out and giving him a chance to prove himself as more than a walking talking wrecking ball. So, with that in mind John stood in the cargo hold to their sleeping Krogan friend.
"EDI, what's the status on our big friend here," John inquired of the ship's AI.
"Subject is stable, Captain Rogers. Integration with onboard systems was seamless," EDI reported.
John nodded in response to that, though he was not entirely sure whether or not that would register with the AI, but at the moment, he was more concerned with another matter regarding the previously mentioned big friend. "Can he see anything in there?"
"Unlikely. Current neural patterns indicate minimal cognition. Barring ship-wide power loss, the nutrients in the tank could sustain him for over a year."
"EDI, could you say that again in English, or in a way that I can understand," John then requested.
"In layman's terms, he is dreaming."
John nodded in response to this before he decided that it was time to get one last opinion on how wise it would be to release this Krogan-Hulk from the tank. "What's your opinion on how dangerous this guy is, EDI?"
"He is a Krogan, Shepard, If you are asking whether he is actively hostile, I don't have the necessary data to answer. Okeer's technology could only impart data, not methods of thinking. The subject may know of his views but would not necessarily share them."
"That's all I needed to hear," John stated with a small smile. "I'm going to open the tank." John announced and thus Edi had to argue against this.
"Cerberus protocol is very clear regarding untested alien technology," EDI started to say, until the super soldier interrupted.
"He's either a powerful addition to the team or a time bomb I'd rather deal with this now." John said as EDI saw the logic in that as well as the dangers involved.
"Very well, Shepard. The controls are online. The switch and consequences are yours," EDI finally informed John after what seemed like a small moment of hesitation on her part.
After taking a moment to glance at the tank and the Krogan inside John tapped the release controls and then stepped back while the tank opened itself up. As soon as the release switch had been hit, the tank had started beeping a warning to signify its opening while the liquid inside of it started draining out, letting the Krogan-Hulk inside of it drop down onto the surface inside of the tank. When the casing finally opened up, the Krogan ended up falling onto all-fours and coughing up some excess liquid that had found its way into his mouth. When he finally stood up straight again, John only had the barest of minutes to notice how the Krogan had slitted, blue eyes before the Krogan finally charged him and pinned him to a wall before the super soldier could reach for his shield.
"Human…male," the Krogan noted with a rough voice as he leveled his gaze with John's, likely as a way of identifying who or what he had pinned to the wall while testing out his voice to make sure he could use it at all. "Before you die, I need a name." The Krogan said glaring at John.
"Are you asking for my name, or for your own," John inquired as best as he could with the large arm that was pressing against his throat while reaching for the pistol, he had brought with him just in case.
"Mine," the Krogan clarified as he needed answers about himself. "I'm trained, I know things, but the tank…Okeer couldn't implant connection. His words are hollow." He then paused as if he were thinking about something, as evidenced when he next spoke and gave voice to his thoughts. "Warlord…legacy…grunt…" At the last word he seemed to pause until he finally said, "Grunt was among the last. It has no meaning…it'll do. I am Grunt. If you are worthy of your command, prove your strength and try to destroy me."
"You wouldn't prefer Okeer, or Legacy?" John asked as he figured those two would be better names.
"It's short it matches the training in my blood the other words are big things I don't feel." Grunt said to the pinned Shepard. "Maybe they fit your mouth better." He quipped before carrying on. "I feel nothing for Okeer's clan or his enemies I'll do what I am bred to do, fight and determine the strongest." Grunt said but had more to say. "But his imprint has failed without a reason that is mine one fight is as good as any other." Grunt said in a gruff tone. "Might as well start with you." Grunt said and thus John knew what to say.
"I have a good ship and a strong crew. A strong clan, if you will, and you would make it even stronger." John said speaking to Grunt as a Krogan would.
Grunt seemed to pause in thought once again, clearly considering John's offer more heavily than before, until he finally looked back to the soldier and warned, "If you're weak and choose weak enemies, I'll have to kill you."
"Our enemies are most certainly strong, no question about that." John said as he waited to hear what Grunt would say next.
Grunt let this mull over in his mind for a minute or so until he finally grunted in acceptance and said, "That's acceptable. I'll fight for you."
"I'm glad to hear that you agree to this," John said with a smile as Grunt finally let up on his hold enough so that he could breathe normally again, at which point the Krogan-Hulk noticed Steve holding his pistol at his stomach. For a moment, John was actually worried that Grunt would lash out for him holding a gun on him, but instead, Grunt actually chuckled in response as he let go of Steve completely.
"Offer one hand but arm the other. You are clearly wise," Grunt said with a nod of acknowledgement. "And now, I am asking for your name. Who are you?" Grunt asked wanting to hear his new leaders name.
"My name is Commander John Shepard a Council SPECTRE." John said introducing himself to Grunt.
If I find a clan…if I find what I…what I want, I will be honored to eventually pit them against you, Shepard" Grunt said and thus went off to make himself at home in this room. Once that was done John left as judging by the time, he began to do his rounds. He'll check on grunt later but first the rest of the crew and then a call to the Castle of Lions to make sure everyone was doing ok there.
(Castle of Lions Medical Lab)
"Welcome to the crew Rana." Penny introduced as she showed Rana where she will be working. "I know it's not the big lab you were hoping for but it's the best we got." Penny said as Rana saw the equipment.
"No, this equipment will certainly suffice for my needs." Rana said as she saw it all.
"Well, if you have question just call in Bato, he's the ships doctor." Penny said as Rana nodded to this.
"I certainly will." Rana said as she was oddly at ease here. She suspected that working from a ship was safer then working on a planet. Twice in her career she's dragged into situation that had her shot at or blown up. It was a miracle she survived both incidents.
Just then the door opened and from there Lotarius walked in taking up most of the door as a Korgan tend to do. "Oh, hey big guy how you liking the ship?" Penny asked as she smiled at Lotarius.
"It's big." Lotarius said with a neutral tone. "Nothing like this from Tank Mother." Lotarius said looking around the medical room.
"I still can't believe the Princess gave him free will." Rana said surprised at what Quintessence can do.
"It's life energy all Allura did was give him life." Penny said as she had to admit Allura was a saint at times. "And with that life she gave our Krogan friend here free will." Penny said as it sounded to mystical for her understanding. "So Lotarius what brings you here?" Penny asked as she was curious as to what the Krogan came here for.
"She created mental imprinting for us Tank Breds." Lotarius said gesturing to Rana. "I might need more work." Lotarius said knowing he was not a perfect Krogan but was willing to Improve.
"I can't now that you're out of the tank it might cause more harm than good." Rana said as she also wanted to remain as ethical as possible.
"But there are still gaps in my knowledge and ability." Lotarius said as he needed to improve and fight alongside his allies.
"Sorry we can't do much… but I might have an idea that can help." Penny said as she knew of a method that would work perfectly with a Krogan. "We'll need to go to the training deck though, they have the tools needed." Penny said and thus Lotarius nodded to her.
"Lead the way." He said but then Penny redirected her attention back to Rana.
"Alright but before I do, Rana, if you need any specialty equipment or similar stuff put in a request through requisitions over there on that Terminal." Penny said pointing to the terminal in the room.
The Requisitions Terminal was Penny's idea. They can send a request through the system and filter it out based on necessity, importance, and budget.
"Thank you." Rana said and thus Penny nodded.
"Alright once we got you in the system you can roam almost anywhere but until then just holler." Penny said and thus she took her leave to take Lotarius to the training deck to get him educated.
"Hey Kal." Penny said as she and Lotarius passed by Kalvin who was doing his rounds around the ship. Kalvin waved as he saw the pair walk off.
"See Penny is getting Lotarius acclimated to the ship." Allura said as she approached Kalvin from behind.
"Yeah, I'm just worried we'll need to Krogan proof everything." Kalvin said as Allura smiled to this.
"He's more like a big child then anything." Allura said as she stood with Kalvin. "Though that means he can be educated." Allura said as she had faith that if Wrex can be better so can the other Krogan. Maybe if they can show the galaxy, they can be better than it might be enough to convince the Salarians to make a cure for the Genophage.
"Hopefully, dad is having an easy time with his Krogan like we are with ours." Kalvin said as he and Allura then turned to hug each other with their forehead resting on each other.
"Why bring him up now?" Allura asked with a smirk clearly being playful.
"I can bring up something else or." Kalvin began only for Allura to cut him off with a kiss. It was a deep kiss but chaste still as soon when Allura broke it she smiled.
"Kalvin now is not the time..." Allura said as she then broke the connection and presented some data to Kalvin. "I've been in contact with Ashley she's asking that you call her up, said it was important." Allura said as Kalvin knew that was the case.
"She must have been getting reports." Kalvin said worried how this would affect Ashley knowing her ex and her almost stepson was helping Cerberus.
"Kalvin you and I both know we're only doing this to stop the Collectors and by extension the Reapers." Allura said assuring Kalvin he was doing the right thing.
"I know... but still." Kalvin trailed off with his concerns about their current mission.
"Kalvin all you need to do is call her and explain yourself." Allura said as she helped Kalvin to make it. "She'll understand." Allura added knowing that ever since they met Ashley had been the closest thing Kalvin had to a mother after his own passed away. She had been his confidant ever since they originally formed Voltron more so after Sven had died. She had been Kalvin's caretaker after John had passed away to the point that even Ashley's own mother had accused Ashley of adopting the younger Shepard behind everyone's back.
It was funny because each Paladin seemed to have this confidant from the Normandy Crew. Wrex had always been looking out for Allura and Tali. Penny and Tali were like sisters due to their shared works on machines. Garrus had been something of the cool uncle for Kalvin and a good mentor for Leon. It went on like that, but the point remained that the Normandy Crew had helped shaped the Paladins into who they are today.
"Alright I'll call." Kalvin said as Allura smiled and kissed Kalvin on the cheek.
"Good." Allura said and thus she took her leave having places she needed to be at the moment. Kalvin sighed before he took his leave to his own quarters to contact Ashley.
(Later over in Kalvin's Quarters)
The Journey was a short one but upon arrival Kalvin got to work on contacting Ashley. Ashley gave Kalvin a direct line to her in case he needed anything. Being nineteen meant he was legally an adult and with his current position as a Paladin Kalvin didn't have to overly rely on Ashley. But she did worry, and Kalvin respected that from the Gunnery Chief.
It didn't take long for her image to appear on screen as she saw Kalvin and vice versa. "Kal good to see you how is, everything?" Ashley asked but Kalvin noted a slight edge in her voice.
"Good, there were some reports I'm sure you've heard and..." Kalvin trailed off as he tried to find the best way to say it. "Some of them involved dad and Cerberus." Kalvin said and in turn Ashley's face shifted to a stern one.
"Yeah, I've gotten those... mind explaining?" Ashley asked as she wanted details about this.
"It's complicated and a lot more with Sven and." Kalvin trailed off catching Ashely's attention.
"Wait Sven he's alive?!" Ashley asked shocked as she hadn't heard about that.
"Yeah, sorry we were trying to keep it on the down low to avoid causing a panic." Kalvin said kicking himself for dropping the ball. "Look if you need to know neither I nor any of the Voltron crew are working for Cerberus." Kalvin said as he made his position on this clear. "And I can vouch that dad isn't working for Cerberus either." Kalvin added then Ashley had to ask.
"Then why are you with them?" Ashley asked wanting to give Kalvin the chance to explain himself.
"Because as much as I hate to say it, we need them." Kalvin said before getting down to it. "Human colonies are disappearing taken by a race of creatures called the Collectors." Kalvin said explaining the situation to Ashley. "The Alliance and the Citadel weren't doing anything about it, but we can." Kalvin said before getting down to the big stuff. "But no one on board trusts Cerberus and officially speaking the Castle of Lions is tailing them to keep an eye on them." Kalvin said as Ashley understood where Kalvin was coming from.
Honestly, she was thankful that she was finding out like this and not out of the blue. The fact Kalvin was doing it helped to ease her thoughts on what he was doing. Still Shepard... Ashely had a few issues about him with Cerberus but the fact that Kalvin and Voltron were keeping an eye on things helped ease her mind.
"Alright Kal just be careful out there... and have your old man call me when he gets a chance." Ashley said as Kalvin nodded to this.
"Will do." Kalvin said and then some background talk was heard sounding like Kaiden.
"Anyway, I need to go, kiddo work to do and all that." Ashley said and thus Kalvin nodded.
"I won't keep you." Kalvin said and with a smile the two hung up and in turn Kalvin sighed.
(Scene Break back on the Normandy)
Almost a week had passed since the team had recruited Grunt, Lotarius, and Rana into their ranks, and in that time, they had been acclimating well. On the Normandy Grunt had started to roam about every now and again to get the crew acclimated to his presence. It did wonders to ease everyone's concerns about him as he met his teammates.
Meanwhile on the Castle of Lions Rana had been working with Penny and Dr. Solus to create the countermeasure for Indoctrination but the process was tricky. Using the Lions as a base line for it had helped greatly but even than Rana feared she would need a live sample to compare and contrast to create that countermeasure. John understood the Paladins intent and fully supported it hence why he sent reports back to Anderson and Hacket about out to keep them in the loop. Both supported the idea seeing as if they can counter the Reaper Indoctrination, they might stand a winning chance against the inevitable Reaper Invasion.
At the moment John was helping Grunt get used to working with a team as the Krogan was making great progress in that field. He had interchanged the teammates for different combination and was using training mechs as the opposing party. This also helped to teach Grunt self-control as it allowed for him to gauge and control his strength only unleashing when it was needed.
John was smiling when he saw Grunt accidentally knock Garrus down until Miranda suddenly appeared next to him. John was going to make a small joke and ask if she was going to ask him for a match, but when he saw how serious the look on Miranda's face was, he knew that his XO had likely approached him with something important.
He was not let down in his suspicions, as the minute she saw she had his attention, Miranda said, "Commander, the Illusive Man wants a word with you. He says that he may have something of great significance regarding the Collectors that you should know about."
That definitely put an end to any humorous feelings that John had at that point. In turn John quickly nodded in reply as he told Miranda he would speak with the Illusive Man via the quantum entanglement communicator after this fight had ended. Miranda nodded in response to this and then quickly moved to return to her quarters so that she could prepare for the upcoming mission they would likely soon be facing.
Once Jacob and Grunt's match had reached a satisfactory end, John told everyone that they were done for the day and ordered everyone back to their stations, while making a small promise to do this again soon, much to everyone's excitement. John was happy to see that the crew had found a way to release some of the tension that their suicide mission had built up among them, but he knew that he could not focus on such things at the moment, and he then quickly made a beeline for the conference room so that he could see what the Illusive Man had for him.
(Later)
John did not have to wait long for the communication channel to the Illusive Man to open up once the conference table had retracted into the floor and the lights had dimmed for the call, because mere seconds after the communications array had come online, he found himself starring at the Illusive Man's figure as he sat comfortably in his command chair before the window displaying a large, brilliant star once again.
Seeing as this was now the third time he had seen the man seated in that exact same room, a small part of John could not help but wonder if the Illusive Man ever so much as left that chair for more than a conversation that required him to stand up at his full height, let alone the room, but such thoughts were not important right now, so he was easily able to put it to the back of his mind for the moment so that he could see what the leader of Cerberus had for him.
"Shepard, I think we have them," the Illusive Man stated as the opening of the conversation, showing Steve that the man did not waste any time before getting right to the matter at hand. "Horizon, one of our colonies in the Terminus Systems just went silent. If it isn't under attack, it soon will be." The Illusive Man said making it clear that this was the first bit of headway they had against the Collectors. "Has Mordin delivered the countermeasure for the seeker swarms?" The Illusive Man asked as they needed those to stand a chance at stopping the Collectors.
"Not yet." John reported as the Illusive Man did not want to hear that.
"Let's hope he works well under pressure." The Illusive Man said as he got the reports about the Paladins recruiting an Asari Scientist and an imperfect Krogan Tank bred. After watching the man take a drag from his cigarette without ending the call, John knew that there was still more that the mysterious leader wanted to say to him. "There's something else you should know." The Illusive Man said as this left John all ears. "Your former crew members Ashley Williams and Kaiden Alenko are currently stationed on Horizon." The Illusive Man said as this surprised John.
"Last I heard they were both Alliance, why are Ashley and Kaiden out in the Terminus Systems?" John asked clearly finding this to be cause for concern.
"Officially it's an outreach program to improve relations with the colonies." The Illusive Man began as he told the story. "But their up to something and if they sent chief Williams and Lt Alenko, it must be big." The Illusive Man said as John figured as much. "Perhaps you should take it up with her." He finished as John raised a brow to this.
"The Collectors happen to pick a colony with my former crew members on it one of them being the woman who basically looked after my son while I was KIA, I don't buy it." John said as he knew something was up.
"It shouldn't be that much of a surprise that the Collectors are interested in such a place," the Illusive Man stated, drawing a look of honest confusion from John in response. "If they're working for the Reapers, then the Collectors have likely taken an interest in the one human who had managed to defeat one of the Reapers." The Illusive Man said as he knew he was talking about John. "And more importantly the one machine that seems to make it its mission to stop them." The Illusive Man added which John knew now.
"Voltron." John filled in knowing that the Legendary Defender had the power to fight and beat the Reapers. "Don't you think we should at least alert the Alliance or the Citadel of the situation? They could send us reinforcements," John suggested as he was worried something could go wrong.
"No, not until after you have investigated the situation yourself." The Illusive Man said knowing what would happen if they did that. "If we call them now, they will just get in our way, but once you've determined the exact situation and have it under control, I'll send the message personally," the Illusive Man promised to the SPECTRE. The Illusive Man could tell that John was not too fond of such a plan, but in the end, the super soldier seemed to accept it all the same.
(Meanwhile a hidden location Wade)
Wade was glaring at his newest weapon of war which looked to be a giant robot lion armed to the teeth with guns and weapons. He knew about the attack on Horizon by the Collectors and decided to deal with it himself. Voltron will be there, and he intended to put that obsolete weapon to its grave. Wade smirked knowing that soon the Galaxy will finally see what true power looked like.
The Lion mechs eyes flashed to life as it knew that it's time to act was now. The launch sequence was prepared and with it, the time to hunt. Its program set, target acquired, guns primed, and it was ready for the kill.
(Scene Break Horizon)
If you were to ask the people who lived on the Terminus colony of Horizon, they would likely tell you that the colony in question was actually rather similar to how Eden Prime was before the Geth had attacked it under Saren's orders with its vast, lush fields of grass, small yet still brilliant forests, and the fact that the sunsets would often seem like a work of art that you would only find in paintings of an art museum that was dedicated to the great artists gone by. The only thing that really set Horizon apart from Eden Prime was that most of the people who lived on Horizon did not hold the Systems Alliance in very high regard. In point of fact, most of the people who lived on Horizon had actually come there in the hopes of getting away from the Alliance, or at least as far away from it as possible. That is not to say that everyone outright hated everything, and everyone connected with the Alliance, there were actually a few people who were willing to keep an open mind about humanity's main body of government, but there were still a few things that did not make it that much easier for them to deal with it every now and again.
One of those things would be the latest gift to the colony from the Alliance: a series of defensive towers that held a number of high-powered GARDIAN Lasers so that the colony would be protected from any hostile ships that would try to threaten them. The only problems with these towers was that the people had to build a massive underground generator just to get any of the towers powered up, and even then, the targeting system was revealed to be rather faulty. Naturally, a lot of people were upset about the fact that the Alliance gave them a giant gun that could not shoot straight, but many of them became even more upset by how the Alliance had responded to their request for fixing the problem. That response was to send out Operations Chief Ashley Williams, and Lt. Kaiden Alenko both of them former members of the Normandy SR-1 crew under Commander John Shepard.
The minute that the two had arrived, they found themselves becoming the easy targets for the people's distaste for the Alliance, much to Kaiden and Ashley's shared chagrin. but that did not deter them from trying to do their jobs as they quickly set to work. Of course, Ashley was the one who did most of the work in trying to fix the guns since Kaiden was not much of a tech expert. Thankfully Kaiden had found other ways to help out with his friendly attitude towards others. And he kept himself entertained by asking if Ashley was going to adopt Kalvin at some point seeing as he was practically a Williams at this point. Ashley was reminded of her sisters as they were doing the same thing whenever they saw each other.
At the moment though, Ashley was more irritated than anything else, a fact that she made no secret when she finally found the person in charge of the colony, or at least the only person who was willing to speak to her and Logan without any reservations. "Lilith, we've got a problem," Ashley informed the woman in question once she had found the dark-haired woman.
"Still can't calibrate the targeting matrix," Lilith asked in a tone of voice that showed she had suspected that would be what the Alliance war hero would be talking about.
Ashley immediately nodded in response to that and immediately reminded Lilith, "Those defense towers are useless if we don't figure it out."
"Sorry Chief but getting our comm. systems back online takes priority at the moment," Lilith reasoned with the loyal Alliance soldier, hoping that Ashley would understand that before something was started.
Thankfully, serving under Commander Shepard had helped Ashley learn how to calm down a little and not lash out needlessly when things were out of her control, so she took a deep, cleansing breath and then sighed, "Yeah, okay. Surprised people haven't tried to blame that one on us too."
"People out here don't trust the Alliance. It's nothing personal," Lilith reassured Ashley who was thankful for her experiences. Plus, hearing from her Kalvin earlier int he week gave her something of a good mood.
"Ash!" a voice called out as it was Kaiden who came running up to Ashley and Lilith as Ashley turn to him and said, "Something wrong?"
"We got an unidentified space craft heading our way, Similar to the one that shot down the Normandy," Kaiden said with Ashley surprise by this as then a shadow cover the area as they look up with Ashley pulled out her rifle and look through the scope of it and saw it was same one from before as Ashley said, "Get everyone to the safe house"
From the sky as dark cloud seem to be heading their way quickly, only to realize it wasn't dark clouds but a swarm of bugs as Ashley said, "We'll cover you. Run!"
With that both Ashley and Kaiden, as he pulled out his rifle as well, they started firing upon the swarm, killing as many as they can while avoiding civilian in their crossfire, as Lilith try to run only to get knocked over by some people running away, as Ashley helped her out, and continue to fire at the swarm but there was just too many as the bug reach them and stung them as Kaiden took his bug and smashed it under his foot before a dark mist surrounded his body, while Ash looked at her and wonder what they were before throw her and try to take aim again but a dark mist surrounded her body as well , paralyzing her with Lilith seeing this as she took off with her people.
They ran from the swarm, but they were all over them as one by one as the bugs the people paralyzing them as well, and then soon enough Lilith was captured as stung as well as she soon froze in place before falling over with her eyes look in horror to see her people collapsing as well before the bug got on her and crawled all over her face.
(Over with the Collector Ship)
Meanwhile from above as the Collector had release a swarm of the bug to start capturing people just moments ago, before they open some cargo bay door below them reviling a Robeast coffin before they launch it towards the planet, coming down fast before crash near the settlement before it open.
Out from the coffin eight legs sprang forth, crawling out of the coffin itself revealing a spider Robeast which stretched out and went off on its own.
(Meanwhile back over on Horizon)
The Collector has started gathering human now as they drag all those who were paralyzed by the bugs, with one collector was looking around before it eyes flash as a familiar voice called out, "Assuming control."
After that the Collector body started to glow with cracks all over its body, as it seem Harbinger had taken control of a Collector's body before it walked over to Lilith, looking down at her without a sense or remorse or pity as the Reaper spoken through the collector body as it said, "We are the harbingers of their perfection. Prepare these human for ascension."
With that another Collector came by and drag Lilith over to others, preparing to take her away, but before it could, the collector's ship picked up a signal of sort before a wormhole portal open up, far away from the collector ship, but within its sensor range with the Normandy coming through first to see the damage as before they got a lock on a Robeast.
(The Normandy)
"Commander Shepard, sensors had picked up robeast lifeform on the planet," Edi said reporting her finding as John said, "Just great, get in contact with the castle of lions as soon they come out of the wormhole and warned them."
"Understood," Edi said as John, he soon prepare himself for battle as there was no way he was going to let these Collector get their way again.
(castle of lions)
Soon as the castle came through Shiala saw a call was coming from the Normandy as she said, "Commander, a call from the Normandy."
"Put them through," Kalvin said as soon enough Edi voice can be heard on the coms as she said, "Be advise paladins of Voltron. Robeast detected near the settlement, it seem the Collector were prepared for you."
"Oh, come on!" Leon said as he just hated this as he and every other paladin knew they cannot join in on fighting the collectors as Penny said, "What should we do?"
"What else can we do? WE go after the Robeast. Voltron is the only thing that can stop it as if we deploy, no doubt that robeast will be upon us when we launch."
"Why do they have to make this so much harder?" Hector said as he really didn't like where this was going as Allura said, "Shiala send down a team to support the Normandy crew, after that land the castle and gather as many survivors that you can."
"Yes, your highness," Shiala said as Kalvin said to the paladin, "Alright then, let load up in the 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 the planet to engage the Robeast and hope they can make it in time to save everyone.
(Later down on Horizon)
The Kodiak, the Altean Pod, and the Lions flew down towards the colony knowing the Collectors were making their move. "Alright here's the plan, the lions will draw the Robeast away from our position and from there the ground team will move in and prevent the Collector ship from escaping." John said giving a basic summary of the plan.
In turn the Lions peeled off as did the two transport ships. The Lions went towards where the Robeast was sighted, and the transport vehicles headed towards the ground. Once the two shuttles landed the doors opened and everyone began to step out of the vehicle once more. The Ground teams from the Castle of Lions and the Normandy stepped out and in turn the two ships lifted off to return to their ships.
From the Castle of Lions Sven, Kasumi, and Lotarius stepped out as the three joined up with the Normandy ground team. From the Normandy's team John lead the unit with Miranda, Garrus, Grunt, Jack, Mordin, and Jacob. Once they were out the group took a moment to look around at the colony and was soon freezing in shock at what their eyes were met with.
Not too far from where they had landed was a massive, strangely shaped ship, while what seemed to be storm clouds loomed over the colony, and after Garrus used his tools for viewing things at a distance, they were able to confirm that the large, insect-like beings that were slowly making their way around the settlement were the Collectors themselves, and each one seemed to be moving one or two pods that were large enough to hold a person inside of them. This was a clear indication that they had landed while the Collectors were still in the midst of abducting the colonists, and since that was the case, it immediately told John that there was still a likely chance that they could save the people who had already been taken aboard the ship, while also stopping the alien beings from taking any more of the colonists. Of course, that was still a way off at the moment, since they still needed to reach the ship and breach its defenses, and that was all the more reason why John was already formulating a plan of attack in his mind.
"Alright, clearly the Collectors haven't finished with this colony yet, but there's no telling how much longer it will be until they are, so that means that we have a limited amount of time to get the answers that we're here for along with doing whatever we can to help the people in this colony," John said to the entire team, with each member hanging on his every word. "If we want to get this job done right, then it may be best for us to split into two teams: an assault team to keep the Collectors' attention and a stealth team to gather the Intel needed and help any colonists that they can." John began giving the teams a rundown of what's going to happen. "Both groups will be responsible for gathering intelligence, but the primary purpose of the assault team will be to keep the Collectors attention on them while the stealth team does their job." John said as the strategy was sound. "Furthermore, if the stealth team encounters any colonists who haven't already been taken, then they'll have to move them to a safe location or a position that will be out of the enemy's notice." John finished but then Miranda had to voice a concern about this.
"I'm not sure that would even be possible," Miranda interrupted as she felt there was a huge chance it won't work. "We've all seen how thorough the Collectors are, so attempting to hide any of their targets might be futile." Miranda said as she rather not waste time on a futile effort.
"Maybe, but this is the first time that a team has been able to respond while they're in the final stages of their operation, so if it is possible, then we should at least try," John reminded his XO as that was a good point. "Any other questions?" John asked and when no one said anything in response, John moved on to team assignments. "Alright, Jack, Grunt, Mordin, Lotarius, and Jacob, you're with me on the assault team. Miranda, you'll be leading Kasumi, Sven, and Garrus as the stealth team." John said as this will be Sven's first bit of action since coming back.
"You sure you wanna trust cheerleader with the lives of your buddies, Boy Scout," Jack inquired as she found this surprising. It was no secret that John was not trusting of Cerberus, or anyone associated with them.
"As much as I'd hate to admit it, I'm actually as surprised as Jack is about your decision," Miranda revealed as she was just as surprised by this. "I was under the impression you didn't fully trust me." Miranda said making it clear that she was expecting Garrus to be in charge of this group.
John just looked at Miranda for a minute before he finally smirked a little and said, "I never said that I don't trust you, Miranda, just the organization that you're so loyal to, but you as a person, as Miranda Lawson, I do trust, and I'm putting a lot of faith in that trust to hope that you'll keep your team alive."
Miranda could have sworn that the air had become a little hotter for a few minutes after she heard that, but she quickly put any thoughts on that aside and nodded in response to Steve, showing that she was glad to hear that he trusted her with such an important role; though she did so without realizing that she was throwing him a small smile of honest happiness when she did.
After everyone had started moving into their respective groups, Jacob was the next one to ask a question regarding the teams. "Are you sure you want me on the assault team with you, Commander?" Jacob asked with concerns of his own. "I'd probably be better off on the stealth team, and let's not forget that you're also putting our only real field medic on the assault team as well." Jacob added as he found a few flaws with the teams.
"It's because of Mordin's talents as a medic that I'm putting him on the assault team, plus considering how skilled he is at multi-tasking, I'm hoping that he'll also be able to pick up on some data that both teams would probably miss for one reason or another," John explained to the former Alliance soldier. "I realize that he would probably be better on the stealth team, but I'd much rather make sure the chances of everyone in our group coming out of this alive are as high as possible." John said putting the team first and foremost. "As for my reasons for having you with us, well, you'd just have to look at who else is on the assault team, and you'd be able to realize that I'd need at least one other person with a level head with me to make sure no one goes overboard or takes any unnecessary risks." John said before directing his attention over to Jack, Grunt, and Lotarius. "No offense Jack, Grunt; Lotarius." John said but none of them seem bothered by this.
"None taken," the trio immediately replied in sync, with Jack and Grunt supporting a grin that showed that they were fully aware of why Steve would say that he needed someone else on the team with a level head, and that they were not ashamed of it. It was hard to tell with Lotarius as he was once more wearing his battle mask that hid his features.
After looking at the two groups for another minute, Jacob finally shrugged in acceptance of this and moved to stand with the rest of the assault team while John used his omni-tool to bring up a map of the area ahead. "Alright, from what EDI gave me of the colony's layout, we should be able to rendezvous at a shelter that's just a short way from the central control station for those defensive guns." John said as the location was highlighted. "But whoever gets there first will not likely have the luxury of waiting forever, so we'll need to do our best to arrive as close to the same time as one another as possible." John said knowing with the Lions keeping the Robeast occupied they had a chance. "Beyond that, just do what you can to stay alive." John said before he then turned towards Mordin with a question of his own. "Professor, are you sure that the modifications you made to our armors will work against the seeker swarms?" John asked and thus Mordin had his response for John.
"Certainty impossible, but in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms…in theory," Mordin admitted as he and Penny had worked hard on these upgrades.
"In theory," Kasumi asked with concern evident in her tone.
"Don't vorry." Sven cut in as he assured Kasumi with a hand on her shoulder. "Penny and zi doctor built zeez zey vill vork." Sven said promising Kasumi that they were not in danger.
"Either way, it's all we have right now, so it's a chance that we'll have to take." John said as he trusted Mordin and Penny's work. "Keep your guard up at all times, and if you encounter the enemy, either get away or turn them to ash." John said as he gave out something of a speech to the teams. "As of now, we're going to be officially letting the Collectors know just who they are at war with, and that we will fight to the very end in order to stop them if we have to." John said and thus that seemed to set everyone's confidence firmly in place, and with that said, the two groups split off from each other, with John's team taking point.
Meanwhile Miranda led her three current teammates off to a well-covered area so that they could move in to do their job the minute that the assault team had secured the Collectors' attention. As the two groups were moving, Miranda found that she was unable to stop herself from throwing one last concerned look at the back of the man that was leading this entire mission, and secretly praying that he would be careful on this assignment, and not just because they needed him for their primary mission to succeed either. ITs a shame really if the commander weren't so loyal to Ashley Miranda would have tried for John's affection. But you won't hear her say that aloud and Miranda was not some homewrecker either.
(Back over with the Paladins)
The Lions made landfall as they began running through the area towards the Robeasts location. "So does anyone thing Haggar is in league with the Collectors?" Leon asked as they ran across the fields with their Lions.
"Pretty easy to figure that out." Penny said as she kept an eye on her scanners.
"But the question is why? Why would she willingly help the Reapers without being indoctrinated?" Allura asked trying to figure out what Haggar got out of helping the Reapers.
"Keep your eyes peeled we don't know what sort of Robeast we're dealing with." Kalvin said as he lead the group.
"Well, I'll be the first to find out!" Leon boasted and thus with a cheer he charged ahead causing Kalvin to glare.
"Leon get back here!" Kalvin called out as Leon charged into the fray.
But after taking one turn into the canyon Leon and his lion were met with violet colored webbing that caught his Lion. Leon cried out in shock as his Lion got stuck in said webs. "Uh guys a little help!" Leon called out as he saw he was stuck.
"This is what happens when you charge ahead, you get covered in crap." Kalvin said as the other Lions gathered and began cutting Leon loose.
"What caused this?" Allura said as she took a glance around and saw the entire area was covered in webbing.
Just then movement was heard as Penny cried out in shock when a shadow was casted over them. "Uh... that." Hector said fearfully and thus the group was met with the Robeast a massive spider-like creature. The Spider Beast roared as it raised its body and fired off two laser shots from its rear side. The Lions managed to avoid it, but the area of effect got them forcing them through some phantom pain through the Lions.
"This is messed up; I mean are the Collectors really that much into their bug theme?!" Hector asked as he honestly hated spiders.
"Go for its underside it should be weaker there!" Allura said and thus she and Hector went for it.
"Right behind you!" Hector called but Penny saw something.
"Wait stop!" Penny called out and in turn the Spider Beast jumped onto the wall and fired another laser shot at them sending the Blue Lion and Yellow Lion into the wall. "Dammit. Guys in this canyon the Robeast has the advantage different surfaces to walk around give it different areas to fight from!" Penny said and in turn Kalvin saw what this mean.
"Welcome to my parlor said the spider to the fly." Kalvin said as he knew what this meant. This robeast was the spider, this canyon was the parlor, and the Lions were the flies.
(Back with the Normandy Teams)
It did not take long for the assault team to find themselves in a confrontation with the Collectors, but thankfully, the element of surprise was on their side, so the bug-like aliens were defeated in a matter of minutes. It was not an easy victory, but thanks a combined effort from Jack's biotics, Grunt's power, Mordin's quick thinking and medical and technological expertise, and Jacob and John's skills the battle did end in their favor, allowing the group to quickly move forward as fast as they could. Shortly after the first skirmish, the group found themselves encountering a small sized seeker swarm, and none of them could keep themselves from breathing a sigh of relief when the little bugs just flew past them like they were not even there, indicating that Mordin's countermeasure worked like it was supposed to. Unfortunately, that did not mean they did not encounter some form of problems as they made their way through the relative ghost town of a colony.
In fact, one of those problems was making itself known when communications came in from the Normandy. "Commander we're getting…of interference. We can't maintain…," Joker's voice reported through a haze of static, until his voice was completely lost, drawing looks of concern from everyone.
"What happened," John asked as he looked to his group in hopes that one of them could give him an answer.
"Collector ship disrupting communications," Mordin reported after he checked a few readings on his omni-tool.
"That's not good," Jacob muttered, voicing everyone's thoughts once he had, and it was clear that it was for more than just one reason.
John was quick to catch on to one of those reasons, and he immediately tapped his radio in the hopes of contacting their other group. "Miranda, do you read me?" John asked as he contacted the stealth team.
"Loud and clear, Shepard." Miranda instantly replied to John. "Is something wrong?" Miranda asked with concerns from his tone.
"Our communications with the ship just went out, and Mordin believes that the Collector ship is jamming the signal somehow." John reported as he needed to know the team was still alive. "How're things on your end?" John asked his tone professional yet urgent.
After a moment's pause, Miranda eventually answered, "I can't reach the ship either, Commander, but it does seem that our short-range communications are still functional." Miranda said which was good news to hear. "Though for how long that remains true I can't be sure." Miranda added which meant there was no telling how long their communications will last.
"Well, we'd better not take too much of a chance," John said as he decided on their next course of action. "I want your team to maintain radio silence for as long as possible unless you discover something of great significance." John ordered as they could not risk the Collectors finding out and attempting to jam short range as well.
"Actually, Commander I zink ve found a couple zings." Sven reported which John heard.
"What do you guys find?" John asked wondering what was going on.
"We've found a few of the colonists, but it doesn't seem like they're going anywhere any time soon." Garrus said as he reported what they found. "They seem to be fully aware of their surroundings, but they're completely frozen in place, almost like they're in some kind of stasis." He said as he spoke from what he was seeing. "I'm not sure how long it's been since they were frozen either." Garrus said which meant they had to hurry.
"Sounds like what Veetor told us that the seeker swarms did to the colonists on Freedom's Progress," Jacob noted as it seems that Veetor's information was spot on.
John did not have time to dwell on such thoughts though, both because the mission took priority at the moment, and the fact that his team were quickly ducking for cover due to the fact that a newly arrived strike force of Collectors. Those same Collectors were soon raining down fire on them from above as they descended to the ground with what John could only assume were some types of bio-tech jetpacks that seemed similar to insect wings. "You four keep moving, and remember, maintain radio silence unless you find something of great significance, or we contact you." John shouted into his radio over the explosions and weapons fire that was now peppering his group. "Contact the Paladins and get an update from them!" John added as he then closed the communication line before any of the stealth team could respond.
At that point, he immediately popped up and started firing his pistol. Meanwhile the others just lay into the Collectors with their own weapons and abilities. Mordin made sure to hold a position at the rear, as he was the team's field medic and so that he could gather some more data on their primary enemy, but Jack, Lotarius, and Grunt took no such precautions and instead just flared up their respective abilities while they unleashed hell. While Lotarius was not a perfect Krogan like Grunt was he still packed one hell of a punch.
Thankfully, Jacob was able to help John keep the two from going too crazy on their enemies, but not by very much, Jack and the two Krogans continuously fired their weapons without any regard for how much ammunition they were wasting. Thankfully, Jack did not use her weapons that much, as she often elected to throw out a few blasts of biotic powers at a good number of the Collectors, but those abilities did not seem to slow them down for long, and eventually, they found themselves encountering something else as well.
"What the hell," was the only thing that Jacob managed to shout before a grey-skinned, zombie-like creature suddenly rushed up to him and started swatting its arms at him like an out-of-control berserker. Looking at these strange abominations allowed one to also see a series of blue lights where the eyes should be, and in other parts of the body as well, while wiring and other odds and ends stuck out from their skin.
John seeing this acted fast and gave his order to the group. "Husks! Heads up they charge in and attack up close!" John called out and thus Grunt nodded.
"Got it." Grunt said as Jack grinned before she threw her Biotics at the Husks.
John charged in and opened fire on the Husk saving Jacob from it and kick it off of him. "You doing ok Jacob?" John asked as he helped Jacob up.
"Yeah, thanks Commander." Jacob said grateful for the assist from Shepard.
The two then took out their assault rifles and opened fire on the Husks. They managed to mow down the attackers taking them out one by one. Just then John took a turn and found his vision was quickly filled with a Collector aiming an organic-looking gun right at his head. Just as the alien was charging up its weapon to fire, a loud roar greeted both their ears just before the Collector was bashed aside and then torn apart by Grunt as he released a savage-sounding roar. Unfortunately, Grunt's sudden charge did not end there, because he was soon moving to tear through nearby buildings and structures like a mindless beast.
Seeing this immediately told John that Grunt had given into Krogan bloodlust, and he knew that he had to get his heavy hitter to calm down quickly, so he immediately charged into Grunt's path, causing the Krogan to stop as he continued roaring, and shouted, "Stand down, Grunt. That's an order." Grunt did not acknowledge John's words, but instead slowly stomped towards him like he was intending to rip the N7 turned SPECTRE in half as easily as he had the Collector. John paid no mind to his teammates' cries for him to get out of the way, and held his ground before he hollered, "I SAID STAND DOWN, SOLDIER!"
This time, Grunt completely halted his advance, and his eyes soon refocused as he shook his head a little to clear out some cobwebs that had formed in his mind for a moment. "Shepard." Grunt began as he recalled where he was. "What…what happened? I remember charging a Collector that was about to attack you and then…" Grunt began but then Lotarius stepped forward.
"Krogan rage." Lotarius said as he stepped towards Grunt. "Paladins told me of it, life giver Allura told me of it." Lotarius revealed as this was a natural thing for the Krogan.
"Don't worry Grunt, you'll get the hang of it." John said assuring Grunt he has things covered. John then directed his attention towards the Husks recognizing them from Eden Prime and the other battles against Seran. "Husk." John said as he glared at the creature that had once been human.
"Husk technology came from Sovereign," Mordin quickly added as this could pose a problem for them.
"Which means your Illusive Man was right." Grunt began with a growl. "The Collectors must work for the Reapers," Grunt added with a snarl.
"Do you think that these things were once the colonists that the Collectors have taken?" Jacob asked with concern for the colonists.
"No. No husk creation spikes. Collectors brought husks with them. Taking colonists with them. Some other purpose," Mordin noted as this meant that the Colonists may still be alive.
"They look different from the ones me, and my team fought when hunting Saren." John said as he recalled those battles.
"It's almost like they've…evolved or something."
"Maybe the Collectors gave 'em some upgrades," Jack offered as looking at these things made her sick. "I mean, if they work for the Reapers, it makes sense that they could do it, right?" She offered but Grunt then smirked.
"Doesn't matter. They still die when you shoot 'em." Grunt said ready to keep fighting.
"Still, it doesn't change the fact that this is a clear sign that the Collectors must be experimenting on the colonists." John began as the images coming to his head were not comforting. "The only questions are why and what are they up to," John said as this was a mystery for them.
"Fascinating questions. Answer…probably unpleasant," Mordin replied which probably meant that whatever the Collectors were doing to the taken colonists was bad news.
"And there's only one way for us to find out at the moment," Jacob said as he looked towards the Collector ship, his gaze soon being joined by the others.
"Then I guess we can't afford to waste any more time here, so let's move out," John ordered as the soldier knew he had a job to do, they all did. Once everyone had gathered up some thermal clips for their guns and reloaded their weapons, they were all quickly moving on to the rendezvous point, hoping that they would not encounter any further surprises from the Collectors.
(Back to the Robeast Battle)
The Lions were firing off their beams at the Robeast keeping it from cornering them. As the Lions had their jaw blades active Kalvin tried to find the best opening to make a counterattack. With the creatures webbing escaping it might become difficult and they needed space to form Voltron. Just then the communications link activated, and Miranda's voice cut in.
"Kalvin do you copy?" Miranda asked as Kalving grunted and avoided another attack from the Spider Beast.
"Kind of busy with the Robeast, be quick." Kalvin said as his Lion then fired off another beam.
"Our long-ranged communications are down, short ranged are still operational. The Commander has issued radio silence." Miranda said as she relayed John's earlier commands.
"Well, that complicates things." Kalvin said thankful the Lions have their own private communication line to each other. "Alright I understand switching to radio silence." Kalvin said and then ended the call to focus his attention on the battle.
"Damn it, this thing just won't stand still!" Leon said as he keep shooting at the spider robeast, but terrain was giving it an advantage over the lions, as yes, they can fly, shoot, summon weapons, but this spider had plenty of trick up its nonexistent sleeves with the organic spider web it shoots make everything sticky as the team had to avoid or else getting stuck.
"Can we do anything to slow it down, shoot ice or have plants grow around it?" Hector suggestive as Allura said, "If I try shooting any ice beams it would cause the whole area to cover in ice which would make it difficult to fight if we slip around."
"Same here, as I would be just creating obstacle that would get in the way, not to mention it might just give the spider more of an advantage, as if this thing can dodge our attack well enough, we won't be able to lock it down with our abilities or weapons," Penny said as Kalvin said, "Then let try surrounding it, flank on all angles. Do not give it any room to escape or attack"
"Right!" the team said as they broke apart, with the green lion going invisible and rush off somewhere, the yellow lion stood before it stood before it, the blue lion took a position above the canyon with the black lion on the other side of the Canyon, and the red lion hovering above, as the spider robeast saw this and try to run away as it turn around only to be ambushed by the Green lion who just appeared, no doubt Penny turn invisible to get behind the spider which worked as the spider saw it was surrounded on all sides including the air.
"Alright, lets hit it all at once," Kalvin said as the black lion charge up a beam attack with the other lions doing so as the spider robeast roar out in anger as Kalvin soon yelled out, "And fire!"
All at once, the five lions fire their beams at the spider robeast as it suddenly moved at the last moment when the beams suddenly hit where the spider was at with massive amount of dust came up, with Hector soon said, "Did we get it?"
"I can't tell," Leon said from above as then the dust settled as the area was clear, there was no sign of the Robeast, but there was a massive hole where the spider robeast should have been as Kalvin said, "It escape."
"How in the- this robeast can dig!?" Penny said as Kalvin soon shouted to Allura, "Allura sonar now!"
"Right!" Allura said as she brought out her sonic blaster and send a few pulse at the hole and get a clear view of where this spider was at underground as Allura brought up the map and track the spider robeast as her eyes widen and said, "Hector below you!"
"What?!" Hector said as suddenly the Spider Robeast suddenly pops up from below the yellow lion and drag it with as Hector suddenly screams to this as Penny said, "Hector!"
Leon try shooting down in the hole but hit nothing as Kalvin said, "Where did they go?"
Suddenly the yellow lion came through the other hole cover in webs as he yells out, "Guys! This robeast just web me, I can't move!"
"Leon burn that web off of the yellow lion," Kalvin said as Leon fired a fire beam from the red lion which did burn the web a bit, but it seem this was a distraction as suddenly below the black lion the land shakes, the robeast pops up and grab the black lion, but at the last moment Kalvin flew up away from it avoided from getting caught by it as he said, "Nice try!"
Suddenly the spider robeast fire a web at the black lion, getting it stuck in the web as Kalvin suddenly cry out, "Shit, it got me!"
"Hold on Kal!" Allura said as she try to help, but the spider saw her coming as suddenly came out of the hole before it swing the black lion towards the blue knocking blue down as Allura and Kalvin cry out to this, with the blue lion landed in the canyon before flung the black lion across the sky as Kalvin yell out, "Craaaaaap!"
The black lion landed pretty far away with the black lion still tangled in webs, while inside the cockpit as Kalvin recover from the hit and throw, he just went through while rubbing his head a bit while he said, "Shit!"
"Yo Kal! you alright bro?" Leon called out as Kalvin said to him, "Yeah, but I'm stuck as well."
"I'll come get you then," Leon said as Kalvin said to him, "No doubt! Keep focus on the robeast, I can get myself free."
"How?" Leon said as Kalvin smile as active the jaw blade on the black lion he said, "The black lion jaw is free, I can cut myself free but don't lose track of that robeast."
"Got it, I'll keep the troop together until you get back," Leon said as Kalvin said to him, "I'll try not to take long."
Back to the Robeast battle the Lions all roared and went on the attack. But with being short one lion they could not form Voltron which left them at a disadvantage. The Lions roared and fired their lasers, but the Spider Beast proved itself to be strong that it warranted the need for Voltron.
"What does it take to beat this thing!?" Hector asked as they were being pushed back.
"We need a new plan!" Allura added as Leon growled from his Lion.
"This can't possibly get worse." Leon said and thus Leon said the wrong thing. As if to prove him wrong a fire ball was seen raining down from the sky showing that something has arrived on the scene.
"You just had to say it didn't you?" Penny said as she saw the fireball approach.
Soon enough the fireball crashed into the ground and from there tore up parts of the Canyon from the impact. The Lions managed to hold their ground as did the Spider Robeast and when the smoke cleared a new combatant made itself known one wearing Cerberus colors. The new arrival was a giant robot lion larger than the five Voltron Lions and armed to the teeth with guns and cannons. The Paladins were now stuck between two foes the Robeast and this new Cerberus lion mech.
(TBC)
ESKK: Glad to get this chapter done, look forward to, part 2, when it's done. Thankfully having to split a chapter in two means that it shouldn't take long for the next chapter to finish. Anyway be sure to leave a review and as I always say on here, ja-ne.