Collective Rebirth
ESKK: Here we got the aftermath and the start of the next leg of this story. However, before we begin there is something I need to say to a Spanish speaking guest reviewer whose requests that I do certain things with my story and/or keeps asking me to do certain stories has reached an apex. STOP SPAMMING MY GUEST REVIEWS! If you haven't noticed already, I DON'T TAKE REQUESTS! I won't do any of your fanfic requests, I won't use your ideas, and most of all I WON'T ACCEPT YOUR REVIEWS ANY LONGER. If you wan't to leave a review fine but it needs to be a review about the story not idea's you want me to use for it. Now that we have that out of the way let's begin the chapter.
(Start SR-2 Normandy Captains Quarters)
The general feeling on the ship was most definitely not a positive one, to say the least. Ever since what happened on Horizon, the team's attitude and morale was at an all-time low, a feeling that had spread to the rest of the crew, but no one could really fault them for feeling that way. This was the team's first real encounter with the enemy that they were assembling together to face, and a good deal of them had been given a very large eye-opener on the mission to Horizon, one that had left some of them feeling more than a little rattled. Discovering a person's limits was always a good thing to know so that they could improve for later, but when they were exposed in the way that the team's limits had been, it was very difficult to see such things very clearly. This of course was without considering the attitude that had consumed the new Normandy's captain after his most recent discussion with the Illusive Man.
After he had returned to the ship and changed out of his armor in exchange for his usual ship outfit, he had immediately gotten in touch with the Illusive Man to give his own views on how things had gone on Horizon, partially because he had a few suspicions about the whole thing. The main reason for his suspicion was that it was a little too coincidental that both Ashley and Kaiden were on a colony that had been attacked by the Collector. Naturally, the N7 turned SPECTRE was more than a little suspicious of the man leading the terrorist group.
Those suspicions were quickly proven true when the Illusive Man admitted to throwing out a few "carefully disguised rumors" about him being alive, working for Cerberus, and recruiting members of Shepard's old crew, all because he suspected that the Collectors might have been looking for people connected to the late commander or even information on the new Normandy and its captain, as well as anyone who may have a connection to him.
This little mission may have proven that such an idea may have been true, but that still meant that the Illusive Man had deliberately lured the Collectors out of hiding for the sake of curiosity. If it were not for the fact that he needed Cerberus and the Illusive Man's resources right now, John would have told the man to shove it and gone his own way, and frankly, he was not sure whether or not he was still seriously considering it.
Not only had the Illusive Man practically set things up so that they would definitely encounter the Collectors, but during the conversation the two had, he had the gall to question the resolve of both John and his team in whether or not they would be able to carry out their suicide mission to beyond the Omega 4 Relay. John was well aware that there would be no going back once they went through that relay. The SPECTRE did not need this man of mystery telling him of such things or that he needed to make sure his team was fully committed for this assignment. This was a fact that he made well-known to the Illusive Man by telling him to let him worry about his team while Cerberus' leader dealt with finding a way to the Collector home world. Still, making sure his team would be ready was probably easier said than done right now, given all that had happened back on Horizon.
Jack was a bit rattled over how she had actually reached her limit on what she could do with her biotics, Kasumi was likely traumatized by the fact that someone had seen through her cloak, all of Jacob's work on the ground team's weapons and armor seemed to have been barely enough to keep them alive, Grunt had nearly lost control of himself in the heat of the moment, and that was really just the things that John had been able to note. The entire group was discouraged by what they had learned from that mission, and there was very little doubt in the SPECTRE's mind that they were all now well aware of just how great the chances they would not be coming back from the mission to the Collector home world were. Needless to say, John's show of confidence to the Illusive Man when it came to his team was probably more of an act than the N7 turned SPECTRE cared to admit. There was a very strong chance that his team's fighting spirit was broken because of all this.
There was also the other issue to discuss, the Robot that attacked the Paladins. It both bore Cerbers colors and the Cerberus crest. The Illusive Man actually looked annoyed when he saw the images. He promised to investigate it since he admitted that he did NOT send the mech out to attack the Paladins. All the Illusive Man said was that there may be a rogue factor in his organization and would find the source and forward it to Miranda. With all of these factors in mind, it was really no surprise that John had gone straight up to the captain's quarters to stew a little after he ended his conversation with the Illusive Man.
John had to admit that his quarters were a vast improvement from the one he had on the original Normandy. In all honesty, John felt that his quarters were like something you would find in a five-star hotel with how fancy it was. The place not only made up almost all of Deck 1 on the ship, but it also had a really nice bed, a desk, a private bathroom with a shower, couches, a closet, and even a fish tank. Why anyone would need that last one on a ship like the Normandy, John was not entirely sure. However, the SPECTRE was not going to complain about now nice the accommodations were in comparison to what he would have expected. At least he had all this space to himself in order to help him get his thoughts together about things, be it the information he had recently learned, or even just in general.
However, there was another issue that John felt needed to be sorted out. The first issue was Allura and the fact that she had responsibilities to her people. While John can applaud Allura for doing her part for Voltron that did not mean they should just let her keep going. She is an important political figure now and as Coran had no doubt stated she needs to start slowing down a bit. Hey may need to contact the Castle of Lions for some sort of update on their end of things.
John was eventually stirred from his thoughts when someone knocked at the door to his very nice quarters, prompting him to stand up from the couch where he was currently seated and call out, "Who is it?"
"It's Miranda, Commander." the voice of John's XO replied. "May I come in? There's some things I wanted to talk with you about." She requested to the man she helped revive.
Seeing as he had no real reason to not allow the genetically perfect woman in at the moment, John figured he might as well. "Yes, come in." John said and once the door had whooshed open, the brunette stepped into the room with a data pad in hand.
Miranda's eyes glued to the object in question as she briskly got right down to business. "I've been looking over the most recent dossiers that the Illusive Man had sent over." Miranda said as she showed John the dossiers. "I'd appreciate your opinion on who we should consider going to recruit first, if you don't mind." Miranda said as John took the offered data pad.
"Fine, if you really think so," John replied a little more shortly and snappish than he had meant to, but at the moment, he was still a bit too upset to really care that much.
Miranda did not miss John's curt tone, but then again, it was hard for her to miss a lot of different things; probably one of the few things she could give her father credit for that she was actually thankful about. Upon finally looking up from the data pad, it did not take long for her to realize just how upset John really was, and that he was holding a great deal of his ill feelings in just because he had company at the moment.
Setting the data pad aside on the desk, Miranda immediately walked over, determined to find out what was wrong with the captain, if for no other reason, than to make sure that his ill feelings would not affect any upcoming missions they would have. That really was the only reason for her concern at the moment, or at least, that would be what she was telling herself despite a small voice in her head that was telling her otherwise for reasons she could not understand.
"Commander Shepard," Miranda started, thinking that using a more familiar form of address would help ease him into conversation. "Have I done anything recently to offend you in some way?" Miranda asked making her concerns known.
Miranda was not entirely sure why she had worded the question in that way, but it was not like she could take it back now, and it seemed to be a good starting point given that John responded rather quickly to it. "You? No of course not. Your boss, on the other hand, is another story entirely." John said as he was not entirely fond of what the Illusive Man had been up to behind his back. Reports of him being sighted is one thing but actually spreading it to get the enemy's attention was pushing it.
The tone may have been just as curt as it was earlier, but at least now Miranda had some idea as to why John was in such a bad mood. "Would you mind telling me exactly what is wrong," Miranda asked as she moved to sit down next to him.
"That depends," John began with a calm tone. "Did you know anything about it?" John asked as he had several concerns about this.
"About what, exactly," Miranda prompted not entirely sure as to what John was talking about.
"That your boss had sent out a few disguised rumors about my return from the dead in an attempt to lure the Collectors out and practically set Horizon up as a proving ground for us," John revealed as he made the issue known. After all what the Illusive Man did crossed a line.
That ended up being the thing that shocked Miranda, and it must have shown on her face, because John's posture seemed to relax a little more shortly after he had revealed what he did. After taking a moment to quickly recompose herself, Miranda swiftly replied, "I didn't know about that. I had a feeling that he might try to send out a few well-hidden stories about you being back in an attempt to keep the Collectors on their toes and make them more cautious about attacking our colonies, but I never thought that could be his goal."
"Miranda, the man endangered the lives of those colonists just to test a theory of his, and look at what's happened as a result," John exclaimed, clearly going into a rant. "Half of another colony is on its way to wherever the Collectors are taking them, for a purpose that we still don't know the exact nature of, and not only that, but the team has suffered a serious blow to their morale because of what had happened on Horizon." John said making the issue clear. "And if that wasn't enough, to top it off, the man had the gall to question our resolve in regard to this mission." John ranted as he did not appreciate using civilians as pawns. "I realize that it'll be asking a lot when we finally move to head for the Collector home world, but that doesn't give him the right to question whether or not I believe everyone is willing to give their lives for this cause when they were all well aware of the risks when they signed up." John said as he trusted his team to do what was needed for the mission.
Miranda just let John vent out his frustrations in silence, and when he finally finished, she decided that now was as good a time to try and reason with him as any, and said, "I understand how you feel, Shepard, but you have to understand it from his perspective." Taking a moment Miranda continued to speak. "If there was a chance that he was right, then it was better to find out this way than through some random attack where we weren't able to respond as quickly." Miranda said revealing what she thought about this. "The Illusive Man prefers to look at the larger picture, and that's helped Cerberus in more ways than one over the years." Miranda said but John had a few issues with that.
"The thing about the bigger picture, it's made up of smaller pictures." John said making clear why he was seen as a Paragon. Seeing that her words were not doing much to help the N7 feel any better, Miranda opted for another approach, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder as she said, "Shepard, I honestly don't like what he did anymore, than you do, but you can't deny that it has given us new information that we didn't have before which will make stopping the Collectors happen a lot sooner."
"But at what cost?" John asked which Miranda had a counter for that.
"Command there is still a chance that we can still save those people that were taken if we act fast enough." Miranda said which peaked John's interest.
"What makes you so sure we can do that," John asked softly as he needed some good news.
"Because we're being led by Commander Shepard both of them and one of them has Voltron," Miranda replied in full seriousness, but there was still no hiding an undercurrent of playful joking in her voice when she had said that.
Apparently, Miranda's response had the desired effect, as John soon found the corners of his lips turning upwards into a smile, which actually drew a small smile from Miranda as well. Miranda then removed her hand and in turn got back to work.
"So, you said something about discussing which recruitment mission we should consider taking up next?" John said as he also felt it was time to get back to their current task.
"That's right," Miranda quickly nodded in reply as she quickly scooped up the data pad with all the grace she could muster while not seeming like she was in a hurry to end the awkwardness. Once she had the data pad in hand, Miranda held the object towards John while saying, "About the blow to the team's morale, I think that going through a very simple mission like perhaps one of these recruitment missions might be just what they all need to get back to their old selves, or at least as close as they could be at the moment."
"I agree." John said before Miranda then recalled one other thing quick.
"Alright and Commander, I also had specific orders from the Illusive Man about one of the recruitment drives." Miranda said as she got to the tidbit. "The Illusive Man was hoping for the Paladins to meet with this one." Miranda said as she displayed one Dossier in particular.
When John heard this and read the file, he considered the benefits. The Paladins were more or less experienced from what Garrus and the others had told him. This Dossier will bring them to Omega yes but thankfully if all goes well the Castle of Lions ship will have a new ally for the upcoming suicide mission. More so it will give him time to retrieve the other person of interest on the Dossiers.
"Alright, Miranda forward the Dossier to the Paladins." John said and Miranda nodded to this.
"Of course, Commander." Miranda said and in turn she took her leave to carry out the task.
(Scene Break Citadel Human Embassy)
In the Human Embassy in Andersons office Ashely sat there with Anderson and Admiral Hacket in attendance. It wasn't the first time that Ashley Williams had spoken to the human councilor in his office but being summoned on such short notice was new. She guessed that her report regarding Horizon had anything to do with it.
Ashley had been spending time with her family after returning from Horizon. Kaiden had calmed down a bit and accepted that he was out of line with his words. They were supposed to be having brunch which normally included her sisters teasing her about adopting Shepard's son. At this point he was an honorary Willsan and that was when he wasn't visiting with his girlfriend or his lion. Ashley was actually there when Kalvin finished up N7 school and had been filled with pride for him.
As the outer office secretary asked the Alliance Marine in, she made a few quick steps into the room, stopped when she had reached the appropriate distance to the desk, and snapped to attention. "Operations Chief Ashley Williams reporting–" Ashley began but was cut off when the hand the councilor had held up made her stop.
"At ease, Operations Chief. We can drop the formalities," David Anderson said, with a sympathetic smile. "Please take a seat. Can I offer you something? Coffee?" Anderson offered as he opted to ease Ashely into this.
"Yes, thank you, sir," she replied as she could use some joe at the moment.
"How is the shoulder, Chief?" Anderson asked as Ashley had to resisted the urge to rub it. During the assignment immediately prior to the one on Horizon, she had been hit right as she was about to extract a hostage. There were no lasting damages, the doctors had assured her, still, sometimes she still felt the pain when she stretched the arm.
"Perfectly healed, sir," Ashley said to the councilor. It was no straight lie, just a little embellishment.
"Good." Anderson said though Ashley suspected he saw right through her.
For a moment, the non-commissioned officer thought that there was something else visible in the councilor's expression. Unfazed by her doubts, Anderson went to the terminal on his desk and asked his secretary for three mugs of coffee.
Ashley was surprised at first, but then she saw some commotion in a corner of the office. An admiral stepped into her field of view, and Ashley was about to jump to her feet and salute, but the man quickly said, "Remain seated, Chief."
"Admiral Hackett, sir. What gives me the honor?" Ashley asked as she did not expect him to be here. The flag officer sat down on the edge of Anderson's desk, and handed her a data pad, "We are sorry for disturbing your little family time, but we want you to have a look at this. We'll consider it the final mission of your training."
Hackett was straight to the point, just as she preferred. Intrigued by his announcement, Ashley looked at the data pad. The device checked her security clearance, and moments later, she could see its contents.
Ashley eyes widen to this as she said, "Y-you want me to join up with the Paladins of Voltron?"
"To monitor and watch over Commander Shepard of the Normandy, sense you refuse to join up with him because of Cerberus, the next best thing is for you to join with the paladins, as Paladin Shepard and his group are running a joint cooperation to deal with the Collectors, as you put in your last report they aren't working for Cerberus, only with Commander Shepard" Anderson said as he knew this was the best way to have an inside person watching and make sure Shepard is doing the right thing while keeping tabs on Cerberus as Admiral Hackett said, "You are free to take a few selected detachment of Alliance Personnel if needed."
"Well as much I would like too, I'm afraid I would have to refuse the extra help, as last time the paladin was using Alliance resources, it was used against them and lock up the Castle of lion when they were most needed," Ashley explain her reason before she went on saying, "In fact, I don't think I can do this as well given I am a part of the Alliance."
"Well we had a few ideas of one of them is temporality suspend you from the Alliance, but that would cause more problems than needed," Anderson said as he told of the idea as Ashley understood that as if she did so, she wouldn't have any resources such as firearms and weaponry, she wouldn't be able to call for help, back up or reinforcement, and any calls would be restricted, not to mention that would hurt her pride as an Alliance proud family, with Hackett suggest another idea as he said, "The other idea a paid vacation. You're free to go wherever you like, with anything you need given you are still a part of the Alliance, firearms and weapon would be needed as it is still a dangerous galaxy."
"Vacation in a Battlezone, sound like my kind of vacation," Ashley said jokingly a bit with the others could not help but chuckled or smile to this as well as Anderson said, "We're glad you see it that way then."
"Very well then, when do I take my "Vacation" sirs?" Ashley asked as Admiral Hackett said, "Effective immediately Chief."
"Yes sirs, thank you," Ashley said as she stood up and salute as they return it as Ashley put down her arm and said, "Well now I guess I'm going to pack my bags. Don't know if I should pack some sunscreen or smoke screen."
"Maybe something over covering like an umbrella or armor," Anderson said as he joke a bit as well as he looked to Ashley and said, "Be careful out there, and help the Paladin to the best of your abilities, protect the castle of lion's crew from Cerberus, and most importantly… don't keep them in the dark."
"Understood sir, I'll see myself out," Ashley said as she walks out of the office as Admiral Hackett said, "You think she'll do well?"
"I'm sure of it, Kalvin trusts her, and she trust him, I just hope we are doing all we can to help them," Anderson said as Hackett understood what he meant as with Alliance hands being tied, and the Council won't do a damn thing against the collectors, this was all they could do as it is now in the hands of the Paladins, and commander Shepard to take care of business and hope they can succeed.
(Castle of lions)
Another day, another route checking for Kalvin, as he can't help but do some checks around before another mission comes up as his first stop is Rana, given that she's a neurospecialist, they let her work in the medical pod room with Lotarius to keep helping him the best she could as he came in and saw Rana working on something Kalvin said, "Knock-knock."
Rana stopped what she was doing as she jumped a bit as she said, "Oh, Commander Shepard. Sorry you sort of surprise me there."
"Don't be sorry, you were deep in… whatever it is your doing," Kalvin said as Rana was looking at her work and said, "Well just working on Paladin Penny's idea of indoctrination a mind so they won't be indoctrination by any other ways."
"How is that coming along anyways?" Kalvin asked as he knew the best way to fight against the reapers and not become their slave is through this as Rana said, "Making some progress, not all that much not yet. Little progress is better than no progress."
"I agree on that and you just scratching at the surface of it so it's understandable," Kalvin said as Rana nodded and soon ask, "Was there something you need Commander?"
"Nothing at the moment, I'm just walking around, doing some rounds, and check on thing and see how you are doing and adjusting here," Kalvin said as Rana nodded and said, "I'm doing pretty alright, with no threat of getting blown up or shot at, and able to do some good at least. And I'm adjusting quite well also thanks to the crew, I never knew Alteans were such friendly people, given they were once a part of a mad man's army."
"It's understandable, they are a peaceful race of people, just were used and miss lead while also trying to adjust to a whole new universe sort of speak," Kalvin said as the betrayal of Lotor was still fresh in the minds of many Alteans, they are at peace with Allura helping them by giving them hope as Rana nodded as she understand that as Kalvin soon said, "Anyways I'll let you get back to work, but if you need any special tools or equipment, just send in a request form to either Penny or Allura."
"Alright, I'll put together a list of a few things I would need," Rana said as she got back to work herself before Kalvin walk off and check on the next person who would need a visit from a somewhat friendly face, being Kasumi.
(Kasumi's room)
Kasumi sat in her room as she was watching the TV she acquired, don't ask how. Apparently, some network made a Voltron TV show but made the entire team more or less diverse in comparison to their real-life versions. Kalvin was still a human but was called Keith for some reason. Allura was still Allura, but she was now a white skinned and blond haired Altean, Leon was replaced by a Turian, Hector was switched with a Korgan, and Penny was switched out with an Asari. Apparently having an actual Altean play the role of Allura made the show popular. There was even a rumor that the Paladins were asked to help with the show by giving the actors pointers on their personalities.
Another aspect of the show was the budding romance between Keith and Allura. Apparently, the show creators had a bias towards Leon and were gunning to pair his character with Allura. The producers put a stop to that and reminded that they wanted it to keep as close to the original as possible. Though watching it Kasumi can see that they were keeping to that as she saw Leon and Penny's characters dancing around their feelings for each other.
Kasumi had been following the show for a bit keeping up to date and what not. But as she watched she soon heard a knock from her door before she turned the show, off. "Come in." Kasumi said and in turn the door opened to reveal Sven entering the room.
"Ello Kasumi iz everyzing ok?" Sven asked as he entered the room.
"Of course, why wouldn't it be, ok?" Kasumi asked as she tried to play off what she was really feeling.
After the incident with the Collectors Kasumi had been doubting her abilities as a thief. Her cloak was her best weapon her ace in the hole and to have it mean nothing had stuck close to home for the thief. There was one job she needed to do a personal one but with her feelings on her cloak tech Kasumi wasn't sure if she can pull the job off.
"Ve are all vorried for you." Sven said as he stepped into the room. "After zi incident vith zi collectors ve zink... I zink zat you are doubting yourzelf." Sven said as he knew something was bugging Kasumi.
"I appreciate the sentiment really I do but I'm fine." Kasumi said but Sven would not let Kasumi drop this.
"Your cloak iz an important aspect for un zief." Sven said as he leaned against the door arms crossed. "So, iv your cloak vaz compromized zen az un zief zhen your abilities may be in question." Sven said as he caught Kasumi with that one. "It happens but thiz doez not lessen your value to zi team." Sven said assuring Kasumi that she can get through this.
Kasumi heard Sven's words and had to admit they did cheer her up a bit. Still she needed to do something to clear her mind a bit. "Anyvay ve are going to zi Citadel to restock on supplies." Sven said as Kasumi saw Sven had given her just the thing she needed.
"Yeah, a trip to the Citadel would be a good way to unwind." Kasumi said as she was looking forward to that particular trip.
"My zoughts exactly." Sven said as he was all for it a chance for them to rest, restock, and recenter themselves to face the Collectors. The two sat as they talked for a bit longer Kasumi unwinding a bit as she worked on regaining her confidence.
(Later over in Penny's lab)
Penny smiled as she stood in front of Kalvin, Hector, Leon, and Allura to present her latest creation. "After over a month of extensive work and gathering parts I needed from our connections I am proud to announce that my new creation is done!" Penny announced with great pride in her voice. "I present for your pleasure, The Pride!" Penny announced and thus pulled the tarp off of her creation revealing a heavily armored six-wheeled tank.
Needless to say, the Paladins were amazed at what they were seeing. The tank was clearly heavily armed and judging from the segmented areas had gears and gadgets to use in battle. But Leon however had a concern he wanted to voice about this. "Yeah, I want to ask... why do we need a tank?" Leon asked as he already had the Red Lion for a tank.
"Well, I realized our Lions aren't exactly stealthy well except for mine." Penny began as she explained why she built it. "I built this thing for missions where we need some stealth but also some firepower." Penny explained as she tapped her hand against the tank.
"I mean it looks cool but is it safe?" Hector asked and thus Penny smirked and activated her Omni-Tool. After she input some of the commands the Tanks form shifted producing a large gun from the top side, rocket launchers from the back end, electrical currents at each of the wheels no doubt for tazing people who get to close, and some added armor at the windshields followed by shields.
"Does that answer your question, Hector?" Penny asked with a smirk on her face. The Green Paladin then used her Omni-Tool to have the tank revert from its battle mode back to its speed mode. "Come inside guys I'll show you what this bad boy has got." Penny said as she guided the Paladins into, The Pride.
Once everyone was inside of the tank, they saw all the buttons and gadgets inside the tank. There were five seats inside one for each of the Paladins. "Here we have navigation, over here is the weapon systems." Penny said gesturing to each seat and panel. "Right here we got shields and assist tools." Penny said going to the one with glowing buttons. "And of course, there is the tech support in case something needs to be fixed on the go." Penny said going to the last part.
"And where is the steering wheel?" Kalvin asked as he noted said seat was missing.
Upon hearing this Penny input another command into her Omni-Tool the command seat appeared. "It's the chair with your name and exact lumbar settings Kal." Penny said gesturing to the chair in question. There was even a sticky note that had Kalvin's name on it.
"If the Alliance found out we had this they would freak out." Leon said amazed at what Penny pulled off.
"Or offer Penny a job in weapons development." Kalvin joked as he knew most of the Alliance weapons come from corporate groups.
"Now that's a scary thought, Penny with near unlimited resources at her disposal." Hector quipped as Penny made a mock evil laugh to this.
"Just wait my evil plans will come to fruition." Penny joked as she admired her handy work.
"Commander Shepard." Shiala's voice was heard as she got Kalvin's attention from the intercom.
Kalvin then activated out his Omni-tool with his response to Shiala. "This is Shepard." Kalvin said as he wanted to hear what Shiala needed.
"We're about to arrive at the Citadel for resupplying." Shiala said suggesting that the Paladins and the crew had a bit of shore leave right now. "If you have any errands to run, then I suggest you do them now." Shiala said and thus the crew knew this as such.
"Alright, thanks Shiala." Kalvin said and then hung up to address the other Paladins. "Alright guys we're about to land, Penny clean up your lab and if you have things to do on the Citadel, I suggest doing them." Kalvin said and in turn the Paladins began to depart from the Tank to change into causal wear for some shore leave.
(Scene Break at the Citadel)
The Castle of Lions arrive at the Citadel as they were dressed in casual wear now. Penny was dressed in shorts and a hoodie with sneakers. Kalvin was dressed in a white shirt, black jacket, and jeans with boots for footwear. Leon was wearing a short sleeve shirt, skinny jeans, and had headphones around his neck. Hector was dressed in his normal clothing of large pants, a large orange shirt, boots, and his bandanna with a jacket to bring it together. Allura was of course dressed in something of a dress nothing fancy but just something casual. Of course, she was wearing sunglasses and a sun hat knowing that the Paladins had celebrity statues, but Allura was a political figure as well as a Paladin.
"Alright guys you all know the rules, watch your pockets, don't blow your budget, and when we're ready to depart I'll call you all back." Kalvin said and thus everyone understood.
"Wait what about Sven?" Leon asked and thus the group looked and saw Sven and Kasumi walking off as Leon saw this.
"You don't think..." Penny voiced with concern for Sven.
"No this is Sven we're talking about." Leon said as he thought he knew Sven better.
"Guys just let him be, if he gets into trouble, he'll call us." Kalvin said trusting Sven to handle himself without issues. With that done the group parted ways to take care of whatever they needed to do or just have fun and relax. Kalvin and Allura went one way while Hector, Penny, and Leon went another way.
(Later at the Altean Embassy)
Kalvin and Allura walked into the Altean Embassy and saw the front desk worker was an Altean. There were a few Asari and C-Sect officers outside. After Lotor tricked the Alteans into attacking the Citadel a year ago some folks didn't like the Altean's getting an Embassy and what not. The Altean people have been paying restitutions ever since and just wanted to rebuild what had been lost.
The fact Allura was a Paladins had helped many in stamping down on the Anti-Altean sentiments. It was a lot of hard work, but they were making do. Several businesses were even hiring Alteans who come to the Citadel to spread their wings so to speak. C-Sect even had one Altean on staff which Allura had the benefit of crossing paths with on the way here. Entering the Embassy, the pair walked over to the front desk where the Altean was filing away what needed to be filed and taking calls which were not very often.
"Hey." Kalvin began but the Altean wasn't paying attention.
"Pardon me but I'm dreadfully busy right now can you take a seat and wait for." The Altean said as she was doing a lot of work right now. But when her eyes saw the pair, she was wide eyed in shock when Allura lowered her shades a bit to give the Atlean a good look. "Paladin! Princess!" Merla cried out in shock as she stood up and nearly tripped over her own feet standing up.
"Easy there we just wanted to know if Coran is busy?" Kalvin said as he assured Merla, she was ok.
"I can check in a moment." Merla said as she sat there trying to remain calm.
"Merla what happened to the front desk person?" Allura asked finding it odd that Merla was here instead of further inside.
"I'm sorry we've just been having a few issues lately your majesty." Merla said being respectful to the royal. "The Asari who normally handles things up here has been well I think she's having problems." Merla said her voice deep with concern at the moment.
"Problems how?" Kalvin asked as he was worried for this Asari.
"Nothing serious I hope it's just with recent protests against the Alteans she's worried for her own safety." Merla said as Allura found this to be cause for concern.
"Protests?" Allura asked as she was worried for her people's safety and the safety of others.
"Ambassador Coran can fill you in on more if you ask." Merla said as she finished ringing him up. "And thankfully the ambassador is on a coffee break if you wish to speak with him now." Merla said after checking Coran's schedule.
"Of course, I'm sure Coran has a story about this." Kalvin said as he and Allura began to head up to speak with Coran.
(Later over in Coran's office)
Coran was looking he was having a bad day with his dark bags under his eyes and a coffee in hand as he will emit coffee may not have a pleasant taste, but he does help him keep on his toes a bit, but didn't the stress wasn't helping as when the door open as he said, "Merla, I'm on break right now can you come back later when I had-
He trail off his words as he looked up and saw Kalvin and Allura as he put down his cup of coffee and said in a loud and a bit surprise and excited tone, "Princess Allura!"
"Hello Coran, it's so good to see you again," Allura said as was already over and hugged the princess for a bit before letting off and said, "What are you doing here?"
"We saw the C-sec officers around, what has been going on?" Allura said as Kalvin spoken up saying, "And are you doing, okay? It looks like you haven't been sleeping or something."
"Your right I've been getting only a few hours of sleep these last few days, ever sense Lotor invasion, the people around the Citadel hasn't calmed down, in fact it seems that many are displeased an Embassy office for Alteans was made after their attack on the Citadel under Lotor's command. We've been getting threats and protest on and off again, but they weren't bad, until recently," Coran said as this got them worry as Allura said, "Tell me what happened."
"The protesters have been getting larger by the day, suddenly someone shot out one of the windows, thankfully no one was hurt but they used live ammunition and then protest soon turns into Riots! Almost half the C-sec officers had to be called in to disburse the riot," Coran which shock the two as they wonder how it gotten that bad as Kalvin said, "Well at least there weren't any more riots, right."
"Yeah, but it didn't end there, as someone had dropped off a bomb in front of the place, lucky a nearby Patrolling officer saw it and manage to call it end to disarmed the bomb before it blew, and if it had this entire place would have been blown to smithereens!" Coran said as he held his arm wide as if he was a bomb that went off as Kalvin said, "Was there any witnesses or camera recording?"
"Unfortunately, not a single piece of evident was found. Whoever did it covered their tracks, no prints or DNA on the bomb itself, no one notice who drop the package off, and with all the repairs to the citadel itself from all the attacks, security camera hasn't been installed or not hooked up yet, we had to get C-section to patrol the area, I even stay nights here to see if the culprit or culprits may return, as I believe whoever is doing this isn't as alone as there too many thing that is happening at once for a single person to do," Coran said as Kalvin said, "So there no clues, no idea who could be behind this, or if there could be someone on the inside of this office?"
"W-well, maybe one," Coran said as he didn't look all that excited or glad as he look at the couple and said, "It's not that I don't trust them or anything, but it is rather strange to say."
"Who is it?" Allura said as Coran look over at his office window to see if there was anyone nearby as he lean in and said, "One of our hires, an Asari named Thia'las. One of few species that volunteered to work here and help out. She has done good work and became close to our staff."
"That maybe who Meral was talking about," Kalvin said as before anyone could say anything, a knock came at the door before Meral opened to the door and said, "Ambassador Coran, we have a visitor, which I thought I'll bring this up to you first before letting them in."
"Who is it?" Coran asked as Meral said, "She's from the Alliance, a sergeant Williams I believe she said."
"Ashley?" Kalvin said as Allura soon said to Meral, "Please let her in, if you will."
"Very well," Meral said as she step aside as Ashley step in and said, "Excuse me for my rudeness, but I heard that the paladin were in the area, and I see its true."
"Hey Ashley," Kalvin said with a smile as he is happy to see her again, as he and Ashley gave each other a brief hug, and gave one to Allura as well. Ashley may not like other Alien species all that much, but for Allura and Alteans she is quite friendly with, and she always has been a friend to her and Kalvin, as Allura said, "Good to see you Ashley, how have you been sense we last saw you?"
"I've been alright, no after effect from those Collector bugs, I had a full check-up from Doctors just in case," Ashley said as Allura nodded and said, "That good to hear, but why are you here?"
"Well, I suppose I am here to help, I also heard what had happen so I came to see for myself and see if there's anything I can help with, just didn't expect to see you two right away as well until I heard from C-sect officers," Ashley said as she was volunteering to help as Kalvin said, "Well the more help, the better."
"You are welcome to join us Ashley," Allura said as she approve of Ashley as she nodded and said, "Thank you for letting me join. So, is there any lead to this case?"
"We may have one idea of who to talk too first, an Asari that goes by the name of Thia'las. There's no proof of her involvement in the crimes but it seem she is one of the few outside of Alteans to work here, but we gonna check just in case," Kalvin said as Ashley said to them, "I'll follow your lead then."
"Alright then. We'll head off now Coran, rest assure. We will find out who's behind these attacks and stop them for good," Kalvin said as Coran nodded and said, "Alright then, good luck too all of you."
With that the three of them headed out to find the Asari and hopefully find out who is behind the attacks before the next one happens.
(Meanwhile with Leon and Penny)
"This is so cool!" Penny cheered as she was carrying in her hands a brand-new game system. Leon was with her carrying a few bags with games in them.
"Penny please you didn't burn through the budget with this stuff." Leon said as he followed after Penny. "Do you remember the last time that happened?" Leon asked as Penny smirked at Leon.
"You mean where you took those girls you met out to expensive dinners Mr. High Roller?" Penny quipped as she knew that it was Leon being yelled at for it. Leon glared at Penny who only responded by giving him a smug look on her face.
Just then they pair heard a commotion nearby and looked over to see what it was. They in turn saw a C-Sect agent with a data pad standing between a Quarian and a Volus who seem to be having an altercation.
"This clanless is a thief and I want her arrested." The Volus said as that did not sound good.
"What? I was just walking by!" The Quarian defended as the two Paladins observed the scene.
Penny looked to Leon who then shrugged before they decided to take a closer look at the situation. "Hey what seems to be the problem?" Penny asked as she was good friends with the Quarians seeing as she absolutely loved their innovations.
"I'm sorry I'm trying to take a statement here, kids." The C-Sec Officer said not recognizing who these two are.
"There's nothing to talk about! She stole my Credit Chit! Arrest her!" The Volus demanded while accusing the Quarian in question.
"I did not! Just because I'm a Quarian!" She began but the C-Sect Officer cut in.
"I need you to stop and take a deep breath." The officer said as Leon had to resist the urge to laugh at that one.
"You're mocking me, Earth-Clan! Just because the Vol-Clan." The Volus began but the C-Sect cut him off realizing his mistake.
"It was a poor choice of words sir I apologize." The Officer said and thus Penny saw something up here.
"Ok maybe before we make accusations of theft and start a whole argument let's try and get the facts." Penny said as she started with the Quarian. "So, he's accusing you of stealing his Credit Chit, why?" Penny asked as she wanted a straight answer.
"I was walking to the used ship dealer when he bumped into me outside the Sirta Foundation. He didn't stop or say he was sorry." The Quarian said as Penny nodded to this.
"And then he comes after you with C-Sec accusing you stole from him." Leon said which the Quarian nodded.
"Yes!" The Quarian said and thus Leon turned his attention to the Volus.
"Dude, do you think maybe you might have dropped it outside of the Sirta Foundation or nearby?" Leon asked as he looked over to the Volus.
"I know she stole my Credit Chit!" The Volus said refusing to take back his accusation. "She ran right into me and during the confusion stole my Credit Chit." The Volus said which Penny sighed to this.
"Did you actually check around the area before you went accusing or did you just think because she was a Quarian she must have done it?" Penny asked as she was getting annoyed with this Volus.
"Why would I check it had to be her!" He countered but then Penny glared directly at the Volus with her glasses reflecting light giving her an ominous aura.
"Did. You. Check?" Penny asked again and thus the Volus realized that Penny was not going to take his side.
"Who do you Earth Clans think you are?" The Volus asked as he, was clearly upset by what Leon said before the Paladin smirked upon the question.
"I'm Leon, that's Penny, and you guys might know us as the Paladins of Voltron, you know the kickass heroes who helped save the Citadel twice over." Leon boasted with a smirk on his face. The two Paladins pulled out their Omni-Tools to show that they were in fact who they saw they are. A few months before meeting Lotor the Paladins had an issue with imposters pretending to be them which had thus been dealt with.
"Wait the Paladins the same Paladins who helped keep the Batarians and Vorcha from harassing the Flotilla?!" The Quarian asked shocked that the Paladins of Voltron were here helping her out. Judging by how her voice lit up the Quarian saw her chances of walking away from this increase exponentially.
"So, officer who do you think is telling the truth?" Leon asked as he needed to confirm something.
"My Omni-Tool didn't detect a Chit on her, but she might have stashed it to recover later." He said as this annoyed Penny that even though the Quarian didn't have it she was still be accused as a thief. "You know what Quarians are like and she's definitely a vagrant." The C-Sect officer said with a scoff as Penny and Leon both vowed to contact Bayley about this guy later. "I'll run her in and see what Bayley wants to do with her." The C-Sect officer said as Penny was recording the entire conversation.
'Ok this guy wants to make me ruin his entire career and this Volus asshole is making me want to hack his suit.' Penny mentally growled as she tried to keep her emotion under control.
"Look we'll fine the Credit Chit and turn it over to you guys on the spot." Leon said as Penny then smiled.
"Then we can settle this matter on the spot." Penny said and thus she and Leon got moving. "Be right back." Penny said and in turn walked off to find the missing Credit Chit.
(Back with Kalvin, Allura, and Ashley)
"This is the address." Kalvin said as they arrived at the Asari's place of residence.
"I hope she's ok." Allura voiced as these escalating attacks were concerning for her both as an Altean and the Alteans leader. "I know the Alteans caused harm when Lotor attacked the Citadel, but they were manipulated and had been paying back restitutions for the damages." Allura said as she found it shocking how beings can be so hateful to hold such a grudge. Though she knew lives were lost she wished that people could be more understanding and open minded to the plights of others.
"Look let's find out about these riots and go from there." Ashley said and in turn Kalvin agreed before pressing the button to alert those inside that they had guests.
The trio stood out there for a moment before the door slid open and they were met by the site of an Asari in casual wear. "Hello, can I help you?" She asked and thus Kalvin was the one to speak.
"Thia'las?" Allura asked as she looked to the Asari.
"Yes, is there something you needed?" Thia'las asked looking a bit nervous.
"Yeah, we had some questions about the riots that had been going on against the Altean Embassy." Kalvin said as Thia'las then got a bit scared.
"I'm sorry but I can't help you people." She began but was then stopped by Allura.
"Please we need information." Allura said removing her shades to reveal who she was to the Asari.
She was wide eyed at the fact that Princess Allura was here. She then looked out the door to make sure no one was watching before moving aside. "Hurry and come inside." Thia'las said and thus the trio entered the apartment.
(Inside of the Apartment)
Needless to say, the Apartment was a nice one as it had a good view and showed this Asari managed her money well. Ashley glanced around as she wanted to be sure that this Asari wasn't hiding anything or attempting to hide anything. Speaking of the Asari she soon walked in with some drinks that she began to set on the table.
"I'm sorry if my home is not to your standards Princess... I don't tend to host royalty." Thia said as she put the drinks down as Allura had already removed her shades and hat.
"It's fine I'm more concerned about the riots." Allura said as she sat across from Thia.
"Yes of course you've heard about that." Thia said seeing there was no hiding it. "But honestly I assumed that someone of your statues had more important things to concern herself with." Thia said making it clear she didn't expect a politician or a Paladin to concern themselves with this matter.
"It concerns my people and their wellbeing." Allura said assuring Thia that she was doing this. "More so if it helps bridge the gaps created by Lotor then it's my sworn duty to assist." Allura added as she knew Lotor's attack had caused a great deal of issues for the Alteans on the Citadel. Allura was not naive she knew that some people felt that the Alteans got away scot-free after Lotor's attack.
"Can you tell us exactly what's been going on?" Kalvin asked as he knew that they needed more information to go off from.
"It started a few months after the Altean's were granted an embassy on the Citadel." Thia said as she began to explain the situation. "Certain parties were not pleased with the fact that the Alteans got an Embassy while many of them had to wait years for one." Thia said as the trio paid close attention to what she was saying. "They felt that the Alteans should have been paying more restitution for what had happened instead of being given an Embassy." Thia said as the way she said it showed she was hiding something.
Allura knew why the Alteans were given an Embassy. It was because Voltron was an Altean creations at the time of its construction. More so than that Anderson vouched for the Alteans as a favor to Allura. The fact they cooperated went a long way in easing many on the incident.
"It started small angry citizen, drunken throws of bottles. But then it began to escalate to graffiti and angry protests until..." Thia trailed off and thus Ashley saw what she meant.
"A full-blown riot." Ashley said seeing it many times from humanity while studying history.
"Yes. I thought that if I worked at the Altean Embassy it could help ease the issues over find a middle ground but..." Thia trailed off showing that she was being an idealist at the time.
"Still doesn't explain why you hadn't shown up for work." Kalvin said as he noted something missing with this story. "I mean being afraid for your life is understandable with the current situation, but everyone talked about how good of a worker you are how passionate you are about what you do." Kalvin said and this Thia sighed to this.
"Yes, there is more." Thia said as she then pulled up a holo image that displayed an image of herself with an Altean much to Allura's surprise. What was more was that it appeared that the pair was on a date. "My boyfriend he and I had been dating for several months now and he's a really sweet guy." Thia said as she then sighed to this. "His name is Ico real sweet guy though I do worry about him." Thia said as she had her concerns with the riots recently.
"Ok where is he?" Ashley said which caused Thia to grow quiet to this.
"I... I can't tell you." Thia said which was a major red flag to the group. The way her voice cracked, the way her eyes glanced around in fear. The Asari was no doubt worried not for herself but for someone else and this resonated with the Paladins.
"Miss if something is wrong, we can help you, but you need to tell us." Allura said with a stern form of compassion as she wanted to help this Asari with whatever it was that was bothering her.
"The rioters they've gotten some criminals involved with this." Thia said revealing what she knows. "They took him, they took Ico said if I didn't help them break into the Embassy then they'll." Thia said as she began to tear up a bit. "They've started to escalate things; they feel that if the Council won't listen to words, then they'll make them listen with actions." Thia said as Kalvin put the pieces together.
"We need to get C-Sect!" Ashley announced as she realized what was going on.
"No!" Thia cried out as she looked to Ashley. "If C-Sect gets involved they won't hesitate to kill him." Thia admitted as it was clear just how sensitive this situation was.
"Then it's up to us to deal with it." Kalvin said taking charge of the situation. "Do you know where these people meet?" Kalvin asked looking to Thia.
"Yes, I can give you the address but after that you're on your own." Thia said not wanting to be caught up in this and have her lover killed on the spot. "Please bring Ico home." Thia said which the trio nodded wanting to make sure this Altean made it back in one piece.
"We will." Allura said and thus they began to take their leave. Alura and Kalvin both knew that they would need to get their armor for this and thankfully Cosmo was still in the Castle of Lions.
(Meanwhile over with Hector)
Hector was at one of the many stores in the Citadel comparing and contrasting on some cooking knifes. The Castle of Lions needed some new cooking tools and thanks to the budget increase Hector had the chance. He had a lot of ideas to try some new dishes and knowing they had a Krogan on the ship he needed to be ready. After all a Krogans lust for violence is only matched by their appetite.
"Oh, so many options, so many choices, I just don't know what to go for first," Hector said as he look over everything the store has to offer including cooking wear of other races, as he saw one that Asari would use in their cooking as he thought it over and said, "That could be a good choice, I mean I know Asari cooking is a delicate of sort, but I wouldn't mind giving it a try myself."
Hector reaches out to it as he was plan on buying it until he heard a found and grunting sound as they said, "Hey You I know who you are!"
Hector froze in place as he turn his head and to his shock to see a Krogan there looking very upset as he march over to him as the Krogan said, "Stay right there I want to have a word with you."
Hector panic a bit and stay still as he didn't want to piss off the Krogan anymore than he already has, but he has no idea how he pissed him off in the first place which cause him to get very worried as he held up his hand as the Krogan was in front and said, "Hey now, I'm not looking for any trouble or anything I'm just here shopping for kitchen supplies and stuff, that all. And I don't really know who you are, but if you are some sort of famous Krogan, as I may know some but don't know all of them."
"I don't care what you're doing, and neither do I care if you know me, but I know who you are. Your that top chef at New Altea," The Krogan said as this surprise Hector a bit as he said, "Y-yeah that me, but w-why are you angry at me?"
"Because of my cousin who's works for you that you yell at a lot," the Krogan said with Hector was a bit dumbfounded as he remember that one Krogan who he made him call himself an 'Idiot sandwich' as Hector said to the Krogan, "Well-
"He keep wanting to become a chef himself, and went to many chef to teach him, and no one and I mean no one had ever yelled at him before on his cooking skills," the Krogan said as he just sounded more upset as Hector sweat a bit as he try to speak up and said, "But-
"Any you know what… he praises you," the Krogan said to Hector which left the yellow paladin shock and speechless to hear that as the Krogan just went on saying, "He goes on and on how great your cooking is, even making better version of our famous meals that we make, and it drive me crazy, as he always looking for way to improve himself but no chef can say anything to him of how bad his cooking is, not even curse him out like you do."
"What can I say? I'm passionate for cooking, as if you can cook the food just right, it's just a waste," Hector finally said as he got some confidents back after hearing what his Krogan employ is saying to him and in a way glad that his teaching method works for the guy, as the Krogan said, "Yeah, he may praise you… but I don't. I don't believe your cooking is any better and just yells out at my cousin for his better cooking."
"Hey, I prepare each meal with love and care, and if I don't approve a meal that I make, I won't serve it, and the same can be said for everyone else, and I make sure everyone cooking is hold to a high standard to give to people, even a boiled egg, as do you know how hard it is the boiled an egg at the right moment to cook the white but leave the yoke creamy? Don't answer as it difficult unless you're making egg salad sandwiches which is the simplest thing that your cousin can do!" Hector said as he sounded upset as the two soon butted heads, with everyone around in the store hearing this and getting worried as Hector was yelling at a Krogan, which is one of the thing a sane person won't do as they keep their distant, even tempted to call the C-sec to stop this before Hector get hurt or worst as the Krogan said, "You think your that good hu? Find then, if your confident in your cooking, make me something and I might forgive you, heck if you even impress me, I may buy out anything you wish, that if it's even that good."
"Oh, I'll cooking you something alright and you're going to be eating those words when I serve it to you as well here and now," Hector said as the Krogan step back and said, "I can't wait and see this."
"And you will," Hector said as he soon started to grab different cooking wears and tool for this challenge as he brought it to a cashier and asked them, "Hey do you have portable burners and fold up tables in stock?"
"Ahhh… yes?" the Cashier said a bit worry as then Hector said, "I would like one, fold-up table and two burners please and make it snappy."
(With Kalvin, Ashley, and Allura)
The trio arrived at the coordinates designated by Thia and were in full gear. Kalvin and Allura were in their Paladin Armor while Ashley was in her Military gear. Kalvin had Cosmo deliver his and Allura's armor to them with their Bayards allowing for them to begin this improve mission. Skulking through the shadows and cover the trio, (quartet counting Cosmo) peaked from a wall and saw just as Thia said the rioters were preparing for something.
"That does not look good." Kalvin said noting what was going on here. There was a mixed group of aliens mainly humans but there was some Turian's and a few Asari's amongst them as well. All around the room there was signs and images with anti-Altean views that got Allura very unnerved. It was not a pretty sight to bear witness to as one can only imagine how bad things will get if these people are allowed to continue with these views.
Allura knew that some people will be stuck in their views or be unable to accept the opinions of others, but she never expected some people will take these views this far. Of course, the group saw what looked to be the leaders discussing something but what they had in storage was something to worry about. It was Ashley who took note of it and opted to alert the others.
"It's worse, look." Ashley said marking what she was seeing. When they all saw what Ashley pointed to needless to say Kalvin and Allura both saw good reason to be concerned.
"Explosives." Allura said as she saw the explosives in play. "If these people are in possession of these things... then we're not dealing with rioters." Allura said which Kalvin knew what they were facing.
"Terrorists." Kalvin said as these rioters were about to go from violent rioters to terrorists. "Ok we need to find Ico and disable those explosives." Kalvin said once they got back to their hiding spot.
"My thoughts exactly once they lose their bargaining chips C-Sect can move in to arrest them." Ashley said making it clear that they had a plan of action.
"Alright we need to be quiet like." Kalvin said before noticing a doorway. "There's a door nearby they must have Ico hidden away somewhere. We need to bust him out first." Kalvin said which Allura fully agreed with. "Everyone grab Kosmo." Kalvin said and thus when they did Kalvin was ready. "Cosmo port." Kalvin said pointing to the door and thus Kosmo took the group and vanished to the door. Once they got there, they proceeded to quietly open the door and sneak through.
"Good dog." Ashley said enjoying how that Cosmic wolfs teleporting power made things so much easier for them.
"Come on we need to hurry." Allura said and in turn the group got moving through the area.
(Back with Leon and Penny)
Leon and Penny were able to retrace the Volus steps and found his Credit Chit in no time. Upon confirming which store the Volus had dropped his credit chit in the pair had gone to meet with said Volus about the credit chit and clear the Quarian of any crimes leveled against her. So, they were only slightly surprised to find the three were still there with the racial profiling C-Sect officer still there.
"You'd think they would leave already." Leon mused as they approached the trio.
"Let's just get this over with." Penny responded before they got to the trio. Once they got to the trio, they opted to call out to them. "Hey, we found your Credit Chit!" Penny called out as the trio looked.
"You dropped it leaving the Saronis Applications store, the store clerk is holding it for you." Leon said as he gave the Volus a calm yet cold glare.
"Oh." The Volus said realizing his mistake now. "Well, the Quarian could have stolen it." The Volus said which made Penny's eye twitch in frustration. In fact, Penny even moved her hands behind her back and began typing away on her Omni-Tool.
"I'll close this event report, but I'll be watching you." The C-Sect officer said as he typed away on his data pad unaware of what Penny was doing. "Get a permanent residence or I'll run you in for vagrancy." The C-Sect officer said and thus Leon had enough of his crap.
So as the officer was leaving Leon stormed over to the man to give him and the Volus a piece of his mind. "Are you both serious right now?" Leon asked accusingly to the two. "First the midget here falsely accuses this girl of stealing your credit chit but instead of apologizing for being wrong you double down and say she could have done it." Leon began his rant at the pair of closed-minded assholes while pushing the Volus for good measure.
"Now just a minute." The Volus began but Leon ignored him and went for the C-Sect officer.
"And you, this girl gets threatened and harassed by this guy and instead of helping her you racially profile her with a threat to arrest her for vagrancy." Leon said but he was not happy about this.
"How about I run you in for obstruction of justice." The C-Sect officer said but then Penny cut in.
"Go ahead if you think you can run in two Paladins of Voltron." Penny said as she then presented a recorded video of the entire incident. "I'm sure C-Sect will enjoy this vid." Penny countered as she smirked at the guy. "Besides that, we got Councilor Anderson and Representative Coran on speed dial." Penny added as the C-Sect officer realized he poked a lion.
"I have half the mind to report you to your boss for this." Leon said as Penny was almost done with what she was doing.
"Son of a." The C-Sect officer cursed before he and the Volus left the scene.
"Thank you, I... I wish I could give you something more than words." The Quarian said but Leon had to make sure she was ok.
"Will you be ok on your own?" Penny asked being the first to act.
"I guess, most nights I spend eating nutrient paste from a Turian shelter but I'm surviving." The Quarian said and in turn Penny scowled to this.
"Here." Leon said giving to the Turian an address. "Go to this address and speak to Coran tell the front desk Leon and Penny sent you." Leon said as he wanted to help this Quarian out. "Coran can help you find work and a place to stay that isn't a shelter." Leon said before Penny cu t in.
"And if not, he can point you to Anderson to find some work." Penny added as the Quarian took the address.
"Thank you." The Quarian said surprised by this offer. "Oh, I never introduced myself, I'm Lia'Vael." The Quarian now known as Lia said introducing herself to the Paladins of Voltron.
"It was nice to meet you, just take care of yourself going forward." Leon said and Lia nodded to the Paladins.
"I will." She said and in turn took her leave to speak with Coran about finding work.
The pair smiled at their good deed hoping Lia will do well for herself going forward. But then Penny noted the time and knew they had to start heading back soon. "Come on let's go find the others shore leave will be ending soon." Penny said before she turned to leave.
"Right behind you." Leon said following Penny so they can return to the Castle of Lions.
(Back with the mission squad)
Making their way to the cages was not one without issues. There were many guards in the area patrolling the building. Kalvin and Allura had went for a non-lethal approach and silently knocked out any guards they came across. Thankfully, there were no Krogans in the building, so they were in luck in that regard.
"Hello someone out there!" Came a voice from one of the cells. This got the groups hopes up as Kalvin focused on where the voice came from.
"This way." Kalvin said and thus they began to move to the cell the voice came from. Upon arriving they found to their surprise a dark skinned Altean with notable violet marks on his face. "Ico?" Kalvin asked and thus the Altean noted the trio outside his cell.
"The Paladins of Voltron, thank the stars I thought I was done for." Ico said as the Altean was grateful for the rescue. "Hurry it won't be long before the guards return you need to get me out of this place, they have bombs." Ico said with urgency in his voice.
"Yeah, we saw that." Ashley said but Ico had more to say on the matter.
"No, you don't understand." Ico said as he got down to it. "They plan to bomb the Altean Embassy." Ico said which surprised the group.
"What?!" Allura asked shocked by those words.
"It's true they took my so they can force Thia to take the bomb to the Embassy." Ico said revealing this horrible truth.
"Shit." Ashley cursed as this situation was escalating faster than they can keep up. These bastards were going down something Allura shared sentiments on.
"We need to move fast before we lose the element of surprise." Allura said which Kalvin agreed with.
"Right. Kosmo." Kalvin said and then Kosmo vanished and appeared by the Altean before teleporting again taking said Altean with him. "Alright let's go clean house." Kalvin said which Ashley smirked.
"I'll call C-Sect for clean up." Ashley said and in turn they got moving to deal with the issue.
(Later back in the main room)
The would-be terrorists were making the final preparations for their attack. Get the Asari traitor to deliver the bombs and take out the newest eyesore of the Citadel. The Altean attacked and instead of punishment they get rewarded. Many felt the Altean got off light after their attack cost many of the Citadel's citizens their homes and loved ones.
Of course, their fury was cut short when something was seen rolling their way. Looking at it they saw it was some sort of cylinder, but it did not take them long to realize what it was. It was too late to act because the flash bang went off blinding them and in turn Allura and Kalvin came in. Knowing this was not a military type of fight Kalvin and Allura opted for nonlethal moves.
At the same time Ashley was working on defusing the bombs while the Paladins were dealing out the distraction. The enemies who regained themselves began their assault and the battle began. But Kalvin had the advantage of both experience and N7 training which allowed for Kalvin to switch his rifle and draw his Bayard on a dime. Kalvin was as gifted with Biotics as his father was.
Going for non-lethal shots the duo kept the assault going even when Kosmo showed up again. He stood in front of a thug snarling forcing said thug to back off. The battle went like this for a bit as Ashley finished up the last of the bombs. "We're good!" Ashley called out and in turn she grabbed her gun and started shooting.
Gunfire escalated as the trio and Kosmo worked to clear out the scene. It won't be long until C-Sect arrived but by then the two Paladins and Alliance Marine would have won. It wasn't long until the leader showed up an Asari with her Biotics active. "That must be the leader." Allura summarize as she saw said leader.
"Move in to bring her in!" Kalvin called out and thus the group moved to act. The Asari roared in fury as Kalvin and Allura drew her attention while Ashley flanked her. They kept the fire going until eventually Ashley got spotted. The Asari saw her and attacked only for Allura to use her whip to stop her and allow for Kalvin to charge in and send a powerful attack at her head. The warehouse was cleared as it wouldn't be long until C-Sect showed up. Ashley and Kalvin moved to secure the would-be bombers so they can call it a day.
(Scene Break the Altean Embassy)
"I just got word of what happened." Coran said as Kalvin, Allura, and Ashley entered the Embassy. After the trio had spoken with C-Sect and Baily backed them up the trio headed back to talk to Coran about what had happened. Needless to say, they saved a lot of lives today. "A bomb how dreadful." Coran said as he looked shocked that people would do something like this.
"Just be glad we stopped the scheme when we did." Ashley began knowing the damages this could cause. "If they kept up a lot of people would have been killed." Ashley added which Kalvin nodded in agreement.
"Of course, by the way while you were gone a Quarian came my way apparently Penny and Leon sent her here." Coran said recalling the Quarian that had arrived not too long ago.
"Let me guess she came looking for work?" Kalvin asked with a smirk on his face.
"Yes, she certainly did." Coran confirmed and thus it was clear what had happened.
"Glad to see that Penny and Leon were having a less eventful day then we did." Allura said grateful for that outcome. "Speaking where the devil are they anyway?" Allura asked wondering what Leon and Penny were doing.
(Meanwhile with Penny and Leon)
"This is what happens when we leave Hector alone." Penny said as she and Leon saw what Hector was doing.
"I said over medium! OVER MEDIUM YOU RUBE!" Hector yelled as he had a Krogan and a Salarian cooking with him. "Does this look over medium to you?" Hector asked holding the plate of bad food in his hand to the Krogan.
"No chef!" The Krogan responded and thus Hector got to work.
"Then let's get it right! If it ain't perfect, it ain't leaving this kitchen people!" Hector called as another Salarian was seen walking by with a pot of food in hand. "Sauce me!" Hector called as the Krogan brought the sauce to Hector who began to do some tricks with it before applying the sauce to the plate. He then turned around with the dish and held it up to the applauding public. "Bon appetite!" Hector called out as he smiled towards the crowd.
"Why is he never like this when on a mission?" Leon asked gesturing to his friend.
"Hector!" Penny called as she and Leon approach.
"Oh, hey guys!" Hector called with a smile on his face.
"We're getting ready to leave." Penny said as she reminded Hector what time it was.
"Say goodbye to your new friends and lets go home." Leon added as Hector smiled and got moving.
"Don't forget what I taught you it's the fundamentals of cooking!" Hector called and thus he left with Leon and Penny.
As they left the Krogan looked at Hector and made a vow. "I don't care if we have to search the hole galaxy, I want that kid cooking for my kitchen!" The Krogan called ready to start his hunt.
(Scene Break Castle of Lions)
Eventually everyone returned to the castle with new purchases and new updates. "Hey guys." Kalvin said as he walked in with Allura, Kosmo and Penny.
"Why do you have your armor?" Hector asked noting Kalvin and Allura had their Paladin Armor on.
"Stuff happened." Allura said before Kalvin cut in.
"And I got some good news." Kalvin said and thus the door opened just before Ashley walked in surprising Sven, Penny, Hector, and Leon. "Ashley is joining our crew." Kalvin said with a smile which got the others to smile.
"Velcome back to zi team Ashley." Sven said as Kasumi was with them as they greeted her.
"Sven good to be back." Ashley responded glad to be back with the old gang.
"So how was your guys day?" Kalvin asked as he looked to the others.
"Dealt with a couple of jerks." Leon said with a shrug of his shoulder.
"I got into a cooking contest... and I won." Hector smiled too the group.
"My day vas... uneventful." Sven said with a shrug of his own after all that they dealt with. As they all got down to talking dark forces were at work.
(With Lotor at his base)
Lotor smiled sinisterly as under the dull glow of light his Sincline was full repaired and ready for battle once more. Lotor grinned knowing full well that soon he'll have what he desired, victory over the Reapers and of course Allura at his feet.
At the same time Haggar observed things as she sighed and looked to her own robot. It was almost completed and soon it would be ready for battle. But there was still a great deal of work to be done. Regardless she had only one goal and that goal, was the knowledge of all realities. Knowledge was power and soon Haggar would know all.
(TBC)
ESKK: Another chapter off the docket. I hope you all enjoyed it and will join us next time for Chapter 8. Now that we have that out of the way, be sure to leave a review and until then, ja-ne.