By Purrsia Kat
A/N: For a great companion piece written by Mako, please visit this page before going on. Thank you.
The next morning, Haggar stood on a
balcony midway up the wall inside one of her robeast labs, looking down at the
fifteen unmanned Alliance vehicles below. She was excited to be at this point,
her magic having already restored the units to their pre-battle glory.
“I have to say,” Lotor said from
where he stood by her side. “I agree with my father. I’m not sure I see the
wisdom in keeping this other Voltron’s parts much less fixing them.”
“You must learn to have faith in my
magic,” she advised, still peering downward and admiring her handy work. “I’ve
saved a fortune on mechanics bills this way.”
“Now what?” Lotor prompted without
bothering to laugh at the witch’s joke.
Haggar smiled. “I’ll use my magic to
assemble him into Voltron. Then I’ll use an energy beast to control it. We’ll
send it to Arus to give them something to think about before they surrender. We
wouldn’t want them to have time to actually think of a scheme to free their
friends, now would we? Besides, screwing with them beforehand is fun…like a cat
plays with its prey before devouring it.”
Her faithful feline, Coba, voiced
its approval as it approached the pair to join them on the balcony.
“But—”
Haggar held up her gnarly staff to
stop the inevitable question. “As I told your father, I’m sure it will work on
this Voltron. Pure science is no match for dark magic.”
Lotor took a step back, appearing
uneasy despite her reassurances.
Haggar forged ahead, though his lack
of faith in her abilities always irritated her and threatened to spoil her high
spirits. Raising her arms in the air, she cast the spell.
“To fight the one you were made to resemble, Vehicle
Voltron now assemble!”
Jagged bolts of red light came from
Haggar’s staff, and the whole lab lit up with its glow. As commanded, the
unmanned units below began to move, fuse, and stack upon one another until
Vehicle Voltron stood looming large before them. In fact, it barely fit inside
the dome-shaped space where Haggar usually brought her robeasts to life.
Lotor’s eyes darted to the tiny
energy beast Haggar now held in her palm. “If we can’t control him, are you
sure you can destroy it?”
The jitters in Lotor’s tone did not
escape Haggar’s detection, nor did the dots of moisture that cropped up on his
brow. At least, she thought, he was too busy worried about his own hide to
start whining about how he didn’t want Allura harmed by this plan. That, she
was sure, would come later. “I have it all under control. Just relax and enjoy
the fun of messing with the Lion Force.”
The little glowing energy beast
leapt from Haggar’s palm toward Voltron, its body absorbed by the giant robot.
At first, nothing visibly happened, and Haggar noticed the beads of
perspiration dotting Lotor’s brow start to trickle down. Then, the robot’s eyes
glowed an eerie red, the head of it moving slightly so that it was seemingly
looking down at its new masters.
“It moved!” Lotor said with some
disbelief while taking a step back, nearly stepping on Coba’s tail in the
process.
“Of course it did,” Haggar replied
with a measure of irritation. “It’ll move however I wish it to. And it has full
use of its weaponry. Blazing sword against blazing sword. If it destroys the
Lion Voltron, we win. If it gets destroyed, so what? We still have an ace in
the hole,” she said with confidence, referring to their prized captives.
“I think we should gather the
Vehicle Teams,” Lotor decided with a grin, “and let them watch the show.”
*********
On Arus, the Lion Team was anxiously
pacing about the control room at the Castle of Lions, awaiting any word from
Sven and Romelle or even Galaxy Garrison. However, the airwaves remained eerily
silent and the strain of it was wearing on them. Time was short – if they
didn’t do something soon, Zarkon would likely make good on his threat to start
eliminating the Vehicle Force. But then Coran brought something up on the
monitor that stunned them all. It was Vehicle Voltron, flying into the Arusian
atmosphere and heading toward the Castle.
Pidge let out a yelp of pure joy and
relief but Lance remained skeptical.
“I don’t like it,” Lance said,
giving voice to his misgivings. “It’s too good to be true.”
Coran shook his head. “I can’t raise
anyone on the radio either. Be prepared for anything.”
“No,” Pidge protested, not wanting
to believe the impossible hadn’t happened even though logically he had to know
the odds of it not being a trap were slim to none. “It’s them. It’s gotta be.”
He pushed past Coran to speak into the communicator. “Chip! Come in buddy, do
you copy?”
Silence was the only response.
Lance watched on the monitor as
Vehicle Voltron slowed when it neared the Castle. “Guys…look.”
Voltron arched back to release a blast of energy
from several points on its body, which hit the castle with jarring force.
Lights flickered as the structure shook, with the monitor temporarily shorting
out. It took all their strength for the Lion Force to simply remain on their
feet.
“That thing out there ain’t our
friend,” Hunk declared.
With that, the team hustled to
launch, leaving Coran to scramble in an effort to contact Galaxy Garrison. The
hope was that they could perhaps tell them about some sort of shortcoming this
Voltron had that could be exploited.
********
After an uncomfortable night spent
in the stony cell in the lower levels of Castle Doom, Jeff was sorer than ever.
It didn’t help that the lash he’d suffered the prior evening at the hand of
Cossack was still agonizing, causing his movements to look stiff and unnatural.
But aside from his physical woes, his mind reeled with the fate of poor Hazar.
It was easily in all the years of war and carnage he’d been unlucky enough to
bare witness to, the most brutal and affecting thing he’d seen. That was the
first time he’d ever really felt absolutely sick to his stomach.
They simply had to get out of there,
but the task was made more difficult by the fact that they were constantly
separated. One group of them couldn’t risk a run for it without knowing for
sure those left behind wouldn’t pay a high price for the attempt. Jeff looked
high on the wall at a barred window, and stared at the dark misty sky above. He
wondered again where the Alliance was, where the Lion teams were, and what
their holdup was. One thing he knew for certain was they didn’t have time to
sit around and wait for a rescue anymore. Something was going to give sooner
rather than later.
At least he’d gotten to see Lisa for
a moment the other evening. She looked good considering their ordeal, and
appeared unharmed so far. That alone was a considerable load off his mind,
though he once again wondered where the Doom guards had ushered the women off
to now. He was aware of the moon crystal she’d given him up against the bare
skin of his chest beneath his uniform shirt, and it gave him a little comfort.
It was as if he had a part of her with him always. At this point, Jeff was even
willing to believe its powers of luck and protection were true.
Jeff’s thoughts were cut short when
the door to his cell slid open and in walked a Doom guard. With its pistol
trained on him, he eyed the guard warily.
“You,” the robot ordered in its
tinny, unemotional tone, “follow me.”
Without a word, Jeff walked past the
guard and out into the hall, where he saw Cliff and Cric were already gathered.
Jeff noticed the pair looked dirty, disheveled and weary, but otherwise seemed
to be okay. Cliff’s appearance in particular was striking, with his usually
carefully combed blond hair unruly, filthy and hanging in his face.
Jeff would have said something to the fellow
captains, but he’d been hit in the back of the head over the last few weeks
with the butt of the guards’ guns enough to know they weren’t fans of talking
amongst the prisoners. For the sake of his tender skull, his jaw remained
tightly closed as he joined his colleagues. Instead, he tried to read any clues
about what was going on in the faces of his friends. As far as ways of
communication went, it left a lot to be desired, for he found them rather
unreadable.
He took his place near his teammates
silently, and scanned the corridor. It was a narrow passage, full of armed
robot guards keeping a sharp eye on them. The chances for them to act and take
care of the guards were remote, Jeff knew, even though they weren’t bound or
restrained. The lash on his back, for one thing, seriously hindered his ability
to fight and he couldn’t be sure his friends weren’t harboring some other sort
of injury that would stunt their effectiveness. Even if a miracle did happen,
the layout of this foreign castle was unstudied and their chances of finding a
way out were even slimmer. He would have to go along with whatever was in store
for them, he decided.
Soon they were led to a small media
room, and left alone inside briefly. There wasn’t much there with only one way
out. There was a darkened control panel, a seat next to it, and a telescreen on
one end, and that was all.
Being that they were alone, Jeff
chanced to speak. “What do you suppose is going on?”
Cliff shrugged as he eyed their
surroundings. “Who knows with these sadistic freaks? We’ll probably be forced
to watch some other sort of deplorable torture.”
Jeff noted imprisonment hadn’t
dulled the bluntness of Cliff’s statements. “Well, we’ve gotta do something.
Garrison’s clearly sitting on their hands on this one.”
Cliff snorted. “Tell me about it.
Years of dutiful service with our butts on the line, and what do we get? ‘Oh,
you’re prisoners of war? Good luck to you.’ I feel the love.”
It was then Cric spoke up. “I’m sure
they’re working on something. They wouldn’t just leave us here.”
“Time’s short,” Jeff countered. “I
got a feeling some of us won’t make it through tonight if they don’t do
something quick.”
Cric sighed and looked away. Jeff
watched his friend’s forlorn look with concern, sensing it went beyond their
situation.
“Do you know something, Cric?”
Cric brought his eyes back to meet
Jeff’s gaze head on. “I’ve known something for a long time. I just didn’t
realize this was what it meant until – until I saw this castle.”
“Ok, so what’s your take on it now?”
Cliff pressed.
Cric licked his lips nervously, and
it made Jeff shift uneasily where he stood.
“You’re right. You’ve got to do
something fast,” Cric managed, nearly choking on the words as he spoke them.
“Don’t wait for Galaxy Garrison to act.”
Jeff felt his stomach drop and his
heart quicken pace. He suspected Cric was still holding back, and he had a
hunch as to why. It was going to get worse fast, and Cric didn’t want to dash
what resolve they had left. Jeff felt an urgency to flee from Doom more
powerful than ever before.
Whatever Cliff’s response was going to be was
stifled by the one that called himself Cossack the Terrible entering the room
with, of all things, a bowl of popcorn. Following him were Prince Lotor and the
witch Haggar.
The trio of captains shrank back against the wall
and ceased all conversation in favor of waiting for their fates to be
announced. The sting of Cossack’s whip was reason enough to toe the line, but
Jeff had also bore witness to Lotor’s temper and readiness to use the laser
sword sheathed at his side. Though they had to get away, now was not an
opportune time to try.
Trailing them into the room was a female Jeff had
never seen before with a shock of long, pink hair and a regal air about her.
“Merla,” Lotor said to her, glancing back at the
woman. “I didn’t think you would be joining us.”
A trace of a smile played on Merla’s lips. “And why
not? If not for my kingdom’s help – and my good sense - none of this would have
been possible. It was bad enough you punished Hazar before I got back,” she
added, her tone hurt. She then turned her attention to the prisoners. “You see,
your kind aren’t the only ones who can band together and achieve victory.”
Cossack plopped down in the chair in front of the
monitor, effectively spilling some of the popcorn. “This stuff we raided from
one of your ships called popcorn – it’s good!” he announced with a good-natured
attitude Jeff found as deceptive as he did just plain annoying. “And I hear you
earth types like to munch on it when watching a good show.”
The three teammates glanced at one another, and Jeff
was afraid to think of where this was leading seems how they considered Hazar’s
barbaric execution a ‘good show’.
“Cossack,” Doom’s Prince interrupted. “Just shut up
and turn on the screen. I don’t want to miss anything good.”
Obediently, Cossack punched in a code that opened a
channel. Jeff’s jaw dropped at the scene that lit up before them. It was the
Lion Voltron hovering outside the Castle of Lions on Arus but the amazing part was
their Voltron – the Vehicle version – was squaring off against it! It just
couldn’t be. It had to be some kind of replica. Didn’t it?
“Don’t look so shocked,” Haggar stated, her
expression however was that of pleasure at the team captains’ dismay. “It’s
amazing what a little magic and an energy beast can do to what’s scientifically
engineered.”
For the second time in a matter of minutes, Jeff
felt his stomach drop. This was bad news. He closed his mouth and tried to look
away from the screen but Haggar caught his chin with her staff.
“Oh no, don’t look away. You’ll miss all the fun.”
There was warning in her voice beneath the mirth,
and Jeff decided it wise to do as he was told, begrudgingly fixing his eyes on
the screen before him.
“And don’t worry,” Lotor added. “Your comrades are
getting tickets to the same free show. We just don’t want you all in one room
lest you get some crazy ideas about trying to escape.”
Jeff felt helpless as he watched the battle unfold
before him.
***************
Keith could feel perspiration dripping down his brow
as he surveyed this most unexpected of situations. He was waiting patiently for
Pidge to finish his scan of the Voltron in front of them for any signs of
carbon-based life forms.
“Negative,” came Pidge’s curt response. “It’s
unmanned.”
Keith felt some of the tension ease. They had to
make sure their friends weren’t bound or unconscious in the vessel before
attacking. With Pidge’s confirmation, this would be no worse than fighting a
robeast. No sooner had Keith found comfort in the thought than Coran came over
his communicator to dash it to bits.
“Keith, I just got word from Galaxy Garrison. That
is indeed the real Vehicle Voltron in front of you. You are not to destroy
Vehicle Voltron under strict orders from Space Marshall Graham. He stresses it
is property of the Galaxy Alliance and you are to do everything possible to
prevent irreparable damage to it. Doctor Loring, who designed the robot, took
many of the secrets of its construction to the grave with him. It cannot be
rebuilt. Understand?”
Keith stifled a groan. “Understood,” he muttered.
Things suddenly got a hell of a lot more complicated.
Lance, however, was not one to mince words. “What?”
he shrieked. “What about us? Got any of these secrets handy to help us subdue
this thing?”
“I’m checking into it, but it’s classified
information and not something easily relayed to us,” Coran informed him
regrettably. “They are going to try to shut down the solar refractors that are
responsible for supplying this Voltron with the bulk of his energy. In the
meantime, do your best against it.”
“Great. Wonderful. Fantastic,” groused Lance. “I
hope they flick the switch on wheelie’s batteries sooner rather than later.”
“Guys,” Hunk cut in, “while we were talking that
thing’s been up to something…”
Keith looked at his monitor and saw that Vehicle
Voltron was reaching for something behind its back. His eyes widened when
Vehicle Voltron produced an electrified whip. Before he could react it had
grabbed Lion Voltron by the waist with it.
As if the shocks of electricity it sent throughout
Lion Voltron weren’t enough, the rogue Voltron whipped the Lion Force around
over its head with dizzying speed. Just when Keith didn’t think he could take
anymore it released them like a shot put, sending them hard into the Castle of
Lions. The impact took out most of the east tower of the Castle.
Though dazed from the ordeal, Keith
was fast coming to his senses, only to find Vehicle Voltron was quicker.
“Shit, that thing is fast!” Lance
cried, as Vehicle Voltron wrapped its fingers around Lion Voltron’s neck. Keith
could hear the crunch of metal as those fingers closed their grip.
“Electro-force cross,” Keith
commanded.
The cross on Lion Voltron’s crest
emanated a glow and projected outward, impacting Vehicle Voltron and at least
making him lose his grip on them. Vehicle Voltron staggered back enough for
Keith to get his crew up and away from immediate danger.
Forming the blazing sword was
Keith’s next command, which was swiftly followed by another urgent warning by
Coran.
“I know,” Keith reported back, “but we’re not going
to last very long up here against this other Voltron. We’ve got to do
something.”
“What’s the word on that solar
refractor?” Lance asked quickly of Coran.
“They’ve shut it down but it hasn’t
stopped the Voltron for some reason,” Coran replied tensely. “You’re still not
to destroy Vehicle Voltron.”
Before Keith could argue his
attention was drawn to the Vehicle Voltron, which had responded to his move by
reacting in kind. The two robots did a menacing mid-air dance around one
another with their swords at the ready. Finally they clashed high above the
valley before the Castle, their blazing swords sparking and arcing as they
touched. To Keith’s amazement, both Swords disintegrated with a brilliant flash
of energy that would have blinded him had his helmet not had a protective
visor.
“What happened?” he heard Pidge say.
“I don’t know, but Lance, get me
some readings on that and a full system report.”
“At least he doesn’t have his sword
anymore either,” Hunk added optimistically.
Keith was too busy watching Vehicle
Voltron’s next move to take much comfort in that. He barely got a warning out
to his crew before the agile robot produced two glowing spears from its lower
legs and threw them quickly toward Lion Voltron. They were able to dodge the
first, but the second one sheared the torso leaving a gaping gash that further
shorted systems and caused mayhem inside the Lion Voltron.
“Come on, Lance, what do we got?”
Keith prompted, growing impatient.
“We’ve lost some power, and can’t
get the sword back until it boosts back up. Some of our other weapons are down,
too. But we’ve still got Lion torches, all our missiles…and spinning laser
blades.”
“Hit it with everything we’ve got,”
Keith commanded firmly. If there was still a chance to rescue the other Voltron
Force and not have to surrender the Lions to Doom, then he couldn’t allow them
to lose to the rogue robot, regardless of it being Garrison property. Still, he
hoped they could stop it without destroying it, but if it came to that then
he’d have to deal with those consequences later.
The missiles launched and their aim
was true, but the Vehicle Voltron was undeterred despite the damage.
Allura’s worried visage popped up on Keith’s screen.
“Keith, we need to do something.”
He understood where her concern was coming from. If
they lost her father’s legacy, then Arus would be left defenseless. Ordering
use of the spinning laser blades, he watched as Vehicle Voltron dodged the first
with agility. The second, however, struck the robot and severed its left arm
off at the shoulder joint. The detached limb fell useless to the ground below,
and the rest of Vehicle Voltron followed with a horrendous crash.
“What are you waiting for?” Keith could hear Lance
bark at him.
Keith didn’t respond, but kept his eye on the
monitor where Vehicle Voltron lay motionless below with smoke billowing from
it. He hoped that was it, that the robot was down for the count and this
unpleasant business was over. Seconds ticked by stretching into minutes, and
still no movement.
Coran’s voice broke Keith’s vigil. “It’s over.
Galaxy Garrison said it was able to override Vehicle Voltron’s systems. Well
done.”
“What are we gonna do with it now?” Pidge wondered.
“Take it to one of the repair hangars for now,”
Coran suggested. “I’m sure Galaxy Garrison will want to come get it
eventually.”
Lance snorted. “I’m sure they’re right on that.”
Coran ignored the sarcastic remark, while Keith
busied himself with the task of gathering the remnants of Vehicle Voltron.
Going for the smaller part first, Lion Voltron landed on its feet and bent to
retrieve the severed arm of the other robot. Behind them, Vehicle Voltron rose
to its feet. Before Keith could act, it had tackled Lion Voltron with such
force that it sent them plowing through fields and forests face first. The
shove was violent and jarring enough, but to Keith’s dismay, when the ride
ended they were kept pinned underneath the hostile robot. There was no time to
think of why the over ride had seemingly failed. It was enough to know that it
had.
“Get it off us, get it off us!” Hunk shouted.
Keith tried to blast off, but the damn thing was too
heavy and their systems too drained – he couldn’t get any lift. Furthermore,
Voltron was made to fight facing his enemy, not with his face in the dirt.
Keith called up a panoramic view of his surroundings on the monitor in time to
see Vehicle Voltron had summoned another spear and drove it without mercy into
Lion Voltron’s back. The voltage sent through Keith’s Lion in particular was
unbearable.
“Disengage,” he rasped, spending all his effort on
deactivating the interlock.
The hope was that the others could escape the hold
as individual Lions, and Keith could worry about how he was going to get out
later. However, Keith’s worries faded quickly as he succumbed to the darkness,
the shock of the attack too much to take.
**************
“It’s totally kicking their ass!” Cossack shouted,
bits of popcorn flying from his mouth.
Haggar chuckled. And so it was. This had turned out
far better than even she had dreamed. Of course, outwardly she would assume
quite another air on the matter. But her self-satisfaction couldn’t be denied.
She thought the bit about playing off Galaxy Garrison’s arrogance – as if they
could over ride her magic! – to gain the upper hand was particularly worthy of
praise. And best of all, no matter how the tide of the fighting turned, Doom
was sitting pretty. Both Voltrons, which were the basket in which the Alliance
laid all their rotten eggs, were heavily damaged at this point. Victory was
imminent.
She looked to the captive former Captains of the
Vehicle Voltron, and savored their horrified reactions at the scene before them
on the monitor. “Congratulations. It looks like your guy is the superior
machine. Don’t tell me you never wondered about that. No match for dark magic,
however.”
The dark-haired man’s jaw clenched in response, and
Haggar knew she’d hit a nerve.
Lotor threw his head back and laughed from the gut.
“It won’t be long, and your closest saviors will be history, captains. Although
I do hope the Princess survives.”
Haggar groaned inwardly. There it was again, Lotor’s
unreasonable concern for a hostile – albeit pretty – enemy combatant. She’d
further hoped he’d interject some appreciation for her plan and maybe throw in
an apology for having ever doubted her. But as always, that was too much to
hope for.
“Don’t be so bitter, Haggar,” Merla’s voice, smooth
and silky, intoned. The sound of it never failed to unnerve Haggar. The witch
resented that Merla could tap into her thoughts so easily. “Praise from a fool
is over rated anyway.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Lotor demanded.
He looked from one to the other, while the two opted for silence as the best
course. “Nevermind. Just shut up and keep watching. It’s getting to the really
good part.”
Haggar looked and found the Prince was right.
Vehicle Voltron was about to turn Black Lion to space dust – and Keith with it.
She hoped Zarkon was watching, too.
***************
The first thing beckoning him back to consciousness
was an unpleasant taste in his mouth. Shakily, Keith brushed his forearm across
his lips, and found the action left a bright trail of red on the glove of his
uniform. Even with his mind yet unclear, he realized he was bleeding and still
numb from the attack that put him out in the first place. That he did remember.
Now, he just needed to get his tingling, weakened limbs to cooperate.
“Keith! Keith!” he could hear someone shouting over
the ringing in his ears. “You gotta get out of there. Now!”
Keith had no clue how long he’d been out, but it
would seem he came to in the nick of time. Moving as fast as he could manage,
he launched his Lion, intent on joining the others. They, he noticed, were
pouring on all the firepower they could along with that of the Castle, to keep
the damaged but determined Vehicle Voltron away from him and at bay. Their
efforts must have been why he was no longer pinned, and Keith was grateful.
It was clear they weren’t going to be able to hold
out much longer, and damages notwithstanding, they were going to have to form
Voltron again.
No sooner had they joined Lions than Vehicle Voltron
was on them with breathtaking speed. It drew close, and with its one remaining
arm, drew out its electrified whip. It made contact, and Keith cried out in
agony. He couldn’t take much more of the abuse.
“I’m going to knock his block off!” Lance declared
angrily when the lashing subsided.
“Right behind you,” Pidge said, as both Red and
Green Lion heads shot off in the direction of the attacking robot.
The combined assault indeed sent Vehicle Voltron’s
head snapping off and plunging toward the Arusian forest below. And yet, the
robot seemed as though it still had fight left in it.
“Nothing seems to stop it,” Allura noted shakily.
“What are we going to do?”
“Tell the Alliance to get bent,” Lance replied upon
his return to Lion Voltron. “We’ve got enough power now for the blazing sword.
Let’s go!”
Keith didn’t like defying orders ordinarily, but
they didn’t have the luxury of debating it any longer. Whatever was controlling
the other Voltron was powerful, and no reasonable measures to stop short of its
utter destruction worked. What’s worse, was they were likely one more blast
from total destruction themselves if they didn’t act.
As Vehicle Voltron arched in a way that was familiar
to Keith, having seen the same action when the robot first arrived, he knew it
was now or never.
“Form Blazing Sword,” he ordered through gritted,
bloodied teeth.
*****************
The brightness of the blast on the monitor lit up
the media room, and Jeff’s mouth hung open in disbelief. It was gone. Vehicle
Voltron was irreparably destroyed, and by an ally at that. Not that he could
blame them. They’d been battered and backed into a corner until they had no
choice. It was the kind of mental cruelty that only Doom could dole out. It
certainly made anything the Drules ever pulled seem like mild taunts by
comparison.
“Cat got your tongue, Captain?” Haggar asked of him,
almost sweetly.
Jeff snapped his jaw shut, unwilling to let her
savor his suffering any longer. He glared at her, almost daring her to say
something more.
Cossack was happy to speak up to fill the tense
void. “I dunno, but five big cats sure got his robot. One mighty Voltron down,
one to go.”
Even if Jeff never got out of Castle Doom alive,
he’d like nothing more than to be able to punch that guy in the face so hard,
it’d knock him right out of that stupid looking helmet he wore. He kept that on
his short list of things to do before he died.
“I’m bored already,” Merla hinted.
Lotor moved to lead the others out of the room.
“It’s just as well. We have much to do before our main ‘event’ tonight.” He let
a mischievous glance linger on the captive trio before leaving, which gave Jeff
an involuntary chill.
Left alone again briefly, the three of them could
speak freely.
“Let’s try to call out,” Cliff suggested, gesturing
toward the control panel and the darkened screen above it.
Jeff shook his head. “Waste of time. You saw how he
had to put in some kind of code to even open a channel. If Chip was here, he
might be able to crack it but…”
Cliff looked aggravated and desperate at the same
time. “Got any better ideas?”
“We got to keep it together, and not let them get to
us. They’re tryin’ to break us mentally first. Don’t let them! The right time
to make our move is coming, I can feel it,” Jeff assured him.
“I wish I did,” Cric muttered, just before the doors
opened to reveal another armed guard to escort them back to their cells.
But as Jeff took a step forward, a blast and
blinding flash made him stop in his tracks. At first, he thought the robot
fired on them, but when the smoke cleared, it was the robot that had been blown
away by one of the four standing behind it.
It was only when the one in the center, with the
smoking laser blaster, unmasked themselves that he understood why.
“Dorma!” he exclaimed.
***********
Sven strained to read the small monitor on the
hand-held device in the dim candlelight. He beckoned Romelle to come closer
with the candle.
“According to this,” he told her in a half-whisper,
“We should be somewhere below the Arena.”
She nodded solemnly. “We’ve got to find a way into
the lower levels of the Castle from here. That’s where they’re probably holding
the Vehicle Teams.”
Sven scanned the darkened, dank labyrinth before him
before consulting the computer again.
“This way,” he decided, pointing.
The whole mission brought back memories of when he
and Romelle once came back to free the slaves like they’d promised. Thanks to
that experience, they were best equipped to slip onto Doom and carry out a
similar mission again in the hopes of freeing their fellow pilots and friends.
For Sven in particular, he was more than willing to trade the relatively serene
life he’d been living on Pollux near Romelle to take on this risky task. He
hadn’t forgotten his tenure a few years earlier on the Vehicle Team, and
considered the lot of them good friends in addition to comrades. Sven also
wondered how the Lion Force was bearing the wait, especially Pidge. He
considered risking a call to Arus just to assure them they were right on track,
but that could endanger the entire mission – as well as his and Romelle’s lives
– if the transmission were intercepted. The others would just have to have
faith that they could act in time. Until then, the Lion Team would have to
feign compliance with Doom. None of it was going to be easy for any of them.
The pair began cautiously walking in the direction
he’d indicated, some of it familiar from an even earlier time, when Sven had
spent time down there after being a prisoner of Doom himself. Those were
unpleasant times with unpleasant memories coming to mind, but he was willing to
stifle those to save the others. He knew as well as anybody the cruelty of
Doom, and worse yet was that time was so short.
“What was that?” Romelle hissed, grabbing Sven’s
forearm to stop him.
They froze, listening intensely for anything that
would give a spy’s presence away. Sven was about to dismiss Romelle’s concern
as the work of an overwrought imagination but then he heard it too. Something
was up ahead. His heart leapt and began to beat a furious rhythm, as he slowly
drew his weapon with his free hand.
Romelle doused the light of the candle with a
carefully cupped hand in the hopes of making them less of a target, though Sven
figured if whoever or whatever was out there in the shadows was hostile, it
would have already taken them by surprise before getting that close.
“Who’s there?” Sven demanded.
The silhouette of a man came into Sven’s line of
vision, and he trained his pistol on it.
“Don’t shoot,” the figure said, the voice ringing
familiar in Sven’s ears. “It’s me.”
Romelle brought her hand down in time to illuminate
the man’s face as he approached. Sven’s mind echoed what the man said next.
“Commander Hawkins.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
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