#olkari technician

[voltrontranscript]

VLD S8E6: Genesis

Season 8 Episode 6: Genesis

Transcript by @dragonofyang

Summary: The Voltron Coalition has found Honerva’s base of operations on Oriande and prepares to take her down before she can use the siphoned quintessence to do untold damage, but they find her goals are not so simple, and every reality will pay the price for her ambitions.

[Google Doc]

Coran: We have confirmation that Honerva’s beasts have touched down on planets Sanook, VeXilum, Siiz, and we continue to receive more transmissions.

Veronica: This is consistent with the reports I’m receiving as well.

Pidge: The wormhole signatures we discovered on Olkarion, they were a map to where the robeasts were headed. They must have been waiting this entire time.

Keith: They’re targeting multiple fronts simultaneously.

Hunk: What do we do?

Shiro: We keep our calm. Coran, continue to mark the planets where the beasts have landed. Veronica, give us any real-time updates as they come in.

Veronica: Copy that. Just got another report from Sanook. The robeasts are covered in some type of shield like a particle barrier.

Allura: They’re not attacking the planet?

Veronica: Not yet.

[Scene change to the colony Alteans standing on Oriande.]

Honerva: For eons our people have suffered, cast out from our home, driven mad by the cursed Galra. We have sacrificed much. You have sacrificed much. But Lotor gave more than any of us. And today, his ultimate wish will be fulfilled. The Galra will pay for what they have done to the Alteans. The end for anyone that dares oppose us is near. It is time to begin. May Lotor’s light guide you.

[Cut to the meeting room of the IGF-Atlas.]

Veronica: The planets are reporting activity. The robeasts are siphoning quintessence.

Iverson: We need to engage them all, save as many people as we can. We’re talking about triage here.

Keith: We could split up the Lions.

Hunk: One Lion can’t handle a robeast on its own.

Keith: No, but it could slow them down, buy us some time.

Shiro: I say we attack them with the totality of our forces and wormhole from target to target.

Allura: No, we must attack Oriande directly. I think I know what Honerva’s doing. We know Honerva has the ability to create wormholes and that these wormholes are emanating from Oriande. She used a robeast to steal the Olkari cubes, which can mimic and intensify energy at a distance. And those robeasts are essentially armed with Komars, able to drain and transmit massive amounts of quintessence. Honerva is going to concentrate energy from across the universe to Oriande. She is making a Komar magnitudes larger than anything we’ve ever seen, something that could drain quintessence from an entire galaxy.

Sam: No.

Coran: That monster.

Pidge: What could she possibly need that much energy for?

Allura: I don’t know, but we need to act immediately. The only way for us to stop them is by going directly to Oriande.

Keith: And that’s what Voltron is gonna do.

Shiro: The Atlas will accompany you. We don’t have time to wait for the rest of the Coalition.

Keith: Contact Matt, let him know the rebels are gonna be in charge of the evacuation efforts for the occupied planets. They shouldn’t expect assistance.

Allura: Then we are in agreement. It is time to begin our assault on Oriande.

[Cut to Olia preparing to launch.]

Allura: Is everyone ready?

Shiro: We’re in position.

Allura: The universe is facing the gravest threat it has ever seen. Honerva has exploited a vulnerable people, my people, and bent them to her will. She convinced them to pilot her abominations and commit heinous acts. And now she has built a weapon that can destroy an entire galaxy. Today, we risk our lives for the greater good. We are the only thing that can stop her and defend the universe. It is time to end this war.

[Cut between Allura and Honerva powering up their respective teludavs, and then the robeasts shooting pink quintessence out from the planets they’ve occupied into deep space.]

Matt: Is everyone else seeing this?

N-7: Matt, what is happening?

Matt: I don’t know, but we’re going to save as many people as we can.

[Cut to the IGF-Atlas wormholing to the Petrulian Zone.]

Shiro: Sam, we’re experiencing interference. Can you lock that down?

Sam: I’m on it. This interference is multi-phasal. What could cause something like this?

Slav: Wait, what color socks are you wearing?

Sam: What? Why does that matter?

Slav: You didn’t answer me. Why didn’t you answer me? There’s a ninety-nine and three-fifths chance the multi-phasal interference is from a reality-ending event!

Sam: Because of my socks?

Slav: We need to modify the dichromate resonance chamber to a super position.

Sam: Good thinking. That will isolate the mutated antimatter isotopes.

Slav: And please put on some green socks!

Coran: The Atlas can’t go much further due to the Petrulian Zone’s radiation. There they are! The Olkari cubes!

Iverson: I’m not picking up any energy signatures. They must not be active.

Veronica: I’m picking something up. It’s coming from the white hole.

Allura: The Guardian. No! Where is the Guardian?

Keith: We don’t have time to engage these robeasts. Can you clear a path?

Shiro: We’ll get you through. Atlas crew, prepare for transformation sequence. Okay, Voltron, engaging now. Good luck out there.

Keith: Good luck to you as well. I’m deferring command to Allura. 

Veronica: Voltron is clear.

Shiro: We need to first focus on neutralizing those robeasts. Then we can attack those cubes to try and halt the process.

[Cut to Honerva on Oriande, then to the rebels evacuating the occupied planets, and once more to the IGF-Atlas fighting the robeasts in the Petrulian Zone as the beams of quintessence reach the Olkari cubes as Voltron flies through the white hole.]

Lance: Look out! Behind us!

Keith: We gotta move!

Allura: The Guardian! She’s draining its quintessence! No! She’s destroyed the Guardian! We have to stop that witch immediately!

Merla: It’s Voltron. Defend our goddess!

Pidge: Two robeasts, incoming!

Keith: Form swords!

[Cut to the IGF-Atlas fighting the robeasts.]

Veronica: Shield energy at forty-three percent. Thirty-six.

Shiro: We’re not going to make it through their blockade.

Iverson: What’s the plan?

Shiro: Scramble the MFEs. We need their precise striking ability. Pilots, attack the weak spot on their chest plate when their cannon fires.

Pilots: Copy.

Shiro: Stay safe out there. Give them heavy covering fire so they can get in close.

[Cut to Zethrid, Ezor, and the Olkari Technician in a holding cell.]

Olkari Technician: I think we’re in the middle of a battle.

Zethrid: We need to get out of here.

Ezor: No! 

Zethrid: Trust me.

[Cut to the bridge of the IGF-Atlas.]

Veronica: We’ve got a security breach reported in cell block two one four. Zethrid and the Olkari have escaped their cells. It looks like they’re on their way to the bridge.

Shiro: We don’t have time for this.

Coran: Performing evasive maneuvers!

Iverson: We have an overload in munitions bay three.

Veronica: Sir, Zethrid’s almost here.

Shiro: Prepare for a breach!

Zethrid: We’re here to help!

Shiro: What? How did you even escape?

Olkari Technician: I’m an Olkari. Your security is childlike.

Zethrid: Look, I know you don’t trust me, but we are facing certain death. Let my tech help!

Shiro: Fine.

Olkari Technician: Excellent job fusing Earth technology with Altean magic.

[Cut to the MFE pilots fighting the robeasts.]

Rizavi: I’m hit! Repeat, I’m hit! Recovering all systems.

Shiro: It worked! Pilots, we’ve got you covered. Kinkade, get Rizavi back to the Atlas safely. Griffin and Leifsdottir, use this opportunity to hone in on the robeast’s crystal.

Griffin: Copy!

Shiro: MFEs, on my count. Three… Two… One!

Iverson: Yes!

Shiro: Outstanding.

Veronica: Yeah!

[Cut to Voltron fighting the robeasts on Oriande.]

Lance: Huh? Wha… What is going on?

Hunk: Are those people down there?

Pidge: According to my readings, we’re seeing into other realities.

Lance: What?!

Pidge: There must be some kind of rip in the fabric of time. The essence of realities is leaking out. Honerva is tearing apart timelines. She could cause irreparable damage to reality itself.

Allura: Hunk!

Hunk: I feel it.

Allura: Let’s move!

[Cut to the IGF-Atlas as the white hole emits a blast and forces it to revert to ship form.]

Sam: What just happened?

Slav: I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this before.

Sam: I’m attempting a reboot of the thera-magnetic oscillator.

Slav: Wait, did you change your socks?

Sam: What? I thought you were kidding.

Slav: Oh, no! I think we were just hit with time spillage.

Sam: Time spillage?

Slav: It’s a rip in the fabric of this reality. Pulses of quintessence are disassociating the synchronized molecules in the ship’s power crystal.

Sam: How do we fix it?

Slav: For starters, you have to take off your socks!

[Cut to the rebels as the robeast collapses and the energy beam dies.]

Matt: Everyone’s safely on board. Let’s get out of here.

[Cut back to Oriande, where Honerva screams and collapses as a bright flash of light reveals the Sincline mech kneeling in the center of the alchemical circle.]

Keith: This was Honerva’s plan all along.

Allura: No. He’s back. I can’t… No!

Keith: Paladins, attack!

Merla: Lotor!

Altean Acolyte: Lotor has returned!

Allura: No.

Merla: Something’s not right.

Allura: We need to move. Does anyone copy? Blue, please respond. Time to end this.

Lance: Allura!

Altean Acolyte: The Red Lion is moving.

Merla: Wait! Stay back! Get out of there now!

Altean Acolyte: Lotor?

Merla: No.

Honerva: Still… Altea’s wayward daughter.

Allura: Don’t you dare mention Altea to me.

Honerva: This is just the beginning. Join me and our people. Together we will go back to Altea.

Allura: We cannot go back. It is destroyed because of you.

Honerva: Think of your father. I knew Alfor well. This is what he would have wanted. Join me and the Alteans.

Allura: Never! You cannot keep me here forever. And the moment you release your hold, I will end you.

Honerva: Then you will end your friends as well. I am the only thing keeping my son at bay. Join the right side of this war.

[Cut to the IGF-Atlas as power returns to it.]

Veronica: Captain, Commander Holt got the Atlas back online.

Shiro: Get the MFEs on board.

[Cut back to Oriande as pink lightning begins to spark.]

Allura: Paladins, are you there? Paladins, respond. We must get out of here or we will all perish.

Lance: Allura.

Keith: I’m moving again. Pidge, Hunk?

Pidge: I’m here.

Hunk: Yellow’s back online.

Allura: Let’s move.

Pidge: The white hole is closing. If we don’t get out, we’ll be trapped here forever.

[Cut to the bridge of the IGF-Atlas.]

Veronica: The white hole’s energy is collapsing into a gravity surge. There’s no way we’ll hit escape velocity.

Coran: At this point, our only hope of escape is via wormhole.

Shiro: How long do we have?

Veronica: Minutes? Seconds? It’s impossible to be sure with these surges.

Shiro: Coran, move us into position to intercept.

Coran: Adjusting heading.

Shiro: Sam, I need every ounce of power you can give us.

Sam: Pulling energy from all systems.

Shiro: They’ll come.

Veronica: The white hole’s about to collapse.

Coran: They’re here!

Shiro: Coran, we need a wormhole, now!

Hunk: What the heck just happened?

Allura: We failed. And every reality will pay the price.

End.

[goofbcll]

    “Listen here.” Hunk growled out, barreling into the control room without paying any attention to any of the guards stationed nearby, “Your code? I hardly call it a code! Look at this! My superiors will give me hell for this!  I already have them breathing down my neck!”

Some of the technicians stop to stare at him. They were not expecting to see a raging human storm into their quarters. He wasn’t even supposed be there, just the technicians permitted to work in the control room. 

He stared at everyone until his eyes landed on one particular person. They didn’t look Galran or any species forced to work here. Frowning, he taps their back to gain their attention.

They could probably fix it, 

“Listen even a Olkari infant can code better than this! I need you to fix it.”

@allergictotheoutdoors​ // plotted.

[borntobelime]

Shidge Galra/Altean AU

This one and soon another one will be small tribute to @nicht-vobla for her work on my request and off course helping me by making an awesome Galra Shiro. So heads up for more Plots (can’t write fic but i can give plots just like how @olkarianprincess  does because she is one of the people who motivate me ) 

Version One Shidge Galra/Altean I call it The Blade and The Green Paladin

Lance Hunk and Keith find the Blue Lion and they end up to planet Arus there  they enter the Castle Of Lions and so when they wake up Princess  Allura  Coran the Royal Advisor and Katelyn the youngest child of the Royal Alchemists Sammuel and Colleen  that were saved by King Alfor and so there journey starts .Hunk and Lance start calling Katelyn Katie (first was to annoy her but then she started to like it because even back at the Altea Katie had trouble making friends besides Allura  because of her nerdyness AHEM ...I mean passion in technology and all knowledge ) besides one of the things she missed most from altea was her family and Hunk and Lance reminded her of her older brother he used to call her Pidge and they would play around tech or games and etc Lance and Hunk really took their roles as big brothers (because how could they not )

....They soon encounter Sendak , Robobeasts , Haggar and Haggar’s right hand Ivar and almost got caught by Zarkon

There paths come across to the Blades of Mamora (Thace gave Keith Ulaz’s location and Ulaz sent them to the Mamora Base) They Meet Kolivan and Shiro his best student (and adoptive son  ) Allura and Keith try to build an alliance and Kolivan suggests to let Shiro join there team they are against it first (well Allura and Katie are) But Keith makes the final decision as to its important for the alliance (also maybe Shiro could help him learn more about his now awaken blade  even though he and Kolivan gave him a hard time on the trial ).....There is still some tension around the castle when Shiro is around but Shiro understands the situation so he is the first to break the ice he offers Keith and the others to help the improve there combat skills and train them on teamwork Allura accepts because as much as she hates to admit Shiro was fighting the Galra more that  they did so he takes up  role in the team as the trainer and battle tactician he teaches Keith how to use his blade and helps Lance and Hunk to improve there hand to hand combat even Coran likes him (mostly because when he tells about his adventures Shiro can’t avoid him )

So the last person he hasn’t bonded with is Katie , she hasn’t made any effort to communicate she is always in her lab or she leaves the room when he comes or doesn’t even look his way or she skips training claiming she will do so later or doesn’t need to because she has other skills to help her in situations . She actually made it very clear she hates the Garla she  still has the very memory of the galra attacking her family’s lab  facility on a planet close to Altea  destroying it all her parents work how Sam  and Colleen stayed behind to help Matt and her escape and how matt sacrificed himself to get on ship to Altea the last thing she remembers is the a blade going through Matt’s chest and the galra laughing .

So Shiro asked Hunk and Lance what he could do to make her at least handle be in the same room . They both give him the same answer give it time she will come around shiro had to leave for a quick mission while they were taking a break in planet Olkari  but he comes back with his prosthetic not functioning well ...actually he hasn’t maintained it since he left the blade there was always a technician there to look after it work on upgrades , so he does he goes over to the olkari’s technician department and finds her and when he explained the reason been here that is where the ice broke he should have known how much she loved all kinds of tech and thus  she started opening up he managed to open a conversation about  how he got it even though it was a personal subject he knew if he shared it she might open up a bit  for a moment she was silent and thought it didn’t work but she soon started showing  sympathy  while fixing it …..shiro then knew he can finally be at better terms with her …. And so they started growing closer they trained the fought the laughed  together ….During a mission the team goes inside a galra ship while Shiro and Coran stayed in the Castle ………...they come back Katie gets captured by the galra  Keith is badly wounded in a pod Shiro decides to take the rescue mission is his own hands and out of instinct he went straight to the Black Lion and flew of to find her ……….He managed to locate her prison and find her in time before the galra started to torture her with experiments to make her talk ……..he manage to free her but during there escape they are stopped by Ivar Haggar’s right hand they both try to fight him Shiro gets hit  and Ivar prepares to blast them Katie stands infront of  shiro and takes they hit she absorbs it without even understanding how she did and she releases it at once knocking Ivar ….when  ivar stands up his hood and mask fall off Katie looks in horror who he is under that mask is her brother Matt who she thought he died but he was here a corrupted version of him long hair a blue skin and his marks and eyes  like haggar She is about to talk to him but the facility starts  to break down they have to evacuate shiro picks her up and runs of while she see Matt teleporting  away …..they go into the black lion setting course to the castle he holds her close while she starts crying feeling so confused and he promises they will bring him back to her together ...That day something changed between them

[kcwcommentary]

VLD3x06 – “Tailing a Comet”

3x06 – “Tailing a Comet”

This episode is a mess. 

This commentary is long because I have a lot to critique.

Lance is in some Galra base. He’s looking through the scope of his bayard-turned-rifle. The red of the bayard and the blue of his armor looks so dissonant. I don’t know how the visual of the colors not matching resulting from the lion switch plot ever felt right to the EPs. It might match for whatever nostalgia they have of the old 80s Voltron, but it looks like an animation error.

Keith rushes in, taking out sentries. All the Paladins are there, including Allura, whose bayard is manifesting as a whip. A very inconsistent whip. Sometimes it acts solid, like a normal whip, wrapping around sentries. Other times, without anything to suggest a change, it acts like a blade, cutting sentries apart. Purposeful inconsistencies like the nature and behavior of her bayard make it difficult to track and anticipate how anything works in this show. It’s disorienting to watch. Just another absurdity of this show’s production.

Pidge does something to a computer and all the sentries shut down and fall over. That is a serious security vulnerability that one would think the Galra, with their 10,000-year old universe-wide empire, would have figured out and built their systems so that every sentry didn’t have a singular, unified off-switch.

Given what Pidge and Keith say at the end of the scene, the Paladins must be going around taking down various Galra bases before turning them over to the Blade of Marmora.

The sequence ends, revealing itself to be just an action set-piece. There was no narrative relevance to the scene, no reason for the scene to be in the story. It was solely there as pointless spectacle.

Back on the Castle Ship, Keith is talking to Shiro. Shiro remembers the battle with Zarkon, he remembers the Black Lion telling him to use the black bayard, and the next thing he remembers is waking up on a Galra ship. While Shiro could use a haircut, him in his white tank top is nice. Initially, I was just going to write that as a side-note in parentheses, but looking at Shiro’s bare arms, seeing precisely how the prosthetic connects to his arm is important. This won’t be relevant to some of my criticism for several seasons, but I want to point it out very specifically now so that I can come back to it when Shiro gets his new arm in season seven. It’s something I suspected, but I couldn’t remember any absolute textual evidence for what I have long thought. Seeing him in this tank top now, I know for certain, I’m right. This makes the new arm he gets in season seven even more abhorrent. I’ll wait until I get to those episodes to point out specifically why.

Keith points out that Shiro had “just unlocked the Black Lion’s ability to teleport.” He suggests maybe Black was trying to save Shiro by teleporting him or that maybe Zarkon somehow made Black teleport Shiro into Galra hands. This would have at least explained what happened to Shiro’s body. But since we know from future episodes that this isn’t Shiro, and that Black did not teleport Shiro to the Galra, the show leaves us with no explanation for what happened to Shiro’s body or how he died.

“Hey Keith, how many times are you going to have to save me before this is over?” Shiro asks. “As many times as it takes,” Keith answers. I love that they care about each other. And that makes the fact that they don’t talk to each other in season eight, acting as if they barely know each other, more infuriating.

Hair cut and face shaven, Shiro joins the others on the bridge. The first thing he says to them is to congratulate them on the work they’ve done in his absence in fighting against the Galra. Pidge interrupts with information she’s gotten from data she’s analyzed about Lotor, saying his most recent sightings have been in a particular “quadrant.” Shiro comments about the quadrant being huge. As I complained about the use of the word in 3x02 “Red Paladin,” I really don’t like that “quadrant” has become some go-to word for miscellaneous area divisions of space. The show remembers that Hunk is an engineer and intelligent, so they have him and Pidge go back and forth discussing a way to try to track the “comet.”

Lance actually comes to Keith’s room to talk to him. “You’re the leader now, right?” Lance says to Keith. This is an unnecessary, uncomfortable situation the show chose to put itself in. Lance talks about how they have “one Paladin too many.” Lance doesn’t want to take Blue away from Allura, so if Shiro resumes as Black Paladin and Keith goes back to Red, Lance thinks he should step aside. If the EPs of the show didn’t want to contort this show to fit their nostalgia of the old 80s Voltron, then this wouldn’t need to be an issue. There was nothing whatsoever wrong with having Allura as an admiral-level commander stationed on the Castle Ship. There she could be written as a leader, but as the Blue Paladin, she’s just kind of there, following orders instead of giving them.

Keith tries to convince Lance to just focus on the missions instead of worrying about it. To a small degree, Lance talking to Keith about this is Lance revealing some of his significant insecurities. With the unexplained rivalry between these two characters, character growth for them could have been built around Keith helping Lance learn to deal with his insecurities. This scene would be a step in such development, so Keith not recognizing here how severe Lance’s insecurities are makes sense. But the character development would need to continue in the future, and I think the show thinks that they do keep working on this character development, but they don’t ever really resolve the arc. It just sort of fizzles. At least, I don’t remember the show explaining how Lance deals with his insecurities.

Once again, the mice are shown having gone into the same (or similar) area of the ship’s systems with the two small crystals that they went into in 1x03 “Defenders of the Universe.” Like then, I don’t understand why the system was designed so that a technician couldn’t access it, thus necessitating using the mice to do so. Hunk promising the mice a “mouse shower” is cute though.

Hunk hitting the panel to make the ship send out whatever energy ring that is shown beaming out from the Castle is cliché, and, given the command input interface of this system, not really sensical. They detect the “comet” and begin pursuit. Their system locates the “comet” on a standard Galra ship, not Lotor’s, at a planet. Once again, the planet does not look like a planet.

Both Keith and Shiro simultaneously go to give the team commands. Keith defers to Shiro. I guess it makes sense that a readjustment like this moment might be realistic given the plot as it’s been this season, but I can’t watch it and not think about how the EPs wanted Keith as Black Paladin and wanted Shiro dead. Shiro thinks that the Galra must be transferring the “comet” to the base, but the ship ends up blasting the base. Shiro says they need more information, and Keith tells Shiro to take the Black Lion, that he’ll stay on the Castle with Coran and help provide support.

This suggests something that bothers me throughout the show. The Castle is a large ship and must have been designed with the intention of a larger crew than what Team Voltron has. They never do staff the Castle with such a crew though. Despite the show telling us about people joining the Voltron Coalition, none of those who join work on the Castle. The Olkari are a culture significantly made up of engineers, yet none join the crew. Slav supposedly helps on the Castle Ship at the end of season two, but he’s nowhere to be seen now. That the crew is never realistically staffed annoys me.

The Black Lion won’t respond to Shiro, so he tells Keith he’ll have to lead the mission. “It looks like you’re its true paladin now,” Shiro says. Ugh. Contextualizing this with the clone storyline, this is supposed to be a hint that this Shiro isn’t the real Shiro. The problem with that is that just last episode, Black specifically reacted to this clone, detected him, roared for him. There is literally no explanation for why Black would be interested in directing Keith to this clone last episode only to reject him now. Black wanted the clone last episode, but for Black now to not want the clone: the show is just ridiculously inconsistent. It’s like those in charge of the story cannot make up their minds about what the story is from one episode to the next.

The show expects us to think that somehow Black has bonded with Keith more than Shiro? That Shiro’s right in saying that Keith is Black’s “true paladin now.” That attempt by the show to make Keith Black Paladin is an act to delegitimize Shiro’s character entirely, including to degrade him from seasons one and two. The only explanation the show ever gives for Black choosing Keith over Shiro is that this is not really Shiro but a clone. But then, even once the real Shiro is put in the clone’s body, the show still has Black choose Keith over Shiro. That’s still the show delegitimizing Shiro in seasons one and two.

I can’t help but to feel insulted and offended by this storytelling decision. It’s like the show is ridiculing me for having thought the unified story of Shiro and Black in seasons one and two was good. This is the show calling me a fool for thinking Shiro and Black’s joint story in the first two seasons of the show meant something.

Shiro still tries to give leadership from the Castle Ship (there’s no narrative reason this couldn’t be Allura like it had been in the past).

Lotor’s generals bust in the base. (I still think Ezor’s sock head is an absurd design.) The Galra commander of the base shouts, “Lotor sent you to finish what he started!?” The episode doesn’t explain what the Galra commander meant by this.

The Paladins board the Galra ship, but there’s no crew. Even if Lotor is trying to act outside of the knowledge of the other Galra of the Empire, why wouldn’t there be sentries on the ship? They’re just robots, which means their allegiances should be programable.

Narti takes psychic control of the Galra base commander. She makes him shut down base security, which again makes all the sentries turn off. This again emphasizes what a severe security risk it is for the Galra to have all the sentries effectively have a singular off-button. Narti has him open the base’s roof, and inside is part of the teludav Team Voltron used to transport Zarkon’s ship in 2x12 “Best Laid Plans.”

The Paladins track down the “comet” to find instead a ship that’s been made from the “comet.” Wow, Lotor was fast. (So fast that it doesn’t feel realistic.) Episode 3x04 “Hole in the Sky,” wherein Lotor steals the “comet,” takes place between when Voltron fights him at Thayserix, seen in both 3x03 “The Hunted” and 3x05 “The Journey,” and when they find Shiro. Shiro loses consciousness during his pursuit of Voltron in “The Journey” seven days after Thayserix. Assuming a day or two of recovery on board the Castle before Keith and Shiro’s conversation at the start of this episode, that would mean Lotor would have had the “comet” processed and the ship constructed start-to-finish within maybe a week-and-a-half?? That is an unrealistic manufacturing timetable, especially if he’s doing all this relatively covertly.

Allura thinks that the Galra would never be able to operate the teludav without an Altean, and then she remembers that Haggar is Altean. This is written like Allura had forgotten and only just now remembered. The way she reacted upon seeing that Haggar is Altean at the end of season two, there’s no way that that would not have been something that was at the forefront of Allura’s mind. That’s why it’s weird that the show never made that revelation about Haggar a topic of discussion among Team Voltron before now.

Keith and Shiro have a disagreement. Keith thinks they should find and attack Lotor directly, thinking that stopping him will stop everything. Shiro thinks the most important problem to deal with is to prevent Lotor from having this ship he’s built and the Paladins should return to the Lions. Allura argues that Shiro has a point, Keith doesn’t exactly disagree, and says everyone else should return to their Lions while he looks for Lotor. Shiro tells Keith they all need to stick together. The rest of the Paladins concur. Keith gives in to the group.

As they move to leave, Lotor’s generals return and attack.

Keith and Axca fight, and for some unknown reason, it makes Keith think of the helmeted, unidentified Galra he ran into in the Weblum in 2x09 “The Belly of the Weblum.” There is literally nothing the episode presents about this moment of combat between Keith and Axca, nor about the Weblum meeting revisited in a quick set of flashbacks, to explain why Keith connected the two here and now. This moment of recognition is absolutely contrived.

Allura uses her bayard whip and wraps it around Zethrid’s rifle. Why she doesn’t use the whip to cut through the rifle, as we’ve seen her clearly cut through sentries with it, I don’t know. I know this is a show for a younger audience, so they can’t have Allura cut through Zethrid herself, but she could destroy the gun. Also, Hunk could have used his big gun to lay down a lot of suppression fire, but he never does. This fight does not feel well crafted.

The Paladins regroup and flee. Zethrid wants to pursue, but Axca orders her not to.

The Paladins discuss everything as they make their way back to the Lions. Keith confirms he knows Axca from the Weblum, but again, there is nothing about this fight now that would explain his realization. There’s worry about Haggar using the teludav to create wormholes, but honestly, I don’t see how this is an increase in Galra ability. Despite the Castle Ship’s having used wormholes in trying to distance themselves from Zarkon, Zarkon’s ship was able to traverse the same distance easily and quickly during his pursuit of them in season two. The distances traveled in this show are huge. We’re not talking from one star to another, we’re talking across the universe. Galra ships would have to have some form of travel comparable to wormholes to be able to do so, even if they don’t have teludavs specifically. Allura’s more concerned with Lotor having a ship made from the “comet.”

Pidge finally brings up something that’s at the core of this episode’s conflict: if Lotor has taken over for Zarkon, then why is he attacking a Galra base. I honestly would have expected this question to have been asked way earlier in the episode, like as soon as they detected the Galra cruiser firing on the base.

As Shiro and Coran bring the Castle Ship toward the planet to try to stop the Galra cruiser, Lotor’s “comet” ship attacks them.

A few words about the visual design of Lotor’s “comet” ship: to me, it looks silly. It looks clearly like a pair of legs. While I know that it eventually combines with other ships to form Sincline, and this ship is Sincline’s legs, it would have been nice if this ship didn’t look so obviously like legs.

When Voltron shows up, the “comet” ship takes off. Keith orders Voltron to form sword, and he uses the black bayard to do so. This doesn’t make any sense since in the past it was the red bayard in the Red Lion that formed the sword. This demonstrates another problem with the Paladins switching Lions: inconsistency of how Voltron is operated. We learn that Axca and Narti are piloting the “comet” ship, not Lotor. He’s off somewhere else, communicating with his generals here.

Shiro, Keith, and Allura kind of argue about attack priorities: The “comet” ship or the Galra cruiser with the teludav. “I thought taking down the ship made from the comet was the most important thing,” Keith aggressively says. It’s within character for Keith to become narrowly focused on something, so it’s not that it is unreasonable that Keith would find the need to deal with two targets in this situation difficult to think about. It does feel though like the show is purposefully trying to put Keith and Shiro at odds with one another in team leadership. Shiro yells to Keith that the Galra ship with the teludav is getting away.

Here’s another problem with this moment that reveals the whole dilemma to be contrived: While Voltron is fighting the “comet” ship, and Shiro is calling for Voltron to stop the ship with the teludav, the Castle Ship is doing nothing. The Castle Ship has been shown to be able to take out Galra ships many times before on this show. So why doesn’t it go after the ship with the teludav? Because the narrative is being forced to artificially manufacture contention between Shiro and Keith.

Shiro tells Keith to “lower your shield, shoot the cargo ship, and deal with the consequences.” Keith still thinks they can deal with the “comet” ship first before the other. Shiro yells, “There’s not enough time. You need to make a decision.” This is even writing Shiro’s character badly. If the decision is up to Keith to be made, then it’s clear what Keith’s decision is, so then Shiro shouldn’t be arguing otherwise. Again, this whole dilemma is totally contrived because the writers think that they’re making some big statement about how you can’t have two leaders. It feels like such a false, unnatural conflict between Shiro and Keith.

Keith eventually orders the team to execute Shiro’s plan: lower the shield and shoot the ship with the teludav. Given Lotor’s communication with the “comet” ship, he somehow knows that Voltron is going to do Shiro’s plan of lowering the shield to shoot the cargo ship. There is no reason that Lotor should know this.

Voltron drops its shield, brings up the shoulder canon, and Lotor orders the “comet” ship to “Fire, now!” Where is he that he can see this battle in such precise detail to order a ship to fire at such a specific moment? With the Paladins having said the cruiser was empty when they were on the planet, and with the way Lotor has been talking during this fight, he’s not here, so he wouldn’t be able to make such precise orders.

Keith seems to sense the “comet” ship firing, so he maneuvers Voltron out of the way, and the “comet” ship’s blast hits the teludav. That is a very precise angle that Voltron would have had to create in order to ensure that the “comet” ship’s blast would hit the teludav, so Voltron’s maneuver being purposeful to result in this outcome is highly unrealistic.

Voltron, now out of the way, just sits there, giving the “comet” ship time to re-aim and fire on them, this time hitting Voltron. The “comet” ship goes over to the cruiser so Zethrid and Ezor can board the “comet” ship. They then flee. Keith wants to pursue, but Shiro tells them to return to the Castle, that they need to figure out what is actually going on with Lotor’s actions/plans.

Shiro talks to Keith alone, apologizing for “stepping in.” Keith says he “thought he had it under control.” Shiro tells him, “You need to learn to pick your battles. Sometimes you have to make hard choices.” But Keith’s problem wasn’t that he wasn’t picking a battle or making a choice, so I don’t understand this supposed wisdom from Shiro. Shiro says that it was Keith’s “quick thinking that prevented Lotor from getting away with the teludav.” This confirms that we’re supposed to read the moment earlier when Keith maneuvers Voltron out of the way of the “comet” ship’s blast and the blast hits the teludav as being intentional, but setting up the necessary angle for that to happen is not something that could have happened as quickly as it did and in as stressful of a situation as it did, so again, that moment was highly unrealistic.

Shiro then again says, “The Black Lion has chosen you.” Ugh. It’s one thing for Black to chose Keith when Shiro’s unavailable, but it’s another for Black to choose Keith over Shiro. At this point, we’re supposed to think this is the real Shiro, so that’s explicitly what this scene is saying: that Black has chosen Keith over Shiro. Setting aside that this is a clone, the episode gives no explanation for why Black would choose Keith over Shiro. Shiro did the work of freeing Black from Zarkon’s influence. Shiro did the work to acquire the black bayard. And here the show is telling us that that strong bond Black had with Shiro that was necessary for it to be freed from Zarkon is now meaningless? Recontextualizing to view this as Black rejecting the clone, then the show needs to explain why Black was so connected to the clone last episode that it sensed the clone and directed Keith to go get him.

The Galra base commander is being interrogated by Haggar. He says he can’t remember anything other than whoever came had the correct landing codes. Narti must then be able to erase memories with her psychic powers. I’m still surprised that she’s not seen as a threat to Haggar. Haggar says she believes the commander, “but [he] still must pay for his failure” and she uses some miscellaneous purple energy to make him scream. Standing a short distance from her is Lotor, looking smug. For the commander to be there now, this scene has to have been some notable amount of time after the battle at the base.

And the episode ends.

So much of this episode is unexplained and contrived. Keith knowing Axca was the Galra he met in the Weblum. Lotor’s real-time awareness of the battle despite not being there to observe it, and his knowing precisely what Shiro’s attack plan is to relay that information to his generals. Shiro and Keith butting heads. The Castle Ship completely dropping out of the fight instead of attacking the one ship so that Voltron can attack the other. While there are a couple of good, yet brief moments in this episode, the vast majority of the episode is contrived or incoherent or disrespectful of past story.

[a-corndog-named-schibbs]

Prince in Disguise chapter 5

In which Lance makes Keith’s job difficult in several ways.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

(So by now you all know how much I love Altean Lance and Galra Keith, but did you know I’m also a fan of Balmeran Hunk and Olkari Pidge?)

Enjoy!

It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours yet and Keith was already sick of this job.

He found that most of Lance’s daily routine consisted of lessons, either in governance or in court etiquette, and that Lance hated them with a vengeance.  By the end of the day, it had felt like Keith was practically dragging him to his final lesson, even though Lance was the one meant to be showing him around.  Then he had nearly lost track of him when Lance had attempted to distract his tutor and sneak out of the lesson.

And whatever part of Lance’s routine wasn’t taken up with lessons was filled, it seemed, with preening and beauty routines.  From what Keith could tell, the prince was almost comically vain.  Apparently, Coran’s comment yesterday about Lance’s “three-hour bath” was not an exaggeration because the prince took another one in the evening that was nearly as long.  Then he had taken almost another hour just to apply some cleansing gunk or other to his face and choose which set of silk pajamas to wear to bed.  By the time the prince actually fell asleep, Keith felt like tearing his fur out.

Even then, Lance wouldn’t let him rest properly because Keith could hear the sound of his snoring from the small side room where he slept.  Okay, so his snoring wasn’t actually that loud.  But to Keith’s sensitive ears, it might as well be a buzz saw in the other room.

Keith growled and turned over in bed.  Stupid Lance with his stupid routine and his stupid snoring and…

Keith sat up.  He couldn’t hear Lance’s snoring anymore.  Or his breathing or any indication of movement from his room.

Keith sprang out of bed, rapidly pulled a shirt on, and threw open the door to Lance’s room.  His enormous four-poster bed was empty, the sheets bunched up at the foot of the bed.

Dammit!  It would be just his luck for the prince to get kidnapped his first day on the job.  Keith checked the window for signs of forced entry.  No broken glass, no foreign scents, and the window was still locked.  Keith breathed a sigh of relief.  No sign of kidnapping.  But then where was the prince?

Feeling like a creep, Keith lifted the corner of the sheets to his nose and took a whiff, memorizing the prince’s smell, which mostly consisted of that ridiculous juniberry-scented body wash he used.  Sniffing the air periodically, Keith followed the scent out of Lance’s room, down the hall and toward the kitchens.

The enormous kitchen was mostly empty at this time.  A few cooks bustled about, preparing to make the royal family’s breakfast, but otherwise the room was not crowded.  Keith spotted Lance sitting on a stool at one of the counters, eating some sort of candy-looking food and chatting with two aliens who sat next to him.

One was a Balmeran, a male, sturdily built with a rotund belly.  The other was a young Olkari, fiddling absentmindedly with a comm in front of her.  The Balmeran said something that Keith didn’t catch and Lance laughed his high, clear laugh.

Keith stomped up to the counter, “Why aren’t you in your room?!”

Lance looked up and wrinkled his nose in distaste, “Oh, it’s you.  How’d you find me?”

“I followed your scent here.  What are you doing out of your room?”

“You can smell me?!”

“I wouldn’t have to smell you if you would just stay in your room so I can do my damn job!”

The Olkari snickered, “I take it this is Keith.”

Lance glared at Keith, “Fine.  If you must know, I got up early so I could spend time with my friends before Coran drags me away to those dull lessons that take up every tick of every quintant of my life.”

“Friends?” said Keith, taken aback.  These two were clearly servants.  Keith would have expected Lance to make friends with other nobility.

“Yes, friends.  A concept I expect you’re not very familiar with.”

“Lance, that’s rude!” said the Balmeran.

“Yeah, and you know what else is rude?  Not introducing us to your new bodyguard.” said the Olkari.

Lance sighed.  He gestured to the Balmeran, “Keith, this is Hunk.  He’s a cook here at the palace.  And this is Pidge.” he indicated the Olkari, “She’s a technician.  Guys, this is Keith, my new babysitter.  Oh, sorry, bodyguard.”

“I wouldn’t have to act like a babysitter if you didn’t act like a baby.” growled Keith.

Pidge laughed, “I like this guy.  He’ll fit in just fine.”

Hunk smiled and held up a plate of candy-like objects the three had been eating, “We were just trying some chocolate-covered juniberries I made.  Want one?”

Keith hesitantly picked a berry off the plate and dropped it in his mouth.  The richness of the chocolate immediately hit his tastebuds.  He bit down and the berry in the center broke open, releasing a burst of sweetness that complemented the flavor of the chocolate perfectly.

“It’s delicious!” said Keith, “You said you made these yourself?”

Hunk nodded, “I was thinking about sending a box of them to Shay as a hatching-day gift.”

“Who’s Shay?”

“His lady friend.” said Pidge, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Hunk ducked his head, suddenly shy, “She’s my betrothed.  We’ve known each other since we were children.”

Lance groaned, “You’re so lucky.  You and Shay already know each other so well.  I don’t know anything about my betrothed.”

Keith’s stomach fluttered.  The prince was talking about him.

“I’m sure your father wouldn’t pick someone he knew wasn’t right for you.” said Hunk.

Lance rolled his eyes, “My father doesn’t know anything about Prince Akira either.  He only saw him once when he was, what, three?  By now he’s probably some great brute of a Galra whose idea of romance is to throw me over his shoulder and carry me off.”

The fluttering in Keith’s stomach turned into a knot. “Not all Galra are like that.”

“You’re right.” said Lance, “He’s probably more like you and just doesn’t have feelings at all.  Outside of grumpy and grumpier, that is.”

Keith had to concentrate very hard to not ball his hands into fists, “I’m sure Prince Akira will be a perfectly adequate mate.”

“Ugh, even the word you people use is unromantic.  Mate.  Don’t the Galra have any sense of charm?  What do Galra even do to court someone?”

Keith actually had to think hard about that.  He’d been promised to another long before he could feel romantic feelings for others, so he had never tried to court anybody.

“We…give each other gifts, I suppose.”

“Like what?” said Lance, “If someone was courting you, what would you want them to give you?”

Keith thought again, “I don’t know…a new knife, I guess?”

“A knife?”

“What’s wrong with a knife?”

Lance almost looked personally offended, “See, this is what I’m talking about when I say the Galra have no sense of romance!  Honestly!  Who comes home to their sweetheart and goes ‘Hello darling, here’s a sharp implement for you.  I saw it in the market and thought of you instantly.’  Who does that?!”

“You asked me what I wanted and I answered honestly.  Do you not want me to tell you the truth?”

Lance huffed, “I suppose I do.”  He turned to Hunk, “The berries were wonderful, by the way.  You should be very proud.”

Hunk smiled, “I’m glad you think so.  I might try selling them at the convergence festival on Castor next movement.”

“That’s next movement already?  I thought it was later!  I wanted to go to it so badly this deca-phoeb!”

“Aww, is the poor prince going to miss the festival because of his lessons?” said Pidge, imitating Lance’s whining voice perfectly, “That’s too bad.  Hunk and I get the day off to attend.”

Lance shot her a look, “Hmph.  Just because I have lessons that day doesn’t mean I can’t weasel my way out of them.  I’m going to that festival, even if I have to sneak my way out of the palace to do it.”

“You can’t do that!” said Keith.

Lance looked up, surprised, “And why is that?”

“How am I supposed to be guarding you if you’re sneaking out of the palace?”

A grin spread across the prince’s face, “There’s an obvious solution, Keith.  You can escort me to the festival yourself.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“Well, it’s either that or I attend the festival alone, exposing myself to thugs, assassins, and other ruffians without you there to protect me.”

“You’re impossible.” said Keith, crossing his arms.

“Not impossible.  Just used to having my way.”

“Oh, all right, fine.  We’ll go to your stupid festival.”

Lance grinned, “I already like you better than all my previous bodyguards combined.  None of them ever let me sneak out.”

That’s because they were most likely all better bodyguards than me. Keith thought, but said nothing.  So much for maintaining professionalism.

“You’re the best, Keith.  Trust me, we’re going to have a great time!”

Chapter 6

[darkspellmaster]

In the Forest of No Return: Chapter 2 Lotor’s Plan

AN: Copyright for Voltron, Toei Animation, WEP, Dreamworks animation and Studio Mir.

Lotor

The two merchants had hailed the city several vargas ago and insisted upon speaking with Mogor, Lotor’s advisor, who was in charge of the city on Mezora, practically foaming at the mouth with excitement and hoping to get in the Prince’s good graces. After all, with his father incapacitated, and the likelihood of him never making a full recovery, rumors abound that the young Prince would soon become Emperor. So it was wise, at least to the two merchants, to get in his good graces while there was still time.

Mogor knew the Prince hated that fact. He had been with the young noble since he was a child, barley able to hold a sword, and had seen him grow into the cunning dispassionate man that he was now. Lotor had dealt with fools all his life. Those that would smile to his face, and name call him behind his back. He was used to it, and had learned long ago not to care. Or at least hide that care behind ambivalence. The less people had reason to be around him the better he felt. He trusted no one, save Mogor, and that was how it had been for years. No one quiet knew the Prince’s real personality. Sometimes he could come off as charming and witty, other times quiet and reserved, still others scheming and ruthless. But above all else Lotor was a man who didn’t like chances to slip from his grasp that was the only reason Mogor had allowed the call to come through.

“State your business,” the tall and brutish Galra officer had stated. His gray and black uniform standing out among the men he over saw. Standing at attention, Mogor stared at the screen, watching the two merchants as they seemed to question who was going to talk first. The more they seemed to hem and haw, the more aggravated he got and turned to look at his communication officer.

“Close the link, I have no time for this idiocy. There are important calls that could come through and I would like to keep the channels open.”

The officer nodded and was about to cut off the transmission when the taller of the two cloaked figures shouted, “Wait! We have news.”

“So you said,” Mogor stated, his face showing no indication of his annoyance, nor did his tone shift in the slightest to show any sign indicating he was displeased. “What is it that you have to say? Either speak now, or I will have this call terminated. And you should make it quick, I’m not a patient man.”

“Ah, yes, so we’ve heard,” said the shorter one of the two. He looked at his partner who shrugged and the shorter one continued. “We’d like to let Prince Lotor know that we’ve found three of the Voltron pilots.”

Mogor smirked some, unable to hide the chuckle that came upon his lips. His yellow eyes lit up with amusement. “Have you now? And what makes you think you have found them.” “Well we were at a dinner on Eios, when we saw these three young creatures across from us, and we were discussing issues about Mezora when one of them got up to use the bathroom and…”

Mogor had heard enough. This was useless chatter and waved his hand to his officer readying him to cut the call short when the tall one quickly interjected.

“Wait! Don’t cut us off yet! We really did see them. One had a dark tan face with a really stupid grin. The other had dark black hair with an orange wrap around the head and quiet chunky…”

“Yes quiet,” said the shorter one, “And the last had big round glasses and big brown eyes!”

“That could describe any humanoid being in the galaxy,” Mogor pointed out rather board with the discussion. He turned his head to his subordinate, “Cut the link…”

“Wait!” screamed the short one and pulled out the device. “Here! They were listening to us with this!”

Mogor stared at the device and raised his eyebrow, “That?” he questioned, “That just looks like a toy of some sort.”

“It’s not, I assure you,” insisted the tall one and the short one vigorously nodded his head sending the hood violently flapping, making the communication officer cover his mouth so they didn’t hear him laugh. “This device let them hear what we were saying in our own language. We think they were spying on us. The one with the orange wrap was watching us, even though he thought we did not see him.”

The short one shouted as he pushed up his hood some, “Yes, yes, and they left quickly after the one with the glasses seemed surprised by what we were saying. Something spooked him.”

“And I think they had a ship docked at one of the ports.” The tall one was now waving his hands around as if trying to draw out a map in the air. “Please, let us speak to Prince Lotor. We’re sure that they heard us and know of Mezora now.”

Morgor sniffed, this was news, but how good it was he wasn’t sure and he wasn’t about to let these oafs speak with the Prince. He closed his eyes and cleared his throat. “The Empire thanks you for your excellent work, and is pleased that you did your job as dutiful citizens. We will allow you to keep that object and will let the Prince know of you findings.”

“Wait…” started the short one, hopping for some form of payment, but Mogor signaled to his communication officer, who terminated the call, causing the screen to go blank again. Mogor shook his head and muttered under his breath.

“A likely story…”

“Though one I’m interested in,” a smooth and calm voice came from the door way and Mogor turned to face an elegant looking young noble. The young man’s eyes were a strange set up. Yellow like most other Galra, but they had irises and pupils more in line with his possible other heritage. Blue markings cut by his cheeks and his white hair was slightly pulled back to give him a more mature look. Some locks had come lose and hung lightly like bangs, which he brushed from his eyes as he came into the room.

At once the other officers stood and bowed to the young man along with Mogor. Unimpressed the young noble snorted at the display, pondering if his father were still awake, or if Mogor wasn’t in the room, would any of them bow to him in such a manner.

“Prince Lotor!” Mogor said and looked down, “I did not mean to disrespect you, your highness.”

Lotor let out a deep sigh and crossed his arms as Mogor glanced up. He was in his custom uniform, with orange and blue tints mixed with the black and light gray of the traditional Galra officer. Lotor was the only one allowed to wear such an outfit, something no other member of the Empire’s army could do, and some thought it was garish and out of place, but the Prince had always been that way. Choosing to embrace some of the distain of others and flaunt that as a means of showing control over things that he could. Uniform choice was one of them, and he wore it with pride. It suited him, more so, it make him look imperial when need be. At that moment a cape was draped over his back and it was clear he’d put it on recently as the rest of his uniform showed hints of damage from laser fire. Mogor assumed then that the young prince had gone into the training chamber for practice.

“No, I’m sure you did not,” Lotor said with a distant look on his face and motion Mogor to rise, which he did as did his men. They went quickly back to work as Lotor waited for an explanation of what was going on. Mogor stood at attention as he spoke.

“Sire, there was a call from the planet Eios, two unknown merchant hailed with some information regarding a bounty.”

“And what does that have to do with us? We have no bounty here, well none that is worth much.” He muttered thinking of the young Prince that was in the holding cells on the lower floors of the command center.

“The bounty information was about the Voltron Paladins, my lord,” Mogor explained and Lotor, who had been watching some monitors showing off the city and some of the surrounding area (mostly keeping an eye on some of the larger creatures to be sure that they weren’t about to break another wall –since one had just been repaired the other quintent), turned his attention immediately to his advisor and stared with some disbelief.

“Are you certain of this? What did they say?”

“Not much, my lord,” Mogor explained and relaxed just a little as Lotor fully faced him. The two men were vastly different in height and looks. Lotor with his elegant Altean features and sharp ears, was like a perfect alien prince, and his shorter height stood out among his men as he came up to their chests. Mogor was far more beast like in face, with harsher angles and dark flushed hair. He had very strong chin with a pounced nose that seemed to be slightly crooked from not healing straight after it had been broken. There was an air about the two men that showed a great deal of power and intimidation. No one dared to cut into the conversation.

“However you think that what they did say had some merit?” Lotor inquire, intrigued. Mogor nodded slightly at this and Lotor tapped his chin with a nail. “And what was it that you thought was of use to us?”

Mogor motioned for him to look at the video that they had filmed of the exchange. It was common practice to record any calls that came in from unknown frequencies. He stopped the video and had the technician zoom in on the strange device in the shorter merchant’s hand. “They claimed that they had seen members of Voltron and that they had listened into their conversation, then left the dinner that they were eating at on Eios.”

Lotor stared at the device and waved at the officer, “Enlarge it.”

The Galra officer did so without question and Lotor came up to the screen, and quickly pulled up a console, taking a full scan of the object and started to run various tests on the image. Eventually after a few moments the computer came up with a holographic version of the device. Lotor spun it around and looked at it from all angles and then glanced at Mogor. “Do we have any scans of devices from Olkari on hand?”

“I believe so Sire,” the technician said, and looked through the files that he had on the various devices the Galra at the base had taken in over the years. “Ah, yes there are a few. Do you wish me to scan them and the item for similarities?”

“As quickly as you can.” Lotor told him as the computer ran over the files, his eyes watching for the proof that he needed. If this was an items from Olkari then he had an idea who designed it, the Green Paladin.

Lotor had taken it upon himself to learn all that he could about the Paladins since he’d been brought back into the fold. He didn’t want just words from those that would kiss up to him for a place in the ranks, and their intelligence was tentative at best. Seeing the Voltron crew in action was something that he felt that he needed. After all they were an intelligent group, and he’d seen firsthand how they’d used what they knew to gather scaultrite from inside the Weblum in a risky, but impressive, way. He’d owe them that much he knew, particularly the red one, Keith, for saving him from inside his ship.

He’d watched video after video of captured footage from different locations of fights with the Voltron members, both on the ground from destroyed drones and in space as they’d wrecked ships. Then there were the videos of them in locations where they were in bases and on their own being relaxed. He’d found it all to be very informative, although it only gave him some speculation on how their relationships worked as well as their personalities interacted.

From what he could tell Keith was very serious but also someone who could lead and crack a joke around those that he trusted. He also had issues with himself and longed for answers to his past. Lance was one that was unsure of his role in the team, but when push came to shove he was very efficient and could not only follow orders but also come up with things on the fly. Hunk was one that seemed to be off in lala land quite a bit, but it was damn clear to him that Hunk could be a challenge when he threw himself fully into something as well as being extra sensitive to others and their needs. Something Lotor admired in a fighter. Then there was Shiro, the clear leader of the team and one that seemed to have a strange mix of attitudes. At points he seemed clear and in control, but there were moments Lotor caught something of fear or doubt in his face. He was scared of something, and the others didn’t see it. Lotor had found that interesting and felt that if he met Shiro he’d hone in on that factor. Whatever it was, it was something he could use against him.

The last one though was interesting. Pidge was the Green Paladin, and someone who seemed to be heavily involved in his work, however he was nothing more than what appeared to be a child. From the reports after the near takeover of the Castle of Lions, it seemed that Pidge was far more capable a fighter then Commander Sendak had assumed. He’d underestimated the Green Paladin and had allowed for his plans to be destroyed by this Pidge. The more he’d watched of the Paladin the more Lotor was interested in the way his mind ticked. Pidge had the air of someone who could go from zero to one hundred in less than five ticks, and it was clear that he knew what he was doing when it came to hacking and getting into the Galra systems. This fact had bothered him a lot, if a child could get at the systems, was it any wonder that his father’s great ship had fallen to the warriors of Voltron.

Pidge was an oddity that he wanted to explore more. Not a full on fighter as the others were, he was more built for stealth, and the fact that he was searching for his brother had been something that Lotor found useful. If he could get this other boy, he could use that to get at the Green Paladin, which could effectively weaken the team.

But at the moment that was not what he was thinking about as the numbers and images flashed in quick succession before him. Lotor’s mind was on the way that Pidge had shown a great deal of interest in technology and could reverse engineer things. This bothered him as it meant that he could effectively rebuild something that they had made and this could eventually be used against them. He needed to find a way to deal with that issue first, as he was sure the others would have a harder time dealing with them if he could take out the tech guy in their little group. He was sure that the device before their eyes was something that Pidge had built based on Olkari engineering, the question was what was it?

A beeping noise from the computer signaled that all tests were completed and Mogor’s voice called him back from his thoughts. “Sire, I believe we know what the device is.”

“Well then,” Lotor examined the list of information that lay before him, and carefully combed through it. His fingers danced over the pink screen and he made a faced as he fell into deep thoughts. “So it seems it’s a translator, how clever, and one that learns as well…interesting. But uttlerly useless unless the words match something that was already in there, or similar to another language.”

“So it appears, Prince Lotor,” Mogor agreed and Lotor waved the device screen away, and stepped away from the computer. He muttered to himself as he walked back and forth, as if trying to decode some puzzle that had been placed before him as a test.

“So they listened in and heard a conversation, what were they talking of?” he asked Mogor, who cleared his throat. “Well?”

“They said they were discussing matters on Mezora.”

Lotor’s brows narrowed and a dark anger entered his eyes, “What…matters…precisely?”

“They did not say. Only that they were talking about the planet…” Mogor said and Lotor scowled.

“I want them found, find out what they know, and if need be…make it clear that if they talk anymore of this planet they will be silenced.”

Mogor bowed, “As you command, my Prince.”

Lotor closed his eyes and headed for the door, “I’ll be in contact. I need to figure out what to do next. If they know of the planet then they are sure to come…but what to do with it.”

Leaving the area he ignored the greetings from his subordinates and went to his quarters. Stripping from his clothing he quickly ducked into a shower to clean and think. Closing his eyes he let the water from Mezora’s springs run over his sore body. There were scars from where he’d been sliced in combat when he was a child. Training his father’s generals had insisted upon, training he’d learned to despise as his height had been a problem and made him an easy target for the far taller and stronger of the new recruits. However his height had an advantage in how he could move, and he was far mobile then the others around him, and his hearing was better than the other Galran officers in his academy. Yet that had not stopped them from treating him as useless, a waste of space.

He clenched his fist, he’d shown them though. The moment he’d come up with his gun he’d proven to be a far greater shot and his studies of strategy and hand to hand combat had aided him to get him out of scrapes a traditional officer would have lost in. He could recall the face of Keith when he’d managed to get over his head. It made him smirk to know that he could still surprise others. He preferred to work alone, but in that case, it had been a bad move. Then again, he was never one to think of plans in the long term, especially when it came to dealing with being ignored or rebuked. So he’d foolishly gone to get the scaultrite on his own. His plans to build a telladove were slowly taking fruition, but it had been hard going, and others had not wanted to help. Even now he felt alone, an outcast among his own people. The only ones that he actually trusted were Mogor and Kossak. Mogor had been his advisor since he was young and Kossak had been a fellow recruit in the academy and had since become the head of his elite squadron. Still, the trust only went so far, and neither were of the brilliant mind Lotor believed himself to be when it came to understanding the science of the universe.

Cleaned, and relaxed, he donned a casual uniform, looser pants and a top that was built more in a traditional Altean garb. He knew that some of the base would be displeased seeing him in such wear, and he didn’t care. He would wear what he wanted and damn them to hell if they didn’t like it. Taking a seat in his quarters he pulled up the device again and looked it over. It was well crafted, not at all what he figured someone of Pidge’s age could craft. It made him wonder what the child’s IQ really was.

As he studied it a thought crossed his mind. They would be coming to Mezora, that was a given. There was no way that Voltron would not try to come and see if what the merchants had said was true. If that was the case, then he knew that they wouldn’t just rush in, given that Allura was no fool, and Corran was good at planning. They would have to have the element of surprise that was a must for the base.

Lotor steepled his fingers and looked out at the device. “They’re going to come, they heard something to interest them, and they wouldn’t have wanted to listen in unless there was a reason.” He was muttering again to himself, ignoring the drink on the side of the table and the food that had been brought in.  He rubbed his chin for a moment and closed his eyes again, focusing on what he’d seen in the videos, trying to think like the Voltron members.

“They’re going to send someone down….” He realized this quickly, but the question was who? Did it really matter? Not so much as long as he could get to them first. If he could capture the Paladin then he could use that against the others and possibly take the ship without firing a shot. A smile came over his lips as he got up and hurried out of the quarters, donning his cape again and heading to the command center’s main operations chamber. Again he ignored the greetings, and marched in without a second thought to protocol. Mogor was surprised to see him come back so soon and bowed.

“My Prince is there something wrong?”

“No, everything is right!” He grinned and quickly pulled up the console again, pulling Mogor over and showing him his plan. “We can trap a lion, Mogor.”

“How exactly, sire?” questioned the larger man as he stood beside his Prince. Moogor had seen Lotor like this before. When the boy had ideas he would stop at nothing till he had what he wanted. There were times his recklessness had caused more trouble than what the plan was worth, but Lotor always was thinking of plans that had merit, so he stood there and listened. If it was something that wasn’t feasible, he would just delay the orders and come up with an excuse later, at the moment though he let Lotor peel off his plan.

“If the Lions are coming they wouldn’t be dumb enough to just charge in and land, correct? Based on their patterns we can at least say they are smart enough to scout.” Lotor moved an image of the Castle of Lion’s ship into view of Mezora. Mogor nodded in agreement, as Lotor created another smaller ship. “We know that they wouldn’t risk a lion coming for us, so what’s the next best bet?”

“A scouting ship?” offered up Mogor and stared at the board before him. “Yes, I do see where you’re going with this. But how to deflect it?”

“We don’t.” Lotor said and smirked. “If the Castle is truly as old as Sendek had estimated, this means that the maps of the systems are no longer up to date. Which means they have no idea of the condition of Mezora as of right now.”

Mogor stared at the screen intrigued as the prince went on, moving the ship along a route. “They’re going to want to hide from us, so let’s not concern ourselves with that right now. Just focus on the pod that would be coming. A craft of that size travels at a slower speed then the lions. They won’t be traveling at the fastest speed as a means to stealth in, since they don’t know what’s down here. So if they’re going at a slower speed, they should show up around here.” He pointed to a location due west of the city. “More than likely they’ll try to go for the city to get some information from the locals.”

“And we catch them there?” questioned the advisor as Lotor shook his head. “Then where my lord? Wouldn’t it be easier to capture the paladin in the city?”

“No, we don’t want them getting into the city, it would cause issues,” he frowned slightly looking over the lay of the land. If the Voltron Paladins got into the city they could learn about the guest that they had in the cells and Lotor was planning on using him to get a great deal of resources for work on one of his projects.

He moved around some images. “We can get them to crash over here if possible.” He pointed towards an area with trees, far enough from the city to keep the paladin away from it’s secrets, but close enough so that his plans could come to fruition. “Then we can capture them while they’re not sure what’s going on.”

“And how do we get them to crash?” Mogor asked honestly and Lotor again pulled up some numbers and worked out a frequency as he applied a mathematical equation. Smiling he showed his advisor.

“Like this, this is a frequency that could disrupt a pod that was too close to the planet’s atmosphere. Once that happens, while the pilot is trying to figure out what’s going on. We swoop in and strike, causing them to crash.”

“And then what, my lord.” Mogor saw potential in this idea and Lotor’s knowing smirk came back.

“Then…you leave everything else up to me.”

**********

It was barely two Quintents had passed before reports of a pod had been brought up. Lotor had been in the command center’s chamber for vargas on end waiting. He watched every ship that passed by their area of space, searching for a telltale sign of the Castle of Lion’s pod ship that he was sure was going to come. And it did, during daylight of all times, cautiously entering their space.

“Sire, the scrambling device is working,” the communications officer told him and Lotor nodded watching with interest as the ship entered the atmosphere and began to have malfunctions. They’d picked some comments from the pod, but the scrambling device made it hard to hear who was inside. He had been sure that the Princess would have sent the Red or Blue Paladin since the Black one seemed to have been missing, or so the reports filtering into him had noted.

As the ship fell Lotor watched with excitement.

“Well, well, isn’t this interesting? So it looks like those two merchants were right when they said someone was listening to them. I wonder, just what prize have we caught?” He smirked and his yellow eyes brightened with anticipation of his catch.

With a resounding crash the pod had vanished into the trees and Lotor snorted, his calculations had been right, but he’d forgotten to add in error by the pilot trying to right the ship and the trees. This was going to make things a bit harder for him. Getting up from the chair he’d been sitting in Lotor looked to Mogor and waved at him.

“The rest I leave to you Commander Mogor. Make sure you don’t forget what we discussed.”

Mogor nodded and bowed his head, “As you command, Prince Lotor.”

Quickly he exited the main room and headed to his quarters. He’d instructed one of his servants to get him the garb of a prisoner, which was laying on his bed ready for use. Lotor scowled as he picked it up.

“Not dirty enough,” he grabbed hold of the top and pants then pulled them on. Without hesitation he took the drink and food he had in his room, and splattered it all over his clothing, staining it, then wetting the whole thing in his shower. He was soaked but that was only going to make it easier to gather dirt.

Grabbing a tie he pulled his hair back and went out of his room, and ignored the strange looks his officers gave him as he headed down to the holding cells in the lower floors. Here light was dim and designed to make the prisoners feel lost and abandoned. It was chilly and smelled of dry rot, but the place was oddly sanitary. Something he had made sure of. Sick prisoners were useless to him.

Marching at a quick pace past several guards, who were about to ask him questions, he moved over to a cell farther back. Inside a young man of about twenty sat, looking rather forlorn and scared. Lotor opened the cell with a quick hand press and the young man got up to his knees.

“Oh thank the gods, you’re here to let me go? Has my father paid my ransom yet?”

Lotor snorted and looked down at the man before him. He was younger then him, by Galran standards, and this young man certainly pulled off being a stuffy prince to a T. He had the soft face, the handsome eyes of a charmer, the well placed smile and the hands of one that had never worked a day in his life. This was vastly different to Lotor himself, whose hands had calluses from the gun he wielded, and the look to his eyes of someone who had known hardship. The only thing they shared was the white hair.

“Not yet, we haven’t even sent that out. But…Prince Bokar, I believe you can help me out.” Lotor told him and knelt down to stare at the prince’s face. He focused for several moments, examining as much as he could and the young prince seemed to become more and more unnerved the longer Lotor stared.  

“What…what are you doing?” Bokar asked nervously after several dobashes went by and Lotor said nothing. Then the prince gasped as Lotor closed his eyes and seemed to transform before him. His form shrunk ever so little to match Prince Bokar’s and his skin went from a lighter purple color to a pale skin much closer to that of the man before him. Concentrating hard he willed the markings on his face to vanish, leaving not even the slightest trace. When he opened his eyes they shifted around until they were a light brown color. He pulled at his bangs to match Bokar’s hair style then smiled in a smugly satisfied way at the Prince that was sitting transfixed before him.

“Well that should do.” Lotor stood to leave and Bokar dove to grab at his legs. Lotor moved faster and kicked him in the chin, sending him flying back and crashing against a chair in the cell. Bokar winced and shouted at him as he locked him back in.

“What are you doing? Do you really believe you’ll be able to take my place?”

Lotor snorted and looked down at Bokar with an uncaring stare in his now brown eyes. “Hardly. You’re useful for a trap I have set for Voltron, and that is all. I would never think to take on your unworthy role. You aren’t even qualified to have the title of prince.”

With that Lotor turned and stalked out of the prison and went up to the main floor. He waited and watched the guards. If his trap was to succeed then he needed to be sure that the guards believed what they saw. He checked the cameras, and then threw a loose screw he’d picked up along the way, at one, damaging it, knowing full well it would get the guards attention.

And it did just that. At the prisons security center the guards saw what looked to be Prince Bokar escaping from his holding area. Lotor raced along the corridors, ducking and hiding between doors and columns to give the appearance of trying to sneak out. He moved quickly to the vehicle dock and stole what was pretty much a speeder bike from the hanger. The alarms were going off as he took off, allowing the guards to see him, knowing that they would be in alert.

If Mogor keeps up his part of the plan, I should be able to get out and into the forest with them following. Lotor thought as he raced around the city streets, dodging fire and pedestrians. A troop of drones were following him, running at full speed, a few on bikes. He snorted, if he didn’t want them to follow him, he would have lost them long ago. Turning several corners, to make sure they were coming, he went for the gate.

The main city of Asora that they were in had a high wall around the body set up for siege war fare which happened six thousand years before. The main gate was a huge thing that had two halves, the top part locked into the bottom through a series of lasers that interwove when they met up. Lotor had told Mogor to slow down the interlocking sequence so he could get out of the city before the guards to keep things looking legit.

“Mogor, don’t fail me now,” he muttered as he raced at top speed for the gate that seemed to be lowering. He gritted his teeth as he saw the gate going down faster and slid under to avoid the lasers that were starting to lock the two halves together. Lotor watched as the gate closed, and counted several ticks before taking off when he saw the guards pouring out of the reopened gate.

The cut at the gate was a bit close, it bothered him, and Lotor knew when he got back he would talk to Mogor about why he’d not given him room to breathe. Still he had to give the Commander credit. He was good at his job and kept true to his word. Lotor drove the speeder through the rough western terrain of the open meadows around the city limits, and towards the forests.

“Now where are you?” he pulled up a gps to map the location of the downed ship even as a hail of fire blasts were nipping at his heels. One singed his hair and he winced as he felt his flesh heat up. Well I wanted this realistic didn’t I?

He wished he had a weapon on hand, but the robots were catching up fast, so if they did shoot him too early he wouldn’t have the proper item to deflect their assault. However as it was he was in the forest around the trees and led them on a jolly chase through the trunks and up several fallen trees to higher ground.

As he buzzed around Lotor would glance now and again at the map and how far he was to the pod. Twisting past a number of dead trunks he made sure that the robots crashed into them as he weaved about, making as much noise as he could the closer he got to the site of the crashed ship. He was hoping that the Paladin would hear it and come see what the noise was.

“That’s it follow me,” he grinned to himself. At that moment he felt exhilarated by the whole pursuit and partly hoped that it wouldn’t end. His revelry was cut short when his speeder was hit and the whole thing took a nose dive into the ground, skidding deeply into the mud and throwing him hard into the air and he crashed into some bushes, feeling stinging pain.

Lotor could taste blood by his mouth and tried to get up. Suddenly several blasters came up to his face. He stared surprised at this, and held up his hands, “Hold it…don’t shoot. I’m your Prince.”

The drones looked at one another for a second, and he used the moment to jump up, and sweep kick two off their feet, forcing them to fall into their fellow guards. Lotor smashed his foot into one of their chest and leapt for a ledge that was just above them. He gained the ground as he pulled himself up, but the robots weren’t done and they tracked him now on foot.

He counted in his head, five hundred feet…he moved through the underbrush, pushing aside smaller trees and their limbs as he raced for the pod.

Three hundred feet…he could make out the break in the trees where the pod had landed.

Another few feet, One hundred feet….he was nearly there, and so were the guards. They were firing again and he used his agility to avoid being hit, but again he wished he had a blaster in hand. He missed his side arm, and throwing the robots around would not gain him what he needed. He was supposed to be a weak prince, not someone trained to fight. If the pilot was the Red or Yellow Paladin and saw him firing they would know something was up, and that would ruin his plan.

Fifty feet…he could hear a voice calling out, it was distant but he was sure it was the Paladin, but he couldn’t quiet tell which it was.

Twenty…Ten…five…He started to yell out for help. “Help! Oh is someone there! Please help me!”

His screams were loud, loud and scared. He needed them to be believiable and allowed one of the robots to hit him in the back of the leg, sending a sensation through his body that caused him to howl in pain.

Lotor doubled over, stumbling and falling, cluching his wounded leg as the robots surrounded him. He tried to calm his breathing but it was difficult and he could see a burnt mark appearing on his skin, turning it purple and he focused to cover the color. It hurt like hell, and he didn’t know if he could sustain the illusion. The guards drew closer and he could make out their hard metal clinks. For anyone else this would be terrifying, but he knew that he could take them. Right then though he had to at least give the Paladin time to find him, so he kept calling out for help.

“Please, if anyone is there! I need help! Please, they’ll kill me!”

The pain was starting to get to him, and he gritted his teeth as the drones started to hit him. He could feel their punches and was counting the number of hits, as that would be the number of robots he would destroy in training when this was all over. He was about to drop the farce as the pain from the hits was becoming too much for him to keep the illusion up, when he heard a shout from above.

“Hey leave him alone!” as a blur of a green lighting seemed to take a few of the guards out. In a moment there was a frenzy of black, green and white blurring, and whirling around him. The robots seemed to scatter and rush off, to regroup. A gloved hand touched his shoulder and Lotor looked up into a pair of soft brown eyes that was looking down at him with a worried look.

“Are you okay? Uh…Hello?” the voice was that of the Green paladin, but Lotor had to do a double take, there was no way this could be. He slowly sat up and took Pidge’s outstretched hand and looked at it, then let his eyes rove over the form before him. He blinked, he’d not calculated this at all in his wild plan.

The one to save him, the one to come to the planet was the Green Paladin, and to his disbelief, he’d been wrong about the gender. This was no male paladin, but a female.

“Ah, yes, thank you miss…” he started to say, when the pain made him double up and he had a choice, either try to deal with the pain in his real form, or keep up the illusion and let it over whelm him. The choice was made for him by his body though, and he passed out in Pidge’s arms to her utter shock.

[voltrontranscript]

VLD S8E5: The Grudge

Season 8 Episode 5: The Grudge

Transcript by @dragonofyang

Summary: The Paladins and the crew of the Atlas arrange to rendezvous to discuss how the Altean robeasts are able to wormhole and the destruction of Olkarion. Acxa and the Atlas crew are still getting used to one another.

[Google Doc]

Iverson: Who’s a good girl? You are. I used to have a dog like this years ago. Old Sally would follow me just about everywhere I went. I couldn’t turn around without her being there, smiling her big, drooly smile, which was actually a problem sometimes. I once tripped over her, slipped on her drool, and went shoulder-first into the refrigerator. Yeah, and that’s where this clicking came from.

Veronica: Is that why you were struggling with the pull-ups, sir?

Iverson: No, that’s because I’m old and overweight. And watch your insubordination.

Veronica: Yes, sir!

Curtis: Was the dog alright?

Iverson: She was fine, thank goodness. Yeah, that dog meant the world to me.

Veronica: I know how you feel. My brothers and sisters adopted every stray animal they could find. There was this one cat, “Flash” we called him. He hated everybody except me. Smart cat.

Curtis: What about you, Acxa? Did you have pets where you’re from?

Acxa: I never had a creature companion, but one of my partners, Narti, was bonded to an immortal cat named Kova. That cat gave her the ability to experience the world.

Curtis: Oh. That’s great.

Acxa: Until Lotor killed Narti and we had to abandon the animal on our destroyed ship so we could escape without being tracked.

Shiro, on PA: Crew, report to the bridge immediately.

[Cut to Iverson, Coran, Curtis, and Veronica entering the bridge.]

Shiro: I’ve got an incoming transmission from the paladins. Go ahead, Allura.

Allura: Atlas, we’ve managed to track down an Altean robeast.

Coran: You found one!

Shiro: Where is it? Did you engage the creature?

Allura: Unfortunately, we were too late. It attacked the Olkari and stole the remains of the weaponized cube.

Coran: Is Olkarion okay?

Keith: No. Olkarion is gone.

Coran: No.

Allura: The loss of Olkarion is devastating to us all, but we were able to acquire some vital information.

Keith: We learned from Olkarion that the robeasts have been traveling via wormhole, which leave behind unique energy signatures. Pidge created a program that can identify those signatures and pinpoint their exact locations.

Allura: We’re sending over the readings from Pidge’s program now.

Coran: Are you telling us these are all robeasts?

Pidge: We’re not positive, but they could be.

Allura: There’s more. After studying the map, we noticed the signatures all radiate from a single epicenter: Oriande.

Coran: Wait, so Honerva could be on Oriande? But I thought only worthy Alteans could get there. Could she have the Mark of the Chosen?

Keith: There’s a lot we don’t know. We need to rendezvous to come up with a plan.

Coran: The Baltuf Nebula would make a good rendezvous point for both of us.

Keith: Send us the coordinates, Coran. See you soon.

[Scene transition to the mess hall.]

Veronica: Acxa! Come join us. So, how did you meet the paladins?

Acxa: I met Keith when I was stuck in the third stomach of a Weblum. He saved my life.

Rizavi: What were you doing in a… stomach?

Acxa: Gathering scaultrite to help enable Lotor to conquer the universe.

Rizavi: I once got stuck in a ball pit when I was a kid.

Veronica: Well, what do you think of the crew? It must be a pretty different dynamic being that we don’t try to kill each other, huh?

Acxa: I suppose, but the Galra had an expression: “Combat is the searing light that burns away imperfections.”

Ina: It would appear the mood at this table has become rather awkward. Most likely due to your Galra lineage. Yep. Definitely… awkward.

[Cut to Shiro in the bridge.]

Keith: Atlas, we had some technical difficulties. We’ll be delayed.

Shiro: Copy that. How long?

Keith: We’re still assessing that. Might be a few hours. We’ll keep you updated.

Shiro: Roger that.

[Scene change to the lions approaching a black and red planet.]

Pidge: Coming up on rendezvous point, straight ahead.

Hunk: Anyone else find it odd that Shiro changed the rendezvous point to this place?

Pidge: I’m reading high CO2 and low oxygen in the atmosphere. We’ll need our suits to breathe if we go out there.

Hunk: I’m not going out there.

Keith: They’re here. Atlas, we have a visual. Paladins, get airborne immediately! This is a trap!

Hunk: It’s just like when we were caught by those pirates!

Lance: We’re about to be captured again!

Keith: Emergency ejection!

Allura: Atlas, come in!

Keith: Atlas, we’re under heavy fire!

Pidge: The Atlas isn’t receiving our communications!

Hunk: The beam has the Lions pinned.

Allura: We must have been set up. But by whom?

Pidge: Guys, we have incoming. It’s closing fast.

Hunk: We need to lose it!

Lance: Isn’t there anything we can do to throw it off our scent?

Pidge: Yeah, I’ve got an idea, but I need a minute.

Hunk: I’ll buy you some time.

Pidge: Got it. It shouldn’t be able to detect us anymore.

Lance: Then let’s get out of here!

Hunk: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Keith: I need something to draw its attention!

Allura: I’ve got it!

Lance: Huh, good job, Keith. I mean, I was just about to do that, too, but that’s cool.

Pidge: I might be able to hack into it.

[Scene transition to the Paladins gathered around the drone.]

Pidge: This is Galra tech, but it looks like it’s been infused with Olkari elements. The subatomic microfilament is single modulated before it goes through its attenuator. Wow!

Hunk: So, it’s pretty amazing, huh?

Pidge: Yeah.

Hunk: Oh, look at that, it’s single modulated, not double modulated. Huh.

Pidge: Oh, shut up, Hunk! This thing has been locking onto our key encryption protocol that’s built into our suits and bayards.

Keith: How did they get that?

Pidge: I don’t know. Only a genius could do it.

Lance: Can’t we just turn our suits off?

Pidge: Negative. And if the drone had our encryption protocol, then so does that cruiser and anyone on it. If we want to avoid detection, we need to lose our suits and our bayards.

Allura: Remove our armor? In this place?

Hunk: Has anyone read the atmosphere? Oxygen low, CO2 high. We’re not gonna last long, a few hours, tops. We need our suits to survive.

Keith: Yeah, at this point, we’ll survive longer without them.

Lance: So keep our suits on and risk getting blasted, or take our suits off and live long enough before dying from poisoned air.

[Scene transition to the Galra ship hovering over the planet.]

Olkari Technician: Sending you the drone’s last known coordinates now.

Captain: We’re going after them.

Fentress: Why would we do that? It’ll risk the entire operation. We already have the Lions. The paladins have no value.

Captain: They do to me. We’re going in.

Fentress: But we--

Captain: I am the captain, and my authority will not be questioned! You do as I say, or you will spend the rest of your miserable days right here on this planet. Is that understood?

Fentress: Yes, captain.

Captain: Do not let those lions move. No one takes them until the hunt is over.

Olkari Technician: Yes, captain.

Captain: And make sure the Atlas stays put.

Olkari Technician: Copy that.

Shiro: Keith, any updates on your ETA?

Olkari Technician (as Keith): We’re finishing some repairs and about to get underway. We’ll update our ETA when we’re en route.

[Scene change to a shooting range on the IGF-Atlas.]

Acxa: I know you have little trust for me, but your constant presence is tiresome. If you have a problem, let’s end it now.

Veronica: Acxa, it’s not that I don’t trust you.

Acxa: Then what is it?

Veronica: Honestly, I just wanted to get to know you.

Acxa: By sneaking up on me at a firing range?

Veronica: I didn’t sneak up on you.

Acxa: Only because I’m always aware of my surroundings.

Veronica: Look, I’m sorry that I may have been following you around. It just seems like you could use a friend. I know it can be hard to fit in sometimes.

Acxa: I’ve spent my entire life not fitting in. I’m used to it.

Veronica: Right.

Acxa: I was an outcast, born and bred in war. The only way I survived was to become worse than my enemies.

Veronica: I don’t care about what you may have done in your past. I know there’s more to you than that.

Acxa: But some people only see Galra, and I understand why. Sometimes even I question if my people have the ability to change.

Veronica: By choosing to join the coalition, you’re living proof that it is possible. I guess I wanna get to know the Acxa who turned her life around. I have a feeling everyone would like that person.

[Scene change to the volcanic planet.]

Hawkins: They’ve abandoned their suits. Now how are we gonna track them?

Bounty Hunter: We hunt them the old-fashioned way.

[Scene change to the Paladins walking in their undersuits.]

Pidge: Are we sure the Lions are this way?

Hunk: Every direction looks the same.

Pidge: Oh, what I’d give for a GPS right now.

Allura: We cannot allow ourselves to panic. Clearly, we’ve relied on our tech far too much. We need to focus if we’re going to get out of here. Okay, I’m lost.

Hunk: What do we do?

Lance: Our Lions are that way.

Pidge: How do you know? Do you have a scanner you’ve been hiding?

Lance: No, I just looked at the volcano. It was on our left when we came in, so I put it to our right side, and that’s the way out.

Allura: You’re a genius!

Hunk: Oh, snap. Well done, Lance.

Pidge: Uh, well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Lance: Hey!

Pidge: Ah!

Allura: More drones?

Lance: No, look!

Bounty Hunter: They’ve split up. Stay on their trail. Get them!

[Cut to the Captain and Fentress.]

Hawkins: We’re on the trail of four of the Paladins right now.

Captain: Which four?

Hawkins: The Altean, the big one, the tiny one, and the loud one. They removed their armor to throw us off their scent, but we’ll have them soon.

Captain: Good. The one I really want is this way.

[Scene change to the IGF-Atlas bridge.]

Olkari Technician (as Keith): Apologies for the delay. We experienced a glitch in navigation. I will have to get back to you.

Veronica: Everything okay out there, Keith? Do you need help from the Atlas?

Olkari Technician (as Keith): No assistance required, thank you. Lance will figure it out.

Veronica: Right, Lance, the navigation genius.

Keith: Affirmative.

Veronica: How long have they been delayed?

Iverson: They should have arrived when we did.

Acxa: Something doesn’t seem right.

Curtis: Look at this. It looks like their frequency has been pinging off a decoy. I’m intercepting it now.

Paladins, overlapping: Atlas! This is an emergency! Atlas, come in! Atlas, help! We’re under attack! It was a trap!

Iverson: We need all hands on deck immediately!

[Scene change to Keith jet-packing along the volcanic planet, then the Bounty Hunter and Hawkins as they chase Hunk and Pidge.]

Bounty Hunter: You think I forgot about you, tiny Paladin? I’ll make you pay for what you did to me!

Hunk: We need to hurry. They’re right behind us.

Pidge: The CO2 is poisoning us by the minute, and we don’t know where we’re going. We can’t keep running.

Hunk: Okay. What do we do?

Pidge: We have to make a stand.

Bounty Hunter: Your brother isn’t here to help you this time. And I’ve upgraded since we last met.

Hunk: Woah! Alright, nice work!

Pidge: Found the Lions. This way.

[Scene change to Allura and Lance running through a cave.]

Lance: Okay, if my volcano logic is correct… the Lions should be on the other side of this--[grunts] Allura, get out of here. Go!

Pirate: Looks like she left.

Pirate 2: Don’t worry, we’ll find her for you.

Lance: Thanks.

Allura: The Atlas!

[Cut to the IGF-Atlas bridge.]

Veronica: That’s where the ghost protocol is emanating from.

Shiro: Hit them with the electromagnetic pulse.

[Cut to the Captain and Fentress walking in the forest.]

Fentress: Squadron Z, come in. Squadron Echo, come in. HQ, come in. HQ is not responding and the other pirates are offline. I never signed up for this!

Captain: Well, you’re in it now.

[Scene change to the loading dock on the IGF-Atlas.]

Olkari Technician: Sophisticated hacking and jamming abilities. Impressive. It’s nice to find others on my level.

Shiro: Yeah, it’s terrific. Now where’s your leader?

Olkari Technician: I don’t know. I lost her signal when you attacked. But she’s out there somewhere, hunting down the Paladin you call “Keith.”

Acxa: And who exactly is your leader?

[Scene change as Fentress gets surprised by Keith, who then stumbles into the Captain.]

Keith: Zethrid?

Zethrid: You took Ezor from me!

Keith: I don’t know what you think I did.

Zethrid: You took away everything. And now my face will be the last one you see!

James: Does anyone have the shot?

Rizavi: It’s too risky!

Acxa: Zethrid, don’t do this!

Zethrid: I knew you’d come. Now you will feel what I felt.

Acxa: It’s over. You’re surrounded.

Zethrid: You think this deters me, Acxa? I welcome death now that Ezor’s gone.

Acxa: Zethrid, I know you hurt. Ezor hurt, too. That’s why she left you. She couldn’t keep holding onto the anger.

Zethrid: Stop!

Acxa: Hear my words. Remember how we first met. We were all so full of hate and rage, half-breeds rejected by the Galra. Lotor used us. He led us down a painful path, a never-ending cycle of destruction and loss. Now’s your chance to break that cycle… with me, with Ezor. She wants you to leave the rage behind.

Zethrid: I’m too far gone. She’ll never take me back!

Acxa: Wait! Please! Don’t let the rage control you.

Zethrid: All I have left… is revenge!

[Scene change to a holding cell on the IGF-Atlas, where Zethrid and the Olkari Technician reside.]

Zethrid: You waste your time, Acxa.

Acxa: I know you’re angry, but I refuse to give up on you. And I know someone else feels the same way.

End.