Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"What in the Sam Hill is that?!"

"I believe it's a flying blue lion sir."

The brass weren't going to believe it. Hell, he saw it and he could barely believe it. But the evidence observed with his eyes proved it. The machine flew off into the stars, and it wasn't from Earth. Not originally.

"This is only the beginning, isn't it?"

Turning around, the officer looked on at the man in the science officer uniform, his short graying hair and stern demeanor accenting the troubled tone of his voice.

"Professor Wade? What was that?"

"A giant mechanical lion!"

"You know what I mean!" the exasperated officer yelled.

"Ah, yes. That. It is one part of an ancient superweapon, at least that's what both the markings and the transmissions seem to indicate."

"Superweapon?" the officer asked.

"We knew since Kerberos," Professor Wade began, looking off at the long since emptied sky, "that we weren't alone." In the past few months, we've learned that whatever is out there isn't friendly. And the Galaxy Garrison is WOEFULLY unequipped to battle such a threat."

"Well how long do we have?"

"I don't know," Wade answered. "But I do know that my research will need to go double-time for us to be ready.

"Research?"

"I will have this cracked by the end of the month. Come with me back to the lab by then and hopefully this…insanity can be given some sort of context."

"For all our sakes," the officer warned, "you had better."

In deep space they stood. Not alone, as there were six ships, battleships, flanked by fighters, but isolated from anything else, stars, planets, or meteors. Inside the largest ship, a helmsman, seemingly bored, sprung to life at the finding on his monitor.

"Viceroy Throk!"

A man, humanoid in shape, but with dark purple skin and large ears protruding to the side, looked on at his subordinate.

"What is it? Another disturbance from a meteor shower!"

"Uh, no sir. It appears to be a trace signal matching Voltron!"

"Voltron?" That was not a name he had heard in quite some time, yet was the chief desire of his emperor to find. The ancient legendary weapon, the one thing that would secure the Galra's dominance over the cosmos, and apparently, it was nearby.

"Where is it located?"

"We've traced the signal to a planet around a few star cluster. It appears to be the only occupied planet in the solar system. Our men have never gone beyond the first planet however in one of said clusters, as it was deemed inconsequential."

"Was it now?" Throk asked. Besides Throk, a green skinned humanoid stood by his side, the sarcasm in his voice ever-present even as he took sips from a glass holding a reddish liquid.

"Well this is what happens when your men are too lazy to finish their work."

"You dare speak ill of the men under Emperor Zarkon's command Maahox?" Throk shot back.

"Their incompetence is our chance for glory, is it not?"

"I suppose you're right."

"I'm here because I'm right," Maahox chuckled.

"That and to drink," Throk shot back. "Then again, that's what you do. Drink and be right."

"It's worked so far," Maahox answered. "No reason to change a winning formula, now is there?"

Sitting at the chair overlooking the bridge, Throk nodded, and then turned to one of the helmsmen.

"Have all ships set a course for the origin of the signal. At worst, we add another jewel to the crown of the Garla Empire. At best, we find a way to deal with Voltron, and bring it to our side."

The massive gateway appeared in front of the ships, which quickly entered in pursuit of their goal.

"Do you want the long version or the short version Commander Hawkins?" Wade asked as the officers all looked on at him. The black haired commander looked on at the professor and responded curtly but politely. After having waited a month for an answer, the group of officers appeared restless, knowing what the signal meant.

"The short version please."

Turning to a group of monitors in the lab, Professor Wade smiled. "Several months ago, following the Kerberos incident, we began to find a signal indicating the presence of a machine not from this world. A part of a superweapon of alien origin simply known as 'Voltron'."

"What is 'Voltron'?" Commander Hawkins asked. The professor smiled, showing a group of images on the monitor.

"Voltron is a giant robot formed from five robotic lions. It was designed for one purpose, to be the greatest weapon in the universe, capable of forming weapons literally out of thin air using energy constructs."

"That's ridiculous!" a voice shouted. "It sounds…"

"Like a Japanese cartoon Captain Newley," Wade answered. "I quite enjoyed a few of them in my youth. But the designs and images from the signals are quite clear. Whatever Voltron is, it may be capable of decimating our collective armies."

"You have a solution to this?"

"In progress. You see, the designs proper have only recently been completely decoded, but I believe that I have been able to adapt that alien technology to our own ends. Follow me to the hangar."

The group walked for a short while until the lights emerged. All the officers gasped, save Commander Hawkins.

"That's your ultimate defense against a giant robot superweapon?"

Looking on, Wade smiled at the three jet fighters that stood in the hangar, much larger than your standard Galaxy Garrison fighter jet. One blue, one black, and one red, all with slight variations to their shape, stood

"These are the components of MY Voltron, gentlemen," a weapon capable of battling this "Voltron" on even footing.

"Who's going to pilot it?" asked Captain Newley. He received a groan in response from the professor.

"That's the problem," Professor Wade noted. "We need to go back to the video."

The video monitors crackled to life as the three jets began flying in formation, at speeds that seemed impossible for a standard fighter jet, or even a recon plane.

"As you all know, it doesn't matter how well a machine is built if the pilot can't handle the stress. You can build an airframe that can handle 15G but if the pilot blacks out after 7G, it doesn't matter. The plane still crashes. Now, our three units, Volt Alpha, the blue fighter, Volt Beta, the red fighter, and Volt Gamma, the black fighter, are supposed to engage in formation. Beta and Gamma are using an AI system, which is only really there for testing. Alpha is piloted by a test pilot from Galaxy Garrison. Observe."

As the jets continued to go into formation, the blue jet began to move incredibly erratically, falling out of formation and nearly careening towards the ground. At the last second, it leveled off and, with its two counterparts, reversed course.

"What happened?"

"The pilot couldn't handle the stress and blacked out," Wade bluntly answered. "The AI system kicked in and returned the jets to base." Pressing another button, the pilot appeared slumped over in his char, his face seemingly catatonic, while adding, "He made a full recovery, but was naturally disqualified from the program."

"So you've created jet fighters human pilots can't handle, am I correct?" asked Commander Hawkins. "How does this help anyone?"

"No, humans can handle the power of my Voltron."

"Your Voltron?"

"Well, it's not the Lion Voltron. This is Earth's Voltron, and with the right pilots, who I believe I may have, will be superior to the Lion version."

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Leave that to me Commander. I'm sure given enough time, I can get proper recruits to…"

A violent shake of the building interrupted the speech, nearly throwing everyone off their feet. When they recovered, alarms blared as a speech in perfect English went over every audio channel.

Attention citizens of the planet Earth. My name is Viceroy Throk of the Galra Empire. We are here to establish contact between our worlds, and liberate you from your primitive government. In one hour, we expect the total surrender of all major nations to our beloved Empire. Then we may begin the proper integration of 'Earth' into the Galra Empire. Be warned, any resistance against us will be crushed mercilessly. You have no need to fear if you willingly surrender.

"Professor," Commander Hawkins began, "you have one hour to get your fighters operational and in the hands of pilots who can handle them!"

"You couldn't resist could you?"

"He was an ass! What did you expect?"

"I dunno, you NOT to punch the instructor in the face when he called you reckless and wanted to ground you!"

"You joined in. And admit it, you had fun."

The woman, even as she looked outside the cell she was in, smiled at the thought of the ensuing brawl. She rarely got a chance to cut loose, and landing a few blows to the MP's trying to hold her down was more exhilarating than the redhead would care to admit.

Larmina?

"Ok, fine Daniel, it was fun," she answered. "What do you want, a cookie?"

The black haired teen smiled inside his cell. "I wanted to hit the instructor a few more times for threatening to expel me when I'm the best pilot in the class! Face it Larmina, so did you."

I don't see how this involves me, a third voice interrupted, which unlike the first two, was rather exasperated at the whole situation.

"Come on Vince," Daniel shot back to the occupant of the other cell, even as said occupant covered his face with a dark skinned hand. "If it wasn't for me, you'd never have any fun. That old roommate of yours, Pidge didn't do ANYTHING besides mess up and study! With me, you're passing all your tests!"

"Except this one!" Vince yelled. "You know, because you were mad at being chewed out over the rules of engagement, so you buzz a tower! Because that's a perfectly sane way to react to criticism! Then you nearly start a riot because he threatened to expel you! Now we're gonna face a court martial because of you! Give Pidge credit, he never got in trouble! Not once!"

"If I remember correctly," Larmina added, "you jumped a guard who was about to hit Dan over the head." This only earned another groan.

"So when are we dragged out for our sentence?"

Instead of a response from the guard, the building shook. Guards left the brig to head upstairs, some in panic. Daniel smiled, standing up from the bench on the cell. Wiping the dust off his cadet uniform, he cracked his knuckles.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, procuring a small piece of metal from his sock, "I have an idea."

ATTENTION: PRIORITY 1 ALERT. ENEMY VESSELS ARE DESCENDING OVER LOS ANGELES. SCRAMBLE ALL AVAILABLE FIGHTERS. REPEAT. ATTENTION: PRIORITY 1 ALERT.

Fighter jets took to the air to intercept the massive purple battleships even as Commander Hawkins and the rest of the officers entered a control room deep beneath the Earth.

"Every single asset within intercept range has been scrambled Commander," Captain Newley announced.

That's pointless! Nothing in Earth's arsenal is in the same league as those battlecruisers! You'll be sacrificing your men for nothing!

"We have to try Professor Wade!" Commander Hawkins answered. "If we can't defeat them, we can at least buy you time to get your Voltron operational!"

But…

"No excuses! I don't care if you're piloting it with a dog and a monkey, GET IT OPERATIONAL! Over and out!"

"Viceroy, it appears that fighters are closing in our position. Approximately 40 by my count. We have not yet entered the atmosphere."

"Their attack force seems rather primitive, does it not?" Maahox asked, amusement present in his voice. That amusement however, did not extend to Throk.

"Destroy them. All of them. The fighters and their bases of operation."

"Should I deploy the Robeast, Viceroy?"

"Not necessary Maahox."

From the outside of the ship, gun batteries effortlessly shot down fighters before they could get within attack range. The Galra vessels launched fighters of their own, whose speed and maneuverability let them run circles around the Earth's spacecraft.

The battle did not last long. The Galra ships were too quick, the firepower of the battlecruisers too heavy. Throk observed it all, sipping his drink from his command chair.

"See how your feeble resistance is crushed, planet Earth!" he announced. "See how nothing you do is of any effect."

"Sir, initial enemy squadrons have been wiped out. Fighters are moving to take out enemy missile batteries and bases."

"Excellent. Continue our descent."

The Garrison is on lockdown. All non-essential personnel please return to your dorms immediately. Details are forthcoming.

"The whole base is going nuts!" Vince yelled, running past guards who were hastily trying to lock down every door in sight. No one seemed to notice the trio that should have been in the brig looking for an escape route.

"Hey, Dan?" Larmina asked. "Where are we going?"

"The labs," Daniel answered. "We can use the computers there to wipe out the charges against us. By the time this blows over and everyone calms down, it's going to look like we acted in self-defense and the counselor not recommend court martial. It's also going to look like Instructor Rudley is guilty of embezzling funds from Galaxy Garrison so his claims will be without any credit."

"You know how to hack computers?" Vince asked.

"No, but you do," Daniel answered, running to the lab.

"Wait, what?! Why me?"

"We're a team," Daniel answered. "And like it or not, we sink or swim on this together. Besides, we're almost there, unless you want to go back to your cell."

Vince offered a growl, but continued to run with the others to the lab. However, once there, they found someone waiting for them.

"W…who are you three?"

"Um," Larmina began, hastily fiddling for an excuse. None came to mind.

Wiping his head with his hand, the old man looked on at the three, then on a tablet. "Potential candidates 8, 15, and 24. Not the ideal, but whatever. You three need to come with me!" Vince immediately gulped.

"Look, the idea to break out of the…"

"What are you talking about? We need to deal with the Galra!"

"The Gal-WHAT?" Daniel asked.

"You mean you don't know?!" the old man asked. "OK, short version. My name is Professor Wade, science officer for Galaxy Garrison. There are alien battleships ready to blow all our major cities into dust unless we surrender the Earth. I've built a weapon that might be able to stop them, but I need you three to pilot it! You're among the candidates for this machine, but there's no time to give you the..."

"You want us to save the world?!" Larmina asked, shocked and confused at this declaration. "That makes no sense! I'm not piloting anything that I haven't seen before against the Goldrakes or Gold Cakes or whatever's out there! We're just cadets!"

"I know it sounds ridiculous," Professor Wade continued, "but you are our only hope of saving the…wait a minute."

"What?"

Wade looked on at the tablet, and smiled. Larmina and Vincent couldn't help but look worried.

"What's so funny?" Daniel asked.

"Way I see it," Professor Wade began, sumizing the situation "is that you have two choices. You pilot Voltron and save the world, our you go back to your cells, and if we're not all dead by then considering this is a military installation, and likely a primary target of the invading fleet, you face court martial and likely years behind bars for assaulting an officer AND disobeying direct orders."

"Commander Hawkins! We've lost contact with Beale, Travis, and McCord bases! Enemy is establishing orbit over Los Angeles, sir. Their main cruisers appear to be staying still for now."

"SOS from Creech and Edwards bases sir! Galra fighters are making mincemeat of our forces!"

Slamming his fist on the table, a rare display of anger from the normally stoic Commander, he growled "Get Wade on the phone NOW!"

"Well, if I'm gonna die," Daniel groaned, "at least I'll look kinda cool doing it."

Zipping up a pilot's uniform over his body, Daniel sighed. The thick suit, white with blue trim, seemed designed to protect the pilot from the natural stress of high speed flight, but thankfully was easy enough to move in. He looked on at Vince as he finished putting on a similar suit, white with green, and smiled.

"Isn't your jet bl…"

"Make that joke and I swear I'll knock you out," Vince interrupted without a trace of humor or cheer in his voice. Daniel quickly turned apologetic.

"Sorry, you I'm not like that."

"Yeah, I know," Vince answered as the pair walked out of the locker room towards the ready room, "but I'm a little stressed out, you know? Pilot some experimental uber-fighter to save the world and probably die, or face court martial and if we don't die, spend our lives in jail! MAYBE I'm a little upset, jackass!"

"You're right about one thing," answered a voice from the women's locker, emerging into the main hallway. "Daniel's a jackass."

"Hey, I said I was sorry."

"But we need him. And so does the entire world, for better or worse."

"So I guess this is my way of saying 'I'm sorry?" Daniel asked. "You know, saving the world?"

"If we survive this, that, AND dinner. For both of us. Somewhere nice. Got it?"

"I see the Voltron Force is ready!" Professor Wade interrupted from a intercom, next to three tubes. Each tube was marked with a Greek letter, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. "We have a mere 10 minutes before our surrender is due! Voltron Force, move out!"

With no other course of action, the trio yelled "ROGER!" and grabbed three helmets on a nearby table, putting them on as the trio went into the tubes, Daniel into Alpha, Vince into Beta, and Larmina into Gamma.

The tubes led to a piloted chair, which began moving down a tunnel. Into his intercom, Daniel couldn't help but let out one last joke.

"Isn't this a bit much? Whatever happened to just going into a cockpit?"

Don't take this away from me," Professor Wade answered. Most kids would only dream of something this complex!"

The three tubes and their seated pilots soon found their way into their cockpits, Daniel into the blue colored fighter, Vince into the red, and Larmina the black.

"You switched us around?" Vince asked.

Checking your files I think Larmina is better equipped to handle Gamma, Wade answered. Don't worry, the controls should be familiar to you.

"Yeah," Larmina answered. "Looks like the controls of an ASF-12. But what are the red buttons for?"

The controls for many of the weapons are too complex to duplicate without whatever mystic mumbo-jumbo the original used, so that is being used in conjunction with voice commands to operate your craft. Look, today training is on the job! Get airborne now!"

"You heard the man!" Daniel yelled. "Volt Alpha, moving out!"

"Volt Beta!" Vince began, "Moving out!"

"Volt Gamma!" finished Larmina, "Moving out!"

Slamming the accelerator, the large blue jet flew towards an opening runway, as a panel opened to allow the machine above ground. The speeds of the ships were consistent.

"Good news Commander Hawkins," Wade announced into a monitor. "Volt Alpha, Volt Beta, and Volt Gamma are airborne and moving at Mach 6. Time to engagement with the Galra fleet will be two minutes!"

Let's hope your machine is as good as you say. Earth is counting on it!

"Well everything looks good from here."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Daniel!" Larmina shouted. "How fast is this thing?"

"It's tough to stay focused!" Daniel answered. "But I'm OK! Even if this does make the testing ships feel like bicycles!"

"I didn't puke!" Vince shouted. "That's good right!"

"No time for small talk!" Daniel shouted. "Enemy in sight! Engage at will!"

"What are those?!" Maahox asked, seeing three fighter jets send a barrage of missiles into the battlecruiser.

"Sir, damage on decks 6 and 10! Several gun batteries are also offline!"

"Begin descent into the city proper," Throk yelled. "Launch all fighters. They only have three units!"

"This is great!" Daniel yelled, as the three jets began pulling back for another pass. "I think we might actually be O…"

"LOOK!"

Larmina's warning proved telling, as hundreds of Galra fighters began approaching the trio, a sea of locusts that they became lost in.

"I'm hit!" Vince yelled.

"Me too!" Daniel shouted. "I think I can keep her airborne!"

Those ships were designed to stand up to far more punishment than a single missile! Professor Wade interrupted. But if you're going to have any chance of winning, you're going to need to form Voltron!"

"Vol-"

Explanations later! It's all voice-commanded, so you three just need to fly in formation, press the button, and yell 'FORM VOLTRON!'

It sounded so ridiculous to the trio that they would have come up with a laundry list of objections had this been a normal situation. But this was hardly normal.

It was a matter of life and death.

Immediately, the trio pressed the red buttons in front of them.

"FORM VOLTRON!"

GAMMA, FORM FEET AND LEGS! BETA, FORM ARMS AND BODY! AND ALPHA…

"AND I'LL FORM THE HEAD!" Daniel shouted.

The perspective of the trio began to change as the machine began to twist and contort into its new form, shaking the trio.

"Guys, remember what I said about not puking?" Vince asked.

From the swarm of fighters emerged a machine, causing Throk and Maahox to gasp at the sight as it plowed through Galra fighters as if they didn't exist. The machine soon set itself down in front of a large hill on the city they were intending to descend upon, resting alongside a sign which spelt out "Hollywood" in English. Throk was in disbelief.

"Is that…Voltron?!"

"But that's impossible!" Maahox answered. "Sendak reported Voltron appearing on Arus! Unless…the humans made their own Voltron…"

"The humans? The native species which can barely travel to the edge of their own solar system?! They made their own Voltron?!"

"OK, this thing does not feel like a fighter jet anymore!" Daniel yelled. "We're vertical! Is this…what I think it is?"

Vince gasped for air while Larmina just stared, unable to process what she and her friends were now controlling.

Your instinct is correct, "Wade answered," the screen quickly switching to a view of the machine as it stood above the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles.

Voltron is a giant robot.

This giant robot, wearing the face of a human with a helmet shaped like the nosecone of a fighter, black legs, and a blue and red torso, looked above at the invading battleship.

And now it's your job to use it against the invaders!

Chapter Text

One Month Earlier:

The initial prototype, once seen as a magnificent toy, now stood in the hangar as a cruel joke, a reminder of when his understanding was so much more limited, that his theories were so much underdeveloped. He felt like a doctor who practiced bleeding in favor of using antibiotics, or a writer who saw his first grade paper on elephants after years of refining his skills.

And all this after one night of examining the completed data. One night was all it took for him to see the truth.

"How could I have been so stupid?" Wade wondered aloud. "Fifteen pieces! It's a miracle they could even get the stupid machine to walk! Jeff, Cliff, Cric you must think I'm an absolute fool!"

The machine obviously, did not answer, but the men and women responsible for it, as good as they were had been asked to spin gold from dirt. If they were there, they likely would have offered some rebuke, or at least felt vindicated that their efforts were hampered and not their own fault.

"I'll start again," Wade resolved. "From scratch."

The design came together in his head even as he began sketching out the shape of the machine. It was as if the signal was acting as a muse, telling him what chords to strike, what to do. He smiled.

"This will surpass even the mighty lions. I swear it!"

Present Day:

The legions of fighters began closing in on the giant robot even as its pilots tried to understand what they were controlling. Larmina was the first to get her bearings.

"Guys? What the quiznak are we supposed to do?!"

"I dunno!" Daniel shot back. "Doc! What kinda weapons are on this thing?"

Two fighters closed in on the group, prompting Vince to accelerate the machine into the air. "We can't stay still! We'll get torn to shreds!"

"Yeah, I know!" Daniel yelled, while pressing the red button. "I dunno, let's just punch em!"

Immediately, the robot's arms raised, and it did just that.

In a manner of speaking.

"Did…the robot's fists just fly off its arms?" Larmina asked, absolutely confused.

"I'm not sure if that's the dumbest thing ever or the most awesome," Daniel answered, watching as the two fists, guided by a thick wire, launched as if they were missiles, slamming into the two fighters and utterly obliterating them. Snapping back into place, Voltron continued to fly into the air, accelerating towards the remaining fighter squadrons.

I see you've figured out the Nitro Punch!

"Nitro Punch?" Daniel asked. "What other gizmos do you have on here?"

"We need a distance weapon!" Larmina yelled. "We'll never get close enough to the ship to punch it with all these fighters in the way!"

Ah, that's where the Volt Beam comes in!

Taking the initiative, Daniel pressed the button, shouting "VOLT BEAM!" In response, two lasers fired from the eyes of the robot, flying through the fighter craft, and impacting the battleship itself.

"Ugh!"

The impact of the blast nearly threw Throk from his chair. Several of his crew was not as lucky, falling to the ground. Composing himself, he shouted "Status report!"

"Fire in the engine room Viceroy! We're losing altitude!"

"Full power to the engines!" Throk yelled. "Get us outside the atmosphere! And don't let that thing near us!"

"Sir," Maahox began, "this is exactly what the Robeast was designed for in relation to attacking other ships. I believe it can fight the human's answer to Voltron on equal footing."

"The enemy robot is coming right for us!" a crewman yelled. "It's annihilating our fighters!"

"Recall all fighter craft and deploy the Robeast at once! We'll see if the Earth is willing to resist once their champion is felled!"

"This is actually starting to be kind of fun!" Larmina yelled.

"FUN!?" Vince shouted. "We're still outnumbered like, a billion to one!"

"Not for long!" she boasted, even as Voltron continued to rise into the air, prepared to strike the bridge of the enemy ship. "SOLAR COMBAT SPEAR!"

A large metallic spear formed on the leg of the machine, which was soon raised into its hands. It leaned back and prepared to strike when a forceful jolt shook the machine, causing it to drop the spear.

"What happened?" Larmina yelled.

"Something just tackled us!" Daniel answered. "It's at least as big as Voltron is!"

"We're losing altitude!" Vince added. Daniel was livid at this.

"They're gonna get away!"

"We've got bigger problems!" Larmina shouted. "This thing is gonna impact dead center in the city!"

"Full power to the engines!" Vince shouted. "Maybe we can impact outside the city limits!"

"You sure?"

"If we don't, we're gonna turn downtown LA into a crater!"

"JUST DO IT!"

The machine began to move to and fro, guiding its fall to the earth, and finally, colliding with the ground in a small suburb several miles from the actual city. The thing that tackled the pilots moved back before it hit the ground, standing in front of Voltron.

"We're still alive, right?" Vince asked.

"Yeah," Daniel answered. "Somehow."

I told you brats that Voltron was built to stand up to tremendous punishment! But you're not invincible!

"He's right," Larmina answered. "Looks like we might have taken a lot of damage to the leg and left arm, but we're still more than combat-ready."

"Then we'd better not keep…whoa."

The trio looked on at the monitors showing their opponent even as their machine stood on its feet.

The opposing machine had four arms with three pronged claws on the end on top of a oval body. No equivalent of the face existed, but instead, numerous camera lenses were present, allowing it to see from all angles. The machine stood on a trio of spindly legs, holding the top-heavy form together.

"What is it?" Vince asked.

"Well it ain't friendly, that's for sure. NITRO PUNCH!"

The robot's two fists flew out towards their target, but unlike the fighters, the Robeast was ready. Two of the clawed hands caught the fists, and the body began swinging two and fro, taking Voltron along with it.

"AHHHH!"

The robot was flipped onto the ground, barely able to stand with its retracted fists before a barrage of lasers began to bombard it.

"Jeez!" Larmina yelled while pressing the red button. "Do we have a shield?" In response to the inquiry, a shield formed in the left arm of the robot, deflecting the lasers.

"We can't win if we're on the defensive!"

"She's right!" Daniel shouted. "We need a weapon to get up close to it!"

Time to call in the Spinning Laser Blades.

"Alright! SPINNING LASER BLADES!"

The shield vanished as two short circular blades began forming in Voltron's hands. The Robeast moved in to prevent the attack, but a powerful swing of the blades lopped off one of the machine's arms. A second swipe dispatched another, the damaged arms resting in the streets.

"Time to finish him off!" Vince yelled.

Call in the Blazing Sword.

"A giant robot sword?" Daniel asked. "Hardly the craziest thing I've seen today."

Now we're getting somewhere.

"FORM BLAZING SWORD!"

The two spinning blades came together in the hands of the machine, and with a bright glow, were replaced with a large two-handed broadsword. On the sword's hilt was the emblem of the Galaxy Garrison.

"AAAAAAHHH!"

The trio yelled as Voltron charged forward, and with one mighty blow, slashed the Robeast in two, the pieces falling to the ground in tatters over smaller homes and a convenience store. Fortunately, it seemed that the buildings had been evacuated when the massive battle had begun in their streets.

"We won!" Daniel shouted.

"I'm not dead!" Vince added, relief present in his voice. Larmina however, still had a concern.

"What about the Galra fleet?"

They've retreated for now, Professor Wade began. But I doubt this is the last we've seen of them."

"So now what?"

Your ships all have autopilot to separate. I'll active it and recall them. I promise, once you get in I will explain everything to you down to the smallest detail.

"You had better," was all Daniel said in reply.

The ships rested off alongside the dark side of the moon, hidden from view. Galra soldiers worked tirelessly to repair their damaged craft and prepare for a subsequent assault. Away from all this, in a small conference room, Viceroy Throk looked on at a hologram of a man he had hoped to not see.

"Commander Hazar. Where is his Emminence?"

The hologram stood in the room like any other Galra would, but the expression it wore only seemed annoying to Throk on that face.

"Emperor Zarkon is busy dealing with the sightings of Voltron. I am authorized to speak in his stead. Now, what of your findings? Did you finish your excavation of this 'Earth'?"

"We had…a slight problem."

"Slight?" Hazar asked. "How slight?"

"The humans, i.e.: the native species on the planet, were able to defeat one of our Robeast's and temporarily drive off our fleet. It's nothing really, Maahox is working on a new Robeast even as we speak. Earth will be under Galra control before you know it."

The expression on Hazar's face soon changed from smug to confused. "What could have defeated a Robeast?"

"Voltron."

"Don't lie to me!" Hazar yelled. "I know for a fact that Voltron is on Arus! Your lies will…"

"No, the humans!" Throk quickly added. "They…made their own Voltron!"

"Humans made a Voltron, really?" Hazar asked. "This is a planet barely a generation away from discovering how fire works and you're telling me they made a copy of the greatest weapon in the universe?!"

"Well it isn't a perfect copy, you see, it's made of three fighter craft which combine into the machine…"

The anger in Hazar's voice left, replaced with a curious tone. "If the humans could make their own Voltron, perhaps they hold the key to replicating it. Perhaps they hold the key to defeating it."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that you may potentially be sitting on a huge sum of wealth, Viceroy…if you can extract it."

"Oh I will be able to extract it," Throk answered. "Let the Emperor know that this may take longer than planned, but Earth will fall, and with it, the secret of Voltron!"

"I'm sure of it," Hazar answered. "I will relay the message."

The hologram vanished, and as it did, Throk added final words to no one in particular.

"And when I have the secret to the weapon even Emperor Zarkon fears, I will rule the universe. And the first thing I'm going to do to you Hazar, is see your public execution is handled personally."

Threatening someone again sir?

"Maahox," Throk grimaced even as he turned around to face his science officer, glass in hand. Maahox must have known because he carried a bottle and his own glass with a brown liquid that he took a sip from. Setting the bottle down on the desk, he looked on at the worried Viceroy.

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Oh, nothing too important; just the part about you wanting to unlock the secret to Voltron to overthrow our beloved Emperor. I do believe that's treason, is it not?"

"I uh…"

Maahox moved his free hand forward, dispelling tension. "Oh, relax, I won't tell anyone. Besides, I've always thought Voltron was a bit overrated."

"How so?"

"An old weapon, made with whatever mystical mumbo-jumbo that led to its creation, is supposed to be the gold standard for robotic warfare from now till the end of time? Hardly. Science moves us forward in all areas. That includes weapons like Voltron."

"You believe you can make a weapon superior to Voltron."

"Of course I do. And this human made knockoff will be excellent practice for the real thing. Once I unlock its secrets, I will make a weapon superior to any other!"

"A toast," Throk began, making sure to keep the doors closed. "To the conquest of Earth, and through it, the universe."

"And to the advancement of science," Maahox answered, toasting Throk before having a drink.

"Commander Hawkins, we're getting calls from pretty much every other Galaxy Garrison office. They sound…anxious."

"Put them on."

Screens filled with the representatives of numerous nations. Many appears confused. Some appeared worried. Still others upset.

The Galaxy Garrison made a weapon and had it engage in battle in the United States?

Who's in control of it?

Who else has a giant robot?

"Gentlemen," Commander Hawkins began, "We all knew that after the Kerberos incident that we were not alone in the universe. We knew. And while we all did our best to hide that from the public, we also had to make the preparations for the day that aliens would come with hostile intentions. Today, gentlemen, was that day. And today, thanks to Professor Wade and three brave pilots, the weapon known as Voltron was able to repel the alien invasion."

What if the Galra return? One voice responded above all others.

"The use of Voltron will only be authorized by this council, Marshall Graham. It will not be used for any other reason but to defend the Earth, and hopefully in the future, to explore what lies beyond it."

"Voltron? That's what we're calling it?"

"That's what Professor Wade called it, yes. It's an…unusual name, but no more so than some of the other proposals."

We agree that the unit can be trusted with Galaxy Garrison. For now. We'll worry about the trickier issues when the Galra are dealt with.

"You needn't worry gentlemen. Voltron is a weapon for good."

I hope so. For all our sakes.

"I will ensure that this is handled as smoothly as possible, Marshall."

"Okay, doc. The explanation?"

Professor Wade sighed as he looked on at the three cadets, still wearing their pilot suits. The trio had been deposited in a small office where he was waiting, looking on at his tablet as the professor obsessed over the minute detail. After placing their helmets on a nearby desk, the trio sat down, hoping for something to make sense of the situation.

"Well you're all here, and you're all alive. OK, time for the explanation. Please follow me."

Standing from his desk, the trio followed Professor Wade as he walked off towards a catwalk overlooking the entire complex. He smiled.

"As you've probably figured out in the moments where your lives weren't at risk," Wade began, "we made first contact with alien life during the Kerberos incident. Furthermore, we knew said life was not friendly. We also knew of a weapon that the aliens were looking for."

"Weapon?" Vince asked. "What kind of weapon?"

"A mighty robot, as the signal said. Loved by good, feared by evil. I was put in charge of a project to replicate the machine. Unfortunately, with what limited information we had, we had come up with a machine that…was not exactly worthy of the original."

Continuing into another room, the group looked on at a giant robot standing still. Or rather, the cadets did, as the mere sight of the machine seemed to cause Wade to gag.

"That…thing was our prototype. It's made of fifteen separate components, requires a pilot for each, and is a complete logistical nightmare to operate."

"Does that have trucks for feet?" Larmina asked. "Like what, giant roller skates!"

"You don't have to rub it in my face!" Wade yelled, almost apologetically. "Fifteen pilots to use the equivalent of a fighter! In what universe did that possibly seem like a good idea?!"

"Sorry," Larmina replied.

"Anyway," Wade continued, doing his absolute best to change the subject, "one month ago, three cadets, a dropout from the Garrison academy, and one of the survivors of the Kerberos mission went AWOL in what we believe was one of the components of the Lion Voltron. However, when it left, we were able to study a much more direct, stronger signal, as well as completed designs for weapon generating systems, as in using its energy to create constructs to fight with."

"It creates weapons out of thin air. Is that why we have to yell the attacks we want?" Daniel asked.

"The Lions we believe have a bond that cannot be explained through human science."

"Mystical?" Lance asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. That's why we had to use the voice commands and AI to simplify everything or there'd be ten thousand buttons for every little doo-dad. I'm going to provide you a list, provided you stay on with us."

The trio stopped and looked on at Wade, who concluded the tour by descending from the catwalk and returning to the office. Inside said office, a man in a Galaxy Garrison uniform stood waiting for the group.

"Hello Daniel, Vince, Larmina," the man began in a gruff, authoritarian tone. The voice was neither angry nor demanding, just forceful and direct. "My name is Commander Hawkins of the Galaxy Garrison. And I want to thank you three for saving Los Angeles and possibly the world from the Galra."

"Uh, thank you sir," Vince began, saluting, while Daniel and Larmina followed suit.

"However," Hawkins continued, "You are also due to face court martial on charges of assaulting an officer, escaping a brig, as well as the laundry list of prior offenses, particularly you two," he added, pointing at Daniel and Larmina.

"So?" Daniel asked. "We saved the world? Doesn't that count for anything?"

"It depends on how we proceed. Professor Wade has told me that he believes you three are capable of handing Voltron when other test pilots nearly killed themselves trying. So, these charges get dropped completely, IF you accept posting at Galaxy Garrison's new unit, Strategic Earth Defense, or SED. You'll automatically be graduated as officers, which I believe you were close to doing before this incident, correct?"

"Two semesters, sir," Daniel responded.

"Well, this will be an early graduation, Daniel. Or is it Lieutenant Tong? Then again, you could always turn down the posting, and we'll just add 'unauthorized use of Galaxy Garrison property' to your offenses, at which point your collective crimes will probably see you serving a sentence that will last longer than your natural lives."

The trio knew they had been had. The choice was obvious.

"We accept sir."

"Good to have you aboard then, 1st Lieutenant. You three will all be at the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the Galaxy Garrison with all the responsibilities and privilege of that title."

"Now what?" Larmina asked as the Commander walked off.

"I suggest you go online and fill out your benefit information. And you might want to tell your parents. Because starting tomorrow, you will be training on those machines non-stop, are we clear? The Galra aren't going to rest, and neither can we."

"Crystal, sir," Larmina answered, completely unsure of how to tell her parents she had graduated two semesters early without being called a bald-faced liar and a troublemaker.

"We graduated," Vince stated. "So why do I feel terrified about what's going to happen next?"

"That just means you're sane," Wade quipped.

Chapter Text

One month earlier:

"You're dismissing us?"

"Heavens no, Jeff!" Professor Wade answered. "You, Cliff, Cric, you've all been invaluable to this team. It's just…the direction we need to go in, it's so different, that I won't need you all to act as pilots."

"Well that sounds more like we're all being put out to pasture," answered a man in a thick Australian accent.

"Not to mention your design is composed of three jets, right?" added another with a thick Indian accent.

"Hardly Cliff. You're all going to be needed for monitoring and the like. But the new design will need air pilots. And the vehicle will need to fight underwater Cric. Your expertise will be invaluable."

"So," began the first man, "when do I get to pilot it?"

"As soon as it's built Jeff. And when it is, you're going to be the first man I trust with it!"

Present Day

The morning sun shone over the Galaxy Garrison facility even as its students peacefully slept, roll call and opening classes set to begin in roughly half an hour, with only the very brave that had chosen 7:35 classes on their schedule arising. Those that did witnessed a sight that made their early rise worth it.

Three jets, moving inhumanely fast, moved away from the Garrison base and into the nearby desert. Inside the jets, three tired pilots manned their controls; paying little mind to the school below they had technically graduated from with honors the day prior.

"This is Volt Alpha," Daniel began. "Volt team is in formation and ready to begin the training exercise…under duress."

Objection noted to our start time, replied the familiar voice of Professor Wade from the intercom. And ignored. Now if you're done whining about a lack of beauty sleep, we can begin.

"Volt Gamma here," Larmina answered. "Let's get started."

"Volt Beta. I'm with Larmina," added Vince. "Sooner we start, sooner we can finish and maybe go back to bed."

That's the spirit. Now, Voltron is designed to quickly combine from jet mode to robot mode. You're familiar with Voltron's Alpha formation, which is the all-around unit, a nice mixture of speed and power, and probably has the widest variety of weapon systems. However, there are two other modes, triggered by whoever forms the head.

"The head?" Daniel asked.

Yes. Each Volt Unit can form the head of the machine while the other two form the legs and body. Volt Beta is designed for maximum speed at the cost of armor and power, but is capable of flight at amazing speeds and with incredible agility. Volt Gamma is essentially a tank designed for ground battle and undersea operations. It's much slower than Alpha and Beta, but far more heavily armored, relying primarily on distance weapons.

"Sounds cool," Larmina noted. "So what do we do now?"

Mission this morning is simple. Combine your robot into Beta and Gamma formation. Once you do you can go home.

"Let's start with Beta then," Vince began. "Ready to form Voltron. Activate interlock. Dynotherms connected. Infra…

WHOOSH!

BEEP! BEEP!

"We have missiles!" Daniel yelled. "Break formation!"

"The Galra?!"

Oh what? The voice of Professor Wade sarcastically quipped through the intercom. You think the enemy is going to stand still and let you form the robot without resistance? Cut the whining!

Five fighter jets, appearing to be Galaxy Garrison in origin, rushed towards the three Volt units even as they attempted to scatter from the missiles. Larmina however, was unaware of the fourth jet breaking from its formation and following behind, launching an errant missile.

"What the quiznak?!"

A cloud of pink smoke exploded harmlessly around the fighter, covering it in the soot.

Gamma, you're KIA because you didn't keep your eyes open. Return to base Lieutenant.

"Roger." The acknowledgment carried with it a tone of frustration, the woman clearly unaware of what had just been pulled on her. The remaining two fighters however, were not in a hurry to leave.

"Blindside me, will you?" Daniel shouted.

"Uh, Dan, we need Larmina to form Voltron, don't we? Why are we still here?"

"Because these jerkasses ambushed us! Besides, the Volts run circles around the old ASF's. This'll be a snap."

Will it now? Responded a voice from the other end of the line. Alright team, let's show these rookies how a real Air team fights!

The five jets broke formation and attempted to attack from multiple angles. Seeing this, Daniel dropped his jet towards the ground, preparing to swoop up and attack.

Nice thinking with the angle mate. Just one problem, you forgot about us!"

"WHAT?!"

Emerging from the ground were several vehicles lying in wait under camouflage. Immediately they began to open fire on the low flying jet, covering it in pink soot.

Confirmed kill of Volt Alpha. Come home Lieutenant.

Groaning heavily, Daniel turned his jet away from the battlefield, muttering "This isn't over" under his breath. No one heard the threat over the silenced intercom.

With both of his friends out of action, Vince continued to move his jet as quickly as possible, unsure of what to do next. He began to breathe heavily.

"OK, there's five fighters on my right, some ground units, do I move…wait, no, I need to…"

THWOOSH!

A bright pink cloud exploded around Vince's fighter, causing him to sigh heavily.

Return to base. We need to have a long talk about what's expected of you.

"I trust you have something to show me, Maahox, and it isn't a waste of my time?"

Throk wasn't nearly as happy as he should have been; at least before he realized what he was dealing with. The initial invasion, expected to occur without casualties or even any but the most token resistance, had been repelled with significant fighter casualties! At least the blame was easy to place.

"A waste? Nonsense sir," Maahox answered. "I've observed footage of the battle of our first Robeast with Voltron and I've figured out an approach that can defeat him. May I introduce you to my latest creation."

Inside the massive hangar was a machine floating in the air, with three arms, two o the sides and one on its back. Each arm extended in claws while having a barrel where the palm would normally be present. Most notably, on the machine's sides and back were massive propulsion engines, designed to move the oval shaped machined to and fro.

"This is the fastest design I've ever come up with," Maahox boasted. "Its engines will let it run circles around Voltron, while laying down proximity mines and blasting it with distance weaponry. Voltron will be turned to scrap before it can land a shot.

"I like it. So what do we do? Just send it to Earth?"

"Not by itself," Maahox answered. "For all of the human's blind luck with Voltron, there's only one of them, and dozens of cities that need to be protected. To maximize our chances of victory…"

"We divide and conqueror!" Throk exclaimed. "Of course! While the human's Voltron is busy being destroyed, we can just march a battlecruiser halfway across the planet free of any fear of reprisal!"

"So, mind explaining what happened during that disaster?"

Professor Wade stared at his three charges with a look that crossed between disappointment and annoyance, like a teacher at wit's end with a student. Finally, Larmina spoke.

"Sir! We were ambushed by…"

"Ambushes happen in the field Lt. Kent. You have to be prepared at all times. This exercise was designed to show you that."

"Sir! We were given bad intel!"

"We're facing an alien enemy, in every sense of the word," Wade shot back. "If you expect to know everything about them, then you're setting yourselves up for failure. First, you Lt. Kent, for expecting no interference. Then instead of falling back or attempting to analyze the situation, Lt. Tong chose to engage air targets unaware of ground opposition."

"Sir! I'd like to get a good look at who set me up!"

I was hoping he'd ask that.

Turning around, the trio saw a group of men and women, their expressions smug.

"So these are our replacements Professor? They didn't seem very impressive this morning!"

"You wanna try again?" Daniel shouted. "How we just go now?"

"Anytime rookie!"

"JEFF!" Professor Wade shouted. "We're all on the same team here. This is Major Jeff Manabu, head of recon air team, Captain Cliff Jack", he continued, pointing at a blond man with a disarming smile, "Land Team commander, and Captain Milanda Cric, Sea Team commander. These men were part of the original project to create a Voltron…"

"You mean roller skate for tr…"

"DON'T SPEAK OF IT!" Wade shot at Larmina out of pure embarrassment. "But these men and women are an invaluable resource, and should be used."

"Good to be working with ya!" Cliff began, extending his hand to the pilots. Both Larmina and Vince shook it, but Daniel remained aloof.

"Don't mind ol Jeff there," Cliff answered. "That's just his way. He's got a bit of a short fuse."

"Maybe that's why Daniel doesn't like him," Larmina replied. "They have a lot in common."

"WHAT?!" yelled both Jeff and Daniel, but before anything else could be said, Professor Wade interrupted.

"Look, we're going to try this again. Get used to these faces, because you're all part of the same team. You should at least learn to tolerate each other."

"Are we dismissed sir?" Vince asked.

"Not yet, because I haven't addressed you yet. Vince, you took your sweet time, in one of, if not the fastest fighter craft ever assembled by human hands, and your indecision led to you being shot down. If you're going to be entrusted with the sole thing protecting Earth from the Galra, you need to be able to make decisions quickly and clearly. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Vince answered before walking off.

Even as the words continued to nestle themselves into his head, Vince couldn't help but think of the bizarre two days. Now here he stood, unpacking the items from his dorm, which had been carried from the student, barracks to his new digs, an apartment inside the officer's barracks. If nothing else it was significantly larger than his old place, and there was no roommate to share it with either. That wasn't entirely fair though, his old roommate Pidge had seemingly vanished into thin air a month ago, and the Garrison had yet to assign him a replacement.

But still, he thought, even as he looked at accommodations that seemed absolutely luxurious by the standards he had been living with, was he really up for this? Wasn't he supposed to be here in a support role? He hadn't even explained the situation to his mother yet. Looking on at his cell phone, atop a pile of books, Vince sighed and dialed a number.

"Yeah, Mom? It's me, Vince. No, I haven't flunked out! Why do you keep asking me that? Look, this is gonna sound really weird but…I graduated. I'm an officer now, 1st Lt.. No, I'm not lying! Why would I lie about that?! Yes, I have proof! You want to see it that bad, huh? Oh, don't go bringing my brother into this! Maybe I didn't want to study accounting! Yeah, bye! No, I'm not a liar!"

Angrily slamming the phone off, Vince grimaced, looking on at the open door. The sight irritated him.

"Sorry about that mate. I wasn't trying to listen in. Rough go?"

"What do you want?" Vince asked the waiting form of Cliff. "Rub in this morning?"

"What? No. Look, may I come in?"

Looking around, Vince nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

"Good man. Look, I wanna apologize for how Jeff acted. He's been a bit upset lately. That's just his way. We're really just trying to help."

"I know," Vince answered, even as he sat down on a chair that had been bought into the apartment. "Still doesn't feel like it"

"You wanna know the truth? We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't think you were all up for it. And Jeff knows it."

"If Jeff thinks he can do better, then why isn't he piloting Voltron?"

Sighing, Cliff answered "because he can't." The response piqued Vince's ears.

"Why not?"

"He tried. Believe me. He tried. So did everyone else in the Air Team."

AAAAAAH!

Jeff! Wendy!

There's no response! Alpha and Beta are going down!

Do something Doc! Hurry!

"The stress on the pilots is way past your average fighter, or even a deep space probe. It's why Professor Wade had to start looking for potential candidates that could handle the stress."

"Really?"

"You've got a gift boy. You can handle a machine that if there wasn't an autopilot on when it flew, would have killed two of my best friends. Don't squander it by doubting yourself. And don't underestimate us either. We may not have a giant robot to fight the bad guys with, but we're not exactly going to sit back and let you do everything. When the chips are down, we're here to help."

Vince nodded, smiling and shaking Cliff's hand. But as if on cue, an alarm began blaring.

Voltron Force, Priority 1 alert! Scramble! Repeat: Voltron Force! Priority 1 alert! Scramble!

"Bloody hell," Cliff exclaimed.

"Well," Vince answered with a tense chuckle, "I guess it's time to go to work."

"Give em hell mate!" Cliff yelled even as Vince ran out of the barracks and towards the lab. "Remember, you've got a gift! Use it!"

"Enemy craft was sighted around the Panama Canal gates," Daniel noted as he looked out from the cockpit of Volt Alpha, recalling the briefing he had received before boarding Volt Alpha. "It's definitely Galra."

"How can we be sure?" Larmina asked, only to look ahead from her craft at the giant robot floating above the ground, watching it blasting equipment with a trio of laser cannon arms."

"Call it an educated guess," Daniel answered. "Let's form Voltron! Alpha form!"

"Right! FORM VOLTRON!"

"Gamma, form feet and legs! Beta, form arms and body! And I'll form the head!"

With nothing interfering, the trio of machines combined into the form of a massive robot humanoid. It soon landed in front of the machine causing the destruction.

Daniel, it's Cric! We've been observing the situation, and it appears that the Robeast is trying to target the canal gates! You must lure it away before it can destroy those gates!

"Leave it to me!" Daniel shouted as the machine dashed towards its target, only to see it rapidly accelerate away, firing all the while.

"This thing is fast!" Larmina exclaimed.

"Yeah, well look at the size of those engines!" Vince answered, pointing at the massive engines, one on each side of its body as it continued to move away from its target.

"VOLT BEAM!"

The laser beams fired as quickly as possible, but to no avail, as the machine kept moving out of the way, pelting Voltron with fire all the while. Taking the offensive, Daniel charged forward, only to stop when he heard a loud beeping next to him.

"What the…"

"MINES!"

Numerous explosions riddled Voltron, knocking it to the ground. The trio looked on at the robot as it prepared to fire again.

"SHIELD!"

A shield formed, barely deflecting the blasts in time, even as the group looked at the fleeing Robeast.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it appears that we have a more serious problem than a giant robot attacking the Panama Canal."

Looking on at the screen, Commander Hawkins pointed towards the footage of the Galra battlecruiser descending from space. "They're trying to re-establish their beachhead on Los Angeles. They know that the surrounding bases are weak and vulnerable as a result."

"We must recall Voltron!" Captain Newley said. "Our forces in that area are already crippled from the last Galra assault, and standard fighters are no match for a Galra battlecruiser."

"Even if we do recall Voltron, it may not get here in time at the rate they're descending!"

"Maybe we don't need to recall Voltron."

"Jeff?" asked a woman next to him.

"It's OK Wendy. I know what I'm doing. Commander, do we still have those MOAB bombs at this base?"

"The massive ordinance bomb? Uh, yes, we do. How come?"

"I've got an idea. We can't beat a Galra battlecruiser with brute frontal force, but we can with a bit of ingenuity."

"Dammit! Another mine!" Daniel yelled, even as the robot moved forward, checking Voltron and knocking it and its shield to the ground before dashing away.

"We can't take much more of this!" Larmina shouted. "We need a new plan!"

Finally, after a moment of silence, Vince's voice shouted, "Separate!" Immediately Voltron split back into three fighter jets and flew off away from the enemy robot. Daniel was livid.

"Vince! We're running?!"

"Daniel," Vince answered with an exasperated sigh, "shut up and listen to someone besides yourself for a change!" The yell was enough to get Daniel to quiet down, while Vince continued his explanation.

"Beta formation is designed for speed and agility, right? Well we're far away enough to not get hit, so let's form that and go after him before he does any more damage!"

"Works for me," Larmina answered.

"Fine," added Daniel. FORM VOLTRON!"

"Alpha, form feet and legs!" Vince shouted. "Gamma, form arms and body! And I'll form the head!"

Standing on the battlefield was a machine similar yet different to Voltron's 'Alpha' form, a sleek machine standing on two spindly legs with a massive jet engine on its back. On its right arm was a standard hand while its left was instead a massive spear.

"Alright," Vince declared, "now let's try this again!"

Like before, the Robeast attempted to generate as much space as possible while firing blasts from its three arms and laying down a path of mines. This time however, the much sleeker, slimmer machine effortlessly dodged and darted through roads and streets, leaping over mines and catching up to the fleeing enemy in no time at all.

"Gotcha!"

The spear on the left arm drove through the machine, destroying one of the jet engines and causing it to stagger backwards, its movement compromised. Wasting no time, Voltron leapt into the air, its right hand replaced with a long chainsaw blade.

"BLAZING SAWBLADE!"

In one slash, the blade ripped through the remainder of the machine, causing it to explode, thankfully far away enough from the canal gates to cause any damage.

"Gotta hand it to you Vince," Daniel quipped. "You really came through for us."

"Let's just say I had some good advice."

"Viceroy! We are currently descending upon the human settlement! We should be landing in approximately five clicks! So far there is no sign of any human resistance, including Voltron!"

Excellent! Destroy everything in that city and establish our front! The world will learn to accept us as their rightful rulers or realize their suffering will be infinite at our hands!"

With seemingly nothing in the way, the ship continued to descend, until a faint blip came across the enemy scanners.

"Sir, we're picking up a single craft. Looks like it dropped something."

"One fighter? Is that a joke? How did we miss it?

"It's so small sir. Not to mention it's leaving!"

"Coward."

"Sir, whatever it is just a metal shell, but it's going to fall on us!"

"Is it a missile?"

"Sir, impact AAAAAHHHH!"

The massive ordinance of the seemingly harmless metallic shell, unnoticed until it was too late by the high flying craft, exploded on the battlecruiser with the force of 11 tons of TNT. The front section of the ship was annihilated as the remainder began to fall upon the California desert. Flying away, the single craft began to return to base.

"This is Jeff. I know the ASF was never designed to drop something that big, but it kept us hidden right till the last moment."

Your plan worked flawlessly Jeff. You're the hero of the hour.

"I'm not the only one," Jeff answered. "Returning home."

Packing the remaining books onto the shelf, Vince smiled. Even with all the craziness that had occurred, he had proven that he was capable of helping the team. In fact, he had officially helped save the world twice now. When being debriefed by Commander Hawkins, both Daniel and Jeff went out of their way to credit Vince with stopping the Robeast in Panama, earning the collective praise of the group and the senior officialls.

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a song he liked, a reminder to pick up his phone.

"Hello? Dad? Uh, did Mom tell you that I lied to her? No, really, I was graduated two semesters early. Yes, I'm an officer of the Galaxy Garrison. 1st Lieutenant. Of course I have a photo to show you. No it's not a photoshop Dad, if I was lying to Mom about graduating, why would I tell her that I was being paid? How would that help me get money from you telling you I'm pulling down a paycheck?! Are you two even listening to yourselves?"

If only his parents could see what his co-workers saw him do.

Chapter Text

Four months prior:

"Ok, now that we're done with drilling, we're going to do some group evaluations of your hand-to-hand skills. McClain, Kent, you're both up!

Standing to her feet in a rashguard and a pair of leggings that went down to her ankles, Larmina took to the mat as her instructor looked on. She was all too familiar with the lessons on grappling being taught as part of the hand-to-hand combat training. Her partner meanwhile, wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, seemed less interested in the finer points of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and more in whatever woman was across from him.

"How it's going?" he asked, flashing a smile. "Name's Lance. I promise I won't beat you up too bad. Maybe we can get…"

"BEGIN!"

"RRRAGH!"

The man named Lance's efforts at flirting were quickly stifled as Larmina ducked under him into a double leg takedown, taking him to the mat fairly easily. Quickly passing to side control past any inclination of defense, she began reaching for the opposite side arm of the panicked Casanova, who attempted to roll away desperately. This only allowed Larmina to control his back and sink in a textbook rear-naked choke, causing him to tap the floor in panic.

"Hopefully," the instructor began, "this shows you what you're supposed to do, and what you're not supposed to do in a grappling situation. You do not stand up like an oak tree. You do not underestimate a smaller opponent! And you sure as hell do not panic when you lose your base! Now, who's next? Tong! Kogane! Up here!"

Present Day

"Oy, this looks bad."

Surveying the area from a radar truck, Cliff began to groan. Something, he didn't know what, had taken this town and seemingly flattened it. There was no evidence of explosions except near some hills, but the buildings of the town, the people, it was if something had merely flattened it, then vanished.

"What did this?" asked a black haired man outside the truck, his expression confused. The man's thick sideburns seemed to do their best to hide the grimacing of his face.

"No idea Hutch, but it wasn't an explosive. There's no evidence of it. It's like something literally plowed through the town and then left. Like it was flattened out."

Cliff, it's Cinda. Did you say 'flattened out'?

Reaching for the small communicator on his belt, Cliff answered, "Yeah Moya. How come?"

We're about ten clicks from your location, and it looks like the same thing happened here. Minor scorch marks are on the side of the roads while most of the town was just…flattened. The flat areas don't even show signs of an explosion or anything.

"Survivors?"

No one I can see, but the town was pretty small. It looks like…hey! Hey! Cliff, we found someone! We'll call back.

Hutch looked on next to another man, tall and thin, as he attempted to scan the area.

"This was Galra, right?" the man asked. "You know, one of those what, Mecha-saurus things?"

"Robeasts, Marvin," Cliff corrected. "You'd think after we sunk one of their battlecruisers the alien podunks would let up."

"No such luck."

"Nope."

It had been a week since the last time Voltron was needed. And yet she felt more exhausted than ever.

In order to train the cadets properly, the trio had been made to fly constant training missions to get used to their new machines, combining and un-combining them without rest. Mercifully, the weekend had arrived, and Larmina was hoping to use the time to catch up on sleep. So when her landline began ringing, she couldn't help but groan, throwing the covers off her bed as she answered it.

"Oh come on, it's 9am…hello?"

Lt. Kent? There's someone here to see you.

"Can they wait an hour or two?"

She's quite insistent Lieutenant. She claims to be your mother.

"Mom?!" The announcement that her mother had come to visit jolted Larmina from her haze and caused her to quickly make the bed. "Um…send her up!"

Hurriedly, she continued to prepare herself and her room, moving things slightly out of order until the door opened without even a knock.

"Hi. Mom, good to see you!" she began, greeting the red-headed woman of 51 even as she stared oddly. "Is something the matter?"

"You couldn't even be bothered to put on a nice shirt?"

Looking down, Lamaria realized she was wearing the same T-shirt she slept in, offering only an awkward smile. Her mother sighed.

"Why do I even bother? I heard you graduated early, but look at yourself!"

"It's…complicated. What are you even doing here?"

"You graduate and you don't tell me or your father what happened, and then they actually…station you somewhere?"

"Like I said Mom, it's complicated."

"You know your father and I were going to have you over at Fort Penn! Unless you actually want to work in the field or…serve in battle!"

Larmina's silence caused the woman to gasp. "They, they didn't! Not to the daughter of the Kent family! I have half a mind to talk to your commander and…"

"That would be a REALLY bad idea Mom," Larmina insisted.

The path of destruction didn't seem as bad from the air, which in Jeff's mind, made it all the odder as he observed the trail from his fighter. What type of Galra weapon could have done this? Did it have anything to do with the battlecruiser that the Galaxy Garrison was currently stripping for anything valuable? Why hadn't the Galra begun an attack with their remaining forces?

RRRUMBLE

"Hey, Ginger! Rocky! Come in!" he yelled into the intercom.

What is it Jeff?

"Something's coming out the ground! I think it's what wiped out those towns!"

What emerged from underground via the use of several drills appeared to be a massive steamroller, attached to a platform filled with cannons. In the center of the grayish machine was a black dome. Once it had finished rising from the depths, the machine began rumbling forward, plowing through anything in its way.

"Air Team 1 to Galaxy Garrison! I found the cause of those towns being destroyed! It looks like a massive steamroller!"

Jeff had no time to continue his explanation as the numerous guns on the platform the steamroller was attached to aimed into the air and began firing. Hurriedly, he began moving his jet out of the way to avoid laser fire.

"We're gonna need something bigger than a jet to hold that thing off!"

The alarm began blaring throughout the base as Larmina looked on at her mother. "Uh, Mom, look, I need to go, like…now."

"We're not done young lady!" the woman shouted. "The only reason you were sent here was because it would look good for our family! You're done! I will not have you be used like a common plebian! I mean, heaven forbid you're forced into a battle!"

The machine was relentless even as Jeff did his best to keep a safe distance from its cannons. The machine had stopped firing, presumably because he wasn't close enough to be considered a threat, but even so, its relentless move forward towards a suburban town couldn't help but worry Jeff.

"Galaxy Garrison! Has the local army been mobilized to try and stop that thing?"

No, but we have!

"Typical!" Jeff yelled as he saw the familiar sight of the three fighters combining into Voltron. "Late to the party, try to get all the glory!"

"Yeah, but we get results!" Daniel yelled back, Voltron's Alpha form flying in front of the massive steamroller even as it continued its relentless march forward. "Besides, I've got a new surprise for this Robeast. WING BLASTER!"

A concentrated beam of energy fired from Voltron's chest towards the steamroller, striking it dead center. However, the explosion, while having taken out a few of the cannons on the platform, did nothing to impede the charge of the machine.

"It's still coming!" Vince shouted. "Let's separate and try Beta formation!"

"Beta?" Larmina shouted. "We need power to stop that thing! We'll use Gamma!"

"Fine!" Daniel shouted, pressing a button as the robot fell back into three fighter jets, flying away far enough to get ahead of the machine, right in front of the town. "Form Voltron!"

"Beta!" Larmina shouted. "Form feet and legs! Alpha! Form arms and body! And I'll form the head!"

The machine that stood in front of the steamroller was more tank than the sleeker forms of the other Voltron formations, thick legs rolled on wheels holding up an extremely thick upper body with a small midsection allowing the upper and lower bodies to swivel. On the upper body were two massive jet engines as well as two large missile launchers. If the head of Voltron's Alpha form was a human wearing a helmet and the head of Beta a human whose mouth was covered by a faceplate, then Gamma's was a thick helmet, smooth except for the two red eyes in front. The machine lumbered forward towards it foe, prepared to stop its charge.

"You're not getting past me!" Larmina boasted. "GO! VOLT TORNADO!"

A forceful jolt of wind pushed against the steamroller, additional cannons being ripped from the platform, but the actual machine remained unimpeded, pressing forward through the torrent.

"We knocked out some of the guns," Daniel began, "but it's not stopping the machine itself!"

"Then we'll just have to do it the old fashioned way! YAAAARGH!"

The machine charged forward, pushing the steamroller with thick hands, doing all it could to push it back.

"This thing isn't budging!" Larmina yelled.

"We're giving it everything we have!" Vince answered. "I don't know how much more we can push!"

The steamroller and Voltron continued to push back and forth, neither able to secure the advantage. The stalemate was soon broken as the black dome opened up, revealing a horrific sight.

A mechanical creature, a crude facsimile of an alien made of bones, emerged from the open dome, its torso extending from the hole as if it were a cobra. Holding a massive axe, the creature lunged forward and sliced the left arm of Voltron, causing it to come loose and nearly fall off the robot. With only one arm pushing back, the steamroller soon gained the advantage, pushing Voltron back and nearly knocking it down.

"DELUXE MISSLES!"

The oversized missiles fired from the launcher of Gamma towards the creature, but as quickly as it emerged, it soon retreated to the cover of its dome. The missiles exploded against the dome, unable to break it.

"If we fall down we're going to be roadkill!" Vince shouted. "We need to fall back!"

"Dammit, he's right!" Daniel shouted. "We need to retreat for now!"

I mean, heaven forbid you're forced into a battle!

"Because I'm not good enough Mom?" she mumbled under her breath. Sighing, Larmina yelled "Separate!" as the three jets flew off in retreat, the thankfully evacuated town soon turned into gravel as the steamroller ran through it unimpeded.

"This is bad," Commander Hawkins began, looking over the results of the battle in the war room. Inside, he, Captain, Newley, and Professor Wade all examined the photos that Jeff had taken, both of the Robeast's path, and of Voltron's battle with the machine.

"How bad is bad?" Larmina asked.

"Bad as in the steamroller itself seems to be made of a very high grade metal that seems to have some sort of shielding protecting it."

"So that's why our weapons worked on everything but the steamroller!" Vince shouted.

"If we can't penetrate that shield," Professor Wade continued, "then we can't stop that thing."

"It gets worse," Commander Hawkins continued. "The recon teams have figured out what that machine's end game is."

"What is it?"

"Here. It looks like they've stopped with the city invasions and want to stop Voltron directly by hitting us where we live. And if we can't halt that Robeast, they may just win. They must figure if they knock Voltron over, humanity will fall like a stack of dominoes."

"We need to get back out there!" Larmina yelled, only for Professor Wade to shake his head.

"Voltron took a major pounding in that last battle. We need time to repair the damage, and to try to figure out a countermeasure against those shields."

"Can't we mobilize the regular army?" asked Captain Rawley, but Commander Hawkins shook his head.

"We don't have a target. After the battle with Voltron, the Robeast vanished. It seems to be able to hide itself underground."

"So what do we do?" Daniel asked.

"Go rest for a bit, but remain on standby," answered Professor Wade. "But be ready to move out at any moment! Recon will continue to try and find that thing, wherever it's hiding."

The trio got up to leave, but as Larmina rose from her seat, Commander Hawkins grunted, not so subtly pointing at the redheaded pilot.

"Lt. Kent, a word in my office please?"

"Of course Commander," Larmina answered, following Hawkins into a small office adjacent to the war room. "What's the problem sir?"

"This," Hawkins replied, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket, "is the problem. I had a meeting with a Mrs. Valencia Kent this morning, and she offered me this, in exchange for your transfer to Fort Penn, presumably to work in an office."

Larmina grimaced, looking at the check and the sheer amount of money her mother thought this was worth.

"I didn't ask her to do this!" Larmina shouted.

"Why should I believe you? And more importantly, considering how generous the offer I gave you was, why shouldn't have you back on those charges?"

"Because my mom is an overbearing control freak!" Larmina shouted. "She wants to take control of every little detail of my life! Make sure she's on me like a mosquito that won't go away! And you can take this check," she continued, grabbing it from Hawkins' hand, "and shove it down her throat for all I care!"

The commander was clearly taken back by the statement, but nodded. "Whatever issues you have with your mother are no concern of mine, but you're what, eighteen, correct?"

"Yes sir. I turn nineteen in two months."

"Right. Well then Lieutenant, you're an adult. Handle this like one, even if you mother doesn't want to."

Unbeknownst to the pair, outside the office, Professor Wade had been listening to the conversation, snapping his fingers.

"Of course! That's how we stop it!"

With her mother not scheduled to return until the evening, and no sign of the enemy, Larmina found herself with a lot of anger and nothing to take it out on. So she went to the nearest thing she could release the anger on, a heavy bag in the gym attached to the apartment complex. Hammering it with blows, she did her best to focus on everything that had angered her that day. Her mother, the machine threatening to run the base over, the fact that everyone was quick to blame her for everything…

"Upset?"

Turning around, the fiery redhead saw the familiar face of Daniel waiting by the door, offering a smile. Him wearing shorts and a T-shirt suggested he had also shown up to work out.

"What's it to you?"

"Oh don't be that way," the grinning teen responded. "I have to make sure the team is OK, what, being the leader and all."

"You think you're the leader?" Larmina asked with rolled eyes.

"Well, yeah, I'm the Alpha!" Daniel boasted. "That means I'm in charge of the pack while Beta is my assistant! I'm not sure what Gamma does though…"

"That not how that works," Larmina responded while rolling her eyes.

"It's not? Well," Daniel continued, "you want someone to spar with? Come on, maybe you need to take your anger out on something besides a heavy bag."

"You sure?" Larmina asked, looking over Daniel's offer with suspicion.

"Positive. Just pretend I'm the most annoying person you've ever met."

Larmina half expected to see Daniel, or worse, her mother. But instead, when asked to visualize the most annoying person she had ever met, a single face came to mind.

You know I was going easy on you, right? What do you say we get dinner at my place and I show you what I can really do?

"What part of 'no, you creep people out', don't you understand?"

You know what they call me? Lance the tailor, because how I can move and thread through anything. So how's about we go back to my place and I give you a private lesson?

"Grr..."

Without warning, Larmina ducked under Daniel into a perfect double leg takedown, slamming the self-proclaimed leader of the Voltron Force to the mat. Hurriedly, he wrapped his legs around her in defense, pulling her into a guard position as she attempted to rain down punches on his head.

Well, whoever it was must have really pissed her off!

For at least a minute, Larmina attempted to land blows on Daniel's head rather than move forward positionally, her anger nearly all-consuming. However, one shot saw her overextend, leading to Daniel sweeping her and attempting to take the woman's back. Quickly she turned around as he took top position, the pair staring at each other as she was seemingly broken from her trance. Both turned red at the realization.

"Um…" Larmina began, "that was some good technique."

"Yeah," Daniel answered awkwardly. "Thanks."

Mercifully, the awkwardness was broken by the sound of the alarm. Rising up, they began running towards the launch area.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side," was all Daniel could say to break the tension as the pair began heading for the lockers. The slight chuckle from Larmina indicated that he had done his job, at least somewhat.

"Sure, 'leader'."

The steamroller, showing signs of damage from the previous battle in its missing gun emplacements, continued to drive forward towards its target, not letting anything stand in its way. This included the town with the luxury hotel that parents of Garrison students would often stay at when visiting their children. Inside the hotel, one such parent looked outside her window and screamed at the sight.

"Mrs. Kent! We have to evacuate at once! We can't be safe here!"

"Fine! Let's go somewhere AAHH!"

The "AHHH" came as the hotel, not directly in the path of the steamroller, was fired upon by one of the remaining cannons on the machine's platform. The upper floors were all to be annihilated when a blur moved in the way and blocked the blow with a shield.

"Is that…the giant robot from the news?" Valencia asked. Looking out the window, she observed the gigantic robot holding a shield in front of the hotel, deflecting the blasts.

Wasting no time, the robot flew into the air and dashed towards its opponent, splitting into

"See!" she declared! "Look at this! I will not allow my daughter anywhere near…"

"Ma'am! We need to evacuate now!"

"Let's try this again!" Larmina yelled as Voltron separated into its three jet forms. "Form Voltron!"

Quickly transforming, the squat, heavily armored form of Voltron's Gamma form landed in front of the ever-advancing steamroller, preparing to lash out and strike at the charging menace.

"Let's hope it works this time!" Vince shouted.

"If it doesn't I'm gonna haunt that old geezer! GO! VOLT TORNADO!"

The turbofans inside the robot revealed themselves once again, lashing out against the steamroller with gale-force winds. However, this time, small sparks became noticeable as the wind continued to breathe forward were the sparks emanating from the steamroller. First one, then hundreds, then thousands, as if firecrackers were going off.

"It's working!" Vince yelled.

"What is?" Daniel asked.

My latest creation! Answered the voice of Professor Wade over the intercom.

"Wind itself is fine to move smaller objects, but this wind is mixed with thousands if not millions of small corrosive agents designed to eat away at the shield and the metal being used! The shield isn't complex enough to withstand damage from all those angles!"

"That's brilliant," Commander Hawkins answered. "How did you come up with it?"

"The modifications were easy, just load something into the delivery system. As for the idea, it came to me when overhearing your argument with Larmina.

"WHAT?!"

"It worked, didn't it?"

Whatever shielding was protecting the steamroller soon gave way as small holes started to form in the machine, preventing it from moving forward properly. The winds continued to eat away at the steamroller, past the shields,

"We've disabled it!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Then let's finish it!" Larmina answered, accelerating the robot towards the crippled steamroller. But no sooner had it come in close did the dome open again, and the creature that lay waiting inside charged out, axe ready to strike.

"Not this time!"

Before it could raise its arm and strike, Voltron dashed to the side and caught the beast in the grip of its thick robotic hands. Turning to the side, the creature was wrenched free from the tail attaching it to the machine, screaming inhumanely all the while.

"Back to where you came from!"

A powerful throw soon left the monster against the crippled steamroller, desperately trying to move.

"DELUXE MISSILES!"

The two missiles on the rear of Voltron landed on their target dead center, leaving nothing but a charred and battered machine, inert and harmless.

"Looks like we won," Vince began, "but the Galra seem to be changing their strategy."

"Yeah," Daniel answered. "This is a lot sneakier than the last two times they tried to attack, and their target was SED headquarters, not a major city."

"Whatever," Larmina replied. "Let's go home."

For a tourist town that had nearly faced the threat of annihilation earlier, the average citizen was remarkably well composed once the threat had passed. Businesses were open and people, confident the threat had passed, returned to the streets unimpeded. In one such business, a high class restaurant, Larmina sat next to her mother, who had a look of complete distress on her face, occasionally hidden by sips of wine.

"A giant robot! An hour from where you're living! If that isn't proof that you should be transferred to Fort Penn then I don't know what is!"

"Is that why you tried to bribe my commander?"

Larmina's mother said nothing, but visibly grimaced when she saw the check that she was holding.

"I did it for your safety! Your father wants…"

"Yeah, I know Mom, you want me to look important when I take over the real estate business. But I can't just live my life completely pre-programmed. It's a lot deeper than that."

"How deep could it possibly be, hauling freight or working on machines or whatever it is you do?"

The redhead scoffed. "You know what I do? You know that giant robot?"

"What about it?"

"I'm its pilot. One of them anyway."

She scoffed. "Sure you are. Are you that insistent on staying here that you have to lie to me?"

"Mom, I love you," Larmina began, "but you can believe what you want. Just don't try to bribe anyone again. They almost threw me in the brig for it."

"Honey," she answered, "I'm doing this for you. Not for anyone else."

"Then let me do this. For me."

"I don't want you to get hurt. The second, the second you're in danger, I swear, we will know. We'll get you out! I promise."

"Mom…I promise I'll stay safe."

Her mother sighed, but nodded in approval, the two sides having come to a temporary truce. While the waiter approached with their food, she could only offer a slight sigh. For all her worries and nagging, her mother wasn't the most annoying person in the world.

No, that would be that idiot Lance.

Chapter Text

Six years ago

"Juvenile court is now in session. After examining the evidence against Mr. Tong, I am prepared to make a verdict. Mr. Tong, do you understand?"

The young Chinese boy looked up, but said nothing to the judge, who then turned to his attorney. The courtroom itself was empty save the judge, the bailiff, a few key witnesses including a stenographer, as well as Daniel and his attorney.

"My client is aware of the need for respect to the judge. We also believe that the punishment offered in lieu of time spent in juvenile hall is preferable to the aforementioned."

"Anything to say on your behalf young man?"

With a look of barely hidden contempt, the young boy looked up and merely muttered "No sir."

"Very well then young man," the judge replied. "Daniel Tong, you are sentenced to transfer to Northwestern Military Academy. Subsequent offenses will be handled throughout the military system. And trust me, the military courts are not as lenient as I am."

Present Day

The look on his face was a full-blown scowl, ever present even as he swirled the wine in his glass by the stem. For the Viceroy to be scowling this much meant that he had gone past even regular disappointment and was now raging. Maahox, seeing this, attempted to tackle the situation as diplomatically as he could.

"You know, this is all part of the long-term strategy against Earth. We've seen what Voltron can do against our battlecruisers, and we only have five of them, so…"

"So you send down Robeasts, one at a time, see them get destroyed, and waste my precious resources on your pointless experiments?"

"They are not pointless!" Maahox shouted. "Only by experimentation can we defeat Voltron! My first two designs may have failed, but that just means I have that much more data to work with in defeating them!"

"We don't have unlimited supplies Maahox!" Throk shot back, pointedly placing the glass on the table in anger. "I can't devote all our resources to sending down a Robeast every few days until the right one does its job! We'll run out of supplies before we even have land in this backwater swamp!"

Maahox sighed, feeling the frustration take hold. He was all set to say something when the door opened, revealing a grinning Galran with a horned helmet.

"W…who are you?" the green-skinned Maahox asked.

"Forgive me," the man replied in a rather high-pitched voice for this thick frame. The emblems on his armor identified him as a commander within the Galran military. "My name is Cossack. You've heard of my exploits, haven't you?"

"Can't say I have," Throk interrupted. "What I want to know is under whose authority do you dare barge into this room?!"

"Commander Hazar sent me," the man replied, "saying your expeditionary fleet was too slow in capturing the planet which the Emperor himself has marked as a place of interest."

"Hazar," groaned Throk. "Well then Cossack, what is your plan?"

"Not do what you did," the smug commander answered. "I've read your reports and frankly, your tactics are idiotic. We need to stop trying to focus on one robot, and cripple the areas around it. Luckily for you, I bought in just the men for the job."

Behind Cossack were five Galran soldiers with red berets, their expressions neutral the entire time. The commander smiled.

"May I introduce you to the Death Commandos, AKA Red Beret forces, the greatest soldiers in the entire Galra Empire." Maahox sneered.

"Five men can do what my Robeasts couldn't?"

"They can if applied correctly, and I'll prove it to you."

"It's amazing that you actually got some time away from those meetings. So why are you spending it with us?"

Looking outside the window of the small boat, Vince answered, "I like learning. I joined Galaxy Garrison because I wanted to be an explorer. I just ended up becoming a soldier by accident I guess."

"I can relate," Cric answered. "I've always wanted to see other worlds. Even the ocean on Earth has so much we can't see. So many things to discover."

"That and I'll be honest," Vince added, "it's nice not being joined at the hip with Daniel and Larmina."

"Needed to get away from what, the couple?"

"Who knows?" Vince answered, before adding "Really, who cares? It feels like ever since Dan and Larmina became part of my study group that we've been getting into all sorts of weird crap. This is just the latest."

"You upset?" Cric asked even as he looked on at a screen showing numerous undersea probes the ship had sent out.

"No, it's just that I joined Galaxy Garrison to be an explorer. I never thought I'd have to pilot a giant robot and save the world."

"That's why I joined to," Cric answered. "It's why Cliff and Jeff joined too. But I think Jeff ended up becoming really gung-ho about the whole save the world thing."

"So did Dan," Vince answered while looking at the probe. "They really do have a lot in common, huh?"

"Small wonder they don't get along," Cric jokes, causing Vince to stifle a laugh.

"Do you really need me for this? I should be patrolling the city with Larmina."

"Yes," Commander Hawkins answered as they walked down the halls of the monolithic building, "we do. You pilot Voltron, and the others claimed you wanted this job. So you're with me, and Larmina is doing patrols over the building. I don't see the problem."

"I'm not sure what use I am here though, just standing still in New York," Daniel answered, adjusting the dress uniform he had been made to wear for the meeting. Sighing heavily, the pair walked into the large conference room, looking up at the dozens of representatives of various nations. Already on the floor was Marshall Graham, holding a stack of papers.

"Just remember, keep quiet and look dignified," Hawkins whispered.

"This meeting of the Security Council will be called to order", began a man situated on a podium. "Commander Hawkins, you are the Galaxy Garrison's commander concerning the weapon known as 'Voltron', correct?"

"I am," Hawkins replied. "Next to me is the field commander of the Voltron Force, Lt. Daniel Tong."

"So far, Voltron has seen no less than three engagements against literal alien forces. What do you say to this?"

"I say that without Voltron and the men and women who piloted it, the entire United States may have fallen under alien control by now. Possibly Canada and Mexico as well."

"Then our next question is this. Why have you not shared the technology with other nations? If one Voltron can hold the Galra at bay, why not let every nation create one?"

"Out of the question!" Hawkins yelled. "We barely understand the alien technology used to create Voltron. Asking us to give it to other nations would be the same as planting the seeds for a new arms race! We don't know what that kind of power could do! We could end up destroying ourselves!"

"Nonsense!" shouted a representative from three floors ahead. "You hoard that technology and automatically you wield power over humanity's future! Galaxy Garrison cannot take the place of individual…"

"And what guarantee do we have that you wouldn't use the technology to ensure your dominion over the world?" asked another.

"How dare you!"

As the various representatives argued over the technology being used against the Galra, five pairs of prying eyes looked on from a hidden space. Watching the feed of a small camera in the vent, the group waited patiently in an unused supply room, their only companions several boxes, and several dead bodies.

"Commander Cossack, are you getting all this?" one asked.

These humans are either extremely stupid, extremely lucky, or both, Cossack answered. They're primitives trying to replicate something far more advanced than they should be able to, and it's the equivalent of a barely sapient sea amoeba having the power of Quintessence! You can go ahead and move onto Phase 2.

"Understood sir," the Galra soldier responded before opening a case, placing several metallic items in the room.

"And if the major nation-states each control an equivalent of this "Voltron", would it not be acting as an effective deterrent?"

"The bottle has been opened Commander Hawkins! We can't stuff the genie back into it! You have a weapon of unspeakable power! Let the world be given the choice to use it against the invaders!"

"And then what? Use it against your own people? Or against us? I refuse to let Galaxy Garrison give you that kind of power!"

The arguing continued among the delegates for a minute, an endless stream of noise that Daniel tried to force himself to care about. He, inadvertently or not, was at the center of the controversy.

A massive explosion ripping through the hallways, but leaving the delegate room unscathed soon interrupted his attempts to listen to the conversation. However, the distraction was but a prelude to the carnage to come.

Five humanoids, purple skinned with large ears, burst into the room wielding bizarre weapons that resembled futuristic rifles. Immediately they began firing into the crowd.

"Commander! Get down!"

A forceful tackle drove Commander Hawkins behind a table even as it was riddled with energy blasts. Looking around, Daniel bit back a curse, realizing he was unarmed.

"I need a weapon! Screw it!"

"What are you doing?" Commander Hawkins shouted even as Daniel dove behind another felled table, picking it up and using it as a shield as he ran towards the group firing into the crowd. They were so focused on gunning down the representatives that they charging man with the table took them by surprise, if just for a moment. The moment was all Daniel needed, slamming it into one of the men, causing him to drop the weapon. Immediately, the others ran away.

"He's taken the bait. Begin Phase 3!"

Excellent. I'll be waiting!

"Daniel!" Commander Hawkins yelled, but it was too late, the hot-headed pilot was already in firm pursuit of his target, having grabbed the rifle that the Galran soldier had dropped.

"These findings are amazing," Cric began, looking at the results from the probe. "It's amazing how deep the ocean is around here, not to mention given the results of the cleaner bacteria around it as well. You can hardly tell that any pollution was present here. Wait a minute…Vince, look at this!"

Looking over at the monitor, Vince appeared stunned at the presence of a massive cave. "Is something in there?"

"This formation shouldn't be here!" Cric exclaimed. "We found a new underwater formation! We have to see what's in it!"

Vince nodded, observing the monitor as the probe approached the cave. He stared at the monitor for a few moments when suddenly, movement went across the screen, destroying the probe.

"Cric! Did you see that?"

"What happened?"

Their question was soon answered as the ship began to shake and contort, with a creature rising from the waves.

"Uh, Cric," Vince began, looking at the massive beast, a combination of smooth skin and endless tentacles akin to a jellyfish, "I think we found what was down there!"

The assailants fled from the parking lot in motorcycles past a side road into the otherwise full streets of Manhattan, the vehicles the only things small enough to twist and turn through pedestrians and larger vehicles stuck in gridlock. Taking the hint, Daniel found a police motorcycle and quickly began giving chase, following the Galran soldiers. All the while, the intercom he wore on his wrist bleeped.

Lt. Tong! Daniel! What are you doing? You're a pilot! Leave the chase to the police!

"They just murdered the delegates of what, twenty countries?" Daniel shot back. "I'm the only one close enough to catch them! By the time the WHOA!"

Whoa?

"Sorry, car on East 49th nearly blindsided me! It looks like the Galran are heading uptown! I think they're going to try to take the Queensboro out of the city!"

Queens? What's in Queens?

"There's no toll booths in Queens. That's probably where they planned on making their escape!"

Sure enough, the five bikes made their way up several blocks onto a side road that led to the Queensboro Bridge. Daniel followed in hot pursuit as police attempted to keep up with the motorbikes, even as they careened through narrow alleys and went to places cars could not.

The sounds of crashing vehicles echoed in Daniel's ears as the bikes drove off the bridge through crowded neighborhoods. People yelled and dove out of the way, but neither the Galrans nor their pursuer paid them any mind, except to avoid them.

Finally, however, Daniel smiled, seeing the group backing into an alley of a long abandoned warehouse close to LaGuardia airport. Whatever had occurred there had been forgotten long ago, but the group of Galrans abandoned their bikes and ran inside. Wasting no time, Daniel gave chase inside.

"Alright, hold it right URRK!"

Without warning, something snaked around his neck and lifted him off the ground, the young pilot doing all he could to keep the whip from strangling him or snapping his neck.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you human?" a man responded from behind the shadows of an office. Emerging, Daniel saw the 'man,' a fairly tall Galran wearing a horned helmet and armor with a cape.

"You…speak English?!"

"I speak the universal tongue," the Galran answered. "Machines let us listen to the words spoken by anyone which are then translated into the universal tongue for us, and vice versa. The fact that humans still haven't found the common route of all language but go around making giant robots shows just how skewed your priorities are! It's honestly why you should let us take charge."

"You understand English, huh? Well then understand the words 'Go to hell!'"

"We have one of those," the Galran smiled. "And when you go there, tell them Cossack the Terrible sent you!"

The echo of a plane flying overhead drowned out the cackles of the Galran commander.

The tentacles of the immense creature began to wrap themselves around the boat, threatening to drag it to the sea. Inside, Cric panicked and reached for the radio.

"Mayday! Mayday! There's a…thing here and it's about to take us under! We need help immediately!"

In another minute the creature would have torn the ship completely asunder and dragged the wreckage to the bottom of the sea. Instead, a barrage of missiles struck the beast dead center as a group of jets flew overhead.

"Larmina!" Vince shouted.

"Don't give her all the credit!"

"Jeff?"

"Yeah, we were running recon for the security detail and got your SOS. Come on Cric, you didn't think I would leave you alone, did you?"

"We'll talk later boys!" a third voice interrupted. "Keep the boat steady! We're going to go for another pass!"

"Got it Ginger!" Rushing to the helm, both Cric and Vince held the wheel steady even as the creature, seemingly enraged by the unwelcome barrage, began to thrash with twice the ferocity of prior.

"Target in sight!" Larmina announced.

"OK then team, FIRE!"

A second barrage of missiles on the creature caused it to screech in agony, where it fell into the sea and did not rise again, letting its grip on the vessel go.

"Was that Galra?" Vince asked, now confident that the danger had passed.

Why would the Galra send out a sea monster out here? Larmina asked over the radio. It makes no sense!

"Not if it was the primary target!" Cric reasoned. "We've been duped!"

One of the commandos, wearing a red cap, looked on as Cossack handed him a knife. He smiled at his prey, hung out to dry, struggling mightily to escape.

"It's amazing how much fight humans have. But your kind will break, Voltron or no Voltron. They always break. I've seen dozens of species like yours break. It's a fun sight to see. We managed to do this much damage with six ships. Imagine an armada of thousands of battlecruisers raining death on Earth. Only thing left will be some insects!"

Again, Daniel growled, grimacing that he had dropped his rifle. "You'll have to kill every last human before we ever break!"

"Perfectly doable. A few human Paladins won't stop it."

The red beret clad soldier raised a knife and threw it at Daniel, who quickly began looking for an escape. With none present, he did the only thing he could. He raised his legs in a desperate attempt to catch the knife.

CLANG!

"Very impressive human," Cossack taunted even as the knife dropped to the ground. "It's no wonder you were chosen as a Voltron Paladin. Now, let's see if you can do that trick when five are thrown at you!" This time, all five of the commandos drew knives, preparing to throw them.

BANG! BANG!

A gunshot echoed through the chamber as the one of the soldiers ran for cover. A second cut the whip holding Daniel aloft, causing him to fall to the ground relatively unharmed.

"W…wha?"

"You picked a heck of a place to hide in, mate."

Raising their weapons, Cliff and the other members of the land team grinned, surrounding the Galrans. "Cops have this place completely surrounded. So kindly throw down your weapons and surrender."

"Maybe another day human."

A bright flash of light shone and when it cleared, the Galrans were gone. Soon a small craft, hidden in the abandoned office, flew off even as small arms from the police attempted to bring it down. The craft moved far too quickly for the police to bring down and soon took to the skies, leaving for the stars.

"How did you know where I was?" was all Daniel could ask even as he checked his throat for injury.

"Easy mate. The brass knew you were following and had both us and New York's finest in pursuit. We were hoping to box them in, but it looks like they had other plans."

"All I got from them was one of their space rifles."

"Not a total loss then, eh? Come on, I bet the Commander is worried sick about you."

"We've been played for fools!"

"What?" Daniel asked, looking on at the maps, followed by several pictures. "Oh no…"

"Wait, how were we supposed to know about this?" Larmina asked. Along with Daniel, Larmina, Vince, and the members of the Land, Sea, and Air teams, the group stood inside a large room in Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. Commander Hawkins grimaced even as he looked on at the photos.

"The UN attack, the sea monster, it was all a ruse to keep Voltron Force occupied. While we were dealing with that, Galran battlecruisers descended halfway across the world in Singapore. They've made landfall and began rounding up the local populace."

"Why Singapore?" Rocky asked, even as Jeff looked on.

"Because it provides them a place to launch attacks on Asia, Australia, and parts of Europe without being forced to deal with orbital defenses. That and who knows what else."

"Then we have to go to Singapore, don't we?" Daniel asked.

"Listen you hot-headed idiot!" Hawkins shot back. "We have no idea what they have there, not to mention the civilians in the way! We need to formulate a battle plan before running in guns blazing, or did your attempt to apprehend those assassins not teach you that?"

"I'm not gonna sit here and let them go into other countries when we have a weapon to stop them!"

"I have to agree with the little idiot," Jeff answered, causing Daniel to grimace snidely. "We can't stay still!"

"We won't. Once we have a plan, we're going to launch a full-scale counterattack! SED forces, be prepared to move out at 0800 tomorrow!"

"ROGER!"

"See what happens when I'm left in charge of things?" Cossack grinned, looking at the Galran robots setting up critical facilities for the occupying forces. "From here, it should be easy to take over the rest of the world!"

"I have to admit," Throk answered, drinking from his glass next to Cossack as the group stood on the bridge of his landed battlecruiser, "you've made me a believer. But what about Voltron?"

"Leave that to me," Cossack answered. "Haggar herself supplied us the Robeasts for my Death Commandos. Not even the human's Voltron knockoff will be able to defeat five of them! And even if they do, I'm going to have a few more surprises in store for these humans!"

Chapter Text

Two months earlier:

"Jeff! Talk to me, Jeff!"

"He appears paralyzed doctor!"

Running besides the unconscious pilot, wheeled by the orderlies into an operating room, Professor Wade saw Jeff convulsing, barely able to move.

"What happened?!"

"He's in shock! Whatever happened up there caused his body to black out! He's been mumbling since we got in?"

"Jeff! Don't die on me! You'll never see space if you do!"

Jeff did not reply, only muttering "the night" over and over again.

"The night? What are you talking about?"

"Saw…the night."

"It was daytime!"

"The night…the night."

"What night? Please, help him!"

Present Day:

"Do you think they're all jerks?"

Looking outside of the base that they had hurriedly been returned to in anticipation for the mission that morning, Jeff's words immediately caught the attention of Cliff, Cric, and Vince, who were preparing to turn in for the night. Seeing him waiting on top of a car, looking out into the sky, interrupted their walk.

"Who's the jerk this time?" Cliff asked.

"I mean aliens," Jeff answered. "Are all the aliens out there angry jerks who want to kill us? We haven't even left the solar system yet and so far all we've found is an empire of angry purple skinned people who want to take over everything they see."

"You having doubts Jeff?" Cliff asked. In response, Jeff went to a case full of bottles and opened one up, offering some to the others, who all took them. Vince appeared reluctant at first, but soon took the bottle, drinking some of the amber fluid inside.

"You're legal."

"Not to buy it."

"Well I'm buying. You buy it when we go to Canada," Jeff answered with a smirk.

"Now what's all this about aliens?" Cliff asked. "Yeah, we ran into some jerks. So?"

"So," Jeff answered, "maybe there's no point going out there. Not if all we're gonna find are more jerks and more wars. Maybe once the Galra are gone, we should just close up the windows and make sure no one else can get in."

"You mean just run from the stars with our tails between our legs?" Vince asked. "We can't do that!"

"Why not?" Jeff asked, his words slightly slurred. "All we have on Earth is war. All that's out in space is war! Why do we need new war? We've got plenty right here!"

"Well yeah," Vince answered, "sure, if that's all your looking for. There's plenty of war here. But there's also a ton of stuff besides that! Think how big the universe is! Do you really think every single last alien is obsessed with world domination? That's not even counting all the other non-civilized life out there!"

"You think it's still worth it kid?" Jeff asked. "Even after all the crap you've seen during the past month?"

Vince nodded. "Sure there is. We can't turn and run every time we see a scary shadow! We need to see what's out there! Think of all the new planets, new works of art!"

"Not to mention life," Cliff answered. "You want a hot green skinned babe or don'tcha?"

Jeff burst into laughter hearing this.

"With my luck, I run into a bunch of ugly ones! Aliens with rocks for skin where the women look as manly as Cliff does!"

"One to find out, eh mate?" Cliff shot back. "Or you could stay here and get turned down by all the Earth girls!"

Vince couldn't help but laugh even as he continued to take sips from the bottle.

"What have I unleashed on the cosmos?" he asked jokingly.

"Commodore! The island is in sight! It looks like the enemy is constructing a land base!"

"What are we waiting for then? Have all ships within range fire!"

Plumes of smoke emerged from the three ships as missiles launched at their targets. However, the missiles crashed into a purple barrier placed above the island, which became visible for a second and then vanished.

"They must have some sort of protective shielding!" the commodore yelled even as he viewed the impact through binoculars.

"Sir! Several gun batteries have been noticed on the island! They're moving!"

"Mov…"

BOOM!

"Several hours ago," Commander Hawkins began as he pointed at a projection on a screen, "a small advance scout party from a nearby naval force attempted to attack the Galran facilities on Singapore. The attack was thwarted by this, a protective shield which deflected the blasts."

"Question," Jeff asked, raising his hand. "We saw how effective massive ordinance weapons were against shields like that. Why not do it again?"

"Civilians in the path," was Hawkins' reply, pointing to additional photographs of civilians being herded by armored Galran troops. "If the explosion destroys the shield and flattens a good portion of the country, we could kill thousands. The Galra know this. It's why they kept them alive."

"So then how do we get in?" asked Daniel. "We know Voltron has enough power to penetrate the shields of their battleships, but this seems different."

"Voltron will be our point unit on this operation," Professor Wade interrupted. "It is the only unit that can penetrate the shield. Once it does, it will be in charge with disabling outer defenses so the naval force and other jets can move in. We have been adjusting our tactics for Galran fighters, but if they have another Robeast, that we're not prepared for."

"And our job?" Jeff asked. Commander Hawkins was quick to take control of the conversation.

"Air team, you'll be leading the initial strike and ensuring air control for the advancing force. Sea team, you'll be assisting with landing for troops and ensuring no one else comes near the area. Finally, Land Team, you'll be marking targets once the shield is down. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" the group announced in unison.

"Very well. Dismissed!"

As the group returned to their rooms to prepare for mobilization the next day, with the room otherwise emptied, Wade turned to Hawkins.

"Please, rethink this."

"I can't. Every nation is demanding our research. Maybe if I give them the signal itself and not your blueprints we can at least buy ourselves some time. Besides, they're demanding blood after that massacre. We can't hoard knowledge."

"I'm not hoarding anything!" Wade snapped back. "But this will start a new arms race, and you know it. Creating weapons constructs, mecha which defy human engineering, it is a gateway, and I don't know where it leads."

"If we don't give it to them, they may find some way to take it. He was right. The one delegate."

"About?"

"How we can't put the genie back in the bottle. Better to let the world be on an even keel than to shift it so we begin fighting anew."

"There's no sign of the enemy since those three ships were destroyed earlier Commander Cossack."

"Excellent," Cossack answered as he stood on the bridge of the landed battlecruiser. "How long until our base is completed?"

"At the rate the robots are working sir, three days before basic functionality is achieved. But what of the human's military amassing near this island cluster?"

"It's of no concern," Cossack replied to the Galran soldier standing next to him. "They can't penetrate the shield, and once we begin attacking nearby nations, the Earth will fall like a stack of dominoes. Not to mention once we ramp up production we can begin to replenish lost ground forces by creating new robotic troops."

"Sir, something is approaching the island! It's moving at an incredible velocity!"

"What is it?"

"Three fighter jets, no wait, one unit. Voltron!"

"Right on schedule!" Cossack taunted. "To your places everyone! We need to welcome our guest properly!"

"Here goes guys! We're on point! Vince, you know what to do!"

"Right! Form Voltron! ALPHA! FORM FEET AND LEGS! GAMMA, FORM ARMS AND BODY! AND I'LL FORM THE HEAD!"

Near instantaneously, the three jets began to combine into the sleek form of Voltron's Beta formation, their acceleration towards their target only increasing. As it charged forward, the lance of an arm reached out, with crackles of electricity emanating from it."

"Brace for impact! LIGHTNING LANCE!"

The shield covering the island and Voltron's lance collided, causing the machine to halt its acceleration and violently jolt everyone inside. The struggle between the machine and the barrier continued for five seconds before the machine broke through the barrier, landing on the island. Its arrival was greeted by firing from numerous stationary cannons and alien fighter craft.

"Shield is temporarily down!" Daniel shouted even as Voltron separated into its three components. "Everyone else can begin moving in while we take out the generators!"

Roger that! Air Team is moving in! Get those generators offline while Land Team is sent in!

"FORM VOLTRON!"

Voltron soon formed into its basic Alpha formation, the humanoid face of the machine looking down as it landed on the large alien structures that were assuredly the shield generators. Swatting aside fighter craft, the generator was soon within range.

"VOLT BEAM!"

A thunderous strike of energy annihilated the box-shaped generator, while fighter craft seemingly abandoned their pursuit of Voltron and began moving towards the sea to engage the invading fleet. From the plaza by the edge of the island, Voltron stood, looking on at the departing craft.

"They're leaving?" Larmina asked. "What gives?"

"They're not just going to let us destroy their stuff here without a fight," Vince answered. "Be alert!"

Vince's warning however, came too late, as a powerful strike knocked Voltron on its face. Quickly rising to its feet, the sight of what did it came into view. Five robots, each colored black, red, yellow, blue, and green all stood in front of Voltron, with all of the machines carrying an unique weapon. The boxy machines, humanoid in shape with heads that had V-shaped visors where their heads were supposed to be and glowing panels emphasizing their colors, all began closing in on the singular target in front of them.

"Behold Paladins of Earth!" a voice shouted from the bridge of the landed spaceship. "The Dark Paladins!"

Hmph .

"Don't be too upset Maahox," Cossack taunted into another channel, "that Haggar's Robeasts will do what your machines could not."

"They're not wasting any time warming up!" Jeff yelled as hundreds of fighters closed in on the air team. Firing into the swarm, the group was relieved to see their shots bringing down enemy ships. They were less enthused by the fact that for every ship that fell, two more took its place.

"There's way too many of them!" Ginger shouted.

"We're going to run out of ammo before they run out of ships!" Wolo added.

"Maybe, but we'll take a bunch of them down first!"

Unlike the first engagement between Galra fighters and their human counterparts, the pilots of the air team were sure to move a bit earlier, fire and dodge a bit faster, and move their machines further. It was the only way to keep up with an enemy that had clear technological superiority. Even this however, was insufficient to prevent their biggest fear.

"Jeff! Five fighter jets just blew past us! They're going for the ships!"

"Leave em! If we turn our backs now, we'll be sitting ducks for the swarm!"

"But the ships are…"

"If the professor was right, they won't be nearly as defenseless as they think!"

A voice emerged from one of the machines even as they drew their weapons for show, red posing with a sword, blue aiming a rifle, yellow swinging a ball and chain, green swinging two axes, and black cracking a whip that rattled with electricity.

"Go on, humans. Make your move."

"Fine by me," Daniel smirked. "SPINNING LASER BLADES!"

As soon as Voltron drew the two spinning blades, the black Paladin swung its whip, attempting to restrain Voltron's right arm. An attempt to slash it with the other arm caused a powerful electrical shock to reverberate through the machine and into its pilots. Taking advantage, the green robot began charging forward, leaping into the air with both axes ready.

"I'll end this in one blow humans!"

"WING BLASTER!"

The response from Voltron was it raising its chest and head as a powerful stream of energy emerged from the chest emblem, striking the green robot. Placing its axes in front of its face to defend itself, said axes were rapidly turned to molten slag.

"Separate and form Beta!"

The robot quickly separated into its three individual pieces before combining back into Voltron's Beta formation. Immediately, the blue robot began firing wildly with its rifle while the yellow attempted to strike with its ball and chain.

"We can't let them gang up on us!" Larmina shouted. "Otherwise…

"Look out!"

The swing of the red Paladin's sword was aimed directly at Voltron's head. Another second and it would decapitate the robot.

"BLAZING SAWBLADE!"

Sword and sawblade met as Voltron continued its retreat backwards. Finally, Larmina had seen enough.

"One at a time, right? Vince, I've got an idea!"

"What's that?"

"Lure them in!"

"You sure?"

"You wanna argue with me, or you wanna live?!"

From his place on the bridge, Cossack cackled at his view of the battle.

"The fools! Voltron battling the Death Commandos in the Dark Paladins means that it can't aid its friends against my advancing forces! The human fleet will sink beneath the sea in no time at all!"

From the bridge of a battleship, flanking two aircraft carriers and a fleet of smaller ships, Captain Newely and Commander Hawkins looked on the advancing targets. He grimaced.

"Land team has made landfall and they're marking the targets, commander."

"Good. Prepare the reflex cannon. We can take down those shields and land more ground troops."

"Commander!" Captain Newley yelled. "Galra fighters are heading right for us! At least twenty by my count!"

"Then it's time to see if Professor Wade was on target. Ready the reflex cannons!"

Two smaller ships immediately began sailing ahead of the fleet, revealing cannons with three-prongs on the end, as if they were massive forks.

"Fire!"

What emerged from the cannons were not shells, but instead concentrated beams of energy, which cut through the approaching ships like a hot knife through butter. The debris of falling metal rained upon the ocean as the crew of the ships let out a cheer.

"Good news, Commander. The Professor's reverse engineering of the Galra weapons is a complete success. Bad news, it's going to take another fifteen minutes with our current cooling capabilities to get them to fire again. Let's hope we don't have any more surprises till then."

"Separate and form Voltron Gamma!"

The thick tank-like form of Gamma stood in front of the robotic Dark Paladins, each looking for a spot from which to attack from. Larmina grinned.

"GO! VOLT TORNADO!"

Powerful winds ripped through the plaza as the winds knocked the machines to the ground, all save the red robot, which dug its sword into the ground in an attempt to stay upright.

"Now! Separate and form Voltron Beta!"

The three fighters split apart into Voltron's beta form, targeting the closest robot to them, the green robot.

"SURE KILL! LIGHNING LANCE STRIKE!"

The lance on Voltron's left arm shot out like a missile, striking the green Paladin dead center. A powerful stream of electricity soon followed, causing the robot to explode.

"Alright! We UGH!"

The ball of the ball and chain wielded by the yellow robot sent Voltron crashing to the ground where it once again was forced to separate. What formed was Voltron's Alpha form, facing down the red robot's sword as well as the yellow's ball and chain.

"FORM BLAZING SWORD!"

The large broadsword formed in the machine's hand even as the red robot moved in to disarm it. Its first swing deflected the blow, while Voltron leapt into the air, past the red robot and towards the yellow.

Cracks of the whip and laser blaster shots were ignored even as Voltron leapt down to face its foe. A swing of the ball and chain soon met it.

CLANG!

The first swing of the sword sent the ball flying to the ground with a forceful THUD, while the second cleaved the robot in two, causing its to explode into a charred wreck.

"Two down," Daniel smirked, "three to go."

Well then Cossack, it seems that Haggar's creations, her so-called 'Dark Paladins' really aren't the elite weapons you claimed, are they?

"NONSENSE!" Cossack shouted. "I still have one more surprise for them! Men, you know what to do!"

"So," Daniel taunted, "who's next?"

"How about you fight all three of us at once!" the pilot of the black robot yelled. "Dark Paladins, Combine!"

"The three robots dashed away from Voltron to create space, then soon began to shift their boxy forms into blocks, one on top of the other. What emerged as the machines modified themselves and pulled together was a massive six-armed robot, nearly twice the height of Voltron. In one set of arms it held the whip of the Black Paladin, in another the rifle of the Blue Paladin, and in its top set of arms, the sword of the Red Paladin.

"This is the true form of the Dark Paladin!" the pilot boasted. "Not even Voltron is a match for it!"

"And what about your two friends?"

"Irrelevant! They'll be avenged, with your blood!"

"We've made landfall!"

From their position in a tank and two radar trucks, Cliff and the rest of the Land Team noticed their primary target, the incomplete alien facility that stood in the center of the island. Next to it were two landed battlecruisers. Immediately, the group began to get to work.

"Target is being marked. We're waiting on your signal!"

We can't attack until the shields are down! Voltron appears to be engaged with the enemy, so taking the remaining generators out will take time until the reflex cannons are armed!

"Well you oughta hurry then!" Cliff shouted. "We'll stay hidden, but…"

Looking up, the group noticed a third battlecruiser emerging from space and hovering over the area. Fighters immediately launched from its bay to join the battle.

"The area could get hot real quick!"

Chapter Text

Four Years Prior:

"Boy, I didn't spend all these years putting you through school so you could go to a glorified space camp!"

"Mom, it's an amazing opportunity!"

The expression on the face of Vince's mother was one of deep anger and shame. The boy had hoped that the acceptance letter to Galaxy Garrison's training academy would have been met with pride, but instead it was met with anger and derision. Her wrinkles, few as they were considering her age, were accented by her furrowed brow and cross grimace.

"You tell me," the dark skinned woman began, "why going to a fancy space camp to be a space explorer when no one ever does that, is a better of use of your time and our money, than you going to college for your accounting degree like your brother?"

"I don't want to be an accountant," Vince answered. "It's boring."

"Boring?!" she shouted. "Boring?! Accounting kept you and your brother off the street! It put food on your table! Steak and vegetables, so you weren't eating processed crap like the other hoodlums!"

"Why does wanting to do something else make me a hoodlum now?"

"You want to go to this stupid thing, fine! Waste your time and money! And when you come crawling back, you'll work off every dime you wasted!"

Present day:

Six arms. Two legs. Three weapons. That was what the machine in front of them was armed with. The pilots faceless, the threat clear. Daniel treated the threat the same way he would any other.

"You've got six arms," Daniel began as the Blazing Sword vanished, "but they can't fly! NITRO PUNCH!"

The two fists flew off the robot towards their target, aimed squarely at the head of the enemy robot. However, both were quickly caught by one of the arms of the other machine before it could be struck.

"Is that your best, Earthlings? I'm dissapoi…"

"VOLT BEAM!"

A powerful laser fired from Voltron's eyes towards the eyes of the Dark Paladin, causing it to stumble and let the caught fists go. It began to move in, only for a powerful strike from the electrified whip its opponent was wielding to stop it dead in its track.

"UGH!"

"No good!" Vince shouted. "We can't get in close while that whip is flaring out at us!" This was accented by numerous shots from the machine's rifle, causing them to move backwards.

"SOLAR COMBAT SPEAR!"

Into each of Voltron's hands flew a single spear, which were connected at their blunt ends into a two sided staff. Pointing one of the ends at the Dark Paladin, the spear was swung forward, but its blade was deflected by a swipe of its sword. Several strikes, all in rapid succession, were all successfully deflected, the strikes not even approaching the Dark Paladin itself. Not to be deterred, Voltron spun the spear in its hand before attempting to swipe at the leg, only for the spear to be caught by the Dark Paladin's whip.

"Predictable!"

A hard punch from the Paladin's free hand knocked Voltron to the ground, and the spear out of its hand, the whip tossing it to one side.

"We can't beat this thing without more power! Let's form Ga…"

"NOT THIS TIME!"

"He's fast!" Larmina blurted out, right before a powerful strike from the Dark Paladin's sword sent Voltron flying into a nearby building, its arms barely shielding the pilots from its strike.

"Your pathetic knockoff of Voltron will be destroyed here and now!"

"Separate!" Daniel yelled, right before the Dark Paladin could deliver the killing blow. In no time at all, it regrouped into the heavily armored form of Voltron's Gamma formation, assuming a defensive stance.

"Cute trick. But no human made machine can stand against Haggar's creations."

"Sir, we've got another battleship approaching and the reflex cannons aren't charged yet!"

Looking up from his position on the seafaring battleship, Commander Hawkins grimaced. The additional battleship had arrived to reinforce its friends, who were currently finding breaching their line of fighter craft far more difficult than during the initial invasion.

"Have all carriers deploy their remaining fighters. If we lose the reflex cannons before they charge, this mission will not succeed."

Planes of all sorts launched from the remaining aircraft carriers in a desperate attempt to support the overwhelmed Air Team. Fighters that made it through the barrage of pinpoint accurate shots from the battlecruiser's cannons found themselves facing the overwhelming numbers of the Galra's fighter craft. They would have found themselves easy targets had Jeff not immediately radioed a message to the beleaguered troops.

"Everyone! Do not break formation! The Galra's technology can be beaten, but we have to fight as one unit or else we'll be picked off one at a time!"

Roger that. Direct flight formation.

"Follow me!"

"We've got trouble."

"Cliff, please tell the trouble isn't those hovering tanks patrolling the area."

"I could Hutch, but I'd be lying."

A squad of tanks, five by Cliff's count, began heading towards the area where the tank and two radar trucks had parked. Knowing that the minuscule force sent in would be no match for the patrols, the group did the only thing they could.

"Bail!"

Shrubbery from planted trees next to a building served as an adequate hiding place while the tanks moved into the area, unsure of what they had come across.

"Who was here?"

Several men began to disembark from the tank, observing the abandoned vehicles. All appeared unaware of their true function.

"Was anyone supposed to be here?"

"Unsure."

The men continued to search by the trucks, unaware that they were being watched. There were at least a dozen, all armed.

THWACK.

"Something came from over there!"

The guards all ran to the source of the noise, noticing only a stone by some debris. Soon however, a second noise, a small crack of metal hitting stone, emanated at their feet.

"What the…"

BOOM!

"OK people!" Cliff shouted, leaving small markers where the radar trucks were, "time to get to work!"

"GO! VOLT TORNADO!"

Gale force winds pounded the Dark Paladin but did not force it off its feet. Slowly but surely, it continued to move forward.

"We need more power!" Vince said worriedly.

"Well how about this?" Larmina answered. Pressing a button, the winds soon sent out tiny particles of rust, the pilot hoping they would do to the Dark Paladin what they did to the steamroller Robeast. This time however, the opposing machine raised its whip, and began rapidly spinning it in front of it, electricity crackling from the whip all the while.

"That whip is deflecting the winds!" Daniel exclaimed. "It's not stopping!"

"DELUXE MISSILES!"

The two missiles on the back of Gamma fired out towards their opponent, but met a similar fate as the wind, the electrified whip slicing them into pieces and deflecting the blast.

"FINE! TAKE THIS!"

Voltron rushed forward to attack with a punch, but soon found its arm wrapped inside the whip. Powerful electrical currents soon followed, shocking all three pilots.

"Your machine is no Voltron, humans! No Voltron!"

A slash from the sword of the Dark Paladin nearly lobbed Voltron's head off, but the thick armor of Gamma protected it, if only barely. The group knew they had to move quickly.

"SEPARATE!" Daniel shouted, but as the three machines did so, Daniel's jet was knocked to the side by a strike of the Dark Paladin's whip.

"Dan!"

BLAM!

"I'm hit!" Larmina said, before a second strike from the whip of the machine struck Vince's jet, sending it crashing to the ground.

"Uh, need to get moving. Guys, are you OK? Guys? What the…"

Daniel looked around, and noticed that he was no longer in the cockpit of his fighter. He wasn't even on Earth from what it looked like. Turning his head to and fro, all he could see was an endless expanse of stars. He didn't even appear to be standing on solid ground, just the same expanse of stars, although it felt like solid marble. Reaching down, he found his hand went past his legs, as if whatever 'floor' was supporting his feet, wasn't beyond it. He fell over, landing square on his behind, but not falling further.

"What's going on?" he asked while standing back up. "Where am I? Guys?"

Looking to his left, a sense of relief washed over Daniel as he saw Larmina in the same void of nothingness as he was. Without thinking, he ran over and hugged her, to which she could only offer a blush before pushing him away.

"Down boy!"

"Sorry, I just thought…"

"What's going on? What is this place? Where's Vince?"

The first question was answered by a look to their right, as Vince stood up and looked forward. He appeared shaken for a few seconds before pointing forward.

In front of the trio was a man. Or rather, he looked human, sitting on a throne of stone and metal, holding a sword with three prongs as he looked on. His face was covered by the mane of a lion, worn as if it were a crown. Looking on at the trio, the man's eyes rose but he did not stand.

"The ones from Earth…who call themselves Paladins?"

"W…who are you?" Vince asked. The man groaned for a few seconds before replying.

"You fight…with my power, do you not? Once I fought for good, but I grew arrogant. I believed myself a god, when I was not. I paid for my hubris, and must now guide those who draw on my power to avoid the same fate as I."

"I don't understand!" Vince answered.

"Protect…life…in my stead."

"Ugh…"

Daniel's perspective shifted again, and once again he found himself in the cockpit of Volt Alpha.

Looking up, he also realized he was about to be cleaved in two by the sword of the Dark Paladin. He offered a scream, but it did nothing to stop the ensuing blow. Luckily for him, though, a barrage of missiles stunned the machine before it could deliver the killing blow.

"MOVE YOU PIECE OF JUNK!"

Finally, the jet engines on the machine roared to life, sending Volt Alpha flying back into the air.

"Are you all alright?"

"Barely," Larmina answered. "Had the weirdest dream too for like…five seconds, and then…"

"You too?"

"GUYS!" Vince interrupted. "I think I know what we have to do!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you remember? The Beast King."

"That guy had a name?!"

"It's like…there's a ton of info in my brain, and I can't find the rights word for it. Like…"

"Blah, blah, blah, that sounds lovely!" Daniel interrupted. "Give us the short version!"

"Daniel!"

"I don't know about you two, but I wanna live! I promise, Vince, I'll…"

"Dan?" Larmina asked for a brief moment before the information clicked in her brain.

"You…"

"Exactly," Vince finished.

Daniel nodded, before shouting "FORM VOLTRON!"

Jeff did all he could to keep the squadrons behind him on point, dodging enemy lasers, moving through defenses, and trying to keep some sort of defense up. It was not as successful as he had hoped, with allied fighters being destroyed at a near 1:1 ratio with the enemy. The problem with that was that the enemy had a lot more fighters than the allied forces did, and they were feeling the losses.

"This is no good!" Jeff shouted. "Where are those reflex cannons! They can shoot down the battlecruiser! Where's Cric?!"

You rang?

"Cric!" Jeff shouted, noticing a submarine emerging from the water, several miles from where the main fleet was placed. "What the hell took you so long?!"

We needed to get into proper range to strike without being easily noticeable! They would have gone for us first until we got the right angle!

"That all?"

How about 'Get clear!'

"Roger that! OK, team, retreat to point C! Sea Team has this one covered!"

The allied jets all flew off from the battlefield, doing their best to ensure they weren't followed. The Galra fighter craft meanwhile, chose to ignore the retreating Earth ships and moved towards their prize.

"FIRE!"

Without warning, a massive bolt of energy fired from the cannon on top of the submarine, striking the battlecruiser dead center. The beam penetrated the faltering shield and split the starship in two, causing it to fall to the ground.

The Galran fighters had no chance to retreat, before a second reflex cannon blast wiped out their numbers, with nowhere to retreat there. The few that survived the blast soon found themselves re-engaged by the fighters, who pulled off the pincer attack perfectly. Cheering emerged from the bridge of Commander Hawkins' battleship, as the tide had finally turned in their favor."

"Second reflex cannon ready to fire. We've got the position of the shield generators."

"FIRE!"

"Commader Cossack! We've lost the shield protecting the island!"

"So?" Cossack answered, seemingly unconcerned. "We just need to pull the ships back for now. Once the Dark Paladin defeats Voltron, it will make mincemeat of the other human vessels!"

The ship began to rise into the air, preparing to engage the human fleet ahead of its compatriots. They failed to realize that the tanks patrolling the island had their guns trained on the battlecruiser as it began to rise.

"This rock will add to the glory of the Galra Empire! Along with your heads!"

The form of Voltron Alpha stood in front of the Dark Paladin as it moved to strike with its whip and rifle, This time however, the machine moved to the side, its hands placed close together.

"I can feel it!" Daniel said. "Concentrate! This thing really does react to our wills!"

A bizarre orange energy began to emanate from Voltron, one that the Dark Paladin paid no mind to. It did however, take notice of the massive energy ball that formed inside its hands, the trio of pilots doing their best to concentrate on the energy, using the machine and its bizarre otherworldly connection to the unknown energy as a conduit.

"We have something!" Larmina asked. But what is it?

"LION'S ROAR!"

The massive ball of energy was thrown at the Dark Paladin, which couldn't move quickly enough to dodge it, instead trying to use its whip as a shield. Immediately, its effects were apparent, as the energy barrage stripped away the armor from the machine, atomizing even the electric whip into nothingness.

The Dark Paladin stood despite the barrage, but what was left was merely a charred husk, unable to move.

"FORM BLAZING SWORD!"

A sword formed in the hands of Voltron, but it was not the same broadsword that it had wielded before. Rather, it was a broadsword with three points on the end of the blade, raised into the air as lightning struck it, electrifying the weapon.

"AAAAHHH!"

One climactic blow split what remained of the Dark Paladin in two, causing it to explode. The trio looked on at the sword, both knowing why it appeared this way but confused at the same time.

"What are we doing?" Vince asked, only to look up at the sight of two battlecruiser's taking off. From the bridge of one of them, Cossack gasped at the sight.

"That's impossible! Haggar designed the Dark Paladins specifically to defeat Voltron! There's no way that a human made knockoff could have defeated it!"

"Sir! To our left!"

Cossack turned, and grimaced at the sight. The cruiser next to his had been hit with a barrage of tank fire, which damaged it, penetrating the shields and leaving small holes in the hull. Then he turned and saw the immediate threat.

Voltron was right in front of the bridge of his ship. And its sword was raised.

"EVAC…"

BOOM!

A powerful swipe destroyed the bridge of Cossack's cruiser, causing it to veer off course and collide into the second damaged cruiser. The mass of metal and flame soon plummeted back to Earth, right on top of the incomplete structure that the Galra had hoped would be the first of many buildings, the center of their empire on Earth. All the while, Voltron flew above the machine, its pilots breathing heavily.

"We got em," Daniel began, "but I feel like we've gone way deeper now."

"Tell me about it," Larmina added.

"We know what we have to do," Vince said. "We have to protect the Earth. That's why we have this power in the first place, isn't it?"

"Is it?" Daniel asked, genuinely unsure of what he had seen, just that for now, whatever it was had a common goal with humanity.

The Beast King.

"Larmina? You…"

"Yeah. I heard it. Don't ask how."

"We're in deep," was all Vince could say, struggling on how to address the bizarre vision the trio seemed to have had, as well as whether or not the so-called Beast King was truly as benevolent as he claimed to be.

From the monitors on his screen, Throk viewed all of it. And he grimaced. Cossack was dead. The fleet, three of the five remaining ships, had been nearly crippled. And Maahox was grinning.

"What's so funny, Maahox?!" Throk snapped. "How do I explain this to Hazar?!"

"Explain that Haggar is not as powerful as she thinks she is," Maahox answered while sipping a drink from a glass. "And that if we're to defeat Voltron and learn its secrets, we require a new type of thinking."

"What about resources? Why would the Emperor sign off on giving my expeditionary fleet more ships to replace our losses?"

"Because," Maahox answered. "We have plausible deniability."

"Cossack. The overconfident fool of a Galran."

"Exactly. And that reflects poorly on…"

"Hazar!"

"Now you're seeing where I'm going. Domination is a long game, Viceroy. Let's not lose sight of that."

"You're right, as usual," Throk conceded. "Come. Let us drink, and prepare a formal report to ensure blame is placed in the right location."

"We should probably prepare the report first."

Emerging from the Galran tanks, Cliff and the rest of the members of the Land Team looked on at their handiwork, scratching his head.

"How are we gonna clean all this up?"

"Clean it up?" Cinda asked, looking on at the machinery strewn about. "We've gotten our hands on enough Galran technology to actually study this time. Shame the building went up in smoke, but Galran tanks, fighters, robots, this could advance human science by decades, maybe centuries!"

"You've got a point, Cinda," Cliff added, before looking on at Voltron, standing next to the wreckage. Or more specifically, the sword it was wielding.

"Say Cinda, does that sword look different to you?"

"I can't say I noticed. How come?"

"Just curious."

Humanity had won the day, but the alien technology that stood in front of them, to Cliff, wasn't a chance at creating scientific advancement. It was a reminder of just how outmatched they were. And all they had to defend themselves with was a giant robot. The dread at the reality of the situation began to creep forward in his mind once again. Was this battle any closer to victory, or were they only delaying the inevitable?