Dancing On Dark Water-The Auora Quasar-Chapter1 Chapter One
The Auora Quasar
[ Author’s note: This story is based on the episode called “Dinner and a Show”. The first couple of chapters at least will be taken almost in entirety from this particular episode. Later chapters will reflect more of my spin on things. Enjoy! - Jessie ]
After making contact with Haggar, the Prince of Doom was busy rethinking his plan. One of the most important things he knew, was to make sure he did not skip any possibilities. Voltron had troubled him too many times, and the princess . . . she had eluded him just as many. If there were any flaws in his plan, he needed to find them now before the plan was put into action.
This time I will not fail . . . the prince thought triumphantly. Nothing can stop Prince Lotor this time! Not even that stupid robot, Voltron! And the princess, she will finally be mine.
At that moment, the Dark Prince was aboard his command ship near the Aurora Quasar. His orders to Haggar had been to bring the princess to him at his secret power base hidden below the brightly lit mass of the quasar. Lotor smiled even now at the mere thought of how this plan would enable him to get rid of Voltron once and for all and have Princess Allura to himself as well.
For this special occasion, Lotor had brought in a special general; Cossack the Terrible, he called himself. Lotor wasn’t quite sure what to make of the man as of yet, mainly due to the fact that Cossack at one point of time was to have been his replacement as High Commander, but he would suit his purpose well enough.
Cossack's job would be to lure the Voltron Force into the quasar where the prince's fleet and a high-tech robeast would be waiting for him. Provided all went well, the robeast would destroy Voltron and Lotor would have the princess for his bride. Otherwise, Lotor would lose and be forced to return to Doom in defeat. This was the young prince’s biggest worry. He really didn't want to face his father with another loss, especially since he had never told his father of this base of his in the first place. The King had warned Lotor that he needed to shape up immediately but also decried that if Lotor used Haggar’s help, the old witch must report to the king of his actions. For this particular plan, Lotor had slyly talked Haggar into keeping her mouth shut with the promise of riches after he had Arus to himself. Zarkon was getting fed up with his loosing streak (which he usually passed off as Lotor's. If they did not get a victory soon, the Drule Empire would send someone out to take care of the situation. That would mean the end for Zarkon and Lotor.
This plan should work as long as father doesn't find out. Lotor thought smugly albeit with slight trepidation. There would be big trouble if he did though; if Haggar double crossed him. But that was highly improbable of happening. The Old Witch would not want to lose the prospect of being close to the future throne, and it was long overdue for a change of rulers. If she did report to his father, it could mean losing his position as military general, or his head. Personally, the prince didn't want to lose either. Rising from his chair and heading down one of the many winding corridors of his ship, he reached the door to the bridge and entered. The crew noticing their lord came to a standstill and waited as he approached. Lotor walked up the small flight of stairs to the captain’s chair and took his seat. He gave a small wave of his hand indicating that he wanted them to get back to work and the bridge suddenly came alive with the sounds of computers, robots, and guards double checking everything for working order. The Dark Prince, on the other hand, just sat and watched. He wanted to see his magnificent plan unfold from a slight distance. Now all he had to do was watch, and wait.
[Taken almost in its entirety from the Polluxian section of the episode Dinner and a Show.]
On Planet Pollux, everything seemed in order. Sven, Prince Bandor, and Princess Romelle were all at the castle talking to one of the Galaxy Garrison representatives that happened to be visiting. Romelle was beginning to get quite angry with her little brother, Prince Bandor. He kept babbling about how Sven was in love with Romelle, but would never mention anything to her because he felt he was below her station being a mere pilot. Sven argued that was not the truth.
"If that's true, then why do you blush whenever you talk to her?" Bandor responded while carefully keeping his distance from the young pilot.
Romelle was simply horrified. "Sven is a prestigious pilot! He doesn't blush!"
"Well, maybe not, but you sure do!" Her little brother said while dodging a swipe from an embarrassed Romelle. Sven grabbed her hand gently and pulled her back to him, away from the cringing Bandor.
"It's all right, Romelle. He's right. Maybe after this war is over we can think about love." Romelle blushing deeply, gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
In the countryside outside of Pollux Castle, the common people were also enjoying the nice weather. On such a perfect day the majority of the population that lived near Pollux Castle romped around the countryside or worked in their fields. That is until the ship appeared in the sky. As the massive black ship landed, Doom robots flew from the ship's hatch as the people stared in horror. They all scrambled as quickly as they could, trying to get away from what they knew to be Doom slavers. One very courageous man sent his son to warn Sven as he turned the tractor that he had earlier been operating towards the robots. It caused a good distraction, but nevertheless, he was captured.
Cossack noticed the fleeing boy and with a curse under his breath, made an angry motion of his hand that sent his guards after the boy. He couldn't afford a slip-up. If he failed, Prince Lotor would personally see to his demise. Trying his best to suppress a shudder, the general turned his hovercraft back towards the ship. One boy couldn't possibly ruin the prince's great plan. "I hope," the frightened commander meekly added to himself.
Down in the castle courtyard, Sven, Romelle, and Prince Bandor were having a peaceful chat until the young boy came stumbling in from the fields. The boy relayed his story to Sven in a breathless haste. Sven and Bandor leapt upon their horses still conveniently saddled from their earlier expedition of the land with the Galaxy Garrison official, and raced towards the location the boy had given them. Romelle went to the control room to radio Voltron for help -- they would be sure to come.
Once in the control room, Romelle quickly punched in the code for Planet Arus Castle Control. Princess Allura's advisor Koran, came onto the viewing screen. Needless to say, he was surprised. It wasn't every day they got a call from Pollux, especially since the decline in Doom attacks.
"Koran, Pollux needs Voltron's assistance at once. We're under attack by Doom."
"Prince Lotor?" Koran asked quizzically.
"No, not in person, but this may be one of Lotor’s goons. This man, he calls himself 'Cossack the Terrible’.” the terrified Princess Romelle replied.
"Voltron is on his way, Princess Romelle."
"Thank you, Koran," Clasping her hands after the transmission was ended, her thoughts went out to Sven and her little brother Bandor.
"Oh, please let them hurry . . .”
The five robot lions were well on their way to planet Pollux after Romelle's distress call. The Prince of Doom had found himself another commission, apparently. This mission they knew, would be extremely dangerous; the whole force had a sickening feeling it was a trap.
They were almost to Pollux's atmosphere when the radar alarm began to go off.
"Hey, Keith, radar says there's a ship up ahead. It looks like it's heading for the Aurora Quasar. Should we go after it?" inquired Red Lion.
"Yeah, Lance, we had better. It might be the slave ship that Lotor sent." Keith opened the transmitters to all of the lions. “Okay, guys, we've had a change in plans. Set course for the Aurora Quasar."
Princess Allura was bewildered. Why are we going away from the planet, especially now. "Keith,"
"Yes, Princess,"
"Why are we heading away from Pollux? Romelle needs our help!”
"Princess, we think the ship up ahead is the ship that came from Pollux. If we go to Pollux now, and if that really is the ship, there'll be no way we can catch up to it. They'll be on their way to Doom by the time we reach the surface. Romelle and Sven should be able to fend off the attackers until we’re able to return."
Allura was still upset despite the explanation given. She didn't like to turn her back on people, especially not her own family, but if that ship really was the slave ship it would be worth it. She knew Keith was right. There was no way they could check out the ship and go to Pollux both. There just wasn't enough time.
Allura was suddenly jolted back into reality as her lion shook violently and Keith's voice blasted through her com.
"All right, guys, there's gonna be a lot of interference from here on in, and remember, Lotor is behind this so expect anything and everything." there was a long pause, lasting for a few minutes. Keith broke the silence after he was once again thrown around the cockpit of his lion. "Hey, Princess, is it just me or is the interference getting worse?"
Allura, who'd experienced the same thing, answered, "Yes, we're almost to the center of the Quasar now. It should be starting to die down a little now though....ahhhh!" With a cry, Allura gripped the arms of her chair for dear life as Blue Lion plummeted towards the quasar below.
"Princess! Princess, can you hear me? Pull up, Princess! Pull up! You're going to crash!" Keith cried frantically, but it was no use; there was no reply from Blue Lion. Allura was slumped over her lion's controls, unconscious. Her lion fell for what seemed like eternity to the others until it finally disappeared from sight in the mist-like atmosphere of the quasar. They all tried to reach her, but it was of no use. All communications were down due to the large amount of interference in the quasar. But they could not and would not leave until she was found from within the deep crevasse that seemed to go on forever.
Head throbbing, Allura got up from her seat and tried to remember where she was, or for that matter what happened. Then she remembered. Remembered her lion falling, hitting her head on what was probably her console, and from there on it was only blackness.
"Come in Keith. Keith . . . Lance . . . Pidge, please come in! Can anybody hear me!" the frantic princess tried her best to remain calm, but she could not keep the quiver out of her voice. When there was no answer she sat down and tried to calmly think things through. She knew she had to find out where she was and find a way to get back to the others.
Walking down the dark corridors, Allura could find no exit. And when she came to one passageway hope returned to her, but was quickly diminished. A dead end. Discouraged, she turned to go when there came a deep rumbling sound from behind her. The wall was rising! Curious, thinking maybe it was a way out; she slowly made her way towards the new opening but not before taking out her laser pistol. Once inside, the door closed shut tightly behind her, causing her to spin back towards it. Two Doom guards were stationed above it. They came at her, blasters raised.
"Stay back! Stay back or I'll shoot!" she fired a couple of shots at them but the shots had no effect on the robots. After seeing this, she began to walk backwards, weapon still raised, never thinking to look behind her . . .
[Conversation between Lotor and Allura taken almost in entirety from Dinner and a Show]
He just stood there, watching her. She was very brave the way she handled those two robots like she did, but he also thought her very foolish for venturing this far by herself in unknown territory. But that was what he had counted on. He and Cossack continued to stand and watch until Allura finally glanced behind her and to her horror realized she had almost backed right into the Prince of Doom. She immediately raised the gun to his chest.
"Prince Lotor. I should have known,"
Lotor studied her intently for a moment, then with a motion of his hand, Cossack knocked the blaster from the pink clad princess’ hand with one quick snap of his whip. Being the prince that he was, Lotor made a small bow before proceeding to speak.
"We are together at last, my love. The Princess and the Prince."
Allura was not up for any of his speeches; especially since the fall had made her sore and irritable. She didn't want to hear it; likely she had heard it all at least once before anyway.
"Some prince." she muttered. He glared at her in turn, as Allura then looked away, and then continued.
"You and I are of royal blood and we are meant for each other. When will you begin to accept that? I'm willing to forget the past."
Allura raised her head once again and glared back at him.
"I could never forget the evil you have done. Never! Now let me go."
Strangely amused with her response, Lotor replied with a smirk on his face, "Oh really? After my friend worked so hard to get you here? Let me introduce you. This is my friend, Cossack 'The Terrible'."
Cossack bowed right on cue and acknowledged the prince's introduction promptly, "Your humble servant miss."
Allura, her fist clenched, could no longer hold her temper in check. Raising her voice, she yelled back at the bowed form before her, "You're no servant. You're a bully who works for a bigger bully!"
"She's quite spirited,” Cossack remarked to Lotor while taking a second bow. The prince nodded his head in silent agreement and the hint of a faint smile.
Allura continued to glare at the Dark Prince while she tried to keep here voice soft, but that didn't cover the harshness of her tone.
"It doesn't matter how many uniforms or titles you have, it still won't cover up what you really are -- a monster!"
Trying his best to keep the irritation out of his own voice, Lotor addressed her once more. "My dear, this is just a game. He who has the most power wins the game. . ." He paused for a moment to let his words sink in, his gaze intense. ". . .and the prize." he added in an almost threatening voice.
". . . You are my prize, Allura." Lotor felt that now was the time to make his offer. "Don't fight it, Allura. You will be my bride. You'll have slaves to wait on you and all the riches of the universe at your disposal. Anything you wish for will be yours."
"Forget it. You could never give me what I desire," Lotor straightened with a flash of anger glowing in his amber eyes. Any of the women he had ever met would have accepted his offer without a second thought, but here she was, the only woman he had ever loved and she refused it! It made no sense to him. Having turned her back on him, he had thought her finished with her own speech, but while he wallowed in thought, she continued on, further enraging him.
"Lotor, love can not come out of fear, nor can it be forced. You must earn love, and so far you have done nothing but try to force me to love you out of fear for my people,” Allura added, almost as if she had read his mind.
Having become thoroughly enraged, Lotor cut short their meeting and ordered the two robot guards to take her to her room. The Prince watched them drag her away and then just stood there for a minute trying to figure out what had just come to pass. Then with a soft sigh and a shrug of his broad shoulders, he turned and headed back towards his base with a shake of his head.
"Hey, Keith, any sign of the princess?"
"No, Lance. I haven't seen a blip on radar for an hour at the minimum. She's gotta be here somewhere!"
Keith was worried. Not necessarily for himself, but for the princess. Just the thought of not knowing where she was, especially with Lotor and his men out there somewhere, made him nervous. If Lotor ever caught her... he didn't even want to think about it. He hated Lotor. Oh, he had a grudging respect for the prince but he wouldn't admit it to anyone. Admitting it to himself was hard enough.
All they could do now was keep looking and hope for the best.
It had been quite some time since the guards had thrown her in the small musty cell in the recesses of Lotor’s base. No sign of any living thing but rats. Allura was thankful that she was used to mice, but rats still made her slightly uneasy. She had a lot of time to think things over and the only thing she could think of was what had happened to the others and what was to happen to her. Lotor was capable of anything; this was what scared her the most. The princess had heard many horrible stories about what he did to his prisoners. Stories about what he did to his female prisoners scared her the worst. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine.
"His majesty wishes you to dine with him," She looked up to see the origin of the voice that broke her reverie. It was one of the two robot guards that had brought her to her cell standing over her.
"Do I have any choice?" It was more statement than question. The guard motioned with his gun for her to follow.
As the guard led the way down the hall towards the dining room, Allura unconsciously took solace in gazing at the murals on the wall as they passed. There were beautiful pictures of animals, people, battles, and what she thought were tales of long ago. Then she realized they had reached their destination. The guard did nothing but move into place by the side of the large gold adorned door where the dinning room lay beyond. As she slowly entered, she noted Prince Lotor was seated at a large banquet table covered with food. He rose to meet her.
"My dear princess, how nice of you to join me."
Allura didn't even bother to look up at him to give him her reply. "The pleasure is all yours, Lotor."
He studied her for a moment with an unreadable expression and then motioned for her to sit at one end of the table. After taking his own seat at the opposite end, Lotor waited for her to do something, anything at all. When she did not he spoke up.
"I thought to get more aquatinted before we are married." Allura stared daggers across the length of the table. "Dinner and maybe a show..." another pause followed by a small, but sly smile and a pointedly baited statement.". . . and who knows where that will lead."
Then waiting for her response, he took a sip of wine. None came, so he went ahead and spoke again, motioning towards the table with his free hand to try to put an end to the awkward one sided conversation. "Fine food; delicacies from all of the planets I have conquered. Won't you try some?"
Allura inclined her head in his direction. "Do you really think I'd eat food you stole from innocent people? I am a princess sworn to uphold the honor of the Royal House of Arus."
Lotor raised an elegant white eyebrow while taking a drink from his goblet once more.
"Come now, Allura, one does not eat because of one's honor. One eats because one is hungry." to prove his statement he threw a drumstick to a dog-like beast beside the table. "See, his conscience does not get in the way of his appetite."
Then sensing she wasn't going to change her mind he decided it was time to get on with the show. The formally black view screen that took up the entire wall to the right of the expansive table suddenly came to life. The slaves captured from Pollux were already being worked. Some fumbled, and with that Cossack began to whip them, their cries filling the princess' ears.
She managed to tear her eyes away from the horror upon the screen to look across the table at the prince, his attention riveted, "How can you do this! How can you stand to watch this! Please let them go." she dropped her noble facade and moved to pleading with the Dark Prince, but Lotor only took another sip of wine and turned his head towards her, taking stock of her state. His voice suddenly a calm smooth tone, honey-like in substance, a grotesque irony with the sounds and sights to the right, "I'll let them go...but only if you will be my wife . . . "
Allura thought about it fleetingly but quickly dismissed the thought. She could not give in to him. She knew she could not let him win. She summed up all the courage inside her and prayed her voice held no tremor.
"No, I will never surrender to you. The Voltron Force will save me. They'll...." Lotor interrupted her with a hearty laugh.
"Do you really think they will find you? They're quite far off; busy chasing Cossack at the moment." There was some truth to his statement. He didn't want her knowing the full truth just yet. Not unless he was forced to show her.
"Still," she said. "They’ll find me. I know they will."
I suppose this means she’ll need to see afterall. . . With that thought, Lotor’s face grew suddenly expressionless as he gave a wave of his hand and the screen lit up once again. "Watch."
On the screen were the lions. Black Lion, Red Lion, Green Lion, and Yellow Lion, all expect Allura’s Blue Lion which still lay in the depths of the quasar near the base’s underground entrance. It seemed they were still flying through the quasar; looking for her no doubt. But Lotor had grimly made up his mind. Now, she would see the full truth of the matter.
"The lions!" she exclaimed happily.
"Yes, but there are only four of them and they cannot form Voltron. And I must say, that without Voltron there will be no lions!" he rose from his chair in an angry stupor and headed for the bridge, leaving her alone to watch. There was no doubt in Allura's mind that Voltron would prevail. The mighty robot had never lost. There had been times that it looked impossible, but Voltron had always come through in the end.
But unknown to the space explorers, there was a giant robeast hidden in the walls of the quasar. With a series of small explosions, tentacles erupted out of the walls of the quasar and wrapped themselves around the lions as Allura looked on in pure horror.
Lotor, on the other hand, felt a mixture of frustration and smugness, and chose to express the latter. He could not lose this battle. Not this time. He then began to laugh his ever so familiar chuckle and calmly set his chin on the palm of his hand to watch the battle unfold.
