Chapter Two

 

 

Matt knew his way around a blueprint.  Keith and Bethie listened as he discussed the possible upgrades that they could begin installing.  They did not really understand what he was saying, but he seemed to be talking to himself more than he was talking to them. 

 

“What kind of new weapons can we load up?” Bethie asked.

 

“These laser canons should be replaced for one thing,” Matt said, jabbing a finger on a mess of lines that looked nothing like a cannon to Bethie.  “They’re older than the Castle of Lions.  I mean, they shoot great, but I think we can get better targeting if we use newer models.”

 

“Remember, we don’t really know these Lions as well as these blueprints might say,” Keith warned.  “Your dad drew these himself, Matt, but even he didn’t try to add anything new to them.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the new cannons were rejected.”

 

“Like my mom always says, you never know until you try,” Matt said vaguely, his eyes not leaving the page.

 

“Is the stealth mechanism still undetectable to the latest sensors?” Bethie inquired.

 

“As far as I can tell.  We can test them out later today just to make sure.  These engines could use a little nudge, but for the most part, they’re pretty solid.  The design is timeless, which is something I never expected to see in an engine.  The fuel injector system…”

 

“In English please,” Jack said, strolling in. 

 

“I can’t dumb down engineering language,” Matt said drolly.

 

“Ouch.”

 

“Where’s Jordan and Ethan?” Keith asked.

 

“Ethan’s talking to Aunt Allura and Jordan went to go polish her helmet.  Since we aren’t starting practice yet, I wanted to see what you had planned for Big Red and the others.”

 

“Bigger guns,” Bethie said.

 

“That’s language I can understand,” Jack remarked.  “I noticed that the Red is a little heavy on the turns.”

 

“They all are,” Matt said.  “I suppose the rear stabilizers could use a little tweaking.”  Matt looked at Keith.  “If you could get Uncle Pidge and my dad here as soon as you could, it would be a step in the right direction.  I can do a lot of these alone, but it would go faster if I had some old hands with me.”

 

“I’ll contact them, but I think you should start on practice,” Keith said, glancing at Bethie.  “You run it today.  I’ve got my hands full.”

 

Matt did not want to leave the plans until his cousin grabbed his arm and physically dragged him away. 

 

“You’ll have plenty of time to twiddle around in the Lions after practice,” Jack told him.

 

“But I want to twiddle now,” Matt protested, looking over his shoulder at the plans that Keith was rolling up.  “Be careful with those, Uncle Keith!”

 

They went to Castle Control after gathering Ethan and Jordan, and without a word, Skech raised the platform.  He and Bethie avoided each other’s eyes, even as the other pilots greeted him.

 

“You look good, Skech,” Jordan called up.  “I’m surprised some lucky lady hasn’t snatched you up.”

 

“I’m sure not without trying,” Jack said with a wink.

 

“Let’s get going, guys,” Bethie said.

 

They were in the air and flying towards the desert within minutes. 

 

“What’s the game plan, Boss?” Jack asked.

 

“We’re going to start with some drills and then scrimmage,” she said.  “We’ve got three hours up here and we’re not going to waste them.”

 

She led them through holding formation and firing at targets.  It was routine but went a long way in preparing them for battle scenarios.  After setting up some obstacles, they ran through those as well, in and out of formation.  It was what her father had started them off with and Bethie did not know any other way to run practice.  Until she knew other methods, they would stick to what they knew.  As it was, they were comfortable with the Lions after two weeks and it showed in their flying. 

 

“Keep running through it, guys,” Bethie instructed as she pulled the Black up and away from them, giving her the distance needed to observe. 

 

Bethie made sure to take note of each team member’s strengths and weaknesses and arrayed them as such along the formations.  Jordan and Ethan were the strongest pilots, while Matt needed a little more practice.  Jack was a smart pilot and what he lacked in skills, he made up for by being a step ahead, for his quick thinking.  They did not quite move like a team yet, but only practice could remedy that. 

 

“Heads up,” Bethie said.

 

She fired two dummy missiles at the Lions going through the obstacles and watched as Ethan flew the Blue directly into an air mine.  The mine then exploded in front of the Green, leaving Jordan momentarily blinded and she nearly slammed the Green into the Blue.  The cousins swore in unison and Bethie rolled her eyes.

 

“Look alive, team,” she chided.  “This isn’t a game.”

 

The Red was able to avoid all obstacles and so was the Yellow, being directly behind. 

 

“Matty, get in front of Jack,” Bethie said.  “Nice try.”

 

Grumbling to himself, Matt pulled ahead and proved that he could go through the obstacle just fine with or without Jack to lead him.  When Bethie fired at him, he evaded the missile but left Jack without any room to maneuver.  But to her surprise, Jack fired his own missile at it before it could hit and it blew before it could make contact with the Red. 

 

“Nice…”

 

Bethie’s words were cut off as her computers began to beep loudly.  Her hands flew to the controls and she rolled the Black hard to the right, barely avoiding the missile Jack had fired back at her.

 

“JACK!” she shrieked.  “You…”

 

“Take it easy,” Ethan said, on the verge of laughter.  “It’s only fair, don’t you think?”

 

Bethie had to still her finger from firing a missile at him too. 

 

“So how about that scrimmage?” Jack said smugly.

 

Bethie glared at the Red Lion.  “Matty, Jordan, you’re with me.” 

 

The Lions squared off.  Bethie shot a flare into the sky and when it exploded, they began.  Jack and Bethie immediately began a game of tag while Ethan fought off Jordan and Matt. 

 

“A little help here, Jack,” Ethan said through gritted teeth as he fired his rip claws and water blast simultaneously.

 

“Hang on,” Jack said as he locked in on Bethie.

 

But Bethie was not going to be caught so easily.  Yanking hard on the yoke, she pulled up until the Black was almost perpendicular to the ground below and the missile Jack fired flew harmlessly past.  He then found himself rolling to the left when Bethie fired her lasers.

 

“Jack, come on!” Ethan said as the Blue took a hit from Matt.

 

Jack cursed as he turned the Red, keeping the Black within sights, but he began firing his lasers at the Green and Yellow.  Keeping his eye on the Black, who had turned its attention to the Blue, he fired a missile in her direction.

 

Bethie gasped as the Black’s computers shrieked in warning.  She jinked out of the way, but fell into the line of fire of the Red’s lasers.  The computers went crazy and she shut off the sound before her head exploded. 

 

“Give up yet, Chief?” Jack’s taunting voice broke into her private channel.

 

“Never,” she retorted and the Black’s spinning laser blades at him while flying straight for the Blue.

 

Jack fired two missiles before he realized what he was doing and watched, horrified, as the Black dipped low enough for the missiles to fly past and right into the Blue.

 

“YOU IDIOT!” Ethan screamed as his computer informed him that he was now dead.

 

“Oops,” Jack said with a little laugh that did not sound as embarrassed as it should have.  “Can we try that again?”

 

Bethie’s smug face appeared on one corner of his viewscreen.  “Let that be a lesson in emotional control, Jackson.”

 

“Lesson learned, Oh Great One.”

 

“Let’s try that again, team.  This time, with a little less feeling.”

 

 

 

 

Keith stood by the large windows of his study, his eyes on the skies as he imagined the Lions going through their drills.  Behind him, Lance was giving him a brief rundown of the largest base on Arus and the last on his tour, Voltronia Base.  It was just on time because now the bases were on full alert and he would not have been able to do his job properly.  In three weeks, he had managed to visit every single base on Arus, at some points visiting two in one day when distance allowed.  At first, Allura had been concerned, and Keith also had his doubts though he did not voice them, that Lance was not spending enough time at each base.  However, judging by his reports, he saw all that he needed to see and Keith defended his friend’s methods.  Lance’s voice sounded tired, but he did not complain and his observations had not slipped in the least—if anything they were more detailed because he was making up for his exhaustion and possible oversights because of it.

 

“You’ve got a good handle on these bases,” Keith said when Lance finished his monologue.

 

“Well, Sire, after you spend a good part of the last month staring at wires falling out of panels and cracked metal hulls, you turn into a kind of expert on disrepair.”  A pause.  “No offense, Keith, but you should have funneled a little bit more funding for your people out here.”

 

“None taken, but don’t call me ‘sire’.  We’ve restructured the budget in order to make up for it, but from what you’ve told me, I don’t think it’ll be enough to get the military back to where we want it to be on time.”

 

“What’s on your mind?”

 

Keith was hesitant to discuss this topic without Lance directly in front of him even though their link was a secure as possible.  Lance seemed to realize that.

 

“We’ll talk more when I get back,” he said.  “I should be at the castle tomorrow morning.”

 

“You heard about the message?” Keith asked.

 

Lance expelled a heavy breath.  “I’ll be there tonight.”

 

“Oh, Lance, one more thing.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“We’re going to have a little bit of a reunion within the next couple days.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Hunk and Pidge are on their way.  As far as I know, that means Gwen is coming too.”

 

“Great.  I’ll be able to share this burden of being your stooge with them.”

 

Keith laughed.  “At least now you’re a royal stooge and not just some IAF commander’s stooge.”

 

“I’m moving up in the world,” Lance said dryly.  “I’ll see you soon, Your Highness.”

 

He cut the connection before Keith could protest.  Amusedly, Keith turned away from the window and sat back down.  The prospect of having his old friends back in the castle made him feel more secure about what they were doing.  Having a few more old hands in the mix ensured a smoother transition for the new Voltron Force and hopefully, a faster victory for Arus.

 

 

 

 

Allura stood behind the podium bearing the crest of the Royal House of Arus.  She had her notes in front of her and she squared her shoulders as she waited for the signal to begin speaking.  Keith stood off to one side of the camera and he tried to give her a reassuring smile but his face was so tight with tension that it turned into a grimace.  The cameraman gave her three seconds to prepare herself and when one finger was up, she tilted her chin up and did her best impression of a woman who had everything under control.

 

“People of Arus.  By now, you are all aware of the message that was sent to Alliance citizens by the group calling themselves the Lotorians.  Arus was targeted by this group due to the role that we played more than two decades ago in the war with Zarkon and his son Lotor.  I want to assure you that we will not give ground any more than we did all those years ago.  Arus has fought a powerful enemy before and won; it shall be do so again.  Lotor knows of the strength of the Arusian people and we will remind him of that if he shows his face to us again.

 

“I have also come before you today to inform you and the rest of the Alliance that Voltron has once again risen.  As we speak, the five Lions are being flown above the skies of our planet and will be ready for what the Lotorians have in store for us.  For the past millennia, Voltron found victory despite technological advancements that may try to prove otherwise.  Its pilots have defended Arus and a new group of pilots will serve Arus again in this capacity.  Under the leadership and guidance of myself and my husband, Admiral Keith Porterfield, we will defend Arus from this new enemy that dares to stand at our door.

 

“Thank you.”

 

The red light on the camera blinked off and Allura wiped at the sheen of sweat that covered her forehead.  She only hoped that it did not show up on the broadcast.  Keith walked up to her, a proud smile on his face.

 

“Strong as ever,” he said, extending a hand to help her down from the dais.

 

“I just hope that we can get the people behind us on this one,” she said, with a worried frown.  “Link told me this morning that there’s already murmurings of a movement in Voltronia that will seek appeasement with the Lotorians.”

 

“One war is one too many in a lifetime.”

 

“No doubt about it, but those people are still fools.  To even suggest appeasement is to invite other enterprising terrorists to play this game with us.  A show of strength goes a long way in keeping Arus safe.”

 

They retreated to Allura’s study where Alana was waiting for them.  She stood and embraced her mother comfortingly.

 

“You looked good,” she said.  “I, for one, support you fully.”

 

“Thank you,” Allura said, tapping Alana’s dimpled cheek tenderly.  “I hope you’re not the only one.”

 

“They’d be stupid not to.”

 

“You’d be surprised how many stupid people there are in the world,” Keith said, sitting on an armchair. 

 

“What do we do now?” Alana asked.

 

“We plan,” Allura said, pushing aside the datapads littering her desk.  “And wait for the backlash.”