We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and make all other considerations bend to that one objective.
-Dwight David Eisenhower
Chapter Three
The ground shook when Voltron and its adversary crossed swords, both leaping into the sky to attack with more power. At first those in Castle Control thought the shaking was caused by the force of the blow, but when the shaking didn't stop, they realized something was wrong. Lance looked down at the control panel and saw that they were getting reports from the bases that what they felt was an earthquake...and there were many more where it came from.
"What else could possibly go wrong?" Jason asked exasperatedly.
"Are you trying to tempt fate?" Lance retorted.
Keith was sitting by the wall, his back straight, but his eyes vacant and staring. Romelle sat next to him, held his hand tightly in hers, but she wasn't sure if he was all that aware of her. Sven hovered next to him like a guard, his eyes going from Keith's face to the viewscreen. Lance, Ian, and Jason were communicating with the bases and military leaders and slowly Castle Control was turning into the center of chaos. Romelle turned to Keith, to tell him that they needed him now, but he was already standing. He came up behind Lance, put a hand on his friend's shoulder. Eyes on the viewscreen, he stared at the hole that Voltron made, saw the sparks still continuing to fly out of it. He glanced at Alana, but her eyes were closed and she and Archent did not look as if they should be bothered, even for something as important as this.
"Romelle, can you tell what's coming out of there?" he asked, his voice strong and clear.
The change in demeanor was so quick that if not for the red eyes it was if nothing had happened. Lance wanted to ask if he was alright, but he could see the quiver in Keith's expression and he knew his friend had a tenuous hold on his control. Keith looked down at him, gave his head an almost imperceptible shake, as if he knew what Lance was thinking, so he kept his mouth shut.
Romelle went to stand next to Keith, her brow furrowed as she studied the hole. She remembered what Rathul had taught her and focused her magic outward, cautiously seeking out what those sparks were. Her navy blue eyes widened and she put out a hand to grip Keith's arm.
"The Core...it's the magic..." she said haltingly.
"Lance, can you pinpoint where the epicenter of the earthquake is?" Keith demanded.
Lance's fingers flew over the keys.
"Directly below us, about a hundred kilometers down," he answered.
"Can you use the sensors to map the hole to its source?"
"Where's Pidge when you need him? Yeah, give me a second though."
Sven grabbed a handful of Lance's shirt and yanked him out of the seat. Lance started to protest, but Sven had already made himself comfortable and was working faster than he had been. Shrugging, he leaned against the console and watched the diagram that Sven had put up on the viewscreen. A red line traced the hole to its origin and it surprised no one that Voltron had dug itself out of the epicenter.
"We'd been sitting on it all this time," Keith said.
"Seems to me the Royal Family was sitting on a whole lot of things," Lance snorted.
"There won't be much of a Royal Family left if Shadow Voltron wins," Keith said grimly. "I'm going out there. I can't stay here and wait."
"What? What can you do?" Sven asked incredulously.
"Who knows, but I can't stand here anymore. Lance, you have the..."
"No way. I'm going out there with you. Sven..."
"Guess again."
"I'll stay here," Romelle said, throwing her hands up. "Be careful. Don't try to engage Shadow Voltron if you can help it."
Ian and Jason started to follow their fathers, but Keith put a hand up to stop them.
"We've lost enough today," he said firmly. "Stay here with Romelle and make sure nothing happens to her or Alana and Archent."
"Uncle Keith," Jason started.
"Forget it, Jason."
"I was gonna say 'be careful'," Jason said.
Keith nodded. Lance winked at his son and Sven smiled at his. Neither of them were aware that Keith had looked away. He had no son to say goodbye to.
Jack threw off his helmet. Olivia would not be happy about that, but he figured that if Shadow Voltron managed to hit them that hard, then all was lost anyway. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and maneuvered Voltron a few feet away from the other robot in order to get his bearings. They were far from the castle now, having flown and grappled for several minutes. He could not read it, could not tell whether it was weakening or not, and Matt could not get a clear reading on it. They could no longer shoot ammo at it because of the shielding that Arus' magic provided both robots. All they could use were their swords and as far as Jack could tell, they were evenly matched.
"If the Lions were still operational, we would have had a few extra weapons," Allura said behind him.
"There's no way Voltron's creators made a robot that is weaker than its parts."
Voltron shuddered as Shadow Voltron hit it with a particularly powerful laser blast.
"How'd that get through?" Jack demanded angrily.
"Merla's infusing it with more power," Bethie answered. "But she's starting to lose ground."
"Doesn't feel like it from this end."
"Have faith."
"What do you know, Bethie?" Allura asked.
"Ethan and Alana...they're fighting her."
"Alana?"
The fear in Allura's voice was palpable.
"No, she's fine. She's just...she's helping him."
"Whatever it is they're doing, they better do it fast," Jack said, gritting his teeth as he brought up the sword to block a wide swing.
He fired eyebeams directly into Shadow Voltron's face and watched as the energy merely dissipated against the magical shielding.
"Bethie, is there anyway you can manipulate our weapons to make more of a mark on this guy?"
"What do you mean?"
"Magical lasers...anything. Nothing's working here."
"I'm not like Alana and Ethan, Jack!"
"Together we can do it. If Alana and Archent have combined their powers, then so can we," Allura said. "But I didn't have the training you did, Bethie. You have to..."
Allura stopped talking when she felt Bethie's magic link up with hers. Jack spared her a brief glance, saw the far away look in her eye and hoped that they worked faster than Archent and Alana did. When he fired the eyebeams again, they hesitated at the barrier but then shot through, leaving a smoking hole on the side of Shadow Voltron's face.
"Perfect," he said. "Now we're in the game."
The small gunship usually had a crew of ten but three men could pilot it easily. Keith took the helm while Lance had navigation and Sven was on weaponry. Below, Arus seemed intent of tearing itself apart at the seams and already fissures had appeared on the surface. People streamed out of the underground bases, no longer safe there, and they were being led to the castle. Keith knew he should have been down there with them but his immediate concerns were his family. It was selfish but the reason they were all up here was for Arus and her people--and he needed to be with his loved ones. So, they flew to the battle scene fast and were in time to see Voltron score a direct hit.
"Nice one, Jack," Lance said.
"Dad? What are you doing up here?"
"Front row seats," Keith answered.
"I knew you couldn't stay away," Allura said. "But whatever you do, keep your distance. We have our hands full here and we can't protect you from this thing."
"You've released the Core onto the rest of the planet," Keith told them. "Arus is going to be ripped apart if we don't stop it soon."
"What do you mean?" Bethie asked. "The two robots absorbed what was down there."
"Not all of it."
"Shit."
"Watch it, Elisabeth."
"We're way past that, Dad."
The radio burst with static when Shadow Voltron threw a hard punch at Voltron--something that none of them had suspected. It sent Voltron reeling and Jack did not have enough time to fire the thrusters to right the robot when Shadow Voltron came again and slammed a flurry of punches at the other robot's head. They both started falling to the ground fast and if they were allowed to crash, Voltron would be on the losing end. Pinned underneath Shadow Voltron, it would not be able to defend itself.
Keith saw all the possibilities in the space of a second and without a word, he pointed the gunship's nose down. Sven did not have to be told to fire and the laser cannons were going as they fell along with the robots. None of the shots got past Shadow Voltron's barrier, but they did get its attention. It did not expect anything else up there with them and its head swiveled around as if to look at them. It was enough of a distraction to allow Voltron to throw its own punch, but it was powered by Bethie's magic so it sent Shadow Voltron flying backwards and away.
"Thanks," Jack said.
"Our pleasure," Keith said.
