Becoming Human (A Voltron Fanfic)

The Birth of a god

"How do people wear these things?" Nova complained, fussing with the helmet that encased her head. Since her body was changing due to the quintessence, she was no longer able to breathe freely in space. Getting used the helmets, however, proved to be difficult. She felt enclosed and claustrophobic, not to mention she didn't like the lack of peripheral vision. The sooner I get this over with, the better, she thought to herself.

The first set of coordinates she was headed to wasn't too far away from Earth. She was hoping she would luck out and find Steros there and not have to travel anywhere else. But unfortunately, that was not the case. Reading through the files she had acquired, it hadn't taken her long to locate possible locations of the man behind Eclipse. The garrison had been tracking his movements for quite some time, even for a period of time after the cave-in. Nothing conclusive, which is why Nova used the intelligence she had gathered from her time searching for the star plans to put two and two together. She felt uneasy this whole time. She cursed herself for not making sure Steros had perished or been caught. Her heart thudded against her ribs, a sensation she was beginning to get accustomed to. Slowly, she took deep breaths to calm herself down. Her body was in a more fragile state, and she knew she had to be careful. Her determination never wavered though. Voltron, much less the garrison, was not equipped to go up against power like hers. And she had just been a prototype. If Steros was out there, reinitiating project Nova, Sendak would be the least of their worries.

The first and second coordinates Nova traveled to had been a bust, somewhat. There was nothing at either locations except empty space. At least, that's what it was intended to look like. She could sense lingering energy, even if whatever had been there was destroyed. So she knew she was on the right track. Coordinate after coordinate she checked off the list, all the while growing increasingly more frustrated. She was down to her last two locations, crossing her fingers she would find something.

As her ship closed in on the first location, she saw a massive Galra cruiser, unmoving. Dodging out of the line of view of the smaller patrols, she made her way to the ship. As she landed without attracting attention, she tapped the side of her prosthetic leg, a compartment opening to dispense her weapon, the extendable rod that she had been given so long ago. Relying on her powers, if things got hairy, was too risky right now. Her tiny ship landed with a soft *chthnk* and she, not very gracefully, leapt out and landed on the ground. Scanning her surroundings, she made sure the coast was clear before making her way into the heart of the cruiser. If there was anything important regarding Steros, the information would most likely be stored in the system on the bridge. Navigating the halls proved to be more of a challenge than Nova was anticipating. So she found her way to a large ventilation shaft that was just the right size for her body. She moved silently through the vents--taking care to make sure her metal legs made no noise against the metal ventilation--trying to listen in on any Galra conversation that would help her locate her target. As she was crawling, she felt a strange sensation where her prosthetic legs joined with her thighs. Glancing back, she noticed the glow, much like her chest piece, was dimming and flickering. She tried to move them, but they refused to work.

"Damn it!" she hissed, tapping the metal with her fingertips, hoping they would kick back on. When they didn't, she decided to continue, hoping they would start to function before she actually had to walk again. Using her upper body strength and her thighs, she continued moving through the vents, dragging her legs, painstakingly slow, behind her. She felt herself exerting more energy than she would have liked and a wave of fatigue washed over her. Pausing to rest, she cursed her body for being weak. As she started to press on once more, she felt a tingling in her thighs and looked down to see her legs dimly glowing, letting her know they were operational once more. Making her way became easier and after a number of wrong turns and dead ends, she finally reached the bridge of the cruiser. The vent sat about eight feet up the wall and looked out into the bridge, currently filled with Galra running analysis on the projected screen. Nova kept quiet behind the vent's grate, listening and watching.