Voltron's Fire: The Phoenix in the Stars

The Prisoner

"So, Phoenix, what do you think of Lotor?" Shiro asked.

"Not sure I understand what you mean." I said.

"I mean, he's been helping us with these Galra locations to hit, and he's made no move to harm or betray us in any way. But, we need to know, what's his flame like?"

I crossed my arms and leaned against the elevator we entered, closing my eyes and remembering the flame I had seen.

"Well, I can't exactly say his flame is the best and brightest, but it's not exactly dark and malicious either." I explained.

"What do you mean by that, Solaris?" Allura asked.

"His flame is something I haven't seen yet. Its dark, sure, but it doesn't hold any malicious intentions towards us. Also, his flame is hiding something that I can't see. And until I figure it out, I won't trust him."

"What do you think that he's hiding?" Shiro asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Don't know, but I bet it's nothing good."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened, letting us out onto a long walkway leading to our prime prisoner.

We walked down the walkway towards Lotor, and the closer we got to him, the bad feeling emmittating from his flame to me got.

Lotor made no move when we stopped in front of his cell, he simply continued to stare at the floor.

"Your intel checked out." Shiro said.

"You still feign surprise." Lotor said, finally looking up at us and smiling a smile that made chills run up my spine.

"All of the information I've given, proven correct. Every target I've provided, easily dispatched. And yet, you still look at me--"

"As if you were the leader of the most bloodthirsty race of murderers this universe has ever known." Allura stated, interrupting the prisoner.

Lotor frowned, adopting a sympathetic gleam in his eyes.

"Can people not change?" He asked, "Is it so hard to believe that I wish to return the Galra Empire to a bygone era of peace?"

"With your flame, I don't think you can change that easily." I said.

"Princess, our fathers were friends once, long ago. There must be hope for us." Allura was not moved in any way.

"I guess we still need convincing." Shiro said.

"The facts speak for themselves. The Galra Empire is completely reliant on quintessence. Serve that need peacefully, and you have a complete paradigm shift, a new Dawn for the old empire."

"And you're the man to make this happen?" Allura asked.

Lotor sighed, "My plan from the beginning has been to find a way to harvest quintessence without resorting to the barbarism of the Komar. Extracting quintessence from entire planets at the cost of every living thing? I think not."

"And your solution was to send Voltron to do your dirty work." Allura said.

"Only Voltron could retrieve the trans-reality comet. So, yes, I'm afraid I had to be a bit duplicitous in effecting its retrieval."

"But if the Paladins were killed, that would be just fine for you, too." Shiro said.

"It was a calculated risk, I admit that." Lotor said, "But I knew they'd come through without a scratch. And since recovering the comet. I haven't been in the least bit aggressive."

"What about your generals?" I asked.

"A simple misunderstanding." He said, "I had no idea our paths would cross in the Ulippa System. What would I gain by fighting you?"