"I don't understand," said Veronica. "Honerva - the Erythian scientist - somehow became queen? Isn't that ... not allowed?"
"She's not queen by blood," Violet replied, "But she still claimed the throne. I'm assuming the ranks are based on power - whoever has the most magic can lead."
Veronica said, "That shouldn't be a problem, then. You have unregistered amounts of power. Honerva could never beat that."
Violet stared at her hands. "I don't know. I haven't been able to call on my power since the fight with the robeast. What if ... what if it's gone? What if the fight used it all up?"
"Violet," Veronica said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Your power's not gone. Just depleted. You're the heir to the Erythians. The throne is no one's but yours'."
"You're right," Violet said softly. "But what if the paladins get hurt and I need to heal them? Or I need to use my power and I can't? I don't want anyone to get hurt because I couldn't figure out how to use my magic."
"That's what we're here for," Veronica replied. "The Atlas and Voltron and Keith. So that when you falter, they'll be able to step in."
Violet smiled. "Thanks, Veronica."
Her sister returned the smile. "Anytime."
Violet stood, leaving her sister's room aboard the Atlas. They'd been in space for almost a week now, and she still couldn't take her mind off Luka. The first of her people that she'd met - dead. Because Violet couldn't save her.
She stumbled into Shiro on her way to her room. "Violet," he said, "Just the person I wanted to see. We're approaching a star system now - there should be a Galran outpost positioned right where we're headed. The paladins are suiting up now."
Violet nodded. "I'll find Keith. Thanks, Shiro."
She turned and grabbed her communication device, hooking it to her earrings, and made her way to the black lion. She met up with Keith, and the lions flew out of the Atlas as they approached the base.
"Pidge, can you locate any Galran outposts on the planet's surface?" asked Shiro.
Pidge nodded. "They're definitely there. We should see if we can contact them."
"Alright," Keith said, and added in a lower voice, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Why?" Violet asked.
Lance's face appeared on the black lion's screen. "Don't you ever get that little voice in your head telling you you're about to get in a lot of trouble?"
"No."
Keith blinked. "That ... that explains so much."
"We're approaching," Shiro warned. "Attention, Galran outpost. The Voltron Coalition is here in the pursuit of peace. We would appreciate it if you let us pass and-"
He was cut off as the base sent out a beam of power from its ion cannon straight for them. The lions ducked out of the way, and the Atlas shielded itself. Fighters began pouring out of the base, headed straight for them.
Violet rolled her eyes. "That was what, five seconds? Might be a new record."
"It's fine." Lance cracked his knuckles. "They're just a couple fighters. This will be a piece of cake."
"A piece of cake?" Allura asked. "Why? Are we supposed to eat it?"
"Er - no," Lance replied. "It's a metaphor."
"It's a silly metaphor," Allura said, still puzzled. "Cake isn't easy at all. You could make it wrong, or it could taste bad-"
"Or you could 'accidentally' drop it on my face," Coran grumbled through his communication device.
"Coran, that was one time!"
"Allura, on your left!" Violet yelled. The blue lion swerved to avoid another blast from the galra base's cannons.
"We can talk about cake later," Keith ordered. "For now, stick to fighting. Everyone, on me!"
The lions gathered and, as one, took out the cannon surrounding the base. "Good work," said Shiro. "We've taken over the outpost."
They exited their lions and entered the outpost, where a Galran official stood, held with his hands bound by Veronica and the MFE fighters. "This guy is the one in charge of the base," Veronica informed them.
Violet saw his face and blinked. "Hey, I know you," she said. "Where do I know you?"
The commander stared at her. "You."
She blinked as the memory hit her and cursed loudly, jumping behind Keith. "You know what, Keith, I think you were right about having a bad feeling about this."
The commander roared and tried to run at her, but Veronica held him in place. "How do you know Violet?" she demanded.
Violet cleared her throat. "Everyone, this is Warlord Lahn," she said. "I may have ... conquered ... him ... once. When I was sixteen." She coughed. "I challenged him to a duel, and when he accepted, I may have, um..."
"She cheated!" Lahn shouted angrily. "The little runt threw sand in my eyes!"
"I didn't cheat," Violet shot back, annoyed. "I used every ability at my disposal. Throwing sand in your face was my only option."
"It was dishonorable and against the rules," Lahn sneered. "Now you're back, are you? Come to take control of my fleet again?"
Shiro stepped in. "We didn't come here to fight," he said firmly. "Warlord Lahn, we're asking you to join the Voltron Coalition to help provide stability to the universe."
"Stability? You just attacked my outpost and blasted my cannons to bits!" Lahn yelled.
Lance shrugged. "He has a point."
"Look," Violet said, "I know we don't seem that reliable, but you're going to have to trust us."
"Never," Lahn hissed.
Violet threw up her hands. "By the stars- we're not your enemy. Get that through your thick skull!"
Shiro interrupted before Lahn could lunge for her again. "Warlord Lahn. Is there anything we can do for you to prove that we are trustworthy? Voltron is here to help. If you're in need of something, we can be of assistance."
Lahn subsided, but he hesitated before replying to Shiro. "Fifteen of my supply cruisers went on a mission to a neighboring base two deca-phoebes ago. They never returned and were presumed dead. Find them for me, and I'll be in debt to you."
Violet's eyes narrowed. "You don't think we can do it."
"My soldiers regard Voltron and all its lackeys as enemies, and rightfully so," Lahn replied. "They would never agree to make peace with you."
"I know," said Keith. "Which is why we're bringing you along."
-
"I'm running the signal now," said Pidge. "Lahn, if the ships are Klytax V-Threes like you said, this broadcast should make contact with them."
Lahn crossed his arms from where he stood inside the black lion. "I am Warlord Lahn, and you will address me as such."
Violet said from where she sat lounging on the floor, "Okay, Such."
Lahn growled angrily, but Pidge interrupted him. "I'm getting a signal back. Downloading a visual now."
They all turned their attention to the screen Pidge showed them - Galra cruisers, floating, lifeless, in space. "They're abandoned," Violet said disbelievingly.
"Impossible," Lahn snapped. "My sentries would never abandon their posts."
"We're not saying they left willingly," Keith replied. "Something happened here. We need to find out what."
"I'll try to access the security system once we're inside," Pidge offered.
The paladins flew out of their lions and jetpacked into the nearest cruiser. "Okay, we'll need to split up to find any survivors," Keith instructed once they were all inside. "Hunk and Lance, clear the aft of the ship. Violet, start in the middle. I'll take the bow and work our way toward you. Pidge and Allura, take Lahn to go through the security logs. Find out what happened here."
Lahn glowered and said gruffly, "I don't like taking orders on my own ship."
Violet rolled her eyes. "We'll take that under consideration."
They spread out, starting the search. Violet began scouring the ship, but there were only broken pieces of sentries littering the floor. No one was left.
Violet turned a corner and yelped in surprise. There was a hole piercing the side of the wall, made by some kind of laser.
"Vi? What's wrong?"
Keith walked in, accompanied by Kosmo. He shined his flashlight into the hole, but only darkness greeted them.
"Whoever did this," Violet breathed, "Did a really good job of it." She poked the side of the mangled wall.
"Let's hope they don't decide to do the same to us," Keith replied, and Kosmo whined in agreement.
Violet and Keith continued walking, making their way towards the aft of the ship; still nothing.
Pidge voice cut in. "Keith, Vi, Lance and Hunk just had a run-in with some kind of creature. You should-" she broke off suddenly, the communication severing.
Violet exchanged looks with Keith. "Well," she said, "This has been super creepy and all, but I think we should get back to the others."
Keith nodded. "Maybe they've found something." They turned to go, and then Violet heard it.
A click - the scrape of claws on metal. Something was coming towards them. She grabbed Keith's arm, turning back around.
Slowly, a sentry appeared before them, its feet dragging on the ground. It looked at them and said, "What ... what are you? Who are you?"
"I'm Keith," Keith replied, "A paladin of Voltron. This is Violet. What happened here? Can you tell us where everyone else is?"
The sentry inched closer, and Violet pulled out her blades. Something was off - the hairs on her arms were standing up. Or, as Lance would say, something had triggered her tingly Altean senses.
Or Erythian senses. Violet had always wondered what had given her that strange feeling that day, when they'd discovered Lotor's comet. Apparently it was her heightened senses - she could sense the quintessence in the ore better than anyone else.
"What happened to the Galra? Where are they?" the sentry asked.
"Probably planet Ryker," Violet said. "Look, are you going to answer our questions or just-"
"Ryker," the sentry repeated. Except it wasn't the sentry's voice, and the sentry wasn't there anymore. It had been cast aside by something in the shadows behind it. A beast with a long, curling tail and dark eyes. Violet stepped back, a stream of curses erupting from her mouth.
Keith looked at her, annoyed. "Vi, was that really nece-"
The beast charged before he could finish, leaping for them. Kosmo teleported them out of the way before the thing could rip them apart with its claws. Violet threw her daggers, but the beats batted them aside and attacked Keith. He brought up his sword, blocking the monster's swipe, and teleported away again with Kosmo.
Violet's blades weren't working. She cast them aside. "Alright, magic powers, time to work."
Nothing.
Violet groaned in frustration, trying to reach for the well of power inside her. But it didn't respond, and she was forced to duck out of the way as the beast leapt for her.
It clipped her in the side, and she winced in pain; the monster rounded on her. And then Kosmo was there, snarling at the beast and lunging forward to bite its leg. It roared, tail wrapping around Kosmo and hurling him against the wall. Kosmo whimpered.
"THAT'S IT!" Violet yelled. "MESS WITH MY DOG AND YOU DON'T LIVE TO TELL THE TALE, BUDDY!" She leapt at the beast, fueled by blind rage, and slammed her hands into its chest. Light erupted from her palms, finally, and knocked the monster back. It scampered away from the blast, right into Keith's sword.
The beast shrieked and recoiled, sprinting away along the hallway. The light died, and Violet rushed over to Kosmo, falling to her knees beside him. He was favoring one of his legs; there was a long cut on it from the beast's tail.
"He's stable," she told Keith, "For now. But we should still get him to a healer as soon as possible."
Keith nodded, and asked Kosmo, "Can you get us back to the others?"
Kosmo dipped his head, and Violet placed her hand on his head. In a flash, they teleported into the security room; Kosmo collapsed with a whine of pain. "Keith, Vi!" Hunk exclaimed. "You're here! There's a monster on the ship!"
"Yeah, we're aware," Violet muttered. "We need to get out of here - Kosmo's injured. I don't know if he'll be able to teleport anymore."
"I don't understand how the beast got to my fleet," Lahn said, face furrowed. "All they were doing was picking up supplies from Warlord Ranveig's cruiser."
Keith stilled. "I - I can't believe it."
"What?" Violet asked.
"The creature that's attacked us - I've faced it before. It's a weapon, created to wipe the Galra from the universe - just the Galra."
Violet blinked. "So ... it's like a Galra kryptonite?"
"Huh?"
She sighed. "Never mind."
"Ranveig thought it was some kind of animal from another reality," Keith continued. "He wanted to use it to assassinate his competitors for the throne. But something went wrong. The creature couldn't tell who to kill and who to defend - it just wanted to kill all Galra." His gaze fell. "Krolia and I discovered it on an intel mission. We set it free in exchange for a safe passage out of Ranveig's quadrant. I'm the reason it's loose."
"Hey," said Violet, "It's not your fault the beast thingy wants to kill us. You can't blame yourself for things like that. It never does anyone any good." She cracked her knuckles. "Pidge, can you initiate some kind of self-destruct protocol? We need to destroy this ship and the monster along with it. And we need to do it now."
Pidge nodded. "I got it. Every Galra ship has what's basically a giant red button that says 'press to explode.' I just need to find it ... there. Okay, when I start it, we're going to have to get out of the ship's radius in a little less than two doboshes."
Lance asked, "Isn't two hours kinda long for a grand escape?"
"It's not two hours. It's two minutes," Violet corrected.
"Two minutes?" Lance squawked. "We won't be able to make it!"
"Too late - I already pressed the giant red button," Pidge replied. "We gotta go!" They all ran from the room. The lions were parked on one of the nearby cruisers, and they all ran for the hangar doors at the far exit of the ship. However, thirty feet away from the door, something jumped into their path.
Violet cursed, and the beast leapt at them. She pulled Lahn out of the way, but the monster rounded and charged at him a second time. Violet thrust out her hands, and light shot from her palms, pushing it back. Undaunted, the beast attacked again.
And then the paladins were there. Allura and Pidge wrapped their bayards around the beast's legs while Lance and Hunk fired at it from above. With a snarl, the monster stumbled, and Keith leapt for it head-on.
Violet shoved Warlord Lahn out of the way. "It's going to go for you because you're Galra," she barked at him. "So stay behind me." She drew upon her magic once more, calling it to her hands.
"Victory or death!" Lahn yelled, charging at the beast and completely disregarding her. Violet stifled a groan of annoyance and jumped after him.
The monster's head swiveled towards Lahn, and it shook off Pidge and Allura's bayards, causing them to slide across the floor. It stepped towards him, and Violet spotted Kosmo - lying prone on the ground, directly in the beast's path. He'd be crushed.
"Keith!" Violet yelled, pointing to Kosmo. Keith saw him and nodded, understanding what she wanted him to do.
The beast charged towards Lahn, boring down on Kosmo - and Keith was there, sliding through its legs and pulling Kosmo out of the way. The monster leapt, its fangs aiming for Lahn's throat-
And bouncing off a shield of gold light. Sweat dripped down Violet's brow as she reinforced her shield, the light scraping against the beast's teeth. Lahn scrambled out of the way, trembling.
"Run," Violet ordered him. "Give up your stupid motto for once and save yourself!"
Lahn did, sprinting for the hangar doors and the abyss of space beyond. Lance helped Allura to her feet, Hunk doing the same for Pidge, and they darted for the exit as well. Violet dropped her shield and rolled; the monster lurched forward, and she added to its momentum by aiming a blast of light at its back. Violet turned and ran.
"Violet!" someone shouted - Keith, hauling Kosmo with him. He was almost to the exit, the others waiting beyond it.
"Go," she snapped at him. "I'll be right behind you."
"Like hell," Keith said. "I'm not going to leave you."
Violet glared at him, and he glared right back.
"If you two idiots are done staring into each other's eyes, there's a mega beast about to attack you!" Lance shouted. "Stop trying to be noble and righteous and freaking run!"
"Fine," Violet hissed, and ran to Keith, helping him drag Kosmo to the doors.
"The beast's coming!" Pidge warned. Violet risked a glance behind her. The monster was aiming for them again, preparing to launch itself at them. "Get to the other side of the hangar doors and I'll open them!"
She met Keith's eyes. They weren't going to make it.
Somehow, Keith saw the determination on her face - saw it and realized what she was about to do - and paled. "Don't."
"I'm sorry," Violet whispered, and raised her hands.
Keith reached towards her, but he was too late.
Far too late as gold light blasted from her palms, pushing him and Kosmo across the room. They tumbled to the exit, Keith bowling into Lance in the process, as Violet turned around and faced the beast.
"Open the doors!" she shouted at Lahn. Not Pidge or Hunk or Allura - they'd never leave her. But Lahn - he was a Galra. He knew what it was like to make sacrifices. Lahn nodded, face hardening with determination, and lunged for the panel at the side of the doors.
"NO!" Keith yelled, but he could do nothing to stop it.
The hangar doors slid open, and the paladins were sucked into space. They shut before Violet could be pulled out with them.
Trapping her inside with the beast.
Violet's body began to glow, and her hair floated above her head as she let her magic twist around her. The beast charged for her, pure fury in its eyes, and Violet leapt to the side. It spun around and attacked again, and she still ducked away. The monster roared and charged for her a third and final time.
And the world exploded.
-
Consciousness threatened to slip away, but Violet clung to it, refusing to let herself sink herself into darkness. The ship had blown up while she was in it. For all reasons she should be dead.
But she wasn't.
Funny how many times that happened.
The sound of boiling metal and exploding pieces of ship slowly faded, leaving Violet's ears ringing, and she opened her eyes. She was floating in space, the remnants of the cruiser around her.
And she was encased in a glowing gold bubble.
Violet whooped. "Yeah! Magic powers are the best!"
She looked around. Where were the lions? She was fine - the shield had protected her. And the beast didn't have sparkly golden magic, so it was, hopefully, dead. Had the others made it out?
Her ruptured ears picked up the sound of something large behind her, and Violet turned to see the black lion hovering in space. Violet coughed. "Hey, Keith."
The black lion glared at her - if a metal weapon could glare. Violet had the sense that Blacky was mad at her. "Violet Idalia," Keith said, voice tense, "You're grounded."
"You can't ground me!" Violet retorted, aghast. "I'm eighteen! Technically twenty-one if you count the three years everyone thought we were dead but we weren't!"
"I don't care," Keith said, and the black lion moved forward to swallow her. "From now on, you're not allowed to go out on your own, try to sacrifice yourself for us, or try to fight something by yourself. I may not even let you go on missions in the first place."
Violet entered the cockpit, crossing her arms. "It's not my fault I almost get killed every time we fight something!"
"Yes, it is," everyone said at once.
"I have to agree with Keith on this," Lance said, "And you know how much I hate agreeing with Keith. You can't keep scaring us like that, Vi."
Violet sighed. "I know. And I'm sorry. But I'm not going to stand by and let you all get hurt. That's not who I am."
She came and stood next to Keith, whose hands were gripping the black lion's controls. "We know, Vi," Keith said quietly, "But that won't stop us from going out of our minds every time you die."
Violet kissed him on the cheek. "I'd say I'll do better in the future, but I really won't."
Keith's lips quirked. "We wouldn't believe you anyways."
"Wow," Lahn commented dryly. "This is so sweet. Like a soap opera but with worse acting."
"Oh, yay," said Violet, turning her head to glare at him. "You survived."
Lahn stood and walked over to her, his face becoming serious. "Violet, I want to apologize for holding a grudge. I see now that Voltron can help us."
Violet blinked. "I didn't think you were the type of person to come around." She held out her hand, smiling. "Good for you, Lahn."
"Warlord Lahn," he muttered, taking her hand. "You know, since I apologized, you can apologize too. For speaking so rudely to me."
Violet smirked. "Sorry to get your hopes up, Warlord Lahn. But I never say anything I don't mean."