~~~~Saoirse~~~~
We kept of fighting for Naxzela, firing at the Galra ships and forces on the ground and sky.
"It appears that all of the planets we've engaged have been pacified, if not totally liberated." Coran informed us.
I thought it was a great form of progress and smiled at the news. However, it didn't last very long.
"Wait a minute. There's another Galra battle cruiser approaching Naxzela."
My heart beat faster and my scar began to burn. Not a very good sign.
I quickly scanned the area for the Galra cruiser heading our way, and from the size of it, we had to be prepared for anything it might throw at us.
"Power is down. Zaiforge cannon Senfama, are you still operational?" We heard Matt say through the radios.
"Negative." Keith responded.
"That incoming battle cruiser must have shut thrm down remotely." Coran said.
"Sorry, Shiro. That's it for artillery support. What should we do about that cruiser?"
Voltron jumped into the air, smashing ourselves into a large Galra structure.
"That cruiser's gonna be too late. Naxzela's almost secure." Shiro replied, "We just need to take out the last of the heavy artillery."
I looked around and saw a ship about to shoot us down on our left.
"On our left!" I shouted.
"Shield up!" Shiro shouted, in an instant our shield was up.
I sent in energy through my Lion to the shield to give it extra power, but even with that boost it wouldn't last very long under this amount of strain from the blast.
"Divert the attack and shoot it back at the ship!" I shouted, giving more energy.
Everyone nodded. Lance and Pidge forced their lions forward and pushed the attack right back towards the Galra cruiser.
The ship was blown to pieces when the blast hit it full force, leaving nothing behind but scrap metal.
We flew through the fiery cloud and activated the shoulder cannon, firing towards the Galra on the ground. The blast quickly split into several shots, hitting many Galra weak points and structures, and giving out a devastating blow.
Voltron stood tall and strong as we watched the Galra forces erupt in flames. I could sense all the energy erupting from around us, each one growing
But as our victory was coming closer and closer, I couldn't stop shaking.
Voltron swerved to the left, swinging our sword back and forth hitting all small Galra fighters, when all of a sudden, I felt a nee energy approach Naxzela. It was so cold and dark. But warped and twisted.
We landed and at the same time, the ground began to shake.
"Whoa! Did we cause that earthquake?" Lance asked at the feel of the shaking ground.
"I don't think so!" Pidge shouted back.
The ground rumbled under our feet, rocks and buildings shaking and thrashing from the pressure as our alarms blared in our ears and the red lights flashing in our cockpits.
I turned around in my cockpit in a full circle, watching the devestation that was occurring on the planet.
"Guys, look over there!" Hunk said.
We turned around and saw a large structure rise from the ground. It was massive! And from the surrounding area, several more structures rose up from the ground. The same warped, cold and twisted feeling running through my body as the structures rose to the surface.
"Uh... guys, what are those?" Lance asked.
"We've never seen anything like this from the Galra before." Pidge said.
"Are they weapons?" Hunk asked.
"They look like some sort of generators."
"And they're not weak at all." I said.
"What do you mean, Saoirse?" Allura asked.
"The energy these generators are giving off. It's dark and twisted. It's the same energy that's coming from a nearby Galra cruiser." I informed.
"Stay alert." Shiro ordered.
"I say we get outta here. Pidge, plot a course for our escape." Lance said.
"Hold on, we should find out what these things are."
"If Saoirse says that it's not good, then that's all the more reason to get out of here!" Hunk said.
I knew Hunk was right, we needed to leave, but there was something about the energy flowing through this planet. The energy thumped in a rhythm, almost like a heartbeat. And something was generating that beat.
Just then, the generators began to glow, giving off an eerie purple light. Hexagonal shapes colored violet appeared above them, then slowly, that same light generated before spread across the area.
"This can't be safe." Hunk said.
My heart was pounding even harder at this point. The feeling from tuis flame deep in Naxzela was almost too much to bear. I let go of my controls, clutching the cloth of my armor over my heart.
"Do you feel that?" Allura asked, "That wave of darkness?"
"Yes... I feel it, Allura." I said, "This is the same energy feeling I've sensed for a while."
All of a sudden, we were grunting in pain under the pressure from an unknown weight pressing down on us.
"I can't move Red!" Lance shouted.
"Yellow won't budge either!" Hunk added. We were completely helpless as Voltron fell to his knees.
I fell to my knees, gripping my controls as the pressure effected me more by the second.
"This energy field is holding us down! Gravity levels are spiking!" Pidge informed us.
"We have to get outta here!" Shiro grunted., "If we stay here, we'll be crushed. Everyone, we have to focus. Give everything you've got, and maybe we can fight through this energy field. Ready?"
"Ready!" We all shouted.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on my powers, unconsciously regaining my Teshirian form and giving energy to Voltron. We flew straight up towards the sky, but as we got close to the barrier, I heard metal creaking under the pressure again.
We were violently pushed back down to the ground and into the hard stone. All of us screamed as we collided with the ground.
"Is anyone else able to move around?" Hunk asked.
"Barely, but the gravitational pull is worse on Voltron." Pidge said, "Maybe if we go down to the surface, Hunk and I can figure out a way to interrupt this energy field."
"That sounds good, except for the zillion robot dudes still kickin' around down there." Lance pointed out.
"We're gonna have to stay in tight formation." Shiro said, "Watch each other's backs. Let's move!"
I let go of my controls and ran towards the exit. I jumped out of my lion and grouped up with the others on the ground. Using our jetpacks for extra propulsion, we ran as quickly as we could towards the closest generator across the broken bridge.
We dodged the lasers being shot at us and julped across the broken to the generator. We landed on a small ledge and summonded our shields to protect Hunk and Pidge as they started to get to work.
"Pidge and Hunk, do you your thing and do it fast!" Shiro ordered.
The two Paladins quickly followed through with Shiro's orders and went to the rod we were up against. They activated their wrist computer analyzers and scanned the structure's form and data.
"This rod seems to go all the wat down into the planet's core." Pidge said, "But I'm not detecting any kind of energy source on the planet that could be causing all of this."
"There's definitely something down there, Pidge." I said, "If you can't pick up on your scanners, then only it's not registered in our recognized data banks."
"How can you be sure that there is really an energy causing all of this?" Hunk asked.
"Do you really want to question a member of the Teshiri clan? A person from a race of the most ancient civiliations in the universe and who able to control and sense energy at will?" I asked.
Hunk stared at me with a blank face.
"Fair enough. Sorry." He replied.
"If that's correct, then we'll have to follow it down to the core." Allura said. The door behind us beeped and opened.
"It's open! Let's go!" Pidge shouted, we wasted no time in entering the structure and falling straight down. We landed not too long later abd began our search for the planet's core.
My scar burned even more and my heart beat faster and harder the closer we got to the core of Naxzela.
Armed and ready, we went down the twists and turns of the structure, until we came to a large door.
"It's behind this door.." I said. Lance and Hunk readied their blasters in case of anyone inside.
The doors opened, revealing a large orb filled with dark energy that almost made me freeze in my tracks.
"Whoa." Pidge breathed out as we entered the room, walking closer to the orb.
"What is this?" Lance asked.
"This is Zarkon's witch's doing." Allura said with spitting poison, "The energy I felt... this must be the source."
"It is definitely the source." I said, "This dark energy is almost too much take in."
I felt a hand grab mine. I looked down to see that it was Shiro holding my hand. He always used to do this when I was a kid, it helped me calm down.
~~~~Shiro~~~~
I noticed Saoirse shaking and looking nervously at the orb, so I grabbed her hand, just like I used to do when she was younger. She immediately seemed to calm down.
I looked around the room and noticed strange similarities not common anywhere else but the Castle.
"Allura, this facility... it looks Altean." I trailed off, staring at the Altean structure around us.
"I'm afraid you're correct, Shiro." Allura said. We walked closer towards the orb, my sister beginning to tremble and visibly shake. I didn't know if it was the lighting of the room, but she began to look pale.
"This is a decommissioned Altean terraforming plant." Allura explained, "Somehow, the witch has been able to reactivate it remotely."
"Can you shut it down?" I asked.
"I can try." Allura walked closer to the orb, stretching out her hand to try and shut down to core.
As she reached her out towards the orb, two lights formed in front of her. A blue orb of light formed directly in her palm, and a bright pink like further away.
Just then, Saoirse tugged her hand out of my grasp.
"Allura, get away from there now!" She screamed, running to Allura to try and pull her away. However, the situation grew worse.
As soon as Saoirse touched Allura to pull her away, the energy from the core surged through their bodies, making them scream in pain as they were shocked badly.
"Allura!" We shouted, grabbing on to her and trying to pull her away from the orb.
Saoirse and Allura screamed in agony as ee tried to pull them away, ths sound of my sister in pain was too much. Finally, we were able to pull them away from the core. I held Saoirse against my chest as she began to thrash as if she was having a seizure.
"Saoirse! Calm down, please!" I shouted, but she didn't calm down until a minute later when she suddenly stopped.
I slowly let her go as everyone was quickly regaining their senses. Saoirse pressed her hands over her temples, her eyes wide and softly glowing.
"ꓕμԍ ʍᴉϝcμ···· ꓕμԍ ʍᴉϝcμ·· ƨμԍˌƨ μԍʁԍ···· Ƨμԍ- Ƨμԍ ʍɑuϝƨ ϝo qԍƨϝʁoλ nƨ ɑɼɼ··· Ƨμԍˌƨ ƨo ʍɑʁbԍq ɑuq ϝʍᴉƨϝԍq· Ƨo wncμ qɑʁĸ ԍuԍʁმλ ᴉuƨᴉqԍ oɻ μԍʁ·" she muttered under her breath.
I couldn't understand what she was muttering. She was speaking Teshirian again.
~~~~Saoirse~~~~
I saw the witch. When that dark energy rushed through me, I felt her power. I saw her standing in a room with bright purple lights and crackling violet lightning around her and several others.
However, I noticed something.... I just can't understand what it was I noticed.
I could barely hear myself speaking Teshirian, or Shiro trying to calm me down.
"Saoirse, are you okay?" Shiro asked. I took my hands off my head and looked up with blurred eyes. I was only barely able to tell that it was Shiro holding me.
Slowly, my eyes became clear again and so did my mind. Everything that I saw was just another blur.
"Yes, I'm all right." I answered clamly and this time in English, "That energy just shook me up a little."
"Clearly it shook you more than a little." Shiro said, "When all of this is over, I'm putting you on bedrest."
I nodded without hesitation.
Hunk groaned from the ground as he sat up. His eyes widened when he took a handful of the soil.
"This soil is weird. It's so whire and powdery, like ground-up rocks or earth." He said, performing a closer examination on the soil, "And heximite!"
Suddenly, from the entrance, several Galra robot soldiers fired their lasers at us. Hunk and Lance fired back with their bayard weapons while everyone else put up their shields.
"What's heximite? Some of us may have slept through chemistry." Lance said.
"The whole planet is a bomb, one that's big enough to wipe out several solar systems." Pidge explained.
"It's under increasing pressure and when the pressure reaches a certain point, it's going to explode." Hunk added.
"How long do we have?" Shiro asked.
"Maybe 20 minutes."
"We have to get off this planet and warn everyone!" Lance said as he shot another soldier.
"Anyone within ten solar systems of us is going to get blown to pieces." Hunk said.
"They could take out Voltron, the rebels and the Blade of Marmora in one fell swoop." Allura added.
"How about we stop that from happening then?" I shouted, running past their shields and into the path of danger.
I summoned my bayard and transformed it into a lance.
I jumped high into the air and slammed my lance into one of their heads, quickly spinning around and taking out another by sending energy waves into its override the drone's sensors before slamming my lance into another drones that was coming up behind me.
I turned around and saw everyone staring at me in shock.
"Let's move." I said running ahead.
I heard the others rush towards the door and follow me back outside. Once we jumped across the broken bridge, we ran back to Voltron and took our positions.
"Coran! Keith! Do you copy?" Shiro asked, "Anyone? Hello! We've lost communications. Pidge, can you boost our signal?"
"No, there's too much electrostatic repulsion! Saoirse, can you transfer some energy to communications?" Pidge asked.
"I can, but it may take a while." I said, trying to transfer as much energy as I could spare.
"Seventeen minutes left." Hunk said.
"We have to get off this planet immediately." Allura urged.
I heard our metal Lions creak from movement as we slowly struggled to stand tall, but as we got to our feet, the pressure increased on us and we fell even further down into Naxzela.
"Oh, no! We've fallen even further down!" Lance shouted.
"Fifteen minutes!" Hunk yelled.
"No! We can't die here. Not yet." Pidge said with determination as we stood again
"Listen. We've come through a lot as Voltron. We just have to think." Shiro said.
I held my head low, the feeling of defeat washing over me, but I refused to give in to the despair of loss.
"Allura, Saoirse..." Lance said, "you two felt the dark energy along with when it first started. You guys have a connection to this magic and energy. I know you two can get us out of this somehow. We all saw how you power the Castle, and what Saoirse did on Teshiria. You can help us get out of here."
"I-- I don't know." Allura stuttered, "I haven't been trained."
"Neither of us are experienced enough. Besides, to do that would take a lot of energy and the only sources I can find are Galra energy sources. To take in that energy could have unpredictable effects on us." I said.
"Allura, no one trained you to save the Balmera, but you did that. And Saoirse, no one trained you to control energy like you do now. I know you two two can do it. There's a reason the Blue and Silver Lions chose you two. Allura, you are the one who brought everyone together. Saoirse, you protect us and lift us off the ground. You two can do this. Every moment we've had together, they've all led to this day. This is your destiny. Allura, you are the Heart of Voltron and Saoirse is the spirit."
I was surprised by Lance's words. He could actually speak clear and calmly. I actually felt inspired to try.
"Okay. I'll try." Allura said.
"I will, too." I added.
I closed my eyes and focused on the energy nearby. The Galra energy from the generators. I reached out my hands and began to pull on the energy with all I had. No sooner had I began to try and suck out the energy, my body felt like ice. The energy was so cold and dark that it was almost like poison to my spirit.
Slowly but surely, I noticed a change in the energy. It slowly became warm, mixing the energy from Voltron and becoming pure once again.
I opened my eyes and saw Voltron being covered in a bright light, its energy being replenished instantly and standing strong.
"It's working!" Shiro said as Voltron's body was covered in a bright blue glow.
We jumped high into the air, out of the hole and towards the barrier. The Red Lion pointed towards the barrier and roared, firing a powerful laser and shattering the barrier.
"Thank you, Lance." Allura said gratefully.
"That was all you and Saoirse." Lance replied.
We flew out of Naxzela's atmosphere, escaping, but we still had one more thing to do.
"We still need to diffuse that bomb!" Hunk shouted.
"Keith, can you hear me?" Shiro asked.
"Shiro! Where are you? Is everything okay?" Keith asked. I was so relieved to hear his voice, but he sounded anxious.
"Not for long if we don't stop Zarkon's witch. She must be aboard thst battle cruiser."
"I'm way ahead of you. And I've brought some backup."
"Rebel Squad is en route." Olia said.
"Good to have Voltron back in the fight." Matt said.
As the rebels and Keith went to fight off the cruiser, Shiro contacted Coran.
"Coran, you need to grt as far away from Naxzela as you can immediately. Pick up any members of the coalition who are nearby, but go." He said.
"Wh-What's happening?" Coran stuttered as he asked.
"Naxzela is a bomb, and it's about to go off." Allura said.
"But what about you?"
"Well try our best to stop it, but we need you to do this, Coran." I said.
Coram reluctantly agreed to escape.
"Thrusters are at max power!" Lance shouted.
"I sure hope we make it in time." Hunk mumbled with hope.
"I'll make sure we get out of here in time." I said, sending more energy to the thrusters. The power indicators on my screens for the Blue and Yellow Lions skyrocketed as we blasted through the sky.
I could feel my body grow weaker. My scar burned and my legs were barely keeping me standing
"We're not ginna make it!" Lance shouted.
"We will!" I shouted, pushing even more of my power into the thrusters.
Suddenly, I felt an energy fly towards a darker one. I felt my body freeze when I recognized the attacking energy.
"Keith, what are you doing?" I whispered to myself, terrfied for his safety.
I could feel everyone's energy become erratic. Everyone was terrified of what may happen.
Then, all of a sudden, we heard a loud boom behind us. We turned Voltron around and saw returning to normal and the Galra cruiser destroyed.
"Naxzela is returning to normal! You did it!" Coran shouted in celebration.
"Good work, Keith." Shiro praised.
"It wasn't me." Keith confessed, confusing all of us.
"It was Lotor. The cannon on his ship was the only thing powerful enough to take down that shield."
I sighed in exhaustion, feeling the effects of using my power too much. I collapsed to the floor and sucked in whatever amount of air my lungs could take in as sweat ran down the side of my head.
"Attention, Paladins of Voltron and rebel fighters." Lotor announced, "I know we've had our differences in the past, but... I think it is time we had a discussion."
Whatever he wanted to talk about, couldn't be good for anyone in this universe. And just hearing his voice again made chills run up my spine.
He's been running from his father. He used us to get the comet from the alternate reality to create his ships. He tried to destroy us once before. And he was sounded very suspicious the last time we spoke. He even flirted with me.
Now he wants to have a discussion.
What could he possibly be planning?