~~~Sam Holt POV~~~
The Galra had come. The war had finally arrived on Earth. The alarms blared loudly as the large Galra ships came into view.
"All personnel, proceed to your command stations immediately." A man shouted over the P.A. system.
"Commander, allow me to come with you." Lellal said.
I didn't have any time to refuse Lellal and allowed him to come with me to the main command center along with his father.
Everything was leaning towards chaos as the Galra ships began their attack. Everyone in the Garrison were in a raging panic. We didn't expect the Galra to make their move so quickly.
People were running up and down the halls in their panic, not sure how they would be able to prepare in time. But I knew we had to win this and stayed calm. I looked behind me at Cires and Lellal who kept up with me and saw that they were calm yet determined. They were more ready than any of us to face this war.
I ran to the command center where most of the chaos was heading.
"Power the surface-to-air blasters." We heard Admiral Sanda order, "Dispatch the first wave of Garrison fighters. Prep the next wave immediately."
"Wait!" I said, grabbing the Admiral's attention, "We can't use the standard defenses."
Admiral Sanda turned around to face us.
"We're going to hit those aliens with hundreds of thousands of pounds of thermobaric missiles and finish then off with the best pilots the world has to offer." She said, then turned her attention towards Lellal and his father.
"What are civilians doing here?" She angrily, "They should be in their quarters."
"Ma'am, pardon us but we cannot sit around do nothing while you all fight. It's not in our nature." Lellal said.
"I don't care. You will return to your quarters and we are attacking the aliens at once." Admiral Sanda said, not even considering the fact that these attacks will cost even more lives than we might predict.
"They don't stand a chance out there. We need to scramble the MFE fighters." I said, trying to reason with the Admiral.
"The pilots of the MFEs are just cadets."
"So are the pilots of Voltron."
"Admiral, please, you do not understand what the Galra are capable of." Cires said, "With what my daughter has explained to me before she left us again, they are ruthlesd and far superior than your technology."
"My father is right. The Galra don't feel the same compassion as others. They don't care if they lose their own, if it means winning the battle." Lellal added. I had heard of the Galra even sacrificing their own men to win, but hearing it over and over again just made me feel sick to my stomach.
Admiral Sanda didn't listen to any of us.
"Launch base defenses according to protocol." She turned and ordered Commander Iverson, but the commander did nothing.
"Commander!" She said more firmly
Iverson looked up at the Admiral, "I know you have wartime authorization, but maybe we should listen to--"
"That's an order!" She interrupted him. "We can't risk the planet on untested military weaponry piloted by cadets."
Commander Iverson sighed, walked over to the control board and pressed a button.
"This is Commander Iverson. Initiate base defense protocol, Beta-Five." He said, "I repeat, initiate base defense protocol, Beta-Five."
"You heard the man. We're up." I heard Lieutenant Adam say through the speakers as the ships prepared to take flight. My fists trembled in anger at my warnings being ignored.
"You've just doomed those men and women." I said.
"How could you do this to your own men and women?" Lellal asked, "They won't survive this battle. They'll be slaughtered without a second thought."
Admiral Sanda didn't even flinch. Cires, Lellal, Commander Iverson and I watched from the command center as the thermobaric missiles were fired at the Galra ships. None of the shots made a dent in the ships' barriers.
One of the Galra ships fired back, destroying all of our missiles on the ground. The pilots who were launched fired their own missiles at one of the ships. The missiles thudded against the hard metal, and the ship they attacked turned their cannon towards our ships.
It fired and lucky for us, the pilots swerved and dodged the attack.
"Our weapons have no effect!" Adam shouted.
The Galra ship fired again at our pilots, this time, it was an open multi-firing.
"Evasive maneuvers!" One of the Male pilots shouted. And even though they tried to escape the blasts, one of the ships was blasted into scrap metal.
"Wildcat's gone. Titan's not responding."
"I can't shake these thing. He's got me on target lock."
"Hang in there! I'm heading your way!"
"I can't-- No!" There was a loud explosion, then, the women's lone went dead. At this point, we only had three more pilots to rely on.
"Admiral Sanda, please, tell them to retreat!" Cires shouted, "They won't last much longer in that battle!"
"You don't tell me what to do!" The Admiral said coldly.
"Be aware, another Galra fleet is launching and approaching."
Just like the woman said, another one of the Galra ships slowly approached and began firing. It barely took even two shots before another one of our ships were taken down.
"I've got target lock. No!" The women's voice screamed, followed by Lieutenant Adam. There was an explosion, and all that was left was radio static. Our defense was gone, now all that was left were the cadets Admiral Sanda refused to release.
We stood there shocked, our mouth hanging open and our eyes wide. The entire room was dead quiet as we stared at the blank screens. Ten pilots were lost to us in under ten minutes of battle.
Suddenly, after our moment of silence, a familiar face appeared on-screen. It was a Galra commander with a single orange mechanical eye on his right side.
"This is Commander Sendak of the Rire of Purification." The Galra said, "I am here for the Voltron Lions and the Angel of Teshiria. Turn them over to me or I will destroy your planet."
I could see from the corner of my eye Cires and Lellal clenching their fists in anger while glaring at Sendak. Their eyes were so full of rage that I could feel their intent to kill from here.
"Open a line." Admiral Sanda ordered
"Yes, Admiral." One of the Garrison members, Veronica McClain said, opening a line to Sendak.
When the line was secure, the Admiral spoke.
"This is Admiral Sanda of Earth. We have received your communication requesting the Voltron Lions and the Angel of Teshiria. Please be advised that our planet us not harboring either of them nor do we know where they are."
"We'll see." Sendak said before cutting the line and disappearing from the screen.
When Sendak was gone, everyone became confused, not from the demands of the Lions, but by the title he referred to.
"Who the is the Angel of Teshiria?" One of the men in the room inquired.
"It's my daughter." Cires answered. All of us who could hear him turned towards the man with wide eyes.
"Your daughter?" Iversom repeated in his shock, "Saoirse is the target? But why?"
"My sister contains what we call the Light of Teshiria." Lellal answered, "It's a special power that builds up inside our planet for three hundred years at a time. However, thanks to my grandfather, it had laid dormant for over ten thousand years, making it even more powerful. My sister is the only one able to handle that much power."
"Why on Earth would he want that kind of power?" Veronica asked.
"He probably has a plan to extract that power for his own selfish reasons." Cires explained, "But such a feat will surely kill my daughter. My wife told me once that no one can take the Light of Teshiria once it has bonded with someone without killing them in the process."
All of us grew nervous. Almost veryone in the room knew Saoirse and had some kind of interaction with her, enough to know that she was a good person. Too good for the world if you ask me.
I turned to Veronica, "Tell all Garrison bases to call back fighters."
"All Garrison bases are under attack. They're not responding. They've already scrambled fighters." Veronica informed us.
A few minutes past and Veronica gasped at the readings on her screen.
"Sir, it looks like the alien ships are focusing in on our location." She said.
I turned to Commander Iverson, "Scramble the MFA-Ares fighters. Begin powering up the fusion cannon." I ordered, then turned towards Cires and Lellal, "You two, go find your family and stay with them. They'll need your support."
"Yes, sir." Iverson said. Cires and Lellal returned to their quarters to their family.
"I will court-martial you if you utter one command against my orders." Admiral Sanda said angrily.
"There won't be a court to try me in if we don't listen to Commander Holt." Iverson said.
Admiral dropped her head down a little and said nothing more. Iverson walked back up to the control board and announced my orders.
"MFE-Ares pilots, begin loading sequence." He said, "Activate interlock."
"Dynotherms connected." Griffin said.
"Mega thrusters are go." Rizavi said.
The hatches opened and the fighters were in place for launch.
"We're ready to depart on your mark, Commander Iverson."
"Three... Two... One... Mark!" As soon as Commander Iverson gave the word, the pilots were launched into battle.
I just hoped on hope that they would be all right.
~~~~James Griffin~~~~
Our fighters were launched and almost immediately Sendak's ships fired the ion cannon at the particle barrier around the Garrison. It fired for a minute or two before it stopped, revealing the particle barrier to have not sustained any damage.
We flew close to the battle ship in the sky, our target for the mission.
"Okay, team, we've trained for this." I said calmly to my teammates, "We know their maneuvers and have the firepower to knock them out. Leifsdottir, you're my wing."
"10-4." Leifsdottir responded.
"Rizavi, you and Kinkade keep those fighters off our back."
"Copy." Rizavi replied.
I sighed and flew off to proceed with the plan of attack.
~~~~Lellal~~~~
My father ran out of the room to check on my mother and younger siblings. I imagine they must be terrfied. They had never seen or heard this type of fighting, and with them being so young. My brother is barely even eight years old and my sister just turned three.
"Fusion cannon online." Veronica said, snapping me back to reality.
"Fire!" Sam Holt said.
The fusion cannon hummed with power and fired, the particle barrier opening slightly to allow the shot to go through.
The powerful shot hit its mark and almost instantly, the Galra ship exploded.
"Direct hit. Target destroyed." Veronica announced as the footage was being played on-screen.
"Fusion cannon status report." Commander Holt said.
"It's drained substantial power. Estimating enough for two more shots before recharge, sir."
"Sendak doesn't know that."
All of a sudden, after the first attack was successful, the fleet began to fall back. However, I felt something off about this retreat. The Galra never retreated without good reason.
"The entire fleet is pulling out." Veronica said as the footage played on-screen, "They're focusing their attacks on the remaining cities."
"Update the rest of the globe." Sam Holt ordered, "They need to evacuate to safe zones immediately."
"We should go after them." Admiral Sanda said, "Your weapons actually mounted an offense."
"The fighters are only short range and the cannon is immobile. If we leave its proximity, we'd be decimated." Commander Holt explained.
"Sir, communication with all of Western Europe has gone dark." Veronica said.
Everyone looked up at the global map and saw one by one pieces of Earth were going dark.
"Russia. China. India. East Coast Base, please acknowledge, over. Can anyone on the East Coast respond? Over." Nothing. No one responded.
The Galra were all over Earth. And it seems that everything would be destroyed. I guess it was somewhat a good thing that my sister wasn't here. She would be crushed to see this devastation.
~~~Sam Holt POV~~~
I stood there silently as pieces of Earth's defenses around the world were going dark.
"Commander, we are no longer receiving response on any channels." Veronica informed me, "What are your orders?"
No one said anything for a minute as I thought about our next move.
"The Galra just delivered a critical blow." I said, walking up to the front of the command deck to talk with the crew, "I know many of you in this room feel we should press our attack. And believe me when I say I wish we could. Even with all we've accomplished, we're still not ready to fight the Galra head-on. However, while this base stands, Earth still has a chance. I believe in each and every one of you. You made it here because of your ability to overcome adversity. And now the freedom of planet Earth is dependent on that ability. Everyone break to their sub-commands. I want a full status update of this base. We will prevail."
Everyone quickly scrambled to follow my orders.
I turned to Admiral Sanda who was not pleased at all by my take of command.
"When all of this is said and done, I'm going to have you both stripped of your rank and thrown in the brig for defying my orders." She said to me and Commander Iverson.
"Yes, Ma,am." I said anger barely hidden behind my calm voice.
Admiral Sanda sighed, "Now, we don't have the Lions or this Angel, which I now know is Saoirse. Why is Sendak still invading?"
"You don't understand the Galra." I said, "They've been conquering the universe for over 10,000 years. Sendak must have a plan."
"Please believe me when I say this Admiral, but the Galra do not give up on a target." Lellal said.
"And what would a child know about this enemy?" Admiral Sanda asked in an almost disgusted tone of voice.
"I left my planet prison when I was ten years old to find my sister and had joined the rebellion in hopes of finding her. I have fought in the war for three years. Victory or death is what the Galra say."
After he said that, Lellal turned around and left the room, but not before twisting his head around and looking directly at Admiral Sanda with a harsh glare in his eyes.
"Your energy is jumpy and unbalanced. You're afraid, Admiral. And that fear will make you unwise in this war." He walked out, leaving Admiral Sanda to think about that last remark.
After that, things began to grow worse and even more complicated.
A couple of months passed since the invasion began. I sat with Commander Iverson, Admiral Sanda and Veronica in the briefing room to go over future plans.
"Supplies are limited. We don't have enough food to sustain us fir more than a couple of months." Veronica said going over our supplies lists.
"And construction materials?" I asked, "Do we have enough to complete the IGF-Atlas?"
"Negative."
"Quiznak." I muttered, "We can't give up. Voltron will come. We just need to get supplies and wait out Sendak."
"Well, there is a supply depot not too far from here." Veronica said, pulling up a map on the screen, "It was abandoned during the initial attack and the Galra havent occupied that area yet."
"But how would we transport the supplies?" Sanda asked.
A path lit up on the map, "We could use the underground tunnel system. It's an older setup from World War III. The trains haven't been used since, but the tunnels are sound and the tracks are still intact and run directly beneath the base. If we were to send a small team, we could load up supplies onto one of the old trains, repair it and ride it directly back here."
"What does Galra activity in that area look like?" I asked.
"None currently, but judging by the Galra's movements, that won't last long. It's hard to give an exact estimate. Their occupation efforts seem to be focused on major metropolitan areas, but they're scattering out in way looks like random patrol patterns."
I folded my hands under my chin, "Then our team will have to move quickly."
We were all dismissed to begin the preparations. We gathered the young cadets, told them the plan and told them to pack up for the trip fast.
But, as I was going over lists and important battle strategies in my office, I heard a knock on my door.
"Come in." I said. The door opened and revealed young Lellal who walked into my office.
"Lellal, what brings you here?" I asked.
"I was wondering if I could have your permission to aid the retrieval team heading through the tunnels." He said. My eyes widened.
"How did you know about that mission?" I asked.
"One of your cadets, the one named Griffin? He was blabbing about it down the halls. I couod be useful in this type of mission since my specialty was retrieval and hidden attacks in the rebellion." Lellal explained.
I nodded and hummed in thought, considering the fact of letting him go. But then something occurred to me.
"What about your parents? Have they had a say in this?" I asked.
Lellal nodded, "I talked with them just a few minutes ago. They agree, as long as I'm careful and come back safely. Plus, I could help eith powering our exit transport. I have the ability to control and amplify energy. I'm not as skilled or powerful as my sister, but I am still able to help in any way I can."
I considered the options again and since Lellal was indeed skilled, I allowed to go along, just as long as he kept safe and returned with everyone else.
~~~~Lellal~~~~
After getting permission from Commander Holt, I went down to the loading bay for the jeeps. Upon walking to the loading bay, I met up with Veronica McClain, who was also going on this mission.
"What the heck are you doing here kid?" She asked.
"I got permission from Commander Holt." I answered, "I may be able to help if anything goes wrong on this mission. With my powers I can charge up the transport."
Veronica seemed surprised for a second, but didn't say anything else and walked right along with me to the loading bay.
"Okay, I'll drive." I heard Griffin say and watched him climb up into the transport.
"I'm coming with you." Veronica said, bringing everyone's attention to us.
"Name's Veronica. I'm an analyst and your handler." She introduced herself.
"My name is Lellal. I'm Saoirse's younger brother. I'll be back up just in case." I introduced myself.
Griffin jumped down from the vehicle and crossed his arms in annoyance.
"We don't need a handler." He said then pointed towards me, "And do we really need to take the kid? I mean. What's a kid gonna do?"
"Do you know how to get to the depot?" Veronica asked.
Griffin chuckled nervously, "Well, no, but, you know. I'll just use the guidance system. Or these kids will tell us where to go."
"That uses the world communication network. Which, oh, yeah, these tunnels were designed to block. And Cadet Rizavi should drive. She has the highest marks with the AW-Cruiser."
Rizavi smiled at Griffin, "I like her." She said happily.
"Oh, and shotgun." Veronica added.
"I really like her."
"And about your comment concerning me." I said. I reached into my back pocket and oulled out my foldable bow, then used my abilities to bring it back to full size in front of everyone.
"I am a master archer, not to mention half Teshirian, which is an alien race born eith the ability to control energy. If something goes wrong, I can shoot from the shadows, and if we don't have enough energy to make the escape car run, I can always use my powers to give it a boost." I explained with a smirk while everyone stared at me with stunned expressions.
Griffin grumbled under his breath but couldn't argue anymore. We all hopped into the cruiser and drove through the tunnels.
It was silent as we drove through the tunnels undetected, but Veronica kept taking glances at me in the back seat.
"Hey, Lellal, can I ask you something?" She asked.
I was taken by surprise from the broken silence, "Go ahead. What's on your mind?" I asked.
"Why come with us?" She asked.
The question made everyone in the car curious.
"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean." I said.
"I mean, you're how old, twelve, thirteen? You're way too young to be fighting in this war." Veronica explained, making me understand her concern, but I was capable of fighting.
"Yeah, I've been wondering that too." Rizavi said.
"Yes, such a war like this is dangerous, especially for a young man like yourself." Leifsdottir said.
"Ha! He's probably trying to act all cool when really he's scared half to death about fighting in this war." Griffin said laughing, then turning to me with teasing expression, "You probably think that you can really help win this war, when all you are is just some little kid playing hero. How you were able to get on this mission, I have no idea. Maybe the commander felt pity for you since your Saoirse's little brother. If that's even a true fact."
"Cadet Griffin, that's enough." Veronica said, but Griffin just kept talking.
"I bet if anything, you're just trying to impress your sister by acting all cool and strong. Maybe when she comes back and hears of this mission and how I helped, then maybe I can convince her to go on a date with me." He said, then laughed again. But he didn't know about the war, at least, not how it looks up close.
I crossed my arms and held my retracted bow tightly in my left hand.
"I'm not trying to impress anyone, nor am I acting tough for my sister. To be honest, I'm terrified as many others fighting in this are." I answered, "You've only seen a few months of this war, while I've seen two years of it."
Everyone's eyes widened at my statement.
"I left my home to find my sister three years ago when I was ten years old. For two years, I have experienced the harshness and devastation of the war against the Galra, and that was before they became disoriented. I joined the rebellion and had plenty of encounters with the enemy, even being captured by them once or twice. Still, I kept going, eventually finding my sister with the rest of the paladins. I continue to fight in this war, and the reason I'm here on Earth is because my sister cares very much for this planet. I want to do what I can to protect it so she'll be happy when she returns. So you see, I'm not acting strong, nor am I trying to impress anyone. I'm fighting for freedom."
Everyone stayed silent after my speech.
"Also," I added with a sly smirk, "if memory serves right, my sister is a Lieutenant and you are just a junior cadet, a lower rank than her. Wouldn't be good for you if your superior found out that you were talking badly about her."
Griffin gulped in fear and turned away from me to hide his red cheeks in embarrassment.
The rest of the trip was silent. I could tell from their energy that everyone was nervous about this mission. Not to mention their minds were going over what I had just said. I guess I made them a little nervous about me as well.
A few minutes later, we came to a fork in the tunnel and stopped, "Left here." Veronica said.
Kinkade looked through the scope on his gun and saw no one in the tunnel to the left.
"All clear." He said and the cruise turned left. It wasn't long before we came to another fork in the tunnels.
"Right." Veronica said, Rizavi making the turn, "These tracks are a straight shot to the depot."
Rizavi continued straight for a while before we reached an abandoned part of the tunnels with a busted train on the tracks.
We stopped the car in front of the train, got out of the cruiser and opened the door to the supplies they were sent for.
"Let's get to work." Veronica said and we got to work.
Rizavi and I climbed on top of the train and lifted one of the panels up to look at the train's condition.
"They left her I'm pretty good shape. I think we'll have her running in under an hour." Rizavi said taking out a blowtorch while I gently pressed my fingers on the metal.
I closed my eyes and sensed the energy left in this busted up train. It wasn't a lot, but it had enough to get us out of here.
"Lellal, what are you doing?" I heard Rizavi ask. I opened my eyes and looked at her.
"I was just sensing the energy left inside this vehicle." I answered, "There's enough to get us out of here. I can increase it in case of an emergency."
"Wow, you can really do that?" Leifsdottir asked, hearing our conversation.
I nodded, "Yes. Thanks to my mother's side of the family. All Teshirians can do what I can, but we all use our abilities for different things, such as making the wind blow, the rain fall, or even helping our planet become more fertile."
"Sounds like a nice place." Kinkade commented, "Maybe when this war if over we can come visit one of these days."
I smiled and nodded, "Sure, I think it would be nice to open our planet to others like we did so long ago."
As we fixed up the train and loaded it with supplies, the team asked me all kinds of things about my home.
I was happy to talk about the wonders of Teshiria. They seemed to be so intrigued by my stories.
About and hour later, almost everything was complete.
Griffin was standing guard nearby, looking out for the Galra that could come any minute.
"Griffin checking in. What's your status?" He asked.
"Supplies are 95 percent loaded." Veronica informed.
"Rizavi and Lellal here. Almost done with repairs." Rizavi said.
It was only a few minutes later that we recieved bad news.
"We've got company, just south of the Cruiser." Griffin warned us.
"Copy. On our way." Rizavi said.
In just a few seconds, Leifsdottir and Kinkade ran into position ready to fight if necessary.
Rizavi and I kept working on the train, her on the mechanical end while I tried to increase the energy inside the tanks. Too bad Saoirse wasn't here. She'd be able to do this in no time.
"Our weapons have no effect on them!" Griffin stated.
Veronica threw a large case onto the floor. Ths case opened and revealed a large blaster for which she manned.
"Go! Get the train running. I'll hold them off." She shouted to the others.
She began firing at the drones, shooting one of them enough to make him go down. While she was busy firing at the Galra drones, the others ran back to the train.
It took only a few more shots to make the drones fall. But Veronica didn't relax, not even an ounce of her energy went calm.
More heavy metal footsteps came from deeper down the tunnels and more drones appeared form the shadows.
Griffin faced Rizavi, Leifsdottir and me.
"You three, get this train started. Kinkade, you're with me." He ordered.
We all split up upon our orders. Rizavi, Leifsdottir and I ran to the controls to get the train running. I lay my hands on the control panel and pushed some of my energy into it. But I could only push so much into the train.
The rest was up to the girls. I turned back around to see Kinkade and Griffin shooting at the drones. However, their attacks weren't doing much damage.
I ran to them and extended my bow, pushing past them and pulling back the string. A bow formed where my fingers gripped the string and I let it fly.
The arrow stuck into the ground and created an electromagnetic pulse that was strong enough to make some of the drones go down. Usually my arrows can take out a small army of those things. Not this time.
"Train's up and running. Let's go." Rizavi said pushing the train full throttle.
"Veronica, get in here!" Griffin shouted, but Veronica didn't listen and kept firing at the Galra.
"Veronica! What are you doing?" Griffin shouted.
"Just go!" She shouted back.
Griffin turned around towards the control front, "We're not gonna leave her. Stop the train." He said.
But before we could stop the train, an explosion erupted in the tunnel, the smoke blocking our vision of Veronica.
"No!" Griffin shouted as the train kept going and the tunnel behind us was blocked by the falling rubble.
The train ride was silent, all of us regretting not being able to help a comrade. I was used to losing comrades as it happened so often in the rebellion, but these guys never experienced the pain of losing a comrade.
It was written all over their faces. Their regret and pain was shown easily.
"She saved the mission. And us." Kinkade said, not really helping getting their spirits up.
"Does anyone know how to get back?" Rizavi asked.
"Two lefts, two rights left, middle tunnel, right, left, and then one more right." Leifsdottir said.
Following her instructions, we safely made our way back to the base. When we finally stopped, the platform beneath the train was lifted up to ground level where Commander Holt, Commander Iverson and Admiral Sanda were waiting.
~~~Sam Holt POV~~~
When the doors opened to the train and I saw the team, I was happy that the mission was a success.
"Thank goodness you're back." I said happily. But then, I noticed their sad faces and that there was one person missing from the group.
"Wait. Where's Veronica?" I asked.
They all looked down sadly, "She... She didn't make it." Griffin said.
I was shocked, but I kept calm, knowing that this wasn't the first sacrifice in this war.
"Her sacrifice will not be in vain." I said, "We have a chance now."
"A chance for what?" Griffin asked, "We just bought ourselves time. What is that gonna do for us?"
"Voltron will come." I reassured.
"You really believe that?"
I smiled, "Yes. And in the meantime, we need to finish our work in the IGF-Atlas and figure out a way to power it. She'll be sorely needed when we liberate the planet."
It wasn't too much longer before Sendak attacked again. This time, it wasn't at Earth, it was at our communications.
I stood with Admiral Sanda on the command deck as the screens in front of us showed that our communication satellites were being destroyed.
"Hes destroying all of our satellites." The Admiral said.
"He's cutting off our communication with the outside world." I said, "And all we can do is watch."
The alarms blared and all we did was stand watch as our contact with the outside world was taken from us.
Earth was slowly being taken by the Galra. Most of the citizens were taken by the Galra for reason we didn't understand at the time.
More and more time had passed and our progress on the IGF-Atlas was running smoothly, but so was the Galra's progress on conquering Earth.
At this moment, I sat down with Iverson and Admiral Sanda to discuss our progress over the years.
"It seems we will have enough raw material to complete the superstructure for the IGF-Atlas." I said, "How's morale?"
"It's low." Iverson said, "We're using every trick in the book to keep spirits high, but when the world is in the shape it's in..."
"If the IGF-Atlas becomes operational, do you think it could defend Earth?" Admiral Sanda asked.
"She's been outfitted with all our most advanced weaponry, but it's still just one ship, and an untested one at that."
Suddenly, my phone beeped. I picked it up and answered.
"This is Commander Holt, over."
"Sir, you're gonna wanna come to the hangar to see this." A man said over the phone.
I headed to the elevator and rode it down to the hangar, when I was able to see to the floor, I was stunned to see a large crowd of people, citizens and Garrison members all gather around one single woman.
Veronica!
When she saw me in the elevator, she ran towards me as I got out. I quickly ran to her and hugged her tightly in relief.
"Veronica, you're alive. How?" I asked, surprised to see her alive and well.
We pulled apart and Veronica smiled, gesturing to the large crowd of people in the room.
"These people saved me." She said, "I've been working with an underground resistance network. The network is small, but highly mobile. And they've gathered a great deal of intel and supplies thay could prove extremely useful to us. Their intel even led me to my family."
I looked around and indeed saw Veronica's entire family sitting on crates supplies. Even Saoirse's family were helping them with any injuries they had. Saoirse's little sister was having some fun with the little kids.
"So I led them here. I though we should be working together."
I smiled at Veronica, proud of what she accomplished, "Your brother would be very proud of you." I said.
"Speaking of Lance..." Veronica said, "Have you heard anything? From Voltron?"
"No. Not yet." I said sadly, "And supplies are getting dangerously low. What you've brought will certainly help, but only for so long."
"I'm afraid I've got more bad news to add to that." Veronica said, "I have some intel from the resistance network. The Galra had begun to group able-bodied citizens together into work camps. They're utilizing them for manual labor. Reports indicate that construction has begun on multiple Galra installations around the globe."
This was the last straw, and I had to put all of Earth's hopes in getting in contact with Voltron.
"We need to get one last message out to Voltron." I said.
We quickly prepared a rocket to launch into orbit so we could broadcast our final message to Voltron.
"Commencing launch in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four..."
"Let's hope you're right about this." Admiral Sanda said during the countdown.
"... three, two, one."
The rocket was launched high into the sky as liftoff was confirmed. We watched with hope that this plan would work. Immediately, the Galra attacked the rocket, but we had a plan.
Upon the Galra's cannons causing impact, our rocket sent out millions of micro transmitters, broadcasting our distress signal.
"He fell for it." I said as the room burst into cheers of victory.
Days later, we held a meeting with all Garrison members and resistance members in the hangar where the IGF-Atlas stood. They stood attentively, waiting for my words.
I stood on the stage ready to give my speech, the Admiral, Iverson and my wife standing close to my side.
"Earth has been conquered." I said, "we are the last holdout in an evil occupation. And we must face facts. Our supplies are running out. They have hammered us and hurt the ones we love. Our backs are completely up against the wall. And nothing makes us more dangerous. We only have enough resources for one last stand. Regardless of the outcome, if we stand united we will let them know that planet Earth, our home, will not go down without a fight."
The people cheered loudly, ready to fight for our home.
After my speech, saw Saoirse's family smiling with so much hope in their eyes. And there was so much hope in everyone else. And we will keep that hope until Voltron returns.