Recovery
Chapter Two
Defenders of The Universe
A/N: This is where the rewrite officially starts, once again if you haven't watched the first two episodes of Voltron Force already I highly reccommend you do so! It will help solve any potential confusion in the future, happy reading!
He’d since met another cadet and started his mission on befriending her, while not so patiently waiting to set up the voltcom they gave him alongside his new uniform. But before then, he headed over towards the hangar with the team for updates on even more things that have happened.
“How’re you still running on adrenaline, Daniel?” a voice to his side pipped up,
Vince, Daniel’s new friend from the Garrison, was a nervous Black boy around the same height and age. They were first lumped together in class, that’s where Commander Lance dragged them from and over to Skymarshall Wade for a less than cleanly punishment, starting their weird adventure together.
“Um, yeah! Why aren’t you?? First we did all that stuff at the academy and then a day after when we get here, Commander Keith crash lands the missing black lion with Pidge and Hunk in tow! Now the force is back together, with us this time! Isn’t that unreal?!” Daniel excitedly rants,
“Well yeah! But aren’t you the least bit worried?? All that and now we’re in the middle of Wade trying to lock the team up! Plus, we’re apparently the chosen ones now?? It’s beyond terrifying!” he placed a hand to his cheek, attempting to calm himself down before he had a anxiety attack,
“Definitely your first time being in an important role then,” snarked another voice, this time coming from the other side of Daniel, “pro-tip, it’s not for the faint of heart,”
Larmina, the next cadet taken on by the force, wasn’t exactly impressed by the other two, who her aunt had a hand in choosing. Although she held the title of Duchess, what connected her to Princess Allura, they were exact opposites. From the punch-first-ask-questions-later motto she liked to live her life by to the ginger hair tied in a high ponytail that showed off her undercut, antennae on her head, and lack of Arusian markings on her cheeks, it was hard to believe she was related to her at all. But it wasn’t uncommon for the Princess to have Polluxian family, so who was anyone to judge.
Daniel couldn’t tell if she wanted to chase them off, or if they were the first people aside from the team to treat her like a kid, which confused her. While for Vince, it was her being a single year older than them or the company she was around being the reason she acted snotty for no reason like that. Ignoring it, Daniel sped up towards the pilots and the black lion.
“Alright, let’s start this refresher course,” Keith announced,
Immediately Daniel decided that whatever this was was too boring to pay attention to. Instead he noted the changes in each hero as they talked, since he really only ever saw them on TV or on merchandise. Other than some longer hair for Keith and tired eyes that everyone, sans Pidge, had, not much was different,
“As we know, after breaking Black out of Tarvos, she isn’t in the best shape. From what I could tell, there was a lot of structural damage, almost like he tried to do a surgery on her,” he continued,
Pidge picked up after a beat, “Frankly, it was more than botched. Wade didn’t have all the schematics we do, so his team was learning as they went, and unfortunately that means a lot of damage to her insides as well,”
Being the youngest of the team, nobody knew how Pidge would grow up to look. Keeping his puffed hair, albeit cut shorter per Garrison regulations, it did nothing to hide the fact he didn’t grow in height too much. With a visor instead of glasses, new piercings, and an entirely more formal personality, it’d be hard to remember it was Pidge if it weren’t for the green uniform he had on.
“Luckily, since Keith could fly Black at all, we can definitely get her fixed up and looking purr-ty as soon as possible!” Pidge softly snickered at his own joke, earning one from Hunk and 3 soft eye rolls from the rest.
(I guess he isn’t that formal then), Daniel thought. After meeting him for the first time, it was more than a stark difference compared to the feral kid he once was.
“So, what’s the real problem here? We’re not exactly known for getting dealt easy issues, y’know,” snarkily added Lance.
Daniel noted the only major change in Lance was his longer ginger hair in a low ponytail, sans being promoted to commander by Wade of course. He felt Lance stayed the same through and through, and that excited him about his new teacher.
“Well, if you let us get to that,” Hunk said matter-of-factly, “Just ‘cause we can get her to look good doesn’t mean she’ll run good too, whatever Wade did to the pretty kitty really messed her up. Black is running at half power, and it’s gonna take a while to even figure out where to get started! Not to mention if we need the big guy, he’s not gonna feel all too great either.”
Still sporting his signature orange headband, not a lot changed about him either, Daniel thought. He’s a bit more muscular, being military will do that to you, and now has a burn scar on the same eye yellow lion has her janky one, which was definitely rad in his book.
“Well, any news is good news, I suppose. The silver lining is Voltron can form if we need him. Top priority is getting Black lion fixed and avoiding Wade in the meantime,” hoped Allura,
Daniel didn’t note her change too seriously, as she’s the only one regularly in the media still. She wore her hair in a regal style, leaving only a side bang loose. She also changed crowns to a golden band and a singular blue stone in the middle compared to her old silver and red one.
He couldn't help but stare at her freckles, at least he thought they were freckles. They were dots of colors all Arusians had, in the princess's case they were green, and he knew from the coverage of her that they glowed if she felt bashful or really happy.
Before anything else could be said, the alarm sounded off, taking everyone by an uneasy surprise. The Princess had felt his gaze and glanced at him, giving a reassuring smile about the whole situation. Returning it, he remembered Lance saw the heart he drew around her in the team picture he had, before silently thanking whatever the distraction was that most likely saved him from an awkward moment.
Wordlessly, the pilots ran off, leaving the cadets to follow behind and into castle control. Pidge shut off the alarm before pulling up the satellite feeds. Daniel didn’t need to be a super-fan to know every single one of them was on edge with what they saw,
“I thought those guys were dead!” barked Larmina, “We are so not about to deal with these guys again are we?!”
Feed after feed showed 9th Drule kingdom loyalists, the kingdom their old enemy Lotor ruled, making their way towards the city closest to castle grounds,
“Trust me,” Keith said with gritted teeth, “we took them down, and they won’t start another war”
Hunk pulled some screens closer to him, all of them showing either foot soldiers wreaking havoc in the city or combat craft from above, only adding more to the frey.
“Guys, those toys are something I don’t remember seeing. It’s not old 9th tech or the new garrison models I got my hands on ‘cause I’m not recognizing a lot,” Hunk pointed out,
Vince intently watched the soldiers fight, “That energy they’re shooting is weird too! Never seen anything like it at the academy... is, uh, anyone else getting the heebie jeebies just by looking at it?”
“Well, you’re technically a green soldier now, so it’s normal to get skeeved out during this. Just try to work through it because if the 9th is anything, it’s persistent,” Pidge quickly explained.
“They’re fucking annoying, that’s what!” seethed Lance,
He brought up castle defenses and more footage, this time focusing on the Arusian Guard fighting their way through the city. All the while, Allura watched in pale horror, Larmina grabbed her hand and held it tight, not knowing if her simple gesture was enough reassurance. They both perk up upon seeing Garrison fleets dispatch soldiers who go off to provide help.
Daniel watched the screens, now noticing the soldiers are actually mechs, and clunky ones at that. Realizing what’s happening, he calls out to the team,
“Whatever those are out there, they’re not doing any good! They’re dropping as fast as they get sent out! And no offense, but even I can take better shots than whoever is aiming those things!”
Daniel definitely wasn't the only one who thought that, as the pilots who were currently at the controls immediately starting packing up,
“We need to get out there!” Keith and Lance said simultaneously. Stunned, they glanced at each other for a moment before nodding and shouting more orders,
“Cadets, you’re on castle duty! We don’t need you out there just yet, so do some damage back here! Larmina, you know the basics. Teach them as you go!” yelled Lance. Larmina huffed before stepping next to Pidge, who slid the controls to her.
Vince, immediately accepted the new task and pulled Daniel right with him. Everything was foreign to him, literally. He couldn’t read a thing. While Vince was having the time of his life learning what Larmina was explaining, Daniel focused on the pilots again.
“I’m not risking Black out there,” Keith started, “I can make myself useful on the battlefield,”
he turned towards the exit, but before he could leave, Allura grabs his arm,
“Even if you aren’t in Black, we need you with us! We’re still a team-“
He cuts her off by taking her hand off of him, gently pushing it back towards her,
“I’ve been on my own for a long time now, I’ll be fine”
Without another word, he rushed off, effectively ending their conversation. Lance stepped to her and reassured her with a silent hand on her shoulder, but before he could say anything, Keith opened the door and loudly cussed, catching everyone’s attention immediately. The unreliable troops Daniel had pointed out earlier walked through the door. Seeing them up close showed screens, not glass or armor at the forefront of the droid for the potential pilot inside. Instead it showed Wade,
“Now where do you think you’re going, Commander Keith, may I remind you, you are a wanted criminal! And as Skymarshall, it is my duty to bring you to justice,” he laughs, “And as for the rest of you! For harboring and abetting a fugitive, Arus will be facing consequences, and since you boys are still under my employment, your punishment will be whatever I see fit”
Stepping forward, and pushing past his obvious threats, Allura pleads, “My people need help Skymarshall! Please! We can continue this later, but aid a planet in need first!”
“We all want the same thing, Wade,” Keith adds, “the safety and unity of the alliance!”
Wade sneers, “I don’t care about the Alliance! I care about money, power! And as long as Voltron is online, my paycheck is unacceptable!”, turning towards Allura he says, “Besides your Highness, I am helping, don’t you see my new designs out there fighting for the alliance?”
“Oh please! We all know you’re doing jack shit out there!” Lance yells at him, “Stop acting like the spoiled only child I know you are!”
Larmina and Daniel held back a snicker, before mimicking the fight stance the wade-bots got into after his comment,
“Well! I’m here for one thing, and it’s putting you and your unnecessary robot out of commission, the 9th resurgence isn’t even worth paying attention to! Comply quietly or I will gladly use force”
A slight whoosh was heard from Hunk's direction and in his hands was a yellow, and slightly translucent, war hammer Daniel definitely knew he hadn’t had before.
“Fine, you want us, then you’ll get all of us!” Hunk yells,
With his queue, the others all followed suit, each one of them activating their voltcoms for their color-coded weapons. They rushed the group of wade-bots in front of them, and Larmina didn’t hesitate to join right in, surprising both Daniel and Vince. Teaming with Pidge, he and Larmina both fought mainly using hand-to-hand, his weapons being ninja stars, didn’t really help too often. Except when he found an opening and stuck five of them into a bot, subsequently destroying them with the self-destruct mode the stars apparently had.
Watching them, Daniel noticed Pidge and Larmina fought alike with a more martial arts style and even worked in sync. But even with her skills putting her near the team’s own level, she still needed work, and it was obvious when Larmina didn’t see another Wade-bot turn to punt her across the room.
“Larmina!” shouted Vince and Daniel, not knowing what to do. Vince pulled up more castle defenses, hoping for anything to help on the inside.
As she recovered from the hit, Daniel questioned if the girl was made of steel.
Pidge called out to her, “Press the button on the other side of your voltcom!”
“Ugh, for what?! I can handle this on my own!”
A few paces near Pidge, Lance brawled with another bot, landing hit after hit with a weird red glow to his hands that seemed to protect them, and slightly melt the droid, as he punched,
“Just listen and do it!” he yelled, turning to her for a split second.
Proving to be a mistake, the bot grabbed Lance’s forearm and gripped way too tight for his taste, clear by the hiss of pain he let out. Larmina didn’t waste another second and activated her voltcom, bringing out a staff, and aimed it at the bot holding Lance, and right before she threw it, the tip changed into a pointed spade shape. Effectively letting it pierce through the Wade-bot, causing it to drop Lance.
She ran over to make sure he was ok before grabbing her weapon, “Not out of commission yet, right, you old geezer?”
“Hey! I’m doing just fine, thanks! Though my arm is definitely broken” he tsked,
As they got up, Keith put the last Wade-droid down. Allura ran over to Vince and set the castle on lock down,
“Cadets section off any parts of the castle that need it. We’re going through with the plan we made before Wade interrupted us.”
“How did he even get in?? We have security, don’t we?” Larmina said while walking over to her,
“He probably used his position to get through with no issues, there’s no time to lose, let’s go!” Keith explained before running towards a specific painting on the nearest wall,
Vince was about to question him until it slid open, revealing a tunnel which was all too cool in Vince’s mind. After he jumped through, the rest of the pilots ran towards the chutes of their lions,
(Finally!), Daniel thought, (I’ll get to see all five Voltron lions again!)
Unnoticed by him, Lance stayed behind, only realizing when Lance talked to him,
“Kid, I can’t fly with one arm, and we didn’t bring you out of the academy just for being snarky,” he didn’t continue his sentence and instead jerked his head towards Red’s chute. Telling Daniel his dreams were about to come true.
Not missing a beat, Daniel immediately ran over with Lance in tow, and with too many thoughts in his head, he jumped. Vince and Larmina were still at the control center, until she started bolted towards the tunnel Keith went through,
“wh-! Larmina, we’re supposed to stay here!” Vince yelled,
“You got it covered Vince! Besides, I have my voltcom activated. I can help Keith more out there than in here!” She replied, not even looking back before she jumped through the open painting and closing it behind her.
“Larmina! Uuuugh, ok... I can do this... I think”
-
After losing track of Keith, Larmina takes down bot after bot, not stopping until she spots a little girl hiding behind some building debris. Between them are 9th soldiers and wade-bots having a shootout, and not liking that scene at all, Larmina ran through knocking out 9th loyalists and making holes through every tin can she saw,
“Hey,” she says when she finally reaches the little girl while holding her hand out to help her up, “it’ll be alright, come with me, I’ll get you somewhere safe”
The girl tentatively took her hand, and together they ran through the space where Larmina had just fought. Before they could get through, more bots surrounded them, telling Larmina she was already made an enemy to Wade. Knowing she couldn’t do much with the kid by her side, she crouched down and curled over to protect her as she could, holding her even closer when she heard the surrounding guns powering up.
Suddenly, Keith busted through their lines, slicing as many bots as he could and stabbing the others to make sure they’d stay down. At hearing the commotion, Larmina opened her eyes, surprised she even closed them at all, only to see his open hand there to help her up and his voltcoms sword in the other.
“Well then,” Keith said as he helped her up, “looks like you took training seriously since the last time I saw you, huh?”
“You bet! You should’ve seen me earlier Keith, I think I kicked more butt than you!”
After Keith made sure the child was alright, she spotted her parents, let go of Larmina, and ran off, safely making it to them and waving before they left for a better hiding place. A few seconds after, another swarm of wade-bots to make their way towards the two, this time Keith and Larmina looked at each other, a mutual agreement that they were gonna put her boast up to the test, and ran into the fight.
-
Daniel was having a blast, if he was dreaming he’d fight the person who even attempted to wake him up. Running through the city in red lion, he dodged buildings and flung any sizable groups of the 9th or wade-bots he saw in his way.
“Daniel!” Lance called out, “I know you’re having fun bud, but we’re here to help remember, look there’s some Arusian forces taking a beating over here,”
Looking at the new waypoint on the monitor next to him, Daniel quickly made his way over and picked up the 9th tank he saw with red’s jaw, only to throw it to the outskirts of the city. Lance sighed, he knew asking Daniel to pilot was a risk, and with how much fun he’s having, he needed to be reeled in more often than not.
“Didja see how far that thing went? That was awesome!!” Daniel practically squealed. The lions were unlike any of the sims he got in and to him, they were even better.
“C’mon kiddo, let’s focus. We’ve got more trash to take out,”
Flying off, Daniel looked around for any more things to crush, toss, or send running. It disappointed him to see things calming down, especially around the other lions, but Daniel kept his mouth shut about it. Then Vince patched through to give everyone an update,
“Guys! It looks like the 9th is pulling back!” he said happily, “A lot of those wade-bots got taken out during the fights, so Wade’s doing the same!”
“Thank the Gods,” Allura breathed, “It doesn’t look like they damaged the city too much, but we’re certainly going to take time to rebuild,”
In blue lion, she made her way over to red, with yellow and green not too far behind. All four of them were still surveying the area, sometimes landing to dig out any tanks or vehicles, both Arusian and Garrison, that were stuck.
“If everything looks good out there, head back to the castle, we’re going to get really busy soon,” Keith said, “and can two of you pick us up, I’m not sure if Larmina has enough energy to walk”
“Hey!” came a distant shout from her over the comms, “I can walk just fine, thank you!”
Allura laughed, following the green lion who had a head start, “Pidge and I are on our way!”
-
Allura and Larmina walked out onto the balcony facing a large crowd of people. As they’re noticed, the crowd gets loud, all of them asking questions about what just happened. The princess, still in her blue uniform, put up her hand to ask for silence and once it was quiet, she began,
“People of Arus, what you saw today was no mistake. The Voltron lions are once again active and will help protect our home with the pilots in tow. The Galaxy Alliance does not agree with this decision to bring them back, but after what happened here today, what you all should have never experienced again, the attack from the 9th kingdom shows we need their help.”
At that, the crowd roared with life once more, frantic energy all around, obviously desperate for answers. Allura once again held her hand up to quiet them down.
“As your crown princess, I have decided to keep the lions active in order to prepare for this threat, and if I have to go through the Alliance in order to help protect you, then I will do so proudly. The Voltron Force hopes to have your support, just as they will support you!”
The crowd livened up for an ultimate time, much of it giving exactly what she asked for, but with a tinge of uncertainty. They were supposed to be safe, yet the thought of Voltron and the Garrison at odds was more than worrying.
-
A newsreel reporting on the events earlier played in the background as Pidge finished flagging all Garrison ships and adding the new 9th ships as enemies,
“With the Voltron Force pilots now labelled as fugitives, the Garrison has made it a priority to hunt them down,” said the host, “However, as Crown Princess Allura of Arus is protecting them under royal decree, there’s not much the Alliance can do as they are not allowed to step on interplanetary rulings”
Pidge tsked, annoyed about the whole thing, “The Alliance never steps in until it’s basically too late anyway,”
“From what I remember, they’re not very good at deciding until a decision is made for them,” added a new voice, coming from a call through castle comms, “Luckily I’ll be home in a few days time, I can help Allura with all the paperwork she’s going to get because of this”
“That’s good,” he replied, “Something tells me we’re going to need all the help we can get”
-
“Excellent performance, sir,” another unnamed voice began, “With this done, I think we can leave it up to you now,”
The voice, belonging to a squid-like man, turned to look at a tube filled with a purple liquid next to him, even he had to admit it was an eerie sight, especially with the bones slowly bobbing inside,
“I have important projects, you know,” he laughed slightly, excited to finally focus on the real task at hand,
Wade huffed from the other side of the screen, “There was no reason for your sorry lot to step in. I had them handled! But your unnecessary distraction let them escape!”
“Now, now Skymarshall, we both know the lions would not have come out just for little old you, they needed to be taunted~,”, the squid said dismissively, “Besides, you have free rein now, so do as you see fit, the 9th kingdom sends their well-wishes”
He ended the call, leaving Wade to wonder if he even needed their help. A soft ping from a new notification catches his attention, and he walked out of his office to start the next step in his plan.
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