New Beginnings: A Voltron Story

Chapter 4: Take Off

When Coran returned, he took the luggage from Lance and they started off once more. They were nearly to bay 3, but Lance noticed they weren't entering there. "Uh, Coran? Aren't we heading to bay 3?"

Coran shook his head and adjusted the luggage. "I received a transmission from the pilot of our shuttle. Apparently there were some complications and they had to move us to bay 2." He led them both through the sea of life forms, finally entering into bay 2. "Don't worry, we'll be in Altea soon."

"Ok."

They made their way towards a sleek Altean cargo ship. It wasn't very large, but the undercarriage seemed to hold a lot. A long ramp branched from the ground and into the open door on the ship. Lance paused by the ramp with Coran.

"Well, up you go." Coran gestured towards the ramp.

"What about you?"

Sighing, Coran set down the luggage. "I've got to store your luggage in the undercarriage. I'll meet you up there."

Lance couldn't help but feel like something was off, but his headache pounded and he figured that was messing with his judgment. "Alright. Is it only the pilot on board?"

"And one engineer."

He took a shaky breath, nodding before he ascended the ramp. Man, his limbs felt like lead and his cheeks were super heated. He could almost feel each stabbing flash of his marks, even though they were concealed from everyone else's eyes.

He numbly entered the doorway taking his first look inside the ship. None of it looked like the outside of the shuttle. The walls were a familiar purple shade, dim lights glowing from underneath. The hallway he entered was short, but had several doors along the wall.

His breath hitched, there was no way this was an Altean shuttle. Lance stepped backwards to scurry out, but was stopped by a heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned to see a tall Galran, covered in purple fur and a scar across his left eye. The Galra leaned down, lips close to his ear and whispered, "Welcome aboard."

Then he was out.

~*~

Sam Holt was having a phenomenal day. He had woken up, sun shining and a sense of peace. Overall, it was an amazing feeling.

He had gone to work, overseeing the science field and aircraft departures. Two vastly different tasks, yet similar information-wise. As he happily padded along the different launch bays, checking and approving ships to enter and exit, he whistled. What a great day.

A week ago his daughter's research had been stolen, and that was really rough for her. He had been by her side helping her out and trying to survey for the mole she had informed him about. With the breach in security, he and the garrison were doubling their efforts in keeping the area secure. He still had a job to do though, which left him in the launch bays all morning.

So it was no surprise that the first thing he did on break was enter the bathroom. He entered the room and nearly screeched in fear. A man was tied up and unconscious on the floor.

Sam reached for his communicator, paging security to come to his location as he scrambled over to the man. "Sir, everythin--" He stopped as he realized this was none other than Coran. Representative of Altea and close friend to the retired paladins of Voltron.

"Holy crow!" Sam exclaimed, looking at the now waking up Coran. "Coran, what happened?" He pulled the gag out of his mouth and began to untie the wrist restraints.

Coran shook his head, he was beginning to feel a large migraine. "Three scallywags came in and got the drop on me! And they stole my face!"

Finally he untied Coran's wrists and began on the ankles. What was Coran even saying? Whatever it was, he was attacked and they needed to find the culprit.

Five garrison security guards ran into the bathroom, guns out and ready to fire. When they saw the pair on the ground, they lowered their guns and saluted.

Sam put them at ease as he finished the final knot. "Coran was attacked by three individuals that we need to take into custody." He turned to Coran. "Do you know what they looked like, or what they were after?"

Rubbing his wrists, Coran jumped to his feet. "Two of them were large brutes, grey and scaley, kind of like a lizard. The third was Olkari, but he used some device to copy my face and make himself look like me." He moved his hands to his temple, sharp pains spiking. "I think they're after Lance."

"Lance? As in, Lance McClain?" Sam questioned. He didn't know that one of the paladins were coming in today.

"Yes. We must hurry and find him."

The guards immediately dashed out in search for the individuals. Sam led Coran outside of the bathroom and had him scan the crowds. "Oh no! He's not where I left him." Coran exclaimed. He was starting to feel more alert, his worry becoming more evident.

Sam turned on the receiver to security he had on his vest, urgently speaking. "This is Sam Holt. The Blue Paladin Lance McClain has gone missing, presumably taken by three individuals. Two are large grey Lizardmen and one Olkari. Initiate procedure 224, no one leaves this place unless I give the say-so."

Yellow lights began to flash within every bay, a voice speaking over the comms. "This is not a drill~ Three hostile individuals have been detected. Please calmly head towards the nearest security kiosks while garrison forces search the area. All flights will be delayed until further notice." People and aliens alike looked increasingly worried as they rushed to the nearest kiosk, while other look seriously inconvenienced.

The voice continued, "Blue Paladin Lance McClain is to report immediately to garrison officials." The people began to mutter, 'one of the paladins are here?' or 'what could be happening?'. No one could understand the seriousness of the situation.

The bay doors began to slowly close at this point. No one could leave until Lance was found. That is, until they did.

A ship in bay 2 began to lift off the ground, landing gears folding in. It looked like an old Altean cargo ship. Security swarmed into the bay, shouting for the spacecraft to land. When ignored the soldiers began to fire at the ship, people screaming out in terror.

The spacecraft seemed unharmed, but the image of the cargo ship dropped, and suddenly everyone was slack-jawed as they stared at a small Galran cruiser ship.

More shooting.

More screams.

More sirens.

"Please evacuate the ship bays in an orderly fashion." The voice calmly stated over the screams of terror. The back doors opened to reveal emergency exits that people charged into. It was not orderly.

Coran tried to run towards the Galran cruiser, but Sam held him back. "Lance must be on that ship. We need to get him!"

"We need to evacuate." Sam strained to be heard over the escalating noise. They struggled to watch as the ship shot forward, the bay doors nearly closed. "They won't be able to get out of here."

Then as if the gods of irony were watching, the ship shot an ion blast towards the doors, wrenching it open.

Coran turned to Sam with a glare that would scare off a Weblum. "You were saying?"

The ship flew through the open hole and towards the Teladuv.

"Send the MFE's out along with every available fighter." Sam yelled into his communicator, while leading Coran towards the command center. "Stop that cruiser, but use caution. They have hostages." They ran up the steps, nearly tripping over himself. "And someone shut down that Teladuv!"

~~~~~~

Ooh! Things are getting a bit dicey~