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Earth Attacked!
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The following is a story of Voltron I made up based on the T.V. cartoon Voltron by World Events Productions. I did not have World Events Productions' permission to do the story and therefore it does not have World Events Productions' endorsement.
A castle alarm sounded and the Voltron force, including Tammy, all bolted from wherever they happened to be to get to Castle Control.
“Coran, what’s wrong?” asked Keith as he stopped beside and just behind Coran in front of the main view screen. The rest of the team was assembled with Keith before Coran answered.
“Your Majesty, my Queen,” Coran acknowledged both Keith and Allura. “We have received a distress call from Earth.
“Earth!” exclaimed Allura at the same time the rest of the team made sounds and said words of astonishment. “Keith, that’s your home planet.”
Coran fully activated the view screen and the face of an admiral from Earth was in full view.
“Commander Keith,” said the man.
“Admiral,” acknowledged Keith.
“It’s my duty to inform you that Earth is in need of defense by the Voltron force.”
“Why us? Why not Vehicle Voltron? Aren’t they closer?”
“Actually they couldn’t get here much faster than you could at this time. And the reason we need Lion Voltron is because the approaching attack is from Planet Doom.”
“Whah!” exclaimed Pidge.
“Oh no,” said Allura quietly aloud in a tone of dread.
“You are the Voltron force most familiar with their tactics,” continued the admiral.
“Admiral, it does sound like they are going to attack Earth, but we will not travel that far and leave Arus undefended.”
“Keith, it’s Earth,” interrupted Allura. “That’s your home planet. Who knows what Planet Doom has in its plans. Earth might even be destroyed if we don’t defend it.”
“Allura, this is your decision, too. Don’t let your feelings interfere with good judgment. Planet Doom may have no real plan of attack on Earth at all. It could all be a decoy to lure us away form Arus and while we’re gone it will be Arus that’s destroyed.”
“Commander Keith, you have no choice. You are ordered by the Galaxy Alliance to protect Earth,” broke in the admiral.
Keith’s face was as stone as he unwaveringly glared at the admiral. From his eyes, his friends could see the anger seething inside of him. Then Keith replied, “As King of Arus my priority is the safety of this planet and my people. I will follow no orders that put Arus in jeopardy.”
Everyone was shocked at the insubordination implied by Keith’s answer. Then Allura centered herself in front of the view monitor with Keith still in plain sight and she said, “I’m appalled that the Galaxy Alliance would think to use one of its members to force control over another planet’s defenses. As Queen of Arus, it’s even more appalling that it’s obvious they thought they could force such a decision without my approval. As rulers of Arus we will not leave our planet defenseless.”
“Sorry your Highness,” apologized the admiral. But then he cautiously shot back with the comment, “But I did think that Voltron was Defender of the Universe.”
That little bit of time during which Keith wasn’t involved in conversation allowed him the extra focus to think. Then he replied after the admiral’s last comment, “You’re right about Voltron, and there has to be a way to do both. There’s no time for debating so something has to be done and fast. You mentioned that Vehicle Voltron is far away from Earth at this time. Where are they?”
“They were on their way to Acura to retrieve and use some of the latest technology for creating energy without waste or pollution.”
“That’s the boundary between the Near and Far Universe. They aren’t that far from Arus and no closer to Earth than we are,” commented Keith. (Actually I don’t know where Acura and Arus would be relative to Earth’s location, but for this story the locations are as stated unless I discover otherwise).
“Commander, we need your help.”
“Allura,” said Keith turning to his wife. “What if Vehicle Voltron comes here?”
“I would trust them to defend Arus while we defended Earth.”
“Commander, that’s not a choice,” said the admiral. “Vehicle Voltron can’t have its mission interrupted.”
“Admiral, I must insist that you refer to me according to my highest title as King. As king I have no direct obligations to the Galaxy Alliance. My priorities are all in the best interests of Arus. And I will stick with those priorities even if it means disobeying direct orders upon my rank as Commander. Even if it means losing my military rank. And if that does happen, it won’t affect my life here or my skills as Captain of the Voltron force. Vehicle Voltron will defend Planet Arus, or Planet Earth will have no extra defense from us.” Keith started to feel his feelings strongly conflicting with his decision. His sister was on Earth and although logic told him that her chances of being hurt during an attack were virtually none, the fear of possibly losing her when he could have done something to save her was beginning to feel overwhelming. Still Keith clung to logic, despite his sudden distrust in the Alliance to make a good decision. It was up to them to make the decision that would assure the safety of Keith’s sister and the rest of the people of Planet Earth. He would not sacrifice the safety of Arus for that.
“Very well,” conceded the Admiral. “Right now I have the authority to order Vehicle Voltron to Arus. It will be done.”
“Then we’re on our way,” said Keith. “King Keith of Arus, out.” After the transmission ended, Keith said, “Coran, contact the Spaceship Explorer. I want to talk directly with Jeff before we go. Inform me when you have contact.” Then Keith swiftly with deliberate steps, left Castle Control. Allura followed, sensing how troubled Keith was. He stopped just outside the control room in the hallway. He needed at least a little time to himself to work out his thoughts.
Keith knew that even if he did talk directly with Jeff, he wouldn’t be satisfied that Arus would be protected until he had a chance to speak with Jeff again after the Vehicle Voltron force was on its way. Under the circumstances, he didn’t trust the Galaxy Alliance to stick to their word. He fully expected that they would recall Vehicle Voltron before it reached Arus, but after Lion Voltron was too far to return to Arus in time to offer any effective defense. It would force Lion Voltron as a team to continue on to defend Earth and only hope that Planet Doom had no plans to also attack Planet Arus. With that in mind, Keith knew the call to contact the Explorer was senseless: the people of the Explorer wouldn’t follow orders unless it came from Galaxy Garrison so it would be senseless to inform them of the next mission otherwise. And, he couldn’t give Jeff the personal message he needed to tell him because if Keith’s plans were known, Vehicle Voltron probably wouldn’t be allowed off the Explorer until the battle between Planet Earth and the forces of Doom had ended. No, Keith’s true reason for contacting the Explorer was because he needed at least a little time to himself to work out his thoughts.
“Keith, are you all right? I’ll leave you alone if you need me to,” said Allura.
“No, don’t leave. I need to apologize to you.”
“Apologize?” questioned Allura, shocked.
“I spoke on behalf of Planet Arus and made decisions regarding the welfare of Arus that should have been yours to make. For that I’m sorry.”
“Keith, you are King of Arus. It’s your place to make decisions. Besides that, they left you no choice. Galaxy Garrison didn’t address the request to me; they addressed it to you. I expected you to decide. If I disagreed with your decisions, I would have let you know. Yet I know you put the welfare of Arus first. But that’s not all that’s bothering you is it?”
“No, it isn’t. The very fact that I would put Arus before Earth betrays the honor I’ve pledged to my sister. First, I left saying that I was going to find our parents. Then I broke my pledge to return to Earth again someday by allowing Planet Arus to be my home. And now, I would have sacrificed Earth to ensure the safety of Arus. It all seems to be evidence that I am running away from the essence of our parents’ memory just as my sister said.”
“Keith, you know that’s not why you left Earth or why you’ve made any of the decisions you’ve made. Your conflicting feelings are interfering with your confidence.”
“I know,” replied Keith with a touch of despair in his tone.
“Your Majesty,” spoke Coran standing in their presence just outside Castle Control, “we’ve made contact with the Explorer.”
Keith and Allura followed Coran back. Commander Hawkins was on the view screen.
“Commander Hawkins,” greeted Keith. He had no thoughts that he maybe disrespecting Allura’s role as queen by assuming the leadership position. It came natural to him to confidently command in affairs dealing directly with the Alliance. He clearly knew what needed to be done and his mind was set on making sure the plans were carried out.
“King Keith . . . or shall I call you Commander?” Hawkins greeted back.
“Under the circumstances, you may refer to me by my title as King.”
“OK, your Majesty. What is this call regarding?”
“Planet Earth appears as though it will be under an imminent attack by Planet Doom.” Commander Hawkins was shocked to hear this but showed no expression of it and said nothing. Keith continued, “We’ve been assigned to defend Earth, but it leaves Planet Arus defenseless. Vehicle Voltron is to protect Arus until we’re back.”
“Your Majesty, we haven’t received orders from Galaxy Garrison.”
“Commander,” said an officer on the bridge. “We have a transmission from Galaxy Garrison.”
“That will be your orders,” said Keith.
“Then we will carry them out,” Commander Hawkins kindly assured him.
“Thank you, Commander. King Keith of Arus, out.”
The view screen went blank.
“Ahh, Keith,” began Lance, “you never did speak face to face with Jeff.
“I know, Lance,” Keith replied.
Except for Allura, Keith’s statement baffled the entire team. Each of them knew Keith must have a plan, but the call to the Explorer seemed like it would be senseless to any imaginable plan. Then they each soon put the contradiction out of their minds and allowed the trust they had for their leader to replace it.
Keith continued, “We don’t have time to waste. We need to leave now.”
“Let’s go Voltron Force!” announced the team except for Tammy who would not be going.
Then everyone ran to get to their perspective hangers.
“My Queen,” interjected Coran, and the team immediately stopped their run and looked at him, “you shouldn’t go. The planet shouldn’t be without both its leaders, and you’d be safer here.”
“Coran,” said Keith, “I can’t agree with you on that. The forces of Doom maybe counting on us doing exactly that. Even with Vehicle Voltron here, Allura would be safer defending herself in battle. And I’m leery that something may be planned to happen to her before Vehicle Voltron is here and before we could make it back.”
“Keith’s right, Coran,” agreed Allura.
“Then you must go,” conceded Coran.
Except for Allura, the team then proceeded to run to their perspective hangers that took them to the jet shuttles that brought them to the lions. The queen had paused and said, “Coran, Tammy, keep the planet safe.”
Coran nodded.
“Will do,” assured Tammy.
Then Allura sprinted for her hanger, only lagging a little behind the others.
“We need to get the Earth as soon as possible,” said Keith after all the lions had taken off. “Voltron is faster than the lions. Ready to form Voltron.”
The lions all got into formation.
“Activate interlocks,” commanded Keith, starting the sequence for forming Voltron, “dynatherms connected, infracells up, mega thrusters are go.”
“Let’s go Voltron force!” shouted the team.
“Form feet and legs,” continued Keith. “Form arms and body. And I’ll form the head.”
Then they were on their way with a direct course set for Earth. The journey was quiet. Allura was deep in thought over the safety of Arus while they would be gone, and even more so she was troubled by thoughts of how they would have sacrificed Earth to ensure the safety of Arus. It sickened her how close they had come to deciding exactly that. Because of Keith she felt a strong connection with Earth. She would have been guilt ridden if he would have had to sacrifice his home planet for the sake of Arus. She was thankful for the options for protecting both planets that become available.
Lance, Hunk and Pidge were each silently contemplating over what Keith’s plans might be. Their thoughts had returned to puzzling over the call to the Explorer, thinking that must be some clue to what his plans were. It was so senseless, but they each figured that it had to mean something.
Keith was focused on the next step of his plan. If Galaxy Garrison betrayed them at any point, Keith would call off the mission, return to Arus, and Planet Earth would be doomed to defend itself on its own. He hoped the officials would be wise enough to know better than to test him. But Keith didn’t want to sacrifice Earth. If it happened, Galaxy Garrison would be responsible for the consequences. But Keith wasn’t going to give them that responsibility. His plan was to make sure they couldn’t take control of the situation by dishonest means. His true hopes didn’t rely on trusting the Alliance’s control of decisions, but in Jeff’s integrity. If worse came to worse, Jeff was who he had to rely on. He couldn’t let Jeff know too soon though. The Voltron force had to be far enough along on their mission that there would be no possibility of forcing them to turn back. Vehicle Voltron would need to be far from the Explorer on its journey before Keith would let Jeff know. Although Keith trusted Marshall Graham implicitly, he sensed that he had little to do with what was going on. The biggest tip off was that Marshall Graham never would have directly authorized an order that would force Arus to defend Earth and leave itself defenseless. No, what Keith figured was that the Marshall had immersed himself in being directly involved with immobilizing all of Earth’s own defenses before the forces of Doom arrived, and that he had delegated the responsibility and authority to request assistance from any other planets in the Alliance to other high ranking officials. And it was them whom Keith didn’t trust.
As Voltron was coming near the “point of no return,” Keith decided to attempt contact with Vehicle Voltron.
“Pidge, try contacting Jeff with the Vehicle Voltron force,” Keith ordered.
“OK, Skipper,” answered Pidge. He hoped Vehicle Voltron was really on its way to Arus. A part of him feared that Galaxy Garrison hadn’t really given the Explorer the orders. After all, it was never confirmed what the message from Galaxy Garrison to the Explorer was. The easiest way Pidge could think of for contacting the Voltron force would be through his brother, Chip. Pidge calculated approximately where they would be and set up a transmission his brother couldn’t miss if they were there. Then he sent it. There was no immediate response to the transmission and Pidge’s fears that they weren’t there began to feel like reality. Then Chip suddenly came through on the transmission.
“Pidge?” questioned Chip.
“You bet it’s me,” answered Pidge. “I wish we had time to chitchat, but we don’t. I need you to patch this transmission through to Jeff so Keith can talk with him.”
“Will do,” said Chip, and the transmission with Chip went out with the transmission through to Jeff pending.
Pidge connected the transmission through to Keith.
“We’ve got contact!” conveyed Pidge triumphantly to Keith.
“Nice work, Pidge,” complemented Keith. "Patch him through."
Then Jeff appeared on Keith’s screen.
“Anything wrong, Captain?” asked Jeff.
“Not yet, Captain, and I aim to make sure that things stay that way,” answered Keith. “This contact is a matter of urgency. We’re nearing the point in our mission that if something happens on Arus, we wouldn’t be able to get back in time to do any good. Before we reach that point, Jeff, I need to know that we can count on Vehicle Voltron to protect Arus."
“Of course you can, Keith. That’s our mission.”
“You don’t understand. Your mission can be changed. If that happens, I need to know that I can count on you to disobey those orders and protect Arus until we’re back or at least close enough to being back that we can defend Arus ourselves.”
“Keith, I don’t foresee Galaxy Garrison changing our orders. But if it does happen, we will defend Arus anyway. You can count on it! We’re counting on you to defend Earth. I won’t allow any orders from Galaxy Garrison or even Space Marshall Graham himself to jeopardize that. I’d sacrifice my career for it.”
“I hope the rest of your team feels the same way.”
“There will be no backing out by my air team and I can’t imagine the other teams disobeying my orders.”
“Thank you, Captain. Captain Keith out.”
And so the Lion Voltron force flew on and had soon crossed “the point of no return.” Everyone felt uneasy when this happened, but at the same time they had a sense of confidence in Jeff and the rest of the Voltron force to do the right thing.
[Author -- Sheila Bliss, based on the previous creation of Voltron by World Events Productions]
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