(From Ashes) Chapter 22

         Pride: From Ashes
            Chapter 22
            Only Begun

It had not taken the lion pilots long to notice they were being watched—which raised questions on its own, some perhaps even more urgent than all the questions raised by what had just happened. The most urgent question of all, though, Lance came up with pretty quickly.

"So uh, any ideas on how we de-Voltron?"

Keith felt like that should be easy enough, and continued to feel that way for about the first twenty seconds as he looked over his controls. Nothing was jumping out. "Um, not really?"

"Hit a button?" Sven suggested.

"Unswitch the switches?" Hunk was looking at the toggles and the status lights, but his mind was protesting the idea. It seemed like Yellow breaking formation right now would just end with the others in the dirt. "Might suck for you guys up top though."

His lion was clearly amused. "You're overthinking it, Earthwarder."

You know, YOU didn't want me to be Big Dumb Hunk anymore.

The lion outright laughed.

Pidge snorted; he didn't think Hunk's concern was unreasonable. "Yes, some altitude might be helpful before we attempt anything." He heard Green snickering, and didn't even bother scolding her.

Red was chuckling too, and Lance rolled his eyes. One particular formation switch was still drawing his attention. Still want to know, what the fuck is a megathruster.

Though everything everyone had said so far made sense, Sven couldn't help wishing they had an actual instruction manual. Navigation was nice that way. Math was nice that way. Blue was certainly the opposite of math… not least because math had never laughed at him in his brain while he puzzled over it.

Keith also couldn't help feeling like they were overthinking it; Black Lion purred. "Perhaps a bit, Stormsoul. Once everything is disengaged, we will reverse what was done. Though my sister's cub is wise, some altitude will ease the process."

Blinking, Keith thought back to the formation. The inputs had seemed pretty front-loaded. Of course it's that simple. "Alright, team. Black says we just need to switch off what we switched on before, and it should disengage."

"Somethin' with the lions is actually easy and makes sense?" Hunk flipped his toggles off, still half expecting Yellow to disengage and drop the rest of Voltron on its ass, but all that really happened was a faint glow gathering outside the cockpit. "Huh, who'da thought."

"De chyle."

"Not really clear on what I switched on before, but okay."

One by one, Voltron's parts took on a muted glow as their pilots flipped the necessary switches. Then the robot sprang into the sky again, disassembling in a wash of silvery energy, and each lion snapped back into their normal form with a sharp jolt.

"…That went faster than I expected."

"And we're a lion again, just like that."

"Huh. Good to know!"

Keith rubbed his forehead, mostly to make sure this all hadn't been some fever dream after a hard combat hit. Nothing changed, except his eyes glowed brighter for a moment. "Damn. That is wild." He took another couple of breaths, then looked at the meadow below. "Let's set down, because… I think we need to discuss a few things."

"Understatement, boss." Lance landed Red in the grass and stood, starting for the hatch. His gaze lingered on the back seat, and he felt the now-familiar purr, Red warning him to exercise patience. Yeah, yeah. It's not a strong suit. Shaking his head, he climbed from the lion's jaws; it felt weird to be on solid ground again after, well, that.

Blue landed next to him, and Sven climbed out wordlessly. He really wasn't certain what to say right now, beyond holy shit, which he felt had been sufficiently covered. So he leaned against his lion's jaw and exhaled slowly, letting his muscles release some tension. Quite a lot of tension, truthfully.

Pidge didn't go far from Green after landing either. "We should stay on alert, kir sa tye?" He looked back at where the Drule fleet had vanished. "Doesn't seem likely they'll want a second round, but…"

"Yes," Keith agreed as he jumped to the ground. "We don't know what backup they might have had nearby."

Yellow was the last to land, and Hunk couldn't help but notice the others had a lot less work to do to get over their lions' lower jaws than he did. He was okay with it, he supposed… Yellow gave another amused purr in response.

Landing had given the others time to reach the meadow, and they were pretty much just within earshot when Daniel couldn't hold back the yell any longer.

"That was fucking awesome!"

A huge grin spread over Lance's face. "Fucking awesome as fucking hell!"

"Hell yeah, bro!"

Skidding to a halt in the grass, Vince shook his head. Not that he was going to yell it to the entire meadow, but he couldn't help but agree. Because really.

Keith raised an eyebrow as they gathered. The rest of his team being there didn't entirely surprise him, he supposed. Actually, Allura being there might not surprise him either, but it didn't seem like the best way to preserve the ruling family—let alone Larmina having come along too. "Were you all out here the entire time? I thought you were in the shelters?"

Vince felt his ears burning. "We uh, we needed…" What was he doing trying to explain it? He'd thought it was mad. He still kind of thought it had been mad.

Of course, Daniel had no such trouble. "We were. And then we weren't."

"That is how leaving a place tends to work," Pidge said dryly.

"I know that, but the commander seemed a little confused."

"Crazy people ran out," Larmina explained, gesturing to the others. "I came so they wouldn't hurt themselves." Yep. That's it. That was the reason.

Looking at her niece and smiling faintly, Allura turned to look at Black Lion. "We had to see," she said simply. There were still a few tears welling in her eyes, and the lion growled softly.

"All is well, royal cub." She startled a little; his voice felt stronger than ever. "Do not cry."

The princess' smile widened a little. "I'm just so happy, Lion of Storms," she murmured. "To see this… to see everything we've been searching for, and more." She reached up and flicked one tear from her cheek, feeling a faint static sting as she did so.

Noting that Allura seemed a bit preoccupied—and unable to blame her, at that—Romelle looked back at Keith, then ran her gaze over the others. "I think Daniel and Vince were a bit worried about all of you." I know I was. Vince shot her a quick side-eye at that, and she smiled back; he nodded his understanding.

"Aww, kid. You didn't have to worry about me." Lance was sounding an awful lot more confident than he had over the comms, and Daniel gave him a look too. He offered his cockiest smirk and a wink. Thanks, though.

"Nothin' to worry about, little dudes," Hunk agreed with a grin. "We totally had that. You know, after we totally didn't."

"It was pretty dicey," Vince agreed, and Keith grimaced.

"We'll get better."

Recovering from Lance's obvious nonsense, Daniel smirked back. "Bullshit, of course you guys had that. I just wanted to see the awesomeness in person." Now Vince side-eyed him, too.

"And it was fucking awesome, can't w—" Lance shut his trap even without being cautioned by Red this time.

"As my brother would tell you, patience is a virtue."

Good thing I'm not bonded to him then! It is so fucking not a virtue, it's irritating. This was definitely like the tunnels. How long do I have to wait?

"Longer than you wish. Less than you fear."

…That was not an answer at all.

Noting Lance's abrupt silence and arguing-with-a-lion expression, Pidge stepped in a little closer and looked at Allura and Romelle. They were theoretically the two who had known the most about these lions to begin with, but… "Nobody knew the lions could do that, kir sa tye?"

Romelle shook her head. "No, Pidge… I didn't, at least. I only knew what was told on Pollux, that Voltron was a single robot." She could imagine, easily, how it would've gotten lost in the retellings. The nature of Voltron had not been the point of the tales—the stubborn foolishness of Arus and the certain reckoning of the Galra, those were the key. The true nature of the Lord of Lions was not the concern of those who'd wanted it gone.

"I have only known of them as the five lions," Allura agreed, looking around at each of them and trying to see the signs. But the majestic felines gave little hint of what they could become… there had been nothing but that single fragment of a story.

We become Voltron.

Had it truly been the only clue? She wondered what more her father's notes and gathered legends might reveal, in light of what they now knew.

Nodding slowly—he'd expected those answers, but felt it should be asked anyway—Pidge felt Green's low purr running down his spine. "Much is still missing. But it is begun."

Yeah, you said… his eyes flared green, and he snapped his head back to glower at his lion. Wasn't that supposed to stop just randomly happening?!

"When the bonds are stable," she answered with a knowing purr.

Larmina twitched as a faint wind brushed by her, a pinprick spike of pain briefly flashing across her cheeks. She shook her head, trying to throw it off. "Okay. So. Great Lions turn into a giant robot person named Voltron that melts Drule ships like the… something melty." And we had none of this to help us during the first attack, for reasons. "That sum it up?"

"What we know right now, anyway," Pidge muttered. Summarizing the lions had yet to be anything but a failed endeavor—and he was pretty sure he'd just been promised that would continue.

"We did make with the melty," Lance agreed, exchanging a smirk and a quick high-five with Hunk.

"Blew 'em like a popsicle stand!"

Sven rolled his eyes affectionately, but his expression became serious as he looked to the sky. It still felt like everything had changed with Voltron's formation… but everything had been changing pretty rapidly before then, too. "So what do we do now?"

"We'll need to do more drills, for one thing." Keith crossed his arms. "We all know it could have gone far worse today. The Drules won't give up, and now they know what we have… this is only the beginning. We have to be ready for anything."

…Honestly should have expected he'd say that. His second shrugged and nodded; it was extremely Keith, but it wasn't wrong by any means.

Lance wrinkled his nose. He knew it was right too, but… "Couldn't we bask in our awesomeness a little bit longer before we talk drills?"

The commander chuckled. "A little," he agreed, looking around the group. "We will need—I'd say we've earned—some time to rest before we get back at it. That was a lot. I'm proud of all of you."

Daniel theatrically rolled his eyes and mimed gagging; Larmina and even Vince snickered.

Something in that had hit Pidge like a punch to the gut, and he turned away to cover it. There were practical concerns, anyway. "The lions are damaged." Every one of them had visible gashes and cracks in their armor. "We'll need to figure out how to repair them."

That made Vince perk up; Keith looked from him to Pidge and Hunk, then nodded. "Think that's something you engineer types can handle?"

"Ain't a shortage of scrap around here." Hunk looked back at Yellow; the thought of using Arusian or Drule armor scraps on a lion felt silly, but just leaving holes there felt sillier. "Not as good as what they're built with, but better than nothin'. Tools might be a problem."

Pidge and Vince exchanged glances. "Might be." They had recovered some tank maintenance tools from the Radiant Fortress: half a dozen rivet guns, a couple of heavy jacks, and a single pinpoint welder.

One of those things would be useful.

Hunk turned his attention to Allura, who was watching the discussion with interest. "Princess, you said your pops," he snapped his mouth shut for a moment and blushed bright red, "I mean, uh, the King was maintaining 'em before, yeah? You know if any of his stuff's still around?"

Two blank looks from two princesses greeted him, and it was Romelle who actually asked the question. "What is… pops?" None of the contexts she knew that word in made any sense at all here.

Well, Hunk wasn't going to be blushing any less any time soon. "It's a word for dad," he explained with a sheepish shrug. "Common has lots."

She nodded slowly. "Common is strange." Both Pidge and Larmina nodded in agreement, mostly on principle.

Hunk didn't exactly disagree either, but snorted nonetheless. "Sister, you think Common English is crazy, you oughta see Jovian English." He'd worked on Ganymede for the better part of two years, and had almost understood the local dialect by the time he'd popped his CO in the jaw… frowning, he shook that off. "Uh, we were talkin' about fixing lions, yeah?"

He could practically feel Sven facepalming off to his side.

Thankfully, Vince stepped in to rescue him. "Did the King have a workshop, maybe?" A lion workshop could only be awesome.

Allura frowned and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "The lions have only stayed in their dens for… well, for as far as I know. Black Lion's has some sensor arrays, but I don't know if they're still functional." Other tools she was even less certain of; she couldn't recall her father ever saying anything about physical work on the lions. Though it seemed like there was at least an even chance he might have done so without mentioning it to her.

"Sensor arrays?" All three of the engineers seemed to find that very interesting.

"Did he learn anything from them?"

"Very little, I think." But sensors could hardly have told them what the Great Lions needed to awaken. "I intend to double check his notes, I'll see if he had anything more on them."

"That would be helpful," Keith agreed. "And if not… Hunk, Pidge, and Vince are smart. I'm sure they can figure out something, and the rest of us will do our part to help."

Pidge nodded. "We'll make it work, sir." Vince nodded too; behind them, Daniel made a face. Had he just been volunteered to help fix lions? They did not want him trying to help fix lions.

His attention was drawn away by a small nudge from Larmina, who was pointing back at the foothills. A familiar silver-haired woman was approaching them from the tunnels. "Bet she's going to curse more."

Daniel blinked, then snorted and whispered back. "There's a lot to curse about."

Truthfully, Sarial wasn't planning to curse, though it wasn't for lack of wanting. Along with about half the militia, she'd kept eyes on the battle from elsewhere. Unlike the rest of the militia, she'd returned to the shelter only to be immediately dispatched by Lord Coran for a new task: figuring out where exactly the Princess had gone, preferably before Lady Hys ruptured several vital arteries.

He'd have done it himself, but someone had to stop the governess from beating the guards with a broom.

"Captain."

"Yo, bosswoman."

"Captain Sarial, is all well?"

Nodding to the others, Sarial bowed her head towards Allura and spoke in Arusian. "Fair warning, Your Highness. Lord Coran and especially Lady Hys are… concerned about your leaving the shelter during a battle."

From Larmina's disappointed huff, Daniel could surmise it hadn't been profanity. From Romelle's wince, the others could gather it also wasn't great news.

Allura flushed; she had been thinking very little about pragmatism when she'd followed the others from the tunnels. "I see… I shall deal with that on my return." At least Coran was getting somewhat used to this by now, she thought. "I appreciate the warning."

"I thought you'd rather not be blindsided," Sarial said with a shrug; she was no confidant of the Princess, but she was highly placed enough in the shelters to have grasped the dynamics just fine. Looking around at the others, and then shooting a pointed look at the lions, she switched to Common. "Speaking of blindsided… what. Just what."

"Well put," Larmina snickered.

Lance's smirk had faded a bit as the captain arrived, and now it returned in full force. "We don't exactly know, but it's fucking amazing, isn't it?"

"Fucking awesome, right?" Daniel seconded.

"Its name's Voltron!" Hunk offered brightly, then frowned. "And uh, that's about all we've got."

Voltron. Sarial committed that to memory, then looked back to Allura and tilted her head. "Why does it feel like there's a lot of not knowing associated with the Great Lions?"

"There is," all three engineers answered in unison.

"That's the fucking truth," Lance agreed with a snort. Several of the others just laughed, and Sven rolled his eyes—but it was definitely an eyeroll of agreement.

Sighing, Allura nodded. "Much of the legends have been forgotten, and I fear many answers have been as well. But it seems some memories are being jogged loose. We can hope for that to continue."

Not even Keith had been able to fight down a chuckle, but he sobered quickly as Allura spoke. "We'll get it figured out. We will protect this planet."

On one hand, Sarial felt like all of that should worry her more than it did. On the other, they were doing well enough so far. So she slowly returned the nods; it wasn't like she could have done anything but worry, anyway. Aerial battles and defense against warships were rather outside her jurisdiction.

What was within her jurisdiction, though…

"The shelter is still locked down." She addressed the report to the Princess, but kept it in Common for the others' benefit. "We didn't want to lift it without command confirmation. I did authorize my people to admit a small Drule fleet had appeared and was being engaged—we had little choice, the rumors were getting out of hand." They had not gotten significantly less out of hand since the admission, to be fair, but they'd made an effort. It wasn't going to be enough. "Your Highness, the people need answers."

Sven gave a sympathetic grimace. He did not envy Allura having to try to explain this to her people.

Bowing her head slightly in acknowledgment, Allura took a few moments to sort through her thoughts. Part of her had always hoped she would first introduce her people to the Great Lions by leading them from the tunnels. The rest of her had known that wouldn't likely be feasible, and had planned accordingly. The moment finally arriving was still playing on her nerves. "Yes. Once we return, I will speak to the people." It hadn't seemed wise to do so without a true victory to announce. Now, they had that. It might ease things. "It may be difficult, but it is time they learned what's truly been going on."

Difficult. Lance tilted his head; he could see how the news might get mixed reactions. "Truth is probably better than rumors."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed, narrowing his eyes at Red. Slightly.

Again it was all Lance could do not to start telling some truth of his own.

Larmina made a face, her thoughts drifting to someone she resented even more than mythical lions. For that matter, someone who would probably resent mythical lions more than she did. "Yeah we don't want the High Priest having any say in this."

Looking between Larmina and Allura, Keith felt a bit of trepidation creeping up. Something in the younger royal's tone put him on edge… he took a half-step forward. "If you need us to stand by you, Princess, we will."

Allura looked at him and smiled softly. "Yes, please." It wasn't only the lions her people needed to know about—and perhaps equally important, it was time she introduced her people to them. "Thank you."

The others shot their commander more or less worried looks, but they didn't last long. All of them understood. Even Romelle didn't actually protest, and Keith exhaled slowly. He could hear Commander Crystal Spur running through his mind—or should it be Paladin of Honor now?

Black purred.

Though he hadn't protested either, Pidge wasn't eager for whatever this was going to entail, and there were other things he very much was eager for. Things that, from a purely practical perspective, were even more important than playing nice with the locals. "I don't think the Drules are coming back now, sir. We'll go in and see what we can do for the lions, until we're needed." Vince perked up again, and Hunk grinned and nodded.

Keith blinked; he'd almost forgotten they were just standing in a meadow. Right. "Alright, that sounds good. Let's get back to the dens."

*****

Stepping into Yellow Lion's den on Hunk and Pidge's heels, Vince's immediate thought was that it was incredibly impressive. The huge sandstone cavern—not to mention the great lion within it, which was even more formidable up close—nearly took his breath away, and definitely did make his jaw drop.

His second thought was that he wished they were a bit less impressive, or at least that he was resisting it a bit better. But they weren't and he wasn't. So he opted to just stick close to the others and hope that nothing would go too wrong.

He'd had less than a minute of hoping when something large swooped down from the ceiling, and a vulture landed next to him with a cheerful little squawk-squirk. "Gah!" He jumped back, nearly crashing into Pidge.

The bird seemed unfazed. So did the ninja. "It doesn't even have teeth, mechka."

"It's a vulture! It doesn't need teeth!"

"It uses firebombs," Hunk said helpfully, causing them both to whirl on him; the vulture gave a squawk that actually sounded smug.

"…Oh, great. Maybe I should get a nice, rational fear of birds." Vince made a face. "Daniel might have some tips." Pidge turned his skeptical look from Hunk to him, and he shrugged; truthfully he was impressed he hadn't ended up with a lot of strange new phobias over the course of this mission. Especially lately.

Chuckling, Hunk approached one of the holes in Yellow's flank. It was maybe more of a dent—there was metal there still, but a good chunk of the plate had been blasted off. They'd decided to start with Yellow for precisely that reason. Hopefully, his heavier armor would give them a little more room for error as they figured out exactly what they were doing.

Really it was a wonder the lions had any armor left, given the volume of fire they'd taken.

"Okay, let's have a look, yeah?" He started to unload the supplies they'd brought: sheets of spare armor for the Drule tanks, both of the Falcon's blowtorches, and the salvaged point welder. He picked up the welder, looked at the roughly person-sized hole in the lion—a more normal-sized person than him, thankfully, but large enough—and shook his head. "We're gonna need a bigger torch."

"It worked for huge assault tanks?" Vince offered, then felt beady eyes on him and turned. A second vulture had hopped up to sit on his other side. "Um…" Okay, this was going to be a thing, he guessed. "Why me?"

Hunk eyed the vultures, then Yellow; he had suspicions, but only that, and his lion seemed in no hurry to confirm them. "Maybe they're just bein' friendly? I mean, they're not sayin' hi to the ninja but he probably smells like giant murder wolf."

"…They don't have noses either!" Pidge protested.

"DETAILS."

"Suppose I do look friendlier," Vince agreed, eyeing the ninja—who did, after all, look pretty ninja-y.

Pidge sighed. "Not a high bar," if mechka called him cute again he would not be held responsible for his actions, "but probably not wrong. Come on, if we're using that torch we need to get started."

"I think you're cute, Windseeker."

Oh, shut up.

Lifting a piece of metal to fit to the hole, Hunk shook his head. The Drule armor was dull iron, a sharp contrast against the lion's glossy yellow armor. "One of these things ain't like the other."

"By a lot," Vince agreed.

Yellow gave an amused growl. "And yet, Earthwarder, you know how swiftly things can change."

…Well THAT sounds ominous.

The Falcon's blowtorches weren't suitable for welding, but they did make cutting the metal much easier. Hunk glanced over at Pidge as they worked on trimming the armor sheet to fit, and tapped on Yellow's own plating. "This was fixin' itself in battle, wasn't it?"

"Seemed to be," Pidge agreed. "It looked like echo restructuring, but more responsive." Self-repairing armor, by way of echo restructuring, was the standard on Alliance warships. But that process tended to go in bursts, and required underlying equipment that probably wouldn't even fit on a lion.

"Wait, really?" Again, Vince found himself wishing the lions were a bit less impressive. And awesome. But then, they were letting him help with repairs even though he had nothing whatsoever to do with this… maybe he should just let himself enjoy it.

Soon enough, they had a custom-fit piece of scavenged enemy armor ready to go. And much as Hunk would've liked to do the welding himself, only one of them could probably hold the plate in place during the process. He looked at Vince, who still seemed a little nervous with vultures staring at him, and grinned. "You wanna do the honors, little dude?"

"Okey doke." Would using fire just make the vultures think he was one of them? Shrugging, Vince picked up the point welder, then looked at the armor again. "…I think in the future we will need a bigger torch," he admitted.

"No kiddin'." Hunk patted the metal. "Sorry about this, Yella Fella, but I'm holdin' you to when you told me repairs don't bother you!" The lion purred out loud; he nodded for Vince to go ahead and get started.

Vince had to recover from nearly jumping out of his skin, first… but if he couldn't have wiring to focus on, hopefully welding would be the next best thing.

It took a couple of tries to get the welder working—it was a Drule model, after all, he'd never used one before. But soon it sprang to life with a cheery hum, and he braced one hand against Yellow's armor as he angled the torch between the plates.

An odd wave of something washed over him. Not dizziness exactly. Maybe anti-dizziness. As the metal started to flow together, he was keenly aware of his feet planted firmly on the ground, anchored to the earth… oh no. Not more of that weirdness. He didn't need any more weirdness!

Pushing it away, with some effort, he focused on the blue-violet glow of the welder. Just focus on the fuzzy muffining task.

Hunk's eyes flared gold as he watched, and he scowled slightly. That better not be commentary on the repairs, Yella Fella.

Seeing it reflected in the armor, Vince had a very similar opinion. "Uh oh. Glowy eyes?"

When Yellow in fact didn't say anything about the repair process, his pilot sighed. "Yeah, uh. We were told that would stop happenin' once the bonds were stabilized. But it didn't."

"And why do you suppose that might be?"

He jumped, then looked down at Vince and the vultures again. Yes, he definitely had suspicions. Because they're not stable, and you cats are up to more stuff you're gonna be cryptic about?

Yellow's response wasn't a no.

"You guys did it, though." Blissfully unaware of the conversation going on next to him, Vince stretched up as far as he could; the plate went a bit further than he could reach. On his other side, Pidge found a few armor seams to use as handholds and scrambled up the lion's side. "I mean, you know, you… made Voltron?"

"Totes did," Hunk agreed. "I was a leg!" Then he frowned and looked back towards Yellow's head. "I mean, he was a leg. We were a leg? Look, legginess happened and it was way cooler than that makes it sound."

"It was pretty awesome."

Pidge snorted, accepting the torch from Vince and starting to weld the upper portion of the patch. "It was fascinating. What we needed was more questions, though, and Green won't answer any of them."

"You haven't even asked them," his lion protested.

Will you answer them when I do?

"If I can."

Not what I asked.

Green was quiet for a moment, then a resigned growl ran through the back of his mind. "You may be correct."

Taking the torch back, Vince just nodded. From all he'd heard, it didn't sound like the lions were the helpful sort when it came to questions…

Yellow Lion gave a short growl that sounded something like a huff, and he dropped the torch with a yelp. "What was that?" Just a coincidence. Not connected to what you just thought at all.

Hunk chuckled, though he did have the decency to shoot Yellow a look of reproach. "They growl sometimes, little dude. They're lions."

"Riiight…" He remembered when Hunk had not taken any of this nearly so in stride—it didn't take remembering back all that far. But maybe that was a good sign. Maybe even he would get used to this someday. "I knew that, just, you know. They're metal."

"Believe me, I know…" Now that sounded more like the big guy's normal take on lion weirdness.

Picking up the torch, Vince went back to the welding. "Yeah, I'm good not knowing any more."

"Good luck with that," Pidge muttered, jumping back to the ground.

"Why would I need luck with that?"

The ninja stared at him, opened his mouth… and immediately shut it, as Hunk gave him the best don't you dare look he could muster. Rolling his eyes, he stood back to spot the rest of the process; usually he'd have been enlisted to check the seal quality, but they didn't have the equipment. Watching would have to do.

Soon enough, the welding was complete, and a blob of dark iron was well and truly stuck to the lion's hull. Hunk took a few steps back and shook his head at their handiwork. "Looks ridiculous, but beats a hole, yeah?"

"It's a patch," Vince shrugged, "it'll hold. I think."

"Yeah. We can only patch it so long, though." The big engineer crossed his arms. "Gotta be some way we can fix it correctly, but I sure dunno how." The readings, or lack thereof, that they'd gotten from the armor scraps on their first mission were coming back to him. Even if they weren't on a bombed-out and isolated planet, they couldn't very well have ordered up some replacement plates of a material they couldn't even scan.

Yellow purred. "Come to my controls, Earthwarder. I can help with that predicament."

"Um." He blinked. "…I'm bein' summoned to the cockpit, you two keep an eye on things here?"

"Uh, alright?"

"Yessir." Pidge got another glare for that, but at least this one he knew he'd deserved.

Vince cracked a grin, though it faded as Hunk headed for the lion's jaws. "This is never gonna unweird, is it?"

"Oh, it'll stop being weird." Pidge sighed, and his eyes glowed briefly. "Then something else will start."

…That did sound about right.

As Hunk entered Yellow's cockpit, he too was taking note of the lion's back seat. Having been the first to bond, he was kind of used to not being able to tell the others things… and not being able to get a straight answer himself. It was still annoying, though. "Okay, I know there's no point askin' you what I really want to know, so what am I doin' here?"

In response, he was guided to a side panel that looked more like a breaker box than a piloting console. Lifting the cover, he found a diagram of the lion and a set of switches; these were clearly not a combat function. Nodding slowly, he found the one for the area they'd been patching and flipped it on.

Things outside of the lion hadn't let up, naturally. Hunk had barely left when one of the vultures hopped up and nudged Vince's shoulder with a squawk. Turning to it, he got his heart rate under control and shrugged helplessly. "Uh, yeah?"

It gave a decidedly cheerful-sounding screech.

…You are talking to a bird. "Why do I feel like it thinks I can speak vulture?"

Pidge was grinning; he couldn't help himself. Watching someone else make friends with the dangerous local wildlife was entertaining. "I think it just likes you."

"Joy."

"You'd prefer it didn't, vara sa tye?"

"I don't…" Looking the bird up and down, from its hooked beak to its armored talons, he decided he certainly didn't want it disliking him. "Why do I need a preference about a bird?"

"Well, it seems to have a preference about you—" He trailed off with a yelp of his own as the armor patch started humming. "Komora sa kye?"

Turning to look, Vince felt the den around him fading slightly. He was aware of the earth, the sand, the energy… it felt connected to him somehow, and he was trying to shake it off, but it felt almost like he'd fallen into a trance.

He was snapped out of it—partly—by Pidge, because the armor patch they'd just installed was glowing yellow. And he could've dealt with that, but he was also pretty certain Vince was glowing faintly silver. "No, seriously, what the hells?!" He was very aware of his hand on his knife, though it wasn't making him feel any better.

Shaking his head vigorously, Vince got his senses back enough to step away from the lion. He couldn't seem to look away. But he wasn't seeing anything, really. Only feeling and refusing to admit it.

"Anything new, wrenchies? Yellow said I oughta come back and—what the fuzzmuffins?" As Hunk came back around from the front, he stopped dead, but it wasn't because of the look Vince was giving his lion. The patch wasn't just glowing. The raised area of the weld seemed to be melting into the rest of armor, and the edges were slowly turning yellow.

"Ever increasing weirdness?" Vince managed to squeak out. He really wanted the focus to be on anything but whatever was happening to him right now.

Pidge, at least, was fully prepared to cooperate with that. "This isn't weird," he whispered, staring at the changes slowly creeping over the patch. "It's genius."

"Uh, does that mean you know what's goin' on? Because Yellow is just in my head feelin' smug." By way of response, the ninja approached and put a hand on the patch's edge; he jumped back as the sharp snap of an electric arc rang through the den. Hunk stared at him in disbelief; he could've predicted that touching the thing would go badly somehow. "Dude. Why?!"

"I was testing something. There's a charge going through, but it's not strong." Pidge couldn't look away either, though for an entirely different reason than Vince. "I think it's doing something like crysforging."

Hunk's eyes widened. Crysforging was a Kolaliri technology that they jealously guarded even from their allies. It was derived from echo restructuring—but where echo restructuring could only return a material to a previous state, crysforging could reshape it on a microstructural level. The Alliance did teach the basic theory, and this definitely wasn't quite the same thing… but they were watching grungy Drule tank plate becoming gleaming lion armor before their eyes. It was close enough. "That. Is. Awesome!"

Yellow was purring again. Smugly.

"The implications of this are…" Pidge trailed off, shaking his head slowly. He didn't have the words in English. He wasn't positive he had them in Baltan. What he did have was an intense appreciation for whatever strategic concerns had called for such a system in the first place—and an equally intense desire to start studying it as soon as possible.

"Are totally kickass?"

"…We can go with that."

Both of them realized at the same time that Vince was not geeking out with them. Frowning, Hunk turned to find him with a worryingly glazed-over expression. "Uh, little dude, you okay?"

Blink. "Fine." He tried again to shake off the trance; he'd heard the entire discussion, and he even thought it made sense. But it felt somewhere far away. "Perfectly. Fine."

"Are you certain of that, cub?"

Vince froze.

No way.

Had he just…?

Hunk's voice sounded distant. "You uh… you don't look fine. Baldies, give 'im some space, yeah?" The vultures retreated with short, concerned screeches; he hadn't even noticed they'd been flanking him again.

Pidge moved closer, and even if he hadn't been visibly worried, it came across loud and clear when he spoke. "Vince?"

"I'm good," he insisted. "Real good." Totally did not just hear a very deep scary voice in my head. Nope.

"What are you hiding from?"

Or maybe he had.

No. He was going to ignore it. No. It was not going to be ignored. No. He felt energy gathering, and it was familiar and not at the same time… "NOPE!" Sparks flashed from his hands and blasted into the dirt at his feet, sending chunks of sand and stone flying.

"Whoa! Easy, little dude—" Hunk started forward, then stopped, looking at the glowing armor patch. "—uh, lemme go turn that off." He ran for the cockpit, trusting Pidge to take care of the rest.

It would occur to him later that trusting Pidge with a sparking Vince was, to put it mildly, something new.

Somehow he didn't think the patch was precisely the problem here, and Yellow confirmed it as he vaulted over the lion's jaw. "That will not fix the cub's issue, Earthwarder. Though the system should be disabled before you attempt to patch any further holes."

Skidding to a halt in the cockpit, Hunk gave the consoles a very unamused look. "I was gonna start yelling things you'd tell me he shouldn't hear yet if I didn't get outta there, Yella Fella, what did you do?!"

The lion growled softly, and he knew he wouldn't be getting an answer even before he spoke.

"The Earth remains patient."

Well hell.

Outside, the armor patch stopped glowing, but Vince was still just staring at his hands. That had definitely felt different. Different, familiar, connected… nope. More nope. He wasn't—

What are you hiding from?

He wasn't hiding from anything! This had nothing to do with him, it couldn't, there was more than enough going on with him already to keep him occupied! The lions had their pilots, he didn't need scary voices in his head too!

Sparks were gathering in his hands again. He needed to calm down, to breathe, but that was definitely not going to be a thing while he was standing here. In the lion's den, next to the lion's hull, being stared at by the lion's pet vultures.

Nope, nope, nope.

Pidge was staring at him too; he had a hand on his knife again, but that was twice he'd suppressed the reflex to actually draw the thing. Flynn would be proud of that, he hoped… and he still had a standing order to fulfill. Though it wasn't entirely that order that drove his next words.

He knew the look on Vince's face all too well.

"Go on! I'll cover for you."

Blinking as the ninja's voice broke through his own internal panic, Vince fought down the sparks with all the strength he had left. And with a quick nod of gratitude, he ran for the exit.

This is not how I was hoping for repairing awesome robot lions to go!

*****

Daniel had volunteered to lead the team down to the shelter. He'd been back and forth the most from the tunnels, and all the grief his injured arm had caused might as well be useful somehow. For that matter, considering the circumstances when they'd fled down there earlier, he kind of doubted Romelle or Vince would be able to find their way back at all.

When the engineers turned up, Vince looked distracted enough that he felt even better about that guess.

"Repairs didn't go well?" Keith asked worriedly.

Hunk gave a sympathetic grimace. "Better than you'd think, but there was some sparkage."

"I'm fine," Vince said quickly.

No doubt. Keith didn't believe that for a second, but they also didn't have time to challenge it right now… trust your team. "Alright. As long as you have it under control." As the others arrived, he nodded to Daniel. "Let's go."

The path to the underground shelter started out very dark; even when it was open, the trapdoor leading into the tunnels just looked like a shadowy part of the room it was hidden in. Until, of course, they'd stepped into those shadows and wound up on a long stairway instead. That darkness was presumably an intentional security measure, because it took just one turn at the bottom of the steps to bring a distant light into view. Another minute of following that, and they were in a relatively spacious main tunnel with several smaller offshoots on the sides.

It was impressive for what it was, Pidge decided. Whoever had built the place had carved out something much more complex than a simple cave; the walls were rough stone, but mostly clean and dry. But no matter how impressive it might be, for a shelter, the air was too still… it gave him a creepy feeling.

Lance was getting a much creepier one. The descent into the tunnels had given him bad deja vu, and the shadowy underground paths weren't causing much less of it. He could imagine what it must have been like down here during the attacks, the terrifying blindness as explosions roared above… the thought of how long the Arusians had been forced to hide down here was both painful and infuriating.

Romelle was sticking closer to Sven, tugging her jacket tight around herself. Seeing what the people of Arus had been through was never going to get easier… no amount of old grudges could make it so. The navigator gave her an understanding look, and shook his head at the tunnels.

Vince was just as happy to be distracted. He'd been preoccupied the first time he'd followed these paths, and that habit continuing was perfectly fine. Just like he was. Perfectly. Fine.

Even Hunk was on edge, and he felt like he was supposed to like this. To be fair, it would've been pretty cool if it were just an innocent tunnel network. But it wasn't that, and people weren't supposed to live in the dirt like this… uh, no offense, Yellow.

"You are not wrong," the lion growled. "The Earth claims the dead, not the living."

Despite volunteering for guide duty, Daniel really didn't like it down here. In fact, he'd have gone so far as to say he hated it. The absolutely glaring discomfort radiating from the others didn't help much; the times he'd followed Captain Sarial down here, she'd at least been businesslike about the whole thing. He was about to try to blurt something ill-considered out to break the silence when Keith broke it instead.

"I think the light is coming from up ahead. We must be close."

Lance snorted. "Ah, it's the light at the end of the tunnel!"

This time Sven's headshake was amused, and he noted with extra amusement that Romelle gave an affectionate eyeroll worthy of, well… himself.

"That seems a little on the nose just now, yeah?" Hunk muttered.

"Yeah, but…" The pilot made a face. He was trying to distract himself from bad memories, despite how determined they were to outright smack him in the face. Red, thanks for bringing those to the surface.

The lion's warmth curled around him, and he reminded himself to breathe.

A slight jog in the tunnel brought them to what looked like a set of blast doors; they were open, with a couple of the militia standing guard. Daniel recognized Hanso and Allendar and exchanged grins with them. No way that personnel choice had been a coincidence. Allendar nodded them in, and through the heavy doors, a last turn brought them into the main cavern.

Keith froze briefly in the entryway. "Wow…" Then he got his composure back, and quickly stepped aside to let the others in.

The main shelter was huge. Easily the equal of a good-sized stadium, with high ceilings that appeared to have a rudimentary ventilation system built in. Clearly, no reasonable effort had been spared to keep the place from feeling cramped.

It may have worked too well.

Most of the people were huddled in small clusters on the floor, while others wandered along paths marked in the stone. A lot of the refugees had built themselves partitions, little shelters-within-a-shelter of gathered brushwood and debris from the surface. Many others hadn't, with threadbare blankets and small, neat supply caches simply kept close. It was remarkably orderly—Keith could easily imagine humans descending into chaos in such conditions. He couldn't tell how many people there really were, but they all seemed so small and vulnerable with the cavern walls looming around them.

"These poor people…" He clenched his fists as he looked around, unable to muster more than a whisper. "They deserve better."

"They do," Lance agreed fiercely. They belong in their homes.

"They shall rise once more, Stormsoul." Keith startled a little; Black Lion spoke calmly, but his voice seemed weighted with the full gravity of what they were seeing. "With your help."

Yes. They had to believe that.

Romelle took one look around the cavern, then attempted to disappear behind Hunk and Sven. Neither objected; the navigator especially felt it was pretty much an art form at this point.

Few if any of the Arusians seemed to be paying the cavern entrance any mind. They must be used to the comings and goings of the guards and militia, Keith decided. It was probably for the best right now. Motioning for the team to follow, he retreated into the shadows of the blast doors. They were surely better off just waiting for Allura, rather than risk causing a scene.

Someone had noticed them, however.

Nanny had read her dear princess quite the riot act upon her return; running off while the shelters were locked down? During a confirmed Drule attack? She had her thoughts as to why Allura would do such a thing, of course. These troublemakers—these hooligans—were a terrible, dangerous influence! But the Princess had listened patiently to her scolding, then promised all would be explained very soon. Within the day, in fact.

Armed with that promise, the governess had thrown all her effort into her own project. It had nearly been completed anyway, and clearly it was urgently needed. She'd asked a guard to report if any strangers arrived to the shelter, and when he reported she was off with a purpose.

A flurry of motion caught Keith's eye. Someone was rushing in their direction from one of the side chambers: a dignified-looking woman with an armful of small… books? Reflexively, he stepped slightly ahead of his team, drawing everyone's attention to the approaching Arusian in the process.

Oh no. Sven rubbed his forehead and steeled himself for whatever was about to happen, because he had to imagine it wouldn't be good.

Vince straightened a little, Pidge considered a proper ninja disappearance, and Lance groaned under his breath. "Great, it's the 1950s woman."

Keith had a moment to catch that and try to make sense of it before the woman arrived in front of them, and somehow pulled off a perfect curtsy despite carrying an armload of books. Her eyes darted over him appraisingly as she straightened. "You must be the leader of these…" A pause, and she cleared her throat. "…Of our esteemed guests, I trust?"

Briefly considering a salute, he opted for a formal bow instead. "I am, ma'am."

"She didn't even say 'hooligan' and I heard 'hooligan'," Hunk whispered, and Lance smirked. Then he stepped forward, flashing a bright smile.

"Lady Hys, it's lovely to see you."

Nanny had been about to scold their leader for not taking the invitation to introduce himself. When Lance spoke up she decided to cut her losses instead. "Mr. McClain. Mr… Pidge. Mr. Hayes." That one she'd said a bit more approvingly.

"Ma'am." Vince was honestly much happier dealing with the overbearing manners lady than he was thinking about scary lion voices.

Gracing him with a warm smile, she put the last one off as long as she properly could. Then, through gritted teeth, "Lieutenant Holgersson."

Sven smiled. "Lady Hys, are you well?" She answered with a very proper glare, and Lance eyed the Viking with respect; he would have to ask what the fuck he'd done later.

Just the tone of her voice told Keith plenty, and he allowed himself a brief grimace. "I see you've met several of us, then. I hope my team hasn't given you all too much of a difficult time." That got him a halfhearted glower from Daniel, who would've liked to be offended by his lack of faith, but was honestly just happy to mostly be managing at least the bossman's expectations. "I'm Commander Keith Kogane."

She curtsied again. "I am Lady Nandara Hys, royal governess and matron of the Castle of Lions. I fear I haven't met the rest of your… fine… companions."

Nod. "This is Specialist Hunk Garrett, Cadet Daniel Brennan, and… Romelle." He lowered his voice. "She'd rather remain as anonymous as possible."

Peeking out from behind Hunk, Romelle gave the best curtsy she could muster in her scavenged jumpsuit. Lady Hys responded with precisely the look of distress she'd have expected, and she quickly went back into hiding.

Truthfully, Nanny could not decide whether she wanted to scold that that was no way to introduce a princess, or just scurry as far from the Polluxian as she could. Perhaps she could grant the other woman's wish to stay anonymous, and it would be better for both of them. "A pleasure, of course. Allow me to formally welcome you all to Arus, though I know you are not exactly newly arrived."

It was definitely best if he kept doing the talking, Keith decided. "Thank you for the warm welcome all the same, ma'am. You've all been very accommodating."

It would have been absolutely unacceptable to scoff at that, so Nanny heroically resisted. Too accommodating, I'd argue. But perhaps it would make more sense soon. And in the meantime, on the subject of accommodations… she nodded graciously. "I thought it wise to prepare some small… guidebooks for your team, Commander Kogane. Since rumor says you will be here for some time, I'm sure you'll want to learn something of Arus sooner rather than later."

Now Keith was actually shocked, and fought it down as best he could. "Thank you, we appreciate that." He wasn't even saying it to be polite; he knew he wasn't the only one who did, indeed, want to learn more about this world they'd promised to protect. Lady Hys was clearly a stern, exacting sort, but maybe she wasn't so bad as he'd heard… she started to hand out the booklets, and he accepted his with a grateful nod.

Regardless of how she felt about the task, or at least the circumstances that had led to it, Nanny had not been about to settle for half-measures. Each of the booklets was carefully handwritten on pressed kybor leaves; the pale orange-gold leaves were the most attractive of the various paper substitutes available to the shelter. She'd enlisted one of the priests to teach her how to bind them, claiming a top secret task in the interests of the Crown. And of course, the knowledge contained within was the best and most comprehensive primer she could offer in such limited space.

Pidge accepted his hopefully; he could handle a book, he thought. If only Earth had come with an instruction manual, he might've done a little better there—though, if he'd done better there, he probably wouldn't be here.

Vince took his and glanced briefly through the pages. Did she write these by hand? But of course she must've, they obviously didn't have printers down here. "That's really nice of you, Lady Hys."

Last to accept his booklet was Daniel, and he narrowed his eyes at it slightly. "Homework?" he muttered before his brain could stop him. "You're giving us homework?" He'd been getting enough of that from Captain Sarial and from freaky magic lion mysteries, he didn't need more.

Keith winced, Lance paused somewhere between elbowing the kid and high-fiving him, and Lady Hys narrowed her eyes right back—but politely. "Consider it an opportunity to better yourself, Cadet Brennan. I don't believe I can assign you homework here, but it would be a noble task to undertake."

The gunner stared at her for a long moment, and a smile began to spread over his face. Something he hadn't realized he was missing was filling him again—a sense of noble purpose, even, but not the one she was talking about. His most glorious days at the Academy were flashing back to him. At long last, he had a new authoritarian to hate! This was perfect!

Lance shook his head in amusement as he saw the kid's smile. This will go well.

Before anyone could say anything more—perhaps mercifully—a voice came from behind the governess. "You're giving them a task?"

Both Keith and Nanny jumped slightly, then turned and gave quite different bows. "Princess…"

"Ach! Princess!"

Allura wanted to shake her head affectionately, but didn't want the lecture that would come with it. It shouldn't have surprised her, her Nanny did always seem to have some task to give… trailing behind her, Larmina was snickering slightly, probably thinking the same thing.

"It was more of an attempt at assistance than a task, in truth," the governess said as she straightened.

"I personally feel very assisted," Daniel agreed.

Keith sighed. "Yes," he said delicately, "Lady Hys was being very… helpful." He might've sounded just a bit strained.

Taking note of the kybor-leaf booklets in the offworlders' hands, Allura simply gave Nanny a curious look. She didn't ask out loud; she didn't need to.

"I thought it would be best to give them an introduction to our language and culture," the governess explained, "as you've stressed their importance to Arus. Lord Coran gave his approval."

Allura nodded her appreciation, though she did wonder just how that had come about. "Thank you for that effort, then." She turned to Keith and the others. "I hope you'll all find it helpful."

Pidge was already reading his booklet… or skimming it, at least. The first ten pages seemed to be Arusian court protocol, and that was entirely too many manners. But beyond that were lists of key words and phrases, which would be very nice to have.

Looking over his shoulder, Lance found himself appreciating the effort. Arus was going to be their home for the foreseeable future, he did want to learn the language. Though he wondered where he'd need to go to get a book with Arusian curse words in it; he was damn sure these had left that important element out.

Some of the people in the shelter beyond were noticing them now, since their princess had become involved. Nanny took note of it and bowed respectfully again, speaking in Arusian. "If I may, Princess, does their arrival mean we will have the answers you promised earlier?"

At the same time, Romelle had noticed the whispers starting to go around—and if there was anything she wanted less than to be standing up in front of a cave full of Arusians, it was to have that cave full of Arusians spreading rumors about her and her team. "Perhaps we should move on to why we are here, Princess?" She'd spoken in Arusian too, and her soft question had almost been drowned out by the governess' louder one… almost.

Lady Hys stared at her, briefly considered the horror of finding her thoughts in step with a Polluxian's, then decided to take it as a positive sign. If she was expected to trust one of the ancient betrayers, at least it was one with some sense… feeling the other woman's eyes on her, Romelle shifted away slightly. She expected things to be more uncomfortable soon.

Either politely or genuinely not noticing that exchange, Allura nodded in response to the questions. "I have a speech prepared—not a long one. But enough. I can't possibly answer every question my people will have in a formal presentation. But I will give the first answers and assurances, and we'll smooth the rest out from there."

Keith nodded his understanding. "We're ready, Your Highness." Ready as we're going to be, anyway. "Romelle, you'll translate?"

"Of course."

"Ach, what? You can't—" Nanny cut herself off, but it was too late. All eyes went to her, and she flushed so bright the Golden Mark glowed faintly. "Surely we cannot have one of our… our honored guests seen to be tasked with translating their own presentation speech? We are in a sorry state, but not that sorry!" Polluxian and anonymous this Romelle may have been, but if she was going to be a guest of the Crown she at least deserved that basic dignity.

She'd blushed too, and taken another step back. "I… I don't mind it, Lady Hys."

"No, she's right." A few jaws dropped at Allura's agreement—not least Nanny's own. But then the princess turned to her and smiled. "You can perform the translation for our guests, can't you, Nanny?"

The governess' eyes bulged, and she coughed to buy herself time to find an objection. None was coming to mind. "I, ah…"

"It would give them extra credibility with the people, yes? The opposite of one of their own needing to translate—having someone known to have such high standards performing that task."

"Yeah, you're the best person for it." Larmina was biting her lip to keep from dissolving into laughter. "I'd volunteer, but I still have the trouble with some of the Common. Definitely wouldn't be proper."

Several of the team were snickering at this point, and even Keith was suppressing a chuckle again.

…Well, once again, she'd walked into a duty she couldn't very well refuse. And even Larmina's arguments were sound. "Very well, then." Nanny nodded to the offworlders. "I will translate."

"Thank you, Nanny." Smiling warmly, Allura signaled to Sarial and the guard captains; as she led the group to the cavern's small dais, word swiftly flooded the shelter that their princess was about to speak.

Stepping up to the edge of the platform—really just a slightly raised bit of floor—Allura looked out over her people and took a few steadying breaths.

It begins.

"I'm sure most of you have heard the reason for the lockdown of the shelter by now. And I know that many have also heard rumors of its resolution—that the Drule forces who came to subjugate our planet again were chased away in smaller numbers than they arrived with." A few wary murmurs went through the refugees at that, and she could imagine how bizarre it must sound. So far as they knew, all the military Arus had left was their ragtag band that had reclaimed the castle. She let the whispers fade before continuing, ensuring they would all hear clearly. "This is true."

A much louder wave of conversation rippled over the cavern. None of the team needed a translation to read the Arusians' shock, and no small amount of confusion…

"Before he died, my father was focused on a nearly impossible task: to reawaken the Great Lions of lore. In doing so, he believed we could repel the Drules from Arus, and restore our world from the destruction they inflicted upon us. This is the quest he gave his life for."

More gasps. Many of the people had questioned how King Alfor could have been slain by the enemy, why he hadn't remained under cover when the Drules were known to have been searching for him. Until now, she'd only been able to answer those questions with vague platitudes. Now, at last, they could hear the truth.

Allura nodded back to the team, resulting in half of the group straightening up and half shrinking back sheepishly. "With the help of these offworlders, his work was completed. It was the Great Lions who took to the sky in today's battle, and drove the enemy from our world. I witnessed this battle—I have seen the hope we were promised. With their help, we will rebuild."

Now there were hardly any more whispers. Everyone was hanging onto their princess' every word. Perhaps they weren't all convinced, but they were all listening, and that was what mattered right now.

"I know that it may seem strange," she acknowledged, "to place such trust in people who are foreign to Arus. But I believe in the Great Lions, who have chosen them to help protect us. I believe in these warriors, who have already risked their lives for our world. I ask you to do the same."

Daniel shifted awkwardly, looking at Vince and Romelle. Was the princess including them in this just to be polite? Because they'd helped the militia? Because she knew something they didn't—or just suspected, like he did? He felt warmth, the memory of those earlier rushes of heat… or was it really only a memory?

"There is much work to be done, as you all well know. We will not be content to be meekly protected; our own victories over the invaders were hard-fought, and more will come. Our militia has already fought alongside the lions. My hope is that you will join them, and myself, in working together with our new allies. For Arus."

Off to the side of the dais, Larmina found herself nodding slowly. She'd chosen to come along in her militia cloak, to stand as a guard rather than among the nobility. Her preference in general, of course, but maybe a bit more pointed right now. Auntie's words were actually reassuring her a bit.

Allura took another long breath before continuing. This last part was the most important, in some ways, and she expected it to be the most difficult.

"Some of you may have heard ancient legends of the Great Lions. I know there will be many more questions… over time, I will do everything I can to answer them. But let it be known now, much has been lost to time and to myth. It may be the best thing we can do is discover a future together. A future where we all stand proudly on the surface once more."

The whispers were starting up again. Confusion, concern, and hope filling the shelter as people took in her words. She stood silently, watching, waiting to see what would happen. It felt like something had to cut through the tension, and whatever it was would determine so much…

Someone near the back of the cavern stood, an older woman leaning heavily on a pair of simple crutches. The princess recognized her, after a moment; she'd been among the volunteer forces when they'd retaken the castle, and nearly lost a leg in the battle. Such sacrifice had been crucial to their victory, and Allura had made certain to thank each of the survivors of those volunteers personally.

The woman drew herself up as straight as she could, and cried out in a voice that echoed off the high ceilings. "For Arus!"

As one, the spell and the silence broke. There were cheers, and battle cries, and people turning to each other to discuss what they'd heard—the malaise that had filled these shelters for too long overwhelmed by a moment of sheer hope.

Allura didn't expect it to stay quite so easy, but she smiled softly nonetheless. It seemed like a promising start.

*****

King Zarkon had been 'invited' to his brother's office. That was all the Grand Admiral could do to gain an audience on their own terms, technically. Extend a polite invitation.

No ruler worthy of the title would refuse that invitation.

The balance of power between King and Grand Admiral was mostly like that. Informal. The tradition of the firstborn commanding the fleets was part of it; many campaigns in Drule history had overreached and collapsed because a commander couldn't tell their monarch no. Elder siblings had that problem rather less often. That was the theory, at least… there were instances in the Ninth Kingdom's history where it had not worked that way at all. But Zarkon and Daibazaal had an excellent working relationship, and this summons was very unusual. Normally he would just show up to the throne room.

But that wouldn't be on his terms.

It worried Zarkon slightly.

Out of respect and honor, he knocked on the office door, as if this weren't his castle. Out of equal respect and honor, his brother opened it personally.

"You came quickly, sire. That's good." Pulling out a chair for his twin, Daibazaal circled back and stood at attention behind his desk.

Zarkon gave him a look. "You only call me 'sire' when I've given you a direct order, or you're preparing me for something I won't like. Spit it out."

"Spitting it out will hardly suffice, brother." Daibazaal made a face. "We've received a report from the planet Arus."

"Arus." That name was familiar, and he took a moment to remember its significance. "One of the new conquests, the one where they had to hunt its king down like a rat in the mountains, am I right?"

"Yes, sire."

Not auspicious. "But it was finally pacified."

"Yes." Daibazaal turned to a control panel on the wall. "'Was' seems to be the key word."

"Hmm. A rebellion? Really?" He was almost intrigued. Planets that stubborn tended to either be offered incentives to become a loyal military center, or bombed down to a few dying embers. It had been awhile since he'd had to make such a choice.

But this time, his brother shook his head. "Rebellion is both over and understating it, somehow. Let me explain. We had a report a few days ago from a member of the assault fleet; he'd been summoned by the Arusian governor to take a classified report of some kind. By the time he arrived, there was no response from the governor, and an alien spacecraft was located at the castle."

Even more interesting. Zarkon couldn't recall any specifics about Arus prior to the attacks, but he was certain they hadn't had any known allies that posed a threat. Policy was not to attack planets that did, or at least not without contingency plans. "Go on."

"They identified the ship as the one the escaped Earthlings stole."

If Zarkon had been holding anything, he would've dropped it. As it was, both his hands dropped to the arms of his chair with a resounding thunk. "What."

"I had a similar reaction." His brother was still not facing him. "We sent appropriate forces to recapture a band of champion gladiators on a planet where the king eluded us for so many cycles. Five regiments of infantry, with light destroyer support."

The king bared his fangs, and his eyes glowed. "You are not about to tell me we lost them, brother. Are you?"

He'd been referring to losing the Earthlings—again. He'd been wholly unprepared for his Grand Admiral to respond with, "Only four ships of ten."

"Only… What?!"

"Watch."

Typing in a few commands, Daibazaal activated the room's main tactical screen. Yurak's report had been through. A copy of the report Graktag had sent him, and the battle footage from every surviving ship. He played them each in turn, letting Zarkon go through the same phases he had: sputtering confusion, stunned silence, incoherent fury. And finally a kind of numb incredulity as the final recording faded, the surviving destroyer catching one last glimpse of the lion-man before fleeing into metaspace.

Zarkon closed his eyes and breathed slowly. "What," he finally whispered, "in Sarga's name, did you just show me, brother."

Flinching slightly at the mention of his brother's chosen patron, Daibazaal just shook his head. "I'd like to tell you, sire. Believe me, I would."

"I believe you." His eyes opened, glowing fiercely. "What are you doing about it?"

"Admiral Yurak is assembling a second task force. He promises to return with either victory, or at least answers."

Victory or answers! It sounded ludicrous. But looking at the footage as it replayed, what the lion machine had done to a nearly pristine command cruiser in mere moments, Zarkon forced down the initial anger. He'd heard the doomed Second Captain's warning just fine.

Don't underestimate these lion craft.

After seeing that display, who could?

"I'll also see what answers I can find," he said finally. Something like these lions couldn't just appear out of nowhere, surely; someone they'd either contacted or conquered might know something. He hoped. "I expect you to keep me fully informed, brother. Report to me on every step of this operation, as you should have from the moment you discovered the Earthlings' whereabouts." Where did they even fit into this? More questions. "Or else, I may have to hold you accountable for your failures, and that would pain me. Are we clear?"

Daibazaal swallowed hard. He knew his brother well enough to identify idle threats… and threats that were not so idle at all.

"Understood, sire!"