Robot Wars by: Greywolf Part 1: Sword's Edge McRandy looks out over the controls for the flying fortress as it was dubbed. The large center screen and the room is surrounded in so much scanning, charting and weapons systems that this ship seems nearly invulnerable to attack. He watches as the crew moves around getting a feel for the new controls. Not too much is different, but they have some interesting parts. Such as accidentally firing a plasma cannon and hitting a meteor. It was supposed to be a left thruster but the ensign had accidentally hit the wrong button. McRandy shakes his head and looks over at Neil who is directing the crew on their learning experience, guided by Philip. Neil seemed to be getting annoyed and McRandy walks over. "I can't stand all these scientific terms..." Neil shakes his head as Philip kind of laughs "Gotta learn them sometime" Philip replies pointing out another panel and Neil sighs resigned to his fate. McRandy puts his hand on Neil's shoulder halfway "Hey, I had to go through it too... But don't worry I know he's a windbag at these subjects but he knows what he's talking about" Philip looks up "Wind bag?" he questions and McRandy walks off shrugging with Neil laughing. Philip shakes his head and continued on the guided tour of the systems. McRandy starts to walk through the hallway and too his quarters. All the stuff he had is moved there and settled already. Along the way he almost runs into... "Hi Allura" He smiles a warm greeting. "Captain! I was wondering... What are your plans next?" Allura asks. "Well, We can't go back to earth just yet, I guess to find some more help to fight off these Drule aliens." "No where specific?" "Not as of right now." "Can we head to Arus' sister planet, Pollux?" "I don't see why not. I will relay the order in a little, the repairs on the lions are almost done and I would like to keep them repaired for where ever we head now." "That's a good idea, and thank you," She smiles and walks away. Jak'xan looks up at the screens and maps that are before him. "I want to head them off and hit them hard while they are still weak from the first two fights." "Excellent strategy Milord," a creaky old voice laughs out from the shadows. "And while, you keep them preoccupied, I can infect all their systems with my new cyber viruses." An old looking Drule steps from the shadow; a black cloak is draped over her, hiding all but her yellow gleaming eyes. "What do you have now old witch?" Jak'xan looks down at her bent form and halfway glares. "You couldn't handle my own brother... now it's something I will have to deal with." "No, but I did defeat Voltron the first time!" "Lucky break more like it! He wasn't even at full power." The witch just shrugs and laughs "You take your breaks when you can prince, learn that well, it will serve you good to know it." "This is not the time for lessons though, witch, it is a time for action! It's a time... for war!" "War with an enemy such as Voltron can best be won... from the inside. It saves resources and troubles" "Whatever, What is it you are planning?" "Well, I have these" She raises her hand to show a small triangular machine, it has flashing yellow and red lights, it is just big enough to fit into her palm. "This sire, will infiltrate the computer systems of anything it comes in contact with and will wreck havoc with all the systems." "Including the Voltron systems?" The prince raises his brow ~This could be useful~ "Including the Voltron systems, and even better... it can download the system schematics and transmit them to us" The witch cackles. "Very well... Get to work on it" The prince leans his head back against the throne and closes his eyes. ~This had better work~ McRandy sighs; the repairs to the lions are going slower then he would have liked. Indeed, slower then anyone imagined; the engineers are having problems learning the lions systems. Sometimes they run into things that had no real reason for being there, but if it were touched, the lions would shut down completely, and in doing so, the pilots themselves felt it. Such strange machines... if that is what they truly were. "Neil, report" McRandy calls as Neil steps into the control room of the flying fortress. "The repairs are slow, the lions can fly and fight but they are not at 100% yet. The fortress itself is nearly completely repaired, its systems were much more..." He pauses looking for the right word "Standard" "Understood, congratulate everyone. They have done a fine job so far. Also contact the Explorer, let them know that we will be ready for full warp in no time" "Yes sir!" Neil salutes before turning around to the conn station "You heard the captain, rally the message" "Understood sir" The ensign begins pressing buttons sending the signal in code as was ordered earlier. All transmissions were to be encoded. "Sir, the Explorer is responding. They have a planet down there. Sir, they are scanning life forms, oxygen, and plants. Might be a good place to gather some food." The ensign turns to the captain. McRandy looks at the screen thoughtfully. "What do you think Neil? Do we go down?" The ensign quickly breaks in "Sir... they are picking up Doom robots too. Ships and slave camps" Both Neil and McRandy looked at each other. "Call the Voltron force to the bridge" McRandy orders. Moments later, all the force and the princess are in the conference room of the fortress. "We picked up slave camps and Doom robots. Which is reason to believe there are slaves down there" Neil states. "Well that's obvious," Johnson replies "What we want to know is, are you all up to infiltrating the camps and trying to free some of the slaves?" McRandy looks around the table. The Voltron force's faces hold the answer he is pretty sure they would all have. "Thing is... why not a full scale attack on the camps?" Steven asks. "That would kill as many slaves as it would robots." Neil replies. "So you want to send in a small strike force, and since that's what we are supposed to do... it's us" Philip nods "I see... and the lions?" "Still under repairs, we will have to do this ourselves" "Well, what are we waiting here for? Lets get moving!" Johnson jumps up from his seat. "Pretty anxious aren't you?" Neil asks turning to Johnson. "I don't like seeing those robotic bullies killing people so that the king of Doom can get more powerful." "I am proud to see the Voltron force back. I know you all will do fine" Allura smiles and looks at them all "Just don't overdo yourselves, you are still human after all." "Thank you princess, we will do whatever we can to help out those we can" McRandy says and then he reaches behind him and pulled his sword from its case, raising it above his head "We the Voltron force shall do what we can to right these wrongs." All the others stand up and look up at the sword before them. "Lets go" McRandy said placing the sword back into the case and strapping it to his side. The shuttle lands on the planet, its cloaking device hiding it from sensor sweeps. The ship's doors slide open and the Voltron force steps down onto the planet. They find themselves in a clearing, one of which was surrounded by a lush green forest, resembling pine trees of Earth. The smells, however, are of char and ash. Smoke can be seen raising above the trees and staining the sky. "Oh man, this is such a beautiful landscape and those Doom soldiers have to ruin it" Steven shakes his head sadly. "They have no value for beauty, Steven, they only thirst for power and control" McRandy replies. "Well, shall we see about that?" Johnson asks as he dug into his bag and pulled out a small device, its circular pattern rung with wires and lights, a LCD display on the front. "We got a big surprise for them, a big boom." The team nods in silent agreement, the grayish black outfits helping to blend them into the shadows of the trees, each carries a pistol, a bag with different supplies in it and on their belt, the key to their lion. Above them small birds take to the sky and in the forest the sounds of animals are heard as they run along, away from these strangers in their forest. As the trees begin to thin out, the metal buildings rise above all else. They reach up, nearly as high as most mountains, in a pyramid type shape. Not many windows are in the place at all and those that are had bars across them. If the team could have only known that they were being watched, from the shadow of the forest trees a pair of crystal blue eyes. The wolf's silver pelt shimmering as the light from the trees hit it. She silently watches as the group talks among themselves, arguing over the best way to get into the complex, she half way laughs to herself. ~These people think they can free us? Not even our strongest have been able to do that~ She sighs silently ~Still... maybe, maybe they can help... but not without me~ Shaking her wolf head she silently walks behind the group, then, almost instantly she changes, becoming a werewolf, her silver pelt still covering all of her body, her eyes remaining the crystal blue. None of the group even notices her. "Well... chances are this isn't the only one of these buildings, how would we get them all?" Neil asks, the entire group seemed to be thinking it through "This is the only one" the werewolf answers and all of the group spins and nearly fall down as they are surprised by the werewolf standing before them. "uh.. uh... nice wolfie?" Johnson stammers over the words "Give it a rest... if I was gonna kill you I would have already. My name is Silverheart Mane, you can call me Silver." "uh... you have to excuse us Miss Silver, we have never seen a... werewolf before, heard about them in stories, most not good" McRandy says nervously. "Yeah, most of the stories aren't good. I am just here to help you free the werewolves that the Doom soldiers haven't killed, what's left are those in that single building there. All the other camps were evacuated." "Well... that does make it a little easier even though I wish it wouldn't be for that means there are considerably less" McRandy sighs. "So, what's the plan for getting in?" Steven asks "I can take out the guards..." Silver steps forward. "And I can open the doors" Philip replies. "Then lets get moving" McRandy nods to them. "Prince Jak'xen!" the ensigns voice rings out from the silence of the command bridge. "This had better be good" "Yes your majesty. We have located the Explorer and the fortress. They are orbiting the planet of wolves." Jak'xen smiles slightly "we're not far from there. Let us continue on that way and deploy our new little toys." "Of course your majesty" Neil grins as he places a bomb on a foundation support. "That's about all of them," he calls out. Silver, Johnson and McRandy are busy watching the hallway, two with their pistols drawn. Silver sniffed the air, "Get ready, here they come" She whispered to the other two. McRandy and Johnson nod and point their pistols down the hall. The robots in their black armor turn the corner and are immediately met with red blasts from the pistols. The hallway brightening as the two forces fired back and forth, the robots take no cover from the fire, that is until the last two were left in the hallway. "I'll get them" Silver growls as she charged down the hallway, one shot hitting her shoulder, but only making her fury greater as she raises her claws and strikes down, slicing the two robots to ribbons. "Great, now lets find the controls to the cells quickly, before any more come" Philip suggests, all of them now having their pistols drawn. They begin their accent to the control room of the complex. Jak'xen laughs as his force surrounded the stealth ship. "Won't they be in for a surprise when they return?" He says breaking his laugh. "Now, all of you surround the ship, stay hidden in the bushes." The team storms the control room, it is a short fight as the robots are taken by surprise and the blasters did their work well. Robot parts lay over the control room floor as Philip is punching buttons on the large central control panel. "This should do it..." He hits a small green button and the cell doors open. Werewolves start running from the cells, cutting down the soldiers as they do. "Turn on the loud speakers" McRandy orders and Philip nods, hitting a button next to a microphone. "This is a friend, we have planted bombs throughout the complex's foundations. Please clear the building as soon as possible!" McRandy says and then turned the speakers off. "That goes for us as well" The team nods, and all of them start running throughout the halls. Passing by the hallways they would often have a robot or two to shoot down. Neil is wounded in the arm the first time they passed a hall. For the most part though they make it out pretty quick. The werewolves have all but disappeared into the thick forest. Jak'xen growled angrily as a bright flare lights the sky and the smoke from the collapsing building fills the sky. ~Oh well... a small price to pay to be rid of those accursed lion pilots~ The team is laughing and joking off as they walk back to the stealth ship. They are relieving the stress of the past few hours on that mission. As they get closer to the ships Silver seems to go on edge, sniffing the air, her eyes shifting from left to right. "Something is not right." "Indeed dear, something is not right, I lost a good supply of slaves, but that's okay... I'll hunt them down myself once I take care of you all" Jak'xen grins stepping from the shadow of the ship. His hand rests at the gold hilted sword on his side. Silver's eyes narrow and a growl escapes her throat. " Aww... poor doggie. I must have upset you. Don't worry, I'll be a very good master to you" Jak'xen laughs. His laughter finally drives Silver into a rage. She roars and jumps at him, her claws bared. The prince is ready though and he sidestepps and draws his blade in the same instance, slicing upwards with it. It slashes across her stomach; the next slash goes across her back, causing her to fall to the ground. "And you won't be healing from that... its silver bladed" The prince laughs evilly. The Voltron force all look on, every muscle is tense, their eyes are half teared, half-burning with rage. Their fists clench, until McRandy steps forward. His eyes are fixed entirely on the prince. He throws down his gloves and reaches to his side. "I bet you had fun with that didn't you. Taking advantage of someone's pain like that" McRandy yella "Well take advantage of this" He reaches down and pulls the sword, its gleaming silver blade shining in the sun, and the V'ed hilt with the squared off cross in the middle shining brightly. Jak'xen grins "Is that a challenge?" he charges at the captain. The two swords clash together, the ring sounded throughout the forest. The sound echoes in the ears of all present. "It is if you insist it is" McRandy says, his voice lined with anger. The swords of the prince and the captain clash several times, both people circling each other. Then, The captain jumps. He used his leverage to throw the prince down, the prince's sword horizontal, and the captain's sword vertical. "Now prince... lets see how you like it" "Just fine" the prince grins kicking the captain off of him, both springing to their feet. The captain sidesteps a swing. He returns with a kick to the prince's gut and the sword swing downwards, knocking the prince's sword from his hand. McRandy holds the sword to the prince's throat; his hand is shaking "Why shouldn't I finish this swing?" He asks and the prince nodded to the other members of the Voltron force. They are surrounded by soldiers, guns to their heads. McRandy sighs and sheathed his sword again. "That's better," the prince said laughing. In the repair bay of the spaceship the work crews run out of the bay. The princess looks out surprised "What's going on?" She calls. One mechanic stops and looks at her. "The lions, we don't know what happened, but they suddenly... activated, and now. They seem to be wanting out." "Let them out! Open the bays now!" The princess orders. "Are you sure?" The mechanic asks surprised "I know the lions, open the doors." "Yes ma'am" he nods and presses buttons on a panel in the wall. "Manual bay door opening code accepted." the computer replies and the doors slide open. All five lions fly straight from the bay heading to the planet. The doom soldiers are taken completely by surprise as two beams of solid yellow energy strike down most of the soldiers in its opening blast. The roar of the black lion echoes across the sky as it swings down and separates the soldiers from the pilots. The other lions quickly follow. The prince is taken completely off guard "Scan me out now!" he yell and disappeared in a light. When the soldiers had been taken care off. The Voltron force gather around the fallen wolf. She is breathing... barely. "Silver... Can we help in any way?" Neil asks. She gasps as she speaks "You.... Already have....... I am just .... Glad my people.... Are okay. Thank.. you... all" she says as her eyes close. McRandy touches her claw "You should be the one getting the credit... we wouldn't have been able to help them without you" There however is no time for grief just yet as the sky darkens. A giant bee robeast starts heading to the planet. "Everyone, to the lions. Let's teach these Drules a lesson" McRandy orders as they all jump towards the lions. In seconds the magnificent ships are in the air heading off the robeast. "I am not waiting this time, Form Voltron!" McRandy recites the protocols and the lions take off in a steep climb. The blue and yellow begin the connections, followed by red and green. The head of Voltron is revealed last as Black lion opens his jaws. The wings of Voltron shone bright against the blue sky. The bee robeast stops in its path and heads towards the newly formed robot. As it does, it raises its claws and releases small stingers, which stick into Voltron's armor and buried itself. Almost immediately the screens on the lions start getting static. "The repairs must have not been finished" Philip calls to the others, but he hears the lion roar in the back of his head telling him that theory is just not correct, he ignores it. The bee starts to charge at Voltron, red and green lions reach out, grab the bee's claws and toss him aside. Turning, Voltron receives a blow to the face, knocking him backwards. "Lion torch!" Johnson yells hitting the button on his control panel, but nothing happens. "What? The lion torches were working before!" Johnson yelled. "I'll get right on it" Philip starts bunching buttons. "Eyebeams" McRandy yells as the yellow eyes of Voltron light up and fire twin energy beams that strike the bee. However, after a few seconds the beams cut off. "Not again!" Steven sighs. "I think I have it" Philip starts, but an energy blast from the bee sends the robot flying backwards. "We've been infected. The nanotech used however is weak to heat, which is why the fire and laser weapons get hit first." "Suggestion?" Neil asks Philip "Fly towards the sun, quickly before the thrusters are gone." McRandy nods "Let's do it" He says as Voltron climbs, getting ever closer to the sun of this planet. The closer they get the more the heat shielding strains. "We're getting into the red here" Steven rallies to the others. "Just a moment more" Philip replies watching the screens. He waits, then suddenly they clear "Alright pull out!" More then happy to oblige the Voltron force hits full power, moving Voltron away from the sun. "This is wearisome. Form Blazing sword!" McRandy orders, red and green clashing together and slowly pulling apart to reveal the sword. Voltron uses the sword to block the next laser of the bee and then as it neared, Voltron swings, slicing the beast in half. Epilogue The Voltron force stands on the bridge of the fortress. They had overseen the monument built for their friend, Silverheart Mane. It truly is a tribute, the monument is in silver materials, her claws raised to the heavens. McRandy thinks back to what they had seen when they returned. All the pilots had jumped literally from their lions. On the ground Silver's body was glowing. They all stood back awe struck as a brilliant light emitted from her body, which disappeared in a flash. All the team could see was the silhouette as she ascended into the sky. McRandy smiles slightly "May the spirits lift you to a place of light" he whispers looking out into the sky.