Fire In Her Sky

"Sire, Voltron is down."

Zarkon grunted in approval as he watched the long-distance action from the projection screen in Castle Doom. He sprawled lazily on his throne, the monitor across the hall magnifying the chaos that was raining down on Arus like hellfire and brimstone. It was a splendid sight and the only thing that would have made it better was if his own fleet had been responsible. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his son shift uncomfortably.

The massive robot had split back into the lions when a blast from a magnetic cannon ripped the red arm of Voltron clean off. A loud, metallic clang sounded as the Blazing Sword fell from the sky and clattered to the ground with the lions. Shortly after, the cannons made quick work of the four remaining vessels, grounding them efficiently before they could get back off the earth.

The Phyrena were launching a very successful attack on the verdant object of Zarkon's fixation. He watched with muted satisfaction as the invading army leveled the Arusian fleet. Phyren warriors were renowned for their lethal combat skills. One of the main reasons the Drule Empire had flourished so strongly was that the Phyrena held their own stronghold in another galaxy. Were the two to ever interact, the bloodbath would be catastrophic. Both warrior races knew of each other but tended to avoid interacting and allow the empires to conquer and claim unabated in their respective territories.

Until now.

The strike on Arus had come unexpectedly and it was clear the Castle of Lions had not been prepared, nor did they perform well against the otherwise unknown enemy. Voltron had launched immediately but was disabled quicker than any robeast had ever done.

"Father, you know they'll come here next," Lotor said, stiffening as he watched Blue Lion careen through a spire of the Castle of Lions as it tried to lift off. The structure crumbled and both the spire and the lion fell into the moat.

"You're just worried about her." Zarkon rolled his eyes. "Let Arus fall. With a little luck, the Phyrena will move on to other Alliance planets first. Clean this place up. They may even leave us alone completely. They have so far."

"You know they're in this galaxy specifically for us," Haggar cautioned the king quietly from his other side, her eyes fixed on the screen as well. "They wouldn't be this far from home otherwise. Arus only happened to be on their way. If we can't beat Voltron, and if Voltron can't beat them – what exactly are our odds when they arrive, sire?" Zarkon just looked to the old crone and shook his head once.

"We'll be fine," he said confidently. He switched off the viewing screen and rose from his throne. "Come, let's go celebrate the fall of Voltron!" He made his way down the steps to the banquet hall. "Call for the girls! Bring the wine! We shall rejoice tonight!"

Lotor looked over to the witch, his expression taut and strained.

"You're going to Arus, aren't you?" Haggar knew the answer before she asked the question.

"Allura aside, they'll come here next. If Arus falls, we won't stand a chance. A single Phyren could take out many of our finest warriors," he admitted. It took a great amount of humility for a Drule to admit to being the weaker contender in a fight, but even Lotor had to look at the situation realistically. Any other army, any other race, and he would have happily sat back and let Arus take a beating – perhaps even sweep in heroically to save the princess. But the Phyrena were the one species that could make even a Drule's blood run cold.

"Your father won't be pleased," Haggar pointed out.

"If Arus falls, there won't be a Pit of Skulls for him to throw me in to," he muttered dryly. He turned and made his way down from the throne dais, the witch following behind him. "Come on," he urged. "Get some robeasts ready. We'll need them."

Allura ran into the command center in a blind panic.

"No, no, no. Not them, not now," she hissed out, her palms clasping her face. An ashen-faced Coran turned to look at her. Her breath caught in her throat as her suspicions were confirmed. The sickeningly familiar engine noise belonged to exactly whom she thought it did.

Drule ships had appeared in the sky. Her horror mounted as more of the fearsome spacecraft appeared.

"They've never sent so many before," she breathed out in a shaky exhale.

"Are the boys still in the hangar?" Coran's voice startled Allura from her panic. She nodded mutely.

"They're working as fast as they can to repair the lions. The computer analyzed the blast from those canons – it's driven by an ultra high-powered magnet. It just tears us apart. Pidge has developed a very crude sub-plating armor for the ships to help reflect that magnetic pull. It's only a rough prototype, but it might get us back into the air and afford a little protection. Red Lion is in bad shape, though," she explained.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a blast slammed into the castle. Allura screamed as a direct hit landed on the tower.

"Are you alright?" Coran moved to her side as she looked up to him. She coughed and waved her hand in front of her to clear the dust.

"Yes," she said. She trembled in Coran's arms for a moment before taking a shaky exhale. Steeling her nerves, she stepped away from him. "Hail the ships again, see if they answer this time."

"I… Princess. I don't think they will answer. They haven't yet."

"But who are they? Why are they here?" She turned to stare at her advisor, crippling confusion etched into her features. He could only shrug helplessly; he had no words to offer his charge. Instead, he went to the interface panel and attempted to hail the unknown ships while Allura wandered to the sidewall of the command room.

A cavity roughly thrice the size of her body exposed by the blast allowed sunlight in as well as a clear view of the raging battle. She paced in front of the opening, frantically trying to calculate a way to handle two invading armies.

"Monsters," she breathed in defeat. She watched, too numb to be horrified any longer as not one, but two robeast coffins touched down. The wind left her lungs in that moment and in a single motion, she fell to the floor. Her knees touched down first before her back end, her torso draping over her lap to touch her forehead to the ground. "We can't, there's no way, we can't…"

Allura had always believed in fighting to the end, pushing through and never giving up hope. Seeing the expanse of the Drule fleet at her doorstep coupled with the mysterious, vicious enemy, she felt both helpless and hopeless for the first time.

Even when her father had died, even with a lion key missing, and even in the seemingly impossible situations that Lotor had cornered her in before and demanded her surrender, she had never completely lost the spark of hope in her heart.

Had the lions not been torn apart, she might have had something to cling to like a desperate prayer that perhaps the battle could be salvaged. Without them, there was absolutely nothing that could be done. One by one, the mysterious enemy was picking off the remnants of her fleet, practically clearing a landing path for Lotor's army.

Coran let out a strangled cry in the background, but Allura didn't raise her head. It didn't matter what else had appeared on the monitor. It was over.

"I'm so sorry, Father. I tried, I tried my very hardest," she whispered to the floor, her heart too broken to cry properly.

Footsteps on her right caught her attention; she noted as the source came to stand beside her.

"Allura, my sweet."

Her stomached turned at the familiar sound of Lotor's voice. Her hands rose off the floor to cover her mouth to prevent herself from retching, but she did not raise her eyes. She had neither pride nor strength left.

"The floor doesn't suit you," he spoke again, watching her form doubled over at his feet. His eyes skimmed over the princess quickly. Physically she seemed relatively unscratched, though her flight suit was torn in places and her hair was tumbling down her back.

"I intend to die here, Lotor," she commented after a moment, raising her head to look out over her burning skies in front of her. She did not grace him with her gaze. "I'm not going back with you." Her voice was dull and ached with loss.

"Now that would be a crime, to lose one as beautiful as you," he said softly.

"Allura," Coran's awed voice startled the princess from her melancholy. "Prince Lotor, am I to believe what I see outside?" The hitch of hope in his words startled the princess.

Lotor looked over to the older man and nodded once.

"Allura," Coran said again. "I believe he means to aid us, at least for now!" The princess's head looked straight up at the prince on her right in blatant surprise.

The shock on her expression aroused a smirk from him, but a small part in a dark recess of his mind was concerned by how utterly shattered Allura had been moments before. He watched with careful breath as the unnaturally dead look in her eyes melted away and a familiar, hopeful fire edged back in.

"Truly?" Her head snapped back to the battle outside. She didn't dare breath, didn't dare hope, and yet… The Drule ships were engaging in combat – with the unknown enemy and defending her few, remaining soldiers.

"Mhm," he murmured, never taking his eyes off her.

"Why?" Her breathless, hopeful whisper surprised him nearly as much as the sudden jump to her feet that she made. He stayed still, watching with his arms folded over his chest as she became alive with energy and enthusiasm again.

"I still intend to have you for my bride, my sweet," he began, pausing as she turned to scowl at him. "I'm not asking for that in return for this," he clarified and watched her face soften. "That will be another matter for another day. Truth be told," he hesitated with a sigh, dropping his arms to his side.

"The Phyrena will likely come for the Drule Empire next. My father-"

"Wait, you know who they are?" Allura interrupted his sentence and maneuvered to his side, her eyes wide with unanswered questions. "Who are they? Why are they here?" He stilled, delighting in her willing nearness and not wanting to jeopardize it.

"They're called Phyrena. Phyren, for a singular. They are… interesting. They exist to die. In their religion, the only way to achieve a proper afterlife befit with luxuries and whatever amenities they value, they must die in combat. Nothing is more honorable, nothing is more glorious," he explained, pausing to check her reaction. She was still staring up at him, but her wide eyes had turned thoughtful. After a moment of processing the information, she looked away while chewing on her bottom lip.

"They scour the stars looking for war. They truly crave death, but they cannot kill themselves and they must put everything they have into winning to be admitted to their afterlife, so they go from planet to planet, leaving nothing in their wake while searching for someone strong enough to end them."

"That's so tragic," she whispered, her gloved hand coming to cover her lips. He noted subliminally the fingertips were burned and frayed, exposing her skin underneath.

"Only you would find the Phyrena sad. Everyone else finds them fearsome," he scoffed, inwardly amused by her gentle spirit.

"Even Drules?" She looked back to him, a curious sparkle in her eyes. Lotor's lack of denial was the only affirmation she needed.

"Phyrena…" Coran trailed off before snapping his fingers. "Princess, that's why that weapons system was vaguely familiar - there was a council meeting at the Galaxy Alliance where the rulers all agreed that the magneto-generated firearms wouldn't be permitted – precisely because it just rips ships apart. They decided it wasn't humane," he explained. "I couldn't place where I had seen it before, but when you mentioned the Phyrena, Prince Lotor, it came back to me."

"The Galaxy Alliance finds these weapon systems to be inhumane? …Interesting," he murmured, turning his attention back to Allura.

"Don't get any ideas, Pidge is already working on a prototype armor to withstand those blasts and keep our ships in one piece," she declared, crossing her arms over her chest. She flinched slightly and braced as he reached for her, but she didn't pull away as his gloved hand came to rest on her cheek.

"I wouldn't dream of tearing your lion apart. Not with you still inside," he said softly. Her body stiffened and after a moment she stepped back. He allowed her, his hand falling back to his side. She watched him warily for another two breaths before shaking her head once.

"Alright, time for a plan," she said, dropping her arms from her chest and then clapping her hands together. She moved across the room toward the command center as another missile slammed into the tower. She screamed and shrapnel littered the air. Allura felt her body hit the ground and something heavy land on top of her.

"Coran!"

"I'm fine, Princess!" The voice of her advisor calmed her concern.

"Lotor?" She called out, uncertain if the explosion had injured him.

"I'm touched by your concern, my dear," his lips whispered into her ear. "But I'm far more worried about you."

She gasped, realizing the weight on her body was Lotor himself, shielding her from any stray material. With a little effort, she squirmed and he reluctantly relinquished her, rising back to his feet and stepping away, allowing her to do the same.

She watched him curiously as he brushed dust off his shoulder, a faint blush gracing her cheeks when she realized he had protected her.

Just as Lotor made eye contact with her, the static on the communication line crackled. Allura bounced over to the command hub and pressed a button.

"Command Central," she announced, waiting for a reply.

"Princess, are you okay?" Keith's voice cut in and out as electrical discharge and frayed wires interfered with the connection. "That felt like a direct hit."

"It was, but we're fine here. The castle is going to need some serious repairs though," she muttered, displeased with the widening hole in her east wall. She shook her head once to snap herself out of it. "How's it looking down there, boys?"

"Not good," Keith replied. "Blue and Black Lions are back online, minor patch work now. Pidge has the prototype plating in. It should shield from those blasts. We just need to field test them now," he said. Allura beamed, her hand grasping the key over her left breast, excited to be back in the pilot's seat.

Lotor didn't miss the cringe of worry on Coran's face as Allura lit up at the prospect of returning to the battlefield.

"That's great news, I'll-"

"There's more," Keith continued. "Yellow and Green Lions are repaired, but are waiting to get the new armor installed. Dispatching them now would just get them torn apart again, so we need more time. I also don't think we should launch without all the lions at once. Sending two at a time could just get them sent right back for more repairs."

Coran exhaled in relief as Allura pouted, dropping her hand back to her side.

"…And Red Lion?" Allura's voice hitched as she asked the question, noting her commander had left it out specifically. She remembered how the right arm of Voltron had been ripped clean off.

"Red Lion will need much more extensive work done. It's salvageable, we haven't lost Voltron. We just… don't have him at this moment. Having it repaired in a realistic timeframe for this fight is… well, we only have four lions right now, Princess," he finally said.

She tossed Lotor a wary look over her shoulder. Her displeasure at the prince hearing about their crippled defenses frustrated him a little.

"How's Lance?" She turned her attention back to the communication speaker on the podium. The clank of metal and shriek of steel could be heard in the background as the boys worked feverishly to launch the lions again.

"Absolutely furious. Pissed, really," he said bluntly, causing Allura to giggle for the first time.

"Understandably so," she said after a moment. "We do seem to become attached to our vessels, don't we," she mused softly. Her hand reached up and touched the key before removing it from her uniform. Turning it over in her palm, her thumb brushed across the top of it.

"I'm going to send Blue Lion's key down to you, Keith," she said after a moment.

"Wait, what? You won't fly it?"

"The four of you are far more competent pilots than I am. You've had the training to handle this and have trained together as a team more than I have. If we only have four lions, you are the ones I want in them. Lance can take Blue Lion – but if he gets my cockpit dirty, I'll have him scrub it out with a toothbrush," she threatened.

"Hey!" Lance's voice picked up from the background at the sound of metallic clank. A far-away "I heard that, Princess!" sounded. Allura smiled wistfully, glancing down at the key in her palm before closing her hand around it tightly.

"Oh, uh, one more thing, Keith. When you do launch…"

"Yes?"

"…Don't shoot down the Drule ships, okay?"

A beat of silence sounded from the hangar and Allura knew she had all four boys' attentions.

"Say what?" Hunk was the first one to speak up in the background.

"It's complicated," Allura tried to explain quickly, knowing time was of the essence. "But for now, consider them friendly ships. Focus on the, uh…"

"Phyren. They're Phyren ships," Lotor leaned over and chimed in. Keith cursed and the audio feed to the hangar cut abruptly.

"Well, there you go," Allura said, turning to face the prince, her hands on her hips. "Keith is sprinting up here now, I can guarantee you that. He's probably-" She paused as the door burst open and as predicted, the commander stared both down, catching his breath.

"Princess! Are you alright?"

"Yes," she said simply, an amused smile on her lips.

"What's he doing here?" He pointed at the prince before marching over to Allura. She just shrugged lightly.

"Helping, it seems," she answered. He stopped in front of her and touched her shoulder lightly. In return, she opened her hand and extended the key out to him. "She won't fly like Red Lion. He'll have some trouble with her at first, she's a little finicky. Red Lion can be very aggressive, but if he overextends the controls on Blue Lion she'll over-compensate in response. She's super responsive, all he needs are light, gentle touches to get her to move properly," she cautioned as Keith took the key slowly from her hand.

"Are you sure? I mean, I'm relieved by the idea of you staying here, safe, but… It is your right to fly that lion."

She nodded again.

"Lance is in a fighting spirit; grounding him now just seems cruel. And you are all far more skilled than I am. I-" She stopped as Keith took her other shoulder and lowered his face to hers.

"Never forget. You are one of us. You are just a part of this team as anyone else. We need you. Not just for the lion, not just for Voltron, but we aren't whole without you. Always remember that, okay?"

Allura stared at him for a moment in surprise before throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him.

"Come back safe. All of you. Please. I don't want to lose anyone else," she murmured against him before releasing him and stepping back. "And hey, tell Hunk I'm making the double fudge cake for dessert tonight."

Keith threw his head back and laughed genuinely.

"Princess, you just made this the fastest fight in history with the promise of that," Keith said with a chuckle. "But seriously, you stay safe, too. This isn't… exactly the most protected place," he commented, glancing pointedly from the gaping hole in the wall to the Prince of Doom narrowing his eyes at the commander.

"Hey, we got this," she said cheerfully. "Let's go, Voltron Force!" Keith nodded, stepping back, throwing one last warning look at Lotor before heading back down to the hangar.

"Okay," she exhaled, resting her hands on top of her head as she looked back to the screen. "…I still don't have a plan yet, Coran. We launch the lions… and… Try again with the anti-magnetic shielding and just hope for the best?" She grimaced and glanced down at the command column before her.

"It's the best we've got. Trust in your pilots," Coran urged her, patting her back reassuringly. "They are the best there are."

"And they're risking their lives to defend me," she said darkly. "I do not like feeling helpless."

"The most helpful thing you can do is endure and survive so that your people have something-" Coran stopped mid-sentence when Allura just turned and started walking away from him without another word.

She stood in front of the open wall, watching as Doom cruisers tactically negotiated the Phyren ships. A loud screech sounded in the distance as a robeast enlarged and started making its way toward the hub of the fleet. Allura flinched at the size of the thing, internally grateful that it was defending her castle for once.

"They'll be fine," Lotor assured her as he came to stand behind her left shoulder. She shivered slightly.

"They're so… violent," she murmured, wincing as Phyren ship shot a magnetic wave at a Drule ship and effectively shredded it. There was nothing left but nuts and bolts raining down onto her planet.

A thought struck her.

"Coran, will you dispatch the medical teams? The…" she paused, thinking through her thought carefully. "The magnetic resonance waves work by pulling apart the metal parts of ships. In space that would be lethal and result in explosive decompression, but… in the atmosphere, especially close to the surface, there could easily be survivors on the ground. The ships don't explode – they're just pulled apart. Send them, please, right away, and get the hospital staff ready. We might have survivors," she said, clasping her hands in front of her chest and turning hopefully back to the warzone outside her castle.

"There will be Drules down there, too."

"Will they hurt my medic aids?" She looked to him, worriedly. "They aren't even soldiers or trained in combat, just doctors and nurses!"

"No, they'll be fine. Just warning you that they will be there," he said.

"Please make sure my staff knows how to treat them effectively, if there's anything anatomically different from humans, blood type or…" she froze, her breath caught as he took her arm.

"You're speaking of helping them," he accused her. Her eyes widened in fear.

"I… yes? Should… should I not?"

"Why?" Lotor's question left Allura dumbstruck. After a moment she shook her head once.

"I don't understand. One; you're helping me, why wouldn't I treat your injured soldiers, two; they're injured soldiers, even if we were in combat with each other, as long as they didn't attack my doctors, I would still treat their injuries to the best of my ability."

"You're unfathomable," he said mysteriously, releasing her arm. "There's nothing intrinsically different between our bodies," he murmured, his eyes roving up hers leisurely, causing her to blush crimson. "Except blood type. If you don't have any Drule blood on hand for transfusions, it would be wise not to try and infuse human blood in its stead but just to stop the bleeding."

She nodded and glanced to Coran who was already making the call down to the hospital bay.

She crossed her arms back over her chest protectively, returning her gaze to the raging battle. Her cheeks remained red and she was acutely aware that Lotor's eyes were still locked on her. The Drule ships were slowly turning the tide back in their favor. Systematically they removed Phyren ship after ship, skirting and avoiding the lethal weaponry.

Allura reached up absentmindedly and took the rest of her bun down, letting her hair fall freely down her back. After lightly finger-combing it out, she quickly braided it back to keep it out of her face. The braid rested heavily down her back as she shifted her weight again. She walked to the edge of the opening to get a better vantage point of the war.

"Watch out!" She cringed, ducking as a missile headed straight for the tower. Of all things, the enormous robeast reached up and snagged the projectile out of the air, protecting the tower. Allura exhaled. Lotor had barely flinched toward her before it was all over and he stood numbly nearby as she straightened up slowly.

"Good timing, Haggar," Lotor murmured as the witch appeared in the control room, wandering over to meet her prince.

"The robeast is a little confused. Its primary directive is to protect you. It's confused why it hasn't been dispatched to siege the castle. It won't attack, though. Don't worry."

"I never thought I'd feel grateful to see a robeast," Allura murmured, throwing the witch a wary look.

"Please, right now my robeasts are more suited to this fight than even Voltron. Since they are originally organic, the magnetic weapons don't affect them. You won't see them losing any arms," she murmured. Allura winced.

"You saw that?"

"Let's just say that Zarkon is enthusiastically celebrating the downfall of Voltron right now," she explained, watching the young princess carefully. Allura's lips pursed in slight annoyance.

"Terrible man," she muttered, folding her arms across her chest. She looked back out over the battlefield. "OH!" She cried out in surprise. "Is that… …that's a Star Cutter!"

Allura's expression strained at the infamous Pegasus descended into the atmosphere, flanked by Merla's fleet.

"Is she… with you?" She looked over at Lotor and Haggar warily.

"Queen Merla tends to do her own thing," Haggar commented.

"Princess, we're being hailed!" Allura bounced away from the Drules at Coran's sudden exclamation. She stood in front of the podium.

"Answer it, please," she requested of her advisor.

Merla's face flashed on the screen. The smile that laced her lips wasn't friendly, but neither was it cruel for once.

"Rough day on Arus, Princess?"

"Merla! What are you doing here?"

"Two reasons, really. My Empire won't be far after Zarkon's if the Phyrena succeed, and two; I wanted to see Lotor act like an idiot around you," she said simply. Allura's eyes widened as a blush crept across her cheeks.

"What do you mean?"

"He's a bumbling fool when it comes to you, and it's absolutely hilarious," she said with a lethal chuckle, her satin-smooth voice reverberating around the room. "I'll be joining you in the control room shortly." The feed cut before Allura could protest. Wide-eyed, she looked to Coran who just shrugged helplessly.

"I am not," the prince muttered to himself quietly, eyeing the Pegasus ship irritably.

Allura just offered Coran a strained look. It was clear both the princess and her advisor were uncomfortable with being outnumbered by their enemies, but for the time being they had little say in the matter.

Merla landed gracefully on the edge of a fractured balcony outside the hole in the wall before sauntering in leisurely. Her eyes skimmed over the ashen-skinned princess hovering near her advisor to the annoyed witch.

"You always did like to make an entrance, didn't you?" Haggar's voice cracked slightly as she regarded the younger woman with open distaste.

"I'm sure back in your day, you did, too," Merla's sultry tone snapped back.

"What are you doing here, Merla?" Lotor stepped toward her, and Allura noted warily that his hand was on the hilt of his lazon sword for the first time. He didn't draw it, but his stance was more aggressive than it had been before.

"Oh calm down, Lotor. I'm here to protect my investments. After all, I still want her job," she said smartly, pointing across the room to the wide-eyed Arusian. Coran's hands tightened protectively on Allura's arms, drawing his charge closer to his side.

"Well you can't have it! She's to be my bride," he replied quickly. The two quick-tempered Drules quickly devolved into an argument about Allura's future, leaving Haggar with a sigh and a migraine.

Allura looked from Coran's shocked face to Haggar's buried in her palms before she managed to recover her courage.

"I hate to interrupt this productive discussion on the future I seem to have no say in," she cut in, gaining the focus of two pairs of serpentine eyes. "But there's a battle going on outside..." She gestured toward the robeast screeching as it took a direct his from a missile. "Perhaps coordination would be more appropriate at the moment?"

Merla slowly turned her gaze back on Lotor. He took longer to peel his fixation off of Allura but eventually he regarded the empress coldly.

"She's not incorrect," Merla said carefully and Lotor nodded bluntly. Allura exhaled softly, looking relieved, she shook her blond head once.

Haggar chuckled darkly at Allura's exasperation, earning her a glare from the princess. She scowled and moved back to the podium and queued up a voice relay.

"Commander Cooper," she instructed, waiting for the man in charge of her non-lion fleet.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Avoid those grey areas," she commanded. "They're magnetized beams, it's why the ships are going down. The robot lions will be relaunching shortly, once you see them in the air, get the rest of your men on the ground and into the hangar. We have some new technology to help with the magnetic beams, and we'll get it integrated into your ships. In the meantime, draw their fire away from the castle and please just stay safe. Any questions? How's it looking from the sky?"

"No questions, ma'am. There are a lot of… ships in the sky now though, but they seem to be engaging with the enemy," he commented carefully.

"Yes, consider the Drule ships allies for now," she said. "Stay out of that resonance and I think if we can get the lions back in the air, we might just pull this off."

"By your command," he ended the transmission with an affirmation of her authority. Allura released another shaky exhale, leaning over the podium.

Coran touched her shoulder gently and she glanced over to him. He nodded in the other direction and Allura swiveled her gaze to regard the two Drule rules staring at her.

"What," she asked. Merla just tossed her head back and a deep laughter echoed through the ruptured command center.

"Launching the lions now, princess!" Keith's voice crackled over the frayed communication link.

"Acknowledged, be safe out there boys," she replied.

"You too."

She walked carefully over to the hole in the tower and peered out, watching as four of the five lions lifted back into the sky.

"Here's the test," she murmured. She bristled as Lotor came to stand on her right side and Merla, her left. She gasped sharply and covered her mouth as another flash from a Phyren cannon slammed into Blue Lion. Lance spiraled out of the sky, but he caught himself before he hit the ground. She waited a second and watched as he unleashed the fury of the feline on the ship that shot at him. All his ion darts and the tail blast slammed into the offending vessel and ripped a hole in the hull. The explosion that followed took the ship out of the sky.

Allura leaped into the air with a resounding cheer, startling the people on either side of her.

"It works!" She cried out with joy, spinning in a circle of delight. "The plating works!" She clapped her hands together and raised them to her lips, cheering on her teammates from her vantage point, even though she knew full well they couldn't hear her. "Good going, Lance!"

The battle dragged on and the three royals regularly radioed in to their respective fleets, updating their commanders or altering the strategy. Most of the time spent was a cautious cat-and-mouse game, the non-Phyren ships taking extra caution to play defensively. With time, the Phyren ships were slowly being taken down, one at a time.

The remaining Arusian fleet landed, and after getting their version of the anti-magnetic armor installed, had re-launched. Allura watched as Commander Cooper retook the air. She glanced over her right shoulder.

"Do you want the armor too? If you get your ships into the bay, my men can get it installed for you," she offered.

"You're offering him your own defenses? Why?" Merla spoke up from Allura's left side. She looked over to the queen.

"And yourself as well, the hangars just couldn't accommodate the size of both your fleets at the same time," she said.

"My question still stands," she repeated. "Why?"

"I… it would keep your soldiers safer?" She looked confused. "If you don't want it, that's fine, too, but I thought I would offer…"

Lotor touched her shoulder.

"The commanding ships would be appreciative of it. They're slower and it's more difficult for them to maneuver out of the way of those blasts," he said.

She nodded and went to the podium to call down to the repair bay. Once the transmission ended, she glanced back to Lotor.

"If they land, they will help. I let them know they might be doing so, and they're ready to accommodate any of your ships – either of yours – that would like it."

Lotor called in to Cossack's ship to inform him of his new orders.

"She's what?" His perplexed voice crackled over Lotor's communicator.

"You heard me. Get the main ships on the ground."

"Yes, sire."

Allura watched as the larger of the Drule vessels touched down on the ground. She chewed on her lip, watching as the lions tactically negotiated the other ships.

"Princess, have you done the math?" Coran's voice startled her from her thoughts. She glanced to him and nodded.

"Yes. Even with the plating, our weapon systems are nearly completely depleted. The lions' power crystals will need to be recharged in their bases. Red Lion can't even fly far enough to get there in the current state it's in. They're going to run out of energy," she murmured. "And ammunition." Her hands were crossed over her chest as the crux of the defense force was running low.

Only half of Lotor and Merla's ships remained while a significant number of the Phyren fleet was still in the sky. The tides had turned in their favor, but time was not on their side. The longer the battle raged on, the more it ebbed back toward the invading fleet.

"What happens if we lose," she glanced up to a very tense Lotor next to her. He had been doing similar calculations in his mind.

"The galaxy as we know it gets ripped apart," he replied. "They won't stop. They're hoping to lose. They want desperately to lose this fight, Allura. But because they must do everything they can to win, they have trained, practiced and honed themselves to be harbingers of death. If we three here cannot stop them jointly-" he paused as a high-pitched screech sounded in the distance. One of the two robeasts had been impaled and burst into flames shortly after. Only the one guarding the castle remained. "-We stand no chance separately."

Allura shivered in response.

"Then we just have to win," she said with determination. "The question is… how." Her clever eyes roved the battlefield, desperately searching for an answer. Her unlikely allies were running out of ships and her lion force was nearly out of energy. "There's always a way," she murmured, closing her eyes. She clasped her hands together in front of her in prayer formation. "I need your help, Father, now, more than ever before."

"Your connection to him is stronger in the tomb," Coran said when she opened her eyes.

"I don't dare leave my command station now," she murmured, disappointed in a lack of response from the ghost king.

Coran glanced up just in time to see Merla toss Lotor a cocked eyebrow and the crown prince return it with a shrug. The advisor just chuckled softly. Arus was unarguably unique in the way the planet interacted with its lost monarchs.

"I'll just have to do this on my own," Allura added with fortitude. She stalked away from the opening in the wall.

"Keith," she queued up the audio feed. "How is it looking up there?"

"Not good, Princess. We're low on missiles and our power cores are running low. We don't dare use our lasers at this point. We're limited to our physical munitions. If those run out, we still have the lions themselves. If the power core runs out because we used too much laser weaponry, we're just toast."

"You did the math too," she murmured, putting her hands on her head as she contemplated the inevitable situation before them.

"The Drule ships have saved us more times than I can count at this point," he added. Allura glanced over to Lotor with an unreadable expression on her face. "But they're still dropping, too. Something needs to change or… this may be it."

"The magnetic shielding will only do so much," Coran responded. "It's kept them in the air this long, but without any power they'll just be heaps of metal on the ground."

"Hang in there guys," Allura chimed in. "Keep doing what you're doing. Keep using your weapons as carefully as you can. I'll figure something out."

She placed her hand over her mouth as she contemplated it.

"Perhaps a trip to the tomb might be in your favor," Coran advised. She nodded after a second.

"Keith's right. The Drule ships have been an enormous help, but if something doesn't change, it's going to be over," she said. She turned from the command post and made her way to the door. The combination of Lotor's loud curse and Coran's gasp paused her in her tracks. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw none other than the ghostly image of her father standing near the command station.

"What the hell," Merla muttered under her breath.

"Father! I'm so relieved to see you!" Allura ran over to the flickering image of the late king. "Please advise me, what do I do? The situation seems so hopeless right now," she begged.

"My daughter, you must trust in the lions. They carry your will," he said cryptically.

"They're almost out of energy. They've never been in combat this long. The enemy slammed us with magnetic weaponry and it stripped nearly two-thirds of their power cores before we even began! They'll run out and we won't have any forces left. This is so lethal, even the Drule forces are here to aid us," she gestured to the two rulers behind her, both watching the spirit with a mixture of surprise and wariness.

The image of the king tilted his head lightly to the side and studied them.

"How curious," he murmured after a moment before looking back to his daughter. "You have made friends of enemies, it seems. And yes, the situation is dire, but Arus will always rise. You must trust your instinct and your lions." He gave her a knowing smile before vanishing from the room.

Allura frowned.

"Was that… her father?" Merla asked out loud after a strained pause. Lotor just nodded mutely in response.

"Arus is… mystical in many ways," Haggar offered. Both rulers glanced to the witch as she shrugged. "Hey, I didn't say I understood it."

"How… there must be a way. My father wouldn't tell me that if there wasn't a way. I just need to see it," Allura murmured to herself. She paced a circle around the command center before running to the hole in the wall to watch the battle again. "What am I missing?!" Her anguished cry echoed off of the cracked walls of the hub as she fell backwards, sitting on the ground in defeat.

Lotor frowned over at Merla and relayed more information to his ships, advising them to use their weaponry carefully. The battle was not going to be over for a while, and he certainly didn't intend to lose just because he ran out of bullets.

"Princess, Green Lion is down," Coran said urgently. Allura tossed him a devastated look across the room before watching as the lion dropped to the earth, out of energy.

"No, that can't be, we need them all," she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. She closed her eyes and exhaled in frustration. "There's always a way! No matter what, we've always managed to figure out a way to pull it off. We can do it here, we can do it now. If only I were a bit cleverer, I'd know what my father- Oh."

Allura jumped to her feet as her eyes widened. Both her hands pressed over her lips as she stared out at the desperate war. Lotor cursed behind her and the communication line crackled to life once more.

"Princess we got another problem – there's a real nasty storm rolling in off the horizon," Keith said. "It's looking electrical. We may have a real hard time with this now," he advised. Allura just stared wide-eyed out as the ominous black clouds eerily rolled in. Thunder rumbled in the distance, promising of destruction.

Allura spun around without warning to stare up at Merla and Lotor.

"Get your ships on the ground as fast as you can," she murmured. Both rules responded with a stunned expression as the small human gave them a direct order. "Do it!" She cried in frustration when they stood silent before her. Without waiting for an answer, Allura flew to the command station and queued up the microphone again.

"Commander Cooper, can you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am."

"All Arusian ships are to be grounded immediately. No exceptions. I only want the lions left in the air," she spoke quickly. The commander relayed his confusion but obeyed the order. Both Lotor and Merla followed suit, confused by what the princess was honing in on.

"I see it, Coran. I see how to do this now," she murmured, queuing up the audio feed again. "Keith."

"Princess?"

"I know how to win."

A chorus of surprise from the pilots came across the speaker as she spoke into the intercom.

"Hunk, please get yellow lion to the ground. Help protect Pidge as needed. This is no longer your fight. Lance, stay nearby, but away from Keith. You two are going to end this. I'm going to show you one of the secrets of the lions," she murmured, more to herself than her pilots. She watched as Yellow Lion touched down near the grounded Green Lion. Slowly, the rest of the fleets followed suit. Only Blue and Black Lion remained in the sky.

"Princess, are you sure… this is wise?" Keith's concern came over the speaker.

"It probably isn't, but if I don't show you how to do this now, we won't have a tomorrow for me to worry about Zarkon understanding it as well. So get ready. Get above that cloud line and bury your ship in the densest part of the storm.

"What?"

"Trust me. Black Lion is the sky. The power cell is charged by the thunder and the lightning, the wind and the storm. You get into that storm, Keith I swear on my very life you will not be able to deplete your power cell faster than it will recharge."

"You got it, princess," he said as Black Lion peeled off and charged right into the heart of the storm.

"Sit tight, Lance. If that storm starts raining – and I fully expect it to – you're going to be doing the same thing he is."

"Why don't I just go hang out in the moat for a while," he asked.

"While that would recharge the core, it won't be nearly as quick as the storm. These clouds are just full of energy. The rain will be, too, once it falls."

Allura toggled some switches on the communicator.

"This is Princess Allura from the Castle of Lions. All non-lion ships are urgently advised to ground themselves immediately. Please, for the safety of your crews," she added. She flipped back to the secure channel with the Voltron Force just as Keith spoke up.

"In the storm, Princess. It's windy, it's hard to hold steady," he said.

"Open the side hatches. Flood your power center with that wind," she instructed intently.

"I don't know that will – holy shit, the readings are off the wall!"

Allura only grinned in response. Lotor had to admit, the wind that started breezing through the opening in the wall felt… different. He was either riding Allura's excitement, or there was, in fact, a very distinct charge to the oncoming storm.

"All mine are on the ground," Merla said after a moment. Lotor nodded, confirming the same for his. Allura smiled over at them.

"Alright Keith. Using the Alpha-Theta-Omega sequence, open your thrusters," she began.

"How do you know this," Coran whispered from her side. Allura glanced to him in astonishment.

"It's in the crypt. It's a formula carved into the wall near my father's casket. I've been staring at it since I was a child. I just didn't know what I was looking at until right now. It just all made sense." She typed furiously across the command panel in front of her.

"Power Core is fully online and recharged," Keith reported with disbelief.

"From now on, only use energy-based weaponry. Again – you will not run out of energy as long as you stay inside that storm. And you are going to unleash your fury now. Hold that Omega sequence, keep that last one open. Let it build," she instructed. "You're charging this weapon right now."

The noise of Keith's grunt was the only sound as he grasped the handle with both of his hands.

"Hold it!" She encouraged him, knowing that the lion would be trying to release the blast that was building as the electrical charges threatened to overload the entire system. "Let go!"

As the handle slammed back into its original orientation, the sky overhead lit up with a frightening network of lightning bolt webbing. From the Black Lion in the heart of the storm, the cry of thunder arced out and grounded half the Phyren fleet with a single shot.

"Ho-ly shiiiiit," Lance's impressed voice came over the command line.

"Alright Keith, " Allura was typing furiously across the command module. The wind whipped around inside the control room, blowing her hair out of her eyes, despite her braid. She quickly tied it up in a makeshift bun before going back to her work. "Here's another sequence. Go ahead and unleash this one, don't worry about sustaining the end charge in this case. Lance, you're up next."

The cataclysm of lightning from Black Lion had encouraged a heavy rain to begin to fall.

"Go ahead and open your side access panels; let that water flood Blue Lion's power core."

A brilliant beam of white light lit up the battlefield outside as Black Lion dropped a devastating column of energy on four more Phyren ships, effectively disintegrating them using the power of the thunderous skies. Allura smiled weakly in response. She was pleased the tides of battle had turned back in her favor, but destruction was never something she enjoyed.

"Alright, Lance, here's your sequence. Black Lion, stay in the clouds and keep pointing that thundergun on the ships. Blue Lion, when you finish that sequence, hold your throttle open, but don't let go of it right away." She smiled triumphantly at the screen as she sent him a new set of instructions. "I'm going to show you how incredible Blue Lion really is when her power core overcharges," she murmured, more to herself.

Several dots lit up on the radar screen in front of Allura as Blue Lion locked on to them. Her lips pressed together tensely as the flight path was pre-planned.

"Let go," she whispered into the microphone. The shrill cowboy yell from Lance was all that could be heard as the Blue Lion turned into a bolt of blue energy and raced across the Arusian landscape. Each time it struck a Phyren ship, the enemy fell to the ground, defeated as the Blue Lion ricocheted around the battlefield.

Between Black Lion's high-powered cannon and Lance's zipping, the Phyren fleet was quickly reduced to nothing. Allura cheered and grabbed Coran, bringing her advisor into a quick embrace.

"We did it!"

Rain pelted in through the hole in the wall, the wind flooding the chamber. Allura paused and glanced over her shoulder. King Alfor had reappeared.

"Father," she murmured, turning to approach the ghost. "Was that storm your doing?"

"I may be long lost from this world, my dear, but I still have some influence from beyond the grave," he murmured cryptically. "Well done, my daughter." He vanished from the room, leaving a surprised Allura. She smiled gently, both saddened and delighted to see her late father again.

"No my dear, you did it. That was all your doing and understanding," Coran replied to her prior statement as he recovered his surprise. Allura shook her head and glanced over to the floored Drules.

"No Coran, we all did it. The lions wouldn't have had the time to power up enough to do that without help. They probably wouldn't have even had the chance to relaunch after their first defeat had we not had assistance." She folded her hands behind her back and smiled shyly to the two other rulers and witch.

"…Don't fight Voltron in a storm, check," Merla muttered under her breath as she recovered her voice. She shook her head once. "That took… almost no time at all."

Allura beamed in response.

"We may not be your average soldier, but we can pull it together when it really counts," the princess said proudly. She looked over her shoulder as the doors opened. Keith, Hunk and Pidge jogged in, looking as stunned as Lotor felt.

"Can all the lions do that kind of thing, Princess?" Pidge's question didn't surprise Allura and she nodded.

"Yes, I can explain in more detail later. It's probably best not to do so now," she murmured, concerned by how much of the mystical secrets she had given away to her enemies already. "Where's Lance?"

Keith just pointed to the sky through the opening in the wall. Allura stepped over just in time to see Blue Lion arc across the sky.

"He's going to be out there until the rain stops, isn't he?"

"Most likely," Keith added with a chuckle.

"I heard there would be cake," Hunk said after a minute. Allura blinked at him before tossing her head back and laughing deeply. After recovering her composure, she wiped a single tear from her eye.

"Oh my friends," she murmured, walking toward them and throwing her arms around their shoulders.

"Well, this is getting mushy," Haggar muttered. She turned and focused on a back corner of the room and a green portal to Castle Doom appeared.

Allura glanced up to her unlikely allies and released her teammates. She looked over and smiled as Lance finally made his entrance, sauntering to his commander.

"Thank you all, for everything. We couldn't have won without you," Allura nodded to each of the three Drules in turn. After calming her nervousness, she strode toward them cautiously. The princess took both Merla's hands in her own and smiled.

"I hope perhaps someday we could even be friends. I would truly like that, Merla," she said. Merla offered an uncomfortable shrug in response. It was difficult not to be moved by the earnestness in Allura's words, and as much as Drule pride dictated being aloof, she couldn't help but smile.

"Perhaps someday soon, Princess. Times can change," she conceded.

The Arusian turned to the witch and reached for her hands next. As soon as her fingers touched Haggar's, the older woman hissed and recoiled. Allura jumped back in surprise.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean, I just meant to-"

"It's fine deary, it just caught me by surprise. I haven't been touched by someone young and beautiful in centuries. I didn't expect it," the crone explained.

Allura's eyes widened in surprise. She quickly contemplated the situation and tugged off her flight suit gloves, leaving her palms bare. Without warning she leaned in and threw both arms around the woman, pulling her into a genuine embrace.

"No one should ever have to feel that way," she whispered, her words private for her. She held her a moment longer than a quick hug – a true semblance of compassion passing from the gentle princess. "Thank you, for everything."

She stepped back from the flustered conjurer and took a deep breath. Turning to Lotor, she smiled openly up at him. Being before him still made her nervous, but it also made a shiver run down her spine. Anxiety at its peak, she stepped willfully toward the man, heart and hands trembling.

Instead of taking his hands in hers as she had done with the two before, she took another step closer, to his surprise. She rested her hand warmly on his shoulder before genuinely smiling at him.

"Thank you. Today we have shown that when divided we are both strong, but together we are unconquerable. I hope we can, perhaps someday, explore that further, perhaps even as allies," she explained.

His hand came up to grasp her arm and he stared into her eyes with such intense forlorn want and need that her breath caught.

"Lotor," she trailed off, his hand still firm on her arm. She waited seconds… and then a minute. She waited to see if he would release her. Half of Allura was sure that he would leave peacefully, but the other half knew the prince well. How likely was it that he would leave on his own?

His eyes grew colder, his jaw grew tenser, and for a brief moment, his fingers grew tighter on her arm. She winced slightly, her heart bracing. Allura was certain she had one last fight in front of her, and it was of her own design. She had stupidly placed herself right into his embrace as well as set two of her most powerful enemies between her and her team. Her muscles grew taut as she readied herself to fight once he made his move.

He didn't.

He closed his eyes, tilted his head down slightly, and with an exhale let his hand drop to his side. For the first time in all of their history, Lotor willingly released her.

"Of course," he said quietly, still looking away from her.

Allura gathered all her remaining courage and took one last step forward to close the remaining distance. In a single motion, she placed one hand on his waist and the other on the side of his face. Rising up onto the very tip of her toes, she planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

She stepped back swiftly, leaving an extraordinarily stunned prince in her wake.

"So, like, if I go home with Lotor back to Doom, and then come back and help, can I get one of those, too?" Lance's comment lightened the moment as Allura rejoined her team. She gave Lance a playful nudge on the shoulder.

Merla was the first to become more serious. "The Phyrena are vast in number. They may come back. We have given them exactly what they wanted here today – an honorable death in combat. There may be more to follow, now that a worthy adversary has been found."

Haggar nodded in agreement. "It's impossible to tell if they'll head straight for Planet Doom and seek us out, or if they will come back here where their warriors fell."

"It took a collaborative effort here from all three of us to win. Allura, if they do come back, please let us know. Zarkon is a fool if he means to sit back and let Arus fall and then defeat the Phyrena on his own. We proved that would be impossible today." Merla bowed once to the Arusian before turning and making her way to the portal without another word.

Allura stared after her, floored by the display of respect.

"Princess, are you okay?" Keith's words caught her attention and she looked to her commander and nodded. She looked back as Haggar disappeared into the portal as well.

A heated moment passed between the remaining adversary – turned- ally as Lotor's gaze smoldered on the princess. Without a word, he turned suddenly and vanished as well, the swirling green gateway closing behind him.

"I think… I think everything may have just changed, Keith," Allura explained, still a bit entranced by the last several hours. Her hands unclasped from in front of her and she smiled at her boys. "Regardless, you were wonderful today. Well done."

A very long one-shot! There wasn't really adequate places to split it into chapters. I really enjoy exploring the mysticism of the lions and the blend of science and magic behind them. As always, I welcome your comments and critiques! Thank you for reading this far!