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trash-raccoon · 7 years

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Of Broken Bonds and Corrupted Core - Ch. 1

Summary: In an attempt to protect his teammates, Lance let himself be captured in a rescue mission gone wrong. He thought he was ready for anything the Galra and Druids threw at him, but he was proven wrong when Haggar herself took over and tried to make him into the Galra Empire’s newest weapon. As it turns out, having the ability to manipulate the elements was something intriguing, and Haggar wanted him around to serve as the Ice Mage of the Empire. It didn't matter that Lance didn't want to. It wasn't like he had a choice.

Sequel to Of Seas, of Streams, of Falling Rain, of Naval Hurricane. While it could be read as a stand-alone, reading the previous work is highly recommended.

Can be read in AO3 or FF.net.

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Read under the cut:

What they expected from the Galra Empire when Zarkon fell was for the empire to replace him with someone and try to continue his reign. After all, ten thousand years of stepping all over people all over the universe and having no heir was just plain weird.

What they didn’t expect was how good Lotor would be in what he was doing and how much more efficient the Galra could be in squashing the Defenders of the Universe’s already low morale so thoroughly by spreading devastation everywhere, including the planets they’d freed before.

It was only then that they realized the only reason they survived Zarkon was because he was so fixated on the Black Lion. Lotor, who had none of that fixation, made scarily effective yet seemingly effortless attempts – successful attempts – at beating Voltron. He didn’t need to go for Voltron or the Paladins. He just needed to strike the ones they’ve freed and let them work even harder from before and let all those people hail Voltron, completely overwhelming them with so many distress signals from so many familiar planets.

There were so many planets needed to be rescued at the same time, and there was only one Voltron. Soon, the Voltron Alliance began to break apart as more members lost their hope when they realized not even the legendary defender could win against the Galra.

“We can’t let this happen,” Shiro declared resolutely after losing another member of the Alliance. “We need to strike, bring Lotor down like we did Zarkon, or this will never end.”

“Are we sure we want to do that?” Hunk asked nervously. “Last time we made an all-out attack things didn’t go so well. We lost you. And the Galra probably upped the security too so we need to come back with better strategy.”

“Then we will get a better plan,” Shiro assured. “We’re capable of it.”

“If I may,” Kolivan spoke up, and all eyes were on him immediately. “If we want to come up with a better plan, I suggest we free some more of the Galra’s prisoners. There is a prison ship used to contain many of the universe’s greatest minds, in which many scientists, scholars, engineers, and many more are imprisoned. The Druids conduct experiments on them to get their knowledge out of their brains. If my intel is correct, those knowledge is then used to make plans, so if we could infiltrate that ship and free the prisoners, taking down the empire should be easier.”

“If your intel is correct?” Keith repeated. “Is there a chance that it’s incorrect?”

“Yes,” Kolivan replied. “That ship is handled by the Druids and drones only. No Galra has stepped inside the ship except for dropping and picking prisoners, which is why the information is incomplete. However, we do know that they have the universe’s brightest minds. They would be at least as valuable as Slav.”

“Wait, if they’re as valuable as Slav, how is Slav put on Beta Traz instead of this weird experimental ship thingy?” Lance asked in confusion.

“That would be because of how I see all possibilities,” Slav answered, drawing attention to him for the first time. “The Galra didn’t want to experiment on me because they want all those possibilities. Experiments could mess that up and make me unable to see all those. Though, that doesn’t stop them in at least four alternate timelines, and if I fall to their hands again there is no reality in which I am not thrown to that prison ship.”

“The experiments have high possibility of breaking the subjects’ minds,” Kolivan explained. “It’s possible to mend it back together, but it’s rare.”

“If taking down this prison could make taking down the empire easier, why haven’t you suggested it the last time?” Pidge asked. “I mean, I get that lack of intel probably makes it extra dangerous, but it’s not like the risk isn’t worth the results.”

“Because of the Druids,” Kolivan sighed. “Fighting them is dangerous because how they could damage your body and your quintessence. They are powerful. You’ve fought Haggar; you should know this. However, with the situation now, I believe going to Alpha Kaj would be the best course of option as of now.”

“I can see why you believe that,” Allura said thoughtfully. “I suppose it is dangerous going there, even now, but I don’t think this is something we can brush aside. Where is this Alpha Kaj located?”

“It moves around,” Kolivan approached the control deck to show a star map. “But it doesn’t warp or make wormhole jumps. The latest intel from a Blade who was tasked to drop prisoners there show the prison was in the area of the brightest star in Neba galaxy, near the fifth planet closest to the star. It should still be in the general area.”

Coran stepped closer. “Well, it looks like the Neba galaxy is only a wormhole jump away,” he began, “but I suggest we go there without the wormhole jump, in which case it would take three to five quintants. We’re facing Druids, after all, so extra training on quintessence manipulation might be needed.”

“I thought the Paladins can manipulate quintessence already?” Kolivan asked.

“Only a little,” Shiro replied. “Lance is the most capable, since he can make tidal waves and icebergs out of nothing by now. Hunk can make earthquakes, Pidge can will plants to life though she needs seeds, and Keith, while still unable to make fire, is able to generate intense heat. I’m still not able to do anything, though.”

“Well, you were held captive for weeks so you get a pass,” Lance pointed out. “Plus, I had a head start so I really shouldn’t be counted.”

“And, uh, I don’t think I can help anything with earth powers in a prison ship,” Hunk said, holding his hand up as if in a classroom. “Everything’s metal. It’s not like I can metalbend anything.”

“Not yet,” Lance grinned confidently. “You’ve got earth nicely. If The Last Airbender is anything to go by you’re going to be metalbending soon.”

“Wait, does that mean I’m technically a waterbender?” Pidge asked aloud. “That plantbender person from the swamp was bending the water in the plants, right?”

“Pidge, no, you’re special! You do woods and vines and leaves, not the water in it!” Lance gasped dramatically. “I mean, you can get flowers from seeds without the dirt and water. That’s awesome.”

“Plus we now have our own farm!” Hunk pointed out. “No more space goo!”

“Hey, the goo is good for your health!” Coran protested, though he seemed pleased at the prospect of having their own farm as well.

“No offense, Coran, but we like Hunk’s cooking better… tastes like home, somehow. And you’re the best space uncle, but I’m sorry to tell you that you’re not the best cook around. And… we kind of need variety because eating the same food every day is kinda…” Lance gestured vaguely.

“I don’t see what’s so bad about eating the same kind of food every day,” Keith commented. “At least we have something to eat at all.”

“Look, Keith, just because you eat the same kind of canned food all the time in that little shack of yours and can live with that doesn’t mean others can do it too.” Lance’s response drew a squawk from Keith, but they’d known the Red Paladin enough to know that Lance’s jibe had been spot on.

“That’s it, as soon as the space farm is ready for harvest I’m gonna make you the best banquet ever,” Hunk swore to Keith. “Just you wait, Keith. Best. Banquet. Ever.”

“Putting that aside,” Allura spoke up, a small smile playing at her lips, “we should begin preparation. This would be similar to the prison breaks we’ve had before, I presume?”

“The concept should be similar, but we have Druids’ magic against us so I suggest we should be more careful,” Kolivan responded. “Perhaps we should play it safe and only free the most valuable prisoners, make it a quick job. Slav, any input?”

Slav hummed for a moment before answering, “Your chances aren’t too great. There are too many realities in which you end up being seriously hurt.”

“The risk of getting hurt is always present in any mission,” Shiro said with a lift of a brow.

“There are also too many realities in which one of you are taken by the Druids.”

Silence fell in the control room, dark and heavy. Slav continued on talking as if he didn’t notice it. “Some even have two or more of you taken by the Druids. The realities in which you escape completely unscathed are just two, three if you are lucky.”

The silence continued. Lance broke it by clicking his tongue. “Well, it wasn’t like our chances with Zarkon was any better? We came out of that relatively okay. More or less. Somewhat. In a manner of speaking.”

“Slav, if this succeeded, will it help us win?” Allura asked.

“In most of the realities, yes,” Slav nodded.

“Then I say it’s worth the risk,” Allura concluded.

Hence how the team found themselves in Alpha Kaj, sneaking into the ship to free the prisoners in it. Considering that the Druids ran the ship, the group decided they should act more carefully and sneaked the prisoners off few by few instead of wreaking havoc. Letting all hell break loose meant they’d probably have to deal with drones and Druids head on, after all, and they were pretty sure battling Druids head on would leave to one sided curb stomp with them being stomped on. Keith, at least, had insisted on it, and Lance wasn’t going to argue with the guy who could make the entire control room into a sauna with a single glower and melt metal with his touch.

Pidge, as usual, had hacked into the ship’s mainframe and accessed the blueprints, leading the rest of the team to the prisoners, which were divided into two groups. She purposefully led them to free prisoners who could either help them or whose escape could probably delay the Galra’s expansion or attack. It was hard and trying, at times, because some of the prisoners were already damaged by all the experimentation and info-squeezing the Druids had committed them into. Though, to be fair, he mission went pretty well overall.

Lance begun to feel a lump of nervousness knotting at the base of his stomach when after the fourth trip to smuggle more prisoners no hiccup had interrupted their process. Things didn’t usually go this well for them. It felt foreboding.

As seconds ticked by and more prisoners were smuggled away from their cells, the feeling grew within Lance and he started to feel jittery. He tapped his fingers to his bayard, chewing on his lips and trying hard, so hard, to keep himself from doing things that could attract attention.

“Lance, you’re starting to get distracting,” Hunk whispered softly when Lance’s tapping got more frantic.

“Sorry,” Lance tightened his grips on the bayard and stiffened his fingers to stop himself from tapping, then quickly loosening them again when he realized stiff fingers would probably not help much in case of a sudden need to fire at something. “I just feel… sorry.”

“Too easy?” Hunk asked with a strained smile. “Same, dude.”

“As thrilling as this discussion is I would prefer if we could keep silent and focus on the mission,” Shiro’s voice rang through the comm. “This is our last trip, anyway, so let’s not say anything that could distract us.”

“Yeah, let’s not jinx ourselves,” Keith agreed. “Shiro and I have gotten to the next cell, Pidge. Locks?”

“Sure thing, just a sec. I’ll undo the locks on Lance and Hunk’s end too, so you can all get to the pods pretty much at the same time.” There was a beep from the comm link, and after a bit they could hear Pidge’s triumphant, almost silent yes. “Alright, locks are now not functional and the doors to the cells I’m directing you to will open at the lightest push of your fingers.”

“Thanks, Pidge,” Shiro said, a hint of pride in his voice. Lance smiled, liking the fact that they had Shiro back after being separated for so long. Missions always felt better, more focused and somehow easier with him around.

Hunk gestured to Lance to move quicker, and he nodded. They followed the path Pidge had sent to them and quickly made their way to the cell in question. Inside which was an alien lady with long, long silvery hair with streaks of gold that cascaded down to the floor, tips a strikingly contrasting black. She wore her hair like a robe around her, pulling the strands around her shoulders like cloth with which she fought away the cold as she curled into a ball. She looked humanoid for the most part, though her skin was a shade of ivory white that made her look like a statue. Her lips were gold, her nose pointed and long, and she had four pointy ears instead of two. She had three eyes, though, two in the upper part of her face much like any humans would have their eyes and one standing vertically at the very center of her forehead. The two were a shade of silver-grey, while the single eye glowed an ethereal gold.

“Paladins,” she greeted, her voice husky and lilting as though she was half asleep, “I have been waiting.”

That gave Hunk a pause. “Uh, you have?”

She pulled her lips into a smile. “My people have always had the ability to see the future. Snippets, broken vision that no one could comprehend. For some reason, my vision has always been more coherent and easily understood. That is why the Galra took me.” She gave a bow. “I thank you for coming and rescuing me, Paladins. I am Pythia of Castal. We Castalians have foreseen the coming of the defenders for so long. It is an honor to finally meet you.”

“Pleasure is all ours, milady,” Lance returned the bow gracefully and offered his hand. “We’re in a tight schedule, though, so I suggest we move quickly. Shall we?”

Pythia nodded and reached out, revealing seemingly unnatural long fingers that reminded Lance of long, leafless twigs in the middle of winter. The skin on her hands were deep, sleek black instead of the flawless milky white her arms and face were, and a glance to the floor revealed that her feet were also black, and her toes, too, were unnaturally long. She pushed herself upright and she immediately towered above both Lance and Hunk, and Lance knew instantly that she’d be taller than most Galra around. Overall, she looked like a girl version of Slenderman, except she actually had a face and looked more ethereal than creepy. So perhaps some kind of fae?

Then she suddenly jerked back and pulled her hand away from Lance’s, the single golden eye flashing brightly for a tick. She blinked a few times – all three of her eyes – and stared at Lance intently. “Ah.”

“What? What is it? Why did your eye shine? Was that normal?” Hunk stared at Pythia, worry in his eyes and slight panic in his voice.

“It happens when Castalians receive a vision,” Pythia answered, still staring at Lance.

Lance chuckled nervously. “I hope that was a vision of me sipping margarita by a pool surrounded by pretty ladies such as yourself,” he joked, only half hoping that his guess was somewhat true. The way Pythia stared at him made him think otherwise, but a guy can dream.

Her face contorted in… was it pity? She reached out and took his hand again, enveloping it in her long fingers gently. Her golden eye shimmered softly. When she spoke next, her voice was heavy, and she sounded truly awake for the first time. “Child of ocean and ice, you shall abandon your hope. You shall cast away your precious ones and you shall be alone. But fear not, for what was once lost may yet be regained.”

Lance stared.

Hunk coughed. “That sounded… ominous.”

“Why would I cast away my precious one?” Lance asked.

“I do not know,” Pythia answered, back to sounding half asleep again. “My vision is often disjointed, though much less so compared to the rest of my people.”

“Anyway, we really should move,” Hunk nudged them. “Can’t waste time here. We need to get out, like, ASAP.”

“Right,” Lance straightened and grasped Pythia’s hands that still held his. “Come on, it’s this way. Keep yourself as quiet as you can. We need to move quickly.”

The tall alien lady nodded and followed, surprisingly silent despite her size. Her hair trailed behind her like silk, and Lance wondered briefly what kind of haircare aliens used. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.

They soon reached the hangar, meeting up with the rest of the team. Standing with Shiro and Keith was a tiny alien dude, only reaching up to Shiro’s waist in height. His skin was an interesting shade of algae green, and his cat-like eyes looked around the room warily. Behind them was a pod, inside which several other freed prisoners huddled together.

Keith motioned to them, clearly wanting them to move quicker. They complied.

They were only three paces closer when purple lightning bolt struck the floor between their feet, though. Lance whirled around in alarm, raising his bayard and started shooting at the oncoming Druids.

“Fuck,” Keith cursed, generating heat in response to the sudden worsening of the situation enough to make the room suddenly feel stuffy. It was most likely unintentional, given that he didn’t have good control over his powers yet.

“Dude, mind the heat,” Lance protested as he put his hand up and twirled his finger, making a light snowfall to neutralize the temperature. Keith muttered a quick apology as he activated his bayard.

“Paladins, up front!” Shiro yelled, flesh arm gripping inactive bayard while the other arm glowed Galra purple. “The rest, go inside the pod. We’ll cover you.”

The freed prisoners didn’t need to be told twice. Pythia snatched the green alien up, ignoring his surprised, indignant squawk and rushed into the pod, leaving the door open to wait for the Paladins.

The Paladins quickly got to work, but to say the battle was frustrating would be severely underplaying it. Each and every time they struck – each and every time they knew their strike would hit – the Druids would poof away and rematerialize elsewhere, suddenly throwing purple lightning strikes at them. Soon, it became clear that their chances to actually defeat the Druids was pretty much a zero.

Shiro gritted his teeth, glancing at the still open pod. The Druids were strong and they were slowly being pushed back – closer to the pod, but sooner or later the Druids would take back the prisoners and would probably jail the five of them for good measure. Even better, they’d probably continue the messed up experiment they did to Shiro and did the same for the rest of them.

“You people back there, close the pod!” Shiro yelled to the freed prisoners. “Go to the white ship waiting outside. You’ll be safe there.” He turned to the other Paladins. “You go with them.”

“What? No!” Keith protested immediately. “I’m not leaving you!”

“Shiro, we just got you back! We’re not going to just leave!” Pidge added.

“We’ll fight these Druids and escape together, Shiro,” Hunk grunted through gritted teeth while sending blasts after blasts to the Druids that never connected.

Lance’s eyes darted around, looking at how his fellow Paladins struggled so against the enemies, how the Druids easily avoided their relentless attacks without effort, how the prisoners waited, staring in frozen fear.

All of them but one.

His gaze connected to Pythia’s, and for the briefest moment her golden eye twinkled and Lance instantly remembered her seemingly ominous message. She stared at him without words, simply waiting for him to make his decision. It didn’t take long.

“Pythia, close the pod, now!” Lance yelled, and Pythia nodded. Before his mouth even closed, Lance’s eyes glowed ethereal blue as he called forth the power of the ocean and glacier to his fingertips. With a single slash, he raised a wall of ice that separated the Druids from them. He didn’t know if it would actually stop those pesky space dark magic practitioners, but he could at least try.

The ice chipped and cracked immediately. Okay, so he probably couldn’t guarantee their safety. Fine. He’d hold them back somehow, even at the cost of himself.

“Lance? What are you doing?” Shiro asked, trepidation in his voice.

Lance met his eyes. Met the eyes of each and every member of his team. “Please be safe,” he said, a little breathlessly.

“Lance – “

Shiro didn’t get to finish his sentence. Lance had raised a tidal wave that immediately washed them away, pushing them into the pod just before it closed. Lance watched through the dissipating water and the glass of the pod, making sure they were safe and sound, if a bit wet and coughing and hacking from swallowing a mouthful or two of water that he pushed to them.

Behind him, the ice cracked more, ominously. Absently, Lance willed it to last longer.

Hunk launched himself to the now closed pod door, glaring at him and yelling something he couldn’t hear. Lance smiled weakly at him, which spurred him to punch the glass.

The ice wall behind him broke, falling into thousands of tiny pieces. An attack hit him squarely in the back, making him grunt and fall to his knees. He didn’t break his gaze to the now retreating pod, however, staring at how Keith pushed Hunk a little so he could press his palms at the glass, staring wide-eyed at Lance. The taller boy sent him a smirk that immediately turned into a grimace when another attack hit him. Lance launched needles of ice and slaps of ocean wave blindly, hearing a Druid grunt behind him and more rushing forward.

As the Druids surrounded him, Lance watched Keith pound at the glass, fire blazing across his back – orange and red and angry and desperate. So this is what finally enables him to make fire, Lance absently thought as Druids began to crowd around him. He forced himself to smile as he watched the pod moved, away, out, as his teammates watched in horror while he was overpowered by the Druids despite the ice that he threw at them.

Let him be overpowered. Let the Druids take him. He didn’t particularly care as long as his friends were safe.

As the hangar gate closed, pod safely out, Lance ceased all effort to keep the Druids back. A pair of metal bracelets immediately circled his wrists, keeping them locked behind his back, and Lance instantly felt his ability to summon water and ice being sealed away. So, a kind of space handcuffs that kept him from fighting in more ways than one. That was just great.

The Druids pulled him to his feet. Lance flashed them the biggest smile he could pull.

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