Rude awakening. New allies?

I stood there, in the colourful void of my sleep.
What happened? I was… oh no. Voltron used himself up, I'm knocked out! I have to-

SURRENDER.

My head burned with pain, an overwhelming presence pervading the space around me.

YOU CANNOT WIN. YOU WILL NEVER WIN.The voice continued.

Wait, I know that voice…

"Zarkon." I declared.

YOU KNOW MY NAME? GOOD. THEN YOU KNOW OF THE POWER I WIELD. The emperor spoke, his voice dark and prideful.

"Yeah, I have an idea."

THEN YOU KNOW HOW FUTILE IT IS TO RESIST. YOU SHALL FALL, JUST AS ALL OTHERS HAVE BEFORE YOU. Zarkon replied, his voice hurting my head.

"Yeah…no." I refused.

WHAT?

"I said no. I won't cow down to you. You WON'T win."

I HAVE AN EMPIRE. ARMADAS THAT CAN DESTROY PLANETS, WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT COULD POSSIBLY DEFEAT ME? Zarkon says, his voice even crueler.

"Everything I need." I say, standing straight as the pain vanishes from my head.

WHAT? Zarkon says, surprised.

"I have the power I wield, my friends and comrades, the people who fight against you and the drive to make a change. All I need to win."

THEN YOU ARE A FOOL. NOTHING BUT A DELUSIONAL CHILD, PLAYING THE HERO BEFORE HE LEARNS HIS PLACE.

"That may be." I say as I turn around, facing the image of Zarkon. "And I can take that and make it into the most powerful weapon there is. One that can defeat even you, your highness." I say, sarcasm filling my voice as I address him.

IF YOU THINK SIMPLE PRAYER CAN DEFEAT ME, YOU WILL FALL.

"Maybe, maybe not." I say, hand at my side. "Now, goodbye, it wasn't nice meeting you AND GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" I shout, drawing my Bayard, the pistol in my hand aimed straight at the megalomaniac emperor.

!ɘɈɒɔiɿɈxƎ

I pull the trigger, a bullet of pure white energy crashing into Zarkon, making him shout in pain as he disappears.

I gasp as I wake up, lying on a table, feeling drained.

"It's awake!" A person in black and purple armour next to me shouts. I try to sit up, finding that I'm chained to the table. The chains strain as I move around.

"Apologies for the chains, we had to be cautious." A familiar voice says as he walks into the room. A Galra wearing armour like the person next to me stops at the front of the table. His armour seems more formal than that of the other person, looking more like clothes. His ears are large, framing the sides of his face. The top of his head is adorned with reddish markings with a scar stretching from the right side of his face down to his lips.

~~Kolivan.~~ I say, recognizing the leader of the Blades of Marmora.

"Now, let us discuss what exactly you are, shall we?" Kolivan asks.

~~I'm afraid that will be-~~

"Now, do you have a designation?" Kolivan interrupts me.

~~…difficult.~~ I finish.
How am I supposed to talk to him if my voice-

"Answer: Designation: Voltron. User's name: Diego." Voltron answers.

Oh right.

"Username?" Kolivan asks.

"Response: User is named: Diego." Voltron says.

"You're being controlled by someone?" Kolivan asks.

"Response: Incorrect. User and Voltron share control." Voltron corrects.

"Where is your user then? On a nearby ship or planet?" The person next to me asks, his voice mature but young.

"Response: Misunderstanding detected. Correction: Body is not controlled through remote interface. User inhabits body and shares control with Voltron." Voltron explains.

"So this is a suit of armour?" Kolivan asks.

"Response: Negative. Body is completely technological. User's soul inhabits body, granting control. Voltron aides and guides user through shared control and internal communication." Voltron further explains. Kolivan looks shocked, as those the person standing next to me, going by their posture.

I think you broke them.

Light sarcasm detected. Response: They'll be fine. Voltron says in my head, his voice sounding almost cheeky.

"Excuse me but I will need you to reiterate that. Did you say… your user's soul is in that body?" Kolivan asks slowly.

"Response: Correct. User controls body through consciousness and presence of soul." Voltron responds.
Okay, even I can hear how strange that sounds. I think.

"Query: Location?" Voltron asks.

"Location? …You're on my personal scout ship, the Shadow." Kolivan answers slowly.

"Could your user explain how their soul is inside this body?" The other one asks.
Hey, wait. That's a good question.

"Answer: Information missing." Voltron answers.
What?

"What?" Kolivan and the other one ask at the same time.

"Continuation: Knowledge of transformation unknown. Neither user nor Voltron have knowledge concerning transformation into current form." Voltron continues.

"So you have no clue, whatsoever, as to how you became this?" The other one asks, showing my body.

"Response: Negative." Voltron answers. "Query: Purpose for being aboard commander's scout ship?" Voltron asks Kolivan.

"We retrieved you after we felt with the ships you had been fighting. We were able to find you among the wreckage of the Starscream… wait. How did you know I'm the commander?" Kolivan asks, eyes narrowed.

~~Information classified!~~ I shout quickly, no one but Voltron hearing me.

"Response: Information classified by user." Voltron replies.
Don't say that I classified it! That will just make them more suspicious!

Query: reason for classification of information? Voltron silently asks me.
Well, we can't tell them that they're characters in a TV show! There's no way they'd believe us.

"Why is that classified? And what do you mean by user?" The other one asks.

"Yarak." Kolivan reprimands. "He does raise a good point though. Why?"

Query: Answer? Voltron asks me.
Uuh… I don't know! Change the topic!

"Query: Does commander recognise the name Cracheam?" Voltron asks.

"Don't change the- wait, Cracheam?!" Kolivan moves to stand next to me, slamming his hands on the table. "How do you know that name?" He demands.

"Cracheam? Isn't she the agent who's been missing for almost a movement?" Yarak asks.
Movement? I question.

Answer: Movement = 1.4 weeks.
Oh.

"Response: Agent Cracheam, AKA Cracked Sky, is currently on planet Mystacor, aiding the Fantasia kingdom."

"Mystacor… I have never heard of a planet called that, or the Fantasia kingdom. Why would agent Cracked Sky be helping it? And if she does go by Cracked Sky, how do you know her real name?" Kolivan demands, leaning over me to look me in the eyes.

"Response: Accessing memory bank." Voltron answers.
Wait, what?

"Engaging audio replay.

Incoming message.

«Attention, mechanoid. Do you hear me?»

Yes. Can you hear me?"

"Wait, who's voice is that?" Yarak asks.

"Response: User. Continuing audio.

«Attention, mechanoid. I repeat, do you hear me?»

«Attention: Galra captain. Message: received. Query: Reason for ship self-destruction.»

Hey! How come you get to talk to her but I don't!? Also, captain?

«I set the self-destruct because I couldn't have this ship landing on your planet. Unfortunately, that's the least of our problems. Also, we should probably move away before it explodes, we don't have much time.»

«Query: Elaborate previous sentence.»

«There's another three ships on the way. Two more research ships and a battle-cruiser as escort.»

You have got to be kidding.

«They were sent here to find out what destroyed the last ship that came to this planet, which I'm guessing was you.»"

"How many ships have you destroyed?" Kolivan asks.

"Response: Five, not including ro-beast." Voltron answers.

"You destroyed a Ro-beast?" Yarak asks, stunned.

"Response: Correct. Continuing audio.

«Response: Negative. Destruction of previous Galra ship was performed by union effort of User and Voltron.»

«User? Voltron? Explain.»

«Response: Negative. Query: Allegiance.»

«Allegiance? Do you mean what side am I on?»

«Response: Affirmative.»

«I'm with the Blades of Marmora.»" An explosion is heard in the background.

"«Command: Provide proof of allegiance.»

«I'm Captain Cracheam of the fifth squadron of rebels. My mission is to bring down the tyrant Zarkon and restore peace and honour to the Galra.»

«Response: No misinformation detected. Assessment: Supervise but trust.»
End audio replay.

Continuation: After affirmation of allegiance, Voltron teleported back to Mystacor with Cracked Sky. Cracked Sky later revealed previous history with planet Mystacor." Voltron explains.

"Previous history? What previous history?" Kolivan asks.

"Response: Accessing memory bank." Voltron answers.
Again?

"Again?" Yarak asks.

"Response: Affirmative. Engaging audio replay.

"My arrival on Mystacor was actually an accident. We were in an intense battle, our base of operations having been discovered by the Galra. I thought we were winning. We had been fighting a large armada, having destroyed multiple interstellar-cruisers. We hadn't suffered many losses, while the Galra had lost three of the eight ships that were sent after us." Cracked Sky's voice plays.

"I remember that fight. The third base jump. Many of our brethren were lost. Cracheam was thought to be one of them but she miraculously returned almost three deca-phoebs later." Kolivan recounts.

"Little did I know, all our efforts were in vain. They had sent the Vox armada, the second largest Galra armada, straight at us. We didn't stand a chance. Our commander, Kolivan tried to order us to run, to live another day and survive to fight the empire but many wouldn't listen. Some tried to fight… others panicked and wouldn't listen to reason. The Ro-beast coffin arrived first, carrying within it a mechanical monster that could end worlds. I tried to save my brother's and sisters, distract the monster while the others retreated but…"

"She failed."

"One of my brothers, Kres, tried to attack the monster head on but he failed to see the danger he was in. Kres died, made into nothing more than fuel for the abomination. I tried to avenge him but I received orders.

"All units, this is a direct order, return to the Dagger. We don't have anywhere near the firepower to beat that armada. Prepare for Universal Jump. We live to fight another day."

When I joined the formation, that monster had already devoured over ten of my brothers in arms. We were all about to jump, to leave this battle behind, when the Ro-beast attacked us. It's weapons disrupted our UJ Field, causing it to destabilise.

When we entered, some of us were being randomly ejected from the field, sent to places none of us knew. I was one of the ones ejected.

The ejection damaged my ship, causing me to lose control. The turbulence from the destabilised field was like nothing I've ever felt or want to feel again. I exited unconscious.

I landed on Mystacor, in a dangerous forest. I somehow survived the crash, my ship damaged but not beyond repair. Thankfully, I came prepared. I had a survival kit in my ship that came with a disguise generator.

I looked, scavenging for any useful materials that I could use to fix my ship. Not long after, I discovered a nearby settlement. Walkerville.

Using my disguise generator, I started learning about the people here. I learned about magic, the races, the princess who would control day and night, the names of where I was."

"What?" Kolivan and Yarak ask simultaneously, both bewildered.

"Unfortunately, the search for resources to fix my ship were slow going. Very slowly going. I eventually decided to start integrating myself into society. I knew I was going to be here for a while so I found ways to survive. It wasn't easy.

Eventually, I had cemented myself as Cracked Sky, astronomer and scientist. It was at this point that I met… the love I never knew I needed. Night Light."

"Cracheam… fell in love?" Kolivan asks, surprised.

"We met at an expedition, I had recently joined the Royal Science and Research Team which he assisted. He was basically my caretaker. I kind of disliked him because of that. I never needed someone to take care of me and I still don't."

"Always the rebel." Kolivan remarks, looking nostalgic.

"The first day of the expedition, we went out to explore some ruins that had recently been discovered in Zefrica. I tried to distance myself from him, determined to prove to the rest of my accomplices that I didn't need to be coddled. He was surprisingly stubborn.

He would chastise me when I tried to get away from him. Eventually I just decided to walk with him but ignore him. This lead me to find a secret within the ruins that no one else had found.

Unfortunately, he had found another secret that I had missed: the trap that guarded the secret I had found. He pushed me out of the way, taking several poison darts in his side. Realising what had happened, I rushed him to the camp we had made, seeking medical aid for him.

Thankfully, he survived with no lasting effects, the poison safely counteracted. From then on, I started to respect Night Light and his resolve. After that, we were basically partners on any expedition we went on and my respect for him grew.

Almost a year later, he asked if I would start joining him for launch, to discuss star constellations and the wonders of different kinds of magic. We had so many discussions together. Him, talking about theories about stars, me shooting them down, him arguing that he was right. It was fun.

A few months after that though… I got careless. My disguise generator, which I had been using progressively more and more, had been damaged. I had what I needed to repair it but because of that, I didn't realize that at that time, Night Light had decided to pay me a surprise visit. Night Light walked in on me working, he saw me like this, without my disguise and with my disguise generator sitting in front of me."

"Seems like she grew sloppy then." Yarak comments. Kolivan glares at him, silently telling him to shut up.

"He was deeply confused. At the time, I almost didn't know what to say. Thankfully, I had my training to fall back on.

"What happened? And what is that?" He asked me.

"I'm fine. Believe it or not, this is what I really look like." I was thinking of ways to deal with this situation but I also didn't want to hurt my friend.

"This is… the real you? Why did you hide this?" He seemed saddened about what was happening.

"Because, I needed to blend in."

"Blend in? Why?"

"Because I'm an alien. I'm not human like you, and I'm not from this planet." This shocked him. He had always believed that there had to be life outside of his world. He just didn't believe he would meet it.

Let alone become close friends with it.

"You're… an alien? But- why- since when?"

"Since always." I answered him, donning the disguise generator. For a brief second, I became Cracked Sky again before the generator failed. He was shocked by the technology.

"Night Light, listen. You can't tell anyone about this, okay? Not the Team, not the princess, no-one. Understand?" I didn't expect him to. He had seen things that shocked him to his core, shook his whole world view…

And then he said this.

"Okay."

I was surprised.

"I said okay. I won't tell a soul. I promise." I was shocked by this. Night Light, a man determined to bring knowledge into the world, to explore the great unknown, had promised to keep a secret.

"D-do… do you mean that?" I had to know if he was lying or not.

"Yes. I promise." But I was foolish. He was a man of integrity. He was honest, yes, but he also kept his word. I almost fainted in relief." Sounds of accelerated speech play as the audio is fast forwarded.

"What are you doing?" Yarak asks.

"Response: Fast forwarding irrelevant data." Voltron says. Yarak looked annoyed but kept listening as the audio returned to normal.

"I was glad that Night Light decided to keep my secret. If anything, this helped us get even closer than we were. Around him, I could relax. Around him, I could truly be myself.

Eventually, I realized I was falling for him. When he asked me out on a date, I was overjoyed. He took me to a beautiful restaurant. The two of us eventually became inseparable. I showed him my heart, he showed me his world.

Eventually, I found out I was pregnant."

"PREGNANT?!" Kolivan yells, his baritone voice rising in pitch from surprise.

"At first, I was happier than I had ever been. I was going to have a baby with the love of my life. Who was a completely different species from me. I panicked, worried out of my mind what was growing inside me.

I told Night Light. He seemed even happier than I was about the news. But then he realised it too. He and I were two very different species. But he wasn't worried.

He told me that it didn't matter. He told me that no matter what, he would love us. I was still scared.

"What about everyone else? What if they reject them because they're different? What if they don't even live long enough to-" I was stopped by magic. A soothing, warm, invigorating surge of magic passed through me. But it wasn't from Night Light. It came from inside me.

"What?" Kolivan asks.

"It came from you, Jex. You used magic from inside me, when you were barely two months old."

"I used magic… before I was even born?" A male voice asks.

"Your father was surprised too. After that, I stopped fearing. Because I knew you were going to be strong. Strong enough to fight through whoever stood in your way." Cracked's voice says.

"Wow." A different female voice says. "That's incredible."

"You were born later that year. The strongest baby I'd ever seen. You started walking before you were even a month old. Talking in less than six months. Unfortunately, three… years later, I received a message. A message from the Blade of Marmora. They had been looking for me, searching everywhere. I had to go back." Cracked's voice saddens.

"I had to rejoin the fight." She says.

"My ship had been nearly repaired. I was less than a few weeks away from takeoff if I worked hard. Unfortunately I didn't want to just leave all of a sudden. I had to disappear. Thankfully, your father came up with the idea to say I died in an accident.

I was able to rejoin my comrades even though I had to leave my family behind. Thankfully, I was able to leave something behind for you to remember me by." The audio finishes.

"Her blade. When Cracheam returned, she didn't have her blade. She said, she gave it to someone who needed it more." Kolivan says. "I would like to travel to Mystacor. Do you know it's location?" Kolivan suddenly asks.

"Query: Reason for request?" Voltron asks, his voice equally curious and sharp.

"I wish to see agent Cracheam… and meet her son." Kolivan answers.

Query: Accept or deny? Voltron silently asks me.
Accept. Cracked trusts Kolivan. If she trusts him, we can give him the benefit of the doubt. I answer mentally.

Response: Understood.

"Response: Information granted. Voltron can escort the Shadow to Mystacor." Voltron says.

"Thank you."

Author's Note

Sorry this took longer than normal. Unforseen circumstances (my own faulty memory) delayed this chapter. I hope you like it, Logo certainly didn't.

I was bodily harmed!

Oh look, he's back. Watch your ste-

…p.