Interlude One - Keith: Crash and Burn
The lions...a bomb! Everyone! Eject! eject!...too late! Spinning out of control...Allura! Hunk! Lance! Pidge! Dammit! Answer!.....Zarkon, it's Zarkon's doing....Allura! Don't fly so low!...Keith...you're so bossy!.....Hey, Cap! Relax!... Lance...ohgod. red lion's gone..Lance!...Green lion! Pidge! Fire! Fire!...Hunk! Where's Hunk! Allura! She's falling! Falling!..the ground.the ground...ahgod...I'm dead...wha-? I'm gliding!!!............allur.....a......hurts...head....no....no.............................
Medbot #150 observation of subject: Akira,Keith, Commander/Voltron Force. - Subject is resisting nanobyte probe interrogation. Will continue to monitor progress.Medbot #150 - end transmission.........
Interlude Two - Castle Control: Wedding Announcement
The heavily encoded message from Arus spies on Doom came that morning...
......Coran, Princess Allura and Captain Akira were spotted alive two days ago by our spies on Planet Doom. The Princess appeared in good health but Akira looked to be severely injured. They wern't taken to the slave prisons, but underneath Castle Doom. I would ready your people for imminent attack from Doom. If we hear anything else, we will contact you immediately. Cmdr. Jeh'aa Ziker-Doom Recon-Garrison unit Beta.....end message
"Well, at least they're alive, Nanny."
Coran finally said to the harried Nanny.
"But Zarkon's has them! We must save them! My baby Allura---"
"Nanny, we're doing all we can, right now Zarkon has us over a barrel!"
"Coran, I wish we could kill that monster for what he's done! Lance dead. Pidge and Hunk burned! And Allura and Keith! Not to mention what he's done to Arus!"
"I know, Nanny, I know how you feel ---"
BEEP! "Priority One message from Planet Doom, sir! onscreen." the young ensign's voice interrupted their conversation.
"Thank you, put him on, please."
It was that ugly toady, Cossack. "Hey, it's old man Coran! I've got a message from Zarkon for you!"
"What is it, Cossack, I'm in no mood--"
"Oh, you'll be in the mood for this! We have the Princess and Captain Akira-although the captain isn't in good health. Your princess now--"
"Get to the point, Cossack!"
"Don't blow a gasket! King Zarkon will be ordering occupational troops to Arus as soon as he is done with his honeymoon with Princess - I mean, Queen Allura!"
"You liar!" Coran's voice rose in anger. "Princess Allura would never consent to marriage with Zarkon! She didn't want Lotor, why would she marry his father?" Coran shouted.
"Why, that's easy, old man - it was a Drule marriage! You do know what I mean, don't you?" Cossack leered.
ohgod. I do. better if Allura were dead than this - her and Zarkon...married. ohgodCoran shuddered.
"Hey, Coran, you don't look so good! Aren't you happy?" Cossack sneered.
...I will never be happy again....thought Coran.
"One more thing, old man, your new ruler will be contacting you soon - so you better stay put!! Cossack out!"
Coran turned towards Nanny, who heard the whole thing. She was white as a ghost.
"What are we going to do, Coran? What can we do?"
Coran, feeling a thousand years old, said, "I don't know. Nanny. I wish I knew."
Hagar the Witch left the circus atmosphere of Zarkon's throne room. No one noticed except for that genetic mistake Cossack. He tried to stop her, but one glance from her was all it took - he scuttled off like the coward he was.
She went to her suite of rooms - a remnant of her days as Zarkon's mistress, and sat.
What happened to her life that had been so promising? Since the accident that left her face and body a shriveled old crone, it had gone downhill. From promising queen to old hag. She remembered his vow--not Zarkon's, but S'auh e'ya - her true beloved. He was Z'aale to her then-when she was young and beautiful and her name was Ch'enuya - "full of promise" in the Drule language.
Full of power and promise - and in love with a man who would never love her. He flattered her with sweet words and kisses. Z'aale was not a handsome man and he was also a forbidden outworlder - but he was charming and becoming powerful. He lured her away from the planet of witches, D'antayan and used her power to carve out his empire. Later, she found out he was married with a young son. But that didn't bother her too much.
"Someday, S'auh e'ya, you will be my queen." Z'aale Zarkon promised.
So she waited and waited. It wasn't hard, she shared his bed and sometimes his heart. He could be cruel at times, but when he was asleep, she would gaze at his peaceful, sleeping face and he was S'auh e'ya Z'aale - her beloved Z'aale. She could almost believe he loved her when they were alone in his chambers.Then came the accident- or was it on purpose? Voltron, that great sentient being who guarded the Denubian galaxy and prevented Z'aale from conquering it's many plentiful worlds, was it's guardian. Z'aale wanted Voltron destroyed and he sweet-talked her into doing it. He promised her to make her his queen immediately after she destroyed Voltron. By then, she knew all the arts of a witch, and so to please him, she took the form of a goddess and lured Voltron to the deepest part of space and there she took the sentient robot's life away - at a cost.
Voltron broke apart in five pieces in an explosion that hurled her charred and smoking body into space. The pieces of Voltron fell to a small green planet called Arus, where a young king named Alfor ruled. Only the fact that she was a powerful witch saved her, and later, Z'aale's flagship, A'yal'baal ("Dominator")found her and picked her up.Despite the quick medical care she received, her body was that of a shriveled old crone. When Z'aale first saw her, his face showed disgust at her appearance. She knew then that she would never share his bed again.
In derision, Z'aale called her H'aggar or Hagar for short which was Drule for "wrinkled one". From that point on, she was Hagar the witch and he was King Zarkon. She stayed loyal to him, using her magic to help his empire expand - until Planet Arus resisted Zarkon's relentless assault on their planet.
Zarkon had hated King Alfor who had the audacity of refusing Zarkon's request (demand) to join his empire. And so it began...Voltron came back with five new pilots - she nearly killed one- only to have Princess Allura take his place.
Allura, with her beauty and grace. Hagar was jealous of her. She knew Zarkon had wanted to give Allura to his son, Lotor, when he conquered Arus, but she knew he desired her too, if only to dominate and break the Arusian princess' spirit. Zarkon was no monk!
Hagar suffered much heartbreak, so she built walls around her feelings, so that the world would believe her to be just an ugly and evil witch with no desires of her own except to do her master's bidding. And so it went on and on-victory and defeats. Robeasts and elaborate plans shot to hell. Zarkon sometimes spoke of getting a new witch to take her place, but none were as powerful or as loyal as she. And now -- he marries the princess! She couldn't believe it. Hold them for ransom yes. Torture them, too, but marry? Hagar shook her head. It had to be a midlife crisis or something.
She wanted revenge. She didn't want to kill Zarkon, but she wanted to get him back for all the wasted eons she spent on him. Hagar still loved him in her own twisted way. She knew she couldn't just kill the Princess or that captain. It would being about retribution on her head and she didn't want that!
What if-what if she denied Zarkon the things he had acquired? For starters, Allura-and that captain too. She wouldn't kill them - she would help them escape! And while she was at it, why not Lotor too? (She knew of Zarkon's plans to eventually kill his son.) Hell, why not shake his own empire down around him! He would lose everything! Oh that would gall him! When he had nothing, then he would turn to faithful Hagar. She would take him back to D'antayan where she could always renew her powers with ease and be able to shape-shift to any woman he desired. No more war or empire. It would be just Ch'enuya and S'auh e'ya Z'aale. Excited and filled with hope as she had never felt in years, she proceeded to start on her plan to win her beloved's heart.