15 「TOOLATE」

The lift was rising. He was undetected and moving on his own. He had nothing and no one with him. All he had was his equipment, that was the only thing he needed. Nemoi held his shotgun in his hand.

"Sir," Haxus turned to his commanding officer Sendak, "We've lost contact with the patrol in subsection 2A. The same level as the prisoners," he reported without a single hesitation. It wasn't his fault this happened.

"What!? They're inside?" He turned and looked over at the door for a moment and shook his head. If they had been heading for the Bridge, they would have been here by now. He turned and looked forward towards the rest of the operating crew. "They must be after the Red Lion. Send a security detachment to that level. The prisoners are nothing compared to the threat of Voltron."

This was entirely clear. Haxus did as he was told and rerouted security to head towards the Red Lion. This would inevitably make things hard for Keith, but he was going to make it through. For the sake of the Paladins of New, he had no choice.

"Security for subsection 1A has stopped responding," Haxus stated as he narrowed his sights on the console in front of him. He was rather confused at what was going on. All of these security teams that began to stop responding were all along the various decks leading up to the bridge. "Sir, I do believe we're being breached."

"If they were coming at us, they'd be here by now!" Sendak arrogantly dismissed, "They're more interested in the Prisoners and the Lion of Voltron. It's likely if they want to form Voltron completely, they'll focus on the Red Lion rather than us for the time being."

Haxus would have agreed with his commanders assessment if it wasn't for what he was getting on the console's screen. "Sir, I do believe they're on their way up here. Whoever they are, they're wiping out each security detail they come across along the decks leading to our command bridge."

Sendak froze for a few moments as the interior lights began to flicker slightly. It was as if the energy of the ship was being drained slightly. It was as if it was being taken and absorbed.

Looking over at his arm, he watched as the fluctuations seemed abnormal. The Quintessence powercell was becoming rather unstable, as if it was being drawn in the direction of the door directly behind him. Then the disturbances stopped and there was a brief silence.

"Haxus, report." He narrowed his singular yellow eye on his subordinate.

"There's an energy reading right outside of the door. It's highly erratic. I'm filtering it through our systems," Haxus stated as he was looking over the information which was being give to him through the internal sensors.

"Whatever it is, the temperature and shape are unknown, it's shielded by some sort of biped armor. I cannot get a distinctive readout on the design either, as if its wrapping the sensors around..." He stopped midway through his report as he noticed something. "Sir, Altean Energy is detected outside the blast doors."

"... What about the Sentries on the other side?"

"They're not responding Sir, it appears they've been dismantled. There's only slight traces of them outsi..." Haxus stared at the information coming in from outside the door and throughout the ship where they had lost contact with their patrols. "Sir, the security teams we've lost contact with. There's only slight traces of them as well, as if they've been reduced to ashes!"

"Reduced to Ashes?" Stroking his jaw, Sendak glanced over his shoulder and glared at the door. "Like the aftermath of a Quintessence Harvest?"

"Yes, sir! Exactly, sir!" He seemed to panic, not exactly understanding what was going on here. Just how was there a being who could do the same thing as the druids? Was it a person who had the power of the Altean Alchemists and magic?

"What is the status of the Altean Castle on the planet surface?" He'd inquire from his number one subordinate only to pause slightly as the fur on the back of his neck began to stand up slightly.

"Sir... There are two Altean castles on the planet surface. One of them seems to have been emitting a stealth field until recently. The Princess isn't alone. We're not alone up here!"

In that moment, the universe felt as if it stood still. Beads of sweat tained the otherwise fiercest commander and most loyal of the Galra Empire under Emperor Zarkon. Spinning on one leg, he readied himself for the door which was exploding inward towards him. He used his prosthetic arm to smash the door aside.

However, when he did so, he saw nothing behind it. His eyes widened, he looked side to side. He saw nothing until there was a brief shine above himself. Looking up he brought his arm in front of himself to guard against the invisible foe.

Two white lines traced through the air, clashing against the prosthetic. After about three hits, he was practically thrown over the command console and onto the main operations floor of the deck.

"Commander Sendak!" Haxus shouted as his commanding officer was getting back to his feet. Both of them were looking around, unable to see their enemy.

They couldn't carelessly destroy the interior of the bridge, otherwise they'd be defenseless against the Lions. Not only that, but it would be seen as a defeat by his Majesty, Emperor Zarkon.

"Commander Sendak, will you die here?" The voice echoed throughout the bridge, from all directions as it appeared that whomever this was, didn't want to be seen.

"VICTORY OR DEATH!" Haxus replied as he pulled out his galra blaster and moved to join his commander. However about half way through the run to the other side of the bridge, a blade engulfed in white flames revealed itself only seconds before it planted itself into the alien's sternum.

The soldier gasped, his head shaking slightly at the surprise. He had already lost motor control, and the feeling in his legs, the only thing holding him up on his feet was this mysterious foe, who was none other than Nemoi.

"It's rude to walk into people Haxus..." The man's blood began to soak the armor, revealing his location. However before Sendak were to throw the weapon which was his arm, Nemoi disengaged the stealth system.

Revealing himself in a dark graphic grey and black armor, with neon green accents, similar to the paladin armor. It appeared he was the darker equivalent.

"Who are you, Altean...?" Sendak spat as he readied himself for continued combat. There was no leverage to use on this man unless he could reach the controls to the ion cannon. Even then, there was no telling if this man was anything like the Paladins.

"I am Lord Nemoi Vargon, Viscount of the planet Ariel, Last Agent of the Altea."

Sendak smiled smugly hearing his introduction. This man was a relic of the past, a Kingdom which had long lost against the Emperor Zarkon's might. "The world under your charge was destroyed alongside the other Planets in the Altean System. You should have died, rather than face that defeat!"

With that Sendak launched his attack, Nemoi rolled to the side. Diving beneath the controls of various key points on board the vessel. His arm narrowly missed the weapons array which would have left the ship defenseless, useless.

Sendak then swiped his arm to the side in an attempt to attack the sprinting Nemoi from behind, but failed as he dropped to the ground and out of view. When he went to bring his hand down on the position he believed him to be however, Nemoi leapt into the air, severing the connection between the prosthetic limb and Sendak himself.

Landing feet first on the ion cannon controls, he grinned down at Sendak who was glaring up at him.

"Coward!" Sendak yelled out at him and charged towards him.

Click, followed by a hum, Nemoi raised his shotgun which he had neglected to use. "Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril..." He quoted Sun Tzu, a chinese Philosopher as he pulled the trigger. Green bolts of energy escaped the end of the weapon as a wide funnel.

It was too late. Sendak was going in too fast. If he went up, he'd be hit in the abdomen. If he went down, he'd be hit in the face. He was too slow to escape to the sides. "Victory or..." The fleshy sound of an impact was heard the smell of burnt hair and skin filled the room.

Sendak clambered to the floor, several holes in multiple parts of his body. He was clearly already dead before he even hit the floor. He laid there, motionless.

Walking over to Sendak, Nemoi looked down at the corpse, lowered the weapon and fired at least three more times to empty his cartridge. He then holstered his weapon, his armor covered in patches of dark bodily fluids.

"Now stay down..." He muttered as just as he did with the other corpses throughout the vessel, consumed their quintessence through his alchemetic powers. White fiery energy left the bodies of Haxus and Sendak. Their bodies being reduced to ashes, all that remained as Sendak's prosthetic arm which he added to his inventory soon after.

「Congratulations, you have obtained 5,000 QP and an additional 500 EXP. 」

「You have reached the 500 EXP milestone point for the second time. Would you like to upgrade any of your first level Occupations or Abilities? <Noble><Agent of the Throne><Alchemy><Energy Manipulation><Magic>」

Seeing as though he no longer had to hesitate at upgrading the agent of the throne occupation, he could choose that. However the Noble was a pretty good idea to upgrade. He felt as if he had pondered about this before. It wouldn't surprise him.

Nemoi would let out a quiet sigh and stare at this question

Nobles seemed to have Charisma, powers of persuasion, riches and political support. He figured he would need that more than the Alchemy, since he already got a twenty five percent boost. Though if he were to upgrade Magic or Energy Manipulation, he wondered what kind of perks he would get with that.

"Path of the Throne..." He muttered quietly to himself as he looked to the Noble occupation still. An agent to a vacant throne. The Princess didn't name herself Queen, nor did she say she would resurrect the dead Kingdom of Altea.

He knew where a colony world full of Alteans were located. A place which was currently under the control of Lotor, a Prince who was kept on the furthest reaches of the universe away from his father.

"I could resurrect Altea..." He muttered to himself in thought, smearing the blood across the face of his helmet. He then walked over to the control console, self-destructing the fighters which had been sent out to intercept the lions.

「Congratulations, you have obtained the rank of Level 2 Noble. Commanding respect and political prowess, you are the Count of a lost World, you are a protector of the people. As an Altean, those of the same heritage will find themselves trusting you over others. Plant the seeds of Chaos, or instill Order amongst your people. The higher you level the Noble Occupation, the more influence you will hold over other people.」

Nodding slightly seeing this information, he grinned slightly.

Sending a communique down to the planet surface. Allura accepted the point to point communication and gasped seeing the blood covered figure.

"Ne...Nemoi?" Her eyes were wide as she covered her mouth seeing the bodily fluids all over the dark colored armor. The most noticeable was the change in color of the accents which were covered in the stuff.

"The Galra battlecruiser has been cleared of hostiles. I am now moving the ship into synchronized orbit above the Castle of Lions. We should be expecting company soon, be wary of the skies. Princess Allura of Altea."

Allura seemed to lower her arms with a slight frown across her lips, Coran holding the same look on his face. "Are you alright?" Coran spoke up, noticing the strangeness of his voice and how he had addressed the Princess. "You seem... Different."

He stood there silently for a few moments before letting out a sigh. "This is my first time killing a bleeding target." He had killed many before. However this was the first time he had seen this excessive amount of blood. Let alone being covered in it.

"That doesn't seem to be the... I mean, are you okay in here?" Coran placed a hand over his heart, how he was feeling. It seemed that there was something obviously bothering him other than having slaughtered Galra.

"I don't know what is right, and what is wrong. Law usually defines it, but is it wrong to seek the Quintessence of your enemies?" Without seeing his face, this looked like a genuine inquiry. Unlike before, there were no signs of guilt behind this question, so they couldn't tell that was exactly what he's been doing.

Either way, this question on its own reverberated in their minds. The moral implications of draining others of their life force. The Galra stripped entire worlds, civilizations, of their Quintessence energy to fuel their massive fleets and military might. Did the means justify the end, or the end justify the means? This was the question of every revolution and every war.

"I... I don't know." Allura said as she furrowed her brows and glanced downard, averting her gaze from him as she thought to herself as well. She was usually righteous, determined and confident. Yet here she was, contemplating.

"Thank you, your highness." As soon as he said this and they glanced up at the screen, he terminated the transmission only moments before the Paladins came into the Castle of Lions.