video; un: altea

[juniberries]

[video feels most natural to the princess, and from the lighting and background of the feed it's apparent she's recording this not on the Eluvio, but from her own ship. she also looks quite serious about what she's about to say. oh and her voice is like...British but very obviously not actually British.]

To those few of us on the network: Greetings. I am Princess Allura of the Castle of Lions, and I have been traveling with the fleet for well over a month at this point in time. It has come to my attention that...not only is some Earthling holiday fast approaching, but more importantly there are new arrivals having been brought in by the very anomalies that have trapped us here.

[and yes!! you have heard her loud and clear: she said trapped.]

I wish to extend my own personal welcome to these newcomers, but I also regret to inform you that the nature of this fleet may not be...as pleasant as you may have hoped. Just recently, a handful of teams had been sent down to what had once been a nearby planet, Oros, to not only research the land and its people, but to retrieve a relic of sorts, of which the nature has still not been made clear to the rest of us.

[Allura frowns, expression hard, and there's an obvious pause as she attempts to gather herself, looking away from the camera momentarily.]

Somehow, something had went wrong during these missions, and the planet Oros was destroyed. The Fek and the Trilk who walk among us as fellow passengers are the very last of their kind; refugees due to...what I hope to say had been a mistake.

I am not looking to lower morale, or take anything away from the upcoming holiday if you are to celebrate it. But I only look to inform newcomers of the situation they have arrived to, and...to ask that we continue to extend our hospitality to those who have lost everything.

[AND JUST WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE SHE'S NEARLY DONE WITH HER SPEECH, she continues.]

Also, among our newcomers are the Paladins of Voltron, and while that name may mean little here, we still have a duty to uphold as Defenders of the Universe. [SORRY GUYS YOU AREN'T GETTING ANY VACATION TIME HERE.] And it is with their arrival and recollection of events that have not yet happened that I...am beginning to suspect that our being here may not go noticed or even change what goes on back where we're from.

Comments

[voice] un: hello

[unluckynumberseven]

[This is the second person to cast suspicion on the Eluvio's crew, and Emil might want to go on pretending that it's all fun and games, but... an entire planet, destroyed. Survivors, right here on the ship and possibly listening.

It's a sobering thought, and he has questions, but first things first. She's a princess, and he's not exactly a stranger to formalities.

So here's what sounds like a young boy on the other end of the line.]

It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness! As one of the people who just got here, this is really helpful, so thank you.

[juniberries]

[that...is a very apt username! and her tone does shift to something a bit less harsh when she realizes how young this person sounds.]

I understand that this may have been difficult to hear, but I am glad that it has helped. It is a pleasure to be speaking to a newcomer! Might I ask your name?

[unluckynumberseven]

[He typed the first thing he thought of into the username field, and he was trying to be polite. Lord help this child.

Also WOW this beautiful princess is really talking to him? He fumbles a bit with his words before answering.]

I-it's Emil! My name is Emil.

Do they really not know how a whole planet got destroyed?

VIDEO; UN: REAPER

[hellshot]

[Cue some very slow clapping. What a responsible girl, getting up in front of everyone on the network and making a very clean broadcast about the events on the planet down below. Of course, Reaper's here, and not without his critiques ready.]

Good announcement, Princess. I'm sure it'll touch the hearts of everyone working hard to rescue the aliens down below. But I have to comment, you're missing a few things, aren't you.

Do we really have no idea to what went wrong? 'Somehow, something?'

[He actually knows more than he's letting on, but he's got no plans on saying it over the network.]

And 'Defenders of the Universe'. Oh, we should all be safe, now. Thank god.

[juniberries]

Well, it's good to meet you, Emil. And I am sorry that you have been brought into all this.

[because!! he sounds so sweet and young okay?? nevermind the fact that one of the paladins she deals with on a regular basis is fourteen and that she herself is likely a teenager/young adult but!!

well, she's still not going to sugarcoat her explaining what happened, either.]

From the information I can gather, and from my own experience on Oros helping to rescue some of the refugees, during the retrieval of the Relic something sparked...thermonuclear explosions all along the planet.

The question is if this was an accident, or intentional.

[juniberries]

[OH.

IT'S YOU.

she narrows her eyes and she is CLEARLY HOLDING BACK HER FRUSTRATION for the sake of saving face or whatever but it's!! there. because you are literally picking on a young person, Reaper, way to be.]

Well, we know what happened. Bombs were detonated somehow, that much is clear. But I do not know who set these bombs off, nor why no further research had been done before a team had been sent down to steal the Relic.

[woops. the 'steal' slips out. clearly she means 'retrieve.'

also she's ignoring your sarcasm because she knows what Voltron is all about even though they're missing a vital component and can't. actually form Voltron.]

un: washington

[sixth]

[ As one of the people who'd been down on that planet, who'd fought and bled to accomplish the mission and get his teammates off that rock, then stayed behind to help rescue the same aliens that had been trying to kill him, this doesn't sit terribly well with Wash. ]

You looking for someone to blame for the fuck up with Oros? Blame your damn aliens. Not us.

[juniberries]

I am not looking for blame, [SHE IS!!] I am simply informing those new here as to what had happened before they arrived. I hope what happened was a mistake and not intentional. But we still do not know why teams were sent down to retrieve a Relic we still know very little of.

[she remains steadfast, stern in tone.]

And I hope you are not suggesting to blame the Fek and the Trilk for the destruction of their home planet.

[sixth]

They're the ones who were killing each other. Why wouldn't they be to blame?

[ Wash has been a soldier for most of his life. He has Seen Some Shit and is very cynical now. ]

History's full of stupid people who destroyed their planets because they were too busy fighting each other to realize what they were doing.

( un: maine )

[rumbling]

not everything is on a need to know basis.
sometimes you have to do a job and don't know all the parameters.
which might be a good thing considering your exposition on what happened planet-side.
you know bad shit happens, don't you?

[ Honestly, he doesn't give a shit about the Trilk or Fek. He almost lost his best friend down there and this whole thing comes across as pedantic political bullshit. And he's not in the mood. ]

[unluckynumberseven]

Oh no, that's so awful. Those poor people. And the Fek and the... other guys are here with us? Are they okay?

[He can't imagine anyone intentionally doing something so catastrophic. At his ultimate worst he only caused a fraction of that kind of damage, and it wouldn't have happened at all if he'd been able to control himself.]

[juniberries]

I am aware of such things happening, but it cannot be coincidence that this happened while a mysterious Relic was being retrieved.

I do not think this was of the natives' own doing.

[juniberries]

I am aware that bad things happen sometimes, which is why I sympathize with these refugees.

My own planet and people were destroyed.

[juniberries]

The Trilk. And...they seem to be adapting, at least, but not without their own difficulties.

I cannot truly say if they are okay. This all happened recently.

[sixth]

Sympathy can blind us to the truth, Princess. Careful you don't start seeing what you want to see in them. That's how more people get killed.

[rumbling]

sorry to hear that.

[ Which, he is. He gets how that's a shitty thing to happen and does sympathize—however Maine can or does—with the idea. ]

you know how many planets i've seen destroyed at the hands of aliens?
dozens.
human race was nearly obliterated because of fucking aliens.
can't say my sympathies lie with them.

[juniberries]

I have researched the Trilk and have been meeting with those who observed the Fek. I am not coming from a place of ignorance, Agent Washington.

[notice how she's using your full name and title?? it shows she means what she says.]

Tell me, how many of our people were killed during these events? And need I mention how the Eluvio's crew prevented me from piloting my own vessel down to save more lives?

VOICE. — id: killjoy

[avicula]

[ dutch's accent is british-but-not-actually-british, too. ]

A planet doesn't just get destroyed. That takes some serious effort.

[juniberries]

Which aliens?? All of them? Or just a specific race? A specific fleet?

Where I come from it is the Galra who leave death and destruction in their wake for the sake of universal conquest. ALL their victims are aliens to them. And all Galra do not care who it is they conquer, which planets they destroy, as long as it better secures the reign of Zarkon.

You humans are alien to me.
You call the Trilk and Fek alien when it was the Eluvio who infiltrated their planet and stole their Relic?

[unluckynumberseven]

[He can imagine. There's something so terrible about that thought, of never really ever being able to go home again.]

Is... is that the sort of thing that happens on missions? I thought they said we were only here to explore!

[sixth]

I almost was. Almost took some my teammates too.

[ Maybe he should let it go. His allegiance is to his family and friends. He doesn't give a damn about the Eluvio's crew. But he left a good chunk of his leg back on Oros and that's still fresh in his mind. ]

Sometimes the commander's gotta make tough calls to save lives. Ever think maybe that call you don't like is what saved yours?

[juniberries]

[hello fellow not-actually-british!!]

It certainly does, which is why I am suspicious of the nature of these missions we were sent on.

[juniberries]

I cannot say. That had been our first mission, or at least, my first mission while among the fleet.

I certainly hope this is not a recurrent thing.

[juniberries]

We could have saved more lives had I been permitted to bring my ship down.

I was willing to make that sacrifice, and I know when to make my own decisions for the sake of others.

[spoilers: she's used to being the commander.]

[rumbling]

yeah, sure, every alien in the universe.

[ sarcasm ]

where i come from it's the covenant.
same shit, different name.
doesn't make you special if this kind of bad shit happens to you, sorry.
and, yeah, i call them that because that's what they are. just like i'm an alien to them. there a point to this part of your argument?