Rebellion, the Name of the Game

So, Tag Anaton thought to himself. We're actually doing this.

We, as the case was, were all the children that he'd helped rescue from Magog. Them, plus the volunteers they'd procured from half a dozen planets in this isolated corner of space. Part of him kind of missed the days when it was just him, Zero, Gem, Librarian, Del, and Guardian, fighting the good fight against the Imperium, and sticking it to Vykar. Now, as Mika Tarrant had put it, the Zero Rebellion had begun. A rebellion named after the man leading said rebellion, even if it hadn't been named by Zero himself. Now, minus Del and Librarian, the gang was still here. And here he was, standing on the bridge of the Rogue, watching as Guardian helped induct the new crew in the ship's operations.

We're really doing this.

There was something almost surreal about it. Vigilantism had turned into rebellion. Rebellion turned into war. Rebellion had been put down by the Imperium over the centuries until the Bioweave had practically snuffed it out entirely. Now, the man who'd helped create the system of control was continuing his war to destroy it. The man who Tag saw approaching him.

Go away Zero.

He turned his gaze out to the void of space, hoping Zero would take the hint. He didn't need company right now.

"Hello Tag."

But stifling a sigh, it was clear that company was what he was going to get. So, without even bothering to fake a smile, he looked at his companion.

"Zero."

"You alright?"

"Oh yeah. Sure. Completely alright." He returned his gaze to the void of space, and the barren world that took up a significant portion of it. "How's it going on Locoi?"

"Not too good. The Imperium completely strip mined the planet. We're just picking through the scraps."

"Hmm. Of course. Got to feed the rebellion somehow."

"Tag…"

"But hey, sure. Fine. An army needs weapons, and weapons need metals, and metals need miners, and…" He trailed off, seeing the way Zero was looking at him. "Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize Tag."

Oh thank the Ancients. He started to walk off.

"But the least you could do is to tell me what's bothering you."

Oh. Right. Thanks for nothing, Ancients.

Tag looked at Zero, wondering if he should even try with the whole "I'm fine" or "nothing's bothering me" or best of all, "none of your business, so stop asking." Ironic that the man whose life was a lie was quite good at picking up on them. So, leaning back against the glass, Tag began to talk.

"Yeah, I'm bothered," he said.

"I noticed."

"There's my mum and dad – they're still captured, and Vykar's running the show now. He knows that he can use them against me. Against us."

"I know Tag. Trust me, I haven't forgotten." He reached out to put a hand on Tag's shoulder, but Tag kept talking, and Zero withdrew it.

"Then there's the whole rebellion thing." He sighed. "I mean, sure, I get it – fight the good fight, save humanity, cast down the Imperium, and all that. Just…" He glanced over. "Just kinda miss it when it was just the gang. You, me, Gem…Del and Librarian…"

"And Guardian," Zero piped up.

"And Guardian." He glanced at his protector, now instructing some recruits in the use of the Rogue's point-defence systems. He frowned – the kids were even younger than he was.

"The Zero Rebellion," Tag murmured, before looking back at his ally, if not friend. "You think that's a good name?"

Zero raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, if the people of the Imperium think it's just about you, then…" He paused, trying to find a way to better articulate his thoughts. "I'm just saying, like Zero Rebellion…like, taking humanity back to zero, or the Imperium back to zero, like, maybe that's a bit extreme?"

"Don't know if you've noticed Tag, but rebellions tend to be extreme. Just because it was you, me, and all our friends fighting the good fight alone at first didn't change that."

Tag remained silent, conceding the point.

"Anyway, your friend announced it to the galaxy," Zero continued. "Cat's out of the bag now."

"Yeah," Tag murmured. "And other things."

Zero smirked. "How is Mika anyway?"

"Fine. Why?"

"Well, Mika's been asking about Gem, and Gem's been asking about Mika, and they're both asking about you, and-"

"Come on man, seriously?"

Zero rose his hands in mock defence. "I'm just saying, you should be flattered Tag. Two young, attractive girls who are pining for you and wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Well, power armour I suppose, but-"

"I. Will. Murder. You."

Tag's right hand began to glow with bio-energy, but Zero didn't look fazed. If anything, he patted Tag on the shoulder and much to his own shock, he let Zero do it.

"I get it Tag," he said. "You're afraid."

"I'm not afraid."

"You're a fourteen year old boy who's been thrust into a rebellion that aims to overthrow the largest empire the galaxy's seen. And that's not including all the other changes your body is experiencing right now."

"My body's fine!" Tag yelled, his voice higher than he cared for.

"Evidently." Zero removed his hand and smirked. "For what it's worth, I'd be happy leading a rebellion that didn't bear my name. Still, this is the Third Imperium, while this is the first Zero Rebellion. And it's not like it's the first time a group's born the namesake of its leader. Remember the Voltron Coalition?"

Tag remained silent.

"Anyway, just think about it," Zero said. "And remember, you can leave if you want. The Imperium might control its people through the Bioweave, but I won't." His eyes darkened. "Even if I created it."

Tag watched Zero walk off. He leant back against the glass that separated him from the airless void and watched him walk down to the exit. Watching as the recruits parted away from him, like some prophet parting the sea. Wondering if Zero actually believed some of the providence that people ascribed to him.

And also wondering what the heck the Voltron Coalition was.

Finding out information on the Voltron Coalition had been surprisingly easy, thanks to the ship's library. Digesting the information from the tome wasn't.

The book laid it out for him. The Galra Empire. A collection of lion robots that formed a giant robot named Voltron, which became the namesake of the Voltron Coalition – a collection of races who'd risen up to overthrow an inter-galactic empire that had stood for 10,000 years. It spoke of how the lions had come to a world called Earth, which the book referred to as mankind's homeworld. How altean and human technology had been interwoven, and Earth used as a base from which the universe would be liberated. How the Voltron Coalition was eventually replaced by the Galactic Coalition. As he turned through the pages, Tag reflected that Zero's reference might have been accurate – a coalition of rebels deriving its namesake from a giant robot, whereas here, rebels were deriving their namesake from a man. Different scale, but same principle.

But as he turned the pages, he saw history take a darker turn. How humanity had become insular. Xenophobic. Earth was the hub of the Alliance, but over the centuries, it had become an alliance in name only. Allies became acquaintances. Acquaintances became protectorates. Earth had once been a technological backwater, but now, combining altean technology with human ingenuity, it had become a new galactic power. There was no one single moment that trumpeted the end of the Coalition, but turning through the pages of history it was established that as the Voltron Coalition had laid the foundation for the Galactic Coalition, the GC had lain the foundation for the First Imperium. The result being a galaxy under human control, with its non-human species either pushed to the fringes, enslaved, or wiped out.

"Tag?"

He didn't hear the voice outside his quarters as he closed the book – as he lay back on his bed and thought. Thousands of years ago, people had put their faith in a giant robot, and it had blinded them to the tyranny that was lurking in plain sight. Now, rebels were putting their faith in Zero – the man who'd created the means by which humanity was enslaved by the very body they were fighting against. He doubted Zero had any ambition beyond tearing down the Imperium and taking his revenge against Vykar, but then, what had the paladins of this Voltron fought for? Once the galra were gone, what then? Had they been aware that they'd laid the groundwork for a new form of tyranny?

"Tag!"

He didn't know. But he did know that Gem was yelling at him from outside, so he put the book aside and said, "enter."

The door hissed open and Gem walked in, looking flustered. So…a Tuesday then.

"You got wax in your ears or something?"

Tag shrugged.

"Wax in your mouth?"

"What do you want Gem?"

She frowned. "Why do you think I always want something when I see you?"

Tag opened his mouth, but no words came out. He wanted to say that Gem had been acting funny ever since Dosk, and that he didn't think her Bioweave energy being used to feed Vykar was the be all and end all of said "funniness," but survival instinct always kept him silent. In the weeks since that incident, he'd learnt that there were no subjects to never discuss with Gem Coll – Dosk, and Mika Tarrant.

Gem walked over, her eyes lingering on the book. "Whatya reading?"

"Nothing," Tag murmured.

"Doesn't look like nothing." Gem picked up the book up and squinted. "Being a History of the Voltron Coalition, the Galactic Coalition, and the First Imperium." She smirked, but it disappeared as she began skimming through the pages. "Lions, aliens, more aliens, humans…more humans…bad humans…"

Tag didn't interrupt – he was beginning to wonder if there was any other kind.

She closed the book with a thud and tossed it onto Tag's bed. "Think history can change the present and all that?"

He shrugged.

"Anything you want to discuss?"

"Um…" He looked up at Gem, who was looking at him with a frown.

"Anything?" she repeated. "Like, at all?"

"Um…the weather's nice?"

Gem glared at him, which left Tag more than a mite confused. He couldn't help but wonder if Gem wanted to talk about Dosk, or Mika, or "them," whatever "them" was. But she'd made it clear that she didn't want to talk about that. Unless she was trying to do reverse psychology or something, but if she did that, then that meant that…well, he wasn't sure what that meant.

"Yeah. Sure. Weather's nice." She looked down. "Anyway, bridge meeting in one hour. Best be there. Rebellion and all that."

"Gem…"

"Mika's going to be there as well. So you should probably see her."

"Gem, I don't…"

It did no good. She exited his quarters, the door closing with a heavy clang.

Damn it woman! Tag went to get up, but then plopped himself back down. If Gem wanted to play hardball, then he'd have to play harder. Which meant staying here, and finding a way to pass the time for the next hour. Which in this case meant opening the book again and looking up information on the paladins. The ones by the names of Shiro, Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Allura. All long dead, all long forgotten, and all of them no doubt happier than he was at the end.

Look at you, Tag thought, seeing a picture of them on the planet called Earth. Bet you didn't have to deal with any of this. Girls and guys, guys and girls, guys and guys, girls and girls…nah. Bet you just got on with the job.

The paladins didn't answer. They just stood there in the image, looking all…paladiny.

Lucky bastards.

A/N

The idea for this came from a review I did of season 7 of Voltron: Legendary Defender, where I mentioned in passing that VLD and Prisoner Zero both have the same issue - they both start off big, which means it's hard to get a sense of scale. As in, VLD has a universe-spanning empire, and the term's thrown around so much it's hard to get invested when there's no real sense of scale beyond "big." It's actually why season 7 is my favourite one (haven't seen 8 yet) because while it has flaws, it benefits from a tighter focus on Earth. Prisoner Zero, similarly, has two major plot arcs - the Imperium, and the return of the Dark Times. One of these plot points is good, because the protagonists' fight against the Imperium is based on personal stakes, along with having a clear goal. The Dark Times however? Not so much. Problem is, the first half of season 1 gives inordinate amounts of time to the Dark Times plot thread, when I'd argue it should be left in the background. Because a series can start small and go big later in terms of stakes (to use a recent example, look at Game of Thrones), but when you "start big," it leaves a story with little room to grow. I will say that VLD at least got the chance to improve over time, whereas Prisoner Zero is probably dead. :(

Also, Voltron Coalition plus Zero Rebellion - two moments named after a titular character. So, um, yes. Drabbled this up.