Keith met the Princess outside Romelle's room.

"I haven't told her that she's pregnant," she said, looking everywhere but him.

"Why not?" he asked.

Allura started to walk and he fell into step beside her. She was staring ahead of them, her eyes focused on something he couldn't see and her mind seemingly millions of miles away--where she wished she could be.

"I can't throw all this at her in one day," was the simple reply.

"She could be the enemy," Keith pointed out. "She probably doesn't deserve this kindness."

"Could be," Allura returned.

Keith looked bemused. "Why the sudden compassion?"

Allura shrugged. "Family ties, I suppose. And I don't think I can take any more today."

"You surprise me everyday," he mumbled.

She threw him a puzzled glance. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Should I tell Sven? There's something between them, and I think he has a right to know."

"He's going to have to hear it from her because this information isn't going to go anywhere."

He nodded. "Whatever you say. This isn't my business anymore."

"No, it isn't," she said distractedly. "It's family business."

The alarm went off at midnight. Keith was already up as he always took the graveyard shift in Castle Control. His brow knotted, he searched for the reason of the alarm and when he searched the skies through the viewscreen, found several squadrons of Doom fighters followed by a flagship entering Arusian airspace. Then another alarm went off as the screen split to show more ships, then it split again..and again...

"Riaru help us," he said under his breath.

The rest of the team entered the room then and saw the Doom ships converging upon them. The larger viewscreen was split into four separate sections and they saw swarms of robot fighters coming in from every direction.

"Get to the Lions," Keith said, his voice low, but dangerous. "Now."

They went down the chutes and into their respective Lions. They were in the air within two minutes. As soon as the fighters saw them, they began firing. They fought back with all their firepower, getting rid of a quarter of the fighters before the sheer numbers could consume them.

"Here they come," Keith warned. "Are you alright, Allura?"

"Just fine," she replied through clenched teeth. "Just make sure that I don't get blown out of the sky and I'll be just dandy."

"I'll do what I can," he said. "Get into V-formation, team."

They fell into formation and cut through enemy lines as the Arusian squadrons took to the skies. Laser fire lit the sky until it looked as if the sun was out. Allura bit back a stream of curses as she saw shots hit Voltronia and Marinia beneath them.

"Get that ground shield up, Coran!" she ordered. "They're getting fired at down there!"

"I'm working as fast as I can, Princess. There are damage reports coming in from..."

"Shut up, Coran!" Keith yelled. "She's a little busy!"

Sweat beads formed on Keith's forehead and he wished that he could take his helmet off to wipe them away. But he couldn't risk taking a hand off his controls. Every time he shot down a fighter, two more seemed to take its place. He made sure to check on Allura once and while, but from what he could see she would be alright. Though he took only short, quick glances at the monitor, he could see the complete concentration on her face. His speakers were bursting with yells from the other three, mostly from Lance, but Allura kept her lips shut tightly. Her brow was furrowed and she was taking out each and every fighter that came into her crosshairs. His lips curled into a smile. He had turned her into a fighting machine and he was proud of it.

Lance took a look at his radar and saw the Arusian fighters diminishing just as quickly as the Doom.

"We have to break formation," he said. "The Arusians are getting blown up out there, Keith."

"Let's form Voltron," Pidge suggested.

"Not yet," Hunk said. "There are still too many enemy fighters. We need to reduce their numbers before we can use him."

"You heard him, Team," Keith said. "Allura, for safety purposes..."

"I'll be on your seven," Allura said before he could say anything.

"Alright. Good luck, Team."

"See you on the ground," Lance said.

The Red veered off to the left as the Green fell back and to the right. Yellow Lion burst forward to aid an Arusian sending out a distress call. Black Lion led the Blue towards an Arusian squadron trying to fend off waves of Doom fighters. They burst through the Doom line and made scrap metal of half of them in a minute.

The fighting seemed to go on forever. Keith could feel it beginning to put a strain on his concentration. He made sure to track the other Lions' progress and he could see that they were wavering as well. Allura didn't appear to have any trouble, but if her flying was any indication, she was deep in it.

"I think it's time to bring out the big guns," Keith said. "Is the ground shield up?"

"Yes," Allura replied.

"Arusian squadrons, this is Commander Porterfield. Disengage code alpha-zero-six-zero-beta. I repeat, disengage code..."

The fighters disappeared from their scanners, leaving the Five Lions and the remaining Doom fighters. Neither side had been winning or losing, so there was a significant amount of the enemy left. Voltron would tip the balance hopefully on the Arusian side.

Activate interlocks...dynatherms connected...infracells up...megathrusters are go...

Voltron swooped down on the fighters with astonishing speed considering all the energy the Lions had already used up. Keith's concentration seemed to sharpen as he controlled the mighty robot and with each slash of the blazing sword and every weapon they fired, took away a large fraction of the Doom fighters until there was nothing left but a handful and the flagship. They tried to make a run for it when Voltron advanced on them, but it was to no avail.

"Destroy them," Allura said with a wicked glint in her eye.

Voltron swung the sword in the air and slashed down on the flagship. It was cut cleanly in two as Blue and Yellow Lions fired all their weapons on the retreating fighters, destroying them all.

"Take that Doom scum!" Lance yelled, shaking his fist in the air.

They broke apart and after making sure the skies were clear returned the Lions to their dens. The team entered Castle Control with a victorious air that immediately fizzled as they saw what was on the viewscreen. Coran turned from his seat and faced them with a grave expression on his face.

"What happened?" Keith demanded.

"Zarkon attacked every single planet in the Alliance at the same time," Coran told them, his voice flat. "This was what he was building up to all those months. A quarter of the more primitive planets have been destroyed and the rest have been extremely damaged. So much so that they have nearly nothing to fight with if Zarkon returns."

The Voltron Force stared aghast at the destruction on the viewscreen. There were scenes from different planets in the Alliance, and all showing the same scenes of destruction and death.

"Please tell me that he doesn't have enough resources to come back with the same power," Hunk muttered.

"Reports are coming in all over that some planets have been victorious in their battles."

"There's a small hope," Pidge said. "I hope he doesn't have anymore waiting for us."

"It won't look good for us if he does," Keith said.

"How did we do?" Allura asked.

"A few minor damages, but otherwise, we came out a lot better than the others," Coran replied. "The shield took the brunt of the blasts and the squadrons made sure that the power source was protected. The villages are intact."

The Princess looked relieved, but the frown did not leave her face as they got reports from all over the universe from planets sending out distress calls that had been blocked by now destroyed Doom satellites that had been orbiting them. The room burst into activity as Allura called out orders for supplies to be shipped here and there and Keith began gathering men to send to those who need them. Hunk and Pidge went to the docking bay to look over the fighters they had left and see if they could salvage any.

Then, Lance let out a strangled cry. He rushed to the control panel and began typing in commands. He visibly paled as he found what he was looking for.

"Oh God," he gasped.

Keith bit back a string of curses and moved towards his friend, but Lance pushed past him and ran out of the room. The scene was frozen on the screen. It looked like the remains of a giant glass dome on a moon, debris from the destruction that had been beneath it floating into space. Small forms littered the view, bodies of the dead. With a shaking hand, Keith unfroze the picture.

"Luna," he whispered in a hoarse voice, filled with unutterable pain. "Luna is destroyed."

Pidge's brown eyes glittered with tears. "Oh no."

"Wasn't Lance's family...?" Allura began.

Keith nodded and looked to the door where seconds before his friend had run through. "They were all there. His parents, his sister and her family....they were all there..."