Chapter Three

Sven and Romelle reached the castle and headed to straight to Castle Control. Romelle's next appointment wasn't until much later that day and they were both eager to hear what was happening on Earth. When they got there, the GG broadcast was playing on one of the monitors and it was surrounded by soldiers. Gwen was busy trying to break up the crowd while trying to get a peek at what was going on and was succeeding in neither.

"Back to work everybody," came Coran's calm voice from his seat at the main console and immediately the crowd dispersed.

Gwen looked amusedly at him. "I need to learn how to do that."

"So what's happened?" Romelle asked, stealing a glance at the monitor.

"Allura just threw her argument out on the floor," Lance said, coming into the room. "I think she did pretty good though. Keith pretty much threw his career on the funeral pyre."

"But he made a good point," Coran said thoughtfully. "He is a good man. Allura is lucky to have him at her side."

"Yeah," Lance said, sounding distracted.

Suddenly, the alarm klaxons began blaring. The soldiers scrambled to their positions while Gwen, Lance, and Coran circled around the command console. Sven led Romelle out of their way. A frown grew on Coran's brow when he saw a fleet of ships on their scanners.

"About five warships with probably fifty or so fighters that can be transported inside them," Lance said. "But I don't recognize their design."

"Arus Castle Control to unknown fleet," Coran said through an open channel. "Please respond unknown fleet. You are entering Arusian airspace without permission. We will be forced to fire upon you if you do not respond."

When no one answered for nearly a minute, Coran took a deep breath. It looked as if they were going to be in for a fight.

"They should be coming into range in a few seconds," Coran said. "Gwen, ready the fighters." He turned to Hunk who had just entered the room and was manning the ground shield console. "Have it up to at least ninety percent," he told the other man.

"Got it," Hunk said.

Gwen went to address the fighter pilots on another console as the viewscreen came to life. The warships looked old, but from what they could see their laser cannons were top of the line. Coran would bet that their shields weren't as old as the ships as well. His jaw clenched. With Black Lion gone, they would need more than the usual three squadrons out there with the other four Lions. Lieutenant Calendi walked in just then and went to stand by Lance.

"Where the hell did those come from?" Lance demanded. "Someone find out what kind of ships those are. They don't look like they're from Doom..."

"I've never seen them before either," Calendi said.

Behind them, Romelle let out a small gasp. Sven turned to her curiously and saw that her face had gone dead white. His eyes widening, he grabbed her shoulders and gently shook her when she didn't make eye contact with him.

"Vat iz it?" he whispered.

"Those ships are from Pollux," she said loudly, her voice trembling. "Oh Riaru....they're from Pollux."

The entire room quieted down at the pain her voice. Lance and Coran turned to look at her.

"Romelle, if you know anything about this..." Lance began.

Romelle glared at him. "How could I have possibly known anything about this? I'm here and they're there."

"Lance," Sven said warningly.

Lance nodded. "I'm sorry, Romelle. It was wrong of me to say."

"Enough," Coran said. "Do you know a lot about those ships, Romelle?"

She shook her head. "I know what they're called, but not where the main engines are or anything technical like that. The larger warships are Lixxar class D. The fighters within them are most likely Rosoma R-50's, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have better ones." Her expression darkened. "The only reason Pollux would attack us is if Doom ordered it. I'm sure they wouldn't make them come in with archaic weaponry."

They watched in mute horror as the leading warship opened fire on Castle Control. The room shuddered, but the shield held. Lance and Hunk looked at each other. Caine stared hard at the approaching warships.

"To the Lions," Lance said with grim determination. "Looks like you won't get any practice with Blue Lion, Lieutenant Calendi."

"Looks like," she echoed.

They headed for the access chutes. Pidge came running into the room just as they disappeared. Without a word, he ran into his own chute. Sven and Romelle had found their way to the command console beside Coran and were watching as swarms of fighters began coming out of the warships. Coran frowned. He had expected at least three times more than what was coming out of the ships. The fighters were the kind Doom forces used and soon Arusian fighters as well as the four remaining Lions engaged in battle. He wondered why five warships didn't carry more fighters when a different set of alarms went off.

"Meteor shower," Sven muttered. "Great timing."

The meteors began falling upon the ships, causing more damage than one laser cannon shot. One Polluxian warship was crippled when a good sized meteor hit its mid-section. Romelle put a hand over her mouth, her eyes large, as she saw the Arusians and the Lions trying to weave their way through the falling debris while shooting at the enemy at the same time. Now Coran knew why the fleet didn't release more fighters. They had probably seen the shower coming before their sensors could pick them up.

"Squadrons Lonra and Chaor, retreat. I repeat, retreat," he exclaimed. "But stay on standby."

Twenty fighters managed to break away from the fighting and flew back into the docking bay. Coran saw with growing apprehension that their numbers were dwindling at a steady rate because of the shower as well as the Polluxians. He breathed a sigh of relief when the shower finally stopped five minutes later but not before causing irreperable damage. The Lions had broken their regular V-formation by then and were engaging any enemy fighter that was near them. Without them, the Arusians would have been lost.

"Shield power," Coran called out.

"Down to seventy-five percent," someone called out.

If he was a swearing man, he would let loose expletives that would have made Sven blush. But being the man that he was, Coran only clenched the edge of the console before him until his knuckles turned white. The fighting grew more heated as the rest of the Polluxian fighters were released and seemed to engulf the Arusians.

"Release Lonra and Chaor," he said.

"I should be out dere," Sven said, his dark eyes darker with frustration. "I should be flying Blue Lion."

Romelle put a hand on his back. "Lieutenant Calendi looks like she knows what she's doing. You're not ready to fly yet. You know that."

"I'm a pilot, Romelle," he said with conviction. "All I should be doing iz flying."

She didn't say anything but silently thanked Riaru that he wasn't out there as she watched an Arusian fighter explode into a ball of fire.

"Sir," a worried voice called out. "The shield is down to sixty percent and falling steadily."

"We have to evacuate the towns," Coran said. "The shield has suffered too much damage."

Sven nodded. "I vill go help. Do not sound de alarm until I say so, Coran. I vill go down to the bunkers and make sure everyting is ready for de people."

Coran nodded. Romelle moved to follow him but he stopped her.

"You must stay here," he said. "It's too dangerous down dere."

"I don't care," she said stubbornly.

"Romelle, I can do my job better if I don't haf to worry about you."

"Stay here," Coran said, putting a hand on her arm. "I may need you later."

Romelle sighed and agreed. Sven jogged out the door, his comm link in his hand. Coran sent the signal that told the townspeople that they were going back underground. He was sure that some were there already. The young woman at his side seemed to be battling her own demons as memories of her brothers assailed her.

"Open a channel to the warships," she said.

He looked at her and opened his mouth to ask why but one look on her face told him why. Without a word, Coran did as she asked.

"This is Princess Romelle of the Planet Pollux," she said. "Stop this attack now."