Lance watched as Pidge took apart a console. He could hardly believe that someone his age could already know so much about technology. He knew as much as Hunk, if not more, and Hunk had been at it for a long time before him. Pidge caught Lance looking and grinned.

"I'm a genius," he said without any apparent modesty.

"Looks like," Lance agreed. "Nice to have you on our side."

"Lance," Sven called. "Get ofer here and help me wid dis."

As Lance went off to help Sven pick up a terminal, Pidge went back to work on the console. Hunk sat nearby, quickly prying a panel off another console. They had to take everything apart as fast as they could before Zarkon's forces arrived. Coran rushed around main, getting everything checked off his list. Suddenly, the entire base shook. They all stopped and looked upwards, expecting the ceiling to come down on them as they watched.

"HURRY!" Coran yelled. "Grab what you can. I'm going to set the self-destruct to fifteen minutes. Every man for himself!"

Lance and Sven bolted out the door with the terminal and ran back in to grab more things. Coran stood next to Pidge and Hunk.

"Cut all the wires and burn them," he ordered. "We can't salvage those anymore."

"Yes, sir," they said in unison.

They hacked away at all the wires in the room as the world shook around them. Coran yelled into his communicator to the ground forces and the air forces above. From the sound of his voice, they were losing and badly. Lance put a hand on his shoulder.

"We're going out there," he said, gesturing towards Sven and himself.

"But I need you down here!"

"Yeah but you need us more up there. Trust me on this but then again, even if you don't want us to go we will. The Princess has not officially involved us in any way with your faction so we are going to fight under Alliance regs."

Coran nodded and waved them off. They took off down the corridor to their fighters. Pidge and Hunk watched them go and glanced at each other. Coran caught it and nodded when Pidge looked at him. They shot up and followed, leaving tools and severed wires in their wake. They caught up to Lance and Sven in the hanger. Lance threw them a thumbs-up as Sven acknowledged them with a smile.

"See you in the sky, boys," Lance exclaimed.

They climbed into their fighters and Coran opened the doors for them from main. The four fighters shot out into the black Arusian sky and into the midst of the firefight. Red and green blips appeared on their scanners, the Arusians being green and the Drule scorpion fighters were red. The Arusians were dwindling quickly as a green dot seemed to disappear at every second. Lance boosted his thrusters with a loud war whoop and began shooting at the robot ships.

"Get back here, Lance," Sven said. "We're going to do this right."

He looked at Lance on the viewscreen near his left elbow. The four pilots had already set up their communication units and Sven had all four of them on the screen. He could see Pidge eyeing the enemy with a steely eyed determination while Hunk seemed to be sizing them up. Lance was having the time of his life.

"You're the highest ranking officer here, Sven," Pidge said. "You're in charge."

"Did you hear that, Lance?" Hunk said.

"Yeah, yeah. So what's up then?"

"I'll take the lead. Hunk, you take starboard, Pidge, aft. Lance..."

"I know, Sven. I've got port. I learned diamond formation, too."

They got into position and flew straight in the fray with guns blazing. On the ground, Doom troops were beginning to blow their way into the compound. They had a large drill helping them dig as well as truck loads of explosives. Pidge blew them away with a single missile, but they were replaced quickly with more soldiers and explosives as Arusian forces could not prevent a massive transport ship from landing on the surface.

Sven gritted his teeth. This was going to be a hairy fight and he did not have to be a General to see that the Arusians would do better to cut and run...but to where would they run? Housing was a temporary solution. Tightening his grip on his controls, he led his small squadron into a strafing run on those on the surface. For now, they would do that they could to keep those still underground safe. In the back of his mind, he hoped that the Princess and Keith had gotten to safety.

Allura made sure Keith was safe and would be taken care of before she went to set up the new main. He had passed out as soon as she told him it was safe to and she only realized then how much of an effort it had been for him to keep his eyes open, even more so to continue speaking. He was made of tougher stuff than she expected.

She pushed her way through the crowds in the corridor, not stopping even when she heard her name being called. She needed to get back in the thick of it now that she knew Keith would be alright. Headquarters had been cleared before the robot soldiers had penetrated their outer defenses. Coran had told her it was a close call for they had heard sounds of explosions as they were leaving. Coran had arrived a few minutes earlier and he was now in the process of setting up the existing main control room to a more advanced one that would suit their needs.

"Where's the loud mouth, the one with the accent and the two new ones?" Allura demanded as she strode in.

"They are up there," Coran replied, pointing up.

Allura rolled her eyes at him.

"That's just great," she exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "What the hell do they think they're doing?"

"Fighting."

Allura watched the viewscreen where she saw more of her people dying. Her hand clenched into a fist until her knuckles turned white.

"We can't call them back because then Zarkon will know that we're safe," Coran said quietly. "We need to buy some time."

"I know," she said.

She watched mutely as the four Alliance fighters tore through the Doom offensive. A hand weakly clutched at her arm. She turned to find Keith standing next to her. He looked up at the screen.

"They're good pilots," he said.

"You should be in bed," she said tersely.

"Not while this is going on. Those are my friends, and my men, out there. Would you have stayed in bed if you were in my place?"

Giving him a look, she helped him to a chair.

"Fine, I'll give you that," she said.

They watched as the Arusian fighters steadily lost ground. There seemed to be a limitless supply of Drule fighters. Zarkon had mounted a massive attack and it was clear that he was not going to show them any mercy--not that he had in the past. Allura's hands fisted at her sides. It was during times like these that she felt helpless, that she felt the weight of her station and the blood of her people on her hands. She had lost count of how many times she had sacrificed the few for the many--but those dead haunted her dreams. She promised herself and them that their deaths would not be in vain...

"Call them in, Coran," Allura said firmly, her blue eyes flashing. "We'll save those that we can."

Lance, Sven, Pidge, and Hunk somehow found their way through the chaos in the hanger to the main. Lance and Sven spotted Keith and rushed to his side.

"What are you doing up?" Sven scolded. "Don't push it, Keith. You look like death."

"The only way he would have stayed down is if someone sat on him," Lance said with a laugh. "He never was the sharpest tack in the box but he's the most stubborn."

"Thanks," Keith said dryly. "Mind introducing me to your new teammates here?"

"Excuse my lack of manners," Lance said. "Commander Keith Porterfield, meet Ensign Pidge Nicholas and Lieutenant Hunk Yearling."

"Sir," they said.

"Call me, Keith. That was nice flying."

"Thanks," Hunk said. "We've heard a lot about you, Keith. Glad to see you're up and about."

"Alright, alright. Porterfield's looking a little wilted," Allura said. "I think it's time you get him to bed."

"Whatever you say, Mom," Lance said. "It's time for bed, kiddo."

Keith chuckled. "I am feeling a little tired."

"You're about to slide down that chair," Sven pointed out.

"Just get him and go!" Allura said, irritated.

"Ok, ok. Calm down," Lance said. "I'll take care of it."

He wheeled Keith out of the room in his chair. Allura gazed down at the reports coming in from the various squad leaders that had been fighting outside. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as words and numbers scrolled in a steady speed on the screen. As she took in the information, her mouth tightened into a straight line and her eyes were shadowed.

"Too many losses," she murmured.

"Your people are good fighters," Hunk said. "They did great out there."

"It's not worth their lives," she said, shaking her head.

It was silent in the room as everyone stopped whatever they were doing to look at the Princess. Her shoulders were hunched and her head bowed, as she silently thanked the pilots and soldiers who fought so that the rest could live. A minute later, she raised her head and turned around.

"What are you waiting for? Let's get to work. We've got a base to build!"