Chapter Nine

Black Lion barely jumped out of the way of the first laser shot when another was fired. Fighting the initial urge to turn on the shields, Keith backed the Black up until it was safely free of the invisible shield and then turned his shields on. This happened in a matter of seconds, but it was enough time for several more laser shots to come down on them.

"Great," Keith muttered.

"Can't you dig underground," Lieutenant Andra suggested. "Now that we know the shield will only activate when you have your power on, we can safely enter."

Keith stared at the now silent castle, its twisted spires rising high into the dark sky. He looked on his viewscreen and saw the hole Hunk had dug earlier.

"At minimum power, it will take God knows how long to dig up to the floor of the castle," he said. "Twenty meters down, then back up, then through stone. We'll be moving at a snail's pace."

He sat in silence. He took off his helmet and ran a hand through his short midnight black hair. The sharpness he had felt during battle had melted away. He had barely gotten away from the castle's lasers. It was more instinct than skill that got them out of that one. He felt unbalanced since he had talked to the now defunct GG Council. He had been thrown one too many crises in a short time and he couldn't handle it. For once, after everything he had been through, he couldn't handle this one. He rubbed his eyes and forced himself to concentrate. They had to do something other than waste precious minutes while he sat ruminating about his problems.

"Why are we still here, Keith?" Bandor asked, breaking the silence. "Arus needs Black Lion."

Keith closed his eyes. "I don't know," he said. "I can't think..."

Bandor got up from his seat and looked Keith in the face.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

Keith nodded dumbly and in two bounds, the Black was up in the air.

Lance leaned his head back against the headrest and tried not to look at his chronometer. At first he had felt slightly nauseated as gravity pushed him this way and that as they traveled at breakneck speeds to reach Arus quickly, but he had gotten used to it. He just hoped he'd be able to walk straight planet-side.

He glanced at the monitors at his elbow and looked at how the others were faring. To his shock, Calendi wasn't in her seat.

"Lieutenant Calendi," he barked into the communicator. "Where are you? Get back in your seat!"

She appeared from behind the pilot's seat and smirked at him. "Sorry, sir. Just thought I'd lie down."

"I guess you'd be a little tired after an adrenaline rush," Lance baited.

"I suppose," she said indifferently. "Aren't we supposed to be on radio silence?"

"I had to check up on you," Lance retorted.

He pushed a button and laughed mean-spiritedly when he saw her being to speak, but realized he had closed the connection. She glared at him, but sat down. He looked at the other monitor and saw Hunk with his eyes closed and his legs folded up in the lotus position. Lance felt his pulse throbbing in his neck and wished that he knew how to meditate. He wished he knew what was happening on Arus and silently prayed that Morgan and Gwen were alright. At the thought of them, he began to get restless and his hands fluttered uselessly on the control panel as he searched for something to do to calm himself down. They were all that was left of his family and if something happened to either of them....

Don't think about that, he chided silently. They'll be fine. We're almost there. He glanced at the chronometer. They had forty-five minutes to go. Hurry, he thought to Red Lion. Hurry.

On a lark, he switched on his computer and began searching the Alliance database to see if any ships were near Arus. He had heard Allura's distress signal but it wouldn't hurt to badger someone closer than they were to lend a hand. He scanned the screen, the words beginning to blur together until he had to slow down to make sense of it all. His fingers tapped a steady beat on the control panel's surface. His eyes narrowed as he saw a unfamiliar Star-Class ship appear on the screen. Since Star-Class ships were few and far between, it was something to look into. He frowned when he saw a familiar name as second-in-command of the ship.

He entered the ship's identification codes and sent a message. And then he waited for a response...

"I haf almost everyone down een de bunkers," Sven told Allura. "But vidout Romelle, ve probably vouldn't haf calmed dem down at all."

"As far down as possible, right?" Allura reminded him.

"Dose inside are still going down. De old Arusian headquarters are preety deep."

"It kept us safe and it will keep them safe again. I'll check in again later. Castle Control out." She looked around the room and called out, "Shield stats!".

"The shield's power is dropping steadily," someone told Allura.

"What is it down to now?" she asked.

"It was at one-hundred and fifty percent and now it is at eighty."

"How many fighters are out there still?" she called out, turning about the room.

"We've lost half of one squadron."

"How many of the enemy have we taken down?"

"Not enough," Gwen said, coming into the room.

Allura opened her mouth to chastise the other woman, but the sight of Morgan held tightly in Gwen's arms and the haggard expression on Gwen's face made her close it. It had taken a large step on Gwen's part to come back to help. So the Princess only nodded. Gwen went to stand next to her and winced when she saw their current status. Her hands tightened on Morgan.

"We're losing power," she said, fighting the urge to run away from there.

"The people firing the castle's cannons are firing only when they're sure they'll make a hit," Coran said. "The generators might overheat if we push them anymore and we need all the power we can save for the shield."

Allura chewed on her lip. "Keep on sending out the distress signal," she said to a nearby soldier. "Especially to Galaxy Garrison."

"Has anyone replied?" Gwen asked.

"Several ships are on their way, but they've been intercepted by Doom Forces," Allura answered.

"All of them?" Gwen said incredulously.

"Every single one of them."

"What does Zarkon have against this planet?" Gwen wondered aloud.

Coran and Allura exchanged a glance. She had never thought to ask why this was happening. She only dealt with it when it was in her face.

"What does he want from us?" Allura asked.

"We are the only planet that he has defeated only to come back and defeat him," Coran guessed. "To a demon like Zarkon, that is a large blow to his ego."

"Flimsy reason," Allura said.

"When your ego is as big as his, it's not flimsy," Gwen put in. "And I'll bet you anything that Niloc is leading this one."

"Most likely," Allura said. "So what do we do?"

Coran took a deep breath. "What we've been doing for the past twenty years. Survive."

Suddenly, the speakers blared to life and the sensors went crazy when ships began entering Arusian airspace. Her eyes wide, Allura ran to the command console and fought back a cheer when she saw Green Lion and a warship on the viewscreen. She didn't think that they were still outnumbered, only that they now had some extra hands.

"I've never been so happy to see you, Pidge," she said.

"The cavalry is right behind us, Princess. They'll be here in another half hour," Pidge said. "Now let's see what we can do about these Doomies."