Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

A/N: Okay, so I got terribly stuck on my first go at a the-Galra-conquered-Earth-oh-no, so now I'm redoing it so it's a series where yes, the Galra conquered Earth, but the Blade of Marmora unintentionally accumulate all five future Voltron paladins over time. I'm also tossing in a few paladin siblings, like Matt and some OCs from my other Voltron stories (namely Isaia, Theo, and Josie if you read 'Water and Blood'). But yeah, here's how the BoM acquired their small McClains. Lance is eleven in this one. Knowing my brain, this part is at least partially inspired by Rogue One and all the other movies were families sacrifice themselves to save the littlest kiddos…

Go Forth and Have No Fear

Chapter 1

Briars snagged at Lance's legs and arms, trying to tangle him up and drop him to the ground as he ran through the darkening forest. He tore through the underbrush and twisted away from the sharp thorns as they bit at his hands.

His older sister Paz raced beside him, carrying three-year-old Theo on her back, and they were both following Montez, their older brother. Josie's baby sling was wrapped around him, keeping her bound tightly against his chest, which meant he could still hold onto his handgun.

Far behind them, laser bolts ripped through the camp, casting sparks and shadows against the trees. Gunfire cracked in retaliation, and screams and shouts broke the once calm twilight. Theo was crying too, his frightened sobs mixing with the rest of the noise. There was no time to reassure him, they had to get to the hiding place like they had promised their mother. Josie would have been wailing at this point, but the camp's medic, Tina, had given her a shot before they left and she was still asleep.

Lance couldn't resist the urge to cover his ears but it didn't block out the sounds. Mama was back there and so were Gavin and Uncle Eterio. They had said they would meet up at the hiding spot, that they were right behind them, but when Lance looked over his shoulder, there was nothing but the glow of fire.

The camp was burning.

"Lance, come on," Montez snapped, reaching back to pull him by the sleeve of his shirt.

Dropping his hands, Lance jumped over a root and nearly tripped over a rock. They weren't using flashlights and there was no path, which was part of the point. The place where they were supposed to hide was far away from the camp and difficult to find, which meant the Galra might not bother looking for them there.

They had practiced this hundreds of times since they arrived at the forest, the latest spot where their resistance cell had settled. Their group had traveled to so many places during the last year, across the ocean and through cities and towns and woods and fields, Lance had to remind himself daily what Varadero was like. The sandy beach, the smell of saltwater, his school, the yellow flowers his grandmother used to grow in front of their house. Was any of that still there? Or had the Galra destroyed the entire island?

His foot caught on a root and he tumbled forward, catching himself on his palms and knees. He started to scramble back up but Montez grabbed him by the elbow and wrenched him to his feet, yanking him forward.

"Pay attention."

"When're the others coming? Where's Mom?" Lance asked. He hated how young he sounded. He wanted to be mature, to sound tough, but the battle echoing through the forest shredded his resolve.

"They're coming," Montez said, but he wouldn't look down at Lance. His grip loosened a little so it didn't hurt so much, but he didn't let go of Lance.

"Stop looking back," Paz said, her wild eyes meeting his. Over her shoulder, Theo was staring, shocked into silence for once.

Lance started to look forward, but something moving through the trees caught his attention. He hoped to see a glimpse of green and brown, the colors that their cell wore to blend with the environment, but instead he saw dark purple in the fading light. Galra.

Turning around, Lance grabbed Montez's wrist with both hands. "They're here," he said, "They're behind us, Montez, the Galra—"

A beam of light cut through the forest and scorched a hole in a trunk next to Paz's head. She screamed and jerked to the side, nearly dropping Theo.

"Run!" Montez yelled, and the three of them took off, Lance and Paz dashing in front of Montez and leading the way. More laser blasts erupted around them, lighting up the forest. A sharp burn flared against Lance's arm, followed by the smell of smoking clothes and skin. He cried out at the sudden pain but didn't stop running.

Montez fired a couple shots behind him, but he couldn't do much while he was carrying Josie. He took a sharp turn and grabbed Paz and Lance, pulling them behind a tree.

In a rush, Montez undid the sling that tied Josie to him, talking to Paz even as he turned and started wrapping the sling around Lance. The eleven-year-old hurriedly looped an arm around his sleeping baby sister but stared at his brother, wondering what was going on.

"Stay here for a minute and then—"

"No, it has to be both of us," Paz said. She unhooked Theo's arms from around her neck and forced him to the ground. "They can see there's more than one of us anyways, we both have to go—"

"Don't you start with me, you have to go with—"

"They'll kill all of us," Paz said.

Montez cursed and looked around the tree before falling back against the trunk. Lance saw a smear of dark red against the bark when Montez slid to the ground. Was he bleeding? Didn't lasers burn… Maybe they weren't using just lasers. Or there were human sympathizers with them.

"Lance," Montez said, his hand landing on Lance's shoulder, "You're going to have to take Theo and Josie and go."

Lance shook his head. "You're coming too, you and Paz. We have to meet up there with Mama and Gavin—"

"We'll come later," Montez said, forcing a smile. His thumb pressed against Lance's shoulder and he lifted his other hand to touch Theo's cheek. "You guys are going to have to be brave, okay? Stay low, and don't make a lot of noise. But go fast. And don't open the door unless you hear the code phrase."

"Montez," Paz said, her voice tense. There were guttural shouts and harsh yells as the Galra got closer, crashing through the underbrush as they closed in on the kids.

"Lance."

"You'll come soon, right?" Lance said, tears in his eyes, "Right?"

"Yeah," Montez lied, "Definitely." He stood up, reloading his gun with expert inattention. He looked at Paz. "I'll go left, you take right. You run until you can't anymore then hide, got it? Don't do anything stupid."

"Okay."

Montez took a deep breath. "Lance, go."

"I don't—"

"Now!" Montez shoved him and Theo, forcing them to leave as he and Paz burst out from behind the tree, heading off in opposite directions. Lance held Josie to him with one arm and pulled Theo along with his other hand, heading toward the thicket where the hiding spot was. The Galra must have chased after Paz and Montez because it got quieter as Lance took his siblings deeper into the forest, away from the fire and the fighting.

The hiding spot was a false log that was nestled against a few other fallen trees, hidden by a few bushes and a briar patch. Covering Josie's face, Lance carefully peeled back the briars and opened the hatch in the trunk. It was a metal tube that had been battered then covered in cement and carefully decorated to look like a fallen tree.

Lance slipped Theo in and then crawled after him, throwing the locks closed behind him. The space was big enough to fit a grown adult, though it would have been an extremely tight fit. Actually…Lance had never thought about it, but his mother had never hidden in there with them during their practice drills. Neither had Gavin or Montez or Uncle Eterio. Maybe it had always been the plan that the adults wouldn't be with them when they hid in the tree.

He couldn't stop trembling. His mind spun, focusing on his mother back in the camp, his uncle and brother fighting against the Galra, his brother and sister running through the forest. He had already lost his grandparents and his dad, was he going to lose everyone else too?

As Theo leaned against his side and both of them took ragged breaths to calm down, Lance hugged Josie to him and breathed in her comforting baby powder and lavender scent. He chased away the idea of the Galra pulling open the hatch and ripping her out of his arms and snatching Theo…

Tears dribbled down Lance cheeks and he bit down on the sleeve of Gavin's jacket, muffling his sobs so he wouldn't scare Theo even more. Gavin had tossed the brown jacket over Lance's dark blue shirt, trying to give him one last bit of camouflage before the younger kids had fled into the forest.

Hours passed.

Theo somehow fell asleep against him, his head nestled against Lance's leg. Lance expected Josie to wake up at any time, but whatever Tina had given her was strong. Maybe it was a good thing, though. She would definitely cry when she woke up, and that would give them away in an instant. The wound from the laser gun shot was still aching, keeping him awake even if he had wanted to sleep.

He convinced himself that Montez and Paz had gotten away from the Galra. They just hadn't shown up yet because they had gone back to the camp to get the others. That was it. It couldn't be anything else.

When he heard tapping against the false log, Lance sat up straight, bumping his head against the wall. Theo stirred and then jolted awake, but Lance clamped a hand over the three-year-old's mouth before he could say anything. If it was anyone from their family or their cell, they would know the right phrase. He wanted to throw open the door and jump into his mother's arms, but what if it wasn't her?

Something scraped against the hiding spot. The bushes outside of the hatch? Lance shrunk back, pulling Theo with him, still covering his mouth. What if the Empire had found them? What would they do to kids from a rebel cell?

Paz's voice echoed in his ears. 'They'll kill all of us.'

Theo squirmed and tried to bite Lance, but Lance wasn't going to let go.

"Do not go gentle into that good night, rage, rage against the dying of the light," said an unfamiliar voice, saying the code phrase that someone in the camp had come up with. It was from some old poem. Lance didn't recognize the voice, and his heart fell.

"Who's there?" he asked, his voice a whisper. He cleared his throat. "Who's out there?"

"An ally," the voice said, "Your mother sent me."

"What's my mom's name?" Lance demanded, still unconvinced.

"Atala McClain." There was a pause. "We need to hurry. The soldiers will be sweeping the forest, and we must be away from here before they reach this place."

Hesitantly, Lance unlocked the door and started to push it, but something stopped it from opening.

"Wait. You mustn't be alarmed by my appearance. I'm here to help you."

Lance immediately tried to shut the door but a clawed hand curved around the hatch and pulled it open to reveal a severe pale purple and white face. Yellow eyes narrowed at him.

A Galra. The Galra had found them.