It's a pitch-black, moonless night. Hunk, Pidge, and Lance are fighting sleep as they try to work on homework, when Keith comes barging into the dorm room.
"Guys." Keith has a mad glint in his eyes. "It's tonight."
"How do you even know?" Pidge grumbles, but she's already eyeing her desk. She's been dying to test out the new frequency detecting gear she built.
Keith shrugs. "I can feel this weird energy."
Hunk and Lance exchange a look. They've been at this UFO hunting for months now, with Keith always guiding them based on his own gut feelings and a conspiracy board he keeps hidden behind a sheet. They have nothing to show for it. Except a steady stream of subscribers on their channel.
Lance slams his textbook shut. "Alright let's go."
Hunk raises an eyebrow at him. "We have piles of homework, guys!"
"Yes, but our channel is almost at a thousand subscribers. Plus, pinkpaladin commented last time that she's looking forward to our next video, and I'm not about to pass up an opportunity to deliver."
Hunk turns to Pidge, but she's already emptying her bookbag to make room for her new gear. "We'll be in so much trouble if we get caught."
"That's why we have you," says Keith, giving Hunk one of his almost smiles, "So we don't get caught."
The four of them—armed with a smartphone flashlight, a smartphone compass, Lance's smartphone camera, and Pidge's beeping contraption—hike into the forest.
Suddenly Keith shouts, "Up there!"
The camera shakes as the group sprints toward the eery light shining in the distance. Heavy footfalls recede away from Hunk's flashlight. Keith takes off in the general direction of the sound, and the rest of the team follows.
"We're chasing after what is possibly a pack of invisible aliens," Lance narrates. "I may be about to become a believer."
"This is so weird," Pidge says, not slowing her pace as she consults her device. "I'm not picking up any signals. But I definitely heard those guys."
"It's a dark forest," Hunk points out, as they slow down in a clearing to catch their breaths. They've lost whatever it was they've been chasing. "It could've been anyone."
"It's aliens!" Pidge insists, shoving past Lance to aim her antenna toward the trees ahead.
"Hey, watch it!"
Leaves suddenly rustle behind them and they whirl around to find a figure, the size and shape of a man, moving toward them. Three beams of light spotlight the figure, whose hands come up to shield his eyes. But even beyond the hands, they can make out orange hair and a forest ranger uniform.
"That's not an alien!" Keith shouts. "It's just Coran."
"And me!" Allura, Coran's partner, steps out from behind him, looking exasperated. "We've been trying to catch a group of prankster kids who keep sneaking in. You guys tracking aliens again?"
The UFO hunters exchange sheepish looks. "We were," Lance says finally. "But I think we might've seen your kids run through here."
