As part of the Galra empire, the Paladins struggle to find each other and become the heroes they were meant to be. But whoever change their fates has only one goal-that without their humanity, they'll fail.

While training with the Blades, Keith (full Galra) has troubling dreams of a life lived on a strange planet. He struggles with his training, and he can't push away the thought that time is running out-on what, he can't say. When he gets the opportunity, Keith infiltrates the Galra forces himself to find the mysterious weapon they've been hunting.

Hunk and Lance are new recruits for the Galra empire, but following orders has never come easy to Lance. When he's put on Thace's squad, Lance suspects his commander knows a secret-and he's determined to find it, even if it means sneaking his way into a top-secret mission and breaking more rules than Lance can count.

Pidge was excited to join her father and Shiro on the Kerberus mission, but when it goes disastrously wrong and they're captured by Galra, she finds herself isolated and a prisoner. While the Galra experiment on them, Pidge and Shiro find an unlikely ally in Keith. Together, the Paladins will have to rediscover their destiny to save the universe before whoever tampered with their destinies can stop them.

Prologue: A Dream

Keith sat on a rock, hunched and hidden from the uniformed guards below. A white, domed building half-buried in red dirt squatted below him. He wanted what was in that building-the trouble was, he never remembered what that was. The only thing he knew for certain was that it was important to sneak past those guards and get inside.

Keith pressed lowered his binoculars and glimpsed his hairless, clawless hands. Here, his face was flat and he lacked the purple fur or slightly pronounced snout of the Galra. It felt so wrong, and yet, he felt like he'd always been this strange, hairless creature.

Slinging his leg over the seat of his vehicle, Keith prepared to get closer to his goal. Before he could see what lay inside the dome, Keith woke with a pounding headache. In the dark, he fumbled for the ice tabs he kept beside his bed. Popping open their package, he stuck them to his forehead, and the drugs seeped into his skin, loosening his muscles and easing the ache in his skull.

Only now did Keith flick on the light, which bathed his room in a lurid, purple glow. Sucking in his deep breath, Keith stared down at his black-tipped claws. He ran his hands over his arms with his black tiger-striped purple fur in place.

You've always been a Galra-not some hairless creature, he reprimanded himself, shaking his head.

Yet why did he keep having the dreams? And why did they feel so real?

Knowing he'd lost another precious night of rest, but unable to go back to sleep again, Keith rose and dressed for training.

Part 1: Failure

1: Simulation Failure

Keith dropped down the airshaft, using his blade to slow his descent. It grated into the metal, the shimmering luxcite sending sparks flying. Above him, a mechanical voice blared.

"INTRUDERS. SELF DESTRUCT PROTOCOL INITIATED. INTRUDERS. SELF DESTRUCT PROTOCOL INITIATED."

No countdown-not that it would help him escape.

"Regris! Do you have the coordinates?" Keith shouted through the comm device in his mask.

A grunt, and then Regris's bored tone answered. "You triggered the alarm, didn't you? Of course you did…"

A weary sigh followed, but Keith bit back on his anger. Now, of all times, Keith didn't need a reminder that his stealth skills needed some work. He said, "I was trying to kill them. Sorry I didn't do it fast enough."

"I'll upload the information to the ship, but it'll take time."

There is no time, Keith thought, staring up at the top of the vent where he'd wedged himself. Bracing himself, he stuck his sword in his mouth. Already, footfalls pounded overhead, and Keith cursed himself-the reinforcements had arrived, and he was trapped like a wamp rat in a weasel's burrow. With a grunt, Keith wedged himself back up the shaft by jamming his back against one wall and using his legs to lever him up on the other.

Near the top, Keith transferred his sword from mouth back to hand. After a deep breath, he readied himself before launching from the air vent like a demon. He tore through the first four droid Galra guards before the other eight noticed him. When they started firing, he ducked behind a wall, drawing their fire after him. They stepped over the fallen droids, whose severed bodies sparked and twitched on the ground.

"Why are you still in that hallway?" Regris asked, irritation creeping into his usually indifferent tone. "Get on the ship."

Keith gritted his teeth, and his fangs dug into his gums. "I'm clearing you a path to escape," Keith said, turning the corner. He jumped and hacked through another guard's gun, darting away before it exploded and took another pair of guards with it.

That left five guards.

"INTRUDERS. SELF DESTRUCT PROTOCOL INITIATED. INTRUDERS."

Whirling in the air, Keith kicked another guard in the head, pinning him underneath his own weight. With the ruthless strength of a Galra, Keith yanked the droid's head off its shoulders. When another drone fired, he leaped away, and the droid shot its fallen comrade.

Keith drew more fire, but time wasn't his friend-he had to kill the four remaining droids now. If he'd had time, he could've drawn their fire further down the hallway and eventually set-up a sure-win scenario where he could easily defeat them, but if he and Regris were both going to escape, he had no choice-he had to clear this hallway...and he had to do it now.

Flipping through the air, Keith landed in the midst of the four remaining droids. Laser fire singed his arm, and he barred his fangs behind his mask. Keith dropped low and sliced through the legs of two droids. The shot from one of the remaining droids skimmed Keith's head, and his singed fur steamed, the rancid smell filling his senses and lingering in his mask. Keith jumped up, landing on the shoulders of the offending droid. He whirled it around, and both he and the droid toppled into final standing droid. Sprawled in a tangle of metal limbs, Keith stabbed at them, disarming whatever he could.

"We're clear!" Keith shouted.

A weary sigh was Regris's only reply.

"SHIP WILL NOW DESTRUCT."

The strip of overhead lavender lights went red, and then, the entire hallway was plunged into blackness. Keith swore, driving his blade into the floor.

The lights flickered on again, this time bathing the mangled remains of the droids in florescent, eye-searing white light. Keith hissed, glad he had his mask so the lights didn't blind him. The Galra used dim lighting because of their sharp eyes-and this harsh light would've sent Keith staggering blind. That was, he knew, the point of it. He might be on a mission where his enemies tried to blind him, and he needed to be prepared. He'd done the blinding light simulation missions, and while he struggled with them at first, they'd turned him into a more intuitive fighter-less reliant on sight. The Blades of Mamora tested their fighters in every way possible-mental, physical, and emotional-and prepared them to face a host of unknown yet definitely dangerous missions. Keith had unlocked his blade years ago, yet his missions had been limited to the role of getaway pilot. Until he passed his simulation tests, Kulivan wouldn't send him on any real infiltration missions. Until he passed his tests, Keith couldn't make a real difference in the war against Zarkon.

He'd be an eternal back-up pilot-a thought that made Keith want to tear through these walls with his own claws.

Through his mask intercom, Regris's languid voice said, "Report for evaluation."

Keith gritted his fangs until they dug painfully into his gums. "I failed."

"Assuredly, yes," Regris said, and the jerk almost sounded delighted. Keith ripped off his mask, blinking in the harsh, white light.

At hallway's end, Keith pressed his palm into the wall panel. It flared to life, and he stepped into the tube elevator. The door sealed with a wush of air, and it spend him upward and towards his inevitable evaluation. Stepping out, Keith commanded his blade to shrink-it would be an outright threat to walk into Kulivan's command room with his blade at its full length-and stored it a well-polished ember sheath. His father had given it to him, and although he couldn't remember his father's face, he cherished his gift. Maybe it meant so much because he knew so little about his father except that he'd died on a mission against the Galra Empire. When he was of age to start his Blades training, Keith's mother had given him his blade and sheath-not that he'd done his father or mother proud today.

In the simulation command room, Kulivan sat with his back to the door. Regris lounged over a council screen, and neither of them glanced at Keith as he stood soldier straight in the middle of the room. He glared at their backs, willing them to turn around. The last time he'd yelled at Kulivan, he'd been assigned to 'solitary penance' for five whole sleep cycles.

"Let's try something new-tell me why you failed," Kulivan said, his back still to Keith. In front of Kulivan, the play-back screens remained blank. Normally, Kulivan would pull up the video of the simulation and point out the myriad of mistakes-both mental and physical-that Keith made. This time, they sat ominously empty, and Keith found himself staring into his own, glaring yellow eyes set in a sweat-soaked, furred face.

"I failed to escape with the codes before the ship blew up," Keith said. "This could've been avoided if I had killed the guards."

Regris swiveled around in his chair, and he picked up a hand-held device with his preutensil tail. "We had two-dozen more guards ready-you couldn't have beat or snuck by them all," Regris said. He sighed. "Fortunately, you didn't destroy them all so we don't have to build another half-army for you to use up while still failing to miserably grasp the point of a stealth simulation."

"If the guards can't sound the alarm, then they can't start the destruct protocol," Keith said, crossing his arms defiantely across his chest.

He could practically feel Regris roll his eyes behind his mask, and Keith resisted the urge to growl at him. He had nothing personal against Regris until he had to take the simulation tests, and now, he'd developed a hair-trigger patience with the Galra tactician. The logical, rational part of Keith knew that Regris set these simulations difficult because he was often the one extracting the difficult, hard-won information on these missions while another Blade worked as his back-up. The part of Keith that had suffered too many ego bruisings at Regris's hands wanted to challenge the slight, Galra half-breed to honor bound combat in an arena. A good beating would fracture Regris's irritating calmness, Keith thought.

Kulivan spun around in his chair. His face set in eternally humorless lines, Kulivan said, "Fine, I will tell you-like a fresh pup recruit-why you've failed four simulations consecutively."

Keith's right eye-twitched, and he kept his gaze focused on Kulivan least he loose his temper with Regris, whom was assuredly smirking behind that mask.

"These are stealth simulations, and the point of all of them is to get the Galra's plans and get out. It does not matter if there are guards or if the building infiltration plans are inaccurate. It does not matter if the self destruct protocol has a timer or not. This is a two person mission, and other than a solo infiltration assignment, these are our most difficult missions. You have no back-up. It is you and your partner alone-and one of you must survive with the recovered plans."

Keith's anger seeped away, replaced with a lead-heavy certainty in his gut. Kulivan was correct-Keith thought he knew the point of these simulations, but now, he knew he'd been wrong the entire time.

"This isn't really about stealth, is it?" Keith asked, his voice pitched so low it was almost a growl. "This is about...about suicide...about leaving a partner behind."

"It happens, and to do the assignments you've begged to go on, this is a skill you must learn," Kulivan continued. Fixing Keith with a stern stare that felt like it could pierce Keith's deepest thoughts, Kulivan said, "You have failed because you can't accept this. To obtain the plans under a time-limited condition, you would have to leave your partner behind. It doesn't matter why a mission goes wrong, only that when it does, a Blade is ready to do what is necessary to continue the fight against Zarkon. You've yet to master this skill-and it is the most important skill a Blade has."

Keith's head drooped, and he stared at the smooth, ebony floor. "Knowledge or death," Keith mumbled. "It's the first thing I learned."

"Yet, it appears to be the last thing you've yet to master," Kulivan said dryly. Keith forced himself to meet the Blade leader's unflinching gaze again.

"Should I start all my training over again like a pup?" Keith asked, unable to bite back his hurt. "I'm a fully trained blade-I'm ready for real missions-my own missions."

Regris snorted, but Kulivan ignored him and kept his focus on Keith. "Consider your past failures in this context," Kulivan said, taping his temple with a finger, "and learn to manage your thoughts and emotions. If your judgement remains clouded, I can't recommend you for any more missions."

Keith sat across from Ulla and Ulaz, a pair of twins that had entered the Blades training around his own age. After his humiliation, Keith had bathed and intended to sulk in his room like a pup. When Ulla's voice came over his comm, he'd ignored it. Only after her pestering had he reluctantly slunk down to dinner.

Head resting on his hands, Keith picked moodily at the gelatinous, green protein pudding in front of him. His stomach rumbled, but if he ate the pudding too fast, he'd be sick. All of the nutrients a Galra body needed to recover strength were in it-distilled into their least appetizing form. Soylent they called it, and although his taste buds had become numb to it long ago, his stomach still revolted if he ate too much too fast.

"Kullivan won't fail you forever," Ulla said, slurping down a flavorless, beige beverage. Even Keith couldn't stomach the drinkable Soylent, although Ulla chugged it like a rare treat.

Keith snorted. "You weren't there. He'll have an entire Galra infantry droid division built for this simulaiton if that's how many of them I have to hack through to pass."

"That sounds like part of the problem," Ulaz said, fixing Keith with a knowing stare. Keith snarled-how much had Regris told him? Regris and Ulaz frequently did missions together, and although Ulaz was only Keith's senior by a year, he'd graduated to the rank of a full-fledged Blade member three years ago. While Ulaz sabotaged Galra bases and heisted valuable Galra plans, Keith was stuck at base training or running the pick-up and drop-off shuttle.

"Kulivan should've been clear what he wanted me to do-not left me bumbling in the dark," Keither grumbled and ate a large, spiteful spoon of Soylent.

"By this stage, it should be clear what the point of our missions are," Ulaz said cooly but not unkindly. "You've been around long enough to know that anything can happen."

"I was born into this life," Keith said. He pointed his spoon at Ulaz. "I know that our people don't make it back. My father didn't."

"Then you'll understand what Kulivan is preparing you for-to have one of us not come back," Ulaz said, and he cast his gaze down. Ulla stopped drinking, and her snout twitched with worry, and she reached to pat her brother on the back before her hand spasmed and she withdrew it. Keith cocked his head, ears twitching, reading Ulaz's brief break in stoicism.

Ulla glanced up, meeting Keith's gaze, but quickly looking down at her food. That the twins shared a special bond, he knew, but both tempered their emotions better than Keith. This rare break in their facades meant one thing-one of them had a long-term infiltration assignment.

"Which one of you is going?" Keith asked, voice soft.

Ulaz fixed Keith with a level, yellow-eyed gaze. "Me. We've been able to fabricate an identity for a soldier on one of Zarkon's prisoner ships."

Keith's ears twitched upwards in surprise. "That...that'll be dangerous. Those guards have to pass a lot of checks and are closely watched."

"They have access to all of the enemies Zarkon has imprisoned," Ulaz said. He rested his head on his fist, and his gaze became unfocused while his thoughts wondered. "Think of what we could do if we had more potential allies. Those Zarkon imprisons have a reason to hate him like we do, and they could have valuable information."

A frown twitched on Keith's face, but he banished it quickly. Already suspecting the answer, he asked, "And the prisoners-are you going to rescue them?"

Ulaz shot Keith a defiant glare and pushed away from the table. Both Ulla and Keith let him go, but Keith caught his sister's worried glance. The prisoners weren't the goal-obtaining valuable information to use against the Galra empire was. Keith's stomach turned over, and he pushed the Soylent away after losing his appetite.