Lance grit his teeth against the pain. It was dark and cool and he could hear shuffling nearby.

He and Pidge had been guarding a side window they'd smashed open for the others. When they had gotten there…Hunk had Shiro, Coran had Allura, and Keith was brining up the rear and fighting off anyone that came from behind.

Hunk and Pidge got out first with Shiro, then Coran with Allura. Keith wouldn't leave till Lance jumped out and with a few choice phrases, he didn't argue much.

Making it out of the city, however, was much harder.

Their ship was just outside the walls and those were more heavily guarded than the building had been. All they needed was one person to get to a lion and they could get out. So they had split up.

Hunk, Keith, and Shrio.

Pidge, Coran, Lance, and Allura.

It works to thin out a little of the Hunters, but they hadn't thought about the populous. The ordinary citizen hated the Dradites as well and sabotaged them as they tried to escape.

Lance and Pidge were able to volt themselves and the Alteans over the wall, but once over, they had to circle back around to get to the castle.

And there were a ton of enemies waiting for them on the outside and a cliff…

()

Pidge grunted as she pulled Allura the rest of the way to the makeshift shelter she'd made. It was dark outside and the Hunters were out in search parties.

The city was nestled along the edge of a canyon on one side and a dense wood on the other. It was strategically placed if you didn't have to worry about land slides or earth quakes. But Pidge was just grateful for the cover.

Coran was also unconscious and She just managed to rig this up to hide the three of them. Lance should be meeting up with them soon…or perhaps he was lying low as well. He wouldn't be stupid enough to get caught again…would he?

He had held back to give them a lead. She had been against it, but hadn't been in a position to argue or even come up with a better plan.

Pidge yawned but she didn't dare sleep just in case their hide out was found. As she held her breath as heavy foot falls sounded nearby, she begrudged the long night ahead.

()

"Keith, you can't go out there," Hunk hissed grabbing the other boys sleeve, "Stay here until it clears."

They still hadn't made it out of town yet and had found instead a nice little nitch in the back alleys. Shiro was safely behind both of them and the streets were full of people looking for any of them.

"If I can blend in, then I can probably sneak out," Keith hissed back.

"nope, you smell different than everyone else."

"What-"

Hunk leapt back and almost crushed Shiro while Keith brought up his weapon. The speaker was a small boy with blond hair and red antenna.

"I can help you get out," he said, "for a price."

"How about I turn you in for passage out?" Keith asked and Hunk groaned.

"Because that won't save you," the boy said, "By now all of you are in enough trouble to warrant a complete memory swipe. Nothing you do will save you from that. Once they wipe your mind, you will become their Hunters and you will follow their orders."

"funny, they say the same thing about you."

"Yes, but have you see any of us actually do that?"

Keith hesitated. Lance had been acting weird when he was caring for the baby. But then, Keith didn't know how one was supposed to behave while caring for a baby.

"Look, I'm offering you a way out because you have a friend that saved my little sister," the boy said folding his arms, "this should make us square."

"But you were just asking for a price," Hunk said.

"that's right," he said, "The price is you all leave and don't come back. If the Hunters and the Alliance get a hold of your power then the rest of us are doomed. You have skills that could easily wipe us out. We're just trying to survive. Agree to leave us alone and I'll get you out and back to your ship."

"All of us are separated," hunk said, trying not to freak out, "how are we going to find them?"

"I'll show you," the boy gave a mischievous grin, "so let's get to your ship."

()

"I think he's awake," a small voice came from the dark and Lance swallowed nervously. A large pain in his side kept him from moving too much.

"I see," this voice was deeper and much more gravelly. Something snapped and an orange glow filled the room. The walls were rock and as Lance looked around, concluded he was in a cave of some kind.

When he could make out the people in the room, Lance nearly had a heart attack.

"G-galra-!"

The large purple alien held up a wrinkled hand.

"Peace," the deep voice said, "My name is Kax. I am not an enemy."

"Oh…are you a Blade member?"

Lance blinked a few times and tried to get a better look at the guy. He'd never seen a Galra this…old. Yeah, Zarkon was a walking zombie, but this Galra could easily be just sitting on his back porch with his hound dog, a shot gun, and a glass of lemonade! His face was hands were lined and wrinkled with sagging eyes. He was bald except for the thin silver braid coming from the side of his head.

"I am not," he replied, "I am a foot soldier of Zarkon. Our ship was lost and I'm the last survivor."

"Ohhh…" Lances mouth suddenly went dry, "So I guess…you haven't heard that the war is…um, over? Yeah…Lotor is emperor now…we're..ah…friends…? Personally I don't like him, but we're not fighting…"

Kax raised a bushy eyebrow, "no, I had not. But I stopped caring when I became the last Galra stranded on this side of the universe. I figured one foot-soldier wouldn't make a difference."

"Not really," Lance said and tried to laugh only to discover a shooting pain.

"You broke three ribs and bruised everything else," Kax explained pulling a blanket over Lance.

"What about everyone else?" Lance asked, "Pidge and-"

"You were the only one we found," Kax shrugged.

"We?"

"Martle," Kax turned his head, "Come out and say hello to our guest."

A girl the color of rust peeked out from behind Kax's large frame. Her feathery antenna were different lengths and her nose looked flatter than it should have been.

She gave a small wave.

"Ollie and Lu have told us about you," Kax said, "Since I now know you are not alone, I will go in search of others. I hope to find one you know."

He stood in a sort of hunched stance and shuffled toward the exit.

"Kax," Lance called. The Galra stopped and tuned his head slightly. "Thank you."

"No need."