It was the Hogros that attacked the opposite end of Sendaks Fleet first. The little A3 still had no idea how they had managed to to it.
"First become friends," Shey said in her usual sweet manner, "then you can ask for favors."
()
Sendak turned his fleet to this new threat and wondered at the balmeran that was suddenly there. This galaxy was too young for one of those!
"What is the meaning of this?"
()
"I'll kill him."
"Calm down."
"I'll kill you too."
Keith sighed as he tried to wipe the fake blood and innards off his lap. His hands were free, but he'd waited too long to move and the gel based intestines had adhered to his clothes. O9 had gleefully made it for them and a K3 had taught him how to breath without moving.
"If it make you guys feel better, I had no idea what was going on, I just did as I was told."
"But you're the leader Keith."
"yeah, tell that to Lance, again."
"Hunk, if you don't stop crying, I'm going to have permanent guilt issues."
"Bbbb… …" hunk hiccupped. He had woken up before Keith had moved and had had a small panic attack. Allura had been halfway through explaining what had happened when Keith couldn't stand it anymore.
"So," Pidge growled, "what's the plan?"
"I think we're supposed to go help the other agents rescue the prisoners."
"The same agents that are two timing earth?"
"No, trustworthy ones…I think…"
()
Lance tapped his fingers on the railing on the bridge. In all essence, he was in charge of the ship. He had Galra underlings. More double-agents were going to come and remove themselves from Earth to save their own skins.
Lance didn't care about all that.
He was waiting for the tell sign that Keith and the others had left. So far the dust outside the ship remained undisturbed.
What was taking them so long?
()
A3 observed the Olkaries and the Jermites as they fixed the barrier. It had taken more time than he had liked, getting them to work together, but it had paid off. They were now, almost, best friends. They had argued their way into a fond respect for one another.
Harvy was just relieved that this was working out.
()
Finally, Lance saw the dust particles move on their own.
"You two," he ordered the galra on the bridge, "You both stay here and notify me if Lord Sendak contacts the ship, immediately."
They nodded and went back to the controls.
It was then that Lance saw a galra shuttle pull up along side the crusier he was on. That would be the captains sent to make sure the Paladins were in firm custody.
He knew just where to put them.
()
Three ships down, and with the fighting going on, who knew how many more?!
Pidge was doing her best to fly without being noticed, But the Hogros were flying in between the enemy ships and making everything much more difficult. Not only that, but her own lion was full to bursting with people. She perhaps had room for ten more, but more than that, and she'd never make it back to earth.
"You're doing good, Pidge," Keith said, patting her shoulder, "you're fine."
"I know," she quipped, "but is everyone else? They look like they haven't eaten in months! Not only that, but Lance is doing who knows what, on his own, and I'm STILL pissed off with BOTH of you!"
()
"YOU!" Sendak glared through the com at Lance, who glared back, "You betrayed me!"
"I did no such thing!" Lance snapped back, "Your captains NEVER arrived! They were never here! The paladins got away because YOUR captains were SLOW to do THEIR job!"
"I saw that they arrived!"
"They are not here!" Lance roared, "You are welcome to come and check!"
"I will send ONE more! If I don't hear from him, I'll know that you are to be killed."
"Yes, of course," Lance saluted, "Now, double agents from Earth have just arrived. I'm going to either convince them to join you, or they die."
Sendak nodded, "very well."
()
When the green lion touched down on Earth, Iverson was waiting for them.
"Get your lions and join the fight," he ordered, "Gunder- I mean, Holt, I need you to get me to Sendaks Ship, personally."
()
Lance watched as two ships landed in the cruisers hanger. One was full of double agents and the other was carrying Sendaks agent.
"As you can see," Lance said sweeping his arm around the hangar, "the ship is not here."
"I shall go look at the other hangars," the agent replied.
"Be my guest," Lance stepped aside, "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen a well while I talk with my associates here."
The agent glided away and Lance turned to the others, "The objective has changed."
"What?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Lance said firmly, "that anyone who doesn't bow to Sendak gets shot, by me."
()
Six out of 27 joined.
21 died.
Lance sighed as he lead the survivors out of the room. He took them to the bridge and told them to stay here under pain of death.
Then he went in search of Sendaks agent.
()
"Tell me why I'm taking you to sendaks ship again?" Pidge asked.
"I didn't tell you the first time, and I'm not telling you know," Iverson said lightly, "Just get me in close enough I can get aboard."
"You're not gonna do something stupid, are you?"
"Holt," Iveron laughed, "this is war. Every move either side makes is stupid."
"You know what Lance is up to?"
"More or less."
"Is that why you're after Sendak?"
Iverson shrugged, "Someone's got to put a leash on that boy. That way I won't have to put a brick wall in front of him like this."
"….did you just make a roadrunner reference?"
"I can be funny too."
()
"This is inexcusable!"
Lance scowled, "I told you that-"
"You thought I would not notice a disassembled ship?!"
"Sendak will be told of this, GUARDS! SENTRIES!"
Silence.
"YEahhhh," Lance scratched the back of his head," the only galra on this ship are you, and the two on the bridge….I made sure of that."
Sendaks agent backed away and Lance chuckled.
"I'm not gonna kill you. You have to tell Sendak that everything is hunky-dory! THEN I might kill you."
()
Iverson scowled down at Pidge. She had insisted she follow him. When asked why she'd said it was because she knew the ships layout better than him. The fact that she'd been right would never cease to sting Iversons pride.
"Their technology is inferior!" The heard Sendak roar, "How much trouble can a group of natives be?!"
They crawled through the vents, Pidge leading the way. She stopped and tapped her back foot on a section of vent that she wanted Iverson to remove. Then she crawled further to find a place she could turn around.
Out of habit, more than curtesy, Iverson waited for her.
"Where are my Captains!?" Sendak asked, as they peaked down onto the bridge. The screne was large and showed a thin galra, and Lance standing behind him.
"I…" the Galra looked like he was having trouble getting a full breath, "I found…HE KILLED THEM-"
Lance fired, showing that he'd been holding a gun to the galras back.
"Quiznack," Lance muttered.
"You really HAVE betrayed me!"
"Oh please, Sendak," Lance rolled his eyes, "You really didn't think I wouldn't, did you? We're the same time of person. We exploit the people around us and use them for our benefit. I had a wonderful trainer that taught me that backstabbing can be as easy as breathing. Now, I wasn't lying the WHOLE time, but I did lie when I said my family was dead, so I really can't afford you burning the Earth like we'd planned, sorry."
"I will-"
"You will what?" Lance laughed, "all your leverage is gone! All your prisoners have been saved! You are evenly matched! You-"
That's when Iverson took his shot, and fired.
Sendak dropped to the floor. The galra in the room looked up, but by then Iverson had replaced the section of vent and no one know where the shot had come from.
()
Lance watched Sendak fall, and knew who had shot the blast. He had seen him behind Sendak and had kept talking so that Sendak and the other galra wouldn't notice his boss.
A shot fired and sailed past his shoulder, the laser getting it pretty badly. Turning, he found that all six still living agents were on guard and had their guns out and ready.
"You-"
"You shot my right arm," Lance whined, "I'll never be able to play the violin again!"
"You lied!"
"So did you," Lance countered and drew his weapon with his left, "I'm ambidextrous, I suggest you all take cover."
()
After Sendak fell the Galra tried to retreat and found they were trapped inside a thick and self sustaining barrier. The more they shot at it, the stronger it became.
Then Lotor showed up.
A few ships surrendered right away, and were spared. All the others were not.
()
"That worked a little too well," A3 said as he and Jackson reunited with the paladins.
"The getting ready was longer than the actual fighting!" Jackson said, "Is that natural?"
"Oh yes," Allur nodded, "that's how most, if not all wars, are fought."
"What doesn't sit will with me is how the plan actually worked," A3 said, "in my experience, you come up with a plan A and then you have to ad lib it until you reach plan Z."
"We reached plan Z," Iverson said, making A3 Jump.
"Sir!"
"Chill, we're not in the office," Iverson waved away the salute, "B2 went and decided to bite off more than he could handle. That's why it turned out so well."
"How do we snap him out?" A3 asked.
"Snap him out of what?" Hunk asked, "Isnt this part of the plan? He DID have a PLAN, right?!"
"Weeeelllll…" Iverson scratched the stubble on his face, "B section has never been one to follow plans…"
"…that makes an absurd amount of sense."
"Lance always hated following a plan."
"We just thought it was because they were Keiths ideas."
"Hey-"
"Drop us off on Earth and the rest of B section can take care of B2."
"The REST of B sec-" A3 was still trying to put pieces together. He had missed a lot being on barrier duty.
"I thought you said he was B1, so who is B2?" Jackson asked, also out of the loop.
()
Lance pulled the cruise ship into a wider orbit and then settled down to catch his breath. He sat with his back against the far wall of the bridge, as far from the controls as possible. Lights flashed, but the ship was silent.
So, hatefully, silent.
"Why is it so empty?"
Lance started.
"This is creepier than an empty school or hospital."
"Oh, that's a great idea! We'll land the ship and turn it into a haunted attraction!"
Lance looked over in time to see his friends walk onto the bridge. They chatted away as if they didn't know it was a death ship.
And if they didn't know, then Lance was not going to be the one to tell them.
"Hey!" He waved at them and Hunk got to his side first.
"YOU'RE OK!"
"ARE you ok?!"
"Its not mine," Lance blushed a little knowing he looked a mess, "I promise its not all mine."
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Pidge shouted once they were sure his injuries were minimal.
"Aw, I'm sorry," Lance gave her what he hoped was his cutest pout, "it was all I could think of, I swear!"
"So instead of talking with us and getting new ideas, you thought scarring us half to death was better?" Shiro asked, he'd been updated on the way over and shared Pidges irritation. He'd been gone and hadn't been present to help the situation, and that hit a nerve.
"Old habits die hard?" Lance said sheepishly. Then his face changed as he raised his gun and shot.
Keith had been on the other side of the bridge about to go through a door, when Lance shot the control panel.
"The hell!" Keith shouted, snatching his hand back and moving away, "What was that for?!"
"Don't go through that door," Lance called out to him, "Trust me."
Keith scowled. He could guess what was behind the door by the smell. He had wanted to open it to see how bad it was…and a sense of morbid curiosity. Judging by the emptiness of the ship, he knew about how many bodies were stashed behind the door.
"What's behind the door?" Hunk asked, all innocent.
"Not good stuff," Lance yawned, "Hunk, lend me your shoulder, I'm exhausted…wait….where's Allura?"
Everyone grinned and shiro even chuckled.
"What?" Lance asked looking from one to the other. He was too tired to play the guessing game.
"She's off arresting Lotor," Keith said shrugging as if that was obvious.
It took more than a moment for that to sink in. Looking around to everyone again, he noticed something he hadn't before.
"...you all played me," Lance was aghast, "you all…played me! You Knew!"
"You don't think we wouldn't after Romelle had that fit, did you?" Pidge asked, "Don't be so insulting!"
"But then why didn't-" Lance stopped himself just in time. They hadn't said anything because HE hadn't said anything.
"But weren't they going out?" he asked instead, "isn't that-"
"It took her a while to come around," Shiro said, "but in the end, it was her idea that she be the one to arrest him."
"That sound like our princess," Lance nodded, and yawned again, "ok seriously, I need sleep. I pulled all-nighters for this and its SO bad for the skin and hair. Any more operations like this and I'll go bald."
"Lance," Shiro put a hand on his head, "You sure you're ok?"
"What? Yeah," Lance laughed, and cursed the tears forming in his eyes, "I'm just fine! Missions as normal! This is nothing! Noth-"
He quickly rubbed his face, but before he could go on denying everything, they all pulled him into a hug.
"….I'm sorry," he said instead, "I'm sorry…."