~warning: mentions of blood~

Chapter ten

An alarm sounded on the castle bridge, startling everyone. Lance was so spooked that, he scrambled up and practically jumped into Hunk's arms. The Yellow Paladin struggled to keep his balance, since he, himself, was still sitting down as well.

"What was that?!" Lance cried, half in a panic.

"It's Shiro!" Allura read it immediately, her face brightening. "He's sent us his coordinates."

"He must have found the Galra command ship." Pidge guessed aloud. Hunk set Lance down and they looked up and read the words; though neither of them understood the coordinates.

"Then let's go." Allura decided, and Coran turned to his control panel.

A bright light cut through the darkness. The locks of sweat-soaked, jet-black hair unable to shield his eyes from it. His dark blue eyes blinked in response to the sudden light. Keith struggled against the restraints, the pain in his back still burning a hole in his body. The scratch on his shoulder continued to throb, and his head was spinning; even while laying down. The door shifted open and two masked Galra technicians entered, followed by a small crew of three or four other Galra. The darkness and blurred vision made it difficult to make out the anything. His breath quickly escaped his chest, only to slowly be drawn heavily back in. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe... and see for that matter. His senses were dulled by pain and delirium, his mind barely able to think in straight lines. Keith wonders if this nightmare would ever end,... if he would ever make it back to his team alive.

"Now let's see what we can make of him." He heard one of the Galra scientists say. Though his hearing echoed and felt a little distant. But, still, he knew the meaning of this statement all too well...

Black swerved and dove through the air, Galra fire raining down on them. Shiro's thoughts fully focused on evading them as long as he could. He hoped the Red lion was still safe where he left it. But glimpsing over to it the answer was a huge relief, as the lion was still hiding quietly where it had landed. Shiro threw Black into a barrel roll in avoidance of an ion cannon blast, now worried that their plan was going to fail. The team were hopefully gonna show up soon. And when they do they'll probably be seen right away. His mind concluded. We'll be exposed!

The castle burst through the wormhole. The shadow of a destroyed planet hiding them from Galra view. The planet seemed to have died deca-phoebs ago, and had a crater scooping out almost half the planets contents. It looked like a ball that had been bitten into by something big. Debris and rocks floated everywhere around it. And the battle on the other side of it continued to rage on. The screen zeroed in on the Galra ship, just barely peeking over the arch of the planet's dead crust.

"There's the Galra central command ship." The Princess pointed. "Contact Shiro." Pidge immediately jumped on the order.

Pidge's face appeared on the Shiro's screen, telling him all he needed to know. He typed something down, as soon as he did, though, a blast slammed him off balanced. And he continued to fight. The screen pulled up Shiro's message reading:

"The Galra spotted me, but the Red lion is safe. We need to find Keith now!"

"Shiro's right." Allura said, after reading it and closing her eyes. "Let's begin." She finished, opening them again.

Pidge launched the Green lion, plunging it as fast as it could possibly go. She saw Black lion throw off another fighter, still surrounded by more; as she approached it from behind. Leaping onto its back the two vanished from view. Pidge's message appearing before Shiro, it read:

"I've got you under my cloaking, let's go get Keith."

Shiro nodded and, together, they jetted through the fleets of confused Galra fighters. Upon reaching the main ship, the cloaking had to come down. The Green Paladin crawled out of her Lion to meet Shiro. The two stopped to stare at each other, before Pidge took his forearm and placed his hand against the Galra ship. In doing this, Shiro knew what was being asked of him.

A glowing purple hand burned through the metal wall. The piece cut out of the wall slid away to allow the two figures behind it, access to the room on the other side. Pidge and Shiro slipped silently into the dim-lighted hall. They peered both ways, one looking left, the other right, and vice versa. Taking off to the left, Shiro lead the way, stopping to count the intervals of the sentries' patrols; as he'd done before. Cutting across the hall and diving around another corner, Pidge managed to keep pace with him. She tracked their movements with a holomap on her gauntlet. Shiro slowed, then flattened himself against the wall; just as a couple more sentries passed by. Peering around the corner, he saw more Galra; but something felt different about them. Shiro quietly slipped around the corner to follow them.

"Shiro!" Pidge whispered, forgetting he couldn't hear her. But a shadow being cast over behind her, made her turn mid-sentence. A Galra sentry stood there, blaster held up across its chest diagonally. "Quiznak!" Pidge cursed. She quickly zapped it with something on her gauntlet and ran away. The sentry's systems all short circuiting from the shock. She ran around the corner and came to a fork in the hallway. She stood there gazing down both. "Uh guys." Pidge whispered over the com. "I think I just lost Shiro."

"What?!" Allura gasped.

"How did you lose him?!" Lance questioned.

"I don't know, I got caught up in something and I turned around and he was gone." Pidge answered, a little frustrated, dashing down the left hallway.

"Well you should've been keeping an eye on him!!" Lance's annoyed tone cracked through the com link.

"What do you think have eyes in the back of my head?!" Pidge argued, still keeping it low as not to attract attention. She concealed herself behind a pillar, as a entries paced by her.

"No, but you could've at least watched where he was going!" The Blue Paladin accused her.

"I was a little busy at the time, Lance." Pidge was beginning to really annoyed, almost wishing she could reach through the com system and slap him or something. Arrivng at a four-way hall, she glanced down each direction.

"Allura, is there a faster way to find them?" She asked.

"Scanning the ship for them now." Coran answered her question. "I see two Paladin trackers. One's still on the move."

"That's got to be Shiro." Allura figured. Stepping closer to the screen.

"We need to get in there!" Lance said, thrust his fist up and pumping it into his chest.

"It's too dangerous to make a move." Allura told him. It's up to Pidge and Shiro to get Keith and get out of there.

"Isn't there some way we can help?" Hunk asked, having been silently watched this whole time. The two Alteans thought for a moment.

"Actually there might be a way." Coran thought aloud.

Shiro peeked around, yet, another corner, before slowly advancing into it. Peering around him as he went, he stopped when he glanced behind him. His eyes widened at seeing no sign of the Green Paladin. Snapping back into reality, he turned and ran down the hallway behind him. Running around into another one and pressing his back against it, his breaths a little heavy. Great! I've lost Pidge. And I still haven't found ANY sign of Keith. Some day this is turning out to be. Shiro's mind thought. He cursed himself for not paying attention, then continued on; knowing he had to keep moving. Checking his gauntlet he noticed a tracker was synced on his location. That's gotta be Pidge. A smile flashed across his face, but instantly faded when he looked up. He stopped dead in his tracks, in seeing blasters pointed in his direction.

Keith screamed in agony, the breath he had left was barely enough to keep his lungs moving. His injection site burning with every needle inserted. A technician flicked a small vile before inserting it as well. Keith began to feel distant, despite his instinct to struggle. He thrashed about, desperately trying to escape. But his body seemed to ache more, the more he moved. His heart pounded in his chest. The sting of his wounds and the amplified nerve drug administered as the start of this nightmare screamed at him, silently begging them to stop. He could feel blood trickling off his right arm and onto the table. And every pin and needle sensation from their instruments exploring the exposed tissues. They had peeled back some of his skin, to dissect down to where it was necessary for them. His eyes were wide in realization of what they were doing. He found the strength to struggle more, certain that his wrists were starting to bleed as well. His cry echoed into the empty vents, as another wave of pain crashed over his body.

Pidge ran as fast as she could. Slicing through a vent, she slipped into the duct and scrambled down it. Blaster fire nipping as her heels. Though she was small, she fit pretty well in the small dark space; the sentries on the other hand could not. An advantage she was glad to have at times, being small enough to squeeze into small spaces. Finally getting a moment to rest she checked her gauntlet, the two dots signifying her friends were both still. This was an alarming sight to see. Her eyes widening in terror as to what this could mean.

Zarkon stood up from the platform from which he stood.

"They're still here." He said in a low voice. "Somewhere..." his eyes narrowed more to become small slits on his face.

"What will you have us do, Lord Zarkon?" A commander asked, holding a fist up across his chest in a respectful one-legged kneel.

"Find them... and take them out." The emperor instructed simply. Galra fleets continued to search the area. When a sudden BLAST!!, shattered the silence.

"Let's do this Hunk!!" Lance called, jerking the holographic handles of his drone around.

"Right behind you!!" The Yellow Paladin called. The drones were so small that the Galra scanners hardly picked them up. And they had taken them by surprise, so they hadn't enough time to adjust to defend against them. Blast after blast, the drones weren't quite as powerful as the lions, but they did do damage.

"Hehe-yeah, buddy!!" Lance called excitedly, "we're doing it!!"

"And with you separated from castle in you're lions..." Allura remarked from the teludav. "We can finally retrieve the Red Lion." She finished as the lion appeared on their scanners. As they hovered closer though, Red's eyes lit up and it roared, taking off into the battle.

"What?!" Allura breathed, "where is it going?!"

"It must be going after Keith!" Coran guessed. Allura watched the lion continue toward the looming ship in front of them; as it's thrusters became smaller and smaller. Coran steered the ship back into the planet's shadow, hiding it once again. But the lasers of battle and the ship beyond the dead planet's horizon, was where Allura's gaze still lie.

Hey guys, finally got the next chapter done. This story has been soooooo fun, but I gotta say I get hung up sometimes(as I'm sure we all do at times. ;D). Anyway, as shown above their were mentions of blood here, there have been more mentions in this story than any I've written before. But I don't think they're too bad, just the same I hope you're still enjoying this story. And I still don't really know when this will end, but hopefully there'll be much more to come!! I still have quite a few ideas yet to come! So stay tuned and I'll see you next time!! Peace!!!