Yes, I am back and so is my story. I realize that it's been awhile, but to prove to you that I am dedicated to finishing this story, I have posted three new chapters this time. YAY ME!

Thanks for reading and thanks for the continued support. ENJOY!

Anyone who knew the history of Altea, also knew that it used to be a land of great prosperity. Large cities populated the land, keeping a balanced economy that would make most realms envious. When the first invasion happened, things changed. Arus had been blessed with peace for such a long time, that the people who lived there were unprepared for the ruthless nature of the Drules.

Most of the cities had been leveled, the people either killed or made into slaves. When the Voltron Force arrived and took charge of the last defense that Arus had, things had changed again. Although the Drules had been forcibly removed from the planet, rebuilding the world to its former glory had been nearly impossible. When Doom set it's sights on Arus, it became a constant battleground of bloodshed and destruction. The result was that cities were no longer built. The people of Altea had resigned themselves to building only what they truly needed to survive. Small villages and encampments popped up throughout the land, but nothing more, relying on their young ruler and her band of soldiers to keep them safe.

As the Drules began to land on Arus once again, they wasted no time in rounding up the villagers. Being the closest village to the Castle of Lions, Creegan was also the most populated village in the area. Now, most of the villagers had fled. The ones that remained were being herded like cattle into the main square of the outpost.

From behind a small makeshift temple of worship near the town square, Lance and Hunk watched as the people were pushed and shoved around like rag dolls. Lance noted that most of the captured were men. He let out bittersweet sigh. Most of the women and children had been evacuated when the castle alarms had warned them of impending danger. Most likely, as was the case during the first invasion, they had gone to the underground caverns. This would hopefully make his plan run a little smoother.

"Hey!"

They both turned to find themselves staring down the barrel of a laser rifle held by a very mean looking Drule soldier. He regarded them for a moment, and Lance prayed silently that he would not recognize them in their disguises.

"What are the two of you doing here? You should be with the rest of the trash." The soldier spoke in a deep, threatening voice that would certainly be intimidating to most people.

Lance felt Hunk stiffen next to him. He knew the big man had a very soft heart when it came to the people of Arus. After all, most of them regarded the Voltron Force as some sort of god-like figures. Lance only hoped that Hunk could keep his temper in check. Any actions out of the ordinary at that point would blow their cover for sure. He raised his hands and nodded for Hunk to do the same. Thankfully, he complied.

While it had been some time since Lotor had actually been with a woman, and the result had sated him for a few moments, as the euphoria faded, he felt just as empty if not more so than before. A shower had helped clean him physically, but nothing could cleanse the blackness within him. He growled loudly as he stared at himself in the mirror in his chamber washroom. Hagar's words echoed in his head. Had he really become so pathetic? Had his obsession with Allura truly made him weak? He shook his head. It mattered very little anymore. He had Allura. He had Keith. And soon he would have Voltron. Pushing himself from the sink, he reached for the towel hanging over the shower curtain rod and ran it over his wet hair.

He moved back into his now empty bedchamber. Of course, he had sent the Allura impostor away as soon as he was done with her. The bed cover was still messed, but since they hadn't actually used the bed, it was mostly still put together. As he pulled clean clothes out of the closet, the comm unit beeped. He was relieved for the most welcome distraction. "Yes."

"Your Majesty," his first officer's voice echoed through the room, "I wish to inform you that our troops have taken the Castle of Lions."

A sudden rush of adrenaline pumped through Lotor's veins, pulling him out of his self-loathing. "Excellent. Prepare the ship to land on the surface."

"Yes, Sir."

Lotor cut the link and dressed quickly.

The crowd in the town square began to grow restless as the Drule soldiers began rounding the villagers up into a singular cluster of bodies. It reminded Lance of the old Earth westerns when the cowboys would circle the cattle on their horses until they were in a tight formation, barely able to move. He watched as the soldiers bottle necked the people into a single file line up a ramp that led to the belly of the nearby Drule transport cruiser.

Where were the Drules taking the people? Surely not back to Doom. Voltron had been responsible for the destruction of most of the planet. The team had watched as Zarkon's castle crumbled. Certainly Lotor was not taking these people back to a planet in ruin.

"Hurry up!" one of the soldiers yelled, pushing people roughly through the wide hanger doors.

Somewhere behind him, Lance heard a voice. "Where are you taking us?" asked the faceless man.

"Don't worry, you'll be returned to your homes soon enough," the soldier said, "for now you will be going to the castle. Soon Lotor, the new King of Arus, will be arriving. You will bow to him and pledge fealty to him."

Lance and Hunk shared a concerned look. Shit, Lance thought, Lotor in the Castle of Lions. Over my dead body. He nodded, and Hunk let him know that he understood. They were going to have to step it up. As they moved along with the wave of people toward the ship, Lance reached up under his tunic for his blaster.

"Hey,"

Lance whirled around to find himself face to face with a young man who could not have been older than seventeen.

"I know you," the boy whispered, "your Lance. Pilot of Red Lion."

"Shh..." Lance hissed as he continued walking.

The boy stayed at his side, unfazed by Lance's rough demeanor. "What are you planning? We want to help."

Looking behind the boy, Lance saw a sea of young faces nodding and murmuring in agreement. He glanced at Hunk who only shrugged. "We could use some back up, Lance."

Running the different scenarios in his head, Lance suddenly wished that Keith was with them. He was the strategic genius. Lance was more prone to run in guns blazing which was not very practical at the moment. As he gazed at the determined faces of the young men behind him, a thought suddenly occurred to him. Maybe irrational was what they needed. It would be the last thing that the Drule soldiers would be expecting. Letting out a long breath, and knowing that what he was about to do would send Keith into a complete tailspin and Allura into a conniption of some sort, he made a decision. He unholstered the blaster at his hip, then bent down to retrieve his spare under his pant leg. Standing as close to the young man as possible, he passed the blasters and then nodded for Hunk to do the same.

"Pass these out among you. Get to the perimeter of the crowd where the soldiers are. When the time comes, you are going to have to take them out." He looked at the kid hard in the eyes. "Do you think you can do that?"

The boy nodded, and a montage of emotions flickered across his face. Lance knew what he was thinking. Zarkon and Lotor had nearly annihilated his planet. Probably turned his family or least people that he knew into slaves. Now his village – the village that the people had poured their souls into rebuilding – was being taken hostage once again. This was personal for them.

"Okay, get going." Lance ordered.

The young men turned to leave. "Hey, Lance, how will we know when?"

After a brief glance at Hunk in which time they seemed to share the same thought, Lance smiled and winked. "Don't worry, kid, you'll know."

A confused nod was the only response as the boys began casually pushing themselves back through the crowd. Lance and Hunk turned back to the front only to find themselves only a few steps from the ramp. Ahead of them, two soldiers stood on either side of the hanger entrance. A few more stood behind them pushing their captures onto the ship. Both pilots kept their heads low, praying that they wouldn't be recognized any further until they were in position.

Adrenaline coursed through their veins as they walked up the ramp. Hunk had fallen in step behind Lance as they moved. As they approached the entrance, Hunk kept his gaze on the back of Lance's head. Finally, he got his signal. The large man reared back suddenly, then threw himself forward, barreling into the bewildered soldier to his right, knocking his rifle from his hand and pinning him to the bulkhead.

Lance had already launched himself at the soldier to the left. He grabbed the man's wrist, spun into him, and gripped the man's blaster that he was still holding. Coving the soldier's trigger finger with his own, Lance turned him to face his comrades, forcing him to pull the trigger over and over until the last of the soldiers in the hanger were laying still at their prisoners' feet. "Hunk! The cockpit!" As Hunk hurried to the front of the ship, Lance drew his elbow back hard into the man's face before turning, finally facing him, and with a solid blow, dropped him to the floor.

An uproar from outside snapped his attention back to the crowd. The throng of people still waiting to board were cheering loudly and just on the outskirts of it all, Lance could see the young men holding the Drules' rifles in the air. They had been victorious. He couldn't help but smile as the crowd hoisted the young men up on their shoulders and paraded them around. He wished that Allura could be there to see it all.

"All clear, Lance." Hunk announced as he emerged from the front end of the cruiser, dragging two more unconscious soldiers by the collar. He dropped them to the ground.

Lance nodded. "Good job."

Hunk smiled broadly as he interlaced his fingers and stretched them palm-out in front of him. His knuckles cracked loudly. "I'm just getting warmed up."

"Good, cause we've still got to get to Lotor's ship before he decides to land that thing and make himself at home at the castle."

"Well, what the hell are we waiting for?"

"Lance, what do you want us to do?"

The young men who had assisted them earlier were now standing at the bottom of the ramp, still armed to the teeth with Drule weapons.

Lance squatted down leaning back on his heels. He looked out over the gang of youths and the others behind him. Most of them were middle aged to old men. They needed to get to the safety of the underground caverns. The very same caverns where he and the rest of the team had found them when they first arrived on Arus. It was the safest place for them to go, and he told them so.

The leader of the small band of rebels shook his head vehemently. "I was nine years old when the Drules attacked the first time. By the time I turned eleven, we were already hiding in the caves. I have a little sister. I have no intention of letting her grow up cowering in a cave like a rat. I will die before that happens."

The two lion pilots regarded the passionate young man. Lance nodded. "The first thing you've got to do is get the rest of these people to safety. There will be more Drule troops coming, you can bet on that. Stay hidden until we come for you. And be ready to fight." The youth nodded and turned to leave. "Hey," Lance called, "what's your name?"

"Lorne."

"You did good today, Lorne."

Lorne beamed excitedly at him before turning and leaving with the others.

"Well, Boss," Hunk said, "what now?"

It took Lance a moment to realize that Hunk was talking to him. He was not used to being addressed as Boss, and the gravity of the fact that he was indeed in charge now once again made him pause. He quickly shook the feeling. Now was not the time to start getting self-conscious. "Right." He gaged the wreckage of the hanger before formulating and relaying his plan to Hunk.

"It's done, Hagar!" Lotor crowed as he walked in unannounced into the witch's laboratory in the belly of the Inferno. "I have breached the Castle of Lions, and soon it and Voltron will be mine!" It amazed Lotor how good it felt to say the words out loud. After all the years of utter failure to secure the castle, his troops now had control of it.

From the back of darkened room, only illuminated by black candles, Hagar giggled – if you could really call it that – emitting that high pitch sound that gave even Lotor the creeps at times. "Yes, my King. Victory is close at hand. Would you like to get a closer look at my latest creation?"

Lotor squinted in the dark as he made his way to where Hagar stood. He gazed at the subject of her latest atrocity and cocked his head. "It's done then?"

"Oh yes, Sire. This is my greatest achievement yet. And it is sure to bring down the Voltron Force."

The King of Doom snorted. He had heard those very words many times before, and they usually came just before he was sent back to Doom with his tail between his legs.

"I know you are skeptical, Lotor. But I have been studying these humans for quite some time, now, and I have finally found a chink in their armor. This, My Lord, will exploit their weakness like nothing else can."

"We shall see."

A beep from his comm unit interrupted any further conversation. "Your Majesty," a young Drule's voice addressed him. "You are needed on the bridge, Sire."

Moments later, Lotor breezed onto the bridge of his ship and confidently took his place in the Commander's chair. "On screen." He ordered. The visual in front of him presented a young Drule soldier, dressed from head to toe in a Drule combat uniform, complete with headgear that covered his face completely. "Sir, while we were rounding up slaves from a nearby village, we found something the you might find interesting. Or someone, rather."

Lotor sat forward in his chair. "Who?"

The pilot disappeared from his seat only to return moments later with a very large man who Lotor recognized instantly. "The pilot of the Yellow Lion, Sir. We are almost at your coordinates and request permission to dock, Sire."

The big man thrashed against his restraints, unleashing a stream of what Lotor assumed to be obscenities at him. What the man said mattered very little at the moment, as Lotor felt everything falling into place piece by piece. "Another treasured member of the Voltron Force," he seethed. "You have done well, soldier, and you will be rewarded. You have permission to dock, of course."

"Thank you, Sire."

The largest man of the Voltron Force threw himself toward the screen, baring his teeth that reminded Lotor of his father's hounds that used to guard the slaves in the Doom Pits. "Lotor! I am gonna kick your ass!"

The pilot yanked him back harshly to restrain his prisoner finishing with a sound right hook to the man's face. When he returned, he said, "We will be at your location shortly, My Lord. Then you can exact your own revenge on this scum."

The screen went black and Lotor sat back in his chair with glee. Three out of five pilots in his clutches. Things could not have worked out better if he had planned it this way himself.

"Damn, Lance, did you have punch me in the face?" Hunk whined from the back of the cruiser, rubbing his chin.

Lance kept his gaze steady as he watched the Inferno appear in front of them. When he was sure that the communications with Lotor's ship were cut, he wrestled the very uncomfortable Drule mask away from his face. It was little big for him, and he hoped that it wouldn't hinder him in a fight. "I pulled that punch, you big baby. And none of that would be necessary if you'd lose a few pounds so you could fit into a soldier uniform."

"Hey," Hunk growled, jabbing at his own torso, "this is all muscle, my friend. If you want me to prove it to you, I'll be more than happy to oblige."

"And what was all that screaming at Lotor about?"

The large man grinned. "Just keeping it authentic."

They watched as the tail end of the Inferno yawned opened to reveal it's rather large hanger bay.

"Yeah, well," Lance said, dawning his disguise once again, "keep brushing up on your acting skills. Cause the odds of us actually pulling this off are pretty slim."

He cut the engines as the cruiser settled into the hanger bay and waited until the hatch closed and the room pressurized. He took a deep breath and centered himself. As he slowly released the air from his lungs, he almost laughed out loud as he recalled all the times that Keith had admonished him for jumping head first in a situation. "A calm, clear head is the most effective way to approach any opposition," Keith told him almost on a daily basis. As Lance settled in for what was to come, he thought, Well, Keith, you'll be happy to know that not all of your words of wisdom have been completely wasted.

"Okay, big guy, let's get this over with."

Hunk nodded as they got in position with Lance behind him, a Drule rifle tucked snuggly in Hunk's back. "Hey," Hunk said suddenly, "careful not to get an itchy trigger finger with that thing."

"No worries, my friend," Lance responded, "who knows how to handle a gun better than me?"

Humph...was Hunk's only response before the cruiser's hatch opened and they stared into the faces of six armed Drules. Just behind them Lance caught a glimpse of something familiar. The Siren. Deirdre's ship. His teeth clenched and he took another long breath to calm himself before shoving Hunk hard, nearly toppling him down the ramp.

"Well, done, soldier," one of the guards commented, "we'll take him from here."

Lance shook his head vehemently. "No way. He's my prisoner. I will take him to Lotor." He shoved Hunk again.

"Wait just a minute!" the Drule said sternly, putting a hand on Lance's shoulder.

Out of shear reflex, Lance spun on the man and pushed him back. Another guard grabbed Lance by the arm and swung him around. Lance kept his feet under him but was unable to keep the over sized helmet in place. The Voltron pilots watched in slow motion as the disguise flew off his head and clattered to the floor. Time stood still for a moment as the guards digested what happened. Lance looked at them, shrugged, and smiled just before raising his rifle. Even before they could scatter, Lance took out two of them. Three of them hid behind the Siren while one fled for the door. Thinking quickly, and with his hands still restrained in front of him, Hunk stooped to pick up one of the fallen soldier's weapons and fired. But he was too late. The guard made it to the door and pulled the alarm just before collapsing to the ground, dead.

While the alarm whined loudly, momentarily distracting the three guards in hiding, Lance and Hunk quickly took them from both sides, easily dropping them one by one.

"Damn it!" Hunk cursed as the red lights flashed around them. He rubbed his wrists as Lance relieved him of his restraints. "Looks like our timetable has been moved up a bit."

Lance nodded. "Let's get going! We're at the bottom of the ship, if I'm right, Keith and Deirdre should be in prisoner quarters one level up. First we need to get to engineering." he reasoned as he ran towards the door. Without having to be told a second time, Hunk was on his heels.

"What about Allura?"

The Commander shook his head. "No way Lotor would keep her in the brig. But we are not leaving this ship without her. Once we get Keith and Deirdre, we can split up to find her."

"What the hell is going on?" Lotor sneered from his seat on the bridge. The Inferno had been ready to initiate entry into the atmosphere when the alarm sounded, effectively shutting down the landing sequence.

The first officer's fingers flew across the ship's computer keys. "Running a diagnostic now, Sire. It appears that there is an intruder on board, Your Majesty."

"An intruder? How the hell..." Lotor stopped suddenly when the realization that he had been duped struck hard. "The Voltron pilot! Goddammit!" He pounded his fist against the arm of the chair causing most of the officers surrounding him to cringe. "He's come to rescue his friends. Find him! And bring the Princess to the bridge. I will not have them steal her away from me again!" He looked around at the unsure faces around the bridge. "NOW!"

The bridge erupted when everyone seemed to be talking at once – barking orders to their subordinates.

Allura awoke to the sound of the alarming blaring into her room. She sat up, grateful that the stabbing pain in her head had subsided somewhat. She could hear running feet just outside of her door. Something was very wrong. She got up off the cot slowly, testing her own equilibrium. The lack of the familiar vertigo from earlier made her breathe a sigh of relief. She was going to have to be at her best if she was going to figure out a way to get off the ship. Her thoughts went to Keith and Deirdre. Were they alright? Were they still alive? The last thought made her shutter. She quickly shook it off, however. I'll think about that after I get myself out of here.

She walked to the door and put her ear against it. It sounded like pandemonium in the corridor. What was going on? Then she could hear her own guard talking.

"What's going on?" he was asking.

"We've got an intruder on board. One of the Voltron pilots. Lotor's ordered to kill him on sight. And he wants the princess brought to the bridge."

Lance, Allura thought with excitement. He's come for us. Thinking quickly, Allura looked around the nearly empty room for something she could use as a weapon. There was nothing. Her eyes fell on the closet door. With no other options, she gripped the sides of the full length mirror hanging there and pulled. It didn't move. She tried again. Nothing. Come on, Allura, your the princess of Arus! You fly the Blue Lion! You have survived your planet being ravaged by monsters and rebuilt it! Now find your strength, damn it, and do this! For some reason the last thought came out sounding a little like Lance in her head, but it was just the voice of inspiration that she needed. Bracing her foot on the wall to use as extra weight, Allura took a deep breath and, summoning all her strength, she yanked one more time. She was elated when the mirror gave way almost knocking her over as it came down.

Having very little time to congratulate herself, she moved to stand on the other side of the door. Just as she hoped, it opened and her guard entered, walking all the way into the room. He was looking around, obviously confused, when the mirror came crashing down over his head. He dropped to the ground hard.

Allura stared for a moment at his still body. She was shocked that her plan had actually worked. As her brain shifted into autopilot, she found herself stooping to pick up the man's rifle.

"What the hell is going on?"

Her head snapped up to see two soldiers standing in the doorway. All of the survival instincts within Allura, along with all of her training, bubbled to the surface. No way in hell was she going to let them take her to Lotor alive again. Without any further thought, she raised the rifle in her hands, and fired. As the two guards dropped to the floor, she felt her lungs begin to work again, taking deep breaths while running escape scenarios in her head. First and foremost, she decided, she had to get to her feet and get the hell out of there. Squaring her shoulders, she stood up, tucked the rifle to her side, and stepped out into the corridor.