Lance groaned and someone said, "He's waking up." When he opened his eyes, the med pod released and he slumped. Hunk caught him before he could fall and reassured, "I've got you, Lance." He tried to help, but Hunk did most of the work while they walked. They passed galra working in the med ward before Hunk sat him in a chair and shoved dried rations and a water pouch at him. "Eat while you can. We're planning the rescue mission as soon as Talias and Lotor return from the hub."

Lance chewed and swallowed. His dry throat didn't want to cooperate from dehydration. He sipped some water and looked around. Several other pods were in use, but it was hard to tell who occupied them as people walked in front. Lance asked when he found his voice, "How bad is it?"

Hunk sat and shook his head. "I don't think we even know the full damage. I mean, Shiro suddenly turned on us and we don't know why. What... what if he never was-"

"Don't say that. The black lion trusted him. Keith trusted him."

"Look where that got him!" Hunk flinched at his own raised voice. "Sorry. I'm scared, Lance. The empire's on the verge of war, but Lotor hasn't made any kind of statement. Krolia, Kolivan, and Matt are all out of commission while they heal. We're down three paladins. The lions themselves are practically feral, even Green and Blue!"

Lance closed his eyes and rested his head against his fists. So that was what the rumbling in the back of his mind was. He stood and said, "Let's go to the bridge."

Hunk nodded and followed, but Lance stopped when he saw Nyma. She was curled up asleep at the bottom of the steps in front of Matt's healing pod. In the rush to save his life, they had neglected the usual white uniform. The fluids inside had cleaned away the blood from his surgery, but the mark would leave a large scar. Hunk noticed Lance's focus and grabbed a blanket from the recovery cabinet. Draping it over Nyma, he whispered, "She hasn't left his side. Not even Talias could make her leave."

"Of course. She loves him, Hunk." Lance watched as Hunk's chest rose rapidly and he tried to control his breathing. Then he held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut. Lance grabbed Hunk's shoulders and hugged him. "We're going to get Pidge back. They're all coming home. I swear on my life, Hunk."

Hunk squeezed him back then they went to the others. Talias, Lotor, and two other galra he didn't know were there with Coran and Allura. Allura greeted, "Hunk, Lance, it's good you're here. Lance, how do you feel?"

Lance folded his arms and glowered. "Like I want to punch Sendak into a sun."

Allura chuckled darkly. "Get in line."

"Where's the-" Lance cut off as Talias put her hands along his jaw. He lifted his chin and complained, "Talias, I'm fine. I've donated blood before. I never passed out, but I know what to expect."

Talias continued her physical regardless. "I'm surprised you didn't pass out sooner. You gave nearly sixty percent of your total volume to Matt. I wouldn't have been able to save him if you hadn't, Lance." Then she kissed his forehead. "Keith is right about you."

Lance swelled with pride, but asked seriously, "What'd I miss?"

Allura opened her star charts. "The empire's scouts tracked Sendak's ships here, to the Crot system, but we lost them there. That ship they used-"

"She was the fastest vessel in my armada," Lotor finished without emotion.

"Lotor?" Allura prompted.

He shook his head. "This is pointless."

Something about his tone didn't sit in Lance's stomach. He folded his arms and stated, "Say what you mean?"

Lotor frowned and ground his teeth. "This isn't what Keith wants."

"In case you haven't noticed, Keith's not here, so he doesn't have a say in this," Lance said harshly.

Lotor glared at him. If he hadn't been so angry at Sendak, he might have been afraid. He returned a glare to match. Allura placated, "Please, we're all on edge, but we need to work together. Every second we delay, Pidge, Keith, and Shiro slip further away."

The woman Lance didn't know nodded in agreement. "I've put out an alert for any visuals of Sendak or Haggar to be reported directly to the castle to give us the best possibility of intercepting them."

Lotor glared at her. "You didn't tell me before doing this?"

She glared back. "You didn't seem likely to agree, my emperor."

Her tone was sharp and Lotor opened and shut his mouth. Something was off. Lance asked, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Lance and you are...?"

The woman blinked at him, but her hostility was still focused on Lotor. She explained, "I am Gnov, the missing prince's chief adviser."

"Ah!" Lance said piecing it together, "You've grown out your hair since the Kral Zera." The large tattooed male beside her growled and folded his arms. Lance's eyes widened and he explained, "We were doing our research!"

Gnov put a calming hand on the man's arm. "Verolle and I worked closely with Keith following the Kral Zera. There is little we would not do to bring him home safe."

The man, Verolle, added, "It goes beyond us. Our people hold the prince in high regard. Sendak and Haggar have sealed their fates with this atrocity."

Hunk nodded. "It's good to have you on our side in this."

"Whatever 'this' is, will not happen," Lotor denied.

Lance fought not to roll his eyes. "What is going on? You act like you don't even want them back."

"Never," Lotor growled, low and dangerous, "accuse me of that again. You have no idea the turmoil in my heart."

Lance felt his anger boil over and Red only fueled it. "If that's true, then act like it!"

"Lance!" Talias shouted.

"No!" Lance paced toward Lotor and continued, "You aren't the only one who loves Keith, your majesty! Your soldiers are ready to go to war for one man. So why do your advisers have to go behind your back for action to be taken? Why are you trying to stop them?"

Lotor's eyes flashed and he clenched his fist. "Do not tell me how to run my empire, paladin."

"Lance has a point," Allura defended.

Lotor looked at her for a long moment before closing his eyes in defeat. "You want to know why? Keith." His lover's name hung with unknown power in the air. Lotor glanced away and explained, "No matter what, our civilians' safety always came before his. That was his one condition to becoming my consort. I thought I could protect him, so I agreed." He covered his face with a hand. "He wouldn't want to be rescued if it endangered our people. He doesn't want another war."

Allura gasped and covered her mouth, but Lance clenched a fist. "That selfish bastard." Lance felt Hunk wrap an arm around his chest and realized he had lunged to attack Lotor. His anger brought tears to his eyes. Then Allura was also there to hold him back. Too bad Verolle was too slow to stop Gnov. Or maybe he simply let her...

Her balled fist connected square with Lotor's jaw and he was sent sprawling to the floor. "Coward! You filthy hroxlar! You disgrace the blood of your lineage and are no emperor of mine!" She was shaking as she released her full rage on the prone man. Then she said to Talias, "Princess, from here on, I follow your orders."

Talias looked wide eyed from her defeated nephew to the powerful woman swearing allegiance to her. She lifted her chin and went to the star charts. "Prepare the armada, Gnov. We go to the Crot system at daybreak. Sendak has declared war. We will answer in kind."

Gnov saluted, "Vrepit sa," and spat at Lotor as she and Verolle went to complete their objective.

Lance looked away from Lotor and asked, "Why wait?"

Talias put her hands on his shoulders. "Our scouts are still searching and the alert has been activated. We will have more information after they've returned if only to know where they aren't. Plus, you may be very brave, but you are still weakened, Lance. Voltron will need you at your best when you fly the black lion tomorrow." Allura looked at Lance in surprise, but Lance nodded. Talias put her forehead against his hair. "Go rest, children. Rest while you can."

Lance put his forehead to her chest as he'd seen Keith do countless times. Then he stepped back and nodded to Allura and Hunk and they left the bridge together.

Talias watched the paladins and Coran go and looked where Lotor hadn't moved on the floor. She knelt beside him and put a hand on his arm. He flinched and refused to meet her eyes. His tears ran and pooled in his hair. Talias felt a dull pain in her chest watching him second guess himself.

She gently stroked his arm and hummed like she used to when he was young. It had the desired effect. He broke into choked sobs and put his head in her lap. Her aching heart throbbed and she blinked back her own tears. She continued to hum and run a hand repeatedly over his hair until he was ready to speak.

"I'm an idiot, Talias." His breathing stuttered and he sniffed loudly. "I-I don't know what to do. It's a trap. There's no other possibility... right?"

He looked up with desperate eyes. Talias rubbed away his tear stains with her thumbs. "Perhaps, but can you afford to lose him without a fight?"

"I-I can't lose him at all!" Lotor put his face back to her apron and held his breath until a new wave of sobs passed.

Talias gently lifted Lotor's shoulders until he sat facing her. "Then you are truly my brother's son, child of my heart."

His eyes widened in fear. "No, no I'm not!"

"My brother, Lotor, not him. Not Zarkon." Talias cupped Lotor's face in both hands. "We of the House of Lethua are weak in one thing only. Your grandfather, myself, Krolia, your father... we all sacrifice everything for the ones we love. Should you have made such a promise to Keith? I don't know. Is it possible he will never forgive you for breaking that promise? Perhaps." Her voice took on a firmer tone. "But we will lose him forever if we do not try something and even his anger is better than nothing. Correct?"

Lotor's chin trembled and he hugged her tight with his chin under her's like he used to while she could still carry him. She climbed to her feet, taking Lotor with. She kissed his forehead and pulled him to her side as she walked him to his bedroom in the castle. He didn't resist when she lifted his shirt over his head or laid him in bed. She used her sleeve cuff to dry his tears a final time and said, "Sleep, my precious one. Let the night steal your fears and awaken ready to make war."

In the hall, she made her way to the medical bay to check on her patients. The woman was still beside Matt. Talias hadn't pushed her to rest as hard as she normally would have. In truth, Talias wasn't sure Matt would regain consciousness. It happened in the great war and many times since that while the body healed, the mind never recovered.

She had done all she could. If this woman's presence did what she could not, she would praise whatever deities had answered her prayers. And if they did not... the woman would overcome her grief faster knowing she'd been with him in his final moments.

Talias looked at the empty medpod beside her sister and checked the charts. Matt's brainwaves were unchanged, but his vitals were stronger. Krolia was less stable, but stronger yet. Kolivan's chart had 'complete' stamped across it. She acknowledged the alert and looked closer. Judging by his results, he must have forced himself awake. She swiped to the map of the castle where a tracker dye the med pods used on their patients traced him to the hangar.

Frowning in thought, she called her servants and instructed them to meet her there. Then she lifted her skirt and ran to Kolivan. He was prepping a pod. She put a hand over her racing heart and said, "You'll never reach him in time."

Kolivan scowled, but continued working. "I have to try. This wouldn't have happened if I'd been with them, Talias. I have already summoned my agents. We will find my son and the girl. I do not know if we will be able to save the third."

Talias reached out to stop him. "Please, Kolivan. We're stronger together. I've told Gnov to make an announcement. I am leading the rescue mission. If you tell me you have a completely foolproof way to find them before daybreak, I will not stop you. But if that is not the case, you and your own may join us."

Kolivan asked genuinely, "You're seeking an alliance with the blades? Talias, perhaps you should use a medpod. The bump on your head is affecting your judgement."

Talias wiped her eyes and sniffed. "Small spaces don't agree with me. Especially altean pods. Kolivan, I will not stop you," she repeated and the hangar door opened. Her servants brought forth a long box which she opened to reveal the last set of armor worn by the Hounds of Diabazaal. "but a royal guard should wear a uniform befitting their rank. Wouldn't you agree?"

Lotor tossed and turned in his sleep. His dreams were a future he desperately wanted to avoid. He jumped up in bed gasping and held his head. The image of Keith lying in a pool of blood refused to leave his mind.

"Do you really think I'll release him, my son?"

Lotor grabbed Keith's knife beside his pillow on reflex and faced the darkness. "Who's there?"

Her druid markings began to glow and shriveled hands lifted to throw back her hood. The yellow gleam of her eyes accompanied that voice he hated as Haggar asked, "Is that any way to speak to your mother?"

"Witch," Lotor snarled, "you delude yourself."

She chuckled, revealing a wicked grin. "A notion you should consider for your own actions, Lotor. You know in your heart what your inevitable choice will be." Her tone softened and she said almost maternally, "Come to me, my son. Do not make this more difficult for yourself. It is only a matter of time."

"No."

She stepped toward him and he lifted the blade before him. The blue of the hilt lit her face. Lotor sucked a fearful breath through his teeth. She put a cold hand on the back of his. He wanted to attack, but was paralyzed as though in a fever dream. She exhaled and he felt her breath on his skin. "Lotor, the boy will give me what I want or he will die. Unless..."

"I'm listening," Lotor barely uttered.

Hagar's hand lifted to caress his cheek and he shivered. She whispered, "You and I seek the same thing, child. The boy is unlikely even aware of just how incredible it is he can channel quintessence."

"How did you-"

"I wasn't finished," she rebuked. "Come to me of your own volition, and I am willing to make a trade."

A spark of hope burned in his chest. "How do I know you'll keep your word?"

Haggar chuckled and backed away lifting her hood. Raising her hand, a strange portal like a window filled the room. Through it, Lotor saw Keith and Pidge. He was cuffed, facing away. The girl was curled in on herself in front of him. Lotor could hear her crying while Keith hummed his father's lullaby. Haggar closed her fist and the portal disappeared. Lotor gasped, "No!"

Haggar grinned from the depths of her cloak. "You know what you must do, Prince Lotor, son of Zarkon."

"No! I- I will not do what you ask!"

"Then the boy is lost to you. Farewell... my son."

"Gah!" Lotor jolted upright in bed tangled with the blankets. He frantically searched the dark room, but nothing was out of place. "Was it... a nightmare?" He hugged himself and struggled to settle his breathing. Then his hand reached for the hilt of Keith's knife and his blood ran cold. Wide, terrified eyes looked to his pillow. The knife was gone!

There was a noise behind them. Keith stopped humming and looked over his shoulder. Pidge sat up and whispered, "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," he whispered back. Their statuesque guard hadn't moved since locking them in. Maybe a rodent?

The door opened and a slim figure darted in weilding an imperial sword. With a single motion, they sliced the back of 'Shiro's' neck. Something sparked in its eyes before it fell to the floor. The attacker drew a pistol and shot the head three times before stomping it into the floor. They went to the panel and lowered the energy barrier.

Keith backed Pidge into the corner and stood before her. "Acxa, what's going on?"

The female pilot simply shook her head. "I'll explain on the way, your majesty. We only have about ninety ticks before they realize their asset has been destroyed." When they failed to move, she insisted, "I'm saving you! Come on!"

Keith left the cell and Acxa reached to release the cuffs. Pidge reached for Keith's arm as he stretched his shoulders and asked, "Who are you?"

Acxa glanced down at Pidge and Keith knew she was afraid to answer. He said, "She is Lotor's general. They had a falling out when Narti, their friend, was compromised by Haggar, but Acxa, why? You're working with that witch?"

"I'm keeping me and my friends alive, my prince," she corrected. "There weren't many options available when we severed our ties to Lotor. Come. Zethrid and Ezor have secured a ship."

"But... Shiro?" Pidge stared down at the body of the thing that had tormented them.

Acxa was anxious to move, but stalled to say, "He never was the man you knew, paladin, but take what comfort you can from the knowledge that he was as unaware of his true purpose as you were." She took the lead and Keith pulled Pidge's hand to follow.

Acxa continued, "The witch holds your friend prisoner, Prince. She made copies to infiltrate your ranks. That copy was the only viable replica, but she has improved her process. You've seen the damage caused by a single spy under her control. Imagine the chaos she could wreak with two paladins and the imperial consort as her weapons. I have done horrible things for the sake of survival, but this is something I refuse to take part in any longer."

She ducked around a corner and waited for a patrol to pass before adding, "And there is one more thing. The witch has a man like you, prince, from Altea. I had never seen her so excited as she was when she learned who you are. She is convinced you are the key to what she seeks. A way to break him. I was unable to save him, but I will do what I can for you, Prince Keitaran."

The Retribution was docked inside a larger star-ship. They reached the hangar and Keith leaned into the wall. "Where are your friends?"

Acxa shook her head. "They should be here. Something's wrong."

Pidge said from behind him, "We should find somewhere to hide until we land."

Keith thought fast, but Acxa said, "If we wait that long, there will be no escape for any of us. Let's move."

Keith drew her sword as she lifted her pistol. Pidge ran ahead to the console and started searching for codes. "Shit. I need a genetic marker."

Keith was about to put his hand on the console, but Acxa stopped him. "They'll know you are loose if-" An alarm began to sound and she cursed and slammed her hand on the console.

A door opened and sentries flooded into the hangar. Keith used his body as a sheild to protect Pidge while she worked to release a fighter and Acxa fired repeatedly. Shots flew past, then the sentries had reached them and Keith went into close range combat. "Pidge, hurry!"

"I'm trying! They've locked me out of the system."

"Acxa, we need to move!" Keith shouted.

"Affirmative! Go! I'll cover you!"

Keith cleared a path and charged toward the door on the other side of the hangar. Pidge went to the door-pad, but it opened before she could do anything. Keith turned in surprise and was met with a blow across his temple. He screamed and fell to one knee. When he looked up, Sendak stood before him and the sentries had surrounded them.

He bore his teeth and glared. Lifting the sword, he tried to catch his breath. Sendak commanded, "Stand down. You are defeated."

Pidge screamed and threw a punch. Keith stood and shouted, "Katie!"

The soldier caught her fist and twisted. She screamed in pain this time and Sendak reiterated, "Stand down, or her arm breaks!"

"Alright! Just let her go!" Keith dropped the sword and kicked it away. Raising his hands, he said, "I'm unarmed so don't hurt her!" There was a moment when it seemed they wouldn't keep their end and Keith shouted, "Where is your honor, Sendak?"

Sendak's good eye snapped to him and his lip twitched in disgust, but he signaled his man who pushed Pidge toward Keith. He wrapped an arm around her and held her to his chest. "Are you hurt?" She shook her head, but her eyes sparkled with pain.

Sendak looked at Acxa and said, "I have no place for treachery among my crew, but the witch will be the one to deal your punishment. I'm sure she'll enjoy it." To his soldiers, he said, "Put them back in a holding cell and triple the guard. I'd hate for them to escape before we make our final landing."

Acxa was roughly handled and led away. Keith kept an arm around Pidge as they were led deeper into Sendak's star-ship destroyer. They hadn't escaped, but they had learned two very important things. Shiro was still alive somewhere and Haggar held another altean prisoner.