*WILL BE EDITED LATER. EXCUSE ANY WEIRD/OUT-OF-PLACE WORDS, GRAMMATICAL ERRORS, AND SPELLING ERRORS*

Arcadia admired the stars and planets as Voltron soared in the direction of Earth. During her first trip to the lively planet, she used an altean pod that was equipped with a small teludav. She was too busy trying to get where she was going that she never got to take in the sights of the Milky Way.

"I'll see if I can get a message out to my dad." Pidge activated the communication link that connected her lion to Earth. "Dad, it's me, Pidge. Do you copy? We're back in Earth's solar system, and heading home now."

The comms crackled with static. From the static emerged Sam's voice. "To any beings who receive this message–"

Tears formed in her eyes at hearing her father's voice. "Dad, you're okay. How's Mom and Matt? Is he with you?"

"Planet Earth has been... Most of the citizens..."

"Hold on, let me try to get a clear signal." Pidge boosted the signal and heard Sam's voice much clearer.

"...have been captured."

Pidge was shocked at the message. "What? Who's captured? Dad, what are you saying?"

"Those of us remaining are making our last stand. If you get this message, please get word to Voltron. We need help."

Arcadia pulled up a display after hearing Sam's message. She checked the frequency and saw it was being masked by another. "It's a hidden message. But why would Sam need to conceal it?"

"Let me check." Keith used the black lion to scan Earth. When the scanner detected multiple galra signatures, an image of a cruiser appeared. His eyes widened in horror. "Guys, are you seeing this?"

Arcadia looked at the display and gasped. "How...?"

Sam's message continued. "To any beings who receive this message..."

"Oh, no," Allura gasped.

"...Planet Earth has been overrun by the Galra."

Lance was in utter shock. "The Galra have invaded Earth."

"Most of the citizens have been captured. Those of us remaining are making our last stand. If you get this message, please get word to Voltron. We need help."

"It's not a reply. It's a distress signal," Hunk said, voice lower than usual.

"Dad..." Pidge muttered sorrowfully.

"There must be something we can do," Arcadia said.

"I'll keep trying to contact my dad," the green paladin said. She tried desperately to contact Sam. "Dad, please respond. Voltron is coming. Hold on."

"Are we too late?" Hunk asked.

More static crackled over the green lion's comms. From the static came Sam's voice. "Katie? Katie, is that you?"

"Dad, it's me," Pidge replied, feeling a sense of relief once hearing her father. "I'm here."

"Katie, I'm so glad to hear your voice. Where are you?"

"We're within the solar system. Heading to Earth now."

"Wait! You must stop!" Sam yelled.

"What?" Keith was shocked at Sam's demand. "Say again."

"Stop. Sendak has invaded the planet. He's taken over Earth. If he finds out that Voltron is here, he'll threaten the people of Earth in exchange for the lions."

Keith knew it was a difficult decision, but he chose the one he believed would be the best one. "Reverse thrusters!"

"Copy that. Hold tight!" Hunk announced. He yanked on the controls of the yellow lion and reversed the thrusters.

Hearing the alarms, Arcadia saw they had been detected by a small fleet of galra fighters. "We've been spotted."

As Voltron fought against the fleet, they received a message from Sam. "Paladins, we blocked the patrol's transmission. You're clear."

"Roger that," Lance replied. "Let's take 'em out!"

The red lion fired energy disks at the fighters and took two down. The third fighter zoomed off and the robot took chase. Before it could be destroyed, Pidge stopped Lance. "Wait! Don't destroy that ship. We might need it."

"Really? For what?"

"I've got an idea." Pidge then contacted the black lion. "Arcadia, can you commandeer that fighter?"

The draconian smirked. "Leave it to me." She rushed over to Kosmo, who already knew what to do. He teleported her into the fighter. While he sunk his fangs into the sentry's shoulder and yanked him out of the pilot's seat, she froze the robot and tossed him out of the vessel. She hopped in the pilot's seat and took control of the fighter. Linking its comm to the lions, she contacted the paladins. "I've gained full control of the fighter. What's your plan, Pidge."

"Nice work, Arcadia," the green paladin complimented the girl before showing everyone an image of Saturn and one of its many moons. "We can't fly our lions to Earth without being spotted, so they'll have to stay here on this moon in Saturn's rings, which should keep them hidden from Sendak's radars. We'll fly in another way."

The lions and the fighter flew to the moon Pidge spoke of. Once there, the paladins and their passengers left their lions to join Arcadia in the fighter. Kosmo teleported to cargo bay where everyone but Keith and Arcadia were. She gave control of the ship to the black paladin since he had more experience piloting than her.

Arcadia stood beside Keith as he guided the fighter towards Earth. She saw the galra symbols flashing across the display. "At least one of us can read galra."

"You can't read it?" Keith asked. He knew she was trying to ease his tension and was grateful for the distraction.

"Nope. I can only read draconic, altean, and what your planet calls "English." Don't get me started on how difficult that was..."

"You're speaking it right now," he claimed.

"Or maybe you're speaking draconic," she remarked. "Or maybe even altean or galran. Or perhaps—"

"Okay, that's enough," he sighed. "You're making my head hurt..."

She laughed at his furrowed eyebrows. "Just trying to break the ice. You're tenser than usual."

"Well, we're in a tense situation."

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Just relax. I have confidence in you. We'll make it without being detected."

He inhaled deeply and exhaled. Feeling her gentle touch relaxed him. "Thanks, Arcadia."

She smiled at him. "I'm always happy to help."

The cockpit fell silent as Keith navigated the fighter through the orbital ring of cruisers. He watched closely to make sure none of them found them suspicious. After putting some distance between them and the various cruisers, they penetrated Earth's atmosphere. He gripped the controls tightly and kept the fighter steady as the exterior of the ship heated up. They were plummeting towards Earth at high speed. "Hang on!" Keith shouted. "We're entering Earth's atmosphere."

"This is weird," Hunk said. "This is almost exactly how we left Earth, crammed in the cockpit of the blue lion."

The fighter shook, startling everyone in the cargo hold.

"We're overweight. I'm losing altitude."

"I've got us covered. Just keep the fighter steady," Arcadia said.

"Where are you going?" Keith inquired, clinging tightly to the controls as the alarms blared.

"Gonna soften our landing to avoid blowing up."

She exited the fighter and transformed. She encased the wings of the spacecraft in ice to avoid burning herself. She then latched on to the craft and dug her claws through the ice. Flapping her wings, she pulled the fighter up and slowed its descent. Once the ship was no longer plummeting towards the ground, she gently set it down. The ice encasing the wings melted.

Reverting back, Arcadia regrouped with the others as they exited the fighter.

"What a nice landing," Hunk sighed in relief. "So glad we didn't crash land. That would've been messy. Thanks, space dragon."

Arcadia smiled. "Always here to help."

The group abandoned the fighter and walked through the desert-like landscape. Trekking across the rocky ground, they soon come across a plateau. To get a better understanding of where they should go, they climbed up the plateau and gazed out across the distance. What greeted them was the ruins of a city.

It reminded Arcadia of the destroyed city where they met the druid, but this area was bleaker as if it were being veiled in gray. Smoke rose from the rubble. She looked around at what little remains of the structures. Among the rubble, she spotted a familiar shop sign that was partially blurred out by soot. "This is where I first met Keith. I remember that sign from anywhere."

"I've been here too," Hunk said. "This is Plaht City. It's about half an hour from the garrison."

"The galra really didn't hold back," she muttered.

Lance was in shock at the state of the once-bustling city. "Whoa, I can't believe this is all that's left of it."

"We need to get to the garrison," Keith stated. "Let's move quick and quiet."

They found a sidepath leading down into the city. Keith, Lance, and Hunk had their bayards at the ready while Pidge used her gauntlet to analyze the layout of the city and find a safe way through it.

Walking among the rubble, Arcadia picked up the small sign she saw earlier. It was severed in half and she could only read whom she presumed was the owner of the shop–Belle. She remembered the cute accessories the shop sold and grimaced when she realized she stole those shark sunglasses from them. Putting the destroyed sign down, she walked further down the street.

The moment she went to examine more items among the rubble, a laser blast hit the spot right next to her head. She quickly placed a barrier around her as she heard Lance shout, "Take cover!"

As everyone else ran to take cover, Arcadia located the source of the lasers. A flock of galra drones had detected them. Luckily, only one was targeting her while the others were focused on her companions. Instead of destroying the spherical drone, she encased it in a barrier and ushered it down to her level. Dispersing both barriers, she took the drone and rewrote its code. The once violet strips of light were now golden. She disabled the tracking signal and held the sphere in both palms. She smirked in delight. "A new toy to try out later."

Another drone had spotted her and she easily destroyed it with a fireball. She looked towards Lance and Keith to see the latter was acting as bait. With the drones focused on Keith, Lance used his rifle to destroy the remaining drones. Seeing all the drones were taken care of, they regrouped.

Keith glanced down at the metallic corpse of one of the drones. "I wonder how many of these things they have around here. Pidge, any chance we could see those things before they get to us?"

"Already on it," the green paladin replied. She was using her gauntlet to trace any approaching enemies. "Looks like we got four more headed our way."

"Maybe we could—" Arcadia was about to show the overridden drone, but a laser blast silenced her. She quickly took cover with Allura and Shiro as more laser blasts rained down on them. She attached the hacked drone to her hip to avoid losing it.

Shiro peeked out from cover and realized it was a different enemy. "It's not drones. Look."

Arcadia poked her head out and saw sentries. There weren't many, but they were pinned down. She had an idea and shouted, "Lance! Hunk! Take the two on the left. I'll deal with the one on the right."

"On it!" Hunk hollered back.

"Let's do this!" Lance yelled.

He and Hunk aimed at the two sentries closest to them. Arcadia emerged from behind cover with a protective barrier erected around her. She dashes towards the sentry standing atop a vehicle. Flames engulfed her hands as she leaped at the robot. Dispelling the barrier, she grabbed its weapon and melted it. With the gun destroyed, she knocked it off the vehicle. Switching from fire to earth, she manipulated the ground underneath its body. Rocky spikes shot out from the ground and pierced various parts of its body. The machine's visor flickered before shutting down, a sign she knew symbolized it was dead.

Turning back around, Arcadia saw more drones approaching from the opposite direction. She formed a small throwing knife made of ice and tossed it, obliterating a single drone while Lance dealt with the others. Hunk, having thought he took out the sentry assigned to him by the draconian, turned his attention elsewhere.

The golden-eyed girl gasped when spotting the sentry charging toward the yellow paladin. "Hunk!"

All of a sudden, a vehicle sped by and rammed into the sentry. A person hopped out and began firing at the enemies. A second vehicle pulls up and the top retracts. Another person stands up and begins shooting at the galra tech. "Stay down, we got this!" she shouted. She destroyed a drone that was hoping above Lance, Hunk, and Keith.

Keith had been targeting the drone and turned around to face the girl after she obliterated it. "I had it."

"Drones send distress signals when they're attacked," the unknown boy said with an authoritative tone. "Our weapons neutralize those signals so unless you wanna deal with a swarm of these things, let us handle it. Now let's get—"

A downed sentry that was still operational grabbed its gun and fired at the unsuspecting boy. Arcadia, being the only one who spotted the adversary, placed a protective barrier around the stranger just in time. She then sent a sharp icicle through the robot's head, successfully killing it.

The stranger who had saved Hunk turned with his gun raised. His eyes widen in shock when seeing the golden barrier placed around him. He was too stunned to speak and could only gape at the sight.

Arcadia hopped down from her perch and approached him. Even with the helmet, she recognized him as James Griffin but didn't speak his name. She dissolved the barrier with a huff. "Make sure the job's finished next time."

James analyzed the girl. He saw her pointy ears, black horns, slit pupils, and branchia peeking out from underneath the suit she wore. Never had he seen someone with such features. "What are you?" It came out rude, which wasn't his intention.

"No time for chit chat. We need to leave before more show up."

"Right," he mumbled.

Everyone piles into the two vehicles. They sped away from the ruined city and through the desert. Arcadia gazed out the window as they crossed the desolate landscape. Memories of her wandering the desert to avoid being detected filled her mind. While amid memories, she sensed eyes on her. Looking around for who was staring at her, she realized it was Hunk. She wondered what he wanted. "What's up, Hunk?"

"Uhhh, what're you doing with that?" The yellow paladin pointed to the drone attached to her hip.

The draconian doesn't have a seat and maneuvered herself to lean between Lance and Hunk. She took the drone and activated it. It floated between the two boys. "Depending on the situation, either a weapon or a buddy. I'm hoping for a combination of both."

The drone hovered to the front. Keith noticed it and saw the golden glow it emanated. He poked it a few times. "When did you have time to do this?"

"While you were acting as bait," she replied. "It only took a few seconds to reprogram."

Pidge snatched the drone and examined it. Her eyes began glistening with proud tears. "You are truly a promising student, Arcadia. You even deactivated the distress signal. I am so proud of you."

"You sound like a mom talking to her kid," Lance commented.

Pidge glared at him. "At least she made the effort to learn. You gave up after a few minutes."

The red paladin pursed his lips and crossed his arms with a "hmph."

Deactivating the drone, Pidge gave it back to the draconian. "If you want, I could teach you a few more things."

Arcadia's eyes glistened with excitement. "Really?"

"Definitely!"

The two girls chatted for a while until their attention was drawn to a large dome-like structure in the distance. It was the barrier protecting the garrison. Everyone fell silent as they drove towards the facility. As the metal doors retracted and the vehicles drove deeper into the garrison, they spotted a group of people gathered nearby. Pidge stood up and gazed at the people, gasping when she saw the faces of her parents. The moment the vehicle came to a stop, she jumped out and into her mother's arms.

With tears in her eyes, Colleen hugged Pidge tightly. "Oh, Katie, I'm so glad you're home!"

Sam joined the hug and wrapped his arms around his daughter and wife.

Arcadia smiled gently at the heartwarming scene. Her attention was then drawn to a woman who shouted Lance's name. Surprised, the red paladin looked over and saw his family. Tears brewed in his eyes as he jumped out of the vehicle and ran toward his family. She was happy to see Lance and Pidge reunited with their families, but she caught a glimpse of Hunk's saddened expression. Her own smile vanished at seeing his heartbroken look. She carefully placed her hand on his arm. "Hunk?"

The yellow paladin didn't reply.

Arcadia lowered her hand, seeing as he was lost in thought. She remembered hearing him talk about his family many times and wondered if that was who occupied his mind at the moment.

Sam walked over and addressed Hunk. "It's good to have you home."

Hunk heard the man and returned to reality. "So, my family?" He asked dishearteningly.

Sam was silent before replying, "We'll get them back soon."

Hunk hung his head.

Arcadia felt her own heart aching at the sight of the melancholic Hunk. He was usually the slice of sunshine in the group and rarely did anything bring his cheerful mood down. "Hey," she spoke gently, grabbing his attention. "We're here for you, Hunk. And whenever we find your family, we will do anything in our power to save them. I want to save them too."

A minuscule smile appeared on Hunk's face. "Thanks, Arcadia."

She smiled back. "And in the meantime, just remember space dragon is here to entertain you. I've learned plenty of more tricks."

Hunk was more than grateful for her kindness. "Can you make fake food? Like, a cake but it's not actually there?"

"You mean like this?" Arcadia held out her hands and used an illusion spell to create a cake.

"Oh, yeah!"

After goofing around with Hunk for a minute, Arcadia dispelled the cake and turned to exit the vehicle. When she did, she stopped in her tracks at the sight of Keith offering his hand to her. She laughed as she placed her hand in his. "What a gentleman."

Keith helped her out of the vehicle. "This...isn't weird, is it?"

Arcadia knew Keith was still new to relationships and trying to figure out how to treat a girl. She smiled sweetly at him. "Not at all. I read a fairytale when I first came to Earth and saw a drawing of a princess being helped out of her carriage by a knight. Even though I'm not a princess, I see you as my knight. Is that weird?" She threw his own question back at him.

"Not to me," he answered honestly. "You could say the same goes for me too."

She tilted her head in bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

Keith, having not let go of her hand, held it gingerly. He noted how her hand was smaller than his and seemed to fit perfectly in his. "Well..." He cleared his throat and did his best to keep from blushing. "I see you as my...never mind."

"What? No! You can't stop there!" She yanked her hand from his and grabbed his cheeks, pulling on them. "Tell me!"

Keith sighed and fought against the embarrassment that threatened to consume him. "Maybe I think of you as my princess..."

Arcadia felt her cheeks ignite a deep crimson. Her eyes widen as a goofy and cheerful smile manifested on her face. She giggled at his confession. "You really do have your adorable moments."

He pouted childishly. "It's your fault I've gone soft..."

"Mm, I wouldn't say "soft." I just think it's because you've become more open and express yourself more. You really have matured, Keith."

"Keith, Arcadia," Shiro suddenly called out to them, snapping them out of their reverie. The couple turned and saw him beckoning them over. They walked over and joined Allura, Coran, Romelle, Shiro, and Kosmo. Another man was standing with them, one who Keith recognized and Arcadia didn't.

As Keith focused his attention on the wolf, Shiro introduced Arcadia to the stranger. "Commander, this is Arcadia, our draconian ally. She's helped us out of many tight spots."

Iverson smiled at her. "The honor is mine. Your technology has been instrumental in defending this small corner of Earth."

She sighed in relief. "I'm glad to hear that. I was a little worried my translations weren't clear enough."

The commander's smile fell as he glanced over at Keith. "And, Cadet..."

Keith broke away from Kosmo and salted his superior. "Yes, sir."

"I owe you an apology as well," Iverson said with a regretful frown. "I've heard about all you've done. I was wrong about you. It's an honor and privilege to see you again."

Keith smiled. "Thank you, sir. I guess I wasn't exactly the best cadet back then. I probably owe you a bit of an apology, too." He held out his hand.

Iverson shook Keith's hand before redirecting his attention to Kosmo. "Ah, and who's this little fella?"

Kosmo sniffed Iverson before stepping closer. He leaned against the commander as he petted him.

Arcadia was in awe. "Oh, wow."

"Kosmo likes you," Coran said. "But be careful. If you touch it, it could zap you to a different universe."

A look of horror appeared on Iverson's face. "Hmm?"

"Seriously."

"Coran," Arcadia groaned. Like before, she felt eyes on her. She looked around for the culprit and found James staring at her. She watched him closely as he walked away. It was at that moment that she realizes Keith was staring at him too. She knew of the awful past between both boys, but she was clueless in trying to figure out why he was staring at her. Pushing the awkward staring contest to the back of her mind, she followed Iverson into the facility.

One by one, her companions were fitted for garrison uniforms. Being the last one in line, she encountered a problem--there weren't any more uniforms available. The cadet helping her quickly apologized before dashing out of the room to search for another one.

By the time she returned, she was out of breath. Nonetheless, she had found something for Arcadia to wear. She held it out towards the draconian. "It's not exactly an official garrison uniform, but it was a prototype for possible female designs. It's a little outdated, but..."

"I don't mind," Arcadia smiled. She took the outfit and couldn't wait to change. "I'm gonna try it on!"

The cadet nodded and left.

The snowy-haired girl changed out of her suit and into her new outfit. Once she put it on, she glanced at herself in a small mirror. She was pleased with the way she looked.

(A/N: I totally made up all that stuff just so I could use this outfit for this story😂)

Leaving the room, she ran into Pidge. The green paladin stared in confusion. "What are you wearing?"

"An old prototype for what the female garrison uniforms could've looked like," she replied, tugging at the hem of the dress.

Pidge sighed in relief. "Thank goodness they decided against it..."

"I think it's cute."

The shorter girl chuckled. "Of course you would." She then grabbed her friend's hand. "We better get going before the debriefing starts. We wouldn't want to miss it."

Arcadia looked up and down the empty hallway. "Lead the way because I have no idea where to go."

Pidge was more than happy to show Arcadia the way to the debriefing room. There, they found the others gathered. While she took a seat, Arcadia stood behind her friends.

Seeing everyone has gathered, Sam started the debriefing. The screen behind him came to life as an image appeared. It pinpointed the location of galra forces near the supply lines. "Sendak's forces remain at bay, but without a meaningful supply line, we're slowly being suffocated."

"No one else is putting up a fight against Sendak?" Shiro questioned.

"Small underground pockets of resistance have attempted to do so with varying degrees of success. Eventually, all were discovered and systematically wiped out. Earth's offensive capabilities simply don't stand a chance against the galra," Veronica, Lance's sister, responded.

"Why don't we bring more people into this base?" Hunk asked.

"We've had to put a halt on our extraction ops as they were proving to be too risky," Sam answered.

Hunk was slowly being consumed by sorrow. He wanted to save his family and argued against Sam. "But there are good people out there. They could be protected. My family's out there."

Arcadia gazed melancholically at Hunk's back. She might not know what it feels like to lose a loving family, but she felt how desperate he was to save his.

Sam exhaled. "I'm sorry, Hunk."

Hunk's eyes were glossed over with tears. "But if we have an opportunity now—"

"Hey!" James shouted angrily, grabbing everyone's attention. "Do paladins not understand the chain of command? Your CO said it was too dangerous."

An icy glare manifested in Arcadia's eyes. Her slit pupils focused solely on James. She wanted to lash out at him but held her tongue to avoid sparking a heated argument.

Luckily, Sam intervened before anyone else could. "Officer Griffin, that's enough." He looked back at Hunk, who hung his head in sorrow. "Believe me, I understand what you're going through, Hunk. We all have family out there, but we have to weigh our options. We can't lose ten people to save twelve. I'm sorry."

Hearing Sam deny to save Hunk's family not only affected him but his friends as well. They too were saddened that he wouldn't be able to save his family.

After a few seconds of silence, Allura stood up. "Well, then let's find out what we can do. You said you've integrated altean and draconic tech with Earth weaponry?"

With that question, everyone left the debriefing room. They hopped aboard an elevator and rode it down to the hangar. While waiting to reach the bottom, Sam explained to them about their newest fighter jets. "The Mecha-Flex-Exo fighters, or MFEs, are extremely agile with advanced weaponry, but are only capable of short-range attacks. Sustaining power with altean-infused technology is an issue we're trying to overcome."

"Maybe I can help you out with that," Coran chimed in. "I do have some leftover faunatonium. It's an altean fuel additive, but also has some unexpected side effects, so don't get any on you."

Arcadia noticed a second group of fighters that we're sleeker in design. Unlike the MFEs, these jets were black with orange details. "What are those?"

Sam saw her gaming at the other group of fighter jets. "Ah, those are the Eris-Cova-Lux, but we more commonly refer to them as the Eclipse Squadron. Those are the fighters we have integrated with draconic technology, but we haven't been able to fly them. They are currently inoperable. We have tried to power them in various ways but have been unsuccessful."

"I was afraid of that," she sighed. "It seems alchemic crystals will be the only possible solution to power them. I was hoping there'd be a workaround, but it seems I was wrong."

"You wouldn't happen to have these alchemic crystals on hand, would you?"

"Yes and no," she replied. "Alchemic crystals are made by my people. I don't have any on hand, but I can make some."

Stepping off the elevator, Sam escorted the group to the largest ship within the hangar. "And this is our battleship. It's large enough to house all of the lions and an entire command unit."

"It's built, but it can't fly," Admiral Sanda said. "Everyone, there's a subject we can't avoid any longer. Sendak attacked Earth because he wanted the lions, and now they're here. It seems we need to at least discuss our options."

"Are you suggesting that we willingly hand over the lions to the galra?" Shiro asked in shock.

"Our supplies are gone. We spent all our resources on a ship that doesn't fly. The weapons we do have are not enough to mount an attack. All we can do is protect a small pocket of Earth. But for how much longer?"

Sam intervened. "The universe needs the lions."

"So does Earth. They're our bargaining chip, but not our only one."

Shiro's brows knotted together in bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"

Sam knew just what Sanda was referring to. He glared at her. "We are not handing Arcadia over to Sendak."

The draconian wasn't surprised. Sendak had tried to obtain her eyes during the Kral Zera.

"So Sendak had two demands?" Pidge asked.

"Yes," Admiral Sanda responded. "This "draconian" that you have allied yourself with is another one of Sendak's desires. The sound decision here is to hand her over. One life in exchange for many is a reasonable sacrifice. Wouldn't you agree?"

"No way," Keith growled. "Do you have any idea what Sendak would do to her and Earth if he got his hands on her?"

"Admiral, the real sound decision would be to not hand Arcadia over to Sendak," Pidge remarked. "If he gets ahold of her and uses her eyes, he will destroy Earth regardless if he got the lions or not. And even if he couldn't control such power, the eyes would destabilize and blow up the entire planet."

"We are not handing anyone over to Sendak," Commander Iverson declared. "We have a fighting chance now that the lions have returned. We need to take it."

"I'll settle this argument right now," Allura spoke up. "We're not giving up the lions or Arcadia under any circumstances. There is no negotiating with Sendak."

"Maybe you should leave the matters of Earth to the people who live here," Sanda snapped back.

"We have dealt with Sendak before," Arcadia commented. "We can help you stop him and save Earth."

"Arcadia's right," Shiro stated. "We've been through more than you could ever imagine. We have fought the galra on the fringes of the universe and in their very home. I know there's a way to defeat Sendak."

"How?" The admiral demanded. "We barely know what we're up against. We need intelligence, and we just don't have it."

Arcadia smirked. "Are you so sure about that? Because if I remember correctly, the Castle of Lions should have Sendak's memories."

"Yes," Allura said. "You should have access to his memories with the date from the Castle of Lions."

Sam glanced between the draconian and altean. "How does that help?"

"It might give us some insight into Sendak's plan." Pidge smiled at the two taller girls. "Arcadia, Allura, you're geniuses!"

"We just need some time," Sam said.

"In the meantime, I want to work on your Eclipse Squadron," Arcadia stated. "May I?"

He nodded. "Of course. Please, do what you must."

She was escorted to the fighter jets by Ryan, James, Nadia, and Ina. She couldn't help but feel their eyes boring into her back as she examined one of the ECLs. She tried to ignore them, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. She glanced back at the four. "Okay, I get it. I'm an alien and you've never seen a girl with pointy ears or horns, but staring is really rude."

"Can we ask questions?" Nadia asked.

"That would be more preferable than staring at me in silence."

Out of the bunch, Nadia and Ryan were the only two to ask questions. Ina and James remained silent. She wasn't surprised to see Nadia was more interested in her as a draconian, but she was taken aback when the quiet and gruff Ryan spoke to her. Perhaps it was because she was an alien that made him more talkative than usual. It wasn't until she showed them a spell did the stone expressions of Ina and James crack.

"Magic is real?" Ina asked just above a whisper. Her tone, as usual, held no emotion.

"Yes." Arcadia placed her palm together and created a single alchemic crystal. She held it up to examine it. "My people are able to manipulate the elements around us. We also have material alchemy, which requires ingredients to create brews that possess magical properties." She placed the crystal into a small glass chamber located in the cockpit of the fighter. Once it was snug and comfortable in the glass chamber, she sealed it and recalibrated the jet.

The engine roared as it came to life.

James was shocked at hearing the jet become functional. "It's actually working?"

Arcadia glanced at him with an arched brow. "This is my people's technology. Did you really doubt I could do it?" He didn't reply, earning a groan from the girl. "You really are rude..."

"I, for one, am looking forward to flying one of these," Nadia said. "Their long-range attacks and speed would give anyone the jitters."

"I too wish to fly one," Ryan confessed.

Arcadia checked to make sure everything was functioning correctly before being completely satisfied. "All right. One down, eleven to go."

One by one, Arcadia worked on the ECLs. It took a couple of hours to complete them all, but she was grateful to have the help of Nadia, Ryan, Ina, and James. While they worked together, she got a little closer to them, even James. Although she wasn't a big fan of his because of what he did to Keith, she wanted to give him a chance to show what he's truly like and not hold what he did in the past over his head.

Finished with the jets, Arcadia thanked the four. She was about to leave the hangar when she was stopped by James. "Hey," he called out.

She wondered what he wanted, especially since he wasn't as talkative as the others. "Need something?"

"I just wanted to thank you properly for saving me earlier," he said. "So...thanks."

She was flabbergasted. It felt out of character for him to thank her, but she welcomed it. She offered him a warm smile. "You're welcome. I always help my allies." She left, missing the awe-struck expression on the boy's face.

•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

To familiarize herself with the garrison, Arcadia wandered the corridors after being shown to her room by a cadet. Being dishearted she wouldn't be sharing a room with Allura or Pidge, she meandered around.

While walking past one room, she heard the voices of Keith and Hunk. She peered into the room and eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Nothing would have been greater than seeing my family," Hunk shakily said. "But I can't. And all I keep thinking about is that I wasn't there for them. And I don't even know if they're okay. And I see Pidge and Lance with their families, and—I mean, I'm happy for them. I am. But it just... It makes me miss my family more. I—I just... I've never felt so alone and scared."

A melancholic feeling washed over Arcadia as she listened to Hunk. She heard his voice shake and knew he was holding back his tears. She wanted to do something for him but wasn't sure what to do.

"Look, Hunk..." Keith began, his voice full of emotion. "I never told you this, but of all the paladins, you're the one I'm most impressed by. It's no secret that you've been the most scared, but...you've never backed down. Never. And to be brave is to go on in spite of fear. And that's who you are, Hunk. I know you're scared, but your family...they need you to be strong right now."

Through the fog of sorrow, Arcadia smiled at hearing Keith's word. She knew he had matured but wasn't sure how much until now. She was proud of him for being there for Hunk when he needed somebody to talk to. It warmed her heart to see just how far he's come.

Hunk clung to Keith's words as he hugged him tightly.

Keith was surprised by the hug. "Okay. All right. Now we're huggin'." He reciprocated the hug and wrapped his arms around his friend.

Arcadia smiled brightly and giggled at the sight. She knew Keith was more touchy-feely with her than anyone else, but she felt pure joy seeing him hug Hunk.

"Thank you, Keith." Hunk smiled genuinely. He suddenly broke the hug and held Keith at arm's length away, startling him. He then released him and turned to the door but stopped when he saw Arcadia.

"Whoa," she spoke up. "Where are you rushing off to?"

Hunk didn't hesitate. "I'm going to get my family."

"Sorry, Hunk," she sighed. "You're wrong."

This puzzled him. "Wrong?"

She smirked. "We're going to get your family."

Leaving the room, Keith, Hunk, and Arcadia went to their rooms to change out of the garrison uniforms. They regrouped near the garage once they were done. Seeing as Arcadia had taken hacking lessons from Pidge, they figured they could hijack one of the vehicles.

Running through the garage, they came across a vehicle they thought would be perfect. However, their plan was halted when the lights of another vehicle clicked on. The trio was startled by the lights and turned around. Standing on the wheel of the vehicle was James. With him was Veronica.

"You three heading somewhere?" James asked with an accusing tone.

"This doesn't concern either of you," Keith said.

"No, but you'll probably be concerned with the patrol drones that will spot you within seconds," Veronica explained.

James hopped off the wheel, crossed his arms, and leaned against it with a smile look. "And you might be concerned with the blast from Sendak's automated low-orbit, long-range blaster satellite that takes you out."

Hunk glowered at him. "What's your problem?"

"My problem is I don't wanna see our only hope for saving Earth get hurt. That's why we're coming with you."

They climbed into a vehicle and departed from the garrison. James and Veronica sent word to the resistance as they headed to their destination. After reaching the ruin of the city, they left the vehicle and trekked the rest of the way. While Keith, Arcadia, Hunk, and James took up a position high enough to watch the sentries' movements, Veronica maneuvered through the streets below. She knew what to do and accomplished her job with flying colors. She gave the signal and they left their perch to rendezvous with her.

Making their way into the sewer, they patiently waited for their contact to arrive. James and Veronica we're keeping watch while Arcadia, Hunk, and Keith awaited below. A sentry passed by, startling the two cadets. They pressed their bodies against the wall to avoid being spotted.

After some time, a man arrived. "Come with me, quickly." With his help, they escaped the sewers and snuck through the city. They entered the remains of a skyscraper and headed to the top. They had arrived at one of the resistance's outposts.

"Amazing," the man smiled as he gazed at Keith and Hunk. "The rumors are true. Word of the paladins' return has inspired the resistance."

"Thank you for your help," Hunk smiled gratefully. "Tell the resistance we're gonna get rid of the galra."

"Words we've waited a long time to hear." The man then noticed Arcadia, analyzing her appearance. "And who's this little lady here?"

Arcadia tensed. She sometimes forgot she stood out because most of the time, they were around other aliens. In this case, she stood out like a red thumb. She was back on Earth, a place where humans weren't used to seeing different alien races casually walking around.

Keith saw her uncharacteristically tense up and took it upon himself to introduce her. "This is Arcadia, our closest ally. She's been helping us fight against the galra ever since we left Earth."

The man noticed her nervousness and smiled in an attempt to relax her. "A pleasure to meet another friendly face. You're not one of the galra."

"She's a draconian," Keith explained.

"Hello," she waved with a small smile, her tenseness gone.

Veronica, who had been peering out the window, asked, "Is this where they've taken all the prisoners?"

Hunk rushed to the window and looked out across the city. Across the way was a galra structure. Keith stood behind Hunk and saw the enormous structure. "What are they doing down there?"

"They have work camps operating day and night mining ore for Sendak," the man responded. "It's been nonstop for months. He's building something, but no one is sure what."

"I thought the labor force was outside the encampment," Veronica said.

"They were, but they've been moved in."

"What does that mean?" Hunk asked.

"It means we can't get you to your parents," Veronica dejectedly answered.

"No..." Hunk hung his head, eyes shut tight. The hope he had earlier was vanishing. "No. Please..."

"Believe me, if there was a way, we would do it."

Hunk opened his eyes to reveal them glazed over with sorrow. "Can I at least see them from here?" The man gave him a pair of binoculars.

"I see movement," Keith commented as he scanned over the encampment. "It looks like the workers are exiting."

Hunk searched the crowd of faces and soon found his parents with the binoculars. "That's them. My mom, my dad." His voice lowered. "Don't worry. You just need to hang on a little longer. We're gonna get you out. I'm going to get you out."