“It looks a lot like Arus on approach,” Samantha Evans commented from the cockpit of Lance’s Red Lion as she looked at Aidel through the Lion’s viewscreen.
“That’s because it’s really a lot like Arus on the surface,” Pidge put in. “I read the files before we left, and it said that the planet is covered with a dense forest, and that there are no other established metropolises aside from the one around the base.”
“Are we going to take some evasive measures when we enter the planet, Keith?” Hunk asked. “We’re about ten minutes to sensor range, so if we’re going to activate our cloaking devices, we should start charging them now.”
Keith nodded. “Charge them now, then. Just as a precaution, I think we should activate our cloaking devices but I don’t think we really need to,” he said. “Although the Drules were able to set up the general infrastructure of the base, and that is most likely still there, Zarkon merely keeps the planet under his thumb as a slave source.”
A picture Keith’s parents had taken of Aidel during their ill-fated mission replaced his face on the telecomm as he explained, one of the many that Admiral Hawke had sent them during his last transmission. From the picture, it was easy to make out the sprawling metal complex that was the former Drule base and the center of Aidel’s control.
“Set your cloaking devices now,” Keith ordered, pressing some buttons on his Lion’s console to activate the device. The rest of the team followed suit. “We won’t maintain radio silence, though. They have no idea that we’re coming, so no one will be monitoring the frequencies. Besides, the course we’re following right now will lead us to the approximate area where the Stealth Corps ship crashed.”
“Evidently, the members of the Resistance movement don’t have any advance communications technology, or they would have contacted the Galaxy Alliance for help a long time ago,” Allura pointed out. “If that’s so, how are we going to find them?”
Keith shrugged and grinned wryly. “Truthfully, Princess, I don’t know. However, I think that landing at the crash area should serve as a pretty good starting vector for us, considering that the Resistance’s mayday transmission was verified using Mom’s code,” he explained. “Besides that, they will most likely be on the lookout for us and are bound to find us if we don’t find them.”
“Well, I hope we don’t have to wait too long before we find them,” Hunk wished fervently. “Do you think that those Resistance folks have some food to spare us? I’ve really worked up an appetite.”
“Now, why am I not surprised to hear that?” Lance asked, rolling his eyes and earning a playful slap on the helmet from Sam.
“Maybe because we already heard his stomach growling over the commlink
before he even said it,” Allura supplied with a chuckle.
“We’re now entering Aidel’s gravitational field,” Pidge warned, scanning
the readings on his computer monitors. “Better get a grip on your controls
– it’s a pretty strong one. We’re in for a bumpy ride.”
Keith smiled into the commlink grimly. “Just in case we lose contact with one another, you guys know what to do. You were all given a copy of the coordinates, so should anything happen, you know where to fly.”
“Aye, aye, Skipper,” Lance quipped, strengthening the force of his grip on the Red Lion’s controls.
The Lions landed in a clearing in the forest, sitting on their metal haunches in a semi-circle. As soon as all the Lions were safely on the ground, all the members of the team disembarked and gathered in the clearing, looking around them in awe. The tops of most of the thick-trunked trees were still several dozens of feet from the already lofty perch of the top of the Lions’ heads.
Hunk whistled in appreciation. “Whew! They weren’t kidding when they said this was a forest,” he said. “Lot like the giant redwoods from Earth, aren’t they?”
“So, what’s the plan, Cap?” Lance asked, crossing his arms across his chest. He looked around. “There doesn’t appear to be any sign of people here, resistance forces or otherwise. Did the transmission give any specific coordinates as to where we could find these rebels?”
Keith shook his head. “The crash coordinates are the only ones we have to work with, so we’ll have to start from here. Since there are six of us, we can split into three teams of two each. We’ll leave the Lions here and two of the teams can search their designated areas on foot,” Keith said, frowning thoughtfully. “The Lions will be safe over here with two people from the team guarding them.”
“Hunk and I could do that,” Pidge volunteered. “At the same time, I could get our spy system going to monitor activity down at the base, just in case these Aidel people have found out about the rebellion and have called for Doom assistance.” He turned towards Hunk, who appeared to be about to protest. “And I have some of last night’s dessert packed up in my Lion,” he added pointedly.
At that, Hunk settled down and nodded vigorously instead. “Pidge and I will stay here,” he agreed.
Keith suppressed a grin, but as he nodded his approval to Pidge, his eyes were twinkling. “Okay then. So that leaves Lance and Sam, and the Princess and me to do some area exploring,” he said. “Are all the transmitters functional, Pidge?”
“Yep, I checked them all before we left for the Castle.”
Keith nodded. “Okay, Princess and I will take East towards the mountains, Lance, you and Sam take West towards the lake we saw from above,” he ordered crisply. “Take your transmitter and keep it on. We meet back here in an hour.” He gave the grinning Lance an admonishing glare. “And no hanky panky, Hawke. I’ll be checking on you regularly. Samantha, do you have a laser?”
Sam nodded. “Of course,” she said, patting the gun at her hip. “This should be fun. Haven’t done anything like this since our last training mission before graduation.” She gave Lance a fulsome glare. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep him in line.”
Lance pouted, shaking his head. “Hen-pecked – and I’m not even her husband yet,” he wailed woefully. Sam grinned, leaned towards him, and brushed a small kiss on his lips. “But I like it, I like it,” he added dreamily when he moved away, earning a laugh from everyone, even Keith.
When the laughter had petered out, Keith turned to Allura. “You have
the transmitter, Princess?” he asked. She nodded, showing him that it was
already activated. “Okay, troops, let’s get this show on the road.”
“There isn’t any debris from the ship at this end,” Sam’s voice said over the transmitter. “But I guess that’s not a surprise considering that it’s been ten years. No sign of people either.”
“There isn’t any here either,” Allura admitted quietly. “And there appears to be no sign of anyone in this area of the woods, too.” She looked up and around her, then at Keith, who was walking slightly ahead of her and training his gaze up to the trees. Each footstep he made produced soft, crunching noises as he walked on the blanket of fallen leaves on the forest floor. “It’s funny, though, I get this feeling that someone’s watching us anyway.”
“We’ll contact you again in about ten minutes,” Sam promised. Allura thought she heard Lance over the static in the background. “Lance thinks he may have found something.”
“Okay. Over and out.”
Keith turned to her, his eyebrow raised in silent inquiry. She shook her head and shrugged. “Nothing on their end,” she confirmed with a sigh. “We’ve been walking for half an hour – where could they be? Are we too late? Or was it just a hoax?”
“If something had already happened, Pidge would have radioed us to tell us if anything seemed wrong at the base,” Keith countered quietly. “As for a hoax – if this were some trap set by Zarkon for us, we should have been attacked as soon as we separated.” He frowned thoughtfully. “As it is, all three teams are sitting ducks right now – well, except maybe Hunk and Pidge’s, since they have the Lions’ firepower behind them.”
Keith paused and looked up at a rustling sound among the trees, his laser cocked and ready. “Is it just me or do you get the feeling we’re being watched?”
Allura shook her head, readying her laser as well. Her eyes focused on the tops of the trees, suddenly remembering how they were once attacked in Arus’ woods from that direction. “I feel the same way,” she admitted. “But there doesn’t seem –“
Her admission was cut off by a shriek as she felt a net quickly close around her from under the leaves beneath her feet and drawn shut tightly above her head. The transmitter and her laser fell from her hands as she was lifted of the ground, the former smashing on the ground as it fell. She was scrunched up within the net in a fetal position, struggling to break free – but the net was strong, and she suddenly realized how high up she was.
At the sound of her cry, Keith whirled around, horrified to see her caught, dangling at the level of one of the lower branches of the thick, tall trees. As far as booby traps went, it was primitive but effective – evidently he and the Princess were close to finding the Resistance movement’s sanctuary or they would not have bothered to set a trap.
If it hadn’t been Allura caught in the net, Keith might have been impressed.
“Are you okay, Princess?” he asked, running back until he was positioned directly under the net as he looked up at her with a dark scowl on his face. He should have warned her to watch where she was stepping.
“Yes,” she shouted down at him. “It’s uncomfortable, but I’m fine.” She grinned down at him, barely seeing his face, her knees pushed high against her chest blocking her view. “The transmitter fell, though – I don’t think it’s as fine as I am. I feel extremely stupid. You have no plans of leaving me up here to teach me a lesson, do you?”
“I’m thinking about it,” he joked, grinning so that she wouldn’t see his worry. “We must be close to the rebels’ headquarters, or they wouldn’t have booby trapped this area.” He gauged her distance from the ground and if he would be able to cushion her fall if he shot the rope with his laser. It would be manageable. He raised his laser, aiming for the thick rope holding up the net. “Be ready to fall – hold still and I’ll get you down as soon as –“
“You, sir, will not be getting anyone anywhere, least of all that lovely little golden-haired fish we’ve caught in our net.”
At the sound of the voice above and behind him, Keith whipped around
– just in time to duck and roll away from a spear shaft being hurled at
him at top speed.