Hearing this tale from his orderly, Colonel Strogh grew cold, and then angry. Lotor and his witch would escape, naturally; Haggar's spells would whisk them away on the instant, leaving Strogh and his men behind to bear the brunt of their folly. He knew better than to expect any different, for his eldest brother had been captured only the month before, victim of yet another royal scheme gone wrong.

Strogh frowned across the desk at his shaken subordinate. Right then and there, he made up his mind not to submit.

"Lieutenant Gann," he growled, "I want the palace evacuated, NOW. As quietly as possible, order every one who wishes to save himself back into the landing craft. We're leaving."

"Yes, Sir!" The younger man replied, his golden eyes wide with surprise. "We… will not be returning to Galra, I take it, Sir?"

Strogh shook his head.

"It's a big galaxy, Lieutenant. I'm sure that some world, somewhere, has a place for a crack fighting unit."

Gann actually grinned at him, saluting with genuine respect.

"Yes, SIR! I'll pass the word, Sir!"

Keith stood as close to his cell's force wall as he dared, squinting through the gloom. Somewhere off to the left, just beyond Pidge's cell, he'd heard noises; tense whispering at first, followed by the scrape of metal on stone. Something was happening, again. About twenty minutes earlier, their guards had been mysteriously called away. This left the three captives unsupervised, not that the sudden privacy did them much good. Someone had ordered the dungeon lights extinguished, perhaps reasoning that darkness would hamper any attempts at escape or communication with the outside world. But whatever its cause, the dimness was certainly hampering Keith's view. He had no idea what the source of the noises was, and didn't dare ask lest he inadvertently summon the vanished guards. The dungeon being shaped like an "L", and his cell being at the very end, by the main doors, happenings at the bend were tough to make out.

Closer to the grating, Pidge was in a much better position to see what was happening. He watched silently as the barred metal circle outside his cell's force wall lifted a bit, revealing a pair of slim, grubby hands. The grating slid aside a little at a time, as though the person pushing it wasn't very strong. Not Hunk then, Pidge decided. His massive wingman could have tossed that iron grate like a Frisbee, and was far too bulky to fit through the opening, anyway. Sven was no twig, either, and would have used TK rather than muscle for such a task. That left… who? Allura?

Slowly, with obvious, panting labor, the grating was pushed aside. Then a small head appeared. It was a little girl, dark haired, with slanting almond eyes and a sweet face. Yasuko, one of Hunk's many fans. Despite the danger, she was grinning from ear to ear, obviously pleased with herself. Giving Pidge a happy wave, she clambered free of the drain hole and onto the dungeon floor. Pidge waved back, then pointed at the force wall controls, fifty feet away by the cellblock doors. She'd have to pass Keith and Lance to reach it, and come perilously close to the main doors, where there were surely still guards posted.

Pidge held his breath as the child tiptoed past his prison. She seemed so cheerful and tiny to be burdened with such a hazardous mission. The young genius had no doubt that somewhere below, Hunk was in an agony of worry.

Lance's jaw dropped when Yasuko sneaked by. Almost, he called out a reprimand, then bit it back, not wishing to betray her presence. Keith was equally tense, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as he watched their little rescuer approach the force field controls. She paused a moment, seeming uncertain what to do next. And no wonder; the control box was replete with buttons and gadgets. Waving his arms to get her attention, Keith held up three fingers then mimed pushing a button.

The little girl stared at him for a moment, then held up three fingers of her own, and pointed to herself with a solemn nod.

'Shit!' Keith raged silently, 'She thinks I'm talking about how old she is!' In the barest of whispers, he tried again. "The third button, Honey. Press the third button!"

Yasuko bounced and clapped, getting the idea at last. Helpless to shush her, poor Akira nearly had heart failure. He was intensely grateful when she finally pressed the button; climbing onto a desk, winding her arm back like a cartoon baseball pitcher and stabbing the control with undisguised glee.

An instant later, the force walls flickered and fell, allowing Keith and the others to leave their cramped cells. No alarms went off, no guards appeared, but Keith didn't trust their sudden luck. They had to get out, and fast.

Hurrying forward, Akira snatched the little girl away from the dungeon doors, and back to her grating. Lance and Pidge followed.

"Yeah, baby!" Lt. Calvin exulted quietly, and then, as he got a closer look at Yasuko, "…literally!"

"Hey," Pidge snapped. "Size isn't everything!"

Lance made a big show of adjusting a certain area of his uniform. "Depends on what you're talking about, Tiny Tim," he replied loftily.

"Is that what you call it?" The boy responded, feigning innocence. "NOW I understand what the palace maids have been laughing about all this time!"

Lance glowered at him. "Shut up before I burn your comic books, Pee-wee!"

With a deep sigh, Keith turned away from his fractious teammates and set Yasuko back down. Keeping his voice low, he said,

"We're grateful for the assist, Sweetie, but we can take it from here. Run on back to the caves now, and stay out of trouble. Understand?"

Yasuko appeared to consider. Then, wrinkling her nose, she tilted her head to one side and pointed to her cheek. Keith grinned.

"Alright. We'll pay up." Leaning down, he kissed her, as did Lance and then Pidge. Still smiling, Keith helped her back down the drain, whispered a brief command to Hunk, then faced the door again.

"Come on, you two," he told his fellow ex-cons. "Time to save the day!"

Down below, Yasuko was greeted with hugs, a friendly hair tousle, and the promise of all the "sherbik" she could eat. Then it was back through the passage, for Sven, Hunk felt sure, was badly in need of help.

Allura peered around a corner into the main hangar, totally astonished by what she saw there. After the resounding success of his surprise attack, Lotor's twin landing craft had been parked in the cavernous hangar behind the palace, that being the most secure housing for such massive vehicles. The captured lions were there, too; powered down and draped in some sort of tattered-looking grey netting. Why, she had no idea. The nets weren't fastened to the ground, and wouldn't have restrained the big cats in any case. Concealment, maybe? There was more; to Lura's immense surprise, the Galran assault force gave every appearance of pulling up stakes and leaving. The staging ramps had been lowered on both landing craft and men were scurrying aboard with the silent, organized frenzy of foraging ants. They weren't carrying much, either. Weapons, mostly.

Perplexed, Allura leaned a little further around the corner, wanting to see more before making her move. Did they mean to take the lions with them? Were Keith and the others being carried off?

As the princess craned around for a better look, someone spotted her. Lieutenant Ganns saw the motion from the corner of his eye, and nudged the Colonel.

"Sir, we are being watched," he murmured. Startled, Strogh pivoted. Expecting to see Haggar bearing down on them with mage staff upraised, he was relieved to learn that it was only the Arussian princess.

"Shall we apprehend her, Sir?" His orderly inquired.

"No. Speed is more important now than hostages, however highly placed. Besides, you've seen what the Voltron Force can do. Do you really wish to provoke them?"

"No, Sir. Definitely not!" And then, in a more meditative tone, "A shame our esteemed rulers can't figure that one out."

"Not our problem anymore, Lieutenant." Then, after examining a clipboard handed to him by a junior officer, Strogh added, "Everyone's aboard. Let's go."

Ericksen got to his feet, pointing the muzzle of his pistol squarely at Lotor's head. Not that the Galran prince was any threat just then. He was still unconscious. It was the witch Sven had his eye on. She was gliding across the courtyard, her face a hateful, twisted mask.

"I don't know how you managed it...!" She began, spitting malevolence with every snarled word.

And Sven thought, 'Not too clear on that one, myself.' Not that he'd admit it out loud, though. Lifting his head a bit, the pilot said,

"Never mind how. Enough that it var done. Now get the hell out, and take this trash with you before I lighten your load by one piece of shit prince."

Haggar started to reply, perhaps meaning to cast a spell on him. Then a sudden, thunderous roar shook her concentration. Dust filled the air. Small rocks and pebbles bounced on the shuddering ground. A great crack zigzagged its way across the courtyard wall. Whirling, Haggar watched as two huge troop carriers took off from behind the palace and shot away into the deepening twilight. The witch's lips thinned. A muscle twitched in her withered right cheek.

"Ahh." She hissed softly. "It seems we've been deserted, as well. You've been busier than I believed possible, human."

His short-term memory having left the building again, Sven was baffled to find himself standing before Haggar, holding the unconscious prince of Galra at gunpoint. Then there was that apocalyptic, head-bursting noise…! Wishing that someone, anyone, would explain what the hell was going on, Ericksen braced for a fight.

Then four things happened at once. Lord Garret burst through the outer gates at the head of a screaming mob. Hunk raced to Sven's side from a shot-up guard hut. Keith, Lance and Pidge appeared from still another direction, mouthing something about a bomb in the palace. Then the Black Lion descended upon them, flying with none of its usual grace or speed. In fact, it more or less crashed.

Taking advantage of all the chaos, Haggar spelled herself and the prince away.

It took awhile for everything to sort itself out. Thankfully, Sven's confusion vanished along with the witch. So, he came to himself in the midst of a milling crowd, with Akira pounding him on the back and shouting,

"Good work, Sven! That was damn clever."

Ericksen decided to put his sidearm away. Holstering the weapon, he looked Keith in the eye and said,

"Right praise, wrong person. LaChance planned everything. All I did was stand here with a gun. I think I made up den foolishness about the bomb, though…"

Keith's jaw hit the floor. Turning to stare at the blushing medic, he said, "Hunk? YOU led the rescue effort?"

"Uh… well… I guess so, Boss. See, them Galrans was expectin' something sneaky from the Lieutenant Commander, here. 'Cause they take him serious, just like y'all do. They didn't expect nuthin' from me 'n the palace kids, though. Their mistake. Kinda backfired on 'em. With Sven riskin' his neck out here ta keep 'em distracted, me 'n the kids was able ta sneak in an' spring y'all. Guess the troops lit out when they heard Sven's bomb threat. Like I say, they took him right serious."

The medic's blush flamed even brighter when Allura planted a soft kiss on his cheek, murmuring, "You've saved us all today, Hunk. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you."

Always quick to pounce on opportunity, Keith began preaching. "Team, I think this shows us all the danger of underestimating each other. We're a unit, a group of differently talented individuals working together as one. Therefore…"

Hunk turned pale suddenly, whipping around just in time to catch Ericksen's satisfied smile.

"I win," Sven announced quietly.

"Uh-uh! No, sir! This ain't no official meeting!" LaChance objected.

"The last one var never actually adjourned," the pilot responded serenely. "Akira started up again just now, and he said the word. That brings his tally closer to mine than yours. I win."

"Win?" Keith demanded suspiciously, as Sven strode away. "Win what? What's he talking about? What word?"

The others were no help at all. Lance, Pidge… even the princess was snickering. Hunk just shook his head, broke and bereft. Strolling over to drape an arm across the big man's shoulders, Lance drawled,

"Know what else? This courtyard's a shambles, man. First day on the job and you're slipping already! Robeast guts all over the place, doors busted out, laser burns… Time to make with the grounds keeping, Bro."

Then, giving LaChance a sardonic wink, he started after Sven. Hunk cast his gaze heavenward.

"That's it. I ain't makin' no more bets, Lord. Honest! Less'n I think I can beat him, that is. Next time…" He bent to scoop up a chunk of robeast plating and toss it over the wall. "Betcha Keith keeps it short, next time. Ten or less, you watch."

A pack of kids fell upon him an instant later, clamoring for their promised treat. Scooping Yasuko up, Hunk led the way to Nanny's kitchen, corralling Pidge on the way. After all, there was no such thing as too many friends.