Author's Note: These characters don't belong to me. They belong to Mattel and I make no profit off this story whatsoever.
As you can probably guess, but "The Last Battle" is in the same continuity as "Preludes and Beginnings," "He-Man Year One," "The Elfsong of Eternia," "The Crossroads of Destiny," "Prophecy & Change," "Just Another Day," "Liberty and Valor," "Manifest Destiny," "Roots," "Dues Ex Machina," "My Blue Reflection," "A Winter's Heart," and "The Shroud of the Horde." Big shock, huh?
Chapter One: "The Chance"
It has been five years since He-Man and Skeletor first arrived in the Tri-Solar System.
Four years since Skeletor used the Jewel of Amara.
Three years since the attempted the invasion of the Mutants onto Denebria.
Two years since the incident with the Patheon and Faker.
One year since a major shift in power occurred on the nearby planet Nekron, placing the residents named Mites aligned with Primus and the Gleanons allied with the Mutants.
And it has been two hours since Skeletor and Flogg blasted off in the Mothership with the rest of the Mutants. In their wake was a world where He-Man, Hydron, Flipshot, Kayo, and Spinwit were captured by powerful gamemasters. These gamemasters had the Mutants and Galactic Guardians play against each other, and even though the Mutants had lost, the Galactic Guardians became captured, living trophies for the gamemasters.
Flogg sat back on the bridge, drinking a thick dark green liquid that was basically the Denebrian equivalent of coffee.
"If I were to venture a guess," Skeletor began, much to Flogg's irritation, "I'd say we won't be seeing them for quite a while."
"I suppose not," Flogg responded.
"Flogg . . ."
"What?"
Skeletor leaned in close. "This is it. Without He-Man and the Galactic Guardians, Primus is nearly defenseless. If we launch an attack now . . ."
Flogg nodded. He had been thinking the exact same thing. He hadn't given the order because, well, he wasn't sure if he wanted to do it. These long years of war had worn on the Mutant warlord. Neither side had much to gain, except for seemingly equal political power on Nekron. But even that seemed a bit of a stalemate.
"Flogg, this is moment we've been waiting for."
"Sir, if we launch the entire space force, we can smash through their defenses," Staghorn advised. "Plus, with a large enough ground unit, we can sweep through the Oasis and into Onnar."
"Meanwhile, our air and space ships seize Leviton."
"The numbers don't add up," Flogg argued, fingers pressing on the computer before him, the program running through the variables.
Skeletor shook his head. "They do . . . if we contact Gleanons and have Critta send us ships. Flogg . . . this is it! You can seize Primus once and for all, taking it for your own. All hail, Lord Flogg, Master of the Tri-Solar System!"
"That's enough!" Flogg snapped.
Skeletor stepped back, reigning his anger at being spoken to in such a way. Five years of playing Flogg's subordinate had become second nature. However, every damn day, Skeletor fought the urge to strike down his 'master.'
"Staghorn," Flogg began before giving pause, "open a comm-line with Denebria and Nordor. Have them launch five Troop Transports and space forces 2 through 11 and 14 through 25. Full invasion status. I will contact Nekron and alert Critta and General Nifel." Flogg felt himself smile and the excitement of battle filled him. "Optikk, readjust our course to intercept the invasion fleet.
"When we get to Primus, after make landfall, Optikk, you and Lizzor are in control of the space fleet. Staghorn and Hoove, you two will command the ground forces under my control. Skeletor . . ."
"Oh, I have my own plans."
Flogg turned to Skeletor. "What plans are those?'
"A bit of a surprise in case He-Man and the others find their way to Primus."
Flogg paused, but then nodded. Best to have Skeletor out of his way. For far too long, Skeletor had been pushing the war to continue. The past year or so, it had been Skeletor who was among the loudest voices of his people to call for intensified battle.
Skeletor left the bridge, off to prepare for whatever it was he had planned for He-Man. His obsession with that warrior overshadowed Flogg's own ambitious for Primus. Ambitious that had, admittedly, been waning little by little over the past few months. He was the most powerful warlord on Denebria – which meant that his territory covered the greatest amount of the planet. He was rich, the descendant from very wealthy and powerful Mutants.
In his younger years, his wealth grew as he began to move up the ranks of the Mutant Defense Force. As wealth and rank increased, his placed himself into a position where he could restructure the entire military. He even took control of the moon Nordor. And then, once he got as high as he knew he could get on Denebria, he turned his attention to what he could throw his military might at . . . Primus.
And thus, the war had begun.
But after years of the stalemate status of the war, he was starting to feel his time and energy was wasted on such a campaign. Though no one but Skeletor and Slushead knew it, he had even considered singing the peace treaty written up during the negotiations with the Galactic Council three years ago. Skeletor talked him out of it and despite being happy about that decision at first, now that time had passed . . .
This will be it, Flogg thought himself as he reached for his ugly coffee, conjuring up the thrill of battle within him. The downfall of Primus.
XXXX
He had planned too long to have things crumble beneath his feet. Skeletor had groveled before Flogg, sucking up at every available chance. He had helped the foolish Mutant to win the war, but they had somehow found a way to screw it up every time. Most of the time, it had been He-Man's doing.
He-Man . . . Skeletor's greatest enemy. After all these years in the Tri-Solar System, it was as if nothing had changed. Their battle had grown more intense and more meaningful, certainly, but Skeletor had been a rut like this before. Sometime after recovering the Diamond Ray of Disappearance and before releasing the Snake-Men, Skeletor seemed to be blocked at every move by that muscle bound buffoon.
There was one way to stop him, though. Skeletor had been doing his research on a series of ruins in the Oasis region called Mida. It was there that an ancient power had been left behind. An ancient power that would be able to do what was undone years ago.
The restoration of the Sword of Darkness.
After the end of He-Man and Skeletor's first year of battle, He-Man had found a way to neutralize the power of the Sword of Darkness. While he could still channel power through it, the blade was nowhere near as strong as it once had been.
But this ancient power on Primus would be able to restore it to its normal power levels. The power levels it had been when he first lifted it out of its case at Castle Grayskull all those years ago.
After that, it was just a matter of taking control of the fleet. Various Mutants had become very loyal to Skeletor over the years – Critta being chief among them. And with her by his side, it would not take much to win some of the others to him and with them, take a fleet of Terror Pods and Troop Transports back to Eternia. Eternos would fall. Grayskull would be heaved open, allowing him to gain what has long since been hidden from him. What he had once been able to grace, but only had it taken away . . .
"Primus fist," he grunted as he unrolled a scroll. "And then, onward to Eternia."
XXXX
The hour was late, but the dinner party Master Sebrian was hosting was only just beginning. A few friends of his had just been promoted, prompting Sebrian into having a dinner party in their honor. However, little did he suspect what was occurring as he finished his toast.
Drissi stood at the doorway, now Sebrian's assistant now that Mara had moved to Nekron to work with the Mites. She waited patiently for Sebrian to finish his drink before she walked in. In her hands was the communicator to the Galactic Guardians headquarters.
"Master Sebrian, you have a important communiqué," she stated, handing him the communicator. As soon as she said, the communicators belonging to everyone at the table started to go off. Sebrian's eyes widened a little.
An hour later, Sebrian came busting into the command center of the Galactic Guardians HQ in the capital city of Onnar. He walked as fast as his legs could carry him to the main computer array.
"Report," he demanded in a tone that was more gruff that usual.
"Sensors have detected a massive fleet movement from both Denebria and Nekron," Vizar responded, the fill-in commander of the Galactic Guardians until He-Man and the others returned.
"How many?" asked Sebrian.
Vizar gulped a little. "1,411, ships, sir."
Sebrian sat right down, mouth unhinged. "By the council . . ."
"I've been in contact with the military. The Mothership is joining the fleet within the hour and they will be here by dawn. We're currently coordinating a defensive line of ships in high orbit of Primus. The Colossus will be taking the point, commanded by Nocturna with U-R and Gleep running the controls."
"What about ground forces?"
"We believe they go for the greatest opening, which is at the Oasis. We're going to station the remaining Galactic Guardians there with ground troops."
At that moment, Caz came in. He was working with the Galactic Guardians now, though as a go-for. He wanted a computer pad to Vizar.
"What is that?" asked Sebrian.
"The military is setting up ground troops around every opening. The entire Inner Council if convening at the Council Chamber. All militias have been authorized. And we've launched the first three waves of Astrosubs."
"Have we heard from He-Man and the others yet?" Sebrian asked Caz.
"Not yet."
"What about reinforcements from Nekron? If the Gleanons are involved, then the Mites would surely be up for it as well."
"Communications are being blocked to Nekron," said Alcon as he and the other scientists came in.
Sebrian stood back up. "Keep trying to reach He-Man and I want the four of you to work on getting in touch with the Mites. In the meantime, I want this world on emergency alert status. We must prepare for war."