Chapter 1: Encounter at Middlepoint

The sun was shining down brightly on Etheria. A deceptive calm before the inevitable storm of the next Horde attack. On a day like this one could easily forget that the world was locked in the middle of a civil war.

She-Ra stepped out of the glowing dimensional portal, ran her hands through her golden blonde hair, and breathed in the fresh air. The mighty "Princess of Power" had just returned from a hard battle on Eternia. A battle that would have resulted in universal Armageddon had it been lost. It had been a close call, and she had come close to death many times during the struggle, but in the end she, her family and friends had been victorious and now it was time for life to get back to normal. Or as normal as life ever got for the young princess.

"Well, no one to meet us," She-Ra said to her unicorn companion Swift Wind. "After all we went through the last couple days, I'd almost welcome a nice old Horde attack right about now."

Swift Wind neighed, "As long as I never see those Cobra scoundrels again, I'll be satisfied."

She-Ra laughed and stroked Swift Wind's mane. "You feeling up for a flight?"

"Always. Where are we going?"

"To find Sea Hawk of course," She-Ra said, climbing onto his back.

"So you're really going through with this?"

"I have to," she said softly. "I've put this off for too long."

Swift Wind spread his wings and took off into the sky. A moment later a hover bike emerged from the forest canopy and began pursuing them at a distance.

It's about time you got back, She-Ra, the mysterious biker thought. I let you go last time, but I won't be denied any longer. I've waited too long to let anything stand in my way now.

Meanwhile, several miles away inside the Fright Zone, trouble was brewing.

"Just who are you that you think you can come into my throne room uninvited?" Hordak shouted.

"I am Horde Inspector Caries," the woman before him said. "And you'd better learn some respect for the uniform, or it will reflect poorly on you with Horde Prime!"

"Inspector?" Hordak snorted in doubt. "I wasn't told of any inspector coming. And besides, Horde Prime always sends Inspector Darkney to check up on me!"

"Darkney decided he wants nothing to do with you ever again," Caries said. "After what happened to him the last few times he was here I can't say I blame him."

"Yes," Hordak said, remembering. "The Rebellion captured him and sent an imposter to spy on me. How do I know you aren't another miserable rebel?"

"If you doubt me so much, why don't you just call Horde Prime and have him confirm it?"

Hordak paused briefly. There were few things that frightened him, but Horde Prime was right on the top of that list. He knew if this woman truly was an inspector, Horde Prime would not be happy that he had bothered him. True she did look the part. She wore the blue and sliver uniform of a Horde inspector. She certainly had the facial expressions of one, from her glaring purple eyes to her curled sneer. Even her pointed ears twitched in the impatient way so common among the Horde's high-ranking officials. However, if she was a rebel spy and he didn't check, he'd be in even worse trouble with Horde Prime. Finally though, he decided it was better to play it safe.

"Very well," he said, trying to sound fierce. "I'm calling your bluff." Hordak punched in the proper code on his televiwer and in less than a minute he was speaking to the smoke obscured form of the supreme Horde emperor. Just as he feared though, the evil lord was not happy to be bothered.

"Of course Caries is a real inspector!" Horde Prime shouted. "And you'd better show her the same respect you'd show to me Hordak, or the consequences will be very unpleasant!"

"Forgive me, Horrible One," Hordak quivered. "I wasn't expecting any inspector so I thought that…"

"Of course you weren't expecting her!" the emperor bellowed. "This is a surprise inspection. If you knew that Caries was coming you'd have straitened everything up before she got there, and once she left you'd go back to slacking off. I needed to catch you off guard, to see how you are truly handling things."

"Yes, of course. Very clever mighty one," Hordak said. "I assure you though, you'll be very pleased with the report."

Horde Prime leaned forward, though he still remained obscured by shadows. Suddenly his massive mechanical hand protruded out of the view screen and pointed down at Hordak. Horde Prime had purposely had this program installed in all Horde televiewers to help scare his subordinates into obedience. In actuality it was merely a hologram projection but it looked so solid and realistic that it always made whoever was facing it cower in terror.

"Remember Hordak," he growled menacingly, "while Caries is there she is my eyes and ears. And when she speaks, she speaks for me. You will follow any order she gives you, without question, as though it was my own. Understand?"

"Yes Your Evilness!"

Horde Prime's hand retreated into the screen, which faded to black. Hordak simply sat in silence catching his breath and gathering his thoughts. Only when Caries cleared her throat in an attention grabbing way did he look back to her.

"Well then," she said crossing her arms and grinning with an all too smug look, "Now that we've got that settled, shall we get down to business?"

"Of course Inspector," Hordak said, struggling to maintain his dignity and resisting the urge to wipe Caries' arrogant smirk off her face with a laser cannon. "Allow me to show you around personally."

This is just what I don't need right now, he thought. How could things possibly get any worse? No, I'd better not ask that. I don't want to find out.

"There it is," She-Ra said to Swift Wind as they flew over. "Middlepoint. Land in that alley. We don't want to attract attention."

Discretion was wise while visiting Middlepoint. The port city sat directly on the border between the Horde controlled territory and the free kingdom of Bright Moon. Half the village lay in each area.

The people of Middlepoint had declared it a neutral territory and offered no support or resistance to either Hordesman or Rebel. Being a neutral seaport village, Middlepoint had a way of attracting the worst types of scum and lowlifes on Etheria. It was best to keep a low profile, avoid any unnecessary encounters, and adopt a "don't ask don't tell" policy on people's allegiances.

After landing and making sure no one was around She-Ra pulled out her sword and quietly spoke, "Let the power return," transforming herself back into Princess Adora. However, since Adora was leader of the Great Rebellion, further concealment was required.

Adora managed to stealthily gain the attention of a nearby vendor and tossed him a few coins in exchange for a hooded cloak. With her identity hidden Adora set out into the streets.

"You might as well head back to the camp Spirit," Adora whispered to her steed. "I don't know how long I'll be."

"Are you sure you want to stay here alone?"

"I can take care of myself, don't worry. And I won't be alone once I find Sea Hawk. Go on now."

Spirit hesitated a moment but then turned and galloped out of town towards Whispering Woods. Once he was gone, Adora headed towards a decrepit looking building located near the wharf knowing it would be the best place to locate her beloved pirate.

"The Shady Pub" was just that: a shady pub. The multiple owners (the deed had passed though many hands for various reasons most of which involved violence or gambling or both) had given the establishment many different names. It had become difficult to keep track of its current title so most took to referring to it simply as "the shady pub in Middlepoint". Eventually one of the owners decided to simply adopt the description as the actual name and it had remained so ever since (despite several more changes of management).

Adora remembered her mother Marlena telling her about a bar scene in a story from her world called "Star Wars". Adora felt as though she were in that scene as she entered the pub and made her way cautiously to the bar, avoiding eye contact with any of the beings from multiple races. A beautiful young woman like herself looked completely out of place and in truth, had it not been for Sea Hawk, Adora would not have dared enter.

"It's a cesspool of slime and scoundrels," Sea Hawk had said. "But it's the only place in Etheria to get a good mug of Saurian ale."

Saurian ale was a rarely found drink and consumed even more rarely. It had been made by the Saurian Warriors for the purpose of increasing the strength of their energy breaths. The proof was incredibly high and said to be capable of burning a hole through one's stomach. Only the toughest or most foolish of men would dare consume it. It should go without saying that Adora never partook of the drink herself, but she was well aware of Sea Hawk's fondness for it.

Adora sat down on one of the bar stools and whispered to the bartender who had his back to her. "Psst. Hey, Jasper."

Jasper turned at the sound of his name and grinned when he saw the cloaked young woman before him. Jasper was the current owner of "The Shady Pub". He was a stout little man with a thick bushy beard that acted in contrast to his balding head. Despite his deep gruff voice he was actually a kind-hearted man and, though he kept it secret, he was a supporter of the Great Rebellion. Adora and Sea Hawk knew him well. In addition to their visits to "The Shady Pub" Jasper also occasionally smuggled supplies into Whispering Woods including various bottles of his finest drinks, which helped boost moral in the rebel camp.

"Well, 'aven't seen you 'ere in a while, darlin'," Jasper said in his heavy accent. He used the term 'darling' both as form of affection and to avoid using Adora's name less someone be eavesdropping.

"I've been a little tied up lately," Adora whispered. "I'm looking for Sea Hawk have you seen him?"

Jasper shook his head. "Not t'day but I 'spect ter soon. Bin in 'ere the last few days 'round this time. Should be showin' up any minute if ya wanna wait."

Adora nodded and turned her head slightly towards the door to watch for Sea Hawk without making it obvious she was watching the door. Her attention was drawn back a moment later as Jasper set a full mug in front of her.

"S'on me darlin'"

"Oh no I couldn't…" she began.

"Don' worry 'bout it. Yer the only customer I have that even drinks sarsaparillas. Just gonna go ter waste otherwise."

Adora smiled and took a sip knowing it would be useless trying to change his mind. Besides the drink felt rather refreshing and helped calm her nerves, which were on end because of the unusually large crowd.

A movement at the door called her attention back but it wasn't Sea Hawk who entered. In fact it wasn't even a man but rather a young woman. Adora was only able to get a glimpse of her small figure and a flash of lavender hair before the stranger stepped into the shadowy corners of the pub and sat down with her back to the bar. Nevertheless there was something familiar about her that kept Adora's attention. Something in the back of the young princess' mind told her that she had seen the strange woman in the black coat before.

"Saurian ale comin' up sir," Jasper said behind Adora snapping her mind back to the present.

"Hawk!"

Adora turned around with a smile expecting to see her pirate love but gasped and fell backwards off her stool in shock as she found herself face to face not with Sea Hawk, but with the armored figure of a Saurian Warrior. What had shocked her even more than the sight of the reptilian hunter was the fact that she knew him.

"Saurod!"