God is covering my world in white today. I also forgot to get some proper food, but that has the unexpected benefit of me going nowhere, so UPDATE! Sorry to have a gap after a sort of intermediary of moments, the pace will pick up now though, the foundation is laid and the battle lines are being cast. Now if the characters would just let me sleep for a night...just one!
Now and forever, I do not hold a claim over the fictional souls of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe...the maniacal Overlords of Mattel do.
998AH Sands of Time
Revelations unfolded after She-Ra was reborn on Eternia. Skeletor was captured but revealed as a tool of a greater evil, Hordak. Worse was the realization that Hordak has seemingly been manipulating forces to the ultimate goal of his return and control of Eternia itself. Left with dark thoughts and little concrete plans to stop him, Grayskull and the rebellion move onward with their plans to free Eternia from the mundane forces already at Hordak's command.
Sweat burned at least a dozen cuts and scrapes on her body. For all her strength, She-Ra could still bleed. Still, the only damage was from the wind whipping the sand, not a single blaster or sword had been able to get near her. Her damp hair clung to her back and her sword was finally starting to get heavy.
The sands were no longer the pristine color of golden white, but charred and crimson in so many places. Several corpses of serpentaurs lay strewn on the field of battle, with far too many smaller forms as well. She did grimly grin at how few were the rebels, humans and Avion were working well together today.
Hordak's forces were tenacious, but seemingly uninformed of their true goal today. The few battles to free caravans and supplies had been far easier than this confrontation nearly 4 months after his attack on the temple the first time. The Sorceress had been right that he would not attack quickly, but when he did, it would be in force.
Her Mother was not yet ready, she could still feel the Sorceress in her mind telling her to stall a bit longer.
"They fight well She-Ra, but no one can last forever out here," Pyth was bleeding badly from his left arm, but hardly seemed to pay much attention to it, the fact he was injured so badly was far more telling than the rest of what her sapphire eyes revealed. Heaving forms and people leaning on each other just to stand or crouch in the ever changing landscape of the desert.
Wiping the sweat from her brow she smiled at her friend and quickly held up her sword.
"FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!" the sword hilt twisted open and she felt the soothing grace of golden energy encircle her body. It was only temporary for her, but the effect on the rest of her forces was just as dramatic. She stood whole once more and unscathed. The new Horde did not enjoy seeing a freshly vigorous She-Ra facing them.
"FOR ETERNIA!" She-Ra flung herself forward, leaping through the air and taking her enemy fully by surprise, none of the Speleans even had a chance to try and take off! She was flashing her blade like a whirlwind above her, and smiled as the imitation became reality, a whirlwind of sand and gravel was now hers to command.
Please stay put you pretty thing. She-Ra kept whirling faster and faster and soon saw the Horde scatter away as fast it could, in mid motion she channeled a spark of her energy and reversed direction to kill the deadly twister quickly.
Heaving heavily she smiled wide as she saw nothing but the backs of the battalion sent to fight them.
"Next time start with the natural disaster, it would be easier on us all," the grin on Pyth's face quickly faded as he rushed to her side. She just barely did not fall. A roar from her own lines was quickly followed by Battle Cat. His red armor glinted brightly in the sand.
"I wish I knew the secret of summoning him," the thought was out before she could stop it, but Pyth was the only one to hear. His stern glance made her wince, but it was true. Battle Cat did not always come, even when he would be handy, but if was needed, he would be there.
They are ready She-Ra. Pull back now. Glancing up she could just barely see the shadow of the hawk swiftly flying south to Grayskull. Once again she raised her sword and gave the signal to retreat. The Horde was regrouping, but it no longer mattered. They had at least bought enough time for the Ram Temple's final act.
"Contrary to popular opinion witch, I DO know what I am blasted well doing!" Skeletor strained in the magical shackles that bound him. She felt a smile pull at her lips, and felt shock that they were back. It had been quite sudden when the spells on the temple were both shattered and reworked. Against her better judgement they would do one final task and then no Faceless One would ever be called again, her family's legacy would die with her.
She felt the hard edge of the Ram Stone in its pouch at her waist, her robes traded in for more typical garb of a traveling enchantress. Not her revealing choice of old, but still far more revealing than she had worn in quite some time. It also felt damned odd to have cheeks and eyes again.
She had forgotten how brightly lavender her eyes were for instance. Still, it had been worth the tiny moment it had shut Skeletor up, and he was right, he had known what he was doing. He had come up with the solution to severing her tie to the Ram Temple, an all or nothing affair it seemed.
Good-bye Father, I hope I am doing you proud still as I leave behind our duty and our legacy one last time. She saw the rise of dust on the horizon that had little to do with the wind. The rebels were moving out, and they needed to go parallel to them. Skeletor's eyes flared red futilely as he was dragged along behind her.
She smiled wide at his frustration, he also had no idea where they were going. She would have laughed outright if not for the danger of echoes. She kept looking back at what had been her home for nearly 1000 years and felt tears form for the first time in a long time.
"I will make you pay for this harridan, I swear this!" his grating voice was actually reassuring. It meant he was going to comply until he saw an opportunity to attack, desperate to escape as much as she was.
"If it makes you feel any better Skeletor, your presence alone is payment enough," again the flare of red but in impotence was most amusing. Moving quickly she headed off in the direction of the Vine Jungle and her future lodgings.
Graal's orders had been specific after the Well, retrieve the puppet and kill the Faceless One. Instead half his force was wiped out, his pets were either killed or freed by that wretched She-Ra somehow, and the temple was empty.
His nose told him that even at this distance that no one was in that building. However he also knew magic could hide anything. Grinning viciously, he sent in the commanders that had sworn the rebels could not do much damage to their battle plans, the very ones that had over ridden his express orders were now the fodder for any traps in the temple.
This turned into a wise precaution as his pointed ear tips quivered at their screams. The ground shook and sounded like thunder yet the sky was clear. More of his forces fell to their backsides, but he stood strong. His natural grace of being a predator let him watch the crumbling of the Ram Temple as lavender energies ripped it part with a trace of something with it, deep green, almost forest pine green if he was to guess.
He was no mage, but even the master of beasts felt the magic ripping that place apart. Sniffing on the wind he finally found the trail of Skeletor with another, probably the Faceless One, but his ears turned back in fear of that one. She smelled strong, and angry. Graal almost felt a whimper come from him before he could crush it.
"MOVE OUT! Our prey slips away to the south and east, move NOW!" he saw the rigid discipline form ranks and quickly begin the march. He nodded to the few flyers he had left to launch, and only realized the mistake as it unfolded in front of his black eyes.
More energy shot out from the dying temple and ensnared the flyers, slamming them into the ground. Wind began to churn and Graal saw the deadly danger forming far too fast to avoid. Without need for verbal instructions, every soldier cast out a protective tarp and began hurling themselves down onto the ground. The enchantments of the covers activated and the few that had panicked and waited too long were torn to shreds by the sand storm.
Graal roared in rage as he understood the folly. Not only was the building trapped, it ensured no pursuit from the Horde. He felt the winds buffet uselessly against his shelter and swore he would make the enchantress pay slowly, oh so slowly for this failure. She-Ra would become HIS pet as well.
Skeletor's Domain - Former Capitol of Eternos
The lights flickered brightly on the ragged tower line. A massive wall of magic and technology encircled the decade old heart of the empire, now far less defended than Snake Mountain. It was still however considered impregnable.
Chlora snickered widely as she reformed herself within its walls easily. The designers of the defenses took into account a great many kinds of attack, but mother Eternia was one force impossible to defeat. A single shoot of root was all she needed to transplant herself within. Still the forces of Hordak were right to be unafraid of a single foe getting in, a 10000 to 1 advantage would be hard to argue.
Chlora pushed her dark vine hair back passed her ears and listened for any cries of alarm, then had to stifle her own voice as Orko popped up right next to her. The Trollan did not even have the decency to look sheepish about it!
"Not bad Chlora! We are well with in our target area," he kept his voice low at least, she had forgotten he would home in on her presence once she was in. His own magic was considered impossible, Skeletor believing no Trollans could ever be a threat to him, and Hordak shard this view, or simply could not update the defenses.
"Remind me to have a talk with you about covert entry when we get back Orko," she liked the magician truly, but his carefree attitude and almost whimsical actions were a bit trying in these stressful moments. Even so, every encounter with the Horde proved his worth, enough that Hordak had begun to post notices for his immediate death, almost neck and neck with She-Ra's capture.
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that, I am sure you did quite well for yourself," she almost snapped our her arm to snag him as she saw his golden eyes squint in amusement. Honestly the Trollan had no sense of battle at all!
Suddenly he waved his arms and she heard two thuds down an alley. Jogging over she saw two sentries sleeping peacefully in the cobblestoned drainage lane. She looked at Orko again, and for a moment saw an aged warrior, one who had faced evil so many times and not been destroyed by it. For a moment she was in awe of the magician, but then the Orko she had come to know snapped over it and he was all flighty and carefree again.
It's not an act, he is like that with all of us even at rest, so what was that just now? As an intermediary he had helped solidify the rebellion, no one could put a finger on how, but it was easy to trust him. More than that, he had somehow inspired more cooperation between the far flung cells than the last 300 years of attempts ever had! Even the decade of Skeletor had never seen this much trust and contact.
Shaking away the thoughts, Chlora focused on her mission. They knew there was an old service tunnel Skeletor had never found or protected, it was the one Roboto had used himself to leave this place to answer Grayskull's call. Orko was certain he could find it again and thus they were sent to open the way for a quiet invasion of a sabotage and rescue force.
Frosta awaited their signal outside with Brythia to back her up, how Orko got those two to agree to work together she would love to know.
"I do not like this waiting," Brythia glanced at her...companion...for any reaction, but Frosta continued to look through the viewers at her eyes for Orko's signal. She had less doubts about her ancestor now, in battle she was everything the legends claimed, even more so perhaps. It was her personality that still irked her, and more than that her lack of respect for true warriors.
Why don't you admit that you are slightly worried you do not measure up to your own ideals Brythia? That is why you resent the legend of Frosta compared to the real person, a legend can be made to suit your goals, a real person has flaws. For a tiny midget that could cover you in pie, Orko could be very wise.
She was not sure when he decided to "mediate" between her and Frosta, but that most recent confrontation had led to her assignment. She knew he had been speaking to Frosta as well, but from her it was hard to tell if their was any difference. If nothing else though, Frosta had been very helpful in honing her own powers.
She too could now project ice flows, if not so easily as her ancestor. She could not make a wall of it, but for escapes or traps she was just as good. Her fur was starting to itch from the sweat in this blasted heat of the south, the one trick she never learned was how Frosta could withstand these places so well, even lava hardly seemed to bother her!
"Be ready, we won't have much time, the patrols on the wall are very good, but a small window exists to get from here to the wall in less than a minute," Brythia kept still as she could as she realized she had again misjudged the woman. Frosta had been looking at the threats to them when they got the signal, not looking for the signal itself.
She assumes success and plans for it, failure still exists, but she is only concerned with how we can bring it about not our two friends. At least Frosta was more civil than Stratos, the one seemed to take a perverse pleasure in irritating her. However she noted he and Frosta STILL denied their obvious attraction for each other.
Not that either had much chance of doing anything about it, but outside of planning sessions or battle, they were suddenly awkward and distant even to the most oblivious person alive.
Suddenly a klaxon began to sound and shouts were heard. Instead of the horrible sounds of capture however, energy blasts began to slam the wall...from the inside!
"By the Ancients, Orko found it!" confusion swept over Brythia but only for a second as she saw Frosta bolt for the seemingly innocent sewer outlet that was actually a maintenance tunnel for the old Eternos capitol.
Once inside both froze as they took in the highly technological curve and smoothness of the tunnel.
"Whatever this is, it is nothing I would call a simple tunnel," Brythia noted her voice did not echo as expected, and saw Frosta smile wide. She started running down the tunnel and suddenly a turret dropped from the ceiling.
Halt, please identify yourselves! A strong male voice spoke over a speaker as the guiding lights of the blaster turret zeroed in on them. Brythia prepared to smash it, but Frosta held up her arm as her face paled in unabashed joy.
"Even as a recording it is good to hear Man-At-Arms' voice," Frosta stepped forward with hands raised and looked directly as the blaster turret. "I am Master of the Universe Frosta, friend of King Adam and Castle Grayskull."
A tense silence where Brythia could swear she heard her heart stop for a breath before the turret retracted. Frosta exhaled slowly and then smiled wide.
"Come on, they are going to need our help!" the wild abandon was beneath a warrior of honor, but even Brythia found it hard not to smile. The thrill of being alive and walking into legend was hard to keep a lid on. Both women jogged down the access tunnel to the old command center of the Eternos Castle of King Randor as designed by none other than Man-At-Arms.
"Why was this never mentioned in the plan?!" Chlora stared as the panels and old controls smoothly blinked and displayed the rather successful attack against the Horde from the still standing castle. It was one of the very few building to survive the Burning Fall 12 years ago, and Skeletor had kept it as a memento. She also would think he would have disarmed it knowing its makers.
Orko however seemed quite pleased.
"It was completely rebuilt by Roboto to Duncan's specifications, his standing orders to make sure no one ever abused what he had created. As a machine he could stay interfaced and update them as needed or disarm as well. Skeletor never knew about Roboto so any action he took could be countered easily in the span of a decade!" Orko did a small somersault in the air as he saw a monitor light up green to show Frosta and Brythia making their way down the access tunnel.
Suddenly the plan came together for Chlora.
If Hordak had disarmed the palace, their job would be to get it up and running again without him noticing. Ultimately to use as part of clever attack to free Eternos once more. However, if they got in and found all systems running, they were to immediately unleash the fury of the ancient fortress and thereby catch the forces of the Horde with their pants around their ankles.
She smiled wide as she saw who had come up with this one as sure enough, Roboto and Drak led a force to the main gates that was now unmanned and had conveniently had the locking mechanism blown off from within!
"If Eternos is not freed by the end of today, I will eat your hat magician," his eyes twinkling Orko circled around her laughing. As definitive victories go, it was quite a beginning!
Snake Mountain
"FAILURE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!" the Evil Warriors writhed in pain as sickly green energy lanced through them. Only Cryoc was spared because she had successfully found 2/3 of the amulet of separation. The last 1/3 was presenting a problem since the temple that once held it was long since dust and gone.
It had been two weeks since Eternos, and it was called that again, was freed. Hordak had anticipated losses, but this was beyond acceptable. His forces had been wiped out and put out without a single casualty on his own side. Meaning not ONE death, yet they still lost. Worse, they lost to that wretched filth of magic from his pathetic mud-ball.
Oh that realm would burn when he got to it, he would make sure that wretch would live long enough to see his precious Trolla burn.
Skeletor slipping away was less of a problem, but the Ram Stone was still loose and that wretched witch still breathed. More was the final insult to his forces, and oh Graal had begged for death before he was done.
The shadow of Hordak in the mirror flickered suddenly, only Cryoc saw it, but said nothing.
Blast this wretched existence. I need to rest. The lances of energy retracted and he left them to lick their wounds. I still have time. Skeletor is not needed yet, but soon, soon I will be free of this cage and oh...the vengeance I shall wreak upon Eternia, Grayskull especially will feel the full brunt of my rule!
Snorting laughter faded into the corridors of stone and left all who heard it shivering in terror.