Chapter 28: Assault on the Horde

And so the war was on again between He-Man and Skeletor. Skeletor continued to invade Primus, his schemes more twisted and diabolical than ever before. But He-Man gladly returned to the lifestyle of daily warfare which he had lived a decade earlier, keeping his home and his family in his thoughts as he clashed almost daily with the Mutants, keeping guard over Primus at all times.

But the war against Skeletor and the Mutants was far from easy. If anything, it was much more difficult than the old battles on Eternia. Having been defeated once before, and gained the power of the universe before, Skeletor had come back with a vengeance, learned from many of his mistakes, and knew much more about He-Man s strengths and weaknesses than he had back then. His knowledge of the essence of the universe was also supreme, for the secrets of Grayskull were still encased in his mind. Many times, he came close to defeating his enemy and gaining the victory he desired so strongly, and He-Man was evoked to become more vigilant than ever before in his defense of Primus and the universe.

Although Skeletor was still furious that He-Man had returned to oppose him, and that his cover had been blown, he quickly accepted the facts and decided it was all for the best. It would give him the chance to achieve the ultimate defeat over his enemy, and now that he felt more confident, experienced and powerful than ever, he was convinced he could do this. Following further research into Primus history, he realized that all he needed to do was harness the resources within the Trithuseum Generator, and absorb the magical power donated to Primus by the Elders of Grayskull thousands of years ago. This would give him an enormous wealth of magical and technical power, which he could use to reabsorb the entire magic of Grayskull and Eternia, thus giving him the power to pierce the very essence of the universe and redefine it for himself.

Both He-Man and Skeletor were seen as Gods on their respective worlds, astounding the residents, so used as they were to the essence of technology and material resources. Many of the Mutants became fiercely loyal to Skeletor, afraid of his power and wrath. Brakk became severely concerned about how his new advisor seemed to be gaining so much more respect and loyalty from the Mutant forces than himself. Several times he considered hatching plans to destroy Skeletor, but remembering how strongly Skeletor s magical skills were boosting the Mutants power, he knew they could not afford to lose someone so powerful, for they would stand no chance of beating He-Man without Skeletor on their side. So he knew he must keep a close watch on Skeletor, as no-one was safe from the rage of the crazed warlord, not even himself. Brakk decided to turn to an old ally for help and security and consulted none other than the universal warlord who commanded utmost respect among the Mutants Prahvus.

Since his last defeat on Eternia at the hands of Skeletor himself, Prahvus had sunken back into the shadows, but had remained as active as ever, continuing his travels throughout the universe in his efforts to turn Horde governments against Prime, and recruit disloyal Horde members into his army in preparation for the great uprising against the Horde. When Brakk explained to him the current situation with Denebria and Primus, and his concerns about Skeletor, Prahvus assured him that Skeletor need not pose the Mutants any threat. He knew a lot about Skeletor from past experience, and explained to Brakk that Skeletor's main weakness was that he trusted anyone who feared him. He reveled in other living beings reacting to him in fear, particularly his own slaves, of whom the most fearful were commonly among the most loyal. So as long as Brakk and the Mutants did not show Skeletor any of their distrust or resentment of him, he would cause them no trouble, for he would see them as fearfully loyal and therefore trust them. And Prahvus assured Brakk that if Skeletor ever did threaten to conquer or destroy the Mutant Empire for himself, he would be at hand to assist them against the Lord of Destruction.

To enforce his own protection over his allies, Prahvus presented himself to Skeletor in person, formally in Brakk s lair. Skeletor, having been unaware of Prahvus links with the Mutants, was taken aback by the sudden presence of one of his old rivals, but Prahvus explained that his desire was not to fight but to form an alliance. He explained to Skeletor that since the Mutants of Denebria were originally a breakaway force from the Horde, Skeletor was a valuable addition to their ranks not only with regards to conquering Primus, but also with regards to overcoming the Horde, building a strong enough force to oppose Prime and ousting him as ruler of the Horde.

So the two evil warlords formed a deal. Prahvus agreed to continue aiding the Mutants and Skeletor in their invasions of Primus, and bringing about the death of He-Man. Skeletor, meanwhile, agreed to assist Prahvus in his own quests when he needed it, and help him rise up against Horde Prime when the big moment came. They agreed that the culmination of their deal would be Skeletor ruling the universe, while Prahvus took charge of the Horde in Skeletor's name. Although it appeared at face value that Prahvus was willingly dedicating himself to servitude under Skeletor, this was merely a facade and Prahvus had no real fears of Skeletor ever becoming truly dominant over him. As he saw it, the crazed warlord was too exuberant and insane to ever succeed in conquering the universe successfully, and once Prahvus had the power of Prime, he would be able to absorb Grayskull's power himself and banish Skeletor into oblivion.

As both warlords battled on against their adversaries, and simultaneously increased their powers, they concocted between them a great assault on the God Prime. Skeletor knew that with the power of the Horde in his possession he could surely have all the resources he needed to conquer the universe- even if he did allow Prahvus to control the Horde at first. Prahvus, with Skeletor at his side, led a huge battalion of his forces, together with the Mutants, across the galaxies for an attack on Horde Prime's ship, the Velvet Glove.

Having seen and heard little of Prahvus since the great showdown on Eternia, Prime was unprepared for the assault. The combined power of Skeletor and Prahvus was a deadly force. Difficult as it may have sounded to make such an assault against a metaphysical enemy who could not even be seen, Skeletor and Prahvus had so much incredible power between them that it was easy for them to sense the deity's presence and strike at him. As his life force was drained, in desperation, Prime sent a radio signal out to all his forces across the cosmos demanding for them to teleport to the Velvet Glove at once to defend against the attack. Almost at once, thousands of Horde soldiers and robot warriors materialized out of the teleportation booths within the ship. Within moments, the Velvet Glove was engulfed by the chaos of intense battle.

In the midst of the conflict, many of the prison cells within the vehicle were shattered, and the hostages managed to escape and beam back to their homeworlds via the teleportation booths. Amongst the escaped hostages were several members of a secret organization against Prime that had originated on Horde World, but had recruited members from various neighbouring worlds within the galaxy as well as several other planets controlled by the Horde. They were known as the Renegades. The Renegade members who escaped from Horde Prime's ship stole on board an Escape Pod, and sped back across the cosmos to Horde World- where they reported word of the battle back to their leader, Deltara.

Deltara, founder and leader of the Renegades, was one of the most truly inspirational and honorable beings on Horde World. Few people would even have guessed, let alone believed, that this woman was a native to possibly the most evil and corrupt planet in the universe. Even in her mere form, with her beautiful and stunning appearance, and the peace and honesty within her eyes, one could sense the nobility and serenity that lay within her divine and exquisite character. Deltara, unlike anyone in previous recorded history to have been born on the soil of Horde World, had escaped the corruption which the air of evil and malice upon Horde World caused in nearly all individuals on the planet. Somehow, despite having been raised by a family of devoted Horde scientists and sorcerers, Deltara had held on to her pure heart and soul, and could see how disordered and wrong the culture on her planet was. And ever since she was a small child, she had known she must not give in to the Horde way of life. She had spent her youth training exuberantly for her lifelong mission to enable the people of Horde World to see the error of their ways, and overcome the regime of Prime. Once she had reached adulthood, she had fled from her family's home, and traveled across and beyond Horde World, spreading her words and philosophies of peace and unity. And her true goodness, compassion and wisdom had won over a heady range of individuals, enabling them to see the light and influencing them to rebel against the Horde. She had thus formed the organization that had become known as the Renegades, due to their refusal to comply with the ways of life on Horde World, which had seemed unfathomable to so many people on the planet. More and more people from Horde-ruled worlds had been recruited into the ranks of the Renegades, all firmly intent on establishing the peaceful rule which this part of the universe had so tragically escaped.

When Deltara was told by her companions of the great battle occurring within the Velvet Glove, between the three evil warlords, she felt she had to take some kind of action to put the situation right. Even if either Prahvus or Skeletor were to succeed in defeating Prime, both of them were evil in their own right and would not in any way improve the society of Horde World- in Skeletor s case, he would only make the planet much, much worse. Deltara knew a lot about both warlords. Prahvus race, the Morior, had indeed been the first ever beings on Horde World to rise against Prime but they had been misled and had not escaped corruption by the evil upon Horde World, meaning that even if their intentions had initially seemed noble, their ways were at heart no different. And as for Skeletor, this being had actually conquered the universe at one point, his evil was notorious throughout the cosmos, and many were convinced that even Prime feared him. If he was threatening to take over Horde World, he must be stopped at once.

After careful consideration, Deltara decided that there was only one solution. Legend had it that Prime s one-time favorite student, Hordak, who had himself actually overcome and merged with Prime for a few years, had been defeated by a magnificent warrior woman who wielded the power of justice in her very hands. She had possessed the power of Grayskull- that legendary power located on the world of Eternia, which even Prime had failed to grasp for himself despite several attempts in over a thousand years. According to the legend, after the defeat of Hordak, and the separation of Prime s soul, Prime himself had been banished from Eternia by a hero from ancient times- apparently the same great hero who had rid Eternia of his evil on his first attempt all those centuries ago. Since Eternia seemed to be the only place in the universe with the power to defeat Prime, Deltara decided that the magic of Grayskull was needed on Horde World, to overcome Prime once and for all.

So she made the decision to contact none other than the great heroine who had defeated Hordak and helped save the universe- Adora.