Chapter Three – "Catching Smoke"

The evening sun was sinking fast. She-Ra watched it go with heaviness in her heart. King Mercia was never one that she got along with. But he was powerful and very passionate about his people. And to lose him was to lose a very strong ally. Her eyes went to Mermista, who sat alone near a large puddle of water. She was strong, and was more than willing to continue on with the fight. She-Ra was proud, but hoped that her passion wouldn't get away with her.

The army regrouped, gathering its strength. The final death count had been 176, which wasn't bad considering just how fierce the fight was. But it still bothered She-Ra to no idea. And this was barely a fraction of the kind of fighting that would be occurring at the Fright Zone.

"You doing okay?" asked He-Man suddenly.

"Yeah. I'm okay."

"It's not too late, you know? To turn back."

She gave him a hard look. "Yes it is," she replied sharply. "What's the status?"

"We've secured the Slime Pit. However, it looks like Captain Slime Pig made it out. He's nowhere to be found and we just discovered a missing escape rocket."

"He'll be reporting back to Hordak then."

"Yeah."

She-Ra sighed and put her head in her hands. "Oh, this is hard. This is harder than I expected. I'm not sure we can even do this."

"You can. You have to."

"I know," she answered. She then looked up and watched as the sun dipped down below the horizon. "I know."

In the pre-dawn hours, the army of Etheria left the Slime Pit. King Mercia's body was taken back by some of his stewards to Salinius in preparation for its burial. Mermista was named queen, though it was mainly unofficial. The army marched on, towards the Fright Zone . . . where the forces of darkness and light would collide violently.

Hordak watched on his vid-screens as the army made for his home. They had gotten past the Slime Pit, but only just barely. But now . . . now Hordak had a new plan. He turned to another vid-screen and watched as nearly all of us Bat-Mechs launched into low orbit of Etheria, sitting above the road that the army would have to take.

"Three hours and I give the order to fire," Hordak told Manteena. "They'll be in position and I'll have them obliterated."

"Yes sir."

"The are feeling victory right now, aren't they? Yes, I'm sure of it. The Slime Pit was set back for us, yes. The Fright Zone will not fall. Doom Tower will not. I will not fall!"

Manteena glanced over at Shadow Weaver. They both shared the same thought. Hordak was acting strangely. Stranger than usual, even. This whole fiasco was obviously causing him to go unhinged. How much longer could they depend on his strategies? How much longer until he finally lost his mind?

A small pad in Manteena's hand started to beep. He pressed a button on it and watched as information scrolled out on the small screen.

"Lord Hordak!" exclaimed Manteena. "An Apocalypse-Class Horde Warship has just entered the system!"

Hordak's eyes went wide. "What!"

"They claim to be reinforcements!"

Hordak smiled darkly. "Have them move into position with the Bat-Mechs. What's their ETA?"

"About two hours, forty-five minutes."

The ruthless leader laughed a little. "Perfect timing."

Mermista had very little to say as they rode onward towards the Fright Zone. There had been a silent decision to let her broach the subject when she was good and ready. And so, the army carried on, forward to battle.

The land around them had grown desolate. A very thin, unhealthy trees lingered here and there, but for the most part, it was all empty and sad. They walked along on hardpan, following the vaguest sketch of a road to the west. Above them, blue skies were replaced by red, an apparent effect of the pollution the Fright Zone pumped into the air.

"Did you think we'd make it this far?" Bow asked Glimmer, who rode beside him.

"Not a chance, no," she replied quickly. "As far as Great Rebellions go, we were definitely not one. Not in the beginning, at least. But then came Adam and he brought He-Man. Then Adora. And then She-Ra. After all that, freeing Mother and Brightmoon . . . it felt like a dream."

"Sometimes I think it was."

Glimmer smiled at him. "Life is but a dream," she sang.

"I have a bad feeling about all this, to be honest. King Mercia and 175 others are all dead," Bow told her in a suddenly grim voice. "Who's next? You? Me?"

Glimmer shook her head. "Just stay the course, Bow. We stay together and we stay alive."

He nodded. "I suppose so."

"Horde Warship, please take your position," Manteena's voice called over the comm-line.

"This is Horde Warship Praetor," a young male voice called back, "we are currently in position."

The Praetor Horde Warship moved in perfect line with the Bat-Mechs.

"We are count-down, fifteen minutes from orbital assault," Manteena told them.

"Negative, Manteena," the voice returned.

"What are you talking about?"

"We are countdown fifteen seconds from assault," the voice replied. The man behind it turned to his compatriots. "I love effing with these low-level lackeys." Lord Zed smiled at Grantia and Huntara.

"Praetor – please repeat message!"

"Kiss my ass, lovebug," Zed replied and closed the comm-line.

At that moment, rockets and lasers of all sorts went firing out from the warship. The lasers sliced right through the Bat-Mechs while the rockets just plain blew them up. Within fourteen minutes, there wasn't a Bat-Mech left that could properly fire.

Hordak watched this all unfold before him. Another failed plan, another ended ploy. He sat there in silence as the punk son of his leader and brother whipped out the last Bat-Mech. Without saying a word, he closed the vid-screen. All of the Hordesmen in the throne room with him stood without moving, barely even breathing.

Calmly, but with tension rising in the room, Hordak snorted and then spoke.

"I want all Horde Troopers brought here immediately."

"The reinforcements from the riots are here already," reported Manteena.

Hordak's eyelids fluttered to contain his fury. "That's not want I mean, you moron. I want every single Horde Trooper on Etheria brought to the Fright Zone. Every tax collector . . . every enforcer. I don't care if they're missing arms or legs or heads . . . I want them here and I want them armed to the teeth." And then, after a pause. "NOW!"

She-Ra watched as dazzle of golden light appeared in the leadership tent and was shocked to see who it was. Lord Zed stood there, along with Huntara and Grantia. With them were a pair of what looked like a new model of Horde Trooper – complete with new heads, slimmer bodies. Metal armor covered the lower half of their legs, their hands, a v-shape on their chests, and waists. Their heads were small, more human like with a shield along the bottom halves of their heads and neck.

"Good afternoon!" Zed greeted pleasantly.

"Zed!" She-Ra cried out. "I can't believe you made it."

"I did indeed. In fact, I just wiped out a whole armada of Horde Bat-Mechs that were posed in low orbit to destroy you," Zed stated matter-of-factly. He ignored the shocked looks and the questions. "And I've also brought you my own personal army."

He waved to the new Horde Troopers. "These are Horde Peacekeepers. I've got about 25,000 of them just for you."

"They won't try to kill us will they?" asked the Mayor of Eleborn.

"Nope. They programmed to attack just one thing: Horde Troopers."

Glimmer swooned. "I could kiss you right now."

Zed smiled. "Feel free."

She didn't.

A few hours later, the Army of Etheria continued on its path towards the Fright Zone. She-Ra rode out ahead of the army and saw the large fortress that awaited them. It seemed to be brimming with activity. They were preparing . . . getting ready . . .

"This will be it, Hordak," She-Ra said. "This will be the end of it at last."