Hey! I have been sooo excited to submit this, it took me everything not to submit it Thursday. But here it is! This siege has so much detail that I had to split it up. I might even have three chapters about it. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6: The Siege of Elberon (Part 1)

After all the training that was done by the Elberon strike force, it was time for Octavia to reveal the stratagem that would lead the Horde to Victory over Elberon. Everyone went to the meeting room and took their seats at the various tables. Octavia stood in the center near a large square terrace. Octavia held up a remote and pointed at the terrace which activated a holographic projection. Octavia then began her discourse.

"Alright, troops, listen good. This hologram represents Elberon and the surrounding areas." Brittni and Brett observed the landscape and architecture closely. The city was shaped similar to a pear that was slanted upwards. There were a few districts that were designated by elevation. The bottom district was the largest and was shaped like the bottom part of a pear. This district held the market, guard barracks, and some civilian homes. The middle district; which was shaped like the neck of a pear, was the primary residential area as well as the rebel soldier's command garrison. The highest district, which looked like the head; the smallest part of the pear, had the mayor's castle. Octavia continued,

"As I previously stated, it's a walled city that serves as one of the primary supply lines of Bright Moon. What's more, it also harbors a great deal of rebel soldiers. On top of all that- and don't anybody dare start cringing, it will give us a fortified outpost within the Whispering Woods. This outpost will serve as a staging ground for when the Horde attacks Thaymore." Octavia looked around at all the troops and saw nothing but stern and confident faces. She smiled with her eyebrows lowered into a satisfied expression. She continued,

"That's what I like to see! Now here's the plan. We're going to have four tanks with us that will blast holes in two sections of the city's walls." Octavia pointed at the East and West walls. Those are away from the entrances, so that should buy us a little time to get our troops in and take positions behind cover. Once our infantry establish a foothold into Elberon, the rebel soldiers and guards will react. This scenario is going to serve two purposes. First, if all goes well, we'll be able to neutralize the defense of Elberon. Second, with the Rebel soldiers and guards concentrating the majority of their forces at the front, we will be sending in two infiltration teams to the rear. Their mission is to infiltrate the castle and capture the Mayor of Elberon. With him in tow, the rebels will be forced to surrender. We don't have a lot of intel on the troops stationed there, but be wary of both projectile and melee weaponry. Also, be warned that there have been… rumors of flying beasts controlled by the rebellion. Off the record, I think that it's just that, a rumor. However, we need to take into account any kind of asset that the Rebellion could potentially have. So, keep your eyes in the sky." When she said that, some of the troops looked at one another with concern. Otavia reiterated her opinion,

"Again, these are rumors, I doubt it's true, but we have to take everything with a grain of salt. At any rate, here's the rest of the plan. We're going to divide you all up into four squads, and-" Octavia was cut off by a soldier shouting,

"Hey! Can we come up with cool squad names!" Octavia glared and pointed at the soldier who spoke, then shouted back,

"Do not interrupt me, grunt!" The soldier's face turned white. Octavia then sighed and continued, "but… yes, you will need to give your squad a designation title. A big cheer came up from every soldier but was quickly stifled by Octavia,

"Focus, maggots!" She took a few moments for the room to go silent then continued, "Alright, each squad will have a unique set of units assigned to them. Two squads will join our armoured tank division. Those two squads will have six combat medics, six combat engineers, and 8 standard troops for a total of forty attacking from the front flanks. I already spoke of the other two squads that will be infiltrating from behind. Those two will have two combat medics, two combat engineers, and four standard troops. I will be leading the armoured division. Dragstor and Vultak will be leading the other squads. Now, you're all to split up to your assigned groups. Proctor Ingram will be handing out your military operation documents."

Proctor Ingram, who was working in the back stood up and began handing out the soldiers' dossiers. Inside each dossier was the battle plan, maps, targets, and indicated what squad they were assigned to. Octavia then spoke up again,

"Alright, we're going to take a ten minute break, then I want you all to meet your squad leaders. They'll give you more detailed instructions, and then we'll head out. Dismissed!" The troops saluted Octavia and filed out.

Brittni and Brett were assigned to the infiltration squad along with a friend they made named Viktor. Viktor was a human male with reddish brown hair and respectable build. He specialized in infiltration missions and as such, served as the second in command of the squad. They were in a hallway connecting the Military Logistics Center with a few other briefing rooms. They stood outside the room where they would meet with their squad leader, Dragstor.

"So, I get set up with the famous Observer Twins." Viktor said with a smirk, leaning against a wall, arms folded.

"You could only be so lucky." Brett said with a grin.

"This is pretty great, I'm glad we're staying away from the major fighting." Brittni said, hopefully. Viktor looked at her with concern,

"Don't be so sure…" He said, gravely.

"What do you mean?" Brittni asked with concern.

"I'm just saying, you'd better be ready to take a life. Just because we're not on the frontlines, doesn't mean that we won't have to get our hands dirty." Viktor said, indifferently. Brittni shuddered a bit, but quickly maintained her composure, and said,

"I.. I know that, I'm just glad that we're not in the thick of it." Brett took notice of Brittni's discomfort and quickly changed the subject,

"Well, either way, you'll be there mostly to patch us up if we get hurt. You've got nothing to worry about." Brittni gave a slight smile. Vikor smirked again and said, cordially,

"Yeah, infiltration missions are a lot more fun, anyway." He then changed the subject,

"So, what can you guys tell about me?" The Twins blinked at him. He then continued and asked, "You're the Observation Twins, right? Can't you find out everything about somebody just by looking at them?" The Twins looked at each other, smiled, and began their analysis.

"You're from the land of Rusasha. Your accent and hair color give it away." Brett said.

"Hah, that's an easy one. What else can you-" Viktor started to reply before Brittni interrupted him,

"You have a scar with a slight serration going from your left cheek to your chin. Clearly, you've fought a Colovian warrior, as that scar is distinctly from a Colovian knife wound." Viktor opened his mouth slightly and stared hard at the Twins.

"On your chest plate are two holes, measuring a centimeter in diameter. There's remains of acid scars pouring out of the holes. You fought against a rattler near pinetown." Brett deduced. Viktor's mouth was agape, and he stared at the Twins, his eyes squinted in astonishment.

"Lastly, I've seen how you look at-" Brittni started before Viktor stifled her by saying,

"Shh! Okay, I get it. I get it." The Twins started laughing until they saw Dragstor come trudging into the hallway. They all stood up straight, and gave him a salute. Not much was known about Dragstor, other than the fact that he was an utterly ruthless assassin. Nobody even knew what he looked like, as he always wore full body armour. The armour was similar to typical Horde armour, except that it was colored a dark blue. For weaponry he had a crossbow attached to his right wrist, some throwing knives, some smoke grenades, and a standard laser pistol. His helmet mask was an intimidating feature. It covered his entire face. The eye protectors glowed red. His voice was deep and distorted from the rebreather mask that he wore as he spoke,

"Alright…" His gravelly voice started, "into the meeting, let's get this over with. We got a lotta killing to do." That last part disturbed Brittni.

Everyone in their squad met in the room and took a seat. Dragstor went straight to the point.

"Alright, squad, this is how this is gonna go down, you already know about the tanks blowing holes in the front of the city, that's gonna be a distraction for the real party." Dragstor had a diagram on the wall representing the rear end of the city. He continued, "while the armour division and squads one and two are pounding on the walls over there, the majority of the rebellion's troops and guards will be deployed over here. While that's happening, we, along with Vultak's group will be scaling the walls on the rear end. There shouldn't be much security on that side, thanks to the distraction, so we'll be able to get into the castle from the walls. We had a spy that gave us a general idea of all the rooms in the castle, so we're not going in blindly. You'll find the map in your dossiers. Once inside, we find the mayor's office and capture him. The rebels are so predictable, they'll surrender immediately, and we'll own Elberon. Any questions?" A soldier raised his hand and asked,

"Yeah, uh… what's our squad's name?"

"That's your question?!" Dragstor asked, indignantly. He looked around at the rest of the squad and they all nodded. Dragstor sighed, rubbed his head, then chuckled. He then declared their name:

"We'll be called, The Specters."

The armoured strike teams; (Named the Black Bulls and White Wolves,) and the infiltration teams; (named The Specters and the Talons,) began their march on Elberon. In order to do so, they had to traverse through the Whispering Woods. The Whispering Woods was similar to the simulations. There were tall, green trees with purple leaves that covered the sky. It was not nearly as dangerous, however. During their sojourn, they met little to no resistance. The tanks had to run down a few trees, and there were some wildlife that made a pass at the soldiers, but there was nothing a few laser blasts couldn't handle. After braving through the Whispering Woods, the strike team was able to make it to the outskirts of Elberon without losing any units. They stayed in the cover of the trees to finalize their battle plan and get into positions. Octavia held up her fist, indicating the troops to cease movement. Accordingly, everyone stopped and layed low behind the cover. She pulled out her binoculars to observe the scene. There were guards on the walls, but not too many. Their tanks still wouldn't have a lot of time to fire before the city guard and rebel soldiers reacted. Octavia turned to the troops.

"Alright. I want The Specters and The Talons to head up to the rear of the city. Stay in radio contact, let us know when you're in position. Dragstor and Vultak nodded and said simultaneously,

"Let's move out."

Vultak was a vulture-like humanoid with a pointy beak-like nose, talons for feet, and wings on his back, wearing black Horde armor with the red Horde symbol emblazoned on his chest. His squad was, obviously, named after him. Both squads made their way to the rear outskirts of the castle and took cover behind a grove of trees. Vultak spoke up,

"Alright, Dragstor, I'm going to fly up and get some intel on how much resistance we'll be facing." Dragstor nodded, and Vultak flew high into the sky above the clouds so as not to be seen by the rebellion. After only a couple of minutes, a voice came on the radio.

"This is Beltran, are you in position?"

"Ready and waiting." Replied Dragstor. Brittni and Brett listened closely to the voice on the other end of the radio, something didn't sound right. Thanks to their power of observation, they were able to notice that the soundwave on that radio frequency didn't match the signal coming from the armoured division. They also had never heard that voice that was on the line, and thanks to their powers, they recognized every voice they heard. Brittni and Brett looked at each other and nodded, as if they both already knew what the other was thinking. Brett spoke up,

"Sir, I think something's wrong." Dragstor turned immediately towards Brett and said,

"Speak freely, soldier." Brittni and Brett then voiced their concerns and described the soundwaves and the voice. Dragostor folded his arms and looked towards the castle in deep thought. He then spoke,

"They know we're here."

Meanwhile on the armoured division's flank, Octavia had already ordered the tanks to move in with the infantry in close proximity behind them. Just then, Dragstor's voice came on the radio,

"Octavia. You need to order your tanks to ssssssss-" All of a sudden Dragstor's voice turned to static and the radio went dead. Octavia tried quietly, but fervently speaking into her radio,

"Dragstor?! Dragstor, come in! What about the tanks?!" She then realized that something was wrong and the tanks were most likely headed into a trap. She got on the armoured division's signal and began shouting,

"All tanks! Hold your ground! I repeat, cease movement immediately!" The two tanks on the right flank stopped, but the command didn't get through to the ones on the left flank. Octavia looked over at the two tanks that were still moving. Not even a couple seconds later the grassy ground that was supporting the two tanks, began collapsing until both tanks fell in, smashing against each other. The troops following the tanks, reacted quickly and ran to nearby rocks for cover. About 80 feet away from the fallen tanks, Octavia looked in horror as the tank gunners climbed out of the tanks only to get gunned down by sharpshooters on the walls. Octavia growled and yelled,

"Keep to the plan! Everyone in the armoured division, head to the right flank, tanks, fire at the walls, now!" The tanks didn't completely get to the flank, but did their best to fire on it.

ZRAAAM. ZRAAAM.

Their shots were true and they did manage to hit the wall. As the lasers were flying towards the wall, the guards standing there screamed and ran to the left and right of the wall. Once the lasers made contact, the concrete detonated into a powdery and rocky explosion. During this chaos, Octavia yelled,

"Alright! Fire onto the ground in front of you, there's a dirt trap, find where it is. The rebels are armed with sniper lasers, be careful!" No sooner when she finished, the tanks aimed at the ground and opened fire. The would-be trap was revealed and collapsed. The tanks then began going around the giant hole; the left tank going around left and the right tank going right. The Black Bulls that were pinned down behind the rocks ran over to the remaining tanks and joined up with the White Wolves. Both squads then followed their respective tanks and clustered behind them using them as cover as they crept closer to the wall. While this was happening, the guards and rebel soldiers assembled to the walls and began firing upon the tanks. The tanks used a great deal of their energy for firing upon the wall, so their cannons weren't fully charged. All they could do was cover the troops as they trudged towards the walls.

Back at the rear, Dragstor heard and saw the cannons fire on the walls.

"That's our cue, let's move, people! Brittni, Brett, keep a lookout on the walls, let us know if you see any movement!"

"Yes, sir!" The Twins replied, simultaneously. After they spoke, another soldier shouted,

"Sir! But what about Vultak?! He still hasn't returned!" Without looking back, Dragstor said to the soldier,

"There's no time. Viktor! You're leading the Talons! Move!" The Specters and the Talons started charging towards the wall. Thankfully between them and the wall were farm buildings and trees they could take cover behind. Building to tree, the two squads combed through the little village. Something seemed off, though. There was no villager in sight. While they were traversing, Dragstor held up his right fist into a square. Both squads stopped. Dragstor looked around, it was a little too quiet. Dragstor then spoke,

"Squad… Here they come!" As soon as Dragstor finished that declaration, the rebel soldiers did indeed come. From inside the buildings and the tops of the trees, the rebels had their projectile and melee weapons ready for them. The horde soldiers readied their weapons at the rebels, but there was a tremendous number of them. Brittni and Brett looked around scanning the area for any kind of advantage. The truth is, the two squads were outnumbered and in the wide open. Just then, the Twins heard a noise that sounded like a wind chime if it was produced on an electrical instrument. Following that noise, a girl, not much younger than the Twins, appeared in front of Dragstor. She was a short and stocky girl, sporting a chopped bob hairstyle that shifted from pastel pink to a sparkling purple underneath. She wore a purple suit, that covered her torso, and her upper calves. She also had a pauldron on her left shoulder, fingerless white gloves, purple boots, and a light blue cape. To complete the look, the girl had an aura around her that seemed to sparkle. The sparkly girl folded her arms and spoke,

"I thought the Horde was supposed to be good at this whole, invading thing." Dragstor chuckled and said,

"And I thought Princesses were supposed to be cowering in their castles ordering their servants to give them sponge baths." The girl glared at him and said, indignantly,

"I'll show you who's cowering…" With that, the sparkly girl disappeared. Dragstor looked around in shock, trying to figure out what happened. Not a moment later, the girl appeared in front of him again and punched him in the mask.

"Agh!" He groaned after getting hit. He tried to counter but the girl had disappeared and his arm swung at nothing. With him off balance, the girl appeared behind him and kicked him in the back. Dragstor cried out in pain then fell to his knees. Brett had observed closely what had just happened. He suddenly had flashbacks to the princess robot he had fought back at the Fright Zone. He muttered to himself,

"This is just like the simulations… That princess can teleport!" Brett was going to take a step but was halted by Brittni putting her arm out to stop him. He looked at her and she shook her head. They both knew that there were too many guards. If they tried to make any sudden move, the Rebels would shoot them down. Meanwhile, Dragstor was failing to fight the princess. Her teleportation was too fast and he kept swinging at air. Finally, the princess appeared in front of him again and punched him in the face, knocking him on his back. The distortion in his voice from the mask caused his next scream to sound rather frightening.

"Had enough, tough guy?" The princess asked, standing in front of him with a confident smile. In response, Dragstor started chuckling and picked himself up. He then said,

"Not even close. But why don't level the playing field?!" With that, Dragstor pulled a grenade from his utility belt and threw it on the ground. As soon as it exploded, a large cloud of smoke enveloped the area. When that happened, the Rebels and Horde began firing their weapons, aimlessly; hitting and missing each other. The Twins on the other hand, had observed closely where the rebels were and were able to pick their targets and avoid the laser fire. Brett dove behind a barrel and aimed into the smoke, he fired his laser pistol and heard a harrowing cry from a rebel soldier.

"Got'cha.." Brett muttered. Brittni, meanwhile had grabbed a couple of Horde soldiers that had been hit while simultaneously avoiding the lasers. She layed low, and slowly dragged them into a building close to her and began her medical treatment. Meanwhile, during the confusion, the princess looked around for a target, as she was just as blinded as everyone else. A target found her, however, when Dragstor jumped up and punched her in the face. This caused her to fly onto her back,

"Ow!... Ugh.." the Princess groaned. Dragstor brandished his wrist-mounted crossbow, aimed it at her and fired the bolt, only for her to teleport away just in time. The tables started to turn in favor of the Horde. Dragstor had yelled for all the remaining troops to get into the building where Brittni was patching up the troops. Whatever troops heard, did as commanded. Once they were all in, they heard the princess' voice coming from some kind of loudspeaker saying,

"Rear guard, retreat to the castle!" The Rebels jumped from tree to tree, and ran hastily to the wall. The squads couldn't see where they had disappeared off to, however. Dragstor looked around to see who was still present. The Twins, Viktor and only a handful of soldiers were still standing, unharmed. Many had been injured in the fight, and only Brittni and one other medic were uninjured. While the medics were at work, Viktor spoke up,

"This is bad, Captain. How did they know that we were here? What are we going to do now?!" Dragstor raised his hand to stifle Viktor, and took a seat.

"I need to think a moment. I-" Just then, the squad heard a crash upstairs and an agonizing scream. Everyone looked up. Dragstor stood up.

"Brett, Viktor, with me." They both nodded, and all three headed up the staircase. They crept down the hallway, following the grunts and groans. They were finally lead to a door at the end. Dragstor motioned for Brett and Viktor to go on each side of the door. He then ran to the door kicking it off its hinges, the wood splintering everywhere. The team moved in and found the source of the groans, which were now replaced by screams; a Rebel soldier that had a wardrobe on top of his legs. When the door was kicked open, he struggled to crawl away, but the wardrobe kept him pinned. Dragstor walked over and kneeled down next to him,

"Well, you seem to be stuck between a wardrobe and a hard place." The soldier continued to groan and sneered,

"Go ahead, kill me. You Horde scum have already taken everything from me!" Dragstor chuckled a bit, then said,

"Oh, I don't kill anything that has potential value to me." He then stood up and stomped on the wardrobe which caused the soldier to cry in pain. Brett looked disturbed. He looked at Viktor for some mutuality, but Viktor just kept a focused, but otherwise, blank face. Dragstor knelt back down, and continued,

"Tell me, Rebel, how did your comrades know we were here?" The soldier, struggling with his words, gave a pained response,

"You.. think.. That I know?!"

"You have to have some idea how they knew. I doubt they keep you this uninformed. Then again, you Rebels are tactically inefficient."

"We managed to ambush you! Agh.." The soldier managed to shout out, despite the pain. Dragstor was motionless for a few moments. He stood up again and stomped the wardrobe even harder. The soldier screamed a deafening wail that would put a banshee to shame. The soldier let a few tears fall out and managed to choke out,

"Please.. Stop…" Dragstor got up in his face and said,

"Are you going to cooperate?" The soldier nodded, weakly. Just then, Dragstor, Brett, and Viktor heard someone approach. It was Brittni. Brittni looked around shocked at the door that was broken and flown against the opposite wall.

"What's going on-" She began to say, then she noticed the Rebel soldier and gasped. "Captain! What are you doing?!" Dragstor paused for a moment, his breath sounding irritated.

"I'm interrogating a prisoner, Brittni. Get back to tending to the wounds that his people caused!" Dragstor said, pointing at the soldier. Brittni protested, saying,

"B..But, Captain!" Dragstor then stood up and walked up to Brittni, his boots sounding like a cannon going off each step. Brittni shuddered and swallowed.

"Do you have a problem with my methods… soldier?" Brittni was definitely intimidated and stammered,

"I.. I.." She sighed and said, "No, sir…"

"Good. Now, get back downstairs and save the rest of our men. Now!" Brittni's eyes had become glossy from the stress of everything going on, but she turned away before Dragstor could see her tears. She looked at Viktor and Brett. Viktor maintained his desensitized face, while Brett motioned his head for her to leave the room. Brittni sniffled and ran out of the room downstairs. Dragstor then turned back to the soldier and knelt back down to him.

"I'm going to ask you again, soldier; and trust me when I say that this will be the last time I ask you." He grabbed the Rebel by the hair and asked the question, "how did the Rebellion know we'd be here?" The soldier coughed a few times then said,

"It was… I dunno his name… but… he was that… vulture-humanoid." Brett and Viktor gasped. Dragstor was taken aback. He let go of the Rebel's head, and stared blankly at the wall. After a few moments, Dragstor muttered,

"...Vultak…"

"Vultak! You treacherous, turncoat, two-faced, traitor! Since when did you start helping the Rebellion?!"

- Probably Hordak.

I will write a personal story for anyone that gets that reference. Thanks so much for reading! If you paid close attention to the first episode of She-Ra, you find out what happens to Elberon. Much love to y'all :)