Chapter 13: Ambush

I did fall slightly short of my self-imposed deadline on this one, but that was because I wanted to take the time needed to receive feedback before publishing. I'll give myself half-credit if that's okay.

The Seer

25.241 percent. An increase of a full 3 percent.

It ran counter to expectations. Dramatically so. But that was what the numbers said, and Dinah trusted them. She knew there were complications. The Simurgh and Contessa were lurking and Horde Prime's empire extended far beyond her power's gaze —even if the fleet encircling Etheria fell squarely within it due to the planet's diminutive size —yet she was certain her numbers remained the safest guide.

"Tell Ms. Lavere that she may see her father and Hunter, Luis."

The man was clearly displeased. Even with the cloth lessening the clarity of her gaze, Dinah could see that his lips were pursed. Still, he did not protest, and left the command tent to carry word to the Red Queen. She would have expected an objection, had her power not been there to correct her.

She could feel Tattletale's gaze, judgmental and withering, upon her as well. It was as though all the world's disdain shone upon her and her alone. But she could persevere. She would persevere. When this was seen through, they would not be able to deny what she had done.

Do what must be done. Be sorry, but do it nonetheless.

A voice came through Dinah's earpiece: it was Bow's. She would have preferred to have outfitted herself and the others with technology of a higher caliber, but there hadn't been time. These pieces Entrapta had supplied would have to do.

"I've laid out all of the traps we outlined. I'll continue to look for holes in our defense, but we're fortified if they try to rush us."

"Excellent, Bow."

The odds of the Horde reaching the portal to Shin decreased by over 1 percent if he continued to lay traps in the forest nearby.

"Please continue to prepare a defense for as long as it is safe."

"Roger. I'll report back soon."

"Was that a necessary question to ask, Cassandra?" Tattletale inquired with her needling tone. "Did you need to verify that fact?"

"It may have been unlikely there would have been negative consequences for fortifying our position, but I could not be sure. I have questions to spare, and I want every choice verified."

"There's someone else I know who isn't used to making decisions on their own. Maybe the two of you should sit down for some therapy together. Braid each other's hair while lying out your asses."

Dinah ignored Tattletale. She adjusted her headset, repositioning the microphone so it was closer to her mouth.

"Glimmer, attack whenever you are ready."

She gulped nervously as she gave the order. Battle meant her ability to dictate action, her control would lessen. But battle was needed.

She thought of Jeanne Wynn, speaking of accountability and honesty. Dinah had said she would strive to embody those ideals. And she would. Soon.

Dinah Alcott would not back down.

Antares

We will strike fast and strike hard, sending teams to attack each Magnetar cannon at the same time. They must not be allowed to prepare defenses around them. If you destroy a cannon, call for Glimmer to deposit you where you are needed next.

The instructions were simple, but Victoria still repeated them in her head even as she flew with her forcefield at ready towards the clearing where the Magnetar cannon had parked. It was a comforting mantra as she hurtled towards battle. Not quite black text on white paper, but close enough.

The cannon itself had a simple design, resembling an oversized tank where the mechanical construction had been replaced by a perfectly smooth, white surface. An oversized dome rested where the hatch would have been. That was the casing which contained both the weapon's core and a small compartment from which a Horde engineer piloted the device.

The ranks of soldiers around the cannon shouted as they saw Victoria. They turned, readying their weapons.

Tendrils erupted from the forest surrounding the cannon, growing thick as they looped around its treads. Others scattered the rigid formations of soldiers protecting it. The Horde's march may have been frightening as it thundered through the Whispering Woods, crushing vegetation in its path, but the field here tilted decisively in favor of one Princess.

Victoria swooped low over a column of clones, grabbing the leader and delivering a blow to his nape before dropping him to the dirt, stunned.

Perfuma has tossed them into disarray. Now to prevent them from launching a counterattack while she crushes their weapon.

A sorcerer was perched on the cannon, his eyes following Victoria's flight path. Victoria scattered apart Horde clones and enthralled Etherians, watching the guardian out of the corner of her eye.

Then, in a flash, the sorcerer was gone.

A black puddle opened underneath Victoria and the sorcerer erupted from it, brandishing a staff glowing a bright white. Victoria banked to one side as a beam of energy shot past her. She turned to face the sorcerer again, but he fell back into the puddle, which receded and vanished.

Victoria flew through a group of clones that had managed to organize themselves, bowling them over like stacks of cards. One who still stood aimed his arm cannon at her, but Victoria was already upon him. One arm of her forcefield crushed his cannon, while the other crippled him with a blow to the back of his neck.

Victoria's blows were restrained. Still, even as she only struck with enough force to shatter her enemy's chips, she still found herself wavering. She knew there had been no other choice but to kill those guarding Horde Prime, but she was still unsettled by how she had slaughtered them with such ease, tearing and crushing them. She thought of rows of glassy-eyed men and women clothed in white, and even herself, flying beside a woman in blue.

As few of Horde Prime's slaves as possible would die by her hand as possible.

As Victoria prepared to drop the clone, she heard a sloshing sound as his toes dragged along the ground.

Shit!

Tendrils erupted from the black pool that had been summoned silently beneath her. They took hold of her forcefield, changing shape as they did so, hooking around limbs and grabbing crevices for purchase. The grasping liquid reached every curve and cranny, and Victoria could see them highlighting the Wretch's shape. An extra mouth bit a tendril that wandered into it.

For a second, Victoria was sinking further towards the pool. Then, her forcefield vanished. She rocketed herself upwards. The black tendrils fell as their handholds vanished without warning, splashing into the black pool with ripples too strong for a substance so thick. More erupted to grab her, but she was already out of their reach.

The face of the sorcerer peeked from the puddle, but she saw it vanish as she flew above.

Victoria turned her gaze to the Magnetar cannon, which was now nearly covered in vines. The sorcerer had returned to his perch upon the cannon, summoning forms of the same black liquid he had grabbed Victoria with to hold Perfuma's vines at bay. A layer of the liquid cushioned the barrel as a vine tried to crush it, while the sorcerer directed attacks at other vines and erupting roots that crawled towards the casing holding the core, a sphere from which a faint haze of heat rose.

Now, to overcome this defense and let Perfuma be victorious.

A voice came through Victoria's earpiece as she made a loop through the air, evading several laser shots before coming out of the maneuver to disable her attackers.

"Legend has eliminated the first cannon," Dinah said, her voice — transmitted with perfect clarity — containing equal parts self-satisfaction and relief. "He will be providing relief to Chevalier, Scorpia and Catra."

It was comforting to hear that. Legend had not yet returned to full power — not close to it either — but this task was closer to what was expected of him. He was a hero who could fly to any battle and end it on his lonesome. Victoria had appreciated fighting alongside him, as a person, but there was reassurance in his sheer power.

Victoria flew straight towards the sorcerer's perch upon the cannon. She saw the man's face contort as he saw her. Nearly the entirety of the cannon was coated in black ooze and vines now, and she was flying for him as fast as she could.

Victoria dropped suddenly as a weight landed upon her forcefield. Before she could comprehend what was happening, it shattered.

With her forcefield down, Victoria twisted like a cyclone. The pressure upon her lifted, and Victoria could hear the sound of feet landing on the ground without a stumble.

Victoria turned to see her assailant. It was an Etherian thrall, tall and heavily built, her purple skin bulging with musculature. In one hand, she brandished a staff.

Victoria marveled at the woman. She hadn't even seen where the woman had leaped from, but the luck of her landing was certainly a marvel. Victoria began to lift herself higher in the air — forcefield shielding her — when the woman struck again.

She moved faster than Victoria expected, closing the distance between them so fast that Victoria froze in shock. She regained her senses in time for the woman to shatter her forcefield with a blow from her staff.

I am not on my game right now. I need to be better or I am going to get myself killed. The thoughts flowed through Victoria's mind as the woman grabbed her leg and, with a mighty yank that made her hip scream in agony, pulled her to the ground. Victoria hit the ground and tumbled. The spongy grass of the Whispering Woods provided a stronger cushion here than on Earth, but the impact was hardly comfortable.

Victoria pulled herself upright as the woman descended upon her. A hand reached from her forcefield and grasped the enemy's staff, pulling it from her hands and shattering it, but the woman didn't hesitate even as she lost her weapon.

A single punch brought Victoria's forcefield down and another followed shortly behind it. Victoria swayed to avoid the blow, but a third punch struck, striking her square in the chest-plate and sending her sprawling as her forcefield returned.

"I don't want to have to kill you!" Victoria screamed at the woman who, unfazed, continued to pursue her.

Victoria grabbed one of the woman's arms with the Wretch and prepared to break it, only for a swiftly delivered kick to leave her vulnerable and unable to cripple her opponent. Her leg — the one she had hurt fighting Mermista — ached again, and if it weren't for her armor, she was certain her ribs would have been fractured.

She threw a punch at her adversary, using flight to add momentum as she landed a hook on her side. The woman didn't even notice, slamming into Victoria like a charging bull. They fell to the ground together.

Victoria's forcefield reappeared in time to catch the woman's fist just before it impacted her face. She pushed with the full strength of her aura. The woman recovered swiftly, but was unable to react before her other hand was grabbed as well.

Victoria may have been trapped underneath her enemy, but her fragile companion was strong. It lifted the purple woman (who was raising her neck to headbutt Victoria) and tossed her backwards.

Finally, Victoria shot skyward, out of reach of her enemy. The purple woman still stared with the blank yet malevolent stare of Horde Prime's thralls.

Victoria watched the woman with unease. No, it wouldn't do to leave her free to attack.

Victoria propelled herself forward and up in a shallow arc then turned downwards as suddenly as she could as she passed over the purple woman. She turned her gaze upwards, but not in time. Victoria's forcefield struck the back of her neck — nearly full force — and she slumped to the ground.

Please be strong enough to walk that off later.

Victoria shot toward the Magnetar cannon like a bullet. The sorcerer remained in the same position he had held before, desperately staving off Perfuma's attacks. He caught Victoria approaching and panic flickered across his face. He sunk into the black liquid underneath him.

The protective shield around the cannon dissipated. The vine wrapped around its barrel and finally pressed down unhindered, making a sound like a car crusher as metal crumpled beneath it. Prickly ivy did the same to the core's casing. At first, the metal resisted, but the ivy tightened, and its thorns punctured the casing.

The sound the cannon made as its core dissipated sounded like a balloon popping, short and quieter than it should have been. A single strand of smoke rising from underneath the coil of ivy was the only other sign of the machine's failure.

The remaining Horde troops were retreating into the Whispering Woods, leaving behind the slumped figures of their fellow thralls. For now, this site was secure.

Victoria flew to Perfuma's location within the trees. The Horde hadn't been able to find her in the confusion Victoria had inflicted. Victoria saw a duo of retreating clones spot Perfuma and aim their weapons to fire upon her, but they were tossed aside by roots that erupted from the ground.

"We did it," Perfuma shouted with glee as Victoria landed next to her. "I saw you fighting Huntara. Great job with that!"

"You mean that purple woman?" Victoria asked. "You think that was impressive? I was too reactive."

"Trust me, she is tough. You have nothing in the least bit to be ashamed of. It hurts to see her controlled like that, but you see why she's tougher than you'd expect. Toughest person I know."

Victoria turned her head, barely able to see Huntara's unconscious figure from this distance among the white forms of Horde Prime's clones.

"Should we have Glimmer rescue her and take her back to safety?"

"Exactly what I was thinking, Antares. I wish we could save everyone." Perfuma took a breath that was just a little too deep and a little too sharp. "But for now, let's get her to safety."

"And once we beat this back," Victoria said for encouragement, "we will make Horde Prime regret ever setting foot here, and we will save everyone."

They called Glimmer, the Princess arriving before Perfuma had even finished her report. "I'll be taking you to help Adora, Spinnerella and Frosta. Several sorcerers and Mermista arrived to reinforce the cannon they're targeting. It was traveling along the Northern edge of the first and pulled out of the upon being attacked. They're having a hard time fighting in the open space and they need help. A warning. Mermista is there."

Victoria and Perfuma nodded. Glimmer set her hands on their shoulders, and the world vanished into pink sparkles.

"Good luck," Glimmer said.

Glimmer had deposited them just inside the treeline, a hundred feet or so away from the raging battle surrounding the tank. Perfuma closed her eyes and began to hum some melody to herself. The vines and ivy on the nearby trees came alive and began to grow, snaking out onto the plain. As they did, Victoria flew.

She outstripped the plants as she shot forward. An aerial drone flew towards her, only to fall to the ground with its chassis caved in. Laser beams fired from the ground sailed around Victoria. One struck her forcefield, a shot flying by one second later so close that she felt its heat on her ear.

One sorcerer was planted on the cannon, summoning diagrams that served as shields around it. She was faced away from Victoria, holding back Adora as she carved through his spells, scattering red-colored runes that danced like fireflies into the air with each stroke of her sword. She didn't notice Victoria before she struck the back of her neck.

"Glad to have you!" Victoria heard Adora shout.

Vitoria prepared to yell something in return, but was interrupted as blasts were fired upon her. She banked to avoid the lasers, looking for the next target. A sorcerer among their ranks struck her forcefield squarely with a spell that caked it in ice. Without her forcefield, it likely would have immobilized her. Victoria shook off the ice with a spin. Phantom hands grabbed shards that hung in the air, and fired them into the ranks of clones. Less lethal than stone or metal, she still heard cries of pain.

A gust of wind tossed aside a knot of clones. Spinnerella. The princess lifted herself into the air on a cyclone, the scent of raspberries wafting to Victoria and relieving her from the odor of her own sweat.

"No way Netossa is catching up to the points I'm earning right now!" She whooped with satisfaction. More gusts of wind knocked over clones like bowling pins.

She turned to Victoria, still sporting a grin on her face.

Victoria found herself smiling too.

The two of them worked in tandem. Spinnerella's gusts threw the Horde into disarray, and Victoria flew into the chaos, crippling clones and disabling thralls.

Perfuma's plants now arrived in the melee. From this distance, her control was lessened and they grew more slowly, but they bowled through soldiers with ease.

The sound of rushing water sounded behind her and Victoria accelerated. Tons of water fell upon where she would have been had she not sped up, raining upon clones who screamed in terror at their misfortune.

Victoria spotted Mermista on the ground as the Princess hissed. Water erupted from the ground beneath her, flying towards Victoria. She weaved to evade the first geyser while Spinnerella blew flurries that intercepted follow-ups.

Mermista leapt into her water and the ground broke again, more water spurting upwards. Horde clones were retreating with panic from the chipped Princess, running at full pelt without any semblance of order. Her water enclosed her in a bubble, forming a protective shield.

"We must be on top of an underground spring of some sort," Victoria shouted to Spinnrella as the two lifted themselves higher in the air. The combatants looked like ants now. Victoria could see walls of ice rising around the Magnetar cannon.

"I won't be able to blow away that much water," Spinnerella said.

More jets of water shot from Mermista like fire hoses, and Victoria weaved madly to avoid them. Even with Spinerella intercepting blasts, it was difficult.

"I can't rise any higher," the Princess shouted.

"I'll try to buy time for you to descend," Victoria said. "We don't need to beat her. We just need to not die. Our target is the cannons!

"And Mermista's target seems to be me!"

"Don't get yourself killed for my sake," Spinnrella said. "As in, I already tried to kill you. I don't want any more of that personal debt if you can avoid it."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Victoria leaned forward and dove.

Mermista took some time to respond to Victoria's change in direction, but she quickly accommodated. Her geysers began to fire lower and lower. Victoria shot to her right, diving behind a piece of Horde artillery. Her moment's respite ended as a wave crashed over her cover, sending her flying backwards.

Even as she tumbled, Victoria oriented herself upward, shooting out of the water. Her view of Mermista was obscured by the rushing froth of the water that surrounded her, but she almost thought she saw its currents accelerate even faster.

Then there was a sound. Amidst the roar of water and the hiss of lasers, Victoria almost missed it. It was a single clear pop. She turned to the Magnetar cannon. It had been upturned by Frosta's ice, resting on its side, the sorcerer Victoria had fought at the previous cannon frozen from the neck down in the assault.

Adora stood upon the cannon's casing, lowering her sword.

Then water obscured Victoria's view. It flowed around her and, she realized as she flew upwards, over her. Mermista was trapping her. Victoria unleashed her aura at full power, and the wall of water did little to shield the princess from the attack. Horde Prime's thralls may have been resistant to her aura, but they were not immune. The encircling water stilled.

"Glimmer, I need help right now!" Victoria shouted while pressing her earpiece.

She did not even see the Princess grab onto her before she was teleported to safety. She reappeared in the Whispering Woods, not far from camp.

Victoria disabled her aura and Glimmer shivered before giving a thumbs up.

"It's lucky that I was able to get there in time," Glimmer said. "When she truly puts in the effort, Mermista… never mind. Listen, Legend just destroyed the last cannon. I'm going to go get the others."

"Things are going well?"All four cannons destroyed, and no casualties yet? Dinah must be thanking the god of numbers.

"Not exactly," Glimmer said. "I need to go get the others, but Micah and his sorcerers didn't fall into our trap like we had hoped. Something bad happened."

Then she was gone, leaving only motes of pink.

The Eye

"What's wrong?"

Dinah was grimacing visibly. There was nothing of particular interest on the monitors in front of her, yet Tattletale could tell her attention had fixated on something.

Possibilities. The numbers shifted. Searching through timelines to ascertain the change in numbers.

"I can tell something is wrong, Kid."

Tattletale reached onto her belt and drew her handgun. The familiar weight felt right in her hands. She saw Precipice summon a silver blade out of the corner of her eye.

Dinah stood up straight. She whipped around, knocking over the chair she had been sitting on.

"We need to get out of here. Now. Find another location, a better fortified one."

Panicked. Believes death may be imminent. Irritated at Tattletale-self for discerning her distress before she willingly communicated it.

"Now!" she screamed at the soldiers.

They still stood slack-jawed.

"You heard her," Luis barked at them. "Fall back to the Capitol. Get vehicles to take us there."

The soldiers finally began to move with Luis' order. Dinah made her way to the exit of the command tent at a near-sprint. With a nervous grimace, Tattletale followed.

At first Tattletale felt relieved. Two trucks were speeding towards them. Then she saw Dinah's face, terror still written on it.

Strange shapes of black and purple appeared on the ground in front of them.

Within them, diagrams of black purple appeared. From bursts of dark fire, white figures materialized upon them. More and more popped up, over two dozen now.

"We're screwed," Precipice muttered. Still, he stepped in front of Dinah, his mechanical arms coming to life with a whirring noise.

Dinah stood petrified, her mouth opened wide, yet silent.

Tattletale grit her teeth, raised her gun and — without a moment's hesitation — fired.