Chapter 2: Ultimatums
Dread gripped Adora's heart as she stood atop one of the great spires at Bright Moon castle and looked out at the castle town below. Prime clones and Horde warbots combed the empty streets, stepping over rubble and through flaming debris in their search for hostages. Thankfully, the Rebellion had managed to move everyone inside the walls of the castle proper before any civilians were taken. Plumes of smoke rose in the lands beyond the town, likely from the scorched earth and scarred fields of the many villages and settlements in the distance Prime's forces had already annihilated.
A sound built up overhead, like roaring thunder, and Adora looked up at a massive warship orbiting above. It was the source of all this destruction and chaos to begin with. Light from a cannon on its underside pulsed and illuminated the smooth surface of its hull. The cannon flashed, blinding bright, and a beam as large as one of the castle's own turret towers shot from the belly of the ship and streaked toward them. It smashed into a massive magic shield separating them from the attacking enemy, and the cannon-fire dissipated across the dome, lighting up an intricate pattern of geodesic lines and kaleidoscope swirls that spanned the shield's surface.
The ground shook with the impact of the blast and Adora grimaced. That warship was the sole reason their entire resistance had fallen, mere hours after returning with Bow. After defying Light Hope and breaking the Sword of Protection to stop the Heart of Etheria from firing, they both sped back to Bright Moon atop Swift Wind. That warship descended upon them almost immediately thereafter, spitting fire and beaming clone troops and killer bots to the surface to demolish and occupy everything in sight. It was a miracle the princesses and Elite Bright Moon guard had jumped into action as quickly and efficiently as they had. She didn't even want to think about what would have happened if Micah and Shadow Weaver hadn't worked together to erect that shield so quickly. It was probably the only thing successfully keeping the enemy forces at bay.
Another burst of fire from the ship and another rumble in the earth sent Adora clutching at her ribs in pain.
"Adora, you should really get that looked at," King Micah said, standing next to her. "Please."
"I can't do that, sir," Adora said.
A clone or warbot—she wasn't sure which—had grazed her with blaster fire earlier, when she couldn't get out of the way fast enough. She counted herself lucky to get away with what was likely just a bruise, since the final push to get civilians inside the castle walls had been a brutal fight. Her armor was ruined and she could no longer wear it, but at least she was alive.
"The next wave could come at any minute," she said. "I have to be ready for it."
"We have to be ready," Micah said, "not just you. You should be able to take a break or go and get yourself examined if need be. The rest of us are here protecting the castle, too."
Adora didn't say anything. She really didn't want to get into this right now and hoped Micah would let it go if she didn't engage.
"The sword is broken and She Ra is gone for now," he said. "You made the choice you thought was right in the moment and I don't blame you for it in the slightest. But there's no use in dwelling on that any longer." He swept his hands at the wreckage and enemy soldiers on the other side of the barrier. "This is a fight we'll have to win without her. I'll need you in top shape if we're to stand any chance."
Adora opened her mouth to respond when Entrapta's voice blared through the transceiver at Micah's belt.
"We have a signal and we're being hailed! It's coming—oh gosh, it's coming directly from Horde Prime's citadel in orbit. It's coming now! Hurry!"
Adora and Micah spared each other knowing glances before they both took off at a dead sprint down the spire's stairs. Adora did what she could to keep her mind from spiraling. They raced down the hallway, passing huddles of refugees from the surrounding area and pockets of battered Bright Moon soldiers. Everyone looked so exhausted, and Adora had a feeling she wasn't faring much better in their eyes either.
When they finally skidded around a sharp turn and burst through the high double doors into the castle's war room, the princesses and Shadow Weaver were already there, huddled around a frantic Bow and manic Entrapta. The two of them worked furiously at a briefcase-sized device on the table. It was undoubtedly one of Entrapta's creations, judging by its haphazard, jury-rigged appearance.
"Hurry!" Entrapta said to Bow. "You need to amplify the capture signal or we're going to lose it!"
"Get the transmission up," Micah said, striding in with a confidence that betrayed nothing of the fact he and Adora were sprinting like mad moments earlier.
Bow yanked at a handful of dials and knobs on the device and dashed over to a hole in the floor. Massive cables snaked from the box through the hole into the foundations of the castle underneath, and the sound of Bow exerting himself echoed out the moment he jumped inside. Entrapta keyed a few commands into the tablet she held in her left hand, furrowed her brow at the box when it apparently didn't do what she was expecting it to, and pounded the top of the device once with a closed fist.
A life-sized hologram of Horde Prime flickered into existence next to them and bathed the room in a green light.
"Greetings, Etherians," he said with his hands folded behind his back and a cool expression on his face. "I have come to negotiate terms of your surrender, for Prime is merciful, and the newest addition to our Galactic Empire should not suffer such bloodshed and destruction needlessly. Who among you has the authority to treat with an Emperor?"
A murmur of uncertainty spread through the group as the princesses looked at each other. Adora felt their eyes linger on her, then turn away. They didn't mean anything by it. She knew they were just uncertain whether they should place such a burden on someone who had just lost She Ra at their most desperate hour, but that didn't stop the pang of guilt that shot through her in response.
"I can speak with you," Micah said, stepping forward. "I am Micah, King of Brightmoon. What terms of surrender do you propose?"
Horde Prime turned and regarded Micah with a genteel expression. The earlier murmur of uncertainty from the princesses turned into alarm, and Adora looked at Micah as if to say what the heck are you doing? He was talking to her of winning the battle without She Ra not even moments earlier. Why all of a sudden did he seem to jump at the chance to talk of surrender?
Except, the look Micah returned to her suggested something else was at play. Prime spoke then of unconditional surrender and an immediate vacating of the castle. He wanted them to march out beyond the magic shield with arms behind their heads. Micah instead countered with questions about guaranteeing their safety. It wasn't long before Adora realized what he was doing: he was stalling. Purposefully.
Adora didn't think, she just moved. They had to capitalize on Micah's distraction—come up with a plan of some sort.
"Entrapta," she said, shuffling around Prime toward her and gritting her teeth, trying to eke out the syllables without moving her lips. "Can you get the transmission's coordinates?"
Entrapta looked up at her with a confused expression. "It's coming from Horde Prime's citadel? You know, since that's where he is?"
"No that's not what I—" Adora sighed and suppressed the urge to turn on Entrapta and shake her right then and there. "We need to know where on that station he's broadcasting from. Can you work your magic and get us the exact coordinates of the transmission?"
Realization dawned on Entrapta's face. "Ohhhh, yeah I can get that. It will take a moment so make sure you keep him talking."
Adora was about to point out that's exactly what Micah was already doing, but Entrapta had already turned and was busy tapping commands into her data-pad and adjusting the knobs and dials on the projector. Adora and the princesses exchanged wide-eyed looks of horror as she worked. Prime only had to turn around, and he would see they were up to something.
Fortunately, Micah was doing a wonderful job irritating the Emperor with increasingly ludicrous questions about their surrender.
"All I'm asking is who is going to pay for repairs to the castle town and surrounding countryside?" he said. "My people have no homes, and their livelihoods have been erased because of the consequences of the invasion."
Micah gestured with strong, sweeping motions of his arms as he spoke. Adora couldn't help but feel impressed at how convincingly he led Horde Prime around by the nose with his tangents. For someone who had been stuck for years on Beast Island and proclaimed to not be used to speaking, he was doing a damn good job of it right when they needed him.
The same can't be said for you and She Ra, though. The thought came uninvited to her head, and she pushed it out. She had to focus.
"Not to mention the cost of rebuilding the other kingdoms," Micah said. "If the level of destruction in Bright Moon is indicative of how the other domains are faring, then it is safe to say we as a planet cannot fund our own rebuilding effort. Not fully, anyway, and not without significant stagnation in our global economy. Our ability to thrive as a subject under your rule would be severely hampered."
One of the extra eyes on Horde Prime's face twitched, and his lips tugged upward in a snarl. "You will leave those details to me. The Empire will decide how best to help you rebuild and integrate. All you and your band of holdouts need concern yourselves with is vacating your castle and letting my forces take custody of it and of you."
"Yes, but what if—"
"Enough!" Horde Prime seemed to grow even taller in his fury. He balled his fists at his side and the tendrils on his head coiled like dancing snakes. "You are beaten, King of Bright Moon. Do you not realize this? You and your castle are the last resistance still standing on your planet. You will surrender peacefully or you will all die, but you will not be standing come morning."
The room stilled and Prime relaxed, uncurling his fists and combing his fingers through his tendril-hairs with a deep breath through the nose. "I have grown to appreciate the benefits of negotiating peace as opposed to long conquests and their brutality. I had hoped to extend the same offer for peaceful surrender to your people, but that seems to have unintentionally emboldened you. Maybe this will help you understand." Prime gestured and an image fizzled to life in the space next to him. When they recognized what the image was, everyone in the room gasped.
It was surveillance video of a single, sanitary-white room. One bunk bed was shoved into the wall, and a table with chairs sat in the center. The camera was placed high in the corner, judging by the perspective. Catra was standing underneath, looking directly up at them, eyes wide with fear and hair sticking out every which direction. She looked skinnier and was yelling something repeatedly at the camera, although Adora couldn't tell what, since there was no sound. Glimmer lay on the bottom bunk, clearly not doing well. Was she dead? Is that why Catra looked so panicked?
An icy feeling seized Adora by the gut and she forced herself to look away. Instead, she glanced at her friends. The princesses all looked shocked, and Bow had stepped forward with a murderous glint in his eyes. King Micah, on the other hand, held his hand out like he had tried to reach through the image to pull his daughter through to him. He looked absolutely devastated. Heartbroken.
Entrapta flagged Adora down with exaggerated movements of her hair and, somehow, Prime still hadn't caught on. I have the coordinates, she mouthed soundlessly to her. Adora nodded. A fire felt like it had suddenly lit itself inside her.
"Ah, it seems that did indeed get your attention," Prime said to Micah. "You have no power to negotiate in this exchange. You will surrender to my forces outside your castle immediately."
"No, we will not," Adora said.
Everyone turned to her in surprise. Prime blinked once, twice. He looked like he didn't quite trust what he heard.
"Say that again?" he asked.
Adora took a step forward and pushed her chin out at him. Prime was several heads taller than her, but that didn't mean she couldn't make him feel like she was the one looking down on him. "I said no. We will not be surrendering. You will return Glimmer and Catra to us immediately or there will be hell to pay."
"Oh? And who are you? Your King must truly be daring if he allows his subjects to make such demands in his stead."
"I am Adora, Princess of Power. If you do not return Queen Glimmer and Catra to us at once, then we will come for them ourselves. I'm warning you, Horde Prime…if you've done anything to them, anything at all, then I will make you pay. On this I swear as a citizen of Bright Moon, and as She Ra of Etheria."
Horde Prime crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. "Hm." His holographic figure stuttered, then disappeared entirely, leaving them alone in the war room.
"He cut the signal," Entrapta said.
Adora immediately went to Micah who was shaking with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said, forcing himself to calm down. "I saw her there in the back and I just…I just froze."
'It's okay, sir," Adora said. She beckoned to the others who hurried over to comfort him. "We were all shocked to see that too, but you haven't seen Glimmer in years. I can't imagine trying to keep a clear head if I were in your shoes. I could barely keep it together as is."
Micah flashed her a grateful look.
"This does beg the question though," said a voice off to the side. Shadow Weaver, who up to that point had remained quiet in the corner, glided toward them. "What do we do, now that you have taken any chance of negotiation unequivocally off the table?"
Adora felt another piece in her plan fall into place and smiled. "You've teleported before, haven't you? Twice, each over long distances if I remember correctly. The first when you came to Bright Moon from the Fright Zone, and the second when you, Bow, and Glimmer all came to rescue me."
Shadow Weaver gave her a skeptical look. "Indeed, I did use a teleportation spell for each of those instances, and for others. I feel I must warn you—whatever it is you are thinking in your head of doing, teleporting is not easy nor straightforward. It's incredibly difficult."
Adora nodded, "I understand that, but it's going to be difficult regardless if we intend to do anything other than give up. Entrapta pulled the coordinates from Prime's broadcast. The exact coordinates."
Entrapta's eyes lit up. She seemed to suddenly piece together what Adora was getting at. "Those coordinates should not only just tell us where on the ship he is, but where exactly in space he is. XYZ coordinates. If we combine that with a teleportation spell, then—"
"Then we can teleport right in front of him and take him out." Micah said, finishing her sentence with a nod. "It would be incredibly difficult, and we'd have to get it exactly right, but…" he glanced at Shadow Weaver, who looked like she very much didn't want to go ahead with that plan but couldn't find a good reason to refuse. "We should be able to do it."
"Good," Adora said and all eyes turned back to her. "Entrapta, you work with King Micah and Shadow Weaver on getting us there, by any means necessary. As soon as you give us the green light we'll go."
"This sounds awfully like a suicide mission to me," Mermista said, looking at the other princesses, likely to gauge how many of them felt the same as her. "If we screw this up at all, even slightly, we're done. No more Princess Alliance, no more princesses. Possibly no more Etheria."
"That's already going to happen if we don't do anything at all," Adora said. "I understand the hesitation, but think about if this works. We'll be able to get right in front of Prime without him even expecting it and grab him, either for ransom or something else. We should probably decide what to do with him before we go, but either way: if this works, we can turn this invasion on its head with one swift stroke."
There was another low murmur through the group, but Adora didn't hear any consensus around rejecting her plan.
"Uhh, guys?" Bow said. He had made his way to the war room's general controls during their discussion, and was looking at the reading on the console with a nervous expression. "You should take a look at this." He punched a few commands into the console and a large screen in the room blinked to life.
Multiple surveillance videos splayed across the monitor showed fresh clones pushing through the barrier like they were wading through molasses, regrouping in ordered formations on the inside. Other video feeds showed additional troops, and now tanks and armored vehicles, materializing on the outside of the barrier, beamed in from the warship overhead. They too pushed through the barrier and formed up with their fellows on the other side.
"Battle stations everyone," Adora said. "We've got another assault!"
The rest of the princesses sprinted out the war room and to their respective posts. Bow punched another command into the system and a siren blared in the distance, warning the guards to gear up and join them outside.
"Entrapta, Shadow Weaver, Micah, you three know what to do," Adora said. "Let us know as soon as you're ready. And please, hurry!" The three of them nodded, and Adora rushed off to join the others in battle.
