A/N: Merry Christmas everyone. Consider this a present.
Rosebud66: Good catch. She was a general but since I changed Netossa and Spinnerlla from Princesses into generals I just made her a royal guard so that there would not be another one. Originally, Spinnerlla was supposed to do that but I did not want to kill her off. Mara and Adora will bond...through suffering. You will get a sense of their relationship in this chapter. Yeah, Bow does not wield his namesake yet. While bows are used in star wars they always seemed impractical to me so I want there to be a story reason for when Bow uses one. Thank you for the feedback and support.
In hindsight, Mara should have known this would happen. The Horde has been fiercely pursuing her since even before she joined the Rebellion so long ago. Of course they would send a garrison of stormtroopers plantside to hunt for her. What surprised her is how little time it took to find her, but she had a feeling that the Zygerrian slaver had a hand in this. Her gear and appearance was not exactly discrete; with the horde forces in orbit then Ajul must have connected the dots.
Mara found humor in the fact that she was Ajul's slave only a day before being sold off. A morbid thought, but she was an optimist trying to find the silver lining. She thought about this while scanning the area while being escorted by Ajul's guards to a courtyard. It was a granite floor surrounded by a sea of sand like everything else. This was clearly the whipping yard as there were several posts meant to hold cuffs. There were many stormtroopers standing guard on the northern side of the square; Ajul's guards held the southern side. While an officer standing in the center in a grey uniform with a cap that partially covered his eyes was flanked by guards. Mara guessed he must be the person in charge of this exchange.
Ajul himself arrived around the same time as she did. The guards led her to follow Ajul into the square where the officer was. "My, My look how many guards you have brought to my home." Ajul exaggerated while spreading his arms.. "Is this really necessary? The girl is not trained but she is no threat." Ajul smirked at Mara before crossing his arms to face the Horde officer.
"Security for such a high profile terrorist is always necessary." The officer replied.
"You really are an animal aren't you girl." Ajul taunted Mara but she did not respond to his provocation. So he continued the conversation with the officer. "May I ask what she did? Out of personal curiosity?"
"All you need to know has already been given in the arrangement with Force Captain Titus. Now it dictates you hand over the woman and her possessions, slaver." The officer spit the word slaver in disgust.
Ajul frowned at the obvious disrespect but still clapped his hand to signal his guards. Two of them produced the satchel and metal container she carried before capture. The items were presented to the officer so he grabbed the box to inspect it. "Has this been opened?"
"Afraid not. Whatever key she had must have been lost in the desert. The only way to open it is by force, but that could damage the product. Must be something important don't you think?" Ajul teased.
"Hand over the prisoner." The officer ignored the inquiry as he pointed to Mara.
"The prisoner can speak." Mara commented.
"Silence, Rebel." He snarked back.
"She is untrained as I have said." Ajul interjected. "Yet she is worth a high price, however, I see no credits in sight. My end of the deal will be upheld if you would…." Ajul trailed off while rubbing his fingers together.
"Target them." The officer said as his soldiers held up their blasters. Ajul's guards aimed in return even when outnumbered.
"Did you really think we would honor an agreement with Zygerrian filth? The only enslavement that shall be of any benefit to the Horde….is our by our own slaves. Your filthy gang you call an "Empire" gives you no leverage here. Surrender the criminal now." He ordered.
Ajul appeared to become irritated. "You barge into my compound. Disrespect me and my culture. Break the arrangement your superior and I agreed upon. Then expect me to roll over and expose my belly? No." He pulled out a blaster and the officer did as well.
"There is no winning here. Give us the rebel now!" The officer demanded as the forces of the two men moved in place from anxiety of the incoming firefight.
Mara knew she would have to make a move or risk being shot, but before she could there was a loud noise that distracted everyone. Ajul was focused on the officer and vice versa however many grunts broke position to look in the direction that carried the sounds of yelling, crashing, and buckling. Loud footprints echoed which gave Mara a sense of deja vu as she was hearing a stampede. From around the corner of a watchtower, that stationed a now a frantic guard, a crowd of charging dewback, Eopie, and Blurg were kicking up a wall of sand behind them as they came into view. This caught the attention of the two higher ups as Ajul was now angry at the thought of his cattle being loose while the officer assumed this was Ajul's plan.
"Calm them off now!" He pointed the blaster at Ajul.
Ajul, who was sick of taking orders, rolled his eyes then shot him in the head along with his two stormtroopers. Blaster bolts rang across the square as several troopers and guards were exchanging fire. Those who were not fast enough or too stupid to move were trampled by the panicking animals. Many were firing into the stampede, but they left themselves open to blaster fire from the opposing party. For example, while a group of stormtroopers were taking down dewback they were gunned down by guards armed with cycler rifles and hand blasters.
Ajul orders his nearby slaves and guards to grab Mara then her goods. Lonnie picked up the bag while a guard was carrying the container, and another was keeping a grip on Mara. They got further away from the square, which was a mass of struggling bodies and lasers, while ducking fire on their way back to the Palace. However, they were cut off as a landspeeder charged through a tent to nearly collide with them. Instead, it swerved to a stop then lightly crashed against the side of a building.
Adora was the driver. "Ow. Sorry. I swear I wasn't aiming for you." Adora brushed fallen hair out of her eyes to fix her important hairpoof.
"Adora! What is the meaning of this?!' Ajul yelled at Adora as she instinctively flinched at her master's voice.
If he asked her what she was trying to do she would not have an answer. If she said she had an escape plan then she would be lying. Adora just knew that she had to get Mara out of here. So she caused this big distraction by letting all of the cattle out of their stables (she reminded herself to thank Kyle for the help) and hoped for the best. Now Adora was faced with her master and having doubts about all of her decisions from the past ten minutes. Which is understandable because of her conditioning. Adora really did not want to face who Mara described as her jailer.
"Who told you to use my speeder? Did you do this?" He aimed his blaster at the nervous Adora.
Mara had seen enough so she decided to act. Mara held out her hand in the direction of the case. She reached out with her feelings to the force; she felt the case without even touching it. Mara felt the gears in the lock move in place as the jedi symbol on the side switched horizontally. Then, the lid of the case flew open. The guard holding it began to freak out at the object that moved out of nowhere. Mara urged the item in the now opened box to be pulled to her so if by command a large, ivory hilt flew from the box into her hand.
Everyone around Mara took notice of this disturbance as she twisted the grip on the hilt. The weapon ignited as a pale blue, light blade emitted from the hilt; the beam stopped three feet from the hilt forming the appearance of a laser sword. The weapon had a smooth, ivory sleeve that took up most of the hilt with a hand grip close to the pommel; the grip seemed to function as the switch when turned. Above the sleeve was an ornate crossguard that took the shape of golden wings that sprouted from the weapon before curving back close to the emitter. A small blue crystal inside the weapon was visible from the crossguard and connected to the emitter; It glowed brightly as the weapon was activated. Two thinner, smaller blades of blue energy sprouted from the emitter and connected to the ends of the golden ornament acting like conductors to form a laser crossguard.
"That's…...no way." Lonnie commented.
"It's beautiful." Adora whispered to herself.
"That's a lightsaber…...she can't be…..NO!" Ajul exclaimed then tried shooting Mara.
Mara used the blade to redirect the bolt back at his blaster to destroy it. She flipped the lightsaber to cut the bounds of her cuffs then hit the guard holding her with the pommel. She ducked under fire from the other guard and disarmed him by cutting through his blaster. Without looking she swiped behind her to disarm the other guard who was attempting to shoot her in the back. The whole exchange happened so quickly that if Adora had blinked she would have missed half it.
"You're a Jedi!" Ajul accused Mara aggressively.
"I told you that you would regret this." Mara told him as she walked closer to Ajul who visibly shrunk away from the lightsaber. "Call your men off." Instead he brought out the control to her slave collar but a force pulled it away from his hand into her own. With a click she deactivated the collar and pulled it off. "Thank you, but is that a no on the stand down?" Mara teased.
"Look at this!" Ajul gestured to his compound where animals were rampaging and firefights were raging. "Stand down? In this chaos! You Jedi have always been a curse! Why could you not have stayed dead."
Mara brought the blade closer to his neck which caused Ajul to flinch away. Mara sneered at his comment but then breathed through her nose and twisted the grip to deactivate her lightsaber. "Scram." She gestures with her neck. The weaponless guards took her advice and ran away. Mara held out her hand for the bag Lonnie held. A scared Lonnie threw it and Mara got it before walking to Adora. "We need to leave before things get worse." Mara spoke to Adora as she got closer to the speeder and threw the pack inside.
"Uh,yeah we need to- look out!" Adora called out.
Mara already turned on her lightsaber to strike her attacker. She countered the knife Ajul tried to stab her with by removing his appendage. Ajul cried out as he fell to the ground holding his wrist. The wound was cartarized so there was no more bleeding but he was now missing his right hand. He was yelling in pain while writhing on the ground.
"Adora! Kill her now!" He called to Adora who did not flinch this time at the command. "You have that dagger to be my weapon. Now kill the Jedi. Do what I say now!"
"I-I can't." Adora declined.
"You filthy mongrel. You were just a womp rat when I found you! Nothing but orphan trash! Kill her and prove that you're not useless!!" Ajul wailed.
He was silenced when Lonnie's kick to his head knocked him unconscious. "Mudscuffer." She spit on him, then turned to the others. "You guys are leaving right?"
"Yes. We can't stay here." Mara said.
"Come with us, Lonnie. We don't have to listen to him anymore." Adora said, referring to Ajul.
"I never imagined good girl Adora would say something like that. Guess you're not the "master's favorite" anymore." Lonnie smirked then shook her head. "Go on ahead."
"What? No, I can't leave you here!" Adora looked around at the havoc that was surrounding this conversation.
"And I can't leave Rogelio and Kyle behind. Those losers would die without me." Lonnie then nodded to Mara. "They can't be involved in this." Lonnie began running away from them as if to take the choice out of Adora's hands. "Go!" She called back.
"Adora we need to get somewhere safe. Drive." Mara stood in a crouch on the passenger seat with her lightsaber still ignited.
Adora watched as Lonnie ran off to who knows where. Everything happened so fast that she did not have time to consider that she would be forced to abandon her friends. Leaving behind the enslavement was hard but easier to handle; leaving behind her friends would most definitely become a regret. Yet, it was too late to turn back so she hit the accelerator to thrust the land speeder forward to sail through the area.
Adora was prioritizing caution over speed as the speeder swerved to avoid anything whether it was animals or even the stormtroopers as she was not comfortable with the idea of ramming. During this Mara was deflecting and dodging laser bolts that were being fired at them. She held the lightsaber vertically in both hands at her right side for her stance as she blocked with quick, aggressive movements. One stormtrooper with a rocket launcher fired a missile at them but Mara reached out with the force to move the projectile just enough that it would sail over them.
"How are you doing that?!" Adora exclaimed as she was frantically moving the controls and occainsoinnally ducking her head to avoid bolts that were not even aimed at her.
"We need to take out those transport ships or we'll be pursued." Mara ignored the question in favor of doing this. "Get us closer." Mara pointed at the transports that were just outside of the now closing gate.
"This is not how I wanted today to turn out!" Adora cried out as the speeder accelerated.
Mara continued to block bolts until she spotted a pauldron wearing stormtrooper. She reached out to force pull a cylinder object to her hand. Mara sat down to avoid the gate as they sped under it just in time. Adora drifted the landspeeder past one of the large gunships as Mara primed the object and threw it through the open shuttle door. The thermal imploder was blinking red and beeping to signal it's timer as the pair sped away front the scene. The transport exploded in a fiery haze and a large chunk of debris from it had crushed the other transport causing it to erupt as well.
Adora looked behind at the loud explosion before whistling at the sight. "Did we just do that?"
"Yes we did. Good job." Mara complemented.
"Oh, I feel like I'm gonna be sick." Adora looked slightly pale.
"Easy! Easy. That's just the adrenaline wearing off. Just breathe okay. Calm down and breathe." Mara comforted Adora by patting her back.
Adora began breathing through her nose quickly before calming down. "I'm good. I'm good. I just broke every rule I wasn't supposed to……….and blew up some things but I'm good."
"Let me take over for a bit. Once we get far enough away we can talk." Mara offered.
"I just wanna find a nice place to sleep this day away." Adora lamented.
Several hours later
"I asked for one thing. One thing. Am I being punished? It feels that way." Adora moaned.
"Calm down, Adora." Mara said after walking away from the engines. "Good news is the engines are fine. Bad news is that something important was blasted so they are overheating. Can't fix it so we just have to wait until they cool down."
It was the middle of the night when the speeder broke down. The engines were humming unusually so they stopped to check the problem. Adora was sitting on a bedroll with a large lamp attached to a power cell to illuminate the area. It looked like they were camping for the night. Mara sat down next to Adora while eating a ration bar before tossing one to Adora who chewed on it with a pout.
"Does this happen often? Your rides breaking down I mean." Adora tiredly asked but with a teasing smirk.
Mara tapped her chin in a thinking pose. "Well there was the one time I crashed a cargo ship-"
"What?!" Adora exclaimed.
"There were no passengers. Just stupid me crashing the ship." Mara smirked as Adora giggled in response.
"So this really was a normal day for you?" Adora questioned as she shoved the rest of the ration in her mouth.
"Actually, no." Mara collected her thoughts. She thought about why she wanted to bring Adora with her. "It's been a long time since I've met someone like you."
Adora snorted. "You make me sound like someone special." Adora stood up as she began to swing her arms in a closed fist like she was wielding a sword. "Not like you. You were all like "Swish" and "Pew Pew" and "Burh". Now that was awesome!" Mara chuckled at Adora's energetic movements. "Today was just insane! And that thing! How did you do the thing where you made things move? Can you do that all the time?"
To demonstrate, Mara force pulled a rock to her hand. "Wow! How are you doing that? Can you only do that or can-"
"Adora. Deep breaths." Mara tried calming down Adora.
Adora sucked her breath in then nods as if to say she was calm. Mara rolled her eyes then continued. "To clarify, it's not all me that's doing this. It's because of my connection to the force."
"Force of what? Like physics?" Adora was confused.
"...yes? Not really." Mara began levitating the rock between herself and Adora. "The way I was taught explained that the Force is what gives people like us power. It's an energy field that flows through everything. It separates us, surrounds us, yet binds us. It gives life to the galaxy and keeps it in balance." The rock flew over to Adora's hand who caught it. "While everything is the force there are those who are more sensitive to it. It can guide us and grant us strength or sight. The Jedi used their connection to the force to seek peace throughout the Old Republic. The Sith tapped into the Darkside of the Force to fulfill their own ambitions." Mara pulled the rock back to her.
"So that makes you a Jedi?" Adora questioned.
"I never finished my training, but technically I was meant to become a Jedi." Mara looked down with a sad, yet nostalgic expression. "My cousin, Adam, and I were trained in the ways of the force back on our homeworld of Eternia. Eternia was separate from the Republic, however our culture was tied closely with the Jedi Order. Our legends depicted warriors of great power wielding almost magical weapons." Mara pulled out her lightsaber to show Adora. "Since we were part of the Greyskull royal family it was decided that both he and I were destined to become Jedi and carry the titles of warriors past. I was supposed to become She-Ra, the princess of power; a Jedi who is said to appear during dark periods in history. That did not happen."
"I'm so sorry." Adora felt like she needed to apologize. She felt like this was a sore subject for Mara.
"No. It's fine. I haven't talked about this in a long time. I have allies in the Rebellion that know about my past, I even still go by She-Ra, but I have been very distant. I feel like I can connect with you though." Adora realized that the nostalgic look Mara held was aimed at her. "You remind me so much of Adam. You even look a little like him. He had terrible hair too."
"Yeah!" Adora hid her hair poof with a self conscious expression.
"Kidding. He would fall for that, too." Mara mused.
Adora assumed Mara talking about Adam in past tense was not a good sign so she decided to ask about something else on her mind. "Is that what you meant when you said "People like us"? That I remind you of your cousin or that you think I'm Eternian?"
"Yes to both, but I also meant that you're like me. Someone who is force-sensitive." Mara explained.
"Like I can move objects with my mind too?" Mara nods at Adora's statement. "But there's no way. I can't do stuff like that. The things that you did I can't even wrap my head around it all."
"Believe me Adora you are very strong in the force. I can feel the potential inside you. I don't even need to scan your blood to know that." Mara said.
"T-that's just it. I had no idea what the force was until you explained it. Watch." Adora lifted her hand to the rock and shut her eyes tightly. She let out a loud sigh after seconds of nothing happening. "See."
"That's because you lack training." Mara decided to approach this from a different perspective. "Has there ever been a time when you felt like something bad was going to occur? Like a sixth sense or even a shiver down your spine?"
"Well everyone has instincts." Adora denied.
"Have you been able to read someone's feelings? Not just empathy but almost being able to know their thoughts?" Mara questioned further.
"Well I know my social skills aren't the best but I can read people. Can't everyone?" Adora questioned.
"I want you to try something. I want you to guess what I'm feeling." Mara said.
"I really don't wanna play a game." Adora pouted.
"Indulge me; close your eyes if need be." Mara offered to Adora who did so with a long sigh.
Adora's eyes squinted as she tried contracting to Mara. She felt that the faster she did this the sooner this "special powers" talk would end. To her relief, she was feeling nothing at first until an image began appearing in her mind. "I think that you're frustrated…...not with me…..with yourself…...there's this dread…...something that happened to you."
Mara felt nervous but still left herself open for Adora to read. "Go on."
"I see…...flames. I see a castle covered in flames. There's a figure that I can make out…...a man with a bowl cut fighting someone in dark armor……..I feel like……" Adora was sweating as she opened her eyes and the image faded. "What was that?" Adora asked in a scared voice while rubbing the sweat off her forehead.
"I'm really sorry I had to do that to you." Mara apologized. "But I need you to understand this part of yourself. I opened my thoughts to you and it looks like you experienced a bad memory. Without training that can be dangerous. Are you okay?" Mara asked Adora as she patted the other girl's shoulder.
"No, I'm not!" Adora stood up to walk away before quickly spinning back and holding her face. "Sorry it's just…..I can't explain how I did that."
"You need training." Mara stood up to face Adora. "Now that your mind is open your powers will only grow. You could suppress them, but I would not recommend that. Worse case? You could tap into the darkside if your emotions become too much to handle, and there is no turning back from that."
"Is this what you feel like? All the fear and the responsibility?" Adora was referring to when he connected to Mara.
"All the time. If not for my training I would not be able to handle it. Please Adora I know this is a lot, but you need me to teach you. You want to find yourself? Then you can't hide from this." Mara explained with a firm look to the younger girl.
Adora looked away as she answered. "Can we talk about this later?"
Mara looked disappointed at first but she understood. So she sat back down with Adora following behind her. "That's fine. You're a freed slave now; your decisions are your own. Now I have a question for you. Where's the nearest settlement?"
Adora still held the sullen look on her face but answered. "There's a spaceport called Mos Eisley in that direction." Adora pointed to their North. "I've been there a few times for trading deals. We could hire someone or even get our own ship to get off this rock."
"Then that's our plan. For now we need rest. You can sleep in the speeder." Mara laid down on the bedroll.
Adora felt guilty about taking the speeder seats but did not feel like arguing. "Good night, Mara."
"Night, Adora." Mara replied as the two began to try and fall asleep during the cold, windless nights on Tatooine.
Etheria-Brightmoon
Castle Brightmoon had fallen in less than a day. Queen Angella knew her forces, who only knew peace, had no chance against the Horde's warmongering units but to lose so definitively was disheartening. Angella liked to believe that her reign as queen was successful; the population was taken care of and the monarchy held strong. Now she would probably be known as the alien queen who threw her kingdom at the Horde and lost. Her only solace was that her daughter appeared to have escaped.
Angella contemplated this while being led by stormtroopers into what used to be her throne room. The roof was partially caved in with most of the glass murals left shattered. She was met by the physical form of the monstrous Lord Hordak. Angella was able to keep her composure during their hologram chat, but in person he radiated malice and rage so palpable that it threatened to make Angella choke. Thankfully, she was very tall herself so it was comforting that he was not able to glower down at her.
Hordak was currently staring at a mural depicting a large, blonde woman before turning his body sharply to face Angella as she was brought before him. "Hello, former Queen Angella."
"Hordak." Angella sneered at his very fake polite tone. "I only heard stories about how barbaric the evil Horde was. Now I know them to not be an exaggeration. If the senate was still established-"
"Those weak minded politicians were removed for the better. I assure you." Hordak stepped closer to her but she still held his gaze. "Direct action is much more effective than false diplomacy. I would have thought this lesson would be burned into you by now, yet you remain ignorant."
"Did you really bring me into my throne room just to trade insults?" Angella quipped.
Hordak sneered before turning to walk to her throne. Instead of sitting down he placed his gauntlet covered hands on the armrest; digging his claws into it. "I know that rebel spies have already informed you of what the Horde requires. Do not waste anymore of my time."
"I can assure you we have no superweapons on what has always been a peaceful planet. If there was such a weapon it would not be here." Angella answered honestly.
Hordak scrapped his claws harder on the throne as a piercing noise matched his growl. "I know it is hidden here. The Heart of Etheria. A weapon said to be designed by the Eternians many years ago."
"While history has shown that Eternians used to vist Etheria, pilgrimage is where the truth ends. Why would they build such a weapon on an alien world? If you truly believe this tale then you are a fool." Angella mocked.
As the words left her, Angella felt her throat close up. Suddenly, she could not breathe. She grabbed her throat in desperation as if to try and remove the intangible hold on her. Hordak's hand was in a grip as he focused a force choke on Angella. Her eyes began to water as she fell to her knees. At that point, Hordak relaxed his grip and Angella felt air rush back into her lungs which caused a coughing fit.
As Angella was trying to stop coughing to breathe properly Hordak made his way to her. Stomping his metallic boots across the tiled floor. "My master, Horde Prime, has seen this weapon. He has foreseen it's activation. His gift of foresight is unparalleled. The only outcome is that I am the one who will find the weapon in service to Prime. Everything you do is simply a stall tactic."
Angella felt fear course through at the fact that this man almost killed her without contact. She looked up as he towered over her with his presence. Angella never considered herself brave, and right now she felt like a true coward. This invader has arrived at her home with the intention to take whatever he wanted with her powerless to stop it.
"The Heart of Etheria is here. Maybe not in Brightmoon, but somewhere on the planet." Hordak gestured to the remaining murals. "You studied the culture of the subjects you previously ruled over have you not? The key may lay in the past. You will help me find the heart; the command is not yours to deny.'
Angella was about to cry out, but then she remembered her fallen husband, Micah, and how the Horde took him away as well. She began to raise her body, then looked down on Hordak. Her husband died against these people because he believed in the right thing to do. So even though she was terrified, she would show no fear in the face of her tormentor.
"Brightmoon. All of Etheria will never bow before a Tyrant and his zealots." Angella practically spat.
Hordak actually smirked for the first time which did unnerve her. "It appears we will have to crush that spirit of yours." He held his hand in the direction of the throne. "Like so."
Hordak's fist had begun to close, and the throne shook as fractures appeared throughout it. More cracks surfaced the tighter he gripped his invisible hold on the entirety of the large throne. He made a noise of struggle before his hand completely closed, then the throne exploded in a display of dust with large fragments of stone flying out. The once mighty throne of Brightmoon was now in fragments across the room after being crushed by the force of Hordak.
"Consider that a demonstration. Maybe even a representation of what is going to happen. Especially when I find the lost princess.Take her back to the dungeon, and prepare her for the mind probe." Hordak ordered the troopers.
The soldiers dragged Angella away as she hid her shell shocked expression behind a stoic mask. She would no longer give that man the satisfaction of seeing her afraid. Internally, Angella prayed that Glimmer was already on her way offworld.
'As long as Glimmer survives I can live with what happens to me next.' Angella thought to herself dutifully.
Whispering Woods
Loud crashes echoed throughout the woods. Currently, there was a squad of Horde battle droids marching through the wilderness in search of possible targets. This included the missing princess Glimmer. They were deployed to the edge of the woods where the fire and destruction had not reached there yet. The droids had their blasters set for stun and were prepared to send transmissions to their command spire if the target was located.
However, they would not get the chance as a round, metallic object was tossed beneath their feet. The droids looked at the object in confusion before it activated. A blue, electric wave burst forth to disable the droids within contact. The grenade has successfully disabled the droids before they could send a signal.
Three figures came out of some nearby foliage to walk down the worn trial. "Nice work, Bow. How many of those poppers did you bring with you?" Netossa commented
"Only about three more. I had to make room for the other supplies." Bow answered while looking through his pack.
"How prepared are you?" Netossa asked with mild surprise.
"Not as much as I would like. Anyway, since the skiff is too noticeable are we still going to Mystacor? That could be dangerous on foot." Bow asked with worry.
"I know a safe way to the keep. Once we reach it there should be a suitable ship to get off world." Netossa explained.
"You mean run away." Glimmer had remained silent through most of the day so it surprised them that she spoke out.
Regardless of that, Netossa did not appreciate her tone. "We are going to get help."
"Why bother now? No one cared about asking for help from the Rebellion before. Now that the threat is here it's actually real." Glimmer crossed her arms with a spiteful expression.
"Glimmer, that's not fair." Bow tried calming down the tension.
"What exactly are you saying, princess?" Netossa was only focused on Glimmer.
"That I was right. That we should have done something or we wouldn't be in this mess!" Glimmer threw her arms in the air in exasperation.
"Are you really trying to shift blame?" Netossa questioned with a scandalized expression.
"Guys, we really should not be fighting in the evil droid infested woods." Bow spoke again even though he was ignored.
"I'm just telling the truth. Everything is falling apart. My home is wrecked, who knows if my mother is even alive, and the Horde could already be close to finding this death weapon or whatever." Glimmer scowled as she spoke her next words. "If anyone had listened to me and not have been such cowards-"
Netossa had grabbed Glimmer by the front of her outfit to bring her close to her face. "You have some nerve you little brat!"
"Netossa, calm down!" Bow said as he reached out but a glare by Netossa stopped him.
"Was Juliet a coward for buying us time? Was my wife a coward for following her Queen's wishes? Am I a coward for leaving her behind?" Netossa said this slightly teary eyed.
Glimmer's eyes widened at the outburst. " N-No that's not what I meant. I just mean that-"
"That you were right?" Netossa interrupted. "Well good for you. You were right about the Horde trying to kill us all. You want a reward?" Netossa shoved Glimmer back who was caught by Bow. "Instead of worrying about what you could have done or what you wanted to happen, focus on the reality. My Queen's orders were to get you off world so that you would be safe. That's what I am going to do even if I have to tie your kicking and screaming body to the ship's bumper." Netossa began walking but still continued speaking. "The best any of us can do is act in the present. Now come on."
Bow and Glimmer were wide eyed with shock as Netossa's outburst. Usually, the general was always upbeat and cheerful. So to see here break down into a rant was a rare sight. Regardless, they followed along behind the determined woman.
"Please don't annoy General Netossa again. She's scary." Bow whispered to Glimmer.
"Yeah." Glimmer looked almost ashamed. "I guess we're all pretty torn up about everything."
"It's gonna be okay, Glimmer." Bow tried comforting her. "We just have to take this one step at a time."
"I suppose that's all we can do. For now." After saying that Glimmer and Bow caught up with Netossa as they followed her to Mystacor.
A/N: That might have gotten a bit dark. On a lighter note, one of my favorite characters will be introduced in the next chapter. Not to spoil anything, but you can probably guess who it is.
For the Star Wars lore fans, The Lightsaber form Mara uses is form IV-Ataru. For casual fans, she fights like Yoda and Qui-Gon. For only she-ra fans, it's an aggressive and acrobatic fighting style. I chose this technique for her because it made the most sense to me with her personality and backstory. She was trained to be a warrior so she has a very offensive style, but she practices restraint.
The idea for the look of the lightsaber was trying to combine the first one's sword of protection design with a crossguard lightsaber. A good comparison would be the concept art they currently have online for the High Republic lightsabers. However, the kyber crystal is exposed and the guard is very ornate (kinda like Lord Corvax's lightsaber from Vader Immortal) so it would better resemble the sword of protection. The backstory for the weapon will be explained, but I will say that it is technically not Mara's lightsaber.
That scene where Adora sees inside Mara's head; she accidentally used a technique called mind probe. Mara opened her mind to Adora to help prove a point. She just did not expect Adora to bring out a certain bad memory.
Also, to clarify something: Adam was Mara's cousin in this story. Unfortunately, he will not be making an appearance. All that will be explained later.
Next time: A Larger World
