"Thank you for coming everyone" Bow announced to the room as he stood beside the large projector screen.
The term "everyone" was stretching it a bit, as the audience in front of him consisted only of Glimmer, Entrapta, and Hordak. Nonetheless, they all sat up straighter in silent respect for his authority (aside from Hordak, who in characteristic fashion had been sitting rigidly straight the entire time, still uncomfortable with social gatherings involving anyone who wasn't explicitly his underling).
"And now, without further ado…" Bow continued "I hereby call the first meeting of the P.A.L.S to order!" Entrapta whooped and applauded, while Hordak simply sat in attentive silence.
Glimmer was practically vibrating with excitement in her chair, to the point that she had to make a concerted effort not to emit any sparkles. It had only been a few days since Bow had revealed the 'Princess Angella Liberation Society' to her, and she had tried to avoid getting her hopes up too high, but being in a room with three geniuses actively discussing how to bring her mother back; it was too much to ignore. She joined in with Entrapta's applause in as composed a manner as she could, until Bow raised a hand to quite them.
"So" Bow went on, turning his gaze to Hordak "we've all been working hard on the Angella project since we last spoke, and I understand that Hordak here has a potential lead."
The former Horde leader rose from his chair as he was acknowledged. "Indeed I do. Entrapta and I have discussed the possibility at length, and I have a proposal to make regarding how we move forward."
"You have the floor Hordak" Bow replied with a smile, strolling back to his own seat and gesturing for Hordak to assume his place at the screen. Hordak did so, walking to his place with a posture so rigid that one would think he was about to give a speech to a crowd of three thousand, rather than just three.
"This is what I propose" Hordak began, his tone commanding despite his nerves. Pressing the button on his remote, he called up a slide on the screen, producing an image which was unmistakeable to all in attendance; Horde Prime's ship, or at least, the large tree that had consumed much of its structure.
"Prime lived for thousands of years; a feat that was not achievable with just one body. Whenever a vessel grew too old to sustain him, he simply transferred his consciousness into a newer vessel, abandoning the old one. However, rather than being disposed of, the old vessels were retained, and stored in stasis tanks on-board his ship."
"That's fascinating Hordak" Bow cut in "but I don't understand how that helps us with our project."
"It helps…" Hordak began, a smile creeping onto his face "because of the reason these vessels were retained. Over the course of his lifespan, Prime accrued more memories than could feasibly be stored in a single brain. As a result, whenever he transferred into a new vessel, he was forced to leave a portion of his memories behind in his old body. I, like all of Prime's clones,still possess a neural interface port, meaning that I should be able to access the memories of his vessels."
Bow's eyes widened as he put the pieces together "…Including the memories concerning the Horde's portal technology!"
"Exactly" Hordak answered with pride. "Back when I was first created, the Horde made frequent use of dimensional portal technology far more advanced than anything Entrapta and I were able to create, but that technology had seemingly fallen out of use by the time Prime returned. Etheria was freed from Despondos only via the use of First Ones' technology; Prime never attempted to do so himself. He likely forgot how to do so long ago."
"Then that means…" Bow spoke, so quietly as to clearly be talking almost entirely to himself.
"That we need only find one of Prime's vessels whose age corresponds to the time period when the Horde's portal tech was in use, and download its knowledge into me" Hordak answered, completing Bow's thought. "That information would greatly expedite our work on building a machine capable of retrieving the queen."
Glimmer could barely stand still. She wasn't sure at what point during Hordak's explanation she had subconsciously got to her feet, but she was now buzzing with enough excitement that she didn't much care.
"Hordak, that's great!" she exclaimed with a beaming smile. "How soon can we leave?" She knew that there would be preparation involved of course, but the feeling of a concrete first step towards saving her mother finally being put in place made her eager to get on the road as soon as possible.
"Darla is pretty much space-worthy, so we can probably get going within the week" Entrapta replied, already giddy at the prospect of another space flight.
"Alright then" said Bow, his tone commanding and inspiring in equal measure. "Let's do this."
Entrapta's estimates proved (of course) to be correct, and Darla was ready to make the trip after just a few short days of maintenance.
Glimmer paced excitedly as Hordak finished loading the last of the supplies on board. Prime's old ship was only just out of Etheria's orbit, so realistically it wasn't going to be a long trip, but the group wanted to be prepared for any eventuality. They didn't know how long they might actually have to spend searching the ship; there was no telling how many of Prime's bodies they'd have to sift through, or indeed how well timestamped they were.
"There" Hordak grunted as he emerged empty handed, having loaded the last crate. "The ship is now fully stocked. We have enough food to stay up there for weeks if necessary."
"Ooh, I'm sorry we're making you carry so much Darla" Entrapta crooned, stroking a section of the ship's hull "but I promise it's for a good cause. Also…" she added, her expression shifting to what Glimmer could only describe as sultry "I'll definitely make it up to you on the way."
"Ahem" Hordak theatrically coughed into his hand. "We should probably get going as soon as possible. I'm certain the queen is excited at the prospect of being reunited with her mother; there's no sense delaying our work any further." The former Horde leader shot Glimmer an imploring look; one which, under the circumstances, she was all too happy to answer.
"Yeah! Hordak's right." (That still felt odd to say.) "We should get on-board. Bow's already waiting for us on the bridge."
The three headed up the boarding ramp, Hordak shooting Glimmer a look which she imagined was the closest thing to "thank you" he was capable of. Bow was, as she had predicted, waiting for them on the bridge, already in the pilot seat. Thankfully, one of the modifications that had been made to Darla since the end of the war was the installation of more chairs on the bridge, so everyone was able to take a seat at one of the consoles.
"You guys ready to head off?" Bow asked with a smile.
"Oh, you know it" Glimmer beamed excitedly.
"Then let's go get our first P.A.L.S mission started!" Bow replied, pushing forwards against the holographic interface in front of him. Darla lifted upwards off the launch pad, and within seconds was shooting up into the atmosphere.
On the screen to her left, Glimmer, watched Etheria shrink behind them, until it was just about far enough away that the curvature of its surface could be seen. Despite having been to space before, the sight was still incredible to her. Her people hadn't even known space travel was a possibility until very recently, and here she was, looking down on their entire world. The instant that the ship cleared Etheria's atmosphere, putting an end to the turbulence that had kept her in her seat, Glimmer got up and made her way to one of the viewing ports to get a better look. The view was just as breath-taking the second time, and she suspected it wouldn't get any less so, no matter how many times she ended up going to space.
She wasn't sure how long she had been staring out at the view when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She quickly looked up to see Bow standing over her. She hadn't even noticed him leaving the pilot's seat. She also hadn't noticed the departure of Hordak and Entrapta, who had left the bridge entirely, presumably to tinker with something or other. Evidently even a flight as short as this one was too long for Entrapta's attention span.
"Hey" Bow said with a soft smile, his thumb gently stroking her shoulder "you doing okay?"
"Yeah, I think so" Glimmer replied. "It's just… well, being in space is still weird for one thing, but also… it doesn't feel great going back to Prime's ship."
Bow's smile faded instantly as he shifted from jovial to sympathetic in the way that only he could. "Yeah… I can imagine that might be weird for you. Heck, I don't feel great about going back there, and he never held me prisoner."
"Yeah, not one of my fondest memories" Glimmer concurred, subconsciously wrapping her arms around herself. Even now, she still had mornings where her half-asleep brain would think she was waking up in that cell, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she realised she was back in her room in Brightmoon.
Seeing the look on her face, Bow was quick to comfort her, taking hold of both of her hands and bringing them together as he crouched down to meet her gaze. "This time though, things are different" he said with a reassuring smile. "No-one's a prisoner this time. We're going back there by choice, to undo one of the last bits of damage the war caused."
"Yeah" Glimmer smiled back, feeling her anxiety subside to a much more manageable level "you're right."
The rest of the trip passed quickly after that. Glimmer and Bow sat in each other's arms, gazing out of the viewing port and pointing out the prettiest star formations. They were distracted enough that it took the automated reminder from Darla to let them know that they were approaching their destination.
"Well, time to get to work" Bow sighed, retaking the pilot seat to guide the ship in manually. Darla would likely have been more than capable of docking with the Velvet Glove herself, but given the damage the Horde's former mothership had sustained after being turned into a giant tree, Bow thought it best not to take any chances. In the end, a brief burst of weapons fire was necessary to clear some of the foliage off the Velvet Glove's docking port, but they were able to dock without any major incident.
"C'mon, we should get going" Bow said, looking more than a little pleased with his piloting work "Hordak and Entrapta should be waiting for us at the airlock."
The pair quickly made their way to the ship's airlock, eager to get their mission over and done with as quickly as possible. When they entered, Entrapta and Hordak were already waiting for them. Entrapta was in the process of trying to thread her hair through the holes in her helmet (Glimmer was still unsure of the wisdom behind that design choice), while Hordak simply was crouched in the corner, taking inventory of the group's supply bags.
"Um… Hordak, shouldn't you be wearing a suit?" asked Glimmer. "I'm sure Entrapta must have made some in your size."
"That will not be necessary" Hordak replied bluntly. "My brothers and I are more than capable of surviving in a variety of hostile environments, limited exposure to a vacuum. Even if the Velvet Glove's life support systems are offline, I will be able to function without protection for a number of weeks."
"Oh… wow, okay" Glimmer replied, wondering just how much modification Hordak's species had put themselves through to make such a feat possible.
"Nonetheless" Hordak continued, unaware of Glimmer's train of thought "your concern is… appreciated."
"Don't mention it" Glimmer responded, trying not to appear too taken aback by the former warlord's uncharacteristic display of gratitude. Entrapta flashed Hordak a 'thumbs up' with one large frond of hair. Evidently she had made an effort to teach Hordak a few social graces. The idea had initially struck Glimmer as a case of the blind leading the blind, but she had to admit it was clearly working.
"Alright people" Entrapta announced once everyone had had the chance to suit up "my scans show that there should be pockets of breathable atmosphere outside, but I'd recommend keeping your helmets on just in case. Wouldn't want anyone to explosively decompress now would we?" Leave it to Entrapta to discuss the potential for horrifying death as though she was reading out a weather report.
"Okay, you guys ready to do this?" Bow asked, seeking to lift the tone.
"As ready as I'll ever be" Glimmer replied, donning her rucksack. Hordak simply gave Bow a single, silent nod.
"Alright then" Bow said, a determined gleam appearing in his eyes. "Let's get it done."
As the group stood at airlock door, Entrapta raised a strand of hair and tapped the panel on the wall. A soft hissing filled the space around them as the air was pumped from the room. When it subsided, a new hiss took its place as the door's pneumatics began to lift away the sheet of thick metal.
The door opened in a matter of moments, revealing a dimly lit corridor beyond. Some of the Velvet Glove's internal lighting was still active, affording the group enough light to see a decent distance in front of them. From where they were stood, they could see roots and leaves snaking through the corridor, having burst through the walls in multiple places. Many of the lights that lined the walls were cracked and flickering, giving the shole place the feel of an old scary movie.
Glimmer swallowed thickly, hoping Bow didn't notice her lingering nerves. Navigating this ship was not an appealing prospect, but it had to be done. If there was any chance, no matter how slim, that doing so would bring them closer to retrieving her mother, then it was a chance she was willing to take.
Taking Bow's hand, she stepped out into the corridor, with Entrapta and Hordak following close behind. It was time to get to work.