A/N: She-ra and the Princess of power were made by J. Michael Straczynski and Larry DiTillio, I only take credit for my own added character's and storylines. Similarly, any references will be attributed to their original creators when they pop up.
Recommended story: Seeing Stars, by fruitsandpeachies
AdoraxCatra, with both ending up in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. Severely injured, they're forced to stay trying to unveil the house's mysteries that grow increasingly distressing the more they learn. Also have to deal with their own feelings towards the other, unresolved with years of waging a war against the other. It's slow-burn, in case that wasn't obvious.
BTW, I also have an A03 account where I'm also publishing, if you prefer reading it there~.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2 ~ Unearth I
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Content Warning! Depression, dissociation and some other mental illness will take part. If any of the above is something you are not comfortable with, then you might want to skip this fic.
There's also LGBT, but what are you doing here if that's a suprise?
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Without a blink, lazily sidestepping the flying projectile, she approaches the source of mad cackling.
"-and rerouting the main power cables to mobility rather than the canon has proven to increase mobility by thirty-six per cent in initial trials! Notes are being moved for prototype uses as I speak!" Catra raised an eyebrow, leaning next to HR-E822526, as the women in question continuing to marvel at her sea of thoughts.
"Having fun?" She asked, faintly curious.
"Oh, absolutely! With this much data, I should be able to initiate production for the first version by the end of the month! Why! I just figured out that-"
"In simple terms, Entrapta."
She huffs, rolling her eyes as she reaches for a notebook. "Power moved to mobility, while minimum levels of energy in firepower remains, superior improvement makes it a possible choice." She extends slowly, handing her the notes before returning to her computer.
"Good." She nodded, eyes darting around the room. "You wouldn't happen to have seen Kyle, would you? I wanted to ask him some questions." Had he been hitched into a mission? Usually one would spend most of their time with their squad, but her promotion had... well, she hadn't exactly had a positive relationship with her squad, but since her promotion, she barely spoke with them, period.
Which brought her back to the main reason she wanted an actual command structure instead of the loose chain they currently had. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Building multiple chains of commands had taken some few days, the problem, however, laid in finding people to actually fill those positions. Which meant that Catra had spent the past all-nighters going through a pile made up of millions of separate identities.
"...Who?" Entrapta blinked.
"...Urgh. Right. Entrapta, you request to explore the mines has been accepted, there's been rebel activity, so prepare only necessary equipment to take with you. I'll ask Scorpia to fetch you at-" She pauses for a second, ear twitching at the sharp noise as she considers Entrapta's eccentrics and her non-existent sense of time."-nine. That should be acceptable."
"What about me?" Scorpia asked, walking through the door with-
"You will also... be..." Catra raises an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"Hmm? Oh, their muffins! You know one can sometimes get stressed, with all this force captain stuff, so I start baking whenever I get some free time. Want some?"
Catra snatched one of them from her pincer, sniffing it curiously before taking a tentative bite.
"Huh." She stared at Scorpia. "How come they don't serve these instead of the nutrition bars?"
"Too expensive," Scopia shrugs, offering the rest to Entrapta as she hums thoughtfully. "I think... finance isn't really my strong suit."
"Huh." Catra wonders, not for the first time, if this has something to do with Shadow Wavers lax responsibility in her duties. "I'll look into it."
"Great!" Scorpia smiles. "So... I was wondering-"
"Scorpia, I'm on duty." Catra points out as they walk out of the laboratory, pulling out her screen as she carefully starts moving resources.
"Right! Right, yeah, it's only that-"
"Okay."
"-I was wondering if... wait, really?"
Catra sighs exasperatedly, reminding herself that she did (if only technically) owe Scorpia.
"We'll have some few hours when transported there. We can... play when I finish the reports."
"Great! You won't regret it! I've got cards and- oh! I should definitely make something to eat. And-"
"Scorpia." Catra interrupts impatiently." You need to be on duty by seven, and pick Entrapta up by nine. We leave at ten. I already sent you a briefing, okay?"
"Got it!" Scorpia smiles, rushing out of the hallway as she hums cheerfully.
Grimacing, she frowns, staring at her screen as she swaps the display for a map. Now, why would the rebels go so far out of their territory for a simple mine?
But it wasn't that, not really. It wasn't rare for a small group of rebels to take on suicidal-mission to deter the Horde, but it was always on the border.
Not incredibly important, since She-ra wasn't making appearances, but-
Oh, she thinks somewhat stupidly. So that's why the rebellion is scouting.
It's First-One's tech.
Catra frowns.
Wait, no. Entrapta hadn't said anything? And while she could lose herself in her invention's, Entrapta was very clear on what she did and didn't need.
Scowling, she sends a message to the inventor, double cheeking her request's before letting out an irritated sigh as she allows herself to slide down the wall. Sitting down, she stares.
First-One's tech was maybe influencing the new material they'd found. She messages to Entrapta.
She tries tugging the bandages under her sleeves, a ghost of a smirk gracing her lips when the echoing explosion resounds throughout the building.
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"Ha-Ha! I have got the three!"
Letting out a distracted hum, her hand scroll down the screen as the other held some few remaining cards that she'd already memorised. Catra... didn't understand the point of this game. Not that she wasn't trying to win, of course, she was, but she'd rather be doing something useful, such as paperwork filing than whatever the point this activity was. She was simply predicting who had which cards while keeping her furthest values from seven.
Basics maths. She was- or rather had been preoccupied mentally going through the schematics of the Horde's capital, not daring to actually take out said schematics outside of the archives even on a secured path. Wich-
Wich was exactly where her preoccupation went. Because, now, she was held trying to figure out how to fix up the complete and utter fiasco that was becoming the whole operation. She'd already had her people set up a temporary base, already set up a perimeter, already set up a line of defence in every nearby military base.
Only for, barely three hours ago, the rebellion to attacked the mine. Not an attack on a temporary outpost, nor a sabotaging mission in vital supplies... but a strike force that had taken a decades-old mine that had been in Horde territory for years withhundreds of soldiers instead of the dozen she'd been informed.
The Rebellion was capable of defending their territory, yes, but she could count the number of times they'd even attempted to retake land that wasn't at the border. No. The mine had just moved from a scientifically curious location to a military important one.
But she didn't. know. why.
She'd pulled her troops back, of course. Setting up camp roughly a kilometre away from the original camp, sending out scouts to map out any possible changes in the region while also locating any possible enemy locations.
"We here, Commander! Deepwood Outpost is still under construction, but all the essential requirements you ordered have been prepared!"
He was an excitable one, this one.
"Good to know, Fane" She nods as they walk into a simple, large tent. "The command room?"
"As much as it can be called a room." Fane shrugged before grimacing as he really who his being sarcastic too. "Ma'am" He hastily adds.
Not that she blames him. Outside military missions, she would have ripped him a new one for that level of disrespect. Only that-
There's this mental state, where her mind simply... she wants to say blanks out, but it's more of a disattached pipe system that can shift to completely redirect her neurotic mess that's known as empathy... well, out.
...Or maybe it's in? She can't help but ponder... she'll have to get back on that one, but the point she's trying to make to herself is the level of difference between in Catra and out Catra, that, somewhere, leave herself Catra in the pipe maze.
...Oh. And there's a key, a shortcut that completely brakes it all apart, almost like a chain dragging her back down that only one person has. Only one person still has.
"Ma'am! Enemy identified as rebellion soldiers. Confirmed 74, though it is assumed they have some cover from the forest towards Brightmoon. Your orders?"
She almost yelp's as she's dragged out of her mind, trying to figure out when she's sat down and started reading through the files while... well, while she ignored everyone. That probably came out as rude.
Not that she'll apologise. She had a rather good reason for ignoring them and it's not like they could do much about it anyway...
"...I was under the impression this was a surface mine?" She asks instead. Had she missed that? No, she's become fairly good at snapping herself out of her distractions when it's something important. She'd have been dead years ago otherwise.
"I- well, see, the thing is. While it is a surface mine, it seems the rebellion found an underground part that was previously unknown to us. Most likely of their own making, if the effectiveness is of any indication, however without any eyewitnesses..."
Catra frowned. Finger tapping against her screen as she bites the inside of her cheek. She needed to change the 'either die in battle or die for running' mentality the majority of the Horde held. It was a waste, truly.
She thinks of the report she's just read and starts categorising the soldier's she has and how they'll be of best use to her. "Right." She nods, reaching for chalk before she walks towards the half-written whiteboard. "This in use?"
"E-Eh? Oh, no, we were only- I mean no Ma'am!"
This time she does roll her eyes, her tongue poking her cheek as she starts drawing a rough sketch of the map on the table. "Fane." She calls out thoughtfully. "Send one of the scouting squads to report, then assemble all squad leaders in 30 minutes, we taking what's ours back.
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Faint whispers come to an abrupt halt as she stretches. She doesn't much think of the sudden presence as she puts her tablet down and looks at the dozen or so members inside the tent.
"Our primary objective." She starts. Eyes sharp as she scanned their faces. "Is to retake the mine. There are no civilians in this location, as such, any person found once the mission commences is to be neutralized. If the chance presents itself, captured hostiles are to be tranquillized for interrogation. Said tranquillizer will be provided to you, it will take some few seconds to a minute to take effect, and will last a minimum of four hours."
"Squad one to seven will secure the perimeter. Squad eight, nine and ten will remain at camp. Squads eleven and twelve will scout the nearby area and secure the perimeter. Squad thirteen is in charge of coms, be advised, with diagnoses reporting the depth of the mine capable of blocking direct transmission, we will use robots to communicate.
"Remaining squads will accompany me inside to the underground and, if necessary, will be divided and lead by their squad leaders. Questions?"
"Ma'am?" The scout she spoke with not that long ago raises his hand. "You said we are to tranquillize the enemy...?
"Yes. I realise this is unprecedented, but unlike my predecessor, I believe that a captured enemy is of more value than a dead corpse." The Horde held an unspoken knowledge that they did not take prisoners. The enemy either died or escaped, never were they captured.
Which was absolutely ridiculous. Honestly, her work would be monumentally easier if she had actual people to interrogate. They had a fully built prison for this. They were dam well going to use it.
"That being said, you will not fall into stupidity. Any acts of suspicion, an instinct of doubt, either deliberately slow movement or any unnecessary speaking and you will attack. Anything else?" She stops for a second, eyes darting to one and a next before she nods in approval. "Good. We start at 7:12, you have three hours to get ready. Dismissed"
There were many ways to paint the Horde in a negative light, none of which would be particularly difficult, but if there is one thing they are unquestionably good at, it's at following orders. It's less than a minute when the tent is empty, minor Scorpia, who is smiling brightly, and herself.
"Wow. You were amazing in the debriefing. I mean, not that you not always amazing, of course. But you were amazing."
"...Okay..." Catra nods, rubbing her eyes tiredly, as she puts her screen down. She's unsure why Scorpia is saying this since Catra remembered quite vividly asking her to go over Force caprin orientation recap not that long ago. Then again, Scorpia was weird, so she could just live it to her general eccentrics. "Did you need something, Scorpia?"
"Oh! Er- no? I mean, I'm all ready, and since we have a bit of time I thought we could... catch up?"
"...we literally played cards four hours ago."
"I mean... yes... but that was four hours ago. How are you, anyway?"
"I've been better." She belatedly admits, turning away from her far two honest eyes. "You'll be okay above?"
"Huh?" She blinks. "Oh! Yeah, certainly. I mean, I'm in charge of making sure no one attacks the communication team, not difficult." She grins.
Catra's lip twitches slightly at Scorpia's ridiculous pose. "Good to know. You'll be in charge until I get back, then."
"Sure thing. Good luck! She extended her pincer out, holding it with sparkling eyes."
Rolling her eyes, she fist bumps (fist-claw-pincer bumps) in the faintest amounts of amusement. "You too."
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"Dam." Someone lets out a low whistle in twisted recognition. "They really did a number to this place."
"Eyes sharp, soldier." She commands easily, a thoughtful frown on her features. "Whoever did that is still near us."
Not that she disagrees, between destroyed vehicles, bloody bodies, the surrounding forest burnt down and a half standing entrance for the mine, she's also torn between being impressed and faint rage.
"Yes Ma'am" She replies with a lazy smile.
"Dawn, behave."
"Oh, chill out, Commander wouldn't have gone in blind."
"No, I'm going in blind." She interrupts, a faint smirk on her lips.
"...Wait, seriously?"
"Mh-hm, can't exactly send scouts in a maze that's possibly infested.
"...It's infested?" One asked worriedly, hand gripping tighter as his eyes searched the area.
"Cheer up! It won't be that bad. It might even be fun!" Dawn grins excitedly.
He looks at his companion with a resigned expiration. "...Right. Not that bad."
"Honestly." She waves his sarcasm away. "Would you prefer Instructor Cobalt's lessons?" She smirks.
"You had Cobalt as you instructor?" Catra chimes, torn between curiosity and sympathy.
"Eh? Ah, yeah. Wouldn't stop shouting his W.E.L.L. at every moment of daylight. Irritating guy."
"Dawn!" He shouts, staring horrified that his friend is badmouthing a teacher even if the rest of the squad continues walking completely unfazed.
Despite herself. Catra found herself snorting at the girl's comment.
"Repeating the same exercise for years didn't help, I assume?"
She beamed, sending a smug grin at her friend before nodding enthusiastically.
"See! Commander understands me! And yeah, really, really didn't help. Though he kind of loosen up when you usurped Shadow Waver. Or maybe it's because he didn't have to deal with us any more..." Dawn trails off, a thoughtful look crossing her features as she contemplated which of the two was the more likely.
Catra sent them a curious look. "How come?" She hadn't talked with Cobalt since... ah. Since he'd shouted at her for skiving the assignment, again.
Actually. No. He had congratulated her for her promotion to second in command. Which, retrospect, had been weird as hell... She was feeling oddly nostalgic now.
"I mean... It's the same with everyone? Or most of us?" Dawn offers, snapping out of her contemplative walk as she sends Catra a curious glance.
"...Right... you going to have to explain that to me."
"Okay, so... we aren't really allowed to speak insubordination of superior officers. But with Shadow Waver imprisoned that's fine, right? See-," She continues without waiting for confirmation. "-nobody quite said it, but it was kind of obvious that we were expendable. We couldn't go anywhere else, so everyone kind of knew that-"
"Dawn!" Edmond hissed, sending Catra a terrified glance. Not that she didn't understand why. Dawn was practically speaking desertion.
"Yeah, yeah."She waved him off. "We all knew wed die sooner than later, Edy. Because Shadow Waver didn't care. But she was like, maybe immortal?" Dawn seems to contemplate that thought before she shrugs and offers a smile "Or at least been there before we'd been born, so we were stuck. And then you happened." She waves her hands enthusiastically, sending her a look of... awe? Right. Yeah, Catra had no idea what was happening. "I don't think you get how much respect you have, at least from the younger side of the Horde."
"I was expecting people to either plot my assassination to usurp me... or because I was usurped her."
"I mean, yeah. But then you started winning. And you were winning right."
"...Right..."She rolls her eyes, feeling somewhat bemused. "I don't think you can win wrong."
"Yes, you can. Because, because, because Shadow Waver would have never led us to do anything, she never cared about us either. You do, and nobodies want to go back to how things were.
"I... see..." No... no, she didn't. As a matter of fact, she had absolutely no idea how to even compute this discussion.
Dawn must have noticed her confusion, because she frowns, nodding slowly as she tilted her head. "Okay, okay, look at it like this. Shadow Waver wouldn't have let us set up camp. She definitely wouldn't have let us build up an outpost to rest. Nor would she give us a mission and then lead it... actually, why did you want to come with us specifically? I would have thought you'd rather secure the perimeter?"
"Might be some First one's tech-related materials that could give us an edge." At this point, she was almost certain that the mine was of value. She was hopeful that it'd be something the Horde could actually use, and not some silly princess 'power of friendship' nonsense (that still infuriated her whenever she thought of the battle of Brightmoon). "Seeing how the rebellion invaded, I thought it should be something to look into."
Her eyes dart towards Entrapta, who's been walking next to her all the while letting out 'aww' and 'ohh' at separate intervals, remembering last night's -actually very early this morning- brainstorming they'd had as to what exactly was in the mine.
Which was absolutely, and rather surprisingly, utterly fascinating. They both agreed that the materials were influenced by the first one's tech, giving it some unique properties that must have been lost when they disappeared, since it would otherwise have become the core of basic engineering materials, but without actual evidence or samples, they were left to theorising and deducing.
It was surprisingly nice, being able to talk to someone that could put as much on the table as they could take. Usually, Entrapta wasn't interested in the same areas Catra was, so it was only the rare mutual science-military moments when they truly understood what the other was saying. Mostly.
"...what's first one's tech?" Edmond asked curiously. The other four nodded curiously as they stare at her with hopeful stares. At least she assumes they hopeful since Dawn is the only of the squad not wearing her helmet. She should probably say something, but she'd rather not be a hypocrite, and it's not like those things are all that effective anyway.
"Oh." She hums, forcing herself out of her thoughts. "How did you put in, Entrapta? An advanced technology left behind by a lost civilisation, makes our modern innovation look like children toys, yes?"
"Yep." She smiles, looking up from her screen with far too many complex numbers that make Catra's head spin. "That's exactly how I would have put it."
"...Huh. So definitely an edge." Dawn nods sagely, eye slightly wide and... was she salivating?
"...But still, if this mine so valuable that they'd spend so many resources just to take it for less than a day?" Edmond asks, and Catra can almost see the faint frown behind his helmet as he pondered the same problem she found.
"No." Catra easily answers as she clicks her tongue dissatisfied. "We've missed something, the rebellion is many things, but they don't waste resources without a clear game."
"True. But the mine hasn't been used in decades. Look, the mining carts are half disintegrated."
"Maybe it's a precious resource?" He asked thoughtfully staring inside of the cart. "I think it might be gold." He comments, reaching out for the material. "But it-"
"Don't touch it!" Entrapta screams.
Catra blinks as he's thrown towards her. Letting out a muffled 'uff' as she catches him. Barely standing as she puts him down, she scowls. "Entrapta! What the hell?!" She snapped, irritatedly.
But she isn't listening, mask already on as she pulls out a strangely shaped contraception and moves it a faint distance on top of the material.
"Arsenopyrite." She whispers in blank quietness.
Catra's annoyance fades as she realises that Entrapta isn't exited.
No. She's scared.
Which, for a woman that didn't as much as blink when her five-meter tall robot went rogue and started a murder spree, was bloody terrifying.
"Entrapta?" She repeats, forcing calmness as she starts to consider.
In a fluid movement, Entrapta starts to tare apart the companion robots (except Emily, of course) in almost hysterical like movements. "It's poisonous to touch." She explains with a tense, forced calmness as she goes through another half disassembled robot. "But it can also be airborne."
Catra twitches. "It's a trap, then?" She askes slowly.
"...Most likely."
The atmosphere suddenly shifts from the easy-going banter to a brittle tense as she frowns thoughtfully. Mind spinning as she ponders that particular factor into this complexity. "And you decided to take apart the robots because...?"
She doesn't instantly answer, instead opting to hold a bunch of wires with her mouth as she rips out a metallic cylinder.
"This." She mumbles, reaching for a blow torch in her companion's compartment and starts to meld the metal together. "Is a filer I've been adding to the newer robots. The previous one had a certain level of water resistance, but with Mermista's hydrokinesis and Spinnerella aerokinesis, I decided it prudent to make them much finer to prevent or at least hinder their ability to damage them from inside." She smiles faintly, throwing her something before returning to the few half-standing robots.
Catra hums, ignoring the faintly panicking background sound that might be her heart beating as she stares at the oddly shaped helmet that's really not-helmet in her hand. It's an oddly shaped thing, she thinks as she straps it around her face and starts thinking.
"It's not perfect," Entrapta admits as she hands over another one with terrifying speed. "There's no eyewear, and It'll take hours to make one that completely kept poisonous airs out." She adds as she straps one around her own face. "But I do love last-minute inventions. More the challenge, right?"
Catra can't see it, but she knows there's a mad grin behind that mask. "Sure." She accepts easily. Oh well, she thinks idly, they're all a little bit insane here anyway.
"Edmond. Use HR-E822526-" She barks, ignoring Entrapta's 'she's called Emily!', as she starts to formulate separate plans to the one currently in her mind."-to communicate with the other squads, have them all share the map data now and to arrive here as soon as possible. The rest of you are to continue going deeper with-" She stops, frowning thoughtfully as she stares at Entrapta's work. Out of the ten robot's, she's dismantled five, so..."-three robots, report every ten minutes. If we don't answer, you return under the assumption that we've been compromised. All clear?"
An echoing 'Yes 'Ma'am'' follows as a flurry of well-trained soldiers split to their given roles.
It's barely a minute later, when a resounding exposing echoes through the cave, rumbling of stones followed.
"Force Captin Scorpia, what's the situation?" A frown forms on her features as the second tic in silence. "Scorpia, repot." Her finger taps on the com, only for the sound of statistic to stops.
"-the perimeter! I repeat, multiple sitings of enemies have appeared and are surrounding the perimeter!"
"Scorpia, details. Enemy numbers and location!" Catra barks as she pulls her screen, reaching for her comm as she moves the microphone (an awkward movement with her mask already covering half her face) away from her mouth. "Squad Captin Edmond, secure the are, start coming to the other squads and have them prepared for possible engagement.
"Initial scans show roughly two hundred hostiles. I- er, we don't actually know their location, but they appear to be attacking from behind? They used the forest for cover, so the exact numbers are unknown.
"...I see. Casualty number?"
"...Uknown, however, it's at a minimum of the half."
"Understood... Scorpia, have the remaining members of squad one to seven delay and fall back towards camp, squad eleven and twelve are to retreat towards the mine, Squad eight and ten are to take any essentials down into the mine or destroy any important information, squad thirteen is to ask support from-" She frowns, quickly moving through her map as she tries to remember where she moved what. Maybe... she had been hoping to talk to him for a while, and he was close enough to actually reach them relatively soon. Might as well get both of them out of the way at the same time, then. "-Force Captain Kodiak as soon as that's done, squad nine will take all transports alongside them and enter the mine to the location I'm sending you now. I'll meet you there. Commander Catra, Out.
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Her heart beats as her staff slams on the back of the soldiers head. It's a fluid moment built from years of practice as her hips shift, using the momentum to her advantage as she uses the staff to stab another in the stomach.
Armour's too thick. She thinks irritatedly as both blows do little more than disorientating the enemy. Eyes narrowing as she tries to make out their figure in the dark, she sidesteps towards the wall as her right-hand reaches for one of the rocks of the ground.
Not only was it thick, but it was, or at least it sounded, fully plated.
A challenge. She concedes. But it'll make little difference. And carefully, she throws the small rock towards where his(?) eye would be.
The pained screen tells her everything she needs to know. She spins towards the wall, jumping, as she arches her body, two fast succeeding steps up the wall and she backflips.
See. Something Catra had learnt early on when training as a soldier was that, no matter how much she wished for it, no matter how much she practices, she would always be lighter than the average human, there would always be that limit her strength wouldn't pass. But she'd learnt that she was far more flexible, and her senses were far sharper than any other. And, most importantly, her kinetic vision was second to none.
In a swift jabbing motion, the end of her staff slams into another's throat, hearing the sound of bending mettle before they let out a choking sound. A second later the sound of the body falling limp onto the ground echoes, soon to be dead.
The next two minutes can only be described as a blood bath, as her movements repeat, jabs stabs and rare deflections before the last of the bodies land limp onto the ground.
"Dam." Dawn whispers wide-eyed as Catra finishes the last soldier.
"Wat's wrong? First time?" She smiles, eyes sparkling with faint amusement. Honestly. What were they teaching recruits nowadays?
"Yes, pl- I mean no. No, I-" She mumbles something incomprehensible that Catra only pays half attention too, option to switch her coms chanal as she swifts between ideas.
"Scorpia, continue without us, well take a shortcut and meet you with Entrapta."
"Got it. See you in five."
"See you in five." She affirms before switching her com to Entraptas.
"Catra?" Entrapta calls, voice oddly forced as Catra tries to get remove the blood from under her claws.
"Yes?"
"I think you might want to see this."
Catra blinks, turning to the squad before nodding.
"Right. We almost there."
It occurs to her, as they walk through the cave system, that she still hasn't been given an exact number of hostiles. She doesn't like that. It's... distressing, not knowing the exact movement's of her troops, the exact movements of her enemies, the exact map of the area the-
Catra's eye twitches. There's a large, oversized, cyan coloured door that looked uncomfortably princess-like. Not too dissimilar to the crystal temple where she'd-
She violently cuts those thoughts, walking towards where she assumes Entrapta would be, as she approaches an uncoherent source of mumbling
"Three hundred? No, maybe even four hundred years old? Wait. No, no, the room was sealed, so it might even be-"
"Entrapta, I'm more interested in whether or not you can get that thing open rather than it's age." Her fingers comb through the geniuses hair, a faint smirk on her lips as Entrapta blinks.
"Right, open... that... might take a while."
A frown forms as she calculates the time frame they have between their enemy and-"...How long is a while?"
"Well, I have to figure out how much of the current structure is built to support the ceiling, from there I have to figure out how much I would get away with removing... and to for that, I need to know how old it is to know how much the ceiling has sifted over the years.
"Entrapta, focus."
"...maybe three hours?"
"Three-? Entrapta, we'll be lucky if the rebellion takes ten minutes to burry us." If the rebellion was stupid, they might. ButCatra would not be caught relying on luck. "Okay." She muttered, ignoring the bluebell coloured eyes at the edge of her mind, refusing to die inside a collapsing mine. "Okay." She repeated with a nod. "Entrapta, how long would it take for you to figure out how fragile the ceiling is?"
"Oh... maybe some few minutes?"
"Okay, here is what I want you to do."
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"Don't touch me, Horde scum." Is the first thing she's told as they enter the half-standing holding cell, Scorpia standing in her intimidating tall and unfairly muscular self.
Apart from blue skin, he appears rather, if bruised, human. Not that it's that much of a surprise. She notes, absent-minded and distractingly curios that the rebellion is mostly made up of human or near humans, which-
Well. She supposed the Horde had to have started somewhere. It's only guesswork, of course, but that thought combined with the knowledge that the Horde was once a princess kingdom belonged to the least human-like princess's...
She wondered, in a detached, curios thought, if she could use that to her advantage.
"...A more original insult would be appreciated, truthfully." She mutters to herself. "Is it that difficult to invent original insults? Surely it's not that complicated." She adds, nodding gratefully to the two soldiers (she'll make a note of them, they good soldiers.) "What exactly were you planing here, anyway?"
"Oh, wow. I knew you were evil, but I didn't know you were stupid too."
"This War says differently. What with you losing it." She retorts. "You knew there was an underground mine, that much is obvious, but you didn't expect me to be here, which means that there's something here that the rebellion wants hidden."
"Y-You" Hmm. There was also the question as to why now, years after it was taken. Maybe She-ra's reappearance had broadened the rebellions options? It's the only option she can actually come up with since she doesn't think it's was an assassination attempt.
Actually, she doesn't even think the rebellion knows Shadow Waver has been replaced. Which, for one, is irritating because she doesn't want her work being credited to that woman again, and two, is somewhat infuriating because why the hell hasn't the Horde have any inside information?
"Honestly. You aren't even making it hard." She points instead, lacing her tone with just the right amount of infuriating amusement, reaching out for her screen as she quickly types a reply for Entrapta. "It's rather amusing, actually. I only noticed the mine because you were hiding it."
He looks away, jaw tightening as his breath runs rugged. And-
And, tilting her head, she stares at him for a moment, humming softly as she ponders. It should be mentioned that, to her ire, she was physically the second weakest of her squad. Which was an unfair assessment, since her contenders were gym-aholic Lonnie, workaholic (far two unfairly ripped) Adora, and Rogelio.
Because she can throw a punch just fine, as proven when she punches his face hard enough to throw him back, stumbling as he slams into the table, and then the flaw.
"C-Catra?"
He lets out a snort. "Resorting to violence, and here I thought you lot couldn't get any lower?"
"...It's difficult to tell, with your blue skin." She says softly, taking a slow step before she sits on the table.
"...what?" He hisses, whipping the blood that has started to fall from his nose before standing and taking a threatening step forward.
He stills when both soldiers raise their weapon. Her index finger lets out a claw, slowly cutting through his shirt. "I have a sharp sense of smell, see, and I can tell when someones dying." She admits lazily as her mind spirals with countless different ideas. "You have blood loss, not something that would usually be a problem, but you deep in Horde territory, they can't save you, so you opted to be the distraction." She hums, shirt ripped in half as she pokes the deeply burnt skin. "You burnt your skin to meld it together, must have been quite the deep wound, huh."
"What the hell are you talking about?" It's there, faint, almost unnoticeable.
There's fear.
Good. He should fear her.
"Mh-hmm? You shouldn't have gotten up, a bit of a giveaway. You've lost your sense of touch, haven't you?" His shoulders tense, staring at her wide-eyed as she pulls a blue symboled stone out of his pocket.
"Just now?" She asks with a smirk. "I was messaged that the bunker we've spent the past hour building was ready. But when this stone is crushed, your teammates will leave with 'mission success'."
"That's a transmitter, we-"
"Save it." She sighed tiredly. "I was raised by Shadow Waver, I can tell when something does and doesn't work. The only magic left is in its shape. I guess that when the pressure crashes it'll let out a spark for your friends."
The question now is what's this something the rebellion is going so far to hide...No. Not something, the princesses would have hidden it better. They wanted to bury the whole mine, which means that it's the mine itself that they trying to hide." She blinks, staring at the stone as she wonders what that idea means, and what it changes. "Ohoho. Bin-go."
Despair shifted through his features as she put it back into his pocket.
"Scorpia? Knock him out."
"Sure." Scorpia nodded, sifting somewhat uncomfortably.
"Go to hell!" He screams with venomous eyes.
"I'll get to that too, eventually. Who knows, I might even remember to make you a sweet, warm prison there." She waves lazily as they start walking down the tunnel. "Just because I'm nice." She adds amused, her soldiers following easily as they walk into the working room (a bunker, he thinks furiously).
His breath hitches, muscles constricting as the faint sound of rumbling starts to echo through the halls.
And the darkness starts to take him as he curses the women whose name he has never learnt.
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Catra's book of idiots:
Emily: Identification code HR-E822526, the first 'new' model, noted for its powerful firepower. Shares a similar appearance to the most common models. Entrapta is known to be particularly fond of the model.
Fane: Identification code HS-F74026, average grades, no particular talents with the exception of above-average charisma. Freshly graduated, which shows in his excitable personality. Posses an unusually high connection with his team compared to the standard graduated squad.
Dawn: Identification code HS-D75174, below-average grades, noted for her lack of interest in academics, the newest graduates. Seems more of a people person than an academic one, as seen with her friendship with Edmond.
Edmond: Identification code HS-E75169, high grades, academically driven, uncomfortable outside of guidelines, one of the newest graduates. Noted for his close friendship with Dawn.
Kodiak: Uknown force Captain.
Catra's book on how to not be an idiot:
Arsenopyrite: A toxic metal that can be harmful if inhaled, toxic when the material is heated.
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Not quite at the level, I wanted it, but I've spent the past two weeks literally staring it and only twerking ten or so words a day, so I drop it down like this.
In case you wondering, Catras book's of idiots is because I always find it a nightmare to follow any OC's, more often than not wondering who I'm reading about. So yeah, half for me, half for anyone like me.
Might return in some few months and rework on it, but for now, this is the final version (probably not, I'll probably start editing it by the end of the week).
Thoughts? Did you enjoy it?
Anyways, Ill See you next time! Ciao!
~ Sapphire and Emeralds