Catra's POV

"Okay, I got you. We'll get you there, don't worry."

"Scorpia, stop talking to the unconscious prisoner."

"Sorry, I know, she's just a little heavy."

"You're the strongest one of us, Scorpia, how are you struggling with this?"

"I mean, I don't want to hurt her. More, I mean, she's already out."

"Leave her alone, Catra," Adora says to me. "We're almost there. We give the report, see if Shadow Weaver figured out how to contain her, and we can all go and celebrate."

"Yeah, I guess," I look away from her. At least this will be over. This whole mission felt off, I had it all figured out Shadow Weaver didn't trust me to carry it out. And Adora had to go pull the mission off almost perfectly.

The ride back here ended up quiet, and took a while. I had a lot of time to think. Unloading was easy, and we sent the other three to get the sword to Adora's room without it being seen. Now, Adora and I are getting ready to deal with Shadow Weaver's response. I have a feeling I know exactly how it'll go.

"Okay, Scorpia, it's this one," Adora says, knocking on the door to the Black Garnet Chamber. Shadow Weaver opens almost instantly this time, looking across the three of us.

"Force Captain Scorpia, Adora. Catra. Come in. I take it the mission was a success?"

We step into the room, Adora and I first as we were walking side by side, Scorpia slightly sumbling in after us. She speaks up, asking, "So, where do I put her?"

"Adora, would you assist me in moving princess Glimmer over between those two pillars, next to the Black Garnet?" Adora nods, her and Shadow Weaver each taking an arm of the princess as Scorpia holds her out, and she is dragged over to whatever that is. "Hold her hand up towards the pillar. Catra, come grab her other arm."

I step forward, assisting Adora to hold Glimmer in place. Shadow Weaver holds a hand up to the Black Garnet. She draws energy from it, channeling it into the pillar. Immediately, it powers up, and Glimmer is surrounded by the Black Garnet's red energy. Adora and I back up at the same time, and as Adora goes to stand back next to Scorpia, I follow.

"Congratulations, Adora. You have guided your team to a victory that is sure to impress Hordak, and possibly even bring Bright Moon under our full occupation, should the Queen see fit to it. I will inform Hordak, and have him send a message to Queen Angella. But first, I feel it would only be fair to increase your ranking among the Force Captains, putting you only behind Octavia.""

"I… Shadow Weaver, this was all Catra's idea," Adora says, looking at me, seeing how annoyed I appear.

"Of course, Adora. I know the work Catra has put into this mission, but this is how being a Force Captain works. You are your team. Who will be delivering the report this time?"

"Um, I will," I say, quietly. I'm unwilling to look at Shadow Weaver, she isn't willing to even speak to me.

"Hmm… I expect to hear your full report by tomorrow night. I am going to speak to Hordak. Adora, get changed, and keep an eye on the princess."

"Yes, Shadow Weaver…" Adora looks down a little, also not thrilled with this short conversation, as Shadow Weaver exits the room.

"Well, I think I'm going to get changed, too, you know," Scorpia says when the door closes. "This was a great time, you two. Lots of fun. Great plan, Catra."

"Uh, thanks…" I say, at least someone acknowledges it. Scorpia heads out, and Adora turns to face me.

"Well, I'm going to get out of this dress. I'll be right back," she says to me, before leaving as well. I'm left standing there, alone with the princess, in the Black Garnet chamber to her. She's still with the princess. She's still out cold, but she'll be waking up soon. Especially since whatever Shadow Weaver did, it doesn't look too pleasant. I walk over to her, looking down at her. Wow, they really aren't all that.

Bow's POV

Sick. That's the only word I can think of to describe everything I feel. It took a long time for me to wake up after having been ambushed by Scorpia at the ball. I was in a carriage with perfuma, She was racing to get me back here while Entrapta made sure the poison was working its way out of me, trying to keep me hydrated.

When they told me what happened… I don't even know how I was supposed to react. Glimmer's gone. We got in a fight, I pushed her away, and she tried her best. She actually saved me… at her own expense. And now… I'm in the war room with her mom. I told Perfuma I'd fill Angella in myself, and her and Entrapta are waiting outside.

But when I walked in, she had already received a message. I can see it in her eyes, she knows.

"Bow… you're okay."

"Yes, your majesty." I say, unsure of how to broach the subject.

"I… have received a demand from Hordak while you were on your way back."

Oh no. She never got out. "What kind of demand?" I ask, my voice coming out with none of the fear or sadness that it should.

"I've been given until tomorrow morning to surrender myself, and the rebellion, for Glimmer's release."

"I'm sorry."

"It's an impossible decision. If I accept, the rebellion surrenders. Sure, the other kingdoms could continue to resist Hordak, but at too great a cost of life without Bright Moon's resources. But… Glimmer is all I have."

I try to think. There's got to be something we can do here, some way to help. "We can't accept their terms. We've never seen Hordak, but we've interacted with more than enough horde commanders and soldiers. They can't be trusted."

"Then what would you have me do, at the expense of her?"

It stings. She didn't mean it to, I know, but… there really isn't that much of an option, is there? "Let me talk to the princesses. All of them. We can… we can get her back."

"Bow, there is no way you would be able to storm the entire strength of the Fright Zone. Even with every other princess in the alliance, and the entire Bright Moon guard, we wouldn't have the firepower."

"No, but… what if we don't barge in? We ambush a patrol, get information about some quiet entrances we could use, and we leave the Bright Moon guard. Just the princesses and I, we'll head it, find what you need to find, rescue Glimmer, and get out."

"Bow… that is a pipe dream. We don't have any real data on the layout of the Horde."

"Entrapta and I can figure it out. She's good with tech and networking. We can find an access terminal at an outpost of theirs, or at the edge of the Fright Zone, something. We'll figure it out. We can get Glimmer out, I know it."

"And if we lose all of you in the process?"

"You won't. We'll get in and out, quickly."

"How?"

"I don't know, but I can't leave her there just as much as you can't. We can't just give in." Angella hangs her head in defeat, saying nothing. I'm going to figure this out. "You have until tomorrow's moonrise, right? That's enough time to figure something out. Let me contact the princesses, I promise, I'll get her back." She says nothing, so I turn around and exit the war room. This is not a good situation. Glimmer is gone, the sword was taken, Frosta refused to join the rebellion, and Mermista is going to be hard to convince to let her guard down and leave Salineas.

I look down at the ground. I know I slept most of the way back, but… I'm so tired.

I need to get her back, though. I'll get in touch with Mermista, grab who we can… we'll fix this.

As I turn the corner, I see Perfuma and Entrapta still waiting for me.

"Did you… tell her?" Perfuma asks, concern in her eyes. Entrapta isn't saying anything, she just looks like she's lost in thought about something.

"She already knew. We're on a tight schedule, we have until tomorrow to get her back."

"How do you expect to do that?"

"I… I don't know. But we need to try, or the Horde wins, and nowhere on Etheria will be safe."

Perfuma thinks for a moment, before looking down at Entrapta, and back to me. "We're going to need more people."

"I know. I'll figure it out."

"Ooh!" Perfuma says excitedly. "I'll find Spinerella and Netossa!" She says, and starts moving down the halls. I go to tell her to hang on, turning around, as I have absolutely no idea what they do. That being said… we really do need all the help we can get. So instead, I turn back around.

"Entrapta, come with me. You know the communication devices you installed for us when you joined the rebellion? We need to reach Mermista. I know the system isn't perfect so you might have to troubleshoot for us."

Entrapta finally looks up, her eyes containing their usual gleam, "Okay, we might need to boost the power a little more to carry the signal that far, and I don't know if she'll be able to transmit back. I mean, they're still early in development, but… I can do it!"

I nod my head, and Entrapta and I turn to head to the war room, which I just left. Walking in, Entrapta walks up to the holo-table, and Angella picks her head up from her slump. "They're… already here?" She asks, her voice sounding hollow.

"Entrapta and Perfuma never left," I say, as Entrapta sits on the floor to start messing with wires under the table.

"What… what is she doing?"

"Oh," Entrapta starts without looking up from under the table, "I'm temporarily rerouting power from this holographic projection table to boost the range of our transmissions in order to reach Salineas, since right now it can only barely reach Plumeria and Dryl."

"She knows what she's doing, we need to contact Mermista without spending 4 traveling there and back in a boat. It'll be easier if we get her to reach us at the Fright Zone in a little over an hour."

"I… you're really going to try?"

"It's the only way, we'll get her back" I say, trying as hard as I can to make my voice sound reassuring. I've always put my best foot forward, in a way. Always wanting people to get along, to see the glass half full. Sometimes, though, I don't believe in what I'm saying. This is one of those times. It's not that I think we'll fail, it's that I don't know how to even start. The only thing I know for sure is that I can't give up on Glimmer.

Angella stands up, and approaches Entrapta and I. "Bow… I believe in you."

I look up at her, feeling the slightest bit of a tear threatening to poll over. "Thank you, your majesty."

"I… I want to hear this plan of yours."

"I definitely don't have a plan already, but… You said it earlier, we have no information on what the Fright Zone really is, outside of a collection of factories and one pretty big building in the middle."

"We believe it to be an entire living facility, for who knows how many people."

"And I bet they have a prison, too. But to find where it is, Entrapta and I will need to figure out how to gain access to a map, or some old blueprints or something."

"Ooh! I have an idea!" Entrapta shots, pushing herself out from under the table. "We know the horde has technology that vastly surpasses our own, even if it isn't quite that of the First Ones. Perfuma actually sent me some of the destroyed equipment from the horde camp that was set up near Plumeria, and as it turns out, they have a complicated interconnected network of information stored on tablets like my data pad or Bow's tracker pad, but they can communicate! And I bet if we had access to a device connected to their main network, we could search through a sort of digital library!"

"So… why weren't the devices you captured connected to that… main network?"

"I'm going to assume distance, radio signals are perfectly capable of traveling vast distances, potentially forever if there was something out past the atmosphere to receive them. However, unlike the Runestones, not all magic can work in harmony with technology, and there are also different types of signals constantly being sent out by First One's tech! Bow, remember how I said the sword can act as a receiver?"

"Uh, yeah, something about a source in the woods?"

"Well, between our technology, the horde's, the First One's tech, and just raw magic, everything tends to get a little degraded over time. I'm working on a solution to this, fine-tuning the frequencies and all, but it's trial and error. But basically, we need to be close, like, within Fright Zone territory."

"So… if you get close to the Fright Zone-" Angella says, piecing it together. "As in, if you sneak into the Fright Zone, you'll be able to figure out how to sneak into the Fright Zone?"

"Precisely!" Entrapta says, plugging two cords together, as the holo-table turns off.

I look back to Angella, "Entrapta is the best there is at understanding how tech and magic work together.-"

"They're not even totally separate things!" She interrupts, "I'm learning new stuff every day, just wait until I'm able to pinpoint the location of whatever was communicating with the sword."

When she's done, I continue, "-take the magic out of that, and it'll be easy. We only need one port connected to their system. We find a terminal outside the main complex, and we'll go from there."

"And you think the princesses and you will be able to fight through the entire Fright Zone?"

"No, not even close. We'll need a way to draw a large portion of them outside of the complex. I'm thinking if we send the heavy hitters, or the elemental Princesses, they'll be able to create a large enough diversion for us to find a terminal, and find out how to sneak in."

Angella considers this for a moment. We don't have any real plan, but Entrapta seems to know a decent way to move forward. Angella finally hangs her head down, and says, "They're going to know you're coming."

"Of course they will. But they can't know the how if we don't."

Angella's lips turn up in what might be the smallest smile I've ever seen, and she says, "okay… please, get my daughter home."

"Yes, your highness," I say, saluting her just for the sake of relieving a bit of tension."

Angella nods, and turns to leave the room, "I'll let you work. Good luck, Bow. Entrapta."

Entrapta gives a quick thumbs up, and goes back to working under the table. "Don't worry, a few more seconds and I'll be able to put enough juice into the communicator to hopefully reach the one I shipped to Salineas."

"Wait… you have no idea if it's installed there?"

"It isn't hard, and I'm not just saying that because this stuff is second nature to me. As long as someone is nearby, this should work." She pushes herself out again, standing up.

"So… moment of truth?"

"Nah, I'm sure that'll come later. This will work." She presses a button on the holo-table, turning it back on, but only slightly. Only a few red lights turn on, the holographic map does not, neither do the actual backlights. However, the transmitter she installed into the table is on, and I walk over to it.

"So, we just…"

"Okay, basically, I made it really simple. We only have so many places we need direct communication with. The first slot is Dryl, obviously; there's Plumeria, although Perfuma made that one pretty difficult for me to install due to how her kingdom has very little in terms of developed buildings by her choice; That one is for Salineas; and then there are a few unprogramed buttons as of now. Eventually this thing will be obsolete, I bet even your tablet has the tech to receive these signals once I'm able to figure out how to amplify them."

"Okay, that is pretty easy," I respond as I press the Salineas button, and the light to the left of the speaker starts blinking red.

"While you're waiting for this, I'm gonna need a cable that can plug into your tablet from mine. I already have one that connects the Fright Zone style of ports to mine, but it isn't like there's anything standard yet. Do you have a room here, where I can look for a cable that'll work?"

"Kind of. I live in the woods, actually, but do spend a lot of nights sleeping on the couch in Glimmer's room. There's a room one down from hers, I use it as a workshop though. It's down the right exit from the main hall, about four doors down.

"Alright. She'll pick up, don't worry," she says as she quickly moves out of the room, walking on her hair.

I look at the blinking light. I really hope Mermista managed to install this properly at her castle.

The blinking does give me time to think. I haven't really done much of that outside of panicking since I woke up. Who knows what they're doing to her right now…

"Hello, hel**? Is this Br**** **on" a voice comes in over the speaker, but it's too staticy to make out. It definitely isn't Mermista…I try to mess with the fine tuning by turning the two knobs on the panel, but it just makes it worse. I guess it makes sense that this wouldn't be great on the return, given the power boost we needed just to send this one.

"Bow speaking. Do you read me?" I say, turning the knobs back to what they were. As I speak, I swear the lights in the room dim a little. This really is going to draw too much power to be reliable.

"Bow! Oh, it's ** **** ** hear your voi**," and I can make out enough to know it's Sea Hawk.

"Sea Hawk! It worked! You're too far from us to respond with the power you can send, but are you able to understand me?"

"Perfec*** **ear!"

"Look, we need your help. You need to get Mermista to meet us outside the main Fright Zone complex, the Horde has Glimmer!"

"What? How? I ******* *** two were at the pri***** **om?"

"Look, it's difficult to explain, but we need her back. If we don't get her, Angella is going to surrender, and the horde wins! You need to tell Mermista that this our top priority."

"Of course, I wi** ** **** *** at once! Whe** ** ** ****?"

"What was that?" The call must be dropping, we're going to burn out our transmitter and receiver.

"*** do we me**?"

Okay… 'where do we meet?' good question Sea Hawk…

"Um… Can you set sail from Salineas?"

"* **lieve **" This is officially getting difficult.

"Okay, well, We'll be about half an hour's walk up along the southern shore, towards the river.

"Sure *****, *** you the**! TO ADVE*****!"

The call drops from his end, he must've already hung up. Okay, I'm not certain he'll be able to convince Mermista to stop her constant standing guard of Salineas, but… I'm feeling a little better about this. We'll have just enough time to reach the vague meeting spot, assuming the Salineas waters are fine today and they don't run into any hostile Horde ships. Now, I just go find the other princesses, and we move out.

Adora's POV

Finally, the dress is where it belongs: buried deep within the bottom drawer of my dresser. I don't know how people can wear clothing so restrictive. Catra always liked suits a bit more for that reason, but I never really got the appeal of those, either. I'll stick to my combat pants, thank you.

Okay, that's that. Now, the other three were asked to hide the sword here, so where did they put it? I spend a few minutes looking for it: under the bed, behind the dresser; the horde isn't very materialistic, we aren't left with much space to hide anything. I check under the mattress, and there it is. I'll have to do way better than this, the weekly contraband sweeps will find this instantly. I reach out for it, I've been waiting to figure out what happened in those woods for so long…

No.

My hand stops just before I grab the hilt. I need to get back to the Black Garnet chamber. There will always be more time for the sword. Shadow Weaver didn't appear certain that her containment field was sound. If I'm right about Glimmer tiring out, and it really seems like she does given how she fought at Salineas and Princess Prom, she probably won't be able to get far in a weakened state. Still, we can't take that chance.

Walking back through the halls gives me more time to reflect on the last day. We really won. And I'm exhausted, and I'm going to be stuck up all night watching the princess, probably. Not my idea of a celebration. And Catra… she's going to be really upset that the credit mostly keeps going to me, and that she was pulled out of her own mission. She's going to take it out on me. Should I have tried harder?

I need to find a way to make sure Catra is okay. Shadow Weaver has always seemed so determined to… get rid of her? Or just push her, I honestly can't tell. No amount of me trying to reason with her works either. If it's not enough to appease her… maybe I keep going. Keep getting closer to what Catra and I always talked about as kids. If I get enough respect from Shadow Weaver and Hordak, they'll have to listen to me, and Catra will actually get what she deserves.

I guess it makes sense, Shadow Weaver, as my commanding officer, has always taken a… close role with me, far more than she ever did the rest of my team. But Catra and I were inseparable. She never showed Catra the affection, only the punishments. It's almost as if she just wanted Catra to get sick of being around her, and by extension me. It never lasted, though.

I reach the Black Garnet Chamber now, and step inside. Sure enough, Catra is just leaning against this table, watching Glimmer.

"Hey, Adora. Welcome back."

"Hi Catra. Look… I-"

"Save it. I figured this would happen. It's okay. So you're just, even further ahead of me. It's not like Shadow Weaver was going to make me a Force Captain, too."

"You… never said you wanted that."

"Yeah, I know…"

She isn't telling me something, or multiple things, but I have no idea what it could be. I just walk over to her, and stand next to her against the table. I guess she isn't angry at me, so it isn't too bad. Although she definitely is unhappy with the outcome of her mission.

"Ugh…" A quiet whine comes out of Glimmer, and Catra and I both look over at her. "What? What's going on?" She picks her head up, looking around the room. Her eyes narrow as she sees us. Immediately, she starts struggling, fighting against the restraints, as she screams out in discomfort. It's hurting her…

"Careful princess, you're not getting out. There's no use hurting yourself for nothing." I say, slowly walking up to her.

"Save it, Adora!" She spits out. It's clear there's a lot going through her head, a lot she wants to say to me, but she's biting her tongue. Okay, encouragement.

"You know, I thought it would be a lot harder to capture the literal heir to the throne of Bright Moon. You really let your guard down, didn't you?"

"You know what you did. You went after Bow. It was cruel and heartless!"

"It was war. Something you haven't seemed to realize yet," as I finish this sentence, the door behind me opens up, and I almost feel the room get darker. I know who it is without turning around, and keep looking at Glimmer.

"Oh I know full well how you see things. You've already been a part of the attempted destruction of two entire kingdoms for the horde."

"And now, I'll succeed fully. Your little rebellion is done, especially after the deal Hordak sent to your mom."

"What did you…?"

"She's been given until tomorrow morning to surrender herself for you."

"The rebellion will stop you!"

"How?" I ask, a slight crack in my voice appearing. No, Adora, who cares if these people do actually care for each other? This is the job. "You think your archer friend, the tech geek, and someone who can grow flowers will be able to stand up to the entire might of the horde?"

"You don't know them. You don't know us. They'll figure it out. Because unlike for you, we don't use and manipulate, like you did with Entrapta and Bow at the ball. They actually teach the concept of friendship outside of the Evil Horde!"

This isn't supposed to happen like this. She's supposed to be under pressure right now. Of course I know about them. I read the files, I know they're cruel, ruthless, and manipulative. Right? I mean, that's what Glimmer is trying to do, I think. And it… does cut through me, and I can't help but glance back at Catra, who hasn't moved from the table the whole time. How dare she act like I don't know what a friend is?

Adora, keep your cool. She's watching you. Don't break.

"Evil Horde? Seriously? You guys sure go to great lengths to convince yourself you're in the right. You know, I hope your friend does show up, I'll finish what I started in Plumeria!"

I tell myself it's a bluff, just like I told myself I was in control at Plumeria. And I've always been told by Catra I'm not a good liar. But I guess… when you aren't sure, no one else can read you. Glimmer's eyes narrow in hatred, and I feel Catra's hand on my shoulder, as she pulls me back.

"Adora, enough!" Catra practically hisses, as she turns me to face her. She's whispering now, so Glimmer doesn't hear, "where did that come from?"

I look to her left, finally acknowledging Shadow Weaver's presence in the room, and she seems immediately very displeased with Catra, and my mind flashes back to the Plumeria misunderstanding. "What do you mean?" I'm whispering too, but a little less quietly, "I'm keeping her on edge; she's a prisoner, not a guest."

"No, you lost your cool. I know you well enough to tell you that between the two of us, you're not the one who's supposed to snap like that."

Catra, why do you have to do this? I appreciate it, but Shadow Weaver won't stand for that. I sigh, if I don't take care of this, Shadow Weaver will, and it will be worse. "Back off, Catra. I know what I'm doing."

Her eyes flash in anger, but it's quickly replaced by a look of… hurt? Her grip on my shoulder tightens slightly. "Look, I get it. I know what you're doing here, but we talked about this."

"Catra, not now. Let me handle this. Why don't you go join the rest of the team on patrol?"

She lets go now, taking a step back, looking absolutely shocked that I would even suggest it. But I meant it, my gaze doesn't break. She seems to put her head down, and leaves the room, purposefully not looking at Shadow Weaver as she goes.

Shadow Weaver takes it as an opportunity to move closer, nodding slightly to me, as she moves to speak with Glimmer. I let her, deciding not to get involved in this.

"Princess, how are your bindings? I hope they aren't too uncomfortable."

Glimmer looks up at Shadow Weaver, a look of slight horror appearing on her face, "I was… I know you… I learned at Mystacor… it was your magic following us to Salineas, wasn't it!"

"I suppose my reputation precedes me. As does yours. Did Adora here tell you about your mother?"

"She did, I wasn't impressed."

"I wouldn't be impressed either. I would be worried if I were you. First your father, now your mother… the toll this war has taken on your family…" I bite my tongue at Shadow Weaver's comment. Did I sound too much like her? And Glimmer's father was a casualty? "You only have hours left until the rebellion falls, and the Horde reigns supreme over Etheria."

Glimmer starts squirming, fighting, trying her best to teleport out of her binds, but she can't manage it. After a moment of her screeching, she lurches forward in exhaustion.

"Ooh, *tsk-tsk*, Careful Now. It would be a shame if we had no princess to exchange for the Queen." She turns around, walking near me but without stopping, "Follow me for a moment."

I nod, and follow her out into the hallway. We exit the black garnet chamber and as I turn around I watch Glimmer. She doesn't take her eyes off of me until we're separated by the door.

"You did good, Adora. As did your team. You can expect far less in terms of drills and training exercises and more field work in the future."

"Thank you, Shadow Weaver," I say, not quite looking at her. Her words almost ring hollow.

"So, what else about the mission can you tell me?"

"Glimmer proved to be a little more than we expected. She was running circles around all of us for a little, but she slowed down fast. I think her powers work off of some sort of charge bases, unlike the others."

"Well, that's entirely possible. It is not unheard of for Runestone abilities to need to be charged." She's talking about the Black Garnet, Catra and I have seen her charge up at it before one day.

"So we just had to wear her down, eventually, she stopped teleporting. It helped that we altered the plan a little. We used her friend, the archer Bow, as a distraction."

"You had the friend?" She asks, puzzled.

"Yes. The last thing Glimmer did was get him out, it's what let Scorpia get her."

"Hmm…" Of course, she isn't happy we lost Bow. Probably would've helped to take that one off of the field, given how capable he is. "Anything else? Anything else you managed to accomplish?"

The sword. She knows already? "Nothing of note, no. The plan went almost exactly like Catra said it would, she spent all of yesterday working on it."

"Yes, I'm sure a plan like that was done entirely on her own, all in one day. I understand you wish to aid her, but you do not have to lie to do it."

"Shadow Weaver, it isn't a lie. I only found out about the plan right before we presented it to you. The only one else who knew anything was Scorpia, who was simply asked to find out if we could use the airship. I mean, we got permission from you, but she did find it, and the manual."

"Yes, Scorpia seems to be a useful asset for your team. Just know Adora, I always know when I'm being lied to."

She opens the door to the chamber again, and we head back in, continuing to watch Glimmer, but no more words are said now, as I'm left to ponder her words.

Bow's POV

"Are we sure he was able to convince her?" Perfuma asks in a hushed voice.

"I'm sure, he said the transmitter worked well enough and that Sea Hawk understood the urgency," Entrapta answers her, noticeably not trying to keep her voice down.

"Even if they don't show up, we owe it to Glimmer, to Angella," Spinnerella says.

"Yeah, the horde isn't going to take us down that easily. Bow, do you see them?" Netossa asks me. I'm standing a little off from the group, maintaining a small fire a little further north than where I told Sea Hawk to meet us. We couldn't get much closer while also staying in one place, there were too many patrols.

"Not yet, but we need to give them a little longer. It won't help us if they got held up and engaged a horde ship in combat on their way down here. We need all the help we can get."

"I know," Perfuma says, walking up to me, "they'll make it. Do you… need more fuel?"

"No, the fire is fine. They'll be looking for us, they'll see it. But we can't make it any bigger without the horde taking notice themselves." I stand up, turning around to face the other four. So far, nothing really went wrong. Entrapta is messing with my tracker pad, applying some sort of software to it from her datapad, since we all have to have different names for things. Spinnerella and Netossa are standing guard mostly, I'm actually shocked they were willing to come. They've always avoided field missions, in favor of helping out around Bright Moon. I guess the stakes are too high for them. Besides, when you need all the help you can get, why wouldn't you ask for it?

"Wait, somethings wrong," Entrapta murmurs.

"What is it?"

"Nothing serious, I'm just getting readings from the Fright Zone I can't quite make sense of. But I can confirm, they have the sword."

"Well, we aren't here for the sword. We have no idea where it can be, and it'd be too risky to change the plan for a piece of tech we know nothing about."

"Really? Well, I'll grab it if we come across it. The horde doesn't know how to use First One's tech, after all, it'd be a paper weight to them."

"I'm sure it's fine, it was basically just a weight for me, too."

"Bow, look!" Perfuma shouts, grabbing my shoulder. I turn around, and sure enough, a Salineas ship is moving up towards the shore. Perfuma and I run down towards the shoreline, and watch as the ship comes to a stop. Sure enough, there they are.

"Bow!" Sea Hawk shouts from the deck, grabbing a rope and flashily swinging down, landing a few feet away from us. "You're almost right where you said you'd be, sorry we were late."

Mermista jumps off of the deck herself, falling straight into the water, and then shoots back out of it, having used it to propel herself up to where we are. "You know, this is very late for this, right?"

"We only have until tomorrow morning, we didn't exactly have time. Some of us would have gone to bed 4 hours ago already."

"Well, let's hear this plan of yours. It's fine, I took a nap while Sea Hawk took us here."

"I will admit," he says, "I am a little rusty when it comes to late-night sea navigation, but we were barely late!"

We head back towards the fire, the seven of us working through the rough stages of the plan Entrapta and I came up with on the fly.

"So…" Mermista says after a while of Entrapta and I bouncing off of each other, "we hit this guard tower that Spinnerella and Netossa saw when they scouted this place, you two download a map, and then we split off into a diversion, and an infiltration unit?"

"It's going to need to be a big diversion," I say, "Which is why I was thinking Sea Hawk, Entrapta and I will go through the Fright Zone. The more pressure we put on them, the more they pull out of their base. And, I have an idea that would give us a huge edge."

"And what would that be?" Sea Hawk asks, who has been absolutely beaming this whole time.

"Well, Mermista, you know how impossible it has been for you to take much time away from Salineas?"

"'Impossible' almost sums it up. I missed Princess Prom, worrying the Horde would use it as an excuse to finally land their armies at my front door."

"Well, what if we take back the advantage? While we're infiltrating the Horde main complex, you lead your team to the docks. As you slowly, and I do mean slowly, fight your way towards the complex, try and take some time to wreck the Horde's docks, shipping supplies, everything down there. You sink enough ships, they'll have to give up control of the waters for months, which should buy us enough time to get the Sea Gate back online."

"Do you have any idea how wishful that sounds?" She asks, looking lost in thought.

"Very!" I admit, "but even if there's only a chance it works, it gives us a secondary objective that directly aids the first objective."

"I'm just saying, grabbing the sword would do that too," Entrapta says.

"I disagree," Perfuma starts talking to her, "we need to focus on getting Glimmer, we can't split up the infiltration part of the-"

"Speaking of Shimmer," Sea Hawk interrupts, "How do you expect the three of us to actually get to the complex? You've been very detailed so far."

"Oh, that's the easy part-" Entrapta shouts, excitedly, "-to explain! We have no idea."

Sea Hawk turns to face her, and then me, like he just lost all faith in this, but his resolve quickly turns back into pure excitement as he says, "well, I've never been scared of a challenge."

Mermista looks like she's finally done thinking, and says, "no, this is a good idea. For me, I mean. I know this is about Glimmer, but if this can protect my kingdom, too, I'm all in."

"Well I'm obviously in too!" Sea Hawk beams. The two of them turn to face the rest of us, and Spinnerella and Netossa just look at each other, seemingly confused.

"We've uh.. been in for a while, the rest of us," Netossa says.

Mermista looks at them for a second, and simply says, "I don't think I know you two."

"Oh, I'm Spinnerella, and this is Netossa. I can manipulate wind."

"I toss nets. We know who you are."

"Oh, well then. That sounds… useful," Mermista says, clearly unsure of what to say to Netossa, who quickly appears to become frustrated.

"Okay…" I say loudly and slowly to get everyone's attention, and keep whatever was about to happen there from happening. "We all have the basic premise of this plan down, right? I'm thinking we will move for the lookout tower as a team, Perfuma, Entrapta and I will head into the tower, while you guys clear out any surrounding horde soldiers before getting them out of sight. After that, our teaming will be very limited before they find out about us, probably. They're going to be on alert, this isn't going to be easy."

"After that," Netossa starts speaking, "We split up into the two groups already discussed. We hold them for as long as we can while they infiltrate the complex to find Glimmer. This… is not a guaranteed win. After an hour, we're going to have to retreat if we last that long."

"It'll work. Once we get Glimmer and make it outside, I've got an arrow that will act as a flare, you won't miss it. It means head for the boat. Whichever side gets there first, probably you all, hold for 15 minutes. We'll get there, and we leave."

"Just like that?" Mermista asks.

"Just like that."

There's an air of tension. Everyone I look at, it's obvious that there are different ideas on whether we're all going to die or not. Still, everyone is at least willing to try.

"Alright Bow, lead the way," Spinnerella finally breaks that silence, and we all start getting up as she snuffs the oxygen from the fire, putting it out.

"Alright. The tower is a few minutes west of here, we have more than enough time for all of this." We start making our way towards the nearest lookout tower, being wary of any patrols that may come across us. No one talks much, except for Spinnerella and Netossa making small talk with each other, and Perfuma is humming to relax herself. Sea Hawk every now and then goes around trying to get someone to respond to his enthusiasm, but even Mermista seems to be too fed up with it.

"Bow!" He shouts, placing a hand on my shoulder, "I can tell she appreciates it, how you thought of a way to help her while she's helping you."

"Oh, Mermista? Yeah," I respond, surprised. I thought he would continue with telling everyone to cheer up, but I guess I'm a little more cheerful than the rest of them. Except for Entrapta, who is absentmindedly following us while continuing to mess with my tracker pad, a wire connecting it to her datapad, which I assume she is currently holding in her hair. "She needs a break. She hasn't been able to take a breather for like, three weeks."

"I know, she's been so stressed she hasn't even been pretending to dislike me!"

"I… that's great… I think." What are you supposed to say to that?

"Well, sorry again I didn't get to speak to you at Princess Prom, I tried to convince her to take the time off, nothing even happened at Salineas during the ball."

"I think that's probably because their attention was on the ball itself."

'Of course, it makes sense. Well, we're almost here. I uh… don't go up into the tower with you?"

"Um… no, just Perfuma, Entrapta, and I."

"Great, time for adventure!" He picks up his pace slightly as the tower gets closer to view.

"Spinnerella, can you kick up some cover for us?" I shout, as we get closer to the spotlight.

"We aren't in a desert, I'm not sure if I can do that with just some dirt," she responds.

"I got it," Mermista says, stopping her movement for a second to grab an impossibly large amount of sea water off the shore, and covering the space between us and the tower with a surprisingly thick mist.

"They're gonna know it's us," Netossa says, as several of us start moving faster.

"It's okay, they won't have time to react!" Perfuma shouts, as we're now running through the mist. It's hard to see through it, which is the point, so we all relatively lose sight of each other.

"Entrapta, are you with us?" There's no response, and I slow down, trying to figure out where she is, but she actually managed to get ahead of me. But… way too far to the right. I move faster. I make it up to where she is, and start speaking, "Entrapta, wrong way, we need to head for the gate with Perfuma!"

"Oh! Okay, Which way?"

"Just follow me," I turn back towards where I saw Perfuma going, and the two of us head over as everyone else starts clearing out everyone on the ground.

"Okay, now, before they figure out what's going on!" Perfuma places her hands towards the ground, and pulls vines out of the ground under our feet to lift the three of us up towards the tower. Instantly, I draw my bow, and see that there are two people in the top of the tower. I fire a net arrow for the one closest to the terminal, and perfuma simply uses a vine to toss the other one over the edge of the tower, dangling him from the railing.

"Thanks Perfuma, we got this, go help the others!"

She nods, "We'll get it sorted," and lifts herself back over the tower to the ground.

"Entrapta-"

"Already on it!" She pulls out both my tracker pad and her data pad, setting both of them on top of the terminal, before plugging hers in. "Okay we were right! This is incredible! I could tell from the tech I salvaged that the horde had a complicated system, all these devices communicating with each other despite the interference of Etheria's atmosphere!"

"So, about that digital library?"

"It's all there! Well, a lot of stuff, I don't know. It's disorganized."

"We just need a map of some sort, any kind."

"I know! Uhh, there system feels slow, like they know how to get it to work but without it running smoothly. And I figured there would be some sort of protective software to have to get through, but, uh…"

Something hits the tower hard, there's definitely still fighting going on down there.

"Well what stuff do you see?"

"Um… expansion plans?"

"Anything else?"

"Order logs… material logs, information about the foundry… Oh! There it is! Old schematics!"

"Awesome, how's it look?"

"Readable. The rooms are unlabeled though. But if I were designing a prison for the horde, I'd guess it'd be this room. It's tall, has multiple floors, and a large tower structure in the middle watching all sides."

"Anyway to confirm it?"

"Nope! Not without shifting through the expansion plan back-log through dozens or hundreds of files to find when it was built."

"Then it'll have to do. Upload it my tracker pad, and let's get going."

"But there's so much here!"

"We'll get it all later. We're here for Glimmer, not data."

"I know, I just… fine. Let's go!" She wraps half her hair around me, and with the rest of her hair, she uses it to almost repel us down the side of the tower. There are about 8 unconscious horde soldiers laying about, and it looks like our team is waiting for us.

"Bow! Did it work?" Perfuma asks.

"We have a layout, yes. Are you guys ready for the distraction?"

Mermista looks over back towards the water. "Of course, I'm going to make sure their shipyards are irrecoverable."

"That's the spirit!" Sea Hawk shouts. "Okay, Bow, Entrapta, off we go!"

"Good luck everyone," Spinnerally says encouragingly.

"Get into position near the shore, I'm going to study this map to find a way in. We'll head in as soon as we hear the noise start, then we leave in an hour."

"Stay safe," Netossa says.

"We'll be safe, a good plan never goes wrong!" Entrapta says enthusiastically.

"Yeah, good plan…" Mermista echoes, slightly annoyed at the optimism.

"Alright," I turn to start moving towards the side of the Horde base, away from the shoreline. "Let's go get Glimmer."