Welcome to the wide universe.
Tallstar jumped as she felt the entire building shake. Her siblings did the same. They looked at each other surprised.
„What do you think it was?" Starla asked, reassuring Glory.
"I'm not sure…" Jewelstar said, examining the ceiling as if searching for cracks. I hope no one is firing here." Do you remember Aquarius?"
Tallstar clenched her cybernetic prosthetic fist.
„It's hard for us to forget. I hope all of this doesn't come crashing down on us. 0 she said anxiously looking into the darkness stretching out before them. They had two night vision goggles, and the Jewelstar's eye had a similar feature, but they weren't the best. Those strange creatures that Wrongdak flew away with once sold them a perfect one, but they traded it for information about the location of the Back-up with Horde Prime's consciousness, which turned out to be false. Maybe we need to look for the planet of these creatures ... They probably have more and better equipment.
„You know what I thought? Why don't we go on vacation when we're done with this place? There's supposed to be a big victory party on Etheri and all... Maybe we'll rest there for a few months, maybe even a year.? Starla suggested, stroking Glory's head.
Jewelstar winced.
„'We still have a lot of work ahead of us." he said grimly.
Talstar rolled her eyes.
„What work?! Horde Prime was destroyed five years ago. And we're still fighting like nothing has changed. I'm sorry, it's changed. Now we have two tyrants… No, I'm sorry, I was wrong. We've got eight crazy tyrants and a hell of a lot of local pirates and bandits, not to mention Bellum freaks."
Her brother snorted.
„Horde Ultimate and Heavenly Brothers are mere shadows of Prime."
Talstar nodded.
„Yes, and that's why we should think about retirement. Or at least on vacation. And so the three of us won't win the peace just like we didn't win the war. We helped foment a galactic rebellion, wonderful, but we won't do much more. At least Icarus is finally free."
"There's nothing left for us on Icarus anyway. And many innocents still suffer under the yoke of his heirs".
She groaned helplessly.
„We can't save everyone. I know you'll never get over our loss, but it's time to move on. It's a matter for others. Those of Etheria are rumored to want to form a galactic alliance. Maybe it's better that we somehow use our knowledge and skills to help, instead of blindly crashing all over the universe."
The argument went to Jewelstar, but he pressed his lips together hard, as always it takes a while for him to agree with her.
„You know, why don't we postpone such discussions for later and check this place out? Preferably ASAP? Starla interjected.
She was right. Their new ship, which they named the Honor in… honor of their Etherian friends, detected a signal coming from this place where they were calling for help. It was old, but there was no ship around for years, and they had nothing else to do anyway. For six months they had been wandering from one port to another, looking for something to do… or rather, a purpose. Most of the former rebels abandoned the fight or joined the various armed formations formed by the newly established provisional or revived governments. Some also went astray and began to prey on those for whom they had been fighting so recently. It was no longer a time for lone gunpersons like them. The world has changed, and not in the way they expected.
So they landed near the monastery, which they carefully hid in a nearby canyon. They had picked up this habit during the war with the Horde, though they hadn't expected anyone else to be around, so far from the center of the Known Universe. There were only uninhabited planets around, often ravaged by the Horde. But it was their caution bordering on paranoia that made them survive all those years of guerrilla warfare. The planet was strange, as if at one point it wanted to accept life, but then changed its mind and only mosses and lichens grew here. She had heard that the First Ones could transform entire planets, making them livable. She knew little about this ancient race, on Icarus, especially on the main continent from which their planet was named, there was little interest in the remote past. However, the power of the ancient civilization must have been unimaginable if they were capable of such undertakings. She had heard from friends on Etheri that the First Ones had done terrible things, but Adora, She-Ra herself, was one of them, they couldn't be all that bad.
She has never been to a monastery. On Icarus, this type of practice was abandoned long ago, its inhabitants preferred to look to the future, they reveled in the development of technology. The case with Dedalus was somewhat different. The smaller continent of their planet was much more backward economically, and its inhabitants held much more firmly to tradition and old faith. And it was they who put up the fiercest resistance to the Horde. And they paid a terrible price for it. Three-quarters of the population was killed and most cities were razed to the ground. However, now that their magic had been unleashed, many of them had gained power and were happy to use it to fight the remaining followers of Horde Prime. Only reverent respect for She-ra spared the clones. Their mother was from Dedalus, though with the exception of Jewelstar, they hardly remembered her. This monastery seemed to be a place where some Serenia-like entity was worshiped on Eridani, a place they both hated immensely.
The monastery was empty, which they expected, but they hoped for a different result. This did not bode well for the places Horde Prime visited. He especially hated places of worship, he was a merciful but jealous master. Although, looking at the level of his madness... So they left the monastery and entered the underground through the sewers, hoping that in this way they would avoid any traps the Horde had left here, because its former ruler was fond of leaving traps for those who wanted to delve too much into his secrets. It was dark here, and the tunnels stretched under the entire complex, creating a veritable maze. They scrambled through it all day and couldn't find it. At first they thought that the inhabitants built a mine here, but then they found strange symbols on the walls, only after closer inspection they concluded that they were the same symbols that were on Adora's sword, that is, they ended up in some ancient structure built by her ancestors where the monastery was built. They did not even find a trace of the inhabitants of the monastery.
They were close to the surface when there was a tremor. They had seen traces of the Other's presence before, but couldn't tell how old they were, so they could hope they were gone. But now they were sure that they were not alone in this eerie place. They were about to eat their meal, but they interrupted it when they heard, or rather felt, a noise. They moved forward, unsure and afraid. They hadn't felt this uneasy since Prime's fall. They really were too old for all this.
They were in front of a room that, judging by the smell of decaying plants, was a hydroponic farm. It was warm here, the entire monastery had power, but they hadn't hit the reactor yet.
„Apparently the gardens did not collapse, how many people do you think lived here?" she asked, staring at the door. There were no castles, no armory or anything like that. Simple people living simple lives that were interrupted by a wicked tyrant.
„Let's get out of here, maybe we won't find anything here. You're right, don't risk" Jewelstar finally said.
She nodded, and they were about to leave when she felt a strange tap on her back.
„I don't like that owl." behind her back someone said in strangely dull voice.
And then she heard a massive creature running towards them...
After the statue collapsed, her crew members and passengers searched the monastery, or rather its upper part. They found some more evidence that the structure had recently been visited by several other people. Trampled grass, worn dust, fingerprint on the computer. Bina became seriously worried. The place was absolutely eerie, and her experience told her it would only get worse from there. she sighed. They were under a fountain, eating protein bars. Bina looked around and approached Dilayla.
"Maybe it wasn't the best idea to take down that statue." she said looking at the mercenary who shrugged her shoulders.
„Someone had to do it. You know, after all these years, I saw his face for the first time? It's so strange. A dude thirty years ago ruined my life, took everything from me and made me into this." She clenched her cybernetic fist and smiled grimly and added. "That's all I could do. I don't know if you understand what it's like to want revenge on someone who ruined your life."
Bina smiled sourly and saw from the corner of her eye that Miss Daisy was surreptitiously listening to them, as was Wrongdak, but he was listening much less secretly.
„You would be surprised. But we killed the one who made us."
The mercenary looked at her curiously.
„We?" she asked, raising a light blue eyebrow.
„Me and my sister, K-Nacia. One of many. We used to be called the Thousand Daughters, but now we are the Thousand Sisters she said, and seeing Dilayla's confused look she added. "I am a female clone of our Father Jantar. As she said this, she saw Miss Daisy nod as if confirming something she had long suspected, and Wrongdak came up to her in amazement.
"So... are you a clone too?" Just like me… like us?" he asked in an astonished voice. Bina smiled sadly.
„Not quite. Our Father, Jantar, wasn't as crazy as Horde Prime and was… More calculating. The Thousand Daughters was the gang that shook the entire Atrax underworld. But we all owed unconditional obedience to our Father. He put it all together very cleverly. Each of us was different, unique, a separate work of art. In terms of predispositions, he divided them into "Nations", series that were to play different roles in the organization. The A-Nations were thieves and burglars. W-Nations were cybernetic warriors. M-Nations were psykers, and we B-Nations were frauds. Con artists who could sell sand on Akiton. I am B-Natia number 7479... We didn't even get names... But he gave us a lot of freedom because he had a hold on us. You see, we were all created with a defect. We were slowly dying of a neurodegenerative disease and only Jantar had a medicine that could save us, or maybe just slow down the progress of the disease? We started dying at the age of two and lived up to seven years. The older we got, the more and stronger the doses, and our Father sent us on more and more dangerous missions, and sometimes ordered others to kill us."
„And Ka-Nation?" Dilaya asked. For a moment, Bina thought the mercenary had pronounced the name of this group of her sisters strangely, but she ignored it.
„K-Nation… The whole group was unstable. They were murderers and Assassins, but that K-Natia was extremely fucked up, even more so than our Father. She was as fucked up as your Big Brother, but that's probably the only way she was able to defy our creator. She tried to kill me before but changed her mind thanks to Igzar
"Did you know Igzar, leader of the Shadows of Tarak?" asked the mercenary appreciatively.
„Yeah, old crazy tomcat. I have to admit it was a bit of a bastard. But it was thanks to him that we managed to take down Jantar. I wasn't interested in power, so my sister, Lady Ka, took over, and that's when it all started. She freaked the hell out, named herself Supreme Queen Ka, and became a tyrant."
"But i belive, like our mister Wrongdak's brother, she suffered a terrible but absolutely deserved fate?" Miss Daisy asked. Bina nodded thoughtfully.
"Yeap, she got into Igzar's black book, and it's something very stupid." Well, she's as dead as a mortal can be now. – replied the dark sorceress.
„Yes, that certainly solved your problem." Miss Daisy said in a voice that the captain sensed a grain of irony."
Rosie was feeling better now. Miss. Daisy was good to her. She knew there was something dark inside her, but she showed her support despite what she had done to Lady Cala. She did not understand her words, or rather did not want to understand them. She wasn't sure what was going on with her, only that she felt confused. Sad and happy at the same time. Her heart was beating like never before. She didn't want to say anything just yet. She just had to deal with their mission for now, and it was terrible.
The upper, above-ground part of the monastery was beautiful. The sun was shining, flowers were blooming, even the water in the fountain was splashing, only birds chirping merrily. It was nice, like a picnic, though she'd never been to one, so she couldn't be sure. But then she saw this statue of this Horde Prime. He had the face of a Wrongdak, plus a few eyes, but there was something indescribably wicked about that face. She had the impression that she could feel the evil flowing out of him and ... Something she did not understand. A feeling of disappointment, contempt for someone who... wasn't worthy of the power entrusted to him. Then Dilayla destroyed the statue and she felt a little better. But she still felt uneasy, as if something dark hung between them. She knew what was going on, it was a sentence that everyone was afraid to say...
All the inhabitants of the monastery are dead.
They wanted to... But they couldn't turn back, because someone had to find out what happened here. Of course Captain Moonshadow didn't care. Her pirates wanted only riches. She was afraid of this woman, so when she approached her, she jumped. Dilayla immediately approached them.
„Hello, you're Rosie, aren't you?" she asked, but Dilayla cut her off.
„What do you want from her?" asked the mercenary sharply. Everyone fell silent. Eti drew her rifle, Itel summoned the blade. The others also assumed fighting stances. The other subordinates of the pirate did the same, although only this terrifying, only this terrifyingly cute Skittermander showed enthusiasm. Miss Daisy and Lady Cala were the only ones who stayed calm, they were so strong and brave. Rosie put a hand on Dilayla's armored shoulder.
„Everything's all right." she said, and after thinking about it, the mercenary relaxed. just like the others. "What can I help you with?" she asked, trying to look more confident than she felt.
"You just remind me of my daughter." Moonshadow said sadly. It wasn't the answer she expected at all. So did the others who watched the winged woman, even the members of her crew. The exceptions again were Miss Daisy and Lady Cala.
„That... Captain has a daughter?" she asked confused. The Pirate Captain touched her cheek with her fingers.
„I had ... She was brave and strong, always wanted to get her way ..." said the captain shrilly and turned away from her.
- Your daughter, what happened to her? Miss Daisy asked unexpectedly. Moonshadow looked at her sternly.
„What do you think? She was taken from me. Those who have a happy family life do not dabble in my profession. said the pirate in a sharp voice. Bina gave her a sympathetic look, and Miss Daisy looked for a moment as if she wanted to say something, but then Lady Cala put her hand on her shoulder and the pirate walked away.
In the end, it was necessary to get to the underground of the monastery, which stretched over a huge area. Underneath the upper residential buildings was the entrance to the tunnels. Bina divided them into three groups. One is to look for the broadcasting center, the second for the vault (here she pointedly looked at Captain Moonshadow) and the third for the archive. In addition, of course, they had to find the elevators and find out what actually happened to the inhabitants of the monastery. Bina assigned to first group Arkan-tar, Eti. who decided to take Rosie, Dilayla, Lady Cala and Alatar. To the second, Captain Moonshadow, whom she also wanted to accompany. Miss Daisy, Rechiza, Ireanis, Itel and Lilka were supposed to be in the Last one. Doctor Quin and Wrongdak were supposed to be trying to download information from the Spire to their computers. Itel seemed dissatisfied with this division of tasks, but did nothing other than throw hostile and warning glances at Miss Daisy.
Rosie was confused about the fact that she would be hiking with Eti. She liked the feline girl, but this one was from Itel and she didn't want to come between them. As they were getting ready to leave, Dilayla said to Eti, looking at her firmly.
„Just watch out for Rosie, understood? Otherwise you'll be in trouble," she threatened the feline girl, and Eti nodded gravely. At first Rosie felt angry, oh she didn't want to be 'looked after', she didn't need protection, but something in the exchange of glances between her companions made her want to keep quiet. Eti motioned for her to follow her.
Rosie reluctantly took off her gloves because they allowed them to communicate, but left her glasses on because they had night vision devices built in. Here underground it was, though there were hyper-durable light bulbs here and there that still shone after all these years. Turns and tributaries passed, and Eti reported from time to time that the area was clear. Suddenly the feline girl stopped and signed for Rosie.
„I heard something. Someone is talking there."
It took the intern a few seconds to realize what had happened.
„You speak, I mean you speak in sign language!" she said in amazement.
„It looks." replied the scout.
„But since when?" asked the white-haired girl.
„From now on, or always. Sometimes I'm like that... Let's not talk, I have an important thing to do. „You know, ambush and stuff. she said and turned to Dilayla.
„Some dudes are ahead of us, I'm going to check." She left without waiting for anyone.
As they peeked around the corner, she would see three people, human-like humanoids with colored hair, probably some kind of human. They were armed but didn't look particularly dangerous, at least compared to the Moonshadow pirates or even Eti and her friends.
"They don't look like Wormdak's brothers, but they have a very suspicious owl." the feline reported and activated the cloaking field and, ignoring Dilayla's curses, approached the woman who, like the mercenary, had cybernetic prosthetic limbs and said.
„I don't like that owl."
And then Dilayla went on the attack.
Tallstar turned instinctively to see a figure in heavy hooded robes wearing a mask and goggles. Instead of a right arm, she had a strange metal prosthesis, but she was armed with a pistol and carried a rifle on her back.
„Take care of the big one." Tallstar said, and tried to knock the creature down with her cybernetic prosthesis, but she jumped away from it and stabbed it with the blade attached to the wrist of her left hand. The blow slid down her armor, but then she delivered a swift blow to her lower abdomen, which she felt painfully. Then, even worse, she saw another attacker, a white-haired girl with shining hands.
„Jewelstar, i have got two here! she called to her brother" who answered.
„Ours is enough for two."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a huge figure in power armor. She cursed, the situation was becoming really unpleasant. The white-haired girl began to hit her with glowing fists, and the masked figure tried to get her from behind. She resisted, but had to retreat. Her brother fired his old Horde blaster, but the second assailant dodged with surprising dexterity for someone in power armor, but Starla drove a nanoblade into the armor.
„Great, Starla!" she cried, but then her siblings had to dodge the stream of flames. A bullet flew over her head, making her feel freezing cold. The white-haired assailant grabbed her wrist and twisted it with terrifying ease.
„Hey, stop!" shouted the armored figure in a surprisingly pleasant voice. Are you Star siblings, friends of Wrongdak?" she asked.
The person in the mask touched the shoulder of the white-haired girl, and she let go of her hand. Both people started talking to each other in sign language.
Her siblings had lowered their weapons, but they were ready to keep fighting if needed. The armored figure ordered his helmet down and revealed the quite attractive face of a blue-haired woman. There were Saihe who lived on Etheri, but judging by her equipment and accent, she was not from there, though it is unknown what Entrapta may have come up with in the meantime.
Beside him stood a tall man with gray skin, elongated limbs, and dark eyes without whites. He smiled cheekily at them. Next was a large silver-scaled lizard with wings on its back and multiple cybernetic implants. It was reminiscent of pee from ancient legends. Could another myth have come back to life?
„You... are you also rebels who are fighting Horde?" Jewelstar asked, looking at them in surprise.
„No, we are sholars working for Kemanis University. We're exploring the so-called Ravaged Zone. said the man with glasses.
She blinked confused.
„Ravaged Zone? Kemanis University?" she asked, barely understanding what she heard.
„The Ravaged Zone is name of the place where you live.". said a beautiful blonde woman who came out of the shadows. She had a epee at her side. "Few in the galaxy have heard of Horde Prime." She bowed politely to them. "I am Lady Cala Grayskull, and I wish to welcome you to the wide universe.