Bitter truths.

He was lost in thought while training with Dilayla. He was so happy to will be back on Etheria, to his friends and brother. What he will tell them about his travels and listen to stories about their new adventures. Then he saw all those destroyed planets...he warned them that they wouldn't find anything there...they didn't listen to him and saw what his Big Brother could do when he was mad, bored or just on a whim. He was as evil as he was powerful. He was…everything he hated…he knew that hate was a bad thing, the one feeling everyone should get rid of, but for Horde Prime, an exception could be made…

It wasn't his fault, he told himself. All these planets were destroyed years before he was created. He wasn't responsible for what had happened ... but he felt guilty. Had he not been cut off from the collective hive mind, he would have been just like his brothers. He would carry out even Horde Prime's nastiest orders without batting an eyelid . Without hesitation, he would be ready to kill anyone just to gain his approval. Though no one ever deserved it . Neither the little brothers, nor any of the gods that the so-called priests spoke of, nor even She-Ra herself, were worthy of him... No one who was not created as his tool could understand how much power he had over life. thoughts and hearts of his clones he possessed. His elder brother was unable to free himself from his overpowering influence for thirty years. He knew his new friends didn't blame him for his brothers' sins, but he couldn't. Now, however, he had free will and only his choices depended on whether he would not repeat the mistakes of his brothers. He was free at last, and now his life belonged to him alone...

And then he saw the message from this Horde Ultimate and couldn't believe what he saw. His brothers finally had the opportunity to go their own way, break the shackles and make their own way… and they chose… something like this. It wasn't even a Horde Prime imitation , it was… something hideous. Distortion of distortion, deception within deception. He couldn't fathom how his brothers could willingly bow down to someone who wasn't even a shadow of his Big Brother. It was all supposed to be different. They were supposed to live a joyful and peaceful life like him, and they chose to go to war with those who saved them!

He understood the idea of lying and cheating, and he wasn't too bad at it, though truth be told, he didn't like telling untruths. He felt like he was doing something fundamentally wrong. He had had to weave and avoid the truth many times during these last few years, but he seldom lied. And that drow... and his brother... How could they say such horrible things. Adora wasn't a Chaos Mistress but a liberator, Glimmer wasn't a witch, and Catra was definitely not that Shadow Beast! But the most terrible thing was how they portrayed Entrapta and his brother. She wasn't a monster, and she loved his brother very much, and for some time he had begun to wonder if their feelings weren't more… affectionate.

The worst part was that others could believe these disgusting lies. Dilayla knew the truth, roughly speaking, and the crew of Bina's ship seemed skeptical of Horde Ultimate's slanders, just as Lady Cala did. The rest, however, seemed concerned. Arkan-tar and Rechza were concerned even after meeting the Star Siblings. He was very happy to meet his friends who transported him to the planet where he met Skittermander . He was happy that nothing had happened to them. As Starla hugged and kissed him, they talked for a while in private.

"It's good ... that you're okay ... because we were starting to worry a bit." Jewelstar said .

"My brother meant he was afraid those little creatures would eat you up." Tallstar added with a warm laugh.

"No, adult Skittermanders wouldn't eat anyone." he said in a reassuring tone. The siblings looked at him confused.

"What's 'do you mean Adult Skittermanders wouldn't eat'?" Jewelstar asked cautiously .

"Well, the young ones can suck the juices out of someone until dries you out. But just a bit of caution and you'll be fine... Skitterwanders are worse , they can suck your guts out. Once, Emily and I helped drive one away. We got a medal for that. You also have to be careful how you talk to Vesc , because if you do it the wrong way, they will challenge you to a glorious fight, although they are nice in general ... In the galaxy, everyone is generally nice, although you have to watch out for many. Like the Drow, the Duergar, the Dragons, the inhabitants of Eox and Aucturn …" As he spoke, their faces seemed more and more worried.

"That's great... and are your new companions... treating you well? Jewelstar asked with concern in his voice.

"Yes, they are very good to me. They rescued me from the captivity of such a Grag , although Eti almost killed me, but it was partly my fault. Eti is ... She and Lady are extraordinary, although Eti is very shy ..." he explained and felt that his heart was beating faster with delight.

"It's the shooter, right? I wouldn't call her shy... more like a little unsettling. Talstar said carefully..

- Yes ... But she is ... - he did not finish, because he saw that Bina was calling him. "Just don't say anything about the Heart and stuff like that. My brother asked me to…' he was explaining hastily, but Jewelstar put his hand on his shoulder and said reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it, we're careful. None of us want to make an enemy of Adora, Catra and especially Glimmer. Dread to think what she would do to us if we caused her trouble." He laughed warmly and patted him on the shoulder.

He was sorry to hear about the fate that befell his brother. Another of them died completely unnecessarily, although his death, unlike the countless multitudes of his brothers, was not due to Horde Prime's will but because he wanted to serve Horde Ultimate ... He was starting to hate him too. How could he take away the freedom he and his brothers had just gained. And why was he doing it? What for? This question kept resounding in his mind, but he couldn't find an answer to it. He'll have to talk to his brother about everything. He will surely understand and be able to help somehow. He and She-Ra, I'm sure they'll work something out. Together! Yes, that's a wonderful idea!

He decided to vent his anger during training. His friends told him not to contain anger and rage, because it can lead to terrible things. Besides, after these few weeks he also lost some stamina, they had a training fight and the mercenary did not fight with full vigor, as if something was bothering her. He had the impression that some of his friends became sad after the events in the monastery. He felt sorry for them, Rosie told him about what had happened there. He felt sorry for the inhabitants of the monastery, the next victims of Horde Prime , though he was horrified by the fact that they rose from the dead because of their hatred. Fortunately, the three sorceresses defeated the undead. His deaf friend was delighted with the heroic feat of the sorceresses, especially Miss Daisy. They liked this strange, gloomy woman. She was protective of Rosie and… Eti, much more than Lady Cala…. The aristocrat once again proved that she is more than ordinary inhabitant of the Galaxy. Alone, she defeated a whole host of Horde droids . She was almost like Adora … No, almost like She-Ra, though of course Adora was She- Ra . At least that's how he understood it. Thanks to Lady Cala, they were victorious… But why was everyone acting like they had lost?

"Arghh Today I have no head for this. The mercenary growled and wiped her face with a towel.

"Did something happen? I feel like you've been worried lately." he asked, lowering his protective gear. Dilayla looked at him as if she wanted to apologize to him for something.

"No... just you see... recently I found out something..." She was embarrassed and ashamed, as if she had done something very wrong and now she had to admit it. "Listen Wrongdak ... I have to..." she began, and then suddenly they heard a joyful call from the entrance.

"Hi! Is Eti here?" Rosie asked. Suddenly Almost Catra appeared behind her.

"Hey Sparkle hand, I'm here." she said, and he got the impression that her voice was somewhat sad. Rosie jumped up in fear .

"Could you please sneak up? the intern asked." Eti shrugged and said in a voice that sounded resigned.

"Yes... I think I could."

Rosie nodded and asked.

"Can we train together...?"

Eti tilted her head to the side and pricked up her ears.

"So you're not afraid of kicking someone's ass again like you did to Stinka?" She stared at Rosie, who thought for a moment and said.

"A bit, but I think I was pretty good with the undead and I think I should practice. Well, to be better, because we don't know what adventures await us."

"Great attitude Rosie." Dilayla called, smiling warmly at the intern. Then they heard footsteps and Itel entered the training room. The elf stood next to Eti, on the other side of the one occupied by Rosie. He sensed that there was some tension between the girls, but he didn't understand what caused it.

"Hi Dilayla! Bina is calling you to kitchen." she said in a cheerfully. Dilayla got confused and said in a rather strange voice.

"I'm coming. Will you take care of Mr. Wrongdak ? He will train with you. Just don't hurt him." She looked meaningfully at Eti, who shrugged. The other two girls nodded. The mercenary left and the three young women went inside.

"Can I train with you?" Rosie asked Itel, who looked at her confused.

"Of course." Solarian said cautiously .

"We will train shooting. Eti said. While her friends stepped onto the training mat and they approached the shooting range. He didn't like guns, but he was better at using them than most soldiers. He chose the shape and parameters for the practice weapon and put on the virtual Glasses. The cityscape came up first, but Eti growled furiously under her breath and switched the projected landscape to some grassy plain.

"Well, now you're going to fight The Swarm" said the feline, and then the Attack began. He wasn't in the least afraid of insects, so the onslaught of swarm components didn't impress him as much as on others. But still, the sight of countless hosts was terrifying. Although the shooting range was only used to simulate the properties of the weapon, the appearance of the opponents was only cosmetic, but it was enough to make him realize the horror of fighting the scourge of the galaxy. He could only hope he didn't have to face them. After half an hour, he had had enough and asked them to train on the exercise equipment. He started working out with the barbell and Eti started stretching.

"You shoot really well. Where did you learn it? he asked after a long time, and the girl began to look at him with those sad eyes of hers. Finally she said in a low voice.

"There where you did, Wrongdak" She looked at him seriously, waiting for him to fully absorb the meaning of what she said. He drew in a deep breath.

"You are… Just like me and… like Bina" he said. The ship's captain's confession shocked him. He wanted to talk to her about all this, about how people like them feel, how those whose minds were… created with all knowledge, instead of slowly growing and shaping throughout childhood. Who were deprived of the right to shape themselves as they wished. But somehow there was no time for that recently… And now it turned out that Eti is also someone like him and his brothers. Everything they did was done to her too. Now he understood better why there was so much anger and bitterness in her… and sadness. Only if she's like that, so Catra too... How will he tell her?

Itel stopped the fight and watched them closely, as did Rosie.

"No, not like you. I'm nobody's clone. I was made. I was designed and brought to life two thousand two hundred and twenty-five days ago. There were others like me, but they were failures, mistakes, defects. They are all dead… ALL!" she shouted suddenly, probably for the first time since he had met her. "Only me is left, because I am absolutely perfect, awesome and unique." She fell silent and sat quietly, the entire training room fell silent.

"I'm so sorry…" Only he could say. She shrugged.

"Me too..." She said in a barely audible voice.

Dilayla was walking to Bina with a nozzle on her shoulder. "They must have guessed something, maybe Eti eavesdropped something" she has ridiculously good hearing" thought the mercenary . In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if the captain wanted to leave them all on the nearest habitable planet. In fact, the law was probably on her side. They concealed important, one might even say, crucial information from her. But such an act would end tragically, neither Lady Cala nor Miss Daisy would allow their plans, however dark and terrible, to be thwarted. They would easily pacify the crew, unless Rosie sided with her new friends, and she certainly would, but in that case she would have absolutely no way of predicting the outcome of this clash.

In fact, she considered letting the others know who was coming. Others, however, were of a completely different opinion. An hour after returning to the ship, all members of their expedition, except for Rosie, locked themselves in their cabin. Together with Miss Daisy, who had told Lady Cala everything beforehand, they informed the rest of what they had learned from Bina . There was silence, as it always does at such times. Finally, she growled in an annoyed voice.

"Have you heard me? It turned out that we were bringing a war criminal to a place that had already suffered enough from the war. I guess we should do something about it, shouldn't we?"

Arkan-tar, who had his hands in his pockets thoughtfully, shrugged.

"What are we supposed to do?"

She looked at him in disbelief. She spread her arms wide and asked, barely holding back a scream.

"I don't know, warn the others, for example, or something?"

Rechiza looked at her with those metallic eyes of hers, dead and unmoving.

"For the time being, we have only the words of Bina to support this thesis , who is neither a very reliable person nor has she learned all this firsthand. All her information comes from this Igzar , who as the Lord Admiral's sworn enemy, who is not a reliable source. I see no reason for us to change our plans because of a few unproven rumors. said the Witchwarper, her voice hard, as if to drown out her own doubts." Dr. Quin nodded.

"I agree with Rechiza . The situation is as follows. There is a possibility that the Lord Admiral was involved as one of the many participants in the civil war, in a nuclear weapons incident. But surely the inhabitants of this Etheria were trying to use against all of us weapons that could bring destruction to you all. I guess it's better to choose a known bastard than criminals we don't know." Ysoka said.

Dilayla couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her companions had displayed such a level of cynicism and cowardice that she wondered how they could look at themselves in the mirror. Support came from where she least expected it.

"How strange it is that everyone prefers to wade into the thicket of their mistakes, even if steel thorns were to tear their soul apart, instead of accepting their own imperfection and coming to the light of truth, to suffer the consequences of their actions." Lady Cala said with a note of loathing in her voice. Dilayla was absolutely sure for the first time that the noble was being absolutely honest with them. Everyone looked at her in surprise, except for Miss Daisy, who looked at her suspiciously.

"While we cannot tell our traveling companions, which I regret, sooner or later the people of Etheria will learn the true nature of the Lord Admiral, for the true nature of every being will come to light sooner or later. So it's good to let it happen on our terms. Otherwise, it's very easy for the people of Etheria to link us to this individual, and they won't be wrong. This could end very badly for us. Therefore, it would be wise for us to warn the authorities of Etheria about our ally in an appropriate way. I remind you that we owe nothing to the Lord Admiral, after all, he deceived us all, we will only stand for the truth. Lady Cala said confidently. Everyone in the room was amazed, Dilayla probably the most.

"What are you up to beautiful bitch"

Yes, though. she was silent, though she didn't like it at all. She wanted to warn the Wrongdak at least. She almost did, but then Rosie came in and she missed the opportunity, and perhaps the courage. The worst part was that even if she screamed the truth to the entire galaxy, it still wouldn't change the fact that they had brought in an individual who had bombed his own planet with nuclear weapons. They brought on those who destroyed a monster that took absolutely everything from her. It was indeed a gratitude worthy of Zon- Kuthon .

Bina was waiting for her in the kitchen. As soon as she saw her, she smiled cheekily and pointed to a chair. Feeling both relieved and guilty, Dilayla sat down, and Bina placed a bottle of vodka on the table.

We need to talk about our children. said the ship's captain in a half-joking tone. Halfway only.

"No one is getting married I think?" said the mercenary pushing the bottle away from her. Bina raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Rosie and Eti like each other very much, Eti somehow even learned sign language, which sometimes happens to her ... Only Eti is a very specific young woman and in addition Itel fell in love with her, and you don't even realize how hotheaded she can be that's why I'm asking you who Rosie is and how much we can trust her, because if yo6 say that she's just an intern, forgive me, but I don't believe it."

Dilayla considered her answer for a few moments, then sighed and said.

"I don't know Rosie much more than you do, I've only known her a few hours longer, but she reminds me of my sister, so I decided to look after her." All I know is that she comes from a lost colony of people like her, and that the capsule containing her was found by the crew of a research vessel belonging to Kemanis University. They took care of her, I don't know anything else. And now you tell me who Eti is, because I won't believe that she is bald Pahtra. You're protecting her past too much. If you want, I won't say anything to anyone."

Bina thought for a long time before she said.

"Eti was created by my Father as part of a long-term research project, but you probably suspected something like that, if you want to know more, you have to ask her yourself." and then something shook the whole ship. An alarm sounded for the bridge.

In less than a minute, everyone will be there. It was quite cramped because of that. The ship was now piloted by Mr. Ilemshaw , and Alatar was the navigator.

"It knocked us out of the drift." Dragonkin said

"Drift drive failed?" Bina asked fearfully.

"No, nothing serious. It's just that the nav detects two Starstones, it's about to reprogram it to ignore one. explained the technomancer.

"What, two Starstones? Rechiza asked in disbelief. This is the most powerful artifact in the galaxy!" Where is the other one?"

- It's almost funny. It looks it is on Etheria." he laughed nervously. Lady Cala and Miss Daisy stared at each other in utter astonishment. And then there was delight on the aristocrat's face, and horror on the face of the dark sorceress.