Legend of the Crimson Wastes

Bina really liked this place. They saw thugs and tricksters armed to the teeth everywhere. She saw also all kinds of goods on the stalls, and absolutely no one thought about their legality and origin. Most of it was junk, but she spotted some interesting things here... For example, these batons, supposedly from the Horde, designed by Hordak himself ... Isn't it Wrongdak 's brother or something... Damn, looking at the white-skinned alien, she didn't expect that other clones were so smart... But it was the same in her family. Some of her sisters, especially the M-nations, were devilishly intelligent, and others, like a certain Ka who, luckily, actually partied with the birds, were completely fucked up.

However, they didn't find much that resembled the Technology of the First Ones. Although, truth be told, she wasn't sure what exactly they should be looking for. Perhaps they shouldn't split up with Arkan-Tar and the rest of Cala's team just yet. But it was too late for that now. Still, they found some interesting items. They were usually cracked crystals covered with inscriptions resembling star constellations. Even if they had no practical use, they could sell them to any collector on Absalom for a handsome sum. And they weren't even expensive... Well, maybe they would have been if they paid for them in coins, but luckily they had a lot of old electronics, which were very valuable on such an underdeveloped planet. The problem was Alatar…

"NO! This may come in handy!" Dragonkin shouted, snatching some gadget from her hands.

"You don't use it anyway... You know what you collect, it's like..." she said, but he interrupted her indignantly.

"Say it! Do you mean like a DRAGON!"

"LIKE A NERD. DAMN NERD!" she shouted at him, and the seller, a cat-person more gaunt and smaller than the usual Pahtra, laughed.

"You will find dragons in fairy tales, nowhere else." he said, clearly amused.

"Really…?" she looked at Alatar, who was watching at her pleadingly. "I've seen several dragons in my life, by my own eyes, and I have the impression that you wouldn't recognize him even if he stood right in front of your eyes." she said, and the seller snorted.

"I saw some in drawings, they were huge and had a big mouth full of sharp teeth. Apparently they devoured everything that stood in their way." he said, looking a little more closely at the young technomancer, who did not notice it and responded with sincere indignation.

"This is a disgusting specist stereotype!"

"You know, Alatar, you can eat a lot too." said Lilka, stroking Toshi, who was sucking the battery. He has to remind her not to overfeed the fox because then he starts kicking with electricity when someone touches him.

Dragonkin was about to start arguing, but she interrupted him.

"Back to business." she pointed to a large fragment of a mosaic depicting two women, one damn tall and a child between them. "It's nice, but I'm looking for something... bigger and more usable, if you know what I mean." she said, and the skinny cat frowned.

"Hmm, I would ask Grox. She had a lot of interesting equipment, she even had a mechanical hand, although not such wonders as this one." he pointed at Alatar. "He she only moved out after Huntara banished her after she sided with the Horde. Now he's at Tung's Lashor and his Aspis gang." the cat scratched behind the ear. "There is also Goldeneyes , but he is quite strange... He is more of a collector and researcher than a typical trader, but he is honest, and he doesn't get along with Aspies"

"Aspies?" she said and exchanged knowing glances with Alatar and Lilka. "So this plague got even here?"

"Yes, the Tung Lashor gang, supposedly the most powerful gang in the Wastes, or the second most powerful gang in the Wastes... or the second most powerful. Depends on who you ask. Tung once lost power to Catra, but after the invasion many came back to him for protection, especially when Huntara was chipped. Now Tung Lashor claims to be allied with the People's Rebellion, but Lonnie has not confirmed this."

"Catra you say..." she said, smiling nervously. She chose this place to start exploring this planet because she expected that not many people here knew Adora's fiancée and she probably miscalculated. She looked towards where she left Crusher parked. Maybe she should turn back to the transporter and go get Eti. The girl was nervous when people stared at her, and if they were so alike, the locals they won't be able to take their eyes off her

. On the other hand, Eti did not like to reveal her face in public, she did not do it even in front of Adora, whom she immediately liked. Maybe he won't do it here either. Besides, there were her orders, there was a slight chance that she wouldn't ignore them this time.

"Kitira sounds a bit like a name for someone with cat ears like Eti." said Lilka.

"The last time Wrongdak addressed her like that, she pissed him off so much that he immediately bent in half."

"Eti?" asked the cat.

"Our friend. He looks like a you Mr Cat, but has a girl face and a metal hand made by Adora's kin. And such nice eyes, a gold with blue dots...

"Yeah? "the feline asked in a concerned voice. He hasn't met Eti yet, but he's already scared.

"So why don't you tell us where this Goldeneyes lives and we'll stop bothering you?" she asked, trying to sound as neutral as possible. She wanted to change the subject with Eti and start talking about the reason why they came to this planet.

The cat rubbed his chin and replied.

"He lives at the end of the valley, you have to take the side road near the yellow stones, but be careful. You can get visions from the fumes there. It happens that you can come across various suspicious individuals looking for a high..."

"Sound familiar. Thanks for news" she said and set off with Lilka and Alatar, not seeing the seller enter the booth where he lived and turn on the walkie-talkie .

"Hey Tung. I have a tip... there are some interesting people from other worl..."

Huntara stretched, feeling all her bones touch. She wondered if she was getting too old for all this. She was forty-five years old. It was an advanced age for her people, the sentinels. Okay, she was exaggerating, but she would be expected to attend council of elders and such. She wasn't sure what they actually did as adults. She was ten years old when Hordak arrived and her clan sided with the Scorpion King against their rightful ruler, and they paid a terrible price for this. She was the last member of her clan. She wondered if she should adopt in a kid or make it in a modern way with some nice girl to pass on the traditions of her people... but she remembered very little of them by herself. She also didn't learn many secrets reserved for older warriors and bone gnawers. And most importantly, she had neither a suitable partner nor time to take care of the kid. She covered the two Saihe girls with a blanket, with whom she spent the night. They were sweet and charming, but it was just a one night relationship, nothing that would provide a peaceful home.

She went outside and looked at the sky. During the day, you couldn't see how much the world had changed since Etheria got out of Despondos, although the sky was a slightly different color and sometimes, with the right arrangement of moons, you could see the stars, but at night... The entire sky was dotted with them. For some it was a beautiful sight, for others it was terrifying... The inhabitants of the Crimson Wastes were pragmatic and, depending on their needs, an additional source of light at night could be either a help or a hindrance.

But this was an insignificant change compared to those taking place on the surface of Etheria. The planet suddenly became much smaller. Horde skimmers suddenly became widely available and continued to be manufactured in the Joy Zone, or rather the entire Scorpion country as it was sometimes called. There were other machines, much more advanced. Damn, there were spaceships on Etheria now, when not long ago there was a fight over one thousand-year-old wreck. Now, if someone really wanted to, they could go to another planet. Residents of other worlds also came to Etheria. Here in the Crimson Waste you could mostly find Icarians who mainly sold portable communicators and mechanical prosthetics, but she also knew one who had opened a bar here selling their food, which in her opinion was not very tasty. There were also residents of Bellum wearing gas masks, although they claimed that they came here for holidays. Listening to the stories about their home planet, she could believe it.

But there was something else. It was a sense of impending change, something completely new and unknown that could come to Etheria at literally any moment. Many associated it with the celebration of Victory Day, the Formation of the Galactic Alliance, the invasion of Horde Prime's Successors, or even the return of the First Ones. She didn't care, she just felt tired. There was a limit to the amount of change someone could endure in their life, and she had experienced a lot of them in her life. Hordak's arrival and formation of the Horde, desertion and life in the Crimson Wastes, joining the alliance, occupation and finally victory. This was too much for an ordinary warrior, and if there was something else waiting for her…

She was eating lizard skewers when she saw a small reptile with red scales, Ishki as the species was called, making its way towards her. They lived in the wastelands in small numbers, always keeping themselves apart from others. This particular one, however, was quite well known in the Valley. His name was Ruki, he worked as a messenger for many traders and other similar people. He was as friendly as he was agile and could not complain about the lack of customers. Recently he even somehow improved his legs so that he could run much faster... Those prosthetic guys from Icarus were really good.

"Boss, Goldeneyes asks you to come to him. He has important news for you regarding what you told him to look for."

She sighed. Not a moment of peace. She was really getting too old for this.

One of the advantages of traveling with a self-propelled ax like Lilka and, let's be honest, a huge dragonkin, was that absolutely everyone stayed out of their way and didn't bother them even when Toshi was stealing their Batteries. The city reminded her of Atrax, only less depressing and not as dark. Maybe she'll really settle down here if everything goes well. Several men and women where checking her out, and one quite well-built deer-man even winked at her. Well, maybe later she would try to found him and they could spend a few... or more than a few nice moments together...

"They have kebab here!" exclaimed Lilka, beaming with joy. She smiled and bought both of them a meat and a cactus roll. Alatar got a triple portion. It was so spicy that Eti would probably joke that it would soon start breathing fire from both sides.

Finally they reached a place where there was a side path from which the smell of sulfur was coming. It was a bit tighter in here and she told her kids to activate the environmental protection so they wouldn't get poisoned by the fumes coming from inside the earth. They put also a special mask on Toshi, which they bought for him for such moments, although the electric fox wasn't particularly happy. There were few inhabitants here and most of them looked suspicious, or at least tried to look suspicious, but no one bothered them... Until they encountered two short Bugbears lying unconscious near a black pit. One stood up and said to Lilka.

"Get out of here! My brother and I are resting." His voice was hoarse. He spat yellow sticky phlegm onto Lilka's one of her authentic orcish pink shoes. It was worse than saying to Eti "Pspspsps" The red-haired girl roared and hit him in the stomach with the handle of the axe, and when he bent in half, she hit him on the head with two fists , and when he fell, she kicked him again. His brother tried to get up, but Alatar hit him with the butt of his Rifle.

"Do you see, dear children? Drugs are bad." he said without even slowing down.

"And violence is always the best solution.: added Lilka. When Alatar walked over one of the scarecrows , it groaned loudly.

"It uually sounds different Lilka, but in this case it fits perfectly."

They walked for some time through this tangled maze of tunnels, turning back several times, until they finally reached a not very deep hole, at the bottom of which was a large building that looked like a workshop next to something resembling a Geothermal Power Plant. It looked quite professional. Now she could tell the kids to take off the environmental protection, although they left the mask on Toshi so he wouldn't steal the batteries. They went downstairs and she whistled a tune she had known since she was born. It was irritating and disturbing, getting on the nerves of everyone who heard it, but their father Jantar adored it. All his creations knew that song, even Eti... Did she know her too?

Downstairs, a huge scorpion man, the same species as Scorpia, was waiting by the door. She was glad that Lilka had met the other woman earlier, so they had now avoided the traditional Lilka's rage. Instead, Lilka waved at him and smiled happily at him.

"Hello, are you a friend of Mrs. Scorpia?" she asked with innocent curiosity. The scorpion looked at her darkly.

"I wouldn't say so." he replied coldly.

"Can Mr. Goldeneyes have us?" she asked, trying to change the subject. Her kids liked Scorpia , and it wasn't easy to win their sympathy, but she knew that life wasn't that simple. However, before the Scorpion man could respond, a tall figure jumped down from above, the sight of which made Lilka smile happily.

She felt a twinge of worry as she saw the Strag brothers lying there, moaning. This didn't surprise her too much. It wasn't the first time they had been beaten because they were trying to pick a fight with someone stronger than themselves. Only when tolder started talking about pink shoes, she frowned but shrugged. After all, the brothers spent far too much time inhaling underground fumes. She herself wrapped her face with a rag to avoid being poisoned yourself. She only took it off when she reached the Goldeneyes headquarters. He was one of the older inhabitants of the valley. She met him long before she became "Princess of the Crimson Wastes" shortly after she defected from the Horde. They became friends and she gave him protection... Unfortunately, their friendship brought Tung Lashor's wrath upon him … During the occupation, he hid, even when she was chipped. He returned a few years later, although he was still more secretive than before. He often asked her about Adora, She- Ra and, quite oddly, Catra, but he asked her not to tell them about him, and she respected that decision, she owed it to him , even though she knew that sooner or later his existence would come to light. to the ears of the princesses, because it was no secret. But it was his choice and she had nothing to do with it.

She arrived at his abode, which resembled a combination of workshop, home, shop, and sanctuary. However, she saw that Goldeneyes had guests, so she had to hurry, because once he received someone, he could chat with them for several hours. So she stood at the edge of his pit, took a deep breath, and jumped down, landing on her bent legs. She smiled to herself. She might not be young anymore, but she was still tough. As soon as she looked up, she heard a joyful cry. She saw a red-haired girl with red braids, wearing a poncho that concealed armor. She had some strange tattoos around her neck and a large ax in her hands. She smiled broadly at her and ran up, then started talking to her in a language completely unknown to her, while swinging her ax and dancing. Worst of all, she expected her to understand her. She just hoped that someone would soon explain to her what was going on here. Then she heard another person present, a burgundy-haired woman, quite attractive... who began to speak to her in the same language, or at least a very similar one. She felt panic attacking her. Why did they expect him to understand what they were saying to her.

"She doesn't seem to understand Orcish." said the third person, a silver-scaled lizard with many implants. He brought to mind the sky firelord of old legends.

"What is an orcish?" she asked, a bit confused

"Orc! You are an orc! I'm an orc! We're both orcs... How can you not know that?" the red-haired woman asked excitedly. She understood less and less about all this.

"It's your species... although I don't think you care about it that much here on Etheria. My name is Bina and this is Alatar and Lilka Wagardotir. They are both my wards. And then there is Toshi , the silver fox. – said Bina, and a blue fox wearing a gas mask flew out of the redhead's poncho. He flew up to her and started sniffing her, huffed as if in disappointment and went back under the girl's clothes. – I think we're all going to this Goldeneyes , and I guess we'll have to sort this out somehow. – Bina continued

"I'll just ask the boss." said Scorpion, who was her old friend. His name was Snap. Together they left the Horde and lived in the Wastes. He could have returned to his country, but he chose to stay here. He had not forgotten the Usurper King's crimes, and Scorpia was still his granddaughter. The lizard began to stare at the screen on his shoulder. Lilka looked at her with a mixture of pride and compassion, no one had ever looked at her like that before. And Bina started whistling some song, unpleasant and irritating. They seemed as nice as they were disturbing. To break the silence, she decided to introduce herself.

"I am Huntara ... Some call me the Princess of the Scarlet Wastes."

They waved and said hello to her, and then Alatar stated with delight.

"So you are the fourth princess we meet... the fifth if we count Lady Cala." He said and Lilka then added.

"And how do we count Eti, because..." she started, but Bina glared at her and said.

- On Icarus, my kids met Adora , Perfuma and Scorpia and became friends with them. First, of course, Lilka attacked Scorpia because she thought she was a component of the swarm, and then there was this funny story about a certain pirate... But this is probably becoming the norm for us.

"Damn, maybe I should really go on those diplomatic missions sometimes, because some really interesting things are happening there." She thought and was about to ask for details when the door opened and Snap said they could enter.

The Goldeneyes household was lit only by glowing mushrooms that the host had cultivated, first collecting them in the caves that were plentiful in the Wasteland. Everything was cluttered with his finds and things he had built. There were a number of minor First Ones artifacts here, and some relics from Etheria's history after planet was closed in Despondos . However, they were not intended to be sold, at least not for money. Their owner made his living mainly by selling transmitters, scanners and batteries that he made himself. With the money obtained in this way, he funded expeditions into the wilderness, in which he usually participated.

Many found the sight of Goldeneyes disturbing or even terrifying. It had a roughly humanoid body. His slightly androgynous face had four faceted, golden eyes, which were quite common among animals living on this planet, although she hadn't seen any other intelligent creature that had them. However, a tangle of limbs emerged from his arms and lower torso, making him look like something out of a nightmare. Some of the arms ended with grippers, others with saws or welders... Most of the guests trembled with fear when they saw him for the first time, even she wanted to beat him to death with a club when they first meet, but these three seemed completely unmoved by the host's presence. And it's not surprise her. Bina looked around the workshop with interest. Lilka devoured cookies that no one else wanted to touch, and Alatar looked at Goldeneyes' limbs .

"I think I have this year's Ovitech catalog somewhere, I saw something similar there, although it probably cost about ten thousand credits, if not more." said the lizard. Godeneyes looked at him and said in a slow drawl.

"Indeed, I might consider it, although as far as I know, I don't have any loans." the host looked at the lizard with a bit of curiosity, but then she interrupted him.

"Thank you for your hospitality, but tell me, what do you want from me?" she asked in a tired voice, sensing that this would not end with an ordinary conversation.

"I know where Mara's tomb is," the host said, and Bina looked at him in surprise.

"I heard about her..." she said, and Alatar nodded.

"Yes, this was the previous She-Ra, and the ancestor of Lady Cala's." The lizard explained.

"Who is Lady Cala?" she asked, not understanding what they meant.

"Lady Cala Grayskull of Carurystal. An aristocrat who came here with us, along with her companions. She says she's a descendant of this Mara and I have no reason not to believe her. She would probably like to see the place where the founder of her family was buried. Only she's not with us for now..." Bina said in a thoughtful voice, and Goldeneyes looked at her, smiling mysteriously.

"Yes. I sensed well that several beings arrived on Etheria today, who had ties to its past and future." He took one of those modern satellite maps out of the closet and marked the coordinates on it. With one strong movement, he tore them into several pieces and gave half of them to her and the other to Bina . "Take it and find it together... But remember that many secrets hide pain and sadness."

"Yes, I know something about it." Bina said in a thoughtful voice.

She was about to ask the host what he meant, but then a breathless Ruki ran into his place.

"Boss, someone set fire to the Bone Refuge. They say it's Catra, and not Catra simultaneously and she made such a mess that it took a month to clean up."

Then Bina hid her face in her hands and said.

"I will murder Eti."