TWO
Starship Eternia
Planet Etheria
8 September 2017
The Sorceress sat alone at a table in the galley, hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea. Her gaze was locked on the wisps rising lazily off the surface, which she had barely taken a few sips of. The Sorceress' mind was elsewhere, concentrated on other things only she could see, reviewing her brief battle with Shadow Weaver. The evil witch would have fallen if she hadn't stooped to braining her with a rock, of all things. Sorceress was really more embarrassed than hurt by the witch's actions.
What concerned her more was Falcon's revelation of what she had done to Shadow Weaver when the witch had grasped the six-pointed medallion form of the battlesuit. The instant Shadow had tried to take possession of the suit, the AI had lashed out at her with a fleeting sampling of the power Shadow Weaver lusted after. And more. For an instant in time that seemed to drag on for ages, Shadow saw the vastness of the universe, the ultimate power an evolved being could command. Everything she had ever desired was hers for the taking. Shadow Weaver had only to stretch out her hand and take it. At that moment, Falcon cruelly snatched it away, viciously blasting the witch away from her unconscious operator in the process.
The cold, emotionless savagery of what Falcon had done disturbed the Sorceress. As the Guardian of Castle Grayskull, she had lived with the temptation of the vast collection of knowledge and power stored within the castle's walls for more years than she cared to admit. With the coming of Falcon, whose could enhance magical abilities, that temptation had grown to a frightening level. While operator and AI needed to work together in a fight, the Sorceress was reluctant to give herself wholly over to the symbiotic merging of minds, the way Adrian Cobretti and War Wing seemed to do with ease. As much as a merging scared her, that she might enjoy it frightened her even more.
Falcon assured her that she would not let that happen. After what happened with Adrian and War Wing at the Battle of Brightmoon, Sorceress wasn't so sure. Something they still did not understand happened to Adrian and War Wing the moment a Monstroid killed a group of peasants, whose only crime was in trying to get away from the battlefield. War Wing went out of control, destroyed the Monstroids -and then turned his attention to his allies.
A back door had been created into the operating systems of each suit in the event a Guardian went rogue and had to be shut down. The tests had all gone well, with no issues. However, something had changed in War Wing. The Sorceress and Falcon managed to shut both War Wing and operator down, but a burst of psychic feedback had nearly killed the Sorceress in the process. A quick operation to head off a massive aneurism saved her life.
Now, days after the incident, no one knew what exactly had happened inside War Wing. Adrian Cobretti had no memory of what happened, and the AI had a gap in his memory files. Further investigation would have to wait until they got back to Guardian Command on Earth and met with Gabe's science team.
The Sorceress' thoughts were interrupted by a tray clacking on the table and sliding into her cooling cup of tea. She looked up into the smiling face of Adrian Cobretti. Again she privately admired his roguish looks. The long hair and goatee were not military standard, but General Hammond forbad him to trim and shave; they were necessary in the event his alter ego, the bounty hunter Cobra, was needed.
"You need food," he stated.
"I'm not hungry. This tea is fine," Sorceress replied. Her stomach took that moment to voice its own opinion. "Traitor," she muttered.
Adrian grinned, setting down his own tray as he plopped into the seat across from her. Digging into the biscuits and gravy, he quickly slowed down, savoring the aromas wafting off the food. A breakfast burrito packed with egg, sausage, and hash browns waited on a second plate. All the while, as he ate, he stared at the woman seated across from him.
Meeting his stare, Sorceress said flatly, "You are going to bug me forever, aren't you?"
Adrian's eyebrows shot up as he bobbed his head enthusiastically. The dopey grin was the final straw.
"Goooood," she purred, menacingly. "Then it'll be self-defense when I kill you."
Her rebellious stomach rumbled again.
"I don't think I have much to worry about," Adrian responded, around a forkful of biscuit. "Your stomach sounds ready to do you in first."
Sighing, Sorceress placed the cold cup on the tray and pulled toward her. The cook had made her favorite; a fully loaded breakfast burrito sat in the middle of a plate, beckoning to be eaten. Tentatively, stomach rumbling in anticipation, Sorceress picked up the burrito and took a cautious bite as if it had been laced with poison. After that, it was all downhill, for the burrito, that is.
Adrian glanced at the serving line, nodding to the cook, who grinned and went back to what he was doing.
Two people walked up, each carrying a tray laden with food. Gunnery Sergeant Apone took a seat next to Adrian, while Colonel Markson sat across from the gunny.
"You know food digests easier when you chew it first," Jon observed, glancing at the Sorceress.
Sorceress paused; a quarter of the burrito left in her hands. "You forget, I've seen you eat. I believe Gabe's scientific term was 'doppler effect,' if I remember correctly." She resumed eating.
The colonel pointed his fork accusingly at a quietly chuckling Adrian. "You've been coaching her again, haven't you?"
"Let it go, colonel," Apone advised, digging in.
Conversation ranged from idle gossip; the current state of the platoons and the replacements needed when they returned to base; even bets on the imminent arrival of the construction ship escorted by the battlestar Triton. There was one subject the colonel explicitly steered clear of.
Sorceress was not going to let him off the hook. "You haven't asked the question of the day."
"What question?" Jon asked, innocently.
Sorceress looked him square in the eye. "You haven't asked me when I might go up to the Snow Kingdom to return Queen Frosta to them." When Jon hesitated, she continued. "I know they have been making requests ever since Hordak pulled all his forces back within the Fright Zone."
"I didn't want to be pushy," the colonel confessed.
"Especially when she can turn you into something small, slimy and ugly," Apone supplied.
Jon shot him what he hoped was an acid stare. Apone just smiled.
"The Triton and the construction ship should be arriving in system by noon today. The Defiant is getting ready to depart, so, Captain Majourny would like to leave today."
"Well, far be for me to hold up her departure plans," Sorceress said with a faint smile.
"You're already set for the trip north, aren't you?" Adrian said.
"Of course," the colonel said. "Be at the dropship by eleven hundred. We'll take a trip north to release the Ice Queen. Then shoot off for a rendezvous in orbit with the Eternia and head for home."
"What about the Ladyhawke?" Adrian asked.
Jon frowned. "Don't worry about your toy. Commander Mundu promised to send the ship back once they get her fixed. You two really did a number on her." The colonel's unspoken question was just how they'd survived the planetary cannon's initial blast. Both Adrian and the Sorceress had been tight-lipped about the attack, Adrian promising only that he and the Val-kyrie could read all about it in the report the pair would draft.
Finished with her breakfast, the Sorceress excused herself, claiming the need to speak to He-man and She-ra before the trip north. She deposited the tray in the appropriate slot and left.
He-man and She-ra were remaining behind on Etheria, and Adrian wasn't exactly broken up by the news. They did put in an appearance on the steps of Castle Brightmoon to see the dropship off. Queens Angella and Castaspella would be accompanying the colonel's group to the Kingdom of Snows and remain there. Adrian and the Sorceress arrived, on time, along with Gunnery Sergeant Apone, Colonel Markson and an honor guard strictly for show.
Adrian noted that He-man looked a little shaken for some reason, then dismissed the man from his mind. The Etherian mission was over. Time to focus on the next one. He spotted a pair of children running out to see the dropship; the girl, Andre, and her friend Tanith, rushed out in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the people from Earth. Andre was hoping to see Adrian; the girl was on a crusade to meet what she called 'good' monsters. She played a naming game with her grandmother, sounding off all the good monsters they could think of like Moss Man, Buzz-off and the Quaedians, among others. Adrian's transforming ability had given the girl a three-in-one option, much to her delight. The effect of someone who was not afraid of his ability had had a marked impact on Adrian's attitude toward the unwanted ability that had manifested in him.
Colonel Markson looked the Sorceress up and down. Not because she currently wore the bird-like clothes of her status as the Guardian of Castle Grayskull. Nor was it because the outfit showed off her shapely figure. It was because, in his opinion, she was hardly dressed for a trip to the arctic region of the Snow People.
When asked about keeping warm, she answered, smiling, "It's a kind of magic."
"Good song," Jon answered, referring the popular song by the band Queen. "But hardly an answer."
"And yet it's the only one you will get," Adrian advised him, waving farewell to the children.
Scowling, the colonel activated his comm unit and ordered Lieutenant Feril to fire up the engines.
In moments, the pitch of the auxiliary power unit changed as the start sequence was activated. While the crew started up the atmospheric engines, the passengers settled into the troop seats mounted to the bulkheads on both sides of the forward part of the drop bay. The colonel and his troops took the portside rack while the royals and Guardians took the other. Eight people took up only a fraction of the two dozen available seats.
Once everyone was strapped in, the Sorceress asked Angella, "How is you daughter?"
Startled, the queen stammered, "oh, uh, fine. She's happy to be home. Such as it is."
"I wouldn't worry. The Val-kyrie will get Castle Brightmoon put back together," Sorceress promised.
Angella nodded, a wane smile crossing her lips. "There is plenty of wreckage to use for the repairs."
In fact, Commander Mundu promised the wreckage from the battle with the Horde and Monstroids would all be removed from the field in front of the castle. Rehabilitating the grassy plain back to what it used to be would take several years, but the engineers would get process going.
After coordinating with the starship Eternia, both ships lifted off in brief dust storms. The starship headed east to the ocean, where it would be safe to race for orbit using maximum thrust. Feril set course for the northern arctic region where the Snow Kingdom lay.
Several hours later, the dropship approached its destination. A recent storm had swept across the land, wiping the icy wastes clean. The crew lowered tinted visors to avoid being blinded by reflections off the ice.
Once Feril announced that they were on final approach, Colonel Markson used hand signals to tell everyone to get ready. The pair of privates unbuckled their harnesses and went to the storage locker on the port side, opening it and distributing the cold weather gear to the others. Only the Sorceress refused, due to the magic keeping her warm.
Feril sighted the impressive castle on the horizon and steered toward the eastern edge, intending to circle the castle before coming in for a landing outside the main gates. She had seen images of some impressive castles on Earth: Brightmoon and Mystacor were no slouches in comparison, but Castle Chill covered more surface area and combined several architectural styles. The first thing one noticed was that it had been built out of and into the mountain's structure. The remainder of the peak formed the western side, with a trail hewn out of the ice wrapping around it from base to pointed top. The main structure to the left and behind the mountain had been constructed of massive blocks of ice. The back of the structure was rounded, almost like an egg. Immediately behind the mountain stood two towering ramp-like ice structures whose purpose was anyone's guess.
The lieutenant completed her circle of Castle Chill, whipped the dropship's tail around and soared in for a four-point landing fifty yards away, directly in front of the castle's main gates, settling down in a cloud of ice crystals kicked up into a storm by the thrust-vectoring nozzles mounted on the sides of the fuselage. Once settled, the engine roar died down to a low buzzing.
Colonel Markson pressed a button on the control panel on the right side of the access hatch to the cockpit. Once the portal slide aside, he poked his head in, said, "Keep the engines running. We won't be long."
Feril nodded and gave a thumbs-up sign.
Jon closed the hatch and moved to the personnel ladder in the port aft corner of the bay. At the touch of a button, the stairway lowered into position and extended. He led the way down and out onto the icy wasteland; the others soon gathering around him. Jon glanced once more at the Sorceress, uncharacteristically showing off, shook his head and led the way toward the closed castle gates.
Boots crunched and crinkled at each step. A biting breeze swept across the plain, chilling everyone in the group despite their gear, with the one exception. As they approached, there came a metallic clanking from the inside the gates, likely a metal retaining bar being removed. As the group drew close, the gates were pulled inward without a squeak or squeal. Whatever was used for lubricant, it clearly resisted the cold quite well.
Several humanoids and a pair of what appeared to be bipedal rats not much taller than Dhalon waited beyond. Representatives of the Snow People and the Selkies greeted Colonel Markson's party with reserved anticipation. They easily recognized the Sorceress by her distinctive appearance; everyone else in the group was promptly forgotten.
The Chamberlain for the Snow People escorted them through the modest courtyard to the main entrance to the castle proper. From there it was a five-minute walk through a maze of turns to a ground floor chamber that was guarded round the clock. There was no door to the chamber, little more than a large open closet. Torches in sconces lining the walls cast flickering light upon the room and the only object in it, standing at the back wall.
Colonel Markson wondered once more at the warmth within the ice palace, versus the harsh, biting cold outside. The heat radiating from the torches did not melt the ice walls in the slightest. Whatever the method of construction, it was clearly not just plain old ice.
At the back of the chamber was a large, transparent rectangular block of ice. Imprisoned within was the person they had come to free. Long silver strands of hair tumbled down about slender shoulders. A cape attached to a blue choker about the neck fanned out behind her. High-heeled white thigh-high boots, white elbow-length gloves, and a dark blue corset and leggings completed the look.
Frosta, Snow Queen of the Kingdom of Snows.
What is it with these women and corset outfits? Colonel Markson wondered once more. He carried his parka over one arm because of the warmth inside the castle; the others in the party had done the same.
At a gesture from the Chamberlain, the Sorceress walked toward the block while the rest of the group hung back. Boot heels echoed hollowly with each step. The Snow People and Selkies fidgeted nervously. This was the moment they had dreamed of for more than five years.
Falcon materialized in what the AIs referred to as their stealth mode, the blue crystal within a six-pointed silver star hanging on a heavy silver chain, glowing brightly. Sorceress reached out and placed her right palm flat against the ice. Instantly, she realized that it was not ice but a clever spell cast to resemble ice. Although Frosta's eyes were open, Sorceress sensed that she was not awake or aware of her surrounds, fortunately. That cruelty would have driven her insane.
Closer her eyes, Sorceress and Falcon examined the lattice structure of the spell. There was always a weak point in any casting. The trick was in finding it. More experienced magic-users sometimes left booby traps, false leads, and dead ends in their work to mislead anyone trying to unravel a spell. Booby traps ranged from mild shocks to the unwary to a killing jolt spelling certain agonizing death. And not always instantaneously. Several instances came to mind, but Falcon sternly ordered her operator to stay on task.
There it is, Falcon whispered. Having fought Shadow Weaver two days ago, both recognized this as that evil witch's work. Say what you will about her, Shadow Weaver does weave a beautiful spell.
"Yes, she does," the Sorceress whispered in return. "Pity the uses she puts that ability to."
Sorceress removed her hand, turned away and walked back to the group.
"This is Shadow Weaver's work, in case you were wondering," Sorceress said to the Chamberlain. "I can break the spell. Shadow did not make it easy, but I can do it." She didn't explain about Falcon helping; it would have taken up too much time trying to explain about the battlesuits with self-aware artificial intelligences. She motioned for Adrian to follow her back to the imprisoned queen.
"I am still not fully recovered from my fight with Shadow Weaver, plus the magic expended over the past several days," she explained, not voicing how the AI had practically had to browbeat her operator into bringing her along. "Although Falcon is going to help, be ready to catch me."
Adrian frowned. "Catch you? Freeing the queen will take that much out of you?"
"I don't know. Best to be ready, just in case."
Adrian nodded.
Sorceress turned back to the block of magical ice, placed her right palm against it, closed her eyes and concentrated. In her mind, Sorceress once again saw the latticework that made up the intricate spell, Falcon right there with her. Together, they traced the lines back to the weak point they'd discovered earlier. Cautiously, the pair gently probed and prodded, looking for subtle traps or any other surprises Shadow might have left. Sorceress doubted Shadow Weaver was that cunning or imaginative but underestimating the enemy could be deadly. A few more moments of diligent probing revealed no surprises.
The Sorceress and Falcon turned their collective attention to the weak thread. Tugging on that would unravel the entire spell. At the AI's prompting, the Sorceress tapped into the magical energies all living planets generated, from there permeating the universe. She tugged loose a small part of that power and drew it into herself. The amount of energy Shadow Weaver must have used to create the spell in the first place had been considerable. While it would not take the same amount to pull the thread, it still required a portion of that used in the original casting to undo it.
Falcon took some of the load, but it still required the Sorceress to direct the energies to where it was needed. Carefully, the Sorceress focused the power and sent it at the weak thread. The goal was to dissolve only the target thread and nothing else. To even graze the other threads in the lattice would have grave repercussions. As Newton's Third Law states: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. That law was an understatement when doing what the Sorceress and Falcon were attempting.
The target energy strand began to dissolve away. Sorceress and her ally continued to draw energy and focus it into the thread. Once they hit a given point, the process would be irreversible. Once that point was reached, the process would take on a life of its own, picking up speed as it went. To human and AI, the action seemed to take an agonizingly long time, but in the real world only seconds had elapsed.
Sorceress opened her eyes and stepped back from the block. The glow that had started where her palm first pressed to the 'ice' did not dissipate, growing in intensity and continuing to spread. Beads of sweat popped out on her brow from the strain of drawing in and focusing the magic. Sorceress took another step back as the block began to melt away from the figure standing within. She almost stumbled, but Adrian was there, a steady hand gripping her right arm above the elbow for support.
The pair backed away as the melting effect picked up speed. In moments, the queen was free of her magical prison.
The Chamberlain and his escorts had quietly moved up when the Sorceress had stepped back. Now, he and the aides rushed in to catch Frosta before she collapsed.
Adrian guided the Sorceress out of the way. Her steps grew a little steadier as they made their way over to the colonel and the Selkies.
Frosta slowly revived from her experience. Breaths came softly at first, then stronger. She blinked, moaned and finally focused her eyes on the two men who had eased her to a sitting position.
"H-how…long?" Frosta asked, her husky voice cracked from lack of use.
"Five years, my queen. But you are free, now. Thanks to the Sorceress."
Frosta lifted her head, eyes narrowing as she tried to focus on the woman's figure in the flickering light cast by the torches. Her gaze eventually settled upon the Sorceress and Adrian Cobretti, who still supported her. No words passed between them. The look in the queen's eyes spoke volumes. Frosta simply nodded her thanks, which was returned by the Sorceress.
The Chamberlain stepped away from his queen and walked over to the colonel. Raw emotion was etched across his normally impassive features. Tears welled up in his eyes.
"You have kept your word and returned our queen to us," the man said, breathless. "Whatever you want, just ask."
Colonel Markson put on his best diplomatic face and stretched out his right hand. "We ask only your friendship."
Surprised, the man reared back a bit. "That is all?"
"In time we will return to finish what was started," Jon promised. "We are more interested in making friends and allies."
The Chamberlain stared at the colonel's outstretched hand, not comprehending the action.
"It's how we greet friends on my world."
The man looked at his own hand, then the colonel's. Slowly, cautiously, he stretched out his own hand to take Colonel Markson's. They shook briefly; the Chamberlain's grip increasing as he got the idea. The handshake only broke after several seconds.
Colonel Markson excused himself and his party as they had to get moving. Angella and Castaspella were going to stay and help with restoring Frosta and bringing her up to speed on all that she had missed during her imprisonment. The Chamberlain himself escorting the colonel's entourage back out to their waiting ship.
Fifteen minutes after arriving at Castle Chill, the dropship was lifting off and roaring away toward a high orbit and a rendezvous with the orbiting starship Eternia.
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