Thirteen
Snake Mountain
Eternia
19 September 2017
A glittering oval of streaks of yellow/orange light appeared on a volcanic plain southwest of Snake Mountain. Two figures – a man and woman – stepped through onto the hardened rock. The portal faded away seconds later, leaving the pair alone with no way back to wherever it was they came from. The woman pointed in the direction of the looming visage of a snake coiled around a mountain. Although they were several kilometers away, they could just make out the sounds of the waterfall on the northwest side of the mountain.
Princess Adora looked around at the desolate landscape, grimacing. How anyone could find this place attractive was beyond her. Volcanic dust kicked up by her boots quickly coated her red boots.
Her companion, Prince Adam, kicked at a small rock, sending it skidding across the ground. His opinion of the surroundings matched that of his sister. Adam had never liked this place, and he had had plenty reason in the past to come to this part of Eternia. Confronting Skeletor and rescuing Teela being the primary ones.
Now, he and his sister were walking into Snake Mountain to see parents whom they had thought dead. Instead, Skeletor and King Randor had come to some sort of agreement to ally against the common enemy of the Snakemen. It went without saying that Skeletor would turn on them when the pact was at an end.
"Is it always so dark and dreary here?" Adora asked.
"Yes. Always. Not my favorite place to visit. Father could have picked a better place to live."
"We do what we must in hard times. I doubt living here with Skeletor and his minions was high on his list of choices."
The pair trudged on in silence. The roaring waterfall gradually grew louder as they drew closer to their destination. Snake Mountain was an impressive sight. The serpent coiled about the mountain peak had been carved out of the living rock. Eyes of giant rubies glittered in the half-light. The open mouth, extended fangs and forked tongue were carved with exacting precision. The structure had been around for a very long time, but no weathering on the exterior surfaces could been seen aside from minor pitting here and there. Some engineers believed that after the work had been completed, enchantments had been cast to preserve what could be described as a work of art despite the fact that it represented nothing but evil. First, the Snakemen, who built the structure, and now Skeletor and his ilk.
And yet, this sinister place was now home for the king and queen of Eternia.
The main entrance came into view as the pair made their way through the craggy valley. The twists and turns made the journey longer without them getting much closer to the destination. At last, they strode out of the valley, headed straight for the mountain entrance.
Two robot sentries flanked the sealed entrance. Black armored troopers against the blue/black rock of the mountain, hard to see against such a background. A pang of doubt settled in the guts of the prince and princess. Would the guards turn them away? Would they be taken captive and thrown into the dungeon without notifying the lord of the mountain?
One way to find out.
The pair stopped about twenty feet from the entrance. The robots remained unmoving, weapons held at port arms. As if the presence of the people were beneath their programming to acknowledge.
Adam cleared his throat. "Um, we are here to see, well-"
Adora picked it up when her brother faltered. "We come to see the lord of the mountain. And to see the king and queen of Eternia."
The robots remained unmoving statues. Prince and princess looked at one another trying to decide what to do next. Forcing their way in was not an option in their current state. The Sorceress had been right about their holding onto the power of Grayskull for too long. Deep down in their hearts Adam and Adora knew that, but Adam refused to admit it, while Adora had come to grips with the reality of the situation. While their swords where slung across their backs, invoking the power of Grayskull now would be too soon after finally using the weapons to return the power to where it belonged.
Destroying them would be easy enough to keep their secret identities safe. But it was too soon for either of them to take up the power again.
Suddenly, the doors split apart. The entrance was wide enough to allow both to enter comfortably side by side. Taking it as a sign that they had just been granted entry, Adam and Adora stepped through into the chamber beyond. The door closed behind them.
The same dreary color scheme on the exterior decorated the inside. It seemed right somehow. The chamber measured forty meters square; it could be a receiving room, prep room, maybe a storeroom. On the far side was another doorway like the one the pair had just used. It did not open as they approached; not sensor operated, but there was a control panel on the right. Adora pressed the switch to open the barrier.
It closed automatically after they passed through.
Adam and Adora came to an intersection after a short walk. Turning right led down into the depths of the earth to more chambers and the power generators for the mountain. Left led up into the snake's coils.
"Left it is," Adora declared. Adam tentatively followed the echo of his sister's boot heels up the corridor.
Many chambers and corridors branched off from the main one, but the twins stayed with the main path and continued up. At one point, they came across one of several rectangular openings in the side of the snake. Adora paused to look out at the desolate terrain from the higher vantage point. Nothing much to see, really. Adora's eyes narrowed when she caught sight of what appeared to be a mass slowly moving across the landscape. She could not be certain, but it appeared to be moving in the direction of the mountain.
"I have the feeling we are being watched," Adam commented, eyes constantly roving about.
That they had not seen anyone up to this point was unusual. They should have at least come across more of the black robot troopers Skeletor used. None of his minions were roaming about, either. Most unusual.
"That's because you are," a familiar voice answered from further up the corridor.
Startled, the twins spun around in surprise, right hands automatically going for the sword hilts behind their right shoulders. Skeletor stood ten meters away, dressed in his new look of black leather garb, highlighted with silver. Missing was the ornate Havoc staff capped with a ram's head.
"A bit jumpy, are we? No need for swordplay here. If I had intended you harm, or meant to kill you, neither of you would have made it this far," the Lord of Snake Mountain declared. "Come," he commanded, turning, and striding away. He did not bother look back to see if the twins followed.
Adam and Adora locked eyes for a moment. Skeletor had been correct. If he had meant to harm either of them, he would have done it long before now. They hastened to catch up to Skeletor before he rounded the bend.
"I saw something moving outside," Adora ventured.
"Where?" Skeletor rumbled.
"Outside on the plain southwest of the valley."
Skeletor waved a gloved hand dismissively. The silver caps on the tips of his fingers sparkled in the dim lights. "There is always something moving out there. Especially down on the plain."
Adam felt as if he was walking through the bowels of a creature. Except for the smooth walkway in the center of the corridor, the walls and ceiling were covered in stone ribbing resembling bones. Purplish highlights decorated the otherwise bland structures. Concealed lights cast eerie pools of light along the slope every ten meters.
Skeletor led the pair into what passed for the residential area. The entire mountain was a honeycomb of tunnels and chambers dating back to the days when King Hiss and his Snakemen ruled the planet. One could easily become lost in this area of the mountain, but their host knew exactly where he was going. Skeletor led them through several twists and turns, plus going up several levels via stairs that had not seen steady use in ages. Eventually he stopped along a main corridor leading back to the main outer one.
He gestured to a nondescript door like all the others the group had passed. Nothing on the door or the wall denoted who or what lay beyond. Without a word, Skeletor turned and walked away.
Shrugging his shoulders, Adam knocked on the door. There were soft sounds of someone moving around in the room. Quiet footsteps approached the door, followed by the handle twisting. The prince and princess were unprepared for the sight that greeted them when the door was thrown open.
King Randor and Queen Marlena stood just inside, wearing the royal outfits the youngsters had come to associate with their famous parents. The king had a touch of gray in his beard and at the temples, but his frame was still tall and strong. Queen Marlena was still lovely and slender as ever. The gray did not show in her mass of red hair, but she knew it was there. Where Randor's full beard hid the age lines in his features, the queen's showed the hardships the pair had faced over the past seven years.
No words were spoken. None where needed. Mother and father stepped back to allow their children to enter. Once inside the receiving area where there was more room, the reunited family engaged in a group hug. Tears of joy flowed freely all around. It was a moment none of them had dared hope would happen.
After a minute or two, the group finally broke up and moved into the living room. Before getting caught up on what had transpired over the past several years, Adam and Adora had something to reveal to the king and queen. A revelation that was long overdue in coming.
Haltingly, Adam confessed to the secret he had been keeping from them for years. He feared that his mother and father would be angry that he had kept the knowledge that he was He-man from them, but their reactions surprised him.
Randor looked upon his son in a new light. The son he thought who did not take much of anything seriously, who acted clownish at times, was in reality the greatest hero Eternia had ever had in recent memory.
The queen, however, hid her knowledge behind a carefully crafted look of surprise and pride. Before Adora could make her confession, Marlena burst her bubble. While Adora was disappointed she didn't get to make her big reveal, it didn't last long. Since the king and queen had been about to sit down for dinner, the queen suggested they adjourn to the kitchen to continue catching up over a nice home cooked meal.
Once the twins were out of earshot, Randor held up his left hand, growling, "Don't say it."
"I knew he would tell us when the time was right," Marlena told him. "After I figured out his 'secret' all those years ago."
"Yes, once again you were right," the king sighed, taking his wife in his arms. After a loving hug, they broke apart and went into the kitchen before the kids got suspicious.
An hour or so later, Adora stood in the open mouth of the serpent gazing out at the desolate landscape. Skeletor sat on his throne brooding about whatever despots brood about. Each ignored the other, which was fine with Adora. Armed crossed beneath her breasts, the princess scanned the dark landscape wondering how anything could survive out there.
Sounds of the waterfall were muted where it flowed between the twin peaks of the mountain and the snake's head faced away from it. Even so, the sounds of marching feet could not reach all the way up to Adora's perch. She did, however, notice movement down in the same valley she and Adam travelled through. She could not see anything distinct. Just shadows moving through other shadows.
An unsettled feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. Something was very wrong here. Adora turned and hurried back inside the mountain. It was like willingly walking down the snake's throat as Adora made the short walk into the throne room. She found Skeletor still sitting immobile as a statue on the throne carved in such a way that it looked to have been made from bones.
"There's something moving down there in the valley," Adora said, trying to stress the importance of what she had seen. The more she thought about what she saw, the more concerned she became.
Without moving a muscle, or giving any indication that he had heard her, Skeletor finally told her, "As I said before, there is always something moving out there."
Adora's retort was cut off by a sentry signaling for attention. "Milord. Something approaches through the valley."
"Identify it," Skeletor demanded.
The sentries on duty outside the mountain entrance scanned the approaching objects. Although the visual scan was ineffective because of the deep shadows, the robots switch to IR and shifted through frequencies until one revealed the outlines of whatever it was walking toward the mountain. Echoes of something metallic impacting volcanic rock rebounded off the valley walls. Whatever they were, they were partly made of metal.
Once the sentry got a good enough look at the silhouette, it reported, "Identity unknown. Silhouette does not conform to any known design, Horde or otherwise."
Skeletor shoved himself up from the throne and took the few steps to the oval table. The surface was divided into six sections by bone-like dividers. A large dome in the center served multiple functions. Skeletor waved his hand over the dome, bringing it to life. A cloud briefly formed inside before resolving into a picture of the area immediately outside the mountain.
Machines measuring a little over three meters in height tromped out of the valley in two columns. Once into the cul-de-sac, they spread out to cover the mountain entrance. The left arm below the elbow appeared to be some sort of tube, currently aimed at the sky. The line of machines stood silent and forbidding, waiting for a signal to continue. More units filled in the space behind the front line.
"Halt and identify your make and model," one of the sentries challenged. Both troopers snapped laser rifles to their shoulders, locking on separate targets.
No reply. Machines continued to fill in the area behind the front rank, which stood only fifty meters away.
"No response to the challenge," the trooper in charge of the command center deep in the mountain reported.
"Destroy them," Skeletor ordered.
King Randor and Prince Adam strode in just as sounds of intense laser fire blasted out of the magic dome on the tabletop. Moving to stand close to Adora, who kept the table between herself and the lord of Snake Mountain, Randor asked out the corner of his mouth, "What's going on?"
"Uninvited guests," Adora whispered back.
"Report!" Skeletor remanded.
"Our weapons have no effect. The plasma bolts appear to be bouncing off their armor."
The enemy machine weathered the assault, completely unharmed by the flurry of energy bolts hurled at them. At an unheard command, two robots dropped their left forearms into targeting position, the openings glowing violet with priming charge. Three seconds passed as the weapons powered up. Simultaneous discharges blasted from the weapon muzzles straight into the opposition. Skeletor's mark II troopers disappeared in violent explosions of amethyst energy. The unfortunate robots were not so much shattered as disintegrated.
Machines stepped aside, making room in the center of the formation as the hulking machines advanced on the mountain entrance. A smaller unit only two meters tall strode rapidly through the opening and headed directly for the control panel on the right side of the sealed doors. This machine came straight out of a nightmare. No aesthetics went into the design of the thing. It had but only one purpose; to perform the tasks their larger companions could not. The angular head looked like an obscene grinning face that sent shivers down the spine.
Lifted its right hand, the pointed fingertips retracted and were pressed to the control panel. Security reported the breach in the network but was unable to stop the intrusion. Whatever virus the alien machine used, it blasted right through the countermeasures as if they did not exist. The sealed doors unlocked and parted in milliseconds.
Two hulking robots darted inside, moving faster than anything that size should be able to and securing the chamber beyond. When deemed secure, the smaller unit stepped in and repeated the hacking process on the inner doors.
Skeletor watched the enemy file into the mountain with concern; whoever sent those things know what they were doing. Alarms blared throughout the mountain. Robot troopers deployed from ready rooms, weapons in hand and charged off to meet the invaders.
Power plasma cannons blew away the troopers at every engagement. Nothing slowed the relentless tide of black machines pouring into Snake Mountain. Thick security doors slammed closed to block the enemy's path. Plasma cannons lashed out at the thick panels, heating the alloy up in seconds, before softening and finally exploding the metal under the relentless onslaught.
"Trapjaw! Tri-clops!" Skeletor snapped in irritation. "Do either of you have anything besides energy-based weapons?"
Confused grunts were the only reply.
No one used low-tech ballistic weapons anymore except for the Val-kyrie, who excelled at their use of the bow and their new electromagnetic – EM – rifle. When his minions finally replied that neither had any sort of weapon the fired anything other than energy bolts, Skeletor switched the view in the dome back to following the progress of the relentless machine army.
"Energy weapons are useless," Randor commented, thinking.
"We need something else," Skeletor said, fixing the twins with a soulless stare from empty eye sockets. "Well? What are waiting for?"
Failing to look entirely innocent, Adam responded, "What are you talking about?"
Straightening in frustration, Skeletor hissed a disgusted sigh. "I know who you really are. Took a while to figure it out, but I know you are my nemesis, He-man." His sightless stared twitched to Adora. "Which means you are most likely Hordak's thorn, She-ra."
"What are you getting at?" Randor demanded, angrily. He was not about to let Skeletor send his children into harm's way even with the power at their command. "Do you really think a couple of swords are going to do any good against that?" He gestured to the enemy pictured in the dome.
"Alas, no," Skeletor admitted. "I doubt they could get close enough to do any good before the enemy cut them down."
Adam and Adora bristled at being referred to as if they were not in the room, but they kept quiet. This contest of wills was between their father and Skeletor.
"Then we need something else. Or someone else," the king said more to himself.
Evil-lyn swept into the throne room carrying her short magic scepter and dressed in her old purple costume with the flowing black cape. "We need more power on the front lines and you are sitting up here watching the troops get torn apart."
"You have no doubt watched the battle in your scepter. Our weapons are no use against their armor," Skeletor pointed out, acidly.
"What about magic?" the witch demanded.
Skeletor heaved and irritated sigh. "Magic is essentially energy. Those machines are shielded against energy. But if you would rather waste your time trying, be my guest," he explained, waving a dismissive hand.
The witch, irritated by Skeletor's lack of action, stormed out to try her hand at defeating the invaders.
There was only one other time in Skeletor's life when he had truly known fear. That was when he made his bargain with Hordak that resulted in Keldor becoming the man he now was today. Staring at the unstoppable army of machines invading the mountain, Skeletor once again knew fear.
Palace Eternia
Sunlight streamed down through a clear blue sky. Birds soared through the air looking for prey. Or a mate. Animals crept through tall grasses doing much the same. A gentle breeze blew across the land spreading pollen. Leaves rustled in the trees, creating moving spots of sunlight across the ground.
It was the kind of day many people enjoyed relaxing on a picnic or fishing in a lake or stream. The kind of day for forgetting about life for a while and just taking in the wonders of Mother Nature.
Unfortunately, taking in nature did not do as much for Teela's state of mind as it once did in the past. The captain of the Royal Guard had made it a habit to walk along the outer wall. Gazing out at the surrounding landscape, she stopped and leaned her forearms on the sunshine-warmed stone.
For the thousandth time Teela wondered what it was all for? What difference had any of them made over the past ten years? He-man goes off to the future to help a planet in need, but something goes wrong on the return journey. Instead of returning moments after he left, He-man and Skeletor return five years later. For Skeletor, five years did not mean much. He took command of his followers once more and returned to his usual scheming.
He-man returned changed from some event Teela never found out about. Also, the Sorceress had disappeared along with the starship Eternia. Entering Castle Grayskull, Teela had been determined to find out what happened. While she had been unable to discover the truth behind He-man's late return, she did discover – rediscover – the truth of her heritage. When the memory block had been removed by the Castle, memories of discovering who her mother was years before came flooding back. At first, Teela was pleased, remembering. Then sadness at the apparent loss of the Sorceress set in, followed by despair, before finally settling on anger. The anger part confused her. Teela was proud the be the Sorceress' daughter. She had even taken the woman's place when she had disappeared for a brief time and defended Castle Grayskull.
After considerable soul searching, Teela found that her anger stemmed from lashing out at all that had happened since the starship Eternia vanished into the future. Grayskull had been left vulnerable, though she and the Masters had managed to keep that fact secret. An estranged mother was the best target. No one around who could fight back.
Now that Teela know the Sorceress was in fact not dead, Teela grew conflicted. She still resented her mother for not being there when Eternia needed her. Having met with her twice now, Teela was not sure she could keep anger up. Nor that she wanted to. The Sorceress was now a part of this team of Guardians out there taking the fight to the Horde. Evidently, the castle felt secure enough to be without its guardian for extended lengths of time. What a role reversal. Her mother was out having adventures while Teela stayed home grappling with the pack of swaggering, over-the-top, prima donna Snakemen. Teela was envious of that freedom. She would rather be out there with the Sorceress than here in the palace pandering to serpents.
Even a beautiful day like this was not enough to lift her spirits.
Long years fighting battles against the forces of evil gave one a heightened sixth sense for danger. Teela concentrated on her surroundings to find whatever it was that had tripped her senses. Straightening up, the Captain of the Guard turned toward the main gates at the far west end of the sheared-off mountain upon which the palace had been constructed. Slowly walking in that direction, Teela tuned out the clicking of her boot heels on stone. She picked out odd thumping sounds. Something heavy, by the sound of it. Although still over a hundred meters away, Teela detected multiple sounds; there was more than one object out there. On a hunch, she stopped, walked over to the retaining wall and leaned out as far as she safely could. From this vantage point she could just make out the approach ramp sloped at forty degrees.
And the lines of large black shapes stomping their way up said ramp in three columns.
Teela snapped back from the wall at a sharp snap-crack from beyond the massive doors, and the thunderous impacts against them. Guardsmen began running around, gathering people up and hurrying them to the nearest shelter. More impacts pounded the sturdy doors. She knew they would not hold for long under a sustained barrage. Men in the watch tower set up on the right side of the doors, unleashed a pathetic return volley of red laser bolts down at the enemy.
Lieutenant Koren sprinted up to her. "Captain, we're under attack."
Really? Never would have guessed that, she thought sardonically. "I can hear that. Any idea who, or what they are?"
Koren shook his head. He removed his helmet and wiped an arm across his sweating brow. A full head of brown hair was nothing more than a damp mass plastered to his skull. Putting the helmet back on, Koren added, "The sentries report never even hearing of something like the machines they described."
More impacts slammed into the barrier. The vertical seam where the doors came together flexed alarmingly. More volleys and those doors would disintegrate.
Before Teela could order the sentries to abandon their post in the watch tower, enemy fire blasted into the boxy structure. A thunderous explosion blew pieces of stone, metal reinforcements and the sentries all over the immediate area. She and Koren jumped involuntarily at the sudden, and shocking, destruction and the deaths of two good men.
Enemy fire against the doors intensified, the fire coming so fast it sounded like one sustained burst.
Koren made two attempts to speak before finally pulling himself together. "Just before they were hit, the sentries reported laser fire is ineffective against them."
Motioning for them to move away from the coming death machines, Teela demanded, "Ineffective how?"
"They said the bolts from the laser rifles simply bounced off the machines' armor. One of them got off a volley with the heavy laser turret at the nearest robots it could depress far enough to target. Same result. Even shots into joints had no effect except to maybe make them angry."
An explosion at the gate signaled the end of the barrier. Smoke and debris blasted from the hole blown in the locking mechanism. Heavy bodies slammed into the heavy slabs of metal, forcing them open.
As they quickly retreated, Teela could not take her eyes off the nightmare tromping into the palace grounds. Over three meters tall, the thing moved with mechanical precision. A large, disk-like head reminding Teela of the rotating visor worn by Tri-clops rotated sensors this way and that, scanning the immediate area for targets. They were painted a black which seemed to drink up the sunlight. The right hand ended in deadly talons used to impale anyone unlucky enough to get close to the invaders. The left forearm proved to be the source of the sounds of weapons fire. A guardsman who did not clear the area quickly enough caught a deadly red blast. The unlucky soldier's body was not so much blown apart as simply disappearing in a reddish mist.
The sight snapped Teela out of her trance. Grabbing Koren's arm, the pair sprinted for the far side of the round building housing the throne room. They had to get out of the enemy's line of sight. Energy blasts chased them, but none came close.
When she was sure they were far enough away, Teela slowed to catch her breath. Still walking toward an access point to the lower levels, Teela started rasping out orders. "Get the people to the shelters. Pull the troops back. We'll let King Hiss and his Snakemen handle the invaders." She cracked a wry grin at the thought of King Hiss' minions vaporized by the machines. They needed to be kicked in their superiority complex. "But Koren, don't make it look like you're pulling back to let them take on the enemy."
Koren cracked a grin of his own. "Don't worry, captain. They won't have time to suspect." He listened as a report came in over the tac net. "Sounds like Hiss' men are engaging… And getting their fangs kicked in." He suddenly realized where Teela was leading him. "Um, where are you going?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because we seem to be heading in the direction of the main hangar."
"You and I both saw that energy-based weapons have no effect on those machines," Teela said. She took the stairs two at a time, forcing Koren to quicken his pace. "We need something a little less advanced."
"Well, the Val-kyrie have been known to use ballistic weapons, but I hardly think explosive arrows are going to get the job done."
Teela darted around the next landing and continued down the stairwell. "I'm thinking of someone a little more low tech than the Val-kyrie. A lot more low tech, actually."
At first, Koren had no idea who she could mean. Then it dawned on him who she was talking about. "You don't mean…" When she didn't answer, Koren continued, "You do mean. But I thought you said they were backward savages."
Teela refrained from telling about her experience on Earth that ultimately led to the Horde paying that planet a visit years later. "I was present at the battle outside Castle Grayskull several months ago. While I still have my opinion of the people the Sorceress now lives with, one thing is clear. Their weapons have a greater effect on Horde technology than ours. If anyone can stop these machines, the Earth people can."
The pair finally arrived at the ground level. Teela threw open the door and strode purposefully down the corridor in the direction of the huge main hangar. They came across several more Guardsmen along the way. They fell in step with their captain without question.
"What's the plan, captain," a young man not more than twenty asked.
"I am going to get us help against these invaders," Teela answered.
The group arrived at the entrance to the hangar. It was actually the secondary door mainly used by personnel. A much larger pair allowed for equipment to be moved back and forth from the hangar to the repair bays immediately behind it. Being the only one currently unarmed, Teela positioned herself out of the way by the control panel. At a nod from Koren, she pressed the OPEN button. The pair parted with a hiss. Darting inside, the three Guardsmen secured the immediate area.
Nothing was out of the ordinary. Teela saw ranks of wind raiders in the center. Sky sleds and one-man attack traks on the right. The far left contained the parking area for the larger attack traks equipped with cargo modules that could be set up for various mission specs.
Teela picked out a raider in the front line, wove her way through the field to the chosen craft. She performed a quick preflight inspection before climbing into the open cockpit.
"Where are you going to get help from, the young man asked, nervously looking around. Just because they couldn't hear the sounds of battle yet did not mean that the machines were not on the way.
Neither of the more experienced Guardsmen even considered that Teela might be running out on them. Koren knew the only way to call for help was from Grayskull. The newly minted Guardsman, however, did not.
"You're leaving us? But what about the invaders?"
"King Hiss can handle them," Koren said, finishing issuing orders to the rest of the Guardsmen. "We need help from another source. Captain Teela is going to contact that source."
Activating systems, Teela scanned the readouts for any faults. Everything was in the green. The techs really kept the equipment in tip-top shape. "I'm going to Castle Grayskull to contact my-" Teela stopped herself from saying 'mother.' Barely. "My friend, the Sorceress, and seek help from her new friends."
"Couldn't someone else do that?" the kid proposed, growing more nervous as the lack of the sounds of battle continued. It was like waiting for the proverbial other boot the drop.
"Sure," Teela said, conversationally. "You find someone else who can access the castle, has an affinity to use magic and can utilize a magic mirror in order to contact the Sorceress and I will send them instead."
With no volunteers forthcoming, Teela fired up the engines while the other Guardsman dashed to the control room at the back of the bay. He took up position at the control board and awaited the signal to open the hangar doors.
Koren had sent the kid back to the personnel entrance to stand guard. "Any other orders?"
"Just stay alive and keep everyone out of the way. Let King Hiss and his brood fight it out with the machines."
Koren nodded and backed away. Teela ignited the engines and activated the lifters while Koren took up station at the back entrance.
Clipping a com unit to her right ear, Teela spoke to the Guardsman in the control room. "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, captain," the man replied.
"When I give the word, hit the control to open the doors, then get out of there. If enemy units are stationed outside, they won't hesitate to fire on anything that moves. I've seen what their weapons can do to a person, and I don't want any of you getting killed. Understood?"
"Understood."
Teela lifted the wind raider above the field of parked craft and backed up to within a few meters of the back wall. She wanted as much of a running start at the main doors to the outside as possible. With all aircraft, regardless of the planet they were built on, one fact remained the same everywhere. Speed is life. An aircraft's main advantage.
Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Teela keyed the com. "Now!" she ordered.
The Guardsman's hand had been posed over the rectangular button that would open the heavy armored doors. At Teela's command, he stabbed the button and dashed out the door.
The original hangar doors had had to be replaced after the Guardian Force attack on the palace blasted a large hole in them when the Guardians came to retrieve the Sorceress and Adrian Cobretti. The new doors were a little thicker, but the main change lay in how they locked together. Instead of a vertical seam, the new doors had a forty-five-degree angle at the top and bottom with a horizontal span in the middle. Supposedly, the new interlock would make it harder for an enemy to blast their way through in the future.
Loud thunks indicating mechanical bolts releasing were audible over the whine from the wind raider's engines. Secondary magnetic locks disengaged, and the massive doors began sliding apart. As soon as the gap was wide enough, Teela planned to shoot through it. She would have to tilt on the right wing to do it, but she was a good enough pilot to pull the maneuver off.
That plan died the moment the gap grew wide enough to allow the bright sunlight to stream in. Along with the twelve enemy machines waiting outside. Teela glanced over her left shoulder to see the three guardsmen still waiting at the door. "What are you waiting for? Get out of here!"
Teela's commend was backed up by the first two machines through the door firing in their direction. The trio disappeared in an instant. Red plasma bolts larger than any Teela had ever heard of slammed into the wall around the open portal. More were launched at the hovering wind raider, but Teela had already kicked the craft into motion, causing the enemy fire to miss the target.
Jinking to the left and right, Teela fired the blaster embedded in the yellow 'hood ornament' on the raider's nose. The first machine through the doors took the full force of the blaster set for maximum discharge. The impact caused the machine to stagger a step before it kept coming. Teela unleashed several more blasts that actually slammed her target into the right-hand door. It toppled to the ground and lay still. Teela's heart leapt at the thought that she might have actually downed one of the menacing machines.
Then it stirred, clambering back to its feet.
She was out of time. Teela steadied the raider, slamming the throttles to the forward stops and bracing herself. The gap was not wide enough to fly out straight and level, but she could make the angle.
The enemy was taken by surprise when the raider shot forward. Their plasma blasts had so far not connected with the hovering craft, but bolts had fallen in amongst the parked vehicles. Initial blasts had started fires that in turn caused secondary explosions. The craft darted by overhead close enough that if one of the machines had actually thought of it, one could have simply reached up and physically knocked the craft down.
None did realize that, and Teela roared out of the hangar unharmed. Machines still outside made lumbering turns, weapon arms raised to try and fire at the escaping wind raider. However, it became immediately clear to Teela that as big and powerful as the machines were, their targeting systems could not handle fast-moving targets. Lucky shots still tended to happen, though, so Teela flung her raider into an evasive pattern until she was sure she was out of range. Once out of range, and sure that the machine army had no aerial support, Teela leveled out, turning northwest and roaring off in the direction of Castle Grayskull as fast the engines could push the tiny craft.
Setting the autopilot, Teela leaned back in her seat and began shaking. Hugging herself, Teela tried to calm her rattled nerves. It didn't help when she realized that several plasma blasts had come close to taking her head off. Her mood grew darker when she saw the scorch marks on the wings resulting from near misses.
Teela had been in numerous battles, but this was the first time she had really come close to dying. After seeing what a direct hit could do to a person, well, at least she wouldn't have felt a thing. Or so she tried to reassure herself.
Castle Grayskull soon loomed on the horizon, and Teela had no more time to think about what could have happened. She just hoped the people she left behind had managed to seek shelter and leave fighting the enemy to King Hiss. And if the machines managed to reduce the number of Hiss' forces a little before they were defeated, well, that wouldn't be so bad, right?
Teela took back control of the raider and turned west, dipping the nose for final approach. Deciding that time was of the essence, Teela chose to land just outside by the bridge, instead of the nearby clearing to the south in the Evergreen Forest. As she zoomed in over the landscape at thirty feet, Teela noticed black specks up in the sky further to the west. Although she could not be sure, Teela's instinct told her the specks might be another detachment of enemy robots coming to test the castle's defenses. She had no idea how she knew that, only that it made sense tactically to test the major powers on the planet. Which likely meant that Snake Mountain might be assaulted, if it wasn't already. She didn't give a damn about Skeletor and his ilk, however, the deposed king and queen resided there, biding their time, waiting for the chance to retake Palace Eternia and restore peace to the kingdom.
Teela slowed smartly to a hover just past the ramp and dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Not her best landing, to be sure, but style points didn't count if she failed to get help here in time to keep the castle and its vast storehouse of knowledge and magical power out of enemy hands.
Teela hurriedly shut down the engines, switched off the power systems and threw herself out the right side of the cockpit. Landing with ease on the rocky terrain, and long practiced in wearing high-heeled boots, the Captain of the Guard raced up the ramp, darted beneath the twin vertical rectangles of rock arches, and stopped short of literally running right off the edge of the ramp where it ended at edge of the bottomless moat surrounding the castle.
Now what? Usually, Teela tried to reach out telepathically to the Spirit of Grayskull, but she had no magical abilities. Spirit usually sensed her presence, or the Castle did, and the jawbridge would lower after she was recognized. Conscious of the enemy craft still some distance away, but closing in, Teela could ill afford to wait. Somehow, she had to get the attention of either Spirit or the Castle's essence.
Coming up with no other options, Teela cupped her hands around her mouth to shout at the top of her lungs to get some attention. Taking a deep breath to holler with every ounce of breath, Teela stopped abruptly when she heard winching sounds. The jawbridge started to lower. The winching sound was always disconcerting, since there were no visible chains supporting the bridge. Yet, the characteristic sounds of chains moving through gears was always clearly heard. Seconds later, the rounded tip of the jawbridge, lined with stone teeth on the edges and carved with what some would swear was a tongue in the middle, crashed into the ramp edge with a resounding boom that echoed briefly around the chasm it spanned.
Out of time, Teela sprinted across the jawbridge and through the pulsing blue-white nimbus beyond. The bridge automatically rose back into the closed position, landing with a more muted boom, and sealed itself in place.
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