Fourteen

Pretoria Research Base

Planet Val-kyre

19 September 2017

Sorceress sat inside Falcon, waiting for the system diagnostic scan to complete. Although she was used to running this scan, it took an annoyingly long time to complete. It wasn't even a deep scan; Gabe called it a level one scan. This one was just making sure the MASC system had been properly integrated into Falcon's operating systems. So far, it appeared the scan was not turning up any problems. Static testing, however, had been a different story. Falcon and Hawk were similar in design: Hawk had more stealth and computer penetration capabilities than the other suits, while Falcon had a few of those systems installed along with the ability to enhance magical abilities and possessing some combat programs to utilize the psionic staff and the anti-grav blades stored in the hip guards.

Crossing her arms, Sorceress sighed again, willing the scan to complete.

"Someone is impatient today," the AI mused, a whimsical note is her voice. "Ironic, considering you are the patient one among this collection of – what did Jake call you? – oddballs."

"A clear case of the pot calling the kettle black," she reminded the AI.

"Oh, sure. That one you get right."

Sorceress smiled. Many sayings of the Earth people confused her, but she did occasionally use one correctly. Even if she didn't understand them. Her amused chuckle was cut short by a sudden stabbing pain in her brain.

-MOTHER!-

Sorceress winced. "Falcon."

"I heard."

-MOTHER! Can you hear me?-

"Falcon…"

"I can't block her. She must be transmitting from Grayskull. It's the only place with the capability to find us and make contact."

Sorceress wince, groaning in pain from another icepick to the brain.

"Okay, I got it. Fire one!"

-TEELA!- Sorceress fired back.

-Ow! That hurt!-

-Welcome to my world. Now you know what it feels like when someone shouts in your mind.-

-Sorry. I'm not very good at this sort of thing.-

"That's painfully obvious," Sorceress muttered. She ignored Falcon's quiet chuckle.

-I'm guessing something has happened?-

-How did you know?-

-You didn't go to the castle to make a social call.-

-No. Eternia is under attack.-

Sorceress sat up a little straighter in the cramped operator's compartment, uncrossed her arms. -By whom?-

-Not who. What.-

-What?-

-What?-

-Why are you making contact?- Sorceress tried to keep the irritation out of her mental voice.

-Eternia is under attack.-

-You said that. Elaborate, please.-

-Did I catch you at a bad time?-

-I am in the middle of an experiment.-

Teela finally understood and quickly explained what was going on. Machines of a type she had never seen or heard of marched on Palace Eternia. Nothing could stop them. Teela choked a bit when explaining the effect of the plasma blast when it struck a person. Describing her escape from the palace in a wind raider, Teela hoped the people she'd left behind were safe.

-You did the right thing, Teela. You trained the guard well. They will stay out of the fighting as best they can. Now show me these machines.-

-How?-

-Open your mind and let me see through your eyes.- After a few tries, Teela relaxed and opened her mind for the Sorceress to see what she saw. -That's good. Where are you?-

-In the dais area near the magic mirror.-

-Good. Face the mirror and ask Spirit to show us the attack on the palace.-

Images of the assault still in progress chilled the Sorceress down to the marrow in he bones. Now she saw what the entire machine looked like. The head she and Adrian Cobretti retrieved from Transfer Station 321. Even the Val-kyrie extrapolations didn't come close to what the Sorceress was witnessing in the mirror.

-Ask Spirit to show me Snake Mountain.-

Although confused, Teela did as the Sorceress asked. As she suspected, Skeletor was under attack as well. The fight was not going well. She gasped right along with Teela when the mirror spotted not only the king and queen, but Adam and Adora. They'd finally made to the trip to see their parents as she had suggested back on Etheria. The timing of that visit left something to be desired, however.

-I have seen enough. I need to round up support. Stay put. The castle is the safest place for you.- Sorceress paused, considering the options. Despite upgrades to the ship's hyperdrive engines, there was no way the Eternia could get to the planet in under twelve hours. Magic portals would have to used in order to salvage the situation. -Is the enemy marching on the castle?-

There was a long pause while Teela consulted the Spirit of Grayskull. Sorceress was about to ask again when Teela's thoughts broke in. -Not yet. There appear to be large black objects orbiting high in the atmosphere west of the castle. Spirit is expecting an assault coming at any time.-

Sorceress nodded. -Stay put. We will be arriving within the hour.-

Sorceress was about to terminate the link when Teela suddenly spoke up. -Mother, wait! There's something else you need to know.-

Clamping down on a flash of irritation, Sorceress said, -What is it? I have to get this going.-

-The machines are resistant to energy weapons. Bolts from rifles and pistols simply bounce off. I have never seen the like. I shot at one half a dozen times with the wind raider's cannon, but all I did was knock it around. Even the palace laser turrets couldn't so much as scratch them. I though your friends should know.-

-That is very important, Teela. Thank you. I'm going to hang up now.-

-Hang up? What are you-

The rest of Teela's question was cut off.

Sorceress hit the button to unseal and open the operator's compartment. She threw herself out onto the maintenance stand, flew down the stairs and sprinted for the door in the far-left corner. Gabe and the Val-kyrie tech assisting him turned in time to see the woman racing away.

"What was that about?" the young tech mused.

"Must be in a hurry to begin testing," Gabe replied.

"Well, I think we have the problem integrating the MASC system in War Wing just about solved. The simulations are looking good."

Gabe nodded. "Let's see the simulation on Falcon. She should definitely be ready for testing."

Colonel Markson was meeting with Commander Harana, Princess Anyssa, Adrian Cobretti and Gunny Apone in the meeting room. They were going over the previous test results of the MASC system. Failures, all. But according to Gabe, they were getting closer. The next round of testing looked promising. Gabe and his assistants were confident that they may finally have solved the problem.

Harana was reviewing the schedule when the Sorceress burst into the room. Eyebrows rose at the normally calm and kindly woman entering the room with such haste, and a little breathless from running up the stairs two at a time.

"Eager to get the testing underway, are we?" the colonel inquired politely.

"Test it in battle," Sorceress breathed. "We have a problem."

"Could you narrow it down a little? There are so many to choose from."

Sorceress leaned on the back of a chair and fixed her gaze upon the commander. "Eternia is under attack."

That pronouncement turned the somewhat jovial atmosphere suddenly tense and anxious.

"You're sure of this? How? Who told you?" the commander demanded. There had been no alerts through the sensor net.

"I had contact from Castle Grayskull," Sorceress answered.

"How is that possible?"

"Well," Sorceress swiveled the chair around and sat down. "It's rather simple. Grayskull has the power to act as a transmitter with Falcon acting as a receiver. I can be contacted literally anywhere in this galaxy."

Apone leaned his arms on the table and fixed the woman with a steady look. "Who contacted you?"

Sorceress shook her head. "It's not important."

"Oh, I think it's very important," Colonel Markson objected. "Anyone who has access to Grayskull and is sending out messages is very much of concern. Who sent it." His tone indicated he was in no mood for her usual explanations that said a lot without saying anything at all.

Sorceress sighed. Time was of the essence, and it was being wasted with this useless lie of questioning. "I trust the source."

"Who," Markson prodded sternly.

"Teela."

Apone stiffened but kept quiet.

"Teela? In case it's escaped your notice, she's working with the enemy," Jon pointed out. "To say nothing of the fact that she's married to the king snake."

"That was only to appease King Hiss. It did save lives," Apone interjected.

"Do you really think the castle would allow her entry if she could not be trusted?" Sorceress asked. "There is another reason of which you are well aware." That fact being her relationship to Teela. The colonel, General Hammond and Captain Majourny were privy to the knowledge of Teela being her daughter after the mission to Eternia. She had been pressed about trusting the woman in face of all they had discovered about the state of affairs on Eternia. "King Hiss cares nothing for the castle and its secrets. Now, if there are no more questions, we are wasting valuable time."

Adrian spoke up. "She has a point about the castle. If Teela wasn't trustworthy, she wouldn't have been allowed in to send the signal to Falcon."

"You sound certain of that," Harana commented.

"Sorceress took me there to use some pool-"

"The Pool of Power," Sorceress interjected.

"-to heal me after I got banged up during the mission to bring He-man and She-ra back from the penal planet." Adrian shook his head at the memory. He was still in awe at the experience. "I can't explain it, but the rumors of the castle gaining some sort of sentience are true. Seems to be a pretty good judge of character. So, if Teela wasn't trustworthy, she wouldn't get in."

"Good enough for me," Apone added.

Colonel Markson nodded, satisfied for the moment. "What about this attack?"

Briefly, Sorceress explained what she saw through Teela's eyes and in the magic mirror. Ordinarily, people would interrupt with questions about how telepathy and magic worked, but because of the urgency, no one broke in. She spoke of the assault on Palace Eternia, Snake Mountain, and the probable imminent strike on Castle Grayskull. She added in Teela's first-hand experience against the alien machines, their power, and relentless advances.

"I say let the Snakemen fend for themselves," Jon commented. "Their superiority complex can do with being taken down a few notches. But what do we owe old Bonehead? Sure, he saved us when we rescued you from the clutches of King Hiss, but that favor was repaid. Give me one good reason why we should help him."

"I'll give you two," Adrian said. "King Randor. Queen Marlena."

"I knew you were going to say that," the colonel groused. "I just don't like having to save that bone-headed sadist, too."

"No good deed, and all that jazz," Adrian quipped.

"I think it's more like God hates me."

"Hate him back. It works for me," Adrian shrugged.

"Gentlemen," Sorceress broke in, a warning tone to her voice. "I use that term loosely at the moment, we are on a time crunch here."

That declaration spurred the colonel and gunny into action. They thought like military men, however, not that it was necessarily a bad thing.

"We'll need some serious firepower if that head is anything to go by. We could try out Gabe's new energy weapons," Jon said.

"Teela informed me that the machines are shielded against energy weapons," Sorceress advised.

"Reflective coating? That's bad."

"AP and explosive rounds. Maybe that new grenade launcher is ready for use," Apone mused.

Markson's face fell at a sudden thought. "But the Eternia can't get there is under twelve hours. And we have to get to Earth and then to Eternia. I doubt the Ladyhawke is any faster."

Shaking her head, Sorceress muttered, "Foolish mortal."

"What was that?"

Adrian broke in. "Hello? Magic-user! Time/space portals anyone?"

They had a plan.

Jon and Apone headed to the hangar floor to fill Gabe in on what was happening. Commander Harana asked if they would need anything from the Ladyhawke before they left; Adrian replied they would use the integral weapons of the battlesuits. They were going to have to find out what it took to kill those machines sooner or later, anyway. With the archive of weapons schematics downloaded from War Wing's reserve memory, there was a whole host of designs to try that were not based on energy systems.

The pair joined the others in the hangar.

"I can be ready to go in a few minutes," Gabe said.

Adrian shook his head. "Not so fast. I have another job for you." Turned to the colonel he added, "I need you to relay an order to the other Guardians."

Jon nodded.

After Adrian spelled out what he wanted, the Sorceress opened an oval portal back to Earth. Jon and Apone stepped through, and the shimmering portal derezzed into nothing.

The two Guardians boarded their respective suits. Work stands were pulled back to allow the operators room to maneuver.

Sorceress was about to activate Falcon's system for generating portals when Princess Anyssa burst through the door shouting for her to wait. The woman was out of breath and lugging a large bag. A full quiver of arrows kept sliding off her left shoulder.

"I wish to accompany you," the princess declared.

"What's your real reason?" Adrian inquired.

Cautiously, she answered, "I would rather not say with an audience. Besides, Colonel Markson will need my help. Arrows don't bounce off walls."

Opening a private channel to Falcon, Adrian said, "What do you think?"

"The same thing you are. The Val-kyrie are being overly tight-lipped about the nature of the enemy machines. I think Anyssa is aware of it."

"And if we read her right, she's not happy with the commander's secretive nature."

Sorceress nodded.

"Got everything?" Adrian asked the princess. When she nodded, Adrian told the Sorceress to proceed.

Visualizing where she wanted to go in her mind, Sorceress activated the portal system. The dome in the center of the six-pointed star on the suit's chest flared and fired an energy beam out to a point twenty feet in front of Falcon. The beam seemingly hit an invisible wall where it pooled and spread out in a silvery disk. In moments, a flat silver panel formed in the shape of an upright oval with part cut off where it met the floor. The beam cut off, ripples in the silvery surface settling down.

An image gradually took shape in the panel. Adrian could see vague impressions of the ring of statues near the tall throne dais. With a start, he remembered the massive screen mounted to the wall that would be to the right of someone sitting up on the throne. Falcon's portal had connected to that magic screen. He also remembered that where the Sorceress could use pure magic to create a portal linking two places in time and space, Falcon used not just magic to make the final connection, but technology as well to form the portal.

Falcon gestured for the princess to precede them. Anyssa paused at the panel for a second or two, then boldly stepped through. Sorceress waited on Adrian.

"Age before beauty," Adrian quipped.

Smiling, the guardian of Castle Grayskull replied, "Then it is a good thing I have both!"

Falcon and War Wing stepped through the portal, creating only slight ripples in its surface. Once through, the panel rapidly shrank down to the initial point in the air where it had started from, and winked out of existence.

Guardian Command

Area 51

When the science team began experimenting with creating magic portals through the use of technology, they did not end well. Blending magic and technology fared little better. The Sorceress knew of worlds that had successfully blended the two, but she had never been sure how the blending was accomplished. The final steps were a closely guarded secret; the Sorceress had never been able to figure out how to finish the project despite her intelligence and knowledge of such things.

The next best thing was to designate an area where a portal can be opened whenever required. Said area could be guarded at a moment's notice upon the appearance of a portal generated from off-world. Many of the scientists did not completely comprehend the Sorceress' explanation of how a magic-user created a portal from one world to the next. Usually, a portal to another planet would appear somewhere on its surface. If the one opening the portal knew the general area where one wanted to go, the portal would appear there. But if someone knew an exact location in which to place a portal, the magic-user could hit it every time.

Doctor Robards' team tried to inject science into the purely magical mechanics of portal generation, asking questions about movements of planets in space and time. They were trying to figure out how a magic-user could connect to a planet in constant motion orbiting a star; magic did not have to use special coordinates or other means of locating objects in space.

Ultimately, the science team shelved the idea until theories and technology advanced to a point when another attempt could be made.

Alert klaxons went off milliseconds after a portal formed in the designated section. Four marines dashed from their alert area close by and took up station twenty feet away from the shimmering oval, weapons shouldered and ready to perforate anything unfriendly that came through.

A tense sixty seconds ticked away, but no one stepped through. General Hammond arrived from the comm center. Colonel Markson had transmitted a signal that he and Gunny Apone would be arriving shortly.

Colonel and Gunny stepped through the portal one at time. Both stopped and waited for the all clear.

"Stand down," the general ordered.

The marines, relaxed, lowered their weapons and returned to the alert area.

"Where is the rest of your team? I had presumed you would be returning on the Ladyhawke."

"Change in plan. Falcon and the Sorceress received a communication from Grayskull," Jon explained. "Apparently, Palace Eternia and Snake Mountain are under assault."

"By who?"

"Unknown, but the description the Sorceress gave indicates it could be machines like the piece of one we recovered from the transfer station."

The trio moved away from the portal zone in the direction of the four battlesuits. Nick Jackson, the R&D Division Chief, and Jack Rockwell joined them. After a brief discussion, Apone strode off in the direction of the armory.

"What are you going to need?" Hammond asked the colonel. He knew the Snakemen will likely prevail over the enemy machines, but Snake Mountain was another matter. Leaving Skeletor to fend for himself was not an option, although only because of the deposed king and queen of Eternia being in residence. Guardian Command needed all the allies it could get and saving the royals had to be a top priority.

"A small force. Too many people will get in the way," Jon said. "According to the Sorceress our inferior weapons are the best option."

Nick asked, "Why's that?"

"The robots have been covered in that reflective coating, or some such thing." The colonel was not good with technical jargon.

Nick frowned. "Refractive coating. That'll make them invulnerable to most energy-based weapons, general. Ballistic weapons could be the answer, if their armor isn't that thick. To be mobile to the degree of assaulting several locations on a planet, they would have to trade armor for mobility, to a degree."

"That's just what I was thinking," Jon put in. It was in simpler terms, but he was thinking along those lines.

"Great!" Jake declared, bubbling with anticipation. "We can be ready to go in minutes."

"Not so fast," Jon said, bursting Jake's bubble. "Eternia would never get there in time. This is going to be a quick and dirty operation using magic portals." He grimaced at the thought. Portals weirded him out, but he was generally professional enough not to show it. "Cobretti wants you four to get your suits loaded on the starship and head off to the research base on Val-kyre. With your approval, general," he added.

"Why not add the other four Guardians to the battle?" Hammond asked.

"Adrian and the Sorceress are going to test the new cloaking system in battle. If any adjustments have to be made, they will make them, and the results will be sent back to Commander Harana. Gabe is still there waiting to finish the work," Jon explained.

Hammond held up a hand to stall Jake's complaint at being left out of the battle. "I know you want to get into the fight, but I just finished reading the preliminary report filed concerning the action at Transfer Station 437. It appears that this new enemy can track the power emanations of a battlesuit even through the cloaking systems the Val-kyrie have developed."

"I'm not worried," Jake countered.

"I was there," Jon argued. "And you should be worried. If Adrian hadn't ordered Falcon and War Wing to shut down, we probably wouldn't have survived the engagement."

"All the more reason to have more firepower on the field."

"They are shielded against energy weapons, Jake," Hammond put in. "We don't know if Gatling Arms' weapons will powerful enough."

"Only one way to find out," Jake insisted.

Jon intervened. "Hey. I get it. You want to take the risk against a possibly superior enemy. You risking your own life is one thing. Watching others risk their lives when you can't do anything about it is something else. As Cobretti might say: welcome to the wonderful world of command."

"You have your orders, Guardian Rockwell," General Hammond said in a gentle yet firmly commanding tone he had developed over time. Some referred to it as his fatherly tone -the one that said he understood the other person's position, but the decision was final.

Sighing, defeated, Jake nodded and stalked off to get the other Guardians moving.

Hammond called for Captain Majourny.

"Colonel!" Apone called out from the armory. His booming voice carried over the din of activity in the way Gunnery Sergeants learned to use. Once he had the colonel's attention, he announced, "It's ready!"

Things are looking up, Jon thought.

While Hammond met with Captain Majourny about the trip to Val-kyre, the colonel got an education in the newest weapon in their arsenal. A group of soldiers, including Corporal Frost, gathered around Gunny Apone and Nick.

Nick ran the group through the new rocket-propelled grenade launcher the tech team had come up with. "This is the RPG-10 multi-launch grenade system. It contains a rotary system of four weapons capable of being rapid fired in seconds. The optics have several magnification levels. Maximum range is six hundred yards with a max effective of just over four hundred." The tech holding the weapon gestured to each item as Nick called them out.

Replacing the rotor was as simple as it got. The guide disk on the warhead end had a slot in it, while the disk on the back had none. It was about as idiot-proof as it could get. Until someone built a better idiot.

A pack rig had been designed to carry three of the rotors, which weighed in at fifteen pounds apiece. With the rotor installed in the weapon, a soldier could carry sixteen shots. With a companion acting as a pack mule, that gave a crew of two a total of twenty-eight rounds.

Apone picked out four people from the steadily growing group for the two launcher fireteams. Colonel Markson wanted only half a platoon – fourteen people – for the op. He included himself and Apone in that number.

Frost was sent off to get what the other soldiers called his girlfriend. The things he could hit with the Val-kyrie railgun at distances nearly twice the range of even the most powerful Earth sniper rifles was nothing short of scary.

Four boxes full of individual armor suits for the group were carried to the portal area. Three more boxes joined those, full of weapons and ammunition. The group milled around awaiting orders, and the portal, to proceed.

Nick quickly explained about the new pulse rifle upgrades. The new model now carrier ninety-nine round magazines, and the pump-action grenade launcher was expanded to a four round cylinder plus one in the chamber. It was only a total increase of five rounds overall, but that could make the difference in a firefight.

"Any moment now," Apone advised, looking at his watch. The ten-minute window for the Sorceress to establish one from Castle Grayskull had almost expired.

General Hammond waited with them to see them off. Captain Majourny reported that she could get her entire crew assembled within two hours. Jake already had the remaining four Guardians heading to the hangar bay with their suits. Charlie Platoon was next up in the shipboard duty rotation, and she had contacted the commander to start rounding up his soldiers. She said the Eternia could be ready to launch in three hours.

Hammond nodded. "You have a go, captain. Launch when ready."

Majourny nodded back and left to supervise readying the starship for launch.

Right on cue, the portal flared into existence in the designated location. Because it was expected and entered into the monitoring system, the warning klaxon did not go off.

Markson caught the walkie-talkie tossed his way by Apone. He turned it on and pressed the transmit button. "This is Colonel Markson. Clear to come through?"

The Sorceress' voice issued from the speaker a moment later. "All clear. Come through when ready."

Markson turned expectantly to General Hammond. "Colonel, you have a go. Good luck," Hammond said.

"Actually sir, the Val-kyrie say 'Good Hunting' when sending people off to battle."

Suppressing a smile, Hammond amended, "Good hunting, colonel."

Jon nodded and walked to the head of the line. "All right. Move out!" Despite his reservations about walking through portals, the colonel suppressed a shiver, grabbed the handle on a case containing armor, and boldly stepped through with the soldier on the other end following close behind.

A minute later, the assault group was gone, and the portal faded away.

127