Chapter 150: The Lost Dimension Part 4

Unknown Location, February 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Standing near the huge recharging station below the runestone - Glimmer didn't like that name, but it was a recharger - Catra and the others were waiting until Glimmer finished recharging. Angella, too, was standing here - after dropping Glimmer off above.

Catra kept her distance from the queen. Whether this was the Angella from Catra's home dimension - or universe; the differences weren't quite clear to her - the woman had created the entire world here, and if that was her dream world, then it was obvious that she had issues. Wiping out the entire Horde… Catra suppressed a shudder. And this Angella had had Catra imprisoned even though Catra had returned to help save the world. Talk about carrying a grudge!

But that was moot now. Adora, the real Adora, was here. Had come to save her! Catra smiled as she leaned into her love. "Missed you," she whispered.

"Missed you too," Adora whispered back.

Catra didn't miss how Angella stiffened. She almost smirked. It must hurt to realise that the copy you had imagined wasn't even close to the original. The real Adora was so much more than She-Ra. And she loved Catra! "I hope that won't take long," she said.

"She needs to recharge fully," Angella said - without looking at them; Catra checked. "It's foolhardy to attempt this at all; it would be suicidal to do so without having fully restored her power."

"Glimmer can do it!" Adora said. "We've been through worse!"

Catra had her doubts - they were dealing with a Goa'uld turned into a real god, or what the slaves thought a real god was - but kept silent. This was not her world or dimension, and if thoughts could change the world here, then she couldn't damage Adora's trust in Glimmer.

Though with Angella herself being so pessimistic… Catra clenched her teeth. "Yes, Glimmer can do it. This Apophis was created by people who grew up without magic and won't know what it can do." And what you didn't know, you couldn't counter or stop.

Angella winced, and Catra grimaced. "Don't tell me… You gave them lessons?"

The queen glared at her as if this was Catra's fault. "When we found and saved the first arrival, we welcomed them - and showed them Etheria."

"And magic." Catra sighed softly. And refrained from making a comment about the fact everyone here was a creation of Angella's imagination. There was no real 'we' here to speak of for the queen.

"And magic." Angella scowled. "And this is how they repaid our hospitality: By launching an attack on us with their imaginary god!"

An imaginary god attacking an imaginary world, Catra thought but - once again - didn't say. She couldn't help glancing back, though, at the guards lined up at the end of the bridge leading here. Imaginary people. The whole world was just… made up. Created according to the desire of Angella. Her perfect world.

Catra felt her fur bristle at the thought.

Glimmer appeared in a cloud of sparkles in front of them. "Done!" she announced. Her smile faded as she glanced from Adora and Catra at Angella.

The queen straightened. "I have to, once again, caution you against this. The risks are too high, and it is not necessary. Soon, Glimmer and the others will have restored She-Ra's ship and return to take down this false god."

Glimmer clenched her teeth, and for a moment, Catra's ears picked up a low whining noise from her. But then Glimmer raised her chin and spoke in a prim and proper tone. "We cannot trust that everything works out with Darla - or that she will be able to penetrate the Ha'tak's defences. Any good plan needs contingencies to withstand the test of the battlefield."

Angella deeply frowned at that, and Glimmer's lips moved into a hint of a smug smile. She probably had quoted her mother here.

If this Angella was actually their Angella - Glimmer's mother - things would become very awkward back home. And not just because Glimmer was now queen of Bright Moon. Had been queen for years, actually. But the family dynamics… "Poor Micah," she whispered.

"What?" Adora turned to look at her.

"Nothing," Catra said.

Glimmer and Angella continued to stare at each other for a second before Glimmer turned away. "Alright. I'll test if I can get into the Ha'tak. Assemble the others - if I can do it, I'll get back at once and take you up!"

"Alright. Let's go to the yard," Adora said.

Catra nodded. "Yes. Better not try anything so close to the recharger."

Glimmer frowned at her - as did Angella - but she didn't care. It was a recharging station.

Five minutes and an explanation about how stuff taken from here would fade back home from Entrapta later, they were ready.

Glimmer hugged Bow, glanced at Angella again, then nodded and turned to look at the Ha'tak. It was still firing all its guns - Catra hadn't noticed any of them slowing down or falling silent. Of course, imaginary ships never suffered malfunctions…

"I'll be back!" Glimmer announced, then disappeared.

A moment later, Catra saw a flash above the Ha'tak that wasn't a gun firing. She hissed and squinted - there was a speck falling towards the ship - no, towards the ground. Damn!

But then the speck disappeared, and Glimmer reappeared in front of them, falling to her knees. She was panting and looked roughed up. "I couldn't get through the Ha'tak's shields," she said with a deep scowl as Bow embraced her.

"Guess we're back to Plan Darla," Catra said. Imaginary Darla.

Damn.

Jack O'Neill had suspected that it wouldn't work. The easy plans never worked. Something always came up that prevented you from just going in and shooting the bad guy. Well, mostly. Sometimes, stuff came up afterwards. But if teleporting didn't work, there were other options. "So, we need a spaceship. Any chance that we can get one from home?"

Carter shook her head. "Unfortunately, sir, the dimensional portal projector can't manage the mass of a space-capable craft. It would be destroyed by the attempt, as the data from Beta has shown."

Jack had known that. But it never hurt to ask - sometimes, scientists forgot to mention things. Even Carter. "Would have been nice to call in a frigate."

"We don't know if a frigate is enough to deal with this Ha'tak," Bow said. "It was created here and is resistant to magic. It might be more powerful than a Horde frigate."

Jack frowned. "And yet we'll place our hope on Darla II."

"She won't let us down!" Entrapta said. "Especially if we overhaul her!"

"We might not have time for that," Bow pointed out. He glanced up at the shield above them.

Jack looked up as well. He might be mistaken, but the flashes from the impact of the Ha'tak's cannons seemed to have grown stronger - or the shield had grown weaker.

"Even without an overhaul, Darla will get us through." Entrapta showed no fear at all.

"Let's hope so," Jack said. If the shield started to fail, they would leave. That would leave Apophis in charge of this dimension, but they could and would return as soon as possible - and better prepared.

"Yes," Daniel said. He didn't look quite as worried as Jack expected. Something must have shown on his face since Daniel nodded. "It's a different dimension, Jack. Belief matters here - probably more than anything else. Darla here is not merely an Ancient ship but also likely the embodiment of the hope of the world - she is She-Ra's ship."

Adora winced at that, Jack noticed. She didn't say anything, though.

Catra, on the other hand, snorted. "The hope of a world created by a single person. Against a god created by a dozen faithful."

"Well… Angella has been here for years," Carter retorted. "If our theory is correct, if the impact of someone grows stronger with time, then she has left a lasting impact on the world, enough to outweigh the larger numbers of Apophis's former slaves."

If. Jack suppressed a wince.

"Angella didn't imagine a god - or goddess - though," Jack said.

"She imagined She-Ra, though," Daniel said. "And from what we know, she saw She-Ra as the protector and saviour of the world. That adds a lot of power - probably."

"I guess we'll find out the hard way," Catra said.

Jack nodded. The whole situation was weird - and making him uncomfortable. Sure, Napoleon had said that the moral was to the physical as three to one, but he didn't mean people's imagination. Wishes didn't wars. Or shouldn't. The universe shouldn't work like that. It was unnatural. And he didn't give a damn that it was natural in this dimension or whatever! Shrugging as casually as he managed, he said. "So, I guess we relax until the local She-Ra arrives with her ship."

As if the snake had heard him, another volley hit a particularly close spot on the shield, and most in the courtyard glanced up worriedly.

"It's not as if we can do anything else," Catra said, scoffing slightly. "We can't 'direct the defence'."

"It's not our world," Adora said - but with a glance towards the door leading into the palace, where the guards waited. And where Angella had gone to take command.

"It's not much to direct, anyway," Glimmer said. "Bright Moon has no way to strike back at the Ha'tak, so we can't even prepare a sally."

"You could prepare an evacuation," Sha're suggested.

"What for?" Catra snorted. "Angella is the only real person here, isn't she?"

"Catra!" Adora hissed.

"What? She admitted that she created this world."

"But that doesn't mean that the people aren't real. They act like… real people!" Adora objected.

"They don't," Catra disagreed. "You haven't talked to them enough to tell, but they're… more like bots. The way they talk. Dumb bots, not Emily," she added.

"Ah." Entrapta blinked, closed her mouth and nodded. "OK then."

"But…" Adora trailed off. "We still can't let them die!"

"Are they alive?" Catra shot back.

"That is an interesting question. Leaving biology aside - we can't really use that given this dimension's nature - and assuming they act like a bot, could they still be considered alive? Can they learn things? Evolve? If they are not people, could they become people?" Daniel shook his head. "Ethically, it's a very difficult question."

"You need to talk to this dimension's Madam Razz," Catra muttered. "She makes our Madam Razz sound like… Sam."

"What do you mean?" Carter asked. She was a bit tense, Jack noted.

"Crisp, precise, smart," Catra said. "This dimension's Madam Razz sounds like a dumb bot with bad programming."

Entrapta perked up. "Oh! Do you think we can fix that? Usually, we couldn't, since they're not really bots, but since we can change them with our thoughts, it should be possible, theoretically, to change them."

"I think our presence is altering the world here," Carter said.

Jack knew an evasion if he saw it. But he also knew that he didn't want to make the entire mess even worse. And trying to change people or potential people was not going to help anyone, as far as he was concerned.

Before Carter could nip Entrapta's plans in the bud, the door to the interior of the palace opened, and Angella stepped out. "Adora and the others called. They have recovered She-Ra's ship and are returning."

"Great!" Jack smiled. As dangerous as attacking a magical Ha'tak with a thousand-year-old small ship was, he much preferred that to discussing whether or not imaginary people were people.

"There she is!"

Adora narrowed her eyes as she squinted after Catra's announcement. Yes, she could see Darla. Flying low - nap-of-the-earth flying, Jack called it - the ship rapidly approached. She craned her neck, trying to see if Death Gliders were closing in, but it seemed Apophis's troops had missed Darla. So far, at least. It wouldn't last forever.

She glanced around. Angella had chosen the ruins of Thaymor as the meeting spot since they couldn't have Darla land in Bright Moon while it was under attack. Angella had claimed Thaymor was the closest spot everyone knew, too far away for the Ha'tak's guns and an immediate strike from the Death Gliders but still close enough to be easily reached by Glimmer without exhausting herself again. Catra was sure it had been chosen because of her own actions in the Horde War, when she had destroyed the village and faced Adora as an enemy for the first time.

But this Thaymore had been rebuilt, like the one back home, but then destroyed by Apophis, so… Adora dropped the thought. This wasn't the time to worry about stuff like this. Not when they had an evil god to defeat.

And were about to meet their counterparts from this dimension. In the ruins of Thaymor. She winced. Maybe Angella had picked this meeting spot with that in mind? No - Angella knew how important it was that everyone worked together. But she also had created the people they were about to meet.

She straightened as the ship touched down and the ramp opened. And tensed when she saw the people at the top of the ramp. Glimmer, Bow and Adora. They looked so young - like they hadn't aged since the early part of the war. This Adora was still wearing She-Ra's first uniform. And holding the original sword. The sword made by the First Ones to control the Heart of Etheria, Adora thought and clenched her teeth at the memories that brought up.

Glimmer - this dimension's Glimmer - started down the ramp. "Mom? Why did you call us here? Are you joining us in the…" she trailed off when she saw Adora and her friends. "What?"

"We have… allies from another universe," Angella told her.

"Allies? Catra?"

Adora winced at the loathing in her counterpart's tone. No, that wasn't her.

She felt Catra's tail wrap around her leg as her lover leaned into her side and flashed her fangs at this She-Ra. "Yes, as I told you before. Several times."

"That… that's a lie!" this She-Ra spat. "You're the enemy!" She glared at Catra - and then at Adora.

"Was the enemy. We're allies now," Catra retorted - and leaned into Adora's side.

"We don't have much time," Adora said before her counterpart could say anything else. "We need to stop Apophis before he breaks Bright Moon's shield. And we need to attack before he notices our ship."

"My ship!" the other She-Ra spat. "It's She-Ra's ship."

"Oh! You already enhanced the engines!" Entrapta exclaimed.

Adora turned to look at her friend and saw her held up by her hair tendrils, staring at the ship's engines through her visor.

Entrapta turned her head to look at the other trio. "Did you enhance the shields as well? We'll need them at full power to break through the Ha'tak's shields. At least according to my data."

"Mom?" This dimension's Glimmer asked. "Are you sure about this?"

Angella nodded with a firm expression. It wasn't the kind of reassuring smile Adora had hoped to see. "Yes. Let us be off."

"You're coming with us, Mom?"

"Yes."

That was… Adora bit her lower lip. On the one hand, Angella being with them was good since the others would be listening to her. She had created them, after all. On the other hand, Angella coming with them would leave Bright Moon without its leader. And Angella had almost never been at the frontlines in the Horde War. Not while Adora had been in the Alliance. The only time Angella had fought directly had been… the day she had stepped into the portal to save Etheria.

"Yes, let's go. Not even his divine snakeness will miss a spaceship so close to his floating palace," Jack spoke up.

"And who're you?" Glimmer said, frowning at him.

Enough! Adora took a step forward. "That's General Jack O'Neill. He's with our Alliance against the Goa'uld. And these are Major Samantha Carter…"

"My other science buddy!" Entrapta piped up.

"...Dr Daniel Jackson, Sha're and Teal'c," Adora went on. "Teal'c defected from Apophis to our side," she quickly added.

"Another 'defector'?" the other She-Ra narrowed her eyes.

Teal'c didn't even flinch at her glare. "I oppose the false gods," he said, tilting his head slightly.

"Sir! We've detected two Death Gliders headed towards us!" Sam announced.

"Time's up! Everyone on board!" Jack yelled.

"It's my ship!" The other She-Ra moved to block the ramp.

"Adora." Angella smiled at her.

After a moment, the other She-Ra nodded and walked inside, followed by Angella.

"I can already tell that we'll be working well together," Catra commented behind Adora as they quickly rushed up the ramp.

"Yeah, Apophis has already lost," Jack agreed, his words dripping with as much sarcasm as Catra's.

"We'll pull through," Adora said. But she wasn't quite sure. Catra had been right; their counterparts felt off. Weird.

Unnatural, Adora couldn't help thinking.

"This is fascinating! It's like our Darla, and yet not! The interior is completely different!"

Because Angella only heard reports covering the ship's appearance but never received any information about the interior of the vessel before she stepped through the portal, Samantha Carter thought as she and Entrapta followed the others to the bridge. Sam had to fight the urge to run and drag Entrapta with her, rushing after the rest of the group. This wasn't the Darla she was familiar with; she wouldn't be able to do anything in the upcoming fight. She might make things worse, actually.

Potentially without doing anything, even. Would the ship adapt to their vision of Darla? They hadn't been in this dimension long enough to leave an imprint, at least as far as they knew. Certainly not long enough to effect major changes. Creating Apophis must have taken weeks to months. But smaller changes would be possible - if Catra had created Loo-Kee subconsciously, that would mean a few days were the threshold for sentient or sapient creatures.

Although there were many factors that they hadn't accounted for. Was it easier to create something new than to change something created by someone else? Did the creation's sapience or age matter? Or its power to affect the world?

"And those doors… they look more like the doors in Alpha than in Darla!" Entrapta ran a few hair tendrils over the door in the wall, prompting it to open as they stepped past, revealing a quite austere cabin.

Right. Angella had been born - or created - in the research base on the Third Moon of Enchantment, Sam reminded herself. She was familiar with Ancient architecture and technology - at least with its style.

The ship vibrated, then Sam heard the engine power up - they were taking off. "We should hurry," she said. "They will engage the Death Gliders soon." And Sam would rather be on the bridge for that. Even if she couldn't do anything, she wanted to see what was happening.

"Right! We'll be able to check how the weapons differ from ours!" Entrapta switched to walking using her hair, and the much longer steps quickly carried her ahead, forcing Sam to run.

The bridge didn't have enough seats for them - just the one for She-Ra, actually, Sam saw when they arrived a few seconds later. Everyone else was standing. And they were already pulling high-g manoeuvres as the sight out the bridge windows showed; the inertial compensators were working better than she had expected.

"Oh, hello, Entrapta!"

"Oh? Hello!" And there was the second Entrapta, staring at them with a puzzled expression.

"Did you modify the engines?" Sam's Entrapta went on. "Or were they already different? How fast can they go?"

"We fixed them to the original specs - I didn't have enough time to modify them."

"Oh! So the original specs differ as well!" Entrapta nodded. "Another difference between our worlds."

"Death Gliders in range." Bow interrupted them - this dimension's Bow, Sam reminded herself. He sounded tense.

"Shoot them down," She-Ra ordered.

A moment later, Darla's guns fired, and both Death Gliders exploded.

The General whistled. "Good shooting!"

It was. Better than she had expected, Sam had to admit. This was the first time the locals were flying Darla in combat - their second time flying her at all - and scoring hits at that distance was not easy, even for an experienced crew. Though she couldn't tell if the guns were more or less powerful than the guns on Darla back home.

"Well done!" Angella nodded with a faint smile. "But those were just the first line. We need to board their flagship."

"And we will!" She-Ra said with a grim expression.

"More Death Gliders incoming!"

"Shoot them down!"

The next engagement went as quickly as the first, the squadron of Death Gliders blown up in short order, and Darla flew on, towards the Ha'tak.

"Entering in range of the enemy's main guns!" Bow reported.

"Evasive manoeuvres!"

Once more, the inertial compensators worked perfectly. The ship was moving erratically, twisting and turning to evade the barrage from the Ha'tak, and yet Sam felt as if they were standing still. It was slightly disorienting.

Then a blast landed a glancing blow, and the shields flared up - and the ship lurched.

"That was close!"

"Shield holding!"

Sam glanced at the screens. How much had that taken out of their shield? She couldn't see the relevant data. How could you fight without that knowledge?

The enemy fire increased in volume as well, and more Death Gliders arrived. The Ha'tak in front of them was growing larger every second. Soon, they would hit the ship's shield…

"Open a hole!" She-Ra ordered.

Darla fired again, rapidly, all blasts converging on a single point ahead of them, causing the Ha'tak's shield to flare up - and ripple, forming a… hole?

"That's not how it works!" Sam blurted out moments before Darla punched through the hole, followed by a Death Glider - with two more smashing against the shield to either side of the opening and blowing up.

"Someone tell Darla that. On second thought, better don't tell her!" Catra said, baring her teeth as Darla twisted, flying alongside the Ha'tak for a moment, evading a volley from the Death Glider behind them.

"Shoot it down!"

Sam's stomach rose as Darla flipped around, cannon fire from the Ha'tak missing her as the Death Glider rolled in an attempt to evade her volley.

But one shot clipped a wing of the craft, and it spun out of control, detonating against the Ha'tak's side.

"Now let's go in!" She-Ra snarled.

Darla turned again - and Sam gasped when the ship flew straight at the Ha'tak's hull, accelerating as much as possible.

Catra hissed under her breath and held on to Adora when the ship suddenly turned from flying along the Ha'tak's hull to diving at it. This was wrong - Darla didn't feel, didn't fly like that. "Shit!" she cursed, a moment before they crashed into - through - the hull, bracing for a shock that never came.

Instead of being thrown off her feet and across the bridge, she barely felt the ship coming to a stop after having torn up two decks of the enemy vessel.

"Wow! Your inertial compensators are much better than ours! We have to check them out!" Entrapta's voice cut through the sudden silence.

"Later!" Adora snapped. "We have to take out Apophis!"

"I'll cut him down," her copy yelled, rushing towards the door.

Catra heard Adora mutter a curse under her breath as her lover sped after the other. No choice now - she ran after them as well, dropping on all fours to keep up. The two idiots were racing each other, jumping down the ramp before it had reached the bottom and barrelling through the squad of Jaffa gathered there.

Adora rammed her shoulder into the first on the left, smashing him into the next one, both ending up crashing against the wall with enough force to bend and shatter their armour. The copy cut the other two apart with a single swing of her sword, cutting through armour and flesh. Neither the copy nor Adora slowed down.

Catra jumped over the spreading pools of blood and dug her claws into the floor to keep from losing her footing, cursing some more. "Don't just run off!" she yelled as she rounded the next corner and spotted Adora and the copy ahead of her.

"We can't let him get away!" Adora yelled back. "We need to keep the pressure on!"

"Do you even know where you're going?" Catra was slowly catching up to the two She-Ras, jumping over the remains of another squad of Jaffa splattered against the walls - it looked like neither She-Ra had bothered to use their blades here.

"Not the lift!" Catra spat as she finally reached them. "That's a trap!" Or would become one.

"The shaft will take us up to the bridge!" the copy spat, then jammed her sword through the gap and twisted, forcing the door open.

Catra blinked. "You want to climb up?" A lift shaft? That was a killing zone!

The other She-Ra didn't answer as she stepped inside and looked up, then down before grabbing the ladder set into the wall. Obviously, this idiot was doing this.

And, Catra realised, her idiot was eyeing the shaft as well. "No!" she snapped. "Let's take the stairs!"

"But… I can climb as well as she can!"

"And I can climb better than either of you, and it would still be stupid! Let's go!" Catra didn't even try to pull Adora with her but whirled and ran towards the stairs, hoping they would be in the same place as in other Ha'taks. The former slaves thinking this up had been on Ha'taks before, hadn't they?

"Catra!" Adora ran after her. As planned.

Catra sliced the door into pieces with her claws, then had to jump to the side as two blasts tore through the opening. Ambush!

But Adora was already moving. She caught the next blast on her sword-turned-shield as she charged past Catra. Grunts and the sound of crushed metal followed.

When Catra rounded the corner and entered the staircase, two Jaffa were dead, one half-embedded in the wall, the other on the ground with his head smashed in, and Adora was already speeding up the stairs.

"Come on! We can't let the other beat us!"

"It's not a competition!" Catra yelled back, jumping up the first flight of stairs, then at the wall, and up the next.

"Tell that to her!"

Catra couldn't help but hope that if there had been another Catra here, she would have handled it better. But it would have been Angella's creation…

They ran past two floors, then a third, as Catra's ears picked up the sound of running Jaffa. "Stop!" she yelled. "Behind us!" She whirled and jumped back to the last door, claws out, just as it opened.

As the first Jaffa charged through, she grabbed his staff weapon's shaft and pulled, jerking him forward. Her free hand slashed through his neck guard, and he fell down, blood pouring down his back. The next one swung his staff at her, but Catra ducked and sliced through his armoured lower legs, cutting muscles and bones.

The Jaffa screamed and went down as well - but still tried to grab her. Catra twisted out of the way and smashed her foot into his helmet, then dug her claws into it and swept him past her.

That left…

"Duck!"

She dropped down to the ground at once, and a piece of cut metal as large as her torso flew over her head and into the two Jaffa left with enough force to cave in their chest plates. And their chests.

"Come on!"

And Adora was already rushing up the stairs again. She really wanted to beat her counterpart.

Well, at least that would show Angella that you couldn't beat the originals, Catra consoled herself as she followed her idiot.

"Didn't I say you never split the party?" Jack O'Neill complained as he rounded the corner, his M4 ready, but only saw another massacred squad of Jaffa and no sign of either Adora or Catra. The three had vanished in the Ha'tak's interior. Of course, he only had to follow the trail of dead Jaffa to find them…

"She-Ra can handle Apophis - or anyone else!" Glimmer said.

No, not Glimmer. Her copy. 'Local counterpart', Daniel would say, but Jack knew they were just a copy. And a bad one, at that. Not only was she panting and obviously not used to running after She-Ras, but she also was far too optimistic for an officer in a war.

"We don't know that - we don't know how powerful Apophis is," the real Glimmer said. "He's supposed to be a god - and his ship was more powerful than a regular Ha'tak."

"But so was ours," Entrapta pointed out.

"Nothing and no one can stand up to She-Ra," Angella stated. The queen didn't look out of breath. Or as if she had run at all. "She is Etheria's protector."

"Well, not even She-Ra is unbeatable," Glimmer retorted. "As we know."

"Oh! It's like the unmovable object meeting the irresistible force!" Entrapta looked around. "We might find out if multiple minds working together for a short time are more effective in shaping this dimension than one mind with a lot of time to work!"

"What do you mean?" Glimmer's copy asked with a frown.

"Nothing," Angella said with a glare aimed at Glimmer. "We need to focus on the task at hand - which is defeating Apophis."

"I thought She-Ra would take care of that," Glimmer spat back with a scowl. "Suddenly, she's not good enough?"

"Glimmer…" Angella's scowl deepened.

Jack cleared his throat. Maybe they should have left all the copies back in Darla, not just Entrapta's and Bow's. They were already too bunched up here for his taste. At least Daniel and Sha're had stayed back as well, and… He cocked his head as he heard boots pounding the floor. "Incoming!"

Teal'c was already moving past him, staff weapon out, and fired a moment before the first Jaffa guard squad rushed around the corner. The blast took the leader in the chest and threw him back, toppling two more.

Jack shot the last one standing, placing a burst in his chest and throat, then double-tapped the two remaining before they could get up. "It looks like the first shock and confusion has worn off, and they are rallying - and moving to cut us off," he said.

"We need to follow She-Ra," Glimmer's copy said at once. "She's going to Apophis."

"We need to stop the bombardment and secure the ship," Jack retorted. "That means taking control of the reactor and engines." And ensure that Apophis couldn't blow up the ship with them on board.

"This path leads to engineering," Carter said with a nod. "If the layout at least roughly conforms to standard Ha-taks," she added with a small frown.

"Well, the reactor and engines are where they should be! Our sensors show that." Entrapta smiled. "Though they are much more powerful than the ones we know."

More good news. Jack suppressed a sigh. "Then let's go. Apophis dying won't serve anyone on the ground if Bright Moon gets destroyed."

Angella nodded after a moment, then turned to Glimmer's copy with a smile. "We have to trust She-Ra to deal with Apophis."

"Yes, mom!"

Jack glanced at Glimmer and saw that she was clenching her teeth and balling her hands into fists.

He turned away, covering the hallway ahead, and repeated himself: "Let's go!"

Teal'c took point, and they followed the route Carter had chosen. Halfway to the stairs leading down, they had to deal with another squad of Jaffa charging at them. Bow covered all of them in glue with one arrow, and Teal'c Jack and Carter shot the Jaffa before they could wrench their weapons free of the sticky mass.

"That was too easy," Jack muttered as they reached the stairs. "They just rushed us blindly. Apophis's guards should be better than that."

"We've fought many of them who did that," Glimmer objected, peering downstairs while Jack checked upstairs.

"But not quite that rashly. They didn't even try to use cover or ambush us." And their aim sucked. For Apophis's best, they were rather bad.

"I would never have accepted this performance when I was Apophis's Prime," Teal'c agreed.

"The faithful might not have the knowledge to create guards who can use more sophisticated tactics, sir," Carter suggested.

"Let's hope that's true," Jack said. It would be great if things were going their way for once.

They climbed down the stairs without further resistance, and the squad guarding the exit on the reactor level was dealt with with another glue arrow and a grenade. Jack didn't bat an eye at the mess that left, but he saw Bow and Glimmer wince. Not Angella or Glimmer's copy, though.

That said something about this world. Something Jack didn't want to think about right now.

They moved on towards the reactor room. Once they were in control of it, they could cut power to the guns. And to a number of other systems the snakes would rather see working.

She wouldn't let that… that other She-Ra beat her. Not to Apophis, not in anything. Adora clenched her teeth as she raced up the stairs - towards the Ha'tak's bridge. Not because she had anything to prove. But she was more experienced than the other Adora, and this was too important. They had to defeat Apophis before he destroyed Bright Moon and took over this dimension. And Adora couldn't trust the other She-Ra with this - the woman was far too…

"Watch out!" Catra yelled from behind. "Incoming!"

Adora changed her sword into a shield and immediately moved it to cover the door ahead of her - Catra's ears were much better than hers. A moment later, the door blew open, pieces bouncing off her shield, and four Jaffa charged through the thin smoke.

Adora swung her shield and smashed all of them into the wall, not bothering to stop before she took the next flight of stairs. A scream cut short, ending in a coughing noise, told her that Catra had taken care of any survivors.

The Jaffa guards here never seemed to learn. They just charged at her, weapons firing, squad after squad. Without flinching, without faltering. Without any thought. Like… bots. Dumb bots.

She pressed her lips together as she reached the next floor. They - and Apophis - had been created by the former slaves of his stranded in this dimension. Was this how they saw the Jaffa? Real Jaffa would adapt, at least somewhat. Even Apophis's most loyal guards would change tactics instead of charging to their doom. And at least some of them would flinch at some point or even retreat. Or surrender and call her a goddess, an unwelcome voice sounding like Priest added in the back of her mind.

Not these Jaffa, though. They showed no emotion. No thoughts.

"This is the deck where the bridge should be," Catra announced.

Adora nodded and stopped in front of the doors, glancing back.

Her love caught up, panting slightly. Her ears twitched. "I don't hear any guards on the other side."

That didn't mean there were no guards - Jaffa could stay silent and wait to ambush them. But these guards?

Adora nodded and stabbed her sword through the door, then moved it in a half-circle, cutting an opening wide enough for both of them into it. A swift kick sent it inside, and Adora followed, blade first, with Catra a step behind her and to the side.

The hallway was empty. "Unguarded?" Adora asked.

Catra cocked her head, then dashed forward to the closest corner.

"Catra!" Adora ran after her - why did Catra have to be so impulsive? - but Catra had already stopped. "We're too late," she said.

Adora reached the corner as well and saw what she meant - the hallway there was filled with dead Jaffa, cut to pieces. And the doors to the bridge had been torn open.

Catra leapt over the pools of blood on the floor, touching down on a clear spot, then jumped up and bounced off the walls twice before landing in the doorway to the bridge.

Adora clenched her teeth and ran, jumping over the last half of the hallway.

The bridge crew had been killed as well, half the screens and consoles smashed. But the other half showed that the Ha'tak was still firing at Bright Moon - and the shield was flickering even more under each impact.

Catra dashed to one of the intact consoles and started pushing buttons before shaking her head. "I can't stop the bombardment. Or redirect it." She moved to the next console. "And I can't move the ship either."

"The other She-Ra must have smashed the steering and controls," Adora said.

"Or these things never really worked as they should," Catra said, looking up at the ceiling.

Adora frowned. "A decoy?" Apophis was paranoid, as most Goa'uld, so she wouldn't put it past him to build a fake bridge as a decoy to fend off coups and boarding attempts.

"Or the ship directly answers to Apophis." Catra shrugged. "It's not as if the ship is any more real than anything else in this dimension."

It felt pretty real to Adora. But she knew what her lover meant: This was a figment of someone's imagination. "Now…"

Catra interrupted her, looking at the ceiling again. "The throne room!"

There was a throne room on this ship? Adora bit her lower lip. Stupid! Of course, there was a throne room on Apophis's ship! "The other She-Ra!" she gasped. She had beaten Adora to the bridge, but Adora wouldn't let her beat her to the throne room! "Let's go!"

They ran out of the room and then to the right as Catra informed the others over the communicator of the bridge status. Ahead of them was a hole through which Adora could see a scorched lift shaft. The other She-Ra must have come through here!

Catra peered inside and sniffed the air, wrinkling her nose. "Up!"

"So, now we climb?" Adora asked, already gripping the ladder.

"Obviously, the Jaffa here aren't as skilled as the ones back home if your copy made it through in one piece. Now climb!" Catra retorted in that slightly annoyed tone of hers she used when she was proven wrong.

She was always a little prickly. Adora smiled and kept climbing.

At the top of the shaft was another hole. They must be on the highest deck of the ship. Not the safest location for a throne room - but would the former slaves have known that?

Adora grabbed the ragged edge of the hole and pulled herself through, her sword appearing in her hand. She was in a huge entrance hall, facing a massive gate seemingly made of solid gold. It was closed, and there were no dead guards on the floor - had they beaten the other She-Ra here? But the hole…

Catra appeared next to her, and Adora turned to ask her: "Do you hear anything?"

Catra cocked her head, ears twitching. Then her eyes widened, and she turned to stare at the gate.

Adora grabbed her and jumped to the side.

Just as she landed with the protesting Catra in her arms, the gates were smashed open from the inside, and a white blur crashed into the wall, creating a crater.

A person-shaped crater, Adora realised, with the other She-Ra embedded in it. She slid to the floor, coughing up blood, and stared at the gates with bared teeth.

And from the throne room, a booming voice rang out.

"FOR DARING TO ATTACK YOUR GOD, YOU WILL SUFFER UNTIL YOU BEG FOR DEATH!"

"Looks like this Apophis is tougher than the original," Adora heard Catra mutter another curse under her breath.

She nodded in agreement.