"We
are approaching Eternia Hordak." Said Shadowweaver quietly and seemed to
glide over the bridge of the ship. Her blood-red robe blew as always in an
unnatural magical wind. Hordak sat nervedly acting on the command seat and
looked at the monitor. He already was familiar with the blue jewel to be seen
there. It was the place where he had experienced his first true defeat. The
fact that he had returned here had a certain reason. A reason he had only
discussed with Shadowweaver so far. He didn't trust his generals in general and
in this matter he could trust them even less. Shadowweaver, however, was
different.
First, he
wouldn't be able to hide his goals from her for long anyway, and second, he
knew that Shadowweaver had her own goals, which matched his own anyway.
"Is
there a defense?" Hordak asked more irritatedly than usual. One of the
navigators turned to him and shook his head.
"No
Master Hordak. The planet X-123.10018 has no orbital defenses at all."
Said the mechanical voice.
"Excellent.
Scans the surface for anything conspicuous. I want a detailed scan of the
surface! Inform the other ships that they should maintain camouflage until they
get other orders."
Hordak left
the bridge knowing that the Eternians had already been informed of his
presence. Of course Hordak had not missed the satellite. It had been a hint of
fate that indicated a heavy fight. Even with its sophisticated technology, the
Horde was unable to camouflage itself within hyperspace. It had simply been bad
luck that exactly at their exit point this satellite had been. But Hordak
didn't care if they knew it or not. They had no battleships in orbit and no
weapon platforms indicating that they had mastered space travel. However,
technology had not been the reason for his defeat. It had been the betrayal of
Skeletor and this unexpected winged magician.
Shadowweaver
was already waiting in his rooms. Since her betrayal on Etheria she had been
his most trusted and wisest advisor. Her magical powers were impressive, even
by his standards. Even though her face was completely hidden behind the robe,
he could feel her tension. He understood what was going on inside her. Since he
had taken a look at Eternia something was gnawing at his mind. A kind of
feeling that wanted to point something out to him. Something he had seen and
not really noticed.
"So
you feel it too Shadowweaver?" he asked and went to his table.
"Yes
Master. But I still don't know exactly what I feel. But it's different from our
last visit to this world." She answered in the hope that Hordak might tell
her what would cause this strange feeling but unfortunately she was
disappointed.
"Then
you feel the same as I do. I will need some time to figure it out. We hold the
position until we know more. Make sure that the others don't do anything
stupid. Eternia is informed about our presence and my former student will have
felt my presence already."
"Do
you think this miserable worm is still alive" she asked astonished.
"Don't
underestimate my old student. He was equal to you. He is certainly still alive,
I am sure of that.
"As
you wish Hordak. What do you intend to do about the rest of the generals?
Hordak
looked up and looked Shadowweaver in the eye. " Advise me Shadowweaver.
What do you say to the situation we're in?"
"Master
Hordak. They are loyal to you even though I personally don't think they will
follow you so unconditionally when they know what it's about. You want to prove
your honor and value or perish. Eternia has already defeated us once. I think
it is better to leave them in the dark. As long as they assume we're on a
secret mission."
"As
always, you give me wise advice Shadowweaver. What about you?"
"Do
you expect an honest answer or the answer I would give you in front of the
troops?" she said amused. Without waiting for his answer, she continued.
"You know I joined you and not the Horde! You are the most powerful being
I have ever seen and I can still learn a lot from you. But as you know, I have
my own goals. And one of these goals is my old friend. As long as you keep your
word and leave it to me, I will serve you faithfully. I also have a bill open
with this skull face. He has betrayed you and defiled your honor."
"Skeletor
is one thing. But this time we have no support from the Horde, and Horde Prime
may already be sending troops after us. On top of that, we have to fight
Skeletor and this He-Man!"
"Not
to mention this winged woman." She said thoughtfully as she saw Hordak
soar up.
"That's
it" he screamed suddenly and clenched his fists. His body glowed as his
appearance turned into a rocket. Shadowweaver could barely pry to the side and
watched as he dragged a cloud of smoke behind him through the corridors of the
ship. Hordak raced through the cruiser directly to one of the landing bays and
left the spaceship. The cold of space had no effect on him and as he broke
through the cloaking shield he could see the cruiser disintegrate and blur
before his eyes. The 4 other cruisers were not to be noticed for him at all.
But he could look down directly on the planet. Finally he understood it.
When he
came back to the ship there was hardly anything to feel of his tension. Rather
a new confidence. Shadowweaver could feel it exactly. Whatever Hordak had
discovered seemed to have improved her chances enormously. They had only 5
regiments of warriors with them and a brigade of heavy war weapons. Much too
little for a whole planet. So far she had assumed that Hordak had intended to
destroy Skeletor and take his troops into his.
"Master
Hordak! We finished the surface scan. The maps have been updated." One of
the robots answered when Hordak sat down on his chair.
"Show
it to me" he ordered darkly and looked at the picture on the monitor in
detail. "Look at this on Shadowweaver. This is a hint of fate."
Shadowweaver
looked at the map but had to admit that she couldn't follow Hordak's train of
thought this time. She could see that a lot had changed on Eternia. A new
castle had been built directly between Snake Mountain and the Capitol of the
ruling classes. To the south was Greyskull Castle where the winged witch lived.
A few miles away was a building she knew only too well.
"That's
impossible! It should stand on Etheria! What's going on here with Hordak! What
are you doing" she asked angrily and irritated.
"This
means that they tried to save the inhabitants of Etheria. Probably it was this
He-Man who brought this wretched She-Rah to Etheria. They used a translocation
magic."
"You
mean they created a direct hyperspace tunnel between 2 planets? I thought that
is not possible" she asked irritatedly and Hordak put his chin grinning on
his hands.
"It is
not impossible. It's just completely insane. The Horde uses the hyperspace
tunnels only far away from all planets not to risk the balance of things."
Hordak replied and saw Shadowweaver's eyebrows rise. "These are things
you're not ready for yet Shadowweaver. All you need to understand is the fact
that there is a balance between the forces in the universe. Good and evil.
Order and chaos. This balance is unique for every planet. And there is almost
nothing that can break this balance. So sooner or later there will be riots on
every horde world. That's why my brother created the Utopia Bomb in the first
place."
"Br...oth....er..?"
Shadowweaver stammered suddenly and backed away from Hordak. "Horde
Prime... is..." She almost panicked. She had never really seen Horde Prime
before, only once when the hologram was strongly distorted. However, she knew
about the power of the Horde's supreme leader. She never thought Hordak was
Horde Prime's brother. Even if it would explain the mighty power of him.
"We'll
talk about that another time." He admonished Hordak to rest. "We
didn't leave Etheria," he finally said, confusing Shadowweaver completely.
"What
is that supposed to mean again? That down there is NOT Etheria!"
"No,
that's not Etheria though. But compare all astronomical data of the two worlds
with each other and you'll see."
Shadowweaver
moved to one of the monitors and got the data from Etheria and Eternia
displayed. "How is that possible Hordak? They are in perfect agreement.
Distance to the central star, height, weight and orbit."
"It is
exactly the same my dear one. The hyperspace tunnel that leads us to Eternia
must be unique in the network of a thousand gates. It does not lead to another
place but to another version of a place."
"So
does that mean that Etheria and Eternia occupy one and the same place in space
and time only in another dimension?
"That's
how it is. This is also the reason why you can easily open a portal between
Etheria and Eternia. They are already linked to each other."
"But
Master Hordak. You mentioned a balance," Shadowweaver asked uncertainly.
"They
brought parts from one world to the other... and not only matter was shifted.
The balance of the world was also changed. This world is leaning towards
darkness. On our last visit it was in an almost perfect harmony but now it is
darker. The world will become darker and darker."
"That
sounds impressive. What it looks like our chances have just risen?"
"We
land right there! In the north! Exactly 98.2212 miles north of this new glass
castle! This is the formation I want our ships in. Transmit them exactly to the
other ships. Tell them that I'll kill anyone who can't get the ships to land
the same way!"
Shadowweaver
looked at the formation and grinned broadly.
"Master
Hordak! You're a genius," she said and set out to order the formation
personally.