Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The armored car tore through the underbrush of the forest, causing birds and animals to flee in every direction.

“Ugghh, I think I’m gonna be sick.” Catra retched, clutching Adora’s hand in a death grip as the car bumped nauseatingly around.

“If you’re gonna puke, it better not be on me.” Lonnie retorted from her seat on the other side of the troop bay. Kyle sat next to her, clutching himself tightly and whimpering.

“Don’t worry, Catra, we should be there soon.” Adora said reassuringly despite not knowing if that was true.

“We better… or else I’m gonna puke all over your nice hair…” Catra muttered.

“Aww, you think my hair is nice?” Adora blushed a little, ignoring the threat.

“Oh for the love of…” Catra grumbled, looking away.

The car continued its rough and sickening journey through the forest for another half hour before coming to a stop in a moderately sized clearing.

Adora looked up at the window that separated the troop bay from the cockpit.

“Why’d we stop? Are we there?” She asked.

“As close as I can get without alerting them to our presence.” Rogelio responded in his guttural lizard language.

“Alright, let’s go over the plan.” Adora stood up, looking at the rest of the squad meaningfully.

“There’s no way we’re taking this tower in an honest fight. That means we’re going to have to play dirty. Very dirty.”

“I love playing dirty…” Catra purred, causing Lonnie to briefly look at her in disgust.

“I hope you mean something more by that than rolling around in the mud.” Lonnie snarked.

“As we all know, the Rebellion is filled with sparkly-eyed do gooders who blindly rush in to protect the innocent.” Adora began, ignoring Lonnie’s insubordination. “So if we want to thin their numbers, all we have to do is threaten innocent people.”

“Great plan, Adora.” Catra replied sarcastically. “I’m sure they’ll rush right out of their fortress if we threaten the trees and birds.”

“Well as you told me before, it’s the thought that matters. If they think innocent people are in danger, they’ll come running. Right into our trap.” Adora grinned, punching her palm for emphasis.

“What innocent people? There’s nobody here except for them and us!” Lonnie exclaimed irritably.

“Which is where Kyle comes in.” Adora stared him down. “You brought the dress, right?”

“Uh, yes, of course. It’s, uh, right here…” Kyle stammered, pulling a short floral dress out of a supply pack.

“You’re going to play the damsel in distress. Run all the way to the fortress and tell the soldiers that your family is being attacked by the Horde. Beg them for help, and try to make it look good. If they let you in, do whatever you can to demoralize them. Tell them there’s thousands of us or that we eat the livers of our victims, or whatever.” Adora commanded.

“Oh, uh… okay! I won’t let you down, sir!” Kyle stood and saluted.

“Now get dressed. Lonnie, Catra, with me.” Adora ordered. The three exited the car, leaving Kyle to change into his disguise.

“I have to ask. Why the dress? Couldn’t this work just as well without it?” Catra asked.

“Probably. I just wanted to make him wear a dress.” Adora grinned.

“I love you.” Catra replied, more sincerely than she intended, but fortunately Adora laughed it off.

“Anyway, we need to set the table for our guests. Find good vantage points and wait for the signal.” Adora told them. Catra and Lonnie scurried off while Adora walked back to the rear hatch and opened it.

Kyle had finished changing and was admiring himself in a handheld mirror when the door opened.

“Eep! Sir, I uh…” He recoiled, blushing in embarrassment. Adora ignored him and walked up to the interior window.

“As soon as we’re out, put the car in reverse until you can’t be seen from the clearing. When I give the signal, drive back here at full speed and hit as many of the bastards as you can.” Adora ordered. Rogelio silently nodded in understanding.

“Alright, Kyle, it’s your time to shine. Run and scream like you’re about to die, because if you screw this up, I’ll turn you into a protein shake.” Adora threatened farcically.

Kyle’s eyes widened in horror, fully believing her. He bolted out of the car and sprinted full speed towards the tower, emitting a long, high pitched scream as he did so.

Adora walked out of the bay and closed the hatch, watching him run as the armored car slowly drove in reverse down the path.

“Run, Kyle, Run!” She shouted after him cheerfully.

The aptly named Stonecliff Tower was a fortified tower situated atop an imposing stone cliff, giving it a commanding view of the river and lowlands below. None of that particularly mattered to Kyle, however, who was simply desperate not to be made into a beverage.

The young soldier breathlessly ran down the dirt road, tripping and stumbling on the multitude of discarded branches and small rocks that littered the path. By the time he reached the gates of the tower, his once pretty dress was torn in a dozen different places and he was covered in cuts and bruises.

The two guards at the gate leveled their pikes at him, while several more guards on the ramparts took aim with bows and crossbows.

“Halt!” One of the guards said. “This is a restricted area. State your business.”

Kyle took a deep breath. It was now or never.

“Help! Please!” He cried tearfully, his voice as high as he could manage. “My family was out picking berries, but a Horde patrol found us! Please, you have to help them!” He fell to his knees, looking up at the guards pleadingly.

“I, uh… someone get Captain Aries!” The guard yelled. A brief commotion ensued before the gates were opened and a powerfully built man stepped forward. He was mostly humanoid, but with the head of a sheep and a pair of fearsome curled horns.

“What is the meaning of this?” Aries bellowed, his voice deep and gravelly.

“Sir!” The guards saluted. Aries looked down at Kyle with piercing eyes.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” He gruffly demanded.

“I…” Kyle wilted under his gaze. “I was just picking berries with my family, when the Horde came… please, I’m begging you…”

There was silence for several moments. Kyle began sweating, fearing he had been discovered.

“Where was your family attacked?” Aries asked, his voice somewhat softer than before.

“In the clearing… back a little ways…” Kyle answered pitifully.

“Horde scum…” Aries growled, clenching his fist. He turned to one of the soldiers.

“Get Squads Three and Five out there immediately.” He ordered. The soldier saluted and ran off to carry out his order. Aries turned back to Kyle.

“Come with me. You don’t want those cuts and scratches to get infected, trust me.” He said, holding out a hand to Kyle, who reluctantly took it. He followed the captain into the fort, looking down at the ground so that nobody could see his smile.

From her vantage point atop a large tree, Catra saw twenty soldiers of the Rebellion marching towards their position. She looked down at the ground and gave a thumbs up to Adora, who smiled in response.

“Now for the finishing touch.” Adora said, unholstering her pistol and firing it several times into the grass until the scorch marks resembled a certain word. She admired her handiwork for a few moments before rushing out of the clearing, taking cover behind a large boulder.

Gradually, the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder until the enemy soldiers finally reached the clearing, their weapons at the ready.

“What the… there’s nothing here!” One of the soldiers said loudly.

“Wait, what’s that?” Another asked. Adora grinned wickedly and pressed her Force Captain badge. It glowed silently for a few seconds.

“It looks like writing. It says… splat?” A soldier said incredulously.

Barely a few seconds later, the sound of a roaring engine echoed through the forest. Like a demonic creature from another realm, the armored car blasted into the clearing.

“TAKE COVER!” Someone shouted. Most of the soldiers dove to the ground and out of the way, but six stood paralyzed with terror and were brutally crushed by the merciless metal monster, whose loud engine thankfully covered up the sounds of their bones and organs being turned into meaty pulp.

Adora had no intention of allowing the rest of the soldiers any time to recover. Immediately, she began firing at the nearest group of soldiers, hitting one in the head and another in the arm. Catra and Lonnie followed suit, firing at the prone and scrambling rebels from their vantage points.

The rebel soldiers were completely bewildered and surrounded on all sides. None of them could even see where they were being shot from, and none could offer any resistance. In less than two minutes, it was over.

The three emerged into the clearing, looking over the carnage.

“I think that went well.” Adora clapped her hands together cheerily.

“And here I thought you were getting soft.” Catra grinned, a hint of lust in her voice.

“Me? Never.” Adora chuckled.

Lonnie rolled her eyes.

“So now what? We got a bunch of them, so how are we going to get the rest?” She asked.

“That’s a good point…” Adora said in a low voice as she approached the slightly quivering body of a soldier who lay face down on the ground.

“Oops, looks like we missed one.” Adora kicked him over and pointed her gun in his face.

“Please, no! I’ll do anything, just don’t kill me!” He cried, raising his hands protectively over his face.

“Hmm. Anything?” Adora asked casually.

“I… yes… just let me live, I’m begging you…” He whimpered.

“What’s your name? Wait, I don’t care. I’ll just call you Coward.” Adora knelt down next to him and stared him in the eyes. “So, Coward, I’m perfectly happy to let you go, but you need to do something for me first.”

“W-what?” He trembled.

“You’re going to tell me everything you know about Stonecliff Tower. Defenses, weak points, all the good stuff. If your information checks out, you’re free to go. If not, well…” Adora mimed slitting her throat before standing up.

“I’ve only been here a few weeks, I don’t know-” Coward stopped when he saw Adora nonchalantly playing with her pistol. “I mean, I guess there’s the old drainage system. It goes under the tower and empties off the cliffside. But there’s guards watching it at all times from the walls. You’ll never get through.”

“So we go in at night, surprise them from the inside.” Adora clenched her fist. “What about inside? What else do you know?”

“M-most of the men are militia like me. Only Captain Aries is a real soldier. Without him, they should give up. And you won’t have to kill them. Right?” Coward pleaded.

“Where can I find Captain Aries? ” Adora demanded.

“At night, he’s usually in his office. It’s on the highest floor of the tower.” Coward answered fearfully. “...You won’t kill anyone else, right?”

“I’m not making any promises.” Adora said coldly as she forced him to his feet.

“Rogelio, keep an eye on our prisoner.” She ordered, bodily tossing the man into the bay like a sack of potatoes before resealing the hatch.

“It’s still a few hours until nightfall. What are we going to do until then?” Catra boredly asked, nudging a dead rebel with her foot.

“Well, we should probably find somewhere else to wait. This place is gonna get very smelly, very quickly.” Adora looked at the corpses around her, which were already beginning to decompose.

“I second that motion.” Catra grimaced.

“No complaints from me.” Lonnie agreed.

The office of Captain Aries was mostly empty, save for a simple desk, a few chairs, and an assortment of files. The only personal item he had was a framed picture of a smiling young sheep girl on his desk.

The Captain himself sat in his chair, his hands pressed up to his head as he grimaced in pain. Even with the windows covered in black shrouds and all sources of light extinguished, the pulsating pain in his head continued unabated.

A knock at his door momentarily distracted him from the pain.

“Come in.” He ordered, looking up as a soldier nervously entered the room.

“Captain, it’s been several hours, and we’ve received no word from Squads Three and Five.” The soldier informed him.

Aries closed his eyes tightly. He didn’t want to believe it, but the truth was obvious.

“It was a trap.” He sighed. “I should have seen this coming.”

“...What do we do now, sir?” The soldier fearfully asked.

“The only thing we can do. Wait.” Aries answered grimly.

After a few tedious hours, night finally fell, allowing Adora and her squad to approach the walls of Stonecliff Tower without being spotted. Carefully, they snuck around the side until they noticed the large pipe belching runoff into the river below.

“That’s our way in?” Catra whispered incredulously.

“You got a better idea?” Adora whispered back.

“No, but for the record, this is really gross.” Catra replied.

“Noted.” Adora approached the pipe and examined the water flowing from it. It was tinted brown and reached up to ankle-height. A revolting obstacle, but hardly an impassable one.

“Here goes nothing.” She plugged her nose with one hand and began wading through the wastewater, with Catra and Lonnie following behind.

The pipe stretched for what felt like forever, and the smell only got worse as they ventured further into it.

“You know, even if this works, I still think we should kill that guy just for this.” Catra grumbled.

“For once, I think we might agree on something.” Lonnie replied.

“Quiet.” Adora shushed them. “We don’t want anyone hearing us.”

The rest of the foul trek was spent in glum silence as the three waded through the mucky pipes until they reached a large room where several other pipes converged. Mercifully, there was also a ladder leading upwards.

“Oh good, we can get out of the shitwater.” Catra muttered dryly.

The three quickly got out of the shitwater. They ascended the ladder and emerged into a small windowless room with a single closed door.

Adora drew her pistol, prompting Catra and Lonnie to do the same. She then opened the door slightly and peeked through, seeing an empty corridor.

“Clear.” She whispered, opening the door fully.

With most of the tower’s inhabitants either asleep or guarding the exterior walls, it was a simple if nerve-wracking task to find a stairwell and ascend to the top floor. The floor was empty save for a ladder leading to the roof and one wooden door.

“This better be it.” Adora muttered, shoving open the flimsy door. The three filed in, weapons at the ready.

Captain Aries looked up from his desk, briefly appearing surprised before his eyes narrowed in contempt.

“I would ask how you managed to bypass our defenses, but your stench is answer enough.” He growled as the infiltrators slowly approached, aiming their weapons at his face.

“Now, now, is that any way to treat a guest?” Adora feigned offense.

“Of course. Where are my manners.” Aries snarled. “I’ll give you a proper Bright Moon welcome.”

Without giving his attackers any time to react, Aries kicked the desk with all his might, sending it skidding towards them. Adora and Catra barely managed to dive out of the way, but Lonnie was too slow and the desk smashed into her head-on, knocking her over and pinning her under it.

Adora rose to her feet just in time to see Aries barrelling towards her, his head down and his horns eager for blood. She raised her pistol, firing a shot that grazed his arm before quickly rolling to the side.

Roaring in pain and fury, Aries stopped and swiveled around, wrenching the pistol from Adora’s grip and crushing it in his hand. The jagged pieces of metal cut into his skin and blood flowed freely from the wounds, but he didn’t even seem to notice.

Adora backed away slowly, her mouth open and eyes wide with shock.

“I… wow, you’re scary…” She admitted, her voice wavering with fear.

Aries snarled and began moving towards her, only for an energy blast to hit him in the side of the face.

“Hey, ugly, forgetting someone?” Catra shouted tauntingly at him from across the room, smirking as she held her pistol with one hand. Aries let out a bloodcurdling roar and charged towards Catra, only for her to effortlessly leap over his head and shoot him in the back.

Aries whirled around, snarling viciously. Catra stuck her tongue out at him.

“Too slow. Better luck next time.” She grinned. But despite her best efforts to distract him, the captain’s gaze turned to Adora, who was attempting to extricate Lonnie from the ruined desk. Without even flinching, he pulled out a jagged metal shard from his hand.

Adora looked up just in time to see Aries bearing down on her.

“Oh, crap...” She muttered right before Aries grabbed her by the collar, hoisting her up in the air with his uninjured arm and holding the shard to her throat with his bloodstained hand.

“Adora!” Catra instinctively shouted, her eyes wide with horror. She aimed her pistol at Aries, but didn’t fire.

“Surrender. Now. Or she dies.” He growled, bringing the shard closer to Adora’s throat.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Catra replied, her initial horror replaced by a merciless glare. Aries looked at her, surprise briefly overriding his combat instincts.

“Why wouldn’t I?” He demanded to know.

“There are five hundred Horde soldiers prepared to attack this pathetic tower." Catra calmly lied. "Adora is the only reason we haven’t razed this place to the ground. She wanted to win without any more bloodshed. But if she dies, guess who’s in charge?”

Catra pointed to herself with a psychotic grin.

“So go ahead, kill her. But if you do, I will slaughter every man, woman, and child on this base, and I will make you watch.”

Aries faltered, the bloodlust in his eyes vanishing.

“I… you can’t be…” He stammered.

“It doesn’t have to end like that. Surrender, relinquish your weapons and I will let you all leave peacefully.” Adora added, having caught on to Catra’s scheme.

A few moments of silence passed.

“Promise me that nobody here will be harmed.” Aries insisted.

“I promise.” Adora answered.

A few seconds later, Aries released her, letting the bloodstained shard fall to the ground.

“I’ll inform my men.” He said quietly, walking out of the office with a trail of blood still leaking from his hand.

When he was gone, Catra looked at Adora with a sly grin.

“Did you like it? I thought I nailed it.” She asked.

“Ehh, you might have gone a bit overboard there, but I guess it worked.” Adora teased.

“Everyone’s a critic.” Catra rolled her eyes.

Lonnie cleared her throat loudly, causing Adora and Catra to look down at her in surprise.

“Can you save the banter for when I’m not trapped under a desk?” She asked irritably.

By the time the three exited the tower, the soldiers and civilians of the tower had all been gathered in the courtyard, their expressions defeated and fearful.

Captain Aries was standing in front of his men, having his hand treated by a medic. He looked up as the Horde soldiers approached.

“This is everyone left. The tower is yours, now honor your promise.” He said firmly.

Adora rubbed her hands together.

“First things first. Kyle, get up here.”

Kyle, still dressed like a woman, slowly stood up and walked over to his compatriots.

“You? You’re with them?” Aries growled.

Kyle nodded sheepishly.

“Sorry, orders are orders.”

“Now, we just need to wait for our reinforcements…” Adora muttered, glancing at the open gate.

Shortly afterward, the armored car pulled up into the courtyard. Rogelio exited the rear hatch, dragging Coward behind him.

“Put him with the rest.” Adora ordered. Rogelio wordlessly shoved him into the throng of captives.

“Now, I suppose Hordak will want to know of our success.” Adora walked into the armored car and sealed the hatch before pressing her badge.

“This is Force Captain Adora to Lord Hordak. I need to speak with you at once.” She said.

A long silence followed before Hordak’s voice came through.

“What?” He irritably demanded.

“We have captured Stonecliff Tower, and most of the garrison has surrendered. What are your orders?” Adora asked.

“Kill them all.” Hordak answered simply.

Adora’s eyes widened.

“Sir, I promised they wouldn’t be harmed. I can’t-” Adora objected.

“Do not make promises you cannot keep. You have your orders, Force Captain. Carry them out.” The line went dead.

Adora looked at the ground in shock for a few moments. Silently, she grabbed a pistol from the supply locker and headed back outside.

“So?” Catra looked at her questioningly. Adora responded by pointing her weapon at Aries, who looked at her in shock.

“Hordak’s orders were clear. We’re to kill them. All of them.” Adora said, trying to conceal the trembling in her voice.

The rest of the Horde soldiers, with the exception of the unarmed Kyle, aimed their weapons in the direction of the captives. Cries of fear emanated from the crowd as they slowly backed away, while Aries simply stared at Adora with an expression of absolute contempt.

“You bastard…” He breathed.

Adora stared him in the eyes as she prepared to fire. The moment seemed to last forever. Adora took a deep breath, tears forming in her eyes.

Slowly, she lowered her pistol.

“Go. Now. Run while you still can.” She said softly.

The captives and her fellow Horde soldiers looked at her in shock, none of them believing what she had just said.

“GO! NOW!” She fired her pistol in the air. The captives took the hint and quickly filed out of the gate into the forest beyond. All except for Captain Aries, who continued staring at Adora.

“You… why?” He managed.

“I… don’t know.” Adora admitted. Silently, Aries followed his men out the door, leaving Adora alone with her squad. Silence dominated the air for quite some time until Catra spoke up.

“I take it back. You really are soft.” Catra said quietly.

“Yeah, I guess I am.” Adora replied, looking at the ground uncertainly.