The Squad were trying to prepare themselves for what would be another push against the Rebellion by shutting down what they were told was a Weapons Distribution plant; Kyle was in charge of piloting the airship there but he was by far the most nervous out of the five but not entirely for the mission, Rogelio was checking their gear but he was constantly making side eyes to one of their crew and the giant reptile man was hardly blaming Kyle for being skittish, Lonnie looked like she had the most control of the situation as she was doing pushups to get herself loose and fluid for whatever she thought was gonna come about.
Catra on the other hand wasn't a complete idiot and recognised that something was up with them and it wasn't because Adora was missing, she tapped her nail against the metal floor to get everyone's attention since she wasn't going to let the tension keep them quiet. "Okay, is anyone gonna tell me why you guys are acting so weird since we left?" She asked as she gave each of them a look of both confusion and apprehension. "Kyle, you've been looking like a shadow is gonna jump out at you…Rogelio looks like he's about to break that wrench in his hands and Lonnie? You're just acting like Adam's not even here at all."
Lonnie glanced up when she felt Catra glaring at her; "Look, if you wanna be all relaxed about this then go for it…But we need to take this whole thing seriously." She said with a stern tone as she adjusted herself to sit.
"It's a weapons plant, sure it's risky… But I doubt that's any reason for you guys to act like you're tiptoeing around something like a doomsday warning…You heard Shadow Weaver, it's all weapons there…No one who's there has magic so take it easy." Catra reiterated as she flicked her tail; "Plus you know for a fact that's not what I'm talking about."
Rogelio let out a series of guttural growls and soft roars as he uttered out his own input which got picked up by everyone there.
"Rogelio's right for that one, you can't exactly expect us to sit easy when we're carrying around Adam after what happened." Lonnie agreed and crossed her arms; "Who knows what went down out there at Ballista and even moreso, what's gonna come about if it happens again!"
"Okay, first off; What is that supposed to mean? And secondly…You guys may not be on board with it but I've still got Adam's back, he's the same guy that stayed with us through training even if he's a Captain now." Catra argued back with a visible look of defensiveness; She might've been down about Adora not coming back but she was definitely gonna back up Adam.
"Yeah…But he's still dangerous after what happened when we found him." Kyle finally spoke up as he looked back with an expression that looked like he had seen something truly horrifying. "You didn't see or understand what happened."
"Yeah…What we saw him do…That wasn't something that a normal Horde Soldier could or should be able to do…Let alone a Jäger Captain." Lonnie detailed as she felt a cold shiver down her spine as she remembered the visage of Adam snarling at them like a wild animal before he collapsed and the sudden urgency of Shadow Weaver when they brought him back.
Catra sighed as she listened to their logic but she wasn't an idiot since she heard the rumours about Adam's mission and it's outcome; some people afterward talked about how Adam wiped out a whole nest by himself before turning into a monster, though when she heard that he had been "quarantined" by Shadow Weaver, she snuck in to check on him and realised that she didn't see a monster…All she saw was her friend. "Bunch of gossips and whiners…Adam's stronger than that and there's no way he'd become a monster." She thought to herself and heard the sounds of grunting from the cargo area near the back of the skiff, wanting to distance herself from the awkward negativity that the others were giving off; Catra wanted to touch base after what she heard about him…And with Adora going missing.
Adam was doing his utmost to distract himself from the conversation that he could hear halfway across the ship by doing some exercises to make himself limber. "I don't get why everyone's making a big fuss over this…I don't look all that different…At least not all that much anyway…" He thought to himself as he did a few more pull ups on a hanging pole, though he had noticed that he did feel a little different since that episode.
When he woke up; He had bent a metal door when he tried to knock and while it appeared to be momentarily: He had been able to see several brightly coloured dots from behind the walls back in the Fright Zone plus he somehow felt lighter and more in tune with himself than he did before, that train of thought however stopped when he paused mid pull; "Catra, I can hear you tiptoeing…You can come on out." He said with a rather bored tone as he let himself drop to the floor and sit.
"You're getting better at that…Why can't you be like Adora and jump when I sneak up on you?" Catra asked coyly as she hopped over a nearby crate and went to go lounge on a set of boxes with her tail swaying the air; "So what's up with you? I figured that Mr Gloomy Guts over here could do with someone to talk to since everyone's acting all weird."
"You sure it's not just because Lonnie's annoying you about something? Besides, I'm not really that much fun at the moment…Kinda got a lot to think about right now." Adam admitted as he sighed, the fact that everyone was walking on eggshells since he got back was affecting him and especially since the gossip started about him.
"Come on, you can't honestly believe that these guys just started thinking you were a weirdo…Everyone in the Fright Zone figured that when they knew you were Shadow Weaver's kid." Catra mentioned as she lightly nudged his head with her knuckle. "But that's what made you stand out as a cadet…I ain't exactly normal to most people anyway." She said and pointed to her ears and her tail.
"Always a pleasure to have you cheer me up, Catra." Adam said sarcastically as her comment didn't exactly reassure him, it at least gave him a little solace that Catra was still on his side by not jumping on the bandwagon. "Still…They aren't exactly wrong for this."
"What are you talking about? You singlehandedly wiped out an entire base full of those magic sucking zombies and a WEAPON to boot!" Catra reiterated as she pulled Adam's face to make eye contact with her usual catty smirk. "I think that earns your badass card back at base!"
"I just wish Adora was here to help smooth things out…She always knows how to get people to get along. Last I heard from Shadow Weaver; She went missing during her mission to Thaymor." Adam asked as he knew that Catra was probably the most likely to either tag along or notice something was wrong with her.
Catra felt her mood deflate a little as she recalled what happened and gave Adam the rundown of what happened back at the barracks before she left; "After that, she just…vanished and now Shadow Weaver said that she might be captured by the Rebellion, so now I have to find her or I get the heat for everything…"
"Well, then what we need to do is set up the raid on this facility and see if we can gather intel on if anyone saw Adora." Adam suggested as he stood up and stretched; "If this weapons plant thing is legit then Adora will probably show up to complete her mission if she's escaped her capture."
"Look alive! We got a plant coming up, I've radioed the reinforcements so we'll converge on the place." Lonnie's voice called out over the intercom, "Captain Adam and Catra, come on up so we can plan this."
"Duty calls." Catra sighed as she climbed up off of her perch and jumped down. "How about this, we can make it a game to see who can find Adora first."
Adam raised an eyebrow as he got to his feet; "Really? And what's the catch in all this? I give you my dessert rations if you win? Make me prank Octavia?"
Catra hummed as she tapped her chin with one of her sharp nails; "I 'unno yet, having a Captain owe you a favour is a pretty big deal…Lemme think on it~" She teased him as she headed off to go ahead.
Adam rolled his eyes and adjusted his mask as he straightened up, Catra's pep-talk did help to cheer him up a little even if it was more blunt than a punch to the face. "Well, first we find out about this fortress…Then once that's handled, we can go play "Find the Adora in enemy territory". Seriously, A…What happened?" He asked himself as he headed out and into the strategy room.
Lonnie had stopped the transport a little away from Thaymor's location so the group could strategise; Her, Catra and Adam were looking over the holographic map of the area while Rogelio got the gear ready and Kyle was in the driver's seat. "So the objective is here…" She pointed out a large open area in the forest where the supposed objective was meant to be. "If the intel is correct then that large open space is a Rebellion weapons facility hidden inside of a fortress. We're currently sitting on this primary command skiff and several tanks in the area to help disperse whatever they have in terms of resistance."
"Easy enough." Catra shrugged as she looked inattentive and more focused on trying to distract Adam by poking his cheek with her tail, chuckling every time he bat it away. "We got any Princesses there?"
"Not as far as we know, that's why we brought the backup." Lonnie repeated as she knew that she had told this to Catra multiple times on the way there, though Adam still needed to be brought up to speed on current standings since he kept back in the cargo hold.
"What are we looking at in terms of defenses? Because as far as I can see, this doesn't really have a whole lot of natural barriers. Except sharing the proximity to Dryl through the mountains and a lake that leads out to the ocean." Adam explained as he gestured to the surrounding area where Thaymor was. "Even if we can't see any kind of directly obvious reinforcements, Princess Entrapta could always send her tech down to back them up if she gets alerted."
"Entrapta? The Tech Genius and the supposed shut-in Princess? I really doubt that she'll make an appearance that bold out in the open." Lonnie mentioned as she gestured to the mountainside castle that was miles away. "Even when we were given the rundown on the Princess Rebellion, I don't think I've really seen her name pop up outside of being a Non-Elemental Princess."
"So we don't even know if she is a part of the Rebellion or not?" Catra asked as she glanced at Lonnie with a rather pointed look. "Pretty big IF that you're working with since we're dealing with Princesses…"
"If she was a part of the Rebellion then we'd be seeing a lot more technology around…Or at the very least, we'd be dealing with more resistance on the way here." Adam pointed out as he tried to keep the two's argument to a minimum. "So here's the plan; We have two objectives here: Take out the weapons plant and find Adora, since we're working with tanks right now…We're gonna need to move fast and we're gonna need to move hard." He said before looking to the others to issue his plan.
"Lonnie, since you hold the communications with the other tanks, keep on the line with them and see if we can perform a raiding sweep on that entire clearing…Try to keep it contained and deploy soldiers first to help arrest any would-be attackers, I'd rather not leave too much up to chance if we garner fatalities or accidentally burn down the forest." Adam directed as he then set up a small range around the clearing and set a no expansion objective.
"You're worried about damaging the ecosystem? This is a Rebellion fortress, they've got weapons AND Magic. they won't think twice about attacking back if we simply make it a detainment mission." Lonnie stated with a rather blunt tone and gestured to the tanks on the map; "If we can demolish one whole base and take out their forces then we can-"
"And what happens if you attract a Princess or worse after the forest gets turned into a glass floor?" Adam asked with a disturbingly calm tone as he turned to look at Lonnie. "We need to consider all possibilities when we're jumping into enemy territory."
"You could lose out on Adora's position as well by shooting first and not asking the questions?" Catra added in, her voice dripping with equal parts of wanting to put Lonnie down a peg but also annoyance that her attitude would compromise Adora just for action. "Or run the risk of putting her in danger if she is in the fortress."
"I…Our objective is to bring down the weapons plant! Once we round up the soldiers for questioning so they can't fall back or fortify but that still leaves the facility, we have tanks! Our job is to wipe out their chance at using the facility for good, so why not remove anything usable in the process?" Lonnie fired back as she was set on following orders to the letter.
"Then how would you try explaining to Shadow Weaver? "Whoops, sorry that one of your prized students and Force Captains got taken out in a raid…I just really wanted to not take chances." because I can assure you." Adam said and then leaned in close to a shrinking away Lonnie. "I would sooner detonate those tanks and lock YOU in cuffs before letting you put Adora in danger just so you could earn glory points…And you know fully well that I will do it." He warned with a dark sounding voice that almost sounded like Shadow Weaver before turning around and heading for the armoury.
The entire briefing room was deathly quiet after that; Kyle had turned white as a sheet, Rogelio who normally stood on business when it came to their squad was rigid with nerves and even Catra hadn't expected for Adam to go full Shadow Weaver on Lonnie like that. "Alright, you heard the man…Go get everything ready and gear up." Catra followed up to knock everyone out of their funk and get ready.
Adam on the other hand was using the box given to him by Shadow Weaver to stock up on the right gear while he tried to steady himself; Cuffs, collapsible stun batons and a new riot shield. "Where the hell did that come from? I normally have a pretty level head when it comes to missions…Maybe I got out too quickly when Mom tried to look me over…Maybe something is wrong wi-"
"Hey A~" Catra said with her usual tone as she came into the Armoury and shut the door behind her; "So…You mind telling me where THAT little outburst came from?"
"Not now, Catra…I'm already feeling guilty about snapping at Lonnie like that." Adam remarked as he shut the box and hung it from his belt. "Maybe I should apologise after this is all over."
"Apologise for that, are you serious?" Catra raised an eyebrow as she walked over to him. "Lonnie would've steamrolled the whole place without a second thought if no one brought up what we said." She pointed out and tapped his chest. "You're a Jäger Captain, aren't you? Own it, you need to command their presence and show them that they are meant to follow you…Not question you."
"It might be unreasonable but until we get Adora back, I'm not letting up on what I said, feeling bad or not." Adam reaffirmed himself; "Get yourself ready and we'll head out, you've got an equal chance of running into her since you can move faster than a soldier can."
"We both can." Catra said before moving in closer; "But first I think we should clear the air about something first~" She said as she kept her finger rested on his chest.
"About what exactly? In case you haven't guessed, we're literally about go in and attack." Adam pointed out as he kept a serious look on his face, though the fact that Catra was pretty much unintimidated by him made it confusing.
"Well, let's just say that I think you being the big man in charge is a rather good look for you~" Catra said with a smirk before coyly flicking her tail under his nose and turned around to head out, only stopping to pick up a stun baton. "Though try not to get too ahead of yourself, because I might just knock you back down if you get too demanding."
As Catra left and Adam felt the skiff stop, he only had one thought in his mind as he went to the back of the skiff to open up the cargo hold: "What goes through that girl's head?"
From the moment Adam jumped out, everything was thrown into chaos; Villagers were running for shelter or escape, soldiers were rounding people up for questioning about the facility and tanks were rolling in to reinforce and create a blockade.
"Wow, Lonnie works fast." Adam thought to himself as he took to the trees to get a better view and start tracking. "Come on, Adora…Where are you?" He muttered but then noticed something in the distance and quickly started to navigate each tree from branch to branch.
Bow was watching and keeping a guard up while Glimmer was trying her hardest to help people get a way out of the battle zone. "Glimmer, I think now's a good time for big sword lady!"
Glimmer stopped after she blasted a Horde Soldier with a handful of light. "Are you kidding?! Trust a Horde Soldier with this sword after the troops show up? She's probably called them in the first place."
"What are you talking about, The only thing I know about happening with the horde is that they were supposed to go after a weapons facility…Not this!" Adora argued back, the sudden change between enjoying a festival and the sudden siege of tanks made her equally as shocked as the others.
"Look, we don't have time for this right now!" Bow snapped them out of it; "We can talk about this when we're not under fire but right now, I say Sword time!"
Glimmer looked to Bow and then to Adora, the sounds of tank fire and the assault put her on edge but it also made her painfully aware of what's more important. "Help us and we may not take you to the castle in ropes." She said and begrudgingly handed the sword to Adora.
"Alright…How did it go…uh…" Adora muttered to herself then started to think hard in order to try emulating the last time she transformed herself. "Go Magic Sword! Alaka-Big Lady!" She called out as she swung the sword.
"Any day now…" Glimmer said through grit teeth to push her as she blasted another soldier with a handful of sparkles.
"Don't rush m-Adam?" Adora froze when she saw her friend drop down to their level from the trees. "You're…You're here."
"You're okay." Adam said as audible relief spread across his masked face when he saw his long time friend was fine. "We've been looking all over for you."
"Uh…Adora…Who's this?" Bow asked as he got very nervous at the sight of the taller, masked Horde Captain. "Please be friendly…"
"Shadow Weaver's been worried about you, we all have." Adam said while ignoring Bow's protests, "But it's okay now, we can go back home and it'll be like nothing happened."
"Did you…Did you know about why the Horde came after Thaymor?" Adora asked as she was still in her doubts about what Glimmer had said.
"Because the dossier said it was a weapons facility." Adam said in a neutral voice as he kept a cautious eye on Glimmer who seemed to be unsure on whether to blast him or not. "But so far I can't see much of that."
"That's because it's a village! Not a Weapons store!" Adora yelled at him as she gestured around them. "These people are peaceful, they don't want to hurt anyone and they certainly don't pose a threat to Hordak!"
"They crossed that threshold when they kidnapped a Horde Force Captain." Adam pointed out as he stood his ground; "Look, if you come back with us, I can call this all off and we can talk it out, I can even try vouching for you with Shadow Weaver, she's been more concerned about you than anything."
"Call it-Adam, the Horde's damaging more than anything! I know you aren't that blind to what's around here, the only threats are the Horde and the Walkers…" Adora continued to protest as she held the sword tight. "I can't go back…Not now, not after what I've seen."
Adam glanced to the sword and then the glaring Glimmer; "Adora…Please just come back with me and Catra, We can talk this…We're Horde Buddies, remem-" He said but was then sent shooting off as Glimmer and Bow shot a concussive arrow and light blast combo at him and sent him flying.
"GO! We still have to help the others!" Bow yelled as he and the others went to go save the villagers before they got taken for processing.
Catra heard a small explosion and saw a blur crash through one of the nearby buildings, then smashing the front of a nearby stall. "Having trouble, A?"
"She's here…" Adam stated plainly as he got to his feet, looking less like he was blasted by an exploding arrow and more like he just got shoved into the stall. "Adora's here."
"All I need to hear, make sure Lonnie doesn't bomb the place." Catra decided as she made a beeline for the centre of the village. "Alright, Adora…You wanna play hard to get then let's play."
"Catra, hold on!" Adam yelled after her before looking to the soldiers who were watching him with an unusually frightened look on their faces; "You're not being paid to stand there…Go help guard the surroundings and keep the collateral to a minimum!" He barked at the soldiers who quickly ran off to go do as he ordered, only to wince in pain as he felt like his body was being pricked by dozens of needles. "What…What's going on?" He groaned in pain as he felt his hands slowly and reflexively clench into fists, a sharp pain radiated through his nerves and he resolved himself to jump back in.
Catra was currently staring down Adora with a stun baton drawn after shocking her mid conversation. "Whoa…That was a lot stronger than I expected…You good?"
Adora grit her teeth as she shook off her arm where Catra had shocked her. "Catra! You just shocked me! What part of that is good?!"
"I'm sorry, it's a reflex!" Catra argued back but still kept the baton close at hand. "Besides, you know I don't wanna hurt you, A! So please stop and come back with us…"
"I do know that!" Adora yelled as she stared her down, "What I don't know is why you two continue doing this when you say you know that the Horde are the bad guys!"
Catra hesitated a little but her glare returned as she pointed the tip of the baton at Adora. "Why? Because you left us…Both me AND Adam! And if I don't bring you back, Shadow Weaver's gonna blame it all on me! So, enough with your weird little identity crisis and let's go home already." Catra spat out in a rant before her expression darkened. "Or do I need to zap you again?"
That threat wouldn't follow through as an arrow sunk into the spot by Catra's foot, very quickly exploding in a flash of light and a puff of smoke that drowned the two in its release.
Bow quickly rode in on a horse with Glimmer holding on to him as they jumped to Adora's aid. "Adora! Are you okay?!"
"Glimmer?" Adora asked as she blinked to try and see through the smoke but then quickly yelped as she felt herself get teleported out by Glimmer to gain distance from Catra.
Catra on the other hand was on the bad end of this distraction as her senses were overloaded; One hand was covering her eyes and trying to alleviate the strain while the other hand was swinging around the shock baton in a defensive way to stop anyone from jumping her.
Bow aimed at Catra again and fired another arrow, however this arrow opened up midflight like a blossoming flower into a net and caught Catra to pin her on the ground. "Suck it, Horde Soldi-" He was about to brag but then he saw Adam closing in on the distance, though something about him seemed different now.
"Get off of her!" Adam yelled as he sprinted at full speed towards the archer and started swinging punches at him; Each swing was ducked and evaded by the more limber Bow, though it was very clear reason why there was a reason to not tank it.
Bow yelped as he ducked under a high speed punch, his adrenaline and his desire for a backup plan spiked when each punch from this particular Captain could shatter rock. "Okay, what the hell are the Horde feeding you to get like this?!"
"Proper military training…Though the fact that you've brainwashed Adora isn't helping me restrain myself." Adam said back as his eyes narrowed at Bow before rearing his arm back to swing again.
"We didn't brainwash her!" Bow retorted as he picked up a broken piece of wood to shield himself. "She saw for herself what life outside of the Fright Zone is like and what the Horde is doing!"
"What we're doing?" Adam asked as he stopped his arm but kept his fist clenched; "You guys are the reason why we are at risk to the Walkers AND to the Princesses with their wild Magic."
"Adora said the same thing." Bow argued back as he kept his "shield" up, "She thought that they were doing the right thing…To help keep the world safe but somehow not seeing what the Horde will do to ensure that." He explained as he lowered the shield a little to directly talk since Adam hadn't tried to punch him. "I can assure you that we aren't bad guys…We just want to protect people, you can understand that, right?"
Adam paused as he thought on that plus what Adora said to him; When he had left the tank, he had expected to see a large building or a closed off camp where weapons were being made like in the mission briefing, though that left a number of thoughts when he saw that it was a village that held nothing of the sort and soldiers were ransacking everything to round people up. "I just wanted to get my friend back…That's all I came on this mission for." He said honestly as he lowered his arms.
Bow felt a pang of sympathy for the guy as he talked, it wasn't enough for him to excuse everything but he knew that he and the Rebellion would do the same to get Glimmer back if the situation were reversed. "So…You want that but you'll ravage a whole innocent village to do it?" He asked, letting the question sink in as the sight of the trees blowing in the wind and the sound of battle around them.
"No! I tried to talk people into being less violent!" Adam said to protest as he held his hands up; "The soldiers on our patrol wanted to completely scorch the place down to the soil, I had to threaten them to not do that…Shutting down the Weapons plant and Adora was a priority, I'm not out to destroy anything without a good reason."
Bow raised an eyebrow at hearing that; A Horde Soldier like this was weird but at the same time, it was the second time that he had seen someone who was like this and if Adora was able to be convinced, then why not him too? "You know…To me, it sounds like you're working for the wrong side." He started to explain as he tried to extend his hand out for a chance. "The world is different than what the Fright Zone offers, sure…But the Princesses can heal Etheria with their Magic AND we can make it better for everyone if we can do it together, Adora wants to help us so why not do it as well? You'll be able to make a difference like she can."
Adam looked like he was considering it but then remembered what side he was fighting for and raised his fists again. "I can't…I made a promise to stick with my friends in the Fright Zone; Get promoted high enough so we can call the shots, once the three of us get in charge of the Horde, we can change things for the better." He said as he narrowed his eyes. "Starting with helping Adora remember that."
Bow sighed as he then picked up his bow and aimed. "The Rebellion can't wait that long…And we won't let you take Adora." He said with a focused glare in his eyes.
Adam was about to swing again but then he heard something that drew his and Bow's attention from their next move.
"For the Honour….OF GRAYSKULL!" Adora's voice cried out before the area was bathed in a bright light and emerged from it as the Princess of Power: She-Ra.
Adam was awestruck when he saw her yet he remained conflicted; He felt his body burning and prickling at itself with the sight of the glowing sword, but at the same time he couldn't help but marvel that the person holding it was Adora.
She-Ra strides forward towards formations of tanks and robots with that same glowing light surrounds her, she stopped and drew her sword up high before piercing the ground with her sword.
The ground crumbled under their feet and electricity crackles from the shifting rocks took the robots fell off balance and the tanks began to lose their formation. Bow blinks his eyes in disbelief as he watched She-Ra slice the gun from the closest tank and reduce it to an exploded pile of scrap. "Whoa…"
Catra observed from her perch on the main skiff, a grim expression slowly forming as she realised what this meant. "Now this changes things…"
Another soldier races forward only to be stopped and knocked away by She-Ra's sword, a robot started to swing at her with wild attacks and never stopping until the newly minted Princess grabbed it's leg mid-swing, putting it down as she threw it back into the ground.
"This is…I can't even believe it…" She-Ra thought to herself as she gazed at the sword; However something made her on edge as the sword glowed brighter in her hand like a warning, a small voice in the back of her mind was echoing one thing and one thing only…
"Corruption…"
"Adora, stand down!" Adam yelled as he approached She-Ra, the other soldiers and tanks had formed a barrier behind him in what they believed to be a rare case that he couldn't match up. "I don't want this to get worse but if you keep attacking everyone, it's not going to end well…I'd rather you explain this to Shadow Weaver face to face over doing it from behind a cell door."
"What the Horde's doing is bad, Adam." She-Ra said as she glared at him with the sword now gripped tightly. "The longer that they keep doing things like this, the faster that Etheria will be poisoned and under threat by people like Hordak and the Walkers…I'm not going back and I'm not going to just surrender…" She said grimly before readying her sword defensively.
Adam hesitated on this but then sighed as he grabbed a stun baton and extended it into a staff getting into a stance as She-Ra rushed to attack him, ducking under one swing and swiped at her leg with the non-electric side of the staff.
She-Ra then grunted in pain as she swung the sword again; Her increased size and strength made it easy for the more nimble Adam to dodge, though each strike hit the ground with a rock splitting crack and showed that even one hit could put a soldier out of commission.
Adam then thrust the electric side of the staff forward but got itself deflected by She-Ra's bracer and then smashed to pieces by the sword on it's downward swing, leaving Adam defenseless as he rolled away to gain distance…But luck hadn't been on his side as Adora knew his ways of fighting from years of sparring together so she made for a quick upward strike immediately afterward as he ducked.
Nearly everyone in the area saw the Jäger Force Captain get cut by the glowing blue sword and hit the ground screaming in more pain than anyone had ever seen a person would, however it formed a layer of worry to see a higher up Captain and one of Shadow Weaver's top soldiers go down.
Adam had fallen to the ground clutching his wounded shoulder like he had lost the whole thing, though that wasn't what drew the worries into a rising peak.
What made everyone concerned was that Adam was reacting as violently as he was; The screeches that came from his throat were more like a wild animal than a man, there were thin black and red strings that were twitching and wriggling from his body before it finally culminated into a right arm that was completely morphed into a three-fingered, one-thumbed claw tipped with knife-like talons.
This particular revelation proved two things: The first was that the rumours about Adam being infected were true, the second was that seeing this cemented the decision that the Horde Jäger Captain was not someone to bully anymore.
"Adam…What happened to you?" She-Ra said in a mix of shock, fear and worry as this was the first time that she had ever seen this whereas Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio were very much having flashbacks from their first time seeing Adam in this condition.
"I'm bringing you back, Horde Buddy…No matter what it takes." Adam growled in resignation as he reared his clawed arm back to ready his counterattack, his eyes sharpened and focused solely on the Princess in front of him.
Everyone watched as the two resumed their fight in a now more even match as She-Ra and Adam struck blows on each other, She-Ra remained strong but it was clear that between Adam's barely healing sword wound and the extended use of her own power, they were both starting to slow down.
She-Ra knew this and decided that if this was going to go the way that she was worried it would, she was going to do it with all her might: With a roar of resolution, she slammed the sword into the ground tip first and released a powerful blast of light that encompassed everyone in the surrounding area. Once the light dimmed; Adam had been knocked into one of the tanks, his body now back to normal and forced into unconsciousness, leaving only one option left for the Horde.
"RETREAT!" One of the soldiers yelled out and with Adam out of commission, there was no contest as everyone packed up and started to back away from the Rebellion and from Thaymor.
Catra left no words for anyone as she helped the barely conscious Adam to his feet and into the skiff with Kyle, Rogelio and Lonnie. "Shadow Weaver is really not going to like this…"
This was no win for the Horde but for Glimmer and the others in the Rebellion, it was a reminder that among Hordak, Shadow Weaver and their Horde fleet…There was now Adam to worry about now.