Yes! I feared quest died before even properly starting.
Catra of the Crimson Waste (A She-Ra Quest)
- Thread starter Ponibius
- Start date
- Sci-Fi Fantasy
Yes! I feared quest died before even properly starting.
Omegahugger
Inattentive Idiot
No need to apologise. The lives of you and your loved ones are more important than any story.
- Location
- Germany
[X] Catra: "Only I can be trusted to watch Adora. I want her with me at all times, even in my bedroom."
[X] "... For the Honor of Greyskull!"
-[X] Try to destroy the sword.
-[X] Hide the sword somewhere only Catra knows.
[X] Declare the Valley of the Lost as Catra's new future capital.
-[X] Mara's Ship
-[X] Keep the gang from looting the ship.
[X] "... For the Honor of Greyskull!"
-[X] Try to destroy the sword.
-[X] Hide the sword somewhere only Catra knows.
[X] Declare the Valley of the Lost as Catra's new future capital.
-[X] Mara's Ship
-[X] Keep the gang from looting the ship.
Chapter 1.2
- Location
- United States
Chapter 1.2
Results
[X] Declare the Valley of the Lost as Catra's new future capital.
-[X] Mara's Ship
-[X] Keep the gang from looting the ship.
[X] Catra: "Only I can be trusted to watch Adora. I want her with me at all times, even in my bedroom."
[X] Try to destroy the sword.
-[X] Mara's Ship
-[X] Keep the gang from looting the ship.
[X] Catra: "Only I can be trusted to watch Adora. I want her with me at all times, even in my bedroom."
[X] Try to destroy the sword.
"So once I'm done conquering the Crimson Wastes, what do you think I should call my new empire?" I casually lounged back in the command chair of the old spaceship. "Naming it after myself wouldn't really work. I mean, it's pretty classic, but 'The Catra Empire' just doesn't sound quite right. Catran Empire? Nah. But I feel like it needs some kind of really cool name."
"Oooh, this is a good question." Scorpia rubbed her chin. "What about the Crimson Empire? That's nice and simple."
"Hmm." I picked a bit of dirt out from under my claws. "That could work. Of course, I've gotta conquer the whole thing first. Then figure out which way to expand from there. The Wastes are a good starting point, but even if there's more out here than they told you in Force Captain Orientation, it's still a wasteland. We're gonna need more territory eventually." I might've been a bit behind on logistics and supply lines, but once I'd replaced Shadow Weaver I'd started learning real fast. Armies marched on their stomachs, and the Wastes didn't exactly have a lot of farmland.
Scorpia froze before frowning. "You really want to conquer land outside of the wasteland, boss? That's, um, risky, don't you think? We could tick off the Horde or the Rebellion. Or both, most likely."
"I'm thinking long-term," I flicked a bit of grime onto the ship's deck. The gang hadn't been wild about not getting to loot the place, but they knew better than to say anything to my face about it. "Short-term, we need to consolidate the Wastes themselves. Then we'll figure out if we want to do any expanding, and if so what direction we'll go in." If I had my way I'd get all of Etheria eventually, but one step at a time.
"Right, we need to learn how to walk before we can run." Scorpia started pacing the deck. "From what I've heard from the gang, there's a lot of minor gangs all throughout the Waste. We're probably going to need to show them who's boss. Not to mention we'll probably want to scout out the Valley of the Lost. Oh! And we need to look into getting Entrapta's help too. Wow, there sure are a lot of things to do, don't ya think? Maybe we should make a list."
"Yeah, sure." I watched as she pulled out a pencil and paper. "Long as we're talking about getting Entrapta from the Horde, might as well see what else we can get in the process. Until they know we've deserted, you're still a Force Captain who can requisition supplies, equipment and maybe even a couple troops. Could be funny to make New Kyle and Old Kyle work together on something."
Scorpia chuckled a bit as she fumbled with the papers. "Sure would. I mean, I'm sure we can get everyone to work together nicely. And I bet Kyle—Old Kyle that, is even if that's kind weird to say when I'm pretty sure Old Kyle is younger than New Kyle, so wouldn't that make New Kyle the Old Kyle, and vice versa? Anyways, I think you're right about there being a range of options out there. We just need to be smart about this. Don't want to mess up our opportunity to really get off to a good start here."
"Yeah, we've gotta start strong." I frowned down at my claws. "Well, no, we already started strong. Thing is, gangs like this don't have a ton of memory. They all joined me 'cause I beat up Tung Lashor," I couldn't help snorting at the name. "And getting the ship is a win, even if we didn't let them loot much of the stuff. But with these guys, a week from now, they'll be asking 'but what has she done for us lately?' We gotta keep the wins coming to keep them happy, not to mention getting all the other gangs to join up. Going around beating up every other gang boss in the Wastes would take forever." I paused and scratched my chin. "Though making a couple more examples wouldn't hurt."
"That does sound like less work." Scorpia failed in her struggle with the papers and dropped them all to the floor.
"Not to mention getting some stomping grounds set up," I pulled out the very inaccurate map of the Crimson Wastes we'd gotten from the Fright Zone. "Gangs have territory, and territory has resources. Right now we don't know much about what's out there, where we want to take land, all that stuff. We need some real maps, and a better idea of what we're dealing with out there. Hard to conquer the place when we don't even know what's worth conquering beyond my new capital."
"Not to mention we'll want to know what's on the Crimson Waste's borders," Scorpia added. "We might be able to trade with some of the settlements near the border, or maybe get some recruits. Lots of possibilities. We're hardly the only people unhappy with how the Horde runs things."
"I'm sure some of the folks in Princess-land aren't wild about things either," I pointed out. "Not everyone here came from the Fright Zone. Though I bet the gang would like trading over raiding." I shrugged. "No reason we can't do a bit of both."
"Right, besides us maybe going into the Fright Zone, it sounds like our priority is to consolidate our power and scout everything around us," Scorpia said. "Once we know what's out there we can really explore the opportunities out there."
"Yeah, gotta know what we're doing first." I moved on to something that would hopefully be happier news. "So have you managed to destroy the sword yet?"
"Not last I checked, but how about we head outside and see how the gang's doing?" Scorpia waved for me to follow her outside.
I shrugged and followed her outside. I'd promised a week of extra rations to whoever managed to finally break the thing. That had been more than enough to encourage the gang to get creative ... or at least what passed for creativity with them. For the past couple of days, everyone had tried their best to break the sword. They smacked it against rocks, smacked it with rocks, dropped it from the top of ravines, splashed it with acids made out of some of the plants in the Waste, used all manner of weapons against it, and more stuff I hadn't bothered to keep up with. But despite all their best efforts, nothing had so much as nicked the sword. I walked past a couple dozen exhausted and disheartened minions lying in the sand or sitting with their heads bowed in shame.
A dozen of the brighter members of my gang were currently in the middle of using a pulley system to lift a big bag of boulders above the sword. The sword itself was sitting on a pair of flat rocks, with a sharpened rock sitting at the bottom of the bag of boulders. Once they'd gotten the boulders as high as they could get them, the gang released the rope.
Destroy the Sword of Protection
DC: 96
Roll: 1d100=90
DC: 96
Roll: 1d100=90
There was a great crash as the boulders slammed into the sword. The sharpened boulder shattered against the blade, and the rest of the rocks fell into a great big heap. Everyone covered their eyes against the wave of sand kicked up by the impact. With that done, the minions started crawling through rocks to try and find the sword. One of them cried out when they found it, and they all started clustering together as they talked excitedly to one another.
I went up and took a look for myself. They'd cracked it. Not broken yet, but that was a start.
Then, right before my eyes, the crack started sealing itself shut. Within a minute the sword looked completely pristine. The gang let out a disappointed groan as the damage vanished.
I held the sword up. "We haven't broken it yet, but if we can crack it, we can break it. We just need to find the right tools for the job!"
Scorpia cleared her throat. "You know who'd be a good person to ask about that? Entrapta."
I groaned. "Yes, yes, I know you want Entrapta out here, but she'd never want to break a piece of First Ones tech. She'd want to study it."
"So have her study it." Scorpia leaned in and grinned. "Have her take it apart piece by piece, and spend years uncovering every last little secret of how it works."
"That ... could work."
Scorpia clapped her pincers together. "See, nothing's impossible with the help of some good friends. I really can't wait to get the gang together. Not to mention maybe make new friends. It's so nice that we decided to stay in the Waste. There are just so many possibilities out here for us."
"It's working out," I agreed.
"So think we should let the gang pack it in for now where the sword is concerned?" Scorpia looked at the exhausted and disheartened minions. "I think they're pretty much tuckered out now."
"Yeah, we've got other stuff to do." I still wanted the sword busted, but these thugs clearly weren't gonna come up with anything that would actually work anytime soon. And if they did, they could always try to bust it on their own time. "Let's put them to work on something actually useful, like getting a good base built around the ship." I spotted New Kyle among the gang members lounging around. "Hey, Kyle! Are you done getting the prisoner set up in her new quarters? I told you not to bother with anything else until that was done!"
New Kyle grinned at me. "Sure did. Exactly like you wanted, boss. So, got any plans for the prisoner?" She waggled her eyebrows.
Something about the way New Kyle said that made me tempted to claw out one of her eyes, just on general principle. "Uh, yeah, keeping her locked up where I know she won't get up to anything." I frowned and shook my head. "I'm gonna go make sure you got it right." I spun on my heel and walked back into the ship.
I'd set up in what had once been the captain's quarters, or whatever the equivalent was on a First Ones spaceship. I really needed to get Adora to translate all this stuff for us ... assuming I could actually get her to cooperate. Easier said than done, considering what a stubborn idiot Adora could be. Then again, she seemed awful eager to cooperate with people who kidnapped her and stole her away from everything she knew and cared about the last time that happened, and that was when total strangers did it.
I opened up the door to my quarters and found Adora tied up next to the bed. Singular. They didn't even give her a cot to sleep on. I suppose the floor would have to do for her. She glared at me and held up a couple thin strips of fabric. "I'm not sure what kind of game you think you're playing, Catra, but I'm not wearing this!"
I stared blankly at her for several seconds. "What?"
"Don't 'what' me." She held up the strips of fabric to my face. There wasn't much to them. Probably just something some of the people of the Waste wore to keep from getting too hot. "Did you think this was funny?"
I brushed the fabric out of my face. "No, seriously, what are you talking about? Did you try to rip up the bedsheets for a rope or something?"
Adora blinked a couple of times. "Wait, that's right. You haven't spent any time outside the Horde. You don't—" I didn't know why, but her cheeks started reddening. "N-never mind. Forget I said anything." She tossed the fabric against the wall.
"Uh, right." That was weird. Ugh, two minutes into the conversation and she'd already thrown me completely off my game. I took a deep moment to try and get things back to what I'd planned. "So, guess this is your new home for ... well, until I'm done conquering the Valley of the Lost, then we'll get something nicer. So let's talk ground rules. Rule 1: I make all the rules. Rule 2: You follow the rules. We clear?"
"The Crimson Waste doesn't seem to be big on having many rules to follow." Adora sat on my bed and crossed her arms over her chest—or tried to, it was pretty hard to do right with her wrists tied together. She fumbled around for a bit before deciding to just rest her hands in her lap. "Whatever, this is only going to last until my friends come to rescue me."
"They'll try." I sat down across from her. "I'm never letting you get away from me again. The sooner you accept it, the less trouble this is gonna be for both of us. You think I want to have you in my room all the time?"
"You wouldn't have me here if you didn't." Adora's eyes narrowed. "Not that I can figure out what you hope to gain by keeping me. From what your gang has been saying, you've decided to stay in the Crimson Waste."
"What, did you think I was just gonna let you leave because I'm done with Hordak?" I scoffed and shook my head. "I never cared about the Horde, all I wanted to do was climb ranks with y—was get enough power to run the whole thing myself. Hordak wouldn't let that happen, so now I'm taking it over from the outside." I smirked. "Don't worry, I'll be marching back into Bright Moon too, someday."
Adora bolted to her feet. "I'm not going to let you do that!"
I tsked and grabbed her chin. "Oh, Adora... You're not going to let me do that? How exactly were you planning on stopping me? We've just about figured out how to break that stupid sword of yours, and once that happens ... no more She-Ra, and no more Princess Adora." I poked her forehead. "Just you, tied up and helpless."
Adora's body stiffened. "Why are you even doing this?"
"Gonna have to be more specific," I teased. "I'm doing a lot of things these days."
She took a deep breath before speaking. "Why do you want to conquer everything? I know you're not evil, Catra. So why replace Hordak and keep attacking everyone?"
"Because I can." I got up and started pacing around the room. "You know what I realized when I got exiled out here? There are two types of people in the Wastes: the strong, and the weak. I know which one I wanna be. In one day out here I took over the strongest gang in the Wastes. Give it a year, and I'll be running the whole region. A couple more years, and I'll have all of Etheria. And while I'm conquering the world, you'll just be ... well, nothing." I cupped her cheek, the way Shadow Weaver always did whenever she wanted to talk about her special perfect little Adora. The Rebellion and the Horde both thought you were some big-shot hero who'd lead them all to victory? A hundred years from now, when they write the history books about how I conquered the world, they won't even mention your name."
Adora slapped my arm away. "So is that all this is about? An ego trip for you?" She grimaced. "What's happened to you?"
"What happened to me?" I repeated, a hint of a growl entering my voice. "Oh like you weren't there for every second of it!"
Adora blinked, hesitating for a moment. "What're you talking about? The only time we've been meeting since I left the Fright Zone is when we've been fighting."
"Oh don't give me the whole innocent naive idiot act!" I snapped. "You wonder why I hate you so much, ever tried looking in a mirror? You betrayed me. Shadow Weaver betrayed me. Hordak betrayed me. Did you think I was just gonna sit back and take it? You think because you've had one bad day you deserve a break? I've had a bad life! Everyone who crosses me is gonna regret it, because I'm better than all of you, and I'm gonna prove it. I beat Shadow Weaver. I beat you. And soon I'm gonna beat Hordak and the Rebellion he hasn't managed to beat in decades. Then I'll make a new empire that's better than anything Hordak or your stupid Princess friends ever could've come up with!"
Adora's mouth worked wordlessly for several seconds before she found her voice again. "I didn't abandon you, Catra. I wanted you to join me in the Rebellion. The Horde is evil. They hurt people. I couldn't keep fighting under the Horde after everything I saw."
"That wasn't ever a problem before!" I snapped, feeling my claws start to come out. "Funny how you care so much about random nobodies, but you never thought to stick up for your so-called best friend." I scoffed and turned my back on her. "I should've known you were just playing me. After all, you were always Shadow Weaver's favorite." I snarled and shook my head. Ugh, having you locked up in here with me was a terrible idea. I should've just left you locked up in the basement or something. Or just killed you. Now I'm gonna have to put up with you all the time!"
Adora flinched back from me. Her hands clenched before her shoulders slowly sagged. "You're right. About Shadow Weaver. She ... was horrible to you, and I didn't see it for what it was at the time. I just ... all I wanted to do was please her, to be the best cadet I could be, and... She hurt you, Catra. She hurt you and manipulated me as part of that. I'm sorry I didn't see things for what they were. I didn't see a lot of things for what they were back then."
I ... hadn't expected her to say that. I'd expected one of her usual rants about how she was so much better than me, and how horrible and evil I was for not joining the Rebellion and following her around like a little lost kitten. It was just ...
Just another one of her games. "Oh, well if you're sorry, then everything's totally fine." I headed for the door. "Don't try to escape or anything, or I'll slice up one of your legs so bad you'll limp for the rest of your life."
Adora scowled at me. "Where are you going?"
"Just ... getting some stuff." I scoffed. "If I've gonna be stuck in here with you, we need stuff."
***
Vote 1
What arrangements shall Catra make for Adora?
-Pick as many as you wish.
-Adora will like more comforts.
-The gang might not like a prisoner getting so much nice treatment by their boss.
DC: Diplomacy, DC to make Adora cooperate will depend on Catra's treatment towards her.
Be nice to Adora.
[ ] A nice cot.
[ ] Better food.
[ ] Changes in clothing.
[ ] Something for entertainment.
[ ] Additional furniture.
[ ] Decorations.
Adora needs to learn a lesson/make herself useful.
[ ] Make Adora decipher the First One writing on the ship.
[ ] Help cook for the gang.
[ ] Hard labor.
[ ] Make crafts.
Vote 2
Pick 3 Actions
-Catra and Scorpia are available to be assigned to one action each. When assigned, they will use their relevant stats for the rolls.
-Any action not assigned with a character will suffer a -10 penalty due to the gang being lazy and unmotivated to do work without supervision.
[ ] Map out the Crimson Waste.
DC: 50 Strategy
[ ] Scout near the Fright Zone border.
DC: 50 Strategy
[ ] Scout near Rebellion territory.
DC: 40 Strategy
[ ] Scout out the Valley of the Lost.
DC: 40 Strategy
[ ] Fortify Mara's Ship.
DC: 50 Logistics
[ ] Make examples among the gangs that would resist Catra and bring them to heel.
DC: 60 Strategy
[ ] Send an expedition to the Fright Zone
-This option requires two actions.
-There is only a limited period of time to pick this action. It won't be long before the Horde figures out Scorpia deserted.
-Scorpia must be picked for this action. Catra can also be assigned to this action, which will also allow for more opportunities during this expedition, in addition to allowing her to use her stats for rolls.
-Additional rolls might be required depending on the actions picked.
DC: 60 Intrigue
-Pick 2
[ ] Recruit Entrapta
[ ] Recruit Deserters
[ ] Requisition Supplies
[ ] Requisition Equipment
[ ] Requisition Troops
- Location
- Here
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Plan SCIENCE!
[X] Send an expedition to the Fright Zone
-[X] Send Catra and Scorpia
-[X] Recruit Entrapta
-[X] Requisition Equipment
[X] Scout near Rebellion territory.
[X] Changes in clothing.
[X] Something for entertainment.
[X] Make Adora decipher the First One writing on the ship.
-----
Going all in on the Fright Zone Expedition, because Entrapta. Other than that, equipment seems to be our biggest weak spot. Our wasteland gang has pretty basic and limited gear. Open to voting for other things though, Entrapta's the main focus.
Having the gang scout near Rebellion territory, because it's a fairly low DC (important when they won't have any leaders backing them up) and will hopefully give us some advance warning on the inevitable rescue mission.
For Adora, I figure clothing changes and something to stave off boredom are nice things we can do without causing too many issues with the rest of the gang, and putting her to work as a translator is just the most useful thing she can do. Just having her reveal that there's a large stockpile of food on the ship would go a long way (and going by canon Dehydrated Protein Slaw tastes a lot better than it sounds). Not to mention it helps set the stage for once Entrapta arrives.
[X] Send an expedition to the Fright Zone
-[X] Send Catra and Scorpia
-[X] Recruit Entrapta
-[X] Requisition Equipment
[X] Scout near Rebellion territory.
[X] Changes in clothing.
[X] Something for entertainment.
[X] Make Adora decipher the First One writing on the ship.
-----
Going all in on the Fright Zone Expedition, because Entrapta. Other than that, equipment seems to be our biggest weak spot. Our wasteland gang has pretty basic and limited gear. Open to voting for other things though, Entrapta's the main focus.
Having the gang scout near Rebellion territory, because it's a fairly low DC (important when they won't have any leaders backing them up) and will hopefully give us some advance warning on the inevitable rescue mission.
For Adora, I figure clothing changes and something to stave off boredom are nice things we can do without causing too many issues with the rest of the gang, and putting her to work as a translator is just the most useful thing she can do. Just having her reveal that there's a large stockpile of food on the ship would go a long way (and going by canon Dehydrated Protein Slaw tastes a lot better than it sounds). Not to mention it helps set the stage for once Entrapta arrives.
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King Arthur
The Once and Future King
I'm genuinley surprised that we aren't just sleeping in the same bed.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
It's a matter of principles. You need to give Adora a bed, so that Catra can impose herself upon it. Having Adora sleep in Catra's bed doesn't work.
Also , like, the whole enemies thing.
[X] Plan SCIENCE!
Well, I'm in total agreement.
Well, I'm in total agreement.
King Arthur
The Once and Future King
Question.
Considering we are staying in the same room, how would the gang know that the furniture and decorations are for her and not, you know, us?
It seems weird that us adding, I don't know, a dresser or a poster to our own room would have the gang going "how dare she treat the prisoner better then us?"
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[X] Plan SCIENCE!
[X] Send an expedition to the Fright Zone
-[X] Send Catra and Scorpia
-[X] Recruit Entrapta
-[X] Requisition Equipment
[X] Scout near Rebellion territory.
[X] Changes in clothing.
[X] Something for entertainment.
[X] Make Adora decipher the First One writing on the ship.
This is a solid plan. SCIENCE!!
[X] Send an expedition to the Fright Zone
-[X] Send Catra and Scorpia
-[X] Recruit Entrapta
-[X] Requisition Equipment
[X] Scout near Rebellion territory.
[X] Changes in clothing.
[X] Something for entertainment.
[X] Make Adora decipher the First One writing on the ship.
This is a solid plan. SCIENCE!!
Macros
omnisciently vague councilman
- Location
- Dirac Sea
Something to keep in mind (even though I did vote for plan SCIENCE!): making Adora translate the First One writings is, until we manage to get Entrapta, the only task where we can't be sure if she's doing it correctly or not. While deception isn't exactly her strong suit, I think that given the circumstances, it isn't all that unlikely that she'll try her hand at it and mistranslate some lines or 'forget' others.
- Location
- Here
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Well, it helps that Adora is a horrible liar.
"What does this one say, Adora?"
"Um ... totally not poison! Completely safe to eat. Yup, deliciously non poisonous food. Definitely not engine fluid. Just delicious, delicious food. That is not poisonous at all."
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
The Gang is jealous they don't get to come to Ikea.
Eh, Adora wouldn't poison anyone.
Omegahugger
Inattentive Idiot
Whatever convinced you it wasn't actually delicious food?
Her terrible acting.