Lonnie should have been happy.

The Horde has stabilized from its state of near-total collapse following Hordak's death. Defections had slowed to almost nothing due to the combination of Kyle's iron hand at discipline -she still couldn't believe she lived in a world where the meek, timid boy she'd known since childhood had grown into a source of fear to anyone let alone so many- & the morale boost produced by the string of victories over the hated Rebels. The sense of desperation, of impending doom had finally lifted & in its place stood a renewed sense of certainty that final victory could & would be achieved. That Adora, the Dragon would lead them to fulfill the vision of their founder. They owed it to him after all, for all he'd given to them, for all he'd taught them, for giving his very life to save them & the entire world from the portal incident.

"Not that the Princess seemed to care" she thought bitterly. She could still recall the surge of pure, unadulterated rage that had surged through her when she'd read the report detailing how those miserable bitches had actually thrown a fucking party to celebrate the death of the man who'd saved their worthless asses from the disaster caused by ONE OF THEIR OWN!

Even now she found she had to put down the file she was reading out of fear she'd tear it to pieces like she had the report of their little party. (Thankfully standard opeating procedure meant they had several copies) Such anger, no matter how immensely deserved, only stood to distract her from her duty. The Princess may believe themselves exempt from responsibility but as a Hordesmen Lonnie held herself to a higher standard. She had to, the vision of a united Etheria for the common man & woman wouldn't come to pass if they allowed themselves to be overcome as Princess Perfuma had her fear or Queen Angella had with her grief.

(Though Lonnie could admit, to her own surprise, she could actually muster some sympathy for the queen of Bright Moon. She'd lost people she'd known too, elder troops she'd looked up to. She knew the sting of loss & how it made it hard to want to continue. But thankfully her family in the Horde had shown her that you honored the fallen by fighting in their memory. Not wallowing in it like Angella had done for a decade while her citizens -even her own daughter- had to fight her battles)

So she took a calming breath & returned to the task at hand. Ever since Adora's assumed leadership over the Horde, Lonnie had taken it upon herself to....keep an eye on certain members of the old guard. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, she merely expected to find some of the elder generation bristling at the idea of someone so much younger than them. She hadn't told Adora what she'd been doing at first but her friend had been grateful to find out. Now she'd taken the final step, assuming the head of the Horde's proper intelligence network from Force Captain Mantenna who had gleefully accepted Adora's invitation to head the engineering department.

It turns out there was already a limited network in place to monitor "troublesome individuals" namely Shadow Weaver but it was woefully inadequate for what she needed. However when combined with her own private efforts it had become much more up to the task of monitoring for dissent in the ranks. She was pleasantly surprised to discover just how little there was to be found. Sure some -such as Octavia & Grizzlor- had expressed doubts but they'd seemingly been won over by Adora's successful campaign.

What was found in greater abundance was confusion but even that was being mitigated. The confusion as to why they were avoiding the Runestone Kingdoms in combat was being mitigated by the sheer hatred for the Rebels. If giving the Princesses a brief respite was required to finally give those murderous cowards the deaths they deserved, it was worth it. That seemed to be the consensus at least.

Likewise the consensus was with accepting these treaties with the Crownless. While there had been some engagements with neighboring nations in the past, the scarcity of them combined with the common knowledge of how they'd been abused by the Princesses in the past had created a sense of....well not affection but at least understanding towards them in the mind of the average Hordesmen. This was admittedly a somewhat more divisive issue. Some had voiced that Mystacor should be exempt due to the far more extensive campaigns against the nation of mages. Others more wisely pointed out that since the current Mage-Monarch was the sister of the late King of Bright Moon, it may be a waste of time to ask at all. There were those who argued against peace with Blackmoor -due to how extensively they supported the Rebellion- & the Twin kingdoms -who were to cowardly to fight but gladly supplied the Rebels with weapons- & there was a persistent rumor of a trooper suggesting peace with Dryl only to be assaulted by their own squadmates but on the whole, peace with the Crownless was seen as acceptable if it meant being able to give their full focus on the Rebels & Princesses.

But that was what worried Lonnie. Because what the average Hordesmen didn't know, but Lonnie had learned from Adora herself, was that if taken to its planned conclusion, this peace would indeed extend to the Princesses. Thankfully there were no plans to make peace with the Rebels but Lonnie was growing steadily concerned as to what the reaction would be when the wider Fright Zone found about the intention to make peace with the Princesses who had murdered Lord Hordak. Honestly it was enough to make Lonnie question if Adora knew what the hell she was thinking. Or at least it would except that she was well aware that it wasn't her friends idea.

Which finally brought her attention back to the previously discarded file. The file of the woman who had come up with this most unlikely of plans...and was somehow pulling it off. Lonnie once again reread the information before her.

Name: Shakra Blackstar

Age: 60

Species: Human

Hair: Black turning gray

Eyes: Light blue

Gender: Female

Birthplace: Scorpion Hill, Fright Zone

Education level: Apprenticed to seamstress in youth. Self educated as adult after joining the Horde.

Languages spoken: Scorhill (first) Mountainflower, Perfect Speech.

Length of service: 25 years (first generation)

Type of service: Frontline soldier (formerly) Intelligence operative (formerly) Diplomatic envoy

Notable campaigns/engagements: Fright Zone civil war (anti-govenment insurgent) Vargon campaign

Physical/Mental disabilities: Right arm & left leg permanently damaged in Siege of Vargon. Arm requires use of brace for limited use. Leg requires use of cane to walk beyond limited distances.

Reporting officer(s): As a soldier: Force Captain Selkies (deceased) In Intelligence:reported directly to Intelligence director Mantenna. As diplomatic envoy: Reports directly to Lord Adora.

Known associates of note: Force Captain Dreer. Force Captain Octavia. Force Captain Grizzlor.

Biography: Born to a baker father & a mother who worked as a wetnurse, she & her older brother Marcus had what was considered a standard childhood in the Pre-Horde Fright Zone capital. The first truly notable event occurred when she was only 11 years old. She witnessed her brother being trampled by a group of noblemen on their horses. Reports indicate this happened because he was attempting to push another child, a young girl, out of their path. He was 14. The family demanded justice but the trial was thrown out, officially for lack of evidence but it was widely believed to be due to pressure from the riders influential families. This had a traumatic effect on the family with the mother falling into a depression & the father increasingly expressing anti-government views."

"The father became a frequent sight at protests held in the capital with Shakra occasionally accompanying him. The father was picked up by authorities on repeated charges of anti-crown activities though the charges never amounted to anything. Eventually the fathers activities began placing particular focus on a noble named Sargon D'vine one of the nobles involved with the death of Marcus. The campaign against the D'vine scion lasted for years until one day Mr Blackstar failed to return from work, never to be seen again. The case was never solved but Shakra & Mrs Blackstar both were known to insist that D'vine was involved somehow. Mrs Blackstar passed away a few years later due to a bout of pneumonia."

"Shakra herself became an apprentice to a seamstress & worked under her teacher for several years. The major turning point in her life came at age 25 when she took part in a protest against food scarcity in the city's poorer districts. Troops were sent in to break the demonstration up -evidence suggests King Unita was not consulted on this decision- resulting in the protest turning into a full blown riot. Eventually the City Watch was beaten back & evidence shows Shakra playing a hand in setting up barricades in order to repeal further assault by royal forces."

"She remained active throughout the civil war that followed earning a reputation as a competent if unspectacular soldier, serving interchangeably as a scout, messenger & frontline soldier as needed. After Lord Hordak aided in the final overthrow of the Scorpioni royal family, Shakra became part of the founding generation of Hordesmen. She would go on to serve in the campaign against the final Duke of Vargon again serving in a number of roles. Her squad was placed in the first wave through the walls of the capital city. Her squad took part in heavy fighting in which she sustained the injuries outlined above. She was nearly registered as being "unfit for duty" but she protested so vehemently that it drew the attention of Lord Hordak himself."

"After listening to her pleas that she could still be of service, his Lordship made the rather surprising decision to assign her to the Intelligence agency. She set about proving herself with an almost desperate determination. She took part in the locating of former royal Intelligence operatives for retainment, vetting of defectors to the Hordes cause -notably this is how she met both Dreer & Octavia- and proved to be adept at finding targets for conversion as well as potential sources of information. As the years went by, Shakra would begin to push for certain reforms that earned her the attention of Shadow Weaver. Chief among these was her belief that the Horde should pursue diplomatic relations with the Crownless nations as well as critiquing the Horde strategy of the Horde offensives against all Runestone Kingdoms at once. While she never pushed these arguments with enough frequency to earn the witch's wrath, she nevertheless was looked upon by the former second in command with a certain degree of mistrust."

"By the time of the Portal Incident she had established herself as something of a second in command to Director Mantenna -if only due to his rather infamous lack of interest in the workings of his own department- & was directly responsible for turning in several members of Intelligence who she discovered plotting to defect. It was this action that convinced Force Captain Mantenna to allow her to take part in Lord Adora's Idea submission program. Her submitted proposal was a modified version of a previously expressed idea, the pursuing of peace with the Crownless nations. She was given a trial-run with Galacia in which she proved successful. In the weeks since, she has signed subsequent treaties with Octopus Cove, Seaworthy, the Federation of Phlax, & most recently the Trolls of Spikeheart. Is currently continuing on mission of peace with othe Crownless nations."

"File will be updated upon further development"

Lonnie placed the file back on her desk. She had read it several times & her thoughts had wavered each time she'd done so. By all accounts, Shakra was a loyal Hordesmen & had been since the very beginning. And yet she had also developed a reputation for advocating strategies that ran contrary to Lord Hordak's vision for the war effort. And while her plan for peace with the Crownless was clearly a belief she'd held for some time, there was no previous mention of peace with the Princesses. Was that a recent addition or did she just not feel safe mentioning it before now? And if that was the case than what had changed to embolden her?

And the question that was giving Lonnie the most pause, how much did the old woman know about Adora's journey north? She hadn't mounted much of an argument when Adora announced her intent to join her on the road to Phlax. Was that simply her agreeing with her Lord's wishes or did she know more than she'd let on? Her surprise had seemed genuine in the moment but after nearly two decades in spywork, surely she could fake a bit of shock if she wanted to. And what, if anything did she know about the Runestone Adora had brought back.

(Lonnies suppressed a shiver as she remembered Adora introducing her to what she called her "sister in sin", the sheer reverence & love she seemed to hold for the large glowing gem. She forced the memory down before it could go further)

Lonnie had a lot of questions & a lot of them were centered around this Shakra woman. Perhaps the wisest thing would be to try & get information straight from the source? Yes a "chance meeting" could shed some light on quite a few things, or at least the older woman might reveal some of her thought process regarding this plan of hers. She could do it to, Shakra had returned from her visit to the Trolls & Adora had granted her extended leave due to an apparently harrowing encounter she'd had along the way.

Yes, perhaps it was time Lonnie & Shakra had a nice chat.