Horde Wars

The Battle of Candella was the first major battle of the war. On August 24th, 2002 the Horde ships began to approach Candella. They were spotted just before 3AM, and Candella launched the first defensive sally within the hour. Despite some early success, the Horde proved to be insurmountable and Candella was defeated the following day.   The Battle of Candella marked a turning point in the war. Unlike the take over of Skaleria, the kingdom of Candella was left in ruins, and has never fully recovered. The battle also claimed the lives of Queen Serenia and King Ambrose, along with much of the island's civilian population. This proved the Hordes' ambitions outside Skeleria to the rest of the world, and in response, many kingdoms came together, led by Brightmoon and formed the Princess Alliance in defense of their kingdoms.   The Kingdom of Halfmoon however believed a more proactive approach was required, and rather than joining the Alliance, they started engaging in active conflict with the Horde. The conflict lasted 2 years, with grievous losses on both sides and culminated in the Siege of Old Halfmoon, ending with the city in ruins, The Horde then went so far as to institute regulations calling for the execution of any citizen of Halfmoon that could be found which ended up with of 90% of the kingdoms population dead, just to make an example of what happens when someone fights back, and the capture of the young child of Queen Felina. The majority of the survivors fled into the mountains and ended up founding the hidden city of New Halfmoon.   After the fall of Halfmoon, the Horde continued it’s attacks on other kingdoms, but in a series of costly victories, the Princess Alliance was able to hold it’s advance. The final of these battles occurred within the eaves of the woods and ended up being a pyrrhic victory for the Alliance, the Horde was pushed back, but it cost the Alliance greatly, including the capture and attempted execution of the husband of Queen Angella of Brightmoon, King Micah.   While this blunted the Hordes advance, the fractures within the Alliance became untenable and over the next few years of reduced conflict with the Horde, many thought that threat had been contained and dissolved the Alliance, preferring to take sole responsibility for their own lands.   This was discovered to be a false hope, however, during the Battle of Plumeria.   In 2015 after a series of renewed skirmishes on the Plumerian border. An invasion of the kingdom commenced, the Horde having spent the quiet years rebuilding their forces. The Plumerian monarchy gathered their resources in a tremendous effort to hold their kingdom against the Horde. The forces of Plumeria met the Horde army on March 21st, leading to a devastating battle that claimed the life of almost everyone on both sides including the beloved princess of Plumeria, Princess Blossom.   Despite the battle ending in a pyrrhic victory for the Horde the strategic victory was the Plumerian’s as the entire Horde invasion force had been wiped out and they were unable to continue their conquest of the kingdom.   For the next two years skirmishes occurred along the border with the Horde, but neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage. This changed in late 2017, when, on WinterFest morning, the large city of Galcar was destroyed. This city sat on the border of Plumeria and Dryl, and gave the Horde an extreme advantage in the northeastern lands.   A year later in 2018 Queen Angella and (then-Princess) Queen Glimmer  found Princess She-Ra (Adora) in the aftermath of a Horde raid on Thaymor. This started Queen Angella on the journey to reform the Princess Alliance. The first kingdom to join, after Brightmoon and the princess She-Ra, being Princess Perfuma of Plumeria after the Alliance was able to play a decisive role in the destruction of one of the Horde outposts that remained after the failed invasion three years prior.   Two months after the Princess Alliance was reformed, Force Captain Catra Meowmeow led an attack against the Salinean Seagate. Though largely untrained at the time, Princess She-Ra, Queen Glimmer, Bow Reccula, and were able to hold the kingdom thanks to the Sword of Power’s ability to heal the gate. This resulted in Princess Mermista joining the Princess Alliance.   The Princess Alliance was soon joined by Princess Entrapta of Dryl after a diplomatic visit by Princess Glimmer.
Later that month, during a state visit to the kingdom of Mystacor, the Princess She-Ra was able to prevent the attempted corruption of the Lunar ceremony that protected the island by Horde Forces.   In late 2018 during the decennial Princess Prom, Force Captain Catra and Princess Scorpia led an attack on the Kingdom of Snows. Using heat bombs to damage the Castle, they kidnapped Princess Glimmer and Bow, and stole the First Ones artifact known as the Sword of Protection in the commotion. This breach of the peace led Princess Frosta to decide to join the Princess Alliance.   The newly formed Alliance launched a daring rescue mission into the heart of the Fright Zone, freeing both Bow and Princess Glimmer, and recovering the Sword of Protection, but tragically, in their escape, Princess Entrapta was thought to have been killed by one of the Fright Zones automatic defences.   This loss caused many within the Alliance to question its efficacy and like their forebears before them, leave the Alliance and return to their kingdoms to protect their own.   In early 2019 Princess Entrapta, thinking she had been betrayed by the Alliance, joined the Horde.   In November of 2019 Horde experimentation on the Black Garnet reached its penultimate stage, Princess Entrapta discovered that the runestones acted within a network and that by drawing power towards one, you could weaken the others. Doing this threw off the balance and freak storms consumed much of Etheria. One of the consequences of this was the freezing over of the whispering woods, which had, up until then, been an insurmountable barrier keeping any large Horde force from launching an attack on the palace of Brightmoon. With the woods frozen over, Force Captain Catra launched an attack on the weakened palace. With Queen Angella forced to protect and strengthen the Moonstone, the defense was left to Princess Glimmer, leading She Ra, Bow, Princess Nettossa and Princess Spinerella. Despite a stout defense, the protectors of the Moonstone were almost overwhelmed, saved only just by the timely reinforcement of Princesses Mermista, Frosta and Perfuma, and Sea Hawk. Together, the reunited Princess Alliance rallied and forced back the Horde attack. Their unity worked to magically break the hold the Hordes machines had on the black garnet and restore the balance of Etheria’s environment.   After the attack, the Rebellion started a large recruitment drive to bring in people from across Etheria to lead in its defense.   In July 2020, the new soldiers of the Rebellion got their first chance to prove their mettle when a small squad managed to foil a Horde attack on the Salinean town of Seaworthy.   Despite the Princess Alliance's success in the battle of Brightmoon, the damage done by the Horde’s meddling was not so easily undone, and until the Woods recovered from the damage they had sustained, the Rebellion had to patrol their eaves from a number of attacks, including First Ones tech infused bots.   During this time, and due to the shift of Princess Entrapta's affiliation, the Horde occupied the towns and cities of Dryl, imposing martial law. Curfews were introduced. The mines and factories of Dryl were forced to turn production to help the war efforts. Despite this, and the harsh punishments handed out by their brutal occupiers, there were factions of civilians who resisted the occupation often at dire consequence.   In July 2020, during the early days of the occupation, the Rebellion got intel that Force Captain Catra would personally be leading troops at the Crypto Castle and lead a mission to capture her. Despite the initial success of the mission, she was rescued by a team led by Force Captain Scorpia.   In August 2020, the Rebellion went to investigate the farming village of Alwyn and found the remnants of a First Ones outpost that had been projecting messages and had frightened the villagers into fleeing.   Later in August the Rebellion received intelligence that the Horde was active in the Northern Reach and sent a team up to contest them. This team was able to force the Horde to withdraw, but not before the Horde was able to recover a sizable amount of First Ones tech.   An attempted rescue mission for members of the Rebellion captured in the Northern Reach went disastrously wrong, saved only by the intervention of Shadow Weaver, who used the Rebels as a method of escaping her own confinement and defecting from the Horde.   In September of 2020, the Rebellion went on a research mission to the Crimson Wastes, but while there the battalion was ambushed and over half of them, including the hero She Ra were captured by Force Captain Catra and taken back to the Fright Zone. Two members of the Rebellion, Artemis Selenis and Isajute Meowster defected and joined the Horde at this time.   Also during that month, the Horde led an attack on Mystacor, conquering and occupying the island.   On the 23rd of October 2020, the Horde attempted to open a portal causing time-space to start unraveling, this was only prevented when Queen Angella sacrificed herself to remove the Sword of Protection that was acting as the key holding the portal open, trapping her between dimensions but saving all of Etheria.   Queen Glimmer was crowned on the 14th of October.   On the 20th of December, the Rebellion led an attack on the occupying forces at Mystacor and successfully liberated the island from Horde control.   In January of 2021 a small smuggling ring was discovered in Dryl and Horde Squads 1312 and 2319 were sent to eliminate them. A small rebellion squad, at the direction of Artemis Selenis, then a Force Captain in the Horde was able to arrive just in time to evacuate the district, saving all 9000 residents from the Horde’s retaliatory shelling.   Later that same month, Force Captain Stone, the killer of Princess Blossom of Plumeria, was captured and held in Brightmoon, but was able to escape shortly after.   In February of 2021 Horde raids on outlying villages accelerated, two attacks of note were the diversion at Elbaron, where several Rebellion members were captured, luring Adora into a trap that she was only narrowly able to escape from thanks to the escape of the captured Rebels who then went to her aid. This attack served as cover for a small unit from the Horde who razed the village of Alwyn to the ground, leaving no survivors.   The deployment of new bots from a hidden Horde base ended with a battle between Horde Squads 1312 and 2319, and Rebellion forces, the Rebellion being forced into retreat, but in secret Queen Glimmer discovered the Horde base, destroying it and ending the threat in the woods.   During March of 2021, Horde Squads 1312 and 2319, and Rebellion forces were trapped together within the Crystal Castle.   Later that month, the Rebellion attacked several Horde Outposts along the edge of the woods, resulting in a devastating defeat for Rebellion forces, with many taken captive, however a rescue mission days later saved all captives except for Indra who was taken back to the Fright Zone.   On April the 18th, while the Rebellion was distracted, their communications cut off by the Rebel thought to be Nikko-Skai, revealed instead to be the changeling known as Double Trouble. The Horde razed the city of Salineas, with Princess Mermista being killed in the defense.   Over the next several weeks, Horde forces occupied or destroyed the majority of towns and cities in the kingdom, spreading inland toward the rest of the continent.   The defection of Princess Scorpia and her subsequent arrival in Brightmoon revealed Princess Entrapta to be alive, having been sentenced to Beast Island alongside the child Double Trouble had been impersonating and several Rebel soldiers.   A rescue mission using a recovered First Ones vessel led to the rescue of Princess Entrapta, the presumably deceased King Micah, and all the Rebel Soldiers sent there.   The Etherian Horde was destroyed on the 29th of May 2021 when Queen Glimmer balanced the planet, allowing the rogue AI Light Hope to transport Etheria out of Despondos and attempt to fire the Heart of Etheria, before being prevented and terminated by Adora. Now back in realspace, Dryl and the Fright Zone were bombarded by an armada of ships under the control of Horde Prime, wiping out the majority of the Horde, ending the First Horde War, and starting the second.