Chapter 16

The low humming of agrav engines and the whine of supersonic jets provided the exactly correct amount of purely awkward subliminal noise to the cabin. Luz and Scorpia sat across from one another in the not-quite silence, rocking occasionally with the juddering turbulence the flier cut through as they screamed northward from the Fight Zone and towards the polar reaches of Etheria. Luz tapped her fingers on her knees and tried to not look at Scorpia. Scorpia glowered at her. Luz tapped her fingers in another pattern, then tried to look at the ceiling above Scorpia’s head. Scorpia glowered at her. Luz shifted in her seat, trying to lean on an armrest and look casual. Scorpia glowered at her.

What did I do!? Luz thought to herself. Last time I checked, we got on like two evil houses on fire, except one of the evil houses was just pretending to be evil. And the other one ... might just be mislead. I genuinely cannot tell.

Scorpia glowered at her more.

“Sooooo ... oooo ... ooooooo...” Luz said, dragging the word out as long as she could.

The door to the cabin opened and Catra stuck her head in. “You two still alive back here?” she asked.

“Soy una zanahoria lesbiana!” Luz exclaimed and sprang out of her chair, tripped on her own feet, and crashed to the deck plating.

Catra’s brow furrowed and she shook her head, walking over to glower down at her. “Don’t act like a dummy, we’re almost there,” she said, sighing. “What am I gonna do with you, Noceda?” She asked, gently prodding Luz in the belly with her bare toe, before she turned and stalked from the room.

Luz flushed, her heart hammering from the Catra jump scare and her own guilty nerves. A gay carrot? Really? She had no idea where her brain even came up with these things sometimes. She remained on the floor for a long moment, but before she could say anything to Scorpia, the low whine of the turbines and the faint hum of the agrav engines shifted and her belly did flops that had nothing to do with her longterm goals and nervous guilt.

They were coming down.

She got to her feet just as the flier settled down with a creaking, crunching noise and the back of the cabin swung down, a gangplank revealing a blisteringly cold white wasteland, shrouded in arctic night and lit by glimmering aurora patterns in the sky – purples and blacks. Not for the first time did Luz hunt for stars or constellations. But this time, there was no doubt at all – the Fright Zone had enough lights on, even at night, that there was enough light pollution (the tenth worst kind of pollution in her book) that the stars might have been washed out ... but...

No.

Etheria had no stars. None at all.

“Where are the stars?” Luz whispered.

“What’s a star?” Entrapta asked, curiously, as she walked down the gangplank, having emerged from the cockpit with Catra. Behind her, Scorpia grunted as she dragged the massive crate that she had loaded in the first place. They were out in a wild wilderness of ice and snow – without so much as a building in sight. Luz shivered and started to tug her Evil Horde issued jacket tighter around her body, wishing she had her hoodie. Not that her hoodie would have helped – the jacket was actually shockingly warm and threaded through with tech that could take the bite out of even more freezing weather. No, it was because it was a deeply sinister jacket. All red and black and gray. It made her look like she was actually part of the bad guys.

“Uh...” Luz said, but before she could even begin to think of where to start on what a star was, the crate was opening up and the device within came trundling out. It looked a bit like a gigantic drill bit on a circular platform, surrounded by spidery limbs – save that it was exactly that, only even bigger than Luz had thought possible. It thumped forward, twirled itself around and then dropped its drill bit into the ground and started to chunk the ice into a fine powder, spraying it up and to the sides. More bots scuttled off the shuttle as Catra tapped at her handheld tablet – frowning as wind ruffled her hair.

“All right,” she said. “The base should be up in a few hours – but we can make that faster if you get to work, minions.” She smirked, slightly.

Scorpia and Entrapta both shot Catra a look – Scorpia looking a bit hurt, Entrapta more curious. “Am I a minion?” she asked.

“Yes, Entrapta, you are a minion,” she said.

“Is Noceda a minion?” Entrapta asked.

“Yes, Noceda is also a minion,” Catra said, her cheeks darkening ever so slightly.

“Well, I kinda thought of myself more as plucky comic relief,” Luz said, putting her hand on her chest.

Scorpia muttered something under her breath – whisked away by the wind and by the grumbling of the drill. Luz felt her own stomach do a little flop despite not hearing it, and Catra ignored it: “Well, if you’re the plucky comic relief, then go and tell some jokes while you’re at it.”

Luz rubbed her chin as she turned towards the bots, who had already started to lever up the metal walls and lower into place the self-expanding foundations for the pre-fabricated base. “Uh ... knock knock!” she said, walking over to pick up one of the sealant spraying guns and start spraying sealant to caulk the thin chinks between walls shut.

No response. Scorpia had jerked her head up and opened her mouth to respond, then had pointedly turned back to her work, her shoulders stiff. Meanwhile, Entrapta hadn’t registered it was a question. Catra, meanwhile, was just looking at her is if she couldn’t believe that Luz would go with a knock knock joke to start with.

“The Aristocrats!” Luz threw out the punchline in a desperate flail.

Catra shook her head, smiling despite herself. “Noceda.”

“Yeah?”

“Get to work.”

The base was up, running, and the drill was still drilling, by the time Luz was finally able to sit down again and take some weight off her feet. She groaned and wiggled her toes inside of her work boots and closed her eyes as she tried to math out how long she had been in here. Not here, as in, the north pole but here as in the world of Etheria.

“Months, at least,” she muttered. “With the two week snooze, then finding this place, then convincing Hordak to come this way.”

It hit her then that ... she hadn’t really sat down and worried about Amity, or King, or Eda, or her mom, for almost a week and a half. It had all been prepping the mission and studying Etherian technology with Entrapta and ... and...

“Hey Noceda.”

The door to the break room shut with a click and Luz jerked her head up to see Catra was at the door, wearing her jacket. She had put on boots for the work, but those were off now. She liked having her feet bare, even on cold metal like this. Her eyes glittered in the semi-darkness of the pre-fabricated chamber, and Luz felt her entire body going tingling. Each time she thought to herself this was a bad idea ... and each time...

Catra leaned forward and kissed her, hard. She kissed her into the chair so intensely that Luz was surprised she didn’t end up as a puddle on the metal grating. Her mouth pulled back to give Luz a chance to gasp for air like a fish – but then Catra was in for another kiss, hands on the armrests. The chair rocked back onto its hind legs and Luz let herself just wallow in the pleasure of the long, fierce kiss. When Catra pulled back again, she was thrumming with that delicious, delicious purring noise she let out when she was kissed good.

“A-Are ... uh, Force Captains ... allowed to, uh, smootch their underlings?” Luz asked, dazedly.

“Eh,” Catra said, shrugging one shoulder. “Who cares. It’s not like I went to Force Captain orientation to find out.”

“R-Right!” Luz said, blushing and then whispering. “S-So, uh. Uh. How long until we think we, uh, find the First One’s tech that Entrapta thinks is here?”

“Who knows,” Catra said, drawing away and shrugging. “Me? I’ve ... got a few angles for this mission. Ways to make sure it all comes out right for me.” She grinned and started to pace back and forth. “You know there’s a pretty good chance that if we’re active here long enough, it might pull Adora and her friends?”

Luz nodded, her throat going dry. “Hope not.”

“Why? Scared that Adora might beat you up for being my ... friend?” Catra asked, arching an eyebrow.

“N-Not quite,” Luz said, though now that Catra had mentioned it, that was an extremely normal and reasonable thing to be worried about. Triply so when said Adora was able to become a seven, eight foot tall living warrior goddess who could throw tanks around. Luz had seen the security footage. She shifted in the chair, and risked pushing herself to her feet. Fortunately, her knees had not completely turned to water. She hesitated. “H-Have you ever considered...”

“Hmm?” Catra asked.

“Have you ever considered, like, ditching the Horde?” Luz asked, her stomach knotting. Catra gave her a funny look, her ears perking back.

“And ... go where?” she asked, quietly. “The Crimson Waste? Beast Island?”

“I mean, uh, it might be nicer than the Fright Zone,” Luz said. She stepped over, then took one of Catra’s hands in hers. She slid her thumb along the back of a finger, to the tip, and very gently squeezed where Catra’s claws might snick out. Catra tensed, then shivered at the touch, while Luz murmured softly. “And then ... well, you wouldn’t have to keep fighting Adora, right?”

Catra snorted, yanking her hand back. “I didn’t start this fight,” she said, her voice fierce. “Adora was the one who left me.”

Luz opened her mouth to respond – but then closed it. Thoughts screeched through her head.

Stupid. Stupid. If Catra leaves, then how do you get access to Hordak’s portal machines?

Then.

But if she stays...

Catra put her hand on Luz’s cheek. Her voice was soft. “We’re going to win, you know?” she leaned in, her forehead pressing to Luz’s. “You’re ... like ... a smarter, more practical Entrapta. You two can work together to make some First One machine that will make all the Princesses seem like nothing but sparkle and glitter.” Her lips skinned back in something that was, in no way, a smile. “Then we’ll see who leaves who, right?”

Luz leaned in and kissed that razor sharp expression, wanting to wipe it off Catra’s face. She tilted her head and slid her hands along Catra’s sides, then around to the small of her back, pulling her into the embrace as she stood up on her tip toes to make the kiss even fiercer. Catra leaned into her – and then pushed away, panting and laughing. “That’s the spirit, Noceda.”

“Mmm, well,” Luz said, looking aside. “W-We should get to the control room.”

“Or the bunk room,” Catra whispered in her ear.

Luz’s cheeks burned.

“It is pretty cold out there.” Catra’s breath was a promise of not just warmth, but of purring and pleasure and caresses.

This is a bad idea... Luz thought, again.

The bunk room had two beds for four girls. Two girls were missing. That left one bed, with two girls in it. Catra was laying on her back, her thighs scissored around Luz’s neck and shoulders, while Luz simply feasted, her eyes closing as she lapped at Catra’s sex, her tongue delving deep inside of her. Catra’s claws bit into the steel wall above her head and she rocked her hips in time with Luz’s eager, eager licking. Or maybe it was desperate? Luz was honestly not sure herself – was she licking so eagerly because she wanted to pleasure Catra, that she wanted to taste that tangy explosion when Catra reached one of her climaxes? Or was it desperate need to feel something other than fear and cold and paranoia?

Maybe it was both. She drank Catra down as Catra let out a yowling cry and a gasp: “Luz! Luz! Luz! Ah!”

She rocked her hips several more times, her tail lashing against the side of the bunk bed. Her legs scissored even tighter and for a heady second, Luz was a bit worried that the last thing she would ever do in this life was eat catgirl pussy.

Worth it, she thought hazily. But before her neck snapped, Catra slowly relaxed her legs, looking lazily pleased with herself as Luz pulled her mouth away from her sex, licking her lips slowly.

“Mmm, you are so good at that,” Catra whispered, her voice husky with her cries of pleasure. Luz’s smile was cockeyed as she crawled atop Catra, then slipped to the side, laying next to her. Catra’s hand caressed her breast, stroking her awkwardly by crooking her arm around – and then, with no better option, Catra rolled onto her side, nose to nose to Luz. Her eyes were half closed as she slid her hand wonderingly along Luz’s naked body. The biting chill of the base was beginning to creep back in – so Luz reached down, yanking the thin blanket up and above their heads, entombing both girls in warmth.

In that warm darkness, Catra’s eyes seemed to practically glow. Luz could see, from the way they flicked, just where she was looking.

“You’re beautiful, you know?” Catra whispered. Her hands slid along Luz’s hip, up to her breasts. Her fingers found Luz’s hard nipples and gently teased them, drawing a soft whine from Luz before she could stop herself.

“Shut up, gata girl,” Luz said, laughing softly. “Ah. You’re getting mushy.”

“Mmm,” Catra purred. In the darkness of their blankets, her mouth found one of Luz’s nipples and she sucked, greedily. Her hands grabbed onto Luz’s ass, drawing her in close, and the fuzz of her hair and the twitch of one of her ears tickled Luz’s nose just enough to make her giggle and squirm. Which, of course, was when the door to the bunk room opened and Scorpia’s voice cut in onto the conversation.

“If you’re not too busy, Force Captain, we have something.”

Catra swept the blankets back and sat up, totally unconcerned with the fact she was naked and in the middle of banging a subordinate. Luz, being quite possibly the only person in the room who might have heard the term ‘ethical code of conduct’, squeaked and tried to cover her breasts with her arm while also hiding her face with her other hand.

“What’s up?” Catra asked.

“Well, I didn’t want to interrupt you,” Scorpia said, her voice fully sweet – but it was sweet in a way that rang falsely to Luz’s ears. “If you want, I can come back later.”

“No, I’ll be right there,” Catra said. “Give me a second.”

“Well, if you’re sure?” Scorpia asked.

“Go, go,” Catra said, waving her hand.

The door swung shut as the big scorpion woman stepped back out again, leaving Luz’s entire face on fire and her hair smoking with pure concentrated mortifons, the particle that carries mortification. “D-Do you think she’s mad?” Luz whispered.

“Nah, Scorpia’s a big ... what do you call that thing where you’re nice to everyone?” Catra asked, her voice dry.

“A cinnamon bun,” Luz provided.

“A moron,” Catra grumbled.

Luz bounced from foot to foot as she tried to dress while exposing herself to as little cold floor as possible. “You shouldn’t treat Scorpia like that,” she said, her voice firm. “She’s a hard working good egg, and butch! Butch means beautiful, if you ask me.” Luz hopped again, then hopped one last time, finally getting her sock on. She glowered as Catra languidly rolled from the bed and landed, bare feet, on the floor. She smirked up at her.

“What, do you have a crush on her?” she asked, her eyes glinting.

“I-I am trying to keep my philandering down to just one girl, not ... rack them up like I’m ... uh...” Luz hesitated. “Like a ... a girl collector!”

Catra snorted and stood. She prodded Luz’s chest. “You know, you keep calling this cheating – but your girlfriend doesn’t seem to be super keen on finding you,” she said.

“It’s another universe!” Luz said, stung by this indictment on Amity’s character.

“You got here,” Catra said, shrugging one shoulder. “I think if she’s willing to let you slip through her fingers, she can’t complain if you find a way better girl to shack up with.” She smirked, grabbing onto Luz’s ass through her leggings. Luz’s cheeks burned and she gave her a playful punch to the shoulder.

“Better?”

“I mean, I am pretty awesome,” Catra said, grinning with such over the top smugness, such complete confidence, that it was impossible to not burst into giggles. Luz slid her arms around Catra’s neck, pressing her forehead against her, her voice soft.

“Well, I will say, getting with a catgirl has been a top ten fantasy of mine,” she whispered just as playfully back. “Right under getting with an elf girl, and right above makin’ it with a vampire girl.”

“Damn, Noceda,” Catra said, laughing softly. “And here you said you weren’t a girl collector.”

“Its different when it’s fan fiction.”

“I have no idea what that is,” Catra murmured. She leaned in and kissed Luz.

It took them, in the end, almost twenty minutes to actually get to the command and control room. Catra looked utterly unrepentant, while Luz waved and blushed and muttered a shy ‘sorry’ at the oh so chipper ‘glad you finally made it’ from Scorpia.

Entrapta hadn’t even noticed.

“So, what did you find?” Catra asked.

“A layer of substrate in the sub-glacier levels,” Entrapta said, cheerfully.

“What about that?” Luz asked, her attention drawn to a momentary waver on the screen.

“Hmm!” Entrapta swung her gaze to the left. “That appears to be a movement on the motion tracker. I wouldn’t have even noticed that – it’s too intermittent! Good eye, Luz!” She reached back with her hand, pawing at the air, until Luz helpfully slapped palm to palm – she had taught Entrapta the move and Entrapta seemed to only partially get it.