Chapter 43: An Angry and Cunning Lioness
Scarlet ducked underneath a flaming fist before shooting out her leg and landing a blow against her opponent's side, making them grunt before they wrapped an arm around her leg.
She withheld a gasp as her opponent leaned back and began pulling her upwards. Before she had time to recollect herself at suddenly being upside down, she was slammed into the ground.
She pushed magic to her feet before she zoomed forward about 10 feet before pushing against the ground with her hands. She landed on her feet after doing a twist in the air and quickly got back into her fighting stance with her feet apart and her hands ready to quickly move if needed.
She and her opponent glowed orange before dashing towards each other, Scarlet with electricity coming off of her hands and her opponent with fire.
"Finished!" Their teacher announced.
The two of them quickly stopped, their hands a foot away from colliding with each other. They were both breathing somewhat harder than normal.
"Kai, good work on adapting to Scarlet's sudden kick. Your punches though are very telegraphed. See about joining the other class about twice a week and we can try and fix that. Maybe you'll take Tigra by surprise when she gets back."
Blue and yellow eyes focused on Scarlet next.
"Scarlet, you have already shown why kicking the side is a bad strategy if you don't pull back your leg quick enough. Tigra and I can get away with it because both of us can move about 45 mph without having to use magic or needing more than 2 or 3 seconds to get up to that speed. Good job on your Lightning Claws though. Your Hand to Hand has gotten much better since I last saw you a couple of months ago."
"Tigra has been a great teacher." Scarlet explained, smiling at the acknowledgement about her growth. "I feel like I learned more about hand to hand under her than I did throughout the Academy."
"Yeah, she's always had that effect when she's teaching someone. Regardless, show me the other spells that Tigra has been having you learn recently alongside what you've been learning."
Scarlet nodded before pulling on her magic source and feeling it grow hotter. As if she slowly got into a hot bath.
She snapped her fingers like she's seen Tigra do continuously before her entire body burned with flames.
Scarlet then snapped her fingers again before flames sputtered out of her feet and she gained about 5 feet of air. She flew around for a few seconds to show that her control of it is still shaky, seeing as she would continuously rise and fall instead of maintaining a consistent height as Tigra had written down when it regarded this spell.
She landed back on the ground before letting Fire Armor go.
"How long can you keep Fire Armor going for?"
"Alone? Probably about 5 minutes if I want it to be useful, 1 if I want to tank something like cannon fire. For Fire Step, roughly 15 minutes alone."
Her teacher nodded. "Not bad. I can keep Fire Armor going for roughly half an hour when it's useful and 5 minutes for cannon fire. Keep training your magic and it will become second nature to have certain spells activated in less than a second."
Scarlet then focused on changing that hot feeling to energy that moves quickly. It went through her entire body lightly before staying focused around her eyes, nose, and ears.
Her red eyes gained a faint orange in them.
Her teacher shot forward and Scarlet's body was moving on its own basically. Her eyes caught the fist heading towards her face and her arm moved. Her hand grabbed the fist before her head moved to the side, avoiding her other hand.
"Neuron takes next to nothing to keep up now. It works best when using Haste in order to move even quicker on a dime." Scarlet explained her observations, seeing as Tigra has been asking them to figure out which spells go well with others and vice versa with those that would go poorly together.
"Good. At this rate, you may genuinely be on the path to being the top in the magic class and physical class should you continue at the rate you're going. Dismissed! I'm not Tigra. I don't have the time to take up both of her classes for as long as she could."
As several students started to leave, Scarlet walked up to the teacher.
"Speaking of Tigra…where is she? Usually when she isn't here, she sends out a message to all of the students saying that either someone else would help out or that classes were canceled until she returned."
"The mission was given to her the same day she had to leave."
"Catra." Scarlet rolled her eyes. "I will never know Tigra as much as her Chosen does, but I know, even then, Tigra would have sent out a message saying that someone else would be teaching them. I'm grateful for you continuing the classes, but can you please either say it's classified or explain. You're good at lying, but I looked up to Tigra."
"Why is that?" Catra asked, placing a hand on her hip.
"I come from a family of high ranking soldiers and as such, there were expectations of me that I couldn't fulfill. Then suddenly, I see the Force Captain who obtained their rank within 2 months of graduation. She was practically everything that was being expected of me, so I asked for advice."
Scarlet leaned against the wall as she practically fell into memory.
"I had disillusioned her as this figure of unobtainable strength. Someone who could fight 100 soldiers single handedly at the same time. But she told me that strength is not that focused. Instead of being a better fighter or magic user, she used speed and stealth. Until that day, I didn't really acknowledge that the Horde even had stealth units. She even told me to forget about 'fairness' and 'honor' while I fight. How, in a fight to the death, those mean less than the ground you fight on. How an honorable soldier will die more times than a soldier who wants to win and come home alive. Her final piece of advice that day was to find something I was good at and strive to become the best at that."
"And what was that?"
"Hand to Hand and, apparently, magic. My original goal was to become a better hand to hand user than Tigra, but she keeps getting better. At this point, I'll have to wait until she's likely 50 for me to even stand a chance; yet even then, we'll both be out of our primes. So my new goal is simple: become someone that Tigra would have to put effort into beating. If I can't beat her, I'll make it the hardest fight she'll go up against."
Catra looked at her before giving a smirk.
"Admirable. Instead, I don't think you should give up on that first goal though. The instant you believe that you can't beat someone, that's it. You've turned a hypothetical into a fact. Keep going with that second goal, but don't give up on the first."
"Thanks."
Silence.
"So where is Tigra?"
Catra groaned lightly, hoping she steered it away from that, but apparently not.
"Sorry, but, while I can see why Tigra likes you, I don't trust you. As for now, Tigra's situation is confidential."
Scarlet looked at her before her eyes narrowed before blinking twice.
"She's been declared a traitor and sent away to get her out of the Horde's eyes in a manner that Lord Hordak could see getting rid of her in a way that isn't Beast Island."
Scarlet officially worried Catra.
"How did you come to that idea?"
"Everyone in the Horde knows that a prisoner either attempted to escape or managed to. The fact that there hasn't been a single mention of someone being shipped out of the Horde, it can be assumed that they managed to escape. It would have to be someone high up or they would have mentioned someone escaped by name. The fact that Tigra's clones suddenly left during class and no one has seen her once since then? The fact that you, the Second in Command, are suddenly taking up the class when you've been to these classes maybe once since they started? It implies something big happened suddenly. Not to mention that the clones stated that they lost their magical connection to Tigra before leaving, which paints a picture that something happened to Tigra. Thus, the prisoner and Tigra were likely related."
"Riiight. Well, it would be best that you keep that information quiet in a way that you don't get connected to such an idea."
Catra's tablet beeped, drawing her attention.
"I'm afraid I need to cut this conversation here. I've got a meeting with a General. Have a productive day, Scarlet."
"You as well, S.I.C. Catra."
The two separated before Scarlet decided on something.
'May tell people quietly about what's going on. Otherwise people will get inquisitive and that may catch Hordak's attention.'
Scarlet frowned at a sudden thought.
'Why the hell is Hordak sabotaging the Horde? With Tigra, we have someone who can fight off She-Ra, something we didn't have for nearly the entire first year of the war. It was why the Rebellion experienced a large amount of land taken back before Catra and Tigra started working around her.'
Scarlet continued walking towards her sleeping quarters with her current Squadron.
_____________
Catra walked into General Judai's office and found her sitting in her chair with a tablet in her hands.
"You wanted to speak with me?"
Judai looked up and Catra could see an emotion in her eyes plain as day.
"We need to talk about something regarding Tigra."
Catra sat down in a chair opposite to her before Judai looked up from her tablet.
"How much have you put together over what happened 2 days ago?"
"I'm not sure that it is information that you should know, confidentiality and all."
Judai rolled her eyes before pushing the tablet towards her.
Catra reached forward while keeping an eye on Judai before picking up the tablet.
On it was a video showing the Sanctum room with Tigra and Hordak in there.
She watched as they seemed to be talking before a red light filled the room and was flashing from bright red light to a dim light.
Hordak seemed to be talking animatedly before she noticed something.
Tigra suddenly seemed to slouch ever so slightly before her eyes widened. Her hands moved closer to her waist so small that she barely noticed it.
But she noticed the cuffs springing out of the ground fast enough that it was around her ankles, wrists, and one around her neck within 1/50th of a second, based on the video slowing down to show the suddenness.
"Why didn't Tigra dodge them?" Catra muttered. "She should have been able to-"
"Primal Instincts is a trait I've always had. It allows me to tell when someone nearby has ill intentions towards me. Over the years, it seems more like 'someone plans to harm me' instead of 'someone doesn't like me' kind of feeling."
'The chains.' She realized. 'They wouldn't hurt her and Hordak seems to be angry with her. Maybe she was focused on him and not worried about something coming from the floor.'
The cuffs dragged her body to the ground before the camera caught Tigra's eyes.
They went from surprised and worried to wide eyes.
Her mouth opened widely as her chest seemed to expand and contract.
Yet…her chest was slowly getting more and more contracted. Her face seemed pained and her body started getting more and more towards herself until…
A 15 year old Tigra's body curled inward as her eyes screamed terror.
Catra growled harshly as she put genuine effort into not having her claws pierce through the tablet.
It was a minute later when Tigra's eyes closed and her body went limp.
"Lord Hordak mentioned that, due to his different biology, he needed much less oxygen than the people on this planet."
Catra narrowed her eyebrows before looking at Judai.
"'This planet?' What do you mean?"
"Exactly that. Lord Hordak informed a few people about this - Shadow Weaver, myself, and two other Generals - but he's not from Etheria. He claims that there's more Horde out there. Something called the Intergalactic Horde, whatever 'Intergalactic' means. Something about trying to make a portal to get in contact with someone called Prime."
"But Etheria's been alone for nearly a millennium of recorded history." Catra muttered.
She shook her head.
"This is off topic. Why did you show me this?"
"Because this isn't how a soldier who has gone far above what they should do for their kingdom should be treated. Tigra is a soldier that, if prompted, could likely deal incredible damage to her enemies."
A sound came from the vent.
"I need a contingency. How can I get her to actually do this?"
Catra tensed slightly at hearing Hordak's voice before looking at it as Imp crawled his way out and floated over to Judai's shoulder.
Imp opened his mouth again, only for Entrapta's voice to come through.
"Hordak! Have you seen Catra? I haven't been able to find her or Tigra. Strange huh? They both should be here in the Fright Zone."
Imp closed his mouth before Hordak's voice came through again.
"You've given me a wonderful idea. How would you feel about sending Tigra to retrieve that tech you needed out in the Waste?"
Catra's body went cold at hearing just where Tigra likely was.
"Okay! I'll need to prepare our supplies-"
"No." Hordak interrupted her. "Tigra will be going alone. I have needs of your services here in the Horde and I need my Second in Command to remain here in the Zone."
Imp closed his mouth again and didn't open it.
"Lord Hordak has sent Tigra on a death mission to find something in the desert that spans a total of 5 million square miles. Somewhere we have no reports on anyone surviving out there."
"He specifically said that he wanted me here. There's no real reason for me to stay here, despite my position. It was why I've been going out with the three of them to help retrieve other First One technology." Catra noticed.
"Imp overheard Hordak saying that he needed a contingency. Now why would you be part of that?"
It sounded as if General Judai was trying to lead her there, but Catra had already ran there.
"That? I'm Tigra's contingency. It's to keep her from running from the Horde. Yet…there is no need for such a contingency. While Tigra isn't exactly loyal to whoever leads the Horde, it's still her home. Lonnie, Rogelio, Kyle, Scorpia, Entrapta, and I are here. Her students and all of her physical work pieces are here. Her spellbooks and notebooks are here. There's no real reason she wouldn't come back."
Imp opened his mouth again.
'We wouldn't want anything to happen to the Second in Command, would we?'
This time, Hordak's statement took both of them back.
"Who is he-"
"Hordak," Tigra's voice and growl caused their eyes to widen. "Think carefully about what you're about to say. I have seen my Codex entry and they are very correct about targeting my family."
Imp closed his mouth before opening again.
"That all depends on you following my conditions while out in the Wastes. You will be wearing two prison bracelets that will block roughly 60% of your magic. Should these be broken, I will be given the belief that you have abandoned us. At which point, consequences must happen."
A moment later.
"When am I going?"
"You will be going immediately. I can't have your students think that their teacher is above consequences."
Once more, Imp closes his mouth for what seems to be the last time.
"Is Hordak insane?" Catra stated as her claws twitched, extending out before sheathing once more to prevent herself from breaking something in a room that's not hers.
"Above consequences? Not only is that a flimsy excuse at best, it's hypocritical at worst! Is he saying that the years that Shadow Weaver abused several soldiers and genuinely scared over 60% of her own soldiers should have been let off with a slap on the wrists!?"
"Abuse?" Judai asked, making Catra's eyes widened. "I assumed that she was just much more strict with your squadron."
Catra scoffed. "She emotionally manipulated Adora at every step and physically and slightly emotionally tortured Tigra for nearly a decade straight. Due to both of them being her main targets, I mostly got off with thinking for a long time that I'd never be able to keep up with them."
"That's…"
"Something the three of us are trying to keep in the past." Catra informed. "We don't want to be defined by one woman. The point though, is that what? Tigra was slow on understanding a General's role after being a Captain for a year? That she was likely connected with the missing prisoner? Those two things warranted a death sentence?"
"The prisoner?"
"If it came down to it…are you with Tigra or Hordak?"
Judai took a second to look at Catra before thinning her mouth.
"Force General Tigra is my student. While I may not be able to really teach her much in combat besides a few more weaponry, she's still got some things to learn about ruling, strategy, and more political matters. I'm not leaving my student until she can lead her own future student as I am."
Catra studied her before nodding.
"You're lucky that Tigra had mostly good things to say about you. While you showed up every so often in conversation, she stated you were surprisingly someone she could trust to have her back. Time to see if she's right."
Catra handed back her tablet and messed with her own tablet before sending over a picture of Weaver.
"She's suspected to have escaped with some kind of mechanism found inside a broken badge that Tigra retrieved for her in exchange for some kind of method of figuring out if Lucy Waterscale was an actual traitor or not."
"The sudden backstepping in the video…"
"Did they happen with lies or a strong truth?"
"The strongest lie. He declared that Lucy was a traitor to her despite the evidence from nearly half the Generals saying that she couldn't be one and the other half saying that there's not enough evidence at the moment to declare her one. None of the current General's are happy with him at the moment."
Catra looked to the side before gaining a slightly concerned look.
"At the rate that Hordak is going…it won't be long until a civil war likely breaks out. If Tigra's mistake was on purpose, such as it being intentional of letting her flee, then people could make the accusation that Hordak's punishment seemed correct. However, due to her fame, speed, and her willingness to teach anyone as long as they put in the effort, many people look up to her. Let alone the fact that she's protective of anyone under her command."
Catra looked at Judai again.
"Are you aware of how and why we captured Shadow Weaver?"
"She attacked you four when you were experimenting with the Black Garnet. As for how, it isn't stated exactly but it is implied that you and Tigra took her down."
"Have you wondered why Tigra never fought against Weaver before then? Why she allowed her to torture her?"
"I'm going to make a guess that you and Adora had something to do with it?"
"Yes and no. Up to a few days before Weaver was captured, Adora and I had no real proof of what Weaver was doing to her. However, Tigra was letting her do what she was doing for one purpose: keep Weaver's attention off of us and on her. Tigra finally fought back because she had two reasons: Hordak told us that we could capture anyone who interfered with our experiments, thus Tigra had a way to take her down without getting on Hordak's bad side."
"And the other?"
"During the fight, Weaver gathered up her magical power at the time and condensed it into a rather powerful lightning attack. Strong enough that I was smelling ozone long before she fired the attack. She fired the attack straight at me, yet Tigra did not hesitate to get in front of the attack. We took her down, yet later, Weaver had an injury she didn't obtain during the fight."
Judai raised an eyebrow.
"A shattered kneecap. Not as in a broken one, but as in, the best that the medical professionals suggested was removing all of the broken pieces and replacing it with a prosthetic version. She'd never be able to run again, if she ever did, but without it, she'd be in severe pain should she try to move faster than a brisk jog."
"You're saying…"
"Tigra cares about Adora and I to an extreme. While she would likely never hurt a normal person if they were just bad mouthing us or something, Weaver is THE exception. The small amount that Tigra has been willing to talk about, Weaver only commented on her speed being good enough to run but never being able to hide from her. My best guess is that Tigra decided to perform some turn around. Now, Weaver would never really be able to run away from her. She may have escaped, but Tigra could be anywhere on the planet within 2 days. In two days, she could be near the Kingdom of Ice and be on the other side of the continent. Including 6 hours to sleep through the night. Just like everyone alive, Tigra has a monster inside her that she does her best to prevent letting loose. Why do you think she's so careful about fighting people with reputations? As in letting them live?"
"Reputations means that they are being watched."
Catra nodded.
"If she were to actually kill…Princess Glimmer. Brightmoon would mourn and cry about getting rid of the Horde. But the bigger problem is right after. The Princess Alliance came to the Fright Zone themselves to get Adora and Glimmer out of here when Shadow Weaver captured them.
Imagine them when we kill one of theirs. The Princesses just want to stop the war without losing as much as they can, but they would then be out for blood. They wouldn't rest until the Horde Lord, their Second in Command, and likely their Generals were put down before our citizens would likely be placed under a faux government where the other kingdoms were likely to be entirely in control.
And that's if they'd win. If they lost, every single person from the Horde would be labeled a monster, something that needs to be put down to the very last one. It's why she releases that fighter when she's fighting hundreds of enemies at once. If word got out that she killed hundreds of people at once, they would fear her, but wouldn't think it was targeted. If she went out and killed 3 Princesses, everyone knows who she's going after next."
Judai hummed.
"But in order for us to win this war, we'd need to take out their heavy fighters or deal such a blow that, even with their heavy fighters, they no longer want to fight."
"Let's say that Hordak was no longer in position to have a say over the war," Catra started. "Is it in our best interest to continue this war? While most of our losses in the war are our bots, that is still using quite the large amount of resources. We could be using that elsewhere while having a good amount on standby in case something starts up again."
"You suggest surrender?"
Judai looked as if saying the wrong thing could lose her respect and support.
"Not surrender." Catra took off the table. "But think critically at this part. Get rid of all of the propaganda. What is our reason for this war to continue? To risk the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers a week? The Rebellion simply wants to keep their independence, their land, their citizens safe, and to stop the kingdom that started the war. What about us?"
Judai frowned at that.
"You've just described the issue 70% of the Generals feel about the war. While we could lead a rebellion of our own and force Hordak to stop the war, it wouldn't do much. Hordak showed up on the radar only ~40 years ago. In that time, he's created: an army capable of pushing back or holding back every kingdom at almost the same time, technology that many say is just under First One tech, which is still mostly not understood by the populace, and seems to have much more experience with war than most of us likely know.
If Hordak could do all of this publicly within 40 years, despite not showing much - if any - aging, what could he do with 60 while staying hidden? The point is, even if we took him down and pushed him out, that doesn't rid us of our problem."
"Listen. What I'm suggesting is two leaders with a council." Catra laid out. "Tigra would be in charge of situations involving magic, soldier training, and diplomatic issues that need to be done in quick succession. I would be dealing with our defense, political relations with other kingdoms, and dealing with our citizens.
As for the council, we'd need those with experience in fields that neither of us have. While we may have been promoted and showed skills that made us important in this war, that's the issue. We have no experience with actual peace times, how to handle real relations with allied kingdoms, how to deal with mostly anything that can't be used for war. That's where you guys would come in. You'd be bringing up facts about your divisions - such as the Navy, Soldiers, Engineers, Sorcerers, Medics, and more. It will be your job to impress why a decision will be beneficial or detrimental to those fields. While it's not a perfect plan, it can be polished over time until we have a working method going.
How does that sound?"
Judai stayed silent for several minutes.
For which, Catra stayed silent because this was something that required heavy thoughts about.
War was all the Horde mostly knew. While no one seemed to really think about it, if there was no war, the Horde would have no clue what to do. For the most part, almost every soldier in the Horde would be thrown into the deep end at the same time.
"We need to gather a list of who will help us." Judai finally spoke. "It won't matter much if we were to replace Hordak if chaos comes soon after. Do you know anyone of importance who will follow you?"
"Force Captain Lonnie will be in our corner and she has a decent reputation with other soldiers. Force Commander Rogelio is well known with his engineer buddies. Specialist Candidate Kyle has a good relationship with over half of the current Specialists. Force Captain Scorpia would likely stand with us after seeing that Hordak would easily send anyone away, even if they're doing a good job. We have at least 60% of Tigra's students at the absolute minimum with us. Force Capatin Serena may be on our side, considering she liked Tigra." Catra listed off.
"I can get General Sukra of the Navy on our side if they can maintain their position. General Han of the Army should be with us, so long as we give the soldiers opportunities if they don't want to continue being soldiers." Judai thought on her side of things.
Judai was quiet a moment later before asking a question Catra wasn't looking forward to.
"What about Entrapta?"
Catra winced.
"There's no avoiding it. Hordak will likely be imprisoned with constant surveillance on him. I'll take Scorpia with me when we explain to her how Hordak truly doesn't want to have Tigra come back. How he easily did this to one of her friends. Plus, he tried to get rid of one of her biggest things to study."
Judai hummed before looking over at Imp.
"Imp, could you go with her? Your recording of Hordak's conversations could help convince Entrapta."
Imp chittered before flying and landing on Catra's shoulder.
"Alright then…you go deal with your side, I'll deal with mine and then I'll deal with Entrapta."
Judai nodded before they left each other.
Catra sent a quick message to Serena, Lonnie, Rogelio. Kyle, and Scorpia.
Meet me at training arena 17 in 30 minutes. Come alone as we will be discussing a sensitive subject.
____________
Catra tapped her claws against her arm before her ears twitched and looked to the side as a door slid open.
"What's with the vaguely problematic summons, Cat?" Lonnie asked, everyone but Serena with her.
"We're waiting on one more person." Catra told. "As for the summon, I will let you know that you will have the choice of staying with me or waiting the situation out."
"Why wouldn't we help you, Catra?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow. "You part of our Squad."
"Must be pretty serious." Rogelio growled and hissed.
"I'll be discussing it once Force Captain Serena appears."
"Serena?" Scorpia muttered. "I thought she hung out with Tigra more than you?"
"I do." Serena voiced out, walking in through a door that was sliding shut. "So I'd like to know why you asked for me to appear out of nowhere."
Catra nodded.
"First off, I will be talking about something that could get you in legitimate trouble should Horde Lord Hordak find out that you were part of this. I will give you all the moment to choose to leave now or after. Should you choose after, someone will be watching you until the situation is cleared up." Catra explained.
Serena and Lonnie looked at each other, as if sizing the other up.
Serena huffed before crossing her arms and leaning on one foot.
"I know that you five - minus Scorpia - were on the same Squad and, since I haven't heard anything about your Squad ending in disaster, assuming that you all see each other practically as family. I'll say that I'll hear you out before deciding on leaving or helping."
Lonnie nodded at that, as if she approved of that explanation.
"You've got our support, as long as it isn't about hurting someone here." Kyle informed.
Rogelio nodded.
"I'm with ya, Wildcat."
Catra let out a breath before taking the next 20 minutes to explain the situation regarding Tigra: the prisoner [only Serena seemed surprised but that seemed more about Tigra being caught than doing it], the capture by Hordak [surprise by most that Hordak had that trap already set up], the sentence of Crimson Waste [nearly everyone cursing out angrily at the situation], Hordak using Catra as Tigra's contingency plan.
"Alright, I think I see where this is going: I'm with you." Lonnie growled out.
Kyle and Rogelio won't far behind as they made the connection soon after.
She further explained how a General called her and they discussed how many Generals aren't happy with Hordak and could easily see it turning into a civil war in the Fright Zone.
"...that's why I called you five. I know my Squadron would likely stick with me, but I wanted to inform them before it could kick off. Scorpia, you've been helping Tigra and I on missions for a while, but if you help, this will be major treason. If you get found out, your Princess status will mean nothing to this kingdom. In fact, it could be how Hordak convinces many to try and hunt you down, proclaiming that you were a spy for the Princess Alliance."
"Tigra always said how she felt towards me. How she wished that she could know more about me, yet never saw me as a Princess or an airhead, despite me having earned my position. I may be happy and enjoy life, but I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't have stayed a Force Captain for 2 years before I met you guys without knowing what I'm doing." Scorpia took a moment to look at them. "So you'll need me to make sure to let you all know when the mission is finished."
Catra felt a light weight come off of her shoulders at knowing Scorpia wouldn't oppose them.
The five of them then looked at Serena, who looked away while holding her chin.
"Serena?"
She glanced over at them before breathing in and out.
"Do you know how many men I led when Tigra showed herself the first time to me? I led 50 soldiers. 34 of them had Squad mates, 10 of the exceptions had family, and the rest were there out of duty. I know 4 out of 5 of their names off the top of my head. Then I was promoted to Captain. I then had 600 soldiers, or 12 garrisons under my command. I barely remember 70 of their names. Yet, Tigra could state all of their names if she needed to. Tigra proved herself as someone who will do what is best for those beneath her."
Serena opened her violet eyes with determination brimming in them.
"To hear that Hordak will throw someone like that away, simply because they have made a mistake? The person who blew out the energy grid over a dozen times? No. I don't want to work for someone like that if I have the choice of continuing to work for Tigra. I'm with you all."
The ones present smirked at that before Imp flew down and landed on Catra's shoulder, making everyone tense.
"To show you how bad it actually is, Imp is actually working with us."
"What? Why?"
Imp opened his mouth.
"Think about your next decision carefully, my Lord." General Judai's voice came through. "Destroy any loyalty that Force General Tigra had to you. You will lose the loyalty of nearly 30% of the Horde. She could join the Rebellion…and we'd be up shit's creek!"
Imp closed his mouth.
"Imp likely understands that Hordak is about to light the fuse to a room filled to the brim with gunpowder. He's smart enough to understand that the Horde is about to change. And he wants in on it."
Catra smirked before an image of Tigra laughing filled her mind.
"Who's ready to start a revolution to show just why Hordak shouldn't be in charge with his current attitude?"
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