Unbroken: Rise of the Horde

Chapter Four

The wild gleam in Catra's eyes stayed with him the rest of the night. He had never seen anyone with such a thirst for revenge, even when he was first gathering recruits for the Horde. She had more ambition and ruthlessness than Shadow Weaver! 

Catra was a fearless warrior, and Hordak had a feeling that she'd become an excellent Force Captain. She was still under Shadow Weaver's jurisdiction, so she wasn't able to be sent on any high intensity missions. She was constantly faced with the threat of demotion under her officer's hand. 

He saw that Shadow Weaver sent Catra on missions alongside Force Captain Scorpia. 

Many years after the Scorpion Den, the granddaughter of Anvindr and Amazon was as loyal to the Horde as one could get.  Her mother died not long after Scorpia became a Force Captain.  The decedent of the royal line was peculiar.  She was different than her grandparents, yet so similar.  She was intimidating, but so upbeat and positive at the same time.  It was strange, her attitude, especially after living her whole life in the Fright Zone.

After the unsuccessful siege on Thaymore, many of the soldiers had been whispering amongst themselves. Imp could only bring back bits and pieces, but Hordak wasn't about to go out and be social.

"She was so tall," one said.

"Knocked out all of our defenses with a single blow," another soldier had reported.

"I swear she was eight feet tall at least!"

"She had such good hair. I wish I had such hair."

"Her sword was huge!"

"Please," (this one was Catra.)  "She's like all the rest of the Princesses: all glitter, no substance."

A Princess? Hordak thought as Imp brought Catra's quote to him. He was tinkering with some drawings and diagrams of his machine. Shadow Weaver clearly had failed to inform me completely.

Most importantly, what was a Princess doing fighting the Horde? For the past fifteen years, few rebels had been successful in holding off the Horde. Many of those soldiers were ordinary warriors of their kingdoms, protecting themselves.

There used to be a resistance force. They called themselves the Rebellion, and their most effective members were part of the Princess Alliance. It was a pact between Princesses of various runestone kingdoms. In the end, the Princesses could in fact work together. They decided to fulfill their duties as the protectors of Etheria. The Rebellion and the Horde had been forced into gridlock. Much to Hordak's dismay, the magic gave the Princesses a huge advantage. About fifteen years ago, Hordak had feared the Princesses might have the power to destroy the Horde. He almost lost the war.

But one key moment halted their operations. 

Many Princesses ceased to fight when... He shut the thought out before it could finish. This time it was not to insure focus, but because he couldn't bear it.

After that... incident, most of the Princesses broke away from the alliance. They decided to focus on their own kingdoms.  The Horde could resume business as usual.

Just because most of the Princesses had resigned from the Rebellion, didn't mean all deserted. There was still a rebellion fighting against the new leaders of this planet. Just like the Princess Alliance before, their headquarters resided in the kingdom of Bright Moon. The queen of the kingdom, Queen Angella, was the leader. Not a aggressive one though. Her daughter, Commander/Princess Glimmer, was the one who insisted on fighting back. For most of the places they occupied, they'd retreat as soon as the Horde made their appearance. Soon, only Bright Moon would be left.