Catch the Stars ||Keith Kogane||

74

The entire flight back to the Castle was silent. Nobody dared to say something for fear it would snap the string holding her composure. Even Haylie had remained silent as she tampered in the back of the ship with the thruster's power source. 15 Olympian ships were on their tail, the ships who had left formation to chase off the single fighter jet that had everyone pinned down.

The castle bay door opened when Coran took notice of the returning bunch of Olympians. He was probably freaking out at the lack of paladins on her tail, but Trip had bigger problems. She had tried to tell Keith it was a bad idea, she'd tried to lead him away from the fight when they had an opening, but he wanted to dive in with no backup and no plan.

She may be livid with him, but she'd still ordered a portion of available ships after the paladins, with orders to intervene if it was the last option. She wanted Keith to suffer the consequences of his choices and his harsh words, but she didn't want him or the others dead.

Squad 11 came to a shaky landing, its final thruster sputtering just as the landing gear made contact with the ground. The second the ship's engine is cut, Trip pushes her seat back and stands up, her face calm but her fists clenched. She marched from the ship, no words to her squad mates. Nobody said anything to her as she exited.

She stands in the center of the hangar, watching each ship open its doors.

"Sefecut tuc op!" (Everyone line up) she shouts so anyone within the vicinity can hear her.

75 members of the Olympian crew stand in rows of 5, each line another squad that had gone against her orders to stay in place. As they all stood, backs stiff and eyes on the ground so as to not look directly at her, she remained quiet. Pacing the length of their lines, her mind reeled at how to approach this.

She wanted to start yelling and not stop until everyone's feet started to bleed from standing. Everything in her said to shout until her own throat went dry and cracked. But she also knew that Litarra hadn't been the kind of leader to scream his lectures across a hangar at his men. And Trip wanted nothing more than to be a leader like Litarra, feared and respected all at once. Screaming wasn't how she should go about that goal.

She kept her mouth shut as she paced, taking deep breaths. Until she came a sudden stop in the center of their formation, looking out at every slack face waiting for what would come next.

"Jutare 845, con te harfet!" (Squad 845, at the front) she announces. There's a reshuffling of feet and positions, and a new squad stands directly in front of her. She takes notice of the one wearing his captain's insignia on his armor.

Second line. Not even first. He remained silent and tense as Trip stepped directly in front of him, a few inches between them. His name was Zopengi, three years older than her, and he'd been on second line for as long as she'd been commander. Loyal, and not someone who sided with Braut during the challenge. A good man. A stupid man.

"Cou anuet te secut je milien Loconyen," (You were the first to break formation) she recalls in Olympian.

"Neo, Heda," (yes, commander) he confirms.

"Cou anuet te secut je agiest kane," (You were the first to defy me) she reiterates.

"Neo, Heda," (Yes, commander) he repeats.

Now that she has control over her tone and voice, she nods her head, "Erei entuc," (back in line) she orders. Zopengi does as he's told, falling back into his spot in line.

She settled for Litarra's version of shouting. One so cold and lacking in emotion that not even she was sure how it came across. Pacing down the line, voice carrying around the room and bouncing back against them. She didn't move her eyes from the defiers for a moment, not even when she heard Coran enter the room. If she had time to kill before the Paladins came back, more than likely without having done what they set out to do, she would make every second count for these people.