Wrath of A King: Shattered Past Book 5

4

Mara entered the hangar flanked by two of her best soldiers. Uldren walked up to her before she could go onto the ship. "Mara, what are you doing here?" 

"I am going to lead my armada Uldren." She said coldly as he stood in her path. "Get out of my way." She said through her clenched teeth. 

"I cannot allow you to g-"

"I am the ruler here, and as your Queen, I demand that you get out of my way." 

"As your brother, I beg you to reconsider," 

Mara glared into his eyes with stern fury; her heart started pulsing quicker and harder as she stared at him. It was not wise to defy her, even if he was a member of her family. "I am going Uldren." She said clenching her fist. She stormed off toward the shuttle to their flagship. Uldren watched and sighed to himself as her guards followed. He walked over toward his own starfighter, a Reef CG-10 starcraft, or Crows as they were often called. 

He always was worried about Mara, and what would happen if she lead the Armada again. He clambered up into the large cockpit of the vehicle and started flying the ship out. Mara sat at the forefront of the drop ship heading off toward their newest flagship; The Vestian Indignation. The largest battlecruiser the Awoken had in their entire fleet. Nearly a thousand kilometers across with two large prongs on the port and starboard sides, and with one large viewport on the center behind the ramming targes. The Queen received it as a token of good will from Sidriks Velkor five years ago. He sought to make amends with Mara, from one benevolent ruler to another. 

When James-17 had returned to the Reef at the end of the Wolf Crisis, she expected him to be the one who killed the Traitor Kell, Skolas. However, he said that he didn't kill Skolas, Sidriks Velkor had. While disappointed that he had not been the person to kill Skolas, she was still glad that his life had ended. The shuttle boarded the larger spacecraft, and Mara stepped out, with her Coven already following behind her. With a confident stride and an undeterred look on her face, she stormed to the bridge.  All the while the crewmen saluted her as she passed by on her way to the lift. 

The elevator arrived at the bridge, and Mara took a seat in her chair on the ship and began observing the crew members as they began flipping switches and dials. All of them spouting orders trying to coordinate the fleet. The bridge was multi layered with the sigil of the Reef on the floor of the top platform underneath Mara's chair. There were two officers at each station on the bridge, and there were about ten stations on the ship. The viewport was at least twenty-five meters in diameter with rigid metal bars to form a solid shape on the glass. 

"Your Grace, we are ready for launch." One of the comms officers told her. 

"Ready all weapons, divert primary power to forward shields," Mara ordered as she faced the main viewport of the ship, she then pressed the button on one of the arms on her chair. "Attention all crewmen and Starcraft. This is Mara Sov, your Queen." She said over the comms. Everyone on the ship stopped what they were doing to listen to what she had to say. "We are going out toward Saturn to engage a fleet of Hive vessels....much like when the Wolves engaged us a century ago. This is a suicide mission. If you choose to turn back now...I understand....but know that your sacrifice this day will not be in vain....in the face of death, I will stand by you, my sisters, and I will await you in the afterlife. Either we're going down.... or they are. Sov out." 

The crewmen readied themselves and powered up the main thrusters of the Vestian and took off for Saturn. Followed by several of their Harbinger class cruisers, and the Crow starfighters, this was the largest fleet the Awoken had ever assembled since the Reef Wars. Mara quickly engaged her helmet's link with the ship and the Armada, allowing her to communicate directly with the captains of the other vessels.