They Came for Blood: The Complete Sci-Fi Adventure Series by Scott Moon

Author:Scott Moon [Moon, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Hahn-fosk-ha didn’t hate the humans. They were weak, disorganized, and fragile—but not worthless. His jump ship circled the battle, which had taken on an impressive scope. There were at least three Ghetats, Fosk-ha battle groups of twenty to thirty warriors. Each Ghetat was unique to an overlord, usually one of the minor houses that could not afford its own starship. They were quarrelsome because they shared a single vessel between planets.

A cycle ago, his Fosk genetic compilers had existed in such squalor, always fighting to stay alive and hoping the next planet would bring resources for a new place in the hierarchy.

This improvement in status had occurred during his adolescence. He remembered what it was like to be little more than a mercenary, willing to do anything simply to be permitted to exist.

But that was then.

Hahn didn’t possess a large ship, but this craft was all his. He was the lowest of the major overlord houses among the Fosk-ha. What bothered him was the number of Ghetats he’d seen over the last few days. The search for the Navigator had become a free-for-all, with everyone hoping to win big.

“Taf-tat, are your troops ready?” Hahn asked.

“They are ready to kill humans or feed on them, overlord,” Taf-tat said. Hahn’s number one vassal—holding a rank similar to that of a human lieutenant, but both less and more important than that in the Fosk-ha social order—was different from the type of warrior he normally placed in leadership roles. Taf-tat was smaller and less verbose, but orders of magnitude more efficient than any other small unit commander he’d ever acquired.

“This will be a parley,” Hahn said, irritated that he had to repeat himself even with his most intelligent warrior. The ability to think creatively was more varied in humans. He wondered how it was possible. Why did they not betray each other and steal dominance from their social superiors?

The learners among his people warned that human belief systems, combined with their unique way of processing information, would be problematic. Their inability to live within the caste system of the stars would cause horrible unrest among the Fosk-ha and their symbiotic conquests.

A harsh voice whispered in the back of his mind, warning him to resist the mental illness. Stay in your place. Do not attempt to rise in the hierarchy.

Hahn looked down from the jump ship, evaluating the destroyed mechs, noting evidence of their pilots having gone Ravager. What was it about the human blood power that made his people so susceptible to losing control?

This world is not suited for us, he thought. His original plan, back when he began acquiring humans as potential vassals, had been to stay behind when the Fosk-ha armada left. Here, on this world of simple technology and barely touched natural resources, Hahn could have been all-powerful. But now he understood that interactions between the Fosk-ha and the humans poisoned both species.

“How many Fosk-ha must we fight to take this zone?” Hahn asked.

Taf-tat reviewed the information inside of his helmet.

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