8
TSCHENKAR
Isat in the war room with the boarding squad commanders.
“Six hours is a long time,” I said, “I want you to cut off 90% of the pirates’ cocks.”
“What about the other 10%?” Uraf asked. “And wait a minute, Scion? Do you want us to cut off 90% of each pirate’s cock, leaving a little stub, or are we meant to spare 10% of these rapist fucks entirely?”
“We spare nothing,” I growled. “We capture them, keep them prisoner on the ship. We’ll use these rapey fucks to show these virgins just how pathetic human men are compared to us. Keep their cocks and balls on, because these virgins have never seen a human male up close. They need to see the full picture to understand how lucky they are to have us. Once we’ve done that,thenwe cut their cocks off.”
The squad commanders laughed, but then a big screen appeared above the table, and Nalfar, my Helmsman, looked at me with tight lips.
“What is it?” I barked.
“Wrathis warming up its Grasp Drive.”
“That crazy fucking cunt,” I growled. “God fucking damnit, Thuliak, you cheeky fucker. Is this going to work?”
“If the Hivemind sees any risk,” Nalfar said, “thenWrath’sGrasp Drive will simply not operate.”
“No shit,” I said, “what I mean is will itwork. Will he be able to get in on the action in time? We just figured out how we were going to maximize our six-hour window. Do I have to throw that entire plan out? Do we have to rush the slaughter?”
Nalfar nodded.
I punched the table and stood up. “Will we have any head start at all?”
“It’s going to be chaotic,” Nalfar said. “Their drive is going to Grasp us all right into orbit around Eden. The pirates and our packship will be right in range of the planet.”
Thuliak, you magnificent bastard. We’d have to share in the killing, but the women would get to see us savaging those rapist pirates. They’d see my ship too though. I might have been designated as Fifth, but Thuliak was going to Grasp me right into the action. Had he really thought this entirely through? Could he really hold me back as Fifth after the whole virgin world saw my pack saving their planet from a pirate assault? What was he going to say? Yeah, there’s another packship up there, but you can’t fuckthosealiens, the ones who saved you in such a badass way, you’ll have towaitto get to their cocks?
I grinned. “This might be better for us. Uraf, you’re in charge of the boarding parties now. I have a secondary objective I’ll be working on.” I turned toward the other chiefs. “Follow Uraf’s every order. Uraf, it’s going to be harder than before, but I still want you to cut off as many human cocks as possible. Make sure each of your men has a rusty blade. I want them to suffer for what they’ve done.”
“Yes, Scion,” Uraf said, nodding his head low in deference to my absolute command and authority.
I left the war room so that Uraf could plan the battle, but he followed me outside.
“What is it?” I growled.
Uraf bowed his head again, though not so low this time. “This secondary objective…”
“You need to focus on the primary objective, Uraf.”
“I like to see the forest for trees.”
I rolled my eyes at the human expression. When we acquired the human language, the Hivemind gave us options. Both Uraf and Thuliak seemed to have chosen the “fancy speaker,” or what I liked to call the “big-mouthed cunt,” speaking style. I based my speech patterns and word choices on the way the dredges of human society spoke, because the Lexikon told me that human women like’d a man who could get dirty. My speech package didn’t make much use of stupid expressions talking about trees or forests, though I did still get Uraf’s meaning even if it was a phrase I’d never use.
“I vowed revenge on Thuliak,” I said, “and the secondary objective is related to that.”
He furrowed his brows. “Wasn’t taking the pirate battle for ourselves our revenge?”
I nodded. “Itwas, but the cheeky cunt is using his Grasp Drives to jerk us and the pirates right by the bloody cocks, and we won’t be getting to fight them by ourselves. How is sharing the battle good enough revenge? When Tschenkar, Scion ofHarbingervows revenge, it has to mean something.”
“I see,” Uraf said, licking his lips. I could tell he wanted in on this more than he wanted easy victories against the human pirates. “If the plans are not secret, perhaps I could help you?”
“Perhaps,” I said, “go tell Venfar he’s in charge of the battle with the pirate fleet, then get your ass back here with ten of your strongest men.”
“Yes, Scion,” he said.