Free Star Force: Penance (SF49) by Aer-ki Jyr Page B

was
saying than as a threat. “ I am aware that
there was a disturbance, but nothing has been said of it officially. Our troops
were summoned to battle and little has been mentioned of it since. ”
    Morgan looked to Paul. “So much for
our big demonstration.”
    The other trailblazer sent her a telepathic question,
letting her handle the meet and greet.
    “ Your troops ,”
Morgan continued, “ were sent to our world
where they launched an invasion and subsequently got a lot of themselves
killed. We lost some people, which is something we cannot let pass. We’d prefer
not to have to conquer your entire civilization, but we will if we have to.
We’re here to seek another option, one that has your bloodline replacing
Vensiol .”
    Ken’slan wanted to hiss in defiance of what would
essentially be treason, but he held his composure and considered what the Human
was saying, still unnerved by its ability to take control of his own body away
from him, but with a growing anger at the leading bloodline if the Human’s
claims were even half true.
    “ If you have
slain Scionate blood, you will have blood in return .”
    Morgan pointed a finger at his blunt muzzle. “ We came here to break bone and flesh, but we
did not kill. We also wanted to show you that we are not incapable of enforcing
the terms of colonization ,” she said, hacking into his mind again and
forcing the Scionate to sit on the floor and look up at him, unable to do
anything but watch. “ Your leaders didn’t
get the message ,” she added, finally releasing him.
    Ken’slan stood up again, angry, but wise enough to
continue to listen. “ There were rumors
floating around from the incident at the den, but we dismissed them as the
ravings of those who had failed to acquit their duties. ”
    “ Not rumors ,”
Morgan said, telekinetically lifting him into the air on her own accord without
having to link with Paul for extra power. Ken’slan’s eyes went wide with shock and horror at his own helplessness, and Morgan let
him paw the air for several seconds allowing that to sink in.
    “ If we wanted
you dead, you would be ,” she said simply, then lowered him down and
released her grip. “ You’re supposed to be
our allies. It’s time you started acting like it. Either you fix your empire or
we will, and we don’t have a lot of time to offer you. We have to deal with
Vensiol quickly before an interstellar war erupts between Star Force and the
Scionate. You would lose that war, but it would be costly enough to us that it
could jeopardize the safety of the ADZ…and if we have to go to those lengths to
rectify the situation, your race will lose your sovereignty as a consequence .”
    This time Ken’slan did growl reflexively, then thought
better of it and began thinking…hard and fast.
    “ Are you certain
that we spilt blood first? ”
    “ The first blood
was on our world when you invaded it, though technically Scionate died before
Humans did because your people fought stupidly. We were forced to slaughter hundreds
of thousands of them in order to defend ourselves, perhaps millions. The actual
number we are uncertain of, but it was on our world that your people were
assaulting. Your fleet began by destroying a defense platform in orbit. It was
unmanned, though I’m not sure if they knew it or not. We didn’t start this
fight, but we did finish it…and now we have to truly finish it before it
escalates. If your bloodline is unwilling to take the lead then we will find
another, and another, and another until we run out of candidates or simply grow
bored from looking and decide to do things the hard way .”
    “ You keep
repeating that threat as if it is your preferred choice .”
    “ No, I keep
repeating it because we said the same thing to your leaders and they ignored
it. This is the Scionate’s last chance to regain their honor and fix their own
problem before we have to do it for them…and on our terms, which I can
guarantee that you will not