Grace of An Elder

Chapter 57

"He isn't really going, is he?"

T'ahrou let loose a hearty chuckle as he stood alongside the small human. "After he heard of our adventure in the pyode-amedha colony, he has been determined to go himself."

"Do you realize that your bloodline is tainted with mental defects?"

Another booming laugh. "And now you are intertwined with the defects." Her grey eyes narrowed as she glared up at the male. "Come, we must see him off."

Only recently had Dhadtoudi been graced with the opportunity to meet the extensions of T'ahrou's bloodline; more specifically his father's brother and his brood. To say that Yahti was amused at his brother and nephew's reaction at the tiny human was an understatement. His brother, Jimahl had been skeptical about T'ahrou's union with the soft meat, but Jimahl's son, O'kaor...he was quick to tease the female about her short stature and "squishy" exterior. After a short brawl between the two to assert dominance, O'kaor had been more sparing with his jokes. In turn, he requested that Dhadtoudi teach him the strange Ooman language.

"You annihilated Bhitu, and yet the Oomans were dense enough to challenge you?"

Dhadtoudi followed T'ahrou into the docking bay where they approached a cruiser built for a team of four. A tall male was carrying supplies up the ramp when the couple approached and he promptly dropped the heavy metallic crate before jogging toward them.

"If her kind can hold their own against one of ours, I may have to claim a pyode-amedha for my own..!"

T'ahrou reached out to place his clawed hands on the male's shoulder in greeting, and Dhadtoudi noticed that T'ahrou was larger than even his cousin; only by an inch or so, but larger nonetheless.

"You did not intend to leave before we arrived, did you?"

"Of course not, T'ahrou! You know better than anyone that I would take every chance offered to me to boast of my plans!"

"Plans?" O'kaor trilled excitedly as his mandibles flared into a grin. "What plans could you possibly have?"

"To bring back a pyode-amedha just like you !" His amber eyes sparkled with delight as he playfully jabbed the female in the shoulder with his fist. "Although I hope she won't be as small as you...she might break when I bed her."

"You realize if you get your ass kicked while you're on that forsaken planet, I will never let you live it down..?"

"Yes Dhadtoudi, I am well aware." T'ahrou pulled his cousin to the side and spoke to him in hushed tones. Several seconds passed before O'kaor burst into another fit of excitement. "Paya!! Dhadtoudi, does he speak the truth?!" The human nodded with the faint trace of a smile creeping onto her soft lips. "I will not disappoint..!" He bowed in a show of respect to the Blooded Warriors and made his way onto the ship.
———————————————————————
It had taken nearly a week to arrive on the soft meat planet, and his cruiser suffered a bit of a crash upon landing, but he had emerged unscathed. He hadn't, however, gone unnoticed by the indigenous lifeforms.

Within the hour dozens of humans dressed in black and carrying firearms of all shapes and sizes closed in on his location. A heavy fight ensued, and he killed many of their troops...but he allowed himself to be distracted with the cries of a wounded soft meat and the others managed to shoot him with a tranquilizer dart, and then several more immediately following.

O'kaor fell to his knees before fully collapsing onto the ground. A short human male stepped forward donning a black business suit, his piercing blue eyes nearly reflective in the dark of the night. "Take it back to the facility," he had said, "this thing is a ward of the G.L. Brooks Association now."

"What designation, Mister Brooks?"

The man seemed to ponder the question for a moment before turning to look at the other human. "You said it has a cloaking shield of some kind? Hmm...for now it will be known as Project Ghost. Get it back to the facility and get me on the phone with Ronaldi. ASAP." The human in the suit looked him over once more. "Jesus Christ, you're an ugly one aren't ya?"

O'kaor let loose a guttural snarl as the paralyses had not fully set in. He swore would have the hide of this obnoxious soft meat if it was the last thing he did.