It is silent in the ocean. I like silence. Silence and peace. Little fish swim around my feet and I swat lazily at them. They are no threat to me, but I like seeing them swim away. I paddle leisurely through the dark water, closing my eyes and savoring the rush of bubbles and liquid by my ears. There are no oceans in my home. I could stay here forever. No war, no pain, no responsibility. Just rest.
Knurahaag, are you on target?
My peace is disrupted by a question from the masters. They want to know the status of my invasion. Not yet, please not yet...
Knurahaag, answer.
The voice is in my head and I cannot get away from it. The transmission is accompanied by a piercing pain behind my eyes and I shake my head in agony. I can feel my brothers and sisters, but they are silent, waiting for my answer. I push off from the ocean floor and rise.
I am on target. Landfall in ten minutes, hiansa contact in five.
I lift my head from the ocean and peer around. It is loud above the ocean. A storm is raging. I shake my head again, annoyed by the thunder and driving rain. Water below me is one thing, water from the sky is another. Why the masters want this stupid world, I can't imagine. Another lance of pain shoots through my head, accompanied by another message.
Knurahaag, die well.
They have to feel my shock. Die? I did not come here to die. I came to conquer. Why should I die?
A great light breaks over me and I turn to find the hiansa coming at me. Its metal fists are already swinging and I roar a battle cry. Kill me? I will not die! I will live. I will live!
And yet, as I fight on and tire and the hiansa just keeps coming, I think...
Would it be such a terrible thing to finally be at peace.