Vektor and Hikiti walked in as they heard Barov speak of gloating for the victory earned at the Great Uf. Vektor’s body burned with fire as his temper flared under control. Seeing he was about to lose control, Hikiti pulled out some urya. However, the ka’or Vektor’s body generated burned the herb and its paper casing immediately, releasing it’s pungent yet sweet odor into the area. Vektor sighed, calmed down enough when Hikiti pulled out another one and handed it to Vektor, he lit it with his remaining temper flare up without consuming the entire unit and began smoking it. Vektor took a deep breath, felt his body relax, and sat down to talk to the Inquisitor and Dreg. Before speaking, he passed it to Hikiti, who took two puffs before returning it to Vektor.
“I was at the Great Uf during the first attack” He took another puff of urya, “It was a religious ceremony. We were gathering to discuss the future of our tribes. It wasn’t just about war on the Earthers. When the Earthers attacked, it began as a standard battle. Your technology versus our numbers. Win or lose, it was a good battle. Until at the moment of defeat, the Earthers chose to kill everyone at the battlefield. Earther, Olgog, Mak Hoblok… everything. That is not victory… that is not war.”
When Vektor took his second puff, Hikiti continued, “I was at the second attack on the oasis. We were trying to purify the land. The Mak Hoblok use that land to live. If the oasis died, hundreds of Mak Hoblok would have nowhere to go. There would be no pelts… not for Olgog, not for Earther. Instead of letting us clean the oasis, the Earthers attacked us again. Once again, when it looked like we might survive… not win, but survive, Earthers unleashed massive bombs that killed Earther and Olgog alike. You may think us evil demons that haunt your lives, steal your children and eat your babies…” Hikiti paused, trying to remember everything that the strange Earther had told him how these Earthers brought up to believe, “but we fight to live. We do not kill for sport, and we do not kill our own tribemen just for the sake of victory.”
Vektor finished off Hikiti’s thought so that the youngling can take a puff of the urya before passing it back to him. “Believe what you wish about war, our people, our intentions… but there will be no gloating. Hundreds are dead, the oasis is gone. Mak Hoblok will leave the area… there will be no food and no pelts. Earthers and Olgog will freeze during the winter and there is nothing to be done about it. There is no victory.”