Terra.

It was a curious little planet. Zar had been looking forward to raiding it. The other harbingers, the leader of the Nayanor fleets, told him it was a world worth visiting.

"Move out!" he bellowed to his warriors. "This could be the night when you find your fated!"

The men rushed to the station, the excitement plain on their faces. Zar could feel it himself as he always did, hoping that fate would reward him with a female at last.

A human female would have been a special gift.

Overall, the Terrans were not a noteworthy species. The Galactic Union covered a vast space and there were always those who were excelling at what the Terrans barely managed.

Their defenses, for example, were practically insulting. Zar had had to convince his men to raid the planet in the first place. There was no challenge to it, but as their harbinger, it was Zar's duty to find the warriors both mates and fun.

Fun was what Terra was lacking. The mates, however... That was the reason why he was there. His fellow harbingers had told Zar that Terran females were something else.

He couldn't wait to find a suitable female for himself at last, one deserving of the honor.

I have been without a true mate for too long. One worthy of pledging to, worthy of carrying my sons.

As he walked through a rough snowstorm toward the entrance to the station, Zar allowed himself a tinge of excitement. He'd grown tired of bedding females who left no impression on him, whether they were of his own race or from other worlds.

Zar hungered for more, someone who could make his heart race.

Today is the day. I can feel it.

"Harbinger!" Roagh called, saluting and falling into step with him. "The haul is good. We've already secured several dozen healthy females. The healers are pleased with their condition. They are ready to bear children."

"Good," Zar said, looking ahead where the gates of the station had been blown wide open.

The storm was raging inside as well now but it made little difference. What happened to the station after they were gone didn't interest Zar.

"Take the captured females to the ships," he ordered, his deep voice carrying easily over the howling of the storm. "Be careful. They are fragile. They're not used to this weather. Gods willing they will survive the long night of Luminos.

"If a single one of them is hurt when I examine them later, I will have your head, Roagh."

The captain saluted again and rushed away.

Zar looked around. The weather that would have killed the Terrans was nothing more than an inconvenience for him. The snow obscured his vision, but little more. Dressed in his dark green armor, the harbinger barely felt the cold.

The station before him was filled with screaming. A futile means of coping with terror. It was advisable to put the pitiful creatures out of their misery quickly.

Alone, Zar entered the station. If Terrans had been even close to being formidable opponents, he would have been the first man in and the last man out. As it stood, it offended him to fight people more helpless than Nayanor children. He was fine with leaving most of the legwork to his warriors who had not yet earned the honor of rank.

Still, it was a pity to leave a world without bloodying his blade.

"Harbinger," his comm link called. "There is some resistance north of your position."

"On my way, Roagh," Zar replied with a grin on his face.

The Gods provide.

Walking through empty corridors, passing the occasional corpse of the Terran males, Zar was amused by his second-in-command. There was no resistance the warrior couldn't have dealt with himself, that was for damn sure. Roagh was simply looking to give his commander some worthy opponents, even if he had to reach to the bottom of the barrel for that.

Nothing on Terra could have matched the might of his raiding party. Not even the army rushing their way, hopelessly far.

Nayanors would be long gone before the Terran reinforcements reached the station. Zar refused to risk losing the females they'd captured. They would be back soon now that they'd discovered this little planet almost by accident a few years ago.

When he heard the sounds of battle ahead, Zar drew his blade. It was a gigantic, gorgeous two-handed sword he had favored since he was old enough to carry it. The blade was as wide as his thighs. The carved sword had brought him out of the worst situations in his life and Zar held it dearer than most of his warriors' lives. It was more than a weapon, it was a part of him.

Zar rounded the corner with a dark, roaring battle cry and was immediately met with fire from the Terrans. He dodged all blasts from the plasma weapons, not even bothering with small arms fire that bounced off his sturdy, spiked green armor like raindrops.

"Bring him down! Bring him down!" someone bellowed over the long hall he was in. "All cannons fire at will! Retreat as you shoot! It's the harbinger!"

Zar looked on with amusement as several lines of small plasma cannons realigned to take aim at him and not the other warriors in the room, approaching the Terrans with a steady pace. He never stopped moving as he took that in, cutting his way through the resistance more easily than would have satisfied him.

Then he saw what Roagh had meant. The reason why his warriors were being held up by Terrans was simple.

The first line of the Terran defense was all females. They were standing shoulder-to-shoulder with each other, shooting as they backed away. Their expressions ranged from stubborn hatred to mild panic, but the line held. From behind them, the males were taking precision shots, trying to bring down warriors with concentrated fire.

By the looks of it, they'd succeeded, too. A Nayanor warrior laid on the ground, or at least what was left of him.

Zar didn't give him more than a glancing look, disgusted by the man's weakness.

Now, of course, all the fire was directed at him. It was... interesting. Better than he'd expected.

At first glance, Zar had taken the Terran males for worse cowards than he could ever have imagined, using their precious females like living shields. Then he'd seen that no one was forcing the females to do anything. Staunchly, they stood before the men, trying to protect them.

The other harbingers had been absolutely correct. The Terran females were worth coming so deep into the Union's territories.

What spirit.

It was all pointless, of course. Zar dashed from his position so fast the cannons weren't able to follow him. The Terrans themselves couldn't make their eyes keep up with the speed of his movements as Zar surged toward the line, jumping seven feet into the air when he was almost upon them. He landed behind the males with a thundering clash, hearing screams from all around him.

The trapped Terrans tried to realign, form some sort of a circle now that they were caught between two fires, but it was too late. Zar cut his way through the males, uncaring to see if he killed or not. What mattered was taking them out of the fight and making sure the females were all gathered up.

He wasn't concerned about himself, but rather one of the females getting hit by friendly fire.

After a minute, the last stand of the Terrans was over.

"Bring them to the ships," Zar ordered when Roagh walked toward him over the pile of bodies on the floor. "They could make great gifts for some of my brother harbingers. Such a clever idea. Perhaps it would have even worked if the males weren't so undeserving of the females this planet has to offer."

Roagh nodded, looking at the carnage they'd reaped.

"Is this all?" Zar asked. "Have you checked every corner of the station? I will not have any females left behind."

"Far-east corner, two females are holding out," Roagh said. "I'll go and handle it and then it is over."

"Holding out?" Zar asked, laughing. "Against our warriors? I will have to throw them out of the airlock if they allow females to resist them for so long. How did they manage that?"

Roagh shrugged, grinning.

"They made sure our men can't get in without risking hurting them," he said. "They're in a very tight space, the commanding officer there is reluctant to cut through the roof, as it might crush them."

"Pathetic," Zar said, already turning away. "Oversee the securing of our haul. I will deal with the far-east corner myself."

"I actually think the females were rather clever," Roagh called after him. "Far from pathetic."

"I agree," Zar replied, leaving the hall and the dead behind. "I meant the warriors who'll be taking a one-way trip to open space later."