Free Star Kitten by Purple Hazel Page A

the
tunnel for miles in every direction, as the bloodthirsty killers
chased them down to butcher them mercilessly.
    So many years of oppression and humiliation
suddenly came to an end for these brave and hearty warriors. Left
on the doorstep of an eternal hell by their home planets, abandoned
to serve out the rest of their lives in near-darkness, occasionally
starved into submission, abused and over-worked by heartless prison
guards… these muscular cat-like Pumalar rebels became enraged with
bloodlust. They killed anyone they saw, murdered and mutilated
everyone they could catch. Soon an orgy of violence was engulfing
the service tunnel in both directions, as the Earther Nausties
joined in the fight by blasting round after round from captured
EIC’s until they ran out of ammunition, then picked up more weapons
from dead security troops and just started all over again. Everyone
was an enemy. Everyone was a target. There would be no prisoners
today; and no quarter given. Those who tried to surrender were shot
or impaled to death on the spot. Those who tried to run were
heartlessly mowed down.
    The slaughter continued for hours until the
main terminal was only a mile or so away… victory was nearly within
their grasp! But they would definitely need reinforcements to
overwhelm Ggggaaah’s headquarters. Inside the terminal on the
planet surface, located under a large tinted glass dome the size of
a small city was a military base that housed over 10,000 security
troops and personnel from several different planets. This last nut
would be a tough one to crack, indeed.
    Meanwhile, below the service tunnel miles
away, Schpleeftii light infantry were scrambling up the miles of
service ladders inside the two other deactivated elevator shafts.
Spleefs were rodent-like beings that had evolved from rats and mice
on their home planet to eventually become the dominant species. But
they were just as brave as they were cunning, standing or crouching
on large feet and legs about four and a half feet tall on average.
They were fast and nimble, able to climb and scramble using
claw-like hands with strong fingers perfect for the task. Carrying
light arms, their job was to burst into the massive global service
tunnel through maintenance hatches, using explosive charges if
necessary, and fan out to murder and slaughter anyone and everyone
they could in both directions. If they could, their orders were to
reactivate the elevators and send up Pumalar, Porko, and Earther
reinforcements.
    Zorg units followed them, and their task was
to reinforce any bridgehead established by the Spleefs. Not quite
as nimble at climbing, the Zorgs were bigger and more powerful.
Zorgs were far more cruel and ruthless in combat too, so if the
Spleefs faltered or scattered in the face of enemy fire, the Zorgs
were quite capable of sustaining the attack until help arrived with
captured EIC’s.
    Eventually, the word got back to Warden
Ggggaaah that prisoners had broken into the service tunnel, and
were assaulting the main terminal bay with a small force of
infantry. Still not fully grasping the seriousness of the threat,
Ggggaaah next merely ordered electricity shut off to the entire
mine. Planet-wide, the Nausties below found themselves in total
darkness, and had to rely on carbide lamps to move about.
    But that left another major problem to
contend with: how to capture all the remaining well-defended food
depots (in the dark) and feed the tens of thousands of Nausties
below.
    Architeuthis and his planners had tried to
prepare for this actually. Scrambling into action on the very day
of the attack, Earthers, Porkos, and Zorgs commandeered
battery-powered mining vehicles and transport trucks below, while
Spleefs scrambled to harvest hundreds of yards of hydroponically
farmed crops then raced through miles of mining tunnels to
distribute food. Abandoned guard stations and food depots were also
assumed to be available once the guard stations below were
abandoned. That’s