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  Thus, using Earth time measurements, the entire attack on all three guard stations, was coordinated to occur at 05:00 on the same day. Architeuthis and his Slart planners sent out the message to the rest of the planet’s gang leaders two weeks before; allowing Zorg runners to spread the news. When the big day came, all of “New Australia” braced itself for the repercussions. They were about to go to war!

  And alas, all the planning, training, and preparation quickly paid off…!

  “As luck would have it” to use the Earther’s common parlance—all three stations fell within a few hours of each other. Frankly, it wasn’t even a fair fight. By burning sulfur combined with potassium nitrate, Slart scientists had developed a corrosive incendiary called Vitriol (sulfuric acid) and formed it into clay vessels which could be hurled and smashed against guard positions. Zorg Slingers took out the Captains of the guard at each station with a single salvo of stones; and then hurled these sulfur bombs at the kill slots located on the outside of each guard post wall. The burning liquid corroded and burned the eyes and flesh of the surprised defenders firing from inside them.

  Earthers who had trained at the javelin, then stood up from behind boulders and fired waves of throwing spears at the kill slots too; while heavy infantry units made up of mostly Pumalar warriors moved up to the guard stations behind mobile steel blocking shields attached to a wheeled chassis. In the final phase of the outer assault, Earthers using acetylene cutting torches sliced through the security gates and made it into the station to exterminate the last of the guards.

  Eventually the defenders were demoralized and fighting desperately for their very lives. In the case of one guard station, they were reduced to huddling terrified in the center of their posts, tending to their wounded, only to find their floor was being cut away, and the ceiling was being sliced open by Porko diggers. Smoke bombs, like Perry the General’s life partner had designed, were hurled through the openings and in the confusion, rodent-like Schpleeftii light infantry hopped through the openings and butchered several guards with daggers fashioned from hand tools made by Earther blacksmiths. When Pumalar warriors finally burst in through the sliced-open security gates, it was all over. In close-order combat, Pumalars could easily overwhelm the most formidable warriors quite easily; and most of these mere prison guards didn’t stand a chance.

  Zorg Runners circulated the news of the victories throughout the planet core using the communication tunnel network created for them months earlier. And when the word got out that “objective Alpha” had been achieved, the three main bodies of troops assigned to the second phase of the attack, massed at all three locations for the long climb to the surface.

  The easy part had now been accomplished! Now came the hard part….

  Architeuthis, upon hearing the good news, heaved a deep resonating—almost burbling sound—like Slarts commonly did when acknowledging, beholding, or realizing something joyful. He then sat down with a relieved sigh on the ground, collapsing and curling his legs into a sort of bed, like Slartigifijians commonly do when they’re at rest. It had all happened so fast, and when reports got back to Architeuthis of the successes, he so completely wanted to share in the jubilation of the other Slarts and Zorg messengers at his headquarters. Unfortunately he could not. All that ran through his three hearts now was a cold sense of dread.

  Reports came in from all sectors of the mine throughout the next 24 earth hours. Warden Ggggaaah had sounded a general alarm and actually shut off all the elevators, cutting off all his guard stations to fight it out to the death! “Great Goddess of the s-sssea!” exclaimed a Zorg messenger reporting to Architeuthis (that was a common expression among Zorgolongians, who believed all life had been created at the bottom of the ocean by divine beings who separated the fishes from the amphibians from whence all Zorgs had evolved). The Zorg was breathless, and hissed with excitement, fluttering his reptilian tongue. “Yes-sss, all three depots-sss, in a matter (gasp) of a few hours-sss. But the guards-sss are now trapped below with us-sss… Ggggaaah has-sss cut off power to the elevators-sss!”

  Architeuthis had prepared for that yes, but these early reports were not completely accurate. Later messengers arrived and clarified… one elevator that had been captured was able to send up a unit of Pumalar shock troops, armed with captured EIC’s taken off the dead bodies of the guards. This unit had made it to the service tunnel several miles above… right before Ggggaaah’s headquarters had received the distress calls and gone into security lockdown. It turned out, the evil Warden’s only plan for defense was to hole up in his fortified headquarters and let his guards below fight it out until the whole planet below him starved to death.

  To be fair, Ggggaaah had every reason to assume such a tactic would succeed. After all, the food depots below the planet surface had only enough food to supply the rebelling prisoners for one month. Moreover, they’d have to capture all of these depots and defeat the garrisons in each one, just to get to the food. Even if they could accomplish this, the rebels were doomed to failure, and once they began to starve, thought Ggggaaah, they’d fear complete disaster. Then, they’d surely surrender.

  Hell, even if they didn’t surrender, they’d starve to death eventually anyway. Just like any pirate captain, Ggggaaah merely planned on bringing in thousands more prisoners once the mutiny fizzled out, and he’d be right back in business.

  Yet this did not concern Architeuthis, because General Hicks’ plan already took that into consideration in the first place. Hicks had assumed that Ggggaaah would shut off power to the elevators as a security measure. In desperation, any trapped commander would encircle himself with his best troops and just let the enemy come to him. But Ggggaaah didn’t yet consider himself to be trapped; that was the difference. He had actually underestimated his opponent, and presumed he could defeat them by starving them into submission, like he’d always done.

  Ggggaaah, however… was dead wrong!

  True, General Hicks didn’t know which of the three food depots would fall the easiest so he had a thousand Pumalar shock troops in reserve, at the ready, at each location, to try and board freight elevators before power was cut off. It would be a twenty earth minute ride to the surface in those gigantic lifts. If all three captured elevators worked, that would make things easier of course. But if none of the elevators worked or didn’t carry the warriors all the way to the surface, then the next four Earth days would be very rough-going for the Rebels.

  Luckily however, one elevator was captured quickly and still serviceable all the way to the surface before Ggggaaah shut off power to them. While the other two food depots were under attack, and being secured by allied rebels, a thousand brave Pumalars scrambled into the one captured freight elevator, along with a platoon of Earther EIC fire teams riding all the way up accompanying them. Each Earther fire team used captured weapons from the dead prison guards; and set up barricades to protect themselves for when the elevator door opened at the service tunnel above.

  Not sure what they’d find when it opened, an ambush or a surprised sentry, the Earthers at the front prepared for a deadly firefight. The elevator grinded, hummed, whined, and groaned, then lifted the comparatively light load of sweaty (and furry), grime- and dust-covered beings for twenty terribly long and terrifying minutes as it ascended from the bloody battle scene below. Packed in shoulder to shoulder, with many still fresh from combat, it was going to be an agonizingly long journey. Would the elevator even complete its ascent? Or would the elevator stop somewhere along the way and leave them with another mile (or more) to have to climb using the service ladders?

  Thankfully, to the heavily armed Pumalars and Earthers holding carbide lamps in case of a power shutdown, the elevator completed the long climb, and to their relief, the doors opened finally—only to find an entire platoon of about 30 Zorgolongian security troops awaiting its arrival, apparently still expecting an empty elevator to open up for them to ride down and easily suppress the rebellion. Remarkably, the Lieutenant in charge of th
e unit, had “called” the elevator up to the surface right about the time the Pumalars and their Earther allies had boarded it; so the entire unit of Zorgs was expecting an empty elevator lift when it opened.

  As the lift crept over the edge of the service tunnel floor, Earthers holding EIC’s and manning larger EIC machine guns on tripods opened fire, decimating the surprised security force, and scattering those not killed immediately. That’s when the massacre began….

  As the elevator came to a clunking stop, Pumalar warriors inside the elevator went wild and rushed forward to slaughter the more than five hundred mining engineers, truck haulers, and support personnel working in the service tunnel. These terrified civilians employed by the mine; had been working in relative safety for years never expecting anything quite like this to ever happen; and their screams and cries for help filled 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 what Hicks had assumed would happen once Nausties made it into the Service Tunnel… yet now trapped inside the remaining food depots and guard stations throughout the planet, were thousands of terrified Zorg guards… left behind to fight to the death. Now, the Nausties would have to fight and attack each one for desperately needed food supplies!

  Architeuthis and his Slart planners didn’t panic. They merely hoped that now that the first three depots had fallen, the same tactical plan could be used over and over again to secure these remaining strongholds and capture their food. It would be at the expense of thousands more killed or wounded yes…but eventually they could all be taken. Hicks and his staff went right to work mobilizing units for assaults on the remaining depots; and within a day he had plans for the next five. “Well, gentlemen…” began Hicks at his next meeting with Architeuthis and his planning team, “the good news is, it’s gonna be a lot easier hitting these guard stations in the dark.”

  But an amazing thing happened. The Zorg guards at the remaining food depots actually began… surrendering! Yes, after a while, seeing the futility of their situation and cut off from any communication with headquarters, guard posts began capitulating and negotiating terms for surrender. Now the tide was truly turning.

  Such is often the fate with isolated combat units, cut off from command and any hope of reinforcement. Besides, these were not trained soldiers. They were nothing but police; and for that matter not even that. Just a rudimentary weapons training accompanied by an orientation on how to change shifts and distribute food rations to starving, exhausted prisoners. Otherwise they were just bullies who thrilled at holding a weapon that they’d rarely gotten to discharge, and barely remembered how to operate anyway. When large forces of Nausties appeared outside their guard posts and demanded surrender, most simply just gave up and tossed out their weapons. General Hicks ordered all their lives spared too… they’d be vital sources of information later in the war, no doubt!

  Within a few days, the Nausties had secured most of the planet except for the command headquarters and main terminal. Soon, they were massing inside the Service Tunnel itself. Yes, the tide was turning, but this was still going to be a desperate battle.

  Chapter 6:

  The Ramp

  “Alright, boys… how do we crack a walnut with our own butt cheeks?” asked General Hicks with a sarcastic growl and a menacing grin. In the dimness, his men chuckled and snickered subtly. It was still a very serious situation, but the general’s surprising levity was appreciated nevertheless. Hicks gathered his aides and military advisors inside the service tunnel to plan the final attack, and the first expectation he wanted to set was this: No idea was too far-fetched. Nothing was too crazy to consider. Time was running out too. By now, Warden Ggggaaah surely must have put out a distress call for help. The only bad idea anyone could have suggested was to wait and think it over a few days. They didn’t have a “few days”.

  Emergency lights were all that shown inside the service tunnel now, and as far as anyone could tell, the entire area for miles in every direction, had been secured. This was their bridgehead, and supplies were beginning to pour in from below. They’d been fortunate already….

  Freight elevators extending from the service tunnel down to the mines, ran on emergency electrical backup sources… backup power connected to their own separate battery systems in case of a planet-wide blackout. Ironically, the Nausties noticed, the elevators were equipped with a shut-off switch that could be engaged at the T
OP of the elevator shaft in case of a riot, but they still had their own individual power systems which could be turned on to run the elevator separately from the main electrical grid, until they’d need to be recharged.

  True, the discovery that they could operate the elevators for a while was a relief. Especially after Spleefs and Zorgs had climbed all the way up those first two elevator shafts and realized just how difficult that actually turned out to be. Practically no one wanted to have to do it again (not to mention repeatedly!) Carrying up supplies that way would have required THOUSANDS of Nausties wearing backpacks filled with water vessels or food rations. It would have taken days to perform this and to continually supply forward units in this manner for an assault would have been a monumental task.

  Amazingly enough, the leader of the Schpleeftkorkii gang had devised a plan for just such an operation, if it ever came to that!

  His concept, which fortunately never ended up having to be executed, was to use TWO captured elevator shafts and create a gigantic circuit of Spleefs, Earthers, and Zorgs working in supply brigades of 1500 to 2000 beings each. They would, if necessary, throw on sacks, tied to their backs, filled with several pounds of supplies and literally CLIMB all the way up (over a mile) to the service tunnel above them on ladders only about three feet wide. Then when they’d completed the ascent, they’d use captured transport vehicles to travel across the service tunnel to another empty elevator shaft and then CLIMB ALL THE WAY DOWN. Service vehicles below would transport them back to the other shaft to reload with supplies on their backs; and … then climb all the way back to the surface (over and over again). The Schpleeftkorkii gang leader, Solomon Mwanga, was actually a black African Earther and he’d allied with several other gangs to create three full supply brigades to rotate into this diabolicaly circuitous process.