Part 3 of a Mites Journal

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Journal Entry 14'th of the 12'th Month

We have encountered a small Pagan detachment en-route to Ando. Have decided to escort them to the planet's surface. May be able to pick up a trace of the Ranec in Dock 6.

Received transmission from Contura signaling an invasion. Will ignore transmission.

Long Range scans confirm a large body of ships moving towards Ando. Expect battle if they are Rulerists.

Some of the pagans decided to join up with the ship. Will make excellent pilots for our small space fighters.

~Jurai Kerr
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The group of ships moved speedily through space, the Maimed Wing easily being the biggest of them. Jurai was in the central command room, lying next to an open terminal, plugging in the latest Auto-targeting software for the unmanned gun turrets. Samyo and a Chuian they had picked up on contura were trying to fix one of the engines, number 5 to be exact, that had been giving them trouble ever since the incident on Tresh. A Morback hunched over the electronics for one of the Maimed Wing's Main Turrets, wondering why they were going out of their way to help the pagan army. Weren't they, after all, trying to kill a pagan soldier? If Jurai wanted to, he could blow any of these Pagan ships to smithereens with one shell from one of the 4 main turrets. It was strange, but when he knew he was doing something to thwart the Rulerists, Jurai seemed to drop his emotional barrier. The Morback turned back to his work, he had to get this turret ready in time for what would most likely be a battle.

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Journal Entry 16'th of the 12'th month

I've been observing a supposed Human-half breed on board the ship. I have absolutely no idea what race provided the Gene's for the non-human half. She seems to drink a lot of water and simply wander around the ship. Samyo has a bad feeling about her, but the Pagan commander insists she's Ok. Her eyes…they give me chills. White, pure white.

Ando is not very far away now.

Large body of ships has been confirmed as Rulerist.

~Jurai Kerr

The Half-breed slipped into the cargo bay unnoticed. She leaned against a crate of Ammunition, running her fingers through her long black hair. Her black, leathery tail brushed lightly against the cold, steel floor. "Now if I was a package of Chloroform gas, where would I be?" She walked about the boxes and crates, the barrels and the pipes, sniffing the air. "So there you are.." Her eyes focused on a large blue crate, marked 'SOAP'.

***

The crate broke open with a resounding CRACK as the two long black talons, emerging from her wrist, broke and splintered the wood in all directions. A smile crept along her pale face as she unwrapped the long rubber hoses and inserted them into the silvery canisters, ready to unleash their contents on the Crew. She tied the end of the hoses around her slender waist,and began to…Melt? In a Matter of seconds, she was a large puddle, covered with Silver Membrane. The puddle slipped up the wall and into an air vent, while dragging the hoses behind it.

***

"Ok, The fighters will deploy HERE.." The Tresh Strategist planted a paw on a section of the map, "And then follow the Maimed Wing into the fleet. This WILL be a diversionary tactic-The Transports shall go around HERE" He paused and moved his paw over to a point further along in the orbit of Ando. "After they have landed safely, The Maimed Wing will recover the fighters and land on the planet, In a small canyon west of Dock 6. Once there, well, that's up to Jurai. Speaking of Jurai, why was an escape pod launched from your ship?"

"Your right, that's up to me…And the pod? Someone must have chickened out. Nothing more to it." Jurai stood up and coldly walked over to the door. He looked back just long enough to issue a warning. "Be careful out there, ok? No all out assaults…I'd…umm…Really like it if you guy's survi…Well…Nevermind." And with that his emotional barrier returned and he left the room.

"Sheesh. Guy's got quite a complex, eh?" mused the Male Ranec who sat on one of the cold benches.

"Quite…" The tresh strategist folded up his maps and left.

***

"OPEN FIRE!!! AIM FOR THE TRANSPORTS AND LIGHT CRUISERS!", screamed Jurai from the Cockpit. The Maimed Wing's 4 main turrets began blasting out their high impact shells as the ship spun and twisted into the Rulerist Armada. A human battleship fired at the Wing rather unsuccessfully, as it rose sharply upward. The Fighters had now joined the battle, directing their rapid-firing guns toward the light cruisers as they had been instructed. The Wing came down sharply upon the stationary battleship, and planted 3 space torpedoes into her topside. It was ripped into 2 pieces.

"LAUNCH ALL FIGHTERS, NOW!" A grizzly old human colonel stood on the bridge of a Rulerist Carrier, shouting out orders as the Maimed Wing pulled off amazing maneuvers, more like that of a fighter than a Battle Cruiser. The wing slowed down, turned, and plowed directly towards a troupe of Light cruisers that were riddling the ship with gunfire. It's turrets pumped out another dozen or so shells into the group, quickly reducing them and their crews into space junk. "I Want that renegade ship stopped! THIS MINUTE! We cannot afford to lose ships at this…WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?!"

"Sir, a small ship has just left the planet, it seems that two of it's crew have deployed in bubble fighters and are attacking our fighter squadrons, Sir!"

"SHOOT THEM DOWN!!!!" The Colonel issued no more orders. 6 torpedoes ripped into the hull of the carrier and forever silenced it.

***

The Maimed Wing blasted away from the conflict, deploying space mines as it went. Jurai turned away from the controls to talk to Samyo, who was sitting at the OSM panel. "What's the count on our fighters, Samyo?"

The myche gulped and replied slowly. "32…out of 46…shot down…."

Jurai clenched his fists and turned back to the panel. "And ship damage…?"

"Main turret 2 disabled, fade panels all across the ship damaged, engine 5 kicked the bucket and won't be coming back, torpedo tubes 2, 4, and 8 damaged. Oh, and fighter bay 2 took a nice whacking from a missile. As did our 4th wing."

Samyo continued to rattle off the damage report. Jurai wasn't really listening, though. He was thinking about his bounty. Would the Dock 6 lead prove useful? It had better. Or he had no more leads to follow.

***

"The canyon isn't very far away now."

"Good, stay low." Jurai was readying his weapons in the cockpit of the Maimed Wing, as the ship buzzed low over the sands of Ando.

"Ya know Jurai, Samyo thinks that it would be best if…::yawn:: mmm….Samyo is very sleepy…." The myche was beginning to slump over at the controls.

Jurai felt the same. He sniffed the air. There was something most certainly not right. He looked up at the air vents and focused his eyes carefully. Yes! It was like a steady stream of…. something…some kind of gas. It was distorting the air around it. "Samyo, its Chloroform! Samyo!" Jurai shook the myche franticly, but he just wouldn't wake up. "What the…Ahhh…. The ship…It's…." He looked at the controls. They were moving on their own! Most likely a steering device with a pre-programmed target. Jurai stumbled out of the cockpit, trying to reach the escape hatch and with it, fresh air. But even he, a mite, with a natural resistance to foreign chemicals, fell to the floor of the ship, out cold. The ship flew through the air, all it's crew unaware of it's final destination…A human desert supply base, near a mine.