Saturn slammed a hand on the table.

"Alright! Operation: Save the Cat is a go! We're going in hot, so everyone be ready!"

The seven or so men surrounding them all threw up their hands in a cry of agreement. Erin rubbed his temples, Xan debating the merits of taking a ship and going kamikaze. At least then, he'd do some real damage.

"This is all we got?" the panda asked.

"Hey, what we lack in numbers, we make up for in spirit," Saturn defended. "Right men?"

They all cheered, throwing up their blasters. Xan sighed. At least they'd make good meat shields.

The mission to free Sasha was one he wasn't too surprised got very little AIC funding. As harsh as it was, the grads were fighting in warzones and decaying worlds. Sometimes they fell. Sometimes a lot of them fell. And there was no shortage of students in line to replace all the ones who couldn't quite make it in the cosmos.

But they weren't Sasha. The spider could blow up as many of his ships as she wanted, but no way was he letting her get away with the kid. Not when he'd just started to find her semi-tolerable.

"So, what is our plan of action?" Erin asked.

"We go guerilla style," Saturn said. "Our specialty. We hit 'em hard and fast before she even knows we're there. Kenn, how goes our signal jamming?"

A brunette athian typed away on his laptop.

"Still in the clear, ma'am," he said. "Any trackers will show us in the Wukon Cluster."

"Perfect." Saturn's skin turned green. "They'll never see us coming. We get in, take ‘em out, and blow the ship to kingdom come."

"And the kid?" Xan questioned.

"We’ll get her out before we blow up the ship, don’t worry. But our top priority is making sure Dyré is both taken down and in no position to recover her assets." She turned dark red. "We'll cripple her so badly she'll be destitute, forced to beg for scraps in the Crial Zone."

Her tongue clicked violently, to the point it almost sounded like laughter. Very off-tempo maniacal laughter. Both Erin and Xan looked at each other, faces mirroring regret. Once again taking a ship and crashing into Dyré's vessel seemed like a better long-term strategy. I swear, kid, you owe us big time if this works out. Xan groaned.

One of Saturn's men placed a commpad in the center of the table, a pulsating world projecting over the pyramid-shaped device.

"Our first target is Foryg," the agent explained. "According to our tracker, Panther touched down there a few minutes ago."

"Foryg?" Erin asked. "I thought that world fell?"

“It did,” Saturn explained. “But Dyré’s been on an…altruistic binge as of late. She just liberated Shiny the other day.”

“Shiny!”

Erin and Xan exchanged glances, both having spoken in unison. They leaned against each other, both lowering their voices to low whispers.

“That can’t be a coincidence, can it?” the weasel asked.

“Dyré doesn’t do coincidence.” Xan growled. “That spider. She’s trying to turn the kid.”

“Sweet whiskers.”

They broke away, Saturn's gaze shifting between them. Her tongue clicked, but she didn’t press them for an explanation.

Staring at the planet, Xan saw a place covered in so many portals that it looked like a dripping grape. Not exactly somewhere to be sending a teenager. Especially not one as weak as Sasha. But if the spider really had pulled out the charm, the kid wouldn’t realize she was being played like a bongo drum. She’d want to take on planets way beyond her means just to please her. That was the way Dyré always operated. A spider wearing the guise of a friend.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Dangit. Don’t fall for it, Sasha. Nothing good comes from that witch. He squeezed Sledge, the urge to break it over a pirate’s face rising the longer he pictured the two together.

“Regardless,” the commpad agent continued, “it’s a safe assumption that Panther wouldn’t be left planetside alone. Whoever she’s with will be to key to our operation. As soon as the Commander gives the signal, we’ll head straight to Foygre, take out any pirates we find, and use their shuttle to infiltrate Dyré’s ship. From there, it should be a simple process of taking out the remaining members of the Black Web.”

“And the kid?” Xan asked.

“We’ll grab her when we see her. I can trust you won’t abandon the mission when she’s safe, yes?”

“Hey, I may be lazy, but I’m a man of my word. Usually.”

Erin rolled his eyes, Saturn turning yellow a moment before her attention returned to the projection.

The commpad agent changed the image, Dyré’s vessel appearing in all its terrible majesty. She zoomed in on the window, the ship’s bridge showcasing the spider herself in her usual spot overlooking all her men. Xan recognized a few of them. Bettle still hadn’t jumped ship yet, it seemed.

“This is the only image we’ve managed to capture,” Saturn explained. “When we get on board, our top priority is to take out as many pirates as possible BEFORE going after Dyré. The last thing we need is to be at a numbers and strength disadvantage. Everyone clear on that?”

Several heads nodded. Given who they were up against, it was a sound strategy. Dyré was a monster in her own right, but she always had one or two aces under her employ. Some of which Xan could spot just by looking at the picture.

If they were to have a shot at taking the spider down, they needed to get her alone. Or at least get rid of all the annoying ones.

Saturn leaned against the table, eyes scanning over everyone.

“I won’t lie to you all,” she said.”We’ll only get one shot at this. I’ll be counting on everyone. Stay together, and don’t let your guards down, no matter what. Everybody ready?"

The soldiers cheered in unison.

"Then let's move out!"

She gave a wave of her hand, and the group dispersed, everyone filing out of the debriefing room and headed straight for the exit hatch. Their ship was just dropping out of warp space over Foryg.

***

Sneaking onto a planet full of legionnaires was the easy part.

Xan peeked out the window, watching as the winged creatures flew by, eyes scanning to and fro. They all had barely managed to reach shelter in time, Saturn insisting they avoid engaging the monsters so as not to create a commotion. The minute they touched down planetside, Operation: Save the Cat became a stealth mission. Xan fell back into cover.

“This is mad,” Erin said. “So we’re just waiting to see if she can do it?”

“When is more like,” Saturn said. “Dyré wouldn’t risk sending Panther if she thought it was too dangerous. Not after going through the trouble of catching her alive.”

“Maybe.” Erin narrowed at the window, the glint of white passing by. “These monsters. Sasha should be training, but instead she’s forced to deal with all this. Legionairres. Pirates. Dying worlds.”

“A little late for doubt, twig,” Xan said.

“Sympathy’s more like.” Erin sighed. “I believe in Sasha. I do. But sometimes I wonder. Does a girl like that really need to be saving planets?”

“Not like there’s much else she could do. I mean, Sasha doesn’t really strike me as the kind of kid who’d want to be something lame like a wage slave or a doctor. Maybe a cop.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Saturn asked.

“Eh, take it however you want.”

Xan shrugged, Saturn clicking again as she returned to commpad watching duty.

The wait for Sasha’s success wouldn’t be an enormous one. Xan squinted as he saw the light of day come bearing down on them. The world outside was becoming awash with black mist and white powder. Everyone grabbed their weapons, Saturn motioning for the door.

“They’re on the move,” she said. “Let’s go people. Time is of the essence.”

The soldiers all filed into the streets one by one. Xan and Erin both brought up the rear while Saturn came in the middle. Better that way in case things turned dicey. From the back, Xan had a conga line of meat shields. Erin included.

The concession stopped abruptly.

“Contact,” Saturn whispered.

She gave a signal, and the meat shields scattered, Xan panicking and jumping into a nearby ditch. Not the best cover, but when Xan peaked out of his barely chest-level hiding spot, he swiftly stopped caring.

“Good work, Panther. You almost looked cool out there.”

His ears rose.

“Whadya mean almost? I was a total beast. A master graduate.”

There was no mistaking the second voice. Xan glanced around, spotting the other agents peaking out as well. Saturn had a hand raised, all the soldiers reading their blasters. Erin had his gaze locked on the feline being led by several pirates. The same feline decked out in colors matching that wretched spider.

“Maybe next time try to dodge.”

“Or parry.”

“Hey, I'm trying my best here,” Sasha said.

Xan raised Sledge at the ready, Saturn finally giving the signal. Her agents wasted no time in opening fire.