"We'll cover your back from here, though I think if you get as far as the repeaters you could belly-crawl the rest of the way." Miron spoke half his concentration on loading his rifle and half on the feline. Bok was already taking aim, getting ready to clear the Cat a path. The half-human looked back at the Cat who was messing with something that looked like a fancy sword, only it looked a little more knife-like. It reminded him of something he saw in a movie as a kid, some sort of sci-fi classic. Lightsaber, they called it there. Only those were like laser swords, hers is made of steel.

The Cat ran her thumb along the blade of the weapon, testing its sharpness. The steel was dinged with the marks of bullets, and with the scrapes of other things the sword tended to come into contact with. Lypha watched her reflection in the metal, shiny despite the darkness. "I wish I could guarantee you won't get hit by some bullets," Miron shrugged, "But that's like telling the sky it might shake hands with the earth some day."

"I'll watch for bullets," Lypha muttered, brushing tawny brown hair from her dark blue eyes. "You worry about shells and grenades."

"Well, then," Miron raised his rifle in salute. "Let us succeed, in the name of all Pagans everywhere."

The Cat's blade and the muzzle of Bok's rifle all touched against the metal of Miron's only weapon. "For all Pagans," Bok growled.

"For all Pagans," repeated the felinoid. "And to the death of the Rulerist dogs."

"Aye," Miron nodded, and he and Bok repeated the words. "To the death of Rulerism."

The weapons broke touch, and the felinoid poised to run, the blade in her right hand. Miron knelt, aiming, ready to shoot down the first who took aim at the Cat.