"Damn!" Miron growled, his hand delved into his pouch, searching for a bullet that wasn't there. "Out of ammo, Lypha."

"Craika!" Cursed the feliniod. Soshika's claws tightened on the katana, leaving small raw marks in the leather hilt. The Pagan soldiers crouched silently behind a small mount of slimy mud near the fighter launchpad. "And only one guard between us and freedom for our pals back there in the bunker." The Cat assessed their opponent. It looked to be an Uagh, maybe sniper trained from the rifle he had. Even Soshika's speed with the katana wouldn't be able to protect her from the exceedingly silent Rulerist snipers. Especially at such close range. "Craika, Miron! I told you not to waste those bullets!"

"Keeping twelve Uaghs off our backs is not wasting them, Lypha!" the sniper sighed exhaustedly and lay a hand on his brow, the other clinging protectively to his rifle. "Besides, I didn't know there was a guard." He shifted a tired green eye to look at her. "Did you?"

Neither the Cat's eyes nor attention was focused on the half-blood at the time. There was only one thing on her mind at the moment. How were they going to get past the Uagh? Keeping her ears flat, she chanced a peak over the mud pile at him. If she could get the Uagh within a three feet radius, she could probably disarm him and get inside the lift without drawing too much attention or giving away their position. Caught, she thought angrily, realizing there was no way she could get that close to the Uagh without being shot at. Damn you, buddy, what are you doing? How can I beat you?

Slowly, a thought crept upon the feline, causing a small grin to spread on her face. "I got an idea."

"Huh?"

"Look," Soshika scrambled back behind the dirt and began to outline her plan to the sniper. "That Uagh probably knows the lift is out too, but that isn't going to keep him very far out of firing range. He's also got a good supply of bullets, so a distraction isn't going to do us much good. It would only last a few seconds if we had one anyway."

"So?" Miron waved a hand, though not too melodramatically. Uaghs were experts at catching scant movements. "You're making it sound more like a suicide run. If it's impossible, just say that flat out. No need to crush all hope first."

The feline covered her eyes with her hands in disgust. It had to be the Human side of Miron that made him so obnoxiously obtuse at times. Soshika decided he should consider himself lucky that she was a patient feline. "Keep your doubts quiet until I'm finished, alright?" the Cat watched him and decided the half-blood had spoken his piece. For a little while at least. "See, we already know this is an Uagh. We also know he's on nonstop patrol and is probably a sniper."

"Correction," Miron interrupted again, "You know, being a telepath and all."

"What?"

"It's true, isn't it? That it's more then a rumor. Some of the other snipers have seen stuff…like that you can map universes and stuff. Stuff only telepaths can do."

The Cat shook her head furiously. "That's deshkan spawn, telepathy doesn't exist in real life! And for your information I'm a philosopher. I only map galaxies according to where I think life might be. Most philosophers can do things like that. Now listen up. That's an Uagh, we know. But we also know that like other Uaghs he's got a short attention span. They're like killer kids, right? Well, then it's simple."

"What's simple? Some people say you're either a genius or crazy, Lypha," the sniper shook his head and looked at his hands, afraid to make eye contact. "The way you keep goin' on I'm starting to believe the crazy part myself. Killer kids? Attention spans? What in the name of Pagans are you getting at, Cat?"

"Oh, come on!" the felinoid hissed, trying to keep her voice low. Her patience was beginning to wear slightly thin. Not only did Miron have to be ignorant beyond words; he also had to make public his opinions of her sanity level. And on top of that he had to get the delusion she had some comic-book power from nineteen ninety-five. Soshika made up her mind to vouch against half-humans entering the Pagan army. It seemed a miracle Miron had survived this long in battle, so brainless the sniper appeared. "Use what little Alien brain you have and think!"

The sniper lapsed back into a cool, staring silence, green slitted eyes glaring at the angered Cat. Though he did understand the reaction to his insult, he was still stung by the retaliation.

The fur along Soshika's back had stood straight up in anger, though she dare not make the conspicuous move of smoothing it back down. "Goddess, Miron, haven't you ever spent time with kids?" Her voice was whispering hiss, her ears back and eye slanted at the half-blood. Small needle-like teeth flashed as she spoke, intimidating the sniper some… But not enough to set him off-kilter. Miron shook his head. He'd been an only child scorned by Human children because of his mixed blood.

"They get bored, Miron you moron!" snapped the feline. "No kid wants to stand around for hours when they could be playing!"

"So what do you propose we do, oh wise one? Offer the Uagh a lift to the playground?"

"Just be quiet and wait, Miron." The Cat leaned against the dirt mound and closed her stormy blue eyes. "And trust me."

"Why?" the sniper knew he was courting trouble, acting mutinous as he was. Still, the feline needed to learn she couldn't always have the last word. Hell, it seemed all cats were arrogant! Miron remembered a tabby he'd once owned who hadn't answered to anyone…

"Because," Soshika's words interrupted his thoughts, adding insult to injury. The Cat's eyes were still shut, her voice nearly sleepy. "I have…a…hunch…that if we wait, it'll pay off."

"Great," muttered the half-blood. "We're risking the lives of twenty odd some people on a hunch."

"You got a better plan?" One eye opened sleepily and the Cat's tail twitched subtly.

Miron hadn't and lapsed into silence. Soshika shut her eyes again and relaxed her tail…

Waiting…