As they finally approached the Kloxna homeworld on the 14th day of travel, Eirik gathered David and 8 of his wolves in the armory to go over the mission at hand. He handed out a map to each person and started speaking, "Alright, in a few hours we will use the modified Siege armors to drop directly to the planet from orbit. Once we land, we leave the siege armor behind and continue darkened in kevlar suits.

We have 2 targets. The first target is a sleeping family. Trasti has assured me of his ability to convince them to leave. They will be gathered at the extraction point before we continue with the 2nd target. The 2nd target will be a single patrolling Kloxna soldier. They move in groups of 5, according to Trasti, with an interval of 15 minutes between each group. Silenced assault rifles loaded with sedative darts should do the trick. For the first few hours, they will search for us on the ground until a major city is informed. Only then will they connect the dots.

Our extraction shuttle will arrive shortly after we land, to gather the armor and receive the family. David, you will be flying, I need a calm man behind the wheel. You got some special cargo you need to bring with you."

David raised his hand, but Eirik already knew the question. "It has already been loaded into the shuttle. You will know once you take your seat in there. I have left written instructions for you." David lowered his hand again. Any of the others would still have asked a question, but David trusted Eirik. He would not ask this of him if he did not think David could handle it.

"I chose you specifically because of your discipline. I want this clean and quick. We knock out the patrol and get the target. Trasti will once again be present, as we need positive identification of the target and he will also point out the correct patrol. I don't want any more trouble than we have to get into. We are so far behind enemy lines that escape from an active defensive protocol from the planet is all but impossible." There was no need to tell them about his ace in the sleeve. He would like to keep that one a secret. at least for now.

Eirik continued, "If we make it, a great reward will be given to you instead of the usual credit payout. Unless of course, you would rather have the credits, but I ask that you at least hear me out. But first, we have work to do."

Eirik spent as much time as he could, going over the finer details of the plan with his men. These were his oldest veterans. They had followed him since he first bought the ship and raised a crew. They were hardened through countless battles. Steady under fire, unyielding to the end. They would willingly lay down their lives to save any of the others. Eirik felt the same way about them. You don't fight together as they had done without forming deep bonds.

When he finally could delay no longer, Eirik gave the official order to go.

______________________

David and Trasti entered the shuttle and David saw the large black cargo container that took up a large part of the shuttle's otherwise empty cargo room. On the console next to the pilot's chair lay a handwritten note. He picked it up and began reading.

David. Inside the container, you will find a cargo box, a shipping manifest, and 1 tied up, extremely angry, Kloxna senior commander.

Sai'Lonis and I have reached an agreement. You are to move the container outside of the shuttle, to the forest highlighted on the computer maps. That is, coincidently, also the extraction point. I will do the rest once we arrive back for extraction. I also need you to gather up and collect the siege armors once you land. We will have unequipped them while waiting for you and Trasti. Just make sure you get that container outside so there is enough room for everyone and the equipment inside.

I will explain later, once we are out of Kloxna territory and back in the relative safety of the void.

Your excuse for entering the atmosphere with a shuttle will be the transport of goods for a high caste member.

Peace and good growth my dear friend.

Eirik.

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Eirik stood in the airlock with the others, hands clasped around the iron bar that would serve as their anchor when the pressure was equalized. The doors started opening and they all felt the strong pull of the atmosphere inside the ship rushing out in a futile attempt to fill the void outside, but with a solid grip on the iron bar, they all stayed safe inside the airlock. As soon as they were weightless they all shifted position to be ready to kick off, towards the planet.

Seconds ticked by as they waited for the signal from Jeanette on the bridge. Almost 2 minutes passed before they heard her voice inside their helmets. "Now, go!".

They all kicked off, away from the ship, and started their flight towards the planet. The first minute passed in complete silence, the void of space lacking an atmosphere for soundwaves to travel through. Suddenly Eirik felt himself accelerate. "This is it." He thought to himself. "First ever atmospheric reentry without ship assistance. A new era of warfare, if we are successful. Gods and goddesses, look favorably upon our efforts!"

As the planet below grew in size, he felt himself accelerate more and more. The planet started growing at an alarming rate and the front of his armor started glowing red, then yellow, and finally started glowing white, as the air superheated around him during the reentry into the planetary atmosphere. He righted himself and prepared for the thrusters in the suit to kick in and slow his speed.

At the 2 kilometer mark from the ground they activated, subjecting his body to the power of 7 G's and he had to fight to stay conscious until the deceleration subsided and he was falling at a reasonable pace for the armor to absorb the impact. The thruster kept firing to slow him down until he hit the ground, but he still slammed into the planet with enough force to embed him several centimeters into the ground. He heard the other slam into the ground around him and he started getting the siege armor off.

As they were gathering the armors up in a pile, they saw the Shuttle pulling in for the landing and they waited impatiently for it to land. When it did, the ramp immediately started lowering and Trasti was all but yanked out by an impatient Eirik. "Let's go, lead the way, Trasti," Eirik whispered before pulling the hood on his suit over his head.

Trasti pointed towards the open plains outside the woods and they all made their way towards the little village as fast as they could without making noise. Trasti stopped on the outskirt of town and listened intently before duking low to the ground. Without needing a verbal cue, Eirik made a hand signal that made the others drop as well. There was a bright moon, but the darkened suits would help conceal them.

Eirik could hear the faintest noise of Kloxna talking in their native language. He REALLY needed to get a translator implanted so he didn't have to rely on his ship or those you carried around. A minute later, Trasti got up and moved further into the village. He pointed out a house and Eirik and his men crept into the shadows surrounding the nearby houses.

Trasti silently slid open the door and moved inside. There was a muffled cry of surprise followed by intense whispering. Eirik would probably never know what words were said in there, but not 2 minutes later a total of 11 Kloxna came trailing out after Trasti. 1 of them, an elderly-looking female, was carrying 3 sleeping Kloxna children. Trasti stopped outside the house and pointed towards Eirik who waved a hand out from the shadows nearby.

They had planned this, a way to signal that those following them meant them no harm. Trasti quickly hurried out of the village with his family in tow, Eirik and his men rushing from shadow to shadow to cover them while they moved towards the shuttle in the forest. During their final stretch, over the open field, one of the Younger Kloxna looked back and saw the Terrans running behind them. She gave out a frightened cry of surprise that was quickly silenced by Trasti as he grasped around her snout and forced her to be silent.

"Don't stop!" Eirik whispered to Trasti who got his family moving again as Eirik and the others dropped down to a prone position, facing the village. They soon saw flashlights bopping in the darkness, moving towards them at a fast pace.

"5 of them. Must be one of the patrols. Let's pray they didn't report a disturbance yet." Eirik mumbled to the men around him. "Drop them!" He ordered and the *hiss* *pop* of silent fire could be heard around him. The 5 flashlights dropped to the ground and they waited. After 30 seconds they moved in to secure the area around the downed patrol.

"Go get Trasti. I need his eyes.." Eirik ordered and 1 of the men quickly made his way to the shuttle and returned with Trasti, who had handed his family over to David. When he arrived, he, unfortunately, did not see his sister amongst the sleeping guards on the ground.

"Fuck it. How many more patrols are there?" Eirik asked.

"Usually 3, but in wartime, we are supposed to have 5," Trasti answered.

"So, 4 remaining. Let's go hunting. Wait here Trasti. They won't wake up for around 6 hours." Without further explanation, he disappeared into the darkness with his men. Minutes later, they returned with another group of unconscious guards. On the 3rd try, they got lucky and Trasti pointed out his sister. They grabbed her and headed to the shuttle.

As they returned, Eirik walked over to the container and opened the side. He removed the bag he had placed over Sai'Lonis's head just hours earlier, just before he loaded her into the container. He still had the scratch marks along the arms to prove the struggle had been real. As she regained her sight she looked around confused and then locked her eyes on him. She opened her mouth the spew insults at him, but Eirik shoved his silenced weapon up under her throat

"LISTEN! We are on the Kloxna homeworld. I have the box and manifest you asked for here in the container. Now you tell me. Will you still honor our agreement?" Eirik stared her in the eyes and Sai'Lonis felt like she was being stared down by a predator. The void black of the Terran pupil was unique in the galactic community, and now, more than ever, she believed the ancient Terran saying *The eyes being the mirrors of the soul*. The Terran soul was the black void, the inevitable ending of all opposition.

"Yes, we still have an agreement. Once struck, a deal must be honored!" She couldn't keep the spite out of her voice, despite knowing that the warrior in front of her was as honorable as any Kloxna she could name.

"Kloxna integrity. I am pleasantly surprised." Eirik said as he uncuffed her and gestured to the crate. "Here. Manifest is inside. May we never meet as foes on the field of battle, as I would greatly lament your death."

Eirik turned on his heel and went into his own shuttle where he found himself face to face with 13 Kloxna, one of them sedated to high heavens, and felt the shuttle leave the ground.

As they were halfway back to the ship, a communication attempt came through and David accepted.

"Terran smuggler vessel, you are not scheduled for departure: Please return to the planet at once!" a voice rang out.

"Ain't got the time for that, got goods to smuggle and credits to earn. Thank you for the hospitality, my delivery here is complete, I will be leaving now!" David rambled off as he increased speed and cut off the call.

They soon landed in the hangar of Eirik's ship and he jumped out of the shuttle and slammed his hand on the intercom. "DO IT!!" he shouted before turning around and kneeling in front of the group of Kloxna. "Don't worry little ones" He said as he reached his arms out to the sides and embraced as many as he could, his men from the mission doing the same all around the group.

The ship jumped for a second before coming to a sudden stop, turning a few degrees and repeating the maneuver.

Eirik hated when he had to do this, but at least he had a corridor of safe travel, through Sai'Lonis's territory. He just had to reach it.