As the heavy doors blew open from the force of the explosive charges the guards inside were thrown to the floor, heads spinning and ears ringing. Before they had time to register what was happening 3 groups of 9 humans rushed inside, their weapons making weird popping sounds as they fired once at every guard in sight. None of them had time to register that they had been hit by a dart before the tranquilizer inside started working its magic, sending them into a deep sleep. Moving fast and with none of the hesitation you would expect from being somewhere they have never been before.

Following the path on the HUD of his ballistic glasses. David was leading the 3 groups towards the objective at a speed that most would consider recklessly fast, considering they were deep in enemy territory. A few Corridors down he made a couple of hand gestures and the last group split off in a different direction. at the next corner, the middle group started leaving a man behind every time they turned a new corner.

"Don't worry old friend, I'm coming for you" he mumbled as the distance counter on his HUD passed below the 100-meter mark.

_____________________

Moments after giving the final order, Eirik felt the building shake. he quickly moved his captured weapon back into his hand and picked up his prisoner who was starting to stir.

Turning to the prisoners on the chairs in the corner he said " I hope I didn't hurt you too bad when I grabbed you, friend. And to all of you, I'm sorry you had to go through this. Peace and good growth to you."

With those words, he turned his back on them and stood in front of the door, weapon ready and hostage over his shoulder.

Some 30 seconds later the moving of many people could be heard in the hallway, and the door attempted to open from the outside. Pushing the open button and getting his weapon back in position, Eirik watched the door open....... and saw his strike team on the other side of the door.

Without a word, the leader of the strike team pointed in a direction towards a soldier at a corner down the hall and Eirik started running in his direction. When he reached the soldier the man started running in front of Eirik, weapon ready and leading the way.

This continued without mishaps back to the door they blew up, where sirens could be heard outside.

Stopping to formulate a plan and figure a way out of this situation without any more trouble than they absolutely needed, he turned around to speak to the men behind him.

That's, when the tied-up Kloxna on his shoulder, started squirming and struggling to get free. Giving her a shake he hissed "Stop that right now or get thrown to the floor. It's not my wish to bring you along but it is happening!! You can come with me painfully or peacefully. choose!!"

She stopped struggling to listen to him and didn't resume once he finished speaking. Grunting he turned to look at the man he knew to be David and saw his eyes look at him with an obvious question.

Sighing heavily, Eirik waved a hand in the air "Later, David, we got bigger issues at hand. Bang and clear, nonlethal dose. Cover with smoke."

The men started moving as soon as the captain finished speaking, stacking up at the entrance, checking their weapons, and giving ready signs when finished.

The flashbangs went through the door, and the loud bang and screaming announced that it had worked as intended, but the hail of rifle fire from laser rifles was not expected. Apparently, someone was holding down their trigger in a panic response to the blinding light and deafening noise.

Another 2 grenades flew out the door, this time smoke grenades and they quickly covered the outside area in a thick layer of smoke. rushing out, guns firing, the 3 groups made quick work of the soldiers outside.

Not without casualties though. Stray laser fire from the blinded Kloxna soldiers was able to wound several of the Terrans and they were running low on ammo.

As soon as the last Kloxna soldier was downed, the Terrans started running away through alleys and side streets. Just a few minutes later they arrived at a commercial spaceport where they had parked the shuttles that brought them here.

Quickly boarding and getting in the air, The Terrans (and their prisoner) could see several groups of Kloxna approaching the spaceport they just left.

Looking over to David, who had now taken his mask off, Eirik said "when is the mission complete, friend?"

Without missing a beat, David replied as he always had after a mission. "On the ride home, friend"

Silence reigned in the cabin after that and lasted until they docked back at the "Void Wolf"

__________________________________________

Eirik had barely had time to deposit the Kloxna in the brig before he was called to the bridge, Upon arriving, he could see the face of the very same Kloxna that had captured him, to begin with. However, this time there was no hint of smugness, compared to the last time when the slimeball practically oozed it. As soon as the idiotic creature saw him, it began to speak.

"Human. you have not only caused damage to a military installation and humiliated our people, but you have even kidnapped a member of the higher caste. I must demand that you return immediately to safely deliver back the prisoner and surrender yourself for our judgment. the penalty shall be death, I can promise youth-"

"ENOUGH you pompous lizard freak. I was already sentenced to death, so what are you going to do?? kill me twice? I have no intention of returning neither the prisoner nor myself. Come and take me, if you can". Pressing a button and ending the call, Eirik sat down in his chair and rubbed his temples.

After a minute had passed one of the bridge crew summoned the courage to speak. ".. Captain..?"

"Set course for home. the plan has changed for the moment."

"..But sir, you promised us-" A glare from Eirik made the man type furiously at his console for a couple of seconds before saying "Course set for home sir, any specific location we should set down?"

"Shuttle distance from the home range mountains." With these words, Eirik got up and left the bridge. Swinging past the cantina, he picked up 2 meal rations (real food rations, not that synthetic crap) and 2 bottles of water before heading towards the brig. Time to have a right and proper talk with little miss trouble.

________________________

Las'Tai was furious. after waking up. she found her hand and snout tied up, being dragged along by the human, like a sack of clothes. she started struggling to get free, but his short hissed message and a look around at all the other humans, some with strange rectangular objects and pistols, even more with what looked like strange rifles and all of them with face coverings and body armor, quickly made her stop her struggle to get free. She wasn't going anywhere anyway.

............

After a short shuttle ride with only a strange exchange of words between the leader of the supposed Terran soldiers and her prisoner charge as the only thing that broke the silence, she was soon shown into a cell quite unceremoniously.

"When I told mother I wanted to live a regular life, this was not what I was expecting" she grumbled to herself. she looked around and was surprised at the apparent luxury spent on a prisoner. The bed was a separate piece of furniture with a soft mattress (by her people's standard anyway) and good coverings. She could even see a pillow! There was a small hygiene compartment, a bookshelf with some old-looking books (real books! not datapads), a small table with a chair, and a window to look out of.

She was stunned. This was on par with a low-income apartment back home. Admitted, the low end of low income, but still. She wondered what exorbitant luxury the Terrans must be living in. With nothing better to do, she grabbed a massive looking book from the shelf and read the title

"The Icelandic Sagas"

"Sagas?" she thought. "I didn't know Terrans had sagas". After a moment she felt stupid. of course they would have stories that linked them to the past as well. She opened the first page and began to read...

______________________________

Coming up to the cell, Eirik couldn't help but notice the absence of sound. Everything was quiet. Suspiciously quiet. He crept up to the cell slowly, being careful not to make a sound as he did so. Peeking around the wall, he relaxed when he saw her reading, then his eyes grew wider as he saw exactly what she was reading.

"THAT'S WHERE THEY PUT IT!!" he burst out, not being able to help himself.

______________________

She was so busy trying to keep track of locations and names of the people in these sagas, her head was already starting to spin and she was only a dozen or so pages in, that she didn't hear him coming down the corridor. Only when he suddenly started yelling did she notice him. she yelled in surprise, dropped the book, and snapped her head towards him. She KNEW it was him, even before she saw him. That insufferable voice was unmistakable.

"WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND THE YELLING!!" she screamed at him, trying to get her racing heart under control.

_____________

When he saw her drop the book he opened his mouth to bark a few choice words at her, but was stopped by her sudden outburst. Taking a mental step back, he seemed to remember almost only yelling in her presence. That, or mocking her..... or grabbing her ass.. (maybe he should have pulled her tail instead). Thinking about it, he had to agree with her.

"Sorry about giving you a fright there, but I had been looking for that book forever before that annoying prick arrested me on trumped-up charges," he said in a low voice. The sudden shift seemed to throw her off balance as she didn't respond. "Now I know where it is, so if you were reading it, you can keep it here for a while. However, that's not why I came. First, food and water. As my prisoner, I am responsible for you and after this meal, food will be given 3 times daily." he paused for a moment to put the food ration and water bottle on the table. "Do you want to eat first or talk first?"

She stared him down for a second. "talk" she said coldly.

"Alright then." he pulled out the chair and sat down. "Here is the deal. The reason I have taken you, prisoner, is not known to me, it was demanded by my gods. Any questions so far?"

She stared at him incredulously for a second before saying "I knew you were crazy, but not THIS crazy"

Shrugging his shoulders, Eirik continued "Fair enough. I am heading home to sort this out. It will be 7 or 8 days before I can hope to make any sense of this. do you have any special needs that we must attend to in order to ensure your health and safety while being imprisoned here on board? I am already aware of your species being coldblooded, This cell has central heating you can control on the wall panel by the door."

"My diet is heavy in meat" she replied stiffly.

"Already solved that one. We eat more so our normal serving should suffice for you. Anything else?"

"No" was the only thing she said.

"well, cool, I guess. talk to you next meal time" he said before suddenly getting up and leaving. His sudden departure made the cell seem a lot emptier-.

After that miserable 'talk' Eirik headed to the infirmary to check on the wounded. Nothing serious, everyone would be up and walking in a few days.

Finally, FINALLY, he headed for his private quarters. he was ready to sleep like he hadn't slept before.

....

When the door opened, his good mood left him instantly. David was sitting with his hands folded on the table, patiently waiting.

Sighing, Eirik sat down across from him and took the drinking horn offered.

"Odin demands it. I don't know why I don't know how I don't know where. I just know she has to come with us" he emptied the horn in a single gulp

"MY private stash?? you have been getting comfortable in my absence," Eirik said with a smile before looking grim again.

David looked at him and quietly said "You know the consequences for taking her. She is a higher caster. this is an open war between us and the entire Kloxna species. are we ready to handle that 'Rik" Using the childhood nickname has the desired effect on Eirik as his head snapped up to look David in the eyes with the look of a man long past the point of exhaustion?

"What do you want me to do David?? you know what happened last time I went against the will of the gods. Never again."

"...Alright 'Rik. I got your back. Just like always"

"Bar er broderløs bag" [bare is brotherless back]

With that, David left Eirik to get some much-needed rest and recuperation.