Star Kitten by Purple Hazel

defenders tried blowing out
the glass walls of it to fire their EIC’s at the laboring Nausties
below, and in only one bloody hour they killed off a thousand
helpless workers who had no choice but to try running down the ramp
in terror.
    But Perry’s genius continued to shine, as
he’d prepared for just that very thing. His plan was dangerous, but
it worked. Zorg Slingers were sent up behind rolling shields pushed
by Pumalars. With Sulfuric Acid-filled clay pots they flung their
incendiaries to smash through the open windows and horribly burn
the flesh of the soldiers manning gun positions inside the command
bubble. Still concealed behind the metal shields, Pumalars then
hurled grappling hooks with ropes in giant salvos across the open
cavern into now-vacated open windows of the command bubble. Brave
Spleef raiders climbed up the ropes with directional explosive
charges slung over their backs. These they attached to the lower
part of the structure, while the defenders desperately tried
braving expert javelin fire—from Earthers supporting the attack—to
try and cut the ropes. Some succeeded at the cost of their own
lives, but only a few lines were cut; and only a few Spleefs fell
to their deaths or terrible injury below. It was too late anyway,
the damage was done. Many charges were set all around the base of
the now-doomed command bubble, and it finally had to be ordered
evacuated by Terminal Command.
    The charges were set for only five minutes,
and with one massive Pumalar roar from the crew commander to signal
evacuation, the entire ramp full of workers fled down the incline
to the cavern floor to take cover, with Spleefs repelling from
above onto their shoulders. Soon the blasts went off, and debris
was flying in all directions, crashing down on the cheering
Nausties below. Bodies fell from the command bubble too!
    The explosions were not enough to destroy
the whole structure, but the entire base of it did collapse and
fall 250 feet to the floor, letting freshly manufactured oxygen
into the canyon, and right where it was needed: near the top of the
ramp. Casualties in that battle had been horrendous, but the thrill
of seeing so many Security Force guards being eliminated really
lifted the spirits of the tired Nausties. Bodies of at least 65
guards littered the ramp from the explosion, with mangled body
parts and looks of terror frozen on their faces. Now, Warden
Ggggaaah’s forces would have no other options. No relief force was
coming. No ship would dare land on that planet now that it was
under attack. They had no means for defense but to just wait on the
Nausties to break into the Mess Hall and fight them to the death
right there.
    It was only at that very moment that
Architeuthis and the rest of the Nausties that day began to
realize, they might just win this war!

Chapter 7:
For the Honor
    But STILL, there was so much to have to
consider. So many Nausties had already died! So much had been
sacrificed. And yet even more was going to be asked of them. Much,
much more perhaps. Oh, they’d bear up to it, of course. These
Nausties possessed hearty souls. Still, just how far would they
really be willing to go to win their independence? Could they
sacrifice all they had? It might just very well come to that,
General Hicks feared….
    On the twenty-fifth night of the rebellion,
General Hicks finally called it a day, and staggered over to his
bed pallet inside one of the captured food warehouses. The air was
better in there anyway, so he’d finally be able to breathe better
and perhaps finally get over his pounding headache. That’s what the
thin air was doing to workers outside in the canyon all the time.
Thin oxygen was giving many workers splitting headaches every day.
But yet they just kept on working.
    The General would be trying to get a few
hours of sleep while crews worked frantically around the clock
hauling, spreading, packing, and filling in dirt to form the last
part of the ramp. But so much was still on