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DISCLAIMER

1) This material is not used for monetary profit in any manner.  It is
done solely for enjoyment purposes, and as homage to the great stories
and characters of Marvel Comics Group

2)  All  the  characters,  events,  and locations portrayed within are
recognized as property of Marvel Comics Group should they so wish.

3)  This  story  has been written by Samy Merchi <samerc@mash.yok.utu.fi>.  Any
commentary  in  the  form  of compliments or critique is welcomed, and
eagerly hoped for.  So go ahead and drop me a line telling me what you
thought, okay?  It'll make my day.  ;)
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                   STARJAMMERS: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

                         CHAPTER ONE: Pursuit

	"Point  one  speed,  Keeyah.  Plot a slow and steady course through
those  gravity  mines."  Corsair  was  standing  calmly on the bridge,
looking  on  the  young  pilot carefully executing his orders.  He was
Christopher  Summers,  an  earthman at heart, an interstellar rebel by
choice.  The captain of the Starjammer.
	After  watching  Keeyah  lay  in  the  course and set the speed, he
turned  to  Raza.   "Anything  on  the sensors?" he asked coldly while
stepping up from Keeyah's post to his command seat.
	Raza ran his fingers along his scanner console, intensely surveying
the  Killer's Wing star system, sweeping through it several times with
both  short- and long-range sensors.  "Naught, Corsair.  The..." A red
light  lit  on the console, beeping in alert of an approaching object.
"He hath found us!  'tis the Gladiator!" Corsair sighed as Raza's lips
drew into a wicked smile, betraying his killer instincts.
	"Weapons heat up I, Corsair?" asked the weaponsman, the mephisitoid
Hepzibah,  who  carried a sadistic thirst for vengeance for all Shi'Ar
and  their  allies.   Looking  inquisitively  at  the captain, she was
already priming disruption bombs while waiting for confirmation.
	Corsair  looked  to her, full well knowing that he didn't even need
to  answer,  but  did  anyway.   "Go  ahead,  Zee."  He shook his head
slightly,  and muttered under his breath, "...like we have anything to
take  him  out." Even as Hepzibah's console shrieked out, reporting of
primary guns being in readiness, Corsair's mind was formulating a plan
to get them out of yet another mess.
	Keeyah  wiped  sweat off his brow.  The Gladiator was Shi'Ar's most
powerful  weapon.  The superhuman leader of the Imperial Guard, he had
a  host  of  super-powers, not the least of which was invulnerability.
He  had  tangled  with  the  best  of Kree and Skrull warships without
getting even a scratch.  And Keeyah knew that.
	Springing  up  from  his command chair, Corsair wore a crazy smile.
"I  got  it!"  he exclaimed.  He glanced at the viewscreen that showed
their predicament in the middle of a mine field as well as the rapidly
approaching   Gladiator.    He  looked  to  each  crewmember  eagerly,
seemingly oblivious to their hopeless situation.  "Okay, gang - here's
what we'll do..."

                        *********************

	Mi'tal  strolled leisurely along the dark corridor, toying with her
pendant  while  secretly fantasizing about her plans of conquest.  The
corridor  was  very  dimly  lit,  with  light panels burning at only a
fraction of their maximum power.  It slanted slightly upwards, towards
the  open  skies  of Chandilar, the Shi'Ar throneworld, of which not a
hint  could  be seen.  The corridor could just as well have been miles
underground.
	Mi'tal  was a beautiful woman in the prime of her life and she knew
how  to  make  the best of it.  There were many nasty rumors about how
she  had  made  her  way  to the top of Shi'Ar politics, none of which
could  be  confirmed.   What  could  be  confirmed,  however,  was her
undeniable  skill  and  guile in her job.  Since attaining the rank of
Minister  of  Communications,  she  had used that position and all the
power that came with it to manipulate Shi'Ar with a soft touch.
	The subliminal indoctrination by Mi'tal was masterful.  She did not
rely  so  much  on  the  amount or size of the lies, but rather on the
careful  placement  of  them.  With just a few white lies planted here
and  there,  she twisted the empire around her little finger.  And not
just  around her finger, but others' as well.  The people she was just
heading to meet...
	The  corridor  finally ended, and a door stood in front of her.  It
was  a  very  large  double  door, made of a shiny, polished substance
resembling  obsidian.   There  were  engraved  carvings  on the doors,
depicting  the  Shi'Ar  gods  in all their majesty.  On the left door,
Sharra  -  the  female  god  - was standing tall, facing the corridor,
holding  a  scepter  in  her  right  hand and extending the other hand
towards  the  other door.  K'ythri - the male - was represented there,
extending  his  right  hand  towards  Sharra  as well, a glow of power
coming from his free hand.
	In  front  of  the door stood a grim guard, eyeing Mi'tal intensely
without  flinching  a bit at the arrival of a Minister.  The guard was
female,  clad in full battle armor and armed with a tachyon rifle, one
of  the most powerful hand weapons constructed by the Shi'Ar.  At full
power it could pulverize diamond.
	Mi'tal  recognized  the guard once she came close enough to see her
features from under the shadows cast by the helmet.  It was one of the
late  T'cahr's  favorites - Ailiina, Mi'tal believed she was called as
she  took  her hand off the pendant and let it show to the guard fully
as a pass to the room beyond the double doors.
	Ailiina  took  a look at the pendant and nodded slightly, enough to
be  respectful  but not enough to lose her cautiousness.  She kept the
tachyon  rifle  in her right hand, and the other hand rose to meet the
wall  to  her  left.   Sliding  aside  a secret panel, she tapped in a
secret  code.   The  double doors began opening with silence mimicking
the  one  in  the  corridor.   They  swung  inwards, revealing a short
corridor beyond, ending in another door.
	Mi'tal  nodded  to Ailiina as she proceeded beyond the double doors
into the next corridor.  The doors began closing behind her as soon as
she  was  inside,  as  if  Sharra and K'ythri were eager to touch each
other.   She  waited  for the doors behind to close before stepping to
the  door  at  the  other end of the corridor, as she knew it would be
impossible  to  open  while the double doors were open, to ensure that
the  guard  could  under  no  circumstances  have a glance at what was
happening in the room.
	The  double  doors  closed without any sound, with an eerie silence
and  Mi'tal  wondered  for  a  while how easy it would be to make this
adjoining corridor a death trap.  Brushing such thoughts off her mind,
she  stepped  to  the  end  of the corridor and paused for a moment in
front of the door.  She took her pendant in her fingers and gazed upon
it,  twisting and turning it, playing with it as a sinister smile drew
onto  her  lips.   She  opened  the door and stepped into the chamber,
letting the pendant fall to her breast, forgetting about it quickly.
	But  it  was still there, hanging on a long chain made of perfectly
cut,   interlinking   jewels,   circling  her  thin,  proud  neck  and
emphasizing  its beauty.  And between Mi'tal's breasts lay the pendant
itself.   An  object  of  immense  beauty,  it  would stun most Shi'Ar
jewelers  with  the intricate cutting and perfect shine.  It was about
the size of a thumb.  It was a crystal claw.

                         ********************

	"WHAT!?!" Keeyah's eyes went wide as he heard Corsair's command.
	"Art thou mad, Corsair!?!" Raza was less subtle.
	Corsair  didn't  lose  his  eager  smile as he repeated his orders.
"Lower  all shields", he exclaimed gleefully.  After a long silence he
continued.   "Keeyah,  I  need you to plot a straight line out of this
mine  field,  with  the distance to the nearest mine along the line as
big as possible."
	The  10-foot  tall  saurid  Ch'od  complied  with  Corsair's orders
without  saying  anything.   He  moved  his  hands  across the console
briefly,  disengaging  all  safeties,  then  shutting  down  all force
fields.  "Shields down, Chris", he said flatly, emotionlessly.
	Raza  shook  his  head.   "Thou  art both mad..." he muttered, then
turned  back  to  his  console.   "Shipmaster, the Gladiator be within
firing range!"
	Hepzibah  smiled  upon  hearing Raza's words, almost evilly, baring
her  fangs  as  she squeezed the trigger on her control stick.  "Blast
him to Hades, I will!!!" she shouted.
	Corsair  sighed  as his years on this ship helped him recognize the
minuscule  vibration  as a sign of the ship's main guns firing crimson
beams of light into space.  He thought about all the time he had spent
with  Hepzibah.   When  had  she  turned so bloodthirsty?  Did he have
something to do with it?  And the worst thing - would she endanger the
others  with  her  actions?   What  should  he  do  about  her if that
happened?   What could he do to the woman he loved?  Ask her to leave?
As  if he could live without her.  He decided to push this to the back
of  his  mind  and  get to it...someday.  Now he had a ship to take to
safety.
	Raza smiled.  "The guns hath not slowed the Gladiator.  He is still
headed towards us."
	Hepzibah  frowned  and  her  hands  moved back and forth across the
console.  "Hmp" she muttered while switching to the deliverers, filled
with  disruption  bombs.   Baring  her  fangs  again,  this  time more
angrily,  she  launched  a  barrage  of  them  after  them towards the
Gladiator.
	Keeyah's brow was dripping with sweat as his console beeped loudly,
announcing  that  the  course  had been plotted.  He turned to look at
Corsair.  "Done, Corsair...  Minimum distance to mines 1.6 miles."
	Raza  turned  around on his chair.  "That is too little.  Yon mines
are  too  tight.  The ship can not fit through them on a straight line
course..."
	Keeyah nodded.  "Raza's right.  If we try a direct route out of the
mine field, we'll be blasted to bits by the mines.  Or at least slowed
down enough for Gladiator to catch us.  We're just too big.  I think I
can plot a pretty safe course with just two turns, though..."
	Corsair  stared  grimly  at the viewscreen and the minefield.  "No.
Anything  our  system drive's got, the Gladiator can match.  We've got
to  use shunt.  And shunt's too fast for any turns." He walked down to
Keeyah's  station  and  looked over his shoulder at the console.  "1.6
miles,  huh?  We'll be able to just fit...  since the force fields are
off." He smiled victoriously.

                         ********************

	The Gladiator had finally caught up with the Starjammers.  For days
he  had tracked them under imperial orders and now had found them.  He
wasn't  about  to let them go.  He watched the Starjammer navigate its
way  thru  the  gravity  mines and smiled.  The ship could never be as
agile as him.  He speeded up a bit, closing in on the ship.
   Suddenly  crimson  beams  blasted out of the Starjammer.  The other
hit  Gladiator squarely in the chest and he flew momentarily backwards
before  rolling  out  of  the beam's path.  Unharmed and undaunted, he
continued towards the ship.
   The  disruption bombs were easily dealt with.  Gladiator cut a path
thru  them  with his heat vision.  None of them ever came close enough
to  have even had the chance to harm him.  He smiled.  If this was the
best they could do...
   The Starjammer disappeared.
   Gladiator  was  amazed.   He  looked around but no, he hadn't flown
past them in his thoughts.  He next detonated a few gravity mines with
his  heat vision, to see if the debris could maybe reveal a cloak, not
that the Starjammer was supposed to have such devices according to his
briefing.   No, they had just...vanished.  Surely even Corsair was not
mad enough to go into shunt in the middle of a mine field?  But it was
the  only  possibility.   Gladiator headed back towards Chandilar, for
further instructions.