The Fifth Reich: Beyond The Stars

by J Palliser

  The reason she was observing the prison was that the Black Corsair slime were holding about two thousand prisoners there. The Wraiths weren't expected to pick them up for several more days. With a small window to act, Sonya, along with twenty-four Waffen-SS troopers, had been sent to free them.

  I had to notice that Black Corsair on Ronan, Sonya thought as she shivered in the cold. "I hear that about a thousand klicks north of here the temperature is all the way up to freezing," Lieutenant Koch said cheerfully from the snow next to her. He practically had to shout to be heard over the wind.

  Sonya lowered the macrobinoculars. "More like three thousand," she responded gloomily. "And the wind would still be blowing forty klicks an hour," she added as she shivered slightly from the cold.

  The Corsairs had been easy enough to notice. The rest of the cantina's patrons were a depressed lot of sentients, no doubt from comm intel showing the destruction the hordes of Wraiths tearing their way across the galaxy had sown. The skinny, forty something year old male human however, seemed quite content with the state of affairs.

  At first Sonya had just wanted to wipe the carefully guarded but smug grin right off his face. She voiced her plans to her companions, three humans and an Isu assassin, just in case they wanted to help out. Then Lieutenant Koch had to suggest that the slime might be Corsairs, and therefore might have some intelligence. Military, at least.

  So instead of breaking a few of his bones in a cantina fight, she had lured him outside with a smile and a few whispered words. Then she and her friends hauled him off to a more secure area, and found out if he knew anything. Between a growling Isu flashing her claws at him on one side, and Sonya pretending to seduce him from the other, he was spilling his guts in no time. It turned out that the scum regularly delivered supplies to a Corsair prison. He has just made a run, and they had about two thousand Reich citizens.

  Naturally, since she reported the details of the operation to the Reich Defense Ministry, they tasked her with the mission under Admiral Erich Raeder. And, as she was a member of the Crusaders, it was now her assignment. Luckily the fellow had told them that the prison had very little defenses, and less than fifty guards.

  The prison was just a few buildings above ground. One was a command center, with an observation post above it, and communications satellite on top of that. The observation post was perhaps five meters above the command center, and the comm satellite ten meters above that.

  The second, and largest, building was barracks for off-duty guards, and storage. The third building was access to the prisoners, who were kept below ground, in twenty hundredperson units.

  There were supposed to be eight-to-ten guards in the command center, plus four more in the observation post. The guards rarely went into the prisoner areas, and never patrolled outside. They delivered food to the prison, and the prisoners took care of themselves. The main security feature was the deadly cold, along with the fact that none of the prisoners had any sort of footwear, and only minimal clothing.

  If they escaped, they would die from the cold in a matter of minutes. Anytime the the doors to the prison area were opened, the command center and barracks blast doors were closed. If the prisoners caused problems, then their unit could be opened to the elements as well.

  After observing the prison a bit, Sonya and her soldiers decided on sending a small team in to take out the four guards in the observation post, and the comm satellite. Then the other team would storm the command center. Between the two teams they would also keep the rest of the guards pinned inside the barracks if necessary.

  Sonya took a deep, frosty breath. None of the guards in the observation post seemed to be looking their way. In fact, they didn't seem to be too alert at all.

  She nodded towards Lieutenant Koch, then climbed to her feet, and began slowly moving forward in a crouch through the deep snow with her six Isu assassins. They were moving into position to attack the observation post. Lieutenant Koch's team of a dozen would be following them, to hit the command center, and hold the barracks.

  A two person sniper and observation team was a little over three hundred meters away. Further out were two more pairs of troopers, with each pair manning a rocket launcher, and also acting as observers.

  It was a lot for her to handle, but fortunately Lieutenant Koch was happy to help her out. The Isu mostly needed everyone to stay out of their way. Sonya had almost sent them ahead on their own, but instincts had told her to go with them instead of Lieutenant Koch's team.

  Nearly ten minutes later Sonya and her team were in position. She gave her comm a quick double tap to alert Lieutenant Koch. She received a single beep of acknowledgment, which she responded to with another tap of her comm. Since Lieutenant Koch's team consisted of 10 humans, an Arcadian and two Dracs, as they couldn't move quite as fast as six Isu and a human.

  When Lieutenant Koch finally alerted Sonya that his team was ready, she immediately signaled the Isu to attack, and dashed forward the last dozen meters.

  With the knee-deep snow pressing in on her lower legs and feet, Sonya wasn't quite able to leap onto the roof of the command center. She was able to get high enough to pull herself up though. Three of the Isu stopped at the base of the wall, and propelled their comrades up. Then the second three quickly reached down and helped pull the first three up.

  While the Isu were climbing up, Sonya looked about, and made sure the guards in the observation post above her hadn't noticed them. They still didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything.

  The most important thing was to make sure they didn't get a distress call off. The problem was, Sonya didn't know if the observation post could send one, or just the command center. That meant they had to take out the four Corsairs in the observation post before they had a chance, just to be sure.

  Sonya and her twenty-four special-operation soldiers had arrived in system in an old converted passenger liner. It could easily hold twenty-five-hundred passengers. It couldn't land on this ice ball though. They had two smaller transports that would ferry the prisoners to the passenger liner. One could carry close to two hundred people. Sonya and her team had landed in a second transport that could carry up to forty people. The passenger liner and larger transport were hiding behind a moon three planets out.

  A few moments later, one of the Isu was on the ladder, his hands on the hatch leading into the observation post. Sonya was hanging off the side next to him. The hatch was locked, but it only had basic security. The Isu had it unlocked in seconds. He glanced over to her, and Sonya nodded her head in approval.

  As he opened the hatch Sonya squatted on the ladder in preparation. She had her pulse rifle across her chest, attached to her combat vest with a pair of straps. She modified the rifle so that her Katana could be attached to the underside of the barrel, as a bayonet. The moment the hatch was open, she leaped up and through it.

  The four guards must have thought they were receiving visitors or something. They stared at her dumbly as she slashed the nearest one across his midsection with her bayonet. The other three Corsairs' eyes went wide with shock as she shot a second one, then stabbed a third one in the heart. Before she could take out the fourth one, he dropped out of his chair with a hole in his chest from a pulse rifle fired by a Isu coming up through the hatch.

  "Satellite!" Sonya shouted as she hauled the Isu the rest of the way up through the hatch and shoved him aside. She quickly jumped back down onto the roof of the command center. Another Isu had already found the communications cable. Sonya cut through it, and anything else that looked important.

  Then Sonya let out a sigh of relief. At least now the fuckin' Corsairs can't call for help. Now they had to get into the command center.

  Sonya dropped back down onto the snowy ground, and was joined by the two demolitions troopers. They quickly began setting up their explosives on the command center's blast doors.

  A handful of seconds later, the bomb was ready. The two demolitions troopers announced it over the comm as they
stepped around to the side of the command center. Sonya glanced around to make sure everyone else was out of the way, then joined them. She could sense nine or ten people inside, but none of them were near the doors. They were definitely alert, but none of them seemed to be panicked. Maybe they didn't know they were being attacked.

  The bomb exploded five seconds later. Sonya and the two demolitions troopers went back to inspect the damage. There was a crater about thirty centimeters deep, and perhaps a meter across. The demolitions troopers quickly began setting up a bigger one.

  Sonya stepped over to check out the barracks' blast doors. The Corsairs had to notice a bomb going off on their command center. The ones in the barracks should be coming out to see what was going on—probably with pulse rifles firing away.

  The barracks doors remained closed though. Sonya was about to see how her demolitions troopers were doing when she saw the doors leading to the prisoners opening. Then she knew the prisoners inside were starting to get very worried.

  It took Sonya a moment to comprehend what was happening. The fuckin' Corsairs are going to freeze the prisoners to death!

  Sonya muttered a curse and rushed back to the command center blast doors. The two demolitions troopers had the second—bigger—bomb set. Before they could ignite it though, Sonya's communications trooper commed her.

  She told her that someone inside the command center identifying himself as Captain Tolvin was trying to talk her. She also said that he was broadcasting over an open comm, so they could all hear him. Sonya thanked her, then switched comm channels.

  "This is... Lieutenant Sonya Mueller of the Kriegsmarines," she said over the comm. She bit back a few more choice words.

  As she spoke, she got the feel that the people in the command center were mostly worried, and a little scared. None of them seemed to be on the verge of panicking though.

  "I'm Captain Tolvin of the Black Corsair," a human sounding voice replied. "I assume you're here to free the prisoners. They'll start freezing to death in about ten minutes. You can try and save them, or continue attacking us. If you do choose to continue this attack, then I'll make sure as many of them die as possible."

  Sonya knew she couldn't ferry all the prisoners to the passenger liner—especially if the rest of the Corsair in the barracks chose to start fighting. She felt like she could get into command center in ten minutes. The problem was, Captain Tolvin was very confident he could kill the majority of the prisoners. Sonya had come here to rescue them, not win a pointless battle against some Corsair thugs. She had to listen to her gut instincts for guidance.

  "What will you tell the Wraiths when you don't have their prisoners?" Sonya asked. That definitely caused a reaction. They were very concerned about what the Wraiths would do to them if they didn't have two thousand prisoners for them.

  " We've got a supply ship due in the morning. We'll just hitch a ride, and disappear somewhere," Captain Tolvin said confidently.

  Sonya thought a moment. Admiral Raeder had made it clear she had to either rescue the prisoners or scratch the mission as expeditiously as possible. There was no way she could still be here in the morning. She certainly didn't want to spend the night freezing her ass off.

  "Piloted by a skinny human," she replied. "About forty, blonde hair? Goes by the name Chona?"

  There was a noticeable pause over the comm.

  "Yeah," Captain Tolvin replied fearfully. Even though they were speaking over a comm, and she was wearing a cold weather mask, Sonya flashed a predatory smile.

  "Chona ain't coming in the morning, Captain. We've got him locked up," she told him.

  "You lie!," Captain Tolvin responded in denial.

  Sonya chuckled. "How do you think we found out about this place?" she asked. There was another noticeable silence over the comm. Sonya could sense the Corsair dread as the realization sunk in.

  "Fuck," Captain Tolvin finally replied in dismay. Sonya waited several seconds before replying. "There's only one ship leaving this rock before the Wraiths show up." She wasn't sure exactly when that would be, but since the prison was at capacity, she didn't think it would be very long. "If you surrender, I'll allow you to be on it."

  Once again there was several seconds of silence over the comm.

  "We surrender," Captain Tolvin finally responded. "Good," Sonya replied quickly. "Open the blast doors of the command center only," she instructed him. Then everyone will walk out single file."

  "Yes, Commander," he answered dejectedly. Sonya quickly switched comm channels and instructed Lieutenant Koch's team to stay in position, covering the barracks. Then she told four of her Isu to get ready to go into the command center with her. She wasn't about to give the Black Corsairs a chance to surprise her. She told the other two, and the two demolitions troopers, to handle the people coming out of the command center.

  As the blast doors began to open, Sonya's senses were alerte for danger. The moment there was enough space, she rushed in, rifle with deactivated spotlight leading the way. She immediately began sweating from the increased temperature. Four of her Isu were right behind her.

  "Hands up!" Sonya screamed as she swept her carbine down the line of people walking towards her. The seven men and two women instantly stopped and obeyed. Sonya tried to sense if anyone else was inside. When she reached the last Corsair, she stopped.

  "Is anyone else in here!?" she demanded, pointing her pulse carbine at the woman's chest from less than a meter away.

  Two of the Isu moved past them, searching the building. "N... No," the woman answered, trembling as her eyes followed the Isu a moment, then went back to Sonya's pulse rifle.

  Panicky people weren't the easiest to read. Considering Sonya didn't sense anyone else though, she believed her. Two more Isu kept hustling the rest of the Corsairs through the blast doors.

  "Do you have any weapons on you?" Sonya asked her in a slightly calmer voice.

  "N... No," she answered, still trembling. Sonya reached down and opened her overcoat to cool off. "Do you know how to operate the controls for the prison and barracks doors?" she asked her.

  "Ye... Yes ma'am," the Corsair replied, slightly more confidently. Sonya swung her rifle underneath her left arm, out of the way. Then she stepped forward and began searching the woman for weapons while one of her Isu covered her. When she finished, she pulled out a pair of binders, and slapped them around her wrists in front of her.

  "Let's go," Sonya said, pushing her back towards the interior of the command center. The woman was in her mid-twenties, several centimeters taller than Sonya, with black hair. She was also a few pounds heavier than Sonya.

  Sonya took the woman into the control room while the Isu swept the building for Black Corsair holdouts. There was a stack of MOD4 pulse pistols on one of the desks. The woman stayed away from them without being told. She was practically trembling with fear. The problem was, Sonya needed her thinking rationally for the next little bit.

  "Hey, what's your name?" Sonya asked her as he sat her down in a chair at the control panel. The woman stared up at her for a few seconds. "What?" she asked, holding her cuffed hands defensively in front of her.

  "What's your name?" Sonya repeated, trying to calm her with a softer tone.

  "Sairi," she finally answered. "Sairi Staver." "Well Sairi,"Sonya said as she sat down a chair next to her, between her and the rifle on the desk. "I need you to take a deep breath and relax okay. No one is going to hurt you."

  Sonya opened her overcoat all the way as she watched Sairi take a couple of deep breaths. She also sensed her calm down somewhat, although she was still highly agitated. Sonya assumed it was from being captured.

  Before Sonya could say anything else, the two Isu assassins that were searching the building entered the room, and announced it was clear. They also told her they had found a small weapons closet that had about ten pulse rifles, ten pistols, and two pulse heavy repeating rocket launchers in it. They said there were some grenades and extra power packs as well.

&n
bsp; Sonya instructed them to take the launchers and anything else they needed, and have Lieutenant Koch deploy them as he saw fit. Then she had to calm Sairi down a second time.

  "Now Sairi, I need you to close all the prison doors, but leave them open about half-a-meter, okay. Can you do that?"

  "Yes," she replied, leaning forward and reaching out towards the controls with her cuffed hands. Sonya kept alert for deception. The control panel was laid out in a simple graphical design. The main doors for the prison were easy to spot. There were additional doors several meters inside the main ones. Each of the twenty housing units also had a pair of doors. There were also controls for the barracks and command center doors, as well as communications.

  Sairi slid the doors closed, leaving them slightly open. "I'm not sure exactly how far open they are," she explained as she leaned back. "But that should be about half-ameter."

  "Thanks," Sonya told her. "How many people are in the barracks?"

  "Umm, I'm not exactly sure," Sairi answered. "I think about thirty-five or so." Sonya had no interest in fighting nearly three dozen Black Corsairs, even if she had superior troops, and position. "Can you keep the barracks doors closed from here?"

  "No," Sairi replied. "They can be opened or closed from here or there." She looked down at her binders, and fidgeted in them a bit.

  Sonya thought she seemed to be about to say something else, but she remained silent. But instincts was prompting her to find out. "You have something else to add?" she asked firmly.

  "Um, there's about thirty guard droids in the barracks too," Sairi said softly. "We keep them hidden from the Wraiths."

  Sonya's eyes went wide in shock. Fuck! In a split-second she had activated her comm. "There are guard droids in the barracks. If the doors open, treat the forces inside as hostile. Repeat, there are about thirty guard droids and thirty-five Black Corsairs in the barracks, if the blast doors open, treat them as hostile."