The Fifth Reich: Beyond The Stars

by J Palliser

  There was a chorus of acknowledgments from her troops. She had two dozen Waffen-SS troopers, with two rocket launchers and grenades. There was no way she could evacuate two thousand prisoners with the droids and Corsairs nearby.

  Next Sonya contacted the transport that they had arrived on. She ordered them to power up, and get to her position as soon as possible. Then she contacted their bigger transport and passenger liner, and ordered them to head this way as well. The liner would go into a low geosynchronous orbit so the two transports wouldn't have to travel far to ferry the prisoners back and forth. Then Sonya turned her attention back to her prisoner.

  "Let's go," Sonya told Sairi, taking her by her upper arm. After a few steps towards the door, Sonya let go of her so she could zip up her coat again. A dozen meters or so later, they arrived outside, back in the freezing cold.

  Lieutenant Koch had moved the captured Corsairs into the prisoner area, and had the two demolitions troopers and several prisoners keeping an eye on them. He had three troopers in the observation post, and two more on the roof of the command center.

  One of the fusion launchers was just to the side of the command center, as close as they could get it and still cover the barracks blast doors. The other one was just inside the prison doors. The rest of the troopers were spread out in the snow. The sniper and rocket launcher teams were still in place as well.

  Sonya activated the comm that was built into her hood. Then she began issuing orders. "I want Lieutenant Koch and five people inside the outer prison doors. I want four people in the observation post. The sniper and rocket teams stay where you are. The two people on the fusion launcher next to the command center stay there. Everyone else I want inside the command center."

  There was another chorus of acknowledgments as they moved to obey Sonya's orders. Instead of heading for the prison though, Lieutenant Koch came to her.

  "We've got quite a few prisoners inside that claim to be military. They want to help. I told them I'd pass the message along," he told her over the howling wind.

  There were ten pulse rifles and ten pistols in the command center's weapons closet, plus the pistols in the control room. Sonya knew that military could mean anything from highly trained crack-commandos to remote reserve militia that only cleaned up after natural disasters. She didn't have time to find out what sort of experience they had, and she wasn't about to give someone a weapon for the first time in ten years if she didn't have to.

  "Tell them thanks, but we have everything under control right now," Sonya replied. "And make sure the Corsairs that we captured don't cause any problems."

  Lieutenant Koch acknowledged, and headed towards the prisoner area. Sonya took Sairi back towards the command center.

  "I want to talk to the people in the barracks," Sonya told her once they got back in the control room. "And tell me who's in charge over there." As she spoke, she opened her coat again, and began pulling off her gloves.

  "Um, it should be Lieutenant Grien," Sairi replied as she reached towards the controls. "Go ahead," she said, nodding towards Sonya a couple of moments later.

  "This is Commander Sonya Mueller of the Kriegsmarines," she said over the control panel comm. "I would like to speak to whoever is in charge of the Black Corsairs in the barracks." At the same time, Sonya tried to get a sense of the people in the barracks.

  She also pulled her overcoat and hood completely off. That left her in her cold-weather-combat jumpsuit, thick outer pants, and boots.

  There was silence. Sonya looked questioningly at Sairi, who glanced at the controls, and nodded her head in consent. After several seconds, Sonya repeated the message. The third time, she added, "I know you are receiving this."

  "This is Lieutenant Grien," someone finally replied. "Talk." "Lieutenant, in case you haven't noticed, my forces have taken over your command center. If you surrender, then you and your people can leave this rock aboard my ship. If not, then you can stay and explain to the Wraiths why you don't have their prisoners."

  Sonya didn't mention that she knew about the droids. After several seconds of silence he replied.

  "Okay," Lieutenant Grien answered. "We surrender. We're coming out." Sonya listened to his words over the comm, and did her best to sense his intentions. She was sure he was lying. He didn't feel like he had given up.

  "Actually I need to alert my forces so they don't open fire," Sonya quickly lied. "I'll contact you in a couple of minutes."

  There was a brief pause. "Okay," he responded. "We await your signal." Sonya sensed he was still deceiving her, but not lying that time. Maybe that meant he had believed her lie. She quickly switched comm to talk to her troops again.

  "The Corsairs in the barracks are still hostile. If the blast doors open, treat it as an attack," she announced over the comm.

  There was another chorus of acknowledgments. Then Sonya contacted her transport to get its ETA. The pilot told her they would be there in about three minutes. Sonya told him to pull up the map of the prison complex on his scan, and ensure he knew which building was the barracks.

  Once that was done, Sonya had about three minutes to kill. One of her Isu was by the door of the control room, and the rest were near the command center blast doors. Sairi was sitting silently in the chair, looking down at the binders on her wrists again.

  "So, why did you join up with the Black Corsairs?" Sonya asked.

  Sairi paused a moment before replying. "My husband joined, and I went with him," she answered with a shrug. Sonya noticed she said went, and not came, implying that she wasn't with the Corsairs anymore. "So where's hubby now?" she asked casually, hoping he wasn't in the barracks. Sairi probably wouldn't be as cooperative after she blasted her husband into little bits.

  "He died a couple of months ago," she replied softly. "On Yagar." Sonya idly wondered if she had killed him when they had captured the Black Corsair guild. "So why are you still with them?" Sonya asked her. "Do you believe the Wraiths are going to win?"

  "I don't know," Sairi responded, seemingly to both questions.

  Sonya could sense she really wasn't sure. She however, was very sure, at least about the outcome of the war. "The Wraiths are going lose," she told Sairi firmly. "And you'd better believe it." Sairi didn't respond for several seconds. When she did, it was only to change the subject. "I don't think Lieutenant Grien is really planning on surrendering," she said. "He's really a believer in the cause."

  "Me neither," Sonya agreed with a nod. "That's why I talked them into waiting before they came out." Before Sairi could say anything else, Sonya received a comm. It was the pilot of her transport, telling her that he had arrived at the prison complex, and was hovering in place. She told him to stand by.

  While she had been chatting with Sairi, Sonya had been going over her plan in her mind. She was sure that Lieutenant Grien wasn't planning on surrendering. However, she wasn't quite ready to slaughter them all based solely on what she felt, and Sairi's opinion. She flipped her comm over to broadcast to all of her troops, and the transport.

  "This is Sonya. The barracks blast doors will be opening in a few moments. If anyone sees droids, or is fired upon, then everyone, including the transport, is cleared to return fire, is that understood?"

  There was a chorus of acknowledgments. Sonya made sure the transport crew understood, as they had the most firepower. It had a pair of star-fighter grade pulse cannons, and a concussion missile launcher. Far more than enough to deal with thirty guard droids and as many Corsairs. Once she was sure everyone knew what to do, she told Sairi to contact the other Corsairs again.

  "Alright Lieutenant Grien, my troops know that you are surrendering, you can come out," Sonya said over the comm.

  "That took quite a while," he replied. "I hope you weren't setting up an ambush?"

  "Not at all," Sonya lied smoothly. "My communications equipment simply isn't working properly in the cold."

  "I see," Lieutenant Grien answered. "Well, if you're ready then, we are coming out, unarmed, pl
ease don't shoot us."

  "We're standing by," Sonya replied cheerfully.

  The instant she finished talking, she let go of the transmit button, and turned back to Sairi.

  "Can you make the blast doors open faster?" she asked her.

  "I... I don't know," she replied, looking at the controls. "We've never tried to find out."

  "Well, if they try to close the doors again, make sure they open all the way," Sonya instructed her.

  "Yes, ma'am," Sairi responded obediently. Sonya really wanted to be outside in the fight with her troops, but she knew she could do more here. She did start putting her overcoat and hood back on though. A moment later, she heard the transport's pulse cannons shooting, and a few seconds later, its concussion missile launcher. At the same time, she knew the Corsairs in the barracks dying. Even though they were the enemy, it was hard to feel so much death.

  The shooting was over in about twenty seconds, although it seemed like much longer. Finally there was silence.

  "We're going in to check for survivors," Sergeant Vickers announced over the comm.

  "We're with you," someone else added.

  "Let's go," Sonya told Sairi, gesturing towards the door with her pulse rifle. By the time they made it outside, several more troopers had moved into the barracks. Sonya had no trouble seeing parts of at least a dozen guard droids scattered about, along with quite a few bodies—and parts. She activated her comm, and began issuing more orders.

  "I want the transport on the ground as close to the prison as you can get. Leave two people in the observation post and by the command center covering the barracks. Sergeant Vickers, once your team is finished clearing the barracks building for threats, let me know. Lieutenant Koch, let's start loading up prisoners. Leave the Corsairs last," Sonya instructed them.

  There was another chorus of acknowledgments as they began obeying her. Then Sonya turned to her prisoner. "Barracks," she told her, gesturing towards the open blast doors with her carbine.

  As they walked, Sonya could sense that none of the Corsairs were still alive in the barracks. By the time they reached the barracks, Sonya was pretty sure there weren't any left alive.

  The transport set down with its ramp just a few meters from the prison doors. In minutes Lieutenant Koch had it filled to capacity with rescued prisoners.

  It took them nearly three hours to get all of the prisoners, plus the Corsairs, onto the passenger liner. Sonya had her troops salvage as much of the weapons and equipment as they could from the barracks and command center. She had also had her two demolitions troopers blow the control room up so it couldn't be used again.

  Sonya waited until the very last transport to leave. It was the smaller one she had arrived on. Besides her, only, Sairi, the eight Corsairs they had captured, and her Waffen-SS troopers were aboard. There were also some containers of equipment they were taking from the prison, including one with several hundred sets of binders, stun cuffs, shock shackles, and even slave collars.

  As they took off, Sonya had the pilot blast the observation post into twisted wreckage. Then she had him shoot through the open blast doors of the command center, just to make sure the Corsairs couldn't use the place again. Finally they headed for the passenger liner.

  Sonya and two dozen Waffen-SS troopers had rescued just over two thousand prisoners from a Black Corsair prison, and hadn't had a single injury, much less lost anyone. She sat silently contemplating that. For the first time since the beginning of the operation, she had been on a mission, and no one had gotten killed. After a few seconds, she began crying softly to herself.

  "Hey Lieutenant, you okay?" Sergeant Vickers asked from the seat next to her. "Yeah," she lied, quickly covering her eyes with her goggles so he wouldn't see her tears. "I'm fine," she said in a clipped tone that stopped him from commenting further.

  39

  Thirty-Eight

  Pirate Attack...

  Outer Rim - 1900 hrs - 2313 It had been only a few weeks since the raid on Khrom, Sonya was assigned to assist in the pursuit of the pirates. She, along with Casana were sent to the edge of Outer Rim territory, to meet up with a task force assigned to capture the pirates.

  "So why are we here?" Casana asked over the comm as they landed their Sparrows in the hangar. Sonya glanced at her scan before replying. "Because some pirates are being pirates. Besides, as members of the Crusaders, we are tasked to complete our original assignment." she answered blandly.

  A little under a year ago a pirate slaver, Chai-bat had been killed. Afterwards, the Kriegsmarines had helped the rest of the gang transition into a legitimate mercenary group. The Reich Defense Ministry had only very reluctantly approved of their scheme.

  At some point afterwards the mercenaries had moved into piracy, calling themselves Black Corsairs. Now Sonya and Casana were being sent to assist in the tasked with hunting them down. Admiral Erich Raeder had made it clear to Sonya that she had better do everything she could to correct the problem. She was assigned this mission after her show of leadership during the Drac incursion on the Bismarck,as well as during the Warith attack which resulted in her eventual transition on becoming a member of the Crusaders after her stint at the Bismarcks First officer... which also included her successful mission she lead on Khrom.

  The Reich Defense Ministry task force under the command of Captain Hans had been hunting the pirates for a couple of months. He had the KMS Hamburg, and two Z41-class destroyers. On their last engagement, one of the Z41's had been badly damaged, and had had to go to a shipyard for repairs. The Kriegsmarines had sent a Smchitt-class light escort to replace the Z41. Sonya and Casana rendezvoused with the light escort, and arrived on it. They had also brought their Sparrows along.

  The pirates had a Republic-class cruiser that normally carried two squadrons of star-fighters. Theirs had one squadron of A-1 strike fighters, plus nearly two more of mixed star-fighters. Five to eight small to medium-sized freighters were also known to operate with them. Thanks to the Kriegsmarines help, they had four Avenger star-fighters among their compliment. The pirates' star-fighters, led by Captain Breslin, were very good, especially more so after his escape during the Khrom raid. They had been a major factor in the damage to the Z41.

  The two Sparrows landed on the deck in near-perfect unison. By the time they had powered down, the hangar crew had pushed ladders against their cockpits, and began hooking up fuel hoses. A sharp looking naval lieutenant was waiting for then when they climbed down.

  "Lieutenant Mueller, Lieutenant Casana," he greeted them cheerfully. "Welcome aboard. I'm Lieutenant Pruitt. If you'll please follow me, Captain Hans asked me to escort you to his office."

  "Lead the way," Sonya replied with a nod. "Captain Hans, Sonya Mueller and Casana Olan are here," Pruitt said when they arrived at the Captain's office a few minutes later.

  "Please send them in, Lieutenant," Captain Hans replied as he rose from behind his desk.

  "Captain Hans," Sonya said as she entered his office. "Mueller, Olan," he replied with a nod to each them. Then he glanced at his aide. "That will be all, Lieutenant," he told him.

  The sharp Lieutenant nodded, and shut the door as he left. Captain Hans returned to his desk, and sat down behind it without a word.

  "I want to say upfront Mueller, I didn't ask for your assistance, nor do I want it. We don't need you. And, I already know about your raid on Khrom. That, doesn't change anything with me."

  Sonya decided not to mention him giving her an attitude for the moment. "I assure you Captain, we are only here to help," she told him. She also decided not to mention that Admiral Raeder thought he did in fact need the help.

  "My people have been working very hard on this problem for months. They don't deserve to have a pair of amateurs swoop in at the last minute and steal all the credit."

  Sonya sensed that he was being truthful, even if his suspicions were misplaced. "That's not what we're here for, Captain," she told him. "We are only here to stop the pirates."

  "Fine
, but let's get one more thing clear, Mueller," Captain Han said gruffly. "This is my fleet, and my mission." "Of course, Captain," Sonya answered with a nod. "Please understand though, that we are not under your command. We are here to help, and support your mission."

  Captain Hans stared at them a moment. "And you need to understand that I won't stand for you interfering with my mission. Since I have no choice in the matter, I'll accept your support, and try to make the best of it."

  Sonya certainly sympathized with him. He seemed to be genuinely trying to do his best—and she did have something to do with this whole thing anyway.

  "Thank you, Captain," she answered with a smile.

  *** After the meeting, Lieutenant Pruitt introduced them to the rest of Captain Hans's command staff. Sonya was mildly surprised to find that his entire command staff was human, especially in the Outer Rim. While that wasn't exactly unknown in the Kriegsmarines, it wasn't common either. She wondered if it was by design, or just a coincidence. The command staff was happy to share what they had learned with them though, which Sonya took as a good sign.

  "We can beat them in a fight, but all they do is run," the operations officer, a heavy-set brunette said. "They won't stay near a gravity well long enough for us to disable them."

  Sonya knew that was common practice for any pirate group. They didn't want battles, they wanted easy prey. "Their A-1 strike fighters are damn good too," Captain Russell, the highest ranking pilot, added ruefully. "Especially those four Avengers."

  "We can help figure out where they'll be," Casana said. "They can't have the repair and support facilities that we do."

  "The cruiser is the main problem though," Commander Perkins interjected. "If we take that out, the rest will just be a mopping-up action."

  While Sonya pretty much agreed with his assessment, she knew that Breslin was someone to be reckoned with, especially after Khrom. She knew that the mission wouldn't be complete for her until he was taken care of. After a few minutes, Captain Hans joined them.