Katz didnt know how hed become separated from the RHA officer, or even where he was going. The heaving deck of the ship bucked and twisted beneath him as he clambered his way forward. Surprised when he came face to face with an old adversary.
Major Gustav! He commented, his pistol snapping up.
Gustav was not having a good day, as could be imagined considering the state of the ship, and the fact that his prized prisoner was now pointing a pistol at him and naturally the rest of the guards had made mad dashes for the escape pods, something to do with imminent death, doom and destruction.
I am not going to let you get away! Gustav vowed.
Oh can it, Katz said, rolling his eyes as the sirens blared. I have the gun this time, now how about you quit with the Gestapo act, put a sock in it and give me a chance to actually think my way out of this mess you put me in!
The aft section of the transport tore away from its mountings, detonating explosively as the rest of the ship spiralled down.
Katz was hurled forward, slamming back again as Major Gustav went flying, crashing sickeningly against the windows, which showed a dizzying view of an arid world rushing up to meet them.
Major Gustav pulled himself upright as the ship pitched again. Oh now that was a brilliant tactical manoeuvre! he snapped.
Katz forced himself out of the seat, shaking his head. Screw you, he commented, lurching across the heaving deck as he fought his way back along the ship, pulling out his TAC-link. VicentaVicenta?
Were tracking you Katz, Vicenta replied, shouting above the din. I have a situation up here though
Katz nodded, making his may along the shuddering corridor, heaving himself along as he stared up to the gallery, watching as the crew hit the escape pods, deserting the crippled and dying transport. At least one of them had the right idea.
Shuttle bay? Katz yelled, turning to look at Major Gustav, who was scrambling after him.
How the hell should I know? Major Gustav bit back, holding on for dear life as the whole ship shivered and shook. Do I look like information services?
Katz ignored him, looking towards the lines on the ceiling, remembering a lesson his Xenos Uncle had taught him about Rheinland ships. He found the colour that corresponded to a shuttle bay on Rhienland battleship and pulled himself along in that direction, hoping, to god, that a transport had the same colour system.
***
No way in hell, Katz stated, training his gun on Major Gustav as he tried to board the small two-seater shuttle.
Excuse me? Major Gustav said in surprise, looking at the Commissar holding a gun on him.
You stay here! Katz ordered. If you want to be free of this coffin? Then by all means, free yourself. Katz looked hard as his other hand flew over the emergency pre-flight controls warming up the shuttles drives.
Major Gustav shook his head. Then shoot me, he replied coldly, climbing aboard the shuttle and pulling the gull-wing hatch closed. I have no more desire to be cooked alive than you do.
Katz swore, lowering the gun and hitting the controls for the shuttle bay doors emergency release. Were probably going to fry anyway
Outside of the Rhienland Transport, an inferno boiled, the burning of the aft section intensified by the heat of such a steep re-entry. Both men knew theyd be lucky to survive the first five seconds of flight.
Just fly, Major Gustav replied, I will deal with the heat
Katz glanced at him, and the Police Officer nodded. On this you can trust me. I wont let us burn.
Katz shrugged, knowing that he didnt have any other choice. He fired the aft engines and prayed.
The shuttle hit the wall of flame, bouncing through it like a ping-pong ball in a gale, rolling end over end as it crashed and scraped its way along the burning hull, flinging itself out into the depths of the inferno to reach the far side. The shuttle strove to stay aloft, its wings smouldering as it pulled up from the dying ship. Katz watched the immense battleship splintering apart as it crashed into the sands of the desert.
Major Gustav collapsed back into his chair, his hands flying over the small ships engineering systems, dumping everything he could into the shields. They had made it but clawing their way back out of the atmosphere wasnt going to be easy Especially not with the enemy fighters out there and the sea of escape pods.
Oberst Falke had Gonzalez now. 'You fight for equality among all, and yet you refer to us as Rheinlanders. You make it sound as if you see us as an inferior species. That is why you will fail on this day.' She closed communications to her and re-opened it to the escorts. 'All forces engage. I repeat, engage. Weapons are free, deal whatever force necessary.'
The blazing of Hornvipers filled her field of vision for an instant, almost blinding her before the ships took to their individual battles. The Coalition Gunboat, which had been identified as the "Social Credit" in the records, began to fire blazing arches of deadly lasers into the Polizei squadrons. Their fighters backed it up, while the bombers targetted the transport. But they didn't know about the advanced transport shield the Ragnar was shielding, so it would take them a long time before they broke through.
* * *
'Oberst Falke, this is the Kapitan. Most of our marines are fleeing. They have dissapointed the Kanzler, and deserve no better than death. I request permission to move the Ragnar closer to the planet, with the left side facing the planet. Any escape pods would burn up in the atmosphere.'
It took all of two milliseconds for Falke to approve the request. 'Approved. They should be court martialled and executed, but we have no time for that. They should fight and die for their Kanzler, or die in disgrace!'
'Jawohl, Frau Falke. But I bring bad news, the prisoner has escaped from his cell. We found the traitor, a ten year veteran, and our marines managed to seperate him from the prisoner and execute him.'
Falke grinned. 'It does not matter. No escape pod can escape your ship now. He will die, and this Coalition attack will be pointless.'
'Amen to that,' the Kapitan said, right before she watched the lights on the outside of the transport shut down due to power failures. The weapons kept bombarding the Gunboat, thanks to an emergency generator for the shield and weapons, but now the transport was listing lazily towards the planet. Falke regretted the fact that she would not be able to save those who had stayed behind, but found comfort in the fact that they died for their Kanzler.
* * *
The Ragnar, now entering the upper atmosphere of the planet, had turned to face straight down toward the gravitational pull of the planet. More pods were escaping the planets pull now as the doomed transport was pulled down by a force only matched by what the Kraken of old Earth could do to sea vessels.
Falke had ordered all pods disabled. Most were traitors, and deserved to die for their betrayal of the Kanzler. They would be "rescued" and sentenced. Those that could prove they stayed behind would be rewarded with medals. Those that could not would be filled with lead.
She shot another pod in the engines, and gently nudged it to a stop. Most of the other Polizei ships were distracting the Coalition forces, so she had no worries of being ambushed by any enemy fighters. 'Escape pod, this is Oberst Falke. You are not to attempt any movement, a rescue team will be here soon.' Filling them with fake hope was an old tactic of hers.
'This is Major Gustav of the Polizei. Alison, do not fire.' Falke was baffled. There was no Major Gustav - Major wasn't even a rank in the Polizei. And how did he know her first name? 'Let me explain...'
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
Incensed that she didn't get the chance to retort, Vicenta began barking orders. "Gunners, leave the escorts to our fighters. I want our full force on that transport! All Coalition fighters, engage the Rheinland escorts!"
The Credit began to lay into the Ragnar's shields with its pulse cannons, but it wasn't long before there was a massive explosion from the vessel.
"Did we do that?" Vicenta asked.
"Negative, Commissar," Pasha said, shaking his head.
"Hmmm. Looks like someone on that ship likes us... or they were disposing of the prisoner." Vicenta sat forward, seeing the escape pods launch from the Ragnar. "All ships, begin tractoring those escape pods. Let's see how many we have to crack open before we find Katz." Coalition tractor beams lit the battlefield, snaring Rheinland pods one by one.
As the crippled transport fell towards the planet, Vicenta scowled. "Oh, no you don't. Engage tractor beam, full power. We're bringing that transport to us."
The Social Credit's tractor beam engaged, locking on to the bulk of the Ragnar and holding it in place, though for how long nobody knew.
'Oh for the Kanzler's sake...' the Kapitan of the Ragnar rasped to himself as the Ragnar stopped its hellish drop into Kiels atmosphere. He was hoping for an honourable death, but now the Coalition would most likely execute himself and his crew with a firing squad. Their bodies would be dumped into space, and their names would never be spoken of again.
The shield was still holding, thank the Kanzler for that he thought to himself as he frantically flipped switches and turned dials as he directed a transmission to the nearest escort ship: Escort zero-eight.
'Escort zero-eight,' he said calmly through the comms to the pilot, 'the Coalition have our ship in a tractor beam, and are preventing our fall to the planet. I do not wish to die in their hands, neither does the rest of the crew and the marines that stayed. If their electronics work as ours do, which is extremely likely, then their power to their shield will be decreased as they try and tractor our ship away from Kiel.' There was a pause, before a crackling came onto the line and escort zero-eight began to respond.
'Vat are you asking me to do, Herr Kapitan?'
'What I am asking,' the Kapitan replied, unable to prevent his voice from shaking with fear, 'What I am asking is that you destroy the tractor beam. Direct the other escorts to fire at the tractor beam, and destroy it.' There was another pause, twice as long as the one previous, before escort zero-eight returned.
'At once, mein herr. I wish you luck.' He cut off the transmission. Perhaps he did not want to hear the last words of a dead man? And the dead Kapitan simply closed his eyes, and hoped that death would be quick.
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
Emerging from the escape pod onto the deck of the Social Credit, Katz was greeted by an old and familiar sight of Pashas grim mug staring back at him.
Around him Coalition Marines were rounding up captured prisoners, marching the to the secure bays and cuffing them. The Coalition had a great deal of experience in taking prisoners.
What the heck happened? he asked a little shaken. Last I checked I was in a shuttle with Major Gustav of Rhienland Intelligence then the next youre pulling me out of a pod.
Pasha shrugged mutely.
Katz rolled his eyes as he quickly hurried up the companion way, tossing the feld cap off and striding to the cockpit.
Glancing at Vicenta in pilots chair he nodded to her, clutching onto a secure rail.
Dont worry about the rest of it, he said, tapping his temple. I secured the data we needed on Munster. Get us out of here, quickly.
He glanced through the HUD at the RFP ships scrambling over the wrecked ship. Blasting away at the Social Credit, whittling down the shields.
They do know how heavily armoured this ship is, right Commander? he asked shaking his head. Let the wreck crash, we have everything we need.
"You're the captain," Vicenta said, and flipped the switch to disengage the tractor beam.
With nothing to hold it, the Ragnar's decaying orbit sent it spiralling to the surface of Kiel below, burning up in the atmosphere.
"So this is three times I've saved your scrawny hide now, huh Katz?" She cracked her knuckles.
Outside, the battle raged. Rheinland vessels pounded at the Social Credit's shields, hampered by the SCRA ships whose Kalashnikovs and Dragunovs never let up. Wrecks from both sides littered the battlefield, with heavy losses to both the Coalition and the Rheinlanders.
Suddenly, the Social Credit's weapons blazed, blasting at the Rheinland ships who were wearing down its shields. Several exploded as missiles and battle razors struck them, others were forced to retreat only to be hunted down and destroyed by Insurgents and Partisans, who were themselves taken out by Rheinland fighters. It was an ugly battle, and though the Coalition was winning - it was at a heavy cost.
'I got one behind me!' Escort zero-three blared through the comms as the lone Partisan lined up its sights. Kalashnikovs wailed away, their Tachyon packages impacting the shield of the Phantom like rain against an umbrella. Another joined the barrage, followed shortly by an Insurgent. Zero-three dodged as if he were in the space-lympics, using every system available to him in an attempt to subdue his pursuers.
Oberst Falke moved behind the first Partisan with the precision of a knitting needle. 'Sidewinder two,' she said into her mouthpiece. The voice recognition software detected the command, and launched a Sidewinder missile at the target. Another followed in rapid succession. Then she activated her Hornvipers and focused only on the Partisan, as she desperately tried to wear down the shield before the missiles reached their target.
The shield appeared to hold up forever, until finally it collapsed under the bombardment of rogue energy particles, unable to be utalised in the structure of the shield. The twin Sidewinders impacted under one of the almost-vertical wings, blowing it away from the rest of the ship and sending it spinning into the shield of the Insurgent. The pilot of the Partisan lost control of his cripplied ship and simply spun around in circles, which reminded Falke of a childs broken training wheels.
'Razor,' she calmly said into the mouthpiece, activating her Wraiths mounted Mini Razor and sending the lone stream of energy into the Partisan. She saw the pilot eject just before the energy stream destroyed his ship, and his pod was swiftly tractored in by the menacing Social Credit. For an instant it blocked her view of the nearby star in Hamburg, which gave the Gunboat an almost holy halo. They'd pay so much for a image of that, she thought, and a timide smile appeared on her face.
'They've locked on, they've launched Cannonballs!' The other Partisan and Insurgent each launched a single Cannonball at the now flaming Phantom. He was launching Countermeasures wildly, instincts taking over. One of the unlucky Cannonballs strucked a stray Countermeasure, but the second continued on its deadly course. The pilot, who accepted his fate with but a twitch of his left eye, knew what had to be done.
'Oberst Falke, move away now. Move away!' He opened his ammunition door and allowed the fifty-six mines he had left to float away toward the enemy fighters. He turned his Phantom around, and launched the cruise disruptor that would detonate the Ripper mines. He ejected, watching as his Phantom exploded in a firey hellstorm. The cruise disruptor impacted one of the mines, detonating it. The others soon followed, and the Coalition fighters were caught in the waves of force exerted by the explosions. The tidal waves ripped their ships apart.
The pilot, hoping to be rescued but knowing it was an extremely slim possibility, used the small supply of fuel in his escape pod to crash into the Gunboat that was killing his friends, those he had known for years and had a bond tougher than Niobium. They cried desperately into the comms, trying to convince their friend not to do it. But he was determined.
Wilson Baum, age thirty-four, happily married and a father of two young girls, died in the name of his Kanzler. His pod may have been small, but the egg-shaped pod with the pointed tip held a lot of kinetic energy behind it. And the Coalition may have had better weapons, but he doubted their ships could ignore physics. His last words were prayers for his children to grow up happy. To grow up the way they want to, and become what they want to. To grow up free from those who would force their beliefs on them. The Hessians, the Bundschuh, the Coalition. His small death was a sacrifice toward that goal.
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
The Social Credit shook with the force of the impact. Vicenta was nearly thrown from her seat by the shock as a console sparked.
Cursing in Spanish, she righted herself. "What the hell was that?"
"We've had an impact, ma'am. We've lost tractor beam."
More cursing. "Fix it!"
"We can't. It's on the outside."
She scowled. "It doesn't matter. We have already won. Get me their leader."
Vicenta's sneering voice came through Falke's comms. "You have lost, imperialist dogs. Hang your snivelling heads and run back to your filthy holes, and we will spare your pitiful lives. And when you see your bourgeois Chancellor, tell him that his days are numbered. When the Red Dawn sweeps over Rheinland, his death will be long and painful for his crimes against the People."
Falke examined her situation. Three Polizei ships left: Her Wraith, a Mjolnir and another Wraith. Against them were five Coalition ships: The Social Credit, a Partisan and three Insurgents. She was all for fighting for the death, but a pointless death served no one. If they could not take down the Gunboat when they had twenty ships, how could they when they had only three? Warnings blared from the monitors as reports of gun over-heatage poured in, along with low ammunition notices. She had no doubt the same was in the other ships, including the Coalition ones. She could almost see the heat being radiated from one of the nearby idle Insurgents.
The remaining Coalition forces had arranged themselves into a protective net around the Gunboat, while the Polizei fighters had moved into an arrow formation, ready to charge if necessary.
'What gives you the right,' Falke finally spoke through the comm, 'to decide how people should live? These men and women of the Polizei that died here today defended their fatherland from a force they did not want to see controlling their wives and children. Wilson Baum crashed his escape pod into your ship without a single thought of himself, only his family. I knew him for six years. He was a good friend, and I will miss him dearly. He, and the other officers who died here, fought against an invading force that would see their way of life destroyed. If the people do not want your way of life to be their way of life, then how can you say you are helping them?' She closed the transmission before the sneering bitch could respond.
'All remaining ships, fall back to the Westfalen. We must aprise them of the situation, and make sure that those who died here today did so for something. We will not take this lying on our backs, and I promise you that this battle is not over until Vincenta Gonzalez sings our anthem for the Kanzler in his royal suite, before paying for her crimes.' A volley of cheers came back from the two remaining ships before the Mjolnir, which was at the tip of the arrow, began charging up cruise engines. 'This attack will not go unpunished. The Coalition will not move away freely for this crime against Rheinland and the Kanzler. We will strike back at them. At the source.'
As the flaming remains of the Ragnar, which had been broken up into a thousand smaller pieces, continued their descent into the atmosphere, Falke finally remembered the official name of the transport. Ragnar-586, the RFP|Fulda. And the idea that would bring vengeance for those that died in the battle, and all who had or would die at the hands of outside invaders, popped into her head. She grinned.
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
There was silence on the Social Credit's bridge, then Vicenta abruptly broke it by standing up. "Today, comrades, we have struck a blow against the fascist Rheinland pigs. They will think twice before they defy the will of the People again! We have reclaimed our Commissar-Captain, we have captured prisoners of our own and we have delivered a message. The Red Dawn is inevitable. Those who gave their lives today will not be forgotten. Today we are victorious! Viva la Revolucion!"
There was applause from the Coalition officers remaining on the bridge. Vicenta stepped down. "Katz, you fly your ship home. I gotta go shower."
With that, she turned on her heel and strode off the bridge as Katz resumed his place in the captain's seat. The Coalition strike force engaged cruise engines and began the long journey home.
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