The Fifth Reich: Blood and Honor Book One

by J Palliser

  21

  Twenty

  Into The Abyss... Space was filled with explosions and pulse cannon blasts as a green and black-striped Valkyrie's dove over the hull of bulk freighter. Inside the cockpit, pilot Aiden Hunt grimaced as he watched the battle raging around the convoy that Knight Squadron and Warthog Strike Wing White had been escorting to Sullus to rendezvous with the Kriegsmarine Fleet. To their annoyance, they had been jumped by an Tungari Imperial Vindicator cruiser. Looking something akin to a Republic-class destroyer, Vindicators were smaller and were distinguished by the quartet of gravity well generators spaced along its triangular hull. Thankfully, this particular cruiser only carried two squadrons of defender fighters that were now harassing the fighters and convoy ships.

  "This is bullshit! Knight Squadron, sound off and form up! Start flying like you had some training!" Aiden yelled over the comm.

  "This is Knight Two o ff your starboard," answered a familiar voice. Aiden turned to the right and noticed the Blue and red-striped Valkyrie of his executive officer Ru Laredo pulling up alongside.

  "This is Knight Three flying toward you," answered Commander Becker.

  "Knight Four off your port stern," answered Inx, a new pilot in the squadron.

  "Knight Five standing by," said Hiro Yu.

  "Knight Six above you," announced Rowan Barton.

  "Knight Seven standing by," said Duke Max.

  "Knight Eight standing by," said Wulf Jag.

  "Knight Nine standing by," said Chang.

  "Knight Ten, standing by," said Lara Petrol

  "Knight Eleven, ssstanding by!" hissed Sovich from his cockpit.

  "Knight Twelve standing by," said a sultry female voice that belonged to Xanthine, another new pilot. Taking a moment to make sure that his squadron was all there, Aiden looked out across the convoy at the Defenders dog-fighting with the Warthogs.

  "Hang on Strike Wing White we're coming in!" he said. As one the Valkyrie's dove toward the Defenders. The Knights tore into the melee, cannons shredding the enemy. There was a cheer over the comm from the beleaguered Warthog pilots as the Knights scattered the remaining defenders like billiards.

  " Knight Leader, this is White Leader. If you can handle the remaining Defenders, we'll try and drive off the Vindicator Python." However, as soon as White Leader said this, another squadron pilot broke in.

  "Contact! Large contact coming out of gravity-drive! Bearing 227 mark six!" Soaring over a blockade runner, Aiden and his flight looked towards the direction that the pilot had indicated as a vast, arrowhead-shaped hull burst out of gravity-drive. As the shape resolved itself, the blood that had been roaring through Aiden's veins froze into ice.

  "Oh, shit…" he whispered, "The Executioner." All of 13,000 meters in length and possessing enough weaponry to annihilate an entire planet's surface by itself, the Executioner terrified planets beyond the capability for resistance. This also happened to include Reich combat units. The lead ship of the class, the Executioner turned a Reich outpost into black glass and slag on its first mission without having to launch its fighters. It then arrived at Dravin to harass the evacuating Reich. Well did Aiden remember that as he had been there, flying with the surviving pilots of Dravin base. And now a Reaper-class battleship had arrived here of all places. For a moment, Aiden just stared at the impossibly huge ship hanging 500 kilometers from the convoy. Then his brain went back into combat mode and he began to formulate a plan. If they didn't take out that Vindicator, the Reaper could chew them up at its leisure.

  "Reaper-class battleship Executioner identified," announced a tremulous voice. "Detecting fighter launch!" came the voice of another White Squadron pilot, "Reading six Defender squadrons, two Kestrel squadrons, two Spyder squadrons, and two Hawk squadrons." Said another pilot.

  One hundred forty-four fighters. More than enough to chew the convoy to pieces without the Executioner even firing a shot. Aiden swung his Valkyrie around to face the Vindicator.

  "White Leader, Hans Gruber, listen up! If we want to get out of here with our lives, we need to take out the Python. Knights, we'll torpedo the cruiser first and soften up the remaining fighters. Whites, you finish what we start with torpedoes and pulse cannons. All convoy ships, you can take some shots at the Python if you want, but other than that ignore it and head out! Everyone understand?" A chorus of acknowledgments flashed across his screen as Aiden led the twelve Valkyrie's of Knight Squadron on a run towards the Python. As they approached, the cruiser began firing its cannons at the fighters in an effort to destroy them before they could fire their quantum torpedoes.

  "Shields double-front! Transfer auxiliary power to shields," said Aiden as he juked and jinked his fighter to dodge the cannon blasts. His Z3 mech-droid, chirped in protest.

  "Hey if you didn't want to come, you could've stayed behind," he remonstrated. The Knights drew closer to the Vindicator, its cannons, meant for capital ship battles, not able to accurately target the oncoming Valkyrie's.

  "Tiny? Link the others targeting computers to mine," said Aiden. Tiny chirped an acknowledgement and Aiden's targeting screen lit up, indicating the links with the eleven other fighters.

  "Knights spread out and prepare to fire!" The other star-fighters moved away from Aiden, making it even harder for the cruiser's gunners to target them. Centering his targeting sights on a spot between the four gravity well domes, Aiden waited as the targeting computer beeped, locking onto the target. As soon as it turned red and the tone became steady, he pushed the thumb trigger for his torpedoes. At the same time he said, "Fire!"

  The comm. came alive with fire reports as 24 torpedoes streaked out across space and slammed into hePython'sshields. The shields flared bright and then collapsed the reactor unable to stand up to the strain of powering the gravity wells and the impact of the torpedoes. The Knights skimmed over the surface of the Python peppering its guns with cannon blasts, however the real crushing blow was yet to come. The Python's gunners had been so busy aiming at the Knights, they had forgotten the Warthogs. The Warthogs may have been old and slow, but they could still pack a punch. Two-dozen more torpedoes flew out from Strike Wing White and impacted on the domes, stitching them with bright explosions. Another advantage of being slower than the Knights was that the Whites were able to launch a second salvo and follow it up with their pulse cannons. As if that weren't enough, some of the freighters, mostly the Z17 transports, launched concussion missiles at the Python.

  Aiden rolled over at stared up through his canopy at the blackened top hull of thePython. Smirking he swung his fighter around and joined up with the other Knights.

  "Gravity wells are down Captain. We can go to gravity-drive as soon as the convoy is clear," said Ru Laredo. "Waiting on your orders Captain Takeshi," said Aiden to the captain of the freighter Hans Gruber, lead ship of the convoy. Taking a moment to gaze back at the imposing form of the Executioner, Aiden smiled to himself.

  "Too little too late Executioner." " All craft, prepare to jump into gravity-drive on my mark," came Captain Takeshi's voice, "3, 2, 1, jump!" Aiden pulled back on the lever on the top-left of his console and the stars lengthened into white hot lines and then the swirling tunnel of gravity-drive swallowed him, the Knights, the Warthogs, and the convoy just as the Defenders from the Executioner reached them.

  22

  Twenty-One

  Hours later, after three gravity-drive jumps to make sure that the Executioner wasn't following them, the convoy and its star-fighter escorts arrived in the fringes of the Sullus system. Spread before them was the largest massed Kriegsmarine fleet in the history of the Reich. Whistles and sounds of admiration could be heard on the comm.

  "I knew that a call was put out, but I didn't know how extensive it was," murmured Aiden. A dozen z34 cruisers formed the core of the fleet. The largest of these was the Albert Speer. 3,800 meters long and able to carry 10 squadrons of star-fighters, it was the pride of the Kriegsmarine fleet. There were a few dreadnoughts, also known as assault frigates, al
ong with a couple of Z21 cruisers. Z13 frigates and S21 corvettes formed the rest of the vanguard. A single Atlantis-class antistar-fighter frigate hung in formation with the other frigates and corvettes. A smattering of armed freighters also mixed with the cruisers. As the Knights looked on, aDeutschland-class cruiser moved forward enough to reveal, in pride of place, three Tungari Destroyers. A Orion-class, an ancient First War-era Thor-class, and the Tungari Imperial Destroyer Alliance that the Knights had helped liberate from the Tungari less than a year ago.

  "Something's up," said Duke Max from his black Valkyrie, "There is no way that the High Command would risk gathering this many ships together, this deep in Tungari space. Something's way wrong with this picture."

  "I'm sure Command will tell us what's going on when we board the command ship," said Aiden as they closed in on the Hannover, the flagship of the fleet.

  ***

  As soon as he climbed down from his Valkyrie Aiden grinned as he spotted someone he hadn't seen in a long time. "Jacen! Jacen Kruger!" he cried. Jacen turned and jogged over to where Aiden was standing at the base of his fighter and the two embraced briefly, after all they were men.

  "Whooo! Looks like our Captain's found love at last!" came the voice of Duke Max from his Valkyrie. "Keep it up Lieutenant and I'll have you spaced to fight the Tungari with your pilot suit and your big mouth!" snarled Aiden.

  "So you found yourself a Jacob Becker as well? Shit, let's hope that they never meet or we'll all suffer for it," moaned Jacen.

  "Yes. So how're the Condors? Is it true Command had you guys break up?" "Yes, but there'll be time for that later," said Jacen as Ru and Simms ducked under the wing of Aiden's Valkyrie's, "Now's the time for settling in and getting reacquainted." As Jacen greeted Ru and Sims, Aiden cupped his hands and yelled his pilots who were beginning to disperse across the busy and crowded hangar bay.

  "Knights, get your gear stowed and get some rest! I get the feeling that we're all gonna need it.

  *** The quarters assigned to Knight Squadron on Hannover were communal so the pilots were forced to unpack together, a situation that lent itself to stubbed toes and hands and not enough free space to go around. Sovich roared as Inx accidentally kicked him on his way past.

  "Inx says watch where you're going and that he hates this bed," said Duke who had somehow, somewhere learned to understand Sovich's native tongue. Indeed the poor Saurian's feet stuck about six inches over the end of his assigned bunk.

  "A ship this big, they should be able give us paired quarters at least," said Xanthrine, a slight hiss in her voice. "Yeah! Remember the Alliance?' said Kell Wess, speaking of the Tungari Imperial Destroyer they had helped liberate from the Tungari and then had bunked on for a couple of months as it had run missions behind enemy lines.

  "Now that was living in luxury! A lot better than the hovel I had back on Ark Royale," commented Duke. "What I want to know is what the Reich Defense Ministry is doing with this many ships here? What are they planning?" asked Lara, shaking loose her midnight-black hair from the ponytail she wore it in when she was flying. Lara had defected to the Alliance during the course of the Knights' adventures onboard the Alliance.

  "I'm tellin' ya, we're going after Kondor!" said Duke. "And I think that you haven't had enough sleep lately," said Trini from his bunk directly across from the braided pilot, "You obviously aren't thinking straight."

  "No seriously! It's the only logical answer as to why Command has built up such a large force."

  "Duke using logic? May God have mercy on us all," snorted Chang derisively. "Okay then, listen to this. The Imperials are spread across the galaxy looking for us right? So Command decides that this is a perfect time to assault a high profile target? And what target is more high profile and important to the freedom of the galaxy than Kondor itself?"

  "Your theory is good, but it lacks several important pieces of information," said Hali, the first time he'd spoken since they began their convoy escort mission.

  "Oh? Then why don't you enlighten us," grinned Duke. "First off, the sector fleet for Kondor consists of 57 Imperial battleships, reportedly led by a Reaper-class. That's more firepower than this fleet could hope to bring, even if every ship in this fleet was a Republic-class cruiser. You also forgot the orbital defense platforms with their torpedo launchers and the planetary shields, which, by the way, are strong enough to deflect ANY bombardment. In short, this fleet would be overwhelmed long before the Kondor defense fleet arrived."

  "Okay okay, we get your point. But if we're not going after Kondor, what else is there?" asked Duke. "My guess is that the Tungari's built another Devastator and we're going to destroy it," Hali said simply. Thick silence descended on the entire group. Even talkative and flirtatious Xanthrine was staring at Hali in shock.

  "Whoa, don't even joke about that," Duke half-whispered.

  "For all our sakes I really hope I'm wrong about it," said Hali.

  *** The next morning found Aiden catching up to Jacob just outside of the briefing room.

  "Did you get the message as well?' he asked by way of greeting.

  "Yeah," said Jacob simply. "I can't believe it! How could the Tungari build another Devastator so soon? And why didn't Intelligence find out about this sooner?"

  "Well we didn't find out about the original Devastator until it was almost too late," said Jacob, "I suppose you can thank for that," Aiden felt a lurch in his stomach at the mention of the feared Tungari Govenor. A moment later it was driven out of his mind as he and Jacob entered the briefing room. Dozens of Reich officers and leaders milled about, mostly Kriegsmarine brass and squadron leaders.

  "Commander? Commander Farrell is that you?" The man he was talking to turned and gave Aiden a once over then cracked a tight-lipped grin.

  "Rookie One, I didn't expect to see you here, though I'm not surprised after what you pulled. Liberating Tungari destroyers lends itself well to your reputation," said Commander Farrell in a rough voice. Farrell was a middle-aged man with graying, black hair and an air of stern resolve about him. He had served in the final battles of the First War and had served the Tungari Empire loyally until certain distasteful missions forced him to defect. Turning back to Jacob, Aiden said, "Commander Farrell was one of my instructors just before I was assigned to Blue Squadron."

  "Actually it's Colonel Farrell now," remarked Farrell. As they sat down with the Colonel to await the start of the briefing on the Devastator situation, snatches of other conversations drifted over to them.

  At that moment a chime sounded indicating the start of the briefing.

  "Let's see what they have to say about this whole Devastator thing," murmured Aiden as Admiral Raeder stepped forward. "The Tungari's have made a critical error and the time for our attack has come. The data brought to us by Reich Intelligence pinpoint the exact location of his new Devastator," he said as a holoprojector in the center of the briefing table activated, a hologram of the semi-desert planet of Kanda and the orbiting Devastator appearing directly in the center, "We also know that the weapon systems of this ship are not yet fully operational. With the Tungari fleet spread throughout the galaxy in a vain effort to engage us, it is relatively unprotected. But most important of all… we've learned that Govenor Sylvania himself is personally overseeing the final stages of construction of the Devastator. Many Reich agents died to bring us the information," he said with grave solemnity, the look in his eyes seeming to dare anyone to make light of the agents' sacrifice.

  Stepping back from the table she gestured to one of the Kriegsmarine officers that had been standing off to the side.

  "Admiral Ryder please." The Ryder was dressed in a white uniform that looked to be tailored specifically for the officers of the Republic-class warships.

  "You can see here the Devastator orbiting the semi-desert moon of Kanda. Although the weapon systems of this station are not operational, the Devastator does have a strong defense mechanism. It is protected by an energy shield which is generated from the nearby moon." A
s he said this, the hologram showed a yellow stream of energy project up from the moon's surface and envelop the battle station.

  "The shield must be deactivated if any attack is to be attempted," he said as the holo zoomed to focus on the Devastator itself, "Once the shield is down our cruisers will create a perimeter while the fighters fly through the interior of the superstructure and attempt to knock out the main reactors." As he finished, a blue dot flew through the station and into its central core. To add extra emphasis the Admiral shut off the holo just as the dot reached the center. Aiden leaned over to Jacen.

  "As if the trench run was bad enough! Now they want us to fly inside that thing? Have they taken complete leave of their senses?" he whispered fiercely.

  "Shh," hushed Jacen.

  "General Callius has volunteered to lead the fighter attack," said Ryder gesturing towards Callius.

  "General Mandel," said Ryder gesturing towards the General who stepped forward smartly. "We have stolen a small Tungari shuttle. Disguised as a cargo ship and using a secret Tungari code, an SS strike team will land on the moon and deactivate the shield generator." As the General said this murmurs began to break out among the crowd.

  "I'd say that things are about to get very interesting," said Jacen with a grin. When the ruckus quieted down, General Mandel continued.

  "Our star-fighters will be divided into five fighter wings. Strike Wing Red and Blue, Knight Squadron, a squadron of Warthogs and a group from Condor Legions led by General Callius. Additional star-fighters will stay behind to safeguard the fleet. Any questions? No? Then report to your duty stations. May the God be with us all."