It was mud-wrestling night at the Iron Cross Bar on Planet New Berlin. Lance Corporal Richard Hass and I were throwing back shots of Kleiner Feigling Vodka while two blondes in string bikinis stepped into the mud pit. In no time flat, the bikinis were off and mud was flying everywhere.
I was reaching for another shot of the fig flavored drink when our comm-link alarms started to wail. I looked down to read the incoming flash message:
Private Pippart and Lance Corporal Haas, get your asses out of there and to the launch bay. There are two Hessian fighters approaching planet New Berlin, signed Bureau der Marineintelligence.
We emptied our glasses and ran for the exit door. We could hear the alarm sirens blaring from the launch bay.
As I was strapping into the Wrath, I ignited the engines and powered up the navigation and communication systems. A red message appeared on the control panel.
Pippart and Haas, planet defense systems have identified the incoming Hessians as [HT]Mikal.Jones and [RHA]Hagen_v_Seelenburg, launch and engage at your earliest convenience, signed Bureau der Marineintelligence.
As we cleared the New Berlin docking ring, ships sensors detected the Hessians 12K from the planet toward the Sigma 13 jumphole. Increasing engine power to max thrust, we quickly came head to head with the Hessians. The battle had begun.
Hagen and I traded razor shots while Haas engaged Mikal.Jones. The nuclear mines where everywhere--bright flashes of nuclear energy causing temporary system malfunctions and flash blindness. Another unknown ship joined the battle to help the Rheinland Military, but he quickly died from Hagens guns. I kept the Delusions on Hagen and occasionally switched to Mikal when he was in range.
Suddenly a nuclear mine caught Lance Corporal Haas. With complete system failure and one engine offline, he had to return to base.
The battle raged on for 45 minutes. The space around planet New Berlin was filled with energy explosions, weapon flashes, and nuclear radiation.
I was getting tired at dodging and fighting both ships and my shield batteries were down to zero. I was still able to get a few more razor shots on Hagen though. After completing a quick turn, my ship lurched sideways and I was slammed against the cockpit armor glass. I could feel blood running down my face. A nuclear mine had caught me. I blacked out as a bright flash consumed my ship.
