When Galaxies Collide Ch. 1

"Sir, I understand. I'm a bit new at this covert stuff. I'll know better next time."

"I know you will." He said softly.

'As long as she helped raid the aerodrome, and confused the security forces here, she would do just fine. She was expendable.' He thought to himself.

The Colonel, along with Erika, entered into the front room. Two chairs had been set in the center of the room. A couch and two more chairs were along the wall. Erika sat on one of the chairs, the other chair, and the couch was already filled with the bodies of three of the men that had come with the Colonel, and Mrs. Westerly was seated in the other chair. One of the men, a tall blonde man was seated in one of the two chairs in the center of the room.

The Colonel sat next to the blonde man.

"I will now introduce myself and explain our mission. Seated next to me is Captain Noell. Captain Noell is my Chief-of-Staff. If he gives you an order, you will obey it as though I had given you that order. I am Colonel Hawke, Commandant Alpha's Chief-of-Staff. Now, first off. You five team leaders, are you and your personnel all ready?" He asked.

Each of the five seated across from the Colonel and the Captain nodded affirmatively.

"Good. We will carry out our mission the day after tomor-row, at midnight. Here is the plan. The Federation has been bringing in heavy weapons: laser cannons, and worst of all fire and forget missiles. These missiles are programmed to destroy specific targets when Federation aircraft paint a target with their lasers. As you can see, the Federation is better prepared to wage war against us, then we are against them. In less than thirty days time, the 12th Division will be here on Halverstaadt. If we are to win this conflict, we must anticipate the Federation's next move. This is why we are going to destroy the aerodrome and the supplies here. Now for specific assignments..."

The Colonel told the five-team leaders nothing of the real plan. Only he and Captain Noell knew of it. It was Captain Noell that had armed the bomb earlier. The count-down had begun.

*****

The command A.P.C. had stopped. Andy was always con-stantly amazed at how quiet these huge machines were. At fifteen feet away, they were barely noticeable. All he ever was able to detect was the occasional squeak of the track, or a stone under the tread shattering as the track crushed it.

The group of four A.P.C.'s had stopped four different times during the night, Lt. Samuels and his men had to silently take out rebel positions. This was quickly and silently done. Samuels and his men had silencers on their Mark 48 assault rifles.

Andy looked at the time in the console. They should be at the outskirts of Brigham.

"Intruder One. Status." Andy spoke into his headset's mi-crophone.

"Intruder Leader. We are at location. Intruder Two is moving into position. We are in defensive positions now, over." Came the reply in his earphones.

"Roger. Intruder Two let me know when you are ready to move in. Over." Andy said.

"Intruder Leader. Intruder Two is ready to move." Came the reply.

"Good job, Intruder Two. Take objective. Keep me informed. Out." Andy said.

He knew he had very little time left in which to make this plan work.

"Intruder Leader. Objective secured. We have the goods." That was Lt. Adams. He had taken the rebel stores. This was almost too easy.

"Intruder Leader to Intruders Two and Three. Proceed to staging point Alpha." Andy spoke softly and clearly into the mike.

"Intruder Two, proceeding to Alpha." Came the reply.

"Intruder Three, proceeding to Alpha." Came the second reply.

"Intruder One. Report to Leader." Andy wanted to make sure seventy-three men could hold this town until relieved.

"Roger, Leader."

*****

Captain Noell dismissed the team leaders. The Colonel had given him specific orders concerning Erika. As the five-team leaders left the safe house, he stopped her.

"Erika, you will please wait here." He said.

Erika stopped. A worried look on her face.

The Captain smiled and touched her hand. .

"It's all right." He assured her. He joined the others in the night

As the other team leaders left one by one, Erika waited until she alone was left.

The Colonel came downstairs. He asked her to join him upstairs.

Erika became very nervous, then she got angry, yet she followed him.

"Remove your clothes." The Colonel said, a cruel smile was on his lips.

She trembled as she took off her jacket. Underneath, she wore only her slip, and blouse. She hesitated. The Colonel watched with a piercing gaze, then he got up.

Fear was written on her face. She cursed herself for her earlier remark, now she had been singled out.

Erika's hands shook as she worked the buttons of her blouse. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she complied.

The Colonel took her by the shoulders and steered her to-wards the bed. Her legs were knocked out from under her when he pushed her onto it. She closed her eyes, as the Colonel began to spread her legs, he mounted her immediately.

'Oh God.' She cried out in her head. The pain began im-mediately as he penetrated her.

*****

Andy joined his men outside. He made a quick inspection of the Third Sections’ defenses, and then had his men secure the captured supplies. A quick inventory was made of the artillery ammunition. He noted that they had just lib-erated over six hundred rounds.

A shot rang out. Something slammed into the building next to his head. Everything went black.

*****

Erika had never been so humiliated in her whole life. She felt dirty. She felt violated. Never in her twenty-five years had she been treated like this.

When she lay on the bed, he had mounted her immediately. Erika cried out. She tried to struggle; the Colonel had overpowered her. The more she struggled, the more he seemed to enjoy it. Erika finally lay still, as the Colonel sat-isfied his need. He had ignored her sobs, and pleas.

Then, just as she thought it was over, the Colonel ordered her onto all fours. Trembling, and crying she complied. The Colonel kissed her neck. He then began to sodomize her. Erika cried out, and he backhanded her on the back of her head. She stopped resisting.

The pain was overwhelming. She tried to get away, but he had a firm hold on her. Erika did the only thing she could. Her whole body shook as she sobbed, while the Colonel as-saulted her rectum.

*****

Andy opened his eyes. Lt. Samuels was leaning over him.

His head throbbed.

"Sir. We got the sniper. You all right?" The lieutenant asked.

Andy rubbed his temple. His helmet had absorbed the major impact of the glass-frag round. It lay on the ground, a twisted and broken.

"Yes, I think so. What happened." He asked.

"A sniper took a pot shot at you sir. He almost got you. Looks like if he was two inches to the left, you ...Glad he didn't. Here, let the medic dress your head." The Lieuten-ant said. A medic came over and dressed his head.

"Sir, you'll have a headache for awhile. I had to put in three stitches. You'll be fine. I'll give you a shot of Synth-Morph for the pain." He said.

"No. I'll be fine. I don't need to be drugged. What time is it?" He asked.

"0217." The Lieutenant said.

"Good. Have the drop zone painted. The transports will be overhead in thirteen minutes." Andy spoke softly, his head throbbing.

"Done sir. I've been in contact with them. They'll be here a little later. They had a snag with their fighter escort. They should be here at 0245. Captain, get a little rest. I've got things under control here. I sent out a patrol when you were down. They're beating the brush now. I had the Comm crew go to E-Con. I don't want any more surprises. Especially if they had a Sat-Link."

Andy said softly to Samuels, "Sam, I want you to know if anything happens to me, you are in charge. Make sure you understand the plan. We've been together for two years, and by know you know how I plan, and carry out my orders. You've done a good job here. Keep on top of everything."

"Cap, I know what we need to do. But nothing's going to happen to you. Besides, I don't want to have to explain to Julie why I let you get hurt." The Lieutenant laughed, and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Get some rest." He added, as he walked to join his men. Andy smiled, and decided he'd write Julie a letter. He could get it out when the artillery boys arrived on the transport.

*****

Erika was awoken while still dark. A hand touched her cheek. She was barely awake. She tried to push it away. She remembered the events of a few hours ago. Her horror re-turned. She trembled.

A voice spoke out, "Erika. I'm not going to hurt you. Let me help. I'm going to turn on the light."

The light came on. It was Captain Noell.

He looked at her, tenderness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. If I knew he would have done this to you... I'm so sorry. He told me that he needed to talk to you."

She looked at him. She didn't know if she could trust him. "I'm tired she said." And closed her eyes. The Captain turned out the light. He went back over to her bed, and touched her face.

"Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning." He said as he went out of the room.

*****

She was awoken in the morning. Captain Noell sat on the edge of the bed, next to her. She quickly covered herself with the bed sheet. He kissed her forehead, after she had covered herself.

The Captain gently tugged the sheet away. He gazed at the bruises on her body.

His face screwed in anger.

"Bastard!" He said softly.

He helped her out of bed and into the bathroom. He ran a hot bath for her, as she mechanically followed him in a trance-like state.

He felt sympathy for this poor girl; no one should be treated like that.

He helped her wash herself, and dress.

As they ate some breakfast, she began to talk to him.

He found out that she had been a student at the local college here in Waverton. She had a 'sometimes' boyfriend that had introduced her to the local resistance leaders on campus. Now she felt that it was all-futile, after what had happened.

The Captain listened to her as she talked. Tenderness in his eyes.

*****

Andy watched as the transports dropped their huge box-like containers. They landed precisely where the landing zone had been established. Another smaller transport air-craft landed. Twenty-three Federation soldiers quickly ran down the tail ramp, and towards the containers.

The soldiers opened the steel boxes, and out rolled two vehicles. One soldier came over to him.

"I'm Lt. Severide, Captain. I have two howitzers, and four Peregrine launchers. The Peregrines are tracked, so we can move about. The howitzers will have to be towed. If you would sir, please show me where the ammunition supplies is, and I'll get right on with my job." The Lt. sa-luted, and waited for his response.

Andy returned the salute.

"Over here, Lieutenant." They walked over to the cases of ammunition his men were stacking.

"Thank you, sir. I'll have the howitzers set up in fifteen minutes. The Peregrine launchers will be located on the backside of that hill, right there." The Lieutenant pointed to a hill, to their immediate east.

"Fine, I'll have a security detail dig in near them. Let me know when they are set up and you have feed from my foreword attack force." Andy said, then returned to his command post.

*****

Erika was sore, and very confused. Why had she been treated like this? Who was this man that could force her to do things she wouldn't normally do. She was repulsed by what the Colonel had done. Yet she was somewhat enchanted by the blonde Captain. He seemed to really care about her plight.

Erika was no prude. She had a boyfriend, sort of. She was no virgin, yet she was not a slut. She knew she didn't de-serve that kind of treatment from anyone. Her eyes began to fill with tears. "Damn him,' she said to herself, she was very confused.

As she walked with the Captain to her team's safe house, her whole body hurt, but especially her abdomen. She knew that was the result of that bastard the Colonel sodomizing her. She had taken a very long bath before leaving the Colonel's safe house. But, even now, she still felt dirty, unclean. Her crotch was sore and itching, and her stomach felt like it was cramping. Hell, that beast bruised even her breasts.

She wondered what kind of man could do something like that. After all, she was a freedom fighter; she should have been treated with some sort of respect. If that was the way the rebel leadership was, using people, and especially abusing women, well she could do without them altogether.

'After this mission, to hell with them all!' she thought.

Now she was frightened, what if...?

*****

Julie Seah had been bored out of her mind staying in the barracks. Mrs. Watts had stopped by several times and taken her to lunch at the Officer's Club. Her father had been gone since Andy left, and she couldn't reach him.

She had volunteered some of her time at the children's daycare facility.

Julie had heard about some of the action that Andy had taken part in, and was proud of the contribution her hus-band had made. She wanted this awful mess to end. She wanted her husband back.

She went done to the front desk to see if there was any mail. The young soldier handed her a letter, it was from Andy!

She opened it excitedly.

Julie wiped a tear from her eyes as she read it. She finished the short letter. She realized just how much she missed him. He was the only man she had ever known, or cared about.

*****

Andy was waiting by the Comm area. Lieutenant Severide had reported that he had feed from the two foreword sec-tions, and from Brigade.

The attack would begin at 0600, just a dawn brightened the morning sky.

His two foreword sections had been scouting out the sus-pected rebel headquarters, and had reported that Commandant Alpha was not there. They reported, however, that some of the S.I.O. Staff had held a meeting just as they were mak-ing their way foreword to their positions. The meeting lasted twenty minutes, and the three S.I.O. Staff members left in a military truck.

One of Cohen's men had crept foreword and attached a transmitter to the truck. As the truck sped away, a Fed-eration fighter intercepted the truck and with a silent smart bomb dropped from twenty thousand feet, the truck had been destroyed along with the S.I.O. Staff members.

"Captain," one of the communications operators said, "Battalion is on line, Sir."

Andy reached for the headset. It was Colonel Watts.

"Andy, are you all set?" He asked.

"Yes sir. 'Sibling' is set and ready for co-ordinates. We're as ready as we can be Sir." Andy spoke into the mike. "Sibling" was the artillery attached to his unit.

"All right. You will receive fire orders from Brigade. Good hunting Captain. Out."

Andy handed back the headset, and found the Lieutenant, to let him know that Brigade would be feeding him the fire mission co-ordinates.

*****

Erika contacted her team from a comm-link on a street corner not far from the safe house, while the Captain slipped away somewhere to wait awhile.

She waited; glancing into a shop window, to make sure no one was watching her. She slid around the corner of the shop, and down the street. Halfway down the block, she turned into an alleyway, and walked a few feet further, she ducked into a garage facing the alley. She waited for a few moments, to see if anyone was following her.

When she was satisfied she was not being tailed; she went into the safe house across the alley. Her team was already there.

She walked into the kitchen from the back of the house. Allen, her boyfriend was there. She had met him when she was going to college. He was the student radical on campus, and she was mysteriously drawn to him.

"Erika! What happened to you last night?" He asked.

He rushed towards her, and put his arms around her. She pushed him away, loathing on her face. He had a startled look; she never acted this way before! He began to protest.

"Erika, what is it?" He asked.

She knew she couldn't tell him about last night. He wouldn't believe her, especially if she made an accusation against a soldier fighting for the cause.

"The Captain is on his way! Act professional!" She scolded him.

He straightened, and went into the front room to join his comrades.

*****

As the first rays of the false dawn began to shine, Andy put his helmet on. He looked at his watch; the attack would begin in three minutes. Lieutenant Severide was standing next to him by the communications area. The communications area was placed just behind the command A.P.C. It was ringed with sandbags, and several pieces of plywood were on the ground, with the transmitters setting on the ply-wood. A sentry was present.

Andy had a portable headset on. He could keep in communi-cation with his two foreword sections as well as with Bri-gade, Battalion, and all of his men here, as well as with the artillery batteries.

One of the Peregrine launchers hummed to life. Fire co-ordinates had been fed to it. The huge tank-like launcher raised its arm. On the arm were four artillery missiles. As the warning buzzer sounded, men found cover.

The launcher fired, a streak of flame shot out, and the first missile streaked into the heavens. The buzzer sounded again, and another missile left the launcher.

Andy spoke into his headset, warning his security detach-ment to keep their eyes open. The rebels would love to wipe out these weapons.

The Peregrine launcher system carried sixteen missiles in a hardened stowage container on the back of the vehicle. These missiles, known as the Rowdy Artillery Missile, were guided by a radio relay from foreword observers. When the missile was launched, all the launcher crew had to do was fire it in the general direction, within twenty degrees per every ten kilometers, and the foreword observers would guide the missile to it's target. Once overhead, the fore-word observers would "paint" the target with a small pocket laser, and the missile "seeing" the laser from above, would circle the target, to re-acquire it, and would dive into the target destroying it.

The missile carried a three hundred-kilo warhead of high explosive, or a hardened warhead for destroying concrete bunkers, and the like. It was a simple weapon to maintain in the field and one that had been in use for over one hundred years, with very few modifications to the original Mk I prototype.

*****

Erika's team was all assembled. Captain Noell introduced himself. As each member shook his hand, he seemed genuinely sincere.

As each member sat on the floor of the empty safe house, he joined them, sitting in the center of a semi-circle.

"Well, I am very glad to have met each and every one of you. Now, I will brief you on the mission, and your part of it." He began.

"Tomorrow night, the S.I.A. will hit the aerodrome here. We know for a fact that the 12th Division is enroute here from Sector 17, in the Kimble system. There are only two spaceports capable of landing such a huge force. The 12th Division has a manpower of about twelve thousand; two thirds of those are infantry capable of hurting the cause of freedom, our freedom.

With Metrodelphia under siege, they cannot land there; our air defense is too good. That leaves only Waverton. We also know that the Federation has been bringing in massive amounts of supplies. Bombs artillery, and spare parts for their bombers. We must destroy this aerodrome. Remember that one of the reasons we resisted the Federation was because they wanted to build a spaceport. Now you know why they wanted a spaceport. With it they could disembark that whole division in a few hours, instead of two days, as is the case of an aerodrome, because of it's limited capabil-ity." He paused for effect. To let his let his words sink in.