Vergeltungstruppe

The three of them had made it out of the alley, down Unterbaumstrasse, and onto Luisenstrasse when the rain began to fall. The two of them kept close to the buildings, wary of every window and door they passed. This far North of Pariser Platz, where no functional U-Bahn stations could be found, Berlin was as lawless as it got. The rain would keep most marauders, degenerates, and slave-runners indoors, though.

As far as days went, this one had been nothing but awful. Hans was hoping that returning home to Pariser Platz and getting some rest would help both him and Hilda unwind and maybe make amends. If not today, then tomorrow at least. Of course, Hans knew better. What had happened between them would take weeks, even months, to repair. If they could even repair it at all.

The two of them slowed down as they neared an intersection, the namesake of Unter den Linden visible in the distance, across the Marschallbrucke. Hans stopped next to the boarded up door of a cafe and took a drink from his canteen, his Walther shotgun on his shoulder. Hilda sat down on a bench nearby, gun in her lap. She'd been quiet since they'd left the robotics factory. Hans wasn't sure what to make of it, or if he should try talking to her. He put the canteen away and checked his weapons, concerned by how low his ammo had gotten. Sooner they got back, the better.

*WHAM!*

Hans fell to the ground, confused by what had just happened. A black monolith had suddenly appeared next to him, as if dropped out of the sky. He rose onto his hands and knees and looked up, Hilda already on her feet.

Standing next to him, clad in midnight-black armor, was a red-skinned Sturmutant. Like the one they'd killed at the BMW building. This one was different. Bigger, more muscular. His armor covered him from head to toe, looking so much like a knight's armor. Painted in gothic script on the right side of his breastplate were the letters 'VT.' In both hands were flamberge zweihanders.

The Sturmer smacked both blades against his cuirass and pointed them at Hilda. "TIME TO DIE, YOU NAZI CUNT," it thundered, and rushed straight for her with both blades raised. Hilda opened fire, her rounds harmlessly smacking against the armor. Hans scooped up his shotgun and joined in, the buckshot flattening into little discs and falling to the ground without so much as a dent on the armor.

Hans dropped the empty shotgun and drew his Mars Automatic, knowing that the G11 wouldn't be much use either. The heavy handgun wavered in his hand and he fired, the harsh kick bucking his hand. The round punched through the mutant's armor but didn't seem to have much of an effect. The monster reached Hilda and swung, the blades visibly distorting the air as they ripped through it. Hilda dropped to the ground and the mutant kicked her, knocking her against the building.

Hans was about to fire again when he noticed that the Mars was jammed. Instead of feeding the next round into the chamber, the elevator had fed it straight into the wall of the frame and was stuck there. He reached up to clear it, watching in horror as the mutant raised his swords and prepared to kill Hilda, when Friedrich opened fire. The heavy rounds of his G3 slammed into the monster's armor, knocking him off balance. He wheeled around and one of the bullets hit the sword in his right hand, cracking the hilt. The faster rounds punched straight through the mutant's armor and out his back, splattering the walls and windows with blood. He fell to the ground, dead.

Hilda looked up and scrambled to her feet. She glanced sideways at Friedrich and picked her MP5 up, dusting herself off. "Fucking mutant trash!" she yelled. Hans cleared the Mars' jam and looked at it, hoping it wouldn't jam again. A cleaning and some repairs would probably be enough, he figured.

He was about to say something when he saw movement down the street to his left. A squad of black-clad Sturmutants was coming out of a building, weapons at the ready. There was no time to run, and with the mutants already taking position there was no time to return fire, leaving them with just one option.

"IN HERE!" Hans yelled, and rammed open the door to his right, the others quickly following. The door was set amidst a giant pane of framed glass, offering no cover. The room beyond was a bar or tavern of some kind, chairs and tables spread across a floor overlooked by stacks of kegs and even a grand piano. The three of them dropped to the floor just as the mutants opened fire, shredding the room from end to end and sending up chips of wood, stone, and glass across the whole space.

A lull in the tempest told Hans it was time to move. He scrambled to his feet and ran for an open door across from the bar, the Sturmutants shouting behind them. The three of them rushed into the hall beyond and Hans slammed the door shut behind them, locking it. He unslung his G11, glad he'd dropped the Walther shotgun instead of the G11. At least the rifle could penetrate the mutants' helmets.

"Did either of you see how many are out there? How are we getting out of here?" Friedrich said, and Hans walked past him. "Oh, by the way, you're welcome, Frau Eckhart."

Hilda said nothing.

"We're not far from Pariser Platz. If we can just evade these fuckers we can easily lose them in the alleys and side streets," Hans said. "Assuming they don't chase us all the way through this fucking place."

Friedrich nodded. "Mmm, I'm sure they will. Judging by what that one outside said, it seems like there's something more to your Sturmutant problem. Something I'll be very keen to hear about later, believe me."

"Right now, just shoot any grays you see. They'll be doing the same thing, trust me." Hans checked his rifle and looked at the door, surprised that the mutants hadn't gave chase already. They were probably looking for other ways in.

The room they'd ended up in was a kind of wine cellar, with barrels and kegs strewn throughout. There was a set of stairs opposite the door, which Hans ascended. The door at the top was closed, and he slowly peeked it open. The hall outside seemed clear, and he and the others moved out into it. The floor was finished in a once-plush mahogany-colored carpet, the walls lined with clapboard. Judging by some of the other open doors, the building had been a hotel before The Bomb.

"This way," Hans said, and he started down the hall. The window at the end was still intact, a miracle itself. He walked up to it and looked outside. Behind the hotel was a small square, surrounded by the walls of the neighboring buildings. A quiet, secluded place. Hans gazed at it a little longer than he should've, his mind filled with a wistful longing for the simplicity of the Old World.

"Can we get out this way?" Hilda asked, and Hans looked at her. It wasn't a bad idea, necessarily. Their only other option was to sneak through the hotel and find a backdoor to escape from. Hans thought about it a moment before he nodded.

"It's worth a try," he said. He pushed the window open and looked down at the ground. It was a ten or twelve foot drop, easily. Not a dangerous height, but still enough to cause a broken leg. To the right of the window was a steel gutter, running all the way up to the roof. He yanked on it a few times and it didn't budge, so he figured it was safe. "Friedrich, you're up first."

"Very well. It's not as if you two will try bolting. Not with those Sturmers about, at least." Friedrich climbed out the window, holding tightly onto the gutter pipe. He slowly shimmied down until he hit the cobblestone, quickly unslinging his rifle, and looked up at Hans. "It's easier than it looks, if you believe it."

Hans was about to tell Hilda to go when she opened fire down the hall. Hans crouched and turned, a Sturmutant halfway down the hall and halfway out a doorframe. It ducked back into cover. "Go, Hans!" she yelled.

"Not a chance. You first," he said. He was about to pick her up when another Sturmer entered the hall, bringing its FG-42 around. Hans shouldered his G11 and opened fire, forcing the mutant back into cover. He stood and peeked out the window, and to his surprise Friedrich was still there.

Climbing will take too long, jumping is too dangerous.

Hans bit his lip and swore. "GO!" he shouted at Friedrich. "Get out of here and back to Alexanderplatz! We'll find another way out!"

"Damn it, Herr Eckhart! Fine!" Friedrich said, and then he took off into one of the other buildings and disappeared from sight. Hans turned back around in time to see a Sturmutant toss a grenade down the hall at them both.

"HOT POTATO, NAZI SCUM!"

Hans picked the grenade up and threw it back, the explosion smashing the clapboards and warping the carpet, and shaking the walls and ceiling lights. Hans opened the door to his right, shocked to see that the room inside had collapsed. "HILDA, DOOR!" he screamed, and Hilda tried the door to the left. The room inside was intact, but there was likely no way out. Still, it was better than sitting at the end of a long and open hall.

"GO!"

The two of them quickly rushed into the room, and Hans slammed the door shut behind him. The room wasn't very big, a typical hotel affair. There was a large bed in the center of the room, pushed up against the wall opposite the door. To the right was a sparse bathroom. The room's sole window was boarded up, thin beams of sunlight filtering in through the slats.

Of fucking course.

Hans grabbed the mattress and yanked it off the bed, dragging it over to the door. Hilda was right behind him, sandwiching the bedframe between the wall and mattress to keep it held in place. They both crouched behind the mattress, guns at the ready, and looked at each other. So much to say and so little time to say it all.

There was a series of rapid thumping outside the room and then the door was slammed. Once. Twice. "COME OUT, NAZIS!" the mutant screamed. Hilda responded with her MP5, ventilating the door. The mutants returned fire, drowning their world in a thunderous roar as they let loose with their FG-42s and MGs. Hans pressed himself as low to the floor as possible, trying to shield Hilda's body.

The gunfire stopped and the mutants tried the door again, the frame buckling and cracking under the repeated strikes. Hans readied his gun, preparing to fire. The mutant hit the door again, and again, and finally an armored gauntlet punched straight through the oak. Clad in midnight, the tops of its fingers shielded by pointed ends. The mutant grabbed the door by the hole it had created and pulled, ripping the door off its hinges and frame in a series of sharp cracks.

Jesus Christ what the fuck Hans thought. He tensed, expecting a mutant to climb over the bed, but instead a grenade came into the room, bounced off the wall, and landed on the floor next to them. Hans snatched it up and threw it back, the grenade detonating in the hall and blowing out the intact window.

Head still swimming and ears still ringing Hans saw a Sturmutant climb into the room and both he and Hilda opened fire, peppering its midnight-clad body with gunfire. The monster leveled its FG-42 and Hans aimed for its face, hoping the helmet was thin. His G11's little 4.7mm rounds tore through the creature's faceplate and it dropped to the floor, dead.

There was just a moment's respite and then another grenade came into the room. Hans tossed it back out, the grenade going straight out the hallway's window and detonating mid-air over the plaza behind the hotel.

Hans watched Hilda reach for another magazine for her MP5, only to discover she was out, and she dropped it to pick up the FG-42 the mutant had dropped. She leaned back against the wall, rifle tucked under her arm, and another Sturmutant appeared in the door. Hilda rode the trigger, the light rifle rising, screaming as the bullets tore through the mutant's upper torso and head. It dropped onto the bed, blood spreading across the mattress.

An armored fist was rammed through the wall and Hans and Hilda turned to fire, tearing holes across the whole wall. Hilda's gun ran dry and she dropped it, yanking out her P38. A grenade appeared in the hole and dropped to the floor, and Hans immediately picked it up and tossed it into the bathroom. The explosion blew out the wall, shards of glass and porcelain coming out the doorway and shredding the wallpaper. Hans could hardly hear, his head swimming. He rose into a crouch and dropped the G11, opting for the extra power of the Mars Automatic.

A shadow appeared through the holes in the wall and Hans was about to fire when the entire wall disintegrated and a Sturmutant stepped through, bearing a zweihander. His blue armor, like all the others, sported the Gothic letters 'VT' on the cuirass.

The mutant didn't even bother to say anything. Instead it raised the sword with both hands, blade pointed at the floor, and came at them both. It took two giant steps forward and thrust down at Hans with the blade, and Hans dropped. The flamberge tore straight through the wall, buried halfway up the blade. Without effort the mutant ripped it out and turned to face them both again, and Hans fired with the Mars. The harsh smack of the thunder and recoil shook his whole body, the round catching the mutant in its cuirass and shattering into a hundred little lead shards.

The Sturmutant lifted the sword high above its head, and Hans charged forward. He slammed into the monster with all his might, pressing the muzzle of the Mars to the armor and pulling the trigger. The gun bucked hard again, once again having no effect. The monster used its knee to send Hans sprawling to the floor, and it turned its attention on Hilda. She fired her P38 until it was empty, the rounds useless against such heavy armor.

Hilda tried to scurry away, but there was nowhere to go in the small room. The mutant raised the sword and was about to bring it down again when Hans shot it in the back of the leg. The round bounced off the armor but managed to at least knock the creature off balance, giving Hilda enough time to get up and run. She rushed out into the hall and stopped, looking down at something Hans couldn't see. He tensed, preparing himself to see her be cut down in a hail of bullets, but nothing happened.

"ENOUGH!" the blue-clad Sturmutant screamed. "You are beaten! Drop your weapons, and come face the Queen's judgment!"

"Fuck you!" Hilda yelled, defiant even in the face of death. She raised the empty P38 and swung it like a club, harmlessly bouncing off his armor. Down the hall a mutant laughed. The mutant lowered its sword and grabbed Hans by the collar of his shirt, dragging him out of the room. He raised the Mars Automatic, trying to press it against the mutant, when it dropped him to the floor. The mutant plucked the Mars out of his grasp and stuffed it into a pouch. Hans slowly stood, feeling off balance. He pressed a hand to his head, quickly becoming aware of the headache the battle had given him.

"What...do you fucking want?" Hans asked, trying to shake his head clear. He looked at Hilda, then at the Sturmer standing next to them. It was taller than any Sturmutant Hans had ever seen. Whereas most Sturmers were about the height of an average man, this one was over six feet. The gauntlets of its blue armor ended in little spiked points over the knuckles. It regarded them casually, as if it didn't care who they were. It sheathed the zweihander, and a small part of Hans wondered why it even bothered carrying weapons, as big as it was.

"I am Commander Xavier, of Her Majesty Queen Ilse's Vergeltungstruppe Order. I don't know who you are, human, but I know her," the mutant said, looking at Hilda. "She is the Monster of Munich. Queen Ilse has orders that you are to be arrested on sight, to face penalty for your crimes."

"Vergeltungstruppe..." Hans spat. "Vengeance Trooper. Vengeance for what?"

"The Munich Massacre, for one," Xavier said. "By all rights, you both should be dead right now, with how many troopers you've killed. So I'm going to give you two choices. One, you submit to arrest and trial in Queen Ilse's name. Or, you submit to me and we will execute you here. Well, not you, probably. Her definitely, though."

"What the Hell kind of choices are those..." Hans said. He rubbed his head again and blew out a sigh. "If we're going to die, we might as well see this Queen Ilse in person. Fine," Hans said, looking at Hilda. "Let's go."

Hilda frowned. "Give me one of your grenades. If we're going to die, we might as well take some of this mutant trash with us." Xavier rolled his eyes and fished out some handcuffs.

"Enough out of you," the mutant said as he started cuffing both of them. They were quickly searched for weapons and then Xavier began escorting them back through the halls of the hotel while a few stayed behind to tend to their dead. The mutant led them down stairs and out the front door of the hotel, the setting sun casting long and large shadows across Berlin. Hans cast a glance south, to Pariser Platz. So close, and yet so far.

Time to see what's so important about this Queen Ilse he thought as Xavier led them away from the hotel and in the direction of the Spreebogenpark.