Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden

In July 791 UC, Reinhard von Müsel and Siegfried Kircheis, upon graduation from a military preparatory school, is posted to the planet Kapche-Lanka as their first assignment. Unbeknownst to them, Sussanna von Beenemünde, who harbours jealousy and hatred towards Reinhard's sister Annerose von Grünewald, is secretly plotting to kill him by bribing Reinhard's new superior, the base commandant of an Imperial base in Kapche-Lanka, to do so.

As a plot to kill both of them, Reinhard von Müsel and Siegfried Kircheis are dispatched by their superior to reconnoitre deep into the planet Kapche-Lanka for Free Planets Alliance activity all by themselves. Before their departure, Reinhard and Kircheis' tank is tampered with to ensure that they will not have enough fuel to make it back to base. It is nightfall before both of them realise that act and they are forced to halt and figure a way to get back to base alive. By chance, they encounter an Alliance tank advance unit and decides to ambush it for securing fuel.

Reinhard von Müsel and Siegfried Kircheis successfully ambush a Free Planets Alliance tank advance unit and secure not only fuel, but also information about an upcoming Alliance surprise attack on their base. Suspecting that their base commandant Captain Herder was responsible for their predicament, they decide to wait for any of his accomplices to appear. Eventually, Lieutenant Hugenberch finds them and after he shows hostile intent, Reinhard kills him. They then return to their base and finds the surprise attack already started. Kircheis manages to disable the attacking Alliance tanks by transmitting to them a code he wrote based on stolen data from the tanks he and Reinhard previously ambushed, enabling the Imperial forces at their base to successfully counter-attack and end the Alliance surprise attack.