Gerhard Stahl and Karl von Schlafenberg are staying in the Herschel secondary bridge. Stahl browses throught the work logs in a communication console, which now works more like a note pad for the Chefingenieur. He activates the large construction coordination hologram showing up the frontal part of the Admiral's flagship and nearly complete laser drilling device. Front side of the cruiser no longer looks like a giant green tumour as during the first construction phase. Typical shapes and lines are slowly returning back to the frame of the Herschel. It's Stahl's time to summarize all of the boring routine work of the last twenty five hours and compress it into like five minutes, making a report to von Schlafenberg.
"Herr Admiral, the work wents as intended and we are no longer behind the plan"
"Gut gut Herr Stahl, can you tell me what is this?" He comes to the hologram and points at a thick cable comming directly from the MOX nuclear power reactor of the Herschel to the previous position of various sensor systems.
"Ja Herr Admiral, several days ago, we had a situation.. Power network which was previously bringing electricity to the communication and sensors were far to enough when it comes to supporting the laser. It would take hours to dig inside the Münster module without the cable and create at least something what would be called a hole."
"How big hole?"
"If successful, the U.L.D.D. will be able to make a seven meter wide tunnel hole within one minute"
"Haven't I told you how small I feel when walking through the extraction corridor? It's good that you have made it this massive, who knows what will we encounter in the module?!" Karl underlines his last sentence with a smile under his dense moustache.
"Nothing is an issue for the Black Legion troopers Herr Admiral"
"Exactly, this is why they will be the ones going into that thing, the best of the best"
"Shall I call for the Legion Oberst sir?"
"Nein, take care of the laser. Herr Oberst is my concern. If you need me, call for me or come to the main bridge" Karl smiles at Stahl and leaves the secondary bridge with the hologram showing half-done laser behind.
Karl opens an internal facility-wide channel, types in some passwords allowing him to choose one particular communication channel under the BLACK security level protection and calls for the Oberst of the Black Legion, ground troops rumored to be one of the hardest and most skilled in the whole sector. "This is Karl von Schlafenberg to Oberst Wulfrik Wolfmann, report to me on the Herschel bridge, over" No response comes back to Karl like a boomerang as a high ranked man like Karl would expect and prefer. Instead, Wolfmann himself shows on the bridge few minutes later.
With a serious look on his face, Wolfmann says: "Hier I am Herr Admiral, I believe that I know why did you call for me"
"Really, why would I call for you Herr Oberst?.. Want a cup of coffee?" Karl points his left hand to the elevator leading to the ship kitchen.
"Nein danke. You want us to break into the module right?"
"Not literally break into, we will drill an entrance using a laser.. I believe you know. Your troops will enter the module, restore the artificial gravity systems to some reasonable degree and save as many of the contents as possible"
"Nothing we wouldn't make sir"
"Gut, get your Legionäre ready, use middle-force assault gear because... Not even I know what is inside, and if I knew it, I would told you"
"Verstanden Admiral, I will put together the best soldiers on the facility"
"Do it, you have two days for it"
"Herr Admiral, we have completely finished the construction!" Says Chefingenieur Stahl in the moment when he hastily enters the Herschel main bridge to give Schlafenberg this information.
Karl von Schlafenberg releases a long sighs. "Das ist gut to hear Herr Stahl"
"Techically, your ship can take off with just a snap of your fingers" Stahl smiles.
"Nein, not so fast. Not before Herr Enfield prepare the bomb and before the Black Legion squad is ready"
"Is he still working on that thing? I can call for him if you wish"
Karl smiles a little, almost unnoticeably. "Why do you allways want to call for someone?"
Stahl does not seem prepared for such an odd question and remains stone-silent.
"Well.. I will come look at his work myself. I hope the bomb is ready as it should be. If it isn't, we can eventually load all possible MOX fuel barrels from my ship storages and place it next to the incomplete bomb. But that is just a plan B..."
"Get some sleep mein Freund, you look horrible"
"Will do, right after I take care of the mess in your secondary bridge"
"That's an order, others will sort things up"
"Danke Herr Admiral"
"Gute Nacht!"
"Gute Nacht sir"
Stahl leaves the bridge along with Schlafenberg going another way. Karl is on the way to the cargo bay, where the extraction corridor exits. Black Legion Oberst is supposed to meet the Admiral there.
Karl enters the cargo bay, where the Oberst, Wulfrik Wolfmann, stays along with twelve other heavily armoured and armed Legion soldiers. They wear a black armour with a Legion insignia, dark green Rheinland cross on the left shoulder and another symbol showing rank of the soldiers on the right shoulder. All of them including the Oberst are belted with grenades. Heavy rifles aren't common, but this doesn't count for the Black Legion. Some soldiers even hold a rocket launcher.
"Guten Abend Herr Oberst"
"Guten Abend Herr Flottillenadmiral, the recovery squad is prepared"
"Very gut, we're going tomorrow, or I should say... later today. We just need to get that verdammt antimatter bomb here in the cargo bay. We need to be prepared, so the bomb will enter the module first and will be armed before you begin with the recovery. I will then be able to detonate it at any given second. You don't have to worry. We are not letting our men behind"
"That is reasonable Herr Admiral"
"I suppose you have read the plan, right"
"Ja, obviously. Is anything changing?"
"I wouldn't have asked you if it hasn't been changing all the time, I don't like stepping out of my plan and making compromises, but this is different and mandatory for us to do. The war is over.. Rheinwehr fleet is not going to be sent into Neu Hampshire as a distraction. We're alone in the operation"
"Recovery will be much easier without Libertonian Navy threatening us with gunfire, but I can assure you, that they are not going to like us there"
"That is why we have to do it fast. I am afraid that we will barely have time to recover the most important materials out of the module, but we can't let Liberty have the rest, that's why I asked Enfield for a bomb. And I believe that in this case, they wouldn't bother much with the ceasefire"
"Of course, mein Kampfhunde and even two Kampwölfe are the best soldiers of Schatten. No other troopers are a challenge for these men. I assume that they will not use their rifles, I just hope that your ship will not be forced to use it's turrets"
"Me too Herr Oberst, me too... We can't afford this war starting anew"
"I have to finish some plan preparation, module type is known so I have to make a briefing for mein men and a plan of entry and the whole recovery"
"Verstanden, good luck!"
"Tomorrow sir.."
Karl walks away, sighs and silently tells to himself: "Now Enfield..."
"Ready and prepare to sync transmitter and receiver frequencies. I want this thing synced up once its loaded." Teams were moving the bomb through the corridors of the station towards the mooring point. The bomb a large framework cluster of the warheads of the Nova torpedos stripped of their propulsion and guidance systems and left with their bear bone warheads all wired to a single box. The warheads seemed suspended by multiple springs and wires allowing them to flex in their framework without damage. "And be careful, I made it look makeshift but it actually is makeshift... and its delicate like it to, so don't crash it though the damn hallways." He takes out a communicator from his pocket, placing it upto his ear. "Flottillenadmiral... You'll find the bomb loaded into your vessel ready for transfer, what ever you do, don't put your vessel into a roll if this isn't secured... And don't put any flames near it, it hates them." He sits around, watching the crew mount up for the retaking and destruction of one of their most important modules.
One of the crew of the Herschel run out. "Sir, the warheads have been loaded into the cargo hold's jettison bay along with some boarding and transfer teams, are there any further orders?" He takes out a large device from under jacket, seemed like a box an antenna having a pistol grip underneath and a large red trigger. He shoves it to the chest of the crew member. "Take this, its the detonator, you touch that red trigger, you can kiss our asses goodbye, now I'm making sure you don't do it by sending guards with you." He signals two guards over, armed in their black legion outfit. "Take that to the Flottillenadmiral and tell him... Clink-click BOOM!, and show him that device. Do that and I'll give you my desserts for a week." "Yes sir" Enfield gives a chuckle before sending him off with his guarded escort. "I want to see that explosion... but I got other things to do."
Operation: "Maulwurf" - Reports of Oberst Wulfrik Wolfmann
:: Project: "Gleipnir" ::
Gleipnir is an incomplete device designed for converting Nomad power cell energy for the purpose of being used on Rheinland vessels and powering our guns, engine and other important parts of a spaceship.. I suppose. I don't know where have Rheinwehr scientists got some power cell, but the Schwarze Legion recovery squad haven't found it during the Operation Maulwurf. There wasn't a single trace of Nomad power cell presence in the module. It's long time lost and I believe that we're lucky that there was no cell. Our antimatter bomb would likely take the cell with it... and I don't even want to think about what would happen if it's stored energy was released with the antimatter blast we caused two days ago.
Recovered items
- "Gleipnir" device, incomplete prototype |
:: Project: "Sternschnuppe" ::
It looks like this was a one of a kind project. Only materials about it were just sketches or rough, incomplete greenprints. I almost think that Münster scientists were woking on this during their free time. It was a proposal for an integrated battleship weapon. According to the brief informations I have read, it would have been an electromagnetic gun accelerating around 20 meters wide iron rounds using a powerful electromagnetic field, basically just an oversized coilgun. Muzzle velocity calculated to be around 20 km/s would turn this weapon into a meteor thrower, literally. Assuming that the projectiles would be coated with some heat-resistant alloy, they would be able to survive an atmospheric entry. Resulting impact could possibly erase a city or a military base from the map. I can't even imagine possible destructive effects on hostile capital ships or space stations during a space combat. Kinetic energy of the mentioned projectile would likely just instantly tear them apart. The Sternschuppe would be a true superweapon, but it would take years to construct it. Too late for Rheinland and for changing the war results. |
:: Project: "Blitzgewehr" ::
This was essentially focused on downscalling our adapted fighter weaponry for infantry usage. I would say that the project was successful. I have seen several complete prototypes in the Münster module, but we were to hurry up, so I have had just enought time to grab a random hangun and keep it.. Gift for the Admiral I guess. Of course I wasn't dare to try shooting with it. Schatten scientists are the ones for examining the gun and it's abilities.
Recovered items
- BG-12 P: Prototype handgun based on Nomad technology |
:: Project: "Fenrisbrut" ::
Most important project of the Münster research. Thanks to it, we now know lot more about the Nomads than ever before. Their ships are in fact living organisms, similar to their incubies. Their "bodies", ships are even similar to human bodies in some ways. They have various organs of various purpose. These data have come from scans of the Nomad ships. They have evolved to live in harsh conditions of space, under weight of all the radiation, gamma rays and UV rays, under all of that we are protected from due to planetary atmospheres. Main difference is, that they are silicon based, as opposed to us humans, being carbon based. research collected some rare materials from captured infected humans and also from destroyed Nomad vessels. Some of the materials came from a system codenamed by the researchers as CF-574. I don't know what does it mean.. but I have saved it's location among the stars.
Recovered items
- Ampoule of liquified cardamine
- Metal case contaning unknown substance, to be opened.
- Container with dead Nomad incubus
- Container of decayed zealicium
- Few ampoules of hardened noruthan resin
- Several ampoules of various Nomad tissue samples
- Four containers with unknown type of rock, each with a different rock kind.
- Research data of Noruthan and Zealicium.
- Scientific informations about Nomads.
|
:: Project: "Überbleibsel" ::
Research project focused on alien artifacts from the Omicrons. To bad luck of the research, the artifacts haven't got any tactical worth, they were just pieces of architecture, possibly even daily use objects and such. Most of the artifacts were likely confiscated from smuggling vessels caught red handed, but some of them came from the asteroid fields of the Omicron systems. Couple of the artifacts were unique, I believe that one of them was more than just a piece of rock, it was bigger, and possessed some pointed sword-like shapes. |
:: Project: "Enigma" ::
Nomad communication methods and their abilities to play with our minds have been known for some time. Münster scientists were trying to constructs a helmet which would protect human brain from Nomad mind attacks. I don't think this has ever been tested in field, but according to the databanks, the project was in it's early states of progress. Helmets, when active, pulled a lot of stress on test subjects. |
:: Project: "Gepard" ::
Propulsion systems definitely inspired by the principles of Nomad engine systems, I have seen several scans of Nomad vessels during the recovery operation. In accordance to the scans and various informations obtained from Nomad exhaust products, a new engine system was succesfully tested on a fightercraft. Sadly, this fighter was lost in the antimatter explosion. About the engine, it was surprisingly similar to our MOX intermix chambers, just with quite unique construction and the prototype used to fuse hydrogen, instead of utilising forced fission of transuranium elements. |
:: Project: "Schutz" ::
"Never tried before" shielding systems. I have never seen anything like that, it was supposed to quickly circulate tungsten nanoparticles around a shielded vessel, but something went wrong during the experiments. Particles have been hitting each other way too often during the tests, creating friction and heating the shield and it's generator rendering overheated. The shield was once tested in stress test. Fighter equipped with the shield and hit by a Firekiss plasma bolt just melted under the immense heat generated by what was supposed to protect it. |
:: Project: "Feuersturm" ::
Vacuum incendiary devices, it doesn't sound really useful some people would say. But this was supposed to be very dangerous. Most of the experiments with such weaponry were turning around mercury metal being part of some sticky, dense liquids. Resulting effects would be very high temperatures and very toxic products released with burning such compounds. I don't think that it would be really effective against ship shielding, nor even armours. This technology was intended for anti-biomass usage, meaning that for example, armour-piercing rounds filled with this substance would spread the poisonous fire around enemy vessel interiors. Survivors who wouldn't burn alive would be waiting for long and painful death resulting from mercury intoxication. The compound would even be able to burn in vacuum or other oxygenless environment, due to it's own oxidizers. When burning inside enemy vessel, the fire would consume all oxygen available before it would extinquish. |
:: Project: "Erlösung" ::
Apparently, Rheinwehr scientists were aware of how the Nomads can possess human bodies. They were also attempting to cure the possessed humans, without success if I have seen all about this project within the Münster databanks. According to them, fully infected human can't be saved. There seem to be several ways of how to infect a human. Most well known example would be an incubus insertion doable via getting a compact spherical colony of Nomad microorganisms (literally a Nomad egg) into a human body, most likely through mouth. Incubus then grows in the guts and unnoticed, it then moves towards the spine attaching it's tendrils to the host body spinal cord and assuming controll. Incubus seems to be grown through the vital organs, incuding brain. Infection in this state can't be reversed without killing the host. Less known infection way is infecting the human body with the microorganisms when in less compact form, probably in liquids or even air, but no reference has been found inside the module. Organisms then rapidly reproduce in the host body bloodstream and grow colonies on various place across the body, these colonies later join together, again attached to the host's spine. Result is the same.. What more to say? Project have never came to a solution for the infected people, other than euthanising them. |
:: Project: "Seuche" ::
Basically a research focused on various alien microorganisms living in the wilderness of the Edge nebula. Nothing of tactical worth I would say, just a biological research of primitive alien lifeforms, I haven't found anything pointing me to their exact origin or how have the organisms got to Münster base. |
:: Project: "Stachelschwein" ::
New dimension of space battles. According to the Münster module database, prototypes of capital ship mines were tested. Nobody would even attempt to challenge a cruiser equipped with Stachelschwein mines. Intercepting it would be very expensive for the opponent. Mines were supposed to be much larger than the fighter counterparts, and much more destructive. I don't think that you have ever heard about antimatter mines, Herr Admiral, but they were present inside the module in the moment it exploded. I have read some informations, technical details about the mines.. They would bring up a completely new way of strategical thinking. Great example would be possible short-term minefield planting using few cruisers and gunboats, making a deadly wall of antimatter preventing any thinkable hostiles to pass. |
:: Project: "Werwolf" ::
We saved a lot when it comes to this weapon research project. As the Blitzgewehr project was focused on diminishing the adapted weaponry, this one was making them bigger. We managed to save a gunboat turret in early state of it's construction and three more or less complete bomber cannons... rather less complete than more.. Several parts of the bomber cannons are missing, they have never been finished or we have possibly left them on the module in haste. About their look, they aren't much similar to the adapted weapons we already possess, it seems that the mechanism of how they work is different. Post-recovery material tests on energetical grids of one bomber cannon showed presence of some yet unkown complex metallic compound, possibly a Nomad material or a material based on the Nomad organometallic compounds.
Recovered items
- "Werwofl" W-1: Adapted gunboat turret, 27% complete prototype
- "Schafhirt" W-7 S: Adapted bomber cannons, 65% finished two prototypes
- Greenprints of W-1 and W-7 S
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