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Johann sat still in his bed, sleeping contently as a man who has attained, what he would think is, victory often did. He jerked, slightly, and rose quickly, as if a perfect dream was just shattered by horror. He stood, shuddering, but not knowing why.

"Something here, about this night, is very wrong. What is this....Darkness I feel? This dread? Nothing human can summon such a feeling." He muttered to himself.

Johann moved over to his cabinet, with a tear in his eye, and took out a strong dosage of tea. He tried to sleep, then, but was mostly unsuccessful. Something, was very, very wrong.

Meisnerr walked slowly across a steel platform over one of the many hangar bays inside the rock of Vogtland. Below him there were tens of technicians refueling, repairing and rechecking several Odin fighters, and preparing them for their next deadly battle. Many armour plates were removed and replaced from these specific fighters, bearing heavy scorch marks and sometimes even holes right through their thick metal alloys. Holes big enough to fit a human head through them.

He knew that no Rheinland, Corsair or any other human made weapon can punch a hole in the hull of an Odin like that in one shot. He reminisced the surprise Wilde attack near Vogtland, and the subsequent hunt into Frankfurt where the pursuit finally caught up with the infested.

At least that cursed freak of nature got what was coming to him...

Meisnerr shifted his attention to his belt attached comm device for a second, and then pressed a red button on it, activating it.
- "This is Meisnerr to flight control. Tell Wagner's squadron to wait up and inform him that I will personally oversee his patrol into Omega-11 today. Prepare the Leopard and Ostwind for launch, I want those gunboats on my wing. Oh and prepare my personal Odin. I will be on flight deck G in about ten minutes."
A garbled voice quickly responded through the device, confirming his order with a quick..
- "Ja wohl, Herr Kapitan."

Without a pause, he put his comm back to his belt and moved to his quarters to don his flight uniform. The space around Vogtland would become crowded within the next few minutes once again...

Thea Bauer sat in the interior of her Loki, staring out at the inside of the docking bay at Bruchsal. The recent communications she had received from Josef were quite unlike him. She hoped what she had merely misinterpreted his message, but deep down she feared it was true.

How could this happen? she thought to herself. How could he get mixed up with... them?

She couldn't keep this to herself any longer. She needed to tell someone, but who? The Volksfront? No, she didn't want to get them wrapped up in this; they had enough on their plate as it was. Perhaps one of her former Junker colleagues? Catalina might understand, but she still didn't trust her completely and getting her involved could compromise security.

As she launched her ship, she had a thought. "Bruchsal, this is Thea Bauer. I am proceeding to Darmstadt. I must speak with Herr Steinlaufer there," she reported over her comm system.

From the start, Thea knew this was the only solution even if she had tried to persuade herself otherwise. She had never met Johann Steinlaufer in person, but had heard about him from Josef, who had said he was a trustworthy man. Thea hoped it to be true.

I just hope I'm not too late with this... Thea thought as she landed on Darmstadt and began to look for Johann.

Johann sat silently at his desk, only half dressed and preparing to go to bed, as his patrol through Stuttgart had just finished, fruitless, as usual. A knock on the door was heard, and he went to his closet to go find a shirt.

"Please wait a moment." He said in a half-sigh.

Johann opened the door, and saw a rather nervous woman, wearing a Bunschuh uniform. Bunschuh didn't often come to Darmstadt, it was far too cold for their liking, just as Stuttgart was, but that only emphasized the importance of this already dramatic entrance.

"Now, then, ma'am, what can I do for the Bunschuh?" Johann asked, as he invited her in.

Thea was quite glad that Johann Steinlaufer was there. She wasn't sure what she would've done had he been out.

"Herr Steinlaufer, I have some very.." she said, pausing. "Some very strange news. It's about my cousin, Josef Bauer. I need to show you something."

Thea pulled a small comm unit from her uniform and handed it to Johann.

"Josef normally sends me a message every few days, and this was his most recent message," she said. She hit a few buttons and the message began to play.

(message plays)

As the message stopped, Thea began to pace back and forth in the room, continuing to look quite nervous. She asked, "What do you think it means? What's going on with Josef? Please help."

Johann sat back in his chair, obviously troubled.

"Nein, this is not good news. I'll prepare a search wing at once. If Josef is so deluded at this time, we must stand by him until he may see the true light. These fiends will never take one of our own, not without a fight." Johann replied to Thea, rather adamantly, the weariness immediately wearing off.

He stood, and escorted Thea out, and headed to his Loki, preparing for launch with the three other men that were to accompany him.

Much later in the day...

"Thank you very much, Herr Steinlaufer," Thea said while shaking Johann's hand. "I am thankful there are people like the LWB around today to help out."

Thea turned away and took several steps, ending near the wall. "I just wish things had turned out differently," she said. With that she slammed her fist into the wall. "Why? Why did this happen!?"

She turned back toward Johann. "Do you think there's anything left to do for him? Is there still a chance?"