Chapter 1 - The Beginnings
A large office room can be seen, in a completely elliptic shape. In the exact center of the ellipse a tall blond man is sitting on an enormous desk, being deeply buried in his daily work. He has a large scar all across the right half of his face, and by roaming the view around, the back side of the room can be seen, housing a 4m wide window, opening the view into a dark purple nebula, where a few mines are glancing in the range of sight.
The Marinenachrichtendienst Major Wilhelm Schulz was sitting at his desk, performing the regular work, like every day.
"What a boring day" he thought to himself. Even if there was a lot of work to do... it seems, his work never changes. "That's the disadvantage, of taking a highly confidential job in the military intelligence branch."
Suddenly, the intercom beeped. The image of another Rheinwehr officer appeared on the screen, he was looking incredibly stressed.
"Guten Tag, Herr Major" he said. His eyes were flipping to different points at his own location. "I have... Herr Major... Zhis is... hmm... "
"Pull yourself together, Feldwebel Walter!" Wilhelm shouted.
"Herr Major... " the Feldwebel continued. "We have received a distress call of one of our Marinenachrichtendienst recon units. Aufklärungspatrouille Freya-12 Anton. Zhe last recorded position is transmitted as classified. My security clearance doesn't reach this level, so I thought, as zhe responsible officer, you better quickly have a look, Herr Major."
Feldwebel Walter saluted.
"Verstanden, Feldwebel. I am in zhe comm room in 2 minutes."
"What this might be?" Wilhelm wondered. "classified..." A cold shiver ran down his back, when he quickly walked out of his office. The main communications room of Schatten Research facility was three decks below Wilhelm's office, so he really had to hurry. Even if he was just 34 years old, and in a good physical condition, he was heavily breathing when he arrived.
The comm rooms doors glided open without a noise, and Wilhelm entered the room. The Feldwebel already walked towards, very quick in his steps.
"Herr Major, we have put zhe transmission onto zhe terminal in zhe overseers office. Everyzhing is ready for you, you just need to enter your security confirmation code."
Wilhelm made his way to the overseers office and locked the door. The 'Streng Geheim' symbol was flashing in deep red. He rolled his sleeve, and began typing his security clearance.
Martha-Emil-Friedrich-Xaver-Siegfried-2-6-3
The console acknowledged his code with a monotone beep. *Message playing*
"Achtung Achtung! Zhis is..... *static* .... Nachrichtendienst.... *static* zhe vessel Freya-12 Anton. We have an anomality.... *static* .... scanners are .... *static* above, above! *static* Zhere is a ship... *static* ... unknown origin. unkown inten... *static* What the? Do you see zhis? I see somezhing... *static* Oh my god... zhis is me! I am a child again... *static*... What do you.... *static*... my head ... *static* nooooooooooooooo"
***Transmission terminated***
Wilhelm sat in front of the console, his eyes wide open. He checked the location the signal came from, and immediately froze to ice. Those coordinates. He had seen them before. Exactly 15 years ago, his father's ship was lost at the same position, as the records of the Marinenachrichtendienst stated. But not a single patrol could find anything near the location, although it had been tried many times.
Sector B-3, Omega 11. Sector B-3...
Chapter 2 - The mission
Wilhelm slowly recovered of the shock he suffered, still sitting in front of the console. He stood up slowly, making his way to the still locked doors of the overseer's office, which slided open quietly, once he was close. He made his way through the communications room, with small, slow steps, totally being caught in his thoughts. "Sector B-3, Omega 11... if it's a trace to my Vater? Maybe I can recover some more information? But why... in Gottes Namen... why didn't all zhe patrols find something zhere? It was an operation of four weeks" he thought to himself.
He headed towards the door to the main floor, suddenly facing Feldwebel Walter again. "Is everyzhing in Ordnung, Herr Major?" he asked. "What? Zhis... Oh, yes. I was just thinking... Feldwebel, please make sure my Mjölnir is equipped for a long term deep space Aufklärungsmission. Don't expect me to be back too soon, and keep zhis geheim."
"Jawohl, Herr Major" Walter answered. " Your Schiff will be ready in an hour."
Wilhelm passed the doors of the communications room, quickly heading towards the Kantine, to have a quick meal. He wasn't sure, when he would get the chance to eat again, so he decided to use the time his fighter was set up, to have a meal. It was a hard decision, because his mind was blown of thoughts, and full of curiousity what happened to the patrol in Omega-11. But a starving Major wouldn't be helpful, for searching his father.
Memories caught him, while eating his Bratwurst with Sauerkraut, memories of dreams, he had in the distant past. He was nearly hypnotic, remembering visual parts like Rheinwehr officers in a dark room, with metal walls... coldness, heat, flames and ice. Pain, images of his father. Wrath's on patrol in Omega 11, the yellow shape of the Walker Nebula.
He shook off his paralyze. "Interesting, which memories a single experience can restore" he thought.
After having finished his meal, and glancing at the clock, it showed him that his Mjölnir fighter should be readily waiting on the hangar deck. So, he got up, and quickly walked towards the hangar deck, taking the lift and reaching his ship in just 2 minutes. After the usual surrounding, and check of the ammo stats and the ships power generator, he glanced around. No one was there, the hangar personnel seemed to be in noon break. "excellent" he thought. He passed by the left side wing, and opened the housing of guncam and flight recorder. The control panel was lighted in deep blue, showing "system operative". He entered the main menu, and set the recorders to "automatic shutdown, manual trigger. Automatic sending deactivated". A silent beep could be heard.
"Shutdown options: (1) timer set shutdown (2) geographical shutdown".
Wilhelm took a second look around, then selected the (2), entering the coordinates of the Stuttgart -Omega 11 jumpgate. He confirmed with his personal access code, and locked the recorder housing again. "Whatever I am going to find... I am not sure, if everyzhing needs to be recorded... I am glad, zhat I can use zhe trigger manually." He smiled.
Schulz boarded the cockpit of his Mjölnir, and left the hangar. Direction: Stuttgart. For gods sake, nothing special happened on his way to Stuttgart. Or... he maybe just didn't realize. His mind was paralyzed. Hope. To see his father... to find out something. Hope. Always dies last.
Chapter 3 - The contact
As the Stuttgart-Omega 11 jumpgate opened, the board computers voice could be heard: "Warning! Flight recorder deactivated! Manual trigger enabled!"
"Exzellent. It works." The warp tunnel appeared, and seconds later, he found himself in the well known asteroid field of Omega 11. By having a look on the scanners, he realized a hessian patrol disappearing, and so remembering that he didn't enter the friendliest area in Rheinland, setting up the system status to condition red. Another shiver ran down his back, when he entered the coordinates into the navigation console of his fighter. B-3. The ships cruise engines were charging, and the Mjölnir accelerated to cruise speed, being set on autopilot. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and the thoughts came over him again. His dreams, the visions... he wondered, if he would find an explanation for some of the sleepless nights during the last years. About his father. And yes, even about patrol Freya-12 Anton, also he needed to admit to himself, that even if this was the major reason for his travel... The memories of his father coming up again, and the strange coordinates... this was awakening much more interest in him.
Wilhelm opened his eyes again, to check the navigational map. "Oh, it is still weit" he thought.
Looking out of his front window, he realized the shape of a Wraith fighter, directly in front of him. But... it didn't appear on the scanners. "What zhe?" he wondered. "Rheinland Militär Schiff! Identify! Zhis is Marinenachrichtendienst Major Schulz!" he yelled into the comms, still wondering, how this ship could be seen, but is stealthy on scanners. He didn't even hear rumors about stealth ship development. "Zhis could be zhe final advantage over liberty!" he thought. The ship didn't reply. He launched a cruise disruptor, but it just hit the asteroids. Another one. It seemed to pass the interior of the Wraith in front of him. He yelled in the comms again. "Militär Schiff! Identify!" Still no response. The ship was directly heading to his own set coordinates... "It's getting strange" he thought, and realized another shiver, shaking his entire body, and bringing up visions again. He closed his eyes. And realized, that he was still able to see the Wraith in front of him. He opened his eyes, closed them, opened them. No change in the view. The Wraith was always there. "Is it an illusion? Is it zhere? What is it, what is happening?" The Wraith vanished, and with him the visions. He realized the flickering shape of a jumphole in front of his ship, no 0.2 clicks away. B-3. Exactly. The location where his father got lost. And a jumphole here? Why didn't the patrols find it? Why did no one find it? Curiosity took control over him, and he entered the hole.
Seconds later, he faced the view of a bright system. A yellow star, a planet on the left, an asteroid belt on the right. He never had seen this before, he was sure. Where ever he was, it... no. There wasnt death at all. He felt warm and comfortable suddenly, all his shivers were gone. Nothing running down his back yet. He decided to set course to the planet in sight, once the Wraith appeared again, obviously taking the same direction. But it was closer this time, he could see the letters on its hull.
Freudenstadts Rache.
And through all the warm feelings Wilhelm had, no matter how comfortable he felt till this moment, and no matter how curious he was, he froze to ice. "Vaters Schiff!" He screamed.
His mind was unable to operate anymore. Thoughts crossing his mind from left to right, visions in his mind, old dreams, odd scenarios. No matter if his eyes were open or closed, the Wraith of his father vanished, appeared, vanished, appeared. And without Wilhelm realizing, his course was still set.
Suddenly, more Wraiths appeared, and something... else. Bigger. Wilhelm had never seen such a ship before. "zhose visions... zhose dreams. Zhey are so strange! What is zhis? Vater? Are you here?"
Having a view on the scanners, he realized... this isn't a vision. Visions don't show up on scanners.
His ship was hit by a cruise disruptor, and something in his mind made him shut down his engines. Then, darkness surrounded him. A pain in his head, and he lost consciousness.
It's happening.
Chapter 4 - The enlightenment
When Wilhelm opened his eyes again, he knew what happened. He knew everything. His emotions were gone.
He found himself in a room looking familiar, the cold walls of steel, and the other Rheinwehr officers around. He could hear them talking, but no one was speaking. He knew, what they were thinking, and what the others were thinking. The ones who weren't in the room. All the other ones. All of them.
He could see his father. His death. Being killed in a giant explosion, as the reactor of his ship turned into a ball of bright purple plasma. He didn't have any chance in this battle. No one has, no one can resist. But he wasn't worth being different. Being ultimate and superior. He couldn't fulfill the task. Wilhelm will do, and that's why he was called.
No one can withstand **our** influence. But **we** don't care.
All his emotions were gone. He just felt safe and comfortable where he was now. He knew, what it was for. Why they were in his mind. In his fathers mind. Which info they got, and why he was here now. He has a mission to fulfill.
**WE** have to do.
Chapter 5 - The mission
Wilhelm Schulz was back on his way to Schatten Research facility, leaving his new home systems beyond. All the way back passed in the same quick time as it was the way to Omega 11, shortly before. Or long before? Time became a bit meaningless recently. He learned to connect to the collective on his way back. Thoughts formed more clear, the Wilde were talking to him.
** reporting .... duty .... undercover .... silent **
** secretly .... mission ... infiltrate **
Once he docked at Schatten research, he tried to getting his mind to use again, and to accept the disconnection to the collective, while he made his way to Oberst Heinz Freiherr von Stauffen's office.
He would have to explain, why his guncam didn't work. Why his flight recorder did only record till he reached the Omega 11 gate. And why his mission took that long, without bringing valuable information to the Marinenachrichtendienst. "I just hope zhey don't get me. I am too important in zhis. Zhe mission over all." he thought, while he entered Oberst von Satuffen's office, and told the secretary to report that he arrived.
She told him to sit down and wait for approximately 10 minutes, and Wilhelm fought against the strong desire to reconnect with the collective. "Don't show them what you are, don't endanger the mission. Be strong, as your human body has once learned" he thought to himself.
He was called into von Stauffen's office, and opened the door. Oberst Freiherr von Stauffen was sitting at his desk, curiously, but with military hardness looking at Wilhelm. Wilhelm stood still, and raised the hand for a short salute, which von Stauffen replied with the same military precision he stood up from his chair.
"Major Wilhelm Schulz reporting for duty, Herr Oberst."
"Take a seat, and tell me. Where zhe hell have you been, Major?"
Wilhelm told him what happened to him, by just leaving a short part of the story unmentioned: He isn't the same person anymore. He also mentioned, that it seems that an ion storm has damaged his flight recorder and guncam, when entering Omega 11 system, and told von Stauffen that he didn't find any reliable or worthy information about the missing patrol craft.
When he was connected to the collective, he had seen what happened to the patrol craft, it didn't differ much to what happened to his father. But von Stauffen doesn't really have to know.
Oberst von Stauffen was seemingly glad with Wilhelms report, and after a short salute, Wilhelm left von Stauffens office, heading to his own one. "I made it, zhis is.. unbelievable." he thought to himself.
He entered his own office, and locked the door behind himself. He took place in his chair, taking a look out of the window right into the minefield. The darkness he sees made him confident. He leaned back, and closed his eyes. "Zhis is zhe place, where so many of us lost zheir existence. Now I am here. And here, where it ended for so many, it now will begin." He thought. He relaxed, and connected back to the collective. Thoughts were running into his mind, quiet at first, but becoming louder and stronger every second.
** success .... infiltration ... joy **
It has begun.
Chapter 6 - The returning
After having been in the collective for several hours, enjoying the safety he felt in there, Wilhelm broke connection. The thoughts he received were clear.
** proceed .... gathering ... data **
He logged into his terminal, applying his personal data pad into the data exchange bay.
"Zhis won't take too long, I am sure. Time to grab everyzhing I can get."
He entered his personal security code again.
Martha-Emil-Friedrich-Xaver-Siegfried-2-6-3
With a silent beep, the console acknowledged his clearance. "Let me see, where are we... Ah. Zhis is it. Zhis is what we will need, and what will save zhe lives of many of us."
He switched to the "Streng Geheim" folder, checking the last entries for "alien activity" and "locations of alien encounters". Wilhelm slowly copied them to the data pad. Right after, he searched for the point "Fleet deployments" and "Military Hardware" and also copied them to his data pad.
Once the upload was finished, he re-entered the data sheets "alien activity" and "locations of alien encounters", setting the timer for auto deletion to 15 minutes, and locking them with a password.
"I hope zhis time is enough. I need to return home now."
Quickly heading to the hangar, and trying to avoid contact to anyone, due to the rush and the danger he felt inside, he took large steps on his way, but also trying not to seem hasty to other people, that might cross his way. His thoughts began to seek for the collective again, but he forced himself to ignore them. Now. "I just need a little more time... just a little. I am nearly done..." Wilhelm has safely arrived at the hangar deck, meeting just a Flieger on his way, who greeted in the regular old Rheinwehr manner.
Feldwebel Walter was heading towards Wilhelm, saluting. "Herr Major? I didn't expect you here, may I..." Wilhelm interrupted him. "I don't have time to explain now, Feldwebel. Is my ship ready for anozher urgent travel?"
"Jawohl, Herr Major. As always." Feldwebel Walter answered quickly.
"Gut. I don't know when I will be back, in fact, I have never left. You understand, Feldwebel?"
Walter just nodded silently, while Wilhelm made the way to his Mjölnir.
Wilhelm quickly turned on the engines, and left the hangar bay. His direction was clear. Heading home, as fast as possible. He just hoped, nobody would have realized the missing data, or even worse, the deleted files about **their** activity. Not as long as he arrived at home.
He was quickly rushing through the systems, not recognizing what was around. Some trade convoys passed, and greeted him, but he didn't even respond. His thoughts already headed home, and he was glad that his ship had the typical, highly sophisticated Autopilot Rheingold-MkV, that didn't force him to concentrate on his flight. New Berlin, Stuttgart, Omega 11. He headed towards the jumphole to his home, and passed it as quick as possible.
The known bright view appeared, for which he knew, that it was his home now. Nothing could stop him anymore now, and no need not to be himself anymore. He reconnected to the collective.
Everything became warm and bright, and he was feeling better than any time before. He was at home. And he could hear the thoughts in his mind:
** accomplished ... joy ... home **