The Platform -- Gleaming Flotilla Status Report

Platform Command Authority,

As part of my duties as the interim leader of the Gleaming Flotilla, I’ve reached out to the commanders of the various warships under our command and asked for the operational status of their ships. I then personally went out and performed an inspection of each ship, you’d be surprised what you can get away with when you’re wearing a maintenance uniform and a polarized welding helmet, which reminds me that I need to have a serious talk with station security on Bielefeld and Kaiserslautern. You’ll find my summary of each of our notable warships below.

The Ymir on patrol in New Berlin not far from Kaiserslautern

(=)LV-Ymir – Oder-Class Gunboat

The Ymir started out as a long range reconnaissance and relay vessel in service with the MND, and as such has been converted to be almost fully automated, with only a single person running the ship. Equipped with a small cryogenics bay, the operator of the vessel would be awoken only when needed for direct operational control of the ship. With minimal armament intended solely for use in preventing collisions with stellar debris too large for the shield to deal with, it will need a full refit of its armament to be combat capable.

Seeing as said refits will necessitate the presence of additional crew, I’m issuing orders for the ship to be brought back in line with standard internal equipment for an Oder-class which we should be able to manage even with our limited capabilities. The sole exception will be the cryogenics bay, which the original pilot of the vessel has requested to be left intact, since I see no reason to remove such a valuable piece of equipment I’ve agreed to their request.

Seven of Swords completes a close orbit burn near Gotha

(=)"Seven-of-Swords" – Oder-Class Gunboat

Another former MND ship, the Seven of Swords has been customized to lean more towards active reconnaissance and the cloaking device fitted to it is a testament to this fact. The ship is also equipped with an enhanced sensor suite, which makes it ideally suited to long range observation of points of interest. I recommend that she stay in her currently assigned operational sector in Thuringia, it will be by far the best use of her capabilities in the field, and the crew is clearly interested in their duties there.

Of particular note was the ships’ crew, all of which almost seemed insulted by the presence of a maintenance tech from the nearby station coming onto their turf, which I can understand from the level of devotion they seem to have to the ship. Over my entire career in the Military I’ve seen maybe a handful of ships as well maintained as this one was, the engineering space in particular still looks almost factory new. All in all, she's an extremely well crewed ship, and one of the standouts of out fleet.

Shadow of the Void on patrol near Bielefeld in Sigma-15

(=)"Shadow-of-the-Void" – Oder-Class Gunboat

Originally in service to the Rheinwehr as the Greifswald, this ship was disabled by MND forces in Thuringia during the civil war. Recovered by a Bundschuh salvage team, and undergoing repairs over theyears at Tennestedt, she returned to service a few months ago. Shortly before her refits were complete, the new captain requested that part of the ship’s cargo bay be converted to house a marine detachment could be assigned to the ship. This detachment is used to help seize and secure hostile ships, as well as occasionally perform actions against small hostile installations. Outfitted as a frontline combat vessel, the Shadow is an outlier among the other vessels of the Platform, both for this and for carrying the aforementioned marine complement.

When she was initially disabled by the MND, the entirety of the bridge had been severed from the rest of the ship, as well as a portion of the forward hull directly under the main gun. She was repaired piecemeal, with the new bridge being taken from the remains of another Oder-class, while the bow was rebuilt almost entirely by hand. Because of this, it is possible to see this change between sections easily in their manner of construction.

Aachen on patrol in the Taunusfeld, covering our supply lines

(=)GFS-Aachen – Oder-class Gunboat

An oddity in the Platform in that this ship is a former Federal Police vessel, the Aachen was stationed in Hamburg at the outbreak of the civil war, and when the Unioners that it had been fighting for several years suddenly became its allies. It defected from Federal Police service, eventually finding itself among the Bundschuh, due to our reputation for having less piratical tendencies. The Aachen quickly found itself serving as a defensive vessel around Bruchsal, occasionally making runs out to Bielefeld as well, helping to secure the most vital of our supply lines.

The Crew of the Aachen have a reputation among the Platform for being sticklers for the rules, and from my interactions with them, I’m inclined to agree. This leads to them being ideally suited for the routine patrol tasks that the ship is normally assigned to, yet leaves them vulnerable in hectic situations such as those that gunboats normally find themselves in during a fleet engagement. I recommend that the Aachen be sent out on longer range patrols, or perhaps be sent to Kaiserslautern for a longer duration patrol, to help them get some more direct combat experience against enemies with more capable tactics than they saw facing the Unioners.

Hydenrei flying through Cologne while escorting supply ships

(=)GFS-Hydenrei – Oder-Class Gunboat

The Hydenrei was initially a ship with the Rheinwehr, having served in one of the reserve flotillas for about five years before I took command of it following the end of the civil war. I won’t go into all the details of our exploits here, but suffice to say the crew is extremely experienced following extended operations against both LWB and Unioner forces in Stuttgart and Hamburg respectively. Following our defection to the Bundschuh, the Hydenrei was given its current name and a full refit, bringing it up to current military standards.

The Hydenrei’s crew is a tight-knit group of Rheinwehr veterans, with only a few hands rotating through from the Flotilla so they can be trained up to our standards, before returning to their original ships to pass on what they were taught. The crew has a tradition of pounding their fists against the hull of the ship whenever they are about to enter battle, a tradition akin to the battering of swords against shields or rifle butts against the ground, the sound frequently able to be heard over ships comms.

Guy Sajer
Commander of the Broken Lance