The Corsairs had bold and intoxicating visions of a final victory over the Red Hessians, with an overwhelming surprise assault crushing their backline infrastructure in Dresden. Following such a victory, the Red Hessians would fold like a house of cards, the century-old Omega front crumbling before the Corsair pincer attack. Perhaps this plan would have worked, were it not for 834's joint Zoner and Outcast counter-attack in Omicron Theta, which saw much of the Penitence's fleet cannibalized to bolster the defence force. Initially, they had knocked at Vogtland's doors, tantalizingly close to their victory. However, the reduced fleet's momentum faltered and then stalled.

Soon the Corsairs were expelled from the Giftnebel and limited to opportunistically destroying Hessian miners in the Innenstadtfeld. As the months ground on, they were pushed back to the borders of the Schwefelnebel. The Hessians continued to recuperate, fortify, and push forward. After almost a year of deadly attritional fighting, the Penitence's fleet has nearly been entirely surrounded at its anchorage near the wreck of the Bundschuh's Zwickau Station. Seeing the noose tightening and supply lines severed, the Penitence's commander has signaled the need to retreat immediately; despite this, the order may have been left too late. An emergency call has been put out for reinforcements to cover the Penitence's retreat.

The only Corsair forces within range to respond in time are the defence garrisons of Lagos Depot in Sigma-13 and Petra Base in Sigma-15. Both have sent urgent messages back to Crete asking for guidance on the course of action: reinforce the Penitence to cover the withdrawal, or man their stations and trust in the force of the Penitence's own arms? It is expected that the going will be difficult in either eventuality, and in a best-case scenario the Penitence will still need to return to Tripoli for repairs before it is fit to return to service. The route home will be dangerous, necessitating the fleet to break through the Hessian blockade, traverse Frankfurt and the Sigmas, and pass through the volatile Omicron Theta.

The Penitence's commander has reflected on his vessel's name with grim irony. It seems to him that when you try to take it all, very often you are left with nothing.