Schiller - The lost ship?

[Jansen]

Production Information

Ship Name: RNC-Schiller
Ship Class: "Bismark"-class
Product Line: Battleship
Built by: Rheinland Military
Manufacturer: Oder Shipyard
Launched: 790 A.S.

Status: Destroyed in Tau-29?

History

The construction of the Schiller began in 785. A.S. as a part of the latest Rheinland armament program to build a rapidly deployable yet hard-hitting fleet. Learning from the mistakes of the past, the Schiller and her sister ship, the Wotan were both equipped with advanced sensor arrays, allowing better combat performance in nebulaes than it’s predecessors. Both ships were launched from Oder shipyard in 790. A.S. In the years between their launch and the turn of the century, the Schiller and Wotan were part of the Western Rheinland Fleet, both being considered as a serious force in Stuttgart and the Rheinland-claimed Omega systems.

During the nomad infestation, the Wotan’s captain and it’s high ranked officers were the first who were indoctrinated by the nomads. The same fate awaited for the Schiller and other Western Fleet ships. Due to the Rheinwehr’s strict protocols, there was little room for disobeying orders. Taking advantage of this, it wasn’t necessary to infect the whole crew of the vessels, though there were significantly more infected officers on the Schiller than onboard of the Wotan.

In that time, the Schiller was also equipped with cloaking technology, just like most of the Rheinland vessels. At the start of the Rheinland campaign, the whole Western Fleet was ordered to advance into Bretonia and the Tau worlds.

On the hunt for the notorious artifact, Rheinland forces flooded Bretonia, leaving the Wotan in Bretonian House space and two battlegroups, Battlegroup Schiller and Goethe, led by the battleships with the same name respectively, in the Taus. The Battlegroup Schiller consisted of the Rheinland Cruisers RNC Nestor, Rheingau, and Bechthold, the Rheinland Gunboats RNC Bhietigheim and Burgha, 6 Rheinland 90-ARKM-N9 Valkyrie Heavy Fighters and the Schiller itself.

However, due to an unfortunate turn of events and the following destruction of the Wotan, neither the units in Leeds, nor the Goethe could stop the party fleeing from Bretonia. The Schiller was in Tau-29 by that time, leaving them the last Rheinwehr units to acquire the artifact. Deeply shaken by the sudden destruction of the Wotan and the Rheinwehr blockade in Leeds, but still determined to find Edison Trent and the artifact, the battlegroups continued the search in the Taus.
The entire Schiller battlegroup gathered at Tau-29 and prepared for an ambush, when the Goethe reported the escape.

The trick worked as the party ran right into the Schiller and her ships, having a huge advantage in numbers and firepower. However, just as they expected the success of their mission, forces of the notorious Kress interrupted the Schiller's plan to capture the artifact thieves and a massive fight, with huge losses for the Rheinlanders side took place.

After the fight was over, only few traces of the battle could be found, the crewmembers and the wreck of the Schiller disappeared and were never found again.

Shortly after the battle of Tau-29 the Kanzler posthumously honored the crew of the Schiller for their service to the Republik.

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