Wulf peered out into the dark, rain-lashed night. He took a drag on the cigarette before tossing it out the window.
"Typical. One of this nation's most devoted officers and where do I get stuck? An estate miles from civilization guarding a family that did not deserve it."
He cursed his luck as he walked into the security station. The air was smokey as always. His fellow guard, a man named Rickenbauer, was an excessive worrier. And chain smoker, in that order. "Now that is the look of someone who is dying of bordom," said his companion as Wulf pulled open the door. Wulf eyed him wearily. "Really? You think so? Gott... What do we have left in the way of food, anyway? Or have you eaten it all, again?" Rickenbauer grinned. "Well, I think we may have some Synth paste — flavoured of course. Should be in the fridge."
Wulf grimaced as he thought of choking down the vile stuff. He opened the fridge and peered inside. He heard a crash. "Is that you breaking that chair again?" After a moment he looked up. His companion apparently did the same, apart from the removal of his head "ScheiÃe!" he exclaimed, and unholstered his gun. He sprinted across the room and triggered the estate alarm. Then, keeping close to the wall, he peered out into the rain. Estate security forces were already responding. Ten men were laying down a blanket of automatic fire and laser bursts into the pitch-black night. Wulf looked into the darkness and saw at least twenty men wearing black body armour moving with swiftness and ease towards the estate. One of the men was hit in the chest, and dropped like a stone. Wulf's gut churned as he looked at the man. His shoulder pad bore the insignia of Liberty.
He didn't have much time. He ran to the communication terminal and keyed in a bandwidth — 074. They had been instructed to use it only in dire circumstances by the New Berlin Goverment. The agent who gave them the code promised that relief would come. That was all he would say. Wulf hoped he was right.
>Primary Document Designation: #0H4I7H4R (Recovered excerpt from [color=#FFCC00][redacted])
[color=#009900]Texas. Grid G4. 04:10 SMT
The Liberty Carrier became a miniature sun as the Heavy Mortar hit. Jarek watched its death from the viewscreen and smiled. The attack was progressing well. A small beeping made him look down at his chair console. He frowned. A direct communication. His eyes widened as he check the bandwidth. "Prepare my Wraith!" he shouted as he looked up. His bodyguard gave him a confused look "But, my lord, the attack is—"
Jarek raised his voice "NOW, DAMN YOU!"
[color=#33CD19]>Primary Document Designation: #77352XQ9 (Recovered excerpt from [color=#FFCC00][redacted])
Jarek guided his Wraith onto the landing pad and climbed out of the cockpit. The heavy metal boots built into his suit cracked the reinforced concrete. He had just powered his ship down when he heard weapons being cocked. He turned around. His helmet displayed tactical information on the weapons that were pointed at him. Standard Rheinland assault rifles. He smiled as a man stepped forward from the group. He was not what Jarek had expected. This man had obviously kept himself in shape. He had armes that resembled boulders and a face that commanded obedience.
"In the name of Rheinland, surrender, or you will be fired upon". Jarek was been in a hurry — as a result, the challenges from orbital control had been ignored. Jarek took off his helmet and withdrew an object from a sealed compartment built into the suiit. It was a small round disc, with the letters BDM engraved upon it. It entitled the bearer to have ultimate control over a station or planet for whatever purpose. Jarek looked the man in the eye and said "As of now, every military unit on the side of the planet is under my control." He walked towards the motor pool, leaving the officer with an expression of stunned disbelief.
[color=#33CD19]>Primary Document Designation: #77353XM9 (Recovered excerpt from [color=#FFCC00][redacted])
Wulf sighed. He had done his best. He killed three of the Liberty troopers when they had come for him. The last one, to his credit, managed to put two laser holes in Wulf's chest. It had been half an hour since Wulf had sent the code. During that short time the defending forces had been all but wiped out. They had took a few with them, but it was not enough. He coughed and felt a searing pain. "This has not been that boring," he thought bitterly, as he began to lose consciousness. The wall exploded and Wulf was startled back awake.
His fading and blurry vision perceived a massive figure clad in some sort of suit stride into the room and take stock of the situation. The figure walked over to Wulf and looked at him. Wulf heard the giant speak, his voice distorted by the suit. "You have failed me. However, redemption is always possible. Serve me, and, in time, I will grant forgivness." Wulf could only nod. His voice had long since fled and his vision went dark. The last thing he heard was the giant continuing to speak loudly. "Get a medical team down here. Ensure that man lives. He will make an excellent bodyguard."
[color=#33CD19]>Primary Document Designation: #77342XM7 (Recovered excerpt from [color=#FFCC00][redacted])
Captain Holt walked into the dining room where the majority of the men under his command were located. He opened the thick double doors, and was rather pleased to see how few men had been lost in the initial assault. Sargeant Black walked over to him. Holt had known him for a long time. The man was quiet and reserved, normally. But put him in a fire fight and he became deadly. The look of concern on his face was plainly visible. "Sir, the whole area has been seached. Primary and secondary targets are gone."
Holt cursed inwardly. A total failure. That was what the mission had devolved into. He raised his voice and was pleased when the marines snapped to attention "Alright. Targets have escaped. But this doesn't mean we just walk out. I want this place burnt to the grou-" A priority transmission came through to his earpiece. "Sir? ...Y-you better take a look out here... I— I think he's here."
Holt grabbed his rifle and headed to the observeration post. A sick feeling of dread came over him. They were already dead. All of them.
>Primary Document Designation: #77355XA6 (Recovered excerpt from [color=#FFCC00][redacted])
[color=#009900]LNS-Slice, 439K from New Berlin. 04:19 SMT
The ship was, by all accounts, undetectable unless seen with the naked eye. Commander Jackson sat in the command chair and worried. It was not what he expected to be be doing, that was for sure. He had been contacted by High command a few weeks back and ordered to this position. A rather large escort had been sent to him. When they arrived, a marine team had been shuttled aboard with orders for him. They needed one of the carrier's Grizzlies outfitted to standards higher then usual.
Jackson did not ask questions. Liberty asked and he provided. As far as he was concerned, that was it. The Grizzly launched as soon as the re-fit was complete. The team leader, a rather battle-scarred man by the name of Holt had given him orders to hold position until they returned. So they did. He rubbed his brow and stared once more at the viewscreen. "Space. Why does it have to be so damn big?" he thought bitterly. However, he was interrupted by the Communications officer walking towards him. "We have a signal, sir. It appears to be them."
"Finally." This whole operation had given him a bad feeling from the start. He would be glad to be on the front line again. He steepled his fingers. "Bring them into Bay Three." He stood up and walked to the lift, wishing it could be over sooner.
He had a bad feeling about the outcome while he entered the bay and saw the craft. All personell had been evacuated until ordered otherwise, which only incresed the feeling of dread that had settled in Jackon's stomoch. He peered at the cockpit. No movment... Strange. He walked up to the the hatch, bent down, and triggered the external release. With a hiss of pressurised air, the hatch slid back and he walked into the shuttle.
It was empty. He sat in the pilot's seat for a moment, trying to work out what had happened when he realized he could hear a steady beeping, growing louder and more frequent. He opened the overhead compartment above the pilot's seat. His eyes widened as he took it in his hands. A nuclear device. The beeping stopped.
The LNS-Slice and the gunboats serving as escort were instantly destroyed as secondary explosios wer set off by the inital blast. The suspected death toll was two thousand.
[color=#33CD19]>Primary Document Designation: #75352XZ4 (Recovered excerpt from "[color=#FFCC00]The Jarek's Personal Logs[color=#33CD19]" after his unexplained disappearance)
Jarek read the report in his quarters. He cursed at some points. It did not make for good reading. Half of the fleet had steamed into Texas. None of the ships had accounted for themselves well. None of them. In fact, they had retreated! Jarek put the report down. He did not care about casualty reports. By rights he should execute half the fleet for displaying cowardice in the face of the enemy.
He rose from his desk and looked at the bodyguard who had brought the report. The man stood at attention, waiting for some reaction. He turned around and looked out of the window for a minute, his mimnd furiously at work. He reached a conclusion. "Make speed for Texas. I want this ship ready for battle by the time we jump to Hamburg." As the bodyguard left, Jarek knew what would happen. He would carve a bloody wound in the front lines. And only when he had found and obliterated two dreadnoughts. Only then would he even entertain the idea of breaking off. He stared into space and mused about executing the captains that had disgraced Rheinland.
>Primary Document Designation: #448675XA9 (Entered into archives by [color=#FF0000][color=#FFCC00][#ERR107INVALIDSTRING[color=#FFCC00]])
"My brothers. I have been gone for a long time. I am sorry. But where I went I needed to travel alone. I have seen much. Much that may be and much that will be. I have seen the future of this great nation. I have seen the losses we will suffer and the sacrifices we shall have to make to ensure our existance. This war with Liberty is but a speck of dust compared to what waits for Rheinland. War is coming, brothers. But we will be ready."
[color=#33CD19]>Primary Document Designation: #77352XW4 (Recovered excerpt from "[color=#FFCC00]The Jarek's Personal Logs[color=#33CD19]" after his unexplained disappearance)
So it had come to this. Jarek was woken by the noise of weapons fire. It was like never ending thunder. His very bones were shaking with the subsonic impacts against Hamburg's main port. He lifted himself off the bed and looked out the window. Torrents of fire were pouring down from orbit and leaving giant craters in their wake, demolishing buildings, ending hundreds of lives with every impact. Jarek's will began to harden as he hurriedly dressed. He saw a building collapse in the distance. "This will not stand. This cannot stand," he said to himself as he put on his cap, stormed out of his quarters, and headed for the bridge.
As he reached the bridge, he could see the mighty ship was already breaking orbit. He sat down in his command chair, his voice a low growl.
"Well? What the hell happened?" He looked at his bridge crew. They were all glancing at one another, in the hope that someone would speak. Jarek sighed and rubbed his eyes "If someone does not tell me what is happening, right now, I will personally execute every single one of you." At this, one of the Bodyguards spoke up. "Lord, Liberty come out of nowhere. We had no time to react, let alone mobilize any sort of defense."
Jarek knew he would have to execute somebody once this was over. "How many of them are out there?"
The Bodyguard studied the scanner. His eyes grew wide. "S-sir. Scan indicates... Half of Liberty's entire fleet is in Hamburg. Our forces are estimated to be in orbit in approximately thirty minutes. However, local scan shows one hundred capital ships at high anchor."
Jarek didn't have to think about this. "One ship against a hundred?. They better prey the rest of their fleet gets here to support them. Move to attack speed and ready the guns."
Jarek leaned back. Under his calm expression was a rage, the kind of which he had not felt in a long, long time.
"This cannot stand," he muttered, as his ship prepared to fire.
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