Battlegroup Helgoland - An uncertain future

[Goliath]

►LOADING FILE. . .

►Identification: Battlegroup Helgoland; "The Shepherds"

►Status: M.I.A -> Recovered

►Flagship: RNC-Helgoland, Donau- Class Cruiser

►Crew: CLASSIFIED

►Amenities: CLASSIFIED

►Battlegroup Commander: Vilhelm Von Hof

►Second In Command: Ben Fischer

►Medical Evaluation: VALID(827 A.S)

"The Helgoland Battlegroup was originally composed of one Donau-Class Cruiser, three "Oder"-Class Gunboats, four 90-ARKM-N9 "Valkyrie", and four 90-ARKM-N45 "Wraith". This Battlegroup used to carry out small scale assaults and spec-ops missions deep within enemy territory from 816 A.S until 820 A.S. "

"Battlegroup Helgoland met its presumed demise during the war between Liberty and Rheinland. They were tasked with a so called "Operation Iron Fist" which consisted in infiltrating behind enemy lines to provide valuable information regarding Libertonian fleet positions, as well as taking out a small garrison storing armaments for the enemy forces. No one knew where these orders came from other than it came from the High Command, and they weren't in a position to question them."

"As such, The Helgoland took a large amount of supplies - enough to last several years should the operation extend far longer than anyone would anticipate, and a plan would be set to successfully sneak in without being detected. Unfortunately, the plan had one flaw. The commander was given wrong coordinates from the same higherups which would be used for the Donau's Jump Drive. Said Jump Coordinates has sent the entire Battlegroup into an unknown system, minus Gamma Wing - who were susposed to take out a communications array by taking the long way, so that the Helgoland can get close to the garrison undetected. Gamma-Wing never got their backup. As such, they either deserted to avoid capital punishment or died in battle."

"Within the Unknown system, Battlegroup Helgoland was under heavy fire by Nomad Vessels. The RNC-Falke was the first gunboat to fall, soon after to be followed by RNC-Albatros and RNC-Greif. All wiped out by a large Nomad form - as well as its lesser counterparts -, usually nicknamed "Marduk". Unwilling to let the RNC-Helgoland fall to the Nomads, Lambda-3 and Lambda-4 -two Wraiths- decided to pay the ultimate price and arm all the mines in their hold, throwing themselves within the behemoth's thin, tiny torso. The warform was damaged badly enough that it stopped chasing down the Helgoland. Only the cruiser and two fighters have escaped the battle. But all that was in vain as the communications array has been damaged. The Helgoland Battlegroup was declared K.I.A in 820 A.S by Rheinland officials, and all information has been either lost or archived."

►Timeline:
•817 A.S- Liberty declares war on Rheinland. The Helgoland Battlegroup is sent to patrol Bering to prevent Liberty vessels from passing into Hamburgh.
•December, 819 A.S- Battlegroup Helgoland is given the order to execute "Operation Iron Fist".
•1st of January, 820 A.S- Preparations finish, and Battlegroup Helgoland proceeds to take the shortcut given by higherups whilst Gamma-Wing takes the long route.
~08:00: Gamma Wing sets off towards Hudson. Never heard of again.
~09:00: Battlegroup Helgoland's main force proceeds to Jump with given coordinates.
~09:01: Contact with Battlegroup Helgoland is lost.
~09:30: A large nomad force intercepts the group, and immediately opens fire.
~12:25: RNC-Falke, RNC-Albatros and RNC-Greif are destroyed.
~12:25: Lambda-3 and Lambda-4 sacrifice themselves to give the Helgoland an escape window.
~12:27: The Helgoland escapes with moderate damage, and becomes stranded within the Omicrons.
•827 A.S, September- Standing Commander - Hans Bismarck - establishes contact with the outside world with the help of GRG, and sends out an immediate signal to GRG High Command for repairs.
~1 Hour later: The Helgoland is badly damaged by one of the Iberian Empire's "Legate"-Class battleships, and barely manages to survive.
~2 Hours Later: A short message is sent out to any MND agents, asking for immediate help. BDM does answer the call, and the Helgoland, together with its escort retreat within the Palau Ice Cloud.
•827 A.S, 1st of October: The Commander - Hans Bismarck - commits suicide after losing all hope towards being saved, as well as guilt towards the recent line of events.
•827 A.S, 2nd of October: Vilhelm Von Hof assumes command of the Battlegroup's remnants.
•827 A.S, 3rd of October: BDM locates the RNC Helgoland and its escort, followed by a successful rescue. As such, Operation Rettungsfloß is completed. The Cruiser is stationed at Schatten, Drydock One for inspection, repairs and others. Lambda-1 and Lambda-2 dock with Carrier Saar. During said rescue, BDM|RNC-Scheer was been damaged by a presumably large Nomad warform.

---

[Goliath]

►LOADING FILE. . .

►Identification: Vilhelm Von Hof

►Assets: "Voss" -72-ARKM-G27 "Phantom" Heavy Fighter

►Affiliation: Marinenachrichtendienst (MND)

►Rank: Commander of the RNC-Helgoland

►Status: [CLASSIFIED]

►Commissioned: 815 A.S

►Age: 45

"Von Hof is a former Rheinland Military marine born in New Berlin, which has served his nation for approximately 27 years until being recruited within the Marinenachrichtendienst as an Operative thanks to his experience, as well as loyalism towards Rheinland. He succeeded in several missions within 2 years of his commissioning, catching the eye of Hans Bismarck, the Commander of RNC-Helgoland and its battlegroup. Von Hof was been placed at first as a gunner aboard the Helgoland, followed by quartermaster and eventually Second In Command of the Battlegroup Helgoland, earning the trust of the Commander and most of the crew.

Vilhelm has eventually met his demise - or so the documents say - during "Operation Iron Fist" in the year 820 A.S. In truth - according to his words - he found himself in a "bright system" with no connection to the Neural Net or any MND frequencies. The line of events that followed had permanently scarred him psychologically, as he had dear friends aboard the RNC-Greif, as well as the RNC-Falke. The fact that he escaped what he called "The Battle of Hornet's Nest" made him question why he survived, yet they didn't. In the years to come, Von Hoff described the isolation he had to endure with the Battlegroup's remnants as plain torture.

In 827 A.S, Von Hof has finally brightened up as he saw a human contact for the first time in 7 years. This sensation pushed him into working endlessly on the communications array while the Cruiser was stationed, and it was because of him that the Commander had somewhat managed to contact both the Buro Der Marineintelligenz and the Genesis Research Group while under fire by the Iberian Corsairs. This was short-lived, however, as behind the scenes, the Commander grew more and more unstable mentally, starting from forgetting past events to misusing words and mixing up information. In the same year (827 A.S, October), Hans Bismarck as committed suicide due to his guilt towards his own and whatever was left of the Battlegroup, leaving Vilhelm to take matter in his own hands and keep the situation stable until the cavalry arrived.

Von Hof has eventually returned to duty in the same year he got rescued, yet future is unwieldy, and his loyalty towards Rheinland is now questioned - not only his, but the loyalty of his own crew as well."

---