The Steel Fortress [Coalition RP]

[Tabris]

Red Hessian Battleship 'Berne'
Omega-5 Battlefront

The Hammen Hole, a graveyard of old Corsair and Hessian ships, struggling for supremacy in what most believed to be a never-ending battle between two organizations. Thousands of casualties have been taken over the years in this hellhole...Neither side yielding an inch to the other.

The Berne passed by the wreck of yet another Corsair fighter while patrolling their side of the hole, it's massive guns scanning the space around it for any hostiles that dared to come even remotely close in the hopes that they would be foolish enough to take on the Battleship.

Kapitan Ludwig Strauss sat in his chair, watching as his comrades buzzed around him like insects in a hive, he could hear the occasional chatter of status reports, the odd joke here and there about two Hessians, a Corsair and a Libertonian Lawyer walking into a bar and occasionally the grumbling of a disgruntled crewman who was bored out of his mind. The Kapitan himself was middle-aged, his short black hair now having streaks of gray at the sides while his brown eyes scanned the bridge itself, his uniform was obviously not in the best of conditions, the odd tear here and there at the sleeves while his boots were scuffed up. Tell-tale signs that they had been on patrol for quite some time now with little time to take full care of his uniform

Ludwig's attention snapped back into attention when the alarms sounded, red lights flashed as the ship prepared for battle. Standing up sharply from his chair he looks to his Tactical Officer, a young man, he remembered his name was Eric Schultz, his dirty blonde hair was a mess while his bright blue eyes showed signs of fatigue in the way of dark circles under them.

"Kapitan! We have hostile ships on approach, configuration from sensor shadows suggest bomber strike-craft!"

Ludwig's mind raced quickly through the possible counters, their turrets were not geared towards Anti-Snubcraft warfare, they were commissioned to take on Gunboats, Cruisers and on occasion other Battleships. Ronneburg was too far to request Fighter-Support and the closest Odin Patrol was five-minutes away...Rubbing his temples in annoyance he could only see one choice before them.

"All hands prepare for battlestations, contact the nearest patrol and get some Fighter Support, we will have to hold them off until they arrive, I want only our Primary and Secondary Cannons, Cerberus Cannons and the Light Mortar will be of no use to us here so take them online and re-route their energy to the cannons!" He snapped out while striding to the front of the bridge, gazing out of the reinforced window as his eyes scanned space for any signs of the enemy patrol.

However even his keen eyes didn't make them out before the Berne jolted as the shields tried to absorb the impact of Anti-Matter weaponry, stumbling slightly Ludwig was forced to grab ahole of one of the bulkheads to keep himself upright, looking back up towards the window he could see the figures of multiple Corsair ships, dancing in space as they prepared for another run.

He could see red streaks of the Berne's weaponry pass by as they tried to take down the enemy ships, however they kept dancing out of the path of the weaponry and out of range as they prepared for their second run. He could make out the shapes of four bombers when he squinted, enough to make a mess of things for a lone battleship...

As the bombers started to close in he held up his hand, beckoning the Tactical officer to wait.

"Hold fire until they are at 500m, than unleash your full fire on the lead bomber." he commanded as the ships closed in on the Berne...He could make out the distinct shapes of the Bombers now, details were getting clearer as they closed the distance rapidly, thinking the Berne to be easy prey for their squad. When the ships were within range Ludwig chopped his arm down and the Berne opened fire. The Lead ship didn't stand a chance at the unexpected resilience of the Berne and exploded within seconds of the cannonfire, causing the other ships to quickly break formation and scatter. Ludwig grinned as his crew let out a cheer at the fiery explosion, feeling their moral restored as they realized that they stood a chance.

The remaining bombers seemed unwilling to risk themselves and started to flee towards their side once more, Ludwig frowned as they did so, he knew that they would be back...They always came back eventually, their ability to turn out ships and fresh-troops was superior to their own, the Hessians however were unwilling to cripple their foe's ship-building capabilities because it would 'risk more lives than it is worth the effort.'... He scoffed, those were the orders of a coward, the Red Hessians would always be at this stalemate unless they took risks, the taking of Casablanca was one such risk that paid off, however since than the High Command didn't appear to even want to even think about taking another strike at their mortal enemy...Instead content to sit back and to keep the stalemate until the star of Omega-11 went nova.... With a deep and quite unhappy-sounding sigh he sat back down and massaged his forehead...Something had to change...

Getting up once more he headed to the bridge-doors at the back, giving a curt nod to Eric as he left. Heading down the corridors was always a challenge, due to the size of the Berne the corridors were smaller than those found onboard a Bismarck-Class Battleship, yet still he didn't have too much trouble squeezing around crewmen and trolleys taking tools and equipment to various sections of the ship until he reached the door to his quarters. His Chief Engineer, a short man who was as bald as he was muscular. The man's overalls were caked in synthetic oil from working in bowels of the ship. Ludwig gave a curt nod as he greeted the man warmly.

"Chief Keller, how are the 'arrangements'?" he asked as he opened his door and stepped inside, the shorter man closing the door behind him as he followed.

"I have spoken to the boys, most of them are sick and tired of this, day in and day out the Command has us patrolling out here uselessly, we're forced to jury-rig several systems due to being unable to put in at Wolfsburg for a full workup, if we don't make a choice soon than frankly we may have a different type of mutiny on our hands." the short engineer replied, crossing his large arms across his chest as he observed his Kaptain, waiting for the man to respond with the patience of stone. Ludwig sighed as he sunk onto his cot, running a hand through his hair as he sat sullenly for a moment before nodding.

"Can we rely on them to do their part in disabling the long-range transmitter once I've taken care of 'that'?"he asked, looking up from his hands towards the engineer, a determined expression crossing his face as the other man stiffly nodded." Aye Kapitan, but can we trust the people you are contacting to do what our own leaders cannnot?" he replied, playing devils advocate for the moment before continuing"For all you know they could be just as cowardly as those who call themselves the Red Hessian Army or those Rot Front fools who think themselves above those of us in the Omega-5 Front..."


This caused Ludwig to pause for a moment in thought, he was not sure of that himself...But what choice did they have? Wiping his eyes with his sleeve he gave a slight nod."Perhaps...But if we continue like this...As you said we will have bigger problems...Go tell the boys the plan and get ready...I'll-"he paused for a moment before continuing"-get the ball rolling Chief."he ordered, the Chief gave another stiff nod before he left the man's quarters, leaving the Kapitan alone once more. Ludwig got off the bed and headed to his desk, activating the comm-transmitter and started to calibrate it towards Omega-52...

Code:

Communications ID: Kapitan Strauss, RHBS Berne

To: The Sirius Coalition, Revolutionary Army High Command.

This is Kapitan Strauss of the Red Hessian Battleship Berne, for months my crew and I have been in the Omega-5 System, months have passed as I have watched our own High Command and my brothers hide behind the barricades. Afraid to take the risks one must always take in times of war, afraid to take risks like that with the Casablanca Offensive, unwilling to do what must be done to cripple our mutual foe and the enemy's ability to wage war upon the people of the Revolution.

This constant stale-mate has been making my crew and I skeptical of the Command's ability to wage war and managing the resources of the revolution towards the purpose of defending our people, our way of life and the lives of our Military personnel against threats such as the Corsairs or the Kanzler.

The Crew of the Berne are going to thus take an ambitious undertaking, the majority of us wish to join the Sirius Coalition's banner and take the fight to the enemy. Once we have control of the ship I would wish to meet with representatives of the Sirius Coalition to discuss the transfer of control of the ship into the hands of the Revolutionary Army.

I know that we are taking great risks with this endeavor, however we believe that there is nolonger a choice...For if we do not do this...Than the crew may take matters into their own hands and Gott knows what they would do without a steady hand to guide them...I fear they may even turn against what we believe in and return to the lives of Piracy...

May the Red Dawn shield us from darkness.

With that he sent off the message and drew his pistol...Checking the ammunition within it and hoping that he wouldn't have to use it before he left his quarters quickly...The Revolution of the Berne had begun...The Steel Fortress' internal war was closer than ever...

-End of Prologue-