Vogtland Station, a living hell?

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Location: Vogtland Base, Dresden
Date: 9 Juni, 824 A.S

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Within a rag tag bar deep within the depths of Vogtland is a small community of miners and servicemen of the Red Hessian Army. The large station has politics and communities of its own, with a wide range of people living under the name of the revolution. Some refugees, some ex military, some joined with the will of their own. Vogtland, like the stone heart of the revolution, beats on, however with an ungraceful tune. As animosity continues to grow within the factions of the depths of the revolutions heart, violence and gangs give pressure to the daily citizens lives, and give to extraordinary tales which many fail to ever be mentioned. But one such story is one that should not be forgotten. The story of the appearing simple man, Herman Erntz.

A simple man, born on Stuttgart to a large family of 8 on a simple farm within the countryside. Not much to note about his childhood other than the fact that he was a simple boy with simple needs, thus a reflection of the lands in which he lived. His father, a stern man, and a shovel in hand, always drove towards hard work in every instance. There simply was no time for fun in his eye. Too much work to be done.

However, when Erntz reached his older teenage years he was hardened as a worker but a spark of desire for independence from his father, as most would attend to having, led him off from his family farm in the search of his own destiny. This led to him joining the mining corporations. Simple factories, simple jobs. Erntz wanted something more, something that would excite him, something that would lead beyond all the lives that he saw around him. He wanted something... that wasn't simple.

Then it came to him. A poster on the wall, advertising pilots needed to operate large space mining craft in large crews. Space. That would be beyond. That would excite him. It wasn't simple.
He went to the nearest employer and was trained, and soon as his dreams would become true, before his 21st birthday, Erntz was flying in space, within the large crew upon a Hegemon mining vessel. He was decently occupied by all the jobs on the craft, even cycling to the turret defenses, which every once and awhile he would take a shot on a nearing asteroid, which at times bets would be made at who's aim was the best. All bets were always on him.

Until the fateful day of the pirate raid, where a squad of 6 attacked the Hegemon vessel in a surprise attack. Erntz took on the turrets with several of his crew mates and was able to command and synchronize their attacks well enough to take down 2 of the ships, and drove them off. Many times after, there were other raids, which Erntz managed to stop dead in their tracks. Everytime they docked to the nearby station for repairs, everyone on the station was eager to hear what "Hero Herman" had done to save the day that time.

Fast forward two years later, and Erntz signed up for the Rheinland Military. Was only shortly until he was bumped up in rank to a command officer over his own fighter squadron. His designation was within the Omega-7 asteroid fields in which he was used to. It felt like home to him within those fields, and some of the miners he was protecting, were friends he knew. And he was well known within the sectors to be the guardian angel of the miners therein.

Officer "Hero Herman", protector of the miners would shortly face a challenge in which his destiny would then be uncertain. As his fellow miners and friends he knew were being redeployed, they were sent to a new sector, however this sector was known to be flooded with pirates and lacking any valuable minerals that were not in sectors closer to safety. When he asked about this he was told it was from higher command within the Rheinland Military themselves, nothing more, and shortly after he received orders to be in a different sector, in the opposite direction. Reluctantly complying with orders, his squad began to make the patrol. But then something came over his mind which changed the course of his entire life.

He knew that there was only one reason why his friends would be put in jeopardy. And that was for bait. And his friends life's were being carelessly thrown away like scraps on a rich man's dinner plate. He was full of rage. He couldn't let this happen. So Officer "Hero Herman", guardian angel of the miners, took off in the opposite direction of his orders from high command, and headed straight for the mining crew's destination.

When he arrived on scene, there was a massive brawl going down between a dozen pirate fighter craft, a Rheinland Cruiser and escorts, and in the epicenter, a Hegemon. Ernzt's heart stopped for a moment, as he recognized the ship and the cries of help on the comms. For all the friends he ever could say he had were aboard that ship. Nearby he could make out what seems like a large gunboat sized craft, pounding hard on the escort craft with fast gatling guns.

With a war cry he order his squads to attack and will. Emotion took over for Erntz at this moment, and it even reflected towards me as he was speaking and telling me his story. An old hardened man for once in many years, gave a small tear out of his eye.

The battle was ruthless. The ships were mobile, fast, and well trained. Their shields were also top-notch and seemed to be built for long-lasting fights. Briefly we were told within the Military of these ships, rumors of Spanish warlords on the hunt for loot and glory. The brawl was intense, which numerous ships from each side being shot down. The Military pushed forward, using the cruiser's strength to try to intercept the gunboat craft. It seemed that this is who they were after all along. The Hegemon was left alone, being pummeled by fighters.

Erntz received orders on his comm's to focus all fire on the gunboat sized craft ahead. But he looked to his left and saw a Hegemon, and all those he knew, going to perish. In an act of emotion he turned his ship in a sharp 90 degrees and ordered his squad to defend the Hegemon. Erntz gave his all to defend the miners, taking down 3 fighter craft along with his squad, however the miner's vessel was too damaged to move, and was crippled in flames.

Over the comm's, we heard a voice we won't soon forget. A foreign voice, speaking a language many of us have never heard. By an expert, it was deciphered as, "Toma esto, pequeña mierda."
Or, "Take this, you little shit." A bomber craft entered the scene, as was not previously noticed, and launched two torpedoes during the hellish brawl. As Ernzt caught the signature of the torpedoes through the thick nebula he attempted to fire a cruise distruptor at the torpedoes to save the burning Hegemon, but it's tracking malfunctioned within the nebula and by then, it was too late.

"NO!" Erntz yelled as the torpedo hit the vessel, exploding instantly in a huge explosion as that of a supernova. He turned his head away. He couldn't bear to look. The pirates regrouped and flew in the opposite direction. Erntz ordered those that were left of his squad, which were 3 other than himself, to cruise up to assist the cruiser.

As it would turn out, as Herman Erntz explained to me on the bar stool, the gunboat class pirate ship was actually a notorious high ranking Corsair, and the Rheinland Military were attempting to disable his ship and board the ship to gain intel about the deep Omegas and Omicrons from him, and were willing to sacrafice the miners for this. As punishment of not obeying orders, two times in a row, and interfering with top secret Military objectives, he was stripped of his officer position and kicked out of the Military. He now had no friends, no job, and no where to stay. He was dropped off at one of the major cities on Stuttgart, where he requested. He sat a one of the bars, his thoughts only able to rewind to all that had happened to him. That was when someone approached him from the back of the room.

"Hey. Hero Herman, right?" The voice sounded kind of sly, but what would you expect at a local pub in the streets late at night.

"Yeah. What's it to you?" Erntz had a very noticable depression that revealed in his voice. Like a man who has given up.

"I heard you lost your job. Sad stuff kid. I think I can make it a little better."

"And hows that?" He looked at the man with suspicion.

The man looked every so slightly both ways and handed him something that looked like an electronic pamphlet. It seemed to contain information, and the background had a emblem of a red hammer and pickaxe within a black circle surrounded by green bordering.

"Give it some thought kid. Theres a shuttle carrying recruits off to a secret facility, where you can be initated into a better cause. Think about it."

With this the man walked away. And he never saw him again.

Herman Ernzt joined the Hessian Army, and as a recruit from the basic ranks shortly became an officer with his own fighter squad once again. Many more troubling times came to him as he mentioned, of fighting the Rheinland Military and even having to engage in corporations in which he was employed under in the past. However years have passed and he is retired from his officer duty and spends his days on Vogtland. One of these days he was at a run down pub within one of the districts of Vogtland, and I managed to sit down next to him. I ordered a drink.

Within the bar, a beautiful woman walked in, by herself and sat on one of the stools.

I asked, "Who could this beautiful masterpiece be?"

The Hessian, who slowly sipped out of his tall glass and looked up, nodded and slowly put the glass back down again.

"That's Brigadegeneral Heinrich. One of a kind. She comes to the bar. She doesn't drink though."

His words stuck with me to this day. "One of a kind."

We talked to where he explained his story, and the things that happened to him. He explained the stories of his fellow Hessian men, and he could point to each one and say who they are, and what they've been through, and what they're made of. He tells of the true heroism of the people here, each of their own stories, and each of their own tale. As of late there has been much violence and animosity not only towards the authority on Vogtland, but towards each other, as many refugees were accepted to come aboard the station as the cause was in need of new blood. However the living conditions, as he explained, were rather basic and cramped. Many of the lodgings are being shared due to lack of space and basic goods such as clothing are lacking. In many parts of the station, Anna Heinrich was seen as a hero and a role model, but in some place she was seen and cruel and unforgiving.

I share this story of Herman Erntz, a man I have come to know considerably well, as a way to show how incredible the men and women that make the Hessian army what it is, and what it stands for. I have met many more than just Mr. Erntz, and have heard all they have to say and how they deserve more quality of life than they are receiving. Hopefully this was inspiration enough to spark a change in the revolution to give welfare and safety to all those under its name.

In Honor of the Revolution,