Totenkopt

[Koolmo]

So Gentlemen, which one of you feels like explaining this mess?

Silence

None of you think that the little matter of a MASSIVE GUN-COVERED ASTEROID might have some small consequence?

Dust dusted down from the rafters of the cargo hold, covering the score of ratings and petty officers in a slight haze.

Fine then. I guess you can all pay for one fools stupidity. Well, I suppose-

An older man leapt to his feet.

Sir, it was almost time for the monthly recalibration, there was no way we couldve-

WHAP! The sound of an old-fashioned slug-throwers discharge was punctuated by a meaty thump, as the carcass of the Leading Sensorman Weidermann hit the deck

As I was saying, I suppose you might as well make yourselves comfortable, because this is the last time I will explain this. When the sensor team of a carrier has not calibrated their magnetic array in nearly a month, regardless of what The Manual says, there is a Problem. This Problem is further compounded by the fact that, out of the twelve hundred men and women lost in that ambush, your section was the only one with no casualties. Until just now, that is. How did you manage that? Normally, the sensor room is quite a common target. Was it just a fluke that those Hessians didnt target the one section that will Always have active emissions? Believe it or not, they arent that dumb. No, I think there was another cause for this strange phenomenon.

The Officer was dressed entirely in a Pilots black flightsuit, the helmet slung under his arm, and Lieutenant-Commanders tabs on his collar.

S-sir We shut down the emissions suite. We were running in stealthed mode.

Ah, is that the stealthed mode that is less than 3% as effective as the real thing?

Y-yes Sir.

Oh, good. I feel so much better about this now.

The officer turned from the assembled crewmen, and stalked to the airlock. He steped through, sealed the hatch, and pressed the speaker plate

Goodbye Gentlemen. I need to take care of the remainder of my crew, the part that isnt full of shameless cowards.

But-

Wait-

With a grim smile, the officer punched the Emergency Vent Release. As the Oxygen in the hold flooded into space, he turned and stepped lightly along the decks of the Rhineland Carrier Viking II. A Petty Officer stumbled throught the rubble crowding the passage toward him, clutching a large flashlight, and as the wildly flailing beam caught his face, the PO stopped, and slowly saluted. The light had revealed a face mangled by deep, red burns, with white bone poking out thought the mangled flesh. The cold, grey eyes peered out under a ravaged forehead, and the shorn stubble of his elevated widows peak was coated in matted blood.

Sir, the last of the casualties have been counted.

And the grand total is?

1247 killed, 356 wounded, 240 remaining effectives, sir.

That leaves 23 unaccounted for, PO.

Yes sir, none of the sensor room crew could be found sir, despite the fact their compartment was undamaged.

Oh. Well, for now, well assume there was a decompression after the battle, that would explain for the lack of bodies. Get a replacement crew in that compartment ASAP, and make sure the wounded are taken care of. By the way, congratulations on becoming the coxswain of a carrier, PO, thats a pretty quick jump

A grim smile flitted across both their faces.

Same to you, Sir. Commander of the Heavy Fighter Squadron, to Captain of a Carrier. Your old man wouldve been proud.

Yes, I suspect he would, and Im sure the Captain wouldve been happy with the birds new Coxn.

Youre the Captain now Sir.

Ha. Most Carriers dont have two Captains on their Maiden Voyage. Most of them come back with a full crew too.

----------Several Months Later----------

The Officer stood, behind a smallish podium, facing towards the still, calm waters of New Berlins Central Sea. A Lone Bugler played the Last Post, and the mass of sailors and marines on the ancient wharf saluted. Hundreds of bodies, wrapped in the traditional Battle Ensign, fell down from the hovering gunboats, and were swept up by the sweeping waves. They fell so fast that they were beyond counting, but the officer knew the exact number. One thousand, three hundred and twelve brave men and women of the Rhineland Fleet fell into those icy waters, and still he held his salute, until the last of those coffins had sank beneath the troubles waves. He turned, and faced the gathered Seamen. The Petty Officer, now wearing the uniform of a Chief Petty Officer, called the parade to Attention.

As the thousands of faces stared at him, the officer looked back with no more expression than a chunk of granite. The face that had been bloody and torn was now smooth, but it was the smoothness of scar tissue, and only his eyes moved, as they swept back and forth over the assembled ranks. They paused on the men and women in the front 3 ranks; they stood out from their fellows, not only in expression, but in dress. Their Schirrmutze (Peaked Caps), and Schiffchen (Side Caps), were not the normal blue, but a deep, light sucking black. Their chests gleamed with bright, new medals, but none of them looked particularly proud. The Officers Schirrmutze was also black, but his chest gleamed with more than a few new ribbons. At his throat sat the Cross of the Emperor with Oak Leaves, and his left hand grasped a Cane of Command, indicating that its holder was the Captain of an Interstellar Vessel. He glanced once more over his crew, and opened his mouth to speak.


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This one is about my latest char, a guy called Totenkopt (you might have guessed where the name comes from), his story wil go on for awhile, this is only part 1, but im tired, and i need sleep to keep going. any questions or comments, post 'em, and i'll be happy to answer

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<span style="color:#FFFF00">&quot;General Solo, is your strike team assembled?&quot;
&quot;Barely, they're pretty drunk.&quot; </span>
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I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.