Rediscovering the Oppressors [154 BBT]

Weisserstein · December 11, 2023, 2:10am

SMS Jan Wenig
Near Fort Brennenburg, Weissersteiner space
154 BBT

The SMS Jan Wenig was an Eisenhauer-class exploration frigate operating on what was then the fringes of Weissersteiner space, charting the unexplored vacuum near the frontier station of Fort Brennenburg. The Jan Wenig was part of a much larger exploration fleet, which even included the lead ship of the Franz Ferdinand-class Battlecruiser, the SMS Franz Ferdinand, alongside other smaller vessels.

The Jan Wenig however, had went scouting ahead while the rest of Task Force Runengau resupplied in Fort Brennenburg. As the ship continues to explore the unknown, the ship’s radars began picking up something odd. Hauptgefreiter Philipp Grossn noticed the oddity and immediately informed the commanding officer of the ship, Fregattenkapitän Mark Schwertner.

“Captain, we’ve picked up an odd signal on the radar.”

“Interesting, what is it?”

“I’m not sure, but it appears that the signal is coming from a location not to far from here. Should we check it out?”

“Yes.”

As the captain gave his orders, the SMS Jan Wenig began to approach the signal.

Weisserstein · December 11, 2023, 10:16pm

As the SMS Jan Wenig close in on the source of the signal, it moved, deeper into unexplored space. Captain Schwertner reported his findings to Flottillenadmiral Ulrich Tristan von Steinmeier, the head of Task Force Runengau and the commander of the battlecruiser SMS Franz Ferdinand. After getting permission to continue in his search for the source of the signal, the SMS Jan Wenig pushed ahead with the addition of a small fighter escort, deeper into uncharted space, reporting back to the task force whatever it had found along the way.

The ship continued to advance in sublight speed. While the anomaly was still visible from the radar, the vast emptiness of space suggests that the SMS Jan Wenig was chasing nothing, a mere illusion, a phantom. Just as the SMS Jan Wenig was about to return to base, something caught the eye of the ship’s pilot.

“Captain, I think we spotted something”

Captain Schwertner and others in the frigate’s bridge took their attention to a floating object ahead of the ship. Schwertner zoomed into the object using a camera binocular and saw what appeared to be a space station.

“Out here?..” he thought to himself

“Report this to Task Force Command” Schwertner ordered the ship’s systems operator

“Yes, sir”

Schwertner took a closer look at the station, small ships seems to be going in and out of the station. It’s odd that such a station would exist in the middle of, what was presumed to be, nowhere. The fighters were ordered to remain on standby and to not engage the station. Captain Schwertner knew that this might be a new civilization that hadn’t yet been discovered by the Kaiserreich or it’s predecessors. But a closer inspection at one of the symbols leaves the Captain speechless.

Weisserstein · December 12, 2023, 9:40pm

While it was hard to make out due to the similar color of the symbol and the station’s base color, the Captain could make out the shapes. It is a symbol he had seen before, it is a symbol that anyone with basic knowledge of Weissersteiner history knew of.

But… that can’t be… Schwertner thought to himself, before his silence was broken by a sudden explosion hitting the frigate’s shield. Schwertner was snapped out of it and assessed his current situation.

A massive battleship was thundering his way, escorted by what appeared to be a full squadron of fighters. Captain Schwertner ordered a retreat to safety, contacting Task Force Command that they have been attacked by an unknown, yet nonetheless familiar, foe. The SMS Jan Wenig was small, only 220 m in length, while it’s hunter seemed like more than five times the size of the small Eisenhauer-class frigate. Nonetheless, the SMS Jan Wenig did not go without a fight, it’s small anti-spacecraft guns, supported by its small escort of fighters made short work of the enemy fighter squadrons for a while, but soon the ship was overwhelmed by the never ending barrage of fighters. It’s escorts were decimated, they didn’t stood a chance against the swarms of fighters heading their way. As the SMS Jan Wenig made a run for safety, Captain Schwertner informed high command of what happened.

“We’ve been attacked, sir!”

Admiral Von Steinmeier was quick with his response.

“We’ve received your distress signal and are honing in to your location, reinforcements is on its way, hold tight Capta-”

What came afterwards was indecipherable gargling. It became clear to everyone aboard the bridge of SMS Jan Wenig. They’ve been jammed, their communications cut off from the rest of Task Force Runengau.

“Full speed! We need to regroup with the rest of Task Force Runengau and-” before Captain Schwertner could finish his sentence, he and the bridge’s crew felt a sudden hard bump as the ship has temporarily immobilized by an energy weapon of sorts, the engines have been immobilized and all systems were down.

The noise of machinery was heard overhead, the large ship was now above the SMS Jan Wenig, the crew could feel a sudden pull. They knew what is going to come: a boarding party. Immediately, Captain Schwertner ordered his men to prepare for boarding, soldiers began taking position near the ship’s hull. The sound of crackling machines can be heard once more. The SMS Jan Wenig was pulled to the side of the large warship. From the bridge of the SMS Jan Wenig, the Captain and the bridge crew can see what appeared to be a boarding party made up of soldiers in grayish armor moving swiftly to the back of their ship, carrying what seemed to look like a battering ram. The crew prepared for the worst.

A bang was heard from one of the ship’s entry point, then another, then another, with each bang it appeared that the door was almost melting. The ship had been locked prior to its immobilization, so now the boarding party is trying to find it’s way into the frigate. Before long, the door blasted open, and a battle ensues in the hull of the ship.

Weisserstein · December 18, 2023, 2:19am

The fighting now shifted from the emptiness of space to the hull of SMS Jan Wenig. What seemed like nearly three platoons of soldiers in dark grey armor and heavy blasters began boarding the ship. The Weissersteiner forces aboard the ship, however, had turned the hull, the enemy’s entry point, into a killing field. Sentries were placed throughout, downing several of the enemy soldiers. As they lay limp on the floor, greenish blood was spilled all over the floor of the hull.

“Fall back, men, fall back!”

Despite holding off for a while, the Weissersteiner forces eventually fell back to safer positions. The boarding party had also decided to step up their game, sending in much heavier looking soldiers to clear the ship of Weissersteiner forces. Their dark grey, nearly black armor marches on the ship’s hull, their light machine guns making quick work of any Weissersteiner soldier still defending the line.

“Captain, the enemy has broken through”

“We can’t hold out for much longer, prepare the bridge for battle”

Captain Schwertner and his men prepares for the worst as sounds of the battle seemed to get closer and closer.

Suddenly, from the vast emptiness of space, three Osten-Sacken-class destroyers alongside escorts made up of several fighter-transports and starfighters emerged. Leading this force was Commodore Heinrich von Bernig of the SMS Jurrian de Jong, alongside SMS Blauzee and SMS Karl von Hardenberg. Weissersteiner fighters began scrambling, trying to establish space superiority, as the three destroyers began moving towards battle positions against the enemy capital ship.