Verdunkler-Class Raumträger

High above the Earth’s limb, the Verdunkler-Class Raumträger silently releases its deadly payload—sleek Schattenfalke fighters descending like obsidian arrows through the void, executing the Dark Mind’s will with surgical precision at the dawn of the 2038 invasion.

📘 Codex Entry — Verdunkler-Class Raumträger

"The Darkener"☽ Orbital Stealth Carrier – Schattenfalke Deployment PlatformClassification: Heavy Orbital Assault CarrierDesignation: VKL-RC/Ω1

❖ Overview

Rising from the void like a fragment of nightmare, the Verdunkler-Class Raumträger is the most enigmatic and devastating construct of the Lunar Reich’s orbital arsenal. Designed in secret, assembled in silence, and commanded by no voice save the Dark Mind, this colossal vessel exists beyond doctrine and beyond mercy.

Whereas terrestrial navies build for survival, the Verdunkler is built for finality. It does not retreat. It does not call for aid. It simply appears, expels its swarm of Schattenfalke-Class Raumjäger, and watches as the stars begin to fall.

Created in the Verdunkelungswerke Shipyards on the far side of the Moon—entirely automated, undetectable, and eternally shadowed—each Verdunkler is a symbol of Lunastadt’s most absolute intent: total orbital supremacy, executed in pure silence.

❖ Physical Characteristics

• Length: 420 meters

• Beam: 180 meters (core), 300 meters (launch arm span)

• Mass: ~72,000 metric tons

• Hull Material: Triple-layer Vollmondium-Titanium laminate with plasma-reactive ablative coating

• Armor: Resistant to directed energy, kinetic impact, and nuclear flash exposure

The Verdunkler is devoid of exterior ornament. Its surface is matte black, angular, and segmented—built not to impress, but to vanish. There are no visible lights. No insignias. No windows. Even its launch bays are sealed until deployment, shielded with molecular vibration dampening plates to mask heat and resonance.

❖ Systems & Propulsion

• Primary Propulsion:▸ 12 Gravito-Plasma Vector Engines, capable of slow but precise orbit shifts

• Powerplant:▸ 4x MK-VI "Helionspeer" 12 MW Fission Reactors▸ Integrated quantum capacitors for instantaneous energy rerouting

• Stealth Systems:▸ Black Sun Distortion Veil — manipulates localized electromagnetic signature▸ Radar-null coating, active sensor inversion▸ Thermal mask shunting via lattice-cooling grid

❖ Hangar and Launch Capabilities

• Fighter Complement:▸ 48 Schattenfalke-Class Raumjäger, each slaved to the Dark Mind▸ Stored in rotational launch cradles across Bay Alpha (24) and Bay Beta (24 reserve)

• Launch Method:▸ MagRail Vortex Arrays for zero-burn, silent orbital launch▸ Full squadron (8 fighters) can deploy in under 12 seconds

• Recovery:▸ Recovery is rare and not prioritized▸ Fighters are expected to complete missions or be lost

• Maintenance Systems:▸ 16 Servitor Drones: autonomous robotic technicians with adaptive toolsets▸ Atmospheric pressurization, shielded repair pods, modular replacement systems

❖ Command & Control

There is no bridge. No crew. No captain.

The Verdunkler is a ghost ship, operated entirely by a distributed Instinktkern neural cluster under direct command of the Dark Mind. Orders are received via encoded Spiritus-Wave pulses, indecipherable to all non-lunar technology.

Human presence is forbidden. It is not a craft for men—it is a temple of annihilation, inhabited only by machines that do not sleep, and minds that do not forget.

❖ Tactical Role

The Verdunkler does not engage in dogfights or skirmishes. It is the harbinger, not the sword.

Its primary role is the deployment of precision, high-speed kill assets from undetectable orbit. It enters planetary shadow, releases its payload of Raumjäger, and resumes silent drift until needed again. If engaged, it does not respond. If targeted, it simply vanishes—or overloads its reactors in a final act of area denial.

❖ Historical Deployment

• Operation Schwarzer Morgen – 2038:

  Three Verdunkler-Class Raumträger were positioned in equatorial low orbit behind Earth’s dark side. At 03:22 UTC, they deployed 144 Schattenfalken in synchronized silence. Within 2 hours, global satellite constellations, orbital defense rings, and surveillance stations were rendered blind or destroyed.

• Aftermath:

  Earth’s militaries did not realize the source of the attack until 11 days later—when fragments of the Verdunkler's launch spindles were recovered in the upper thermosphere.

“It is not a ship. It is an omen. It casts no shadow, because it is the shadow. To see it is to be too late.”— Entry 77-B, Lunastadt Strategic Warfare Manual

The Verdunkler-Class Raumträger looms above Earth’s curvature, releasing a formation of Schattenfalke fighters.