Re: Blood and Iron

After the men left Bruno's office and were escorted from his home. Heidi appeared in the doorway. She had a concerned look on her face as she was quick to ask Bruno what this matter was all about, seemingly having an inkling about who they were to begin with.

"Do these men have anything to do with what you have tasked Erich with?"

Naturally, there were three people in this world who knew about Erich's activities while he was absent without leave from the Army. The man himself was well aware of what he had done. While Bruno, the man who had given him the task to begin with was the natural second.

As for the third, it was none other than Heidi. Ever since resolving to tell his wife the truth, and nothing but the truth, Bruno concealed nothing to her. No matter how grisly the details may be. Thankfully, she was a woman with a thick skin, and a sense of pragmatism when it came to fulfilling one's obligations to family, kaiser, and fatherland.

Though she lamented the loss of the innocent, she understood the price that must be paid to save the German Reich and the souls of all those within it, and the future generations that would come. Thus, Bruno had not hid from her what he had told Erich to do, or what he had done.

Bruno nodded his head and voiced his thoughts aloud. While wiretapping may exist, wireless bugs that could be placed in his room and transmit his words elsewhere without his knowledge and consent might as well be science fiction with the current technology of the era.

Thus, after confirming that his phone line was indeed not active, he said his honest thoughts on the matter.

"Those men were with the Imperial Police, but they are not acting within the interests of the Reich. There's a reason law enforcement is generally left up to the local and state level police departments.

No, these men are acting on behalf the men I am hunting, or what little remains of their population. But it does not matter, Erich will complete the task soon enough, and then when the masters of these blood hounds have had their throats slit, and the evidence of their sins has been leaked to the public. I will personally have these mutts arrested and executed without trial.

It is a time of war, and for violating the jurisdiction of the Feldgendarmerie, I will fight for the authority in a court of law for their execution if necessary, after it has been conducted naturally… Any evidence they have on Erich and myself will be gathered and destroyed by men I know and trust before it can reach anyone who is not of such privilege."

Heidi's expression lightened as she sighed in relief upon hearing everything was under Bruno's control. And as she turned away to go check on the kids once more, she stopped in the doorway before turning around and facing Bruno.

A look of dread has suddenly come over her as she realized something. She was quick to ask Bruno what exactly he planned to do with his pawn now that its usefulness had been used up.

"And what will happen to Erich? They are looking for him right now no doubt… If they get his hands on him, do you think your plans will move so smoothly then?"

Though Bruno's words were reassuring, the tone he spoke them in was grim, and conveyed his real intent.

"I have already planned for the matter accordingly. After conducting his tasks, Erich is to meet me at a safe house that only he and I know the location of, and whose ownership cannot possibly be traced to either of us. You need not worry your pretty head over such matters, love, go, check on the children, I'm going to have one last drink and then I will join you in our bed shortly…" Your next read is at My Virtual Library Empire

Heidi wanted to say something about the matter. But ultimately chose not to. Instead, doing as Bruno had said. As she was well aware, the man was facing a difficult decision, and had yet to seem certain of how he wished to proceed.

Bruno did exactly as he said he would, fetching himself a rare second drink. Gone were the days of his heavy drinking. He would drink a single liter of beer for dinner, and no more unless on special occasions.

But this was a special occasion, he and Erich were after all going up against powerful people, and when the members of this shadowy cabal started dropping like flies, it was only a matter of time before the enemy would throw all of their resources into finding out who was responsible.

You see, Bruno had meddled in the affairs of this loose organization repeatedly. Firstly, by saving the Romanovs and annihilating the Red Army. This had far-reaching consequences, and had affected their schemes across the board.

Starting with the repression that socialist and left-wing parties faced across all of Europe as a result of their newfound unpopularity following the conclusion of the Russian Civil War in this timeline.

Then there were the alliances Bruno made, the destruction of the Black Hand, and the investments made into the German Army, which allowed them to steamroll their opponents and mitigate casualties.@@novelbin@@

With the repeated victories of the Central Powers, and the economic boom Germany gained from the mass production of military equipment, it was very difficult to justify to the common man who cared not for politics so long as he had a beer in his hand, and bread in his family's stomachs the idea of overthrowing the current state of affairs.

Revolutions seldom happened within a state which met the needs of the people. Rather, they were the direct result of civilizations' failure to appease the masses. If one wanted to destroy a nation and its people from within there would first need to subvert it. And subversion came in four stages: Demoralization, Destabilization, Crisis, and Normalization.

And try as they might, the powers Bruno was working against had failed to even begin the first stage of Subversion within the German Reich. This was thanks to the changes he had made to the timeline. They had tried to oppose him economically, militarily, and even with guile and intrigue.

But Bruno, having knowledge of the future and the threats he was up against, made ample preparations. Aligning himself with powerful people, and embedding men who he had earned their loyalty in places which he could counter the enemy hiding in the shadows.

All the while becoming a titan of industry so that he did not rely upon their wealth to sustain himself and his family, while using his wealth to combat their ambitions. He had even managed to combat their attempts to inflate the Reich's currency by making his own bank the largest bank in Prussia.

Most of Bruno's adversaries within Europe had been annihilated. The Rothschilds were a memory of the past, their entire line of succession wiped off the face of the earth across all branches. The same could be said for other bankers whose interests were aligned.

The leaders of the Kiel Mutiny were disposed of, while men of renown who were aligned with this shadowy cabal had one by one been hunted down and eliminated from the name of lists Erich possessed over the previous months.

All that was left were the members of the Spartacist League and their families. Erich had done a good job tracking down the revolutionary socialists who went underground following the unpopularity of their movements across Europe a decade prior. And the actions taken against them.

Thinning their ranks substantially. But now the law was on his tail, and this agency, despite being the Imperial Police of the German Reich, was desperately searching for Erich's location. If they could get their hands on him, and torture him into confessing who the real mastermind of his coordinated mass murder was, they could finally get Bruno dead to rights.

There was just one problem, Bruno and Erich had long since prepared for this eventuality, and because of this Bruno was silently able to tip off Erich about what was happening without ever leaving the slightest trace of doing so.

For years, Bruno had flown the flags of the German Reich and the Kingdom of Prussia proudly on a pole within the grounds of his villa. A pole that could be witnessed for miles outside the city limits due to its height if one was using a pair of binoculars.

Every night, before going to bed, Bruno would personally take down the flags, so that if the weather were to turn sour while he and his staff were sleeping, then the banners of the fatherland would not be sullied.

And while he was deployed to war, he had tasked his servants to do the same. It was an action that had been going on for so long that nobody would care to notice if something slightly different had occurred.

The thing is, there was a very specific way which Bruno and his staff would take down the flags at night, a sort of ceremony to honor them. And the staff who did so, Bruno's bodyguards. They would always perform a certain small ceremony when doing so. One which honored the flag to military standards.

These bodyguards, who Bruno trusted with the lives of himself and his family with, were veterans of the Iron Division. Men who Bruno had personally served with during the years of the Russian Civil War. Decorated veterans, and loyal beyond all reason.

If Bruno were to demand they march into hell with him to wage war against the devil, they would gladly do so without hesitation. And because of this, they were the few men Bruno could reasonably trust to protect him and his family without suspicion of betrayal.

One of these men had been tasked to keep watch, every night, on the outskirts of Berlin, to keep an eye on this ceremony. And tonight he was doing so… And when he saw his brothers in arms, come out displaying the Cross of the Iron Division before all other distinctions of valor they had received on their uniforms, he knew exactly what that meant…

You see, to anyone else, this was an unnoticeable distinction to the way they normally wore their uniforms when performing this daily ceremony. But to one of their own, it was a sign, a clear one, to send a message to their brother who was currently performing the work of their commander.

And because of this, the man quickly found the nearest payphone, and dialed the number of the hotel where Erich was staying. The message was encoded, but was clear as day to Erich.

"The authorities are onto you, finish the job within a fortnight, and meet where we agreed upon once the task is completed…"

To Erich, who was cleaning his blade from the daily dose of blood it had been given earlier in the day. He could only sigh after writing down the message that the manager at the desk had given him. Something that was completely innocuous to those he did not have the means to decipher it. Which was something that only Bruno and Erich possessed.

And after doing just that, the man sighed heavily, before pulling out his pack of cigarettes and his flask of whiskey…

After opening the flask and drinking its entire contents, Erich lit up the smoke as he opened up the window and gazed upon the moon and stars above. On this night, the moon was at its fullest, and a gentle summer breeze kissed his fair cheeks.

Throughout the duration of his smoke, Erich remained utterly silent, before putting out his cigarette and tossing its remains onto the ground outside of the hotel. After doing so he gazed longingly at the moon, before sighing heavily and shaking his head.

He uttered a single phrase in a voice so low that only he could hear the words spoken before closing the window behind him as he turned back to the room. The phrase he said were words that only he would ever know were said:

"It would appear, Luise, that I will be unable to fulfill our promise after all… But that's okay, you always deserved better anyway…"