Re: Blood and Iron

Bruno was in attendance at the command center for the German Reich’s National Space Agency.

The cosmic travelers had sat in their landing module for days, drifting towards the moon. Feedback flowing back to the Earth as millions around the Reich, and potentially the world watched mankind’s largest ambition unfold before their very eyes.

For those without access to television in less developed nations, they had to listen to the radio, or simply read about it in the paper the next day.

But for Bruno, he received as close to a front row seat as one possibly could. The command center was in uproar, men at every station preparing for the landing as the module entered the moon’s orbit and slowly began to descend.

Erwin stood, leaning against the railing as his hands gripped it with greater intensity as each second passed.

The truth was, they were past the point where something could go wrong in the moment. But Erwin was anxious all the same. And he wasn’t the only one, Wilhelm III muttered silent prayers beneath his breath.

Only Bruno was calm, he had seen a similar scene from the old videos from his past life. He knew what was about to happen. However, the names had changed, and the banner they carried with it.

The shuttle landed with a gentle impact on the moon’s surface, and the first of its crew stepped out and placed his boot on its crust.

In his past life, Neil Armstrong had been the first man to step foot on the moon, and in doing so, spoke a quote that had lived on for eternity. “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind”

But in this life, Neil Armstrong’s fate was usurped by another. Hans-Joachim Marseille had not only survived the Second World War, but had transcended aviation altogether into becoming one of the earliest and most prestigious cosmic travelers.

He was the man to carry the unstained banner of the German Reich onto the moon and place its glory firmly into the ground.

Once it was fully secured, he and his crew of other War Heroes turned extra-terrestrial knights formed a proper salute shouted in unison.

“By Kaiser’s will and German blood, we claim this world for the Reich!”

The words regarding a single man’s journey, and the leap of progress for all of humanity would not be recorded in the history books.

Not in this life… The world would remember the scene of men in space suits wearing the banners of the German Riech on their sleeves and saluting its colors, declaring the moon and all of its bounty for their homeland and its Emperor.

It was a scene that compelled many Germans to tears of national pride, and forced sullen, bitter, and often resentful gazes from those of other nations.

The era of the Great Powers had come to an end… The Pax Germanica had begun, and nobody could now deny this fact.

Bruno didn’t clap, he didn’t smile, he was the first to raise his hand in salute, while the surrounding others followed his action. Silent but respectful. The entire command center became a scene not of individual celebration, but stoic respect and glory for the Nation.

After the salute had been performed, Bruno performed an about face and so did the others, everyone, including the cosmic travelers on the screen, turned their salute towards their Kaiser.

Wilhelm III was overwhelmed momentarily by the scene. He had inherited a world of peace and prosperity from his father.

One built on a legacy of blood and iron. To see the veterans of the old world, and the men who built its foundations perform such a gesture was a silent remainder of not only his position, but his duty to the very men below him.

There was only one thing he could do: raise his hand and return the gesture. After which the room returned to normal, a slight air of brevity overtaking the men as they broke out the beer to celebrate now that the formalities had been concluded.

Erwin handed both Bruno and Wilhelm III the glass, making a toast that both men found suitable.

“To supreme hegemony, long live the German Reich!”

Bruno and Wilhelm III nodded silently before taking a sip. They remained silent as they oversaw the return operations of the brave souls who had heroically slipped the bounds of the Earth and completed the first step in a large destiny for humanity to expand beyond the confines of its homeworld.

—

Kaiser Wilhelm II sat back in his palace, watching the events unfold. Shaking his head with a smile on his aging face. He had not expected to live this long. He had been only 29 when he ascended to the throne in 1888.

And the world he had ruled over since then, until only just a few years ago, had changed drastically in that time. He was born in an era where horses, black powder, and candlelight still ruled the world.

Now, at his 90th birthday he witnessed mankind land on the moon. Watched a new generation of railways traverse entire continents in mere hours, and had witnessed the birth of atomic energy.

The world he had been born in seemed utterly alien to the one he had ruled over and now enjoyed his final years in retirement.

A part of him had always doubted Bruno’s ambitions, his goals when Bruno first began developing rockets and missiles. He had stated it was with military ambitions in mind.

Wilhelm II had thought then he was being brash and experimental in ways that would not unfold. But Bruno had surprised him time and again, and now the very foundations seeded after the end of the First Weltkrieg had proven useful beyond simple warfare.

He sipped his champagne while shaking his head.

“Well played, my boy… well played.”

—

Tsar Alexei sat in Saint Petersburg, his wife Elsa clutching his hand. She knew today would be difficult for her. On the one hand, she had married into the House of Romanov and owed her husband and its Empire her allegiance.

But she would always be a von Zehntner at heart. Her father and brother had together just accomplished the unthinkable. And yet, in doing so, they imposed a wider gap between the German Reich and the Russian Empire.

Already, Alexei’s generals and ministers whispered poison into his ears about Germany growing too strong.

But the man was far more inclined to listen to the wisdom of his wife, the mother of his children. Russia had developed leaps and bounds thanks to its economic, military, and dynastic ties to the German Reich.

Sure, its national pride was silently wounded as it rapidly deteriorated into a second rate power.

But everyone else on the planet had long since been left in the dust by the German Reich who propelled itself ahead of its competitors on the global stage like a meteor.

Alexei turned to his wife and sighed.

“My father had always loved your father. He never seemed disturbed at how many of those in his court claimed we were being taken advantage of by Germany. His only regret was that he had never been able to persuade Bruno to come over to our side and marry my sister.”

Elsa laughed when she heard this, shaking her head at the absurdity of the idea.

“By the time my father came to Saint Petersburg he was already married to my mother and had Eva, Erwin and me. Your father did the best with the cards he had available, but there was no chance that he could have ever persuaded my father to leave us behind in favor of shifting his loyalties to Russia. Besides, if that were the case, you and I would never have been married, and our children never would have been born.”

Alexei knew his wife’s words were true. And he obviously didn’t want such a different fate. But he couldn’t help but wonder if it would be Russia, and not Germany that stood as the world’s envy at this very moment had his father succeeded in his goals.

Ultimately, he was forced to sigh and shake his head once more as he admitted defeat.

“It’s fine… If we cannot compete with the Germans, then we merely need to be their most capable ally so we get the most benefits.”

Elsa nodded, a smile shifting on her face, as she placed her husband’s hands over the map sitting in front of them.

She shifted his fingers towards Italy and Greece. Tapping them both with her own fingers intertwined with his.

“These are our only true rivals now…. My younger sisters hold the same position I do, and that means Italy and Greece are as intertwined with the Reich as we are. If we wish to gain the best benefits in the future for Mother Russia, then we need to outplay the houses of Savoy and Glücksburg.”

Alexei looked up at his wife, and they both nodded in silence, committing to the plan. Likewise, in Rome and Constantinople the kings and their queens were hatching a similar plan.