Tyranny of Steel

For perhaps the first time in a long time, Berengar was sitting in his living room, watching the television which broadcasted any number of events around the world to the people of the Reich. He was sipping on a beer while enjoying a fight.

Since the defeat of Japan over twenty years ago, Germany had put all of its effort into advancing their society, and because of this the Reich was now close to achieving the same level of technology that the United States had during the 1990s of Berengar's past life.

Wide screen televisions were in every household, and personal computers were becoming increasingly common among the citizens of the Reich. In fact, if Berengar took a moment out of his time, he might even be able to play a video game that was similar in technology to the ones he grew up with during the early stages of his childhood during his past life.

Yet, despite all the advancements in technology, the Reich remained a staunchly conservative nation, thanks to the efforts of Berengar, and his government to prevent the spread of ideas that would leader to ideologies such as individualism and liberalism.

It was only now, as Berengar was snacking on a bad of sour cream and onion potato chips, while watching a fight, did he realize just how close his society had come to mimic that of the world he came from.

Which caused him to sit in utter silence without moving a single muscle. It had been nearly thirty years since he first reincarnated in this world, and from then until now he had led Germany from a filthy and backwards medieval state, to a modern Empire, with many of the luxuries he had sorely missed from his past life.

With each passing day, a new technological marvel entered the world, and unfortunately for him, he was starting to become too old to enjoy them all. He could only sit by and watch as the world he built became increasingly similar to the one he had left behind, and yet distinctly different.

After all, the depravity and decay which he had witnessed eat away at western society in his past life were nowhere to be found. Perhaps the world which Berengar had created was a more idealized version of the one he had left behind.

It was while he was lost in thought, while reflecting on the similarities and differences between this life and the previous one, that one of Berengar's daughters came forward to speak with him. She found it entertaining that he was not busy at work, like he had always been throughout her childhood, and was instead simply watching the television like so many other citizens of the reich. To which Zara could not help but comment on.

"Careful daddy, if you don't go out and get some exercise, those potato chips will go right to your gut, and then you will lose that chiseled figure that mommy loves so much."

Berengar simply chuckled when he heard his daughter's words, and placed his snack aside, while heeding her warning. He then got up from his seat and hugged the young woman before asking her about what she wanted.

"So, what brings you here today? Shouldn't you be working?"

Zara's face lit up into a wide smile, as her father inquired about that which she had been meaning to tell him. If not for how busy she had been at the launch center, then the arabic beauty would have indeed told her father about the big news.

"Well daddy, I've been meaning to tell you that my new prototype has been rather thoroughly tested, and I believe it will be possible within the next ten years to send a manned mission to mars. There are still a few kinks to work on, but the atomic propulsion engines which I have been working on are our best hope.

After the creation of the Lunar Outpost, the next step in exploring space naturally will be landing on mars. So I just wanted to let you know that we are one step closer to achieving the goal which you have set out for us!’

Berengar was not entirely shocked to hear that mankind would be landing on mars so soon. After all, America had slashed NASA's budget after the moon landing, giving barely any investment at all into space exploration.

But not Berengar, you see he knew that humanity's future lie in the stars, and thus he had spared no expense to ensure that his space agency was well funded, so that they could experiment with the best ways to expand humanity beyond the confines of the Earth.

The Lunar Outpost which Zara spoke of was a military base and scientific research center located on the moon, which had only recently been developed less than two years prior.

Naturally, it was not designed for long-term habitation, as Germany had not yet progressed in life support technology to maintain such a colony.

But, through strict rotations of personnel, the Reich was able to maintain a constant presence on the moon. Though this was not what Berengar was most excited about, nor was the manned mission to mars, instead he had one other major project ongoing in space that he was quick to ask his daughter about.

"What about Project Odin? Is it nearly complete?"

Zara did not work on military projects, instead she strictly dealt with civilian matters when it came to space. However, due to the complex nature of Project Odin, her team of experts had been doing some cross work with the military division which handled the space-borne weapon. Thus, she could only sigh and nod her head before confirming that Project Odin would be online in a matter of months.

"Nearly everything is complete. We just have to test it. I must say, it was a great expense to get those tungsten rods into orbit. But, yes, in at most six months your so-called rods from god will be operational. Honestly, daddy, I don't know why you need such destructive weapons at your disposal. The rest of the world is so far behind Germany in terms of technology.

It's almost sad..."

Berengar simply smiled and petted his daughter's golden hair, before assuring her the reason why he wanted such destructive capabilities.

"Zara, the answer to your question is quite simple. Nuclear deterrence. Though it will be some time before the other empires of the world discover nuclear technology, the fact of the matter is, when weaponized into a bomb, nuclear material can be destructive in more ways than you can imagine.

Thus, if Imperial Intelligence ever reports to my successors that another nation is in fact building a nuclear bomb, we can threaten them with Project Odin, and if they do not comply, we can destroy their facility, and the entire city it is located in with the press of a button."

Zara knew it would be centuries before anyone else ever discovered atomic theory, let alone how to weaponise uranium into a bomb. However, she understood that her father was looking out for the long-term benefits of the Reich, and thus while she deemed project Odin to not only be excessive, but a monumental waste of funding, she did not argue any further with the man, and instead accepted his word as law.

"Okay daddy... I understand. By the way, have you heard from Brandt at all? He should be nearing the completion of his military service..."

Even Berengar had to admit that never in a million years would he expect that man to accomplish everything he had asked of him thus far. While there were still some things on the bucket list, Berengar had given Brandt in order to gain Zara's hand in marriage. Brandt was getting closer and closer to completing it with each passing day. He was like a man possessed, and his service record proved that.

Having already conducted numerous acts of heroism, which earned him both of the medals for valor which Berengar required of the kid, and achieving the rank of Captain, despite just barely meeting the minimum requirements, Berengar had to admit that the former kickboxer was beginning to shape up into a proper man.

And while the rest of Berengar's daughters who were of age had already married quality men of high standing, Zara continued to wait for the man she had been infatuated with for years. Thus, he would not hide his thoughts from the girl who was gazing at him with pleading eyes.

"As far as his military careers go, the stubborn bastard has already accomplished all the tasks I set out for him, even though I don't believe it myself. All that is left is the financial requirements I set for him. If he continues to perform as he has been, then you can expect to marry him when he finally retires from military service."

When Zara heard this news, she hugged her father and kissed him on the cheek, while thanking him for his benevolence.

"Thank you so much!"

After saying this, she fled from the scene, no doubt to start planning for her eventual wedding. Once Zara was gone, Berengar grabbed the bag of potato chips he had tossed away and opened up another can of beer before getting back to the fight that was on TV.