Tyranny of Steel

Berengar sat in his office with a pen in one hand as he intricately designed a new weapon system. One that he intended to deploy to the battlefield along with his other self-propelled artillery platforms that were already in service. 

While Germany had invested heavily in the mechanization of its armed forces. The simple 15cm self propelled Hummel had become the primary artillery of choice for the German Army. However, if there were two things that Berengar found particularly lacking in this mighty piece of military equipment, it would be its rate of fire and effective range. 

With an emphasis on improving rocket and missile systems taking place within the German scientific community. Berengar felt it was about time to introduce a new piece of artillery, one which made use of these advanced weapons to annihilate the enemy from long range. 

This weapon system was known in his previous life as the multiple launch rocket system, or the MLRS, and was in use by various countries during the Second World War, and the years that followed.

While modern weapon systems had complex computer targeting systems, the earlier designs were completely manually operated, with the overwhelming volume of rocket artillery making up for the lack of precision that only a computer could provide. 

It was true that Berengar had invested a substantial sum into developing computer systems, particularly for the guidance of missiles onboard his warships. However, he was still far from a level where these targeting systems could be integrated into land-based vehicles. As a result, he went with an earlier design in mind for his MLRS.

The basis for Berengar's MLRS was actually a soviet design: the BM-21 Grad. The reason this vehicle was chosen was because it was mounted on a 6x6 truck chassis. Berengar already had thousands of 6x6 five-ton trucks in service among his armed forces, and more were being manufactured every day. With some slight modifications, these trucks could remove their cargo bay and replace it with a multiple launch rocket system. 

Berengar designed the missile launching platform to include five rows of ten barrels, each of which were capable of holding a single 122mm rocket. This meant that for each barrage fired from one of these weapon systems, fifty rockets would fly towards its target. 

With the ongoing improvements in rocket technology, Berengar had no doubt that by the time these vehicles saw service, the effective range of their ordinance would be 52 kilometers. Which was several times larger in reach than his current self propelled 15cm field guns. 

The design for this weapon was simple, as Berengar already had the chassis in production. All that was really needed to draw from scratch was the rocket launcher, which itself was a simple device. At least when compared to other weapon systems that Berengar had designed previously. Thus, Berengar had finished his work relatively quickly. 

However, before he could transition to another task, the intercom on his desk erupted, where a woman's sultry voice erupted from the other end. 

"Your Majesty, your wife Linde is here to see you..." 

Berengar did not even need a second thought on how to respond to this news. He pressed the button and transmitted his message to his secretary, who sat on the other side of his office.

"Send her in."

Not a second passed after saying that before the door opened to reveal Linde's heavenly figure. However, despite the woman's near divine level of beauty, there was a stern expression on her perfect lips as she sat down across from her man and tossed a document onto his desk. She did not care in the slightest what technology he had just finished inventing, and instead seemed pressed about other matters, which she was quick to give voice to.

"A rather peculiar refugee has just made their way into Little Kyoto. I have her under close observation, but I thought you would want to know, considering she's the daughter of one of your puppets."

Berengar was in the middle of pouring himself and his wife a glass of wine when he heard these words. His brow slightly raised in curiosity as he asked the question that Linde was waiting for.

"And who might that be?"

Rather than answering Berengar with words, Linde opened the folder to reveal the immigration information of Yi Min-ah. There was a photograph of the foreign beauty, along with other information regarding the Korean Princess's immigration.  Berengar took one look at the woman, as well as her name, before voicing his concerns aloud. 

"I don't remember the Joseon King having a daughter named Min-Ah. However, if you are showing me this document, then you have thoroughly vetted her identity. So why are you bringing this to my attention?"

Linde merely smirked confidentially before giving out all the details she knew about Min-ah, and her background. 

"Because this Korean princess has a bit of an interesting background. For starters, her mother died when she was young. The identity of her murderer was one of the Joseon King's other concubines. As a result, she was shipped to the southern portion of the Kingdom where she was taken in by a foster family who was close friends with the King. 

I mention this because it could give us a clue about her actual motives. What really interests me about this little girl is the fact that she was just recently employed by Empress Itami herself, and was the lead of the Japanese Chemistry department. You could say she is Japan's Aldo von Passau..."

Berengar's expression turned grim when he heard these words, his mind was filled with questions, but chief among them was the one he immediately spoke aloud. 

"Then why is she here?"

Linde's grin grew wider as she educated her man on what she had found out, even if it was mostly hearsay and heavily suspicious in nature. 

"That's the interesting part. Yi Min-ah is a defector, and our highest ranking one yet. She claims that empress Itami's mental state is collapsing, and as a result, she has chosen to jump ship, and latch onto the side she knows will emerge victorious in the coming war. 

However, we can not confirm whether any of this is true. As a result, I have her confined to Little Kyoto, where my agents keep a close watch on her at all times. The first thing she did when settling down in Kufstein was get a job at a local restaurant.

She has not made any concerning movements yet. However, I wanted to inform you of her existence to see how you would choose to react. Should we leave her be? Or do you wish to meet with her in person so you can get an understanding of her character?

If this little princess turned out to be a spy, or an assassin sent by your eastern rival, then it would be best for you to verify such a thing with your divine sight before she is given a chance to act. Don't you think?"

Berengar reflected on this information for several moments in silence. Min-ah's background was suspicious, to say the least, and the best way to root out her intentions would be to use the eye of Horus on her. If she did turn out to be a spy or assassin sent by the Japanese Empress, then there was much information he could gain from interrogating her. 

The only downside was, if this were to be the case, then he would essentially be inviting a potential assassin into his own home, which was a dangerous prospect. Thus, after several moments of silence, Berengar sighed heavily before asking a question that would be critical to his decision. 

"You say she works at a local restaurant? What is her job there?"

A confident smile emerged on Linde's pretty lips. Perhaps she alone knew Berengar well enough to accurately predict his thoughts. Thus, she answered his question in a way that thoroughly convinced the man to act. 

"You don't need to worry. Min-ah does not work in the kitchen, nor does she work as a server. She is the hostess. I presume you are asking this question because you intend to visit the Korean princess at her workplace."

A slight smirk emerged on Berengar's lips. As per usual, his wife had seen through his intentions perfectly. Thus, after nodding his head in affirmation, he gave voice to his thoughts on the matter. 

"You understand me so well. I was just thinking that it has been too long since we last went out on a date night with just the two of us. In my honest opinion, Japanese food sounds like the perfect place. What do you think?"

A hint of excitement flashed through Linde's sky-blue eyes when she heard this. It had indeed been too long since she had been on a proper date with her husband. Even though this time around it would be work related, she did not dare reject the man's offer, and responded with a light-hearted quip.

"It's a date!"

After saying this, Berengar and Linde discussed the details of their date plan for the upcoming Friday night. The investigation into Min-Ah's intentions was only a part of the evening. Berengar truly did desire to take his wife out properly. It just so happened that the two of them would be conducting some counter-espionage during their meal on that evening. 

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