Tyranny of Steel



Berengar sat in the living room of his lakeside villa with a beer in his hand. So far, retirement had been a nice change of pace, even if he was now the father to a dozen or more little ones, from Brynhildr's litter. However, today was a day that he could just sit back and relax, and that was exactly what he was doing, as he flipped through the channels of his 80 inch LED 8k TV. 

By now, the Reich had progressed to a level of technology that was roughly the same as the world he left behind. But in many ways, especially in terms of space technology, it was even more advanced. For example, at this very moment, Berengar stopped on a news channel which was displaying something incredible. 

The headline was bold, big, and so shocking that Berengar nearly dropped his beer. The man was quick to shout across the house in the loudest voice he could muster. 

"Everyone get in here, now!"

At first his family thought that perhaps the head of their household was angry, and thus they all immediately dropped what they were doing, and ran into the room with anxious expressions. Only to see the man smiling and repeating a single phrase over and over again, as if it were a mantra of faith. 

"She did it... I can't believe she actually did it...."

On the screen of the television was an exceptionally large rocket, one which was currently being boarded by several astronauts. These men would boldly be taking a journey in space farther than anything humanity had ever achieved before, whether in this life or his last one. 

The words written on the screen were enough to explain Berengar's sudden shout to his entire family, and they were as follows: 

"Manned Mission to Mars waiting underway"

Yasmin was as shocked as Berengar. For years, she had watched her eldest daughter go out of her way to study space and rockets. In fact, the German space industry was as advanced as it was today, particularly because of her efforts in the field. 

The last time Berengar had seen one of Zara's rockets, it was a prototype for a nuclear fission propulsion rocket. Something which detonated in the atmosphere just below space. To Berengar, this was a disaster, one which he was immediately forced to mitigate.

But it now seemed like in the years since then Zara had finally perfected her project. Because as of right now, the Reich was making its first attempt to send men to Mars, in a daring bid of space exploration that had not even occurred by the time Berengar had died in Afghanistan during his past life. 

To Berengar, this was truly unthinkable, and yet it was clearly being displayed in front of him. He honestly did not know how to feel, as his family found their own seats on the sofa, chairs, and loveseats. Some of them even laid down on the carpet with eager looks in their eyes.

As the mother of the woman responsible for this project, Yasmin sat directly by Berengar's side and held his hand. Berengar immediately felt the woman tremble. She was clearly anxious about her daughter's potential success and the odds of failure. To help comfort the woman, Berengar wrapped his armed around her, and kissed her on the neck. Something which caused her to snort in exhaustion, and push the man away. 

"Not now! Look, they are about to begin the countdown."

The Entirety of the Reich, which now spanned across the globe, sat in front of their TVs, computer, smart phones, tablets, et cetera, as they eagerly waited for the ten second countdown to begin. Everyone was at the edge of their seats as it finally began. 

"Ten...

Nine....

Eight...

Seven...

Six...

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One..."

Immediately after this word was said out loud, the rocket ignited and began to slowly make its ascent. Berengar could feel his heart stop beating for a brief second, as he gazed upon the massive rocket fly further and further into the sky. Counting the distance it made, as it slowly escaped the bonds of earth, and entered space. 

The words of his most beloved daughter, who was now the head of the German Space Program resounded across the entirety of the Reich, and Berengar could hear the tears of joy that she was undoubtedly crying at this moment, as her alluring voice spoke. 

"We have a liftoff!"

Berengar and all of his wives immediately jumped out of their seats and began to applaud and scream towards the television. The youngest members of their family gazed upon them with confusion and a bit of fear, not understanding the significance of this moment.

But Berengar understood it better than anyone. The dawn of the space age had finally arrived. And soon enough, the German Reich would expand to the rest of the solar system, which was filled with near unlimited resources. 

Yasmin was not exactly the most educated woman. She had grown up in a medieval society, and had not really kept up with her studies over the years, preferring to perform the role of doting mother and loving housewife. Thus, she was quick to ask her husband, who she knew was much more knowledgeable on the subject, about the question which currently wracked her mind. 

"Husband, how long will it take for the rocket to reach mars? I mean, it took three days to get to the moon, so clearly this will be longer, right?"

However, the bronze skinned beauty was stunned when Berengar shook his head, and explained in laymen's terms the reality of the current situation. 

"Not at all. That was much older technology than what we are witnessing now. With the current engines that this rocket makes use of, it will be only about two days before our brave astronauts land on mars. I can't believe it. It's finally happened, and all it took was two lifetimes!"

Berengar struggled to keep himself from crying at this moment. He had never seen something so nerve wrecking. Something so unknown to himself. Throughout his entire life in this world, he had fought tooth and nail to create a thriving society. One which he never expected to catch up technologically speaking to the one he had left behind. 

But today, that limit had finally been passed. This was the first step beyond the technology he knew and understand. From this day forward, Berengar's knowledge was now officially obsolete. For a man who had turned a fractured medieval state into a modern global empire, this was truly a monumental occasion. One with Berengar thought perhaps he was merely dreaming about. 

But Linde's voice shook him from reality, as she came to a sudden realization, one which she was quick to voice aloud. 

"Are you telling me that during your past life, your people never reached mars?"

Berengar immediately shook his head, as he cleared up the misunderstanding, with a particularly proud tone in his trembling voice. 

"No... That's not entirely correct. You see, we had sent unmanned drones to mars for decades by the time I died, well before I was born, actually. But we had never sent a man to Mars. in fact, it was projected to happen decades after I passed away.

The world had largely given up on space after we got to the moon, and we actually regressed in this field in many ways. It was only about the time I died that there was any significant interest in revitalizing our space program, and by then it had basically been handed over to the private sector. 

It's honestly astonishing to see this happen. Almost as if the goal of humanity in two of my lifetimes has finally been achieved. But it's honestly still too early to celebrate, any number of things could go wrong now that they are in space. We will simply have to cross our fingers and pray to the gods that the astronauts make it safely to Mars and back." 

Linde had felt that she had learned something interesting about her man's past. After all, he rarely opened up about his life in that world. But she finally understood something. In half a century, Berengar had created a society that was capable of surpassing the one he had come from, and that was perhaps the most monumental achievement that any man had ever made in history. One that might never be surpassed. 

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I wanted to thank you all for supporting Tyranny of Steel up to this point. From here on out, until the very end of the novel, updates are going to be less frequent with one chapter a day. Instead, I would like to invite all of you to read my new novel Interstellar Age, at https://www.webnovel.com/book/interstellar-age_26235247006730205 which will be receiving my primary attention from here on out. Thank you all for the support you have shown me, and I look forward to writing novels for you all for years to come!