Re: Blood and Iron

The beating heart of the woman palpitated with ferocity as she sprinted down the streets of Munich with all the speed her small stature could physically muster. Yet the clacking of the boots behind her maintained a steady and slow pace, almost as if he were walking casually.

Bumping into random strangers, or running into objects as she desperately fled the pursuit within the dead of night, during the thickest summer storm God could throw at the Bavarian Capital, Rosa Luxemburg's heart damn near reached its limit.

She was the last of her comrades… Marxist conspirators and revolutionary socialists who, in Bruno's past life, had been soundly defeated by the patriotic Freikorps during the chaos that followed the great war.

In this life, her fellow revolutionaries had been hunted down and slaughtered like rabid dogs by none other than Colonel Erich von Humboldt. They knew not the identity of the man which had pursued them. But nevertheless he came for them in the day, in the night, in the sun, wind, rain and snow.

It did not matter where they ran or where they hid. Like the shadow of death himself, Erich was lurking ever near, biding his time, and waiting to claim her for their lives. Despite the panic on her face, and the frantic speed with which she sprinted, nobody within Munich seemed to remotely care about the woman's situation.

And eventually she found herself trapped exactly where Erich wanted her. She had run straight into an alleyway which led exactly to nowhere. And when she realized this the woman cursed out in her native tongue, before turning around to see that Erich, despite the measure pace of his stride was standing right in front of her.

He wore a long, black leather German trench coat, concealing his more formal attire. It was not a military uniform which Erich wore, but a black fitted three piece suit beneath his coat whose pocket he reached into as he pulled out a list of names, which was shielded from the torrential downpour of the heavens by the jet black umbrella he held within his hands.

The tone in his voice was callous, as he looked at the last name on a long list of those which had been crossed out prior to this moment. And after confirming the woman he was looking at was indeed his target, a sadistic smirk formed on the man's face, along with a devilish glint in his blue eyes.

"Rosa Luxemburg, found member and one of the current leaders of the Spartacus League… Or should I say former leader. Well Rosa, you should know by now what the silence on the other end of your radio means.

They're all dead… Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and all the others of your filthy kind that have sought to ruin the fatherland and its victory in this Great War… It has been quite the effort, and has no doubt cost the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of your fellow conspirators. But here and now it ends with you…

Do you have any last words? Because now would be the time to speak them…"

Rosa Luxemburg took a defiant stance, almost as if she were in a scene from the cinemas, preparing her "heroic" last words that would live in infamy throughout history as a testimony to her resilience and resistance in the face of the death.

However, throughout his speech, Erich had stashed the list of names away, and had pulled out his suppressed revolver, and the moment Rosa was about to make her stand, Erich pulled the trigger. The projectile went straight into the woman's head, and was quiet enough that with the accompanying crackle of thunder, had managed to conceal his sinful deed.

Blood was washed away from the victim's corpse as it hit the ground with a muffled thud, the puddle it crashed into breaking the impact of her fall. After this Erich took a stepped forward and examined the corpse, setting his umbrella aside, and stashing away his pistol, where he silently withdrew his little book of names, and crossed off the final one.

After which, he sighed, and shook his head, clicking his tongue, as if mocking his most recent kill, all the while stashing his book away once more.

"I'm sorry about that, I lied… I really don't give a damn what a foreigner, and a Marxist like you has to say. Nothing that has ever gone through that ugly little head of yours has ever been remotely intelligent. Just like all the rest of the drivel, your kind are constantly spitting.

But don't worry, we will meet again in hell soon enough. I just have one last thing to take care of before I join you…"

Having said this, Erich picked up his umbrella and walked off into the dreary night within the city of Munich. Fulfilling the last of his orders now that the list of names he had been given had been fully crossed off.

---

What were the last actions Erich had to take care of following his slaying of Rosa Luxemburg in the streets of Munich? A clean shave, along with a crisp haircut in a classic high and tight style. After this, he had a change of clothes back into his military dress uniform, with all the medals he had been awarded over the years proudly on display.

After which the man took a train to Berlin, where he made one brief stop at his favorite restaurant to enjoy a nice meal, and a liter of the lager he enjoyed most in this world. Once these things had been concluded, he took a look at his watch, and paid the bill, before placing his cap upon his head and bidding the waitress farewell.

There was an unusually large tip granted to the young maiden as Erich walked off and approached the safe house that had been arranged for him. Where he was not the least bit surprised to see Bruno standing there alone.

The safe house was well beyond the boundaries of the city, and was far out in the boonies. So far that nobody would possibly be able to witness the exchange between the two old friends. Bruno looked sternly at Erich and asked one simple question.

Depending on the answer, Bruno would choose how to proceed here and now.

"Is it done? Have you accomplished what I asked of you without incident?"

Erich smiled bitterly as he nodded his head and confirmed the deed was done.

"Every one of them, every name on the list, along with their families and anyone else who might come for you in the name of revenge some time in the future, they're all gone as ordered…"

Bruno sighed heavily when he heard this, reaching into his coat pocket as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. It had been a long time since he had quite smoking, but today… Today was a day where he would make an exception. Lighting the device, he took a long and heavy drag before exhaling a large plume of smoke.

After doing so, he handed the cigarette to Erich who did the same. All the while the rain poured down on the two of them from above, but neither man seemed to notice nor care.

While Erich was smoking, Bruno pulled out his flask, which contained the finest distilled liquor money could buy in this world. He took a sip of his own, before wiping off the lid and handing it over to Erich.

Erich now fueled by nicotine and alcohol, handed the flask back to Bruno after plugging its lid, symbolling that he had enough, a sentiment which was parallel to the words which he spoke.

"So this is it… Huh… The end of the line?"

Bruno's expression was complex as he took one last drag on the cigarette, followed by drinking what remained of the liquor. Erich had left just enough behind to calm the man's nerves so that he could do what needed to be done.

Yet, despite knowing what he needed to do, Bruno wanted more than anything not to do it. Because of this he was quick to plead with Erich, proposing a solution both of them had no faith in succeeding.

"Erich… It doesn't have to be like this…. I can get you out of the country, you can flee abroad, start a new life under a new name… Don't make me do this…"

Erich did not immediately respond to Bruno's pleas, instead looking off at the beauty of the summer landscape of Prussia, while the dew of life rejuvenated all the natural scenery around him. He then turned back to Bruno, and asked him directly the question he had been dying to know."Those people you had me butcher… Would they have undone everything you have worked so hard to achieve in this life, if left alone?"

There was not the slightest hesitation on Bruno's face or in his words when he responded to his friend's comments with a nod of his head and a severe gaze in his eyes.

"Without a doubt..." Find your next adventure on My Virtual Library Empire

Upon hearing this, Erich smiled in relief. As if the one thing haunting him was that after all of this, he had been sent on a wild goose chase with little meaning. There wasn't a hint of bitterness in his eyes, rather pride was on full display as he said his last words, words Bruno would never forget.

"Then I have played my part... I will not be crossing the border or starting a new life. You and I both know after the people I have killed there will be a nationwide investigation once the war is over, and priority turns to internal matters.

Some of those people were very powerful and influential figures. And even if you manage to burn all the evidence that ties you to me, there will always be a black mark on your reputation, and that of your family.

The alliances you have built, the monarchs who fight for your favor, all of that will turn to ash and dust as your name becomes forever shrouded in suspicion. No…. This is how it should be… Frankly speaking, I would have enjoyed to take part in the last charge to Paris with you and Heinrich, but I am not built for the era of peace that will follow that.

Tell that holier than thou piece of shit that in the end, he was right about me… Now… how would you like it done?"

Bruno had to fight back the tears pouring in his eyes, as it took him a second to compose himself enough to respond to Erich's question.

"In the shoulder… Hit the soft tissue above the heart and the aorta. Make it look like you tried to kill me, but in your haste, as I tried to reach for my own weapon you missed your mark…"

Erich nodded his head as he reached for his revolver and precisely fired a shot directly into Bruno's flesh, exactly as how Bruno had described. Giving him a minor wound that was far more heinous looking than it was in terms of lethality.

One of the major reasons Erich had used a nagant revolver throughout his series of murders was not only because it was quiet when suppressed, but because it was incredibly anemic compared to more modern service cartridges.

Knowing that eventually this day would come, he had prepared a bullet that if pierced through the right spot would not be life threatening in the slightest, nor cause a life lasting injury. As such, Bruno winced in agony as he clutched the wound in his shoulder with his hand.

The man tried his best not to curse or scream in suffering as he turned around to face Erich who had struck a salute in front of his commanding officer. One last sign of respect to the man who had carried him this far into his career, and repeatedly covered for his moral failings and dishonorable conduct on and off the battlefield.

Erich's eyes were without fear as Bruno pointed his own weapon at the man's head, who spoke his last words with a triumphant shout.

"I give my life for Kaiser, Reich und Vaterland!"

*Bang*

The smoke jutted out from the muzzle of the barrel as Bruno slowly lowered the gun before holstering it. Performing the sign of the cross, Bruno made a silent prayer for Erich's recently departed soul, as well as his own, before leaning down to close the eyes of his oldest friend.

"You have served your country well soldier... Now rest… God knows you have earned it."

After saying this, Bruno called in the "attack" on his life from none other than Erich. Thoroughly connecting the murders to his name, and his alone. And in doing so officially blemishing the record of his service.

It would take decades before anyone began to put together the evidence and come to the conclusion that together Bruno and Erich had saved Germany from a formal conspiracy designed to make the Reich lose the war.

But until then, Bruno would have to live with the guilt of dragging one of his closest friends' name through the mud in order to save his own reputation and that of his family.

Few would know of the truth of what had happened here on this day, and yet they were not publicly allowed to mourn the loss of a friend, and hero of the German Reich, one who was simply not suited for the era of peace and prosperity Bruno was trying to establish.