Tyranny of Steel

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think this is a very good idea! You really shouldn't be doing something so dangerous!"

Upon hearing this, Berengar merely grinned as he sat on board the Ju 390 transport plane whose rear hatch slowly opened up. The daring emperor stared down at the Iberian Peninsula below and made a quick, witty retort before jumping out.

"I don't pay you to think Sergeant, now let's fucking drop!"

After saying this, Berengar sprinted out of the hatch before jumping off the ramp and dropping down to the ground below. The wind whistled past Berengar's ears as he rapidly descended through the sky like a fallen angel..

Twenty thousand feet soon became ten thousand feet, and ten thousand feet became five thousand, until finally at one thousand feet he pulled his parachute, rapidly falling out of the device designed to conceal it, and catching the Kaiser in the air like a moth who had hit a sudden burst of wind.

The Kaiser, along with his Jaegers, quickly descended from the sky and landed on the ground below, within the courtyard of the Royal Palace of Granada. Much to the surprise of everyone present.

The sight was so spectacular that the Royal Guards of Al-Andalus did not know how to react. By the time they realized they could potentially be under an assault, Berengar had already drawn his submachine gun, and waved in the air, calling out in Arabic that he was the regent and was merely dropping by to visit his old friend.

Before long, an entire company of Jaegers landed on the ground beside them, and quickly contained the situation before a trigger-happy Andalusian could open fire on the Kaiser. From start to finish, the Special Forces Operators believed this to be an incredibly stupid idea. Nevertheless, the Kaiser had insisted on surprising the Field Marshal, and this was surely one way to do such a thing.

While this shocking scene was taking place outside of his home, Adelbrand sat in his office, while signing the latest bill into law. By his side was a young woman with an infant boy in her arms. This woman was Brigida von Chur, the eldest daughter of the Grand Duke of Switzerland.

During his visit to Kufstein during the first Victory Day Celebration, Berengar had forced Adelbrand to mingle with the single noblewomen who were in attendance. While the Prince of Scotland could not even get the attention of Brigida, Adelbrand had ended up walking away from the event with a new Fiancee.

Since then, they had been married, and even had a child together. While Adelbrand wanted nothing more than to return to his ancestral home of Salzburg, he was currently tasked with governing the Sultanate of Al-Andalus on behalf of Berengar's young son, Ghazi. Thus, his wife had left the luxurious confines of the Reich and instead travelled to the war-torn capital of Iberia.

It had been nearly two years since the wars in Europe ended, and Berengar's Pax Germania was declared, and in this time Adelbrand had spent every waking hour rebuilding the region he was tasked with governance of.

What Adelbrand was about to sign into law was an important measure to bridge the gap between the Moorish peoples of southern Iberia and the rest of the ethno-linguistic groups which inhabited the peninsula. He was currently signing a bill which petitioned the dual use of Arabic and Spanish as the primary languages of the Sultanate of Al-Andalus.

This law would establish that Arabic and Spanish were the languages taught in school and used in all government documents. As for the other languages, the schools would have an optional third language course in whatever was locally spoken.

After signing his name away on the document, Adelbrand let out a heavy sigh before handing the bill off to his secretary. He gazed affectionately at his wife before expressing his thanks for all the things she had to put up with by moving to Granada.

"Thank you Brigida, I know I have asked a lot of you since our marriage, and despite your reservations about this life, you have not complained once to me. I really appreciate it."

The woman smiled and nodded her head before returning the man's words.

"It wasn't easy, but little Berengar here is worth the stress!"

Berengar was the name that Adelbrand had chosen for his son, like so many other fathers in the Reich. However, unlike those men who named their sons off of the saintly Kaiser. Adelbrand personally knew and admired the man with a deep sense of passion. Thus, he was honored to name his firstborn after one of his closest friends.

Adelbrand gazed fondly at his infant son and was about to say something when his secretary burst through the door with a panicked expression on her face.

"Sir, the Kaiser is here to see you..."

Adelbrand could hardly believe his ears, he had not received a single notification that the Kaiser would be arriving by sea. Normally, whenever Berengar travelled to Iberia, he would alert his Field Marshal of his visit well in advance.

Yet all of a sudden, Berengar was here to see him. What madness was this? However, before he could complain and assert that his secretary was mistaken, Berengar walked through the doors with a fat smile on his face.

The Kaiser was not dressed in his usual regalia. On the contrary, he was wearing a camouflage tunic in the Leibermuster pattern. On top of his head was an m38 style paratrooper's helmet, with a matching cloth cover. His pants were feldgrau in color, as were the gaiters which wrapped over the ankles of his short black boots.

His load bearing equipment made use of a black leather harness and belt, with leibermuster pattern cloth mag pouches for his Mp-27 submachine gun, which was slung around his back. The man looked like he had come straight out of a war zone, as he hugged Adelbrand in a purely platonic manner, before kissing the man on the forehead and ruffling his hair.

"Adelbrand, my friend, it's been too long! As I was on my way to Cairo, I thought I would drop by and say hello!"

Adelbrand had more than a few questions to ask of his Kaiser, who was standing before him, dressed in a combat uniform. For starters, how the hell did he manage to stop in Iberia when his intended destination was in fucking Egypt? Although he quickly decided there were more important questions to ask. Like how exactly was Berengar here in Granada, and why wasn't he informed in advance?

"I'm sorry. How are you here right now? I mean no offense, but I was not informed of your arrival. If I was, I would have prepared a grand welcoming!"

Berengar scoffed as he heard this, before grabbing hold of the man's shoulder and wrapping his arm around it. Evidently the kaiser was in a good mood as Brigida watched on in astonishment. Although his next words truly stunned the woman.

"Adelbrand, I just descended from over 6,000 meters in the fucking sky. After a fall like that, I think I'm in need of a drink. So how about we hit the nearest tavern, and I will tell you about everything I have been up to lately?"

As a Field Marshal of the German Army, Adelbrand naturally knew about the latest developments in military technology. However, he was stunned when he gazed over at Berengar's chest and saw a pair of silver wings pinned onto his tunic. He could barely believe his eyes before asking the question on his mind.

"You went through Airborne school? You, the Kaiser? Unbelievable..."

Since the moment Berengar's transport planes first took flight, he had immediately recalled his special forces units back to the fatherland to train in Airborne School, naturally as an adrenaline junkie, he himself had taken part in this training, and had earned his own pair of paratrooper wings. Berengar immediately justified his actions with what he might refer to as "solid logic."

"Hey, if I can be the first man to pilot a plane in this world, then I'm damn well going to be the first man to jump out of a plane as well!"

Adelbrand simply shook his head before commenting on the whole situation with a melancholy tone in his voice.

"One of these days you're going to get yourself killed..."

After saying this, he looked over to his wife and apologized before following Berengar off to the nearest tavern.

"Apologies dear, but the Kaiser is requesting my presence... Duty calls..."

The woman was still trying to get over the fact that the Kaiser had just claimed to have fallen over 6,000 meters from the sky, and lived to tell the tale. Thus, she merely nodded her head in silence, with her mouth agape as her husband walked off with what could only be described as the most daring man she had ever met in her life.

As for Berengar, the Jaegers he brought with him acted as his security detail, but the man was not wearing his eyepatch, nor was his hair slicked back in its usual manner, so it was highly unlikely that any potentially hostile elements remaining in the region would recognize him.