Hans sat in his office while observing the reports from the German Space Program. It had been decades since humanity first entered space under Berengar's reign, and since then, the German Empire had made great strides towards colonizing the solar system.
With functioning colonies on the moon, and on mars. Humanity had taken its first step towards expanding into the universe that existed beyond the confines of Earth. Luckily, there had been no major disasters in any of the German colonies outside of Earth. Or else the odds of the public being so in support of the aerospace industry would be incredibly low.
However, Hans was currently working on another project entirely. One that would allow much easier access to space. With recent advancements in material science, such as the prevalent use of graphene, and graphene composite within both the construction industry and the technology industry. It was now possible to make structures that were only a dream in the past.
For example, the project that Hans had approved was actually three parts. He intended to build space elevators on Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Which would not only vastly decrease the time it took to travel between the three celestial bodies, but also would allow for much easier transport of materials from Mars and the Moon to Earth.
It was estimated to take a minimum of twenty-five years to build just one space elevator, which would be on Earth. Somewhere around New Swabia. But Hans was confident that with enough resources and manpower dedicated to the project, it could be completed much quicker. Of course, the vast wealth of the German Reich, and the von Kufstein dynasty were more than enough to cover the costs.
After all, the German Reich held most of the Americas, and Africa under their control, with control over much of Asia through contractual agreements. Not to mention all the resources they had been extracting in space.
The amount of resources that the German Reich had at its disposal was virtually limitless, and because of this, they did not need to import raw materials from other countries, which would cut down on the costs of building these space elevators.
While Hans was looking over the expenditure report of their current construction efforts, he received a phone call, which upon glancing at the caller ID, he realized it was from one of his brothers. Hans instantly put the report down and accepted the call, which appeared to be coming from the Nordic Empire, which his younger brother Kristoffer ruled over.
There was a perfectly stoic tone in Hans's voice as he asked the question that immediately appeared in his mind.
"What's up Kris? It must be something important if you're calling me, of all people."
While Hans and Kristoffer were grown men in their forties, they still had a lot of unresolved issues stemming from their childhood. Specifically regarding the favoritism that their father had always displayed towards Hans. Because of this, they were not particularly close. Perhaps that was for the best, because whenever they did speak with one another, they had a habit of getting into petty disputes.
It was so bad that despite both being world leaders of allied nations, Hans and Kris would usually speak to representatives of their counterpart, rather than their actual brothers. For Kris to call Hans so randomly, without even giving him a heads up, something serious must have happened. Which Hans was quick to give voice to.
"I'd like to ask you for a personal favor, not that you are inclined to give me such respect. But I need you to stop your people from illegally crossing my border. I don't know what is going on, but a bunch of Germans are entering Jutland, in a search of something related to the ancient pagan deities that they worship. And they're causing a lot of fucking problems with the local Christians.
Denmark is in a state of unrest because of it, and I might have to march my forces down there to deal with it if you don't!"
Hans sighed heavily as he heard this. Despite the friendly state between the two nations, there was a strong military presence that the border between the German state of Schleswig-holstein, and the Kingdom of Denmark, which was a part of the Nordic Empire.
If people were getting past that border wall, then it meant that someone in the military was allowing them to do so. Every now and then, some corrupt asshole would get into a position of power and cause problems. It was simply human nature to abuse authority.
Because of this, the German Reich was on a constant crusade to remove corrupt officials from positions in both the Government, and Civilian sectors. Knowing that corruption was rearing its ugly head yet again, Hans could not help but pinch the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm himself before responding to his brother's claim.
"I'll look into it... Thank you for alerting me to this development. I promise that within a fortnight, whoever is responsible for this will be court martialled and executed. Now, was there anything else you needed, or can I get back to my work?"
Kristoffer sighed heavily, knowing that he and his older half-brother were likely never to get along in this life. And as much as he wanted to end the call with this asshole, there were some family matters he wanted to discuss.
"I saw the old man on the tv the other day. How is he doing?"
Hans appeared to be rather annoyed by this question and responded with a particularly jaded tone in his voice.
"He's fucking old. How do you think he is doing? Knowing what the old man gets up to in his free time, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a heart attack any day now while banging Brynhildr. Do you know that bitch is still popping out with kids? What are they on now? Their thirtieth child? Or was it their thirty-fifth? I can't even fucking remember..."
Kristoffer simply scoffed at the notion before speaking his thoughts on the matter.
"Well, she is immortal, and you know how our father is. Imagine what Iceland will be like 500 years from now, when they all have the blood of literal battle angels running through their veins."
There was a clear tone of exhaustion in Hans' voice as he spoke the words that he felt were most relatable at this very moment.
"I don't even want to fucking think about that... Jesus, I mean, I'm currently dealing with the aftermath of the man's declaration of tolerance towards Pagan. The Church appears to be backing down, but its more militant elements still want to curb paganism before it takes a permanent hold over the country. I'm meeting with Ludolf tomorrow to ensure that the church ceases its hostilities.
But God damn, you and I both know that the pagan gods are real. It takes all of my resolve not to yell at the Christians and tell them that their religion is a lie. Even if it is the basis of our civilization. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if Paganism just completely replaced the Christian faith in the Reich..."
Kristoffer had a hint of worry in his tone as he spoke about these thoughts regarding this subject.
"Well, I certainly hope that isn't the case. Because if that does happen, then the warrior spirit that ended with our father's reign would be reignited in your people. And they would look to wage war against every country, so that the entire world is German. And there is nothing that any of us could do to stop it."
Hans sighed once more before responding to his brother's fears with an exhausted tone in his voice.
"Perhaps the pacifism of Christianity is necessary, or perhaps it will be the death of us all. I really don't care what religion is the most popular, as long as my people behave like logical and rational human beings. But the people are still very religious, and because of that, it appears I now must meet with the heads of the church.
Well, it has been nice talking to you, little brother. But I need to get back to my work. This damn space elevator isn't going to build itself."
Kristoffer had no idea what a space elevator was, nor did he want to interrupt Hans for much longer. He simply said farewell before hanging up on the man.
"Goodbye Hans, I'm sure we will speak again soon."
With that said, Hans sat back and contemplated on the complex issue regarding the revival of paganism among the German population. In the end, he put away that thought for another time, and got back to reading the Space Elevator's expenditure report.
