Editing City Series:Volume6d Chapter1 (section)

===Part 2===

Germanian nights were bright.

The lights of the underground levels joined together to shine up on the surface and the dome shined down from the sky.

The dome was formed by a giant cross.

The cross was located in northwest Germania, just to the side of Tegel Airport. The dome spread from there and it covered more than just Germania itself. It also covered the bases situated around the city and Germania’s own management bases.

It was a powerful protective umbrella.

A single pair of eyes looked up at it from the center of Germania’s 1st level.

That central area had been left intact because it included so many historical structures. The pair of eyes was located in Berlin Central University located in the very center of that central area.

A large road passed through the university’s main gate and trees were planted along the sidewalks on either side.

The owner of those eyes was crouched at the base of one of those broadleaf trees.

The large man wore a black combat coat. He was big in general, but the prosthetic arm sticking out from his right shoulder was especially noticeable. Big and blocky were the best words for him.

On the solid-looking face below his close-cropped blond hair, two blue eyes looked up into the sky.

His left hand held a thick wooden staff. It was the staff he launched from the cannon attached to his prosthetic arm.

Small maintenance tools were scattered around him like toys.

But he didn’t do anything with the staff or the tools. He simply viewed the sky.

Until a scratchy voice reached him from behind.

“Hey, Hellard. You’re wide open out here, buddy.”

Hearing his name, Hellard Schweitzer turned toward the voice.

The red gem on the earring he wore on the left ear caught the light as he turned.

A man stood within arm’s reach.

Schweitzer was crouched down, so he first saw legs wearing army pants and boots.

Then he saw a combat vest with all the pockets bulging and a hand holding a long sword.

His gaze continued up to find a slender face surrounded by long hair.

Schweitzer frowned when he saw that face.

“Do not sneak up on me, Alfred.”

His chiding received no response and Alfred pulled a small battlefield sheet from a vest pocket. He used just the one hand to unfold the green sheet on the ground next to Schweitzer and sat in it.

“I received word the Messiah has entered the library in cat form. Not long now until we move in to capture her and transfer her to Hamburg Base and the Ton lab there.”

“Yes, we can inject German Tons into her there.” Schweitzer nodded but also frowned a little. “But I never imagined Berger would be hiding out here.”

“Agreed. It sounds like it wasn’t you, me, or Marsch that the director-”

Alfred stopped himself from finishing that thought.

Schweitzer said something else instead.

“Stopping Berger is going to be a challenge. I saw the photo taken of him entering the library. He walks subtly differently now. He must have spent the last year training himself.”

“Just the last year? So have I. I’ve been training myself nonstop ever since Cologne.”

Schweitzer’s eyebrows rose a bit at the mention of Cologne.

Seeing that, Alfred smiled thinly in realization.

“I’m fine. Lady Lillie is at work searching for any remains at the Requiem’s crash site, but…I feel like the gentle greenery there this time of year may be enough to let her rest in peace.”

Alfred ended his statement by pulling something like a bookmark from his pocket.

He held it up so Schweitzer could see it was an ear of wheat held between a folded piece of paper.

The paper had a few letters written on it and a range of dates: 1942 – 1943.

“I heard this was sent as a present to the people invited to last year’s wedding.”

Schweitzer silently nodded and pulled an identical item from his pocket.

He stroked the ear of wheat with a finger.

“I saw green ears growing in the Borderson wheat fields last year. These are likely from there.”

“I don’t get Heidengeists. An ear from a field of golden wheat sounds nice, but in Europe, a land of golden wheat is reminiscent of Valhalla. It’s a bad omen,” complained Alfred, sticking the wheat back in his pocket.

Schweitzer smiled bitterly when he saw that.

“It’s just like you to question it but still carry it with you.”

“The owner’s memory Tons reside in things like this. …We need that.”

Alfred twisted around and reached his left hand out to touch the earring on Schweitzer’s left ear.

“By this point, my ring and your earring are probably soaked more with our memories than hers.” He pulled his hand back and looked to the wheat in Schweitzer’s hand. “It’s ironic, really. If their wheat is growing this well, Borderson must have plenty of food while the war rages on. But once the war ends, Germany will be in need of resources no matter who wins. Food in particular is always necessary after a war.”

“It would be ironic if Borderson’s wheat ended up saving the country.”

“Right? So are those golden fields a part of Valhalla or are they salvation in the real world?”

Alfred sighed.

He looked dejected, almost like he had just remembered something unpleasant.

“Come to think of it, I noticed another irony recently.” He crossed his arms. “About our savior, the Messiah, who arrived here tonight.”

“You mean that the Allies used her to carry their plans? That is ironic, I suppose.”

Schweitzer barely seemed to care, so Alfred lowered his voice.

“What’s with you? I’m saying the Allies have basically sent the Messiah to us.” He sighed. “And I heard we gave them data on our Wort Bombe in exchange. Is that really a good idea?”

Schweitzer did not immediately respond. First, he inserted the staff into his right hand’s cannon. And…

“Those political issues are none of our concern.”

“But did you know the Allies are using information on our auto-ramming ship leaked from Poland in order to build something they call an ACBS? We are in trouble if they load a Wort Bombe on that, Hellard.”

Schweitzer said nothing, letting Alfred’s words wash over him.

He slotted the bottom of the staff into place within his prosthetic arm and locked it with a twist. Then he locked the other end in place by tightening the screws on the ejection point sticking out from his elbow.

The sound of the metal fitting together was joined by Alfred’s sighing voice.

“Schweitzer, the scales of this war are already tilting. And I’m not just talking about the Sofort Lesers around the world finding they can’t read any History Tons past August. We’ve been forced to withdraw from the USSR and the Allies have landed in Sicily. A lot of people have already died, like in Cologne.”

“So you’re wondering why they even need to set up some trick using the Messiah?”

Alfred just about said something on reflex, but he silently nodded instead.

“Try to contain your anger,” said Schweitzer. “Development Division Chief Elrich and the rest of us are working around the clock to stabilize Tristan. The Panzerpolis Project is complete, Germania is well fortified, and the Vaterlands around the world are being boosted, so we and the military will have an easier time fighting and escaping death than previously. Also,” he added. “If we can inject German Tons inside the captured Messiah at Hamburg Base, she cannot escape us again. Then Lowenzahn will work to convince her personally. …We will do everything in our power.”
Alfred did not respond. Instead, he sang a song.

''The wind blows / The night blows / The dragon awakes /The people move /The dragon roars

''The wind arrives from the north / A path arrives from the north

''The knight descends as a knight / The dragon soars high as a dragon

''All is a path to the north star / All is a story of an insurmountable wall

He sang with a gentle but lingering rhythm.

“Lowenzahn’s latest prophecy was identical to the Unreif Germane’s 12th Section of the Soaring Dragon. I was pretty disappointed when I first heard it.”

“Why?”

“We’re here to capture the Messiah, but that prophecy is clearly about a wind from the north. That probably means another bombing like that last one. So…our mission here isn’t protected by our commander’s prophecy. I doubt this is going to go well.”

“You worry too much. The emperor should trust in the new world, if you ask me.”

“But the emperor is a symbol of the old world. Creating a new world is the hero’s job.” He laughed quietly, folding up the sheet and standing up. “Ha ha. Oops. When did I start complaining so much?”

“Hard to say. Was it when you started working for Heiliger?”

“Don’t make fun, Hellard. That was probably part of it, but not all of it. I…” He thought for a moment and then took a much more serious tone. “I don’t think I believe in this Messiah who travels with destiny. When I saw her escape with destiny four years ago…I couldn’t help but be reminded of Eryngium eight years ago.”

Schweitzer looked up at that.

He viewed Alfred’s face. Alfred was smiling while looking up at the giant cross called Tristan. There was no mockery or irony in that smile. It was a powerful smile with eyebrows raised.

Alfred opened his lips a crack while smiling up at the cross.

“…”

But he stopped. He turned away from Schweitzer with a single footstep.

“I’m gonna take a look around the area.”

“The library hasn’t changed. You can even see the director’s repairs to the plumbing.”

“I’m just taking a look around.”

There was a hint of a smile in his voice as he walked away.

Still crouched, Schweitzer smiled too. Then he looked up toward what Alfred had been looking at.

A black cross towered into the sky there. He had been looking at it before Alfred arrived.

He brought it into the center of his vision and touched the earring on his left ear.

“To develop, to fight, to protect, and…”

He stopped talking there and suddenly stood up.

He looked back from below the broadleaf tree and found Alfred was already gone.

After one last glance up at Tristan, Schweitzer began walking as well.

He could see some armored vehicles gathering on the road beyond the main gate.