Volume 1 Chapter 8: Behind The Iron Gate

Amsterdam, Holland

A large transport ship steamed into the port.

Armed guards awaited the ship as personnel hooked the ship to the dock and unloaded basic ramps and other needed things.

Finally the crew disembarked first with the captain in lead.

He met an officer outside the ship and shook hands. After exchanging a few words the captain tipped his cap and left.

The officer waved to his soldiers, together they started boarding the ship.

This inspection went on for about a hour as dozens of soldiers swept the entire ship.

Finally the soldiers got off and the crew started unloading the cargo.

This cargo was special because it contained no war material nor foodstuffs. It contained POWs from the two recent battles.

Men, women and children wearing handcuffs walked off the ship under the watchful eye of the guards.

There was a small crowd of port workers watching the procession. However they were quickly dispersed with angry shouts from the guards.

Several Opel Blitz trucks were idling by the the side of the port. The prisoners here edged at gunpoint into the trucks. After the truck was almost full, two armed guards climbed in per truck.

The prisoners were warned beforehand that all acts of aggression would mean that the entire truck would be killed. They also told them to always remain silent and they would punish them if any protocols were breached.

This quickly suppressed all potential acts of escape.

The officers and conscripts were separated from the ex-slaves to avoid conflicts.

The trucks rolled down the road in a convoy. Civilian cars and military vehicles clogged the streets as the traffic director was waving in various directions.

Once the convoy passed they kept going until they reached Dachau, Germany. The facility has been cleansed with chemical bleach and all buildings were demolished and rebuilt with better ones.

The Kaiser was very specific with how he wanted prison camps to run. He knew the consequences on the German people in his timeline due to these camps.

Each cabin was extended to fit additional people. The rectangular building was built with concrete and plaster. There were two sets of doors on each side of the shorter end of the building. This created two hallways.

Before the renovation there were no barriers and bunks crammed in aver space possible. However in the new building there was a hallway with divided rooms on each side.

Inside each room was two bunk beds on each side. Each mattress could open up to revel a small storage area for items. Several baskets were in the front of the room along the wall. These were for laundry.

Each cabin had a capacity of 64 people. In total eight of these buildings were in this camp.

The furnace and prototypes of gas chambers were also demolished and in the place a basketball court was constructed.

This camp was basically very boring so to pass the time the Kaiser ordered several jobs to be available.

There was the garden, a 4 acre plot, which grew majority of the food for the camp so food imports were minimal.

Also there was a small plant at the side of the camp in which jobs like canning of food or spinning cloth were jobs.

Another job was miner. The Kaiser knew the risks of mining as he as from a world in which his timeline was considered the future so he mandated that all workers would wear gas masks and air filtration systems were upgraded.

Inspectors frequently visited and imposed fines or revoked licenses if breaches were found.

What wasn't mandated but was recommended was using spray lines to use water to catch dust.

The final job was factory work. Unlike the local one one, prisoners would be shipped out to a large factory. The Kaiser has implemented similar rules for factories. Safety and food purity measures were announced the the population rejoiced. The factory owners and managers were not happy but the Kaiser convinced them that safer workers meant that they would produce more and earn more to buy more. His ideals of consumerism resonated well with them so they relented and implemented the changes.

There were however many smaller minor jobs based on the skills of the prisoner.

Once the convoy arrived to Dachau the POWs were escorted off and lined up.

Several queues led to the main doors where German men were taking note of everyone. Names, birth date, birth place, family members, education, rank, army status everything was asked.

Several burly armed men always were behind the record keeper to intimidate the POW into telling the truth.

Inside the gates men were separated from women which caused distress among siblings and couples. Once they were assured that this was temporary they calmed down.

They had photos taken of them for the record and undressed where medics of the same gender examined them.

Some confusion occurred with monster people who didn't have genders or genders beyond male or female. This caused significant headaches as they didn't know how to document them.

The resolved this when on of the staff volunteered to change genders to their gender (AU: what crack am I smoking?). Using a magical procedure staffed by doctors keen to observe something new.

The volunteer was a young man who was obsessed with gender fluidity. He turned into a gender fluid man and then examined the other POWs.

The POWs then changed into a bright orange prison uniforms. This was another change made by the Kaiser. He wanted more visibility on the prisoners in case of an escape and uniformed numbers which were not tattoos.

Each person had a number which represented their identity.

0000000

First number was the barrack number

Second number was the gender

Third number was the status

Fourth number was the danger level

The last three were the serial code for individual identity

For example:

2232125

2: second barrack

2: female (male is 1, other is 3)

3: ex-slave (1 is nobility, 2 is soldier, 4 is other)

4: out of 5 danger, 1 being the most and 5 the least

And then serial code (128th person in said barrack)

They were ordered to take their cloths off and put them in a pile.

This was done reluctantly but the guns of the soldiers convinced them to change.

Then they were led to a large shower room where lukewarm water rained on them.

Small amounts of shampoo and soap were issued and they quickly washed themselves.

After they were assigned their clothes, every barrack were gathered together and lined up in accessing order.

Guards flanked all sides of the prisoner mass whole foremen and women spoke to their respective groups.

They announced their schedule, living conditions and other rules.

The prisoners were surprised. They were not expecting this type of treatment.

The rules were very lenient and the jobs were not too difficult. The common soldiers were shocked. Active combatants were usually put to hard labor in horrible conditions. These conditions were better than their jobs back home.

The slaves were expected to suffer even worse fates. It was common for children to be kidnapped and sold as pets and women to be raped. This world was cruel to the losers.

However in this prison there was no such thing. All staff were threatened with harsh repercussion if they were abuse any of the prisoners without key, justifiable reasoning. Even then a superior needed to be with them with a rulebook.

After the rules were finished being announced for all to hear. The doors opened and they prisoners were escorted to their room.

4 to a room with family placed together. Those with large families were split between two rooms.

At the center of the complex was a large administrative building. Inside houses various people and officers.

In one of the officer room Allyssa started to stir. She woke up in a strange bed.

She tried to move but her arms were handcuffed to the bed.

After struggling for a bit she gave up and sighed.

The noise alerted the guard outside who brought his superior to the room.

The door opened and a man with a sleek build and dark brown hair. His eyes seemed to be closed and face in a permanent smile but he seemed to stare with a sense of superiority.

This immediately put Allyssa on her guard as she didn't like how the man was observing her from the doorway.

Then another person, a woman, entered the room. She wore a nurse's apron, light blue blouse and distinct white cap with a red cross. She was pretty with black hair and about 5" 1'.

She carried a set of folders and spoke with the officer for a bit.

Then she placed them and walked out.

The officer pulled a chair up and say down.

Allyssa couldn't help but feel pressured.

"What do you want?"

He sat there with his left knee up and his chin resting on his knee. Both hands were clasped on that knee for support.

Allyssa felt very uncomfortable.

"How do you speak German."

The officer finally asked a question.

The girl paused.

"No you are speaking English."

"What?"

The two paused. This answer was not what the officer was expecting as his pupils were visible.

Then his eyes closed again. He smiled once more.

"How convenient. Language barrier was my chief concern."

"It's probably the gods' protection. It grants heroes the ability to communicate with others."

"That's doesn't make sense, how were we able to converse with the locals here? I even heard the princess speak."

"What, the princess?"

Shit. The officer spoke too much.

He then slowed down.

"I do not think you are right. We are able to understand all people here no matter what language they speak. I think it's some supernatural being interfering but I am not of position to say. Ask the minister of foreign affairs."

Allyssa then thought and pondered for a moment. This was not what was told to them before in the Kingdom. She remembered the skepticism of her friend Maria. Wait Maria.

"Wait! Where is Maria!"

"I don't know who that is."

"Um, she is about 5" 7', tan skin, long brown hair which reach her waist, would archer class."

Then she started rambling.

It was hard for the officer to listen to her so he just sat there and listened.

The girl's mutters turned into uncontrollable sobs. She started wailing with the officer just sitting there.

The door cracked open and the nurse peeked in.

"Erich, what did you do."

"Emma, I didn't do a thing."

"Bullshit."

The nurse walked into the room and knelt down to the sobbing teenager. She called out to her and embraced her. Emma started calming the girl down while the officer Erich sat uncomfortably.

_____________________________________________________

August 24th, 1941

Three days later

The Kaiser sat in his chair. Work has been slowly increasing. He spent each day to remodeling his empire. With his knowledge of the future and giving his subjects hints and bits of information about new techniques and technologies, they were slowly getting better equipment and overall efficiency.

The industry was revamped with strict safety and regulation precautions. Healthcare was raised as one of Germany's highest concerns. The military was slowly phasing bolt action guns with the new StG 41s.

The hmgs and lmgs were still useful as they were more powerful than the smaller assault rifles. Rifles were fitted for more auxiliary and sniper action.

All of this work was tedious. Even if his subordinates could understand him not all results were satisfactory. He had to cancel efforts to making the V1 early since he had no clue how it worked.

"Ah this is so stressful."

Wilhelm threw his hands into the air. That next day the invasion was scheduled. He was eager to listen to reports of his armies and was keen on seeing the extent of their capabilities.

Suddenly he felt dizzy and wobbly. He stumbled to the edge of his desk.

Gripping it with both hands he looked at and saw himself in the mirror.

"You again."

"How rude, I am you."

"Stop saying that. I get it that I am you and you are me. What do you want this time."

"I felt bad. I forgot to give you something. A gift. I admire your efforts despite not knowing of the existence of this."

The other Wilhelm waved his left hand and gestured in the air. Wilhelm's dizziness immediately stopped.

Wilhelm enraged tried to get up was stopped by a wall of translucent mass.

He tired touching it but it was not solid yet not gas. It was kind of pushing your arm inside a tube of wet rags. Damp, cold but solid while you could still move about inside it.

"It feels like cold putty."

"Correct. That's what it supposed to feel like. This is incredibly dense air. It enough to feel and see but not enough pressure to pulverize your arm."

Wilhelm quickly pulled his arm out.

"Haha, anyways. See these multicolored tabs up here."

The other Wilhelm pointed to several multicolored tabs on the condensed air mass.

"Yeah, I see them."

"Now try switching tabs in your mind. As if you fingers were pressing the respective keys on the keyboard."

"Okay."

Wilhelm cycled through the tabs. He was shocked. How could this other Wilhelm give this to him now? He was able to view his entire nation in a 3rd party view.

On the red tab was his name, portrait, focuses, empty research focus bar, various filled and not filled in minister slots, high command slots, company slots and other slots which were in the base game.

He was able to see resistance and compliancy in various territories. As well as manage spies.

The orange tab was filled with empty (except one) research slots. He was currently researching Leopard 1A5: 14235 days till completion.

The yellow tab showed diplomatic demo graphs of a large map with clouds covering unknown areas. Currently parts of the ocean to their south and bay to their north as well as the Kingdom of Epruilon and Empire of Kursk were visible.

They were neutral with the Empire of Kursk but at war with the Kingdom. Their land glowed a bright red.

The green tab showed trade and natural resources. Currently they were not trading with anyone.

The blue tab showed construction and percentage of consumer factories. On the right side was a bar filled with potential constructible buildings and facilities ranging from static anti air guns to military factories.

The purple bar showed production. In it was:

(AU: heavily simplified. Example: item | # of factories assigned to produce | % of efficiency)

Infantry weapons | 12 | 67%

Artillery | 10 | 70%

Airplanes | 15 | 89%

Support equipment | 10 | 98%

CAS/TAC/STRAT/NAV | 20 | 45%

Heavy tanks | 7 | 67%

Medium tanks | 6 | 61%

Motorized | 10 | 50%

Light tanks | 6 | 64%

Mechanized | 6 | 60%

Anti tank | 5 | 32%

Anti air | 5| 33%

Cargo plane | 4 | 49%

Amtrak | 2 | 12%

Glider tank | 1 | 10%

(AU: from here factories are changed out with dockyards)

Convoy | 7 | 100%

Battleship | 5 | 72%

Aircraft carrier | 5 | 80%

Battlecruiser | 4 | 91%

Heavy cruiser | 4 | 85%

Light cruiser | 8 | 94%

Destroyer | 9 | 94%

Submarine | 15 | 78%

The grey tab showed inventory of all equipment produced, rates produced and requirements by various branches.

The white, black and pink tabs showed the army, navy and airforce in order. All statistics could be found there.

On the top of the mass of air were tabs that always showed their information no matter which tab was selected.

(From left to right)

Flag

Events

Stability

War support

Manpower

Factory numbers

Xp (used for reorganization of division templates and creating variants of existing models)

Nuclear weapons

Time

Wilhelm noticed that the game speed option was gone. The menu was also gone. The help button was still there.

Banners lined the area under the tabs which showed things of urgency such as empty research slots, enemy potential action or outdated equipment in production.

Wilhelm felt the need to slap himself and his mirror image. This perk would have allowed him to upgrade and reorganize the whole country within a few months.

"You asshole. Why didn't you give me this earlier? I wasted so much time and effort going all of this manually."

"I felt that this was too easy for you. Eventually you will come across situations where this ability would not help you. You need to do those thing manually. You understand?"

Wilhelm held back a curse. He knew that his mirror was right. He would rely on this ability too much. He could imagine countless situations in which he would die if he never used his outside ability besides this one.

He marveled, he could solve all of work within a few hours.

He got to work and started blitzing through all of the paperwork.

He started numerous construction projects including more synthetic oil refineries which doubles as rubber plants. More military factories were ordered.

He filled the other three research slots with construction effort, industry effort and he rushed the Panzer V panther.

He assigned generals to all theaters. He edited the attack plan for the Kingdom of Epruilon. He wanted to capture Wallaceburg as soon as possible. With this he deployed the 7th Panzer Division with famous desert fox Erwin Rommel as commander.

Three more tank and five more motorized divisions were assigned to the attack order.

Half of all of Germany's planes idled and waited for that attack which would occur the next day.

Three hours later and Wilhelm was done with all of his work.

"VICTORY!"

Then a sharp knock came from his door.

Wilhelm stumbles into his chair.

"Come on in."

He was readjusting his tie and uniform when princess Adriana walked in.

She was wearing a long blue dress which exposed her shoulders. Her hair was not styled.

She walked over and sat on the edge of Wilhelm's desk.

"Dear, you spend too long working. It's not good for your health. I read in one of your books that stress can kill you."

"I know, I just got a way to clear my schedule. C'mere."

The two then embraced. It was a while since they spent time together.

The embrace turned into a slow passionate kiss.

"Um sir..."

An officer arrived with a message. It was from the Dachau Camp. They had gathered intel on otherworldly heroes.

He watched the two having their moment and decided not to enter.

He left them to their embrace and walked away.