Published at 11th of January 2026 8:29 am

Chapter 822: The Hydra

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Bruno slept in his bunk aboard the SMS Bismarck. The Grand carrier which was the pride and joy of the German High Seas Fleet sat in the bay outside of Havana. Flanked by its twin Sister, and all of its supporting vessels.

The light above his head illuminated slowly, giving his brain time to adjust to the silent alarm that signaled his presence was needed.

Judging by the ungodly hour, either something had gone horribly wrong, or the Americans had made a move.

Because of this, the man roused from his slumber, and climbed out of his bed, dressing in a flight suit, and a pair of deck boots before stepping out of his quarters and into the illuminated streets of the floating city.

Few recognized Bruno without his usual glitz and glamour. The Marshal of the Realm wearing nothing but a standard flight suit did not turn heads quite the same.

Most who were still awake at this hour, and passing him by did not give Bruno a second glance. Instead, they assumed he was just one of the many older staff officers. A quick salute as they passed as a professional courtesy.

But none stared and gawked that the most powerful man in the Reichsheer was standing right in front of them.

Eventually Bruno arrived at the bridge and announced his presence with a gruff and unpleasant voice.

"This better be important, or someone is getting keelhauled for waking my ass so early in the goddamn morning..."

Grand Admiral Karl Donitz snapped his fingers, prompting an aide to quickly fetch Bruno a warm cup of coffee, and a folder. Which Bruno quickly took with a gracious nod of his head, before downing half the cup in one go.

Blinking his eyes as the life slowly returned to his mind and body, he then fumbled through the folder looking at the intelligence report which had just been sent to them from Berlin.

The men gathered at the table seemed oddly nervous, almost panicking as they dared not look at Bruno, but merely cast each other fearful glances, practically flinching every time Bruno took a sip from his cup, or flipped the folder.

And when Bruno had finished skimming its contents, he placed the folder on the table, and his mug on the coaster nearby.

"And? You woke me up for this?"

The Naval Intelligence officer seemed surprised; the information in the dossier was a security risk to their operations as a whole. Hell to the entire Central Powers, he could not believe Bruno did not take it as seriously as a threat as he did.

Bruno could tell by the squaring of the man’s shoulders that he was about to protest. And he was quick to cut him off before he did so.

"Relax... I’ve known about this operation for months. Our friends in the NDR warned me about this when the Russians were first planning it. Do you really think the Russians could invade Alaska without my knowing? They might think they’ve pulled the wool over our eyes, but we have known about this for some time."

Grand Admiral Karl Donitz sighed heavily in relief, his shoulders even falling down a bit, as if he had suddenly lost control of his spine.

If Bruno was aware, then everything was fine. As for the Naval Intelligence Officer, he bristled upon hearing that the NDR had beaten him and the entirety of the Imperial Military Reconnaissance & Intelligence Service in acquiring this knowledge.

There were three primary intelligence services in the German Reich. The first was the Reich Security Service, also known as the Reichssicherheitsdienst (RSD).

They were the result of the merging of the Prussian Secret Police, formerly and briefly rebranded as the Ministry for State Security, and the Federal Police following the end of the Great War.

With the Federal Police trying to bring Bruno down, they were ultimately outplayed by him. Bruno used his temporary wartime powers that had yet to be fully surrendered to reorganize what remained of the two agencies into a formal imperial institution that acted as both Federal Police and internal intelligence services.

In layman’s terms, they were like the Stasi, FSB, and FBI from Bruno’s past life merged into one large organization.

The second intelligence agency was the Reich Intelligence Service, also known as the Nachrichtendienst des Reiches (NDR), which operated as the foreign sister to the RSD.

They were a foreign intelligence agency that operated outside German borders, undertaking a variety of operations that Germany needed to conduct abroad. They were akin to the KGB or CIA during Bruno’s past life.

Finally, there was the Imperial Military Reconnaissance & Intelligence Service, otherwise known as Kaiserlicher Militärischer Aufklärungsdienst (KMA).

This consisted of what remained of the original Abteilung III b, and was expanded significantly, and reduced in scope. From military intelligence and counter intelligence on the home front, to explicitly strategic recon, battlefield intel, targeting, interception, and analysis for the Reichsheer.

There was a fourth, and unofficial intelligence service that Germany often made use of, even if there were no records of its existence. And that was the Cerberus Brigade, a group of intelligence operators working for the infamous Werwolf Group.

But few knew of their existence. And those who did either didn’t live long enough to speak its name, or were a part of it.

As for Naval Intelligence, it was part of the KMA. And the fact that they had fallen behind their civil counterpart meant that the Naval Intelligence officer was both deeply ashamed, and frustrated with this reality.

Still, he couldn’t help but ask the question possessing his mind at that very moment. No matter how inappropriate it may have been for him to do so.

"Excuse me, sir... I know I shouldn’t be asking this, but if you were already aware of the Russians’ plans why didn’t you stop them?"

Bruno looked at the Naval Intelligence officer while sipping from his cup of coffee again as if he had just asked the most obvious question in the world.

And when he realized the man was eagerly awaiting his response, he placed his cup down once more and sighed.

"Because it’s inconsequential to our plans regarding the United States of America. Alaska is just a territory, and Russia has ancient claims to the land. While they sold it in the previous century to the United States, an opportunity has presented itself for Russia to reclaim it. And I would not deny my son-in-law that glory."

The naval intelligence officer gazed at Bruno in awe. As if he were some benevolent, all-knowing force of nature.

Or perhaps the young man had simply forgotten that Bruno was the father-in-law of the Russian Tsar.

Either way, there was a certain sparkle in the man’s blue eyes that hinted he realized just how vast the world truly was, and how different it was for those at the top of its peaks.

Bruno then closed the folder and handed it back to the naval intellgience officer.

"Now that I’m awake, and properly caffeinated I suppose there is no going back to sleep. So, let’s get to work. Tell me how goes the effort to conquer the rest of Cuba?"

The Naval Intelligence officer quickly snapped out of his daze and snapped to attention.

"Sir! Havana has fallen, Batista is dead, and the rebel leadership has been decapitated in the fallout. Our allies have successfully landed, and the Cuban Army or what remains of it appears to be surrendering upon first contact with our forces. As of this moment, we are performing cleanup operations. And nothing more. The projection seems to be that within the week the rest of the nation will fall in line, if that."

Bruno realized that despite having been woken up, summoned to the bridge, and given a stimulant, he did not have enough left to warrant such an early day.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he nodded his head thrice.

"Very well, keep at it. I’m going to go see if I can complete the remainder of my night’s rest. As you were, gentlemen...."

Bruno then walked off without saying another word. And it was only after he was gone that the entire command staff sighed in unison.

The Grand Admiral was quick to snap his attention towards the naval intelligence officer.

"I suppose at this point, any news that isn’t the fatherland being completely on fire, is basically something we should assume the Reichsmarchall is already aware of, and has accounted for?"

The Naval Intelligence officer looked over at the intelligence report once more, suddenly feeling so foolish as he came to a sudden conclusion.

"I suppose next time it would be wiser to awaken Generalfeldmarschall von Koch before we’re certain the Reichsmarschall’s presence is needed?"

Karl Donitz did not disagree with this statement. Nor did he verbally express support either. He simply gazed out the window, into the darkness of the early morning over Havana, before the sun had risen to reveal its beauty that was now tainted with blood and ash.

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