Published at 1st of June 2026 6:23 am

Chapter 963: Gungnir 1

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A few years passed in the blink of an eye. Kaiser Wilhelm III’s early reign was marked by an unprecedented period of peace, prosperity, and growth.

Major projects like the continental infrastructure project continued to make headway, and foreign wars were virtually nonexistent.

The reason was simple: the Reich had retreated from global military control towards regional stability.

Wars fought on the other side of the world were no concern of theirs outside trade security, and any threat posed to such a thing was met with swift, decisive, and overwhelming force from the Werwolf Group and the New-Hanseatic League.

Both of which provided fire and fury to threats abroad through unsanctioned and overwhelming violence.

Any pockets of resistance that continued to persist found themselves cut off, isolated, burned, and forgotten. One did not gain access to the New Order if they resisted cooperation.

Bruno aided Wilhelm III with ongoing developments of the Reich, and spent the rest of his time resting at home with his ever increasing family.

Alliances were forged, grandchildren, and great grandchildren continued to spawn. And soon enough Bruno and Heidi would be great, great grandparents.

But throughout it all, Erwin, Bruno’s son, played the largest role. If Bruno simply existed to enact laws and purge corruption. Then Erwin was the architect of the new era.

Total control over the family’s consortium, which was the largest conglomerate of industries, businesses, and scientific think groups on the planet have him unprecedented power to continue his father’s dream, leading Germany to heights beyond this terrestrial realm.

In years past, Baldr-1 proved what mankind has often dreamed but failed to achieve: mankind can slip the bonds of the Earth and enter the great void beyond.

No longer were satellites in space, but space stations were erected, space telescopes were launched, but deep space probes were strictly prohibited from even being attempted.

In Bruno’s past life, the first Voyager satellites had included golden records which contained the greatest achievements of human culture and history to that date.

To this day, Bruno could not understand what NASA and the US Government were thinking. Telling any extraterrestrial lifeforms that may come across such a device a giant glowing beacon of pulsars back to Earth, and a curated history of its few points of decency was a recipe for disaster.

Not to mention any species that advanced would be able to form what was essentially a high school equation of trajectory to accurately pinpoint its origins.

It was a millions year long gamble that whatever awaited out there was an enlightened entity, and not another monster in the dark forest that was the universe waiting for its next prey.

Bruno didn’t truly know if life existed out there in the universe, but the probability was stacked in its favor. And if such a thing was likely to exist, let alone more likely than not, he needed to act like it would behave under the same universal laws that humanity evolved under.

So, for the time being, the Reich’s space program and government contractors acted with restraint. The objective being not to map the known universe, or even the entirety of the solar system, but to first get to where they could feasibly reach.

Erwin had inherited his father’s vision, responsibilities, and skeptical nature towards existence itself.

And with him at the helm of the private sector, and his father as the Chancellor they built a series of safeguards and protocols that didn’t stunt extra-terrestrial development, but didn’t treat it with the reckless abandon of a new frontier.

Today, Bruno stood beside his son as they gazed upon the completion of their multi-year long project.

Decades of understanding in rocketry, aerodynamics, and astrophysics went into producing this masterpiece.

It was called Gungnir-1. If the Odin series of satellites had created the web of wisdom that now gave the Reich unfettered access to the world and its dealings, and the Baldr series of rockets had been used as a tested to put men into space.

Then Gungnir was the spear of the gods that would pierce through the barriers that shrouded mid-grade and connect humanity with the cosmos beyond at a more permanent level.

The rocket sat on a platform as it was being prepared for today’s launch. It was a monumental day in humanity’s history. And it had come nearly two decades earlier than his past life. Today was July 16, 1949.

And somewhere undisclosed in the fatherland Gungnir-1 sat, while Bruno, Erwin, and Kaiser Wilhelm III all stood gathered in the command center, watching it on the screens, remaining utterly silent in respect.

Ultimately, Bruno was the one to speak his mind, shaking his head, with both awe and excitement in his voice.

"I must say.... I never thought I’d live to see this day."

The two men looked over at him with narrowed eyes. Erwin being the one to speak the accusation forming in both of their minds.

"You speak as if you knew this day was going to come to pass?"

Erwin would be lying if he said he didn’t understand that throughout his life, his father always seemed like he understood exactly how history would unfold in certain ways.

But he had always chalked it up to exceptional foresight, pattern recognition, and general genius.

This, however, was a bit too specific a thing for Bruno to comment on, and Bruno did not deny the allegation.

"Who knows, maybe I did?"

The remark only caused Erwin and Wilhelm III to sigh and shake their hands. It was always this way with Bruno, he would say something almost like a prophecy coming to pass, and then give an even more cryptic response when questioned on it.

By now the two men knew better than to ask, and yet they did so all the same. Finally, Goring approached, his head bowing to the Kaiser and the former Reichsmarschall with deference.

"Your Majesty, all things are prepared and accounted for. We are simply awaiting the countdown."

Kaiser Wilhelm III looked over at Bruno and Erwin for a second, a look of hesitation on his face.

"Well, this is your project, surely you wish to-"

He was cut off as both men shook their heads and took a step back from the limelight. With Bruno offering the words that Wilhelm would never forget.

"Command is yours, Kaiser, we await your orders."

Kaiser Wilhelm III turned around and gazed at the scene: military officers, German scientists, and mathematicians, all present and standing at attention. Waiting for their Kaiser to give the order.

And for the first time since he had first succeeded his father, Wilhelm III stood there, realizing the overwhelming weight of responsibility he held in his position.

His fingers trembled as he reached towards the microphone, looking up at the screen, and the crew aboard the capsule, waiting patiently for the countdown to begin.

He turned the microphone on and gave his orders, after quelling the anxiety welling in his chest.

"The launch sequence is to be initiated in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five..."

The numbers continued to trickle down as sweat pooled on his forehead until finally he concluded the order.

"One.... Blast off!"

The launch was ignited instantly, and the rocket began to propel the German Cosmic Travellers into the sky at breakneck speeds.

Kaiser Wilhelm III did not sit, he did not relax, he stood there silently, breathlessly as he made a silent prayer for the success and safety of those who had taken an enormous risk on behalf of the German Reich’s future.

The rocket suffered no complications upon exiting the atmosphere and performed exactly as it should through multiple stages. It was then and only then that he sighed in relief, collectively along with every man in the room, Bruno included.

Bruno watched as the capsule headed straight for the moon and couldn’t help but comment on the event.

"It really is different to watch with your won eyes, isn’t it?"

Nobody heard him, but in his past life he had been born too late to witness the moon landing, and on the other side of the Iron Curtain. But here and now, even though it would still be days before the landing operation began, he felt like he had truly and irreversibly changed the course of history.

Sure, the most turbulent era of the 20th century had already been changed by his actions ,and the world had changed drastically because of it. But landing on the moon two decades before the last. That was a marker that truly made him understand that everything had been worth it in the end.

Because of him, the Reich, Prussia, and Germany had survived.... And would now plant its stainless banner on the moon, not as a mark of first contact or discovery, but sovereign conquest.

He could not even begin to understand how the world would exist in the year of our Lord 2024, which was the year that Karl Wagner had perished in the streets of Hamburg. Only that it would be a vastly different, hopefully better world.

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