Post by Heiko Alkema on Mar 24, 2009 1:48:48 GMT
Location: Bremen, Germany
Current Time: 17:00
Weather Conditions: Overcast and windy with the temperature hovering somewhere between "chilly" and "frosty"
It had been a long time since Heiko had been home. He had been all over the this continent and Africa before ever setting eyes on this city. He had seen vast plains, steppes, and deserts; seemingly indomitable mountains, seas, and forests; the massive cities of Paris, Moscow, and Madrid. All over these places had not prepared Heiko for the what Bremen had become.
It almost seemed as if every other building in the city had been reduced to nothing more than a pile of broken stone and wooden splinters. The higher stature of the Alkema family hadn't protected them any more than anyone else. The grandmother that had helped raise him had been enjoying a park one fine day when the bombers came. His mother refused to go into any further detail about the incident, and in a way Heiko was thankful for that. In addition to his grandmother, Heiko had lost four cousins, an aunt, and two uncles for a total of eight family members dead. Most of them had died when a poorly designed bomb shelter had collapsed around them.
Heiko drew his coat a little tighter as a gust of wind blew through the old cemetery. His nose and cheeks were red from his body fighting to keep him warm. In front of him stood the eight fresh graves along with numerous others all with one thing in common; the name Alkema carved into each one. Two of the headstones had a swastikas and "Heil Hitler" scrawled over them in bright red paint. These were the graves of Uwe and Izo Alkema, Heiko's grandfather and uncle respectively; these men were the sole reason Heiko wore a uniform at this moment. Their deaths had proven more than anything else that Germany needed protection, from forces within as much as those without.
The most ornate of the head stones was that of his father, Siemen Alkema. He had been a Hauptmann in the Great War, serving with distinction until he was slain by French artillery only a half hour before the armistice went into effect. It was tallest of all those here standing at almost chest height with the Eagle carved into the top. Below that was the inscription “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” Heiko's father had written a will earlier in the war in which he stated that this quote be etched into his grave.
Heiko had never quite understood the meaning of it until he himself had gone to war. He felt he was fighting two wars, the obvious one against the allied nations and second, more personal, silent war against those driving Germany onward. Heiko had pulled as many unsure minds to him and his views in his time in the army. He now had twenty men loyal to him and Germany herself rather than Hitler and his ilk. A silent war of ideas, a war Heiko felt he was winning... unlike the external one.
Current Time: 17:00
Weather Conditions: Overcast and windy with the temperature hovering somewhere between "chilly" and "frosty"
It had been a long time since Heiko had been home. He had been all over the this continent and Africa before ever setting eyes on this city. He had seen vast plains, steppes, and deserts; seemingly indomitable mountains, seas, and forests; the massive cities of Paris, Moscow, and Madrid. All over these places had not prepared Heiko for the what Bremen had become.
It almost seemed as if every other building in the city had been reduced to nothing more than a pile of broken stone and wooden splinters. The higher stature of the Alkema family hadn't protected them any more than anyone else. The grandmother that had helped raise him had been enjoying a park one fine day when the bombers came. His mother refused to go into any further detail about the incident, and in a way Heiko was thankful for that. In addition to his grandmother, Heiko had lost four cousins, an aunt, and two uncles for a total of eight family members dead. Most of them had died when a poorly designed bomb shelter had collapsed around them.
Heiko drew his coat a little tighter as a gust of wind blew through the old cemetery. His nose and cheeks were red from his body fighting to keep him warm. In front of him stood the eight fresh graves along with numerous others all with one thing in common; the name Alkema carved into each one. Two of the headstones had a swastikas and "Heil Hitler" scrawled over them in bright red paint. These were the graves of Uwe and Izo Alkema, Heiko's grandfather and uncle respectively; these men were the sole reason Heiko wore a uniform at this moment. Their deaths had proven more than anything else that Germany needed protection, from forces within as much as those without.
The most ornate of the head stones was that of his father, Siemen Alkema. He had been a Hauptmann in the Great War, serving with distinction until he was slain by French artillery only a half hour before the armistice went into effect. It was tallest of all those here standing at almost chest height with the Eagle carved into the top. Below that was the inscription “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” Heiko's father had written a will earlier in the war in which he stated that this quote be etched into his grave.
Heiko had never quite understood the meaning of it until he himself had gone to war. He felt he was fighting two wars, the obvious one against the allied nations and second, more personal, silent war against those driving Germany onward. Heiko had pulled as many unsure minds to him and his views in his time in the army. He now had twenty men loyal to him and Germany herself rather than Hitler and his ilk. A silent war of ideas, a war Heiko felt he was winning... unlike the external one.
