The Last War - A Post World War Dieselpunk Quest

It was a slow walk from the trenches. The mud was quite bad, probably a recent rain, and with your side still hurting, you were not that fast in the first place. It left you some time to stitch together your last memories. You had been part of an assault, driving a Spider walker through no-mans-land. It was probably the first sign of the bad luck to follow when you had been assigned to that thing. Not all that much armor and the flamethrower fuel tended to not like getting shot at. Must have been an anti-tank rifle that got you. Anything heavier and you would not haven be able to complain anymore.

In the rear trenches, you took a brief rest and scavenged for some medical supplies and whatever else seemed useful, but it was clear that others had picked the trenches clean already. Not a single soldier was in sight and few dead to be found in the trenches, more officers than rank and file, with most dugouts cleaned out. In one though you could scrounge up some morphine and fresh bandages, so you took some time to tend to your wounds.

The bandages on your right side were almost soaked in blood, but it had all dried by now. Beneath were a few deceptively harmless looking shrapnel wounds all over the left of your ribs. They were red and tender, but at lest the wounds weren't wet. Bad, but not a death sentence just yet. So, you cleaned it up, wrapped yourself in bandages as well as you could and took some of the morphine to dull the pain. It was still a good bit of walking ahead of you.

Before setting out again, you went over the meagre results of your scavenging. Two Lugers, of which only one was in working order, four strips of ammo, a tin of crackers and half a bottle of morphine. In your own pockets, you had only a broken pocket watch and one of your identifying tags. It was strange to notice that the other was missing. The others truly had believed you dead and dumped you with the other corpses.

On the emailed metal only were a few letters 'Maximillian Geißler, Brunowstraße 8, Berlin'. They hadn't bothered printing unit names to the things since the previous year, as units got torn to shreds so fast that people kept getting shuffled around to keep at least some formations with more than bare bones personal. Would they send the other one to your mother as proof that you would not come home? When you father had been drafted and fallen not six months later, they were still sending some nice looking officer to say how dreadfully sorry the Kaiser was about the loss, but word in the trenches was that they did not bother with that anymore. One more reason to get home.

It was almost dusk by the time you reached the artillery post, and it was in just as sorry a state as the trenches. Half the cannons had been blown to pieces; others sunken deep into the mud and still tied with ropes to dead horses that had tried and failed to draw them away. A few soldiers milled around, but most of them were busy with their own affairs. Some were butchering the horses for meat. Others tried to get the few still living ones saddled up or lashed to one of the carts. There were even a few trucks around, though most of them were stuck in the mud too or clearly damaged and broken down.

"You look lost, tanker," one of the soldiers called to you while you were still looking over the trucks. He was leaning on the only one that looked ready to go.

You raised your hand in greeting and walked closer. "I'm looking for a way home. Like everyone else it seems."

"Most are gone already. You are one of the stragglers." As he spoke he drew out a squashed pack of cigarettes and offered you one. "Gefreiter Stadler, 6th Armored Assault Company."

You took both the cigarette and the offered lighter. "Driver Geißler, 3rd Armored Cavalry. Wasn't aware that we had any stormtroopers left here."

"I'm not from this part of the front. Got sent here just today to look after whatever is worth salvaging here."

"The army still exists?" You looked around the field base once more, carefully giving every man there a once-over to make sure it was not an officer, but there was none. "It doesn't look as if there is anyone left giving orders."

"Been out for a while, haven't you?" He gestured with his own cigarette to your bandages. "The army is gone, but not everyone is going home straight away. The Empire is a mess and some of us are organizing to bring some order back."

"What happened? All I know I that some soldier said the Kaiser is dead."

"The Kaiser betrayed us. Betrayed Germany. Tried to surrender, but at least Hindenburg would have none of that. Word is that he got shot in a scuffle when they tried to arrest him, and the High Command kept it under wraps to keep morale up." He shook his head, his gaze levelled at the horizon. "Worked for a while, but once the rumours started up, the rabble got restless and when some traitor blew up the High Command, the army fell apart bit by bit."

Your stomach began to clench. "Do you happen to know what the situation is in Berlin?"

"Not in detail, no. The communists have taken over the city. They put some polish broad in charge and she ordered the prisons and asylums opened. Now criminals and madmen run rampant and are burning the city down bit by bit." He paused briefly and just quietly nodded at your worried gaze. "It's the same all over. Anarchists and communists setting fires and flinging bombs, turning out cities into rubble. King Friedrich August managed to keep order in Dresden, but München is also lost and in Kiel, the Zentrum is even pacting with the red scum."

"We," he continued, "that is the people I joined, are trying to put an end to the anarchy. We are trying to gather enough soldiers and material to pacify the Ruhr and from there we will take back Germany."

"That sounds," you hesitated for moment, but he didn't seem to notice. "Ambitious."

"Somebody has to do it and many hands make easy work. You can join us too if you want. The Freikorps Ludendorff has always room for another tanker. We will clean up Berlin too and once we are done, honest and good Germans like you and me will have a good life again."

"I'll have to think about it."

"Suit yourself," he said and leaned back against the truck. "I'll be here until tomorrow when the other come to take as many cannons and ammo as we can. If you wish to join us, just help us load up the trucks and we will introduce you when we are back at our current camp."

"Thank you, for the news and cigarette."

You took your leave, the news still chilling your blood. Communist uprisings. Fighting in the cities. Just what had become of Germany while you were living day to day on the front? Taking the offer seemed tempting, but the stormtrooper felt almost eager to fight again. That was rarely a good sign. Without really thinking about it, your steps led you to the only other group that seemed to have a working vehicle. They had dragged one of trucks from the muck and had piled a few backpacks onto its bed, but now three of the six were standing around the open motor hatch and quietly argued with each other. Maybe not quite working.

One of the soldiers resting on the bed fixed you with his eyes as you approached, but he kept his rifle down at least. "Good day to you all. Trouble with the motor?"

The arguing stopped and the shortest of the three turned to you. "What is it to you?"

"I'm looking for way to the east. Berlin, if possible."

"You are not with the guy back there, aren't you?" He gestured to the stormtrooper, while the rest tensed up.

"No," you said slowly. "He offered me to join this 'Freikorps', but I'm not a member yet."

They relaxed a bit at that, though the man sitting on the bed kept staring at you none the less. "Good," the short one continued. "We want nothing to do with them. We just want home. Once this thing is running again, we are heading to Coblenz, over the Rhine and then as far as the diesel lasts. If you can get it to run, you can join us."


Which offer do you take?

[] Go with the Freikorps Ludendorff.

[] Fix the truck and join the soldiers.

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AN: With your background, you have no idea how to ride a horse, so that options is unavailable.