The world changed at 03:12 AM.
No sunrise.
No warning.
Just a single transmission—
a trembling, fragmented radio signal picked up simultaneously by Berlin, Moscow, and the bunker in Minsk where Rā'id and Irina had been preparing for their mission.
Static.
Then a voice.
Cold.
Shaken.
Barely believing its own words.
"Code Schwarz… Code Schwarz… The Führer is dead."
Irina froze.
Rā'id felt the air leave his lungs.
Even the German officers in the bunker—iron, disciplined, emotionless—stared at each other with pale, hollow eyes.
Weiss, the man who never flinched at anything, whispered:
"…Impossible."
But the transmission continued, stronger this time.
"Repeat: Adolf Hitler has been assassinated inside the Wolfsschanze. Internal breach. Multiple high-ranking officers down. Immediate lockdown initiated."
Silence slammed down on the bunker.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
The world's most feared man—
the architect of their cruel time—
was suddenly gone.
The Bunker Trembles
The steel walls seemed to shift.
The air grew heavier.
Reinhardt was the first to act.
She grabbed a field telephone and barked orders:
"Seal all entrances. Elevate alert to Stufe Null. Interrogate every officer above rank Oberleutnant. Full loyalty protocol!"
But Weiss…
Weiss didn't move.
He wasn't shocked.
He was calculating.
Chess pieces were falling inside his mind faster than anyone could see.
Rā'id watched him.
He had seen men like Weiss before—
leaders who felt reborn when power vacuums opened.
The death of a tyrant wasn't a tragedy to them.
It was oxygen.
Irina's Whisper
Irina leaned toward Rā'id, her voice barely a breath:
"This is it. This could collapse everything. Phoenix, the alliance… the entire war."
Rā'id's eyes narrowed.
"Or it could make everything worse."
And he was right.
Because without Hitler, the Fourth Reich wasn't leaderless.
Someone had been waiting.
Hungry.
Silent.
Hiding in the shadow of a giant.
The Second Broadcast
The radio crackled again.
This time the voice was calmer.
Clearer.
Confident.
As if already accustomed to power.
"This is Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler. Effective immediately, I assume full command of the Greater German Reich."
Irina cursed under her breath.
Rā'id's stomach hardened like stone.
Himmler wasn't Hitler.
He was worse.
Hitler ruled with fanaticism and charisma.
Himmler ruled with belief—
cold, occult, obsessive belief.
Weiss listened with unreadable eyes.
Reinhardt stood rigid, jaw clenched.
The transmission continued:
"All divisions, remain loyal.
Any sign of disobedience will be punished as treason.
The Fourth Reich survives.
The Phoenix program continues.
We rise from our fallen leader like fire from ash."
And then—
"Heil the New Dawn."
The line went dead.
Weiss finally spoke.
"…So. The era changes."
Shockwaves Through the Bunker
Chaos erupted.
Officers shouted conflicting orders.
Papers fell.
Boots thundered through the corridors.
Some men panicked.
Others grinned like wolves at the thought of reshuffled power.
Rā'id understood the truth instantly:
This was the beginning of a civil war inside the Reich.
Himmler had enemies.
Old generals who hated him.
Younger radicals who thought him weak.
Scientists who preferred Reinhardt over him.
The Fourth Reich might shatter before it struck the world.
Irina sensed the same.
"This is our moment," she whispered.
"If the Reich fractures, we can destroy Phoenix before it launches."
Rā'id nodded once.
"Yes."
But Weiss heard them.
He turned slowly, eyes glinting.
"Don't flatter yourselves. Nothing collapses today."
He stepped closer—too calm for a man whose world just lost its leader.
"In fact," Weiss said softly,
"this is exactly what I needed."
Irina stiffened.
"What do you mean?"
Weiss spoke like a man revealing a long-awaited secret:
"Himmler's rise… accelerates everything. Chaos grants us freedom.
Now we move without oversight."
He tapped the Phoenix schematics.
"We launch Phoenix I and II before the Reich can reorganize."
Rā'id felt a chill creep up his spine.
"You're going rogue."
Weiss smiled thinly.
"No. I am stepping into destiny."
Reinhardt added:
"Himmler fears technology he cannot control. He will shut Phoenix down the moment he stabilizes power.
We must act first."
Irina glared at them.
"That would start a global apocalypse."
"Exactly," Reinhardt said.
"Order through fire."
Rā'id Makes the First Move
As the bunker spun into madness, Rā'id whispered urgently:
"We have to disappear. Now. While they're distracted."
Irina nodded sharply.
But their escape didn't go unnoticed.
Weiss stepped in front of them like a ghost, blocking the exit.
"We aren't finished, Herr al-Masri."
Rā'id answered calmly:
"Yes, we are."
It was the first direct challenge he'd made.
The officers around them reached for weapons—
—but then the lights went out.
The Darkness
Screams.
Flashes of emergency lamps.
Alarm sirens blaring.
Someone had cut the power.
Or something had attacked the bunker.
Explosions rumbled overhead.
Snow and dust fell from the ceiling.
Rā'id grabbed Irina's hand.
"This way!"
They dashed into the blackness.
Behind them, Weiss shouted:
"SECURE THE SILOS!
DO NOT LET THEM ESCAPE!"
Shots echoed in the corridor.
Footsteps pounded after them.
But then—
A deeper sound shook the earth.
A roar.
A blast.
The entire bunker trembled.
Irina looked back, eyes wide.
"What was that!?"
Rā'id realized it instantly:
"Someone bombed the surface. A full airstrike."
"But who?"
He didn't answer.
There were only three possibilities:
Himmler, eliminating his rivals.
Soviet high command, panicking at Hitler's death.
Or the most terrifying possibility—
An Allied strike team targeting Phoenix after receiving leaked intel.
The world had sensed weakness.
And now everyone was coming for the kill.
The Tunnel
Rā'id and Irina reached the maintenance shaft leading out of the bunker.
The steel ladder was shaking from the explosions above.
Irina looked at him, breath trembling.
"Once we climb out, everything changes."
"It already changed," Rā'id said.
Irina hesitated.
"Do you think the death of Hitler will end the war?"
Rā'id looked up toward the smoke-filled shaft.
"No," he said softly.
"It will make the war worse."
Because a tyrant had fallen—
and the monsters waiting in the shadows had finally been set loose.