Mehmed returned to Türkiye beneath a dawn sky thick with omens. The Bosphorus shimmered with a nervous stillness, its waters dividing not just East and West—but the past and what must now come. His home was quiet, but the silence was heavy. Istanbul no longer slept peacefully.
He wasted no time. Within days, the old parliament building in Ankara reopened—its halls repurposed as a war room for reform. Banners bearing the lion crest of Mehmed's faction were raised above old marble pillars. The dream was in motion: a constitutional monarchy where the people wield legislative power, and the monarch—the Lion—commanded the army as guardian of order.
His speeches ignited crowds. His charisma pulled in reformists, military men, forgotten idealists, and fearful nobles alike. And yet, the deeper he pushed into Anatolia's fractured political machine, the more opposition he unearthed.
In the eastern provinces, ancient tribal lords stirred. In the south, whispers of an extremist sect named The Crimson Horizon—Gate-worshipping cultists—began to infect villages. Mehmed's rising rule would not go unchallenged.
Meanwhile, in Oberfeld, Hans prepared to leave.
The political situation in Austria was brittle. His officers—once united in their loyalty—were beginning to fracture into cliques. Some admired Hans' restraint and diplomacy. Others longed for conquest, for an empire forged in steel. Colonel Engelhardt, ever the loyal pragmatist, advised caution. But Albrecht and two others quietly pushed for more aggressive moves.
Sensing the need to stabilize his homeland before it became another civil war, Hans departed Türkiye.
He did not do so lightly.
At their final meeting, Mehmed clasped Hans' forearm. "Don't let Europe rot from the inside," he said. "And I'll make sure Anatolia doesn't burn from the outside."
Hans nodded. "We'll both stand or fall together."
Weeks Later – Vienna
The halls of old Vienna were colder than he remembered. Negotiations began—local lords, trade leaders, scavenged nobles, mercenary guilds—each demanding pieces of the future Hans hoped to craft. His vision was reunification. Their vision, however, was profit.
Complicating matters was the rise of the International Guilds Coalition, hastily formed in the aftermath of the Geneva summit. Comprised of representatives from Britain, Japan, Germany, the USA, Sweden, and the Netherlands, the Coalition's goal was to "coordinate regional stabilization and prevent dangerous concentrations of power."
In short—they feared Hans and Mehmed.
Despite not being part of the Coalition, Hans' every move was now monitored. Diplomatic visits were denied. His offers to integrate neighboring Austrian provinces were slowed by "security concerns."
One evening, Hans received an encrypted message: "Coalition may intervene in Carinthia. Prepare contingencies."
He threw the glass against the wall.
Outside, snow began to fall across Vienna. And Hans knew—politics would not be enough.
Soon, something sharper would be required.