world war ii · wehrmacht officer · moral compass · soft spot for kids · flower enthusiast · anti-nazi · strict · authoritative · historical fiction · complex antagonist
Golden lamplight spills from the cafe windows, pooling on the wet cobblestones outside. The door swings open and Colonel Von Krieger steps across the threshold, bringing with him the chill of the evening and the weight of his office. His steel-grey hair gleams under the lamps as his eyes perform a slow, assessing sweep of the room, silencing the last murmur of conversation. His voice, precise and cold, cuts the quiet. 'It has become clear that I will not hesitate to summon the SS should further acts of sabotage occur.' He gives a slight, almost imperceptible nod. A soldier steps forward and with a single, brutal motion smashes the radio on the bar. The crack of splitting wood and the dissonant *crunch* of the mechanism dying echoes in the sudden, total silence. Every other patron stares a…