There was a small sign in the waiting room of the SS headquarters, a list of rules to be obeyed at all times by the unfortunate person (or, in the case of Germany and Italy, nations) who happened to be waiting for a meeting with one of the many intimidating officers of the SS. Herr Himmler, the head of the SS, had made sure that the sign was always up and legible. He was known as a very schoolmasterly and almost prudish sort, the sort who liked his rules and wanted to make sure that everyone else knew about and followed them.

So naturally, in the five minutes that Germany was forced to wait with his ally, Italy managed to break every single rule up on the sign plus some that Himmler hadn't bothered to write up since, quite frankly, breaking such unspoken rules would require a phenomenal lack of common sense (Don't interrupt Herr Heydrich while he's in a meeting. Do not then offer Herr Heydrich flowers as penance. Do not then cry when Herr Heydrich threatens to throw you in the nearest concentration camp, alliance be damned.)

Suffice to say, by the time Germany somehow managed to make peace between Italy and the Head of Gestapo ('make peace' being a relative term), he was eager to get his damned mission and get it over with. Hitler never gave him his assignments personally-Germany didn't know why, but his boss only called him to his office when he did something wrong and the Fuhrer felt the need to personally rant about it for twenty to thirty minutes. If he didn't want to berate his nation, however, Hitler sent his orders through Himmler, and Himmler usually delivered the orders over the phone.

Not today, though. Today Himmler had called over the phone and whispered urgently for Germany to come to his office so that he could get his assignment. Germany already disliked this assignment-the fact that Himmler was being so secretive and had sounded so…scared over the phone made the German nation inwardly cringe. Whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than when he had been sent to Russia a week ago to try and kill the arctic nation. His boss had given him an earful for failing that mission.

Hopefully, he thought, stepping into Herr Himmler's office and praying that Italy would behave himself and not piss off any more highly-ranked SS officers while he was gone, this mission will be easier. I'm starting to wear myself down, jumping back and forth. 'Germany, go kill Russia! Germany, go capture Poland! Germany, go find the Holy Grail!' Oh, Christ, I hope this won't be another one of those missions.

Himmler looked about ready to have a heart attack. He kept glancing back and forth, like a mouse that knew full well that it was in a cat's cage but didn't know where the feline was. The skittish SS leader spoke in a trembling voice.

"It has…come to our attention…that…there…"

"Herr Himmler," said Germany, barely holding in a sigh. "Please, I can't hear you. What are you so panicked about?"

Himmler swallowed. "Ah, forgive me. It's just…well, some of our men managed to squeeze some information out of the Polish nation."

Poland! Germany hadn't seen him in forever, not since handing him over to the SS. He briefly wondered what Himmler meant by 'squeezing'. Germany wasn't privy to all of the SS's secrets, but any idiot on the streets of Berlin could tell that the black-garbed soldiers were brutal.

Before Germany could think too much about Poland's interrogation, Himmler spoke again. "Well…we have been told more information…and…well, you know our policies concerning the Jewish people."

To a degree he certainly did. The Jewish People had worked with the Allies to betray him during the war, and now it was the job of the SS to get them out of the country and away from him before they could do any more damage. They were people with darkness in their souls, a darkness that drove them to obsessively hate the good people of Germany.

They were also dying. Every day. Germany, naturally, didn't like death, but he was a nation that had known war for many years and knew that people simply had to die in war, especially if they were an enemy as dangerous as the Jews.

"Herr Himmler? Please, I need to know my mission."

Himmler exhaled. "The Fuhrer is aware of the rules concerning nations, and concerning how nations can be killed…and concerning what happens to its people when it dies."

Germany almost wanted to roll his eyes. Well, of course he knows that, I'm the one that told him! Get to the damn point!

"While interrogating Poland, we found out some…interesting information."

Himmler looked up and his entire body stiffened as he hissed. "The Jewish Nation…the Jews…their nation is alive…it's in Poland right now. It's called…"

"Israel…"

The word escaped Germany's lips before the SS leader could even say it, and the nation whispered the name with wonder and disbelief.

"Impossible," he said, shaking his head. "Israel is…a bedtime story. He's not real…or, well, he was real, but he's not real anymore. He either died or…"

Himmler shook his head. "That's not what Poland said. When you captured him…you remember that he led you away from his house? He rode around on that horse of his for hours before he surrendered."

Germany nodded. It had been odd, the way Poland had gone down. Rather than staying at his house and fighting, he'd hopped right on his pony (Poland had made sure to emphasize that it was in fact a pony, not a horse) and rode around the Polish countryside for hours, laughing at Germany over his shoulder as the German pursued him. Eventually, of course, Germany had managed to take him down, but even while he was being taken away the Pole had had a sly smirk on his face, as though he had been the true victor.

His house…

Good God, could he really… could Israel have really been there?

Israel, the Unkillable Nation, God's Country. Even Prussia had called the legendary country's exploits awesome. When Germany had been a little boy he had often been told stories of the famous country. How Israel, when he was a little child, had escaped Egypt with God's help. How he'd become an empire with vast riches. How he'd lost it all to Babylon and Persia and Rome, but still managed to fight and even defeat those powerful empires, escaping before they could hope to strike the killing blow.

Israel was supposedly the nation that no empire could best. Even Rome, Germany's hero, Germany icon, had lost a duel to the Holy Land.

And Germany could already see where his boss was going. If Israel was truly running around somewhere in Poland, if he actually did exist and hadn't faded or died like so many nations, then he was the key to ridding Germany of the Jewish scourge once and for all.

Nations had a parallel relationship with their human citizens. When too many of their people died they felt pain and got weak. At the same time, if a nation died then its people would be helpless. The culture would fade, the people would scatter, and eventually they would all die out. It was like an ant colony that had lost its queen: the drones and soldiers and workers would quickly follow their monarch into the afterlife.

But only nations could kill nations. It was a strange but necessary natural phenomenon: nations couldn't kill humans and humans couldn't kill nations. Even if a nation cut a human's head clean off, somehow or another the human's head would find its way back to its body and the human would live again. The same went for nations.

So if the Fuhrer wanted the Jewish People gone for good, the death of Israel would be the fastest and most efficient way to achieve such an end. And only a powerful nation, a powerful empire, a Reich could hope to kill such a legend.

Surely enough, Himmler stuttered the Fuhrer's curt order:

"Your mission is to find and kill the nation of Israel. The Reich depends on it."

Germany tightened his jaw. This was going to be harder than trying kill Russia, harder than fighting America, maybe even harder than trying to turn Italy into a valiant warrior.

Kill Israel.

This would be his ultimate challenge, but if he managed to do this he would not only fulfill the Fuhrer's order, not only end the Jewish menace, but he would be considered the strongest nation ever to walk the earth. Then he would be the legend, more so than Rome himself. He would be known as the nation that had done what Rome couldn't: the nation that had killed the unkillable Israel.

That would be worth the effort. With a slight smile, he raised his arm in a Nazi salute and cried, "It will be done! Heil Hitler!"


So…yeah…please tell me what you think!