January 22, 4000 BC, German Capital of Berlin

Three weeks have gone by since the official founding of Berlin. Much has changed since then.

Other than the cottages where most of our citizens – there are 100 of them – live, the only building constructed has been the Palace. The Palace acts as both the home of Bismarck, and in effect our nation's government, and the place where our nation's scientists work, though there has been talk of constructing them a separate building.

The land around our city is also being used to further our civilization's progress. Just last week a group of men were outfitted with tools and sent off to construct a farm by a nearby river.

My unit – a group of 12 warriors – had been garrisoned in the city, acting as a security force. Lord Bismarck was concerned about our purpose, our reason for existence – to do battle with our nation's enemies. That implied that there were dangers to our people not yet discovered, and he did not want to risk our peoples' safety by sending us off into the wild.

So we had been biding our time, waiting for further orders, helping out where we could. We had also been tasked with training a local militia; a somewhat humorous idea considering we ourselves had never been in combat before.

But, like so many other things, we somehow knew the art of war and were able to finish their training today. We're currently marching to the Palace right now to -

"Hey Erik," Lucas interrupted, nudging my shoulder, "Get your head outta the clouds, we're almost there."

That's what my friends call me - Erik. As Lucas, who was one of my best friends by now, had playfully pointed out during our squad meeting a few weeks ago, my name was humorously long. So George – another one of my squad mates – had dubbed me Erik, and the name stuck.

"Whaddya think Lord Bismarck's gonna tell us?" asked Peter.

"He's probably gonna tell you to shut up. I know I am," answered Joseph.

"Maybe he's going to ask you how you're relationship with Jane is going, Joseph," joked Alfred.

We all laughed at that, except for Joseph, who was blushing furiously. While we were helping to build the cottages Joseph had gotten to know a girl named Jane. Later Carl had caught them kissing in an alley, and we had been teasing him about it ever since.

When we arrived in Bismarck's office he was waiting for us, sitting behind his desk. We instantly stood to attention. (Nowadays that's something they have to teach to new recruits. For us it was just instinct.)

"At ease, gentlemen," Bismarck said. We relaxed our muscles but remained standing.

"Now that the local militia has been trained we are no longer defenseless without you. So, I am reassigning you to exploration duty."

"I don't quite understand, sir," said Alex.

"I am sending you north to get a better idea of our surrounding land. You men know of my worries concerning possible enemies to our nation, and I want a clear picture of the land around us. Are there any questions?"

"How long are we to be gone, sir?" I asked.

"Thanks to our riverside farms we will be able to provide you with enough food for approximately three months travel. You may have to ration it a bit, but as long as you eat it wisely and don't do anything stupid you should be fine. Any more questions?"

"When will we leave, sir?" asked Martin.

"First thing tomorrow morning," Bismarck proclaimed, "If there are no more questions, you men are dismissed."

We saluted Bismarck and left his office.

The next morning we packed silently, all of us wondering what we would find on our journey. A few of us were optimistic, others, not so much.

"Just think," said Martin, breaking the silence, "We may actually discover another civilization. Imagine the things we could learn from each other!"

"Or," George countered, "The wars we could have with them. If you ask me we should build up our military some more before we go looking for trouble."

"Nonsense," Martin replied, "Why would anyone want war against us?"

"They might be interested in that cotton field we found," Joseph interjected.

We all stopped to think about that for a second. Recently, our scientists had discovered that a material found in a field south of us, which they had dubbed 'cotton,' could be used to make comfortable clothing. Would another civilization be willing to go to war over a simple convenience like that?

"Why would another civ go to war with us over it when we could just trade it with them?" Lucas added in, "That way everyone wins."

George shrugged. "Some people are just naturally aggressive."

"Whatever happens," I intervened, "It's for Lord Bismarck to deal with, not us. Now c'mon guys, let's get going."

And with that, we all began our walk to the city gate and beyond.

"Hey Joseph, did you remember to say goodbye to Jane?"

"Shut up, Peter."

A/N: Fun Fact: I booted up Civ 5 and started a new game and it turns out you actually start with 1,000 people and over 8,000 soldiers. But that seemed a little unrealistic to me, so I lowered the numbers a tad.