Afterword
Let me tell you, this story's been through a lot. In a literary sense, at least. When I first created the story, meaning I sat down and outlined the general plot and themes, in August of 2023 I had no idea it'd take me over a year to actually finish it.
This story represents an evolution of sorts for my writing style. Whereas Fallout Germany 1 and 2, as well as Fallout: A Bright New Sun, were written in my usual hybrid S.D Perry/Robert Harris style, with FG3 I drew more inspiration from Jack Carr and his James Reece series. Maybe, if you've read those novels, you can see some of their influence (and references to them) in Fallout Germany 3. When writing, I listen to music that I think helps connect me with the story and characters. For this story, that was American Idiot (the album) by Green Day, Meteora and Minutes to Midnight by Linkin Park, and Indestructible (the album) by Disturbed.
When I created Fallout Germany 3, it started out almost as a direct sequel of sorts to FG1, beginning with Hans living on Kehlstein mountain, trying to resurrect Project Nature Storm. From there he would've been roped into a civil war in Austria between a democratic faction (the Osterreich Frei Republik) and a monarchist faction (the Neue Osterreichische Reich).
I wrote the entire first half in about a week, and then work stalled. I was maybe 80% finished by summer of 2024 when I decided that the story was awful. It was disjointed, felt disconnected from the central theme of the series (seriously, it didn't even take place in Germany). It felt like it suffered from Spinoff Syndrome, like it was the redheaded stepchild of Fallout Germany. In October of 2024 I Halo 2'd the entire story: deleted everything and started over from scratch. A couple weeks later, on Nov 11, the story was done. Amazing how easy it is to write when you're actually connected with what you're writing.
Some of the original draft's themes survived, as you can tell. The central theme is about democracy versus monarchism, with the key players being a depraved genocidal pseudo-democracy and an imperialist warmongering monarchy. Characters like Ernst Hoffmann, Helga Oertzen, and Kaiser Gaston I also survived the cut into the final version, as they were perfectly serviceable (in Hoffmann's case), vitally important to the story's sub themes (in Helga's case), or were the perfect icon of Hans' enemy (in Gaston's case). Many scenes, like the first battle against the Panther tank, also survived the final cut. Chapter 10, with the Deathclaw, was preserved in its entirety, just with the references to Austria replaced. Honestly, despite having deleted the original draft and starting over, probably 70% of it survived into the final version.
And, as always, the story contains pop culture references and Easter Eggs, just like the magnificent franchise it is based on and inspired by. Some are more obvious than others. This story, and the Fallout Germany series as a whole, is built entirely around the universe that Interplay and Bethesda have created, and draws inspiration from both. Whether it stands up to either is a matter of opinion, but it wouldn't exist without them, and they both deserve credit.
Fallout Germany, as a series, has a core theme of man never changing, despite how much individuals want to. It also, across all three stories, has a theme of our lives being affected by both our own choices and the choices of others. I've touched upon this in DMs with readers, but Hans Eckhart is actually not the main character of this series. He's just a spectator, through whose eyes we see how Europe might have fared in the years after the Great War. He does not act, he reacts.
In Fallout Germany, Hilda Mueller was the main character. She was the primary catalyst behind most of the events Hans' party goes through. She acts. She seized the opportunities presented to her. All Hans did was watch and respond to the consequences of those choices. In Fallout Germany 2, he is once again put in the passenger seat, made an accessory to the actions of other people. Both his wife Hilda, and Queen Ilse. In Fallout Germany 3, Helga Oertzen is the main character. She is the reason for Hans to fight again. A symbol of both Germany's past and future. Once again, everything he does is in service of someone else, in accordance with his own morals. Morals that, as the series progressed, Hans never lost sight of. Morals that, despite himself, made him an enabler. An enabler of murder, of hate, of genocide. He never pulled the lever, but he was content to watch. After all, he was just following orders.
FG3 also has sub themes about redemption, perseverance, and idealism. Redemption for the past, perseverance for the present, and idealism for the future. Hans Eckhart will never see the future he tried to build, but his work will live on in his friends and the lives he's touched. Paul March, Erich Braun, and children like Helga Oertzen. A future he tried to influence for the better in his final days. A future he tried to influence to make up for his past.
So, what does that future look like? Well, work on my next Fallout story has already started. This time we're going back to the United States, to see how a scheme a century in the making begins from the unraveling of just one little thread. And, to see how a mother's resolve fares when she is confronted with something that promises to change the course of human history forever.
-CodenameOne
November 4, 2024
United States of America.