In the heart of Egypt’s Western Desert, four unique individuals are investigating the mysterious activities of a group of Nazi troops. Mademoiselle Mimi Dubois, La Résistance fighter and mistress of skills; Miss Madeline Forsyth, SOE operative and a living shadow; Sven Hyse, Norwegian Resistance soldier and shapeshifter; and Doctor Jackal, timid physician with his less than timid friend Mister Hades.

Western Desert, Egypt, July 1942
With Sven at the wheel and Henry navigating we made good distance heading south towards the canyon. Half an hour before dusk Sven pulled the jeep into the lee of some rocks and I started covering it over with camouflage netting. Sven got changed into his special clothes, and a few seconds later was soaring into the sky in the guise of a falcon.

We set camp and hunkered down to eat cold rations as the temperature began to drop. Madeline suggested that I ‘borrow’ her ability to see in the dark so that we can take the middle watches when the night is darkest. Not long after the sun had disappeared behind the endless sand dunes a falcon landed near the camp, it slowly transformed into Sven and he told us that there was nothing in sight for miles around.

The night passed uneventfully and after a cold breakfast we set off once more in the direction of the canyon. As we get to within four miles of the canyon, assuming that the maps we have been given are accurate, Sven stops the jeep and again takes to the sky as a falcon to scout out the land ahead of us. I take over as driver and start to use the lay of the land to muffle the noise of our approach, I stay below the top of the dunes and wind my way through the gullies. Unfortunately, that is also where the deep sand is and I manage to beach the jeep.

As the wheels slip the engine revs loudly and I end up digging us in deeper. Madeline and I begin to dig us out with shovels while Doctor Jackal walks around the jeep mumbling to himself. The odd snippets that I catch imply that he is doing some kind of mathematical equation. Once we have managed to dig away enough sand to clear all four wheels, Doctor Jackal points at two locations on the underside at the rear of the jeep. He tells us that we should use the pick axes as levers on those two spots while he drives the jeep out. He assures us that he has carried out the calculations and it will work. We follow his instructions and it does indeed free the jeep.

Just as we are about to get back into the vehicle a falcon lands on the rocks behind us. After a moment, Sven joins us and taking pen and paper from the jeep draws out a rough map of what he has spotted in the canyon.

The information that we had been given was correct and there is a small group of Nazis doing something at the end of a box canyon off of the main canyon. Their truck is pulled in behind some large boulders almost two miles away, it looks like that is as close as they can get it, and at the end of the box canyon they have set up a number of tents. We select a location, to the north edge of the main canyon, to hide the jeep and while we are moving into position Sven takes to the sky once more to get a better look at the target.

I managed to get the jeep to our chosen destination and we proceeded to get it covered once more with camouflage netting, we take more time over it and make sure that it will not be picked out from the sky as well as from the ground. We had no idea how long we were going to be there, we definitely didn’t have any idea how quickly things would escalate at that point, and so we made sure just in case we were bedded down for a few days.

A couple of hours after we had finished a falcon dropped out of the sky and transformed into Sven. He joined us under the netting and described what he had discovered. He had checked out the truck first and said that it was unmanned and well hidden, I remember that it was at that moment that we decided that it would make a good staging point for our infiltration of the Nazi camp.

Having made sure that the truck site was clear, Sven then made his way to observe the camp from the box canyon ridge. He discovered five tents for sleeping, a latrine set away from the camp, and a large awning canvas over a number of tables. The camp was set up near a cave mouth that was being guarded by two German infantry troops, and while he was watching couple more troopers in shirt sleeves and braces exited the cave mouth carrying objects of some kind in their arms. They deposited the objects under the awning.

The proceedings under the awning appear to be directed by a civilian. Sven told us that by this time he was a raven, and he hopped down onto a rocky outcropping to get a better look. Under the awning the tables were festooned with a variety of objects, Sven noted that it reminded him of the press clippings he had seen about the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. Doctor Jackal chimed in that it was Howard Carter who had discovered the tomb, and that he only died three years ago.

Sven told us that he hopped down from the rocks onto the ground and then became a desert hare, he really is a remarkable individual, and hopped towards the smaller tents. He burrowed in under the edge of the tent and had a look around inside, there were four camp beds and the usual possessions that you would expect from a soldier’s barrack tent. There were also the troop’s jackets and rifles. Sven told us with some glee that he filled the barrels of the guns with grit and sand.

As he was hopping from the first tent towards the second a German officer exited one of the smaller tents and walked to the large awning where he had a brief conversation with the civilian and then entered the cave mouth. Sven found three tents in total that were clearly used by the German infantry troops. Another of the tents belonged to the civilian, it contained a number of reference books and note books. Sven then hopped to the tent that the officer had left, inside he discovered the officers orders.

The orders were issued to Leutnant Herman Klinsman and in essence stated that they were to escort and assist Professor Aldervan in finding Egyptian tombs and recover any items of interest. In particular they should be recovering items that may be connected to the occult or paranormal. Sven had made a mental note of the Leutnant’s regiment as it was not one that he recognised, having listened to Sven’s description Henry stated that they were an infantry unit but that they were not front line troops but specialists of some kind, Sven continued with his debrief and told us that he had then hopped towards the latrine.

Midway between the awning and the latrine, against the wall of the box canyon, Sven noticed a disturbed mound of dirt and a crudely constructed grave marker. Having made sure that the latrine was indeed just that, Sven once more became a raven and flew swiftly back to the rest of us.

With Sven’s extensive scouting information relayed, we quickly decided that we would stealth in a far as the German’s truck and set up our staging point there. It was a good six mile slog across the canyon, and we moved slowly to make sure that we were not spotted. And so three hours later we carefully approached the truck to find it as Sven had stated, unmanned and well hidden.

Madeline headed up the incline, which was to steep for the truck and so a clear reason why the Nazis had left it two miles from their camp, to watch the route from the camp. It was at that moment that I made a decision that could have blown the mission, or just chose the way in which we would execute it. I decided to rig the German’s truck for a quick hotwire, my theory was that if we were running using the German’s own truck would not only get us out quicker but would also strand the Germans in the canyon.

Not long after I had prepared the truck, Madeline came back down the slope to us and informed us that there were two German infantry troops wandering in our direction. We all hid. Doctor Jackal went behind the rocks furthest away from the truck, Sven slipped in behind the middle rock, I slid into the shadow of the northern most pile of rocks, and Madeline turned into shadow and his under the truck itself.

We could hear them slide down the slope towards the truck, as they were coming I distinctly remember hearing a snippet of one of the troopers conversation;

…even if they do find this damn door they are only going to end up getting crushed like poor Heinrich…

By that stage we had heard the door of the truck open and someone climb into the vehicle. Then there was a shout. They had discovered what I had done to their truck. They were instantly on guard, and discussed what they should do. They decided that they should return to camp and tell the officer. I realised that I couldn’t let them leave. I slowly, and quietly slipped my Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife out of it’s sheath and waited for them to pass by me on their way back up the slope. I recall hoping that someone else would have a similar idea.

Everything seemed to slow down. I slipped from behind the rocks and stepped up behind the trooper that was slightly at the back of the pair. I placed my hand over his mouth and plunged my knife upwards under his rib cage to the left of his body seeking his heart, just as Sergeant McKay had taught us. The Nazi barely made a sound, just a sort of gurgle, before his weight fell against me and I lowered him to the ground. But the gurgle had alerted his comrade.

As the other trooper began to turn towards me, a shadow behind him became the solid form of Madeline. She too had her blade unsheathed, and she quickly drew it across the troopers throat. The Nazi dropped to his knees but he was not done for, that was until Madeline stabbed him once more in the back of the neck.

Years later, someone said that Sven had commented that it was like watching two extremes of the reaction to death. Madeline, who had just taken her first life, rushed behind a rock and was sick. Mimi, who no one knew at the time had also just taken her first life, plunged her knife once more into the Nazi at her feet. Sven recalled that there was just a hint of madness in Mimi’s eyes.

Madeline, still looking a little grey, heads back up the incline to keep watch while Sven has the idea of placing the bodies in the front seats of the truck. Doctor Jackal avoids looking at the bodies, and seems to feel uncomfortable with our actions. Sven questions him about this, and Henry admits that he understands that sometimes there is no other course of action. He still doesn’t seem comfortable with it.

An hour after the first couple of troops appeared, Madeline informs us that there are two more troops heading in our direction. With Madeline’s permission, I ‘borrow’ her ability to turn into shadow and we both lay in wait at the top of the incline. Sven climbs up on top of one of the rocky outcroppings and gets his rifle ready. He keeps the infantry men in his sights as they approach the truck.

The two Nazi troops get to the top of the incline, and seeing their comrades in the truck, shout at them to gets their backsides back to the camp. There is a moments pause as they wait for an answer that would never come, and in that moment two shadows become solid behind them and two of Sergeant McKay’s students prove that they were paying good attention during training.