In the heat of the Egypt’s Western desert, in an unnamed canyon, in the shadow of World War II, four unique individuals are investigating the archeological activities of a group of German 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
Having dispatched four of the German troops that had come to check on their hidden truck, Sven decides that it is time to leave the next group a nasty little surprise. While the rest of us hide two of the German bodies, the other two still being propped up inside the truck’s cab, Sven booby traps the doors of the truck with a couple of our grenades. We then all sneak up to the southern canyon top so that we can get a good aerial view of the German’s camp.
We get to about halfway along the canyon top when Madeline spots five German troops and their officer heading away from the camp and towards their truck. We quickly duck out of view and, leaving Sven and Doctor Jackal at the midway point, Madeline and I continue until we are above the cave mouth. We both meld into shadow form and slide down the cliff face and behind the two guards stationed outside the entrance.
Not long after we have slid into the cave mouth we hear the sound of an explosion. The two guards are suddenly very alert. Then there is another, even louder explosion which I remember thinking at the time must have been the trucks fuel igniting. For some reason, and for the life of me I cannot remember why, the two German guards look into the cave mouth with their weapons raised. Madeline makes sure that they don’t see anything by controlling the darkness and making it as black as a mine shaft on a moonless night.
I give them their dues, the guards did manage to get a few shots off. But shooting shadows in the dark is a difficult thing. And when those shadows are alive and trying to kill you it is even harder. Once again, Sergeant McKay would have been proud of the knife work displayed by his two students. At the sound of the first shots, the civilian working with the German troops ran like a frightened jack rabbit west towards the exit from the box canyon.
Not long after Professor Aldermann starts to run west towards the German’s truck, the last remaining German trooper decides that being near the truck is the last place that he wishes to be and so he sprints east into the box canyon and towards the German’s camp. Unfortunately for him, sprinting east brings him straight into Sven’s crosshairs. Just as Professor Aldermann catches sight of the trooper running towards him there is a sound like a whip crack and the trooper falls flat onto his face. As Sven chambers another round into his rifle, the Professor decides to seek cover.
Doctor Jackal spots the Professor ducking into cover, which he considers to be an eminently sensible idea when guns are being fired, and so decides to go and introduce himself. Sven heads back to the truck to check if there are any more troops left alive after his little surprise, and Madeline and I secure the cave entrance and the camp.
When Sven gets to the hidden truck he is greeted by a scene of destruction. The bodies of four German troops lay in impossible positions around the exploded vehicle, he also spots the German Leutnant slump against a rock attempting to administer first aid to his badly bleeding midriff. Ever so slowly Sven’s features begin to change. His body also changes, becoming slightly shorter and less broad. And finally, his clothing changes, becoming a dusty German troopers uniform. Where Sven once stood there now stands one of the original German troopers who came to investigate the truck.
Trooper Sven rushes over to the German Leutnant, who is relieved to see a friendly face, and begins to wrap a field dressing around his injured abdomen. Once trooper Sven is sure that the officer isn’t going to bleed out, he punches him unconscious. Which came as a bit of a shock to the German officer.
Whilst trooper Sven is dealing with the officer, Doctor Jackal is taking a far more civilised approach to dealing with the Professor. He locates his hiding place and greets him in German, he introduces himself and discusses some of the intricacies of the ancient Egyptians and their burial customs. In fact they engage in a very friendly discussion as they head back towards the camp, and Henry convinces Professor Aldermann that he is in no danger.
We secured the area and Sven returned to the camp with the unconscious officer, who he tied to one of the beds. Doctor Jackal, Madeline and the Professor proceed with the search of the tomb while Sven and I man handle the bodies of the German troops into the first chamber of the tomb.
Where the German’s were struggling with the painstakingly slow search of the tomb, Madeline’s special skills allowed her to swiftly discover any hidden passages. Being a living shadow means that every gap is a potential doorway. Doctor Jackal watched the Professor, who was happy cataloging finds while Madeline worked. Madeline then showed the Professor where the hidden areas were and they were able to disarm the traps that they discovered.
Madeline’s investigations led the team to the real treasure room and the actual tomb. The Professor reported that the tomb was clearly that of an important merchant and that at first glance it did not look like there were any materials relating to the occult held within the treasury. By this time Sven and I had returned all of the bodies to the outer chamber and I took over from Henry keeping an eye on Professor Aldermann, while Henry and Sven checked on the German officer.
Henry discovered that the officer was once again conscious, and as soon as he saw that Henry was wearing the uniform of a British officer, he quickly surrendered. Henry made sure that the Leutnant’s wounds were bandaged with a clean dressing and then pumped him full of enough morphine to give him happy dreams.
With the realisation that there is very little else to be learnt from the German camp or the tomb, we begin to make ready to leave. Madeline makes sure that she gathers up all of the documentation and papers relating to the German’s mission, and Sven makes sure that he gathers up as many expensive looking grave goods as he can carry.
El Imayid, Egypt, July 1942
And so, three days after we left camp Sven parks our jeep outside Captain Stirling’s tent. We had drawn a lot of looks as we had driven through the camp with our two prisoners, and we get an even more surprised look from Captain Stirling himself when he hears our initial debrief. He has the prisoners taken away and begins to leaf through the documents handed to him by Madeline. He suggests that we rest up for a bit and that he will carry out a full debriefing once he has reviewed all of the paperwork.
The following morning we are summoned back to the command tent and sit through a full debriefing with the Captain. He congratulates us on yet another job well done and informs us that there is a big push to the north where the Allies are trying to take Tobruk, as part of that undertaking there is a large mission in three days time that he could use our assistance with as his resources are stretched. He tells us to get our kit prepared and dismisses us.
The following afternoon Sven spots Captain Stirling walking towards him. Stirling tells him that there is a German encampment that they are going to attack, and that they have enough teams to cover most of the exits. However, they have a single valley that they do not have a team to cover and there is a small chance that some of the German units might attempt to flee that way. The plan relies on the German troops being driven to use another of the exits so that they can call in an air strike. He is concerned that we are not a combat unit and that he does not want to, nor does he believe he has the authority, send us into a combat situation that we cannot deal with.
Sven gathers us together and informs us of the mission. Knowing that some of our colleagues could die if the valley is not guarded we all volunteer to take part in the mission. Even Doctor Jackal. So we join all of the other teams at the mission briefing. The target is a large German base approximately one hundred and sixty miles south south west of our current location. Mission go is dawn in two days time and the attack group will leave at dusk tomorrow.
We are issued with four land mines and a tripod mounted Bren gun. I spend a short while with the companies best gunner and get him to talk me through the subtle nuances of using the Bren gun, while he is telling me I lean in and touch the back of his neck and ‘borrow’ his ability. I also take some time to make sure that the jeep is serviced and restocked.
We hide both jeeps in the depths of the valley and the other team heads forwards to their objective. We begin to prepare our ambush by placing two of our mines at the northern entrance to the valley, we then set up a trip wire attached to a third mine buried in the scree field, and we place the final mine where the valley channels to it’s narrowest. I set up the tripod mounted Bren gun on a boulder just behind the final mine with a clear field of vision northwards.
Madeline takes up a position at the top of the west side of the valley, and Henry and Sven set up opposite her at the top of the east side of the valley. An hour after we are in position we can hear the sounds of the initial attack on the German’s base begin. Sven and Henry, from their vantage point, spot vehicles starting to leave the German base and begin to head in the direction of the air strike valley as Captain Stirling had predicted. As they watch, a small dust cloud breaks from the main group and heads towards valley B8. We hear the sound of an engine and not long after Henry can see a motorbike and sidecar racing it’s way towards us.
Sven transforms himself into a desert hawk and takes to the sky. From his lofty position he spots a unit of troops approximately a mile and a half away heading for the valley, he circles once and heads back. We settle in and wait.