MI6s team of enhanced individuals have successfully killed Hitler, as far as they are aware, using Wolfenkorps Alpha’s weapon of mass destruction. They then moved on and caused havoc in Wolfenkorps Beta’s industrial complex and even infiltrated Schloss Neuschwanstein and began the process of destroying Wolfenkorps Beta’s files. The team consists of Mademoiselle Mimi Dubois, La Résistance fighter and mistress of skills; Miss Madeline Forsyth, SOE operative and a living shadow; Franklin Fort, hard bitten soldier and teleporter; and Sven Hyse, Norwegian Resistance soldier and shapeshifter.

Schloss Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Germany, January 1943

Tossing my silenced pistol to Frank I kneel down in front of the door into the corridor and nudge it open just a couple of inches. Two yards behind me, Frank sights down the length of his arm through the narrow gap aiming at the screech owl in the cage hanging next to the archway into the staircase. The owls head rotates towards the doorway that we are hiding behind just as Frank squeezes the trigger. The owl dies before it has a chance to utter a sound.

Madeline takes point and leads us up the corkscrew stairs, four turns and we are about to exit onto the fourth floor when Madeline signals us to wait. She slides forwards until her eyes are peeking around the door frame and she is looking straight at the screech owl. A blast of utter cold issues from her eyes and freezes the owl to it’s perch within the cage. It is a dead owl. It’s metabolic processes are now history. Madeline waves us on and we head straight for the double doors at the end of the corridor, there is a small white plack with black writing stating;

Antragsmöglichkeit

Madeline slides in under the door and finds herself in a short corridor with a door on either side of her and another at the end of the corridor. She checks out the door to her right just as the rest of us are entering through the double doors. She discovers a small medical stores, the shelves are fully stocked and very neatly labelled. The door to the left leads into a small office with two desks and a number of filing cabinets. I immediately begin to search through the filing to see if there is any information that we do not already process copies of.

Madeline slides under the final doorway at the end of the corridor and discovers a medical room dominated by a single medical bed and all of its constituent paraphernalia, she is struck by how similar the bed is to those that we had been recently strapped to when our enhanced abilities had been strengthened. She quickly closes the shutters on the windows, whips out her camera and begins to catalogue everything within the room. Meanwhile, Frank takes guard at the double doors and Sven begins to gather as much flammable liquid as he can find from the medical stores.

I conclude that the filing cabinets do not contain any information that we do not already possess, and so I make sure that it is all pulled out and ready to burn. Once completed I head towards Madeline. I get there just as Madeline and Sven are leaving and heading to the main ward with arm fulls of surgical spirit, I head into the medical room and begin rigging a charge to blow up the bed and all of the equipment. Sven and Madeline soak all of the mattresses in spirit and pile them up in the middle of the hospital ward underneath some of the larger wooden beams. When they are ready the signal to Frank, who is still on guard, and Frank signals to me.

I had set the timer for two minutes, to give us enough time to be in a different part of the schloss by the time the explosion was triggered, and as soon as Frank gave me the signal I pulled the pin and headed for the stairs. Madeline lit a cigarette and dropped the match onto the pile of mattresses and they ignited like a bonfire. They both ran for the stairs where Frank and I waited. As they passed the open doorway to the medical room the explosive charge detonated and debris showered the corridor narrowly missing the pair of them. That was a bit close, I must have got my wiring wrong and set it for twenty seconds instead of one hundred and twenty seconds.

Given that there was no way that the guards would miss the explosion we decide to take the Frank express to the broom cupboard. As we re-materialise we can hear the sound of booted feet running past our hiding spot, I quickly push out with my senses and confirm that one of them is definitely enhanced. I signal to the others, and that is all the invitation that Frank needs. He opens the door and steps out into the corridor behind the German troops, he spots three Wolfenkorps troopers and a Wolfenkorps Unterfeldwebel and an Oberleutnant.

Sven begins to transform into a hawk whilst I turn solid and Madeline slides out onto the ceiling of the corridor. Frank draws both of his sawn-off shotguns and levels them at the back of the Oberleutnant and pulls all four triggers. A terrific boom echoes through the corridor and the Wolfenkorps Oberleutnant is thrown several yards forwards to land in an unmoving heap in front of his squad. The Wolfenkorps troops stop in their tracks and about turn looking back down the corridor and straight at Frank. Frank steps back into the cupboard.

Hoping to give Frank some covering fire, and give him enough time to reload his shotguns, I lean out and put three bullets into the nearest Wolfenkorps trooper. He drops to the ground, but my appearance gives enough opportunity for the Unterfeldwebel to open up with his submachine gun, spraying my position with bullets. Two of which hit me and I fall back into the cupboard bleeding from a couple of flesh wounds.

By this time, Madeline is almost above the Wolfenkorps Unterfeldwebel and she shoots him with her frosty gaze. He staggers a little but remains on his feet. Sven flashes into the corridor in his hawk form and launches an attack at the nearest trooper. This is enough to make the final trooper and the Unterfeldwebel to turn and run for it, but the Unterfeldwebel is moving very slowly.

The trooper that Sven is attacking tries to shoot at him with his rifle but his shot goes wild and buries itself in the wall. And his day goes from bad to worse as Frank steps out of the cupboard once more and shoots him in the back with both barrels of one of his shotguns. The unfortunate Wolfenkorps trooper is smeared across the wall.

Sven flashes up the corridor towards the retreating trooper, and as the trooper turns to look over his shoulder, Sven dives and rips his throat out. At the same moment the Unterfeldwebel staggers once more and then falls flat on his face in the middle of the corridor. Madeline makes double sure that all of the Germans are dead and then the rest of the group head for the kitchens. I am left to tend to my wounds in the broom cupboard. My life was not always glamorous.

While Madeline turns on all the gas taps in the kitchen, Sven pours expensive alcohol all over the dining room. Once he has finished, he strikes a match and sets fire to the furniture. They then retreat back to me in the broom cupboard. We agree that we need to investigate the new build, and a few minutes later conclude that it is a barracks. While Sven takes to the skies, the rest of us take the Frank express out of the schloss and back into the treeline at the bottom of the bluff.

As we are hiding within the treeline we hear the sound of a screech owl high up in one of the towers. It continues to screech and is joined by to of its brothers in calling out. Then, one by one the cries of the screech owls are cut short and silence reins again. I guess that the hawk is mightier than the owl. Not long after there is a loud explosion as the gas from the kitchen meets the fire from the dining room and the side of the schloss collapses. We make our way back to OP1.

As Sven is circling the schloss he spots a car and truck travelling up the road towards the schloss at high speed. When it arrives a number of shocked looking troopers and medical staff begin to mill around, but it soon becomes obvious to them that there is very little that they can do about the raging fire. By eighteen thirty hours we have regrouped back at OP1 and Schloss Neuschwanstein is well and truly ablaze. Agreeing that we have met the objectives of the mission we leave.

Hanslope Park, Buckinghamshire, England, January 1943

We exited through Switzerland and made our way back to Hanslope Park. In a matter of days we are sat in the briefing room being debriefed by Captain Ledman and Major Hoffman. We rigidly stick to a chronological retelling of the mission, and are rewarded with the looks on the senior officers faces when Frank says;

And then we killed Hitler!

They question us as to how certain we are that we truly killed Hitler, and we confirm that we cannot be completely sure but we are quite convinced. Major Hoffman immediately reaches for the telephone and asks to speak to General Menzies. When Menzies comes onto the line Hoffman says;

Sir! The mission may well have achieved the additional objective.

There is a moment's pause while Major Hoffman is listening and then he says;

Confirmed!

Hoffman hangs up and informs us that the General will be with us tomorrow and the debrief is postponed. As is tradition, we head for the officers mess and celebrate like we have never celebrated before.

The following morning, with very tender heads, we continue the debrief. This time we are joined by General Menzies and Major Lind of the Norwegian Army. There are many moments during the debrief where both of the new officers are left speechless as to our exploits and abilities. And by the end we are roundly congratulated. General Menzies informs us that the intelligence services are already in the process of confirming the outcomes of our actions.

During the next few days we receive aerial photos of the ruined schloss and the destroyed industrial site. There are also photos showing that the side of a large Austrian peak near Berwang has collapsed. And finally it is confirmed that Hitler is dead. We are invited to a grande dinner where we all receive a promotion, even Frank, and are awarded the Military Cross. Stood on the stage that night are Captain Madeline Forsyth, Capitaine Mimi Dubois, Major Sven Hyse, and Lieutenant Frank Fort.

By the end of January 1943 Heinrich Himmler becomes the new Fuhrer and declares that he is committed to following Hitler’s blueprint for the war. However, soon after German forces in Stalingrad surrender and the German forces in Russia begin to retreat. By May 1943 the Axis forces in North Africa surrender and it is rumoured that Rommel is returning to Germany in an effort to depose Himmler. At the end of May 1943, Himmler is assassinated inside a guarded, secure room with no witnesses. It is strongly believed by MI6 that German enhanced operatives were involved. Karl Donitz becomes President and appoints Rommel as his Reichsmarschall.

July 1943 and Rommel leads a counterattack at Kursk, but is defeated and the German forces are forced to retreat further. Allied forces land in Sicily and soon after Mussolini is deposed, Italy sues for peace. December 1943 and German forces, under the direct orders of Rommel, retreat in the face of the Red Army back to the German border. Finally in April 1944 Germany surrenders. Donitz seems to commit suicide, but there are suspicious circumstances, and Rommel disappears completely.

During this period, MI6s team of enhanced individuals carried out several more behind the lines raids at key points, but the team slowly drifted apart. As soon as Norway was free from German occupation Sven rejoined the Norwegian army and continued to support their efforts in the war. Madeline was picked for more and more solo missions and eventually we didn’t see her again, that is until much later in life. Frank and I had a whirlwind love affair that eventually ended when I joined the Forces Françaises Libres and he was ordered to support British Forces as part of Operation Overlord.

And so MI6s Enhanced Team disappeared, and their influence on World War II was locked away in official secrets. I didn’t hear from any of the team again. That was until February 1948, six years after that fateful train journey. My commanding officer at the SDECE called me into his office, and with a look of disgust handed me my new orders. I stared at the piece of paper, shocked at what it said;

Report to Major Sawdon.

Hanslope Park.

With immediate effect.

MI6s team of enhanced individuals have successfully buried Hitler in a disused mine intended for the test of wolfenkorps Alpha’s weapon of mass destruction. Now the race is on to detonate the weapon and kill Hitler before he can escape. The team consists of Mademoiselle Mimi Dubois, La Résistance fighter and mistress of skills; Miss Madeline Forsyth, SOE operative and a living shadow; Franklin Fort, hard bitten soldier and teleporter; and Sven Hyse, Norwegian Resistance soldier and shapeshifter.

Berwang, Austria, January 1943

From his hiding position in the treeline behind the bunker, Frank lines up on one of the German troopers hiding behind the vehicles parked by the side of the bunker. The trooper ducks out of sight just as Frank pulls the trigger and his bullet buries itself uselessly into the ground. Almost simultaneously on the roof of the mine entrance, Sven pulls the trigger on his bren gun that is aimed at the trooper and scientist stood not far away from the bunker entrance. He also misses and his bullets chew up the landscape causing the two people that he was aiming for to dive for cover.

Madeline spots the group of soldiers and scientists cowering behind the mine entrance building begin to creep for the treeline, she slides in behind them and lines up one of the Wolfenkorps troopers in her gaze. Out of the corner of her eye she spots that the main hatch on the tank has been thrown open, but whoever is left alive inside does not have the strength to clamber out.

The clamour of gunfire and shouting is shattered by the sound of yet another explosion. This one emanating from the mouth of the bunker as my explosive charge detonates. I could tell that I had got the charge just right as the door that I was hiding behind buckled out of it’s frame. I hoped that it had the same effect on the rest of the doors in the corridor.

At the sound of the explosion in the bunker the two hiding by the vehicles and the two that Sven had missed all break for the village at a blind run. Frank sights his rifle on one of the running Wolfenkorps troops and squeezes the trigger. This time his aim is true and the trooper flies forwards onto his face having taken a direct hit to the back of the head.

Inside the bunker I reach out with my senses to make sure that there are no enemy enhanced in my vicinity, I get a single contact that is in the location where I left Frank and so I slide in shadow form under the door. I find myself in a scene of carnage. There are a number of dead Wolfenkorps troopers littered along the corridor, several of which have been dismembered. A couple of the troops and badly injured but still conscious, and there is a single Wolfenkorps trooper crouched by the entrance with his rifle aimed outwards, he is completely unaware of me. So I ignore him and head for the door next to the guardroom.

Madeline sprints into the middle of the running group and lets loose with her frost gaze, one of the troopers drops to the floor with his blood frozen in his veins. The rest of the group stop creeping and start to run in a blind panic towards the treeline. She moves her gaze to another of the running Wolfenkorps troopers and freezes him in place with a lethal blink. Two seconds later and the third and final trooper is turned into a frosted corpse.

Frank methodically start to take out the other runners with his rifle. He shoots the first in the body and he immediately falls to the floor dead, Frank shoots the next one in his right leg and he spins to the floor clutching at his bloody appendage. Frank sights on the final runner, a scientist, and after a heartbeats pause he squeezes the trigger once more and drops him dead.

Madeline, left with three scientists still trying to escape, shouts in perfect German;

Surrender to the New Reich! Collaborators of the old Führer will be shot!

Realising that there was to be no escape for them, the three scientists raise their arms above their heads and walk back towards Madeline, who keeps them covered with her submachine gun. She motions them back towards the bunker and they begin to slowly make their way down with Madeline several yards behind them with her gun trained on their backs.

I slide in under the buckled door and find myself in another corridor with three further doors leading off of it, one of them leads to a room at the front of the bunker and so I attempt to slide under it. It is airtight and so I solidify and, drawing my silenced pistol, try the handle. The door is unlocked and as it swings open I see two scientists in front of a large bank of screens each showing a different picture, the screens are like miniature cinema screens. One of the scientists turns toward me and as he is turning I notice that one of the screens is showing a group of irate looking high ranking German officers.

On top of the mine entrance, Sven transforms himself into a large owl and leaps up into the night sky. As he swoops towards the bunker on silent wings he spots a number of troops climbing into the half-track that is parked up by the villages checkpoint. On his descent to the top of the bunker he also catches sight of something crouched in the doorway of the bunker, but he can’t quite make out what it is. Sven lands softly on the roof of the bunker and is mildly surprised when seconds later Frank is crouched beside him. He was definitely not there a moment ago.

The scientist’s jaw visabily drops and he sees a beautiful woman holding a gun pointed at him. In my most captivating voice I suggest that they surrender. The one standing raises his hands slowly and the one sat down falls off of his stool in his desperation to make sure that I don’t shoot him. I gesture them towards the far wall and tell them in fluent German;

Kneel facing the wall!

They do so, and I step up behind the one on the left and stroke the side of his face, he initially flinches from me but he does not resist and I ask him how to detonate the Wolfenkorps Alpha device. Obviously, he doesn’t tell me, but he does think about the process and in that moment I ‘borrow’ his knowledge of how to do it. I then step back and shoot him in the back of the head, he slumps to the floor dead. His colleague scrambles towards the door and I calmly track him and put three bullets in him before he makes it halfway across the room.

As Madeline guides her three scientists down to the bunkers entrance, she notices a figure crouched in the doorway. The Wolfenkorps trooper shouts at Madeline;

Halt an oder ich schieße!

Madeline replies in perfect German;

Surrender or die! Heil Himmler!

The Wolfenkorps trooper opens fire and one of the scientists drops to the floor with his blood staining the snow. Madeline dives for cover to her left, hoping to put the bulk of the bunker between her and the Wolfenkorps trooper in the doorway. On the roof of the bunker Frank slings his rifle and whips out a large knife in each hand, he then disappears.

The Wolfenkorps trooper in the doorway of the bunker leans out slightly to try and get a clear shot on the woman who was holding the gun, he is completely surprised when out of thin air a British commando clutching two very large knives is stood right in front of him. The trooper has no time to react before Frank plunges both daggers to the hilt in his chest.

Leaving the two bodies of the scientists where they died I move over to the bank of screens, and in particular the array of dials, switches, and buttons. Using my ‘borrowed’ knowledge I start the initiation sequence for the Wolfenkorps Alpha device. As it is starting up I hear Madeline shouting my name from somewhere in the bunker complex, glancing at the screens in front of me I can see Madeline, Frank and Sven at the bunkers entrance. I head out to meet them.

I slide back under the buckled door and arrive just in time to see Sven dispatching the injured Wolfenkorps troopers with his bren gun. I quickly catch them up on what has happened and the fact that we need to close the bunker door as I have started the weapon sequence. Madeline says in German;

One of these lovely scientists will show us how to close the door. Won’t you?

She emphasises this last statement by pointing her submachine gun at them. They quickly nod their agreement. I point at the buckled door and say;

Through here.

I then transform back into shadow form and slip under the door leaving them behind. I head straight back to the control room to check on the progress of the initiation sequence.

Frank and Sven step up and wrench the door out of its frame and head through. Frank stalks ahead to make sure that the corridor is clear while Sven checks out the rooms in the corridor that they pass to make sure that there are no surprises. I hear Frank creep into the control room behind me as I am leaning over the controls preparing to remove the safety locks. Frank saunters over and slaps my backside, I look back over my shoulder and blow him a kiss and then get back to trying to kill Hitler.

Sven discovers a kitchen and then the officers mess. The mess is decorated with swastikas and laid out ready for entertaining the high command, there are also two further screens in the mess that are displaying pictures of the Wolfenkorps Alpha device. An idea grabs Sven when he sees the empty champagne glasses on a silver tray. He picks up four glasses and heads back to the kitchen.

Madeline guides the remaining scientists into the control room and tells them to shut the outer door of the bunker. They do so and we here the clang resounding through the structure a moment later. Meanwhile, I have managed to remove the safeties and the device is ready for detonation. It is just a case of lifting the cover and flicking the switch. I pause and look around the room. This feels like a huge moment and I want to remember everything. It is at that thoughtful moment that Sven walks through the door carrying four glasses and a chilled bottle of champagne.

Madeline hustles the two scientists into the kitchen and tells them to stay in there or face her retribution, they cower in the corner of the room. We all take a glass of champagne from Sven and then I ask Frank if he will do the honours. Frank steps forward, lifts the cover, and as we raise our glasses he flicks the switch.

There is a moment's pause and then all of the screens flash bright white and then each screen shows nothing but static. A second later and we feel the concrete beneath our feet rumble and shake as the concussive wave crashes over the bunker. We then hear the noise of the enormous explosion. There is then two seconds of silence until we finally hear a low rumble in the distance. One by one we place our glasses back on the silver tray and share a moment of quiet celebration. Then Madeline says;

Time to leave!

Sven transforms into a thrush and flaps up onto Frank’s shoulder while Madeline and I transform into shadows and slide onto Frank’s body. Less than a minute later Frank smiles and disappears. The Wolfenkorps troops will find the bunker locked from the inside with only two scientists alive inside with fantastical stories about two women and two men triggering the device.

Frank re-materialises back in his snipers nest in the treeline behind the bunker. We hunker down and survey the scene. There is a massive cloud of dust and snow billowing out of the mine entrance, Madeline’s sharp eyes pick out the silhouette of a figure in a German officers uniform standing within the dust cloud. As she watches, the figure turns back towards the mine and shimmers out of sight. Whether it was the dust cloud that obscured him or whether he became insubstantial she could only speculate. But she was sure that she had seen Hauptmann Wilck.

Noticing that the halftrack full of Wolfenkorps troopers is still heading in the direction of the bunker Sven says that it is time for the second half of our mission. Madeline agrees to go with Sven and destroy the Wolfenkorps Beta industrial complex while Frank and myself make our way back to OP1. Sven transforms into a large owl and Madeline, taking what if left of our explosives, turns into a shadow and slides onto him. They fly up into the night sky as I slide onto Frank and we disappear.

Schloss Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Germany, January 1943

By seventeen hundred hours Sven and Madeline are just arriving at the industrial site on the edge of Lake Alpsee, and Frank and I are not far from OP1. Sven and Madeline get to work quickly and efficiently. Sven lands on the first of the sites large fuel tanks and Madeline drops one of the twenty second charges and pulls the detonator pin. Sven then flies towards the second fuel tank and they carry out the same procedure. As they are flying towards the third, and final, fuel tank there is a massive double explosion as the first charge explodes closely followed by the fuel tank itself.

By the time that Sven and Madeline land back in OP1 there are three huge fires burning through the collapsed wreckage of the three industrial buildings by the side of Lake Alpsee. We settle in and watch the schloss for a short while to see what happens. It doesn’t take long. By seventeen fifteen hours vehicles in the inner courtyard of the schloss roar into life and a number of soldiers and medical personnel climb on board and they head quickly down towards the industrial site. Two trucks and two cars full of people. Frank looks over and says;

The Schloss will be quiet. Shall we?

Within less than three minutes we are all stood within the small broom cupboard inside Schloss Neuschwanstein. I push out with my senses to find out where the enhanced are currently. The owls are all in their usual locations, as are the Wolfenhund in their kennel, as well as them I get three pings at the front gate. I push them all and discover that it is two Wolfenhund and a Wolfenkorps Type B trooper. I inform the others and we once again get Frank to teleport us all to the Wolfenkorps Beta administration office on the second floor of the schloss.

Frank, Sven, and I cover the three doors of the office while Madeline makes sure that all of the important paperwork is piled up ready to burn. She finds a bottle of schnapps and pours it all of the office. She then lights two cigarettes, passes one to me, and then drops the match into the pile of paperwork. We stand there a moment enjoying the cigarettes while making sure that the fire is well and truly ablaze. Once we are convinced we begin to make our way to the fourth floor and the application room.

Having just scouted out the Austrian village of Berwang; Frank, Mimi and Sven are just about to head back to their hidden cave to rest up. The fourth member of the team is also preparing to rest, but she is nestled on the underside of a Tiger tank parked outside the. mine entrance. The team consists of Mademoiselle Mimi Dubois, La Résistance fighter and mistress of skills; Miss Madeline Forsyth, SOE operative and a living shadow; Franklin Fort, hard bitten soldier and teleporter; and Sven Hyse, Norwegian Resistance soldier and shapeshifter. The team needs to be ready, for tomorrow they kill Hitler.

Berwang, Austria, January 1943

Just as we are preparing to leave Frank spots that the main doors of the bunker are opening. He bellies down to watch what happens. A group of German troopers leave the bunker and begin walking towards the village. Frank can see through his scope that there are six Wolfenkorps troopers accompanied by a Wolfenkorps Unterfeldwebel and a German dressed in tank fatigues.

From her position under the Tiger tank, Madeline sees someone climb down from the tank, join the two guards at the mine entrance and begin walking towards the bunker.

Sven, in his owl form we myself on him in shadow form, swoops down onto the top of the mine entrance and I slide off of him. He quickly transforms into a small thrush and hops into position so that he can watch what is happening. The group that left the bunker split and three of them head towards the mine entrance while the others head through the village. The group heading to the mine and the group leaving it stop and have a quick discussion, and then the ones leaving the mine head into the bunker.

Frank checks his watch and it is zero two zero two hours, he surmises that it is the standard changing of the guard. The troops heading through the village move towards the checkpoints and again after a brief chat, the guards that were at their posts there head back towards the bunker. The whole process takes about five minutes, during which the doors to the bunker are open all of the time. Once the bunker doors close, Sven transforms back into a large owl and I slide back onto him and we return to RV2 and Frank.

After a very quick discussion we decide that Frank and I will stay near to Berwang and Sven will head back to RV1 and return to us once he has confirmed that Hitler has arrived at the schloss. Frank remembers a sheep shack about an hour away that would provide us with shelter overnight and so we head for that. As soon as we have secured ourselves within the empty sheep hut Sven leaves us. We sit there is silence for a moment and then I turn to Frank and say;

Tomorrow we could die. Tonight, we shall embrace life!

A broad smile passes over Frank’s face.

As soon as Sven arrives back at the schloss he heads into the surrounding woodland and reconnoiters the area, transitioning from owl to fox to hare as he covers the area and makes sure that there will be no surprises and plenty of bolt holes should he need them. Once he is satisfied that he has covered the ground he heads back to RV1 for a well deserved rest. He wakes early and heads to OP1, and finds that the schloss is a hive of activity with people running to and fro getting the area ready for an inspection.

Twenty one miles away, Madeline is finding the Berwang is also full of movement as the mine and bunkered are prepared. At one point the Tiger tank that Madeline is hidden under starts up it’s engine and runs for several minutes.

Just before zero eight hundred hours Sven sees a truck arrive at the schloss and pick up a small group of scientists and technicians, the truck then leaves and heads towards the industrial site by the lake.

At zero eight forty three hours, Madeline sees a truck pull up to the bunker and a small group of scientists and technicians climb out. They split into two groups, one of which enters the bunker and the others head into the mine.

Ten fifteen hours and OP1 is occupied by a chimpanzee watching the schloss and the surrounding area through a pair of binoculars. The chimp catches sight of movement along the road to the far north of the schloss, and so the chimpanzee transforms into a peregrine falcon and launches into the air. A few minutes later and the falcon is gliding high above a cavalcade of German vehicles. Sven speeds ahead of the convoy and lands in a tree close to the bend in the road where it heads up to the schloss, a spot where the vehicles will have to slow down so the Sven can see who is within.

He is passed by two motorcycles; a halftrack; a staff car containing the unmistakable person of Hitler; a staff car containing Goebbels, Goering, and Speer; three more staff cars full of a variety of German officers; two trucks full of German troopers; another halftrack, and finally two more motorcycles. With concrete confirmation that Hitler is indeed in the area, Sven leaps up into the sky and heads for the Austrian sheep hut.

At sixteen hundred hours exactly, Frank, Sven and I slide quietly into RV2. The sun is just setting and the long shadows give us enough cover to pass unnoticed. Frank scans the area with his scope and confirms that the Germans have clearly doubled the guard, but that is only to be expected and does not perturb us. It is not long before the sound of a large convoy of vehicles starts to bounce around the valley walls, and minutes later the cavalcade comes into view just beyond the village.

Sven transforms into a thrush and flies over to the top of the mine entrance. He then changes into a snake and slithers in through the roof vent and onto the rafters inside the mine head building. He then transforms once again, this time into a bat and hangs from the rafter watching what is happening. He spots that the Germans are connecting up the charges rigged in the ceiling of the mine shaft, once they have finished they run the firing cable halfway to the bunker. As soon as the mine shaft is clear of people, Sven drops from the rafter and flaps into the shaft, he flies all the way to the first spur and hides in the darkness.

Frank watches the proceedings occurring outside of the bunker through his scope, the convoy is met by a Wolfenkorps Oberst and three Wolfenkorps Hauptmann. Frank takes a deep breath as Adolf Hitler steps out of his car and into Frank’s crosshairs. Frank follows them with his rifle as they stroll from the entrance of the bunker up the hill towards the mine entrance. They stand around at the mine entrance in deep discussion for a few minutes and then two trucks, with their rear covering removed, pull up and the entourage board. As the trucks drive through the mine head entrance, Hitler disappears from Frank’s crosshairs and Frank relaxes.

From his position hidden in the first left hand spur, Sven watches as two trucks pass slowly. As soon as he is sure that there are no more coming he flaps up to the ceiling and the first hidden detonator left by Madeline and I. He pulls the trigger cord and then quickly flaps to the second detonator. He repeats the procedure eight more times and after the final one he transforms into a hawk and flies as fast and as straight as an arrow out of the mine entrance, he arcs upwards and performing a perfect loop lands once more on the roof of the mine entrance.

The German guards are a little confused by the fast moving bird, but that is soon forgotten as a massive explosion emanates from the mine shaft. That single explosion turns into a cascade of explosions that shake the mountain to its very foundations. It was as if the world was holding its breath, nothing seemed to move for several seconds and then all hell broke loose.

I slide onto Frank in shadow form and he teleports through the village to the rear of the bunker. He settles into position with his rifle as I slide down to the back of the bunker, and then up onto its roof and position myself just above the main doors. I push out with my senses and can tell that there are two enhanced not far from the bunkers doors.

In the confusion and smoke at the mine head no one sees Madeline slide out from beneath the Tiger tank, she slides up on top and comes face to face with the tank commander who is just opening the tanks top hatch. Madeline locks eyes with him and then an icy blast shoots from her eyes and hits the tank commander freezing the blood in his veins instantly. He slumps over, dead.

Slowly pulling themselves together, German troops and technicians start to run towards the mine entrance to discover what has happened and to rescue their Führer. Unfortunately for them, Sven has transformed once more back into human form and as the groups close on the mine entrance they are met with two phosphorus grenades.

From his position on the hill just behind the bunker, Frank has a clear line of sight to a group of Wolfenkorps troopers not far from the bunker. He plays his scope over them and picks out the senior officer, a Hauptmann, and takes aim. The troops are shook into action by the sound of two grenades exploding at the mine entrance and the screams of German troops and technicians.

In the confusion no one notices a dark shadow slide down from the roof of the bunker and in through the open doors onto the ceiling. I find myself in an empty corridor with several closed doors and one open one. The open door leads into an empty guard room and I slide in to see if there is any way to seal the bunker, but I can not find anything that looks like a door mechanism.

With the tank commander blocking the tanks main hatch Madeline begins to drop the temperature within the tank using her enhanced powers. The temperature within the tank starts to plummet ten degrees every second. Initially the tank crew don’t comprehend what is happening, but soon they begin to panic and try their damnedest to escape the icy death trap.

Just as the Hauptmann gets his troops to start moving towards the mine shaft, Frank squeezes the trigger on his rifle. His aim is true and the bullet strikes the Wolfenkorps officer, watching through his scope Frank sees a weird ripple effect where the bullet strikes and then feels himself hit by the force of a bullet. Frank’s enhanced suit absorbs most of the damage, but a trickle of blood runs down Franks cheek from a head wound that should be impossible for him to have received. Frank is gratified, though, to see that the Hauptmann has dropped to one knee. But to be on the safe side he starts to aim at the Unterfeldwebel.

Hearing the sound of a rifle shot, Sven looks over towards the bunker. Seeing the group of Wolfenkorps troops he picks up his Bren gun and takes aim. He notices that a Wolfenkorps Unterfeldwebel is helping what looks like an injured Hauptmann towards the bunker doors so he decides to aim for him. The rest of the Wolfenkorps troops in the area are already running for the safety of the bunker.

Within the bunker I head for the door at the end of the corridor, and finding that it is airtight and I cannot slide through I become solid. I try the door and find that it is open, so I open it, step in, and close the door behind me. Little knowing that as I close the door a squad of Wolfenkorps troops rush into the bunker entrance and take up defensive positions. I look about and discover that I am stood in what must be the living quarters of an officer.

Frank squeezes his trigger once more and hits the Unterfeldwebel, again watching through his scope he can see that there is a definite rippling effect where the bullet strikes, but he is relieved when this time he does not seem to take any damage. Almost simultaneously Sven presses the trigger on his Bren gun and it thunders into life sending a hail of death towards the Unterfeldwebel. His enhanced abilities are unable to cope with the volume of destruction that is rained upon him and he is blown backwards in a haze of blood.

The crew of the Tiger tank manage to pull the body of their dead commander out of the way, thus clearing an escape route for themselves, however, Madeline has different ideas and slams the hatch closed. The screams of the men trapped inside can still be heard as the temperature inside the tank drops to below minus sixty.

Inside the officers room I decide to rig up a large explosive charge with the hope of buckling the doors so that I can pass through in shadow form, I start to wire a double pack of explosive with a two second charge.

Sven lines up his aim on the Wolfenkorps Hauptmann and pulls the trigger, hitting him with a full burst. He is a little surprised when he realises that he must be taking damage himself, he knows this not because of pain or blood, but because his Bren gun becomes lighter in his hands as his strength increases. Sven’s enhanced powers have absorbed the damage and converted it into power for his muscles. When the Hauptmann doesn’t go down, Sven hits him with another burst. This time, not only does Sven grow slightly stronger but the Hauptmann collapses dead at the entrance to the bunker.

Having finished wiring the explosive charge, I open the door of the officers room and lob the charge into the corridor. I then slam the door closed and wait for the explosion.

Having gained entry to Schloss Neuschwanstein in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, MI6s team of enhanced individuals have discovered a wealth of information about the German enhanced programme as well as details of the imminent visit of Adolf Hitler. The team consists of Mademoiselle Mimi Dubois, La Résistance fighter and mistress of skills; Miss Madeline Forsyth, SOE operative and a living shadow; Franklin Fort, hard bitten soldier and teleporter; and Sven Hyse, Norwegian Resistance soldier and shapeshifter.

Schloss Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Germany, January 1943

Having stifled our laughter over Wolfenkorps Beta blaming the SS for the attack on Schloss Wewelsburg, we agree that it is worth searching the fourth floor for the rumoured application facilities. Once again a thrush and two shadows climb onto Frank and we all disappear, only to reappear next to the nearest staircase not covered by the sight of an enhanced screech owl. We move along the upper corridor to the next stairwell and then head upwards with Madeline taking point in shadow form on the ceiling.

After two turns we pass the entrance to the third floor, two turns later and we exit onto the fourth floor. We find ourselves at the end of a corridor and in the middle of the opposite wall are a large set of double doors. Madeline heads for the double doors and I slide along the corridor to peer around the corner at the end. Madeline slips in under the doors and finds herself in a completely empty hospital ward. It is as if the ward is ready for patients but has not seen any as of yet. The beds are all bare, and the clipboards at the end of each bed is empty of medical notes. At the opposite end of the ward is another set of double doors that would open out onto a parallel corridor that would be covered by the eyes of the enhanced screech owl positioned at the staircase on that side of the building.

As I look around the corner I can see another set of double doors across from me, I am unable to get to them without potentially crossing the eye line of the enhanced owl. So I retreat back to the others and once we have regrouped, Frank teleports us back to the broom cupboard on the ground floor. We quietly make our way to the tower that we entered through and after several seconds of Frank looking out of the window with a furrowed brow he disappears. We open the window just enough for Sven to slip out in his thrush form, and then we shut the shutters and the window once again before Madeline and I slip out of the Schloss.

By zero four hundred hours we have all made it safely back to RV1 and settle down to discuss what we are planning to do. It doesn’t take us long to come to the consensus that if have the opportunity to assassinate Hitler then we are all agreed that it must be our priority. But we are also aware that getting all of the information that we have recovered needs to be returned to our superiors should we fail. After a short debate it is settled that Sven has the greatest chance to get back to England with the information and so Madeline hands him the canister of film from her camera.

What followed was a couple of hours of planning and discounting possibilities and plan Bs. Eventually it is settled. We are going to attempt to bury Hitler under a mountain in Austria. We plan on waiting until Hitler has descended into the mine to inspect the Wolfenkorps Alpha weapon and then detonate the explosives that have been set to collapse the tunnel. We know from the itinerary that the Berwang visit is scheduled to take place between sixteen hundred and eighteen hundred hours. From our previous scouting we know that we will require at least ten detonators to trigger the five hundred metres of explosives, and so Madeline and I rig up ten one minute detonator packs on a pull pin that Sven will be able to trigger if flying. Sven also requests two twenty second charges be made up for him to use as he sees fit.

We agree to have a final scout of the Berwang site that evening to see if anything has been changed before we attempt our plan. We set out at twenty hundred hours with the intention of arriving just after midnight, but I struggle with the terrain and we don’t regroup at RV2 until zero thirty hours. Everything looks unchanged in the village and so we agree to sneak into the mine once again. Frank sets up his rifle and stays on overwatch from RV2 while Sven transforms into a large owl and flies Madeline and I into the treeline above the mine entrance. We slide down the snow-covered slope to the roof of the building covering the mine entrance and slip towards the roof vent.

As we are sliding in we overhear the two German troops stationed to guard the mine entrance complaining about how cold it is and the fact that the visit tomorrow is going to be a nightmare. We slip inside and head into the mine tunnel, the first thing that we spot is that the Germans have finished the wiring of the tunnel explosives and that they are ready to be connected to a floor level trunking prior to detonation. We realise that means that no one will be inspecting at high level and so Madeline slides up to ceiling level and wires in our detonators, while I follow on behind and make sure that they are camouflaged by the other wiring.

We travel all the way in and check out the corrugated iron shack, we discover that it has been tidied up in preparation for the visit tomorrow. We leave without touching anything as we do not wish to give the game away and run the risk of missing our opportunity. We next return to the rear of the concrete bunker, and while I am pushing out with my senses to see if the number of enhanced beings has been increased, Madeline removes the explosive charge that we had set on our first visit. I confirm that the bunker contains the same three enhanced beings and so Frank, Sven and I regroup at RV2.

Madeline heads for the underside of the Tiger tank, which is positioned just outside the mine entrance building, where she intends on waiting out the evening and keeping watch during the following day. The rest of us make ready to leave for RV1 so that we can monitor the visit. Everyone is tense, but that is understandable, for tomorrow we attempt to kill Hitler.

Having just gained entrance to Schloss Neuschwanstein in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, MI6s team of enhanced individuals are deep into Operation Reindeer. The team consists of Mademoiselle Mimi Dubois, La Résistance fighter and mistress of skills; Miss Madeline Forsyth, SOE operative and a living shadow; Franklin Fort, hard bitten soldier and teleporter; and Sven Hyse, Norwegian Resistance soldier and shapeshifter.

Schloss Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Germany, January 1943

If there had been anyone to see what was happening in the lower halls of Schloss Neuschwanstein then they would have spotted a curious sight. A British soldier in commando fatigues creeping through the hallways following a black cat and seemingly casting three shadows, two of which are inexplicably on the ceiling. But there was no one to witness this most peculiar of sights and so MI6s team of enhanced individuals passed unnoticed.

As we head towards the keep like structure at the back of the schloss we check the doors along our route, most are of little interest but we discover a large cleaning cupboard that Frank spends time to memorize so that he can teleport back to it in case he needs to make a quick exit. Sven pads up to a door in the centre of the schloss and, with his cat enhanced hearing, picks up the conversation of a couple of German guards grumbling about uneventful night shifts. He indicates that there are people behind the door and so I push out with my senses to discover if there are any enhanced in the area. My senses are almost overwhelmed with the information that I get back.

After several seconds of concentration I have counted at least twenty two returns of enhanced beings, but fortunately only one of them is on the same level as. And that one is on the opposite side of the schloss to us. There is, however, an enhanced directly above our location and so I take the opportunity to push my senses further and discover if it is an enhanced screech owl. I am shocked when I discover that the enhanced is gifted with an altered time rate, damage resistance, and the ability to see if absolute darkness. I quickly tell the rest of the team that we have a powerful enhanced within the schloss. To be on the safe side I push my senses into the only enhanced on our level and confirm that this one is one of the enhanced screech owls.

The team continue to move further into the schloss with Madeline, Frank, and Sven overlapping and checking doors while I hang back and keep watch both visually and with my enhanced senses. Sven listens at his door but can hear nothing, even with his enhanced senses. But when he has a sniff he can pick up that the room beyond is full of food stuffs, he ignores it and moves on. Madeline slides in under her door and finds herself in a very well appointed dining room full of period furniture and elegant furnishings, Madeline moves through and slides in under another door finding a kitchen and pantry. Frank tries the handle of his door and finding it open steps inside, he enters what appears to be a basic staff canteen area.

With nothing to see Frank steps back out and closes the door, he moves to the corner of the corridor and has a quick peak. He can see a large hallway, across which he can see a short corridor with four doors off of it. He is just about to cross to the corridor when he remembers my warning about the screech owl, worried that the owl might see him cross the hallway Frank just disappears. He reappears within the corridor and has a closer look at the four doors, each is marked with a small white plaque stating who each room belongs to, Frank reads;

Hauptmann Arps Stellvertretender Sicherheitsleiter, Hauptmann Arps Stellvertretender Sicherheitsleiter, Hauptmann Lorenz Stellvertretender Sicherheitsleiter, and Major Rau Sicherheitschef.

Frank reaches out and tries the doors but finds them all locked. He disappears and reappears back at the corner next to us and lets us know what he has found. Madeline translates it as the offices of the Head of Security and his three deputies, so we decide that we need to get in. That was the first time that we made use of Frank’s enhanced ability to move the entire team. It proved to be a very useful tool.

Sven transformed into a thrush and flapped up onto Frank’s shoulder, while Madeline and myself in shadow form slid onto Frank’s body. We were stood at the corner and the next heartbeat we were twenty five yards away in the middle of the corridor. Quickly Sven leaps of off Frank’s shoulder and transforms back into himself holding his Bren gun and with Frank behind him he covers the end of the corridor. Madeline slides in under the door of Major Rau while I push out with my senses to make sure that we haven’t disturbed any of the enhanced.

Madeline discovers a plush, and uncluttered office. She searches the large leather topped desk and finds an itinerary for the expected demonstration. The visit is due to take place in thirty two hours, at ten hundred hours the morning after next. But that is not what draws Madeline’s eye in the first instant, what really catches her attention is the list of attendees. And the name at the top of that list is Adolf Hitler, the Führer. Using her power to create darkness Madeline covers the doors and windows and then takes a photograph of the itinerary.

In the corridor outside of the offices I push out with my senses to see if any of the enhanced are moving. I discover that most of the enhanced responses are in the same locations as before, but two of them have moved. I leave it a few seconds and ping again discovering that they are definitely on the move, and not only that but that they are moving down from the fourth floor to the third. A patrol. I select one of them and push deeper, I discover that he is what we have coined Wolfenkorps type B. I switch targets and push my senses into the next enhanced. I find that he is gifted with the ability to become insubstantial as well as being resistant to damage and being able to see in absolute darkness. I also get a sense of something that is not quite a power but is definitely an enhancement, it feels very similar to our own special chemical treated clothing. This one is dangerous.

Madeline appears once more in the corridor and shows us the itinerary, I copy down the details into my pocket book, and am just as surprised as everyone else at the names on the list. Hitler, Goebbels, Göring, and Speer would all be present at the demonstration alongside a number of other senior German military officers. We all look at each other realising that this could be an opportunity that never appears again.

Madeline returns the document and we quickly check out the other offices but find nothing else of interest. Once again the team take advantage of Frank’s ability and we reappear inside the staff canteen where Frank remembers seeing a door that he did not check. The door is unlocked and when we open it we realise that it is an administration office, a quick check reveals it to be the administration office for the Schloss’ security department. The office has two doors leading from it and so Sven and Frank take up position next to one each while I continue to ‘ping’ with my senses and track the enhanced two man patrol. Madeline begins to systematically search through all of the documents within the room.

One of the first things that Madeline finds is the shift rota for the security heads, and in particular that it is a Hauptmann Wilck that is the deputy head of security currently on shift. She is also able to work out, by cross referencing several sources of information, who are staying at Schloss Neuschwanstein. Madeline believes that the first floor of the Schloss’ keep is given over to Wolfenkorps Alpha and the second floor is mostly Wolfenkorps Beta. There is also reference to a medical facility on the fourth floor.

Time seems to tick by with glacial slowness as the rest of the team keep watch while Madeline continues to search for information. She next finds names that are connected to each of the Wolfenkorps divisions. Wolfenkorps Alpha are led by Oberst Von Kramer with Oberstleutnant Graf as his second in command. There is also reference to a Professor Fleck, with a schedule for him to be escorted by a squad of troops every day to the Berwang test site. Wolfenkorps Beta is commanded by Oberst Bruckner with Oberstleutnant Schultz as his second. There is also listed a Professor Schroeder who is the Application Lead for Wolfenkorps Beta, and it is listed that he has two testing facilities within the Schloss.

The final discovery that Madeline makes is that the Schloss has a complement of ten Wolfenhund and sixteen enhanced screech owls. It looks like one Wolfenhund is always kept at the main gate and another is always on patrol. The owls are detail as being in each of the towers as well as the western lobby. After ten minutes of searching Madeline believes that she has gathered all of the essential information from the room and so we move on through an unchecked door in the kitchen. Knowing that crossing the corridor will put us in line of sight of the enhanced owl, Frank teleports across the corridor with Madeline and the find a sitting room and bar area. They return and we discuss retreating back to RV1.

Madeline makes a strong case for searching the upper floors and we are all convinced. The time is zero two twenty hours and I push out with my senses once more to try and find the patrol, there is an increase of two enhanced at the main gate and so we make the assumption that the coast is clear for a moment, I do also pick up that the enhanced with an altered time rate on the first floor has moved from one location to another. We move swiftly to the middle spiral staircase that is not covered by an owl and begin to climb. After two turns of the stair we are looking out onto the first floor landing, ignoring this we continue up for another two turns of the stair and arrive at the second floor. The staircase stops at this level, but there is a hatch in the ceiling that must lead out onto the roof.

We begin a systematic sweep of the rooms with Sven in his cat form using his enhanced senses, Madeline in shadow form slipping in under the doors when Sven has given the all clear, Frank keeping them both covered with his gun, while I push out with my senses every thirty seconds to track the enhanced patrol. We find a small bedroom with two nurses asleep inside; a room full of medical supplies including laudanum, Madeline steals a couple of vials; a larger bedroom with a single sleeping occupant, by the white coat hanging on the back of the door Madeline assumes that it is a doctor and when she searches further she finds the name Dr. Hella on some paperwork; finally we find the administration office of Wolfenkorps Beta.

We all head in and once again Sven and Frank take up positions covering the exits while I continue to track the patrol and Madeline starts to search through the files of Wolfenkorps Beta. After a couple of minutes Madeline looks up from the filing cabinets and says;

It’s all here. Everything that we are after!

She starts to pull out all of the pertinent documents, details of the production facility, the application facility on the fourth floor of the Schloss as well as detailed records on the location and powers of all application subjects. There is a lot of information and Madeline begins to lay it all out and take photographs. At zero two forty hours I let everyone know that the patrol has headed up to the first floor and I start to help Madeline put all of the files back in their correct locations. By zero fifty hours I sense that the enhanced patrol is heading up to the second floor.

Sven turns into a thrush and lands on Frank’s shoulder, Madeline and I become shadows and slide onto Frank, and then Frank disappears. We all reappear inside the ground floor broom cupboard that Frank had studied when we first entered the Schloss, I continue to track them and as soon as they head up to the third floor Frank teleports us all back to the Wolfenkorps Beta administration office. As soon as we arrive we get to work finishing gathering the information.

Once we have gathered all of the priority information we agree to check out the rest of the second floor. Once again Frank teleports us across the hallway so that we can avoid the screech owl and we find ourselves in a short corridor with four doors, each door has a little plaque stating who the office belongs to. We have found the offices of Oberst Bruckner, Oberstleutnant Schultz, and Professor Schroeder. Madeline and I head in under the doors and give the rooms a quick search, in Oberst Bruckner’s office I find documents referencing the demonstration but noting that the Wolfenkorps Beta demonstration has been postponed.

Attached to the documents is a handwritten note saying that the postponement of Wolfenkorps Beta’s demonstration is the fault of Heinrich Himmler and his Schutzstaffel. Mostly due to the SS attack on Schloss Wewelsburg. When I tell the rest of the team, it is all that we can do to not laugh out loud.