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Pope Pius XI



26th September 1937, The Vatican

The alliance with France and Italy had strengthened Spain's standing in the world but the anticipated general recognition of Franco's government was still not forthcoming at the end of August. France was eager to help its new won ally and sent its Foreign Minister Alexander Maret to Madrid on 2nd of September to meet with Franco and Súñer to develop a joint strategy to break Spain's isolation. Their conclusion was that the Vatican held the key for a general acceptance from catholic countries, and if that was achieved the world would follow. Maret flew to Rome on the 10th of September and met with Mussolini and afterwards the 80 year old Pontiff; Maret brought with him a personal letter from Emperor Napoleon V to Pius. Maret then negotiated with the Vatican's foreign office and an agreement was concluded on the 12th of September; the deal included a substantial monetary gift to the church from France and a restoration of the privileges the church had lost during the reign of the Spanish republic. Pope Pius XI officially announced the Papal State's recognition of Spain's nationalist government on the 26th of September.


October

Grand Duke and self-proclaimed Czar Cyril of the House of Romanov died on the 13th of October in the village of Saint Briac. Cyril's remains were moved to Paris and laid to rest in a very formal and lavish funeral with soldiers of the French Imperial Guard as honor guard. Except close family, attendees included wealthy and noble Russian émigrés and the French Emperor himself with family. Napoleon V formally recognized Cyril's son, Grand Duke Vladimir, as the rightful heir to the Russian throne in a press release the week following the funeral. On the day after, the Soviet embassy filed a formal protest of this "clear violation of the sovereignty of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; the French ignored it.

As expected, all Latin American states recognized Franco's government in the following weeks after the Pope's announcement. The United States followed suit on the 16th of October and Great Britain on the 23rd.


November

A wave of violence swept through the Paris underworld and several leading gangsters were killed, and some of the murders were eerily similar to the Molyneux/de Florimond murders in Rouen. Police sources confirm a shift of power in favor of a new faction in the city, but surprisingly, no one was willing to give any details, even when threatened with jail or beatings. The only clue, however unlikely to Legrasse and his colleagues was that an Asian gang was taking over.




15th December, Stockholm


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Roger Martin du Gard won the Nobel Prize in literature; the jury's motivation was "for the artistic power and truth with which he has depicted human conflict as well as some fundamental aspects of contemporary life in his novel-cycle Les Thibault." The 56-year-old writer was congratulated by the Emperor at a reception in Versailles at his return to Paris.


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The 1937 Nobel Laureate in Literature



January 1938

For France, 1937 had been a quiet year of diplomacy, industry and progress. The army and air force were preparing themselves for the coming great expansion and the fleet had seen several modern capital ships go into active service. Franco's Spain had joined the Axis and had received recognitions from all nations except the Soviet Union as the New Year dawned. But Spain's industry and armed forces were in a poor state and the grim truth was that Spain's membership was more of a liability than added strength. France was determined to change that during the coming years and help Spain become a strong nation.


February

The German government officially recognized the government of Manchukuo and established diplomatic relations with the nation.



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Happy faces at a German – Austrian border crossing on the 5th of March 1938



March

The relationship between Beck's Germany and Austria had completely deteriorated during the last six months. Berlin repeatedly talked about that Germany must become a home for all Germans and that "the remains of the Habsburg legacy has to end now, even by sword if necessary." It was obvious that the Reich President was determined to end Austria's existence as an independent state. Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Austrian Chancellor and leader of the reformed and renamed National Socialist party: the Deutsches Volk Partei, was determined to stop him. Seyss-Inquart loathed Beck because he had toppled the National Socialist regime in Germany, which after German pressure, also led to the outlawing of the Austrian Nazis. There seemed to be a slight majority of the people that was against a union with Germany, thus it was decided to counter the German threat with a plebiscite. The government parties: the Deutsches Volk Partei and the Vaterländische Front together with the Social Democrat's voted for a referendum and it was passed with a huge majority in the parliament, the date was set for the 7th of March.


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Austrian Chancellor Arthur Seyss-Inquart


This brought alarm in Berlin and counter moves were considered, in the end the hawks in the Government prevailed and Beck was convinced to take drastic action. On the early morning of the 5th of March, German forces crossed the border into Austria; contrary to Seyss-Inquart's orders they met with no resistance. The pro-German General Staff viewed it pointless to resist and ignored the Chancellor's commands. Reich President Beck accompanied his troops as they entered Vienna late afternoon; the majority of the populace was positive and they received his short speech, in which he declared the Anschluss of Austria to the Reich, with jubilant roars.

Great Britain hastily condemned the 'invasion' of Austria and called on Germany to withdraw immediately. Berlin's response was to explain that 'the situation in Austria is entirely an internal matter between Germans' and no business of Britain's. France declared in a statement that it viewed Austria as an 'unnatural construction without the house of Habsburg' and its end inevitable. This surprised and scared the British and Chamberlain decided to wait and see how the situation would develop.


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General Ludwig Beck, Reich President
 
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An "unnatural construction"? A great choice of phrase, cthulhu! I would've loved to have seen Chamberlain's face when he heard France's position on that. Your Imperial stances on these WW2-era developments are such a joy to read...the Catholic bond with Spain, supporting the Romanov heir. Keep up the wonderful work. :)
 
elbasto said:
There must be a reasonable explanation, just like in the Baskersville Hound.... and that reasonable explanation is that there is a freaking bullet proof-angry-hungry-huge-blood eating-psico and on crack deamon from hell on the loose.

And that's not a good thing specially if you have any blood...
and on top of that he is Asian? we're screwed!(j/k)
 
20th April 1938, Paris - The Heart of Darkness

The sound of the drums and the howling guttural chanting of the Tcho-Tcho's filled the great subterranean hall. The light from several large braziers illuminated short dark shapes dancing to the terrible rhythm. A large prehistoric altar of alien design rested in the exact center of the chamber; the top was covered with dark dried blood which also covered part of the hideous figures and cursed hieroglyphs carved out of the sides of the altar; its origin would not be recognized by any archeologists in Europe and a very few in Asia. In contrast to the short Tcho-Tcho's, stood a tall fat man facing the altar; he was as naked as his cohorts but for the powerful symbols that was painted all over his body. Oliver Haddo held a plain very sharp bronze dagger in his right hand and was chanting in unison with the howling worshippers; he looked down and flashed a maniacal grin at the terrified and naked young woman that was lying strapped to the altar with chains. She screamed again, but her frail voice was lost in the chanting; Haddo laughed at her and turned around viewing the cultist. The ones that were not participating in the ceremonial dancing were kneeling in a circle around the altar, engaged in the same blasphemous chanting.

Haddo's servants had found the great hall some twenty years ago; it was unknown who had built it or for what purpose but it was interconnected with the sewer system and the cellars of several palaces in central Paris. The details didn't matter, it was perfect, and he could feel an ancient evil aura in the chamber, a testament to all the horrors that had taken place here. The drumming and chanting grew in intensity and it would soon be time, his fingers tightened around the handle of the dagger. He was the lord of the underworld of this swollen rotting metropolis now, and the next target was its elite and that would obviously demand a different approach. In any event, first he had to conquer a much more dangerous challenge, the summoning of the Crawling Chaos itself; that demanded a lot of preparation and he wasn't ready yet. He focused back on the ceremony as it reached the culmination, and everyone in the hall except the poor woman screamed:

“Nyarlathotep!”

“Nyarlathotep!”

“Nyarlathotep! “

Oliver Haddo turned around and held the bronze dagger right over the woman's heart and after he had enjoyed her fear for a couple of seconds he slowly but firmly pushed the dagger into her heart.



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Two brand new Liore et Olivier LeO 451 flying over the ‘La Manche’ (English Channel)



May

The French Air Force phased out the last remaining Bloch MB 210 tactical bombers in May 1938. All three squadrons were now flying the new Liore et Olivier LeO 451, a plane that was considered to have outstanding flight characteristics. However, to the dismay of Air Marshal Vuillemin and the manufacturer ‘Avions Marcel Bloch’, the Emperor decided to outfit all new bomber squadrons with the new dive-bomber Loire Nieuport LN 401. Napoleon V was convinced that the dive-bomber had proven superior to the standard tactical bomber in the Spanish Civil War.
 
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elbasto: Agreed, I will build a powerful dive-bomber force, more about that later :) Present manpower is 1100, btw.

A clue to Nyarlathotep:

"What his fate would be, he did not know; but he felt that he was held for the coming of that frightful soul and messenger of infinity's Other Gods, the crawling chaos Nyarlathotep."

-- H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
 
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Peace in our time?


June – September 1938

The summer of 1938 saw a steadily increasing German aggressiveness towards Czechoslovakia; in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Reich President Beck referred to the neighbor as 'a Bolshevik aircraft carrier in the heart of Europe.' To make matters worse, several clashes between members of Sudeten-German nationalist organizations and the Czech authorities inflamed the situation even more. The Czechs turned to France for support, but received an ice-cold reception in Paris; Maret explained to the stunned envoy that his country would not go to war over an area that was rightfully Germany’s. The Czechs, who had received assurances as late as the summer of 1936 from France, turned desperately to Britain; Foreign Minister Anthony Eden listened sympathetically but politely refused to make any commitments.

The Deutschnationalen Volkspartei had a conference on the 5th of September in Leipzig. The Party’s leader, Reich Chancellor Carl Friedrich Goerdeler opened with a long speech, describing the progress the government had made the last years, including of course, the Anschluss of Austria. He went on to the unrest in the Sudetenland and how its inhabitants daily suffered the atrocities of a 'corrupt and semi-Stalinist state.' Goerdeler warned that Germany’s patience was wearing thin and that it would not hesitate to fight the Czechs if necessary. Germany partially mobilized on the 7th and Britain, France and Italy did the same; as Europe braced itself for war, Mussolini flew to Berlin and met with Ludwig Beck. The Italian leader managed to convince the Reich President to postpone military action and invite the leaders of France, Great Britain and Italy to a four-power conference in Munich, neither the Soviet Union or Czechoslovakia would be represented.

The conference started on the 29th of September; Germany was represented by Beck, Great Britain by Chamberlain, Italy by Mussolini and France by Alexander Maret. It was obvious from start that neither France nor Italy would lift a finger to save Czechoslovakia, and Britain would not go to war alone over the Sudetenland. Consequently it was decided that Czechoslovakia would cede the Sudetenland to Germany, in return, all four great powers would guarantee Czechoslovakia’s independence and sovereignty. The guarantee would take effect as soon as Germany took possession of the provinces, however both France and Germany made an addendum to the final document, stating that they would give their guarantees as soon as Czechoslovakia had settled its other border disputes. A large number of Hungarians and Poles lived within Czech borders and Hungary, smelling blood, threatened with war if its territorial demands were not met. It was decided that France and Germany would be the arbiters of this matter, in a separate meeting in Vienna on the 2nd of October. France and Germany had different reasons for this; Paris wanted to make sure that it would not have to go to war with Hungary or Poland for Czechoslovakia’s sake, while Germany hoped to tie Hungary closer by giving them Slovakian land. The treaty was signed on the 30th of September.

Chamberlain flew home and arrived triumphantly to London, he flaunted a document signed by himself and the German Reich President Ludwig Beck, stating both countries wish never to go to war with each other again. The Prime Minister declared 'Peace in our time.'

The meeting in Vienna on the 2nd of October became a tug-of-war between France and Germany. In the end, France managed to moderate the territorial gains of Hungary, much to Budapest’s anger; but that didn’t satisfy the Slovaks either who considered the lost territory much too extensive. Poland was also rewarded with territory; and with that settled, France promptly announced its guarantee to the maimed Czechoslovakian state, something that Germany, concocting new reasons every time prompted, never did.




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Very nice update, cthulhu. I like how you took the historical Munich and modified it in the context of a more assertive France. The year of decision approaches, and it'll be interesting to see where the Empire jumps. After all, there's still a Hohenzollern in Holland. :D
 
Just joined this AAR and its very interesting due to its heavily modded state.
Just to bad our esteemed writer did reveal the Lovecraftianess of his subplot before i did so (i guess that book you mentioned in an early post is the "Necronomicon"). As to why and how one would add a Lovecroftian story to an HOI AAR i have no clue but can´t wait to find out.
Personally your AAR has also made me curious how a hands off game with a France - Italy - Spain Axis against Britain and a Beck - ruled Germany as the Allies would go unfold.
One final question: Is the German - Soviet pact going to happen in your AAR or did you remove it to reflect Germanys chance in management?
 
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Holmes listened to Neroon with an amused detachment. "Ours is not to question master Cthulhu, my dear Neroon," He gestured to a chair next to he and Watson as he continued to relax and puff on his pipe. "The sheer genius of the man, to combine Lovecraftian elements with HOI mechanics, is simply beyond our primitive comprehension...even mine, if you can believe it."

Watson observed the newcomer for a moment before turning back to Holmes. "Who is Lovecraft? I would like to hear more about these worship ceremonies."

Holmes smiled with amusement. "I am quite sure, Watson. Yet we must have patience. All of us. I can deduce that France has an intriguing destiny. Yet I, like all of the readers, must wait." He and Watson leaned back in their chairs, watching to see when Cthulhu would next appear.
 
Thanks for the support guys! :)

Mettermrck: True! 1939 will be a VERY crucial year. I think there'll be a few surprises down the road :)

Neroon: You'll have to wait and see. :)

Sherlock: Thank you Sir! :D
 
17th October 1938, Paris

”So what you are saying is that we are losing control over the city?” Police Minister Lucien Gaudin, a tall gaunt man in his late forties glared at the Chief Of The Paris Gendarmerie Absalon Artaud and Inspector Legrasse, both were sitting in front of Gaudin’s large desk. They felt small in the huge modern office and Artaud stammered “Well, not exactly…Legrasse would you explain the situation in more detail to the Minister?”

“Yes Sir. It’s a clear overstatement to say that we have lost control over the city; on surface everything is fine, public order is maintained and street crime is lower than ever.“ Legrasse’s voice was steady and didn’t betray how nervous he was; how he hated these meetings with the big shots. “The problem is organized crime and their business’: prostitution, gambling, trade with illegal drugs, racketeering and the resulting corruption. For almost a year now, someone has ruled the united gangs of Paris with an iron fist and almost all of our sources on the streets refuse to speak, or disappear if they do; in contrast, our enemy manages to counter all our efforts to strike at them, as if they knew beforehand what we planned.”

“Then obviously, you need to purge your own ranks Inspector!” Gaudin was angry.

“No, there is something else happening Minister, its too uncanny, no network of dirty cops could spread information that fast. I hesitate to use the word Sir, but I’d say there is something supernatural behind this…”

“Supernatural? Is this a joke?” Gaudin turned to Chief Artaud.

“No it’s not Minister” sighed Artaud, “I don’t think supernatural is the correct term but we are facing something we haven’t dealt with before, we need radical measures to tackle this Sir.”

“Like what?” The Minister said contemptuous.

“Sir, we know the identities of most of the leadership of this organization but we lack evidence; if you could grant us emergency powers, we could lock them up for an unlimited amount of time, I think we could break them in six months.”

“Absolutely not! I need the Emperor’s approval for something like that and I’m not going to Versailles to tell his Majesty that ghosts and goblins have taken over his capital!” The Police Minister rose and continued, “You better crawl back to your little Police Station and solve this, after all it’s YOUR job!”

Artaud and Legrasse scurried out of the office; they were quiet until they walked down the broad stairs to the Police Ministry’s huge entrance hall. “What were you worrying about? I thought that went well…” Legrasse forced an ironic smile.

“Damn it Legrasse! This is no time for jokes!” Artaud realized that he was venting his anger on Legrasse and calmed himself. “We must come up with something soon…”

“I see only one option left Sir, we have to concentrate all our efforts to find out who’s leading them.”

“How do we do that?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll come up with something.”



November, Moscow

Europe had narrowly avoided war during the Sudetenland crisis in September and Poland was convinced that a confrontation with Germany was very likely in the near future. Great Britain, who desperately wanted to build a new security structure to restrain both France and Germany, encouraged Poland to initiate discussions with the Soviet Union to establish a non-aggression pact between the two states. Moscow was very open for any deal recognizing them as a great power; they had not forgotten the slights of not being invited to both the Lyon and Munich conferences. Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck met with his Soviet counterpart Vyacheslav Molotov in Moscow on the 26th of November. They signed the non-aggression pact and then posed for photographs, smiling and palm pressing. The Polish leadership was convinced they had secured their ‘back’ and could concentrate on the German threat.



9th December, Paris

The Polish Senator Debski met informally with French Imperial Foreign Minister Alexander Maret to inquire if France would consider selling southern Madagascar to Poland. Warsaw was convinced that their country was overcrowded and wanted a colony. Maret informed Debski that the French Empire had no interest in such a transaction.
 



A Brave New Year

Germany had dominated European events during 1938; both Austria and the Sudetenland had been acquired by the threat of force and with France’s quiet support. It was widely recognized that Danzig and the Polish Corridor would be the next hot spot and the many feared that a major European war was right behind the corner. Chamberlain and his cabinet, however, were convinced that Germany would be satisfied when Danzig’s status was solved. France had initiated its military build up in the autumn, following the timetable set by the Emperor.



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The Somua S35, the French army’s new main battle tank



January 1939

On the 7th of January, the 1ère Division Légère Mécanisée was the first armored division to receive the new Somua S35 medium tank. Armed with a 50mm gun, one 7.5 mm machine gun and protected by a 40 mm thick sloping armor; it’s a formidable foe on the battle field. This was overshadowed three days later by the announcement of the first Imperial Guard formation of divisional strength: the 1ère Division Blindée de la Garde Impériale; which was also outfitted with the Somua S35.



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An Imperial Guard standard, reverse and obverse



February

Unable to reach a compromise after months of talks with Syrian and Lebanese leaders on their wish for independence, Paris decided to use force. French troops seized key locations in both countries on the 6th of February and encountered only sporadic resistance. All nationalistic organizations were outlawed and their leaders arrested and Syria and Lebanon’s status was officially changed from mandates to protectorates.



2nd March

Pope Pius XI had died on the 10th of February and his funeral was attended by among others: Emperor Napoleon V, Benito Mussolini, King Vittorio Emmanuele III of Italy and Francisco Franco Bahamonde. Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, papal secretary of state, was elected Pope on the 2nd of March and took the name Pius XII. The new pontiff had been a nuncio to Bavaria from 1917 to 1929 and he was considered by many to have a special bond to Germany.



7th March, Paris

The small sordid Café at the Rue de Lappe was almost empty this Tuesday night. Two prostitutes were chatting with the bored bartender and three rough looking men were drinking beer and talking in low muffled voices. Ernst von Manteuffel, clad in an impeccable suit and coat of English cut entered the establishment, holding a package under his left arm. He nodded to the bartender and walked past the tables to the back room; a large muscular man in an expensive suit that had been blocking the door moved aside. Inside the small room was a large circular table with several chairs around and a big red couch at the left wall. Oliver Haddo sat drinking absinth together with two of his henchmen; von Manteuffel recognized Chang but he didn’t know the other man, a Frenchman in an expensive but in the Germans taste, tacky suit. They all rose when he entered, Haddo smiling extending his hand and his two cronies moving over to the sofa and sitting down.

Von Manteufel and Haddo shook hand, “I see you brought me something again Ernst, is it what I have been waiting for all this time?”

“I have no idea Oliver, but you’ll know soon enough.” He placed the package on the table and they both sat down. Ernst was aware of the hard gazes of the men in the sofa on his neck; he felt a bit frightened, but did not know why.

“Some Absinth old sport?” Haddo asked jovially while he started to open the package with an ill concealed urgency.

“No thanks, I should be going soon.”

Haddo removed the covering, reveling a metal box of a peculiarly asymmetrical form adorned with odd figures, and suddenly laughed. “At last…yes this must be it…” Ernst leaned forward and eyed the object as Haddo opened the lid of the strange box; it was made of some yellowish metal and the figures were of a monstrous and utterly alien kind; depicting entities which, though seemingly alive, resembled no known-life-form ever evolved on this planet. The interior held a nearly black red-striated polyhedron with many irregular flat surfaces; either a very remarkable crystal of some sort, or an artificial object of carved and highly polished mineral matter. It did not touch the bottom of the box, but was held suspended by means of a metal band around its center, with seven curiously designed supports extending horizontally to angles of the box’s inner wall near the top. The stone once exposed, exerted on von Mannteufel an almost alarming fascination, he could scarcely take his eyes from it; and as he looked at its glistening surfaces he almost fancied it was transparent, with half-formed worlds of wonder within. Haddo seemed to have been captured by the stone too, and then he suddenly but cautiously closed the lid.

Von Manteuffel felt a surprising urge to hit Haddo and take the box from him; Haddo seemed to sense it and grinned, inviting him to try. Instead the German asked, “What is it?”

“This old sport is what I have been looking for all my life, without knowing it until six year ago, this my dear friend is the Shining Trapezohedron.”




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The Shining Trapezohedron



“The Shining what?” von Manteuffel adjusted his monocle.

“The Shining Trapezohedron, it was salvaged from a grim tomb in Egypt by a certain Professor Enoch Bowen in the 1840's. I later tracked it to the United States, but before I could act, agents of the National Socialists in Germany had gotten their hands on it.”

“Egyptian Tomb? What dynasty?”

“A very good question Ernst, and the answer is: at the end of the third, under the reign of the Black Pharaoh.”

“Black Pharaoh? I’ve never heard of him…” von Manteufel was well versed in history and was obviously skeptical.

“The Black Pharaoh, also known as Nephren–Ka, acquired the Shining Trapezohedron from merchants of Khem. Once in his possession, he built a dark temple around it, committing sacrifices to the Haunter of the Dark in exchange for the creature’s boundless knowledge. It was this exchange that ultimately brought Nephren-Ka’s reign to an end. Such were his deeds that his name was struck from the monuments and other records.”

“The Haunter of the Dark? You are obviously pulling my leg Oliver.” The sense of danger he had felt earlier was stronger now.

“I’m afraid not old sport. The Haunter of the Dark is only one of the many forms and aspects of an entity called Nyarlathotep.” Haddo finished his glass of Absinth.

“Nyarla…what? Whatever…I need to leave Oliver.”

“Just one more thing, I want you tell our friends that it was nice doing business with them, but that it ends with this delivery.” Haddo looked at his servants and they rose from the couch.

“I can’t do that Oliver, this delivery was very hard to come by and I promised them a lot more as compensation. Also, war is looming as you know and your information is more vital than ever. We can’t let you go Oliver…I can’t let you go, my business is dependent on my contacts in Germany. I will have no choice but to give them your name if you refuse.” Von Manteuffel was obviously nervous but stared defiantly at Oliver.

“I am disappointed in you Ernst, I thought we were friends.” Haddo looked mock-hurt. “Maybe you’ll disappear tonight…thought about that…you insect!”

“Calm down Oliver, you know how the game is played, my lawyers have all my information on you and if something would happen to me…”

Haddo laughed diabolically. “You fool! I own your lawyers, you have no insurance what so ever.”

“I don’t believe you…” The German sounded as he tried to convince himself.

“Well that’s too bad old sport.” Haddo rose and was handed his Mauser MOD 1910 pistol by Chang. “There are much worse ways to depart this life my friend, consider this a favor.”

“Wait, Oliver…I” Haddo fired three bullets in von Manteufel’s face at point blank range, the German was thrown backwards, bringing down the chair as he fell onto the floor; a miniature lake of blood formed around the remains of his head. Haddo returned the gun to Chang and picked up The Shining Trapezohedron, and left the room.
 
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