Wow! That was close! You would make a mean thriller writer. By the way, are you using Babelfish to get the German...? 
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Wonderful set of updates Draco, when I saw that you had posted two of them I got really happy since I hoped to avoid the cliff-hanger, but no you had to leave us with more unanswered questions
Good to see the Drake brothers back together and I am glad they managed to get Gordon out of there, also I have great trust in the boys of His Majesty finishing off those Germans and getting away, but really I want to read about it now, so I am waiting for the next update with great expectations
Good to see the Drake brothers back together and I am glad they managed to get Gordon out of there, also I have great trust in the boys of His Majesty finishing off those Germans and getting away, but really I want to read about it now, so I am waiting for the next update with great expectations
Gripping stuff! I kinda hope that Reinhard Heydrich doesn't die. He obviously deserved it, but he'd make a great foil for the Drakes during the upcoming war. I can just picture Gordon or Malcom, facing off against him in some super secret Nazi research facility, bombs going off all around them, but both focused on revenge.
Throw in a hot Russian spy or a plucky female American journalist, and well you could just add a double-0 something to either of the Drakes.
Fantastic AAR, superb update and on with the show!
Throw in a hot Russian spy or a plucky female American journalist, and well you could just add a double-0 something to either of the Drakes.
Fantastic AAR, superb update and on with the show!
excellent! ! not what i expected, but still excellent! ! what i expected was the invocation of diplomatic privilege. after all, those guys were assigned to the diplomatic corps as their "cover"! ! even the Jerrys would know that there would be diplomatic ramifications from actions like this...Draco Rexus said:
as to our dear friend, Reinhard Heydrich, death would be too good for him. life as a cripple under the "Aryan" system would be very appropriate! ! lets see, Heydrich took shots to the shoulders, knees, and one that castrated him! ! i think that qualifies as crippled! ! !
Oh brilliant scene. And between the two of them they must have driven Heydrich bonkers! Will he survive, or will you edit the cretin dead?
VILenin said:
I think the difference is the 'lap of the gods' thing. A man shot many times could survive, it is possible to live through such injuries. It's not likely or even probable it is true, but it is possible. Slightly contrived it is true but there is a slight, but significant, moral difference.
I am forced to apply the standard rules of fiction: I didn't see Heydrich die so thus he isn't dead. If he was dead it would have been said, it wasn't so he lives. Vengful? Probably. Crippled ? Certainly. Going to appear again? Beyond all doubt.
Drack: I hate to throw cold water on your creativity but your Royals are beginning to sound a lot like Hitler and his general staff. Do you send a hit man to France to rub out Blum and the Commie/socialist toady VP? Tag
Must be awfully hard for Gordon to bit his lip and still act cocky after seeing a bullet put into his best mate head. What a scene. Classic Drake.
Just wanted to give some feedback to feedback before I start working on the next couple of posts.
Vann - Oh trust me, my friend, I could have thought a few more... gruesome things to occurr to Herr Heydrich, but our brave band of British agents really didn't have the time, nor would they actually have descended to that level of... activity, if you know what I mean.
VILenin - Oh, I agree with you, I mean, what's the difference between one bullet in the forehead and five bullets throughout the body and being left to bleed to death. But remember, Gordon has been through several days of heavy handed interrogation so he's not thinking as rationally as we are, eh?
Lucidor - Thank you, sir. And yes I am using Babelfish. Does it show?
Lord E - Many thanks, my friend. As for your request, I'm working on that almost as I write this.
Ivan the Mellow - Thank you... but don't hold your breath on the Hollywood showdown. But don't discount something similar, eh?
Maximilliano - Your wish is my command! See my comments to Lord E.
GhostWriter - You will see why diplomatic privilege was not an option in the next post and what sort of ramifications ramble about. As for Heydrich being a cripple inthe Aryian state... there is a possibility. Remote, but it is possible.
stnylan - Bonkers enough for him to cross the line of not eliminating foreign agents in times of peace. And that was a line that got him in a whole heap of trouble, eh? As for editing him or letting him survive, you'll see.
El Pip - you must have been in the back of my mind when I was writing that post. No wonder I kept getting the sneezes!
Sir Humphrey - I'm hoping that "certain charm" is a good thing!o
tagwyn - I'd like to say welcome aboard, but jeez. I'm not sure how you see the equating of George VI and the Privy Council with Herr Hitler, but I'm not going to dignify it by showing you the error of your ways ( now if one of my ReadAARs or LurkAARs want to, feel free! ). Regarding your silly comment about the French, using El Pip's Standard Rules of Fiction, if you didn't read it then it didn't happen.
prussiablue - Remember when we first met Gordon he was accused of being very cocky, so it's par for the course. Actually, I've been wanting to protray something like this for a long time. I'm tired of an interrogation subject/victim either being the strong-silent-type, the crier-when-in-pain-type or the break-under-pressure-type, and wanted to show the utter sarcastic type that uses his sarcasm to delay and defend. If I had more time I would have played out the interrogation a bit more, but I think I did a halfway decent job of it, whaddya think?
Part three of our running subplot coming soon.
Vann - Oh trust me, my friend, I could have thought a few more... gruesome things to occurr to Herr Heydrich, but our brave band of British agents really didn't have the time, nor would they actually have descended to that level of... activity, if you know what I mean.
VILenin - Oh, I agree with you, I mean, what's the difference between one bullet in the forehead and five bullets throughout the body and being left to bleed to death. But remember, Gordon has been through several days of heavy handed interrogation so he's not thinking as rationally as we are, eh?
Lucidor - Thank you, sir. And yes I am using Babelfish. Does it show?
Lord E - Many thanks, my friend. As for your request, I'm working on that almost as I write this.
Ivan the Mellow - Thank you... but don't hold your breath on the Hollywood showdown. But don't discount something similar, eh?
Maximilliano - Your wish is my command! See my comments to Lord E.
GhostWriter - You will see why diplomatic privilege was not an option in the next post and what sort of ramifications ramble about. As for Heydrich being a cripple inthe Aryian state... there is a possibility. Remote, but it is possible.
stnylan - Bonkers enough for him to cross the line of not eliminating foreign agents in times of peace. And that was a line that got him in a whole heap of trouble, eh? As for editing him or letting him survive, you'll see.
El Pip - you must have been in the back of my mind when I was writing that post. No wonder I kept getting the sneezes!
Sir Humphrey - I'm hoping that "certain charm" is a good thing!
o tagwyn - I'd like to say welcome aboard, but jeez. I'm not sure how you see the equating of George VI and the Privy Council with Herr Hitler, but I'm not going to dignify it by showing you the error of your ways ( now if one of my ReadAARs or LurkAARs want to, feel free!
). Regarding your silly comment about the French, using El Pip's Standard Rules of Fiction, if you didn't read it then it didn't happen. prussiablue - Remember when we first met Gordon he was accused of being very cocky, so it's par for the course. Actually, I've been wanting to protray something like this for a long time. I'm tired of an interrogation subject/victim either being the strong-silent-type, the crier-when-in-pain-type or the break-under-pressure-type, and wanted to show the utter sarcastic type that uses his sarcasm to delay and defend. If I had more time I would have played out the interrogation a bit more, but I think I did a halfway decent job of it, whaddya think?
Part three of our running subplot coming soon.
Oh, don't worry. It was a little wierd though, the tenses and the order of words.Draco Rexus said:Lucidor - Thank you, sir. And yes I am using Babelfish. Does it show?
Excellent news! I shall look forward to it.
Lucidor said:Oh, don't worry. It was a little wierd though, the tenses and the order of words.
Excellent news! I shall look forward to it.
Actually Draco, yes, it shows. :rofl:
But we can live with it...
Very nice, pity Heydrich might yet still live!
DW
The conclusion.
September 30, 1939
England
Hearing muffled voices, his body tensed as it recalled the last time it awoke while his mind began building the mental barriers it needed to withstand another round of questioning.
“Ah, you’re awake,” the friendly voice of his older brother sounded before his full senses returned. “’Bout bloody time to, you lout. You’d think you had suffered some sort of mishap or something!”
Opening his eyes, Gordon found himself resting in a bed with clean linens, sunlight was shining through three large windows, a chair was situated next this his bed that had apparently doubled as a bed for someone, and there was a group of men standing near the doorway leading into the room, among them being his older brother, Malcolm. Beginning to push himself up to a seated position, his body protested about the same time that his brother and one of the other men stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulders and gently restrained his movement. “Easy lad,” the other man said in a soft Scottish burr and clearly a physician, “You’ve had the snot beaten right out of yer head, and I’ll not be having you strain yourself before yer body’s ready.”
Laying back down with a slight nod, Gordon looked at the rest of the men, noticing that besides his brother and the physician, there was a somewhat familiar looking gentleman speaking in low tones with the Duke of Kent, Prince George. Looking at the four men, Gordon asked plaintively, “Now that I’m awake and coherent, can someone tell me what the hell happened?”
Receiving a nod from the unknown but familiar gentleman, Malcolm explained. “Well, Gordon, you were the victim of a ploy by Himmler and the Gestapo to smoke out any leaks in the German leadership. They laid out the bait, and quite a few of us jumped all over it. Once you and Payne made contact, they used their moles in the Czech Secret Service to confirm who you were and set up their trap. However, thanks to Štěpánek’s quick work, you three were able to upset things a bit and you almost escaped.”
"But how did we get set up that way,” Gordon asked. “I thought we had sources within the Abwehr?”
“It seems that in the last several weeks,” Malcolm continued after receiving another nod from the unknown gentleman, “the Gestapo had taken over the Abwehr responsibilities in a concentrated effort to become the sole game in town. You host, Heydrich, had some how gained enough mud on many of his opponents and superiors that combined with his own dark intelligence, he was able to effectively ease the Gestapo into controlling the entire intelligence operation of Nazi Germany.”
“Then how the hell did you and your lads get to me, and how did we get out of Germany?”
“When our contacts in the Abwehr, found out about the operation, they sent some of their own men to find out what was going on, informed us, and offered to assist us. After you decided to sleep out the other exciting parts of our departure,” Malcolm said with a soft smile that bled the comment of its sarcasm, “We played American gangsters and had a running gun battle with the Gestapo as we sped out of town. Something, I must add, that I really do not have to want to experience again.”
“Were you able to rescue Štěpánek,” Gordon asked softly.
“We found his body in the room next to Payne’s on our way in, Gordon,” Malcolm replied with a heavy sigh. “Heydrich and his goons had not been kind to the lad.”
Laying his head back on his pillow to blink the sudden burning tears away, Gordon took a deep rugged breath and then looked back at the other men in the room. “What else has happened since then?”
Stepping up to the foot of the bed, Prince George spoke for the first time since Gordon awoke. “While you were enroute back to England, Himmler ordered the rounding up of the usual suspects and included members of the Abwehr. Luckily for our Czech friends, since everything that happened to Obergruppenführer Heydrich occurred inside Germany and there was no evidence that anyone outside of Germany was involved, the Gestapo and Hitler have been unable to lay any official blame outside of their borders. Unofficially, in retaliation for your elimination of his pet, Himmler ordered the assassination of Sir Hugh which was carried out the day after your brother carried you out of that warehouse.”
“Good God,” Gordon exclaimed feebly. “Your Highness, if I thought that…”
“Rest easy, Gordon,” the Prince replied soothingly, “I would have done the same thing, as would have Sir Hugh, if we had been in your shoes. Your action of retribution upon the Obergruppenführer actually saved our sources of information in Germany from almost certain discovery.”
“But why the rescue, not that I’m not thankful, mind you, Your Highness,” the younger Drake inquired. "Standing orders are to await for an exchange so I don’t understand why my brother and his S.O.E. lads were sent in.”
Taking a seat on the edge of the bed Prince George answered, “While you are correct about the standing orders, as Sir Hugh pointed out, those were established for dealing with governmental agencies, and you Gordon, were in the hands of a political party. Sir Hugh felt strongly about that line being crossed by Himmler and wanted a message sent.”
“I’m sorry that the message I sent,” Gordon said grumpily, “ended up getting Sir Hugh killed. I shouldn’t have killed Heydrich and for that I’m sorry.”
“Belay that talk,” the Prince said sharply while he gently slapped Gordon’s leg. “He deserved to die for what he did to Major Best. And while some may argue with my semantics on this issue, you my lad, did not kill that Nazi swine you merely wounded him. It was the failure of his colleagues to attend to him following your escape.”
“Your Highness,” Gordon argued, "I shot the man five times. I intended for him to bleed to death and shot ‘im in the right spots to insure the most pain and blood loss!”
“Gordon,” his older brother said sternly while giving him a rebuking look that Gordon recalled being the same from their childhood.
“Gordon, my lad, that is enough,” Prince George said sternly yet with a kindly look upon his face. “You put a mad dog down that needed to be put down, and you extracted a tad bit of revenge at the same time. While suffering from several days of horrendous and brutish treatment that the good doctor here is surprised you are going to recover from. In actuality what you did was inflict the maximum amount of pain upon Heydrich that still left the chance of survival open. My brother the King would have put a bullet in the swine’s groin instead of the belly and knees, but he’s always been a bit more mean spirited when he’s been annoyed.”
Mulling over his Prince’s response momentarily, Gordon cast off the slight feeling of guilt he had over the actual deed of Heydrich’s death and then began to deal with the guilt associated with the ramifications. “I would still take it back if it would have prevented Sir Hugh’s assassination, Your Highness.”
“You Drakes can be so exasperating, you know that,” Prince George replied with a small grin. “Dammit man, we all know the risks our service to the Crown entails and I mourn the loss of Major Best, young Eliáš, and Sir Hugh, we can at least take some solace that some good has come from their sacrifice and service.”
“No disrespect, Your Highness, but I’m not sure that “good” out weighs the cost,” Gordon retorted darkly, clearly not willing to refrain from accepting guilt for the loss of his colleagues while he alone survived.
“Commander Drake, I hate to interrupt your wallowing in guilt, however, in the grand scheme of things, the cost has proven to be insignificant compared to the results,” the unknown and to this point silent man said before Gordon could deliver the biting reply that was on his lips.
“Excuse my rudeness, sir, but who are the hell are you,” the rapidly tiring Gordon send venting his spleen at the older man.
“My name is Sir William Stephenson, Commander Drake, but you would know me best as Intrepid,” he replied, revealing himself as the unknown second in command to Sir Hugh and a provider of much valuable intelligence from within Germany and the Soviet Union in the last few years. "Your removal of Heydrich, Commander, allowed a chain of events to go off that was greatly desirable to the Empire. Following Sir Hugh’s assassination, certain information was received by the Abwehr and General Werner von Fritsch, the Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres* that explained that as a result of Himmler’s actions the Empire was preparing to mobilize and begin combat operations. Admiral Canaris and General von Fritsch informed Hitler that due to the bungling of intelligence operations by Himmler and Heydrich, Germany was about to cast into a war with the Empire and its allies, one that Germany would not be able to withstand. Himmler, with sudden access to some of Heydrich’s dirt and unable to fight the substance of the accusation, used Heydrich’s bogus information to blame von Fritsch’s caution on his homosexuality. From our reports, there was quite of bit of back room infighting and not a lack of raised voices before an agreement was hammered out, and one that has proved to be quite helpful to the Empire. Himmler was forced by Hitler to allow the Abwehr full control of German intelligence with the Gestapo to be brought in slowly under the guidance of Canaris, Von Fritsch, tainted by Himmler’s accusation and Heydrich’s bogus documentation, was forced to resign as Oberbefehlshaber and retire from the Wehrmacht, a move that has damaged the morale of the Wehrmacht officer corps and set tongues within the Wehrmacht grumbling against Hitler, a move that may prompt the military to actually begin taking a more active role in politics and hamper Hitler’s plans. Finally, Herr Himmler came out as the clear loser in the dispute as he not only lost his best man in Heydrich, thanks to your actions, Commander, but he was also humiliated in front of the military and the Nazi Party elite, something that has created a few cracks in the façade of the so-called mighty Nazi Party.”
Nodding his head slowly as he drank in all the information, Gordon looked at the gathered me and arched an eyebrow. “So we’re playing Machiavelli? The ends justify the means?”
“In our job, Commander,” Intrepid replied honestly and coldly, “there is no other way. Major Best knew that, Eliáš knew that, Sir Hugh certainly knew that and deep inside you know it as well. The sooner you remember that the better.”
The room grew silent as the young Drake brother sat and contemplated. Knowing in his mind that nothing he had done had caused the deaths of his two colleagues who were working with him in Czechoslovakia and accepting that in his heart would be something that he knew would come to pass in time. Coming to grips with the realization that his execution of his German torturer had directly resulted in the murder of a superior was going to be much harder on the young agent. He warred with himself for several minutes, never seeing the doctor, the man called Intrepid, and the Prince depart while his brother returned to his bedside seat. Going over in his mind the events of the last few days as he recalled the information revealed to him in the last five minutes he attempted to return himself to some sort of mental equilibrium. Casting his eyes out the window next to his bed for an outside source of aid in his mental war with himself, Gordon saw the English country-side outside slowly fading from the glory of an English summer to the beauty of autumn, an England and Empire whose hidden warriors risked their lives and occasionally sacrificed themselves in order to keep her foes at bay and her people free from tyranny. Sighing deeply and finally making peace with himself, he returned to the thought and the agreement that all who served the Crown agreed to consciously and unconsciously and accepted as the one hard and fast rule in their lives. At any time and in any place they could be and would be called to give their all in the name of service for King and Country.
* - Army commander, i.e. top general of German Army
** - Historically, Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair, MI-6 Chief, was assassinated by unknowns, around this time and von Fritsch was forced to resign. Game wise, the von Fritsch event fired off, so I just HAD to come up with an entertaining reason, and here’s what I came up with.
Coming up next: A return to the classroom.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE – Part Three
Requiem
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
Robert Louis Stevenson
September 30, 1939
England
Hearing muffled voices, his body tensed as it recalled the last time it awoke while his mind began building the mental barriers it needed to withstand another round of questioning.
“Ah, you’re awake,” the friendly voice of his older brother sounded before his full senses returned. “’Bout bloody time to, you lout. You’d think you had suffered some sort of mishap or something!”
Opening his eyes, Gordon found himself resting in a bed with clean linens, sunlight was shining through three large windows, a chair was situated next this his bed that had apparently doubled as a bed for someone, and there was a group of men standing near the doorway leading into the room, among them being his older brother, Malcolm. Beginning to push himself up to a seated position, his body protested about the same time that his brother and one of the other men stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulders and gently restrained his movement. “Easy lad,” the other man said in a soft Scottish burr and clearly a physician, “You’ve had the snot beaten right out of yer head, and I’ll not be having you strain yourself before yer body’s ready.”
Laying back down with a slight nod, Gordon looked at the rest of the men, noticing that besides his brother and the physician, there was a somewhat familiar looking gentleman speaking in low tones with the Duke of Kent, Prince George. Looking at the four men, Gordon asked plaintively, “Now that I’m awake and coherent, can someone tell me what the hell happened?”
Receiving a nod from the unknown but familiar gentleman, Malcolm explained. “Well, Gordon, you were the victim of a ploy by Himmler and the Gestapo to smoke out any leaks in the German leadership. They laid out the bait, and quite a few of us jumped all over it. Once you and Payne made contact, they used their moles in the Czech Secret Service to confirm who you were and set up their trap. However, thanks to Štěpánek’s quick work, you three were able to upset things a bit and you almost escaped.”
"But how did we get set up that way,” Gordon asked. “I thought we had sources within the Abwehr?”
“It seems that in the last several weeks,” Malcolm continued after receiving another nod from the unknown gentleman, “the Gestapo had taken over the Abwehr responsibilities in a concentrated effort to become the sole game in town. You host, Heydrich, had some how gained enough mud on many of his opponents and superiors that combined with his own dark intelligence, he was able to effectively ease the Gestapo into controlling the entire intelligence operation of Nazi Germany.”
“Then how the hell did you and your lads get to me, and how did we get out of Germany?”
“When our contacts in the Abwehr, found out about the operation, they sent some of their own men to find out what was going on, informed us, and offered to assist us. After you decided to sleep out the other exciting parts of our departure,” Malcolm said with a soft smile that bled the comment of its sarcasm, “We played American gangsters and had a running gun battle with the Gestapo as we sped out of town. Something, I must add, that I really do not have to want to experience again.”
“Were you able to rescue Štěpánek,” Gordon asked softly.
“We found his body in the room next to Payne’s on our way in, Gordon,” Malcolm replied with a heavy sigh. “Heydrich and his goons had not been kind to the lad.”
Laying his head back on his pillow to blink the sudden burning tears away, Gordon took a deep rugged breath and then looked back at the other men in the room. “What else has happened since then?”
Stepping up to the foot of the bed, Prince George spoke for the first time since Gordon awoke. “While you were enroute back to England, Himmler ordered the rounding up of the usual suspects and included members of the Abwehr. Luckily for our Czech friends, since everything that happened to Obergruppenführer Heydrich occurred inside Germany and there was no evidence that anyone outside of Germany was involved, the Gestapo and Hitler have been unable to lay any official blame outside of their borders. Unofficially, in retaliation for your elimination of his pet, Himmler ordered the assassination of Sir Hugh which was carried out the day after your brother carried you out of that warehouse.”
“Good God,” Gordon exclaimed feebly. “Your Highness, if I thought that…”
“Rest easy, Gordon,” the Prince replied soothingly, “I would have done the same thing, as would have Sir Hugh, if we had been in your shoes. Your action of retribution upon the Obergruppenführer actually saved our sources of information in Germany from almost certain discovery.”
“But why the rescue, not that I’m not thankful, mind you, Your Highness,” the younger Drake inquired. "Standing orders are to await for an exchange so I don’t understand why my brother and his S.O.E. lads were sent in.”
Taking a seat on the edge of the bed Prince George answered, “While you are correct about the standing orders, as Sir Hugh pointed out, those were established for dealing with governmental agencies, and you Gordon, were in the hands of a political party. Sir Hugh felt strongly about that line being crossed by Himmler and wanted a message sent.”
“I’m sorry that the message I sent,” Gordon said grumpily, “ended up getting Sir Hugh killed. I shouldn’t have killed Heydrich and for that I’m sorry.”
“Belay that talk,” the Prince said sharply while he gently slapped Gordon’s leg. “He deserved to die for what he did to Major Best. And while some may argue with my semantics on this issue, you my lad, did not kill that Nazi swine you merely wounded him. It was the failure of his colleagues to attend to him following your escape.”
“Your Highness,” Gordon argued, "I shot the man five times. I intended for him to bleed to death and shot ‘im in the right spots to insure the most pain and blood loss!”
“Gordon,” his older brother said sternly while giving him a rebuking look that Gordon recalled being the same from their childhood.
“Gordon, my lad, that is enough,” Prince George said sternly yet with a kindly look upon his face. “You put a mad dog down that needed to be put down, and you extracted a tad bit of revenge at the same time. While suffering from several days of horrendous and brutish treatment that the good doctor here is surprised you are going to recover from. In actuality what you did was inflict the maximum amount of pain upon Heydrich that still left the chance of survival open. My brother the King would have put a bullet in the swine’s groin instead of the belly and knees, but he’s always been a bit more mean spirited when he’s been annoyed.”
Mulling over his Prince’s response momentarily, Gordon cast off the slight feeling of guilt he had over the actual deed of Heydrich’s death and then began to deal with the guilt associated with the ramifications. “I would still take it back if it would have prevented Sir Hugh’s assassination, Your Highness.”
“You Drakes can be so exasperating, you know that,” Prince George replied with a small grin. “Dammit man, we all know the risks our service to the Crown entails and I mourn the loss of Major Best, young Eliáš, and Sir Hugh, we can at least take some solace that some good has come from their sacrifice and service.”
“No disrespect, Your Highness, but I’m not sure that “good” out weighs the cost,” Gordon retorted darkly, clearly not willing to refrain from accepting guilt for the loss of his colleagues while he alone survived.
“Commander Drake, I hate to interrupt your wallowing in guilt, however, in the grand scheme of things, the cost has proven to be insignificant compared to the results,” the unknown and to this point silent man said before Gordon could deliver the biting reply that was on his lips.
“Excuse my rudeness, sir, but who are the hell are you,” the rapidly tiring Gordon send venting his spleen at the older man.
“My name is Sir William Stephenson, Commander Drake, but you would know me best as Intrepid,” he replied, revealing himself as the unknown second in command to Sir Hugh and a provider of much valuable intelligence from within Germany and the Soviet Union in the last few years. "Your removal of Heydrich, Commander, allowed a chain of events to go off that was greatly desirable to the Empire. Following Sir Hugh’s assassination, certain information was received by the Abwehr and General Werner von Fritsch, the Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres* that explained that as a result of Himmler’s actions the Empire was preparing to mobilize and begin combat operations. Admiral Canaris and General von Fritsch informed Hitler that due to the bungling of intelligence operations by Himmler and Heydrich, Germany was about to cast into a war with the Empire and its allies, one that Germany would not be able to withstand. Himmler, with sudden access to some of Heydrich’s dirt and unable to fight the substance of the accusation, used Heydrich’s bogus information to blame von Fritsch’s caution on his homosexuality. From our reports, there was quite of bit of back room infighting and not a lack of raised voices before an agreement was hammered out, and one that has proved to be quite helpful to the Empire. Himmler was forced by Hitler to allow the Abwehr full control of German intelligence with the Gestapo to be brought in slowly under the guidance of Canaris, Von Fritsch, tainted by Himmler’s accusation and Heydrich’s bogus documentation, was forced to resign as Oberbefehlshaber and retire from the Wehrmacht, a move that has damaged the morale of the Wehrmacht officer corps and set tongues within the Wehrmacht grumbling against Hitler, a move that may prompt the military to actually begin taking a more active role in politics and hamper Hitler’s plans. Finally, Herr Himmler came out as the clear loser in the dispute as he not only lost his best man in Heydrich, thanks to your actions, Commander, but he was also humiliated in front of the military and the Nazi Party elite, something that has created a few cracks in the façade of the so-called mighty Nazi Party.”
Nodding his head slowly as he drank in all the information, Gordon looked at the gathered me and arched an eyebrow. “So we’re playing Machiavelli? The ends justify the means?”
“In our job, Commander,” Intrepid replied honestly and coldly, “there is no other way. Major Best knew that, Eliáš knew that, Sir Hugh certainly knew that and deep inside you know it as well. The sooner you remember that the better.”
The room grew silent as the young Drake brother sat and contemplated. Knowing in his mind that nothing he had done had caused the deaths of his two colleagues who were working with him in Czechoslovakia and accepting that in his heart would be something that he knew would come to pass in time. Coming to grips with the realization that his execution of his German torturer had directly resulted in the murder of a superior was going to be much harder on the young agent. He warred with himself for several minutes, never seeing the doctor, the man called Intrepid, and the Prince depart while his brother returned to his bedside seat. Going over in his mind the events of the last few days as he recalled the information revealed to him in the last five minutes he attempted to return himself to some sort of mental equilibrium. Casting his eyes out the window next to his bed for an outside source of aid in his mental war with himself, Gordon saw the English country-side outside slowly fading from the glory of an English summer to the beauty of autumn, an England and Empire whose hidden warriors risked their lives and occasionally sacrificed themselves in order to keep her foes at bay and her people free from tyranny. Sighing deeply and finally making peace with himself, he returned to the thought and the agreement that all who served the Crown agreed to consciously and unconsciously and accepted as the one hard and fast rule in their lives. At any time and in any place they could be and would be called to give their all in the name of service for King and Country.
* - Army commander, i.e. top general of German Army
** - Historically, Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair, MI-6 Chief, was assassinated by unknowns, around this time and von Fritsch was forced to resign. Game wise, the von Fritsch event fired off, so I just HAD to come up with an entertaining reason, and here’s what I came up with.
Coming up next: A return to the classroom.
Superb, Draco. Great capstone to the espionage interlude and nice work combining your story with game events. Looking forward to the next installment.
Vann
Vann
Hmmm, going back to the classroom hey?
Does that mean another lecture in Dr. Ian Rifkind-Major's tour of the USA?
Does that mean another lecture in Dr. Ian Rifkind-Major's tour of the USA?
A really superb update sir. I especially liked the last paragraph, it was great writing there It is good to se Gordon get back, and also nice way you manage to have game events and history act together, Wonderful work. Now I wonder what this classroom thing is…
It is good to se Gordon get back, and also nice way you manage to have game events and history act together, Wonderful work. Now I wonder what this classroom thing is…
interesting....very interesting. it seems herr Hitler might not have things all his own way as far as the wermacht is concerned, and Himmler wont be his right hand man. perhaps a certain someone may take advantage of this turn of events?? otto someone perhaps??
i wonder what Colonel von Stauffenberg makes of all this.....????
great updates, more please
caff
i wonder what Colonel von Stauffenberg makes of all this.....????
great updates, more please
caff
Hopefully the British will be able to use their allies in the Abwehr even more in the future, and if MI6 can continue to forment dissent int he Nazi hierarchy they could keep Germany off-balance. I liked Gordon's reaction, the guilt he was facing at consequences of what had happenned. Very revealing about his personality, I think.