Mission Summary and Team
1 May 1941
At the Garage
- They heard the sound of trucks coming up the road. It awakens the soldier sleeping in the office.
- The soldier at the front snapped to attention when Leutnant Jaeger and two grizzled veterans entered the garage.
- The Leutnant instructed Victor to fix his kubelwagen and come to the cafe when the repair is done. He and the soldiers left.
- Victor assessed the condition of the kubelwagen and determined that it had seen action in Poland.
At The Cafe
- The meal that Marlon always gets at the Cafe that others probably would not want was a pot-au-feu featuring entrails, withered vegetables, and a gelatinous broth.
- He was a sensitive and had visions that he has sketched. They were in his room at the Doctor Dreyfuss’ house.
- He had a vision Antoinette last week which was why he approached her in the cafe. He was afraid that his vision might have come true. He suggested that she come to his room at the old doctor’s house.
- He mentioned that he had seen the arrival of the Germans and warned Dr. Dreyfuss, who fled the day before the Germans invaded France.
- A new platoon of German soldiers entered café.
- They demanded that the villagers stand when Germans enter.
“Came a long way. Traveled two weeks from Poland to experience the famous French hospitality.” - They commandeered the tables nearest the door and stacked their rifles under guard.
- The Germans demanded food and started singing German songs loudly.
The Leutnant and two more soldiers arrived. The soldiers stood at attention. They demanded that everyone else does as well. The villagers complied reluctantly. - Antoinette and Marlon made their way to exit. The officer intercepted them and rebuked them for leaving. Antoinette replied that she was not accustomed to such rough behavior.
- An old man did not stand up. Two soldiers approached and yelled at him.
- Antoinette asked Marlon to help the old man. He told the officer that the old man did not move very well. The officer relented.
- Antoinette offered to escort the old man out.
- The Leutnant rebukes the food that is provided. The innkeeper said that that was all they had. The officer and his escort took the innkeeper outside. There was a gunshot.
At the Garage
- Just after he finished repairing the kubelwagen’s brakes, they heard a gunshot.
- The soldier from the office pointed his rifle at Victor and Dupont. The soldier at the front followed suit uncertainly. The one said that no one could leave until they found out what happened.
- Victor suggested that the soldiers come with him to report to the officer. They debated this and finally agreed.
At The Cafe
- Antoinette left the old man with Marlon and went to see what happened.
By the time she got to the door, the soldiers returned with the innkeeper dragging a shot cow carcass. The old man cried in anguish. The Leutnant ordered the innkeeper to butcher and cook for them. - The Oberleutnant and two soldiers arrive. The veterans do not react. He has private words with the Leutnant and the two of them leave.
- Antoinette, Marlon and the old man followed them out.
Outside the Café
- As Jakub arrived, he saw the Oberleutnant and the Leutnant having words.
- The Oberleutnant pulled rank and ordered the Leutnant to control his men. They must peaceably coexist with the locals.
- The Leutnant said that his men were decorated combat veterans from Poland sent to France as a recuperation post after being surprise attacked by partisans in an ambush near the village of Szałasy.
- The Oberleutnant had heard of that massacre, but assured the Leutnant that the villagers of Betton had been nothing but compliant.
- The Leutnant said they would not be subverted or lulled into complacency by seemingly cowed French peasants. The villagers must be controlled.
- At that point, Victor was noticed by the Leutnant and Antoinette by the Leutnant.
- The Leutnant demanded to know if the brakes had been fixed. Victor replied respectfully that it had, and they he noted that the vehicle had seen some heavy action. He asked if he should restore the vehicle to working order. The Leutnant told him to do so.
- Antoinette complained to the Oberleutnant about the behavior of the Leutnant and his men to the villagers, the old man, and told him of the slaying of the cow, which was the old man’s livelihood. She demanded that he be compensated. The Leutnant said that it had been commandeered. The Oberleutnant demanded that the Leutnant and his men behave. The Leutnant said he would mention this incident in his report, and that when his watch started, things would be brought under control.
- They noted the presence of a new truck and halftrack in the square. The halftrack was manned by a machine gunner. Victor asked to approach and when allowed, offered to make repairs to the halftrack. The soldier said that he did not have the authority to make that assessment.
- Antoinette, Marlon and the old man went toward the doctor’s. The old man insisted on going with them because he did not feel safe alking alone. He said that he did not live far from the doctor, and offered to make them tea.
At the Garage
- Victor returned to the garage and started disassembling the kubelwagen so that it was not available for the Germans to use.
In the Café
- Simon and Marie Claire sat quietly in the café waiting for the patrol to return with their axe. The kubelwagen returned about half an hour later.
- They finished their meal. Simon noticed that the weapons were not being taken to the town hall. He asked the sentry at the town hall where the weapons were being taken. He was told that they were being stored in the hotel.
- Simon saw that the sergeant he had spoken to at the farm was at the kubelwagen and his axe was in the back seat. He approached, the sergeant inspected his permit, and returned the axe with a recommendation of getting it out of town as soon as possible.
- In the meantime, the café staff served the beef to the Germans while everyone else looked on with their stew.
- Arnou took this time to make his exit as several others left. He went home.
Doctor Dreyfus House
- After taking old man home and having some tea with him, Antoinette and Marlon went to Dr. Dreyfuss’ house.
- Marlon took Clara to the old doctor’s house. He has lived there since the accident with the horse.
- There was a pile of about 100 sketches on the desk in his room:
- The first one she found was an image of a bleak hospital. There was the corpse of a nurse chained to a wall by the neck. Her flesh was branded with bizarre symbols. Antoinette did not recognize the symbols, but the image disturbed her.
- The next was a museum. It was clear in the sketch that an ancient bronze idol had been replaced with a rather obvious fake. The tiled floor had been shattered, as though by some colossal weight.
- Antoinette did not want to look randomly through them and asked Marlon to find the sketch of her. After a moment, he found it in the pile. It showed a neglected warehouse or storeroom. All the windows had been bricked over. There was corpse tied to a chair, its flesh branded with bizarre glyphs. The woman was Antoinette. She recoiled from the image.
- Marlon said he needed to see her back. He needed to know if she had been branded yet. Antoinette said that she had not been. She made a quick assessment of his mental state, but did not get the impression that he was dangerous.
- As she made to leave, another sketch caught her eye. It showed a derelict building. There were several corpses chained to the walls, mutilated almost beyond recognition. One of them was Oberleutnant Fischer.
- Antoinette thanked him for trusting her. She advised him to hide the drawings so as to not alarm others. She determined that she should keep Marlon close and asked him to assist her. He said that he had helped to treat many different ailments over the past 10 years.
- She made her exit and made her way home.
In the Village
- Simon and Marie Claire returned to the farm. There were no incidents on their way. Simon spent the ride talking about the fundamental aspects of forming an effective resistance force in occupied territory. He discussed with Marie broad strategic aspects of guerilla warfare, underground newspapers, first-person intel and escape networks.
- Victor finished disassembling the kubelwagen. Then he made his way home. He noted the soldiers from the café taking stations around the village.