Josef Gabčík.
27th May 1942.
The moment the sten submachine gun seized to fire, the panic coursed through the Czechoslovakian Soldier. The mission he had been ordered to do, the assassination of one of Hitler's right hand men, Reinhard Heydrich had failed, or at least he thought it had.
In that split moment between the guns malfunction, and his best friend, Jan throwing the anti-tank grenade, Josef found himself back home living with the Kunike family, being taught clock making. A time where the only thing he had to worry about was whether the cogs were in the right place, the numbers were on correct, and the hands were the right way round. Josef enjoyed living and learning from the Kunike family. He was taught many things such as blacksmith and farrier work.
Knowing that there was an attempt of his assassination, Heydrich, instead of ordering his driver, Klein to drive on, he ordered the halt of the vehicle so he could attempt to fight back at Josef, with his Luger Pistol. Jan had gone undetected and the grenade launched had been concealed in his briefcase.
The sound of the grenade exploding at the rear of the green Mercedes that Heydrich was travelling in, on his daily commute to his Headquarters at Prague Castle was what drew Josef back to what was happening right then.
The explosion caused significant damage to the car and unbeknown to both Jan and Josef, it caused serious injuries to Heydrich himself to which even he was unaware of to begin with. The force of the explosion even caused the two SS jackets on the back seat of the green Mercedes to whip up into the air and become tangled on the overhead trolley wires that operated the trams.
Klein had leaped out of the car in attempt to chase Jan who was now already fleeing on a push bike. Josef stumbled back when he was confronted by Heydrich. It then felt like he had been paralysed with what had just happened before him. He dropped the sten sub machine gun to the floor when reality hit again, and he tried to grab the push bike nearby however, his plan of escape had to be aborted when gunshots were fired at him from Heydrich's pistol.
Taking cover behind a telegraph pole, Josef tried to catch his breath. He peeped round the pole slightly and fired his pistol in the direction of the Nazi officer who was now staggering about - it was now obvious he had been wounded, not by Josef's gunshot, but the shrapnel from the grenade.
Seeing Heydrich collapse, Josef took the opportunity to make a run for it. He entered a butchers in hope of a place to hide, only to find out the owner was a Nazi supporter. The owner flagged Klein to blow Josef's cover. Klein who had been chasing Jan with no success due to his gun jamming, raced to the butchers. Both enemies collided and in a state of confusion, Josef was able to get away after shooting Klein in the leg.
With a tram having stopped moments before the attempted assasination took place still being there, Josef fled, jumping onto it, hiding in the crowd of people on the carriage. He held onto the overhead handle and closed his eyes catching his breath.
Mission failed.
Or so he thought...