Berlin – 23 July 1944

The soldier came out of the dark alley and stood at its entrance. He looked left and right, but the night street was deserted. He took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled one out, and brought it to his mouth. Then he took out the lighter and lit it. He sucked it, and then blew a puff of smoke.

Then a sound came from the right. He turned his head and instinctively grabbed his rifle. The street was so dark he could barely see. Something had fallen, but he saw no one. He threw away his cigarette and unslung his rifle. He took several steps towards the object. Even when he came close, he still couldn't see what it was. He prodded it with his rifle. Still not sure what it was, he bent over and touched the object. It was just a rock.

And then he heard something much bigger falling from the sky, before a blade lodged itself in the back of his neck. An arm came up below him to catch him from falling. He wanted to shout, to scream. But the blade in his neck meant no sound came out. He felt life draining out of his body, and soon it was over. He stopped moving, and his body became still.

Jan set down the corpse and pulled it discreetly into the shade of the storefront. Blood was dripping onto the pavement, but it was too dark for anyone to see. He let the corpse rest against the door and made his way to the opening of the alley. He hid behind the corner and waited. Then a thud came, quickly followed by a muffled scream.

Jan peeked around the corner just as Elisabeth pulled out her bloodied blade from the soldier's neck and was standing back up. Jan went into the alley and checked the soldier's neck for a pulse. Satisfied there was none, they dragged the corpse out of the way.

Jan and Elisabeth looked at each other and nodded. Quietly, they took out their guns and took their positions on each side of the door. Jan, who was closer to the doorknob, slowly opened the door. It didn't creak, and as it opened it revealed the faint light coming from underground. There was nobody in sight as Jan took in the narrow room. The wooden board covering the staircase had been lifted and was resting against the wall to the side.

Carefully, Jan entered the room with Elisabeth trailing behind him. He turned around to Elisabeth and put his fingers to his mouth. Elisabeth nodded, and Jan turned his attention back to the staircase. He descended into the underground, taking one step at a time so that the wooden boards would not creak. Once he reached the bottom, he hugged the wall. He leaned out of the corner slightly and saw three men standing in the hallway. Behind them, the path branched left and right, each with a door.

"There's three of them there," Jan whispered to Elisabeth.

Elisabeth was looking down, her eyebrows curled in concentration.

"What's wrong?" Jan asked her.

"There's four more inside the room on the right."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

Jan nodded. He had got used to Elisabeth's instincts, and they had never been wrong.

"The three soldiers are facing each other. I don't think there's any way to do this stealthily. So, we move in quick. Do you know where they are?"

Elisabeth nodded.

"I'll take out the two on the left. You take out the one on the right."

With that, Jan turned his attention back to the soldiers.

"On go. Three… two… one… go!"

As one, the two Assassins swooped out of cover. Jan made a beeline for the first soldier on the left and quickly stabbed him in the neck before he had even turned his head. He wasted no time dwelling on his action and quickly spun around before embedding his blade in the neck of the soldier standing to his left, who was just about to unsling his rifle. Jan took out his blades and let their lifeless bodies collapse onto the floor. Behind him, Elisabeth was holding the other soldier's body as it slid down, leaving him in a sitting position leaning against the wall. A vertical line of blood was drawn from where he was stabbed to where he was sitting now. Jan couldn't believe their luck, being able to take them out silently.

But when the door opened and showed a soldier with his rifle at the ready, he knew it was wrong. Jan and Elisabeth got out of the way just as the soldier opened fire, hitting nothing but the wall. The soldier ejected the empty cartridge and walked out, aiming at Jan who had rolled to the left deeper into the hallway. But Jan, kneeling, shot at him first. Three bullets found their mark. The soldier spasmed as he dropped his rifle, fell backwards towards the door, and died. Another soldier came out and met the same fate. Jan took the opportunity to replace his magazine when another came out.

It wasn't just a soldier, but rather their sergeant. He held in front of him in a chokehold an Assassin. The Assassins had bruises and blood all over his face. The sergeant held a gun next to his head.

"Go on, shoot!" shouted the sergeant. "He'll get it."

Jan kept his finger on the trigger but did not shoot, nor did he lower his gun. Slowly, the sergeant and his Assassin hostage walked out of the room. Behind him came another soldier. They walked towards Jan, reaching the intersection.

It was at that moment that Elisabeth sprang into action. She jumped on the sergeant – who seemed to be unaware of her presence – and the hostage Assassin, sending all of them crashing into the wall. Jan unloaded several shots directly into the soldier who was walking behind them, killing him instantly. Elisabeth took care of the sergeant with a simple stab in the neck. The hostage Assassin, now freed, was on his knees and coughing blood onto the floor. Jan helped him up.

"There, there, brother. You're safe now."

The Assassin hit his own chest several times as if to push out everything he had experienced.

"Thank you," he said, his voice weak. "Did you come from Essen?"

"Sort of," Jan answered him. "We are based there. But we were the team sent to assassinate Hitler. The name's Jan, and she's Elisabeth."

"My name's Wolfgang," he said.

Elisabeth had gone into the room from which the sergeant and Wolfgang had come out. Curious why she was still there, Jan went after her. The room was dark and stank of blood and death. On two sides of the room were beds where the Assassins would sleep when in need of rest, while in the middle right under the ceiling lamp was a single wooden chair. But what caught the two Assassins' attention the most were the three dead Assassins sitting against the far wall.

"They never broke," Wolfgang said. "That's why they suffered."

"I'm sorry we didn't come in time," Jan said, his voice trailing. "If only…"

"It is what it is," Wolfgang said. He stood at the doorway, looking down, averting his eyes from the bodies of his fallen brothers and sister.

"What's in the other room?" Elisabeth asked as she turned to leave the room.

"That's where we did our meetings and planning. I don't know what the soldiers were using it for."

"I'll go check," Elisabeth said as she went out of the room.

Jan and Wolfgang went outside, where Wolfgang sat on the floor, resting after his ordeal.

"So, what's the situation in Berlin?" Jan asked him as he sat down next to him.

"Chaos," he began. "The coup failed immediately. It was crushed by the next day. And then they started hunting us down. They came at us with such force, so suddenly, and at once that we had no time to respond. I have no idea how the other cells are doing. We haven't had contact with them since two days ago."

"They came last night. No warning. The door just burst open, and they came in. There were more men here than now. The others must've left."

"Well, you're safe now," Jan reassured him. "We'll get you out of here. Somewhere safe. We don't know where yet, but we'll figure it out. And we'll take our fallen brothers and sister with us."

"Thank you," Wolfgang said to him.

The door to the other room was still open, and Elisabeth appeared in the doorway, an expression of concern on her face.

"Jan."

"What's up?" he said as he stood up and headed towards Elisabeth.

"They set up their radio in here," Elisabeth said as she led Jan in. "Looks like they're talking about their next target."

Jan entered the room, which was empty except for a map of Berlin hung on the wall and a table in the middle with several chairs around it. On the table was a radio set emitting the static-laden noises characteristic of radio communications. Jan and Elisabeth took a seat, listening to the radio.

"Send two squads to…"

Jan immediately stood up, kicking away the chair in the process.

"Do you know that address?" Elisabeth asked, in shock.

"Yes," he answered as he slowly stepped back. "That's my home. They're coming after my mother."