The Story of 1945
The Beginning - October 15
Update Day - October 19
The Beginning… (October 15)
Lucky Brown introduces us to The Three Musketeers, his friends from the 80th Infantry, before there ever was a Navy Colt to kill over, mentioning again the hanging they all witnessed. Maurice, too, has a copy of the musketeers photo. Clicking on the photo shows the back, where Maurice has scribbled “Brown, me, Monteverde.”
It was October in Germany, and the censors were busily editing letters from home, including those sent to Lucky from his uncle, Seamus. Dutch was next to him, playing Solitaire with an almost complete deck of cards. Lucky bitches that he now has to go and babysit Maurice Pikar, who’s prisoners keep getting shot while they’re escaping - in their sleep. Dutch mockingly says “ooo fun. Fun like rubbing your nose in a dirty diaper” and then asks if Lucky will be going to the Metropole later for cards. Lucky makes an unfunny pun with his name and Dutch obligingly rolls his eyes (a good man, that Dutch).
Maurice, always the joker, asks his buddies a question: “What’s one Nazi hanging from a post?” If you answered “A good start,” you might find yourself in Maurice’s bosomy friendship (Heh. bosomy. Man tits. MOOBS!).
Jerry Monteverde, the third man, has a little thing for a girl from the Metropole, Mitzi (oh god. Mitzi. What a name). Maurice is always asking Jerry how he could be so stupid, despite Jerry’s “above average IQ.” Not that Jerry thinks very highly of Maurice’s big mouth and negative attitude. He’d rather take Mitzi, who after three drinks is more than happy to go home with Jerry and boink his binkie. She has nothing, he realizes, and really needs someone who will take care of her (enter the White Knight complex), perhaps some place nice like California or Long Island (please pause while I snort with laughter). He leaves her, saying those evil three words “I Love You” while she stares at him like he just pooped his pants and made a big stinky smell.
Otto Griff, the owner of the Metropole and the dude in charge of the ladies (say that with a lisp and it sounds really amusing 
), appears to have some dirty deeds under his belt. A note from “a friend” (written in German - Translation provided by Abraxas from the UF forums)
Mr Griff,
I propose an exchange. For particular reasons, which are none of your concern [or literally and more polite: which are not of your interest], I can’t move at liberty. I am willing to pay for authentic passport documents [ID]. Furthermore I offer you to acquire [a list of] names and places of residence of the SD officers which are responsible for collecting [I think it’s more like “stealing”] items from the West [of Germany] in your section/district.
If you agree with this arrangement, please either you - or a confidant of yours - come to the bombed-out post office in vicinity of the Dome at 2 o’clock on any given afternoon in this week. Please carry with you a white handkerchief as disctinctive mark.Yours respectfully,
a friend.
Otto has his man, Ernst, go out and wave the handkerchief like a twink and wait for information at the post office. The SD guy finally shows up, completely decked out in his officer boots (and nothing else :O ). Ernst reports that the diamonds SD guy showed him looked real, and therefore that Ernst and Otto should get the camera out to take the photographs for the ID documents. Of course, Otto, not being a very nice man, grabs the 9mm camera for the SD fellow.
Otto and his brothers head out for the exchange - diamonds for “picture” - only to stumble upon their SD man getting ready to swing from a pole, an American soldier standing behind the lynching prisoners looking on as they hauled the SD up and watched him struggle. Otto stays behind to search the body and sends Ernst and Gunther to chase down some refugees who witnessed the hanging to find out what they know. Coming up empty in the diamond department, Otto realizes that if SD left any clue to the diamond location, only the refugees and the killers would know about it, and Ernst could handle them. Otto would be going after the American soldier.
Captain William Reed, a.k.a. Polaris, is having a bad day. Receiving news that the agency he works for will be shut down, he starts drinking and writing down his thoughts in a charming chicken scratch. Polairis starts burning papers on the agents he was in contact with, their information, the means of communication. The Americans are just leaving them behind with no hope for rescue, so William thinks there’s no reason to keep anything. One of the pages, a communication with a photo of a dark haired, freckled girl pinned to it, is a variation of the playfair cipher with the key written in the lower left corner: “mandalay.” Translating the communication (courtesy of Ehsan at UnFiction) results in the following text:
To Polaris, Pherkad, and Yildun,
On train here. Report network is blown. Request you locate their daughter.
-Ursa Minor
Otto and his crew are busily hunting down the witnesses to the hanging, and Ernst and Gunther stumble brazenly into a building, where they find Father Mueller with two little boys (uhm, ew? I’m trying not to put the 2005 spin on the whole priest and little boys thing, but … yeah… it’s hard). They question Mueller about what the solder said prior to the hanging. Saying he didn’t know, Mueller is kindly told that it was the wrong answer and Gunther stabs Albrecht and reaches for the other youth. In rushes your friendly American Soldier ™ GI Joe (who is, yes a Real American Hero ™) carrying a Navy Colt and aiming and firing at Gunther. Ernst runs away like a pussy, and GI Joe introduces himself as Captain Whitecloud to Mueller and the boy, who we now know as Martin (and who looks remarkably like the girl in William Reed’s last communication). Whitecloud decides that he’s going to take Mueller and Martin to the Metropole (This must be some happenin’ joint) where they can get some food and some sleep, but not until Mueller gives Albrecht his last rites.
Once at the Metropole, Whitecloud pawns his two charges off onto Maurice Pikar, who Martin recognizes from the recent hanging. Otto Griff sees them wander in and sends his girls after them, wanting them drunk and babbling about whatever it was they saw and heard at the hanging.
Father Mueller, however, slips away that evening to plug in his little morse machine and send a message to his compatriots (morse was written in Russian; translation provided by Unfiction member Omnie and her mother):
To Major of NKWD Svetlana Ugrinaya STOP
I have, unknown to our allies, information about [some place - CENNOSTÄH? My mom says it sounds like a station] that was captured by fascists STOP
I offer it to Russia STOP
I am in Nuremburg in Metropole [a famous hotel] STOP
The next day, Otto goes after Whitecloud and asks if Whitecloud heard about a murder that went down the day before - some guy got shot and no one knows what happened. Whitecloud stonewalls Otto (much to Otto’s upsetness) and wanders across the floor to William Reed (polaris) who’s looking a little less than happy. They introduce themselves and Reed confesses that his OSS agency was shut down, and that one of the agents, a Sudeten German, is asking for help to get away safely from the train in Nuremberg. Whitecloud asks if he can help, and Reed says he can - by bringing over a bottle of Scotch (aaaah yes, problems are always solved with some good Scotch). Whitecloud turns around to get the waitress and sees Martin staring at him, whiter than when his friend Albrecht was killed (because, as we know, Martin is “the daughter” and the dude on the train, his father).
Meanwhile, Svetlana Yugrina is put in charge of the refugees and the train that Reed is so keen on (Russian text, translated by UF member Sin Vraal’s friend):
Comrade Colonel!
After receiving information from a loyal communist in the American sector, I am leaving for Nuremburg to personally track the train and passengers that are going to the Soviet sector. My informant has proof that there is a capitalist plan to insert their operatives in our occupied territories to commit espionage and sabotage. Because this investigation could take up to several weeks, please postpone my retirement from the NKVB until December 1st.
Sincerely,
Major Svetlana Yurgina
Svet’s chillin at the Metropole herself, pondering her future in Russia when she spots Reed, drinking like a fish and paying no one any attention. Which she’s keen on. A couple of days later, Reed and Svet are enjoying a few games of cards, silently sitting across from each other.
Martin, also, isn’t too keen on Jerry Monteverde’s girlfriend, Mitzi, who is kinda like a chocoholic, but for morphine. As she fawns all over Whitecloud, Jerry chats with Martin, who’s eating as if it were his job. They chat a bit about Martin’s parents while Martin doodles comics of Otto and the other people at the Metropole. Jerry gets Martin more paper to draw on and lightens a bit when he overhears Whitecloud babbling to Mitzi about this girl he’s going to marry back home.
Meanwhile, Reed heads over to Whitecloud’s place and comments on his dapper, half naked physique. Whitecloud flexes his pecs a few times and whips out his big gun (noooo not THAT gun. The Navy Colt. Sickos ) to show off to Reed just a smidgeon more, mentioning how the buddy who gave it to him told him never to take it to a poker game because someone always dies when it’s at the table (oooo ominous). However, Reed has no interest in Whitecloud’s big gun and just wants to enlist Whitecloud’s assistance in stealing the refugee train so they can let everyone on it go free. Now clothed, Whitecloud shakes Reed’s hand and agrees.
They meet up later that night at the train, ready to spring everyone loose, however they’re surrounded by a shitload of Russian soldiers. Reed tells them he has orders to take the train to Bamberg, but they counter with the whole “Major Yugrina (Svetlana) hasn’t mentioned that, you strange fellow” line. Reed then tries to be Mr. America and use that “AMERICAN IS BETTER” thing, which really only worked for George W. Bush, but *somehow* he convinces them to bugger off - only to be stopped by another guy who shoves them back in their Jeep, refugee-less, ready to drink more scotch (yes, more drinking and driving. Not good!)
At the Metropole, Ernst is snooping around, bothering Mitzi and Lucky. After making a few ascinine comments to Lucky, Father Mueller comes down the stairs and Lucky jumps at the chance to get away from creepy Ernst. Ernst then wanders over to Jerry to point out that Mitzi isn’t all that great and has some nasty morphine addiction. Jerry gets pissed (duh) and tries to shoot Ernst, but Mitzi yanks the gun out of Jerry’s hands and shoots Ernst herself.
Reed and Whitecloud get back to the Metropole, have some Scotch, Reed wanders off to take a piss, and Whitecloud is rushed at by little Martin, who tells Whitecloud that the other guy who was at the killing of Albrecht (Ernst) is now dead as one of the girls must have gotten fed up with his man paws on Martin and shot him. Johnnie helpfully hands the small child a Scotch with a milk chaser (ew, curdling). Martin asks Whitecloud about the train, and mentions that he thinks his parents are on the train, Dr and Madame Halder and wants to know if Reed and Whitecloud saw them (which they didn’t as they were scared away by a few poncy Russians). Not getting the answer he wants, Martin mentions that he heard the hanged SS man talking of a treasure worth many Marks and would like to trade the info on the location of the treasure for his parents. Reed and Whitecloud stare blankly and hurridly call up Svetlana to suggest trading the train for the treasure. She, however, will only let one refugee go, but Reed decides they should play a game of poker - winner takes all. He’ll play with the gold for the people, and she’ll play with the people for the gold. They set the date for October 19th. Knowing Svetlana’s a bit of a shark, Reed knows he’s going to need some help. Reed goes back to his buddy Lucky Brown, the human Poker Shark (paaaaaaaaaaaaaapa Shark doot doo. doot doot dee doot), who can’t believe he’s agreeing to this scheme, and some of his friends. Lucky leaves to go find Maurice to get some more poker player names to help Reed out.
However, having heard about the high stakes game, Otto Griff wanders off in pursuit of Svetlana. He catches her in the lobby of the hotel and says he wants in on the game - if either one of them wins (and by that he means “cheats”), he wants the gold and she can have the train. She laughs him off and tells him “No. F’in. Way. Freak boy” and then heads upstairs with her evening hunk o man meat.
Svet’s not keen on Otto putzing around her game, though, and worries that he’ll get to Whitecloud and work a way to cheat with him (which is funny, because Otto has already been to Whitecloud’s and rankled an agreement to cheat together out of him). To prevent that, she heads over to visit her compatriot, Father Mueller. Once there, she hands him a gun and tells Mueller that he will be shooting and killing Whitecloud. OR ELSE (Dun dun dun). Having taken care of one problem, Svet prepares her backdoor - a Croatian passport so she can pretend to be a refugee. With a little more cash than the usual refugee, hopefully, after the poker game.
The night of the poker game, Maurice is chillin’ in the alley behind the Metropole, relaxing while some girl hustles his hoo-hoo dilly for her dinner money. She finishes up and gets some TurkeyLurkey, when he hears voices. He follows the sound and comes upon Father Mueller hovering over Whitecloud’s body, giving him his last rites. Maurice rushes Mueller, causing Mueller to fire the gun into the air. Taking the opportunity to try to run away, Mueller books it while Maurice reaches down to grab the Colt from Whitecloud’s body. Maurice uses the Colt to shoot Mueller in the back, just as Lucky walks out the door of the Metropole. Maurice then freaks out because he’s gone and killed another Kraut, and he’s already in the doodoo for killing all those “escapee” prisoners. Lucky takes the Navy Colt from Maurice - and the rap.
And that, Lucky tells us, is the story of how he came into the possession of the Navy Colt.
Svetlana Yugrina outlasted toni42 and Ehsan, and Pia Koch and Henryk Halder paid with their lives. But Thunderclap8, AmberJoy, SuperguyA1, RPGame, and Polaris saved their refugees. And Thunderclap8 took home a Nazi hoard worth $100,000.