[IC - CHAPTER TWO] The New Front

[Overlord87]

Dowson-Frost escorts you to the command building and lets you in, before taking his leave. Lieutenant Commander Woolley is an energetic middle-aged man, with short black hair and no beard. He looks stern and imposing - and tired: he has the eyes of someone who has not slept during the night. Still, his voice is firm and clear as he greets you: "Good morning, gentlemen. I already know some of you, and I welcome the rest to this small island we call home".

After salutes and introductions, he continues: "We have recently gathered, mostly thanks to the effort of a few of the good men here, very important intelligence regarding German activity in the Antarctica. This finding has been later confirmed by additional intelligence, along with aerial reconnaissance and a survey of the enemy naval activities in the South Atlantic. We now know the enemy has a base of significant importance in Antarctica, along with a large quantity of troops and vehicles - enough to make us think that they might be planning to continue the war from there once we retake Europe. It is not known exactly how this whole thing eluded us so far, but here we are now to correct our mistake. And I can guarantee you, the War Council takes this operation very seriously. Something about a symbol scratched on the map, nothing more than a scribble for us, but the experts back home - they said it means the Germans are serious about this. And if they are, we have got to be too".

[Mr. Handy]

"Right, sir," says Oliver. "Did they find out anything about that gadget we recovered?"

[HelplessBystander]

"Of course." Amadeus said curtly, nodding and standing at attention, now fully invested on leaving a good impression with Lieutenant Commander Woolley.

[Overlord87]

Woolley seems thoughtful for a moment as he says: "That thing... the HQ requested its immediate transfer to a research facility, and I know no more of it. I've requested some...", he shakes his head, then adds: "Lots of oddities about this whole story, I fear...". For a moment it seems like he wants to add more, then his eyes seem to harden before he continues. You get the impression he perhaps said something he would not have wanted to. "Anyway, we have a multinational fighting force en route to Antarctica. Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealands... even the Soviets! Everyone seems to be involved. And so are you. The HQ has picked you to act as advisors for the strike force. And to do that, you'll rendezvous with the British carrier Jeremiah, where you will receive additional orders. Is everything understood?"

Successful Military Doctrine roll,The scale of this operation appears to be big. At this stage of the war, it would take a threat of vast magnitude to support such a joint operation.

Successful Knowledge roll (halving your Knowledge stat),You know of no carrier named [i]Jeremiah[/i]. Conspicuous also is the lack of “HMS” as the prefix. You wonder if [b]Woolley[/b] might know more about this.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, sir," says Oliver. He knows that if they're involving the Soviets and sharing intelligence with them, it must be too big to handle without their help.

OOC,Military Doctrine roll (11% skill): [dice]0[/dice] Know roll (65 / 2 = 32.5% skill): [dice]1[/dice]

[HelplessBystander]

Know 43%,[dice]0[/dice]

Military doctrine 05%,[dice]1[/dice]

Amadeus sees nothing, hears nothing, and said nothing. For he is completely oblivious to all subtext and nuance.

[MDPLISKIN]

"Excuse me. Did you say you've found a device? And a map 'marked' with a symbol? What kind of....symbol?," Kurt interjects.

[Mr. Handy]

Oliver remains silent, not sure how much he's cleared to tell the new arrivals. He'll let Woolley decide how much they need to know.

[loke]

Andreas is watching attentively, but looks puzzled. This does not seem the right time and place to ask questions. Clearly most of the crew know a lot more than the newcomers, so he keeps quiet. Very glad that Kurt asked the question, he looks expectantly at the lt. commander.