Editing AmberShadowOfADoubt:Session3

We start the day after the visit of Janica, Federico, and Manfred to walk the Pattern in Rebma.  

Soon after this, Hector talks to E. Roosevelt over Trump about helping the war in Rebma.  They are being attacked by creatures including the squid-like things which are assaulting England.  There is a black channel cut through the universe, and the creatures coming through it (from some unknown origin point) are attacking both Amber and Rebma.  

Through a contact among the Resistance, Hector gets a piece of a trump found on the uniform of a high-ranking officer killed in the explosion on London Bridge last time.  He goes to contact the person in a bar (with Manfred scouting for possible ambush or betrayal), and buys from the man the rest of the card -- which is a Trump of Adolf Hitler.  It is too torn to work any more, however.  

Janica is out of contact for a time, and Manfred calls the others to a meeting.  He wants to use their new resources to strike a major blow as soon as possible -- before the cosmic interference gets out of hand.  In short, he proposes to kill Hitler.  After Federico reveals the existance of the Hitler trump, they consider their plan.  

There is considerable discussion back and forth.  Eventually, they come up with a two-part plan.  The SS in London had Wilhelm Rediess as its head, with Heinrich Jeckeln as its second-in-command.  They decide to kill Wilhelm and frame Heinrich as his murderer -- with the motive being to cover up his selling secrets to the enemy.  By killing Wilhelm, they can hopefully find out more about his connections to other Amberites.  If not, then Manfred can then heroically fight off Heinrich -- hopefully earning the Iron Cross.  Then he would be sent back to Germany where he could hopefully be close to the Fuhrer (and could pull in the others).  

Manfred contacts Lydia Duncan, secretary to E. Roosevelt, in the U.S. via Trump for help in this plan.  He needs a payment delivered from the Americans, and genuine coded messages to be sent via American radio intended for Jeckeln.  While talking to her, she tells him that E. Roosevelt has been missing -- unable to be contacted by Trump for over a day.  He has nothing to offer on that front, and for the time continues with his plan.  

The first phase has two steps to it.  First, Manfred slips into the mansion where Jeckeln is staying and hides the payment delivered by Lydia there.  He then slips out to go establish an alibi.  He also fakes a message to Jeckeln to be delivered personally to SS leader Wilhelm late at night.  As Heinrich approaches, the others break into the mansion where he is staying (aided by plans supplied by Manfred).  Soon after Heinrich leaves, Federico, Hector, and Janica break into the place.  They shoot Wilhelm and his butler with silencers, and search his rooms.  They find two trumps: one of Hitler and one of Himmler.  They then go in a closet and escape via trump to Alexandra.  

An hour later, they meet to review their plans.  With a complete trump of Hitler, Manfred proposes they attempt to psychically overpower him and kill him immediately (before news of the stolen trump reaches Berlin).  They test the possibilities of psychic assault over trump -- with Janica and Alexandra trying to overpower Manfred.  It is tiring, but seems possible.  Janica is worried that Hitler will have supernatural defenses, but Manfred points out that they would have to deal with that possibility just as much if they tried to kill him in person.  So after resting a time, Janica and Alexandra both hold Hitler's trump, aided by Federico.  Manfred stands back to knock the trump from their hands if it seems to be going badly.  They also contact Hector, who is concentrating on Manfred's trump in case a quick retreat is necessary.  

Hitler answers the trump call while standing in a washroom.  It takes over twenty minutes of psychic struggle.  They say nothing but just bore down relentlessly on his mind.  Finally Hitler raises his hand by their command, and they pull him through into the room.  As soon as he is there, Alexandra sets upon him -- quickly beating him to unconsciousness.  They consider trying to interrogate him, but Manfred points out that other people could contact him via trump as soon as he becomes conscious again.  Janica then shoots him in the head.  They again string his body up on Nelson's monument for all to see.  Exhausted by the struggle, they all then go to sleep.  

During that day, Hector had found that there were plans underway to deport to camps most of the population of Brixton and other centers of resistance.  As the others were implementing the assassination of Hitler, he began to pull his people out of there: his top dozen contacts and their top people.  

The following morning, with Hitler dead, they turn their attentions back to the cosmic affairs.  First, they contact Lydia give them a trump of Queen Moire, whom  they wish to consult with.  She grants their request, and soon the five contact Queen Moire as a group.  They all share concern that Eleanor still has not been seen or contacted since the Pattern-walking.  Moire explains that after the Pattern-walking, Eleanor went to join an ongoing battle against some creatures.  She later left the battle back into Rebma, saying that she would soon return to Earth via Trump.  However, Lydia never heard from her.  She also said more about the family alliances.  

Federico: "So Brand was working with Bleys and Fiona? And he was also working with Eleanor?"
Moire: "Yes.  Brand has many irons in the fire." 

They then shortly contact Bleys via Trump.  Wanting to meet him as a group, but he was unwilling to be pulled through Trump to them.  Hector suggested he name a place on Earth, and he then said to meet at London's Crystal Palace in 4 hours.  During those four hours, with no need to win the Iron Cross, Manfred sends anonymous letters accusing Heinrich of treason and murder with pointers towards the secret money and messages.  The messages also hint that any current operations are probably tainted by Heinrich's motives, thus hopefully slowing the progress of the deportation of Brixton and others.  

Sitting down for tea in the Crystal Palace cafe, they talked with Bleys.  He had a fairly plain proposal: He would help them in their war against the Nazis if they would help him in his bid to become king of Amber.  Janica asked him that a curse came upon the king sending armies of evil creatures, and his reaction was to dethrone the king.  Manfred grilled him a bit about his right to the throne -- apparently he considered Eric to be usurping because he is a bastard, and Corwin unfit because no one would support him.  Shown the trump of Hitler, he said that it reminded him most of the drawing style of Caine -- though he didn't know that Caine could draw trumps.  

Federico: "Are the Nazis simply taking advantage of the squids' appearance, or is there a deeper connection."
Bleys: "The squids are taking advantage of the Nazis."  

He made a few guesses as to the parentage of the resistance.  Hector he guessed Flora or Random.  Manfred was more vague -- Benedict (based on ability), Flora (based on looks), or perhaps even himself.  Alexandra he vaguely guessed Brand based on nothing in particular.  But they soon broke up to consider his offer, obviously without committing to anything.  He suggested that he could help them in a trip to the North Sea -- as a sort of "freebie" to consider his offer.