The SSA has recently intercepted and decoded a message between the Nazis and the Japanese suggesting the Romanians have come up with some kind of new super-weapon that will help them win the war and let the Axis Powers take control of the entire free world. For some reason, the weapon (or plans for the weapon - there were no specifics as to what this weapon might be in the communication we intercepted) must be delivered by Romanian diplomat Countess Daciana Moldoven to a clan of reclusive monks called The Kuomori whose temple is on the island.

Countess Dacciana Moldoven

Not a lot of details are available about this Countess Moldoven. It is known that her family has long been a part of Romanian Royalty, and indeed her ancestors have been part of the aristocracy in the region even before Transylvania was absorbed into part of Romania. There have been numerous Countess Dacciana Moldovens before her. We believe she is the sixth or seventh, though details are hazy on that. Though she usually stays out of the public eye, those who have met her describe the countess as arrogant and quick to anger. Taking on a mission like this is extremely uncharacteristic of Moldoven and, of course, aristocracy in general. Any reasons we could give you for her involvement would be pure speculation.

Even less is known of the Kuomori. Their temple is located in the middle of a dark forest on the island of Akainishito. What traditions or disciplines they practice are completely unknown to us. A Japanese-American spy sent to infiltrate their organization has never returned and is presumed dead.

Remember, Col. All info disclosed in these documents is top secret. I remind you of that now as I'm about to divulge one of our deepest secrets to you: the army employs a team of psychics who use their supernatural abilities to alert us of possible upcoming dangers and to help predict possible successful strategies. Many of us, of course, are skeptical of their value, though they've recently gained significant clout with the higher-ups after their predictions of the attack on Pearl Harbor was ignored with disastrous results. This division has been nicknamed The Psychic Commandoes.

In addition to the communications discovered by the SSA, Madame Viola of the Psychic Commandoes predicted these events. In her report, she describes her vision:

"I fell into a deep trance, in which I saw a red sun rising from the east. Suddenly, a great black bat flew into the sky before. The bat continued to grow impossibly larger and larger, blocking the light and eventually becoming so huge that it was able to swallow the world."

Working with Viola and the Psychic Commandoes, we are certain that her vision predicts the events set to transpire if Moldoven successfully delivers her weapon to the Kuomori.

Viola has attempted to predict the best course of action we could take and, against the better judgment of numerous officials, we will be employing a number of non-army personal in a mission to intercept Moldoven on the island of Akainishito. Experts on a variety of subjects - Japanese lore, Romanian history, hand-to-hand combat experts, occultists, etc will all be en route to you shortly. Additionally, Viola has selected five individuals she believes would have the best chance of successfully leading the mission. We have assembled them together and snapped the following photograph:

Details on these individuals:

Name: Sasha Semminikova
Citizenship: Soviet
Strengths: mastery of various weapons, stealth, determination
Weaknesses: arrogance, quick temper, distrust of others

Background: Semminikova has spent her adult life traveling the world, seeking out the most dangerous game in all corners of the Earth. In addition to the game one might expect (bull elephants, tigers, polar bears, etc.), Semmenikova claims to have combated even rarer creatures such as the Canadian Bigfoot, boggarts in English castles, and the Mexican Chupacabras. What events took place in her background to create this need to prove herself and seek out incredibly dangerous situations are unknown, what is clear is that her many accomplishments have yet to diminish her anger.

Name: Joseph Harper
Alias: Congo Joe
Citizenship: American
Strengths: quickly adapts to different situations, years of field experience
Weaknesses: distractible, tendency to not take situations seriously, reckless

Background: Though still an American citizen, Joseph Harper has not held a residency in the U.S. since he initially left the country at age 20. His travels brought him to Africa where he took a job ferrying passengers, supplies, or deliveries through the dangerous waters of the Congo River. Since then he as gone by the name "Congo Joe," though he has not stayed in the same location all this time. Harper has taken similar riverboat positions in the Amazon rainforest, along the Nile, and even China's Mekong River. He claims to have faced down Zulu war tribes, river pirates, wild animals of ever stripe, re-animated mummies, and vengeful temple spirits all without ever losing a boat or a passenger (though his one-time partner, Buddy Goff was not so lucky. Ask him about it). Handy in a fight, though his tendency to make light of every situation can grow tedious (as do his puns).

Name: Dolly Foxtrot
Citizenship: United States
Strengths: Fearless determination, hand-to-hand combat, moxy
Weaknesses: a bit of an airhead, dense slang makes communication tricky at times.

Background: An accomplished pilot, Dolly Foxtrot splits her airtime between performing daredevil stunts at air shows and county fairs and making daring delivery or rescue missions as a bush pilot. You may remember reading about the fateful Canfield Himalayan Expedition. It was Foxtrot who rescued the surviving members of the team, flying them to safety after killing the (previously believed legendary) Yeti. Foxtrot also recorded the hit jazz record "My Reason For Landing Is You."

Name: Dr. Prudence Sullen
Citizenship: United Kingdom
Strengths: Extreme intelligence, knowledgeable in pertinent areas, confidence
Weaknesses: less field experience than Semmenikova, Haper, and Foxtrot; snobbish attitude

Background: Recognized as a genius from an early age, Sullen obtained doctorates in the study of Japanese Culture from Oxford and another on the theory of wartime battle strategies from Cambridge both before the age of 25. It was Dr. Sullen who successfully exercised the ghost of renaissance poet and dramitist Ben Jonson from the English Library after he had been haunting patrons for centuries.

Name: Jamie Smedley
Citizenship: United States
Strengths: survivals skills learned while earning badges, sunny disposition
Weaknesses: youth, inexperience

Background: A highly decorated Junior Explorer Scout. Smedley cites her greatest accomplishment as nursing a baby sparrow back to health, and inventing her own knot, The Smedley Special. To be perfectly frank, I believe bringing an untested minor into a war zone is ill-advised, let alone potentially allowing her to lead a mission, but Madame Viola demands she be included and she has the favor of brass at the moment. Destroy all contents of this briefing after fully absorbing its content. Good luck to you.