Enemies on the Horizon-Episode 4: The Nazis Arrive

Climactic fight, Explosions

The heroes must emerge from the tunnel carefully, since the command shed stands only about 30 feet away. As they survey the secret supply depot, they hear several people in the shed arguing in German. The two Nazi spies who masqueraded as Bedouin to kidnap Doyle are grilling her about how much she knows about Axis plans to prepare for a crossdesert assault in case war breaks out. She sits tied to a chair while the two Nazis pace around the room shouting questions at her.
If they’re careful, the heroes might have a chance to formulate a plan to rescue Miss Doyle. Although the spies are somewhat preoccupied with the interrogation, the heroes must still take care sneaking around the supply depot. Any obvious disturbance—toppled crates, sliding rocks, gunshots, or rumbling tank engines—attracts the Nazis’ attention and incites them to immediate action; one heads up to the shed roof to cover the area with a machine gun while the other drops low in the shack and scans the area for threats.

If the Nazi spies don’t discover the heroes at some point, or the characters execute their rescue plan, they’re interrupted—at an appropriately dramatic point—by an ominous roar of engines above. Through the camouflage netting the heroes spot a huge zeppelin looming over the canyon. Nazi soldiers drop ropes from the control gondola and slide down, tearing through the netting with knives and rappelling down to the ravine floor. From their vantage point they’ve spotted the heroes and are making an emergency descent in assault mode to protect the security of their hidden base. Their arrival also alerts the Nazi spies if they haven’t already detected the heroes’ presence
The zeppelin—LZ 128, the Friedrichshafen—was part of a Nazi aeronautical publicity stunt, touring cities around the Mediterranean Sea neutral or friendly to Germany. Its compliment of crewmen and passengers intended to support the public relations tour actually consists of trained SS commandos. Their true mission? To deploy half their unit here to maintain and protect the hidden depot in the event of war.
The soldiers land in a position between the heroes and the fuel dump. Start by deploying twice as many soldiers as characters and increase or decrease the number to keep a suspenseful fight going. To complicate matters both spies take positions atop the command shed and use the machine guns and grenades to further worry the characters from the flank. If the characters prove particularly resilient, several soldiers in the zeppelin’s control gondola lean out the windows and start lobbing grenades at them or providing suppressive fire with machine guns. The ravine offers plenty of cover behind large rocks or piles of supplies; the heroes can also use any resources stockpiled here to their advantage. Don’t forget that Doyle remains captive inside the command shed, offering an additional objective besides simple escape.

No climactic fight involving a supply depot packed with weapons, a well-guarded fuel dump, and a zeppelin hovering above would be complete without a climactic explosion. Although the soldiers know losing the petrol would destroy their plans, they defend it at great risk. Every stray shot in that direction threatens to set off the fuel, and any explosive lobbed into the pile of gasoline drums ignites the entire pile. Such a blast easily engulfs enough of the zeppelin to ignite its buoyant hydrogen gas cells, sending the entire airship crashing down the length of the canyon in flames. Any explosive successfully hitting the zeppelin (a well-thrown grenade or carefully aimed mortar round) has similar results.
When everything starts exploding, the heroes have only a short time to rescue Miss Doyle and escape the burning ravine. The cave passage leading back to the temple proves the easiest escape route, though the characters might try blasting out in one of the tanks (though this isn’t particularly well-insulated from a flaming zeppelin).