Austria 1942- 11:08 pm

"Intruder in the War Room! Intruder in the War Room! Move! Move!" the slender German Officer screamed as he ran down the corridor of the Austrian Castle. Three Soldiers ran past him, down the hallway and began opening fire inside the room.

They will not be enough to stop him, thought the officer as he continued running. A mysterious blue-clasd warrior has dispatched everyone in the motor pool where he had somehow materialized with only a sword. Now he has made his way inside the castle. The assailant moves with purpose, the officer reasoned, meaning he knows the secret of the installation. I must get to...

The officer's thoughts were cut short by a stiletto in his throat. Strider Takashi chuckled, thinking how this weasel of a Nazi held an officer's rank. He hid the body in the War room, where he had already killed the three soldiers who went there to kill Takashi. Moving cautiously, as if the entire castle may be aware of his presence, Strider Takashi made his way across the courtyard to the staircase leading to the dungeons.

Creeping down the spiraling stairwell, Takashi got his first glimpse of the sprawling German laboratory. Two hundred square feet of beakers, chemicals, and scientists all working to further their country's goal of world domination. Takashi spied the head Scientist, the man he had come to kidnap, going into an office. Keeping to the ceiling, Takashi bounced from support beam to support beam, over the heads of the unaware Germans. Upon reaching the doorway, Takashi unsheathed his Cypher; the special double-hilted blade of a Strider A-Class and dove into a rolling crouch inside the office.

"Hello, our mysterious friend," someone said in German behind him. Takashi did not turn around, focusing instead on the seven-foot behemoth in a Nazi uniform who stood in front of him. "You have caused a lot of trouble for nothing. I take it you are a Japanese?" the voice continued. Takashi understood German, but said nothing. Come now, we have common enemies! Why cannot Germany and Japan be allies?"

"The Japanese could never ally itself with an inferior culture." Takashi spat back in German.

"Ah, so be it. Herr Kraken! Persuade him otherwise." The monster in front of Takashi lumbered forward. The Strider leapt up, swinging the Cypher towards Kraken. Kraken lifted an arm and blocked the swing, with a clang ringing when the sword hit Kraken's forearm. Takashi's eyes grew wide in astonishment. Kraken slapped the blade out of Takashi's hand. Takashi tried a spinning round kick to the German's mid-section. The blow hardly fazed the monster. Takashi tried a fury of punches and kicks, none of which slowed Kraken, who seemed to enjoy the attention. Finally, Kraken back-handed the ninja with the force of a speeding Tank, sending Takashi flying out the office door and into a table in the lab.

Showing his true speed, Kraken lunged at Takashi before the Strider knew where he was, and slammed his head into the table once again. The Nazi lifted Takashi up by his tunic, and tossed him across the room, smashing beakers and glass bottles as he flew. Landing in a crouch, Takashi grabbed a vial and tossed the contents at Kraken. Kraken screamed, but the effect was short lived. As Strider Takashi tried to run from the attacker, Kraken grabbed his scarf, yanking him back into his clutches, slamming him against the stone walls of the castle. Hanging by his scarf, Takashi was batted into the wall two more times before an old scientist stopped him.

"Thank you, Herr Kraken. That will be enough. If the young Japanese came all this way to find me, the least I could do is introduce myself. Hello young stranger. I am Doctor Heinrich Zain."