The Lowest Depths

''The German words painted on the warped boards of the crate were almost faded from view, but I made out, '--geweh--30--arb--'. The crate was a heap o' shit, but its contents were precious cargo; Sturmgewehr .303 Carbine rifles, the very weapon that got my ass this far. Back in our glory days, no army -- no matter how poor -- would have tolerated arms in this condition, and would have incinerated them as shite before they'd even left the factory. I realise supplies in Europe were tight, but had it really come to this? Bouchard later confirmed the lengths the Maquis had gone to procure vital goods. The Oldenburg, a German carrier, sank in the Baltic while trying to re-supply UED forces in Oslo. Two years later, desperate for weapons, Maquis divers located the wreck site, and plucked tons of munitions and goods from the flooded holds. The only thing that halted their recover effort -- their divers stopped returning from down below. -- Journal Entry, 03 September, 1951 -- James Grayson''