"Retaking France was an expensive undertaking," Marc finally observed, looking up from his book and shaking his head ruefully. "Just reading through the casualty numbers, it doesn't even feel real."
Nath sighed heavily. "And a lot of these figures are estimates, too. Have you looked at the United Heroez' record of hero casualties?"
"I guess that was just the price they had to be willing to pay to save the world from the Nazis."
"And especially to save France from them."
Caen, July 8, 1944
The Hound folded his arms, giving General Montgomery a dubious look. "Let me get this straight, sir: you want us to take out these Nazi… Übersoldaten? All on our own?" Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, he glanced to the side, sharing a doubtful look with y Ddraig Goch, who shrugged noncommittally. "And if the Germans try to reinforce the position? We could be cut off with the whole might of the Krauts' Army bearing down on us."
Sitting at the chart table, Knightowl leaned forward, steepling his fingers. "But that's the point, isn't it, General? You're hoping that they will send 12th Panzer to support this 'Ritter' and the others, aren't you?"
"And while the Germans are trying to hold the south suburbs against you, I Corps will advance from the north," Montgomery confirmed, nodding and pushing several markers across the map. "With luck, we will link up with you in the city center in time for tea."
Frowning, GI John bent over the map, tracing one of the road lines with a finger. "All due respect, General, wouldn't you rather keep your people closer together? Dividing your forces like this… it could blow up in your face."
Boricua scoffed, arching an eyebrow at GI John. "I think he knows that."
"Watch your tone," the Hound warned, giving the shorter Puerto Rican hero a look.
Glaring back at him, Boricua's eyes narrowed. "I think he knows that, sir." He looked up at Montgomery. "That's why you asked General Eisenhower for backup, right? Sir?"
Montgomery let out a breath. "We have been here, trying to secure Caen for a month, and it has eluded us this whole time – thanks in part to the Nazis' bloody Übermacht soldiers showing up to repel every assault before it gets started, plug every hole as it opens. And if they are amassing here, as SEO suspects, they could punch a hole through our line and drive us all the way back to Sword. That is why I requested your assistance from General Eisenhower."
Red Tail quirked an eyebrow at Boricua in amusement. "That answer your question?"
Manimal spat out his cigar butt and extended his claws. "Just tell me which Nazis to kill."
As the jeep screeched to a stop, the Hound hopped out of the back seat, his leash already in hand, and eyed the group of Übersoldaten in front of him. The mission briefing had included a few descriptions, but nothing to prepare him for the sight. Übermensch, the large blond man with the swastika branded on his chest. Der Magier, a hooded figure with a pair of runes attaching his cloak to his shoulders and a belt set with runes around his waist. Der Ritter, the medieval knight who hovered a dozen meters above the ground, longsword in hand. Schwarze Sonne, a man in light armor who carried a dozen discuses with sharpened blades radiating from the central hub. Reichsmann, wearing bright red and black and armed with a hammer and sword. Totenkopf, a figure whose head appeared to have been stripped of skin, leaving nothing behind but a skull, a long chain looped over his shoulder. Parteiadler and Wolfsangel, a pair of men with wings attached to their shoulders who hovered just behind der Ritter, drifting slightly in the wind. Wiking, a muscled man with long blond hair, a pair of battleaxes strapped across his shoulders. Baagh, the Indian traitor – the Hound's eyes narrowed, eyeing the man warily. Behind them stood a half-dozen others, three of them moaning in agony, their bodies rippling masses of bulbous tumors – the Östliche Männer, products of experiments on captured Russian prisoners according to SIS.
"Still happy you volunteered for this mission?" Boricua muttered to Manimal under his breath as they climbed out after the Hound, raising an eyebrow.
Manimal bared his teeth in a snarl, his lips curling, and clicked his claws together. "Perfect."
Der Ritter drifted forward and dropped lower to land between the two groups. "I had wondered if the Abwehr's source was correct," he mused in English. "I had not thought the Americans would be so foolish as to send all their most powerful assets on this doomed assault."
"Well…" GI John spat on the ground at der Ritter's feet. "I suppose you thought wrong, then, didn't you?"
"I have been ordered to give you the opportunity to surrender," der Ritter continued, ignoring GI John. "If you do so, you will be treated well. You will be welcomed into the Übermacht, granted commissions in the SS, and sent to fight against the communists to the East." His grip on his sword tightened and loosened subtly. "It is… a generous offer."
"I'll show you were to put your 'generous offer'," muttered Manimal under his breath.
The Hound tensed, his hand drifting down to grasp his leash.
GI John scoffed. "That's such a generous offer…" he agreed sardonically. "Let me give you a counteroffer. You surrender here and now and leave France never to return, and I promise not to jam my shield so far up your ass your grandkids feel it!"
Behind der Ritter, Übermensch cracked his knuckles. "Enough of this talk," he growled. "I will show these invaders the true power of the Aryan race!"
Knightowl folded his arms, standing just behind GI John's shoulder. "You speak so highly of your racial superiority, but you have yet to prove any of it."
Der Magier stared, pulling down his hood and glaring at Knightowl. "You dare question the power of the Third Reich, when it stares you in the face?"
"I don't see any power here," Knightowl retorted. "I see a bunch of bullies, who just came up against someone who will actually fight back."
Reichsmann sneered. "Fight back all you want; it will do nothing! The Reich is not to be trifled with! It will not fall before the likes of you!"
The Hound scoffed. "I've seen the power of your Reich. Up close. Over the skies of London, when your 'power' was bombing civilians, women and children, that power broke against the Royal Air Force. When that 'power' was defending the beaches of Normandy, I broke it under my boot." His lip curled. "I was unimpressed."
"This is pointless!" Snarling, Schwarze Sonne withdrew a pair of discuses from the carrying satchel on his back and gave them a testing twirl before, quicker than thought, flicking both of them to loop around der Ritter, straight at GI John and Knightowl.
Reacting on instinct, Knightowl rolled backward into a cartwheel and pushed off into a backflip, narrowly avoiding the discus as it spun below him. The Hound flicked out his leash, batting the discus down into the ground just in front of Manimal, who dropped lower and growled. Simultaneously, GI John held up his shield and the other discus deflected off of the shield to land at der Ritter's feet, sticking out of the ground at an angle. Der Magier placed one hand on his belt, and a swirl of red energy formed out of his other hand, spiraling around tightly and tearing straight at Boricua and Red Tail. Y Ddraig Goch jumped backward to hide behind GI John, even as the red dragon on his chest let out a shriek and tore away from him, its wings pumping to draw it up into the sky. Grabbing onto the semi-corporeal dragon's tail, Red Tail let himself be pulled up into the air before deploying the wings of his suit, the engine on his back puttering to life. As he reached an altitude of forty feet, he drew a sub gun from one of his thigh holsters and swooped low, strafing the Östliche Männer while dropping grenades from above, following in the wake of the roaring dragon.
"None of that!" der Magier shouted, waving his hand and sending a swirl of wind up at Red Tail, launching him a dozen meters higher into the air. With a yelp, Red Tail struggled against the buffeting wind, trying to maintain control of his flight. Above him, the dragon banked hard and dove straight at der Magier, belching fire from its mouth. At the same moment, both Parteiadler and Wolfsangel turned in the dragon's direction, reaching out to grab its head and neck as it dove past them. Der Magier held his hands up, and a thin translucent reddish shield appeared over him as the fire poured down around him, scorching the road surface.
GI John lunged forward, bringing his shield up into der Ritter's chin and catching him with one of the star points. The shield deflected off with a resounding clang, vibrating GI John's arm. Der Ritter dropped back a step, slashing at GI John's side with his sword, holding his other arm up defensively. Sensing the danger, GI John pulled his shield back to block, pushing the sword away and spinning closer to elbow der Ritter in the side. His elbow clanged off the metal armor, and GI John froze in place, shaking his hand to regain feeling. Sprinting past him, Manimal sprang at Baagh, his claws extended. Baagh braced himself and took a half-step back, catching Manimal's attack and throwing him over his head. Twisting around in midair, Manimal landed on all fours, only to dive to one side the moment he landed, as Reichsmann's hammer missed his back by three seconds.
Breaking into a sprint, the Hound spun his leash out in a wide loop and hurled it over Reichsmann's head, jumping over der Ritter and GI John as he did so. The loop pulled taut around Reichsmann's neck, and he raised his sword just in time to catch it in the leash before the Hound could jerk it tight and garrote him. Seeing his distraction, Manimal threw himself claws-first at Reichsmann's middle, avoiding his waving hammer and driving his claws into Reichsmann's chest. A spray of red blood erupted from the wounds, and Reichsmann slumped, still propped up on Manimal's claws. Leaping over his body and landing in the middle of the Übermacht forces, the Hound pulled Reichsmann's body off the ground and swung it around in a wild loop, catching Übermensch in the back and knocking him forward into Boricua, who slid out of the way just in time. Motion in the air above caught the Hound's eye as Parteiadler chased after Red Tail, firing wild shots at him with his pistol. Wolfsangel streaked down at Red Tail from above, pulling a serrated knife from his belt. With a shout, the Hound hurled Reichsmann's limp body up, straight at Wolfsangel, releasing his leash's hold on the body just before it struck. Wolfsangel's eyes shot wide open, moments before impact; with a crunch, Reichsmann struck Wolfsangel and pushed him up, away from Red Tail. The momentum of the hit sent both of them tumbling through the air in a wild tangle of limbs, with one of Wolfsangel's wings pinned against his side. Wolfsangel only barely managed to turn them over so Reichsmann's body would cushion his own landing. Rolling off of him, Wolfsangel collapsed to the ground, one wing crumpled, groaning in pain.
On instinct, the Hound spun his leash in a tight shield behind his back, just as a pair of massive fists came down on him from above, looking back, he spotted two of the Östliche Männer, their eyes unfocused as they pounded over and over again on his leash-shield. The Hound's legs buckled slightly under the force of blows which threatened to drive his feet down into the ground, even as Totenkopf flung out his chain as a whip, striking at the Hound's unprotected side. The chain cracked against his miraculous suit; though the magical fabric held, he winced at the pain, flinching away from it. Again, the chain cracked in the same spot, and the Hound's shield slipped the slightest bit, the continual battering on his arms unabated. Totenkopf's lidless eyes lit up in the flames from the dragon circling above, and he flicked out his chain a third time. Gritting his teeth, the Hound lunged back out of the way, just as the chain reached him. The two Östliche Männer stumbled forward and fell into the path of the whipping chain, which tangled under their bodies. Totenkopf let out a frustrated growl… and one of the Östliche Männer grabbed his chain, tugging him off his feet, straight into them.
On the far side of the battlefield, Knightowl dove backward, out of Wiking's reach, ducking and dodging around Baagh as he did so. An Östen Mann stumbled in their direction, and Knightowl spun around behind him, pushing the monster into Wiking's path. Wiking's slash caught the Östen Mann in the shoulder, cleaving halfway through his torso, and he pushed the creature aside. At the same moment, Knightowl ducked low, placed his hand on Baagh's gut, and swept his legs out from under him, knocking him off-balance into Wiking even as an Owlet flew after him and embedded in Wiking's chest.
"Keep them off balance!" shouted GI John, ducking another slash from der Ritter, who rose up into the air, spun in a backflip, and drove his boot into GI John's chin. GI John came up off the ground, flew backward, and landed hard on his back, groaning inchoately. Landing directly above him, der Ritter raised his sword.
"No!" Ducking a flying discus, Boricua threw himself at der Ritter, pushing him aside so his sword stabbed into the ground beside GI John. Boricua raised his batons, laying them down the length of his arms, facing off against der Ritter. With a frustrated growl, der Ritter slashed at Boricua, who leaned to one side and flicked his baton around to rap against der Ritter's side. Der Ritter spun around to face him, faster than his heavy armor should allow, and slashed at Boricua a second time. This time, Boricua did not dodge quickly enough and instead raised one baton to block. The sword cut clean through the baton, chopping off Boricua's hand below the wrist. Boricua fell to the ground with a scream, clutching the stump.
Sprinting through the crowd, sidestepping around Schwarze Sonn and Baagh, the Hound reached GI John and Boricua and raised his leash-shield above them, blocking a chop from der Ritter as Übermensch lumbered toward them with Manimal in hot pursuit. Manimal lunged forward, landed on Übermensch's back, and rode him down, stabbing him through the shoulder blades several times with his claws and pinning him to the ground with a snarl. There was a sudden cry from above, and Red Tail fell from the sky, one of his wings missing and his engine spitting black smoke, Parteiadler diving after him in hot pursuit. The dragon rolled over and sent a burst of flame straight at Parteiadler, incinerating his wings, before reaching out a paw to catch Red Tail. Suddenly, the dragon faded away as, on the ground, y Ddraig Goch collapsed to his knees and toppled forward. His eyes glazed over with red energy, der Magier let out a crow of victory. Red Tail waved his arms wildly before slamming into the ground.
The sound of artillery fire drew closer, as Knightowl, Manimal, and the Hound gathered back-to-back, ready to face off against the remaining Übersoldaten. Before they could attack, however, der Ritter glanced in the direction of Caen and groaned. "Fall back to secondary positions!" he called, rising into the air and drifting back away from them.
As the Übersoldaten retreated, Knightowl hurled a last Owlet at the receding form of Wiking. "Well, we did it."
The Hound nodded, looking back and forth between Knightowl and Manimal before scanning the churned-up battlefield, the bodies of their fallen comrades. "We did. But it came at a terrible price."