The airborne irregulars were going to go first. All sides were nervous about their survivability as they were being dropped behind enemy lines. Deadfoot clutched his Lee Enfield No.4 rifle while Tornear had a Sten gun and Ashfoot as Bren mark 2. They were riding in a glider craft, being towed behind a bomber. The cats inside were carrying various equipment as they were going to glide behind enemy lines. Inside was a radio which Deadfoot needed to talk to.
"Deadfoot, you okay back there chap?" Tallstar asked for Deadfoot's status.
"Yeah we're doing fine, so what's the plan?" Deadfoot asked.
"We're going to have you glide into Shadowclan territory, your job is to cause as much chaos behind enemy lines so that Gold Beach Landing will go smoothly, I entrust you with this task." Tallstar laid out Deadfoot's instruction on what he needed to do.
"I'll see what I can do." Deadfoot replied. Tallstar was flying from his bomber he was driving, nodded.
"Okay see, you in five days, Hoppy chap." Tallstar mewed. He detached the cable from the plane as the glider began to glide its way down to the ground. Deadfoot looked outside as he was paying attention to the ground that was getting closer and closer to them. Then their glider touched the ground as they were trying to slow down but their cardboard plane wasn't slowing down. Deadfoot looked ahead as a tree stump took off the front wheel of their plane. The nose went down into the dirt almost if they weren't stopping. Tornear and Ashfoot felt nervous almost as if this ride wasn't going to end. Deadfoot looked ahead to see a massive tree was in their way.
"Brace for impact!" Deadfoot shouted to the group, the plane then crashed into the tree as it had finally been stopped.
Meanwhile with the Thunderclan irregulars, they were going in with themselves well known. Many transport planes were flying above where they were going to be heading for. Fireheart and his group looked down to see that they had caught the enemy sleeping.
"Looks like Shadowclan's asleep, all we need to do is try to be quiet while sabotaging everything in our sights." Fireheart laid out the plan that their job was to do this quietly without drawing their attention.
"Will it just wake them up and we'll have to fight them anyway?" Mousefur asked. She wasn't so sure about being quiet about going to work.
"If our cover is blown, we might as well make as much noise as possible." Brightpaw replied, she was definitely going to try being loud. Suddenly the ground below began to light up a whitish color as if the light was being pointed above them. Whitestorm turned and looked out of his window.
"Searchlights! Shadowclan knew we were coming for them!" Whitestorm shouted. He was indeed right as the sirens sounded the alarm. On the ground, Shadowclan began to open fire with anti-aircraft guns as the slow moving transport planes made easy picking. Thornpaw turned to see one of the transport planes was falling from the sky.
"One of our birds has been taken down, we don't know if we're going to survive this!" Thornpaw shouted. More explosions from the anti-aircraft guns opened up as the doors were flung open, the cats fearing that they were next, began to leap from their aircraft at various altitudes, some were leaping too high or too low. Fireheart leaped first followed by Brightpaw, Thornpaw, Mousefur and Whitestorm along with various other irregulars. Fireheart pulled the string to his parachute which began to slow his descent down, the others were going to get separated and it was just him. Fireheart landed in a tree with his parachute holding him up. He slung out his M1A1 Carbine as two Shadowclan cats approached.
"Almost if the birds were falling from the sky, let's take him out!" One of the cats shouted. Fireheart fired his carbine at the first cat, killing it instantly, the second cat fired back but the shot tore off the strings to the parachute. Fireheart fired the second shot, killing the second cat as well. Once the danger had passed, he got out his knife and freed himself from the parachute's strings. He dropped to the ground and he put the knife away, clutching his carbine, he turned and raced off into the night. He wanted to make sure his friends were okay as Shadowclan had been on their guard.
Two cats had been injured from when their glider crashed into the tree. Deadfoot had sent a patrol out to secure the area while their glider was being unloaded. A medic was treating the injured cats as Tornear returned with the patrol.
"Any news of the objective ahead?" Deadfoot asked. Tornear looked at Deadfoot with the news.
"From the patrol I have gathered, we have two bridges to secure if we're going to totally disrupt the enemy's communication and supply lines. Fortunately for us the first bridge that we need is up ahead." Tornear told Deadfoot about the information he had gathered. "We also came into contact with another irregular Windclan group."
"Okay, all cats move out." Deadfoot called to his group. The medic decided to stay behind to treat the two cats until they found a house to store the wounded in. Deadfoot led the patrol through the countryside as their objective was to take the bridge. Deadfoot peeked his head from the bushes to see what was up ahead, a pillbox with a single Shadowclan cat inside and three more outside. Deadfoot began to lay out his plan. "Everyone come on." He ordered them, they all gathered by the bushes as Deadfoot wanted the jump on them.
The Shadowclan cats were waiting nearby as they were bored out of their minds, they didn't know the enemy had landed nearby and were thinking of what to do next. Deadfoot raised his Lee Enfield and decided to fire the first shot. The bullet he fired went into the Shadowclan cat's forehead and took him down, the two other Shadowclan cats leaped into their dug out and began firing back as the Mg34 began to pour fire on them.
"Don't let up!" Ashfoot shouted as she provided cover fire with her Bren gun. One of the irregular Windclan cats had been shot as Ashfoot reloaded her Bren gun. She continued to fire as Deadfoot gave the signal.
"Move up everyone!" Deadfoot called out. Several cats including Deadfoot moved from cover while Ashfoot covered them. "Come on Ashfoot." Deadfoot called to her, she was going to be important. Ashfoot nodded and got up to follow. Deadfoot and the Windclan irregulars made their run across the open field, trying their best not to get hit with bullets. Spotting a trench, they raced over and hopped inside, not before another irregular Windclan cat was struck with another bullet.
"Let's see how you like this." Tornear hissed. He pulled out a grenade, pulled the pin and threw it at the Shadowclan cats. The Shadowclan cats looked up to see the grenade flying straight at them, they seemed terrified. The grenade exploded, killing one and filling the other's eyes with shrapnel. The blind cat pulled out a Mauser C96 and began firing to take down more Windclan cats. Two more cats were shredded with bullets while trying to charge at the nest but Deadfoot, Tornear and Ashfoot fired at the bunker, taking out the last two Shadowclan cats.
"Okay so far so good, that's one nest down, we just need to secure the bridge." Deadfoot told the group. Another group of Irregular Windclan cats appeared as they had the same objective. Another flurry of bullets was sprayed at them as they were going to be fighting for this bridge. "They don't want to go down without a fight." Deadfoot muttered to the others. Ashfoot nodded before she pointed her Bren gun in the direction of the bridge and began firing at them.
"Move up, I'll cover you." Ashfoot called out. Deadfoot nodded as he and Tornear made their rush over to where their objective was. They too began to fire as Ashfoot moved into one of the bridge guards and fired away from it. The two groups of irregular Windclan cats had become one while they gathered at the bridge to assist in the fighting. Several Shadowclan cats were firing at the bridge group as another Mg34 crew were trying to assist in taking down the cats on the other side, The gunner felt something hit its chest and the cat went down. The other cats knew they needed to rush the bridge to prevent the Windclan irregulars from taking it.
"Come on!" Deadfoot called out, The cats got onto the bridge as this bridge was theirs for the taking. Being supported by incoming fire from the other irregulars, only three Shadowclan cats had been able to make it onto the bridge. The cats raised their guns and fired, taking out the three Shadowclan cats in the exchange of one Windclan casualty. Seeing that they were successful, they finally crossed the bridge.
"We did it, we have got the bridge!" Tornear called out. However, his illusions of an easy mission were shattered as a Panzer 4 made its appearance as several Shadowclan cats had been riding on its back.
"Goodness we have a tank!" Deadfoot shouted, The tank's machine gun erupted causing the Windclan cats to scatter, The tank's main cannon fired and missed the crowd while the group scattered in panic. The Shadowclan cats got off as they were counter attacking to retake the bridge. The first cat stood by the tank firing its Sturmgewehr while the other cats charged forward. Ashfoot was desperately trying to suppress the incoming attack with her Bren gun as a Windclan irregular came forth and was blown away by an incoming tank shot.
"Inside the house!" Ashfoot called out. She took the stock of the Bren gun and slammed the door open. She and Tornear ran inside to take shelter and provide cover for the other Windclan cats. They made their way inside to the second floor and into a room. Ashfoot and Tornear made their way to the window as they began firing from the floor above. They were safe or so they thought?
A stielhandgranate entered the building from a shattered window and exploded, taking out the rest of the window with it and three Shadowclan entered the house. Tornear heard the explosion from the floor above and knew they had company.
"Yeah they're starting to get in, let me see if I can keep them suppressed, be prepared." Tornear told Ashfoot, he exited the room as Ashfoot knocked a table over to be prepared. Tornear was waiting at the top of the stairs for the Shadowclan cats. The cat holding the Sturmgewehr was the first to enter. Tornear began firing at the cat from the floor above. The cat responded with a burst from its rifle before it decided to reload. Tornear peeked from behind the corner again and fired. Once the cat finished reloading, it fired again, trying to take out Tornear. Tornear fired once more before the cat got out its stielhandgranate and pulled the pin and threw it at Tornear. Tornear was quick and shoved the grenade back which it exploded on the Shadowclan cat and killed it, two more Shadowclan cats entered as Tornear decided to head for the other room for cover, the two cats followed him.
"Yeah they're on you." Ashfoot told Tornear. Tornear hid behind the table thinking it would provide some safety. The first Shadowclan cat got onto the second floor and Ashfoot responded with a good burst from her Bren gun, taking that cat down, the second cat entered and Ashfoot didn't have the time to reload but she had a back up option. She pulled out her M1911 pistol and fired three shots, taking the second cat down too.
"Nailed it." Tornear called out with excitement. Ashfoot smiled with excitement. Tornear went to the window while Ashfoot reloaded her Bren gun. The Panzer 4 was still roaring as the machine gun was trying to get the Windclan cats. Deadfoot had reappeared with a PIAT as a means of taking out tanks.
"Let's see how you would like a little explosive?" Deadfoot mewed. He fired his PIAT straight at the tank. It struck the tank and the resulting explosion blew the turret off of the tank, rendering a feared Shadowclan tank into a pile of scrap metal. "Woo we got that tank down, Shadowclan might be on the run away from here." Tornear and Ashfoot exited the house as they were shaken by the ordeal but they were fine. Another Windclan irregular came up and handed Deadfoot the radio.
"This is Tallstar, what is your status Deadfoot?" Tallstar asked Deadfoot over the radio.
"This is Deadfoot, we've captured and secured the bridge. What's the news about the other bridge?" Deadfoot gave his status so far.
"The other bridge has also been secured, operations aren't going to be happening so hold out until we are able to find you. I'm being escorted by a patrol vessel to Onewhisker as the next phase of the operation is going to begin." Tallstar gave Deadfoot the instructions to hold out for as long as he could and repulse any further counter attacks by the bridge until they were able to find him.
Fireheart had spent the past few minutes wandering the Normandy countryside and fighting Shadowclan cats that were scrambling to find these cats in this chaotic operation. Fireheart got behind some cover as two Shadowclan cats began to open fire. Fireheart peeked his head behind the cover and fired back, the Shadowclan cats weren't letting up as Fireheart leaned out and fired again. These cats weren't letting up. As Fireheart reloaded his M1A1 Carbine, similar shots were heard from the side as Fireheart leaned out to see one of the Shadowclan cats down. Fireheart fired two more shots to finish the other one off. Once both of them were down, Fireheart leaped from cover to see who this second cat was.
"Yeah you take that you furballs!" Mousefur shouted, Fireheart looked at Mousefur with relief that he had just found her.
"Mousefur you're still here!" Fireheart shouted. Mousefur looked at Fireheart with much the same look.
"Yeah we got a problem, my apprentice Thornpaw has gone missing, we need to find him along with Whitestorm and Brightpaw. He's got to be somewhere around here." Mousefur told Fireheart about the situation.
"It's better we fight this together. We stand a better chance of doing this together." Fireheart advised her they were better doing this task by each other's side than doing it alone.
"I'll be grateful for the help and we need to take out four anti-aircraft guns that are ripping our planes to shreds." Mousefur told Fireheart what their objectives were.
"Come on, let's move." Fireheart told Mousefur, they both ran off into the night.
Two Shadowclan cats fired at Fireheart and Mousefur while trying to navigate through the countryside. Mousefur raised her carbine and fired a couple of shots off, taking out the first cat. Fireheart followed up with a couple more shots, butchering the Shadowclan cat attacking Mousefur, suddenly the familiar roar of a machine gun was being echoed.
"We have a Machine gun coming from the church, we need to take it out." Fireheart instructed Mousefur as well as a couple Thunderclan irregulars that were fighting their way through this mess. They were firing on the machine gun trying to keep it suppressed.
"We should go at it, we can catch the gunner by surprise." Mousefur suggested that they should charge into the frenzy.
"We'll be turned into swiss cheese if we charge in." Fireheart mewed that they were going to get torn apart if they went head on. The Shadowclan cat firing the machine gun was shot in the head by Thornpaw as he entered the church along with a few irregulars. Fireheart and Mousefur saw the chance to go up and enter the church. "It's down, let's get to the church." Fireheart and Mousefur got up as they made their way to the entrance. Thornpaw was waiting outside for them.
"Thornpaw, it was a lot easier finding you than expected, what are you doing here?" Mousefur asked as she was grateful that her apprentice was still in one piece.
"It's chaos out here, no one knows what group we're in and we're just forming small groups to try holding out for as long as we can. We're gathering here in this church as we believe we can signal Thunderclan that way to give us some help." Thornpaw told Fireheart and Mousefur that chaos was unfolding and everything had no organization and was just meandering along. Mousefur looked at Thornpaw with new objectives.
"Okay you're new objective to assist us with finding Whitestorm and Brightpaw as well as taking out four Anti-aircraft guns." Mousefur told her apprentice what his new objective is. "Any orders from the church cats, ignore them, you're with us."
"Thornpaw, do you still have the explosives on you? We could really use those." Fireheart asked Thornpaw if he had the TNT charges on him as they would come in handy with taking out the anti-aircraft guns.
"I don't, they weren't secured when my parachute was torn by shrapnel, I do have a couple sticks on me." Thornpaw replied. Fireheart knew that wasn't enough but at least Thornpaw had a bit on him.
"Okay let's see what we can do with these." Fireheart replied. Suddenly a voice came out as the enemy was approaching.
"Halftrack incoming!" A Thunderclan irregular shouted. Mousefur looked up to see the halftrack approaching carrying Shadowclan cats inside. The Halftrack's Mg42 began spraying lead as it had found where the cats were hiding.
"Close the door!" Mousefur shouted. Mousefur and Fireheart grabbed the wooden doors and shut them tight to at least prevent stray bullets from entering. The wooden door would be riddled with bullet holes, the halftrack needed to be taken out.
"Mousefur, Thornpaw, on me. Irregulars, try keeping the Shadowclan's attention on you while we take out that halftrack." Fireheart instructed the others to try helping out with the task at hand. Fireheart got up and began running followed by Mousefur and Thornpaw. Fireheart began to climb up the ladder along with Mousefur and Thornpaw afterward while the irregulars were fighting off Shadowclan. Fireheart got to the top and opened the window. "We're going to have to jump and run along the roofs of those houses."
"You crazy? We'll be easy to spot." Mousefur mewed again to Fireheart's crazy plan. "Not all of us are good jumpers."
"I'm willing to do anything to take out that halftrack, come on." Fireheart told the two of them. Fireheart leaped from the church window and onto the first house. Thornpaw jumped as well, landing on the roof with Mousefur. The Shadowclan cats noticed this and began firing on the Thunderclan cats running along the rooftops. Fireheart, Thornpaw and Mousefur jumped from one rooftop to another, all the while Shadowclan continued to spray lead at them.
"Pick up the pace Thornpaw." Mousefur told her apprentice to run faster. The three of them jumped to another rooftop all the while they were being pursued by Shadowclan's bullets.
"They aren't stopping, we need to find a way down." Thornpaw mewed, they weren't going to stop running on rooftops.
"We will silence them, keep calm." Fireheart told Thornpaw to hold himself together, the three of them jumped onto another room but there was a weak spot and Fireheart fell through as the roof caved in on itself. Mousefur and Thornpaw jumped down into the hole, feeling some respite and shelter from the incoming bullets. Mousefur began removing some debris from Fireheart thinking he was injured.
"Are you alright Fireheart?" Mousefur asked. Fireheart got up after his fall.
"I'm fine." Fireheart responded and dusted himself off. Suddenly, two Shadowclan cats entered as this got Thornpaw's attention.
"Definitely not good!" Thornpaw shouted. The two cats began firing to take out the Thunderclan cats inside. Thornpaw rushed in and knocked over the table to use as cover, Mousefur hid behind it as Fireheart fired from its side. Thornpaw reloaded his carbine sensing it was empty. One of the shadowclan cats took out his stielhandgranate from his uniform, Mousefur noticed this and fired the carbine round into the grenade before it could be primed, the grenade exploded sending both cats flying.
"Nice shot there Mousefur." Fireheart complimented her. Mousefur nodded before they went off to finish the two Shadowclan cats off. Fireheart opened the balcony door to see the Halftrack that was firing at them right below them. "There it is. Thornpaw, give me your dynamite sticks." Fireheart instructed. Thornpaw handed Fireheart the dynamite stick and Fireheart pulled out a grenade. "You two, cover me while I blow the halftrack up."
"Got ya." Mousefur mewed. She and Thornpaw got onto the balcony as they began to fire down on the Shadowclan cats below. A few bullets were enough as Fireheart threw the dynamite sticks down as well as the grenade one he pulled the pin, when the grenade landed, it and the dynamite sticks blew up the halftrack so that was the halftrack destroyed.
"We did it!" Thornpaw called out with excitement, a flurry of bullets came whitering on them as the three cats jumped off the balcony and hid behind the recently destroyed halftrack for cover. Mousefur was looking out ahead as three more Shadowclan cats were firing.
"Yep that's our target right there, those four anti-aircraft guns." Mousefur pointed to Fireheart where their target was. Thornpaw raised his Carbine and began firing at the guns.
"Darn they got us pinned, we don't know if our bullets can hit them from this distance?" Thornpaw asked.
"We should try to get in there." Fireheart mewed as she began to think, however they weren't heading in suddenly, a whirling shot came from down the street as two Shadowclan cats were struck. The other one continued to fire as another whirling shot came down the street and took out the last cat. Sensing they were no longer under fire, they got up and began to make their way to where the shots came from to see Whitestorm and Brightpaw.
"Yeah you take that you son of a she-cat." Whitestorm shouted with victory. Brightpaw threw down her empty tube while Fireheart and his group made their way to where Whitestorm was.
"Whitestorm, glad you and Brightpaw were able to make it." Fireheart mewed with relief. Whitestorm looked at Fireheart with relief as well.
"I was going to say the same to you." Whitestorm replied. Whitestorm turned to Thornpaw as he was carrying several bricks on his back. "We had to use the Panzerfausts to blow Shadowclan out of their positions so we can get access to the guns though Thornpaw is the only one with demolition knowledge. You forgot these on the way down." Whitestorm told Thornpaw as he handed him the dynamite. Brightpaw and Whitestorm went to hopefully hold off any other Shadowclan cats that might still be in the area while Thronpaw sets up the explosives. Once he was finished a few minutes later. He, Fireheart and Mousefur ran back while Thornpaw was stringing the wire up.
"Get ready for something spectacular." Thornpaw mewed. He pushed the plunger down and within a moment, all four anti-aircraft guns blew up as it was a spectacular sight.
"It was chaos for sure." Brightpaw began as this was something she wasn't really prepared for.
"Yeah where should we head off to if we're going to get into contact with friendly forces? Not deeper into the countryside, that's for certain." Fireheart mewed that their supplies were being depleted after a night of hard fighting.
"We should head for the beach. Starclan knows where the rest of our group are." Mousefur replied with where they should head next. Fireheart was catching his breath before he turned to Mousefur.
"Yeah, we should head there. On me." Fireheart mewed before he turned and began leading his group away from the smouldering ruins that were the anti-aircraft guns. "I've done my job, it's up to you Cloudpaw for you to do yours."
Cloudpaw was on his way to his uncle's help.
[A/N]: Airborne has dropped in as I never touched the airborne operations in leading up to the event so I called them irregulars as they are part of no specific group but they are part of the clan as a whole who decided to go in first. Next part will be the beaches. See you later.