The sun was cresting over the horizon the next morning, the Thunderclan cats were excited and nervous at the same time. Cloudpaw and his group were on their way to setting a foothold on Riverclan territory. Bombers flew overhead to drop their payload on the bunkers while many ships opened their cannons onto the beach to soften up the invasion. Smallear was standing on the deck, giving a speech.
"Cats of Thunderclan, today with our allies, we embark on an operation of unparalleled importance. To establish a beach-head in Normandy and roll back Shadowclan aggression that has terrorized the continent for the past five years." Smallear began as the naval guns went off. "We are all that seperates the world from darkness. This… so much more than a chance to be heroes in your own lifetimes. If we prevail, our triumph will be edged into the hearts and minds of a grateful world for untold generations! I'm talking about the glory of my Thunderclan cats, true glory." Cloudpaw was watching as he was going to be going in first along with the rest of his group.
"Smallear can give a fantastic speech for something important." Cloudpaw muttered to himself as he was awe-inspired by Smallear's speech. With the speech concluded, Cloudpaw and the others began to make their way into their tin fish can which was their landing craft. He was joined with Dustpelt, Fernpaw, Sandstorm and Bluestar. "Reminds me of that speech Ashpaw's coach gave us for that game before Thanksgiving break even though his team lost by forty points as Ashpaw would say." With that, their landing craft pulled away from the ship as with Fireheart and his friends in town causing a mess, this should be easy.
June 6th 1944, Omaha Beach, France: Easy Red, 06:29
The many silver fishes bounced along in the choppy waves. Cloudpaw held a picture of Dart who he had befriended in his adventures in Italy, the dog and cat getting along seemed impossible but Cloudpaw found a way. One of the cats riding along looked over to the picture Cloudpaw was holding.
"I wish I was coming home to her." The tom mewed to Cloudpaw. Cloudpaw held the picture up to his chest, he didn't want anyone seeing this.
"I'm sorry but she's my friend and I'm not dating her. My heart is for someone else." Cloudpaw told the tom that he wasn't in love with her.
"I think he's saving his heart for Brightpaw who is his friend." Sandstorm told the tom who Cloudpaw's true love would be. "Just wait until you hit Paris, all the beautiful she-cats would be there assuming you survive long enough.
"You seem like a beautiful she-cat Sandstorm, I wish I can take you out." The tom would turn to Sandstorm whom he was infatuated with.
"Sorry, I'm already taken, I really like our group Sergeant." Sandstorm pushed the tom away as she didn't some random stranger trying to hit on her. Bluestar was keeping her eyes open, to find where the beach would be. One of the cats turned to Cloudpaw.
"Hey? You got a lighter?" He asked. Cloudpaw felt the choppiness of the ocean but decided to get out his lighter for the Thunderclan cat. The cat leaned over to light his cigarette but when he was going to get it lit, that is when it all struck the fan. Explosions on the choppy waves was felt as machine guns were firing straight at them.
"Everyone keep your heads down!" Bluestar shouted. Everyone ducked their heads down as the bullets from the Mg42's bounced off of the tin fish as they got closer to the beach.
"Twenty seconds!" Another Thunderclan cat shouted. Cloudpaw was keeping his head down as Sandstorm turned to him.
"Are you feeling nervous?" Sandstorm asked Cloudpaw. Cloudpaw knew he had to let his feelings out and tell Sandstorm what he really meant.
"Yeah I am pretty nervous." Cloudpaw admitted to Sandstorm. Sandstorm nodded.
"You should be, this is looking like no walk in the park that Bluestar had promised." Sandstorm told Cloudpaw that it was okay to feel a little scared.
"Ten seconds!" The same cat would call out. He then turned to Bluestar. "Should we drop the ramp? There is no cover ahead."
"Drop the ramp!" Bluestar shouted. The landing craft would hit the beach as the cat felt pressured by Bluestar. Suddenly another Landing craft collided with them as they skidded a bit, right into the path of a machine gun. Cloudpaw and Sandstorm had been knocked over but when the door to the craft had opened fully, the roar of the Mg42 began to shred the cats inside the tin fish, except for five of them. Bluestar rushed ashore, trying her best not to get hit by any of the bullets, Fernpaw and Dustpelt had dove over the side of the landing craft. Sandstorm and Cloudpaw got up as Sandstorm turned to Cloudpaw.
"Over the side Cloudpaw!" Sandstorm shouted. She grabbed Cloudpaw and pulled him up. She then dove over the side of the tin fish along with Cloudpaw, into the ocean below. They then resurfaced moments later as the cats were trying to make their way ashore. Sandstorm looked back to Cloudpaw. "Are you all right?" Sandstorm asked Cloudpaw if he was feeling okay.
"I'm just scared." Cloudpaw replied. Sandstorm nodded as Dustpelt was dragging Fernpaw up the beach, she was all right as well but she looked like she nearly drowned, she was clutching her waterlogged BAR.
"We all are." Sandstorm replied, she turned and motioned Cloudpaw to follow her. The four of them gathered by a metal hedgehog as they wanted to discuss the situation. "Things aren't going too well huh?" Sandstorm asked Dustpelt if this was true.
"Yeah we're getting shredded out here, Fernpaw nearly drowned." Dustpelt responded. Cloudpaw turned ahead to witness the horror that was unfolding before his eyes. Cats were huddling up behind metal hedgehogs, crying for their mother to save them from the horror. Cloudpaw looked to his left to see cats had been lit on fire when their landing craft was struck by a shell from one of the artillery further inland. Cloudpaw turned his head to see cats without their limbs trying to find their own in the chaotic mess of blood, sand and bullets.
"Cloudpaw!" Sandstorm shouted at him to get his brain back into reality. Cloudpaw shook his head when he realized that Sandstorm had been trying to get his attention.
"Yes Sandstorm?" Cloudpaw asked as he didn't know what to say next.
"We need to get moving, if we stay here, we're going to get shredded!" Sandstorm called out.
"The Machine guns have us pinned, how do we move forward while under fire?" Cloudpaw mewed. Suddenly an explosion was heard as two Thunderclan cats were propelled into the air to only land down. Cinderpelt raced into the scene as she was carrying a medical bag.
"Are any of you injured?" She asked if they had any sort of injuries.
"We should be as good as the machine guns as sweeping the beach!" Fernpaw shouted while huddling by Dustpelt.
"There's nothing separating between us and the almighty, try moving up." Cinderpelt mewed before she dashed off. Dustpelt looked at Sandstorm and Cloudpaw as he needed to come up with a plan.
"Let me cover you, try moving up the beach." Dustpelt raised himself up and began firing his Thompson at the machine gun nest. Sandstorm looked at Fernpaw who was still cuddling over on Dustpelt.
"Fernpaw, come with us!" Sandstorm called out to Fernpaw. "Cloudpaw, you're on me!" Sandstorm got up as she began to make her dash to the nearest cover she could find. She eventually found some cover, behind another metal hedgehog. Cloudpaw and Fernpaw joined her side as more Thunderclan cats were being landed along with support jeeps to help provide cover fire.
"Mama? Mama!" A bleeding thunderclan cat called out while he was holding his guts that had spilled out of him from an artillery explosion. Cloudpaw looked back as there was nothing he could do about it.
"So far so good, we're inching up bit by bit." Sandstorm huffed that they were occasionally making progress but it was the machine guns that were giving them the problem. Frostfur then arrived to give Sandstorm the news.
"Most of the armor has sunk as their floatation devices hadn't worked properly, we only have one working tank with us and it's putting up quite the fight." Frostfur told Sandstorm about the situation that was happening.
"Maybe we can file in behind the tank and use it to take out those machine guns." Sandstorm suggested.
"That will be a bit of a process as there are so many Thunderclan cats bleeding out." Frostfur explained.
"I know, we got this confirmation from Cinderpelt, she is feeling overworked by this." Sandstorm told Frostfur about it. She looked up to hear the whirling of a fighter plane that was going down. Hopefully it would land sideways as it would provide cover for a good number of cats.
"Machine guns are probably overheating, we must charge at them as there is only seven seconds they could change out to make progress." Frostfur nodded and that was to wait for the guns to fall silent. Suddenly the fighter plane landed horizontally on the beach as the pilot seemed to be dazed, it had lost control but it didn't have its fuel tank explode, it was providing cover for the cats.
"We should rescue that pilot." Frostfur mewed. She dashed out first to the plane to assist the pilot with its extraction. Sandstorm looked at Fernpaw and Cloudpaw.
"You two on me!" Sandstorm shouted, She dashed from her tiny metal cover to the plane followed by the apprentices shortly afterward. Cinderpelt joined the group as the Pilot's hatch was opened.
"Hang on sir, I got you. Don't panic." Cinderpelt tried to keep the pilot calm as she pulled the pilot out of the hatch. This provided quite the cover they needed. Brindleface joined them as she had some news.
"What exactly is going on, there's hardly any cover." Brindleface told Frostfur.
"I know, we're struggling over here." Frostfur mewed, she didn't know what to do next. Fernpaw was huddled by Cloudpaw, she was on the verge of breaking down into tears.
"We need to think of something." Cloudpaw told the group that their plan was falling apart without any determination.
Bluestar raced over to another group of cats, containing Ashpaw, Swiftpaw, Brackenfur, Darkstripe and Longtail.
"What do you got?" Bluestar asked, and she noticed Brackenfur was holding something that wasn't his grease gun. One of the Thunderclan cats became a bullet sponge as it was struck with five Mg42 bullets.
"I'm holding a type-writer as it's going to be used to oversee field operations!" Brackenfur shouted to Bluestar what he planned on doing with the type-writer. Bluestar shoved the type-writer out of his paws.
"Get rid of that crap!" Bluestar hissed to Brackenfur while they were pinned down by machine gun bullets. "Gather your weapons and follow me!" Bluestar called out as she was going to lead a push up to the bluffs. She went first as Brackenfur picked up his Grease gun and the others followed. They were going to make a charge for the bluffs. Ashpaw decided to head in another direction as he wanted to see his friend.
The machine gun bullets were trying to shred the down plane as Cloudpaw was thinking of a plan on how they could make it to the seawall. He heard the rumbling of their Sherman support as it blasted at the machine gun nest with its bullets. He had an idea.
"All cats, follow in behind me." Cloudpaw told the others, he motioned his paw to get them to follow. Brindleface turned to the others.
"Cloudpaw has an idea, all cats follow in behind him." Brindleface got up and began to lead the group behind Cloudpaw with the others following in. Cloudpaw was going to use the tank as cover. "You surely had the best idea a cat could ask for." Brindleface remarked to Cloudpaw as they were slowly crawling behind the tank. Suddenly the tank stopped and fired at the bunker, it didn't do much but they were clawing their way up to the beach.
"Now what?" Frostfur asked as the tank was idle behind them.
"Move up to the seawall, it shouldn't be that far from us!" Cloudpaw instructed them almost as if he was acting as the company commander. He dashed out from the cover as he wanted to be the first to touch the seawall. Braving the machine gun bullets and the sand leaps. Cloudpaw became the first cat of thunderclan to touch the seawall. "Come on, come on!" Cloudpaw called out. Frostfur and Brindleface came over next and they made it to the seawall. Sandstorm and Fernpaw came last. Sandstorm was holding Fernpaw by her paw, dragging her through what seemed to be the dark forest to reach the seawall.
"We made it." Sandstorm sighed as they had the protection of the seawall to hug as the bullets were hitting nothing but sand.
"Don't quit praying as of yet." Brindleface mewed. They were steadily joined by more Thunderclan cats as they were now touching the Seawall. Dustpelt then joined up shortly after.
"The Engineer battalion is on its way and I'm happy that we've gotten this far." Dustpelt decided to let them know what was going on. Fernpaw rolled over into Dustpelt as she wanted some of his comfort. Ashpaw joined Cloudpaw right where Fernpaw used to be.
"It's crazy out here now that I think of it, we're getting torn to pieces." Ashpaw told Cloudpaw as he was hugging the seawall.
"Yeah, I'm just happy to be alive." Cloudpaw mewed. Bluestar and her group had also reached the seawall as they were joined by survivors from other companies.
"Do you know who made it off of landing craft fifteen?" Bluestar asked Longtail if he had any information.
"Swiftpaw but that's about it." Longtail replied as the situation was dire. "Our company is the only company that hasn't been shredded so far. We are gathering survivors from Badger company, Squirrel company and Maple company into one group along with the engineers."
"Okay we need those engineers here!" Bluestar shouted. Brackenfur turned his back as he seemed curious.
"Where's Cinderpelt?" Brackenfur asked. Bluestar turned away as she began to race back to find where Cinderpelt was. Cinderpelt as well as a couple Thunderclan medics were busy trying to prevent a Thunderclan warrior from bleeding out.
"Stop the bleeding! Stop the bleeding!" Cinderpelt shouted to the other medics that they needed to stop the bleeding in order to save this cat. Two bullets riddled the cat's head, finishing it off. Cinderpelt threw down the bloody bandages as she was growing frustrated.
"Give us some air cover, now Starclan!" Cinderpelt shouted. Bluestar had crawled over and grabbed Cinderpelt.
"You're coming with me!" Bluestar shouted. Cinderpelt looked at her leader as she was being dragged away.
"I still have wounded cats to tend to!" Cinderpelt shouted in protest but Bluestar dragged the combat medic away.
"You're needed with me!" Bluestar shouted to her combat medic as she dragged Cinderpelt to the seawall. More Thunderclan cats joined in as it was the engineer battalion that had made it to the other side.
"We don't know if we're going to be able to make it seeing the situation growing sour!" Swiftpaw shouted. "If we don't have a chance this ain't fair!" Bluestar turned to her left as she gave out specific orders.
"Gather weapons and ammo!" Bluestar instructed. The cats then peeled off to find weapons and ammunition they could use for scaling the bluffs, Swiftpaw peeled away as he crawled to a wounded Thunderclan bandolier who had half of one of his legs missing and he was crying out in pain. He grabbed the belt of ammunition and dragged it back to the seawall. Another explosion from an artillery shell occurred near the seawall, sending two cats flying into the air. "Bangalores! Bring up the bangalores!" Bluestar shouted, two engineers carrying the tubes came racing to her position while another two went to Cloudpaw as he was going to blow his own path through. Cinderpelt was busy, treating another Thunderclan cat that had a bullet wound to the shoulder.
"Oh starclan, it hurts!" He wailed in agony. "I'm going to die!" Cinderpelt was trying her best to prevent blood from spilling from the shoulder wound while trying to remove the bullet. "Starclan help me!"
"You're not going to die, you're fine. Don't look at it." Cinderpelt told the tom while she was trying to treat his wound. The bangalores had been set up and they were ready to blow their way into the seawall and clear the barbed wire.
"Bangalores! Clear the shingles!" Bluestar shouted. The bangalores had been set up and now all that was needed was to blow them up.
"Fire in the hole!" Brackenfur shouted as the cats hugged the sand dune.
"Fire in the hole!" Cloudpaw repeated back. The cats released the fuse of the bangalore and pushed them forward. They placed their heads on the seawall to avoid any back blast from the bangalores. The Bangalores then exploded, clearing two holes in the seawall. Cloudpaw was the first to lift his head up to see the path was wide open. "Come on!" He shouted, giving a flick with his paw with the message to move up. The cats took their heads off the seawall and began to make their way inside.
"Machine guns are still tearing us to pieces, we need to find a way to silence them!" Frostfur shouted while they ran across some cover to the trenches. A shadowclan cat noticed the seawall had been breached and the enemy was pouring in. Cloudpaw saw the cat, raised his M1 Garand and Bang! He shot that cat dead followed by two more rounds. Fernpaw was spraying her BAR into the trench with Brindleface leading the charge.
"Into the trench!" Brindleface shouted. Cloudpaw jumped into the trench with two Shadowclan cats spotting him. He decided to empty his clip into the cats with Brindleface providing support.
"We'll finish this trench line off, Bluestar will begin the assault up the hill." Dustpelt called out. Cloudpaw and Brindleface raced across the trench as Ashpaw and Sandstorm joined them in the chaotic frenzy. Cloudpaw continued to crawl through the trench, trying to find any useful items that they could use. A jeep carrying Goldenflower while she peppered the defenses with her M1919A4 crossed the bridge with Bluestar and Brackenfur following close behind. Cloudpaw decided to keep going if they were going to sweep the trench clean. Shadowclan cats appeared to take out the trenches but Cloudpaw had loaded a fresh clip in and began firing away, emptying that clip as well before reloading. Fernpaw came to his side with instructions.
"Up the stairs, we're beginning the assault on the bunkers." Fernpaw told her friend. She climbed up the stairs followed by Cloudpaw. The objective of sweeping the trenches clean was complete, now came the assault on the bunker.
"Good to see that you've made it, Shadowclan isn't letting up." Bluestar mewed to her clan. She raised her Thompson and began firing away with it to take out Shadowclan defenses on the hill. "Hill defenses are down, let's move." She mewed. She began to make her way up the hill along with the other Thunderclan cats. They quickly made it to the top as they were now behind the bunker. The cats were waiting outside as several Shadowclan cats that noticed they had been trapped began to run out of the bunker. The Thunderclan cats quickly dispatched the cats trying to flee the area swiftly.
"Come down here." Darkstripe instructed a cat with a flamethrower forward, the cat came forward carrying the blowtorch of fire. "Stick it in there." Darkstripe mewed. The cat nodded and with the squirt of the nozzle, the entire Mg42 bunker was lit on fire. The Shadowclan cats inside screamed while they were burned alive.
"Don't shoot! Let the rats burn!" Bluestar instructed them to save their ammo. Several Shadowclan cats began to turn up from the other bunker.
"We got more coming from the right!" Goldenflower shouted as she let her machine gun begin ripping the cats to pieces, Cloudpaw and Brindleface turned to join the fun as three Shadowclan cats were viciously ripped to pieces.
"We have another bunker to clear!" Cloudpaw shouted before he began to race forward. Ashpaw joined him as Cloudpaw couldn't do it alone.
"Come back here." Bluestar raced after the apprentices that they were going to clear another bunker by themselves. Goldenflower decided to cover for the three cats while the machine gun was peppering the position away.
Cloudpaw slid into the trench and fired directly at the Shadowclan cat inside, two shots were fired, the first to kill it and the second to take it down. Cloudpaw pressed onward while emptying another clip from the rifle out. He reloaded before he pressed his head into the bunker. A yowl was heard as a Shadowclan cat attempted to bash Cloudpaw's head in. Cloudpaw wrestled with the Shadowclan cat, trying to turn the cat's own rifle against him. Cloudpaw tried to get the Shadowclan cat to back off but the cat was possibly stronger than he was. Suddenly, Ashpaw came from the side, tackling the Shadowclan cat down and freeing Cloudpaw. Cloudpaw was knocked over while Ashpaw was clawing the cat's eyes out. Cloudpaw grabbed his Webley mark VI as the Shadowclan cat pulled out its knife and slashed Ashpaw's side. Cloudpaw fired the Webley into the Shadowclan cat's head, killing it. He raced over to Ashpaw who was bleeding from his side.
"Ashpaw!" Cloudpaw shouted, he grabbed Ashpaw and began to drag him out of the bunker. Bluestar along with Dustpelt and Darkstripe entered the bunker to clear it out.
"I need help!" Ashpaw called out while he was holding the knife wound.
"Hang in there! I'm getting you help." Cloudpaw mewed to Ashpaw to hang on. Cloudpaw dragged Ashpaw from the bunker with one paw on his webley and the other with Ashpaw. They needed to get to the top. Where the medicine cats had gathered, Cloudpaw was trying to drag Ashpaw into the circle as Ashpaw was bleeding out. "Medic!" Cloudpaw called out. Ashpaw was growing pale while trying to put pressure on the wound.
"I need help!" Ashpaw called out.
"No, don't leave, those she-cats are waiting for you." Cloudpaw told Ashfur he needed to keep his eyes open and not bleed out. "I need a medic!" Cloudpaw shouted. Cinderpelt came racing forward as she placed his paws on Ashpaw's wound.
"I got him, you'll be needed elsewhere." Cinderpelt told Cloudpaw while she began to treat Ashpaw's wound. Bluestar came forth as Dustpelt and Darkstripe were escorting two Shadowclan prisoners.
"I don't want to see your guts flying around, do you understand?" Bluestar asked Cloudpaw that he was being reckless to clear the other bunker.
"I understand." Cloudpaw meekly responded as he didn't want to fire Bluestar's wrath up.
"Okay, we have gotten radio reports from Fireheart and his crew, they are nearby but they are almost out of ammunition, there is a GPF cannon up the road that is tearing up the beach. We need to take it out." Bluestar announced that they needed to keep going if they were going to link up and rescue the irregulars from last night's operation. Cloudpaw grabbed his M1 Garand and placed the Webley back in his holster. He began to race up along with the others. He looked back to see Cinderpelt treating Ashpaw. Cloudpaw turned back and followed the crowd.
"Pick up the pace, we need to take that cannon out!" Sandstorm encouraged the crowd to run faster but then something interrupted them and caused them to duck for cover.
"Machine gun in that farm house!" Frostfur pointed out, the machine gun was firing away while Cloudpaw and the others had ducked for cover. They began firing away, trying to take out the machine gun. Cats were using anything for cover, hay bales or wrecked vehicles made the best for ducking behind and getting shots off. Cloudpaw pulled out a grenade and pulled the pin. He threw it at the machine gun.
"Nice throw." Fernpaw mewed while she peppered the house. Once the machine gun had been silenced, Cloudpaw got out from cover and made a run for the house. Five cats appeared as they were also moving in on the house as well.
"They must look like the irregulars, Fireheart and his friends have pulled through." Brindleface called out. Bluestar nodded.
"Move up everyone." Bluestar ordered. The cats then began to move up while Fireheart spotted Bluestar and made his way to her.
"You're alive." Fireheart told Bluestar her group had made it through in one piece.
"Yeah, we definitely faced fierce resistance on our end, thankfully you made it through to help us in the end." Bluestar patted Fireheart on the back while the rest of Thunderclan was mopping up the remaining Shadowclan cats in the area.
"Now isn't the time for a reunion, we got Shadowclan Krauts moving in to retake the cannon." Whitestorm told the group that Shadowclan was going to attempt a counter attack. Bluestar knew she needed to act fast if she was going to be able to hold onto this piece of land and not lose it.
"Okay, all cats take up defensive positions, Cloudpaw, you, Brightpaw and Fernpaw find a machine gun and some ammo, we're holding this area." Bluestar told everyone to gather up and use what they could find. Cloudpaw, Brightpaw and Fernpaw entered the barn and got to the second floor. On the right side was an Mg42, perfect for repulsing counter attacks. Cloudpaw opened the hatch to see if there was any ammo.
"It's empty, we need ammo to hold them off." Cloudpaw told the others to find a belt of ammunition. Fernpaw went prone with her BAR as she folded the bipod out to give Cloudpaw some support fire. Brightpaw raced back with a belt of ammunition.
"It's a 250 round belt, I hope it's enough." Brightpaw mewed, she gave one end of it to Cloudpaw who placed it into the Mg42. "I'll help feed you, you and Fernpaw keep them away from us."
"Here they come!" Fireheart shouted. The Shadowclan cats began their counter attack. Cloudpaw and Fernpaw began opening fire in their attempt to cut them down. Two cats were torn down as Bluestar gave the order.
"Engage them!" Bluestar shouted. She raised up and began firing her Thompson into the crowd, the other cats began opening up as Shadowclan cats were steadily getting mowed down.
"Three of them forming up to your left, fire at them." Brightpaw instructed Cloudpaw. Cloudpaw turned and gave the three Shadowclan cats a whiff of bullets, taking the three of them down quickly.
"Four more to your right!" Fernpaw shouted while firing her BAR. Cloudpaw turned the Mg42 and sprayed at the four Shadowclan cats while Brightpaw and Fernpaw were taking turns to spot targets.
"They're coming over the wall!" Swiftpaw called out. Cloudpaw turned the Mg42 and shredded the cats that were attempting to hop over the wall. "Nice work up there."
"Three more coming to the right." Fernpaw shouted while she was reloading. Cloudpaw turned and fired the machine gun, shredding the three cats up. Brightpaw was feeding him while he was shredding down targets.
"Running low on ammo, finish the belt off Cloudpaw." Brightpaw told her friend. Cloudpaw nodded. "Cloudpaw, two more on your left." Cloudpaw nodded and turned, he fired off and finished the Mg42 belt off. Suddenly the Shadowclan cats began to retreat.
"Our cats are coming in!" Fireheart cheered as an amphibious Sherman tank followed by a squad of Thunderclan cats as well as some close air support planes, pounding the Shadowclan cats.
"Okay, let's destroy the cannon." Bluestar mewed. Cloudpaw, Brightpaw and Fernpaw hopped out of their position as Thornpaw ran over, carrying a helmet full of explosives. He set it down right behind the cannon before getting out a High explosive grenade.
"Okay let's finish the job." Thornpaw mewed before he handed Cloudpaw the grenade. Cloudpaw held the grenade as there was one more thing he needed to do.
"Let's finish it!" Cloudpaw mewed. He pulled the pin before placing the grenade on the thermite. He and Cloudpaw dashed to cover before the grenade and thermite exploded, destroying the cannon.
"Okay our job is done, let's head back to the medicine cats." Bluestar mewed before she dashed off back to the point. The others followed as they had completed their objectives albeit a bit exhausted from their early morning task. Cloudpaw looked at Ashpaw as Cinderpelt had finished tending his wounds.
"Cloudpaw. Ashpaw began. Cloudpaw looked at his friend as Ashpaw was beginning to sit up.
"I thought I've seen everything." Cloudpaw told Ashpaw. "Is Ashpaw going to be alright?"
"Yeah." Cinderpelt mewed to Cloudpaw. "They managed to beat him up very well."
"I should have wished I stayed on the boat." Ashpaw groaned.
"Oh now he tells us." Cloudpaw joked to Cinderpelt. Cinderpelt giggled before Cloudpaw turned to Ashpaw. "What you did back there, I owe ya." Cloudpaw mewed to Ashpaw.
"I say we're even." Ashpaw replied with a smile.
"We'll see this through? To the end?" Cloudpaw asked Ashpaw if he was going to stay by his side.
"To the end." Ashpaw replied. Cloudpaw looked up to see Bluestar and Fireheart walking side by side.
"Beach head is secured, all the supplies are being unloaded, we should have it easy until the afternoon." Fireheart told Bluestar about the reports from the other group leaders.
"Nice work you did so far today Cloudpaw, I think you're starting to show what it means to be a true warrior." Bluestar thanked Cloudpaw for the action he served as of today. Fireheart walked forth to Cloudpaw with extra words for him.
"Yeah none of us saw this day coming, we've taken too many casualties." Fireheart told Cloudpaw that they were going to rest up first before they were going to make their push inland, reinforcements were bound to be on their way. "When Starclan needed you most, you came to answer their calls." Fireheart turned away as Cloudpaw began studying the blood on his paw, this campaign was going to be brutal.
June 6th 1944, Gold Beach, France: King Sector, 07:20
Meanwhile with Tallstar, he was making his way to Gold Beach in his own landing craft, Thunderclan was securing their sector at Omaha. they had to wait until the ocean was calmer to avoid the choppiness of the waves.
"We have a flat run along the ground and sea, only the seaside village ahead of us blokes. We might have decided to send the Anzac forces first." Tallstar mewed to his group with a rallying speech. Onewhisker, who was the group's light machine gunner, didn't take the statement lightly.
"Please Tallstar, not another bloody Gallipoli." Onewhisker muttered with dismay.
"What's that you say chap? I'll throw you into the fray first if you do not cooperate." Tallstar told Onewhisker, he will throw him into any Shadowclan machine guns they might come across. "You also have Gorsepaw to help you spot targets so no more words coming out of your mouth." Tallstar turned away as the ramp to their landing craft came down.
"See nothing ahead of us, I guess the enemy isn't here." Gorsepaw mewed to Onewhisker that there were no Shadowclan cats in sight.
"Yeah, Skyclan is landing their clan at Juno beach so everyone is on me." Tallstar told the group. He leaped into the water first, Mudclaw followed next along with Barkface.
"Come on Onewhisker, this can't be that bad, we got a clear beach ahead." Whitetail mewed to not let this day ruin Onewhisker. Onewhisker sighed as he jumped into the water to follow the rest of the group followed by Gorsepaw. The new apprentice was acting as Onewhisker's bandolier carrying extra ammunition for his mentor's Bren gun. Webfoot and Tawnyfur jumped in after them.
"This isn't so bad, look we're already at the beach." Tallstar told the group. Shadowclan cats hurried over to the position as they deployed their Mg42's and rifles, Windclan had caught them off guard. They then began to fire.
"You just had to open your bloody mouth, did you?" Mudclaw sneered at Tallstar as the machine guns were going to rip Windclan cats apart. Tallstar jumped down into a hole in the sand along with Onewhisker and Gorsepaw. He sprayed at one of the Mg42's with his thompson for a moment before he turned to Onewhisker.
"Onewhisker, would you and Gorsepaw get that Bren gun running, we could use some cover? I want to take this beach by the time tea time rolls around." Tallstar asked.
"Good thing chap." Onewhisker mewed. He sets up the Bren gun by nudging the bipod out. He and Gorsepaw leaned up and began firing. Tallstar knew this was the moment to move out as he crawled out of the shell crater on the beach.
"Come on everyone, move up the beach." Tallstar ordered, he continued to crawl as they were advancing further inland. Suddenly there was the roar of the amphibious Sherman tanks as they were making their way onto the beach.
"Yeah, our armor support has arrived." Whitetail mewed with excitement. Tallstar crawled out of the way of one of the Shermans to avoid getting run over. The Sherman stopped, took aim and opened fire. Blowing a hole in the stone wall.
"Okay, let's keep advancing. Jerry isn't going to be holding for much longer." Tallstar advised the group to get up and keep moving. The remaining Windclan cats did so as they were walking along the beach. They were having a much easier time compared to Thunderclan when it came to establishing a beachhead.
"Come on, Gorsepaw." Onewhisker told his apprentice after Gorsepaw loaded another magazine into the Bren Gun. They got out of the hole and continued the advance. The remaining Shadowclan cats were too few on holding the line as their positions began collapsing, Tallstar sprayed the last Shadowclan cat down as they had finished their objectives with minimal casualties.
"I say we captured the beach, we should link up with the other beachheads before we continue the pursuit of further objectives." Tallstar huffed before he looked up. Now came a moment of rest before they were going to move further inland.
[A/N]: This chapter was Thunderclan focused on Cloudpaw as Omaha was surprisingly more violent than Gold Beach as there were 2,000 to 5,000 killed on Omaha beach compared to 350 killed on Gold Beach so Tallstar had an easier time capturing his objectives compared to Bluestar. However, Bluestar is preparing for another push as she wasn't satisfied with today's results. Next chapter will be her breakout.