Yori Micah: Yeah, Warfox is a little more popular, but I get burnt out pretty easily. For the sake of quality, it's best I alternate.
s3731997: Thanks! You bet I'll be introducing more pilots: I've already got a few in mind.
Captain Bones: I'm glad to hear it! I'm really enjoying writing this, too.
1230 flight: Thank you for all the support; I'll be sure to consider your suggestions, and I'll definitely give Resistance a read.
Syler: Yeah, the UK tends to be pretty miserly with its exclamation points. Jokes aside, whatever it was you meant to say, Tails definitely wouldn't be considered a random person in this context, being a bipedal, talking fox and whatnot. He's proven himself to be a valuable asset to the General Chief, and there are very few people above him to tell him otherwise. But it's not just that easy: some ethical concerns will pop up very soon. Thanks for the concern, though.
Yes, I'm alive. It's been too long since the last chapter, and I apologize for that—Junior year is a very busy time. But I hope you enjoy this overdue chapter!
I had no position in the British military—or any military, for that matter—yet here I was leading one hundred twenty soldiers and forty-eight aircrew personnel through enemy skies. Surely strings had been pulled and corners cut to make this happen, but such a minor infringement was incomparable to the atrocities we were fighting. On the eastern side of the Nazi's stolen land, near the southern border Poland, systematic executions continued to take place.
But what could I do with what I had? I knew two things about the camp: there was a landable dirt road leading to it from the north, and there was no roof, leaving the top fully exposed... And the men I was gifted were well trained paratroopers armed with a rifle, a pistol, and a grenade or two… I chuckled and cooked up a simple, yet hopefully effective plan. We set eastward immediately.
At the subsonic speed we were limited to, the flight—which would take twelve minutes for me alone—would take us around two hours. I took only a fraction of that time to communicate my plan with the flight. Around forty minutes into the flight, as we crossed the border between the Netherlands and Germany, my radar began to chime at a moderate pace, indicating flying objects on the horizon. It was measly twenty-one planes of the Luftwaffe approaching from about thirty degrees to our left.
"Stay on course," I ordered the flight over the radio—it felt strange to tell people what to do, as I only ever gave commands to machines and AIs... I set the thought aside and accelerated to maximum speed towards the belligerent force. Two of them fell to my fire as I pierced their line. I expected to find them panickedly swarming about when I turned around, but they remained in orderly, coordinated groups, carrying on towards their target: not me, but the rest of my flight.
They learn fast—I'll give them that—but this was a suicide mission they were conducting. They might have had a chance with fifty or so planes, but not twenty-one. I picked them off one or two at a time from behind, taking care to waste no bullets this time. Even as their numbers dwindled, they held their resolve. It was only when three of them remained that they began to lose their nerve. Two of them slowed down and turned around to fight back, while the third tried to escape. I gave none of them the opportunity.
With my job done, I rejoined the flight. In the remaining time to our destination, we passed over fields, small forests, and an occasional roadway. Despite the much greater concerns at hand, I couldn't help but muse about how serene this landscape seemed, or about how much Sonic would enjoy it. But the fact remained that just over the horizon, evil—rivaling even that of Dr. Eggman—was raging unabated, and we were coming to crush it.
My mind's eye squeezed my gut as the camp peeked over the horizon. The perimeter was fortified by a defensive, yet minimally covered brick wall. As we drew nearer, I jammed my thumb into the com button. "Flights one through ten, land now."
As planned, those ten planes landed to the north of the camp, as close as possible, but didn't deploy. Inside the camp, I could see soldiers running about the place, very few of them having been prepared to defend. "Flights one through ten, go. Get to the wall."
All ten flights deployed at once. Several delayed shots were fired from atop the walls, but none made their mark before the hundred men reached safety along the wall. Taking a somewhat awkward stance, they pointed their rifles directly up the wall, threatening to punish any who dared to peek over the wall and aim at them. The enemies in the camp quickly joined their friends along the wall. Several of them, though, stood guard inside of the camp to meet our certain intrusion. "Flights eleven and twelve, hold off for a little longer."
I spared a glance to my men on the ground. They were fine: they were still too close to the wall for the enemy to safely fire at. Having reassured, I prepared for a rather precise maneuver. After surveying the camp to ensure that only enemies—and no prisoners—remained in sight, I broke to my minimum speed and laid careful, sparing fire inside the walls.
"Flights one through ten, I'm taking their attention off of you. On my word, storm the gate. Flights eleven and twelve, get ready to jump!" I ceased fire on the ground and climbed back to a safe altitude. "Flights one through ten, the paratroopers are about to jump. I want flights one through four to take over the wall: there's an entrance right next to the gate. Flights five and six, cover their backs until they're finished. Go now. Flights seven through ten, follow them in and take over any buildings you can reach. If you have any prisoners, take them to the wall. Go! Flights eleven and twelve, jump now!" The first forty men pressed through the gate and up the wall with twenty more men covering from behind. The second forty men split into their separate flights and broke into the nearest buildings. The wall was taken with relative ease, and flights five and six were filing into the safety of the wall just as the paratroopers opened fire. Each and every Nazi without shelter dropped dead. "Flights eleven and twelve, when you land, join flights seven through ten in taking the nearest buildings. Flights one through six, spread out and cover the entire wall… and shoot on sight."
Twenty paratroopers landed. Eighteen of them regrouped. I ground my teeth. "Keep at it! That's almost half of the camp cleared!" Men continued to funnel in and out of buildings, escorting prisoners to their detainment atop the wall. Each small victory seemed to come sooner than the last. Soon enough, German soldiers crept from the relative safety of their shelter of their own accord with open hands pinned in the air. A surrender. There were several dozens of them in all, perhaps fifty or so. Again I spotted the bodies of two paratroopers, partially covered by their parachutes.
"It's over, now... How many casualties were there?" I asked. One after the other, each squadron answered.
"Flight one reporting: Two dead, three wounded."
"Flight two reporting: two wounded."
"Flight three reporting: two wounded."
"Flight four reporting: one wounded."
"Flight five reporting: no casualties."
"Flight six reporting: one dead."
"Flight seven reporting: one wounded."
"Flight eight reporting: two wounded."
"Flight nine reporting: one dead, one wounded."
"Flight ten reporting: no casualties."
"Flight eleven reporting: one dead."
"…"
"Wir haben neun Ihrer Soldaten. Wenn einer von Ihnen Deutsch spricht, möchte ich einen Gefangenenaustausch aushandeln." My heart seized for a moment, then pounded out its next few dizzying beats. Before my lightheadedness had time to subside, I slammed the com button with an open palm.
"Did anyone get that!" I demanded. There was less than a moment's delay to the response.
"Flight four, carrier copilot reporting: they have nine of our soldiers and, uh… want to negotiate a… an exchange. A prisoner exchange."
Of course. A prisoner exchange. My nerves settled a bit, and I loosened my grip on the yoke.
"I see. Tell them we'll exchange nine prisoners each, then…" A fair exchange… but… did I have the authority to make that decision? I would assume so.
Flight four's copilot cleared his throat. "Für unsere neun Soldaten… werden wir neun von… Ihnen frei… freigeben," he put forth with faux confidence. Hopefully it was justified.
"Alle von ihnen," he returned tersely. Yes? No? I awaited the translation, only half confident.
"All of them." I groaned. We reached a stalemate on turn two; I obviously couldn't hand over a small army.
"Tell him… um…"
"Treten Sie zurück, Soldat. Ich schätze Ihre Bemühungen, aber wir haben diesen Kampf verloren," came a different, more commanding voice that somehow made its way onto our radio channel.
"Uh… Step back-" the translator piped futilely.
"Aber… Ich bin sicher, dass ich es schaffen kann. Sicher sind sie bereit für neun Geiseln zu verhandeln!" rebutted the original voice.
"Treten Sie zurück!" asserted the other again. "Sie haben neun Geiseln, sie haben fünfundsechzig."
The former submitted. "Jawohl. Darf ich wenigstens über unsere Behandlung verhandeln?"
"Nein. Es besteht keine Notwendigkeit, das Umstände zu verschärfen."
"Jawohl." A moment passed in silence.
"Did you, uh… get any of that?" I asked.
"Sorry, I got lost."
"Ask him what's going on, then."
"Right… Um… Was ist los?"
There was no reply. Instead, a final five German soldiers emerged from a building on the far end of the camp, followed by nine British. Unparalleled joy flooded me from head to tailtips: it was finally over—for real this time.
"Welcome back, flight twelve…" I didn't have to ask about casualties. There was one dead, and he was lying on the ground not too far away. In total, that was six dead, twelve wounded.
"Flights one through eight, care for any wounded soldiers. Flights nine through twelve, search the camp for their prisoners," I ordered.
And now, we were only to see how many lives were saved for the six we lost.
By the way, this isn't Auschwitz they attacked—that would take way more than a hundred twenty men.
I really hope you enjoyed! See you next chapter!