Chapter 3: Battle for Mont Saint-Michel
"So, what happened?" the young boy asked in front of the now elderly Clyde as him and his cameraman looked at the old man with a bit of excitement on their face as they waited for him say what had happen.
"While we was on our way to the outpost, the base was attacked so, I had to put my foot on the pedal and hurry to help." Clyde replied with his raspy voice. "I can honestly say it's hard takin down neuroi...some of the ground units we could handle but them air types...those is a whole 'nother story, I can tell ya that." he began chuckling a little.
"Were you scared?" the young cameraman asked lowering the camera a bit before raising back up.
"To be honest...no...I couldn't really say that I was, I was in so many battles that I didn't fear for myself," Clyde continued, "I worried for my comrades...but not for myself." the young men sat there and thought of this man as something out of a movie. They were a bit frightened and a bit thrilled because of what he had just said. The young boy began writing something down in his notepad as he kept his eyes on both Clyde and the piece of paper. After that, he decided to get back on subject and the two continued their questioning of the old man.
"Earlier when you were talking about the two soldiers that saw your patch and left, can you tell us why they ran?" the young camera man asked.
"During the war, there was only a few units and a couple divisions in the Liberian military that would volunteer to take on the most dangerous missions throughout the campaign, our unit was one of them." the old man cracked his knuckles as he went on, "Many people saw us as stupid or foolish for doin this but, we just wanted to prove that we were as much of soldiers as anybody else. Sure, we had the most casualties out of any unit but we knew what we were doin, we knew the risk we were taking. Most people saw us as soldiers who shouldn't be messed with after this."
The boy sat in his chair trying to get it straight. "So, let me get this straight, you guys would volunteer for those missions?" he said as Clyde nodded with a grin on his face.
"Grandpa...HOW are you still even alive after all you went through?" the question caused Clyde to laugh a bit as his grandson looked at him dumbfounded.
"I asked myself that every time I went out to fight, youngster." the young boy let out a small sigh and a little laugh as he looked down to the floor and back up at his grandfather.
"Alright, so, can we get back to the story, please?" the cameraman asked.
"Right, of course, I forgot about that...anyway, when we finally got to the base we immediately got into action," the old man said, "I should probably tell you that this is the first time I actually met your grandma." Clyde finished.
"YES...FINALLY!" the young boy exclaimed in excitement.
"Anyway, we were on our way to the base..."
1944, Mont Saint-Michel
The drive towards the base had felt like hours. I didn't think we were gonna make it in time. I put my foot on the pedal as hard as I could hoping to get all the speed I could get. I gritted my teeth at the thought of what could of happened to Bishop, but I had a feeling that it was about to take a lot more to take him down.
As I was in my train of thought, I didn't realize that we were finally next to the main gate leading to the base until I took a whiff of the air around us. It smelled of gasoline, gunpowder, and smoke. As I got closer I could hear the sound of gunfire erupt from all around the base. I looked up to see a barrage of bullets flying into the air. The stench stung my nose but I just went with it since I was used to it. I couldn't say the same for the young witch in the back of Yoshika was coughing up her lungs no matter how hard she tried to cover her mouth.
"You alright back there?" I asked.
"I'm fine, it's just so much smoke." she replied through all the coughing. Me and Shirley had seemed to be the only ones in the vehicle not affected by it.
"HEEEEEY, OVER HERE!" I turned to see one of the privates from my unit waving at us. He looked like he had just jumped in front of a flamethrower as I saw the amount of soot stuck to his face. He was clutching his rifle while his arm covered his mouth from the smoke.
"You okay, private?"
"Yeah...never better sarge!" he yelled through all the gunfire.
"Where's the Lieutenant?"
"I THINK HE'S BY THE HANGAR HELPING OPERATE ONE OF THE AA GUNS!" I turned in the direction of the hangars to hear what sounded like one of the guns going off.
"You seen Corporal Bishop?" I hopped out of the jeep grabbing my rifle and reloading it as the two witches jumped out as well.
"Last time I saw him, he was heading to one of the storages in the back." I looked in the direction he was pointing into and began on my way.
"Alright, I need you to evacuate anybody without a gun and get em to safety, you got it?" he nodded and dashed towards the castle to complete his orders. I then turned my attention to Yoshika and Charlotte.
"You two can head to the hangar and get into your striker units to meet up with the rest of your squad."
"What about you?" Shirley questioned.
"I'm gonna go try and find the corporal and see if we can take down these drones."
"Well, I can get to my striker but Yoshika still isn't ready to go into battle yet." it slipped my mind that Yoshika was still a recruit and hadn't actually finished her training. I thought for a second and came to a conclusion.
"Alright, I guess your stuck with me then Yoshika, just stay close to me alright?"
"Right!" She responded. We parted ways with the older witch and ran to the back to begin our search for the corporal. The sky around us was cloaked in thick dark smoke. The smell of burning gas shot back up my nose again with force. As we turned the corner I could see soldiers, both from my unit and the Britannian's, scattered around the area firing their weapons into the sky trying to hit the base's attackers but none of them could get a single hit.
I looked up into the sky just in time to see another drone diving out of the sky to make another pass by the base. The beam discharging from it's side hit the base's floor without warning or hesitation causing most of the troops in the it's way to run for cover.
Then I realized it was coming our way making me act fast as I pushed Yoshika to the side and dove to the opposite side seconds before the laser carved its way through the same place we were standing on. I could feel the heat from the beam as it passed by us before a explosion came up from where the drone struck the ground.
After I realized the bomber was gone I got up off the floor to check on the witch. I quickly walked to her side to see if she was hurt. "You alright?" I asked while I held my hand out for her to grab. She quickly took my hand as I pulled her up.
"I'm fine, thank you." The gunfire quickly resumed as we both looked for Bishop's last known location. It was a minute before I saw the storage room that he was supposed to be in. The side of the building was collapsed and on fire from the last few attacks.
"Shit." I muttered as I rushed towards, Yoshika soon followed me. The smell of burning wood got stronger as I ran inside looking around.
"Bishop...Bishop you in here!" I shouted as my eyes darted around the room.
"Over here." I heard a voice respond faintly. I looked around again to see where it came from. "Over there!" I heard Yoshika shout out. I turned to see Bishop on the ground. He was struggling to get his arm out which was pinned under a fallen piece of wood. We rushed over to help him out.
"Alright, I'm gonna lift it." I said while I was getting a grip at the end of the piece of wood. After finding my grip I lifted the beam a few inches of the ground with a bit of a struggle.
"ALRIGHT, NOW!" I strained saying as it felt like the beam was getting heavier and heavier. Bishop finally slid his am from under the debris. Then I was able to finally let go of it as I dropped it causing the floor to shake a little. Bishop got up off the floor holding his arm and rubbing it.
"Your arm okay, corporal?" I addressed him while I walked over the beam.
"I think it might be broken but i'm not sure yet."
"Here, I can heal it." Yoshika said as she began walking towards Bishop but was halted by him.
"Naw, that's alright, I need to worry to about getting those fucking things out the sky." Bishop tried to walk run out before I stopped him.
"Where you think you going?"
"I need to go and help." he replied picking up his Springfield rifle.
"you ain't fighting with one arm, I need you and Yoshika to get inside the castle and help evacuate everybody, after that get some help for your arm." Bishop seemed reluctant, but followed the orders he was given.
"What about the soldiers that are hurt?" Yoshika asked. I took her to be very selfless when it came to the well being of others. I found it to be very admirable, especially since it came from someone who didn't seem to have any experience on a battlefield.
"After you help evacuate the castle you can help Bishop and the other soldiers." She nodded before running out the room.
"I almost forgot to give you something." Bishop said as he took something from out his ear and tossed it at me.
"What is this?" I asked looking down at the small round piece of metal.
"A intercom I got from one of the witches, the major wanted a status report every thirty minutes on the base and I haven't checked in in about a hour." the corporal ran out after the witch to continue on with the orders he was given.
I looked down at the device again before putting it in my ear and turning it on.
"Hello," I spoke into the device but received nothing but static, "Major...can anyone hear me?" It was a short period of time before I finally got a response.
"Hello...hello...corporal...corporal can you hear me?" Judging from the voice it sounded like major Sakamoto. It also sounded like there was gunfire in the background so I assumed they were still in contact with the neuroi.
"I just sent the corporal with one of your witches to clear the base, this is your speaking to now."
"Well Sergeant, what's the status of the base?" She asked as I heard another burst of machine gunfire go off on the other side.
"We still got a few of these drones still swarming the place, a fire just broke out in the hangar but it should be contained almost, and we're in the process of getting personnel to somewhere safe, one of your witches is also on the way to your position." I heard another explosion boomed through out the base as I finished my sentence.
"Are there any casualties?"
"We have a few injured but no one K.I.A."
"Is there any way you can take down those drones?"
"Of course ma'am, I'm heading towards the AA guns right now." I began running towards the other side of the base as the major continued speaking.
"Can you and your men hold out for as long as you can until we get back?"
"Are you kiddin me, we should be able to take down all these damn things before you do." I responded smirking at the question.
"Glad to hear it, report back as soon as possible."
"Understood, see ya soon."
As I ran past the hangar I could see a couple of soldier's unconscious bodies, covered in soot and a bit of blood, being dragged out by their collars or hands to somewhere safe as a few others fought the now minor fire with extinguishers and buckets of water.
The sound of gunfire yelled into my ears as the imagery and sound brought back memories of the previous battles we encountered through the years.
I kept running and running until I heard the sound of the AA guns going off again and the screech of another downed neuroi pierced my ears. I turned the corner to see Jackson and a few of our men operating two anti-air guns.
I ran pass Garcia and the others operating the first one to talk to the lieutenant. He kept his eyes on the sky as he fired off a few rounds from the gun. A few of the rounds from the weapon must've hit it's weak spot as we saw it begin to lose altitude and vaporize into white dust.
Jackson then turned to me with half a smile on his face.
"Oh, I see that you back from shopping, how was it," he continued on in a sarcastic manner, "you found yoself a cute dress?"
"You serious...is ya serious right now?" I said with a eyebrow raised.
"No, really how was it? You find yoself a nice pair a high heels with some matching lipstick to go with em?" At this point I got aggravated by the smart comments.
"I know you not givin' me shit when you the one who sent me to go."
"Ain't expect ya to take that long."
"Boy, I was gone for a forty-five minutes...it ain't my fault the base got attack!"
"Relax, i'm just messin with you." He got off the gun and started reloading the weapon with a fresh ammo box while I sighed in annoyance.
"I need to go help on the other side of the base so hop on this thing until I get back." with that, he started sprinting in the direction I came from. I looked at the weapon that stood on it's tall tripod. It looked to be Karlslandian made.
I had no problem using the weapon but to me it felt like some of the equipment from there seemed kind of faulty. I wrapped my finger around the trigger and aimed the gun into the air waiting for my first target.
I caught a glimpse of a drone coming from the left in the corner of my eye. Turned the gun and pulled the trigger. Most of the bullets hit their target and neuroi finally exploded after letting out it's signature screech of defeat.
"Hey Garcia," I heard one of the soldiers next to me shoot through the gunfire, "I bet you two packs that I can shoot down more of these things before the sergeant does!"
I looked over to see it was pvt. Williams running his mouth with the corporal.
"Please, I'll bet you five for the hell of it."
"How bout you fools keep ya focus on the sky before I bet you'll be doin ten laps around this base?!" I interjected while shooting down another drone.
"Right... Sorry sir!" Williams continued working the aa gun as he shouted out the position of the next neuroi.
I swung the gun to my right as I let loose another round of bullets that this time caught two targets. I cheered in my head at the lucky hit. Another drone shoots a beam only a few meters from where I was. It sent debris my way causing a piece of rock to cut me across the cheek. I winced at the pain as I felt a bit of hot blood drip down to my chin but kept shooting down everything that came in my path.
After the twenty minutes of shooting and reloading, the skies became a little bit more clear and the presence of the small neuroi began to disappear. I looked around to make sure as I loosened my grip around the gun and used the rag in my pocket to wipe the sweat off my face.
"huh, I guess that's all of em," I then turned my attention to the four soldiers on the side of me, "Alright, all four of you go help the medics with the wounded and tell the lieutenant to meet me over here." All for of the soldiers responded with a "yessir" and hustled around the corner.
I thought for a quick second before I used the intercom to contact the major.
"Major this is sgt. Hester reporting in and you'll be glad to know that all neuroi threats have been dealt with." I said waiting for a response.
"Sergeant, I'm happy to heat that, but we still have a bit of a problem!" I recognized the familiar voice right away
"Lt. Yeager, Where's the major?" I asked with a bit of confusion as I began to fear the worst had happened.
"We're tailing another neuroi that slipped past us."
"ANOTHER, I thought there was only one!"
"We thought so too but it must've been hiding somehow and got past us and now it's headed for the base!"
"Damn it...What type is it?"
"Looks to be a medium."
"How long till it gets here?"
"It should be there right now." Before I could say something, I could it coming. I heard the familiar sound of a aircraft soaring through the sky but I knew this one wasn't being used by a human. I looked up to see a something black racing towards the base at a dangerous speed. I started to squint my eyes to see it was the neuroi that made pass the witches and it was on it's way towards us.
"Aw, SHIT!" I yelled as I ran towards the machine gun again and loaded it. I had it aimed in the direction of the flying beast and waited for the right time to take it down.
I was ready to fire until I heard the sound the trigger produced...Click.
"The hell!?" I shouted as realized what had just happened to the weapon.
"FUCK, it's jammed!" I yelled pulling the charging handle back trying to fix the problem, but with no luck. I kept pulling it back for a minute before it was finally fixed but it was too late as I saw the neuroi was too close to even take a shot at it. It let off a beam of energy that cut through the ground as it came in my direction.
I panicked as I jumped trying to get away but the blast from the beam knocked me back a few feet and destroyed both aa guns. I lied there on the ground coughing my lungs up for few minutes until I was helped up. I looked up to see it was Jackson who was the one helping me up.
"You okay?" He asked
"Yeah...I've been worst." I strained out as I held my stomach. I looked up to see the neuroi was being tailed by the squad of witches. They tried shooting down the. flying demon, but to no avail, as it kept dodging most of the bullets that came its way.
"What we gon do about that thing, both the guns just got blown up!"
"Where's the jeep?" Jackson asked.
"It should be in the front of the castle." I replied.
"Follow me!" We both started sprinting towards the front of castle while the battle went on above us. We finally made it to the front where the jeep was parked.
"Did you get what I asked you to get?"
"Yeah it should be in the back." Jackson rushed to the back and dragged out the crate he had me get from the military outpost. He then dragged it towards me. He then grabbed a crowbar from out of the front seat and looked at me.
"Wanna know what's in here?" I nodded in response. Without hesitation, He began to pry at the side of the box until it finally came open. Laying in front of us, was a brand new M2 Browning machine gun. I stood there for a while looking at it and all it's glory.
"So this is what you had me get." I said still admiring the weapon.
"yep."
"How we gonna use it if we don't got a clear shot?"
"Your right we can't risk harming the witches."
"WAIT, I think I can get to the top of the tower," I said pointing in the direction of the tallest part of the castle, "I can set it up there and I should be able to get a chance."
"Alright then, let's do it." I picked up the weapon while Jackson carried the tripod and ammo. We started to rush through the castle until we made it to the stairs leading up top. We began climbing them as fast as possible. We began to get tired on account of the all the extra weight we were carrying.
"Damn...Why the hell...are there so many...steps?" I huffed out.
"You said you wanted to carry the gun, So who was I to stop you?" Jackson responded with a laugh.
"You...a terrible...terrible person."
"We're almost there just pick up the pace." we finally made it up to the top of the tower where we could pretty much see everything. We spotted the witches still in a dogfight with the persistent neuroi. I acted quickly and set up the tripod and the gun. I then stuck the ammo box to the side and the loaded the large .50 caliber ammo into the side.
"You can go and check up on the wounded lieutenant, I'll take it from here."
"Whatever you say sergeant." With that, he began he trek down the stairs. This time, I could've bet money he tripped and fell down them for a good four seconds, but I was too focused at on what was going on right now to even bust out laughing.
"Lieutenant Yeager, do you hear me?" I said into the intercom again.
"Go ahead." she responded over the gunfire and shouting.
"I got an idea, if you can just get it by the tower if you can."
"Alright, we'll see what we can do." After a few minutes of silence I could hear someone over the earpiece shouting instructions. After a few minutes I looked up into the sky to see one of the witches break off from the group. She then was able to get in front of the neuroi and send a few rounds into it's face. It was enough to catch it's attention as it began to focus it's attention on her as it chased her through the air and started sending beams of miasma at her. She was able to maneuver around most of them and the ones she couldn't, were stopped by her barrier.
I started to get ready as they began to come my way. I pulled back on the charging handle as I got my aim on the target. The anticipation started to get to me.
"Come on...come on...just a little closer." I muttered to myself as they got closer and closer to my position.
I finally saw my chance as the witch finally buzzed by me sending a gust of wind my way. Everything started to seem in slow motion for me as I pressed down on the trigger and unleashed a hail of bullets on the aircraft as it passed by. It took almost half the box of ammo before it final hit a vital spot causing the creature to scream in agony as it fell out the air and burst into white dust as they all do.
"Wooooooo, HELL YEAH!" I cheered. I could hear distant shouting and cheering from the bottom of the tower as I looked to see a crowd of soldiers bunched up at the bottom shout in victory at the defeat of the last attacker
"Neuroi threat has been eliminated, I repeat, the neuroi has been eliminated!" I proudly said over the intercom.
"Nice job sergeant, we're returning back to base now." Charlotte replied as I saw the witches heading down towards the hangar. I took a sigh of relief after realizing that this long ass battle was finally over. I was just about to make my way down the tower before a voice caught my attention.
"Nice shooting," I stopped in my tracks to see who made the comment. I turned around to see a blonde girl, looked to be my age or younger, in a Black Karlslandian uniform hovering over the railing with a MG42 in her hands and a smile on her face, "For a Liberian, I mean." I began to smirk at the comment.
"I don't know if I should be takin that as a compliment or an insult."
"I guess you can call it both." This caused me to chuckle a bit.
"Well thanks for helping me and bein my bait." I jokingly said which caused her laugh a little.
"For a second there I thought you would've hit me."
"Please, wouldn't dream of it." I then noticed that she was glaring at something.
"what's wrong, did I drop something?" I asked as I began looking around.
"you've been injured." She said as she began reaching in her coat pocket. I started feeling around my body to see what she was talking about. I was pretty sure I didn't get hit, until I felt a sharp pain on the side of my cheek. I lifted my hand away from my face and saw a good amount of blood staining my fingers.
I didn't realize that when I had gotten hit by the debris from earlier that it had cut so deep. Judging from the bump in my cheek, I think something got caught in there too.
"Oh don't worry about it," I shrugged it off, "I'll just get to one of the medics and see what he can do."
"Well in the mean time, here." she extended her arm to give me a piece of cloth. I looked for a second before realizing what it was and took out her hand.
"Thanks." I responded before applying it to the wound.
"HEEEY GET DOWN HERE ALREADY!" I heard someone shout from the bottom of the tower. I looked down to see it was one of the witches calling to their comrade.
"Well, I guess I have to go, see ya." She then flew down towards the base as she waved bye and I returned the gesture.
"Yeah...see ya."
2003
"So that's when you met her!" the young boy exclaimed.
"Yes that's right," Clyde responded, "I'll admit, I wouldn't really call it a conversation, but I did see her again."
"Now wait a minute," the cameraman interrupted, "In the war, I thought soldiers weren't allowed to have relationships with witches."
"yes it's true, all military personnel weren't allowed to fraternize with witch, but..."
"But what?"
"I was sixteen and I didn't give a damn." the old then started laughing as the two boys just looked at him as if he just said the most unfunny joke they ever heard.
Sorry if this chapter got boring but this is just the beginning and the story did just start so keep reading and keep reviewing.