A/N: This prologue picks up where the previous one left off. Just to avoid any confusion. ;)
Part Two: Scattered by the Storm
Prologue
December 2nd, 2039. Val-de-Grâce Military Hospital, Paris.
The snow was falling peacefully, gently masking away the battle scars of the city caused by the lightning-fast siege of the UN forces barely a month ago. But even if winter was approaching, and the sky was cloudy and murky ever since, the people seemed indescribably relieved by the fact that the eight-year long occupation has finally ended, and they visibly tried to get some sense of normality back to their everyday life. As the frontline went farther away, the curfew was lifted; and the French provisional government tried its best to provide everything the people would need for pre-war life standards, as well as making optimistic plans for rebuilding.
However, the peaceful view was often disturbed by UN military patrols across the streets. The war wasn't over yet. At least, not for everyone.
A young man walked to the iron gate of the hospital, and greeted the guard.
"Lieutenant Colonel Walther von Hohenfels. I came to visit a member of my unit."
The guard checked something on his laptop, before answering.
"You're on the list, sir, clearance granted. Please note that standard visiting time is one hour, after that, a member of the security detachment will escort you out from the building."
"Understood." Walt nodded "Security is tight around here..."
"We can't take any chances, sir. Enemy agents could still operate within the city, and nobody wants to give them the opportunity to do something nasty. Morale is on short supply these days, we have to be careful."
"Not just morale, pretty much everything." Walt murmured "Thank you, Sergeant; I'll be on my way."
The guard saluted, and opened the gate. Walther walked inside the large courtyard, heading for the main entrance of the hospital. He has been here before, so he knew the way. He checked in at an other security officer in the entrance hall, and took the elevator to the third floor. He walked down the corridor, counting the doors, until he reached one with the following sign: "Quartier Auxiliare 6B"
As his hand touched the door handle, he suddenly heard sounds from inside. Like if someone was talking. He opened the door and stepped into the ward, which was relatively empty for its one resident. There were almost no furniture inside, save for a TV set on the wall, a large mattress in one corner, and a few pillows.
And a Night Fury, whose head was buried under the pillows.
"Lohengrin!" Walther exclaimed "Are you alright?"
"Turn that damn thing off!" He grumbled under the pillows.
Walther took a look at the television, which was the source of all the talking. Then he walked to the TV set and turned it off.
"Finally some peace and quiet!" Lohengrin sighed as he pulled his head out. "Forward my regards to the nurses."
"Why, what happened?" Walther grinned.
"Apparently, one of them thought it would be a marvellous idea to turn it in so I won't be so lonely, as if I'm some kind of cute pet animal that needs constant attention..." Lohengrin grumbled.
"And? You don't like the TV?"
"It's annoying beyond belief! Literally, there are only stupid advertisements on it all the time, occasionally interrupted with shows that don't make any sense and news which are full of deceit and flat-out lies! I tried turning it off myself..."
He pulled out the remains of a remote controller from under the mattress. By the looks of it, it was bitten in half.
"Hey, don't worry!" Walther laughed "I'm here to put you out of your misery!"
"And you came just in time; I was seriously considering blowing it off."
"I'm glad you didn't do it."
"Anyway" Lohengrin began as he sat down on the mattress "how's the situation?"
Walther walked up to him, and sat down on a pillow. He took a look at the battered dragon beside him. Half of Lohengrin's head was covered with a bandage, and surgical scars dotted his left leg and chest, where the surgeons had to remove shrapnel pieces. He didn't look too shaken about the events, his one visible eye beamed with curiosity as he glared at Walt, eager for news.
"The 2nd Armoured regiment took Cherbourg, and the remaining fanatics were evacuated through the Channel. The air force gave them a hard beating, but some of them managed to escape."
"It doesn't matter." Lohengrin said in a tired voice. "The war for the mainland is over."
"Pretty much. We've stopped their advance at the Seine, and the counterattack chased them into the Channel. They still have a few holdouts in Normandy and the peninsula of Brittany, but those can be mopped up quickly." Walther agreed. "Only Britain remains."
"Only Britain." Lohengrin echoed. "What about us?"
"Well, we are officially in reserve, for at least six months."
"About damn time." Lohengrin rolled his eyes "We've been on the front for three years, I'd say we deserve some rest."
"Couldn't agree more." Walther smiled "They'll gonna transport us to somewhere peaceful in Normandy, and won't bother us for half a year. I think I'll go home. With some luck, I can make it home till Elza's birthday."
"Do you have any ideas what High Command wants to do now?" the dragon asked.
"I've heard some rumours. The US First fleet is on its way here, they have got a bunch of carriers and landing crafts. We have elements from the British, French, Italian and Russian navies here already. But with the fighting still going on in Mexico, Northern Africa and Asia... They may be planning an invasion, but we're still spread too thin. And nobody has successfully invaded the British Isles for almost a thousand years. And we have no idea how many troops they have stationed in Britain... I'd say the numbers are against us."
"They're still going to try it." Lohengrin stated "If we knock out the main bastard from its fortress, his troops will lay down their weapons. It's our best chance to end this war within a year. I'm sure we are going to land next year, I just don't know how exactly they plan to get us involved."
"They probably won't." Walther lamented "There isn't much we can do during the landing itself-"
"Damn it, Walt just look at what we've been doing recently! We are supposed to scout, go behind enemy lines and report what they are doing! That's why we have long range radios, comm stuff, and head cams instead of armour plates! But no, they send us to do infiltration, close air support, infantry and armoured support, sieges, frontline defence and a bunch of other things we aren't prepared or equipped for!"
"Look, Lohen, I know!" Walther said defensively "It's not my fault that the staff relies on us so much!"
Lohengrin took a few deep breaths, before speaking again.
"I'm sorry. I know." he sighed, claws digging deep into the mattress "I just have a feeling that one day, they are going to send us to do the impossible, and we all bite the dust, no matter how hard we'll try not to. And sometimes I'm so sick and tired of this whole thing."
Walther let out a deep sigh, and put a hand on his dragon friend's shoulder.
"Hey" he smiled "With just a tiny bit of luck, we might see the end of this."
"I'm not afraid of death." Lohengrin whispered with eyes shut. "I'm afraid of letting her down."
December 11th, 2039. Gare Saint-Lazare train station, Paris.
"I can't believe this!" Flink fumed, as he tried his best to push the large crate onto the pallet "Last time I checked, we were Night Furies, not mules, neither trolleys!"
His younger companion let out a few huffs and puffs as he also gave the best he could to move the crate. The man behind the loader machine curiously watched the two dragons wrestling with the weight.
"Y'know..." the younger Fury groaned "I've heard that all mules are at least NCO*s..."
"If that's your heart's desire, Kiddo, I can arrange a promotion to you!" Flink grinned "Stowage Sergeant Dieter, Commander of Crates, report for duty!"
"How is that after a bunch of missions and combat experience, I'm still the 'Kiddo' of the company?" Dieter asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Because you're youngest, and you've joined later than everyone else!" Flink explained, then began to laugh "However, if you don't like it, we can always call you FNG*..."
"No thanks." Dieter frowned "Kiddo will do."
They moved the crate onto the pallet, and the loader went on to carry it to the cargo wagon. Both dragons were a little disheartened as they looked at the large pile of crates they still had to load into the train. Suddenly, an angry looking Night Fury appeared from behind the crates. He was a lot older than both of them, and on his blue scarf, he wore a tiny insignia of two silver pillars, next to the company insignia.
"Flink! Kiddo! Why isn't the ordnance loaded yet?!"
"With all due respect, Cap'n" Dieter spoke up "Because they're heavy as crap!"
Captain Sautroy took a few steps closer, shooting a killing glare at the young dragon, who instantly regretted his earlier bravery.
"Looks like Flight Cadet Dieter is in need of some additional stamina exercise." he spoke icily "Report at me after we're done here, so we can talk about how much you'd like to work out to finally reach the physical strength of a crippled Terrible Terror, understood?"
Dieter gulped. "Yes sir."
"Fabulous. Now, both of you line up at the waiting room to the left, with the rest of the company."
"Yes sir!" Flink and Dieter barked, and jogged towards the waiting room's door. After a few moments, Dieter whispered a question to Flink:
"What's going on?"
"I dunno." Flink answered "Maybe the boss is coming back..."
They went in to the room, and found the rest of the company sitting around and chatting.
"I can't believe we are the only ones who haven't finished with the-"
"On your feet and fall in, lazy newts!" the captain yelled behind them "Form something that looks like a goddamn line!"
All eleven dragons stood silently for a minute, when the double door on the other side opened, and a huge Night Fury walked in, accompanied by a man wearing uniform. This was the first time they saw their commanding officer, after he's been injured doing the events at Château Gaillard. Lohengrin had several deep scars stretching diagonally on the left side of his face, and the upper half of his left ear was missing.
"Atten-tion!" Sautroy yelled again.
Lohengrin walked a few metres, looking over the line of Night Furies, before he raised his head and began to speak:
"At ease. Alright everyone, I have some good news and bad news. Bad news are, I'm back to torment you some more, even if I look like someone who tried to disarm a landmine by head butting it." The dragons all chuckled politely, then Lohengrin continued. "Good news: In their divine wisdom, High Command and General Lisieux deemed that we are worthy for some R&R*!"
The Night Furies all cheered and roared loudly, grinning at each other.
"That's right" Lohengrin went on "After three years of frontline service; we are going to rest a few months before the next shitstorm we have to win again. After we're finished with loading this train, we head out with it to Normandy, to spend the next six months in some nice and cosy forest. The sooner the train's loaded, the sooner we go, so get on to it Furies!"
Everyone began to rush to the door leading back to the platforms. Captain Sautroy just shook his head looking at them, as he walked to Lohengrin.
"You seem to have a better way to motivate them than me."
"Maybe that's why I'm the Major, Roy." Lohengrin smiled. "Tell them to prepare for a seven hour train ride."
"But it'll only last five..."
"I know. But if they prepare for seven, the whole ride will seem a lot shorter." Lohengrin explained.
"Heh. Clever. Glad to have you back, Boss." Roy nodded in appreciation.
"Glad to be back, Roy." Lohen smiled back at him.
The sky was unusually clear for a winter night, Lohengrin couldn't resist gazing the stars, as he laid on the top of the last wagon. The constant knocking and pounding of the train was actually quite calming for him. He barely noticed when a paw appeared on the edge, followed by another one and a head, as a Night Fury crawled out of the wagon, and sat beside him.
"What's up, Daweryn?" Lohengrin asked the dragoness "Can't get any sleep?"
"Not really." Daweryn sighed tiredly. "Train rides make me feel dizzy."
"It won't be long now, and then we can all rest. You'll even have time to visit home."
"That's... not going to happen." Daweryn blurted out after a brief moment of silence.
"Why?" Lohengrin asked in surprise, turning himself to face her.
"Let's just say... my father and I had a disagreement, when I left. I fear he would try to keep me home, so I'm not going anywhere until this war's over." she explained hesitantly. "What about you?"
"Hm?"
"Don't you want to visit home?"
They sat in silence for a few moments, before Lohengrin answered.
"No. I have a few personal matters to settle in Britain. The reason why I originally enlisted is that I can't make it to that damned island alone. Other reasons came later, but... I'm not going anywhere too, until this war's over."
A sad smile appeared on Daweryn's face, as she looked up to the stars as well.
"How interesting. We two are the only ones who actually have a home to go back to; but we can't because the circumstances are against it."
"You know, many years ago, a wise, old dragon told me that Fate loves jokes." Lohengrin lamented "It just has a weird sense of humour..."
A/N First, the abbiverations:
NCO - Non-commissioned officer
FNG - F***ing New Guy
R&R - Rest & Relaxation
So yeah, new part, new beginning. Lots of things are about to change, exciting things are about to happen! As always, read, comment, review!
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