//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 unexpected allies // Story: Welcome to the new colossus // by Bronycommander //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Unexpected allies In the next morning, Dinky awoke as a delicious smell entered her nose, yawning as the door opened. “Good morning, Dinky, time for breakfast.” It was James, carrying a breakfast board with croissants, they were still warm, steaming. “Fresh out of the bakery.” She smiled. “Thank you.” While breakfasting, the filly watched TV. “In a few days, final auditions for the role of the infamous terrorist William – ‘Terror-Billy’ Blazkowicz, take place on the enigmatic aerostat habitat on Venus. One of the hopefuls is actor Jules Redfield, here getting a snack from his favorite milkshake bar-“ The officer turned it off. “Well, this will be an eventful event.” “It can’t be that bad.” The filly replied. With a hint of disgust, Jessie told, “Trust me, it will be bad. The Führer himself produces the movie, overseeing the castings. He has become both old and senile, suffering from Parkinson's disease and Syphilis. As such, he has a volatile disposition, thus anyone should be careful what he says and does in his presence. For your own safety, I suggest you stay out of sight.” A bit frightened, the foal replied, “Okay. Should I stay here?” “I think it would be better if you are in the living quarters at the Oberkommando until the audition is over. You can have my quarter.” “Appreciated.” She wasted no time to get here with the transport capsule, which worked this time without any problems. Johann and Jonas were assigned as guards for the audition, together with the two robots, probably to show Richmond’s work, they suspected. There was also an Elite soldier guarding the entrance and a Zitadelle in the background. The room the audition took place reminded the pilot of Canterlot. Statues, a red carpet and a table with cheese, grapes, meat and drinks, a small buffet. He didn’t know any of the actors, the first was a young man with brown hair and eyes, the other two middle-aged he suspected, the first having sideburns to his brown hair, wearing purple glasses, which made it impossible to see his eye color. The other one had a board with black hair and green eyes. The door opened, and a woman together with another man walked in. As far as Johann knew, the woman was Helene Winter, a noted German director of propaganda films, having brown hair with matching eyes. The man, having a beard, looking identical to Blazkowicz in eye and hair color, was the fourth and last actor for the audition. “Welcome. Welcome to the audition, Mr. Redfield. Now that you’re all here I ask you to prepare yourselves. You must be off book for this audition, so be sure to memorize your lines before the producer gets here. He has a volatile disposition. So, be careful what you say and do in his presence.” The director warned before looking at Redfield. “Mr. Redfield, I can’t stress enough how important it is you learn these lines by heart. Your script is on the chair. I will be with you shortly.” She left the room. Mr. Redfield and the man with glasses wasted no time to work, while the others chatted instead. After a minute, coughing could be heard outside, the guard opened the door and Helene walked in. “Places! Places! Quickly!” She yelled and the authors took their seats. Everyone expect for Redfield saluted and applauded the Führer as he walked in a slow, shuffling walk. Jonas and Johann said nothing, they just stood at attention. Bauer couldn't remember exactly how much he'd seen of the Conquest of America but he recalled the Fuhrer always stood like a demi-god in the posters and films, right-arm held up high, broad-chin and shoulders, hair and uniform catching the sun. It had always been an inspiring sight...as long as one looked past his strange choice in moustache. Now, seeing the Fuhrer in person, he could not remember the last time he was so disappointed. Adolf Hitler, glorious leader of the Reich, entered in only a sepia-colored bathrobe that hung around his emaciated body ill-fittingly. His skin was much the same, clammy, saggy and dry. His hair hadn't so much greyed as whitened in sickly strands, his tiny moustache looking like some patch of furry white mold on his upper-lip. His eyes were squinting and suspicious, twitching erratically as he scanned the room with more difficulty than most. The way he moved was the strangest thing. Where once he'd marched proudly at the head of his armies, in the pictures anyway, he now shuffled oddly, joints in his limbs giving muffled clicks and cracks. His arms shook fitfully and were held close to his chest as if to give him warmth. In the years since he'd defeated the USA, the Fuhrer had degraded into the polar opposite of the human image he'd idolized. The man before Bauer's eyes appeared as a subterranean troglodyte who'd never seen light or human contact in god knew how long. Adolf Hitler was a wreck, a walking mass of brittle bones and rotting skin, a prisoner to the debilitations that in any other human were punished by death. This was the man who was leading the Reich. Suddenly everything that was wrong with the country Bauer had grown up in made perfect sense. He also took notice that the two robotic ponies looked at each other, the green stallion having an expression that said “Seriously?” before standing back at attention without any sign of emotion. The Führer made a gesture to Helene to come closer. “Have you seen this? Strangers in my office. Care to tell me who in God’s name they are?” He yelled. “Yes, they are actors, mein Führer.” The woman replied. “Actors.” “Yes. These men are here to audition for the role of William Joseph Blazkowicz. They are actors. Many apologizes, I sent a memo but it must have not reached you.” The director explained. The man drew his handgun, causing the actor with black hair to startle. “And those are the best we could find? None of them even looks like the man for God’s sake!” The Führer yelled displeased before having to cough again. “Make up will do the rest, mein Führer,” Helene assured. “Oh yes. Make up. Good. It’s magical. Magical…” He laughed before taking a closer look at the actors. “Actors. Skilled in the arts of disguise and deceit is an actor. A similar set of skills that of a spy. Perhaps there’s a spy amongst you? I trust you have all read my book?” He asked in paranoia, showing that he was in very bad shape in terms of both physical health and mental stability. “Oh yes, mein Führer, and my children have read it too.” The actor who got started replied. The young man stood up, making a thumb up with both hands. “I loved it, Mr. Hitler. Super-good.” “’Mr. Hitler’? When you address me you say ‘mein Führer’…Do you understand?!” The Führer yelled enraged. “Have you no respect for authority? Your words provide insight into a treacherous mental apparatus.” “I’m so sorry, mein Führer.” The man replied calmly. “Are you an imbecilic?” “No, mein Führer.” “Are you a sinister man in disguise? A Jew? A deceitful Jew?” The Führer’s hand was shaking as he said those words in fear. “No, mein Führer. I’m…I’m from Arizona.” In that moment, a shot echoed through the room, as the Führer executed the man with a headshot, shooting him more times than necessary, then reloaded as the pistol made a clicking noise, with Helene crossing out the author’s name. Johann was shocked but managed not to show it. Guess James didn’t lie when he warned me. It scared him a bit to be in the same room as the Führer. “Always they come. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. Conspiring, lying, deceitful Jews. I see them coming from miles away.” Hitler grabbed an ice bucket from the table and put it on the ground, both soldiers hoped it wasn’t what it looked like. To their horror it became true, the Führer was painfully urinating, missing, making Bauer noticing it was blood, showing his health was in a bad shape, the young man and the woman looked away with awkward expressions. “If you have studied my book you know I see the truth! And when the truth is on your side you always succeed. That is how I was able to wash the world clean from all the Jews. That is how I crushed the degenerate communists. This is how…I destroyed… William…” The elderly man moaned. “…Joseph…Blazkowicz.” A canvas was lowered. “Helene!” She turned the movie projector on, the picture showed the Führer in a Mecha standing over B.J.'s body outside Castle Wolfenstein, as the top of the tower could be seen in the background. The movie was named “The end of everything evil” In German. “My ultimate masterpiece. The epic of a century and my legacy as an artist. When one reads my script one will appreciate the endless hours, I’ve spent making sure every scene, every line, every single syllable is flawless.” He proudly announced, getting applause. “Bravo, mein Führer! Bravo!” Helene cheered. He started to cough again. “For God’s sake.” then vomited on the floor. The woman wasted no time to clean his mouth with a cloth, showing displeasure as he hugged her. “Mother? I’m so cold.” He whimpered, apparently briefly deluded into reliving past childhood trauma, before pushing her away. “Go away.” The Führer coughed again, then held Redfield at gunpoint. “You. You…Play the scene. Helene, read with him.” The woman formed a fist with her right hand. “A cold-blooded terrorist. That is what you are.” She said with conviction and emphasis. Jules was quite surprised by this before replying after a short pause, “And you’re a Nazi whore!” His voice was without any emotion, sounding uncertain. “You monster! What are you going to do to me?” Helene sounded scared, playing her role very convincingly. “I will rape and murder you!” “So many German innocent lives you have killed. But the German race will rise again.” “I will murder your dirty race too.” The Führer let out a scream of rage before making a gesture to calm himself down. “You got the words right, but you do not seem to have any grasp, of the psychology of a man like William Joseph Blazkowicz. How can you be…what you do not understand?” He then pointed to the men wearing glasses. “You. You play the part. Become, become, become the part!” He demanded. “A cold-blooded terrorist. That is what you are.” The man got up from his chair. “And you’re a Nazi whore!” His voice sounded dark and threatening. “You monster! What are you going to do to me?” “I will rape and murder you!” “So many German innocent lives you have killed. But the German race will rise again.” “I will murder your dirty race too.” Hitler laughed in joy. “Much better! You could learn from this one.” He said to Redfield who looked rather unimpressed. “I provide you with the tools to gain entrance to the psychology if this insane man. This damned subhuman! I knew him inside and out. It is because I knew him so well I was able to stop, capture and bring him to justice!” He exclaimed before groaning. “Oh god…Oh god, I’m hungry.” Hitler turned his back to them, shoveling a morsel or two into his throat before continuing, his voice cut off through hoarse swallows every couple of sentences. “William Joseph Blazkowicz. Raised in Mesquite, Texas. The half-breed child…” He took a bite of his meal. “Of a salesman and a Polish Jew.” The projector showed a picture of William’s parents. “His mother was exposed by his father. She died in an extermination camp in Neue Mexico.” The next picture showed an adult William on a child's bicycle. Where in the world did they get that? Bauer wondered, not able to believe his eyes. “As an adult his intellectual capacity remained on a child’s level. Indeed, if one cuts open, as we did after his execution, one finds the innards of a Jew.” The Führer said as a picture of a cut open back of a body was shown, then laid down on the carpet. “Helene! Take over. I’m so tired.” “Aspirates, as you know, this role is very physical. William Joseph Blazkowicz was not a man of intellect. He was a man of action.” Helene explained as she accidentally stepped into the vomit, scraping it off disgusted. “This scene takes place right before the scene you did earlier. Blazkowicz is about to plant the bomb that will massacre the German children in the orphanage. But first he must eliminate the brave soldier standing guard outside the school, in a brutal fight scene.” She opened the door to a glass case, the soldier guarding the door walked in. “Mr. Liewellyn Ewing?” She asked the man with beard and black hair. “Liewellyn Ewing.” He corrected. “Ja, why don’t you start?” The actor walked into the box, making exercises as Helene continued, “You will each improvise a fight scene and once the guard is eliminated you finish the scene by reading the lines from the cue card, exactly as written. Places und action!” She picked the card up. Ewing made two light punches which the soldier effortlessly blocked, then hit the American with the butt of his rifle twice, causing it to bleed. “Ow! Ow! Stop. Stop. Oh, god, I’m bleeding. I’m bleeding. I need to take a break.” Liewellyn cried in pain, holding his nose. “Line please!” The director held the sign up. “See, I need a doctor.” “Line!” She demanded in a serious tone. “Your bravery is no match for a Neanderthal like myself. Besides, I only know how to fight in a dirty manner. Now to kill all the innocent children. Germany’s future.” He let out evil laughter, which was badly executed, as the soldier played dead, then got out of the box, crying and moaning in pain. “That was terrible.” The Führer aimed at Ewing, shooting him three times in the back, the Actor collapsed on the ground, begging “why?” as he died. This showed that Hitler’s old personality was still here to some degree. The woman cleared her throat. “Mr. Redfield. Please. The floor is yours.” He got up and stepped into the box. “And action!” What happened next, terrified Johann and Jonas. Redfield grabbed the rifle, pushing the muzzle towards the soldier’s head and pulled the trigger, blood splattered and the guard fell dead on his back, Jules fired the entire magazine into the German’s head, then beat him with it, before throwing the rifle against the glass, cracking it, having him ruthlessly murdered. They all watched in shock and awe as he stared at them. In a slow, threating walk, he leaned against the glass. “Is that what you wanted? Is that what you had in mind, you Regime assholes? Cause that’s all you’re getting!” He said in a cold voice. Johann was impressed, in terms of hate, it really suited William, scaring him a bit. He has really talent, I give him that. The Führer got up, laughing happily. “Wonderful! Did you see that Helene? He is born to play that part. He will be my Blazkowicz.” Without looking, he executed the last candidate actor, favoring Redfield over him. “Oh my god.” He raised his hands into the air with a smile. “He is better than perfect!” With that, the audition was over. As Johann walked out, he could have sworn that Redfield was familiar but couldn’t figure out why. “Can you believe to have seen the Führer like that?” Jonas asked, bringing him out of his thought. “Oh? Ah, yes, I can’t believe it either. I mean, given how he is supposed to be our glorious leader, it’s kinda disappointing.” “Yes, it is.” James joined them. “It's awkward, as you can see. Herr Führer's chance of living another year grows ever less likely and...he has yet to name a successor. I don't think he really expects to ever die. He's not an easy man to reason with. It's become...unproductive.” Bauer blinked, trying to make sense of what he just heard. “That’s treason! No offense but that will never work!” James waved a hand. “No, no, not like Stauffenberg. I meant, after he died, I try to be selected as new Führer and make things better for Germany and all citizens of the occupied countries, like get rid of slavery and such.” Johann thought about it, actually, it sounded pretty good. “I guess you have a point, trying to make lives better. I can only wish you good luck when the time comes.” “Thank you. Now, let’s have lunch and check up on Dinky. I heard today Schnitzel is on the menu.” Bauer grinned, it was one of his favorite meals. While ponies were vegetarians, they also ate fish and poultry, so it was no problem for him and the other humans to eat meat when they desired. Dinky had much fun, playing a card game with James until he had to go. She then decided to take a look around, also helping to carry supplies. In a box room, she wiped the swofft of her forehead after being done with carrying. “They’re heavy.” As she walked out, the filly noticed she hadn’t looked which why she had taken and there were no soldiers around to ask for directions. “Stay calm, there must be a way to find out where I am.” She spoke to herself, taking random directions. But that led her to being more lost. The young unicorn thought for a moment how she could find a way out of this Out of nowhere, a strange feeling entered her body, she couldn’t describe it, walking towards a door at the end of the hallway. Something told her not to enter it, but the strange feeling become too strong as she came closer, the door opening by itself as any other door on the Venus base. Inside, she was greeted with a horrible sight. Several slabs with nozzles for an incinerator above them. A room-sized incinerator, like the one she was in when Deathshead experimented on her. The filly trembled at the memories, unable to move, frozen on the spot. Dinky turned to the right of the door, spotting a terminal with a screen. What had happened? Was everyone alright? Did she need to tell someone? What had gone on in this room? Slowly, she made her way over it, her hoof shaking as she raised it to activate the terminal, about to show what had happened here. Everything seemed to stop as her hoof finally pressed the button and a recording started. It showed a unicorn stallion looking identical to the Ulor robot, his hooves cuffed, lying on the ground with a neutral expression. Next to him was another pony in the shadow, being impossible to identify, only a silhouette was visible. On the opposite of them was another silhouette with a horn visible on the head, showing that this pony was also a unicorn. The door opened and a man in a lab coat walked in, Dinky noticed it was Dr. Richmond, looking very interested at the ponies, causing the green unicorn to gulp. “I can see why General Strasse likes you both. Such resilient specimen. With you, he could do great things. “You don’t scare me!” The green pony taunted with a neutral voice, trying to hide his fear as the scientist looked him into the eyes. “I like your eyes.” He said with a smile. “Savour this moment, I insist...It will pale to what I'll do to you.” The other unicorn taunted him too, unimpressed before Richmond looked him also into the eyes. “I like yours too. I can see my master chose well, you both are good ones, like the young specimen before you. I will finish what General Strasse has started.” He then inspected the eyes of the pony next to the green stallion. “Not you. You are broken already. What a shame.” Lyle sounded disappointed, then took a scalpel out of his pocket. The filly closed her eyes as painful screams followed, it seemed like hours before it stopped. The unknown unicorn cried in pain. “Celestia…Fletcher…Anypony?” He asked scared. “I’m here, I’m here…” The green stallion tried to comfort him with an expression of sympathy as the man looked at him with an evil grin after Dinky opened her eyes. “In work like this it is easy to be tempered. To sense compassion. It gets old very fast. Losing oneself in sentiment...Very unproductive.” The filly closed her eyes again as painful screams and the sound of machinery filled the room for a very long time. As she opened her eyes again, she saw both ponies lying dead on the ground, the green stallion had his eyes cut out and his back was torn open. The last remaining pony breathed heavily, being very scared as Richmond walked over to the door, turning the incinerator on, grinning at the scared pony. The room filled with a muffled hiss that steadily erupted into a deafening mechanical howl, like one of the air-raid sirens in the Great War, droning over and over. “Auf wiedersehen.” Then it ended. The filly breathed heavily, trying to make sense of what she had just seen. Those two robots… They were… Ponies. Just like her. She wanted to leave the room, wanting someone to comfort her, but her entire body refused to move, shocked at what she had seen. Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind, she struggled, then felt something injected into her and became tired, falling asleep. After some time, the filly woke up, trying to move but she had to realize it was futile, being restrained. NO! Not again! The door opened and Dr. Richmond walked in, his expression neutral. But for Dinky, it didn’t matter. “How could you?! Doing this to them?” She yelled in a mix of sadness and anger. “I only did what Strasse wanted me to finish for him. Nothing personal to them.” He replied cold and emotionless. “Don't...don't you care? About the people you use? The people you hurt?!” The filly yelled again. “Do you think a butcher cares about hurting his pigs?” He countered, causing her to think about it. It made sense to a degree. “...N-n-no...” “Then there's your answer.” Still, there was something Dinky wanted to know. “You are Brite, how could you betray your fellow countrymen?” “I’ll tell you why. Before the war, I had a glorious career at the university, but some took exception to my scientific interest and had me expelled. Under General Strasse’s care, my knowledge got far better and greater than I could ever imagine. When the Germans came, I knew they would help the British Empire to a new age of glory and with their technology, I will make my place and the General proud. Maybe, I should end what he started on you.” He suggested in a cold tone, walking over to a box of surgical tools, causing Dinky to whimper. “Please…no…” He turned around. “You are familiar with my old mentor but you can relax ...I am not Dr. Strauss. I have standards. I make it as painless as possible.” She made a last attempt to gather courage. “You won’t get away with this! My Dad and James will look for me!” “I already got that covered. Besides, this room is soundproof, nobody will hear your screams.” At this point, the filly trembled, not able to believe it would end like this, making a final prayer. I’m sorry… The Scientist stood in front of her, a syringe in his hand. “It will only hurt for a sec-” A chilling whistling echoed in Dinky’s ears, blood splattered from the man’s chest as he collapsed. Behind him stood the Ulor robot, a silenced handgun in his right hoof, the barrel smoking, next to him the Sentinel robot. “But...how…” Richmond, still alive, couldn’t understand this. The green unicorn freed Dinky, she couldn’t help but to hug him tightly for comfort. “L-listen...You need me alive.” The man pleaded, fear in his voice, his expression and eyes showed he was terrified. “Give me a reason. Just try.” The green stallion said with a cold voice, showing no emotion. “The laboratory is swarmed with guards! You'll never get through them all. If you kill me, you'll have nothing to barter with.” “We have this.” The other unicorn replied in the same cold voice, priming his flamethrower on Richmond. “Have you forgotten, Dr.? You created us to wipe out whole armies...You succeeded.” Realizing what the stallion meant, the scientist bitterly lowered his head, accepting his fate. “...bugger it...” The flamethrower hissed to life. “Heil Celestia.” Dinky was brought out of the room, so she didn’t noticed anything of the death of Richmond. Slowly, the filly calmed down, taking a deep breath, looking the green robot into the eyes. “T-thank you...It is real what...I saw?” She asked with a shaken voice. With an expression of sad,ness the stallion replied, “Sadly, yes. We are ponies like you. Least used to be. My name is Fletcher Fray.” The other unicorn walked out. “Call me…Balthazar.” “What happened to you?” the little unicorn wanted to know. “We used to be enemies and fought each other, somehow landing here as you did.” Fletcher explained. But this...” Balthazar looked at his mechanic hooves. “You can no longer call this a pony. One year without body. No sensory organs. Nothing to do or see or feel. No knowledge at all about what is going on. Just silent nothingness for one year, with your own terrified thoughts to keep you company. That's about a billion times worse than death. Still, with our strong will, we managed to regain slowly control over our actions, knowing the only way to survive was to work together. We’ll protect you, Celestia had it wanted so.” He sounded honest. Suddenly, there was the sound of a safety going off and they turned around. A man in an Atmospheric Suit, armed with a silenced MP61 held them at gun point. “Let her go, right now!” He yelled. “Listen,do we not mean to harm her, it’s a misunderstanding.” Balthazar tried to explain. “Yes, have you seen a Nazi robot comforting a foal?” Fletcher added. The filly recognized the voice, not believing her eyes as she looked at the man in the suit, seeing blond hair and blue eyes, somebody she never thought she would see again. “Bl-blascowitz? Is that really you?” She asked confused. Before he could give an answer, another voice ordered, “Drop your weapon!” Dinky saw James, Johann and Jonas behind him. The Luftwaffe soldier also recognized him upon seeing his face, lowering his weapon. “Blazkowicz? But...you died!!” The American grinned. “Apparently, the general needs to do better than that.” Before any of the Germans could do anything, Dinky spoke up, “Look...I know I'm not much good at keeping out of danger...and I've sure never been in a war this bad...But one thing I do know is when there's good in someone. And trust me, I've seen some people, even ponies back home, where there wasn't. But I know that there's good in them, BJ. I just know it. Please...give them a chance.” She waited for a response from, it, it seemed like hours until he replied, “Sure, I gave Johann a chance and Sigrun, so why shouldn’t I give them a chance as they have helped you.” James holstered his handgun. “If you want to go with him, I won’t stop you, do what you think is right. I cover your absence. But you might get your other uniform first.” “Right. I’ll be right back.” “Wait!” James yelled. “While Richmond was the head of this project, there is a lab, where other scientists work on his creations. It might be beneficial for all of us if it gets destroyed, so none can use it anymore.” The golden armored unicorn raised his weapon. “I will take care of that. Where is the lab?” The officer smiled. “Just down the hallway. You can’t miss it.” “Thank you. You may wanna call a cleanup crew.” Inside the lab, one guard wanted to smoke a cigarette but couldn’t find his lighter, so he asked a comrade, “Got a light?” “Sure.” “Allow me, heretics!” The stallion said as he burned the desk, the soldiers managed to evade them, fleeing with the scientists in panic as Balthazar walked into the middle of the lab, burning the German Flag hanging on the wall. One Elite soldier had enough courage to fire his Assault Rifle at the cyborg, the bullets bounced harmlessly off. Looking down, the former unicorn saw a “No smoking” sign, next to a box of explosives. In the moment he aimed at it, the soldier’s eyes went wide in fear. “Oh crap!” He managed to get out just in time as the pony set the box on fire, causing a big explosion in the lab. Balthazar’s armor was designed to be fireproof, so he walked out of the burning room unharmed but stopped as he saw a clipboard on a desk that was still intact, grabbing it after he saw what was written on it. A fire alarm ringed through the hallway as he came back to the group. “I found this clipboard in the lab.” Balthazar gave it to Günther. “Ah, I have seen this before. While Richmond finished any projects General Strasse had planned before his death, it was General Engel who made it possible for him to make this at all, giving him permission and such.” The Erstecommander explained. This enraged Johann, baling his fists. It had been a trap all along, she had sent him and Dinky to their doom on the Venus, allowed a mad scientist to use the poor filly for his experiments and let this terrible fate happen to the two stallions. “Anyway, you should get going, I and Jonas clean up the mess. You will hear from us.” “Right. Goodbye.” Bauer said, calming down as he followed the American to the main control room of the Oberkommando. It consisted of several thermals and a globe in the middle of the room. A commandeer with his squad, consisting of soldiers, a super soldier guarded the control room. As any other officer, the commander had his left hand behind his back as he watched for anything out of place, yet he found it boring, it was mostly quiet here. “Everything in order, private?” He asked as a soldier passed by. “Yes, sir. If I may ask, what do you think of the actor Jules Redfield?” “Jules Redfield? He’s a very good actor, very famous too. Likes milkshakes and fast cars, sounds like the perfect role to play Terror-Billy if you ask me. From what I heard, he brought the fight very convincingly, even made his own line for it.” “I agree, one of the best American authors out there. Can’t wait to see the movie.” “Me too, private.” The officer replied as the soldier walked away. The commander let out a sigh, hoping that anything exciting would happen, the conversation had helped much against the boredom here. Suddenly, he saw a man in an Atmospheric Suit in the distance, looking out of place for some reason, he couldn’t tell why. “What…” He wondered in confusion. Upon recognizing the face behind the helmet, he froze in fear, completely terrified. It’s…Te-te-Terror-Billy!? It was his last thought before the American fired his silenced MP61 and with a quick pain in the head, everything went black for the German. Johann and Dinky waited as William had killed the commander to prevent an alarm, Fray had silently killed the regular soldiers. Balthazar sneaked behind the Super soldier, chopping his fuel tank before going to a safe distance and lighted the leak. With a sudden, deafening roar and scatter of shrapnel and flame, the tank exploded upon its wearer. The super soldier flailed a moment before collapsing, its corpse left smoldering on the ground. “Welcome to the Oberkommando…Population: Zero.” Blazkowicz announced as all enemies were killed. “Say, Blazkowicz, why are you here?” Bauer asked him. “As you know, my plan is to liberate America from the regime. In order to do that, the Ausmerzer must be disabled first, but the automatic defense system, ODIN makes this impossible. Still, we found out the codes for it are stored here.” He explained. “Makes sense.” Johann did not only follow B.J. to get revenge on Engel, but also he didn’t felt safe with an insane Führer around, plus wanting to make life easier for Dinky’s friend, they had already suffered enough. For Dinky, she didn’t want to be here any longer after having seen what had happened to Fray and Balthazar, also wanting to help Peter. For Fletcher and Balthazar, they had lost everything. The least they could go was to help Dinky get home, they knew their leaders had it wanted so, seeing it as their final mission. The door to the code thermal was locked, but there was always another way. Dinky took a closer look at the globe, noticing something. “Hey, there appears to be a hole under the globe.” “I see it.” Fray replied, firing a shot with his Assault Rifle, causing the globe to fall into pieces. William crouched through the maintenance tunnel, followed by Johann, Dinky, Fletcher and Balthazar, who despite his bulky appetence had no problem crouching through it. “ODIN codes. Where are you?” The American mumbled as he tipped on the keyboard before the codes got printed. “Gotcha.” He put them into an envelope, then looked at a Haunebu-V in the hangar bay. The others understood quickly, getting with him on board before he steered it towards Earth with ease, landing in on the ocean, it floated on the water, also informing his friends above his passengers via radio. They waited on the roof as William feed a gull. “You like that, bird? Best be on your way now. My ride’s here.” He said as the water started to make giant waves, causing the bird to fly away. The Eva’s hammer rose from the water, the aerospace craft being gently lifted up as it was on the hull. Due being the largest U-boat in the Kriegsmarine and the world, the eyes of the others went wide in awe, having never seen anything like that before. A hatch opened and Bombate waved at William, laughing happily at him. Strangely, the emergency lights were on and an alert was ringing through the ship. “Why are the emergency lights on? Where is everyone?” Blazkowicz asked confused. “Something’s wrong.” Bombate replied as he and the others walked to the entrance to the helm, the room was dark, making it impossible to see anything. The soldiers took positions, Johann held Dinky back as the African added, “Be ready for anything.” William walked slowly in, his weapon drawn. “Surprise!” His friends shouted as the lights went on, revealing it to be a birthday party. Touched, William blew the candles out, earing cheers of everyone. “Didn’t think I’d make it this far.” He commented with a smile. “Well, here’s to brother Blazkowicz. Toughest man I’ve ever seen.” An African-American with brown hair and eyes said a toast on him. He tasted the cake, enjoying it. “There’s some hot damn good banana cream pie right there!” “Max made it.” The woman replied. “Max Hass!” The boy said proudly, hugging him. “Now here’s some liquid love.” An elderly man with grey hair and brown eyes handled him a glass and they drunk together. “Lord, oh lord, that’s gonna tear a hole up poor ol’ Horton’s tummy.” The man said, coughing as it appeared to be very strong. “So…How was Venus? Did you bring me back anything?” The woman asked Blazkowicz. “Well, the, eh…souvenir shop was closed. But I brought you this.” He gave her the code. While Dinky felt happy for William, she noticed how the woman said to Sigrun to get her regime eyes on this, so they could disable the defense system and hijack the Ausmerzer, with the German replying in a sad voice “Please stop calling me that.” Before the filly could say anything, Blazkowicz cleared his throat. “Everyone, I want to welcome Dinky back, as well as welcome her father Johann and her two friends Fletcher Fray and Balthazar to this party.” After he had said this, everyone welcomed them, greeting them friendly, the African-American climbed on the strategic map. “Comrades! Brothers and sisters.” The elderly man gave her a liquid bottle. “Thank you very much. Tomorrow we are gonna shot regime soldiers until we run out of bullets. But tonight…Tonight is for Blazkowicz!” “Hear! Hear!” The others cheered. And so, they all celebrated William’s birthday, dancing and drinking, Dinky had apple juice and Johann alcohol-free to be a good example for the child. The two stallions just watched with happy smiles, never having been the party ponies in general, pleased to see the filly happy. “If I may ask, did one of your birthday parties went like this?” Fray asked Balthazar who shook his head. “Not that I can remember, And if this was the case, I don’t want to remember it. You?” “Same here.” The little unicorn ran up to her friends. “Come, you’re missing the fun!” She exclaimed happy.” “If you insist.” Balthazar replied as he and Fray joined the party, also enjoying it. After all this, they all had earned to enjoy themselves at a nice party, for the two stallions, it could be their last, so they made sure they enjoyed every second of it, to be ready for the Ausmerzer.