//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 A long stay // Story: A Black Sun Rises // by Bronycommander //------------------------------// Chapter 7 A long stay None of them had any clue what the Jäger meant with that as he sniffed for a second. What happened next surprised and terrified everyone. The soldier fired a single shot from the hip and the bullet went right through Katja’s gut, also injuring her captor, both fell to the ground with a cry of pain, clutching their wound. Blau, Dinky and Fletcher gasped in shock. Katja! No! The Stallion became horrified, knowing that he had possibly failed his mission to bring them all home safe, and was terrified at how their families and friends would take it back home. The Elite soldier turned to the wounded resistance fighter, aiming at his head. "Partisan scum." The young man closed his eyes, waiting for the bullet that would end his life. But instead of a gun, he heard a hissing sound. Opening his eyes, he saw that the Fallschirmjäger had an arrow between his eyes, stumbling before falling over. “Go,” Fetcher said after he cast a healing spell on the man, he nodded and limped out of sight, deeper into the woods. “Katja! Katja!” The grey colt yelled with desperation in his voice as he ran up to his injured sister, she was lying on the ground, a buddle of blood slowly forming under her. “Please say something!” “H-hurts…its hurts so much!” The young girl cried with tears in her eyes. “Shh, let me take a look.” Konrad knelt down to her and carefully turned her around, she groaned in pain as he did so. Her skirt and the lower part of her shirt were crimson red from the blood she was losing, Dinky tried to look away, not able to imagine how painful it must be, as the soldier examined it. “Clear leading. Hard to say if any organs are damaged. Get me a medic, quick!” Escher told his comrades. “This might sting a bit.” Katja screamed as he applied pressure on her wound, Blau and Dinky took her hands and whispered comforting words to calm her down. “Let me through! I am a medic!” Another German voice yelled and they saw a soldier in white uniform with a red cross on it running up to them, caring a medic bag. “Hold on just a little longer, girl. It’s gonna be alright.” He spoke in a comforting tone as he disinfected and bandaged her wound, the young human let out cries through gritted teeth. “We may have to do a surgery to avoid any further internal injuries.” He added with concern. Fletcher stepped forward. “It won’t be necessary, I can help.” He said and walked next to the injured child, his horn starting to glow. “Everything will be alright, Katja.” She looked up to him as his magic was flowing through her body and wound, slowly closing her eyes as a feeling of fatigue overcame her. “What…what did you do?” Her brother asked confused. “I cast an advanced healing spell. It will slowly heal her internal injuries, but it leaves her unconscious to avoid her going into shock.” Fletcher explained as he gently lifted Blau’s sister on a stretcher and they brought her to the infirmary of the nearby base. They all looked after the injured child, hoping she would make it. Blau looked after his sister with worry. “How…”He mumbled…”How could the Jäger do this? He could have killed her!” Karl put a hand on his shoulder. “Most of them are veterans and war…brings out the worst of us. I guess he was led by his hate against the partisans, wanting to make him suffer.” “But…couldn’t he…” The colt stuttered. “I wish he hadn’t but it happened, we can’t change it now, only hope for the best,” Vogel said with a sigh. The colt slowly looked up to him with. “I just hope she makes it.” “Me too. Never thought the Jäger under Böhm’s command would be like him.” “Who’s Böhm?” Dinky asked him. Karl took a deep breath. “A sadistic, ruthless, and cunning SS general whose reputation is well known. He’s also known as ‘The Butcher of Bologna.’ He commands the Jäger troops that are here to guard the Railway gun. I never saw him personally, only his adjutant Major Hans Dorfmann. He inspected the propaganda recordings at San Celini shortly before you showed up.” Dinky shivered upon hearing this. “Then I hope...we won’t meet Böhm… “Don’t worry, Dinky, he will have to get through me first.” Fletcher gave her an assuring hug. “The same counts for you and your sister, Blau.” He turned around, only to see he talked to thin air. “Where did he go?” “I think I know,” Dinky replied and walked towards the infirmary. Once inside, her heart was filled with sadness as she saw that Blau was looking over his unconscious sister, crying. “Hold on, sis. Please…” He sniffed. “Blau,” The young filly walked up to him, giving him a hug. “I’m worried too but I’m sure she will make it.” “I…I just don’t want her to die!” Her friend exclaimed in fear with a tear-filled face. “She’s tough, Blau. She will pull through.” Fletcher added in a comforting tone as he joined them. “When I cast the healing spell, I also scanned her injuries and it seems she was very lucky. No internal Organs are damaged, which means her survival chance is quite high. It just needs time.” Again, the colt sniffed. “Are you sure, Fletcher?” “Of course I am.” He replied with a weak smile before he found himself hugged by the boy. “Thank you for helping her!” “I’m just doing my job.” Yet, one thing refused to leave Blau’s head. “He said they had orders. What did he mean with that?” Karl answered it for them. “Well, we have orders to hunt down partisans by whatever means necessary. I never know that Jäger personally, but as far as I heard, he followed orders to the latter, putting them above anything else. He must have seen her as obstacle and dealt with it as orders say, remove it.” “Uh-huh.” The boy nodded, trying to make sense of it The group then walked back to their German friends, as suddenly, a grenade landed in front of them and the kids’ eyes went small in shock. “Down!” Fletcher used his magic to teleport them out of the blast radius, the explosion followed shortly after. “Where…what just happened?” Dinky asked dazed as she saw the young soldier walking up to them with a horrified expression. “Sorry! I…I misjudged my throw!” Tim yelled with guilt and fear as everyone got up. Hans took a deep breath, holding up a hand. “It’s okay, it happens. Fletcher?” He asked, yet he couldn’t see him anywhere. “F-Fletcher?” Dinky asked slightly in panic, looking around, seeing only smoke where the grenade had exploded. Coughing came out of the smoke. “Who’s throwing grenades here?! Watch it!” They saw Fletcher coming out of the smoke, covered in dusk and coughing a bit. “Fletcher…I’m terribly sorry…” Tim mumbled in fear as he saw the angry expression of the stallion. Fray’s expression became slowly one of sympathy as he looked at Tim. “It was you…Please be more careful next time.” He said in a more relaxed voice. “O-okay…Wind’s pretty strong today.” “Yes, it is. Better be careful near the trees, not that a branch hits you.” Konrad warned. Barely had he spoked, a loud cracking sound came and both foals shrieked as a branch landed just in front of them, having them missed by inches. Dinky and Blau breathed heavy, looking at the branch, yet a faint cracking noise greeted their ears, becoming slowly more intense and a shadow cast over them. They looked up and screamed as a tree was about to fall on them. “Children!” Fletcher yelled and they felt how he pushed them out of the way. A loud scream of pain followed. “Get this off me!” Both children gasped in shock as they saw that Fletcher’s right hind leg had been trapped under the tree trunk. “Everyone! Give me a hand!” Karl yelled, and without hesitation, Tim, David, Hans, Dinky and Blau helped to lift the tree trunk up, with Konrad carefully pulling Fletcher back as they lifted it up. “Oh, Luna!” Fletcher cried in pain, holding his leg. “Oh my…” Dinky gasped with Blau as Fletcher’s leg was bloodied, he screamed at the top of his lungs as a medic examined it. “Yep, it’s broken. We better get him to a base with the necessary medical capabilities before it gets worse. He bandaged it and the stallion cried tears, gritting his teeth from the pain. Hans and David carefully helped Fletcher up and got him into the back of a truck, Konrad with the same medic, got Katja on a stretcher and loaded her also in. “It’s not so bad, okay? You survived worse, Fletch.” Blau said in an attempt to calm him down. Fletcher managed to smile, despite the pain. “Thanks…Still, hurts like….no, shouldn’t say it…” “Where are we going?” Dinky asked Hans. “To the Lorino Dockyard, we have here the necessary medical treatment for Fletcher.” “Okay.” It took around an hour to arrive, the stallion got brought to the infirmary with Katja, Blau and Dinky waited patiently outside. It seemed like hours before a medic came out. “How is he?” The filly asked with fear in her voice. “He will be okay, it’s not so bad as we feared at first. Yet it will take some time to heal.” “Can we see him?” Blau asked and the man nodded, leading them to the stallion’s room. Inside, they saw him lying on a bed with his leg bandaged, smiling warmly at the two children. “Hey there.” “How are you, Fletcher?” Dinky asked him. “Apart from the leg, fine. It’s also unfortunate, as it will take around a month to heal.” “At least they hadn’t to amputate it,” Konrad added with relief as he walked in. “Yeah…” Fletcher mumbled before he chuckled. “Reminds me of an old friend, had the same name as you. He lost a leg and I managed him a prosthesis to replace it. If I would ever suffer the same, I’d make a prosthesis for myself.” In that moment, Katja started to stir, groaning. “I’m…alive?” She held her head as she got up. “Sis! You’re awake!” Her brother exclaimed with Joy, giving her a hug, only for her to groan in pain and he let go. “Sorry.” “Its fine, brother.” She managed to reply with pain in her voice. “I thought I would not…” The girl shivered at the thought. “But you did, I managed to stabilize you,” Fletcher explained and she winced, lifting her shirt up, seeing the slightly bloodied bandage around her gut. “Don’t worry, no Organs are damaged and the healing spell I used prevents any permanent marks.” In response, Katja hugged the green unicorn. “Thank you. You’re a good stallion!” “Please, I’m just doing what is right.” Fletcher blushed slightly before the girl looked at his injured leg. “A tree fell on it.” Then someone cleared his throat and they saw Mateo walking in. “I hate to interrupt but after all this, I think you deserved something special.” The four smiled at him. Before anypony could reply, however, the pizza was brought in. A thin, wide bed of cheese and tomato dotted with mushrooms and peppers, olives and capers, sprinkled all over with herbs and garlic. Warm, crisp and topped with something for everypony, the hungry youngsters and adult dug into the dish happily. “Thank you very much.” Dinky grinned with happiness at the Italian. “You’re welcome. Now you two, get well soon.” A few weeks passed. It was now August and Katja’s recovery was going very well as the doctor checked on her. “It seems your wound healing quite nice. You can leave now. Your friend still needs to recover, but he can get out with a pair of crutches.” “Well, better than nothing,” Fletcher commented and they all took a stroll outside of the docks. Dinky and Blau had spent most of the time with Fletcher and Katja to keep them busy. It was like every dock would be, storage houses as far as they could see, with cranes near the water. A few searchlights and AA guns were scattered around, and a torpedo boat was patrolling in the water. It seemed like a well-defended base, understandable given it was a supply point. Still, they all took notice of Jäger troops that wore jumpsuits and were armed with a rifle that was almost as long as the MG42. “What is that?” Blau wondered. “As far as I know, that’s the new Fallschirmjägergewehr 42, FG42 for short. As the name suggests, it’s specially made for our paratroopers. At Greta, they carried only pistols and hand grenades on them during parachute jumps, with submachine guns, rifles and crew-served weapons stored separately in containers that were dropped from the wing of the exit craft, as the parachutes did not allow for heavier equipment such as rifles and machine guns to be safely carried during jump. So, they made a rifle that could be carried on the person of the paratrooper, the FG42. Haven’t heard of its performance yet though.” Karl explained. “Uh-huh. Sounds like a good idea though.” Blau replied and spotted an officer in a white colored uniform, apparently inspected the base as the Jäger troops saluted him. “I take he’s a high-ranked officer?” “Yes, he’s the Overseer of this base. Only veteran officers are entrusted with the safekeeping of militarily important facilities. Such overseers necessarily have sweeping experience of the battlefield and can make split-second decisions when the moment demands it. I doubt I could ever be an overseer.” Vogel commented as the Overseer walked out of sight. “It sure does sound like a very stressful position,” Dinky commented. “I agree in that, being an Eternal Knight is also not very easy at times,” Fletcher added. “I wanted to get you home as soon as possible, but with my leg injury, it will be delayed. Not to mention the magical blockade.” “Blockade?” Katja blinked in confusion and he sighed. “Yes, something is blocking my teleportation spell again I found out in the last weak while I practiced my magic.” “I’m sure you will get rid of it eventually, just like in Africa,” Konrad said, sounding confident of it. “Let’s hope so.” They then walked back and the young filly noticed several creates marked with a green TP in a white circle. “What’s this?” “Vaccines against Typhus, an Infectious disease. It causes a high fever over several days; weakness, abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, and mild vomiting also commonly occur and without treatment, symptoms may last weeks or months, also leading to death. It sweeps through the region, so we want to be sure. I recommend you get also vaccinated for your own health.” Konrad sounded slightly worried for them. Fletcher nodded. “My nanomites make me highly resistant, if not immune to most disease, but better safe than sorry I guess.” The children nodded and they all got taken to the doctor. Fletcher gently took the hoof of Dinky and Blau as they got vaccinated, then took Katja’s hand. As he got vaccinated, they all three took his hoof. While not needing to be calmed down, he appreciated it nevertheless. Again, a few weeks passed, it became late August, Fletcher's leg was healing nicely as the doctor checked it in the evening. “Good news, it’s fully healed, you can leave by tomorrow.” “That’s good to hear, we can work out in the next day what to do next,” Fletcher said before yawning. “Okay. Good night, everyone.” Tim said and left with the other soldiers, with the knight and children quickly falling asleep. Dinky opened her eyes and she found herself with the siblings in Fletcher in a small town in the middle of a forest. Sunny town. They saw Grey Hoof in a grey uniform with peaked cap walking around, an officer uniform. Next to him was Ruby, she was also wearing a grey uniform, but wore a helmet with goggles on it, a flare gun in a holster. Her mother, Mitta was right behind her, she was wearing a cap with headset, carrying a radio on her back. “Hey my love, everything alright?” Dinky heard the voice of Ruby’s husband, seeing he was wearing a green-grey uniform with fingerless gloves, the same uniform of the Jäger troops. “I’m doing well. I just wish something exciting would happen.” the mare replied with boredom in her voice. “Me too, but let’s enjoy the quiet while it lasts.” “What?” Dinky heard Fletcher mumbled, noticing a flash in the trees in the distance and suddenly, he shoved her to the ground as a loud shot sounded. “Sniper! Take cover!” The stallion yelled, he hadn’t to say it twice. “Find him! Mitta, call reinforcements!” Grey Goof yelled, using a whistle and Mitta put her left foreleg to her headset, making gestures with her other foreleg, while having a slightly angry expression. Dinky, the siblings and Fletcher stayed in cover as the other residents of Sunny town arrived, all armed and dressed in German uniforms as Ruby pointed to the forest. “I see him. Let’s see how he likes that!” Dinky saw how Ruby fired a red flare towards the woods with her flare gun and the fire of artillery echoed in the distance before explosions hit the spot the flare had landed, making Dinky realize that no one could have survived this. “Did we get him?” Roneo asked. “There’s only one way to find out.” The father of the siblings replied and carefully moved towards the spot the explosions had hit, looking around. “Nothing! Must have been fled.” The moment he had said this, Dinky heard a clicking sound, followed by another artillery strike, seeing how the man looked into the sky with fear and surprise. “Oh, son of a…” A loud siren tore the child out of her sleep, falling out of the bed. “Ow! What’s going on?” She asked the others scared as Konrad ran in. “The Dockyard is under attack by bombers! We need to move!” He yelled and they didn’t hesitate to follow him to a truck parked just next to the infirmary and got it. Dinky, Blau and Katja screamed as explosions sounded all around them, with the truck driving in hard zigzag maneuvers to avoid getting it. Fletcher did his best to calm them down, hugging them as he looked out of the back, seeing how the Dockyard got destroyed in a firestorm of explosions as they barely made it out. Tim breathed heavily. “We made it…I thought we would die…” “Yes, it was a really close call,” Fletcher replied, also glad they had made it. “Where are we going now?” “Well, the next base would be the Magazzeno Facility, but we would need a day to get there. The closest Axis outpost is the Abrunza Monastery. We should take a rest here and move on to the Facility.” Fletcher thought about it. “Good idea, but we should rest for the night, no good in driving overtired.” “I agree.” Konrad stopped the truck and they made a campfire, the children took deep breaths. “How…how could this happen?” Dinky wondered. “Since the Allies took Sicily, they have the resources to use their Bombers in the area and the Dockyards were constantly overflown by recon planes. The one we saw crashing at the Viaduct was one of them as far as I’ve been told. But it’s over.” Karl explained, warming himself at the campfire. The three young friends ate some rations, looking at the mountain in the distance before they heard ghostly voices. This time, they saw soldiers in blue and field-grey uniforms passing by before they vanished and got replaced by soldiers in green uniforms. They were leaded by a soldier that was wearing heavy armor and was armed with a large looking MG. They did a battle cry in the Italian language before charging at the soldiers in blue and field-grey uniforms. Again they vanished. But then, Dinky, Katja and Blau Streifen heard a sound of engines in the sky, seeing many ghostly planes in the sky, getting under AA fire from it. What happened next terrified them. The planes veered away, the mountain exploded, creating a landslide, burying everything on the ground. The children screamed as a large rock headed for them, only to vanish right when it reached them. “Children, what's wrong?" Konrad asked worried. Dinky slowly uncovered herself, taking deep breaths as she looked at Escher. "You remember when we had that moment at the campfire in Africa? "Yeah, I do. My grandfather told me that this was once a battlefield between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy. To stop the advance of the Italians, they blew up the Mountain, buring themselves and the enemy.” “I know it too.” Matteo spoke up, “The Arditi – the Royal Italian army's elite storm troopers fought in the Mountains against them. They captured their main objective, a fort, with heavy casualties. They were specialized in high-risk tactics. The motto was: ‘Either we win, or we all die.’” Karl looked up with a weak smile. “They knew how to fight, just like the Bersagliere. Funny though is, the Austro-Hungarian Army had a large diversity in ethics and 80 percent of all officers were German speakers. Imagine you would be in such an officer role, of Farmany’s allies.” The unicorn chuckled. “That’s what’s the translation spell is for.” “Yeah…But now, let’s gets some sleep.” “Right.” Fletcher said and the kids snuggled themselves against him as they all drifted off to sleep. In the early morning, they reached the Monastery, or better said, a small town overlooked by it. They all were fascinated as they saw it on a high mountain. “Must be a wonderful view up there.” Dinky commented. “Yes, it is. Feel free to take a look around, but it won’t be long until we move on.” Karl replied. “Okay.” She replied and moved along the street with her three friends, noticing that the road was in pretty bad shape, torn open by what seemed heavy gunfire, apparently by the Anti-tank guns placed in concealed positions along the road, two Panzer III and a Autoblinda AB41 were patrolling around, as the group came to a small house, spotting a small note on a shelf. It seemed forgotten, dated 14th June. Dear diary, Most people are too frightened to leave their house. Except sometimes you have to – if you want food and fresh water. Not that there is any. I guess maybe the Nazis think they can starve us out. Maybe they’re right. “Oh my…how can they do this?” Dinky wondered. “I guess it’s a way to deal with the partisans.” Fletcher suspected. As they walked out, he noticed a paper flying in the wind and caught it with his magic. Allagran Liberator The Royalists have removed Mussolini and placed him under house arrest. But we must be wary – the Fascists and their Nazi supporters will do anything to get him back to power. When the moment comes, the Partisans will rise up and take back their country. Remember the victories! Remember the Risorgimento! “Another news-sheet from the Partisans. Removing the duce from power will sure have an impact of the Axis forces, but I doubt it will be enough.” Fletcher spoke as he remembered the news from Matteo’s family. “So it seems. Mind if I try some grapes?” Blau asked, “I saw some panicle and I wondered how they taste, are they poisonous?” “No, they aren’t.” Fletcher replied and they followed the colt to the grapes he had seen. The grapes were light green in color, looking ripe. Fletcher picked some and they all ate them. Blau, his sister and Dinky grinned, the grapes tasted sweet. “Tastes good to me.” “And are healthy at the same time.” His sister added. “Hey, what’s this?” Dinky pointed to a piece of paper lying on the ground and she picked it up. It was dated 2nd June. Dear Enzo I hope you’re well, my dear. It seems like an age since your last letter. We don’t have much to eat, but otherwise we’re all well. You won’t believe what happened last week, though. Took my food stamps to the grocer’s and he said they were counterfeit! The wrenched Allies are causing havoc. All my love, Mother “Sounds like it’s not going well for the population. I hope Mateo’s family has still enough food. “Katja commented with worry in her voice. “I’m sure they are doing well. They seemed to have enough when they offered me shelter.” Fletcher replied with a weak smile before Tim walked up to them. “There you are, we are moving on.” He informed them and they nodded, getting back into the truck. It took an around one hour to arrive, the children looked in awe as they saw that the facility was located at the coast, several AA guns were placed near, together with big naval guns placed around the place, look like the guns normally seen on a battleship. But what was most noticeable, was the big radio dish in the middle of the base. “Wow…” Dinky mumbled, surely impressed. “Yes, this Facility is well defended, so the Allies will have trouble to get even close, the naval defenses have little trouble to keep their ships at bay. So, it should be a safe place for you.” Karl explained. “Can’t you send us to Germany?” Blau asked him and he sighed. “I wish we could, but unfortunately, none of us will get leave anytime soon, so keeping you safe while being with us is the only option. Still, feel free to take a look around.” The four friends nodded, thought it looked not very special. The Facility had barracks, storehouses, two Panzer III were patrolling around and two torpedo boats patrolled the coast. Still, they took notice of a soldier that was carrying what looked like a tube with a grenade in it on his back. “This that…?” Blau was lost for words. “Oh, that? It’s a new Anti-tank weapon we just developed recently. The Panzerfaust.” The same soldier explained to them. “Tank fist? Who comes up with a name like that?” The colt couldn’t understand and the German shrugged. “Beats me but it’s very cheap to produce and use. Basically, it’s a recoilless gun that fires a high-explosive anti-tank warhead. You just take off the safety, aim, and with a little squeeze, fire the projectile. So simple, even you kids could use it with ease.” “Uh-huh. “Not sure if I’d want to use it, it is safe?” Blau asked in return. “As long as you watch the back blast and fire it from the crook of the arm. Firing it from the shoulder or to the chest…well, you can think what I mean.” Dinky shivered. “That must hurt.” “Fortunately I didn’t make that mistake yet. The tube is to be discarded after firing, so the Panzerfaust is a disposable weapon, but you could still use as a club in hand-to-hand combat.” “Sounds useful.” Fletcher commented, while the children had to suppress giggles at the thought of a soldier trying to bash people over the head with a tube. Anyway, we should go back to the others.” He suggested and they nodded. “...You know, Fletcher’s injury reminds me a bit of Fischer.” They heard Karl’s voice as he was chatting with Konrad. “Who’s Fischer? A friend of yours?” Dinky asked and the officers face slightly fell. “Used to be. He, together with another officer called Alexander were with me in boot camp. Both unfortunately were killed on the Eastern Front, the latter in Stalingrad, the other during the winter of 41. Fischer had the bad luck to get always hit in his right side. Thus I had to think of him when I saw your injured leg, Fletcher.” “I see. Sorry about your loss.” The knight replied with sympathy in his voice. “It’s okay.” “Well, what got we here?” A new voice said and they all turned around to see a man in a black suit, his hair was dark brown, the eyes matched the same color. “I heard the stories, but never thought them to be true.” “Sir.” The squad saluted. “What brings you here?” Karl asked. “Just inspecting the base, Lieutenant. Would you explain to me?” The man asked in a neutral voice. “Of course, sir.” As Vogel did with his men, the children watched nervously, fearing how the man would react to it, Fletcher whispered comforting words, before the man looked at them. “So this is the Green Knight…I should shoot you on the spot, Berlin would celebrate me as a war hero!” He exclaimed, the kids gulped, Fletcher slowly reached for his pistol. “But…then all your efforts to get the children home would be in vain. Major Dorfmann, at your service.” He started to grin. “…Nice to meet you, Major.” Fletcher replied, not sure how to take this. “We don’t intent on staying long. “In that case, I may be able to organize a ride to a safe place for you. I’d like to stay for a chat, but duty has priority. Gentlemen, ladies.” Dorfmann said and walked away. “Was that…” Dinky was lost for words. “Yes, that was Major Dorfmann, he is quite known for those jokes.” Karl explained. “Anyway, let’s enjoy the rest of the day.” It was quiet as time passed, with the navel guns firing occasionally at Allied ships in the distance, the noise was bearable as long as they kept their distance until it became evening and the children became tired. “You should catch some sleep.” Fletcher suggested as the kids yawned, tugging them in. “Sleep well.” He then walked out of the barracks to see Karl looking at Konrad. “I go called to an important meeting, you’re in charge while I’m gone.” “Sure thing, just watch out you don’t end up as Linus did.” The Sergeant had fear in his voice, remembering still. “Don’t worry, I’ll watch myself. Reminds me, I got a new recruit, could you watch over him until I come back?” Konrad saluted in response. “Good, I see you later. “Private Leon reporting for duty!” A young man with pure blue eyes and blond hair then saluted Escher, his build was athletic. Konrad had seen him before, he was there when Tim got assigned to the squad, having just finished training. “At ease, private.” Konrad replied. “Yes, sir.” “I will hit the hay, goodnight.” Fletcher said and went to bed himself. “Sergeant…” Leon trembled slightly. “Is that…” “Yes, that’s the green Knight.” “Then…did you really fought side by side?” In response, the NCO slightly looked to the ground, not sure how to answer this. “Not directly. We were trapped and had to fight together to survive in Ras el-Hadid.” “I see, sir…” Lean sounded amazed. “What are my orders?” “Patrol the area and watch out for anything suspicious.” “Yes, sir.” They all watched after him. “I’m confident he will be a fine soldier, just like you, Tim.” Konrad smiled with pride and the young man lowered his head in embarrassment. “Provided he survives his first battle, our losses on the Eastern Front are quite high and with the Allies having taken Sicily, it isn’t any better here.” David sounded concerned about him. “But still it is much better than on the Eastern Front.” Tim pointed out before they hear Leon mumble. “Ras el-Hadid… Zornhauff died here. Could it be? It’s… possible….” The entre squad gasped slightly in shock at what they heard. “Did he just?” David stared at his comrades. “It’s doubtful it’s what we think, he has no proof.” Konrad concluded quickly. “Still…” “I suspect he knows what really happened in Ras el-Hadid.” Hans mumbled with unease as the young recruit was out of hearing range. “You sure? He could just mix up something.” Tim replied. “Still, we should check on that, better safe than sorry.” David suggested, “And does something if he really knows. It will be our doom if he reports us, Konrad.” Escher hesitated, looking away from and blinking rapidly. “…Alright…just give me some time to think of something.” “Okay, but don’t take too long.” Hans said with a slightly worried expression as the Sergeant took a walk, thinking about his current situation. What am I gonna do? We can’t kill him, this would make everything worse… Oh, I wish Karl was here to help with this. Or Linus. He then walked into the barracks, seeing that Fletcher and the children were sleeping peacefully. But I have to solve this on my own, they are in danger too if the truth is revealed. As he walked up to his bed, he noticed a note on it and he read it. Konrad, Leon knows about Zornhauff, about what happened in Ras el-Hadid. And about what we did. You know he won't keep quiet. No matter what it'll mean for the rest of the squad. It's as simple as this. Do something about him, or one of us will. Hans. Fletcher stirred in his sleep, yawning as he looked around, seeing it had become night, Dinky, Blau and Katja were still sleeping peacefully. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a piece of paper lying on a nightstand and curiosity got the better of him. Leon knows. Somehow he's pieced it together. The boy's fresh out of the Hitler Youth. He doesn't understand loyalty to your comrades, the realities of the battlefield. He just sees his beloved Führer. He'll rat us out, I'm sure of it. If I don't do it, David will. Or Hans. But I'm squad leader. Oh god. That doesn’t sound good. I should find a way to help them. Slightly worried he walked outside, seeing Konrad walking up to the others. “Well? What shall we do?” Hans asked. “Can I help? What’s going on?” Fletcher spoke first, causing all to look at him in surprise and Konrad sighed. “Leon, a new recruit we shall watch over while Karl attempts a meeting, has somehow found out what really happened to Zornhauff. We have to deal with him.” Konrad explained with unease. “I see. Allow me to help. Where is Leon?” “I saw him last overlooking the coast just down the street.” Hans pointed out. Thanks.” Leon was watching the coast, writing in his diary. God, I wish I could sleep. Can't stop thinking about him, Hans said he was a bastard. A Monster. The things he did... But he was a Sturmbannführer, a Major. He was their commanding officer here. They should have reported him. What they did... So now I'm stuck. Do I grass them up? Or forget about it? Which is it? Maybe the view will help me make up my mind. Maybe it'll help me sleep. “Hello.” He heard a new voice and turned around. His eyes went wide as he saw a green unicorn stallion, the Green Knight himself. “You’re…Y-you’re…” The man stuttered in awe. “Yes, I am the Green Knight. We need to talk.” “It’s about Zornhauff, isn’t it? What they did?” Leon quickly concluded. “Correct. But thing his, they never killed him. I did.” “W-what?” Leon couldn’t believe what he just heard. “I killed him. He abandoned his men when a tomb came down on us. Then I caught him and his remaining men taking out their anger on locals, innocent villagers, men, women and children. I intervened...And I'd do it again, in very much the same way.” “So…” “Yes, we were present at the time, but knew his time was up.” Konrad added as he joined. “But for the sake of ourselves and friends, we kept it secret, can we count on you?” Leon took a deep breath. He had never seen the kids, only heard of them but understood what Konrad meant. “Yes, you can, Sergeant!” “Good. Now, get some sleep, you earned it.” “As you command, sir.” Leon walked up to the barracks, only to see a group of Jäger passing by, walking up to Konrad and the others. “What do you want?” David asked. “We got sent by Major Dorfmann, he has organized a safer place for your young friends.” One of the Jäger replied. “And why in the middle of the night?” Konrad demanded to know. “With the threat of Allied airplanes during the day, it seemed for him the best to get the children as soon as possible to safety.” “Makes sense. I go wake them.” Escher replied and walked into the barracks, gently shaking Dinky’s shoulder. She stirred and yawned, looking at him with tired eyes. “What is it? I just dreamed so nicely.” “Sorry to wake you in the middle of the night but we are moving out.” “Okay…” The filly said with a sleepy voice as he shook the siblings too and told them, they also yawned and were sleepy, yet didn’t protest as he lead them to a truck, helping them in. “You get into the other truck.” The same Jäger added as the truck with the kids drove away and the soldiers nodded in acknowledgement. Fletcher however noticed something odd. The second truck had enough space for all soldiers but not for himself and he saw no third truck. “Uhh, what about me?” “Oh, it seems he forgot about you. Don’t worry, we’ll organize a transport for you.” One of the remaining Jäger replied as also the second truck drove away and turned to his fellow paratroopers. “Alright, the prisoners are en route." “Prisoners?” Fletcher asked with suspicion and the German’s voice became one of slight panic as he realized what he just said. “Uh…not that…I meant…” And in a matter of seconds, all Jäger opened fire and Fletcher dove behind a barricade for cover. Damn it! He cursed as the four soldiers had him pinned down. In the moment he peeked out of cover, he saw a flash in the corner of his eyes and all four Jäger filched, blood slowly came out of their heads and they collapsed. “What was that?” He wondered before a new voice sounded. “Need a hand?” The unicorn turned around to see a man with a sniper rifle, dressed in an olive drab coat and pants and black boots. “Karl Fairburne, never thought we would meet again.” “Likewise. I may be able to help you, follow me.” Fletcher did without hesitation, following the American into one of the barracks, the stench of alcohol entered his nose and he saw a elderly man sleeping on a cot. “Andreas Kessler.” Karl spoke up. “Who the hell are you?” Kessler asked in a drunken state. “You’re coming with me.” “What’s going on? Am I defecting? Hic.” Kessler mumbled in confusion as the American grabbed him and led him on a truck, Fletcher followed without a word. The Professor might know where the kids would be taken, yet the Knight prayed it wasn’t too late.