Chapter 8: A spark
Fletcher stayed silent as Karl brought Kessler into a shed and tied him up on a chair, a woman with green eyes and brown hair, as well as an elderly man with greying hair and blue eyes were awaiting them, paying no mind to Fletcher.
The Knight watched without a word as the woman walled back and forth, a knife in her hand, eyeing Kessler with disgust and hate.
“You? You’re just a little girl playing at being an adult. What could you possibly do to hurt me?” Kessler taunted and the woman lunged at him, holding the knife at his throat, he was unfazed by it.
“I was a nurse, did you know that? Before this all started. Which means I know exactly how to hurt you.” She threatened. “Do you understand me, little man?”
“Meine Liebe, you can’t kill me.” The scientist calmly countered, looking at the elderly man. “Tell her.”
“He’s right - Sofia.“ He slowly walked over to her, stretching his hand out. “Give me the knife.”
Sofia looked at him, not removing the knife at all. “Do you know how he builds his precious rockets? How many slave laborers died to make those missiles fly?” She yelled.
“We need him.” The man pointed out, “Just like Dinelli.”
“This man is Nazi scum.” The woman replied with hate in her voice. “Dinelli is a mass murdering criminal.”
“We need him.” The man raised his voice. “Both of them.”
“You might.” She eyed Kessler with anger. “Not us.” Then put the knife away and laid it into the hands of the other man. “We’re better than that.”
“You know what,” Kessler started, “I will tell you something, Meine Liebe. About your precious father.”
“My father?” The Italian asked suspicious, walking up to him. “What do you know?” She grabbed him by the collar. “Tell me what you know!”
The scientist hesitated for a moment. “The others must leave.”
She looked at them all. “Okay…but Giancarlo must stay.”
The other man, Karl and Fletcher walked out, waiting patiently. “Think they’re safe together?" Fairburne asked the other man.
“Why d’you think I took the blade?”
Then the door was thrown open and the woman stormed out and walked past them. “Better find out what he told her. Sofia!” Karl called out but she didn’t react before all three entered again, with the sniper looking at the German. “That’s quite a stench.”
Kessler just laughed. “Is this your interrogation technique? Ah, you don’t have to be a genius to know who’s going to win this war.”
“You’re, uh, quite sure of yourself, aren’t you?” Karl asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m unique. I’m of equal value to either side of this conflict. As such, I cannot be harmed.”
“There’s something you’re not telling us.” The sniper figured out.
“How perceptive of you, lieutenant. I’m dying. My liver is, uh, kaput. I’ll be lucky to see Christmas, let alone the end of the war.”
“Expect me to feel sorry for you?”
“I expect you to realize why it was so easy to kidnap me.” Kessler countered and Karl’s expression became slightly dark.
“Sofia’s father…”
“…Died many months ago.”
“You set us up. Dorfmann set us up.”
“Ah, all that effort and I’m of no use to you or the Fatherland. I am, uh – what’s the expression? – ‘a busted flush.’”
Fletcher wondered what Böhm had to do with this, yet suspected he might be a double agent. And he had heard of this Sofia. He had been told she was the leader of the local partisans, being called ”The Angel.”
He saw then how Karl walked over to the partisan called Giancarlo, who was coughing. “What’s happened?”
“She’s taken the others. All of them. There’s an interrogation block then miles from here…”
“Because of what Kessler said to her." Karl concluded.
“Her father, Karl. Kessler said her father is still alive.”
“Where is this place?”
“At Giovi Fiorini, to the north-east of here. Karl, the things they did to our people in that place, you cannot imagine-“
“Why did she trust Kessler?” The American wanted to know.
“The details…he knew too much about her father’s kidnapping, Karl. Plus…”
“What?”
“Sofia doesn’t trust you… the Green Knight or Weaver.” The Italian looked at the other man. She thinks you betrayed her, the OSS betrayed her father.”
“By not preventing the kidnapping. By…by not attempting a rescue.”
“Exactly.”
Karl gave him a pat on the shoulder and turned to Weaver, which Fletcher assumed was his superior. “Karl! The Partisans have done us a huge favor.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Kessler – he had told Sofia her father’s still alive and being held at an interrogation Block somewhere in Giovi Fiorini.”
“Rothbauer.” Fairburne figured out.
“You got it. This is the distraction we needed. We know Rothbauer and Böhm meet about a week ago. Rothbauer is, uh, Böhm’s confidant.”
“In my opinion high-up Nazis don’t talk – they’d rather swallow cyanide.” Karl replied.
“Rothbauer’s just a pawn. See what we need is evidence of Böhm’s plan.”
Karl nodded in response and turned to Fetcher. “Go ahead, I join you shortly.”
“Alright.”
After a few minutes, the two got onto a truck, driven by Giancarlo, bringing them to the town, yet Fletcher’s mind raced.
If there’s an interrogation block, Dinky, Katja and Blau might be there. I hope they aren’t… he dreaded to imagine, given Böhm’s reputation and what Giancarlo had been said, yet shook his head. No, stay positive.
As the truck reached the town, the two snipers jumped off. “You go for Rothbauer, I will create some distractions for you.” Karl said and Fletcher nodded.
The stallion sneaked his way through the patrols along the main road, having little trouble, also avoiding a PT boat in the water
Yet as he came at the end of the road, it split into two, the left way led to a Mansion, the other one into a wooden area with a bunker at the end. Which way do I go first?
An explosion in the town answered that for him, as troops out of the woods moved out to investigate it, hearing also gunfire, so he went for the bunker first.
Near a farmhouse, he saw that the gunfire came from a skirmish between Partisans and Jäger troops, do Fletcher decided to help the Italians and drew his bow.
Aiming at the four Jäger, he fired several arrows, all headshots, the Partisans looked around in confusion as the German soldiers fell dead to the ground.
“What happened to the others?” Fletcher asked
“We don’t know, we were cut off as the ambush started.” One of the Italians replied.
“Okay, get to a safe place.” The Partisans nodded and Fray continued on to the bunker, doing a scanning spell to locate enemies. To his luck, the spell showed only two enemies inside and a safe.
Knowing their location, he easily sneaked past them to the safe. As he couldn’t allow himself to alert them, he lit up his horn and cast a spell on the safe, The lock melted, allowing him to open it without a noise, fining a document inside of it.
Top secret
Subject:
HALTING THE AVALACHE
For the eyes of Major Klaus Rothbauer only.
Sighed by: Major Hans Dorfmann
On behalf of General Heinz Böhm
Böhm’s insignia. Looks I’ve struck gold.
Then he moved towards the Mansion he had seen, on a small elevation where he had a perfect view of it, noticing a convoy moving out from the building
Using his binoculars, the stallion saw a bald man with glasses in officer uniform, chatting with a soldier at a window. “The convoy is moving out, sir.”
“Excellent. The propaganda about the defeat of the local Partisans will discourage other resistance. Carry on.” The officer replied.
“Yes, sir.”
That must be Rothbauer. Fletcher saw a generator next to him and kicked it, causing it to spark loudly, like a backfiring car. Once the soldier left, the unicorn took aim and fired when the generator sparked, masking the shot. Blood splattered from Rothbauer’s head and he fell dead to the ground.
“Okay, that’s done. Now, to the town square to meet up with Karl.”
On his way there, he noticed 3 more explosions, two in the town, one in the woods, noticing that one of them was the convoy, only wrecks of the trucks were left.
Upon reaching a bridge overlooking the town square, he saw in shock how a few buildings were burning and the square was littered with bodies of Partisans, with a sniper overlooking everything from a balcony, but hadn’t spotted the pony yet.
Fletcher used this to teleport to the entrance of the building the Sniper was in, sneaking up the stars. He took notice of a few trip wire bobby traps, defusing them and once he was on the same level as the sniper, slit the German’s throat, then moving back as he saw that Karl was just arriving,
“A massacre…” The American commented with disgust as he looked at the bodies before they both reported to Weaver.
Giovi Fiorini – the town’s name will be forever associated with the massacre of the Allagran Partisans. They fought bravely by all accounts, but stood no chance against the German War machine. How could they? They’d walked directly into a trap. They couldn’t find Sofia, the Angel, amidst the carnage. But then, many of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. The Partisans hadn’t died in vain though…
Their sacrifice meant they’d been able to grab the intelligence they needed…Böhm knows about Operation Avalanche, the Allied plan to invade mainland Italy. If the fleet is attacked the results will be catastrophic…The Nazis’ grip on Europe will become ever tighter, squeezing the life out of her…
There’s something else. Something vital. USS Ancon is the command ship for Operation Avalanche. Which means the primary target is the Allied Commander-in-Chief-Böhm is going to kill General Eisenhower.
The strike will be launched from a base in the mountains of Allagra. With the Partisans wiped out, Dinelli’s mobsters are the only people capable of guaranteeing safe passage through the mountains.
Weaver is setting up a bombing run but it would be up to them to call it in.
In the end it comes down to this: They have to stop those missiles.
For Fletcher, it was also to save the kids, praying to Luna they hadn’t been transferred somewhere else, plus if those missiles would remain active and Avalanche failed, it would make his task a lot harder.
The mafia boss wished both the best of luck as the two got into a mail truck, driven by his mobsters, getting driven to an access point where they could climb up the mountain. Once on the top, both snipers stopped to catch their breath.
Barely having gotten up, the sound of tricks greeting their ears, seeing a convoy driving towards the base, giving Fletcher an idea. He lit up his horn and fired a spell on the road, the trucks started to slide out of control and crashed, creating a distraction, as a few of the guards, all Jäger troops, ran towards the accident.
Seeing that the main entrance was guarded by two pillboxes, the two snipers sneaked over the frozen lake to a side entrance, which was a small radio room, entering the base.
Two snipers were keeping watch on a catwalk up ahead, but luckily, a generator was next to the small entrance, so Karl kicked it and he with Fletcher used it to mask their shots before the enemy snipers could spot them, scoring a hit through the scopes.
It was cold, but it didn’t Fletcher in the slightest, his clothing and armor kept him warm enough.
Then two separated, with the American going for a technic room and Fletcher entered a bog storage room with a half-finished missile. The “Head” was open, exposing the electronics, so he pulled out some wires, causing sparks and leaving the missile useless. For the safety of the children, there shouldn’t be any left operational.
He then decided to check for other missiles, moving down the hallway which looked like a repairs shop for vehicles, a Halftrack and Panzer II were parked here, seeing a valve on the wall and realized something. A hydrogen peroxide plant... Must be how they’re fueling the missiles. Overloading them would show the bomber their target.
With that, he turned it and steam came out of, the pressure needle going in the red area. Just on the other side was another valve and he repeated the process. “Two done.”
Looking at a sign, he reading it showed the word “command tower”, so he sneaked his way towards it, coming to a catwalk with a sniper overlooking the area. He quickly killed him with an arrow to the head before the German could spot him, then overlooked the area.
Several train cars hinted it was a freight depot, seeing also three other half-finished missiles, with an officer and a squad of Jäger patrolling around.
On the other catwalk, he spotted Karl, having a suppressor on his rife and fired on a fuel barrel, the explosion took about the entire squad, leaving only the with shrapnel littered bodies.
This in return allowed the two to sabotage the other missiles by pulling the wires at the heads. “That’s all the missiles dealt with. I sabotaged another one in the factory, as well as found the technical data and strategy for them. And overloaded a valve. Only the centrifuge is left.” Karl explained.
“Good, let’s get this over with.” The Green Knight replied, he hadn’t seen any kind of cell in the entire factory, so he believed the kids or at least a hint about their whereabouts were in the command tower. “Have you found out anything about them?”
“No, it looks like they aren’t here.” Karl told with regret.
“Okay. It was worth a try.” Fletcher said in a slightly worried voice.
Fortunately, the centrifuge was just on the catwalk next to the command tower and Fletcher took the honor of pulling some wires, causing the plant to blow up in a gigantic explosion, leaving a big smoke cloud, and an alarm sounded, so both went to the radio in the tower to call in the bombers.
“Mother Hen, this is Red Fox, send your regards, I repeat, send your regards to Allagra…” Karl spoke as suddenly they heard a weapon being cocked.
“All I wanted was the Angel. I didn't know the Partisans would follow her to their deaths.” Dorfmann’s voice sounded with a chuckle, yet both didn’t turn around.
“Angels are difficult not to follow. They give people hope, even in the worst of times.” Fletcher replied calmly.
“Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man'- Friedrich Nietzsche.” Dorfmann countered with another chuckle.
“Sounds like he lacked for friends.” Fletcher replied and turned around, looking at the man. “General Bohm, I presume.”
“The worst terrors are shapeless, formless. If no-one knows who I am, I can be whoever I need to be. I can manipulate. I can avoid detection if need be. I can be a man...Or a monster...” The General explained with a cold voice.
“I'd say you're somewhere in between.” Fray eyed him and he grinned.
“It helps to be.”
“Oh believe me, I know. Dorfmann or Bohm?” The unicorn asked unimpressed, having seen it before.
“Ja, exactly.”
“Bohm. You can put a bullet anywhere you like but Kessler's ours and your facilities aren't making any more war machines for a while. It's over. Your work here is finished.” Fletcher pointed out yet the General smiled.
“That's for me to decide, Mr. Fray. You clearly underestimate our reach. Kessler will be dead before he's any use to the allies. And as for your little...erm...mischief, heh-heh...in the production facility, well...It's just too late.” In response, both snipers eyed him suspiciously.
“Ja, I'm going to start with the USS Ancon. The illustrious General Eisenhower. Very kind of you to bring his attention here, I must thank you profusely...for dooming your entire cause. I'll take the Allied fleet, ship by ship. Operation Avalanche will be extinguished before its even begun.” He paused. “See, if only this was enough…But, uh, it’s not.” He turned around and yelled, “Bring them in here!”
With a hint of anger, Karl and Fletcher saw how a group of soldiers brought in Sofia and the kids, forcing them on their knees, the woman looked up with a guilty expression, the kids had scared expressions.
“I failed. I failed them all. I failed my father.” She said in a defeated tone.
“We so sorry, Fletcher…” Dinky said in a sad tone, apparently blaming themselves for being fooled.
Böhm made a taunting tut sound. “Ja. See, there is no hope. No, not anymore. We’re going to torture them. Ja. And, uh you two going to watch” He laughed.
The kids flinched at the word of torture and it made Fletcher’s blood boil, but he stayed calm, tilting his head. You seem very proud of yourself. You know what comes after pride, don't you?” He asked and the man raised an eyebrow. “The fall.”
“All it takes is a spark.” Karl finished, looking at the Angel, who baled her fist, looking up to the General with anger in her eyes.
In the moment the German took aim again, Sofia lunged at him with a scream, struggling for the gun, the soldiers opened fire and both snipers slid behind a desk for cover, with Fletcher quickly teleporting the kids behind the desk too.
They saw hoe Böhm managed to gain the upper hand, grabbing Sofia by the throat and fired a bullet into her head at blank-point range. “General! Der Flieger!” One of his soldiers yelled and led him away.
The General let out a taunting laugh. “Abandon hope!”
Fletcher and Karl quickly took out the enemy soldiers with headshots, knowing there was no time to waste. “Are you hurt?” The unicorn asked with concern and the kids slowly shook their heads, looking in shock and grief at Sofia’s body. “We can grief later, we have to get you to safety.”
While being still in shock, Dinky and the siblings nodded, following Fetcher and Karl through the corridor as explosions and alerts sounded in the entire facility.
It led to a catwalk overlooking an airfield, with what looked like a jet plane preparing to take off. Böhm was ranting and gloating in a frenzy from a speaker in the plane, it’s gunner suppressing the snipers and forced all into cover as it rolled out of the hanger.
Yet both know they couldn’t fail and Fairburne shot one of the engines with his rifle, causing it to catch fire, but it seemed not to affect the plane at all.
Now, a few soldiers came out of the hanger, also firing, forcing Karl into cover again and Fletcher noticed how the Böhm was taking off. He knew Böhm couldn’t be allowed to succeed, so he took out of his bow and focused to fire an enhanced arrow.
He and Karl fired at the other engine simultaneously, scoring a direct it as it caught fire too.
In response, Böhm turned around and tried to land, but his plane crashed on the airfield in a giant fireball.
They all let out a breath of relief that it was finally over, looking at the wreck before again the sounds of engines greeted their ears, looking up into the sky.
Allied bombers closed in and Karl said, “Time to go…”
Just in the moment he had said this, an explosion concurred just in front of them as the bombers dropped their payload, and they ran before another explosion threw them over, crying in pain and everything went black.