//------------------------------//
// 1943: Who Dares, Wins 
// Story: Danger Zone 
// by Lt Rainbow Slash 
//------------------------------//



0743 HOURS
9 SEPTEMBER, 1943
17 KILOMETERS SOUTH OF NAPLES

Daring Do sat with her legs hanging off the edge of the Lynx Helicopter as it skimmed across the waves of the Meditrotanean. She cradled her Austeyr as the wind whipped around her. She looked to see several other Lynxes flying in formation carrying the remainder of her SAS company. At the head of the formation were two Equestrian Apache Mk.1 Gunships. The big ugly helicopters were a godsend for Daring. They had destroyed entire armoured columns on multiple occasions and saved her company more than once.

The company had originally appeared in North Zebrica in the Sahara. That had been three years ago in 1940. They had fought all the way back and forth across the desert with the Equestrian Eighth Army. Then after victory there they had joined the force invading Sicily. Now they were invading Trotily itself. She had no doubt that they would soon be pulled out to take part in the D-day landings. But until then they had to fight.

Her orders were to move in as the first wave landed and secure the important road junctions at Castell Ammare and Nocera, just north of the landing beaches to stall expected Germane counterattacks. The mountainous terrain made these roads even more important. She had decided to split up her four platoons, two to each objective. She would be joining the troops at Castell Ammare di Stabia while her second in command Sergeant Major Sunset Shimmer would have command of the two platoons at Nocera. Sunset was a good leader, and had one of the most brilliant tactical minds Captain Do had ever seen. She trusted her 2IC to get the job done.

"Five minutes!" bellowed the Co-pilot over the radio. Daring nodded to herself and looked back to see the other nine soldiers crammed into the helicopter. They all had serious looks on their faces, ready for the fight that was to come. Down below the shore rose from the waves taking the shape of a large mountainous peninsula. Soon after the formation passed low over a few small villages, and one much larger town. Daring looked at her Tacpad she wore on her left foreleg and pulled up the map. A few seconds of looking over it revealed a name. Sorrento. That meant they were very close to their objective.

At that point half the formation, five Lynxes including Daring's and one of the Apaches, peeled off to head for Castell Ammare along the coast. Then Gunship sped off ahead to clear the landing zone.

"Thirty seconds!" Came the Co-pilot again. Daring did her last checks making sure her gear was secure and her weapon loaded. She flicked off the safety. She had chosen one of the most risky plans she could have.

She could have had them land outside the town and enter from there, but that risked alerting any defenders and giving them time to prepare. So Daring had decided to have the choppers drop them off directly onto several roofs and the town square, and take any Germanes completely by surprise. The downside was that if there was even a single AA in the area they would lose at least one helicopter. Intel had said there were no AA guns in the area, and that the nearest Germane unit was at least thirty kilometers north so Daring had taken that risk. As the Lynxes began to fly over the small town it seemed to have paid off.

"Ten seconds! Pegasi go go go!" The Co-pilot yelled. It was standard procedure for any pegasi to glide down as a chopper landed to take up defensive positions, just in case. Daring pushed herself out of the Lynx as the pilot flared in for landing in the town square. She extended her wings and glided down to take a position to cover the area. She took cover behind a merchant's stall. Daring was greeted by a dozen Trotalian Ponies staring in awe at her and the helicopter. 

The Lynx settled down and the rest of the squad disembarked. "Private Script! Get your arse over here!" Daring ordered, using her short range radio to be heard over the Lynx' spinning blades. A second later a green earth pony came running over, "What do you need Captain?"

Daring pointed to the civilians nearby, "Ask them were Jerry is would you?"

"Yes Captain." He said before turning and speaking to the ponies in their native language,  "Mi scusi. Potrebbe dirmi dove i tedeschi sono?"

One of them seemed to think for a second before she began to reply. The Script began conversing with her. Daring looked around, knowing her translator would do his job. The squad had taken positions around the square while the Lynx had already taken off beginning its long flight back to Sicily. Deciding now would be a good time to check in she activated her radio.

"Havoc one-six and two-six, this is Havoc six. Status?" She said.

"Six, this is one-six, good to go." Came the voice of Lieutenant Gilda Stormwing, the griffon leader of first platoon. Another voice, that of Lieutenant Night Glider piped up, "Six, two-six. Ready to rock!"

Satisfied her platoons were in good working order, Daring turned back to Script who was waiting for her to finish. "Ma'am," He started, "The townsponies say the Germanes haven't been by for a while. Last they heard there was a Panzer Grenadier Regiment just to the North in Naples. Just like intel said."

"Good." Nodded Daring before she keyed her mike, "Two-six and one-six, this is six. Get your ponies together and head to the North edge of town. Set up defensive positions covering any likely approaches." She turned off her mike and turned to Script, "And I want you to tell the villagers to find somewhere safe. This town is about to become a war zone."

Script nodded and galloped off. The other SAS soldiers were being directed by her two EllTees. A few minutes later found most of the SAS troops set up in buildings overlooking the highway that ran into town from the North.

A minute later found Daring on a rooftop on the edge of town looking North. The only landmark was the road, the rest was literally just ashes. Prior to the landings the Air Force had dropped napalm on seven locations up and down Trotily. Five were at random locations simply to make sure that the Germanes weren't tipped off. The other two were to make the towns of Castell Ammare and Nocera better defensive positions. Fifty meters out of town the devastation began. It stretched almost a kilometer north all around the edge of town. Where there had once been rich farmland and vineyards was now a black burnt landscape. Daring felt bad for the Trotalians lost crops but the fact in the matter was that any Germane moving on the town would be spotted easily.

Daring looked back see the two platoon's Javelin anti-tank teams set up, ready to engage any hostile armour, while a sniper team had set up in the church spire off town square. Satisfied her troops were ready Daring set out to find Sergeant Wavelength, her radio pony.

She had a fairly beefy radio on her back already, but it was more of a medium power meant for shorter range communication with her Platoons. Wavelength's was for keeping in touch with other units much further away. She found him with the other four ponies of her command squad in a nearby house she had chosen as her command post. He was listening in to the chatter from the landing force.

"Oi! Wavelength!" She shouted to get his attention. He pulled off the radio's headphones as she approached. "G'day Cap! What d'ya need?"

"Get in touch with Tallmare," she ordered using High Command's chosen Callsign, "Tell them we have taken Objective Alpha. Negative contact."

"Yes Ma'am!" He replied before slipping his headphones back on and setting to work.

Daring began heading out again when her radio crackled to life, "Havoc Six, this is Vulture." Vulture was the callsign for the Apache that was supporting them. She could see the chopper actually sitting on the ground atop one of the peaks five or so kilometers to the South. They had landed to conserve fuel until they were needed. She had no doubt that the Apache's high powered infrared surveillance systems could spot anypony advancing on them from kilometers away.

"Go ahead Vulture." She replied.

"Six I have eyes on a column of vehicles moving down Stranglehold to your position." It took daring a second to remember what 'Stranglehold' was code for. Then she realized that it was the highway that came from the North. "Shit." She muttered to herself. 

"Got it Vulture. Stay where you are. Wait for my go." She ordered even as she began jogging towards the forward positions.

"Wilco. Vulture out."

Daring flapped her wings and shot off even as she began talking on her radio, "All stations this net be advised, hostiles are moving on our position. Prep for contact." She flew up to the tall church spire and slipped in through a window. Two ponies lay prone inside looking north. One was a female unicorn levitating AW50F anti-materiel rifle while the other was a male earth pony. As Daring entered he turned to look, "'ello Captain."

"Crosswind, Surefire." Daring addressed the two. She trotted over and lay down off to Crosswind's right, "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." He replied turning back around and bringing a pair of electronic binoculars, or EBinos to his eyes, "Essy here thinks she spotted a Jerry. Won't take her eye off her scope."

"Shut up Cross! I'm trying to concentrate." Surefire muttered. 

Crosswind let out a good natured chuckle at his partner. Daring meanwhile slipped off her Austyer's strap and lay the assault rifle beside her. She pulled a pair of EBinos out. They were an extremely useful tool, able to display from ten times to a hundred times zoom, infrared, night vision, and act as a laser designator and rangefinder.

Daring brought them up to her eyes. In the center was a small red reticle, while a red set of numbers on the right side showed her the range. She quickly looked down to the first layer of buildings in town. A quick glance at the range and a mental estimation gave her a distance of about a hundred meters behind where the firing line was. With that in mind she began running her rangefinder down the road until she came to a point that was about seven hundred meters outside town. That would be her killzone. When the enemy reached there she'd order them to open fire. Not too far that the rifleponies with their Austyers couldn't hit, but not too close to minimize the enemy threat. 

The best part was that they kitted out depending on the mission. If they were infiltrating, SMGs were the name of the game. For assault, Daring usually had them kit out mostly with Austyers. But if she knew it was going to be a mostly defensive operation she made sure every fireteam of four had at least one F89 Minimi Light Machine Gun. Many fireteam leaders had opted for two.

Crosswind was obviously having similar thoughts as he surveyed the troops below. "Holy Hay Cap. Isn't a dozen LMGs a bit overkill?"

Daring smirked and lowered her binoculars to look over at him, "Corporal, a very wise pony once told me that 'Nothing says, 'Fuck you!' like over a dozen LMGs spitting supersonic lead at over one thousand rounds per minute.' And you know what? He was bloody well right!"

Crosswind chuckled as he went back to looking through his EBinos. Daring grinned to herself. Her short range radio squawked into her ear, "Six, Wavelength."

Daring quickly replied, "Send it Wavelength."

"Six, we just got a message from Tallmare. Radio intercepts indicate the 3rd battalion of the 34th Panzergrenadier Regiment is moving on our position with a company of panzers, with the remainder of the Regiment following in an hours time. They also indicate there has been no mention of us yet. They are moving to combat the landings but have no idea we are here."

"Got it." Daring answered, "Six out."

She turned back and flipped her EBinos into infrared and scanned the road again. This time she spotted something. She zoomed in to reveal the enemy column. The district white silhouettes of two Germane Panzer IVs were leading. "Havoc one-six and two-six, this is six." She began.

"One-six here." Came Gilda. "And two-six, send it." Night Glider checked in a second later.

Daring's plan formulated in her head and she quickly began issuing orders, "One-six, two-six. Tell everypony to hold fire as the enemy approaches. They are not to fire until the javelins impact. Two, I want your Jav team hitting the front Panzer. One you take the second one. The Javelin teams are not to fire until you give the order and you aren't to give the order until I give you orders to engage. Copy?"

"One copies.""Two copies." The two Lieutenants reported. Satisfied Daring turned to Crosswind, "Crosswind, Surefire." The two looked to her, "I need you to put a nice little fifty cal surprise through the last truck's engine block when the javelins fire. Got it?"

"You can count on us Ma'am." Nodded Surefire.

And then all she could do was wait. Daring tracked the convoy as it snaked down the coast road. She had initially spotted it three kilometers out according to her rangefinder. As they closed to less than fifteen hundred meters she switched the infrared off. The grey panzers kept motoring down the road. Now that they were closer she could see the entire column. As she had already seen, two Panzer IVs lead. Behind them were four half-tracks followed by twelve trucks.

Daring felt herself begin to sweat with anticipation. She watched as the first tank passed the rock beside the road she'd chosen as the outer boundary. Then the next and the next. "Anytime Daring…" Muttered Crosswind. As the sixth vehicle passed the rock she activated her radio, "Fire!"

It took a good seven seconds for Gilda and Night to relay her orders, but Daring had known there would be a delay. After those seconds there were the loud sounds of two Javelins firing. She watched as the ATGMs flew up about a hundred feet before curving back down and  slamming through the weak top armour of the tanks. One simply exploded while the other drove off the road and ground to a halt. Just after the impacts there was the crack of a high powered rifle as Surefire fired into the last truck's engine block, and somehow managed to kill the driver in the process. Likely with shrapnel Daring mused as she watched the carnage unfold through her binoculars.

The convoy had been moving at a good thirty kilometers an hour. The stricken driver of the truck slumped over on the wheel and apparently jammed the steering hard right. The truck flipped on its side and slid a bit, completely blocking the road. And then all hell broke loose. Seventeen LMGs opened up spraying down the convoy, accompanied by two dozen assault rifles. Daring could see Germane soldiers trying to clamber from the trucks only to be cut down. Another ATGM flew from the Equestrian lines and blew up one of the half-tracks. She spotted a Germane pegasus fly out from one of the trucks and dive behind the only cover available: a charred tree trunk.

Just as she was about to point him out to Crosswind, Surefire's rifle barked. Still looking at the trunk Daring watched in morbid fascination as it splintered. Then the Germane fell around the side, dead. She shook her head in amazement at the huge rifle's power. 

Soon after the firing petered out. The entire convoy lay silent. It had been only a minute and thirty seconds from her order to the destruction before her. She blew out a breath. "Holy shit." Muttered Crosswind, "Now that was a bloody curb stomp."

"Yeah." Was all Daring could say.




"Vulture! This is Havoc six!" Daring yelled as she watched eight Panzer IVs accompanied by infantry charged across the blackened no-pony's-land.

"Send it Havoc." It had been four hours since the first convoy had been ambushed. The Germanes were trying their damnedest to get into the town and force them out. Surefire's rifle barked again beside her.

"I need Hellfires on those Panzers on my right flank ASAP! I'm designating one for you!" She transmitted as one of the tanks took a javelin and stopped. Seven left. More gunfire came out of the town and drove most of the infantry into what cover they could find. The Panzers however kept coming. She kept her EBinos trained on one of the tanks.

"Copy," Was the reply followed by a short pause, "On the way! Ten seconds!"

Daring watched as the tanks kept coming. She watched another blow up from a javelin in her peripherals. Six left. Then there was the sound of a rocket as the Hellfire whizzed past the church spire and smashed into the Panzer, easily punching through its armour. The tank ground to a halt smoking. Five left.

"Vulture inbound hot." Daring looked off to her right to see the Apache winging in on the tanks. The Hydra rockets flew off the aircraft rapid fire. One panzer was hit, then a second and a third, and a fourth. One left. Then the tank disappeared behind the buildings of the town accompanied by a small group of infantry. 

"SHIT!" Exclaimed Daring smashing her hoof into the floor. She was about to get on the radio to order a squad to hunt them down when the tank, still barreling trough town pulled up to the square below with its infantry riding. Daring immediately grabbed her rifle from where it lay and leaned out to start shooting. She fired five quick semi auto shots at one of the Germanes below, dropping her as they scattered for cover. And then help arrived.

A big green Leopard 2 came hauling ass down the road from the beaches. It crushed two of the running infantry before slamming on the breaks as the Panzer IV fired at it. The round simply bounced off the Leopard before it spun its turret and returned the favor, pumping a round straight through the Panzers frontal armour. A moment later a bunch of Equestrian infantry came galloping up. A brief firefight followed with most of the Germanes quickly surrendering.

Daring let out a sigh of relief and spread her wings. She glided down to the square and landed atop the Leopard's turret. A second later the hatch opened and the tank commander popped out. The purple unicorn smirked at her friend, "'Not one will get past our lines,' my ass!"

"Oh shut up Twilight!" Daring said to her fellow Captain. Then the two burst out laughing. When they calmed down Daring opened up one of her pouches on her combat webbing and handed over some money, "You win this bet Twi." Chuckled Daring, "Thanks for the save by the way."

"No problem." Twilight grinned back, "Now lets move! The Colonel wants us in Naples by sun down!"

"Right behind you mate!"