//------------------------------// // Chapter X: Attack on Horseshoe Bay // Story: World War Equestria // by brony at war //------------------------------// Chapter X: 'A Date That Will Live in Infamy' PFC Frank Johnson United States Marine Corps USS Missouri September 1, 1003 0832 hours "When you guy's think we'll be going home?" "Ahh, probably when we finish kicking Hitler's ass." I responded to the sailor, keeping my eyes shut as I remained prone on my bunk. "We're used to fighting Japs though, not Krauts." he commented. "Wonder how different it'll be." "Can't be that different." Gunnery Sergeant Mike Ransom said, walking into the quarters and hanging his rifle on his bunk. "A human's a human. All ya got to do is point a gun at them and shoot." "Morning Gunny." I said from my position, finally opening my eyes and turning my head to see him lying down on his own bunk. "Enterprise and Tuscaloosa went out last night." he said. "We'll be headed out on patrol with the Cleveland and Denver tomorrow." He opened up a magazine and started flipping through it, looking for God-knows-what. "You going to get breakfast?" "Nah." one of the sailors replied. "I'm headed down to the gedunk for something sweet." "Well, I'm going to the mess." I said, standing up. Almost immediately, I was thrown to the deck by a large, nearby explosion. "What the hell?" "What the fuck was that?" "Shit that hurt." The last one was me as I picked myself up off the deck, clutching my head where it had hit the metal bedpost. Over the intercom, the general quarters alarm began to blare in unison with air raid sirens from shore. General quarters, general quarters! All hands, man battle stations! This is not a drill! General quarters! "Not this shit again." I burst out of the ship's belly onto the deck, wearing nothing but my t-shirt and underwear, like almost everyone else on board. Belowdecks had been hell getting through, with flames and water blocking the easiest routes up. Now that I was on deck, though, I got a good look at the reason for the commotion. Everywhere, Nazi aircraft roared overhead, bombs screamed, machine guns fired, and explosions boomed. I rushed over to a blazing fire next to one of the five-inch guns and grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher, smothering the fire before it could ignite anything else. "Johnson, get on that gun!" I ran over to the gun that Mike was pointing at, sliding into the restraints and cocking back the bolt. I saw a torpedo-armed Stuka making for the ship and set my sights on it. As I prepared to fire, another explosion knocked me to the deck and I looked up to see another Stuka speeding away. "Where the fuck these guys come from!?" someone yelled, panicking as he struggled to get up. I opened fire on a wing of German planes diving down on the ship, bringing one down before they dropped their loads. "Incoming!" Bu-booom! A bomb hit the starboard side of the ship, out of sight, but the deck still shook violently as I helped the sailor up. "Come on man, hop to it!" "Jesus Christ man, we're gonna die! We're gonna fucking die!" He ran belowdecks through a nearby hatch, unable to take the strain. I reloaded the gun as another wing of torpedo bombers went for the nearby Cleveland, which was already listing to port as every single one of her guns blazed away. As I watched, the five torpedo bombers dropped their payloads and peeled off. The area was silent for a moment, then a massive fireball erupted from below the Cleveland's bow, tearing the ship open and sending heat and debris over the Missouri, even from this distance. "My God, they've sunk the Cleveland!" someone yelled. I watched in horror as the light cruiser's hull slowly went down, flames pouring from her mangled bow gun battery. Sailors in orange Mae Wests were jumping from the ship and swimming frantically away only to be shot up by German fighters. I finally noticed that we were still under attack, and opened up again on another wing of bombers in the air. Men were yelling in pain everywhere, but no one dared stop fighting to help them. The Cleveland's fate seemed to have re-energized us, putting more fight into our tired and shocked bodies. The deck began to tremble, not so much violently as it was steady and familiar. A low hum began to permeate the air as the battleship slowly began to move, her bow turning towards the exit of the bay. "Yes!" a nearby sailor hooted, the rest following suit. We slowly picked up speed, a destroyer escort off our side as the German aircraft continued to bombard us, though the combined firepower of the battleship and the destroyer put a heavy blanket of protection over us. As we neared the harbor exit, the German aircraft began to disperse, headed out to sea. I could imagine the captain was pleading with command to go after the enemy fleet that had to be out there, but the ship couldn't take straight-up combat in her condition. As the last of the German craft fled, Gunny came over to stand by me, looking towards the wrecked ships in the harbor. "That's twice that's happened to us." I said, disgruntled. "We weren't expecting them to have a carrier, I guess." Gunny replied, wiping his brow. "C'mon. We've got wounded." I nodded and the two of us started to go around and administer aid to the injured men on deck. Veirville-de-sur-Mare, Occupied Prance Francois Baguette stayed silent as he heard the humans stomp around upstairs. The baker had heard the stories, which accounted for the disappearance of many of the village's pegasi like himself. He heard shouting and was able to tell what the soldiers were saying, thanks to his study of Germane. "Hans, bring me that crowbar! There is a door here!" Too late, he realized just which door the man was talking about as he was suddenly bathed in light. "There's one. Get him!" Francois was dragged out of the cellar and was put in some type of restraint that held his wings to his side and kept him from flying away. He saw a human come up to him with a deathhead on his collar and bared his teeth at him before something hit his head and all went black.