Chapter 2 The Ghost of Tobruk
Chapter 2: The Ghost of Tobruk
At first, it was dark, very dark as Dinky woke up, nothing but sand. Katja and Blau Streifen were next to her.
“Where are we?” She asked the siblings.
“I don’t know but look!” Katja pointed to something in the distance. Smoke, no fire. It was the camp they were found by Konrad and Matteo.
They ran as fast as they could to it, what they saw horrified them.
Bodies tortured in the most gruesome way possible, hung up, the camp was burning.
“W-what’s that?” Blau Streifen saw something coming out of the fire. At first, the creature, looking like an insect but it was too dark to see it clearly, leaped out of the fire, landing on its legs that were at odd angles, the skin pallid, it looked like a unicorn but it resembled more an insect. Bright glowing eyes, a metal mask covered it’s head. Essentially, it looked very dead, like a zombie.
In a raspy voice, it laughed and screamed, “That was fun!”
The children wanted to run, but they were so scared that they froze on the spot. In a blink of an eye, the creature was in front of them.
“Hello kids. Tell me...how loud can you scream?” It’s horn lighted up and very sharp knives slowly rose up, pointing at them. They were too scared to say a word, holding each other for dear life.
“Well… Let’s...Find...Out...” They screamed as said knifes headed for their eyes.
They all woke up panting heavily, cold sweat on their faces.
Konrad and Matteo ran in, worried about their guests, their sidearms drawn, in case of intruders.
“We heard screams, everything alright?” The German asked worried.
As he and Matteo saw how the kids were trembling, they knew that their guests had a terrible nightmare. They holstered their weapons and comforted them.
Matteo walked up and to Dinky and hugged her, Konrad walked up to the siblings. “Shh, calm down, it was just a dream.” The kids slowly calmed down, falling asleep again.
The soldiers nodded at each other, getting their sleeping bags out of their tent and slept on the ground next to the children to make sure they wouldn’t have another nightmare.
Due their friendship, Konrad and Matteo knew each other well, so they sometimes only communicated with gestures and expressions.
They smiled sadly at the sleeping children before falling asleep again.
In the next morning, Konrad woke up and stretched himself, seeing that Matteo was already up and the kids still asleep. His heart melted as the siblings were cuddling in their sleep. He got careful up, not to wake them and to join his Italian friend for Breakfast.
The young unicorn woke up yawning, stretching herself. Dinky smiled as she saw that the siblings were snuggling in their sleep, she and Tootsie did that sometimes when having a sleepover, even Sparkler with her or with Tootsie.
Katja and Blau Streifen stirred in their sleep, letting out cute yawns as they blinked their eyes open.
“Good morning, sis.”
“Morning, brother.” They smiled at each other.
The young filly could understand that they didn’t mind it, given the situation they were in.
They both stretched themselves. “Let’s get ready for the day, shall we?” Dinky asked, even if she met them just yesterday, she already saw them as friends. The siblings nodded.
Katja opened the flap, causing them to cover their eyes from the beautiful morning sun. They took notice that the soldiers prepared the cylinders, placing red boxes next to them.
Matteo walked up to them. “Good morning you three, slept well?”
“Yes.” They replied in unison.
He smiled. “Glad to hear it. Follow me.”
He leaded them to the other side of the camp, where Konrad was sitting at a table in a tent, having bread as breakfast.
“Morning kids, I made you breakfast.” He pointed to some plates with bread and glasses of water.
“Thanks.” They couldn’t complain, they were glad to have something in their stomachs.
While they ate, the young German took notice of something. How can Blau Streifen and Katja be siblings? And why have they German names?
“If you don’t mind me asking, how comes that you are siblings?” He felt a little bit guilty about the question.
Answering his question, Blau Streifen eagerly replied, “Well, Daddy helped Mommy make us with magic!”
I don’t even question the logic behind this. The soldier thought, knowing that some things shouldn’t be researched further.
Before he could reply Katja quickly interjected, "No, they had-“ The young soldier quickly realized what she was about to say and to what it would lead, so he interrupted.
“It’s fine, I don’t need it so accurate. How did you get your names?” He asked to change the subject.
The human sister smiled. “Our father has German and Italian ancestry, so he wanted to give us German names to distinguish our names from other pony names.”
The young colt continued, “Yes. I’m called Blau Streifen as I was born at night and a comet was overhead. It was taken as a sign of a miracle. It was our father’s idea to give is German names but our mother picked for me the name Blau Streifen because of the comet overhead and ponies tend to like color and sugary names.”
The man’s heart melted. “A really nice idea, both names really suit you. What about you, Dinky?” The siblings lowered their heads blushing.
Dinky explained, “There isn’t much to tell. When I was born, I was small, smaller than other newborn foals, that’s how my mother named me Dinky. Dinky Doo.” She blushed.
“Suits you too. Morning Willy, how’s the head gear?”
“It’s done. I hope you like them.” He held two tan colored caps and a white square formed scarf in his hand. “The caps are for you, Dinky and Blau Streifen, while I thought of a shemagh for you, Katja.”
“A shemagh? What’s that?” she asked confused.
Konrad cleared his throat. “Well, it’s a traditional headdress that the people in North Africa and in the Middle East wear, provides protection from sunburn, dust and sand. Also, some of our and the allied soldiers wear it here. We thought it would suit you better than a cap.”
“Thank you.” The children putted their headgear on, the caps and the shemagh suited perfectly.
“Looks good on all three of you.” Matteo commented.
“Thanks for the compliment.” The shemagh covered most of Katja’s head, only her face was visible. Anyone would mistake her for a local, provided her unusually vibrant hair stayed out of sight.
“Oh, almost forgot, I also made this for you.” Willi was also holding two saddlebags, one in dark grey, the other in greyish-blue and a cream-colored backpack.
“I made the color suiting to your characters. The dark gray is for you, Blau Streifen, the other one for you, Dinky. The backpack is for you, Katja.”
“Nice. Why did you make them for us?” Dinky asked as she putted her saddleback on.
“For carrying supplies, food and water. I also putted a canteen in every bag, it’s important to counter the water loss through sweating, so drink a lot.”
“Uh-huh.” Dinky opened her bag with her magic, taking a sip of her canteen before putting it back into the saddlebag.
“If you don’t mind, how do you call those cylinders?” The colt pointed to one that was positioned near the tent they were in.
“That? We call it the Nebelwerfer.” Konrad explained.
“Fog thrower? What kind of name is that? How is that thing supposed to throw fog?” Blau Streifen wondered.
“It doesn’t throw fog at all. The name is a ruse, as the Treaty of Versailles didn’t allow owning heavy artillery but it said nothing about rockets. The Nebelwerfer is actually a rocket launcher, firing six high-explosive rockets. The name created was to fool observers from the League of Nations, who were observing any possible infraction of the Treaty of Versailles, into thinking that it was merely a device for creating a smoke screen.”
“Smart.” Katja commented.
“Yes. It can fire the rockets in 6 to 10 seconds and is very effective.”
An alarm sounded in the distance. “What’s going on?" Dinky asked startled.
“The second battle of Tobruk has begun. Come with me if you don’t believe me.”
They followed Konrad and Matteo to the cliff, the German had used yesterday to take a look at the city. Due the distance, everything that moved looked like ants, but they still recognized humans firing at each other, and metal boxes on tracks joined the fight, firing on the city, only to get destroyed by cannons with some kind of protective shield on them.
“Never saw something like this before.” Dinky spoke in awe yet fear.
“Neither did we.” The siblings spoke in union.
“Let’s go back.” The young Italian suggested and they headed back.
The children saw how the other soldiers loaded the Nebelwerfers by putting the rockets from the red ammo boxes into every single tube until all six tubes were loaded.
“You better cover your ears.” Konrad putted instinctively his hands over his ears, Matteo and Willi did the same.
Their young guests looked at each other wondering why.
The two soldiers that operated the Nebelwerfer crouched, covering their ears.
With a loud, shrill howling noise, the rockets got fired, the kids startled from the noise, covering their ears, also seeing that the rockets leaved long streak of smoke after being fired.
“My ears! Is this loud!” Blau Streifen slowly uncovered his ears.
“Yeah, the allies nickname it ‘Screaming Mimi’ due its distinctive screeches and it’s very effective in scaring and demoralizing them. The long streak of smoke reveals its position but up here, it is not a problem.”
“Let’s hope so.” The young girl didn’t want to imagine what would happen, should the enemy attack them here.
“Don’t worry, we protect you should they attack this camp.” Conti assured them with an honest expression.
“Appreciated. What could we do to help you?” Dinky asked ready to help in any way she could.
“I’m afraid not much. This camp is small, our orders are to barrage the enemy defenses to make it easier for our main attack force to break through. I suggest you get yourself a Shady place and play cards to pass the time, I don’t want that any of you get a Heat Stroke or a circulatory collapse in this heat.” Escher suggested, pointing to the tent where they had breakfasted.
He showed them the card game Mau-Mau, it was easy to understand and to play. He explained the rules, “Each of you gets a hand of cards. Whoever gets rid of all cards first wins the game. You can play a card if it corresponds to the suit or value of the open card. If you can’t play a card, you must one card from the stack.”
“I get it.” Dinky smiled.
“Okay, have fun!” He leaved with Matteo to do his tasks. The German did Maintenance work on the trucks, while Matteo checked how much supplies were left, at their tent, writing everything down on a notepad.
The children enjoyed the game, the tent was not near any of the 4 Nebelwerfers, so the noise didn’t bother them.
They were unaware that they got observed from the distance by someone
Two talking ponies, one a unicorn and a girl, here? Strange, but they pose no threat. I should distract them or sneak past them and if they see me, knock them out before they can raise the alarm.
Dinky finished first. “Mau-Mau!” she exclaimed, having getting rid of all her cards.
“Well played, Dinky. Who do you think will finish as second?” Blau Streifen asked with a smile.
Seeing that both siblings had the same number of cards, she replied, “I don’t know, keep playing and you will find out.”
Looking out of the tent, she could swear she saw some kind of glint in the distance. “Hm?”
“Something wrong?” Katja asked as she saw that Dinky’s horn glowed, forming a yellow circle.
“I thought I saw something. I’ll be right back.” She walked into the direction she had seen the glint, it had stopped but still, she wanted to be sure, the yellow circle still above her head. She walked back to the hill where they had seen the battle.
She looked around, but found nothing. “Must been my imagination.” Dinky spoke to herself, suddenly feeling a quick pain to the head and everything went black.
Katja and Blau Streifen still played, the game seemed not to end fast, both still had the same number of cards, neither of them had an advantage. Whenever one sibling could play a card, the action by the other caused him to draw a new card, it was a stalemate.
“Dinky’s taking long for just checking something.” Katja remarked.
“Yes sis, strange. I think we should check on her.” Her younger brother suggested with a hint of worry in his voice.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we inform Konrad and Matteo or one of the others?” His sister was against it, seeing it as too dangerous.
“Yes but they’re all busy. Maybe she’s hurt.”
“I got your point. We look after her but if she’s hurt, one of us gets Konrad or Matteo.” Katja suggested.
“Sure thing, sis.”
They both started to walk into the direction Dinky had left, wary and worried about their new friend, looking around.
“I check the cave, maybe she’s in there. Dinky, you’re alright?” The girl called out as she walked into the cave, her brother searched outside.
“Dinky! Where are you?” Blau Streifen looked around, gasping as he found Dinky.
She was lying on the ground, not moving, her cap tilted on her head. “Sis, come quick!”
Katja joined him as fast as possible after she heard her brother’s worried call.
“Oh my…” Is she hurt?”
While not being a medical expert, the young colt checked the unicorn filly for injuries, seeing only a slight bump on her head.
“Nothing serious, she seemed to hit her head on something.”
“Thank Celestia! Quick let’s get her back to the tent.”
“I was thinking the same!” Blau Streifen gently lifted the unconscious filly on his back, noticing something.
“Looks like she hit her head hard or someone hit her with something.” On further examination, the bump seemed to be created by a blunt weapon. “This means…There must be an intruder in the camp!” He exclaimed.
“One more reason to get back to the camp.”
In the moment they turned around, they spotted a quite tall man coming out of the shadow he was hidden from, having a muscular build, blue eyes and short brown hair, a small beard, and had a tan, wearing a yellow short sleeved shirt, brown cargo pants and brown combat boots. He also was wearing a pair of goggles around a scarf and had bandages wrapped around his hands.
In his hands was a rifle with a Scope attached to its left side, some kind of SMG on his back and an odd looking pistol in a holster.
They realized instantly that this man wasn’t a German soldier but said intruder as he charged at them, he saw that the yellow circles above their heads had changed to red.
Wanting to protect Dinky, they both took a defensive stance, Blau Streifen stood behind Katja.
Katja opened her mouth to scream as the attacker drew a knife, expertly-crafted, catching the sun as he spun it in his hand and raised it high. The girl tried to punch him, he grabbed her wrist with his left hand, blocking her attack, delivering a punch to her solar plexus, knocking the air out of the girl, causing her to gasp, dropping on her knees.
The attacker tossed the knife in his hand, catching it deftly by the blade, she looked up, it was the last what she saw before a quick pain to the head followed and her vision went black.
Blau Streifen had watched everything, shocked how fast and effective her sister got knocked out, he stared at the prone form of his sister, lying face-down in the sand.
The fearsome man was standing over her.
He knew running would be impossible, calling out for help too.
So, he took the only option. Defend himself and Dinky. A small red stain could be seen on the pommel of his knife. Seeing his sister getting hurt also enraged him. “You’ll pay for that!”
Quickly, yet gently, he dropped Dinky and charged at the intruder.
The last thing he saw was the rifle’s butt before everything went black for him too.
Stats
Page generated in 0.017 seconds
Total duration
802 users online
1,203,383 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Somethin' Spooky Goin' On!
You should probably introduce this guy first. He just seemed to pop up.
Soldiers these days! What happened to 'hello' and 'how are you?'
I know it's war but that's no excuse to be rude.
8343174
Yes, I used your dream idea. I se what I can change for Willi and the intruder, he needed to be quiet, he coudn't risk that his cover gets blown, can you blame him for that?
You certainly love your Crossovers, don't you?
Don't worry, so do I.
8343248
I do love it. It's actually the only kind of stories i can write.
Not really had a chance, they are just kids.
8344568
Yes, do you like the colors for their gear?
8344581
Yes I do.
8344587
Glad to hear it
Will this story contain Operation torch?
8347006
No, I had planned that is is set in 1942 entirly. But the sequel I have planned would be set in Italy 1943
Despite the explanation you gave, I'm still a little confused about the yellow and red circles.
11566169
its a gameplay elemnent from sniper elite 3, build into the story as a joke. If an enemy spots you or is drawn to investigate a noise but has not yet fully identified you, you see a yellow circle above his head (that fills once starting to see you) but fils from yellow to red when fully alerted and about to attack you. Like metal gear with the question and exclamation mark