A Black Sun Rises

by Bronycommander

Chapter 10: Familiar faces

Chapter 10: Familiar faces

Bitanti, the hometown of Matteo. Fletcher and his young friends still remembered how they had been told the Germans had been forced out of here.

“Well, here goes nothing. Careful.” Travers warned and they slowly moved towards the town, expecting enemy patrols in the town, but what they actually saw, was surprising.

Civilians, doing their daily tasks as if the war wasn’t there, looking cheerfully at the two Americans as they spotted them. “The Allies have arrived!” One of them shouted and they all welcomed the two soldiers, together with the knight and children.

“No, no, the main force is still on its way, we just got separated as we tried to bring those civilians to safety. “Kish explained and the citizens of Bitanti slowly nodded.

“I see. Well, you are welcome to stay until the Main force arrives. Your caretaker is welcome too, children.” One of the citizens said to them.

It turned out the citizens still remembered Dinky, Katja and Blau, giving them food and shelter, also welcoming Fletcher, having heard of his actions as the Green Knight while he had been searching, not bothered at all by his German accent.

Still, Dinky and the siblings were worried about how Matteo would be seen by his fellow citizens and neighbors, but they were told he was actually valued and loved by them due to his friendly behavior and his neutral view of the duce. And despite having thrown out the Germans, they didn’t hate Konrad and his squad mates, as they had been always shown a goodwill, compared to their comrades.

Around noon, the main force arrived, and the kids saw an elder man with Fairburne looking at the Angel statue near the church. “They did it without us. The Townsfolk.” He commented impressed. “Pushed ‘em out before we even got here.

“All it took was a spark,” Karl replied with a slight smile.

“Talking of which, I apologize our escape was so tight, children, but I’m glad to see you’re okay.” The man said to the kids, who just nodded.

“You could have given us a bit more leeway,” Fletcher replied to Weaver.

“I wish I could have done that, but we are utterly expandable,” Weaver told with regret in his voice as Fairburne looked at Kessler sitting in a jeep, guarded by a member of the military police.

“Not like your man there.”

“The Professor hasn’t got long left. Trust me, though, we’ll squeeze what we can out of him. More to the point, er…What about you, Karl? What you gonna do?” Weaver wanted to know. “The man who saved Eisenhower.” He chuckled.

“OSS could sure need someone with your talents.”

“That sounds like a job offer.”

“Doesn’t it though?” Waver asked in return.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Sure thing.” They both shook hands ad Weaver got into the driver seat of the jeep. “Don’t think about it too long – We got a war to win!” Then he turned to Fletcher. “And Eisenhower sends his gratitude for your help.”

“I did only what I had to do to keep my young friends safe.” Fletcher waved a hoof before Waver waved back and drove away.

“Well, we have to go too, see you and good luck,” Travers said before he, Kish and Fairburne walked away.

The four watched after them until they were out of sight and Dinky sighed. “What should we do now?”

“Say hello to an old friend, perhaps?” A British voice greeted them and they turned around, seeing a British soldier smiling at them. They recognized him.

“William!” The three children exclaimed happily and rammed into him for a hug.

“I’m happy to see you too, children. And surprised to see you again. Same for you, Fletcher.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Is the family doing well?” He asked with a smile of his own.

“As well as can be. I don’t mind hearing how you ended up here, but the unit I belong to isn’t staying long, we prepare to move on. And it would be too dangerous to take you with to the front.” He told with regret.

“It’s fine. We can stay here.” Fletcher replied. “The last attempt to get us out of Italy, as you see, ended in a failure.”

William’s expression became a weak smile. “But it’s a relief you are still alive. And there’s always a second try. I could arrange that.” He offered and they all nodded.

The moment he walked towards an officer wearing a red Barret, the children took notice of a US truck pulling up and a few soldiers jumped out. One of them was of the same build as the father of Katja and Blau, also matching the blue eyes and brown hair, appearing to be in his early 20s at first, yet could be older and they remembered the photo from the Olympics.

Blau saluted him as he grabbed a box of ammo and walked towards them. “Hello, sir.”

The American took a step back in surprise in shock, staring for a moment, before slowly smiling. “Ah, hi there.”

“I see you just met them, old chap. Those are Fletcher Fray and his three young friends, I told you about. Dinky, Blau Streifen and Katja.” William said to him and he looked at him dumb folded.

“You…mean to say….” William nodded. “Okay…And I thought…” He mumbled before shaking his head. “Nevermind.”

The Captain waved a hand. “It’s fine. Can you load the ammo, I have to discuss something with the Major and Captain MacKay.”

“Sure thing.” The US soldier replied and Hill walked away, towards a few officers chatting to each other “I’m Private Christopher Robin Ford.” Then he gave the siblings a slightly confused look. “How can you be siblings?”

Answering his question, Blau Streifen eagerly replied, “Well, Daddy helped Mommy make us with magic!" Fray’s eyes went wide as he realized how this would end.

Before Fletcher could even reply, Katja quickly interjected, "No, they had sex!"

"Kids..." –Fletcher spoke up but was not heard

"Nu uh! It was magic! Daddy and Mommy said so! Also, what is sex?" The colt asked, having no clue

"It's where Mom and Dad...do something. I dunno, Fletcher how does that work?” Katja asked the unicorn. “I heard my grandma say that once but she didn't explain."

Fletcher face hooved while Pvt. Christopher's eyes went wide as saucers, with a confused Dinky sitting on her haunches trying to make sense of the scene before her.

"KIDS! Enough! It's quiet time, pick your things and follow Pvt. Ford." Fletcher raised his voice and Ford waved his hand

"Christopher is fine."

"What he said! Enough of this! Let's go!"

The brother and sister lowered their heads, afraid of upsetting the stallion adult, while Dinky trotted up to Christopher and whispered, "What’s sex?"

Rolling eyes, he replied, "Puzzle that confuses youngin's like you. You won't know all the pieces until you get older, and I ain't tellin ya!" He yelled, sounding slightly frustrated.

With a look of puppy eyes and lowered ears, Dinky tried to plea with the Private, "But-"

"Nope! No way kiddo! Ask your mom, not me."

With a cute pout on her face, Dinky trotted up to the siblings to help carry the supply load.

"I need a cheeseburger. I'm here to fight, not babysit....damn war...." Ford mumbled and Fletcher had to shake his head.

Ohh...great...now that old memory pops up where I asked my parents what sex was.

Nevertheless, they did their tasks as told and William came back to them. “Okay, I got ordered my Major Blackmore to get you on a plane to England. Christopher, you will accompany us.”

“What? Why?” The private asked in surprise.

“Orders by your Captain.”

Ford sighed. “Fine.”

“Hey, see it from the right side. You avoid getting shot and they are quite a company to enjoy.” As William said this, the three kids smiled with innocence and the American could swear he saw halos above their heads.

The two Allied soldiers led them to a truck and Blau mumbled, “I hope this ends well, not like last time.” He shivered at the thought and William patted him.

“Don’t worry, recon did a double check after we heard what happened and the Luftwaffe is pretty much defeated in the area, so we should have no trouble.”

“I hope you’re right.” The colt replied with a weak smile.

It was a quiet ride until they reached the Airfield. Once on the plane, Fletcher and the kids told William about how they ended up here.”

“Awfully sorry to hear that, but It’s nice to hear Konrad is well and he earned his promotion.” Ford nodded with a barely noticeable smile.

“And what about you?” Dinky asked him.

He shrugged. “Not much to tell, I served under the famous Desert Rates in Africa. After the Axis were defeated, I got transferred with Cutting and Duffy to the British 3rd Battalion, also called ‘Boudica's Boys.”

“Uh-huh. And what about you, Christopher?” Katja asked him.

“Able Company. There isn’t much to tell. As America entered the war, I wanted to do my part. I may be a private, but I fought in Africa before, so I am experienced. At the start, it was hard for me, due to having German and Italian ancestry, but I made my point.” He told them a neutral expression.

“I can’t imagine it’s easy to fight your fellow countrymen,” Dinky said with unease in her voice.

“No, it isn’t. But I do what I have to, to end this war. I make sure it’s quick and painless.” He replied, sounding uneasy about it, which was understandable.

Yet this was very awkward and confusing for the siblings. He was a relative of their father’s family. Could they affect their own history? Their existence? It was a difficult thought, something they feared, looking at each other with unsure expressions.

Clang!

A loud metal clang sounded and the plane rumbled causing Fletcher to yell, “What the hay?!”

“Enemy AA gun!” One of the pilots yelled, the kids saw black clouds around the plane, hugging Fletcher tightly as they remembered what had just happened recently. He did the same, trying to calm them down, the two soldiers held on tightly as the plane was rumbling more.

“Stuka, three o clock!” Ford yelled and they looked out of the window, seeing said plane strafling them, the bullets missing them by inches as Fletcher cast his shield spell before an explosion sounded.

“Right engine caught fire!” One of the pilots reported and the passengers saw the smoke of the engine and they saw the German fighter-bomber turning around for another run, firing again, turning the plane into a sieve and it started to drive.

The children screamed and the two men tried to get to the cockpit but the high g-forces made their vision blurry and everything became black.

---

Their heads ached as William and Christopher came to, hearing a shriek. It took then only seconds to come back to their senses and scrambled into the cockpit seeing that both pilots were dead, as their heads were bloodied and they both attempted to stabilize the plane by pulling up, despite having little experience in flying.

“Come on!” The American screamed as they barely succeeded, just moments before hitting the ground. “That was close.” He said in relief, turning around to see that Fletcher and the kids were still unconscious. Their plane was in pretty bad shape, bullet holes almost everyone, barely keeping in the air. Overall, it was a miracle it was still flying.

“Hey look!” The Brit yelled and pointed to their left side, seeing how the Stuka pulled alongside them, with the German Pilot making hand signals and they understood quickly what he tried to do.

He wanted them to land, by escorting them to a nearby airfield. But that would mean, the kids and Fletcher would end up in a Lab of Germany or worse, something both Allied soldiers knew couldn’t be allowed to happen, so they just focused on keeping the plane into the air.

Yet the pilot stayed with them, flying in formation beside them. They couldn’t tell for how long until the pilot with his co-pilot saluted and flew off.

“Nobody will believe this…” Ford mumbled in disbelief.

“Righto, but we are still alive and most importantly, they are,” Hill replied as he looked at his four friends. “This pilot just saved all our lives.”

---

“Ugh…We’re still alive?” Fletcher mumbled as he came to, looking around. He and the kids appeared to be in a field hospital, they were also waking up, just as Ford and Hill walked in, having relieved expressions.

“Yes, the same pilot who attacked us, granted us mercy, allowing us to get back to the ground in one piece.” William explained, “Unfortunately, we now have no other choice but to take you with us.” He added with regret in his voice.

Fletcher weakly smiled. “It could have been worse. What’s your objective?”

“To capture the town of Elio-Gabalo. It’s an important supply point for the enemy, connecting their controlled territory with the south we have liberated. In order to have to have a good position to move in, we capture a nearby hill.” Christopher took the word.

“Gear up, men, we are moving out!” One of the officers yelled and both men saluted. Dinky and her three friends noticed that William was saluting with his palm facing outwards before they helped to load up some gear.

“Your hear what happened to Sergeant Percy?” Dinky overheard two soldiers chatting to each other.

“Just that he was KIA.”

“Yeah, he was trying to surrender and a squad of Germans and Italians cut him down. But that’s not the whole thing. They captured his squad and forced them to bury their dead.”

“They’d have to shoot me first.”

It made the three friends think, looking at each other. How could someone do something as this? They could only imagine the SS and Blackshirts, yet hoped they wouldn’t run into such people.

“How are we travelling?” Fletcher asked the two men and the private pointed to a halftrack, looking like an elongated truck the back having medium-armored side panels, initially covered by a thick canvas sheet.

“With this M3 Halftrack, get in.” He said and manned the MG mounted on a pintle at the top-front of the vehicle and they moved out with a convoy of tanks, once all stepped in.

“Never saw those before.” Blau commented as he looked at the tanks. Some of them looked similar to the Panzer IV in terms of height and length, having the white star pointed on the side, the others were as wide and big as a Tiger tank, but the barrel was still short.

“That’s because the first once belong to the US troops, being their workhorse, the M4 Sherman. Reliable and fast to produce. The other one is the Churchill Tank Mk. IV, the successor of the Matilda, capable of engaging most targets. It’s named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, an ancestor of Winston Churchill and the leader of the British Army in the War of the Spanish Succession. The Sherman is named after Union General of the American civil war.” The Captain explained to them and the colt grinned.

“Sounds like a nice idea to keep them honored.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“Still, I wonder where that Stuka came from…” Fletcher mumbled in thought.

“Probably from a hidden airstrip, would explain the AA guns, being the defense of it. As we stated before, our landing completely caught the enemy air force off guard, thus had no time to prepare. “Christopher suspected and looked up into the sky, the others peeked out of the sheet, amazed and saw how the sky was filled with the contrails of the bomber streams, thousands of bombers so high above, it looked somehow magnificent.

And then they saw a small group of contrails, five tiny jets of steam streaking towards those massive bomber formations, trying to achieve something impossible. Dinky, Katja and Blau felt sorry for those German or Italian pilots, it was a desperate action, yet suicide.

“Well...would you look at that? Machines hiding in clouds, lying in ambush like wolves...In wars like this, not even the skies are safe.” Fletcher commented with awe at the sight and they heard a US officer praising his comrades.

“There you go boys, keep pounding them.”

“Hey, did I ever tell the story about the major?” They heard Cutting’s voice, seeing in sitting on the Churchill tank in front of the M3, chatting with another soldier, who shook his head.

“No, but I heard he faced a wall of Germans.”

“Seven, Dillingham, seven.” Cutting corrected him. So, back in Africa, Major Blackmore emptied his clip on the enemy and realized: There’s one left! He dives on poor Jerry, grans his bayonet…” He mimicked the action of holding it, his expression determined, “Two cuts.”

“Two cuts?”

“Baldy didn’t even lose his pipe!” One of the other officers joked and they all shared a laugh.

“Reaching the city shouldn’t take long. The General said Elio-Gabalo isn’t too far.” William suspected before he saw smoke, and they drove past a bomb crater with dead Italians and a destroyed halftrack and Kübelwagen, still smoking.

“They never stood a chance,” One of the tank commanders commented on it.

“I'm guessing ‘no’ to the open casket,” Another one added.

“That's somebody's son.” Ford pointed out, showing that he had respect for the enemy, something Fletcher and the kids appreciated

“Naw, it's a Greaseball!” The tank commander replied, showing little sympathy for the Axis soldiers.

“Ford is right. They’re not all bad.” Duffy countered.

“They did give us Avogadro, Galvani …” Cutting counted up.

“And don’t forget about their inventions. You got the glasses, batteries…” Hill continued.

“Pasta.” Ford raised a fist.

“You guys are killing me.” The Tank commander replied annoyed.

“Hey, hasn’t Italy surrendered after we took Sicily?” One of the British soldiers asked into the round.

“Yes, but it seems not all accept the surrender.” Ford pointed out.

“Very likely. Say, Fletcher, do you need also only two cuts?” William asked with a joking tone and the stallion chuckled.

“Takes more than two cuts to take me down, or any Farman soldier for that matter.”

“Oh, really?” Hill asked. “You guys must be like the Prussian, all with the elegant uniforms that makes them stand out.”

“Listen, smart-flanks, they're called Landsknechten and they're the best soldiers Farmany has to offer. A good friend of mine was one himself in his early years.”

“So they are like the Imperial German Stormtroopers back on the Great War?” Christopher asked into the round and Fletcher nodded.

The ride through the country road was very quiet, but suddenly, Dinky’s ears perked up as she heard a strange whistle and suddenly…

Bang!

They all started as the leading Churchill tank exploded, the turret was blown off, forcing them to a stop. “What was that?!” Ford yelled in alert as the tank commander of the other Churchill gave out orders.

“Driver! Reverse! All tanks, back up! Get behind the rise on the right. Everyone button up.” He yelled into his radio before another explosion followed close to it, strong enough to throw the M3 onto its left side, with the passengers screaming, dazed from the impact.

“Everyone ok?” William asked and his friends nodded before climbing out, staying in the ditch for cover as the radio buzzed,

“That was an 88. It's a goddamned tank.”

In that moment, the kids and their friends saw another explosion happening close to the tanks before they moved forward to meet the enemy, seeing a Tiger Tank driving out of a camouflage blind in a hay field.

The three Allied tanks opened fire, but the rounds bounced off the Tiger harmlessly and returned fire, and with a shattering explosion, the turret of the Churchill was lifted off, hitting the ground, with the burning tank coming to a stop.

“Oh my gosh…” Dinky mumbled in shock and Fletcher scrambled to the radio in the halftrack, having an idea.

“Flank it from both sides, aim for the rear!” He ordered and both Sherman tanks did without hesitation as they closed the distance and fired again, but yet no success as the shot just bounced off.

In response, the Tiger’s turret aimed at the Sherman on the right and fired, destroying it in one hit in a big explosion.

But this gave the last Sherman tank the chance it needed, getting closer and the German tank backed up to protect its weak point. “That's it! Drive in a circle around him. You can move faster than he can swing his gun.” Fletcher ordered as the Tiger’s turret tried to catch up.

The others held their breaths as the Sherman managed to get into position and fired, having a clear shot.

In a quick flashed, an explosion in the mud flowed. “Damn, they missed!” Ford realized frustrated and the turret of the Tiger started to catch up.

But Fletcher had another idea. “Back up! Now! Reverse! Reverse!”

His order was acknowledged as the Tank did as told, the Tiger managed to line up a shot and fired, but only ripped the sandbags off the front before the US tank took the shot.

The round ripped through the engine and fuel tanks. There was a fireball of burning gasoline, followed by black smoke and the German crew abandoned their tank.

“They did it!” Blau cheered before he ducked as a bullet hissed past the ditch. The private looked up to see the enemy commander firing his pistol from his hatch, so he took aim with his M1 Garand and fired.

Blood splattered from the German as he fell forward, his arms lose in the air.

Now they all let out a breath of relief. “That was a close call. Thanks for the advice, Fletcher.” The Sherman commander poked his head out, then got a cable from his tank to tow the Halftrack out of the ditch, onto it’s wheels and tracks again. “There you go.”

With that over, the ponies and two soldiers stepped back into the transport, moving on, with the last remaining tank informing HQ about their losses.

“Capturing the hill will be very difficult.” Ford mumbled.

“Why?” Dinky asked and he sighed.

“Well, Charlie Company was tasked to capture this hill but we lost contact. This makes me a bit nervous how strong enemy troops are there.”

”I’m sure we can do this together.” Fletcher sounded very confident, his expression showed no fear.

“We are here.” The Driver announced and they got out, seeing that the commanding officers of Able Company and 3rd Battalion were already here.

“Right on time.” The British officer with the red beret said. He had a slight beard, brown hair and matching eyes. His face was broad just with William.

Unlike the other soldiers, he wore a completely brown coat and appeared to be on his late thirties to late forties, understandable given his rank.

Fletcher and the kids had little doubt it was Major Blackmore, a pipe in his mouth as he moving a bush so they could all move through and Duffy stared in shock as he was on the other side.

“What's the matter? Never seen a dead body before?” The major asked, apparently not affected at all and the kids peeked out behind the unicorn, they regretted it. Bodies of American and British were scattered everywhere, the wreck of a Sherman Tank was next to them.

“Oh my...” Dinky said in shock before Fletcher used his horn to put her and Blau on his back, with Katja being hugged by him.

“Don't look.”

The three had to threw up, but to the side, not on the knight.

“How can a whole battalion get wiped out in a single battle?” Duffy asked in disbelief.

“...Slaughtered like sheep...mowed down by guns they couldn't even see over the hills...” William mumbled and Ford took a deep breath at the sight.

“It’s never easy.”

As Fletcher stepped ahead to get the kids to a currently build up base, he slipped and fell into a muddy ditch, the two foals just barely managed to avoid sharing his fate by getting thrown off him. “Ugh...Where am I?” He mumbled dazed as he got up and felt something being stuck in his left forehoof and looked down, his eye went small. “SWEET LUNA AND TIBERIUS! GET OFF! GET OFF ME!”

His hoof had been stuck in one of the rotten, with maggots littered corpses, he managed to wrench himself free and caught his breath, using his knife to shave the maggots of himself. “Okay...okay...There were rotting corpses...I put my hoof in one and...okay...”

“You alright down there, Fletch?” William asked in a neutral voice.

Fletcher glared at him with a clearly angry expression and yelled sarcastic, “Oh yeah, I'm just peachy! I do this aaaaaaall the time! You know, it's not like I really need to eat nowadays, is it?!”

William just grinned. “I know sarcasm when I hear it, Mister Fray...I'm British.”

“Whatever.” Fletcher replied as he climbed out, with the major looking at a map with the leaders of Able, giving a briefing.

“This hill at the mountains has a fuel depot we could put to good use, apart from being a good base for the attack on Elio-Gabalo. But we have reports of enemy artillery up the mountains. So, as Charlie Company and 4rd Battalion were wiped out trying to take this hill, It’s up to us. Able Company will take the fuel depot, 2rd Battalion will support by taking out the enemy Artillery.”

“Is there any way we can help?” Dinky asked the officer, catching them off guard.

“Well...you could help supplying the troops, as we thought we destroy the enemy artillery with our own. Mr. Fletcher, Able Company is in need of a good scout, could you take that role?” The Brit asked and he nodded.

“Of course, whatever is necessary to keep my friends safe.”

The three children gave him a hug. “Be careful.”

“Of course I will.” He returned it before moving out with the US troops.

The British troops got a few howitzers into position and Dinky, Katja and Blau helped by carrying the ammo to the guns as they fired on the enemy positions on the mountains for a while.

None of them could count, maybe half an hour?

“Okay, that should be enough, let’s check on it.” William ordered as he grabbed his Sten, Dinky and her friends followed, cautious of danger.

The first thing they saw was smoke, followed by craters, dead bodies and wrecks of Eighty-Eight guns scattered around. “Looks like our barrage had the desired effect, Able Company will have it a lot easier with that artillery removed.” Peter commented satisfied at the sight.

“Over there!” Blau pointed to black clouds over the next ridge, seeing a US fighter plane going down.

“I see it.” Cutting acknowledged and moved in with his fellow Brits, catching the weapon crew by surprise, shooting them before they had time to react.

“All threats neutralized, Able Company owns us a pint or two.” William said after it was over.

But then, the three children heard a very loud engine sound. Looking up into the sky, they saw an entire squadron of Germans bombers.

They were targeting Able Company below them, so they did the only thing they could do.

The soldiers manned the gun, Dinky, Katja and Blau brought the ammo to the triple-AA gun.

William, Cutting and Duffy fired on every Bomber they saw, knowing they couldn’t afford to lose Able Company. For the children, it was the lives of Fletcher and Christopher

But then the planes veered away. They all looked after them before an explosion behind them knocked them down. The bombers bombed the mountain, creating a landslide, burying all of them on the ground.

Watch out!” Duffy yelled as one of the bombers got hit by the debris crashing towards him and his friends

They tried to run as the plane hit the ground in what seemed like slow motion for them. The noise of the impact was loud, deafening and the force of impact was so strong that it blasted Dinky and the siblings away, making them briefly wonder if they would survive this before everything went black.

Author's Note:

A little tribute to the 2006 game Company of heroes, one of my favorites. And the Stuka scene, is based on a real event