A Black Sun Rises

by Bronycommander

Chapter 23 Eyes in the sky

Chapter 23: Eyes in the sky

As Fletcher realized what happened, his worst fear came true.

The children came out of the portal, altered, in a horrible way.

Dinky was nothing but a skeleton, her body engulfed by red burning energy, only a few parts, like her horn and hooves were still normal. Blau Streifen was not different, except green energy engulfed him. His sister was also engulfed by green energy, her hair and surprisingly, her clothes were still intact.

Fletcher wondered if they were still alive or dead, like the other Despoiled. He hadn't time to think about it, as they like the Despoiled at the church, let out a terrifying scream into the sky.

The siblings lobbed Veil energy at him, he barely dove out of the way. Dinky punched the ground, sending red energy through it towards him and he barely scrambled to get up and jumped over it.

Before he could recover, all three charged at him trying to punch him and he did his best to evade them.

I can’t hurt them! He thought in a slight panic. There has to be a way to change them back!

But even if he could, were they still alive? He dreaded to imagine. Yet he knew he had to try, but how?

In this hectic situation of evading their attacks, he couldn’t get up with anything, yet he couldn’t dodge their attacks forever.

Was that his doom?

Had he failed?

Out if the corner of his eyes, he saw his Medallion glowing. Got it!

It was only a quick thought but worth a try. He switched into the Veil and engulfed the Medallion with his most advanced healing spell, firing it at Dinky as she charged at him.

As the combination of his magic and Veil power hit her, Dinky fell to the ground with a distorted scream, burning energy extinguishing itself, yet the glow of his magic engulfed her.

Just then, Blau hit him with a punch full force into the chest, throwing him back with a cry of pain.

Looking up as he landed on his back, the siblings slowly closed in on him to finish him off and he just closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

He would die by the once he should protect.

"Katja! Blau Streifen! Don't hurt him!" He heard a desperate yell and opened his eyes. His eyes went wide as he saw Dinky fully normal again, lying exhausted in the ground, apparently hoping they could still hear her

To her and Fetcher’s surprise, they stopped, turning into her direction. She expected they would attack her, but they just stared into her direction.

"C-can you hear me?" She asked slightly shaken and they nodded. "Please, listen. You aren't those creatures. You are my friends. You are two siblings loved by their parents. You want them to see them again, don't you?" They slowly nodded. "Only by working together, we can achieve this. Are we friends? Are we working together to get back home?" She lifted her hoof up, the Despoiled mimicked her movement.

With a weak smile, Fletcher sighed and did the combined spell again, this time on the siblings. They also fell to the ground with a distorted scream, burning energy extinguishing itself and the glow of his magic engulfing them.

He couldn’t imagine how this happened to them as they were not with Dinky, or how they all three survived this at all. But he smiled happily as the glow faded, seeing them also exhausted on the ground.

“For one moment I thought…” He mumbled before shaking his head. “Let’s just get you out of here.”

“B-but….what about Blazkowicz?” Dinky asked weakened.

“I am sure he’s fine.” He replied and attempted to pick them up with his magic, but his horn only sparked. “Huh? Guess it took a lot of energy.”

“W-wa-watch out…” Blau tried to warn him but it was too late as he felt how someone grabbed him from behind and injected something, making him sleepy.

Dinky and her friends watched in shock as an SS officer brought the stallion away, paying them no attention.

“Hello? Fletcher! Anyone there?” A radio on a nearby table buzzed, it was William.

Gathering her strength, Dinky slowly got up, shaking and stumbling as she made her way to the radio. The siblings also attempted to get up but were still too weak, collapsing.

“B-Blazkowicz...”

“Dinky? Is that you? What's wrong?” He asked surprised.

“They...they took him...Deathshead...they took Fletcher...”

“Dinky, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

She coughed. “You need...to help...Fletcher...” It was all she managed to say before she fainted

“Dinky! Don't move! We're coming to get you! Stay with us, Dinky! Are you still there?! Dinky?! Dinky!”

---

Fletcher awoke with an aching body, wanting to massage his temple but couldn’t move at all. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself restrained on a lab table- He tried to use magic but nothing happened and saw a ring on his head.

Before he could think, a door opened and Deathshead walked in, smiling.

“You have caused our organization a great deal of inconvenience, Meister Fray. For obvious reasons, I must put a stop to that.”

“Your mistake is thinking I'm done...” Fray said with anger yet Strasse stayed calm.

“But I take every opportunity to turn a loss into a gain and you are quite the prize. I believed the security of my project and, indeed, the project itself...was unstoppable. But you proved me very wrong. I thank you for enlightening me. To show my gratitude I am giving you the opportunity to be the greatest warrior in history. You see, Meister Fray, the way war progresses is not through better weapons and armor...but better soldiers. Hitler, imbecile that he was, believed all you needed to win a war is a roomful of strapping, blue-eyed blonde fellows but I know better. Through research and technology unparalleled, you shall become my greatest creation. I'm afraid to say the procedure will likely be extremely painful but, quite honestly, after all the trouble you have given me...I rather want it to be."

The stallion showed no fear as the scientist walked out, yet tensed himself for the worst.

---

Everything ached as Dinky and her two friends came too, finding themselves in beds in the Kreisau Safehouse, feeling still weak.

“Blazkowicz came into their view, slightly smiling. “Save your strength. You were out for the rest of the night and the morning.”

“Okay….but…Fletcher…” Dinky spoke with worry and he held up a hand.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him. I am not alone.”

Konrad and his squad walked up from behind. “Yes, we will. Deathshead won’t get away. This will end today.” He said determinedly.

“A-And Caroline?” Dinky asked, hoping it was not true.

Blazkowicz sighed. “She’s gone. But Listen. You didn’t cause her death. She knew the risks, just as I, Konrad and Fletcher do. All we can do is to ensure her sacrifice will not have been in vain.”

Just as he said this, a Kreisau agent walked up to him. “Herr Blazkowicz, it’s good to see you. I think Erik went to find you at the Golden Dawn safe house; he was some vital information for you.”

Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded, startling everyone. “Mein Gott – it’s an attack. I need to man the radio. You’ve got to get out there and stop the enemy attack!” The same man yelled in surprise.

“Right. Don’t worry, children, they won’t get far.” Konrad assured them and they nodded, slightly trembling.

He, together with his squad, William and other agents fired at squads of SS that tried to enter through a hole, mowing them down before they could get in.

Moving towards a storage room, another explosion followed and a Heavy Trooper marched through the hole he had created. The defenders went to cover behind creates as he fired.

The woman he ceased fore, Konrad and Hans shot both vents, Blazkowicz fired at the third one, blowing the trooper up, together with another SS squad that was unfortunate to be near him.

Then they got through the hole, William maned a mounted MG 42, fired with his allies at incoming SS troops.

It was waves and waves of enemy infantry, like they wouldn’t run out of men but eventually, they retreated.

“They broke off so soon? Why would they do that? They had us, that doesn’t make sense.” One resistance member wondered as they got back inside.

“Maybe they just tested our defenses. But we should use this to get the kids out of here.” William said as they walked back to the beds. "Children, it’s over…” He said but stopped abruptly.

The beds were empty. “Damn! This was just a ruse to get them!” Konrad cursed, then took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s get to Erik, there is no time to lose!”

They evaded the patrols in the streets, quickly getting to the other safe house, where Erik and Sergei waited for them, overlooking maps.

“We’re hearing Deathshead is demanding revenge for our attack and has moved to the Zeppelin,” Erik explained and the Russian continued.

“Just recently we have detected a massive surge of Veil Energy coming from the Zeppelin. We think they’re preparing to fire some kind of Black Sun-powered weapon.”

“So, you need to get aboard the Zeppelin and stop Deathshead. We can sneak you onto the airfield, but you’ll have to get the rest of the way yourself.”

“There is something else; Dr. Alexandrov has gone missing. He may trying to disable the weapon himself. We’ve already lost one leader; so if you see him, save him.” Sergei added with worry.

“Okay. I got informed before we got to the castle, that until further notice, all vehicles entering or exiting the airfield are to be thoroughly inspected and all paperwork is to be up to date. Compliance is mandatory. But we have the correct papers, so getting in should be no problem.” Konrad said to Blazkowicz, who shook his head.

“Good for you, but it’s better we use separate trucks. Seeing soldiers with a civilian might raise suspicion.”

“Okay, let’s move out!”

They used the sewers and waterways to avoid unnecessary conflicts that would cost precious time, coming to the trucks, but saw they were guarded by a Tiger Tank, together with an SS squad and an Elite Guard. The woman was a Brunette, wearing a sleeveless uniform.

Blazkowicz threw a grenade around the corner, taking the SS squad by surprise before they could react as it exploded and killed all of them.

He quickly ducked as the Woman threw a shuriken. “Try this for size, American.” She said and raised her arms. The body of the SS officer got lifted up into the air and started to glow in green flames, becoming a Despoiled.

The Wehrmacht soldiers and Dennis opened fire at it, as the creature with the woman charged forward, the latter tried to hit William with a green glowing Veil-powered whip.

He ducked to avoid it and punched the woman into the face, making her stumble. The moment she recovered he rammed his bayonet into her chest, she clutched her wound before dying. Her minion didn’t came far, getting defeated quickly by the combined firepower quickly.

With only the tank left, William made a dash for an anti-tank rocket launcher laying on the other side of the road, called Panzerschreck as far as he knew. The Tiger fired his main gun but missed, hitting a car wreck at the other end, destroying it in an explosion.

Blazkowicz then took aim with the Panzerschreck and fired, blowing the turret off as the rocket hit the Tiger, destroying it and opening the way. “Let’s go!”

---

“Ugh… Do they always have to be so rough?” Blau mumbled as he came to with the others, finding themselves in a cell. “Not again.”

We need to get out of here. I...I don’t want to…” She shivered at the thought as Dinky gave her a calming smile.

“We can get out if we're careful. If we can make it out of this cell, we can find out where Fletcher is and catch up with him. Start searching. There’s got to be a way out.”

“I beg to differ.” A voice said and they saw Deathshead walking into view.

All kids took a deep breath and Dinky spoke up, “It won't work. Whatever you're doing, whatever you want with us, it won't work. We'll find a way out of here.”

Deathshead in response, smiled, almost pityingly. “Fletcher Fray didn't.”

“Wh-what? Wh...what did you do with Fletcher?” She asked in confusion, her eyes small

“Ah, I thought that would get your attention. Ages past, when going into battle, there were two things a soldier always carried. The sword to attack his enemies and the shield to defend himself from the attacks of his enemies. And though the sword and shield have long since become redundant, their practices are still as essential today as they ever were. There is the sword that attacks, guns, cannons, bombs and missiles. And there is the shield that defends, bunkers, trenches, armor upon artillery and indeed soldiers. That is what I require from all three of you. I feel it would be most appropriate. The sword...The shield... And the warrior who wields them.”

---

It was evening, as the sun slowly went down when both trucks arrived at the entrance to the airfield, Konrad drove the first truck, Dennis on the passenger seat, the others in the back. He showed the SS guard the papers.

The guard made a sign. “Move along.”

Doing as ordered, Escher drove through the checkpoint, parking the truck outside a vehicle workshop, seeing how the truck with Blazkowicz, driven by a resistance member, followed shortly after.

However, after the papers got shown, the field telephone ringed and Dennis said, “I think we may have trouble.”

Just as he said this, the guard answering the phone turned alerted around. “Halt! Out of the truck! Schnell!” He yelled as he and the other guards surrounded the truck.

But what happened next, surprised everyone. The driver accelerated, breaking through the barrier, with the guards opening fire. The driver got hit and William took over the wheel, steering the truck into the vehicle workshop and crashed against a pillar.

Konrad and his squad wasted no time to check on him, seeing him stumbling out, the drive had not survived. “You’re okay?” Konrad asked worriedly.

“A bit dazed but fine.” He replied before a scribe ran through the doorway, getting stabbed into the throat by Escher before he could react, holding his wound as he died with gurgling sounds. “Move!”

The group moved up the stairs, fighting their way through the SS soldiers as an intercom warned, “Allied aircraft are on a direct path to Isenstadt!”

Coming up a catwalk, another squad, with a Drache trooper moved up. Remembering what had been said about the latter, William shot the fuel tank with his MP40, blowing it up.

The flames engulfed the Drache Trooper and SS soldiers, all screamed, flailing around in an attempt to put the flames out as they burned to death.

Then they moved outside, only to be greeted by a hail of bullets, forcing Blazkowicz to activate his shield. The moment he took aim with his K98, he and his allies saw how soldiers in blue uniforms ran out of a nearby building, killing the SS soldiers with their MP40s and waved at William.

“Why?” Tim asked one of the Luftwaffe soldiers as they got closer.

“We won’t let them destroy a town of our own country, this is crazy. Stopping Deathshead is best for all of us.”

“Okay, thanks for the help.” William nodded and they moved on.

Turning towards a hanger on the other side, to more of those Rocket troopers appeared in the sky, yet the combined firepower of all three defeated them quickly before they could fire their rockets.

Upon getting closer to the hanger, an air raid siren sound and they took cover under the Veil shield of Blazkowicz as an Allied bomber came into view. The bombs destroyed some planes and vehicles, but the buildings were still intact, making the bombing run rather ineffective.

Out of the hanger came a pack of sniffers, dynamite attached to their bodies, so Konrad quickly shot the first one in the head, creating a chain reaction that killed them all.

Getting inside the hanger, they saw a brunette Elite Guard in a sphere of Veil energy, surrounded by several rotating rings, connected to several generators.

“Ha ha ha! This machine protects me from your bullets, American! Besides, you might want to save for a little surprise I have for you” She taunted and out of a hatch climbed a Despoiled.

This one was engulfed by red burning energy, carrying an MP43. It punched the ground, sending red energy through it towards Blazkowicz, who barely jumped out of the way.

Then it charged forward, attempting to hit him with the weapon, he ducked and fired his MP40, combined with Empower, bringing it down quickly.

They then shot one generator after another, destroying them until only one generator was left, as a green Despoiled climbed out of another hatch. Blazkowicz switched to the Leichenfaust and eliminated it in one shot, the explosion of the projectile also blew up the last generator.

“You pathetic little man! How dare you destroy my pets! Now, I'll just have to kill you myself!” The woman cursed and jumped down as the machine deactivated.

Yet she never got close to him as he and his allies concentrated fire, taking her down quickly.

With the hostile taken care off, they moved to the east of the airfield, using the underground utility tunnels, fighting their way through the SS guards, coming to a hanger and storage room along the way until they came to an elevator.

Riding it on the upper floor, SS soldiers with a few Elite guards crossed their way but again, Luftwaffe soldiers shot them from behind, opening the way. They even brought the Despoiled down with ease.

Now free to go, Blazkowicz and his allies moved up the stairs to a catwalk, where a supply Zeppelin waited for takeoff.

A Luftwaffe officer, noticeable by the patrol cap waited there too. ”You want onboard that Zeppelin to stop the destruction of Isenstadt? Then you’re in luck, this supply Zeppelin is just about to make a delivery. But once you’re on board, I have to steer it back to base.” He explained to them.

“No problem, we’ll find a way out,” William said with confidence as they boarded it.

---

None of the children could imagine what the scientist meant as he walked out of view, just staring.

“Did...did he really get Fletcher first?” Katja asked with dread in her voice.

“I don’t want to believe it.” Her brother replied slightly scared

“If it is true, we have to try to save him,” Dinky added with confidence as she took a deep breath. “Are you with me?”

Her two friends looked slowly at each other, then nodded. “Yes. He saved us, we have to try to save him.” Blau said, “Any idea how we get out of here?”

The filly put a hoof to her chin. “Hmm…Got it!” She walked up to the cell door and lit up her horn, touching the lock with it. After a few seconds, it started to melt.

“Wow, where did you learn that?” Katja asked in awe and the unicorn grinned.

“From Sparkler, she told me once she used it once to free Tootsie when she accidentally locked herself into her room once. "Now, stay low.”

They sneaked out of the door, into a hallway, seeing no guard whatsoever.

“Strange…” Blau was suspicious as they reached the end of the hallway and Dinky stopped abruptly, looking down with fear. “What’s wrong?” He asked and also looked down his eyes went wide, Katja too.

Below them was the sky, it was a long way down and they realized: They were on board of a Zeppelin.

Then a loud clanking noise entered their ears and Dinky saw the shadow of a unicorn coming around the corner. “Fletcher?” She asked with hope but gasped as the shadow came into view.

It was a unicorn indeed, but in the armor of a Heavy Veil trooper, staring at them.

“No...They couldn't have...not you...” Dinky whispered in shock and disbelief before the stallion lit up his horn and suddenly, they felt all tired.

---

Night had fallen by the time the supply Zeppelin reached its destination and docked at a cargo station of the massive armored airship.

They all walked over the catwalk and shortly after, said catwalk rose up and the supply Zeppelin got left behind, flying back to base.

“Okay, let’s sabotage the controls and engines, that should buy us time,” Blazkowicz suggested before a bullet flew past him, as a SS soldier had spotted him. Konrad rushed up to him and shoved him over the reeling, causing him to scream as he fell through the sky.

A Heavy Trooper walked up at the other end of the catwalks, Escher and Hans shot the vents, Dennis shot the last went, blowing him up before he could use his Particle Cannon.

Getting inside, they saw that the Zeppelin used Veil technology rather than hydrogen or helium to stay aloft, as giant cylinders of Veil condensate were visible inside the envelope.

A squad of SS blocked the way but got shot from behind by Luftwaffe officers. “Go on, save the town.” One of them said to the group and they nodded.

The aft control room was just at the end, monitored by two scientists, who surrendered the moment they saw the American. “Nein! Nein! I don’t want to die!” One of them yelled in fear before William made a sign for them to leave and planted Dynamite on the control panel.

“That should impair the Zeppelin’s flight controls. Now for the engines.”

Using an Elevator to get down to the next level, a SS squad and a Drache trooper waited at the other end, so Blazkowicz activated his shield to protect himself and his allies from the gunfire, firing at the fuel tank, taking every hostile out.

They now had also a good view of the engines, but Rocket troopers flew up into the sky to defend them. The group manned one of the many Flakvierling 38 on the gondola to shoot them down with ease, then fired on the engines as all defenders were gone.

A loud, mechanic wail followed, showing that the airship was now severely limited in its speed.

Then they moved on, coming to a catwalk overlooking a large room with a portal in the middle, protected by bulletproof glass.

Deathshead stood next to the portal, together with an elder man. “That’s…Dr. Alexandrov…” William mumbled in surprise.

“I have much to thank you for, Herr Doctor. Without you, we would never have known where to excavate for the portal.” Deathshead turned to the Golden Dawn leader.

“My information is always correct – did I not tell you the American would be at the train station, and where you could trap Caroline Becker?” The doctor replied.

“Very true, but I have still have doubts about your latest data on the portal. How can we be certain it will remain active?” Deathshead asked in return.

“I assure you, my students properly translated those Thule manuscripts. The portal will work.”

The SS officer chuckled. “Ah yes, your students...weren't they even vaguely suspicious about your true intentions? That you dragged them to Isenstadt to translate the Thule Manuscripts for the Third Reich?”

Alexandrov took nervously a step back before replying, “No, Blazkowicz kept everyone so focused on his antics, no one had time to think of much else. The Golden Dawn has no idea I work with you.”

“You work for me, doctor. Not with me.” Strasse warned him in a serious tone.

“As you wish, but please let us pass through into the Black Sun Dimension. I wish to see it and be redeemed after a lifetime of ridicule.”

“I am sorry Doctor, but you're taking a different journey,” Deathshead said cold and the group saw something walked out of the shadow.

From the shape, it was a Heavy trooper but it looked like a pony. It walked behind the Russian and the eyes of the group went wide.

It was indeed a pony, dressed in the same armor as the Heavy trooper, but the vents were missing and a horn was poking out of the helmet.

“N-no…” Hans mumbled in disbelief.

“Auf Wiedersehen,” Deathshead added with a laugh before the unicorn lit up his horn and fired a spell at the Russian and he twitched, falling lifeless to the ground.

“Come with me. The weapon will be firing soon.” Strasse said to the unicorn and both walked through the portal.

The group could just stare in surprise before Blazkowicz broke it. “So Dr. Alexandrov was the informant…”

“Was…was that Fletcher under that armor?” Tim asked shocked, and Konrad balled a fist.

“Deathshead's going to regret everything he did to him…” He said with anger in his voice.

Moving on through the corridors, they entered an internal launch bay with jet fighters. Another SS squad, supported by a scribe defended the area, but as the agent and his allies took cover from the shielded soldiers, the Luftwaffe soldiers shot the SS and scribe from behind, opening the way. “Go, you’re almost there!” The leader of the Luftwaffe members pointed to an elevator.

It came to the bridge of the Zeppelin, a SS officer was at the steering wheel, a scribe next to him, his hands on his back. Two Luftwaffe officers worked on control panels, while SS soldiers looked at maps for navigation.

“Altitude control. Climb to twenty thousand feet.” The officer ordered.

“Jawohl. Twenty thousand feet.” One of the Luftwaffe members acknowledged.

“Navigation. Set heading for firing at Isenstadt.”

“Affirmative. Isenstadt is at north east bearing zero two seven.” One of the SS soldiers replied.

“Signal engineering to prepare to fire on Deathshead’s command.”

“Alerting engineering now.”

“Gut. Gentlemen, this will be a day that is remembered forever. Long live the Third Reich!” The SS officer exclaimed triumphantly.

Blazkowicz active Mire and shot the Scribe into the head, the others shot the SS soldiers, they had no idea what was happening.

The officer startled as he turned around, about to draw his pistol as the two Luftwaffe officers held him up with their MP40s. “What is the meaning of this?!”

“Isenstadt will not fall!” One of them said and knocked him out.

The other one pointed at some parachutes on a shelf at the wall. “There is only a limited number onboard but you will need them more than us.”

The group equipped them as William took notice of a document on the table.

To: Bridge Crew

From: Deathshead

Once we have successfully test fired the weapon and destroyed Isenstadt, coordinate all remaining Luftwaffe to eliminate the remaining allied aircraft. Then set a course for London. This day marks the beginning of the end for the Allies.

“I don’t think so, Deathshead.”

Walking through the corridors, they came to the room containing the portal. It was now turned to its side, still glowing.

They quickly eliminated the SS guards and got into a control room, two Scientists, held their arms up in surrender before being dismissed by William. He then pulled a switch and the portal moved back into its original position.

“That should deactivate the weapon.” He said before reading clipboard next to the switch.

To: Science Team

From: Dr. Eichelberger

I must emphasize the importance of closely monitoring the Black Sun power siphoning devices. An energy spike could cause an overload that would transmit from the Black Sun realm through the portal artifact, creating an uncontrollable and massive power surge. An overload of this magnitude would be catastrophic to the Zeppelin.

“Good to know. We better hurry after Fletcher and the kids are saved. Are you ready?” He asked his allies as they prepared to enter the portal.

“Whatever is necessary,” Konrad replied determined, his squad nodded.

They all together entered the portal.