• Published 11th Dec 2018
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A Black Sun Rises - Bronycommander



A month passed since the Adventure of Dinky, Katja and Blau Streifen in Africa. But another, much bigger challenger awaits them on Earth

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Chapter 3 Infinite Mischief

Chapter 3: Infinite Mischief

The night was quiet and the squad guarded an AA gun, Tim was sleeping peacefully, while the other shared some coffee.

Konrad took a slip and almost had to gag at the bad taste. “No offense, Hans, but your coffee sucks. I can’t drink that.”

“Hey, better than nothing, or want to make your own coffee?” He joked in return and the others laughed as the Sergeant could swear he saw something in the sky.

Maybe I just… He could never finish as several lights went on in the distance, lighting up the sky, followed by AA gun fire, making his eyes wide in surprise.

“Hey! Wake up! We are under attack!” David yelled at Tim, who wake up instantly in alert as the AA gun also started to fire.

“Go, make sure the children are safe!” Karl ordered before a young voice sounded in their ears.

“Konrad!” The two foals and girl ran towards him, their expressions one of fear. “One of the crews got…”

The man held up a hand. “Calm down, calm down.” The children took his advice and breathed deeply.

“One position got….ambushed…” Dinky managed to say with a shaken voice.

“Darn it! The note we found was just a decoy! The Allies want Sicily! But we can still repel them.” Karl said with confidence as Dinky, Blau and Katja looked up into the sky.

The night, lighted up by the searchlights, together with the fire of the AA guns had somehow a majestic effect as they also saw the planes flying overhead, some got shot down, crashing in a ball of flames.

“Our enemy falls from the heavens, Konrad,” David commented at the sight.

“Yes.” As he said this, the children could faintly see parachutes in the sky too, meaning the Allies used paratroopers.

“Tell me, you think we will get through this?” The youngest member of the squad asked with fear and Escher put a hand on his shoulder.

“I make sure of that. Don’t worry.”

It also gave the kids hope they would survive as suddenly yelled, “Watch out!”

“My god!” Karl yelled and the kids turned around, their eyes went wide as a plane was crashing towards them before the explosion knocked them over and everything became black.


“Ugh…We…are still alive?” Dinky asked as she came to with an aching head, seeing the wreck had destroyed the AA gun, Konrad and the others were nowhere to be seen,

“I think so…” Blau replied as he helped his sister up and the heard a voice.

“Hey, we got some civilians here!” It was male and they saw a man in a tan uniform walking towards them. His hair was black, his eyes brown, having a short beard, looking rather surprised at them. “Are you hurt?”

“No, we are fine,” Katja replied.

“Good. Stay behind me and keep your heads down. Call me Travers.” The soldier said with an American accent, making them realize it was an US soldier.

They followed him towards the large ornate building, the Blackshirts defended it with everything they had, preventing the paratroopers from storming it, Dinky and the siblings went to cover behind sandbags.

“Here comes Travers! Give him some covering fire! Somebody find a flank!” A fellow soldier yelled.

Dinky saw how Travers aimed at a mounted MG on the balcony with a rifle that looked similar to the Gewehr 43 but lacked a visible magazine. The moment he fired, the rifle made a loud “ping!” sound and a stripper clip was ejected from the top, with the man quickly loading a new one in, as the hostile soldier fell backwards, having been killed by Travers.

The children saw how the other paratroopers fired the same rifle, others used SMGs that looked similar to the MAB 38, some fired what looked like a light machine gun, due to having a bipod.

Peeping over their cover, the filly, colt and girl saw how Travers made a dash for a side entrance, throwing a grenade in. An explosion and screams followed and he entered.

They couldn’t tell how long it took until shots came from the inside and the defenders turned around in surprise, allowing the other Americans to storm the building, while a squad stayed outside with the kids, one of the soldiers was a radioman, carrying a radio on the back.

“All Airborne units within range of this transmission, be advised that we have a platoon-sized unit pinned down and under heavy fire in the northwest sector of Adanti. All units receiving this signal are ordered to procced to that area and to relive and reinforce.” The radio buzzed as another radio operator gave out orders, with Travers coming back as it ended.

“No time to waste, let’s go!” He said to his fellow soldiers and they nodded, moving out, with the children closed behind.

The street was littered with sandbags and a few crashed or destroyed Halftracks, along with bodies of killed soldiers of both sides .It made them unsure which side would win and if they would survive themselves.

Yet, they somehow felt safe with Travers. But it looked like the battle was far from over, having just begun.

On the way, the three friends noticed green smoke on certain areas of the town, realizing those were the drop zones for the Allied troops with supplies next to it before they came to an archway with bullets flying past it.

It looked like a stalemate, apparently, the Italians put up a good fight, which was understandable, it was their homeland after all.

Dinky, Blau and Katja were scared, yet tried to stay calm as good as they could withal the battle around them, the screams, blood and bullets.

“Grenade!” Somebody yelled and the kids startled as an American was blasted away by an explosion, coughing from the smoke, yet didn’t hesitate to check on him, but he was dead. Another Allied soldier leaned against the wall for cover, with two more on the other side of the road, taking cover in a doorway. “Where’s Sergeant Dane?!” The First solder yelled at the other.

“Holding position, sir!”

“Lazy bastard…Are you two my only reinforcements?”

Yes, s-“ The other soldier got interrupted by bullets hitting the ground near him.

“Go back to CP. Report to the Colonel!”

“What should I tell them?”

“Tell him we’ve encountered the enemy and lost contact with our sniper team. And get us more reinforcements!”

“Yes, sir!” The second soldier moved out and the first turned towards Travers.

“You. Travers. You fight with us. See these troopers up here?” He asked and Travers and the kids peeked over the corner, seeing soldiers in light green uniforms, tan pants, and tan helmet, armed with MP40s. “Those are Germans. Unlike the eye-ties, they know how to fight. Watch yourself. We need to find that sniper team.”

The man barely finished before Dinky yelled, “Grenade!” Seeing another one flying towards them, yet Travers quickly picked it up and threw it back, the explosion destroyed the MG nest on the other side, together with the remaining German soldiers.

They then moved down the alleyway, with more fighting sounding in the distance, with a fellow soldier yelling, “Damn! These Germans are tough!”

At a house at the end, the Germans held a defensive position, the children pressed themselves against the wall as Travers took aim with his rifle and fired, raking the defenders out one after another until the way was clear and they moved into the house and up the stairs.

Dinky saw a dead body on the floor, a scoped rifle next to him, with another man, leaning wounded against the wall next to a window, holding his stomach. He looked at his fellow paratrooper. “’Bout time somebody showed up. Stay clear of the window! There’s a sniper across the way! He got Harding here.” The man looked at the dead body with grief. “Thinks he's got us both. He’s been on the radio for reinforcements. You gonna have to take the shot.”

Just as he finished, the radio on the table sprang to life. “Infantry divisions, assemble near Adanti. Strike back with all your strength!” A voice ordered in German.

“Damn. He’s gotten through. The Germans are moving in. They’re trying to re-take the town. Hurry!” The wounded man said to Travers as he took the scoped rifle. “Just like basics. Squeeze, don’t pull.”

Travers took a deep breath as he looked through the scope, seeing how a German rose from a window of the opposite building, squeezing the trigger as he also saw the glint of the sniper’s scope and fired, scoring a headshot.

“A significant enemy force remains in the defensive on the outskirts of Adanti. S2 is reporting that there may be a regimental level commander present on those defenses. All units are hereby instructed to engage these defenses with the objective of either killing or capturing that officer.” The allied radio chatter ordered as Travers kneeled down to his wounded comrade.

“Let me take a look.”

He just finished his sentence as the radio buzzed again. “Enemy armor approaching from the north! All units are instructed to fall back to the town square and provide immediate support!”

“Don’t worry, we will help your wounded friend.” Dinky said and their protector nodded, moving out as she and the siblings bandaged the wounded spotter as good as they could, with the same squad stayed with them as protection, as gunfire sounded in the distance.

“Thanks…children…” The wounded man managed to smile.

“No need, we just try to help where we can.” The unicorn replied.

They all couldn’t really tell how long the gunfire lasted, maybe 15 minutes at least before it ceased completely and the radioman announced, “It’s over, the attack is repelled and the enemy is retreating to the north.”

“Good, let’s join up with the others.” One of the other soldiers said and helped his wounded comrade up.

At the town square, the children saw how the paratroopers led captured Italians and Germans away, a group of officers, wearing field caps were among them.

Remembering that they hadn’t seen their caretakers, Dinky, Katja and Blau hoped they had survived and got away or got captured. They knew the latter also gave them a chance to survive all this.

Travers walked out of the building, smiling at them. “You did great tonight for your age. Now get some sleep.” He pointed to a tent the soldiers appeared to have built up recently and they nodded, falling asleep fast once they were comfortable on the cots.


None of them could tell how long it was before a loud rumble started them, falling almost out of their cots. “What was that?” Dinky asked in fear.

“I don’t know.” Blau replied and they carefully looked out, seeing a thunderstorm raged outside.

“Hey, isn’t that Trottingham in the distance?” Katja pointed to a town, but the darkness made it impossible to tell for sure.

“I think so.” Dinky replied as she heard a loud roaring sound and they saw several big planes flying towards the town, escorted by smaller planes. The bigger ones seemed to drop something and suddenly the town was engulfed in explosions, causing Dinky to gasp in shock. “No…Pip…Nancy…Tungsten….”

“Look!” Katja pointed into the sky and they saw a group of five smaller planes flying towards the bigger ones, engaging them as the sky lighted up in bright flashes and an explosion followed as one of the bigger planes broke apart in flames, crashing to the ground.

Then one of the defending planes got shot down, crashing near the children and they wasted no time to check on the pilot.

The wreck was in flames but the cockpit open, meaning the pilot had escaped, yet the emblem on the wings caught the interest of the three friends.

A golden yellow lightning pattern next to a silver and gold badge with Twilight Sparkle's purple star in the center.

“How…What are they doing here?” Dinky wondered as she recognized it before a bright light blinded her.


Opening her eyes, she find herself in the tent, the sun shining in, her friends were also awake, blinking. “Just a dream…” The filly mumbled as he realized, her friends did the same as the spotter walked in, bandaged but otherwise fine.

“Good morning, kids.”

“Morning.” They replied in unison and breakfasted with them.

Katja asked, “What happens now?”

“Well, I got assigned to the squad who kept you safe, our orders are to advance. Since we go by foot, we have no choice but to take you with us. Oh, almost forgot, my name’s Jack.”

“Its fine, Jack, I’m Dinky, my friends Katja and Blau Streifen.” The filly replied.

“Okay then, let’s move.”

It was a warm morning, the sun shining, the children enjoyed it as they walked with the squad out of town, yet Blau got a bit curious. “What weapons do you use?”

Jack pointed to his weapon, the same rifle Travers had used. “That’s the M1 Garand, the standard rifle of the US Forces. Semi-automatic, powerful, accurate and reliable. It’s notable for its distinctive metallic ping sound when an empty clip is ejected. It can be reloaded without expending the clip but that’s takes longer and is complicated. As standard issue sidearm, we have the M1911A1 .45 also known as Colt.45.”

He then pointed to two others solders, carrying the SMG and the machine gun respectively. Our standard SMG is the Thompson M1A1, effective at close range and fires the powerful .45 ACP round. Our squad support weapon is the Browning Automatic Rifle, BAR for short.

“Uh-huh. And what is that?” The colt pointed to the rifle the radioman was carrying, it looked similar to the Garand, but had a magazine in the bottom.

“Oh, that? That’s the M1A1 Carbine. Also semi-automatic, lightweight, accurate and compact. Ideal for soldiers that work behind the front or have to carry heavy equipment like me.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

He, his sister and Dinky enjoyed the view of the landscape as they marched for quite a while, while the paratroopers talked about home.

“I’m telling ya…Yankees and Cubs, Game one, Thirty- Eight World Series. Lefty Gomez was the winning pitcher!” One of the Americans said with joy.

“Hey, Lewis? Aren’t you a lefty too? Heh, heh.” The SMG gunner joked.

“So, who do you think it was?”

“I don’t know. Ruffing, maybe?” Jack asked.

“I love a man with conviction.”

“Well, I don’t know.” My kid brother would though. He’s a damned baseball encyclopedia.” His comrade replied.

“I guess being dull runs in the family!” The support gunner added.

“Ain’t that right.” The Radioman agreed.

“Alright pipe down and spread out…and keep your eyes open people, we’re entering enemy territory.” The Squad leader warned as they moved towards a town, appearing to be abandoned.

Dinky and her friends moved towards a stone wall for cover as the soldiers carefully moved in.

Carefully Dinky peeked over the wall, seeing how two soldiers moved out in the open and in a flash, got mowed down by a quick rattling sound. “Ambush! Get to cover!” Jack yelled and pressed himself against an abandoned car, trying to figure out where the fire came.

“The café! MG42! Second floor!” He ducked as shots hit the car, missing him by inches.

The children did the same, covering their ears before a loud explosion threw them over, deafening their hearing for a moment.

As it returned, they heard a click of weapons and a voice shouted, “Hands up, drop your weapons!” They found themselves surrounded by Germans in green camo uniforms and helmets, having two lightning bolts on the collars.

Slowly looking around, Dinky and her friends saw that the car was in flames, having been blown up, presumably by a grenade. The German soldiers had cold, unemotional faces, looking like they weren’t afraid of anything.

“Are you deaf?! I said up! Or I put a bullet through your heads!” One of German yelled and made the kids realize they had their weapons trained on them.

Dinky looked around, the soldiers had them completely surrounded and they looked like they wouldn’t hesitate to kill her or her friends if they would try to flee.

Fear took over and the kids did as told, trembling. “Please, don’t shoot….” Katja begged.

“Sir, the Geneva Conventions clearly state that child civilians are to be-“ One German soldier, appearing to be very young, protested before another, apparently the commander spit in his face, his eyes blazing.

“Do not speak of the Geneva Conventions again, that diatribe of excuses and pretentions is what nearly brought our fatherland low. Why do we fight if not to prove them wrong? This is war. The weak die, the strong thrive. Oldest rule in military history, one you would do well to remember.” Take them away. The rest, execute Kommandobefehl.”

“Yes, sir! Get up!” One of the Germans yelled at the kids, Katja kept her hands up in the air. Her brother and Dinky had their head lowered to show they gave up, seeing how Jack and five other paratroopers got lined up against the wall, all others were dead.

Jack looked at the children, an expression of fear in his eyes, as the German commander raised his arm. “Aim!”

Dinky, Katja and Blau closed their eyes.

Fire!

The sounds of several shots sounded in their ears, and then silence as the bodies hit the ground.