Thomas and Friends: Secrets of Sodor

by The Blue EM2

Chapter 13-The Battle for Britain

Unfortunately, the other side of the portal was no more peaceful than the place they had started. As Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, Misty, and Izzy landed on the other side of the portal back on Sodor, they discovered a scenario beyond their worst imagining.

Sodor was no longer a peaceful land where the sky was so blue, a storybook land of wonder. It had devolved into a fully blown warzone.

The sound of gunfire raged in the distance, much of it accompanied by a lot of shouting.

"Where are we?" Sunny asked.

"Not far from where we started!" Zipp shouted. "This way!"

They dashed under part of a tunnel complex, and narrowly avoided an armoured personnel carrier rattling by them towards its enemy. More gunfire echoed from overhead, and as they arrived at an obvious stopping point, they suddenly saw something shocking.

There was no real enemy in combat. Instead, everybody who was shooting and attacking were wearing the uniforms of the British Armed Forces!

"I'm not an expert on things military," Sunny admitted, "but I'm pretty certain these are all British Army units. Are they supposed to be on the same side or something?"

Pipp looked on in confusion. "I was thinking the same thing, unless-"

Zipp was shocked. "It's 1642 all over again," she said. "It's a Civil War!"

"And I think I know who is behind it," Hitch said. "Come on. Let's get going and find our fellows."

As they continued on their way, they found several dead soldiers lying on the floor, seemingly unprepared for being fired upon by their own fellows. Their weapons lay on the floor, and Hitch was quick to pick one up and check the magazine. "Sorry, buddy. But I need this more than you."

He slotted some magazines into a bag he had, and then they continued on their way towards the noise. Explosions roared in the distance from the construction site they had formerly worked at, filling the sky with smoke and light. They charged as quickly as they could to the location of the noise, before stopping to their shock at what they saw from a nearby hill.

Below them, the once familiar construction site had devolved into a scene of chaos. The landscape was now slick with mud, meaning it more closely resembled a WW1 battlefield in many ways. Some crude fortifications had been built from the equipment dumped around the site, and a hill had been turned into a fortification, with some sort of command centre on top of the hill. Two machine gun emplacements were firing on the area down below.

Boomer and his men were down there, sheltering behind rail vehicles. Boomer seemed to be shouting at somebody.

"Is that mom in command?" Pipp asked, in shock.

Sure enough, it was. Lady Haven was visible in the command centre, barking orders to those on the ground.

"We have to get to them!" Zipp said. "Come on!"

Izzy looked worried. "I can only hope things are OK in Falmouth."

---

Unfortunately, things were not OK in Falmouth. The darkened skies had been accompanied by several former Royal Navy ships appearing off the coastline and starting to shell portions of the town. The beachfront had soon been cleared of buildings as rocket and shell stormed down, flattening buildings and structures.

Much of the shelling also tore holes in the beach, throwing dirt and sand into the air, and mangling the landscape, scarring vibrant yellow sands with dirt and flame, producing some glass in the process.

The coastal defences had barely come online before being destroyed by a formation of bombers.

The Mayor of Falmouth looked on in shock. "What the Hell is going on?" she shouted.

"The town is under attack!" shouted an alderman. "We have to evacuate, now!"

"I'm staying to coordinate the evac attempt," the mayor said. "My ancestors fought against invaders, and I intend to do the same!"

Several of the larger ships then began to unload landing craft, loaded with soldiers and vehicles for the push inland. Support fire blazed from the biggger ships as the landing craft approached.

The Mayor shook her head. "This must have been what Cornwallis must have experienced at Yorktown."

Several of the craft succesfully made landfall, slamming into the shores. The ramps dropped, and several tanks deployed into combat onto the beaches. They rolled over terrain cleared for them by the bombardment, and over rail lines, flattening sections of rail and damaging land as they rolled onto the landscape.

They eventually joined the seafront, and became to move in a column.

The commander looked out of the top for a second, and pointed towards a target. "TOWARDS THE LIGHTHOUSE! SECURE THE ARTEF-"

He was abruptly cut off by an explosion, and a shell bounced off the armour of the tank and richocheted away into the distance.

Suddenly, there was another bang, and it soon became clear where from. A small anti tank gun was firing on them, crewed by members of the local CCF.

"HOLD THE LINE!" a Corporal bellowed. "WE WILL HOLD THEM HERE!"

The tank commander laughed. "They think that can harm a Challenger 3? Gunner, target, left hand side, HE shell."

The turret swung round to point at the anti tank gun, which fired once more.

"FIRE!"

"ON THE WAY!"

A shell flew out of the tank's barrel and impacted the area around the anti tank gun, throwing it and its crew into the air and tossing them around like toys. It was a horrible sight to see- and many of the CCF members didn't get back up. Two crawled away as best they could, trying to get to safety, before a storm of machine gun fire finished them off.

The driver glanced over to the gunner. "You should have let them bleed out. That'll teach them to stand against her Rightful Majesty."

The column began to move up, heading towards its target. "Orders are to link up with the paratroopers. They should be up ahead and ready to assist."

---

Not even many residential neighbourhoods were safe from the war. Falmouth Manor itself was under assault, as paratroopers had been deployed to capture it. They were currently laying siege to the building, and this was proving to be something of a problem.

The Havens' security forces were currently fighting to hold them off. A group of four had set up a pair of machine guns and were laying down suppressing fire upon the enemy. As the saying goes, any building in a battle can be turned into a fortress, and the walls were holding surprisingly well against the onslaught.

Zoom was on the radio inside the command centre, and looked around. "Work quickly!" she said. "Michaels! Hammond! Go with Thunder and get Purbeck One started up and ready for takeoff! Juarez! Get to the roof and provide covering fire! HE rounds in the L115! I'll find the Duke and get him to safety!"

"YES MA'AM!" they all said, saluting and charging for the locations they had been ordered to go to. Zoom grabbed her P90 submachine gun and made her own way through the corridors, pointing her weapon in case of any intruders. They had no way of knowing if any of them had breached the building yet.

Eventually, she reached the main chambers, and heard voices inside.

"The Queen wants a word with you. Nobles who stand against her aren't taken kindly to."

Zoom kicked the door down and saw a soldier menacing the Duke. There was a risk of collateral if she fired on him, so she charged, slammed him to one side, and tossed him out of the window.

The Duke looked up, his face white as a sheet. "Thank you," he said. "I hardly imagined I'd be threatened again by soldiers in my own home. I thought I'd left that past behind me."

"What matters is that you are safe, Your Lordship," Zoom said. "Follow me. We're evacuating the Manor, and the choppers are on the roof. Let's get out of here."

The pair dashed through corridors, hearing the sounds of gunfire echoing all around them. They dodged and rolled underneath things, before finally making their way to the roof.

Purbeck One's engine was running at full power, ready to take off. Thunder hopped out of the cockpit and jumped into Purbeck 2 to start up its engine.

Two soldiers were providing sniper cover to their fellows from the roof, their bullets consistently finding their mark.

"I recognise the rank insignia of these guys!" Thunder said. "They're Parachute Regiment! They're British!"

Other soldiers dashed across the field and began to jump into choppers to flee the area, and at last everybody was onboard. Purbeck One thundered into the skies, its engines straining from the rapid takeoff. Purbeck Two followed a few seconds later, Thunder spinning up the chaingun to fire on the assault force and filling the ground with explosive holes.

As they thundered away, the town of Falmouth burned. The only structure standing free of the chaos was the Lighthouse itself.

---

Far removed from the chaos and violence of war, the King of Great Britain had awoken to the news of chaos breaking out across Britain.

"What news?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Your Majesty," said one of his aides. "It would seem our soldiers have turned on one another. Some sort of revolution is underway, and we need to evacuate Buckingham Palace."

The King shook his head. "My Grandfather refused to leave during the Blitz. I don't see why I should leave. I should be setting an example to all my subjects."

"Of foolishness?" asked a voice. Nobody had any time to react before the door to the side of the throne room exploded inwards, and an assault party entered, swiftly taking those inside hostage.

The King looked up at their leader, a woman dressed in some sort of strange armour.

The woman smiled. "Ah, I see you've been keeping my seat warm for me. How kind of you." She glanced around the room. "Of course, the decor isn't to my taste- I always preferred Jacobean influences, but whatever floats your boat."

The King looked at her. "Who the Devil are you?"

The woman smiled. "My name is Opaline Arcana, the last of the House of Stuart, the rightful Kings and Queens of England. My ancestor, James II, was removed from the birthright granted to him by your ancestor, an upstart Dutchman with ideas above his station. May I remind you we British are destined to rule the entire world, with an iron fist if required?"

"All I see is some lunatic in fancy dress," the King said.

Opaline turned, and a jet of energy blasted from her hands, vaporising some plants. "As we were saying? I am here to make demands. You are to hand the throne over to me and renounce the House of Windsor's claim to the throne of England and Scotland, which by neccesity includes Northern Ireland as well."

The King looked at her. "Whatever makes you think I'd do that? It would have taken you years to even have a chance of infiltrating our forces to overthrow the government."

"And I've had decades." Opaline touched a button on her helmet, and a display broadcast from it. The King's eyes widened in horror at what he saw.

"William?"

Opaline smiled. "Turns out infiltrating their security team wasn't as difficult as I would have thought. As you can see they're being held hostage. Hand the throne to me, unless you want a repeat of Ekatingburg."

The King looked aghast. "You monster!"

"Look who's talking," Opaline smiled. "Your ancestors have ordered far, far worse. Who are you to condemn me for giving history a push?"

The King nodded. "Alright. I'll do it. Just don't hurt them, OK?"

Opaline nodded. "You have my word."

The crown was removed from a box and placed on a table. A soldier hauled the King from the throne, and Opaline took her seat on it before removing her helmet. "I have waited for this moment for so long."

The crown was placed upon her head, and she smiled. "Long Live the Queen."

Author's Note:

The revolution is well and truly underway, and for those caught in its wrath things cannot be an easy time. In fact, you could say things are getting pretty bad.

The invasion is inspired by many different conflicts. The opening fight is inspired by the desparate defence of Dunkirk conducted by the French Army in 1940 as part of Operation Dynamo, whilst the battle of Falmouth is based on the direct assault plan for the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863 (which was never attempted owing to projected casualty levels).

For the firearms enthusiasts in the audience, the L115 is the standard sniper rifle in use with the British Army. A conversion of the Accuracy International AWM, it is chambered in .338 magnum and has a five round magazine.

Opaline briefly references the Ekaterinburg massacre, an incident in the Russian Civil War where the Bolsheviks killed the entire Russian Royal Family. This episode helped to spark international outrage and let to the war intensifying. Opaline also briefly alludes to Lenin's oft-quoted remark that history often needs a push.

For those wondering how Opaline was able to pull off all her shenanigans without the authorities noticing-now you know. Opaline has placed critical allies into important positions, all of whom can tip the scales to ensure she remains undetected.

And with Opaline now the Queen, what horrors may await our heroes? Find out tomorrow!

Comments

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11880831
Exactly.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

GODDAMMIT!!
THIS IS NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING AT ALL!!!

BTW, wouldn't it make more sense for this to called The Seige of Falmouth and Sodor? Since Sodor is also involvedin this battle?

[Skyblazer9]

I wasn't expecting this at all but this is Opaline we are talking about and this version of her is going all out.

[shining paladin]

awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter

[shining paladin]

"History can say what it wants but rarely does it remember anything correctly"-Lawkeeper Equity mlp ace attorney EOJ

[The Blue EM2]

11880834
Indeed.

11880839
I'm beginning to think The Battle for Britain may be a better title, given that the nation is under attack. As for the story, I've chosen to go all-out for this segment. This is probably my first real true attempt at a full scale war scenario, given my rewrite of the G4 movie mostly consisted of characters wandering across places.

[The Blue EM2]

11880850
A full scale insurrection indeed. And she's technically achieved her objective by the end of the chapter.

[The Blue EM2]

11880861
Cheers.

[The Blue EM2]

11880865
For every time the French are joked about in war circles, remind people of Verdun and Bir Hakem-the French help the former without any help from the rest of the Entente, and the latter victory was made possible by French troops.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11880872
I mean, we're not talking about a mere insurrection in one of the towns, or a small fight in one of the towns, THIS IS A BLOODY WORLD NATION TERRORIST ATTACK!!!! It will start with Great Britain now, but who's to say that Psychopathic Bitch won't try to overthrow America, Canda, and Australia the next day?!

[The Blue EM2]

11880880
In the words of Winston Churchill, 'You cannot negotiate with a Tiger when YOUR HEAD IS IN ITS MOUTH!'

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11880918
True words spoken.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

The sound of gunfire raged in the distance, much of it accompanied by a lot of shouting.

Wtf happened?!?

As they continued on their way, they found several dead soldiers lying on the floor, seemingly unprepared for being fired upon by their own fellows. Their weapons lay on the floor, and Hitch was quick to pick one up and check the magazine. "Sorry, buddy. But I need this more than you."

Rest their souls.

"All I see is some lunatic in fancy dress," the King said.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

The crown was placed upon her head, and she smiled. "Long Live the Queen."

The end... is near!!!

[The Blue EM2]

11880925
And we know who the tiger is in this context.

[The Blue EM2]

11880935
1. A revolution happened, that's what.

2. Indeed. Poor bastards never saw what hit them...

3. A lunatic with an alarming number of followers and terrifying power.

4. Opaline achieved in a few hours what the Jacobites failed to in 54 years.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11881036
True, but I think even Shere Khan would be disgusted by how Opaline is.

[The Blue EM2]

11881065
That's one way of putting it.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11881087
Shere Khan is bad, but Opaline is worse. As long as she is in rule, give it enough time, there will be no one left to rule over.

[The Blue EM2]

11881091
I suppose that's the irony of such leaders. You need somebody to rule over when you're done conquering.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11881122
I mean, she’s started a Bloody Civil War just to steal the throne! If it keeps up everything will be destroyed! She’s so blinded by her bigotry she doesn’t see she’s destroying the very thing she sought to take over!

[The Blue EM2]

11881136
An interesting parallel with one of her ancestors, then, Charles I - who tore England apart in a Civil War instead of conceding any power to the people. He got his head chopped off for his troubles.

[Tiber Septim II]

The NATO, Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations are now mobilized for the liberation of the UK and Sodor.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11881237
Heh, I bet he wishes she didn’t do what she’s doing now. Or maybe not, who knows?

[The Blue EM2]

11881280
Who knows how far Opaline's tendrils go?

[The Blue EM2]

11881287
Who knows?