The Storms of War

I sat up, groaning. Glass crackled all around me, and I grimaced as a bit dug into a palm. A fire raged across the street, and I pulled myself up, ears ringing. Next to me, the Lieutenant pulled himself off the bar counter and looked around. Bubbles shook his head while Wave pulled the Radio Backpack on. Everyone else was in a similar state, and we slowly collected our wits.

“What the HELL!?!” cried Shadow Step, looking around. At that moment, the Air Raid Sirens started, a long keening wail that started low and ascended, before dropping off over and over again. The sounds of thunder greeted us, but in this case, I knew that that was the dropping of more bombs. “Sir! I think we are under attack!” I shouted, ears still buzzing. I grabbed my rifle, looking across the street. The bomb must have landed right around the corner from us.

“NO SHIT!” he yelled. “Come on! We gotta get moving to the Command Center! We gotta find the Major!”

Running out, he used quick hand signals to put us in formation. Blaze took point with her Submachine Gun, and I followed close behind. Other squads were running, and abruptly the sound of Antiaircraft Artillery started up. The thudding of large 40 millimeter flak cannons was pleasant, and a burning bomber spun out of the sky. Off to our side, there was a faint cry of “H-help...” from under a bit of fallen rubble.

Private Silk jogged over, and I followed. A soldier lay there, face slightly burned, and a long pipe sticking out of his belly. A chunk of building lay over him, and he squirmed feebly. “IRON! WE GOT A LIVE ONE!” she hollared, and Iron Hoof came over, easily tossing the chunk aside. “Help me move him to the sidewalk!” she instructed, and I shouldered my rifle into its sling, grabbing one of his legs. The poor fellow didn’t look like he had much left in him. She snapped her fingers, testing for shock, and he seemed dazed. He muttered something about his squad, and she jabbed him with a morphine syrette. “No good, Lieutenant Bar. He's in mild shock, and we don’t have anything that can fix him. He's gonna dies sir, recommend we move on.”

I just stared at the poor fellow. Not only was he going to die, he was going to die all alone. I felt my gorge rise a bit, but swallowed hard, focusing on the mission. Lieutenant Bar looked down at him. “Sorry we cannot help you. I'll let someone know where to pick you up.”

As the dying soldier protested, we moved off. Silk stated “We gotta get going! Major Leaf is in the command center, we need to check in on her. Word is that it is that way” she said, pointing down a street. The lieutenant raised an eyebrow. “What word?”

She said “That things” as she pointed at a sign that said “COMMAND CENTER ON MAIN STREET”

He looked at it and said “.... I knew that! Lets go! Keep an eye out, sometimes they like to drop spec ops when they do their bombing!”

“Sir, want Wing to get on the roof tops and keep an eye out for us?” asked Wire Tap. Butter Bar nodded. “Yeah. Wing, get your flank up there and keep overwatch. Shoot anything that has beaks and claws.”

I gulped and nodded. This was it! What I had trained for! Taking wing, I jumped into the air and fluttered up to the top of the nearby building. It was a two strory tea shop, and the roof was only lightly sloped. I easily found purchase, and scanned the nearby streets. Walking along, I kept pace with the squad as they moved on down the streets. For nearly five minutes, we navigated a city that was on the tail end of a bombing run. Apparently, the rumor that they woud not be able to launch another attack for a few weeks was unfounded, but maybe they put everything they had into one surprise attack, hoping to kill us before we even launched for their shores. A cold fury took me.

Suddenly, there was a gunshot, and the lieutenant shouted “GET DOWN! SNIPER!”

At that word, I slid down to the edge of the roof and took cover beind a chimney. Another loud CRACK sounded, and I saw a flash from a belltower on a church. In the gloom, I could not make out a target though. “Sir! I can't see him clearly!” I shouted, looking down at the street. Then I got to curse and dodge behind the chimney as a shot blew a chunk of masonry off of the roof next to me. Below me, I could hear yelling and more gunfire, this time a bunch of rifles rather than whatever the sniper was using.

I peeked around the edge, and saw another flash as his gun went off. No one screamed, so I assumed he got nothing, but suddenly, there was a flash of light that revealed a dim shape in the tower. Raising my rifle, I propped it on the edge of the chimney and clicked the dial to fifty yards. A short shot, but one I could easily make. Aiming for the center of mass, I exhaled, inhaled, exhaled, took one more breath, and held it. A slight squeeze, and there was a surprised squawk from the other roof. Taking flight, I jumped and settled on it, sprinting at the tower. I needed to press my advantage now!

A shot from the street sent a sliver of stone across my cheek, but then I was tackling a figure that fell out of the bell tower.

It was a male gryphon, about a third larger than me, and blood poured from his chest. His eyes were wide and glassy, and a rifle fell from his lifeless claws. I had killed him. A wave of nausea came over me, and I nearly tossed the booze from earlier. Thank celestia we had not drank much... Below me, the sounds of fire escalated, and then stopped. Sighing, I turned around and walked to the edge away from the corpse. Down below, my squad had been joined by what seemed to be two others, including the major.

At a signal, I fluttered down, landing nearby. “Did you get him?” asked the Lieutenant. I nodded.

The major looked around. “The attack is over, they had only about fifteen bombers. They mostly hit the south side of the city, the general thinks they lost their course and missed the harbour. I was on my way back to meet with you guys when it started. Everyone accounted for?”

To general relief, all hands were indeed accounted for, and we all stared at each other. We had just had our first small taste of combat, and I had not enjoyed it one bit.