Author's Note

As I write the final chapter for 2024, I just want to let you know that we are approaching the end of this first part of the story, it will be over by the 100th chapter. The plan is to write the final chapter of this story by March, and begin the next part, from 1941-1943, by April. I will also try and write some more chapters for Run That Race, and bring that one out of hiatus! Happy holidays and Happy New Year 2025, everypony, and here's to a good next year!

Chapter 82

28TH OCTOBER 1940

----------------------------------------------------------ROYAL CANTERLOT HOSPITAL-----------------------------------------------------------
It was now 8:00am in the city of Canterlot. In the Critical Unit of the Royal Canterlot Hospital, the country's most prestigious and expensive hospital, the Princesses were sitting in the chairs outside one of the wards, alongside Night Light and Twilight Velvet, Shining Armor's parents. It had been two weeks since the raid at the HNA compound had gone horribly wrong, and had resulted in the deaths of more than 110 ponies. Majority of these had been the HNA ponies, brutally backstabbed and murdered by their own leader, Slick Shady, in such a brutal way. One of these had been one of the ponies that they had been attempting to try and save. One of the four scientists that the HNA had kidnapped had escaped shortly before the compound had exploded, thanks to the bombs planted by Shady.

The large explosion and the forest fire that had followed due to the bombs had exposed this covert operation to the public worldwide, following which the Equestrian and Crystal Empirean governments were facing a large amount of backlash and criticism over how they had handled this operation to take down a dangerous terrorist group which had military-grade explosives using only a small tactical team of around 60, when they should have just used the military, who would have expected such a thing. However, no one, human or pony, had expected such a thing. The CBI had not anticipated this in their intel, as they had heard that Shady had apparently disposed of the remaining stolen Nobel-808.

However, after the entire New Horseleans raid had gone wrong, multiple CBI employees in the intel department had resigned from their posts, as they felt guilty that so many had died, and they felt that they had made the mistake which had led to this. Of the 114 fatalities, all of the HNA ponies, a total of 98 of them, had died. The closest one had come to survival was a lone pony who had been found alive, but had died on the way to hospital. The remaining 16 fatalities had been the scientist and members of the CBI Tactical Squad. Of the surviving ponies, multiple had been critically injured, and one had unfortunately died a few days after the raid.

Among the critically injured had been Shining Armor, the commander of the Royal Guards, who had been asked to help the CBI Tactical Squad out during the doomed raid at the HNA compound. The explosion had left the unicorn stallion with minor external injuries, which he had been protected from thanks to the body armor used by the CBI Tactical Squad, but he had lost consciousness shortly afterwards due to internal bleeding. He had survived, but was now in the Intensive Care Unit, or ICU. Originally, he had been in a hospital in another town, before being shifted to Canterlot. He had been in critical condition since the raid, and had been unconscious since. He hadn't regained consciousness, and while doctors expected him to live, it would probably be a few more days or so before he would finally wake up.

Originally, Twilight was planning to fly down from Britain right away to see her big brother, but her parents had told her explicitly not to do so, and told her to stay at Bletchley Park, where she was still working on breaking the code of the new German Enigmas with Alan Turing and the other cryptologists. They had said that if her brother did not make it, she had to continue working, to try and stop the war. They didn't want to lose their only other child as well.

Thankfully, Shining Armor's body was strong, and his mind even more so, because he was still alive, even after all these days in the ICU, and thanks to the help of a group of British surgeons who were guests here at the hospital as part of an exchange program, he was beginning to pull through. The main injury had been healed, and now all that was left was for him to regain consciousness, and it would be another month or so before he could finally be discharged, and would take even more time before he could rejoin the Royal Guards.

However, as of now, he was on the road to recovery, but in the meantime, the Royal Guards lacked their leader, and the Royal Equestrian military lacked its General, and Princess Cadance was missing her husband. She hadn't even been able to come to Canterlot to see him, due to how busy she had been lately thanks to the war and the busy nature of Earthly politics in general. In fact, this felt worse than their wedding in Canterlot two years earlier, where Cadance had at least been able to help her husband. However, here, she couldn't have even been with him on that fateful day, and now, she was wishing she had been the one leading the raid at the HNA compound, not Shining.

However, everyone knew that even if Cadance had been the one leading the raid, the outcome would probably have been the same. Nobody had expected that Slick Shady was willing to kill the HNA members like that, especially in such a brutal way. The only solace was that it would have been a quick death for most of them. However, Shady, the remaining three scientists, and a few of the core HNA members were still missing, and the Rift Gate was still somewhere out there. The December date of its activation was fast approaching, and if they didn't activate it soon, the whole world was gone.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------KONITSA----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was now 10:00am here, and it was a warm day in the small town of Konitsa, in Greece, located near the border with Albania. This small town normally catered to tourists, as multiple hikers would stop here before trying to trek through the nearby mountains, but today, it was a day of chaos. Just three hours earlier, Albanian troops, led by Italians, had invaded Greece, and one of the places they had tried to take was Konitsa, since it was relatively close to the border.

The residents had heard the declaration of war on the radio against the Greek Prime Minister, Ioaniss Metaxas. Benito Mussolini had issued an ultimatum to him seeking the cession of Greek territory to the Italians. Metaxas had rejected this and Mussolini had declared war, sending in troops to take Greece for themselves. Most people had been expecting something like this since August, when the Italians had sunk the Greek light cruiser Elli while it was in dock using one of their submarines, killing 9 sailors. Since then, with accusations of Greece allying with the British from the Italians, the situation between the two countries had been coming closer to war since then.

In the town of Konitsa, multiple tanks were rolling through. These were the Panzers that the Italians seemed to have somehow acquired from the Germans, not the Italians' own tanks, which were causing even more carnage. The military had been called, and now, they were almost on scene. A group of RAF Bristol Blenheim bombers was on the way, coming in fast, as Metaxas had called the British for help. They had pledged air support and material support, but not ground troops. However, the air support would still help.

Sitting inside one of the Blenheims, at an altitude of 8,000 feet, was RAF Flight Lieutenant Alan Cutter, its bomb aimer and navigator. Cutter was busy priming the bombs for release, as his plane sped towards the town. There were 20 planes in all, as they headed towards the beleaguered Greek town. They were coming in from Egypt, where they had been stationed. As they headed towards the town, they knew that they had an added advantage today.

The Equestrians had recently introduced a new vital field upgrade for the guns that planes used for protection. They had enchanted all of the guns with special new spells that reduced the time a gun needed to cool down, and increased the time for which it could be fired before a cooldown by around twelve seconds. 12 seconds did not seem like a lot of time, but in a battlefield, every second counted. Rumours were that they were also beginning developing of an automatic bomb aiming mechanism as well.

As the Blenheims closed in on Konitsa, facing heavy anti-aircraft fire, Cutter called up the pilot, "Tom, we're ready to go over here, all the bombs are primed and ready for release."

"Alright Alan, get ready, we're heading into the hot zone, get ready, the bloody pizzafaces are going to hit us with everything they've got... CRIKEY!" shouted Tom, as a large gun blast exploded right next to the plane, sending shrapnel flying through the aircraft.

"Tom, are you okay?!" shouted Cutter, hoping he was okay, considering some of the shrapnel had penetrated the aircraft, which was somehow still flying level. He got no answer. "TOM, ANSWER ME!" shouted Cutter. Thinking his headset was bad, and trying to avoid what really might have happened, he called up the plane's gunner. "Hey, Johnny, are you able to contact Tom? He isn't responding!"

"Sorry, Cutter, he isn't responding to my calls either. You'd better get into the cockpit and check, my way is blocked by debris, I'm surprised it didn't hit me!" said Johnny. Cutter, realising what might have happened, acknowledged the message, and ran towards the cockpit. As he entered the cockpit, he could instantly tell what had happened, and he saw the horrific scene. One of the glass panes of the cockpit windows was broken, and Tom was slumped at his seat, dead. A piece of shrapnel had gone right through his head, killing him instantly. This was not good. The plane had been flying without a pilot for almost three minutes now, and they were almost above Konitsa.

Cutter quickly removed Tom's body from the seat, and took the controls. Despite the fact that he was only primed the bombs and was the navigator, he did know the basics of flying an aircraft, even if it was much smaller than this big old bomber. "Johnny, Tom's dead. I'm at the controls, we still have to finish our mission!"

"I got that, Cutter. We better do this fast, and I hope you know how to fly a plane, because you can't arm the bombs and fly this plane at the same time! We can only drop one load, and then we have to return to base!" said Johnny.

"I know that, Johnny! We'll head towards Ioannina, we can land there and refuel! Plus, the Greeks are on our side!" said Cutter, as he began slewing the bomber into a bank as they arrived above Konitsa, dodging anti-aircraft fire from the Italians, and looking for a worthy target. They needed to make their bombs count, since they could only drop one load.

As the lumbering bomber approached the smoke-filled skies over Konitsa, Cutter steadied the aircraft with gritted determination. The chaos below erupted in a cacophony of gunfire, the deep rumble of tanks, and the cries of residents trying to escape from the advancing Italian forces. Would they make it? The weight of their mission bore heavily upon his shoulders as he tightened his grip on the controls, navigating through the flak that danced around them like malicious fireflies.

“Look for a target, any target!” Cutter shouted over the din of the aircraft’s engine and the whistling wind. Peering out of the cockpit, he squinted against the smoke, trying to spot the advancing enemy. Through the haze, he could make out the stark outlines of Italian tanks—metal behemoths rolling relentlessly down the narrow streets of Konitsa.

“Got it! Those tanks!” Johnny, the gunner, hollered from behind him, though fear tinged his voice. “Let’s cut them down! We need to cripple their advance!”

Cutter's heart raced as he caught sight of the armored vehicles. He could see the soldiers spilling out of them, scrambling for cover. “Hold on tight!” he yelled, pulling the yoke hard to the right, sending the bomber into a tight dive. The ground rushed up to meet them as they descended fast, the horizon spinning dangerously below—one wrong turn could turn their mission into a nightmare.

“Get the bombs ready!” Cutter commanded, concentrating fully on keeping the bomber steady. He knew they had one chance; he had to make it count.

“Swinging into position…now!” Johnny shouted, gripping his sidearm tightly, more concerned about the anti-aircraft guns that dotted the landscape. He was ready to return fire if necessary.

With the tanks coming into view, Cutter felt the adrenaline surge through him. “Three…two…one…DROP!” he yelled, yanking the lever that released the payload. The bombs cascaded from beneath them, tumbling down like silver raindrops, aimed precisely at the line of tanks.

Time seemed to slow as they watched the bombs fall. Then there was an excruciating moment of silence shattered by thunderous explosions as the munitions struck true, leaving plumes of smoke and fire in their wake. One tank went up like a Roman candle, while its comrades were either incapacitated or thrown into disarray from the shockwave.

“Yes!” Johnny whooped, “That’ll teach ‘em! Now let’s get to Ioannina!” Focus shifted back to escape, and Cutter pulled back on the controls, pulling the bomber skyward just as a barrage of bullets zipped past them—a testament to the chaos they had created. He felt the heat of the battle below, but all that mattered now was getting out alive. As they set course for Ioannina, Johnny called up Cutter. "SHIT! CUTTER! ENEMY AIRCRAFT ARE ON OUR ASS, ITALIAN MACCHIS! CAN YOU FLY FASTER, WE CAN'T OUTRUN THEM!" shouted a panicked Johnny.

"I'll try, but we're in a bomber! Those are fighter aircraft, get ready for a fight!" said Cutter, as he tensed himself up for the fight. Soon, the Macchis began to close in on them, Cutter made a radio call. "This is Thunderstrike 3, we have lost our pilot, aircraft currently being flown by navigator, we are unable to continue the mission, heading to Ioannina."

"Roger that 3, we'll see you at Ioannina Airport." replied Thunderstrike 1, as Cutter got ready for the Macchis, which were closing in. He could hear the sound of the gun beginning to fire, manned by Johnny. The increased firing time was helping, as they were able to fire longer bursts at the Italian fighters before having to cool down.

As some of the Macchis began to show up from the front, Cutter quickly activated the machine gun in the left wing, and began firing at the Macchis. Within five minutes, they had shot down two Macchis, but more were coming. However, as they came closer to Ioannina, they started backing off, due to heavy Greek military presence here. However, just as the two British pilots began descending, thinking they were home free, and was just about to contact Command, when he heard a huge bang. It almost knocked him out, and the next thing Cutter knew, the plane was in an uncommanded descent.

He quickly pulled back on the control column to arrest the descent, he noted that the control column felt heavier than usual. "Johnny, what was that? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Alan, but we seem to be leaking! One of those damn Macchis snuck up on us and fired a big burst at us before turning back!"

That was when Cutter realised the heaviness on his control, and what might have caused it. "Johnny, the leak, it isn't..."

"Hydraulic fluid? Yeah, it is. We better descent fast, and we had better tell them to have the equipment rolling, because if we have to crash land without landing gear, we don't want to explode!" said Johnny. As Cutter copied the message, he contacted Command, who had set up a field post at Ioannina Airport, and they instantly gave him clearance to land, even though he was still around ten minutes from the airport, as the bomber descended through 6,000 feet.

As the plane continued to lose hydraulic fluids, Cutter quickly lowered the landing gear, despite the fact that he was still above 5,000 feet, as if he lowered it too late, it wouldn't come down. Even if it created drag and burned fuel, the plane still had enough fuel to make the landing, and he would have to come in fast, and the flaps didn't seem to want to lower. As the plane came closer to the airport, Cutter started pulling back on the throttles, but not so much as to make the plane fall out of the sky.

Soon, the runway was in sight, and Cutter began descending lower and lower, knowing the landing would probably be rough. As they arrived over the runway, Cutter quickly pushed the throttles to idle, and the Blenheim slammed onto the runway. Unfortunately, the landing began to wrong when out of nowhere, the right side landing gear leg collapsed, as the hydraulic leak had caused it to not lock into place fully, and the plane slewed right and went off the runway.

Thankfully, there was nothing to hit, as the runway was surrounded by fields, and the friction from the wing hitting the ground helped stop the plane quickly in some fields. At first, the ride was rough, and there was so much dust that both the men in the aircraft thought that the tail had detached from the aircraft, and that it would explode at any moment. However, they soon saw that this was not the case, as Cutter shut down the engines, and looked outside, realising the aircraft was mostly intact, and there were no fuel leaks.

As Cutter stepped out of the cockpit, looking at Tom's body before leaving, he ran into Johnny, who had already left the aircraft, and waited as the fire trucks came to them. As they waited, they heard on Johnny's portable radio that the Italians had lost many, and the British and Greeks were fighting back well. This made them happy, and they knew that Tom's death had not gone in vain, as Britain was finally starting to fight back after its defeats in Africa and Europe. Soon, the Allies would start winning more.