Time War: Onslaught

by Nick S. Thomas

  "We are after Konrad Dohman, do you know him?"

  "Yes, sadly, I do."

  The priest shut the door and showed them a map of the town on the wall behind them.

  "He is there," pointed the priest. Just where Celine had said he would be.

  "But I hope you brought more soldiers, if you think you can get to him and make it out of here alive."

  "You leave that to us."

  "What can I do?"

  "Keep the door shut and your head down. And tell us how we get up there in the tower."

  Corwin then noticed that Frasi had not even stepped in with them. He had vanished like he so frequently did, but Corwin did not worry for his safety. They rushed on up the stairs and spiralled around until they came out in the tower. A huge bell occupied most of the space, but there was room to walk all around it, and a stone balcony concealed their position well with just enough room to shoot from.

  "Can't get better than this," said Lecia.

  She sat down beside the balcony and raised her rifle up to survey the scene, far enough back that the barrel did not protrude out for anyone below to see. Corwin positioned himself beside her. There were a few military staff cars and small trucks parked in the main square, but no sign of any armour of any kind. A few soldiers sat around smoking casually, and they looked as if any trouble was the last thing they expected to see. He tracked along to the house where Dohman was. There were two guards posted outside.

  "Doesn't look all that bad. Looks like the other troops are here quite by chance."

  "You really think they would leave him this little protection?"

  "Why not? It's safe territory as far as they know, and I wonder if few even know his relation to Hitler."

  "That's an awful lot of assumptions."

  Corwin picked up the radio handset.

  "All looks pretty clear up here. Nylund, get moving."

  He turned and watched through his binoculars as the bike sped off and disappeared behind a line of trees.

  "Time for things to get a little interesting."

  "I don't see why we don't just go through this town like we did the last. Not like there are so many troops to deal with."

  "We went through the last town because we had to. We have one simple mission here, so let's not take on more work than we need to."

  They could hear the sound of the motorbike now and both turned to watch as it pulled up to the guards on the main road in. Chas was on the seat behind Nylund. She had stripped down to just trousers and her open blouse. She waved at the troops eagerly. They didn't look particularly bothered at all. They were more interested in Chas than the men and simply waved them through without a word.

  “See what a women’s touch can do?” said Corwin.

  “That woman’s touch goes anywhere near you, and she’s dead,” replied Lecia coldly.

  Corwin looked up and smiled. He’d assumed she was joking, but she looked deadly serious. He let it go and looked back as the bike continued on through the streets.

  “You fire that thing and the whole town will know.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t pull the trigger until it doesn’t matter anymore.”

  Corwin wasn’t sure he believed her. She had acted more and more recklessly recently, and yet he found it hard to tell her. Instead he kept his attention on Beyett and his team. They rolled up to the house where Dohman was staying and rocked to a halt. They climbed off and stumbled around as if acting merry and drunk all at once. It was clear the guards didn’t know how to take it, but were too scared to call up an officer on anything.

  Beyett was stumbling about on his feet as if pretending to be drunk with Chas under his arm and only barely able to support his weight.

  “Got to hand it to him, that’s a pretty fine act.”

  Lecia grunted. She didn’t seem all that impressed.

  The three of them vanished inside the lavish home. Corwin and Lecia could do nothing now but wait and hope.

  “You really think we can pull all this off, don’t you?”

  “Picking up one staff officer out of a quiet town? Or course I do.”

  “No…Hitler. Capturing or killing him.”

  Corwin sighed as he wiped his forehead of the sweat caused by the tension and stress of having to wait it out.

  “You know I have always said I don’t do anything unless I believe I can succeed.”

  “And do you still?”

  “Yes,” he finally replied, “This war has changed so much it doesn’t look anything like the history books we knew. That is the effect Villiers has had. We are all that exists to counter him and turn things around.”

  “But it isn’t him we are going after.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Then you are as lost as the rest of us.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked her. He was intrigued by her comment.

  “None of us really know what it is we fight for anymore. A few, Harland and Porter, they do it because they will fight no matter who the enemy is. Some do it through loyalty to you, like Frasi and Chas. But really none of us know. We are all lost.”

  Corwin glanced back at the house, but nothing had changed, so his mind began to wander as he tossed her words around his mind.

  “What is it you even used to fight for? Back in our time?”

  She had nothing to say to that.

  “All this questioning of what we do and why, but that was never asked before. I know why I fought, and I know why I still fight now. Maybe it’s time the rest of you got your heads in the game.”

  But before he could press the matter further, there was movement at the house. The two of them watched and waited silently. Chas was first out with Dohman staggering beside her. She seemed to be acting out to make a scene to the soldiers, but Dohman didn’t seem to be playing along to the same tune. Nylund was out next and went to their aid, supporting the German to stop him from falling from Chas’ side.

  “Oh, this doesn’t look good, not good at all!” said Corwin.

  Lecia was already taking aim, and he knew she would almost certainly have to pull the trigger.

  “Don’t fuck this up, Nylund,” he said.

  “I think this operation has got bigger problems than him,” replied Lecia.

  They watched Chas trying to shepherd the German officer towards a staff car parked nearby, but he already seemed a little resistant and appeared to be waking from whatever state he was in. They staggered on a few more paces when finally one of the Germans lifted their rifle to halt them.

  “Here we go,” Corwin whispered.

  Lecia didn’t even need to ask for permission to take the shot. They both knew where the situation was going. She squeezed the trigger, and the shot hit the man in the back of the head. It killed him instantly. She had the next round in the chamber before the other man even realised what was going on. The rifle rang out once more, and the second man dropped to the ground.

  Corwin lifted the handset of the radio and yelled down it, “Get in here now!”

  He watched Chas bundle Dohman into the back of the lavish Mercedes staff car that had been parked outside of his home.

  “It’ll be a miracle if we can get him out alive.”

  “Let me worry about that, Lecia. You just keep shooting them down.”

  The car fired up, and they heard the rear wheels squeal as it sped off from the house. Nylund was at the wheel. He tracked along the road that they were taking just in time to see a door fling open and dozens of soldiers pour out onto the road.

  "Ah, hell, no! That’s not what we need."

  He leapt over the balcony and jumped without hesitation. He landed on the roof of the church, rolled, and then jumped again. He hit the ground running and drew his Colt as he did so.

  I really need to find a bigger gun!

  He dashed through a side alley, hoping to come out at the backs of those heading to block Nylund's way. He came out onto the main road at a sprinting pace and firing on the move. Three soldiers died from his f
irst magazine with shots to their backs. Without even slowing down, he dropped the magazine and threw in another. He got one shot off into the face of the fourth soldier as he reached him and held him up as a human shield to continue firing. He got off another two shots to kill a fifth, when another opened up on full auto with a machine pistol.

  Corwin felt the body of the soldier in his arms jolt back and forth. It was riddled with bullets until one skimmed the knuckles of his gun hand, and he lost the grip of the Colt. He launched the body with all his force so that it slammed into the one who had shot him. He was crushed to the floor by the weight of the impact, and the other soldiers were too stunned by the raw power that he had displayed to fire back.

  He rushed forward and snapped one of their necks, catching his submachine gun as he fell. He immediately brought it to bear and opened up on full auto. Two leapt back into the cover of the building. The rest were cut down where they stood. Corwin could hear the Mercedes roar into view now, and it slid to a halt next to him.

  "Get in!" Nylund shouted.

  But before Corwin could take another step there was an explosion. The shock of the blast smashed him into the side of the car, and he collapsed down against the wing. He looked back along the road and out of the town. It was an eight-wheel armoured car was before them, and it had a small turret with cannon.

  "Back!" Corwin yelled.

  Nylund didn't hesitate. He slammed it into reverse, and the tyres screeched as they raced back. Corwin got to his feet and rushed for the cover of the alleyway he had come from. A burst of machine gun fire tracked him all the way. It almost reached him before he darted into cover. He stopped for just a moment to catch a breath. He was empty handed. He had dropped the German's weapon as he fell from the blast, and he didn't have a spare second to recover that or his pistol. The only firearm he had was the HDM. He shook his head, knowing it wasn't even worth drawing. It was the wrong weapon for this fight. He heard the armoured car race down the road after Nylund. He shrugged off the fatigue and looked up. Lecia was on her feet in the balcony for all to see and firing as fast as she could chamber the rounds. She lowered the rifle to put in a new clip of rounds when she hesitated. He could see the fear in her face.

  What now?

  She leaned over the edge to him.

  "We've got a problem. A big fucking problem!" she screamed.

  Corwin took a running jump and leapt up onto the roof, scrambling up until he was at the apex just below her. He looked out to where she had been pointing. It was the dust cloud outside of the town that first caught his attention, and then he looked down to the source of it. His eyes widened in shock at what was heading their way. Three Tiger tanks.

  "Fuck me," he said to himself.

  As the words came out of his mouth, one of the tanks rocked to a halt. Its turret began to turn and the gun elevate to the clock tower.

  "Lecia, get out!" he hollered. She jumped from the balcony as they heard the crack of the 88mm gun fire. The tower erupted with a massive blast, and both of them rolled off onto the ground below. Chunks of slate shattered over Corwin's back, and he felt a particularly large part smash him down into the ground. As the dust began to settle, he coughed out some dirt and struggled to stand up. Lecia was already reloading her cherished rifle that she had held on to at all costs.

  "What the hell do you think you are going to do with that?"

  She said nothing and chambered the first round ready.

  "Heavy armour? What the fuck is that doing here?" Corwin asked.

  But she didn't have any more answers than he did.

  “Doesn’t matter now, what are we going to do about it?”

  The armoured cars cannon sound out again. Soon after wheels screeched, and they heard a car veer sharply and then crash into something substantial.

  “Come on!” he yelled.

  He rushed on to the source of the sound, although he was still empty handed. He looked around in some hope of finding a discarded weapon, but he had no such luck. He took a bend and found the Mercedes half embedded in the side of a house. Nylund was staggering out and bleeding profusely from a head wound. Beyett was unconscious in the back, and out in the middle of the road was Chas, facing off against the armoured car. She held Dohman in front of her with a knife to his throat.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  She looked back at him in surprise. She had both hope and fear in her eyes, and also a crazy look as if she really was as insane as people had always joked.

  “We can’t lose him, you know that? Right now he’s more valuable than any of us.”

  Corwin looked beyond as the turret hatch opened on the armoured car. The gun was still trained on Chas. A German soldier rose up from the hatch and looked at them intently for a moment as he studied them. Presumably, he couldn’t work out quite what or who they were, but then he spoke out in English.

  “Lay down your arms and you will not be harmed!” he said confidently.

  Corwin smiled, for he knew that was a million miles from reality.

  “What are we doing here, Chas?” he asked quietly.

  They could hear the roar of the Tiger engines and tracks. Their time was running out.

  “Put down your weapons!” the German ordered firmly.

  Chas looked back to Corwin for one last time. She had the sort of crazy look in her eye that would have her slit his throat and continue on without any worries at all. He shook his head to tell her no, but before they could do anything, a burst of heavy machine gun fire rang out. The rounds blew off the German’s head, and the turret ripped open like a tin can. Another burst went through the radiators and engine block, and a fire ignited at the rear of the vehicle. Corwin couldn’t believe their luck.

  Two of the jeeps raced into view, Badcock driving the lead.

  “Better late than never!” Corwin shouted.

  “We’ve got trouble of our own. We have a recon platoon hot on our tail, and a few trucks not far behind!”

  “Got any good news?”

  He shook his head. Corwin grabbed the radio handset in the vehicle.

  “Split up! Find any way out you can. You know where to rendezvous, Corwin out.”

  Meanwhile, Lecia was fighting to get Beyett free. He was still trapped in the vehicle following the crash. He looked back to the other jeep parked beside them. Travers, Vi, and another of Travers’ crew were inside. Corwin couldn’t even remember his name.

  “Give Lecia a hand, and then get the hell out of here!”

  Another jeep raced into view with Harland at the wheel. Corwin grabbed Dohman and threw him in the back of the vehicle, ushering the wounded Nylund in after him.

  “You get the hell out of here, and fast!”

  Harland nodded.

  “I am not fucking around here. If you don’t get that asshole out of here in one piece, then it was all for nothing, so don’t mess up!”

  Harland gritted his teeth, wanting to get stuck into the action, but he nodded and floored it. The jeep sped off, crashed through a small brick wall, and tore off into the distance. Corwin was relieved. For all the bad things Harland was, he was a good fighter and a capable man to have around.

  Several of his people were still trying to retrieve Beyett. Corwin pointed for the jeep carrying Rane and several of Travers’ men. He knew they didn’t have long now.

  “We aren’t leaving anyone behind, but we need to buy some time.”

  “How?” the Corporal at the wheel asked, “Those are Tigers out there…Tigers. We can’t do much at all but draw their fire.”

  “If that’s all we can do, then that’s what we’ll do.”

  He climbed aboard the jeep with Badcock at the wheel, and the two vehicles raced on through the narrower streets of the town where they knew the heavy tanks could not fit.

  “Reckon there is any way we can take one of those beasts down?” Corwin asked.

  Badcock shook his head.

  “Bunkers on tracks those things.”

  Corw
in pointed to the anti-tank rifle fitted on the driver’s side.

  “Not even with that?”

  Badcock laughed.

  “Against a Tiger? You’re dreaming.”

  “Not anywhere, no vulnerable spots?”

  “I guess if you got at its arse, where it is weakest. But nobody would be crazy enough to try that.”

  “Congratulations, you have a new job.”

  “We will die if we go up against those things, you do understand that?”

  Corwin shook his head.

  “They are big, heavy, and slow. Slow turret speed, long unwieldy gun, and poorly suited to these streets, you can out manoeuvre them, and once more they are arrogant assholes. They think they can roll us over.”

  “Probably because they can.”

  “Bullshit, they can’t be all that.”

  Corwin got up onto the Browning and chambered a round. They took a bend that had them break out into one of the main streets in full view of the first Tiger. He opened fire and strafed the side of the tank with two-dozen shots. The .50 calibre rounds bounced right off, and the turret began to turn towards them. Badcock raced on to the cover of the next street. The gun rang out, and a whole wall of the building between them collapsed as they raced past.

  “Fuck me, they really are beasts!”

  “Let’s get the hell out of here. Captain. There is nothing more we can do!”

  “No! Lecia needs time!”

  “Any longer and we’ll all be lost!”

  “Stop!”

  Badcock slammed the brakes on, and they screeched to a halt. Corwin picked up all the C4 and jumped out.

  “Go,” he said calmly.

  “What?”

  “You are probably right, so go, save yourself and anyone else you can.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To try and buy you some time.”

  “Bu…”

  “Fuck you, don’t give me that crap. You get the hell out of here, and that is an order! Don’t fight me on this.”

  Badcock could see he was serious and watched Corwin rush to the building beside them that had been destroyed. Badcock huffed and finally pulled off to get on his way.

  “Crazy bastard,” he muttered.

  Corwin reached the first storey of the building and was well hidden from view. He armed one charge on a short fuse, at the same time watching the Tiger roll on in front of him. He held out the charge and let it drop onto the rear of the body. It blew soon after as he ducked back for cover. He looked out in dismay at how little it had achieved and fully realised how much trouble they were in.