The Tiger’s frontal armor was too strong for the Patton’s but a group of soldiers with anti tank launchers had raced forward and now fired on the enemies exposed flanks.
The Tiger’s Cupola opened and Aryan Soldiers scrambled out to man the machine guns on top of the tank’s turret.
Streams of pink-tinged plasma sprayed out over the infantry.
Three of the Americans were hit, two were killed instantly, the third lay screaming while trying to hold his burnt intestines inside; they billowed out through his fingertips. The rest managed to fire the launchers and several rounds flew true and smashed through the tanks weaker armor; four went up in flames.
One of the Americans was hit as he was pulling the trigger, he was knocked off balance and the self-propelled rocket spiraled towards an Aryan soldier manning the machine gun on top of his tank; he was hit square in the chest and was thrown from his vehicle. Blood poured from the cracks in his chest armor.
The battle had descended into chaos, the streets were on fire and a thick layer of smoke hung in the air. The smell of burning flesh was nauseating and it was getting harder to reliably pick out targets. The American forces were being pushed ever further into a tightening net as the Aryan’s greater numbers started to overwhelm them.
Stars
Sergeant Major Wills machine gun positions let out another burst of suppressive fire, a three-man team armed with anti tank launchers raced to cover.
“Sergeant Peters, this is Wills. Over.”
“Come in Wills.”
“We need the packages to come in even closer all around the town center. We are located in the Church, with a few units spread out up to ten meters out.”
There was a pause, “That is extremely close Sir.”
“I know but we have no other choice!” A burst of rifle fire interrupted the transmission.
“Roger that Sir, Good luck! Peters out.”
The advancing Aryan tanks were approaching from all sides; they tore straight through houses to avoid the flaming roadblocks. As they drove towards the church they spotted the last remaining Patton tanks; there were three left motionless outside the small but beautiful building.
The telltale whistles of falling artillery shells filled the air. The area around the town center was bombarded heavily. The high explosive shells destroyed buildings and trees; sending shrapnel everywhere.
The Tiger’s continued to advance, the first two tanks took direct hits and were knocked out. Another Tiger raced recklessly towards the church. It fired and the orb smashed into the building; its windows shattered.
The anti tank team lined up on the Tiger and fired, all three rounds penetrated and the tank went up in flames. The cupola opened and an Aryan soldier jumped out. He hit the floor and rolled once to his feet. He aimed his machine gun at the antitank team and pulled the trigger.
The lead American took the brunt of the hit. His body fell to the floor, burning from the plasma. The last remaining Vulcan anti aircraft vehicle opened fire on the soldier; the powerful rounds from the Gatling gun cut him in half.
The artillery shells were barely managing to hold the Aryan forces back. The last Patton’s opened fire on the advancing Tiger’s, they weren’t trying to destroy the tanks but were aiming to track them in place so the artillery could finish them off.
Sergeant Major Wills looked up to the sky just in time to see four Me 262’s race overhead.
“Shit.” He said under his breath.
“Sergeant Peters, get your boys out of there! You have incoming enemy air.”
“We see them Sir, we don’t have time. We have three Vulcan’s with us. We will keep firing as long as we can sir.”
The Me 262’s swooped in low and fast, so fast even the Vulcan’s Gatling guns could not track them. The four fighters released four orbs of light that sped to the ground and instantly vaporized the American forces caught in the blasts.
Sergeant Peters watched as the jets almost turned on the spot and came in for another bombing run. The planes dropped the orbs which smashed into the helpless soldiers. Peters stood his ground as the last orb fell towards him; the round hit and a brief moment of intense burning pain was the last thing he felt.
In the town the artillery shells stopped coming.
“This is it men, this is our last stand. America is proud of you… I am proud of you!” Wills said.
Strangely the Tiger tanks started to withdraw. They pulled clear of the small town.
“What’s going on Sir? They had us.”
“Maybe we scared them off!”
“I doubt it, whatever they are planning. It won’t be good.” Wills said.
Two minutes passed without anything happening until in the distance a gently whooshing sound was barely audible. It grew in intensity as it got closer. Wills’ eyes widened as the sky above filled with bright violet streaks that each looked like stars hanging in the daytime sky.
“What the hell is that?”
The stars grew larger as the fell into the town; they exploded in powerful balls of superheated light. The town was enveloped in overlapping fields of plasma. A burning wave of heat washed over the church causing the troops to scream out in pain; the church took a direct hit and the last pocket of American resistance before Washington was vaporized in an instance.
Angel Flight
The men in the emergency bunker located under the White House hung their heads; they were listening to the battlenet radio which had now gone silent on both fronts. Only two figures did not react to the situation with despair.
“Inform the President that Washington will soon be under attack and then we suggest you make sure the finishing touches to the defense of the city are completed.” The monotonous tones of the men in black said in unison.
Richard Nixon listened to the terrible plight his nation was now in, he rubbed his forehead as the battle reports came in.
When the General had finished his report Nixon took a minute to think. Finally, he spoke, “I want a broadcast to go out to every American citizen that it is now up to them to defend their right to life. I want anyone who volunteers to be supplied weapons. If that is not possible then they can steal them from gun shops.”
“Sir do you think the situation is really that bad?”
The President nodded, “We can’t get hold of Brezhnev, the last call we had he said they had no choice but to nuke the area but they have not called back and we can’t get anybody to answer our calls.”
The Vice President thought a moment, “They would have launched by now if they were going to do it?”
Nixon agreed, “Maybe they have changed their mind.”
“I doubt it.” The men in black interjected, “It is more likely they have been dissuaded otherwise by Sporrenberg.”
“What do you mean?” Nixon asked angrily. “Do you know something we don’t?”
“We know a lot that you do not, we are trying to contact our man in Moscow but have so far been unable to.”
An alarm rang out in air force one. The pilot came across the intercom, “Strap in, we have contacts approaching us fast from the East. Currently, four miles out.”
“Shit,” Nixon swore as he buckled his seat belt. He looked out of the window as two of the Phantom escorts peeled off to face the threat.
The Phantoms accelerated towards the two enemy bogies while the radar operators tried desperately to get a lock on but the equipment just would not work and they could not achieve that precious lock on at that distance.