Operation Guillotine (closed, attn Excalibur Squadron)

[Calizorinstan]

Pat shook his head. "No sir. If you wish to terminate my life, that is fine. But I will never put my weapons down, never, never, never, will I give up. I suggest we have a duel."

[The Tiger Kingdom]

Page grimaced as the man laughed at Pat's suggestion. He slowly holstered his revolver. The German stopped laughing, and faced Pat.
"I think not, American. It barely matters anyway - if you move, our friends here will simply fill the air with bullets. No matter."

Page spoke up, his voice barely choking back rage. "Don't be dumb, Sword 3. Put the gun down." He barely believed he was saying the words; he could only feel a burning frustration. To come so far, only to be stopped here... "Who the hell are you, Kraut?"

The German smiled hugely, and bowed theatrically. " I...am Major Konrad von Sporrenburg, of the Schutzstaffel, at your service. I'm in charge of this operation. And I know who you are, Captain Robert Page, Lieutenant Pat Arnold, formerly of the US Army Air Force...and, of course, the lovely Company Commander Alix Noble of the WRAF."

He began to pace back and forth as he spoke.

"I am very familiar with what you and your group of bandits have managed to do - you freed General Sikorski, sunk one of our finest battleships, and are now here to subvert us in our plans for the Marin. Fortunately, I anticipated that there might have been problems - and so positioned myself up here, ready for you to arrive."

He turned to Page.

"Captain, why so red in the face? There's no point being angry about it - you did what you could. You were simply beaten. And this is for the best, in the end. With this fleet at our command, your government will finally see the futility of opposing us. We can come to terms. You can have your Empire...and we can have Europe. Surely, there is enough space for both of us."

One of the French soldiers visibly bristled at that.

Page slowly began to put his hands behind his back. "Yeah, sure. We can have the Empire...until it doesn't suit you. Then, we'll be right back where we started."

Von Sporrenburg went back to smirking.
"So cynical, Captain. But that is an argument for later. Now, be honored. You're about to witness a historically critical moment firsthand. As I order our men to seize the ships, Germany's fleet size will more than double in mere minutes. A new balance of power will be struck - one that will ensure our security forever."

He began to approach the central console. As he id so, one of the French soldiers called out to him.
"Major...you mean that our fleet size will double, right? And we'll have Europe?"

Von Sporrenburg did not turn around.
"Sure. Keep your eyes on our captives, they may have something planned."

The soldier was visibly discomfited. "Sir, are you listening to what I said?"

Page was watching the confrontation with interest, although he was still desperately trying to think of a way out of the situation. His hands were still behind his back, and they grazed something at the back of his hip. He felt it...a strap... with a round, metal thing attached...a grenade! Must've gotten twisted around during the firefight; I though I was out...
He looked to the other squadron members...

[Calizorinstan]

Pat went silent but flickered his eyes downward in a sort of gesture fir the Captain. Until they found their way out of this mess, he had to keep his cool.

[Britcan]

Matthias's eyes flicked between the objecting Frenchman and Sporrenburg. He knew that this may well be their only opportunity of escape. His hand slowly drifted to his pocket, he dug in his hand, taking out a small object, clenched in his fist. He looked at the Frenchman who had voiced his objections and began to speak quickly in fluent french. "You really think you can trust this man?" He asked. "The Nazis don't care about you, they don't care about France, they don't even care about Germany. Take that from someone who is carrying this around in his pocket." Matthias opened his hand and moved it towards the Frenchman. He looked down, it took him a couple if seconds to recognise the object as an Iron Cross. He looked back towards Sporrenburg, looking even more agitated.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

Matthias's eyes flicked between the objecting Frenchman and Sporrenburg. He knew that this may well be their only opportunity of escape. His hand slowly drifted to his pocket, he dug in his hand, taking out a small object, clenched in his fist. He looked at the Frenchman who had voiced his objections and began to speak quickly in fluent french. "You really think you can trust this man?" He asked. "The Nazis don't care about you, they don't care about France, they don't even care about Germany. Take that from someone who is carrying this around in his pocket." Matthias opened his hand and moved it towards the Frenchman. He looked down, it took him a couple if seconds to recognise the object as an Iron Cross. He looked back towards Sporrenburg, looking even more agitated.

Von Sporrenburg wasn't listening; he was too preoccupied with the radio. He spoke in German into a large microphone hooked to the set:
"Attention Battalions 2 and 3. Do you receive me? Over. "
He waited a moment for a reply.

The Frenchmen was staring at Matthias. He was visibly beginning to sweat. The other guards weren't looking too at ease either. <<Don't listen to that shit, Corporal...>> Page heard one of them mutter.
Page focused on the doubting one. <<You know it's true. They don't care about France. They want your land, resources, factories, and ships. That's all. Before too long, you'll just be a German colony - your men used as slave labor, your women used as concubines for their soldiers. And Petain won't stop them. He's too feeble and old. Think.>>
The French soldier kept sweating. His fellows looked concerned.

<<This is battalion 2. We read you.>>
<<This is battalion 3. We receive, over.>>
Von Sporrenburg took a long pull from his cigarette. <<Are you in position?>>
Both radio links answered in the affirmative.

Noble started talking now.
<<You know history won't see you as righteous, or even simply as soldiers following orders. They'll see you as traitors - men who sold France to the Nazis. But it's not too late. You still have a choice.>>
While she talked, Page got ready to pull the grenade...

Von Sporrenburg extinguished his smoke.
"In that case, protocol - "
His order was interrupted by a loud clatter. The soldier had dropped his MP38 on the floor.
<<I refuse to follow these orders.>>

In a split second, Page saw an opportunity. All the French guards were distracted, and so was Sporrenburg. He brought the grenade around, pulled the pin, and lobbed it underhand to the other side of the room - towards the console. In the mad few seconds that followed, Page grabbed the objecting French soldier, threw him to the opposite side of the room (he never could figure out a practical justification for this afterwards - just working on sheer instinct), and tackled the Commander to protect her from the blast as the rest of the squadron hit the deck. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, a huge explosion filled the radio room, and shards of metal filled the air...

[Britcan]

Matthias dove to the ground alongside Page and Commander Noble as noise and shrapnel filled the air. He heard the sound of shrapnel hitting the walls and the screams of men who hadn't escaped the onslaught. Matthias was the fist to his feet, the sound of the explosion still ringing in his ears. He looked around, ignoring both his squadron and the Frenchmen. His eyes, full of anger, fixed on the Nazi who was slumped to the side of the wrecked console. Sporrenburg seemed to have dived out of the reach of the worst of the blast, the console absorbing most of it. Matthias crossed the room, purposefully walking towards him.

Sporrenburg saw him approach, his hand reached for a pistol that had fallen just a few metres to his side. Matthias's combat boot pressed down on his hand to the sound of cracking bones. The Nazi screamed in pain. Matthias roughly pulled him to his feet, holding him upright for a second. A fist connected with his face and Sporrenburg hit the ground with a whimper. Blood trickles from his clearly broken nose. Matthias pulled him to his feet once again. This time he put his mouth next to Sporrenburg's ear, whispering something in German. The Nazi's eyes opened wide with fear for just a second before Matthias's knife being stuck into his leg caused him to scream once again.

[Altito Asmoro]

Edward pulled out his knife, and threw it to one of the Frenchmen, hit him on his leg.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

Page looked up. He could see Matthias stabbing Sporrenburg repeatedly. His ears ringing, Page called out,
"Leave him alone, Matthias. He's done for."
From below him, he heard a muffled, slightly irate voice.
"Captain, request that you get off of me?"
"Ah,...right." Page sheepishly rolled off of the Commander, who dusted herself off as she stood.
"But thanks for the effort, that was very brave of...oh dear." She pointed to Page's back.
Page craned his neck, and saw the whole back of his jacket was covered in gouges and scratches, with several small pieces of jagged metal sticking out. He sighed, then flashed a wink at the commander.
"Damn. That about does it for this jacket, I think. Oh well, it was for a good cause."
Page strode over to what was left of the console, and severed the few wires still connected.

Meanwhile, near the French port of Toulon...
Lieutenant Villers of the 2nd battalion banged on the radio. <<Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?>>
His captain looked impatiently over his shoulder. <<Well? What did he say?>>
The lieutenant shook his head. <<He was about to say something, then I heard a bang...and now nothing. Just static.>>
The captain shook his head. <<Well, for an operation like this, we can't move without absolute confirmation. Probably a problem on their end.>>
<<But sir, those ships will leave for Africa soon if we don't...>>
The captain glared. <<If you want to blow the operation now, you can go alone. I'm not moving until I hear solid confirmation. Only that separates us from committing treason.>>

Page picked himself up, and turned to the rest of the group. Off in the distance, he could hear gunfire coming from the lower levels.
"OK, I think we've officially worn out our welcome. Let's get groundside and see how fast we can get out of here."
<<What about me?>>
Page turned, and saw the disobedient French soldier, who was on his feet, propped against the wall. He was bloodied on his face, and Page could see blood seeping from a wound on his arm, but he seemed in no danger of death.
Page faced him. <<I suggest you hide until we're gone, and then get out ASAP. I doubt your comrades will be too happy to see you so soon after we got away. Just say you were knocked out in the fighting.>>
<<You're not going to kill me?>>
Page arched an eyebrow. <<Why? You're not our enemy, and you saved our asses back there.>>
The corporal looked away. <<They said...they would give us a powerful France. An independent, proud state, free of corruption and weakness.>>
Page shook his head. <<They lied to you. But you can still fight for that. And you know who you'll have to fight against.>>
The soldier nodded. Page motioned with his hand, and led the group out of the radio room and back to the elevators at a run.

[Calizorinstan]

Pat followed the others, after having shot Sporrenburg before Matthias stabbed him, after his great shoot out, and ran "What's the plan now Cap? Find someplace to extract ourselves from France?" He was frankly quite ready to get back home after this long operation.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

Pat followed the others, after having shot Sporrenburg before Matthias stabbed him, after his great shoot out, and ran "What's the plan now Cap? Find someplace to extract ourselves from France?" He was frankly quite ready to get back home after this long operation.

Page nodded as he walked. "Yeah. Hopefully, there'll be some trucks down there we can use, with enough gas to get to Rouen. It's a ways back to Valledeseine - no way we're leaving our planes."
They boarded the elevator, and it began to descend down to the first floor. Page planned to link up with his brother and what was left of the squad there, and then run down the stairs to the ground level, find some transportation, and burn out of the city.
The weather had been erratic all evening - now, the wind was gusting again, and more and more rain was coming down. The whole effect, coupled with the height they were at and the resulting sway of the Tower, was nearly enough to cause Page vertigo, but he forced himself to keep it together. As the elevator approached the first floor again, he could hear gunfire getting louder - it appeared there had been a French counterattack.
The doors opened, and the squadron piled out once again. Page could see the group of 8 British soldiers clustered in two groups around the two stairwells, taking potshots at the soldiers trying to come up. A grenade exploded down on the stairway in a flash of light and a tremendous bang that was quickly whisked away by the wind.
Page rallied the group to one stairwell. "How many are down there?" he yelled over the rain to Paul.
"At least a few dozen. They got us pinned up here. They got trucks of soldiers coming in...we've taken care of a lot of 'em from up here, but they got a lot of people."
Page frowned."That's not good...wait. Did you say trucks?"
"Yeah, there's at least 3 or so down there."
Page's face lit up. "That's our way out. Alright boys, get ready for a frontal assault. We've got to get to those trucks."

[Altito Asmoro]

Pat followed the others, after having shot Sporrenburg before Matthias stabbed him, after his great shoot out, and ran "What's the plan now Cap? Find someplace to extract ourselves from France?" He was frankly quite ready to get back home after this long operation.

Page nodded as he walked. "Yeah. Hopefully, there'll be some trucks down there we can use, with enough gas to get to Rouen. It's a ways back to Valledeseine - no way we're leaving our planes."
They boarded the elevator, and it began to descend down to the first floor. Page planned to link up with his brother and what was left of the squad there, and then run down the stairs to the ground level, find some transportation, and burn out of the city.
The weather had been erratic all evening - now, the wind was gusting again, and more and more rain was coming down. The whole effect, coupled with the height they were at and the resulting sway of the Tower, was nearly enough to cause Page vertigo, but he forced himself to keep it together. As the elevator approached the first floor again, he could hear gunfire getting louder - it appeared there had been a French counterattack.
The doors opened, and the squadron piled out once again. Page could see the group of 8 British soldiers clustered in two groups around the two stairwells, taking potshots at the soldiers trying to come up. A grenade exploded down on the stairway in a flash of light and a tremendous bang that was quickly whisked away by the wind.
Page rallied the group to one stairwell. "How many are down there?" he yelled over the rain to Paul.
"At least a few dozen. They got us pinned up here. They got trucks of soldiers coming in...we've taken care of a lot of 'em from up here, but they got a lot of people."
Page frowned."That's not good...wait. Did you say trucks?"
"Yeah, there's at least 3 or so down there."
Page's face lit up. "That's our way out. Alright boys, get ready for a frontal assault. We've got to get to those trucks."

"Fine with me. Comrades, prepare your guns, we'll have our last-perhaps-battle now." Said Edward, as he prepared his MAS-38.

[Calizorinstan]

Pat took up a fallen soldier's Mauser rifle and started firing at the guards who were guarding the trucks as they advanced, slowly through the fire towards the trucks. "I've got this!" Pat yelled as he threw a grenade at a group, then after it blew, ran into a trunk, started it and yelled "C'mon, hurry up!" He yelled, as he fired his 1911 through the side window at advancing guards.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

Page and the soldiers kept a blanket of covering fire up as the squadron dashed to the trucks. The French soldiers were putting up sporadic but dangerous fire, from a barricade they had set up; positioned away from the trucks. I guess they didn't anticipate us trying to break out this way, Page thought.
Finally, with the heads of the French soldiers kept down, Page and thwe squad went to join the rest of the pilots at the trucks. Splitting in two groups of 10, Page saw that Pat had already taken one truck, and jumped into the driver's seat of the other. Within seconds, both trucks were full. Page yelled out the window to Pat,
"Follow us out - and make sure we aren't leaving anyone!"
Page turned to the truck group. "Does anyone have a map?"
"I do," said the Commander, from the passenger's seat.
"Alright, we're out of here. To Rouen, and freedom!"

Page shoved the truck in gear, grinding them badly, and floored it, as sporadic gunfire still cracked out across the distance between them and the barricades. They had a long, dangerous drive ahead of them...

[Calizorinstan]

Pat roared an affirmative as he took off after the Captain, and looked at Edward in the passenger's seat. "Get us some directions to Rouen please, in case we get seperated."

[Altito Asmoro]

Pat roared an affirmative as he took off after the Captain, and looked at Edward in the passenger's seat. "Get us some directions to Rouen please, in case we get seperated."

"Ehh....probably hard."

Edward opened the map, and looked for awhile, but Edward really didn't know anything about France, especially Rouen.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

The convoy barreled through the early morning streets of Paris, sending scraps of paper and garbage flying. Page's truck led the way, with Pat's close behind. They had a few close calls along the way at high speed - at one point, Page clipped a lamp-pole hard enough to snap off one of the mirrors - but soon, with Noble guiding them with the maps, they were on their way northeast, back towards Rouen.

It was now about 3:30 in the morning local time. The long dark roads got monotonous over time, and the route, although it was long, was fairly intuitive and well-traveled. As he drove, Page realized he hadn't slept in...really quite a long time, and was beginning to feel very sleepy. Thankfully, there were few other cars on the road, so there was little immediate danger. He was reawakened by a heady rush when the Commander, who apparently was as exhausted as he was, fell asleep with her head slowly descending onto his shoulder. Through the remaining mirror, Page could see his brother rolling his eyes.

Finally, some hours later as they approached Valledeseine, Page noticed something off in the distance. He squinted. They appeared to be trucks, led by a halftrack, but were painted...the standard German field-gray color. Shit. They're here already. However, they seemed to be headed inland, back towards Paris, and didn't notice their tiny convoy. However, that meant they might have already taken the airfield. If they had, they were well and truly trapped.

Page gently nudged Noble awake, and called out to the group. "We're approaching the airfield. I've seen what looked like enemy transport in the area, so we may have to fight for evac. Be ready for anything."
They approached the airfield, still silent and seemingly abandoned, and now bathed in the morning light...

[Altito Asmoro]

Edward began to checked his remaining guns:

MAS-38-Quite with only few magazines left, maybe enough in a small-scale firefight, but not large-scale.

S&W Model 10-Almost empty, only 9 bullets left.

FN 1910-Seems full, but with no magazines left.

Edward began to think the best way to avoid firefight and keep alive altogether.

[Firstaria]

Daniel hated to do this. He didn't want, but he was supposed to. Their enemies were coming at the airport to evac according to their scouts, and they were supposed to ambush them. This was not how he did things, not near an airport: he wanted to make them take fly and then shot them down at least, if he could decide, but his liberty ended months ago in Italy, and he was not going to take it back in France.

The Luftwaffe soldiers were hidden behind the hangars, ready for the moment the english spies would have to cross the airfield to reach the crafts, where they would be more exposed to the fire. A quick elimination, not even the time to meet or to present: according to his info, those could be the guys who destroyed the Graf Spee, not a minor task at all. They deserved to die with their wings, not on a field like rats.

Maybe he would try to take one of them, just to see him in the face before completing the Fuhrer's orders. He gave the signal to his friends to prepare themselves. He could see only Sarah and Hector in the face...and oh my if Hector was pissed off. He was French, he shouldn't be on this side of the war. Robert and Alex, englishman, were probably more pissed than him, but Daniel could barely see them.

He just hoped this would be over soon. It would remain a stain for the NOX, to kill pilots on the ground without a fair dogfight.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

The men fanned out onto the airfield, still with no sign of anyone there. Their Spitfires, however, seemed untouched, with the transport plane still sitting at the end of the runway.
Page gathered the group at the foot of the runway. "Everyone, to their Spitfires. Commander, Paul, soldiers - get to the transport plane, and follow us back. Hopefully, this'll be fairly uncomplicated."
As the men ran to their Spits and the group of soldiers marched to the transport, Page stopped for a moment and squinted. Which Spit was his again...?

[Calizorinstan]

Pat ran and leapt into his Spitfire and as soon as he was able, strapped in and started it, and threw on his flight helmet and a pair of gloves and taxied to the runway and closed the canopy and began his take off run, his Spit leaping into the air. He began circling the airfield, waiting for the others to take off.

[Altito Asmoro]

Edward ran and leaped into the Spitfire, and started the engine. The Spitfire began to the runway, and took off, but he circling the airfield first.

[Firstaria]

" NOW! " Daniel shouted, and almost 20 soldiers armed with MG34 came out from their hiding, running and ambushing the enemy. Daniel knew he waited too much, but he wanted to give them a chance as a fellow Ace. The only one that could not reach in time his Spitfire seemed to be one guy who stopped before running to the craft, which if he got well his speech he had some importance. He pulled out hi Beretta and tried to shot him in one leg to stop him running, while the soldiers started to shot a bit too randomly for his liking. That's what you get to make Luftwaffe personnel doing an ambush at ground forces.

His man weren't shooting instead, probably still thinking this was a bad idea, but they were going fast and to the target. Whatever name this squadron had, they were probably going to end today if they didn't move fast.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

Page nearly had a heart attack when he heard the gunfire. He spun around, and saw what looked like a full platoon of German infantry with machine guns coming at him, led by a team of 5-6 men in indeterminate uniforms. Page could see the rest of the squadron taking off - he was alone now. He slowly raised his hands, his mind whirling. Where had they come from?
He knew he was out of grenades, and didn't have nearly enough bullets to deal with them...maybe one of the squadron up above would notice and help out. At this point, it was his only shot.

[Calizorinstan]

Pat saw what was going on, and came around and flew down really low, only feet off the ground, and careful not to hit the Captain, let the .303 machine guns fly, spraying bullets in his really low run. He pulled up and began to come around for another pass...

[The Tiger Kingdom]

Page saw Pat come down no more than a few dozen feet off the ground and spray the German troops with bullets. Several of them went down - and most of the rest threw themselves to the ground to avoid being hit. Page saw his chance. He ran like a man possessed for the final unoccupied Spitfire - jumped on the wing, threw the cockpit back, and fell inside. Righting himself, he flipped the necessary switches and started the engine as soon as possible. There was no conscious thought going - it was pure adrenaline and reflex. The Spitfire began to slowly pull out onto the runway...