Bonus: Tank, Interrupted

Author Note: This is an answer to Nikolai’s question: “What did James do during WWII?” Enjoy.

Tunisia, 4 March 1943

“Mr. Montgomery,” I said, removing the handcuff that attached me to my briefcase.  “I have an urgent message from you from General Patton.”

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery sat behind his desk with a look that very plainly told me I was an idiot for interrupting his morning tea. Unlatching the briefcase, I set it down and spun it around to face him, waiting patiently as he took the note to his file cabinet and decode it.

“Four divisions?” He said. Fear outlined his face, seeping into his speech. ”Our reports only say three.”

“Your reports only say three because of a little thing called ’plausible deniability.’ You didn’t, and still don’t, need to worry about them.” I said. “In fact, the only reason you got this letter is so you won’t ask too many questions when I ask you for a handful of your men.”

“What do you want them for?”

“The Fourth hasn’t made it to their rendezvous yet. I plan to take a small detachment and remove The Fourth before they get there. That’s all I’m authorized to say though. Any other information you need will have to be telegraphed to General Patton.”

“That’s outrageous!” He yelled.

“They told me you’d say that. Also that you’d yell and scream about losing authority and face with your men. Frankly Monty-”

“That’s General Montgomery to you.” He interrupted.

“Frankly, General, I don’t give a damn how much you bitch about it. But I have a contract to fulfill and you have orders to follow. So you will either give me the people I need or I will take them.”

I could swear I saw steam rising from his ears as he mulled over his rather limited options. A few moments later he came to his decision.

“Fine, you can have your pick of men, but I will approve them first.”

“Fine by me, I’ll go take a peek at the barracks and see who I can dig up.” I said, grabbing the letter and heading to the door.

He grabbed my arm as I moved away and looked into my eyes. “Who are you?”

I smiled a bit at his curiosity and whispered out a spell to ignite the paper in my hands.

“That information is classified.”

———

5 March 1943

It didn’t take long for Monty to approve the two men I’d picked out and the three of us had set out in a small recon vehicle that I think one of them called a Humber.

We made camp about 50 miles from the proposed rendezvous on the path that The Fourth would have to pass through. It was a nice wide open clearing surrounded by tall grass and trees, perfect for an ambush. Once we’d spotted the first set of scouts, I killed and ate the men that had come with me. I would need the blood if I wanted to walk away when I was done.

It was about three hours after the scouts left when I heard the tell-tale sound of tank tracks chugging towards me. I stood in the middle of the field, my magic at the ready. After my meals and a small amount of preparation, I’d spent the remaining time sitting in the field and filling myself to the brim with energy.

The amount of power that I drew on was enough to fill the night sky with storm clouds and send visible sparks crackling from my fingertips. When the first two tanks came into view, side by side, I lifted my hand to the sky and called upon the fury of the storm that I had wrought. The sky answered with a roar, sending a white-hot lance of lightning screaming towards the first tank.

The explosion was glorious. The panic it created was even better.

Wind encased my arms, turning the two of them into what looked like miniature tornadoes and ran towards the panicking men. I managed to close on the first line of infantry before they noticed me and began to open fire.

Usually, I would have dodged and weaved to minimize my injuries, but in this instance I didn’t have to. Thrusting my arms forward, I extended the wind that encased them and blew through the front line, granting myself the added benefit of dispersing the bullets that were aimed at me.

I saw second tank bringing it’s turret down on me, and pivoted to face it. The tornadoes engulfed it quickly and I pumped more magic into them, lifting the tank from the ground and sending it careening into the air towards the second line. The size of the explosion told me that it had either hit another tank or a fuel truck.

With the front line infantry panicking, they’d begun shooting wildly. I caught a few bullets, but by the look of things they were aiming at each other as often as they were me. It was time to move further down and complete the rest of the assault. I’d already disrupted their forward movement and it was time to take out their fuel and the rear guard.

Dodging through the infantry was easy. Dodging the tank fire was a bit harder. At one point, before closing in on their last tanker, I’d only managed to avoid eating a shell because a person that I’d been throwing around with my wind accidentally intercepted it.

I rained lightning from the skies and bent the wind with my hands. An unlucky grenadier managed to hit me square in the head with his side-arm. I responded by using my winds to pull the pins from every grenade I saw on him and shove him into a Panzer that hadn’t closed it’s lid.

It was time to leave. Getting caught up with making that man pay for his lucky shot had opened me up to fire from all sides, the remaining infantry around me pinning me against a tank. Bullets ripped into and through me, leaving me weaker and weaker with each shot. The winds on my arms had dissipated, leaving me with only one thing left to do.

Reaching my bloodied arm into the sky I let loose the last of my power in a spell that would hopefully clear the way long enough to get me outside the clearing.

The world went white.