DEATH IS ETERNAL #438 by GIC
THE INFERNO OVER BERLIN and THE SIEGE OF MANILA
Contents
THE INFERNO OVER BERLIN (genre: battle royale)
THE SIEGE OF MANILA (genre: beast fable)
THE INFERNO OVER BERLIN
Genre: battle royale
Inspiration: 1945 – World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000.
Word count: 492
The sky was a canvas of raring metal. Engines howled like wounded beasts, the drone of 1,000 B-17 bombers blending into an oppressive symphony. Below them, Berlin stretched out in defiance, a city battered but unbroken. Flames from previous raids still licked the sky, casting an ominous orange glow. This wasn’t just a raid. It was a reckoning.
Lieutenant Jack “Jinx” Reilly gripped the controls of his bomber, “Iron Angel,” sweat pooling under his helmet. Every Breath tasted of cordite and fear. His crew, seasoned but weary, worked like clockwork: Callahan operated the tail guns, constantly muttering a prayer; López in the ball turret, eyes scanning for fighters; and Banks, the bombardier, cradling the payload like a holy relic.
“Flak at eleven!” yelled Callahan, his voice cutting through the static.
Black clouds erupted around the formation, each explosion rattling the Iron Angel. Shrapnel hissed against the fuselage, a deadly reminder of how thin the line between life and death had become. Below them, the city’s anti-aircraft batteries barked in defiance, streaks of crimson and gold rising to meet the invaders.
“Stay tight, boys!” Reilly barked, his knuckles white on the yoke.
The formation tightened, the bombers flying so close to their wings almost touched. It was their only defence. Stragglers were meat for the Luftwaffe.
“Bandits incoming!”
The cry came from another plane, but Reilly saw them first: sleek, gray Focke-Wulfs screaming like wolves on the hunt. Machine guns opened up, tracer rounds crisscrossing the sky.
López barked out a laugh, spitting defiance as his turret spat lead. “Come on, you sons of…”
The sky erupted. A nearby B-17 took a direct hit, its wing shearing off in a fiery arc. Parachutes bloomed in the chaos, tiny, desperate flowers of hope.
“They’re cutting through the squadron!” Banks shouted.
“Not through us,” Reilly growled.
He pulled the Iron Angel into a slight dive, breaking formation just enough to juke a Luftwaffe ace who’d lined up a deadly shot. The German fighter banked hard, its nose flashing fire, but Callahan awaited. The tailguns chattered, and the fighter spiralled into oblivion.
“Gotcha, you Kraut bastard!” Callahan cheered.
But there was no time to celebrate. Banks was already lining up the bombing run. The target: Berlin’s industrial heart, where factories churned out war machines by the hour.
“Steady… steady…” Bank murmured, his hand trembling over the release lever.
Below, Berlin was a nightmare of smoke and fire. The ground seemed to ripple as incendiaries fell, their detonation rippling outward in waves of destruction.
“Bombs away!”
The payload fell, disappearing into the inferno below. Seconds later, a new plume of fire rose, joining the chaos. Reilly didn’t have time to look back. Fighters still harried them, and flak still clawed at the sky.
As the Iron Angel turned for home, Reilly caught a final glimpse of the city. It was burning. Burning with a fury that matched the war itself.
“No victors here,” he thought. “Only survivors.”
The end
THE SIEGE OF MANILA
Genre: beast fable
Inspiration: 1945 – World War II: The United States and the Philippine Commonwealth begin a month-long battle to retake Manila from Japan.
Word count: 1,092
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