Battle Lines

Chapter 14: The Eve of Destruction

11 May 04: Main Briefing Amphitheatre - Hogwarts AFB.

0200h

Natalie Boone slumped into a spare chair. The wounds she had sustained during the fight had been patched up, but she would have to see the Healers later. She hadn't even had a chance to clean up and change her clothes. Concrete dust, blood and burn marks now smeared her once pristine uniform. The stolen AK-74 was still slung across her shoulder. She looked around the room. It was full of tired, dirty people. If you hadn't been being patched up you had been helping clear the flight deck of rubble and other FOD. The Assault Barge had been left where it had landed, being too much trouble to move. Aside from which, the Union had nowhere to take it.

Group Captain Madden took the podium. His head was bandaged and his left arm was supported in a sling to help heal the shattered bone.

'Ladies and Gentlemen. At approximately seventeen hundred hours last night Intelligence discovered a large invasion force being landed in northern Scotland. The attack we suffered a few hours ago was a probing force, sent to test our defenses; from what we can gather they were codenamed Claw. The main body of the force is now moving, toward us. At their current pace the main artillery should be in range by twenty-thirty hours tonight.

As such, a three phase evacuation plan has been put in place. At first light tomorrow, we will be evacuating the students of Hogwarts and residents of the surrounding area via the Hogwarts express. When the first shells start falling, all non-essential base personnel will be evacuated. The third and final stage of the evacuation will be initiated by Command if, and only if, they deem it necessary. If the order is given, those on the ground will fall back to pre-designated extraction points. The base will then be destroyed.'

Madden looked around the room.

'Have no doubt about it. If Hogwarts goes, the rest of the British Isles will fall. We must hold the enemy here or we face the total victory of Voldemort in Europe. Report to your squadron ready rooms at zero-seven hundred for individual unit briefings; until then, get cleaned up and get some rest; dismissed!'

* * *

11 May 03: Northern Scotland

0330h

Draco Malfoy kicked his broom off the ground, climbing high over the Dark Lord's forces were assembling. As he watched the last of the landing barges disgorged their cargoes onto the shore. Giants dwarfed the infantry, already wearing their amour. Trolls hauled the massive siege guns through the mud, hooking them onto the back of Muggle driven tow vehicles. The Muggle troops stood rigidly to attention as their Death Eater controllers inspected their minions. On the horizon he could see another part of the force assembling; an entire Aerial Fortress Battle Group, drawn from the base that the Muggle lovers has so foolishly attacked. He looked down toward the head of the column; there Russian made T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks were already moving. Draco smiled to himself. It would only be a matter of time until Hogwarts fell and Britain came under the control of the dark.

* * *

11 May 03: Phoenix Squadron Ready Room - Hogwarts AFB

0700h

Nat, feeling much better for a few hours sleep and a shower, made herself comfortable in the ready room chair as Cho took the front of the room.

'Ok people,' said the Squadron Leader, 'as you know the Death Eaters have landed a large force in the north of Scotland and are making their way toward us as we speak. At current estimates ETA is twenty-thirty hours tonight. As such, evacuation phase one is now in progress. Students and other non-combatants from the surrounding area are being evacuated via the Hogwarts Express. The train itself arrived at zero six hundred this morning. It is currently offloading the last of our reinforcements. Command has sent up Bludger Squadron from London to escort it, so we get a slight break.'

Cho looked around the room.

'Any questions on that part? Good. Phase two of the evacuation will begin as soon as the enemy is within artillery range. Non-essential personnel such as mess staff will be evacuated via helicopter. Phase three of the evacuation will only be put into place if Command sees fit to do so. At that point our ground forces will fall back to pre-assigned extraction points and be heloed out. You will be given a list of these points so if you have to bail you can fall back with the infantry to be extracted. Be warned, if you are not there when the chopper leaves you will be left behind. Make sure you are there. Being captured is not fun, trust me on this.

'As of now we are on a five minute NTM. When we are called our orders are simple. Take as many of the barstards down as possible. If the evacuation is called you are to escort the transports out, the base will then be destroyed. Pack you gear, it will be loaded on to the second phase evac. transports; then get some sleep, we have a long night ahead of us, may we all live through it to see another day.'

* * *

11 May 03: Hogsmeade station

0800h

Captain Harry Potter stood guard as the last of the refugees boarded the train. Frightened first-years cried into the arms of older students, who also wore their own grim masks. Prefects pushed the last stragglers onto the train as the bleak faced residents of Hogsmeade also made their way off the platform and into the carriages, standing in the overcrowded corridors. With a hiss of steam the big engine rolled out of the station. Harry watched it leave until the rear guard, standing ever diligent with his 20mm turret gun, was out of sight.

He turned up toward the castle of Hogwarts. On the track to the main gates he passed Ron who was setting the last of his claymore anti-personnel mines, covering the approach to the school. Further up he came to the outer trench-lines. Union soldiers were dug in deep; soldiers of all nationalities, French, Americans, Australians, Britons and from many other countries. All sandbagged in together and surrounded by lines of deadly razor wire. In front of the trenches the forest and bush had been burned back for one hundred meters all around. Burnt wood and charcoal crunched under Harry's feet as he walked across the kill zone. Looking up toward the battlements of the outer wall Harry could see the big .50 caliber machineguns mounted on the parapet, armorers stacking up boxes of belt ammunition next to them. In between the guns sat the mortar crews, handing around a cigarette and talking quietly. In through the main gates, more weaponry. The gates themselves were protected by no less than four heavy machinegun emplacements. A strong wall of reinforced concrete and razor wire had been erected behind the gates. Any vehicle trying to enter would have to turn left or right, caught in a deadly crossfire of bullets and Milan anti-tank missiles from the emplacements pointed down the corridor. Harry walked on. In the grounds of the castle itself stood four BF-20 Battlefield support walkers. Still in the early stages of development, the fact that there were even four of the things showed just how important Hogwarts was to the Union. Standing just over sixteen feet high each walker looked like an attack helicopter cockpit that had grown legs then armed itself to the teeth, they were, in essence, walking tanks; designed to do the job that the Union had no giants to do, raze hell on the battlefield. Closer to the castle were the inner trench lines, replicas of those outside the walls, all razor wire, guns and sandbags. Behind those stood the castle's heavy artillery, large-bore siege guns with the capability to lob high explosive shells far over the horizon. Between the lines of trenches and the outer wall was nearly two-hundred metres of slightly up-hill, open ground; a death-trap for any enemy making its way up toward the castle proper. On the battlements of Hogwarts itself stood more heavy machineguns, sandbagged in around the SAM launchers for dealing with the enemy Fortresses. In through the main entrance to the school, more sandbags and gun emplacements. If the enemy broke through one line, it would run up against the next line of defenses, an uphill struggle all the way. However, if all else failed the Union still had one surprise for Voldemort. Buried in the foundations of the base below were two Type-240 plasma blast warheads. If the enemy should take Hogwarts these would be detonated, annihilating everything within a sixteen mile radius. It had been the ultimatum from command. If the base fell, they could not allow the enemy to keep the castle.

* * *

11 May 03: Above Hogwarts

1000h

Lieutenant Commander Mariah Jordan grimaced to herself as the roar of the four big Rolls Royce turbofans died behind her, bringing her Fortress into a hover position over Hogwarts. Thirty-five and hard as steel, Jordan had only recently been given command of a Fortress; a command that wasn't looking so crash hot just at the moment. As befitted a new Fort commander she had been given a nice easy job over London, plenty of support, nice odds. Then she had been transferred to here, Hogwarts, with one other Fort besides her own to defend the castle. Although the Union Forts were superior to the enemy in firepower and size, twenty to one odds were not what she had been looking for in a command.

Oh well like it or not, she was here now.

'Bring systems back to idle, leave us running on the APU, but keep the engines hot. Pull the sensors back to passive, no point in letting the Death Eaters know we're here. Wake me as soon as you get hostile readings.'

With that she sat back in her command chair, pulled her cap down over her eyes and proceeded to go to sleep.

* * *

11 May 03: Hogwarts

1500h

Harry awoke with a start; he must have dozed off leaning against the wall of the school. There was a roar of turbo-prop engines. He looked down toward the lake where a Hercules transport plane was now alighting where the surface of the water had been made solid and tractable by magic. Harry made his way toward where the plane was taxing toward the shore, the system was all very well, but most non-magic users seemed to feel just a little uncomfortable walking on water. On the side of the plane he could see the gray circle and kangaroo that denoted it as the property of the Royal Australian Air Force. The rear ramp of the plane lowered as it turned and troops pilled out the back, all sporting either the F88 Austeyr assault rifles or Minimi light machine guns; a man who appeared to be the officer in charge walked up to Harry and saluted him smartly. It was only then that Harry realized that he was the ranking Union officer in attendance.

'Lieutenant Samson, Royal Australian Infantry, reporting sir.'

'Uh...' the rest of Harry's reply was lost in the roar of engines as the Hercules rumbled off down the lake again. He looked around, a small distance away he could see a Lieutenant that he recognized as one of the personnel officers.

'Can you say that again sir?' Samson was talking again.

Harry looked at him. 'Come with me, we'll see the Personnel Officer.'

After a quick talk with the PO Harry turned back to Samson.

'Get your people together. You've been posted to the forward trench lines; I'll show you down there. Here are the radio frequencies and your ID codes, make sure you get it to your Comms.' Harry handed him another sheaf of paper. 'This is your orders as well as evacuation procedures. Now follow me, you can brief your unit when we get down there.'

Samson turned to his troops, as Harry stepped off, they stepped off with him; heading toward the forward trench lines.

* * *

11 May 03: Hogwarts AFB

1745h

Natalie sighed resignedly and rolled out of bed, collapsing in a semi-coherent mass on the floor. After waiting a minute or so to allow all the brain cells to start functioning she slipped on her boots, grabbed her pager and jacket, then headed for the ready room. It had been no good, she'd been trying to get back to sleep for the last hour, but all the old pre-mission fears that she had been prey to as a rookie were coming back. Nat chuckled inwardly at that. She'd still been in training, in Australia less than six months ago; at any other time that would have counted as a rookie, but instead she was considered a seasoned veteran, a double ace at that, in charge of a wing pair and still only a pilot officer.

What war does for the old career.

Awakening from her thoughts she found herself already outside the ready room, pushing open the doors she was surprised to find it quite full.

Obviously I'm not the only one feeling a little jumpy.

There was Cho, sitting in a corner, apparently lost in her own thoughts. Fred and Samantha seemed to have commandeered a couch and were quietly talking to each other. Nat noticed that Rheinburg seemed to be even more on edge than the rest of them. Now that she looked, Nat noticed that the only person not there was Greg Bull, suspicious, but not her problem just at the moment, perhaps he had managed to get some sleep. She walked over to where Phannan was staring off into space.

'Phoenix Eleven to Phannan, do you copy?'

Phannan blinked, shook himself then looked up at her.

'Say what?'

Nat crossed her arms and looked at him pityingly. 'Did your brain go on holidays again or something?'

Phannan looked confused. 'Beh?'

'You want to make sure that doesn't happen in the air, or you might just be taking a fast trip to the light end of the tunnel.'

'Beh?'

'You were staring off into space, lights on but no-one home. Your brain was obviously somewhere else.'

'Oh, that.' said Phannan. 'I was just contemplating; what if I got shot down, what would you do without me?'

'Well,' replied Nat, 'I'd probably go on to have a long an happy life and an outstanding military career 'cause I wouldn't have to take all the anti-depressants I take because of you.'

'Well fuck you too.'

'In your dreams sir. I think I'll go take a walk topside.'

'Didn't we have this dreams conversation before.'

Nat turned back to him. 'Yeah, but I think we were locked in a cell in Azkaban at about that point; so I put it down to the incoherent ramblings of a man thinking he was about to die. Goodbye.'

With that she headed for the door. Even though the distance from the ready room to the lifts was only a hundred or so metres it was a good ten minutes before she got to the surface. Muttering about the massive number of complicated security checks she had had to go through before getting there, Nat finally stepped out onto the grounds of Hogwarts. Walking around the castle she found Harry dozing against one of the walls. He was already in full battle dress. Woodlands camouflage, flack-jacket, chest webbing. Beside him were his helmet and a large Heckler and Koch G-36 assault rifle with under slung 40mm grenade launcher. She was just contemplating whether to let him sleep, or to kick him in the ribs when he woke up. He looked up at her through the one eye he had open.

'Aren't you meant to be down in the base getting some sleep?'

'Yeah, but I seem to be having some trouble in that area, unlike others.'

Harry hoisted himself to his feet, picking up his helmet and rifle as he did so.

'Hey, give me a break. I just finished getting your countrymen settled in to the trenches.'

'Heh, trenches. That's why I'm not in the PBI.'

Harry looked at her quizzically. 'PBI?'

Nat shot him a smile that was all teeth. 'PBI; Poor Bloody Infantry'

'Thanks,' said Harry, sarcasm dripping off his voice, 'Just remember it's the Poor Bloody Infantry that's protecting your mess hall...'

He looked up at the school.

'...and my home.'

Nat looked over at him. The hard exterior that was so often seen seemed to have fallen. Something of the boy who had arrived at Hogwarts in his first year, all awe and wonder at the magical world seemed to have floated to the surface.

'What was it like?' she asked. 'Before the war.'

Harry looked over at her perhaps startled that she should ask such a question.

'Well, it was...'

* * *

11 May 03: Hogwarts

1950h

Harry Potter ambled around the final corner of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Natalie keeping pace with him. It had taken him almost three hours to show her what he remembered of the school. He was amazed that she had stayed awake this long.

'...and we're back where we started. Thank you for patronizing Potter tours.' He said.

'So that's what you're going to do after the war,' said Natalie, smiling, 'become a tour guide.'

'Possibly, perhaps I'll just...'

BOOM!

Harry spun around.

BOOM! B-BOOM! BOOM!

He watched as the barrel of the massive siege howitzer slid slowly back into place.

'...the hell?'

fhweeeeeeeeeeeee...

KABOOM!

The earth exploded as the enemy shell slammed into the ground, bits of molten rock and dirt flying everywhere. Harry hit the deck, Nat dropping down beside him.

'SHIT! They're here early!'

'Whow, perceptive. I gotta get back to the Squadron, look after yourself.'

With that Nat rolled over to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Then she was up and sprinting back toward the elevators, Five-seveN drawn.

Harry didn't have time to watch her go. He rammed his helmet on his head and picked up his assault rifle. The boom and crunch of siege artillery was deafening. He rolled up onto his feet and running toward the gate slipping through just as they closed and leapt down into the relative safety afforded by the trenches. It took him another five minutes to find the rest of the marines. Hermione was already there, carrying her own G-36 with under slung M203 grenade launcher. Ron was next to arrive, cradling a large "Jackhammer" fully automatic shotgun, spare ten round drums hanging off his webbing.

'Where's Ginny.'

Ron turned to face Harry. 'She's coming.'

At that moment Ginny trotted around the corner, Hermione and Harry's mouths dropped open, Ginny had come prepared. Slung across her back, along with her sword was a FN M249 SPW light machine gun, like a minimi but with the bi-pod removed and a forward pistol grip and collapsible stock attached instead. Hanging from either hip were two HK MP-7 machine pistols and cradled in her arms was a XM-29 OICW. The OICW, or Objective Individual Combat Weapon, looked like what would have been created it an assault rifle and a grenade launcher had mated and had offspring. It was essentially a 20mm automatic programmable grenade launcher on top of a 5.56mm assault rifle, both sharing a common scope and trigger group.

'Are you sure you didn't forget anything?' asked Hermione weakly.

Ginny looked down at the OICW. 'I did want some sixty-sixes, but I ran out of room.'

'Whatever; which reminds me.'

Hermione bent down, unfastening the catches on a large Samsonite case. She handed Ron and Harry two cardboard tubes, each about two feet long; sixty-six disposable rocket launchers; preloaded with HEAT warheads.

'Pest control,' said Hermione, 'Ginny, I don't think you need any more.'

'Awww.'

* * *

Nat burst into the ready room and stopped in the doorway. Everyone was staring at her. It was only then that she realized just how much dirt and other garbage she must have copped in the first artillery barrage.

Phannan looked up. 'What happened to you?'

'The bad guys were early.'

The room fell silent. Distantly she could hear the thump and crunch of artillery, muffled by layers of earth and concrete.

Chang looked at Nat from her corner. 'Go get cleaned up. This is a pre-assault barrage, Command doesn't want us yet.'

Nat turned back toward her lines, mind on what the PBI was copping on the surface.