The Lions of War

Chapter 8: The Plan

In main vent of the dormant volcano, the Nazis worked on confining their new prisoners of war. The soldiers threw the lions into cages. Nala looked up at the massive rockets that was next to them. The rocket was pointed straight up the throat of the volcano, ready to launch. Just then the Nazis snapped to attention as Major König marched in. "Who is Queen Nala?", he inquired. None of the lions answered. The major grew frustrated and pulled out his Luger. "I will not ask again!", he yelled. Nala got to her feet. "I'm Queen Nala.", she proclaimed through the bars of her cage. The major gave a sadistic smile as he walked over. "Guten tag! Welcome to our humble home.", König announced. "Why are you here?", Vitani asked, growling as he approached Nala. "It has remained a secret to the world that the Outlands is rich in uranium. The one element needed to make an atomic bomb, frauline. Nobody would think to look for us here so far away from Germany.", König said as he pointed to the rocket. "With our V-4 rocket complete, the whole world will submit to the Nazis and we will rule it for a thousand years. The master race will be the only race.", proclaimed König. "Long live the Fuhrer and his thousand-year reich!", announced König. "Long live the thousand-year reich!", the other Nazis responded. "Now you will tell me how many soldier there are, what kind of weapons the possess, and who is leading them.", ordered König. "We've dealt with your kind before and we will do it again. We will tell you nothing.", Nala proclaimed. "You have never seen anything like me.", König responded. He rose is Luger and pulled the trigger, shooting a lioness in the head. The shot echoed through the volcano as the lioness collapsed. All the others were in shock. Kiara started to cry. "I'm going to let that one sink in. Maybe next time you will be more talkative.", König said as he began to leave. "You're a monster!", Kiara yelled through her tears. The major stopped and turned around. "No, I'm a soldier.", König proclaimed as he walked away.

Meanwhile back at Pride Rock, Winters was preparing to go after the Nazis. In the den, he loaded every magazine, grenade, and weapon he had. "Lieutenant Winters!", called out Hartman. "What in the hell do you think you are doing?", Hartman asked. "I'm going after them. Stay here and watch the men.", answered Winters. "Oh no you're not. Not without the rest of us!", yelled Hartman. "You think you're the only one who has suffered a loss today! Miller was a friend to all of us! Shit happens and there is nothing we can do about it! Don't use this as some excuse to measure up to your old man!", yelled Hartman. Winters got to his feet and in anger punched Hartman in the face. "God damn it! I'm not doing this to be a hero! I don't want anyone else to die!", Winters fired back. Just then the rest of the group entered the den. Hartman got to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose. "That was a risk we all took when we took this mission. Every man will die, but what we do when we live is want matters.", Hartman said as he placed a hand on Winters shoulder. "I will follow you to the gates of hell and back. I will always have your six, Winters.", Hartman said looking into Winters eyes. "So, will I!", announced Simba. "They took Sheni! I'll be dammed if I don't fight!", shouted Jackson. Kion, Kovu, and Jasiri stepped forward. "We'll fight!", proclaimed Kion. The rest of the men came forward. "We'll fight!", Ryan said. One after another the group responded with "I'll fight!". Winters looked at the group. "Okay, but we need a plan.", Winters said.

Jasiri came forward. "They have my family and people prisoner. I'll tell you everything you need to know.", she proclaimed. "Do you know why they are here?", asked Hartman. "They are building a weapon called a rocket and using the dormant volcano to hide and launch it. They said when the rocket hits its target everything in a fifty-mile radius will die.", answered Jasiri. "How many men do they have?", Winters then asked. "They have 150 soldiers.", Answered Jasiri. "The volcano is a fortress. All except one embankment, but it's guarded by, what they call, a machine gun on a cliff edge. It's how I got wounded escaping.", Jasiri said. "We're going to need more troops.", proclaimed Hartman. "Jackson, did you get that radio working?", Winters asked. "Yes sir!", Jackson answered. "Good! Send out a message to command. Tell them we need reinforcements.", Winters ordered. "You brought the short-range radios, right?", asked Winters. "Yes sir!", Jackson answered. "Unpack them, the Browning, and the Bren. Gentlemen, it's time to take the fight to them.", ordered Winters. Jackson got on the radio and sent a transmission. In the waters off the coast of Kenya, The USS Justice was sailing by when she picked up the transmission. "I'm picking up a message, sir!", a sailor yelled as the captain made his way over. The captain grabbed a set of headphones and listened. "Relay this urgent message to Washington!", ordered the captain. Meanwhile in the office of OSS a aid marched into General Mathewson's office. "We got a message from Winters unit, sir.", the aid said as he handed a piece of paper to the general. Matthewson grabbed the message and read it. He looked up at his aid. "Pack our things, captain. We are going to Africa.", Matthewson ordered. The aid quickly exited and Matthewson picked up and dialed his phone. "Max! Hey, it's Dick. I need your finest company of paratroopers from the 101st. We're going to go help my boys.", proclaimed Matthewson.