His Majesty's Dragons: The Battle of Britain

[General Havoc]

John's idea was crazy.

It was inventive certainly, planting his pistol to his head with the intention of threatening to kill himself. What results that might have had were somewhat speculative, for the Falschirmjaeger simply were not having any of it.

And unfortunately for John and Nax, they had the means to make their displeasure known.

A blast went off right next to John, where a concussion stick-grenade had been tossed by the nearest German storm trooper, knocking him over and spilling the handgun from his hand nearly instantly, and dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Before what was left of Nex' crew could so much as act, before Nex herself could determine what had happened, half a dozen germans had her senseless captain in custody, guns to his head, and were already calling on the battered Parnassian to surrender.

The result was not in doubt.

*------------------------------------------*

It was no black mark against Jake to report that of all the paint pellets he fired, only one of them struck any mark at all, and that that mark that it struck was actually Capricorn's flank, splattering the dusty dragon with blue paint. It was unlikely that Capricorn noticed.

Both pairs of Lightweights rolled about on the ground, snarling and snapping at one another, but the fights were unequal. The Leuchtkaffer Kunja had landed upon simply had no capacity to fight off what was being done to it, and by the time Kunja had finished shaking it, while its neck was not broken, the poor dragon could barely stand for the violent thrashing it had undergone. It wobbled, shifting dizzily back and forth, its eyes practically rolling in its head, before finally tipping over and landing on the ground, no more able to rise again that it was to determine which direction was up. Its captain meanwhile unhooked himself from his saddle and jumped off, racing to the side of the dragon's head, trying to determine if it was all right.

Behind the two of them however, Capricorn was simply not a match for the Leuchtkaffer's cousin, and was steadily being subdued, perhaps permanently, save that something crackled over the Leuchtkaffer's radio, and rather than finishing its fight, it delivered Capricorn a savage kick with its forelegs, scoring the little Venomspitter across the flank and wings, and sending it crashing to the ground in a snarl, and then opened its wings and flew up into the air, as every other German dragon still capable of flight did the same...

*------------------------------------------*

Albatros smiled, with only a hint of smugness in it. It was plain that this was not the first dragon to have surrendered to him.

"Excellent," he said in his soft accent. "I beg you not to vorry. Nossing bad vill come of eizzer of you vhile you are in my custody, ja? I give you my vord as an officer of ze Luftwaffe. You vill be taken back to Abbeville, and zere you vill undergo processing as prizoners. If you do not act foolishly, zen you have nothing vhatsoever to vorry about."

The Captain of the red-painted Albatros bent down and whispered something to him in german, before lowering a large radio-headset microphone that had been slid up over the dragon's head for the purposes of combat. Albatros cleared his throat and called out orders crisply into the radio.

"Alle Drachen, bilden sich in Abschnitt Gruppenleiter und entziehen! Reserve Abschnitt, decken sie die Bildung."

The captain switched the radio off as Albatros looked back down at Jeb.

"You vill accompany me to ze nearest intact Heavyveight, vhere your captain vill be secured by ze crew. You vill zen follow me, staying below at all times, please. Ve vill remain in sight of your captain, but if you attempt to rescue her, zere vill be... er... Nachwirkung... conseqvences, ja? Do not be foolish, unt your captain vill come to no harm."

And with that, Albatros made as quickly as he could for the rest of the German squadron. As he did, the other germans began disengaging their targets, aborting attack runs, and flying away as best they could to reform in mid-air, even as the shapes of three more dragons, middleweights by the look of things, appeared on the horizon.

[LadyTevar]

"Ah think we got yer heavies," Jebediah drawled miserably, holding his position under Albatros. "Bu' Ah'm a-holdin' ya to yer word, Red Baron. Don't be hurtin' my lil' girl."

Judith tried to puzzle out what order was given in German, but all she got was All Dragons do something. Since they were headed away, out to sea, that 'something' had to be withdrawl. Frantically she tried to look back, straining to see if she could see Kunja. She hoped he and Jake were all right. Now she wished ... well.. didn't matter what she wished. This begger weren't a choosin' now.

Only one of them would know for sure what happened. "If Ah may, sir," she called politely to Albatros. "Th' Vic'torian Reaper that was smart 'nuff not ta fight ya ... Have ya see 'em since?"

[Charon]

Kunja roared in triumph as the Leuchtkaffer fell and moved to strike again before Jake reeled him in. "Easy Jack, he's done."

Kunja growled low but did not move to attack again, even as the other Leuchtkaffer took to the air. Some surviving men stationed here began to move in on the captain and dragon Kunja had put down as Jake and Kunja turned to look at Capricorn. He was in bad shape, but damned if he hadn't fought hard.

Jake's head suddenly perked as he remembered something. Judith, Judith had been fighting Albatros! The young Aussie looked up quickly to see Albatros flying away with Jebediah flying below and behind him.

Kunja followed his captain's gaze and saw it too. His own keen eyes even making out that there was a figure sitting in Albatros' frontpaws.

"Kunja, get 'im."

The Australian duo had not been badly hurt during their fight with the Leuchtkaffer, and they were still very fresh. The pair rocketed into the air and pushed hard for altitude while they moved to gain on Albatros before the German formation could re-sort themselves. Both Kunja and Jake were quiet, no reason to give any more of a signal that they were charging.

[Cynical Cat]

Frostfell dropped the German officer amongst a bunch of RAF ground crew. "Take care of him. His Kampfritter's just to the west and being a good boy. Get someone to round them up."

He extended his head, looking around. No sign of Nathan, but amid the smoke and chaos and the likelyhood that he had taken cover than didn't mean he wasn't alive. He saw the Smoke Devil and he saw Albatross, receding in the distance. Receding slowly.

With a growl he rose into the air. No half tame kraut lizard was going to screw up Nathan's plan for dealing with that Jotun. Frostfell was wounded, but he was more than healthy enough to squish a lightweight.

[General Havoc]

Albatros' captain tapped him on the shoulder, and Albatros raised and turned his head. "Ja," he said calmly to Judith's question. "I have seen him..."

The German squadron was regrouping as fast as it could, the injured beasts being supported by the less injured ones. Three more German dragons soon hove into view, Prussian Bluejackets, lightly crewed and armed, but ready for anything that could be thrown their way, reserve dragons, fresh and ready, at least in theory. One however was already bloodied, its armor torn open, its flank lacerated. What had caused this damage was unclear, but Albatros made straight for its wingman, an as-yet unhurt Prussian Bluejacket, and set down on the middleweight's back. Half a dozen crew members raced over to him as he gently released Judith, all of them armed with assorted hand held weapons, and he spoke to them briefly in German, pointing with his tail towards Jebediah as he did so. Only after he had finished his brief explanation did he take back off unceremoniously, letting the Bluejacket fall away towards the remainder of the German squadron, flying back to cover the retreat.

Both sides had been savaged. Of the three mighty Kampfritters the Germans had deployed, one was laying in a pool of its own blood on the ground, unable to move or fly after the savaging that Frostfell had delivered to it. Larger than anything in the German arsenal save a Jotunmeister, it could not be borne off the field, and would not leave with the British in posession of its captain anyhow, and was left behind. A second Kampfritter had been severed beaten by Temeraire, but the arrival of German re-enforcements had forced the Celestial to disengage and fall back, allowing the Kampfritter a reprieve. Only one of the German heavyweights remained intact, and that one was presently assisting Nex, who, Parnassian bloodlust notwithstanding, suffered herself to follow the germans, as her captain was held unconscious on the third Kampfritter's back. Behind her lay a Swabian Lightning Bolt rapidly being restrained by the Allied ground crews, though the dragon thought of nothing besides aiding her own captain, currently being looked over by medics.

One of the German Leuchtkaffers had been brought down by Kunja, but the other had taken back to the air, and Capricorn neither would pursue it with his captain down, nor could with the damage he had sustained. Tempestas had managed to outmaneuver the pair of Bavarians sent after him, but was unable to bring either down, and they had broken contact with a relish and fallen back to support Albatros, leaving Captain Bader in command of the local air. Galadriel, by dint of maneuver and turning, had managed to fight both of the Bluejackets arrayed against her to a standstill, but a third joined them, forcing her to retreat, and Æquitas, try as he might, could do no more than batter the Swabian facing him whenever it presented him the opportunity, for without armor, guns, or crew, even a moment's grapple could be fatal, and he knew it.

Of Fulminatus, there was no sign.

The Germans regrouped expertly in the air, the heavyweights withdrawn towards the center, the middleweights forming up in a solid wall of dragons with the lightweights out front to interdict. The belly turret-gunners of the middleweight dragons blasted away at the AD guns on the ground, including the one Captain Reynolds manned, suppressing the crew, preventing any from sticking their heads up, even as Albatros surveyed the situation and the foes arrayed against him. Four Prussian Bluejackets he had, still largely unbloodied, and a Swabian also, as well as a Leuchtkaffer and two Speckled Bavarians and himself, five Middleweights and four Lightweights, against a disorganized Allied formation of slightly heavier dragons, but fewer. At need, the remaining Kampfritter could join in, as could the lightly bloodied Bluejacket. It was enough to protect the retreat with ease, but the German commander was unsure if it was enough to press for the total victory he had sought that still eluded him. He was weighing the options in his mind when a lookout on one of the Kampfritters spotting something approaching from the north.

The decision was made.

The German formation began to fall back to the south as a radio command crackled over the airwaves, the injured dragons being shepherded in a demi-lune of intact middle and lightweights. The allied captures were herded into the middle of the formation, paired with strong German escorts, Nex under local control of the Falschirmjaegar, Jeb simply coupled by psychological bond to the Bluejacket holding Judith. Albatros himself was hindmost, with a pair of other lightweights on his wing, and three Bluejackets in support, and he turned to face down Frostfell and Kunja, both of whom seemed to be making motions to pursue and engage. Engage they could, certainly, for the squadron was not making top speed, but supported or not, it was his task to ensure they did not interfere...

... and if they did... well... he wouldn't object to lopping off the odd allied dragon that decided to insert itself into his formation's rearguard.

[LadyTevar]

Judith gave up the last hope she'd had of trying to escape. On the back of a fully crewed dragon, guns everywhere, Jebediah forced to trail along behind like a dog on a leash, and all she had was the knife that had cut her free of the harness.

She didn't have to be told to surrender it, as soon as they had her surrounded she slowly, silently held it out, palm up and open for someone to take from her. She made no effort to resist as they took it from her and helped hook her to the Bluejacket's harness. The only thing that kept her from tears was what happened before Albatros landed on the Bluejacket.

"If Ah may, sir," she called politely to Albatros. "Th' Vic'torian Reaper that was smart 'nuff not ta fight ya ... Have ya see 'em since?"
Albatros' captain tapped him on the shoulder, and Albatros raised and turned his head. "Ja," he said calmly to Judith's question. "I have seen him..."

Judith wanted to turn around, to see if she could see them again; Frostfell covered in black blood but beating skywards, and Kunja, closer, trying to reach Albatros before they got away. They were trying a rescue. She closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry, not to show any womanly weakness in front of the Jerries. She was a Dragon Captain. Captains don't cry, even when she knows there was no way Kunja or Frostfell could rescue her now.

[Charon]

Jake watched in one part hatred, one part shame, and one part disappointment as the German's closed ranks before he could catch up and Judith was placed on the back of another dragon. For a moment the Aussie considered continuing the chase but Kunja made up his mind for him. The Australian dragon slowly turned away from his chase and looked to Frostfell who was not far behind for now, but was so bloody it was a miracle he was airborn at all in the Victorian's eyes.

"Frostfell, we'd best turn back." rumbled Kunja with a definate disappointment in his voice. Then both dragon and captain finally noticed that Frostfell did not have Nathan on his back.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in the air you stupid bastard! Your captain needs you!"

[Cynical Cat]

"I'm preventing my captain from being murdered on the ground when we were ambushed," snapped Frostfell. "If I knew where Nathan was he would be on my back."

He did a slow wingover and headed back. "The Germans are beyond our reach. Too bad for them."

[General Havoc]

One by one, the remaining airworthy allied dragons turned back from the withdrawing German squadron, and returned to their base. Albatros waited in his position in the rearguard until he judged the danger to be safely past, and only after the head of the squadron was beginning to pass over the Channel did he finally pull away, his associated dragons maintaining the rear of the squadron as they vanished into the clouds.

As Albatros flew back into the center of the slow-moving German formation, he passed close enough to Jebediah to speak, and slowed his flight to do so.

"If you do precisely as you are told, unt do not try anything foolish, zen zis vill go as painlessly as it can," he said to the Smoke Devil with a laconic grin, nobless oblige, without a doubt. "As soon as England falls, zis war vill be over, unt you and your captain vill be paroled back to America. Until zen, ze Luftwaffe vill take good care of both her and you. You needn't vorry about a thing..."

And with that, Albatros flew on, landing aboard the uninjured Kampfritter for a moment to confer with its captain, and then took off again, weaving in and out of the squadron to ensure everything was proceeding as planned.

The coast of France loomed ahead.

*-------------------------------------------------------*

"Captain Rankin!"

Rankin slid down the side of Æquitas' neck, brushing the black blood out of his eyes as he did so. Æquitas had caught one of the Bluejackets chasing him with a reverse slash and splattered its blood all over him, making him look rather like he'd been dipped in tar. He waved off the medic who raced towards him, and sprinted towards Galadriel, and towards Admiral Tolkien, who was still sitting on her neck.

"I'm sorry to do this to you Captain, after what just happened, but there's a full-scale Jerry offensive on to the east of here and the radio transmitter's down from here. I have to fly to Poole at once and get some damned idea of what's going on."

Rankin swallowed the protest and nodded. "Sir," he said, "your instructions on our..."

"My instructions, Captain," said the Admiral, "are to set your squadron back in order and prepare to repel further Jerry strikes as soon as you can. I'll send teams to recover our captures, and we'll see about trades if they can be arranged, but for now your orders are to hold the line, and not let any further German forces inland, do you understand? With the mauling you gave them, it'll be a while before that squadron shows up again. Patch your dragons together and make certain we don't lose anymore, am I understood?"

Rankin paused only for the briefest of seconds. "... absolutely, Admiral."

"See to it then. And good luck," said Tolkien, and with a whispered word, Admiral Tolkien took to the air, Galadriel coming about and flying off towards the remainder of the battle.

Æquitas, whose injuries were superficial at best, walked up behind Rankin as he stood in the middle of the bomb-pocked covert and looked around at the devastation the Germans had unleashed. No words were exchanged, none were needed, until finally Æquitas ventured a comment.

"You've got your orders, Michael..." he said in a gently warning tone. "Tell me you're not thinking of..."

"MR. KEEGAN!"

Several moments passed before a young boy, scarcely eight or nine years old, ran up to Rankin through the shroud of smoke. "Sir?" asked the boy breathlessly, as he gave a fumbled salute, his face ashen and his breath ragged from fright. Where the cadet had been during all the fighting was not readily apparent, but his face and uniform were smeared with grime and black blood, and his cap was missing.

Rankin took no notice of these matters. "Find Captains Brathwaite, Reynolds, Collington, Kelly, and Taggart, and tell them to meet me in my office as quickly as they can physically get there. Tell them I require a frank analysis of their dragons immediate combat capacities, and that I require it in less than one hour's time. Tell them that..."

"S... sir..." ventured the frightened child. "Your... your office sir... it's..." Rankin followed the boy's gaze to the smouldering remains of the Quansset hut that had been designated as his office moments ago. A 50 kilogram bomb had flattened it unceremoniously.

"Very well..." said Rankin, only hesitating a moment. "Tell them that I will be with Æquitas then, and that I need them as quickly as they can be spared from their dragons. And once you've done that, I need you to find the intelligence officer and get a large-scale map of the Channel and of Normandy. Is that understood?"

"Y... yes sir..."

"Carry on then," said Rankin and the boy ran off to accomplish his duties.

"Michael..." said Æquitas, "you heard the Admiral, didn't you? No further risks to the squadron..."

"The greatest risk to this squadron is the Germans being allowed to do as they would to it," replied Rankin shortly. "This is the only course of action open..."

"This is not even close to the only course of action open, Michael," said the Malachite Reaper, "and you know it. Do you have the first idea what they'll do to you the second they find out you're planning on..."

"I don't intend to ask permission," said Rankin, "either from them, or from you."

Æquitas fell silent for a moment, leaving the two of them drenched in silence and smoke. "You know what happens if this fails, don't you?" asked the dragon after a time. "It's not merely going to be a court-martial. They'll put you up against the wall."

Rankin neither replied immediately nor looked back at his dragon. "Have the medics see to you," he said finally. "I've a letter to draft before the other captains arrive." And with that, Captain Rankin walked off towards the ruins of his hut, leaving his dragon to slowly shake his head.

*--------------------------------------------------*

The town of Bayeux, France, loomed in the distance as the dragons one by one touched down in the Covert belonging to Jagdgeschwader 1, one of the four German squadrons that comprised the German 3rd Air Fleet. As medics and support teams ran out to assist the dragons and their crews, Judith and Jebediah were bustled to the ground. German military police with submachine guns seized the young American captain, and with a shouted word or two from the Bluejacket's crew, escorted her as quickly as they could into a large warehouse.

Inside was a sight that she had no doubt not expected to see.

Heaped in the corner of the enormous building, lay a dragon, a middleweight dragon covered in so much black blood as to be nearly unrecognizable. It lay on its side, thick chains attached to all four legs, and to a collar of iron that was clenched around its neck. The dragon's breathing was slow and erratic, and it did not appear to be awake at present, but as Judith was conducted to a chair placed somewhat near the large beast, its identity could be discerned. It was Fulminatus.

The guards gave no explanation for what had happened, but it was plain that Fulminatus had sustained a horrendous battering. His side was lacerated and torn by a series of slashes of indeterminate nature, his neck and chest gored and laid open, and a small pool of black blood had collected beneath his crumpled form. There was no indication of what the source of his injuries was, nor of how he had come to be in this place, and before any questions could be asked, there was the sound of jackboots clacking against the concrete floor, and a middle-aged German officer in a pitch black uniform, neatly folded and creased, advanced towards Judith from the side. The hat held under his arm bore an insignia denoting a pair of lightning bolts mounted side by side, and his grin augured nothing good for the future.

"Good evening, fraulein," said the officer in an accent much lighter than Albatros' had been. "My name is Werner Lorenz, Standartenführer. You may call me 'Colonel', if you like. I will be handling the... details... of your interrogation and the processing of you and your dragon."

The colonel snapped his fingers and one of the guards slid a chair towards Judith.

"Please," he said, with a predatory smile like that of a shark's, "have a seat..."

[Charon]

Jake and Kunja landed on what was left of the ground again and looked around, surveying the damage.

"Christ in heaven..." muttered Jake. Then Kunja's head perked up and he looked through the air, then back on the ground, getting a count of the dragons. "Where's Nax and Fulminatus?"

Jake blinked once or twice before he let out a stream of curses that would have made old war vet's whistle in awe.

When Keegan came to a skidding hault next to the Australian pair both dragon and captain turned to glare at him. "What?"

"Uh... S-sir. Captain Ran-rankin, wants a word. Soon as yer able."

Jake snorted and Kunja only nodded, and the boy was off again.

"Probably wants to make sure we aren't gonna do anything rash." muttered Jake.

Kunja smiled softly. "Like that would stop us?"

Jake laughed, his foul mood broken for a moment. "No, not in the least. How long before you think you're up for a flight across the channel?"

Kunja grinned, shaking his foreleg some to see how it felt. "By tomorrow, but we'd best at least steal some us some maps before we leave."

Jake nodded, and then the pair seperated, Jake moving in to help Cap and Kelly, Kunja to help move debris.

[Cynical Cat]

"NATHAN!" Frostfell shouted with joy, wrapping bloody wings around his captain. The dragon's head gently bumped the human affectionately.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," said Reynolds. He patted Frostfell's snout. "We lost good men, but I'm fine. I didn't die." Not this time.

"Uh sir," said a young officer. "Captain Rankin's wants a report on readiness, immediately."

"Right," said Nathan harshly. He turned back to Frostfell. "Get thee to vet now, mighty wyrm."

"As you command noble master."

Nathan stalked across the ravaged field. Rankin was ahead, staring at the wreckage of his office. "Frostfell's wounded, but can fly. I've three dead and two far too badly wounded to fly."

[rhoenix]

It didn't take too long for Mr. Keegan to find Captain Braithwaite and Veritas, and the child's gasp of shock upon seeing Veritas' back alerted them both to the child's presence - if his mad footsteps toward them hadn't first alerted them. "C-Captain Braithwaite sir, Captain Rankin wants to see you about how Veritas is doing. He wants to see you in one hour, and wants you to meet him at Æquitas."

"I could save him the trouble by shouting 'Medic,'" replied Veritas thinly.

"I'll be right back, Ver," said Captain Braithwaite. "This shouldn't take long."

"No," retorted Veritas. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. We will visit Captain Rankin in one hour."

Attempting to regain his air of command, Captain Braithwaite drew himself up to his full height, and added, "Indeed. Thank you, Mr. Keegan."

The boy disappeared on the spot, likely to find the others. Captain Braithwaite began helping Veritas slowly move from his comfortable spot toward Captain Rankin, and Æquitas. It would take them a good half an hour or more to get there, but they would.

The expression on Captain Braithwaite's face was stoic, though looking cynical. Veritas was inscrutible, as always - apart from the odd wince of pain.

[LadyTevar]

"If you do precisely as you are told, unt do not try anything foolish, zen zis vill go as painlessly as it can," he said to the Smoke Devil with a laconic grin, nobless oblige, without a doubt. "As soon as England falls, zis war vill be over, unt you and your captain vill be paroled back to America. Until zen, ze Luftwaffe vill take good care of both her and you. You needn't vorry about a thing..."

Jebediah watched the Red Baron fly off, before his eyes were drawn once again to the back of the Bluejacket, where his lil girl was trapped. "Ah'm sorry, Jack," he muttered. "Ah've failed ya twice..." Unable to do anything, trapped by his worry for Judith, the Smoke Devil could only follow quietly and hope that the Jerries would keep their end of the bargain.

The landing in France was chaotic, as they made him touch down first. Almost instantly he was swarmed by support teams throwing nets and then chains over him to bear him down to the ground. He managed to wiggle enough of his head and neck free to look for the Bluejacket that had transported Judith -- and his heart froze when he couldn't see it or her.


"JUDITH!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?! WHERE IS MY LIL GIRL?!?! WHERE IS JUDITH?!?!?"

****

There was the sound of jackboots clacking against the concrete floor, and a middle-aged German officer in a pitch black uniform, neatly folded and creased, advanced towards Judith from the side. The hat held under his arm bore an insignia denoting a pair of lightning bolts mounted side by side, and his grin augured nothing good for the future.

"Good evening, fraulein," said the officer in an accent much lighter than Albatros' had been. "My name is Werner Lorenz, Standartenführer. You may call me 'Colonel', if you like. I will be handling the... details... of your interrogation and the processing of you and your dragon." The colonel snapped his fingers and one of the guards slid a chair towards Judith.

"Please," he said, with a predatory smile like that of a shark's, "have a seat..."

Judith took the seat slowly, her eyes large and wary as she looked over the man's black uniform. Her eyes slide over to Fulnimatus, seeming barely alive, then back to the men around her. The hair on the back of her neck had 'rhze up', as the old saying goes. Last time that happened had been when she'd heard the rattler in the berry bush, just before her pa had saved her by taking the bite himself. An old saying went through her mind: Not all snakes crawl on their bellies. Some walk on two legs.

"Colonel...," she acknowledged, cautiously. "Ah was told th' Baron'd an' his men'd be in charge o' me an' my dragon."

[General Havoc]

Jake found Capricorn moving slowly across the bombed-out covert towards the rest of the squadron, a large bundle held gently in his mouth. It wasn't until he approached that it became clear that the bundle in question was Captain Kelly himself, unconscious and unmoving from the concussion of the high explosive bomb that had gone off nearby. Capricorn himself was lacerated and limping, but he carried his captain as gently as he could, his head turning this way and that to try to find someplace to take him. Despite the fact that the Venomspitter's very sneeze was instantly fatal, it appeared to be taking sufficient care to refrain from poisoning its captain to death, though it equally apparently had no idea where to go, lost in the midst of the chaos of the bombed out covert.

*--------------------------------------------------*

Captain Rankin finished scribbling his signature on a piece of paper with a pen he had salvaged from the ruins of his office. He folded the paper up and pocketed it as Captain Reynolds approached.

"Thank you, Captain," said Rankin, "I'll have the ambulence crews see to your wounded men."

He turned around to face the Canadian, taking a deep breath and composing himself. "Captain, if it's at all physically possible, I'm going to need Frostfell ready to fly again in full combat rig and with as much of a crew as you can muster... in five hours' time. I need to know if that is within his capacities, given the fight he just had. I'd like him to be handling as heavy a bomb-load as he can manage, and to be ready for long-range flight."

Rankin might as well have been asking if Frostfell was feeling up to breaking the sound barrier and flying to Mars, but his expression gave no indication that he was asking anything out of the ordinary.

"Is this going to be practicable, Captain?"

*---------------------------------------------------------*

The guards accosting Jeb could not speak English, nor would they have answered him, even if they could, and Albatros and his captain were not presently in sight. Accordingly, the men on the ground simply went about their business, a pair of Speckled Bavarians lending a hand as they shoehorned Jeb into a large steel cage, purpose-built for lightweight dragons. No sooner had they managed to stuff him into the cage than the entrance slammed shut and was locked, and the nets and restraints were released, leaving Jeb free to move about the cage at least.

Small mercy perhaps.

*--------------------------------------------------------*

Lorenz smiled. "The Baron? You mean Freiherr Richtoffen and his... Bavarian?" The hesitation did not sound genuine or kindly. "I am afraid Fraulein that you are quite mistaken. You see... you are not a British national, but an American, ja? That means that... since you have been captured while in arms against the German Reich, that you are not a soldier, but a spy. And the interrogation of spies is not the domain of the Luftwaffe. It is that of the Schutzstaffel."

A palpable chill entered the air at the pronunciation of that word.

"But... Fraulein... you needn't worry about that too much. After all... you are not the only American we have captured, nor the only one with a... er... how do you say... unterdrake... sub-dragon? Yes, that is the the word? One of the mongrel species plaguing your native continent. Much like this one here..." He gestured to Fulminatus as he spoke, before pulling up another chair and sitting down.

"You see... I believe that you are innocent in all of this," he said with a smile. "I believe that... the perfidious British have convinced many of your countrymen that they, somehow, are deserving of your support. You are... very young for a captain, and I think that if we give you the chance, you will show us that all of this is merely a misunderstanding? If you cooperate, and you answer my questions promptly, and without hesitation or... restraint? Yes? Then the Schutzstaffel will take all of this into... what is the word... consideration?"

He leaned forward. "But... your dragon... is an unterdrake, a sub-dragon, and if you do not cooperate..." he shrugged, "then... there is nothing I can do to help him... or you."

Standartenführer Lorenz leaned back and gestured for a stenographer to begin taking notes. "Now then... please begin by telling us your name, your nationality, and the name of your commanding officer... for the record of course."

[Dark Silver]

The dragon's wings continue to beat in a steady rythme, the long horns upon it's head glinting dimly with the light. He had been ordered away from the squadron, not long after the end of the training excercise - and when his radio picked up the chatter - he turned around.

Unfortunatly, it was not in time to help.

The smoke rising from the craters where bombs impacted still rose in the air, as the Longhorn Reaper slowly winged it's way down in a spiral, his Captain's hand touching the neck in guidance.

Normally, they would set down in their own clearing, but after what looked like a massive battle, the black man decided to check in with Captain Rankin first thing.

The Reaper settled in a clearing as close as he could to where Rankin's office was, from the air a pile of rubble, and swiftly dismounted his dragon.

"Thomas...do you think Capricorn is...."

Thomas smiled at the beast, "Go see if you can find him, I'll report in."

With that, Hermeticus padded off, going to look for the Aussie dragon which had showed such friendliness to them before.

Thomas managed to find Rankin, as Reynolds approached, and caught the tail end of the British man's request. Airforce tradition caused him to wait to announce himself, but remain at attention, his aviators hood tucked under his right arm.

[Cynical Cat]

"No," said Nathan, "it is not. Unless the vet has worse news, Frostfell can manage a crew and full harness over a long distance and that's it. He's in no shape to play long range bomb truck or tangle with another heavyweight. And sir, have you gone insane?"

[Charon]

Jake came up to Capricorn very slowly. "S'alright Cap. Fighting's all over, you did good."

Jake was still very careful as he closed in on Capricorn, examining his wounds. Then he looked down to Captain Kelly, he looked to be in really bad shape, one of those bombs must have gone off practically on top of them.

"Aw that isn't so bad. I've seen a lot worse." Jake smiled reassuringly at Capricorn, very carefully and gently placing a hand just behind the small dragon's head. "You just hold on a second and I'll take care of everything else. Promise."

Jake turned and looked over the scarred landscape, trying to spot anything that looked like it might be where they were collecting the wounded.

Kunja meanwhile had taken it upon himself to meet with Captain Rankin. The Australian was still searching the skies even as he walked and spotted Hermeticus' return. But there was still no sign of Fulminatus. If he wasn't even in sight by now, chances were good that he wasn't coming, either because he was dead or captured.

[LadyTevar]

Judith, for all her bravado and skill flying with Jebediah, was still only 16 years old (even if the Americans and Brits thought she was 18). The huge warehouse, the black uniforms, the cold politeness and veiled threats were doing exactly what the Colonel wanted; frighten her, make her feel very tiny, very alone, and very in over her head.

Until he called Jebediah an sub-dragon, with all the disdain of a white man for a negro.

If the Colonel knew more about America, he'd have realized his mistake. Folks from Appalachia had their pride and they stood by their families. No uppity snooty American captain got away with insulting Jebediah, and Judith was damned if she was going to let this -Jerry- do it either.
"Tha's righ' odd since my SmokeDevil made onnuva Aussy-whatis turn tail an' run, an' th' only dragon able ta catch us was -yer- Red Baron." she drawled, her eyes narrowed. "War Hero, ain't he? Eighty dragons caught th' last War is wha' Ah heerd ... guess tha' makes me what? Ninney? Hun'nerd?" Her eyes glared at the Colonel. "How many you n' yers caught, Kernel?"

Lorenz didn't say a word, merely looking behind Judith and giving his subordinate the barest of slow nods, almost no more than a blink of his cold eyes.

++++

Jebediah had barely room to turn around in the cage, no room to stretch his wings. His eyes frantically darted about the airfield, looking vainly for his Captain. "JUDITH! Where Is My Captain?!" he demanded again of the support crew hurriedly shoving the cage towards a warehouse off to the side. A black-uniformed man watched the procedure, shouting at the crew "Shnell! Shnell!"

Jebediah stopped shouting as the cage entered the warehouse, catching Judith's scent in the stale air. He turned catlike inside the cage, spotting his lil girl just in time to see another black-uniformed man step behind her and backhand her brutally out of her chair and onto the floor in front of a seated man.

Jebediah roared in animalistic rage.

There's a saying that when a Smoke Devil roars, it echoes three days straight. It ain't true, but a Devil's roar will bounce from ridge to ridge and roll down th' hollers, so those miles away could hear it clear as day. Inside the large, mostly empty warehouse, Jebediah's angry roar reverberated off the walls and ceilings loud enough to shake dust off the rafters.

[General Havoc]

"Captain!" exclaimed Rankin as Thomas walked up, seemingly from out of nowhere. He glanced about quickly for Hermecritus' unmistakable bulk, barely visible through the smoke and flames. "Please tell me that Hermecritus is unharmed. We have very little time and have absolute need for at least one Heavyweight." He did not pause to await the man's answer, for Captain Collington was hot on his heels, and he quickly addressed all three at once.

"The Germans took Kunja and that bloody Parnassian bastard who joined in at the end there, and there's no sign whatsoever of Fulminatus, so I presume they took him too. If so, then we have very little time to act before lose all chance of ever retrieving them. I require every dragon capable of flight to be ready for action in five hours, no less, or else we miss our opportunity. You may think me mad if you like, Captain Reynolds, but the Germans just tore an enormous hole in my flight roster that we simply cannot fill, and I will not abandon your compatriots to the Germans when there's still an option of their retrieval. Our orders are to obtain the release of those prisoners by any means necessary, and I believe that, with a bit of luck, we can manage it. Observe..."

The young boy that had summoned the other captains ran up with a large rolled map in his hand, and handed it to Captain Rankin, who knelt down and spread it across the ground.

"That red Lightweight in the air was Albatros, unless I miss my guess, and if so, then that squadron was KG-1, Richtoffen's old formation from the Great War. KG-1 is part of the Hun 3rd Air Fleet, based in Normandy and northern France, and if I remember my intelligence documents correctly, they're based here," he pointed to a spot on the map, "in Bayeux. The French maintained an old dragon covert there from Napoleon's days, and the Germans have refurbished it for their own purposes. That is where we will find them. Our task is to find a way to break in."

He stood back up after shoving a stone onto the map so as to keep it in place. "We have no time to lose in this endeavor, gentlemen. The Germans will transfer their prisoners out tomorrow if they can manage it, which means we have to strike tonight, or lose all chance of retrieving them forever. I am... presently attempting to put a plan together for how we are to accomplish this, but before I get into any details, I must know if you and your dragons are capable of carrying out this mission, as it stands, and if so, if you have any ideas as to how we might go about this."

That these were not his orders, and in fact were the exact opposite of his orders, was something he left out... for the moment.

*----------------------------------------------------------*

The roar temporarily ended all conversation within the warehouse, echoing around the cavernous room. And so it was that the large American Middleweight laying unconscious on the ground next to the proceedings slowly began to stir, and moaned, and opened its eyes.

Werner Lorenz took no notice of Fulminatus, remaining seated in his chair, staring down his nose at the young American captain. He might have said something else, some other pithy comment or whatnot, but the voice that next spoke, though no less german, was not his.

"Vas ist los heir?"

All heads turned to the doorway, where a Speckled Bavarian, now scrubbed clean of the red paint it had previously donned, was standing behind a young German officer in the Luftwaffe's dark blue uniform. The officer looked young, very young, no more than 18 or 19 himself, and yet the uniform he wore bore the eagles of a Flight Colonel, and he glanced back at the dragon, who was staring into the warehouse without speaking.

"Ich bin der Vernehmung Gefangener," replied Lorenz in German, looking rather put out at having been interrupted. "bitte nicht unterbrechen uns, Kapitän Richtoffen,"

"Oberst Richtoffen," said the dragon, and it sounded very much like he was correcting the SS man, as both he and the Luftwaffe colonel entered the warehouse. The guards drew back from Judith's side as the two approached, and young officer glanced back up at his dragon once more, who nodded curtly. The officer nodded back and walked over to where Judith was laying, nervously offering her a gloved hand to help her up, as the SS officer stared daggers both at him and at the lightweight.

"Oberst, Lothar von Richtoffen," he said nervously, casting several glances back towards his dragon, who had since moved over to Standartenfuhrer Lorenz, and was conducting a rapid conversation with him in German, paying no further attention to either of them. The officer paused, and gulped, and seemed tongue tied for a moment as he tried to think of something to say, before finally speaking in very broken english.

"Are... everything all... good... for you?" he asked, which was not the most topical question in the world, but it was plain this one didn't know much English.

[LadyTevar]

Judith looked up to the young man in blue, then to the Colonel, now arguing incomprensibly (to her) with a dragon that she was sure was Albatros. There was a metallic taste in her mouth, and she absently wiped her lip before allowing him to help her to her feet. "Ah'd like ta leave now," she said quietly, trying to be unobtrustive in placing this 'Lothar' between her and the Colonel, although her eyes gave away her fears.

+++

Jebediah wanted out of the cage, wanted to get over to Judith and wrap her in his wings to protect his lil girl from all the dangers around her right now. Yet he wasn't so frantic that he didn't take in everything that was going on around him. He didn't speak German, but he could tell that Albatros and the high-ranked officer in black did -not- share the same views. But there was someone who knew German here ....

"Fulminatus ... Fulminatus!" Jeb called to the American Reaper, trying to get him back to full awareness.

[rhoenix]

Slowly, the large, red lumbering hulk of Veritas moved within sight of Captain Rankin and Æquitas, Captain Braithwaite walking slowly alongside. The great red dragon took one more step before slowly lowering himself onto his chest, keeping a calm gaze at Captain Braithwaite, as well as Captain Rankin and Æquitas. He gave both a nod of respect, before settling down to watch.

Captain Braithwaite continued walking toward the two, stopping a pace away and saluting tiredly, but crisply. "Captain Rankin, I'm afraid thoughtlessly 'going by the book' really gave us crumbs today. All but four of my crew are dead or seriously injured, and Veritas is in no shape to fly at the moment. My apologies Captain - this hasn't been an auspicious beginning."

[Charon]

Kunja stepped up close and spoke loudly, making certain that he got Rankin's attention. "Before we go on. Captain Kelly and Capricorn have been grievously injured and require immediate medical attention."

With that the Victorian turned to look at the maps. Giving them his full attention as he continued. "I'll admit I'm surprised. I was expecting to have to go AWOL to make this attempt. But I don't think we can fight our way through. We got bloodied up a lot more than they did this fight, and they'll have at least some rest and healing while we'll be flying in and more exhausted." The dragon was quiet, and did not seem to be at all favoring the large deep claw mark that ran down one of his forelegs. "Can we sneak in? Perhaps land far off and close on the fort on foot? Or perhaps get a few more of our dragons, without their captains riding them, 'captured' by the Germans?"

[Dark Silver]

Thomas saluted Captain Rankin as he spoke, he was about to reply when Captain Collington appeared and started with the map.

Thomas listened and watched intently, and when it was all done, looked to Rankin, "Hermeticus is uninjured, and we can be geared up and ready to fly within the hour, Sir. I'll free up my Medic to attend the injured as best he can."

The black man's voice was mild, as he said it, his brown eyes flicking back to the map, "If I may sir, that area is mostly wide open. There's little chance of 'sneaking' in as the Kunja is asking. And I doubt the Jerries would let any "captured" captainless dragons have enough leash to help a sneak attack. If they are anything like I heard, they may not treat those captured dragons to kindly...."


------

Hermeticus had tromped off quickly after Thomas departed to met with Rankin, and went off looking for Capricorn. The little venomspitter had been about the only dragon who talked to him, and his Captain had been friendly enough to Thomas that he was concerned.

"Cap!" Hermeticus shouted when he neared, seeing both the lil dragon and his captain hurt, all but ignoring Jake as he stuck his head close by, "Wait here, Doc'll come. He'll help you and Captain Kelly."

Hermeticus' roar was distinct, as he shouted for his own medic to come running, the Longhorn made quick friends, and hated to see them hurt. "Which one did this..." the mixbreed growled low, the hate glinting his his eyes, "I'll gouge him with my own horns!"

Hermeticus started pacing in a slow circle around Capricorn and Captain Kelly, keeping a baleful, worried eye on them both.

[Cynical Cat]

"Captain Rankin," said Nathan mildly. "Can we speak privately for a moment?"

[Charon]

Kunja looked to Thomas and then back at the map. "Ok, so we still have to see what we have left for an attack. Depending on what we have left a frontal assault may be impossible. But if we're worried about that it's wide in the open, it'll likely be nighttime by the time we reach the fort, that will help some."

Jake stepped immediately between Capricorn and the Longhorn. "What the hell do you think you're doing you lummox?! Calm down! Now!" There was a tone in Jake's voice that said he meant it and if he wasn't obeyed bad things would happen, and years of practice with some of the more hostile breeder dragons meant he was pretty good at it. "Last thing Capricorn needs now is you charging in here and yelling and spooking him! Now do something useful and go get us a doctor, let him know Capricorn and his captain are badly hurt. Go, now!"

Jake turned back to Capricorn, the harsh demanding tone and demeanor immediately gone as his tone took on one meant to give comfort again. "You should lay down for a bit Cap, just relax for a few seconds, but no sleeping. If you sleep you might not be awake when Kelly gets better."