His Majesty's Dragons: The Battle of Britain

[LadyTevar]

Jebediah looked down at Judith. "Som' how... Ah'm thinkin' it won't be lik' divin' off Pillow Rock," he drawled, and Judith had to agree. Considering how sick she got just crossing the damned ocean, she was not looking forward to swimming in it.

"Ah don't have a suit, an'way...," she said, as good an excuse as any. Of course, she'd -never- owned a suit. As a child, it didn't really matter, as a young woman, she'd swum with Jeb who made sure she'd never been disturbed.

[Charon]

Jake was about to mention that she wouldn't need one and that he usually just swam in the nude when Kunja shot him a look. "Ah... well. Probably wouldn't want to go swimmin' in the sea anyway. Cold enough that it should be frozen."

[LadyTevar]

"I'll wait 'til next May, then," Judith answered honestly. May through September was the best seasons for swimming where she was from, and even then the trout streams were chilly and the rivers brisk.

[Cynical Cat]

Nathan shook his head. "Leave the North Sea out of your swimming plans. Remember Frostfell was born in the Arctic."

[LadyTevar]

"Ah n'er said Ah'd be swimmin' with him," Judith replied, jerking her head at Frostfell. "Bad 'nuff Ah hav'ta fly with him," she added teasingly.

[General Havoc]

Rankin observed the various maneuvers with Frostfell, Hermecritus, and the lightweights as best he could, while monitoring their chatter on the radio. He'd have to rely on the ground spotters to get a complete idea for what had gone on before he could debrief them. It sounded like Kunja had somehow scored a kill on Frostfell, though he could scarcely credit that without some special trick. Then again, special tricks were what they were supposed to be doing. Something involving a sticky bomb to the bomb harness? That would certainly do the trick, though Rankin recalled exactly one lightweight that had ever pulled a trick like that off in real combat and survived to tell the tale.

And that one was fighting for the other side.

Paint splattered off Æquitas' hide as he moved in on Veritas, who had apparently decided to make him his primary target. Machine gun bullets, rubber coated with blue paint, flew back and forth, and Rankin heard several curses as one of the crew was hit, and forced to lay down as dead.

"Damn this weight," muttered Æquitas. "How much further..."

"Not long now," said Rankin, not taking his eyes off of Veritas. Come up alongside him as though we're about to board. He should leap at the opportunity."

"The crew'll get torn to bits by then."

"I've got them all on the reverse side, and the turrets are doing what they can. You worry about placing yourself. I'll worry about the crew."

"Make sure they're quick about it," snarled Æquitas. And next time, pad his claws more, will you?"

Rankin whipped his head back. "Is he clawing..."

"He's damn near trying to tear my scales off!" snapped Æquitas. "I'll manage, but hurry this up."

"We're almost there," said Rankin as they pulled into range, Fulminatus dropping down on the other side of Veritas, as both middleweights prepared to engage.

[rhoenix]

Although every single one of the crew aboard Veritas had surgically-sharp cutlasses and pistols ready, neither Captain Braithwaite nor Veritas had any intention of beginning a boarding battle, even in this mock exercise.

As Fulminatus and Æquitas attempted again to flank Veritas' large red form, the Crimson Angel suddenly dove directly toward the ground. After about ten seconds of freefall, Veritas suddenly banked to his right, toward where Fulminatus was flying. Both Captain Braithwaite and Veritas hoped Fulminatus either didn't remember this trick of theirs from the Academy, or wouldn't speak up about it to Æquitas; however unlikely both scenarios were.

Nonetheless, Veritas just as suddenly as before banked in a tight circle, ending with wide-open mouth, large claws, and heavy gun all opening up eagerly - directly in front of Æquitas. The rear gunner kept an eye on Fulminatus, but the heavy forward gunner had nothing but Æquitas in his sights, even as Veritas' heavy wingbeats began to gain speed.

[LadyTevar]

Jebediah's head was raised, watching the rest of the squadron. "Heh... Big Red'll n'er know wha' hit 'em," he chuckled.

"Jeb? Shush. We don' wanna giv' th' s'prise away," Judith answered, elbowing the scaly hide. "Jis tell me iffen Æquitas' crazy plan works, a'right?"

"Heh... Big Red's flying right into it," Jeb answers, sharing a wide grin with Kunja. "Ya'll did listen to -that- part o' th' plan, din'tja?" he teased the Aussies.

[General Havoc]

Veritas was large. Veritas was powerful. Veritas was dangerous. But Veritas was also green.

Frostfell would have had incredible difficulty outmaneuvering a pair of veteran middleweights, and Veritas was nearly half again larger than Frostfell was, bulkier, and built even more for power rather than agility. As Veritas went into a dive, Fulminatus followed him without even pausing. Æquitas mirrored the motion a fraction of a second later.

The enormous Crimson Angel attempted to apply the breaks and bank around to catch Æquitas in the front with a headon strike, but Veritas weighed more than a hundred thousand pounds in full regalia, and such weight could not be stopped in an instant, not even with the power of a Crimson Angel arresting it. Fulminatus barely had time to get over and across to the other side of the enormous Angel, and Æquitas, whose experience with such maneuvers was not quite as long as his American colleague, had to fold his wings and dive just to keep pace, but neither dragon was fooled, and neither dragon was shaken.

And in the middle of the ten second fall, Captain Rankin turned his head back to his Master-at-Arms, and gave a silent nod. The Master-at-Arms then turned, drew a large Fairburne-Sykes dagger, and cut a rope strung to something on Æquitas' left flank.

And then suddenly, Capricorn was right there.

Unbeknownst to Veritas, Capricorn had spent the intervening time tied to Æquitas' side, grasping onto the larger dragon's harness with his claws, blocked from Veritas' view by the bulk of the much-larger Æquitas. In maneuvering in from above, but not too far above, and from Veritas' left, Æquitas had kept Capricorn utterly hidden to Veritas and all his crew, until with the snap of a rope, and a signal from his Captain, the smaller dragon took to flight once more, and loomed up above all three falling beasts, his wings catching the air like a sail, letting them drop away a dozen yards or so below him before he swung right just a bit, placing the immense bulk of the Crimson Angel right below him.

Stupid or not, not even the most idiotic, blind, epileptic Venomspitter could miss a Crimson Angel at a dozen yards.

Captain Kelly did not give Capricorn the fire command. Venomspitters were as thick as posts, and could not be trusted to remember not to use their real venom in a training exercise. Instead Captain Kelly simply reached down and released a cluster of a dozen paint bombs all at once. Even if he had been able to maneuver to escape, which at this range was utterly impossible for a dragon Veritas' size, the heavyweight was flanked by a pair of middleweights, smaller than it, but not small enough to simply bludgeon aside without any momentum. There was thus nothing to stop the paint balloons from impacting all over Veritas' back from head to tail, covering him in a lovely shade of green, representing enough venom to kill a Congolese Nightmare.

Twice.

And with a cocky smile and a wave at Veritas' topgunners, Captain Kelly directed Capricorn to bank off right away from the painted dragon, even as Fulminatus and Æquitas pulled up and broke away. Æquitas glanced back to admire the handiwork and chuckled with a sound like an avalanche in the mountains as Captain Rankin smiled and patted him on the neck, while reaching back for the radio mike.

"This is Æquitas. We're all done here for the morning. Bloody good show ladies and gentlemen, particularly the Lightweights. We'll travel back to Tangmere, land, see to our beasts, and debrief during lunch. Make certain your ground crews know that the paint comes off in water, and I'll see you all back at base."

[rhoenix]

And with a cocky smile and a wave at Veritas' topgunners, Captain Kelly directed Capricorn to bank off right away from the painted dragon, even as Fulminatus and Æquitas pulled up and broke away. Æquitas glanced back to admire the handiwork and chuckled with a sound like an avalanche in the mountains as Captain Rankin smiled and patted him on the neck, while reaching back for the radio mike.

"This is Æquitas. We're all done here for the morning. Bloody good show ladies and gentlemen, particularly the Lightweights. We'll travel back to Tangmere, land, see to our beasts, and debrief during lunch. Make certain your ground crews know that the paint comes off in water, and I'll see you all back at base."

Shaking some of the excess paint off of himself, Captain Braithwaite looked disgusted. "Whoever heard of carrying a spare dragon with you as a weapon?"

The entire crew felt more than heard Veritas' deep bass chuckling. "I do believe that was the point. What happens during war is not predictable; one must be versatile."

A grumpy captain, a randomly-painted crew, and a green & red thoughtful dragon descended in a large, graceful spiral to land on the fields of the Tangmere air base below. Once they landed, Captain Braithwaite gruffly told the ground crews that the large amount of paint was, in fact, water-soluble.

After going to his locker to extract a small flask, Captain Braithwaite took one good slug of the potent liquid inside before returning to his dragon. He was somewhat confused to see that Veritas looked like he was trying not to seem impatient while his huge form was being washed. Soon enough however, his washing was done. While he lay in the sunshine to dry off, the large red dragon also removed a large, blank book, as well as charcoal sticks large enough for his huge paws to manipulate, but sharp enough for detailed work.

Seeing Veritas laying on his stomach, his right paw holding the book steady while his left moved rapidly, Captain Braithwaite's curiosity got the better of him as he walked toward Veritas' head to see what the large red dragon was doing.

The large red dragon was, in fact, sketching, writing higher math equations, and making notes. As Captain Braithwaite watched, aerial combat in still form was taking shape on the large page, while Veritas' eyebrow-ridges narrowed in concentration. Soon enough, the Captain couldn't help but ask. "What are you doing? We'll just try a different tactic next time."

Upon hearing this, Veritas smirked, though his attention didn't leave the sketching and writing he was doing. "Quite correct, Captain. You do realize we've been using that rather lame trick since I was the size of a Middleweight, I hope."

Already feeling the effects of the potent alcohol within the flask, Captain Braithwaite felt a little defensive. "Well, it worked then, didn't it?"

The sound of Veritas' deep bass chuckles echoed across the plain. "It did yes, against recruits greener than we were at the time. It didn't fool Fulminatus in the least, if you recall."

Captain Braithwaite sat on the ground next to Veritas' sketchbook, still watching this huge red dragon, who had been his one true constant companion since he was five years old, sketch precisely, erasing and re-drawing where necessary. "Well, he probably told Æquitas and the others about that trick before this started, then."

This caused Veritas to pause in his drawing, and he turned his large head to look directly at Captain Braithwaite for a moment before replying. The look on his large red face was politely incredulous. "Captain, I'll be blunt. That 'trick,' as you term it, was impotent. It might give other Heavyweights trying to flank us some pause, but smaller dragons are simply too agile to be seriously caught by it. Perhaps you haven't noticed, my Captain, but I have grown a bit since we entered the RAF. I don't straddle the line between Middleweight and Heavyweight any longer - I am solidly a Heavyweight, and should practice and train as such. The same tricks that worked then, when I was lighter and smaller, as well as up against other green dragons simply won't work. New tricks will work - ones that take my size and weight into account. I am a red airborne Great White shark when against dragons of a similar size - I shall circle them tirelessly, precisely rending them until they fall. However, against smaller dragons, other solutions must be found - the air agility disparity is simply too great."

Captain Braithwaite shook his head, though he was smiling. Veritas certainly had a way of speaking. "Is this why I saw some higher math in your notes?"

Veritas approximated a shrug as best a dragon laying on its stomach could. "Plotting, sketching, and planning is all educated guesswork. One must take into account all available factors. Though few plans survive contact with reality, the closest I can get to real factors as I think, the less I'll likely have to modify when tested."

Captain Braithwaite gave a shrug of his own. "Fair enough then," he said as he continued watching Veritas sketching.

[Charon]

Jake finished getting all the important electrical gear off of the blue speckled Kunja and glanced over at Judith. "Uh, hey. Kunja and I know of this nice pool of water not too far off, be good to get a wash in. Care to join us?" The young Aussie was grinning as he spoke.

[LadyTevar]

Judith had also been stripping her dragon of the war-gear, so Jake's question took her a little off-guard. "A pool?"

Jebediah, much older and wiser, was faster on the uptake. "Wahl... that sounds righ' nice. Ah think Ah'd laik that, Judith."

[Charon]

Jake's grin turned even bigger as he climbed back up on Kunja and looked to Judith and Jeb. Kunja glanced back at his captain with a mischievous look and Jake only winked at him. Then the two were in the air again, circling overhead as they waited for Judith and Jebediah.

[LadyTevar]

Judith climbed up on Jeb, who rocked up onto his back legs and sprang into the air, wings cupping and snapping to get airborne. "Now... where's this here pond yer talkin' 'bout?" Jeb asked for the both of them, giving Kunja draconic smirk to let him know he was in on the joke.

[Charon]

Kunja was flying evenly and with a practiced ease, not doing some aerial maneuver that he was often doing for kicks during flight time. "S'not far. Pretty secluded though." Kunja grinned as his eyes glanced back at Judith for a moment before going back on the lookout for the spot. It was a smaller pond, big enough for Kunja to successfully wade and clean himself off, with a grassland around it for sunbathing, another favorite pasttime of Kunja and Jake.

Jake was the first one to notice it. "There we go Kunja, bring it down and lets get you cleaned off."

Kunja looked back at Jake and smirked, "Oh sure, just me cleaned off. O' course."

[LadyTevar]

Judith was young, but she wasn't dumb. Small pond, secluded from Tangmere, just big enough for both dragons to sun themselves in. "Jeb? He's thinkin' romantic, ain't he."

Jebediah's answer was just a chuckle as he followed Kunja down for a landing. "All ya'll need is th' picnic basket."

[Charon]

They didn't get their picnic basket, but they did get more than just a swim as the dragons splashed down nearly side by side into the pond. Water was thrown back and forth, until Jake leapt from Kunja's back onto Jebediah's and playfully pulled Judith off to dunk her under. He quickly found that while he was a master of barnstorming and aerial hijinks, Judith outmatched him when it came to swimming and horseplay. Losing the dunking battle had advantages, as Judith's white cotton button-down shirt also got a very good soaking.

As Kunja and Jeb eased out onto the bank to bask in the summer sun, the horseplay between their captains took the expected turn. The excitement and hormones of youth might have taken them farther but for England's changing weather as a sudden summer storm blew up to dampen their spirits. The pair got back out of the water, in the case of Jake leaving his shirt open, in the case of Judith abashedly buttoning hers back up. Kunja and Jeb politely arranged themselves as a shelter against the storm, settling close enough for their wings to overlap, and for the two captains to warm up and dry off a little from the dragons shared bodyheat.

[General Havoc]

"Look, Captain, 'm not sayin' it wouldn't've worked, just that if a lightweight'd showed up..."

"The purpose of the exercise, Captain Kelly, was to ensure that the heavyweights took the lesson, not to practice novel combat tactics. I have no intention of piggybacking Capricorn into a fight against a full German squadron, but I will not have our heavyweights getting overconfident about their chances against lighter dragons, not with the caliber of opposition we can expect to get here."

The two captains watched as Capricorn messily tore a cow to shreds, covering his dusty-yellow hide in red blood mixed with the green contact-venom he had used to bring the cow down in the first place, lathering it on himself thick enough to kill an entire flock of lightweights. On the other side of the paddock, well outside splatter range, Æquitas ate with a good deal more leisure, taking his time as his crew washed down the paint splatters with buckets and rags.

"I don't mean to insinuate..."

"'e knows not to spray it around other dragons, mate. They wouldn't've let 'im out of Ayers if 'e didn't. You don't 'ave to worry 'bout 'im."

"He doesn't seem to take all that much care to me," said Rankin.

"There's nobody near enough to need it," said Captain Kelly. "Look, I know 'e's not the sharpest tool 'n'all'that, but 'e's a good mate, and 'e knows not to start spittin' at the others without me tellin'im to."

"And if the other dragons should decide to have a go with him? The Wendigo in particular worries me..."

"I can't talk fer the Wend'go, Capt'n, but 'e won't start the fireworks 'nless 'e thinks there's no other way. I don't think even the Wend'go's mad enough to push 'im that far."

Rankin took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I should hope not," he said, and he turned away, walking back towards the other side of the feeding paddock, where Æquitas was lounging out on the grass like a sphinx, as his crew did their best to polish off the blood, paint, and dirt.

"All well, Michael?" asked Æquitas as Captain Rankin approached. Rankin smiled and nodded, more for the crew than for Æquitas, who as always could read him like a book.

"All well," repeated Rankin before turning to one of the cadets. "Mr. Crosby, would you find Captain Reynolds, and let him know I wish to speak with him at his earliest convenience?" The cadet jumped off of Æquitas' back and ran off to find the Canadian captain, as Rankin sat down on Æquitas' foreleg and leaned back against the Malachite's vast bulk with a weary sigh.

"Oh what do you have to complain about?" asked Æquitas with a chuckle. "You weren't the one flying all day."

"Dealing with you overgrown lizards has worn me out," said Rankin, lowering his flight cap over his eyes. "I've decided to retire to a monastery in Deseret and invoke curses on all dragons until the end of time."

"Excellent," said Æquitas without skipping a beat. "Then perhaps I can get a proper captain, who will not constantly whine whenever I make him do his schoolwork.

A sharp glance from Rankin cut off the nervous laughs of the crew, and Æquitas chuckled, pleased with himself as he settled down. "What do you think, then?" asked the dragon more seriously after a time.

"It could be worse," said Rankin. "Our heavyweights think themselves invulnerable, but that's hardly unique. I've some ideas regarding their employment that I'd like to run past you before..."

He stopped talking as he felt Æquitas tensing up. Raising the cap, he peered up at the large dragon, who was looking up towards the northern horizon. "Is something..." he started to say, as he followed Æquitas' gaze, before he caught sight of what the Malachite was looking at. Three figures, small but distinct, approaching from the north. One was golden-colored, the second slate grey, and the third...

"Oh for the love of..."

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

The day was bright and the sky filled with puffy clouds, a cool breeze wafting in from the seacoast, giving no sign of the armadas of dragons that awaited on the other side of the all-too-narrow channel. Fulminatus was not presently in a mood to admire the beauty of the day, nor was he ever in such a mood, but the downs were tolerably empty of other dragons and people, and therefore would do. He walked slowly down the hillock towards the small pond nearer the coast, noticing only halfway down the two lightweights huddled on the opposite side.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on there.

Shaking his head quietly, Fulminatus lowered his 36,000 pound bulk down onto the opposite shore of the small lake, taking a good long drink from the clear water, before stretching out on the shore and staring down at the cliffs and the waters of the channel beyond, his gaze vacant, as he tinkered softly with the metal figurine hung on a chain around his neck. The old American Reaper seemed unconcerned with what else was going on, staring off across the water as though watching for something that wasn't there.

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

"Kommandante, ich habe einen Eindriken Draken in Sicht."

"Es ist nur ein Mittelgewicht. Wir wollen die Schafe, nicht die Lämmer. Sich verborgen, und warten Sie, bis die Leuchtkaffer zu finden, die großen Ziele."

"Jawohl, Herr Oberst, aber der Zerstörergeschwaderkommande möchte wissen, die rassischen Gruppe aller Drachen gesichtet."

"Ja? Und...?"

"Und das scheint ein Unter-Drake, ein Amerikaner Erntearbeiter. Die SS-Befehl wird wissen wollen..."

"Diese vertammte politische Bastarde können in die Hölle gehen! Ich breche nicht die Funkstille um ihrer Blutrausch zu befreidigen, versteh? Diese ist eine Luftwaffe Bedienung, und die SS können bis wir für ihnen anrufen warten."

"Er... jawol... Herr Oberst..."

"Gut. Jetzt gehen. Wir haben viel Arbeit geleistet werden muss."

[Cynical Cat]

Nathan walked towards Rankin and threw the British officer a salute. "You wanted to speak with me, sir?"

[Charon]

Kunja watched as Fulminatus stopped by the pond as well, and feeling he could leave Jake and Judith in Jeb's care, moved away. Sliding easily into the pond the heavy lightweight crossed over closer to where Fulminatus was, dunking himself a few times to get the last of the paint off of himself.

The Victorian surfaced again and calmly walked out onto the other bank. The smaller, younger dragon paused as he looked at the older dragon for a moment, unsure what he should say to the other dragon. Finally he came up with. "So the rest of the drill went well?"

[General Havoc]

Rankin was shaken back to his normal awareness as Captain Reynolds approached. Springing back up off of Aequitas' foreleg, he returned Captain Reynolds' salute.

"Captain," said Rankin, "I wanted to talk to you about Frostfell, and what we're to do with him. I've a couple ideas for my part, but I'd like to hear it from you first. I'll be frank, I don't know what to do with Frostfell in terms of use in the squadron. If he's intent on chasing after every lightweight that comes his way, and breaking formation, then we need to think long and hard about how to employ him."

"I know the Canadians usually use Wendigo for operations of a more clandestine nature, and that they're normally not integrated into formations. We don't have that luxury, so I'll ask directly, what would you have him doing in an ideal situation?"

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

Fulminatus only turned to see what was approaching when Kunja emerged from the water. "It went reasonably well," he said, turning back to stare out at the sea once again. "One heavyweight 'killed', or so say the observers."

He sat down, his wings twitching softly on his back, his scarred left eye half-shut, as always.

"Radio said you got one yourself, on that white bastard. Cross that with what happened last week, and you'll soon have yourself quite a score. Trying to set some records, or is this not your first war?"

[Charon]

Fulminatus only turned to see what was approaching when Kunja emerged from the water. "It went reasonably well," he said, turning back to stare out at the sea once again. "One heavyweight 'killed', or so say the observers."

He sat down, his wings twitching softly on his back, his scarred left eye half-shut, as always.

"Radio said you got one yourself, on that white bastard. Cross that with what happened last week, and you'll soon have yourself quite a score. Trying to set some records, or is this not your first war?"

Kunja grinned some at the mention of his kill. "Well to be fair we died gettin' that kill. Stuck his bomb harness. I'm here partly for settin' some records, or tryin' to anyway. But we spent a few years flyin' with some vets of the great war, that helped."

Kunja glanced back towards Jake to make certain he was still with Judith before looking back. "You've served in a few wars haven't you? How bad're things compared to what you've seen before?"

[General Havoc]

A very small smile crossed the old wardragon's face as the eager young Victorian explained how he had 'died' getting the kill off. "Bomb harness, eh?" he said, glancing down at Kunja. "Some old Great War veteran teach you that? Or were you thinking on your wings?"

At the younger dragon's question however, Fulminatus returned his gaze to the ocean, and took several long, slow breaths, a soft rumble emerging from somewhere within his cavernous form.

"I've fought on six continents," he finally said. "Ninety years. More often than not, it's these damn limeys that've put me up to it. Fought alongside them at least ten or twelve times. I've been with them plenty of times when they had their backs to the wall. I was at Roarke's Drift, Isandlwana, the Second Afghan... sometimes they got out of it, sometimes they didn't."

He took another deep breath, taking his time as he replied.

"They got their backs to the wall here," he finally said, "bad as they ever have, maybe worse. I was in the Great War, but this... is somethin' new, for all of them. It's bad, little one. Real bad. I once spent three weeks tryin' to escape the Afghan highlands with four heavyweight Oxum bastards out looking for my tail, and the Krauts have enough to make that look like a picnic. They can trade a heavyweight for you, and two of 'em for my old hide, and still come out ahead. It's pretty bad."

He took another few long breaths, before turning to the younger Australian with a smirk. "But I made it out of Afghanistan. And I left one of those Oxums to bleach at the foot of some nameless pile of rocks. So yeah, it's bad, but I've seen worse odds before."

Once more, the larger dragon turned back to the water. "Still, this war's... not like the other ones. All these new gadgets, the radar and the radios and the machine cannons or whatever. And these krauts ain't like the ones from the last war. There's somethin'... different about 'em. You keep hearin' stories..."

He did not elaborate, but lapsed back into silence.

[Charon]

Kunja shrugged. "Jake came up with the idea. Though not certain how eager we'll be to try that when the bombs are real."

As Fulminatus went on about his experience, Kunja listened as though there was nothing else in the world that was as interesting. The old dragon's talk of how bad things were put some damper on the younger dragon's spirit, but at the same time encouraged him too. He whistled softly. "Well hell. Looks like I'm gonna have to get good 'nuff to bring down a heavy without gettin' myself killed."

Kunja looked back at Jake, tempted to go get him so they could get back to flying, but he stopped himself.

[General Havoc]

"There's ways," said Fulminatus. "Dunno about how one your size'd go do it, but there's ways."

The older dragon noticed Kunja glancing back towards his captain. "You'd do well to take care with him," he said, offhandedly. "This war won't be clean, short, or safe, and humans are... deceptively fragile. Take it from one who knows.