Wings of Glory: Dawn of the Fighters, Central Powers, Scenario 3
A chill was in the air that morning. And with it came the smell of death, the acrid stench associated with the aftermath of battle, of burned buildings, now smouldering, and of corpses in need of burial.
Reports were that we had launched a counter-attack yesterday against the British along their so-called 'Quarry Trench' and 'Big Willie', and that it hadn't go so well. Of course, that didn't matter to Tobias Schrek. He was safe. Safe in his tent some miles from the Front. But he knew that wouldn't last long. As the sun broke over the hills to the east, he knew that soon he would be climbing into the seat of his Fokker, skimming the skies, looking for fodder for his Eindecker.
The call came moments later. Word from the Front. "An enemy kite balloon being deployed in our sector. Bring it down."
Walking out into the morning sun, he saw Dillinger near his AGO. "Care to go aloft?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"Balloon hunting. Find Heinz, I hear he's good with that front gun of yours."
"As you wish."
The red skies of early morning were turning to blue as their machines banked away to the West.
"Balloon busting, the basics," Schrek thought.
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"Fly the length of the balloon and riddle it with shots along the way. Don't let your gun get jammed, and everything should work out fine." Easier said than done, as machinegun fire from the trenches reached up and ripped into his plane, and his right leg.
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Schrek's gun blasted away at the balloon, but the pain must have spoiled his aim. He looked around, and saw Heinz, Dillinger's gunner, fire at the balloon, and then begin to pound on the parabellum, now obviously jammed.
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Schrek rolled his eyes. "So much for Heinz's skill with a machinegun," he thought. The irony was not lost on him when, as he pushed the trigger to fire another burst, his own gun jammed.
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Seeing no enemy machines coming out to meet them, Tobias held his course, and took a quick look at his wounded leg. The bleeding had stopped. "Nothing more than a graze," and he thanked God, and his good luck charm.
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[Note. I made a mistake on this next move, drawing two cards instead of one. When I realized my error, I kept the jammed gun, and removed the extra cards.]
Schrek doubled back in a graceful loop, off to his north he could see Dillinger arcing around, lining up for another shot. Both German guns rattled their fire into the balloon and then... "Curse those swine at the ammunition factory," Schrek's gun had jammed again!
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As he worked the mechanism, trying to correct the jam, Heinz and Dillinger moved in, hitting the balloon again and again.
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The two German ships zipped passed one another, narrowly avoiding a collision. And then the AGO's unrelenting fire hit the balloon and set it ablaze.
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"Still no sign of British fliers. My gun hasn't been so lucky, but I'll take that over tangling with an enemy patrol." Schrek pulled his machine up and around, and headed back for another pass on the balloon, now about halfway to reaching the ground below.
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The AGO fired, but nothing hit home. "I must make these next shots count," thought Tobias. The Eindecker scored a hit, and a second fire breaks out on the balloon!
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"Sehr gut," Schrek shouts in excitement! He fired again, at close range, and the balloon exploded in a brilliant flash of light.
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Thoughts now turned to escaping. The Eindecker tried to weave a path through the enemy ground fire. Taking a shot at the machinegun nest in the trench, his gun jammed again!
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Ground fire from the trenches was intense, and Schrek was lucky that they did no damage.
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Help arrived just a little too late for the balloon, when two Entente planes appeared on the scene as the last smouldering bits reached the ground.
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Mission accomplished, low on ammo, with guns that seemed prone to jamming, the two Central Powers' pilots had no intention of hanging around to engage in a dogfight.
The End
