"This is my fault", said Major Craydon holding his head in his hands. "Poor boy wasn't ready". The mood in the officers mess was somber. The boisterous behavior from only a few days ago were gone. Each pilot sat quietly in his own thoughts. The already dimly lit room seemed even darker.
"You couldn't have known", said captain Hadley, trying desperately to console the major. "It sounded perfectly routine, no one could have predicted this." "I should never have let him go up alone," said Craydon. "Never".
That afternoon, as the sun was beginning its descent in the western sky, a call had come in from an infantry battalion. They were reporting a lone enemy aircraft coming across the lines. Lt.Whyte had been sitting in the office at the time and had volunteered to go take a look. "They only reported a lone plane," thought Craydon "probably nothing". The young Lt had proven himself a capable pilot and had even scored a kill in his first mission. Maybe just the sight of a camel will scare the boche back across the lines
"Right, Lt go have a look, no heroics," said the major. In a flash the young man was out the door with a smile. That boy sure loves to fly, thought Craydon.
About 40 minutes later the major was sitting with the other pilots outside of the hangars, when the sound of a camel engine started to be heard. Well, I'm glad the boys back in one piece at least. That's when they heard another sound and the fear for the young Lt started to creep into the air.
2 Dr. I's seemed to materialize out of the sun. The camel had no choice but to face them alone. Pilots started to scramble about someone had to get a plane into the air to aid Gavin. "Stand down", cried Craydon. One of the Fokkers could break away and shoot them to hell before they had a chance to get in the air.
They sat and watched the camel try desperately to fend off the Fokkers. "look there, he got one!", yelled one man as a stream of smoke came from one of the Fokkers. The Lt banked and dove trying with every ounce of skill to just hold on long enough for the Fokkers to run low on fuel.
Then in an instant the camel burst into flames and fell to earth. The men watched in horror as their newest member met his end. Rage and sadness filled the air as the men ran towards the crash sight. The major just stood in the field. He didn't move even with all the chaos around him. He slowly started walking back towards the office. The Lt's smile about going up still fresh in his mind.
Well this was my second solo mission and I thought I'd get fancy and try a 1 on 2. I actually held my own for awhile 2 damage cards. Then with a quick short range shot I drew a boom card game over for the young Lt. Whyte. The Dr.I's didn't escape unscathed. One had 6 damage and smoking and the other 4. Guess, it's time to start a new character.
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