Mission 17: Santa Joins the Air War
While the reunion of the Central pilots was a joyful occasion for all, it was the reunion of Steinbecker and his former pupil that was the most bittersweet. Once, Lothor Rudolfs had stood with Steinbecker on that very airstrip, a mere lad fresh from basic training, listening with eager ears to Steinbecker’s sage advice and humorous anecdotes. Now, he stood with Steinbecker again, a lad no longer. Pain and imprisonment had matured him, and although he was not embittered by them, they had given him a different perception of things than he had previously had.
When Lothor first disembarked from the convoy bearing the returning POWs, he couldn’t see Steinbecker, so he sought him out. It took a while to find Steinbecker amid the influx of former POWs, but finally Lothor found the older officer. Steinbecker leaned against a hangar door, smoking his old pipe and silently observing the scene from a distance.
Lothor walked up to him, grinning. Steinbecker saw him approach and nodded, smiling back. “Nabend. You must be one of the returning heroes. Welcome back.” Steinbecker extended a hand to Lothor while holding the pipe in the other. “I’m Steinbecker, commanding officer of this Jasta. What’s your name?”
It had taken Lothor a moment to realize that Steinbecker didn’t recognize him. His face fell. Must be the blasted scars.
“Steinbecker, it’s me – Lothor. I’m back.”
Steinbecker’s eyes narrowed and then widened incredulously.
“Lothor? Alter Schwede, is it really you?”
When Lother nodded silently, Steinbecker gasped with joy and ran over and hugged him. Lothor was taken aback by this. Steinbecker, though markedly friendly, had never shown such warmth before.
“I was sure you were dead!” he laughed through mixed tears. Lothor couldn’t believe it. Steinbecker was actually crying. Steinbecker let him go and composed himself.
“Last I saw of you, you were headed down in flames,” he said hoarsely. Then he caught a full view of Lothor’s face for the first time.
“What has happened to your face? All those scars!”
Lothor nodded and then tried a crooked grin. “Not so bad considering what might have happened.”
“True.” Steinbecker laid an arm on Lothor’s shoulder. “You do not know how good it is to see you again. Ever since the day I lost you, I’ve felt so responsible –“
Lothor cut him off “You didn’t need to. You did all you could.”
“Ah, but still, an officer feels responsible for those under his command – and rightly so!”
Lothor tried to say something, but Steinbecker held up a finger.
“There is more. I remember the day you first arrived here. Ach! It seems like ages ago!” He paused and shook his head, reminiscing and then continued. “I had just returned from a patrol and I saw you near the hangars. You were new then, so I decided to meet you.”
“I remember,” Lothor affirmed. “You taught me to fly that day. Something along the lines of ‘Keep the blue up and the green down’,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood.
‘Ja,” Steinbecker chortled, “But the lesson couldn’t have gone worse! We were attacked by two Hanriots, don’t you remember?”
Lothor snickered. “I’m still surprised we survived that one.”
“Me too. Yet survive we did.”
Steinbecker shifted feet and then raised his head to look Lothor in the eyes. “Whenever new pilots come along, I try to help and care for them all I can. But with you, it was different. You were the youngest pilot we ever had, so I felt especially driven to help. Now, at the moment, I thought that was all there was to it and didn’t give it much thought. But when I lost you, the pieces fell into place, and I finally understood how much you really meant to me. I didn’t just care for you as a fellow German or even as a fellow pilot. No, it was deeper than that. To me, you were like the son I never had.”
Lothor’s jaw went slack. “I never knew…” he finally mouthed.
“Neither did I for the longest time.” Steinbecker grinned wryly. “Pain has a way of bringing the important things out from the cobwebs in the back of my mind and setting them right before me, where they cannot be ignored.”
They talked for what seemed like hours more, until fatigue began to cast its soft, but imperious influence on them both. (It was then late evening.)
They both retired to their bunks. When they arrived there, they discovered that Noel Kappel had graciously given up the bunk next to Steinbecker that used to be Lothor’s and had already moved his belongings to another bunk. Thankful for the kind gesture, Lothor settled into the familiar embrace of his old bunk and fell asleep quickly.
As he slept, a dream slowly filled his mind. Albatrosses flew over a billowing and undulating no-man’s land. Lothor vaguely realized that he was flying one of them. Then he was in the cockpit while the stars, sun and moon wheeled madly overhead. Without being told Lothor suddenly knew (and it seemed that he had known all along) that he and the other Albatross were on patrol, looking for enemy fighters.
As soon as he thought of enemy fighters, they appeared – two menacing smudges off his right wingtip. Lothor looked closer and it was as if he was seeing through binoculars, he could see them so clearly. One of them was a nimble little Sopwith Camel. The other was a sleigh pulled by six reindeer. In the sleigh, which was loaded with presents, sat a rotund man with a long white beard and rosy cheeks. It was none other than Saint Nicolas. Lothor oddly felt no surprise. It was a dream after all.
Mission breifing:
Central units involved:
2 dream Albatross D.Vas (pilots Lothor Rudolfs, anonymous Flight Leader)
Allied units involved:
1 dream Sopwith Camel (pilot anonymus Defender of Santa)
1 Sleigh with 6 reindeer (pilot Saint Nick, crewmember Elf with a Good Throwing Arm)
Today’s mission was arguably the funniest one we’ve flown to date. Greyson got to be the lucky guy to fly Santa’s sleigh today. We used the rules for flying Santa provided by French user Pierre. You can read OldGuy59’s translation of Pierre’s idea here. I highly recommend it; it’s a hoot!
http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...ed-Sleigh-Down
The mission…er dream started with the 2 Albys on patrol in the center of the table. Santa and his daring escort entered the play area from the Allied side of the table.
Targets sighted! The Huns gleefully dive on the man in the sleigh.
His mind filled with images of unhappy children with no presents, our anonymous Camel pilot attacks Lothor’s aircraft, jamming its guns. Nonetheless, the leading Alby bears down threateningly on old Saint Nick.
A burst is fired…
The Elf has his boss’s back! He lobs a well-aimed present at the incoming fighter. Wrapping-paper, ribbons and the stuffing of a teddy bear fly in all directions as the gift impacts the propeller dead-on. Some of the festive debris is ingested by the engine. Take that, Santa hater!
The Camel pilot sees his chance and attacks. The Alby’s engine takes another hit!Down, down, down it goes. Lothor and his battered plane are left alone against Saint Nick and his escort.
As the Camel turns about to take him on, Lothor decides it is time to switch priorities and attack the Camel. His choice pays off as the Camel bursts into flame.
Lothor’s luck does not last long though. The flaming Camel takes sweet revenge and shoots him down within three cards.
Debriefing:
Anonymous Central Flight Leader is shot down by flying parcels and a few well-placed shots from a Sopwith Camel. Damage to the left is from the Camel and damage to the right is from the sleigh.
Lothor Rudolfs is shot down by a Sopwith Camel.
Anonymous Defender of Santa does his job superbly and destroys all opposition. Even after all fire cards are drawn, he is still flightworthy.
Other than flying circles in panic, Santa does fairly well. The only dark spot would be the loss of one reindeer.Bye bye Dasher.
Canvas shredded and struts broke with a discordant sound. Lothor’s world spun around in ever-faster circles as he plunged into the abyss. As his fear came, so did the fire. Fire engulfed his doomed crate. The old scars screamed in recognition of their maker. A kaleidoscope of multicolored lights sprayed around him; a cacophony of flames roaring and his engine shaking to pieces filled his senses. And above it all, one voice boomed, “You’ve been a very bad boy!!!”
He awoke in cold sweat. Breathing short and fast, he looked left and right to see the dim familiarity of the dormitory. In the bunk next to him, Steinbecker was sitting, rubbing his eyes and staring at him. He must have yelled and woken Steinbecker up.
”Having trouble adjusting back?” Steinbecker quietly asked.
Lothor rubbed his face, unconsciously tracing the scars. The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous his dream seemed.
Steinbecker leaned closer, “That bad?”
Lothor chuckled, “Not like you think. Actually, I had the strangest dream…”
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