It's gonna take three days for everyone to ready up, at this rate.
Don't worry; after 2/3rds or so are ready I'll just start it regardless.
Strider03 (Bob)
NRDL (Joe Nix)Egan (Alice)Tiruin (Joan)PaPaj (Joe Polnik)Milo Christiansen (Smith)Twinwolf (Winston)
Madman 198237 (Robert davidson)Crockandbearlover (Zack)Aigre Excalibur (Ramses)
Toaster (Jack)
Ozarck (Edward)Sy (Simon)Cronos5010 (Jonathan)
Killerhellhound (yarrick)And that looks close enough to 2/3rds to me.
Everyone who is ready gets up, grabs someone who isn't ready by the shoulders, and together they walk out of the room. The troop winds its way through the metal guts of the ship until they reach the upper deck. From there, they get aboard a carrier based troop plane of some variety and are out over the ocean within minutes. The flight is long, bumpy, and boring. No one knows exactly where they are or where they are going, but the sun sets before they land. When they finally do touch down, its sometime after 11pm. They pile out, finding themselves on the black tarmac of an unlit airfield. The moon is half full and by its light they can see the dim and colorless forms of hangers and the thick woods beyond them. A crewman greets them, hands out plastic tubes of pep pills for those who need them, and then directs them to the south, towards the largest hanger. The hanger is dark from the outside but the inside it brightly lit and everyone has to shield their eyes and blink away tears for several minutes as their eyes adjust.
There are 5 planes in the hanger, tightly packed, wings almost touching. Four are bombers, of a make no one is quite sure of, but they seem to be related to the iconic super fortresses, though far smaller. The fifth plane in the back looks, from a distance, like a worn out version of the others, but as they draw closer it becomes clear that it is not. Its a C-47, workhorse of the paratroopers, crudely fitted to look like the other planes. The wings have been extended, false and propeller-less engines grafted on, and even fake ball gunner stations bolted to the belly of the plane. From up close like this, its an obvious fake, but from the ground, at night, glimpsed only in spotlight, it would be quite difficult to notice.
"This here is your plane," the crewman says, "It's already loaded with the explosives and fueled. There's a time fuse on the bomb; try to set it so that the plane blows as it passes over the base. It will look the most convincing like that. You're gonna be following the other planes, coming in last so that the Germans have plenty of time to start firing. Parachutes are on your seats; gonna assume you all know how to use those. We're gonna head out now and circle till you get up, all you have to do from there is follow us."
He waves and trots off towards the other planes. The troop turns back to their faux-bomber and then file in and find their seats. They strap the parachutes to their back and Alice walks up and takes her seat in the pilot seat. After a few minutes the plane taxis out onto the tarmac, the guidance lights now lit and strobing down the length of the runway.
"All clear for takeoff" The plane's radio hisses, the voice cutting through dull background static.
[3]
Alice pushes the throttle slowly forward and the plane's engines roar up to full speed. The fake wings and engines rattle audibly and the entire plane sounds like it might fall to pieces at any moment. But it holds together and lifts from the earth in a lurching ascent, circling the airport once before getting in line with the rest of the squadron. The flight to the attack point was an easy one; the night was calm and almost without wind. All they can see below is a blur of dark and shapeless forests or light colored fields reflecting moonlight. Occasionally, a hamlet or small town will pass below; clusters of buildings winding about in that particular european way, with smoke stacks leaking thin black tendrils and scattered yellow lit windows peeking from their sides. It was a few hours before the lead plane called them.
"Base is about two minutes out. We're descending for the run. Follow our lead. Remember, drop before you pass the first hill and make sure the bomb is set to go off soon after."