Snoopy Meets the 555th JFW
It was a typical day in Sparkyville day as Snoopy sat on top of his dog house fantasizing about flying a Sopwith Camel when a strange glowing fog blew over him. The next thing he new he was no longer sitting on his dog house but was in the cockpit of a real Sopwith Camel flying out of the cloud he found himself over water.. He did not have much time to react when he saw a young girl flying a strange looking airplane there was a strange glowing group of blue discs behind her strange plane that seemed to be blocking some kind of red beam, she was coming right at him. He could see her frantically trying to shoot a pair of machine guns back at her pursuer but unable to get a clear shot occasionally clipping it but unable to hit any vital spots.
Snoopy however coming in head on could get a clean shot at the strange looking craft. It was black and red and looked a little like a triplane, black and red it had to be him!
"Curse you Red Baron!" Snoopy screamed in his head as he flew right at his hated enemy passing under the little girl in her strange plane the twin Vickers roared ripping into the belly of the enemy.
Tonya as in trouble and she knew it. While her powerful M2 Browning Heavy Machine Guns could make short work of that light neuroi behind her she needed to have line of sight for her projectile guidance power to work the thing was staying behind her out of her line of sight for the most part. Once in a while she could get glimpse of her pursuer and clip it with her guns she was unable to view a vital area and it would pull back behind her to regenerate and her striker could not maneuver well enough to shake him and in spite of her power she was getting tired and was unsure if she could hold out long enough for help to arrive.
Just as she was about to give up hope she saw a biplane come out of a glowing cloud in front of her. She did not recognize the type as it passed under her the pilot was wearing what looked like a leather cap and goggles with a red scarf. And looked like a dog! It passed under her and she could hear machine guns open up and the familiar scream of the neuroi getting hit.
Snoopy tore into the belly of the strange looking tri-plane and watched as the black cover was opened up as his rounds ripped into it and white flakes started to fall out of the hole. The thing banked away to his right. Snoopy kept right on it his rounds continuing to bore into it when a red glowing thing appeared in the hole he continued to fire. Soon he hit the glowing red thing when it suddenly exploded with a loud 'PANG!' and the strange tri-plane burst into white flakes that fell to the sea. Snoopy banked away from the falling flakes and shook his fist at them.
'Got you Red Baron' he thought. He turned to see the girl he saved fly past him and turn around. She looked at him and smiled and waved and gave him a thumbs up.
Tonya's shield was starting to fail when she heard the familiar 'PANG' of a neuroi core shattering. She flew around and saw that strange looking biplane with it's weird looking pilot shaking his fist at the falling remains of the neuroi he turned his head to face her and she smiled and waved giving that strange pilot a thumbs up for saving her life.
The light neuroi that had been screening the large one that Tonya had destroyed with her rockets had continued to press on Beta flight as they withdrew. Wendy and Tracie continued to fight the lights to keep them from getting behind Tonya's less maneuverable striker as the battle raged they had gotten separated. Tracie destroyed the last of the ones she was fighting as Wendy finished off hers when she looked over and saw to her horror that one had gotten behind Tonya and she could see her best friends shield start to fail and she was too far away to get there in time. As she turned to try to get there before Tonya's shield failed she saw an odd looking biplane come out of a strange glowing cloud in front of and below them and attack the neuroi and destroyed it just as Tonya's shield started to give.
"You alright Tonya?" Tracie called out.
"I'm fine," Tonya replied "Thanks to that weird looking pilot of that biplane, he looks like a dog but he flies pretty good. I wonder where he's from."
"The markings on his plane look a little like Britannian ones."Tracie told her.
Tracie pulled up along side the plane and saw what looked like a dog flying it. She gave the pilot a thumbs up which he returned. Wendy pulled up on the other side of the biplane staring at the dog flying it.
"That's a DOG flying this plane!" She exclaimed.
"I don't care what he is he saved my life!" Tonya said "That's good enough for me."
Snoopy looked at the girl in the odd looking plane as she waved at him and gave him a thumbs up. He noticed that her plane had some kind of sea shell painted on the sides. He saw that she had dark skin like Franklin Then two more girls pulled up on either side of him, they had what looked like the motor part of a plane with a propeller on each of their legs one had blond hair and gave him a thumbs up which he returned the other one had red hair and just stared at him both of them had pictures of sea shells like the one on the sides of the weird plane the brown skinned girl was flying. He looked down and all he could see was water. He was lost He looked at the girls escorting him, pointed at the water and shook his head.
The girls watched Snoopy point down and shake his head. With out a radio the only way he had to communicate was by gestures. They watched him as he frantically tried to tell them he was lost.
"Think he trying to tell us something?" Tracie asked
"I think so." Wendy said "I wonder what the problem is? He keeps pointing down and shaking his head."
"I think he's afraid of falling in the water." Tonya conjectured. "He might be low on fuel."
"I think we need to get him to the Calypso." Wendy said. "I hope that plane can land on a carrier."
Wendy gestured to Snoopy to follow her as as they formed up in formation around him. They had to slow down a lot because his plane was a lot slower than their strikers. As they headed back to the Calypso Wendy noticed that the biplane was falling behind and had the girls slow down so it could keep up. Tonya stated that she was tired because she had poured out a lot of magic in the battle and was worried about not making it in time at that speed. Noting that the Calypso was in sight Wendy told her and Tracie to fly ahead and she would guide the plane in. The other two witches sped up and landed Tonya barely had enough magic left to dock her striker and slide into her wheelchair. Tracie pushed her to the bunk room and helped her get in her bunk before she headed back to the flight deck.
Snoopy watched the girl in the odd looking plane and the little blond haired girl fly off at speed toward an odd looking ship in the distance but the red haired girl stayed with him. He watched the other girls land on the deck of the odd looking ship. The red haired girl motioned to follow her to the ship. Soon they were coming close to the ship and she pointed to it and signaled to him that he should land on it. Snoopy looked at the deck of the ship as he approached. It was a little short for an airstrip but he was confident that it had enough room to land on if he was careful. He approached the end of the deck cutting the ignition to his Clerget Rotary just as his wheels made contact and jammed on the brakes barely stopping the plane before the other end of the deck The ground crew rushed up to the plane to bring it back by the island. Wendy flew into the opening in the front of the ship under the flight deck and landed on the hanger deck and taxied her strikers in the cradle, dismounted and headed up to the flight deck.
Tracie rushed up to the flight deck and arrived just as they had brought Snoopy's plane to the island He had just barely got out of the plane and stepped on the deck when Tracie rushed up and plowed into him grabbing him and smothering him with kisses.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She cried as she hugged him.."You saved her LIFE!"
Snoopy had sat in the plane as it was brought back by the island as he dismounted the little blond haired girl ran up to him grabbed him in a big hug and smothered him with kisses. "
"Awwww" Snoopy gushed. "
Wendy came up and saw Tracie hugging Snoopy who looked a little flustered. She walked up to them.
''Thank for covering Tonya's back."She told Snoopy.
He smiled and hugged her.
"Where's Tonya? Wendy asked Tracie.
"She's in bed. She barely made it back. She docked her striker, slid into her wheel chair and passed out. I had to wheel her to the bunk room and put her in her bed if it was not for...Tracie paused and looked at Snoopy. "What is your name?"
Snoopy sighed and looked around before pointing at his name written under the cockpit. Tracie looked where he pointed.
"Snoopy?' she asked.
Snoopy nodded.
"I'm Captain Wendy O' Brian, I'm Commander of Beta Flight." The red haired girl said pointing to herself and pointed to Tracie. "And this is Sargent Tracie Osborn I'm her commander.."
"Snoopy saved her life!" Tracie exclaimed. "If he had not shot down that neuroi when he did, it would have shot her down...I would have lost my best friend."
A tear rolled down her cheek. Snoopy hugged her
"Well Snoopy, you are welcome to stay here as long as you need to." Wendy stated. "You are now part of the 555th Joint Fighter Wing.."
The sound of engines heralded the arrival of Gamma flight. Snoopy looked up at the four planes as they came in and was surprised to see they had no wheels. As they flew around the ship and he first one approached looking like it was going to land he saw wheels come out of the front of the fuselage. As it landed on the deck he saw there was a hook that came out of the tail of the plane and caught a wire over the deck . He also noticed that the engine was still running as it was unhooked from the deck wire and it taxied over by the back of the ship of to one side before cutting off the motor. The pilot got out and pulled a little red haired girl from the back of the cockpit. The two of them walked over to where Snoopy, Tracie and Wendy were. Snoopy noticed that the tiny red haired girl coming over looked like a smaller and younger version of Wendy .
Jasper walked over to the plane and looked it over He recognized the type from pictures he had seem in books on aircraft he had read.
"A Sopwith Camel." He observed. "I never thought I would be able to check out a real one. So this is the plane that saved Tonya. Where is the pilot?"
Snoopy started to wave his hand (paw?) Jasper looked at the strange looking dog with a leather pilots helmet with goggles on his head and a red scarf around his neck.
"Yeah he flies pretty good." Wendy told him. "We saw him intercept the neuroi that was chasing Tonya . He came right up after it from the front and below when it tried to bank away he was right on it and shot it down. I think he's lost. I'm letting him stay with 555th we could use another fighter."
"There might be a problem with that." Jasper said.
"Because he's a dog?" Wendy asked .
"No, the problem is this plane." Jasper responded. "Sopwith camels can only fly one hundred and fifteen miles an hour. It uses a Clerget rotary engine. It does not have a throttle It's a two cycle engine that means you have to mix oil with the gas. The guns are less powerful as well they use the .303 British round That does not even have the hitting power of the 30-06. That plane is badly out classed. It's like from 1917 you might be able to carry a single three inch rocket under each wing and those are slower and have a shorter range than the five inch HVARs we carry."
Snoopy looked down with a sad look on his face, Something that Jasper noticed. He squatted down to be closer Snoopy's level
"I know you like your plane and it's pretty good," Jasper said. "For it's age. But it's thirty years old."
That's when Mary walked up to him and gave him a hug. Then she called up her magic and gave him a kiss on the nose. He immediately felt a rush of pleasure as Mary's 'Baby Kiss' power took effect her magic flowing over him sweeping away the sorrow.
"Aw better." she said with a smile.
Snoopy hugged her and licked her face. Mary responded by giggling and hugging him back. As the smallest witch and Snoopy cuddled the sound of powerful engines heralded the arrival of the rest of the 555th. Eight more girls flew in with striker units on their legs and looped around the carrier before flying into the front to land on the hanger deck.
As the other eight witches approached the carrier they spotted the different bi-plane on the deck by the island. They had already heard the exchange on the radio when Snoopy had intercepted and shot down the neuroi that had Tonya in it's sights saving her life. They figured out the bi-plane sitting on the deck was the one that had done it. Diana with her extended vision saw Mary and Snoopy cuddling. Noting the odd leather helmet and goggles on his head as well as the red scarf around his neck plus the descriptions of the pilot of the plane and the plane by the girls of Beta flight Diana surmised that was the pilot cuddling Mary. Diana and the rest of the wing flew through the forecastle of the Calypso to land on the hanger deck and dock their strikers in the cradles. Diana docked her strikers and shook out her long blond hair after removing the tie that held it in a pony tail. A black boy the same age as the eight year old major ran up and hugged her
"Darnell how's your little sister?" she asked him with a note of concern in her voice.
"Tonya's tired but okay" he replied "Tracie took her to her bunk."
"That's good." Diana said. "The radio traffic said the pilot looked like a dog."
"Yeah, Tracie and Tonya both told me he was a dog." Darnell confirmed
"Well when I flew over he did look like a dog.." Diana said. "Let's go take a look for ourselves."
Diana and Darnell both went up the ladder to the flight deck where Snoopy, Traci and the O' Brian girls were talking while Jasper Ross was checking out Snoopy's Sopwith Camel. Admittedly Snoopy and Mary were doing more cuddling than anything else since Snoopy could not really talk at all and Mary only knew a few dozen words so they mostly hugged with Mary sometimes kissing Snoopy who responded by licking her face. That left Tracie and Wendy trying to find out more about Snoopy like where he had come from. They had figured out that he was not local and despite having shot one down did not seem to know what the neuroi were and the one he shot down was the first one he had ever seen and they only reason he had attacked was he thought it was something else and it was attacking Tonya and had no idea what a strike witch was. Diana and Darnell walked up at that point.
"So this is the pilot who saved Tonya's life." Diana stated.
"He Snoo-py!" Mary chirped.
"Well thank you Snoopy for saving Tonya." Diana said "She's a good friend and an important member of the wing.. Her loss would have hurt., That is one letter I do not want to write."
"We lost our father to the neuroi four years ago. I could not bear to loose my little sister too" Darnell's voice started to crack and he suddenly surged forward and grabbed Snoopy in a big hug.. "Thank you for saving her."
Snoopy was stunned, it was one thing to fantasize about being a hero but here he was a real hero. It felt heady somebody was alive because of his actions. It was almost scary. He did like all the hugs and kisses.
"I think that Snoopy should meet Tonya." Diana suggested. "I know she would like to thank him personally and I think Snoopy would like that too."
Snoopy smiled and shook his head and jumped up and down. Diana smiled.
"Okay lets go." She told them
She turned and headed toward Beta flight's bunk room. Snoopy dropped on all four's and trotted beside her. Darnell, Mary, Tracie and Wendy followed. Tonya was asleep in her bunk having worn herself out with the heavy expenditure of magic she had been forced to do. She had managed to remove her top before laying down and Tracie had pulled her covers up over her. Laying in her bed she looked a lot less formidable than she had in her striker. Snoopy looked at the girl whose life he had saved, she looked cute and sweet. Diana turned to Mary.
"Wake her." she ordered.
"Otay."Mary replied.
She called up her familiar climbed up on the bed and put her hand on Tonya's shoulder, she channeled a small amount of magic and gently woke Tonya who opened her eyes and smiled. Mary pointed at Snoopy and smiled.
"He Snoo-py!" Mary chirped.
"So you saved my life." Tonya said as she half rolled over and propped herself up on one arm and reached out with the other. "Come here."
Snoopy bounced up on the bed Tonya grabbed him and shifting on her back hugged Snoopy kissing him on the nose.
"Thank you for saving me." She gushed as she hugged him.
Snoopy responded by licking her face. Tracie climbed up on the bed next to them and put her arm around Snoopy and kissed him. Mary hopped off the bed.
Diana looked around the room.
"Dinner will be in a couple hours." She told them she nodded at the others in the room with her hand on the doorknob. "Come on."
The others filed out of the room and she closed the door behind them, leaving Snoopy, Tonya and Tracie by themselves so the two girls could be alone to thank Snoopy with out being disturbed.