Chapter 5: "We cannot always assure the future of our friends; we have a better chance of assuring our future if we remember who our friends are."
Everyone began to prepare to leave the meeting
Richtoffen: yo Johnnie wanna go grab a bite with a few of the lads
Johnnie: sure who with
Richtoffen: me, you, McCampbell, Kozhedub, Martinolli and foss, sound good
Johnnie: brilliant
A few minutes later
Darjeeling: where you going
Johnnie: gonna have a bite with some of the Avaition captains
Darjeeling: mind if I tag along
Johnnie:(to richtoffen) yo mind if some of the Senha-do commanders tag along
Richtoffen: sure, il ask the others if they want to come along
Soon there was 12 people in the group; Johnnie, Darjeeling, Richtoffen, Maho, McCapmbell, Kay, Kozhedub, Katyusha,
Martinolli, anchovy, foss and Miho
They all were seated in a private room And ordered what food and drink they wanted and conversation started
Johnnie: so how long have you lot known each other
Kay: oh only a couple of years when we have competed against each other
Miho: well I am Maho's sister so I have known here since forever
Katyusha: it was only really a couple years back before I even was commander
Maho: Miho only joined Ooari last year
Darjeeling; and had to fight to keep it open twice
Johnnie: I read about that, fair play to you miho but also the rest of you for that university match
McCampbell: trust Johnnie to gather information
Miho: ehh?
Johnnie: oh I have an intelligence gathering side thing that I like to do for fun
Kozhedub: you calling scaring the shit out of the National Aviation Academies board a side thing
Darjeeling: you hacked into the The board
Johnnie: just a small look
Miho: I think most schools have link with intelligence, we have Yukari
Johnnie: Yukari Akiyama, born June 6th currently at Ooari girls academy, loaded of the Panzer IV in line to become VP of the student council
Miho: how do you know all that
Johnnie: as I said small looks
Kay: we have Alisa
Johnnie:Alisa, current Vice commander of Saunders sensha-do team along side Naomi but also commander of the tankathlon team, used a radio listening device against Ooari In the first round of last year's tournament, how shameful,
But also commands the tankathlon team
Darjeeling: told you Saunders would play dirty Miho
Kay: shut it Darjeeling
Katyusha: we have the Pravda's NKVD with Klara as intelligence
Johnnie: klara's father works for a foreign intelligence service and she signed her Forms to join Pravda by pure accident whilst drinking non alcoholic vodka,
Johnnie:Zdes' takzhe yest' chto-to o tom, kak Nonna i Klara obsuzhdayut detskiye fotografii Katyushi, kak milo(There is also something about Nonna and Klara discussing Katyusha's childhood photos, how cute)
Kozhedub:(laughed)
Katyusha: no Russian here, what did you say
Johnnie: I just said that Nonna and Klara have had several problems with one Nina, commander of the KV-2 for leaking intel to Yukari akiyama as well as knocking over two statues of Katyusha
Miho: I should maybe thank Nina later
Katyusha: she will be sent to Siberia again for this
Kay: that was a wired thing to show us you know that Katyusha
Katyusha: I blame her fully
Anchovy: what about Anzio
Johnnie: is the cardboard camouflage really the best thing your school has to offer
Anchovy:( leaned back in her chair embarrassed)
Johnnie:Kuromoromine does not really have an intelligence service but does use encrypted messages that I managed to solve
Maho: how long did it take to solve?
Johnnie: 5 minutes give or take
Everyone was in awe at this side of Johnnie
Darjeeling: best thing we have is Assam but she just does Statistics and intelligence gathering
Johnnie: you mean being able to calculate the exact point at which to take out the t28 super heavy tank in the university match is just statistics and intelligence gathering
Richtoffen: you really call that a side thing
Johnnie: don't even get me started on how much I know about the schools you lot go.
Kay: that was a ride, so how did you lot meet
Richtoffen: We all met at the last combined arms tournament in Europe the year before we all moved to the schools here in Japan, that was I think 4 years ago
Kozhedub: da
Foss: not everyone got off on the best of terms or met in the best circumstances
McCampbell: richtoffen and Kozhedub hated each other
Johnnie: like you can talk you hated Both of them
Martinolli: me and Foss were the first to befriend each other
Foss: but Johnnie's and Richtoffen's friendship was the worst start possible
Darjeeling knew what he was talking about
Maho: what happend?
Richtoffen: this was one of the incidents We said about earlier
Johnnie: do we tell them?(to richtoffen)
Katyusha: tell us what?
All the sensha-do commanders looked confused
Foss:you might as well, it will clear things up
Johnnie: ok so i am sure you are aware that all of us aviation's captains decend from fighter aces and so we get natural abilities
Richtoffen: there are two types of ability, one based on family and one based on country
McCampbell: the Family ones just make it so we are better all round at flying
Kozhedub: the national ones however
Johnnie: these are true abilities that are based off of the country of origin of us
Maho: what are they
Foss:mine is actually more of a boost to my family one as my family as my school is based on the creators of modern aircraft
Martinolli:mine is more of an increase to my allies than myself
McCampbell:mine is that I am able to overwhelm my target with firepower
Kozhedub:mine is that I am strongest when I am being attacked and I am able to counter attack
Richtoffen:mine increases my effectiveness and boom and zoom operation that are quick and fast paced as well as being more effective at CAS
Johnnie:and mine is to be able to fight against any opponent even if the winning odds are tiny
Miho: these all sound really good so what's the problem
Richtoffen: you are correct these are really good ... when In control
Katyusha: so what happens when out of control
Foss: it is probably best to show you the damage
Foss:( reveals a scar across his torso
Martinolli:(reveals scar along shoulder)
McCampbell: (reveals scar along back)
Kozhedub:( reveals a scar from alway across the back of his neck)
Johnnie:(reveals his leg scar)
Richtoffen:( removes eyepatch to reveal the gaping hole in his right eye socket)
The sensha-do commanders all looked shocked at this
Maho: how t..he
Anchovy: no way
Katyusha: how did that happen to all of you
Miho: how could have you gone through that
Kay: I'm so sorry
Darjeeling: all of you are scared from combined arms matches
Johnnie: sorry for showing you all that
Foss: we probably could have thought of a better time
Richtoffen: but it just shows you why we want these matches to be safe for everyone
Miho. What I've been through seems tiny to what you have had to do
Johnnie: I think what you did in that match was good and with hindsight lead you too your new life at Ooari
Richtoffen: so do not Worry about any of us, these scars are one of the reason we carry on doing this
Katyusha: sorry if this is sensitive but how did you get them
Foss: I got impaled by a bit of shrapnel after I crashed because I went out of control
Martinolli: I got this by exerting so much power into my comrades that I ended up in a mess of a bloody field
McCampbell: I took a few hits from behind after my ammo ran out as well as a few tears from beforehand
Kozhedub: I almost got beheaded by my own propeller
Johnnie:I was shot at whilst my plane was crashed by an SPAA gun and ended tearing it in shrapnel,
Richtoffen helped me
Richtoffen:I've been out of control and been fine but I have forced myself to stop as much pain from others who lose control that's how I lost this eye: it was bad enough as when I initially went out of control that eye could not keep up and gradually became weaker and then trying to stop Johnnie when he lost control...
Johnnie: he got fired upon by the SPAA crew and one bullet took out his eye and my leg I don't know how we survived
Kay: what happens to that SPAA crew
Richtoffen: they were a bunch of new recruits at the school who only got in because all of them had family on the schools board. They were incompetent that's why I forbade them to fly and hoped if they were in SPAA they would not do a lot because they would not see action
Johnnie: and they happened to be nearby to the spot where I landed. So they thought it would be a fun idea to fire at my plane.
Richtoffen: I gave an executive decision to have them expelled from the aviation team but now the school. Though there have been rumours that they have moved to a new school
Foss: we severely apologise for telling you guys all of this just before dinner
Kozhedub: yea sorry if you have lost your appetites
Anchovy: hey nothing a bit of pasta can't fix
Maho: and it's good you told us
Kay: yeah now we understand you views on Combined arms
Darjeeling: I think it is good that despite your pain you want to give others the best experience of combined arms tournaments
Katyusha: and if there is anything I know about sensha-do it is that it is played best while having fun
Kay: Miho has been the source of last tournaments fun
Miho: thanks Kay
Soon after food arrived which all managed to finish and soon goodbyes were being said
Richtoffen: how would every feel to make this a thing to do often
Johnnie: how about once a month
Everyone seemed happy at this and soon they were headed back towards there carriers in pairs
It was now evening
Johnnie: one hell of first day
Darjeeling: I think it has been good let's hope our friends can get along just aswell once they meet
Johnnie:knowing my lads they should definitely get along with your Sensha-do girls
Darjeeling: that's good to hear
Johnnie: guess this is the part where we go our separate ways for now
Darjeeling: what about your spitfire
Johnnie: il pick it up tomorrow
Darjeeling: say Johnnie, have you ever heard this saying, Never was so much owed by so many to so few,
Johnnie: Winston Churchill right
Darjeeling: let's hope your lot are the few we need
Johnnie: right(offers a handshake)
Darjeeling:right(shakes Johnnie's hand)
Johnnie: bye Darjeeling
Darjeeling: thank for today Johnnie
Now they both headed opposite directions towards there carriers
Darjeeling:( to herself) truly was one hell of a first day.