Nathan lined up a gray and brown Fury in his sights and pulled the trigger. Lightning colored tracer rounds streaked through the air. The Top Hat pilot tried to roll out from under the forty cal. venom spat from the wings of Nathan's Peacemaker. No good. By the time the Top Hat pilot broke away smoke poured out from his engine cowling. He bailed out as his plane spiraled into the ground.

"You really need to find a new line of work, pal," chuckled Nathan to his defeated foe, even though he knew the downed pilot couldn't hear him.

It was surprising how nimble the Peacemaker was compared to his Devastator,. He was using this plane, "Razzle Dazzle" until his beloved "Gypsy Magic" was given a checkup and some minor maintenance work. However, even as infatuated with his baby as he was, Nathan couldn't help noticing that "Razzle Dazzle" was quite the heartbreaker.

A deep bass voice came over the radio. "Boss this is Big John. It looks like that writer is skipping town on us. What's the plan?"

"Keep the Hats at bay until Tex and Betty get in position. We can find our friend the journalist later," said Zachary as he banked his plane right. "What's important now is to draw these fighters away from their zep."

"Gotcha boss," Repied Big John

"Come on Cap," said another voice, " Give them the signal and let's sink that zep."

"Patience Jack," Said Nathan, " If I did that our Balmorals would be sitting ducks for these Fury's."

It was no secret that the Bristol Aeroplane Company's Balmoral was one of the clunkyest machines in the skies. It was often compared to a barn with wings.However it's short comings were redeemed slightly buy the fact that it brandished two thirty caliber turrets an had a massive rocket payload. Tex and Betty's Balmorals were stocked with enough flack rockets to knock out all the engines on the Top Hat's zep, bringing it to a complete stop.

Nathan turned his plane so that the zeppelin was in his crosshairs. It's image was just a little smaller than his target ring. He turned his craft away from the zep. If he could just keep these Furies distracted for just a little longer…

"Boss, this is Tex," said a feminine voice with a Texan drawl, "Me and betty are in position."

Nathan decided it was as good as he was going to get. "Ok girls, knock out those engines!"

As if on cue, the sound of rockets exploding came from behind Nathan. He looked back at the zeppelin's and saw the engines bursting like popcorn as the Balmorals dived down on either side of the zep. The Top Hat Furies turned back to their pitiful gasbag to prevent the Balmorals from wiping it out completely…forgetting that Nathan and his men were right behind them. Nathan rolled his aircraft upside down and executed a perfect split S so that the Peacemaker ended up upright, ready to go.

"Ok boys, it's cleanup time," chuckled Nathan, " Big John cover Betty, Jack cover Tex. I'll take out any stragglers. Keep your eyes open and watch out for that zep's defending turrets!"

"Roger Cap," replied Jack

"You got it boss," said Big John

Nathan watched as the two aircraft peeled away toward the zeppelin. His eyes scanned the sky, looking for remaining Furies. The only action he could see was the cleanup operation winding down. The zep had two engines left and was pretty much sitting dead in the air and what fighters were left would soon be downed. Nathan saw Jack open fire and score a direct hit on an enemy fighter just as Big John fired a rocket into the tail of another. Zachary was alone in the air.

Just then the sound of a heavy machine gun boomed from his six. Most of the rounds zinged by without touching the plane but a few found their mark. The cockpit shook for a moment and then Nathan heard, "Ha ha Zachary! You might have got my zeppelin, but you won't be walking away from this one. I'm going to smear you all over these peaks!"

"So Devro has found the radio setting we've been using," thought Nathan. Quickly banked his Peacemaker into a sharp right, out of Devro's crosshairs.

"Oh I don't know Cooper. I think these peaks would look better in a coat of gray and brown."

His plane flew a tight turn as he looked over his shoulder at his tail. Devro was still on him. Devro opened fire with again. Nathan felt every hit pounding through his airframe like it was tin.

Devro would run out of ammo eventually, but by that time Nathan's plane would resemble a glass doll hit by buckshot. Not a pretty thought. As much as Zachary tried to jink and roll out of the way, Devro stuck to him like glue.

When did Devro get so good? Zachary should have seen it sooner. He had pulled enough cons to know when he was being suckered in…or at least he used to. He must be getting old.

"You can worry about that later," he thought as he dodged Devro's cannon fire. Nathan looked at the radio and though about calling for assistance. Even if he did pull the Fortune Hunters back to help him they would be too late to help, not to mention they would be vulnerable to the Top Hat that were still in the air. No, he was going to have to get out of this mess himself. A burst of smaller rounds, probably thirty cals slammed into the Peacemaker's engine. It began to sputter and cough. Nathan's mind flashed back to the Great War. He was 16, illegally registered in the Army Air Corp, flying high over France in his Neiupourt when out of the sun came Hinrich Kisler. That was the first time Nathan was tricked and shot down and this looked like the second…and last. Nathan pulled a split S, and then another, taking his altitude out in chunks. There was a chance that he could lose Devro in the mountains, but it was slim. The sound of light machine guns opened up on Nathan's six, heralding possible death. Zachary looked over his shoulder and he saw a weak looking crop duster diving down on Devro's tail, opening up with all it had. Smoke began to spill from Devro's Fury and Nathan saw Devro jump clear and pop his chute before the Fury exploded in a terrific fireball. Magnesium rounds were a surefire way to get that effect and Nathan guessed that was exactly what put Devro out of commission.

Zachary was glad that he wasn't out of commission. He was in a state of shock. Who could have guessed that a guy who pushed a pencil around all day could push around the fight stick with fine precision?

"When we meet," said Nathan as he manipulated the radio " I owe you one, big time."