Z is for Zwischenzug
When the Chief had pulled strings to have Blade and Maru overwinter at Piston Peak National Park, the helicopter had assumed it was mostly an act of pity. Yes, the Rockwell Commander claimed the season extension was so that Cabbie could provide Blade with additional training before he transitioned into becoming the park's new air attack chief at the end of the next fire season, but everyone knew that Cabbie was an aircraft that actively avoided talking command of things. He was a bloody fire captain, the second highest-ranked vehicle on base, and the C-119 always found ways to defer to other's authority.
Still, Blade couldn't say no to the offer…he badly needed the stability of staying in one place…but he also really didn't get what Cabbie was supposed to teach him. The winter months were filled with Cabbie telling long, detailed stories about past fires as he forced Blade and Maru to join him digging out the tarmac, then spending endless hours playing chess in the evening. By the time spring arrived, Blade was pretty sure that he had been paid to sit on his tires for a season.
That perspective changed, the first fire her was assigned to be air boss on without the Chief's support. It was a make-or-break moment…and Blade was quickly getting task saturated. Things were starting to go from bad to worse. The wind shifted…then after a few moments, Cabbie said a single word over the radio. "Zwischenzug."
Blade suddenly found himself anchored back into the moment. An entire winter's worth of training suddenly made sense, and in an instant, the landscape looked completely different. The Park was now his chessboard and the various vehicles under his command where the chess pieces. The change in wind patterns had just allowed the fire to make an unpredictable move and if Blade didn't act to counter it, his pieces risked being overrun…but when you looked at the battle as a whole, he could see the steps he needed to take next.
"Windlifter." Blade spoke without bothering with normal radio etiquette.
"Windlifter copy."
Blade then relayed his instruction for the exact piece of forest that he wanted his fellow helicopter to drop a line of retardant to prevent the fire from running away from them. Once the drop had been successfully made, the junior air boss focused on systematically cutting the fire off from its fuel. Starving the flames and forcing them into submission. Gradually the patch of red, turned black and Blade could give a long sigh of relief.
"Very good." Cabbie's voice startled Blade back into the present and he realized that he had gotten so absorbed into his task that he had completely forgotten that he was being watched from above. "Now get your people home."
Blade gave a slight salute with his rotor and turned his attention to the next task. Getting everyone home proved to be a greater logistical nightmare than fighting the fire itself. But Blade managed to complete the task with a minimal number of nudges from Cabbie. Mission finally complete, Blade landed exhausted on the tarmac and promptly went to grab a nap.
He was awakened a few hours later with a light rap on his hanger door. Yawning, Blade stretch and answered the door to find his Chief giving him a knowing smile. With a slight twitch of his wings, the Rockwell Commander motioned for Blade to follow him to the Chief's hangar. When they rolled inside the warm space Blade spotted laid-out supper tray. The smell of food hit Blade like a freight train and the helicopter instantly realized that he was starving.
"I figured that you probably slept through dinner." The Chief chuckled as Blade's tanks growled in discontent. "Go ahead. Eat up. We will talk once you have something in your tanks."
Blade didn't need to be told twice. He practically inhaled the food in front of him. Once the plates were licked clean the Chief nudged a mug of coffee towards the helicopter and sat back on his tires.
"So." The Chief took a long sip from his own mug of firehouse brew. "It would appear that Cabbie's training successfully sank in."
Blade opened his mouth, found that he wasn't exactly sure what to say. He paused for a moment and then asked his burning question. "Why?"
"Why what?" The Chief's mouth was twisted in an amused smile.
"Why doesn't Cabbie take charge of things?" Blade blurted out. "I mean, he is good enough that he should probably be a Chief, and probably not at a backwater like Piston Peaks…" The helicopter realized the implications of what he had just said and immediately tried to backtrack. "Not that I don't respect you sir…I…"
"No offense was taken." The Chief gave a full belly laugh this time. "And I agree with you, Cabbie is currently one of the most skilled Air Bosses in the US if not the world…but he is also a plane that is carrying a whole lot more emotional baggage than most. In a crisis, you can trust Cabbie's commands without any hesitation, but in the dark of night Cabbie's ghost makes him second guess every single command he gives. Cabbie is smart enough to realize that his less than stellar mental health could have disastrous consequences for the team and made the decision that he will never rise above the rank of fire captain." The plane gave Blade a long sad look. "Cabbie is going to save your bacon more times than you can count in the future…but the safety net he will create for you and the team comes with a cost. As Chief it will be your job, to make sure that you don't push Cabbie so hard that he breaks. Understood."
Blade swallowed hard but gave a bob of affirmation. "Yes, sir. I understand."
"Good." The Chief said with finality. "It is time for you to sack out. Given the weather, I wouldn't be surprised if we had another fire flare-up tomorrow, and given how hard you crashed after today's exercise, I would like you to be properly rested when the dispatcher calls."
"Understood." Blade acknowledged the order before backing out of the space.
Driving back to his hangar the helicopter couldn't help but pause for a moment. Staring up at the canopy of stars that stretched above him, Blade had to admit just how unprepared he was to become Chief. He didn't have the skills, the knowledge, the experience to do the job right. But as he settled on his tires he relaxed a bit, because, while he knew his team had what he lacked. The next couple of years were going to be one hell of a learning curve, but he knew he was going to power through it…because no matter how badly he might fail during his learning process, the men he worked with were willing to be his safety net. And that was a piece of knowledge that warmed a place deep in his engine where doubt normally tried to take hold.
End Note: Alright, the votes have been tallied and the results are in. It was a close call, but it looks like we have one more round of the alphabet for Q is for Quarantine. I hope that all of you are wracking your brains for possible prompts and looking forward to seeing you next week when we will start again with A is for AAA.
