Chapter 16 – Glory be unity
Toshiro woke up and took a quick glance around the room. It was still dark as hell, but he used Yuki's powers to enhance his vision. He looked through the window and saw the whole eastern part of the complex, all the hangars, buildings, the tank test field.
Wow… This is so impressive… There must be millions of Reichsmarken pumped into this place…
Suddenly an explosion lit the night. The windows in the building in the center of the red ring fell out all without exception.
Holy shit! That's Ursula's building!
Toshiro dressed himself in a split second, and jumped out of his window. Running with increased speed and diluted time, a mere mortal would just see him appear in point A and suddenly materialize in point B. He jumped through the window frame inside of the room full of black smoke.
"Ursula! Where are you!?"
"Hack… Cough… Here… But wait a second!"
Suddenly Toshiro heard a sound above him and the smoke slowly started dissipating. Toshiro found Ursula sitting down on the floor, who had her face totally black from soot, not to mention her stainless lab coat looked like a chimney-sweepers uniform.
After a few coughs she said.
"Toshiro, where are you, I don't see you…"
Toshiro smiled and took of the soot-covered glasses of her nose.
"Oh, there you are!" She said surprised and took the glasses from him. "It's nice of you to come to help me, but this is an almost daily occurrence, so you don't need to rush here every time you see an explosion…"
"I was concerned you know…" Toshiro pouted.
"Heheh… I suppose I should have told it to you earlier… I'm sorry for troubling you…"
"Well, at least nothing happened to you… But what are you doing at this hour here? Shouldn't you be counting sheep?"
"I woke up just half an hour ago and… well, I do like to do my work straight from the morning. As for what I'm doing… just look at the table."
Toshiro turned around and looked for the table. And then, once he saw what was lying on it, he just rushed towards it.
It was a Striker Unit painted black with red trimming on its swept wings, and the usual Karlslander and edelweiss insignia. The fuselage had two enormous engines mounted in them, as well as two smaller ones on the wing tips.
"This is your new Striker, Toshiro. It has two Heinkel HeS 70 engines, developed especially for this occasion. They also have a special feature… If you press a button on the new FFG model we already made, liquid ether will be injected in the jet stream, effectively increasing the power output by, what I project, fifty percent. Also, the two miniature BMW 004S engines can be steered from the FFG to tighten your maneuvers, or help dodging incoming fire. We roughly calculated that you can go Mach 3 in this Striker…"
"How fast?!"
"Heehee, I knew you'd like that number… Of course that's a rough estimate…"
"So, when can I fly this puppy?"
"The representatives of all the aircraft companies partaking in this project, that is Messerschmitt, Junkers, Heinkel, BMW and Focke-Wulf have been invited for noon today, so I'd better get to work…"
"Shit… But… What will it be named then, if five companies are doing this?!"
"BMW is actually indifferent, because they only delivered the miniature engines, but the rest… Heinkel takes pride in the main engines, Messerschmitt in the airframe, Junkers in the fuselage and Focke-Wulf in the rest on the mechanics… Maybe you can knock some sense into them? They've been quarrelling for a week already…"
"I'll try… Buuuut… Maybe I could help you now, huh? At least lending you my reflexes and shield, so you won't look like a piece of coal by noon, heheh…"
"Oh, I guess you could help me in a more sophisticated way… Here, I'll teach you how to use the calibration instruments…"
"Anything different from what I used?"
"Trust me, Toshiro, this is another league… We had to make modifications to the instruments so they could get the readings from your new Striker…"
"Morning!" Someone suddenly cheered from behind them. "What?! You here already?!"
Toshiro turned around and saw the shocked Helma standing before him.
"Yeah, I'm an early bird. And what are you doing here?"
"Well, I've heard the explosion, and I came in for duty. But I would come earlier if I hadn't misplaced my pan…" Helma stopped mid-sentence with a red face.
"Your panties? Are you Erica?"
"Even a perfect example of a Karlslander soldier has her flaws… Anyway, I hope you didn't want to steal my moment of fame, right?"
"I was just concerned about Ursula since… well, she didn't explain her bizarre rituals to me…"
"For which I apologized. Hmmm… Now that I have the both of you here, we can go 300%!" Ursula shouted with a flame in her eyes.
A few hours later, Ursula said, "Yes, this should be it… And we didn't have any explosions… Toshiro, you're like a lucky charm!"
"Heheh… But why don't we go to breakfast now? I mean the officials will be here in a few hours and the three of us didn't eat."
As if to underline Toshiro's statement, their stomachs growled in unison. They looked at each other in surprise and laughed out heartily. Afterwards they went to eat breakfast, during which a handsome looking man in a lab coat, which was thrown over a Heer uniform approached them.
"I see that the pride of the nation is eating cold cuts with one of the best Striker researchers and her faithful test pilot?"
"Um, do we know each other… Herr… Oberst if I recognize the insignia under the coat correctly?"
"Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun, a pleasure to meet you."
"Ah, so you are the one that helped build Sanya's Fliegerhammer?"
"I am the one. So, how do you like this spring of knowledge?"
"So far not bad. Ursula is progressing with my new Striker before the official test flight today."
"Ah, wunderbar. But I have some business with you, Oberst."
"Oh?"
"If you could follow me, I want you to do something for me…"
"Hmmm… I don't know… Ursula wanted to perform the first run of the new Striker…"
"We can wait for you, Toshiro. If Professor von Braun wants something, you should do it, trust me."
"Ah, okay… Lead the way…"
Toshiro followed him to the room 311. Upon entering, he could see a room worthy of a king.
"Do you like the interior decoration?" A new voice asked him.
Toshiro looked closer, and he saw a bit of gray hair peering over the one of the chairs. A man well known in the scientific world raised himself from the chair and approached him
"By your expression, I can deduce you know me, right?" The man asked.
"Yes, Professor Einstein. Only someone who was hiding under a rock for the last thirty years wouldn't know it…"
"Well, being as intelligent as you are, you should know me… Did Wernher tell you what your visit in this room is all about?"
"Noooo…"
"Good. You'll have your intelligence tested today."
"Uh… Why bother? I have an IQ of 150 according to the Stanford-Binet scale…"
"We actually got hold of that test of yours from the IFN and… It was actually graded wrong…" Von Braun said.
"Huh, what?"
"It was graded wrong. You actually have different IQ level, but… let's not jump the gun. We, as scientists, want to rectify this error, so we have a standardized Stanford-Binet test with us. Fill it out and release us from the doubt. Also, this test will be submitted to the Wehrmacht archives, so…"
"Okay, I get it. Give me a pen or something and let's get this over with…"
Toshiro was given the test and a pencil. After thirty six minutes he finished. He gave the test to the professors, and they quickly evaluated it.
"We have reached a verdict." Einstein said. "Verflucht (damn)…"
"Is it that bad? I'm a dunce after all?"
"Hah, you'd wish!" Von Braun said. "You've reached a score of 175! You're smarter than the both of us!"
"Really?" Toshiro asked doubtful. "You're not pulling my leg you two?"
"No." Einstein answered. "But tell me one thing… Do you plan to use that brain of yours towards… scientific purposes?"
"Yes, of course. After the war I'm going to college. Theoretical physics probably."
"Hah, my boy!" Einstein shouted and gave him a pat on the back. "Uncle Albert is proud of you!"
"Heheheheh, if you were my uncle, I would pop from sheer pride…"
"By the way, do you know what IQ your father had?"
"No… Can you tell me?"
"175."
"Incredible…" Toshiro murmured.
"Like father, like son…" Von Braun said. "Okay, go to your friends and boast around a bit."
"Actually, I have a question… Can I get hydrogen and C3 in this base?"
"There should be enough hydrogen for you to fill a zeppelin with it, and enough C3 to raze the base." Von Braun said. "Why ask?"
"Uh, just a wild idea… Thank you for this occasion, now I'll go."
"We'll be watching the flight." Von Braun said.
"Thanks!"
Did they just test my IQ just of petty jealousy? I hope not…
Toshiro exited the room and subsequently the building in high spirits. After arriving in Ursula's dominion, he saw the two boring themselves out of their minds.
"Hey you two, I'm back."
"Oh! We can start the test now!" Helma cheered.
"What were you doing, Toshiro?" Ursula asked.
"It seems that on paper I'm smarter than I was…"
"Elaborate please…"
"It appears my previous IQ test was invalid, and after a quick test my score was rectified."
"And how smart are you know?"
"175."
Ursula whistled in admiration.
"Niiiiice… I congratulate you, now you're more intelligent than me, heehee…"
"I am? Wait, I was actually less intelligent than you?"
"Hmmm, yeeees… Last I know my IQ is 170."
"Well, we're not that much apart... But let's not dispute about our brains, what about the Striker?"
"Ah yes! Helma, prepare the test cradle!"
"Jawohl!"
Toshiro saw as she ran to a shape covered with cloth, which she now pulled off. It was a metal cradle, bolted down to the concrete floor. From what Toshiro could see, it had a seat for the test pilot and rails to strap down the Striker Unit too. Helma then ran to the wall and uncovered a massive metal door, unveiling a hole in the wall. She then ran to the table with the Striker, took it and placed it in the cradle. After fastening it down to the rails, she entered the Striker.
"Didn't you forget something?" Ursula said from behind Toshiro.
"Oh, damn… Ursulaaaaa…" Helma flailed her hands slowly.
"Okay, okay, I'm going to give you it…"
Ursula approached Helma and strapped on something to her wrist. It was something akin to his FFG-4, but it was somewhat modified, having two small manipulators added and yet again it was rescaled.
"The FFG-5, Toshiro." Ursula said looking him in the eyes. "The two manipulators control the miniature engines. Using any of them in any direction automatically turns the engines on. They can be move about 45 degrees to both sides horizontal, 30 degrees down and 10 degrees up."
"Damn, I'm jealous now…"
"Now, now, you promised me that you will let me have the first run." Helma said in a lecturing tone. "An officers words should be kept."
"Just start the procedure already…" Toshiro mumbled.
"Heehee…" Ursula giggled. "I have to hook up the gear…"
In a blink of an eye, the telemetry and calibration gear was attached to the Striker.
"…to the Stri… what?" Ursula, along with Helma looked at Toshiro stupefied.
"I just wanted to speed it up and cut the unnecessary dialogue…"
"Ah, okay… You can help me with this too. Just give me the output and I'll regulate the input accordingly."
"Sure thing."
"Helma, start the engines slowly."
"Roger!"
Toshiro could hear the familiar sound of the jet engines coming into idle gear, but this time it was as loud as Trude's Me 262 when she tested it in Romagna. Toshiro looked at the reading and said, "The second engine has a 0.5% power mismatch towards the first one."
Ursula nodded and turned one know just ever so slightly. The reading on Toshiro's device were now perfectly in sync.
"Okay, Helma, now SLOWLY increase the power until we reach maximal output."
"Roger!"
The readings of the instruments increased proportionally to the noise being produced by the Strikers. Toshiro analyzed the reading and was content. At 10000 RPM, half the scale, the engines were already outputting 30 kilonewtons of thrust, but the needles were still moving. They stopped moving when the needles reached 15000 RPM and about 44 kN of thrust, but then Toshiro noticed something. The edges of the hole in the wall were starting to get red.
"Helma! Do you still have some power left in you?!" Ursula asked.
"Yes!"
"Then punch the afterburner!"
"Jawohl!"
Helma used the same switch which was used for mode conversion for the Wotan. The engines sputtered for a split second, but immediately after that they roared like wild beasts, spitting blue flames. Toshiro quickly looked at the readings at saw that they were already at the max, at 20000 RPM and 60 kN of thrust. When he looked at the previously red edges of the hole, they were now white hot. Toshiro then peeked at the temperature gauge, and saw that it was already in the red zone, but moving very slowly. Suddenly, one of the bolts holding the cradle shot out straight from the ground and the cradle itself started shaking.
Toshiro grabbed the cradle as Ursula remotely killed the engines, just as another bolt obtained freedom. The engines slowed down and went to a halt. Toshiro looked at Helma who was sweating heavily and breathing accordingly.
"Heh… How did I do?" She asked.
"Well, you yourself did perfectly well, Helma." Toshiro said. "But Ursula, you probably underestimated the engine a bit, huh?"
"Um… Well… I never pushed them so hard in the test beds… I'm sorry, Helma, you almost got hurt because of me…"
"Really? I didn't feel a thing…"
Ursula went away from them and rummaged in one of the lockers. She returned with a bar of chocolate. Despite being pooped, Helma's eyes sparkled as she saw it.
"This is a reward for my brave test pilot, heehee. Helvetian chocolate, only the best for you, Helma."
"T-Thank you, Ursula!"
She unwrapped it hastily, but just as she was about to bite into it, she looked at Toshiro. She extended her hand with the chocolate to him and asked, "Um… If you'd like, you can have some… Toshiro…"
"Well, don't mind if I do…" Toshiro said with a smile and broke off a bit.
"Um, you too, Ursula…"
"No, thanks. Just watching at what I saw was enough for me…"
"Ah, okay then…" Helma said and simply chomped into the whole bar.
"Toshiro, how was the temperature during the afterburner stage?" Ursula asked.
"It was overheating, albeit very slowly. I guess a full minute of afterburner flight is achievable, given the fact that the air would cool it off a bit."
"This is good to hear…" Ursula mumbled and looked at the hole in the wall. "Wah! Helma did that?!"
"Indeed." Toshiro said.
"Some hot stuff we have here, heehee…"
"Can I get owt ov the Stbwiker now?" Helma asked with her mouth full.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Helma. It doesn't suit a soldier of Karlsland, especially one with such a prestigious function as you have." Toshiro said with a caustic voice.
Helma's face reddened immediately.
"Yes, you can get out." Ursula said. "Just be sure not to touch the Striker."
"Kay."
Helma crawled out of the Striker out on the ground. She swayed quite a bit but Toshiro stabilized her in time.
"Woo… Thanks… It really taxed me more than I thought…"
"Maybe I should move you to your room?"
"Ah… No, thanks… I'll just sit down on a chair and I'll get back in form in a few…" Helma said and she slowly trotted to a chair and sat on it.
"So, what now, Ursula? We have a lot of time until the dignitaries arrive."
"We should do some last checkups before they arrive. Just in case…"
"Okay…"
It took them all the time they had, and they almost completely disassembled and reassembled the Striker, but it was now ready. The phone on the wall rang, and Ursula approached it.
"Yes? Yes, I understand." She said.
"Are they here?"
"Yes. Could you help me move the Striker to the runway?"
"Sure. I'll just grab it and we can ride on."
"Oh, can I go too?" Helma asked.
"Sure you can." Ursula answered with a small smile.
They boarded the Kübelwagen and Ursula drove to the end of the runway, where five people were waiting for them beside a Ju 52. Their heads and gazes started wandering all over the place the three were close enough. Ursula stopped right before them and they disembarked.
The five men in coats and fedoras swarmed Toshiro immediately.
"Ah, so this is the Oberst and the fruit of labor of all our companies?" The one that looked the eldest asked.
"Pretty much…" Toshiro answered. "Sorry that I can't shake your hands, but they're somewhat busy…"
"No problem." One of them said and the rest laughed.
"You all seem to be in sync nicely… But I heard there's a little… feud going on…"
The faces of all of them frowned and they distanced themselves from each other.
"Ah, so it's true… What is the problem?"
"Neither of the companies we represent won't back down on how the Striker should be named." One of them said.
"Give me your propositions then, from the left to right, go."
"BMW Ultrajäger I"
"Messerschmitt Me P.1114 Morgenröte"
"Junkers EF 135 Jörmungandr"
"Hey, I like that one!"
"Heinkel He P.1082 Kugelblitz"
"Focke-Wulf P.0310.277-0045"
Bleh…
"Well… I see that each name is mutually exclusive… But…" Toshiro made a pause while he thought intensively. "But why don't you form a union or something, since all your companies have worked on the plane together?"
The men looked stumped amongst each other, which was almost like admitting "And it was before our eyes all the time!"
"And what should it be named then, Oberst?" The eldest spoke.
"Hmm…" Toshiro pondered on, moving his finger around in the air as if moving something. "Ah, I know! The Karlslander Vereinte Kampfflugzeugbauer Union!"
Pfff… Karlslander United Fighter Plane Builder Union… I really have to exercise my brain more…
The men nodded and mumbled things amongst each other.
"But the Striker name then?"
"Well, since it's a first… KVKU XF-1 would be good I think…"
The men huddled up, murmuring things to each other. Then the eldest one said, "Codename Edelweiss."
"Oh, please…"
"No, no. We've all agreed upon it. I just hope our CEO's will be so mindful… Now, why don't you show us what this Striker can do?"
"Ah, I totally forgot about it, hahaha!"
"Toshiro, before you jump into it, there's one function I want to tell you about." Ursula said suddenly.
"Oh?"
"It's a kickstart capability. It's under this safety." Ursula said as she showed it on the FFG she was holding. "Before starting the engine, you simply press it, and a starter engine sucks out magic out of you, enabling the faster heat up of the main engines."
"Nice!" Toshiro cheered as he strapped on the FFG to his wrist. "But now, test time!"
He jumped into the Striker, and he pressed the button. He could hear a violent explosion in the engines but the RPM gauge jumped to 2000 immediately.
"Woah, this works!"
"But use it only if necessary, it can damage the engine if overused."
"Sure thing. So what's the plan for now?"
"Impress the gentlemen, that's all."
The gentlemen laughed as if ordered.
Toshiro leaned forward and accelerated. After a hundred meters, he pushed it all and took off. He flied off to the north past the complex and punched it, attaining Mach One in seconds.
Let's test these miniature engines…
Toshiro moved both manipulators to the right and it yanked him to the right suddenly.
Whoa, it works!
Toshiro then tried left, up and down, much to his amusement. He flew on past Rosario and made a turn for the east. Now, he gave all he had, accelerating like a madman. He reached Mach 2.5 easily without the afterburner, but then, he decided to use it. After a short nudge, he started accelerating violently, watching both the speed gauge and the temperature, he flew yay east way past the complex. The furthest the gauge was right was at 3819 km/h.
Holy fuck! I went past Mach 3! Hahahaha! Poor Shirley will pop… Ah, I hope I find her one day when I'll have this beauty with me so she can have a go herself… Okay, time to land. That was a tad tiring to be honest…
Toshiro approached the airfield and landed to the applause of the representative of the newly formed KVKU. The five men took Ursula and started throwing her up. Toshiro laughed aloud, seeing as the baffled and afraid was being thrown up and down repeatedly like a sack of potatoes.
"Hey, Ursula, what now?"
"Go… To… The… Panzer… Hangar… Just… leave the… Striker in… the car!"
"Okay!"
Toshiro jumped out of the Striker and placed it in the car along with the FFG-5.
"Toshiro, I'm so jealous I could pop…" Helma pouted.
"What's keeping you from taking a flight now, huh?" Toshiro said while fluttering his eyebrows.
"Maybe tomorrow, I'm a bit tired…"
"Okay then. Where's the panzer hangar again?"
"Like your standing now it's about 500 meters to your south-west. You definitely won't miss it."
"Ah, okay. Bye then!"
The proposed names have been modeled after real designations. The Striker itself is based off nothing, since I couldn't make up my mind lol. But I guess the closest one would be the Me P.1110/II (look for Luft46)
And if you want to praise/rant about my story, please leave a signed review, so we can continue via PM's. Seriously, I don't bite. Unless provoked :]