14709: Doing it for the 'Gram is not a good enough excuse for causing mayhem. Looking at you, Max!
There were days, not many mind you but a few, where Briggs genuinely enjoyed his life. No explosions, no physics breaking chaos, nothing that would cause any trip to Hard Liquor Oasis. So far, today was one of those days. It had been quiet other than the usual duties an Admiral had to attend to. Now just 5 minutes were left in the day. Briggs was relaxing in his chair, when BANG!
A loud screeching noise brought him to his feet instantly. "Wright!" He shouted to his secretary ship.
Wright was already opening the door. At her side as usual was Moskva. The cruiser had her rigging summoned but at least she hadn't fired any missiles this time. He stared them down. "Find out what that was." He ordered.
"Yes Admiral!" "Da Admiral!"
The two shipgirls set out. There was no immediately clear path to chaos outside the main building. Nor anywhere near the surrounding buildings. But the loud screech was still audible. It sounded like nails on a chock board almost.
"Split up?" Moskva suggested.
"That works." Wright agreed.
Moskva took the south side of the base which included the airfield. She suspected the trouble was there. The fact the noise only got louder served to confirm that.
Arriving on the airfield, Moskva saw a sight so unusual and silly she had to do a double take. There was Belle and on her shoulder's Max. The two planes were tied to a metal C17 and dragging it around.
The cruiser sounded her horn to get their attention. Max immediately dropped the lines and leaped off Belle's back. "Hiya Moskva!" She grinned.
"I'd ask what is going on here but I'm not sure I want to know the answer." Moskva said.
"Oh, we're trying to see how effective our selves are without our rigging. Like how much of our plane selves translates over." Belle explained.
"Uh huh. And why did you do that now?" Moskva asked.
Max, as always, had the perfect answer. "For the 'Gram, duh!"
Moskva sighed. Then a thought came to her. "What was that screeching sound Briggs heard earlier?" She asked.
"It traveled that far?" Max grinned, then sobered up when she saw Moskva's glare. "That would be when we were swinging objects like a pendulum." She gestured to the crushed remains of a radio tower. "We might have gotten carried away."
It said something, both for her rehabilitation as well as the pure insanity of this base, that Moskva's only reaction was to slap her forehead to her palm.
