Good sneezed as he entered the hangar against rushes of snow and gusts of wind . He placed the heavy ammunition case beside the plane and slumped onto it . "I hate winter . It reminds me of those old days when we were refugees . "
"Nobody likes the Months of Demons, but I have to say that true winter hasn't come yet," Finkin said while twitching his lips as he opened his wooden case . "You should feel happy that we aren't far from the sea . The Months of Demons aren't that bad on the coast . Before His Majesty became the lord of the Western Region, everyone feared that they would not survive the night . Their houses might collapse at night, and they would then be buried in snow if they stayed in . They could not even run for life . "
"Well, are the Months of Demons in Neverwinter really that terrible?"
"That's right . The situation didn't change until His Majesty built concrete houses . Why do you think His Majesty named the new king's city 'Neverwinter'?" Finkin said while shrugging . He took out the ammunition from the case and put it into the cabin .
The "Fire of Heaven" was equipped with two machine guns, one at the front and the other in the middle . Although they were both new general machine guns, their loading methods were quite different . The machine gun at the front was half merged with the plane, so they used a cartridge to load shells . The ammunition case was, therefore, made of metal . When they load shells, they had to remove the whole thing .
The machine gun in the middle was fixed to a rotating gun rack . Its operation method was exactly the same as Mark I used by the Gun Battalion, only that they used a saddle-shaped drum magazine that could accommodate 100 shells to load the weapon . The machine gunner at the rear loaded ammunition manually once the shells ran out .
To ensure that every time before the operation, they had sufficient ammunition, they needed to reload the weapons after the plane landed, no matter how many times they had fired . Normally, the ground staff would take care of this matter, but Good preferred to do it himself . He did not want to miss a single opportunity to touch the plane, even if it was just a fleeting second .
Just then, a loud wave of cheers erupted outside the hangar .
Undoubtedly, some students had passed the exam and landed on the runway .
Even if it was now snowing, Her Highness did not stop the training .
She was even busier than usual .
Apart from teaching the new students, she took them to patrol the northwestern area of the Kingdom of Wolfheart twice a day . At night, they discussed flight theories and issues they had come across during the day . She hardly took a rest .
Under her influence, everyone studied hard, and they actually did even better than in Neverwinter . During the past one week, not a single trainer aircraft had crashed .
After installing the new ammunition case to the storage room at the front of the plane with his partner, Good walked up to the window and let out a sigh .
"What's the matter? Are you homesick?" Finkin asked as he followed Good .
Good shook his head and said, "I'm just worried about . . . "
"About the war and your sister back home?" Finkin interjected while smiling slyly . "I remember her name is Rachel, right?"
"I'm worried about that I'll be replaced!" Good exclaimed indignantly as he glared at Good .
"Why?"
"We only have four fighters, one of which is Her Highness' 'Unicorn' . In other words, I have to be one of the top threes to operate the Fire of Heaven," said Good as he turned around and watched the training field at a distance . "Our strength lies in war experience, but we haven't seen a single demon yet . If there are one or two gifted students among the new people, we would probably fall behind . "
Surprised at Good's concern, Finkin said in a resigned tone after a long silence, "Oi, oi, you're worrying too much . We've earned a lot of experience by shooting real bullets . Didn't Her Highness say that even the Gun Battalion needs a couple of months to practice, wasting thousands of bullets before they throw themselves in a real war?"
"But we don't really do well in shooting, do we?"
"Well . . . " Finkin was at a loss for words .
Although the Aerial Knights had never met a single demon so far, they had fired on the plane numerous times . Tilly did not ask them to bring back the ammunition but asked them to use up all the bullets . They were told to pick a random target and practice as if it were a real battle . The target, sometimes, was a balloon in the air or a big tree on the top of the mountain .
Good discovered that he was much less talented in shooting than flying . Also, he had heard that many new students had quite outstanding performance during the training, one of whom was called Manfeld . His gift was soon acknowledged by the instructor in just a few days .
Therefore, his worry was not completely groundless .
He could improve his flying techniques by constant practice, but there was no shortcut for shooting .
Suddenly, a sharp alarm broke over the airport .
It pierced the air like a firecracker!
Good and Finkin exchanged dark looks, and their manners instantly tightened .
Once the alarm went off, all the training was suspended . The runway was cleared . The official Aerial Knights must immediately gather at the headquarters at the airport .
It was their first time hearing the alarm since their arrival at Thorn Town .
They thus ran to the headquarters at once .
Soon, there were more than 30 people in the temporary headquarters .
"We received a message from Iron Axe just a minute ago that a troop of demons had appeared 200 kilometers to the north of the Gust Castle," Princess Tilly said as she pointed at the map . "The message was delivered by the animal messenger, and in the letter, Iron Axe has pointed out that there are also refugees nearby . The demons may aim at these refugees . It would take the garrison at the Gust Castle more than two days to travel there . It would be too late if we wait for them . "
"This is what the Aerial Knights can help with . Nobody can cover such a long distance within two to three hours except the 'Fire of Heaven' . The demons would have never thought that they would share the sky with us one day! Now, heed my command . Aerial Knights, advance!"
"As you wish, Your Highness!" everyone shouted together .
Good clenched his fists . He had been waiting for this moment for a long time!
By the time they returned to the hangar, the ground staff had finished the preparation work for the takeoff .
Good strode over to the pilot cabin, quickly turned on the engine and spinned the lever . As the motor was set in motion, black smoke spiraled up from the head of the jet . The plane finished its first cycle as it roared .
Once the engine was on, the piston would continue working .
Good put on his goggles, waved at the cheering crowd and pushed down the lever .
Around seven or eight mintues later, four biplanes streaked across the runway and rose into the air in the snow before they headed off to the north .
Note : Please download the sponsor's game to support us!
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login