Chereads / The Omniscient Conscript / Chapter 19 - Learning to Fly in Britannia

Chapter 19 - Learning to Fly in Britannia

The General and Magnus were standing on the bow of a boat. A transport ship headed to Britannia. It was the fastest ship they could catch at the moment, so they caught it.

"Magnus, my boy, here's a quick geography lesson. You have been fighting in Gaul. Specifically, we have been retaking Gaul. We have taken back about twenty percent of Gaul, which was occupied by the Deutsche. They could've made a puppet state, but didn't, thus letting them do whatever they want with the factories and resources.

"Now, we are headed from on of the ports on the north of Gaul to the Isle of Britannia. Britannia has been the leading world power for some 200 years now, but they are being overtaken by the UPC."

Magnus, understanding what the General told him, went next to him and put most of his weight on the railing that was protecting anyone from falling off, turned his back to the ocean and looked at the ship, and said, "So, has Britannia been hit by the war at all?"

The General replied, "Yes, Britannia has been bombed, mostly on her capital city, but has been relatively unharmed compared to Gaul."

"So, where in Britannia am I going to learn how to fly?"

"A great question, my boy. You will be going to the southeastern corner of the island. Once you get there, you will go to the Royal Air Academy, but you won't be getting the traditional education."

"Really? What'll be different?"

"You'll be learning how to fly in two days. Today and tomorrow."

"What?!"

"Magnus.", the General said. Magnus could tell by the tone of his voice that he wouldn't have anything to disagree with what he was about to say, "You're an Administrator. As such, you should be able to learn how to fly before we even get there. But, you still need experience, which you will get flying both today and tomorrow. Don't worry about dying, because you can't."

Like Magnus thought, he had nothing to disagree with, and started to learn how to fly. As soon as he finished learning, the boat landed in Britannia's port directly in the center of her southern coast.

"Magnus, catch this train here. It will take you to where you need to go. I have some business in Britannia, so I won't be able to tag along. Good luck, soldier!", the General said.

Magnus got on the train, and waved good-bye to the General. Magnus looked at his watch. It showed 19:44. The train ride was long and boring, as they made many stops on the way. After his watch turned to 01:05, they pulled into Magnus' stop.

Getting off of the train, Magnus heard his last name being called.

"Mr. Licinius! Mr. Licinius!", Magnus heard these shouts and located the man emitting them. He was a portly fellow, coming no higher than Magnus' shoulders. He was holding up a sign with Magnus' first and last names on it.

"Mr. Licinius? I'm here to take you to the Royal Air Academy. Get in the taxi, your ride's already been payed for."

"Geez!", thought Magnus, "The General really spoils me sometimes."

As soon as Magnus got into the car, they were off. The driver made some idle chat, but nothing too controversial for the duration of the drive. As soon as the car stopped, the driver and Magnus both got out.

"Follow me. Oh yeah, I'm your instructor for the next two days. You can call me Benny."

Magnus then realized, "No, the General really doesn't spoil me."

"From what your commanding officer told me, you already know how to fly. So, we are going to go give some air support to an assault on the front lines. The best way to get experience is in the battle itself! Oh, and don't worry about me, I was an ace back in the day!"

Magnus and Benny both got into their individual fighter planes. Starting up the engine, Benny took off while Magnus was getting the hang of being inside of the cockpit. The miniature tank was no problem, as that only went in the double digits. This thing would be zooming at triple digit speeds!

Magnus saw Benny going down the runway, and punched it, getting flustered. Before Magnus even got on the runway, he was starting to get lift because he had the throttle all the way up. Noticing this, he turned it to the lowest speed.

As soon as he got on the runway, he punched it, pushing the throttle up as hard as he could. Magnus was worried he would get shot down on his first lesson, and slowly pulled the nose up as he gained speed. The landing gears were off of the ground. He made lift-off!

"How do those guys on the aircraft carriers do it?!", Magnus thought, putting the landing gears up, flying behind Benny who had slowed down for him as they were not yet in any danger.

"Look, Magnus, we got three hundred rounds of machine gun ammo and two bombs! Use the bombs on the Deutsche and New Roman trenches! And shoot down any other planes you see without a star or a target! Got that?!", Magnus heard Benny say over the plane's radio. Using this, they would be able to communicate the entire time.

"Yep!", Magnus replied, not really sure what he was doing, but he got the general gist.

Benny and he flew over the channel, the only thing that was keeping the Deutsche out of Britannia. Magnus tried doing some barrel roles and loops while flying, trying to get used to the pressure on the body so that he could use his expertise on flying.

Magnus knew everything about planes and how they flew. He learned that in middle school! He also knew how to fly, and well too. He just wasn't able to coordinate his knowledge into actions yet. As soon as Magnus felt that he was starting to get the hang of flying, he saw them. Other planes.

Benny went to full throttle and said, "Watch how its done!"

He flew over to the two closest planes, both bombing the trenches. Positioning himself behind them, he started shooting. Blowing off the wing of the farthest of the two, the plane started losing altitude, and the pilot ejected. The second and closer plane had to pull up so it didn't hit their comrade falling to the ground in a parachute.

Too bad for them that was right in Benny's sights. As soon as they started pulling up, a hailstorm of lead originating from Benny's plane barraged them, and their plane exploded, leaving nary a pilot to eject.

"Alright, now you try!", Benny said.

Magnus took a deep breath and accelerated, his sights on another plane one fourth of a mile from himself.