"What do you mean, 'I don't know'? How do you not know where your crew is?", the pilot asked.
"I mean, my crew and I took separate routes here. They should be arriving at any minute.", Magnus said. As soon as the words left his mouth, a two cars pulled up in front of them. Out of the cars came the students from the Royal Air Academy who were going to be the crew on his plane.
"Ah! Here they are! I told you they'd be here any minute!", Magnus said, a rather large weight off of his chest. "Let's go, boys. Benny's already in the plane, we gotta get a move on!"
Magnus and the students got into the two cars and punched it over to the hangar that he pointed out. They all got out of the cars and got into the plane. Magnus ran up to the pilot's chair and sat down.
He put his hat and coat on, and turn the engine on. The propellers turning faster and faster, Magnus pushed the throttle all the way up. The four propellers turned so fast that the heavy bomber started moving forward. Slowly picking up speed down the runway, the got enough speed to achieve liftoff.
Magnus got the plane up in the air and started circling over the runway, waiting for the other bombers to get into the air and into formation. Once all the planes were in the air and in formation, they slowed down so that Magnus and Benny's bomber could take the lead.
They punched it and took the lead, and sped through the gap that had been left for them. The other bombers saw how fast they were going and sped up.
Benny said to Magnus, "I got it for now, you go check on the students."
As soon as Benny said this, Magnus got up from his seat and nodded to Benny, heading to the back to check on them.
"Which one of you is the bomb-aimer?", Magnus asked, going to the center of the plane.
"The bomb-aimer is already at the front of the plane and in position."
"Well, are the gunners in their turrets?", Magnus asked, covering his bases.
"The gunners are in their turrets. Everyone is in position and ready to go, so bring on the fighters and factories!"
Magnus went back up to the cockpit and nodded to Benny, signalling that they were combat-ready. As soon as Magnus sat back down, they sighted land. They had crossed the Britannian Strait.
Magnus mentally prepared himself, asking Amicus, "How far out are the enemy fighters?"
Amicus promptly answered, "The fighters have not achieved liftoff yet, they don't know you're coming."
Magnus thought how awesome it would be if he had his own domain. If he had one of those, he wouldn't need to ask Amicus where anything was, because he would be able to see it.
As soon as Magnus drifted into thought, Amicus told him, "One of the Deutsche fighters had its engine started."
As soon as Amicus finished speaking, the plane started shaking and loud thuds sounded outside. Magnus looked at Benny for help.
"It's just the anti-aircraft guns on the surface. Those things can't do anything to us when we're in a bomber and this high-"
One of the students interrupted Benny, and said, "One bomber down! Looks like the flak got 'em!"
Magnus looked back over to Benny who was stunned. A cold sweat was running down both of their foreheads. The both swallowed and turned forward, looking out of the glass in front of them.
"Another one down!"
As soon as those words were spoken, Magnus called over the radio to do maneuvers to evade anti-aircraft guns.
Magnus promptly dipped the nose of the plane down and to the left. He then pulled it back up and to the left. Magnus was just trying to move the plane as irregularly as possible to throw off the aim of the guns on the surface.
Then the thuds stopped after twenty minutes.
"Casualty report?!", Magnus asked to the people in the back.
"Only two bombers were lost. Let's hope the fighters don't do any more damage."
Magnus did the math in his head. Only ten bombers left with themselves in it.
Magnus looked above the horizon as the now flight calmed down. He spotted something small and dark in the sky. He rubbed the glass in front of him with his handkerchief, but the spot didn't disappear. As soon as Magnus got a closer look, he saw that it wasn't a spot at all.
It was another plane. That's why the thuds stopped.
Magnus shouted to the back, "Fighter inbound! Gunners get ready!"
He then reached under his seat. There was a parachute. And a rifle. If the plane was going to crash and he had to eject, he really didn't want broken legs.
Assured that his legs would probably remain intact, Magnus tried pushing the throttle up, but was already all the way up.
The spot got bigger and bigger. Then, Magnus heard the bomb doors open.
"We're over the checkpoint, boys! Bombs away!", Benny shouted.
As soon as Benny stopped shouting, a bomb was heard falling to the ground, then a chorus of bombs falling behind them. One of the crewmen in the back was watching the whole thing. That's why he knew the planes had fallen.
That same crewman was blinded for a moment from a large flash of fire and destruction.
"Wow! That factory is thoroughly destroyed! Good job, boys!", he said. Magnus was getting ready for the flight ahead.
Another bomb was dropped, and another. The chorus of drops behind them continued. The a barrage of bullets rained like hellfire down upon them. A smaller plane with a black cross on the side flew by.
In the night sky, swarming around them, were thirty Deutsche fighters. The UPC, who was running the whole bombing run tonight, was outnumber 3:1 at the moment.
Midst the rain of bullets, another bomb dropped. Magnus could feel the weight of the plane decreasing by the thousands. Magnus suddenly realized they only had one bomb left.