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Can we have a twenty-minute monkey scene?
Please?
:D
 
The question is: sabotage?

Who knew about the special mission?

BTW, I expected the Hood comming to rescue of the seaplane.. :D I'm a bitch, I know.

Glad to see that the Golden Hind was luckier than its other twin, the Golden Fleece and the Golden Horn in similar cincunstances..

Drake wouldn't be happy to know that the Golden Hind ended almost dead in the water. :D
 
It does indeed seem decidedly unlucky that the engine exploded just when the plan was over an area full of U-boats. When does bad luck become conspiracy though?
 
El Pip said:
It does indeed seem decidedly unlucky that the engine exploded just when the plan was over an area full of U-boats. When does bad luck become conspiracy though?
Now.
 
Lord Strange I must admit I have yet to read any of his books, I know his name more from his idea about Geo-synchronious sattelites.

humancalculator Thanks.

Kurt_Steiner I toyed with the idea of having the Hood come there, but then again, she is currently on blockade duty around Denmark. And what about Drake? He is currently in SAS basic training.

El Pip&Kurt_Steiner Unlucky indeed, but I fear I can't reveal too much wihtout massive spoilers. I will try to get the next update out before they take the forum down for the upgrade, no promises though.
 
aarlander_dec08_c.jpg


The new AARlander is out, read and comment or no presents this year!
 
love the article, as always. nice one. oh and i seem to have forgotten to say 'good update, old man'
 
Hardraade I know who did it and why. I won't tell you yet though. :p

BritishImperial Thank you, thank you.
 
You know what, I bet it was the poms themselves who sabotaged their plane, for some nefarious reason or another!
 
Raaritsgozilla You Kiwis and your raw colonial humour.....*shakes head* :D

Hardraade :D
 
Firstly: My apologies, Paradox, I am glad you are aweare of the problem and are fixing it.

Secondly: the next update!

Chapter 75


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September 28th, 1939

Faslane Naval Base, Clyde, Scotland

The sparkling, brand-new base in the Clyde was drenched in the most atrocious weather of the season, yet many Royal Navy personnel braved it when they dragged the wounded Golden Hind up the slipway into the hangar. The last two days had seen a flurry of activity on this relative backwater post, and it had all begun with a call in the dead of night straight from the First Sea Lord. It had sent the base into overdrive, yet no one really understood the orders. Towing in a damaged flying boat was straightforward enough, but why did their Lordships request that it be placed in a single hall at the far end of the base? No one knew, and of the ratings that handled the plane no one really cared. The three Officers standing aside the slipway and already studying the plane did, but they were too caught up in their own orders. One of them was only holding a reserve Commission, but the other two were active line Officers, although they were currently serving in the SOE. “And what do we already know, Sir? Aside from what we can see here?” Ian asked M. “Not really. However, we do know that the engine was looked over upon departure in Halifax, and according to my sources there everything was fine, at least as far as could be told without taking it apart.” Felix asked the obvious question. “Sabotage then, Sir?” M did not answer but rather stared at the starboard wing of the plane where the frizzled paint and the torn metal could be seen clearly. Felix and Ian knew better than to press their luck, and left the Head of the SOE alone for now, opting to watch plane slowly disappear in the hangar. “Excuse me, Sir, but what makes this particular flight so important?” “I am afraid that has to be need to know for now, just find out if it was sabotage or not.” “Yes, Sir.” With that M left them to their work, and the two Officers knew that they had to move fast. M had not said anything, but Ian knew him good enough to see that he received massive pressure from above. They walked over to the hangar and as Ian was about to open the door Felix asked: “I hear you took my Sister out to dinner before we left?” Ian turned around and could see that Felix was dead serious. “Yes, and your point is?” Felix smirked and answered: “Nothing much, only she had this dreamy look on her face when I saw her last, and I wanted to know why.” “Mind your own business, Lieutenant Commander Leiter.” Ian grinned back.

Inside the massive Hangar the Golden Hind was now resting on her own landing gear, with no one around except Ian and Felix. The Scientists from the Royal Air Force Department of Accident Investigation would not arrive for another hour or two and the two took this chance to get themselves a good picture of at least the outside of the plane. Ian, always the proper English Gentleman, pulled a small Thermos flask from the pockets of his coat and poured himself a steaming mug of tea. Felix, who still preferred Coffee, wondered how Ian managed never to run out of it, and refused the mug when it was offered to him. “Can you see how the metal is bent outwards? This could mean that the explosion happened inside the engine housing...” Ian theorized when the stopped under the wing where a gaping hole indicated where the engine had been. The dangling pipes and wires seemed to slightly burned at the edges, but they were too far down to see it clearly. As they weren't allowed to touch anything they would have to leave this to the Boffins when they arrived. They sat back on a couple of chairs that were arrayed against the wall of the hangar and looked at the plane, each with their own version of a thoughtful, faraway look on his face. “So what do you think, Ian?” said, first to break the silence. “My nose says sabotage, as there are far too many coincidences on this whole thing. How big are the chances that this particular flight develops a fault, just when someone really important is on board?” “Slim to none, especially in wartime.” About an hour later the Investigators arrived and found the two fast asleep which was not surprising given the time they had spend up and about in the last few days, but before anyone could approach them they both jumped up, hands automatically moving to their shoulder holsters before they realized they were not in danger. “I presume you two are the Gentlemen from the SOE?” “Indeed we are, Group Captain.” Ian answered. “What do you know so far, or what have the brass told you?”

“Nothing much, Commander, only that the Golden Hind met with some sort of engine mishap on her way over from Halifax.” “A mishap all right.” Ian and Felix guided the group to the other side of the plane, where they could see the missing engine and the ripped up part of the starboard wing. The Group Captain whistled through his teeth and said: “It seems she has taken quite a whallop. I'm amazed they brought her down in one piece.” He stroked his stereotypical Fighter Pilot Moustache and turned back around to Ian and Felix. “I sure do hope you haven't touched anything?” Felix, who could see that Ian's temper was rising, fuelled by the lateness of the hour when he had gotten that phone call and the fact that he hadn't really slept since, and said first: “Why do you think we were sleeping on these ugly, cold chairs instead of inside the plane?” The obvious anger on Ian's face and the eerie calm in Felix's voice deterred the investigator from pushing any further. “Well, me and my lads will go to work then.” he said instead and made a hasty but dignified retreat. Ian and Felix grinned at each other and rose from their chairs to follow the RAF blokes. When they reached the other side of the plane they could see that they were already hard at work. The Group Captain was giving orders, and the other men were putting up ladders against the fuselage of the plane. Ian tapped on the GC's shoulder so that he turned around. “As you can see, Group Captain, the No.4 Engine was blown clean off, and from what the pilot has told us he believes that it almost took the entire wing with it.” The Group Captain once more stroked the end of his moustache and said: “I think he's right. He did a bloody good show in bringing her down in one piece, because from what I can see even now the main structural beam seems to be damaged, but that could also come from the manoeuvres he made when he landed.” When the ladders were in place he climbed up and had a look at the gaping black hole of the former engine housing. “You said they were on the last stretch of their run to Britain, right?” When Ian told him the affirmative, he yelled back down: “Tell your pilot he's a lucky bastard! Because had this exploded with the tanks full then the petrol would have gone up with him. Whoever blew that engine miscalculated by at most an hour or so.” When he stood in front of Ian and Felix again Felix asked: “So it was sabotage then?” The RAF Officer responded with a non-committal shrug. “Can't very well tell you that yet for certain, but my instinct tells me that this was no ordinary engine fire, as those normally don't show explosions as the first sign but rather smoke before the flames come through. Also from what I could see just now the source seems a bit far back in the wing to come from from the Engine.” “Thank you, Sir.”

Soon after Ian was on the phone with M's second in Command in London. “Tell him that the boffins from investigations think that it could have been sabotage but that they can't tell us for certain yet. What---yes, we'll stay up here and have a look---yes, I know that it's bloody damn cold up here.” he placed the phone back down and proceeded to the Officers mess where Felix was probably 'enjoying' the wartime rations the Navy was giving out, along with what he called 'the sorry excuse for coffee you Limeys always make'. And sure enough, he could see him sitting at a solitary table in a corner, probably reading that film magazine of his that was run by some of the emigrated American Studios together with their British cousins in Pinewood. Strangely enough someone had deemed the magazine to be essential to the war effort, a fact proudly proclaimed by the magazine itself and the fact that it always had enough paper allocated to it's production. Felix did not even look up when Ian approached him and just asked: “And?” “Felix, my friend, it seems it's that time again. We are once again on one of these assignments.” “Let me guess, in the light of our past exploits someone at SOE decided that we where the best to find out what's behind all this?” Ian's silence was enough to tell Felix that he had hit the mark, and he turned back to his magazine, although he knew it would be quite some time before he would have time to see a decent film again.





[Game Notes: I couldn't do a whole plotline without involving my two main characters, so here they are!]
 
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Yey. An update with Tea and Ian Fleming.
 
Jesus, they scared the Group Captain twice!
Good update, sabotage it seems to be, although I'm still leaning toward the poms being at the root of the problem
Any chance of another update like the Battle of Britain one? I though that was really well done!
 
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EDIT: Double post :S
 
Good Update!:D

I love to see Ian and Felix in another part of the story.
 
As long as Ian Fleming has enough Tea I suspect no threat to the Empire will be able to get far.
ja.gif
 
Lord Strange I believe I will have to go with Felix on beverages, but I liked writing it.

Raaritsgozilla He. The Poms aren't the problem, that much I can tell you. As a matter of fact they are scrambling to find out who did it.

humancalculator Glad you liked it. These two have morphed from a one-off Cameo to my two main Characters for non-combat situations.

El Pip Indeed, good Sir. Tea is an essential strategic resource for the British Empire, this is why every convoy from overseas always carries a given quantity of tea with it so that Britain never runs out.

Hardraade Thanks!