Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

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Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Hekate » 20.05.2008, 17:25

(( Laajennuksen juhlistamiseksi julkaisen yhden WoW-tarinoistani.

Kuva

Tarina kertoo Gibbles Shalia Finklesprocket-nimisen Gnome Warlockini (kts, ylläoleva kuva) nuoruusvuosista hävittäjäpilottina. Vielä keskenhän tämä on, suuri ikuisuusprojektini. Tätä tarinaa kirjoittaessa olen todennäköisesti eniten kehittynyt tarinoijana, ja osittain tämän rohkaisemana aloitin tarinoinnin täälläkin.

Enjoy. ))

Kuva

Live to Fly
Fly to Live
Do or Die
Aces High

- Mantra of the Ravenguard

Part I

Gnomeregan Hangar, 19 years ago.

Pilot Finklesprocket walked into the hangar where the preparation for a large operation was taking place, all the pilots were alarmed because goblin aircraft was noticed flying over Loch Modan. Checking her gear, Gibbles quickly grabbed her helmet and ran to her designated plane. The Arathi Survivor, a plane named after her earlier survival of being gunned down. Personally, Gibbles disliked both the name and the plane carrying it. The Seven Lightnings, before turning into a bunch of burnt wood and scrap metal, used to be both faster and more agile. Jumping into the cockpit and starting up the engines, she noticed her friend, Pheobi, climbing into her plane. Indeed, that raven black hair was quite easy to notice.

“Shalia, you heard the reason for the alarm, right?” Pheobi asked via the built-in communicator of the gnomish plane.

“Yeah, I hear they’re sending out Squadron number two first though, we’re on standby should they be forced to retreat.” Gibbles answered.

“What?! There’s a potential dogfight ahead and they send in the Storks?! Are they outta they’re minds?”

“You can say that again, they’re specialized in bombing, aren’t they?”

Giving the two the answer, the radio soon repeated an apparently scared gnome’s voice: “There’s at least a dozen of ‘em! Squadron two retreating and requesting for backup! I repeat: The Storks are retreating and requesting for backup!”

“It’s show-time.” Pheobi said as eight planes were moved to the launchers.

Pheobi’s voice was soon heard in the radio: “This is Captain Firesky from Squadron four, we’re on our way. Reinforcements are en route, leave it all to the Ravenguard.”

“Let’s show them what we’re made of, shall we?” Pheobi’s voice said in the communicators of all eight planes, “Squadron four, our primary mission is to protect squadron two and gun down the goblin vessels threatening them. To put it shortly, the Ravenguard will show the Storks what aerial fighting is all about. Any questions?”

“Why aren’t we flying yet?” Gibbles asked, grinning in her cockpit.

“That’s a good question.” Pheobi said with a chuckle.

With that, the countdown became to its end and all the eight planes were soon on their way northeast to the presumed location of the aerial battle.

Ten minutes or so passed, and the gnomish fighters made contact with the goblin ones. Four of the thirteen goblin planes were instantly gunned down as they were intercepted from their right flank.

“Damn there’s a lot of ‘em!” a male voice exclaimed into the communication system as the gnomish squadron turned to charge the left flank of the goblin planes. Only one goblin plane went down in flames this time as the goblin planes turned to face the gnomish ones and pressed down their guns aswell, evasive manoeuvres took the focus from aiming.

Squadron two kept retreating, their Captain mumbling a few words of gratitude to the radio.

The two plane squadrons turned around again and flew towards each other guns blazing, not hitting this time either. The goblins broke the formation and tried to turn around quickly to get the upper hand by being behind their targets.

“Oh, no you won’t!” Pheobi yelled while turning her plane around, gunning down a goblin plane, which was on a collision course with her. Gibbles turned her plane into the same direction, being able to gun down a goblin plane that tried to attack Pheobi from her flank. The rest of the gnomish squadron turned in random directions, and the dogfight turned into a total chaos. However, as a bit of order in the disorder, there were clear commands and unquestioning loyalty within the gnomish fleet. The goblin planes went down in flames one by one until there were four remaining. Turning to one gnomish plane, the four goblins pressed down their guns.

“I’m hit! I’m hit!” a male voice yelled into the communication system as the bullets made contact to the plane’s hull and wings.

“Flamecog, retreat to base. You’re losing fuel! Finklesprocket, cover him!” Pheobi commanded with a firm voice, gunning down one of the goblin planes while the remaining squadron’s volley took down two others. There was now only one goblin plane remaining. It dived down and tried to evade the merciless gnomish assault.

Gibbles looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. She turned her plane and assaulted what she saw.

”Finklesprocket, what do you think you’re doing?!” Pheobi asked in surprise.

“They got a Zeppelin, Firesky! They got a damn Zeppelin! Requesting permission to intercept!” Gibbles yelled back, fixing her aim to the cockpit of the Zeppelin. As soon as Pheobi yelled “Granted!” Gibbles pressed down her guns, trying to cripple the Zeppelin’s flightdeck. In this she succeeded quite well. Still holding down the trigger she aimed a little lower, and the Zeppelin’s fuel container exploded. Bingo! Laughter and cheering was heard in the communication system as the Zeppelin fell down as a great ball of fire with the last remaining Goblin fighter.


“How did you do that?” a female voice asked.

“Do I really need to answer that?” Gibbles asked with a chuckle, “We’re the Ravenguard!”

The whole squadron yelled “Aye!” nearly chorally. Soon, Pheobi’s voice commanded the whole squadron to return to base. “We got a party to crash.”

It was a day of glory for the Ravenguard…

Part II

Back in the hangar, the eight planes landed safely and the pilots jumped out of their cockpits. Cheering as they walked to the damaged planes of the second squadron.

”Got quite a beating there, eh?” Pheobi asked while eyeing the severely damaged planes. “Sheesh, it’s a miracle that those things still fly.”

“Hey, one of yours got banged up quite nicely too.” The Captain of the second squadron said grumpily, pointing at Second Lieutenant Flamecog’s plane.

“Why did you insist on going there to get your sorry arses beaten in the first place? If I recall correctly, the Storks are mainly a bombing squadron. You should leave aerial battles to the professionals like us Ravenguards, or the Third squadron, the Eaglehearts. All you did there was taking unnecessary damage to your planes, you are aware of the fact that repairing these things costs a fortune? We only received damage to one plane, so our repair bill will naturally be a lot smaller than yours.” Pheobi scolded the other Captain, “Also, according to the schedule we were supposed to go on a bombing mission tomorrow. We’ve both taken too much damage, so the first and the third squadrons will carry out the mission. Do you really believe that the Warhawks and the Eaglehearts are able to perform as well as us?!”

For a second, the two Captains just glared at each other.

“Anyway, we got them all down with minimal casualties. We’re going to celebrate it at the tavern. And because we have a day off now, we can get totally wasted if we want to. You can join us if you wish.” Pheobi said with a smile, walking out of the hangar with the rest of the Ravenguards following her. The Storks’ Captain nodded to the rest of his squadron, allowing them to follow their saviours.

In the tavern, Gibbles and Pheobi sat down in the corner table while the rest of the squadron walked to the bartender. On the way, Pheobi simply nodded to the bartender who instantly took out a bottle of Special Reserve. As the bottle and two shot glasses were taken to the two gnomes, Pheobi quickly filled the glasses and stood up, catching the attention of her squadron and the rest of the tavern with a high-pitched whistle.

“Comrades, today we were lucky. Thirteen Goblin planes and a Zeppelin going down in flames, and the only damage we got is on Second Lieutenant Flamecog’s plane. Ever since the creation of the Fourth Squadron, we haven’t lost a single battle. Sure, we have suffered casualties, but that hasn’t stopped us from reigning supreme before. Enjoy the day off tomorrow, you all deserved it.” She spoke with a smile, raising her drink high in the air, “For us, for the Ravenguard!”

“For the Ravenguard!” Gibbles and the rest of the squadron with some random people in the tavern yelled out, raising their drinks before chugging them down all at once.

In the distance, a gnomish lady in a fine gown frowned upon the celebrating pilots. “Foolish dogs of the military, take your party somewhere else! Nobody cares about some Goblin planes getting destroyed!” she yelled out her thoughts, smiling smugly.

“WHAT?!” Gibbles snapped, nearly running to the upper class lady and giving her a strong punch right in the face, “If we wouldn’t have been there today, those Goblins would be bombing this place by now! Do you have any idea of the importance of the eight people you contempt?! If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t be here sipping fancy drinks in your fancy dress! You would be in some Orcish camp serving some Goblin engineer as his personal WHORE!” she yelled, glaring furiously at the now shocked lady.

“Shalia, cut that out. She’s not worth it.” Pheobi said calmly, patting the chair next to her. “Yes, ma’am…” Gibbles said with a sigh, “But as I said… pay some respect for the people that are there to protect you.” She quickly said to the still shocked, black eyed lady before walking back to her seat, filling her shot glass and drinking it. Pheobi placed a hand on her First Lieutenant’s shoulder, smiling broadly. Gibbles returned the smile as she once again filled her glass.

“Pheobi… why did you give me the permission to intercept that Zeppelin? I was well aware that I was breaking about half a dozen air laws when I did that, but I can’t help wondering… why did you let me do it?” Gibbles asked, looking at Pheobi, who placed a hand on Gibbles’ shoulder again.

“Because I knew you could do it, Shalia. You know for a fact that I rarely take chances where the odds are against me or anyone else in the Ravenguard.” She answered with a firm voice, smiling at Gibbles.

“Let’s drink to that. For our fearless leader.” Gibbles said with a grin, raising her drink before chugging it down.

Three hours (and an amount of alcohol enough to stun a Kodo) later.

Looking at Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket, Gibbles smiled faintly. The Second Lieutenant fixed her eyes at Gibbles and gave her a wink, letting out a drunken giggle before giving a similar wink to First Lieutenant Skidsprocket. Gibbles leaned back, feeling two arms fold around her slender body. A content sigh escaped her lips as she cuddled up against Pheobi, who gently kissed her neck. After a while, the drunken Captain whispered to her ear, “Shalia… I think it’s time for us to go home.” Gibbles nodded slowly and to the two staggered out of the tavern, leaning against each other.

Wandering about the streets of Gnomeregan for nearly an hour singing, the two finally found their way to Pheobi’s apartment. “I shuppose that our ways part here…” Gibbles murmured, trying to let go of Pheobi. “In that condition you’re not goin’ nowhere!” Pheobi said with a hiccup, pulling Gibbles to the door with her. Managing to open the door with a few attempts, Pheobi pulled Gibbles inside her apartment and locked the door. Staggering into the bedroom still pulling Gibbles by her arm, Pheobi slowly let go and started removing her pilot uniform.

“Where will I sleep?” Gibbles asked, leaning against the doorway looking around for anything to lie down on. There was really nothing but the bed, so Gibbles repeated her question. Turning around to look for a place to sleep in somewhere else, Gibbles felt Pheobi’s arms wrapped around her waist. “Pheobi…?” she uttered as she felt the drunken Captain planting a kiss on her neck. Gibbles took a hold of Pheobi’s wrists and tried to get out of her embrace by force, but her struggling was in vain. Surrendering herself, she was slowly moved from the doorway to face what reminded her of… indeed, a wall. Slowly turning around, Gibbles’ blurred vision didn’t give her the slightest warning of Pheobi leaning in and softly pressing her lips against hers. The high amount of alcohol persuading in Gibbles’ body persuading her to do so, Pheobi’s lustful kiss was eventually returned and the Captain was taken into an embrace. Giving in to their desires, the two gnomish women made their way to the bed, clothes cast away with reckless abandon around the room. Pheobi pulled the sheets over their heads when they fell into the bed and the furious lust of the two gnomes took utter control of events.

What happens in your bedroom stays in your bedroom…

Part III

Gibbles sat up in the bed only to notice that she wasn’t in her room, her vision was still a little blurry. Pheobi’s place? How did I get here? Boy, this is one mother of all headaches…Am I naked? Why am I naked? Picking up the parts of her pilot uniform and putting them on, figuring by the way they were scattered across the room that they were removed quite hastily. Where’s Pheobi? Hearing the sound of someone handling glass, she walked with unsure steps to the kitchen and saw Pheobi making four drinks wearing a dress. Pheobi in a dress, a rare sight for sure. The four glasses all had an egg yolk with ingredients Gibbles didn’t recognise and some milk. Disgusting!

“I see you finally woke up…” Pheobi said cheerfully while placing the four drinks on the table. Right after that, she sprinted to the bathroom and sounds of vomiting were heard. Gibbles sat down at the table and looked more carefully at the drinks, nearly vomiting herself at the sight. Pheobi walked back wiping her mouth and sat down aswell.

“Drink that… it’s a Prairie Oyster, they’re good for hangovers.” Pheobi said as she grabbed one of the glasses and quickly emptied it, holding her nose. Grimacing, she slammed the empty glass on the table and took a deep breath. Gibbles did the same, nearly vomiting again at the taste. Catching her thoughts properly, Gibbles slowly fixed her look on Pheobi.

”Look, Pheobi… I just noticed that my clothes weren’t exactly collected in a neat pile back there.” Gibbles said slowly.

“Yes, same here. What about it?” Pheobi asked.

“Uhh… it’s just that… we didn’t… you know… boink, did we?” Gibbles asked with flushing cheeks before drinking her second Prairie Oyster. Bloody Nether, these things are disgusting!

“Not that I’d remember. And no matter how pissed I am, I usually remember if I do something like that. Why are you asking? I just took you in because I was afraid you’d hurt yourself if I let you walk home by yourself… you were too damn wasted to walk alone.” Pheobi explained, chugging down her second Prairie Oyster before taking the four now empty glasses and placing them to the sink.

Gibbles nodded slowly, “So, what are you gonna do on your day off?”

“No idea, once I get this hangover sorted I’ll probably go get myself some food… it’s almost noon already. I should also buy the groceries for this week.” Pheobi said worriedly, glancing at the clock on the wall.

“Pheobi, tell me… how old are you?” Gibbles asked, “It’s something I’ve wanted to know for a while, but never remembered to ask.”

“Thirty-three, why? Are you wondering why I live by myself or…?” Pheobi asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No no, I was just wondering since you don’t look that old to me and that I’m only…”

“Twenty-eight. I know, Shalia. It’s a part of my job as your Captain to know these things.” Pheobi said with a smile.

“Is that… why you call me Shalia?” Gibbles asked curiously.

“It’s your middle name, isn’t it? I like it, it’s a beautiful name.”

With that, Pheobi leaned back on her chair and closed her eyes. As Pheobi started humming a merry tune, Gibbles walked to the sink and turned warm water on. Finding a brush, she began cleaning the four glasses and several other dishes that had piled up over a few days. Like I had anything better to do anyway.

“Say… do you believe in the Light or anything, Shalia?” Pheobi asked.

“No… my father is a Master Tinker and my mother doesn’t believe in such things either, so I was taught not to believe in uncertain things like God or Fate.” Gibbles said, placing one cleaned glass away and beginning to clean another one.

“Oh yes, your mother, the Sergeant Major… she’s a nice lady, although she can be a little scary most of the time. Sometimes it seems that she doesn’t know how to smile, but I suppose that she just takes her work seriously.”

“She takes pride in her work, yes. And she taught me everything I know about swordplay too, I’m lucky to have a strong, charismatic person like her as a mother.”

“By the way, how is it possible for a Finklesprocket to be like that? According to what I’ve heard…”

“Her maiden name is Rageheart, Pheobi. And some say that I’m more a Rageheart than a Finklesprocket too. I wonder why…”

“It’s because of what make you you, Shalia. You’re a cute, calm little girl on the outside, but inside you there’s a wild animal just waiting for her moment. You should see yourself in the dogfights, and you should’ve seen yourself last evening. The way you smacked that upper class twat… geez, no makeup will cover that black eye. And don’t get me started with when the Seven Lightnings was gunned down. You know it damn well that it was against all the odds that you survived and made it back to Gnomeregan alive.” Pheobi explained with a broad smile, watching Gibbles put the last cleaned dish away. “Come on, let’s get out, get you something more casual and eat something.”

With that, the two young gnomes put on their shoes and entered the busy streets of Gnomeregan. Knowing where they’re going this time, they soon found the apartment titled “Finklesprocket”. Gibbles marched in and came out wearing a light blue dress.

“Your folks weren’t home?” Pheobi asked, raising an eyebrow.

“They’re both working, I’d guess.” Gibbles answered, “So, know any place that serves decent food?”

“Aye, there’s one close to the hangar. Let’s go.” Pheobi said cheerfully, and the two started walking towards the plane hangar.

On their way they met a group of guards patrolling the city, their leader gave them an order to hold position, marched to Gibbles and Pheobi and removed her helmet.

“Heya mom, what’s happenin’?” Gibbles asked her with a smile.

“Oh, nothin’ special.” Bibbie Finklesprocket answered, “Some drunkards thought that throwing eggs at windows is funny about an hour back, I don’t know if they’re still cleaning their own mess or if they’re already being escorted home. And what’re you up to, Gibbles? All dressed up and stuff, didn’t you have a bombing to go to? And where were you last night? You didn’t come home at all, I was worried.”

“Nope, not today. One of our planes got banged up quite badly yesterday in a dogfight, so the whole squadron is having a day off. And I didn’t come home because we got wasted and Pheobi didn’t want me to roam the streets alone in that condition. I believe you’ve already met Captain Firesky.” Gibbles said, nodding towards Pheobi. Bibbie frowned at hearing about her daughter’s nightly experience, but soon put the matter aside and looked at Pheobi.

“Oh, yes. How are you, Pheobi? It’s been a while.” Bibbie asked.

“I’m fine, Esmeralda.” Pheobi answered, Gibbles raised an eyebrow at that.

“Mom, she calls you by your middle name too?” she asked Bibbie, who simply nodded.

“Well, I need to get going. Gotta find me a criminal to slap around before I get bored. And Pheobi… thank you for taking care of my daughter.” She said while putting her helmet back on, cracking a little smile.

“Shalia is in safe hands, Esmeralda. Don’t be too worried.” Pheobi said with a smile, watching the Sergeant Major make her way through the crowd back to her patrol group. Gibbles and Pheobi continued to walk towards the hangar, both humming a merry tune.

Entering a small restaurant about a hundred yards in front of the hangar, the two ordered their meals and sat down on at a table. Leaning back on their chairs, the two patiently waited for their food. Fifteen minutes or so passed, and the waiter walked in from the kitchen, placing two plates full of fruit and roasted meat on the table and leaving just as silently as he arrived. Digging in to their meals, Gibbles and Pheobi didn’t notice a man with brown hair and a long, messy beard walking in. He tossed a small pouch of coins to the waiter and ordered “the usual” while walking to the corner table, muttering his thoughts out loud: “… it’s not possible, how can I get that thing to automatically cock itself again and fire again right after? Maybe if it’ll have two, maybe even three barrels… even then, getting a new shot in the barrel would be…”

“I’ve told you many times to try shoving a spring somewhere in there, a strong one.” Gibbles said loudly as she noticed the muttering. The man winced and looked over her shoulder. “Gibbles, even though you’re making a good point, it just can’t be that simple.” He said with a smile.

“Are you telling me that it’s not even worth trying? They use the spring system in the semi-automatics too, don’t they? You’ll never know if you never try, dad.” Gibbles said with a smile.

“I see” Giorgio Finklesprocket said, grinning a little. “Allright, Gibbles. I’ll see if this theory of yours has even the slightest chance of working.”

“You do that.” Gibbles said, watching her father walk to his table and start waiting for his lunch.

Pheobi tilted her head, blinking. “Shalia… what was that all about?”

“If the theory I just told will work, I might’ve just invented a fully automatic portable gun.” Gibbles said with a grin, eating what was left of her last apple.

“Why won’t they just use the same system used in our planes?” Pheobi asked, tilting her head to the other side.

“Because that system is far too large to be attached to a portable gun, such as a rifle.” Gibbles answered, looking over her shoulder at her father.

“I see…”

Pheobi finished her meal aswell, and the two walked out.

”Say, how about we go have a look at Flamecog’s plane?” Pheobi suggested, smiling brightly.

“Wearing these? We’d be laughed out of there!” Gibbles exclaimed with a chuckle. With little persuading, she agreed to do it and the two walked into the hangar and searched for the damaged vessel. Nearly every gnome in the hangar whistled and/or yelled something inappropriate at the two women as they walked by. “Are ye them strippers from yesterday?!” one male pilot yelled and whistled. Gibbles glanced at the man’s tags and yelled back, “Only in your wet dreams dreams, Second Lieutenant!”

The man gulped as he recognised Gibbles’ voice, turned around and kept washing his plane. Gibbles’ yell was apparently heard well, because most of the other pilots suddenly because interested in what they were doing before the two ladies walked in. Gibbles and Pheobi walked to a plane full of bullet holes and scratches of many kind, “Widowmaker” was carved to the side, marking it as Second Lieutenant Flamecog’s vessel.

“I think we should rename this thing.” Gibbles said, nodding thoughtfully. Pheobi raised an eyebrow, giving Gibbles a questioning glance. Gibbles nodded again and said out her renaming idea: “Scar.”

Pheobi’s laughter echoed across the whole hangar, catching the pilots’ attention. Taking advantage of the situation, Gibbles turned around and announced: “Because of recent changes in Second Lieutenant Flamecog’s vessel, we have decided to rename the vessel from Widowmaker to Scar!”

Pheobi fell on her back laughing hilariously, and most of the pilots chuckled at the new name. Gibbles glanced at Pheobi rolling on the floor laughing and raised an eyebrow. “Umm, Captain… calm down, will ya?” she said awkwardly, watching the hysterical woman who seemingly just couldn’t stop laughing. As this awkward scene continued, Gibbles jumped on the wing of the renamed aircraft and waited.

Ten minutes later

Eventually, Pheobi stood up and caught her breath. Still chuckling randomly, she followed Gibbles out of the hangar and the two headed towards Pheobi’s apartment. Visiting the tavern for a pint on the way, the two gnomes said their goodbyes and headed for their homes.

Gibbles entered her home, saying a quick “Hi mom” to Bibbie in the kitchen before walking into her room. Closing the door, the young gnome climbed into the bed and started staring outside from the small window with a worried expression on her face. Not long before Giorgio got home and words of greeting and love reached Gibbles’ ears, who just thoughtfully kept looking at the street outside, politely ignoring her parents expressing their feelings for each other.

Soon, the door opened and Bibbie walked in. “Gibbles, is something wrong?” she asked her daughter, leaning against the doorway.

“I’m just worried about tomorrow, I believe you already know about that.” Gibbles said, turning her head to Bibbie.

“What is there to worry about some simple scouting?” Bibbie asked curiously.

“Two reasons: We’ve never gone that far and you know damn well what happened last time I went scouting.” Gibbles answered, sighing out a little on the mere memory. “I don’t want to go through that again…”

“Who will be your partner?”

“Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket, why?”

“So you’ll be in charge. Look on the bright side: if you see something threatening you can abort the mission anytime you want to. Besides, you and Pheobi were ambushed the last time. You know it’s quite unlikely for that to happen in the air, don’t you?”

Gibbles nodded slowly, cracking a little smile at her mother. “I’ll come back alive, I promise.”

“That’s my girl.” Bibbie said with a grin, approaching Gibbles to ruffle her hair a little before walking out of the room. Gibbles smiled, allowed herself to fall down on the soft bed and closed her eyes.

It will be interesting tomorrow…

Part IV

Entering the hangar with great haste, Gibbles nodded at Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket who was already climbing into her plane’s cockpit. Climbing into the Arathi Survivor, her foot was grabbed by Pheobi. Gibbles looked down to the smiling Captain in confusion.

“And just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked with a grin. Gibbles blinked as Pheobi pointed at her own plane, “I don’t want you to get shot down again. Take the Swordwind, that’s an order.”

“Yes ma’am.” Gibbles said quickly before running to the Swordwind as ordered. It amazed Gibbles, it was surprising that Pheobi would let her fly the nearly legendary aircraft. The Swordwind was even more known than its pilot was, admired by gnomish pilots and feared by goblins. Climbing into the cockpit, she heard Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket murmuring “Lucky” into the communication system. As the two planes were launched and en route to the area they were instructed to scout, Gibbles spoke in the radio. “Nice and slow, Twinklesprocket. We have no idea if the area is hostile or not, so we have to be careful out there. For my sake, try not to pull off anything crazy. You know why.”

“Understood, ma’am.” The Second Lieutenant answered.

“However” Gibbles added, “we could always have some fun while we’re still on friendly airspace, how about some low riding?”

Seeing her partner descending, Gibbles smiled and dived after her. Flying as low as they dared, the two swiftly swept over a small forest only a few feet off the treetops, having to dodge the taller ones. Gibbles looked at the Swordwind’s controls in amazement, it was by far the fastest and the most agile plane she has ever flown. Barely dodging another tall tree, the two ascended back to 2000 feet and continued their flight towards their destination.

Flying over the mountains and reaching the Hinterlands, the two planes took distance and began descending to an altitude where one can see if something suspicious is going on at the ground.

“I see a bunch of orcs here.” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket informed her radio as she flew over a small camp. “Roger that, I haven’t found anything yet.” Gibbles responded as she guided the Swordwind to head towards what she thought to be something to have a look at. Flying over a small group of trees, Gibbles noticed a fairly large group of trolls on the move. Almost instantly after this Gibbles noticed a throwing axe that barely missed its target, evading a few more as she turned away from the trolls and ascended. Soon, Gibbles steadied the plane’s course and spoke to the radio, “Just saw a bunch of trolls, axethrowers. It looks like they’re on the move.”

”I saw a massive amount of orcs just now, they’re on the move aswell.” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket answered, “I believe we should report these ASAP.”

“I agree, let’s get outta here.”

As the two met above a fairly large camp they both looked down before turning south and heading back to Gnomeregan. “You saw it too, right?” Gibbles asked her partner, “They got a damn war factory down there, the higher-ups are gonna love our report.”

“Yup, I wonder if the bombing run will be tomorrow or the day after. Well anyway, let’s get back to base before our fuel runs out.”

Soon, the two gnomish planes noticed a lone goblin plane above the Arathi highlands. As the two pilots simultaneously yelled “MINE!” into the radio, the chase begun. The goblin noticed the two chasing planes and hit the accelerator, trying to outrun the two gnomish planes. As the two gnomish planes pressed down their guns, the goblin roll-turned his plane and dived, barely dodging the volley. Turning for a second attempt, Gibbles dived in after the goblin plane and took aim. The second volley, leading the target enough this time, severely damaged the plane’s hull and one of the motors. As the goblin tried to turn his plane upwards, the supports of the damaged motors broke down and the engine fell for ten yards or so before exploding. The sudden change in the plane’s weight balance and the explosion’s shockwave sent the aircraft into a tailspin towards the cliffs below. “See you in the Nether!” Gibbles yelled cheerfully as she turned the Swordwind upwards and ascended back to her partner’s height, watching the goblin plane crash into the mountain with a large explosion.

As the two planes landed in the hangar and a written report was handed to the supervisor, the two pilots marched directly to their Captain and saluted her. “A war factory, eh? I bet we’ll be escorting a bombing squad tomorrow. Good work, Ravenguards Finklesprocket and Twinklesprocket, take the rest of the day off.” Pheobi said with a broad smile.

“Yes ma’am.” The two pilots said before saluting their Captain and marching out of the hangar. Outside, the two pilots highfived and parted, both heading for home. Nearly a hundred yards away, Gibbles could still hear Pheobi cheerfully yelling, “Storks, get your planes ready, we’re gonna make some goblins go boom tomorrow!”

Smiling as she walked, Gibbles made some calculations. The one I got today added to the two I got the day before yesterday added to the total makes… twenty-seven, with the four Zeppelins. Damn I’m good! Reaching and entering her home, Gibbles noticed that there was no one home yet. With a shrug, she sat down at the table and fed herself with the loaf of bread and the glass of milk that were waiting on the table. Nearly instantly after she finished her simple, yet very nourishing meal, she heard the door and her mother’s cheerful voice. “Honey, I’m home!”

“Sorry sweetheart, but dad ain’t home yet.” Gibbles said with a smirk as Bibbie walked into the kitchen.

“That’s a shame, dear. Anyway, how was your scouting?”

“We discovered a war factory and we’ll bomb the place to bits tomorrow. I dropped my twenty-seventh goblin plane too, so it was quite a nice trip.”

“That’s nice. So, who’ll do the bombing tomorrow?”

”The Storks and the Ravenguard, so I’ll be in it. I wonder if the goblins saw us yesterday. Because if they did, they’ll surely have a surprise for us.”

“You’ll see about that tomorrow. Get up there tomorrow and show those goblins what you’re made of!”

Smiling brightly, Gibbles hopped off the chair and walked to her mother. The heavy platemail hit the wing medal attached to the leather armour with a faint clank as the two women in their uniforms embraced. As Bibbie ended this motherly embrace, she walked to the bedroom and began stripping off her platemail. Gibbles quickly paced to her room and recklessly threw her uniform on the chair in the corner as she took it off piece by piece. As the two women put on their casual dresses, Gibbles glanced at the front door and noticed Bibbie walking out. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“You ate my dinner, silly. Gonna go buy something tasty while I’m at it, Giorgio will be home soon.” Bibbie answered with a wink before closing the door and disappearing to the busy streets of Gnomeregan.

“What a lucky woman.” Gibbles murmured to herself, “Love is something I’ll probably never get to experience.”

With that, Gibbles walked back into her room, sat down on the bed and looked thoughtfully out of the window as she always used to. Not long until she heard the door and her parents entering the house clung to each other. Gibbles smirked to herself as she heard the two recklessly making their way to the living room knocking a few things on the ground on the way, falling on the sofa and lustfully starting to make out. Politely ignoring this once again, Gibbles pulled the sheets over her head and giggled herself to sleep after hearing a short conversation between Giorgio and Bibbie: “But darling, Gibbles’ home.”

“Who cares? Now shut up and kiss me!”

“Yes ma’am.”

Indeed, who cares?

Part V

“Damnit, I’m gonna be late!”

Gibbles sprinted through the crowds towards the hangar in great haste. Pulling on her gloves, she met a fellow Ravenguard on the way, walking.

“Skidsprocket!”

“ The who to the what now? Oh, hey Finklesprocket. What’s up?”

“We’re not late, are we? I think I overslept.” Gibbles asked, panting a little.

“Relax, kid. The Storks have some problems with the engines of like half their planes so the bombing is postponed until they’re absolutely sure they won’t blow up once we get them in the air. If anything, you’re early.” First Lieutenant Skidsprocket said with a smile, reaching to ruffle Gibbles’ hair. He raised an eyebrow as his arm was firmly grabbed and held at its place by the wrist. “Don’t do that.” Said Gibbles with a frown. First Lieutenant Skidsprocket lowered his arm and answered with a shrug, “If the lady insists that I won’t…”

“Don’t do anything like that before this damned war ends and you’ll get laid.”

“With whom?”

“Me.”

“Really?” asked First Lieutenant Skidsprocket with widened eyes, his voice betraying faint excitement.

“No.”

“Then why did you…?”

“To see the look on your face, bloody priceless.” Gibbles said with a chuckle as the two First Lieutenants marched into the hangar. As expected, the Storks were busy with the engines of their planes while the Ravenguards that were present were gathered in a circle playing some card game.

”Here comes the river card.” Second Lieutenant Flamecog announced and placed a fifth card on the hangar floor next to the four cards. It was the queen of clubs, which made both Pheobi and Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket grin.

“You lost, Twinky. Now gimme the money.” Pheobi said proudly as she tossed her two cards on the floor, a pair of queens, “Four of queens. I’ll bet twenty Silver that you don’t have a better hand.”

“You’re on, darling!” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket said as she slammed her two cards on the floor, king and ace of clubs. “Royal Flush, ma’am. You owe me 20 Silver.”

“Awwww… well, at least it was interesting.” Pheobi said with a giggle as she took twenty silver coins out of her money pouch and handed them to Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket.

“What’s the name of that one? Haven’t seen it played before.” Gibbles asked as the cards were collected and two cards were dealed to every pilot in the circle.

“Westfall Hold ‘em, apparently quite famous among humans.” Pheobi answered quickly before looking at her cards, “I’ll raise ten Silver.”

“I’ll call.” Second Lieutenant Flamecog said calmly, placing ten silver coins to the bunch. All the other pilots folded, leaving the five Silver blind to the pot. Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket took three cards and placed them neatly on the floor, two tens and an ace. Again the Captain smiled smugly while the Second Lieutenant kept his cool.

“Raising fifteen Silver.” Pheobi announced, carelessly throwing a heap of coins into the pot.

“I’ll call.” Second Lieutenant Flamecog said after a while of hesitation.

The fourth card was revealed, a three of diamonds.

“Check.”

“Check.”

The fifth card was revealed, a seven of clubs.

“Full House, three tens and a pair of aces.” Second Lieutenant Flamecog said with a faint smirk as he revealed his cards: a ten and an ace.

“Full House, three aces and a pair of tens.” Pheobi responded to this, revealing her pair of aces.

“Darn.” The Second Lieutenant said with a grin, “Well, ‘twas interesting.”

“I think I’m done playing, I just won back everything I’ve lost.” Pheobi said, neatly collecting the cards and putting them away. Soon Second Lieutenant Skyborne entered the hangar and every member of the Ravenguard was present. Sitting there in a circle while the repairmen worked like ants on mushrooms on the second squadron’s planes’ engines, some of them still showing signs of instability.

“So, you think there’ll be any real action out there?” Second Lieutenant Flamecog asked after the clearly bored Ravenguards had watched the farcical repairs for nearly fifteen minutes.

“Not sure. I believe I saw some anti-air weaponry down there. Also, I’ve never seen so many planes in a single base, so if they mobilise them all for defence we could get into a lot of trouble.” Gibbles answered, Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket nodding in agreement.

“So the odds will be what? Three to one?” First Lieutenant Skidsprocket asked, glancing at Gibbles.

“I’d say four to one, at least. If they get everything that flies airborne, it’ll easily be… I dunno, nine to one perhaps.” she answered with a shrug.

“How lovely, it’ll be the dogfight of the century if that happens.” said First Lieutenant Skidsprocket with a grin.

“Skidsprocket, be serious!” Pheobi said with an official tone, “Against odds like that and possible anti-air fire from the ground, we’re gonna be in deep shit and you know it damn well. You might be amused now, but I won’t tolerate failure once we head out there.”

“Relax, lass. It’s not like we’ll have anything to worry about, since the goblins will surely focus on the Storks if they know anything at all about defence against a bombing raid. Of course, one of ‘em falling will be bad too.”

“Which is where we come in, we’re only there to escort the Storks while they’ll bomb the place to oblivion and to neutralise any air threat.”

“So, what will we do if they really have operating anti-air ground weapons.” Second Lieutenant Flamecog asked, glancing at Pheobi.

“If the bombs have no effect on them, we’ll probably do some dive-volleys on them and hope we’ll take out their gunmen. And if there are no planes airborne or they’re heading down the runway, be ready to do a fly-by or two.” Pheobi answered, glancing at the second squadron’s planes. “I wonder if those buggers will be done soon, I wanna get this bombing over with before lunch.”

“Tight schedule?” Gibbles asked with a grin.

“I’m sure she’ll have a nice lunch and fuck her new boytoy until she forgets who she is.” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket said, also grinning as she nodded sagely. The guys blinked at this while Pheobi both blinked and blushed.

“Boytoy? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She eventually said, scratching the back of her head.

“I demand you to tell me all about it, Pheobi dear.” Gibbles said, winking at Pheobi.

“Gah, stop teasing me!”

“But we love teasing you! You always fall for it and go ballistic.” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket said with a giggle, shifting herself closer to Pheobi and cuddling up against her. “You know we all really love you. Don’t you, Captain?”

“Get off me, you crazy woman!” Pheobi nearly screamed, pushing Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket away.

“Gibs, hold her still!” the Second Lieutenant commanded. Gibbles grinned as she grabbed Pheobi by her arms, firmly holding the desperately struggling Captain still. “Let go of me! LET GO!” Pheobi yelled, still trying to get out of Gibbles’ arms. The approaching Second Lieutenant made her fight even more for the escape she wanted, but her struggling and kicking was in vain. She calmed down in an instant as Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned in for a kiss. Still holding the Captain still, Gibbles raised an eyebrow at both the kiss and Pheobi’s sudden surrendering. As Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket ended the kiss and took a step back, Gibbles let go of her and also backed off. With a loud whimpering sound, the Captain fainted, falling on the dirty hangar floor with a faint thud. Giggling nervously, Gibbles and Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket glanced at the male Ravenguards, who just watched the event with widened eyes with most of the hangar crew.

“… Cool.” First Lieutenant Skidsprocket finally hawked out, the rest of the men briefly nodding in agreement.

Gibbles cleared her throat and raised her voice, “This little fragment of entertainment was brought to you by the Ravenguard! Thank you and good night! Now move along, there’s nothing to see here.”

The hangar crew winced at this, proceeding with their work while Gibbles knelt before the unconscious Pheobi and nudged her a little. “Not funny, Pheobi. Come on, wakey wakey!”

“Such is the power of love.” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket said with a giggle.

“Bloody brilliant…” Gibbles said with a sigh, “We’d better get her up and in condition to fly before those incompetent Storks get those wrecks of theirs sorted.”

“By the way, what they did a few days ago was probably the stupidest thing in the history of the Gnomish Air Force.” Second Lieutenant Flamecog said with a chuckle.

“You can say that again. Sending bombers to take care of goblin fighters, the buggers were begging for a beating. Those goblin fighters might be fragile and slow, but they have the firepower of four gnomish ones so they’re not to be taken lightly.”

“Wait a minute… how do you know all that?”

“Gnomish planes were never designed to be powerful, Flamecog. Us gnomes rely heavily on speed, agility and durability while the goblins ignore all that and concentrate nearly everything in their guns. Just take a look at your own plane, you were barely hit and you got so much damage that we even renamed the whole vessel after it. And just take a look at the line of bullet holes on your left wing, two inches to the right and you would’ve lost the engine. The goblin fighters might be a joke in a dogfight, but a volley made by two of their planes can send virtually anything down in flames as long as it hits.”

“But… I thought we were superior to them in every aspect.”

“Everything but firepower, really. Our planes are faster, they can turn 180 degrees nearly 50% faster and they can easily withstand the damage that can send a goblin plane down if it’s made cheaply. Bloody Nether Flamecog, you’re a Ravenguard! You’re supposed to know this stuff anyway.”

“… I am?” Second Lieutenant Flamecog asked, tilting his head.

“Uh… I don’t know… hey, why are you all looking oddly at me?” Gibbles asked, looking around at her amazed squad mates. During this conversation, Pheobi had woken up. She sat up shaking her head and said, “Shalia, the fact that you know something doesn’t automatically mean that everyone else does too.”

Gibbles looked over her shoulder only to have her face turned right back by a slap. “Guess I deserved that.” She said with a little sigh, glancing at the giggling Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket in the distance, who received a similar slap.

“Sorry to interrupt your sexy girl on girl action, but the Storks are ready to go.” A Captain in the distance yelled at the Ravenguard as the eight bombers were moved into the launchers.

“You heard the annoying bugger, into your planes everyone!” Pheobi yelled and sprinted to the Swordwind as the Ravenguards jumped into their cockpits and started up the engines with incredible haste. As the eight fighters were moved into the launchers, Pheobi’s voice raised in the radio. “Now, I don’t believe I have to tell you about the importance of this mission. I want each and every one of you to put 110% of yourself in this, we have a reputation to hold up! We’re the Ravenguard, so a lot is expected from us.”

“… Two, one, ignition!”

FIGHTERS LAUNCHED!

Part VI

A small flock of ravens croaked as it flew over the legion of goblins. It was just another morning to those carefree creatures, another day of work and the endless manufacturing of aircraft.

“FIRK!!!” a goblin next to an anti-air gun screamed out in anger. Receiving a tired “What now?” as an answer, he continued with the yelling. “We’ve been testing out this gun for two hours now and there’s something wrong in the aim! FIX IT!”

“… is the target dummy right in the crosshair when you’re firing it?” Firk asked tiredly, glancing at another target dummy being thrown in the air. The gunner tried his best, but was simply late with every shot.

“Of course, what did you think?! Now fix the aim or I’ll clobber ya good!”

“Have you ever heard of leading the target, you dumb fuck?!”

There was a silence, which was broken by all the alarm sirens going off. Chaos overwhelmed the whole area as panicking goblins tried to man the aircraft and the anti-air guns. Sixteen gnomish planes flew over the base and soon the whistling of bombs was resounding everywhere.

About five seconds later, 150 yards above


“HELL YEAH!”

“Right on the hangars!”

“Look at ‘em! At least two thirds of the planes are goners!”

As the bombers prepared to turn for another carpet-bombing, the fighters made a swift u-turn and took aim at the remaining planes and AA guns.

“Fire!” yelled Pheobi into the radio and all eight pilots pressed down their guns. The merciless volley ripped the remaining AA weaponry to shreds and a few of the remaining planes suffered minor damage. Gathering speed on the runway, the remaining twenty-five planes were finally airborne. The Ravenguard took another turn and approached the goblin aircraft from their left flank.

“Three to one, eh? I like them odds.” First Lieutenant Skidsprocket said in the radio, grinning in his cockpit.

“Shut up and keep firing!” was Pheobi’s angry response.

As the volley hit the fragile, already damaged planes, nearly half of them fell down or exploded in an instant. Sixteen survived to continue ascending, but the Ravenguards behind them were picking them out one by one, sending them down in flames with practised ease. As the remaining ten goblins reached the altitude of two hundred yards, three of them turned right and the rest turned left.

“I’ll take care of those, you take the big bunch.” Gibbles announced in the radio before turning right and pursuing the three planes. Squeezing the trigger, she sent out a burst, which completely destroyed the remaining engine on one plane and severely damaged the wing on another. One plane dropping and one losing altitude, Gibbles raised her aim to the last plane and pressed down her guns. The cockpit turned red as one of the bullets pierced through the pilot’s head, letting the plane enter a tailspin. Quickly punching open the small box next to her, Gibbles drew her GP Pistol mk. III, turned the plane sideways and aimed down at the goblin plane below her. The goblin pilot had finally gotten his plane to ascend, but it was too late now. Turning above the goblin aircraft, Gibbles cocked the pistol, took careful aim and fired a several times. Two misses and three hits, the left wing engine of the plane was hit and began smoking dangerously. The goblin panicked and pulled a certain lever in his cockpit, causing the flaming engine to fall off. Barely having the unbalanced plane under control, he soon was thrown into a tailspin by the shockwave of an exploding engine. Unsteady pieces of junk, why do those goblins even bother?

Recklessly shoving the pistol back into the box and slamming it shut, Gibbles looked down at the base before turning her plane back to a vertical position. What a massacre… there’s nothing left down there.

“Finklesprocket, how’s the trio doing?” Pheobi asked in the radio.

“Take a wild guess, Firesky.” Gibbles answered slyly.

“Right… well, let’s go back to base. One of the Storks is losing fuel so we’d better hurry.” Pheobi announced, and so the gnomish planes headed back south towards Gnomeregan.

As the sixteen planes safely landed and were dragged into the hangars, the pilots of the Second and the Fourth squadron just walked out of the hangar and scattered into the city while the Captains stayed behind to report the events with a proud smile on their faces.

Entering her home and catching her parents making out again, Gibbles frowned slightly. “With all that boinking and snuggling about, it really surprises me that I’m the only child.” Bibbie and Giorgio winced at this loud statement, practically jumping off each other and looking at Gibbles while gathering the clothes they had already removed.

“… Proceed,” said Gibbles, waving a hand dismissively before entering her room and starting to change from her pilot uniform to her common dress. Stepping out of the room and glancing to her right, Gibbles saw her parents clung to each other again. “Ugh, spare me…” she muttered to herself while sneaking outside and heading to the tavern to have a chat with First Lieutenant Skidsprocket and Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket, who were known to meet up for a pint after a mission.

Still in their uniforms, the two pilots were seemingly having a heated discussion when Gibbles walked in. “No, I don’t think it’s that misleading that we’re sitting here in our uniforms. It’s a war out there, you know.” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket said with a slight frown. “Sure, but it’s nowhere near our city. Us pilots and the ones in the Special Forces are pretty much the only ones participating in the whole thing,” answered First Lieutenant Skidsprocket.

“True, but is it really the right thing to do that we leave our fellow gnomes in ignorance about the events outside our city?” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket asked, raising an eyebrow. Gibbles sat down next to First Lieutenant Skidsprocket and cleared her throat. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a pilot, Twinklesprocket. But if you’re in the Special Forces, letting people think that you don’t exist is your job. Depending on your area of specialty, of course.”

“How do you know that, Finklesprocket?” asked Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket, nodding slowly as Gibbles tossed a small tag with a crosshair carved in it on the table. “I’m not only a pilot, I’m also in the Special Forces whenever needed.” Gibbles explained with a slight grin, “I’d tell you more about it, but… I’d have to kill you.”

“Judging by the engraving, you’re a sniper.” First Lieutenant Skidsprocket pointed out, tossing Gibbles’ sniper tag back to her. Nodding, she quickly hid the tag and leaned back on her chair. “But if anyone asks, we never had this conversation. Savvy?”

“Finky, do you think being in out uniforms is misleading to the public? Does it make people think that the war is rapidly moving our way and the orcs will be knocking on our doors soon?” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket asked.

“Nah, we’re pilots so it’s fine. We’re always sent far north to do stuff. However, the goblins are getting closer, no doubt about that. Last time they attacked they did reach Loch Modan before they were located and countered.”

“See, Skiddy? Even Gibs agrees with me.”

“Fine” the First Lieutenant murmured, “But it still intimidates the people, they might think that the enemy may be near because of us wandering the streets.”

“That’s not true.” Gibbles said cheerfully before raising her voice to a nearby pedestrian. “HEY! You there! Do you think that the goblins are coming because we’re here?”

“No, should I?” he answered in confusion, to which Gibbles answered, “Nope, just checking. Have a nice day.” Shrugging, the man turned and kept walking.

“See what I mean now?” Gibbles asked First Lieutenant Skidsprocket, grinning slightly.

“Okay, you proved your point…”

“Now, I need to be off.” Gibbles said with a faint sigh, looking at the clock. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t, that means that everything is allowed,” she said with a wink before hopping off the chair and walking off.

Opening the door of her house, Gibbles heard a soft moan. “Oh for the love of…” she muttered angrily while closing the door and heading to the closest restaurant for a snack.

One hour later


Gibbles entered her home. It was quiet, but Gibbles still noticed her parents’ clothes spread all over the living room. With that, she noticed her parents sleeping on the sofa, naked and still clung to each other. “… I guess that has to do,” she murmured while sneaking off into her room. It was late evening already, so Gibbles quickly changed to her nightgown, climbed into her bed, pulled the sheets over her head.

I really wonder why I’m the only child…

Part VII

Soaring the clear skies, Gibbles and Pheobi scouted the Hinterlands. It has been four days since they reduced the local goblin airbase to dust.

“It’s been quiet lately. I wonder if that was their only base of operations.” Pheobi said, scanning the battle scarred land with her eyes.

“That can’t be right, I’m sure we just gave them a good scare… hey, what’s tha-AAARGH!”

“Shalia? Shalia?! Damn you!” Pheobi screamed as she noticed the anti-air cannon on the ground and the Arathi Survivor going down in flames. Gibbles jumped out of the cockpit and Pheobi pressed down her guns, but the anti-air cannon’s gunner was faster, soon the Swordwind was going down aswell. Sprinting to the wreck as she landed, Gibbles quickly recovered her pistol and then sprinted to the remains of the Swordwind.

“Captain? You in there?” she asked calmly while grabbing Pheobi’s pistol and its three clips. Noticing the Captain in the cockpit, Gibbles panicked. She wasn’t moving, which made her fear for the worst. “Captain?! CAPTAIN?! PHEOBI FIRESKY! ANSWER ME!” Seeing that the Captain’s chest still moved, Gibbles let out a sigh of relief. After dragging the unconscious gnome out of the cockpit, the First Lieutenant sat down. Soon, her courage failed and she fell into tears. Why did this have to happen again?

Finally, Pheobi’s eyes slowly opened. “I’m… alive…” she whispered in amazement, tears of joy running down her cheeks. “That’s right, you’re alive. Why didn’t you use your parachute? You have it for a reason.” Gibbles said coldly, gazing off into the distance.

”Shalia? Is that you?” Pheobi asked as she sat up. As soon as she saw Gibbles, she almost jumped to her and wrapped her arms around her. “It IS you! You’re alive too, I’m so glad!”

“Calm down, woman! We need to drag ourselves back into Gnomeregan, and with you being hurt it’s not gonna be easy. Especially now, when we have to get there all the way from here. With you being hurt it’ll be even tougher, so we have to be vigilant the entire time. I’m glad we’re both alive too, but this is not the time to celebrate.”

“Uh, I see… so, what do we do now?”

“Well what do you think? We start walking.”

“But…”

“But nothing! Listen, I’ve been through this once, so I know darn well that we’re fighting for our lives down here. We’re behind enemy lines and I’m sure they have some sort of a checkout group on their way here as we speak. So for now, just be quiet and follow me, you got that?”

“Wait a minute… I’m the Captain, First Lieutenant Finklesprocket!”

“Well whoop-te-frickin’-doo. This isn’t the time to argue about authorities, Captain Firesky. If you want to stay here and get shot and/or raped by some sick-ass Goblin, be my guest. I’m gonna head back to Gnomeregan, and you’ll shut the hell up and follow me if you know what’s good for you!”

“I-uh… I understand… sorry, Shalia.”

“That’s more like it.” Gibbles said with a smile, throwing one of the two pistols to Pheobi. “Use that only if you really have to, we only have two extra clips each. And trust me: if we decide to blast our way to Gnomeregan, we’re gonna need at least twenty times that much. Also, the bang can and will draw attention, so we have to be extra careful at least until we reach the Wetlands.”

Pheobi nodded briefly, and so the journey to Gnomeregan began…

Seven hours later


“Shalia… I’m tired…” Pheobi whimpered as the two pilots walked towards Hillsbrad, they were almost there so Gibbles didn’t allow the poor Captain any rest yet. “I know, I am too. But we’re too close to Hillsbrad to stop now. Once we get there, we can rest. Hang in there, Pheobi. I know you can do it.”

Another hour or so passed, and the duo had finally gotten out of the Hinterlands. Hiding in a group of bushes, Gibbles and Pheobi allowed each other to just fall down on the soft grass, falling asleep nearly instantly.

In the morning, Gibbles woke up as she heard footsteps nearby. She drew her sword and took a look at the road from behind a nearby tree. Seeing a lone scout, she let out a sigh of relief and sneaked back to wake up Pheobi. A simple prod on the shoulder was enough to wake her. Quickly, Gibbles silently gestured Pheobi to follow her and so the two began travelling southeast towards Arathi. “Shalia, why…” Pheobi began speaking, but was immediately interrupted by a demanding “Shh!”

“Be quiet, I saw a scout on the road. There’s roughly a 30% chance that he’s looking for us.” Gibbles quickly explained.

“How do you know that?” Pheobi asked, tilting her head.

“I don’t, I pulled the percentage out of my arse. Anyway, we should avoid the roads from now on. Arathi isn’t that far away, but I know there’s several orcish outposts in our way.”

Nodding, Pheobi quietly followed her more experienced sister-in-arms. It was all new to this young Captain, so she spent most of the time taking in the facts: she was shot down not too long ago, she almost died in the crash, she was saved from the wreck by Gibbles and their struggle for survival has just begun. She could only admire how calm Gibbles was in the situation. Interrupting her thinking, Gibbles swiftly grabbed her by the arm and threw both her and herself to the ground. Groaning faintly, Pheobi lifted her head to see what’s going on. Right after noticing Gibbles press her head against the ground and throwing her hair over her body for camouflage, she saw a small group of trolls on the road. One of them stopped to sniff the air and quickly looked at the general direction of the two gnomes, but quickened up his pace to catch up with the rest of the group soon.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Gibbles and Pheobi nodded at each other and quietly continued their journey towards their beloved home…

Two days, four scouts and one camp later


“Shalia… I’m hungry…” Pheobi whimpered as the two pilots made their way through the highlands of Arathi. Soon, they stopped and hid in the midst of large rocks.


“Allright, I’ll see if I can get us something to eat. You stay here and try not to make any funny noises, okay?” Gibbles said, smiling faintly. As Pheobi nodded, Gibbles made her way to the highlands away from the road. Returning with a fistful of various berries and a few raptor eggs, she gathered a few pieces of wood and removed the clip of her pistol. Tilting her head, Pheobi watched curiously as the First Lieutenant opened one of the bullets and poured the gunpowder on top of a piece of wood. Using a match to light up the gunpowder, Gibbles had made fire nearly in an instant.

“I can see Stromgarde from here…” Pheobi said thoughtfully as Gibbles tried to cook the raptor eggs using Pheobi’s helmet as a kettle.

“Aye, another keep the Orcs burned down. Really, those humans are good for nothing.”

“Don’t say that, Shalia. They make great distractions!” Pheobi said with a giggle.

“Hmh, perhaps… okay, I need a test subject.” Gibbles said with a grin as she offered the helmet (now filled with boiling water and four raptor eggs) to Pheobi. The Captain carefully picked one of the eggs up, cracked and peeled off the shell and took a bite.

“… when did you learn to cook, Shalia?” she asked with a smile, munching happily on her cooked egg.

“I never did, and it tastes great because you’re too damn hungry to be picky on your food.” Gibbles said as she took two of the eggs for herself and gave the fourth to Pheobi. With this, she split the berries into two seemingly even groups and gave one of them to the Captain. Right after the two gnomes finished, Gibbles extinguished the fire and the two made their way southeast.

Two hours later

“Shalia, I’m hungry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes I a-…”

“SHH! Scout!”

The two gnomes jumped behind a nearby rock and drew their swords as a lone orc wandered down the road. Blinking, he looked at the rock Gibbles and Pheobi were hiding behind with raised eyebrows. Shrugging, he kept on walking. He was just about to walk past the rock as Pheobi managed to break a twig. The orc quickly looked at the rock only to notice Gibbles charging furiously at him. He drew his blade and tried to leap back and counter the attack, but he was a mere moment too late. As Gibbles slashed the orc’s throat open she landed on his left shoulderpad only to bounce back from the point from which she charged at her now defeated foe. Panting, Gibbles flipped her long, brown hair back and sheathed her sword.

“That was far too close for comfort.” She said with a little frown. Pheobi just nodded before they dragged the corpse into a nearby bush without saying a word.

Two hours and three dead scouts later, Gibbles and Pheobi were closing to an orcish camp, which was seemingly preparing a large group of troops for a major operation.

Better not to get in their way.

Part VIII

Gnomeregan hangar, Ravenguard section. Meanwhile

“There must be something you can do, damnit! Two of your best pilots are out there somewhere and you aren’t even gonna send a scout to see if they’re still alive?!” Bibbie screamed at the Commander, who had just walked in to the scene. The remaining members of the Ravenguard were already covering behind crates in fear.

“Take it easy, Mrs. Finklesprocket. We’ve had the Eaglehearts search for them three times and we still haven’t found them. Another search party will be sent in about an hour anyway.” The Commander explained with a surprisingly calm voice.

“And where have you been looking?” Bibbie asked, calming down a little.

“Mostly the Hinterlands.”

“IDIOTS!” the Sergeant Major yelled at the Commander. “You know better than I do that they’re probably on their way back, and considering that they’ve had three days now, they should be reaching the Wetlands soon!”

“Umm… Mrs. Finklesprocket? I-I could do a little search around Arathi if you’d think it’s a good idea.” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket suggested from behind the ammunition crate she was hiding behind.

Nodding, Bibbie looked down on the ground and let out a sad sigh. As a tear fell down her cheek, she quickly grabbed her helmet and marched out.

“Mrs. Finklespro-… ?”

“I’M FINE! LEAVE ME ALONE!” the armoured gnomish woman screamed with a weepy voice, running out of the hangar.

“Ragehearts…” the Commander muttered to himself with a faint smile, “Never showing their weaknesses to others… Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket, put on your helmet and get into your plane, you’ll be scouting Arathi in fifteen minutes!”

“Yes, sir!”

Outside, Bibbie had hidden in a narrow alley. She leaned against the wall and wept silently, trying her best to not be noticed. After a while, she managed to pull herself together. “Big girls don’t cry.” She said with a sigh, putting on her helmet to hide her tearful eyes and heading home. Out of all people on all of Azeroth, why does my Gibbles have to go through this? Back at her apartment, Bibbie carelessly threw her armour around the bedroom. At last, she was alone so she didn’t have to hold back her tears anymore. Even if a person would enter the apartment, it would be her husband Giorgio, the only person she could trust with her emotions. Taking a bottle of tequila from a closet, Bibbie sat down at the table and took a long swig without even bothering to get a glass. Coughing faintly, she slammed the bottle against the table and wept.

Back at the Arathi Highlands, five hours later.

“Shalia, how close are we to the Wetlands?” Pheobi asked as the two gnomes snealed southeast.

“You’re looking at the border, Pheobi.” Gibbles answered quickly, pointing at a small orcish camp. “Looks like the only way to the Wetlands is through these buggers, check your gun. There’s only seven of them, so blasting our way through them shouldn’t be that troublesome.”

“S-seven? Shalia, are you crazy?!” Pheobi asked with a voice of utter shock.

“You do remember how powerful these pistols are, right? Just aim for the chest and fire, you ought to be fine.”

Nodding, the two gnomes checked their pistols. Seeing that they functioned perfectly, the two gnomes let out a furious warcry as they ran towards the five orcs and two trolls guns blazing. Two of the orcs and one troll falling, the small group grabbed their blades and counterattacked. As the two gnomes reloaded their pistols and emptied the clips at the group, the three remaining orcs fell. The troll, however, leapt high and threw his spear towards Pheobi. As Gibbles shot the troll in mid-air, she looked to her right and her eyes widened. The spear had rather severely wounded Pheobi’s left side, and the Captain collapsed on the grass, groaning out her pain.

Not noticing the plane that flew above the two, Gibbles ran to Pheobi and pulled her up. “Pheobi, is it serious? How bad are you hurt?” she asked calmly, shooting the troll corpse to the head, just to make sure he’s dead. Coughing, Pheobi nodded and tried to stand up only to notice how much she was now dependent on Gibbles’ support to stay up.

“It’ll be fine, we’ll get to Gnomeregan alive! You’d better not die on me until then, you hear me?” Gibbles said nearly stuttering, her head full of mixed emotions. Pheobi nodded weakly, leaning herself against Gibbles and trying her best not to fall as she was nearly dragged over the border into the Wetlands.

Back in Gnomeregan, one and a half hours later

Giorgio entered his apartment, sighing heavily. Worrying about his only child had made him virtually unable to work and his boss had screamed at him… again. Noticing his wife, he sighed again. It’s the third time this week already. Picking up Bibbie, who was now passed out, and carrying her to the bed, Giorgio looked out of the window with a thoughtful expression on his face.

The hangars, Ravenguard section, meanwhile

“They’re alive! THEY’RE ALIVE!” Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket yelled in tears of happiness as she ran to the Commander.

“Excellent work, where were they and are they hurt?”

“The Captain appeared to be wounded, I don’t know how severely. I saw them at the border of Khaz Modan and Lordaeron, so they’ve probably entered the Wetlands by now.”

“Good work, Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket. Take the rest of the day off.”

“Yes sir.”

The Commander smiled to himself, at last some good news. “Allright, time to inform the mother lion…” he said with slight laughter as he began walking towards the Finklesprockets’ apartment.

The lion mother will be happy to hear this…

Part IX

The Wetlands, three days later

Walking with grim determination and nearly carrying her best friend, Gibbles checked her watch. Oh great, the bloody thing’s broken. “Pheobi, mind if I take your watch? Mine’s not working.” Feeling Pheobi’s chin touch her shoulder in a nod, Gibbles stopped, swiftly removed both Pheobi’s watch and her own. “Shalia…” Pheobi whimpered with a faint cough, “I’m hungry…”

“I know, Pheobi, so am I. I guess we’re close enough to Loch Modan to take a little break now.” Gibbles said with a relaxed sigh as she helped Pheobi sit down on a rock and began searching her bag. Pulling out a fruit she didn’t recognise but had found edible during her last crash journey and handing it to Pheobi, Gibbles allowed herself to collapse on the wet grass and took a deep breath.

“Sorry to mention this now, but have you been gaining weight lately? Dragging you is honestly becoming a little painful.” Gibbles asked with a little chuckle, taking another fruit out of the bag and beginning to eat it. Soon, she heard a slight giggle. “You’re amazing, Shalia… even in situations like this you can joke around.” Pheobi said with a weak voice, soon later gasping of pain and grabbing her side.

“It’s the only thing keeping me sane,” Gibbles answered to this, “The last time I crashed, I made enough jokes to fill out four stand up routines.”

“So… why did you start this late now?”

“Because I have some company this time.”

“I see…”

Finishing their oddly tasty meals, the two gnomes continued their travel towards Gnomeregan…

Two days later


Finally reaching the snowy basin of Dun Morogh, Gibbles noticed a patrolling mountaineer nearby. “Oi! You there!” she yelled, catching the mountaineer’s attention in an instant. “Aye? What kin ah do fer ye lasses?” he asked, and considered his question a little stupid once he took a better look at Pheobi.

“Well, you could either carry Captain Firesky here for me or find us means of transportation.”

“Ah kin tell ye tha’ ye cannae find no transports ‘ere fer now, all of ‘em things are taken fer th’ war effort. But tell ye wha, ah’ll ‘elp ye ta take this ‘ere hurt lass to Gnomeregan, aye? Save ye at least a wee bit o’ trouble.” The dwarf asked with a friendly smile on his face.

“Allright, let’s get going. She’s not getting any better before we get her to the hospital… wait, why not Ironforge? It’s closer.” Gibbles answered, raising an eyebrow.

“ ‘Cause them caregivers at th’ ol’ ‘Forge wouldn’t be noticin’ a wee lass like ‘er, better for ‘er ta be wit’ ‘er own kind.”

“I see. Well, let’s get going before she freezes to death. And consider that an order from a First Lieutenant of the Gnomish Air Force!” Gibbles commanded and began nearly running down the road to Gnomeregan.

“Aye aye, ma’am!” the dwarf answered with a slightly excited voice, easily catching up the young gnome with the wounded Captain in his arms.

A few hours passed… a few very long hours…

Finally reaching the entrance of the infamous high-tech city, the dwarf wished the two GAF pilots well and marched off. Gibbles took a firm hold of Pheobi and the two walked inside.

“MEDIC! I NEED A MEDIC!” Gibbles screamed into the street, and soon there were a lot of people offering help to this dynamic duo, which only a moment ago was surviving on its own. As the two were carried to the hospital on stretchers with a pace that can only be described as effective, Gibbles heard Pheobi let out a weak cough. After a while of convincing, Gibbles was soon back on her own two feet so that she could run to the Captain. For a reason she couldn’t figure on the spot, she just took Pheobi’s hand to her own and looked at her, a small tear running down her cheek.

“Sh-Shalia… why the long face?” Pheobi asked with a weak voice, looking up at Gibbles with a soft smile on her lips. Gibbles simply shook her head and slowly walked out after getting yelled at by the doctor. At the doorway, she heard Pheobi trying to shout at her, but it was merely comparable to speaking out loud. What she said made Gibbles feel safer as she went home to say hello to her worried parents.

“I’m not… going anywhere, Shalia… you hear me?”

Those were her last words.

Part X

She opened the door. She heard the quiet weeping in the distance and her heart skipped a beat. It had been over a week since she walked through this very door, confident and determined. Now, all she heard was her longing mother. Sighing silently, she let small tear ran down her cheek. Walking became more difficult with every step; she was hurt, she was utterly exhausted and she didn’t know if she really wanted to see her mother crying. Her feet felt like lead by the time she looked around the corner… and saw her. For a few minutes she just stared at this woman. One of the strongest women she knew was now weeping in the living room; an extremely rare sight especially when one takes into consideration that she was… a Rageheart.

“I know she’s alive… I just know she’s alive…” Bibbie quietly said to herself, sobbing. Gibbles slowly walked to her, being certain that she’d notice eventually. She didn’t. Smiling a little, Gibbles took that last step and hugged her mother from behind. Bibbie’s eyes widened as she slowly turned her head and recognised her daughter. There was a long silence.

“Gibbles, I…” Bibbie finally started, but a shake of Gibbles’ head silenced her. She simply turned herself around and returned the hug, both gnomes bursting into tears.

For what seemed like hours, they embraced.

“It’s… I… I’m… so glad to see you, Gibbles.” Bibbie whimpered while breaking the hug.

“You too, mom.” Her daughter sighed faintly as she sat down on one of the nearby chairs and looked out of the window. “What’s wrong?” Bibbie asked her, tilting her head a little.

”I’m sorry, it’s just… I’m still worried about Pheobi.”

At that very moment, a man, seemingly a physician of some sort, marched into the building and looked at the exhausted, bloodstained pilot. “Pilot Finklesprocket, I presume?” he asked. Gibbles nodded and the man continued, “I was ordered to deliver you the message that the leader of your squadron, Captain Pheobi Fireky, didn’t make it. I trust that you will bring these news to her family and friends. My condolences.” And as quickly as he arrived, he was gone to the streets.

Looking as if she’d just been shot in the chest, Gibbles fell off the chair, crying. Why… by the High Tinker, WHY?! Struggling to get back up even with her mother’s help, Gibbles just wept uncontrollably. It was a horrible sight to see a Rageheart that devastated. Clinging to her mother once more, she tried to stop crying but couldn’t. And I’m the one who has to bring Pheobi’s folks the bad news… oh, great. Sobbing, she slowly let go of Bibbie and walked into her room, slamming the door shut.

A few hours later, Gibbles still refused to leave her room. It was as if that once so cheerful and energetic gnome had lost all her will to live. As if she never wanted to step outside the house again. That’s what they probably think, but let them. In truth, she only needed those few hours by herself. By that time, she had already pulled herself together to leave for telling Pheobi’s parents the bad news… or rather, pulled together as much of herself as she needed at that time…

The apartment of Celeste and Pfil Firesky, twenty minutes later.

There was a knock on the door, the cheerful voice of Celeste Firesky answered.

“Yes?”

“It’s me, Gibbles.”

”Gibbles? Well come on in! Long time no see. Would you like some coffee?”

”Uhm… yes, please.”

So she still doesn’t even have a clue… this won’t be easy.


“Umm, Celeste…” Gibbles started unsteadily, still gathering her courage.

“Yes, dear?”

“I have some… not so good news, concerning…” she gulped, “Pheobi.”

The smile vanished from the older gnome’s face. She looked much like Pheobi, only with a few freckles here and there and much longer hair. “So… she’s dead, isn’t she?”

Allowing a little tear fall down her cheek, Gibbles simply nodded. Sooner than she could react, Celeste wrapped her arms around her and began crying on her shoulder. Knowing nothing else to do at that time, Gibbles slowly hugged Celeste in an attempt to soothe her. She tried to speak but couldn’t. It could make things worse if she said something, she didn’t want to risk it.

“She was still so young… she had her whole life ahead of her.” Celeste whimpered, finally letting go of Gibbles. Shortly, she apologised, “Sorry, that was inappropriate of me… sorry, Gibbles.”

“Don’t be,” Gibbles said hastily, “There’s nothing inappropriate for mourning a loss this great.” Nodding, Celeste walked to the table and slumped down on the chair. She held her tears back and looked out of the window, trying to be brave. It as Gibbles’ statement of reality which caused her to give in to her grief and fall into tears again.

“… Celeste, holding everything back is my job, it simply doesn’t suit you. If you want to cry, cry,” she stated, leaning up against the wall. “By the way, where’s Pfil? Working?” Celeste nodded and kept crying, Gibbles started feeling a little awkward. I though I’d be out by now. “I… I believe you need to be by yourself for a while, so-umm… I’ll just get goi-“

“No, please stay!” Celeste exclaimed, having Gibbles nearly jump in fright. I should report back to the commander… oh well, that dummie can always wait. Slowly walking close to Celeste, Gibbles beckoned her with a little hand gesture and offered her a shoulder. Celeste nearly collapsed as she leapt off the chair, gratefully accepting the offer. Putting one arm around her and stroking her hair with the free hand, Gibbles closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I guess I’m better at this than I thought I’d be.

A long while, nearly an hour, passed before Celeste finally stopped crying. Sitting down on the chair only to burst into tears again, she looked at Gibbles and, for a second or so, smiled. “Thank you, Gibbles. Thank you for being there for me.”

“Uhm… n-no problem, it was… the least I could do.” Gibbles answered hastily, seeming a little embarrassed. Sneaking out as soon as she could, she began walking towards the hangars. What was that just now? It was just like the time I tried to comfort Pheobi when her kitten died. Am I losing it?

After fourty-seven minutes of walking, a quick visit to the physicians for a check-up and causing two major ‘strider crashes (one of which was on purpose), Gibbles reached the GAF hangars. Looking down the landing strip, she smiled to herself. Home sweet home. Not delaying her arrival any longer, she marched into the second hangar, Ravenguard section. As she expected, the six pilots were gathered for some chit-chat, as they always did after virtually any mission.

“So… what did I miss?” she asked with a grin, waiting for the others’ reaction. As they turned and recognised Gibbles some gasped, some blinked repeatedly and some did both (and Second Lieutenant Twinklesprocket fainted, getting back up after ten seconds or so).

“Finklesprocket, I was told you were both severely injured. Are you sure you’re in the condition to come here?” First lieutenant Skidsprocket asked with a worried expression. Gibbles was still looking like she’d been to the Nether and back, twice. Her hair was messy, her uniform had minor cuts here and there accompanied by a lot of bloodstains and dirt. She looked tired, very tired. It could be seen in her eyes that she would do virtually anything for a bath and at least 18 hours of sleep.

“Yes, I’m fine. I was told that I’m not allowed to even go near a plane for at least a week, so you’ll still have to do missions without me. Pheobi, however, was a li-“ Gibbles started, but she was cut in the middle of a sentence by the First Lieutenant hugging her tightly. “It’s damn good to have you back, kid!” he exclaimed, blinking back a tear.

“Uh, Skidsprocket… calm down.” Gibbles murmured first, but after a while she gave in and returned the hug.

“So… what were you saying about Pheobi?” First Lieutenant Skidsprocket asked as he finally broke the hug. “We already ordered two new planes from the war factory, but they’ve only sent us one so far.”

Gibbles sighed sadly, “It’s allright… we’ll only need one.” All the Ravenguards blinked back a tear, Skidsprocket excepted. “No… it can’t be… don’t tell me that she…”

“Yes, Skidsprocket… the Ravenmistress is dead. There was nothing the physicians could do. A troll spear damaged one of her lungs… that’s my guess anyway, I saw her get hit by it.”

There were a few minutes of absolute silence, it was the least the Ravenguard could do to pay their respects to their dead leader.

“She’ll be buried tomorrow, I’ll personally punish any one of you who dares to be absent.” Gibbles said sternly before turning around and walking home. She was yelled after, to stop, to come back, but she ignored them. I need a moment by myself now…

Back in her parents’ apartment she took a quick look around. No one around, good. She slowly removed her uniform and turned hot water on in the bathtub. If the higher-ups come disturbing me now I’ll shoot one of ‘em. Turning the water off and entering the bath, Gibbles let out a relaxed sigh. By her usual standards the water was too hot, but she was too exhausted and tired to care about that now. She glanced at the clock, it was half past eight. So… tired… She shifted into a more comfortable position, allowed her head to drop down on her right shoulder and fell asleep.

Twenty minutes later, Bibbie came come. She noticed the trail of pieces of her daughter’s pilot uniform leading to the bathroom and started collecting them. Not exactly how I raised her but… I’ll make an exception this time. Noticing Gibbles sleeping in the tub, she smiled. A bottle of tequila next to that and it’d be just like me. Lifting her up and quickly drying her with the nearest towel, Bibbie carried her daughter to her bed, tucked her in and then simply left her there.

At a graveyard outside of Gnomeregan, seventeen hours (sixteen of which Gibbles slept) later

As Gibbles expected, all of the Ravenguards were present in Pheobi’s funeral. Her parents were there too, Pheobi was, after all, a family friend of both the Finklesprockets and the Ragehearts. Looking to her right, Gibbles recogniced Pfil and Celeste, the rest were probably other family members. Further away there was another funeral taking place. This was, however, not the time to think about things like that. Gibbles turned to look at the grave as the gnome-sized coffin was lowered into it by the remaining Ravenguards. She would have been one of those six, but the physicians didn’t allow it. It pained her heart to just watch and not act, she was struggling to hold herself still. Finally, the other Ravenguards seated and someone raised and began walking towards the grave, probably to give out a speech. Gibbles nodded to her mother, leapt up and nearly ran in front of the grave before the unknown male got there. He stopped and raised both eyebrows at this interruption, but allowed it, seeing as he simply stood still.

“Good afternoon, family members of the Firesky family, the Ravenguard and Pheobi’s friends alike. We all know why we’re here, so I’ll skip the unnecessary blabber. I am Gibbles Finklesprocket, a subordinate and close friend of Pheobi. She was an aspiring and an encouraging person. A true leader to look up to.” Gibbles paused for a few seconds to see if her mother was doing as they planned. She was, so Gibbles continued, “As one of the pilots serving under her, I also knew this woman as the Ravenmistress. As I mentioned earlier, she was our leader. The Captain of the fourth fighter squadron, the Ravenguard. But that was only the Pheobi we knew inside a fighter cockpit. Pheobi and I were best friends outside the hangars. I don’t believe that I’ll ever meet anyone as sweet and innocent as she was. I was amazed at how she could switch from that cute girl next door to the best airborne tactician and squad leader of the GAF in an instant. Fifty-seven aerial kills, nine of which were zeppelins, thirty-five major dogfights and three kills as a pilot survivor marks her as the person we all should remember her as: a war heroine. Of course, I’m sure many of you knew her as that sweet, cheerful girl with a bright smile on her lips no matter the situation. I don’t know of you wanted to hear any of this, but here I am, giving you the point of view of a First Lieutenant of the Gnomish Air Force. I honestly would’ve never expected that Pheobi would be the first one of us to be claimed by this ongoing war, and many times I’ve thought that it should’ve been me and not her. But enough with the war tales. As I’ve held this little speech of mine, you have all been given one shot of what used to be Pheobi’s favourite drink: the Special Reserve of the Hawk & Cog Tavern. I know this would’ve been what she wanted us to do in this funeral.”

Proves how bad I am at giving speeches.

As Bibbie walked to Gibbles and gave her the last shot and the half full bottle, she turned around and poured what was still in the bottle into the grave. “This one’s on me, Pheobi,” she whispered before turning around again and holding the shot of Special reserve high up in the air. “To Captain Pheobi Firesky, the best damned pilot to ever roam the skies of Azeroth!” she exclaimed with tears running down her cheeks before she emptied the shot glass and slammed it against the nearby table. Soon after, everyone else followed her example. Gibbles smiled faintly as she walked back to her seat and sat down. Perfect.

Taking a look ten minutes later, there was still no one else willing to give out a speech. Some had already left the graveyard, some were standing near the grave to pay their respects, each in their own way.

“I don’t care how long they’ll be here, we’ll be the last ones to leave. Understood?” Gibbles whispered to the other Ravenguards.

“Yes, ma’am.” Was their hurried response.

Two hours (and many tears) later

The seven remaining Ravenguards stood in a line on front of the grave. A quick hand signal by Gibbles triggered what was about to happen.

All seven drew their pistols and aimed them in the air, three simultaneous shots were fired and the pistols were holstered, all done in perfect synchronisation. Finally, they saluted the grave, turned around and walked away.

As soon as she got home, Gibbles simply marched to her room, quickly undressed, climbed into the bed and pulled the sheets over her head.

Need… more… sleep…
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Hekate » 21.05.2008, 09:41

Pakollinen ylipituussuoja
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja JUOPPO » 21.05.2008, 13:28

Sä oot saatana kirjailia. :o
En mä enään osaa sanoa mitään muuta, kun vedit mut hiljaseksi!

Täyden kympin tarina.
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Lonelow » 27.05.2008, 20:50

Hei pliis camaan kirjota suomee : D
Mutta hei loistava kirjoittaja olet! :O
(Pakko tunnustaa, en millään jaksanut lukea kokonaan, koska englannintaitoni ovat liian surkeat tekstillesi. =D)
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Wcp » 08.06.2008, 20:42

Hieno tarina, mutta varmasti olisi hienompi, jos tajuaisin joka asian. Suurimman osan tajuan, mutta välillä jotkut jutut lipsahtelee ohi.
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Gibbs » 12.08.2008, 09:25

en nyt tiiä en jaksanu lukee kun puolee välii mut iha hyvä
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Expert » 28.12.2008, 00:47

Liian pitkä.
Englanniksi :(

Mutta ratee 5-
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Lahis » 28.12.2008, 22:44

Expert kirjoitti:Liian pitkä.
Englanniksi :(

Mutta ratee 5-

/facepalm

ei näin, ei todellakaan näin...
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja LightOne » 31.12.2008, 16:07

Expert kirjoitti:Liian pitkä.
Englanniksi :(

Mutta ratee 5-


Englanniksi tarinan voi julkaista missä tahansa, kun suomenkielelisenä sen voisi julkaista vain suomalaisilla foorumeilla. Yleensä kaikki foorumeita selailevat osaavat sen verran englantia, että tuosta tarinasta pitäisi ainakin suurin osa ymmärtää.
Pituutta ei todellakaan ole liikaa, jos sanot tuota liian pitkäksi, et ole lukijaksi mikään.

Noin huonon arvosanan antamiseen sinun pitäisi hieman perustella asioita, sillä tuo on hieman haparalta pohjalta haettua. :D

Muuten, melko hyvä tarina on ainakin tähän saakka. Odotan innolla jatkoa.
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Tukkimies » 29.07.2010, 01:06

Perkele sentään... Veti iha hiljaseks. Hyvin tehty. Puhtaan kympin stoori.
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Vesinokka » 29.11.2010, 17:57

10, ei täs muuta :lol:
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Re: Tarina: Live to Fly, Fly to Live (Englanniksi) [Kesken]

ViestiKirjoittaja Kyösti Pöysti » 07.06.2011, 08:05

Oleks sää joku englantilainen kirjailija :o
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Paluu Tarina- ja Runoiluteltta

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