[Feathered_IV]

SoW Dynamic Campaign, July 1940.

Another damned convoy patrol! Rotten weather too. You've been flying the default campaign from the beginning. Determined to follow it as closely as possible to real events. Trouble is, you're getting to be as browned off as the real pilots were. There is a big fight coming and you know it. You just want to get on with it and to Hell with all this damned mucking about.

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Too late again... As you arrive over the convoy you can see that they've just taken a beating. One merchantman is listing badly and falling behind. An armed trawler is still blazing away at something which has already fled into the mist towards France. Ahead of the convoy, a parachute decends slowly. In the weak sunlight you can see the blue of the pilot's uniform, contrasting against the grey-green of the water.

As you circle, you continue to watch the parachute. It's getting much lower now. One ship has changed course slightly to meet it.

Neat. I wonder if it will stop to pick him up?

Suddenly you see something else. Low down and moving fast, a 109 streaks through the convoy running flat out for home. As you fumble with the saftey catch and reflector sight, you take your eye off it for a moment. When you look again you see that it's altered course slightly and is heading straight for the parachute. If he doesn't look out he... My God!

The 109 fires into the parachutist with everything it's got. The pilot is knocked sideways with the force of it and a moment later the chute folds. Whats left begins to fall much, much faster.

The 109 banks slightly. In a moment it disappears into the mist on the other side of the convoy before ships guns can even track it. It's gone... Hopeless for you to follow.

You are shocked. Absolutely shaken by what you just saw. This was supposed to be a game. You've played these dynamic campaigns for years, but never, ever have you seen something as cold blooded as that. That was more like murder than anything else. The 109 pilot went out of his way to kill him.

For the first time, you find yourself thinking of the AI pilots as individuals. You wonder who the RAF bloke was. A moment later, you wonder who the Luftwaffe pilot was too. Oh yes. You'd really like to know who he was. If you see bastard again...

A glance at the petrol gauge. Time to go.

There is a big fight coming and you know it. This is not a game anymore...