Meeting in the Hangar (Riley, Pilots of the 3ID)

[MAJ Patterson]

It was a breezy afternoon, the open hanger was quite nice being in the shade as the wind whipped through it. Patterson had come down to meet with his newly formed Delta Company. He had never worked with aviation before, this should be a great learning experience. Lt. Riley was coming to join them as well, even though he was soon to be transferred to start up another Allied unit of his own. Patterson was proud that he was able to take the Lieutenant under his wing, even though it had been for such a brief period of time. Maybe they will have their own billiard room full of tables. He thought with a small smile as he recalled his first meeting with the man.

Patterson had brought some packets with him, just some paperwork, mostly telling about the unit and their short term objectives as a whole. In the back of the papers was a form to fill out, it was regarding a will, just in case it might be unfortunately needed in the future. He placed them on the small table that had been set up. The sound of planes taking off was a nice change of pace from the normal "too quiet" mixed with brief moments of combat. Patterson sat back in his chair as he thought back on Private Macier, Patterson might not be able to sit here today had it not been for him. They had some good times together, but that was in the past and it was time to move on.

[Nathan Whyte]

Nathan and his wingman - Lewis Griffin - were in the hanger tinkering with their Spitfires. Nathan slammed the cover of his planes Browning machine gun wich he had been reloading and jumped off the wing, before saluting his Captain.
"Lewis has just gone to get some drinks, as for Stefan..... I've no idea. We'll be ready to use these any day now, give Hitler something to worry about." As the captain placed the packets he had brought on the table and settled into his seat, Nathan turned back to his plane and pulled himself up so he was looking in the cockpit and checked that the plane was ready for take off at a moments notice. "I expect the others will be here soon enough," he called over his shoulder.

[stefan]

Stefan entered the hangar bluntly and hung his coat clumsily on an overhead hook. The hangar was full of activity, a multitude of eager young pilots staring up at him. Stefan suddenly realised that he was the most senior pilot in the room. He flushed bright red.

The Pole spotted two figures he vaguely recognised in the far corner. He had exchanged formalities a number of times with the Captain but wasn't sure whether he could approach him so casually. Patterson seemed to be in the middle of a discussion with the young Corporal Knight, who Stefan had seen many times before around the barracks. He had never had a chance to speak with him properly though. Ah, well. No time like the present.

Stefan shyly approached the two figures and nodded respectively towards the most dominative of the two.

"Captain Patterson, sir," he saluted formally, before turning towards Nathan.

"So, corporal," he grinned in a thick Polish accent. "How has the wind been treating you?"

[Nathan Whyte]

Nathan extended his hand to the Stefan. "Ahh, Flight Sergeant, I don't believe I've had the pleasure." Nathan jerked his head to the trainees that were scurrying around as Lewis walked over with a mug of tea in each hand. Take five minutes off guys. Shall we start then, Captain?"

[riley]

First Lieutenant Shawn Riley followed closely at his Captain's side as they entered the Hangar. Riley looked around in awe at the mighty flying machine. He always wanted to just fly away after his parent's death. Something about the sky was compelling to the Irish-American. Perhaps he would get his chance to fly among the stars some day soon though. Word had it that he was going to be transferred into a brand-spanking new unit. The Airborne. Apparently this new division were going to be a crazy group of soldiers diving out of airplanes. Riley would bring honor to the Airborne.

Although he hadn't served long with the 3rd ID or Captain Patterson, he felt a bit closer to the man. A bit of a bond. They were sort of friends...sort of like an old married couple. Sometimes they'd be nice and friendly to each other and the next was bickering. Riley chuckled at the thought, and laughed a little bit harder about his first encounter with the Captain. That meeting didn't go well...at all. Hell if every time he saw the Captain it went the same way as that first day, he'd be so happy to be the first nut to jump out of an airplane...

As the two officers approached some of the pilots they were meeting with it seemed as if Riley faded out of view. In the next moments two pilots, Nathan Knight and Stefan Varek greeted the Captain without even as much as glancing over to Riley. The Lieutenant shrugged and gave a quick salute and greeted quietly, awaiting for his Captain to speak up.

[MAJ Patterson]

Patterson watched as the pilots approached, he rendered a salute back to them and put his hand out if to say have a seat. Good Morning gentlemen. We have all not been properly introduced, well I have with my First Lieutenant here.." He cut his eyes over and with a small wink to Riley it faded. "...but as far as I know, the rest of us are strangers." He pulled out his chair and took his seat. As he did he looked around briefly as most of the men were clearing out of the hangar, smart move on their part. "Normally I am pretty formal about such things but the addition of our Aviation Company, Delta, has me in a bit of a good mood. Let's not mess that up alright?" He glanced at Riley fast enough that if he wasn't already looking at the Captain he would have never known. He had no bad taste in his mouth towards the man, he let things go rather easily, but he did like to give him a hard time none the less.

"If each of you would be so kind as to introduce yourselves to the rest of us, we can get down to business. I know it is kind of early, no need to stand unless you feel the need. Lieutenant, why don't you start us off?" He turned in his seat and folded his legs with his hands on top, folded as well as he looked upon his Lieutenant.

[riley]

The gracious Captain Patty finally announced Riley, who just smiled and waved, before beginning to talk about the Aviation Company. He made a smug remark about not ruining his mood and then took a glance at Riley for a split-second. Riley had witnessed the event out of the corner of his eye and grinned a little. What could he say? He was a natural at ruining the Captain's mood. It wasn't much of a hard task, seeing as the Cap' loved to give Riley such a hard time. It was a bit enjoyable to do, except when you really pissed him off. Oh that was not such a pretty sight...not a pretty sight at all....

Introductions came next. Patterson asked Riley to start the introductions up. Riley looked over at his Captain and nodded a bit. Then he glanced over noticing one of the two pilots to be Corporal Nathan Knight, one of the men he had shared a tent with some time ago. "Well lets see. I've already met this fine fellow a while ago when he first arrived, but hell I'll give you a shake anyways," Riley stuck his hand out and shook hands with the Corporal. "And who might you be Flight Sergeant?" He questioned extended his hand out with a smile, ready to shake hands with another pilot.

[Nathan Whyte]

OOC: Seeing as Stefan appears to be away, I think it'll be best to just skim over him towards me. For all it is, I'll pretend you said something along the lines of "How are you today, Corporal?"

Nathan took the hand and shook it firmly. "I'm fine today, Lieutenant, a bit annoyed with the fact it always seems to be raining in England, but oh well." he responded. Seconds after, he realised there was still oil on his hands, and subtly tried wiping them on his overalls, relishing in the thought of what the Lieutenant might do when he realised the stain. Nathan ran his other hand through the stuble on his chin as he waited for the Captain to continue.

[MAJ Patterson]

OOC: Stefan, if you should return, feel free to jump back in, I'm just gonna play it as you were the silent type and still shook hands.

IC: Patterson listened and watched as the Lieutenant seemed to already know one of the pilots and the pilot shook the Lieutenant's hand. "Well I'm Captain Henry F. Patterson and I'm the Brigade Commander for the Third Infantry Division, Third Armor Brigade, I wish I had brought someone to give you guys a class on introductions but I guess I will learn your names later down the road." Well that good mood didn't last long. He thought as he stood and glanced at each of the men. How hard can it be to give your name? How hard can it be to state your own rank? He muttered to himself as he thought, mouthing his own name and rank, shrugged his shoulders and figured it was time to move on.

"The table behind you guys there has coffee and a few biscuits on it, help yourselves. Corporal, could you grab me a cup of coffee please." He placed his briefcase onto the table top and popped it open, pulled out a few folders and set them to the side as he returned his briefcase to the floor. "Well as it stands we have the most air superior unit that is currently in this war and seeing as how we have three Spitfires, that is pathetic. Intel is still sketchy as to what the Germans have sky wise and AA wise as well so stay safe out there, but to the best of my knowledge we might have air superiority PERIOD! Let's not waste time in using this advantage while we can. I would also like to report that I just recently promoted Private Jackson to Corporal, he is now our main radio operator, let's hope the Arty boys can get it right on their end." He swallowed a bit and cleared his throat. "Before I move onto our upcoming training exercise and battle engagements, are there any questions so far?"

[riley]

"The table behind you guys there has coffee and a few biscuits on it, help yourselves. Corporal, could you grab me a cup of coffee please." Biscuits and coffee? Patterson just made this a really good meeting! Riley thought to himself as he wandered on over to the table and grasped a biscuit in his left hand, and the cup of coffee in his other. He bit down on the biscuit and then took a sip of coffee to wash it down. The warm meal was such a welcome change for Riley, who hadn't had coffee or biscuits in weeks. He remembered his last battle in France so vividly, and now the 3 ID had an Axis scum held Prisoner of War, courtesy of Lt. Riley and Sgt. Brennan.

Riley took in the small meal and then focused back on the Cap' who was babbling on about the 3rd ID's air superiority and such. He listened and a small grin formed across his face when he heard of Private Jackson being promoted to Corporal. That soldier really earned it. And now he was a radioman? He would be quite the asset to the division now. Then Patty continued on, talking about a training exercise, but first he asked if there were any questions. Riley shook his head, "No, sir."

[Nathan Whyte]

"So, the supposedly mighty Germany doesn't have anything that can challenge us in the air?" Nathan mused as he poured a coffee for the Captain. "That's certainly going to make life a hell of a lot easier for us. I know we kicked their arses in the Battle of Britain, but I had no idea it was that bad.

He eyed the brown folders and recognised the will forms peeking out of the back of them and involuntarily swallowed. He didn't usually think of death as something particularly horrible, it was inevitable so why fear it? If life was lived in fear, then what was the point in living it? Nathan certainly wasn't looking forward to it, but he felt that when it came he would accept it as what it was, the next step in the ever expanding journey that was his life.

He handed the coffee over Patterson and settled into one of the horrible MoD seats and adjusted the spanner in his pocket. "So, what do you have in mind? Daring raids on the SS? Or aerial support for the infantry?"

[MAJ Patterson]

OOC: Nathan, if you don't mind, I'm just gonna keep referring to you as a Corporal in this thread as that is what you were when it started, since you have been promoted I will refer to you as a sergeant in the future

Patterson looked around as everyone grabbed something to drink or eat and moved back to the table. He watched as the Corporal poured him a cup of coffee and walked it on over asking about raids and infantry support. "Thanks Corporal, but I don't drink coffee." he said as he set the cup to the side. It wasn't very funny but that was just his way of saying hello in a sense.

"Back to business. There is a good chance that the enemy AA will be in place in the very near future, like I said let's not waste time. Nathan, I want you to stick with Jackson like you were his third leg, if he is sent somewhere I want you flying over his head, for two main reasons. The first is to keep his butt alive, he is a great asset and I don't want his talent lost to some lucky German grunt, the second is more obvious, inflict as much damage onto the enemy as you possibly can. With the capabilities of the aviation unit, enemy infantry and light armor should not be too much of a problem for you to destroy." He swallowed a bit before he continued on. "The training exercise will commence in a couple of days, Staff Sergeant Brennan is on leave and I am waiting for his return before we commence the activity. I have supplied each of you a map in the folders in front of you, look it over and if you have any questions feel free to ask. There are a few other forms for you to fill out, next of kin, include all close family in that if you don't mind, I would like to get to know you each a bit better. Home information, mainly your background, home town and what not, and the last, well that one should be self explanatory. It is a will format, you just mainly fill in the blanks and turn it in, I know no one wants to think about it but trust me, it is one of those things you would rather have and not need than need and not have." He shuffled through his folder and pulled out his pen, setting it to the side so he could fill it out before he left.

Patterson stood up and walked a few feet away to the large hangar opening and gazed out as a spitfire sped by taking off for a training mission. He turned a bit back to the rest of the men and without looking up he asked. "Alright guys, this is one of very few chances so use it wisely. Tell me what you want, more so what you need. What do you guys need to defeat the enemy more efficiently? I want to win this thing, go home and put it all behind me, so tell me what we need to do that and I will see what I can do to get it."

[Nathan Whyte]

Nathan rolled his eyes at the Captain as he picked up a will form and a pen and started scribbling his details in. At just about every barracks you stopped at you had to fill one in, so he was going on autopilot.
"What we need is something to help the infantry keep up. We'll be useless if we have to circle over the same spot of land all day long, not to mention bored. We're gonna need to get you guys some flares or smoke dispensers so you can clearly mark where you are and where the enemy is."

He stood up as a small tractor drove into the hangar with a row of bright red bomb being towed behind it. "You ever seen these before? Hellfires, they'll suck all the oxygen they can get in, and they're damn near impossible to put out. Drop these on the Hun and they're not going anywhere save hell. We need to keep on top of technology if we want the edge on the enemy." He took a sip of his coffee as he though what to say next. "Can you get some more combat engineers somehow to help us if the enemy manages to find some AA?"

[PuNk! ™]

Moderation Post:[/b]

Following CP has been issued;

CPT. Patterson: 12CP

Flt SGT. Knight: 10CP

Lt. Riley: 10CP

Flt SGT. Varek: 4CP

~Danny[/color]