... I'm feeling better, and though yesterday was just as much of an adventure as I thought it would be, things seem to be rather more under control today.

Here's a little bit to get you started.

Monday, April 15, 1946
Château Saint-Ulrich, Gallia

"I have to admit I'm not sure why you're doing this," Chris Barkhorn said from her perch on Ursula Hartmann's vacant workbench.

Gryphon looked up from his work, a puzzled expression on his face. "Doing what?"

"Fixing that... thing," Chris replied, gesturing toward the item laid out on FUEL STORAGE's central table in front of him.

Gryphon looked down at the carcass of the XT-474 pressure suit, then back up at her. "Because it's broken," he said.

"Well... yeah, but..." Chris shrugged. "Do you really think you can make it work again?"

"I doubt it," Gryphon said, sounding unconcerned, as he returned to work. "The electrical system is completely trashed, and we had to wreck most of the powered exoskeleton to get me out of it. The best I can do there is free up the superstructure so that I can wear it as an unpowered suit. With a little luck, though, I might be able to make it pressure-ready again."

"I guess I just don't see the point."

Gryphon rolled his eyes with mock irritation. "Witches," he said. "Don't see the point of being able to breathe above 30,000 feet. Give me a hand with this, will you? This main actuator is completely fused, but between us, I think we can probably break it loose."

Chris hopped down from the bench and trotted over, the ears and tail of her magical familiar manifesting on the way. When using magic, her marked resemblance to Yoshika Miyafuji was blunted a little bit, since they had quite dissimilar familiars - the ears of a Karlsland Rex cat might resemble those of a Fusō mameshiba a bit, but the tails were completely different.

Thus geared up for maximum strength, Chris laid hold of the long handle of the wrench Gryphon had fixed to the suit's fused central actuator, and both of them applied themselves to it.

For a few seconds, nothing happened, apart from man and witch grunting and grumbling as the actuator defied them. Then, after a moment's eye contact and a shared nod, they both doubled their efforts -

And the actuator gave way with a sudden, sharp crack. The wrench, suddenly released from its toil, went spinning across the room, while the people who had been hauling on it tumbled to the floor in a disconcerted heap.

"Ow," said Gryphon matter-of-factly.

"Well... I think we got it," Chris offered.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Oh hey, surprise tidbit!

Little scenes like that are one of the things I like about how Gryphon is written. He may be a centuries old immortal warrior, but that stays in the background most of the time. Sort of a stealth badass if you will.

Which reminds me, how much do the witches actually know about his (lengthy) past?

>Which reminds me, how much do the witches actually know about his
>(lengthy) past?

They've gotten bits and pieces, here and there, and the occasional glimpse of something much older than his usual persona (particularly Mio), but I don't think they're consciously aware that he's in his 400s. They do know that he was born in the 1970s and comes from the year 2411, but most likely, since he's a time traveler anyway, they assume he didn't get there the long way. (I'm getting déjà vu as I type this, so I suspect it's come up in one of the other OWaW threads already - I might've gone into more detail there if you can find it. Or I might be contradicting myself completely! That happens sometimes too. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I'm just wondering where that wrench terminated its flight.

"This is probably a stupid question, but . . ."

>I'm just wondering where that wrench terminated its flight.

You'll find out as soon as I get the audio version recorded, 'cause the text is finished now. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>You'll find out as soon as I get the audio version recorded, 'cause
>the text is finished now. :)
>
>--G.
>-><-
>Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod

Awesome! I am awaiting it with bated breath. (But not baited breath, because that might be fishy.)

>"Witches," he said. "Don't see the point of being able to breathe
>above 30,000 feet."

<snrk> I wonder how often they just forget about little details like this.

Good to hear you're feeling better and your muse is back up to speed. Looking forward to the new episode.

--
Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

>>"Witches," he said. "Don't see the point of being able to breathe
>>above 30,000 feet."
>
><snrk> I wonder how often they just forget about little details like
>this.
>

Probably more than you think; it's a human thing, not a witch thing. It's the reason that most people I've met are not impressed with their accomplishments, but they're awed by things that I do - and I'm awed by their accomplishments, but I think what I do is just stuff.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

LeMay. I'm not sure if it's a good thing he's around unchanged, much like Otto. I mean, if he was a Witch in this universe, things would be even worse... Or she'd manage to fly into a fuel depot and blow herself up.

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter

>LeMay. I'm not sure if it's a good thing he's around unchanged, much
>like Otto.

Well, depends on who you ask. I mean, I'm pretty sure Perrine wouldn't think so, but... well, wait for it. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

What's interesting here is whether the rest of the brass at SHAEF will sympathize with LeMay because they don't like the exalted position the witches are in, or they'll hang him out to dry because he rubbed -them- the wrong way. Then again, he's less likely to have done anything that would upset them specifically, simply because their values are closer to his. (And every soldier likes a general who wins, even if he's an asshole.)

Incidentally, have we seen what the acronym SHAEF stands for? I don't recall it being discussed in the fic itself; is this in canon?

--------

this world created by the
hands of the gods
everything is false
everything is a LIE
the final days have come
now
let everything be destroyed

--mu

>Incidentally, have we seen what the acronym SHAEF stands for? I don't
>recall it being discussed in the fic itself; is this in canon?

Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force. This is a real-life term for the organization of forces who planned and executed the D-Day landings and then the western front of the European Theater from there on. Historically, I don't believe General LeMay was a part of SHAEF, though he (and every other military asset in the UK) would have been on tap for the actual landings. However, considering that in the Strike Witches world, the enemy is mainly air-bound instead of ground-bound, I would guess that the air war holds the same relative importance as the ground war did in our world, and so LeMay would probably be fairly high up in the foodchain.

"This is probably a stupid question, but . . ."

LAST EDITED ON Mar-13-15 AT 03:47 PM (EDT) by Gryphon (admin)
 

>ground-bound, I would guess that the air war holds the same relative
>importance as the ground war did in our world, and so LeMay would
>probably be fairly high up in the foodchain.
>

Or would at least advance up the foodchain until he ran into a superior that was either a) unimpressed with Lemay's bark or b) had a louder one (or perhaps a bigger cigar, though given this picture, I find that hard to conceive)

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."

>(or perhaps a bigger cigar, though... I find that hard to conceive)

Well, LeMay was called "the Big Cigar" (when he wasn't being called less complimentary things).

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

General Overcompensation, mayhap?

---
"She's old, she's lame, she's barren too, // "She's not worth feed or hay, // "But I'll give her this," - he blew smoke at me - // "She was something in her day." -- Garnet Rogers, Small Victory

FiMFiction.net: we might accept blatant porn involving the cast of My Little Pony but as God is my witness we have standards.

Hmm, yes, sehr gut, General LeMay. Zer cigar story is most enlightening. Now vould you be so good as to lie back und tell me... tell me about your mother...

> Then, grunting, the Liberion general wheeled and started out of the room. As
> Eila shot Shizuka a discreet thumbs-up and turned to follow him, LeMay asked
> her,

> "Why is that witch sitting on it?"

Sir, because the FNG is always required to sit on Pilot officer Ivanovich's lap whenever both are present, SIR!!!

*ROFL*

All I have to say is that its good that the striker units exist, cause clearly the strike witches would be ground bound without them... cause clearly all the broomsticks in the AOE (area of engagement) are stuck up various SHAEF backsides.

But you know what really makes me feel old? the fact that I bet most folk today wouldn't get why Shirley's familiar being a bunny is hilarious to me.

*A* bunny, or *the* Bunny? :)

>*A* bunny, or *the* Bunny? :)

Yeah, there are actually several levels to that joke. That's one of the things I like about Strike Witches - it's not subtle except when it is, and a lot of the referential stuff in the world design is surprisingly intricate.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.