welcome to base

The drive in the General's car is nice, but I still wonder where we are off to, seeing as there is no known military facilities around here. The moment we go out of town, I think I know where we are off to, "General are we off to the airport that recently got put in just last year?" The smile on his face becomes more clear, "that's correct Daniel, it's about half a mile out of town, and currently has our airplane waiting for us there."

When we finally arrived I was in awe, it's the first time seeing a place like this so I'm beyond intrigued as to what I shall see. When we get to the hanger where our airplane is, I'm surprised by the size of it. "General... is that our ride?" After James gets done asking that question General White huffs a little, "yes James this is our ride, The Air Fortress, is her name, she is currently the biggest airplane in the entire force." When I look at it from that perspective I would have to agree, seeing a plane with six engines is quite a lot.

When we enter, it's also very spacious having another level to it below the passenger area.

When I look to the right of the craft I see another ladder leading up further, "General White, where does this ladder lead too?" When he looks my direction, he knows already where it leads to "that goes to the cockpit, where the caption and Copilot sit, along with the communicator on his radio." The though of it taking three people to operate this big of a plane amazes me.

When the plane starts to roll out of the hanger, it stops just before the run way, eventually cargo is put into the bottom part of the plane. When it's fully loaded up, I take a look at what it might be, when I find out it's ammunition, I feel a little uneasy. The though of it all going off while we are airborne makes my stomach turn, "don't be scared Daniel, those rounds have been chilled in cooling room for transport, so they are less likely to go off."

When General White says that I feel more relaxed, rather then on edge from the thought of the ammunition going off. Once I've gotten myself back in my seat, I hear the pilot on the speakers, "everyone aboard this is the captain, we will be taking off heading for the military airfield near City Brumban, so please everyone fasten your seat belts, and enjoy the flight." After the message is over I can feel the plane start to move once again, until it's fully in position for take off.

Once on the run way we sit there for some time. After seven minutes go by I wonder if we're going to get off the ground at all, "I can tell your being a little impatient Daniel, since this is your first time in a plane, so don't worry, it's just the pilots are trying to get the all clear." After he says that I hear the engines out the window spin up more, after another few seconds I feel the aircraft start to move down the runway.

After only a minute more on the ground I look out the window to see the ground start to leave us. When that happens I continue to look out the window, mesmerized by how high up we are after only a few minutes in the air. once we are above the clouds I sit back in my chair, "I guess some people like the view, and some just... well can't deal with it." When I look over at James he's gripping his seat like it's going to save his life.

The feeling of possibly falling thousands of feet from the sky to your instant death must not sit well with him, "hey James you ok over there, nothing wrong right?" The face he is making isn't one of fear, but one of being sick, " I'm good just a little motion sick that's all," I ask myself if he has motion sickness then why wasn't he sick in the car?

Thinking about it, I figured that maybe for him this is a different degree of motion, compared to the car ride here. When I look back out the window I see a town far below, I'm also curious as to how far we have gone now since it only been some time, "General White how long will this plane ride take until we reach our destination?" He unfolds the news paper in his hands, then looks up at the clock on the planes wall. "The plane will be arriving at our destination in approximately another fifty-five or so minutes."

That does sound like some time since I currently have nothing to do except explore around, however I don't want to look like I'm bored. The next time I look at the clock I see that only another five minutes have gone by, "hey General, I'm gonna go up to the cockpit, to say hello." When he gives me the clear I head up the ladder, once I get to the top I see the pilot, copilot and the radio man in a fairly open space of their own.

When the radio operator looks up he sees me looking around, "curious aren't we?" I nod in agreement with what he said. "Hey I do have one question how does this giant system receive messages?" After hearing my question he points to outside, which gets me thinking a little, "is there an antenna on the top of this thing?" The moment he snaps his fingers I know I hit it spot on.

While he's showing me around his radio station, a message comes in, that makes him quickly put his headphones on, and get on the microphone. " This is Air Fortress One come in ground tower Delta," I step back a bit to let him get his message across without any possible disturbance.

"Well under way tower Delta, our destination is Airbase three, currently passing over head from your location, ETA twenty more minutes until landing, message out."

The message was very carefully said, sure I still think the ride is long, but every that goes into making sure you are identified in the air is amazing to me. "Hey man it's time for you to go take your seat, we got another fifteen minutes until landing, and you don't want to be standing while we are taking our landings," I quickly head for the ladder to go down. Once at the bottom I sit myself back in my seat, quickly putting my seat belt back on.

The moment I had finished putting my seat belt on is when the plane shifted a bit to the right, eventually pulling itself to the right side quickly. When I look out after we level off I catch sight of a tower, along with what seem to be tents, and other facilities in the distance.

When we land, the plane jumps a little making it not so smooth a landing, "well I would say that's as good as we are going to get since we have eight tons of ammunition in cargo storage." When I think about it that way it probably would have been easier without the cargo, but doesn't more weight mean less bounce. Forget it I tell myself, it's time to disembark from this plane.

The moment I get off the plane I'm greeted with, salutes from people, "General White welcome back, you left me to pick up your work while you were away, so tell me did you get what you were looking for?" When General White turns around he looks at me, "I did get something, and let me tell you he's a hell of a shot too." After saying that General White leaves me with James, until the person he was talking with approaches us.

"Welcome to Base, I'm lieutenant Wilks I'll be showing you both to your rooms, so please follow me." When I hear that both me and James follow him, it's a little bit of time till we get to the rooms, "this is your room sir-" as he points to me, "I'm Daniel lieutenant." After hearing my name he smiles, "the grandson of one of the most powerful snow ghost's Daniel, if so then I look forward to your stay here at base, I do hope you enjoy your room."

Once both him and James leave I'm alone in the room, I have to say that the room is very nice, way more then the room back home. "Welcome to base," I repeat it over in my head, truthfully it has a nice little catch to it. After setting my jacket down on the table, I look at the badge my grandfather gave me again, I just hope that I can do as good a job as he would have at this point. Then, and only then, will I feel like I've truly been welcomed into this base camp, where I shall be, until all hell breaks out.