Roland on fire and the second Fokker have been confirmed, but the first Eindecker has been credited to the artillery crew. Two out of three isn’t bad at all. Gaston was ready to have all his claims rejected. This morning ‘B’ flight was tasked with escorting a Caudron from Esc 11 to bomb enemy troop camp south of Marchélepot. The weather improved tenfold. It was a pleasure to go up. They’ve met with the French bomber and were on their way when one of the Caudron’s engines sputtered and begun emitting smoke. The pilot turned around his machine right away and set course for Cachy. Gaston and company escorted the wounded beast all the way home.
This afternoon orders came from above to attack the balloon near Péronne. They never even came close to the gasbag. Bah! They never even came close to the front lines. Right after take off and before the initial waypoint the flight noticed Archie going off close by. Gaston spotted a Roland attacking some unfortunate camp. He aimed right for the intruder. He was aware more shrapnel was going off in different directions. There had to be more than one. There it is! He just screamed above Voscadeaux’s head. Gaston was gritting his teeth. “- One is a party, two ... well, I don’t know. Let’s find out!” He was determined to bring at least one down. He fired wildly at the weaving machine. It had a typical powder-blue paint job but with a red stripe along the fuselage. Gaston wondered if this meant anything. Was he some cocky Scheißkerl? Voscadeaux didn’t like Scheißkerle, especially cocky ones. He fired without any intent to conserve his ammunition. The Walfisch twisted and squirmed low to the ground. Gaston nearly smashed into the ground after Violette stalled without warning. He nearly rammed the Roland, which suddenly slowed down without warning. And finally he nearly pushed his gun’s trigger through its stops when he run out of ammo without warning. He watched as the Boche two-seater was about to escape when it hit the ground without warning. Gaston exhaled. He didn’t know how long he held his breath. Just a second? A minute? Since the beginning of the engagement? He saw a speck in the sky moving in his direction. It had to be one of the other Nieuports returning after chasing off the other Roland. Then Archie exploded near him and another one followed right after. Gaston was in trouble. No ammunition and a Walfisch on his tail could only spell disaster. Then he saw another dot following the Hun. This one was certainly one of his! He saw him fire at the Boche and then break off. The German machine continued straight for a few more seconds and suddenly made a curving dive straight for the trees, where it crashed. Voscadeaux was relieved. He followed the other Nieuport to the airfield. Someone has to do something about those Teutonic Whales.
"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys, The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain, From out of my arse take the camshaft, And assemble the engine again."