Albert stood in the rain, umbrel over his head, waiting on his ride to arrive outside his apartment building. He tried to resist the urge to roll his luggage around in the puddle to occupy his mind from the nervousness. Normally, he would have just called a cab to get to the base, but cab drivers were in short supply recently due to the war effort, so the Air Corps had to pick up their off-base personnel.

  After a few minutes, and two minutes before the scheduled pick-up time, a car drove into view in front of him. The door opened, and a woman in full Air Corps formal uniform came out. Saluting him, she said, “Captain Stolphus, I'm here to pick you up.”

  Albert blinked once. Despite the drizzle, she hadn't bothered to hold an umbrel. She was taller than him, with long dark hair, and gsses. “Good to meet you...” he gnced at the Lieutenant pin on her chest, trying not to let his gaze linger, “Lieutenant,” he said with a slight nod towards her.

  The Lieutenant lowered her hand, standing at attention. “I'm Lieutenant Ida Vanchaff of-”

  Albert didn't wait for her to keep talking, and opened the door to get into the back.

  The Lieutenant seemed surprised, but then quickly recovered and got back into the drivers seat.

  Albert watched as she sat down and started driving. “You should have used an umbrel,” he said as the water drained off her hair and hat.

  “The Air Corps uniforms are water-resistant, sir,” Ida replied.

  Albert nodded, having already typecast the type of airmen Ida was.

  The inside of the car was silent as they drove to the base. There was almost no traffic due to the rainy day, so they made quick time through the city streets. When they got to the base checkpoint, the guard saw their vehicle and waved them through.

  He looked in silence at the rows of pnes on the tarmac, many in different states of repair, work crews out even in the rain, pushing pnes in and out of hangers to work on. “I feel bad for them...”

  Ida replied, “They're just doing their part for the war effort, like we are.”

  Albert sighed at the comment.

  “Captain?” Ida asked at the sigh.

  Albert shook his head. “Nothing.” I want to win the war too, but blind patriotism doesn't get us anywhere...

  Their country, the Swabian Empire, had been at war for eleven years now. While the intensity had ebbed and flowed, a huge amount of people had died in the that time, many in the trenches at the front lines, but no few in the naval and air arenas as well. In fact, Albert had been 'lucky' enough to test into the Air Corps Academy, avoiding the fate of many young men in getting sent straight into a frontline ptoon.

  Lieutenant Ida didn't seem eager to pursue the matter further, and they went back to silence.

  After they got past the pne hangers, they reached some much rger ones. After going past a few, Ida turned and pulled into one with an open door. Albert took a deep breath. Here we are...

  Inside were several colossal zeppelins. Some were being worked on or patched up, but near the door was one, already running with its fans on.

  They parked, and Albert opened the door. Seeing what was in front of him, he was confused, “Wait...”

  Lieutenant Ida stood next to the zeppelins control room, shouting over the drone of the airship. “Captain, welcome to the SAS Victoria.”

  Albert shook his head, “I was told I'd be captaining a new ship.”

  Ida blushed, seemingly embarrassed. “Sir, I...can't hear you...” she shouted over the drone.

  Albert looked over the ship. I get not getting a new one, but this isn't even a nuclear reactor model...

  New Air Corps zeppelins were generally outfitted with nuclear fission reactors that allowed them to operate for near-limitless amounts of time, usually only stopped by when their supplies ran out, or if they sustained too much damage. The trips he'd made while at the Academy had been on these types.

  This, the SAS Victoria, was a helium-cell ship, that had been out of production for twenty years, before the war even started. While they did have a couple of advantages, like a higher top speed and quicker maintenance schedules, they could only stay in the air a month at most before their cells needed repced, or less if they needed to do maneuvering or adjustments during flight. This is probably older than I am... He sighed, then shook his head, It's fine, I'm sure the missions will reflect the age of the ship.

  Ida seemed confused, her salute slipping a bit. “Sir?”

  Albert sighed again, then started rolling his luggage towards the ship's ramp.

  The inside of a zeppelin was separated into two parts. The top two-thirds were mostly empty, filled with the helium that kept the zeppelin afloat. The bottom third was the crew quarters and storage, a mess hall, and the bomb bay, along with a separate captain's quarters Albert would be staying in. Underneath the zeppelin was the attached wheelhouse and operating room, where the helm and all the navigation equipment was housed. And underneath that was the ball turret, the zeppelin's only defense against enemy pnes.

  When they got up the ramp, awaiting them was two more women in their uniforms. Luckily, the inside of the zeppelin was equipped with sound dampeners, so the loud drone was now toned down to a quiet hum.

  Lieutenant Ida turned sideways and saluted. “Crew, introduce yourselves.” She seemed a bit irritated.

  One, a short girl with rge breasts, saluted. “I'm Elizabeth. You can just call me Lizzy, though. I'm our gunner.”

  Albert tried not to look as her breasts jiggled slightly when she saluted, and nodded.

  The other, a slightly older looking woman with a motherly smile replied. “I'm Ingrid, the quartermaster and cook.”

  Ida looked at her, “Ingrid, you need to salute the Captain.”

  Ingrid giggled, “Hehe, sorry,” and gave a cheeky salute with her tongue peaking out.

  They waited a moment, but Ida seemed to be getting angrier. “Where are the other girls...” she said, trying to hold back her anger.

  Albert raised an eyebrow, “The whole crew is women?”

  Ida looked at him. “The Air Corps has been recruiting women heavily the past few years, since it's the only branch that allows them in any position besides logistics or medical. Ours just happens to be all women. Besides the Captain, of course.”

  Albert nodded. I did remember reading about that, so many men have been dying that they needed to fill more roles with women. I didn't expect this though... As he was thinking, Ida turned to him.

  “Captain, I apologize, I don't know why the other two didn't come.”

  Ingrid giggled again, “Zoe is probably working still, she wasn't happy with some of the repairs the ground techs made. And Alice is probably sleeping again.”

  Ida nodded, “Please follow me, Captain. Ingrid, please take his luggage to the Captain's quarters.”

  Izzy excitedly said, “Ida, you forgot to introduce yourself.”

  Ida blushed slightly, “Ah, I did earlier, but...yes, I am Lieutenant Ida, the helmsman.”

  Albert nodded and followed as they went farther in. He heard a noise and noticed the ramp had been pushed up and the hatch door closed. Taking a deep breath, he continued in.

  Ida started showing him the inside, it being a bit different (and dated) then the ones he had been on in academy, though nothing too out of the ordinary...besides some random drawings hung up in the corridor.

  “Ingrid, I told you to take these down!” Ida said, pointing to the drawings.

  “Awwhhh, but they liven up the ship. What does the Captain think?” she said, giving him a big smile.

  Albert blushed slightly, looking at the crayon drawings of scenery. They weren't half-bad. “Ah...” I don't want to upset the crew on my first day. “Um...they're fine for now.”

  Ida seemed confused as Ingrid giggled, “See?”

  Ida coughed and continued on. “Here is the bomb bay,” she said, sliding a door at the back. Inside were rows and rows of bombs. They always made Albert feel a bit on edge, even though these were just practice bombs for their training mission. Ida walked in front, then knocked on the bomb rack.

  “Waaahh!” came a scream from inside. From out between two of the racks arose a girl with short purple-bck hair down to her shoulders. “Ida, I...” she said, then blushed as she saw Albert.

  “This is Alice, our bomber. She has a bad habit of falling asleep on the job.”

  Alice blushed, “I made sure they were all stacked up properly first!”

  I guess bombers do have a lot of down time.

  Ida shook her head, “Let's continue,” she said.

  They went back down the hall towards the dder that led into the wheelhouse. However, about halfway there, a vent on the side opened, and a short girl with pigtails rolled out. She was not in her uniform, but wearing a white shirt and overalls. She stood up and coughed, and Albert could see that there was grease smeared on her face.

  Ida grabbed her own temples, and sighed, “Zoe, what the hell were you doing?”

  Zoe coughed once more, then looked up at Ida, “I had to check the patches those numbskulls outside put on. Last time there was several holes still.”

  Ida shook her head, “But a few holes won't take down the ship.”

  Zoe stamped her foot, “Of course not, but each one lowers our efficiency a bit, and with enough of them we might not be able to maintain altitude.” She turned and saw Albert, and looked him up and down, “Who is this?”

  “This is our new Captain, Albert Stolphus,” Ida expined. “You were supposed to come greet him.”

  Zoe looked him up and down some more. “Are you gonna get upset at me for not showing up?”

  Albert shook his head, “You're the mechanic, right? I think it's good you're inspecting the ship pre-flight.”

  Zoe giggled mischievously at Ida. “Haha, even the Captain doesn't care.” She then stuck her tongue out at Ida and slipped back into the vent.

  “I'm sorry, Captain,” Ida said.

  Albert shook his head, “Um, it's alright.” She seems eccentric, but at least she takes her job seriously.

  Ida then continued leading him to the dder, and they descended down.

  Albert looked around the wheelhouse. He could see through the windows the interior of the hangar. Mechanics were scurrying around every which way, preparing for their takeoff. “Are we leaving soon?”

  Ida nodded, “Yes, in around twenty minutes we should be taking off.”

  Albert raised his eyebrows. “I guess they don't waste time.”

  Ida shook her head, “They want to get our training mission over so they can start sending us on real missions, sir.”

  “How many have you been on so far?”

  “Personally, I have been on seventeen, sir. This crew has been together on five so far. We were cobbled together from...other ships,” she said, pausing a bit during the st part.

  Albert knew why. People transferred from other ships were generally done so for a reason. Did they hand me an old ship with a reject crew? With the exception of Ida, and maybe Elizabeth, no one else seemed to care about protocol.

  Ida seemed to be reading his mind. “Are you going to ask about us?”

  Albert blushed slightly from the embarrassment of zoning out. “Ah, no...I was just wondering...” he tried to think of something quickly. “What happened to the previous Captain?”

  Ida bit her lip. “He...requested a transfer. Since there was a new graduating css from Academy, it was accepted.”

  Albert nodded, assuming he knew exactly what had happened. Normally requests for transfer weren't accepted without good reason, but since they could just throw a new graduate on this ship, they decided to keep the veteran Captain happy and accept it. Yup, I got a dud crew. Oh well, I knew this was a possibility. I'll just make sure I have my parachute with me at all times.

  A message came from the radio. “Victoria, this is AC03 speaking, are you ready to fly?”

  Albert instinctively grabbed the radio, his training kicking in. “Air Command, this is Captain Albert of the Victoria. All crew accounted for. We are ready for liftoff.”

  “Copy that, be ready in five.”

  Albert watched as Ida started flipping several switches, and he felt the ship lurch slightly as the fans sped up.

  Albert reached into his pocket and took out his mission briefing, spreading out the map attached. It was the course for their training mission, which he had already meticulously studied, where they would be dropping some practice bombs on targets in the Swabian countryside. He would need to brief Alice on this ter, although they were several days away from even the first target, so it wasn't a huge issue right now.

  Ida came over and inspected the map quickly, then went back to the helm, grabbing the wheel.

  “You memorized it already?” he asked, a bit astonished.

  Ida didn't reply right away, then said, “The training mission flight path is always the same, so I've flown this before.”

  Albert nodded, even though Ida had her back turned. Of course. “I'll got let the rest of the crew know.”

  While he could have used the intercom, instead he decided to climb up the dder to tell everyone personally. As he went up, he heard voices from the mess hall. Inside, Ingrid was sitting with her back to him, across from Izzy and Zoe.

  “The new Captain is so cute, I want a boyfriend like him,” Ingrid said, her voice sounding airy.

  Zoe started snort-ughing, “I don't think a fresh graduate wants a hag like you,” while Izzy blushed. “Uh, Ingrid,” she said, pointing.

  Ingrid turned around, then her face went red, “I'm sorry Captain, I was just...”

  Albert shook his head, blushing slightly as well. Deciding to just pretend he didn't hear, he said, “Airmen, we'll be leaving soon.”

  “Well, duh, the main fans kicked on, we'll be zooming out once they untether us...” Zoe said, like Albert needn't have bothered.

  Albert wasn't even sure how to respond. It's basic procedure to tell the crew before liftoff and descent... He decided to just walk away, and heard the others start chatting again in hushed tones as he left.

  Walking down the hall, he opened the door to the bomb bay. “Airmen Alice?” He heard nothing. Remembering their first meeting, he walked down the bomb racks, and found Alice sleeping in between two, wedged up against one of the racks. “Alice?”

  She didn't stir.

  Remembering how scared she had been when Ida had knocked on the racks, he instead walked up and grabbed her shoulder. “Airmen Alice?”

  Alice stirred slightly, then let out a “Waaawuh,” as she saw him in the dingy light of the bomb bay. “Capta-wuhhhh...” she said in surprise, before sticking out her tongue. “I biwu ihhh.”

  She bit her tongue in surprise? Albert shook his head, going back to his original purpose. “We're ascending soon.”

  Alice nodded, standing up. “I'll make sure the racks are secure,” she got out, speaking carefully.

  Albert nodded, then headed back.