Well, I'll go ahead and end the suspense. The next zone is the last one in which we might encounter enemy activity. The last zone in which something might go horribly awry.

Here go's...


On second thought--I've lost interest in the whole thing. Never mind.

Anyone want to talk about who would win a fight between Batman and a B-17?

You're a mean, mean man.

Got ya covered.

I say we use charlesx as an extra wing if we need one. He isn't doing anything useful know except being dead weight .

How much prep time does Batman have?

NO, your evil. Everyone give me your votes and we'll hang this evil man.

Vote lynch: Kalel21

Besides, anybody who's ever watched any of the movies or cartoons knows that Batman is death on flying vehicles. How many scenes has his Batwing ever survived?

You'll notice he didn't do this when we still had negative rep capabilities.

Okay, sorry about that. Here's the last post for this mission:

Woops, someone just brought me some work to do. Just a minute, guys.

Batman is in stealth behind the cloud and Outwits the Port Waist gun.

Here it is for real:

Zone 2—Still no enemy fighters appear. You’ve… you’ve made it, guys.

Zone 1—Back in England and the weather is clear. Wiping hair10’s blood off the windshield, EmperorNorton brings the plane in for a safe landing.

hair10 and Ignatz Mouse are rushed to the hospital. Both survive, but their wounds are serious enough to earn them their honorable discharges.

But the real news is JackAssterson. He has flown on all 25 missions and lived to tell about it. He gets a Silver Star to hang on his chest next to his Purple Heart. He’s 1 ½ kills over being a Double Ace. He’s congratulated by Gen. Eisenhower. He’s sent home to tour the big cities to appear at war bond rallies. He meets FDR and he’s kissed on the cheek by Betty Grable. He’s interviewed by Edward Murrow on radio and appears in newsreels. He guest-stars on Bob Hope’s radio show, swapping jokes with Hope and fellow guest star Groucho Marx. He finishes the war as a gunnery instructor, passing on his hard-won knowledge to “those danged new recruits who don’t know what they’re gettin’ themselves into.” After his discharge, he appears in a series of B-Westerns as “Sheriff Jack of Tombstone” along with Skippy the Wonder Horse, later earning a fortune in royalties when his movies are sold to television. His autobiography—titled “Never Pass Gas in Your Ball Turret”—becomes required reading at the Air Force Academy. He is renowned all across the country as the greatest war hero ever produced by an HCRealms B-17 thread.

As for the rest of you, those of you in Stalag 13 are liberated in Feb. 1945 by troops from the 4th Armored Division. You return to the States and pick up your lives again, though Rokk Krinn eventually does time for petty theft and often wakes up in the middle of the night screaming Hilda’s name in despair. Thawmus goes into business with Sgt. Shultz, making a fortune selling POW action figures with “patented leg-sweeping action.”

Those of you shipped home wounded gradually heal up and grow old contentedly, telling increasingly wild stories to your grandchildren about exactly how you got wounded.

A TV movie is made in 1978 about Ignatz Mouse’s escape from Stalag 13, with Paul Michael Glaser playing the lead role.

Those of you still flying find the going easier. The new P-51 Mustang fighters have drop tanks on their wings that allow them to escort you clear to the target and back, keeping the worst of the Luftwaffe away from you. Though you still have occasional hair-raising experiences, you all finish your tours of duty without serious incident.

My thanks to everyone who participated in the thread. It was fun and we’ll eventually do it again.


Pilot—EmperorNorton

Co-Pilot—

Bombardier—

Navigator—AlienFlanders (2 kills)

Flight Engineer/Top Turret gunner—Shadow40 (5 kills)

Radio Operator—Kasz216 (1 kill)

Ball Turret Gunner—JackAssterson (11 ½ kills)

Starboard Waist Gunner—scehaono (1 ½ kills)

Port Waist Gunner—charlesx (2 kills)

Tail Gunner—BudPalmer’s identical cousin (3 kills)

Reserves: KitsuShel’s evil twin sister; GroovyBoy; JackofHearts2005; {possible escaped POWs}

INVALIDED HOME: hail eris (navigator); batfink (port waist gunner); St. Cuthbert (tail gunner): DarkCorsair (bombardier); hair10 (co-pilot); Ignatz Mouse (bombardier)

KIA: Melkhor (co-pilot); BudPalmer (tail gunner); Kalel21 (pilot); KitsuShel (co-pilot); Stuart Rex (pilot); theanalogkid (bombardier); madslaust (tail gunner)

POW: CurBludgeon (pilot); Grinner (navigator); Rokk Krinn (flight engineer); Thawmus (radio operator); NAES72 (starboard waist gunner); bigbro911 (port waist gunner); Antipathy (tail gunner)

SUCCESSFUL MISSIONS: 12

Enemy fighters shot down:48

The irony that I, of all people, managed to survive is...well, it's pretty darn ironic.

Thanks for the game, Kalel.

Speaking of which, you might want to check the Buffy thread.

Awesome thread, Kalel, you suspense-milking attention #@^@#. Thanks for the writeups!

Hooray! TV Movie!


Thanks, Kal!


And Rokk, really, that bomb did you a huge favor. Not only was Hilda a hermaphrodite spy, s/he had some nasty venerial diseases.