Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart |ADP|

Chapter 14

~ "Feli! Mio Dio, Feli... cosa faccio... non so cosa fare!"

"Schwarz Leader, another one coming down on your tail, six o'clock high, over."

~ "Listen to me, Lovino. I can't understand you. You have to stop panicking. He is still breazhing."

"I'm on it." Ludwig manoeuvred his plane into a hard dive descent, turned abruptly, and fired. The Mustang had no chance. It exploded into a dazzling inferno against the clear blue sky. Ludwig flew over the falling wreckage and went immediately, determinedly, for the next enemy aircraft.

~ "You have to keep him varm during zhe drive, and keep zhis pressure on zhe vound. Do not stop zhe pressure, Lovino, understand?"

"Schwarz Leader, you are flying too erratically. I am having trouble keeping on your wing..."

~ "I am so sorry, sir, I did not realise... i-it was j-just... just a mistake... I svear, sir, if I had knovn..."

Ludwig practically snarled into his mask. "You vill keep up, Schwarz Two. You vill do your damn duty and you vill push them back!" Another Mustang fell, spiralling towards the ground in trails of flaming smoke. Ludwig felt only the slightest rush of satisfaction before scanning the sky swiftly for his next target.

~ "I can't... We can't go with them! Ma è una pazzia! What if they..."

"There are too many, Schwarz Leader! Lieutenant, you're flying directly into - Beilschmidt, what the hell are you doing?"

~ "Lovino, zhey vill take Feliciano to zhe nearest doctor, zhen leave immediately. Zhey are just soldiers, not SS. Zhey do not knov you are Resistencia."

Ludwig couldn't stop. Enemy planes surrounded him, outnumbered his squad. But he could not stop; he could not make himself stop. This familiar, comforting chaos was the only thing that almost drowned out his memories, almost drowned out his fears. Almost. Ludwig shouted into his mask. "I am zhe commander of zhis squad, so you vill follow mein orders, Schwarz Two. Engage enemy aircraft!"

~ "They just shot him! How can we trust them? Why should I trust you?"

Turn, fire, dive, climb. Get one down, move on to the next. Keep his squad together. Focus, breathe. "Zhis is Schwarz Leader to Schwarz squadron. Ve vill not pull back from zhis. Force xhem into retreat. Zhat is an order."

~ "Because you have no choice. I vould die for him, Lovino, if I could. But zhis is all I can do. Nov go!"

Only when the skies around him were clear did Ludwig finally feel his heart beat in his chest, his lungs fill with air. Only when there were no enemy fighters left to engage did he stop to think. An angry voice crackled through his speakers and drowned out the blood roaring in his ears. "Ground Control to Schwarz Leader. You will bring your squad back to base immediately!"

Once safely landed at the base, Ludwig leapt from his plane, his blood pounding, his head hazy with fury. He threw his headgear angrily to the ground and charged immediately to where his wingman climbed from his own plane. The man's feet had barely hit the ground before Ludwig grabbed him by the collar and slammed the shocked pilot against the side of the machine. "You vill never question me in zhe middle of battle, understand? NEVER!"

The wingman looked like he was about to respond angrily, but Ludwig felt his eyes flare and the man just dropped his gaze and looked away. "Yes, sir."

Ludwig shoved him away forcefully before turning and marching across the airfield, feeling the eyes of his squad on him as he went. He headed directly for the command tent to explain himself yet again.