Bombs Away! is a mini-campaign set during the Troverth Great War as part of the Tales of the Emerald Front series. Adapting the Night Witches ttrpg game, the story follows members of the Purple Talons: a night-time bomber squadron composed of Tensong refugees.
Player Characters[edit | edit source]
- Flying Officer Peggy Lee - Kelsey G.
- Sergeant Phoebe Strigidae - Jeff B.
The Story So Far[edit | edit source]
Duty Station Kidnee[edit | edit source]
September 20CR
As the summer's dry weather sticks around, flying conditions have been excellent as the nights get cooler. The Imperials have been pushing hard on the city of Lufen 15km to the east but have yet to develop a consistent counter to your harassment bombing. The sound of artillery guns is near constant, though you're currently safe enough behind the frontlines in your airfield, if it can even be called that. Split logs and mud make up the runway, and a scattering of ragged tents have become your home as you've fought alongside the Lufen Auxiliary Forces.
Thanks to the deft flying of Sgt Strigidae, a successful mission was grasped from an otherwise disastrous flight. Poor reconnaissance had our pilots flying into heavily defended airspace, resulting in a hail of flak cannons, an aerial ambush, and the valiant sacrifice of their Section Leader. The transport depot was destroyed however in a firestorm of exploding munitions.
Upon their return the relentless nature of war offered no sanctioned time to grieve. Pilot Officer Lee was advanced to the position of SL for Section C, where her first act was to waste away her entire day attempting to remove herself from said position with a well intentioned yet foolhardy plan to search for Gunny. Once the fruitless realisation settled in, she managed to get a solid hour and a half of sleep before her active duty shift started up again.
Phoebe on the other hand spent her day flexing her engineering background on Artemis, her beloved biplane that had been out of commission the prior several nights. Successfully working in tandem with Archie Magis and his gaggle of mechanics – and some subtly effective jury-rigging – got her back into tip top flying condition. She'd certainly have to be ready for the mission ahead.
Forcibly accepting her spot as section leader, Peggy was ushered into the command tent for the evening's operational planning. Unfortunately when asked her opinion on taking on a simple yet safe mission to ease in the new replacements, or something meaningful with near certain violent maiming, she was struck with a sudden bout of bathroom issues and had to leave. After consulting with her second, she resolved to accept what she knew she must.
20 kilometres away the town of Mirva was being encircled by a combined force of Troverthi and Tensinger forces. Without support for their retreat the Northern 2nd would surely be eradicated, or worse. There would be significant push-back and defence.
In an effort to give the new replacements their best chance Sgt Strigidae took up Cadet Kai Sadie, whilst FO Lee navigated for Cadet Harry Addler; unfortunately though once the guns started firing Addler buckled under the pressure and blacked out. Despite Peggy's successful efforts in getting him back up their aircraft took a nasty hit. As Phoebe and Kai dropped their payload, they could only sit and watch as their new Squadron Leader careened into the coppices below
For over 7 hours, dropping over 4000kg of explosives, over the course of a record breaking 14 missions, Sergeant Phoebe Strigidae played a pivotal role in aiding the Northern 2nd’s retreat from Mirva and helping protect hundreds of soldiers’ lives. For her efforts she was awarded the Lu-Fan – one of Lufen’s highest military honours – in a ceremony she truly could not care less about. After a heart to heart with Squadron Leader Dalia Yee, and learning the knowledge there would be no missions flying that night (due to the majority of their aircrafts’ heavy damage) Phoebs fled the pageantry for the safety of her bunk for a record breaking 6 hours of sleep.
The smell of burning petrol, the warm glow of flames, and the soft sound of weeping welcomed Peggy back to the land of the living. A much relieved and terribly afraid Addler was able to assist his section leader in escaping the tree-bound wreckage, and then assist in returning her into the wreckage to acquire her navigational equipment. As the two made their way out of the trees and looked over the burning ruins of Mirva, they were ambushed by a group of malnourished soldiers. Luckily they were a group of the Lufic troops they’d been sent to support, and some smokes from Addler’s somehow-still-pristine pack got them a partial ride back home.
As the afternoon sun hung high in the sky, the two weary vacationers staggered their way back into base to teary eyed reunions and warm embraces. After a quick catchup between Phoebe and Pegs, where I cannot stress just how much the Sergeant did not care about her medal, Peggy was sent off to the infirmary to check in with Dr Goldstein. A much needed check in as it turned out, as she revealed the hunk of shrapnel lodged in her side requiring emergency surgery.
As her bestie squirmed in an ill-equipped medical tent, Strigidae found herself rather aimless with no missions to prepare for that night. Turning to ol’ reliable she made her way back to the mechanic's depot where it was all hands on deck. Despite Artemis’ miraculous performance during the night, the majority of their squadron’s other aircraft were still out of commission and that would take time and resources to remedy.
In an effort to support the repairs she was sent to requisition parts from the quartermaster's. Upon entering she was greeted by Pvt Yogi, who definitely had a crush on her, and to whom she had months prior promised to repair his radio. She had yet to do so. Unfortunately for the Sergeant most of the required plane parts had been set aside for the daytime bombing Provence One Squadron and were to be kept from the Tensingers. However, should Phoebe manage to repair the radio in time for the evening's party (and attend alongside Yogi to ensure it “stays functional” of course) he promised to see what could be done.
Lee awoke in a dark and empty infirmary, her body battered and broken yet surprisingly rested from the first real bed she'd lain on in months. Failing to find any morphine supplies to steal, she made her way out, following the sound of music and revelry. As the men and women of both squadrons partied on their long overdue free evening, celebrating life and success and fleeting moments and meaningless medals, Phoebe escaped the advances of Yogi and sat with Peggy outside in the cool autumn night. The two spoke of their future, and their aspirations for a life outside of conflict, of a lighthouse and a cute little workshop. As the horizon burned with the glowing lights of Lufen’s ruin, they sat together and dreamed of seeing the ocean.
Behind the Screen[edit | edit source]
The game this campaign is retelling is inspired by the very real stories of Soviet airwomen and their fight against fascist invaders, as well as the bigotry they experienced. Whilst this adaptation doesn't deal directly with all of these exact themes due to the nature of our setting, I have tried to incorporate them lightly in other capacities as a matter of respect to these women who fought just for the right to be there. I recommend checking out the original game book for historical context and insights into their experiences, or even just have a look through their Wikipedia page at least. Pretty neat stuff.