Even with two planes, the odds were simply too much against us. Our first match had us against Teams Iceland and Belgium, who had 15 planes a piece, plus spares they wouldn't be allowed to field. Apparently, there were limits on how many planes teams could field in each match, to keep richer teams form simply overwhelming everyone else by fielding more planes, thus keeping it a match of skill. Still, 30 to 2 was not good odds, even if the other two teams were unlikely to team up.
Instead, our plan was to make it seem as though the two teams had, in essence, pranked each other. Vandalizing - not sabotaging, but vandalizing - one of Team Belgium's planes while leaving a Team Iceland viking helmet behind, and stealing Team Iceland's ice sculpture while leaving behind a monogrammed Team Belgium handkerchief...simple enough tactics and in no way harmful to the other teams' performance...but enough to get them gunning specifically for each other, leaving us free to gain a lead in the match.
Daddy was taking care of putting Belgium at Iceland's throat. Uncle Murray and Uncle Bentley were handling the other side of it. In the meantime, Deik-Beck and I were guarding the hangar in case anyone tried anything on us, since I still wasn't 100% after Australia and this task let me stay put and conserve my strength. Uncle Bentley had designed some defense systems...and as it turned out though, I didn't need them...
Coco paced back and forth worriedly as she watched the doors, Deik-Beck plugged into security as he remotely controlled all of the traps. She'd heard through Bentley from Penelope that someone was planning mischief to the Cooper planes while they were mostly unguarded. She could only hope that the defenses would be up to the task of whatever trouble came to call.
Her worries were interrupted by the sound of a huge commotion just outside the hangar, including the sound of a heavy body being thrown against a building. Shortly after, Muggshot pushed the door open before ducking inside. "Okay if I hide out here until the guards go elsewhere?" he asked quickly.
"What happened out there?" Coco demanded worriedly.
"Some punks wanted ta make trouble," Muggshot explained. "Was over here making sure ya had a pilot for the plane I'm lending ya, saw the punks, decided ta trounce 'em. But the Baron doesn't like that sorta thing, so..."
Coco smiled happily. "Feel free to stay until things cool down," she offered warmly. "Think you could watch the sewer entrances? There might be more coming up that way, and as good as Deik-Beck is at the controls of the traps Uncle Bentley set up, they might still get past through sheer numbers."
"Leave it to me!" Muggshot declared proudly, moving to a spot between the pipes. Coco joined him there as Deik-Beck monitored the sewer passages.
As it turned out, my concerns were unfounded. Deik-Beck was more than capable of timing the defenses in both passages to ensure none even made it as far as the hangar. At the same time, he sent a distress signal to Uncle Bentley...who managed to get a face-chat with Penelope to get her help. She was happy to deal with Black Baron guards who'd accepted payoffs to break his rules, and demonstrated her mastery of the RC chopper, which impressed Uncle Bentley greatly.
An odd thought crossed my mind as I listened to the radio communications, though...especially when she talked of how 'no one sells out the Black Baron and walks off scot free. If Penelope could confirm the attacking guards were paid off, why wouldn't she inform the Baron? The way she talked, the Baron would want to deal with such betrayal personally, not delegate it. Otherwise, the Baron's rep would fail. So...why was she dealing with it and not the Baron?
Still, that line of speculation would have to be delayed. Once we knew we were safe for the night, I was put to bed immediately to sleep through till morning. Then came the time for the dogfight...
With Dad in our plane, and Mom - in disguise - flying the one Muggshot lent us.
As Sly flew through the air in his own plane, he couldn't help but marvel at Carmelita's skill in the air. The rules of the dogfight were...unique. A pilot was eliminated if they were forced to bail out of their plane or if another pilot managed to hit a bullseye on the targets painted on wings and tail. Carmelita was able to fly circles around the other pilots, conserving her ammunition and delivering those pinpoint strikes she'd first demonstrated back in Canada, forcing the pilots to land as her bullseyes were scored. Between the two of them, it almost seemed like they could have taken the two opposing teams even without siccing them on each other.
Now if only Sly could get his mind off how good Carmelita looked in that flight suit...
With that victory, we were set for the finals. This would be us against Team Muggshot and Team Black Baron. Even with Muggshot promised to help us, things were complicated. First off, the rules of the final match were that whoever took the Black Baron out of the sky was the winner. Second, any sign of collusion between our teams - of Muggshot trying to throw the match in our favor - would get both teams disqualified. Not only that, the Baron had a massive team of pilots under his command, and wasn't above using other dirty tricks such as calling in attacks from support blimps if it looked like he'd be taken out. It seemed it would be tricky...
Surprisingly enough, it was Muggshot himself who came up with a solution. He threw down a special challenge that caught everyone off guard. As he put it, the ACES competition was about determining the Captain of the Skies...so he issued a challenge between the Team Captains to determine the true Captain of the Skies. If the Black Baron accepted, it would mean the final match would be the Baron, Muggshot, Dad...and no one else.
...the Black Baron agreed.