Katie Mitchell

Katie Mitchell is one of the main Protagonists in the Panzerfahren Chronicles Novels. She appears in all of the novels, though taking a secondary protagonist role in Legacy.

## Background

Katie was born in Thirstynton, England, on the 13th of September 1999 to Wing Commander Stephen Mitchell, and Amanda Mitchell. Her father, Stephen, was a high-ranking pilot in the Royal Air Force; initially flying Hawker Harriers, though now flying BAE Hawk T.2 Trainers. Amanda was a worker in the NAAFI (Navy, Army, Air Force Institute) shop on the camp Stephen was based at. Before long, the two took a liking to each other, and were soon married.

When Katie was young, she was immediately captivated by her Father's way of life. Every day, in the back garden of their house, she would stare into the sky as Air liners took off from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and, to a lesser extent, Hooton Park Aerodrome, and would pass over Thirstynton as they climbed into the sky. Her favorites were always the ones from Hooton Park, though.

In 2003, Stephen was deployed on Operation TELIC, leaving Katie with her Mother. In the same year, she was enrolled into J.B. Ismay Primary School. She was said to have always kept an eye on the sky whenever she could. Her Father returned from Iraq in 2005.

### Gaitone and Bircheveth

In 2011, Katie joined Gaitone Grammar School. Being too young for Panzerfahren, she, instead, signed up for Kreigsfleiger as a mechanic. There, she was brought up to speed with the different parts of an aircraft, though mainly the parts of Gaitone's Messerschmitt fleet. While Katie enjoyed being around aircraft, her true favorite was the Supermarine Spitfire; which she desired to be around.

in 2012, she joined 400 (Bircheveth) Squadron, Air Training Corps, in an attempt to begin to follow her father's footsteps. While there, she became friends with Adam Palmwood - the head of the Squadron's Kreigsfleiger team. Adam soon recognized potential in Katie, and set her up on one of the squadron's flight simulators. After a quick rundown, Katie was able to hold her own against Adam, who, admittedly, was holding back; though not by much. Once she had shown what she could do, and after a letter from the squadron to the school, Katie was appointed as a pilot within both Gaitone Grammar and Bircheveth Squadron.

At Gaitone, she was given a BF-109 E4 model, and came under the callsign: '*Farrier*'. Once she had gained enough experience with the aircraft, Katie decided to give the aircraft a new look - stripping off the old colours, and giving it a jet black colour scheme with a shark's mouth around the engine cowling. At 400 Squadron, there were no available aircraft; save for Merseyside Wing's Grob Tutor fleet. Though this was not to be it, as one day, when Katie attended the Squadron, she was presented with a Supermarine Spitfire LF. Mk. IX by the Sector Commander - which had been joint funded by her Father and the Squadron members. In tribute, Katie dressed the Spitfire in old Second World War colours, with her Father's Squadron Coding - though this was changed to Bircheveth's Squadron Coding: SP.

## Panzerfahren Chronicles

### Arc One: Early Beginnings

Katie is introduced in the First Arc of Panzerfahren Chronicles, though does not stick around as a main character until Arc Three: *The Eton Mess*. We first meet Katie at Tankfest - the event based at the Bovington Tank Museum where the matches for the British Tournaments are announced. Katie, along with Adam Palmwood and a few others, ventured down to Bovington to seek better deals on some Kreigsfleiger kit. It is there, that she stops James Byrne from buying a Blackburn Firebrand - one of the worst aircraft ever designed and built.

James questions her as to why, but Katie lists off all the reasons and then some. As she does this, she notices James smiling at her in an odd way; but she shakes this off when George Blake rushes over, and ushers James away; stating their reasons for being there, and attempting to throw Katie off of James by saying:

"HE'S GAY!"

Katie only found this amusing, however, and instead (subconsciously) began to take a liking to James.

### Arc Two: Boss to Boroughmuir

During Arc Two, Katie is seen again - this time, as a spy send to Fender Valley by Gaitone ahead of their match the following week. Expecting the Panzerfahren room to be empty, she was surprised by George Blake; who was on Detention at the time. George was able to recognize the her, though not quick enough to stop Katie escaping the room with the battle plans. After a brief chase around Fender Valley's corridors, she was intercepted by James, who was taken aback by the fact it was her - giving her the chance to escape out the fire doors.

During the match, Katie flew her BF109 to great success, easily dealing with Amy's Hurricane, and Andrew's Mustang. Jess Camm, however, was a different story. When the two met over the skies, they began a lengthy duel which lasted for near twenty minutes. The two pilots worked in ways that perfectly countered each other. The duel ended after Jess ran out of ammunition, and, in a heavily damaged Spitfire, decided to limp back to the aerodrome. Katie, in response, escorted the damaged Spitfire home; and herself re-armed and refueled. By the time this was done, however, the game was over.